1 fill . IISCH
B.F. SOHWEIER,
THE OOI3TITUTI0I-TEE UII0I-AI1 TIE EITOKOEXEIT OF TEE LAYS.
Editor and Proprietor.
VOL. XLI.
MIFFLINTOWN, JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. JANUARY 26. -18S7.
. NO. 5
Soin." Mind.
$,me n.indsare like streams flowiag on to
Ttrouch't wI'ore the "9tine Uplacld
and free. . , ,
Wtere the c eror, wind-wafted, coquets
'i:h t!ie be.
c ..,,,. ;-kf i" -amain riiU dashing along
an I ,lir"''2a valleys, with
U:; -lit''' and so"
r cbtr .1, t!i'v pluae on down abysses
of vmui-
But some. l.ke i'at rivers, too closely con-
Buak'tU'r''3 that oppose theui, and sil
ently li"'1 , r
Or mai " tbe:r l'r vre grand canons of
mlnl
p,,P, dark a::d mysterious wild gorges of
T -r ti iy ""' a,! et ia l"eul sweet
w': 1 ll.' "' blo-mi.
Autrm!iuii'ar- a-i ia thair caverns
nmi roi?ai.
;0 jp-.l.s of njia'i mature axe barren of
Ov -drso' l'e rivk tue niudsaa tbefljod,
Ani te ioresl are taat lor as as hare
sio.1-!.
Ovtrall shcir uir tresvs the summer had
U.j 'u irt -s t.inneJ them, anil birds cf
turair
V'." n"" :" ,lie'r branches RDli warbied
iovcV prayr,
So uv.r uiti.'s Ltarts let tUe sweet waters
Act tlwri'-ck4 'uall t? nidied now harden
ing K-Io,
Anl the vm :iud the rosc-s will ciinz there
aud grow.
ALL FPU AMUSEMENT.
Out nam this evening, Nettie?"
A act Mry looked up from her sew
ine at the bright little brunette, who
was unusually brilliant i:i an evening
dress of scarlet tissue, with white
featUer. Cowers looping the overskiit
and clusters of the sauie in the heavy,
jery braids of her lustrous hair.
"I mijiiit us well have a good time
while I can. Aunt Mary," Xettie said,
twistmz herself round before the long
minor, to admire her bright skirts and
her tinv, shirred feet- "Only two
more weeks here and then I must go
back to Wheaton and bury myself I"
"Nettle"'
"There, auntie, don't look so
shocked! I know you think my future
husband is infection, and, between
ourselves, sj do 1. But, after all, a
country person's wife cannot expect
mu.a gayety, and I mean to crowd all
I cm into tiiise last two weeks of lib
efiv." 'Where are von going to-night?"
'To Mrs. Hunt'?. Mr. and Mrs.
RejuoMs w.ll cail for me and Count
LoJoski."
"Again'."' Aunt Mary's voice was
stern, and ihrre was an unusual seve
r.t? in her blue eyes. " You know Low
itrone'.y I disapprove of your accepting
the escort cf Count Lodoski."
-I3ut he ia i.ot my escort,' said the
perverse Xettie. "Mr. and Lfrs. Rey
nolds will call in their carriage. I
don't believe in the count any more
than you do, auntie; and all lnsiattie
tic wails over h:s dear l'olaud fall upon
most ni:be;ievi!:g ears wluui siTUiuled to
me. Notwithstanding he is most en
tertainisg ci'ibpany, dresses perfectly,
is handsoxe as an idonls, and wltzs
like a danriiig nuiister. So, because he
amuses me I allow him to lie my escort
during tLe absence of the Hev. Alfred
Martin, who will hold me soon fast and
firm in the chains of matrimony. Hark!
The carri.i5 is here. (iood night!
Don't sit up for me!"
And wrap;i'i;g herxiif in alarge cloak
of softest while caslitnt-re, Xettie kissed
her aunt, and sped with dancing feet
from the room.
In the c.irrlage she found the young
couple who had offered her the spare
seat there, aul she found, also, the
I'o.ish cvunt, who was the last society
Hon ia the society cf 1 , and who
was decidedly attracted by the witching
beai.ty or t!ie gay brunette. Whether
it had bn whispered in hi3 ear that
se was heiress to Wheaton and SO. 000 a
year cau only I conjectured; but he
was a most devoted adorer, and Xettie
carelessly eneourazed his attentions.
he bail inherited Wheaton from her
grandfather when she was a little child,
and her father beln? dead, her mother
had shared the guardianship of the little
heiress with her I ncle Joshua, so that
summer at Wheaton was followed each
year by winter in the city, where
school-days were succeeded by ail the
pleasures of society after Xettie passed
her lSih year. It must be confessed
that the bright little beauty was a pet
ted, spoiled child a willful girl, whose
life had been one long sunshine, with
every wuirn indulged, every caprice
gratified.
Serious thoughts had found little
Place In her giddy head and pleasure
loving heart, till the Rev. Alfred Mar
tin accepted a call to the village of
ilorton, near which Wheaton was sit
uated. jie was not a handsome man,
not a fascinating man in any sense that
ettie had ever thought of the word,
out he had oi.e gift that embraces many
others in a truly Christian minister he
was earnest. To him the vocation of
h'S life was one that absorbed heart and
prain, to the exclusion of all effort to
he attractive in society or win worldly
praise. Yet the very sincerity of this
nan, fully ten years her senior, proved
a charm Xettie could not resist.
From the careless ease of her petted
hie, his sermon, like trumjet calls,
roused her to a sense of the responsibil
fly resting upon her as a woman hold
jn n her hands the gifts of perfect
8altli. energy and wealth. Like a
butterfly, she has tasted sweets here
and there, thinking but little of the
D1"fr cut b given to the less fortunate,
tin the earnc-t appeals of the new
preacher stirred her to considering the
stewardship intrusted to her care,
Mie had no thought of pleasing the
minister when she took up a share of
the parish duly, sewed for The Dorcas
and visited the sick and poor. Admira
tion and attention had been offered her
freely for her to dream of courting
j "em, but, impulsive in everything, she
mrew the w hole force of her ardent,
dntWMUS r'alUre mto the new Tth ot
t-Z. . Mrtua's eloquence had poin-
out to er.
A large proportion of her income was
VnrtU ma lare cotton factory 'in
orwn, and among the oieratives there
nm if 80011 found enjoyment for leis
hours and avenues for spare dol-
carnf8 ln, toe 8Dr'inZ that Mr. Martin
Morton, and in the summer a
UUt fever broke out " wt
inS W.here tue miU operatives dwelt
doJ Cement-houses. It was lm
uw f,- ettie t0 entr Into any
2SSS?dln8 with lukewarm Interest;
Offerers T1 ,n trylnz to ald th
wih nyoUd time miney
m-n aa unsparing hand. Herownglo-
rtous health bore her through the dan
j geM of contagion unharmed, aud her
cheerful, buoyant disposition, was like
.. : . . : 1 1 .
DUUUUL MUlUll LUO 81111 VllllUICU, WUU
were her especial care. Yet, when the
death film gathered over childish eyes,
no voice could soften the dttrk passage
to the grave with sweeter, more earnest
words of comfort and promise than
Xettie 's.
Seeing her t'au3, through the long
weeks of toil and danger, asking her
aid where money was urgently need e J,
finding her at her post where the air
was thick with fever and the danger
frightfully near, Alfred Martin grew to
consider the beautiful dark face as
fairer than bis ideal of angels and to
think there was no music like Xet tie's
clear, melodious voice. By the magne
tism of Iih own true, eaanest words, he
had led her from frivolity to the seek
ing of higher aims and duties, and by
the power of the strong love wakened
in his own heart he drew hers into his
Keeping. She loved, as she followed all
other impulses, with fervent and deep
aSfection, while she was daily meeting
her love and the guide to all the noblest
pursuits of her life.
Mrs. Wheaton, a meek little widow,
was oaly too glad to think of her child's
future intrusted to the care of a really
good man, as she believed the lie v.
Alfred Martin to be, and gave glad con
sent to an engagement. And while au
tuinu winds were sweeping tha fever
from Morton, Xettie was learning the
sweet lesson of loving submission to a
stronger will, was conquering many a
lifelong seltishness as J folly to pleane
her betrothed, aud believing that she
bad lost all relish for the frivolities of
the past.
Had the marriage followed at once
upon the wooing, I thiuk there would
have been happiuess at the pa sonage,
where the influence of the earnest min
ister would have deepened till Xettie
no longer needed any earthly guide or
support. But Mrs. Wheaton decided
that the bride's trousseau must come
from B , and when the new year
opened Xettie went to her Aunt Mary's
to remain till milliners and dressmakers
completed her outfit. The wedding
was to be iu March, aul while Aunt
Mary shopied and stitched, Xettie took
farewell of the gayeties of her city
home. She did not mean to be incon
sistent or to break any of the good res
olutions of the past few mouths, but
old friends welcomed her with festival
gatherings, and before she realized it
the was dancing, riming and flitting
from party t3 party with all her old
zest and enloyment.
Then, just for amusement, she al
lowed the new lion, Caunt Lodoski, to
pay her marked attention. -She told
herself she was safe- in her happy en
gagement, and that be was too much a
man of society to have any serious in
tentions. It was a mere flirtation for both of
them, aud it served to pass away time
to listen to th9 stones of the IIish ex
ile, to waltz with him. drive, waik, ride
with him, and yet, with a woman'a
skill aud a coquette's Ingenuity, keep
him from any compromising offer that
would end the amusement.
The term of Xettie's visit wa3 nearly
over, when the entertainment at Mrs.
Hunt's called together a large number
or her old friends and new admiren.
Count Lodoski was more ardent than
usual in his expressions of admiration,
and Xettie was uncomfortably con
scious that he was presuming upon the
encouragement he nad received. The
evening pased quickly, and It wa3 near
supper time when the count, with a
courteous bow, offered his arm to Xet
tie for a stroll through the conserva
tory, where a number of conple3 were
enjoying the cool, fragrant air, after a
dizzy waltz. They were chatting gayly
of the pleasures of the past few weeks,
of the coming festivals before Lent,
when Xettie, looking up. found they
were the sole occupants of the conserv
atory. The strains of the newest galop fully
explained the absence of thetr former
companions, and the girl was moving
quickly toward the door, when the
count gently but firmly held her back.
She realized in an Instant the position
which her own folly hid brought her,
but tried to effect unconsciousness
still.
"I am engaged Tor this galop count,"
she said, with her usual sweet smile,
"so vou must not detain me now."
"Yet for a while you will stay with
me," said the handsome foreigner in
his strongly accented English.
must say a few words with you."
"Another time!''
"Xowl"
The man's voice had a ring of au
thority that Xettie patented instantly.
"Let me pass!" she said, haughtily.
"You forget yourself strangely sir."
"I forget all but love when I am near
you ." he cried, aud broke into a stream
of eloquence, an unmistakable offer or
heart and hand, more than hinting that
he was sure of a return of his ardently
expressed devotion.
In vain Xettie endeavored to check
the flow of words, every one of which
she felt was an Insult to the man she
really loved, in spite of her foolish van
ity, and to whom she had promised
faithful affection. The count spoke so
rapidly that not until he paused for his
reply could Nettie find an opportunity
even to speak.
Then, in a faltering voice, half-choked
by her contending emotions, she de
clined the honor of an alliance with the
Polish nobleman.
"You cannot mean to refuse me."
he cried, iu genuine astonishment;
you can not mean that you bave been
coquetting so heartlessly!'
"I mean that I must decline your
proposal," she answered, more firmly,
"and request you to allow me to pass.''
"But, Miss Wheaton Xettlel You
love me: surely you would not let me so
deceive myself. You love met There
Is some bar perhaps to our marriage:
but you love me." ....... ,
"I am already betrothed," the girl
said desperately, not conscious of the
interpretation her words aJmitted of
until a third voice spoke,
"Consider youiself free, Miss Whea
ton, ir you love this nianl" said Mr.
Martin, stepping into the room. "1 ar
dou my intrusion. I came unexpect
edly to the city, and your aunt told me
you were here. Mrs Hunt kindly di
rected me to this room, where I find my
coming most oppoituue, I have the
honor to bid you good evening and fare
well!" And not seeing Nettie's piteous,
pleading face, he turned and left the
conservatory. A moment later Mrs.
Hunt was hurrying to the room where
Nettie had fallen senseless, overcome,
the anxious hostea said, by the heat
and perfumes of the fljwers.
Aunt Mary was sitting up when the
little, white-cloaked figure came In,
and Nettie threw herself into the kind
embrace. Bobbins bitterly. She did not
see a tall figure near tho window, half
hidden by the curtain lo'ds, as she
sobbed out her story.
"And Alfred will never forgive me.
she said In conclusion. "I saw it in
his face,"
"Do you deserve that he should?"
Aunt Mary &&ed. still holding the girl
close in her arms.
"Xo. I ought never to bave allowed
the count to pay so much attention.
But it was mere flirtation, auntie. He
cares nothing for me, though Wheaton
is a golden prize; and I never gave him
a thought, even of friendship. And I
had tried to be good I bad, indeed 1 I
meant to go back to Morton and help
Alfred in every good work. I meant to
use my money for charity, for useful
aims only, and it is ouly my silly bead
that had drawn me into these last few
weeks of frivolity and foolishness. "
"You love Alfred, then?"
"Love Alfred! Aunt Mary, do you
suppose l would have promised to
marry him if I bad not loved him?"
"But when the count asked if you
loved him, you only said you were be
trothed."
'Do you suppose I would even men
tion Alfred to him?" Nettle asked in
dignantly.
"Then if Alfred would forgive you,
you would be quite happy?"
If he really forgave me. knowing all
my folly, and my sincere penitence.
Oh! auntie, to lose him now would
drive me away from all I hoped to be.
I could not go back to Wheaton and
work as I bad promised myself to work.
it be turned coldly from me. I need his
counsel, his protection; auntie, 1 need
his love."
The tall figure came from the shadow
of the window curtains, and in the eyes
ot the K37. Alfred Martin there was a
mist of tears as he bent over Aunt
Mary's chair and took Nettie's hand.
"It was tearing my heart from my
bosom to give you up, Xettie," he said
as siie sprang up with a cry or joyous
surprise; "bat you must make your
clicice now. darling. I cannot take
my wife from such a scene as that I
witnessed to-night,"
"1 am all yours if vou forgive me,"
she said, humbly. "We will go back
to Morton to morrow, If you wish."
Aunt Mary discreetly left the room,
but returning very Boon found Xettie
alone, tearful but happy, sure of for
giveness, and very sure would never
again trifle with hearts just for amuse
ment. Cnpretent ion.
President Lincoln would have been
very fond of Mark Tapley, that hero
of Dickens who was "always jolly under
difficulties." There was nothing pre
tentious about the President, and he
easily adapted himself to circumstan
ces. Just before the close of the war
he ran away from politicians and office
seekers of Washington, went down lo
City Point in the steamer River leen,
and invited himself to stay with Admi
ral Porter on board the flag-ship Mal
vern. She was a vessel with poor ac
commodations, but the President was
C3ntent to occupy a small stateroom,
six feet long by four and a half wide,
and would not accept the Admiral's
larger .-oom. When he retired for the
first night on board, he put his shoes
and socks outside of his stateroom
door. The socks had holes in them,
but they were washed and darned by
the ship's tailor, and placed, with bis
clean shoes, at his door.
"A miracle happened to me last
night," said the President at the break
fast table. "When I went to bed 1
had two large boles in my socks, and
this morning there are no boles in
thfrn. That never happened to me
before, it must be a miracle."
'How did yon sleep, Mr. President?"
asked the Admiral.
"1 slept well," he answered, "but
you cai't push a long blade into a
short scabbard. I was too lonb' for
that berth."
The President was six teet four in
ches in height, and the berth was only
six feet long.
That day. while the President was
away from the ship, the carpenters en
larged the stateroom, lengthened the
birth and make over the mattress to fit
it. Nothing was said about the change
to the President. The next morcinz
he came out smiling.
"A greater miracle thau ever hap
pened last night," said he. "I shrank
six inches ia length and about a foot
siJeways. I got somebody else's big
pillow and slept in a better bed than 1
did on the Eiver (ueen, though not
half so lively.
I think" adds Admiral Torler, who
tells the story, "that if I had given
hfm two fence-rails to sleep on, he
would not have found fault. That was
Abraham Lincoln in all thing3 relating
to bis own comfort. He would never
permit pjople t3 put themselves out
for him under any circumstances."
Facts About the Eye.
There is no cure for color blindness.
The first case of color blindness was
reported in 1777.
Colorblindness ia due to exhaustion
of nerve fibres.
Four out or every 1UU maie3, anu one
in every 400 females are color blind.
It is no sign a man is color blind be
cause he cannot name every color.
The eye of an insect contains from
fiftv to 2J.0O0small eyes. It is really
composed of eyes.
We uo not neea iiEUb wswtauuu
A sharo blow on the eyes
often causes a man to "see stars."
The causes or color Dimaness, asue
ml pauses, are alcohol, to
bacco and diseases. It is in many cases
hereditary. j
The writer saw a man who was color-1
blind take 100 colors and divide them
into four groups, black, yellow, white
and blue.
It is nonsense to believe there is any
particular way to rub the eyes. It
makes no difference whether you move
rroni or toward tho nose or uj or down.
The cat, horse and birds have a third
eyelid, which is used to protect the eye
from too much light, Man has a third
eyelid in the corner of the eye which is i
undeveloped.
The defects of the eye are quite nu
merous, but we are pretty well satisfied
with it. Every one has a blind spot in
hH eye. This is proved by shutting up
oue eye and looking at an object We
cannot see it fully.
The use of the eye cup3 to o ange
the form of the eye in hopes of ' tter
ing the sight i3 ridiculous. Thf Taw
the eye out of shape, and oft v .use
blindness. Thousands of these, cup
are sold every year.
Let your actions follow the guidance
of your judgment, and if between them
both you go down the Falls of Niagara,
go! It is the only course worthy of a
man.
WILL LORE.
How to Make n Will that Can't lm
Broken After Death. .
The subject of wills, said a lawyer.
has a peculiar interest for us, particu
larly where a considerable estate is de
vised. We are not only curious to know
how a man wishes bis property to go
after he is through with it, but it seems
like a voice from the dead declaring
it shall go. It is usually written in the
most solemn moment of a man's lils.
At thst moment one realizes to the fr!
that he brought nothing into this woM
andean take nothing out, and th?.t.
after the tongue is hushed aud the heart
stilled, bis commands will be spoken,
and bis desires obeyed. Associated as
it is with such thoughts ai these, it is
not strange tliat we are eager to know
how Mr. Vanderbilt, or Mr. Astor, or
Mr. Tilden, or Mr. Storey disposed of
their fortunes. As a matter of fact,
being strangers to them, we do not care
whether they endow a college or a cat,
but if their wills happen to be published
la the morning pipers, we read them
first, a3 the moit toothsome items of
news.
The clause iu Mr. Tilden's will pro
viding that if any one of the devisees
contest it, he shall forfeit his share is a
valid one, and may be often found in
the wills of astute persons, like the de
parted statesman. It has a tendency
to induce caution on the part of heirs.
If one can lose nothing by a contest and
may gam something, h9 may rush into
court as a sort of speculation, and in
that way much of the estate be lost.
Our Uncle Sammy knew enouzh about
law and lawyers to wish to keep his es
tate free from their care. As nobody
ever drove a coach and Tour through
any document or statute he wrote, so
you may be sure bis will, drawn by his
own hand, is equally ironclad.
There are many very curious and
eccentric wills descriied in the books
and some strange pha-es of human na
ture are illustrated in them. Some
men, who in life would not have given
a cup of water to a beggar, by their
wills leave enormous sums to charity
Those are the wills that usually take a
case through the courts, with handsome
pickings for the lawyers on the way.
All charitable bequests are construed
with the utmost strictuesi. About ten
years ago, H. II. Taylor, of Chicago,
died, leaving a will drawn by himself.
After provi ing for his wife and son,
as he thought quite liberally, be devLsd
the residue of his estate, about $509,000
to Feven trustees to found a charitable
institution such as they should deem
best. In cas9 they electtd net to do so
the trustees were to turn over the estats
to the Home of the Friendles?. As a
matter of course tho will was con teste 1
aud, after thorough legal inquiry, it was
found that the charitable clause would
not hold water. After considerable I
litigation tha case was compromised. I
and the Houin of the Friendless got
$2X),C00 and the heirs the remainder.
A man in New Jersey, not long since
left his estate to pay off the national
debt The will was contested of course
but the courts have recently beld it
valid. In the last century. Sir Joseph
Jekyll did the sima thing in England.
When Lord Mansfield heard ot it be
s.iid: "Sir Joseph was a very good man
and a good lawyer, but his bequest was
a very foolish one; Le might as well
hive attempted to stop the middle arch
of Blackfriars bridge with bis full-bot
tomed wig."
Simple a matter as it really , lawyers
hava noi always bxa successful in
drawing their own wills. Lord Si.
Leonard, high chancellor of Lngund,
who. as EJward Sugden, was the most
eminent chancery lawyer in England,
and who with a number of law books,
one particularly with a very elaborate
chapter on drawing Wilis, drew his own
will, and it required an expensive law
suit and the decision of a court of chan
cery to give it proper effect. The will
of Lord Westbury, another lord high
chancellor, drawn by himself, met with
the same fate, I could give you many
similar instances.
There have been devises to animals or
for their benefit, which have been held
valid to cats, dogs, horses, and even
parrots. Xot inrrequeatly people have
undertaken to show their npite and
hatred, and sometimes their humor, in
wills.
The will of Lord Pembroke in the
seventeenth century ha3 several items
of that kind for instance; "Item I
give nothing to my Lord Saye, and I do
make him this legacy willingly, because
I know that he will faithfully distribute
it unto the poor. Item I giye up the
ghost."
Lord JJacon bad no property to leave
but be left a regularly executed will, in
which be bequeathed bis name and
memory "to men's charitable speeches,
to foreign nations and the next ages."
Shakespeare left an elaborate win, which
contains a clause that ha puzzled the
Shakespeareans not a little.
"I give unto my wife my second beat
bed. with the furniture." Why did he
only give Ann 'Hathaway his second
best, and not bis best bed? Nothing
else did she get, and the will has sought
in vain to know the reason why.
Lord Nelson left a will drawn just
before he went into the battle of Trafal
gar, by which be bequeathed Lady
Hamilton and her daughter to nts King
and country, but neither king nor coun
try accepted the legacy, and they both
came to want. Lady Hamilton dying m
abject poverty.
Napoleon in his will left a handsome
legacy to a wretch named Chatillon,
who tad attempted to assassinate Well
ington. The will of Rabelais has this clause:
"I have no available property; 1 owe a
great deal; the rest I give to the poor."
His last words when dying were: "I go
to see the great Perhaps." A famous
French abbe had this pithy clause in his
will: " To my steward I leave nothing,
because he has been in my service for
eighteen years.
It is not unusual for a man to leave
all his property to his wife, with the
proviso that U she marries again she is
only to have what the law allows her.
I have drawn a number of such wills.
Governor Morris, the celebrated Amer
ican statesman, did not treat bis wife
so. He had married very late in life
Ann Randolph, a cousin of John, of
Roanoke, a woman much younger than
himself, and with whom be lived very
happily. He bequeathed a wry band
some income to her, and then provided
that in case she married again the in
come should be doubled.
A soldier or a sailor is allowed to
make a nuncupative will that is, a
will by word of mouth, by which per
sonal estate may be disposed of, but
you, being a civilian, must make yours
in writing. It don't matter much what
the writing ia on it may be on a slate,
or a table top, or even a wall, though
't is advisable that it should be on papei
or parchment. Y'ou may write it and
sign your name in pencil if you like
but it ii better to do it in ink.
You may make your will in Choctaw,
if you happen to understand that lan
guage, or it may, as Hamlet says, "be
writ in the choicest Italian;" you may
write it In shorthand, or in abbrevia
tions, or in cipher, so long as you leave
the key behind you. Courts are not
martinets as to the spelling, and if your
orthography is not perfectly ultra, they
will not mind it If they can make it out
If you wish to drop into poetry, even
that is permitted, as the following case
or a valid win shows:
I Rive and bsqutmth.
When I'm laid underneath.
To ray two loving sisters most dear,
The whole of my store.
Were It twice as much more.
Which God's jpxxlnesa has (treated to me.
And that none may prevent
This my will and intent.
Or occasion tho ieart of law racket,
With a solemn appnal,
I connrm siirn an 1 seal.
This, the true act and deed ot Will Jacket
You may sign your will by your
initials, and if your band is unsteady.
you may get someone to guide it. You
must have at least two witnesses, and
though you may not actually ee the
witnesses sign their names you must be
in such a position that you could do so
if yon '-felt so disposed," as Mrs. Gamp
mightremark. That was Judge Rogers'
ruling in the Storey will case, and it is
good law.
If you are going to leave anything to
me don't ask me to be a witnes3, for,
although I could be a good witness, mv
legacy would be void. John Bouvler
was an eminent lawyer in Philadelphia
some years ago, and the author of sev
eral law books. A lady left him a very
handsome bequest in her will, which he
ii uself drew and witnessed. There
was ho doubt about the intention of the
lady, but Bouvier failed to get his
legacy.
Having signed and sealed your will.
you can revoke it by destroying it, but
not by simply running the pen through
name or through the lines, but you can
revoke it by a subsequent will prowrly
executed. Marrrlage also revokes a
win.
Queer Ideas or Female Adornment.
In the land of the great Mixado it is
the fashion with certain ladies of so
ciety to gild their teeth, while in some
parts of the Indies red punt is consid
ered the most approved mental adorn
ment. In "Greenland's icy moun
tains, a blue and yellow color is
thought to enhance the beauty of the
female face. Persian ladies regard red
hair with abhorrence, while the Turks
look upon it with the greatest favor.
Small round eves are among the
types of female beauty in China, and
the girls pluck their eyebrows that they
may be thin and long. The tiny
cramped feet of the Cninese maiden
are too well known. In Turkey, fe
male eyebrows paint!, in black ar 1
g ld are as much a li nunte as rose
c I red finger nails.
In Peru ornaments for the nose are
quite the fashiou for ladies, and the
weight and thickness of the nasal ring
grows in proportion to the rank of the
wearer. In aume cases a number of
gold rings are thus worn, much to
the discomfort of their owner. The
wearing of ear-rings Is a fashion among
ladie3 much nearer home than the land
of the fair Peruviana.
A huge figure of a bird made of
copper or of gold, according t the
fortune of the wearer, was a common
bead-dress of the ?Liinese maidens half
a century ago. The wings of the bird
were spread out, and the tail, long and
open, formed a baautiful tutt of
feathers. The mechanical bird was,
in some cases, so contrived by the
means of springs and apparatus as to
Cutter and tremble at the slightest mo
tion. Among one of the African tribes the,
ladies used to carry on their beads a'
slight board a foot long and half a foot'
wide, with which they covered theirj
long hair, sealing it down with wax j
This head gear was a fixture, and the
wearers could not lie down nor lean
without keeping their necks straight.
About twice a year the wax ia melted'
and the hair re-arranged to suit "the!
manners and customs of good society"
in those parts. '
Vegetable Clothing.
About two hundred years ago the
Governor of the island or Jamaica. Sirj
Thomas Lynch, sent to King Charlesi
II. of England, a vegetable necktie,
and a very good necktie it was,
although it had grownon'ttree and hud;
not been altered since it was taken
from the tree. 1
A gentleman who witnessed two na
tives manufacturing this lace, thus de-!
scribes it. A tree about twenty feet
high and six inches In diameter, with aj
bark looking much like that of a birch-1
ties, was cut down. Three strips of
bark, each about six inches wide and
eight feet long, were taken from the
trunk and thrown into a stream of
water. Then each man took a strip
while it was still in the water, and
with the point of his knife separate J a
thin l.-.yer of the inner bark from one
end of the strip. This layer was then
taken in tha fingers and gently pulled,
whereupon it came away in an even
sheet of the entire width and length of
the strip ot bark. Twelve sheets were
thus taken from each strip of bark,
and thrown into the water.
The men were not through yet, how
ever, for when each strip of b.u k had
yielded its twelve sheets, each sheet
was taken from the water and gradu
ally stretched sidewise. The spectator
could hardly believe his eyes. The
sheet broadened and broadened until
from a close piece of material six
inches wide, it became a filmy cloud or
delicate lacs, over three feet iu width.
The astonished gentleman was forced
to confess that no human-made loom
ever turned out lace whioh could sur
pass in snowy whiteness and gossamer
like delicacy that product of nature.
The natural lace is not so regular in
formation as the material called illu
sion, so much worn by ladies in sum
mer; but it is sort and white, and will
bear washing, which Is not true of
Illusion. In Jamaica and Central
America, among the poorer people it
supplies, tha place or manufactured
cloth, which they can not afford to
buy; and the wealthier classes do not
by any means scorn it for ornamental
use. The tree is commonly called the
lace-bark tree. Its botanical name is
Ligctto linteana.
Tu9 truth cannot be burned, bahead
ed or crucified. A lie on a throne is a
lie still, and truth in a dungeon is a
truth still; and a lie on the throne is on
tha wav to defeat, and truth in the
dungeon is on the way to victory.
AXC1EXT LIBRARIES.
Enormous Price Paid for Books
Manuscript Kxchanged from
Country to Country.
Prof. Lanciant delivered bis lecture
on "Meducval and ancient libraries" in
the Lowell institute class at Huntington
hall on Dec 4. The letter presented
many interesting facts. Prof. Lanciaut
first spoke of the almost absolute non
existence of any written history on the
subject.
Some books written in the seven
teenth century concerning ancient li
braries are rendered useless by the re
cent explorations. Some pamphlets
have been issued on the subject, the
most recently published this year, and
giving the results of the explorations to
date, being on this account the most
valuable. Rome's first important li
brary was brought from Greece, and
contained several hundred volumes.
This library had a strange history, and
suffered many vicissitudes. Ancient
authority declared that the library
room, or reading-room, should be in the
easterly portion of the house, both on
account of the early morning light, and
because there would be less dinger
there of moths and mildew damaging
the precious parchments, and this ad
vice seems generally to bave been fol
lowed. The library was never warmed
in any way as the danger of fire was
considered great, and the warmth was
liable to do injury to the rolls and their
bindings. This custom or excluding
artificial heat from the library is now
strictly adhered to in the famous library
of the Vatican, where many others cf
the ancient customs are also maintained.
The library was usually small, on an
average 15x20 feet, and could thus le
kept at a more even temperature.
Seventeen hundred volumes were the
contents of one library of the above di
mensions. On account of their scar
city, books commanded high prices, and
Aristotle in quoted as having paid the
equivalent ot $'1,3J0 for a single Look,
made up possibly of several volumes.
An Alexandrian monarch sent to Ath
ens for some valuable books, of which
he wished to make copies. A3 he de
posited $16,500 as security for their safe
return, they were lent to him. Instead
of returning the organs, however, he
sent back the copies, thus forfeiting
the deposit but deeming the original
books cheaply bought at $16,500.
The appearance of the Roman look
store was next described. Each book
seller was the publisher of some one
popular writer, and his shelves were
filled with bis writings, not to the ex
clusion of everything else, however,
while the latest works with the most
attractive bindings were conspicuously
displayed. One thousand copies were
the usual edition. The first public li
brary was established about '22 B. C,
by a Roman writer who was the Mark
Twam of his time. Four years later
the Emperor Augustus made the public
library a state institution. It was
largely endowed by the spoils of the
: Dalmatian war.- Several other libraries
were soon after established. Tiberius
giving a wing of his palace, for the pur
pose. Some of the ancient libraries are
reported as containing 700,000 volumes.
This is not to be taken in the modern,
for often a single chapter or a canto
took up one so-called volume. In 18.' I.
a papyrus was found on an island in
the XT.e, containing C17 verses from
the Iliad. It wa3 made up of 41 vol
umes or rolls.
That books were lent from the libra
ries is shown by the ancedote related
by the lecturer. A certain party of
citizens were discussing the use of ice
to cool the drinking water. One of
the party was strongly opposed to its
use, and to substantiate his statements
against it went to the neighboring li
brary and brought forth a book of
Aristotle, in which that ancient writer
strongly denounced the use of ice-water,
and it is related that the remainder of
the party become so thoroughly con
vinced of the truth of Lis assertions
that they then and there forswore its
use forever. Many of the older Iibrai ies
were destroyed either totally or in part,
by fire. The Apollo Iirary, which con
tained thousands of volumes, was a no
table example. But few of its many
rolls were saved.
In September, in 1S33, in some ex
plorations Prof. Lanciaut discovered
the ruins of an elegant private house,
one side of which was wonderfully well
preserved. Iu the chapel were nineteen
statues of the gods. Leading from the
chapel was a sta rway descending into
a room for the observance ot religious
ceremonies. A statue occupied the
center of this room, and around it, it
was stated, seven caudles were kept
burning. The remains of these candles
were actually found, proving the truth
of the tradition. The library was a
room about 2-jxIo feet, and for perhaps
ten feet from the floor the walls weie
plain, while above the decorations in
stucco work, etc., were very elaborate.
The lower space was occupied by the
book-shelves. The shelves were in
scribed for the different works, com
prising law, philosophy, history,
medicine, and others, and medallions
of the celebrated writers ornamented
theroom. Some of the ancient libra
ries were supplied with these wonderful
little lamps, which "cast light for many
hours left alone by themselves," for
nocturnal students. Sun dials were
also provided. Catalogues were prol -ably
issued, and the titles of the boots
themselves were always beautifully il
lustrated in the title pazes. Manu
scripts were sometimes exchanged from
county to county. In this way many
books were iut to the British isles as
early as 001 A. D., and in 099 the favor
was returned, an English abbot t brings
to Rome a manuscript, which has been
preserved, and which is now deposited
in Florence. But for one broken link
we should bave an unbroken chain ot
books, extending back many centuries,
iu the records of the papal decrees,
acts and laws. That broken link is
from 1121 to 129a In 1124 the books
were sold, and not until 129 J was the
collection again begun by Innocent
III.
The number of immigrants wiio
arrived in this country last Xovemlier,
was 31,029, while In November 1SS-5 it
was only 20,070.
Husband "Ihear thatyouugS imp
sou who went west last summer h.n
been shot."
Wife "Was he shot in a bad place?"
Husband "Yes, he was shit in
Chicago."
It seems that Lieutenant Greely o
lieves in the theory that there is an
open sea, some 15 miles in diameter,
round about the Pole that never
freezes, the conjecture being that the
Tole itself is the centre ot an ice-capped
land covered with ice from 1000 to 4000
feet thick.
THE ORAXGE HARVEST.
Clipping tho Fruit -Tho Sweating
Process Sorting and Packing.
When the latter days of September
approach, the bizarre splendors of the
rainy afternoon, which, for four
months, has irrigated the grove, grow
the less frequent, and with the soft,
dry days of our autumn, we begin har
vest; the Early Oblong or Thornton's
Bell, t -3 Egg, and the round Sang pur
seedling begin to ripen, and are ready
for gathering.
A grove is not in bearing until its
trees average 500 apples, so the labor
of merely picking a crop of oranges can
be understood. Xor is the gatherer
permitted to pluck the fruit. It swings
its tempting yellow among the dark
green leaves and long, steely thorns
high among the tops and low among
the bending boughs. Tall step-ladders
and light-weights are In demand, for
care must be taken not to break the
fruitful branches already symptomatic
ot another year.
The fruit must be "stem cut." An
adroit expert learns to clip the fruit,
holding it between the third and fourth
fingers and the shoulder of the thumb,
transferring it lightly to the pouch
suspended at bis neck. The musk of
the wind-shaken, crnshed, thorn
pierced, and fallen fruit, the purgent.
aromatic odors of the leaves and oil
glands load tha air with fragrance, as
the exhilarating task proceeds.
A bright, dry day must be chosen, as
moisture on the rind tends to decay;
and there must be caution in handling,
as one bruised orange may infect an en
tire box or crate.
A brisk hand stem-cutting in a full
crop can average his 390 by the hour
or 3,000 apples per day; but this is not
frequent on account of the cautious
handling. The pickers transfers 'ma
sack or basket carefully to the drying
house, where the fruit is spread out to
dry; this sweating process occupies
three or more days. A good drying
bouse is arranged with slatted shelves,
that the air may penetrate to
the interstices of the strips. A light
fire is of advantage, as It promotes the
drying by which the rind becomes
firmer, taking a crisp, horny texture,
protecting the pulp from bruising.
1 The next step Is selecting, removing
allbrui3ed. thorn-pricked, or injured
fruit into separate lots. This, which
should precede arranging on drying
floors or shelves, to avoid contact,is fol
lowed by separating the rusty trait from
the bright yellow. If this is carefully
done, a selection may be male ot rusty
fruit in which the bronze contrasts
prettily with the gold on the orange,
like the bloom on a peach. As the rust
In no way impairs flavor or juiciness, a
well selected box of rust fruit compares
with the "brights."
Sorting Is putting oranges of the
same diameter In separte heips. The
next step is wrapping. A thin tissue
paper is used, cut into squares of
twelve or fourteen Inches, the Florida
sweet seedling averaging ten inches in
circumference; obloug, egg. mandarin
being smaller. Settling the fruit on
the sheet spread on the open palm.
closing the band unites the corners for
a twist of the right hand, and it h-
wrapped. The fruit is packed in thin
elastic boxes, 12x12x27 outside nieas-
uremnt the wrapped orange is packed
stem down aud, of an average three
inch diameter, will hold four rows of
nine to the row, or 1M. The usual
complement of the south Florida fruit,
however, is 129, packed apple above
apple, with paper divisions to each
layer.
The packing-box is divided in the
ends aud partition being cf firm half
inch wood, and the sides flexible. By
arra- glng the fruit differently, as is
required in s zes exceeding or less thar
average diameter, space is econoiuizec
by altering the rows to fit the obvers
and re-entering curves A size ruuuns
17(5 can be set by alternate threes and
fours and to be so packed.
The process is delicate, the packing
must be close, fitting within even pres
sure without bruising, to bear the jur
i ing of careless stevedores and 'long
shoremen who annually exasperate tne
cropper. In fitting the box a layer ol
wirt '.3 put at the bottom and one
lappe J above and below,so that the fold.
titer the suocessive layers are closely
fitted, may lap over aud cover the top.
This upper row should rise not to ex
ceed one quarter of an inch above thf
box edging, that, on nailing down thf
elastic top. the spring of wood fiber it
it may have a firm, constaut pressuie
o resist jarring and displacement.
Invisible Mothers-in-Law.
A son-in-law once satncally remarket
(hat one of the reasons why Adam an
Eve were so supremely nappy In then
terrestrial paradise was that no mother
in-law existed in their day; and ethno
logists and antiquarians both su.taii
the argument that directly the mother-
in-law came into existence a tram o
miseries originated, which, howevei
evere, have happily not yet driven lh
sterner sex to a universal vow of celi
bacy. To support the idea that mothers-m
aw have never been favorably regar
ded, ethnologists tell us that a singula;
custom, which enacts that a man shul
never look upon the face of his mother
In-law after he is once married, pre
vails amongst numerous savage peop'.f
apparently widely sundered by geo
graphical distribution and differences
of race.
The custom obtains among the Caf-
fres ot South Africa, among several o!
the Australian tribes, and among man
Polynesiaas, a fact which some peopu
assume to point to a common origin ot
these races, but which others look up r
as testimony of the existence of a nat
ural law, as a piece of wisdom indig
enous to each or these countries, and thf
direct growth of individual experience.
The custom being round in such
idly separated continents as Africa
and Australia. Is considered as proving
that it must have been suggested by
some common necessity of human na
ture, and reasons are not wanting tc
show why savages discovered it was
better for a man not to look upon hit
mother in-law. Primarily, say the sup
porters of this theory, because hi:
mother-in-law was a picture in antici
pation of what his wife was likely tc
be.
Before marriage, a man's mind maj
not be open to the cold processes ot
comparison, but afterward he begins tc
consider what sort of a bargain be has
made, and if bis mother-in law bas not
improved with age, the ghastly possi
bilitity of bis wife becoming like bei
rises before him. Hence these savagf
tribes prescribed the rule that l.evei
after marriage should a man see hi:
mother-in-law, and this In time becamt
a social law ot custom.
NEWS IN 15RH5F-
Ia Rome nearly all the bod ca rrier
are women.
Miners at Red Gulch, L T., are ad
vertising for wives.
Eggs are worth 35 cents a dozen in
Pendleton, Oregon,
Epizootic is killing a large number
3f horses in western Maine.
Cock fights are becoming popular
in the X'ew England States
Mormon elders are making many
on verts in eastern Mississippi.
Tho total vote ror governor in
Nevada last November was 12,332.
A mast that bend3 to the gale is an
invention cf a Connecticut citizen.
Sleighing has lasted nearly six
weeVs continuously at Rutland, Vt.
During the past year thirty-one
rnurders occurred in San Francisco,
Mustard seed valued at 300,000 bas
been shipped from Lorapoc, CaL, this
season.
The highest salaried teacher In
Brooklyn, N. Y., this year will receive
Jl.250.
It is pred" :ted by a Texas clergyman
.hat the world will come to an end in
:en years.
The newest kind of a thief is one in
Bellevue, O., wbc steals thermometers
exclusively.
A resident of Masiilon, O., stepped
a the point of a nail Monday, and died
the next day.
A toboggan slide nine hundred feet
ong Is being built by the society people
jf Toledo, O.
Ptaiuix, the largest city in Arizona.
was lighted with gas Friday night for
the first time.
John G. Whittier makes about as
much from his apple orchard as he dees
from his book.
The city of Los Angeles, Cal., has
lecided to adopt the cable system on all
its horse-car lines.
A restaurant in Waila Walla, Wash
ington Territory, is serving new lettuce
to Its customers.
A 3-year-old l.e;fer, recently killed
ind dressed at Lake's ranch, Nevada,
weighed 1,533 pounds'.
A New Haven, Conn , man has
wrought suit for $3,000 damages against
i widow who jilted him.
It cost the United States govern
ment 3384,637 last year to pay the sala
ries and mileage of senators.
Tennessee's p?anut crop this year
.s worth S7u0,00o. Ifce average yield
per acre is forty-two bushels.
Eight thousand dollars was found
in an old apron of a venerable woman
who died at Port Pleasant, X. J.,
lately.
An aged settier or De.xtT, Me.,
iged nearly SO jears. was married to a
sixteen-jear-old miss of that place
lately.
A rt monkey apparently wiiii mal
ice prepense, hanged a dog Ly the neck
until he was deal, in Seabright, X. J.,
recently.
Foultry-dealers m Seneca, X. Y" ,
shipped 3t),0-'0 pounds of turkeys, ducks
and chickens to the X'ew York Christ
mas markets.
About P.OOO.OOo umbrellas are
made and sold annually in this country.
New York and 15ston are the head
quarters of the manufacturers,
The piles of old London bridge put
down in the year 9CO are still souuJ,
the water and the blue mud of the
Thames having preserved them.
A dwarf, whose figure was familiar
to the people of Xewark. X. J.. waa
found dead in Led recently, and It is
believed that he was frozen to death.
It is estimated that over i."O0.C0O
has been spent m unsuccessful attempts
to establish new.spaier.-i in Portland,
Uregou, during the pa-t twenty years.
A spruce-gir.n dealer in Byron, Me.,
employs twenty men to gather gum for
him. lie expects to secure ten tons
this winter, for which he will bave a
ready sale.
In Montana during the winter.
cowboys make a living by killing moun
tain lions, for ulrcu a bounty of $S per
heal is paid. The animajs are ferocious
and some are very large.
The longest to'ooggan slide is
claimed for the town of Grand Forks,
Dakota. 1 he tresth work is said to be
9J0 feet long, and the grade in S) feet
iu the hundred for thf lirst 3j0 feet.
Rabbits (gray variety of the wild
siecies), have cause I S15.bbO,0UO worth
of loss and damage iu Australian fields
within the past ten years, the U. S.
Consul General at Melbourne dec'ares.
An expert visited thf Metropolitan
Theatre, Xew York, at its optning,
figures out that the wea'.t'i reprf-vnteu
ia ttie parterre boxe3 was t7u,2.'W,f)t),
aud in the lirst tier boxes iH2.200,ooo.
On a pair of stilts (also on a wa&er),
a young maa crossed the ice on the
Hudson river at Riiinecliffe, Xew York,
on Thursday, and won by making the
entire distance nearly two miles, with
out a fall.
King Humbert, of Italy. 1. is re
ceived from the citizens of Naples an
enormous wreath ot bronze, surmounted
by a gold star, in recognition of his
bravery and humanity during the recent
cholera scourge in that city.
As a family man, David Wright,
colored, of Columbia City, Fla., can
hardly be surpassed. lie i the father
of twenty-five children, most of them
living, and his present wife is the
mother of twenty-seven children, nine
teen of whom are living.
The pistol with which Guiteau shot
President GarHeld is in the keeping of
the civil authorities of the District of
Columbia. All the personal property
found on the assassin's body at the tin4
of arrest wvs confiscated, and is stil re
tained by the officials.
Although Carlyle devoted a'J the
energies of his life to battling against
shams, it is noted that bis old bouse iu
Chelsea is occupied by a quack doctor,
and that the tablet to his memory has
been placed on the wrong bouse. This
night be called the irony of fate.
A Dock of blackbirds said to have
been three miles in length and nearly a
hundred yards wide, lately passed over
Edenton bay, Xorth Carolina. They
obscured the heavens lke a dark cloud,
aud the noise of their flight was like the
rush of a mighty wind.
A thousand Madrid babies have
been baptized with the name of Kin
Alfonso since bis death- Queen Chris
Una recently presented the 1,000th baby
with a book bearing the Inscription:
"To the 1,000th Alfonso, 'rom a
woman whom two Alfonsos have made
happy.".
u
i
feT
i in; '
ruir1
V i
,' '
IVs r
R'
1
ft
in
IK
-