AY III AYTTST ill ' 11 m "I B. F. SOHWEIER, TEE O0J3TTTUTT0I THE UHCI-AID TH EZFOSOZXZST 07 TEE LITE, Editor and Proprietor. VOL. XU. MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. MAY 11, 1887. NO. 20. vrA i nr II I vrrii ni 1 11 i n i ii in vWWWv'l) isfe.sfe www DLL J r There Is No Death. Tine i no death I The t tars go down To ri apin some fairer shore ; Ami bright in heaven's jewelled crown lhej shine forever more. There i no death I The dust we tread Sh!l chanc beneath the sammer shower To goli.ru cram or mellow trait. Or reiubotr-riiiteJ flowers. TLe (trauite rocts disorpaniza To tl: nnngry moss they bear; Jli Waves drink daily life From out the viewies air. There In no lath I The leaves may fall, The fiower may fail and pass away: Thev only wait through wintry honrs The couiiue of the May. There is nn 'eath ! An angel form Walks oV.- the -arth with silent tread ; Be bears our best-loved things away. And then we call them "dead." H. leaves oar hearts all desolate ; He plucks our fairest, sweetest flowers; Tramportwl iuto bliss, they now A-.'ora immortal bowers, Tl' tirJ-like voice, whose joyous tones Make glad these scenes of bin and strife, Sines cow an everlasting song Amid the trees of life. An J where he sees a smile too bright. Or heart too pare for taint and vice, H r btars it to that wor Id of light, 7o dwell in Paradise. Horn unto that nndying life, Xhi-j leave us but to come again ; With joy we welcome them the same, Except lu fin and pain. A:;d ever near us, though unseen. The 'ear immortal spirits tread ; For all the boundless universe Is life there are no dead. A DELICATE SITUATION. I must commence this narrative with a most painful admission my wife is a connrnied kleptomaniac. Iu all Other rejr-eets she is an admirable woman. though I say it who shouldn't; She is beautiful at least in my eyes; she is comparatively young, though perhaps sue might not I;Ke me to Le too precise oa this point: she has troops of friends and no lack of anything that a husband in comfortable circumstances and devo tedly attached to her can supply; and vet owing to some distressing mental disorder she is continually bringin, home ether people's propirtv. Nothing, I am quite sure, could be further from her gentle disposition tlian the vice of covetousness. She does not take things because she wants them, or in order to obtain a cheap gratification. So far as I can see she is subject merely to the same propensity as the jackdaw. About a year ago Mrs, Arbuthnot, an acquaintance of ours, lost a valuable bracelet, whioh I felt quite sure Maria haa taken. But 1 never could find it though I searched the house from top tv bottom. Mrs. Arbuthnot had her suspicions, I could see, and this drove rue nearly frantic, not only with think ing ot what become of the bracelet, but sio with trying to discover a remedy lor tae existing state ot affairs. At last I hit upon what struck me as a really good idea. Like cures like, I argued. If I were to introduce lcto the bouse another kleptomaniac would not Maria become disgusted and alter her way? A bad habit in ourselves may be tolorated, but when it crops np in Others it often assumes a most repulsive aspect and straightway clamors for its removal. Such, at least was my idea. 1 thought it worth a trial. The iirst thing to be done was to secure a genuine kleptomaniac. AVith this object in view I inserted iu several of the daily papers the following adver tisement: "Wanted, a kleptomaniac, who must be a lady of otherwise irreproachable Labits and pleasing manners; she will be required to act as companion to a gentleman's wife, who is siniiliary afflicted; duties light; remuneration liberal. Apnly in the first instance to X. Y. Z.'' care of a firm of advertis ing agents. Imagine my surprise at receiving fifty-seven answers to my advertise ment, every one of the ladies claiming to be a lady. From the nature of the case, I could not very well ask for references. Not that this mattered much, for I had enough confidence in iny own judgment to think I could do w ithout them. I w ent through all the letters with great enre, putting aside all that tried to recommend themselves by shame lessly describing acts of successful pil fering. 1 had no hesitation in conclud ing these ladies to be impostors attract ed by the salary. There remained but five, who bash fully said they were considered by their friends to be kleptomaniacs, a state ment which they did not themselves indorse in any way. I decided to interview all five, that being tue only w ay by which I could discriminate between them. Accord ingly I wrote to ask them all to come to my house on a certain day. and ai led that I would, of coure, defray any traveling expenses. In order to prevent clashing, which I saw might place me in a most unpleasant position. I requested one ladv to present herself punctually at 11 o'clock, another at 11:J, another at 12. and so on. There would be no difficulty from my w :fe. f,.r she was to be away from home ail that morning. It had been arranged that a certain Uncle Joe should escort litr to an exhibition which I Lad declined o attend. hen the morning inquest ion arrived I men to bundle ilana out of the house with very unconjugal haste, but notw ithstanding all my efforts her toilet required so much time that it was past 11 o'clock 1-efore she drove off. heU ,y lir.t visitor Miss White appeared a meeker looking creature I never saw. she was neatly dressed in b ack; m figure she was tall, thin and rather angular, and she had a pinched lace, with a very mournful expression. l eu she first entered she raised her eyes to glance at me and then at the room, but then after that thev fell, as if they were habitually lixed upon the ground. ( Ijer intellect, I imagined, w as a little 'uo, for she apparently mistook the seat i assigned to her and occupied the coueh. in self-defense I was obliged to tiiove my chair farther awav and face light, which was not what I had intended. Without taking any notice ot niv action Vic. ln.u. .i i. her side a black bag she had been carry ing. I hen she drew outlier hwtidker chief, p ;,ced it on her lap, and folded er hands over it, iu this altitude, with downcast eyes, she silently waited for ie to begir-a most difficult thing to '", as I now found. As I tried to escape wentesai'y 1,lesli(,us so as to be the least oCeusive, I grew very uncomfort- "Ahem!" J said "Miss White." JamVT akcock at the door and James mv facttoumj entCTed "Show her into the dining-room. James," I said, "and say I'll be with her in a few minutes." "Don't mind me," said Miss White, humbly. "Since the death of my dear IKirenU I am used to being set aside for others." "But, Miss White " I protested. "No, please don't apologize; I am not' used to that. AU my life long I have been trampled upon. I don't complain no, I don't complain. I merely state tne i act, as l tninK it only right yon should know everything if 1 am to become an inmate of your house." "Anotner lauy to see you, sir," an nounced James "a Miss Mildew." "Show her into the library, James,' I stammered. "Your parents," said I, making s frantic effort to get to business, "were-' "Most respectable people, but unfor tunate. Yes; its only right you should Know that." 'Another lady to see you, sir," an nounced James. ''What room is vacant. James?" 1 asked hurriedly. "Is any room vacant?" "Oi ly the boudoir, sir." "Then show who did you say it was?" "Mrs. Dark, sir." "Show her in there." Uy the time that my fifth visitor arrived, an event which Imppened very suortiy alter the arrival ot Mrs. Dark, I was well nigh distracted. There really was no room lor this last woman. could not nave two ot them gossiping together and peihaps quarreling, so I was compelled to ask Mrs. Ileslop to wait in the hall. It was very' rude, but wnat else could i do.' Besides, such in convenience as she suffered was entirely her own fault her eagerness to secure the post having brought her two hours before her proper time. "Mii White," I said, feeling at last secure Vrom further interruption, "arc you pray excuse a necessary question are you really a kleptomaniac?" Instead of replying she burst into tears. It was distressing to watch and listen to her. Lookiug around desper ately for some handle to use against her, I experienced a rude shock. My gold vase had disappeared. From that moment my opinion of Miss White underwent a profound change. I rushed, perhaps wrongly to the other extreme, and set her down as a most artful woman, whose weakness was assumed to cover her nefarious designs. Naturally enough, I felt rather sore on this point, for I placed a high value upon the vase. I here could be no doubt as to what become of it. For what other purpose could she have brought that suspicious-looking black bag.' I ou have answered mv question, I admit," said I, with a feeble attempt at jocularity, "in a very practical man ner. I never saw you take that vase, Miss vt hue it was cleverly done, with out doubt." She tried her tears and looked at me with mournful surprise, "I'm not used to being told that I do said. YotTrgf things cleverly," she the first who has told me tliat since my poor mother died, liut what thing do you mean.'" "Whv,' I replied, trying to smile, :my gold vase, which yon have put in your bag." "Io vou accuse me or stealing r7 sue asked. Notwithstanding the flood of tears which she held in reserve somewhere I saw then that there was fire in the woman. The doleful features hardened; the eyes glittered dangerously. She sat erect, but still with folded hands. Dreading a scene, i answered some what hastiiv: "No, no, by no means. It is an ex cellent conjuriug trick, but nothing more." "Because." she said severely. "I am used to being insulted; I am used to be ing trodden utwn, but 1 have never been so insulted or so trodden upon as that at least by a gentleman." 'Then," I said, when I could in some measure collect my tuouguu, "jou don't know what lias become of the vase?" "Sir, I have never seen it" "But but pray excuse my pertina city, you came here as a kleptomaniac. Now, didn't you -Miss niter- "It's very hard," sue replied, weep ing again, "lor a poor ueieuceiess woman to be attacked m this way. But I don't complain, for I'm used to it. I came herein answer to an advertise ment said to proceed from a gentleman, and I only wish I hadn't." 'And tliat advertisement was lor a klentoinaniac Iteallv. Miss lute, I must ask you to let ine see your bag " Crying bitterly an tne time, out wmi- out a word she bunded it to: me. l opened It and found it eniptyl 1 don t think that, either before or since, I have felt so crushed as I did at that moment, thouzh my conviction that this shame less woman had got the vase was un shaken by my failure to find it. And now there uurst upon me a thought that brought the ierspiration out in great drops upon my forehead. In everv available room in tne uouse there was one of these desperate klepto maniacs, who was doubtless thieving right and left. "Excuse me one moment omy one moment," I said, and literally ran trom the room, my intention being to create a scare and thus prevent any further depredations. "Go to the hall door at once," I said to James, who happened to be passing, "ana no account let any one of the five ladies out of the house until I tell you." It really was a fnghitui scene mat met my gaze iu the boudoir. Mrs. Dark had discovered in an Indian cabinet a secret drawer of which I had no knowl edge, and this drawer had apparently contained a large quantity of jewelry, all of which I felt sure had been appro bated bv noor Maria. In order to nil her pocket more easily, Mrs. Dark was seated upon the lloor, with the wnoio collection of rings, bracelets and brooches in her lap and a iwjter in ner hand. She was a bushy-browed, keen-eyea elderly woman, with very square shoul ders and a slight stoop. A glance at her hard featured face and coarse Hands was enough to show that she belonged to a. different class from those of my other visitors a fact that rather sur prised me, for her letter had Deen tne most attractive of all. When 1 heard her speak I was driven to conclude she had not penned it without assistance, if, indeed, she had anything to do with it. stranpelv enouirh. too. she was the ouly of the five who displayed the least sign of embarassment at being caught thieving. She laughed, it is true, but the laughter had a very forced ring. However, she recovered mucn soouer than I did. After closing the cabinet she crammed all the jewelry into her pocket and rose to her feet aooKs nsny aon ! ur wivl iuia Dark, scrutinizing me from head to foot "You are a very brazen-faced wo man," said I carefully keeping between her and the door. For if she would get away and pawn the things Maria had taken there would be a terrible explo sion. -weii" said Mrs. Dark with an irritating pretense at resignation, suppose hard names are all in the day's work. What wages are you going to give me for this job of looking after your wire?" I winced at this. "Hand over the property you have stolen:" l angrily exclaimed, "lou can't escape, for the door is guarded "That is all right. But stolen I" The abandoned woman was actually winking acme, "mat's a hard word, too. How many kleptomaniacs have you got stored about the house?" "Five including yourself." "They'll carry off every stick of fur niture if you don't watch them," said Mrs. Dark laughing. The very idea of putting them in separate rooms'. It s just like a man. Shall I help you to make the others fork out? Set a thief to catch a thief, you know." I jumped eagerly at the suggestion, happening to come to terms with Mrs. Dark after the rest of my tormentors had been got rid of. She undertook the management, and, 1 must admit, went about her work in a very business-like way. In a wonderfully short space of time the six of us were collected in the drawing-room, all sitting down except Mrs. ileslop. who preferred standing, I suppose she was vexed at having been left in the hall, but the real reason came out presently. It s no reason trying to soap it over. began Mrs. Dark, lookiug round the c.rcle; "we're all kleptomaniacs. It's not our fault, of course, for we did not make ourselves, so there s no harm iu owning to it. And what we are is one thing, and wliat teopIe think of us is another. How is this gentleman here to know I'm not a humbug? He adver tised for a kleptomaniac, and he wants the real genuine article, I take it But how is ho to know he has got his money's worth unless he tests us. An incapable kleptomaniac would be just as bad as a vulgar thief. So what I pro pose is that the five of us should empty our pockets, chignons, and such like places ot resort lor missing articles. for," said Mrs. Dark, smiling compla cently at the other four, "I'll lay a tan ner to a brass farthing, ladies, you ve not been idle." Though the terms of this proiHsal were considered objectionable, it was cventuallv agreed to, Mrs. Ileslop stronglv protesting on the ground that she had no opportunity of showing her powers. However, I told her that unless she took part in the competition she would have no cliance of being appoint ed to the post, as she had no valuable ! prize to set off against the salary, she I recognized the expediency of yielding. Mrs. Ileslop was the Iirst who was called upon to exhibit what she had got And here a little difficulty arose which - l'i,l'lrt M !( u.a lo lilting down, It turned out that she had Improved herself that, I believe, is the correct expression with my gong, and accom panied by Mrs. Dark, she had to retire in order to produce it A small picture and several pairs or gloves completed her spoils. She was very wroth with James, who she declared had grossly insulted her by statiouing himself in the hall to watch her, just as if she were a common thief. She had scarcely finished speaking when the door opened and, to my hor ror, Maria walked in. What she thought of me, sitting there with these hve women, I cannot even conjecture. For reasons which will be rendered ob vious the subject has never been dis cussed between us. She looked as if, by some mistake, she entered the wrong house. "I see you are engaged," she said at length, and was about to withdraw. I was much too confused to speak or move. But Mrs. Dark begged her to remain and she did remain. She sat down close to me, and watched and lis tened like one in a dream. I learned afterwards that Uncle Joe had had an attack of gout; hence Maria's return at an unexpectedly early hour. There is no need to describe in detail the process of disgorging. Miss Mildew produced my ivory paper-knife, a num ber of stamps, several packets of post cards and two books; Mrs. Stone very nearly the whole contents of the plate basket, and Miss White many objects of bric-a-brac, and without a blush on her mournful face my gold vase! All the things were laid on a table which I had cleared for that purpose and set in the center of the cirle. As she gazed at her superior pile Miss White put away her handkerchief and smiled, while the other three looked as if they could have eaten her. "And now it's my turn," said Mrs. Dark pleasantly. With which she emptied a huge pocket into her lap, and there came tumbling out all the jewelry which I had previously seen. Among it I noticed for the first time Mrs. Arbuth not's bracelet In my dismay I could help stealing a glance at Maria, but except for a look of wonderment, her beautiful face was as caim as it tne whole transaction had no interest for her. I think you will admit, ladies," said Mrs. Dark, with satisfaction, "that I've licked the lot of you. " There were arguments, of course; there were many reasons given for set ting aside the verdict And when logic fuiled. abuse was poured out without stint The four defeated ladies declared themselves to be the victims of an infa mous conspiracy originated by Mrs. Dark. But in the end we escorted them to the door and they departed, Miss White weenine copiously. lxxKing back at their conduct which I can do calmly now I must say that my own feeling lor tnem is one oi puy. x am morally certain that they liad no more sense of wrong-doing than poor Maria has. . . When thev were cone l intervieu Mrs. Dark alone, for her behavior had raised certain suspicions in my mind. "May I asK your oujecw- j. imiuueu of l'er. ... ... , 'I have been put up to tne joo uy tne police," "1 tnougni. so.- "Here," said she, bringing out the paper which I had already seen in her hand, "is a list of the missing things, the last of the lot being a bracelet be longing to Mrs. ArbuthLOt. Ana nere 'pointing to the jewelry" are the missing things themselves. I call that neat I do. X'd make my mind to a fortnight or more in the house, but an hour you see has done the trick," Fortunately I had no trouble in hush inir the thine un; and. if it had effected a cure in Maria, it would have been the most welcome thing that ever happened to me. One would have thought that such an exhibition of kleptomania as she had witnessed would have given a salutary shock to her system and turned her mind in a new groove. Alas! it did nothing of the sort; she is as bad now as she as ever been. You who have been endowed with a normal mind may feel inclined to blame rather than pity her. But I would beg of you to remember that your mind might have been constituted as hers is, in which case you would not and could not hare acted differently. There may be a remedy for poor Maria's malady; if so, I should be very glad to know it. . Some of Oar Familiar Saying. Many of our common saying, so trite and pithy, are used witout the least idea from whose pen or mouth they first originated. Probably the works of Shakespeare furnish us with more of these familiar maxims than any other writer, for to him we owe "All is not gold that glitters," "Make a virtue of necessity," "Screw your courage to the sticking place," (not points), "They laugh that win," "This is the long and short of it," "Comparisons are odious," "As merry as the day is long," "A Daniel come to judgment" "Frailty thy name is woman," and a host of others. Washington Irving gives the "Al mighty Dollar." Thomas Murgan queried long ago "What will Mrs. Grundy sav?" while Goldsmith answers, "Ask me no ques tions and I'll tell you no libs." Charles Fickney gives "Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute." "I irst m war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his fellow citizens." (not countrymem) aiieared iu the reso lutions presented to the Ifause of ltep sentativesm December, 1720, prepared oy iicnerai narry iax. 1 homas Tasser, a writer of the six teenth century, gives us "Better late than never," "Look ere you leap," and "The stone that is rolling can gather no moss." All cry and no wool." is found In uutiers "lludibras." Dryden says. "None but the brave deserve the fair," "Men are but cuil dren of a larger growth, "and "Through thick and thin." When Greek joined Greek then was the tug of war," came from Natliamel I AX. Of the two evils I have chosen the least," and "The end must justify the means," are from Matthew Trior. U e arc indebted to Colley Libber for the agreeable intelligence that "Klcuard is himself again.'' Johnson tells us of "a good hater," and Macintosh, in 1791, the phrases often attributed to John Kauthdpb. i. and masterlT inactivitv " "Variety is the very spice of Life," and "Not much the worse for wear," Cowiier. "Man prooses but God dis- iKises," IhouiasA. Kemps. Christopher Marlowe gave fort 7 the invitation so often rejjUJ Ud 4- brothers in a less public way, me little, love me Iomr." Edward Coke was of the opinioiithat "A man's houso is his castle.'' To Milton we owe "The Paradise of fools," "A wilderness of sweets," and "Mcping melancholy and moonstruck madness" Edward Young tells us "Death loves a shining mark," and "A fool at forty is a fool Mdeed." From Bacon comes "Knowledge is power," and i homas Southerne re minds us that "Pit? is akin to love,' while Dean Swift thought that "Bread is the staff of Life." Old Sunday Customs. Iu Connecticut, perhaps more than anywhere else, Sunday was a sort of popular idol, nor did the rigor of its observance abate perceptibly until long after the involution. I his extreme scrupulosity about Sabbath-keeping was doubtless the moving cause of the building of the Sabbath-day bouses; these were little slianties standing on the meeting-house green, each intended to accommodate a family during the interval between the two services. Some Sabbath-day houses were built with a stall at one end to shelter the horse, while the family took refuge in the other, where there was a chimney and a meager furniture of rude seats and a table. Here on arrival before the first service the owners lighted a fire and deposited their luncheon, and to this camp-like place they came back to eat their doughnuts and thaw themselves out after their first long sitting in the arctic climate of the meeting-house. Sometimes two families had a Sab bath day house together; sometimes there were two rooms in a Sabbath-day house that the sexes might sit apart for nothing so agreeable as social con verse between boys and girls was per mitted during the consecrated time. But some parishes in Massachusetts, and perhaps elsewhere, had a common "noon-house" for all comers to rest in. Fireside assemblages on Sunday, whether in parsonage or the noon house, were in danger of proving de lightful to those who were prone to enjoy the society of other human beings, and hence the pastors "were put upon their best contrivances," to have most of the interval between the services filled up with the reading of edifying books and other exercises calculated to keep the mind in a becomingly irksome frame. Stilton Cheese. The rich imported theese known as Stilton is made in England in a narrow locality in the county of Leicester. It was made by a Mrs. l'aulet for an inn keeper named Cooper ThornhilL and in compliance with his directions. The cheese is now one of the most popular of all English makes, and has a rich, delicate flavor, due to a peculiar process of making and ripening. It is made of the whole morning's milk, to which is added the cream of the previous night's milk. The milk is warmed to only seventy-eight degrees, and is curdled at that temperature with a small quantity of rennet The curd is cut in large blocks, and is dipped out into cylindri cal molds about eight inches in diame ter and ten or eleven inches deep. I be only pressure applied Is the weight of the curd, as the mold is reversed daily, so that the pressure of the cheese presses out the whey. The curing Is perfected by means of a blue and green mould. which is caused to penetrate through the cheese by pricking the curd with a long needle first pushed into an old cheese, by which the new cheese is in oculated with the ferment Tiro yean are required to complete the curing. The cheese sells in England at about sixty-three cents a pound, and weighs from eight to ten pounds. IiIFE IX KEY TTKST. The Peculiar Stat or Society Exlotlng Among Its Mixed Population. When It la found, the boarders would consider a New York boarding-house, derided as it so often is, a palace in ac commodation for eating and sleeping compared to one. in Key West The streets are wide and dusty, for there are no sprinklers. In fact water is such a luxury in the dry season that It cannot be wasted in sprinkling the streets. It is rain water caught in cis terns wnen tne neavens iurnisn a sup ply, and is often carried from place to place in pails supported by a yoke from me snouiders. An attempt was one time made to drive an artesian well, but the water when reached was so brackish that it could only be used for 11.. &: .1. r m m 1 m eitinguusiniig 01 nres, ine uust nies continually. The road-way is hard, being the solid coral rock itself. There is no surface soil. What passes for soil is nothing more than this rock ground up. It is a nice thing to have blown over black clothing, and still a nicer thing to get out of the cloth after ward. The population consists mainly of Cubans, Conchs and negroes. The Concha are in reality natives of the Bahama Islands, but everybody in Key West calls them by that name. The Cubans dislike the Conchs and the Conch3 detest the Cubans, while both together hate the negroes. A happy state of society may therefore be imag ined. They are as distinct as can be, but their localities are known as Conch town, Niggertown and Cuban villiage. Each has its distinct amusements, oc cupations and turmoil. The few Americans seem to be always planning how best to get away from the Island. Cigar-making is the principal employ ment of the Cubans, and there is plenty of work for them, as Key West con tains izi cigar factories. It is said ou good authority tliat 90,000,000 cigars are shipped away from the island every year. The Cuban is not very strong-look ing. His sports are gambling and rooster-fighting. The women are fairly good looking, giving to wearing high heels, lace shawls and face powder. Both men and women smoke and chat ter like magpies. They stand around in crowds and make a noise more like a lot of geese than human beings. Their food is princialy oil, pork, bananas and coffee. Their coffee is gooJ, but so strong that it will stain the cup from which it is drunk. When in a restau rant the Cubans appear to talk all at once, each trying, as it were to drown tke other's voice, and gesticulating as if about to strike each other on the face. The odor of the Cuban restaur ant is generally too strong for the ol factory nerves of one brought up in New York. The Conchs are the fisher men of the Island and the gatherers of srionges. They are a largo, rough class of men, and apparently very ignorant One marked feature is their accent, which is considered characteristic of the Loudoner tlrethrrtirnna of thgT.-Tini' where needed and using it exclusively where not wanted. They u-e their fists when fighting, while the Cubans are too ready with the revolver or stiletto. The negroes are employed in Key West, as else w lie; e, in menial labor. Together these three races form a very mixed and far from harmonious society, one that is not likely to be met with anywhere in the United States. L.IOX FIGHTING. A Duel in Algeria Bet ween Male 1 Beasts. Only those who have experienced it can realize the excitement caused by witnessing a hand to hand conflict be tween two savage, untamed beasts. I have witnessed bull-lights in Mexico and seen a python crush the life out of a calf in South America, but never gazed on a more thrilling episode than on one hot Algerian night at a water pool about 200 miles in the interior, lieside the pool were several trees of a fair size, in the branches of one of which had been placed a small platform hid den among the clustered leaves, from which hiding place it was convenient to shoot any animals that might come to the pool to drink during the night Thither repaired one evening soon after sundown, Maccovoy and myself, accom panied by his Arab servant, a young fellow named Asi 11a, who bore our snare guns and acted as general factotum to us both on expeditions ot this nature. It is difficult for me, in my cooler mo ments, to climb a tree and the smooth. straight stem proved extremely trouble some to swarm. However, with the help of Mac and Asilla, I managed it and secured a comfortable irch. They followed with great facility, being boln slight active men and at once made the guns ready. I he moon rose gradually and I bad a good opportunity to study perfect silence. Nothing can be more deeply silent than a still night in the desert As there is little or 110 vegetation on these vast oceans of sand, there is no insect life and for several hours after the moon rose absolute silence reigned. Ave did not speak. There was no living thing in that widespread expanse of country. I was beginning to feel sleepy and nod frequently when a prolonged roar sounded close at hand. In an in stant we were wide awake and grasped our guns nervously. At the next instant the roar was answered from a location immediately beneath us. Un looking down we saw a lioness, lying on her belly, her head between her paws and tier long tail waving luxuriously to and fro. She looked like a huge cat enjoy ing some pleasurable sensation. Almost instantly a third woof! woof! woof! sounded at our backs. "Gad, Doc!" breathed Mac, "we are in for a bay to night!" and a moment later two mag nificent males stepped slowly and ma jestically into view. The female con tinued to purr and wave her tail gently. As soon as the two lions spied each other they prepared for action. Slowly and carefully they Beared each other, the lioness meanwnue watcning tnem as a cat does a mouse. Closer and closer they drew, while we, spellbound, reser- ed our nre to witness tne terrible duel that was impending. And now they crouch and with mu tual roars of rage spring at each other and, meeting m midleap, fall, biting and tearing to the earth. We can hear their bones crush between their power ful jaws like egg shells beneath a man's boot beeL The lioness, maintaining her tranquil attitude, watched the conflict. as it seemed to my excited eyes, wiih a devilish smile on her face. Over and over they rolled, while the sickening sonnd of champing bones filled the air, their frantic roaring and the movement of their bodies as they thrashed through the whirling sand. By this time my nerves were so wrought up that I could stand the terrible spectacle no longer and, taking deliberate aim at the lion ess, Denind her shoulder blade, I let fly. Above the rumble of the smooth bore sounded the shriek of the lioness as the heavy ball crashed into her vitals. The two duelists at once ceased their en counter and as one of them turned he received Maccovoy's rifle bullet in the head, the missile piercing the hollow over the eye, where the skull is weak and entering the brain; death was almost instantaneous. The other male with a thundering woof! gave a mighty spring and landed half way np the tree trunk, nearly shaking us Jrom our perch. Asilia hastily discharged one of the spare guns, slap bang into his face, but probably the cliarge only grazed him, for falling back he disappeared into the darkness toward where the moans and cries of the lioness erew fainter and 1 . " iainter every moment The moon beinz on the wane, after all sounds had ceased we returned to camp, with many promises to each other to take up the spoor of our wounded enemies in the morning and track them to their death. Accordingly at daybreak, with a party of fifty Arab oeaters we returned to the "stand" and were soon on the spoor of the wounded lioness. The sand was torn up for quite a space, as if the animal had suffered terrible agony and following the trail for at least nine miles in a southeasterly direction, the dogs gave tongue at a tamarisk brake, that extended on three sides of quite a body of brackish water. Some four or five of the dogs, of better blood than the average Arab cur, dashed iuto the tangle, and the next instant we bad the satisfaction of see in; the mangled remains of one flung into the air, from about the center of the patch. A chorus of yelps and snarl ings now set in and one disconsolate one limped painfully out his ribs bare of flesh where the lioness' paw had struck him. We are now in a predicament After an hour's infernal clatter by the the beaters, we were as far from getting her royal highness out as ever, for show herself she would not "If the tamtirisk is only dry enough," quoth Mac, "we can soon smoke her out;" and he gal hqied round through the beaters and soon a volley of flaming torches rained into the brake. This fetched her. She made a gallant charge out and almost up to us, before we gave her all four barrels. It stopped her and for a moment the noble beast seemed stun ned. Then as the smoke cleared away, we saw her return to the shelter. More torches were thrown in and four sepa rate times did the desperate lioness cliarge atus dauntlesslyandreceive our fire, before finally biting the dust She had eleven bullet holes in her, the smashed shoulder blade I had given her tlie night before. With that bullet In her (which had passed through her and lay against her ribs on the opposite side to tliat it had entered), she bad traveled neat ly nine miles, had made five determined rushes, killed and dis abled four dogs and died like the heroine she was in midcharge. And Maccovoy, fx? t!W, iwkeuT Doctor." v yon still hold to the opinion tliat a lion is no better than a dog.'" And I could find 110 answer, save words of praise for the noble creature that lay dead before us. Too much time had elapsed for to track the other lion successfully, the spoor having been obliterated by the feet of other game. But two lions out of three wasn't such bad work for twenty-four hours, after all and we returned to camp fully satisfied with our day's sport" A Bride's Curious Costume. We were lucky enough to see a bride during our sUy at Astypahea, and her wedding garments were extravagantly rich, says a writer. When new, they told us, a bridal dress costs a hundred pounds, but in their present impover ished state the brides have to be content with imitation jewelry and Koiuau pearls, unless they are lucky enough to have inherited a costume from their ancestors, which has probably done ser vice for generations of brides. Our bride had for iter headdress a sort of mitre of gold, covered with an elaborate pattern in seed pearls. Her dress was made like those the women wear every day, ouly it was of velvet instead of red cloth, and her jacket was fringed with an endless number of silver ornaments, which jangled together when she moved. The Astypalaeotes manage their wed ding festivities more quietly Hum they do in other Islands. The ceremony of fetching the vine tendrils for the wed ding wreaths is a pretty one. The fathers of the young conple, attended by priests and a large retinue of young men playing the lyre and the bagpipe, go down to the meadow where the vine yards are. As they are gathered the priests bless the tendrils and the party returns to make merry in the bride's house. When the bridegroom comes to claim his bride before the ceremony in church he is met by a bridesmaid on the thresh old, who gives him honey with which to make a cross on the lintel, and a lomegranate which he breaks and scat ters outside, and in the evening the young people indulge in some curious local dances In which the bride and bridegroom are energetic part expected tj take an A Japanese Jar not Often Heard Of. Generally speaking the Japanese make kind and affectionate husbands, and the women make virtuous and ex emplary wives and mothers; and the children are certainly the happiest little imps in the world; their parents fondle and spoil them most effectually, and at the same time never losing their control over them. The husband has absolute control over the person of his wife; at the same time one uever sees a man strike a woman in Japan; yet there is consider able pinching and slapping done on occasions when those strange and uu govemable spell of exasperating ugli ness known as tantrums settle down upon the r matrimonial horizons. On these occasions there is considerable free hitting, biting and scratching in dulged in on both sides of the house, but the greater strength of the husband invariably leaves him master of the situation, and the beligerant household speedily resumes its serene and happy course. Mexico's Cheap Fnnerals. In the City of Mexico tramways are utilized often for queer service. The citizens hire these tramway can for pic nics, excursions and funerals. A couple of cars can be had for $15, and they convey the deceased, relatives and friends to the cemetery often some miles out of the city. Funerals are very cheap in the Mexican capital, and do not come under the head of luxuries as here. DWARFS AXD MIDGETS. The Whims and Oddities of These Little People. "The dwarf business Isn't what it once was." "Then, too," contnued Mr. Wheeler, "dwarfs are running out. A few years ago they were springing tip, though not very high. In all parts of the world. It seemed to be a sort of dwarf age. For a while a 30-inch dwarf could not earn a living salary. He had to possess some striking physical feature if he hoped to secure permanent situations with mu seum circuits. Now, however all this has changed. I.ot3 of the old-time Lilliputians have passed away, and a 40-iuch freak can get a chair in a first class curio hall if he is good-looking and intelligent The business was very nearly ruined at one time by tricksters. As you have possibly observed, midgeU without exception have abnormally large heads. Unprincipaled showmeu, when the dwarf supply became inade quate, would tike children with large heads and old laces and work them upon the circuits. There suddenly be came such an influx of little folks on the market that none of the true midg ets aside from Mrs.Stratton or Admiral Dot could get work that paid. This has passed away, and there is no fraud about the present representatives of dwarfdom. "I never saw but two perfectly formed midgets. These were Mrs. Gen. Tom Thumb, who i3 now Countess Itosebud, and Princess Lucy. There is always some deformity. Take General Thumb for instance. He was badly developed in the torso. Other people have poorly constructed limbs or arms, and almost universally they are double jointed at the kneei or elbows. You see the hick of stature must be attribu table to something, and as nearly as I can make out it is in the joints. "What is the most striking character istic of these freaks? Intemperance. There is no class of people on earth so given to drink. The males always like whiskey, and the females dote on beer. Gem Thumb was fond of smoking, but aside from him tobacco is not used among the men. "I never knew of but one family wherein dwarfs appeared in more than one generation. This occurred in that of Admiral Dot. He is the uncle of Major Adams, the midget clown of the Barnuni show. Adams Is twenty-one inches in height, and his father is nearly six feet tall. Dot is traveling about the country nosr with little Jennie Quigley. mey earn jointly iw a week. ''Siieaklng about Princess Lucv re minds me of the event that brought her in:o prominence. Years ago, when the Countess Kosebud was Mrs. Tom Thumb, a report was circulated that she had been blessed with a child. This was not the case, and the story was made out or the w hole cloth by one of liar- num's advertising agents. The Thumb family were unconscientious enough to take advantage of the canard. They liad neard or the little lYincess Lncy, and Mrs. Thumb sent for her and offered to adopt her. send her to a con vent for a ftw years, and then introduce her to the world as her daughter. 1 he scheme was a capital one, for it is im possible to tell whether Lucy is 4 or 40 years old The princess declined the offer. She is now earning S20O a week fer ling eighteen inches high. "There are several instances where midgets appeared in a single generation of the family. The Harris sisters are quadruplets. They vary in height from thirty-six to forty-two inches, ami are daughters of a very poor man in Ex port, Me. The father a mechanic, was a magnificent specimen of physical man hood, large and powerful of build, and the mother was above medium size. These sisters are badly deformed, all of j them having double-jointed elbows. Besides this they enjoy the reputation of leing the homeliest midgets in the profession. Young Faster, whose nom de museum is "Hop o' My Thumb," is twenty-eight inches tall. He has a baby brother, not yet a year old that weighed when ten days old one and one-half pounds. "Lucy Zirata earns the largest salary of any dwarf in the world. She is a native of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and is very small. Her head is proportioned nicely to her physique, but is shaped like that of an ape. Joseph Smith is her manager, and he gets $.300 a w eek for exhibiting her. The liitle women cannot win the affections of full-grown mankind, but the men are more fortu nate. Baron Littlefinger married a lady over five feet tall, and is the happy father of four fine children. The late Commodore Nutt wedded a Manchester. . H., girl hve feet live inches tall, and left one child at his death. Minnie Warren, sister of the Countess Kosebud. it is true, married a roller-skater named Newell, who was with Nat Goodwin in the "Skating ltink." Newell, how ever, while hardly a midget, is greatly under size. "MidgeU are a nervous lot, and few of them are more than passably intelli gent. They fly off on a tangent like a dove from a hornet's nest. Hop o' My Thumb is the tieliest vounsrster of then. an, anu ce irequentiy indulges m spasms of rage. Dangerous? Well, as much as twenty-eight inches of human ity could be expected to be." Peat Bogs in Itussia. A Russian official report states that the use of peat iu factories is rapidly increasing, and from this circumstance the price of peat-bogs has risen so much that a bog is worth more than a well- limbered forest. Last year twenty eight peat-bogs belonging to the Crown were being worked on leases, the total area being e.OOOacre. This year there are thirty-three such bogs, with an area of 50,00t) acres containing peat to the estimated extent of 40,000,000 Russian cubic fathoms. Many manufacturers are giving up the use of wood in favor of peat, and this is especially the case in the provinces of Yaldimir. Peat-cutting machines are supplied from Mos cow, but a few are sent from Belgium and Germany. The fuel has been tried for railway work, but so far without any great success. Balloons in China. Balloons are to be introduced into China. The Pekin government has or dered two captive balloons from Paris, sud have provided all the necessary hinds for several practiced aronauts to take over the latest inventions in this branch of science, including a special machine to manufacture hydrogen gas. Mock humility wears a gauze robe, covering but not concealing Its defor anity. New York city has 30,000 land ards who collect f 40.000,000 rent. NEWS IN BRIEF. PattI thinks her mantle will fall upon Marcella Sem inch. A Stockton (CaL) bootblack carries a box that Is covered with silver plate. The total snowfall for Vermont during the winter Is reported at II feet 7 inches. Many fishing vessels have been disabled by ice off the western banks of Newfoundland. Greenfield, Massachusetts, has sold its old jail, which is to be turned into a pocketbook factory. A Chinese lady with a two and one-half Inch foot is to be seen at a dime show in Xe w York. A horse In Edinburgh, Scotland, dexterously catches rats that come anywhere ttar his manger. New engines and the removal of the paddles are expected to give the Great Eistern a speed of twenty knots. To the record of great physical ex ploits must be added that of a man in Texas who sucked two dozen eggs at a sitting. Efficient service was rendered by a female fire brigade -composed of the operatives during a recent fire in an English mill. Resident of an avenue in r.tts burg arose on a recent morning to find that rascals had carried off tho 3teps of their dwellings. The Maine Legislature killed a bill preventing the sale ot cigarettes to minors, because its projectors made the fine too heavy. Fourteen clocks keep the time at the State House in Augusta. Maine, all eight-day. Two of the clocks are over forty years of age. A man in Pennsylvania bought a pair of white rabbits a year ago. He now ha3 seventy rabbits, the offspring of the original pair. The tax on natural gas pipes iu Pittsburg Is reported to exceed i 1.500, 000 per annum, indicating a marvellous rate of expansion in the natural gas in dustry. During a recent shower at Rock port, Indiana, 210 live catfish from 3 to 8 inches long fell to the ground. They were gathered and many of them eaten. The Hudson county. New Jersey, Board of Freeholders are preparing for the construction of a great boulevard from one end of the county to the other, to cost $1,000,000 or more. A West Newbury farmer recently sent two tons of cabbages to a Boston commission house, and after the freight, commission and storage had been deducted, he had only 90 cents left The wages of sailors at San Fran cisco have been increased to 130 per month to Hawaiian Island, lio to bar harbors, and J40 to outside ports. It 1--said the advance was prompted by i. scarcity of men. Suit haa been brought by oae of the audience of a burlesque entertain ment against one of the performers, because while singing a topical song, she pointed to him and otherwise ren dered him ridiculous. An organ grinder living in Hobo ken, N. J.. took his savings, amount ing to $1060, out of his strong box re cently and gave them to his son to deposit in a savings bank. Son has not been heard from since. The University of Zurich numbers this year 4J students (inclusive of 44 young women), of whom 41 are study ing theology, otJ (one young woman among them) law, 205 (20 young women) medicine, and 143 (17 young women) philosophy. The Standard Oil Company are re ported to be about contracting for an iron vessel to carry oil in bulk for the coastwise trade. It will be built at one of the shipyards on the Delaware river. The new craft will have a ca pacity of 230,000 gallons. The alloys of aluminum and si'i cum are now regularly quoted in the engineering journals. Aluminum brass, said to have a tensile strength of 05,000 to SO.OilO pounds, with an elong ation of five to ten per cent, is quoted at 20 cents per pound. The sanitary condition of the Treasury Department in Washington is being investigated, and the nuisances found abated. A ventilating shaft. heated by coils of steam pipe, will be erected to carry off the foul air from the large main sewer under the build ing. A crank from North Carolina was arrested in Washington recently as a vagrant. He stated that he had tramped to Washington to take the President's chair, if there was no ob jection. There were serious objections, so he was sent to the firm for thirty days. Mississippi tax collectors have been notified, in view of the recent decision of the Supreme Court on the subject, to stop collecting the tax of 123 on commercial "drummers" (and 1230 on whisky salesmen) in that State. The State derived about $40,003 from this source. The first steel cruiser ever built in China, it is claimed, was recently launched from a ship yard at Wham poa. She fulailed the tests required and will be used by the Portuguese GovernmentTor the defence of Manilla. The building of such a vessel by native workmen is a long stride in the indus trial arts by the Chinese. It Is estimated that S,0v0,000 of umbrellas are made in this country an nually. The number imported is net stated. There is hardly any article we use that we don't get somewhat at tached to, but an umbrella rarely stays long enough to enter into this category. A farm in the southeast corner of Louisiana, and said to be the larsrest known, runs 100 miles north and south. The immense tract is divided into con venient pastures, with stations or ranches every six miles. The fencing alone cost nearly 530,000. A natural curiosity has been dis covered at Solothurn, Switzerland, the centre of a larg9 watch manufacturing district It is the nest of a wagtail. built wholly of long spiral steel shav ings, without the least part of veget able or animal fibre used in its con struction. The nest has been preserved in the Museum of Natural History. The bounty of five cents placed on each jack rabbit scalp is resulting in great slaughter of the pests in Cali fornia. The Elko Independent says that on a recent day, certificates for bounty on 20,000 scalps were presented to the Board of County Commissioners; and the Harney Valley Hems tells of a wagon load of 7,000 scalps starting for the county seat m m : H m f 1 fry ft i' IS i .i . ill-' IS
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers