I, ' uri - - . " " - iniif i eilieTfc ill ; lei x 3 . r. sciiweiei: THE CONSTITUTION THE UNION-AND .THE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAWS. Editor and Proprietor. VOL. XLII. MIFFLINTOWN. JUNIATA COUNTY. PENNA.. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 6, 1SSS. NO. 24. Two FUhrr. On morning when Spring was la her teen A morn to a poet's wishing, All Untsd in dohcats pink ami greens Miss Hessia and I went fishing. I In my roagh and euj cloches. With my fr at the sunshine's msrey; Sh with her bat tipped down to her nose A ad her nose tipped rice versa. t with my rod and reel and hooks. And a haniper for lunching recesses; he with the bait of her comely looks And the seine of her gulden tresses. f we sat down on the snnny diks Where the white pond lilies teeter. And t went Ashing like quaint old Ike, And she liks Simon Peter. All the noon I lay In the light of her eyes. An. I Ureamiugly watched and waited, at the ti.ih were cunning and would not rise. And the baiter alone was batted. And when the lime for departure came, Tli b ig ww Mat as a flounder; Hut IW. h.i I neatly hooked ber game A huulml-and-eiLty pounder. MY SICILIAN Fill END. 1 have not seen niy oM Italian friend fur a very long time. I made Ins acquaintance more than twenty jears ago In a town some ii-tO miles una here. He had charge of the grounds of a school in which I was a tender. . lie waa always np with the l.irk.and like the bird whose voice la rariy rising, was singing among the Bowers. It I am condemned to be aroused from slumber at break of day during the summer I prefer to have the operation performed I y a meadow lark ir a songster Imported from the south of Italy. There is. It truth, something very charming about being awakened I y soft, sweet music. I listened to his aid found t' at it wm not produced by any bird whose soug 1 had ever heard. I looked out of my window and saw the creature from whom the sweet stralua of music proceeded. It was an Italian about 26 years of age. lie was transplanting some flowers from a hot bed while they were yet moist with dew. He was the picture if health and beauty. His eyes and hair were glossy black, his form erect and bis move, nients graceful. He was not a typical Italian. Ilia features more nearly re sembled those represented by a Greek statue. As a statue he would have been an appropriate ornament for a park or flower garden. I soon went down and spoke to him. He found it difficult to converse in English, although he understood nearly all the words addressed to him. Ou asking hi name he picked up a piece of planed board, like that which formed the border of the bend on which he was at work, and in a plain and delicate hand wrote with his peueil llaffaele N icola, ralermo, Sicily, Italy. I took the card to my room to preserve as a beautiful specimen of penmanship. Many profess to be able to tell the character of strangers by their hand writing. .This writing would indicate .decision, promptness, care and exact ness. It alio indicated culture, taste and refinement. He was certainly possessed of all these. His voice showed the effects of training and his manners were thoee of a gentleman. His hands did not look like those of a working man, though obviously he had much experience in the cultivation of trees, shrubs and smaller plants. Evidently he was not a bandit from the Sicilian mountains who had tied the country to escape punishment. During all that summer I assidu ously cultivated his acquaintance. As be made rapid progress in learning Knglish, be was soon able to tell me about his history, his connections and bia hopes and prospects. He stated that he came to Xew York to engage la the fruit business, a wealthy friend In Palermo, Nicolai Tietro, having offered to supply him with stock with which to make a start. He found, however, that too mauy or his country men were already engaged la jobVing In tropical fruits there. Some of them advised him to go to St. .Louis, where there would be less competition. He went there, but found Hiat the city was generally supplied with fruit that came from Central America by the way of Xew Orleans. He soon ran short of money, and accordingly re solved to engage in any kind of work he could find to do. Learning that a gardener was wanted at the place where I found him, he applied for the place and obtained it. He did much work for very little pay, but as soon as Le became a general favorite he seemed contented and happy. One day he told me of his wife, whom lie had left behind with the intention of sending for her when he got estab lished In business. He showed me her picture, and on my complimenting It he said she was the beauty of the neigh borhood where they lived. She had many suitors, and among them was the rich orange shipper who bad as sisted him to come to this country. .Every month be sent her half his wages. I was of assistance to him iu sending the remittances. I also as sisted him In directing letters to her. He Informed me that the postal regu lations of his country required that a letter addressed to a married woman should give not onlv her name and residence, but those of her husband and his occupation. He translated to me all the letters he received from his wife. They were at first frequeut and long. After some months they were shorter and there was a longer interval between them. 1 suspected the reason, but fortunately for his peace of mind he did not. His trust was as devout as his love was ardent. After some months he Informed me of his intention of going back to Palermo aud bringing his adored to this country. His re mote plan was to coutlnue his occupa tion of gardener till be could save means to engage In fruit raising in Missouri or southern Illinois. That fall I returned to Chicago and had no means of learning whether he carried out his Intention of going from Hew Y ork to Palermo on a steamer engaged In the fruit trade or not. I hardly expected that I should ever see him again, but I had such pleasant recollec tions or him that I entertained very favorable opinion of his countrymen. I selected Alexander Kibolla for my barber, and cultivated the acquaint ance of Mr. Cornlenth, who was em ployed In the office of the county clerk. 1 bought the fruit I atecf Italian street venders. During the fall of 1SS0 I frequently noticed when I was walking on Dear born or Clark street in the evening tnat an emaciated, sorrowful looking, dark complexloned man was a little way behind me, and apparently following me for a purpose. In places compara tively dark he would quicken his pace a It to ivwetake m. but as soon as he I . approached a street lamp his steps be came short and alow. One night I re solved to find out who this mysterious person was and to ascertain what he wanted of me. I was going south on Dearborn street. In the direction of the postofflce, when I noticed him follow ing me, as I bad many times before. He lagged behind at the Monroe street crowing and did not quicken bis pace till he came to the next alley. I was a quarter of a block in advance of him. at a place where the sidewalk was well lighted. There I suddenly turned, as If I had forgotten something, and walking quickly back. I confronted the stranger before be had time to re trace his step. To my great surprise I found him to be my old acquaintance, Itaffaele Nicola. He was indeed greatly changed, though It was easy to recog nise features as marked as his. His voice, too, was one that a stranger would always remember, though it affected my ear very differently from the way it did the first time I heard it. We know the bell that if tolling at a funeral, though we first became accus tomed to its tone when it was ringing on the occasion of a wedding. His hand trembled when he took mine, and his dark eyes fell when I looked him In the face. He was speechless, and I was so embarrassed that I did not know how to commence a conversation. I finally asked Lim how he was. For answer he stepped before a lighted window, when I might see his haggard face and sunken eyes. The sight ex pressed more than all the words In any language can convey. Disappoint ment, misery, wretchedness, despair these as words must be slowly repeated to the ear before we comprehend their significance. The eye catches them in an instant. To say that I was liorriQed does not express my condition. I finally gained my composure so as to ask him if he then and on other occasions had been trying to seek or to avoid me. He spoke now slowly, cautiously, solemnly: "For more than a year I have been trying to find a suitable opportunity to speak with you. In my condition I d Id not like to address you in the street in the daytime and to mortify you by having your acquaintances see you talk ing with me. A like reason prevented me from approaching you in the even ing at a place where the sidewalk was well lighted. 1 have followed you thinking that you might notice me, recognize me or stop in some doorway or alley and speak to me. 1 have something to tell you, something not pleasant to hear, not what you would like to bear of me, but which must be spoken. A secret of guilt and shame punishes as no executioner can. It allows one to remain alive and rational that it may torture him the longer. I must relieve my mind of it and see what the effect will be. Tell me when and where I can meet you alone for half an hour. It had better be In the night, as it is of a dark matter of which I am to speak." I believe I am what professional bruisers, piug uglles and reckless in dividuals call a coward. Indeed, I am quite positive that I am. I have periled my life several times in trying dangerous experiments, and once to save a friend. I would do the same thing again, were occasion to require, but I could never make out bow any being would be benefitted by my going out in a heavy sea in a birch bark canoe, serving as a target for people to fire at, or shutting myself up in a room with a madman. However, my curios ity was excited by the looks, appear ance and words of my old acquaintance, and 1 desired to aid him if it was in my power. I appointed the next even ing at 8 o'clock as the time, and the room where I ordinarily did my writing as the place of meeting. I slept little that night, and was very nervous dur ing the next day. I was not as desir ous of having the hour of meeting ar rive as of having the Interview over, i'unctual to the exact minute he ar rived at my room, and the door being ajar he entered without saying a word. He took a roll of paiers from his pocket and placed them on the table. On my pointing to a chair he took It. at the same time tossing his hat into a corner. Evidently be was ready to proceed with his narration, and I asked him to do so. Following are the de tails or his story as nearly as I remem ber them: I started for New York about a year after you left me. There I bought a ticket on an Italian steamer for Mes sina, with the privilege of stopping over at any of the leading porta in Spam, Franca or Italy till auother boat came along belonging to the same line. The trip across the ocean was rough and 1 was sick most of the time till we got to Gibraltar. Once on the Medi terranean and it was pleasant enough so far as good weather was concerned. Still the nearer I got to my old home the less I seemed to care about going to it. I hvl a suspicion that something was wrong there, and It grew on me day by day. All the crew were from Naples, and they knew next to nothing about Sicily. The clerk who kept the accounts of the freight Informed me that Nicolai rietro had not been a shipper or fruit for years, and he was convinced that he was not known in business circles at I'alermo. Then it occurred to me that he had induced me to go to America simply to separate me from my wife. Was she in league with him at the time? Had she during my absence fallen Into his power? I could not eat, sleep, or rest. I walked the deck nearly all night. The surgeon informed the captain that I was threatened with brain fever. Both or them thought I would be better on shore. As we were to put into a small port on the Island or Sardinia, I con cluded that I would wait until the next steamer plying between New York and Messina arrived. A week passed before it came, and during this time I had in a measure regained my health and com posure. On the new boat there were several sailors who lived at Palermo. One or them, an intelligent young fellow said he knew I'ietro. He had not been in business for a long time. He had lost whatever property be had ever had and was leading a hard life. There were suspicions that he had con nections with the bandits in the moun tain Darts of the island. His com panions in town belonged to the worst 1 , , T I. I ...... 1 class .thieves ana gamuiera. x ucaiutiou shout asking the young sailor if he knew my wife. I knew that another dav would bring me where I could Wrn about her for myself. We entered the harbor or Palermo about sunset and anchored at some little distance from the docks. This was done in order to allow the custom house officers to come on board. A boat was run to the nearest pier every hair hour for the use of such pas-anns-era and crew as wished to visit the citv. I left mv bundles on mi bonk and went on shore In the second boat load. It seemed strange to be on my old island home once more. It was be ginning to get dark, and they were lighting the lamps on the s treats. Seve ral beggars addressed me, to some of whom I gave some sums. The narrow street I was on took me past the little chapel where we were married. I stopped and looked in. Candles were burning on the altar, but the place was silent as the grave. I returned to the street and resumed my walk, knowing that every step was bringing me nearer her whom I had come so far to see. W hen I got beyond the old city wall and was among the little vineyards and orange gardens I began to grow excited, as the cottage where I left her was but a few rods further on. I soon saw it, as It was lighted. There were no curtains at the windows, but they as well as the porch before the door were partially shaded by vines I noiselessly approached the place. I heard loud voices, those of a man and woman, who were evidently In a quarrel. Occasionally there was the sharp bark of a dog, when the man used harsh language. I took advantage or this noise to get into the porch with out making any alarm. I looked and saw her whom I had loved, no longer lovely or beautiful. She was behind a stand, on which a wax candle was burning. Close beside her was the dog that had been barking. He was watch ing the movements or a man who was much nearer to me, but as his back was turned I could not see his face. In a moment I obtained a glance at his face, heard his voice, saw that he had a dagger in his hand. It was Pietro. My blood was hot. I wanted to strike him down. But I kept my place. I listened to his angry words, that I will not repeat even to you. It is enough to say that they confirmed my worst suspicions. Accusations and confes sions left no chance for doubt. For a time my anger abated. I was not thirsting for revenge. I blamed myself for the trust I had shown. I was weak with the feeling of mortification, dis grace and shame. I even thought of retreating as I had come. I did not entertain this thought long. The treacherous male villain advanced toward the woman, and declaring that he had committed a crime that would cause his arrest if he did not escape to the mountains that night, demanded the money she had last received from America. As she hesitated about giv ing it to him, be went toward her with his dagger In his hand and declared with a terrible oath that he would take it from her by force. As she screamed the dog leaped at the would be robber, and in so doing overturned the stand and candle. I sprang forward to strike the wretch to the ground. I did what I intended. He fell, and in doing so his danger entered the heart of the frightened woman before him. Her blood spurted on his face and hands. The fierce dog sprange and applied his jaws to his throat. The candle on the door set fire to the woman's dress and lighted up the room. 1 surveyed the scene with as much composure as I would a bed of flowers I had planted, leisurely came out upon the road and returned to the city. I bought soue cigars and wine, and took them on board the steamer, where I shared them with the passengers and some of the crew. I slept that nignt as i naa not since I left America. No sense of wrong kept me awake. Those who went ashore the next morning brought back word of a terri ble murder that had been committed the night before. One of them gave me a paper containing an account of it. I have preserved it, and you can find It in the bundle I leave with you. As I was reading the paper and smok ing a cigar on the deck of the steamer I noticed that there was an excited crowd on La Promenade Marina, which is generally occupied by pleasure seekers. I took a glass and observed it. A wild mob was following a pri soner, who had obviously made an at tempt to escape from the police. Ills hands were fastened together with iron. A dog was following him, and every little while he would snap at him. As he did so the boys would shout, 1 understood all about the matter. Two days afterward there was a quiet funeral in the little chapel where 1 was married, rue body over wnicn services were held was that of a false wife, who bad been murdered by her false lover, Nicolai I'ietro. At least that was the way the papers spoke of it, I heard the bell strike twenty-three times In succession in tolling. That was the number of her years. I will confess that I was affected each time the bell struck for the eighteenth year. That was for the year of our marriage. I afterward learned that the dog that followed the murderer in anger fol lowed the hearse of the murdered woman in sorrow and leaped into the grave where they placed her. I am glad that there are creatures in tne world with Just intelligence enough to see the good In people without dis covering the evil. A trial for murder In Italy-Is not deferred till the crime is forgotten. Neither is it of loug continuance. Nicolai Pietro was tried and convicted before I lert Italy. The case was clear. All the evidence was against him. It was well known that he had long sustained improper relations with a woman whose husband was out of the country. He was seen going to her house early in the evening. He was found there by persons who were at tracted to the cottage by an unusual light. His face, hands and clothing were covered with blood. A dagger. known to be his, was sticking in the bosom of the murdered woman. A dog belonging to ber was clinging to his throat. The character of the man was as bad as it well could be. The night before the murder a robbery had been committed and he was suspected of it. Articles belonging to the man who was robbed were found in the pocket of I'ietro. The evidence was perfectly conclusive, there' was absolutely no defense. With this account my visitor stop ped. He had evidently completed the story he had to tell. At my request he informed me about his return from Messina to New York on a vessel. where he paid his passage as assistant to the cook. He likewise told me of his brief stay In eastern cities and of his coming to Chicago, where, under an assumed name, be obtained employ ment in a restaurant on Clark street. It was while there that be discovered me. As be had completed his story and irnt it off his mind I suDDOsed he would at nnM lnim me. But to mv surprise he remained and showed no signs of going. At iengui ne saiu: autre axe II th namm shout the matter and mv confess Ion. written out more fully than I have made it to you. You know what should be done with me. Xou can take me to the Italian consul or the police station. I will go with you now, or you can come for me at any time. You will find me ready." It was to no purpose that I informed him I should never reveal his secret while I believed that he was alive. It did not cheer him up when I told him that my pres ent convictions were that the guilty had suffered for their crimes in the way they should, and that with them the matter should end. I advised him to go back to his work and to make what he could out of this sad life and dark world. I do not think that he profited much by the advice I gave him. Perhaps he followed it about as closely as the author of it has, so I should not complain about its being thrown away. I saw him a few times after this, but I believe I never ex changed any words with him. He never followed me any more at night npon the streets and never showed any inclination to enter Into conversation. once thought that I would consult the death record with a view of dis covering his name, but recollecting that be stated be lived under an as sumed name I saw that the search would be useless. Her Lovers; or. father and Son. Guy Paler was on.y fourteen and had fallen in love with his nurse. Dor cas Wynter, who had brought him back to health again after be broke his leg in trying to run away from school. No one who had ever seen the young lady's beautiful face weuld have been surprised that a susceptible youth should fall in love with her. She had beed a governess once, but was now an assistant nurse in Dr. Delfer's Infirm ary; a pretty girl of nineteen and all alone in the world. Guy was very sorry when his father came to take him away from the in- urinary; sorry to leave Dorcas, whom he.had firmly made up bis mind to marry when he was of age. Mr. Paley was surprised to see the charming young lady who presented herself to receive his thanks for having been kind to his son. He had expected a woman of forty with a double chiu. Guy was delighted when the doctor suggested his nurse should accompany men home. "I am sure a boy with your appetite don't need a nurse any longer, ' said Miss Sophronla Paley, who was Guy's aunt. She has been here a month, and ' "But she's not to go away for all that. Aunt Soph," said Guy, who was devouring roasted chestnuts like a dragon. "Ask papa. She's to be Mrs. Paley one of these days, aud " "Mrs. Faleyl" Aunt Sophronia turned green and yellow. "It's come to that, then, has it? Well, I've ex pected it tMs some time. And all I've got to say is " "seven years from now." said Guy with his mouth full of chestnuts, I will be twenty-one and she will be twenty-six. Not enough difference to signify. And," he uttered with a grin, as his aunt flounced wrathfuliy out of the room, "you'll get your walking ticket, old lady, when I'm married. I'd as soon have a death's head and bones around the place any time." lie was sitting curled up in the easiest chair In the library, reading a book, half an hour afterward, when the door opened and his father came in. Something In the paternal glance and movement struck the boy. "Aunt Soph is going to marry some old fogy or other, and the coast will be clear." "So you know all about it, Guy?" said Mr. Paley, laughingly. "About what, sir?" "About my engagement." The book fell with a crash to the floor. "Your what, father?" "At least you told Aunt Sophronla about It. Well, I'm glad you are pleased, my boy; and Dorcas says she shall always love you as if you were her own sou. As a general thing, I don't approve of step-mothers, but you and Dorcas love each other so dearly that . Why. Guy, what is the mat ter?" for the boy had rushed out of the room with an odd suliocatlng-seusa-tion in his throat. He met Dorcas coming in from the garden, with a bunch of scarlet holly- berries in her hand. "Dorcas," he ciied "Dorcas, you are as false as the serpent-woman. You beau She comprehended him In an instant. though his voice wai choked into silence. She flung away the scarlet cluster and put her arms tenderly about hi in. "Dear Guy," she whispered, "1 love him; but if you are unwilling ir it takes away any of the home-feeling for you It only remains for you to say so, and " Her voice died away, her head drooped on his shoulder. There was an instant's silence, and then Guy said bravely. Well, so let it be. My father Is a trump, and you are the only woman alive who is worthy of him. And I suppose people would say six years was too much difference lu our ages although how they're to get over the fifteen years between you and father I don't know," he added, with rather a forced laugh. And then and there Guy Paley learned his first lesson in self-abnegation. Dorcas picked up her holly-berrlea and went to the library, where her promised husband 8 to 3d. "1 have Justseen Guy," she said. "Isn't he pleased?" Yes. I think be Is," hesitated Dor cas. MGuy is a strange boy a noble creature. I am not sure, Horace," she added with a dimness in her eyes, that I would have married you if I could not always have had Guy with me." "And my trne wife will be Guy's true mother!" said Mr. Paley, drawing Dorcas tenderly to his side: The Fall ol An Apple. Every one knows the story of Sir Isaac Newton and the falling apple, which was quite as common au occur rence as the swinging of a lamp, for apples had fallen since the creation, but no one took to reflecting upon so ordinary a matter. Newton opened the eyes of his mind as he saw the apple descend, and wandeiel from the orch ard to vast fields of science. The great central law of the universe gravita tion was caught from observing one of the most trivial of events, and the name of the discoverer has become im mortal. Scientists say there Is no plant that does not serve as food for some animal; but toe only article used as food from the mineral kingdom Is common salt. ARTS OP GAMBLEKS, Loaded Dice and Marked Tools of Amateurs. "I want to knock two gambling myths on the head loaded dice and marked cards." The gentleman who made this re mark to me is known among the fra ternity as Billy MeClellan, and he has recently been employed by a club house in Baltimore to "protect" the poker game. His duty was to stop any "work" that Is the generic term for all underhand practice and to keep professional card players out of the house, and be did both so quietly and so well that nobody except the culprits knew the real character of his employ ment. A tap on the shoulder, an inter view in the hall, and a man who went down stairs and never came up again that was all there was to it; but to do this, and never make a scene or a mis take, required a wide and checkered experience. It is not to be presumed that Mr. MeClellan learned how to spot a poker sharp by frequenting church sociables; on the contrary, be acquired bis art through a career that began on the Mississippi river steamboats in the rac ing days, extended all over the frontier from Butte City, Montana, to Tomb stone, Arizona, and included numerous trips across the big pond, until transat lantic gambling was discouraged a few years ago. In short, he is au expert, and as entertaining a gossiper as ever made the needle of the weighing ma chine fly around to 210. I ran across him the other day returning from his Baltimore engagement, and we fell into a rambling conversation. "No, sir," he went on to say, "loaded dice and marked cards are supposed to be the favorite tools of gamblers. "It's all a fairy story, like lady temperance workers' talk about the 'curse of rum.' Now nobody drinks rum." "Do you mean there are no loaded dice?" "Yes. Years and years ago there may have been some very large dice made heavier at one face, but with the small dice made nowadays it would do no good. A round object, of course, rests on the heaviest side, but with a cube, like a dice, the pressure would be just the same, no matter in what posi tion it lay. If you will think Just a moment you will see that the loaded side would be exactly as apt to fall on top as below, and even were it (possible to construct a dice so it would fall infallibly on, say, six, it would be use less in poker dice, the popular way of throwing, where the recurrence of any number would excite suspicion at once. I will venture to say that it you would cut open all the dice in the United States you would not find twelve loaded ones." "But It does not follow," I observed, "that dice throwing is universally honest." "Not at all. It is universally crooked. The way to cheat at dice is to be able to have them fall on any face at will. This is done by holding them, two at a time, between the second finger and the edge of the box. When the box is turned over they appear to come out right side up. it requires great dexterity, but once acquired, it bailies detection. The best man at it in the country is John McDonald, of San Francisco, and, by the way, there is an interesting story connected with him. When Maxwell, the St. Louis trunk murderer, was flying toward Australia after killing Pieller, he stopped a day or two at San Fraucisco. and in the even ing lropped Into The ''Mirrors, a sporting saloon on Kearney street, Johnny McDonald happened to be there, and regarding the stranger as. a promising sucker, proceeded to confi dence him out of 150 of his blood money. The game that caught Max well was a dice swindle known as "top and bottom." Mr. McClelland coaxed the smoulder ing end of his Havana into a lamleut coal and took up the thread of the talk again. "Now, as far as marked cards are concerned, " he continued, "there are plenty of them, but they are made to sell, not to use. It is au astonishing fact that nine men out of ten, who are otherwise perfectly straightforward an 1 honest, turn into thieves when they sit down to play pjker with their friends. They are continually on the lookout for gome advantage, aud they are the peo ple who buy marked cards. I supiose that thousands of decks of marked cards are sold every mouth, but no gam blers buy them." "How does the modern short card player do his work?" I asked, a little reluctant to let go of the time-honored marked card theory. "Well.' said the veteran, "there has been a great change in card playing in the last Ave or six years. The old-time poker sharp was not well equipped un less he had a vest bold out. That was a black satin vest with claws inside that came out of the bosom, seized the necessary cards and slid la again. It was worked by a chain that ran down the trousers leg and hooked to the heel or the boot, ana was such a clumsy aud complicated apparatus that I would as soon think of carrying a threshing machine around with me. Then there was the sleeve hold out, nearly as bad, and different hold ou;3 to fasten to the edge of the table. Strippers were also great favorites that is to say, decks , iu which the high cards were a little wider than the rest, and cut slightly wedge shape, so that they could be drawn out at will, and a great deal of glass work was done. "What on earth is glass work?" "The use of a convex mirror about the size of a silver dime. It Is fastened with shellac to the lower corner of the left palm, opposite the thumb, and re flects the cards as dealt. Gamblers generally made them by buying those little slivered glass globes used for children's Christmas trees and break ing out a piece. Sometimes the mirrors were set in silver dollars and laid care lessly on the table; but that Is all gone by now, and to-day a man must be able to take a square deck of cards and do all his work without apparatus. In poker the expert short card player will make up the hand be wants out of the discards, or else bold out the necessary cards until he gets enough and it is his deal. Then be drops it on the top or the deck and performs a very neat little piece of work known as top shuffling,' which consists in shuffling the lower hair of the deck over the upper hair without disturbing it. When this is over the hand be wants is still on top. The cut, or course, buries it. but by a very simple movement he gets the cards back in their original condi 1am Tttla im mH.J . I. . fcivu. Aula u twiou DUlXkillg ioie CUL4 and can be done with one band or two 2oUusg then remains but to go ahead) and deal. Dexterity In over shuffling J and shifting the cut are the two things that modern gamblers cultivate in all IV.I. 1.: i i ... I men leisure uours, una wim mesa ac complishments, and coolness and nerve, little else is required. "Card playing as a profession is ou the decline, is it not?" "Oh, bless your soull yes," MeClel lan answered with a sigh. "It began to dwindle when the big river boats stopped running, and to-day there are not more than five or six really Crst class men traveling over country mak ing a living out of the paste-boards. "Did any of the old time card play ers accumulate much money?" "Well, they made a great deal and then threw It way both hands, and usually died poor and miserable. I can scarcely recall an exception. Cal Somers, who must have made and spent a quarter or a million, died in the poorhouse at Salt Lake City; Jake Henderson was shot In a brawl near Mobile, and we took up a collection to bury him; he used to charter steam boats to get on a drunk with his friends. John Waters, Leonard Wells and Charles H. Hoy were all high rollprs in their day, and thought noth ing of passing a 10 dollar piece to the darkey who blacked their boots. They all died broke, and Hoy, who had been a perfect prince In his prime, is thought to have actually starved. He became a very much broken-down old man, and when he was Anally found dead iu his room a miserable den there were soxe little pieces of bread in his wash basin, and the supiiosition was that he put them there to foflen before eating. His btom.ick was entirely empty." Italpli Waldo Knipntun. Henry Wilson used to tell a good story about Kalph WalJo Emerson's attempt to "live like other folks." Stopping while this tit was ou him at a country tavern where he was to lect ure, instead of retiring to medicate and freeze in his own cold and cheerless room, he manfully sat in the barroom like the rest of mankind. He endured the tobacco smoke as well as he could, and watched, no doubt with a curiosity as lively as M. du Cbaillu's on his first visit to a can nibal feast among the Fans, the actions of the men who "sat around." Lie saw one after another walk up to the bar and demand and swallow a glass of whiEkey; and, true to his determination to be for once like other men, the great philosopher so the tale goes on at last rose, and no doubt with a certain degree of diffidence, but no doubt also with a sufficiency of courage in his port and countenance, advanced to the bar, and in a voice modulated as nearly as he could alter those he bad just heard, demanded a "whiskey skin." The barkeeper, a in.iu of high princi ple, ;looked luto the philosopher's face fur a moment and then said: "You do not want whiskey, you want ginger-pop," and accordingly adminis tered that mild and harmless stimu lant. How to Train a, Canary lliril Did you ever try to tame a canary bird and teach it dimple tricks, such as erchiug on your finger or taking seed from your palm? If you possess a bird suppose you nmi.e the attempt. If you are very gentle and patieut and the bird is young you will succeed. Golden Days gives the followiug advice on the subject: Place the cage on a table near you; after a little conference with the bird, introduce a finger between the wires, near the favorite perch, holding it there patiently, yourself occupied with book or paper the while. Presently, as it shows no disposition to harm him, he cautiously goes up to examine it. Then he pecks to ascertain itsquality; maybe he Dghts it. That is well; he no longer fears it. Tay him with a little bird food; put him away. Next day tiy him again. He may go farther and light on It, or he may be several days getting thus familiar. Be patient. Ouce this step is attained, vary th programme by introducing the linger in other spots. He will soon light on it at any point or angle. Then try the door, at first thrusting the linger under it. Next time fasteu it open, blockad ing egress with the rest of the hand as one linger extends within. When ho perches on it, draw him forth a little; next time, tempt him to the perch out side a little, and so on. In a short time, you have but to oeii the cage, door, uplift a finger, and he is sure to fly to it; and he may thus be called to any part of the room to rest on the familiar perch. Most birds learn tins familiarity in a few days, yet there are those who will be two or four week." about it. Origin of i;ai-riiis. By the way, talking of earrings, puts me in mind of an eastern legend which 1 heard a short time ago about their origin. When 1 1 agar ran away to escape the wrath of Abram's wife, so the story goes. Saial vowed that if her handmaid ever returned she would cause her to be mutilated, thinking thus to destroy her beauty sud prevent her causing any further domestic infe licity. Time, however, had the effect of so cooling Sarai's wrath that when Hagar came back aud pleaded with her she decided to forego her vengeance and restored her ex-handmaid to favor. But an oath was not to be trilled with, and as Sarai had solemnly vowed to mutilate Hagar she was in a quandary to know how to do this without injur ing her or marring her fair face. Fin ally she hit upon the expedient of piercing a small hole in each of Hagar 'a ears, and it is said that Abram, to off set tSe pretty baudmald's punishment, presented her with two beautiful jewels to suspend from the holes. Her ap pearance thus adorned excited the ad miration of the other women or the tribe that the wearing of earrings soon became general among them. The Fire Service in Moscow. " The same precautions against fire are taken in Moscow and St. Petersburg to-day that were In use a century ago. Scores of Cre towers are everywhere j seen. They run up about 75 to 100 feet, are built like a lighthouse, with ' winding stairway, aud have a platform 1 all around at the top, where the watch- ' man patrols day aud night. If a fire is discovered a signal is given and the fire department turns out. It was only recently that St. Petersburg, the capi tal, with hundreds of millions of gov ernment property, secured a steam fire engine, and that is a poor, old-fashioned ' affair. The hand-engine does service there yet, and In most other cities of the empire. SUCH A L.ITTL.E ONE. Tbe Tot of Hamanlty Itecently lurn In Burlington, X. J. Burlington believes it has the tinest speck of humanity in existence, says the Philadelphia Press. I be protege of the Quaker town on tbe Delaware river Is little Joseph Lippincott. who weighs less than two pounds. hen this diminutive citizen puts his thumb in his mouth, a bad habit he has re cently acquired, he holds to view the smallest of human hands, perhaps ever seen. The forefinger Is as thick as a pigeon quill and only an inch in length. In fact, an ordinary shoe eyelet would serve him as a finger ring. When this liliputian Jerseyman stretches himself, which he often does. he only measures fourteen inches from the soles of bis little feet to the top of his auburn-crowned pate. Tbe other day tbe boy was placed in his father's derby bat and he weighed less than two pounds with all "fixings" on. He has been nearly three months acquiring all this avoirdupois and has received the better part of It during ten days. W hen Dr. Walter E. Hall brought tins mite of a man to the Lippincott home in November the new-comer was snugly packed in a collar-box. The little dot smiled when told his fighting weight was only one pound and three ounce's. He has a way of insinuating that he is conscious that he has beaten the rec ord. He has set all his mother's fears at rest by letting ber know that there is no immediate danger of bis collapsing. Ills lungs are evidently the biggest part of him, judging from his ability to keep tbe neighbors awake. William Lippincott, the father of the midget. Is a laborer in McXeal's pipe foundry in East Burlington. He has been the father of seven children. All were diminutive specimens who never survived the fifth week. He believes he has an heir that has come to stay. He is not disturbed by the fact that his son may have to go to the polls in a pair of stilts. He is satisfied to know that he will not run up expensive bills at tbe tailor's. Baby Lippincott en courages his proud sire in his paternal reflections by opening bis big blue eyes and smiling a pleasant acquiescence. It Is regarded as somewhat of a public calamity that Joseph does not smile with more regularity. Some of the good mothers In Burlington journey all the way from Mt. Misery ami Timbuctoo to see him pucker aud roll his marine blue orbs. He Is acquiring a contempt for notoriety and resents all claims of the dear public by going to sleep as soon as be hears a knock at the trout door. Mrs. Maggie LIppencott, the mother, is a tall, slightly-built blonde woman. She keeps a close watch on the infant, as some of the mothers of the town have developed a disposition to borrow or steal it. The reirter was accorded the privilege of holding the prodigy. A net was placed under him iu case !i let the precious two pounds fall. Mrs. Lipplucott declares that the baby has grown considerably during the past week, and his appetite is getting to be alarmingly keen. He takes warm brandy regularly before each meal, and the manner in which he doubles up his list indicates that he may some day have his name printed in the sjiorting columns of the metropolitan paiers. He is accredited with being a good sound sleeper and an early riser. Iu fact, no one in the house lias had use for au alarm-clock since his advent. The infant is encased in an armor of raw cotton to protect him from the shafts and darts of the Polar breezes that glide up aud down York street from the Delaware river. The half pound of cotton not only serves as a chest protector aud liver pad, but keeps people from breaking aud twist ing his little ribs when they excitedly grab him to whisper their congratula tions. Master Joseph now receives his many admirers in a suit of miauls. Eveiy thing he wears has a tuck in it nom -where. When Mrs. Councilman Watts knitted a pair of white zephyr socks with blue tassels she did not calculate they were to go ou feet that would only measure two and one-quarter inches. To make tbe hosiery look ship-shade, balls of cotton have bsen stuffed in the toes. Mrs. Dr. Gauntt provided the cap he wears on state occasions, aud it nearly fits owing to the fact that his head is abnormally develoed, it meas uring elevea inches. A dollar piece held in front of his face entirely ot scures it. His jaw-bane n e isures cu y one and one-fourth inches, aud his none, which is considerably puggel, defied the tape line and all the marks thereon. If the itifaut survives the trials and tribulations of the cherub period and is not injureJ by too much hand-shaking, he will turu the corner simultaneously with a white horse r else he will have to dye his hair. The fleshiest part of his arm could stand an armlet about two inches lu circumfer ence, and be louse therein. He meas ures six and one-half inches around the waist when he has his cotton champion belt off. Across the shoulders be is only three inches. From the elbow to the tip of his fingers the taue-ilne. stretches Just four aud one-half inches. When tbe baby gets some of the harsh notes rasped off his vocal octave and the cold teeth are drawn out of the winds of winter he Is to be christened. He will then be Joseph Deacon Lippin cott. There is already au amiable ri valtry between Mayor Silpath and Postmaster Lipplncstt as to who shall be the god-father. The lady admirers of the mite are preparing a spank new suit for the occasion and they are working on it with lorgnettes. The Deacon family, which Is a num erous one in Burlington, will see to the silver cup and spoons. Joseph Deacon, after whom the boy was named, is now J dead. Tbe child's mother was for I years employed on his farm aud honors i his memory in this way. A Giant Natural Barometer. No need of the weather bureau at Naples, for the huge volcano. Mount Vesuvius, serves as a giant barometer and thermometer of the city. The direction in which tbe smoke from the crater blows announces unerringly a coming change of weather 24 hours beforehand. Tbe direction of the smoke also indicates tbe coming of the hot and depressing sirocco, when the perfect repose of the populace is almost imperative. Also when the neighbor ing island of Capri Is of a dark blue color, and long, low. regular waves roll In from the Bocca Piccola, these are sure premonitory symptoms ot the com ing sirocco. NEWS IX BRIEF. Pumps were invented in 1123. Secretary Whitney has a dog for which he paid $500. Amanuesrisls was the name given to a slave amcng the Uomana who was employed in writing for his master. More than 00 different kinds of marble enter Into the decoration of the Equitable building, New York. At least 500,000 orange trees have been set out In California the past year, and their cultivation is constantly ex tending. A woman in New York, seventy years old, died recently from the bite of a cat that attacked her while she was at prayer. An English peer, whose revenues have been reduced, has accepted a po sition as diuuiiner for a piano forte manufacturer. The sheet iron trade employs 100, 000 persons in this country at wages from two to three times those in Eng land and Germany. The Salvation Army conducts 0100 processions weekly through the streets of the liritish Kingdom, on au average of 13 X) per day. In the Grand Court of the Krem lin, at Moscow, there is to lie erected a monument In memory of the late lzir, at an expense of SG5'J,0u0. Of all the countries of the western hemisphere t'nill alone has honored Christopher Columbus by engraving his face on her postage stamps. It has l?en calculated that if 32, 000.000 eople should clasp hands, they could reach around tlie glolie. Very likely, but some of them would get their feet very wet. A Louisville young woman Is said to have been made insane 1 y dyeing her hair. She wis found in her room seated among broken mirrors, crock ery and pictures, a raving maniac. The Siberian Pacific railroad has been begun in earnest. With bridges over the ISritish channel and Behring strait there might Ih a continuous line of rail from New York to L ni.lou. It is said that Tennyson sometimes spends hours on a single line. We can rattle olT a Mnt;le. line in the twinkling of au eye; it is the (second line that exhausts our poetic genius. The slaughter of the birds to deck women's head gear may be judged when one London dealer says that last year be sold '2,(H)0,uo:j small birds of every osslblo kind aud color, from the soft gray of the wool pigeon to the gem-like splendor of the tropical bird. Yellowstone National Park's 3.Y75 square miles are filled with geysers, hot springs, rivers, falN, mountains, valleys and forests, making It a verit able wonderland. The Old Faithful Geyser sends into the air every hour a stream of hut water, 200 feet iu bight, Conductor Stillwell, who was in charge of the iil-fated train that was wrecked and burned near Cluitsworth, 111., aud whiise hair tinned gray from ( the shock of the disaster. Is mill In the seivice oi me road, llis ha:r is now as white as snow. Sir William Magnay, who Is part author of a new Lo' ilon play, "Barren Land," is the son of Hie Lord Mayor of Loudon who was made a baronet ou the occasion of Ojieeu Victoria open ing the Koyal Exchang", a few uioMths after her accession to the throne. Francis I of Fiance, was the (list monarch who Introduced ladies at his court. He said, in a true style of gal lantry, that a drawing room without ladles was like the year without the spring, or the spring without flowers. A stock company with a capital of 12.000,000, equally divided between English and Minnesota capitalists, pro lHJses to ship wheat direct to Liverpool by the way of the lakes. The princi pal object of this new pl.ui is to avoid i the mixing in transfer elevators, hith erto found so hard to prevent. Lake Michigan, according to Chi I cago engineers, is tins year a foot lower than a year ago and one and hix tenths feet lower than iu ISSii. The effects of the low water are felt at al , most every poit on the lake, but speci ! ally at the mouth of the Chicago river, i where exteiihive dredging will have to be done to make a proper channel. An old musket that is supposed to lea relic of the time when Colonel Bouquet was commander at Fort Pitt was dug out of the bottom of the Allegheny Hiver n;ar 1'lttsbuig re cently. The gun is a flint h ck of French make and is somewhat rusty, but otherwise well perved. A cat died in Boston recently that had an eventful history. Many years ago she was shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean, but managed to catch hoi 1 of a piece of wreckage, from which she was rescued by sailors from a passing vessel. Pussy was brought to Hostou aud was for years a noted nit f Ui of a Hub store. Printed matter is measured by "ems," the letter "ui" being the unit. The following compilation is by Pro fessor A. P. Lyon: The Bible contains 3.500.000 "ems," Webster's Diction ary 2 J,000,0.J. Chamber's Encyclo poedia fi.iiuo.OfjO, Johnson's Cyclo poedia &t;,000,0UJ, Appletou's C'yclo poedla 00,000.000 and Encyclopaedia Britannia Ii0.000.0j0 "ems." A correspondent or a Southern newspaper points out the fact that the nickel five cent piece may be used as a unit of measure lu calculating by the metric system. It is exactly two centimeters in diameter and weighs live grammes. Fivjof the coins placed edge against edge tive the exact length of a decimeter. Mrs. George W. C'h!ld3 is a fre quent and cordially welcome guest at Atlantic City. A correspondent at that resort says that Mrs. Ohilds pos sesses one of the finest collections of Jewels to be seen, though as a matter of fact she wears, as a rule, very few and simple jewels. She possesses, among other things, a rare East lu. diau gem, that seldom gets bevond the borders of that land, and of which there are very few siecimeus in America. Needles have somewhat of a repu tation for travelling the human body, and now cactus thorns seem to be seek ing fame in the same respect. About seven years ao George W. Mitchell, of the Palatka (Flu.) JYVr.. falling against a cactus plant, one of its thorns entered the calf of his leg. After the lapse of a week scarce any trouble was experienced from the foreign substanae save for a time slight pains like those of rheumatism, until lately a swelling appeared on his chin, and subse quently the thorn manifest 1 itself and was withdrawn. I!.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers