VOL. XXX. Mrs. Jennie E- Zimmerman. Courtesy Is extended to all who come to us. No trouble to .-how goor'B, even if \ou do not want to bu/. It is as easy to get out of our store as ia r o it V\ .• think, however, yoa will find it to your advantage not to go away <mpty banded. • We Sell Reliable Goods. It is worth a good deal to you, isn't it. to know you are getting tie best there is of all goods handled in a first-cla-a drv Lou9 ■ for tl e least money; worth a good deal to know you are getting the correct style in d/ees goods, millinery, wraps. Ac. See What We Have for Vou. New style Chalies, 5c per yard; best brown muslin in the city. 5c per yard; best and only fast colored black hose in the city for be per pa r, good printß at sc; best standard prints at' 7c; Lancaster Ginghams, Ge, Dress OinrMme, 8c to 25c; fine bleached Damask, 03 inches wide, worth 75c, for :"0c; all linen fowling at 5c per yard. New Wash Gook-; Ondine Stripes iri Mac* with col>.r«d figure, worth 15c-; new (Jrupalin.\ 15c, Irish and GrectHß Lawn*--, 12£ c; colored figure Dimity, sometning entirely new, 12j-c; Beautiful line of French Sateens, iu black and colors; Ladies Jersey Vests Sc; f .'hildreo's ribbed vests at s'*; Men's fine balbriggaa u'iderwear,soc to £2 a i-u'l; fine black silk finished Henrietta*, 4ij iu., for 75-\ worth sl. Such i -gh qn-ilities and low prices are cer»:Jnty not at'ernptcd or equalled by any ii her house . One glance into our large show window will convince you v. h l»-*d in Millinery both in style and qualiy. Ask onr price We will convince you that iu this department, as in all others ..ur prices are the low est. MRS. JENNIE E. ZIMMERMAN. Successor to Ritter & Ralston. Are Yon One Of The Lucky Ones Who Will Attend The Grand Clearance Sale At routnian's^ For the next two weeks. Remember it is not our fault if you come too late,it will commence Jan, 25 and continue till Feb. 4. Carpets, Cloaks, Underwear, Hosiery, Gloves, Corsets, Dry Goods, Flannels, Ginghams, Calicoes, etc. See our big bargain counter on left © n hand side entering store. YOURS RESPECTFULLY, A. Troutmari & Son, Leading Dry Goods and Carpet House, Butler, Pa. Jewelfy, Clocks, Silvefwafe, Purchasers can save from 25 to 50 per cent by purchasing their watches, clocks and spectacles of J. R. GRIEB, The Jeweler, No. 125 N. Main St., Duffy Block. Sign of Electric Bell and Clock. All"are .Respectfully Invited —"Remember our Repairing Department —20 years Experience."— , RINGS, I lifurinnrl , »i J ear-rings. L/ldlllOlH lb j SCARF PINS, 'STUD , ( GENTS GOLD, WfltfllPC; { LADIES GOLD, YY cllCJlfh (GENTS SiLVEiI LADIES CIIATLAIN. Tc»W£ilr\7 <• Gold PillH ' tiar-rings, MOW y ( Rings, Chains, Bracelets, Etc, {Tea sets, cantors, batter dishes and everything that can be found in a first cla.ss store lOltfl MIS. IK) I Si ™"- E. GRIEB, THE JEWELER No. 139, North Main St., BUTLER, PA., PENN'A White-Sand Oil Co. [A. STEELSMITH, Manager, Butler, I'a.] Dealers in Illuminating, Lubricating, Cylinder and Dynamo Oils—all free from Lima Oil. ThiV oil is made and handled by Independent Producers not con nected with the Standard Oil Co., as reported. All orders will be promptly filled. Warehouse in rear of Nicho as & Hewitt's planing mill, near West Penn depot, Butler, Pa. Refinery at Coraopolis, Pa., near P. & L. E. R. R. This oil can be secured at McCrea's Feed Store on E. Jefferson St ~' .v -/ . TliE BUTT ER CITIZEN. ■ THE KIND | S TH ■ 1 ' I MR.'. OLIVER CHERRIES, TS MAlone, N. V. H b On Crutches IG Years! § g EATING SORES THAT a WOULD NOT HEAL !It J CURED! CURED! j§ BiDASA SABSAI-Ar.II.LA Co.: ™= G.'.NTLEMPN —I «: Ii to testify to the Rlicccys gof DANA'S SARSAPARILLA. S 8a F' r » rerftl y- an I have been suffering from nl =El)ad lti'ifji! HRii.i :hy t.. ; Pbjrsw :iiij who atl n-i •! ir mm « ,ut V.' i l>;)ii!e<! '' »li!U "f th- ■ ail It »t-B| Stacked v t:»r«s EATI \ii AWAIS ■St il I 1 * *.l'> 11. '■ ■runninc »or«% win -M h • It||| t ;.i >»r- / l<i:iU - A 1*" I* \ I'.K =£ ttsOKL. r months I v. * conf<»K smf hod end have teen unultle to walker £2 without crutches t -r o%*«*r t«'t» yeari. ■I Fall I purchased three botties o« | DANA'S M | SARSAPARILLA J >f Daritßro*. it Die frofh th<* fir»t. SB I took it faithfully, ond I can now attend to== |H my luiiHehold dutie»«n'J wulk M wellj = RJ ever. ■n lam furetli&t myecse is&) near a miracle ss« Hanythln? that happfns at the present day. B I am very aincerelv your*, =~ g Malone.N. Y. MRS. OIoVER CIIERRLER- M I H OENTLKMI.N : —We enclose testimonial of Mr*. = I IgCherrivr, which is a strong endorv ment of lis valuable compound. W A believe her statement t K ■be true In every rea|»ect. We arc very vours. DAT 18 BROS. ■ ■g Malone, N. Y. Wholesale fc Retail Druggists. Eg HI Dana Sarsaparilla Co.. Belfast, Malno. I feed. Fur prices and terms. Ad drt-r, J. W. MILLER, 131 Mercer S: , Butler' Pu. A $25 Gold Watch FREE. With every dollars wor'h of goodt* purchased, you art) given up« 3 on the length of time it wiil ak»; the watch to run dowu, aud the one guessing' the Dearest will get the watch. In c:te ol P. lie the one hav ing bought the most will get it The. watch will be blurted June 13th at nino o'clock A. M., and no guessing will l.st ki-u after that tiui..-. We can lilso t=avo ion money on ev. rv article in onr stocks of Ul th ing, lints, and Uents Famiahiage. THE RACKET STORE, 120 S Muin St, Butler, Pa SPRING STYLES READY. si YOU WILL CERTAINLY HAVE A SUIT MADE TO ATTEND THE WORLD'S FAIR. YOU CAN AF FORD IT, WHEN YOU SEE THE SPLEN DID ASSORT MENT OF MATERIAL, AND THE MOD ERATE PRICE AT WHICH WE MAKE YOU A SUIT THAT IS CORRECT TO THE LATEST DECREE OF FASHION. Aland's, Tailoring Establishment. C. & D. ALWAYS Take into consideration that money saved is as good os money earned. The heat way to ave money is to buy good goods nt the right pric. The only reason that our trade is increasing constantly i;< the fiirt that we haudle only goods of first quality and cell them at very low prices We have taken unusual care to provide everything new in 11 at s and Furnishing Goods for this season, >md as we have control of many especially good articles in both lines we can do you good if vou come to us. We confidently ray that in jmtice to themselves all should inspect our goo 1> Visit us. COLBERT & DALE, 242 S. Main .street, Butler, Pa, ST ! "?>T y. " •f fM 9 m /'< lml // j j /)\ hf I I 1 7 vc h /) B "THE FACK WAS OF A SKCX.T»" "UE HAD SUDDENLY WALKED OFF." "If any of you gentlemen have lived continually in Moscow," began Cliero muhin, laying his pipe aside, "you have surely noticed that a periodical invasion of white-walled Mother Mos cow by our provincial brethren usually begins before Christmas. Almost at the same time with the appearance of frozen meat and turkeys in the game market there stretch in, through all the barriers, endles ear.-vans of kibit kas and all kinds of winter equipages containing whole families of landhold ers hastening to have a' n .1 time in the capital, examine male candidates for marriage, show their daughters in society, aud spend in a ' w weeks all they have saved during: tho year. "But in 1796 this increase of tempo rary residents began with the first snow; and, according to tho oldest in habitants, the ancient capital had not teen so crowded, or rather crammed, for many aycar. The managers of the Nobles' Club shrugged their shoulders whenever they had less than two thou sand guests at a ball, and laid the blame on the Italian Medoxi, who gave masquerades in the halls and rotunda of the Petrovski Theater. "Indeed, public masquerades —at which peoplo did not dance, but stifled and crushed one another —were during that, winter the favorite amusement of the people of Moscow. "Among the constant visitors at these masquerades was a certain young but not from the interior. Ivan Nikolaievich Zorin was his name. He had just returned from foreign parts, had lived long in Italy, loved music fassionately, and always spoke of the talian opera with transport that turned almost into madness whenever conversation touched a certain prima donna at the Neapolitan Theater. In conversation he called her Lauretta, but would not discover to any of his acquaintances the name by which she was known in the musical world. It was evident in every way that not en thusiasm for art alone had aroused his admiration; and though Zorin did not confide his heart secret to any man, all his friends, and I in that number, could guess why he seemed always sad and dull, and grew animated only when conversation touched tho Italian opera. His unbroken sadness, with pining aud a certain gloomy despon dency which the English would call spleen, we simply called hypochondria, and laughed at the doctor when he shook his head over the mental disease of our friend. 'Oh, stop, Fomich" we would say; 'what pleasure do you find iu stuffing him with pills? Prescribe a Couple of bottles of champagne a duj", five or six balls a week, with a dose of masquerade and theaters; that will be better than your depressing and ex citing medicines.' "No matter how Foma Fomich re sisted at first; he decided at last to lis ten to our counsel anil to advise Zorin to go to every ball and not miss a mas querade. "In real truth, through taking part in all the amusements of the city, our patient seemed to grow calmer and more cheerful. Sometimes he failed to visit the theater and refused an invita tion to a ball, but he always came among the first to a masquerade and Went away last "1 was serving at that time in the guards; my leave of absence ended with the first week in Lent, and to avoid trouble I was obliged to start for St. Petersburg on Monday of that week. Wirhiug to take advantage of the last days of my leave aud rejoice in full measure, I passed the whole carnival in boundless fashion. In the daytime breakfasts w itli pancakes, sleigb-rideH formal dinner in the evening, thea ters; and at night, balls aud private masquerades till morning dawn. This tound of amusement gave me no time to collect ray senses. I was in a sort of walking dream and lost sight of my /riand Zorin completely. "On Sunday— that is, the last day of the carnival—l went to the public mat.- querade earlier than usual. There was a throng of people; every door had to he taken by assault, and by force alone Was I able to reach tho rotunda in a quarter of an hour. Music, loud con versation, and the assumed tones of tliasks who, although suffocating from heat, ceased not to be amiable and talk nonsense; the blinding light of Crystal lustres; the many-colored dresses, aud that sound of the unintel ligible but deafening talk of a multi tudinous mass of persons resolved to be amused at any sacrifice- confused do at first to such a degree that for some mluutes 1 neither heard nor saw anything. Wishing to draw breath, I began to seek a place where I might look around a little. While !i I 'TL KI i. PA FR 113 AV. Jl'N K 1 893. pushing along the wall, l lieara some one calling- me by name. I turned and looked; a tall man in a red domino and a musk beckoned to me. The moment I approached, his companion left him • ' Sit down near me. It is with dif ficulty that we have met,'said he. 'But why do you look at me so? Is it possi ble that you do not recognize my voice?' " •There is something familiar in it,' th<_ <t I, 'but still it is strange and nni Lui.' ' Veil, if yon do not know me, then 1c continued he, raising his mask. started back involuntarily; my he:, i sak from fright. 'My God! this is Z .ria! these are his features—oh, cer inly this is he: but as he will be v.h i lying on tho tabic, when the last se. vce is suujf over his body. But now —no no! a living man cannot have such s '■< •<■!' thought f '• Well,* asked he, with a certain Strang- • smile, 'do you not find that 1 have changed?' » " Oh, very much!' " 'Then why do- you say that griel changes a man'.' Xot grief, but possi bly joy.' " 'Joy?' " 'Yes, ray friend. If you knew how happy I am! Listen,' continued he, in an undertone and looking around tim idly; but for <tod's sake let no one know of this. She is here." " 'She? Who?' " 'Lauretta.' " 'lr, it possible?" " 'Yes, my friend, she is here; and, oh, how she loves me! She left her dear birthplace; she exchanged an ever-blue sky for our cloudy and gloomy one. There, in the circle oi her relatives, warmed by tho sun oi happy Italy, she bloomed like a beauti ful rose: but here, among people as cold and lifeless as out* eternal snows, if she lisrself does not fade, she will ruin het gift, she will outlive her glory. She. uecustoined to breathe the warm nir oJ the South, was not afraid of our split ting frosts, of our wintry tempest, she forgot everything, left everything, and has lain down alive in this broad cold tomb which we call our country; and all this for me.' " 'Do you not glorify this act over much?' asked I, interrupting my friend. 'lt is not so warm here as in Italy; but wo have .spring and summer as well aa there Perhaps it is pleasanter in Na ples than here; I must say, however, that Moscow does not look like a tomb: your Lauretta is not the first Italian ar tiste whom we have seen here; and il she will give concerts ' " 'Yes, one and tho last I have con sented to this. Let her enchant all Moscow, warm up for a moment your icy souls, and then die for all men but me.' " 'So she intends to remain here?' " 'Yes; now do you see how she loves me? Rut in return, I also —oh, my love is not a feeling, not a passion—no, my friend, no! 1 cannot tell whether you will comprehend my happiness or un derstand me. I belong wholly to her. She asked this of me; she wished this.' riere Zorin bent forward and whispered in my ear: 'I gave her my soul; now I am entirely hers —do yon understand, my friend? —entirely.' "Well, it has happened to me often to give away my soul in words; and what young man would hesitate a mo ment to tell a woman he loved that his soul belonged to her, that she possessed it? This is an ordinary, every-day phrase in the language of love. Rut still I cannot tell you with what terror and repulsion I heard the confession of my fri«ad. The mysterious voice in which he spoke; the wild flro of his g-leaming eyes; this uncontrolled, mad enthusiasm; these words of joy; the pale, withered face of a corpse! " 'O brother!' said !, with vexation, 'how can you talk such nonsense? The soul does not belong to us, and cannot be gi veil away. Love your Italian ar- ' tiste; marry her if you like; give her your heart ' " 'Heart!' repeated my friend, in a tone of ridicule. 'Rut what is the heart? Is the heart immortal like the soul? j Will it not rot in the grave? A splcn- j did gift, a handful of dust! Whoso gives his heart, promises to love only | while it beats—and it may grow cold, i if not to-day, tomorrow; but whoever parts with his soul, gives not one life, not a hundred lives, but all his endless eternity. Yes, my friend, if you give a gift, let it be a real one. Lauretta lias nothing to fear now; the soul is not like tin' heart—it cannot be buried in the grave.' " 'Show me this enchantress, this Armida,' said I: 'this seductive demon who is filching away your soul.' " 'I do not know myself, where she , lives.' " "Oh. you are trifling. "•No. my friend, I meet her only here. For the moment she does not wish to show herself: this will soon be over. After her concert, we shall marry and live in the country.' " 'When will she give her concert?' •• 'Next Friday.* " 'Next Friday! Impossible'. Vou must have forgotteu that concerts are never gh*en during the first week in Lent. '"How can that be? Lauretta must know; she even said she would give it in this rotunda.* " 'Then she must be mistaken, herself. Have you seen her to-day?' " 'Not yet She never comes earlier than twelve o'clock, precisely at mid night No matter how crowded the masquerade i-. no matter where I am sitting, she finds me at once." 'Precisely at midnight,' said 1, look ing at my watch; 'that is, in two min utes. We shall see if she is as punctual as you say'.' "Gentlemen, if you have never met Lent at a masquerade, you have heard at least that, by accepted usage, at twelve o'clock the music ceases; this means that Lent has begun and all amusements are at an end. The mo ment I looked at my watch which very likely was slow—the piercing noise of the trumpets sounded the signal for ciosiug the masquerade, and so suddenly that I trembled involun tarily and raised my eyes. "'Tfu! how they startled me!' ex slaimed I, turning to my friend; but at my side was an empty seat. I looked round. At a distance in the crowd I saw a red domino walking with a tall, stately woman in a dark Venetian dress. 1 hurried after them; but at the same time three masks met ine. Arourtd these there was a crush that I could not break through in any way, and 1 lost sight of Zorin's red domino. These three masks had just appeared in the rotunda; one was dressed as a sort of tall and lank apparition in a great cap on which was written in large letters, 'Dryeating.' On each side of this mask went two others, one of which was dressed as a mushroom, tho other as a cabbage. The tall scare crow congratulated all on Lent, adding jests and sayings from which all who stood near were just dying from laughter. I alone was not laughing, and labored earnestly with my hands and feet to break through the crowd. At last 1 succeeded in tearing myself free into space. 1 searched the rotunda through, went around the side galler ies, but met nowhere the red domino or the dark Venetian dress. "Next morning I went to take fare well of Zorin. but did not find him at home; in the evening I was galloping along the St Petersburg highway. 11. "More than three months had passed since I left Moscow. Occupied with con tinual service, and a lawsuit which be gan in the lifetime of my grandfather, and which may possibly be brought to an end by some one of my grandchil dren, I forgot altogether my last meet ing and conversation with Zorin. "One evening as I sat reading in the club, I came by chance on an article in which it was announced that the prima donna of the Neapolitan Theater, Lauretta Haldusi, to the great grief of all lovers of music, had died at her villa near Portici. " 'Lauretta!' repeated I. 'A prima donna of the Neapolitan Theater! Oh, but that is the same artiste with whom poor Zorin was in love to madness! How could she have died near Naples toward the end of February, when sha was almost at the same time in Moscow at the masquerade?' "That very evening I wrote to one oJ m}- jriends '•< '"wow. to let me know whether Zorin was well or not, and if he knew anything about his marriage. I received an answer informing me that on the first of Lent, early Saturday morning, Zorin was found senseless ou the PetroTski Square, near the theater; that afterward lie was sick unto death, and that a couple of weeks before my letter was written they took hiuu to St Petersburg to be cured "I searched for him everywhere, searched the whole city through, but all my efforts were fruitless. At last I saw him quite unexpectedly in a house where 1 had not the least thought or wish to find him. He was very glad to meet me. and told me of his strange ad venture whicn began in the rotunda of the Petrovskt Theati'e. The following is the story, word for word, as I heard it from my poor frii;nd; " 'Surely you have not forgotten,' said he, 'that I saw you last ou the evening before Lent, at a masquerade in the rotunda of the l'etrovski Theater. At the moment when they were trum peting midnight I remarked in the crowd the mask of Lauretta, who, in passing, beckoned to me. You were occupied at the time with something else, and it seems you did not observe how I sprang from my chair and went to her. " 'Go home this moment," said she, as I took her hand. "1 demand also that for four days you neither leave your rooms nor receive any one. On Friday come here on foot alone, at midnight. Here in the rotunda will be a rehearsal of the concert which I shall give on Saturday." " 'But why so late?" asked 1. "Will they admit me?" " 'Be not disturbed," said Lauretta; "for you the doors will be open. I have arranged tho rehearsal for mid night, so that only a few artists and lovers of music should know of it Now go home at once, and if you do every thing I demand I shall be yours for ever; but if vou disobey me, and es pecially if you receive the friend with whom you have just now been sitting and to whom you told that touching which you should have held silence, we shall never meet either in this world or in another; and," added she, in a low tone, "though, my dear friend, the worlds are countloss, if you do not fol low my advice we shall not meet in one of them." " 'ln tho course of the two yearsspeut in Naples, I had become acquainted with all the whims and uncommon caprices of Lauretta She was a won derful and fascinating woman, now as jrentle and obedient as a timid child, now as proud aud uutamable as a fallen angel. She combined in herself all pos sible extremes. At times she was ready to fight against Heaven itself, believed in nothing, sneered at all things; then on a sudden, without cause, she grew most superstitious, saw evil spirits in all places, took counsel of wizards, and, if she loved not, at least she feared God At times she called her self my slave, which for the moment she really was; but when that moment of obedience hud passed, she became such a power-loving woinau that she endured not the least contradiction. Hence, no matter how strange her demands .seemed (in Moscow), I said nothing, and promised to carry out her will, etqiecially sinca she ifarc mo her word that this was the last trial of my love. " You can imagine with what feel- i ings 1 waited for Friday. 1 ordered the servants to toll every one that 1 j was not at home, and to exclude even I you. I walked back and forth in my I rooms: I could begin no work, and was I burning as if In fire. And the nights! O my friend, evou criminals on the eve of execution do not pass such hellish night-hours as I did. l'eople were not so tormented even when torture was a calculated art and u science. 1 know not how I lived till Friday. 1 remem ber only that on that last day of my wfts not oql.v upable to eat, but j l could not drink even so much asacup of tea. My head was burning: my b'.ood was not flowing but boiling, in my veins. I remember, too, that it was not a holiday: but it seemed to me that from morning till niffht the bells ceased not to ring in Moscow. A clock was before me; when the hands were apnroaehing midnight my patience was turned to a species of madness. I was suffocating; a malignant fever struck me. and cold sweat came out on my faee. At haif-past eleven I put on a light overcoat and started for the theater. All the streets were empty. Though my rooms were a couple of versts from the theater, fifteen minutes had not passed before 1 had run over the whole Prechistenkai.the Mohovaya. and had come out on the square of the game market Two hundred yards dis tant rose the colossal roof of tho Pe trovski Theater. It iwis a moonless night, but tho stars seemed more nu merous and brighter than usual; many of them fell directly on the roof of the theater, were scattered in sparks, and then vanished. I approached the prin cipal entrance. One door was partly open, and near it stood a decrepit old housekeeper with a lantern: he beck oned to me and went ahead through the dark corridors. " 'I know not whether it was because I had reached the appointed place, or for some other reason, but I grew notablv calmer, and remember, too. that when 1 had looked carefully at my guide i saw that he moved without put tine one foot Ix'fore the other, aud that his eyes were as dim and immovable as the glass eyes in wax figures. Having •passed through a long gallery, we en tered at last the rotunda. It was lighted up, all the chandeliers were filled with burning tapers, but still it was dark; the flames from them seemed as if painted, and gave out no light whatever. But four candles, on high funeral candlesticks, cast an uncertain glimmer on the first scats and the plat form iu front of them. This wooden platform was covered with music stands. instrument-cases, notes: in one word, everything was prepared for a concert, but the musicians had not yet come. In the front row of seats sat thirty or forty gentlemen, some of whom were in embroidered French coats, and had their hair powdered; others were in simple evening dress. I sat near one of the latter. "Allow me to ask," said I to my neighbor, "are these all friends and connoisseurs of music whom Mme. Baldusi has invited?" "Precisely so." "1 make bold to ask who that young gentleman with the expressive face is; he wears a German dress." "That is Mozart" "Mozart!" repeated I; "What Mo zart?" "What Mozart? That's a strange question. Why, of course. Mozart, the author of 'IJon Giovanni,' the 'Magic Flute' " "What do you tell me! Why, he died four years ago." "I beg your pardon! He died in Sep tember. 1791; that is five years ago. Near him are Cimarosa and Handel,and behind them llameau and Gluck." "Rameau and Gluck?" "On our left stands the director of tho orchestra, Araya, whose opera 'liollerophon' was given in St Peters burg ■" "In 1750, during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna?" "Just so: he is talking with Lulli now." "The chief of the orchestra ®f Louis XIV.?" ' The very same. But do you notice In the dark corner—oh, you will see him from here: .lean Jacques Rousseau is sitting there. He is invited, not as an artist but as a judge and lover of music. Of course, his 'Village Wizard' is a . ot: ipera; but you miut. ..-*»u f-»»» yourself " "But what does this mean?" inter rupted 1, looking fixedly at my neigh bor. 1 was about to ask him how he dared to jest me in such insolent fashion, when I saw that he was the old man Volgin, who had been ray friend for years, a passionate lover of music, and a great humorist "Ba, ba, ba!" cried I, "so it is you who are pleased to amuse yourself over me. Is it possible? Is this you, Stepan Alexaievich?" "Yes. it is," answered he, very coolly. "And you have come here also to listen to the rehearsal of to-morrow's con cert?" "My neighbor nodded "But permit me," said I, while my hair was rising on end, "what does this mean? It seems to me that you died six years ago." "Pardon me," replied my neighbor, "it is not six, but just seven." "1 recollect now that 1 was at your funeral." said I. "Quite possible. But when were you pleased to die?" "Who? I? Have inercy on us! I am alive." "You alive? Ah, that is strange!" said the dead man, shrugging his shoulders. "I wished to spring up, wished to es cape. My legs would not stir; but I, as if nailed down with spikes, remained motionless in my place. All at once loud clapping of hands was heard through the hall, and Lauretta in a mask and dark Venetiun dress appeared on the stage. "After her streched a long file of mu sicians— and such musiciuns! O, my Lord (tod! what figures! N«eks of storks with faces of dogs, bodies of oxen with heads of swallows, cocks with goats' feet, goats with men's hands —in other words, no wild imagi nation, no mad fancy, could create such repulsive and deformed wonders: it could not even represent them to it self after a description. Especially dis gusting me those who had human faces—if faces might thus be called in which all the features were so distorted that except the chief human traits all the rest had no likeness to any thing. When all this band rushed out after Lauretta to the platform, the leader of the orchestra, with the owl's face anil powered head, sat down in the chair made ready for him; then befcan the tuning of the instruments. Many of the musicians wore dissatisfied; most of nil. the contra-bass with the bear's face. " 'What sort of a bark box is this?' roared he, turning in every direction. 'Have mercy on me! Is is possible, Signora Baldusi, that 1 am to play on an instrument like this?' "I.aurettu, in silence, pointed to my neighbor. The contra-bass sprang from his seat, seized poor Volgln by the neck, dragged him to the stage, and placing him head downward, caught both his legs with one hand, and with the other began todraw the bow across his legs, the fullest and deepest bass sotinds thundered beneath the rotunda. At last all the instruments were tuned. The leader of the orchestra gave a sig nal by raising a gnawed ox-bone, which served as a baton. They played the overture of the 'Magic Flute. " There were wild and discordant passages, it must bo confessed, and the clarinet, who blew with his nose, played frequently false; still, the over ture was not badly rendered. "After rather hearty applause, Lau retta came forward, and, without re moving her mask, sang what for me was an entirely new aria. The words were surpa*»ingly strange—a dying woman, a denier of Ciod, was taking farewell of her love. She sang that in boundless space and forever, with each passing instant, the distant between them would widen, that her torments would be endless a> eternity, and thai their souls, like light and darkness, would never bo luiugled the one with the other. " 'All this waf told in verses: but the music! O. uiy friend. whfri 1 can 1 tinU words to describe to you the inexplicable sadness which pressed my poor heart as that entranc ing but hellish music shook the air? There was nothing of earth in it. but neither was there an echo from Heaven in that voice, tilled with tears and sobs. I heard the groans of men doomed tc torments eternal; the gnashing of teeth, the scream* of hopeless despair, and deep eighs, coming- from a breast worn with sufferings. When in the midst of a thundering crescendo composed of the very wildest and most discordant sounds. Lauretta stopped on a sudden, a general and reverberating bravo wa* heard through the the hall, and a num ber of voices called out: " 'Signora Haldusi, Signora Haldusi: show yourself to us; remove your mask.' "Lauretta obeyed. The mask fell tc her feet; and what did I see? Merciful (iod! Instead of the young and bloom ing' face of my Lauretta. 1 saw a dead and dried skull. I was dumb from amazement and horror; but the other spectator.-, spoke all at once, and raised a great cry. " 'Ah, what charms!" exclaimed fhey, with enthusiasm; 'look, what a skull —just like ivory! But the mouth, the mouth! A wonder,- it extends to her ears! What perfection! Ah. how ! charmingly she gnashes her teeth at j us! What nice round cavities she has for eyes! Oh, she is beautiful!" " "Signora Haldusi,' said Mozart, rising, 'errant us a favor —sing Bion dina. in liondoletta-' ! " 'But that is impossible,' said the : director of the orchestra. 'Signora Baldusi sings the cavatina Hiondina. in Gondoletia, only with a guitar: and there is no such instrument here.' " 'You are mistaken, maestro di capella,' answered Lauretta, pointing to me. "There is a guitar before you.' "The leader of the orchestra oast a quick glance at me. opened his owl's beak, and laughed so malignly thattbe blood grew cold in my veins. " 'But, really,* said he, "pass him this way; we can make a good guitar out of him.' "Three of the spectators seized mm, and from hand to hand passed me to the leader of the orchestra. In half a min ute he wrenched my right leg off, tore the flesh away, leaving nothing but bone and dry sinews; the latter he be gan to stretch out liko strings. "I cannot describe to you the unen durable pain which this preliminary operation caused me; and although my right leg was torn off, still, when the villainous leader began to tune the in strument, all the uerves in my body were straining and ready to snap. But when Lauretta took from his hands my poor leg, and her bony fingers ran along the stretched sinews, I forgot all pains, so beautiful and sweetly sounding were the tone and music of this uncommon guitar. "After a brief ritornello, Lauretta sang her cavutina in a low voice. Often had 1 heard her before, but never had she produced on me such a wondrous effect I seemed to myself to have become all hearing; and what was more strange, not only my soul, but all parts of my body enjoyed the enchanting music, independently ol each other. But my remaining leg wa» the most delighted of all; its entliu» iasm renched such a degree of ecstasy, each sound of the guitar produced suck inexplicably pleasant sensations, that it could not stay still for one instant Every movement, too, of the leg an swered to the time of the music. A 1 one moment its movements were slow and serious, at another it jumped quickly: then it trembled slowly. "All nt once Lauretta blundered. 0, my frieuu, —. previous puln was noli* ing compared with what 1 felt then. It seemed that my skull was breaking ia pieces, that they were tearing all my nerves out at once; sawing me with a wooden saw, and hacking me with a dull knife. This hellish torture could not endure long. I lost consciousness, and remember only as a dream that at the moment when all seemed to grow dark in my eyes some one called out; " 'Throw that broken instrument into the street' " Training Klephant*. To the uninitiated, it seems wonder ful that these huge creature® can be trained at all. But the process is not so difficult They are first tied between two trees, and are rubbed down by a number of men with long bamboos, to an accompaniment of the most extrava gant eulogies of the animal, sung and shouted at it at the top of their voioes. The animal, of course, lashes out furiously at first; but in a few days it ceases to act on the offensive, and stands with its trunk curled up, shrink ing from the men. Ropes are now tied round its body, and it is mounted at its pickets for several days. It is then taken out for exercise, secured between two tame elephant*. The ropes still remain round its body, to enable the mahout to hold on should the elephant try to shake him off. A man precedes It with a spear, to teach it to halt when or dered to do so; while, as the tame ele "phants wheel to the right or left, the mahout presses its neck with his knees, and taps it on the head with a small stick, to train it to turn in the required direction. He ( unic Out Ahead. Mother -in - law You should be ashamed to stay out to such a late hour. Son-in-law—But your husband, iny father-in-law, was with me. Mother-in-law —That doesn't mend matters Son-in-law—You arc right I can understand his reluctance to going home till the last moment, butcertainly 1 have no excuse. Woman's Inconsistency. "She's as neat as a pin. Won't allow a speck to be seen about her house." "Yes?" "It's a fact, and yet, strange to say, when she wants a bonnet or a dress she likes to see her husband come down with the dust" UU With. Short (gloomily)—I wish I was a ru mor. Long—You wish you were a rumor? Why? Short— Because then I would bclikel/ to gain currency. A Graduated Beter»l». Aunty—What do you drink at supper when at home? Wee Niece —Papa drinks tea, and mamma drinks tea with hot water in it, and I drink hot water with tea in it —Good News. Days of Reckoning. Wifo—When we go anywhere now we have to walk. Before marriage you always called a carriage Husband—That's why we have to walk now. —N. Y. Weekly Squcitlliix at Chicago. "Now," said the editor, "I want you to write up Chicago's magnificence as a pork center." "I see," replied the reporter: "a pen picture."—Washington Star. I'artlccfM C'rlminl*. lie peered behind a theater hat And frowned at tbe broad expense of red. Thcu smiled on the girl who next him sat. With one twice as big on her wobbly bead. —Chicago Record. Not Prepared. Pipps—Whot's the easiest death to die? Doctor—Givo it up; never tried any of 'cm. —Town Topics. _____ INK >.27 FOR WASHING SHEEP. Convenient Arrangement for Italic the Work at Home. Where water is found in sufficient quantities for the farmer to wash his sheep at home, we believe it to be the only safeguard against contagious dis eases. A convenient arrangement for wa-shing sheep at home may be con structed as follows: Take an ordinary store-box. four feet by four feet will do. Stop all leaks by the use of cloth and pitch, and place the box in such a position as to receive the water from a trough or pipe. Make » a floating lid nearly the size of the box. and bore in it a number of half-inch holes, thus allowing the -vater to pass readily through the floating platform. To the middle of the opposite sides of the box nail two seautling in an up ri-'it position, extending about four lctst above the box. To the top of the scantling attuch a windlass with crank. Join the floating platform to the wind lass with two ropes, as seen in the illus tration. and you have a rude elevator. A BOX ron WASHING BIIEKP. This elevator will raise the washed sheep out of the box without liability to injury. When the elevator is once raised to the surface, fasten the crank so that it will remain stationary, and the next sheep may be led onto the platform without a struggle. The box in present use on the farm of the writer works admirably, and can be recom mended to all who will take the pains to construct one.—Farm and Fireside. LIVE STOCK NOTES. THERE is profit ia raising good oats. There is very little, if any, in raising poor ones. HOT new milk given four times a day is good for diarrhea in calf. Give a pint at a time. HOKSKS will not drink more water than is good for them, if they are watered frequently. IF a colt has white, scurvy spots on the skin, apply carbolic acid mixed with six times its quantity of glycerine. NEVER force a horse with colic to move around. It is cruel and does no good. Tbe quieter the >animal can be kept the better. i A BITING horse is a dangerous nui sance, and yet the habit is generally contracted as the result of teasing the eolt, a very bad, unprofitable business. A GOOD saddle horse on the farm Is a convenience. Such an animal can often be used, wtth comfort, where now a carriage is brought into requisi tion. UXUIBS a running stream can be kept pure, the farm would be better off with- # out it. The owner of many a dead animal can attribute his loss to »pol luted running stream. Wrns a horse discharges a thin watery substance from the nose th animal haf a cold or catarrh. Syrinx the nose with warm water in whkj. there Is enough carbolic aettt to gt»e-*»—■ 2 a slight odor; or with a strong, warm decoction of tobacco. Feed warm bran mashes.—Farmers' Voice. CATTLE AND HAY BARN. A Commodious Structure with Feed and Water Kader Shelter. I send ground plan of my cattle and hay barn (illustrated herewith), which may give some suggestions to yom readers. H is the hay barn, 80 feet long, tO wide, with 34 foot posts. This forms the central main part of the I — V W W OK , - at F 1 ti ABOUND PLAN OF CATTLE AND HAY BARN. structure. Along each side are hay racks, II R, 2 feet wide at the bottom and 4 feet at top. On each side 10 feet wide are cattle sheds with water tanks at 0, windows at W, and doors at D. Outside of these sheds on each side are corn cribs, C R, with openings at W. C M are movable troughs in which to feed corn. They con be used inside the sheds or on the outalde of the cribs as presented in the engraving. Cor. Orange Judd Farmer. The Feed for E*M. Many make the mistake of feeding breeding ewes oorn. A slight ration of porn once a day, with clover hay and good scope of exercise, may not prove injurious, but a full ration continued lor any period of timo during gestation is sure to be disastrous to the lambs. Oats or barley, with a small portion of shelled corn or corn meal, is best adapt cd to tho wants of the flock, and strong, Sforous lambs will be the result tcr lambing, or even before, a little oil cake meal may be added to the ra tion with advantage, as it will increase the flow of milk and add tone and vigor to the system. fitm i aokt* uiris LOVO VJDO iinocncr. First Mature Maiden Mr. Smith looks quite young and jaunty since his marriage, doesn't he? Second Mature Maiden —Yes, so ho does. He looks almost as young as he did when I refused him. Ho was twenty-five then. First Mature Maiden—lndeed? I had no idea he was fifty.—Truth. The lleglnning of 11- "Ilonry, I have something to say to you." "Oo ahead, my dear. 1 am all ears." "I know you are, but that doesn't alter matters at all."—Harper's Bazar. A nrSINESS OPPORTUNITY. A rcttrcd business man is looking for ft lolUblt optaixxff to entor into active flfr Wir _
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers