Sullivan republican. (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, October 18, 1889, Image 1

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    SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. VIII.
ONE LITTLE WORD.
but a word in anger breathed,
Yet cutting like a lash.
One little moment spent in strife,
One blighting lightning flash;
Yet for that word, through dreary years,
One shall regret with bitter tears.
"To-morrow morn she will return.
To-morrow I will pardon crave."
To-morrow finds one grief-struck heart
And one cold form robed for the grave.
And memory, with his wild regret,
Still haunts the one who would forget.
—Annabel Oxuight.
IN THE OAK WALK.
BY EMMA A. OPPKII.
How pretty Miss Perry looked!
Neither Miss Lane nor Phil Thompson
had ever seen quite such a sight.
She was in black silk, though it was
only for a morning stroll to the Oak
Walk—black silk enveloped, as to the
skirt, in shimmering lace.
Her little black bonnet set off her fair
face and yellow hair; her long Suede
gloves were as yellow as her hair, her
parasol white and lacey.
"Your cousin is very handsome," said
Mary Lane to Mr. Olney.
In her heart there was a shocked dis
approval of Miss Perry, but her cousin
was not the one to confide it to.
"Oh, yes, Mag's pretty!" Mr. Olney
rejoined, turning languidly to glance at
her (he did everything lazily). "But
she's not my cousin, you know. Mag's
step-father's cousin is my aunt."
"Oh?" said Mary.
She raised her old fashioned brown
parasol.
"Allow me!" said Mr. Olney, and
took it.
Mary Lane smiled.
It amused her that she, a staid little
country schoolma'am, should be the
recipient of the gallantries of a silk -
hatted, eye-glassed young man from the
city.
But it did not so much amuse her that
Miss Perry should be the recipient of
Phil Thompson's gallantries.
She was indignant with everybody.
With the Waltons, who boarded her
self and Phil Thompson, Phil's parents
being away on a visit. Why had they
taken auy more boarders? Miss Perry
and her mother might have summered
elsewhere very well.
With Phil himself. In spite of the
innocence of his wide blue eyes, Mary
had thought Phil rather level-headed.
Now what was she to think?
But most of all with Miss Perry.
What right had she to do it—to put
forth her finished charms for the undoing
of a defenseless country youth? to trifle
with his honest heart like a cat with a
mouse?
Mary Lane was wrathful.
"No, Mag's not closely related, you
see," Mr. Olney was saying, in his not
unpleasant drawl. "But I consider it
my duty to look after her, rather. That's
why I'm here. 1 thought I'd run down
for a day or two and see what Mag was
up to."
It was evident what Mag was up to.
She and Phil were far behind now, under
her white parasol.
Mr. Olney laughed lazily.
"I rather think it's a good thing I
came, you know,"he remarked. "I may
he in time to rescue Mr. Thompson. You
see, Mag's a terror, Miss Lane. She
doesn't mean it, but on my word she
can't help it!"
"What?" said Mary, coldly.
•'Flirting, you know," said Mr. Olney,
yawning. "I don't know how it is, you
know, but she cawn't sec a fresh fellow
—a new one, I mean," he substituted po
litely—"without trying to get his scalp.
On my word!"
No reply from the schoolma'am. She
was burningly silent.
He was making fun of Phil, of course;
that was plain. But that was not the
worst. It was so then; she was amusing
herself with Phil. Mr. Olney had seen
it. Poor Phil! and her poor self, not to
be able to say one word, to place one
straw against the current!
•'As many good shots as Mag's made,
though," Mr. Olney added, reflectively,
•'she hasn't suited herself yet. She
knocks down fellows fast enough, but she
don't pick 'em up when she's got 'em
down."
"You see the turn just ahead?" said
Mary—she did not propose to listen to a
rehearsal of Miss Perry's triumphs.
"That brings us to the Walk. It is an
avenue of oaks, which gives it its name.
Come up here, and you can see the river,"
said Mary, mechanically.
"A charming view," said Mr. Olney,
adjusting his eye-glass. "Ah, Mag ami
iit< Thompson are upon us!"
They were, at last; Miss Perry with a
pretty smile and gracefully-dangling par
asol, Phil with a somewhat dazed look
on his handsome, honest face.
"It's done!" Mary thought, bitterly.
"It is too late! Oh, she should be
choked!"
"What a view I" Miss Perry was cry
ing,with clasped hands. "See the river,
Marmaduke! Blue from the sky, and
still as glass!"
"Beautiful!" Mr. Olney assented.
"And this long avenue—did you ever
see anything like it, Marmaduke?"
Mirmaduke never had.
"I thank you so much, Miss Lane, for
bringing us!" Miss Perry cried, herself
beautiful in her gay enthusiasm.
"Not at all, - ' said Mary.
Miss Perry's thanks were intolerable.
Phil—poor Phil—if she could save him!
But Miss Perry stood near him—was
smiling at him.
"What are those flowers down there?"
she demanded, brightly. "Violets al
ready? I must have them!"
They were a dozen perilous feet down
the steep bank, which sloped to the
river.
But Miss Perry gazed brilliantly at
i Phil and Mr. Olney.
"We couldn't get them, Mag," said
Mr. Olney. "We'd break our necks."
"Shame!" cried Miss Perry, blithely,
' and cast down her parasol and gloves,
j "Laggards, I'll do it myself! Go hide
I your heads!"
She was at the brink of the bank. Mr.
| Olney caught her wrist.
"You'll kill yourself, you know, Mag,"
; he drawled.
"Perhaps I shall," she retorted, rol
lickingly; but she turned hotly red at his
I touch. "My blood will be on your head,
j Marmaduke!"
She sprang out of his reach, and stood
poised where her leap had taken her, her
charming face on a level with their feet.
"Miss Perry!" said Phil, and "Mag!"
said Mr. Olney, sternly, but got no further.
She had slipped. Down,down the sheer
i bank she went sliding, with a dire rend
ing of pretty skirts, a wild fluttering of
! frightened hands, till she clutched at a
; sapling rooted far below, and sank down
| with a little exhausted shriek.
"Well, how can we get to her?"
j Phil gasped.
"Upon my word, I don't know!" said
Mr. Olney, angrily. "She's a madcap!"
Miss Perry was gazing up at them in
i comical defiance, her white hand waving.
' 'l'm not hurt. I suppose you're sorry
I'm not hurt, Marmaduke?" she cried.
"You see the foot path just below you
i Miss Perry?" Mary called to her, coldly.
! "If you will take that it will bring you
I gradually to a lower grade in the walk,
! where you can climb up easily."
"We will walk down and meet, you
there," said Phil. "Shan't we, Mary?"
"Very well," said Mary, frigidly.
Miss Perry, with a last defiant word or
two, was off.
Mary led the way down the walk stiffly.
! Phil was laughing.
"Miss Perry is irrepressible!" he ob
i served, admiringly.
"Oh, she's a madcap," Mr. Olney re
peated, strolling leisurely in the rear.
Mary accomplished the five minutes'
walk in silence.
A slender figure, in draggled black
I silk, looked up at them drolly from down
the slope.
Phil and Mr. Olney sprang down and
pulled her up. Mary was positive she
had stopped there purposely.
Her heart burned within her. What a
fool she would have looked in such a
position!
But Miss Perry was flushed and laugh
ing and lovely.
' 'What are you giggling at, you
wretches?" she cried, tipping her bent
bonnet recklessly over her nose, and
i spreading her lace skirt—which hung in
■tags. "Stop this minute, Marmaduke!
I've had a delightful little excursion. I've
I enjoyed it—there now! I didn't get my
violets, but "
Miss Perry was turning white. She
clasped her round arm with a shiver of
pain. Blood was trickling on the fair
skin.
"It was a stone—it cut it as I fell!"
I she murmured.
Now she would have pity and concern
as well as admiration. It was a cut-and
dried scheme, Mary reflected, irefullv.
Phil would have to help her home.
1 She turned away, her lip between her
teeth, hot and futile tears in her eyes.
She would not look on at it!
But it wits Miss Perry's ambiguous re
lative who offered his arm.
"If you've had enough of an escapade,
Mag," he remarked, drily, "perhaps
I you'll let me take you honxti"
LA PORTE, PA., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1889.
She took his arm without a»wor<l, jthat
warm red rising in her soft face; - and
Phil joined Mary.
Mary looked fixedly at the river. :Bh<
felt Phil's big, blue eyes upon her, but
she did not meet them.
She had no patience with him—a sim-.
pleton who would let a shallow! flirUmako
an idiot of him!
"What's the matter, Mary?"'lie •stam
mered, at last. "I—l—you. don't*) seem
to like Miss Perry much, Mary."
That was too much.
"No, I don't," said Mary- grimly.
"I think she's jolly, you know," said
Phil timidly. "And I'm sorry foriher—
awfully sorry!"
"It is only a scratch," said Mary,*with
forced calmness.
"I don't mean that," said Phil. He
took Mary's elbow to help her up the
grade, but she pulled it away. "Not
that, you know. You.see, she— I won
der if she'd mind my telling you—just
you?"
"I don't want to hear it," saidfaMary,
in agony.
"She wouldn't mind," Phil insisted.
"If she told me, she'd tell anybody. It's
about her Marmaduke —he hers,
that is, but she'd like him to be. They've
been going on together for years, I gath
ered, without it's ever coming to any
thing; and she doesn't know whether
Olney wants it to come to«anything. He's
so careless and lazy, she doesn't know
whether he likes her or not. But she.,
likes him. She told me that-right ou'i,
Mary, as innocent as a baby; seemed to
want somebody to tell it to. And she
cried when she said it—just cried. That
was why she went on like that when we
came up with you—made all that fuss
about the flowers, and went down the
bank—to take his attention off her red
eyes. She says she can't marry-•anybody
else; and then not to be sure.he»cares for
her—well, it is tough. If hedon'twant
her, I don't know what he does* want,"
said Phil, indignantly.
Mary Lane was looking dowpi at the
grass.
"Was that what she was saying?"
she murmured. "He—he saidjshe was
flirting with you!"
"He did?" said Phil, warmly. "He
wants throttling. I've a mind to do it
for him. He doesn't deserve her, the
"I thought so, too," Mary falteredion.
"I thought she was. And I was so
angry with her for doing it!"
Plul laughed.
"And diil you think I was flirting with
her, Mary?" he demanded.
"Yes," she owned.
"Then you need throttling!" But he
contented himself with a soft shake of
her shoulder. "Mary, did you think I
could flirt with anybody but you! Don't
! you ksow I like you, and always have?
and mean to marry you—you, nobody
I else? Mary, for shame! Didn't you
know it?"
The grass seemed to swim befor
Mary's eyes.
"I—l had hoped so, Phil," she whis
pered. "Oh, Phil, it was that! I
thought it was just pity for you, Phil,
and indignation and all, that made me
hate her. But it was because I wanted
you! It was that. She might have
flirted with anybody else, Phil, and I
wouldn't have cared!" she ended, amazed,
joyfully amazed, in the sudden ligh e
which broke over her.
"Oh!" said Phil, eloquently.
A common impulse made them turn
find peer at the pair behind. One look
was enough. Miss Perry's face, sweetly
aglow, was lifted to that of her step
father's cousin's nephew, while the neph
ew bent his lazy, handsome head above
her, and clasped the hand clinging to his
arm. The beauties of the Oak Walk and
the river were nowhere.
"She's got her Marmaduke!" said
Phil, with a silent laugh.
"Yes. Their mixed relationship will
be simplified now," said Mary, iu an
ecstasy.
She looked back admiringly, remorse
fully.
"Don't you think she's the cutest
girl?" she demanded, her throes of the
last half-hour flung to the winds.
"There's only one cuter," said Phil,
overlooking her inconsistencies. "You!"
—Saturday Night.
A little girl sent out to find eggs re
turned without success, complaining that
lots of hens were standing about doing
nothing.
A story is told of a young man who was
going to open a jewelry shop. When
asked what capital he had he replied; "A
1 crowbar."
SPONGE FISHING.
A I'KCIIbIAH INDUSTRY IN THE
GULiF OP MEXICO
Where the Spoi>KCH are Found—How
They are Caught and Their
Preparation for the
Market.
The water of the Gulf of .Mexico is
noted for its clearness, but at best our un ■
aided eyes cannot, with any distinctness,
see objects further than six or eight feet
below the surface. The water-telescope
is therefore employed. Hyatt, in his ac
count of the commercial sponges. de
scribes this as a tube several feet long,
"i\milar to that used in Norway; but the
only form I have ever seen in Florida,
and which is known as a "water-glass,"
consits simply of an ordinary wooden
pail, into the bottom of which has been
set a pane of strong glass. Sinking the
lower half of this bucket below the water
i and-,pushing his face down into it, while
j the bail is shoved over his head to hold
| the bucket in place, the hooker shuts out
the reflection of the light from the sur
face of the water and can look down into
theanore or less crystal depths as far as
the light penetrates.
In this posture, bent over the rail of
the canted yawl, his great pole resting
I across the gunwales in readiness, and his
head half concealed in the swimming water
glass, the sponge-hooker is slowly moved
over the waves by his intelligent sculler,
while he scrutinizes the bottom for the
inconspicuous objects of his search.
Nearly a dozen different kinds of
sponges are named by the Gulf fishermen.
The valuable ones arc the "sheep's-wool,"
"boat," "yellow," "grass" and "glove"
sponges, but the last two are not of much
account. "Loggerhead," "finger"
I sponges, and the like, are useless. Ex-
I pert fishermen can tell all these apart as
j far under water as they can see them at
I all, though in six or seven fathoms the
I very largest—perhaps as big as a peek
j measure—looks very small, just mere
! purple spots on the bottom. Unless the
I water is clear, however, even the aid of
| the. water-glass will not enable a man to
! sQf the large, deep-growing sponges, and
■ n locality is often reported "played out."
because it is so muddy nobody can tell
what is there. This is not a common ob
stacle, however; in fact, sponges would
not grow where the water was often
i soiled.
Perceiving a sponge on the bottom
you or I would probably pass it over as
a stone or a bit of coral, or not notice it
at all—the hooker signs to his mate,
who, by dexterous manipulation holds
the boat stationary, while the hooker
lets his long pole slide, quickly t<. the
bottom. Guiding it with one hand and
shoulder only, and looking through the
water glass, he places the hook under
neath the sponge, taking care not to in
jure the body, and gives it a violent jerk.
If it breaks, it floats up at once and is
picked up; but sometimes several twist
ing jerks are required to detach the tough
polypore, and now and then one will hold
on so unexpectedly that the gunwale of
the boat will be dragged under, and the
two Conchs find themselves pitched head
first into the water.
The hardest of all species to detach is
the "sheep's wool," and the ''yellow"
the easiest.
When a sponge comes up bearing a
"bud" of good size, this is broken off
and thrown back. It sinks and survives,
but is said not to become affixed to a
rock, but to drift about on the bottom
with the motion of any storm or current
that may stir it. It increases in size, but
easily eludes the grasp of the clumsy
hooks that try to pick it up. These out
casts are called "Rolling Johns" by the
fishermen.
At the end of a week or a fortnight a
schooner collects her boats and carries
her spoils to the shore, where has been
set up an arrangement, for preparing the
raw sponges for market. This consists
of a circular palisade of poles bound to
gether by withes into a pretty close pen
about twenty-feet in diameter, and stand
ing in some protected shoal where at
high tide the water may be ten or a
dozen feet deep. Such a pen is called
a "crawl," a word corrupted from the
Spanish corral. Into it is thrown the
first week's catch and left to macerate, a
process rapidly effected in the poorly
organized tissues of the sponge-animals.
When the vessel reaches it on the next
Saturday, these first sponges have been
swashing about and rubbing against tin
poles until they are well rotted and par
tially cleaned of nareode. They are
now taken to the shore, placed upon
plank* and thoroughly beaten with a
Terms—sl.2s in Advance; $1.50 after Three Months.
short piddle called a "bruiser," which
treatment drives out of the interior
of each, as well as presses from the sur
face, the dirty water and decayed ani
mal matter with which it is saturated. It
is a very noisy and very nasty piece of
work, and ends by slashing away with a
knife any black and slimy particles that
may still adhere. This doue, the new
stock is transferred from the vessels
heaped and slimy decks to the coral, and
left to be soaked out by the waves.
After the "bruising" the skeleton
sponges are strung on rope yarn in lengths
of two fathom "strings" and made to
bleach and dry on the hot sand beach,
tintil the end (if the voyage. All this
work will be done by a ship's crew, even
if they have as many as 2000 sponges in
half a day.
The American sponges are used for the
batli and other coarser domestic purposes
to some extent; but a large part of the
product is torn to pieces for stuffing
cushions, mattresses, etc., as a substitute
for hair and in the manufacture of certain
rough kinds of cloth in place of coarse
wool or hemp.— Drake's Magazine.
A Powerful Woman Preacher.
One of Chicago's successful preachers
is the Kev. Florence Kollock, of Blue
Island. In her pulpit, clad in Princess
gown of dark tine stuff, the severe lines
of which reveal the perfection of her tall,
lissome figure, with her tine head thrown
back and her dark eyes glowing, she is
the embodiment of inspirational enthusi
asm. She is wonderfully magnetic, and
carries forward her audience as if by
magic. Still she is not in the least sen
sational, either in method or matter.
Dealing in facts rather than dialectics,
she is broad, intense and original, and
those who have listened to her for years
declare not only that her work is not a
replica of early efforts, but improves in
power, strength and finish as the years
go 011. A native of Wisconson, Miss
Kollock was educated at the State Uni
versity at Madison. For five years after
her graduation she was a most successful
teacher. During this time she was much
exercised in regard to religious matters.
The demands of her broad and humane
nature were such that ordinary creed limi
tations were quite impossible to her; in
the end she became a llniversalist and
determined to preach the Gospel as
a minister of that church. To this
end she took a course of study to fit her
self for the work of the ministry, and
began preaching at Wavcrly, Wis., in
187t>. She remained at Waverly two
years, and then followed the Rev. Au
gusta Chapiu as pastor of the Universal
ist Church at Blue Island, one of Chica
go's suburbs. During her pastorate
there she established a mission at Engle
wood.—Av/usta (Mi".) Chronicle.
Great Fun With a Whale.
The officers and soldiers at Fort Adams
have had the opportunity to engage in
actual warfare, and improved the chance
with great alacrity. An attack was
made on the garrison by a huge whale,
and all hands were called to repel board
ers. The whale is what is known as a
sulphur bottom whale, which are plenti
ful on the coast of Maine, and was about
twenty feet long, lie was first seen by
Surgeon Morton's son on the upper side
of the south dock. lie gave the alarm
to the attendant at the hospital, who first
attacked the whale with a pistol, firing a
good number of shots, but producing no
effect whatever. The officers and men of
the battery then gathered and made a
united attack, using sabres, guns, pistols,
and, in fact, everything except the field
pieces was brought to bear on it. Some
of the men jumped overboard and finally
got a rope around him. A piece of gas
pipe was ten stuck in his blow-hole.
But he soon broke away, and as he swam
around the front of the wharf, the port
launch was backed into him by Captain
Lee, and he was cut into in several
places by the propeller. The launch then
started to chase the whale down the cove
opposite the stable, where he was finally
run ashore and killed. The scene was a
very ludicrous one: many of the men at
different times jumped on the whale's
back, only to be thing off by the creature's
tail.— Prov'ulence (It. [.) Journal.
A Strange Monster.
According to a French paper, it sea
monster, such as no fisherman has ever
seen before, has been stranded on the
island of St. Honorat, nearCanues. The
creature measures eighteen feet in length,
and is about seventeen feet round the
thickest part of the body. It has a beak
resembling that of a parrot anil two horns
on its head; its eyes are at a distance of
three feet four inches from the extremity
of the beak.
NO. 2.
FUN.
A baldheaded man says his hair re
minds him of a fool and his money—it is
easily parted.
What a glorious world this would be if
the people lived up to the epitaphs on
their tombstones.
A man in Southbridge, Muss., has a
five legged mule. It is treated with more
than ordinary respect.
Mrs. Winks—"Well, I declare: The
weather forecasts are right for once at
last." Mr. Winks (looking over her
shoulder) —"Humph! That paper is a
week old."
Teacher—"lf you had three oranges
and ate two, how many would be left?"
Scholar (positively)—" None." Teacher
—"Yes. One would be left." Scholar
(dodgedly)—"No, it wouldn't. I'd eat
that, too."
The latest medical pronunciamento,
says the Pittsburg Dispatch, is that smok
ing after meals is injurious. Since it is
already established that smoking before
meals is injurious, the only refuge is to
stop eating. Oil City lilizznrd.
"See here, Mr. Grocer,' said a house
wife, "if you are going to bring me any
more goods I want them to be the very
best." "AVe keep none but the best."
"I presume so; you must sell the worst
in order to keep the best."— Hartford
Pott.
"That's the way with the world," he
growled. "You do something the peo
ple don't like and they turn on you quicker
than you can say 'Jack Robinson.' Ethel
can go home to her mother if she wants
to. As long as I have the house and
something to cat I won't care. But great
heavens!" he exclaimed, as he looked
about the pantry, "I'll be hanged if the
milk has'nt turned, too."
Devices ef Hindoo Criminals.
Some curious devices practiced by
criminals are mentioned by the writer ol
a series of articles in the Times of India
on "By-paths of Crime in India." One
curiosity which he was shown on a visit
to the jail in Calcutta was a heavy lead
bullet, about three-quarters of an inch in
diameter. This was found on an habitual
thief, and was being used to form a pouch
or bag in the throat for secreting money,
jewels, etc., in the event of his being
searched. The ball is put into the mouth,
and is allowed to slide down gently until
it reaches some part near the epiglottis,
where it is held iu position and is kept
there for about half an hour at a time.
This operation is repeated many timer
daily, and gradually a sort of pocket is
formed, the time being longer or shorter,
according to the size of pocket required.
In some cases six months have been suffi
cient, in others a year, while in some cases
two years are necessary. Such a pouch
as this last is capable of holding ten ru
pees, about the size of ten florins. The
thief, therefore, can undergo search, and
nothing being found, he goes away with
the spoil in his throat, the power of
breathing and speech being in no way in
terfered with.
About a score of prisoners in the Cal
cutta Jail have such pouch formations.
Iu the hospital of the prison the visitor
learned some of the malingering practices
of Indian criminals. In one case he saw
a youth who was a perfect skeleton, with
lustrous eyes looking out in a ghastly
manner from a worn, haggard face. It
was discovered that he had for two years
been taking an irritant poison, with n
view to produce diarrhoea, in order tc
shirk work and get pleasant quarters in
the hospital. But he had overdone the
part, for he had reduced himself to such
a condition that recovery was all but im
possible. This taking of internal irri
tants is a common practice among the
habitual criminals of Calculta. Castor
oil seed, croton seed and two other seed*
which have no English name are the
agents most commonly employed. One
man was pointed out who, in order to get
off his fetters, had produced an ulcer by
rubbing the chafed skin with caustic lime
and then irritating the sore by scratching
it with a piece of broken bottle.
The Telephone Nets of the World.
According to the statement of a Ger
man authority the telephone nets of the
world are as follows: United States. 750
nets, with 200,000 subscribers: Ger
many, I(>7 nets, with 26,000 subscribers;
England, 125 nets, with 20,000 subscri
bers; Sweden, 150 nets, with 15,000
subscribers; France, 39 nets, with 10,-
800 subscribers; Italy, 49 nets, with
OtiO'J subscribers; Switzerland, 71 nets,
with 8000 subscribers;, Russia, 3i» nets,
with 7600 subscribers.