SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN. W, M. CHENEY, Publisher. VOL. VIII. Both in appearance and in mannei the emperor of Russia has become a Muscovite of the old Cossack type. He is a colossal figure, being a giant both in height and in girth, quite bald, "with a fiat nose, an immenso sweeping moustache, and a stupendous beard, which flows over his chest. The new annual statistical abstract of India, which has iu-st been issued by the British India office, gives interesting tables relating to population. Estimat ing the yearly increment since the last census of 1881 at -J per cent., the popu lation in March, ISBB, was 269,477,728, of which 60,654,378 belonged to the native states. Arthur L. Thomas, the Governor oi Utah Territory, in his annual report to the Secretary of the Interior estimates the population of the Territory at 230,- 000, which is an increaso of nearly 86.- 0)0 since lißo. During the la<t nine years the foreign- born population, num bering in ISBO about 80,841, has been increased by Mormon immigration by 16,094. The American Analyst, notice* a suc cessful experiment by a Frenchman namod de Carbonnet to make silk with out the agency of worms. It is stated that he used a collodion solution, poured into a copper receiver, which emptied into a system of small glass tubes, and these tubes terminated iu capillaries which carried off the solu tion in fine thread-like stream?. He produced several yards of silk in this way. Frenchmen have inado eggs without the use of hens, and mill* without the agency of cows; but the artificial is not quite so gool as the natural. We may expect to hear another lou .' rail from European missionaries in Cnina for money to aid starving thous ands in the Yangtese valley, where the cotton crop is a failure. The calmness with which the Chinese government al lows its subjects to starve is appalling to foreigners, I ..t the help that English nnd Americans gave in tlio famine last j winter aud spring in North China was trifling compared to the grand total of misery. At the very time thousands of Chinese were actually starving in tha northern provinces, cargoes of wheat and millet were exported from the southern part of the same districts. ; The Roman empire, observes the San Francisco Chronicle , in its worst days never evinced moro callous contempt for human life than China shows to day. A couple of St. Louis lawyers recent ly went into ono of the subterranean ; vaults of the courthouse in that city to look over some old court records. One I of them was compelled to leave before ; the paper desired was found, and going J out slammed the door without thinking of the couscquencos. The automatic lock performed its duty, and his friend was a prisoner. The friend discovered | this disagreeable fact only when he had unearthed the paper he desired and turned to go. The lock could not be 1 worked, aud he could not attract attcn- | tion by calling. Finally, under the dirt and cobwebs that had been gatner ing for years, he found a narrow grat ing, through which he could just peep out on the street. Calling through this ho attracted tlio attention of a passer- i by, who rushed into the sheriff's office j and announced that a prisoner was try- ! ing to escape. Investigation disclosed 1 the pent-up attorney. Commissioner Itaum of the Pension Bureau has announced that hereafter, in all cases whore a medical examina tion is desired or required under any of the several pension laws, such examina tion must be made by the local Bjard of examining Burgeons in the district in which the claimant resides. General Ilium says that in many instance! claim ants couio to Washington from a great distance and at considerable expenso in the erroneous belief that on examina tion by the Washington Board and per sonal solicitation their cases will be more promptly acte 1 upon, and possi bly with a greater degree of liberality. Some of these are poor and cannot afford the expense, and it is moro to savo these people from needless expense than it is to give the several examining Boards their proper share of the work of making examinations that this policy lms been adopted. Tiio Washington Board will not hereafter bo allowed to examine claimants for pensions whose r«sidence u not within its jurisdiction, i Jack Frost From over the bills, with a breath of flame. From over the hills old Jack Frost came. Came so softly that nobody knew, Till the land a beautiful picture grew. The elm leaves turned to a golden brown, Each willow was decked with a golden crown, The thistle-down broke from its prison cell, And the nuts from their clinging burrs as well; The maples flamed on the green hillside, And color ran wild o'er the country wide, As over the hills, with a breath of flame, Old Jack Frost, the ice king, came. —Emma S. Thomas m Frank Leslie's. THE LOST WILL. About 20 years ago there died in southern Ohio a queer old character named Thomas Martin. Ha was never married, and his eccentricitio? made his name a familiar ono iu several countic?. He lived in a little log house on a farm about four miles from a village, and sometimes he was alone for months, and again he would have his house crowded with his relatives. While father and mother were dead, ho had three brothers and four sisters living, and in the same county. One day he might meet one of them and hand him a S2O gold piece. The very next day he would pass the same persin by without speaking. As lie was worth about S2OO, 000, all made by tlie sale of oil wells found on his lands in Pennsylva nia, and as his relatives were all poor, none of them dared offend him. If he treated them coldly they put up with it; if he insisted on some family stay ing with him for a week they made every sacrifice to please him. There was a layer of humor in the old man's composition withal. I think he reasoned that all his relatives expected a slice of his wealth, and he intended that each one should have it, but he proposed to make tliem earn it a< far as they could. If he knew that his brother James was planting corn, nnd in a great hurry to get through, ho would send for him and insist that, he hunt or fish or go looking over the country for some plant or root needed for sickness. If his brother Henry was extra busy iu Lis saw mill the old man was sure to send up a message to him to come down and take a witch hazel rod nnJ go wandering over the hills to locate metals. There was only one bed in the house, and yet the old man would in sist that a family of eight coma and visit him and sleep where thez could. Twice a year he killed a lamb. The rest of the time he lived on pudding and milk and vegetables. Uncle Tom, as everybody called him, was over 70 years of ago when I fii st knew him, and it must have seemed to his relatives that he intended to live to be a hundred. As tho years went by he really seemed to improve, and it was a cold day when ho couldn't think of some new trick to play on those who anxiously waited for him to turn up his toes, lie had made a will, as was known in a certain law office, dividing up his wealth pro rata, but one day something occurred to determino him to revoke it. He had sent for his brother Henry and family to come to him at once. Henry was sawing lumber on a contract, one of the children was ailing and ho returned word that lie could not come. This was the first time he had ever refused such a demand, and when the messenger returned the old man boiled over with indignation. lie sent for his lawyer to come and make a new will, and the lawyer, of course, brought the old one. He saw this laid on the clock shelf, and it was lying there when he went away. The now will was not entirely completed that day. Martin said ho might want to make some other changes, and so ho did. His sister May, who was an old maid, was with him that day, and after tho lawyer had gone Martin wantod to lower liar down in tho well to recover a lost bucket. She was timid and afraid, and tho resuit was that she was ordered to pack up and leave, and was told plainly that she need not expect a dollar. Nor was this all. Having got his hand in, as it were, the old man went for another brother, and forced a rup ture, and then sent for a lawyer and cut tho three persons off with a legacy of SIOO each. He signed the new will and placed it with the others, saying he would keep both for a few days and see if auything else turned up. Then, in order to show his contempt for his rela tives, ho sent for a woman named Thatcher to keop houso for him. This woman «H a widow, about 40 y«ara LAP OK TE, PA.., FRIDAY, JANUARY 3. 18t)Q. old, and was looked upou as half crazy and tho other half foolish. Sh3 was employed in the village at laundry work. Martin gave out that he would marry her, and he was heard to say more than once that not one of his rela tives should ever get a dollar of his money. One night, two months after the Thatcher woman went to keep house for him, he got a bad fall while bringing in wood. Ho had to be helped to bed, but only a portion of what followed was known for many months afterward. Tho old man felt that his list hour had come, and he got rid of her for a few minutes by sending her out to tho barn. Which will he meant to burn no one will ever kuow, but ho got up nnd burned ono of them. Both were duly sealed and attested, and both were equally good in law. That he did burn one of them was sur Thirty hours later some one happened to visit tho cabin, and the old man was found dead in his bed, the woman had d sappcared, and tho wills were missing. With all that money at stake there was great excitement, of course, and tho relative* gave mo the caso to work up. No one knew, until I overhauled the ashes in tho fireplace, that anything had been burned. I found scraps of paper, proving that at least one of the wills had been de stroyed. So far as I could tell, both might have boon burned at the same time. O;e had been, anyhow, and the question of which it was interested every relative. It seemed curious why Mrs. Tiiatcher had gone away, aud still more curious that she had esaaped observation. As no one had met her in tho village or on the highway, it must be concluded that she had reasons for hiding. If one of the wills had been preserved, she prob ably knew of its whereabouts, as the whole cabinet had been hunted over and over again without bringing it to light. My first step, therefore, was to discover her; but when a fairly sharp man pits himself against a half idiot Ve may be beaten. 1 made a circuit for thirty m les around on lior.seback, and, while I met a hundred people who knew the woman by sight, I could get no trace of her. A robber could not have hidden his trail tuoro succesifully. When I found that the hunt was to be (X'ended, I notified every sheriff in that part of the stile. I got out circu lars and sent them to town marshals, constables, postmasters, and farmers, but no good resulted. Tuen, one day,l sat down to put myself in her place. For all I knew then she was with the old man when he died, and it might have been her hand which held ono of the wills to tho flame. Just why she should fly and hide herself when not guilty of any thing was a puzzlo. S > far as we could determine she had taken nothing. One day Mirtin bad gone with her to the bank and drawn out and presented to her the turn of S3OO. This she had taken, as was hor right; but the few dollars he had in his pocket were there when we searched tho dead body. I had not thought to overhaul her ward robe, but when I camo to do so I got a pointer. Sho had dressed herself in her best, and gone without taking even a hand satchel. Her best was a black si'k, a fine red shawl, a fashionable bonnet, and fine shoes. Sho would not onlv look very much like a lady, but she would notset out 112 >r a walk across the wet fields or along the muddy highway. She would take the train at tho nearest point, of course, and that happened to be at a station not over thirty rods from (he old man's cabin and on his land. Freight and accommodation trains stopped there always for water, aud the regular passenger trains sometimes. For instance, the express for Cincinnati would not stop at the village, but would at this c >unty station to get a supply of water for the engine. As soon as I struck this trail I was on'.y a few days in ascertaining that MM. Thatcher, drossed in her bost, did actually board tho express that, night as it stopped for a moment, and that she paid her fare and was carried to Cin cinnati. She had four weeks the start of me, but I had strong hopes of find ing her. I reasoned that the fact of her being simple-minded and of never having travelled much would make her keep clear of the ho- I els. She, doubtless, feared she would be blamed 112 >r ' he old inau's death, and a search made for hor. In that case she would hide herself. I had my mind made up when I reached Cincin- nati to look for her among the boarding houses, and look I did. After a vain search of a week I got ono of the regu lar detectives and ia another week we got track of her. Ingoing into the city she had entered into conversation with a fellow-passenger, and he had recommended her to a boarding house kept by his aunt. They gave her a room at the house, but soon saw that , she was queer. The situation sharpened her wits, and she claimed to be a Mrs. Rose of Chicago, who had come to search out relatives. As she never went out, received no letlers and employed no assistance her story was not believed, and she was an object of wonder to the other boarders. In about three weeks she one day paid her bill nnd walked oil, but one of the boarders followed her to another boarding house. We hoped nnd expected to find her there, but she had changed again and no one knew whero she was. It took us three days to locate her again, and this time we were too late by an hour only. In making her second change Mis- Thatcher had gone to a boarding house kept by a woman who had a brother on a farm, lie supplied her with vegeta. bles, and as he camo in ono day Mrs. Thatcher saw him, and at once decided togo out to his farm. She arranged for her board, bought herself a cheap dress or two, and the pair had been gone about an hour or two when we rang the bill. The detective was busy on auother caso and decided that he could not go with me. I therefore got a horse and buggy and drove off alone. It was about 3 o'clock in tli3 afternoon of a June day, and I was hardly clear of the city when I noticed that a thunder storm was coming up from the direction in which I was headed. I drove fast, hoping to make the ten miles before I was caught, but when seven miles from tho city the storm broke. The only shelter I could secure was an old wagon shed, but while tho thunder and light ning were severe, but littlo rain fell. In the half hour I was under tho shed the lightning struck near me three times, and I was greatly relieved when the storm passed on. I drove forward for about a mile, and then suddenly cam i upon a curious sight in the high way. A farmer's wagon was smoking and burning, while ono horse lay stone dead aud the other was plunging about. On one side of the wagon lay the body of a woman, on the other side that of a man. I leaped out and securod my horse, and the man was the first ap proached. His clothes were on fire over his breast, and his face was discol ored. One glance satisfied me that ho was dead. The woman lay in a heap, but when I took hold of her hand there was a flutter of the eyelids. A bolt of lightning had killed one of the horses and the man, but the woman had only been stunned. My first move was just what any physician would have recom mended. I loosened the collar at her throat to give her lungs a chance to play. As the collar flew open a paper was displayed. I reached for it, and one look told me that it was tho last will aud testament of James Martin. Then the woman must bo Mrs. Thatchor, but I should never have known her, dressed as she was. She camo to while I was releasing tho plung ing horse and putting out the fire in the wagon. The accident had come about as I supposed, and in half an hour she was quite herself again. I went to tho nearest farmer, got him to come back and assume charge of things, aud then drove back to the city with my prisoner. On tho way in she fully explained everything. When Martin found him self about to die he told her to burn the old will. In her nervousness, and being unablo to read, she burned the wrong one. When he discovered this he berated her in as forcible language as ho could call up—indeed, ho fell back and died while cursing her. Fearing that she had committed some awful crime, and hoping that if she carriod the other document off with her sho might escapo all consequences, sho dressed herself, took tho paper and her money, aud walked over and boarded the train. Under tho will I had recovered, all the relatives shared alike, which was fair and just under tho circumstances, and instead of making any trouble for the widow, the/presented her with a pur eof SSOO and headed her for Ore gon, whore she got another husband in less than a month after her arrival.— New Yak Sutt. A comfortable winter resort—Thick clothes. Terms—sl.2s in Advance; $1.50 after Three Months. SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS An entirely new rose, called the ••rainbow rose," was exhibited at a re cent flower show in San Francisco. It is small, and of a delicate shade of rose pink, with darker bars running length wise of the petals. After immersion In water for thirty seven days, specimens of pine were found by Professor D. V. AVood to have been lengthened 0.165 per cent., oak 0.085 par cent., and chestnut 0.065 per cent., the lateral swelling being 2.6 per cent, for pine, 3.5 per cent, for oak, and 3. 65 per cent, for chestnut. An English scientist has been making experiments to determine the important part which light plays in the develop ment of animal life. A dozen tadpoles were confined in a box from which every ray of light was excluded. The result was that only two of them devel oped into frogs, and those wore short lived. The others increased considera bly in size, but never left the tadpole form. The recent discovery by a Now Eng land chemist of a cheap method of dis solving zinc by combining it with hy drogen is regarded as a most valuable one. The product is a solution called zinc- water, and has the property of making wood to which it has been ap plied absolutely fireproof, and at a very low cost. This discovery is likely to revolutionize firo insurance, as well as to immensely decrease tho loss by fire. In New Granada, South America, grows a plant which is locally known as the "ink plant." Its juice serves, without tho slightest preparation, as ink. At first the writing appears red, but in a few hours it assumes a deep black hue. Several sheets of manu script, written with this natural ink, became soaked with sea water on their journey to Europe, but when dried, the writing was found to be still perfectly clear. A peculiar tendency in idiots to im perfections and disease in tho teeth has been noticed by several physicians it has been studied in 100 cases of idiots at random. Tho multiplicity aud variety of tho dental lessons were remarkable and the conclusion has been drawn that idiocy, with or without epil epsy, predis >oses to nrrests of develop ment and D anomalies of dentition. The effect rarely appears in tho first teeth, but almost wholly in the second. In Europe the telephone as a disease disseminator is under discussion. A Frenchman has discovered a new dis» <- der termed ' aural overpressure," cam i by the constant strain of the audito • apparatus in shouting through the teh phone. In some case 3 the tinkling o the bell has affected the ears of person the same way that inflamed eyes cannc • bear the light. The patients suffer l'roni nervous excitability, with buzzing noises in tho ear, giddiness and neuralgic pains. Nevrose Among Dogs. A really startling communication has been mado to the French academy of sciences. It is to the effect that tho malady of the period in France known as the nevrose, which may be taken to mean a general upset of tho nerves, and various disorders belonging to the hysterical category, is no longer con fined to men and women, who, so to say, burn tho candlo of their lives at both ends, but is spreading amongst the canine race. Hysterical phenomena have been remarked in dogs, especially in pet dogs, nursed in tho lap of luxury, and deprived of what may be said to constitute a healthy existence for a dog. Many of these pampered four- footed favorites have succumbed, it appears, to nervous disorders, or to violent hysteri cal attacks, and ail examination of their remains after death has proved that the seat of the disorder which cut short their days was merely tho nerves. This seems strange; but the theory is that dogs, like men, are susceptible to the influences that surround them, and whereas cases of hysteria have been observed in v hat may be called fashion able society dogs, nothing of the kind ha* been noticed in tho shepherd's dog or those of a humbler class. In a word, we are assured that the fashion able dog of the period, taking too little exercise, feeding too well, and living in an artificial atmosphere, ia falling a victim to the terrible nevrose, precisely like its mistros, and possibly shortly we shall hear of the dear littlo four-looted creatures having morphia injected te allay their nervousness.— NO. 12. Welldoing. Think the good, And not the clever | Thoughts are seeds That grow forever Bearing richest fruit in life Such alone can make The thinker Strong to conquer in the strife. Love the good, And not the clever, Noble men! The world can never Cease to praise the good they've don*. They alone the true Who gather Harvests which their deeds have won. Do the good, And not the clever; Fill thy life With true endeavoc Strive to be the noblest man, Not what others do; But rather Do the best you can. —The Little (tvMi. HUMOROUS. Mirth wakes the man; the want of wit the fellow. An agricultural association—Wheat, barley and oats. The only thing that beats a good wifo is a bad husband. Could a Chinese ship yard be proper ly called a junk shop? A sugar manufacturer need not neces sarily have sandy hair. The reason the hatter got so mad was probably because his nap was disturbed. First Clock—llow arc you getting along? Second Clock—Oh, I'm still living on tick. Squeers—Do you live on pleasant terms with your landlady? Nickleby— No; on cash terms. Old Lady—Sir, you've stolen my daughter's love. Unabashed Culprit— Weil, didn't I return it? The absent-minded professor to the night watchman. "Good night. 1 hope you will stoop well." "Come off the perch," said the fisher man, as he removed the scales from a specimen of the fiunj tribe. ' "Slow and sure," the wise heads claim, Is by far the better plan; The slow man gets there all the same— Just behind the other man. Scholastic Item—Tommy- 1 — "I wish the school-room was round." Mother —"Why?" "So the teacher couldn't make me stand in the corner." Jackson: Mrs. Henpnck tells me she gained six poun Is w' tie she wa» in the mountains. Het-,>eck: That's nothing; I gained twelve while she was away. Dentist, to patient: Bjtter a sound false tooth than a rotten real one. Patient (testily); Then why didn't you say so beforo you commenced to plug it? Teacher—"Now, suppose you had 15 cents and spent live for a school book, how would you ascertain the amount you had remaining? Head Boy—Count it, sir. A speaker at a public meeting talked and talked and talked. "llow full he is of his subject!" said a friend. "Yes," said au enemy; ' 'but how slow he is to empty himself 1" Mr. Graball (at railway station) —] want a ticket to Lincoln. Ticket Seller—Yes, sir. Lincoln in Illinois or Lincoln in Nebraska? Mr. Qraball (on the lookout for a bargain)— Which will you sell me the cheapest? Satisfied Old Maid (fishing for a com pliment)— Tell me, darling, why you prefer me to any of these other girls for a bride. Sensitive Old Bach.—On my wedding tour I don't want people to think I'm a newly married man. "I'm tired of trouble without end— I think I'll end this life; Please pass the pie;" so said the man To his discouraged wife. "Money," "Rupee" and "Dollar." In tracing the derivation of the word "money," I find that it is from the Ro man word "Moneta," because the first regular mint was established by Roman* in the temple Juno Moneta. The word "coin" is, no doubt, from the Latio "cuneus," meaning a die or stamp. Many coins are so called from theii original weight, as the Euglish pound, the French livre and the Italian lira. The word "rupee'' is from ahe San scrit, rupza, meaning silver. The word "dollar" is short for joachimsta ler. In Bohcinii the word is thaler, which is also short for joachimthaler or money of the Juac litu Valley, wuera coins of this value were first bixuck in the sixteenth century.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers