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.