SuixrvAN REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. VIII.
The debt of Now York city is now
$08,663,072.
A Philadelphia physician says pea
nuts, taken moderately and thoroughly
chewed, arc good for biain-workers.
The annual production of eggs in the
United States equals in money value the
country's annual total production of
iron.
It is said in Paris that old topers and
those accustomed to alcoholic stimulants
were the least affected by tho influenzi,
while the strictly temperate suffered tho
most.
The secretary of the National Prison
Association estimates that the census of
1890 will show a prison population of
nearly one hundred thousand, an increase
of about thirty thousand in ten years.
The Armours in Chicago did a pack
ing bu'iness of $60,000,000 last year,
which was $5,000,000 iu excess of
1888. Six thousand men were cm
ployed, nnd paid $3,000,000. Tho
firm killed 1,200,000 hogs, 600, QOO
cattle, and 250,000 sheep.
Senator Pettigrow of South Dakota
has the only herd of buffaloos now in
existence. There are fifteen animals in
the herd, and they are corraled on a
farm about four milos from Yankton,
at the end of a railroad built by him
and used by the public for excursions.
An English company called the Ncw
fouudland Colonization and Mining
Company has acquired 61,000 acres of
land in Newfoundland, which were
granted to tho Anglo- American Tele
graph Company in 1854. Somo of tho
grants contain coal beds and various
minerals, and others are adapted for
agriculture and lumbering. The com
pany has been organized by a number
of prominent men, who expect to bo
able to attract a largo st ream of immi
gration to the colony.
Bishop Stcnhouso, the leader of the
Canadian Mormons, has writtcd a pro
test against the proposal of an indepen
dent republic for Canada. Tho Latter
Day Saints are afraid they might be in
terfered with should Canada become an
independent nation or a portiou of the
American Republic. Stenliouse was
formerly a member of the Canadian
Legislature and resigned his scat to be
come a Mormon. Ho is now the recog
nized head of the Canadian Mormons,
and his manifesto is issued from the
Mormon settlement a"; Cardston in the
Northwest Terrni i.es.
Rifle bullets nrc now photographod
in their course by meaus of the electric
Bpark. The camera is taken into a
dark room, which the bullet is caused
to traverse. As it passes tho camera it
is made to interrupt an electric circuit
and produce a spark, which illuminates
it for an instant nnd enables the im
p-ession to be taken. The wav-j of
condensation in the air before the bul
let and the rarefaction behind it are
visible m the photograph, and can be
studied by experts, thus enabling tho
form of ball or riflj which minimize! !
tlio resistance cf the air to be selected.
Tho credulity of the foreign noble -
man has been brought out by a swind
ling matrimonial scheme. A bureau
sent out a circular advertising an Amer
ican heiress list of $20,000,000 and in
vited the aforesaid nobleman to coino
forward, pay a fee and be married to
one of them. Thousands of letters j
•were sent to the "Bureau" from titled i
beggars who wished to scoop in Ameri- |
can boodle. After all, querici the !
New York World, why shouldn't com- |
mercial transactions like that bo con- '
ducted on a cold business basis? They j
are not, but there is no reason why j
they shouldn't be.
The enmity of Russia to anything of ■
a German origin becomes constantly '
more and more marked. Efforts have \
been made to prevent the use of the
German language in Russian torritory,
and now the feeling has taken a new
turn. There has been a considernb'c
immigration of Germans recently iuto
Northern Russia, aud tho authorities, in
order <to put a stop to it, propose to
levy a high tax upon each foreigner
taking up his residence in Russia. The j
•una of SIOOO a head is spoken of, the
design being to make it absolutely pro
hibitory. The objection to Girinan'
immigration is that the new-comers are, i
•s a rule, intelligent, and carry with
tbem ideas of a liberalising tendency. !
Snow Flakes.
Where do they go,
rhe melting flake* of the brigbt, white
snow?
They goto nourish the April showers;
They goto foster the May-time flowers;
Where the roots of the hidden grasses grow,
There do they go.
How do they go*
Drop after drop, in a silent flow,
When the warm rain falls, and the winds
are loud.
And the swallow sing in the rifts of the
cloud,
Through the frozen veins of the earth be
low
They softly go.
Why do they go?
Because Dame Nature will hare it sol
More thau this, truly, I cannot tell;
I am neither a seer nor an oracle!
When all is answered, I only know,
That they come and go!
—Kale Putnam Ongood, in Wid* Awake.
THANKFUL'S TRIALS.
"I'm sure," murmured Thankful
Pennypacker, "I don't know wliat to
do."
Thankful Pennypacker had come to
the far West on what the facetious in
habitants of Blue Gulch would have
called "a wild-goose chase."
She was one of the great majority of
unemployed women in the State of
Vermont, and her cousin, Sqirre Todd,
had heard from his nephew's wife, who
had a sister at Blue Gulch, that there
was a district school-teacher wanted
there.
"Chnnce for you, eh, Thankful?''
said Mrs. Todd. "Better get off as
fast as ever you cau, or it'll be snappod
up. Such positions don't go a-begging
long."
Thankful looked up with big, wistful
eyes.
"It's awful cold weather togo
West, isn't it?" said she, a little tim
idly.
"Oh, if you're afraid of a littlo cold
wind and a snow flurry or two!" said
Mrs. Todd, elevatiag her nos«.
And Thankful packed her trunk at
once, and departed.
•'Ain't~ftrrather barbarous, mother,"
said the squire, "to send the poor gal
way off West in such a blizzard as this
'ere?"
"Well, Joshua," said his helpmeet,
"ihe's been here two good months now,
and we want her room for your Aunt
Eliza, that's got money to leave some
day; nnd, besides, Dr. Lotlinir's a-coin
ing pretty soon to viiit old Doctor Jen
ningses' folks next door, and it's jest as
well to have Thankful Pennypacker out
of the way."
Squire Todd's lower jaw dropped.
"Why?" said he, in amazement.
"Why?'' mimicked his wife. "Well,
give me a man for solid thick-headcd
ness! Hain't you got a darter of your
own, and ain't Thankful Peunypacker
a pretty gal, if she is past fivc-and
twenty year?' 1
"Oil," said the squire. "Matclimnk
in', eh?"
"Well, call it what you please," said
Mrs. Todd. "Anyhow, it's time Electra
WHS settled iu life, and it's j:st as well
to have Thankful Pcnuypacker off some
whero clso "
But when the Vermont girl reached
Blue Gulch, old Mr. Wcrdell, the chair
man of the board of trusteos, professed
himself exceedingly sorry, but the po
sition had just been filled by a half sis
ter of his own.
"We always give Western girls
the preference," said he.
So poor Tiiankful went back to
"Squire Todd's nephew's wife's sister,''
in a frame of mind widely different
from her name, and uttered the piteous
sentence that heads our story.
The nephew's wife's sister was called
McCray— a stout, cheerful body, with
bright blue eyes and a double chin.
"I declare to goodness, Miss Penny
packer," said she. "I feel sorry for
you, but I hain't a minute's time to
spare n-listcnin' to what Miles Wen
dell said just now. Two o' tho China
men have gone, and Bridget won't stir
into the dinin'-room as long as Wong
Bee is there, li's strange how she and
the Chinese hate each other. And the
tiain is duo in forty minutes, and
eighteen mcalers havo telegraphed
ahead."
' C-in't I help you?" said Thank
ful.
"You? Why, you'ro an educated
lady," said Mrs. McCray.
"That's no reason I can't cook a
fricasae, or bake a pumpkin-pie," suid
Thankful, smiling ill spite of her
troubles. "And I have no especiul
prejudice against Wong Sie; so I'd as
LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 1890.
I soon go into the dialog-room and aee
to the tables as not."
•'Wtll, I'd be mortal obliged to you
if you would," said Mrs. McCray,
with a great sigh of relief. "Here's
one o' my big white kitchen aprons to
tie over your black serge dress, so it
won't bo sp'iled; and you'll find Wong
See very teachable aod docile."
So that Miss Pennypacker was flying
around presently in the neat, cool
rooms of the railway restaurant, where
long tables, draped whith white, were
decorated with evorgreen and holly
berries, and the glass and crockery,
albeit of the coarsest, was sparkling
and clean.
The Biua Gulch meal station, as Mrs.
McCray told Thankful, was celebrated
all along the line for its pigeon-pies,
its toothsome wnffljji, and its dainty
bits of home-made cookery.
"And now you're hero to sort o' keep
Wong See straightened up,"said she; "I
tan givo my whole mind to the waffles."
A keen wind howling down the rail
way cut; a cloud of drifting snow,
sharper than needles and pins; and
then the shriek of the train. Wong
See adjusted his clean white tunic and
rubbed his hand».
•'Supper allee rcadec," said he.
"MissccCray she got wnfflj all cookee."
"Oeh, the liaythen Chinee!" said
Bridget, in her den behind the tea and
coffee holder, as she scowled unut
terablo things at the smiling Celestial.
The passengers rushed with one ac
cord for the warm, cozy, savory-smell
ing dining-room, for the fame of the
Blue Gulch wnfilos had penetrated far
aud wide—when all of a su Iden there
was an exclamation, a pause, a confu
sion.
"What is it?'' said Thankful, who,
with swift hands, was carrying tea and
coffee this way and that.
"A gentleman has slipped on tho icy
car s'.ep," said Mr). M Cray. "I
reckon likely he's broke his leg or arm
or some'.hiug. Here, Miss Peunypncker;
you come to the waffla-irons. I'll just
stop and see what tho trouble is. Mc-
C.av.nin't never on hand at anemer-'
gency."
When the train had gone, the hurt
passenger lay in a little white-curtained
room up stairs.
Doctor Feltoa had set his broken
arm and bandaged his sprained auklo.
"If you have moderately good luck,''
said ho, "you need not be detained
more than two or three weeks. And
the peoplo here are vorjr kindly and re
spectable. They'll make you fairly
comfortable, you'll find."
Tne wayfarer uttered a groan, but
there was no appeal. On all the earth
there is no autocrat like a country doc
tor.
Mr°. McCray was kind and mothorly.
Wong See, with his little almond
shaped eyes and perpetual smile, proved
to bu a capital nurse; and after a little
tho patient got u>ed to his captivity.
'•Who is that I hear singing down
stairs at times?' ho asked, one day.
"Wei'," said Mrs. McCray, "it's our
Bridget. Does sho disturb you! She
will keep singing 'Nora, My Nora,' say
what you will, and—"
"No, it isn't that howl," said the
sick man, with a shu lder. "It's some
one singing bits out of the 'Trovatore'
—little sweet trills and runs like a
nightingale."
•'Oh!" said Mrs. McCray. "Ireckon
that's Thankful."
"And who is Thankful?"
"JLss Pennypacker. My sister's
husband's uncle's cousin, that came all
the way from the State o' Vermont to
teach deestrick school, and whon she
got here another woman gobbled it up
—the sitooation, I mean."
"Oh!" sad the invalid. "Yes,
thank you, Mrs. McCray! lf\ou'llput
the lemonade pitcher on the table, 1
can reach it myself."
The big Michigun rose on the porch
of the Todd farmhouse was all in blos
som when Doctor Lothair cnino at last
to make the long- promised visit to his
friend, Doctor Jennings.
"But it ain't no use!" sighed Mrs.
Todd to Elec'.ra, her daughter. "He's
brung a wife with him, I'm told—a
bride all the way from Dakota Turri
tory."
"Humph!" said disappointed Elec
tra. "A rcgu'ar wild Indian, I guess.
But, for nil that, I'm sort o' curious to
seo her. Let's go into night, mother,
when they're through tea."
So Mr?. Todd and the tquire donned
their best clothes, aud E ec:ia put on
W newest set of fhh-scale jewelry,
and they all trudged over to "Jen
ningses' he use," when the sun had set
and the whip-poor-wills began to sing.
"Why, ma, look there!'' sa'dElcc
tra. "It's cousin Thankful, sure'a
you're born, settin' on the piazzy,
and—''
"No, it ain't!" said Mrs. Todd.
"Yes, it is! Why, how on airth come
she here?''
Thankful came running down the
steps.
"Well, I declare!" said Mrs. Todd,
secretly planning within herself how
to avoid inviting Thankful to the
house. "Tho fur West seems to hev
agreed with you. Mercy, how red
your cheeks be! S'pose you took ad
vantage of the chanco to come back
East with Doctor Lothair and the brido.
Where is she?"
"The bride?" Thank ful's cheeks
were redder than ever. "Oh, didn't
you know? lam the bride!''
"You?" echoed Mrs. Todd.
"Yes. Come in and I'll introduce
you to my husband."
Prosy old Doctor Jennings treated
the visitors to a long account of the
whole thing—from Doctor Lothair's
accident at Blue Gulch to tho wedding,
whero Wong See waited, and Mrs.
McCray cooked tho game and entrees.
It was quite n romance, he declared.
And Squire Todd stopped on the
way home to indulgo in a hearty laugh.
"To think," said he, "what a mortal
hurry you was into get Thankful out
of the way of this very man, so't
Electra could hev a clear chance."
' Judge Todd," snapped his wife,
"you shouldn't laugh out so loul and
coarse! It's dreadful vulgar! '—Sutur
' Jay Night.
Functions of the Cocoanut.
In tho arts aud economics of South
Sea Island life, tho first placo is taken
by tho fcatherod cocoanut which lines
tho white saud of tho beach or nestlos
in tho gorges of the precipitous moun
tain sides. Polynesia knows no want,
can almost conceive of no luxury, with ■
oui tLo jnovinoo of thr coconnut 4*> be«*
stow. At once food aud drink, it builds
the islander his houso and canoe; foi
one it u Ida tho ihitch and for the oth
er the sail nud rigging; it clothes him
and provides him baskets in which to
carry his food; it makes him an armor
that will turn the sharpest arrow and
the keenest spear; cradled in the feath
ery leaves as a babo, fed and housed
and clothed and equipped for war from
it as a mau, at death ha returns again to
his cradle of infancy and is buried in a
leaf. It is the characteristic featuro of
every view, tho centre of all histories
and the ornament of every tale. Bath
ing its roots in the salt sen, it lines
every beach with tapering trunks that
never grow straight skyward, as if they
had been designed by their loaning and
step-like leaf scars to mi'co it all the
easior for the indolent islander to climb
for his natural food. Sjcurely wrapped
in its fibrous husk it floats unharm d
through leagues of stormy seas and grows
on nuy saud/ islet whero tho rain never
falls to be in time the support of wholo
communities who know not the taste of
fresh water. About the feathery plumes
cf this tree of great resource group all
tho essentials of an island life. —N. 7.
llerald.
A Split Gold Coin.
"Two tens for a twenty, please,"
said a gentleman to the cashier in the
county treasurer's ofii <j.
The cashier tool', the "twenty" and
rang it on the counter. It had that pj
euliardull ring that characterizes coun
terfeit coins. Ho rung it a sacond
time, and then inspected it critically.
"Is it bogus?" asked the owner of
the coin.
"Oh, no," answered the cashier;
"it's good as wheat, but split."
Continuing, he said: "T<int is tho
first split |2O I ever ran across. The
stamping machine at tho mint some
times comes down too hard on the
coins and splits them; but it is seldom
the larger coins split. It's mostly
'fiv(s'tliat suffer. But they are very
careful at the mint, and stop every split
coin they detect. Now, in tho thou
sands of dollars handlod here every
year, I rarely find a split coin. I don't
think I've found moro than four or five
in a year, and, as I say, the coins were
mostly $5 pieces."
The split |2O looked perfect, and, so
far as the eye could detect, bore no
fiiw of any kind. The only fault with
it was in tho "rin>;," an I the split
made it sound "deud" when thrown ou
thr counter.
Terms-—51.25 in Advance; $1.50 after Three Months.
All They Know.
Where lies the land to which the ship wonld
fo?
Far, far ahead, is all her seamen know;
And where the land she travels from?
Away,
Far, far behind, is all that they can say.
On sunny noons upon the deck'a smooth
face,
Linked arm i a arm, how pleasant here to
pace;
Or o'er the stern reclining, watch below
The foaming wake far widening as we go.
On stormy nights, when wild northwesters
rave,
How proud a thing to fight with wind and
wave!
The dripping sailor on the reeling mast
Exults to bear, and scorns to wish It past.
Where lies the land to which the ship
would go?
Far, far ahead, is all her eamen know;
Aud where the land she travels from?
Away,
Far, far behind is all that they can say.
—Arthur Hugh Clough
HUMOROUS.
A weather report—thunder.
A "boil*' on the stovo is worth two
on the neck.
The tailor trado is a fitting occupa
tion for anybody.
Patti'a lowest notes reach as high as
S4OOO every night.
Thcro is n good deal of hemming
done by seamstresses and hawing by
teamsters.
Almost every man takes his day off,
kut we never heard of him bringing it
b::ck again.
Since young Jinks began visiting Mis 9
Brown, the parlor lamp in the Brown
domicile is the latest thing out.
A good many peoplo speak as they
pass by who had better keep still unless
they cau Fay moro pleasant things.
Quillpen Hello, Scribbler I Are
you still living on that first story?
Scribbler—No, I'm up in the attic
now.
First Small Boy—We bad a fire at
our houso last night. Second Small
Boy—That so? F. S. B.—Yes. Pa
aiafor'd licgn
Woman is running mau a pretty close
race in tho arts and sciences, but sho'll
never get tho knack of sharpening a
lead pencil down fiue.
D ictor —Ah, yes; I sec you hove lung
trouble. Patient (hopeless consumptive)
—Excuse mo, doctor, but it strikes me
that it's no lung trouble.
He—What did your father say when
you told him that we were engaged?
She—Oh, Augustus, you must not ask
ino to repeat such language!
An exchange says tl.at "Sauerkraut
never ranks among groceries." All the
same, it is strong enough to rank al
most anywliero it may be placed.
Clerk—l want an increase of salary.
Employer (wearily)— All right Any
thing elso? Cierk—And I want to get
oil an hour earlier every day, so I can
spend it.
Fame may De ornamental, Dut it isnt
much use to tho man who has to hustle
seventeen hours out of the twenty-four
for his daily bread, with the pie never
any nearer than the horizon.
Benefactor—lf you are a good ma
chinist, why do you not work at your
trnd'j? Tramp—l can't bear the annoy
ance of being waked up by a factory
whistle at 5 o'clock every morning.
Tailor—You promise! me faithfully
yesterday rao:ning that you would call
in and settlo for that suit last night, if
it rained pitchforks. Customer—Yes,
Iknow; but it didn't ra'n pitchforks.
Lawyer—Your undo mikes you his
sole heir; but the will stipulates that
the sum of one thousand dollars must
bo buried with him. Heir—(feelingly)
—The old man was eccentric; but his
wishes must bo respected, of course.
I'll write a check for that amouut.
Anxious Wife—Doctor, how is my
husband? Doctor—He will come
around all right. What he needs now
is quiet. 1 have hero a couple of opi
ates. "When shall I give them to
him?" "Give them to him? They are
for you, madann Your husband needs
rest."
Both Worked Hard.
Brown—You wouldn't be so extrava
gant if you know how hard I have to
work for my money.
Mrs. Brown—And if you only stopped
to think, you wouldn't say such a thing.
Just see how hard I had to work to get
the bonnet you complain about. Why,
I had to \i*it about a hundred stores
before I could find oue to butt me.—
JBpceA.
NO. 22.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
A scientist says that the Panama canal
will turn the gulf stream and malca
Great Britain a land of iceberg! and
Polar b3ars.
The rainfall for Washington, D. C.,
during December was only thirty-nine
hundredths of an inch. For the entiro
eastern section of the Uaited States tha
fall was from 30 to 90 per cent, below
the normal.
German chemists have discovered in
the cocoanut a fatty substitute for but
ter, and it is being producod in largo
quantities at Manheim. Ono factory
turns out 6000 pounds per day, worth
fifteen cents per pound.
The canal to connect the North Sea
nt the mouth of the Elbe will, when
finished, be 61 miles long, 85 feet broad
at the bottom, nearly 200 feet at tho
water level, and of sufficient dcpj.h to
tako the largest German war vessels,
A physiologist in France has been
observing the working of flies in flying,
and Lai arrived at the conclusion that
the wings of a fly make about 330
beats per second, and that such a fly
can travel at the rate of one kiloinetro
cer minute
Experiments in .oiling the waves
have been so successful that all life
boats in England will bo required to
carry a gallon of vegetab'e or aaimal
oil, and a distributor of approved pat
tern, for throwing tho oil on the sea
in rough weather.
Tho relative values as foods of the
grains named bolow are given by Pro
fessor Wiley as, first, wheat; second,
sorghum; third, maize; fourth, un
hullcd oats. Sorglium-seed furnishes a
flour like buckwheat that makes passa
ble bread, and is coming into considera
ble use.
In Lawrenco, Kan., a comparison by
means of a photometer between tho
brightness of tho full moon and that of
the arc lights in use in that city, showed
that at an average distance of 100 feet
from the light of the lamp tho bright
ness was twenty-five times that of the
full moon.
In finking artesian wells in tho Des
ert of Sahara, Africa, water-bearing
strata has been reached at a depth of
230 feet, nt which a steady flow of
nbout 5,000 gallons per minute has been
obtained. This water is brackish and
unfit for drinking, but it auswers very
well for irrignt'on.
An insect in tho ear may be drowned
out with tepid water or killed by a few
drops of sweet oil. If anything hard
gets in the car, double a stout horse
hair, p'.aco tho ho.id on one sido and
drop the loop into tho car, move it
about until it catches the object and
then draw it out.
The owl has no power of motion in
its eye, tho globe of which is immova
bly fixed in its socket by a strong, clas
tic, hard, cartilaginous case, in tho
form of a truncate! cone; but in order
to compensate for this absenco of mo
tion in the eye, it is ablo to turn its
head round in almost a complete circle
without moving its body.
Recent observations of tho waters of
Great Salt Lake provo conclusively that
tho statements made that no form of
animal or plant lifo exists in tho lako
ore erroneous. No fish or other largo
form of animal life has been discovered,
but the prosence of vegetable organisms
in the lake may be considered a fac»
from the abundance of animal exist
ence*.
The Deadly Cold Bed.
If trustworthy statistics could be had
of the number of persons who die every
year or become ]>ernianer.tly diseased
from i-lecping in damp or cold bods,
they would prol ably be astonishing
ami appalling. It is a peril that con
stantly besets traveling men, and if
they aro wiso they will invariably in
sist on having their beds aired and
dried, even at the risk of causing much
trouble to their laudlords. But tho
peril resides in the hou;e, and the cold
"spare room" has slain its thousands of
hapless guosts, and will goon with its
slaughter 'ill ]>eople learn wisdom.
Not only the guest, but the family
ofton suffer the penalty of sleeping in
cold rooms and chilling their bodies at
a time when they need all of their
bodily heat by getting between cold
she ts. Even in warm summer weather
nco d, dump bed will get in its deadly
work. It i* a needless peril, nud the
ui'gloct tn provide dry rooms and beds
has in it tliu elements of naurdir and
•uicide.