SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W, M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. VIII.
Seeds and Words.
I dropped a seed beside a path,
And went my busy way.
Till chance or fate—l say not which—
Led me, one summer day,
Along the self-same path, and Jol
A flower blooming there,
As fair as eye has looked upon,
And sweet as it was fair.
I dropped a sympathetic word,
Nor stayed to watch it grow,
For little tending's needed when
The seed is good we sow;
But once I met the man again.
And by the gladsome way
He took my hand I knew 1 sowe
The best of seed that day.
Working for Uncle Sam.
A. WOMAN CLERKS STOKY.
The life of a feminine clerk in ono of
tho Government Departments at Wash
ington is not by any means a bad ex
istence. I havo tried it and speak from
experience.
One day not long ago I found my
way to tho offico of the Secretary in tho
Interior Department. A colored man
of great dignity sat outside of tho door,
and upon my cntranco into the ante
room roso respectfully and, taking my
card, waved me to a seat to await re
sults while ho disappeared through a
doorway oppo ite mo.
In a few minutes I was ushered into
a large room, half office, half library,
and facing a dignified gentleman who
rose and politely asked me to bo seated,
lie still held in his hand the letter I
had sent in by tho porter together with
my card, the b'ack border of which
looked as strange nud forlorn as my
life was then. In as few words as pos
sible I told him my history up to that
moment and why I had applied to him.
Would he give me a position as a clerk
in tho Department?
Ho silently turned ovor several pack
ages of paj-cr lying on the desk beside
him, and then said: "Do you know
four application makes 1001 that I
QOW have before me, asking for clerk
ships in this Department?''
One thousand andonol How quickly
my thoughts flow back to the strains of
a favorite waltz, "One Thousand and
Ono Nights!" The room and tho man
before mo faded before another vision—
a group of gay young girls dancing to
the music of that waltz as it dripped
from my careless fingers. "One Thou
iaud andJOoe Nights!" Less than that
many nights before I had beeu one of
a patty listening to that music played
by a Gorman band, ' Under the Lin
den" in Germany, loved and cared for,
with no thought of sorrow.
I was brought sharply back to the
present, with its bitter contrast, by the
sntranco of che porter, followed by two
gentlemen. Tho Secrotery shook my
band as a farewell, and promising
to send me an answer in the morning,
bade th') porter see me safely to tho car
in tho next street. In arranging my
veil a watch guard unclaspsd nnd
dropped with n rattlo to the floor. One
of the gentlemen who had just entered
pickcl it up, and looking significantly
at it and then to tho Secretary, handed
it to me. It was tho square and com
pass set in largo whito diamonds, be
longing to my husband. Ido not know
whother that little incident helped me
10 gain my position or not, but have
thought possibly it did, as I saw the
same dosign hanging from a chain worn
by tho Secretary of the Interior.
Next morning tho bell boy brought a
note and a large official document con
taining my appointment to a clerkship
in tho Pension Office at a salary of
SIOOO a year. 1 was togo tho follow
ing Monday morning at 9 o'clock for
examination and to be assigned to a
room with others thus employed. The
next two days were spent in search for
a boarding-house. Of these I found
plenty, but at not ono dosirablo placo
could I got room and board without that
ill-important thing, some recommenda
tion, a thing I had never onco even
dreamed of having.
I think my experience those two days
ought to bo written, and would be in
teresting, to say tho least, to students
of human nature. My only crime, un
fitness or whatever you may term it,
as expressed or hinted, was my being
"so young," "so pretty" and "a
widow 1" Think of it. I wished most
heartily that day that I might be old,
gray and hideously ugly. lam gad
there were no wicked fairies about that
could change peop'e at their own wish.
I fear 1 should have been left repent
lug, a clerk to this day iu tbat old
ilSMWT.building on the.avtauii At 1
could not change my facj, and certain
ly it was not my forturo, I decided to
change my tactic*, and through the
means of the tolcgraph I was enabled
to secure satisfactory references, even
for that particular and pampered class,
Washington landladies.
On the Monday following I went to
a building on Tenth street—l think tho
same ono where President Lincoln was
carried mortally wounded; if not, it
was next door to it—whoro tho exam
inations woro held. In answer to my
rap I was admitted to a long, low
ceiled room filled with writiug tables
and chairs. At ono of these tables
two ladies wcro busily bending over
pen and ink, evidently undergoing tho
ordeal through which I must pass. A
short, stout gentleman with a pair of
large green glasses surmounting his
noso looked over my paper of appoint
ment, and giving me a chair at one of
tho vacant desks, put beforo ir.c scmo
printed questions. I think I jiassed
creditably, for I was not requested to
rowrito or given any hints, as ono of
the other two was.
While my papers wcro being folded
and written upon I looked with curi
osity at my comrades. One was un
doubtedly a "schoolmarm." Itshowed
for itself in many ways. Tall, thin,
plain, with an intellectual facs. She
wrote carefully and without study her
answers to the questions nnd folded her
papers with a precision and neatness
that spoke well for any work entrusted
to her, and made me fool green with
envy. Both ladies had- reached that
stage in life called one of "uncertain
age." Why uncertain I could never see
plainly. But the other writer interest
ed me. A lady without doubt; once
"of the world," but of it no more, was
written plainly on the strong, thought
ful face and in the dignifijd, queenly
figure. Ago and care had lined the
once handsome face and whitened the
hair. Later I learned her history
and that my surmises were correct.
By a stroke of fate our desks were next
to each other for many months and
through her eventually my life's story
was changed. She was the widow of a
once noted army officer. Through the
carelessness of trustees her fortune was
swept away, 'l'ho same government
that honored her husband while living
soon gave her means of earning L
bread. A bill had been introduced in
congress to give her a suitable pension,
but was delayed and seemed almost
hopelessly cast aside. Later it was
granted and she gladly resigned her
position to others more needy and less
interesting.
We all three left that building and
went to the peusion otlico on Twelfth
street. It was a relief to mo to be
with the two older ladio=, and they
both assumed a care and helpfulness
that I have never ceased to remember
gratefully. Another office, with several
desks, occupied by men busily writing
and messengers coming in and going
out, carrying papers. We waited some
time, and at last, our papers being seen
and approved, wo were given cards,
with our namo and number of building
and room thereon. The "school
teacher" said "good-by" and went to
another building, while the other lady
and myself followed a messenger up a
flight of stairs and into a large, well
lighted room. It was filled with desks,
men, women and chairs, and all swam
in a confused circlo before my fright
ened eyes. In a moment of composure
I began counting, and found that there
were eighty clerks assigned in this
room, seventy of whom were men and
ten women. The desks were arranged
in rows, as at school, oight rows, with
six in a row.
Tho ladies (all, with ono exception,
looked like ladies) had tho lightest,
■warmest sido of tho room and were in a
row by themselves. Tho scratch of
pens, or rattling of papers, with an oc
casional subdued remark, was all that
broke the silence. At tho end of the
room anil facing the others were the
desks of tho Chief and Assistant Chief
of the division. 1 almost expected to
sec apples, knives and marbles there; it
seemed like a "grown-up" school-room
over which two teachers presided. A
soldierly looking gentleman came for
ward, and offering chairs, looked at
our cards. In a few minutes we were
shown the ladies' cloik-room, a small,
neat room, cared for by an elderly
colored woman (once a maid to ono of
the mistresses of tho White House), and
upon our return were given deiks ut the
end of the lino of ladiot.
. 'fht _w»rk «u mtjtjog ajt
LAPOKTE, PA., FKIDAY, MAY 23, 1890.
for pension casos, copying old wai
records and trying to rewrite tho rec
ords of tho revolutionary war. These
last were really interesting, containing
many quaint historical facts, that lie
hidden in the old yellow parchments.
In one of tho payrolls was pinned a
receipted bill, made out to "George
Washington for ye shooing of one
horse'' by ono "Phinoas Secly." ]
have forgotten tho amount, but tho
debt was paid. Thcro were many
funny applications for pensions, tho
reasons for applying being absurd be
yond belief. Ono old fellow applied
bccauso "his wife's first husband had
been killed in battlo, and he, having
married her and endured her temper
and bad cooking for many years, until
death released her from this world
and himself from tho two abovo trials,
he desired a pension on that ac
count."
From 9 in the morning until 4 in the
afternoon we wrote at our desks, with a
half hour for lunch, every day but Sun
day. Of tho men employed as clerks
nearly all had Buffered in some way
from the war, through which most had
passed. Borne few wero there through
inlluence. Of the twclvo (counting tlio
last two assignod) women employed;
eight were widows, either wives or
daughters of men killed in battle. Tho
four young women were orphans. The
most perfect decorum prevailed and I
can assert that no lady could fail to be
treated with greater respect by all with
whom she may come in contact.
I spoak from only a brief month's
experience, but in that time, on account
of rapid penmanship, I was sent from
one room to another to assist in work
needed in a hurry, I saw and heard
enough of the different people to writo
many novels that would verify the old
adage that "truth is stranger than fic
tion."—Neu> York World.
Peculiar Prescriptions.
"We have the queerest kind of pre
scriptions callcl for sometimes," said a
pharmacist a few days since. "Not
very many d nys ago a reputable physi
cian sent to ask me if I could get him
some of tho virus from a boo sting, to
be used, I think he said, in scarlet
fever. And another physician onco
told mo that ho had secured marvellous
results in a case where powerful opiates
had failed, by using virus from tho bito
of a rattlesnake.
"But tho mass of queer prescriptions
are brought in by ignorant people, and
are not vouched for by any member of
the medical jjrofession. Not long ago
a young colored man brought in a bit
of paper that called for nearly twenty
different substances, among which wcro
a lock of hair from the head of a baby,
live whole black peppers, tho tooth of
a cat, a nail from the loft hind paw of
a dog, a bit of gum bezoin, and a drop
of blood from tho veins of a living
man. All these were to bo put to
gether at midnight when tho moon was
in a certain quarter. To bo taken in
ternally? Oh, bles3 you, no. It was
to be worn in a bag about tho nctk,
and was, I faucy, the relic of some old
superstition of plantation days."— N.
Y. Sun.
Migration of Big Game.
Some of the Maino hunters report
that tho caribou aro fast leaving tho
Maine forests and are going north into
Nova Scotia. John Darling informs
us that John Francis of the Trout
Brook region and Captain Barker of tho
Itangeley lakes, two woll-known hun
ters, report that tho caribou havo been
lenving thoir localities for the past fivo
years and now only a stray ono is found
in the woods. Tho deer, on the con
trary, aro growing more plentiful in
those parts and aro fast leaving tho
Machias and Union river region. Tho
hunters aro unablo to assign any reason
for these movements of game.— Bangor
(Me.) Commercial.
The Question is Unanswered.
"You are nn authority on feasts of
strength, I believe?" remarked a stran
ger to tho sporting editor,
Tho latter bowed, and replied:
"What can I do for you?"
"1 wish you would tell mo which is
the stronger, tho female shopliftor or
the woman who holds up a train?"—
Munsey's Weelcly.
The Best Ho Conltl Do.
Mrs. Brown—Wlint inado you chalk
your name on my new table?
Litlio Johnnie— Cauio 1 J lost
1
LADIES' DEPARTMENT.
DESIGNS IN WHITE 6UITINGB.
There is no end of new and beautiful
designs in white suitings and in em
broideries for trimming white dresses,
children's dresses and underwear. No
showy open work, which is voted vul
gar, but delicate and dainty patterns
like old french hand work. This might
bo called the vandyko season, as they
appear in everything, in all the new em
broideries of whatever width, as well
as in passementerios, laces and all kinds
of trimming. The narrow vandyked
bands will be usod as ruffles on wash
dresses and uudorwear. Ladies Home
Journal.
women's shoes.
"Womon should be as particular
about wearing good shoes in the strccti
as they are about headgear," said a so
ciety lady, "but there seems to be a
disposition just the other way. It is
not an unusual sight to see a young
woman on tho avenue handsomely
dressed, and with an attractive-looking
glazed sailor hat on her head, but a
most disreputable looking pair of shoes
peepiug out from undor her skirts.
Men aro very quick to notico such
things, and whilo handsome walking
costumes may pass almost neglected,
hats and shoes always invite attention.
A word to the wise will probably result
in more attention being paid to these
details of street attire, and when it can
bo aflorded a glazed sailor hat should
invariably be accompanied by a pair of
patent leather-tipped shoes or gaiters,
either well blacked or bronzed.—
Washington Post.
MARRIAGE RELATIONS REVERSED.
Miss Amelia B. Edwards says that
from tho time of the pyramids to tho
reign of tho Ptolemys woman was, le -
gaily and socially, man's equal in every
way, and at times his superior. Women
carried on business in their own names,
entirely distinct from their liusbau Is.
Marriago contracts which have been
discovered show that a state of affairs
prevailed contrary to present customs.
Then tho man promised to servo the
wife in all things.
The man accepted the \»oman to be
his wifo and sho became possessed of
not only her own property but all of
her husband's. It was her's absolutely.
On tho other hand tho wife engaged to
provide tho husband with food and
clothing and to see that his body was
properly embalmed after death. The
man when he married took the name of
his wife, and tho sons that wero born
to them took their mother's name. —A I ".
Y. Telegram.
KISSINO MOTIIER.
How many young ladios of today
would laugh at the absurd idea, as they
express it, of kissiug mother; but you
can not, dear girls, imagine how it will
brighten her dear face. Besides, you
owe her a kiss or two. Away back,
when you were a little girl, she kissed
you when no ono else was tempted by
your fever-tainted breath and swollen
face. You were not as attractive then
as you nro now. And through thoso
years of childish sunshino and shadows
sho was always ready to cure by tho
magic of a mother's kiss the little,
dirty, chubby hands whenever they
were injurod in thoso first skirmishes
with the rough world. And then the
midnight kisses with which sho routed
no many bad dreams, as sho leaned
above your restless pillow, havo all
been on interest these long, long years.
Of course, sho is not so pretty and kiss
able as you arc, but if you had done
your share of work these last ten years,
the contrast would not be so marked,
ller faco has more wrinkles than yours,
and yot if you were sick, that faco
would appear far more beautiful than
an angol's as it hovered over you,
watching every opportunity to minister
to your comfort, and every ono of thoso
wrinkles would seem to be bright wave
lets of sunshine, chasing each other
ovor the dear face.— Locomotive Fire
men's Magazine.
CARE OF THE nAIU.
An Austrian who has a hair shop in
West Forty-second street keeps a car
riage and goes from house to house
every morning in the week to singe,
cut, dress or shampoo the tresses of his
customers. Ilcro aro some of his theo
ries regarding tho caro of tho hair:
"In my judgment, actresses aro the
only class of women who nee 1 to wash
t'jeir head*. They live in a powdered
utmosp ioro on the stago, th« injurious
v'ficcU pf wh eh nothing but soap tad
Terms—sl.2s in Advance; $1.50 after Three Months,
warm wator will avert. Ordinarily
water is bad for the head; it chills tho
scalp and rots tho hair. I havo custom
ers who havo not put water on their
hair since they wore children. One
lady, with a suit of the most beautiful
black hair I can recall, told mo she bad
not washed her head since her wed
ding day, and that was thirteen
years ago. But the hair must bo
kept clean for all that. I know noth
ing better than a good brush, which, if
well applied, will invigorato and
cleanse the head and give a gloss to tho
hair that nothing else will sccuro. I
consider tho comb a most deleterious
instrument unless handled correctly.
To begin at tho head as most people do
in combing is to tear out or break the
hair. The proper way is to begin at
the ends. Got the tangles out first and
ascend by degrees. The tresses smoothed
out should then bo divided into threo
or four parts and combed in sections.
By this method some good and small
damago is accomplished. In using a
fine-tooth comb never drag it through
the length of tho hair unless you are
anxious to become bald. The dandruff
is not in the hair; it is in
the scalp, and the fcalp only should
be combed or scraped. By care
fully dividing the hair tho head can bo
bared and combed. A little practice
will enable a maid to glido the coml;
out of tho hair, removing much of tho
dandruff and dust with it. What re
mains in tho hair can bo brushed off.
It is difficult for an individual to clean
her own head. The duty should be
performed by some one. A very excel
lent fhauipoo can be pro pare J at homo
that will keep the head in a healthy
condition. Put iuto a toilet bott o a
mixture containing tho following in
gredients: Oue pint of water, five cents*
worth of powdered Castile soap, two
tablespoonfuls of alcohol, half the
quantity of borax and tho yolk of two
eggs. The egg contains iron, which
will be absorbed; tho soap and borax
will cleanse tho skin, and tho alcohol
supply a sufiicieacy of heat to prevent
cold.— X. Y. World.
FASHION NOTES.
Flat gold braid is now being used to
trim woolen dresses.
Tho "effects'' in tho now sunshades
are nothing, if not striking.
Its very light weight commends tho
polonaise dross for summer U3C.
Gold and silver cmbroided jackets
for house Wear are among stylish gar
ments.
Some of tho handsomest woolon
gowns havo square yokes of velvet and
velvet mutton-leg sleeves.
Lawns of white grounds wiih wide
black stripes, edged with open lace
patterns are made for mourning wear.
Alpaca dresses aro made up with
jacket bodices opening over a very
full vest and with tho plain skirt
straight.
The revival of draperies and polo
naiso garments separate from the under
skirt is one of tho prediction! for sum
mer.
Finoly striped and crossbar ging
hams arc tho best dresses for babies to
wear whilo travoling. Thoy look noat
and wash woll.
A scarfpin that is finding favor in
some circles is a moonstone mask, which
can at will be lowered to show an onyx
profile at the back.
While sleeves incrcaso in size, the
skirts seem to be diminishing in pro
portion. Steels have disappeared and
pads aro much smallor.
The Greek Fillet worn with very
tousled hoads of auburn-brown hair is
a favorito style of hair dressing with
ultra-fashiouable women.
Accordion-ploatcd skirts aro still
worn and will bo for somo time, also
straight full skirts of net, crepe, with
rows of moiro or other ribbons as a
border.
Miny of tho transparent gauzo fans
are mounted on very light wood, one
half tho fan coverod with lnrge loosely
made flowers formed of pink or white
silk crepe.
Very elegant camel's hair fabrics arc
importod with brocaded borderings in
i:chly shaded silks. Thoso in gray,
mohogauy, and reseda are particularly
attractive.
Skirts for outdoor dresses are cut full
and fall in richer folds, the back
breadths drape 1 slightly, while tho
front breadths, when plain, have two
ends of wido ribbon fulling from th«
waiiti
NO. 32.
Spilled Milk.
A gentleman who chanced to meet
A wee child crying in the street,
Paused in his course to ask it why
And what it was that made it cry.
"I lost my penny, sir," it said.
"Here," said the friend, "is one instead."
But hardly had he turned togo
When tears again began to flow.
Returning to the child said he:
"Now, why are all the tears I sec?"
''l'd have two pennies now," it wept,
"If I the other one had kept."
llow often with enough we've sighed
For something we have been denied.
Our natures are with longings filled
For cream that is forever spilled.
—Chicago llcrald.
HUMOROUS.
When a turtle wants to look into
anything ho puts out his Lead.
The man who lacks nerve never
ought to hesitate about going to tho
ientist's.
Tho man who is willing to tako
things as they come finds usually that
they never come.
Clergymen may not amount to much
a.s carpenters, but they make the best
joiners in tho world.
A paper has been started at Mel
bourne called the policeman. If it
doesn't givo club rates it raiy hare to
move on.
Jf the present prices for horses con
tinue to prevail, even a man with a
nightmare may bo able to get rid of it
at a profit.
"Don't you think that doctors are
usually handsome men?" said one
Washington girl to another. "Somo of
hem are just killing."
Many a man is supposed to bo spoiled
by success, when he only had enough
merit to last him a season. You can't
get water out of a dry well.
Mr. Figg—lf you were out in a boat
with your wife and your sister and tho
boat should upstt, winch ono would
you savoi Mr. llogg—Myself.
"Do you like your now mammi,
Charlie?" was asked of a precocious
youngster of six. "No," he said lofti.
ly; "I do not care for ladies' society."
Piercing tho oars is said to quicken
the sight. Is this the reason that con
cert singers try to attract attention to
themselves by a shriek at the closj of
their performances?
Book Agent—But, sir, perhaps lam
annoying you aud interrupting your
business. His victim—Not at all sir;
you don't disturb me in the least, I'm
uot listening to a word you say.
Division Superintendent—Didn't I
tell you to como 'round hero only onco
a week? Applicant Yes, sir; but
Saturday, when I called, it was last
week; and now, Monday, it is this
week 1
"Have you solectod your bridesmaid
yet?" asked the happy mamma. "Yes,"
replied tho happy girl. "Susio Eider."
"But she's so ugly!" "That's why I
choso her, mamma, dear. I' in not pap.
ticularly handsomo myself."
"Oh, no, there isn't any favorites in
jiis family I" soliloquized Johnny ; "oh,
no! I guess thero ain't. If I bite my
finger nails I catch it over the knuckles.
But the baby enn eat his whole foot,
and tlisy think it's just cunning."
There was a young lady called Kate
Who chattered at such a great rata
That tho people they Said,
"She will talk off her head;"
Oh! dear, what a terrible fate!
Saved by a Dog.
About four thousand anecdote* have
been published under the above title,
in which dogs have figured in preserv
ing human life. Wo had a dog one®'
noted for saving thing', but thero
wasn't a life among them. llu kept
the things he saved under (lie summer
kitchen, and his hidiug place wasn't
discovered for a longtime; uot, indeed,
until it became necessary to tear up the
kitchen floor to fiud a good place tc
deposit some chlorido of limo during a
cholera season; then wo found what
had been "saved by a dog."
There were a couple of kittens, a
cat, two or three rats and a chicken, all
very dead; a largo assortment of bones,
tho lemnants of an ottomuu, for the
theft of which the be«t hired girl we
ever had was discharged; a tomato can;
a c uplo of teaspoons, a torn volume of
Hoyle's games, an old hoopskirt, a
canary bird, a nutmeg grater, a plaster
of part's pgion an I a cook book. It
is lare'.v that there i. so much caved by
u dog, for the/ arj yutieralljr i:n t >r.ivi.