SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN. W M. CHENEY, Publisher. VOL. IX. Rich Philadelphia na allow a discount of five per v:cnt. to tenants who pay their rents og> the day they fall due. The ISBO record for British lifeboats shows a saving of 55(5 lives besides res- Ming twenty-seven vessels from destruc tion. Boston has decided, announces the Chicago Herald, to divorce club3 from her police force—that is, she will oblige her parolmen to keep their batons "out of sight" in the pockets of their new uni forms, .that they may be used only iu case of aa"emergency. ' Wilder, the humorist, says that in ap preciating good jokes a crowd of news boys is the quickest and most intelligent he ever met. No point, gesture or shade of iuflcction escapes these alert little uo inads, while on the other hand many fashionable assemblage!) are chilly nnd unresponsive until you break the crust of reserve or indillerenco as if with a sledg<v hammer. It is pleasing, confesses the New York Sun , to obtain official information that there is no danger of the immediate ex tinction of ths American bullalo, as this Huperb beast has found a quiet and happy home iu tho Yellowstone National Park. It is to be feared, however, that the habits and even the natural qualities of tile buffalo are undergoing a serious chauge in the Park, and that he is bo coming a tamo aud well-disposed quad ruped. It is truly sad to think that tho vast herds which roamed proudly over the plains, eveu as late as the middle of flic present century, have disappeared. According to the Grand Junction (Col.) News there is red tape eveu iu the West. A Navajo pupil at Teller Insti tute was found to have one of his feet endowed with a surplus toe, aud the Su perintendet ordered a pair of shoes for him from a local shop, at a cost of $5. Secretary Noble disputed the bill. Then the Superintendent wrote to tho Secre tary: "Indiiui boy new with six toes; can't possibly wear Government shoe. What shall I do?" The Secretary an swered: "Oil with his toe." Next the Superintendent asked: "Which toe?" And the Secretary wrote: "Sixth toe, of course." If the Secretary thought that that ended it he was wrong. Again the Superintendent addressed him, say- j iug: "Toe oil. What shall Ido with it?" To which the Secretary made linal j answer: "Ship to Topeka for interment i in Government graveyard." It will be interesting to remember a prophecy which Sir John Mcdonald once j made to a reporter of the New York Sun with regard to the future of Canada. 110 said that in time the provinces of Ontario aud Quebec will form a greater France. He thought France was do- | cliuing, while in the old provinces of | Canada the French were multiplying like j nothing the world has seeu before. Not j ouly do they have large families, but ; they possess all the thrift of the French ■ aud are steadily buying up the laud. ! Like that of our New England the soil I is comparatively poor and difficult of j cultivation, and the English, Irish aud | Scotch are leaving it for the prairie, the j plains aud the Pacific coast, "aud," said j he, "whenever such a farmer expresses a desire togo West his next door ueighbo /t a Frenchman, stands ready to buy him ! out. Soon there will be few except Frenchmen left in old Canada." California is last gaining a pioaiinent position as a dairy State, declares the American. Dairyman, some of the finest i rencli cheeses being made there. Iu 1880 Mr. L. Cantol started a factory at Pctaluma for tho purpose of manufac turing the celebrated French cream cheese, aud, although at first he found it hard to introduce his product iu San Francisco aud other cites on the Pacific slope, he has by his perseverance built up a tlrst-class trade for tho special brands of fine cheese manufactured by him, which are French cream, Carnon bert, Uric, Neufchatel, Geroine and Roquefort cheese, all of which are popu lar, not only with the epicures iu all the priucipal cities in California, but also iu Oregon, aud he is now exporting large quantities to the Tahiti and Sandwich Islands. If manufacturers of those fancy cheese on this side of the Rocky Moun tains do not bestir themselves, it will be but a short time until Mr. Cintel, or some other enterprising manufacturer of California, controls the Eastern tradtt for this lino of dairy products, which ar« growing in favor among the better class 9'. Consumers all over tlas continent. iwd VOICES. A HOMILY. The humblest nnd frailest grassy blade That over tho jwissing breezes swayed Is of Beauty's palace a green arcade. Akin to the uttermost stars that burn, A story the wisest may never learn. Is tho tiny pebble thy footsteps spurn. In each human heart- potential dwell, Hid from the world and itself us well, Heights of heaven, abysms of hell. The core of the earth is flery young I No matter what may be said or sung With a weary brain and a wailing tongue. Soul self pent in a narrow plot, Longing each morn for some fair lot, Some bounteous grace which thou hust not. Dull thou must be not to understand. And blind thou art not to see at hand Thy dreams by reality far outspanned; For wonder lies at thy very door. And magic thy fireside sits ttefore, And marvels through every window pour. Woven tho wings of the swift hours bo splendor and terror and mystery; One tiling is needful—tho eyes to see! —Cornhill Magazine. AUNT MEREDITH. "That was the saddest mistake I ever maile." From my lounge in the corner of Aunt Meredith's rooml watch her with half closed eyes as she draws her low chair before the lire, and takes her knitting from the work-basket at her side. She is always busy, it seoms to me, and when I think of it, we six are enough to make work constant with her. First, there is Uncle Clay, Aunt Mere dith's brother, full of hobbies that re quire her constant attention. "If lean only prove its worthlessness before he mounts it, I can save him a good deal of trouble," she says, when a new hobby is presented; and often she succeeds. And there is Robert, just starting out for himself under Aunt Meredith's special guidance. There is Frauk, another nephew, generous and impulsive, —a regular tinder-box in temper,—with May, his sister, always ready, in her love for teasing, to put the match to the tinder-box. And there Is Richard—happy, rollick ing llichar !, of whom Aunt Meredith is never quite sure until she has herself tucked him iu bod and sung him to sleep. Then here am 1; a cripple, dependent upon Aunt Meredith for every ray of sun shine that has crept into my poor maimed existence since the day I opened my eyes to the life which, but for her, might indeed have proved a curse to me. So there are six of us, all under her care. She thinks I am asleep, or else she would not have spoken of that fatal mistake which affected the current of so many lives. The firelight plays upon her needles as she patiently plies them. The blaze rises higher, and forms, as she sits out lined against it, a sort of halo about her gray head. She is thinking of the past, I know, and that "mistake," while she sits there waiting. Robert is doing some extra book-keep ing, and will not be in until ten o'clock. May and Fratik are busy with their les sons iu the sitting room. Uncle Clay iode over to Richland to-day, and did not return until late. Richard is asleep, for I heard Aunt Meredith singing "Rock of Ages" in the boys' room more thau half an hour before she went down to give Uncle Clay' his supper. While she sits waiting for the last one of the household to come in, I am lying here thinking over that mistake" she made. Indeed, I ofte; think of it. We crip ples have so little else to do except to study books and people, and all these tedious years I have studied her until I think I know her great soul by heart. And I know all about that "sad mis take," although she does not dream that it is known to me. If I were to tell her that I learned from her own lips to call it u "mistake," I am sure that she would think the atlliction that has dwarfed and ' tortured my body for almost forty years ! lias attacked my mind as well, for she does not really look upon it as a blunder, j If she ever allows herself to think of ! it as such, it is only when she is troubled i and tired, and her thoughts go crowding ! back, to fasten themselves upon the 1 brightest spot in the past. Such moments come to the bravest and best of us. Hut I heard Aunt Mere dith tell Uncle Clay only last night that "there can be no bluuders iu God's planand if she can stand up so grandly amid the ruins of youth's prom ises ana testify to the perfection of the eternal plan, few indeed havo the right to sit in judgment on it. I feel the warm tears trickling down my cheeks as I watch the figure in the firelight. I can remember the day when this white-haired woman, knitting stock- i ings iu the chimney corner, was the mer riest girl in our village. "And the handsomest one," people , said. "And the best one," John East man declared, when he asked her to be j his wife. "And the happiest oue," I , heard her tell herself when John was ! gone, and with him her pledge. I was a child then, but I remember it.i lam a child now, for that matter; a \ child in body, a man in years; but 1 re- I member it all as plaiuly as if it had i LAPORTE, PA., FBIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1891. been yesterday. I think wo crippled ones have keener memories than those who share the mind's work with the body. Aunt Meredith was an orphan, aud had been reared and cared for l>§ my mother, her only sister, and Uncle George, her oldest brother. The brother and sister tenderly dis charged their duty toward her, and Aunt Meredith, always conscientious, felt that an immense debt was accumulating against her; so that, when my dying mother placed my hand in hers, and with her last breath said, "As I have dealt with you, Merry," tbore was but ono thing for Auut Meredith to do. She ac cepted the charge of tho little cripple committed to her care. She was young thou—just twenty— and was soon to have been John East man's wife. When she had accepted the new charge she sent for hor lover to tell him that the the marriage must be postponed. He protested, but Aunt Merry was firm. "Just one year, John," she in sisted. "Then we shall be better pro pared to accept the now—charge." She would not say "burden," but it was a burden to lay upon her young shoulders—a cruel sacrifice to ask of one who, having never knowd a home of her own, was about to step into that sweet peace which is found nowhere but about the family fireside. But she did not hesitate. "I am only paying interest on the debt I owe his mother, Johu; I can never hope to pay the principal," she urged. John Eastman smothered his disap pointment, and said, "It shall be as you wish, Merry; but it will be a very loug year to me." Before the year ended Uncle George's wife died, and her two children, Robert and Annie, were added to Aunt Merry's charge. She hesitated when Uncle George came to ask her to come over aud take charge of his house. "No, George," she said, "I cannot." "Just a little while, Merry," he begged, "until we can get things iu workiug or jder; just one year." "IJut there is Johu!" she insisted. "I owe something to John." "And to no one else, Merry?" asked Uncle George. "What if Eunice and I had not cared for you when you were left alone?" She turned pale when Uncle George reniiuded her of her obligation. Aftet all, more would be expected of her thau the mere interest upon her debt. Like many other ddbts, whether of money, of gratitude, or of affection, hers had come to face her at the moment when she was the least prepared for it. lier lips trembled when she attempted to speak; she put out her hand as if seeking some support, and rested it ! heavily upon the back of a chair. I cau never forget that scene. Boy as I I was, I realized that it was the sacrifice lof a life. I lifted my poor twisted bodr upon my pillows, and from my corner I watched the struggle my aunt was inak | 'ug- Uncle George stood leaning against | the low mantel, looked heavy-eyed aud weary. Auut Merry stood before hiia, with her hand upon the tall chair. Tho young face was growing grave—the girl | hail given place to the woman. While I watched, tho sunlight crept through the open window and crowued the brown braids of hair with a kind of j halo, just as the firelight touches the j silver ones to-night. Then Aunt Merry j lifted her head aud said softly, "I will come, George." So Johu Eaotman was asked to wait a second time. "Just one jcar yet, John," | Aunt Merry begged. "Let me feel that j I have at least paid my debt in part." j But at the end of the year she said, ] •'There is so much to do, John; let us give the children ouo more year. We | can spare so much to them. Just one! \ 1 promise not to ask another, John." With a heavy heart he answered for tho third time, "It shall be as you j wish, Merry." I think Aunt Merry began to feel then j that ati unseen power was shaping her life iu a strange, uncouiprebended j mould. Strange indeed! Before the year j ended a scourge passed over the city, j The Angel of Death hung his black ban ner on almost every door. Unclo George was among the first to be stricken. "God bless you. Merry," he said; "dou't forget the children; God bless you!" With the blessing still on his lips, he left us. Then she was glad that sho had stayed with him; the sacrifice was fully repaid in that last blessing. But the next day little Auuie laid her hot cheek against Auut Merry's, and cried out that the fever was burning her throat. For eight days tho little life swung iu the balance; but on the ninth she crept into Aunt Merry's arms and j whispered, "Good auntie!" just once I before death set a seal upon the childish j lips. The black bauuer floated again from | our door, aud met an answeriug signal ! through all the stricken town. Death played upon many heart-strings; j but none, I think, were so entirely swept j as was Auut Merry's. She had scarcely j seen the clay hoaped upon the grave of j little Annie before a messenger came for 1 her. John—honest, patient John East man—was dying. Poor Aunt Merry! The blows foil so ! fast that she had scarcely time to consid- j or the magnitude of one before a lioavier ! sunk it out of sight. This was the ltutf; when the light left I John Eastman's eyes, hope left Auat Merry's heart, to follow into and fix it self upon that UDknown land into which his soul had drifted. "Don't reproach yourself," he had snid, at the last; "you did your duty. Merry. God bless you!" We uevcr called her "Aunt Merry" after that—never but once. It was the day they buried John Eastman; and she turned to mo with a look of hopeless sor row upon her pale, sweet face, and said, "Call me 'Aunt Meredith,' child." The years have crowded fast, in spite of crippled bodies and lioarts that give back echoless answers. Thirty and five; I have notched them upon my crutches; ten upon two, the last one fifteen. For the twisted body is well-nigh spent, and the last crutch is as good as new, savo for the notches where my knifo has re corded the years. I have borne my burden tolerably, with Aunt Meredith's help. She has borne hers grandly, without help. Without help, did I say? Then I spoke too quickly; for one evening I found her sitting alone on the west piaz za, among the honeysuckles and jasmine vines, watching the sombre cloud-banks piling across the sunset, or forming into a purple bridge to span the crimson cloud-lakes. . Hlie did not hear my crutch upon the ! soft sward, and her voice was scarcely more than the hum of the bees in the yellow jasmine bells. - "No man, liaviug put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Every step of my life, the clouded and j the cloud loss, has been blessed and brightend by her. She has paid her debt, interest and principal, and is now herself the lender; for when Uncle Clay's wife died ten years ago, four others were admitted to her household—Uucle Clay himself, Frank, May and Richard. Frank and May have both been into say good-night since I have beeu lying here, thinking about Aunt Meredith's mistake. May hugged her with both arms, and said, softly: "The blessedest, best uuntie;" while Frank stood a mo ment behind her chair and softly stroked the silver braids and recounted the day's trials and its pleasures. "1 shall be a man soon, and take carc of you, Aunt Meredith," was his good uiglit. Auut Meredith nodded and smiled, and went to open the door for Robert, pausing as she passed my lounge to draw the covers more closely about my shoul ders, while I lay here as if asleep. Then for half an hour she and Robert sat there before the tire, while Robert told her everything. First, he had thought he might take still another set of books to keep. By staying au hour later every night he could accomplish it. But Aunt Mere dith said: "No, dear. It is not right to stay out so very late;" and the books were given up. Then the clock struck half-past ten. i Robert rose and lighted Auut Meredith's j candle; and again the halo seemed to • form around the silver braids, ami | showed me the smile upon iier pale face I as Robert bent his head to kiss her faded j cheek. Now she is gone, and it is Robert who i bends over my pillow and whispers, "Poor Clarence 1" as he draws the covers j ever so lightly over my chest. And now, he, too, is asleep; but his 1 bed is so near that I can touch hitu if I choose. A little silver call-bell is in reach on the other side. "You may want water, dear," Aunt Meredith said, when she put the bell there; as if I did not know what it is Auut Meredith fears. It is the black banner on the door-knob. But I am not thinking of that to-niglit. lam thinking of Aunt .Meredith; and thinking of her life, so full of promise and so barren of fulfilment, and of my life so devoid of promise, and yet so full J of peace. 1 am thinking, too, of the lives of the children asleep in their beds; of the ' young man about to enter the world— ! pure of heart and strong of purpose; of the graves of the two men who blessed Aunt Meredith with their last breath; of j the dying pillows made easy by her prom ises; of the little child who only left the shelter of her arms to slip away to God's. [ When I remember these, I bless Aunt Meredith's mistake.— Youth's Companion. Courts of Conciliation. "Foutigelsis ICommission," or courts ' of conciliation which have existed for years iu Denmark have worked to a j charm and are well worthy of imitation j everywhere, and especially iu this coun- j try, where all of our courts arc crowded ! to repletion with busiuess. Theso are ! not courts of arbitration, but arc con- j ducted on this plan: There is one judge \ and two assistants, none of whom are | professionals, but are taken from among j citizens the same as we take jurors, by consent of all parties. Every case to bo j acted on must bo brought before theso j courts of conciliation before it can bo | takeu Into a regular court of law. Tho plaintiff coines without counsel, none be ing allowed on either side, and statos his j case plainly, and the defendant is sum- I to appear on a certain day, cither iu person or by proxy, otherwise ho is fined if the case has to bo taken to a l law court. Then each party is heard and questioned by the judge, who tells him of the legal rights and duties of each and gives advico or suggestions. The i parties are not obliged to take this, but j if they do, aud agree to settle, the judg- I ment is without appeal aud final.—jViw j York Dispatch. Terms—sl.2s in Advance; $1.50 after Three Month* SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL. Electrical smelting is announced. Compressed coal dust is coming into extensive use in France. The laundries in Rutland, Vt., are aow run by electric power. An electrician predicts that electrical ire works will soon supersede those now •sed. A wool of good quality is said to havo been made from the fibre of the fir by the aid of electricity. The maximum safe velocity of cast iron (Iv wheels should not exceed a rim speed of eighty feet per second. Of 305 weather forecasts issued in South Australia in 1890, 250 were veri fied and forty were partially verified. It is stated that coffee is a germicide, the bacilli of cholera and typhus having been destroyed by the infusion of coffee. An attempt to produce artificial rain is to be made in Kansas. Balloons filled with hydrogen and oxygen gas will be sent up and exploded by electricity. Thunder storms are gradually decreas ing in number in the larger towns of Natal, South Africa, according to the Superintendent of the Natal Observa tory. A Parisian camerist has devised a method of taking panoramic views by causing the camera to revolve on an axis so that the sensitive paper may "take in"the horizon. A German biologist says that the two aides of a face are never alike. In two cases out of live the eyes arc out of line; one eye is strouger than the other iu seven persons out of ten aud the right ear is generally higher than the left. Iu Sweden an improved quality of glass for use in microscope and other fine lenses is secured by the addition of phosphorus and chlorine. Absolute transparency, great hardness, and sus ceptibility to tho finest polish arc thus obtained. More than 140 different applications of electric motors have beeu enumerated, and tho number is still increasing. The sizes- of the motors range from those having the power of a mouse up to one of 5000 horse power, which is iu opera tion near Loudon. Experiments with electric motors in elevating and depressing heavy guns and tunning them in the right direction have been made in France A saving of time was effected. The three Chilian warships building in Franco will be pro vided with such appliances. The latest scheme for direct railway communication between England and France provides for a double water tight tube, capable of containing two railway tracks, and sunk about forty feet in the channel. "The engineer propos ing this method proposes to utilize the displacement and buoyance of the tube to give tho necessary support, piles be ing ilriveu into the channel, to which the tube would be chaiued to prevent it risitig." The "schiscophone" is the name giv eu to an instrument for discovering flaws in metals, invented by Captain Louis De Place of the Paris school of cavalry. The instrument consists of a microphone combined with a mechanical striker and a sonometer. In using this instrument one operator directs the striker over tho surface of the metal under examination, while another listens at the telephone iu an adjoining roam. When the striker hits a point over a flaw the sound is in creased, aud the increase is so magnified by the microphoue that the listener at the telephone can detect its presence. Tests of the instrument were made at Ermont on tho rails for the Northern railway company, aud iu every case where a flaw was indicated by the in strument it was found to exist on break ing the rail. Raisins From Grapes. Raisins arc merely dried grapes pre pared by several processes, but in Europe only two are generally practised. Oue of these consist iu partially cutting through the stalk of the ripeniug bunches and then allowing them to hang on the vines until the berries shrivel und dry by tho heat of the sun. Theseare considered the best raisins aud are kuown as the Muscatels. Large quantities are raised and exported from Malaga. In the other process the grapes when gatliered are hung on lines or spread out on drying floors to dry in the sun. When dried they are dipped in hot lye, to which has been added a little olive oil and salt. After dippiug tho fruit is spread out on wicker work to drain and dry still more, after which tho raisins are stripped from the stalks and packed in boxes. But all the grapes from which raisins are made are different from any of our native species and varieties, none of which will answer for raisins, as their pulp is not firm and hard enough, and when we undertake to dry them there is little left but skin and seeds. A good laisin grape must have a flesh of a firm consistency, somewhat like that of a good plume or prune, as the imported article is called. Tho raisins of California are made from the Europcau varieties of the grape and not from any of the American species. Raisin grapes will not thrive in Pennsyl vania unless raised under glass, against wails, or other protected situations.— New York bun. Out of the conflicting statements con cerning the seasou's crops, the or.ly tiling curtain is that the hair crop generally tqads to shortness.— PhUatlelphia Timet. NO. 43. AB ASTRIS, I saw the stars sweep through ethereal space,— Stars, suns, and systems in infinity,— Our earth an atom in the shoreless sen Where each had its appointed path and place, And I was lost in my own nothingness. But when I said, Dost thou not know that Ho Who guides these orbs through trackless space guides thee! Wo longer,, groveling thus, thyself abase, For in the vast, harmonious, perfect wholo In infinite progression moving on, Thou host thy place, immortal human • soul— Thy place and part not less than star and sun. Then with this grand procession fall in line, This rythmic march led od by power di vine. -—•dune C. L. Botta, in the Century. 11 I'M OK OF THE DAY. A bald headed man's hair is like a fool and his money. Never attempt to sit down in a chair that isn't there. Banker Wales is reported seriously em barrassed.—Boston Herald. Poems on "washday" should be called clothes lines.— Darin oil It; Breeze. Magistrates have a great many fine op portunities in life.— Philadelphia Times, The man who stole the chicken made a clean breast of it.— Boston Transcript. A tunnel must be completed before it can be called under way.— Elmira Ga zette. Some men's talent for discovery is al together in the lino of fault finding.— Boston Courier. Many men do not smoke, yet there arc but few who object to an occasional pull. Lowell Courier. It would not bo wise to suppose that the floating population lives entirely on water— Statesman. If a man tries to be jus l ; to himself he will begin to have trouble with his friends.— Atchison Globe. A mau is willing that a woman should have the last woril if only she saya "Yes."— Soincroille Journal. Tom—"Do you believe in hero-wor ship, Jack?" Jack—"No, but I do iu heroine-woialiip."— Yankee Blade. lie \Vas Loaded: .iudge—' l What's the prisoner charged with?" Officer— "Whisky, ycr honor."— Barnard Lam poon. Mudge—"l'd mush rather a man called me a knave than a fool." Yabsley— "Of course. It's the truth that hurts." —lndianapolis Journal. A Bad Shot: lie—"l have never yet met the woman I thought I could marry." She—"No, they arc very hard to please, as a rule."— Life's Calendar. They say that 1 have cut u tooth, But why I cannot see, If they would only heed the truth, They'd see that it cut me. —Harper's Bazar. "Several important steps quicklv taken," murmured the young man wheu the girl's father helped him over the front door sill.— Washington Post. "What is unselfishness?" asks a sub scriber. "Unselfishness is one of the rarest qualities iu the world to find iu auyone else."— New York Recorder. "Mother, may I go out to swim?" "You do, if you dare, my son; And then I'll take a hickory limb To dry you, sura as a gun!" —New York Journal. "Is it true that a graduate soon for gets what he has learned at college?" "No, sir; it is not. I can play football just as well now as wheu I was at Yale." —Puck. "Who isthat weazened-looking little man with the squeaky voice on the plat foirn?" "That's the grand supreme dic tator of the Royal Panjandrums."— St. Louis llepublie. "What is that?" said a visitor, as the dogcatcher's wagon went down the street. "That," replied the Western man, "is one of the latest ideas in rabid transit."— Washington Post. Miss Fussanfeather—"l like to sec a girl stick to her colors." Young Crim sonbeak (brushing the paint from his nose) —"So do I; and I like to see her colors stick to her!"— Statesman. Mrs. Bondclipper—"Doctor, what do you think is the matter with me?" Doc tor— "I am inclined to think your blood is not pure. I'll have to give you some thing to purify your blood." Mrs. Bond clipper (haughtily)—" You are probably not aware that 1 belong to one of the old Dutch families of New York."— Texas Sij'tings. "Cyrus," said his wife, as he came in wearily and threw himself ou the lounge after an evening downtown, "I wish you would let politics alone. The excitement and worry are just ruiniug your health." "I can't help it, Emily," replied the Al derman from the S'teentli Ward. "I am not in politics for my health."—Chktiijo Tribune. Brobson—"Y"ou look all broken up, old man. What's the matter?" Craik "I called ou Miss Pruyn last night, aud no sooner had 1 entered the parlor thau her mother appeared and demanded to know my intentions." Brobson—"That must have been rather embarrassing." Craik—"Yes, but that was not the worst. Just as the old lady finished speaking Miss I'ruyn shouted dowu stairs: 'Mamma, mamma, hu isn't the o<\e!'"■ -iVfiW) York Sun.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers