SULLIVAN DSLLFC REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. XI.
Charles Ashton, a London policeman,
has received a prize of $250 for an un
published biblography of Welsh litera
ture from 1801 to 1890.
Mars, says 15. J. Crowley, the English
scientist, is probably in communication
■with other planets, and these Martial
people are probably tearing their hair
because they can't "get" us on thoir
telegraph circuit.
Some argue that tho deepest place in
the ocean will be found to correspond al
most exactly with the height of the high
est mountain. This theory has been dis
proved within the last year; ocean depths
10,000 feet deeper than the htight of
Mount Everest having been fcuud.
The extent to which dementia has
taken hold of the Royalty of Europe is
almost pitiable, states the Arkansas
Traveler. It is not an uncommon thing
to hear of some royal personage who has
had his cranium measured for a crown
going about with a very ordinary wheel
in his head.
The critics ot fruit-growing in Califor
nia, are advised by the San Francisco
Chronicle to read the story from Fresno
of the yield of two and a half acres of
seedless Sultana grapes. One hundred
tons of grapes which will produce $-1000
in raisins is a pretty good return for
labor and time expended in this little
vineyard.
It may be regarded as somewhat sin
gular that Sir Walter Scott's novels are
almost as popular in Paris as are the
novels of the eminent French novelists.
Translations of his romances are found
on every bookstall iu numbers, and the
Paris Municipal Council has recently
shown its appreciation ot the author
himself by naming a short street after
him.
'l'hc returns of the Bureau of Statistics
at Washington conclusively establish tiic
following facts That during the last
ten years Canada has in every year pur
chased from the United States a very
much larger arnouut of merchandise than
the United States has purchased from
Canada, and that this excess of pur
chases during the ten years has amouted
to fully .ii125,0u0,000.
A French paper tells of a new process
of tanning by electricity, which, it says,
is being used on the ski.is of stray dogs
gathered into the Paris pound. Tho
electric system, it is alleged, transforms
the skin into leather iu three or four
days, against the six or eight months
required in the ordinary way. It is
chiefly used for ladies' fine shoes, and is
notable for soft and delicate qualities.
A savant attempts to demonstrate, in
one of our scientific magazines, that there
is likely to be a scarcity of elbow room
among the earth's population in the
reasonably near future. He estimates
the present population of the world at
something less than one and a hall bil
lion. The natural increase, he con
cludes, will make the figure six billion
two hundred years hsnce, and this, he
declares, is the utmost limit of the
earth's capacity for sustaining human
life. The trouble with all these elabo
rate estimates and deductions, maintains
the New York News, is that they are
based upon the hypothesis that man must
always live as ho lives to-day. Con
ditions will change as necessity crowds
population. Half the people of the earth
now rarely, if ever, taste meat. Tiie
dense populations of China, India, and
some other countries live almost wholly
on rice. Analysis S'IOWS that the banana
contains all the elements essential to
human life, and enough bananas can be
raised on an acre of ground to supply
one hundred people a year. It will be
a long time before the standing-room
only placard is displayed in the world's
theatre.
If recent statistics a3 to tho con
dition of agriculture in the arid States
and Territories, and particularly as to
practical results of irrigation, are to bo
depended upon, remarks Frank Leslie's
Weekly, we may expect that the move
ment iu favor of the National policy of
irrigation will be materially strength
ened. Tho report submitted to the
census otlice shows that nearly thirty
million dollars of capital is invested in
productive irrigation, aud that the re
turns have been over sixty-live millions
of dollars, or about 218 per cent. The
estimated value on June Ist, 1893, of
irrigated farms which originally cost
$•77,500,000 was nearly !j5297,000,000.
That is to say, the irrigated lands are
worth now four times their original cost.
There is a vast expense of territory now
comparatively useless, owinj to its arid
condition, which, with the introduction
of irrigating methods, could be made
fertile and productive, audit is becom
ing a question whether Government aid
may not properly be given in. further
ance of a system which ha 3 proved, ac
cording to the statistics given, so im-'
mscsely beneficial.
UNCONSCIOUS SERVICE.
"The bee"—she sighed—."that haunt* the
clover
Has nature's errand to fulfil;
The bird that skims the azure over
Bears living seeds within his bill:
"Without a pause bis flight pursuing.
He drops them on a barren strand.
And turns, unconscious of the doing.
The waste into a pasture land.
"I, craving service—willingly, choosing
To fling broadcast some golden grain-
Can only sit in silent mustng
And weave my litanies of pain."
1, making answer, softly kissei her:
"All nature's realm of bees and bird?,—
What is such ministry, my sitter,
Compared with your enchanted words?
"The seed your weakened hand is sowing
May ripen to a harvest broad,
Which yet may help, without your know
ing.
To fill the granaries of Godl"
J. Preston, in Lippincott.
THE TWO*COUSINS.
BY HELEN FORREST GRAVES,
fWO is that talking
in tho hall?" tartly
demanded Mrs.Jen
nifer, and little
Lucilla, running to
the door, to a
satisfactory inform
ation :
"It's Cousin Olive, saying good-by to
Mr. Walbridge!"
Mrs. Jennifer contracted her showy
black eyebrows slightly.
"Is Elise there, too?"
"Why, no, mamma—don't you re
member Elise went out for a walk?"
Mrs. Jennifer said nothing more; but
to one used to the interpretation of
dumb show, a world of meaning might
have been deciphered in the swift way
ic which her needle fltsw in and out
of the cambric ruffle she was hemming.
"Olive!" she called, sweetly, as the
closing of the front door gave notice
that the visitor had at last taken his de
parture; and by way of answer, a bright
faced young girl presented herself in the
door-way—ft girl with shining brown
tresses tied with blue ribbon, sott brown
eyes, and a fresh, blooming complexion,
like the pink blossoms that cluster on
the kahnia bushes in May.
"Well, au*t?" she said.
"I've been wanting to speak to you
for some time, Olive, dear—sit down,"
purred Mrs. Jennifer. "Your uncle's
circumstances are not what they were,
as I suppose you are aware?"
"I did not know it," said Olive,
slightly changing color.
When people are quite dependent on
the bounty and good graces of others,
they arc apt to be slightly sensitive.
"He hss been obliged to expend a
good deal of money of late, and—l
knew you would be perfectly willing to
do all you could, if you knew his situa
tion—"
''Certainly, aunt!" said Olive, ner
vously twisting her fingers together.
"And of course, in a large family like
ours, every additional member is felt as
an additional burden."
"But, aunt," burst out Olive, "I
don't understand you. What do you.
mean? What is it that you want me to
do?"
"Pray don't speak so loud, Olivet"
remonstrated Mrs. Jennifer, wildly el
evating her eyebrows. "You are so
brusque—so startling. I was only going
to tell you that Mrs. Parkman mentioned
to me yesterday that she wanted a new
hand, and that—"
Olive Martin bit her lip—the hot color
started up to her cheek.
"A dressmaker, aunt?"
"And why not?" calmly retorted Mr?.
Jennifer. "It is the duty ol every young
woman to do something to earn an hon
est livelihood."
Olive thought of her Cousin Elise,
white handed and elegant, who did not
even make her own bed or dust her own
room; she remembered the two damaels
whose business it was to wait upon Mrs.
Jennifer and her younger daughters.
She knew that although her own father
had died in wretchedly destitute circum
stances, yet the time had been when ho
helped Mr. Jennifer in such a manner
that the latter had solemnly promised
never to forget the benefits rendered to
him; and she also knew that upon that
father's deathbed, Moses Jennifer had
resolved to take his place toward his or
phaned child, so long as they both
should live.
"Does my uncle know of this?" she
asked, suddenly lifting he frank brown
eyes to the crafty face of the matron.
"Certainly 1" calmly lied Mrs. Jenni
fer, without so much as a conscience
stricken blush.
"Tten it is settled," said Olive, with
a certain gusp in her throat.. "I will
be a dressmaker!"
"Is thig really and actually your wish,
my dear?" asked kind Moses Jennifer,
when Olive told him of her determina
tion that evening.
"Is it not yours, uncle?"
Mr. Jennifer looked up with a little
startled glauce as the question was asked.
"My wish is for whatever will make
you feel happy, child 1" Moses answered,
for in his secret heart he believed that
Olive Martin was not content in his fam
ily, and deeply regretted the circum
stance.
After Olive had left the room he
turned to his wife.
"She doesn't seem so crazy after the
idea as you gave me to suppose, Marga
ret 1" he said.
"You can't always judge by her man
ner, Moses," answered the subtle wife,
who would have deluded the serpent's
own self had she D«eu in Mother Eve's
place in Paradise. "I am sorry to be
obliged to say so, but I do think she is
».little inclined to be deceitful!"
"Poor child, poor child I" muttered
Most* Jennifer, "We must ramuabcr*
LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1892.
my dear, that she is fatherless and
motherless 1"
Mrs. Jennifer rolled up her eyes santi
moniously.
"I've always endeavored to act a ma
ternal part toward her, Moses," she
sighed.
But not until Olive Martin was safely
installed in Mrs. Parkman's work-rooms
did Mrs. Jennifer breathe freely.
"She was actually luring Clarence
Walbridge away from Elise under my
very eyes and nose!" thought the virtu
ous matron. "Clarence Walbridge, who
is the best parti in town. Well, there's
no end to the pretensions of these coun
try-bred girls. I wonder what he could
possibly have seen in her big eyes, and
melancholy, pursed-up mouth! But now
Elise will have a fair chance, poor
dear!"
And Miss Elise Jennifer was duly
posted in what she ought to do and say
upon the occasion of Mr. Walbridge's
next visit—a washed-out pink and white
beauty, with freckled cheeks, flaxen
bair, frizzed into the similitude of a yel
low cloud, and very red lips, which she
was perpetually biting, to presrrvo their
coral bloom!
"I'll do my best, ma," said Elise,
"but I never know what to talk about
wheu I am with Mr. Walbridge!"
"Pshaw!" quoth Mrs. Jennifer, "I'm
sure Olive Martin could talk fast
enough."
"But Cousin Olive knows more than
I do," confessed innocent Elise.
Mr. Walbridge came as usual that eve
ning, and was simperingly welcomed by
Elise Jennifer, in a becoming blue silk
dress, with a rose in her yellow flossy
hair and blue knots of ribbon fluttering
wherever a blue kuot could possibly be
placed.
"Is your cousin at home?" the young
man asked, rather unceremoniously, and
Miss Elise recollected her lesson.
"Oh, didn't you kqow," quoth she,
artlessly, "Olive has left us?"
"Lett you?" echoed Clarence Wal
bridge, more disappointed than he chose
to own to himself. "What for?"
Elise lifted her brows, looked at the
carpet, and tried to assume an arch ex
pression of counteuance.
"Of course I can't be expected te
know certainly, "she said, "but mamma
and I both had our suspicions. In short,
I don't know really how to explain, but
I've reason to suppose she has gone
away to be married."
"To be married?"
"Some faithful cavalier, I believe,
who knew her in the days before her
poor dear father died—it's all very ro
mantic, and we're so sorry to lose her!"
"What is his name?" bluntly asked
Mr. Walbridge.
Elise hesitated—her lesson had not
embraced this point, but she knew she
must say something, and lispingly an
swered:
"Mr. John Smith."
At this moment Mrs. Jennifer came in
all smiles.
"I am so busy since my niece left us,"
she said, blandly. "I miss her terribly;
but of course it was my duty to oppose no
obstacles since Mr. Darcy had been so
faithful!"
"Mr. Darcy!"
"Yes, the young gentleman in ques
tion."
Elise turned the color of carmine, but
she had not presence of mind to extri
cate herself from the gulf of misrepre
sentation into which she had fallen, and
Mr. Walbridge quietly laid all these
things up in bis mind.
"Oh, mamma!" cried Elise, when her
visitor was gone, "how could you say
his name was Darcy, when I bad told
Mr. Walbridge it was John' Smith!"
Mrs. Jennifer looked blank—but hope,
that "springs eternal in the human
breast." came to her relief, most for
tunately.
"Oh, I don't believe he noticed it,"
said she. "Darcy is a better name than
Smith—we'll stick to Darcy for the fu
ture, my love 1" .
And Clarence Walbridge, who had
somehow allowed himself to become
strangely interested in Miss Martin's
blooming face and lovely, pleading eyes,
went straight to Mr, Jennifer's law
office.
"He, at least, can sptak the truth,"
he thought, "which is more than one
can venture to assert of Mrs. Jennifer
and the fair Elise."
"Walbridge came to my office this
afternoon," said Moses, bluntly, at din
ner, as he pluuged his carving fork into
the juicy depths of a sirloin of beef.
"He asked me where Olive Martin had
gone. Do you know, wife, I believe he
really is interested in the little thing,
and it would be a first rate thing for her,
for —"
"What did you tell him?" breath
lessly interrupted Mrs. Jennifer, pausing
in her occupation of preparing the dress
ing for a plate of lobster.
"Why, 1 said she'd gone to learn
dressmaking at Mrs. Parkman's, to be
sure. What should I tell him I"
"Oh, Moses!" groaned Mrs. Jennifer.
"Oh, papa!" shrieked Elise.
Honest Moses stared helplessly from
one to the other.
"What do you both mean?" he de
manded. "What have I done?"
But he could get no satisfactory infor
mation from either of the ladies.
Olive Martin was busy over the puff
ings of a blue satin skirt, wheu Mrs.
Parkman came into the room.
"A gentleman to see Miss Martin,"
said she, primly. "As a general thing,
it is against my rule to allow my young
ladies to receive company pertaining to
the other sex, but—"
But Olive escaped from the room be
fore the lecture was half over, to sec
Clarence Walbridge in the shop without.
"Well, Olive," he said, gayly, as he
took both her hands in his, "you see I
have (ound you out!"
"Found me out?" she repeated, blush
ing very much, and looking radiantly
pretty.
"Tell me honestly, OH ve!" he pursued,
"is it John Smith or Mr, Darcy?"
I"I don't know what y«u meaul"
And hs explained to her the story that
had been related to him by Mrs. Jennife:
and Miss Elise.
"It is false I" cried Olive, with spar
kling eyes and reddened cheeks. "How
dared they invent such tales about me'
I left Uocle Jennifer's because my aun
hinted to me that my maintenance had
become a burden, and that I ought t<
support myself. I could not eat the bit
ter bread of dependence, Mr. Walbridge.
And I do not know what motive thej
could possibly have bad for giving such
a false reason for my departure."
'•I can guess!" said Clarence Wal
bridge, shrewdly. "But we will leave
that question for future discussion, Olive.
There is another one which is of mucb
more present importance to met"
"What is it?" Olive innocently asked.
"Whether or not you will become my
wife?"
"Mr. Walbridge!"
"My own darling little Olivet But
you need not speak. I know from your
eyes that it is 'yes!' "
And so ended probably the firtt court
ship that was ever happily consummated
in Mrs. Parkmau's show-rooms.
Mr. Jennifer was the only member of
the lamily who was really pleased at his
niece's good luck, matrimonially speak
ing. Elise and her mamma had some
how fallen into their own trap—nor was
it a pleasant sensation.
But Cupid protects his own.—New
York Weekly.
Weather Lore of the Suit.
Among the people of all couutries and
ages, says the St. Louis Republic, the
sun's leduess on rising or setting has
always been regarded as omnious. These
notions have furnished material for many
proverbs. An old English adage in
forms us that—
If red the sun begins his race.
Be sure that rain will fall apace.
Even Christ alludes to the same popu
lar Idea of tho sun's color and its rela
tion to wet or dry weather, where he
says (Matthew xvi., 2, 3): "When it
is evening, ye say, It will be clear
weather: for the sky k red. And iiijthe
morning, It will be foul weather to-day:
for the sky is red and lowering." It
may be remembered, too, how graph
ically Shakespeare puts forth this same
proverb in his "Venus and Adonis:''
Like a red morn, that ever yet betokened
Wreck to the seaman, te:npest to tho fields.
Sorrow to the shepherd, WOJ unto the birds,
Ojsts and foul flaws to the herdsmen and to
herds.
If we turn to European observations
we find that the Italians says: "If the
morn be red, rain is at hand," and,
again, "if the sky be red when the morn
ing star is shining, there will be rain
during the week." As is well known,
however, a red sunset 's just as propit
ious as a red rising is unlucky—"a red
sky at night being a shepherd's de
light," and according to a saying very
popular when the writer was a child—
Evening red, morning gray,
ISends the traveler on his way.
In Germany it is commonly said that
"a red sunset and a gray rising sets the
pilgrim a-walking." At Malta the stable
boy will tell you tha* "a red sunset says:
'Get your horse ready for to-morrow.' "
In "Richard lll."Shakespeare gives us
the same proverb in different words'
The weary sun bath made a golden set.
And, by the bright track of his fiery car,
Qives token of a goodly day to-morrow.
Indeed, there are numerous proverbs
on this subject, all to the same purpose,
an ancient Scotch rhyme being as fol
lows:
The evening rel and the morning gray
Is a sign ot a bright an 1 cheery day;
Evening gray ana morning red—
Put on your hat or you'll wet your head
Preserving Ropes.
In order to insure more safety in ropes
used for scaffolding purposes, particu
larly in localities where the atmosphere
is destructive of hemp fiber, such ropes
should be dipped when dry into a bath
containing twenty grains of sulphate of
copper per liter ol water, and kept in
soak in this solution some four days, af
terward being dried. The ropes will
thus have absorbed a certain quantity of
sulphate of copper, which will preserve
them for somo time both from the At
tacks of animal parasites and from rot.
The copper salt may be fixed in the
fiber by a coating of tar or by soapy
water, and in order to do this it may be
passed through a bath of boiled tar, hot,
drawing it through a thimble to press
back the excess of tar and suspending it
afterward on a staging to dry and hard
en. In a second method the rope is
soaked in a solution of 100 grains ol
soap per liter of water.--English Me
chanic.
How R innet is Prepared.
Rennet is the dried stomach of a milk
ted calf. The stomach used is that in
which the milk is found. It is emptied
of the milk and filled with salt and
hung up for a week, when the salt is
shaken out and it is stretched over a
bent twig to keep iti'.spread. It is then
hung up to dry, and should be kept in a
paper bag to pre-erve it from the flies
and beetles that might spoil it. For use,
a piece two inches square is taken for
100 pounds of milk aud steeped in warm
water for a few hours, a handful of salt
being added. Or the stomachs may be
steeped in briue after being salted, and
after some days' steeping the liquid is
strained oil and bottled for use.—New
York Times.
Liberian CofTte.
The Liberian coffee is a species of
comparatively recent introduction to
commerce; it is a native of Africa, culti
vated and grown in Liberia. The plant
is ol larger and stronger growth than
the Arabian coffee plant, and the fruit is
larger. It has been reported as being
more prolific than the ordinary coffee
plant, but according to Mr. Saunders, of
the Department of Agriculture, the
statement has not been borne out In
Brazil and Mexico, where it has been
tested. It is also more teider than the
older known species.—New York World.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
By a new device you can blow out the
gas.
Rice is the least nitrogenous of all
grains.
The average depth of sand in an Afri
can desert is thought to be from thirty
to forty feet.
The only existing bird which has a
five-toed foot, when in adult life, is said
to be the Dorking fowl.
There is a large factory near Chicago,
111., which does a profitable business in
manufacturing useful articles from the
waste blood of animals.
Reviving au old project, a French
company proposes that lightships con
nected by telegraph be stationed at in
tervals of 200 miles across the Atlantic.
An English experimenter, E. T. Chap
lin, has given an account of hypnotizing
a laying hen, and inducing her in that
manner to sit on a sitting of eggs until
seven of them bad hatched out.
Pictures arc taken now of patients at
various stages of disease, and a compar
ison of those with photographs of others
similarly afflicted discloses phenomena
of great interest and value to medical
science.
Portland cement will not do for caulk
ing the joints of greenhouse pipes. Al
ternate layers of oakum and red lead,
well rammed in, is the proper stopping,
aud does not crack or shrink like cement
would; and again, Portland cement,
even if it answered in other respects,
would give too rigid a joint.
Some one has estimated that twenty
two acres of land is needed to sustain a
man on flesh, while that amount of land
sown with wheat will feed forty-two
persons sowed to oats, eighty-eight; to
potatoes, Indian corn and rice, 176 per
sons, and planted with the bread fruit
tree, over 6000 people could be fed.
Salt affects the freezing of ice cream
by causing the ice to melt, on account
of its own slight affinity for water. The
ice in melting rapidly absorbs heat or
renders heat latent, and hence reduces
the temperature below that of ice, which
simply melts by beat acquired from sur
rounding objects by conduction or con
vection of air.
Light travels at the rate of 213,000
miles a second, a velocity which causes
the rays from the moon to reach us in a
little less thin a second and a quarter.
The rays of Jupiter ate fifty-two minutes
in reaching us. It would take millions
of years tor the same beams to reach in
if their starting point was from one of
the fixed stars.
The red glow of the planet Mars has
puzzled everybody but a French astron
omer, who gives it his opinion that
the vegetation of that far-away world is
crimson instead of green. He also says
that he hasn't the least doubt but that
there are single flowers on the war god's
surface which are as large as the incor
porated limits of Paris.
The introduction of electrically driven
coa! cutters and other mining machinery
is making rapid progress in the bitumi
nous mining regions of the Central West.
The importance of this line of work will
be apparent from the figures of produc
tion, which show that last year 150,000,-
000 tons of this coal were mined in the
United States, principally west of the
&lleghenies.
Piscatory authorities of the highest
itanding tell us that were it not lor na
ture's grand "evening-up" provisions,
the fishes of the seas would multiply so
rapidly that within three short years they
would fill the waters to such sn extent
that there would be no room for them
to swim. This will hardly be disputed
when it is kuown that a single female
cod will lay 45,000,000 eggs in a single
season.
The Chinaman's "Fellow Oath."
One of the strangest judicial proceed
ings. perhaps, ever witnessed is that of
the Chinaman taking what he is pleased
to call the "yellow oath." The "oath,"
or declaration, is always written on a
piece of "sacred" paper and is as fol
lows:
This is to call the spirits, both good
and evil, to descend and watch over the
trial of —, who is charged with mur
dering . If I swear falsely and tell
one untruth, or do not make statements
according to the facts in the case, I
humbly beg the celestial terrestial spirits
to redress the wrong done to and
to punish me immediately for having
been a false witness; to arrest my soul
in its flight; to make me perish by the
sword, or to cause me to die while on
the sea far from home. This is my true
snd solemn oath, uttered by my own
lips, and signed by mo this, the day
of the month in the year of the
reign of the Emperor ; and in
proof of the earnestness of my declara
tions, may my soul be destroyed as I
now destroy this paper, by fire." Im
mediately after the witness finishes read
ing his "yellow oath," a lighted candle
is Hftftded to him and the paper is given
as food for the flames. To the writer's
certain knowledge this form of oath has
been administered but once in an Ameri
can court of justice—during the trial of
Wong Ah Foo, who was accused of
murdering Loj Ah Gou at San Francisco
in 1885. Id. China the candle used in
this extraordinary ceremonial is made
from the fat of criminals who hs-o un
dergone the death penalty.—St. Louis
Republic.
Number of Cattle in the United States.
The exaot cumber of cattle in the
United States during any year cannot be
determined, but it is estimated to be at
the present time between 45,000,000 and
50,000,000 head. Their distribution is
given in the Census reports, but in these
the range cattle and those on ordinary
farms are not placed in distinct classes.
For instance, in the Tenth Census (188$)
Texas is credited witn having 4,004,-
605 head of cattle, but whether they all
run out on the range or a part are kept
on small farms we are net informed.--*
New York Sue,
Terms—ll.oo in Advance; 51.25 after Three Months.
NAVIGATION'S "DAY MARK." '
PLACING DISTINGUISHING AND
CARING TOR BUOYS.
Each Buoy Is Plaoert ami Marked
Under a Caretul System—Whis
tling Buoys and Bell Buoys.
~nr LL who have visited the ap
/ \ proaches to a staport town have
/ 55 5 ! noticed the numerous buoys
£ and ruf.iks which are placed
there as aids to navigation.
Tugging and jerkiug at their chains
as the tide sucks in around them, or ly
ing quietly upon the placid waters of
some sheltered bay, are black buoys and
red buoys, buoys with horizontal black
and red stripes, buoys with blnck and
white vertical stripes, and diog-douging
bell buoys. Well out to sea lie much
larger buoys, called mammoth buoys,
gripping the sand with their iron claws.
Though these marks and buoys may
seem to have been put haphazard here
and there, each has a meaning. The
place that each shall occupy is carefully
chosen for it, and its arrangement is
governed by a careful system.
These aids to navigation, which are
called "day marks" in contradistinction
to the lights and beacons, fall under the
jurisdiction of the Lighthouse Board.
The coast of the United States, in
cluding the lakes and navigable rivers,
is divided into sixteen districts. A naval
officer is in charge of each. Under his
direction all the buoys in his district are
placed.
In all the districts similar buoys mean
the same thing, and a buoy that has a
particular distinguishing color on the
coast of Maine has the same significance
if in the Bay of Mobile or off the coast
of Oregon. So the mariner who sails
into Bostou Harbor is guided and di
rected exactly in the same way as ho who
enters the tiolden Gate.
Not only are the colors and positions
of the buoys given on the Coast Survey
Charts, but the Lighthouse Board pub
lishes a yearly list, which is distributed
gratuitously for the benefit of com
merce, in which each of its about five
thousand buoys is located and described.
Coming into port from sea, the first
buoy that we pass may be a mammoth
buoy. I say "may be," because these
buoys are only used in special cases,such
as to mark the approaches to channels
over bars or shoals that lie at a con
siderable distance from the coast. The
entrances to most harbors do not require
any such special marks.
The buoys that designate the channel,
and which lie on either side of it, are
red and black. The red buoys, which
all have eveu uuinbers, must be left on
the starboard or right hand in passing in
from sea, while tha bijfck buoys, alway*
with odd numbers, must be left on the
port hand.
Iu case there arc two or more chan
nels, they are distinguishe 1 by a differ
ence either in size or shape of the buoys.
There are, in addition to the buoys
already mentioned, two other kinds
which are also fog signals, na'nely, the
whistling buoy and the bsll buoy.
The whistling buoy is used off the
coast to mark dangerous outlying shoals
or other obstructions to navigation. It
is surmounted by a locomotive whistle,
which is made to sound by the rushing
through it cf air admitted and com
pressed by the rising and sinking motion
of the buoy. These buoys are well
adapted to turbulent waters, as the more
violent the sea the louder the sound
caused. Like some restless spirit chained
to the ocean's bed, they can but sadly
moan their fate under smiling skies and
unbroken seas; but when buffeted by
the waves and tempest-tossed, thej
shriek their lamentations fiercely, and
warn the mariuor to beware the spot they
mark. They are not pleasant neighbors.
Their sound is frequently heard at a dis
tance of teu miles, and under very favor
able circumstances it has been beard fif
teen miles.
The bell buoy consists of the bottom
section of a buoy floating in the witer,
on which is mounted a framew.irk bear
ing a bell which, lustead of the ordiuary
tongue and clapper, has a small cannou
ball supported on a platform just under
neath the ball's mouth. This ball rolls
to and fro with every motion of the sea.
These buoys are used in harbors and
rivers where the water is smoother than
in the roadsteads, and where it is not
necessary that their sound shall be heard
a great distance.
Ordinary buoys, uot of the whistling
or bell variety, are made of either iron
or wood. Thoso of iron are hollow,
with air-tight compartments, and are of
three shapes, called respectively nun,
can and ice buoys. The nun buoy
is almost conical in shape; the
can buoy approaches the cylindrical
form, and the ice buoy is very long and
narrow, and resembles the spar buoy iu
form.
The wooden or spar buoys are sticks
ranging in length from twelve to sixty
feet, and painted accordiug to the uses
to which they are to be put. The lower
end is fitted for a mooring chain.
A buoy has many vicissitude 9 , ami is
exposed to many dangers. Passing
steamers run down the iron buoys and
rip them open,, or cut off big pieces of
spar buoys with their sharp propeller
blades.
As the iron buoys are made in com
partments, they are seldom sunk by such
collisions, but their line of floatation is
often so lowered that they have to be re
placed.
Again,despite the fact that the United
States laws punish by a liue of one thou
sand dollars any one who is couvicted of
unlawfully injuring any work for the
improvement of navigation—and this iu
addition to other penalties provided for
by the different States—the very people
for whose benefit these buoys are lafd
often unlawfully make fast their vessels
to them, and them out of position.
Again, the ice, floating down in
masse', parts the mooring caain, or tears
the mooring anchor from its hold, aad
carries the buoy far out to sea, to break
upoa the hornoo of tome astonished
mwiuer.—Youth's Companion.
NO. 7.
■BEYOND THE ALPS LIES ITALY.*
A fresh memorial to vanished youth.
The sweet girl graduate, with flower face,
Her eye* so full of trust, her heart of truth,
Looking o'er all the world to find her
place,
Her theme holds weighty words, and
thoughts so staid,
A travesty on life in phrase austere;
But youthful confidence is unafraid,
And gladness vibrates in the tones so
clear:
"Beyond the Alps lies Italy P
The joy of triumph, and of proud applause.
Sweet floral offerings, the music's stir I
Fair, sunny slope of youth 1 Oh, let us pause,
And linger in this girlhood's glade witu
her.
Ere yet she climbs those rugged steeps of
life,
Where womanhood with all its mystery
lies.
Remember, ere you goto meet its strife,
O, maiden innocent, grown strangely
wise,—
■'Beyond the Alps lies Italy P *
The essay soon will yellow grow with time.
The years will string their rosary of tears.
Weary and footsore, we the hilts must climb.
And stumble o'er the Btones of cares an I
fears.
The mists of doubt will all the landscape
veil.
The summit lies so very far away;
The feet may falter, and the courage fail.
The stern pale lips will quiver, then, to
say:
"Beyond the Alps lies Italy P
O, when the hamls that helpel you up the
slope
Shall loose the clasp we cannot always
keep;
When in the night of pain you upward
grope—
Blinded by tear?, with lagging footsteps
creef;
Then let your girlhood's maxim cheer your
heart—
A peal of joy through all life's sad realm—
Though here we love and lose, and meet an 1
part,
There is a height where pleasure conquers
pain—
"Beyond the Alps lies Italy J ll
—Anna B. Patten, in Youth's Companion.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
'Tis better to be tried by tire than to
be fired after being tried.—Frankhu
News.
People who cling to the anchor of
hope often have togo down into the
mud with it.—Puck.
Man is ninety per cent, water; anil,
like water, lie finds it easier togo down
hill than to climb.—Puck.
She—"Do you think Penelope will
suit him?" lie—"~ies, she'll have to—
and feed him and shoe him too."
The man who puts his heart in his
work often has very little of it left to
bring home to his family.—Puck.
The camel and the swan are just the
opposite to each other, the camel always
has his back up while the swan's back is
always down.—Truth.
A stoic is a man who has so keen an
appreciation of the intensity of sensations
that he is ashamed to acknowledge his
own real feelings.—Puck.
•'What would you do if you were
met" "I don't know, I'm sure. I
don't believe I'd bear it as well as you
do."—Binghamtou Leader.
Womau never realizes what perfidious
scoundrels men can be until she mar
ries one of them and gives him a letter
to mail.—New York Heraid.
Experience Uaches, maybe;
But a man is too wise by half,
To wake up his second baby
For the sake of seeing it taugh.
—Mercury.
"I told Soper yesterday that the club
he belonged to was a set of stupid fools,
and to-day they have gone and elected
me an honorary member."—Commercial
Bulletin.
"You must regulate your clothing by
the weather," said the physiciau. "Doc
tor," said the despairing patient, "what
do you think I am, a 'lightning-change'
artist?"—Washington Star.
"I'm going into it and put it through.
It you wers half a man you'd do it too."
"I've no objection?, sir; but then you see,"
I am not half a man— though you may be.
—Judge.
It is difficult for the belated clubman
to realize that the towering female who
stands at the head of the stairs is the
timid little girl who once fainted in his
arms at the sight of a mouse.—Tid-
Bits.
"Bill," said the burglar, "there ain't
nothin' in this safe but a recipted mill
iner's bill." "Is that so?" "Yes, I'm
goij' to quit this biz. It doesn'i pay.
There's too much competition in it,"—
Washington Star.
"Miss Passeigh seems very contented.
She says she wouldn't change places
with a queen." "Oh, dear inc!" said
Miss Pepperton. "Don't you know that
a queen's birthday is a matter of official
record?"---Washington Star.
Dear friends, be not unhappy. If you
cra't get what you waut in this world,
be assured that there is a plentitude of
things that you don't want waiting for
you. There is always enough '*iu the
world, but most of it is a misfit,-t-Puck.
Young Husband—"You are develop
ing into an excellent housekeeper. We
have not had half the usual expenses in
tue last three weeks. How in the. world
did you manage it!" Young Wife—"l
had the things charged."—Texa» Sift
ings.
Strawber—"l sec that a porter on
the Boston express died very suddenly
the other day." Singerly—"What was
the cause of his death?" Strawber—
"Someone succeeded in opening a win
dow and he uccidently inhaled a quantity
of fresh air.":—New York Herald.
"Do >OII i\iean to say y ut et that pie
the womau give vef" said the tramp to
his companion. '-"Yep. Ye see my dog
was with me, and ef I had throwed it
away Rube would a tackled it, sure.
He's a mighty good dog, snd his health
ain't b««a nous «112 the but lately."