Sullivan republican. (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, January 12, 1894, Image 1

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    SULLIVAN REPUBLICAN.
W, M. CHENEY, Publisher.
VOL. XTI.
New Jersey manufactures more silk
than any other State in the Union.
The Dutch Government will eventu
ally own and entirely control all its
railroads.
George Goodloe, who recently com
bined in Texas the ministry and
burglary, has given up both and is
resting in the prison.
The city of Milwaukee, Wis., has
condemned the cottonwood tree and
decided that all such within the city's
limits must be removed wi*" ten
days.
Munliall, in his "Br of
the World," says : " . v-ry day the sun
rises upon the American people it sees
an addition of §2,50(1,000 to the accu
mulation of wealth in the Republic,
which is equal to one-third of the daily
accumulation of mankind outside of
the United States."
Among the successful farmers and
fruit growers in California are a hun
dred or more Turks who came to this
country to be farmers. A great many
of the small farmers on the Pacific
slope are Chinamen, who carry their
fruit and truck to the towns in boxes
and baskets swung from a yoke on the
shoulders.
Some New York shops maintain at
times a curiously primitive messenger
service in the suburbs. A messenger
is dispatched by rail to some central
suburban station and starting thence
he delivers on foot small packages of
goods to customers a mile or more
from the railway station. It is an ex
pensive, nud- laborious system, main
tained to encourage trade from rap
idly growing suburbs.
American sailors on men-of-war who
desert in foreign ports cannot be ar
rested and returned. This rule, ex
plains the Boston Cultivator, is an
outgrowth of the contention of this
country on which the War of 1812 was
fought, the right of every man to
change his allegiance, and exemption
from interference by any foreign
power. Sailors on merchant vessels
who violate their contracts can be
held to them, but deserting from a
man-of-war in a foreign port, though
a more serious offence, cannot be pun
ished.
Says the Age of Steel: The re
newed trend of foreign capital to the
South is one of the significant signs
of a coming revival of prosperity in
that section. Both British and Ger
man capitalists are already in the field
on a quiet hunt for profitable invest
ments. Representatives of the Roth
schilds' interests are expected shortly
to make an investigating tour to ap
prise the European capitalists they re
present of what, inducements there
may be for placing large sums of
money in railroads, mineral lands and
other enterprises. Some German
capitalists are, it is said, intending to
make arrangements for the establish
ment of a line of German steamships,
carrying Western cereals to foreign
markets via New Orleans. Other an
nouncements of foreign enterprise in
the same direction are in evidence of
a coming movement of capital south
ward.
The differences between city and
country ways have been illustrated in
a curious manner by an expei intent of
the PostolHce Department. Under the
last administration about fifty villages
and small towns, ranging in popula
tion from 800 to 4000 inhabitants,
were picked out for a trial of the sys
tem of distributing mail matter by
carrier, as in large cities. At first
general satisfaction was manifested,
and the receipts of many of the offices
for a while showed an increase, indi
cating that the convenience stimulated
correspondence; but as the novelty
wore off, the residents very generally
tired of the change, and returned to
the old practice of going to the office
themselves for the mail. A majority of
the people would apparently rather
have their letters lie in the office until
they call for them, and thus have an
excuse for frequent visits to (lie centre
of local activity, than have their mail
delivered every day at their houses.
The carrier in such places is really a
foe to social activity, as "going to the
postotfice" has always been a recog
nized means of mixing with men, and
its occasional iuconvenience is prefer
able to the loss of what is often only a
protest for making a break in the mo
notony of a retired life. In view of
thei evidence that there in not "a long
felA want" to be met by thin system of
fret delivery in small communities,
an<| of the fact that its general adoption
uld involve an annual expense of at
jt 810,000,000, the First Assistant
.tmoster-Gcneral advises u suepen
> of the experiment.
REMEMBERED SONGS,
rs?
My love a song of Footland sang,
One merry, merry day.
And in my ears the pibroch rang,
I heard the pipers play ;
t saw the platded clansmen meet—
Blue was the morning sky—
The heather blossomed at my feet ;
A highland king was I.
My love a song of Norway sang,
An old Germanic theme.
And where the mystic Eddas sprang
I wandered in a dream.
I heard a chant of Runic name,
Where Mimer's fountains shine,
And with the knights of Siegfrod came,
An errant of the Rhine.
Jly love she sang a song of Spain ;
I wandered long and far,
And in the court of Charlemagne
I watched the morning star.
I listened to the redondel,
Tones of Leys d'amotir.
The canzo and the pastorel—
I was a troubadour.
My love she sang a song of love ;
Her words were sweet and low.
As though the echoes from above
Had strayed to me below.
No more my fancy wandered free,
Where time and change have part;
The wide, wide world had come to m«,
The morning of the heart.
—Laura F. Hinsdale, in Times-Democrat.
BELLE OF THE JBIG DRAW.
BY ALICE MACGOWAN.
A SLENDER, gray
haired little woman
of fifty she was,
slightly bent from a
lifetime of hard
work, yet I speak
/ \ .advisedly when I say
<3°'"' Vthnt she was —if
L 1 bellesliip is ealctt
'"ted by the number
of one's masculine
' 0 V '■* admirers—the belle
' of the whole Big
Draw country.
Everybody loved her. They couldn't
help it; but I think the reason for the
entire admiration every man of her
acquaintance—young, old or middle
aged—gave her was that she was, in
spite of her bravery in carrying on
alone, for twenty years, the trying
work of a ranch, so thoroughly a wo
man.
The slender store of accomplish
ments acquired in her girlhood were
not thrown aside because she some
times had to ride the range, gun in
hand, looking for timber wolves.
There wasn't a young fellow in the
neighborhood who.didn't make a con
fidante of her about his love affairs
particularly if they chanced togo
wrong.
Sho was always ready to give an
hour to listening to their woes, giving
them good advice or playing Smith's
March or Maiden's Prayer for them on
the wheezy little melodeon.
She could sing, too, in a thin, sweet
old voice, songs that the boys loved
and whose choruses they could join in,
such as "Roll on, Silver Moon" and
"Arabv's Daughter."
Her own boy, her only son, had
turned out, as widows' only sons seem
prone to do, not exactly bad, but tri
fling.
Perhaps she loved him too well or
humored him too much, but it is sure
flint her little court of admirers was
wrathy more than once over reports of
the hardships wrought for his mother
by Wade Moore's neglect.
People had seen her out on the
range in bad weather, doing a man's
work, and been told in hasty apology
that Wade wns sick at home, but
these seizures never kept him from
town of an evening, if there was any
fun on hand.
He wasn't popular with the boys
who adored Mrs. Moore, and they
would have been glad to let him see it
in some marked way, only they knew
that any blow aimed at him must
strike her gentle heart first.
Finally, some time along in the
summer, he went to Kansas City with
cattle, and his mother had been run
ning the Bar (I alone for nearly five
months.
Her friends had not neglected her j
in that time. Tom Andrews, the
young fellow who was manager of the
Three C's ranch, her next neighbor to
the south, and one of her best friends,
rode over nearly every day to see how
she was getting on, and whether there
was anything he could do for her.
This tine crisp December morning, :
the day before Christmas, he found
her sitting despondently on her porch,
with no work touched and her hands
in her lap, and in answer to his anxi
ous inquiry she told him she was
troubled about Wade.
"Worrying because you want him
home?" asked Tom. "Whereis Wade
now?"
As he glanced at Mrs. Moore he saw
the work-worn knotted little hands
elose convulsively together. Her
head was bent, and Tom thought she
was crying. "I don't know," she said
in a voice scarcely above a whisper.
Tom sat down on the porch edge,
speechless with astonishment. "Have
mjiyou heard from him?" he said.
"I haven't heard a word since he
left," she replied, "and I've got so
anxious and worried I've got to tell
somebody."
"I should think so," said Tom.
"Why, it's—"
"Five months," filled in Mrs. Moore ;
"but I wasn't uneasy until after the
fair closed. I was sure he was there.
He had plenty of money from the cat
tle togo all right, and stay till it
closed, and somehow I was sure that
war, what he meant to do."
"Why, Mrs. Moore," said Tom.
"he'd never run off'and leave you that
way ; you were intending togo to
gether when the rattle were sold,
weren't you?"
It was a cruel question, and Tomre
LAPORTE, PA.., FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1894.
gretted it the moment it was out. The
red roses in the wrinkled cheeks be
fore him faded till they seemed like
withered rose leaves.
"That's why I think he went off as
!he did. I know Wade better than you
; do"—Tom doubted that—"he's young
! and likes to make a good appearance,
1 and maybe he didn't care to have an
old-fashioned woman like nie around
with him everywhere."
"An old-fashioned angel," muttered
Tom to his boots; "any decent mail
would be only too proud of such a
mother—there, now; I've made you
cry again, when I was trying to say
something pleasant!"
"No," said Mrs. Jkloore, raising a
resolute face full of cheerful courage.
"No, I'm not going to let it worry me
any more. Ive divided my trouble
with you now by telling of it, and I'm
going to put it out of my mind.
"I'm not going to spoil you boys'
j Christinas dinner by being dull or de
l pressed, either."
'•(>, the Christmas dinner," said
Tom (it was an annual institution with
Mrs. Moore). "There are ten coming
I that I know of—did you get the tur
' keys?"
"Yes," she answered, "fineones, and
jmy pumpkins turned out so well this
I year. Teofilo fixed up a plan for irri
i gating the garden. We won't have
| the canned stuff like we had last."
j "Well," said Tom, rising togo, "I
: wouldn't worry about Wade. He'll be
j home all right when his money gives
| out. You must be ready to play and
j sing for us tomorrow. You know wo
' boys expect plenty of music when we
; come here."
"I will," cheerfully, "and I'll go in
Ia ml start those pies right now. Tell
j the boys to bring any poor fellow they
1 know that's away from home and lias
I no place to eat the Christmas dinner."
Tom rode away, and the Inst word
: from him, oddly enough as Mrs.
j Moore thought, was a faint hail sent
! back——
"Mind—we—expect music !"
Christmas morning Mrs. Moore
i baked her pies. A goodly row. The
turkeys were in the oven, the other
: dishes baking, simmering or stewing,
: us best suited them, when the wind
-1 mill at the back of the ranch house
! stopped pumping. That meant, since
the store was already low, a cutting
off of the water supply before night.
"I might as well fix it before I
i change my dress," she reflected, and
! catching up a heavy hammer she went
; out to the tower.
Forty feet seems a rather extraor
! ilinary climb for a woman of her age,
i the ladder, too, was wooden, old and
unsafe, as Tom Andrews had warned
tier a week or two ago, but old Teofilo
was gone ; she was as fearless as an
urchin, and up she went, laughing a
little. A tap from her big hammer
set things right, and the wheel began
revolving, but the first turn struck
the hammer out of her hand, auil
down it fell, knocking off three rungs
of the rickety ladder as it went.
Well, she was finely caught.
Visions of the Christmas dinner
burning up while she was imprisoned
so flitted through her mind.
Looking about for aid she saw a
pony and rider approaching the front
of the house cautiously. It was Tom
Andrews; but how curiously he was
acting. He dismounted, tied his pony
in a bunch of mesquite and came up
to the house almost on tiptoe, looked
in at every window, tried some of the
doors, and then, standing on the
porch, called her name very softly.
She laughed as she looked at him.
No, she wouldn't answer. She'd
rather anybody but Tom Andrews
should help her down. He had
seemed so horrified at the idea that
she should ever go up on windmills at
all when he had warned her of the un
safe ladder.
As she looked he stole softly back to
the little divide that hid the house
from the road, and waved his handker
chief to some one she could not see.
An awful fear clutched at her heart
as, in answer to the signal, a wagon
came in sight along the road. A
wagon with the ten young men she
had expected to dinner, some riding
in it, some walking beside it, and in
the body of it a long box, covered with
a cloth.
She knew what that meant as soon
as her eye caught it. It was Wade—
her boy, her baby, her only son !
They were bringing him home to her.
Her tired arms nearly let go their
hold.
They were driving up in front of
the house now. They had gotten out
silently and were carrying the long
box in. She could hear the shuffling
of their feet.
"Oh, Wade, my little sou," she
moaned, "is this your home-coming !"
Her mind went through all the tor
ments we feel when our dear ones are
taken from us—that all mothers know
for their sons who go astray. Would
it have been different if she had been
firmer, if sho had been more lenient,
if she had followed him at once when
she failed to hear—Oh, the tragedy of
those "ifs."
She thought of dropping to the
ground and ending it all there, but
she longed to see the face of her boy
in the coffin.
Tom Andrews peeped cautiously out
of the back door, and she called softly
to him.
"Why, Aunt Mat; why, Aunt
Mattie," he cried—a name he kept for
state occasions ol great excitement.
"How did you get up there?"
"O, help me down, dear, lift me
down," she moaned. "I'd rather die
on the ground."
Tom ran and lifted her down in his
strong young arms, and set her on a
bench against the windmill tower, and
stood looking down at her.
"I saw you," she gasped.
"Then you've been up there all the
time. The boys sent me on ahead to
spy out the ground. They didn't
want to bring it while you were
in the house, and if you were about, I
was to get you away on some pre
text. "
A shudder went over the pathetic
little figure before him. Poor Wade !
Already he was"it" to everybody but
her!
Tom was fanning her vigorously
with his big cowboy hat.
"Don't you feel better now—well
; enough to come in and see it? Tho
boys 'll bo cut up about your getting
sight of it before they were ready—
but you had to see it sometime, of
course."
The utter lack of sympathy in the
young voice quite broke his listener's
! patient heart, "O, Wade, my son, my
i son!" she cried, and burst into a storm
! of sobs.
"Why, yes," said poor, bewildered
i Tom. "Wade's all right. He's in
there with the others. It was him
driving, but he kept his hat pulled
| down for fear you'd see him and know
j him. Says he's been sick, and gave
; the folks at the hospital the wrong ad
! dress is the reason his letters didn't
| get here, but he's all right now —why,
what's the matter?"
For she had risen and was gripping
his arm hard with both hands. "If
Wade's all right," she whispered, husk
ily, "what—was—in—that—box?"
"A piano for you," said Tom. "A
piano that me and the rest of the boys
sent to Emerald City for, and hauled
out here to hear you play on."
And when the dinner (which wasn't
burned in the least) had been dis
posed of, any passerby might have
heard the melodious strains of Smith's
March as performod by the belle of
the Big Draw, on a resonant new
piano, to the great delight of her
audience, saluting the prairie breeze.
—Washington Star.
Elephant Shooting in Ceylon.
Our first attempt at elephant shoot
ing was in "tho Park." Appti Sinliu
made an excellent stalk, and H., who
had the toss, had the satisfaction of
shooting our first elephant— a bull
with short tushes. Next day it was
my turn in the thorn jungle. Appu
Sinhu took me up a game path to
within twenty feet of the herd—one
offered a fair shot, aud down he went.
With screams of terror the herd fled.
My elephant struggled up again only
to perish by the left barrel. H. killed
our third as it dashed by him inn
game path, but not till ho and M. had
emptied their rifles into it. This was
a good beginning, but the tiring liau
disturbed the game, and we now had
togo farther afield for it. Wo found
it again in the t'efern jungle a rogue.
H. tired first, and the brute promptly
charged, but was turned with the sec
ond barrel. Knowing ho would not
go far, v/e advanced against him by
parallel game paths. He charged M.,
wjo faled to stop him. M. tried to
retreat, caught his foot nnd fell on his
back. Tho brute stopped in the
smoke, and commenced beating for
with itstrunk. M., I afterward learned,
was trying silently to get in fresh car
tridges—the elephant being between
him and his tracker. Fortunately, I
caught a sight of the brute across the
thorns and gave him another ball. He
at once charged at the smoke, but tho
jungle or his wounds impeded him,
and gave me time to run a few yards
to windward. When he emerged 1
brought hint to his knees, and M.,
who had followed him in the track,
gave him a coup do grace behind the
ear.—Outing.
How to Avoid Colds,
For many years my occupation took
me to crowded political and labor
meetings, generally held in rooms des
titute of any means of ventilation.
The heat was intense, the air fetid and
poisonous. I have left such meetings
bathed in perspiration and plunged
into the chill of a winter's night,
thereby running the risk of catching
the severest cold. Yet, strange to say,
I enjoyed a singular immunity from
such aggravating ailments. At the
first touch of cold air 1 took a deep in
spiration and then held my breath for
half a minute, in the meantime walk
ing as fast as I could. During that
half minute the pores of the skin were
closed against the chilling atmosphere,
and by tho time the lungs called for
reinvigorat ion the body had consider
ably cooled, and the risk of a chill wns
over.
I recommend this practice to public
speakers, vocalists, entertainers, and
those who are obliged to frequent un
duly heated rooms. In my own case
the practice never failed, and, although
I fully believed in its value, I never
understood tho reason of it until a
learned scientist came forward with
the remarkable theory that while hold
ing the breath the skin could be main
tained impenetrable to tho sting of a
bee. —Providence Journal.
The Teeth Tell it a Snake's Venomous.
Thero is a certain physiological dif
ference between tho poisonous and
harmless snakes, which exists very
plainly in their manner of dentition.
All snakes are objects of aversion and
dread to mankind, so much so that to
be bitten by a snake has at times been
so fearful to the victim as to have pro
duced death, although the snake was
harmless. Such is the instinctivo
dread with which these reptiles are
thought of that it may be desivable to
have some easy mode of distinguish
ing the one kind from the other. This
distinguishing characteristic is af
forded by the teeth. In all poisonous
snakes there are only two rows of
teeth, the fang, or fangs, being ar
ranged either within the two rows or
outside. The harmless snakes have four
distinct rows of teeth, and when the
bite shows this kind of wound and noti
any single deeper or larger punoture,
there need be no apprehension.—New
l'ork Times. I
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
A year on Jupiter is equal to eleven
years, ten months and seventeen days
on our globe.
A Russian scientist has succeeded in
tracing all man's diseases to the fact
ihat he wears clothes.
The surface area of the moon h said
to be fully as great as that of Africa
and Australia combined.
Among other articles made from cot
ton-seed oil, once regarded as useless,
is artificial India rubber.
There are forty-eight distinct dis
eases of the eye. No other organ of
the human body has so many.
The latest explanation of the rain
which usually follows a great battle is
that it is caused, not by the smoke,
but by the perspiration of the sol
diers.
A new system by which smokeless
combustion of coal is rendered possi
ble has been adopted by the North Ger
man Lloyd and the Hamburg-American
Companies.
London electrical supply firms are
not only lending out electrical cooking
stoves to customers but are prepared
to supply a separate meter and charge
half rates for cooking.
An instrument has been invented for
sounding the depths of the sea without
using a lead line. A sinker is dropped
containing a cartridge, which explodes
on touching the bottom ; the report is
registered in a microphone apparatus
and the depth reckoned by the time at
which the explosion occurred.
A new method of producing steel
has been suggested to M. Jules Gar
nier by M. Moissan's diamond-making
experiments. He claims that it is suc
cessful. The steel is instantaneously
made by placing a bar of iron and a
stick of charcoal together in a parallel
direction in tin electrical fire brick fur
nace of a temperature of 1000 degrees
and subjecting them to a strong cur
rent.
Sir Charles Lvall, basing his esti
mate on modifications of certain
species of mnrine life, assigned 240,-
000,000 years as the required length
of geologic time. Darwin claimed
200.000,000 years; Crowell, about 72,-
OuO.OOO; Geikie, from 73,000,000 up
ward; Alexander Winchell, but
000,000; McGee, Uphaui and other
recent authorities claim from 100,000,-
000 up to 680,000,000 years.
It may not be known to the general
reader that a rifle ball deflected from
its course immediately resumes its line
of flight after rimming the object it is
unable to pass directly through. That
is to t.nif mined front its eours •
by a rib passes under the skin until it
reaches a point mathematically oppo
site to the point where it entered the
soldier's body and then passes out, re
suming its exact line of flight, if
enough of its initial velocity remains.
Snow Sheds of the Union Pneillc.
A correspondent of the New York
Observer says; AVith two aud some
times three engines, our heavy train,
now divided into two sections, climbed
up the giant wall of the Sierra Nevada.
We passed through the magnificent
scenery of Shady Run, Blue Canyon
and Giant and Emigrant Gaps. In
running one hundred and seven miles
we had climbed nearly seven hundred
feet, sometimes over very steep grades.
Before wo reached the summit, snow
sheds began to appear, and soon be
came practically continuous. It was
the month of May, and the mountains
were still covered deep with snow.
We rode through forty miles of these
wooden tunnels, from whose windows
we coithl now and then catch glimpses
of wild wastes of snow-covered moun
tains, and at other times of forests of
pine and fir trees. Without these
sheds it would be impossible to oper
ate the road in winter. They are
built in the most thorough manner,
often upon solid foundations of mason
ry, aud are separated by iron plates
into sections, to guard against the
spread of fire. There are automatic
electric fire alarms in one of the long
est sheds, and an engine with a tank
close at hand iskept ready to flood any
section that should catch on fire. The
sheds are patrolled aud guarded in a
careful manner. Such attention is
due not only to the passenger and
freight traffic which the road conducts,
but to the value of the sheds, which
average from eight to twelve thousand
dollars per mile. Stveral miles,where
bridges aud precipices make the con
struction difficult, cost a:j much as
thirty thousand dollars per mile."
Fireside He roe , and HeiMinos.
The noblest, and the- commonest
heroes and heroines are those of the
fireside. They neither introduce nor
obtrude themselves upon the public
observation. They are usually un
conscious of their heroism. They
suppose that startling occasions and
crises are necessary in order to the
unfolding of heroio character. Yet
oil tho time in the simple rounds of
home they are displaying traits which
express the finest sense of heroism.
Fathers, husbands, sons, brothers
whose lives are utterly unselfish, who
give up without murmuring personal
wishes at the call of affection or duty;
mothers, wives, daughters, cisters
who take up and carry heartbreaking
griefs and back-bending burdens that
others near anil dear to them may bo
eased and benefited—are not these
true heroes and true heroines? They
do what they do without any expecta
tion of fame; nay, they hide their
self-renunciation, and bear their
crosses with silent dignity. All tho
more do they wear the halo of snint
hood, visible to anointed eyes as the
aureole on the canvas of Mnrillo or
Titian.
God bless all mute and inglorious
heroes and heroines! —St. Louis Re
public.
Terms—sl.oo in Advance; 81.25 after Three Uontbs.
BEAR VERSUS ALLIGATOR.
A FIERCE FIGHT IN A LOUISIANA
BAYOU.
While Drinking Bruin is Attacked
by ii Huge Saurian—A Duel to the
Death.
WALTER D. KLAPr gives
in the New York Post a
vivid description of a
fierce encounter between
a bear and an alligator which he wit
nessed while hunting with a friend in
Louisiana. Says Mr. Ivlapp :
While lazily enjoying our siesta we
were suddenly startled by a loud
crashing in the bushes on the other
side of the bayou. Snatching up our
rifles, we rushed to the water's edge
just in time to see a large black benr
come out of the cane brake and walk
leisurely to the opposite bank. He
was evidently thirsty, and had sought
the cool waters of the bayou instead
of the easier obtained but hot and
stagnant lake water. As he had not
yet caught sight of us we concluded to
wait developments before attempting
to secure so enviable a prize.
The bear climbed into a low tree
that grew out of the side of the bank,
and proceeded to crawl out on a stout
limb overhanging the bayou. His
weight bent the thick limb till it
dipped into the water, and the bear
squatted himself on the interlacing
branches and began lapping vigorous
ly. So eagerly did lie drink, and so
intently were we watching him, that
neither noticed a fierce swirling of
the water just below, until a long black
snout shot suddenly from beneath the
surface and two gleaming rows of
teeth closed on the outstretched muz
zle of the bear. The shock of this
unexpected onslaught was so sudden
that the bear had no time to cliucli
his hold on the tree, and so he tum
bled headforemost into the water, and
turning a complete somersault, fell on
his back at some distance from the
alligator.
In falling he had jerked himself free
from the alligator's teeth, and now he
began to make frantic efforts to swim
to shore. But the alligator, with one
flirt of his tail, was upon him again,
this time seizing him by a forepaw
and crushing it like an eggshell. We
could hear the bonea crack. The bear
uttered a terrific howl of pain and
rage, and with his other paw gave the
alligator a blow which sent his long
body flying through the air for a con
siderable distance. This short respite
the bear utilized in paddling violently
for the shore for li? w.vs at a deadly
disadvantage in the water against the
lightning speed of the alligator in his
native element. If he could only gain
the shore, it would soon bo "his pie
nic," for the alligator cannot turn
around, his little stumpy legs being
too far apart.
Like a flash the alligator caught the
bear by his hind leg. They were now
in a place where the water was shallow
over a hidden sand-bar, so the fight was
a little more even. With a vicious
snarl the bear turned on his back, and,
bending double, caught the alligator
by the soft white flesh of his throat.
It was now the bear's turn to bite, and
bite lie did with such good will that
the blood spurted in streams and the
alligator, letting go the foot he had
been chewing, emitted a series of howls
that made the woods ring. Then the
fight grew fiercer. The alligator beat
a loud tattoo with his tail on the bear's
tough hide, but they were at such close
quarters that he could not give it swing
enough to break any bones. He was
gradually working around to a better
position, however, and suddenly
planted a vicious blow square on the
breast that sent the bear Hying head
over heels into deep water. Ho was
up in a second and both rushed to
gether. The bear again sought the
alligator's soft throat, and with his
sharp teeth tore great mouthfnls of
bleeding flesh.
Now, we thought, the victory will
surely be with the bear. He certainly
did seem to have the best of it. The
alligator used what breath had not
been squeezed out of him bellowing
like a bull. The sounds he uttered
were so full of rage that the water-fowl
and small animals near the bayou fled
in affriglii. The two struggled back
aud forth. The water was lashed into
foam by the furious beating of tho
alligator's tail. Straining and strug
gling, this way and that, suddenly the
writhing mass of ferocity slipped off
of the narrow strip of sand aud was in
deep water again. Now the conditions
are reversed and the advantage on the
side of the alligator again. With a
snake-like twist of his lithe body
ho slipped from the bear's
clutches and, wheeling around, the
long, powerful tail flashed for an in
stant in the air and descended with
crushing force full on the back of the
bear. The thick backbone snapped
like a reed. With the cry of a human
being in distress the bear rolled over,
limp and lifeless, and sank to the bot
tom like a stone, and the fight wns
over.
Tho victor, apparently lifeless,
floated motionless on the surface of
the water—an alligator always floats
when dead—so we were preparing to
leave, when a low moan recalled us
and we found him in great pain and
slowly bleeding to death from his la
cerated throat. The water for many
yards around was dyed crimson with
his blood and his moaning was pitiful
to hear. We deemed it an act of
mercy to kill him, and a well-directed
bullet in the eye soon put an end to
his sufferings.
Upon drawing him out of the water
and measuring him, lie was found to
stretch a full sixteen feet from tip to
tip, one of the largest known.
Since tho reduction of cab fares in
London the ratio of patronage to
population has risen from 14.6 to
•eventy-seven.
NO. 14.
WHICHEVER WAY.
Whichever way the wind doth blow
Home heart is glad to have it so ;
Then blow it cast or blow it w«st.
The wind that blows, that wind is best. *
My little cratt sails not alone ; .
A thousand fleets from every zone
Are out upon a thousand seas ;
And what for me were favoring breeze
Might dash another with the shook
Of doom, upon some hidden rock.
And so X do not dare to pray
For winds that watt me on my way,
But leavo it to a Higher Will
fo stay or speed me—trusting still
That all is well, and sure that He
Who launched my bark will sail with me /
Thro' storm and cairn, and will not fait,
Whatever breezes may prevail,
To loud me—every peril past
Within Ills sheltering heaven at last.
Then whatsoever wind doth blow
Some heart is glnd to have it so.
And blow it east or blow it west.
The wind that blows, that wind is best,!
—Woman's Record,
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
A good dressing ilown—Swan's
You usually love people because youj
do not know them. —Atchison Globe, i
A tree seems moro polite in winter
because you can see its boughs.—Ga
zette.
The best "quarter-back"—The on®/
returned by the man to whom you;
lent it.—Chicago Record.
.Tagson says hot water will dissolve!
almost everything, including a buei-'
uess firm.—Elmira Gazette.
Stranger—"Who owns this store?"|
Officeboy—"The boss says I do, but t|
don't."—Detroit Free Press. ' i
I asked a gay chrysanthemum
What made her flourish so ;
She answered. looking frolicsome, i
"I get such lots of show!"
- Puck, \
.Tones—"Does Daubre paint for aj
living?" Wright—"l should say not,!
to judge by his pictures."—New Yorlfl
Times.
"No," she exclaimed with emotion,j
"I can never forgive you, but —but—■
I will try to forget you."
Transcript.
The wnrlike spirit never dies.
In peace 'tis present just the same ;
When Nations know no enemies
Their youth will brave the football game.)
—Washington Star. t
Mrs. Brown-Jones—"So he married]
you after all?' Mrs. Brown-Smithy
"Yes, after all I had—, but he didn 0
get it."—Truth.
To borrow money is to borrow 1
trouble, and some men find it a goo<l
deal of trouble to borrow money, too.
—Somervillo Journal.
A New Jersey exchange urges tho
use of the spring trap in dealing with
thievish tramps. It's a snappy arti
cle.—Philadelphia Ledger.
"I have lost my heart, he whispered,
flawing in her lovely eyes :
Isut the maiden coldly answered,
'•Whv don't you advertise?"
Pick Mo l*p.
Professor Garner says he can tell
what monkeys say t<> one another.
But who wants to know thai ? Therd
is too much talk of that kind already,
Chicago Tribune.
He—"Was tho Suddenlys elope
ment a success?" She—"Hardly; her
father telegraphed them out est to
stay where they were and all would bo
forgiven."—Brooklyn Life.
Police Magistrate —"Have you eveT
seen the prisoner at ilia bar?" Wit
ness— "Never, your Honor; but I've
seen him when 1 strongly suspected
he'd been ut it."—Tit-Bits.
Columbus was considered a great
Italian because he made an egg stand
011 end, but nowadays Italians think
nothing of having a peanut stand ov
the corner.—Buffalo Times.
There was a young man in Bellaire.
Who said, '"When I was at tho faire—" '
So they jumped on his neck
And left him a wreck,
With his hoels sticking up in the aire. v
- Indianapolis Journal. \
"You seem to be a-frayed," ob J
served the flat-iron. "That's becansa
I am hard pressed," retorted the
collar, sturehiiy. And the ironing
board got hot under the collar. —Chi-
cago Tribune.
A tine coilectiou of fossils formed
by her father lihr been given to Cam
bridge University (England) by Mrs.
Moore of Beardley. Several interest
ing specimens are still at large on this
side. —Philadelphia Ledger.
Officeboy— "I'll get even with the
old snoozer for not letting me oiFthia
afternoon." Janitor "What.can you
do?" Ofliceboy—"Every crank, book
agent and bum that comes will go
straight in."—Brooklyn Life.
Crusty Old Gentleman—"Your sing
ing, Miss Taylor, is like attar of roses
—Mis.". Taylor (with a gratified
smile) "Ob, you arc too flattering."
Old Gentleman continuing) "A little
of it goes a. long way."— Tit-Bits.
Teacher—"Who can tell me what
useful article wo got from the whale?"
Johnny "Whalebone." Teacher—
"Right. Now, what little boy or girl
knows what wo get from the seal?
Tommy- -''Sealing wax."--Racket.
"Mr. Smartly," said ilie professor
in tho astronomy class, "how far
should we let ourselves be guided by
the theories of Coperuicn■;?" "As to
that," replied Mr. Smartly, "I should
prefer to intrust so important a de
cision entirely to you, sir."—Chicago
Record.
"1 have seed some pretty ignernt
people amiing the summer boarders
my "vifo takes every year," said old
Mr. Jhfou, "but they ain't never nono
of them up to the young woman thet
wanted to know if apple butter wuz
made from feedin' apples to the cows."
—lndianapolis Journal.
Tlie best whispering gallery is in
the dome of St. Paul's Cathedral, in
London. , r