SULLIVAN JB&I REPUBLICAN.
W. M. CHENEY. Publisher.
VOL. XIII.
It is said that tho rldo from Cannes,
France, to Genoa, Italy, is tho finest
railroad journey in the world.
San Francisco is said to bo rapidly
declining in prosperity and tho Cali
fornia people blame tho Southern Pa
cific Bailroad for it.
Tho cities of New York owe §171,-
030,000; tho towns, §14,000,000, and
tho villages, §2,000,000, while the
counties owo less than 514,000,000.
The egg product of tho United
States is much more valuable than is
generally supposed. It amounts to
§100,000,000 per annum, about one
third tho value of tho wheat crop.
Sixty-si* out of one hundred Ameri
can farmers own their farms. More
than half of them have no incumbrance
whatever. They are infinitely better
off than our urban population and
their condition is constantly improv
ing. With good roads and intelli
gence, predicts the Atlanta Constitu
tion, farmers will bo the rulers of tho
earth, literally.
One secret of Japanese success is il
lustrated by tho fuct, told in Kato
Field's Washington, that tho new
Japanese Minister, Mr. Kurino, pays
such special attention to journalists.
H<) will often keep peoplo who have
important business with tho Legation
waiting while ho talks to a newspaper
correspondent about Japan, its peoplo
and customs, tho war, or any other
topic that may be uppermost.
Who is the most learned man in the
■world? nsks the Now Orleans Pica
yune. If degrees count, a good claim
may be made out for Herr von Goss
ler, the oberpresidoiit of West Prus
sia, who has just been made a doctor
of pliilosphy honoris causa by the
philosophical faculty of tho Univer
sity of Halle. Ho is thereby the pos
sessor of a doctor's diploma in nil tho
four academical faculties. Ho is a
doctor of law, and a doctor of philos
ophy, and has attained the rare dis
tinction of tho so-called "doctor quad
ruples. "
Tho money value of hands nnd
finders lias l>oen mado tho subject of
nn interesting estimate by one of the
German miners' accident insurance
companies. According to this tho loss
of both hands represents a loss of 100
per cent, efficiency, or, in other words,
the whole ability to earn a living.
Losing the ri; ■ Lit hand depreciates tho
value of an individual as a worker
seventy to eighty per cent., while the
loss of tho left hand represents from
sixty to seventy per cent, cf the earn
ings of botii hands. The thumb is
reckoned to bo worth from twenty to
thirty per ceut. of tho earniugs, tho
first linger of tho right hand is valued
at from fourteen to eighteen percent;
that of the left hand, at from eight to
13.5 per cent. Tho middle finger is
valued at 110 moro than from seven to
nine per cent., while the little finger
is worth from nine to twelve per cent,
-the difference in tho percentages, it is
explained, is occasioned by tlio differ
ence in tho trades followed by the in
jured ones.
"Tho investigations of Dr. Pnrk
hu'rst and tho Lexow Committee make
it reasonably certain that in tho past
thirty years New York's police force
hns levied nnd collected 8100,000,000
blackmail. The shndy houses iu New
York have paid in hush monov," esti
mates tho Atlanta Constitution, "83,-
450,000 a year to the police officials.
Tho blood money paid by tho green
goods men amounts to 814,000 per an
num. The policy writers have paid
the police 81i','2t)0 a year. A con
servative estimate shows that the
gamblers have paid £7:!,000 a year for
this unlawful protection. About two
thousand merchants pay SIO,OOO
year for the privilego of obstructing
the sidewalks with their goods. Tho
saloon keepers pay about 81,750.000 a
year to escape prosecution for their
violations of law. The evidence shows
that this blackmail has been levied
for thirty years, and at tho lowest es
timate it must amount to 8100,000,000,
and it may possibly run 850,000,000
above thnt sum. Such a chapter of
municipal corruption has never before
been exposed. And yet it must bo ad-'
mitted that Now York has many po
lice officers and privates who are as
honest, brave and efficient as any in
tho land. But the corrupt conduct of
Others bus brought the entire force
under suspicion. Naturally, tho scan
dal has encouraged tho lawless classes,
nnd they are loud in their :clamor
against the police. In the interests
of law and order it is to be hoped that
there will be a thorough and speedy
reform, ft would be a calamity to the
whole country to have this state of af
fairs continue much longer iu the
metropolis."
THE CROAKEn.
When ft ain't n-gola' to blow,
It'lljguow,
It'll snow! i
When tho land with oash Is bumratn',
There's a monoy panto comln' I
When tho sky Is buamln' bright,
Thero's a hurricane in slight 1
And you'll know,
And you'll know,
It was him who told yoa so 1
When tho crops nrogrowln' ilno.
They'll decline,
They'll decline!
When tho weather's kin.lor sunny,
"All tho heat will melt tho honey!
When it's lookiu' rather wot,
It will drown tho cotton yot!
And you'll know,
And you'll know,
It was him who told you so I
no's a groat ono in his way,
Every day,
Every day!
110 is alwnj-3 prophesying :
You nro eithor dead, or dying;
Anil no mntter what you do,
It's exactly as ho know 1
And you'll know,
Know, know.
It was liiui who told you so!
—P. h. Stanton.
THE ABANDONEI)~HOUSE.
BY FRANCOIS COFFEE.
fa OR fifteen years I
' passed nearly cfvery
day, 'and some
times twice a day,
through a littlo
street situated at
the extreme limit
of tho Faubourg
St. Germain, and
ending in one of
thoso magnificent
boulovards which
radiate about des
Invidides. It was
one of those very
rare Parisian by-ways whero thero is
not a single shop. I do not know a
more tranquil spot. Several gardens,
enclosed in long low walls overhung
with branches, nhed over tho deserted
street in May the delicate odor of
lilacs; in June, tho heavier perfume
of elderllowers and acacias.
Among those was one abodo even
more isolated than the others. When
the porto cocliero opened to admit a
landau or coupe, the pedestrian (who
heard tho echo of his steps on tho
sidewalk) saw only a graveled road,
bordered with a hedgo which turned
abruptly toward a house hidden amid
tho verdure. It would have been dif
ficult to find a corner more secluded.
Tho place contained neither gardener's
house nor porter's lodgo—nothing but
that nest in tho foliage.
Tho pavilion was inhabited. The
garden, gay with flowers, always care
fully attended to, was a proof of that.
In winter, tho smoke from the chim
neys roso to tho gray sky, and in tho
evening a light shone dimly behind tho
thick curtains, always closely drawn.
Several times I saw going or coming
through tho lattice-door an old ser
vant in sombro livery, and with a cir
cumspect, even suspicious, air. Evi
dently I should gain nothing by inter
rogating him. Besides, what right
had I to troublo with vain curiosity
tho unknown host or hosts of tho
closed house?
I respected their secret, but the
enigmatical dwelling continued to ex
ercise for me its singular attraction.
One July night, a stifling night, un
der a dark, heavy sky, I camo homo
about eleven o'clock, and, accord
ing to my usual habit, I
mechanically turned my steps so
as to pass before the mysterious
pavilion. The little street, lighted
only by three gas jets fur apart,which
flickered in tho heated air, was abso
lutely deserted. Not a leaf stirred on
the trees m the garden. All nature
was dumb in tho quiet which precedes
a storm.
I was in front of the pavilion, when
somo notes wero struck on a piano
within and echoed in tho motionless
air. I noticed with surprise that,
doubtless because of tho heat, two of
the windows wero pnrtly open, though
not enough for ono to see tho interior
of tho apartment. Suddenly a woman's
voico, a soprano of wonderful sweet
ness and power, burst forth upon the
silence of tho night.
She sang a short melody, of strange
rhythm and tho most touching melan
choly, iu which I divined instinctively
a popular air, ono of those flowers of
primitive music which are never gath
ered in the gardens raked by profes
sional maestri. Yes, it certainly was
a folk song, but of what country? I
did not recognize tho tongue iu which
the words wero written, but I felt
there the plaintive inspiration, and
fancied that I detected in them tho
sad spirit of tho North. The air was
thrilling, tho voice sublime. It hard
ly lusted two minutes, but I never felt
in all my life such a deep musical sen
sation, and long after the song had
died away, I felt still vibrating within
me tho final melodious note, sharp,
penetrating, sad, liko a long cry of
pain. I remained there for a long
time in the hope of hearing that de
licious voice again, but suddenly a
storm burst upon tho city. Tho wind
shook tho trees. I folt a large drop
of rain on my hand. I was obliged
to make all haste to get home.
Somo days afterward ' was in tho
Casino at Dieppe with some jolly com
panions, nnd took part in an anima
ted discussion upon music. I praised
popular airs, which spring spontane
ously from au innocont sentiment. In
aid of my theory, I relatod my adven
ture.
"What do you think of this air?" I
asked Prince Khaloff, a young Rus
sian witjv whom I was very intimate.
"I shall never forget iA," I said warm
LAPORTE, PA., FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1894.
ly. I proceeded to sing it indifferently
well.
"Well," replied the young prince,
"you can congratulate yourself, my
dear sir, in having had such a r iro
treat. That melody is a song of the
sailors of Drontheim, away ont in
Norway, and the beautiful voice must
have been that of Stolberg, with whom
we were all in love two years ago,
when sho inndo her debnt in St. Peters
burg—that Stolberg was the rival of
her countrywoman Nilsson, and who
would ihave become one of the great
est singers of the century if she had
not been suddenly snatched from art,
from tho stage, from success of all
kinds by her love for Count Basil
Lobanof, at that time my com
rade in the Guards, when we
were both cornets in the cavalry.
Yes, for two years wo were without
news of Basil. Ho had given up his
commission and left Russia without
saying adieu to any one. And we
only knew vaguely that ho had hidden
himself in Paris with his wifo; but
wo wero ignorant of the piaco of his
retreat till you now revealed it by
chance."
"So," said I, "tho wonderfully
gifted artist has ronounced everything
for a little lovo affair."
• C°v rather for a great passion I"
cried tho prince. "Although very
voung, Stolberg had had numerous
flirtations when she met Lobanof. 1
was there in tho green room on tho
evening when Basil—who, I should
tell you, is as handsome as a god—was
presented to her, and I sow the diva
pale with emotion, oven under her
powder and paint. Oh, it was start
ling, and I thought that sho would
carry off our young friend that same
evening, pell-mell, with the trium
phant bouquets, after tho fifth act.
But immediately ho became ao jealous
as a Mussulman—yes, jealous of the
very public when sho sang. He was
always there in tho front seats of the
orchestra, and at each burst of ap
plause ho turned abruptly, and oast a
sombro look over tho house.
That look seemed to express
a desire to slap tho whole
audience in the face. Everything went
wrong. Even when the Czar was pres
ent, the prima donna had eyes for no
one but Basil—sang always to Basil.
That caused trouble behind tho scenes,
and the poor girl decided to leavo the
stage. She did so at tho end of three
months, at tho close of her engage
ment. He married her- and sinco
then thoy havo hidden themselves in
Paris, in tho retreat which you dis
covered. They must be dead in loves
But I will wager that Basil will get
over it. He is built liko the Farnese
Hercules, and they say poor Stolberg
is consumptive. They pretend oven
that it is disease which gives her voice
its wonderful power and extraordi
nary sweetness aud pathos. Her gift
is the result of disease, liko the pearl.
All tho same, no matter how much in
love with Lobanof the poor girl is, she
will dio of weariness in that cago in
which ho keeps her. Then sho must
sing very rarely, since in tho many
times you havo passod before their
house you have hoard her but once,
that night of the storm. Well, it will
end badly."
Tho conversation turned to other
things, and tho next day I left Dieppe
togo with some friendsto Lower Nor
mandy. I had only been there ten
days when I read accidentally inn the
atrical paper tho following notice:
"We announce-with sorrow the death
of Mile. Ida Stolberg, the Swedish
cantatrice, who shono so briefly and
brilliantly on the stago iu Germany
and Russia, nnd who renounced her
lyrical career in tho midst of her suc
cess and has been living quietly in
Boris for two years past. She died of
pulmonary consumption."
I had never seen Stolberg. Once
only had I heard that incomparable
voice. Still, tho reading of this com
monplace notice, which announced to
me the fulfilment of Prince Khaloff's
dismal prophecy, broko my heart. I
know now the wholo mystery of tho
closed house. It was thero that the
poor woman had languished and been
extinguished, deeply in love, no doubt,
but stifled also by tho captivity to
whioh she was condemned by tho
jealousy of her husband. No doubt,
also, sho was full of regrets for the
former triumphs of her abandoned
art. Tho fate of Stollierg seemed so
sad to mo that I fairly hated tho man
who had sacrificed her whole life.
He sectned to mo a fop, an egotist, a
brute. I was certain that he would
soon console himself for the loss of
his wife, that ho would soon forget
the poor dead woman, and that, un
worthy of the love which ho had in
spired, ho would also bo incapable of
grief or fidelity.
On my return to Paris, ono of the first
persons I met on tho Boulevard was
Prince Khaloff. 1 told him how much
I had beon moved at tho news of the
singer's death, nnd I could not hide
from him tho instinctive antipathy
which I felt toward Lobanof.
"Behold, you people of imagina
tion!" cried tho prince. "You were
charmed for an instant by this wo
man's voice, and you feel a posthu
mous love for her, and a retrospective
jealousy of my poor friend. I own to
you that I have always thought Basil
H more sensual than sensible man,
more pastiionato than teudor; but I
have seen him since poor Ida's death,
and he is a prey, I assuro yon, to the
most horrible and sineero despair.
When I expressed my sympathy to
him, he cast himself in my arms, and
repeated to me, as he wept on my
shoulder, that he could live no longer.
And it was not pretence. He goes at
once to Senegal, to join the Jackson
mission, a party of explorers, who
will bury themselves, probably for
ever, in frightful Africa. That is not
oommon, you will own. It is to be
feared that fever or cholera, or a shot
from the gun of a savage, will end the
poor boy's life and sorrows. Take
book, I beg yoa, your rash and pre
mature judgment upon him. Besides,
he had before hia departnro an idea
which ahould certainly seem affecting
to you. That pavilion, where ho haa
been so happy and ao unhappy, be
longs to him. Well, he haa closed it
forever. Basil wishes that no living
being should ever again penetrate
that abode of love and sorrow. You
can pass there now, and see tho
house fall into ruin, and on tho day
when they put a notioo upon it, on
that day you can say, 'Basil Lobanof
is dead.'" '
I left the prince, and the next day,
reproaching myself for my injnstioe,
1 went to see the deserted house. Tho
shutters were closed; the dead leaves
of tho great plane tree, half-bare (it
was the end of aatnmn), covered the
grass of the lawn. Weeds forced their
way through the gravelled walk. The
work of destruction had begun.
Months passed; a year; then anoth
er J then tho diiily papers were full of
the great anxiety felt over tho fate of
Jockßon and his companions, from
whom no news had come. You know
that oven to-day the world is ignorant
of tho fate of thoso brave explorers.
Living always in the same vicinity
and passing every day before tho
abandoned pavilion, I say it deoay,
little by little. Tho rain of two win
ters hail lashed constantly tho plaster
of tho facade and covered it with a
damp mould. Then the slate roof was
damaged by wind and [rain storms.
Dampness attackud everything. Liz
ards sunned thcraselvos on the wall;
tho balcony was loosened; the roof
bent. Tho appearanco of the poor
house becasio lamentable. Ab for
tho garden, it had returned
quickly to its savage state. Tho
llowers were not cultivated ; tho roso
bushes wero untrimmed, and had only
leaves and branches; tho geraniums
wero dead. Tho grass had long since
disappeared under tho dead hay, and
tho high stalks of tho weeds were dis
dained even by tho butterflies. Noth
ing grow there but thistles and tho
palo poppy. It was a gloomy spot I
Years rollod on. It was now im
possible to hope for the roturn of tho
Jackson party. Evidently those in
trepid pioneers had succumbed to
hunger an.l thirst in some horriblo
desert or been massacred by tho sav
ages, ond Count Basil Lobanof was
dead with them, faithful to his Stol
berg. The deserted house had fallen
absolutely into ruins. The great tree
which was near the house, and whoso
foliago was no longer kept in check by
trimming, had thrust one of its im
mense branches through tho window.
Tho shutters had fallen off, and the
tree had pushed its way into tho in
terior of tho disembowelled house.
Thero might be mushrooms within
and oven grass growing on tho floor
of the salon. Each time 1 passed be
fore tho old ruin which had como to
to tho last stages of decay, I thought,
abandoning myself to a romantic rev
ery,—"lt is better that it should be
so. If they had heard of the count's
death, tho heirs no doubt would havo
caused steps to bo taken at once for its
restoration. They would have broken
it open brutally, and let in tho garish
light of day, to deseerato thoso hal
lowed associations of lovoand sorrow.
Basil Lobanof has dono well to disap
pear, and nature lovingly destroys
slowly this old lovo-nest, and keeps it
from profanation."
Tho other day I saw the ruin again ;
tho branches of the great treo camo
through tho roof, and thero were lit
tle trees growing in the rocks. Then
I met Prince Khaloff, who had not
been in Franoo for o dozen yetfrs.
Wo walked and talked together, and I
told him all about the abandoned
house, its slow destruction, and tho
thoughts it Buggested. Tho princo
burst into laughter.
"Decidedly, my dear fellow, you
will never bo anything but a poet.
Basil is marriodragaiu, the father of
three children, and holds the ofllco of
First Secretary to tho Russian Ambas
sador at liome."
"Tho Count Lobanof is not dead!"
I cried, stupefied.
"On my last visit to Rome ho was
as well as you or I."
"Ho did not go with the Jackson
party? Oh, the perfidious man!" I
cried, furious at my wasted sympathy.
"I should have suspected him. It
Beeras that he forgot his dead love at
once."
"Oh no," replied tho prince.
"Basil is not so guilty as that. Wild
with griof after her death, ho would,
for good or bad go with the
party, and ho set out for Sonogam
bia. But on tho sixth day of
their morch ho fell seriously ill and
was taken to St. Louis by a caravan,
in the greatest agony. There ho re
covered —but it was not his fault. His
friends profited by his weakness and
lack of energy to carry hitn back to
Europe, aud since then, after waiting
a long time, ho has consoled himself."
"But then the deserted house?
What does that comedy signify?"
asked I, iu a bad humor.
"How severe you are, my dear !" re
plied the amiable Russian. "It is not
a comedy, but it proves ou tho con -
trary, that tho count is a man of honor.
What did ho promiso? That as long
as he lived no one should go under the
roof which had sheltered his love. And
ho has kept his word, though it has
cost him a great deal. Besides, who
knows if he does not always mourn his
delightful singer, aud regret bitterly
tho evenings passed in that closed
house, listening to tho divinely sad
musio of that voice which caused him
BO much happiness, so much sorrow?
All that I can tell yon," added the
prince with an ironical smile, "is that
with a large fortune, a beautiful funily,
and a homo in tho Eternal City, a
despairing love twelve years old ought
to bo endurable I" —Translated foi
Romance.
Cloves grow wild in tho Moluccas.
SCIENTIFIC AUD INDUSTRIAL.
The whistling buoy can be heard
•bout fifteen miles.
Asiatic cholera is the most rapidly
fatal thing known to medical ecienoe.
Carriages propelled by electricity
dorived from a storago battery are
common in Berlin.
A French physician reports a cose
of hiocough successfully treated by
taking snuff until sneezing was pro
voked.
Lightning is most destructive in
level, open country. Cities, withthoir
numerous projections and wires, are
comparatively exempt.
A total absence of butterfly life in
England is notod. Beyond an occa
sional |white butterfly, there aro nono
to bo seen this summer.
Irish potatoes in a store, with a cel
lar under them, will stand a tompera
titre of ten dogrces, and without a cel
lar a zero temperature will not hurt
them.
Gardening ants collect pieoes of
vegetable and pile them up to rot in
the dark Interior of their nests until
tho rubbish is covered with a growth
of fungus on whicn tho ants feod.
Peoplo wink becauso the eye must
be kept clean and moist, and by tho
actiou of tho eyelids tho fluid secreted
by the glands of tho eyes is spread
equally over the surface of the globe.
The greatest earthquake on record
within the limits of the United States
occurred in California in 1872. Foz
ten days tho ground was continuously
agitated, not being perfeotly quiet for
as long as a singlo minute.
At the meeting of tho German Con
gress of Natural Science in Vienna,
Professor Bolteman deliverod an inter
esting lecturo on aorial locomotion.
Ho predicted the greatest success for
tho application of aeroplanes.
At Predimost, in Bohemia, where
many mammoth skeletons havo been
unearthed, a prehistoric family has
lately been found. Tho skeletons of
the man, woman and children are com
plete, the man's being of enormous
size.
A Boston author, who is convinced
that the printing of books in white and
black is unnatural and trying to the
eyes, is about to bring one out with
tho* pages blue, green, yellow, etc.,
purchaser to make choice of his or
her own color.
Professor lloux, of Paris, at a recent
hj-gienfc congress at Budapest, assorted
that in tho Paris hospitals seventy-five
per cent, of tho children inoculated
with Bohring's auti-diphthoritino
(serum taken from liorsea) were saved,
while of those not inoculated sixty per
cent, died aud only forty per cent,
survived.
Released Her Imprisoned Foot.
A wonion crossing a network of rail
road tracks in Long Island City not
long ago stepped on a frog, which wa;i
unlocked, and pinioned her foot se
curely. Thero was possibly no danger
from an approaching train, for thero
wero many men abont, but her posi
tion was not comfortable.
Her cries attracted assistanco to her
aide, and the groups of men began
suggesting first ono thing, then an
other to release tho foot. "Givo a
sudden jerk," suggested one. "Slide
your foot forward," said another. Tho
woman tried, but could not movo her
foot.
"No, that won't do," cried a third.
"Get a crowbar. Get anything. Wo'vo
gotto pry it out." At this the woman
beoamo hystorical, ond the men all
grow nervous. Several ran up tho
track, aud several down to signal any
approaching train.
Just then, when tho excitement was
high, a railroad employo crossed tho
track, swinging a tin dinner pail.
"What's tho matter?" ho asked of ono
of the crowd. The situation was ex
plained to him. Everything had been
tried, his informant said, and thoy
were waiting for a crowbar.
"Why don't pou unlace tho shoe,"
ho said, and taking a knifo from his
pocket he cut tho laces. No one had
thought of that, but the remedy was
effectual, and iu fifteen seconds tho
half fointing woman was able to pull
her foot from tho shoe, and a slight
offort then released tho latter. —New
York Herald.
Wanton Destruction ot Reindeer.
Tho use of firearms has lod to tho
wanton destruation of tho roindeer
for tho sake of their skins, thoir ant
lers, and thoir tongues, which aro a
rare delicacy. It is to bo fearod that
tho Greenland roindeer will soon go
tho way of the buffalo of our Western
plains; and so of tho fur-bearing ani
mals in general. Tho natural increase
is sufficiently checltod by the original
native methods of cateliing them iu
traps. Tho seal, also, tho most im
portant of all the animals upon which
they depend for existence—furnishing
them food, clothing, fuel, and cover
ing for tho kayak—is in danger of be
ing exterminated by the more destruc
tive methods ot hunting introduced
by modern inventions.—New York
Post.
\. National <»Clothiug Department."
Tho men who fought the establish
ment of tho Department of Agricul
ture a few ycais ago on tho ground
that it waG unnecessary, will perhaps
be surprised to learn that ono huu
■dred years ago thero was a "Clothing
Department," and that Congress is
sued regulations for a clothier gen
eral, a Stato clothier, a regimental
clothier, and so on. A "department
of clothiug" would cxcito derisive
laughter now. Thero was o good deal
of inquiry and report on tho subject
of clothing for the continental army,
and at one time General Horntio Gates
reported that the cost of clothing each
man was $23. —'Washington Star.
Term*—sl.oo in AdTAnoei t1.25 after Three Months.
THE VALUABLE FUR SEAL.
AN ANIMAL OVER WHICH GOVERN
MENTS HAVE ARBITRATED.
Princely Royalty Derived by the
United states From Seals Killed—
A Remarkable Creature.
THE fur seal (its name should
be furry sea lion) is the most
celebrated of all our fur
bcareis, and the United States
Government has been as active in pro
tecting it from destruction as it wai
indifferent to tho fate of the buffalo
millions. If our great international
dispute with England and Canada
over the fur soal had arisen seventy
years ago, before the days of peacefnl
arbitration, there would surely have
been a war over it. Nor is our inter
est in our fur seal to be wondered at
when wo stop to consider that from
1870 to 1890 our National Treasury
received §6,000,000 from the Alaska
Commercial Company as royalty on
the animals killed (six-sevenths of tho
purchase price of Alaska). When to
this we add the amount received in a
twenty per cent, import duty on the
dressed skins as thoy camo back to us
from the English dyers, the total
revenue derived from tho fur soal in
twenty years amounts to the enor
mous sum of §8,500,000. Such an
animal was worth saving from destruc
tion. No other quadruped over be
came such a bono of contention be
tween two great nations for a long
period, the discussion winding up
with a high and mighty conference of
arbitration.
As usual, tho whole troublo aroso
through tho greediness of a few irre
sponsible and lawless individuals. Tho
sealers of tho Pacific coast insisted
upon taking fur seals by shooting
them in the open sea, by which waste
ful process seven were lost for every
three secured. But if it were not for
the loss of money revenuo derived
from this animal, it is quite certain
the Government would havo allowed
tho wasteful slaughter togo on until
the last seal was dead.
The fur seal is not a true seal by
any meaus, but a sea lion, with naked,
paddle-shaped flippers and tiny ears.
It is about two-thirds tho size of tho
Zalophus, and is therefore tho small
est membor of the sea-lion family.
Mr. Elliott gives tho average length
of the full-grown male animal as six
feot from noso to tail, and weight
from 350 to 500 pounds. Tho average
length of the adult female is a tritlo
over four feet, and weight from sixty
two to seventy-live pounds. When
dry, tho coat is of a dark, steel gray
color, and only the coarse, stilt outer
hair is visible. Underneath this lies
a dense coat of v?ry tino and soft
light-brown fur, in which lies all tho
value of the skin. In preparing tho
pelt, tho coarse outer hair is entirely
removed, and tho underlying fur is
dyed a shiny, lustrous black, and
sheared down very evenly. For eomo
mysterious reason, we, the peoplo of
"Yankee ingenuity," are actually un
abletodyeseal fur successfully, and this
work is from sheer uecessity sent to
England. Whou it comes back, thero
is o high rato of duty to pay, which in
addition to the original royalty of
§10.22 paid to the Government by tho
North American Commercial Company
for every skin taken, tho very 'ong
bill of transportation charges, labor,
and profits all along tho line, from tho
back of tho seal to that of tho fortu
nate wearer, accounts for tho price of
from §250 to §GOO on a seal skin
cloak.
In its habits the fur seal is a re
markable creature. With 6000 miles
of coast to land upon if it chose, his
strange anil perverse animal now re
fuses to set flipper upon any portion
of the wholo North American conti
nent, island or mainland, savo tho
two little dots of land in Bering Sea,
St. Paul, and St. Georgo Islands,
known to the world collectively as tho
Pribilof Islands. St. Paul is seven
miles by fourteen, and St. Georgo ia
only five and a half by thirteen.
And yet, when Mr. Elliott made his
careful and elaborato surveys of all
tho "rookeries," or herding grounds
on those islands, in July, 1873, ami
laboriously calculated tho number of
their fin footed inhabitants, he found
there tho astonishing number of 3,-
193,420 fur seals. Like sheep in a
pen, they actually crowded one another
on tho sloping shores of sand, or water
worn boulders, or tables of slaty blue
basalt. Each burly old male appears
a giant beside tho females an I young
males gathered around him. -St. Nich
olas.
"A Heap ot Milk."
Tho Earl of Surrey, in one of hia
best poems, says:
Laid In my quiot bed,
In study as X were
I saw within my troubled head
A heap of thoughts appear.
He hero nses "heap" in preciselj
the sense given it by people iu South
ern Indiaua, in Georgia, in Texas, and
generally over a largo part of tho
United States. This seoso of tho word
is very primitive. I believe tho Cen
tury Dictionary gives the sense of a
crowd or throng as the earliest mean
ing of tho word. It was good when
the first colonists came out of Eng
land. It seems a little monstrous now
a-days to hoar a man speak of his
cow's giving "a heap of milk," or to
hear that "there was a heap of people
at tho basket ineetin'."—Century.
Ail Island Inhabited by Turtles.
Caycay, a West. India island, is in
habited exclusively by turtles,* some
of which grow to an enormous size.
Attempt? to establish human habita
tions oi the island lmve always failed.
The turtles undermine the foundations
of the house >v and not (infrequently
attack the inmates.— New Yori Mail
and Eajwew.
NO. 6.
COUNTRY'S MOVIWM
Bar your say an' sing your song—
Country's movln' right along ?
Spring or summer—hall or snow.
Country's always on tho go!
Puffin', blowln',
Hot, or snowin',
Always goln','
Coin'!
Coin'!
Say your say l>y night an' day—»
Country's happy on tho wny !
Spite o' wouthor, splto o' crops.
Always goln'—nover stops!
PuiTln', blowln',
Makes a showin' ;
Always goln',
Ooln'!
Goln'!
Stormy skle«, or weather fair,
Country's got tho roadway clear I ' '•
Storms may how), or bells may chime.
Country's goln' all the time!
I'uflln', blowln',
Reapin', sowln',
Always goln',
Goin'!
Goln'!
—Atlanta Constitution.
HUMOR OF THE DAY.
Man wants but little here below—
woman wants the rest.—Truth.
A man never knows how to be a sou
until ho lms become a father.—Atchi
son Globe.
With most people, success has a
strong tendency to destroy belief in
luck.—Puck.
He —"I hear that you aro going
abroad in a month?" She—"Not
much—in a boat."—Truth.
He—"l'm telling you the honest
truth." She— "ls there dishonest
truth?"— Detroit Frjo Press.
Popularity is one of the most vague
and undefined possessions that man ac
quires.—Milwaukee Journal.
When a man goes into business,
everybody wonders "whero on earth
ho got the money."—Atchison Globe.
This sweet old world is funuy.
But we learn it by decrees;
Tho bees first steal tho honey,
Then wo steal it from tho boos!
—Atlanta Constitution.
The trouble about tho trials of this
life is that a fellow always wants to
render his own verdicts. —Cleveland
Plain Dealer.
Visitor (discovering acquaintance)
"Hello, what nro you hero for?"
Prisoner (briefly) "For six months."
—Dotroit Freo Press.
The Author—"l trust you enjoyed
my play?" The Parvenu —"You, in
deed. Tho entr'actes are so delight
ful."—Chieogo Record.
Nor bruised nor bleeding wis tho man
Who near tho cur's front look :i seat;
No broken bones had he, although
He'd fallen over forty loot.
—ruck.
"I want n position for my son as an
editor?" "What are his qualifica
tions?" "Failod in every thing else."
—Atlanta Constitution.
"Did you tell your mistress that I
called yesterday when sho was out?"
Maid—"lt wasn't necessary. Sho saw
you coming."—lnter-Ocean.
"Flossio has accepted that liotrid
old Goldheap. What do you suppose
she was thinking of ?" Hettio —"Her-
self, dear."—Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Sho laughed at every little jest,
Even though it might bo stmple;
It wasn't a wish to show her tasto,
13ut a cunning little dimple.
—Chicago luter-Ocoan.
Agent—"Bnnkor is a social philoso
pher." Caller—"ln what respect?"
Agent—"Ho never kicks when we dun
him repeatedly for his rent, lie jUbt
moves."
- Dr. Emdee—"Years aero tho doctors
used to bleed their patients for about
everything thoy had." Van Pelt
"The practice doesn't chango much,
does it?"—Truth.
Kashem—"Why don't you put a
check to that fellow who i3 everlast
ingly duniiiugyou?" Bilker "What'd
be the use? The bank wouldn't pay
it."—Buffalo Courier.
Old Lady (proudly)—"My boy is i»
hustler all the time, but he is hump
ing himself here lately." Visitor—"ls
that so? What bicycle does he ride?"
—Detroit Freo Press.
Now all tho collego boys b?sfow
Upon their hair aud muselo
Consummate eare, lieeausothoy know
In iootbull they must hustle.
—Washington Star.
Minks—"There is one great objec
tion to onions." Winks—"What's
that?" "They are wholesome." "Do
you consider that an objection?" "Cer
tainly. People who are fond of tliem
don't die half so soon as you'd like
them to."—New York Weekly.
"Yas," said Mr. Jason, "I allow
that women air tho sentimental sex
and all thot sort of thing, but I've
allays noticed that when a couple git
engaged it is the woman that first
thinks of figgcriu' out how they air
to live on his salary."—lndianapolis
Journal.
Indicative : "What makes you think
Jack Youngley is going to propose to
you?" "Why, wo were dancing tho
other night an-l I complimented him
upon the oasy way in which he held
me. 'Oh, yes," lie said, 'it's always
easy for mo to hold my own.'" —
Brooklyn Life.
Grass Growing a Science.
Sineo grass growing has beoome A
science and nu art you may hire a man
to create a lawn for you in a fifth of
the time once thought neoessary for
such a creation. Thick and Insurious
lawns are produced between spring
and autumn, and a lawn of two years
under the modern forcing proccas may
easily rivol one of five years under tho
old-fashioned system. Artifieal stim
ulants and abundant water are re
sponsible for the now order ot thing*.
—Chicago Herald,