The Johnsiow n Lemw ;t.
PUBLIBHEI) EVEKY
FRIDAY MORNING,
No. 138 FRANKLIN STREET,
J onXBO WN, CAMBRIA CO., I'A.
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1,. i>. WOODRUFF,
_ Editor and Publisher,
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, ISBD.
DEMOCRATIC TICKET.
For state Treasurer, EDWARD A. BIGI.ER, of
Clearfield county.
prothonotary, JAMES a. DARBY, of cone-
OluugU borough.
Register and Recorder, CELESTINE J. BLAIR,
CFF r.bi nsburg.
Bis' riot Attorney, FRANCIS J. O'CONNOR, Of
Johnsiown.
Poor House Director, RAPHAEL A. IIITE, of
Carroll township.
Auditor, JOSEPH IIIPPS, of Elder township.
Corsoner, PETER McGoroil, of portage town
Ship.
WnAT AIIOITT TRUSTS.
There are trusts aud trusts in full blast
all over this country, anil it looks as
though all branches of business w ill he
ruu by them. Such is the rate nt wldcb
they are multiplying that this appro
hension seems to be well founded. While
their existence is deplored by so many,
tlicir necessity and usefulluess find many
able advocates on the score, both of econ
omy and benefit. It is contended that the
prejudice against them grows out ot a
general popular misconception of their
nature and characteristics, nnd in con
fusing their legitimate workings with
abuses of them.
What is a trust? Perhaps as gocd a
definition of a trust as could he given is
that it is a kind of an alliance among cap
italists to control prices, or iu other words
to monopolize trade. But this defini
ation is not accepted by its advocates.
They object particularly to the idea im
plied by the word monopoly, and yet
their own way of defining it,
really covers and embraces all that this
word implies. For iustancc, what hut u
monopoly is " agreement among produc
ers and venders of a certain sort of mer
cantile commodity for their mutual pro
tection and profit ? " It is admitted that
it is a " wholly selfish arrangement,
without auy pretense that philanlhrophy
enters into it at any point; " which
means that the benefit of parties outside
of its close corporation is never taken
into onsideration. One of its recent de
fend rs is compelled to say that " it is
entc d into because the parties to the
agreement believe that they can, in that
way, largely or entirely eliminate or con
trol competition, maiutain the prices of
their wares, check over-production, and
make money more easily than they can
without the trust." We are gravely told
it is not a mere partnership, nor a joint
stock company, nor a corporation, nor a
" cor er," nor a syndicate, nor a pool,
hut purlakes, to some extent, of the char
acteristics of them all.
Win ther its partaking capacity has ref
erence to the good or had points of pools,
corners or syndicates, we are not advised;
tout inasmuch as its admitted object and
purpose is to " eliminate or control com
petition " and thus " make money more
easily," the logical inference is that its
pa:", '.ing quality has no reference to
whatever is for the general good in any
of the other kinds of business organiza
tions. By capitalists combining their
means so as to control any branch of bus
iness they can throttle and down all com
pelition by pushing individual enterprises
to the wall. And if this is not creating
a "comer"—a full-llushed monopoly—
wc would like to know what it is. It is
so self-evident that even defenders of
trusts venture an apology for it, by say
ing that after all " competition is, in and
of itself, not an unconditional good." By
thus trying toevade. the force of argu
ments against trusts it is alleged that the
waste of competition is incalculable ; that
it is hurdensomely expensive, *' osting
the public a million of dollars where mo
nopoly can extort a penny."
This bold, unsupported assertion
plainly assumes that with all that is said
against monoplies, they are better, far
more economical, for the poor and im
provident than unrestricted competition.
Why, in this light trusts are not the
monstrosities common sense people be
lieve them to be, but are great eleemosy
nary institutions, conceived and pro
jected for tlio special benefit of the poor.
Rich men form these combinations for
the benefit of the general good. Could
assumption go further ?
But still further, they are attempted to
be justified on the grounds of risks. As
there are risks involved in all kinds of
business, it is said, that failures in any
business venture would not be so disas
trous to a company as to individuals. In
such a case losses would be born by
several persons instead of by an individ
ual, and thus be -"distributed around
among an entire class." RegV* this idea
that capitalists form trusts to shield indi
viduals from financial embarrass
ments, by preventing them from doing
bußinees is the climax of absurdities.
Finally, it is assumed that only ward
politicians oppose trusts, and that it is
particularly " unfortunate that the oppo
sition to them has taken on a political
form, and that politicians of the baser
bull i(• i Si II *' L In '
, 111 111 •" A> ID SUppICHMUg 111. 11l
bv i.iiv, it is ft irleniiljr proclaimed, with
■ill flu- puailivoiii'Sft of a Sir Oracle, that
noliDiiy "Ik *o credulous as to believe
thai trusts of capital can be legislated out
of existence." This, we presume, is said
with the belief that capital controls legis
lation ; which, alas, is lamentably too
rue in too many instances.
DISAPPEARANCE OK YOUNG LADIES.
For the past ten days Washington City
papers, the Washington Post especially,
have had from ouc to two columns of ar
ticles on the disappearance of a young
Miss Brown. Tne father anil other mem
bers of the family, with the aid of her
Mayor and the entire detective force,
have searched the surrounding swamps
and dragged the Potomac Iliver upon the
theory pf suicide. Tuough seen at vari
ous places in th- eitv on the day of the
disappearance, no satisfactory clew lias as
yet been discovered. Inasmuch as the
family claim she is a uice, prudent, mod
est young lady of eighteen, with uo gen
llemeu callers, they scout the idea of
elopement: aud, as she was so good and
obedient to parental authority, they
grow indignant nt the thought of an es
capade of any kind. On the contrary,
however, the police think she lias run off,
and possibly may be found in New York
in some place where she ought not to he.
It is difficult to tell what human nature
at times, whether it. lie in the form of
youth or old age; whether masculine or
feminine, is up to. Only last week a
youtigjady of good family mysteriously
disappeared from a New Jersey
town. Diligent spare!) failed to re
veal lier whereabouts, and just
as tile family bud settled down to the sui
cide theory, the young lady made her up
p arance, telling a thrilling story of out
rage and robbery. In Iter innocent way
s'lesahl site had bo-n robbed of the $60.00
entrusted to her by l.er father for the
payment of a certain debt, drugged and
left in a dying condition. Part of her
clothing was guns, and all in all she pre
sentcd a pitiable sight. But a day or
two afterwards certain facts leaked out
that led her to confess that she had gone
to New York, spent all the money
pawned part of lier wardrope, and hid
some of the things in a certain sewer,
where they were subsequently found.
Instead of beiug a good, modest, inno
cent young lady us claimed by lier fanr iiy,
she lies proved herself up to doing ver>
wicked things, and ft liar of no mean
magnitude.
So on the whole, we will wait a little
while before subscribing to the Miss
Brown suicidal theory.
A VERY PROPER PROCEEDING.
'• Old Peter Mueller was arresctd yes
terday and locked tip at the Twelfth
Street Station for violating one of the
State laws."— Chicago Tribune.
There is nothing strange iu the fa':t that
a intio should be arrested and locked up
ill a big city like Chicago. Such a tiling
is a daily occurrence; but certain cir
cumstances connected with this case
make it somewhat exceptional, if not
sensational. In the first place the offence
was cruelty to an animal—to one of the
noblest species, a horse. Though the
best of all that render service to mankind,
no other animal is so cruelly treated by
some beings in human shape. 111-treat
ment of this noble brute is not an un
known fact even in Johnstown ; hut we
regret to say arrests for the unjustifiable
offense are like angel's visits, few and far
between.
The man guilty of the offense in Chi
cago was not a poor man dependent on
his daily labor for a livelihood, and with
insufficient means to buy horse feed;
bun ot, the contrary, is rated as a million
aire, owning hundreds of thousands
worth of property. He is too miserly to
provide for his horse—feeding hira on
offals such as cabbage stalks, potatocand
apple peelings. The poor old horse lie was
driving through the street is thus
described : He wus well ou his way to
starvation His baek-boue climbed* up
and down like a mountain road, and his
ribs were as prominent as sign-posts.
The btnes of Ins shoulders and hips hail
forced themselves through the skin, and
the wounds had been terribly galled by
broken pieces of old harness ; while the
hairs in the main aud tail were matted to
gether by burdock burrs.
And yet the owner, the rich old cuss,
made a terrible ado about the arrest,
claiming the horse was his and he had
the right to use him as lie pleased. He
threatened veugeuce against the mer
chant who made the information, and
against the officers who arrested and lined
him. But all the same, lie suffered the
extreme penalty of the law.
OUIt COUNTY TICKKT.
We have heretofore endeavored to im
press upon the Democracy of Cambria
county the importance of turning out at
the approachiug election and giving an
earnest support to the ticket. To-day wo
reiterate our call upon the Democracy,
and emphasize that call with a plea for
our couuty ticket, which is a thoroughly
good one. It is composed of active party
workers, and deserves the support of
every Democrat, and we believe it will
receive it. There are always many in
fluences, frequently trifling in their char
acter, which contribute to keep Democrats
away from the polls on election day. The
idea often suggests itself to the voter that
1 the ticket is sure to be elected anyhow,
and that if they do not go to the polls
their absence will not be missed, thus at
taching but slight importance to their
individual vote. In the life of a soldier
duty leads to the field when the bugle
sounds and the drums beat; so it should
be in the life of the party man, and when
election comes and the party trumpets
sound the battle cry every man should
obey its call and rally to the support of
his ticket. No voter should remain away
from the conflict. His duty tohispaUy
and the interests he feels in the success
of his principles should draw him like the
needle to the pole. The Democracy of
Cambria couaty cannot afford to lose a
single vote.
Tan Pauiporo.
A strange natural phenomenon is the
pampero, a South Americun storm wind,
which is described by the author of
"Hearts of Oak," who first made its ac
quaintance during a stay at Montevideo.
A light breeze had been blowing from
the northeast, but had steadily increased
in force, and brought with it the heated
air of the tropics, which, passing over a
treeless pain pa country, exposed to the
burning sun rays of a clear skv, so
warms up the atmosphere on the shores
of the Uio ile la Plata that its eifect upon
human beings is exceedingly bud
This state of things generally lasts for
a week, or longer, until the stilling heat
becomes unbearable and the inhabitants
are seen resting in grass hammocks of
lying on bare floors, incapable of exer
tion. However, relief is close at hand
A little cloud "no bigger than a man's
hand" is first seen to rise above the
water, then the heavens grow black with
clouds, and the battle of opposing winds
begins.
The pampero advances with its artil
lery well in front: forked flashes of vivid
lightning, followed by peals of thunder,
bear down upon the foe, who, quite up
to the moment of attack, is fiercely dis
charging its fiery breath on thesurround
ing regions. The inhabitants now climb
on theazotcas, or flat roofs, to. watch the
struggle and to.be the first to participate
in the delicious relief brought by the
pampero to their fevered bodies.
Far out on the river a curious sight
may be seen: tho opposing waves, raised
by the rival winds, meet like a rush of
cavalry in wild career: tin ir white bur-, s
with foaming crests dash themselves
against each other and send clouds of
dazzling spray high in the air; this being
backed by an inky sky renders the scene
most imposing.
Gradually tho northeaster gives way
followed closely by its enemy, the pam
pero, which throws out skirmishing cur
rents of ice cold wind in advance of its
final onslaught. Then conies the roar of
the elements, and a deluge such as no
one would willingly encounter, and
cooler weather is established for the time
being.
Heathen Coils in Her Ears.
A physician of my acquaintance was
called in recently to see an old lady who
resides in her own house in tho Third
ward. It was his first call, and he had
never seen the lady before. She lay on a
couch, neatly attired, with her gray hair
in a cluster of small curls at each side of
her head.
"Doctor," she said, "I liavcsent tocon
suit you on a very serious matter. I have
for a long time suffered from pains in the
head, and have consulted many physi
cians without receiving any benefit. Yes
terday I accidentally swallowed a fish
bone, and while coughing it up felt a
singular sensation in my left ear. I put
up my hand and drew this from my ear."
She extended toward the doctor a small
leaden statue of Napoleon, such as used
to be sold on the streets years ago in a
little glass bottle.
"You drew this from your ear?" asked
the doctor.
"Yes, doctor, 1 did," was the reply,
"and 1 have been much easier ever since."
The doctor examined her ear and
found it perfectly natural. He didn't
know what to 6ay, buthe thought a good
deal.
"I want you to do something for me,"
she continued, "for I am satisfied there
is another heathen god like this in the
other ear; for it is a heathen god, I have
no doubt."
"How do you suppose it got there?" the
doctor asked.
"! think Ezekielor one of the minor
prophets must have put two of these
heathen gods in my cars when 1 was a
child. Now, doctor, I want you to pre
scribe something to bring out the heathen
god from tho right ear."
"Swallow another fishbone," skid the
doctor, as he left the room in high
dudgeon.—Brooklyn Citizen.
Fortitude Horn of Love.
It was in the year 1880, in a third rate
city called Neufchateau, in the depart
ment des Vosges, France, about noon,
that we were passing, my father and
myself, in front of a store where in ad
dition to hardware a supply of ammuni
tion was kept for the use of a regiment
there. Suddenly we heard a terrible ex
plosion, and being either thrown or hav
ing unconsciously ran, I know not
which, wo at any rate found ourselves
about twenty yards from where tho ex
plosion occurred, and could see part of
the roof in the street.
We had hardly reached the building
when a man came out of it covered with
powder, his hair and beard burning, ami
large pieces of flesb hanging from hia
face and bare arms. Never will I forget
the horror of the sight; his flesh was
charred nnd his clothes partly burned.
As lie reached the sidewalk he looked
around and called a name I did not
catch. Receiving no answer he went
right back into that burning furnace,
and in a few seconds came out bearing
in liis ami 3 his child, a girl of 6 or 7.
Those nearer to him heard him say:
"My darling, aro you hurt? Oh, you
are hurt!" While the poor little thing
kept saying: "No, papa, I am not hurt,
not at all; you are burning, think of
yourself," and yet the blood was trickling
from her forehead where the flying
debris made a deep gash. Both re
covered, though disfigured for life. At
tho time 1 thought there was not only
one hero, but two.—Cor. Philadelphia
Press.
One Way to Cook a Ilabbit.
A couple of Augusta disciples of Nirn
rod, while on a recent gunning trip, after
a hard day's tramp succeeded in bagging
a small rabbit. They knew that the ani
mal was good eating, but as to how to
cook hhu properly they were not as well
posted. They pondered long on the sub
ject until tho pangs of hunger demanded
immediate action of some sort, when
they tied bunny up by the hind legs and
picked him as the good housewife does
a hen. They said ho was good eating
just the same, with the exception of an
occasional tuft of fur which had escaped
the picking process.—Kennebec Journal.
THE BIBLE'S HISTORY.
WONDERFUL FACTS AND FIGURES
ABOUT THE DIVINE BOOK.
Tho Early Compiler*—St. Joroine and His
Work —Tho Translators and the Many
RlbloH They Published —When the Divis
ion Into Versos Took Place.
Two thousand one hundred and seven
ty-four years ago, in the year 255 B. C.,
seventy of the wise men of Alexandria
engaged themselves in compiling and
collating the Hebrew Scriptures into
tlieir present' united form and further
simplifying the works by translating
them into Greek for the benefit of the
Jews then in Egypt The results of their
labors have since been known collective
ly as the Soptiiugint, from the fact that
it is tlic work of the seventy translators.
About 4HI) years later, in the Second
century, A. I)., the books of tho Now
Testament were added and the whole
translated into Latin
The I tain, or Latin version, soon be
came the standard of the primitive
Christians, and was used to the exclu
sion of both the Hebrew and Greek ver
sions fin two centuries, until the St
Jerome revision of A. I). 41)5 After St
Jeron. •:;.! fin; bed hi:-: crowning work
a gi .it deal < r v. Inch he performed in
the village of Bethlehem, almost in sight
of the birth place of Jesus, tho Dalmatian
and Pnunonhui monks hid away their
old u-mwu.-cf the Bible and would uso
t)0 other < x pt the one which had been
given them by their patron, Jerome, liiui-
BClf
Tile Jerome iv virion was as superior to
the work of the seventy as their work
was to tho old semi-barbaric work which
existed prior to the translation of 285
B. C.
ST. JEHOttE.
The most carefully written copies of
the Bible obtainable were consulted by
tho scholarly saint and compared with
the Arabic. Hebrew amlSyriac versions,
in all of which lie made emendations
and corrections which have stood the
test of all subsequent time. The hercu
lean task undertaken by St. Jerome will
be better understood when the reader
has been informed that over 200 versions
of the Evangelists, each differing from
tho other in many of its essential de
tails, were presented for the considera
tion of the sages at the council of Nice,
in 825 A. D. For hundreds of years
copyists had added to and taken from
tho Scriptures to such an extent as to
mako it extremely difficult for even the
most learned to decide what should re
main for the edificationof future gener
ations or what should lie eliminated from
tho sacred pages as apocryphal.
The word "bible," meaning book, or
as applied by the early writers, "the
book," was first used by Chrysostom as
early as the fifth century, where he
speaks of tho sacred writings collective
ly as the Biblia, or "the Books." The
infinite variations which occurred in the
manuscripts written by the early Chris
tian fathers have caused a great deal of
contention among churchmen, some ad
mitting certain books ascanonical which
aro rejected by others as apocryphal.
This you can find illustrated by compar
ing a Douay and a King James Bible of
today; the former admits several books
which the King James translators would
not, as they considered them uncanoni
cal.
The several hooks as arranged and ac
cepted at present aro the results of years
of labor and of countless councils and
revision assemblages. For 1,200 years
after the Saviour of Men ended his brief
career on the rugged heights of Calvary,
the touching details of which are known
to over 700,000,000 of people and in every
land on the globe, each book of the Bible
was one-continued story, undivided into
chapters, paragraphs or verses.
DIVISIONS OF TIIE BIBLE.
Prior to the time of the Spanish rabbi,
tho Jew had employed a system of divid
ing the chapters into verses in the Old
Testament, a system which had never
been adopted by the Christians, and
which was discarded for that of the
learned Spaniard by the Jews themselves.
The New Testament was not divided
into verses until after the invention of
the art of printing, by the Robert Steph
ens Greek edition in 1051.
Of the early translations of the Bible
the most important, aside from the Sept
uagint and the St. Jerome versions, aro
tho threefold Egyptian translation of tho
fourth century. This remarkable work
of tho copyist was in three languages,
and was intended for all parts of Egypt:
tho Versio Figurata, collated by Jacob,
of Edessa, in tho eighth century; that of
Paul, bishop of Tela, in 017, and tho
eighth, ninth and tenth century transla
tions, made respectively by Bede, Alfred
and AJlfric.
During the dark ages, and on down to
the timo Luther gave his masterpiece to
tho world, several translations were
made, including that of Notker-Labeo,
980 A. D.; that prepared under the super
vision of Petrus Waldus, 1170; the im
portant work of Louis tho Pious, 1227;
that of Charles the Wise, 1380; the
Guyars version of 1286; the thirteenth
century versiou in Spanish during tho
reign of Alphonso V, and tho two excel
lent works of Wickliffe and lluss, tho
latter for the Bohemians and tho former
for the English speaking people. With
the invention of printing evci-y person
who had ever laid claim to literary
abilities seemed to think that he had
been specially commissioned from on
high to retranslate tho Word of God, as
one would naturally infer from the fact
that not less than seventeen Gernmn
translations alono were given the public
between tho timo of Guttenberg and
Faust and that of Martin Luther.
The early printed editions of the Bible
remind one of what the philosopher said
about the human frame —they were
"curiously and wonderfully made." The
Wickliffe (sometimes spelled Wycliffe)
version of 1384 was the first English
translation. John Wickliffe, the trans
lator, was condemned to bo burned for
presuming to do such a thing without
tho consent of the clergy, but was finally
allowed to die a natural death. His
Bible was never printed; however, there
are many manuscript copies of it.- 1 -
John W. Wright In St. Louis Republic.
lA,' I'LJ VIGOD.
As from the o*:! ward world you pass—
.Just where irn lor-*st skirts the plain—
Ati opeu book lies on the Krosg,
And there for years untouched has lain.
The leaves are yellow now with age,
But ono may rwid in letters free.
AH the wind turns the ragged page. I
The blotted name— Philosophy
Tls said a student one day stood
Outside the bounds, when on him fell
The uiystic power of that wood.
And Isove cust over him a spell-
Then lonpj he strove to enter there:
But guardian spirits in array
Prevented hint, until despair
And made him throw the book away
Had then, when he at length had east
The stern l*hllosophy aside, * i
Love bade him enter, held him fast
As conqueror of Self ami Pride.
And now in dim, enchanted nooks.
Ruled by a Lovo that never fails.
He seeks no sympathy of books— {
Love whispers to him fairy Uilea
Outside, swept by the wind and rain.
Philosophy, uueared for. lies;
U cannot enter love's domain;
It was not meant for Paradise
-Flavcl Roost Mines in Harper's Weekly.
A Sensational Letter.
An amusing hoax appears to have
been perpetrated upon the foreign press
in the shape of a inter alleged to have
been written l.v the present czar prior to
Ids ascension to the throne, initio famous
editor and punslavist leader, AksaUotf,
whose widow died a few weeks ago.
The document in question, which bears
the dale of May 22. ISCG. contains bitter
continents on the class of courtiers by
whom the imperial family was sur
rounded, arid compares the highest of
ficers of state lo contemptible lackeys.
The publication of the letter in question
has excited an immense amount of atten
tion throughout Europe, and it appears
to lmve been copied in almost every
foreign newspaper of any importance.
The whole thing is, however, but a hoax.
The letter in question, instead of having
been written by the present emperor,
was addressed in lf'JOto Count Kotchnu
bey by the Grand Duke Alexander Paul
witch, who subsequently ascended the
throne as Alexander 1 The courtiers
referred to in such bitter terms were the
ignoble favorites of his grand mother,
Catherine 11. The original letter will
be found in the first volume of the "Life
and Times of Alexander I." published
by C. Toyncvillo in 18Tb Exchange.
Shut V" "Is Companion*. Gun ISun'el.
1 was hunting quail near Reidsville,
N. C., six years ago, with S. S. Harris
and James Play, of that town. Harris
and myself were walking side by side,
when two birds were Hushed at the same
time. Harris was on my left and fired
at the bird on my right, 1 firing at the
one on his left. Thus cross firing, both
tired simultaneously.
Harris killed his bird, but I did not.
Harris said my powder was not good.
We walked on about thirty paces, when
Harris lowered his gun to extract the
empty shell. Suddenly ho exclaimed:
"Look! the ends of my gun barrels
have bursted off.
We examined them and found they
were not bursted, but I had shot them
off as smoothly as if they had been corn
stalks when wo cross fired.
Wo walked back to the spot and found
five inches of his gun barrels lying there.
I have one of the pieces now and will
mail it to Judge Gildersleeve if desired.
This is an iron truth—nothing fishy about
it. If you desire reference I refer you
to Mr. George Cary Eggleston.—Cor.
New York Evening World.
The Lights In the Window.
A pair of worthies that used to prao
tice before the Washington bar were en
gaged in giving "straw" bail and in
other ways securing the release of pris
oners for a small consideration. They
rented a room which formerly had been
a drug store, not far from the police
court, and kept a light burning there all
night for the benefit of "late arrests"
who might wish to obtain bail rather
than spend the night in the police sta
tion. The druggist who had occupied
the place before them had failed to re
move the blue and yellow bottles from
the window. One night two lawyers
passing up the street saw tho light.
"Whose place is this?" asked one of
them.
"Smith & Jones; felonies compounded
at all hours of the night," was the reply.
—Cor. N. Y. Tribune.
About the Chlnee.
Mrs. Emerson says that while the Jap
anese are becoming more civilized daily
the Chinese are in the same old spot,
and worse, if anything. "I believe it is
duo to the government," she remarked.
"It looks with distrust upon all new
methods proposed by Europeans and
Americans. I lived one winter at Pe
king."
"How do you spell that?"
"Why, Peking, of course. It is often
spelled Pekin in the United States, but
nowhere else. In olden times China
had two capitals, Nanking and Peking.
Ing is the Chinese word denoting capi
tal. To distinguish between the two
places the northern capital was called
Nanking and the southern one Peking.
So the correct word is Peking."—Chi
cago Times.
The Reward* of Talent.
Old Mr. Ilazeed—They do say that
Bill Smartly has done real well play
actin' since he went to New York, an'
lives in great style.
Mr. Hummer—Yes, I went and called
upon him when I was down there.
Old Mr. Hazeed—And don't ho live
away, way up?
Mr. Hummer—Yes, about thirteen sto
ries.—Drake's Magazine.
It Happens Tliat Way.
"Yes, sir—yes, sir," he observed as he
rubbed his hands together, "the next
alderman from our ward must be a clean,
decent, honest, intelligent man, and a
credit to his constituents. Yes, sir—yes,
sir; we have mado up our minds to that
—all citizens irrespective of party. We
shall go in en masse. The candidate?
Why, he'll be selected from my party, of
course!"—Detroit Free Press.
SOMK CUHIOUS THINGS. '
ODD AND BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS
FOUND IN THE FAR EAST.
The Foretft Dweller's Method of Starting
Fires —Cumbersome ''Coins" of the l)vak
I'eoples—Mail}' and Interesting Kinds of
Reads.
Tlie forest dwelling peoples of the fur-
ther east have an odd instrument for
making lire. Very seldom, so far as wo
observed, do they employ the proverbial
method of "rubbing" two sticks —which
is not rubbing at all. Near the coast
every man carries a bit of pitcher i:i the
siri box or bamboo slung at his waist, a
chip of a plate, English or Dutch, and
a handful of dry fungus. Holding this
tinder under his thumb ujion the frag
ment of earthenware, he strikes the side
of the siri box sharply, and it takes fire.
But this method can only l>e used by
tribes which have such communication
with the foreigner as supplies them with
European goods. The inland peoples use
a tuore singular process. They carry a
short cylinder of lead, hollowed roughly
to a cuplike form at one end. which fits
a joint of bamboo. Placing this cylinder
in the palm of the left hand, they till the
cup with tinder, adjust the bamboo over
it. strike sharply, remove the covering us
quickly, and the tinder is alight. Ob
servers who take a narrow view have de
clared that the earliest art practiced by
human beings after they esrajH* from
mere barbarism is pottery. These races
have long passed that stage, hut we do
not recall any evidence that they use the
art. The fact is that, in countries which
produce the bamboo, earthenware is
hardly needed except for luxury. They
make charms ami fetiches of dried clay.
MEASCRINO VALUES.
But in Borneo th Dyak peoples have
a class of foreign earthenware singu
larly interesting. As Malays employ
brass guns for their currency, so the
Dyaks employ antique vases. In neither
instance do the actual "coins" pass from
hand to hand, since by brass gun a
Malay sign ides a camion, twenty feet
long, perhaps, and a Dyab signifies a
vessel eighteen inches high or more.
These tilings are measures of value,
divided into imaginary fractions. There
are three varieties of this earthenware—
tlio gusi, which represents about £SOO
sterling, the naga and rasa, much less
valuable. The first is certainly Chinese,
and the last probably, but perhaps they
never came from the continent. At some
date unknown the north of Borneo was
occupied by a Chinese colony which
must have numbered millions. This
great time, when a third part of the isl
and was cultivated and densely peopled,
may have been 800 years ago. But the
first paragraph in the "Annals of Bruni"
recognizes a powerful Chinese kingdom
of Batangan in the Fifteenth century—
we are not to digress into that fascinat- '
ing theme, however. The Celestials
were exterminated about two genera
tions ago; an old friend of ours, the
great Chief Casing, still carried ten pig
tails attached to his sword of state—
trophies of his father's valor, probably.
Cliineso merchants have tried again and
again to counterfeit the old jars, as have
the Dutch, but they never succeeded in
passing off their imitations. The Naga
may be Hindoo or Japanese, of very re
mote antiquity; both peoples had great
settlements in the island at some time
beyond human memory. They have left '
Buddhist reinaius of importance here
and there.
We secured no samples of these curi
ous things, for reasons that have been
suggested. But the recollection calls to
mind some extraordinary objects of the
same class, in a sense, which are treas
ured on the other side of the world.
WONDERFUL BEADS.
The Aggry and the Popo beads, which
serve for jewels in West Africa, are glass ,
resembling earthenware of unknown
manufacture, of immemorial antiquity,,,
and beyond modern skill to counterfeit.
Most European nations, probably, have
tried their hand at imitating the Aggry
bead. The shrewdest chemists and the
Cleverest artificers of Venice and Bir
mingham have done their best: the pot
ters of England, France and Germany
have exhausted their resources, but in
vain, it does not seem such a difficult
enterprise, however. The beads are ir
regular in shape and size: many have
been sawn in two. They have an opaque
ground—ochre yellow in the most valu
able species—but so various that this
point gives no trouble. A rough orna
ment of circles in another hue runs
through the material from side to side or
end to end. Here, again, imitation seems
easy, to the craftsmen of Venice in par
ticular: but appearances are deceptive,
evidently. The Popo bead, less valuable,
but valuable enough, is blue glass, trans
parent, but so manufactured that it shows
a dull yellow against the light. These
things are all found in the earth; but, so
far as can be ascertained, they never
turn up in company with bones or other
signs of burial, which, to jour mind, is the '
most curious fact of all. That they are* ,
ancient Egyptian is a certainty.
Many hundreds, if not thousands,were
taken in the sack of the palace at Coo
massie, strnng, in general, upon that
very pretty cord which we mentioned,
with gold nuggets beaten flat, and cubes
of coral and tufts of colored silk inter
spersed. Very handsome they looked,
no doubt, upon the smooth brown skin
of the royal dames. A pretty bracelet
from Coomassie is made of triangular
pieces cut from the rib of a shell, snow
white, strung in groups alternately with
these small flattened nuggets. But the '
curiosities saved in that loot hear only a
miserable proportion to those which men
of taste admired in the palace and the
big houses of the caboceers. But one stool
was carried away—as. memorial for the
Princess of Wales—among the hundreds
adorned with silver which lay in all di
rections. Very charming were many of
these—tho Ashantee artist seemed to-de
vote his best attention to the stools.,]
Seven were piled, as if for removal, in
the courtvavd of a great house, each'
plated with repousse work, showing
much taste ana Ingenuity of design. | ,j
These people have ''gifts,"—Saturday t
Review.