THil LOOM 01' LIFE. Ihc loom of life witli sturdy brat— The traiut) trump. inul of Liuuiun feet— la weaving now u -ilken veil, A living wi>b. ?"nir. BO frail. Yet eve: vt: r mis dearly bought— A flashing • ,•" huiuaii thought. The warp > <ib drawn when morning atara Attune b ir liurps to golden bars, Which teheed down the hills of apace. And muif and worlds, with maiden jruce, Joined in the song, piercing the air With dartß of tone. 'Twits music rare AH 'long the lines of quiv'ring light That chased away the gloom of night, There hung aa jewels there and long The swaying tentacles of song. God's throne, the strong and sturdy beam, Held fast the threads of light agleam, And souls slipped down the golden way To mate with forms of sordid clay. BaitKK CENTER, N. Y. A RAILWAY ROMANCE. BV C. F. CARTER. C"l H\ P?7 ithin tlie e rim . v \ \/ t V / corner that served \ A / * or a telegraph of fy. £ ly\ _ ( lice in the Warren fry A " Depot, one stormy JX <. INovember evening, a rosv checked girl sat at a fable receiving a message. Her fc- \ j J task finished, she tossed |U tf /A* I ber pen aside, and, looking out at the dripping land scape, exclaimed impatiently • "Dear me, isn't this awful! Ido wish that poky old Ironsides would come and relieve me. It will soon be dark, and then how w ill I ever get home through those oceans of mud?" A solemn-looking young man, who had been furtively watching the oper ator's every movement, shifted liis el bow into a mole comfortable position upon the high counter and declared that was a haid one. "Thank goodness," resumed the girl, "I haven't far to go. I'm glad I'm not a brakeman, obliged to be out in this storm all night. You don't have to go LICK RIM! I'LL HIM-AK HIM IN TWO I" out to-night, do you, Mr. Dunlap ?" "Yes, we're marked out on number, nine." "That's so; I remember taking the order, now. You're to have the 242. That's Jack Branson's engine, isn't it?" "Yes," was the reply, iu such a dry tone that the operator turned with an amused smile and said: "I don't believe you love your neigh bor Bronson as yourself." "Can't say that I do," replied the young man. Then, as though moved M>y a sudden impulse, he stepped to the side of the rosy-cheeked operator, and bending down until his mustache nl most brushed her ear, exclaimed: "flora Miss Cheney, I mean—l can't bear tc see you treat that .Tact BronsaWjust as friendly as you do nit -any longer. I want you all to myself, for I love you, Dora." "Do sit down, Mr. Dunlap,' said Dora. "Some one will come iu. This is so very unexpected, and besides, you know, I'm already Good evening, Mr. Bronson!" The door had suddenly opened, re vealing the astonished faces of Jack Bronson and Ironsides, the night operator. "Charley," said Ironsides, as he stepped in and shook the water from his dripping hat, "I saw yer partner, Shanty, as I came along, and he told me to tcii you to come down to the car." Charley pulled his cap over his eyes and hurried out, wild with mortifica tion and despair. So they were al ready engaged, were they ?' He turned toward the river, with a vague notion j of throwing himself into its turbid waters, but changed his mind and started back to his way car. Ileach ing the car, he bolted in and flung him self upon a locker with a dismal groan. Shanty was lying upon his baelc on the opposite side of the car, smoking vigorously. He was a man who uevei troubled himself about the affairs oi others; but the conduct of his partnej was so extraordinary that lie stopped smoking, raised himself upon his elbow and, after ga/.ing a moment iu speech less wonder, inquired: "W'at's the matter?" "Nothin'." "Git tired?" "No." "Got the colic?" "No—oh, no." "Well, what in thunder does ail ye?" "Jro you a friend of mine?" asked Charley, impressively, suddenly start ing up. Shanty's only answer was a look ol astonishment. "You see," went on Charley, "I told Dora I loved her—l mean- Jack liron- 1 son -confound it, they're goin' to bi i married," lie concluded, iu desper ation. " Wei 1 —you—a re—a —dandy," drawl ed Shanty, in a tone of withering eon tempt. "D'ye mean to let that din ner-table railroad man cut ye out like that ?" "How can I help it?" "I.ick him." "Uek 11ii.i! I'll break him in two. But I'm afraid that won't In -lp the mat ter any." . Slianty wa-; prevented from express ing his views pun this point by the j entrance of the conductor with the announcement that it aas leaving time ° As soon as Trom id- s made his tardy ' appearance i era had encased herself in waterproof and rubbers, and, ac- : conipanied bv Jack Bronson, started home Ja>-k was not at all pleased I *i'li the s, :t . else had witnessed num ' entering the telegraph office, and de termined to intimate to Dora that the fiequent prcM-nee of that brakoman in tlie 'en-graph oflico was very distasteful to him; hut Dora prat ed on so prettily that he hadn't the heart to chide her. By the time \ they had reached the Clieiiev mansion and were seated before a bright fire, j he had uearlv made up his mind to let tlie matter go, wJien, by a happy in spiration, he saw an easy way out of the difficulty. "Dora," said he, suddenly, "will you marry me!" i Dora was so startled by this abrupt question that she was unable to reply for a moment, and Jack, remembering the old adage that "silence gives consent," I concluded she was too much overcome with emotion to speak, and so put his arm around her waist reassuringly, i "Mr. Bronson," said Dora, rising to her feet, "I am very sorry. I never meant to encourage you to think we could ever be more than friends." Jack was completely overwhelmed by this unexpected reply. He, too, rose to his feet. "I suppose from that that some one else has won your affections?" Dora made no reply. "Then" continued Jack, in the most sarcastic tone ho could command, "I im sure I wish you much joy, but I must confess I am a little surprised at your choice." And he walked majes tically forth, slamming the door as he went, leaving Dora standing in the middle of the tloor, speechless with in dignation. Not until he had nearly reached the end of his run that night had Jack passed through successive stages of anger, disappointment and chagrin and recovered his usual complacency suffi ciently to remark to his fireman: "I understand, Jim, that Dora Clio* ney is going to marry that brakeman, Charley Dunlap." "That so?" "Yes; pity to see that girl throw her self away on such a good-for-nothing brute, ain't it ?" "That's what it is." "Somebody ought to tell old Cheney what's up. He'd stop Mister Dunlap's little game." "Ye ep." "I never did have any use for that Dunlap. If he ever crosses my path i ll drive him into the ground—notion to do it anyway on general principles." A week later a solitary figure walk ing down tlie quietest of YVarren's quiet streets liad liis attention at tracted by two persons coming out of tlie Methodist parsonage. One he recognized as Dora Cheney; the other was a well-dressed stranger, who im proved the opportunity to press a kiss upon Dora's unresisting lips as he as sisted her into a waiting buggy. This proceeding so engrossed tlie attention of the solitary figure that lie did not notice tlie rapid approach of a man from the opposite direction, equally in tent as himself upon the scene across the street. There was a muffled thud, a mutual recoil, a glare of recognition, and Charley Dunlap und Jack Bronson pi 4 m tip! "GOOD KVKNINO, Ult. BR ORSON," each instantly became serenely oblivi ous of the other's existence. Upon reaching Mrs. Johnson'? boarding house Charley was met at the door by the landlady's daughter, Angelina, her eyes sparkling with the complacent consciousness of interest ing and exclusive gossip. "Oh, Charley," she exclaimed eager ly. "what do you think? Dora Clio ney's gone and married a drummer from Chicago. He's awful handsome, and his name is Harry, and they've been engaged ever so long—say what makes ye look so funny ?" He Didn't Mean To. Mamma—Now, Johnnie, dear, you'll keej) nice and clean if mamma dresses you up nice in your pretty white suit, and puts on your lovely Fauntleroy sacque, won't you, dear? We're going to have company for tea, and mamma i don't want them to see her little l>oy j all dirty; you'll be very careful, now V Johnnie—Yes'em. Mamma—That's a good little boy. 1 Here's a cooky for you, dear. An hour later: Mamma- Why, Johnnie Kiser! What under the shining sun have you been doing? Just look at your clothes! Look at them ! literally and completely spoiled! What have you been doing? Say ? Johnnie 1 wasn't doing nothing but just throwing dirt o:i Dicky Rogers, 'cause he tlirowed some on me; and then we made a little dam in the gut ter, and had some fun rolling down that clay bank back of the house after- j ward, und—that's all. I—l didn't mean to get dirty. Mamma —Oh, no! you never mean to 1 do anything! I declare if you're not I enough to try the patience of a saint! , Dear me, dear me!— Drakefs Mag a- | gine. Nothing f*ood Enough. Managing Editor—H'inl I under- I stand that you are a graduate of a school of journalism. Am I right? Applicant—Yes, sir. I have a di ploma showing that I have finished my course with high honors. Managing Editor—H'm! Yes, I'm sorry, but we haven't any position on this paper quite good enough for you. —Somerville Journal. CASTLE OF NUREMBERG IN IT ARE STORED MANY RELICS OF A 13 AKB A ROUS AUK. The Spanish Stork, the Iron Virgin, the Rack, the (siiillotino. the Mock Fitltllc ami Other Frightful and Harrowing In struments of Torture. BY HERMAN JUSTI. That endearing term, "the good old times," as applied to the distant past, is dured when these were withdrawn. These thoughts occurred to mo as I passed leisurely from chamber to chapel, FIVE-CORNERED TOWER OF NUREMBERG. and chapel to cell in this splendid castle of Nuremberg. In the live-cornered tower the reader will naturally take a lively interest. Men and women, doctors, lawyers, merchants, thioves, mechanics, and laborers who lived in the olden time were either made familiar with the tower itself or its de crees. This tower is tho oldest structure in Nuremberg. In it we find all the in struments of torture known to history. The rack, thumbscrews, and guillotine are found in every European museum, and <he red gown worn by the executioner is | THE IRON VIRGIN. | also quite common. There are iustru | ments of torture other than those to be iieen here that are rare, but I cannot say that they were known only to the great dynasty of which this town was the cell ar. Some of these instruments suggest aovel modes of punishment, and there are some of them that even in this advanced age might he appliod with harm to few Hid profit to many, but I shall not at tempt to point out which to adopt and which to rojoct. In that romote age the trials which women had to undergo were flhooking, aiul I hope that at this junct ure no irreverent reader will remark 'they wore indeed good old times." The penalty for drunkenness varied. For the first drunk the offender was obliged to woar tho "Spanish cloak." The * Spanish cloak" is a churn-shaped device :hat incloses tho body from tho nock to the knees, the arms passing out through arm-holes. This coat he was obliged to wear for a stated period, and if the of fonno was repeated, heavy weights were fastened to MR wrists aud thus burdened he was marched through the streets. Those convicted of bearing false wit ness ngainst their neighbors, very prop erly were more severely punished. An iron or steel contrivance, oval shape, was placed in the liar's mouth, and 'this had an attachment with which the trap was expanded. Pity its use has been aban doned. Milkmen in those days, it would seem, wero honest, since no provision was made to punish them for mixing water with HOOK FIDDIIK WORN BY DISHONEST TRADESMEN. milk. The baker and dishonest trades man, though, wore severely punished. If a baker's loaves were below the required woight, ho was carried to tho market place in a mock Sedan chnir, his arms hanging out of tho windows, and weights fastened to liis wrists. This may account TI HI I VI < )LO NOEIiLO. for tho honesty of our latter-day bilkers. The compla<nt; that now is their broad is too heavy. Tho severe torture to which dishonest tradesmen were subjected lias not bad any very marked effect in lessen ing that class of offenses in our day. If anything, the tradosmen now are worse than the ones of former times, but if any one reading this should take tho remark as personal, lot him remember that it was meant for him in the Pickwickian sense. The dishonest tradesman was placed in a spiked chair, and the neck inserted in a mock fiddle. There were several sizes of these instru ments, tho use \ A. AV of thorn being Jbmregulated by J? the magnitude of the offense. MOCK FIDDLE WORN BY The name of DISHONEST TRADESMDN. Isaac Rosen heim lias come down through five centu lios us tho last man punished for dis hoaestv in business. Ilis name is on tho i etiair and tnis fact is specially noted, nut th<y>r#otice for which ho paid the penalty still oan; inues. ! 'lai Ihief was put just one scale higher than the dishonest tradesman. Instead of the fiddle he wore the violoncello, and also iron bracelets and auklo bands. There wero also instruments for every variety of potty offenses. Persons convicted of ob *cenity or blasphemy carried around the iron flute. This flute was fastened around the neck and the fingers were caught and held in the spring ratchet which was made THE TORTURE 1 LUTE. in imitation of the keys or stops. Wives who disobeyed their husbands wore one of the mock fiddles, and if they persist ed in disobedience or rebelliousness they were carried to the market place to receive the jeers and jests of their neighbors. If two womon quarreled thoy wero yoked to gether and also taken to the market place and subjected to the curious gaze of the multitude. Unchaste women were obliged to wear a crown of iron thorns and along heavy plait of straw. Then we find in the collection the thorn cradle, the torture bed, and the stretcher, with its grooves, rollers and pulleys. On the stretcher the bones were slowly broken and limb torn from limb. These wore resorted to, it is laid, in extreme cases; and yet it is im possible to conceive how any crime could justify such a death. The most fright ful instruments of torture are the Spanish Stock and Iron Virgin, which were used to punish real or alleged political offend ers. The unfortunate victim was first put in the stock, and here he was keptfor days in the hope of extorting confession of some secret which it was believed the accused would divulge. The hands wero fastened in the clamps and the feet or ankles in the stock. Failing after a cer tain time to extract information, the poor wretch was placed in the Iron Virgin and slowly crushed to death. Beheading seems bad enough, but beheading is mild punishment compared with this slow and agonizing death. There are innumerable other torture in* ruments in the collec- THE SPANISH STOCK. lion, but the ones enumerated will suffice to show that there is a sad, dark back ground to the rose-tinted pictures which i are generally givon of the "good old j times." The part which Nuremberg plays in Goethe's great tragedy of M Faust " has givon to that ancient city a promimence that otherwise it would not enjoy, though it deserves it fully. At least to Goethe is due the credit of having increased an ap preciation of its artistic beauty. In En gland Mr. Henry Irving has recently awakened afresh interest both in "Faust" and Nuremberg, and has perhaps created an interest among a large class of English readers and play-goers that never before heard either of the picturesque town or the great tragedy. In doing (his he ren dered a signal service to art, to German literature and to play-goers in England. During tho Hummer of 1885 Mr. Irving spent his vacation in Nuremberg, study ing every phase of life in that city and every peculiarity of architecture. He was accompanied by distinguished paint ers who shared the great English actor's enthusiasm, and sympathized with his desire to reproduce Nuremberg on the \ \RSAUI R HOUSE; REBUILT 1 100. Lyceum stago. Those who were fortu nate enough to witness the result, and have tho advantage also of knowing Nu remberg, can testify how faithfully this was done. The fidelity with which St. Lorenz Flat/, has been transferred to the stage was complete. The church, the Fountain of Virtue, the home of Mar guerite, aud the famous old Nassauor House form a historical, romantic, ar tistic and architectural combination hard ly equaled in the world. The mind that can not transfer itself to the scones of by gone ages of which those monuments are witnesses must be indeed prosy and mat ter-of-fuct. What Makes a Cat Tread Softly. "Grandpa, what makes a cat tread softly ?" asked little Tommy Findout ol liis aged relative, as the pair sat down to improve their minds when tho even ing lamps were lighted. "It is a faculty provided by an all wise Creator, my son, which enables tho cat to walk sol'tlv," replied the old man, as he laid down his paper and beamed on the youthful seeker after knowledge. "All members of tho cat tribe are en dowed with a noiseless tread, which greatly facilitates tlicir capturing their prey. You have doubtless noticed that the pedal extremities of the feline are furnished with soft, velvety balls or coverings instead of hoofs. These balls extend below the claws, which are drawn up when not in use, enab ling the cat to walk across a board floor without the slightest noise." "Oh, that isn't what makes a eat tread softly," said Tommy, when tho old man had finished. "No? What is it, then?" asked grandpa. "Bats," replied the boy, while a hap py, happy smile lit up his ingenuous face.— Chir.aao Time# Sliopkoeping in Paris. French Girl -Papa, a man who looks like an American is observing those gloves in the window. What shall I ask for them ? Shopkeeper—Twenty dollars. Man (entering)— How much? Girl —Twenty dollars. Man—Sar-r-r-r! Shopkeeper—Forty cents, m's'eer.— Omaha World. CO-EDUCATION in college is a success, but it isn't so much of a success as it would be if most of the girls who arc co-educated iu college were better looking. MIGHTY MEN OF MUSCLE. FEATS OF STRENGTH THAT EXCEL THOSE OF THE ANCIENTS. Prospective Contest Between Sampson, Samlow, St. Cyr and Gallagher -Giants Who Snap Trace-Chains and Rend Strong Iron Bars with the Ctniost Ease. OMETIME within the ft VSb next few weeks lovers of athletio sports in this country will in all prob- Jlability be treated to a yq yL //novel and surprising • 1/ Ti contest. Sampson, Cy -ImkM At clops, and Sandow, the l#lkl trio whose feats of M strength have been ex- Vi citing a furor in London; Louis St. Cyr, the Canadian Hercules, and Denis Gallagher, the wonderful gtrong man of Buffalo, are expected to meet in a public trial of strength and skill, such as has never before been wit neased in the United States. If half the feats said to have been accomplished in England and elsewhere by these men are duplicated here, the exhibition will be one well worth seeing, and will be nota ble among nineteenth century athletics. | It is pretty hard to believe all the tre mendous stories that are told of those fellows who are coming here to show us just what real physical strength means. For many weeks p ist a short-necked man with stout legs and a big biceps, calling himself C. A. Sampson, and spelling it with a "n," to show that he wasn't related to the other Samson, who was so badly tricked by Delilah, has been astounding London audiences by his performances with a young fellow who modestly con- DENIS GALLAGHER. ceaied his identity under the imposing name of Cyclops. They have been per forming at the Westminster Aquarium, and sending out all sorts of challenges from the stage to men who labor unaei the hallucination that they can lift a ton or two with comparative ease. Finally, after Sampson had offered a prize of S."UO to the man who could do the feats done by Cyclops, his pupil, and $2,500 to any bettor man than himself who might turn up, Eugene Sandow undertook the task. He fairly won the premiums offered by Sampson, but the latter, probably through chagrin, refused to hand over the money. Some highly amusing stories are told about these contests. Sampson, who is not the herculean person in appearance that his feats would seem to imply, is a native of Metz, the son of a French mother and a Spanish father. He speaks soveu languages, plays sonatas on the piano with the delicate touoh of a girl, and has a biceps measuring 14$ inches in repose and 19$ inches when he wrestles with an iron rod or a wire rope. His chest measurement is 44 inches, but when he inflates his lungs he adds several Inches to his figure. Cyolops, his pupil, is 21 years of age, and a mag nificent specimen of physical develop ment. Sandow is a Pomeranian, and was born it Konigßberg twenty-two years ago. For four years he has been trained by Prof.,' Attila, one of the best-known athletic teachers in Germany. His development is superior to that or Sampson, his chest measurement being 45$ inohes, and his biceps and forearm each from 1 to 1$ Inches larger than those of his rival. He woighs 202 pounds when in condition. Bandow performed in London before the leading sporting mon of England, eclips ing Sampson's most difficult feats, break ing chain bracelets ard wire ropes with his forearms, and bending heavy iron rods by striking them across his chest, his arms and his thighs. The bracelet chains, whioh had a resistance of 2,500 pounds, wore snapped like pipe-stems. Among those who witnessed these extraordinary trials of strength were the Marquis of Queensbury, Lord de Clifford and Cap tain Molesworth, who acted as judges. As tho Pomeranian snapped length after SAMPSON BENDS THE IRON BAR. ength of the steel chain bracelets with ais biceps and burst the wire ropes with ais pectoral muscles, men rose in the audience and waved bank notes of fcig denominations as an invitation to Samp jon beat tho white-skinned Sandow if tie could; but tho former sulked and de fined. Bandow then, after lightly toss ing a 150-pound dumb-bell in tho air a fow times to keep his hand in, while the judges consulted, performed a trick that mured Sampson to collapse. He placed a chain around his back and nook, and prooeoded to lift the 150-pound dumb bell with his hands. The clh .in snapped, the Britishers vollod. and the referee de clared mat tno romeranian nau Deaten the Metz man out of sight. When theso two, with Sampson's in cognito comrade, Cyclops, cross tho At. lantic, they will meet competitors worthy tlioir prowoss. Louis St. Cyr, the "Cana dian Hercules," who has challenged Sampson and Sandow, is 20 voars of age, anil is a man of superb development, standing 5 feet inches tall and weigh ing 323 pounds; his tiosh and muscles are as hard as oak and he is probably the be si weight lifter ever soon in this part of th elobe. Another challenger is Denis Gal. lagher, a muscular athlete who formerly resided in Buffalo, and whose specialty if Lancashire wrestling. St. Cvr and Gallagher have both ap peared in public contests. The formei has put up a 245-pound dumb-bell from floor to shoulder and from shoulder to arm's length with one hand. On March 28, 1886, at St. Henri, Canada, he lifted a platiorm on which seven men were seated, and which, also, contained seven dumb-bells and a barrel of flour, the whole making a dead weight of 2,378 pounds. He repeated this feat sii months later. Immediately after this, he placed a barrel of flour upon his ST. CYR WITH THE 250-roUND DUMB-BELL. snouicter, ana toliowea this up oy ,3,500 pound of pig iron with a plank as the hold. His tremendous development will dwarf both Sampson and Sandow and render a contest among these giants decidedly interesting. There are other great Americans who will in all probability enter the lis! against the herculean foreigners wher they arrive. William B. Curtis, the sporting editor of the Spirit of the Times is a famous amateur athlete. He hai lifted with the harness 1,250 pounds ir New York City. David L. Dowd, ol Springfield, has lifted 1.442& pound* with hands alone; H. Leussing, of Cin cinnati, has a record of lifting 1,364 pounds; G. W. Winship, of boston, 1,20f pounds; Ambrose A. Butts, of Auburn. 0., 2,737$ pounds; Dr. John Lucas, ol Belleville, 111., 2,700 pounds; and C. O SANDOW'S GREATEST FEAT. Breed, of Lynn, Mass., a barrel of floui weighing 22(> pounds, with his hands alone. AH theee men compare favorably with the foreign champions. A carpen ter namod Sterns, of Granite Corners, N. V., aged 80 years, shouldered a 4,000 pound cannon. No Chance for Hunklnson. "You have thought me presumptuous iu seeking your—your friendship, have you, Miss MeGinnis?" The proud beauty shook her head, and the costly diamonds in her ears sparkled and flashed in the mellow light like an arctic aurora borealis, with the radiant dog star for a center, whirling and glittering in a jeweled kaleidoscope. Tho sight dazzled the oyes and dazed the brain of Mareellus Hankinson, and confused images of a paradi.so luminous with rainbows, shimmering sunsets, the glory of melt ing black eyes, and pervaded by the in toxicating perfume of musk, patchouli, and cinnamon essence danced before his vision. "No, Mr. Hankinson," she replied. "Ah—er—thanks!" The young man ventured to take her hand. "Asphyxia MeGinnis," he said, in a rick baritone tremolo, in all the eleven months and sixteen days during which I have enjoyed your acquaintance X have nevor conducted myself otherwise than with the utmost respect, have I ?" "You have not, Mr. Hankinson." "I have never seemed to—aw—feel my oats, as it wore?" he wont on anxi ously; "never stayed later than-11 o'clock on ordinary nights nor later than i) o'clock when wc wore reading Browning or Sclilegel?" "I think not, Mr. Hankinson." "We have seemed to coincide in our views of philosophy, tho tariff, the Sclileswig-Holstein question, and the comparative value of the various foods as regards nutrition," persisted the young man, "while in the matter of dialoct stories we have—we have al ways jibed exactly." He edged himself a little forward in his chair and proceeded: "In view of all this, Asphyxia, and moved by a resistless passion that— that yanks me right along on its tem pestuous bosom, I am emboldened to " "Please say no more, Mr. Hankin son," said Miss MeGinnis haughtily. "I did not at first apprehend the bearing of your remarks." "Is it possible that you did not know what I was going to say ? Do you pre tend, Asphyxia MoGmnis," he de manded, hotly, "that you wore not en couraging mo—that you didn't egg me on?" "I certainly did not, sir. Such an idea never entered my head. I may as well toll you, Mr. Hankinson, that'my heart is not free. I may as well tell you"—the proud heiress of millions breathed a tremulous sigh, the haughty look faded from her eyes and her voice sank to alow, dreamy murmur, like the echo of distant waterfall—"papa is going to Europe noxtwock to buy me a prince."— Chicago Tribune. SINCE Humboldt witnessed fish thrown from the volcano Cotopaxi, in 1803, it has been found that the phe nonunion is repeated from timo to time during eruptions, and that it occur? also in other volcanoes of the Andes. The fish are sometimes ejected in vast quantities. All belong to one species, which exists in some of tho lakes on tin sides of the mountains. CHILDREN OF NATI'RE. Strange Characteristic* and Manner off Life of the Tennea*ee Mountaineers. | powerful no JJ" ern school. Charlos Jf Egbert Craddock, X-' M_l aK boon silent for a lVj& are read very little tai^iH hoa r i ° f er (pHEjg* seem that she has been so unfortunate \* as to fail to awaken a popular response, although the critics and reviewers everywhere received her with open arms. But few writers, if I may be excused for advancing an opinion which has been advanced oft-times before, says a writer in the Detroit Free Press, approach this marvelous woman in strength and in range of vision. The field, too, which she has so ably worked has proved particularly rich to her. Sotting aside the dogmas and violent denuncia tions of the anti-dialecticians, we find her work to be little short of wonders—the polished, well-conceived silhouettes of a delicately poised genius. We who nave formed an acquaintance with that strange creature, the Tennessee mountaineer, are better enabled to appre ciate the intensely realistic pictures which Miss Murfree has drawn. There is, nevertheless, an amusiug diversity of comment on her work by Tonnesseans. "Her dialect is absurd!" said a voung TYPES OP^MOUNTAINEERS. lady Intend, who should know some timo ago. " 'Obligated'—'you-uns' in the singular! Whoever heard such?" "She attempts realism, and yet is most realistic," said a bright writer, a member of the old ante-bellum school, but who has long since censed taking an active part in literature. "Feeling and romance and subtle, intangible sensos in a moun taineer? They are as insensate, as in capable of such, as that bowlder there?" Could I have politely said that the speaker was blind—was dispossessed of that fine, sympathetic insight necessary to the full appreciation and understanding of the things he enumerated, wherever they exist? The child of this wild wilderness could be nothing else than an anomaly. That curious animal known as the human be ing is but an odd creature at best—with mind attuned and in a manner adjusted by culture or sophistication. Without a solitary trace of such, or the rudimentary parts of that thing known tangibly to some as education, he must prove interesting at least. Ethically, such is the Southern mount aineer. As he lives now in the great smoky mountains, so his father and his father's father lived before him. tions back into the days of Nolichucky Jackaud his "yelling dovils of the mount ains." The house he livos in—cabin is not the word and hovel is tainted by ill-usage—is generally a two-roomed structure of logs, with a lenu-to kitchon of pine poles. Here the family hearthstone is. The structure may be 101) years old. Over the door hangs a rifle—perhaps a lengthy, flint locked affair, time-honored, but service able still. This rifle is the greatest insti tution known to the mountaineer and his family, and I would like to speak extend edly of it. It is looked up to by the younger members of the family with a sort of undefined awe. I once tried to purchase one of these weapons, which was quite as ancient, to the best of my knowledge, and fully as conservative, as the hills themselves. It was an enormous gun; the barrel was fully five feet in length ud an inch in diameter, and it was proportionately heavy. The stock was perfectly straight, and imbedded in the cheek-rest was a MOUNTAINEER WITH HIS GUN. box made for holding tallow, with a handsomely engraved silver cover. The action of the piece was of the kind usual with hair or double-set triggers, and the "touch" or pull was as nice and strong as it was the day the gun left the shop of its maker. This latter I judged to be a Spaniard, bv the inscription on the elaborately and quaintly graved lock. I was quite entranced with the weapon, and as I said before I offered to buy it, desiring to preserve it as a relic of my tour among a strange people. I might as well have offered to purchase the mountaineer's grandmother! That gun was his god of love and of war; it was the household Penates in one. It had occupied its throno of buck-horn hooks above the door since tho day which the memory of the aged gran'ther at the fireside failed of. I could have bought, perhaps, the roof over thoir heads, the weedy clearing which they called their "gyarding," and everything else they happened to possess, even tho mangy "cur-dog" lying asleep in the shade, but as to that rifle—ah no! Disagreeable Agreement. It is dangerous to make a confession unless one reallv means it, and we may add that it ia sometimes dangerous to take a confession as honestly meant. A husband and wife, between whom a little unpleasant passage had occur red, had made the matter up, and the wife said, as if to clear her conscience. "Oh. well, I suppose I have my faults." "Yes, my dear," said the husband. "What?" "I simply said yes." "That I nave my faults!" exclaimed the wife, indignantly. "What are they, I should like to know ?" "Well, to begin with " "No. I do;a't want to hear." What Ailed Sarah Jane. "What a noise Sarah Jane is making up-stairs," Mr. Turtledovo remarked to his spouse as a sound of revelry bpr night, with incidental crashes of furni ture. came from the attic. "Yes. my dear," Mrs. T. replied; "Surali Jane will insist on sitting on all the chairs in her room at once." " Wnv don't you take some of them away ?' ... "Because there is only one," was the somewhat exasperating reply of Mrs, T. — Pittsburg Dispatch. THE beer drinker's hopes are in hop# and thoy hoi) to tho bier.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers