AMoq. bay© dreamed tpjii you loved before, 'AM llyed to s&il© at KaVq kno'yn What It t'O jjve ■ wonder where life was tending: If you hfcve known for youfjotthllest days The qjjee when your kind surged 'round you; If you hafe reached in the night for a touch To come from the durkness that bound you. If you have looked, and looked byt in win T6 meet the eyes that should If fou have watched and waited for .veal's for the sound of the voice that should call jpu; If yoy have listened by day and night For t;he fall of thf footstep you, If you have Qjid wept for her, With never a friend to hear you— If you have hoarded your spirit and soul To be worthy of hfr receiving; If jlTqu have a 6\es a xgan's best part To the best of your heart's believing; IfvjU have found that the great gpde know Tl&t measure, divine and human, Tne love 6f a loving womun. If yap can be true and believe her true, with the width of the world between you; If she catt oe woman and angel too— flfe Weak and yet strong to screen you; If you can lay baro to her tender gaze The whole of your life's long proving; If v<3u can live and wait for her— At, then you may call it "loving!" —[Faunie A..Mathews, in Pittsburg Bulletin. HOff I ESCAPED ISANDULA. BY WILLIAM M. GKAYDON. "My dear fellow, don't, J beg of you, gg into this cAtnpnigji with the same light ahd boastful spirit that character izes the rest of your British troops. Even ytfllr commanders, brave and skilled men though they are, have no proper esti mate of Cetewayo and his Zulus. I aught to know them well. Have I not Stoned in ivory and hides all through Efluland, from the Buffalo Rivor to the ytnvolosi? Have I not lived in their kraals and hunted the elepflant with their warriors? No, no, they are not to Be despised—not to bo routed at the ap proach of your bright uniforms aud nasli ffcg rifle barrels. They will yield event ually, but they will score their mark be lOfe they go down, remember that." This prophetic utterance was the last admonition to me from tny old friend, John Roosevelt, the trader, when I left Rort Durnford for the interior on that memorable Zulu campaign of '79. Prophetic words indeed I Scarcely two weeks had passed away when the dire massacre at Isandula sent a shiver through all Englaud—a premonitory fhudder of what was to follow, for oil the heels of this disaster came the awful tidings from Rorku's Drift. I shiver yet sometimes to think how near I came to leaving my bones at Is andula. Plenty of brave fellows did leave their bones there, but I was one of the lucky ones. In fact, I escaped the terrible scene entirely, though while it ttns going on I was conducting a minia ture warfare of my own which threatened t</ have fully as disastrous au ending as aid Isandula. Early 011 the afternoon of the day pre ceding the massacre our scouts brought in news of the approach of the Zulus. At first little heed was paid to it. Our Jntrenckment was a good one, our guns w;ere well mounted, our ammunition was plentiful, and the soldiers were in a cheerful, courageous mood. But towards evening things assumed a ! more serious aspect. Fresh news came 1 lh every moment. Two iinpis of Zulus •were advancing from the north, already ! an impi had taken up its position on the slope to the westward, another was ou 6ur eastern tlank, and now, to culminate matters, a horde of the grim warriors tyas steadily advancing from the south, pur camp was surrounded, that was cer tain, and our confidence now gave way to grave fears. Just before dark, Colonel Chelmsford f summoned me to headquarters, and, as I j hastened along through the camp, I ob- j served with a shiver the strange quietude ! that had fallen on everybody. The colonel's greeting was very gravo. "I have a perilous mission for you, Blount," he said; "willyou accept it?" Without wniting for an answer, he went on; "We are in grave peril, graver indeed than I care to admit. Our position is In vested on all sides, and against a com bined attack I don't see that we can hold out long. Sir Evelyn Wood is off some where towards the Umvolosi—how far away I can't tell. You must break through the enemy's lines, find Sir Eve lyn, if possible, and hurry him back without an hour's delay. 1 have chosen you, Blouut, because I know your record, and believe you can accomplish what I want, if any man can do it." "I'll do my best, colonel," I told him, and then, with a tight clasp of the hand, | I hurried off to make my preparations, j for it was now dark. 1 had a good horse, 1 that in itself was everything. I wa' | Soon ready, and without saying a word to anybody I rode to the edge of the camp, and, dismounting, started on foot into the darkness, leading my home bv the bridle. On tho eastern side of our camp were 1 two hills, on which the Zulus had in- i trenched themselves. Between these bills was a narrow ravine, and here lay I my only hope. If that ravine was unoo- j eupled, I was all right; if not, all was up with me, I knew. I picked my way forward very care fully. The ground was soft and spongy, and my horse's hoofs made hardly any noise. On be th hills shone tho camp drcs of ■ tho Zulus, blazing away merrily in a long I line. The ravine was conspicuous only j py its darkness, and from this I inferred that the way was open. At last I reached the very edge of the ravine. 1 p above in on the hillsides I' could see the dusky forms moving to nml fro in the firelight, and could hear the ! rascals' conversation very plainly. I listened a moment, but all seemed i quiet ahead. The Zulus are sharp fellows, I and for all I knew there might be half a dozen savage warriors lurking in the i shadows, ready to impale me on their I assegais. There was no use in delaying. The sooner it was over the better, i spurred up my horse, and away wo went into the ' gloom at a sharp, quick trot. Twenty or ' thirty yards bad been covered, and 1 was • just beginning to congratulate myself" i when whizz cameau assegai past my head , andadark form sprangout of the path just in time to escape my horse's hoofs. Another came flymg after my retreating form, but in a moment more I was beyond their reach, dashing up the ravine at a pace which defied pursuit. Just as I supposed, the rascals had been luiking there in the darkness, and had the gloom not been so intense I would never have left the place alive. Tho ravine nurrowed to u dark, rocky gorge tjiat flqallv let mo out on the open country, And toon I rodq on in earnest, for If it wife a possible tiling the beleaguered men Hqust be savijd. Mile after mile I galloped over hill And plain, through jungle and njcadow lajid, all the while keCping a sharp lookout for the expected camp fires. Little did I dream of the loug distance that separated Sir Evelyn Wood from the camp At Isandula. I was heedless of time in my oxcito mcnt, and it was a tremendous shock when the first halo of dawn lighted up the Qa§t. Morning already! Whore was Sit Evqlyn, and what was" taking place at Isandula! I drew rein on a small ridge overlook ing the furrowed plain. For in the dis tance shone a dim glimmer of water, and on the right lay one of those irregular rock formations that arc met with only iu Zqjuland—a great heap of stones towering up from the plain. The situation was full of perplexity. I could not muke up my mind whether to go on iq the hope of finding Sir Evelyn, of to tfirn back and take the chances with "iy ftiob&s. My horse, lheauwhile, had ?|One slowly down the slope, andsudden y, to rfiy Surprise, 1 found that I was riding through an Abandoned camp ground. Here were the ashes of tho fires, the spacos where the tents had stood, marks of the ammunition wagons, and various camp refuse scattered about. That it was tho camp of Sir Evelyn I had no doubt. But the ashes were cold and dead, aud the traces of the march showed that he had retreatod toward the Umvolosi probably on the previous morn ing. To follow him was useless, and I came to the hasty conclusion to ride back to Isandula as rapidly as possible. But destiny had other views for me. Glancing up from the ground my eyes encountered off to the left a sight that actually left me incapable of motion for a brief period. A horde of dusky Zulu warriors was swarming over tho crest of a sloping ridge, lifty yards distant, and in the dim light I could see their ox hide shields and assegais, and the swarthy gleam of their brawny arras and breasts. The discovery was mutual. With a single shout they came bounding down the slope and were perilously near before I realized my danger. I Was off like a streak, heading straight for Isandula, when half a dozen more of the fiends burst out of the bush in front of me, and I dodged down on my horse's neck just iu tiuio tQ escape two or three assegais that went hurtling past. I drew my revolver and shot the fore most mau and then made a dash through them. One big black follow went down under my horse and I rode over him. I heard his cry of pain and then my horse suddenly gave a mad plunge aud I shot headforemost to tho ground. Au assegai had pierced the poor ani mal in the flank and off he wont at a gal lop, leaving me decidedly in the lurch. I was on my feet instantly, and before the astonished Zulus realized it, I was bounding with great strides straight across the bush toward the towering mass of rocks. They swept on behind in full cry, and the larger force that I had seen first made a break to cut me off from the rocks. I am at all times a good runner, but on this particular occasion I beat all previ ous records. I left the fleet-footed Zulus behind, dodging from side to side to avoid the flying assegais, and dashed up to the rocks some yards ahead of the other party, who were sweeping along at the top of their speed. I turned side ways as I ran and took a snap shot at the leacler, who was waving two assegais in a most vicious manner, and then in fran tic haste scrambled up the face of the cliff. It was split and seamed with crevices and jagged with loose boulders, but nc j hiding place appeared till I came ncai the top. Then I saw a crevice dowr among the rocks just big enough for man to get in, and in I went in a trice 1 The top of the cliff projected out over my head, and I had a big, jagged rock in front of me. I drew down into the crevice like a tortoise into his shell, and waited in deep suspense. If I had entertained any hopo of re maining undiscovered I was soon unde ceived. I heard the scoundrels chattering at the foot of the rocks, and presently two or three assegais shivered their points against the stone within a foot of my head. I paid little attention to them at first, but tried to compress myself into a still smaller space. I lay quiet a moment or two, and then it sud denly flashed into my mind that those assegais must have been hurled from a point part way up the cliff instead of from the ground below, as I had at first supposed! This supposition was imme diately confirmed, for, as I peeped up aver the ledge very cautiously, I discov ered half a dozen Zulus advancing stead ily up the rocks. The foremost was a big, stalwart man, and, quick as light ning, he lot fly his weapon. I dodged in the nick of time, and then, handing up my revolver, I took aim and fired, and down went the big Zulu to the bottom of the crags, taking along with him two others who happened to be just in the rear. Several assegais swept past my ears, and then, as I blazed away indiscrimi nately, knocking one more man over, the rest bout a hasty retreat down the cliff. A chorus of wild yells rose from the swarming fiends below, and in order to scare them a little I reloaded the revolver and let them have it again. They hur ried out of range very quickly, and after some consultation squatted down in the bush. I was in for a siege, and a most mighty unpleasant siege, too. The sun was up and beating down fiercely into the cran nies of the rocks, and, to add to iiw mis ery caused by the intense heat, I was both hungry and thirsty. The hours passed on with torturing slowness, and while I was suffering un told miseries in my rocky retreat the Zu lus complacently baked their bodies in the broiling sun. their heads covered by their shields. 1 hail no doubt that they were only waiting for darkness to finish me up. There was absolutely no chance of escape, for they had invested the rock on all sides. The shield belonging to the big warrior whom I had shot was lying a few feet below me, where it hact caught on a sharp spur. Here was a capital defense against their assegais in case another attack was | made. Pulling myself nimbly over the I parapet, I started down. The cliff, as I have said before, hung directly over me, and I had taken but one step when a dark shadow shot across i the rocks in front of me, and then down i came a big Zulu on my shoulders. lie miscalculated his leap, for he rolled sidc j ways and pulled me over on top of him. We grappled f.~>x-ely and floundered j over the rocks at a lively rate. I had no chance to use my revolver at all. The Zulu was a big, brawny man, and for a time the issue was uncertain; hot at Inst I knoekc ' hU head against a sharp rock, and the t.ght grasp relaxed ui once. But now I was horrified to see a dozer warriors bounding up the cliff only a fqw yards awuy. With One spring I was on mv ieqt, and, as I plunged i®to the cranny 6f the rqeks, a perfect hail of as segais rAttlca around me. In tjiat instant I gave myself up for tost, ihad left the shield behind, and I knew fcell enough that the moment I ventured to raise my head it would be made target for a dozen spears. I drew down as far as possible, point ing the muzzle upward, for I was re solved to put a few of them out of tht way before I went under. But minute after minute passed on, and not a sound of any kind reached me. Then the sus picion stole over me that tbi6 was a cun ningly laid plot to induce me to poke up ray head and be impaled on an assegai. Fully convinced of this, I remained quiet for ten minutes longer, and then slowly thrust up my head. Ob, the gladness of that moment! It was Worth a day's suffering. Not a Zulu was in sight, save two or three dead ones lying on the ground; but fifty yards away, coming at a rapid trot through the bush, was a detachment of English cav alry. The Zulus had spied them in the distance, and beat a rapid retreat. Cramped and stiff, I crawled down over the rocks, and was heartily wel comed bv the brave troopers. They turned out to be a reconnoitering party attached to Sir Evelyn Wood's forces, who were camped on a small watercourse five miles distant. In an hour I was in his presence, relat ing the peril of the camp at Jsandula. Instant pieparations were made for a night march, out just before dark two blood-stained troopers rode wearily into camp witjj the terrible tldingd. They were the sole survivors of the massacre. —[The Argosy. MEERSCHAUM. It Comes from Turkey and Is Chiefly Used for Pipes. The mccischaym comes from Turkoy in boxes. A box holds about fifty pounds, and is worth from S2O to SBOO, according to the size aud quality of tl\e pieces. It looks like plaster of Paris smoothed off aud rounded. The amber looks liko beestvax or large pieces of resin. It eomps in pieces, and is worth from $2 to SSO a pound. Meerschaum to make ass pips costs about $2.50. The amber tips raW cost about one-quarter or I one-half as much. When an order couies for a pipe the i proprietor goes through the stock of | meerschaum to got a piece out of which | the pipe can be cut with as little loss as | possible. Pour-fifths of the meerschaum j is wasted, though the chips are often j saved and made into imitation mcer j scliauin pipes. I The meerschaum is first cut on a cir cular saw into a piece a little larger than ! the pipe. If the cutting shows holes or I cracks the piece is cast aside. Then it ; is soaked in water for fifteen minutes and cut the rough shape with a knife, j Then a hole is drilled through it and it |is turned with a half motion. After the turning the stem is inserted. It is smoothed off when dry, boiled in wax and polished; then it is rCady to be | sold. j The amber is worked with a chisel and i turning wheel. The chisel is sharp and j razorlike. A clumsy operator would cut I his fingers off with it. An old operator i takes the piece of amber in his hand and rounds it with the chisel, the fore- j ' finger ot the left hand serving as a guide j for the chisel to play. When it is rounded | it is held against the face of a rough j cued wheel until it is turned to approxi -1 mately the required size. Then it is put I in the same turning wheel aud a hole is I bored through it. j This is for tho more common and cheaper amber stems, the kind that are | put in brierwood pipes, which sell for 50 and 75 cents. It does not take more than a 1 quarter or half hour to finish one of these stems. A stem for a more costly pipe ! will take a day. The shortest time in ! which a good meerschaum pipe can be j made is three days. That is for a plain I pipe. If the pipe is to be carved that | time has to he added. Workmen have spent months on carving one pipe. I The dust and chips from the amber and meerschaum are saved. The amber dud. is melted and made into amberine. ! The meerschaum dust is chopped up and worked into a paste, from which imita tion meerschaum pipes are made. It is a j common idea that real meerschaum can be told from imitation meerschaum by tho fact that real meerschaum floats on water, but imitation meerschaum floats also. Imitation meerschaum can be made which will color better than real meer schaum does, though it does not last so long and the color is likely to come in streaks. It is hard for a man who is not in the business to tell a real from an imi tation meerschaum. The best quality of meerschaum frequently has air-holes and cracks in it.—[New York Journal. Dragon-Trees. The vegetable and plant life on the Canary Islands lias not so luxurious a growth as that which is found on tho Madeiras; nevertheless there is a great variety of interesting plants which will repay the attention of botanists, and some parts of the islands arc like beauti ful gardens. Of all the botanical wonders which can be seen there, the one which is perhaps most worthy of special mention is the dragon-tree. Alexander von Hum boldt was the first one to direct attention to this gigantic tree. The example of this kind of tree which was mcasurod by him was in the garden region of Oratova, on the northern coast of the island of Teneriffe, and had a trunk circumference of seventy-nine feet. Humboldt reckoned its age to be ten thousand years, but the latest critical re searches prove that he placed the age much too high. Tho next largest tree of this species, which is knowu to-day, is the dragon tree of Icod de los Binos, on the western coast of TcncrilTc. This tree was care fully measured in 1857, and again in 1884. The first time the circumference of the trunk, at the height of a little less than tfcruc metres from the ground, was found to be nine and one-half metres; twenty seven years later it was eleven metres, seventy centimetres more than thirty eight feet. The tree, therefore, has been proved to increase in size much more rapidly than Humboldt supposed. The top of this tree is of clusters of sword shaped leaves on rather soft, pliable t branches, and spreads out in a very pic turesque manner. Combinations in Dominoes. | Dr. Boin, a Frankfort, Germany, i mathematician, calculates that two per sons playing dominoes ten hours a day, and making four moves a minute, could [continue 118,000,000 years without ex hausting all the combinations of tho game, the total number of which is 248,- I 528,211,840! Figures never lie, but they sometimes tax our credulity to Its ut i most capacity. JOKER'S BUDGET. JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. A Very Different Matter—A Hint Evaded—Giving His Sister Away, Etc., Etc. WHY, on, WHY? Samson -Since your marriage, no doubt, the question has often occurred to you whether marriage is a failure. Thompson—Not exactly; but I am j continually asking myself, "Why did I consider bachelorhood a failure?" — [Epoch. HORRIBLE PUNISHMENT OF A RUSSIAN. I "Wfiat a horrible punishment!" ex claimed Cumso, as he laid down the newspaper. "What is it, love?" asked his wife. "An American gentleman in St. Petersburg has made a Russian eat his words." —[New York Sun. WISE LITTLE SISTER. Little Sister—l know who's going to call to-night; it's Harry. Big Sister—llow do you know? Little Sister—You picked out his pic ture and put it on the mantel where he would see it, and took down Mr. Jones' and laid it away until Sunday night.— [Boston Herald. A VERY DIFFERENT MATTER. "Is that a love letter?" asked one law yer of another, who wus poring busily over some closely written sheets. "Oh, no, replied the other confuse ly. "It's only a writ of attachment."— [Somerville Journal. A HINT EVADED. "How warm it is!" said she, after fin ish the second plate of ice cream. "Ye§," he rfeplled, "It's half melting —I really don't think it's worth while to pay any more money for the stuff."— [MunscV's Weekly. GIVING HIS SISTER AWAY. "I suppose, Tommy, you love your sister very much," said the gentleman who was paying his addresses to Tom my's sister. Toranty—l love her when there are fellers around. She is mighty good to mo then, but she is as cross as tne mis chief after they are gone. She is like a fiddle. She is no good without a beau. Ain't that so, Fan?—[l'exas Sittings. NOTHING UNDER THE HAT. Jones (putting on a new hat) —This looks like the deuce on me, don't it? Brown —Yes; but don't be too hard on the hat. Put something under it, and give it a chance. PERFECTLY EASY. "Mary, I love you deeply. Will you be my wife?" "I don't know, George. Can you sup port me?" "I think so. You have a little some thing, haven't you?" "Yes; I have SI,BOO a year." "Why, then, it's perfectly easy. lam sure we could live on $2,000 a year. FRESHLEIGII'S PROPOSITION. "I like that young Mr. Freshleigh, Amanda. He was graduated this year, was he not?" "Yes, pa. lain glad you like him, for I tjiiuk ho is real smart." "He is real smart. He came to me at my olHcc yesterday, and said that as he expected to get through his vacation in September he wanted to go into busi ness ; and what do you suppose he offered to do?" "What, papa?" "Said if I'd make him a full partner in the business he'd marry you."—[Bazar. : SATISFIED. "I don't believe in cremation." "Why not ?" "We have enough family jars in the house now." DECEIVING EVER. Wife—Oh, how could you deceive me 1 so? When you told me you owned this liouso you didn't say a word about the two mortgages. Hubbio—And when I used to toy with those golden tresses you never told me they weren't indigenous.—[Lippincott's. HE WASN'T SUPERSTITIOUS. Teacher (in grammar school) —Your lesson to-day is on nouns. Nouns are names of things. Small Boy—ls ghost a noun? Teacher—Yes. Small Boy—How can it be? They ain't no such thing as a ghost!—[Bazar. CAUSE AND EFFECT. Little Country Girl (pointing to a tender little elude) —Mamma, what's that ? Wise Mother—That's what comes of livin' in fiats.—[Good News. HURT HIS FEELINGS. "What's tho matter with papa's boy?" asked Mr. Smithers of his little boy. "Mithtcr Bwown said I looked like you."—[Harper's Young People. NOT THE IMPORTED ARTICLE. Lady—l want a girl. Keeper of Intelligence Office —I have fifty, just imported. Lady—Yes, but I wish a domestic.— | [Lowell Citizen. THE REASON WHY. Johnson—Why Is the moon often spoken of as the silvery moon ? Jackson—Because we get it in halves anil quarters, I suppose.—[Epoch. THE WAR CONTINUED. Slimkins and his young wife had just completed their first uuarrol. "I wish 1 was dead," she sobbea. "I wish I was, too," he blubbered. "Then I don't wish I was," and the war continued. —[Snacks. THROUGH HIS NOSE. A barrister had a hard-swearing wit ness under examination, who exclaimed, with well assumed indignation: "Sir, a lie never passed these lips." "Just so, my friend," said the barris ter; "I notice that you speak through your nose."—[lllustrated Titbits. DEPENDED ON THE RESULT. Passer-by (to Tommy, who has just been fighting)— Wouldn't your father whip you if he knew you had been fight ing? Tommy—Well, that depends. If the other boy whipped me, pop would whip me, too; but if I licked the other boy, pop would jnst say, "I wouldn't fitfht if I were you, Tommy."—[Lipplncott's Maga zine. GOOD REASON WHY. Young Physician—There are nine doc tors in tnistown. I'm going to leave. Townsman —Not discouraged, doctor? Young Physician—No, only out of , patients. WOT JUDICIOUS. Old was a brilliant, but cutting thing, jou ahould not have said, my dear. Young Lady—Why? Old Lady— Because you are not pretty. —[Chatter. IT ALL DEPENDED. Mother—l ain going out, Mamie, and I want you to be a good little girl while I ain gone, and I'll bring you homo a paper of candy. Now, are you going to be good? Mamie—Yes, I suppose so, but can't tell just how good I ought to be unless I know how big that paper of candy is going to be.—[Texas sittings. ANANIAS OUTDONE. Grizzly- What awful liars those real estate boomers up in Washington are. Johnson—What have they been doing now? Grizzly—Why, when I was up there I saw them teaming with horses, just as we do here; but here is a boom pamphlet that says "the entire country teems with game."—[West Shore. TIIE BRIDE WAB DIBPLEABED. It was at the close of the wedding breakfast. One of the guests arose, and glass in hand, said : "I drink to the health of the bride groom. May he see many days like this I" The intention was good, but the bride looked upas if something had displeased her.—[Moonstone. REFLECTION ON ITER AGE. Elderly Heiress (sadly)—No, Mr. Jones, my heart is dead to the tender passion. The only man I ever loved, 01 could ever love, was killed at the battle of—of— Mr. Jones (disappointed, and reaching for his hat)— Waterloo?—[Chatter. NO OCCASION FOR 1118 SERVICES. 4 'Madam," said the caller, in a sub dued, rcspectiul voice, "I have been in formed by one of your neighbors that you have met with a bereavement, and I i have ventured to—" "I have had no recent bereavement," interrupted the lady, somewhat stiflly. "I was told you had lost your hus band," he rejoined, apologetically. "Yes—more than two years ago." "May I ask if you have placed a mon ument as yet over his re—" "He was blown up in a powder mill." The tombstone agent took his hat and went away without another word.— [Chicago Tribune. HARD WORK. "John seems to have aged prematurely in the last three years." "Yes, John lias had a good deal on his mind." "What has he been doing?" "Trying to think up some way of liv ing in luxury without working." OPIUM IN LETTUCE. The Dangerous Friend of Sleep Lies in Wait Everywhere. Opium may be grown in almost any temperate or tropical clime. Persia produces a great deal, so do Arabia and Egypt. Large quantities are raised in Germany, some is grown in France, and even Italy and Spain contribute a share to the annual production. Attempts have been made to raise it in the United States, and although only in part suc cessful, the failure was not due to any deliciency in soil or unfavorable ten dency in climate, b it rather to the fact that hand labor is almost indispensable for its production, and, in this country, hand labor is so cxponsive that the United States opium cannot compete in the markets of the world with that raised in Oriental countries. The largest portion of the world's crop is grown in Turkey, China and In dia, the last-named producing more opium than any other two countries. Along the River Ganges there is a strip of territory 200 miles wide by 600 in length, which seems particularly suited to the production of the onium poppy, and in this district opium is grown al most to the exclusion of other crops. So far in advance is India, when com pared with other opium-producing coun tries, that while the crop of Turkey, the next most productive, has not been known to exceed 10,000 baskets of three or four pounds weight, that of In dia is more than 100,000 chests, each containing 160 pounds of the product. Opium is made from several varieties of the poppy, even the common lettuce of our gardens containing a proportion of the deadly drug, a proportion which, although small, is sufficient to impart to this esculent its sleep-giving quality. There arc several kinds of the poppy which produce opium in abundance, and opium growers in dilTerent coun tries have their preferences, the excel lence of the plant for the purpose in tended being probably due to qualities of soil, for the best opium poppies of India, when sown in China, produce an opium by no means equal to that of their native soil. The plant is known in mythology and history, and oven the ancients knew the sleep-giving poppy, the emblem at once of forgetfulness and death. Formerly all portions of the plant save the root were used in the manufacture of opium, the plants being cut, dried and pow dered. Rut the opium so obtained was weak, aud ingenuity soou set to work to devise ways and means for obtaining a stronger and better article of the prod uct. —[New York Journal. Heat and the Growth of the Hair. It is generally understood that the hair and nails grow faster in hot weather than in cold; but, perhaps, few are aware that any temperature can impart so great a stimulus to the growth as Colonel Pe jevaslky, the Russian traveler, says the Central Asian heat did during his journey in those regions in the summer of 1889. In June the ground and the air became excessively hot, so great, indeed, as to render travel in the daytime impossible. Within a fortnight after this oppressive weather began, it was noticed that the hair aud beard of all the party was grow | ing with astonishing rapidity, and, strangest of all, some youthful Cossacks, whose faces were perfectly smooth, de veloped respectable beards in the short period of twenty days.—[Commercial Advertiser. Shrewd Indian Farmers. The Indians this year have reaped a heavy harvest of wheat and corn from the moist lands adjacent to the "bottoms," | which wore overflowed up to a few days [ ago. Tho "children of the forest" have j learned that thov can get three crops in one year by moving to different parts of the alluvial lauds at the proper time. A number of tho Yumas nave grapevines and pomegranatos planted near the river, but above overflow, and they are doing Dioely and will bo in full bearing next ssasou.—[Yuma (Ool.) Sentinel. GOLD IN NUGGETS. A RECORD OF CONCENTRATED WEALTH. The "Precious Lumps" From Cali fornia—lnstances of Compact j Riches Pound i n the World s j Great Gold Diggings. One of the curious things about the present methods aud condition of gold mining op the coast is that, while the ag gregate output is lurger than it ever was, the day of big nuggets seems to be over. Occasionally the local columns of the papers published mining districts contain an item concerning the digging out of a "hefty lump" of the precious metal, but the examplos of concentrated wealth are not what they used to be. One of the last discovered nuggets was dug i)ut a few weeks ago in the Spring Gulch creek, above Redding, in Shasta county, by two men while washing gravel. The lump was irregular in shape, boing about four inches long by two in diameter and yielded a trifle over SSOO worth of pure metal. The Prescott Courier of a recent date ' presented its readers with a cut of a pretty, well-developed lump of gold that hud been found in Big Bug district by a Mexican nutned Jesus Sazueta. When taken to the Bank of Arizona the cashier informed Jesus Sazueta that its weight was just thirty-seven ounces aud that its value was SO7O. It was five inches long and three and one-half inches in its widest part. A number pf Mexicans were working at Big Bug and one of them named Tio Cafias, an old Gambussino, told Sazueta to try a certain spot. Sazueta, in climbing to the place, placed his foot on a projecting rock, it broke away with hiui and when he picked him self up he was worth more than half a thousand dollars. Aocording to the Spokane Falls Review a mysterious prospector returned very ouietly a few days ago from the Coeur d'Aleue reservation with an odd-shaped bag of bacon, which, however, broke while being moved around and disclosed a nugget of gold, extremely heavy and nearly six inches in diameter. It was calculated to be worth about $750. Compared with some of the nuggets found in California in the early days, however, these nuggets are but as pebbles to a bowlder. According to a writer in the Virginia (Nev.) Chronicle, the largest piece of gold ever found in this State was taken out of Carson hill, Calaveras county, in November, 1854. It weighed 195 pounds troy, or 2340 ounces. Several other nuggets, weighing from 6lx to seven pounds —that is, from seventy-two to eighty-four ounces—were found in the same locality. The next largest was taken from the Monumental quartz mine, Sierra county, August 18, 1800. It weighed 1590 ounces troy, and was purchased by R. B. Woodward for $21,636.52. He exhibited it for a long time and then had it melted down, realizing however, only $17,064.- 94 from the bullion. The third largest nugget was found by Ira A. Willard on the west branch of the Feather river, August 4, 1858. It weighed fifty-four pounds avoirdupois, that is 864 ounces before and forty-nine and one half pounds after melting. Fourth in size, though not in value, was a large, slab-sided quartz nugget found by a Mr. Strain near Knapp ranch, Toulumne county, which weighed fifty pounds avoirdupois, and which after crushing and melting yielded SBSOO worth of gold. This was in 1851, and in the same year a nugget was found at French ravine, Sierra county, the gold from which was valued at SBOOO. Five years after another nugget was found in the same place which had considerable quartz in it, but which yielded SIO,OOO. The first nugget of any great import ance was found by a young soldier of Stevenson's regiment in the Mokelumme river, while drinking from that stream, lie hastened to Sun Francisco and placed his prize in the hands of Colonel Mason for safety, after which it found its way to New York, where It funned the smoldering flame and caused the nations to realize the importance of California as a gold-producing territory. The nug get was of pure gold and weighed be tween twenty and twenty-five pounds. Another nugget about which there is a good deal of romance was found by a Frenchman in Spring Gulch, near Co lumbia, Tuolumne County. It was of nenrly pure gold and was worth more than SSOOO. The finder became insane over his good fortune and was the next day sont to Stockton. The French Con sul at San Francisco recovered the nug get, realized the value, and sent the money to the finder's family in France. California, however, cannot claim the honor of having produced the largest nugget in the world. That, according to Phillips, was the great Australian lump, known as the "Sarah Sands." It weighed 238 pounds 4 ounces troy, or 2,71)7 ounces, as against the 2,340 ounces of that taken out of Carson hill, Calaveras county, in November, 1854. Another mass, acoording to thesame authority, was exhibited in London in 1871 as the pro duet of one of the Victoria mines, which weighed 140 pounds, or 1,752 troy ounces; while a still larger but not so valuable mass was found at Ilallarat in the same yenr which weighed 2,217 ounces. Ac cording to the Annual Statistician, how ever, the largest solid nugget ever found was discovered in Australia, in 1861), which weighed 2,280 ounces and was valued at $45,600; while the largest piece of ore and rock was found in New South Wales in 1872, weighed 640 pounds —that is, 7,680 ounces—and was valued at $148,000. To comeback to this country, Montana has added one or two fair-sided nuggets to the list. The largest of all was found in Dcadwood gulch, twenty-five miles north of Deer Lodge, in the county of that name, October 10, 1865. It weighed 13J pounds, or 159 ounces, was nine inches long, four inches wide and two inches thick, and was sold in Helena for $8,224.80, at the rate of sl6 per ounce. The finder was Ed Rising, and the story of how it was found he gives in the following way: "I had five partners when I found it and we were working the ground together. We first sunk a ten-foot shaft on the pay gravel and then drifted about fifteen feet from the bottom, at which point I picked up the nugget, It wns quite dark in the face of the drift, and the only way I could judge what I had found was by its weight. One of my partners was working under the shaft, and when I walked out and held up the chunk of gold you could have knocked his eacs oil with a baseball bat." From Helena the nugget was sent to Virginia, Nev., thence to San Francisco, thence to Paris, where it wus shown in the Exposition, and where it passed into the possession of the Rothschilds. During the summer following Rising's discovery one of the partners found an other chunk iu the same place, valued at S7OO, and yet another worth $954. As the students of the history of the gold discovery iu California will remember, there are many miners here who brought with them an experience gathered in the ' diggings of North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. The gold fields of these two States ware At times of quite respectablt proportions, ana yielded now ana then A uugfret of large size. The most valuable of these was that founa in Cabarrqi county, N. Q., in 1810. It weighed 28 pounds avoirdupois, of 87 pounds (444 ounces) troy. Gold was first found in North Carolina in 1825, the aggregate output ud to the end of 1827 being sllO,- 000. Gold mining was successfully prose cuted in Virginia in 1828, the mint de posits in that State in that year being $2,500. The first deposits of Georgia gold were made a year later to the amount of $212,000. It may somewhat surprise the Chronicle's readers to learn that the total amount of Southern gold deposited at the mints and assay offices of the United States from tfcc opening of the mines to the end of when most of the veins were übandoned, reached the following lumping figures: Virginia .... $1,031,612 North Carolina - 9,083,585 South Carolina - 1,378,180 Georgia .... 7,267,784 Tennessee - - • • 89,018 Alabama .... 211,827 Total - $20,052,006 It may, perhaps, be news to many also that until the discovery of the mines of Colorado, Russia was the greatest gold producing company in the world. The Ural mountains formed the riohest dis trict, and there in 1842, in the Zlatoust mine, a nugget was brought to light weighing 96 pounds (1,152 ounces) troy. It is now in the Imperial Schopl of Mines at St. Petersburg. Nuggets of big value have also been found in the washings at the base of the watershed between I?wei* chow and Hunan in China, though no record has been kept of their weight or value.—[San Francisco Chronicle. A Butterfly's Keen Scent. A gentleman in New York, the owner of one of the finest collections of butter flies in the country, has made an experi ment which proves conclusively that but terflies are endowed not only with bright colors, but with marvellously acute senses. Out of his collection, comprising every known variety, he chose two but terflies which were only two or three days old, and had never had their freedom. One of these he attached securely by a thread to the fence in tlie roar of his house in the upper part of New York. I He marked the other so that he could i identify it, and placing it in a small box carried it down town to one of the ferries, across the river to Hobokcu, and some distance into the city of lloboken. Here it was turned loose. When the ! experimenter reached his house, severAl I hours later, he found the two butterflies I side by side on bis back fence. The but j terfly which was but just born and bad never before had its liberty, had traveled several miles, crossed a wide river, and promptly found its way back to its mate in one of those back yards of New York which are almost indistiuguishably alike in their ugliness. This seemed a most extraordinary feat to one of a party of gentlemen to whoni the story was told by the experimenter, and he asked a well-known naturalist whether it could be believed. The nat uralist answered that tlie sense of smell, which was undoubtedly in this case the the butterfly's guide, was in many api mals so wonderfully acute that to bin* the case did not seem remarkable, much less unbelievable. Bogus Coffee. A man said to be a cousin of the one who first made wooden nutmegs is making some kind of artificial coffee in Philadel phia and it has fouud its way to Pitts* j burg. The manufacturer's disingenuous ; circular reads as follows: "Dear Sir: I send you a sample of I imitation coffee. This is a j bean and is composed of flour. You cap ! easily mix 15 per cent of this substitute | in with genuine coffee that runs in price from 20 to 214 cents, and it will improve ! the flavor of the same. It granulates the i same as coffee. If you deal with us it | will be in the most complete confidence, j This 'B.B.'coffee (superior substitute) is packed in barrels, weight about 170 pounds to the barrel. By the use of our bean you can increase your profits one and one-half cents per pound and Improve I the flavor. Try a sample barrel, cents j per pound. No attention paid to postal cards. Send shipping directions. I would not show samples to employes.—[Wash ington Star. A Savings Bank Story. There is an impression abroad that much money is lying unclaimed in the savings banks of the State. Hut money is a thing that is not lost sight of to any extent, either in savings or other banks. There may be periods of dormancy in the claims made for it; often it is left by design. An instance of that kind oc curred last week at the National Savings Bank of Albany, which was twenty-one years old on Saturday last. The first sav ings bank pass book, No. 1, issued by it for SI,OOO was presented. It was money deposited in 1809 for his then infant son by a father, and now, at his majority, the son brought the book for settlement, and has principal and accumulated interest compounded lor twenty-one years at his own persoual command, and yet the bank officers had not seen the book since it was first given out, although they knew that the father was dead and that the son was living and growiug up an estimable young man, worthy of his parentage. Had the son died his heir would have claimed the deposit and interest by legul right as theirs.—[Albany (N. Y.) Argus A Chained Sturgeon. Captain Dillon, of the steamer Fisher, has brought to San Francisco a sturgeon caught in the last trap at the mouth of the Columbia River. A strange thing about the fish is that when caught a chain nearly five feet long was found at tached to him. A hole was found cut on the under side of his mouth, and through this a liug had been nasscd, forming a bow knot about hisunacr lip. The finny captive must have escaped from his du rance, and it would be interesting to know just how long lie swam in his ele ment carrying with him his huge chain. A Famous Jews-harpist. The death is announced of Carl Eulcn* stein, who, as far back as 1827-28, under the patronage of the then Duke of Gor don, created a great sensation in London by his performances upon sixteen jews harps, with which instruments he is said to have gained some extremely beautiful effects. Eventually the vibrations of the jews harps wore away the enamel of his teeth, and after a tour in Scotland he es tablished himself at Bath as a teacher of the guitar and the concertina.—[New York Journal 'M
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers