BLESSINGS BY THE WAY.
Let us sit and think,
On this peaceful dov
Of those blessings sweet,
As we go our way.
A grateful shade
Iti a desert land,
For the weary feet
Of the pilg iin band.
A flowing fount
And a crystal cup,
Where the thirsty souls
May rest and sup,
A glowing firo
On a frosty day,
That will drive the g!ooiu
Of the heart away,
A welcome sweet, '
At nn open door;
And a true heart-kiss,
If nothing morel
A real friend
In the time of neod,
When the world seeius cold —
A friend indeed!
A child's fond trust
And a woman's smile,
When the heart is true
And void of guilol
And a mind at rest,
With n hope of heaven
The last and best!
—[.Mrs. M. A. Kidder, in the Lodger.
ANNIS'ADVENTURE.
"A bear-leader!" cried Annis Ilall,
elevating her pug nose contemptuously.
"Nothing but a common bear-leader! Our
James, with his talents and cultivation,
his refined tastes and fastidious fancies,
condesending to he the tutor of an ordi
nary college bumpkin! It can't bepos
sible/"
"Oh, but, Annis, listen!" said Dam
aris, eagerly. "He isn't an ordinary
college bumpkin, as you so inelegantly
phrase it. Where's Jamie's letter? Let
me read what he says. He's a strik
ingly handsome young man, six feet
high, and features iike Apollo—the
young man, you know—and they're
spending the summer at a romantic camp
in the Adirondacks, all surrounded by
balsam forests and gurgling streams, an I
all that sort of thing, and Jamie is to
have a hundred dollars a month for his
expenses. Only think of it!"
"How I should like to sec him!" said \
Annis, her fickle imagination veering
around at oncc. "Is it far from Lake |
Wildcat, Damaris? Couldn't we go out :
to the camp and visit Jamie?"
"Nonsense 1" said sober Damaris.
"Girls don't go out so far iuto the wild- j
erness."
"But indeed they do!" cried Annis, \
impatiently shaking her red-brown curls, j
"I know a whole party of lady-campers
who—"
But just at that moment a domestic
summons arrived, and Damaris Ilall has
tened away without waiting for the rest j
of the sentence.
Annis, however, pondered the mat lev !
in her heart, sitting there with dark,
sparkling eyes aud lips dimpled with
fun.
" I'll do it!" said she. "There can't
possibly beany harm in a sister going to
see her brother, and it would be such a
delightful surprise to Jamie. Besides, I
should like to show Damaris that I've
got some originality about me. Six foot
high, and as handsome as Apollo! Oh,
I must go! I've always wanted an ad
venture, and now's the chance for it. I
do think there never was such a lucky
girl as lam!" Annis Hall's mind was
made up and she was not a girl easily to
be diverted from any purpose on which
she had set her heart.
Balsam Mountain was twelve miles at
the very least from Lake Wildcat, at
which place Mrs. Hall had decided to
spend the summer; but Annis was not
discouraged by any such trifling matter
of distance.
It was reached by a five-mile " trail,"
branching from the highroad; but An- j
nis was a good mountain walker, and
generally carried a pocket compass with i
her.
She divulged licr intention to no one
(" Mamma would absolutely forlnt it,"
she reasoned within herself, "and Oc
ularis would pronounce it an impossibil
ity "), but took the stage that was
bound to the nearest settlement, on the
plea of buying some postage stamps, and
a bottle of essence of peppermint for her
mother's toothache; and when they !
reached the i rail she sprang nimbly out,
announcing her resolve to walk the rest
of the way.
"It's a goodish stretch," observed the
driver, shifting his tobacco from one
check to the other.
"Oh, I don't mind that!" said Annis.
She could fairly have danced along
the path, bordered with tree ferns and
daintily overgrown with wood sorrel and
vivid green mosses.
Overhead the wind murmured in the
balsam boughs, and merry little squirrels
chattered tip and down the tree-trunks. 1
Annis was a good walker, and her
heart was full of exultation at the success
of her plans.
"How delighted Jamie will be!" she
thought. "I don't suppose he dreams
I'm within a dozen miles of him. And
the young Apollo—what will he think,
I wonder? Oh. it's such fnn! Ido so
like something out of the common run!"
But in spite of Annis'enthusiasm, she 1
was thoroughly tired out before she
came in sight of a thin thread of blue
smoke, curling upw.-.rd, in a sort of
clearing on the edge of a trawlinc
stream. ,
"The camp!" she said to herself. "I
dare MIV Jamie is putting the potatoes
to r< a-t in the ushcs, ami the Apollo—
oh. that must be him chopping wood!
Some monnn-H of tint forest is doomed to
fall ere long beneath his axe."
She paused a -- eond to push the moist :
curls of auburn hair out of her eyes, to
straighten the bo ■ of blue ribbon at her
throat, and gl.mc ■ h q.airin iy at the I
muddy soles of her little walking boots, i
"Real camp .style," she murmured! '
"But here goes! Due can't be cere
monious in a place like this."
And she slipped into the clearing, cry-'
ing out:
"Jamii ' bunie! aren't you surprised
to see mer
it was a tiny, semi-circular glade,
walled round with huge balsams and
slender white lnr< . 8 . except where it
sloped down to the stream. \ rude struc- 1
turc of forked boughs, thatched with
spruce and fir boughs, occupied the fore
ground. a tire sulked and smoked against
u huge boulder, and a tall figure, in a red
flannel shirt and weather-beaten cordu
rovs, desisted from its occupation of cut
ting wood to stare at her.
A sudden panic seized upon our vali
ant heroine. Bhe would have given all
she win possessed of in thi w rid, at
that instant, to have lied away into the
wildernesses and left no trace behind,
but it was too late.
There was no Jamie there only the
tall stranger, whose dark eyes were fixed
upon her inquiringly.
Six feet tall—yes. Handsome —no.
Involuntarily Annis shuddered and drew
back, for there was something in the
low, retreating forehead, the furtive eye,
the hanging lip, that struck terror to her
heart.
"I beg your pardon!" she said, trying
to speak iu careless accents of self-pos
session; "but I expected to see my
brother—Mr. Hall. Isn't he here?"
The stranger regarded her sullenly.
"What are you doing here?" said he.
"Didn't you know better than to come?"
Annis tried to laugh, and pass matters
off as an excellent joke.
"I—l thought you would be glad to
see me," said she. "And Jamie "
"Jamie has gone up into the clouds,"
said the stranger, with a short, sharp j
laugh. "That's where he goes every
day. And I stay here to keep the Evil
Spirit away. You arc the Evil Spirit.
That's what you arc!"
The furtive eyes lightened, the teeth
clinched themselves together, as, with
' one stride, the young man cleared the
space between them and grasped her by
the arm.
"Get out of this!" ho thundered.
"Or, no! You'll be sure to come back
again. I must make sure against that.
There's a bear trap on the hill. A bear
starved to death there, last winter,
caught by one paw. We found his
skeleton this spring. I'll fasten you into i
the trap and leave you there. That's
the way to dispose of evil spirits."
Annie uttered a scream. She knew j
now that she was alone iu the wilderness
with a madman.
"Jamie! Jamie!" she shrieked, hang- i
ing back from his iron grip with all her
might.
"There's no use calling for him," gib
bered the half witted youth. "Don't I
tell you he has gone into the clouds."
"Is—is he dead?"
The man made no reply, but dragged
her mercilessly through the woods, mut
tering to himself as he went and break
ing into occasional peals of harsh laugh
ter.
"No," he said, suddenly—"no! The
bear trap is too small. You might drag
it away with you and escape. Evil
spirits are always sly and strong. There's
Rattlesnake Cave—that will be a prison
that no one can escape from."
He made a sudden detour to the left,
crashing through a low, swampy growth
of cedars and tamaracks until he reached !
a stupendous mass of rocks, piled to-1
gcther as it' in the the mad confusion of i
some glacial period.
| With what seemed almost superhuman
I strength, he pushed her into a black, I
i yawning recess; and before she could j
find voice to remonstrate, lie had rolled j
a monster stone against the mouth of her
living sepulchre, and vanished amid the I
gloomy evergreens.
The whole thing had been done so j
quickly that Annis could scarcely believe ;
her own senses when she found herself 1
I alone in the wild fastness of rocks, with !
a deadly chill enveloping licr like a !
| shroud, and the sound of dropping water
tilling the silence with its melancholy
| iteration.
I In vain she exerted her whole strength
to push back the huge doorway of stone; '
in vain she screamed for help until the
grim place seemed alive with echoes. j
Prisoned here by a maniac, and left to
. die a miserable death by lingering star
vation! Cold sweat burst from every
1 pore in her body at the grisly possibility.
She sank helplessly to the ground, but
, the rock was wet, and something—it
j might have been rain-soaked leaves or
I wet moss, but it reminded her unplcas
j antly of the gliding, clammy reptile
from which the spot had derived its
1 name—came in contact with her touch,
and she struggled to her feet once more
| with a gasping cry.
I Yet if she were indeed doomed to die,
' were it not better by the poisoned fang
of a serpent than by slow agonies of
| starvation ?
The day crept on. A single sunbeam
made its way like a golden javelin
through the crevices of rock, and then
vanished. The sound of the slow-falling
: water-drops nearly drove licr crazy, ex
cept when her attention was momentarily
I distracted by the sound of the distant
' axe.
The wind sighed in the tree-tops, a ;
strange, gliding, rustling sound at her !
feet aroused all sorts of horrible possibil
| ities. A. singular drowsiness stole upon
her; she found herself laughing out loud
at some witticism she could not rcmem
| her, and uttering incoherent sentences
to Damaris or her mother, whose shrill
intonations frightened even herself be
fore she could linisli them.
"Am I going crazy," she asked her
self, 44 in this horrible place? But I
must, be, because—because that isn't
Jamie whistling 4 Bonnie Dundee'— that
can't be. Jamie—oh, Jamie !"
The faint cry died away into the for
est sounds. All other sounds seemed
to merge themselves into the horrible
drip, drip of the falling water, and she
knew no more.
i "Yes, it was a narrow squeak," said
James Hall. "If I hadn't come home
that way, by the merest chance in life,
it would all have been up with Annis.
It was one of Clarence Stuart's ugly days.
I always left him alone on those days.
It worked best. Why didn't I tell you
lie was wrong in his head? Well, be
cause I didn't think it was best. I knew !
you'd worry, you womenkind, and I j
never had any difficulty in managing
him. His people paid me double price I
for staying with him, and he really was j
improving very fast in his docile seasons.
You should have seen him when I first
took c harge of him! lie's fond of ine,
you see, and the only trouble is that he
fancies every one who comes near us is
an evil spirit, who means mischief to me.
It makes matters rather cfull for me, but !
then I am roya.lv paid, (Jive up the
job? Not if 1 know it. I can always j
manage him, and I tell you he's improv
ing all the time. But 1 wouldn't advise
you girls to come out to Balsam Camp |
again without sending word in ad- |
Annis suddercd and clasped her hands i
over her eyes.
"I never, never, will!" said she.
"Annis always would have her own
way," said Damaris fretfully. 44 1 hope
she.* has learned a lesson now."
" I hen have off badgering her," said
Jamie, buckling on his leggins.
And Annis rewarded him by n grate
ful glance.
4 'Yc she whispered, "I have learned
a lesson."- Saturday Night.
To Bridge tho English Channel.
The latest engineering project in Paris
is the erection of a bridge between Dover ,
I and Calais. Already plans have been
formulated for the work and hardly any '
other subject is discussed in engineering
circles both in Kngland and France.
Ihe company in charge of the undertak
ing gives inter- - ting details regarding the
proposed structure and by diagrams and
arguments fries hard to prove that their
i scheme is bound to be a success.
in Knglaud the practicability of erect
ing a bridge which shall unite the two '
countries is not generally questioned, but .
a controversy lias arisen as to the expedi
ency of thus making the two countries, j
as it were, one. A few years ago, when it
was proposed to construct a tunnel under
the Channel, a host of Gallophobists, both j
in and out of Parliament, raised such a
storm of opposition that the idea was
practically abandoned. In like manner,
certain Englishmen with strong insular
prejudices argue now that, if this bridge
is erected, England will sooner or later
become the prey of France and will even- !
tually lose all her old prestige.
If Lord Wolseley is to be believed, no
weight is to be attached to such argu- |
ments. According to him, England will
be in no danger, no matter how many 1
bridges are constructed acrosi the Chan- j
ncl, as in case of war between the two j
countries neither side would find the
bridges available for the transport of j
troops.
English engineers, as a body, think i
well of the project, and as those opposed i
to it form but a small minority, it is I
very likely that in the near future a
massive structure will span the silver
streak of sea which now separates the
two countries.—[New York Hercld.
MAKING TOY SOLDIERS.
An Industry Springing From the
Prussian Military Spirit.
E. Leon Duplessis, the Vice Consul
of France at Nuremburg, has contributed
to the bulletin Consulaire a very inter- '
esting description of the manufacture of
the toy soldiers in lead for which the
artisans of Nuremburg and Furth have j
long been famous. After tracing the
early history of this industry, which
dates from the Seven Years' War and is ,
due to the infiuence of the Prusssiau mil
itary spirit and to the enthusiasm excit
ed by Frederick the Great and describing
the phases through which it has passed,
M. Duplessis described in detail the diff- '
eren operations by which the rough
metal is converted into a smart-looking
soldier with knapsack on back and arm
in hand.
The first thing is to make sketcho of
the intended figures. Great pains arc
bestowed on them. The best artists do
not hesitate when asked to supply mod
els for these toy soldiers, and in making
their sketches they have to bear in mind ;
certain fixed rules, while when they I
make colored sketches they have to
avoid deep tints and select gauky colors,
which children so much prefer. They
1 must also possess a full knowledge of
the military costumes of the period to
j which the soldier they represent be
j longed, any anachronism in this respect
| being fatal to the success of the model.
At Nuremberg and at Furth slate
moulds arc used for figures, while brass
moulds are employed for those in relief.
The slate for the former is bought at
Sonncberg, in Thuringia, and the tin,
! which is purchased iu England, is melted
i and poured iuto them through a small
orifice. The sketches of the figures have,
i of course, first of all been engraved up JD
| the moulds. The metal soon hardens
when it has been poured in, and the j
I workman then removes the figures, cut
ting oIT any cxcrcscnccs which may have
i been caused by the molten metal running
j over into the interstices.
1 The soldiers then have to be painted,
and this is always done by women, who
work at homo, each woman being given
1 a certain number of figures at the begiu
: ning of the week. The system generally
I adopted is to place a dozen figures or so
j upon a piece of wood slit up the centre so
! as to hold them in a fixed position. When
one side of the figure is dry she turns it
I round and paints the other. Her wages
| are very poor, not amounting to more
! than five or six marks a week, from which
1 must be deducted the cost of the brush
j and colors, which she has to buy herself.
| The wages of the men in the foundry
i average about nineteen marks a week,
while there are a good many women
also employed as founders who earn good
I wages.
j The final process, also intrusted to wo
; men, is that of packing the soldiers,
j which are placed in boxes of 510, (30, 120
or 240 pieces (weighing one-eighth, onc
qunrter, one-half or one pound) for the
infantry, and of 12, 24, 4-S or 00 pieces
(of the same weight) for the cavalry.
These wooden boxes all come from Son
neberg, in Thuringia, the cost of those
holding one-eighth of a pound, which
are by far the most numerous, not exceed
ing one shilling per 100. These boxes
are all hand made, so it is easy to imagine
how poorly the workmen who produce
them are paid, and who, it is said, nearly
all die of consumption. The soldiers
made of solid lead are generally packed
in the cardboard boxes with glass cases
1 made in Nuremberg, and resembling the
j celebrated gingerbread boxes made then
| by the book-binders. Each layer oJ
I leaden soldiers is separated by a thin
I sheet of paper, and the whole regiinenf
| is bedded between two beds of wood
shavings, the latter taking the place ol
the paper shavings formerly used.
Little King Alfonso's "Ways.
Whenever the King of Spain sees a
grandee or gentleman whom he know. 4 j
he calls them by their Christian names,
or their surnames without their title, n
custom always reproved by his governess.
"Eh! Xiquena!"exclaimed the King on<
day, as the ex-Minister passed. Tin
governess, who knew that the Count's
father was dead, and that the son had
inherited the title, observed, "Sire, per- !
mit me to remind your Majesty that the
person whom you do the honor to ad
dress is the Duke of Bivona." The King
burst out laughing, and exclaimed, "The
Duke of Bivona; this is nice! But 1
know that it is Xiquena! Arc you not
Xiquena?" he added, addressing the
Count. "Yes, sire." "Do you see," the
little King went on, "this woman has a
mania for giving people new names.
Doesn't she pretend that Juanito" (an of
ficer of the ltoval Guard much loved by
the King) "is the Marquis of SMo May- j
or?"' "Indeed, sire, ho is; and you will j
permit me to remind your Majesty that
he should be so addressed," replied the
governess. "Don't be stupid," was the
monarch's answer; "this is Juanito, and
the other i 3 Xiquena."—[Corriero de Na
! pole.
Three Rats in a Pugilistic En
counter.
A merchant in Binghamton, N. Y.,i
saw a strange combat not long ago. lit
beard a squeaking noise under one of hn
shelves, and a moment later there rolled
out three grav rats in a pugilistic eucoun
ter. Thev clawed and bit at each otlici
savagely, and were so much absorbed it
the light that they paid no attention t(
the lookers on.
A cat walked leisurely up and alsc
stood by, watching the row. After i
few minutes the rodents realized thcii
position, bloke away and scampered oil
I into holes. Then the cat seemed t<
think it was time for her to do some
! thing, but she was too late. lie- com
j hat ants were safe, and probably grew
i i eeoueilcd after their narrow escape.-
[ New York Journal.
THE JOKER'S BUDGET.)
JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY
MEN OF THE PRESS.
Realized on his Presents —The One
Hateful Thing -Over Again—Ho
Got a Rais, eetc., etc.,
REALIZED ON HIS PRESENTS.
4 'Nave you broken oil your cngage
! mcnt, old man? What's the matter?"
j "Well, I was hard up, you see, so I
quarreled, and had all my presents re
• turned, and was able to realize upon
them. Couldn't possibly have raised the
money any other way."—[Bazar.
THE ONE HATEFUL THING.
A man will take a cold, a joke, a drink, a
walk, a wife,
! A rest, a hint, his medicine, an insult or
an ice,
A warniug, poisou—will, in fact, take
anything in life
Except that well-meant, hateful thing
that people call advice.
—[Racket.
OVER AGAIN.
Across the pathway, myrtle fringed,
Under the maple, it was hinged—
The little wooden gate;
, 'Twos there, within the quiet gloam,
| When I had strolled with Nellie home,
! I used to pause and wait.
"Goodnight," I'd say; 44 Good night—
I good-by 1"
44 Good night" from her, with half a
I sigh—
"Goodnight." "Goodnight!" And
then—
And then I do not go, but stand,
| Again lean on the railing, and—
! Begin it all again !
—[Pawtucket Times.
HE GOT A RAISE.
Charley Silliboy—Mr. Dustc, do you
consider me worthy a slight increase of
salary ?
Mr. Dustc—A difficult question to
answer, but I will sec what 1 can do for
| you. You believe in the old adage,
" Time is money ?"
Charlie—l do, thoroughly.
Mr. Duste—All right, thou; hereafter
you may work twelve instead of ten
hours each day.—[Jeweler's Circular.
TWO ON A TOUR.
A story is told that on one occasion
Charles Dudley Warner, who is neighbor
and friend to Mark Twain, wanted him
to go walking and Mark, as usual, re
fused. Dudley insisted, but to no
purpose.
" You ought to do it," he said, finally.
"It's according to Scripture."
I "No 4 Mark-the-pcrfect-man' chest
nuts on me," replied the wily humorist.
, "Where's your authority ?"
"The fifth chapter of Matthew, verse
the forty-first," said Mr. Warner,
"which reads thus: 4 And whoever
shall compel thee to go a mile, go with
him, Twain.'"
Mr. Clemens went with Mr. Warner
that time.
DROP OFF.
i Seattle, Wash., is a trifle hilly.
"My friend," said a new-comer meet
ing a native on Thirteenth street, "can
you direct me to the shortest route to
First street ? lamina hurry."
44 Wul," responded the native, 44 jest
go to the end of this block and drop olt;
where you land will be First street."
, j TIIE POINT OF VIEW.
> Every cloud has a silver lining.
' ; Is that your experience?
' Yes. I'm a lawyer.
i
A REALLY, TRULY, MARTYR,
i Dr. Eisen—You arc getting near
-1 sighted, madam. You should wear
. glasses.
j Mrs. Gidet—O Doctor! My nose is
, too small to hold eyeglasses, and spcctu
i cles are so very unbecoming. What
1 shall I do ?
THE LATEST WRINKLE.
Miss Roxie Sand—Oh, papa! Lord
Blazonbcrrie wants to have " P. T." put
in the corner of our wedding invita
tions.
Mr. Sand— 44 P. T."—Private terms—
; cli! —but that is a trade expression.
Miss Roxie—Oh, yes; but he says he
doesn't care to have every one know
what we paid for him.—[ Puck.
A TRUTH UTTERED.
Son—But accidents will happen,
• father, in the best regulated families.
J Father —That's all right, but I want
you to understand that mine is not one
of the best regulated families.—[Judge.
OF MORE CONSEQUENCE.
Visitor—Excuse me, sir, but arc you
J the President of the college ?
Important Person—Well, I guess not.
| I'm the janitor.
HE WASN'T UP IN NAUTICAL TERMS.
Alonzo Gushiugton (to Miss Anastasia
Prim, his affianced) —See yon yacht, ,
• Anastnsia, how it lingers near the shore,
|as if loth to leave it. lam as the yacht,
: with you the shore, Anastasia.
I Miss Anastasia (stifHy)—Alonzo, you
are not a nautical man, are you?
Young Gushington— No, Anastasia.
Alias Anastasia—The i I pardon you.
Young Gushington—Pardon me, Ana
stasia? Why pardon?
Miss Anastasia—Because you are evi
dently not aware that yon yacht is hug
ging the shore.
LOVE IS BLIND.
A maid went out to promenade
All on a summer morning;
Her hair was banged; she was arrayed
In brand new togs of noisy shade,
So built around that thoy displayed
Ilcr natural adorning.
Iler face was anything but sweet,
Her step aught else than airy;
No garment that she wore was neat,
And she had No. 7 feet,
But yet the man she came to meet
Called her his "little fairy."
—[Ashland Press.
A GOOD SON.
44 Father, you are a great merchant,
you know. Now, at the end of almost
every month I have to borrow money to
pay my debts, and those fellows in the
city make me pay them 8 or 10 per cent.
Why wouldn't it be a good thing for you
to lend it to me instead?"—[Fliegende
Blatter.
WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS.
Mr. Bingo (suspiciously)— Tommy,
I who were those two boys I saw fighting
in the next alley this morning ?
i Tommy—One of them was Willie Sim
: son.
Mr. Bingo—And who was the other?
Tommy -He got licked. I guess you
don't want to know liis name.
HE WAS A I.ILY, HE WAS.
i "I tell you, Bill, said tramp number
( one, "you are a daisy."
"No, Tim," returned Bill, "I'm a lily,
for I toil not, neither do I spin, nor WHS
, ever Solomon, in all his glory, clad as
you see me now. I'm a lily, Tim, a
| lily.''—[New York Herald.
CIIOLLIE'S MISTAKE.
Dollic (snuggling quite close to his
watch chain) —What have you in that
locket?
Chollic—A postage stamp.
Dollie—Goosie! What postage stamp?
Chollie- The one on your last love let
ter. I dotaehed it carefully. It touched
your moist red lips. It often touches
mine.
Dollie—You dreadful fellow! I'm so
sorry!
Chollie—Sorry! Why?
Dollie Because I moistened that
stamp by pressing it on Fido's dear, damp
nose.—[Pittsburg Bulletin.
TNE USUAL THING.
Travers—Can I get oil for two hours,
sir, to buy a hat?
Head of Firm—Two hours! For grac
ious sake! What do you want so much
time for?
Travers—Half an hour to buy the hat
and the rest to establish my credit.—
[Clothier and Furnisher.
'SARCASTIC.
Upson Dowucs—Why, you told me
there would be "no hurry" about paying
that ten.
Job Lott—Well, there hasn't been.—
[Puck.
UNSYMPATHETIC.
Wanderer—Kind dame, can you give
me a place to lay me down to die?
The Kind Dame—Certainly. Just go
up to the barn. My husband is the
county coroner an' he hain't had a case
for a mouth.—[Brooklyn Life.
OVERHEARD.
Absent-minded Party—llullo, Barkins.
How's Mrs. Barkins?
Barkins—Not very well. She's been
ill all fcununer.
A. M. P.—l'm very sorry to hear that.
And how is Mrs. Barkins?
ON DANGEROUS GROUND.
Mr. Com Placent (visiting newspaper
office; to editor) —What do you do to get
rid of the beastly bores who stay all i
day and don't know how to take a hint?
Kditor (without looking up)— Stay
five minutes longer and I'll show you.
EXTRAVAGANCE.
4 4 Have they hard-wood or tiles on this
hall?"
"Both. Hard-wood on the floor and
tiles on the liat-rack.
THE INFLUENCE IS TIIAT WAY.
The engineer with pleasure heeds
The love for a match meant,
Since e'en his locomotive needs
A tender attachment.
A LITTLE IIARTY.
He—l went to my sister's wooden wed
ding yesterday.
She—AVliy, I thought sho was only
just married ?
He—Yes, she married a blockhead.—
[Bazar.
HER CHOICE AS TO HAMS.
Mrs. Struckoyle (to dealer) —Oh, yes;
and you may scud up half a dozen hams.
Dealer—Yes, ma'am. What brand?
Airs. Struckoyle—You may send can
vas-baok hams this time.
TOO REFINED.
Airs. Fanglc—How do you like your
new maid, Mrs. Jingle?
"Oh, she'd be all right if she were not
so over-refined."
44 In what way?"
44 Sho never breaks anything but the
most costly Dresden china."—] St. Joseph
News.
WOMAN AS A REFORMER.
44 1 wonder why Perkins always car
ries a cane since he's been married ?"
44 Ob, that's his wife's scheme to cure
him from putting his bauds in his pock
ets. "
The Craze for C Electing.
The craze for collecting sometimes
takes very curious forms. An old New
York merchant has a fancy for collecting
trusses of all kinds. Mary Irene Hoyt,
the contestant in the Hoyt will case, has
a fondness for corner lots. It has been
her habit for years to buy a corner lot in
any town that she might visit, and here
in New York she has a handsome collec
tion. The late George W. Kiofer collec
ted skulls and mummies. It was while
he was making a collection of Peruvian
antiquities that he contracted the disease
which ended fatally. His desire was to
dispose of his entire collection to some
leading American museum. After his
death it was purchased by Dr. G. J.
Fischer and Charles Steigenwalt. Her
man Frank, a Milwaukee millionaire,who
is an amateur Egyptologist, with a pro
found fondness for mummies, recently
had a very curious experience. An agent
of his purchased two mummies for him
in Egypt, and paid for them $2,500 ;
SIOO more was paid when they came to
the New York custom house. When the
packages reached Milwaukee the million
aire opened them in the presence of his
friends, but as soon as the Milwaukee
I air got at the mummies they crumbled
into half a dozen handfuls of dust, and
even to a millionaire SB,OOO seemed to bo
a pretty steep price for so ordinary a
commodity. The millionaire wants now
to get back the $-100 in duty from the
United States government.—[Chicago
Herald.
Dust in the Air.
It is curious to note the sources
whence the dust of the day is derived.
Somewhere about 1828, Ehrcuberg, the
German naturalist, who interested him
self deeply in the history of nnimnlcular
life, undertook the examination of the
air of Berlin. Some of his microscopic
researches in the direction yielded ex
traordinary results. In the air of the Ger
man capital he was able to detect organ
isms or living specks which were proper
to Africa, and the atmosphere of Portu
gal revealed traces of animalculnr life
common to the prairies of North Ameri
ca. It is not to be wondered at that the
nir-dust, whatever its nature, should be
transported for immense distances by the
winds, or that the dried and desiccated
forms of animacuhe should be conveyed
from one continent to another as mere
specks, unseen save by the eyes of
science.—[Chicago Herald.
Hungary's Laboring Population.
According to the last special consul re
port issued from the State Department
at Washington Austria-Hungary has 750
hand and 5108 power looms running on
carpets; that the industry employs 1,200
men, 1,009 women, and ninety children;
chat hand-weavers, men, receive from $2
to $-1.80 per week and women from SI.OO
to $2.05, and power-loom weavers, men,
from $2.40 to $51.75 and women from
$1.70 to $2.15 per week. Eleven hours
constitute a day's work, one-half hour's
time being allowed for dinner. The
yearly product of the Austro Hungary
mills is valued at $1,297,295. This pro
duet is nearly all consumed at home.—
[Chicago Times.
■ A WONDERFUL FUEL
FACTS ABOUT THE DISCOVERY
OF NATURAL GAS.
The First Well was Opened in New
York—The Principal Gas Fields
—Some Interesting Figures.
The history of natural gas in the
United States dates back to the year 1821,
when a well was opened in Fredouia,
Chatauqua county, N. Y., and the
supply applied in a small way to illuminat
ing and heating purposes. More than fifty
five years elapsed before its practical
utilization for both light and fuel.
In 1878 some men were drilling for
petroleum at Murraysvillo, eighteen
miles from Pittsburg, Pa. A depth of
nearly 1323 feet had been reached
when the drills were thrown high into
the air, and tho derricks broken to
pieces and sea'tered around by a tre
mendous explosion of gas, which, with
hoarse shrieking, rushed into the air,
alarming the population for miles around.
Upon application of a light there im
mediately leaped into life a fierce, danc
ing demon of fire, hissing and swirl
ing about with the wiud, and scorch
ing the earth in a large area about it.
For five years did this continue. At
last, however, the gas was captured
and by means of pipes was conducted
to the city and utilized.
The discovery and application of
this natural gas opened up a new field
of enterprise, the probable extent of
which was not at first fully appreciated.
Its importance to the rolling mills,
glass works, and other industrial es
tablishments of Pennsylvania, Ohio
and Indiana, may now be understood
when it is stated that the amount of
coal displaced by natural gas in the
United States in 1888 was 14,003,830
tons, valued at $22,029,875.
The discovery of the gas in Ohio (the
supplies of which are practically con
fined to the Counties of Hancock, Wood,
Auglaize and Mercer), was made in No
vember, 1884, at Findlay, when it was
found that the Trenton limestone under
lying the fiat country of northwestern
Ohio was, in certain places, charged with
high-pressure gas. Iu January, 1880, a
well was brought iuto use, large enough
to accredit the new gas rock as a first
class source of production, one which
could safely endure comparison with the
most prolific horizons of the new fuel of
Pennsylvania and elsewhere.
In two years, iu consequence of the
discovery of natural gas, the population
of Findlay has increased from 0,000 to
30,000. The city itself owns a dozen gas
wells and the distributing plant connec
ted therwitli, and supplies fuel to citi
zens at the rate of 50 cents per month per
stove. It also maintains a high pressure
line for the supply of factories that have
been established there. It seems, how
ever, that the gas is more effective in
producing heat than in giving light, it
having the former power to a much great
er extent than the latter. It is very
easily handled and the heat generated
is all sufficient for the purpose of making
steel. The glass factories use it espee
[ ially in making Hint-glass, as the heat
I can be better regulated while the burn
. ing gas is free from smoke which often
discolors the glass. In making the
finest fancy ware it burns into the glass
| flowers painted in different metallic
[ colors; the process requiring sometimes
as many as five separate burnings, ac
cording to the number of colors used,
i Home of these factories depend upon
| wells of their own. The gas of the high
! pressure line is practically free to the
factories that use it. The main reliance
of the city for the past two 3ears has
been upon the famous Karg well, whose
j original volume was 12,000,000 cubic
j feet per day. Several new wells have
1 been drilled by the city since it undcr
! took this large supply, but no very im
; portant additions have been made. The
supply has, up to a recent date, been
quite abundant enough to till all the new
lines, both of high and low pressure, as
fast as they were laid, and 110 misgivings
as to its permanence or adequacy seems
to have been entertained by the resi
dents.
In Indiana the total daily consumption
of gas during the cold weather reaches
about 200,000,000 cubic feet. In Hamil
ton county the (gas) Trust Company have
sixteen wells, from which they claim a
daily flow of over 70,000,000 cubic feet.
It seem almost impossible to keep track
of the production of the field, so rapidly
is it increasing. Every city, town and
hamlet in the gas area is being supplied.
The farmers are sinking wells for their
own use, and the neighboring cities, not
desiring to be left behind in the great
industrial race, are also making efforts
to secure their share of this best of fuels.
In I toward county there are twenty-eight
gas-producing wells, measurements of
most of which have been taken. The
estimate will approximate very closely
the actual product, which, by these
twenty-eight wells, is about 78,000,000
cubic feet per day. This would be in
heating power equal to 890,000 tons of
average bituminous coal per annum.
4\ ith regard to the supply of natural i
gas in Pennsylvania, it may bo stated
that in tho city of Pittsburg its use has !
grown with such rapidity that it bids
fair ere long to completely supplant coal
for both domestic and manufacturing
uses. It is estimated that the natural
gas companies of Pittsburg arc supply
ing more than 27,000 domestic consumers
and 1,200 manufacturing consumers
from 500,000,000 to 050,000,000 cubic
feet of natural gas per day, varying
with the condition of the weather (which,
of course, affects all consumers), and
with the activity of manufacture. It is
said that in the city of Pittsburg and
vicinity there was consumed during 1888
an amount of natural gas, which, if the
consumers had to depend exclusively
upon coal, would have required during
the year about 8.500,000 tous. If to
this should be added the amount of coal
which would be taken by consumers in
other parts of the State, who now
depend upon natural gas as a fuel, the
amount would be increased to at least
10,000,000 tons!
Much waste is occasioned by burning
the gas too high between heats and exces
sive use of the gas in keeping furnaces
hot between turns. Careless employees
waste the gas because there is 110 check
upon its use, and because there is no
inducement to prevent waste. In one
mill great care in consuming the gas
brought the consumption down to 21,-
535 cubic feet in making a ton of iron,
and further improvements reduced the
consumption to 15,952 feet. At one
null, and that not a large one, where
measurement was takeu, it was found
that 3,000,000 feet of gas had been used
between Saturday evening and Monday
morning in merely keeping the furuacos
warm. On the whole it is estimated that
at least 50 per cent, of the gas now used
in Pittsburg mills is lost through ineffec
tive methods and bad management.
There is no evidence to show that
natural gas is still forming or making. !
In time it must be exhausted, fnit liow
long or short that time will be none can
tell. It has been shown that where r
we'l is flowing freely, and another is
drilled in the same neighborhood, the
former at once shows a falling off in its
flow, the inference from which is that
both wells are drawing from the same
reservoir.
When oil wells cease to flow recourse
is had to the pumps, but there is no such
remedy for gas wells.
In 1885 the total displacement of coal
by natural gas was 2,131,000 tons, valued
at $4,857,200. In 1886 the coal displaced
was 0,453,000 tons, valued at $10,012,-
000. In 1887 the displacement was
9,859,000, valued at $15,417,500. In
1880 the displacement was 14,003,830
tons, valued at $22,029,875.
It will be seen that the displacement
of 1888 over 1887 was 4,204,830 tons or
an increase of 42J per cent.
Projects are now on foot to convey this
natural gas to New York, Philadelphia
and other Eastern cities, and it is not at
all unlikely that these places will get
their heat at least, if not light, from this
wonderful earth-born fuel.—[Commercial
Advertiser.
MAKING FISH DRUNK.
Indians Have a Unique Way of Har
vesting the Finny Tribe.
The Choctaws and all the Indian tribes
of the Southwest have away of catching
fish without waiting for bites. Their
last great "catch" took place at Antlers,
a small town in the Indian Territory.
The evening before the day set for tho
sport forty-five or fifty Indian men went
to the river at its most shallow point and
S carried several great logs into the water,
j which were laid across the stream, mak
ing a strong and high dam, blocking the
river from bauk to bank,
i A chant or roon was then sung to in
j sure good luck for the next day and the
i company broke up. Early in the fore
noon of the day following the entire
company proceeded to the river side.
There were seventy or eighty people in
all, including Indians and whites, men,
women and children, most of whom
travelled in wagons to the scene of ac
i tion, it being some distance from the
| little town. The inen all carried bows
and arrows.
Arrived at the dam, twenty or thirty
of the men proceeded to cut up the bait.
This is a strange, hard substance, called
by the Indians "devil's shoestring," and
which had to be cut into pieces with
axes. This done, the devil's shoestring
was thrown into the water and the fish,
I hundreds of which had accumulated dur
| ing the night, came to the surface after
| it.
It was not long until it was plain that
, the devil was in it sure enough. It was
not long until shoals of fish came to tho
| surface and floated listlessly about on tho
| water. They appeared to be entirely
unconscious. The Indians explained that
the "devil's shoestring" had made them
drunk, and that it was time to begin tho
slaughter.
Shooting with bows and arrows began
and for a time the arrows flew so thick
that one was reminded of the scene of
pioneer warfare. As fast is the fish wero
shot and brought to shore they were
j carried to the camp, where the Indian
women, and the white women who had
i been invited, cleaned and fried them.
About 1 o'clock a grand fish dinner was
spread.
1 All the afternoon, until oor 7 o'clock,
the sport continued. Sometimes there
would be twenty or thirty Choctaws in
the water at once. About 1,000 fish
were caught. Four or five of these
"fries" occur at Antlers every year.
The Red Cedar of Washington.
The Seattle (Washington) Post-Intel
ligencer says: Anybody who travels in
the western part of Washington, or visits
the numerous islands in Puget Sound,
or further up in the Gulf of Georgia, will
remark a peculiar tree, occupying the
rugged barren domes, where there is
scarcely a handful of soil. It belongs to
the Conifcra), and it is commonly called
Western red cedar or juniper. This red
cedar of ours is a very peculiar tree, and
differs in leaves, wood and fruit from a
j similar Eastern species. The trunk is
I frequently enormous, for it measures
1 often eight feet in diameter, though tho
j tree itself is not tall, especially iu higher
1 altitudes. It has very strong and po .ver
| ful limbs, mostly bare at the ends,
■ though here and there densely covered,
; while the top in old trees is almost al
; ways dead. Sometimes the tree is as
i broad as it is high, and is merely a
I weathered stump, though if by accident
the soil is good, the juniper of Washing
ton attains quite a considerable height.
The red cedar is more like a block of
: rock than a tree. Even its bright cin
namon-colored bark looks something
i like a deep hue of porphyry. The wind
j of the Olympic Mountains has no power
over it; the heavy and rigid trunks of
! this tree defy the power of the storm. It
| is always silent, no matter if the wind
I roars in canons and uproots pines and
' firs; or if the day is calm and full of sun
shine, the burly juniper is always im
l movable, always rigid, like a column of
j ice, and grand in its silence; and if it
dies it is only from old age, for the juni
per can brave the storms of centuries.
A Chalk Mountain.
Last winter the discovery of a huge
mountain of pure chalk iu Union county,
111., one mile from the Alexander county
line, three miles from the line of the
Grand Tower and Carbondalc Railroad,
and within three miles of tlie Mississippi
River, was announced; but until within
the past few weeks the magnitude of the
find was not appreciated, inasmuch as
the work of development has not pro
ceeded to any extent." The mountain is
about 150 feet high, and from borings
thus far made there dees not appear to
be any limit to the chalk substance,
i The mountain is the property of Mr.
| .Jonathan Perry, whose residence is at
, Mount Vernon, 111., and who is just now
' putting the chalk on the cars at $5 per
i ton. The chalk is found by scratching
| away about a foot of soil, when the pure
| white substance is exposed in a solid
i mass, unalloyed by any foreign element,
j apparently as pure as the driven snow.
The discovery is the more important
from the fact that it is said to be the
only chalk bank known in the United
States, and as it is convenient to tho
railroad and the Mississippi River, where
it may be handled in barges, its value is
not likely to be overestimated.—[New
York Telegram.
AN Ottawa letter says that "one of tho
most important questions affecting tho
condition of the Canadian workingman
is the question of state-aided immigra
tion. The Dominion Government is tho
worst sinner in this respect. For years
it has been in the habit of paying so
much a head to steamship and railroad
companies on immigrants carried by
them. Latterly quite a lucrative busi
ness bus sprung up in the importation of
waifs and strays and children of criminal
1 arentg."