Fret 1 land Tribune Established ISSB. PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND THURSDAY, BY THE TRIBUNE PRINTING COMPANY. LilllM OFFICE: MAIN STIIEET ABOVE CEXTUE. FREELAND, PA. SUISMJIIIfTION KATES: One Year 61.5? Six Mouths 75 Four Months 50 Two Months 25 The date which the subscription is pnid to Is on tne address label of each paper, the change of which to a subsequent date be comes a receipt for remittance. Keep the ! figures in advunoe of the present date. Re port promptly to this office whenever paper is not received. Arrearages must be paid when subscription is discontinued. Make all nwnty orders, check*, etc,,payable , to the Tribune j?rintinj Company, Limited. i The interest in sports is increasing rapidly, and so long as the profession al and money-making elements are ab sent, there need be no fear that the country will not continue to en gage in all forms of manly exercise, either directly or by proxy. One of the ablest jurists in Louis ville, Ky., has decided that if a wom an wears a man's hat into his court she must take it off the same as if she were a man. It has remained for this great mind to discover that there is such a thing as sex in hats—and by the same token he would probably per mit a man who wears a woman's hat to keep it on his head! Through the army and navy depart ment of the Young Men's Christian association some one who desires to remain unknown has just subscribed 830,000 to be used iu providing shore homes for sailors and marines iu the United States service in Brooklyn, Boston, Norfolk, Key West, Galves ton and San Francisco. The only condition imposed with tin* gift is that 8100,000 be added to it by other friends of Uncle Sam's sea lighters. J Rear Admiral Philip, Captain Merrill Miller, Captaiu McCalla, Commodore Stockton and other naval officers have \ the matter in charge. The temporary government for the Philippines is the old familiar model for British colonies and American ter- ! ritories, says the New York Commer- i cial Advertiser. All Anglo-Saxon civ- ; ilization out of Great Britain began ; that way. The thirteen colonies be fore the revolution were ruled by royal : governors and judges aud councils appointive above and elective below, j American territories were so ruled at the beginning. British crown colo nies are so ruled. Out of this germ ! of liberty has grown the self-govern ment of American states, the nutono- ! my of Australia, Cauada and the Cape rolonies, but the growth has been guided and restrained everywhere by the development of capacity for main taining internal order aud external de fense. There is good reason to believe that now we are outclassed in naval strength only by Great Britain and France. Italy has more battleships than the United States, but many of them are out of date and some are unseaworthy. Russia lias a larger navy than ours,but it is not well prepared for actual ser vice and the requirements of modern naval warfare. One of our great points of superiority is the line j nailed skill of our gunners. The marksmen of the Biiti&h navy are the best in Europe, but ours are better still. The most impressive object lessons fur nished by the United States navy in the war with Spain were those which show the wonderful accuracy of the lire from our battleships aud cruisers. The importance of this point can hard ly be estimated. A well-planted shell from a modern big gun will in many cases settle the fate of the struck ship, and the gunners of our navy beat the world in hitting the place they aiui at. ivy Absorb# Moisture. There is a current opinion that ivy has a tendency to rot the thing to which it clings. This Is true of a large number of other climbing plants, but not of ivy, for it renders the walls of almost every house to which it clings entirely free from damp, extracting ev ery particle of moisture from wood, brick or stone for its own sustenance. This it does by means of its tiny roots, which can work their way even into the hardest stone. When the walls are well covered with ivy the overlap ping leaves will conduct water falling upon them from point to point until the ground is reached without allow ing the walls to receive any moisture whatever from the beating rain. If there should he an exceptional case of Ivy-covered walls showing signs of dampness, that will be found to arise from their having been erected on a wet and improperly drained site. Til* <3rasping Landlord. Penn —My landlord is the most un reasonable man I ever saw. Brushe How so? Penn —He says if I can't pay my rent I rnus'. move. If I had money enough to move I could afford to pay hJm somet? ic on account A BOY OF FHOPe-SJA. BY FRANK LILLIE POLLACK. ALE'S annals RSI Wy ■ state that it was BIWJ ffl on tlio 23d of (C\ B March, 189G, Vt'r U USUr " %\ PI rection of the \*s>! V vjrSX Ri native Matabele tribes of llho desia broke out fjg S3 if yMI in the murder fil 'l ( -Mc 9 ad tbe sca *" J I tered white set- S eis * n (bs * KriilA m! * ke b ' ows 1B m9i\ struck was at the Red Bird mine, at Brinton's Reef, about eighty miles east of Buluwayo. The mine was operated by Mr. W. F. Briuton and two Boers named Potgieter and Gierstaat, respectively, with about twenty Kaffir "boys" in their service. With Mr. Briuton was also his sou Otto, a boy of fourteen. There had been so little anticipation of trouble with the natives that early on the morning of the 2'3d Mr. Briuton had ridden over to Graham's rtore, about twenty miles to the north. Gierstaat had gone to inspect work on anoth jr "reef" to the west, and Otto and Potgieter wore left alone at their little hut. Otto was within, when he heard a sudden dull crashing noise at the door. Looking quickly, he saw to his horror that the Boer, who had been smoking his pipe ou a bench just out side, had fallen on his face to the ground, and that blood was pouring irom his head. A Kaffir kuob-kerrie, or tkrowing-club, lay beside him. As the boy rushed to his com panion's assistance be was suddenly confronted by a swarm of armed na tives, who had stolen around the cor ner of the hut. Among these were their own miners, armed with drills and hammers, and the rest were Matabele from a neighboring kraal. These last were in full war-gear, some with rifles, others with shields anil assagais, aud all wore white ox-tails twisted arouud neck aud wrist. Otto was only a boy, but iu coun tries like Rhodesia boys rapidly ac quire decision aud pluck beyoud their years. He saw at a glance that noth ing could be done for Potgieter, aud the yelling natives were surging for ward to cut off his retreat. Half a dozen rifles were leveled at him, when be drew bis revolver, which he carried in his belt, fired three shots straight into the mob, and under cover of this turned and ran for his life toward the mine. The nearest shuft was some hundred yards away, aud Otto hoped to hide himself by retreating into the tunnels. It was what is called au "incline shaft,"running down at au angle of forty-five degrees for about a hundred feet, with horizontal tunuels at the bottom. The whole swarm of natives ; pursued him, firing their rifles and throwing spears and clubs, all of which weapons missed their aim—for the Kaffirs are notoriously bad marks men, though brave enough at close ; tightiug. Otto had just reached the mouth of the shaft, and wasprepariug to descend, when a straggling volley was fired. He felt a stunning blow on the top of the head, became un conscious at once, aud. dropping his revolver, rolled headlong down the shaft like a shot rabbit. The Matabele uttered a wild chorus of delighted yells at his fall, and, taking it for granted that he was dead, did not take the trouble to go after him, hut proceeded to burn the hut, mutilate Potgleter's corpse, aud do what other damage suggested itself. Meanwhile Otto lay doubled up among a heap of boulders at the bot tom of the shaft, insensible and sorely bruised. The slope of the shaft was strewu with broken quartz, which in his reckless tumble had supplemented the effect of the heavy musket ball which had grazed his skull, cutting the scalp, but inflicting no serious in jury. It was quite six hours, as he afterward calculated, before he slowly dud painfully struggled back to con sciousness, with a parching thirst aud a head that was a mass of bruises and caked blood. For some minutes be was unable to realize bis situation; and then his first thought was that his father might have returned and been murdered by the savages. He listened, but could bear uo sound, and finally j crept up to the mouth of the shuft and peered over. Not a native was in sight, but where ; the mining hut bail stood was only a heap of ashes, sending up a pillar of I smoke iuto the sky. The suu was ; shining brightly, and it seemed about two o'clock iu the afternoon. With infinite precautions Otto emerged { from the shaft, and after satisfying him self that the Matabele were really gone he went painfully down to the little , creek that flowed near, and drank till his feverish thirst was appeased. He washed the blood from his wounds, tied a wet handkerchief around liis head, and went to look at the"ruins. Potgieter's body was lying stripped and horribly mutilated near where he had fallen. The other Boer lay not far distant, also stripped and pierced with many assagai wounds; but to bis infinite relief Otto could find no trace of his father's having returned. He filled a flask with water, wrote on a stray board with charcoal, "Gone to Cunningham's.—O. B.and set out, ! wounded as ho was, to walk five miles across the veldt to his nearest neigh bors. Tho Cunningham family lived on a farmstead to the east, and consisted of seven persons—tho father, the mother, two grown sous, and three daughters aged respectively seven teen, fourteen aud ten. Besides these there were several Kaffir servants. The boy was still so faint and giddy that he walked like a drunken man, and several times fell over some trivial obstruction by the way3ide. It took him quite four hours to gover the distance, and the sun was setting when the farm buildings of his destin ation appeared at last within reach. As yet he did not dream of a whole sale rising of the natives; but, fancy ing that the same marauding party might be prowling around the Cuu- ' uinghaui place, he wisely reconuoit- j ered before approaching too closely. | He could plainly see the front of the house, ami as he advanced he saw what sent the blood to bis heart in an instant—the huge form of a Matabele warrior with shield aud assagai stand ing iu the doorway. He now made sure that the Cun ninghams had all been murdered, aud he lay still behind a bush, debating on his own best course. Presently the warrior disappeared within, and one of the girls came out bearing a pail of water, which she emptied, and then quietly returned to the house, seemingly iu no fear for her life. This aroused Otto's astonishment. It was not long before he saw Lotta, the eldest girl, coming down toward the stable, and he hastened to inter cept her. She uttered a scream at his ghastly .°.ud blood-stained appearance before she recognized him. "Why, Otto, what has happened?" she exclaimed. "Where are the men? What are those Kaffirs doing at your house?" queried Otto breathlessly. "Some Kaffir boys came this morn ing to get father and the boys to go and look at some cattle, and they all went away. There are five Kaffir at the house now, with guns aud spears. Mother and the children were fright ened; but I don't think that they would dare to do any harm to us, do you? They say that they have been hunting, and that they want to see father." Otto felt sure that the father and brothers had been decoyed away to be slaughteied, but he did not hint this belief to the girl. Ho pressed his reeling head between his hands, and tried to think. "Did the men take their rifles?" he asked. "No, they left them at the house." "Well, don't be frightened, but I'm afraid the Kaffirs mean trouble. If the men went away, of course they are safe enough; but we bad better keep ou the watch. Can you let me into the house without those rascals seeing me?" "There is a window at the back," began the girl. "All right! And get all the rifles and cartridges you can find, and bring them quietly into that back room. Hurry up and let me in." The girl ran back to the house, very pale, but showing the oerve of a fron tier training. Otto crept around to the rear of the house, and in less than a minute the window was raised, and he clambered in as quietly as possible. In the room where he found himself were Mrs. Cunningham, Lotta and one of the other girls, all consider ably frightoned, but cool. There were three Winchesters aud two belts of cartridges lying on a table. The Kaffirs were in the next room, and Otto stole to the door and peeped •through a crack. There were five of them, us Lotta had said—big, brawny fighting men, all with assagais and two with rifles, while all lire wore the same decoratiou of white ox-tails that Otto had before observed. The boy had already formulated his plan. lie had no doubt that these savages were only waiting some ap pointed time to fall upon the white women aud massacre them, and it was his design to anticipate them iu action. South African women are usually trained to handle a rifle as skil fully as their husbands and brothers, and these wero no excep tion to the rule. Otto explained his scheme, and us much of his suspicions as he thought proper; and the wom en, who instinctively looked to him, boy as he was, for leadership, pre pared to assist him. The Matabele wero sitting quietly ou the floor, their weapons across their knees, when the closed door on the other side of the room was sud denly thrown open, and they were confronted with the threatening muz zles of three Winchesters. They had beeu quite unaware of Otto's presonce iu the house, and this made the sur prise the more complete. They sprang to their feet in a Hurry of as tonishment, just as Otto shouted over the rifle-barrel: "Drop those weapons!" Spears and rifles clattered upon the floor, and the Kaffirs plainly expected instant death. But Otto could not bring himself to fire upon them in cold blood, though he had no doubt of their moral guilt. So he contin ued, in the native tongue: "Go! Get out! Don't come back, or you will be shot!" The natives filed from tlie door and ' started out across the veldt without j looking back till they were some fifty yards from the house; then they broke into a trot and disappeared over a hill to the eastward. Otto and his friends were victori ous; but it was certain that the na tives would sooner or later return in force to finish the work, which had probably been begun by the murder of the three male members of the family. The house was ill adapted for de fense, besides being built of wood aud therefore highly inflammable; but the stable was a solidly built stone struc ture with small windows, designed to serve as a fortification iu case of nteed. Hither the three women and the boy busied themselves iu carry ing all the bread aud cooked meats iu the house, water, rifles, ammunition ami blaukets, anxiously watching the while for their returning relatives or for a fringe of Matabele spears. But there was no sign of any approaching life; aml< when it became dark the party shut themselves up in the stable and strongly barricaded the door. None of them wished to sleep at first; but as the hours quietly wore away tho two younger girls finally dozed off, leaving the remaining three on guard. It was almost midnight when Otto heard distinctly the pound ing of the hoofs of mauy horses. His heart jumped, for he believed ic to be the rebels. The watchers did not awaken the children, but all three peered eagerly into the dark ness, with lifies cocked. The horses stopped near the dwelling, and voices were heard, but it was impossible to distinguish whether they were native or European. At last Otto heard his name called softly in his father's voice. Joyfully he replied, and the little party hastily unbarred the door and came out of their fortress. Mr. Brin tou had heard of the rising in other parts late that afternoon, auu collect ing half a dozen horsemen, had gal loped at speed to the Red Bird mine. It had then grown dark, and it was oziiy after several hours of searching for his son's body that he stumbled upon the message written on the board. No Matabele appeared that night, and with the first dawn the whole party set out for Buluwayo, for the Cuuuiughams had several horses about the place. They arrived there late that same day without having en countered any hostiles, aud fouud the town in a state of the wildest excite ment. Volunteer companies were be iug rapidly organized, aud both Otto aud his father enlisted in that which afterward became famous under % the name of "Grey's Scouts" throughout the disastrous war that raged for the next six mouths. It was several weeks before the fate of the men of the Cunningham family came to light. Their bodies were found by a scouting party about a mile from the house, and they had all, apparently been speared or clubbed from behind. The Kaffirs at the farmhouse were undoubtedly waiting for the return of this murdering party to assassinate the women, who would certainly have fallen victims had it not been for Otto's resolution aud pres ence of mind.—The New Voice. HOW THA SPEL IN CHIKACO. Aud Tha Want Everybody Everywliar to Spel the Wa Tha Do. A dispatch from Chikago sez that the bizuiz men thar ar in favor of fouetik speling. Dr. E. Benjamin An druz, the Superintendent of the Pub lik Skools thar, iz iu favor ov it to. Wuu bizuiz man, it iz sed, wants the word which most pepl spel "through" to bo spelt "tru," but Dr. Andruz iz not iu favor of this bekoz he sez that it iz not pronouust tha wa. But the bizuiz man sez it iz pronouust just that wa. This queschun of fonetik speliug iz an old wuu, and this iz just wun oi the objecshuns to the plan, that every body wood spel wordz the wa he him self pronunst them, even when he pronouust them rong, and so a good many pepl cood not 'reed what other pepl rot. Thar iz another objecshun to it. If it shud ever bo uzed alto gether, if books shud be priuted this wa aud if pepl shud lern to reed this sort of stilt', tha would not no how to reed the books that ar printed iu the present wa, and sool the books aud ol tho iibrnriz that thar ar in tho world to-da wood be simply wast paper, for nobody cood reed them exept skolarz who had learud the old wa of speling. In Chikago tha propoz to chaug the speling of ten words, as an entering wej. But why stop at ten? Why not chang them ol at wans and rit lik this?— New York Tribune. The Vulue of Rice Lands. The rice industry has in the last fifteen years developed a section of Louisiana which up to that time was considered worthless. Its population has quadrupled; its wealth increased twenty-fold. Rico lauds once worth ten to fifty cents an acre will now average $35. A number of towns, Rayne, Crowley, Mermentau, Jen nings and others have sprung up where a decade ago there was a wild prairie; railroads have been built and factories erected. It is estimated that two-thirds of the gross receipts from a rice farm are profit; that is, the cost of raising the rice is only one-third of what it will bring. It is doubtful it auy other crop is so profitable. Tho Ab bott brothers at Crowley received 877,000 last year from 1000 acres planted in rice, and Green & Shoe maker, at the same place, got 875,000 from 1000 acres. A. D. MoFarland, at Jennings, made $10,500 on 300 acres, and A. M. Garrison SBOB2 on 220 acres. The one possible drawback to the industry is the probability that at the present rate at which the rice crop is increasing there will very soon bo an overproduction of tho cereal and a consequent fall in price.—New York Sun. ISnrhsiroua Filipino Practiced. A private letter received from one of the officers who went to Manila on the Solace tells of the atrocities com mitted 011 American killed and wound ed soldiers by Agniualdo's army, which nro as horrible as tlioso prac ticed at Samoa. Said this officer: "I went ashore at Manila and went out to tho army's firing line. We were close enough to see one skir mish. The bodies of three soldiers were brought to the rear while wo were there, and they were a ghastly sight. The ears and noses l!ad been out off and the heart cut out of oach one." —Chicago Reoord, THE NEW SPANISH The Duke d'Arcos Comes from One of the Oldest Families of Europe, But His Wife Is An American. Don Jcse Brunt ttl y Gayoso, Duke d'Arcos, the newly appointed minister from Spain, is a howling Iberian swell. His ancesters were famous people a century before Columbus was born; In fact, the family is one of the most an cient in Europe. In the National Mu seum one ipay see a geographical globe, made in Germany about the year 1453, which, for obvious reasons, has no America 011 it at all, but only a blank of blue ocean instead. All the provinces and principal towns of Spain, however, are carefully delineated on this interesting sphere, which is of large size, and one of the cities shown is Cadiz, which, by the way, was given by royal grant to a forebear of Don Jose's, "for his good and loyal services in the war against the Moors." Thus it will be seen that the new Spanish minister, who is expected to arrive in Washington next week, is a personage provided by birthright with a background of hoary antiquity. The oldest American families are mere mushrooms compared with his ancient line, and the supplementary titles he enjoys are so numerous that he is able to take only a few of them with him when he goes out in society. For ex ample, he is Marquis of Zahara, as well as Marquis of Cadiz, and incidentally is obliged to uphold the dignity of Count of Coasarez. In the course of so many centuries Don Jose was obliged to accumulate quite a large number of ancestors, and to one of these, in 1469, the town of Arcos was given by the then king of Spain. Those were the good old times when monarchs were accustomed to give away a town or two whenever they felt in a good humor toward anybody. It was much a9 if President McKinley, If he were an unlimited potentate, should make a present of Trenton, N. THE DUKE AND DUCHESS. J., or Chester, Pa., with the Inhabitants thereunto appertaining, to Senator Billy Mason or Representative Hender son. This was a very jolly old custom Indeed, aud pity 'tis that it should have fallen into desuetude. Anyway, the facts quoted explain how the family title of the Duke d'Arcos originated. With Cadiz for a city property and Arcos for a country place, the family of the new Spanish minister felt itself pretty adequately provided for terri torially, but, unfortunately, there came a time, in 1493 —one year after the dis covery of America —when their most Catholic majesties, Ferdinand and Isa bella, decided that they required the seaport of Cadiz in their business. This business was the trade with the East Indies, which part of the world had then newly loomed up, not merely In a geographical but also in a com mercial sense. There was no resisting the royal demand, and so the then Duke d'Arcos gave up the title deeds to the property, receiving in exchange a brand-new collection of titles and other equivalents. Few ancient families are without at least one wicked ancestor, and to this rule the noble line of Arcos is no excep tion. It is recorded in history that in 164G Don Rodrigue Pons de Leon, Duke d'Arcos, was sent by the king of Spain to govern Naples as viceroy. This was exceedingly rough on Naples, as is proved by his record while acting in that administrative capacity. How ever, it may not have been so much his fault as that of his government, which at that time needed money very badly to carry en wars with France and Portugal. He was instructed to grind cut of the people every peseta they could be persuaded to give up, and these orders he carried out to the let ter. His agents did their duty pitiless ly, and the duke closed his ears to the complaints of the unhappy victims of his exactions. In one case certain un fortunates had the impudence to de clare that they had not money enough to buy a bed, and the tax collector re plied, "Why, then, do you not sell your wives and daughters?" This course of procedure finally pro voked a rebellion in 1G47, which quick ly assumed most formidable propor tions. The uprising was heaved by a fisherman named Manzaniello, and was so far successful that the viceroy was finally compelled to yield and to grant all the demands of the revolutionists, Including equal rights for the people and the nobility and the abolition of the excessive taxes. Unhappily, Man zaniello, elated by his success, lost his head—as it turned out, in more senses than one. A reaction, cleverly en gineered by the duke, set in, and the upshot of it was that the fisherman's head was cut off and carried to the viceregal palace, amid the applause of the very populace of which not long be fore he had been the idol. Quite naturally, their family being so famous, wealthy and conspicuous, the men of the d'Arcos name have been prominent in public life, generation af ter generation. Thus it came about that Don Jose Brunetti, while as yet lacking the ducal title, entered the diplomatic service of his government. He was appointed "diplomatic super numerary" in the foreign office at Ma drid in 1862 and two years later was sent as attache to the Spanish legation at Vienna. After filling various other minor diplomatic posts in Europe he was made first secretary of the Spanish legation at Washington in 1876, Since then he has been minister resident at Caracas and Montevideo, minister plen ipotentiary to Chili, and minister plen ipotentiary to Mexico, holding this last office from 1894 until recently. His ap pointment to Washington, of course, is a promotion. It so happened at the time when Count Brunetti, as he was known, be came first secretary of the Spanish le gation at Washington twenty-three years ago, a very beautiful and charm ing girl had been newly Introduced to the society of the capital. Her name was Virginia Woodbury Lowery, and she was the only daughter of Archibald Lowery, a conspicuous Washingtonlan, who enjoyed through Inheritance the possession of large means. Miss Low ery's mother was herself a daughter of one of New Hampshire's most famous men, Levi Woodbury, who was a mem- ber of Jackson's cabinet and, at the time of his death, a justice of the Su preme Court. Thus, her social position was the highest possible, and, from Brunettl's point of view, she was emi nently eligible as a wife. SOME QUEER BOOKMARKS. Lllmirlau Could Stock Museum with Thofto Curious Article*. To some people anything is good enough for a bookmark, says the New York Telegraph. In a good many in stances they forget to remove them when they have finished reading the book. That is the reason why so many odd things find their way to the pub lic libraries. A librarian was talking about this thing the other day. He said: "I could stock a museum with the queer things I have found in our books. These articles include all kinds of bills, grocery bills, gas bills and the like; hair pins, fancy and plain and of all metals, and hair ornaments of every design and material; love letters ga lore, some of which make one blush reading; locks of hair, bits of la.ee,dress samples and watch chain charms; pen and-ink, pencil, crayon and water color sketches; postal orders and post age stamps; and I have also a dried human ear, which I found in a book on surgery, borrowed by a medical stu dent probably, as I hear they carry all sorts of uncanny things about with them. Photographs, too, figure large ly in my collection. I once found an insurance policy in a book, but it was quickly claimed. It is purely the re sult of absent-mindedness. A person deeply engrossed in a book and sud denly called away from it would dreamingly put his hand out and take the first thing he saw to use as a book mark, then go away and forget all about it. The time a110w.,1 for bor rowing the book might expire on that or the following day and probably a member of the family might casually pick the volume up and return it to the library without thinking of exam ining the interior. The receiving clerk at the library counter Is supposed to turn over the pages of returned books In the presence of the borrower, but whether this is always done largely depends upon the humor of the assist ant. In a crush returned volumes are laid aside for future examination. The artful advertiser cannot let even li brary books alone. Somebody is an agent for a certain patent medicine. He takes out half a dozen books to I anybody else's one, not that they aro MINISTER. ever read, but simply for the purpose of inserting a circular. I have at last succeeded in stopping him." THE MYSTERY OF DREAMS. A Case in Which the Coincidences Were Remarkable. On an occasion during the civil war I dreamed that I was standing beside a road when there came marching along it a strong column of prisoners with guards at intervals on the flanks. 1 asked one of these guards who the prisoners were and where they had been captured. He informed me that they had been taken in an engagement with the enemy on the day before, and that there were nineteen hundred of them. I then asked some bystander what day of the month it was and was told that it was such a day of a cer tain month, some six weeks later than the date of the dream. The whole dream was extremely distinct and it made a strong impression on me. I related it to a number of my comrades within the next few days, and then thought of it no more. Six weeks later, on the morning of the very day that had been mentioned in the dream as the date when the column of prisoners had passed before me, I was on picket two miles distant from the point where I seemed to be when I saw them. It was soon after breakfast, and I was standing by the side of the road at the fire, talking to the officer of the pick et, when an aide to the commanding general came riding down the road. He had been a schoolfellow of our officer's at West Point and reined up when he recognized his friend. He told us that he had good news, that there had been a sharp engagement with the enemy the day before and that our people had captured nineteen hundred prisoners who had Just passed the headquarters that morning on their way to the rear. —New York Post. Longevity In Animal*. The elephant sometimes undoubtedly attains the age of 150 years. As a basis for this opinion we have the famous Bheemsuttee, owned by his highness the Maharajah of Mysore. This elephant was captured in 1805, when about 3 years old. In 1876 she was in excellent health and showed no evidence of great age. The natives of some of the Indian tribes believe that an elephant never dies, for the reason that they have never found a dead one. The Singhalese believe that the ele phant has a certain place—a deep val ley which no man has ever seen —to which they retreat when about to die. The whale is undoubtedly a long-lived animal, and is accredited with a cen tury of life. A quiet, uneventful life, without great exertion, is conducive to longevity, which perhaps explains why the turtle attains such great age. In 1821 there died a tortoise which had lived In the Bishop's gardens at Peter borough for over a century, and from the records and account of it, kept from time to time, it was estimated to have attained the ripe old age of 223 years. In 1625 a friend presented Archbishop Laud with a tortoise which he placed in the grounds of Lambeth Palace, where it lived until 1753, or 128 years, dying then, not from old age, but on account of the neglect of the gardener. An interesting case of longevity was seen in a turtle brought from the Seychelles in 1766 by the Chevalier Marion du Presne. He de livered it to the authorities of the Mauritius, who kept it until 1853, when Sir Charles Colville, then governor of the Island, sent It to the London Zoo logical Gardens. This gave the tor toise a known age of 67 years, and as it was fully grown when first brought to Mauritius it may easily have been a centenarian. Fish are known to at tain great age, and instances of fishes living twenty and thirty years are not uncommon. It is supposed that some of the golden carp in the parks about Paris are over 100 years old, and a pike in an English pond had a sliver tag lo the effect that it was 90 years old. Latent from Cuba. The Spanish police reporter for the Cuba Times gathered the following in teresting items the other day: Fine— The Inspector of the Fifth precinct of police general, Callxto Enarmorado, put a fine on the lady Sona Terrado, living at Campanarlo No. 12, for emptying her slops into the street on a gentleman's head. Detailed—Finding the gentleman Don Lorenzo Carbonell Inebriate and making a noise he was arrested. A Mule—ln Marina street there was found a mule running loose without knowing his owner. He was sent (the mule) to the Fosos, subject to the disposition of the second lieutenant of the Alcalde. Ail lie Coulil I'rouiiKe. "Now, Tom," she pleaded prettily, "promise me one thing. Promise me that when you leave the club tonight you won't go anywhere else, but will come straight home." "I'll C ome as straight as I can, my dear," Tom answered, thoughtfully. Somerville Journal. Five Hundred Dnnre In a Cunk. The largest cask In the world is the Illatner cask of Nuremberg, Germany. It is 105 feet in diameter and fifty-one feet deep, and its completion a few years ago was celebrated by a ball, at which over "500 persons were on the floor of the cask. The tax on coffee amounts In France to about 14 cents a pound, while in England It is only 3 cents a pound.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers