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.