North Carolina Newspapers

3(h4 dfhalham Jurori J(e (Jjjhatltam Jjucoiu. H. A. LONDON, Jr., EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. BATES OF 4P Ay ADVERTISING, One square, one insertion, -One square, two insertions,- -One square, one month, TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION: fl.00 1.50 2.50 One cry, one year, One copy ,Mi mouths . Onacopy, three mouths, .00 1.00 .90 VOL. I. PITTSB01iO CHATHAM CO., X. C., NOVEMBER 21, 1878. NO. 10. For larger advertisements liberal contracts will ba made. JSf if Cftt 4$ Jldvqrtisemtnte. LARGEST STORE Cheapest Goods & Best Variety CAN BE FOUND AT LONDON'S CHEAP STORE. to Goods ReceiTeieyery feel. You can always And what you wish at Lon don's. He keeps everything. Dry Goods, Clothing, Carpeting, Hardware, Tin Ware, Drugs, Crockery, Confectionery Shoes, Boot, Caps, Hats, Carriage Materials, Sewing Machines,Oile, Putty, Glass, Paints, Nails, Iron, Plows and Plow Castings, Solo, Upptr and Harness Leathers, Saddles, Trunks, Satchels, Shawls, Blankets, Um brella?, Corsets, Belts, La dies Neck-Ties and Ruffs, Ham burg Edgings, Laces, Furniture, Ac. Best Shirts in the Country for $1. Best .1-cent Cigar, Chewing and Smoking Tobacco, Snuff, Salt and Molasses. My 6tock is always complete in every line, and goods always sold at the lowest prices. Special inducements to Cash Bayers. My motto, "A nimble Sixpence is better than a slow Shilling." s UTAH kinds of produce taken. W. L. LONDON, Pittsboro1, N. Carolina. H. A. LONDON, Jr., Attorney at Law, PITTSBORO', N. . tfafSpecial Attention Paid to Collecting. DR. A. J. YEAGER, DENTIST, PERMANENTLY LOCATED AT PXTTSBOBQ', 27. C. All Work Warranted. Satisfaction Guaranteed. R. H. COWAN. DEALER IN Staple & Fancy Dry Goods, Cloth ing, Hats, Boots, Shoes, No tions, Hardware, CROCKERY and GROCERIES, PITTSBORO', W, C. NORTH CAROLINA . STATE LIFE INSURANCE CO., 03J1 RALEIGH, tf. CAB. P. H. CAMERON. Pretident. W. E. ANDERSON. Vice Pre. W. H. HICKS, Se.c'y. The only Home life Insurance Co. in the State. All Its fund loaned out AT H09IE, and among our own people. We do not send North Carolina money abroad to build up other States. It is one of the most successful com panies of its age in the United 8tatea. Its as sets are amply sufficient. All losses paid promptly. Eight thousand dollars paid in the last two years to families in Chatham. It will cost a man aged thirty years only five cents a day to Insure for one thousand dollars. Apply for further Information to H.A. LONDON, Jr., Gen. Agt. PITTSBORO', N. C. Dr. A. D. MOORE, PITTSBORO', IT. C, Off.ra Ms professional services to tbe eUliant of Chatham, with an axpanenee or thirty years ne hopes to five entire satisfaction. JOHN MANNING, Attorney at' Law, PITTSBOEO', IT. 0., Moore and Orange, and la the Supreme and Federal uourta. O. G. POE, . Peeler In D17 Goods, Qrocirles ft Geaeral Xerduudlsa, All kinds of Flows and Castings, Buggy Xatsrials, Furnititt, oto. PITTtfBORO', BT. CAR. LARGEST STOCK MODERN RULES. Put on airs of an eight-keyed flute, If you're only a penny whistle; Paxs where you can for a garden roue, If you're only a wayside thistle. Blow, whenever you blow your horn, So people can understand That you may b sharp, but won't be flat, In society's great brass band. Pars the hat or plate in church With the usual Sabbath air ; But move with a mild religions nqtuak, That people may know you're there. If you carry a nose six Inches long (And a beak can scarce be longer), Believe it a sign of conception strong. And the longer it is the stronger. But if in the order of nasal tubes' Your organ is brief iu measure, Then, brevity being the soul of wit. Consider your pug a treaxure. Love your neighbor, but mark the force Of the Gospel rule of grace ; The more yu admire yourself, my friend, The higher your neighbor's place. Chink your dimes in the deacon's pan, As if you were throwing gold ; And give with an eye to the business hope,- Of reaping a hundred fold. Whether your readiag is little or great, Quote right or never quote ; Polish your uppers, though down in the heel, And never endorse a note. Always advance best hand best foot (Best hand best foot your own), Aud thosyoumayfeastonthefatof the land While others enjoy the bone. Pacific Christian Messenger, THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. Stanley's explorations and adven tures IN THE WILDS OF AFRICA. The following extracts from a new book by Henry M. Stanley, the African Ex plorer, will be found very interesting ; the story of hardship and adventure is well told and much light is thrown on the fascinating subject of African travel. "Before I sailed from England over twelve hundred letters were received from 'generals, 'colonels,' 'lieutenants,' 'mid shipmen,' 'engineers,' 'commissioners of hotels,' mechanics, waiters, cooks, serv ants, and somebodies and nobodies, spiri tual mediums and niagnetizers, etc., etc. They all knew Africa, were perfectly acclimatized, were quite sure the would please me, would do me important ser vices, save me from any number of trou bles by their ingenuity and resources, take me up in balloons or by flying carriages, make us all invisible by theirniagie arts, or by the 'science of magnetism,' would cause all savages to fall asleep while we might pass anywhere without trouble. In I r. deed, I feel sure that, had money enough been at my disposal at that time) I might have led 5,000 Englishmen, 5,000 Ameri cans, 2,000 Frenchmen, 2.000 Germans, 500 Italians, 250 Swiss, 200 Belgians, fifty Spaniards and five Greeks, or 15,005 Eu ropeans, to Africa But the time had not arrived to depopulate Europe, and colonize Africa, on such a scale, and I was com pelled to respectfully decline accepting the valuable services of the applicants, and to content myself with Francis, John and Edward Pocock and Frederick Barker, whose entreaties had been seconded by his mother on my return from America." Nor did Stanley's troubles in this line end here. The followed him persistently to Zanzibar. DESERTIONS. But while many were thus clamorous to go not a few weakened after they had fair ly started. To quote Stanley: 'Desertions from the expedition had been frequent. At first, Kacheche, the chief detective, and his gang of four men, who had received their instructions to fol low us a day's journey behind, enabled me to recapture sixteen of the deserters; but '.he conniving Wanywana and Wany amweyi soon discovered this resource of mine against their well-known freaks, and, instead of striking east in their departure, absconded either south or north of the track. We then had detectives posted long before dawn, several hundred yards away from the camp, who were bidden to be in wait in the bush, until the expedition had started, and in this manner we succeeded in repressing to some extent the disposi tion to desert, and arrested very many men on the point of escaping; but even this was not adequate. Fifty had abandoned us before reaching Mpwapwa, taking with them the advances they had received, and often their guns, on which our safety might depend. "Several feeble men and women also had to be left behind, and it was evident that the very wariest methods failed to bind the people to their duties. The best of treatment and abundance of provisions daily distributed were alike insufficient to induce suc h faithless natures to be loyal. However, we persisted, and as often as we failed in one we tried another. Had all these men remained loyal to their contract and promises, we should have been too strong for any force to attack us, as our numbers must necessarily have commanded respect in lands and among tribes where only power is respected." SICKNESS AND STARVATION. Not only did desertions thin out the little party, but starvation and sickness did their share in depleting the ranks. In speaking of the fight that took place almost at the outset of the journey, Stanley says : "On the morning of the 24th we waited patiently in our camp. Why should we attack ? We were wretched enough as it was without seeking to add to our wretch edness. We numbered only seventy effec tive men, for all the others were invalids, frightened porters, women donkey boys and children. The sick list was alarming, but, try how we might, the number was not to be reduced. While we lived from hand to mouth on a few grains of corn a day, after a month's experience of famine fare, our plight must not only remain pitiable, but become worse. We were therefore in a mood to pray that we might not be at tacked, but permitted to leave the camp in safety." PANTOMIME. Readers of Irving' s charming biography of Columbus will remember how he pro cured provisions from the Indians by pre dicting an eclipse of the moon Stanley describes here how he played upon the cupidity of the negroes : "We had reserved one banana and a piece of cassava. We had our mouths and our stomachs with us. An appropriate gesture with the banana to the mouth, and a gentle fondling with a puckered stomach, would, we thought, be a manner of expressing extreme want, eloquent enough to penetrate the armored body of a crocodile. We came opposite the village at thirty yards distance, and dropped our stone anchor, and I stood up with inv ratr ged old helmet pushed back far, that they might scrutinize my face, and the lines of suasion be properly seen. With the ban anna in one hand, and a gleaming armlet of copper and beads of various colors in the other, I began the pantomime. I once know an idiot in Brusa, Asia Minor, who entreated me for a pera in much the same dumb strain that I implored the assembled hundreds of Rubunga to relax that sullen sternness, that uncompromising aspect, that savage front, and yield to the captivating influence of fair and honest barter. I clashed the copper bracelets together, lovingly handled the bright gold-brown of the shining armlet, exposed with all my best grace of manner long necklaces of bright and clean Cypraia moneta, and allured their attention with beads of the brightest color;. Nor were the polished folds of yellow brass wire omitted. ; and again the banana was lifted to my open mouth. Then what suspense, what pa tience, what a saint-like air of resignation! Ah, yes ! but I think I may be pardoned for all that degrading pantomime. I had a number of hungry, half-wild children ; and through a cannibal world we had ploughed to reach these unsophisticated children of nature. A FIGHT WITH THE NATIVES. Many are the accounts of battles and skirmishes with which the pages oi "Through the Dark Continent M are in terlarded. We give as indicative of a de scription of one fight, that below the con fluence of the Livingstone and Aruwmi Rivers : "At 2 P. M., heralded by savage shouts from the wasp swarm, which from some cause or other are unusually exultant, we emerge out of the shelter of the deeply wooded banks in presence of a vast afflu ent, nearly two thousand yards across at the mouth, As soon as we have entered its waters, we see a great concourse of canoes hovering about some islets, which stud the middle of the stream. The canoe men, standing, gave a loud shout as they discern us, and blow their horns louder than ever. We pull briskly on to gain the right bank, and come in view ot the right branch of the affluent, when, looking up stream, we see a sight that sends the blood tingling through every nerve and fiber of the body, arouses not only our most lively interest, but also our most lively appre hensions a flotilla of gigantic canoes bear ing down upon us which both in size and numbers utterly eclipse anything encoun tered hitherto ! Instead of aiming for the right bank, we form in line, and keep straight down the river, the boat taking position behind. Yet after a moment's reflection, as I note the numbers of the savages and the daring manner of the pur suit, and the apparent desire ot our canoes to abandon the steady compact line, 1 give the order to drop anchor. Four of our canoes affect not to listen, until I chase them and threaten them with my guns. This compelled them to return o the line, which is formed of eleven double canoes, anchored ten yards apart. The boat moves up to the front and takes position fifty yards above them. The shields are next lifted by the non-combatants, men, wo men and children in the bows, and along the outer lines, as well as astern, ami from behind these the muskets and rifles are aimed. We have sufficient time to take a view of the mighty force bearing down on us, and to count the number of the war ves sels which have been collected from the Livingstone and its great affluent. There are fifty-four of them ! A monster canoe leads the way, with two rows of up-standing paddles, forty men on a side, their bodies bending and swaying in uni son as with a swelling barbarous chorus they drive her down toward us. In the bow, standing on what appears to be a platform, are ten prime young warriors, their heads gay with feathers of the parrot, crimson and gray; at the stern, eight men, w ith long paddles, whose tops are decor ated with ivory balls, guide the monster vessel; and dancing up and down from stem to stern are ten men, who appear to be chiefs. All the paddles are headed with ivory balls, every head bears a feather crown, every arm shows gleaming white ivory armlets. From the bow of the canoe streams a thick fringe of the long white fibre of the Hyphone palm. The crashing sound of large drums, a hundred blasts from ivory horns and a thrilling chant from 2,000 human throats, do not tend to soothe our nerves or to increase our con fidence. However, it is "neck or noth ing." We have no time to pray, or to take sentimental looks at the savage world, or even to -breathe a sad farewell to it. So many other things have to be done speed ily and well." As the foremost comes rushing down, and its consorts on either side beating the water into foam, and raising their jets of water with their sharp prows, I turn to take a last look at our people, and say to them : "Boys, be firm as iron ; wait until you see the first spear, and then take good aim. Don't fire all at once. Keep aim ing until you are sure of your man. Don't think of running away,. for only your guns can save jrou. Our blood is up now. It is a murderous world, and we feel for the first time that we hate the filtb)', vulturous ghouls who inhabit it. We, therefore, lift our anchors and pursue them up stream along the right bank, until rounding a point we see their villages. We make straight for the banks, and continue the fight in the vil lage streets with those who have landed, hunt them out into the woods, and there only sound the retreat, having returned the daring cannibals the compliment of a visit. TROUBLES OF TRAVEL. The difficulties of travel that beset the explorer are graphically related in the following extract : The constant slush and reek which the heavy dews caused in the forest through which we had traveled the last ten days had worn my shoes out, and half of the march I traveled with naked feet. I had then to draw out of my store my last pair of shoes. Yet we were still in the very center of the continent. What should we do when all were gone? was a question which we asked of each other often. The faces of the people, Arabs, Wang wana, Wanyamwezi and the escort were quite a study at this camp. All their courage was oozing out, as day by day we plodded through the doleful, dreary forest. We saw python ten feet long, a green viper and a monstrous puff-adder on this march, besides scores of monkeys, of the white-necked or glossy black species, as also the small gray and" the large howling baboons. We heard, also, the "soko" or chimpanzee, and saw one "nest" be longing to it in the fork of a tall bombax. A lemur was also observed; its loud, harsh cries made each night hideous. The path presented myriapedes, black and brown, six inches in length; while beetles were innumerable, and armies ef dep brown "hot-water" ants compelled us to be cautious how we stepped. The difficulties of such travel as we had now commenced may be imagined when a short march of six miles and a half oc cupied the twenty-four men who were carrying the boat sections an entire day, and so fatigued them that we had to halt another day at Wane-Kirumbu, to recruit their exhaus ed strength. The terrible undergrowth that here en rossed all the space under the shade of the pillared bombax and mast-like mvule was a miracle of vegetation. It consisted of ferns, spear-grass, water-cane, and orchidaceous plants, mixed with wild vines, cable-thicknesses of the JFHcus elas tica, and a sprinkling of mimosas, acacias, tamarinds, llianes, palms of various spe cies, wild date, Raphia vinifera, the elais, the fan, rattans, and a hundred other varieties, all struggling for every inch of space, and swarming upward with a luxu riance and density that only this extra ordinary hot-house atmosphere could nour ish. " li:td certainly seen forests before, but this scene was an epoch in our lives ever to be remembered for its bitterness ; the gloom enhanced the dismal misery of our life; the slopping moisture, the un healthy reeking atmosphere, and the monotony of the scenes; nothing but the eternal interlaced branches, the tall aspir ing stems, rising from a tangle thiough which we had to burrow and crawl like wild animals, on hands and feet. THE MECHANIC ARTS IN AFRICA. But not all of Africa is benighted, as the following extract will show: At Wane-Kirumbu we found a large native forge and smithy, where there were about a dozen smiths busily at work. The iron ore is very pure. Here were the broad-blailed spears of Southern Uregga, and the equally broad knives of all sizes, from the small waist-knife, an inch and a half in length, to the heavy Roman sword like cleaver. The bellows for the smeltj ing furnace are four in number, double handed, and manned by four men, who, by a quick up-and-down motion, supply a powerful blast, the noise of which is heard nearly half a mile from the scene. The furnace consists of tamped clay, raised into a mound about four feet high. A hollow is then excavated in it, two feet in diameter and two feet deep. From the middle of the slope four apertures are ex cavated into the base of the furnace, into which are fitted funnel-shaped earthen ware pipes to convey the blasts to the fire. At the base of the mound a wide aperture for the hearth is excavated, penetrating below the furnace. The hearth receives the dross and slag. Close by stood piled up mat -sacks of charcoal, with a couple ot boys ready to supply the fuel, and about two yardsjoff was a smaller smithy, where the iron was shaped into hammers, axes, war-hatches, spears, knives, swords, wire, iron balls with spikes, leglets, armlets, and iron beads, etc. The art of the blacksmith is of a high standard in the forests, consider ing the loneliness of the inhabitants. The people have much traditional lore, and it appears from the immunity which they have enjoyed in these dismal retreats, that from rnie generation to another something has been communicated and learned, show ing that even the jungle man is a progres sive and improvable animal. THE VILLAGE OF SKULLS. We must close the account with the fol lowing relating to a village of skulls : The most singular feature of Kampunza Village was two rows of skulls ten feet apart, running along the entire length of the village, imbedded about two inches deep in the ground, the "cerebral hemis pheres" uppermost, bleached, and glisten ing white from weather. The skulls were 18(5 in number in tins one village. Tome they appeared to be human, though many hail an extraordinary projection of the posterior lobes, others of the parietal bones, and the frontal bones were un usually low7 and retreating; yet the sutures and the general aspect of the greatest number of them were so similar to what I believed to be human that it was almost with an indifferent air that I asked my chiefs and Arabs what these skulls were. They replied, "sokos" chimpanzees(Y). THE GUILLOTINE. EXECUTION OF THE LAWYER AND DOCTOK WHO KILLED AND DIS SECTED A MILKWOM AN . The clock strikes four. The attend ants sit around the guillotine smoking and waiting for the hour. They have all taken a little wine, which Monsieur de Paris provided for them. Within those walls the two men who are to die this morning are asleep or let us hope they sleep. They as yet know nothing of their fate, for by the law of France the prisoner is only told of the time of execution a few minutes before his doom. Their cells are in the rear of the prison, where they cannot hear the noise of the builders of the scaf fold or the hoarse murmurs of the eager, restless and constantly gather ing crowd. A couple of officers come, smoking cigarettes. They are in com mand of the infantry guard. They give an order, and we, who have been all this time around the scaffold watch ing it go into place, watching Mon sieur de Paris, watching the workmen contentedly resting over their pipes and wine, watching the gray shadows breaking into dawn, seeing the day come in all its glory we are hustled and driven back and made to. form a line. The officers have some trouble, as everyone likes a front place; but in time, not without some feeling on both sides, we are finally arranged and kept in place by a line of policemen. A covered carriage drives up, No. 146. I mention the number, because this is the carriage that always goes for the priest. The priest, an old man with thin white locks and frail, bent form, descends. This is the Abbe Crozes, whose duty is to attend the condemned and who has accompanied many and many a wretch to the scaffold. All hats go off to the Abbe, whose mission inspires universal respect. He passes into the prison. Then Monsieur de Paris goes to his van and puts on a blue overall dress of woolen a loose heavy dress, tied around the neck with a cord. His chief assistants decorate themselves in similar costumes. The lines of infantry and cavalry are drawn nearer, inspected and brought together compactly. Monsieur de Paris and mite enter the prison. The gray shadows begin to grow pearly. A flock of birds fly over the scaffold, and everybody watches their flight with in terest. In the trees above us birds are twittering their welcome to the dawn. On entering the prison the exe cutioner and the Abbe are met by the Director of the Prison. All the forms of law are observed minutely in an execution. The Commissary of Police has his order from the court. He formally demands the bodies of Barre and Leliez. The Director seals the order. The Commissary signs a re ceipt, which relieves the Director from all responsibility. The way is led to the cell. The first cell opened was that of Barre. Barre was not asleep. He raised his eyes on seeing the light. The Director of the Prison placed his hand on his shoulder. " Aimee-Thomas Barre," he said, in the form prescribed by law, "votro pourvoi en cassation a eterejete, votre recours en grace re pousse; du courage." Barre trembled as though under an electric battery. He arose at once and pulled on his clothes. In this he was assisted by the executioner. He said nothing, trem bling all the time. The Director asked him if he desired anything water, wine or cigars. He lit a cigarette and then asked to remain a moment alone with his confessor. This was granted and the procession, leaving Barre with the Abbe, passed to the cell of Leliez. Leliez had remained awake until 2 o'clock playing cards. The theory of the French law is to amuse prisoners condemned to death and keep their minds as much as possible from the contemplation of their fate. Barre had spent his last night writing a memoir to his parents. Leliez played cards. Even while the guillotine was taking shape he was busy in his game, unconscious of his fate. He then read in a volume, the ''History of Navi gators" read until after 3 o'clock. He fell into a souud sleep. When the director spoke to him he did not vt ake. When aroused he jumped up violently and sat on the foot of the bed. The director pronounced the formal words as addressed to Barre, telling him his hour had come. He dressed rapidly, without assistance, refusing wine or cigars, and arranged his papers. MAKING THE TOILET. After the prisoners were dressed came what is called the toilet. The prisoner when dressed passes into the hands of the executioner. s ' Thou art mine," he says, according to the ancient forms of the French law. Then they pass into a small room. The hair is cut. The shirt and coat are removed and a tunic put on, which is a plain woolen shirt, cut so as to expose the shoulders, and without sleeves. The arms are tied with a cord, the feet also, so as to allow a short step. Du ring this ceremony Barre smoked in a mechanical way, trembling nervously, his cigarette going out two or three times, When the headsman tied his arms Barre objected and said he would not struggle. But it was a precaution to prevent resistance, which I am told always takes place at the last moment, so strong is the instinct of life. Barre made all the delay he could. He called for wine, which he drank with avidity. He asked for a cigarette. But in the meantime the toilet of his companion was made. Everything was ready, any more delay only prolonged the agony of the unfortunate man, and without noticing the last request the Commissary of Police made a sign. The procession marched. It is half-past 5 and the day has al most come. The lamps are out. The guillotine stands gloomy and red in the morning shadows. The birds fly around it. There is a rustle. The signal is given that the procession ap proaches. The officer in command of the horsemen ciies out, "Draw sabres." The wide gate of La Roquette is thrown open. All hats are raised. The sad procession comes slowly. The police men are in advance. Then, solemnly, Monsieur de Paris. Then the Abbe, walking with his back to the guillotine, pressing the crucifix to the lips of the condemned, who is assisted, almost carried, by two aids in blue blouses. Barre lost all energy. At every step he grew weaker. From the gate to the guillotine is twenty-three steps, as your correspondent counted them. When half way Barre sank and would have fallen but for the firm arms of his attendants. His face was almost blue, his lips protruding. The Abbe kissed him on both cheeks and passed hur riedly to the gate. Barre was in front of the scaffold, unconscious, appa rently.. Monsieur de Paris took his houlders, pressed him on the bascule, threw him over, saw that the head was in the groove, and touched the button. Barre found peace at last and justice was avenged. It was the work of a moment to re move the body of Barre from the plank and throw it into the box. Le liez was within the gate, his procession being thirty steps behind that of Barre He heard the sound of the axe as it took the life of his friend. He showed more nerve than Barre and walked with more firmness. As he kissed the Abbe and was seized by the shoulder by Monsieur de Paris, he said in a firm voice, "Adieu, Messieurs!" A voice cried out, "Bravo, Leliez." In another moment he was on the bas cule. The arm fell. It was just forty seconds between each descent of the axe, as your correspondent noted by his watch. The Abbe had hardly time to enter his carriage when the bodies were placed in a wagon and driven off. The poor Abbe was pale and trembling, the perspiration falling from his brow. He held the crucifix in his hand. The funeral van started off at a rapid rate a squadron of cavalry in charge to the resting place of the condemned at Ivry. Within two minutes from the opening of the gates of Roqueite the funeral van was driving off at a full trot. The police faced around and ad vanced on the crowd. The cavalry and infantry slowly drove back in all directions. Within five minutes not a soul was in the open space but the exe cutioner and his aids taking down the guillotine. So swift is justice in France. JV. Y. Herald Correspondence, WILL YOU HAVE A BUG? Not in your ear, although a great many men do go off with a bug in their ear; but is there any particular insect that you would like for your dinner ? Better people than you have eaten them, not from necessity, but choice. People of far better education, broader culture, higher station in society have eaten them and liked them. Aristotle was fond of locusts, fried in sweet oil, and declares in excellent classic lan guage that "they are sweet. " In Africa this locust, which is a distant relative of our grasshopper, is baked into a kind of sweet cake. Some tribes make bread of them. The people of Ceylon eat the honey bee. In some of the south Pacific Islands .the' natives catch large quantities of butterflies, rub their wings off, roast and eat them. They invariably make the man who eats them terribly sick for a few hours, but it doesn't make any difference. His taste is unchanged, and as soon as he is able to get around he starts out after another mess of butterflies. In the cities of Morocco to-day, locusts, the same kind that John the Baptist ate, are sold for food by the cart-load. The Australians eat caterpillars, and the economical Chinese devour the un wound silk-worm. The peasants of Southern France are not proud, but eat snail soup and call for more. In India the natives grind the white ants into powder, which they sell for flour, and the poorer people bake cakes of it. They seem to enjov them while they live, but as it gives the eater the cholera very quickly and very fatally, be does not live long enough to eat more than his weight in white ants. In Africa they don't grind the ant into Hour. They just parch them like corn, and crunch them down. In South America the natives make cakes out of the common ground ant, and Alex ander Von Humboldt says the flavor of the cakes is pleasant. This ant is used in flavoring some of the cheaper brandies of Sweden, on account of the formic acid it secretes. In New Cale donia the natives eat spiders, roasting them. The Roman ladies used to eat the cossus, the grub of a caterpillar found in the oak tree. They ate this when their order of beauty was a little too much inclined to the "scrawny," for this grub was as fattening as oil cake. The Mexicans distil a liquor from the weevil, and use it as a stimulant. Possibly this is where the slang term "bug juice," frequently used by the bibulous young American as he calls for his morning decoction, finds its origin. This same beetle is broiled and eaten in the West Indies. When the larva; is big enough to eat, this is what it looks like : three inches long, one inch in circumference, color a dingy yellow, looking like a piece of fat and a black head. It doesn't look tempt ing, but roasted or broiled, seasoned with salt and pepper, eaten with crumbed bread, the Haytians prefer it to oysters. Cheese mites are eaten by civilized and cultured people very frequently, but generally in happy ignorance. In Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and por tions of Iowa, a few white savages, who ought to have known better, cooked grasshoppers and ate them, and tried to induce other civilized people to do likewise. Our American Indians eat well, they will do well to close the chapter with they eat anything that crawls, and can't wriggle fast enough to get away from them. It is not a particularly appetizing subject, but it is interesting, and it may serve to make you more content, some day when you quarrel with your dinner, to remember that good and bad food are, maybe, only matters, of taste, after all. 11 awkeye. THE ORIGIN OF " SHE STOOPS TO CON QUER." A singular anecdote is related of Goldsmith's last journey to Edge worth's town, previously to his en trance at college. Having left home on horseback, he reached Ardagh, where it was necessary for him to sleep at nightfall. He had a guinea in his pocket, and was determined to enjoy himself. He asked for the best house in the place, and from a piece of Irish literal comprehension or waggery was directed to a private house instead of an inn. Goldsmith had no thought of a mistake, and being readily admitted by the servants, who, from his confi dence, concluded that he was some well-known friend and invited guest of their master, he gave directions con cerning his horse, and being shown into the parlor found there the owner of the mansion at his fireside a Mr. Featherstone, a gentleman of fortune and somewhat of a wit. Oliver began to call about him with authority, as one entitled to attention ; and his host, having soon detected the youth's error, and being willing to enjoy an evening's amusement, humored his guest, caused wine and whatever else Oliver chose to order to be brought him ; accepted with his wife and daughters an invi tation to supier at his own table, and received with becoming attention strict injunctions to have a hot cake ready for breakfast on the following morning. It was not till he called for his bill that the abashed school-lad discovered his blunder, and learned that he had been entertained at the residence of an old acquaintance of his father. The ad venture was subsequently made to furnish the main incident in the com edy of "She Stoops to Conquer." The growth of woolen manufac turing in this country may be learned from the fact that in 1840 the product of our woolen factories amounted to $20,070,000, while in 1870 they reached the enormous aggregate of $155,490,000, and this exclusive of worsted carets and hosiery, which amounted to $43, 762,000. At the present time the water in Lake Superior is lower than ever before known, nearly two feet below the usual level, and the transit steamers, when loaded down, have in a couple of in stances grounded in the main channel of the bay at Duluth. In Saxony, 1,258 fires occurred in 1877, by which 054 houses were totally destroyed and 1,750 partially damaged. The idea of insurance against storms is of German origin, but it is also getting a foothold in this country at the West. The St. Paul Hail In surance Company has just paid $19,000 in Carver county, Minn., for damage to crops. The beet sugar industry, which did so much to secure prosperity in France, is showing signs of success in California, Wisconsin and Illinois. Maine has appropriated $70,000 to test the culture of the white beet for sugar. " The Claimant," Orton, is now employed at Portsmouth Dockyard, sawing timber. He is much thinner than he was. At first they set him to brick-making, but he attracted too much attention from curious visitors. Mrs. Langtry's beautiful nose is out of joint. Mrs. Wheeler, another Jerseywoman, only recently resident in the Isle of Wight, is the new reign ing beauty. She is a lady of the Lang try and languishing type, and is said to excel even the Jersey Lily in the art of setting off her charms. Exports of breadstuffs and pro visions from the four leading cities of the Atlantic seaboard for the week ending Sept. 14th were : Flour, 85,950 bbls ; wheat, 3,705,000 bushels ; corn, 1,441,000 bushels ; rye, 83,000 bushels ; pork, 4,400 bbls; lard, 2,700,000 lbs; bacon, 5,710,000 lbs. Unlike his father, Victor Emanuel, King Hubert delights in royal display and ceremony. He enjoys entering and leaving the large cities of his kingdom in rigid official form, with outriders, aids, and guards, troops in line, and majors in waiting. Last month he en joyed several fetes of this kind. In Venice a grand illumination and mag nificent festivities were given in honor of his arrival, and his departure was after the style of an old-time king. A rich sugar refiner of San Fran cisco, it is reported, has bought 20,000 acres of land in the Hawaiian Islands for the cultivation of sugar cane. He will irrigate the dry lands, dry the swamps, build railways, and spare no money to make the thing a success. The same man, when the reciprocity treaty, making island sugar free of duty, appeared safe of confirmation, slipped over and secured all the sugar for three years ahead. In the twelve months, from the 1st of Sept., 1877, to the 31st of August, 1878, the imports of wheat and wheat flour into the United Kingdom amounted to no less than 02,255,125 cwt.; of Indian corn, 40,746.135 cwt.; of barley, 14,201,373 cwt.; of oats. 12,280,354 cwt. Adding also peas and beans, the total importation or grain in the twelve months reached 134,430, 348 cwt. In neither of the two pre ceding twelve months did the imports of grain reach 1 19,0i J0,UC0 cwt. According to the official report by the Bureau of Statistics of our ex ports, breadstuffs increased last year by $112,793,510. provisions by $932,733, petroleum by $24,764,298, leather by $0,603,287, cotton manufactures by $0,504,574, iron and steel by $5,094,719, copper and brass by $2,139,099. Since 1873 our imports of railroad iron bars have decreased from $19,740,702 to $530 only. The imports of cotton manufactures have decreased by $15, 353,325, manufactured flax by $8,937, 033, silk manufactures by $10,134,130, and raw wool by $12,070,923. Boating matters at Trinity College are looking up. Since the Saratoga re gatta, in which the crew of that college met with an accident that spoiled the race for them, interest has flagged. An other cause was the want of a large enough attendance at the. college to create a sharp rivalry among the ath eltic men. Now, however, the college attendance has increased, the students are of a wealthier class, and there is a better display among them of physical strength. A year ago a committee was appointed to procure funds for a boat house. The committee raised $250, a large part of that sum coming from prominent citizens of Hartford. This fall new efforts have been put forth, and a good race is promised before win ter begins. The committee have issued a circular, in which they say that while a proper opportunity for friendly con tests with other colleges will not be disregarded, it is mainly the intention of the club to promote the boating in terest among the undergraduates, ami to enable those owning boats to use them. When any epidemic rages, there is always much groundless alarm among some classes of persons. Precautions and care should not be confounded with alarm. Not long ago an account was published showing the result in a sin gle instance of alarm and ignorance. A young French woman from New Orleans, accompanied by her nephew were traveling North. The nephew fell from the train and was killed. Afterward the woman was quite ill, and it being thought that she had the yellow fever, she was taken from the cars at Louisville and sent to the hos pital. The physician declared it a serious case of yellow fever. She was treated with the most stringent reme dies. Her clothing and l&ggage were fumigated, and there was great excite ment over the matter. She was kept isolated in the hospital several days, and seemed to grow no better and no worse, except that her excitement in creased and her ravings in French con tinued. The French Consul was finally sent for, and after a few moments con versation, discovered that she was not sick, but perfectly well, except that she could not understand English, and was in a state of great nervous excite ment over the accidental death of her nephew and the remarkable treatment she had received from what she sup posed was a gang of bandits. Other physicians were called in, and corrobo rated the consul's statements, and she was released and sent on her way with her nephew's body.