4 (!;haihm JUo.a,
H. A. LONDON, Jr.,
KDITOB AND ritOrRIETOR.
Of
ADVERTISING.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION!
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LM
MTTSBOKO CHATHAM CO., N. C, MARCH 20, 1884.
NO. 28.
n burgor Klrortlsoraunti liberal cop tracts n I II
VOI,. VI.
The rour-Ljiivct! ( lovor.
uv mi: i.ati: ,r. mokton,
A VlCHM OF Till! (TlV Of C-' Jt.I Mil!
Pl-.V-ll.H.)
I
l)lFl'l't) l tiny Hllll Iiosjoiii ginning in tin
count iv li'-UN,
Where l.utti- llic-i ii iv II- tins -ill day l'Mii,';
t'li, the -iiiirurr iih i pirf.iincd ith the Ir.ig-
1-lllH'f 1 1 t It J it'lil..
All 1 honey -kvs iiimiiii I it five to thro eg.
Tl Kli I II lll-lpl- (MIU-.'V
I.ii k In tho tr er.int ll over
Jvich country In-, ie in tin- i lini in Ii lii vi'S;
Ami when dm I, id mh o mitivai ;,
'riirniili I In; inu .dims they niv win ;,
J" liinl ii ;p ny of lienor wi Ii four e.ivcj.
f-'o I II till- W.irM l.VCI
Wll'Sle e " j(HI-i lln clover,
"I'is f ieilv e. illiieel iiinl pii.etl iih ti Km;
li ll llirk Wilt lltti'llll Villi.
And lort.iuu I't Iriend yon,
ii r..i n ir.ii,-) iiiv (.lii-;vu;. upon th'1 jiii'cii
!-!i-m.
II.
Tlie;t-'sii legend llr.it the fairies dine upon the
clover lilonni.
Ami suin;; t ! eulnveh hninniocks in it
shade;
Ami llmt when tln i liis'n tin s will not jjivo
tlll'lll f.li'l'lill-MllHl
Ti- there their littln fury he Is uro niadn.
It h:m the (:: llle ill;;;
Am! anyone po-e .-ine;
A four li' ivcd i l.in-i- iiu'oi should with it
pint.
For friend- will iin or for.- tko you,
Mi-loll ithi ne'er n'vn ik" you.
II' yon weir ti lo irlenvi; t rl ivo, nest your
li-nrt.
Soiill the null I over,
Wlu-roer sniffs tho clover,
'Ti eagerly Kiit'iored nml p: i.cd ns a fim.
Good lack wiil attend yon.
Am! iiiu e hclricnd yon
If four ie ivcs mo il'i-tcied ii the Ki oen
stem.
HOLDING THE FORT.
The old village clock was striking
eight in its muffled, asthmatic way,
when Mr. Blidgciield came up the
garden-path witli a paper of moist
brown sugar under one arm, and half a
pound of parailino candles under the
other.
On each side of him ruse np plump
heads of cabbages, and blue-green
swamps of onions. A thrifty hop-vine
was waving its tassels against the
porch pillars, and a bed of parsley was
growing rankly by the gate. Tor Mr.
Blidgedeld was a firm believer in the
beauty of utility.
In the davs of his deceased wife there
had been a faint attempt at morning
glory vines, clove-pinks and Johnny
jumpers aronnd the house, but Mr.
Blidgefield had soon settled that matter.
"Fudge!" he had ruthlessly cried.
"They ain't gl t neither stew for
cough-mixtures, nor to boil up for
greens. Looks? What do I care for
looks? Ain't a squash bloom every
bit a pretty as a marigold I'd like to
know ? My daughter must be brought
up not to care for empty show!"
And so all the wild, fantastic beauty
of nature had been narrowed down into
vegetable borders and potato patches
a id the souls of the Ulidgelield chil
dren had been narrowed accordingly.
Money! money! money! That was
tho god of Mr. Blidgelield's idolatry,
lie went to church on Sunday, and sat
out the service in his hard and eushion-1-ss
pew, but to him all that the choir
sing and the preacher preaehl was
money!
He attended tho prayer-meetings
punctually, for he was a member of
the church, but he never put more than
a copper penny in the plate.
"If every man takes care of number
one," ho said, with a hard compression
of his lignum-vita lips, "th whole
world will be took caro of!"
He rose up early to economize the
Bunshine, and lay down lute for fear of
wasting time. Ho kept a whole al.
manac full of proverbs oa tho tip of
his tongue, and denounced "shiftless
ness" as if it were one of tho seven car
dinal sins. Danciug was an instru
ment of the Evil One; novel reading
was the opening wedge of Danto's Pur
gatorio. Anything in tho shape of in
nocent recreation was a direct Hying in
the face of Providence And the
Elldgcfield children grew up gaunt,
careworn and prematurely old under
this system of training.
Mr. Blidgefield's first wife had
dropped quietly and obscurely into her
grave before any ono fairly compre
hended thatsho was not in high health.
Hard work and a relentless taskmaster
had fairly worried her out of the world.
And all the neighborhood marveled
when, ten years afterward, Nancy
Bloom married the widower.
Nancy was the village school teach
er a bright-eyed, buxom young womon
of twenty-eight or thirty, she had
taken a fancy to the little Blidgelieldsi
and she was tired of teaching, and
wanted a home.
"You'll find Hen Blidgefield a hard
nut to crack," said the neighbors, warn
ingly. "I'll risk it," Nancy had cheerily re
plied. And bo she married Mr. Blidgcfieli'i
and went to the farm-house to live.
The six young Blidgefields had been
1 I, ,1.1 11,.., .. . .1 - .. r f..i
..'i to, u. , ifjiiii.'iuui- ii leitnui
thing; but to their surprise, they found
Mrs. Ulidgelield Number Two a posi
tive revelatim of iKdight.
"Sho showed me how to boil mo
lasses randy, with hickory nuts
ehoppul up in it," s lid Simeon, a
weird child child cf eleven, who was
popularly supposed to bo ignorant even
of the motion of a humming top.
"She give mo apple sa.isuu my bread,"
whispered Marioti, th next
"We're to have pie every day,"
chuckled Mo.-es, who liked good things
to eat an I drink.
"And I'm to lay up the berry-money
for a bine iirisliu fioek all of my own,"
added Adelina, who never hail worn
anything but her mother's faded old
calico g.itvns scantily cut over.
I'm to have a bran-lire-new tool
chest if I raise the red heifer call," ex
ulted tieorge, the tallest buy.
And Leroy, the eldest, who bad been
scolded, snubbed, and kept down all bis
life, felt, with a thrill of happiness,
that his new stepmother secretly sym
pathize I with his efforts to ri.-e in tho
world.
"Now she's here," thought Leroy, "I
feel as if I could do most anything."
Mr. Blidgefield ha I a-an ely been
married a week, when h'.1 came home on
this raw, rainy August nig'it, with the
packets of groecri'S uud'-r 1. is arms,
iind a diss itisiied frown between bis
irows.
"Two candle.!," ho said, peeping
gloomily under tho hem of the ball
fringed window curtain. "And chick
en tor supper and apple sa s and
cheese! And every one fettin' round.
tnd nobody doin' no work. This won't
do. Nancy must learn belter tnan
this!-'
Ho opened the door and walked
grimly in.
A deal silence fell upon tho chil
dren at the wet-blanketing apparition
of "father."
But Nancy looked cheerfully up.
"You're late, aren't you, Benjamin?''
said she.
"What's tins?" said Mr. Blidgefield,
ignoring her query, as he glared
around.
"It's supper," said Nancy, .-it
down, my dear, and help yourself."
"Chicken!" croaked the farmer; "and
spring chicken at that, when they're
a-fetchin' sixty cents a pair at the hotel!
Sweet cake, sass, and the best knives!
Moses! put them faowls bai-k in the
cupboard! There's plenty o' cold pork
left from yesterday, I calcu'ate. Ad
'liny, b ow out ono o' them candles!
Tho way we burn candles is redick
'lous; and storo candles, too! Why,
we never thought o' usin' anything but
dip candles when"
"Moses, let the chickens alone," said
Mrs. Blidgefield, in softly-deliberate
accents. "Adeliua, don't meddle with
the candles."
"Wbat!'' roared Mr. Blidgi.U Id.
banging the packag of .sugar down on
the table and ra'tling the candlei bo
side them like a small park of artillery.
"I thought you had pv-rha;'S forgot
ten that I am tho housekeeper here,'
said Nancy.
The children turned a3 many colors
as tho rainbow; Moses, who was con
stitutionally nervous, got behind his
stepmother; Simon edged a little nearer
to thb poker; Marion swallowed hcr
last morsel of cake with such precipi
tation as nearly to choke herself; Ade.
lina began to Bob and snivel under her
breath.
"Mrs. Blidgefield," said tho irate
farmer, "will you be so good as to ex
plain yourself?'.'
"Oh, certainly!" said the late Miss
Nancy Bloom. "As long as 1 am mis.
tress here I intend to consult my own
inclinations. 1 shall undertake to give
you good food, and to keep yourself and
your children comfortably clothed; but
I shall chooso my own' method of doing
it."
"Madam," sa:d Mr. Blingetield, loosen,
ingthe folds of bis cravat, as if there
came an apoplectic pressure there, "you
will obey me, or you will leave my
house!"
Disaster to a Dude.
A dude walked into a doctor's office
on Seventh street one morning last
week with a patch over his eye, a band
age over his head, his arm in a sling,
two yards of red flannel around his
neck, a strip of court plaster aross his
face, and an ugly looking nose, thick
lips, his ear slit in two places and
lame in both legs.
"Great iEsculapius, what is it?'
said the startled doctor.
"Aw, doc taw, good mawning."
"Heaven's! man, what's the matter?
Been standing up before slugger Sul
livan? Cyclone catch you? (irasshop
pers settle on yon? Mule kick you
or what?"
"Aw, doctaw, don't mention it. It
makes mo tiahed, don't you know?"
"And what's the matter, man?"
"Aw, doctaw, I was a membah,
don't you know, of a coasting pahty
lahst night out on Mt. Aubu'n, don't
you Know r
KOLA.
A ."Vnt Willi li T.i lt lie I'l.ii'c l Ten mill
nllre In Vlrlrii,
A stimulant everywhere in use in
the interior of Africa, and emedally
in tho region of Sierra Leone where il
grows, is the nut known as .' or
;'"'". Tliiiistlc" sen I of a t re -belonging
to the family ot Stercnlia-ea,
of which there are s 'veral varieties,
and it is n markable on a-nuiiit of con
taining (besides glucose, tannin, an 1 a
bitter principle) caffeine and theobro
mine in large proportion. Therefore
in Central Africa it takes the plat " of
tea and collie or cocoa - products of
plants b, dunging to very different bo
tanical groups, but valued for the sumo
essential principle.
The kola scd lias a kernel about two
in-h-s in length, somewiia1 like that of
a pea-nut, with a groove instea I of the
projecting point at the germinal end.
It may hu white or red, or both, and
four or live fill a rough brown pod.
These pods are gathered twice a year,
tho seeds carefully shelled, and the
bare meats are at oneo sent to market
or dispatched into the interior, careful
ly wrapped iu green leaves to prevent
them from drviiig, as it is coii '-idere I
very important, that they should u
kept fresh and som-what moist. To
this tnd they are picked over every
fortnight or so, and all delect ivo ones
an; thrown out. When they begin to
shrivel and dry no, the caravan m t-
(vianls dry them thoroughly in the. sun
and pound them to powder in a nec
tar, in which shape th iib.t ince can
long be pre -crve I.
This nut U chcwi-d a-t if it wi iv to.
baeco. and the powder is eaten. The
taste is sweet, astringent, and bitter in
succession. Muropea is as well as no
groes are devoted to its use, and many
singular stories hav b en current as
to its strange effects upon the human
frame. It not only sustains the sys
tem under the greatest fatigues, even
withoui food for long periods, but it is
also a certain preventive of the dysen
teries and dangerous fluxes which re l
d r the lowlanas of Africa so danger
ous. This powder makes foul water
drinkable and harmless. Itis rel ate 1
that the director of the Botanical lar
den at Martinique was never able to
save a single seed for propagation from
the plant in his col ection, all being
stolen by tho negroes as material for
love phil'ers.
It is not surprising, in view of these
qualities, to find the nut bearinir an al
most superstitious value in the eyes of
tho West Africans. Among thoso peo
ples, where it is not indigenous, nor
yet extravagantly dear, no transaction
of any moment can take place with
out an exchange of kola-. This is
either in token of good-will or to "bind
the bargain." W hen two tribes ally
themselves they exi hango white Kola
thiscolor representing peace and frien '.
liness, 'ir vmfrtt, war is declared bv
sending re 1 kolas to the enemy.
A request for a wife is accompanied
by the pre ent of a whit,1 ko a fr.mi
the lover to tin mother of the maid i f
his choice. A favorable response, i
indicated by the return of a white
seed; a rejection, by sen ling back a
red one declaring war, as it were.
Wedding presents from a husband to
his brido must include a certain pro
portion of kolas ; and in the iutcrio
where they aro so valuable, the gift of
one is considered a high attention, and
when tendered by a chief to a white
traveller, takes the character of an as
surance of his protection. Similarly
one of the chiefs on the upper Niger
signified his opposition to two French
explorers by sending them red kolas
wrapped in green leaves.
In religious and judicial proceedings
these nuts become of equal importance.
Witnesses take an oath by formally
eating them. An accuser demanding
justice brings to the indite a little bas
ket of rice with four or live kolas on
it. Tho sorcerers lay great stress on
the attractive qualities of this seed in
drawing away evil spii its, sickness and
misfortune. Friends place with tho
dead sumo I olas to nourish him to tho
endurance require ! upon his Img joui
ney. Finally, it may be note I that the
Mohammedans declare it to be a fruit
of div ne origin, brought to earth by
the Prophet himself.
At the plantations near Sierra Leone,
according to a late review of this hith
erto vague matter in the Muletin of
the Geographical Society of Marseilles!
the seeds are worth twenty or thirty
cents a pound, but the alue increases
rapidly with distance. On the Niger
a dollar is often the price of a single
seed: while in the far interior Arab
merchants often receive its weight in
gold-dust for a quantity of the powder.
The extinction of the Maine Indians
is a slow process. Last year was a
very healthy one, with only twelve
deaths, against thirty-live in 1882
The tribe now numbers 4'1". and the
cost to the state last year was about
A l.AM-LIKi: COW.
4aiinl Jin ii lliiilirrril
lllooil of .Vtt-U I'm llt.
Nothing moro than a good, kind-
hearted an 1 gentle niilrli cow rounds
oil' and tempers dov n I he many diill
culties standing in ihu way of family
. contentment. Wlu-n I'ars in .1 ilminsoii
t moved into our neiirli i irlio.1,1, his lir-t
; quedioii was,, "iVIio'.i ;f il a gentle cow
, for sal"?" Oid Ni l, Parish, o:;o of
I the best-known a 1 1 n 4 upright men
j in the community, ha ,i gentle cow. If
i a man wanted a I 'cry. ,in cabdued horse,
Nick had him; a:i I if In; wanted a
horse so quiet in demeanor that ho re
j framed from la-don;- the Hies, Nick
, had him. In fad, Nick had anything
; that anybody wanted to buy, and ono
, thing peculiar ab m'. his ability to
. furnish tic great market of wants
1 was that every animal h " sold was ex
: actiy what lit; represented it to be.
"Is shea good mi!ker?''askid Parson
.liln.inson when he had gue to Nick's
I lot and begun an in-qiction of the
' cow.
i
'Be.it in the bin 1. anil the ono line
pint about her is Cut .-he'll uivc. !
' enough miik lor any f'.mdy. Wh-n- !
ever she clirigiM haul; :dc si- up;
' the new family, aa I ii sh ain't broad i
; enough to ace miiui.i lito all e.imvriird, j
; why she ch-ia-,'es her gauge. But she j
; is not prodigal. I ! mu'lit her from a '
1 hotel mam. .she had been giving
enough miik for all the guests, but j
when she saw that I uly had a small '
! family, :,h e'lainted her iictru and j
came down to our ire sure."
"I never before heard of siuh a
cow," said the parson. i
".Windy else, and if my wife did'nt I
try to imp,,M. on her I wouldn't sell
her for anything. You see inv wife is !
a very ambitious woman an, ' wants
this one cow to furnish enough milk
for the operation of an entira dairy
form. I will not allow oven my wife
lo monkey with the affections of this
animal, .lost look at her. Did you
ever seo anything m ire lady like?
There she stau Is, thii very picture of
courtesy, willing to inu.vlatethe entire
community with milk."
"What is tho le.i -t you'll take
her?" the parson a I le I.
"Well. I'll tell you. I; it wan't
the pints I've presented, I won
sell her for h i prie-, bat as :! is.
for
for
Idn't
von
may have her for a hundred d dlars."
The inon-y w.u p it t without
hesitation, and in trPruiph the parson
drove t';o cow home. "Greatest cow
in tho world," he sai I t i his wife, as
he turned tho atiiui i! into thn back
yard. "Tho man had sentimental
reasons for selling Icr or we would
never huva been her fortunate pos
sessors." The next day was Sunday. Tho
parson had an appointment to preach
at the neighboring church, but when t
the time for services arrived, the par
son was seen crossing the common
carrying an army gun. As he ap
proached Parish's houv. Parish was
seen to leap the feue , ;c.d start, oil' in
a practical an 1 commercial-like man
ner toward the wools. The parson
discovered him, threw ti'i bis gun an I
j tire 1, and so much p . .vder had his in
I dignatioa deuian b',1 in tho execution
j of his sanguinary design, that the bul
j let, long after the excitement had sub
; sided wai heard wh'x .ing around tho
j neighborhood.
"What on earth is the matter, par
1 son?" aske l a d-iz-n voic is, as the
'minister approa he-1 the church and
proceede I to load his g in.
! "U Might a cow fr en that s-oundrel.
: Told uu) she was gentle. Wife got up
this morning to milk her . I thought
j I heard muttering i an I other sounds
!' expressive of dissatisfaction, and
stepping to the door, I saw my wife
going over the ash hopper. My wife
: is a woman of unusual agility, yet 1
' saw no re.i-oa why she slmiil-l sail
. a"ouul through tho air on a Sunday
morning, so I stepped out and told her
: to hold up, when I saw my lady-like-'
cow, raking up ridges and acting as
. though she were displeased. I spoke
to her and she darted at me. I tried
j to avoid her. but failed. I went over
: the a-h hopper pretty much as my
wife had d ne This was not the end
of the pe,'l'or,itaa (. The cow could
I not get around behind the ash hopper,
, In,; .die iii id- it sensational for us by
reminders that sho was still in circu
lation. Tiie d ig came over and tell
among us. Then a wash-board, a
i b;a:-s kettle, the eat and the hired boy
came oer. 1 never saw anything like
I it. llveiy time I looked up, some
1 thing would strike me. After awhile
I she began to throw dirt and chips over
j until I thought we would till bo buried.
! I yellel for help, and old Mrs. Piggle-
worth, kin I old soul who lives near,
I came to see what was the matter.
' go id-hearted !d creature. Theheath
', en who sold me the cow said that she
j won si e u-all up with an i lea to
1 fiirni-h the requiiite amount oi mil.-,
and probably that's what she was doing.
but I am not ued to sach estimates
being mado on my family. Finn lly !
she, tho courteous animal, jumped
over the fence and left, and I am out .
on an important errand. No, 1 can't 1
ireach for you to day," putting a cap!
on till Rim. as ho caught si-glit of
Pnrish noeiiin-r IVoin l.olon.l . .lM.nit
- i 1 n ' - v
tree. "I wish you all well and hope
the Lord will take care at yon, but at
present I am compelled t discharge
a duty which I owe to my wife, my
self, my neighbors and society," and be
cocked the army gun and slipped away
like a deer hunter Arkmiytiit' Ti'iixl
1: SCIENTIFIC SI It IPS.
The Duke of Argyll considers that
the fact that some Seitch hills have
gravel and no carlh on their .summits
shows that Scotland during the i! .'.'iige
was'2,0ti foot undi r water. Darwin
considered the sauu- f I t todue to earth
worms,
Liquid obtained bv condensing the
vapors from a hi
per cut. by
en contained
nine of aleoho)
( per cent, by weight
and a small quantity of
and of ammonia. Al n!e
iccor.linit t.i Moti ette,
if ie etie acid
ft l ric acetate
is, therefore,
(ne of tho
products
d' tie- fermentation of the
bread.
Investigations of German scientists
have shown that, tic electric light is
not only healthier than o'h-r methods
of illumination in leaving the air purer.
It'll it increases the power of vision in
some respect., e.spo -i illy in di-d ingui.-di-ing
colors, lb; 1, blue, green and yellow-
are much more distant under this
light than by daylight.
Ir. Moffat, at a lecture in Gla.gow,
maintained that the preseico of per
oxide of hydrogen i i the air and dew
of Italy ha 1 some connection with th"
beautiful of the Italian vocd tone.
A series of illustrations bv persons
from tho audience, who inhalod a (
chemical compound made to represent j
Italian air, are said to have been very j
satisfactory--a full, clear, rich, mellow
tone being produced by one application.
Fame and fortune await the dis
coverer of an efficient method of so
consuming coal that none of its con
stituent and ronbiistible particles can
c-eape into the atmosphere of large
cities with tho two-fold result of pre
venting pecuniary loss and sanitary
degradation of the air. It is e timatcd
by competent experts that London
alone loses every winter ifJo.DO.UOO
through imperfectly burned coal, not
to spea'v of tic daiuitge done to build
ings and tho injury done to the public
health through the breathing of a
polluted atmosphere.
Singular Coincidences.
"Do you seo that man over there ?''
said a prominent business man, as he
! pointed out a small, nervous-looking
j man, who ha I just entered the Work
i F.xchango. "Well, that man has e
jpeiieneel tho m ist remarkable S"ries
: of singular coincidences. It rivals the
i thirtoen-at-diuner story and the pro-
verhial unlucky Friday, with tho ex-
ception, however, that his especially
j lucky and unlucky day happens to be on
i Monday."
I "Introduce me t him, and perhaps
ho will relate it to me," suggested the
! reporter.
j "llo wouldn't say a word about if
j forPublica' ion, and in fact he is deeid
i i dly averse to speaking of il at all
' The recital of it seems to liil him w ith
- gloomy forebodings a feeling he can
not skake off. One luckv Muiidav,
just thirty-live years ago, ho came ;
into this world and on another lucky j
Monday fifteen years afterward he !
married the girl of his choice, who !
w;is born on a Monday seventeen sum- j
men previously. Two bright boy j
were the result of this happy union, i
and each of them was born on Mon- j
day. So far the coincidence bore j
lucky aspect, ami the .-singularity of tin
events was otien tiie topic oi conver
sation among the members of the fam
ily. Then events took a different t.iru
One Mondac night the father re
turned home to lind bis wife suffering!
from an attack of feer, from which
sho died on the foil wing Monday.
The two promising boys are also dea l,
and both passe I away on Mond ay. The
husband and father left alone, is rapid
ly going down the decline of life, and
not a Monday goes over his hen I hut
he brood.- over the strange fatality and
of bis ow n ei 1, which he fi els sure b
fated to I all on M.-udav.
A "I'n!" Sciiivrron.
Charles Lanppe, t'rhana, Ohio,
keeps the b'rds from bis grapes with a
scarecrow "cat." This animal is made
of Canton ihinne!, of the color of i
Maltese cat, stuffed w ith curlut hair.
Hair is better than wool or cotton as it
soon dries out after a rain. A "eat"
of this kind will effectually protect the
grapes from the birds for twenty feet
on all side'. Mr. Lanppe sets bis
its' ut oi the grace trellises, where
they may be secure and in full sight
ot b rds wishing to plunder,
CLHTIMJS PO It THE CHU01S.
( Irii ntiil shawls were
i i . t ,.
rougiiL nun
Pars after the return of Bonaparte
from lliirope in l'l.
The Ia,t true believer in alchemy
Was one Peter Wnlllfi
i ho died about
sixty years ago in London.
A Fn neh nobleman rcc( nt ly proved,
by actual esprriiicit, ti;;! a bor. e may
be ma il' to curvit ior two hours with
out moving forward half a mile.
Tim king of siam's meals aro pre
pared by ii woman, the sister of bis
physician, sealed up and sent to Lis
"ta-ter," and then sent to him. It is
needless to say that hot food is not
considered a necessity of life in Siani.
Cameron, Mo., claims to have tho
smallest buy in the Tinted Slates. His
name is Auby Park, son of S. W,
Park. IIu is six years old, and weighs
only sixt"en pounds; is strong and
j healthy, an
! ta' lll,t Uv'
ict ivo as a squirrel. In
y ars he has gained but
' "'K' l'"Nni'- i " remarkably bright
'little fellow, mil one of the greatest
curiosities in the country.
Among the features of tho cookery
i chiiiirion ;it Vienna was the so-called
Polish "lunch," which cmsi-led of
twenty-eight courses. I m of the novel
dishes which were offered fresh every
'day was a bear steak. Visitors also
hud an oppoitittii'y to test the llavor
of lion's ilesh, upon the preparation of
I which one of the best rooks in thecity
had expended the lesourccsnf his art.
i New Year's day in Japan there
, is great emulation am mg the mer
chants of s mud or dit to make the first
; sab' of good-. According to law, all
Japanese merchants aro required to
seltlii their accounts and pay their
dcb'.s by the ;its' uf Iiivem'ier, and are
'not allowed to buy or s 11 goods until
' they have doiV! so. if goo N are sold
ion the 1st of January, the meridian lisn
is piled promise uou.dy on dray.-, drawn
: by i oo ies, Th" im reliant receives the
j congratulations uf his friends, and
I togetlcr they follow the ;;oo,ls to their
destination.
The n ine "I'ti-
as applied
j to the ! i. t il Mates, was derived from
! saintiel Wilson of Troy, N. Y., who
was familiarly called by his employes
I ! "in I.- Sam." In the early history of
:he (.-1 niiiii '.!, ii man named Elbert
iii er., ci I -;:! 1 1 i.i Troy a largo
nantily of beef, and it was inspected
y Mr. il-on. The boxes were di
rected "E. A., 1". S." The man
who did the marking being a-ked
what C S. s'.ood for, said, 'Tiiclo
: "-am," and in this way it became the
i jocular name by w hich this count rv is
lesignated.
There is an odd superstition con
nected with thecro-sbill, in Tlmringia,
which makes tho woodcutters very
rareful of the nests. The bird in cap
tivity i- subject to in my diseases, such
as weak eyes, swelled and ulcerated
feet, etc., arising probably from the heat
and act uuiulated apor- of the stove
heated moms where they are kept.
The Thuringian mountaineer believe
that the.-e wretched birds can take
upon them ,elves any diseases to which
he is subject, and always keep-some
near him. II- is s itislie.l that a bird
whose upper mandible bends to t ie
right has the power of transferring
colds and rheumatism from man to
itself; and if the mandible turn to the
left that it can confer the same service
on woman.
Wounds el ilencrals in Action.
A curious article might be written
on tho immunity from wounds iu ae.
tion of s ime generals, ami the ill lor.
tune of otlursin becoming the billet
for a bullet. No commander was ever
more forward in the lighting line than
Sheridan, vet he never C"t a si r. itch
skobelelf, who many a time went at it
I with his own good sword, und in his
I white coat and on his white charger
headed every charge with a reckless-
I ness that men called madness, had as
I complete an immunity as if he carried
J the charmed life that his soldiers
i ascribed, and was wounded only in t hi
j quiet trenches by a chanc" bullet tired
into the air it mile away. Wellington
j was but once hit, the bullet that car-
i ried awav hi-boot heel scarce gave him
i ."
j a Contusion. Grant was never struck;
1 no more was Napoleon. 'f Sir Neville
Chamberlain again, ono iff the most
! distinguished oil cers of our Indian
army, the saying goes that he never
i went into action without receiving a
j wound, and the galh.nt old man has
i been lighting pretty steadily ever since
i the first Afghan war. Ilaaine was
a man to whom Fortune was not
i stingy in tho matter of wounds. At
; Horny there came to him the leaden re
I minder that he was mortal, though this
j time it was but a gentle hint. The
j fragment of a shell hit him on tho left
shoulder, but it had been well spent
and because (if the protection of tho
I epaulette gave him but a contusion,
I froni which be had pain for several
days, especially when on horseback.
A llnmhle Confession.
; Who is that hltle woinim lln o
I ,
iih liiithin eye nml d.ok livoutl li-iir,
And ih.vi.io'iiri;iiy ho fi i t
My il.
i
, Who' not (if meek i f lic npprni-fi,
I Am'I ft, cin'l ln-lnoi. eiie In. II - he hu n.
And tiovnrd inn i-nlei liiins no e;ur?
j My conn i f.
i Who w:il,ei mr. up on me-y morning,
About llm time the d iy i.- d iwnini,
: My ,riile-tii1ioii eiiliij;, w i mil
I My tootsy oo!:.y.
; Who mnik- my t lelhes with indin 'nti,
! And iluriis my i-tiH-kitis (juiek us wiuli,
While I hit hy Mini ail. el, e nml tllil.U
t My uoiiiiiiiion for 1 fe.
t vVho nskri me ev, ry d iy for tnonoj,
I Willi ciiiiiiitomim-e demure iin.t tumif,
.' And rnlli ine "pretty Ivy1' mid 'Iniuof"!
My littl winiiiiii.
i Who nins tics limine h th mlit mill dny,
i And over nil ixu t li r away;
i Who'ii bo. o' tl'it idiiinty. niiy wnj
! My li tier half.
III.M0K01S.
To foot a bill To v-toe it.
Tho golden age .Sweet sixteen.
Crazy quilts originated in H d-lant.
"On tho fence" Boards, of courso.
j It is the collector who is first to find
a man out.
In Pome every boarding house is a
palace, and it maybe added that about
cve.y palace is a boarding house-.
Th man who married a girl be
cause she ' struck bis fancy," says
sho strikes him anywhere it comes
handy now.
A hoi publi-her announces! "In
press- A Pretty Girl." She is often
in that predicament --and the work
will be continued next week.
Did it ever occur to you, how
banted a pug (1 ig iiiu-t be of him
self, when seen in company with a
woman who is lo el enough to lug him
about.
What's the dilTeienco between a
Mini who tears down" a picket fenoo
und one whodres-.es a spring chicken?
One pulls the picket and tho other
picks the pullet.
"Mauimii, whcre'.s papa go'ie to?"
jsked a little girl one day. " He's gon
lo town to earn more bread and but
ler for you, darlin,-." "(ff:, mamma, I
w ish he w mil sometimes earn buns !'
sighed the child.
"No," sai l a fond mother, speaking
proudly of iier t only-five- ear od
daughter, "Miry isn't old enough t
Diary yet. She cries whenever anyone)
'colds her, and until she becomes
hardened enough to talk back vigor
insly, -he isn't lit for a wife."
"You gave my wife the wrong
medicine,' exclaimed a man, entering
a drug store. " I hope no herm has
resulted," replied the druggist treimi
lously. "Oh, no, she's all right."
" How do you know it was the wrong
medicine?" " Why, because it helped
her iiiiiiK'diatelv."
The Safest Part of a Cnr.
Four men half hidden in tho smoke
rlotid of ii smoking box of a sleeping
citron the Hudson llive.r railroad,
epent an hour discussing which part of
a car was the safest to ride in. They
finally agreed to leave it to the conduo
tor. "Middle of middle car. right hand
Bide," said that personage w hen asked.
The rapidity with which ho spoko
and the mechanical manner in which
he made the reply, led one of thuu to
halt htm as ho was pa-sing on and ask
him to explain himself.
"Well," said he, "everybody asks me
that que.-tion, and I am so used to an
swering it that I've got it down to thu
! fewest words possible.
I shiuildn't
, wonder if you were to ask me that
when I'm asleep if 1 would answer it
j w ithout waking up, Tho middle car
of the train is the safest, because it is
ithe furthest removed from a collision
either in front or behind. Even if
an engine plunged into an i pen draw
bridge, it might not take more than s
car or two with it. Couplings would
be likely to break, you know. Always
sit in the middle of a car, because
when cars te'.ecopj they are not apt
to telescope many feet. As you can't
tell which end will telescope, anil aa
both may, take lo the middle. "What
ever car you go in sit on tho right
hand side iff the car, which is to say,
the side farthest from the other track!
because it sometimes happens that
freight projects too far beyond a flat
car and rips the windows out of pass
ing trains."
"Do railroad men observe all thefts
precautions when they ride?"
"They Uko no precautions ai all.
Those that 1 have mentioned are sensi
ble, but you can't always sit whero
you like, and there are plenty of poo -pie
unlucky enough to bo killed w her
sver they sit. llailroad men never
?onsider the possibility of accidents.
They could tut be railroad men if thev
lid."