: 1
ill
: ---ri-'i-J-
2tl)c dijatfyam Eccorb.
II. A. LONDON,
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR.
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION,
(She Chatham VLttotb
BATES
or
Ay u
ADVERTISING
One square, one insertion-
One square, two insertions -One
square, one month -
$1.00
1.50
- 2.60
ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR
Strictly in Advance.
VOL. X.
PITTSBORO', CHATHAM CO., N. C, FEBRUARY 9, 1888.
NO. 23.
For larger advertisements liberal con
tracts will be made.
y , if
if
Or
The Life Pilgrim.
There is no life, however smooth its outward
current flows,
But lears upon its heavenward way some
sorrow as it goes.
I'tit sorrow hhall be lost at la't in God os in
t he sea.
Lift pilgrim, is it not enough to know this
thing shall be
Our lips wer undo for victors' song, our
brows to wear the crown;
"Why stand yo then, O sons of God, with
heavy hearts bowed down?
jl,.u'ver tierce tin tempest be, your hopes
may yet be warm,
Th" H-htning fl is'i of GckVs great power can
I'i'W the darkest storm.
Tli. :i i rwani! lot the midnight ring as
grandly as the dawn,
W'.ih songs that tell cf earnest souls that
march in courage on;
Tl:' Mtter conflicts of the world shall find in
death a goal
Spurred by the eaglo pinions of the glad and
conquering soul.
lEarnest W. Shurtleff.
A Station Agent's Stories,
4,I was," said the una with the
wooden leg, "jdation agent on the B.
and It. railroad for a good many year?,
and st-veral things occurred there which
were the talk of the line and which you
nny find interesting enough to publish.
My station was both insignificant and
important. While it was only a hamlet
in population, it was a railroad crossing.
While every trai l seemed to be in a
hurry to get. away as fast a? possible, all
cugiucs had to take water or coal, and
various trains had to pull in on the long
siding to let various other trains pass.
"The policy of our road was nig
gardly. The object was to get every
thing cheap, an I to work every man to
ihi! limit. My station building was
little better than a shed, and it wa3 im
possible to get any repairs or improve
ments. I was required to act as tele
graph operator, ticket seller, freight
agent, chore boy, and all else, and did
rot have an hour I could call my own.
I had a cot in the office, and was on call
during the night. L-t 'era sound my
call while I was in the deepest sleep and
i.nido of twenty seconds I was ready to
answer. I should have had a first-class
assistant at my station, but the com
pany would not permit it. I must
cither do the work alone or get out for
tome one who cou'd and would, and so
1 kept hanging on month after month
and year alter year, always thinking
a hour. going, but never making up my
mind to it. Tho situ it ion was grave
enough to keep my nerves under con
stant strain. Tr-iin despatching was
not the art it is now, and if a regular
got behind her time it caused confusion
all along the line.
"One of the queer incidents occurred
after I had had the station about two
years. It was in the fall of the year,
with a great deal of nasty weather, and
ti airs were continually late. The last
ns.'::gcr train on our road passed me,
according to schedule, at 10 1-2 p. m.
The next one passed at 7.20 a. m., and
it was supposed that tin intervening
time belonged to me. If the night
freight was on time, and if I did not
git n call on tin instrument, and if
there was no special on the line, and if
a doz.'ii other things di I not occur, I
couid sleep from 11 to G. It may have
occurred that my sleep was unbroken
live nights in a year. On all other
nights I was turned out from one to
three or four times. The night freight
should reach ma at 12:05 live minutes
after midnight. She never left nor
took up a car at my station, leaving
that for the day freight, but made a
stop of seven or eight minutes for coal
and water. If there was a special on
the lino, or if there had boon an acci
dont, the freight might have to side
track and wait, but such a thing was
rare.
"As a rule, I was always asleep when
Ihc freight came in, but somehow or
other I know of hor arrival. I knew of
't without waking up. and next morn
ing cou'd havo told whether she was
late or on time. Twenty -eight minutes
9lt:r her time a passenger train on tin
otiKrr road made the crossing; this
crossing was eighty rods above the sta
tion, and while I had nothing to do with
lhc trains on the other road, I natural
ly kept track of them and knew whether
they were late or on time. O.i this partic
ular night I went to bed at 10.45, and
was asleep before 11 o'clock. At 12.20
I suddenly awoke. The night freight
had not come in. I had been sound
asleep, but I knew she had not. She
was fifteen minutes overdue, and yet
ny call had not been sounded. Thi3 to
nic meant some sort of acciJent between
'iic and the next station north, which
wa ; eleven miles away. I at once called
or the station, but tin operator had
1,'one. I ran to the door and looked
nf. There was a fine rain and a dense
Torr.
"Freight trains are seldom on
"; lu'e time, and I had known those
J'" "Ur line to be an hour late without
wortying over the fact. However, on
:hiitdg'ut I was nil worry. The rain
! the fog, the crossing, the fact of
' vaking up ai I ha 1, the failure to
'"I the agent at the station above,
I' e thing made me err.bly uneasy,
:'t 12.2. 1 lighted my lantern, put
:" ' y lubber coat, and started up the
011 a run. I had not gone forty rods
when I heard a hissing of steam, and
two or three minutes later I could sea
the glare of a headlight through the fog.
In a couple of minutes more I found oar
midnight freight twenty-two loaded
cars and a big locomotive and she was
standing directly on the crossing of the
roads. I shouted as soon as I had made
out the locomotive, but no one answered
me. I pushed along to the cab, climbed
up, and found the engineer and fireman
on the floor of the tender, arms arotfad
each other, and fast asleep or dead. At
that same moment the passenger train
on the other road whistled for the
crossing.
"I m telling you, sir, that I lived a
year for every minute in the next five or
six. I knew vry little about an engine,
though I had seen how they were re
versed and how the throttle was worked.
If anything was done I must do it, and
do it quickly. Why I did not pull ahead I
do not know. It struck me that I must
back up, and I flung over the bar, gave
her steam, and she began to move. The
steam had run d own. and we moved at
a snail's p..c and even when I pulled
her wide open, the engine scarce! had
power to back the heavy train. We did
move, however, although it Avas foot by
foot. I could hear the roar of the
passenger train, and I knew that every
second was hastening a terrible calamity,
but I did not leave the engine. Backl
back! back! we crawled, and of a sud
den a gnat light flashed in my eyes,
there was a crash, and I saw cars mov
ing in front of me and disappearing into
the darkness. What had happened?
Well, Ihadbackel tin freight until the
locomot ive of the passenger train only
carried away the pilot as it crossed our
line. That was all the damage done,
and no p issengcr had a suspicion of his
narrow escape from in awful smash-up.
"When the train had disappeared and
I could realize the situation, I began to
investigate. I ran back to the caboose
but no one was to be found. I shouted
and screamed, but soon found that I
was all alon-s Then, climbing back
iuto the cib, 1 sought to arouse the en
gineer and liis lire mm. Dead? No.
Drunk as two Lordi! Yes, sir. They
were drinking men, though the com
pany did not know it. They had been
taken off another run two weeks before,
and coming down the lim on this trip
had brought a bottle with them. At
the station above they had reached the
Umit, and in their diunken deviltry ha I
suddenly pulled out and left a'l the
train crew behind. The conductor
cou'.d not rcidi'.y find the station
agent, and when he did rout
him out and get him to the
oflice I was out of mine and did not
answer his call. The two men had let
the steam go down, and th'; train had
crawled down to the crossing and been
stopped where I found it. The men
were by that tinn too drunk to stand
up, and ha I grabbed each other and
rolled on the 11 or to t-locp. I was yet
in the cab, trying to kick some sense
into them, when tho conductor and his
two brakemcn arrived on a hind car,
and after getting up steam we got the
train over the crossing to the station.
The two drunkards on 'lit to have been
sent to state prison, but for fear of the
story getting into the papers they were
allowed to skip.
4 'It was with this same night freight
I had a startling adventure the next
summer. I had gone to bed and to
sleep before it came in. It was exactly
11.50, as shown by the clock, when I
got a call on th- instrument, and as I
sprang out of bed I h-ard the operator
at K , a station cightee 1 miles be
low me, clicking off, 'For God's sukc
stop and side track No. 0! There's a
runaway engine crming up the line!' I
got this by ear, you understand, and I
gave him an 'O. K.' as soon as ho was
done. In three minutes I was cut doors
and had my "Danger Stop!' sigual set
for the first lime in month, and as I
started down the track with my lantern
I could hoar the rumble of No. 9 as she
crossed the bridge three miles above.
She was on time and booming right
along, l.ut it was clear and the red light
would stop her.
"I should have told you that there
were two tracks in front of the station.
One was the main track, of course, and
the other a long siding, with a switch
at either end. No. 9 had the right of
way at night, and, instead of side-tracking
her, I proposed to 3 witch off
the runaway. I went down over the
tLs as hard as I could ru?, and just as
I reached the switch I heard No. 9
blow for my st ition. While I wa3 un
locking the switch, the engineer called
for brakes, and then I kuew he had
seen the light and wou!d stop. I pulled
the bar over, and then picked up my
lantern and ran back, reaching tho sta
tion just as the heavy freight was
coming to a standstill. My purpose
was to run down and open the other
switch, and thus let the runaway out
on the main track again, to run until
her steam went down, but I had scarcely
moved a hundred feet when I heard her
coming. It was then too late,
and I stool on tho platform
to see her go past. Shu
was truly a runaway. She had broken
away from the nrrommi dation train,
which came no lurthcr up than G ,
f.rsd was coming u: with- a full head of
steam and everything roaring. Then
was gross carelessness in bringing about
this rccident, but it was covered up and
kept out of print. We could hear tht
runaway a mile off, and we could locatt
her as she came through tho woods bj
the shower of sparks flying from hci
smokestack. On she came, and as shi
struck the switch it seemed as if sh
must go over. There was a clickety
clash and a bang, and she righted anc
whizzod past m like a fiery arrow.
"We knew what would happen at
the other end of the siding. There was
a fi.dd beyond, and when the runaway
left the rails shs tore up a hundred feet
of track, made splinters of a score o:
tics, and plou.h ;d her way into tht
field for a quarter of a mile and blew
up. Had she encountered No. 9 on th
main track there must have been a ter
rible smash-up. At the speed she wai
going the runaway would havt
climbed right on top of the train. Af
ter the explosion I entered the station
and called for K , to give him th
news, but he could not be raised. 1
could not get him until the usual houi
next morning, and then I learned some
thing which made my hair stand on end.
He had not heard a word of the matter.
He was not in his oflice when the ac
commodation p issed, and he had heard
nothing from G , tho station where
the engine broke away. I then called
for the agent at O , and it turned out
that at 5 o'clock on tin afternoon pre
vious, he had met with an
accident by which he had
been made delirious all night. When
they went for him to telegraph about
the engine he was in bed, and being
held there by nuiscs, and they did not
even try to make him understand what
had happened. As a matter of fact
and record, no living hand clicked that
message to mc. Every man on the line
was examined, but all denied it.
1. nn -,1 i a 1 i 1 i j I
uimu it, iiim uuuuiaiuua 11, uuu acieu
upon tt, and it came from K . How
do I explain it? I never could. I have
had people tell me that it was mind tele
gi sphing to mind, but you can take any
tlf ory you wish. I was called for in the
u$ial way, understood fully what was
Icing said, and hurried out to do what 1
have described. The matter has been a
puz.lo and a mystery for years, and 1
have no hopes of a solution.
"How did I lose my leg? Well,
there was a mystery about that. We
had changed our time and a passenger
train passed my station at 2 a. m. I
awoke one night at 1 o'clock, feeling
that the upper switch had been left
open by the freight train. I lighted my
lantern and ran up thjrc, and sure
enough it stood wide open, and a death
trap had been sot for the express. I
closed it, and was on my way back when
three cars which had broken away from
the freight several miles away, at tho
top of a grade, cams whooping down,
and, in trying to get out of the way, I
made a stumble and got my leg under
the wheels. I dragged myself into the
station and tried to call up the offices
above me, but could raise no one. The
cars were missed, and hunted for from
one end of the line to the other,
and, strangely enough, they could not
be found. It was an odd thing to
lose cars in tint fashion, and before
they got through searching men walked
over every foot of the line. It was six
weeks before they were found. They
had left the rails at a curve near a steep
bank, and had gone over the rocks into
a deep river without leaving a trace. It
was as if they had been picked up and
Hung over by human hands. Being
loaded with hardware, they had gone to
the bottom, but the current rolled them
along until they finally showed above
the sui face in a bend. When hauled
out none of tho three were damaged a
cent's worth, but it was a deal of
trouble to get thein back to tho rails
again. -New York Sun.
A Parrot That Prays.
A family living near a church owns a
very bright parrot. Every evening the
bells of the church ring the "Angelus,"
and recently one of the little girls of
the family was taught to rcc'tc the ap
propriate prayer at the sound of the
bells. The parrot watched her care
fully, and the other evening, at the first
sound of the chimes, dropped to the
bottom of the cage, put down his head
and said the first few words of the prayer
He has kept this up ever since and is
adding other words of the prayer as the
little girl teaches them to bim. Chi
cago News.
The Wrong Kind.
"Bromley, I've been going through my
last year's vests."
"Find any bills in the pockets, Dar-
linger?"
"Ye3. one."
"Good. A $50 bill I hope."
"No, a bill for $ 19.53."
"But there isn't a bill of that denomi
nation." "Oh, there isn't eh? Bromley, it was
a wash bilb" Philadelphia Ca'L
They Matched His Head.
"It's very cold," remarked Mr. Mc
Corkle, as he came in to dinner. "My
hands are perfectly numb."
"Then they match your skull perfect
ly," was the unfeeling comment of his
wife. Philad e Udiia Timet.
CHILDREN'S COLUMN.
The Wind.
Prom songful thicketa the cool wind blows,
Through garden of spice it dips ;
It shakos the scent from the pale tea-rose
And cradles the w:iite-winged ships.
It musi; wakes in tho bright green tree,
It rocks the phcebe to rest;
Into silvery ripples it breaks the sea,
And makes the lily its nest.
It piles the clouds in fantastic drifts,
And tan;les the crystal rain;
The curtain of spring it smiling lifts,
And kisses to bloom tha plain. -
It whistles along the sparkling snow,
And moans through the forest deep.
. But wher,oU whrsdoeS the gay wind-go
When it goes to sleep ? .
Harper's Young People.
Rolby and the Horse.
Robby was one day looking out of the
window, watching a balky hors. He
had not a heavy load to draw, but the
horse was stubborn and would not go.
The driver coaxed him and whipped
him, but the horse would not move one
step, and there he stood for hours.
Robby at last said : "Aunty, I guess
the reason why th'jre are bad horses now
is because they wasn't trained right
when they wera enlts." Then he thought
a little and add ad: "I see now the
reason why you arc always telling me
not to do things because you want me
to be a good man ; good boys make good
men."
That is just it. Good boys and girls
arc apt to make good men and women.
An Arab National Game.
We come now to the most interesting
of tho Arab games jer:ed, or "spears."
Although I have mentioned it as perhaps
the only national game, it is not, how
ever, played so much nor so engrossingly
a3 base-ball is in this country. It is
hard to gather enough players to niako
it interesting, for it is ait imitation of
real warfare, and requires numbers. The
establishment of a college like that at
Beirut brought together a body of young
men, :.i.d il w s u-.t long before the
game was orgauiz ;d. Certain students
soon came to be recognized as leaders,
and the spart w is for a time indulged
in; but whether the sudden languishing
of the game was due to the interference
of the faculty of the college or not, it is
certain that some influence was brought
to bear and the game was, for the time,
stopped.
The general plan of the game is as
follows:
Sides are chosen by the lead rs, and
lines marked out, about a spear's-throw
apart. This distance varies with the
size and strength of the players, thirty
yards being a fair average. E tch player
has a blunt wooden spear, about the
shape of a billiard cue, only not so
small in proportion at tho smaller eud.
It is shap d in such a way that when
balanced on the linger and then grasped,
it will not be held at the middle, but a
point a little nearer the larger end. A
jereed player must possess skill in two
ways: He must be able to hurl the
spear far and true, and also to catch a
spear, when thrown at him, as it goes
by. This sounds mora difficult than
it really is. Tho player dodges as the
spear approaches, so that it will shoot
past his side the right side, if possible
and then, as it passes him, he sweeps it
in with his hand and brings it down to
the side, reversing it so as to throw it
back again, all in a moment.
The object of the'game is for one side
to drive the other side back and to oc
cupy its line. B it it is not so rough a
game as this purpose would seem to
imply. Not half so many accidents
occur as in base-ball, and it is not near
ly so rough as foot-ball, since tho ob
ject of the game can be attained very
easily and quickly by throwing the
spear over the head of your opponent;
for then he has to run back and pick up
his spear, and that not only weakens
the enemies' line, but gives them, for
the time, one less spear-thrower. St.
Nicholas.
What Ants Know About Winter.
W. A. Earseman, superintendent of
the Anchor Oil Company, Oil City,
Penn., said to a Philadelphia Press cor
respondent: 'T was out in the oil fields
to-day and saw a queer thing. At one
of our wells the gas was led off several
rods and burned at the end of a pipe.
The flame was closo enough to the
ground to make considerable warmth in
the earth for three or four yards around.
Although the ground was frozen hard
outside of this circle, and also covered
with snow, the warmth from the gas
flame had woke up a hill of black ants
that "were live'y as crickets and working
in their circumscribed locality as if it
were midsummer. Occasionally some
sf them would get beyond their smali
patch of summer land and run into the
mow. It was a curious spectacle to
watch them back out of the snow,
shake it off their legs and scud back for
me inside of the warm belt."
An Epicurean Taste.
Woman (to tramp sharply) "You
lon't seem to like that soup; ain't it
rood?"
Tramp -"Yes, it's good flavored
uum, but there ain't quite body enough
;o it. Couldn't you wash a coule more
lishes in it.?''
CHING AH K0W.
The Romance of a Chinese Ranch
man and Miss Annie Freese.
A Celestial Cattle King Who
Married an American Girl.
Ching Ah Kow, a Chinaman who ar
rived in San Francisco about six
months ago from Texas en route for
China with a pretty white' wife and two
children, was met. on hi3 return by an
Examiner reporter, as In was crossing
the bay to visit some friends in Oakland
in company with his family and a ser
vant. On being addressed by the re
porter, Ah Kow appeared so affable and
wi ling to talk that tin scribe joined him
on the boat. When .seated his eyes
beamed with a sort of quizzical intelli
gence as he remarked:
"I quite understand your curiosity.
You have noticed that I have a white
wife and a pair of pretty girls, and you
want to know how I came by them.
Isn't that so?"
"Well, Texpct you have guessed it,"
remarked his companion, "but a police
officer at the ferry has already told mc
that you were a cattle king from Texas."
"A cattle king?"' he exclaimed, "why,
I hive not more than a thousand, but I
have considerable land."
"How did you happen to make such
an investment in that country? ' was in
quired. "That lacly you see over there, my
wife, wa3 the main causa, and Tm not a
bad looking fellow myself in American
clothes, am I?" he continued, straighten
ing up.
iiie assent was given mat ne was
not.
"incn you win admit that she was
somewnat excusioie la uisrcgnruirur
race . pre ju lice s. Tin whole story is
that I lived in San Francisco until
Kearney began to stir tilings up. Fear
ing that members of my race would be
molested sooner or later, and not de
siring to return to my native country
noor. as I had run aw.iv from a wealthv
f.,,i,.5 u ir t i
seek a new locality. Gathering to
getlnr about $.)00, I drifted south, and
continued t drift through Arizona and
Colorado, until I finally landed in San
Antonio, Tex. There I opcucd a
Chinese bazaar, and so.d my goods at
such enormous profits that it was but a
short time before I had about $5000. I
was admitted as a member of tho Social
Club there, and became extensively ac
quainted. Among my acquaint
ances were many ladies. Many
of them gave me cause to
think that my attentions would not be
repulsed. To one of these I became at
tached. II ?r name was Annie Freese.
Again, that's my wife. 1 did not then
know that she owned in her own name
1000 acres of land not many miles away.
It was what you would call a case of
true love, and it ran smooth."
At the closing sentence the reporter
looked up rather suddenly.
"Oh, I'm quite conversant with your
literature, as is evidenced by my fond
ness for Shakespeare and other authors
whom, it is said, foreigners do not
appreciate. Well, to continue, I paid
my addresses to her. Then a revulsion
of feeling seemed to take place. I was
acceptable enough until I djsired to
marry one of their native daughters,
though she was aa orphan, by the way,
Dr. T. McNear, her guardian, made it
so warm that we had to run away and
get married in another county by a
Justice of tho Peac. She was 19 years
of age and I was 00 at that time. We
got married, though, all right,
and returned to face tin music It
was a cold reception that wo got. I
told her that it would be all right, that
I had over $5000 and could make more.
It was then that she told me that she
had a thousand acres of land in her own
right and a house an I lot in the city.
She advised me to buy cittle and stock
it. I then clos.d out my business to
advantage, bought cattle and plodded
along until I was able to purchase five
thousand head of stock, which ar$ in
creasing. It is all paid for. The cow
boys tried tr kill mc once or twice but I
escaped. '
" Why did you go to China?"'
" To sec my father, whom I had not
seen for nearly eighteen years."
" And you return just on tho eve f
jour new year? '
"That is the main reason I did re
turn. I married a white woman and I
desire to become a white man, or as
rearly as possible. Furthermore, mv
business sadly needs attention."-
" Howr do the people of San Antonio
legard you and your wife now?''
"Things are all right now you see,
I have money; that makes some differ
eDce," and Ah Kow winked.
The boat arrivin g on the other side,
the fat Chinaman and his vigorous and
rosy wife bade the reporter adieu, in
forming him that they would take the
overland train for their home that morn
ing.
The family was the centre of attrac
tion on the boat during the entire trip.
Many people will reimrcber the n
toriety attaching to the carriage u
Ching Ah Kow and Miss Fre:se, tike
lady being of an old and eminently re
spectable family.
French Funeral Customs.
When a person dies in France his rep
resentatives irnmediately send out wh tt
arc called "Lettres do faire payt" to all
friends and even slight acquaintances,
inviting th-jm to assist at the religious
service (supposing there i3 to be one)
and the burial of the deceased. The
circumstances generally state that the
cortege will be formed at the house of
the defunct. The more intimate friends
assemble . in the drawing room, where
they are received by the nearest rela
tives of the deceased" person. " Mean-
while the coffin has bcon placed in the
doorway of the house, which has been
converted into a sort of chapel. The
opening is draped with heavy black
hangings bordered with silver fringe..
and often embroidered with the arm3 or
initials of the deceased.
If the ceremony is to be a religious
one it is very rarely a "civil" one
the friends sprinkle the coffin with holy
water, which is placed at the head, in a
silver plated vess.l, together with a
brush. When the procession is formed,
thenearest relatives are the immediate
followers of tho coffin. The men in
variably walk, if they are able to do so;
ladies follow in carriages. A priest, ac
companied by choir boys, vested in
cassock and surplice, "fetches" the
body. In the couutry they go on foot
and chant, but in Paris they always
head the cortege with a carriage. The
general body of followers usually num
ber sovcral hundred.
The men go bareheaded even in the
burning sun and fa ling rain. As the
bier passes tho busiest and most effer
vescent man acknowledges the solem
nity of death by raising his hat. The
ceremony in the church is plain or
pompous, according to tho position that
the dead penon occupied in the
world.
In Paris there are five "classes" of
funerals. A first-class funeral is a very
elaborate and expensive affair. The
church in which the service is held is
profusely draped with b'axc'.c and silver.
The catafalque is quiti monumental and
is all ablaze with candles, and green
flames arise from tall lampadaires placed
at the four corners of the catafalque
ill the chanting pow.-r of the church is
brought to bear upon tho service, and
professional singers ar j also engaged for
the occasion.
The second and third-class funerals
are also very ornate, but in the next
decent the difference is strongly
marked. Finally we como down to the
coffin made of pine and the severely
plain canonical service for tho dead.
At the close of the service tho chief
mourners stand hear the door of the
church to rjecivo the conventional
shake of the hand from thoso who have
been invited to tho funeral. Boston
Herald.
Hunting Wild Ducks on the Chesa
peake.
When driven out of the Great South
B:y by the gunner-', many of the wild
fowl emigrate to the Chesapeake bay,
where they arc met w th by sportsmen
from Philadelphia and the neighboring
cities. Although the gunners are just
aa eager there to get a few good shots at
the birds the law is stricter than in New
York state and the birds are less merci
lessly killed off by sportsmen, bay men
and amateur guuners. Noith of Tur
key Point and Spcsutia Island shooting
is allowed only on Mondays, Wednes
days and Fridays of each week from the
1st-of November to the 1st of January.
All the gunning mu t bo done botween
5 o'clock in the in miiag and sunset.
Night shooting with any kind of gun is
prohibited and no one is allowed to
shoot from a vessel, canoe, sueak-boat,
or sink -box by day or night within half
a mile of tho shore. These laws are
strictly enforced and heavy fines are
paid by those who break them. It givc3
Maryland a better chance than many
other states, and a'l visitors to ths
ducking grounds hav j to employ the
resident owners of the boats, who make
a good living in this way during the
cold months of tho year. Many wjalthy
people from tho cities run down to the
feeding-grounds with their yachts on
shooting days ; but even then thoy
usually employ one of the bay men to
go along with them as guide and gen
eral director of the expedition. Early
in the morning the yachts and cat-boats
can be seen cruising and manoeuvering
around the shore, waiting for the clock
hands to point to the five-o'clock hour,
when they sweep over the line in a dead
race for the shooting grounds, each boat
bound to be the first on the spot. The
ame constable is on hand each morn
ing, and he takes particular care to see
that no boats cross the line until the
appointed time. He gives the word to
go at the proper time, and the yacht race
then begins. Harper's Weekly.
A Blessed Year.
Miss Ethel And so you are really en
gaged to Mr. Samp3on, Clara?
Miss Clara (blushing)--Yes, it all
happened last evening, Ethel.
Mbs Ethel--What a blessing leap
year r, '-"sr
Last Night
L&sfc night my dream-clad feet did tread
On well remembered paths; and I did sea
The self -same scenes th? same stars shed
Their dreamy light on you and me;
The little stream coursed on its silent way,
Our little boat rocked idly at our feet,
And side by side we watched the shadows
play,
And list to strange, weird music, wild?
sweet,
Last night.
Last night we drifted down the self-same
stream;
And I looked down into those midnight
eyes,
And read in their clear depths my life-long
dream;
They were to me my heaven and my para
dise. You sang, and e'er the echoes died away
My heart beat wildly with a throbbing
pain,
My eyes wore weeping, for I could not stay
The tears that came for the hopes long
slain
Last night!
Last night e'er the evening shadows fell
We met, we parted, 'twas the last on
earth,
I heard, as of yore, the village church bell,
As it rang on that eve of the Saviour's
birth,
How little we dreamed as he turned to go,
The different paths we were doomed to
tread!
Then my heart grew sick and my head bent
low
Oh, many the sorrow that lips never
know!
And 1 sprinkled with tears a hope long dead
Last night.
Last night my dreaming fancy led me wherj
In days forgotten we would often stray,
And bid me dwell for one brief moment
there,
And sip the fragrance of the new-mown
hay
And faces that the sod hath covered o'er
Aud blotted from our sight, came back to
me,
And phantom figures pressed the tufted
floor
Where we two lingered in our infancy
Last night.
George Wilmot Harris.
HUMOROUS.
A good nick-namo -Satan.
She stoops to conquer Tho washer
woman. The dresses of engaged young ladies
wear out soonest about the waist.
Wonder if a balloon would bo more
effective if it were made of fly paper?
A Europoan miser has learned to
bark, so as to savo the expense of keep
ing a dog.
Toast An honest lawyer, tho noblest
work of God, when an old farmer added,
"And about the scarcest."
It is when a man sits down suddenly,
unexpectedly and severely that he real
izes what a hard, hard world this is.
The public look upon the college yell
as a useless accomplishment, but in later
years, when some of the boys get into
the itinerant fish business, they find it
comes powerful handy.
"I trust your late husband had some
thing laid up for a rainy day," said a
friend. "Indeed he had,'' replied tho
widow, with a fresh burst of tears, "he
had seven umbrellas. John was tho
thriftiest man ever I see."
A (ncer but Efficient Rule.
Chicago architects have a queer way
of estimating the cost of the ten and
twelve story buildings now being erected
th re. They take the dimensions and
find the exact cubic contents. Then
they say the buildi lg, if plainly finished,
should cost 25 cents a cubic foot, and
not more than 35 cents if elaborately
finished. Tim is a kind of "Rule of
Thumbs" plan which the boat builders
use to determine the carrying capacity
of their vessels. The rule of thumb is
jaid to be very exact, and so is the rule
of the architects noted above. The use
of the rule by the architects is almost
universal throughout the west. It en
ables them to come somewhere near the
cost of the buildings so that they can
find out whether it is worth while to
draw plans and make specifications.
Contractors also use the rule so that
they can give a rough guess and decide
whether they will be able to carry such
a large contract. Buffalo Express.
A Shrewd Farm Hand.
The New York Tribune tells of a
laborer who agreed to dig a farmer's
potatoes for one potato a hill. The con
tract did not confine the laborer to a
selection from each hill, so he took the
largest wherever found. These aver
aged about half a pound in weight, and
as there were 4000 hills to the acre, his
share was ju3t one ton, or 33 1-3 bush
els. At sixty cent3 a bushel they
amounted to $20. He dug at the rate
of one-fourth of an acre per day, mak
ing his daily wages $5. It took one
fourth of the crop to pay him.
A Warning.
It is said of a trustee of Vassar that
when once visiting the college he left
his boots in the hall at night, as though
at a hotel. Some of the girls, for the
joke of it, set to work and blacked them,
and then stuck a pretty bouquet in each.
This is leap year. Keep your boots in,
gentlemen, and don't be betrayed by
finding boutonnieres in the toes of your
slippers. Mon have rights that even a
leap year girl is bound to respect. In-tci-Ocean.
A