THE CHARLOTTE MESSENGER.
VOL. 111. NO. 28
THE
Charlotte Messengre
18 PUBLISHED
Every Saturday,
AT
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
In the Interests of the Colored People
of the Country.
Able and well-known writers will contrib
nte to its columns from different parts of the
country, and it will contain the latest Gen
*»ral News of the day.
The Messenger is a first-class newspaper
ai d will not allow personal abuse in its col
umns. It is not sectarian or partisan, but
iniei endent—dealing fairly by all. It re
serves the righ tto criticise the shortcomings
nf all public officials—commending the
worthy, and recommending for election such
men as in its opinion are best suited to serve
the interests of the people.
It is intended to supply the long felt need
of a newspaper to advocate the rights ana
defend the interests of the American,
esjKidallv in the Piedmont section of the
t'aroiinas. .
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
(Ahvays in Advance.)
1 year $1 60
* months - - - 1 00
t> months ... 75
4 months - - 60
3 months - - 40
Address,
W.C. SMITH, Charlotte, NC
It is expected that nearly twenty mil
lion dollars’ worth of buildings will be
erected in Kansas City, Mo., during the
ensuing year.
The French chemists are constantly
experimenting on various herbs, noxious
weeds, etc., for the purpose of seeing
whether theee plentifully-bestowed
nuisances car. not be utilized by extract
ing their oils, gums, resins or other val
uable properties, or reducing them to
pulp or fiber, convert them into cloth,
paper or what not, end thus introduce or
originate Fome new industry, and at the
same time make these vegetable drones
valuable.
1
It is reported that the celery-raising
business, for which Kalamazoo, Mich.,
has become famous, is being largely
overdone there. Every inch of available
marsh land has been converted into cel
ery beds, and the search for more land
continues. It is not alone the quantity
raised that hurts the business, but the
quality, which is deteriorating on ac
count of the anxiety of the growers to
get as many stalks on the market as pos
sible. There is talk of organizing an as
sociation of growers to limit the quan
tity and keep up the quality.
Although uot yet out of the experi
mental stage, e ectric street railways art
rapidly gaining ground in public favor.
Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Min
neapolis, Toronto and other cities al
ready have electric street railways in suw
cessful and prolitable operation. About
a dozen new roads are in course of con
struction, and a score or two more ara
projected. Montgomery, Ala., will ba
the first city iu the world to have a com
plate electric s‘reet railway system. In
New York it is expected that a new and
powerful Daft electric motor will soon be
making trips on the Ninth Avenue Eie
vated Road, hauling a t aiu of four or
five cars. _
•‘Numerous instances have been re
corded of late in the medical journals,”
says Science, ‘‘of the complete reunion of
portions of fiugers which had been cut
off from the hand, in some cases by the
knife, and in others by the axe. In one
case a man, in cutting kindlings for the
morning fire, accidentally cut off the end
of his thumb. He had gone from the
place some twenty feet, when he returned,
picked up the end, wiped it and replaced
it, binding it in its original place as near
ly ms possible. The wound united, aud
the finger is now as good as ever, save
that its sensibility is somewhat dimin
isjuid. In another case a boy chopped
off the ends of three fingers. He was
seen by a physician three or four hours
after the accident. The ends of the fin
gers bad been found in the snow, and
were brought to him. He attached them,
and two of the three united.”
An English writer, discussing the low
condition of English agriculture, says
‘ the great difficulty is to get men to
work on a scale suited to their means.
At present the custom is universal for a
man who has the means to do justice to
100 acres of land to try to work 800, and
so starve himself and the farm too. '
This, adds the New York Times, is
sound sen e and a great economical
truth, for waste of labor is waste of
money and material, and where there is
waste there i« want and loss, which must
be paid for without any return. The
above remark is applicable to our own
circurr.*tanc:e, for, on the average it it
a positive f.ut that thousands of Amen
ran farmers would be better off were
they tocultivnte well one-fourth a* much
land as they now work in a poor and
profitless m inner, and so produce as
much from-ten acres as is now made
from forty and at one-third of the
cost.
HOW OFTEN.
How many Ups have uttered ono swept word,
Ever tbeswootest word iu any tongue!
How many listening hearts have wildly
stirred,
While burning blushes to the soft cheeks
sprung,
And dear eyes, deepening with a light di
vine,
T * ero lifted up, ns thine aro now to mine:
How oft the night, with silence and perfume,
Hai hushed the world, that heart might
speak to heart,
And mado in ea h dim haunt of leafy gloom
A trysting place where love might meet,
and part,
And kisses fall unseen on lips and brow
As on tbino. swoet, my kisses linger now •
0 —Charles L. Hildreth.
THE POSTMISTRESS.
3V SIBEW.A If. EDGCOMR.
“Muffins and crumpets made to or
der.” Thus ran the written notice,
penned, 100. in characters nearly ap
proaching half-text, stuck up iu one of
the f w principal shops facing the main
street.
The unimportant village of “f.ainmor
ton ’ lay somewhat far away from any
town, and therefore did a fair amount of
steady going business on its own ac
count. I-'oreraost of all ranked the re
pository. or store, rented by Janet 1 isle,
in which she sold stationery, newspa
pers, the magazines of the day if duly
ordered in time, besides a variety of use
ful odds and ends. She was also the vil
lage postmistress,and carried out t ie du
ties of her office with a ma- ked regard to
promptitude. In each of I hero pursuits,
however, she was aided bv her pretty !
and winsome niece, Elsie Falconbridge.
In all reality, Elsie was more mistress
of the postal department than Janet
Lisle herself. It Wiis sh.* who ordinarily
undertook the dispatch of that twice-a
day letter-bag,bestowing upon each mis
sive previously the due official stamp
mark. “Janet Lisle’s right hand, in j
fact, ”as every one said. She, too, it was j
who made the muffins and crumpets—
muffb s and crumpets which were so pop
ular in the village that no one eve
dreamt of having a tea party without
also having “mu fins and crumpets” to
match.
“Oblige me with a two-ccnt stamp,
Miss Falconbridge, won't you?” and a
somewhat elderly man at that moment j
stared her in the face —this necessarily,
however—through The gap made in the !
wirei etwork marking off thespa eal
lotted to the postoffice department.
She handed him whut he required.
“And a registered envelope, also,” he
said.
Again she had fulfilled his request.
“thank you,” and without more ado
he deposited a twenty-dollar note within
the same.
“Ail right.” he soliloquized, as old
gentlemen arc so fond of doing. “Come,
that’s done, at any rate,” ho added, in
self congiatulatory fashion.
Then came aloud, questioninglv:
‘ In the letter-box?—or shall I leave it
with you?”
“You can leave it here, sir,” an
swered Elsie, quietly.
Others were now coming in fast, dc
manding this and that, and in adopting
a calm exterior lay her only chance of at
tending rightly to each petitioner.
Janet Lisle also was unusually busy
that afternoon. Mias Veal, the richest
old lady in the parish, gave a large tea
party that very evening, and muffins and
crumpets were accor lingly beingsentoil
in startlingly large quantities.
“Is there any letter waiting for me to
day, please?” asked a somewhat timid
voice a few minutes later on.
“No, Miss Josephine, nothing.”
“I ara sorry. Lisappointing—is it
j not?"
The two speakers seemed fully to com
prehend each other. There existed, ap
parently, a sort of pleasant sy-mpathy be
tween them.
Both were pretty. Both looked good,
and al-o thoroughly in isrnest. Only,
that the assistant postmistress appeared
full of brightness and life, and the girl
now facing her wore the aspect of being
tired of life already.
“Yes, very. lam sorry too."
“Thank yon You are always kind. I
will look in again to-morrow-, if ray doing
so will not trouble you too much.” °
J “Not at all. Miss Josephine.”
j The last-warned was already moving
I away to make room for some one else.
! Elsie Falconbridge had. however, not
j yet completed her business with the late
I lawyer’s daughter.
“Auntie,” she whispered, “take my
! place here for a moment."
Janet Lisle nodded in assent.
“Do come in here an instant with me.
won't you!” and Elsie signe I that Miss
Josephine should accompany her into the
cozy back parlor, svhete al| was now in
readiness for tea. “The fact is. Miss
Josephine, I've done the most stupid
thing imaginable to-day -made a mis
tske. andprepued nearly twice the num
ber of crumpets that will be wanted by
anybody. Isn't it absurd of me? You
won’t mind -no, I’m sure you won't,
Miss Josephine—helping me out of my
1 trouble?”
i “But how?” <ame, hesitatingly, ir. re
sponse. Then came—ah! so bravely, for
it is ever difficult to tell the plain truth
1 in such matters —“I can’t. It’s quite
i impossible. We have no money. Don't
i you understand?"
“Absurd I” was the interruption.
“Why, it's a favor I'm asking of you;
1 don't you see? I knew you would be in
i to day. for certain, and would befriend
I me. It's only that 1 want you, if you
, don't mind the tiouble, to carry home a
dozen or so to your sweet mother. Many's
: the du7.au she has ordered from us in the
> past, when, perhaps, we haven't been
able to supply her. (Jno can't forget
CHARLOTTE, N.C. SATURDAY, JANUARY 22, 1887.
that fact, you know, in a hurry. 80
there they are, Miss Josephine, all hot
- and ready-buttered, fori don’t think you
would know how to do it yourself. Y'ou
' I had better go out this way. by the sidc
| door, and then no ono will bo the wiser
i lor the favor you've done me.”
For ono brief instant her worn, pale
faced companion had bent down im
pulsively and laid her own soft cheek
against Elsie’s, and the next, wholly un
able to speak, she had disappeared.
, * V- .US * *
l “A rather heavier mail-bag to-night
than usual, wasn’t it, Elsie?”
i "Yes, auut. Thank you for doing it
i up for me. At any rate, the registered
letters did not occupy you a long while.”
“No, child."
Meanwhilo Elsie had been engaged in
! penning a dozen words or more upon a
large sheet of letter-paper, aud the fol
lowing morning, side by side with the
well-known "muffin and crumpet”state
ment, appeared the following:
I “A young lady, clever and well-educated,
; desires at cure a goed morning or daily on-
J gagensent as governess. Terms moderate,
itcceltent references. Apply for particulars
within.”
Miss Josephine had, in a most inex
plicable way, won the woman’s en
tire sympathy, and also the admiration
»t Elsie. And yet the latter never seemed
to forget the difference in station that
she considered still existed between her
favorite and herself. She only knew
that the lawyer's daughter was a very
model of sweet patience, and that she
and all at home were as poor as any
church mouse.
I “Oh, my!” exclaimed little Bob
Travers that morning, as the letters were
brought in. “What shoals of letters!
What a lot of governesses we shall have,
mother! I dj declare if it won’t be
lust like an evening party.”
“Hold your tongue, Bob!” urged his
j father, peremptorily “Leave the room.”
Letters of importance had to be dis
cuffsc 1. most of them healing rofereni*
to what Bob had termed the “evening
party.”
Some applicantsdcclariug they were ex
! paticnceu. because middle-aged. Others
I a. sorted that they were young, aud therc
| fore general y regarded as having an at
| tractive wav with children: which latter
j stateme it was yet worse. The last-dc-
I scribed young ladies would perhaps
! prove attractive in other ways, and fall
j desperately in love with the quiet bach
! clor—Uncle Fred.
j No, that wouldn’t do at all, and in a
j decided lit of ill-humor Bob's father
j threw the entire batch of letters into the
j fire.
As usual, when perturbed in mind.
| “mother” turned the current of conver
sation by addressing Uncle Fred.
“I wish, when passing Janet Lisle’s
to-day. you would ask for our maga
zines.”
All was hurry-skurry, as usua’, three
or four hours later on iu the post-office.
A variety of small packages required im
mediate weighing; and it was at this
very uncturc that Uncle Fred placed
| his foot upon the threshold.
Something had, h-wever, iust caught
his eye, and without more ado lie beat a
hasty retreat—not, however, to a great
distance off.
“The very thiDg!” he ejaculated.
“There! We have been hunting about
all this while—and to what purpose?
Tarticula-s within.’ Eh? Why. I’ll qo
in at once and inquire.”
Uncle Fred was a widower, and hai,
' therefore, made his home of late years
; with his sister Folly’s family. Anytning,
j be thought, was better than living alone.
He was rich, too, aud a highly culti
i vated man, with a pecuiiar faculty also
J for engaging in the performance of kindly
; actions. Like the rest of the family,
] however, he had only lately come into
i the neighborhood.
I “Will you excuse my troubling you
: about tile notice in the window?”
Elsie started visibly an instant. Yes, '
of course This was not the first occasion
j upon which she had seen that certainly
. ; striking face. Yesterday, of course,
i when lie had sent off the registered let
ter.
But Elsie was instantly all attention.
Yes; sh: could tell him all he required
to know—and did ao; and even as sha
. j spoke. Elsie’s eyes sparkled brightly and
lovingly. She was doing now what it
| rejoiced bir true woman's heart to ven
ture upon —tryiDg to help her favorite.
“And Miss Falconbridge thought that
j the young lady in question might be
1 fully relied upon in her guidance of littie
i children?” ho a-ked.
“Oh, dcarme! Y'es—most certainly.”
“You can give me her address?”
, | Elsie noted it down quickly upon a
j slip of paper.
, Before the end of that certainly cvent
i fill day. Miss Josephine was engaged as
daily governess in the family of Uncle
i Fred’s sister, at the moderate salary of
i i two hundred dollars a year.
! :
1 Some months have passed away since
! j then. Kind Uncle Fred, that lie ever is,
‘ has just appeared in the large, old-fask
*| ioned hall, and is assisting "Miss Jose
phine” in putting on her cloak previous
to taking her departure lor borne. He,
i and “Ulster Polly” also, arc both made
i f good stuff, and folks say, and—
l Heaven bless them for itl—only wish to
| make her feel at home with them.
And for the reason, therefore, it seems
r that Uncle Fred not only, on this spco
i ial evening, escorts her to the hall door,
• Imt also n short distance on the road to
t j ward home.
A* ho says, the evening is so lovely,
and the balmy outer air will do him
good.
i j She is telling him—why, she docs not
I exactly know—something about ihcir
i troubles at home s nee "dear father”
i died.
I I “In fact, you know,” went on “Miss
i Josephine,” quite simply, “ho had not
i I even n penny left in the bouse. It wni
1 1 to" dreadful, sir.”
- •'
i She paused a moment ; then went on,
, in the least dogree nervously:
“Shall I tell you what I did?”
"Yes.”
“I advertised, then, in the country pa
• per—don’t be shocked, please. At any
rate, I did it for the best—whether right
or wrong, I don't quite know.”
“Goon.”
“I merely said, then, that a widow and
her daughters—all born to better things,
ns it had seemed—were suddenly thrown
into the lowest depths-of poverty —and
; j asked for help.”
Uncle Fred gave a sort of slight ner
: vous start at this moment, but “Miss Jo
sephine ’ did not notice it. She was
i thinking only at (hat instant of the ter
rible struggle which had urged her to
take such a step as that which she was
now describing.
“And the result?” he asked, quietly.
“What was it?”
“No answer came,” she returned,
gravely, but earnestly. “Possib’y those
who read the words did not believe in
their truth; or possibly some did so who
were not in a position to aid us.”
“I see.” and Uncle Fred spoke now,
as if dreamily. “There! I must leav9
you, Miss Josephine. Very sorry for it—
very sorry, indeed. Have just suddenly
remembered something. You'll excuse
my running away thus abruptly ; won't
you? Will be a triffe more courteous
next timo. Horribly hard-hearted of the
people; wasn’t it, Miss Josephine?” And
thus talking glibly—as if, too.he did not
exactly know what he was saying—Uncle
Fred lifted his hat and disappeared.
The following Thursday morning, just
as “Miss. Josephine” was starting for her
usual daily occupation, a letter was
placed in her hand by the postman; after
reading which, that young lady marched
deliberately upstairs again, removed her
, hat and cloak, cha-cd away with her
pock handkerchief a great many tears
, that for some reason or othei**would in
-1 hist upon pouring down her checks, and
then set to work ty to re read the follow
ing words:
“Dear Miss Joserink: Pardon my abrupt
■aave-taking yesterday; but I will now ex
plain. Returning home expressly byway of
the post-oltife, I aid f. small stroke of busi
ness there on iny own account.
“Miss Elsie Falconbridge was out, having
gone to spend the evening with the widowed,
and alas: now childless mother, of her once,
and so lately too, sailor lover. We have,
however, already spoken together—you and
I—of this unlooked-for event, and also of the
brave way in which Miss Elsie hears the
heavy blow.
“But I would now speak of something
else—so selfish are we all in this world, you
sec. I persuaded the good dame, Janet Les
lie, to assist me in something which was
puzzling me not a little,
“I heard last evening, for the first time, of
course—and also from your own lips, most
strange to say—that a twenty-dollar note,
which f had sent you in answer to your ad
vertisement asking for aid, never reached
you. It had not, I now find, miscarried in
the ordinary way that letters do occasionally
go astray; but it was as impossible, you will
presently soe.tbat it should ever have reached
your abode, as tho residence of one of the
ancient patriarchs.
‘Tho letter containing the amount named
was it appears, although placed in a regis
ter® 1 envelope for which I duly pail, never
dispatched; aud in the hurry-skurry of the
moment it was never entered, either, in the
oftt ial book. Tho fault was, of course, my
own, qui.e as much as that of any one else;
hut every oue was asking hurried questions
at the moment, and my letter—vours, rather
—pa d the penalty. Then, as fate would have
it, it landed itselt otherwise than in the le
gitimate post bag, and dropped, how is bes'
known to itself, behind a drawer that is
rai ely opened.
"Forgive the details, however. Janet Lisle
had only discovered the thus hldden-away
missive half an hour before 1 appeared upcu
the scene—mark thecoincidence—and was in
a state of no little consternation.
“Picture also my own dismay.
“Tho mystery, however, is now solved.
*‘l will not again tender tho amount for
I your aci entauce, as there certainly seems to
j he something unfortunate attending itsca
j reel - —beside which, on my part, I am goiDg
I to ask a favor from yourself.
I “Will you. I ask, become my wife?—and
also kindly acknowledge promptly the re
ceipt of this letter, or I shall bo compelled to
i take it for granted that my second commu
nication has shared the fate of my first
Uncle Fred."
“Miss Josephine,” like a wise woman,
answered the letter just received by re
turn of post
**** * # .
The years have flown since then, and
matters go on much as usual in that
6mall township of Lammcrton.
But there are changes, nevertheless.
Jane. Lisle knows her place no more
jin the cozy little postofficc. She has al
ready gone home long since to rest and
sweet t lsie Falconbridge is now the mis
tress of everything.
Her hair, however, though still beau
tiful, is in these days white—white as
the driven snow; and the abiding ex
pression upon her still handsome face is
that of one who has passed through a
mighty and also terrible sea of trouble,
; and borne the trial only as a true hero
ine could.
She knows, she says, that God has or
dered all, and that she shall see her
sailor lover again one day in heaven.
But there is still one person in the
world whom she loves dearly, and that
is the happy, true-hearted wife of “Uncle
1 Frad.”
"I owe all—every bit, in fact—of my
happiness to you. sweetest Elsie,” as Jo
sephine says. “It all dates from the day
—don’t you remember?~whcn you gave
me muffins and crumpets.”
“And also di-patened my registered
letter so carefully.” remarks Uncle Fred,
| quaintly. —Frank Leslie's.
Not Yery route.
Mr*. Hendricks (the landlady!—“Can
I send you some more soup, Mr.
Dumley?”
Mr. Dumley—“No, thanks.”
Mrs, Hendricks (engagingly!—“Don’t
refuse, Mr. Dumley, because it ian’t con
sidered good form to bo helped twico to
aoup.”
Mr. Dumley—“Oh, etiquette haa noth
i ing to do with it, madam; it’athe soup."
—New York Sun.
Sixty feet of solid salt haa been strncl
| at Port Huron, Mich.
SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL.
The cave animals of North America,
according to Professor A. S. Packard,
comprise a total of 173 species of blind
creature-’, nearly all of which aro mostly ;
white in color.
A communication to the French Acad
emy of Sciences by Mons.C. V. Zengcr,
has called attention to the simultaneous !
occurrence of brilliant auroras and me
tcoric showers, suggesting a probable
connection.
Tho importance of microbes to the
growth of plants lias been practically
demonstrated by M. Laurent, who ob
tained only one fourth as much buck
wheat from sterilized mould'as in soil
containing bacteria.
A new method of cure has been re
cently and successfully tried by a physi
cian in Thuringia. He made the experi
ment of letting seve al of his phthisical
patients pass the night in the open forest
in hammocks, covered with cushions and
plaids.
A Fer.-nan engineer named Henkeis
has invented a ventilating window-pane
which admits fresh air while preventing
a draught. Each square metre of glass
contains five thousand holes, which are
of a conical shape, widening toward the
inside. The new device has already
been adopted by many of the German
hospi ala.
In the new organ now being built by
Messrs. W ilis for Canterbury Cathedral,
the electric current is also employed as a
transmitter of power from the” fingers of
the organist to the pipes, which will be
130 feet above him This is no new ap
plication of electricity, for the same thing
has been done in past years. But the sys
tem employed is new, and is the inven
tion of the builders of the organ.
Mahogany is being rapidly introduced
into every part of India, where it promi
ses to thrive. The seeds sown have ger
minated remarkably well, a single poun 1
planted in green houses in the southern
districts having yielded betwen three
and four thousand plants. It is thought
to be quite probable that the world may
some day look to India instead of to
America forits mahogany, as'well as for
its quinine The eastern produ tof the
latter has already become so extensive
and of such superior quality that the
cinchona bark exports to the United
States of Colombia are said to have di
minished fifty per cent, within five
years.
In some of the great sawmill establish
ments of the West, six foot circular
saws are rim 760 revolutions to the min
ute. Kunniug at 750 revolutions to the
minute, the teeth of the six foot saw are
traveling nearly three miles a minute.
S* k foot saws have been driven at as
high rate of speed as Bffo revolutions to
the minute. In Michigan, a few years
ago, a Canadian company geared up its
mill to run its six foot saw 850 revolu
tions to the minute. A sawmill at Padu
cah, Ky., which had a seventy-six inch
saw and 6team feed, cut one day 10,-
571 feet of one inch poplar boards in
about seventy minutes. In this trial the
saw made no sawdust; each tooth tore
out a strip of wood about one-quaiter
of an inch long. Michigan sawyers have
boasted of a mill dropping sixteen onc
snch sixteen-foot boards a minute, but
this seems like an exaggeration.
Twice Mistaken.
The resemblance between Attorney-
General Garland and Kiist Comptroller
Durham is very striking, and hardly a
day passes that one of them is not mis
taken for the other, often giving rise to
very ludicrous scenes. Each one is tall,
with a cleanly shaven face, snapping
black eyes, and rugged features, while
the similarity of their slouched hats and
their attire generally adds to the like
ness. There was a similar ca-e in It 60,
wuen a wonderfully striking likeness ex
isted between Mr. Guy, the landlord of
the National Hotel, and Senator Cass,
who was one of his guests. One morn
ing a Baltimorean, who had taken two
or three cocktails, meeting General Cass
in one of the upper entries of the hotel,
rushed up to him, slapped him heavily
on the shoulder, and said: “Old Guy,
how are yon? You must give me a bet
ter room, or I will go to some other
hotel. ”
So soon as General Cass could recover
from his surprise he exclaimed: “Sir.
y<M are mistaken; I’m not Mr. Guy: I aro
Senator Cass of Michigan. Y'ou should
be more careful before you salute people
as you just did me.” The man was ter
ribly mortified, and sought consolation
in another cocktail. Just as he left the
bar-room he met, as he thought his
friend Guy, and going up to him, said:
“Guy, I made a terrible mistake just
now. I thought that I met you upstairs,
slapped you on the shoulder, and asked
for a better room, but it turned out that
it was old Cass and not you.”
“Sir,” exclaimed the person spoken
to, “you hare made a mistake again. I
am Senator (as, and you have been
drinking. You should be ashamed of
yourself, sir!” The man took the next
train for Baltimore.— Washington Letter.
A Bor’s Great GrlL
Recently two boys, brothers, one of
eleven and tho other ten years of age,
were playing cn the banks of the river
at Ures. They proposed to take some
wood home to ilieir mother, and while
gathering it lifted the dry branch of a
tree and uncovered a rattlesnake, which
bit the eldest hoy in the finger. The
youth, feeling the venom enter ug his
veins, called on the younger brother to
cut off the injured member. The latter
asked “With whatr
“With this thin fiat stone,” replied the
intrepid youth, picking up one and
placing his finger on another flat one.
The brutbar took the stone and ham
mered away, and after some time suc
ceeded in mashing off the finger, thue
saving the life of the heroic boy, who
itood the horrible torture with great for
titude.—Broqnsrille (Taos) Cosmopoli
tan.
Terms. $1.50 per Annum. Single Copy 5 cents.
A Battle in Aft-tea.
Two white men in the heart of Africa,
who with their littlo force of native sol
diers manned the advanced post of cirii
| ization on the Congo, have been drives
| out of Stanley Falls station by slave-deal*
| ing Arabs. The white men fought three
days for the blue-and-gold flag of the
i Congo State, killed sixty of the enemy,
j with a loss of only two of their own
men, aud when their ammunition gave
out and their natives deserted them thej
burned their buildings, destroyed their
guns, and retreated down the river with
only four attendants.
This stubborn defence was character
istic of Mr. Deane, the chief of the Stan
ley Falls station. Deane has the repu
tation on the Congo of being absolutely
without fear. He is a relative of Sir
Francis dc YVinton, who succeeded Mr.
Stanley as administrator of the Congo.
One night last spring, when Deane was
an his way to Stanley Falls, he camped
an the bank of the river. Without the
slightest warning he was suddenly at
tacked by a swarm of natives, who killed
several of his black soldiers. His panic
smitten party fled, having Deane in the
darkness to battle alone with the savages
{.round him. He was well armed, and
his bullets whizzed through the bushes
in such rapid succession that the natives,
snaccustomed to firearms, fled in dis
may. Deane had received two very bad
(rounds,one speer having passed through
the calf of his leg and another nearly
Ihrough the thigh. Most men would have
; osted back down tbo river as fast as
possible for medical assirtance. Deane,
however, proposed to go to Stanley
Falls if it killed him. and gathering his
people together, he dressed his wounds
Limsell and steamed on up the river. A
little later the natives were punished for
their treachery by the burning of several
of their villages.
It was also characteristic of Mr. Deane
that he refused to give up the slave girl
who had taken refuge with him to es
cape the Arabs. His comrades say of
him that Deane would die before hs
would be forced to obey any orders ex
cept those of his superiors in authority.
His pluck aud bravery very likely ex
ce.-dcd his discretion, for by defying the
Arab* he has lost his station.
The station at Stanley Falls, which the
Arabs with their many hundreds ol
armed slaves now hold, was founded by
Stanley three years ago. Dr. Lenz, who
vis ted the station, wrote that the build
ings, amid the surrounding gardens, were
very prettily situated on the river bank,
nd the view of them from the rivet
produced a very agreeable impression.
The Arab settlement was not far from
the statiou, and the influence of theit
powerful leaders over the surrounding
country was much greater than that of
the Congo Free State New Fork Sun.
HEALTH HINTS.
The host promoters of health ara fresl
air and sunlight.
A simple remedy for neuralgic head
ache is the juice ts a lemon taken in a
cup of black coffee.
Changes of dress from thick to thin
should "always he made in the morning,
as then all the vital forces are in full play.
Almost all bites and stings being acid
iu their nature, the cure is an alkali.
Spirits of hartshorn is the best boushold
remedy; next comes saleratus or lye from
wood ashes.
For warts, corns and other indurations
of tho cuticle, nothing acts more satis
factorily than a mixture of equal parts of
tincture of iodine and glacisl acetic acid,
applied in repeated layers with a brush,
night and morning.
It has been shown by actual experi
ment that the water which sircamsdown
the inside of the window of a closed
sleeping-room is so impregnated with the
noxious exhalations of the sleepers that
oue drop is sufficient to poison a rabbit.
It is said that a solution of pilocarpine,
two grains to the ounce of water, in
jected inro the tooth cavity will cure
ne.:ralgia caused by bad teeth. From an
eighth to a quarter of a grain seems suf
ficient to check the pain in the course of
an hour.
Water cannot satisfy the thirst which
attends cholera, dysentery, diarrhua and
some other forms of disease; in fact,
drinking cold water seems to increase
the thirst and induce other disagreeable
sensations; but the thirst will be perfectly
, and pleasantly subdued by eating a com
paratively small amount of ice, swallow
ing it in as large pieces as practicable
, and as much as is wanted.
M. Ginjeot states that of all measures
applied locally to boils, the best result*
are obtained from tincture iodine. Ho
| paints the boil with a thi k coating, and
: sometimes a single application is suffi
: | cieut to cause the inflammation to sub
; side ; it is better, however, to make toe
i | application several time! a day for several
; davs. He does not recommend the early
i opening of boils, but if evacu rtion of pu»
! be necessary antiseptics should be used.
The Mania for Medicine.
There are 1,010 medicines in the phar
i 1 macop.iia of the United States, and in
I most communities there is one man who
hastried every one o. them before dis
covering that there never was anything
the matter with him. The taste for
, strong dr nk is a mild, innocuous, feeble
, inclination, co upared with the razing
mania for “taking medicine” when one*
, it gains a pernic.ously active hold upon
, a man There are nut many re illy sick
people in the world, and if it wasn’t for
the man wh > delights in doaing himself
, with anything that hai a long name and
I au almanac attachment, there wouldn’t
be half cuough paint on the rocks of
picture!' quo America to hide the land
scape.- Lurdette.
| The number of those who are now in
valids a> the result of the war is said to
be 365,854, the total number of soldiers
having been about 1,350,000.