THE CHARLOTTE MESSENGER.
VOL. 111. NO. 32
THE
Charlotte Messengre
IS PUBLISHED
Kvery Saturday,
AT
CHARLOTTE, N. C.
Ia the Interests of tho Colored People
of the Country.
Mile and well known writers will contrib
vb to its columns from different parts of the
country, and it will contain the latest Gen
• ;ii 1 Nev aof the flay.
Jm: "Messenger is a first-class newspaper
au'l v ill not allow personal abuse in its col
mm s. It is not sectarian or partisan, but
in.topendent—dealing fairly by all. It re
>ar VUS the rlgh tto criticise the shortcomings
of all public officials—commending the
worthy, and recommending for election such
hum as in its opinion are best suited to serve
I interests ft the ]>eople.
ll i- intended to supply the long felt need
of a newspaper to advocate the rights and
i!i*‘t*ivl the interests of the Negro-American,
i ially in the Piedmont section of the
jirolinai.
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
( Always in Advance.)
] year - - - $1 50
• months - -1 00
6 months - 75
t months - - 50
mouths - - - 40
Address,
W.C. SMITH. Charlotte NC,
In Hie matter of ingenuity the Ameri
can people lead the wor d. More appli
cations for patents arc received and moro
patents granted at the Patent Office in
Washington than in any two countries of
Europe. Great Britain coines next on
•the list, France third, and Germany
fourth. It wis not until 1836 that the
Patent Office was organized as a separate
bureau with a Commissioner and suitable
a-sistants for the proper discharge of its
duties. It is rather a singular fact that
during that jear only one application for
a patent was filed. The next year the
number increased to 100. The increase
lms steadily grown, until in 1886 the ap
plications filed numbered 21,797. The
whole number of patents granted since
1 jt ' is, in round numbers, 355,000.
Dr. William 11. Cray, of West Falls,
Md.. is quite sure that he has at last dis
covered the sccrect of perpetual motion,
and has constructed a wheel which he
thinks will run forever. It derives its
motion from the attraction of gravita
tion, a mechanical movement being
placed on the wheel in such away that
the descending side is the heaviest. By
the force of its action it keeps the wheel
f-tcadily in motion. The wheel is twenty
six inches in diameter by eight inches in
thickness, a .d is mounted on a wooden
frame resembling a grindstone frame.
The wheel is keyed to a steel axle, which
-.'fits 011 brass bearing!. Dr. Gray has
had one of the machines at his house
working steadily for more than three
months. lie labored twenty years over
its invention.
One of the most remarkable formations
of common salt in this country, and in
dred in the world, is that on the Island
«.f I etile Anse, 12 1 miles west of New
Orleans. It was discovered in 1802 while
bink ng a well, and was immediately
: ci/.ed by Jefferson Davis ns a Confeder
ate supply. The salt is uuderground at
a depth ranging from ten to twenty three
feet. One hundred and fifty acres have,
up to the present time, been traced, anil
a depth ot 140 feet been reached. The
salt is taken out in massive crystalline
block-:, and is of the clca est white ap
pearancc. It i* ucarly chemically pure,
contains 99.88 per cent, pure salt, the
remaining fraction of a per cent, being
gypsum and chloride of lime. The mines
:.ic owned by the Avery family, and arc
worked by a New York firm, which pays
$;; t 00j per mouth as a royalty for the
privilege.
Thcic is a law in San Francisco, aimed
cm c iaily at the Chinese, requiring that
cooping ap.irtn.cat4 shall conta n 500
cubic feet of pure air to each occnpint.
llceently, two Sen Fran' iseo police offi
cers made raids on two lodging houses iu
the Chinese quarter, and arrested forty
eeven violators of the law. As a matter
of precaution, so that h; m ; gtat be able
to identify the prisoner* when they carno
to court, on • of the officers marked each
with a small sign written with an unalino
pencil. When ihe defendants were
brought before the judge they were rep
resent; d by counsel, who declared that,
an a k*j orate complaint hod been filed
against each party accused, each would
have to he tried separately. The firs
one called up was found guilty, he
having b cn identified by the small mark
on his neck In the language of th * dny,
the other defendant* ‘ got on the mark
business,” and in a few minutes forty-six
Chinamen were each observed wetting
the tip of the right index fin;er with *«•
liv.i and tubbing the »|>ot wheie tbs
mn: k had b: n. Two mo © of the de
fendants were ' idled for trial, but each,
had to be dischaigod, as the officer war
unable to find the identification mark.
The cases of the others w ere postponed*
CHARLOTTE, N.C. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1887.
IN SORROW. |
When thou art sorrowful and cares around 1
Crowd fast upon the steps of happier days: ,
When thou believ’st brightest things caD !
lend
The saddest echo to the gayest lays—
As men of old were fed with angel’s food,
Go, seok thy remedy in doing good.
When those to thee dearest shall have died, !
And each fresh day grow weary to thine 3
eyes; 1
When every hope that others build upon
Comes to thy senses with a sad surprise—
Take up the burden of another's grief; ]
Learn from another's pain thy woe's re
relief.
Mourner, believe that sorrow may bo bribed
With tribute from the heart, nor sighs, nor
tears, 1
But nobler sacrifice—of helping hands,
Os cheering smiles, of sympathetic ears,
Oft have the saddest words the sweeter
strain;
In angel’s music let thy soul complain.
Then Grief shall stand with half-averted foot '
Upon the threshold of a brighter day;
And Hope shall take her sweetly by the band
And both kneel down Faith to meekly
pray,
Lifte 1 from earth, Fea e shall immor
talize
The heart that its own anguish purifies. 1
— Chambers's Journal.
THE OLD HOUSE.
It was snowing! And nobody who
has not had personal experience on the
sub net. knows what a regular New
Hampshire snow-storm means.
A cloud of flying needles sharply punc
turing j our face, a wind keen as the edge
of any cimetar, a white, blinding vail
separating you from the rest of the
world—these are some of the signs and
symptoms.
And Edgar Everly felt them in their
mo-t merciless mood, as he stood help
lessly on the edge of a mountain elitf,
staring around him in vaiu search of
some lamiLar landmark.
■I am lost!” said lie. “Exactly—and
it serves me right. It striker me that i
had better have staid tit home and faced
Kathleen's Valentino party, aftor all.”
For, to he frank with the rerder, Mr.
Everly had ignominiottsly retreated be
fore his sister s gay Valentine reception,
to the great grief of the half dozen pretty
young girls who were sojourning in the
house.
“Do stay, Ned!" pleaded Kathleen
Everly, utmost with tears iu her eyes.
“Stuff and nonsense.” the youDgman
had returned. —A man is always at a
disadvantage on such occasions at this.
And I never war a worshiper of old St.
Valentine. Besides, I’ve often wondered
what those Signal Service fellows did
with themselves up on tho top of tho
mountain in winter time. They say
they’re an awfully jolly set of chaps, if
once you can get at ’em.”
‘‘Oh, Edgar, you will certainly be
lost,” said hta mother, in a panic.
“II Lost on Silver Peak! That is a
good one!” cried out Everly. “Wasn’t
I born and bred under its very shadow!
I wonder what you will he saying next,
you feminines! ’
But the unconsciously-uttered predic
tion had come true.
He was, truly ana actually, lost on
Silver Peak. No oro was altogether
safe in such a bewildering snow-storm
as this. It was not such an extraordi
nary circumstance, if on y he had made
allowance for it.
But as he groped blindly with his
stick, v: gucly fearful lest he should be
precipitated into seme unfathomable
abyss below, the ferule came in contact
with a rude stone wall; the bleating of
young calves reached his ear.
“Aha!” he cried, exult ngly; “now I
know where I am. It is the Old House,
where Farmer Eastwood keepa his -
calves!”
The “Old House’’ was a ruined farm- i
dwelling. built long ago for tuo tem
porary accommodation of tome old set
tler, who had abandoned it as soon as
pos-ib c for mo c commodius quarters, i
It stood on the edge of a scrubby i
thicket of pines and cedars, and no one
e cr came near it who cou.d help them
selves.
But the own r—one Mr. Eastwood, a
prosperous farmer, who 1 ved on a sonny i
plateau halfway down the mountain— ,
fr -qiicutly used it for the ccominodation
of his rocks aud herds when the home ,
barnyards were full. {
“Aly bovine friends," said Ever y, re- j
gaining his spirits at once, “I am sorry ,
tc disturb you, hut lam a- great a c.ilf ,
as yourselves u. on this unfortunate o ca- |
sion. and a shelter of any sort is as lm- 1
portant to me us it is to yon.” j i
Aud feeling his way to the low door- 11
way, from which the porch had long i
since'mouldercd away,he entered the Old
IL.ue ]
Originally it had consisted of two |
room-, in the smaller of which three or <
four speckled calves weic shut, and Ev- i
srly looked disconsolately nround him, |
standing in the larger apartment. (
••One would freeze to death herel” I
said lie, “Once morel will seek the help 1
of the bovii.es.” I
And opening the rude pine door, he <
snugged film elf down aiming tho calves,
thankful to share in their wmmth, as ho I
mapped Ills cape close about his shout- . I
dors.’’ 1 1
“Hail fellows well met," thought he. >
“If they were gipsies or brigands now, I
then'in gilt he something sentimental in <
the whole affair. But -calves! Well. I t
may as well go to sleep. The danger of j t
freezing is over now."
When he roused up from the death !
like slumber of thorough fatigue, tho «
partition door stood o|>co, tho calves <
were munching sweet hay. and, wondor
jof woofers, n ruddy fire of brush-wood <
and pine-cones was casting its reflection «
on the stone walls behind him; sod two c
plump, cherry-cheeked girls sat on tho j
floor, in blaze, front of thejtalking to each
other.
“I m asleep!” thought Edgar Everly,
staring at the pretty trausformation
sceno which had sprung up so suddenly
in the midst of the snowy darkness.
“Dreaming! 1 shall wake up presently
with my tocsnnd finger-ends frozen stiff!
But it’s an uncommonly jolly dream, any
how, and I’ll enjoy it while I can. What
is this delicious smell? Itcan’t becoffeo
and toasted johnny-cake, can it? Peo
ple don't smell coffee and johnnv-cako
in dreams, that ever I heard of.”
Just then a voice broke tho thread of
his reflections.
“How nice the coflee was! It was
just like yon, It hod a, to think of bring
ing it”
“Oh, well!” another sweet voice re
sponded; “I’ve been out here before iu
a snow-storm. Somebody must go, you
know, nod Aleck is An Concord, and
father’s rheuma'ism is worse than usual
to night. And Ted. the farm-boy, is al
ways afraid of Silver Peak when it
snows. Nothing would induce him to
come.”
“But weren’t you afraid, lihoda?”
“I?” echoed the lark-sweet tone.
“Wasn’t I born here?”
“My words exactly,” thought our hero.
“I should like to come out upon the
scene and ask for a taste of that Arabian
draught, but I might frighten these
mountain-fairies away if I were to be too
precipitate, ill be patient and bide my
time.”
“And,” went on pretty Rhoda East
wood, “I knew it was possible we might
be detained here all night. So I brought
the matches along, and the ca idles and
the pail of coffee. ”
“Hello!" thought Mr. Everly.“Here's
a pretty kettle of fish! I must come out
sooner "or latter. They’re going to stay
here all night!”
“lihoda?” whispered a soft little
voice.
“Well, Nannie?” was the sweet an
swer.
“Aren’t you afraid now?"
“Afraid?—you goose! What should I
he afraid of?” merrily retorted the farm
er's daughter.
“I—don't—know,” slowly answered
Nannie. “Only it’s so lonesome.”
“There are the calves, you know,”
laughed Rhoda.
“Humph!” 6aid Mr. Everly to himself.
“And it's St. Valentine's Eve,” added
Nannie,
“Well,” said Rhoda, “what of that?”
“They’re going to have a dance up at
Squire Everly"s,” said N annie.
“Well, and how does that concern us?”
“I should like to have gone,” said
Nannie, clasping her knees after a
meditative fashion. “I never was at a
Valentine party. What does it mean,
Rhoda, anyway?”
“Oh, I don't know!” said Rhoda,
flinging fresh pine cones on the lire.
“There's an old saying, I believe, that
tho first man you see on St. Valentine's
morning is your true love for the rest of
the year. ”
“And no longer?” in accents of disap
pointment.
“How do I know?” laughed Rhoda.
“I never was at a Valentine’s party,
cither 1"
“1 wonder whom we shall meet going
down the mountain to-morrow?” said
Nannie, after a brief silence.
“As if it wasn’t all nonsense!” said
Rhoda.
How pretty she looked as she sat ■.Yo r c,
with the flashing red reflections dancing
on her raven hair and mirrored in her
liquid brown eyes!
“But one mu«t talk nonsense some
times,” pleaded Nannie. “Wchavegot
to pass away the time somehow. If wo
go to sleep, and let the fire go down, we
shall be frozen to death. Ob, good gra
cious 1 what’s that?”
,-ome slight, unconscious movement on
the pirt of their hidden uuditor had
frightened the calves; there was a sud
den plunge and outcry in their midst.
Edgar pc ccived that h.s ambuscade was
uo longer possible; he emerged boldly
into the light.
“ i ndies —” said he.
“It’s a man!” screamed Nannie. “Oh,
oh, we shall be rubbed and murdered!
Oh, oh!”
lid she clung desperately to Rhoda
Eastwood
•‘ I beg a thnusa d pardons, lam sure, ”
p eadi d Everly. “It isn’t my fault. I’m
not responsible. I couldn’t help it, in
deed. I am Squire Everly’s son—from
Harvard, you k ow—and I somehow lost
my way on tho mountain. And hearing
the calves, it was the most natural th ng
in tho wo id to come here f -r shelter—
and l dropped asleep, and when I woke
up, you we e talking hero. I hope I
haven't frightened you very much; but
I’m almost frozen, and half-famished
into the bargain; and if there should
happen to boa few drops of coffee left
in the bottom of that tin pail—”
“How stupid we are!” cried Rhoda
Eastwood, blushing beautifully, as she
poured out a gourd-shell of the fragrant
coffee, and presented it, together w.th
a yellow slice of johnny-cake, to their
guest. “You arc very welcome at the
Old House, Mr. Everly. Bit down by
tho fire. Oh, there’s no fear of the sup
ply of pine-cones giving out! We always
fill a bin full here every fall for just such
emergencies as this.”
“This is delightful!" said our hero,
thawing himself out. as it were, by tho
fire. A sort of winter picture, eh? But,
I can tell you, it came very near being
• omething serious with me. I wanted to
get away from my tester’s merry-making,
don't you sect” he added, frankly; “and
this is the sort of doom I’ve brought upon
myself!”
“8c they sat and talked in tho fire
light. quite losing sight of all stiffness
and ceremony in the cordial fellowship
engendered by their mutual plight.
Everly was surprised at the delicate
culture ar.d native refinement evinced in
every look and word of Es iu Eastwood's
daughter.
Rhoda wondered how any one could ;
ever have called Edgar Everly cold or
reserved; and little Nannio Voorhees,
fast asleep, with her head on lihoda’s
•lap, dreamed--who knew of what?—
juntil tho chiming of the far-away
midnight bells, borne up the mountain
side by the strong north wind, suddenly
lbroke across the shriek of the tempest.
I “Tho wind has changed. It wilt stop
Snowing soon,” said Rhoda, quietly.
“Miss Eastwood—” said Everly.
f “Well?”
“Don’t think mo impertinent, but—”
“No, I don't. Go on.”
f “But,” added Evcrlv, “we are each
other’s Valentines!”
“Are we?” Rhoda burst out laughing.
“So we are—for a whole year.”
“And perhaps longer. Who knows?”
His tone was just a little sentimental
perhaps—at least it might have been, if
Nannie had not waked up just then.
• -“Where-nm I?" said she, stretching
nut her pretty calico-covered arms.
“Oh, I remembrr now! We are snow
bound ; and I was dreaming of St. Val
entine's Day!”
With the dawn a faint rose-flush had
overspread tho sky. Rhoda had proved
a true prophet—the storm was over.
And the three merrily descended the
mountain side together'
“Remember,” Edgar raid, as he gavel
a pasting pressure to Rhode's hand, at
tlie Eastwood farm-gate, “you are my
Valentine!”
“For a year, ” corrected Rhoda, calmly.
“But the lease is renewable at the
year's end I” urged Everly.
And so the matter is left—to be settled
a twelve months hence as old St. Valen
tine may decide.
“He s a good sort of a saint,” says Mr.
Everly, who is falling deeper and deep
er in love with the farmer's daughter
with every day. “I'm quite willing to
leave it to old St. Valentine!”— Helen
Forrest Graves.
Execution by the Sword in Siam.
Preparations were made by inserting
in the ground three bamboo crosses about
two feet in length, to whch the arm< of
the doomed men were to he tied, they
sitting on the ground, aud three poles
about six feet long upon which were to
be placed the heads of the criminals, says
Colonel Jacob Child, w riting from Siam
to the Richmond (Mo.) Conservator.
This done the crowd was driven hack.
The doleful sound of a gong beating at
short intervals, the sudden hush of the
crowd told that the prisoners were ap
proaching, and in the c nlre of a squad
of soldiers and policemen they entered
the place that had been reserved, about
thirty feet square. The soldiers and po
lice formed in a square as a means of
keeping the spectators hick. A Siamese
'nobleman examined the crosses to sec
that everything was ready; the Judges
of the court were in attendance, escorted
by attendants hearing swords in red vel
vet sheaths. Tho prisoners, three in
number (the King, who is very hu
mane, having commuted the sentence
of fourteen to imprisonment for life
on his birthday , seemed perfectly
cool and collected. They had each
a long bamboo pole, some six feet in
length, on their necks, in the front of
wh ch was an oval piece of wood through
which their hands were placed, with
chains on their necks and legs. In a
short time the yokos and chains on their
necks were taken off, and, as the ground
Was wet and muddy by the trampling of
the crowd, large Banana leaves were
placed on the ground aud they were or
dered to squat down on them; then they
were fastened to the crosses, the flowers
and sticks were stuck up n (he i round
iu front of them, the sticks lighted, and
for a few minutes Ihe victims of the law
prayed mo t fervently in silence, they
having been engaged in prayer at the
wat about four hours previous to being
brought to the place of execution. This
over, mud was ins-ried in their cars so
' that they could not lu ar the ex- cutioners
j when tii y approached and were in-
I 6trueted to lean forward and keep their
[ eyes rivited ou the flowers and burning
I sticks. While waiting tho coming of the
! executioner tre hies of the band of rob
l hers smoked a cigarette, and it was only
{ by the heaving of his chest th .t one
could detect any emotion. All of a sud
den tho crowd parted, thice execution- -
ers, dressed in red and gold fringe on
, their clothes, glided through the open
| i g, dancing as they came, saluted with
their shining swords and ou reaching
• the prisoners the bright steel flashed
!in the air, you heard a thud, the
head fc*li to one side hanging by
a piece of skin, and thr law was
, avenged. With another 6alutc the exe
cutioners disappeared; then a man with
a sharp knife scored the heads and stuck
them on the poles, a hideous sight, then
coolly chopped the hands of the dead
oign off to as to get the irons that were
solidly riveted on, and the bodies were
left on the ground for the vultures to
eat or their friends to steal and give burial
' after nightfall. The heads were taken
off simultaneously, so quick that I could
scarcely realize it, nnd it seems to me j
that death was instantaneous, save that
the heads showed spasmodic action, the
eyes and mouth opening and shutting,
which lasted for some time after beingon
.he poles.
The crowd in attendance was most or
derly—not a drunken man to be seen,
and entire silence prevailed—and when
the execution was over left the grounds
without the least confusion, and there
could not have been less than a thousand
present. The prisoners were old offend
ers: one of them, I was informed, having
been implicated in fifteen robberies nnd
several murders. lie was the chief, hut
had slipped through the meshes of the
law repeatedly by the use of money; the
others were younger men, nnd one oi j
worthy parentage, hut his money did not
save him, as au ewrgplu ««< needed to
put a stop to outlawry, snd it has dune !
•n, for the robberies have ceased and the j
band is broken up.
Tougbniit street is the name of the !
prin ipal thoroughfare in Tombstone, 1
A. T. |
"SHOOTING” AN OIL WELL
RAISING PETROLEUM FROM ITS
UNDERGROUND PRISON.
A Curious Process In the Pennsjrl-|
vania Oil Region.—A Theory ai i
to the Origin of Oil.
For two hour* recently, writes Samuel
P. Leland in the Chicago Tribune , I stood
in a bleak wind to witness tho process ol
“shooting” an oil-well. This is accom j
plished by letting down with a strong j
wire on a windlass tin tubes about three
inches in diameterand fourteen feet long,
filled with nitroglycerine. Each of
these tubes will hold about twenty quart!
of the liquid. If the blast is to be made
at the bottom of the well then the first
can or tube is let down to rest upon the
bottom, but if the stratum of rocks which
it is desired to “shoot” b: above tho
bottom, as is frequently tho case, then
smaller tubes are fastened upon the first
charged tube for a support. These may
he thirty or fifty feet long, or even more.
The lower end of this tube, of course,
tests on the bottom of the well, and sus
tains the charged tubes, which are care
fully let down one upon the other until
sixty, eighty, or even 100 quarts are thus
deposited. In doing this every move
ment must be made with the utmost care,
and is attended with great danger.
The liquid weighs about four pounds
to the quart, hence a great weight must
be provided for. On the upper end of
the topmost tube an explo-ive cap is
placed. The charge is exploded by drop
ping an iron slug, called, in the nomen
clature of the oil country, a “go-devil.”
Cautious persons keep at a good dis
tance. The ooerator gives the alarm
and lets the slug drop. In a well 3,C00
feet deep, filled with gas or oil, tho
weight may be twenty or even twenty
five seconds in descending. If the well
is clear, of course its descent is more
rapid. The first sensation one feels is a
heavy thud, like the dropping of a great
weight on the rocks. The next a trem
bliug of the ground, and then a rushing
roar, followed by a slight explosion, and
a stream of sand, oil, water, pulverized
“go devil,” and tubes, and black gas
goes shrieking into the air in a dense
column a hundred feet or more, and all
is over.
If the blast is an effective one it is im
mediately followed by a flow of oil or
gas. Often a dead and worthless well
will at once begin to flow after the shock.
One well near Butler that was dead and
thought worthless was awakened to
activity by a heavy blast and rewarded
the owner" with a flow of 700 barrels of
oil daily.
A sixty-quart blast costs the owner of
the well about SIOO, including the labor
of placing it. This labor, as has been
said, is attended with great danger.
Sometimes, when the well is full of gas,
the torpedo, after descending a few hun
dred feet, will be driven violently out of
the well. In that case it is certain to
explode by hitting the timbers of the
derrick or when it reaches the ground in
its descent. In either case general de
struction of everything is certain.
Sometimes upon theexplnsion of a tor
pedo in a well, a large volume of oil is
thrown into the air. This is often a sight
of surpassing beauty, the oil breaking as
it falls into countless drops, and each
drop becoming a prism to reflect the
sun's rays in matchless coloring.
Bo far the gas wells and oil wells are
treated alike.
About the origin of oil nnd gas there
has been much speculation. The surface
indications are very unreliable. Borne no
tion, however, may be formed from a
knowledge of the geological structure of
the rocks underlying a country. For in
stance, the gas and oil regions of Penn
sylvania are on tho central beds of the
Devonism system, or old red sandstone,
made famous by the writings of Hugh
Milier. As is well known this formation
is below the carboniferous' 6ystera, in
which are the coal measures. Long ago
the uotion was abandoned that the oil
and gas come from coni. It is much
mote probable that they have an animal
origin. The early seas were prolific of
life, and, the unsubstantial crust of the
earth readily yielded to the volcanic
forces. This caused continents and seas
to frequently change places. By these
upheavals of the ocean beds the waters
w re driven with great violence out
ward. carrying measureless masses of
the shell fishes and crustaceans into the
great estuaries and buryiDg them under
beds of sand and mud. These beds
harden' d into rocks. In the e deposi
tions, the sand I ciug heavier than the
mud, naturally fell to the bottom. This
accounts for the fact that in nearly all
oil borings a rock of slate or shale is
p issed before reaching the oil sand.
These vast beds of carboniferous
matter, closely sealed, generated “spon
taneous heat.” and so intense was this
heat that the oil was literally “tried”
! out of tho organic forms. This oil was
1 deposited in great basins, or mixed with
the vast beds of sand. The weight of
the superincumbent crust of the earth
makes the wells flow, if the oil is abund
ant. If not, the pump must be used.
Add to this material water nnd at
mospheric air. and gas is produced by
the same process. And such gas. too, as
the wells produce—rich in carbon, but
largely lacking nitrogen; hence this gas
is good for fuel, but has not the proper
qualities for illuminating purposes.
Knowing so murh, we have, at least, a
•light guide. The gas formation in
Pennsylvania, stretching from Bradford
on the north, in an irregular line, with '
varying width, to Washington County ;
jon the south, lies on what geologists ,
| tall an “incline.”
| The annual account* are coming from !
Dakota of the snowballs, some the size i
! of apples, others as large as peck meal- I
i ores, that cover the prairies there. These i
balls are rolled by the wind, and thcr? '
| are thousands of them.
Tens. $1.50 per Annum. Single Copy 5 cents.
THE REASON.
M; j love’s a maiden fair,
And she’s sweet;
She has a modest air
And she's neat;
Her hair is golden brown,
And in ringlets it hangs down;
She’s pretty from her crown
To her feet.
But ’tis not her charming face,
Fair to see,
Nor her modesty and grace,
I am free
To confess, nor any wiles
Bhe employs, my heart beguiles.
But she keeps her sweetest smiles
All for me.
—Boston Courier ;
HUMOR OF THE DAT.
Passing around the hat is ono way of
getting the cents of the meeting.—Sift
ings.
There is one branch of labor which
must always bo done by hand-picking
pockets.
A new kind of stove is called “The In
fant.” It ought to be painted ycller.—.
Ho hester Post-Express.
Firemen are rather discouraging fel
lows; it is their business to throw water
on things.— Loicell Citizen.
The men ot energy and pluck
Have found this maxim wise—
It never pays to run for luck
Unless you advertise.
—Springfield Union.
A new book is entitled: “Hold Up
Your Heads, Girls.” We trust they won’t
as long as they wear the present style of
hat.— Boston Post.
A Charleston paper speaks of an opal
“as large as a small hen’s egg.” We
should think it would be difficult to set.
—Boston Bulletin.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox says she can see
more light than darkness in the world.
So can we, Ella, when the sidewalks are
ono sheet of ice.— Burlington Free Press.
Softly the snow, in solemn night,
Covers bad things, like a pure, sweet mind,
Covers each house with a mantle of white.
But it never covers the mortgage, we find.
—Gooddtl'sSun.
The income of Madame Patti from her
present six months’ tour in this country,
will be about $150,000. A good har
monica can be bought for fifteen cents.
Tid-Bits.
A New Haven man boasts of a cat that
sits up like a kangaroo. We’ve never no.
| ticed how the cat on our back fence sits
up; we only kuow that he yells all night
like a hyena.— Philadelphia Call.
A Michigan woman kicked a bear to
death. Bhe had an awful sore throat,
which accounts for her deviation from
the usual method of scaring them to
death by screaming— Danville Breeze.
Jogg—“Ah, old man! How is every
tying? Got nicely settled down?” Hogg
—“Oh, yes, I settled down quickly
enough. The trouble is that all my
creditors are trying to make me settle
up.”— Lowell Citizen.
He hatl just reached the stage where he
remarked: “Oh, thou art fairer than the
evening air, clad in the beauty of a thou
sand stars,” when a mother’s voice was
heard exclaiming: “Lucee, get your beau
to carry out the ash barrel.”— Neu> York
Journal.
First tramp—“l never failed yet to
make money out of any thing I tackled.”
Second tramp—“ You ought to be rich.”
“No I oughtened; lam as poor as an
amateur performance." “How is
is it possible, if you make money on
every thing you tackled, that you are in
suah reduced circumstances:” “Y’ou see
I make it a point never to tackle any
thing.—Siftings.
Biscuits for Bogs.
Twenty years ago the business of mak
ingdog biscuit was represented by a small
shop in Holborn, nearly opposite
Chancery Lane, and a weekly sale of a
couple of tons. Now there is a vast
factory near London bridge and another
in New Y’ork, between which As a daily
output and sale of from thirty to forty
tons. This dog food is made of wbeaten
flour (chiefly that known as middlings),
oitmeal, dates, beetroot and prairio
meat. Dates were the first article of
a vegetable or fruity nature introduced,
and have had the anti-scorbutic effect so
desirable in the feeding of dogs. For
many years they only were employed,
nnd at that time it was advised that
fresh vegetables should be given twice a
week, additional to the biscuits.
Bearching for something tlist would
obviate the need for this addition, it was
discovered that tho only vegetable which
did not lose its distinguishing properties
under the great heat to which the cakes
are subjected iu baking is beetroot, and
a< it has all the desirable elements; for
some years all the biscuits sent out have
contained beetroot. The la-t ingredient
is prairie meat, which is not, as many
suppose, tallow greaves or butchers’
refuse. It is meat from Central and South
America. From it all fat has been re
moved, hut the most value' lc gristle and
bones remain to he ground up, and is not
only of the highest quality from a feed
ing point of view, but perfectly sweet -
and good. Analysis has shown that it is
much moro nutritious than the beef
usually sold iu our butchers’ shops, for
it contains only five per cent, of water.
—London News.
Why He Shonldn’t Laugh.
I Old Mr. Jones, ot Austin, who has lost
| nearly all his teeth, was visiting the fam-
I i!y of a neighbor, and pickmg up little
I Tommy, he began dancing him ou his
! knee, laughing gaily as Tommy laughed.
Suddenly Tommy looked very eer-
I neatly at Mr. Jones and said:
“Why do you laugh so? "
I “Oh, I laugh because you do.”
“You mustn’t, Mister Jones, for when
I vou laugh you show all the teeth you
j haven't got.”—Sittings.