toashmgton flrogresa.
PROGRESS PUBLISHING CO.
There are fifty individuals and firms
in New York City whose aggregate
wealth is estimated by careful judges to
aggregate fully $1,000,000,000.
The question as to what is the exact
mechanical equivalent of heat has long
puzzled engineers. The latest experi
ments show that 1 pound of water raised
1 degree Fahrenheit is equal to 1 pound
'lifted 769 feet.
Colonel A. Andrews of San Francisco
is the richest pensioner in the United
States, being worth something like
$4,500,000. He is a veteran of the
Mexican war and pays over his monthly
stipend from Uncle Sam to a needy vet
eran who receives no pension.
I The Texas Live Stock Journal says
the general average in shrinkage of a
steer going from Texas to Chicago is
100 pounds. The state furnishes an av
erage of 400,000 steers, which makes a
shrinkage of 40,000,000 pounds, or, as
the average weight of a steer is 850
ipounds, 47,059 head.
The estimated corn crop of 1887 in
this country is about 1,300,000,000
bushels. The seven corn surplus states,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa,
Kansas and Nebraska, have during the
last seven years produced an average
within a small fraction of 1,000,000,000
bushels annually. This year all these
states have suffered severely from
drought
In 1878 capital punishment, which had
teen abolished in Iowa, was re-established,
and it was provided that the
jury should decide in murder cases
whether or not the death penalty should
"be paid, but that no convicted person
should be executed until at least one
year's confinement in the penitentiary.
A wife murderer who was recently con
victed is the first person condemned to
death in the state under the new law.
The new dynamite gun, recently tested
by United States authorites, bid fair to
create a revolution in modern gunnery.
An iron tube contains a fifty-pound
charge of dynamite, and the latter can
be 'safely delivered against the side of a
ship at the distance of one mile, shaking
or wrecking anything contrived by
human hands. Of what avail, asks the
Cultivator are the iron-clad navies of the
world against the dynamite gun?
The new, the universal language,
known as Volapuk, may never come in
to general use, but two gentlemen who
have had the privilege of hearing it
spoken emphatically testify to Its irre
sistible melody. One says, so "London
Figaro" reports, that it sounds "like
double Dutch spoken by a Choctaw In
dian suffering from a chronic croup,"
while the other thinks that it breaks
upon the ravished ear like the music
made "by a Welchman trying to cough
in modern Greek."
An American gentleman who has re
cently traveled through Japan, says that
the Japanese will in a few years be the
greatest railroad builders ofthe world.
As yet there are only 370 miles of railroad
in Japan, but many roads are projected.
The Japanese are good railroad patrons:
for even when they have no business to
transact they will ride back and forth
on the railroad until they have spent
their last cent. And the beggars in the
large towns nearly always spend the
money which they get on a railroad
trip.
The potato bug made two simultaneous
appearances in Germany this year, one
in Saxony and one in Hanover. The
German Government at once had men at
work, who carefully picked all the bugs
and larvae off the plants. The stems of
the vines were then cut off and placed
in baskets lined with sacking, which
were thoroughly scaked in benzine oil
and buried deep in the ground. After
this the land was plowed 12 or 14 inches
deep and well harrowed, and the surface
picked over for any insects that might
be on it. Finally the land was sat
urated with benzine oil. In one case
eight acres and in the other three
quarters of an acre had to be treated in
this way.
Very few people on this side of the
Atlantic have any idea of how much is
being done in Europe in the study of the
food and nutrition of man. In the lab
oraties of the great universities, especial
ly in Germany, experimental researches
are being carried on which are really
remarkable. Some of the most ingen
ious and costly apparatus, and the pains
taking investigation which modern
science employs are devoted to finding
out how the body is nourished and how
food works. Experiments are made
with animals of many kinds, and with
human beings also. The experimenters
put a man inside the respiration appara
tus and weigh and measure and analyze
not only his food and drink, but all the
products given off from his body, in
cluding even the air he breathes.
'Times.
As a profession the practice of medi
cine seems to be pretty lucrative, at least
in large cities. The late Miss Wolf used
to pay $20,000 a year to her medical at
tendant. The late Mrs. A. T. Stewart
paid an average of $32,000 to -three
physicians. Mrs. C. Vanderbilt pays
her doctor $10,000 a year and Mrs. Wil
liam Astor pays $16,000. Mrs. Ellis, an
American lady, physician to the Queen
of Corea, receives $15,000 a year. At a
meeting of the New York County Medi
cal Society two white-haired physicians
with whom a reporter talked agreed in
saying that at least one-half the practic
ing physicians of New York received
incomes of $5000 a year and upward.
A perfecting press, such as most lead
ing newspapers are printed on, i3 an ex
pensive and intricate piece of machinery.
The cost runs up among the thousands
of dollars and it consists of many deli
cate parts nicely adjusted. At the same
time it exerts a tremendous mechanical
force when in operation, and is not a
thing to be trifled with. Imagine the
sensations of a leading New York pub
lisher one day recently, when he saw an
iron wrench go crashing through his
press, following the path designed for a
single thickness of paper. It was the
fault of a careless pressman, who had
started the machine without removing
the wrench, which he had been using.
In an instant, so rapid is the motion of
these presses, cylinders were broken,
wheels twisted out of shape, thousands
of dollars of damage done and, most ag
gravating of all, the wrench came out
uninjured.
Consul Moffett, at Athens, reports to
the State Department that within the
past few weeks many applications have
been made to him by young men for
transportation to America. The report
has somehow got abroad that there is
a demand in America for Greek labor
ers; that money is to be had in abun
dance, and that the American Govern
ment will furnish transportation. Mr.
Moffett has tried in vain to discover the
source of this delusion. The people who
make application are neither mechanics
nor agriculturists, and would not make
desirable additions to our population.
They have no purpose to become citizens,
but hope to acquire fortunes and return
to live upon the interest in idleness. The
Greek Government discourages emigra
tion; the Greek Consul in New York
has warned his countrymen of the suf
ferings they are likely to experience in
New York, and the Greek press has
spread the warning broadcast, but all
without apparent effect.
T. C. Crawford writes thus from Lon
don to the New York World of suffering
American workmen who have sought
employment in Europe:
There is a large number of foolish
Americans, who are continually coming
to Europe to seek work. I hear most
touching stories of want and suffering
among people of this class. Consul Gen
eral Waller said the other day that he
had heard of more pitiable cases of suf
fering since his occupancy of office than
he had ever heard of before in his life.
The fact cannot be too widely published
that Europe is no place- for American
workingmea of any class. If they come
over here with positions secured in ad
vance thev still run the risk of being
exposed in the, end to poverty and dis
tress. Once their places are lost it seems
almost impossible for them to get a foot
hold again. The competition
in Europe among the workingmen
is so herce ana the wages are so low in
comparison with those in our country
that it is hard to understand how any,
intelligent workingman would venture
to come here without careful investiga
tion. There are thousands of men in
London out of work. For every vacancy
there are hundreds and hundreds of ap
plications. For three or four dollars a
week you carl command the services of
a university undergraduate. Trafalgar
square every night is filled with poor
men and women who have no homes.
They fill the benches, and in one of the
lower corners, sheltered from the wind,
they he upon the hard pavement
stretched out in long lines, two or three
hundred in number. The majority of
these people are tramps and vagrants,
but there is a large percentage of well
educated and skillful workmen among
this army of outcasts."
What She Would Say.
He was feeling his way. "If I were
to tell you, Miss Smith," he said, in a
low earnest tone, "that I am about to
start on a long journey, even across the
sea, ana mat it may De montns, ana
possibly years, ere I return, what would
you say?"
If the girl dropped it wasn't percepti
ble. "I would sa y, Mr. Sampson," she
replied, "ta, ta." Harper's Bazar.
Potato Ivory4
Potato ivory is a new transformation
for the lowly tubers. They are simply
treated with sulphuric acid, bathed in
it, boiled in it, and afterwards freed
from it. The result is a hard white
substance easily worked and colored.
As the supply of tusks are limited, and
the production of celluloid expensive,
this may prove a valuable industry. -
New York World.
Joy and Sorrow.
Sompcdy's heart ii gay,
And somebody's heart is sad,
For lights beam bright across the way,
And a door with crape is clad !
Sadness and gladness e'er
Are dwellers side by side.
A dear or.e on her bier,
And the wreathing of a bride.
Bright eyes are filled with mirth,
Pale faces bend in prayer,
And hearts heside the cheery hearth
Are crushed by stout despair 1
Ah, sorrow and joy and hope
Are parted by thinnest wall,
And only on hearts which never ope,
No ghostly shadows fall !
No thoughts of the funeral train
Come to the festive throngs;
No hope that joy will dawn again,
To stricken souls belongs.
The future is e'er a sunny sea
To the children of joy and mirth;
But only the frost and its memory
Comes to stricken ones of earth !
Somebody '8 heart is gay,
And somebody's heart is sad,
For light beams bright across the way,
And a door with crape is clad!
Sadness and gladness e'er
Crowd round us side by side;
A sunny smile and a scalding tear,
So close they are allied !
L. G. Riggs in St. Louis Magazine.
A BUNCH OF BANANAS.
BY WALLACE P. REED.
"She will be a princess, if "
Juan Valdez leaned forward eagerly
to hear what the wrinkled old hag had
to say.
The fortune-teller again scrutinized
the innocent baby face before her, and
looked at the pink little palm extended
in her brown, leathery hand.
"She will be a princess, if "
Again she paused with evident re
luctance. "Speak!" commanded Senor Valdez.
"Surely the power of your evil art has
not deserted you. If you can look into
the future, tell me what is to befall my
daughter, the last of her line."
The fortune-teller threw her head
back with a proud air. She was a very
old woman. There were people in San
Bias who remembered her when she
came to the village three score and ten
years before, and even then her hair
was gray and her face was wrinkled.
She claimed to be considerably over a
century old, and no one disputed her
ward.
"Senor, Valdez," said the brown
faced sibyl, turning her fierce black
eyes full upon him. "I knew your
father, and his father before him. For
three generations I have been at the
cradle of every new-born babe in the
village. I have foretold whatsoever
there was of good or evil in their lives.
Has any one ever said that Perdita made
a mistake or made false predictions?"
"You misunderstand me, Perdita,"
was the humble reply. "It has unnerved
me to gain a daughter and lose a wife,
all in one bitter-sweet hour. My heart
is filled with mingled grief and joy, and
I am impatient to know the future of my
last hope, the heiress of the most mag
nificent estate in Mexico. Will she live
or die? Will she bring jov or sorrow to
my house?"
Perdita dropped the tiny hand of the '
pretty child, and shaded her eyes with
her hand.
"I 8ee,"she murmured, "the proudest
beauty that ever brought our gallant
cavaliers to her feet. Her gifts of mind
and person are the wonder and delight
of her father and all who behold her.
Something tells me that sh.3 will be a
princess if she lives to see her 18th birth
day. My eyes have followed her through
her infancy and childhood, and down to
the night before her fateful day. Be
yond that I cannot see. I know that
she will be & princess, if she is alive on
her 18th birthday. But I know nothing
more."
Sorely puzzled, and uncertain whether
to be hopeful or despondent, Senor
Valdez gave Perdita a purse of gold and
dismissed her.
IL
Seventeen years had rolled away.
A republic had gone down in a sea of
blood and an empire had risen. Maxi
milian wa3 on the throne; the beautiful
Carlotta had surrounded herself with an
imperial court, rivalling the brilliancv
! of the one at the Tuilleries; Bazine's
legions covered the land, and it seemed
the usurpers had come -to stay.
Among the Mexican hidalgoes who
rallied around the imperial standard, the
wealthiest and most influential, was un
doubtedly Senor Valdez.
"The prediction is coming to pass,"
the senor would frequently say to him
self. "The republic is dead, and we
har $ court swarming with princes.
Rita Is the most beautiful woman and
the richest heiress in Mexico. Why
should she not be a princess? Old Per
,dita told the truth."
Rita was presented at court, and even
the empress looked at her in delighted
.admiration.
' "Your daughter will be a princess!"
he hjspered to SeHor Valdez, who at
that moment was looking at his gold
laced coat tails in a mirror.
"She has the noblest blood of old
Opain in Her Terns," replied Valdez
tgroudly,
llf- A j... 4- n bft aid w an-
the emwess. taking the girl by
ih hand and leading her to a quiet cor-
f ihm salon.
w I
The Senoritu Valdez had been educat
d by the best European tutors that her
r4Wci;woi nfFpra mr.ld secure. She
llll.l J 11 ULl Ul Vii V . V - - ,
i lioTimonft
was mistress oi everv attuuip"""""
Carlotta made no secret of the fact tha
she liked her better than any of the
ladies around her.
'She will be a crincess !" old Valdez
would repeat a hundred times a day.
The senor moved to the capital, and
Astnhliahed himself in a ualace. He
raised regiments for Maximilian, loaned
the government money, and lived on a
lavish and extravagant scale.
In his round of pleasure and excite-
ment Valdez came near forgetting a very
important matter. One nisrht it came
upon him with a shock.
"By all the saints P he exclaimed,
leaping from his bed. "In one week
from to-day Rita will be eighteen! What
did the old witch say? Her words all
depended upon an if. My daughter
will be a princess, if. Ah, that ifl I
must see to it at once. If any danger
threatens Rita it is during the present
week."
The senor hastily dressed himself and
ran into his daughter's room.
Rita was sleeping quietly, and her
face wore the glow of health.
Valdez examined the fastenings of the
windows, and then retired locking the
door and taking the key with him.
The next morning he told Rita of his
fears, and secured her consent to remain
indoors for several days.
"We must run no risk," the old man
said, as he stroked her head affection
ately. III.
On the morrow Rita would be eighteen.
Valdez passed the day in a state of
dazed illumination.
He refused to let his daughter come
down stairs to breakfast, for fear that
she would trip.
"No coffee, my dear," he said, "A
glass of lemonade is more wholesome.
Heavens!" he shrieked.
"What is it?" asked the astonished
girl.
"There is a lemon seec in the glass,"
said her father. "You might have swal
lowed it."
Rita laughed. It was such a trifle,
she told her father.
But Valdez would have his way. He
poured out another glass, and examined
every particle of food that came into the
room. He prohibited meat, because it
might produce fever.
He was just as particular about every
thing, and before the day was over Rita
grew so nervous that she did not much
care whether she lived or died.
Before night the windows were se
curely barred, the room was searched to
see that no assassin had concealed him
self, and finally at a late hour Valdez
told his daughter that he was afraid to
give her any supper.
"The truth is," he said, "lam afraid
of poison."
"May I have a few bananas?" pleaded
the senorita.
"Bananas," shouted her father. "Why
of course. They cannot hurt you. Yes,
you shall have a whole bunch."
He gave his orders, and in a few
minutes tne tempting looKingr lruit was
brought into the room.
Valdez kissed his daughter, and
locked her in. He did not tell her of
his purpose but all night long he paced
the hall in his stocking feet with a pis
tol in his hand.
ine nrst glimmer ot dawn came
through the windows of the palace.
"Rita's eighteenth birthday!" said the
happy father with a smiling face. "She
is saie, ana wnat is more, sne win De a
J A 1
princess!"
Gradually the servants began to stir,
and the bright sunshine bathed the walls
in a flood of glory.
Senor Valdez quietly unlocked the
door to the well-guarded chamber, and
stole in on tip-toe.
In a moment the wildest shrieks and
cries rang through the palace.
ine servants rusnea to Kita's room,
and the unutterable horror ot the sirht
before them struck even the boldest
dumb.
Senor Valdez lay stretched on the
floor in a death-like swoon.
On the bed lay Rita, her face whiter
than the snowy pillow. There was a
horrible, brown, hairy something on her
throat 1
One of the women approached gently,
and tore the ugly thing away, and killed
it with her slipper.
It was a tarantula, and it had done it3
deadly work only too well. Rita's throat
bof e the mark of its poisonous sting.
The servants understood it all when
they saw the bunch of bananas in a chair
by the bed. The tarantula had crawled
out during the night, and had stung the
lovely victim to death while she slept !
Valdez recovered consciousness, but it
was only to be driven from the palace
to the asylum. To the day of his death
he remained a gibbering maniac, without
the faintest gleam of sanity. Perhaps it
was a blessing to have his mind so com
pletely wiped out.
When the Empress Carlotta heard of
the deatn ol her lavonte she at once ais I
continue ner court entertainments ioi
the season. The empress felt the shock
1 a t j . n- 1 11
80 severely max it is Deiievea Dy many
in Mexico that her subsequent mental
troubles really dated from the death of
tne umortunate wta.- Atlanta uonsti-
Infirm
.
Mushroom-Growing in Illinois.
A company was recently organized in
the city of Chicago which has lea sed five
acres of the tunnels of the Utica Cement
Manufacturing company for twenty years
for the production of mushrooms. Tues
day, H. S. Weaver, superintendent of
this new industry, left for France in the
interests of the organization and wil
bring back a supply of mushroom spawn
imbedded in rich compost, a handful of
which spawn or seed would be sufficient
to plant acres. There are several gen
tlemen interested in this new industry,
which is surely a novelty in this part of
the state, or probably in the United
States, for that matter, for, as far as
known, no such large company exists in
this country. The method of raising
this cryptogamic plant as proposed in
the tunnels will doubtless be interesting
to our readers. There are num
bers of these subterranean cham
bers owned bv the Utica
Cement Manufacturing Company, but
only a few of them will be used at first
in the mushroom industry. The soil or
manure will be brought from Chicago by
the carload and made into beds in the
tunnels and the spawn set therein.
A crop can be grown every twenty-
four hours, and two crops if desired, as
all that need be done is to clip off the
head and the fringe will, inside the next
twelve hours, produce another mush-
room plant. The experiment of growing
this delectable article of food has been
tried in English mines, but with the im
purities of the gas, air, etc., it was not
possible to obtain success and the at
tempts proved failures. The air of the
tunnels is not impregnated with foul
odors, is of an even temperature, and
the entire conditions are such that a
failure cannot possibly result The com
pany at first proposes to put in sufficient
beds to yield 100 bushels per day, which
sell in the Chicago market for 30 cents
per pound La Salle (HL) Press.
Queer Indian Customs in Brazil
The Indian prayer -meetings in the
country are rather a singular admixture
of superstition and devotion. A doll is
dressed in silk clothes, with candles on
each side, a good bit of tinsel work
about it and a ribbon tied about its
waist. It rests on the table. Eight or
ten Indian men stand around ; one has a
large drum, which he beats continually.
The women sit on the floor, while the
men sing prayers to the saint, the women
responding. They commence praying
about 7 or 8 o'clock and keep it up two
or three hours. Then the women with
their little children kiss the ribbons,
asking favors of the saint. The men
then go through the same ceremony.
The saint is then locked up in a box,
and dancing commences and lasts the
rest of the night. Frequent potions of
whiskey are imbibed by the men, coffee
and wine by the women. When the
men become too drunk to dance longer
they retire to their hammocks and sleep
until sober. Pittsburg Gazette.
Practice,
A Texas parent had a son who took
piano lessons at rroiessor zweiDeers
house, but was supposed to do his prac
tising on the piano at home. The parent
had a suspicion that the youth did not
practise much. One day he said:
"Tommy, do you practise regularly on
the piano when I am down town?"
' 'Yes, pa."
"Every day?"
"Yes, pa."
"How long: did you practise vester-
day?"
"Two hours."
"And to-day?''
"Three hours."
"I am glad to hear that you practise
so regularly."
"Yes, pa."
"And next time you practise be sure
you unlock the piano. Here is the key.
I locked the piano and put the key in
my pocket a week ago." Siftings.
A Seyere Mental Tax.
"Bobby," said his mother, "I told you
not to forget to bring up three scuttles
of coal before you went to school, and
you only brought up two."
"I know, ma, but I forgot the third
one. Three scuttles is a good many for a
little boy like me to remember." New
York Sun.
Both Tired.
"I've been making mince pies," said
a wife, as the after-dinner coffee was
brought on, "and I'm very tired."
"And I've been eating mince pie,"
remarked her husband, "and I am tired,
too," and he bowed his head upon the
table. New York Sun.
A New Process.
Patron It's astonishing what a num
ber of new artistic designs have been
invented lately.
Poor Artist Yes, indeed, sir. I have
often drawn on an empty stomach.
Tid Bits.
CHARLES U.
HILL
A M.J. i M
wraey ana uounsellor-at
M
W ashington, N.c,
opcciai aiicn wun paid to fell
claim e U
Office in Court Hou3e
JOHN H. SMAU
Attorney-at-Law.
Washington,
umce on Market
street.
E. S. SIMMONS.
Atorney and Counsellor-at-j
Washington. X. c.
Office on Market Street, near Court H
W. B. RODJIAS, W. u. UODMv
W. B. RODMAN & SOS
Attorney-at-Law,
WASHINGTON, N. c
J. B. ROSS,
TAILOR
Good Fit Guaranteed.
Repairing done at shortest notice and
at reasonable rates.
Thanks for past patronage and hope
will be continued.
DR. H. SWELL,
Surgeon Dentisi
Washington, N.C.
An Work Executei at Short
Teeth Extracted by the Use oi
Gas Without Pain,
Bank in g House
OF
M. BROWN
Main Street, WsMngtoo, M. C.
made promptly.
Exchange bought and sold.
Any One Wishing to Place
a
Monument, Tomb-Stone,
OR
MEMORIAL
Of any kind at the grave of a deceasrf
friend, will find it to their advantage
call on the undersigned, who, repre-
ing one of the largest monumental
in the United States, is prepared to
nish any style of monument or head-G
For proof of workmanship, elega.
aesign, csc., see tne many nauu-,
mens in the churchyards of this to
All Work Guaranteed.
mrr.RY,
xv. ur. iriw , n
Washington,
4:10:ly
A Doctor's Joke.
m T?
.,hysici:in.
ine ceieuraieu rrniui "v .
Dord, was one day walking
hnnlpv.irrls in Paris, when he
a!o::-
il T- r'u-h
genueman wuo was . Pt
was at the same time noted hir $
treme stinginess The old man,..l',.:
somewhat of a hypochondria;1, ''.vf
that he could get some medial ;
from Ricord without paying l
"Doctor, I am feeling vt-rv lljr
"Where do you suffer most; y
stomach, doctor. " ' 4Ah, r ,
Please shut your eyes. "-1 ' $
Now put out your tongue, so 1 Yj;J
ixamine it closclv." The if d
ae was told. A'fterhe had v .j
;iently for about ten minutes, 1;L !3jei
lis eyes, and found himself sur '
jy a crowd, who supposed tll:l
jrazy. Doctor Ricord, in the
aad disappeared. Argonaut.