'for ood. for aoujfrar and fortrutb."
VOL. VI.
PLYMOUTH, N. 0., FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1894.
.' .W. FlotchorAnsbon,Editor and Manager. '
- . Tho highest mountain in the worU:
ts the old-eetablisbe.l Everest iu the
Himalayas. , Mount Hercules, in New
Guinea, shrunk a good deal after it
iras measured.
The Now York World prints a list
of 109 New Yorkers who will hav? to
pay an income , tax of $1000 and up
wards. W. W. . Astor's tax is set at
0178,000. ' Mrs. Hettie Green pays
more than any other woman.
The despised rabbit of Australia is
being anxiously inquired for ty the
British army contractor, records the
American Agriculturist, who sees a
possible supply, of - cheap and whole
some food for the army in that direc-,
tion, ." '
The stock of the Pullman Company,
of $36,000,000, sell for $174 to $172 a
share (par value being $100). The
company pays on this $36,000,000 of
etock a dividend of two per cent. ,pay
ftble quarterly, or eight per cent, per
,$nnum. - " - : . ,
' Three hundred Japanese reside in
New York City. They do not live to
gether in a colony like many other
foreigners, because they are divided
by their interests into distinct classes,
and, in addition, they are wealthy
enough to be able to live whereves
they please. ..
Alaska's mail service. haaJifiretoiur
leen dependent - upon -Eskimo dogs.
Reindeers, however, are so much bet
ter for the purpose that the Govern
ment has imported several families 'of
Laplanders to teach the natives of
Alaska how to train and use this aui-
t . A promoter in California proposes
4o build an eleotrio railway through
the mountains sixty-two miles to the
Yosemite. Valley, and, by utilizing the
jwater power, furnish electric light and
tnotors for.; all that - region. About
4000 tourists visit the Yosemite every ;
year, : paying $35 eacirjor the stage
tide.
iTencn statesmen," no t ably "M. Xje
tille, are endeavoring to extend to!
France the benefits of the American'
homestead, and as there is no word in
the French tongue which is a proper
; equivalent for it, the word "home
stead" is retained in a bill that has
been introduced in the Chamber of
- Deputies. '
Poor old Handel is to be stripped of
Ibis honors, laments the New Orleans
iPicayune. - The critics call him
plagiarist, and Dr. Chrysander is
about to issue' s learned series of
volumes called "Ihe Sources oi Han-
idel's Works." The 'great musician is
(in good company, however.: Critics
i long ago demonstrated that there was
nothing original about Shakspearo's
'works, except his genius. - .
' A solentlst employed ' by the State
!f Indiana, reports that the supply
of natural gas " in Hoosierdom -will
- oon be exhausted, and that the same
fate awaits' cas fields wfiarATar 'thA-
may exist. He does not rest this up
on his bare assertion, adds the Detroit
Free Press, but gives reasons at length '
which admonish the holders of natural
gas stock to let go if thay can.
. : it .-. .. .. , '
One of the tricks of trade is for the
shopkeepers ia London to include the
weight of the paper in which articles
sold are enveloped. It has been shown
that a huge profit is made in this way.
Forinstance the report of the Public
Control; .Uepartment oi ,tne youniy
Council states that in a reoent "case it
was "shown that a firm of tea dealers
Bold as quarter-pounds of tea packets
which contained foC drachms weight
of . caper," and that on this the firm
1 profited ta the extent of . some thou
sands a' year. The result of the in
vestigation, in London was that out of
583 : bags Of flour weighed ready for
deliver, 127 were ' found of deficient
weight, the deficiency amounting to
over two per ceDt. ; in 409 packages
of sugar 377 were found'to be short
weight, while out of 232 packages' of
tea ninety-nine were short weight to
the extent of over two per cent. In
addition to the lois by weight of the
wrapper, it was found that in a num
ber of cases the gross weight of the
jpacketi was' short-
EY THE WAVES,'
Crisp nnd cnrlmg, oft unfurling
Cupa of silvery loam,
HMSte Ihe breakers, frollo makers,
Chasing playmates home.
Tripping, sklppliifr, slipping, dripping,
' Fast the children fly
Up the sblusle, toe3 a-tlngle ' '
So the day goes by.
Wavelets creaming, sunshine gleaming.
In the shining siinds,
Gay ud merry, hold and cheery,
.. Delve the small brown hands,
Drlfttnsr, Hftfnjr, rl'tlnjr, sifting,
'Neath the smiling slty ,
On the shingle pleasures mingle, .
And the day roes by ,
Groat clouds glowing, wild winds blowing,
Night draws on apace ;'
Eyes deep yearntng see the burning
Lamps in starry space.'
Flying, sighing, low replying, ' k
Thoughts salute the sky .-
Home we gather, O ! Our Father,
And the day goes by.
Mary Ruth Rogers, in Harper's Bazar.
ASTREA.
BY HELEN FOBRKST GKAVE3.
HE big clock
in the City
Hall cupola
pointed
to
the hour oi
twelve, th
chimes
of
Old Trinity
had 'just cast their mantle of music to
the winds, and the roar and tumult
Broadway rose to the open windows
of rrinm Wn 1ft in tlia TiTfiflav HniM.
f ings-Uketti
Old Jethro Black sat patiently, with
his hands on his pepper-and-salt knees,
and the sultry wind lif tinsr the few
straggly hairs from his bald head, his
eyes fixed dreamily on the floor.
, "If Keturah Jones were here, them
boards would be scoured whiter'n they
are now, I guess,", he thought.
. . - -. . .
Asirea, nis . grana-aaugnter, was
coiled up in a big leather office-chair,
her scared eyes flitting re3tlessly from
one object to another, while the rows
of musty law books kept - an unwmk
ing watch from their shelves above and
the little office boy played marbles in
the hall beyond.
. "Grandfather," murmured Astrea,
"I I think I'm just a little hungry.
Is there one of those chicken . sand
wiches left?"
Th'e old man slowly unfolded i
thrifty brown paper packages that re
posed in one of his coat pockets.
"Jnst one," said he, "and cherries,
but they're sort o crushed up."
- "iJut, granaiatner, wnat will yon
e&tVl
- "Me ? I ain't hungry, child. I ate
lots o breakfast.
Are there not some pious fictions
whieh the recording angel will slur
over when - he makes up the debit and
the credit of us poor mortals?
xAetrea crept close to the old man's
knee, and nibbled eagerly at the re
mains of the luncheon. .
"Grandfather," i she whispered, 1
"New York's an awful big place. I'm
almost sorry we came here. " I I'm
afraid of New York, ain't you?" '-'
Just then the sound of brisk foot
steps echoed on the stairs, the door
flew open, and a tall, well dressed man
entered. ; 'l - - ' ' . " ' ."
"HaUol" ; he ejaculated. "Why,"
with apenetrating glance, '"it's Cousin
Jethro Black, isn't it ? - And little Star
Eyes, jrrown into a big girl ! The
office boy told me some one had been
waitings here for me; but' I never
thought of you !" '
' "We went to your house on Madi
son avenue," explained Mr. - Black, in
a subdued way, "but there wa'n't no
one to home but a cleanin' woman,
with her head tied up in a red hanke
cher, and she said the folks was gone
to Bar Bar some barbarous place 01
other. - I . can't rightly reoall the
name."- " - .
, The gentleman laughed. . "
; "Ob, Bar Harbor 1" said he. "Well,
she spoke truth. They are gone !'
for in Cousin Jethro's wrinkled face
he traced some lineaments of doubt.
"I've only cbme back to- town for a
day or two myself. Going back this
afternoon. Well, what can I do for
you?" sitting down1 with. a. genial
smile. " . : V :.
"It's about Astrea,- said the old
man.' "A.trea, she's seventeen now,
and there don't seem to be nothln for
her to do in Kidd's Valley. . She'u a
smart, handy gal, and that year your
little Barbara had the whoop in' cough,
and the hull family came out to stay 1
the summer, your wife took conaid
able notice of Astrea." .
"Yes, I remember that year," said
Mr. Eldon. "You were very kind te
ue. You refused to jwoept any com
pensation, and Mrs. Black nursed lit
tle Barbe back to health very tender
ly." -
"Betsey's dead and gone now," said
the old man, swallowing a lump in his
throat. "And we never expected to
charge our relations no thin' for breath-
in' God's fresh air and eatin' the ber,
ries that growed on every bush. Bui
about Astrea. I've got to go West to
live with my sister's husband a poor
paralytic creetur.: : I dun no's I've ex
plained to you that things have sort o'
run down in Kidd's Valley. We've had
to part with the farm, and now that
Hezekiah Hall needs care, it makes
sort of home for me. ' But they hain't
no room for Astrea, so .I've ' brought
her here. I thought may bo your wife
could think up some way for Ler to
earn a living. She's a tall, strong gal,
you see, and nice-lookin', too" As
tiea hung down her head and blushed
"and she might help your gals with
the housework, or mebbe get a place
somewhere where she'd be treated well
and not put to too hard work."
Mr. Eldou screwed his mouth into a
whistling shape.'
Help bis girls Elaine and Barbara
with the housework ! i
As he thought of those - radiant
young belles at Bar Harbor, he had
difficulty in repressing a laugh.
numerous peculiarities of his Jady.
wife, a looV of perplexity overspread
his face as Cousin Jethro Black maun
dered on.
"So I guess I'll leave Astrea with
you, Cousin Wallace, for my train
leaves at 2 o'clock." ;'
A sudden burst of tears from Astrea
a feeble wail of "Grandfather!
grandfather !" a whispered "Good
by I" and the old man was gone, leav
Astrea looking piteously into Mr. El
don's faco.
' : ''What willMrs. Eldon say ?"thoughi
the lawyer.
But there seemed to be no
alterna
tive but to obey the pointing finger of
fate, and the evening train bore As'
trea Black toward the haven of fashion
on the far Maine coast, with the dis
tant relative by her side.
She was only seventeen, and she had
never been out of Kidd's Valley in her
life, so that all the .surrounding world
wai lull of the indescribable flavor of
freshness.
- She exclaimed aloud with delight at
sight of the scenery.
She was not at all seasick on the
boat, but bought peanuts and munched
apples, ate green peas. with her knife
and questioned Mr. Eldon in a very
audible whisper as to the use of the
finger bowls at the steamer dinner
table. 1
"What a wild girl of the woods !'
said the New York lawyer to himself ;
and again he thought of his wife's
probable verdict, "But she has got
eyes like a young deer, ana tno
straying, curls make me - think of
wild grapevine' and I do not like to
hear her laugh!" .
John Eldon was at the pier to meet
the Portland boat on which his father
was expected.
Astrea ran up the gang-plank like a
kitten and stood on tip-toe to kiss him.
"It's Jack I" she cried, breathlessly ;
"and Jack don't know me ! Oh, Jack,
don't you remember that awful day
when me and you threw eggs at the
old minister's chase? Don't you re-
member--"
And Jack, an elegant young gentle-
man in a wnite aucjc sun ana eye
glasses, stood appalled. But he ; im
mediately recovered himself.
V Why it's little . Astrea !" said he.
Of course I remember you only
you've grown so tall." ,.
1 'Mother ' will be surprised, " said
Mr. Eldon, with a queer shrug of the
shoulders. ' . " ' "
"Yes," said Jack, hurriedly, I
think she will." , :
Mrs. Eldon viewed the new arrival
with consternation. Barbara, a grace
ful girl of nineteen, dressed in the ex
treme of 'aesthetic fashion, stared at
Astrea's ! pink gingham frock . and
country boots. ,
Elaine kissed her cordially.
"What red cheeks you're got I" said
she. "And, oh, what do you put on
your eyelashes to make them grow so
long?" '
"Walface," said Mrs. Eldon, "what
are we to do with this human pan
theress who jumps over the lower .half
of the colonial door instead of opening
it, and laughs so loud, and chews gum
like a cash-girl?"
"The best we can,
jromptlv answered. .
Mr. . Eldoa
She's an or
phan, Cleo, and she s alone in the
world." .
. "But couldn't we get her some sort
of a place?" -
"An untamed creature like this?
Why, it would be as cruel as cagiog-a
thrush! What, could she do in a
place?"
"Mamma," whispered Barbara, "it's
dreadful 1 With our garden party to
night, and Mr. De Ravelle coming,
and the Biltorvans, and all those peo
ple. Astrea is determined to be there.
It's impossible to put her off !"
"But she has nothing to wear I"
gasped Mrs. Eldon. ;
"Elaine's maid is fixing her that old
heliotrope tulle with the crystal bead
trimming," said Barbara. 5 ''Elaine is
so very peculiar about it. She de
clares that Astrea is our cousin, and
should have everything just the same
as ourselves." ' -.
"Elaine is. a goose !" petulantly ut
tered the matron. ''She don't know
that business is getting worse and
worse every year, and that our only
hope is in this summer's campaign. 3
wish to goodness this girl had stayed
in the ceun try. raising turkeys and
theyub it V" " But y ouirlather is differ
ent from any one else, ' and when he
once gets his head set in any one di
rection, sixteen yoke of oxen wouldn't
turn it?" v
So Astrea stayed"at Bar Hturbor,
pettelby one and all, when once the
shock was over. ' Elaine and her maid
improvised toilettes for her, and she
began to feel at home. ' ,
Some people called her original;
others scorned her as a mere dairy
maid. ' But she was happy, in a wild,
spirit-like sort of way, until on3 day
pu'ldenly changed the aspect of everything.'-;
, :
"I can't help it," ; said Jack "1
love her I " And. I mu3t have her for
my wife 1"
"John," remonstrated his mother, -"you
ought to know " ' ,
'i .uly know one thing," persistel
Jack, the impetuou? "Hove Astrea 1"
The girl herself looke J piteously up
in Mrs. Eklon's face. '
"111 go awiy frooi here," said she.
"if Jack will really be ruined by
marrying me. I I don't want to
ruin Jack notif Idrowmyself first 1"
And she burt out sobbing.
"You're the sweetest little darling i
in the world," saiil Jack, "and I'd
like no better fun than to go out West
with you and settle on a riinch.
tsul ranenes cost money, said
Barbara. .
'"Then I'd hire out as a hand," said
Jack, rebelh'ously. "I'm good
breaking horses."
"And I'd make the butter and feed
the chickens," said Astrea, joyfully
"You are two silly children, said
Mrs. Eldon.
Yet all of a sudden something
seemed to bring back to her the lost
sweetness of departed you tb, and her
eyes were momentarily dimmed with
tears. t " ' '. ;: "' : . '
. "Mamma," pleaded Elaine, "it will
hurt Jack if you oppose this thing
and Astrea loves him so dearly 1"
"But there's Gwendoline Ballersby,
with that great East Indian fortune lv
sobbed Mrs. Eldon, torn by conflict
ing emotions." . '
"What's a fortune," cried Elaine,
"if love don't go with it"
"Well,', said Mr. Eidorf, "then the
matter is settled. 1 Jaik goai West,
we all ; go .West together. For since
Jennifer & Goldie's bmking hou3 has
failed, we're all equally penniless.""
"Hurrah!" said Jack, flinging up
his polo cap. 'Then it don't make
aoy difference whether X marry an
heiress or noi?"- .; : .
"Please, my lady," said the solemn
footman, "there's a gentleman be
low; and when J asked him for hii
card, he said he sever had one in hi?
house his principles was ag'in it." .
"Oh," shrieked Astrea," who bad un
conventionally peeped over the balus
ter rail, "it's grandfather ! It's grand
father, come back from tlve West !" -
"Another pauper to maintain!"
sighed Mrs, Eldon. (
' Old .TfltVirn Ttln1r nnm o -
the group, leaning on a got
cane and, wearing a suit' of
olothes in which he seemed to feel ex
oessively uncomfortable.
"Yes," said he, "I've come back.
My brother, he's been took away at
last, and he s left me enough to keep
me in comfort the rest of my days. He
was a savin' creetur, Hezekiah was.
and there'll be a nice little sum for
Astrea. It won't be necessary for
Astrea to take no situation now.
Don't squeeze me so tight round the
neck, child ; don't you s'pose a fel
low's got to hev lreathin' room?
You've been very good to Astrea, Wal
lace Eldon, and What ! goin' to be
married to Jack? ; Why, twa'nt but
yesterday Jack was robin' Deacon
Peck'a melon patch- an', gittin me
into trouble chasm Squire Olney's
young colts round the medders 1
"We're glad to see you, Mr. Black,"
said Jack, cordially wringing his
hand. ' 'Hare you got a farm out
West for Astrea and me to run?" v
The old man smiled.
"I shouldn't a bit wonder," sail he.
Meanwhile there was a buzz of gossip
all through the Bar Harbor circles.
Out on the decks of white-winged
yachts, in the gay streets and on the
rocky slopes of Green Mountain,
people were asking one another :
"Have you seen the Western million
ire?" ...;..- ''
"Have you heard how many gold
mines he owns and what those new
city lots are selling for ?'
Everywhere people stopped to shake
hands with Eldon and ' congratulate
him on the great match his son was
about to.make. The very Biitervans
themselves condescended to inquire as
to the mine shares. Claude de Ravelle
bemoaned his ill-luck in that he had
not "made eyes" at fair Astrea Black.
And Mrs. Eldon declared that she
could not believe her ear3."
"Little Astrea an heiress! said
she. " "It's like a dream?"
Again old Jethro smiled.
"Astrea is a fortune in herself,"
said ne, "All tne same, tnats no
reason there . shouldn't go a fortune
with her, too. I kind o suspicioned
this when first Hezekiah sent for me.
But I wa'nt goin' to let on. I wanted
to see how she'd be traatel hare. An'
I'm suited, down to the ground." '
While Astrea's soft eyes sparkle!
"Money is all vary well," sail she.
"But what I tbiuk most of is that
Jack loves mo." Saturday Night.
. A Chameleon Spider.
"It has always bean a hobby of
mine," said T. L. Grimshaw, of
Kaleigh, N. C, yesterday, "to colleot
strange bugs and insects during my
travels, and I think I 'have suooeeded
in getting together a pretty choice
collection. Of the whole assortment
I think the chameleon spider which I
ft last summer on the coast of Africa
is i2 most valuable. The capture of
this insect was highly interesting to
me. ' One afternoon, while tramping
along a dusty road, I noticed in the
bushes which grew along the side what
appeared to be a singular-looking
white flower with a blue center. Stop
ping to examine it I found to my as
tonishment that it was not a flower at
all, bat a spider's web, and that the
supposed light blue heart of the flower
was the spider itself lying in wait for
ite'prey. -
The mottled browii legs of the
spider were exposed in such a way as
to resemble the divisions between the
petals of a flower. The web itself,
very delicately woven into a rosette
pattern, was ., white, and the threads
that suspended it from the bushes
were so fine as to be almost invisible.
The whole thing had the appearance
of being suspended in the air upon a
stem concealed . beneath. , Upon
knocking the spider from his perch
into the white gauze net which I car
tieJ, ' my ' surprise .was greatly " in
creased upon seeing my ; captive in
stantly turn in color from , blue to
white. I shook the net, and again the
spider, change! color, this time its
body becoming a dull greenish brown.
As often as I would shake the net just
so often - would the spider change its
color, and I kept it up until it had as
sumed about every hue of the rain
bow." St. Louis Globe-Deiiocrat. -
Birds and Toees frequently fight
pitched battles over . honey stared in
trees.- Sometimes one side and some
times the other comes out victorious.
li eni.k.
"the preset
Humboldt
ing his "Cosmos.N
Dr. Johnson, wh
years old, and while stac
an attack of paralysis sufficie
to Tender him speechless, oomp
Latin prayer jn order to test the it v
or retention of his mental faculties. A
few years before his death he applied N
himself to the study of the Dutch lan- -guage.
In one morning shortly be- ,
fore his death he amused himself by
committing to memory , 800 lines of
Virgil.
Arnauld translated Josephus when v
eighty years old, and . at the age of
eighty-two was still referred to as "the
great Arnauld." - ;
ffir Henry Spelman, who passed his V
early life as a farmer, began his scien- '.
tifio studies at fifty years of - age and
before his death came to be known as
the most learned antiquary and legal . -authority
of his time.
Dante proposed to translate the I
whole "Hiad" when in his sixty-eighth
year, and his most pleasing; produc
tions were written in his old age.
Michael Angelo preserved his'crca-. ,.
tive genius to extreme old age. Hia' -favorite
motto is said to - have been, ,
Dir unrisiopaer it ren. wua reurf ce-
six, spent the next five years in liter- f
ary, astronomical and 'religious .
studies. . . . .. .. . .
"The era of three score and ten is -an
agreeable age for writing," wrote
Decker.; , "Your mindw not I6at its
vigor and envy leaves you in peace." ;
. The opening of one of La M6the le
Veger's treatises is as iollows: 'IV -should
but ill return the . favors God ;
haa granted me in the eightieth yeari
of my age should I allow myself to .
give way to that shameless want of oa
cupation which I have condemned all ,
my Ufa." New York Sun. ;
:l. . The Snake Catcher.
The selling of snakes to ' scientiil
men, to manufacturers who use thej.
skins, and to museums, is a businesaj
which a man and his wife, who live in J
a Mississippi houseboat, engage in.j
Ihe strange couple were interviewed! '
the other day by the reporter for a
New Orleann paper. The man doei
most of the snake-catching, and, al-.
though he has been bitten several
times, he considers the experience;
only a trifling incident of his trade, r
"A rattlesnake, for instanoe, when '
pursued," he says, "coils and is ready
to defend himself. I flip a stone oi
imall piece of stick . at him ; - he nn-
ooils and starts off, but before he cant
again coil I have him back of the
neck. No, I use no stick nothing but
my bare hands. You may laugh, too,
when I tell you that our snake lore'
teaches us not tb hunt when the wind
is in the northwest. If we do, we find
no snakes. The principal seasons ofi.
the year for us are spring and fall;'
the snakes are then fat and produce;
tots of oil." Of all the snakes in the'
United States only three families, he'
says, can be classed as deadly. "But,
he adds, ' "these families comprise)
about thirty-two . species, distributed
as follows : Rattlesnakes, seven ; cot-1
tonmouths, eight ; copperheads, seven-f
teen, the two latter being moccasins
and dwellers inV the swamps and low
places." The snake-catcher's method!
of treating bites is as follows ; "When
bitten, I immediately tie a band above
the wound, cutting the latter deeply .
in order to cause it to bleed freely, I
and to ; reach below the extremity,
pierced by the fang. - Ths cut is then j
sucked, or warm, newly killed flesh isj
applied, and the' remedies are then;
rubbed into the-wound, neutralizing
the poison. ..-"
An 'Extraordinary Insect. -The-'
"raft spider," found in Tcrr
del Faeg, is most extraordinary in
sect. It derives its name from t
fact that it conBtruTcts ataft of matte J,
leaves and", pieces of wool, which ii
uses .to pursue jts prey "on the water.
ltaf t spiders' travel tn fours. The v
make their, oars out of twisrs and
gunerally row a thirty-two stroke,
although they,-have been known aS
times to inereasa the speed to thirty
six. Chica-TO Here! J.