he Alamance "Gleaner
- VOIjrXIlT-
GRAHAM, N. C, THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 1886.
NO. 18.
A PEACKAIiLE WAR1U0U.
Since he bad come into France with
the invading army, Walter Schnaffs con
Ridercd himself the most unfortunate of
men. He was fat and not fond of walk-
ing, and ho suffered dreadfully with his
feet, which were flat and heavy. He
war a peaceable, kindly souL with
( nothing valiant or warlike about him.
' lie missed the four little "ones at home
that he doted on, and he longed desper-
, , ately for his fair young wife, with her
tender, caressing ways and her kisses,
.it He liked to get up lato and go to bed
early; to eat and drink well, without be
ing hurried; and now death might carry
him off at any moment from all the good
-' things of this world. - How he hated all
the cannons, and rifles, and revolvers,
and swords, with a deadly, unreasonable,'
. and,- at the' same time, well-founded
hatred. The bayonets in particular were
-, liia special aversion, for he felt -that he
should never be agile enough to protect
lus fat body from those weapons.
At the beginning of every battle his
. legs used to weaken under him, and he
.would certainly have fallen if lie had
not remembered that the whole army
would have, to pass over his body. His
- wiyiiair stood on end at the whistling
of the balls. . For months he- had been
living in fear and anguish
X His regiment was marching toward
r .Jforniandy, One day he was sent out
- roconnoiterijig'with a small detaclunenf,
with orders to explore a part of the coun
try arid then fall back. The country
seemed ipiiet; there were no signs of any"
defensive preparations. The Prussians
- -were marching quietly 'down into a val
,ley tut upanto deep ravines, when they
were suddenly brought to a standstill by
' brisk fire of musketry. Twenty of
their men fell, and a squad of francs-
tireurs. rushed out of a little wood and
charged with their bayonets. .
For a moment Walter Schnaffs stood
motionless, too surprised and terrified to
think of flight. The next moment he was
wfiltl to turn an1 run; but, unfortunately,
he could only run like a snail compared
'r ' to those lean Frenchmen, who came
;,';i"vIundiiig along like a herd. of. goats.
JJfAlJont six feet in front of him there was
vi a wide ditch filled with brush-wood and
' dead leaves. . He jumped straight into it,
without thinking of its depth, as you
might jump off a bridge into a river. He
; shot like an arrow through a thick
, hedge of thorns and briars that tore his
' face and hands, and fell heavily, sitting
i on a bod of stones.
Looking Up,' he could see the sky
'"'through" the hole he had made. That
treacherous hole might betray him, so he
" began to crawl cautiously on his hands
and knees along the bottom of the ditch,
under the entwined branches, scrambled
away as fast as he could from the scene
of combat. ' Then he stopped and sat
, .. -. down again, crouching Uke a hare in the
- vJong, dry grass. For some time lie could
; . ' still hear shots, and groans, and shouts.
., . , Cut the struggle gradually died awav
and ceased. All became calm and quiet
Kn. ... .
i The night fell, filling the ravine with
'Jm . darkness. ; The soldier grew thoughtful.
1 What was he to do? What would become
of him? Should he rejoin the army? But
how and where? And he would have to
go back to a life of fear, and anguish,
and fatiguo and suffering, that he had
been leading ever since the beginning of
the war.- No, he really had not the cour
. age to do itl He should never be able to
bear the long marches and brave the per
petual dangers.
z! All at once h tliouht: "SUjiposlng I
was td be ctakeh prisoner!" And a wild
longing came into his heart to be taken
prisoner by the French. Prisoner! It
. would be the saving of him; he would be
. . fed and housed, sheltered from all dan
ger of swords and bullets, safe in a good,
well-guarded prison. A prisoner! Oh,
what a dream of bliss! And he made
up his 'mind "at onoe: "I sliall deliver
myself up as a prisoner."
He stood up, determined to put his
plan into execution without losing a
moment.- But as soon as he was on his
f feet a whole crowd of unpleasant refleo
L'j tians and new terrors assailed him.
Where and how was he to give himself
up .as a prisoner? All sorts of awful
pictures pictures of death passed be
fore his mind. He would certainly run
the most fearful risks if he ventured out
into the open country with his pointed
helmet. He might meet a band of labor
ers. Lelmrers who, as soon as they spied
a lost Prussian a defenseless Prussian
would certainly kill him like a mad dog;
- massacre him with their pitchforks, and
spades, and scythes and shovels! They
would mash him to a jelly, they would
. make mince-meat . of him, with all the
brutality of an exasperated, vanquished
people.
Or supposing ha came upon the
" francs-tlreurs? Oh, those francs-lireurs!
A set of madmen without law or dis
cipline who would be ready to shoot him
down for fun, to while away an hour,
, . and laugh at tho figure ha would cut.
, ' And lie pictured himself standing with
"his back against a wall, with the muzzles
of a dozen guns pointed at him he could
really almost see the little round black
holes watching him. m
' Or he might even meet the whole of
the French army itself. The advance
guard would certainly take him for a
spy for a cunning and intrepid scout
who had com out by himself to recoo
Doitrw and they would fire at him. Ha
fancied himself standing in the middle
rot a field, be could hear the irregular
shot of the soldier crouching in the
brushwood, and felt the bullets entering
his flesh, as be fell riddled like a neve
with shot. He sat down again in despair.
He could see no way out of his difticul-
It was quite dark by this time. The
night had fallsn dumb and black. Ha :
sat quite still, trembling at every slight
nnknowa sound that reached his ear in
the darkness. A rabbit, squtting down
on the edge of his burrow, almost put
Walter 8chnaffs to flight. The owls'
screeching tore his very soul with suddeu
frights that were as painful as wounds.
He opened his goggle eyes to tlieir widest
extent, and peered into tbe dirlneas;
rind every moment lie fancied he heard
footsteps near him. ...
After suffering all- the tortures of the
damned for interminable hours, he saw
the sky beginning to lighten through the
branches overhead. A feeling of immense
"Forward!"
In an instant doors, and shutters, and
windows gave way before a rush of men,
who burst in, breaking everything, tak
ing possession of the house. In a mo
ment fifty soldiers, armed to the teeth,
came upon , him; his limbs lost j sprang into the kitchen where Walter
more
relief
their stillness; his heart ' beat
quietly; his eyes closed. He slept,
When he woke the sun was high up in
the sky, he guessed it to be about 13
o'clock. Not a sound disturbed the dull
silence of the fields; and .Walter Schnaffs
began to feel the pangs of hunger. Ho
yawned, his mouth watered as lie thought
of the soldiers-' rations of good sausage;
and lie had "a gnawing pain at his
stomach. He got up and walked a few
steps; his legs trembled under him, and
he sat down again to collect his thoughts.
For two or three hours he sat there
weighing the -pros and -eons, changing
his mind every moment, downcast and
unhappy, pulled m every- direction by
conflicting arguments. :
At last he fixed .upon one plan that
seemed to him sensible and practicable.
This was his plan: To watch till one of
the villagers should go past, alone and
unarmed, and without any tool that
could be dangerous, and go out and meet
him, and put himself into the villager's
hands, making him understand that he
surrendered.
He took off his pointed helmet, which
might have betrayed him, and cautiously
put his head out of the ditch. Not a
solitary creature was to be seen on tho
horizon. Here on the right a little village
sent the smoke up from its roofs into the
sky the kitchen smoke. There on the
left he could see a grand castle, flanked
with towers, at the end of an avenue of
trees. HeVaited there till the evening.
It was a.painful time. Ho saw nothing
but flights' of crows.
; Night came upon him. He lay down
at the bottom of the sheltering ditch,
and slept a feverish sleep haunted by
nichtmare the sleep of a famished man.
The dawn rose again over his head. He
returned to his post and watched. But
the country lay deserted and empty as it
hod done the day before; and a new fear
entered into the heart of Walter Schnaffs,
the fear of dying of hunger. He could
see himself lyin;
ditch, on his back, with his eyes shut;
and beasts all kinds of small animals
would come round his dead body, and
devour it, attacking every part at the
same time, creeping inside his clothes to
bite his cold skin; and a great crow
would come and pick out his eyes with
its sharp beak.
Then he lost his head altogether, fancy
ing he was going to faint away from
weakness, and never be able to get out
of the ditch. And he was just preparing
to start for the village, como what might,
and dare everything, when he saw three
laborers going toward the fields, with
their pitchforks on their shoulders, and
he plunged back into his hiding-place.
As soon as the shadows of evening
darkened over him, he dragged himself
slowly out of the ditch, and bent and
fearful, with a beating heart, set out for
the distant castle, choosing it in prefer
ence to the village, which seemed to him
like a den of tigers. The windows of tho
lower story were lighted up. One of
them even was open, and there came out
'a strong smell of roast meat a smell
that penetrated into the nostrils and
down into- the stomach of Walter
Schnaffs. That' smell electrified-him, it
took away his breath, and, drawing him
irresistibly toward it, put desperate
courage into his heart. And suddenly,
without stopping to think, he presented
himself, in his ridme t, at the opening o(
the window. Eight servants were sitting
at dinner, round a large table. But, all
at once, one of the.maid-servants dropped
her glass, and sat staring, open-mouthed.
They ail turned round to see what she
was looking fit. They caught sight of
the enemy. "God help us! the Prussians
have attacked the castle!"
. There was a scream, a single scream,
made up of eight screams in eight differ
ent tones a cry of deadly terror. .Then
there was a tumultuous uprising, a push
ing, and Scrambling and a wild flight
toward the door at the end of the room.
Chairs fell, men knocked down women
and trampled them under foot. In two
seconds tlie room was empty and de
serted, and right in front of Walter
Schnaffs, standing stupefied before the
window, was the table laden with food.
After a few moments hesitation he
stepped over the window-sill and went
up to the table. ' He shook with famine
as he had with fever; but he was still
held back and paralyzed by his fears.
He listened. The whole house seemed to
shake: doors banged, and- footeteps hur
ried across the floor above. The Prus
sian strained his ears to catch the con
fused sounds; then he heard dull thuds
as of bodies falling on the soft ground at
the foot of the walls human bodies
jumping out of the first-floor windows, j
Then every movement, every sound
ceased, and the great castle was as silent
as the grave.
' 'Walter Schnaffs sat down before one
of the untouched plates and began to eat.
He devoured great moutlif uls, as if ha
he was afraid of being interrupted before
he had had time to swallow enough. He
threw tiie morsels into his mouth with
both hands, as if he was throwing them
into a -pit; he ate so fast that great lumps
of food stuck in his throat and had to be
washed down with copious draughts of
water. He emptied an the plates, and
all the dishes, and all the bottles, till lie
was drunk with food and liquor. . Red,"
and stupid, and hiccoughing, with dull
bead and greasy lips, unbuttoning hie
uniform to breathe, be was utterly in
capable of stirring a step. . He shut hie
eyes his brain was heavy; he crossed hie
arms upon the table and laid his head
down upon them, and went off geiiliy to
the land of dreams. ,-
see a a
The crescent moon shone dimly above
the trees in the park. It was the chilly
boor before dawn. Shadows, many and
silent, glided about among tbe shrubs,
and now and then a ray of moonlight
shone upon a pointed steeL The castle
stood black and silent; only two win
dows were hghted up on the ground
floor. All at once s thundering Voice
roared out: .
Schnaffs was sleeping peacefully fifty
rifles were placed against his chest; he
was thrown down, rolled over, seized,
and bound hand and foot.
He was breathless with- amazement,
too besotted to understand what was go
ing on, beaten, battered, and half mad
with fright. All at once a stout soldier,
bedizened With gold, put his foot upon his
chest and roared: " : ' -'
"You are my prisoner! Surrender;'
"The Prussian only heard one word
prisoner and he gasped out: "Ya, ya,
ya!" .
The victors, blowing like grampuses,
picked him up, bound him to a chair,
and examined him with- great curiosity.
Several of them eat down, quite worn
out with fatigue and excitemant.
Schnaffs was smiling now he was safely
made a prisoner at lost. Another oflicer
came in and announced:
"The enemy have taken flight, colonel;
several of them seem to have been
wounded. The place is ours."
The stout soldier, who was mopping
his forehead, shouted, "Vi6tory!" And
ho wrote in a little book that he took
out of his pocket; "After a desperate
struggle, the Prussians were obliged -to
beat a retreat, carrying off tlieir 'dead
and wounded, reckoned, at about . fifty
men. Several have fallen into our
hands." -
The young officer asked: "What is to
be done now, colonel?" : : r :
"We must fall back in case the enemy
returns with artillery and reinforce
ments." And he gave the order to fall
back.
. The column reformed in the dark,
under the castle walls, and moved off
with Walter Schnaffs in its midst, bound
and held by six warriors, each holding a
revolver. Iteconnoitering parties were
sent out to clear the way. The column
moved forward very cautiously, halting
from time to time. At daybreak they
reached the Sous Prefecture of La Roche-
at-4hbettouwf theQysel; it was the national guard , of that
town that had accomplished this feat of
arms. The whole population was watch
ing for them, anxious and uneasy. When
they caught sight of the prisoner's hel
met there was a tremendous uproar. The
women brandished their arms; some of
the older ones wept; one old grandfather
threw his crutch at the Prussian and hit
one of the guards on the nose.
The colonel shouted: -"Mind tho pris
oner does not escape!"
At last they reached the town-hall. The
prison door was opened, and Walter
Schnaffs was thrown in and unbound.
Two hundred armed men mounted guard
around the building, and then, in spite
of sundry symptoms of indigestion which
began to torment him, the Prussian, wild
with joy, danced around his cell-glanced
like a madman, throwing up his arms
and legs, and giving vent to shouts of
maniac laughter, danced till he fell ex
hausted against one of the walls.
Ho was a prisoner! Saved!
And that was how the castle of Cham
pignet was retaken from the enemy
after only six hours' occupation.
Col. Ratier (in private life a tailor),
who performed this gallant feat at tho
head of the national guards of La Uoche-
Oysel, was decorated. Translated from
the French for The Argonaut by Helen
Bourchier.
DIAMOND FIELDS OF SOUTH AFRICA.
How a City Sprang; Up In the Desert A
Vwt Human Aot-11111.
As the pan-washing and cradling of
tho , adventurous prospector of '49 has
given way, on the Pacific slope, to the
operations of organized and scientific
mining industry, so the individual oper
ations of the individual diamond diggers
of Griqualand, South Africa, in 1871,
with their rudo bucket and windlass,
followed by the inclined wire, have been
replaced by skilled labor. Tunnels have
been blasted through solid rock, shafts
have been sunk hundreds of feet into the
earth, and yet the precious bits of carbon
are found in auantities to sunnlv the
Agreed of avaricious man and furnish a
living to thousands and wealth to a
lucky few. '
Invl872 what is now known as Kimbcr
ley was called De Beer's New Hush and
had already been yielding up its carbon
crystals until a city of tents and cor
rugated iron houses, with one huge music
hall ami between 300 and 400 drinking
places had clustered around the enor
mous excavation, whence the earth had
been removed by single bucketf uls. This
marvelous result of the labors of the
human ants who swarmed hi its depths
and on its borders was tho spot which
became known tho world round as the
Kolesberg Kopjo before it become tho
Kiuibcrlcy mine, . .
Some idea of the size of the Kopjo and
thenumlierof people working on it daily
will be gathered from the statement that
at the time now spoken of 800 clainiSj
each being thirty feet square, and on
average of about thirty men say twenty
six black ahd four whiteworked in
each claim, giving a total of 24,000 work
ing there. -The first licenses to work
claims at' the Kopje were issued on the
20th of July, 1871, and in little more than
a year tho claims were carried down so
deep, many over eighty feet, that none
of the roadways were left standing com
plete, though immense portions of them
having the appearance of huge broken
walls remained. : -
"The kopje has been aptly dascribed as
a vast human ant-hill," says a writer of
the period referred to. "I do not know
a more effective simile. Human beings
are everywhere moving about with an
activity and in numbers, like ants. They j
pass over tho narrow roadways, ghdo
down the face of the excavation, or are
at work at a depth which dwarfs tlieir
statures into that of moro miniature
men. Hero men ore feverishly risking
tlieir necks day after day in the pursuit
of wealth. They pass over places where
a false step the slipping of a foot or tho
incorrectness of the eye in measuring a
distance will cause their death. They
climb up ascents that to tlie expert seem
unascendable. They slip down ropes
that are' only fastened to frail tree
branches driven into tho loose earth.
They stand on ledges that arb perhaps
forty feet away from tho roadway above,
and forty feet oljove the bottom of the
claim lielow. They wheel barrows along
narrow pathways .that would startle
even some expert mountaineers. They
work beneath tottering manses, mid
every now and then these fall, maiming
and killing. Detroit Free Press. " .
HINTS FROM THE JAPANESE.
Bow We Could Learn from the MJkado'a
People to Simplify Our Homes.
We have been looking at some Japan
ese dwellings, interiors. How simple
they are! how little furniture or adorn
ment! how fewthings" to care for and
be anxious about! Now the Japanese are
a very ancient people. They are people
of high breeding, polish, refinement.
They are in some respects like the Chi
nese, who have passed through ages and
cycles of experience, worn out about all
tlie philosophies and religions then on,
and come'out on the other side of every
thing. '-They have learned td take things
rather easily, not to fret, and to get on
without a great many encumbrances that
we still wearily carry along. ,..
When we look at the Japanese houses
and at their comparatively a mple lifo,
are we watranted in saying that they are
behind us hi civilization? May it not be
true that they have lived through all our
experience and como down to an easy
modus vivendi? 'They may have had
their bric-a-brac period, tlieir over-loading-establishment
agi4, their ' various
measles stages of civilization before they
reached a condition in which lifo is a
comparatively simplo affair. This
thought must strike any one who sees'
the present Japanese erase in this coun
try. For, instead of adopting the Jap
anese simplicity in our dwellings, we are
adding tho Japaiuae excenti ieities to our
other accumulations of odds and ends
from all creation and increasing the in
congruity and the . complication,, of our
daily life.
" What a helpless being is the housewifo
in tho midtit of her treasures. , Tho
Drawer has had occasion to speak lately
of the recent enthusiasm in this country
for tho "cultivation of the mind." It has
become almost a fashion. Clubs are
formed for this express purpose. Hut
what chance is there for it in the in
creased anxieties of our more and more
involved and overloaded domestic life?
Suppose-we have clubs Japanese clubs
they might be called for the simplifica
tion of our dwellings and for getting rid
of much of our embarrassing menage!
Charles Dudley Warnor in Harper's Hag
azinu. . "
' There la Honiothlng in a Kama. '
There's SHfltFtluRg in BafnSspopioHjr
far an actor or author. No man bearing
the name of Smith has ever been heard
of as an actor, though some have at
tained distinction in literature and poli
tics. I met Hjalmer Hjorth Boyesen,
the Scandinavian author, at Mrs. M. E.
Palmer's reception on Friday evening,
and some acquaintances were chaffing
him about his peculiar name. "My
name?" he said, laughing; "I wouldn't
take anything for it. It is a part of my
capital. It is my trade-mark. I might
have had seme success without it, but it
has helped out.-'. I signed my first story
H. H. Boyesen.' When The Atlantic
came out with it the editor had substi
tuted 'Hjalmer Hjorth' in all its jaw-,
breaking glory for the simple initials. I
asked him about it. 'Why, "H. H."
wouldn't attract attention,' he said.
'Anybody could lie "H." H" Henry or
Hiram, or even Harriet or Hannah. But
"Hjalmer Hjorth"! it smelkr of the
North sea and sounds of the saga and
vikings. Folks will remember it espe
cially if they try to pronounce it.' So it
has proved. I wouldn't take anything
for it." "Halston" in New York Times.
Fl.hlnf with Axe In Florida.
Eight miles below Charlotte harbor is
a coast in which you can wade fearlessly
1,000 feet from Die shore. It is on this
coast that men go "fishing with axes."
In certain seasons large fish, weighing
fifty pounds and upward, to escape from
the pursuing porpoises plunge into this
shallow water, in which men stand ax in
hand, and in which they are ruthlessly
murdered. rrom the hungry porpoise
they fly to evils they know not of, and
become a dainty monw-l for remorseless
man. Cor. Cincinnati Enquirer.
A I'alrmlty FrepoMd for Siberia.
The Russian government has decided
to establish a "university" at Tomsk in
Siberia. Like our western frontiersmen
the dwellers of the Tundra have imbibed
with tlieir raw native air a penchant for
rough and ready independence, and the
arrival of the government text books
will probably be followed by a con
signment of patent knouts. Exchange.
The Claat Tree af Aautrmlla.
Evidence of tlie decay of forests is
Australia is found in the presrnt exig
ence of a few trees far exceeding in
ice any of those about them, and sup
posed to be survivors of a departed race
of giants. Arkansaw Traveler.
A Valaable DteUeaary rtvpaaeeL
. A dictionary for tlie scientific and
technical terms in all languages is pro
jected by Professor VUanova, a: id is
indorsed by tint international geological
congress. Exchange.
Draining tho KrargliKlns nf Florida. .
- In -the southern : central part of the
state, however, extending fiom latitude
26 degrees 30 liiin'.itcs to latitudo 23 de
grees W minutes, is a network of littio
lakes, rivers and swamps, which was
long considered unfit for any of tho pur
poses of civilized life. This region -is be
tween fortynd Bixtv fi-et aliove the
level of the. Hon, so that tliern ti ho reason
why it should be considered undrainable.
The lakes and swamps have been formed
by the rank vegetation, which for cent
uries grew, decayed and fell into the
rivers, thus damming them up and
partially flooding the surrounding
country.
The company organized by Disston, of
Boston, obtained from the government
a grant of all tho lands which should be
drained by it. Tho company brought
down dredges and be,-an its work by
clearing out a channel from tho Luke
Okeechobee to the Atlantic, a distance of
forty miles. If the project is ever carried
out, it will shorten by alxmt 200 miles
the sea voyage between oints on tho At
lantic coast and tho gulf ports. Tlie
company also intends to drain the south
east Everglades by tho same method em
ployed in reclaiming the northern
swamps. Florida Cor. Cincinnati En
quirer. The Headquarters at lleelxebnb. j
If Be-lzebiib means "Gnat God," the :
temple of that deity ought to be efected
at liarras, near tlie junction of the Ama
zon and tho liio Negro. Even at Foiita
boa, some H00 miles further inland, the
mosquito swarms surpam any conception
a North American could have formed in
eastern Arkansas, but at. the mouth of
the Itio Negro tho great plague b-coml
so alolute!y intolerable that n.-ither
commercial advantages nor exuberant
fertility ofla tlie virgin soil has thus far
induced any Caucasian bijx-dg to make
the delta their K-niiaiicut home.
The lowr-r eighty fert of the atmos
phere irfe!liU rally saturated with rl'nids
of wiiigi.-d blood-siu kers. Thounan-Umid
thousands of them hang like a gray mist
about every tree, and hover and
over every pooh and a drunken man fall'
ing to fc!e p in the open air would prob
ably be bitten to death before morning,
The wood-cutters at the steamboat land
ing wear gauze veil, like Carmelite nuns,
and defend their cabins with a battery of
ever-smoking petazotes "stiiik-pote,"
filled with a smouldering mixture of !ry
dtuig and wants tobacco leaves. Dr. Fe
lix L. Oswald.
A Hoy Without a Country.
Some years ogo Charles Bunch, a
naturalized uernian-Aiiierican, accom
panied by his pretty Italian "wife, sailed
for France to accept un engagement as a
tenor singer in one of the opera com
panies in Paris. En route, a child, who
named Charles Herman Busch, was born
to them. The mother died shortly after
reaching France, and the father soon
followed her. The child, having been
lxini on the high seas, was literally with
out a country. The French authorities
refused to administer upon the father's
estate or provide a gurdian for the infant,
because neither of the parents was a citi
zen of the republic- Consul Shackel-
ford could do nothing without permission
from the government.
After two years' delay this permission
was finally granted. The American
colony in Paris became interested hi the
child, who is said to bo remarkably
bright and precocious, and a fund has
been, "subscfil ed miffleient - to rear and
educate him until his lOtli year, wlu n an
'effort, will bo made to a;ioint him a
cadet at the naval academy at Amiaolis.
The little fortuno of $27,000 francs, the
proceeds of his father's estate, will bo
invested for him and plated at his dis
posal when ho shall havo finished his
education. Washington Cor. Chicago
News.
THE SUMMER TIME OF 1665.
H Knew li Huit IIS TBW."
The name of the late Charles L. Davis,
Esq., of Portland, stands on tlie. list of
Maine's great lawyers. His intellect was
subtle and his diction choice. He made
one of his nicest and most involved ar
guments before Judgo Colt one day.
After he hod addressed the court learn
edly and warmly for qn hour or more he
asked: "Does your honor see the thread
of my argument?" "I donlt quite see
tho thread of your argument, Brother
Davis," said tho court, with a smile, "but
I plainly hear tho spinning of the wl.etL"
Lcwiston (Me.) Journal.
John Iiurroag-he a. a Vegetarian.
John Burroughs finis that sinee lie
gave up the use of meat his health has
been materially improved. "I find I
need less physical exercise, that my
nerves ore much steadier, and that I
have far fewer dull, blank, depn-ssing
days; in fact, all tho functions of my
lxly are much better -rfornied by
abstaining from meat." Chicago Trib
Oerman Teat for Watered Milk.
A German test for watered milk con
sists in dipping a well-polished knitting
needle intoail-p vessel of milk and
then immediately withdrawing it in an
upright portion. If tho milk u pure a
drop of the fluid will han to the needle,
but tho addition of even a small proior
tion of water will prevent tlie adhesion
of the drop. Chicago Tribune.
When the Flag-ue Breathed ITpon the
People of London Terrible Keslitlea.
When the terrible pestilence first
breathed upon the people, there passed
one night over tlie city a cornet "of a..
faint, dull, languid color, and its motion
very solemn and eIow,J!What may be-
thus described has been seen 'since, but
in an age: of "fortune-tellers, cunning
men, and astrologers," this event gave
birth to many strange stories and pre
dictions, to dreams and interpretations of
dreams, and to a great dread amongst
the simple and ignorant, and even the
educated people. , In this hour of terror
the turn of these money-makers had
oome; grave men in velvet jackete, bands,
and black cloaks frequented the strets;
their houses were hung with signs and
n3criptions,JJ'Hore lives i a fortune-teller;
here lives an astrologer; here you
may have your nativity calculated," and
so on. And from the doorways, hero and
there, one saw he sign of "Friar Bacon's
Brazen Head," or that of "Mother Ship
ton," or the "Merlin's Head." To the
proprietors of these newly-hung signs
terrified people flocked in great numbers.
The streets, with their shops and man
sions side by side, which a few weeks
before had been gay, with throngs of
effeminate courtiers and dandies, old
soldiers, wealthy citizens, and whistling
apprentices, were now thronged with
WBgons, carts and coaches, loaded with
women nnd children, witli,tents and bed
ding; and numberless men upon horse
back clattered over the stones, some with
and some without servants, carrying bag
gage, all hurrying away from the doomed
city. Morning, inxin, and night, the
lord mayor's door was besieged with peo
ple,' eager for passes and certificates of
health; and morning, noon, and night,
the city rapidly emptied itself.
Tho gates were .closed in vain, tho
walls had withstood armies, but death
crept through them, over them, under
them, stalked in the streets, stared
through eottaga and palace window
Alike, and lefore it pale people flod. Add
ing horror to all this confusion, there
ran through tho streets distracted creat
ures proclaiming tho destruction otho
city, and one was reported to have run,
almost naked, "with a voice and. counte
nance full of horror," relating continu
allv. ''Oh! the great and the dreadful
G-mI!" . Wo aro told that at tho coming ;
of tho 'terrible realities of the visitation,
sectarian distinctions sickened and died
away. Denominations were reconciled,
"tho jieople flocked without distinction to
hear the preachers, not much inquiring
who or what opinion they were of. But
after the sickness was over that spirit of
charity abated." -
8o commence)! tho. plague, while all
who could afford tolly had flml before it,
which after all was very few compared
with thoso who remained. Quickly peo
ple died in nuch numbers that they could
no moro toll the bells or ev'en bury tlie
dead in colfins. Like a fire, tlio distem
per raged most fiercely in lilies, one
house conveyed it to tho next, leaving
rota and desolation lichind, and devour
ing street after street till tho whole town
was wrapt in tho btu-ning of its dread
ful flam a... About June, the lord mayor.
Sir John Lawrence, and his aldermen
prepared, and on the first of July pul
lislied, compulsory "orders" for tlie
ninety-two parishes within tho city
itself.
By these regulations : all infected
houses were to be shut up and guarded
by specially apMinted "watchmen," one
by day anil one by night. No one was
suffered to leave thestf-liouses,' .and it
waslhereby liopT-a trial UiiTplilgtlB niij'llt
bo stayed, "if it should no please God."
Tho noble conduct of the lord mayor
and his officers strangely contrasted with
that of the king and his court, who all
fled away at the beginning and left
thing to look after themselves. During
September the plaguo reached its height;
there died as many as 1,000 a day, and
the bills of mortality for tho months of
August and Septenilx-r registered 5U,fj70,
from all diseases. Including two days
w hii h the bills are short of tlie two
months, there died of the plague alone
the terrible sum of 50,009 people.
Yet was it impossible that these ac
counts should register tho true tale of
death; hundred whoso names were not
known jicrhdicd in tbt river, voluntarily
quenching tlieir burning agonies in its
waters. According to the city records,
tlie distemper destroyed Qrt,390 persons in
all; but this firo, prodigious though it
is, for the ret .ns assigned alovo is prob
ably, far below the B'-tual number.
Itoliert Woburn in Sunday Magazine.
; AT HOME.
- i. h- ,
The frngal snath with forecast of repose,
Carries hi: house with him where'er he
goes;
Peeps out, and if there comes a shower oft
rain,
Retreats to his small domicile again,--Touch
but a tip of him, a hornVtis well,
He curls up iu his sanctuary shell.
He's his own landlord, his own tenant;
. . stay . . '
Long as he will he dreads no "quartet
day." . ,
Himself he boards and lodges; both invites
And feasts himself; sleeps with himself
o' nights. ,
He spares the' upholsterer trouble to pro-
cure -v .;- -.. .v.
Chattels; himself his his own furniture,
And his sole riches.' 'Wheresoe'erheroam,
Knock when you will he's sure to be at
home. Charles Lamb.
LITTLE MANNERISMS OF SPEECH.
Everybody Is More or Leas of a Nalaanoa
. at Times Contradiction.
Everybody has some little mannerism
of speech or gesture that he never knows
he lias. They ' chaff the English about
"Don't you know?" but I - wonder how
many of the Americans, who use the ex
pression constantly know they do it.
"See?" is a common addition, period, in
terjection and ' exclamation. I know
several men who in telling anything say .
"And so forth and so on" , three times a
minute; and "All that sort of thing" is a
most frequent expression with any num
ber of people. f
Tlie man who interludes his conversa
tion with "Don't you think so?" is more
of a nuisance, because you never know
-whether he expects "you to answer him
or not. "Say!" is an abrupt and harsh
way of attracting attention: yet ladies
are most ! given to the use of it. Every
body is more or less a nuisance at times.
One man sits perfectly still and talks bo
deliberately and elowly that you get mad.
either because you know five minutes
before ho gets there what he's going to
say or you have to wait so long to find
out. Another fellow talk so fast and so
much that you get tired of the subject,
however entertaining.., A third fellow
gets up and walks about in the most
irritating way whuo he s prosing. A
fourth beginsj about one subject and
goes all over 'the earth- before he gives
you a cliance to get a word in.
But the most universal : impulse in
human nature is to contradict, and nearly
everybody doea it. The man who agrees
with you in everything is awfully pleas
ant for one trip, but you never make a ..
great friend of him. He does not com
pliment you, because he generally ends
by producing an idea in you that he
either knows as much as you or he is
agreeing with you from indifference. I
like a man who contradicts and sticks
up for his contradiction. Argument is
tho salt of social life. San Francisco
Chronicle "Undertones."
. Fatties I he Matter Plainly.
A doctor is called to a man suffering
from aiithina. Hi visit over, he Ustoj'pcJ
in the entry by the sick man's wife.
Well, doctor, what do you think of
hum ! my poor huehand?"
"Jit-assure yourself, asthma u a patent
of longevity."
"But you will cure him of it, won't
you?" Detroit Free Press.
Law for tba I'rote-tloB of lltnla.
It is recalled by Forest and Stream that
the first effc-cHive law for the pmtrt-t Mn
of insect iVerous birds was prejiorrd by
Henry William Herbert. The original
! draft is still iu existence. Eschan -e.
,
It is better for the general health of a
and Stewart, who argued on tlie street, i community to have one rrxjJ-naturod
corner on some knotty point of theok?y. ' man in a neighborhood Una four doc
with HcottHih pertinacity, until it was ; tors. Chicago Ledger.
time to separate, when one of them re- j
Management of a Jauee Rtac
We were intensely interested in the
piny, though we could iiot understand
one word of it. It was a combination of
high trardy, comedy, burlesque, panto
mime, eo-tety play, spectacle, and melo
drama. All the standard characteristics
of each style of perfmnunce were con
spicuously resent. The interest never
lac-d, sad tho changes were as rapid
ami varied as those of a kaleidoscope.
There was no little effort at aci nic dis
play. The stejfe revolved b two part,
an inner and an outer circle. While one
e:ie was going on in front the nVxt was
prepared behind it on the central turn
table and revolved into place ia projwr
time; when the dead bodies of those
LillcJ in the previous scene were whirled
r r.ff by the outer circle. Wings and bor
ders wene usmI very similar to ours, t ut
the main
bi::lt up on the central revolving stage.
V hat is Steele Markaye double stage
compared to thu.? Japan Cor. Inter
Ocean.
Manufacture of "One-Stave" Barrel.
Flour handlers and others who use bar
rels are just now interested in a "one
stave" barrel, manufactured near Detroit.
While the size and shape of this barrel
are the same as the ordinary jkind, the
body of the barrel consists of a single
sheet of limber held by hoops. The tim
ber used is elm, which is cheap and
abundant. Canada is the main base of
supplies. Tlie logs will be rafted over
during the season of navigation, and
brought by rail in winter time. The logs
are token from the boom or yard into the
sawmill and cut into two-barrel lengths.
Thence they go into a steam chest, where
they remaiu until thoroughly steamed.
In this condition the log is converted,
Ilito linn Elieels, or veneering, used in the
body of the barrel. By a special process
a two-foot log becomes rolls of "wooden
sheeting in a minute's time. There re
mains upon the mandrel an eight-inch
core, which is utilized in making barrel
heads. These sheets go next to a sand
ing machine, by which both sides are
mado perfectly smooth. After passing
through a cutting and grooving machine
they are so cut by a goring machine as to
adapt them to tlie- shape of a barreL
Thence they go to a drying-house. From
the dry-house they go to the sizing saws,,
where they are cut tlie desired length,
when they are ready for tlie cooper shop
or for shipment. They are shipped in
bundles and in the "knock-down" to be
put up at tlieir point of destination.
Three thousand of them can be stored
and forwarded in an ordinary box car. .
The headings are shipped in barrels.
Boston Budget.
Concerning- the Hog af Head arm.
While it would grieve me to offend the '
modest vanity of the swine-breeders of .
tbe states, truth compels me to say that '
with all tlieir efforts, and perfect as tliey
fancy their Poland-Cliinas and Berk
shiiija, . those gentlemen have not suc
ceeded in producing anything resemb
ling the bog of Honduras. But when
ly some unaccustomed circumstances
the hog of Central America has had food
enough to put a little flesh on his ample
stock of bones, tliat flcdi is incomparably
superior in flavor to the oily gross
product of tho north. Chicago Times.
The Value of Militia la Ueea.
. Tlicne discissions or exchanges of
Orinion as to the value of militia, com
pared to regular soldiers, are all right,
but I tell you somo respect is paid to the
militia in times of disturbance. Of course
they will shoot high, and everything
like tiiat, and they will shudder ut tlie
flir.,in1i .)iv1.1m(T ithwt til
rt of Uie machinery' was lia iu ,iloot to kill, their only
thought, aim ana object being to obey
orders. But oftentimes it is not neces-
iry to shoot. The uniform and the
n'ht of a gun does great deed. It
awes. W. U. Trask in Globe-Deniocrat.
marked: "iou will find my views very
well put in a certain tract," of hie b
be gave the title. Upon which, to his
surprise, his antagonist replied: "Why,
I wrote tiiat tract myself. The Arg-
! ' Cold and Flaainana Jeerelrr. '
! The bjmk ia ti m of gold aid platinum
1 is. befng made use of to produce new cf
j fet-U in jewelry.
Artificial ire is used ca soo of the
J EuIieh ifcnnn rt, "
Beat Deevrated Mea la rraaala.
The l-t decorated man in Prussia, is
Ue crown riiice of Germany, who has
seventy -two orders .and deruratiuua to
plant on his breast, wku-h make him
look as ifSe wore a breastplate. Count
FucklefT the marshal of tho place, oomts
next with fifty-one; Kunarck follows
with a modest forty-eight. Inter Ocean.
To appreciate the good qualities of our
friends is one thing; to bear patiently
wiUi their defects is another. Huladttt
pUa CtO.
Waa Wall Veraed la Illatory.
The school was celebrating tlie birth
day of Oliver Wendell Holmes. "And
now," said the teacher, "who is Dr.
Oliver Wendell . Holme?" And the
school shrieked out, "Versed in war.
versed in peace, versed in the hearts of
his countrymen!" Burdctte in Brooklyn
Eagle.
A German metaHurpL4 has intoduced
) an apparatus for pumping molten kaj
ty sxiam r nature.