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ANTHONY & CROSS, Editors and Publishers. TERMS: $1.25 Per Year In Advance.
VOLUME 1. CONCORD, N. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1888. NUMBER 11.
Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie.
When Charleston built for the Briton's
sport
The spongy, hardy palmetto fort,
And the ships with their topsails taut and
thin
Stormed over the bar at break of day,
Gun and swivel and culverin
Shouting their murderous roundelay 1
Yhen the hissing shot was immured for
good,
Time after time, in the soft, sly wood,
A venturous shell, from the Moreland's deck,
Struck the patriot staff, and snapped it
quite,
Neat in the middle, without one fleck,
And whirled the flag from the rampart's
height.
But William Jasper saw from his post.
And, his younj blood seething, still as a
ghost,
Straight through tho perilous fire leaped
down,
Leaped down, and back, by a leopard spring,
Tho smoke in his eyes, erect and brown,
All in the beat of a swallow's wing.
And hold close, close, as ho climbed alone,
The banner sacred and overthrown;
An 1 quick, with that steady hand of his,
Notching its loops on his ramrod bare,
With a "So, my beauty!" and one frank kiss,
Flung it again to the glad, free air!
Then the friendly tides turned clean about,
An 1 slipited from under the frigates stout,
And Sir Peter Barker's crippled fleet,
With its disembarking, bewildered crew,
Groped and fumbled, and got its feet,
An I reeled off into the seas anew,
'Tis the eld talo; how ours sat down
At duk in t' eir fair, beleaguered town,
We teal their valor, repeat their vows;
We keep their memories east and west;
Wo sing their praise through the happy
house;
But of Sergeant Jasper, who knows tho rest?
Who asks it J Teaco to his ashes cold
The Carolinian grasses fold!
To the fond boy heart, in its little hour
Symbol and vision of loyalty,
Homage! The root whereof he was flow,,.
Bi'ais hundreds, happily, such as he.
Let emperors sleep in their gorgeous fame;
For us, forever, some quiet name,
In which no armorer's skill is versed,
To mock nt history's calendar.
And once through its ordered pige to
burst
Like a headlong, glorious August star!
Louiso I. Guinoy in Boston Post.
Fate of John Eamsay, M. D,
BY W. n. S. ATKINSON.
I am a physician. I have mado a life
long study of tho human brain, and
may, perhaps, bo pardoned if I say that
my opinions upon diseases of tho mind
now carry considerable weight among
members of tho profession.
It i3 only a week or two since I was
called to a large asylum for the iasane in
Northern Ohio to cxamino a case which
baffled the skill of the local doctors.
Alter disposing of that matter I took an
unprofessional stroll through the insti
tution in company with my old friend,
the superintendent.
The asylum over which I now made a
tour of inspection was a most beautiful
building, resembling in its appoint
ments the homes of the wealthy and
opulent. We wandered through room
after room and along successive halls
and corridors where men and women in
every stage of insanity passed tho time
in various harmless amusements, or were
restlessly confined in the care of ward
ers and nurses. Of all the misfortunes
to which humanity is heir, this loss of
reason is, to my mind, the saddest by
far; and, though I might be expected to
have grown hardened by long years of
familiarity with all phases of weak in
tellect, I never cea30 to feel devoutly
thankful for that greatest of all benefits
conferred upon men by a beneficent Cre
ator a sound brain.
We had passed through tho greater
part of the enormous institution and
were approaching that portion of tho
building set apart for the residence of
the superintending physician my
friend, Dr. Habcrshon. Taking from
his pocket a key, Dr. Habcrshon in
serted it in the keyhole of a door. Be
fore turning it, ho looked at me in a
strange manner and said: "If you
were not an old med., Hartly, and as
familiar with strango cases aa I am my
self, I should warn you to keep your
countenance and betray no surprise on
entering hero. And I speak, anyhow,
60 as to be on the safe side." So say
ing he turned the key in the lock and
opened the door. "Wo quietly entered a
very neat but plainly furnished room,
and I confess that, although I have
witnessed queer, weird, wild and, oft
times blood-curdling sights, I never felt
so startled in all my life as I did at that
moment. Tho room was not by any
means dark, for it was well lighted by
a large window running all along one
side, but placed above tho reach of a
man, even though ho should stand upon
a chair; -yet at tho farther end of the
room I noticed a student's lamp burning
over a plain pine-wood table, upon
which rested a human skull and some
wiiting paper. Seated at this table,
pencil in hand, was a man about the
same age as myself and Dr. Ilabershon
(40 years) gazing intently upon the
skull. What startled mo so severely
was the fact that when I had last seen
that man more than fifteen years since
I had seen him in exactly
such a position, with "precisely similar
surroundings. And yet, what a dif
ference! Then he had just graduated
at the head of his class from our col
lege, and was looked upon as one of the
most promising young physicians in tho
country now, ho was a helpless maniac 1
"Ramsay?" I involuntarily queried,
only partially believing my own eye
sight. Ilabershon nodded. "You need
not speak to him; he woa't r;ply. It is
just C o'clock. He will sit at that table
gazing at tho old skull until daybreak
and then he will throw himself upon his
bed and sleep until noon. That's tho
way ho U3ed to do, you know, and
humor him all I can. Poor old ltamsay;
I owe him a good deal, you know,
Hartly. You remember all about it?"
"Yes I remember the story, though I
had almost forgotten it."
Ramsay, Habewhoa and myself were
all students together in Philadelphia.
Wo were in the same classes in collego
and jointly occupied tho satno suite of
rooms. Furthermore we were all mak
ing a specialty of studying the human
brain, and tho only point wherein we
materially differed from each other was
that Ramsay knew more than we two
fellows together.
True, Ramsay was, in regard to his
theories and speculations, what many
peoplo would call a "crank" but then
successful cranks arc esteemed to be
genimcs, and certainly Ramsay was, in
my judgment, quite as near the one as
tho other.
We three fellows all fitted in tho
same social set, and although both Ram
say and Ilabershon knew good and
beautiful girls by tho score, the fates
decreed that they should fall in love
with tho same young lady. And yet,
strange enough, they never displayed
bad feeling toward each other, nor ever
sought to make tho lady's position an
unpleasant one on account of the rivalry.
It seemed to me, aa onlooker, as though
there was a tacit understanding between
them, that no undue influence should bo
brought into play, but that, knowing
how both loved and admired her, tho
object of their admiration and esteem
should be left quietly to choose between
them.
Grace Thorneycroft wa3 a most beau
tiful and estimable girl and, though I
have been an old bachelor all my days,
I do not wonder that any man should
have sought her for hh wife.
Ono day Grace, with her father,
mother and a brother, were down to
Atlantic City, whero they took a sail
boat and went out A sudden squall
overtaking them the frail plcasuro boat
was upset and Grace was the only mem
ber of the party who escaped with her
life. She was picked up in a fainting
condition and tenderly cared for, but
when restored, physically, it was found
that her mind was shattered she was
insane. All that wealth, combined with
skill, could do was done for Grace, but
it availed nothing and tho physicians
and friends at last gave up tho case as
hopeless. Haberihon was himself al
most crazy with grief and could not
bear to go near the poor girl. As for
Ramsay, he shut himself up in his den
a small, barely furnished room where
ho was ia the habit of pursuing his
studies and experiments. There was a
determined expression on tho fellow's
face and when I looked in on him
(which was seldom) he was always busy
with his papers and books sometimes
engaged in dissecting the brains of dogs
and other animals, and once examining
a human brain.
He seldom spoko or even so much as
remarked my presence, though once he
said in an excited tone: "I shall cure
her, Ilartly it shall bo done at any
cost."
So for davs and wcek3 ho sat over
that bare pine tablo gazing at tho skull
in front .of him ever and anoa rapidly
penciling dia. rami of tho human brain
and of the nervous system.
Lato one cvoning I was sitting with
Ilabershon when there came a rap at
tho door and Rimsay entered. Ho was
very quiet, but knowing him as well as
I did I could tell ho had something
beyond the ordinary on his mind.
"Boys," he said, "I think I have
found what I have been searching for
I think I can cure Grace. I say think,
because, after all, it is only a theory of
mine and may utterly fail, but I . think
not. Perhaps you say I should not
theorize and experiment on a woman
whom, as you know, I love. Well, it
won't do any harm to her and it may
do her all possible good. To-morrow
morning I shall try to do th3 work."
Then turning mora particularly to
Ilabershon, ho continued: "Ed., you
and I both lovo Graco Thorneycroft
Now, in tho presence of Hartly, here, I
want you to promise me that, whatever
tho consequences of my operation, you
will care for Grace as long as sho lives,
and, if necessary, caro for me, too."
I think neither Habcrshon or myself
understood tho purport of theso words,
when they were spoken, though their
meaning was clear enough later on.
However, Habershon gave tho request
ed promise and wo parted for the
night
The next day, in the forenoon, Ram
say, in the presence of the two physi
cians who had been in charge of Grace,
began his operations. I was an inter
ested observer from a distant part of
the room, but Habcrshon could not be
induced to bo present," Ramsay told
tho older doclorj that if his theory
proved perfectly successful in practice
h3 would be able to give his method of
cure in writing for tho benefit of the
medical world at present, ho said that
it was utterly impossible for him to in -telligently
explain his idea5!. However,
he guaranteed that the attempt would
be perfectly harmless to tho patient and
tho doctors stood by ready to pre
vent any unduo or dangerous experi
ment. For mvself. I have rot the least
idea to this day just what the means
were which Ramsay employed to pro
duce the end he had in view, nor have
I any theory to advance. The whole
thing was a strango affair to me then
and appears j ust as strango when I look
back upon it from tho present moment,
with all tho experience which I have
gained with fifoon years' practice.
Ramsay first of all administered a
draught to Graco Thorneycroft, who
was seated rn a reclining chair. A few
moments later he made a small incision
in an artery ia the patient's right arm,
which movement he followed by mak
ing a similar incision in an artery of his
own- left arm. Tho two arteries he
then connected by means of a small sil
ver tube. Facing hi3 subject, Ramsay
tapped her head, near tho base of the
brain, two or three times with his
knuckles, and then gazed into her eyes.
Ten minutes passed slowly by and no
perceptible difference was noticeable in
Grace's condition. Ten moro minutes,
and a gleam of intelligence seemed to
bo forcing its way into the face of the
poor girl but, strange to relate, a wi!d,
far-away look was settling upon Rim
say! Another ten minutes, and Grace
Thorneycroft recognized every ono in
tho room, including myself, whilo John
Ramsay was led away from tho newly
conscious girl, a raving maniac !
As I havo before remarked, I havo no
explanation to ofL-r I can only chron
icle baro facts. Ramsay was a man of
geniis, surely, though ia tho ono act of
his life in which ho proved that genius,
ho partially failed; and, in that by
iosiag his mind he was unablo to give
his theories to tho world, his genius
will never benefit posterity.
Ilabershon married Grace Thorney
croft two years later, and they have al
wnyi taken the best of caro of the man
who saved a woman's reason at the ex
pense of his own. Detroit Free Tress.
A Successful Crusade.
Every afternoon, between five and six,
an under-sized man with a nervous but
decided air boards a Wabash avenue
cable car at Washington street and rides
south. Probably not one out of twenty
live of his fellow passengers recognizes
hira as tho hero of a despcrato fight
against tho City railway company.
Chicago grows very fast, and the sensa
tion of yesterday is hardly the memory
of to-day. This is D. B. Fisk. When
tho City railway company, about a
dozen years ago, jut "bobtail" cars
(cars in which passengers drop their
passes through a slot into a box), on its
lines, Fisk, single-handed, began a cru
sade against the bobtails, and ceased
only wheu the cars were removed. How
did he go about it? He simj)ly refused
to pay his faro except to a conductor.
The drivers on the lino came to know
him and ceased jingling their bclh
for his fare. He used to eater a car and
offer to pay the fares of all the passen
gers to a conductor. Tho result wa3
many a carload of people were hauled
free. Fisk found a few nervy followers;
the newspapers took up the battle, the
public joined in, and the result was the
complete subjugation of the company
and the removal of the obnoxious ve
hicles. Tho fight, it is said, cost the
company hundreds of thousands in lost
fare and cars loft on their hands, which
they were obliged to sell at prices away
below their cost. Chicago News.
Warming the Shivering Poor.
In many cities on the Continent in
days of extreme cold, tho municipal
governments, from a fund previously
set apart for the purpose, place at inter
vals among the crowded neighborhoods
of the poor large iron braziers, which
are kept filled day and night with hot
coals. They are circular upright recep
tacles, about tho size of a barrel, with
an open top and with holes pierced in
tho sides for tho purpose of a draught,
They are placed upon the pavement near
the sidewalk at tho corners of streets,
where crowds may collect about them
with the least obstruction to traffic.
During tho bitter cold weather crowds
of half frozen people huddle about these
braziers. Boston Advertiser.
The New Universal Language.
"I love, thou lovest, she loves," in
Volapuk, the new universal language, is
"Lofob, lofous, lofof," and "They will
have been loved" is "Pulofoms."
"The knowledge of ono's self is the best
foundation'of all virtues" is, in Vol
apuk, "Itisevam ebinom stabin gudikin
tug as valik."
Indignant
After church:
Spoggs Was it not disgraceful, tho
way in which Smiggs snored in church
to-day?
Stuggs I should think it was. Why,
he woke us all up.
A NORWEGIAN SPORT.
The National Pastime of the
Sturdy Norseman is "Ski."
Binding on the "Skis," He
Glides Down the Mountains.
"Ski" running is to the Norwegian
what base-ball is to tho American, or
cricket to tho Briton the national
sport. It is also something more; it is
a necesmry and practical mode of loco
motion, as is skating to the Dutchman,
and snow-shoeing to the denizen of tho
Ctnadas. Broken by hills, "and crossed
by valleys, the Norwegian fatherland
when wrapped in its winter mantel of
deep snow present! difficulties to trav
elers requiring extraordinary means to
surmount Heavily drifted, tho roads
becomo well-nigh impassable to horses
for long periods, and then the only
means of communication from farm
house to farm-house and hamlet to ham
let is pedestrian. In this strait the
sturdy Norseman binds upon his legs
his long fleet "skis" and flies easily and
gracefully over tho drifts and shoots
like lightning down the hills and steep
mountain sidc3, and out of stern neces
sity ha3 learned to draw a vigorous
amusement. The history of tho "ski"
is the history of the wonderful peoplo
who uso it as a birthright Norse
mythology is full of it and some of the
most stirring passages in Norwegian his
tory draw their romance from tho bold
and daring feats of hardy 'ski" runners.
Tho "ski," pronounced softly and de
fiantly "ah"," familiar and dear to the
runner as his sweetheart oftentimes, is a
long and narrow strip of wood, often
pine, better of hard wood, made with a
curling nose to override the snow, and
bearing near Its centre a strap and rest
for the foot of tho rider or "runner."
Tho length varies according to the
strength of tho runner and the pur
pose of the "dki, " seldom exceeding
ten feet, however. For mountain and
dense forest traveling they are made
shorter and for military manoeuvres,
when worn by Boldiers, are of unequal
length to facilitate turning readily.
Generally they present only tho wood
en surface to the snow, but some
times, especially when designed for
travel" where many hills arc to be as
cended, their bottoms are covered with
deer hide, the hair pointing backward,
and acting as a secure anchor against
retrogression. They solve tho problem
of walking on tho snow on tin same
principle as tho moro clumsy and
slower plaited snowshoo familiar in
American forests, -by dividing the
weight of the wearer over a large sur
face. The American snowshoe is also
in use in Norway, but, as was remarked
by an expert ruuncr, "it is too slow for
men, and we give it to old women and
put it on horses."
The feats of speed and dexterity per
formed on their "skis" by expert run
ners are wonderful. Oa a level surface
they move as fast a3 a good horse, but
it is coming down hill that they show
their mettle. Curving gracefully over
the crest, as the slopo grows steeper
they gather speed like lightning, until,
with full headway, they shoot through
the air with the speed of a railroad
train, fairly taking nway the breath of
tho daring runner with tho rapid motion.
A well authenticated account is current
ia Norway.tb.at one Finnish woman, a
very expert runner, oac day tried the
descent of a peculiarly steep mountain
side, and attained such fearful speed
that when those who awaited her at the
end of her bird-like flight received her,
she stood bolt upright oa her "skis,"
dead, the breath literally ravished from
her lips by her rapid descent. The
"hop" is the most difficult and danger
ous of tho many feats of tin "jki" run
ner. In descending hills, broken spots
and small precipices are often mot with,
and over these the careful and the timid
runners simply slide, but expert
and venturesome ruancrs augment
the danger and tho excitement
at the same time by leaping into the air
just at tho verge of the cliff, landing
far beyond the point whero the sliding
runner would alight In the races and
games with tho "skis," a "hop" is gen
erally made by building up a cliff with
snow at some convenient point of the
declivity, and this is mado high accord
ing to the skill and daring of the run
ners. Ono moment on the earth, a
sudden spring, and away he flics through
tho air, 50, 70, 100 feet, enough of a
fall, ono would think to break every
bone in his sturdy body, but landing
safely and gracefully and shooting away
on hi3 course.
As a national pastime "ski" running
has attracted the widest attention in
Norway, the royal family lending the
enthusiasm of their presence to the
yearly carnival. In tlm couatry it is
only recently coming into notice, and
Minneapolis i3 entitled to the meed of
having been tho home of the first "ski
club ever organized in America Min
neapolis Journal.
New Jersey 6wain (calling on his
girl) What makes the house shake so,
darling? Girl Its pop, up stairs, Re's
got the fever 'n ague agin.
The Wild Animal Trade.
"There is scarcely anything going oa
in the trade this year," recently ob
served Mr. F. J. Thompson, who i3
perhaps the largest wild animal dealer
in the United State?, and who resides in
New York. "You see, thi3 year," ho
continued, "is the presidential year, and
like theatrical business, our trade i3
seriously affected. In off years circuses
and other show3 put in their heaviest
work, while in years like this the coun
trymen, when they hive a holiday, in
stead of going to the circus go off to a
mass meeting or to see tho parade.
"But tho wild animal trade has never
flourished as it did bofora 1873," added
Mr. Thompson. "It was during the
war times and immediately after, when
every one was flush of money, that the
greatest seasons were experienced.
Then there were hundreds of circuses,
big and little, and various side - shows,
which patrolled tho country from ocean
to ocean. Out in tho west, too, many
of the small shows had gambling at
tachments, which helped materially to
rake in the money. A proprietor of
ono of these thought nothing of paying
$1000 for any animal which happened
to strike his fancy.
"But many of these parties mado
money so fast that they shortly closed
up business and quit. Then came the
financial crash of 1873, and the stagna
tion of every kind of business, and the
failures of most of these circus and
showmen remaining. Then tho new
men who came into tho business dil not
have much money, and could not afford
to buy large numbers of animals or very
valuable specimens. So it has been ever
since, with a consequent stagnation in
animal trade.
Another thing which has affected the
business a good deal is the growing
scarcity of certain kinds of wild ani
mals, and the closing of some of the
depots for their collection and ex
portation. Nubia and upper Egypt,
for example, for a long time were the
great headquarters for the supply of gi
raffes, elephants, hippopotami, and the
double-horned rhinoceri, with many
other wild animals, but since the
troubles there, subsequent to the death
of Gen. Gordon at Khartoum, absolutely
nothing has been received from this re
gion, which i3 cow barred, for an in
definite period by the impending Italo
Abyssinian war. And then again the
depot in Sou'h Africa are beginuing to
closo because the hunters have to go
such immense distances before they can 1
reach the lairs of the wild animals, hun
dreds of miles from their former haunt.
The cause of this is the extermination of
all kinds by tho so-called sportsmen,
who pour into that region like they did
into the United States when the buf
faloes iovcd tho plains." New York
Sun.
Bill Nye's Cow For Sale,
Owing to ill health, says Bill Nye, the
humorist, I will sell at my residence in
town 29, range 18, west, according to
government survey, ono plushcd -raspberry
colored cow, aged 8 years. Sho
is a good milkstcr and not afraid of
cars or anything else. She is a cow of
undaunted courage and gives milk fre
quently. To a man who does not fear
death ia any form she would be a great
boon. She is very much attached to
her home at present, by means of a trace
chain but she will be sold to anyone
who will agree to treat her right She
is one-fourth short horn and three
fourths hyena. I will also throw in a
double barrelled shot gun which goes
with her. In May sho generally goes
away somewhere for a week or two, and
returns with a tall, red calf with long,
wabby legs. Her name is Ro3e, and I
prefer to sell her to a non-resident.
An Expensive Request
A Philadelphia lawyer was appointed
solicitor for a certain business house in
that city. At the end of the year ho
was asked to send in his account, which
he did, by lumping everything, simply
saying, "So and So, Dr. to Professional
Services, $2000. The manager was a.
great stickler for form, and sent back
tho account, asking for an itemized
statement The lawyer did as requested,
and at the bottom tacked on the follow
ing: "To preparing itemized state
ment, $100." After a murmur of horror
and astonishment, it was paid.
The Cost of a House.
People who are going to . build may
like to know that "a three -thousand-dollar
house" is one that the architectu
ral paper says can be built for $2, 850. -37;
costs $3,100, according to tho ar
chitect's estimate; is worth $3,700, the
carpenter says, to build ; increases in ex
pense to $4,800 during the process of
erection, and makes you draw your
check for $5, 953. 28 before you move in
and get your first bill for repairs.
Journal of Education.
Rubber Overshoes.
"What becomes of all the rubber
overshoes !" Tho factories in Nauga
tuck alone turn out 15,000 pairs of
shoes daily, or, counting 300 working
days in the year, 4,500,000 pairs. Con
sidering what rubber shoe3 are made of
now-a-days, perhaps it is not so re
markable, after all. Ansonia (Conn.
StentineL
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Prof. Mnritz Benedict say3 that tho
brain of a professional murderer bears a
striking resemblance to that of a beast
of prey.
Exjeriments on the speed of the elec-:
trie current prove that if a proper con
ductor could bo wound around tho globe
a signal parting from it at any point ol
it would return to the starting point iD
one-half of a second.
A scheme is in progress in Mexico foi
tunneling tho volcano of Popocatapetl
through the wall of the crater, in order
to reach the immense sulphur deposits
iasidc tho mountain. A narrow-gauge
railroad will connect tho tunnel witi
tho town of Amecameca, which, in turn,
will connect with the Morelos road,
leading to the national capitol.
The experiments which were success
fully carried out at Washington some
time ago of sending nitro-gclatine shells
from &i ordinary gun havo been re
peated by tho Turkish government A
breach-loading howitzer was pointed on
a target of twelve steel plates 200
metres away. The shell exploded on
contact and completely destroyed th
thing.
A wonderful firo-proof paint has been
invented by A. Jamieaon. According !
to the Electrical Review, a "shanty" oi
dry pine wood was covered with the
paint, and, by means of oiled shavings,
two attempts to burn it were made, but
without success. Tho hot fire was only
able to char the face of tho wood, and
would not take hold of it. The test
was so satisfactory that Captain Cam
eron, of the White Star line, intends
taking several gallons of it over to. Eng
land in his ship, the Adriatic.
Dr. Brown-Sequard, who has been
preaching that bad ventilation and poor
and monotonous food are the great
causes of phthisis, has exhibited to the
Paris Academy of Science a ventilating
apparatus of his invention. A reversed
funnel, the shape of a lamp shade, is
placed at tho end of a tube, so arranged
in its curves and angles that when
placed beside a bel the reversed funnel
will be above the sleeper and draw up
the air he breathes. The other end runs
into tho chimney of the room. If there
bo none, it is taken through a heating
apparatus to an air-hole. The heat is
great enough to burn the disease germs.
Tho average watch is composed of
one hundred and seventy- five different
pieces, comprising upward of two
thousand four hundred separate and
distinct operations in it3 manufacture.
The balance has eighteen thousand beats
or vibrations per hour, twelve million
r-iae hundred and sixty thousand and
eighty in thirty days, ono hundred and
filty-scven million six hundred and
eighty thousand ia one year; it travels
one and forty-three one-hundredth
inches with each vibration, which is
equal to nine and three-quarter miles in
twenty-four hours, two hundred and
ninety -two and a half miles in thirty
days, or three thousand five hundred
and fifty-eight and three-quarter miles
in one year. .
It is estimated that the air in a room
becomes distinctly bad for health when
its carbonic acid exceeds 1 part in 1000.
An apparatus ha3 been recently pa
tented by Prof. Wolpert of Nurnberg,
which affords a measure of the carbonic
acid present From a vessel containing
a red liquid (soda-solution with phe
nolphthalien) there comes every 100
seconds, through a siphon-arrangement
a red drop on a prepared white thread
about a foot and a half long, and
trickles down this. Behind the thread
is a scale beginning with "pure air"
(up to 0. 7 per 1000) at the bottom, and
ending above with "extremely bad"
(4 to 7 per 1000 and more). In pure air
the drop continues red down to tho
bottom, but it loses its color by the
action of carbonic acid, and the sooner,
the more there is of that gas present
A Cnrious and Valuable Book.
Perhaps tho most lingular curiosity in
the book world is a volume that belongs
to the family of tho Prince de Ligne,
and is now in France. It is entitled
"The Passion of Christ," and is neither
written nor printed. Every letter of the
text i3 cut out of a leaf, and being in
terleaved with blue paper, is as easily
read as tho best print The labor and
patience bestowed upon its composition
must have been excessive, especially
when the precision and minuteness of
the letten are considered. The gen
eral execution in every respect is indeed
admirable, and tho vellum is of the
most delicate and costly kind. Rudolph
II. of Germany offered for it in 1640
11,000 ducats, which was probably
equal to 60,000 at this day. The most
remarkable circumstance connected
with this literary treasure is that it
bears the royal arms of England; but
when it was in that country, and by
whom owned, has never been ascer
tained. The Bookworm.
How It Happened at Last.
"Have you heard that Lily is engaged
to young Fledgely ?" asked Maud.
"No," replied Ella. "I thought he
was too bashful ever to propose."
"Qb, lut it's leap year you know,"
Dlcdrich and Grctchcn.
Bat a prince within his castle,
Sad and lone;
Far beneath a winding river
Danced and shone.
"Ahl" he sighed, "I wish and pray
I were happy now as they
Yonder peasants on their way."
Paused a peasant gayly humming
Simple song,
Glancing upward toward the castle
Grim and strong:
"Would that I were there,'' said he,
"Ah, how happy I should be,
Feasting, singing merrily I"
"Nay," said Gretchen, now beside him
"Covet not;
cou art happy, honest Diedrich,
In thy cot 1 .
God hath given thee thy place,
Castle walls would pale thy face,
Waste thy strength and mar thy grace."
Sunday came and bells were tolling
Soft and low;
From the castle walls a cortege
Moved, and slow.
"Diedrich," said fair Gretchen, " see!
Whom thou envied so, 'tis he,
TVouldst thou prince or Diedrich be?''
" Diedrich ever with my Gretchen
By my side
In the cot if thou wilt grace it,"
He replied.
"Yes," she whispered,"thine,commanilt"
Then he slipped a golden band
On the blushing maiden's hand.
M. J. Adams, in Courant.
HUMOROUS.
A hotel call-boy never takes affront
when the clerk yells "Front!"
The English language sounds odd to
a foreigner, as when one says, "I will
come by-and-by to buy a bicycle."
Did you ever see a doctor kick a
banana peel off the sidewalk, or tell an
acquaintance that ho was sitting in a
draught?
A laundry which stands in the shadow
of an east-sido church, Buffalo, bears
the appropriate legend on itssiga board:
"Cleanliness i3 next to Godliness."
A sportsman is a man who spcnd3 all
day away from hi3 businc3 , $2 for pow
der and shot, and comes home at night
tired, hungry and ugly, dragging a
a fourteen cent rabbit by the ears."
A, scientist says: "If tho land were
flattened out tho sea would bo two
miles deep all over the world." If any
man is caught flattening out the land
shoot him on tho spot A great many
of us can't swim.
Timid Young Suitor (who has won
consent of papa): And now may I ask
you, sir, whether-ah-whether your
daughter has any domestic accomplish
ments? Papa (sarcastically): Yes, sir;
she sometimes knits her brows.
Charming young hostess: "Why,
Major, you are not goiig so soon?"
Major (who prides himself on being one
of those fine old-school fcllowi who can
say a neat thing without knowing it):
"Soon? Madame, it may seem soon to
you; but it seems to mo I havo been
here a lifetime."
"I saw you looking on at tho tobog
gan slide in the baseball park on tho
west side yesterday," said Brown to tho
Chinaman who had just brought in his
laundry. "What do you think of to
bogganing, John?" "W-h-i-s-hl
Walkee backee milce 1" said tho China
man.
The man who makes your knuckles snap
And says, "I'm glad to meet you,"
Is very frequently a chap
"Who'll readily forget you.
The First Razor.
The earliest referenco to shaving i3
found in Genesis xii: 14, where we read
that Joseph, on being summoned beforo
the king shaved himself. There aro
several directions as to shaving in
Levitticu', and the practice is alluded
to in many other parts of scripturo.
Egypt is the oaly country mentioned ia
the Bible where shaving was practiced.
In all other countries such an act would
hae been ignominious. Herodotus men
tions that the Egyptians allowed their
beards to grow when in mourning. So
particular were they as to shaving at
other times that to have neglected it was
a subject of reproach and ridicule, and
whenever they intended to convey the
idea of a man of low condition and
slovenly habits tho artists represented
him with a beard. Unlike the Romans
of a later age, tho Egyptians did
not confine the privilege of
shaving to free citizens, but obliged
their slaves to shave both beard and
head. The priests also shaved the
head. Shaving the head became cus
tomary among the Romans about 300 B.
C. According to Pliny, Scipio Afri
canus was the first Roman who shaved
daily. In France the custom of shav
ing arose when Louis XIIL came to the
throno joung ' and beardless. The
Anglo-Saxons wore their beards until,
at the conquest, they were compelled
to follow the example of the Normans,
who shaved. From the time of Ed
ward III. to Charles L beards were
universally worn. In Charles II. 'a
reign the mustache and whiskers only
were worn, and soon after this the prac
tice of shaving became general through
out Europe. The revival of the custom
of wearing the beard dates from the time
; of the Crimea, J 854-5. 3. Penman's
Journal,