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A DEMOCRATIC JOURNAL THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INTERESTS.
VOL. VIII. NO. 5
MAXTON, N. 0., TUESDAY, SEPT. 19, 1893.
GI.OO A YEAR.
X.
1 o
n i in
There are some mieieading geographi
cal names of Spanish origin in the
Eastern and Middle Atlantic States,
observes the Argonant. A Spanish
name in the Far West and South West
is a true historical indication, but in
the East it usually stands for the en
thusiasm of the Mexican War period,
when supporters of the war commem
orated the victories of the Federal
arms by naming towns in honor of the
battle fields.
A physician maintains in the Medi
cal Journal that it is not poverty of
diet so much as monotony of diet that
exercises an unhealthful influence on
the poor. As a matter of fact they eat
"stronger" food than the rich, more
bread, meat and simple vegetables, but
their cooking is rude, and they eat tha
same things the whole year through.
People who are well to do, or who are
better cooks, get more variety with
fewer things, and always have some
thing to tempt the appetite. Soup
can be made to resemble greasy dish
water, or it can be made a really savory
and nutritious thing, and there are a
hundred different ways of serving pota
toes. The physician thinks that free
cooking schools would be a first rate
thins' in the tenement districts-
The growth of the Christian En-
(deavor Societies, according to Secre
tary Baer's report, has been remark
able. New York still leads with 2895
societies ; Pennsylvania is a good sec
ond, with 2628 ; Illinois third, with
1822; Ohio fourth, with 1765; and
Iowa fifth, with 1186. Massachusetts
and Indiana are not far behind. In
Canada we find 1882 societies. The
growth in the South has been encour
aging. England has over 600 societies ;
Australia, 525 ; India, 71 ; Turkey, 41
societies ; New Zealand, 24 ; Japan, 84 ;
Madagascar, 32 ; Scotland, 3 ; Mexico,
our neighbor, 22 ; West Indies, 19 ;
Africa, 15; China, 14; Ireland, 10;
France, 9 ; Sandwich Islands, 6 ; Ber
muda, 3 ; Brazil, 2 ; Persia, 1 ; and
Chile, Colombia, Norway and Spain,
each 1. In all, nearly a thousand so
cieties in foreign lands, making a
grand total enrollment for the world
of 2241 local societies, with a member
ship of A, 577, 040.
Five States Iowa, Vermont, Mich
igan, Wisconsin and Illinois have no
interest-bearing debt, and there are
eix or seven othar States whose bonded
debts are mere bagatelles. Among the
number are New Jersey, Nebraska,
Kentucky and California. To a for
eigner, or anyone else not familiar with
the facts, remarks the Chicago Herald,
this would convey the impression that
the Americans bear an extremely light
burden of debt. Such an idea would
be somewhat modified, however, by the
knowledge that the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe pays interest on S500,
000,000 or more, the annual interest
charge exceeding $25,000,000 almost
as much a3 the entire interest charge
of th federal Government. The
Southern States have a oonded indebt
edness of $144,000,000 in round num
bers. The total bonded indebtedness
of all the States in 1890 was 8224,000,
000, on which the annual interest
charge was 810,000,000. The total
bonded debt of the States is about one
third of the National interest-bearing
lebt.
The extensive use of wood in mak
ing the cheaper grades of paper offers
one of the most serious obstacles to
forest preservation, according to the
New York Post. In the last two or
three years the growth of the wood
pulp industry has been enormous, a
dozen great mills, each manufacturing
fifty to 300 tons of pulp a day, having
been built on the Hudson River, to
feed principally on the Adiiondack
forests. The wood chiefly used is
epruce, and the especially disastrous
effects of the industry on the forests
results not only from the extreme de
mand for the lumber, but from the
fact that while the demand is especially
for trees of thirty to thirty-five years
growth, the young trees are also cut.
In 1881 the capacity of the pulp mills
in the United States was about 72,000
tons per annum. The present capacity
is 700,000 tons. And in this remark
able growth the industry has been ac
companied by these three desirable
things : increase in quantity, decrease
in price and no diminution in the com
pensation of labor. The sound of the
axe, the barker, and the grinder is
heard in twenty-two States. The
neighborhood of Niagara and the Ad-
irondacks in New York, the territories I
of the Kennebec, Androscoggin, and
Penobscot Rivers, in Maine, th Fox
River valley of Wisconsin, the hills of
New Hampshire and Vermont, and the
natural-gas belt of Indiana are the
greatest pulp-producing regions of the
United States. About 3500 cords of
wood are required daily to supply the
demand of the milK
CIVILIZATION INVADED.
Twenty Desperadoes Stop and Rob an
Illinois Train.
The Engineer Shot, the Express Car
Dynamited and 'ome Thousands
of Dollars Made Away With.
Chicago, III. Twenty masked men
held up a Lake Shore train 12 miles
from Chicago near midnight, and after
wounding the engineer, blew open the
safe in the express car and stole i's con
tents The train was the one which diew
out of the Twelfth street depot of the
Illinois Central road at 7:15 Monday
evening. It reeched Kendville, a small
station in Indiana, a little short of four
hours late, It went past the town and had
hardly gone a mile through a stretch of
timber land wbon the engineer slowed up
near a curve. As the engine rattled
around the turn the engineer saw a red
light ahead . As the train came to a ttop
a dozen men sprang into the cab, shot the
engineer, seriously wounding him, and
blew open the express car with dynamite
and drilled open one of the safes, getting
safely away with their booty, whatever
it was. Of that there is no certain in
formation and a'l sorts of wild stories are
afloat, placing the amount all the way
from $20,000 to a quarter of a million.
The car dynamited belonged to the United
States Express Company, a:d General
Superintendent Grosby.of that company,
declares the to?al loss by the robbers is
way below f 20,000. He says the robbers
thought they were carrying away national
bink note3, but secured mostly paper
worthless to them, and they overlooked
$15,000 of gold bullion. Mr. Crosby
emphatically denied the report! that
$275,000 had been taken. There was not
one tenth that amount on the whole
train, he Bays. In the safe blown open
was a sealed bag full of packages done up
about the size and shape of packge3 of
bank notes. These packages were mark
ed $1,00), $2,000 ami so on. The e
figures indicated the alue that the pack
ets were lis'ed at, but practically th?y
were worth nothing more to the robbers
than the paper they cont lined. Their
contents consisted of settlements with
agents, receipts for money, legil papers,
etc., which cm all be duplicated after a
time. It was a load of this nature that
the robbers secured. Only five or six men,
he savs, were concerned in the robbery.
The rumor tiat the safe contained a
shipment of $250,000 from a Chicago to
a New York bank c uld not be confirm
ed, the only fact lending anj evidence to
the story being the iectnt rise in the
value of New York exchange. None of
the bank officials admitted having made
a shipment and ths express company de
nied that there was any such amount on
the train.
President Newell, of the Lake Shore
road offers a reward of $1,000 for the
capture and conviction of the robbers.
A tramp who was stealing a ride on
the train and claims to have seen the
whole occurrence, ssys there were at
least twenty men in the gang-, and some
of the trainmen put the number a 3 high
as twenty five. The dynamite having
wrecked only the express car,the robbers
contented themselves with loo'.icg this
aione, and make no effort to force an en
trance to the other cars. The pas engers
cars were not molested. When the rob
bers climbed on tbe engine, Engineer
Knapp had one hand on tha throttle. He
attempted to start the train. One of the
desperadoes pushed a big revolver
against his shoulder and fired . The bul
let passed through, tearing a hole in
which a lead pencil could be laid. The
noise caused by the crashing of the ex
press door when the dynamite bomb was
hurled against it was the firot intimation
that the passengers had that the train
was in the hands of robbers. There was
a lively scramble among thi passengers
to crawl under the seats and secrete what
valuables they had in 6ight, but theii
precautions were not necessary.
Comitted Suicide from Mortification.
Washington, D. C. Steele Kellogg,
aged 21 jears, only son of Col. Sinford
Kellogg, U. S. A. , shot himself through
the body at the family residence, this
city, Monday afternoon, dyinj; from the
effects at midnight. Hs motive is
thought to have been gritf over his
failure to pass his first-year examination
at the Naval Aca i my, to which he was
appointed by President Hariison as
cadel-at larga. After his retirement
from Annapol's, the oung man still
having a liking for the sea, his father
secured him a position on the Obio, of
the American line, as quartermaster.
He afterwards resisrued and entered the
University of Virginii, takug the full
summer course. At the Naval Academy
he was ? great favori'e among the offi
cers and m-n. Col. Kellogg and wife
were at Deer Paik at ttie time of thsad
affair.
Doc Taylor Resentenced.
Norton, Va Judge Skcen decided
to hold court instead of waitiii uutil
Wednesday, and resentenced Doc Taylor
to be hanged ou Oct 27 for the mutder
of the Mullins family. Taylor has been
acting queerly of late, aDd his counsel
hoped to save his life by the plea of in.
8-nity Taylor says he wants to preach
hi own funeral sermon just before the
FINDS HIS CHILD.
The Story of Pretty Lulu Coley, Who
Was Stolen.
Some people wijl remember the story
of the abduction of a young girl named
Lulu Coley, of balisbury, N.C., by one B.
H.Wood, ter step-grandfatber,theabduc-tion
taking place in the fall of '90.
The girl was fouud in Columbia, S.C ,
Sunday by her father, D. A. Coley.
The girl is thirteen years old, slender
and rather pretty. Shs was stolen from
her home near Salisbury three years ago
by Wood.- Her father had gone to the
Eashy Mountains to haul apples. Her
step mother, Wood's daughter, sent the
girl to town to buy some medicine. On
her return she met Wood, who was
driving a wagon. He persuaded her to
get in, and then drove away with her,
promising to take her to Florida. They
went first to Lancaster, 8. C, passing
through Charlotte, then to Chester, then
to Jacksonville, Florida, and finally to
Columbia, ariiving there just before
Christmas. For tin past few months
Wood made the girl live with him as his
wife; up to that time she having passed
as his daughter. Several times she tried
to run away, but she could not escape
him. Sunday the girl went to church
and there it was that her father found
her, and the story of her life with Wood
became known.
THE SEARCH AND FIND.
Mr. Coley had searched for hi3 child
for three years, and had about despaired
of finding her, when an accident led to
the discovery of her whereabouts. Mr
Tom Carr, of Statesville, a railroad man,
was in Columbia Tuesday, and while
1 here went out to the park. There he
ran against Wood, a chance remark about
Statesville made by Wood, leading Mr,
Carr to discover who he w,s. Mr. Coley
was communicated with, went iinmedia
tely to Columbia and found his d&ughtei
as stated .
Wood is 50 years old. He denied,
when arrested, living with the child as
his wife. He said he had treated her
kindly, even sending her to school.
Wood was arrested and jailed. He ex
pressed a willingness to return to North
Carolina without requisition papers, and
will no doubt be brought on as soon as
possible.
Ioth to Let Curr escy Go.
The reluctance of the banks to pari
with currency in these times forces
business men to extreme meausres in
order to carry en their business. A few
days, ago a Baltimore merchant received
a draft on Philadelphia for $3000,but
as the Baltimore banks would n it take
it except for collection, he went to
Philadelphia for the m msy. Upon pre
senting the draft at the bank upon which
it was drawn he was told that he could
not Lave currency, but might have
certified checks.
"But I cannot use your checks in
Baltimore, and I have a note to meet to
morrow, "argued the Biltimere merchant,
"I must have currency."
"We cannot let yon have it," de
clared the teller. The president of the
bank was appealed to, but he sustained
the refusal of the teller.
"Suppose we give you silver?" ventur
ed the president after persistent de
mands by the merchant.
Til take it," was the quick reply, and
the $3000 in silver vas packed up and
shipped by express to Baltimore in time
to meet the merchinVs note.
The holder of a draft on a Baltimore
bank for $6000 a few days ago was not
so lenient as this merchant, for when
the bank refused to piy currency the
holder of the draft immediately had it
protested. Tha bulk not only had tc
pay out the currency, but protest fees in
addition.
The Gaffney Cotton Mills Help the
Storm Sufferers.
The following telegrams will explain
themselves :
Gaffney, & C, Sept 11, 1893.
ToB. R. Tillman, Governor, Columbia.
S C. :
The Gaffney Manufacturing Company
wish to donate fivs thousand yards of
sheeting and shirting to the storm suffer
ers. Please give shipping directions.
(Signed) ' G affkey Mfg. Co.
H. D. Wheat, Treasurer.
Columbia, S. C, Sept. 11, 1893.
To Gaffney Manufacturing Company,
Gaffney, 8. C. :
Ship to Joseph W. B unwell, chairmar
relief committee, Charleston, S. C.
B. R. Tellman, Governor.
China to Take a Hand in the Franco
Siamese Muddle.
Berlin, German'.F. The foreign office
here is informed that the Chinese govern
ment is preparing a protest aginst
Fiance's new aggressions in Siam and has
givea orfleis that the Chinese squadron
of iron-clads be made rely to sail at a
memei.t'S notice.
Egypt's Cotton Crop Much Iiarg-ej
This Year.
An Alexandria concspmident says that
the Egyptian cotton c op is sttadily in
creasing. The crop reached 535,000
cautnrs (a cantar is a little over 99
pounds) in 1h i year ending Septrmbei 1,
ag.iu t 473,100 c.iid.-ir. ib year enl
ing September 1, 1S93.
OPPOSITION TO SAT0LLI.
It is Said the Vatican Will Inquire In
xo vas matter.
Rome, Italy. The Vatican is avout
t open an inquiry of the most searching
character into the latest opposition to
Mgr. Satolli in the United Statts, an op
posijou which has ramifying influences,
extending to Rome itself. The Vatican
has resolved to act with the greatest
energy upon the evidence it has secured
in the matter.
A Populist Oourt-Martial Covincte a
Republican Officer.
Tofeka,Kan, The Hughes court-mar
tial handed down a verdict of "guilty,
Hughes is dishonorably discharged from
the military service of the State. He is
found guilty on all the charges but two,
these being 'carrying news to the
enemy," and "speaking . words of en
couragement to the enemy," the enemy
mentioned being the lawful House of
Representatives, as determined by the
Supreme Court of the State. On these
charges the court-martial finds him not
guilty. The verdict of guilty is based
on the main charge of refusing to obey
the Governor's orders to go to the Rep
resentative hall and ejct the Doujfass,
or Republican llou'e. The court sets
up that there would uot be any discipline
maintained in the National Guard if offi
cers were protecttd in thjr open refusal
to execute the orders of the commander
in-chief.
The New Baby All Right.
Washington. D. C The White
House baby is doing-well, and so is Mrs.
Cleveland. Mrs. Perrine is now with
her daughter, and will remain until she
is able to be up and abou Tbe Preei
dent pursued his regular routine in his
office Monday. According tohiscus'om on
Mondays, he saw no visitors except some
cabinet officers, but devoted hiraself to
almost uninterrupted work at his desk
Telegrams and letters are still being de
livered at the White House from people
in all parts of the country congratu'ating
the President and. Mrs. Cleveland on the
new addition to their family. No mes
eages from foreign governments hive yet
come to hand, buh several are expected
by mail in due course ( f time. Bunches
of flowers from iutimate friends of the
Cleveland family have b en received at
the White Hou?e in great numbers, and
many pcopli of prominence, particularly
those in diplomatic circles, have left
their cards.
A Wealthy Georgian Dies, Leaving
Everything to Servants.
Atlanta, Ga. George W. Dye, one
of the wealthiest planters in northeast
Georgia, is dead, ani h s left a fortune
of over half a million doll irs to a negro
family who have attend- d him for the
last fifty yea;s. Dye had i ever mairied.
He owned over 10,00) ac cs of land in
one Iract and raised a gr at quantity of
cotton. He had no mem en of his family
living with him and the a teudants were
faithful negroes. To thc.?e he left hi-i
estate. The execu ors ate leading men
in Elbert eouuty.
The Vigilant to Defud the Cup.
New York. The third trial race for
the honor of defending the American cup
has been won by the Vigil nt. For the
third time the New Yoik s. ndicate's
boat crossed the finish line first. The
Colonia, Jubiiee and Pi!g im finished in
the order given. It was Colonial weather,
and the friends of that bo .t were hopeful.
There was a cracking 30-mile breeze
from the point north of cast. The course
was 15 miles to the rorthwajd and re
turn. The Vigil nt won ly six minutes
and nine seconds
Bismarck Seriously Hurt.
Berlin, Germany. The condition ot
Bisnarvk ii such that those near to him
are teriously alarmed. Dr. Schareringer
has gone to Berlin to consult with emi
nent phys:cians on the advisability of
removing the Prince to a milder climate,
as it is the bilkf that he cannot stand
tbe rigors of a northern winter. The
Piinco is confined to bis bed and is so
helpless that he has to be fed by attend
ants, sciatica having reached the arms,
rendering them powerless.
Five Children Burned to Death.
Little Rock, Auk. T. W. Whitley,
resiling near Silver Hill, Ark., with the
ti ler n embers of the family, attended
church Sunday night, leaviDg five of his
children, ranging in ges from 5 to 13,
in care of the house.
After the services were over he re
turned to find ih ; hou-e h id been burned
to the ground and all fivj of hii child
ren cremated. '
A Discouraging- View of the Cotton
Crop in Mississippi.
Duck Hill. Miss. Heavy and con
tinued rains for the past few days have
seriously damaged an already ehort crop.
Much cottou was open in tho fields, which
has been to some extent washed out
from the bolls, and the remainder is be
ginning to ept out, caused by the warm,
w-t weather. Cotton jn this section is
fully one-tbj:d fliprt of the, August
gsj; uia!e.
LOCOMOTIVES.
THE AMERICAN "IRON HORSE
LEADS THE WORLD.
Covering a Mile In Thirty-Seven
Seconds Care Jfecessary in
the Construction of
Locomotives.
HERE is no achievement of
which Americans may feei
more justly proud than tfhe
remarkable progress made of
late years in improvement of railway
equipment, and especially in the mat
ter of better and safer locomotives,
To-day, says the Washington Star,
American engines are sought by pro
gressive railway men throughout the
world. Hundreds are annually ex
ported, going to every portion of the
globe, from Norway to Palestine, from
Brazil to New Zealand, wherever the
beneficent iron bonds penetrate, and
the demand for them is always increas
ing.
The American tourist, who enter
tains his home friends with accounts
of the great speed of the trains abroad,
is ignorant of the fact that the best of
the "foreign" engines are furnished
from his own country. While to most
Americans a locomotive is simply a lo
comotive, equipped with a boiler,
headlight, tender, etc., yet it is wortlEy
of statement that in one leading Ameri
can establishment more than one thou
sand types of them are constructed,
varying from the light logging
machine to the enormous "De
capod, designed for hauling
long trains of iron and coal up ar
duous mountain grades. At the Bald
win works more than 1000 completed
locomotives are shipped annually, the
product exceeding three daily. I
takes about three months to complete
the ordinary engine from the time that
the order is placed with thp factory.
There could be no better illustration
of the financial condition and growth
of the United States than this great
and increasing output of locomotives.
for the reason that railway companies
do not, as a rule, pay in cash for their
rolling stock, but purchase it with con
struction bonds, intending to make it
pay for itself. Thus, the product
measures the expectation of the road
to have profitable transportation con
tracts. When an order for a locomo
tive is received at the shops draughts
men submit designs to the intending
purchaser, and if approved, the plans
are the basis of the contract executed,
and then the work is begun. In many
of the largest establishments there org
numerous departments, each engaged
in the making cf a particular part,
working independently of the other
departments and knowing nothing: of
their operations. The various parts
are finally assembled in the ereeting
slicp, and there the machine assumes
Its proper form. By the use of electrio
cranes the boilers and other unwieldly
materials are swung about in the air,
and the heaviest completed locomotive
is picked up by them bodily and shift
ed about at the will of the workmen.
Throughout the country are many
foundries engaged in making locomo
tive appliances, auch as brakes, head
lights, tires, safety valves, injectors,
etc., which are bought by the shops'
and fitted in the erecting department.
The locomotive works of America have
cent ample exhibits to the World's
Fair, and there are seen patterns of
the best freight and passenger engines
built for the leading roada of tha
world.
A duplicate of what is doubtless the
fastest practical locomotive ever built
is seen at tne a air. it is i o. aou,
built for the Central Railroad of New
Jersey. Its mate, No. 385, on the
same road, on the 19 th of November
last, under unfavorable conditions,
made records for one, two and five
rniifts which. R2em indcdibls. thoiiirH
they have been amply verified. Ln
gine 385 was the first of a type oi
Vauclain compound," with drivers
six and a half feet in diameter, a tank
capacity of 3500 gallons, and weighing
124,000 pounds. On the 18th of No
vember 385 had run a mile in 39 sec
onds, and it was for the purpose of
seeing the performance repeated that
party of experts accompanied the
tram on it3 next regular run from
Philadelphia to Jersey City. It haj
rained hard during the day, and the
tracks were still wet when the depot
at Ninth and Green etreets was left be
hind. The boilers snowed a pressure
pf 180 pounds, which did not vary dar
ing the run. At its highest speed there
was no perceptible change in vibra
tion. Between Somerton and Park
land, 385 was limbered up, and for
five miles the longest time for a single
mile. was 42 seconds. The first mile
was covered in 42 seconds, the secqnd
in 41, the two following in 40 and the
fifth in 42, thus making five miles in 3
otinutes and. 25 seconds,
"Now, watch her," said the engi
neer, as Fanwood was passed. When
385 was given her head the sensation
of the men in the cab was that of be
ing hurled through the rushing winds.
The first mile was run in 37 seconds
and the second in 38 seconds; and
these records for one, two and fire
miles have probably never been
equaled.
At the rate of a mile in 37 seconds,
the train was going about 97 miles an
hour, and at the end of the 90 mile
run, which included spurts at such re
markable speed, the boilers were cool
and the pressure remained at 180
pounds.
The heaviest locomotive ever built
is also seen in tho Transportation
Building at the Fair. It is No. 805,
for freight work on the New York,
Lake Erie and Western Road. It is of
the ''Decapod" type, weighs 195,000
pounds (nearly 100 short tons) and its
length over engine and tender is eixty-
What the modern locomotive is do
ing for civilization can well be seen by
its work in trans-continental traffic.
Few eastern people realize the ease
and speed now afforded to travelers
across the United States. Even over
the Continental Divide where grades
for many miles exceed ninety feet to
the mile or 12-3 per cent, elevation,
the mountain steeps are ascended with
but little diminution of speed, by the
use of engines specially designed for
that service.
It is natural to ask how locomotives
can in safety endure such strains upon
them. The reason is that every part
of the material used in their construc
tion is selected and tested with as great
care as is the mechanism of a fine re
peater watch. The boiler sheets are
separately tested, and a thjn strip cut
from each sheet must show an ultimate
tensile strength, with "the grain, of
twenty-five tons, and an elongation of
not less than one-fifth. Brass or cop
per tubes must be of uniform thick
ness and solid-drawn. From the tubo
under test a piece four inches long is
eut, annealed, sawn lengthwise and
then doubled inside out, and it is re
jected if it shows signs of cracks in
this operation, and so on, down
through all the materials used. The
cost of the best express locomotive
now in use is about $10,000.
First Sight ot Fez, Mecca of the floors.
We now ascended gently rising hill
The mule drivers pressed on eagerly.
Suddenly, as one man, they cried out.
"Mulai Edriss !" and across the plain
there opened' before us a truly disap
pointing panorama. As Caid Sudek
prostrated himself in pious ecstasy
over his saddle, we caught sight of a
hitrh mud wall. Across the Bunburnt
plain bounding our horizon all that wo
could see of the holy city was p. few
white walla glistening in the sunlight,
and, beyond, the dull green roof and
the square minaret of the sacred
mosque.
We now emerged from the shadow
of the hills, and descended into ttu
sun-baked plains. Cloaked m the
folds of our turbans to protect our
selves as much as possible from tho
scorching heat and with eyes cast down
in disappointment, we pounded along
for twenty minuteB across the plain,
Suddenly there was a halt, and as I
raised my eyes from the ground f
found that we had arrived at the west
ern gate of the city. Impatient trav
elers who had preceded us would seem
to have hammered and battered the
bronzed surface of the gates out of all
recognizable shape, but our aid
showed no sign of impatience. He
gazed up at the douab, or turnkey.
who like a man of iron gazed down
upon our little caravan from the lofty
walL Not a word was spoken, but
there seemed to be the most thorough
nndpTHtandinor between the two. Sud
denly I comprehended. It was Fri
day (Jama, the Moslem Sabbath), and
it was the hour of the midday prayer ;
the faithful throughout the empire, in
the towns with their tall mud walls,
in the douars with their hedges of
prickly cactus, in mosques built by
the great Geber from whom our archi
tects have learned so much, or in the
camel's hair tents where the humble
Kabyles worship, all were lost to this
world in adoration, and with their
faces and their thoughts turned to
ward Mecca, were praying to the Lord
of all creatures, the King of the day
of judgment.
As we waited outside the gates I re
called a story, read somewhere in the
Moorish Chronicle, of how in the
Tenth Century the godless Berbers had
chosen this hour of prayer, when the
faithful were gathered in the mosques,
to enter the city, nd capture their
arms, and loot their dwellings. Since
that event, ten centuries ago, the gates
of every town in the Moorish Empire
have been closed at prayer time, and
at this hour a kitlg himself coull o6
obtain admissioaCentury.
CURIOUS FACTS.
Taper-making ranks fifth among out
industries.
The Roman supper was in threa
courses soupH, meats and fruits.
The King of Siam wears a golden
hat which weighs twenty-soven pounds.
The use of cotton cloth was brought
to Europe by the Saracens, A. D. 800.
A one-armed resident of Youcalla,
Oregon, built, during the pact month,
a house twenty-four feet square with
out assistance.
The State of Massachusetts at one
time previous to tho Revolution
claimed tho Pacific Ocean as its West
ern bouudary.
The relative ratios of the smaller
letters in ordinary printing is : Z, 1 ;
k, j, q, x, 3 ; b, v, 7 ; g, p, w, y, 10 ; c,
f, u, m, 12 ; d, 1, 20, h, r, 30; a, i, n,
o, s, 40 ; t, 45 ; e, 60 total, 532.
In Heligoland Sabbath begins at 6
p. m. on Saturday, when the church
bell is tolled, and ends on Sunday nt
the sarao hour. Formerly no vessel
could leave port between those hours.
Vinegar will not split rooks, ho Han
nibal could not thUti havo made his
way through the Alps, Nor will It
dissolve pearls, bo that the Btory of
Cloopatra drinking pearls melted in
vinegar miint have been a fiction.
Tho inhabitants of Thibet are tha
dirtiest poople on earth. Not only do
thoy never wash, but when onca full
growth has been attained thoy never
take their clothes off. When the gar
ments they wear beooina old others are
put over thorn.
M. W. Thomas, of Richmond, Va.,
wavod his arm to his wife out of the
open window of a moving railroad car
one day recently and had it badly
broken. It was hard to account for
the accident, but his arm is supposed
to have struck tho mail-bag catcher.
The discovery of tho process of tint
ing white paper was the result of sheer
carelessness. Tho wife of an English
paper-maker named East accidentally
dropped the "blue bag" into a vat of
pulp, where it lay long enough to give
the entire mass a bluish tint before she
could recover it.
The ibis, tho sacred bird of Egypt,
is occasionally met with in the South,
particularly in Florida. In St. Augus
tine and other coast town? the birds
are frequently seen perched on the
ridge of the roof of house or stable.
They are easily tamed, and seem fond
of human company.
The age of the lat J dragon tree of
Orotava was variously estimated at
from 6000 to 10,000 years. On the
lowest estimate it surpassed not only
Domesday oaks and Soma cypresses,
but the Hedsor yew, with its 3200
years, and Alphonse Karr'e baobabs of
Senegal. Balfour gives the ages, aa
ascertained by De Candolie, of the cy
press as 350 years, the oak 1500, the
yew 2820 and the baobab as probably
the same as the yew.
England's Oldest Industry.
The oldest industry in Great Britain
older it could hardly be, for its ex
istence has been traced back to the
prehistoric stone age is still being
carried on at the village of Brandon,
on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk,
and is reported to be in a flourishing
condition. It is a manufactory of gun
and tinder-box flints. The work its
done in little sheds, often at the back
of townsf oiks' cottages. It will naturally
be asked Who wants tinder-box flints
and gun flints in these days of phos
phorus matches and Martini-Henrys?
The answer to the first question is that
there is a good trade in tinder-box
flints with Spain and Italy, where the
tinder-box still keeps its ground in
very rural districts. Travelers in un
civilized regions, moreover, find flint
and steel more trustworthy than
matches, which are useless after they
have absorbed moisture. Gun flints,
on tbe other hand, go mostly to the
wild parts of Africa, where our old
friend, "Brown Bess," sold by auction
long ago for what flint muskets would
fetch, has found, it seem?, her last
refuge. London Telegraph.
Borne idea of the slaughter of ele
phants can be secured from the fact
that in Zanzibar alone some 500,000
pounds of ivory are marketed every
season from the tusks of 10,000 ele
phants. The nw pastor of the Dnryea Pres
byterian Mission in Brooklyn, N. Y.,
has tried, unsuccessfully, the experi
ment of having young lady uehers in
the church in order to get young men
to attend.
'j
Three brothers in Maine ran sixteen
incubators, and this season have
hatched 15,000 ducks in them. They
have a capital stock of $10,003, all
paid in and next season will increase
their plant to twenty-five incubators.
i