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A DEMOCRATIC JOURNAL THE PEOPLE AND THEIR INTERESTS.
VOL. VIII. NO. 7
MAXTON, N. C, WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4, 1893.
SI. CO A Y KAK.
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"Many Germans are leaving Kansas
nd settling ia Maryland. The great
West has been overVboorned, and thou
nands of people want to get away, says
the Atlanta Constitution in explanation.
Mormonism has taken a consider
able hold in New Zealand, mainly
among the Maoris, the latest statistics
showing the sect to have 3176 members
in New Zealand, of whom but 232 are
Europeans. The annual conference
was held recently, and hundreds of
Maori members, including several
leading chiefs, attended. Twenty
Mormon elders are at present in New
Zealand trying to spread the faith.
The beauty of tbe elm is more than
ekin deep, says the New York Post, and
a high light of forestry gives it the first
rank as a shade tree both for etreets
and parks, because it is likewise strong,
vigorous, and can be grown in so many
places. The leaves are so tough thai
dust has little effect on them. Certain
kinds of maples also hare a good stand
ing for shade, beauty, and rapid
growth, though tha soft maple is use
less for heavy shade. Oak trees, the
English and the Turkish, though rarely
Been as shade trees in our streets, take
high rank for that use.
'Taken as a whole, the average cost
per mile of the stone roads construct
ed in the country towns of Connecticut
the past three years appears to have
been a little over $5000 per mile,
while the yearly co3t of maintenance
is estimated at about one per cent, of
cost," says J. H. Hale, the Connecticut
fruit grower. "As the towns are able
to borrow money at four per cent, in
terest and maintenance account make
the actual annual cost per mile of o
good macadam road, sixteen to twenty
feet wide, only 1 0 per year, as
against anywhere from 200 to $1000
for a road made of 'gutter-Avasb' and
stupidity. "
Prince Bismarck made a suggestive
statement in his address to an organi
zation of schoolmasters. He drew a
comparison between tha French and
the German systems of education,
showing the bearing of the laiter in
the unity and strength of the Nation.
He dislikes the French system because
it inculcates "National vanity and
ignorance of the geography and history
of other N&tions." No Nation excels
Germany in its educational system, ani
the ex-Chancellor well knows tha ad
vantage of making the G3roian school
"a specific institute, like a corps of
officers. :'
Says the New York Tribune : "It
may not be nattering to our vanity,
but it is a fact, nevertheless, that
Europe does not take nearly as much
interest in America as America takes
in Europe. This has long been indi
cated by the paucity of American
news in the European press ; and it is
now forcibly brought to our attention
by the indifference of Europe to the
greatest Exposition that has ever been
held. The Rverage European classes
the United States with Australia,
Madagascar, South Africa and other
out-of-the-way countries, whose do
ings can have no possible interest for
him. This being so, the wonder is
not that there have been so few Euro
pean visitors to the Fair, but that any
one in this country should have ex
pected them to come."
As a result of his investigations, Pro
fessor McCook estimates the army of
tramps in the United States at 45,845.
Practically all of them are in the prime
of life and in good health, with noth
ing to prevent them from earning a
livelihood, three-fifths of them having
trades by which to support themselves,
and nine-tenths able to read and write.
And yet they are loafers and non-producers,
refusing to assume the obliga
tions of citizenship, and are a mere
burden to society. At a conservative
estimate, their maintenance costs the
public $3. 50 a week, eighty-four cents
of which is spent for spirits and to
bacco ; and if to this is added police
and hospital charges, the expense is
increased to $4.40 a week, as much as
it costs to support the most dangerous
criminal. The aggregate sum thus
required to keep the tramp army in
motion is $9,169,000 a year, a sum
double the cost of the Indian bureau,
ndmore than one-quarter of the an
nual interest of the publio debt.
Worse than this, the army is a -constant
menace to public morals and
public health, the greater that it is al
ways in motion, in that of those who
are ill by far the larger proportion
suffer from exceedingly loathsome and
contagious diseases. The tramp evil
is tL'is a most pressing one, hot only
because of its demoralizing effects up- j
on industry, but because of the moral
and physical dangers to which it er- j
coses the working nopulfrticn.
THE FEVER AT BRUNSWICK.
Fire New Oases Developed The Fa
tality Not Great,
Bkcnswick, Ga. Five new c.-.ses of
yellow fever have developed. The patients
are Mra. Larentzsou and child, the wife
and mother-in-law of Wm. Anderson
and Charlie Mitchell-the last threa
colored. Three of the old patients dis
charged; a child of Ms. Lareuizo3,
Mrs. C. H. Smith and Archie Smith.
Nineteen cases are under treatment dot.
Surg on Faget authorizes the state
ment that he feeli assured that there are
numbers of mild cases of yellow fever,
not developed by a full diagnosis and
which have been daily reported as in i
lirial, and many mi d cases not suffi
ciently developed or considered by the
families of the patients sufficiently se
rioui to need physicians. He further
says that he does not expect the fatalities
to be uumsrouj here fr, and frost may
be expected within 25 days. He says
that with proper nurain the fatality
will not increase with the advent of
cold weather.
The atmospheric conditions here are
somewhat cooler, causing apprehension
among th-j citizens generally.
Superintendent Home, of the East
Tennesses Railroad, wirc3, offering the
use gratis of the East Tennessee docks,
threa miles from Brunswick, for unload
ing Dr. Jenkins' steamship with relief
supplies.
Commissary Keeper Joseph W.
Smith's report shows that 1,100 suffering
poor are issued three days rations each
day.
6AVANK iiH'S QUARANTINE
Savannah, Ga. The health board
has decided in view of the yellow fever
epidemic of Brunswick, that no pirson
shall be admitted without health certifi
cates. Inspectors are on all lines of rail
roads. Certifica'es must be signed by
the health officers of cities cr by the or
dinaries of counties. Railroads have en
deavored to secure a modification of the
order, so as to permit travel from unin
fected territory, but without success.
Another yellow fever death occured in
Burnswick, Ga., Tuesday, Mrs. Stokes.
Two new cases developed. Twenty good
colored men were sworn in as policemen
to keep quiet the negro disturbers.
Each policeman was armed with a
carbine and instiucted to preserve the
peace at all hazards. And in case of
necessity, and under the head of a cap
tain, to fire into the crowd when the
comraond was given.
VICTIMS OF DYNAMITE.
live Men Killed by Their Enemies in
San Francisco.
San- Francisco, Cil . S'x men were
blown up with dynamfi early Sunday
morning ou the water fron-. Two were
killed outright, ihree died in the City
Receiving Hospital after a few hours of
aj.ory, end the sixth still lives with the
prospect of ultimate recovery, but he
will be a shattered and broken wreck of
a man.
The explosion was the result of a de
liberate crime, momt to do f.ir deadlier
work thin the snuffing out of five lives.
It is charged directly to the Coast Sea
man's Union, a strong and lawless rgan
ization that has ruled the San Francisco
wafer front for four jears and mor.'. The
list of tha dead is; Georg.i Holme?, pile
driver, aged 22; William T. McEenzie,
boxmaker, aged 22; Charles Bernard,
boarding house employee, aged 25; Ed
ward Murphy, sailor, aged 23; Andrew
McGuinness, sailor, aged 26.
John Curtiri, Jr. is the survivor. There
is a rumor that seven men were in the
party and that the missing man was
blown to atoms, but no fragment f a
seventh body can be found. The scene
of the explosion was in front of John Cur
tin's sailors' boarding house, :?-34 Main
street, near Harrisor, a wooden, two-
slory building.
Is the laterrst of Farmers.
Columbia, 8. C. Governor Tillman
has sent the following letter to Governor
Stone of Missouri.
"Dear Sir, Your letter of the 13th
for tome reason only reached me on tbe
21st. Realizing the importance
of the subject matter dis
cussed therein, and the possibility of the
good to be accomplished by the conven
tion, I have appointed twenty delegates
provided for in the call, and will attend
it in person if not prevented by some
thing that I connot now foresee. It ap
pears to me full time fr the people of
the producing States of the Union to
counsel together and see what can be
done to remedy the crying evils which
we all feel, and bring about such legis
lation as will restore prosperity to the
farmers of the South and West. I am in
full sympathy with the objects of the
call, and hope to have South Carolina
properly repr sented."
Wait to Lynch Them.
A special from Pickens. Miss, says:
Willis Wi'liam,a wealthy find influential
co'o'-ed citizen, w as nsgssiiiate I by Frank
GM-by and Tn- ry Stubbh fi Id, also
color-id. Tim t i)i edy as t' e result of
a fiul. The nmlereis were arrested
and lock up in jail Gre-t excitement
p'ev i!, an I the negr es threaten to
break into jail and lynch the prisoners.
PITHY NEWS ITEMS.
Chides Mitchell has signed articles of
agreement with the Coney Island Ath -letic
Cub to fight Cirbett for the cham
pionship and $10, 000, on or about Decem
ber 18th next.
The banks in Cl aibston county,South
Carolina, this year will pay State taxes
on about $1,500,000 assessed va'ue.
Bishop Arnet of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, colored, said at the
lvcent Emancipation Day celebration at
Chicago: When you look for a sample
of a Christian u?gr do not go to the
depot of seme Southern town, or to the
Hell's Half-acre ef some city, or to the por
house, or the jail or penitcnti iry. Yc-u
won't fiud the model negro there; he
moved from such places thirty years ago.
It is possible to find some of his children
still lingering about the old homeitead,
but the Christian and model negro is
living in the city of industry and thrift,
and in the cottage of comfort and ease,
which he has dedicated to religion, mor
ality and education, and morning and
evening the passer-by ra y t ear music
from the piano or crg ui of "Homo, sweet
home," the iterm-st spot on car'b
Save jour peach stones. Two mer
can ile firms at Newton, N. C. haveship
p d 700 bushels of peach stones and will
ship more soon. They pay thirty-five
cents prr bushel and have already paid
$875 total for peach stones.
In Kockiughun couuty, N. C, Willis
Johnson, sou of Elias Jehnson, has mar
re 1 the mother of his father's second
wife, and wants to know the status of
relationship between himself and Elias.
The following notice is posted upon
ihe doors of a bank in Arizona: "This
bank has not busted: it owes the people
$36,000; the people owe it $55,000; it is
the people who are busted; when they
pay we'll pay."
What will strike many Southerners as
very ex! inordinary "news of the day" is
the statement of Mr. A S. Northcote,
an Englishman, presumably son of tbe
late Lord Iddesleigh who wri'ea on'the as
pects of American society "In the South
ern States," he says, "once a girl is mar
rie, gay though she may have been,
she laspses into social insignificance.
Marriage was to a lively young girl almost
like taking the veil ; it separated her from
her former companions by a reat gulf."
SHOT HIS WIFE AND HIMSELF.
A Double Tragedy in Atlanta that
Followed a Quarrel Between a
Young Couple.
Atlanta, Ga. Charles Herring, one
of the best known young men about
the city, shot his wife Monday afternoon
and then shot himself. Herring i3 not
21 years of age, and his wife is still
younger. Two years ago they were mar
ried. Mis. Herring had a married sister
who was much better equipped for the
eDjoymsnts of life thaa she, because of
her easier ccmraaad of wealth.
She turned her sister's head, and
caused her to try to live higher than her
husband's means warranted. Herring
would not submit to the demands made
upon him, and this led to many unpleas
ant talks between himself and his wife.
The last one of thee occurred when Mrs.
Herring said that she would leave home,
at the same time packing her effects.
Herring returned to his home and
found his wife on the porch talking to
a friend. He grasped her by the arm,
and pulling her into the hallway, fired a
shot into her hreast. He then pulled her
iuto the kitchen au i fire 1 another shot,
after which he sent two bullets into his
own chest. Before he shot himself his
wife fell on the floor, and Herring be
lieved that she was dead whea he at
tempted to kill himself. Mr. and Mrs.
Herring were alive at 9 o"cl- ck, but
their condition is hopeles?. Herring is
well known throughout the city, and his
wife is one of the most attractive young
women of the city .
Mayor of Winston Dead.
Winst . n, N. C After th'cc month's
illness viith typhoi 1 fever M;iyor R. B.
Kerner. of Winston, died at 4:25 o'clock
this a'tcnoon, at ihe home of his fath r,
Dr. E. K rner, in Kerm rsvill ', age I 35
ye rs The decease i wat a member of
ihe law firm of Jon s & Kerner He was
one of tlv. bri. htcst you lg men in the
State and few me had morj f'iends.
He was a conservative i ut succ ss'ul
business men. lit? leaves a wife and one
child.
Georgia Negroes on Lynching-.
A spcci.il from Waycio?s, Ga., says
that re pr scntativc colored citiz-ns here
called a Stat-; convention to meet at
Macon on October 17, to form an associa
tion for tbe purpose of preventing lynch
ing and tther outrages m the negroes.
Deporting More Chinaman,
Los Angbles, Cal. Judga Ross has
ordered the deportation of thvee more
Chinamen, among them Chew Yoke, the
notorious Highbinder, who sttved two
terms in the neuitcnti rv.
A Fire at. Florence.
('HAni,K?rox, S. C F re at Florence,
S. (j . Moii !:iy I u ne 1 three hous s in
the res deiice portion of ihetowr. The
EpUcoptl church and M thoditt and
Episcopal 2J:onaJ():s ere destroyed.
EATING AWAY THE TOWN.
Valuable Property in PJaquemine,
Xia., Abandoned to the Mississippi.
New Orleans, Li. The St.te engi
ne rs have been conpjilelto condemn
the "front part" of thi t wn of Piaqu;
mine, and it hu beea left outside of the
new levee and at the in rev of the Mis
sissippi. Plaquemine his been fighting
the river for several years, but with lit
tle success. Three years ago the front of
the town hd to be abandoned on ac
count of the encroachment of the river,
and a large number of houses were aban
doned. The Unit2d States then took
the matter in h ind and expensive works
were begun to prevent a further cavity
of the river front. These have failed and
the State engineers now insist upon
building a levee 250 feet further back
of the river from Court to Pena streets,
leaving outside of it several valuable
squares with stores and residences on
them.
At the rate of caving it the past at
Plaquemine the new line i considered
by no means safe, and it is thought it
will be a very short time before another
250 feet of land will have to be given
up. But the property abandoned is so
valuable that it has been decided to re
treat slowly before the advancing river.
Plaquemine is a prosperous town and the
largest cypress lumber centre in the
couitry.
THE REPORT UNFAVORABLE.
The North Carolina Naval Kesarves
Showed Little Evidence of
Having Been Drilled.
Washington, D. C The board of
navtd offio r who supervised the exer
cise of the North Carolina Naval Re
serve on th; United States moniUr, Nan
tucket, hive made a report to the Navy
Department in which they say that it
seems doubtful whether the Reserves
can cout nue unless they receive more
encourgemeat from the State. The or
ganization is at present unsatisfactory
and except as infantry, the men showed
no evidences of baviDg been drilled.
"As tbe force now stands," says the
report, "it would be impossible to man a
ship of war wi h them, but they might
follow further instiuction and be utilized
in coait defense." A willingness tolesrn
marked the pers mcl of the Reserves.
JUDGE SIMONTON DEFIED.
Governor Tillman Orders Arrests of
Railroad Agents to Continue.
Governor Tillman does not intend
that Judge Simonton's decision sha1! in
terfere with his enforcement of the dis
pensary law until that opinion has been
sustained by the Supreme Court of the
United States.
It seems that he has issued orders to
his constables to arrest all railroad sgsnts
found delivering shipments of liquors m
violation of the dispensary law. At least
the agent at Johnson, S. C, Mr. Hix,
Tras arrested for this offence.
When asked about the arrest Governor
Tillman said: "I do not recognize
Judge Simonton as infallible, and until
his decision is sustained by the Supreme
Court, I intend to go right ahead with
arrests and the enforcement of the law,
juit as through he hid m.ver rendered a
decision. I intend to enforce this law,
so far as I can, and it makes no difference
to me how it comes out."
The "Kitchen Leaven" is Working.
The "People's Kitchen" recently es
tablished in Vienna is au amplification
or the '-kitchens" already in success
ful operation in America, on the
model of the famous "New England
Kitchen" of Boston. The Viennese
have taken so kindly to tho palatable
cooking and wholesome menus pro
vided for them that their kitchen is
providing 50,000 meals daily.
The pricee, of course, are scaled
down to the minimum and permit a
person to dine comfortably for seven
cents. For this sum he may have soup,
meat, bread, vegetables, pudding, and
coffee, with fruit or cheese by way of
an appetizing finish. A supper of
cold meat, vegetables, pudding, with
tea or coffee, also costs seven cents,
but it is possible to breakfast on coffee,
soup, bread, ham and eggs for four
cents.
Greater, even than tho low prices, is
the advantage to the ignorant classes
of good food prepared in an appetiz
ing way. It is this enlightening which
it is hoped in all such enterprises will
prove the thin edge of the wedge that
shall drive asunder the rock of stu
pidity upon which more than the
ignorant classes hnve gon9 to pieces in
the cooking liue. Scientific couliiug
is no longer a name ; it i a recognized
necessity, and its dyspeptic substitute
is not to os much longer put up with.
New York Times.
A Close Shave.
Birmingham, Ala. Bill Sterling,
under sentence of d 'fith for the murder
of Cindy Harris, h s turned out to be the
wrong man. He ha been proven in
nocent and will he ivles?u Another
man of the same name and resembling
h'm committed the cri.ne.
dahomey Land.
AN INTERESTING VILLAGE AT
THE WORLD'S FAIR.
Something About the Kingdom Bar
barous Practices When Celebra
ting the "King's Customs"
Amazonian Soldiers.
MONG the most interesting
of the attractions in the
Midway Plaisance at the
World's Fair is the Dahomey
village. This consists of thirty native
houses with a population of sixty
nine people, thirty one of them Ama
zon soldiers. Here are shown native
manufactures and industries, euch as
weaving, goldsmith work, and black
Bmithing, besides a museum of native
arms. But interesting as all this is,
it conveys but an imperfect idea of
what Dahomeyans really are. To a great
many people even the location of the
country is unknown.
The kingdom of Dahomey is in
Upper Guinea, on the slave coast of
Africa. Its present area is supposed
to be about 4000 square miles ; it was
once considerably larger, bxtt unsuc
cessful wars with neighboring tribe
bare much reduced ita extent.
When not fighting, the people are
mostly engaged in farming. Ivory
and gold are plentiful. Whydah is
the principal coast town, with a popu
lation of about 20,000. About seventy
or eighty miles inland from Whydah
is Abomey, the capital and the official
headquarters of the King. Abomey is
a straggling town, surrounded by
ditches filled with brush and clay
walls pierced at intervals with gates.
These gates are in pairs, one for ordi
nary use, the other exclusively for the
entrance and exit of the King. At the
gates are posted sentinels, who will al
low no one to enter the city without
the King's permission. Once inside,
the town is found to consist mostly of
mud houses, scattered about without
much pretention to arrangement,
though the main thoroughfare is about
100 feet wide and leads to a central
square and market place, on which is
located military barracks. The city
is five or six miles in circumference
and not being very closely built, in
cludes within its walla a number of
farms.
The King's palace is only distin
guishable from other houses by its
greater size and its location in a vast
inclosure or courtyard. Close to tha
palace is an immense ciroular tent
made of velvet and silk. This is where
the monarch's four or five hundred
wives reside. Surrounding the large
tent are numerous small tents, and
scattered about the spacious grounda
are a great number of gold and silk
embroidered umbrellas, some of them
twenty feet in diameter. These are
gifts from the neighboring potentates,
wealthy subjects and traders. It
might be well to state here that the
King- is a most absolute despot and all
within his domains can own property
but by his sufferance. When subjects
are presented to the King they are
obliged to prostrate themselves and
cover their heads with duat, thus testi
fying what worms of the earth they
are in the presence of His Majesty.
White men are usually permitted to
come into the royal presence without
complying with this requirement of
court etiquette. Women are also es
empt from it.
The Dahomeyans are fond of excite
ment and display ; thus ihe reception
of foreign visitors is oftea made tha
occasion lor a great demonstration ol
the King's power amj glory. A re
view of his troops is held, they go
through various evolutions and fire off
their guns, the King's gifts are brought
from a building called the treasury
and two or three hundred bearers
carry them about the town for several
hours to afford everybody the oppor
tunity of beholding his wealth and im
portance. The presents he has re
ceived include evry imaginable ar
ticle; pianos, French mirrors, sewing
machines, oil paintings, vases, crock
ery, clocks, models of ships and a vast
accumulation of worthless things
valued beoause their use is unknown.
The King himself sometimes parades
around his court yard a number of
times, each time in a different kind of
Vehicle.
The Dahomeyans are ever on the
lookout for gifts. The King and his
dignitaries expect a present whenever
a visit is paid them. The King him
self makes presents to his visitor?
when he thinks anything can be gained
by 60 doing. They generally consist
of bottles of wine, or trade rum, or
gin, the latter two articles usually of
a very destructive character. Most of
the Dahomeyans are more or less hard
drinkers, some of them keeping in a
constant state of inebriation. On every
publio occasion drinking strong liquor
plays a prominent part in the proceed
ings. The King never permits any one
outside of his immediate household to
7V
M
see him take a drink. When in publio
he feels a thirst he has some of his at
tendants hold a cloth in front of him
to conceal his person while imbibing.
An American paid a visit to Abomey,
a few years ago and describes Bad-ja-hoong,
the then King of Dahomey, as
"a tall, well-built man, of about forty, "
dressed in a short gown of blue silk,
reaching to his knees and covered with
silver half moons, stars and spangles,
about the 6ize of a half dollar. He
wore a 6moking cap of red velvet cov
ered with gold lace and having in front
a skull and cross bones. On his foet
vero gold laced sandals. He held in
his hand a sceptre of pure gold, sur
mounted by a red skull the skull bo
Ing the symbol of Dahomey.
There are schools in Dahomey and
some of the natives have written books,
engrossing them on English paper.
The engrossing is said to be very well
executed, but what literary value the
works may possess the writer is unable
to state.
The King's privato baud is a most
remarkable organization. It consists
of twenty-two or more men, eaoh pro
vided with a log of wood, varying in
size from one quite small up to one re
quiring four men to carry it. Each
log has one end resting on the ground,
the other supported by a small wooden
trestle. The men have each wooden
hammer, these also ranging from one
the size of a tack hammer to a two
handed sledge. With these hammers
the men beat upon the logs, producing
a very odd confusion of sounds, which
needs to be heard at a distance to be
properly appreciated by the civilized
ear. The natives, however, are charmed
with this anvil chorus, probably be
cause of its deafening dim. The Da
homeyans have other musical instru
ments, such as cymbals, drums and
horns, but the hammer band is a fa
vorite. Dahomey is a very fertile country,
abounding in corn, cassava (a substi
tute for bread), yams, some of which
grow to an enormous size ; sweet po
tatoes, plantains, oranges, limes and
apples, cocoanuts, guaves and pine
apples, onions and tomatoes, ginger
and spices of all kinds and tobacco.
Cattle, sheep and goats are also raised.
Some of the farmers are men of wealth
and live in the capital city.
The country about Abomey is roll
ing with forests of fine trees, in which
roam lions, tigers, elephants and other
wild animals. It is a very cheap
country. Laborers are paid one and
two cents 8. day ; a pound of beef or
mutton can be easily had for a cent ;
from twenty to thirty eggs for the
same price; grapes, pears, bananas
and other fruits two cents a calipash, a
calipash being a dried gourd shell
holding two bushels. One cent will
purchase more food than a hearty man
can eat in a day.
The money of the country consists
of umall shells called cowrie. It takes
eighty of them to equal a cent In value.
Some of the so-called "king's cus
toms" of the Dahomeyans are most
bloodthirsty and revolting. These are
known as "throwing of the presents,"
"the feast of the Troabadors," "the
milking of the palm," "the day of the
king," etc.
One of the most shocking in its bar
barity is "The throwing of the pres
ents." This occurs annually. A plat
form is erected, hung with drapery
and flags, among which is the flag of
Dahomey white, with a figure in
black holding up a head in one hand
and a sword in the other. On this
platform stands the King surron nded
by his court, while all about, in a
dense mass, is the populace, kept back
by the Amazonian guard. The cere
monies begin by the King throwing
into the crowd bundles of cloths, mus
kets, knives, pipes and tobacco, etc.,
which are fiercely scrambled for by
the people. Then comes the slaughter
of criminals and prisoners of war. The
unfortunate victims are dressed in
white shirts, white caps, and tied into
lonsr baskets with their knees drawn up
to their chins. A sort of slide is at
tached to the platform. The baskets
with their living contents are lifted on
tho slide and hurled down into the
crowd below. A horrible straggle en
sues, the poor wretches are hacked to
pieces by the rabble, many of whom
are killed or injured in the effort to
get the heads of the victims, the pos
session of which is considered a great
honor. Two hundred are often killed
in these saturnalias of blood.
Another horrible custom is that of
offering up human sacrifices at the
ehrine of the King's ancestors, their
blood being sprinkled on the graves.
This is called "Watering the kings'
graves. When a King dies, his wives
are said to engage in a free fight, in
which some are killed. This continues
until orders are received from his suc
cessor for a cessation of hostilities.
In the "Grand customs," held at in
tervals of several years, the slaughter
Is much groater than in tho annual
"Customs."
The Dahomoyanfi, like so many otliot
African racea, are fetish wornhiperH,
and believe in sorcery and witchcraft.
Those "customs" are a part of their
religion.
One of tho most notable institution
of the country is tho army of Amazon
soldiers. About three-quarters of tho
women of Dahomey are said (ovon be
fore their birth) to bo "married to (ho
fetish." These are at tho disposal of
the King. At ten years of ao sue! of
them as ho deems necoHsnry nm mus
tered into tho Amazonian guard.
The uniform of tha Amazons is a
tunio of cotton cloth, with a lent her
belt, in which is carried a knifo and a
pipe. They are armed with old mus
kets, swords and Borne with bows mid
arrows. Considering the character of
their guns they are good shots and are
said to possess more courage than the
male soldiers.
The Use of Poultices
Physicians are often surprised at. th
fguornnce of patientu concerning th
use of poultices. The trouble iiriNo
from a wrong ilia ns to the curative
action of a poultice.
In general, poultices are primarily
localizers of inflammation; they net
by softening and stimulating the tis
sues with which they are brought, di
rectly in contact. Tho fact tlmt their
value lies in tho amount of bent and
moisture which they rndinte, to these
tissues, is the reason, prolmb'y, for
the application by the laity in every
case where bent and moisture niny
happen to be indicated as necessry.
Take, for example, two chmch n
poisoned wound and i finger swollen
by muscular strain. It is manifest
that theHO two cases are not parallel,
though in both the application of heat
is indicated an n remedy.
In the caxc of the; poisone.l wound,
we have the presence of a foreign sub
stance in the tissues. This nets up ft
local information, which by means of
the circulation tends to spread un1 be
come general. We place it poultice
over the affected part, and immediate
ly the application of the bent brings
to it a fresh supply of blood contain
ing numerous leucocytes white cor
puscles whoso business it is to make
war upon all foreign mntter with which
they may come in contact, and pus in
formed. This finds a proper moans of
escape through the softened tissues
under the poultice and with it comes
the poison.
In the case of the swollen finger, on
the other hand, we have a simple irri
tation, and what we need in tho way
of treatment is just enough heat tc
draw a renewed supply of blood to the
weakened part for its nourishment,
But we do not wish,asin the first case,
to confine the heat long enough to
stimulate tha leucocytes to activity, as
in that event we should only have
made a bad matter worse, with an ab
cess to take care of.
The desired result may be obHinl
by simply plunging the finger into wa
ter as hot as can be borne for a short
time, or by rubbing on a stimulating
liniment.
The moral of all this is that we arc
to use poultices only where we wi.-h
to localize inflammation. In sprains
and tho like proper stimulation is all
that is required. Youth's Companion.
It in nnnnuced that a number ot
Germans now living in Kaunas havo
decided to leave that State and settle
in Dorchester County, Maryland. Thi
recalls the fact that soruo yars ago a
colony of German immigrants settled
in the most barren portion of Carroll
County, Maryland, and by skilful farm
ing and thrift have mad their lan l as
fertile and profitable as any hi the
State. "When a sturdy race likethis,"
says the Philadelphia Ledger, "begins
to leave the State, the Kansas author
ities who are responsible for its gr r.vth
and prosperity may be broughtto thir
senses. At the present low pri';en
which rule for much of the farm I mil
in the Eastern States there is money
in farming here for the Western farm t
who will bring his economic h-i ita
with him. It is the common observation-
that farming will pay on o n sidj
of the continent at the present pri"
of good farms. "
It is estimated that there are nearly
1,000,000 acres of unoccupied Govern
ment lands in Kansas still open for
settlement.
Scientists now declare that the
bodies ot victims of consumption - v
the ground with tubercular bi' lli,
which they load upon earth w( njs an 1
bus manage to distribute.
Th'j electric light his been intro
duced iuto a new ilour mill ne ;r 1 . :o
emp.ised site of Calvary, an I close to
the Damascus Gate at Jerusalem.