V
1 be referred to as the-electric, ""and
Aort tlie steam, ago. Franklin's kite will
soon supplant "Watt's teakettle."
age
When anybody in Europe wants to
make Trince Bismarck mad they send
lum a, sunflower. It- is asserted In
hates the sight of one so bad that ho
wants to knock its head off right away.
(. A woman at the Summit county (O.)
Infirmary is slowly but surely, turnip
black. She is seemingly in good health
and the physicians are unable to ascribo
a reason for the gradual change of color.
Planters in' the South arc now selling
cotton seed for twenty-nino cents a
bushel where a few years ago, before the
discovery that.it could be made into oil,
they were accustomed to pay for having
It removed from their plantation.
A cyclone which whizzed by Laramie,
Wyoming Territory, recently, avoiding
jthe tojvn but causing a good deal of de
struction on the plains, was seen to touch
(the earth and throw ,ap an Immense
xloud of dust. A ranchman who passed
the spot soon afterwards, found that it
Aad scooped out a big basin-shaped hole
as large as an ordinary cellar.
, The "White Mountains are proved to be
4the best investment in the Granite
State." A statistician employed by the
State in'18G9, learned from the books of
all the hotel and livery mom that in 1844
the entire business within a radius of
thirty miles around the Crawford House,
looted up to $15,000. Twenty-five years
later it amounted to $1,200,000. It is
estimated that the tourists will leave be
hind them this year, chiefly .among the
inhabitants of New Hampshire, over $2,
000,000. The gains of the railways are
not included in this estimate.
A good and faithful servant is Fred
Sculties.- He has been guarding the
-premises of Milton Shook, of Bethany,
jGratiot County, Mich., and when a
couple of thieves were stealing that
gentleman's corn the other night he
eame down on hem like a hawk on a
June bug. They wanted to give up the
corn, but he said no. They then offered
$2 to settle, and he said no again. What
would he do? He would take $10 for
the eight bushels they had in their
wagon. They didn't really want -the
corn at that price, but they took it.
( It may happen that inQur purchase of
Alaska from Russia we may have bought
in interest in an international question
that will give . our. Government a great
deal of trouble. It is claimed by the
United States that Behring Sea is an in
land water enclosed within our purchased
territory and that our Government has
(exclusive jurisdiction over its fisheries.
This position is stoutly eombatted by
Great Britain, and as several British
; vessels have been seized under thia
Government's interpretation of its right,
there is likely to ensue a spirited diplo
matic controversy.
The progress of "Western Union Tele
jgraph capital is graphically told in thfa
paragraph from the New-York World:
'In 1850 the share capital of the present
Western Union was $500, 0Q0. In May,
1864, it was over $20,000,000. Iu July,
1869,-it had swelled to more than $41,-
000,000. In January, 1881, on its amal
gamation with the American Union and
Atlantic and Pacific lines, the floodgates
were opened and the stock was watered
up ti $80,000,000. This last purchase
raises the share capital to $85,000,000."
"This last purchase," of course, is the
Baltimore & Ohio Telegraph.
The Chicago Hews quotes with ap
proval a suggestion by the Hon. J. R.
. Doolittle, that a channel 200 feet wide
and twenty feet deep should be cut from
Lake Michigan at Chicago to the Des
. plaincs River, so as to allow water from
the lake to flow into' the river at tho rate
f two mile an hour. 3fr. Doolittle
riaims that this would reopen an ancient
utlct of tho great lakes into the Gulf
- f Mexico, and that locks would only be
needed for part of the distance. The
proposed opening would, it is claimed,
furnish an amount of water-power that
Would do the work of 250,000 horses and
nod 1,000,000 men, and add $100,000,-
tff A. AT A. 1 1 . m
wv iu me laxaoie property oi Illinois.
Its cost is estimated at $25,000,000, and
4he UTews suggests jthat if Congress should
appropriate the tax on spirits collected
At Chicago and Peoria for five years for
tlie purpose, the canal could bo con
structed and paid for within that time
by the whisky tax of the Section of the
country directly iuterested.
The corn crop is placed at about threc
fourths of a full crop by the Agricultural
Department report, or at 1,500,000,000
bushels. This, says the Philadelphia
; Prets, is about a sixth better than was
.'feared earlier or than recent private esti
niates. " The crop a3 it' stands, however,
is the smallest in ten years but one, in
1881, when it was only 1,100,000,000, and
the present yield is larger chiefly because
of the large crop at the Sduth, which is
(150,000,000 bushels larger than two
years ago. The South will produce near
ly a third of the present crop, or nearly
enough for its own consumption, while
in past years of large yield the Southern
States have supplied a bare sixth of the
total The great corn States, Indiana,
jHlinois, Iowa and Kansas, have scarcely
ihalf a crop, and in Missouri the yield is
,not large. This will reduce the pork
'in these States and make farming but
losing work, for there is no money in
wheat in these older States at present
jprices. The spring wheat States, on the
pother hand, have one of the best crops on
Irecord, which brings the total yield up to
'450,000,000, a fair but not a profitable
average for the country.
- zontcmrrrarv thinks "thi
Tho largest stone cverj quarried, ac
cording to the Rockland (Me.) Opinion,
has been taksi out at the Bod well Com
pany quarries, in Vinal Haven. That
journal adds that, if erecteJ, the gigantic
shaft would bo the highest, largest and
heaviest single piece of stone now stand
ing, or ever stood, so far as there is any
record. It considerably exceeds in length
any of the Egyptian obelisks The tall
est of these, which wa hrotiorht from
Hcliopolis to Alexandria by Emperor
Constantino, and subsequently taken to
Rome, where it now stands, is 103 feet
seven inches high. The Vinal Haven
' shaft is 115 feet long, ten feet square at
the base, and weighs 850 tons. The
company quarried this immense mono
lith on its own account, having no order
for anything of the kind.
An amusing stratagem is reporf ed from
Paris. A young American lady was an
noyed by the attentions of a strange
Frenchman. She consulted her aunt, and
apian was laid. The next day the young
woman encountered her admirer, who in
vited her to breakfast. She returned the
invitation and he accepted. On reaching
her apartment the young man was star
tled by the appearance of her aunt : My
aunt, " explained the young woman, '"this
poor fellow is hungry, and I told him I
thought we could find him something to
cat." "Oh, certainly," answered the
kind-hearted aunt. "Marie," she called
out to the trim maid, "take this man to
the kitchen and give him some bread and
meat." The unhappy Frenchman was
shown through the door into the kitchen,
whence he was able to escape by the ser
vants' stairway.
Among the recent railway inventions
which have attracted special attention is
what is termed the " anchor'brake, to be
used in cases of emergency. The plan
involved in this case is that of having an
anchor to drop from the rear end of a
train and engage with the tics. Pro
vision for preventing the bending of the
ties, under the strain brought upon them,
might, it is suggested, be devised as
simply a? the axles; and, by having a
good, long spring to ease the shock
when the anchor came to a bearing, in
addition to the relief which would come
from the draw springs of the entiie train
without any expense at all, a train might
easily tfe brought to a stop within fifteen
or twenty feet from an ordinary passen
ger speed, if something did not give
way. A more practicable invention,
perhaps, is that of a car fire extinguisher,
in case of derailment or collision. It
consists of a tank of water above the
stove, with a large pipe extending frora
it to the inside of the stove, just above
the fire; a trap in the bottom of the
tank is connected by levers with aperies
of arms at the bottom of the car, one of
these arms extending under each corner
of each platform, while another extends
down toward the track; in case, there
fore, of collision, one of the arms under
the platform must bo struck first, thus
moving the lever, opening the trap, and
instantly deluging the fire with water
or, in case of derailment, one of the
arms hanging down toward the track is
struck and operates the lever.
The Metropolis is noted for its many
queer ''industries" and methods of "rais
ing the wind," but the queerest of all
has been unearthed by a correspondent
of the Pittsburg Diapateh, who says: "I
have stumbled on a curious attempt to
make a business of murder. Suicide
and not homicide wss contemplated, how
ever, and the man had no idea of being
a criminal. A Wisconsin friend sent to
me a printed circular, in which the
means of killing one's self comfortably
and quickly was offered at $10. The
. singular operator said that he believed in
suicide a a surcease of sorrow, and that
he had long -deplored the cruel, painful
methods commonly employed. Drown
ing, shooting, stabbing, and most poi
sons were denounced by him as barbar
ous expedients. He was a chemist, he
said, and he ha 1 made a study of the
subject of suiciilc. He could guarantee
that his customers would, if they desired,
take their own lives without a shadow of
uncertainty or a single twinge of suffer
ing. This knowledge he was willing to
mail confidentially on receipt of $10. By
the aid of the New York postal officials
and the detective police, I hare learned
that the sender of the circular is a crank,
lie is a former drug clerk, now living at
23 West Ninety-first street, named Ernest
Van Orden. He is now crazy, and until
lately he was employed in a pharmacy,
where his skill and reliability were not
questioned. He is something of a scien
tist, too, and Professor Ogdcn Doremus
says that he has considerable attainments
as a chemist. The police do not feel that
they have sufficient evidence on which
to act, but tha Postmaster will not de
liver his mail any longer, and so readers
who would like to test his discovery are
without hope. The belief is that an in
stantly deadly poison is what Van Orden J
recommends." .
Extinction or tho Buffalo.
Beyond the Kcd Buttcs we were sel
dom out of sight of bleaching skeletons,
and often forty or fifty were in sight at
one time, writes W. T. llornaday in the
Cosmopolitan. The skinners always lft
the heads of the bulls unskinncd, and the
thick hide had dried down upon the
the skulls harder thnn the bone itself
holding the tangled masses of the shaggy
frontlet firmly in place until it bleaches
brown in the sunshine and is finally worn
away by wind and weather. Many of these
heads are so perfectly preserved, and
with their thick masses of wavy
brown hair air are so fresh looking, that
the slaughter of the millions is brought
right down to the present, and seems0 to
have been the work of yesterday. We
can endure the sight of the bones rea
sonably well, for we expect it; but these
great hairy heads make us feel our loss
most keenly. At first it is impossible to
lock' at one without a sigh, and each
group of skeletons brings back the old
thought: "What a pity!" .
- ANTICIPATIQN.
Oar lives are mostly passed in dim to-morrows
.Whose only right shines on them from to
days Reflected by ourselves, and much or little
According as our brightness throws the rays.
If we remain to-day within the ' -The
morrow looms up darkly in 0r sight,
But if the sunlight shine out full upon us,
The coming day conceals all but the bright
C. iL'Hat
A DAY IN NEW YORK.
A XOYEL KXPERIEXCE.
The stranger from Chicago, in very
truth, had just parted with hi3 last five
cents no, not to'reheve a beggar in the
street, as heroes of romance sometimes
do, but for a rank ham sandwich, which,
though soled and uppered with day be
fore yesterday's roll, and veneered with
mustard of singular ferocity, had been
to him as modern manna in the great
wilderness of New York. Just from
Chicago, he had, on the train, been
robbed of hs satchel and purse, and was
now penniless in a strange city, knowing
absolutely no one. A member of his
family, who had intended traveling with
him, was detained, and would not arrive
until the following evening. He had no
jewelry, but he was well dressed, well
read, and a student of human nature.
Too proud to beg, too honest to steal,
He must have a bed, he must have a meal."
-"This is certainly an experience," he
murmured, as, in the pleasant summer
night, he sauntered under the electric
lights- that gemmed Madison Square;
"and one that would have made Mark
Tapley howl with hilarity. "I'll see for
the next twenty-four hours what audaci
ty, dress and address can do in the big
metropolis." Down Broadway, past the
Fifth Avenue Hotel. the mammoth trans
parency and the electric clock which
neveT went; down past the . hotel where
Bartholdi should have stopped and
didn't ; down opposite the photograph-
s window, where stage kings and
queens elbowed the real arti. le, whose
chances for continuous royalty seem al
most as ephemeral, and so to the Union
Square. The park looked calm and beau
tiful. -
The Lochinvar from Chicago selected
an empty bench, and sat down. Little
squads of people in twos and threes
moved past.him rapidly, mostly upward
bound. A couple paused opposite h.m,
irresolute. .
"let's sit down a moment, Jack. I'm
tired. Why d dn't we ride?"
"Can't afford it."
"Humph! If we hadn't walked you
wouldn't have lent that man that quar
ter." The lady was petiie, stylish in
appearance, with diamond earrings, a
tailor-made suit, and a French bonnet
perched upon suspiciously blonde hair.
Her. companion was tail, black-haired,
6mooth-faced, gloomy, and wore a check
suit and a tall white hat. Theatrical
people who. had been to see a new play,
undoubtedly. .
"Jack, what do you think o
play?"
.."No Good." ,
"That climax of the second act was
pretty good."
, "Stolen bodily from seven different
sources 1"
"We ought to have played those two
leading parts, -Jack."
"Oh, they'll have -to send for us yet.
If they don't, I'll give the play just two
weeks." He rummaged in his pockets
and pulled out a purse and some memor
andum books, from one of which a bit
of paper fluttered, unnoticej, to the
ground. "By Jove, Jennie, I've for
gotten my key. We'll have to ride, after
all." And, hailing one of the bad bar
gains of, Jacob Sharp, they were whirled
away.
The pie-e of paper attracted the Chi
cago wanderer's attention. He picked
it
up and read: " Opera House, ac-
couut
ot Mr. . Admit two. Mati-
nee, Saturday,
June ." "Perhans
they may return for it," he thought, and
slipped it in his pocket. "Tnis is really
sylvan," murmured h.s impecunios.ty, as
he inserted his legs beneath the bars of
the bench and reclined at full length,
with the added merit of costing nothing.
A man might spend a summer night to
worse advantage than uuder the cool
shadows of the trees, and with the soft
ened sound of the car bells to remind
him of Gray's dreamy Arcadia, "where I
drowsy tiuklings lull thedistant folds."
But he was mistaken.
Gradually he nodded, and at length he
slept, and di earned dreamed that he
was a prisoner in the court of the Turkis 1
Sultau, who was just ordering him to be
bastinadoed for daring to introduce base
ball into the royal harem. Heavens! lie
was seized by four monstrous eunuchs,
and thrown upon his back, while his
bare feet were held soles upward.
Whack, whack, whack I '
There was somethinsr strancrelv realis-
iic auoui tms dream!,
Whack, whack, whack! ne writhed
m torture, turned to the eunuchs to pro
test, and awoke. Whack, wheck, whack
-uivan out o' this!" The accent was
more suggestive of Cork than Constanti
nople. Heavens! he was wide awake,
and a gray-coated park policeman was
banging away at the soles of his feet, en
deavoring to telescope him with a club.
"Here, here! What are you doing.."
It required some serpentine turnings and
twistings to release himself from his iron
casing, but at last he stood upright,
boiling with indignation. "Whatdo
you mean, you scoundrel, by assaulting
one in that wav?"
The "copper" swung his club in the
maddeningly suggestive manner of his
kind, 'as he replied, but in a .tone less
harsh: 4 'It was a bit dark, sir, an' I
didn't recognize ye for a gintleman."
"No, and nobody would ever recog
nize you for one." '
"Aisv, now, aisy, or I'll run ve in."
A night in the station house! That
would indeed solve the difficulty re
garding free lodging?, but not satisfact
ory-
" Ill'report you in the morning."
" Now, don't ye give me no back talk.
You've got no influence. You're no New
Yorker."
" How do you know that ?"
" D ye think a New Yorker 'd dare call
a policeman a scoundrel? Go on, now
before 1 hurt ye " A push facilitated the
Ctrca-o man's departure. He felt a ter
rible fen-e of humiliation as he walked
slowly with aching feet, down Fourth
avenue to its outlet-" The Land of the
Midnight Sun."
That land is surely the Bowery. Music
bar-room, noisy and beery .revelers, fruit
stands lit by smoking torches, electric
and incandescent lights by thousands
punctuated here and there with gaudy
glass lamps, brilliantly illuminated and
displaying announcements of hotels with
high-sounding names and low sounding
prices : "Beds, 25 cents; single rooms
35 cents ; gents only. '
No, none of these, even if he had the
means. Better the open air. But he
cannot, footsore as he is, walk about all
night. Down through Chalham square
ana into Park Row he passed. The whirr
of the morning paper presses was just
beginning, while iignts in every window,
and a busy flitting to and fro, proclaimed
that the events of the day throughout the
world were there being photographed for
history. He walked wearily about until
two o'clock, having tried, in vain, to
sleep upon the benches in City Hall Park.
Then a thought struck him. He was
passing the Brooklyn bridge entrance as
a dozen or so of people came thence and
hailed a Third avenue car marked "Har
lem." , He entered with them, ensconsed
himself in a corner, closed his eyes,
leaned back, arid awaited the worst.
The party had been to a wedding in
Brooklyn, and were proportionately
merry. One man persisted in paying for
all, amid the usual effusive objections.
The recording bell pealed forth merrily,
and our friend felt the conductor's hand
upon his arm.
"Fare, please?"
"Well, how many times do y want
my fare?"
"Beg pardon, sir; I thought ," and
the conductor retired. The western
waif rode to Harlem, and slept all the
way, though with a troubled conscience.
But then? He stood on Harlem bridge
and gazed moodily into the water. A
steady tramp of feet caused him to look
around. They were the passengers from
the east who reached New York at that
weird hour by way of - Harlem bridge.
There were only half a dozen cf them,
and they were making frantic efforts to
gain the elevated railroad station at One
Hundred and Twenty-fourth street. A
woman was amongthem, and she turned,
when on the middle of the bridge, and
addressed a man who walked closely be
hind her. ' ,; .
"How dare yon speak to me, sirl"
"That's all right, my dear miss. No
harm intended. I only offered to escort
you." ,; ' .
"You insolent puppy, you've done
nothing but insult me since I left Bridge
port. I only wish my husband was
here." ' . ....
The stranger from Chicago crossed
over to where she stood, as her pursuer
siunic away. "uan t oe 01 any service,
madam?" The lady gazed at him, with
apathetic look in her pretty gray eyes.
"I wish to go to the Windsor Hotel to
await my husband, but I am a stranger
in the city and have been so insulted "
"You can trust me to escort you,
madame, if you will. j
She places her hand ou his arm with a
child-like confidence. He relieves her of
her satchel, and they are on the stairs of
the elevated road. Good heavens! h5 is
penniless! But she has taken a dime
frtm her well-filled purse. "No, no,
ridam, J cannot allow you to. I pro-
test" But. much to his gratification,"
his little "bluff" was unsuccessful, and
they were soon in the cars. They left
'
the train at Forty-seventh street. He
saw her safely regist 'red at the Windsor,
accepted meekly her protestations of
gratitude and her husband' card, and
caught a last glimpse of her in the ele
vator, flying upward asan angel should.
The night clerk was airily polite.
"Want a room yourself, I suppose?" said
that functionary, as he whirled the regis
ter like a pivot gun.
'Thank you, no. nad too much sleep
lately. Reckon I'll sit down in the read
ing room and think." He did so. and
j slept und:sturbed until 7 o'clock, in a
velvet cushioned chair. When he awoke
he descended to the palatial wash room,
freshened himself up with hot and cold
water and scented soap from a marble
basin, dried his face and hands on a spick
span e'ean towel, ignored the porter with
his whisk broom and desire for a dime,
dodged the bootblack with rare science,
and stood in the street, feeling like a
four time winner.
Now for breakfast and the
paper?
He strolled down a side street filled
with fashionable houses. In the door
way of these he saw an assortment of
papers that had been left by the carrier.
The household was not yet astir. He
coolly ascended the steps, sat down with
deliberation and read for half an hour.
Then, refolding the journals, he left
them as he had found them and sauntered
on. Soon he had formulated a plan' for
breakfast, not more daring than the exi
gencies of he occasion demanded.
He selected the handsomest hotel in
the vicinity, walked boldlv in. examined
the register critically, uttered an excla
mation of pleasure, took a handful of
toothpicks, strolled into the bar and out
again, passed up a flight of marble steps,
placed his hat upon an extension hat
rack, fished out some letters and tele
grams from his nocket, to look business
like, nodded loftily to the head waiter.
wlio siuuu at me entrance ot the crsey
breakfast room, was obsequiously shown
to a choice seat, and, to a bending servi
tor he gave his breakfast order. And
such an order! Qualitv'and quantity
were both represented, and he ate w'th
an apnetite in no way lessened bv the
thought that the meal would, rrobably,
be digested in jail. The waiter! He
expected a "tip." So' well served a
breakfast deserved one The hpad
waiter? He stood on guard at the door,
What if he had the hotel detective lurk
mg in the shadow! .
To push back his chair, rise with dig
nity, brush a few crumbs from his coat
and walk out, coolly ignoring the ex
pectant waiter was no easy task. How
long that dining room seemed. Ah! He
knew now the feelings of the condemned
criminal in his walk to the gallows, only
here there was no friendly arm to lean
upon. The threshold was crossed at
last, and he seized his hat, 'onlv to be
chi'led to the marrow by feeling the
head waiter's breath upon the back of
his neck.
"What room, sir, please?"
"Ninety-nine," he" replied, at random,
his nerves bracii.g to the situation. lie
strolled down the steps, went out at the
front door, turned the first corner, and
ran like a thief.
He felt like one, too.
The bilance of the morning he passed
in the reading room of the Cooper Union,
perusing many interesting and instruc
tive books, but none which taught him
how to still his conscience. "Pshaw!"
he exclaimed, as he once more trod the
streets; "when I'm in funds, Til pay for
the breakfast and everything else." At
1 :30 o'clock he stood on the corner of
Broadway. Fifth avenue and Twenty
third street.
It was Saturday, and the junction of
the three great thoroughfare the busi
est in the United Staes was alive with
carriages, cars, pedestrians on business
and j edestr'ans on pleasure bent. Stylish
women and girls, bound matineeward,
added pictorial beauty to the scene, with
their exquisite toilets, rosebuds under
their dainty chins, daisies topping their
summer hats, and their fleecy garments
rivaling the sunset clouds in color and
texture. An omnibus, chartered by an
enterprising business firm to convey their
patrons far over to the west side free of
charge, stood at the corner. With a
chuckle of delight at his own"' audacity
he took a seat within it. Alightins after
a long ride at the door of the establish- I
ment, he walked quietly down the ave
nue and entered the Grand Opera House.
With much inward trepidation, but ore
aenting an outward show of virtuous con- i
fidence, combined with a certain air of
lofty scorn, which he rightly surmised
to be a concomitant of the theatrical
character, he was about offering to the
doorkeqper the pass which he had picked
up in the park, when his eye fell upon
i s original owner, who, with his fa h:on
ably dressed lady, stood disconsolately
without the gate. There was but one
thing to be done.
" Beg pardon, but this pass is yours, I
think, sir ? " The Thespian smiled joy
ously. " Certainly, sir, it is; but how? "
"I sat near you in "the park last even
ing, found ths where you had been sit
ting, and fancied that I should find you
aeie.
You aTe very kind, Fm sure. Are
you an actor ? "
The stranger from Chicago thought of
Shakespeare: "All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely
players." " And he uublushingly replied:
"I am."
! "Then I'll see if Business Manager
Matthews would give you a seat." That
official did so, and, though separated
from his new found friends, the penni
less pilgrim from the Lake City saw an
excellent play, in which it was demon
strated that all the poor people were
saints and all the rich ones sinners. It
was evident that the author of that play
had never been in an impecunious condi
tion. Six o'clock I Our friend was getting
hungry again. Breakfast will not last a
man forever. His brother would not ar
rive in Jersey City before 9 o'clock. It
was a long, long walk down to City Hall,
but Jje arrived there at last, 'no'.ing on his
way how cheap everything seemed
when a person was penniless. Strolling
toward Cortland street ferry, he saw a
brilliantly lighted saloon. He entered.
It was richly decorated, and a throng of
gentlemen were busily engaged imbibing,
arguing, and examining the really valu
able art treasures upon the walls. A
large table ne1r the door was covered
with
6
a tempting lunch, free, of course,
j to those who purchased wet goods
in
the establishment. How appetizing it
looked, with the snowy cloth and neatly
folded napkins I Hot soup, radishes,
sliced tomatoes, cold ham and tongue,
pickled mussels, delicate pats of butter,
a bewildering array of bread and crack
ers, three or four kinds of cheese,
and a noble joint of cold roasf beef.
The nervy waif from the WTest saun
tered slowlv in among the throng. . He
, examined the pictures critically, took a
' clove, wiped his mouth ostentatiously as
he approached the lunch counter, and
. then pitched in. He x sampled nearly
everything. Once, when he felt that the
f basilisk eye of a barkeeper was on him,he
' only cut up an extra slice of beef, and
it 1 t ,r
with his mouth full and his knees trem
bling in f ear. Another trying ordeal of
passing nonchalautly through an ordina
ry, everyday door, and he was safely in
the street once more. '
Washington market on a Saturday
night is a sight not to be forgotten. The
Stranger had hours in which to view its
peculiarities before train time. He must
cross the ferry and meet his brother at
nine as he alighted from the train, for he
did not know at what hotel his relative
meant to stop at or what ferry he in
tended to cross. But
The ferry pass!
Only three eent3 ! He wouldn't beg.
He was too near the goal for that.
"Hey, Rahway- Jake, 'are you agoin'
over de ferry soon?"
"Yass, goin' now; right away."
"Den I'll drive over wid yer," It
a large farmer's wagon covered with fitlh
vas. As the Jersey man and the butcher's
boy ere climbing on to the front, theif
unseen Chicago friend crawled softly
into the back of the vehicle and crouched
down into the straw. When the fares
had been paid, and the boat reached, he
slipped out as quietly, dusted himself off
with his handkerchief, and entered the
cabin. The train was on time. The
brothers returned to New York in a car
riage, and drove to the very hotel which
the impecunious one had left. with fear
and trembling. His first act wa to
liquidate every financial obligation he
had incurred,even to the ferryboat, horse
car and theatre. Boston Herald.
Magna Cliarta.
By far the greatest of all State
is Magna Charta. The original
famous document is preserved
papers
of this
in the
manuscript department, George III.'s
library, in the British 3'useura. Its text
covers a space seventeen by fifteen in
ches, and is contained in eighty-seven
lines, written neatly and with precision.
The ink was black. Except "th" the
letters are disconnected. The charter is
in. one paragraph. Capitals are freely em
ployed, a precedent wh ch was followed
in draughting the United States Consti
tution. The main part of the instrument
is in Latin, but certain passages are in
Norman-Latin, and over these there has
been disputes as to the transition. 'The
authenticity of the Charter is certified by
the seals of King John and twentv-three
Barons. The King's seal is" a reddish-
brown stone, two and a half inches in
diameter and nearly circular. The figure
of a knight is poorly cut upon it. It is
pierced diametrically with a leather
thong, by means of which, like the
Baron's scab, it is fastened to the lower
edge of the charter. These seals, twenty
eight in number, preserve the names of
the e'ghteen Barons who wrested .Magna
Charta from King John, and of tea other
persons, Prelates ot Barons, who were
the King's securities. h'tatues of these
immortal eighteen Barons now adorn as
many niches in the gothic pillars sup
porting the interior of the chamber of
the House of Lords, Westminster Palace.
Toronto Olo.
Transportinga Hujc (inn.
The late Herr Alfred Krupp, had in
hand at Essen, Germany, for two years
past, gun constructed for the Italian
navy which is the largest hitherto pro
duced. This huge piece of ordnance was
placed on a special railway wagon for
conveyance to Antwerp, where it was p it
on board ship to be carried into the Medi
terranean, consigned to the Italian nival
arsenal at Spez'.ia. The railway truck, .
built expressly for 'this purpose, was seventy-live
feet long, with thirty-two
wheels andsixteen axles; but it length
could form bending", at six oints, to
pass round curve o:i the line of rails;
this carriage, with its had, weighed
ninety-six toas. The gun, which weighs
118 tons, is fortv-five feet long, and its
internal calibre is nearly sixteen inches,
rifled with ninety-two spiral turns. It
throws a steel projectile weighing nearly
one ton. with a charge of six hundred
weight of brown prismatic powder, hav
ing an initial velocity. of 614 yards in a
second, and a range of nearly eight miles;
the shot can penetrate a steel armor plate
thirty-six inches thick immediately at the
mouth of the gun, and a plate of twenty
nine inches thick, it is estimated, at" the
distance of a mile or more. It is believed
that no armor-plated ship in the world
can endure the fire of such powerful guns.
hrupp s factory, however, is now en
gaged in making two of still larger di
mensions.
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
r?ie? Family Supplied Ready to
Tallc Business A Poser What
His Visits Were Like
Caste, Eta, Etc.
"You love my daughter?" said the
old man.
"Love her?" he exclaimed passion
ately, "why, sir, I would die for her!
For one soft glance from those sweet
eyes I would hurl myself from yonder
cliff and perish, a bleedinjr, bruised mass
up,gi the rocks two hundred feet below 1"
The old man shook, his head. ,
"I'm something of a liar myself," he
said, "an 1 one is enough for a small
family like mine." Xejp TorJt Sun.
Ready to Talk. Business.
Charley (to his sister's beau) "Say,
Mr. Griggsby, pa bought a big dog this
afternoon, and- he's chained up behind
the house, and he's going lo be let loose
at ten o'clock."
Griggsby "Indeed. Charley?"
Charley " Yes : and he bought a shot
gun and had copper tots put on his boots
to-day, ana he says if you don t leave Dy
ten he's eoinsr to take the law into his
own hands. Now I want to talk busi
ness. What'll it be worth to you to have
me poison the dog, take the shot out of
the gun, hide the boots and set the clock
back an hour? I'm ready to open nego
tiations." Tii-Biti. -
; A Poser.
"Yes," said old Mr. Jones, Hb.e doc
tors are, getting mighty smart now
adays; why, they've got instruments and
things made so that they can see clean
through you."
"Humph 1" replied old Mrs. Jones, "I
don't see anything particular smart in
that. ; I've been married to you for thirty
years, but I saw through you in two
weeks after the bridal."
Mr. Jones rubbed his bald head for a
moment and (thoughtfully resumed his
reading. Boston Courier.
What His Visits Were L.ike. .
"Your visits remind me of the growth
of a successful newspaper," said pater
familas, leaning his chin oa his hand and
glancing affectionately up at Wiiliam
Henry, who was swet on the old gentle
man's daughter, Felicia Angelica.
" How so inquired the prospective
son-in-law.
.' Well, they commenced on a weekly,
then they grew t a semi-weekly ; the
next change was to a tri-weekly ; still
later we were favored with an evening
edition, and now it has progressed to
both a morning and an evening issue,"
Caste.
The strife for rank and distinction in
social circles is as fierce in small vi.lages
as in the large cities. Two young women
were discussing the claims of a candidate
for the highest social honors in the circle
in which they belonged. One of them
said :
" Have you heard about Maggie D 's
rise n the world ? " -
" Oh, indeed I have !"
" Won't she give herself airs now ?
"Of course she will; I don't suppose
she'll condescend to notice us common
girls now."
"I suppose not; she always did
hor"" " "wnft
1 Vesj arid now that she's got the place
of forelady over the girls ''in the hew
pickle factory there'll be no living in the
same town with her. " Bu ffalo Times.
Making Use of Him.
Wife "I suppose you know that there
is a young man coming to see Mary two
or three evenings a week?"
Husband "Yes, I've noticed him two
or three times. What about it?"
W. "I've teei inquiring about him,
and I find he isn't worth a cent, and never
will be, and I want you to stop his visits'."
II. "When is he coming again?"
W. "To-morrow night."
H. 'All right. I'm going to set up
the parlor stove to-morrow night, and I'll
get him to help me. Afterwards I'll find
a way t get rid of him. We mustn't act
too precipitately in these matters." Bon
ton Courier.
The Town Looked Big.
"So vou arc home from New York?"
, "Yes."
"Been there often?"
"This was the tenth time."
"Did the city look as large as when
you first went there?"
"Much larger."
"It did? That's jnst the opposite of
my experience. After the third or fourth
time I was not at all impressed with the
sizei"
"Weil, I stood on Bioadway at Canal
street and locked around me, and it
seemed tome that I could never get out
of the city."
"Shoo I That was a queer impres
sion." -
"Well, I dun no. I just had my pocket
picked of my last dollar, didn't know a
soul to borrow from and the hotel clerk
was making out my three davs' bill
les, tne
ie citv seemed to be forty miles
to mey-Dctroit Free Prel
across
. , , ,
Ruffling the Judge s Dignity. j
Martin Van
Buren Montgomery, lafe
Commissioner of J'atents, at
present ;
Associate Justice of the United
State i
Court, is a victim to hay fever. At :
those periods of the year in which
e is i
a healthy man no more dignificd-lookiiiL'
gentleman could be imagined. In busi- !
ness and in society he bears himself with i
a sta e!y courtc-y as unusual as it is im-I
pressive. He looks very much a centle- '
man and an excessive one. But when
the period of hay fever arrives it must be
confessed that his aristocratic physiog
nomy undergoes a chanirc., The ev2a
are red, the nose frijrhtfulH swollen tha
cheeks bloated.- One morning, after a
night of especial misery, he went out for
an airincr. There
liJL!: f C,' and !.he. Ho.1L Montgomery!
w VU.J Ull
walked alon
quieiij aosorijed in his j
meiancuoiy rejections and n had uit
of snuffles. His eye centered at length
on a figure slouchinsr un tho stip.pt rt
was that of a man dressed in rags and
with a gait which showed him to tie nnltr
partially recovered from a night of heavy
drinking. His face was livid, his nose
a chronicle of SDrees. hU ra
tablets for his vices to appear on. This
interesting and oderiferous individual
reeled on down the street and finally
reached Justice Montgomery. He ex
amined him with curiosity, took in the
nose, the eyes, the general look of
wobegoneness, and then rushed up to him
and, seizing his hand, with fervor cried :
"AI-lo pard! I say, Icds date a
dring!"
"My good man," protested the horri
fied Justice, "you are making a mistake.
I never drink."
"O, come off," cried the man, "dake
what you wand." .
Tve had breakfast, thank you, sir' the
Justice stanchly replied, while themaa -continued
to tug at his sleeve, "and Fn
a teetotaler." .... . ,.
"Well, then." the convivial gentlemaa -
went on, "how did you get that nose? n
It is said that the Justice got on oy me -
na vment of a ouarter. Lhicaqo 1 nautu.
I , . . .
An Ex peri ment.
John T. Hemphill, who lives near
Morgan's Bayou, m Arkansaw, became
much interested in the following para
graph from the Scientific American:
"Professor Insrum tfouom iv, in inves
tigating the power whi-h a snake has to
charm animals and birds, has discovered
that man possesses a similar power over
a snake, and, that he has, by boldly look
ing a snake in the eye and blowing nis
breath upon him, succeeded in charm
ing him uutil he was quite harmless."
Mr. Hemphill is something ot an ex
perimenting scientist, and after thinkinr "
over the paragraph, decided to create a -sensation
in the neighborhood. Several
days afterward, at a log-church raising,
the men found a large rattlesnake coiled .
up under the end of a log. Pome one
was about to strike the snake with a pole
when Hemphill exclaimed: . " j
"Hold on, and I'll show you something
that will make you open your eyes. Wait,
I tell you. I'm going to charm him."
The man put down his pole and Hemp
hill stepped forward, got down on his -knees
and bespm to lick out his tongue.
The snake paid no attention to him. He
poked his face down a little closer and
blew his breath on the snake. Tho rep
tile winced at this, for Hemphill's breath,
was known to be vigorous. He blew his
breath again, and the snake, after vainly
looking for a place of refuge, "hauled
off" and "popped" nemphill between
the eyes. It is a pretty well-established
fact that it is exceedingly annoying to
be bitten by a rattlesnake. Hemphill
yelled so loud that several mule colts in
a distant field lifted up their head and .
snorted". The scientist wan taken hr.me
and placed on a diet of whisky. The
last bullet'rf states that he was fcurhcicnt
ionscious to keep up an active fumbiing;
for the jug. Arkanwio Traveler.
Sense of Smell iu Dogs.
Mr. George J. Romanes has common:--cated
to the Linnean t-'ociety tho results
of a series of experiments, made "by him,
to test the strength and acutencss of- the
sense oi smell in dogs., He cites the ease -of
a terrier, who could not be thrown oil :
his master's track upon the pavement of
.Regent's Park, although this track was
crossed and reerossed by hundreds of
fresher ones, and by thousands that were
not so fresh. To mike-a test with a
setter, the master had his meu in Indian .
tile, and the gamekeeper brought up the
rear of the line. Each man placed hi,
feet in the. foot prints of his predeCesTi
The master's scent was most overlaid,
that of the gamekeeper was freshest.
When they had gone two hundred yard,,
the master turned to the right, followed
by five of the men, the other six turnedi
to the left, keeping their usual order.
The tetter followed the common tracfc
with such eagerness as to overshoot the,
point of divergence; but, quickly re
gaining this point, chose at once the
track to the right.
The master and a stranger to the dog
exchanged boots, and then went different
ways. The setter followed its master's
boots, and found the stranger.
When the master and-stranger walked
the park with bare feet the Better fol
lowed its master's trail, but not with tho
eagerness with which it followed, the;
trail of his bootsV , ... .
When ho walked id hew shooting-booU
the setter would not follow.
The master glued a single thickness of
brown paper to the soles and sides of hi
old shooting-boot. The setttr dirnot
take the trail until it came to a point
where, the paper having worn awjy,.tho
sole of one heel touchel the croUnd.
Then
once1.
the
dog
recognized
the trail at
Walking in new cotton socks left no
trail that the setter could, follow; in
woolen socks that had been, worn a day,
th'e trail was followedybut not eagerly.
The master walked fifty yards in his
shooting-boots, then kicked them o!f and
carried them With him,, while lie walked
in stockings 30O yards, then he tcok off
his stockings, ami walked another 300
yards barefoot. When 1 setter was
put upon the track at the out et it fol
lowed with usual eagnerness, and kept
up the pursuit through the whole distance-Accompanied
by a-stranger to the dog
the master rode out along n carriage way,
several hundred yards from the houser
then he alighted ,-r and walked in his
shooting-boots fifty yards beside the car
riage. He then . entered the carriage,,
and his friend got out and walked aot
yards along the way. The setkr ran the
whole 250 yards at full speed, without
making any pause at the point whereat he
scent changed.
The master walked in his
in his ordmarr
shooting-boots, having first soared thetn
ia oil of anise seed..' Althwgh tin;
odor
or tne anise-seed was so strong
is to bo
j erceived by a friend an h ur a ft it she
trail was made, the-dog followed th
track of its master thus disguised with
usual speed, after having examined the
lirst three or four steps carefuliy.
Other experiments tested the power
of scent through the air. The master
V , '? a. "
C?"rse l ot a mile, then
turned to one side. rot over stone-wall
and walked back toward the hou.-e. The
srone-wall was bie st hio-h.aiid About tfK)
yards to the windward of hU courso
down the field. The lo takin" the
trail at the ton of ihn rl 7 r.-.ii-ri.
ranidlvit master's winding ro;,,w. fi.
momrmt it rain1 V t..:.l .
the nlace where he
onlv his eves above the tm ",.f tl. i
the dog thrcv up its header uracd from
the tra-k it was follow! ,,, ,,.,1 L X "1
straight to it a"'i ... . '
were at the time several over-heated la-
borers near it in the field.
The Color of Eyes. '
Extensive researches into the heredity
of eye colors have led M. Alphouso d
Candolle to consider it certain that wo
men have a larger proportion of brown
eyes than men; that where both
parent:
have eyes of the same color the
chant-
arc eighty-eight to twelve
that tho
len vc.irs
: children who rcich the ac of
twnen tne eolors of eyes arc fixed; will
have eyes of the-same color; anV tht
where the parent have eyes of diifcrMit
colors the chances are fort v five in favor
of brown as against blue br grav for tho
children.! lie. claims that brown
are more favorable to health and
gevity than the blonde types.
eyo
ka-
The-ttuzzard and the Fox.
A Fox who was Crossing the Fititla
one day Encountered a Buzzard, who
not only Jeered and Insulted him but
actually Dared him to Combat.' A
Peasant who eame upon the scene Ex
pressed his Surprise that the Fox fchould
Submit to such Conduct, the latter re
plied: "An Enemy not worth Burying is cot
woith Killing."
Moral: That's why so many Loafers
rernsrin Unthumped. Detroit Free Pre,