VOL. I.
SALISBURY, N. C , THTJBSD AY, MARCH 22, 1888.
NO. 25.
Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie.
When Charleston built for the "'Briton's
fcport
The spongy, hardy palmetto fort,
And the ships -with their topsails taut and
thin
Stormed over the bar at break of day,
Gun andswivel and culverin
Shouting their murderous roundelay I
When the hissing shot was immured for
good,
Time after time, In the soft, sly wood,
A venturous shell, from the Moreland's deck,
Struck the patriot staff, and snapped it
quite,
Neat in the middle, without one fleck, , ' '
And whirled the flag from the rampart's
height. '
But William Jasper saw from his post.
And, his young blood seething, still as a
ghost,
Straight through the perilous fire leaped
down,
Leaped down, and back, by a leopard spring,
The smoke in his eyes, erect and brown,
All in the beat of a swallow's wing.
And hold close, close, as he climbed alone,
The banner sacred and overthrown;
And quick, with that steady hand of his,
Notching its loops on his ramrod bare,
With a "So, my beauty!" and one frank kiss,
, Flung it again to the glad, free air !
Then the friendly tides turned clean about,
An I slipped from undar tho frigates stout,
And Sir Peter Parker's crippled fleet,'
With its disembarking, bewildered crew,
Groped and fumbled, and got its feet,
And reeled off into the s-. as anew,
'Tis the t Id tale ; how ours sat down
At dusk in their fair, beleaguered town,
We seal their valor, repeat their vows;
We keep their memories cast and west ;
ne sing tneir praise through the happy
" house;
But of Sergeant Jasper, who knows tho rest?
Who asks it? Peace to his ashes cold
The Carolinian grasses fold I
To the fond boy heart, in its little hour
Symbol and vision of loyalty,
Homaeel The root whereof he was flow-.
Bears hundreds, happily, such as he.
Let emperors sle3p in their gorgeous fame;
For us, forever, some quiet name,
In which no armorer's skill is versed,
To mock at history's calendar."
And once through its ordered page to
burst
Like a headlong, glorious August star I
Louise I. Guiney in Boston Post.
Fate of John Eamsay, M. D,
BY W. H. S. "ATKINSON.
I am a physician. I have made a life
long study of tho human brain, and
way, perhaps, be pardoned if I say that
my opinions upon diseases of the mind
now carry considerable weight among
members of tho profession.
It is only a week or two since I was
cilled to a large asylum for the insane in
Northern Ohio to examine a case which
baffled the skill of tho local doctors.
After disposing of that matter I took an
unprofessional stroll through the insti
tution in company with my old friend,
tho superintendent.
The asylum over which I now made a
tour of inspection was a most beautiful
1 building, resembling in its appoint
ments the homes of tho wealthy and
opulent. We wandered through room
after room and along successive halls
and corridors where men and women in
every stage of insanity passed tho time
in various harmless amusements, or were
restlessly confined ia tho care of ward-
- ers and nurses. Of all tho misfortunes
to which humanity is heir, this loss of
reason is, to ray mind, the saddest by
far; and though I might be expected to
have grown hardened by long years of
familiarity with all phases of weak in
tellect, I never ceaso to feel devoutly
thankful fof that greatest of all benefits
conferred upon men by a beneficent Cre
ator a sound brain.
We had passed through the greater
part of tho enormous institution and
were approaching that portion of the
building set apart for tho residence of
the superintending physician ray
menu, ur. liaDcrsnon. , raising irom
his pocket a key. Dr. Habershon in
serted it in the keyholo of a door. Be
fore turning it, ho looked at me in a
strange manner and said: "If you
were not an old med., Hartly, and as
familiar with strango cases as I am my
" self, I should warn you to keep your
countenance and betray no surprise on
entering here. And I speak, anyhow,
so as to be on tho safe side." So say
ing he turned the key in the lock and
opened the door. Wo quietly entered a
very neat but plainly furnished room,
and I confess that, although I have
"witnessed queer, wcirJ, wild and, oft -
timPS Llftful-riirdllT'irr SinrVita T nnvnr fnt
60 startled in all my life as I did at that
moment. Tho room was not by any
means dark, for it was well lighted by
a largo window running all along one
side, but placed nbovo the reach of a
man, even though ho should stand upon
a chair; yet at the farther end of tho
room I noticed a student's lamp burning
over a plain pine-wood table, upoa
which rested a human skull and some
writing paper. Seated at this table,
pencil in hand, was a man about the
... sajne age as myself and Dr. Habershon
"(40 years) gazing intently upon the
ikulL What startled me so severely
was the fact that when I had last seen
that man more than fifteen years since
I . had een him in exactly
inch a position, with precisely similar
surroundings. And yet, whata dif
ference! Then lie had just graduated
at the head of his class from our col
lege, and was looked "upon as one of the
most promising young physicians in the
countrynow, ho was a helpless maniac!
"Ramsay?" I involuntarily queried,
only partially believing my own eye
sight. Habershon nodded. You need
not speak to him; he won't reply. It is
just 6 o'clock. He will sit at that table
gazing at the old skull until daybreak
and then he will throw himself upon hi3
bed and sleep until noon. That's the
way he used to do, you know, and
humor him all I can. Poor old Ramsay ;
I owe him a good deal, you know,
Hartly. You remember all about it?"
"Yes I remember the story, though I
had almost forgotten it."
r Ramsay, Habershoa and myself were
all students together in Philadelphia.
We were in the same classes in college
and jointljy occupied tho same suite of
rooms. Furthermore we were all mak
ing a specialty of Btudying the human
brain, and the only point wherein we
materially differed from each other was
that Ramsay knew more than we two
fellows together.
True, Ramsay was, in regard to his
theories and speculations, what many
peoplo would call a "crank" but than
successful cranks are esteemed to be
geniuses, and certainly Ramsay was, in
my judgment, quite as near the one as
the other.
Wo three fellows all fitted in the
same social set, and although both Ra
say and Habershon knew good and
beautiful girls by the score, the fates
decreed that they should fall in love
with tho same young lady. And yet,
stranjre enough, thev never disnlavcd
bad feeling toward each other, nor ever
sought to make the lady's position an
unpleasant one on account of the rivalry.
It seemed to me, an onlooker,a3 though
there was a tacit understanding between
them, that no undue influence should be
brought into play, but that, knowing
how both loved and admired her, the
object of their admiration and esteem
should be left quietly to choose between
them.
Grace Thorney croft was a most beau
tiful and estimable girl and, though I
have been an old bachelor all my days, '
I do not wonder that any" man should
have sought her for hU wife.
Ono day Grace, with her father,
mother and a brother, were down to
Atlantic City, where they took a sail
boat and went out. A sudden squall
overtaking them the frail pleasure boat
wag upset and Grace was the only mem
ber of the party who escaped with her
life. She was picked up ia a fainting
condition and tenderly cared for, but
when restored, physically, it wa3 found
that her mind was shattered she was
insane. All that wealth, combined with
skill, could do was done for Grace, but
it availed nothing and tho physicians
and friends at last gave up tho case as
hopeless. Habershon was himself al
most crazy with grief and could not
bear to go near the poor girl. As for
Ramsay, he shut himself up in his den
a small, barely furnished room wh3re
ho was in tha habit of pursuing his
studies and expsriments. There was a
determined expression on the fellow's
face and when I looked in on him
(which was seldom) he was always busy
with his papers and books sometimes
engaged in dissecting the brains of dogs
and other animals, and once examining
a human brain.
He seldom spoke or even so much as
remarked my presence, though once he
said in an excited tone: "I shall cure
her, Hartly it shall bo done at any
cost."
So for days and weeks ho sat over
that bare pine tablo gazing at the skull
in front of him ever and anoa rapidly
penciling dia.r.tms of tha human brain
and of the nervous system.
Late one evening I was sitting with
n-abershon when thero came a rap at
the door and Rimsay entered. He was
very quiet, but knowing him as well as
I did I could tell he h id something
beyond the ordinary on his mind.
' Boys," ho said, "I think I have
foiind what I have been searching for
I think I can cure Grace. I say think,
because, after all, it is only a theory of
mine and may utterly fail, but I think
not. Perhaps you say I should not
theoriza and cxperim3nt on a woman
whom, as you know, I love. Well, it
won't do any harm to her and it may
do her all possible good. To-morrow
morning I shall try to do th3 work."
Then turning mora particularly to
Habershon, ho continued:. "Ed., you
and I both love Grace Thorney croft.
Now, in the presence of . Hartly, here, I
want you to promise me that, whatever
tho coasequjnees of my operation, you
will care for Graco as long as she lives,
and, if necessary, care for me, too." v
I think neither Habershon or myself
understood the purport of thesa words,
when they were spokon, though their
meaning was clear enough later on.
However, Habershoa gave the - request
ed promise and we parted for the
night '
The next day, in the forenoon, Ram
say, in the presence of the two physi
cians who had been in charge of Grac e,
began his operations. I was an inter
ested observer from a distant part of
the room, but Habershon could not be
induced to bo 'present. Ramsay told
the older doctors that if his theory
proved perfectly successful in practice
ha would be able to give his method of
cure in writing for the benefit of the
medical world at present, ha said that
it was utterly impossible for him to in
telligently explain his ideas. However,
he guaranteed that the attempt would
be perfectly harmless to the patient and
the doctors stood bv ready to pre
vent any undue or dangerous experi
ment. For myself, I have rot the least j
idea to this day just what the mean
were which Ramsay employed to pro
duce the end he had in view, nor have
I any theory to advance. The whole
thing was a strange affair to me then
and appears j ust as strange when I look
back upon it from the present moment,
with all the experience which I have
gained with fifceen years' practice.
Ramsay first of all administered a
draught to Grace " Thorneycroft, who
was seated in a reclining chair. A few
moments later he made a small incision
in an artery in the patient's right arm,
which movement he followed by mak
ing a similar incision in an artery of his
own left arm. The two arteries he
then connected by means of a small sil
ver tube. Facing hU subject, Ramsay
tapped her head, near the base of the
brain, two or three times with his
knuckles, and then gazed into her eyes.
Ten minutes passed. slowly by and no
perceptible difference was noticeable in
Grace's condition. Ten more minutes,
and a gleam of intelligence seemed to
be forcing its way into the face of the
poor girl but, strange to relate, a wild,
far-away look was settling upon R im
say! Another ten minutes, and Grace
lhorneycroit recognized every one in
the room, including myself, while John
Ramsay was led away from tho newly
conscious girl, a raving maniac!
As I have before remarked, I have no
explanation to offer I can only chron
icle bare facts. Ramsay was a man of
genius, surely, though in the "one act of
his life in which he proved that genius,
he partially failed; and, in that by
losing his mind he was unable to give
his theories to the world, his genius
will never benefit posterity.
Habershon married Grace Thorney
croft two. years later, and they have al
ways taken the best of care of the man
who saved a woman's reason at tho ex
pense of his own. Detroit Free Press.
A Successful Crusade.
Every afternoon, between five and six,
an under-sized man with a nervous but
decided air boards a Wabash avenue
cable car at Washington street and rides
south. Probably .not one out of twenty
five of his fellow passengers recognizes
him as the hero of a desperate fight
against tho City railway company.
Chicago grows very fast, and the sensa
tion of yesterday is hardly the memory
of to-day. This is D. B. Fisk. When
the City railway company, "labout a
dozen years ago, jut "bobtail" cars
(cars in which passengers drop their
passes through a slot into a box), on its
lines, Fisk, single-handed, began a cru
sade against the bobtails, and ceased
only when the cars were removed. How
did he go about it? He simply refused
to pay his fare except to a conductor.
The drivers on tho line came to know
him and ceased jingling their bells
for his fare. He used to eater a car and
offer to pay the fares of all the passen
gers to a" conductor. The result was
many a carload of people were hauled
free. .Fisk found a few nervy followers;
the newspapers took up the battle, tho
public joined in, and the result was tho
'complete subjugation of the company
and the removal of the obnoxious ve
hicles. Tho fight, it is said, cost thtj
company hundreds of thousands, in lost
fare and cars left on their hands, which
they were obliged to sell at prices away
below their cost. Chicago News.
Warming the Shivering Poor.
In many cities on the Continent in
days of extreme cold, the municipal
governments, from a fund previously
set apart for the purpose, place at inter
vals among the crowded neighborhoods
of the poor large iron braziers, which
are kept filled day and night with hot
coals. They are circular upright recep
tacles, about tho size of a barrel, with,
aa open top and with holes pierced in
the sides for the purpose of a draught.
They are placed upon the pavement near
the sidewalk at the corners of ttreets,
where crowds may collect about them
with the least obstruction to traffic.
During the bitter cold weather crowd
of half frozen people huddle about theso
braziers. Boston Advertiser.
. The New Universal Language.
- "I love, thou loves't, she lo-es," in
Volapuk, the new universal language, is
"Lofob, lofous, lofof," and "They will
have been loved'' is Tulofoms."
"The knowledge of one's self is the best
foundation of all virtues" is, in Vol
apuk, "Itisevam ebinom stabin gudikia
tugas valik." -
Indignant
After church:
Spoggs Was it not disgraceful, the
way in which Smiggs snored in church
to-day f r
Btugga I should think it was. Why,
he woke us all up.
A NORWEGIAN SPORT.
The National Pastime of the
Sturdy Norseman is "Ski."
Binding on the 'Skis," He
Glides Down the Mountains.
"Ski"
running
is to the Norwegian
to the American, or
Briton--the national
something more; it is
what base-ball is
cricket to the
sport. It is also
a necessary and practical modo of loco
motion, as is skating to the Dutchman,
and snow-shoeing to the denizen of the
Cmadas. Broken by hills, and crossed
by valleys, the . Norwegian fatherland
when wrapped in its winter mantel of
deen snow presents difficulties to trav-
i
elers requiring extraordinary means to
surmount Heavily drifted, the roads
become well-nigh impassable to horses
for long periods, and then the only
means of communication from farm
house to farm-house and hamlet to ham
let is pedestrian. In this strait the
sturdy Norseman binds upon his legs
his long fleet "skii" and fiie3 easily and
gracefully over the drifts and shoots
like lightning down the hills and steep
mountain sides, and out of stern neces
sity has learned to draw a vigorous
amusement. Th3 history of tho "ski"
is the history of the wonderful peoplo
who use it as a birthright. Norse
mythology is full of it, and some of the
most stirring passages ia Norwegian his
tory draw their romance from the bold
and daring feats of hardy "ski" runners.
The "ski," pronounced softly and de
fiantly "she," familiar and dear to the
runner as his sweetheart oftentimes, is a
long and narrow strip of wood, often
pine, better of hard wood, made with a
curling noso to override tho snow, and
bearing near its centre a strap and rest
for the foot of the rider or "runner."
The length varie3 according to the
strength of tho runner and the pur
pose of the "ski," seldom exceeding
ten feet, however. For mountain and
dense forest traveling they are made
shorter and for military manoeuvres
when worn by soldiers, are of unequal
length to facilitate turning readily.
Generally they present only tho Wood
en surface to the snow, but- some-
' times, especially when designed for
travel where many hills are to be as
cended, their bottoms are covered with
deer hide, the hair pointing backward,
and acting as a secure anchor against
retrogression. They solve tb.3 problem
of walking on the snow on tin same
principle as the more clumsy and
slowerj plaited snowshoe familiar in
American forests, by dividing - the
weight of the wearer over a large sur
face. The American snowshoe is also
in use in Norway, but, as was remarked
by an expert runner, "it is too slow for
men, and we give it to old women and
put it on horses." .
The feats of speel and dexterity per
formed on their "skis" by expert run
ners arc wonderful. Oa a level surface
they move as fast as a good horse, but
it is coming down hill that they show
their mettle. Curving gracefully over
the crest, as the slope grows steeper
they gather speed like lightning, until,
with full headway, they shoot through
the air with the speed of a railroad
train, fairly taking away the breath of
the daring runner with the Tapid motion.
A well authenticated account b cu rrent
in Norway that one Finnish woman, a
very expert runner, one day tried the
descent of a peculiarly steep mountain
side, and attained such fearful speed
that when those who awaited her at the
end of her bird-like flight received - her,
she stood bolt upright on her "skis,"
dead, the breath literally ravished from
her hps by her rapid descent. The
"hop" is the most difficult and danger
ous of the many feats of th j "aki" run
ner. In descending hills,i broken spots
and small precipices are often met with,
and over these the careful and the timid
runners simply slid?, but expert
and venturesome runners augment
the danger and the excitement
at the same time by leaping into the air
just at the verge of the cliff, landing
far beyond tho point where the sliding
runner would alight. In the races and
games with the "skis," a. "hop" is gen
erally made by building up a cliff .with
snow at some convenient point of the
declivity, and this is made high accord
ing to the skill and daring of the run
ners. One moment on the earth, a
sudden spring, and away he flies through
the air, 50, 70, 100 feet, enough of a
fall, one would think to break every
bone ia his sturdy body, but landing
Safely and gracefully and shooting away
on his courss.
As a national pastime "ski" running
has attracted the widest attention in
Norway, the royal family lending the
enthusiasm of their presence to the
yearly carnival. Ia this country it is
only recently coming into notice, and
Minneapolis i3 entitled to the meed of
having been the home of the first "3 k?
club ever organized in America 3Iin
neapolis Journal.
New Jersey swain (calling on his
girl) What makes the house shake so,
darling f Girl Its pop, up stairs. He's
got the fever 'a ague agia.
The Wild Animal Trade.
"There is scarcely anything g9ing oa
in the trade this year," recently ob
served Mr. F. J. Thompson, who i3
perhaps th"e largest wild animal dealer
in tho United Statey and who resides ia
New York. "You see, this year," he
continued, "is the presidential year, and
like theatrical business, our trade is
seriously affected. - In off years circuses
and other shows put in their heaviest
work, while in years like this the coun
trymen, when they have a holiday, in
stead of going to the circus go off to a
mass meeting or to see the parade.
"But the wild animal trade has never
flourished as it did befora 1873," added
Mr. Thompson. "It was during the
war times and immediately after, when
every one was flush of money, that the
greatest seasons were experienced.
Then there were hundreds of circuses,
big and little, find various side show3,
which patrolled th3 country from ocean
to ocean. Out in the west, too, many
of the small shows had gambling at
tachments, which, helped materially to
rake in the money. A -proprietor of
one of these thought nothing of paying
$1000 for any animal which happened
to strike his fancy.
"But many of these parties made
money so fast that they shortly closed
up business and quit. Then came the
financial crash of 1873, and the stagna
tion of every kifrd of business, and the
failures of most of these circus and
showmen remaining. Then the new
men who came into the business dil not
have much money, and could not afford
to buy large numbers of animals or very
valuable specimens. So it has been ever
since, with a consequent stagnation in
animal trade.
Another thing which has affected the
business a good deal. is the growing
scarcity of certain kinds of wild ani
mals, and the closing of some of the
depots for their collection and ex
portation. Nubia and upper Egypt,
for example, for a long time were the
great headquarters for the supply of gi
raffes, elephants, hippopotami, and the
double-horned rhinoceri, with many
other wild animals, but since the
troubles there, subsequent to the death
of Gen. Gordon at Khartoum, absolutely
nothing has been received from this re
gion, which is now barred, for an in
definite period by the impending Italo
Abyssinian war. And then again the
depot in Sou h Africa are beginning to
close because the hunters have to go
such immense distances before they can
reach the lairs of tho wild animals, hun
dreds of miles from their former haunts.
The cause of this is the extermination of
all kinds by the so-called sportsmen,
who pour into that region like they did
into the United States when the buf
faloes roved the plains."--New York
Sun.
Bill Nye's Cow Fr Sale,
Owing to ill health, says Bill Nye, the
humorist, I will sell at my residence in
town 29, range 18, west, according to
government survey, one plushed -raspberry
colored cow, aged 8 years. She
is a good milkstcr and not afraid of
cars or anything else. She is a cow of
undaunted courage and gives milk fre
quently. To a man who does not fear
death ia any form she would be a great
boon. She is very much attached to
her home at present, ly means of a trace
chain but she will be sold to anyone
who will agree to treat her right. She
is one-fourth short horn and three
fourths hyena. I will also throw in a
double barrelled shot gun which goes
with her. In May she generally goes
away somewhere for a Week or two, and
returns with a tall, red calf with long,
wabby leg3. Her name is Hose, and I
prefer to sell her to a non-resident.
An Expensive Request.
A Philadelphia lawyer was appointed
solicitor for a certain business house in
that city. At the end - of the year he
was asked to send in his account, which
he did, by lumping everything, simply
saying, "So and So, Dr. to Professional
Services, $2000. The manager was a
great stickler for form, and sent back
tho account, asking for an itemized
statement. The lawyer did as requested,
and at the bottom tacked on the follow
ing: "To preparing itemized state
ment, $100." After a murmur of horror
and astonishmant, it was paid."
The Cost of a House.
' People who are going to build may
like to know that "a three-thousand-dollar
house" i3 one that the architectu
ral paper says can be built for $2,850.
37; costs $3,100, according to the ar
chitect's estimate; i3 worth $3,700, tho
carpenter says, fo build; increases in ex
pense to $4,800 during the process of
erection, and makes you draw your
check for $5, 953. 28 before yoa move in
and get your first bill for repairs.
Journal of Education.
Bubber Overshoes.
"What becomes of all .the rubber
overshoes?" The factories in Nauga
tuck alone turn out 15,000 pairs of
shoes daily, or, counting 800 working
days in the year, 4,500,000 pairs. Con
sidering what rubber shoes are made of
now-a-days, perhaps it is n of so re
markable, after, all. Ansonia (Conn.
Sentinel
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Prof. Moritz Benedict saya that the
brain of a professional murderer bears a
striking resemblance to that of a beast
of prey.
Experiments on the speed of tho elec
tric current prove that if a proper con
ductor could be wound around the globe
a signal parting from it at any point ol
it would return to tho starting point in
one-half of a second.
A scheme is in progress in Mexico foi
tunneling tho volcano of Popocatapetl
through the wall of the crater, in order
to reach the immense sulphur deposits
inside the mountain. A narrow-gauge
railroad will connect the tunnel witi
the town of Amecameca, which, in turn,
will connect with tho Morelos road,
leading to the national capitol.
The experiments which were success
fully carried out at Washington some
time ago of sending nitro-gelatme shells
from aa ordinary gua have been re
peated by the Turkish government. A
breach-loading howitzer was pointed on
a target of twelve steel plates 200
metres away. The 6hell exploded on
contact and completely destroyed thf
thing.
A wonderful fire-proof paint has been
invented by A. Jamieson. According
to the Electrical Review, a "shanty" oi
dry pine wood was covered, with the
paint, and, by means of oiled shavings,
two attempts to burn it wero made, but
without success. The hot fire was only
able to char the face of the wood, and
would not take hold of it. The test
was so satisfactory that Captain Cam
eron, of the White Star line, intends
taking several gallons of it over to Eng
land in his ship, the Adriatic
Dr. Brown-Sequard, who has, be en
preaching that.bad ventilation and poor
and monotonous food are the great
causes of phthisis, has exhibited to the
Paris Academy of Science a ventilating
apparatus of hi3 invention. A reversed
funnel, the ' shape of a lamp shade; is
placed at the end of a tube, so arranged
in its curves and angles that when
placed beside a bed the reversed funnel
will be above the sleeper and draw up
the air he breathes. Tho other end runs
into the chimney of the room. If there
be none,' it is taken through a heating
apparatus to an air-hole. The heat is
great enough to bum the disease germs.
. The average watch is composed of
one hundred and seventy- five different
pieces, comprising upward of two
thousand four hundred separate and
distinct operations in it3 manufacture.
The balance has eighteen thousand beats
or vibrations per hour, twelve million
nine hundred and sixty thousand and
eighty in thirty days, one hundred and
fifty-seven million six hundred and
eighty thousand in one year; it travels
one and forty-three one-hundredth
inches with each vibration, which is
equal to nine and three-quarter miles in
twenty-four hours, two hundred and
ninety -two and a half miles ia thirty
days, or three thousand five hundred
and fifty-eight and three-quarter miles
in one year.
It is estimated that the air in a room
becomea distinctly bad for health when
its carbonic acid exceeds 1 part in 1000.
An apparatus has been recently pa
tented by Prof. Wolpert of Nurnberg,
which affords a measure of the carbonic
acid present. From a vessel containing
a red liquid (soda-solution with phe
nolphthalien) there comes every 100
seconds, through a siphon-arrangement,
a re4 drop on a prepared white thread
about a- foot and a half long, and
trickles down this. Behind the thread
is a scale beginning with "pure air"
(up to 0. 7 per 1000) at the bottom, and
ending above with "extremely bad"
(4 to 7 per 1000 and more). . In pure air
the drop continues red down to tho
bottom, but it loses its color by the
action of carbonic acid, and the sooner,"
the more there is of that gas present,
A Curious and Valuable Book.
Perhaps the most singular curiosity in
the book world is a vol uuio that belongs
to the family of the Prince ?de Lignet
and is now in France. It is entitled
"The Passion of Christ," and is neither
written nor printed. Every letter of the
text i3 cut out of a leaf, and being interleaved-"
with "blue paper, is as easily
read as the best print. The labor and
patience-bestowed upon its composition
must have, been excessive, especially
when the precision and minuteness of
the letters aro considsred. " The gen
eral execution in every re3pect is indeed
admirable, and the vellum i3 "of the
most delicate and costly kind. Rudolph
II. of Germany offered for it in 1G40
11,000 ducats, which wa3 probably
equal to 60,000 at this day. The most
remarkable circumstance connected
with this literary treasure is that it
bears the royal arms of England; but
when it was in that country, and by
whom owned, has never been ascer
tained. The Bookworm.
Hoir It Happened at Last
"Hate you heard that Lily is engaged
to young Fledgely f" asked Maud. ,
"No,'' replied Ella. "I thought he
was too bashful ever to propose."
I' 'Oh, lot it leap year you know."
Diedrichr and Gretchen,
Bat a prince within his castle, ' '
Sad and lone;
Far beneath a winding river
Danced and shone.
"AhP he sighed, "I wish and pray
I were happy now as they
Yonder peasants on their, way."-
Paused a peasant, gayly humming
Simple song, .
Glancing upward toward the castle
Grim and strong: - .
'Would that I.were there,'' said he, "
""Ah, how happy I should be,
Feasting, singing merrily P
"Nay," said Gretchen, now beside him
"Covet not; -
con art happy,, honest Diedrich,
In thy cot
God hath given "thee thy place,
Castle walls would pale thy face,
Waste thy strength and mar thy grace.
. ' '
Sunday came and bells were tolling
Soft and low;
From the castle walls a cortege
Moved, and slow.
' Diedrich," said fair. Gretchen, "see!
Whom thou envied so, 'tis he,
Wouldst thou prince or Diedrich be!"
" Diedrich ever with my Gretchen
By my side
In the cot if thou wilt grace It,"
Ho replied.
iYes," she whLspered,"th!ne,commancl!n
Then he slipped a golden band
On the blushing maiden's hand.
M J. Adams, in Courant
HUMOROUS.
t A hotel call-boy' never takes affront
when the clerk yells "Front I" ,
Tho English language sounds odd to
a foreigner, as when ono says, "I will
come by-and-by to buy a bicycle."
Did you ever see a doctor kick a
banana.peel off the sidewalk, or tell an
acquaintance that he was sitting in a
draught? .
A laundry which stands in the shadow
of an east-side 'church, Buffalo, bears
the appropriate legend on its sign board:
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness."
A sportsman is a man who spends all
day away from his busines , $3 for pow
der and shot, and comes home at night
tired, hungry and ugly, dragging a
a fourteen cent rabbit .by tha ears."
A scientist says: "If the land were
flattened out the sea would bo two
miles deep all over the world." If any
man is caught flattening out the land
shoot him on the 6pot. A great many
of us can't swim.
Timid Young Suitor (who has won
consent of papa): And now may I ask
you, sir, ,whcther-ah -whether your
daughter-has any domestic accomplish
ments? Papa (sarcastically)': Yes, sir;
she sometimes knits her brows.
Charming young hostess: "Why,
Major, you are not goiig so soonl'l.
Major (who prides himself on being one
of those fine old-school fellow. who can
say a neat thing without knowing It):
"Soon? Madame, it may sesm soon to
you ; but it seems to mo I havo been
here a lifetime."
"I saw you looking on at tho tobog
gan 6lide in the baseball park on the
west side yesterday," said Brown to the
Chinaman who had just brought in his
laundry. "What do you think of to
bogganing, John?" "W-h-i-s-h!
Walkee hackee mileel" said the- China
man.
The man who makes your knuckles snap
And says, "I'm glad to meet you,"
Is very frequently a chap
Who'll readily forget you. '
The First Razor.
The earliest ' reference to shaving is
found in Genesis xii: 14, where we read
that Joseph, on being summoned before
the king shaved himself. There are
several directions as- to shaving in
Levitticu', and the practice is alluded
to in many other parts of scripture.
Egypt is the only country mentioned ia
the Bible where shaving was practiced.
In all other countries such an act would
have been ignominious. Herodotus men
tions that the Egyptians allowed their
beards to grow when in mourning. Sa
particular were they as to shaving at
other times that to have neglected it was
a subject of reproach and ridicule, and
whenever they intended to convey the
idea of a man of low condition and
slovenly habits the artists represented
him with a beard. " Unlike the Romans
of a later age, the Egyptians did
not confine .the privilege of
shaving to free citizons, but obliged
their slaves to shave both beard and
head. The priests also shaved the
head. Shaving the head became cus
tomary among the Romansabout SCO B.
C. According to Pliny, Scipio Afri
canus wa3 the fir3t Roman xtho shaved
daily. In France the custom of shav
ing arose when Louis XIII. came to the
O
throne young and beardless. The
Anglo-Saxons wore their' beards until,
at the conquest, they were compelled
to follow the example of the Normans,
who shaved. From tho time of Ed
ward III to Charles L beards were
universally worn. In Charles IL's
reign the mustache and whiskers only
were worn, and soon after this the prac
tice of shaving became general through
out Europe. The revival of the custom
of wearing the beard dates from the time,
of the Crimea,. 1834-5 5.--lPenmaaa
Journal. . , v . , ,