VOL. I.
SALISBURY. N.. C. THURSDAY, MARCIIt 29 1888.
NO. 26.
Beneath tho Fines. "
0 sunless deeps of northernpinesl
0 broad, snow-laden arms of fir!
Dint aisles where wolves slip to and fro,
And noiseless wild deer swiftly skirri
Onoifle of wind songs wild and grand,
As suits thy mighty Strains! O harp
On which the north wind lays his hand!
-1-walk thy pungent glooms once more
' And shout amid thy stormful roar.
As in deep seas a haven is found,'
No wintry tempest stirs, though high
As hills the marching waves upbound
And break in hissing foam, so I
Walk here secure; though far-above
The storm king with his train of snows
Sweeps downward ffbm the bitter North
And shouts hoarse fury as he goes.
1 laugh in tones of chiming glee
To see the shaking of his hair,
And.hear from out his cloud of beard
Hfe'voice imperial sweep the air.
--TheMark pines lower their lofty crests,
As warriors bow when chief I-in grin
Rides by and shout his stern behests,
And with swift answers echo him.
1 Hamlin Garland.
MISS BECKY'S HOME;
Miss Becky was going to the
Ladies' homo1' at last. It was a
'Old
sorry
fact, but there was nothing else, for her
todo, it seemed. Who would think of
offering any other homo to a poor,
almost helpless old woman who had
outlived her usefulness. Having passed
.her days in other people's houses, so to
apeak,- she might not mind it as much,
perhaps, as a more fortunate being.
" Yes," she said, "there's a vacancy
in the 'Old Ladies' home, and tho
hundred, dollars that Parson Amory left
me will pay my way id, but it wouldn't
last-long if I began to spend it, you
know, and I shall have a warm bed and
my regular meals without worrying
about where the next one's coming from.
I'm 'most tired worrying about the ways
and 'means. Seems as though I had
been about it all my life; ever since
father, was taken - with heart disease
hearing tho clas3 ia algebra. Now that
the rheumatism has got the better of
me,, so, -that I can't work in cold
weather, ami the doctor says it'll draw
my fingers up so that . I can't use them
soon, it doesn't seem as if there was any
thing left for mo in this world but the
home and I ought to bo thankful for
that." " , , ,
Miss Beckcj had had other expecta
tions in her day, when young Larry
Rogers met her and carried ux basket;
when his strong arm paddled her down
thebroad river to church on Sunday
mornings, when they sang together ia
tho choir from the same hymn book;
when they loitered homeward in the
fragrant summer dusk, and heard the
whip-poor-will complain and startled
tho fire-flies in. tho hcdgC3 as they
brushed by. It sometimes seemed to
Miss Becky as if all this had happened
in another planet. She was young then,
with a bloom on her cheek; but, al
though tho rheumatism had bent her
figure-and rendered her more or less hope
less at times, yet -her dark, velvety eyes
looked out like soft stars, and- the ghost
of a dimple still flickered on her cheek
and chin in spite of her sixty odd years.
Miss B-cky's father had been tho dis
trict school teacher in those far-off day3
of her girlhood. lie had taught her
, the simple loro of his command, but it
was Larry Rogers who had taught her
music hour after hour in the empty
achoolhouse; they had practiced together
whilo ho wrote the score oa the black
board. But all this had sot sufficed to enablo
her to earn a livelihood. Her educa
tion,musical and otherwise had stopped
short of any commercial value. Ia
thoso days she never expected to earn
her living by tho sweat of her brow.
.Larry was going- to give her everything.
How trivial tho little quarrel seemed to
" day which ci.rcuiiYentcd this final- re
: solve of hU. -'But what 'magnitude it
had assuracdoat'the time. , Oa his re
turn from a irapt to.a ..neighboring, city
lomc bmybody. had -Whispered to Larry
that Miss Becky had been seen driving
. with Squire Eustis'' son, behind his
trotters. Sim was just homo from col
lege, a harum-scarum fellow, they said,
who made leve right and left and
gambled a bit; and when Larry re
proached her with it she had not de
Tiied; she had simply said: "What then?
If you choose to listen to gossip rather
than wait till you
"But you didn't ' tell, me, and I've
been here a week."
"I had forgotten all about it till you
reminded me," said Becky.
"It's such an everyday affair for you
to drive with Sam "Euitis" which in
credulity so stung Bcky that she would
not condescend to explain that she had
carried some needle-work up to Squire
.Lustis , which she had been doinjr for
his wife, ani that as she left to walk
home Sam was juit starting off with his
smart chai-c and new dapple grays, and
the squire had said, "Take Miss Becky
home, Sam, and show her their paces;"
and how she had been ashamed to re
fuse their kindness, although prefer
ing to walk a thousand times; and
how, once in the chaise, Sam had been
the very pink of courtesy, and begged
her to dnva overwith him to Paraon
Amory' s, three miles put of her way,
'that Lucy Amory may see you didn't
disdain my company. For you. see,"
said Sam, "who was not as black, as ho I
was painted, or as many liked to sup-
pose, . 'Lucy can make rao what she J
will ; without her I shall be) nothing 1
and nobodv but they've told her all
kinds of , wild things about me; they ve
told her she-mirht as well jump into
the river as marry such a scapegrace.
And, perhaps, if I made her a little
jealous you know there's no harm in
that, is there? All's fair in love, and,
perhaps, if the old folks see me driving
about with Becky Thorne my stock may
go up, and I may be 'saved from the
burning,' a3 Parson Amory say3."
And- Becky had consented. How
could she refuse to do a good service
t- A 1 - -
lor sucu a true ioven &o slight a
thing, too? She had often traversed
tho same road since on foot,-onher
daily rounds of toil or mercy. Sam
EuUis had married Lucy Amory years
aro, and was the foremost man in the
country to-day. Strange how that
friendly drive had interfered' with Miss
Becky's prospects ; how tho simple fact
of carrying home Mrs. Eustis needle
work should havo determined her fate
and devoted her to a life of hardship
and the. Old Ladies' home at the end!
Talk of trifles! Poor Miss Becky 1
She remembered that nce or twice the
opportunity offered when she might
have made it up with Larry; but pride
or a sort of fine reserve, had locked her
lips Larry ought to know that she was
abdve silly flirtations. Oace when they
met at Lucy Amory's wedding, when
they all went out into the orchard
while tho bride planted a young tree
and the guests looked for four-leaved
clovers, she had found herself- whether
by accident or design she could, not tell
on the grass beside Larry; their
fingers met on the same lucky clover,
their eves met above it. and for aa
instant she had it oa her tongue's end
to confess all about tho drive and iU
result, to put pride ia her pocket; but
just then Nell Amory callei to Larry
"Oh, a horrid spider on my arm,
Larrvl Kill him auick-dol Ohl oh
oh!-I shall die--I shall faint l"
And that was the end of it.
The old orchard with its fragrant
"quince bushes, its gnarled apple trees,
its four-leaved clovers. wa3 ja. thins: of
the past; a cotton mill reared and thun
dered there all day long, where the
birds built and the tree3 blossomed
thirty-odd ycar3 -ago. It no longer
blossomed except in Miss Bbcky's mem
ory. She had turned her thoughts to
raising plant3 when she wa3 left, to her
own resources, but one cruel winter's
night killed all her slips, and the .capi
tal was lacking by which she might re
new her stock. Since then sTio had
gone out for daily sowing, had watched
with the sick, had bjen in demand for a
temporary homkeeper whenever a tired
matron wi3hed an outing, but latterly
her eyes no longer served her for fine
work, and sewing machines had been
iatroducel; she was not so alert ia the
sick room as of yore, she moved -more
slowly and her housekeeping taleatwa?
no longer .in request; added to this the
bank where her little earnings had been
gro.ng, one day failed and left her
high and dry. Some of her. friends had
traveled to pastures new, some ha J
married away, some had ignored or for
gotten her. As for Larry Rogers, ho
had been away, from Plymouth this
many a year. Somebody had sent him
abroad tho year after Lucy Amory's
marriage, to develop his musical genius.
He had grown into a famous violinist,
playing all over the country to crowded
houses, before the first people in tho
land. It was a beautiful romance to
Miss Becky to read in the local paper
about our "gifted townsman;" she did
not blame him because she sat in the
shadow, because her life had been cool
ness. She sang again the old tunes he
had taught her, and made a little sun
shine in her heart. AH of happincs3
she had ever known ho had brought her.
Tin i tii if
wnysnouiasno complain f Aua now
sho was going to the Old Ladie3 home.
'"It isn't exact. y what I expected in
my youth," she said to tho old doctors
widow.
''No; but you'll havo a nice room and
a bright fire, and the neighbors will
drop iu to see you and make it home
like. Now, there's old Mr?. Gunn.
Nothing can persuade her to go to the
home. She sayi it's only a genteel alms
house after all; and so she rubs alonjr
with what she can earn and what tho
neighbors have a mind to send in, and
they have to do it very gingerly, too, just
as though they were asking a favor of
her. Lor, she doesn't earn her salt."
I dare say." returned Miss Becky.
"Now, if it hadn't leen for the rheu
matism I could earn my living for years
(yet, and mayba get something ahead
again; but it seems as if the rheuma
tism laid ia wait for the poor and
friendless."
"You ought to have married when
you were young, Becky," said the dot.
tors widow who had forgotten ail
about Becky's love affur, and labored
Under the impression that she never had
a chance, an impression which matrons
are apt to entertain concerning their
single friend?. Miss Becky had been
spending some weeks with Mrs. Dr.
Dwight who had moved away from
Plymouth after her husband's death.
She was there chiefly to cut soma
-
stitches into the -widow's wardrobe,
which nobody else would do 'Reason
ably," that lady's grief having incapaci
tated her from holding a needle or giv
mg her mind to material details of "seam
and gusset and band." Bat during the
visit Miss Becky had been seized with
her sharpest attacks of rheumatism.
which had kept her in bed for weeks,
till her wages were exhausted by drugs
aad doctors' fees. It was at this time I
that she made up her mind f o go into
the home on her return to Plymouth.
Mrs. Dwight saw her off at the sta
tion. "I hope you'll find the home
C03y," she said, outside the car window.
"It's lucky Parson Amory left you
that $100 after all. He might havo
doubled it.
"Yes. I suppose so," ' Miss Becky
answered meekly. Perhaps-she was
thinking that, if she Were Mrs Dwight,
no old friend of hers should go begging
for a refuge at an almshouse. Perhaps
she was thinking of the pretty, com
fortable home waiting for her friend,
and wondcriag why their fortunes were
so unlike.
"Write when you reach Plymouth,
aad let m.3 know b.rw you're suited,"
said Mr3. Dwight. and iust then the
T7 7
cars gave a lurch and left her behind,
and Miss Becky turned her glance in
wards. Somebody had taken a seat be
side her.
"Your face is familiar, madam," said
the occupant of the seat, a fine-looking
gentleman, whose dark hair showed
many streaks of srtver. "I am going to
Plymouth, my early home, which I have
not seen for twenty years. I am on my
way to look up my old friends."
"Twenty years is a long time," an
swered Becky. Tm afraid you won't
find many of your friends left. You'll
hardly know Plymouth."
' 'I suppose not I suppose not. Har
you lived there long?"
"I? I have lived there all my days.
"Goodl I'm hungry for new3 of the
people. Tell me everything you can J
think of. DU Parson Amory leave a
fortune? He wa3 called close. Whore's
Mis3 Nell, married or dead? I can see
the old place in my mind's eyo, and the
parsonage under tho elms, and the or
chard behind it where Lucy Ambry
planted a youag tree oa her wedding
day, aad the gown little B.cky Thorno
wore. By the way, is she alivo? Dt
you know her? ' .
Mi3s Becky hesitated an instant.
"Yes," she replied, "I know her
more or less. She's alive.
'And married ? She mu3t ba sixty
odd; she -was a pretty creature,
such I suppose they are wrinkles now.
Where have the years gone? Is her
home in the old place still?"
"Her homel" said Miss Becky, flush
ing a little; "she has fronc; she is on
her way to the Old Ladies' home."
"To the Old Ladies' home! Becky
Thornel'' he gasped. "And I "
4 'You seem to have known her pretty
welll' said Becky, who was beginning
to enjoy the incognito.
"I should think lso. I've loved Becky
Thorne from my cradle; wo had a silly
quarrel which parted us; such a trifle,
when I look back. Do you ever look
back, madam? '
The twilight was falling about them;
Becky's face had grown a shade or two
paler all at once; sho turned hp r dark
velvety eyes full upon him with a
startled air.
"You?' said the. "You must be
Larry Rogers!" Then the color swept
to her cheek in
a enmsoa wave.
Do
you know, I
never
thought
that you
had grown old like royselll Don't you
know me? I am Becky Thorne."
Just then the train thundered throush
the tunnel and they forgot they were
"sixty odd."
"Oa the way to the Old Ladies'
home," she wrote to Mrs. ' Dwight, "I
was persuaded to go to an old gentle
man's instead Y
A Big Eastern Stock Farm.
Dr. W. Ssward Webb has just bought
1800 acres of land in Shelburn, Vt Tho
extensive farm or park, as it will
shortly become, contains 1800 acres of
the finest land to be found in Sherburn
Valley beautifully situated on one of
the most commanding points on Lake
Champlain. A force of 250 men has
been engaged during the past season in
making improvements at a weekly ex
pense of $2000, and the farm already
presents the appearance of a flourishing
village. Dr. Webb wilL make blooded
stock one specialty and he will have
one of the finest stock farms in the
country. -He already has 150 horses,
thirty of which are fine brood mares,
and four stallions. He also has a herd
of fifty Jersey cows, 100 1 Southdown
sheep and several hundred selected va
rieties of .fowls. Mrs. Webb is a
daughter of lhe late W. H. Vanderbilt.
Albany Argu3.
Figures Never Lie.
''Now, John," said the keeper of a
cigar . store to his boy at shutting up
time, 4bring in the figure of the Indian
and let it lie behind the counter."
"Hadn't we better stand it
hind the counter, sir?'1
np be
"Stand it up?'
"Yes air: Figures never lie,
know. Boston Courier.
you
ARTFUL SMUGGLERS. !
Devices to Escape the Duty on
Precious Stones.
How the Lynx-Eyed Officers
. Detect Them.
Although, the officers of the Customs
Department take, great precaution to
prevent smuggling, says the New York
Telegram, they are confident that large
quantities of diamonds and other
precious stones are brought into tne
country without payment of. duty.
The veteran, Captaia Isaac Trimble,
who spent twenty-two yean of hu life
ia the Custom House, and was during a
great portion of the time a custodian of
the seizure room, relates many instances
of the ingenuity of the smugglers. Oa
one occasion Captaia Trimble exhibited
a popy of the bible to a visitor.
"Do you see anything peculiar about
the book?" the Captain asked.
j.ne visitor examined tne covers on
both sides, ' as well as the back and
edgei, and then replied: '
"Well, I can't say that I do."
"But it is a smuggler's bible," the
officer rejoined, "and if you will un
clasp it, you will know how the rascals
made use of it for smuggling dia
monds."
rno visitor aia as directed ana was
surprised to find that the bible had been
converted into a box. An oblong cavity
had been cut through all the leaves of
I the volume, the person who did the
work being careful to leave tho covers,
back and edges in the same condition as
they were when they came from , the
binder. The box was about five inches
long, three wide and two deep. In this
oddly contrived box had been concealed
abfnt $6000 worth . of smuggled
diamonds. " -
The person who brought the3e dia
monds to New York wa3 a passenger on.
one of the German steamers frooa Ham
burg. He had no idea that the customs
inspectors would take the pains "to
examine an old and well-worn copy of
tho bible. Had he left the bible ia his
trunK tne probability is that it would
have attracted no special attention from
the officials, but the owner took tho
book under his arm and was sesmingly
bo jealous lor its safety that he raised
the suspicions of an inspector, who im
mediately stepped up and relieved him
of it in short order.
iiiw ivuis iii ujfea tne owner cx
claimed: I '
"Oh, don t tod me of my bible. It
was given me by my mother when I left,
my home in the old country."
But the inspector wa3 inexorable. The
book was retained and examined and
the officer congratulated himself that he
had done a pretty good day's work for
Uncle Sam.
One of the tricks most; frequently re
sorted to by smugglers is to conceil dia
monds and other precious stones ia the
linings of garments. Aa overcoat which
was worn by a foreigner who landed on
these shores about ten years ago had no
les3 than ten thousand dollars' worth of
gems quilted into the padded lining. It
is probable that for every one of this
kind of garment that is detected . by the
inspectors there are a score which no
never discovered. Among the . curiosi
ties which were preserved in the seizure
room for a long time was a coat of this
description, the lining and padding of
which contained over two hundred
quilted squares, and in each was a gem.
Some of the gems were very small, not
being worth more than five dollars each,
but the asrffresate amounted to arrettv
largo sum.
Whenever the inspectors see a newly
arrived passenger of suspicious appear
ance on a foreign steamship they look
at his or her shoes or boots to see if the
soles are of extra thickness. mauy
thousands of dollars' worth of smucrled
DO
stones have been found in these extra
thick soles. There are shoemakers in
Switzerland who make a specialty of
m anufacturing smugglers . foot gear.
Trunks with false bottoms have lon
been so common that they excite no
surprise on the part of the customs of
ficers. It is customary with an inspec
tor when he examines baggage to thrust
a cane down into the trunk and then
measure on the outside. By this means
a false bottom 'can ba easily detected.
Several years ago a smuggler carried
on a successful smuggling business by
hiding diarifemds ia the handles of
palm-leaf fans. The duty on the fans
was so low that he could well afford
to piy it in view of the valuable con
tents of the handles. Finally' the
game was spoiled by aa inspector who
discovered that the ead of each handle
was plugged. " The inspector extracted
the plugs and out rolled the diamonds.
Men and Women have defrauded the
custom? by hiding gems in their hair.
tin fact, there are so many ingenious
methods adopted by smugglers that the
officers are often in despair.
Sunlight i3 as essential to animal as
vegetable life. Physicians say the num
ber of patients cured in hospital rooms
exposed to the rajs of the sua are four
times as great as those confined in dark
ened rooms.
Materials for Colors in Faints.
Every quarter 'of tho globe is ran-.
sacked for the materials animal, vege
table, and mineral employed in lhe
manufacture of the colors one finds in a
paint-box. From the cochineal insect
are obtained the gorgeous -carmines, as
well as the crimson, scarlet, and purple
lakes. Sephia is the -inky fluid dis
charged by the cuttle-fish, to render tho
water opaque for its own concealment
when attacked. ' Ivory-black and bone
black are made out of ivory chips. The
exquisite Prussian blue is. got by fusing
horses' hoofs and other refuse animal
matter with impure potassium carbonate.
It was discovered by. an accident. In
the vegetable kingdom are included the
lakes, derived from roots, barks, and
gums. Blue-black is from tho charcoal
of tin vine-stalk. Lampblack is sopt
from certain resinous, substances. From
the madder-plant, which grows ia Hin
dostan. is manufactured Turkev redt
Gamboge comes from the yellow sap of
a tree, which the natives of Siam catch in
cocoanut . shells. Raw sienna is the natural
earth from the neighborhood of Sienna,
Italy. Whsn burned, it is burned
sienna. Raw umber is an earth' from
Umbria, and is also burned. To these
vegetable pigments may probably be
added Indian ink, which is said to be
made from burnt camphor. The Chinese,
who alone can produca it, will not re
veal the secret of its composition. Mas
tic the base of the varnish so-called
is from tho gum of the mastic tree, in
digenous to the Grecian Archinelaso.
Bistre is the soot of wood-ashes. Of
real ultramarine but little is found in
the market. It is obtained from the
precious lapis lazuli, and commands a'
fabulous price. Chinese white is zinc
Scarlet is iodide of mercury, and cinna
bar, or native vermillion, is frorttjquick-
silver ore. Luckily for tho health' of
small children, the water-colors in the
cheap boxes usually bought for them
have little, or no relation, chemically, to
tho jeal pigments they are intended to
counterfeit. Argonaut..
Missionary Moonshiners.
Ozark-Mountains are inhabited by a
people a3 peculiar and primitive as those
Miss Murf ree has made known through
her Tennessee mountain stories. Liv
ing within fifty miles of a railroad,
many of these people have never seen
even so much as the gleam of the rails
in the distanco, and a locomotive would
be to them not less a wonder than was
the steam horse to tho Indians a few
years ago. Born in thoso mountains
thevhavo tramped un and down their
sides, cultivated patche3 of earth and
worked out of their little farms suffi
cient to live upon. There is little de
mand for the products of tneir farms,
and many farmers have ; drifted , into
illicit whiskey manufacture to utilize
the corn they grow upon the mountain
side. The revenue agents have found
them out, broken the stills and prose
cuted the distillers, but some other
farmer has gone into the business. The
whiskey is sold for almost anything it
will bring. In general it is exchanged
for articles of food or clothing needed,
for it is seldom that money finds its way
into the Ozark mountains. fSt. Louis
Post-D 13 patch.
An Electrical Dog Cart.
Mr, Volk, whose electric railway is
knowil to all visitors to Brighton, Eng
land, has constructed an electrically
driven dog cart, vjiich attracts a good
deal of attention among the leisured
crowds which throng the gay Sussex
watering place. It is driven by a half,
horse-power Immisch motor and 16
small accumulators, which have a ca
pacity equal to six hours' work. In the
desire to keep the machinery light,
scarcely sufficient power ha been pro
vided, so that, although the vehicle will
make a speed of nine miles an hour on
asphalt, it only makes a speed of four
miles on a soft macadam road, while,
with two passengers, an incline of 1 in
30 is the limit of its, climbing power.
E'ectrical World.
Henry Berghl
snry Bergh was bora in New York
in 1823, where he was educated, finally
graduating at Columbia college. Ha
spent some years more or less actively
engaged in literary pursuits, and wrote
a large number of tales and sketches,
none of which, however, .had any very
lasting fame. In 186 J he was secretary
of legation to Russia, and also acted aa
vice coasul there. Ia 1886 he founded
the American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals in Ney York, in
the face of much scoffing and oppo
sition, and to the work of . thi3 society
he has since devoted his life. Iater
Oceaa. '
Alwajs Prepared.
4JDid you ever have a lady hand you
a lead quarter?" was asked of a car
conductor yesterday.
"I have."
"Nicely dressed, high-toned ladiesf
Just so. ; There were several on thi3
line who used to hand me lead
quarters."
"And you didn't feel like saying
f anything to them!" ;
There was no need to. I always
had four lead nickles ready to return
for chango.n f Detroit Free Press.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Electrical moters are to be introduced
on the underground railways in London.
' A paste of chloride of lime andVatex
well rubbed ia will take ink stains from
silver or plated -ware. Wash and wipe
: as usual. . - ..: -
The pendulum governor for steam and
gas engines has appeared ia tjiis country.
It has only one ball, is not . rotary, and
consumes no power in driving.1.
A hitherto uncharted island, twe
miles Jong, is reported to. exist in lati
tude 8 deg. 15 min. south, longitude,
480 deg. 39 min. east. ' : : j -
Portions of the Andes seem tobosink
ing, the altitude of Quito having dimin
ished 76 feet in 122 years, nd that of
another peak' 218 feet.- A crater has
"sunk 425 feet in 25 years. '
' The telephonograph consists of an ap
paratus for recording in legible charac-
- ters articulated and musical souads. It
has a flexible diaphragm to bs vibrated
by the impact of . sound waves and to
vibrate an ink-discharging pen, which
marks upon a paper ribbon.
It has been found - that old crowbars
made of tb.3 bost Swedish iron and used
by the early settlers of New England,
have become so rotten that they could
not be welded . together when broken,
and had an offensive smell when the
welding heat was applied.
At a recent meeting of learned men
in Berlin it was said as a fact that when
a bee has filled his cell with honey and
has completed the lid he adds a drop of
formic acid which he gets from the
poison bagconnected with the sting.
To do this he perforates the lid with the
sting. This acid preserves the hone j.
A writer in Science com2S to the con
clusion that, as a result of hi3 investiga
tions, "it seem i idle to discuss further
tho influence of forests upon rainfall
from the economic point of view, as it
is evidently too slight to be of the least
practical importance. Man ha3 not yet
invented a method of controlling rain
fall." ' ,
A veteran of the late war, who
re-
eidc3 at Croyden, N. H., claims to have
invented a new engine of war, which he
call a ''Timo Torpedo." It has no
clockwork and no chemicals, - tbut by a
Eubtlc combination, of forces known to
everv schoolbov the charge explodes at
any given time, varying from two min
utes to two weeks. .
Tho statement has recently been
made by a practical iron worker of fifty
years experience, that not only does the
metal rot from age, but that continual
jarring has the eflsct to weaken the
tensile strengtbf an illustration .of a fa
miliar kind in this lino being afforded
by the step ot a carriage, which, when
new, may be bent back and forth with
out breaking, but after a few years' ser
vice will certainly break no matter how
well preserved.
Professor Morgan caught a scorpion
and pierced it in three places with its
own stiog, on which in each case there
was a drop of poison, but the creature
remained alive and active. But these
and subsequent experiments led him to
believe that the poison has some effect,
causing sluggishness and torpor for a
while. Ho also agrees with Professor
Bourne, that it is possible for a scor
pion to sting itsslf in a vulnerable place,
Messrs. C. IL Hartwig and tt. iiunter
have recently succeeded in reaching the
crest of the Owen Stanley Range, in
British New Guinea. They had some
difficulty to overcome the opposition of
tho tribe which guards the great moun
tain, Paramagero, which the natives be
lli V3 to be the abode of the spirits of
the departed. V. Eventually they wetc
placated, and two hundred of the tribe
followed tho expedition in the ascent
A method, claimed to support electric
wires above ground in 6uch a way as to
practically evade the dangers and dif
ficulties of the o'.d pole system, as well
as the expense and inconvenience that
attend most of the propo ed under
ground remedies, the tower system
Orleans. The
towers are to be quadrangular, and
where placed at the corners of streets
iAM Bn of. tho street corners. A
lilil -
uine of suitable size is to be permanent
ly fixed upon each tower for fire pur
niiM Thftrfl are to be about 890 of
a saw -
these towers ia New Orleans, 300 to 400
feet apart. Their height is to be from
J25 to-150 feet.
Dangerous in Leap "Sear.
Gns: Soyou really think of going to
Boston for. a couple of weeks, Jack? '
Jack: "Yes.'t
Gus: 'Heavens! dear boy, you will
-
have to be careful."
Jack: 'Why. h Boston a dangerous
placer
Uus: Dangerous? i snoula say so.
Don't you know this i3 leap year?"
Epoch. . . ' ,
No Great Loss. -Miss
Clara (to Featherly, who iimak
ing an evening call) Poor little Bobby
swallowed a penny to-day, and we've
all been so much worried about it.
Featherly (somewhat at a I033 1 ioi
words of encouragement) Oh, 1 er
wouldn't worrv. Miss Clara: a penny
not mucie Jllarper's Bazar.
. Tho Eeantrfal Lan&
There's a beautiful, land that lies to the west
Of the far-famed valley of tears;
"Where the griefs that are born are jealously
prest . ' ' ' .
; To the hearts of sprrowfnl years, . .. "
And are borne with with a noiseless,
measureless tread , i
, Down the valley, across the strand, -
Straight on to the sea, where the barks of the
::r'rAeaA,;.:,i', ' W
Float by to the Beautiful Land. ,
The dip of the water is heard in the night,
And the griefs that lie on the sands
n their naked woe, through the shimmerinj
' ligbt,
" Reach out their, weird, shadowy hands.
And beckon the vessels to come to them there,
' And call to the'myfctical band,. . - ' " , " .
That drifts o'er the sea, to a welcoming'air
" Blown soft from the Beautiful Land.
' ej glide in the wonderful rilencp of death,
.With faces, snow-white, to the west, -And
- lily - hands kissed by the spice-laden
breath,' T
" That strays from the sweet land of rest,
They heed not a moan from the grey, misty
; vale; . - -
They see not a beckoning hand, .,
sweetly, they sleep in tho barges a-eail
r the beautiful, rest-filled land. V,
Indianapolis News.
HUMOROUS.
The men who establish the lard trust
will have a soft thing in hand m 'sum
mer. .
A littlo girl describes a snake as"
thing that' s a tail all the way up to its
head." - . ; " ;
Hardly a week passes but we are re- .
minded' that we are constantly ' sur
rounded by perils seen and kerosone.
A young mother looked ia twenty -sir
different novels to find a name for Jhcc
girl baby, and finally settled on Ma
xier. . ' , '. : . . -
Sameness in dress docs not always .
look well. The maa who wArs a shiny
silk hat does not want a shiny coat to
go with it , . ,
Guest at hot el "I want extra steam
heat, weather strips oa tho windows, a
special call boy, private dining-rooms,
eider-down quilts and-notel clerk-
"Hold on, my dear sir, I think you've
made a mistake. This isn't heiven."
Practical American father: "Nowj
Count, before you can go any further in
this matter, so far as my daughter il
concerned, I should like you to establish
your identity." Counfc .'I yiil show you:
my patent of nobility." P. A. F.:
'That Is all very well ; I own s everal
patents myself ;but how do I know youri
is not an infringement?
WJicro Gold Seemed to Grow
A few weeks ago parties who reside
in this city were making an examination
of.the old,6ogg chute of the Merrrfield
mine, and found in one of the slopes of
the abandoned upper works, which havo
not been, touched for a period of
twenty-two yean, a piece of very rich
quartz,1 which had been broken in two
with a hammer and laid upon tho foot
wall, probably by some . employe who
intended to carry it away, but was pre
vented doing so. Tho two sections
wcro 'lying about half an inch apart
upon a highly mineralized clay. The
fragments wero carried to the surface,
and washed, and an effort made to join
them together, when it was found to bo
impossible, tho spurs of one piece
refusing to re-enter the cavities
to which they corresponded
in tha .. other, these cavities
having partially filled with gold since
thefracture was made. In some places
-a thin, foliated film of gold had spread
upon the surface of the rock, but the
most noticeable formation was in the
holes and fissures. When placed under
a powerful magnifying glass it could be
plainly seen that the two pieces were
originally one, and that a formation ox
gold had taken "place, so that to join
them accurately again was impossible.
This quartz was laid, as before stated,
alono on a bed of clay, and this proves
that the gold-producing power U not
confined to tho rock and earth alone,
but must exist in currents, which are
stronger in some parts of a mine than in
others. But the process of gold growth
is slow, and it requires ages to become
large enough to make tho formation, in
which state it exists, of yalue to the
niner. Nevada City (Cal.) Herald.
A Titled Kleptomaniac
The carl of Derby, whose seat ;s in the
suburbs of Liverpool, is a pronounced ,
kleptomaniac. His grace's particular
weakness U for o'd silver, and the
greater it antiquity and beauty, tho
more certain it is to find its way into his
pocket. There h a story to the effect
that when kneeling at the commuaion
tabic only the ready hand of the rector
saved the quaint old wine-cup from
sliding up the' earl's sleeve., It is the
duty of his valet to examine his master's
clothes every morning, when he has
umeu OU6 me nignt before. . Whatever
isjound is taken to the count,
returns it to the owner, with a pretty
note of apology. The earl is quite f
aware of hu unfortunate weakness, and I
has struggled against it . in vain! No
fear of detectives or exposure makes
-heavy bis light fingers, and it i3 said he
will not trust himself to go alone to a
public sale where old silver u displayed.
.Argonaut,
is
A