Newspapers / Salisbury Globe (Salisbury, N.C.) / Dec. 10, 1891, edition 1 / Page 3
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THE SHADOW AT THE FIRESIDE. ThcreB a shadow at the. fireside when the sunset colors creep , And- crinkle into waves of gold along the "western 6teep;" The huge back-log is blazing, and before its ruddy glow Sits Grandpa in the great oak chair, slow rocking to and fro. Though his hair is white and scanty, still his face with pleasure glows, His old bowed silver spectacles are aslant upon his nose. And by his ample handkerchief, with check- ered lines all through, I read his whole life's story or, at least I think I do. . There's a flint-lock of "ye olden time," a sword of shining steel Mute witnesses, but eloquent, of the way he used to teel, And from a hook depending is a bugle, burnished bright, That spoke 'the magic "Forward T in the thickest of the fight. His voice is low and gentle now but then it rang along And held the "right wing" motionless in . courage doubly strong, His words and deeds united were by faith in He spoke and fought for conscience sake and not for men's applause. Then, too, the deep sea's treasures on the kitchen's walls are hung; A wondrous shell, within whose ear the far Pacific sung; Am. 11 1 - I . 1 1 . ' a uiautyme corai ; a sponge or rarest hue All speak of dear, old Grandpa and what he . used to do. Now, his face is quite a study of the line-engraver's art; - A portrait of "old age" is he right well he looks the part; And, though his sight is failing, there is something in his look Of a sweetness wise and holv a reflection from the book. I lie upon the settle and watch the s?ared, old face. Whose wrinkles and whose crows-feet are uui iuo signs ol grace, I see with tears, through laughter, the gro- i tesque shadows go Of Grandpa and the great oak chair; slow rocking to and fro. Jtrniiadeiphia Ledger. EUTH'S FRIGHT. it was the fifth day of November "Guy Fawke Day" in the old almanac that hung above the mantel in my ma ternal grandmother's long disused room upstairs. In this northern home to which we had recently removed, falling heirs to it through that very ancestress' will, the dwellers regarded November rather as a winter than an autumn month, and to-day the wind howled and the rain pattered with a persistence mar vellous to behold. - And, as it happened, I was all alone in the hous. Father had gone to take his russet apples - to market the apples that I myself had helped to harvest and pack in the barrel and was not ex pected home, until to-morrow night at the earliest. Jack, my brother, was in Montreal, j fitting up the law office .vrltinV - . C 3 J.- 1 1 1 , If uivu r t3 XJIUCI-VI W Oil L. Hl UC U1S dUUUc. Joan, our hard-featured, cross-grained .old servant, had goue home with the 'rheumatic?," as she termed it, to be treated by a certain ancient Indian herb doctor; and just at dust-fall Peter, our 4 'useful man," had thrust his shock head unceremoniously in at the door. 'I SaV. Miss Rllf.Vl" Tia horl t-nlA J 1 J DC&VA, vuv.iv pn-ui.jf ui viuuu, uuu every thing's all' snug for the night, and I'm going over to Stephenson's. They're in irouoie mere. "Trouble, Peter? What kind of - trouble? Is the old man sick?" But in answer Jo my query Peter only uttered an indistinct remark and went out, slamming the door behind him. I stood in front of the fire looking down at the glowing embers, and pon dering within myself. The Stephensons, who lived in an old grey-stone house on the other side of the precipitous glen, had always beeli a riddle to me. The f am 1 1 7 YV'l Q small fnnc?cHnv 1 tt tf o crabbed old man, his portentously silent wife, and two tall, ungainly sons ; and what on arth they did with all the big, echoing rooms, or how they contrived to live, perched like eaglets on the side of the rock, I could not form the least idea. "City boarders," Peter had once grunted out in answer to my persistent interro gations. But if they kept city boarders, "Tehy did they not leave these dreary mountain fastnesses when the leaves fell and the dismal autumn fogs gathered above the cliffs? Altogether, there was a certain atmosphere of mystery about. thrsfl "Strnhensnns" that flrnnsprl nil flip , Jive like instincts of my nature. While I stili stood thinking, a soft ap sounuea at tne aoor. i opened it at once, never once remembering that I was alone in the house. jl c ucvti uuguici u uu mill, .1U.1SS Truth." said the well knnwn aefsnts nf Mrs. Gludgey Fanner Gludge's buxom vife. "Do what, Mrs. Gludge?" ''Open the 'door after dark, when you're alone in the house, without askin' who's there." "How did you know I was alone in the house?" "I just met Peter goin' to Stephen son's." "Oh!" said I. "But we don't liave tramps here, Mrs. Gludge." "I'm not so certain o' that," said the farmer's wife. "Your folks hain't lived here as long as I have. "We're just nigh j enough to the Canada line to have queer characters prowlin' about when ye least expect 'em. Ana then, there s Stephen son's." "What of Stephenson's?" I cried eagerly. . "Who is Stephenson, anyway? Do tell me, Mrs. Gludge." "Well,' I declare!" said Mrs. Gludge. "Is it possible, now, that they hain't told you?" "They have told me nothing, said I. . "Well, it's likely they didn't want to scare you or make you nervous," said Mrs. Gludge. "But, all the same, I think you'd oughter know." "Mrs. Gludge," cried I, seizing her arm, "what is it? Do tell me !" "It's, a private home," said Sirs. Gludge, lowering her voice to a whisper, as though the rain drops and the rustling fir boughs could overhear. "A what?" I gasped. "For people of feeble mind," ex plained the woman, "and lunies," tap ; ping her forehead, as she spoke. I stared at her. "Then," cried I, "that's what Peter meant when he said that that " "One of the poor creatures has some how given 'em the slip," said Mrst, Gludge "an English gentleman from Montreal, as has only been there a few days. Nobody knows just how it hap pened, but happen it did. My .man's gone over with a lantern to help hunt for him; so has Peter." "He might have told me !" I cried in dignantly. "Anyway, I don't think he ought to have left you here alone," said Mrs. Gludge, severely. "But you've come to stay with me, Mrs. Gludge?" "Bless your heart, Miss Ruth, no! I'm on my way to carry a letter to Mr. Romney's, up the road a very important letter, with 'in haste' writ on it." (For in addition to her duties as a farmer's wife, and mother of a large family of little children, Mrs. Gludge helped her husband in the care of the obscure little country postoffice a mile down the road.) "And by the way I'd nearly forgot it I've got a letter for you, too. That's what brought me here." "For me," Mrs. Gludge?' Instinctively I put out my hand to grasp the treasure, while the woman fumbled first in one and then in another of her pockets. - "It's very strange," said she, "I made sure I had it. I did have it when I started away from home; but now I remember. Just at the foot of Gibb's Cliff I took out my handkercher to tie around my neck, the wind came so keen around the rocks, and I must a-pulled it out with that, and everything too pitch dark around me to see. Oh, Miss Ruth, I'm so sorry ! Please don't report me, there's a good youog lady, or I shall, lose my place." - J I swallowed down a great lump of dis comfiture in my throat and tried to laugh. "Report you, Mrs. Gludge?" said I. "Of course not. It wasn't your fault;; If you hadn't kindly thought of me, and started to bring it on your way to Romney's, you never would have lost it." "And quite true," said Mrs. Gludge, ruefully, "but, all the same, I wish I hadn't been so thouhless. I'll send the boys out to look for it just as " "Oh, never mind the letter," I inter rupted, "I dare say it's only from Jack. To-morrow morning will do very well for that. But Mrs. Gludge you'll come back and stay with me till Peter gets back? Jean is away you know, and" "Yes, my dear, I'll do that," assented the woman, evidently relieved, to be let off so easily on the score of the letter. "And it won't be long first. It's only a short half mile to Romney's it the wind didn't blow so like all possessed." With a good-humored nod she disap peared into the rain and darkness, and I ran back to pile fresh logs on the waning fire. Bank burglars, extradited wanderers, a lunatic at large with all these possibilities whirling in my brain it not strange that - I lighted a second lamp in order effectually to banish all lurking shadows from the angles of the room, and started nervously when a sudden blast of wind shook the window shutters as if with some imperious hand. "I'll go up to the garret and bring down some butter nuts," thought I. "It will be fun to crack the butter-nuts and watch the shells blaze in the fire, and Mrs. Gludge will like a drink of cider when she comes back all Wet and chill. " Cheered by this happy thought, I caught up a lamp and flew to the garret of the roomy old house where my. father had bestowed all the nutty treasures of the autumn woods. Somehow Priscillaj the cat, had got locked into the garret, and I had to -release her from durance vile, and replace a box or two which she had knocked off from the window sill, before I came down, driving her catship before me, with the lamp in one hand pnd an apronful of butternuts in the c her. Through the open keeping-room door streamed a ray of mddy light into the Cimmerian darkness of the hall. I stopped abruptiy. Surely I had closed that door when I came out, remembering a certain trick it had of slamming to and fro in windy weather like this. And at the same time a curious consciousness of some human presence near by crept over me like au unseen magnetic current. Nor was it a false premonition. As I stretched my neck to peep cautiously into the room I saw seated before the fire a gentleman a youngfsh gentleman pale, black-haired, and, as I thought, rather unsettled of aspect. And a de cidedly wet and mud-bespattered gen tleman, whose raiment steamed in the glorious blaze and crackle of the pine logs, as he sat there holding out his hands to the genial warmth! : How had he gained an entrance? Had I carelessly neglected to bolt the big door after Mrs Gludge's departure? Yes1 I must have, done so and that was a proof of how utterly unfit I was to be left by myself. For a second I stood there quailing and quaking, my heart thumping like a trip-hammer and a cold sweat breaking out upon my forehead, before I decided what to do. I had never seen a bank burglar, to be. sure, but I was pretty certain Jhis gentleman could not belong to that race. And I did not think he acted like any other scoundrel who was fleeing from the rigors of the law. He must be the English gentleman gone wrong in his head, who had "escaped" from Stephen son's. I was alone in the house, with a ma niac. And at the idea my heart beat more violently than ever, and the cold drops grcvir colder on my brow. . With a sudden instinct I decided that there was nothing for it but flight. The worst "feature of the case was that I could not get out of the house (be it re membered that Peter, had taken away the key of the back kitchen door in his pocket) without passing directly through the room where the escaped lunatic sat basking before the fire. This, however, must be faced ; there was no, remedy for it, and with one blind rush I precipitated myself through the room, tumbling over the cat and scattering a shower of but ternuts as I went and darted headlong through the door, with an involuntary shriek? that might have rent the ceiling, if ceilings were rent in that way, except in the pages of romance. ' ' Directly into the arms of Jack, my own brother Jack, who was coming in from the van with a light valise in one hand and a dripping carriage robe in the other. "Halloo!" bawled Jack, staggering under the blow of my very unexpected appearance. 14 Why what the I declare if it isn't Ruth I" "Oh, Jack I oh, Jack I" . I screamed, clutching at mm use tne drowning man:' at the proverbial straw. "Where are all the folks? What have you done with Carleton?" he de manded. But I paid no heed to his in terrogatories. "Come, Jack!" I cried, "come quick ly! The escaped lunatic! He's right there in the keeping room! Oh, Jack, I do, hope you've got your revolver I" "What?" roared Jack. "An escaped lunatic? Where the deuce has he come from? Has he hurt Carleton?" He made a spring toward the keeping room, in whose door stood the tall, pale mad, straining his eyes out into the night. 'Where is he?" shouted Jack. Where's who?" said the escaped luua tic, in a pleasant, slightly drawling voice. "It wasn't a he. It was a she. And. she cleared the floor in a single bound, and Oh, I am sure I beg a thou sand pardons" as he caught sight of me. "But please, what is the matter?" In, a second my mental vision became as clear as crystal. I saw it all, and I envied Piiscilla, the cat, because I could not vanish under the hina cupboard as she did, and be .gone." I could only blush and hang my head, and stammer out incoherent apologies amirt the laugh ter of Jack and the polite apvjogies of the friend whom he had unexpecxedly brought from Montreal with him, and whose coming had been announced, as it seemed, by the very letter Mrs. Gludge had lost. That's all. There is no sequel to my story. In real life I have found that stories seldom do have sequels. I had had a dreadful fright, and they all laughed at me at first, andmade excuses for me and petted me afterward and said "Poor Little Ruth I" Father declared that he would never risk such a thing again,, and discharged Peter on the spot but Peter came back to his work the next day, just as usual, as he is here still. Mr. Carleton was very nice and apologetic for coming in with out knocking, to dry himself, whil Jack1 was leading the horse to the barn, but 'he has not yei fallen in love with me. as an orthodox hero ought to do. The genu ine escaped lunatic was captured near Stephenson's and taken to Montreal, under the impression that he was the Governor-General, going to take posses sion of his vice-regency. And just half an hour after we had settled down to the cracking of butternuts that night, a merry group, a sepulchral knocking sounded at the door, and Mrs. Gludge's voice was heard proclaiming: ''If you please, miss, I've come to keep you company 1" Fortunes in the Sale of Flowers. New York boasts of many industries. New Yorkers have the faculty of making a nimble dollar about as rapidly as such a feat can be accomplished. There are one or two big florists in this city who are making fortunes every year by the sale, of flowers. One man on uppei Broadway has an income of 30,000 a year from such a business, and there are half a dozen other men in New York who make from $5000 to $19,000 a yeai in the same way. These are big figures, but when the prices charged are recalled they do not seem so unlikely. For ex ample, the man who does the largest business in cut flowers in New York very often has orders for house or church decorations that cost from $500 to $5000. This man does not undertake any work that does not pay well. If it is a fashionable wedding he will not agree to decorate the church for les3 than $500, and as much more as the bride's stern papa will spend. If both the church and residence of the bride's parents are to be decorated, quite $3000 can -be spent, without even the suspicion, of great extravagance. For elaborate dinner , parties, dances and receptions, from $250 to $5000 may be . expended, , as the purse of the purchaser may elect. Every fashionable bride must carry at least $100 worth of flowers in her gloved hand to the altar, and sometimes even more costly ones. Many wealthy people are supplied with fresh flowers daily,' and the ' bills for these quickly foot up, into a snug sum. A few of the fashion able men have bouquets for-their coats sent to their clubs or homes daily, and the charge is never less than $1 a dayv Ladies who entei tain a great deal, and who go out every evening, follow the same rule, only in the latter case the price is usually from five to. ten times as much as for the bouquets for men. Then there are thousands of men and women, who are neither rich nor poor, who buy flowers every day. Roses and vioiets and orchids are worth nearly their weight in gold in winter, and so it comes that a few florists reap a rich har vest. The least surprising part of the flower iraae oissew xotz is mat tne wor is mil tuuuugu iuc , uig uuu lba suburbs. But residents of Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and other cities send to New York for flowera for wed dings, receptions and dinner parties, and of course the florists make a handsome thing of it all. The flowers sent to dis tant cities are daintily packed in soft cotton and paper, and are bo arranged that they may be preserved in all their freshness for ovei- a week. -Ifein York ITail and Express. The Burning or "Hunters' Paradise.' . A spectacle that will long be remem bered by those who saw it was the burn ing last week of "Hunters' Paradise," a tract of swamp land about eight miles square near St. Louis, Mo. A farmer who wished to get rid of a tangle of weeds and grass was responsible for the fire. The" tire ignited the fringe of "Hunters' Paradise," and a high wind soon swept them into the very heart of the wilder ness of oak, cypress, sycamore, and underbrush. The country was lighted for miles around by the fierce blaze, which increased in volume every minute. The . shallow maismatic waters of the swamp had long since been dried up by the summer heats, and in less than twenty minutes every part of it was burning. Hosts of small animals and snakes poured and "wriggled out before the flames. : This is how a spectator de scribes the scene: "The rabbits came tearing along in droves so great .that the large lily-stalks near the railroad were swept down, and a wide swath marked their progress. The squirrels were mingled with them, and a large number of 'coons followed. 'Possums brought up the rear, and the path which hadbeen made through the grass by -the fleet-footed animals was soon literally covered by a hissing, angry mass of moccasins, many of which were Tery largc."Aw Turk Pott, ;r 'i - MDGET'OF 'FUN. HUMOROUS SKETCHES PROM , 'VARIOUS SOURCES. Ln Enthusiastic '' Musician A. Soft Answer A Horse of Another Color Cause for Appre hension, Etc., Etc. ?here was once a young woman of Chester, IVho was eager to sing when one pressed her; When she oace got a snare She would sing with such art rhat it took twenty men to arrest her. , Harper's Bazar. A SOFT ANSWER. "Are you ailing?" babbled the brook. "Not much," gurgled the spring. 'Still welling." New Tori Sun. IU. THE POSTOFFICE. "Home again," said the postmaster to Jhe returning stamp clerk. "Yes, back to my old stamping ground," ind he took his place at the window. Detroit Free Preu. FOSTESIXa CASE. Kittie Winslow Why don't you. let four moustache grow, Mr. Boysenl" T Mr. Boysen "Let it growl Why, my lear Miss Winslow, I am offering it ivery inducenient!" Life. , - n&AISLESS. "They say Robinson has water on tn& brain." "Where did he get itt "What the water!" "No the brain." Life. A HOESE OF ANOTHER COLOR. Little Johnnie "There's a man at the ioor with a bilt." Brown "Tell him I'm not at home." Little Johnnie "But it's a five dollar bill he says he owes you." Epoch. . ; HOW HE LOST IT.. Jangle "PooTableigh lost half of his fortune by that last failure of his." Bangle 4 So bad as that?" , Jan ale "Yes; he was forced to com promise at fifty cent3 on the dollar." Detroit Free Press. - CAUSE FOB APFBEHEKSION. . . Jack "What is the matter? Maud say she'd be a sister to you!" Did Tom "No; hut after she had accepted me, we broke the news to the old f folks, and Mrs. Inlaw said she d be a mother to me." Puck.. FASHION AND POOD. Husband "Mrs. Tiptop's dinner was grand, wasn't it? ' Wife "I didn't enjoy it." "Why not?" "My new dress was so tight I couldn't eat anything." New York Weekly HE WILL COLLECT THE INTEREST. "Now this is au event of interest to fie," exclaimed Stagzers. crlancin'r ud from t the newspaper. "fVhat is itr asked his wife. ."A company in till which I am a stock- noiaer announce a dividend . " Detroit Freek Press. CONTAGIOUS IN THEIR CASE. Mn Noopop- "Doctor,is insomnia con Jtagious?" Dr. Paresis "Certainly not, sir. What Hakes you ask that?" ' Mr. Noopop "Because I noticed that when baby is troubled with insomnia, Jiy wife and I invariably catch it, too." lAfe. . ji ENCOURAGING HIM. :'Brother J ack 'I askea Virginia Cooper to marry me and she said there was too jreat a discrepancy in our ages." . V Sister "How old is Virginia?" Brother Jack "Twenty-three." . Sister And you're nineteen. So just rait two years and you'll both be twenty toe." Judge. UNDECIPHERABLE. Educated Egyptian "You have no Wonderful hieroglyphics in your country, ur; -no mysterious inscriptions, no uade jipherable relics of an ancient literature whose secrets the wise men of the world aave tried for ages to discover." American Citizen-f-"No, we haven't any 31 those things, but (brightening up) we ve got our 'railway guides.' " Kjaxcago Tribune. I THEN MR. PIKKHAJt SCOWLED. Mr. Pinkham "How do you do, Mrs. Willis f lou are the last person I ex pected to see in Florence." Mrs. Willis "Why, if it isn't Mr. Pinkham 1 Yes, we are spending the winter here. You must call on us often. You know just how it is persons we never think much of while atfiom&seem like dear friends when we meet them in a strange place." Harper's Bazar. WHAT HE HOPED. Mr. De Brute "My wife'has a dog which knows one hundred different tricks. Wouldn't you like to have him?" Showman 'Indeed I would. Is he for sale?" - . "No." "Won't she sell him at any price?" I "No." 'Then why do you speak to me about him?" "I was in hopes maybe you would steal him." -Good News. GEORGE ALL RIGHT. Anxious Mother "My dear, I'm afraid George is getting into bad company. He ( is out rery late nearly every night." Observing rather "Oh, he s all right. He goes to see some girl or other. Shouldn't wonder if he'd announce an engagement soon." "He hasn't said a word about any young lady." 'No; but he's keeping company with one all the same. His right wrist is fall of pin scratches." -Good News. ' x "WHAT SHE WAS WATTIXG FOR. "I understand, Mrs. Sassafras, that you are the owner of a hen which laid -an' egg with a five-cent piece in it one day and the day following one containing a dime." "I am, sir." j "I represent a dime museum, and I would like to buy youl hen." rvn lump mnopnm rn n mnnn rnir fowl,, sir. I'm waiting tyndicate to make me Good morning!" Epoch. for a British an offer, sir. I INDIGNANT AT LAST. Customer ''Mr. Brururs, thera to be a good deal of sand in the sugar this week." . ' ' . ' - ' Grocer Tm very sorry, I'm sure." Customer "And the butter is three- quarters oleo.'V Grocer "Well,-. I must look, into that.' Customer "But" what surprises me the most is that the tea is pure, and weighs sixteen ounces to the pound." Grocer "By gracious, air. Snooks, I'll be more careful in the f uture I" -Bar- per'i Bazar. . VE ADVERTISING CLERK. Fussy Man (hurrying into newspaper office) "I've lost my spectacles V some where, and I want to advertise for them but I can't see to write without them, you know." "Advertising Clerk (Ukely to be busi- - - . m-W Ml ness manager some day) i win write the ad. for you, sir. Any marks on them?" " Fussy Man "Yes, yes. Gold-rimmed, 1 enses different focus, and letters L. Q. C. on inside. Insert it three times. Advertising Clerk "Yes, sir. Five dollars, please." Fussy Man "Here it is. Advertising Clerk "Thanks. It gives s, sir, great pleasure, to inform you Nir, that jonr spectacles are on top of your head." Fussy Man 'My stars I So they are. Why didn't you say so before 1" f Advert'sing Clerk "Business before pleasure, you know." New York' Weekly. A Strange Petrifaction. c.Eight years ago the twelve-year-old son of Samuel Romandorf, of Indianapo? lis, was missing, and there was a great mystery about his disappearance, as it was impossible to say whether the lad had followed a traveling circus or was drowned in a large pond, in extent a little less than a lake in the marsh lands of Crawford County. The family resided at the village of Eckerly when at home. The circus was a treat of a season to the genus "small boy." Young Romandorf 's father, how ever, was astern and cruel parent, and refused to permit his son to go to the show. Consequently, when he failed to reDort at home that nigrht. it was said night, it was that he had run off showmen. with the wandering The boy's hat was found in the pond next day, but as diligent dragging of the water failed to bring up his body, the running off with the circus theory was adhered to, the supposition being that to fool his father, he had thrown his hat into the pond. Since then the pond has become filled with a rank growth of grass,' and the collection of debris along the shores, un til now it is but a dismal slough. The scarcity of water this fall caused the owner to dredge it and reopen it for a reservoir. While digging througn the deposit to establish flood gates, the workmen came on a petrified body, which was remarkably, not to say provi dentially well preserved. Flakes of soil, highly colored with a deposit of sulphurous iron, like the famous iron, bogs in northern Indiana, dropped from the body, leaving the corpse in almost its natural color. The only change was a slightly jaundiced cast to the skin. The limbs were fairly, plump and well shaped, as if cast in a mould of ribpperish clay. When the workmen removed the dirt from the features they were startled at then lifelike appearance. The long time dead eyes were not sunken, but open and staring like two blue gems. The eyeballs had apparently been crys talized by the action of the water. . Its effect would have startled the stoutest heart. The man lifted the body out and called for Mr. Romandorf, who came and recognized it as that of his lost son. The only distortion about the body, is that of the arms, which are wrappedand knotted together in a strange way, across the breast. The news of the discovery spread rapidly throughout the town, and crowds, including women and children, went out to see the strange sight. Dr. Jacob Seifert, the oldest physician in the place, was the only man of any sci entific knowledge in the neighbood and he turned pale at the sight of the strangely petrified form. A funeral was held at the Lutheran Church at which the whole town attended. Business houses were closed while the merchants went to look in the church and peep at the staring blue eyes gleaming out from the coffin. Neva York Telegram. Magnificent Estate of a Millionaire. Colonel A. K. McClure, of the Phila delphia Times, writing from Asheville, N. C, to his paper, among other things says "One prominent elevation some three mile3 from the river, is the center of the magnificent estate of George W. Vanderbilt, containing 7200 acres in one body and now employing from 600 to 1000 men in beautifying it. The land alone costs $250,000, and his improve ments are so colossal in conception as to find parallel only in tho grandeur of the ancient Romans. His house is now in course of erection on the western slope of the central elevation, with a bewitch ing view of mountains, river, farms and city.- It is 400 feet in length, with solid walls of fifty feet in height from the deer park on the western front to the first floor,' and the lawn tennis court alone, with its huge walls from thirty to fifty feet in height, would make a foundation for the grandest of the ancient temples in ttie Old Worll. A private railroad ' some five miles in length is kept busy transporting materials for the palace, for bridges, for roads, etc, and when com pleted the cost of the estate will reach S5. 000. 000. There will be 100 miles of ' elegant roads traversing the Vanderbflt estate, of which thirty-eight will bt macadamized, and scores of bridges, of every conceivable form of exquisite ar chitecture, will add to the beauty of the place. ,The building of the palace will be a five years' task, even with every branch of mechanism employed in its construction filled with workmen. This will be the most magnificent estate on the continent, surpassing the oldest and largest English estates in natural beauty, and with its game preserves equaled by few in any country of the world." A 'Possum Farm. J. M. Hunt, of Carrollfcn,; Ga., has a 'pessum farm. He now has twelve on hand fattening. He buys all he can get, fat or poor. U they are not in good condition he fattens them for the mar ket. He says that he will keep a supply on hand foi the local market. The juicy and oleaginous 'possum is quite a favor ite dish with some of our rt cures, and no doubt Mr. Hunt will do a thriving business. Atlanta Constitution A PORTABLE CUT. DESCRIPTION OF A RAILROAD CAMP IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. An Almost Complete City, Ready to . Moveat Short Motice Soma ' ot the Principal Tents. The whole work of building a railroad Is let out in contracts for portions of five, ten, or fifteen miles.' Even when great jobs of seventy or 100 miles are con tracted for in one piece, it is customary for the contractor to divide his task and sublet it. - The camp to which we came was a portable city, .complete except for its lack of women. It had its artisans, its professional men, its store and work shops, its seat of government and offi cers, and its policeman, . its amusement hall, its work-a-day and social sides. Its main peculiarity was that its boss (for it is like an American city in the posses sion of that functionary also) had an nounced that he was going to move it a couple of miles away on the following Sunday. One tent was the stableman's, with a capacious "corral" fenced in near by for the keeping of the pack horses and mules. His corps of assistants was a large one; for, beside the, pack horse; that connected the camp with the outer wold, he had the keeping of all the "grade horses," so called those which draw the stone and dirt carts and the little dump cars on the false tracks set up on the levels near where "filling" or "cutting" is to be done. Another tens was the blacksmith's. He had a "help er," and was a busy man, charged with all the tool sharpening the care . of all the horses' feet, and the repairing of all the ironwork of . the wagous, cars and dirt scrapers. Near by was the harness man's tent, the shop of the leather mender. In the centre of the camp, like a low citadel, rose a mound of logs and earth bearing on a sign the single word "Powaer," but containing within it- great sunken chamber a considerable store of various explosives giant, black , and Judson powder and dynamite. , Another tent was that of the titns-' keeper. He journeyed twice a day all aver the. work, five miles .up and live miles down. Oh one journey he notel what men were at labor in the forenoon, md on his return he tallied those wiio rere entitled to pay for the secaad halt' f the day. Such an oifioial knows ta-j lame of every laborer, .and," moreover, ie knows the pecuniary rating ot eicii han, so .that when the workmen stop him ;o order shoe3 or trousers, blankets, ihirts, tobacco, penknives or what not, ie decides upon his own responsibility whether they have sufficient money r to them to meet the accomaio- iation. The "store" was simply another tent. tn it was kept a fair supply of the arti- 5les in constant demand a supply brought from the headquarters store at the other end of the trail, and coustantly replenished by the pack-horses. This trading place was in charge "of a. man called "the bookkeeper," and he had two or three clerks to assist him. The stock was precisely like that of a cross roads country store in one of our older States. Its goods include simple medi cines, boots, shoes, clothing, cutlery, tobacco, cigars, pipes, hats and cap3, blankets, thread and needles,and several hundred others among the ten thousand necessities of a modern laborer's life. The only legal tender received Jhere took the shape of orders written by the time-keeper, for the man in charge of the store was not required to know the ratings of the men upon the pay-roll. The doctor's tent :was among the rest, but his office might aptly have been said to be "in the saddle." He was nominally employed by the company, but each man was "docked," or charged seventy-five cents a month for medical services whether he ever needed a doc tor or not. - Another one of the tents was that ol the "boss packer." He superintended the transportation of supplies on the pack-rail. This "job of 200 men," as Dunn styled hi3 camp, employed thirty pack horse3 and mules. The pack trains consisted of a "bell-horse" and boy, aud six horses following. Each animal was rated to earn a burden of 400 pounds of dead weight, and to require three quarts of meal three times a day. Another official habitation was the "store-man's" tent. As a rule, there is a store-man to every ten miles of construc tion" work; often every camp has one, The store-man keeps account of the dis tributiou of the supplies of food. He is- 3ues requisitions upon the head store house of the company, and makes out orders for each day's rations from the :amp store. The cooks are therefore un der him, and this fact suggests a men tion of the principal building in the samp the mess hall, or "grub tent." This structure wa3 of a size to accom modate two'hundred men at once. Two tables ran the length of tiie unbroken interior table3 made ro-iiily of the slabs or outside boaids fro.ij a saw-mill. The benches were huge tr je trunks spiked fast upon'stumps. There was' a bench on either side of each table, j and the places for the men were each set with a tin cup and a tin pie plate. The bread was heaped high on wooden platters,' and all the ' condiments catsup, vine gar, mustard, pepper, and salt were in cans that had once held condensad milk. The cooks worked in an openaded ex tension at the rear of the grea room. The rule is to-have one cook: anA two l"cookees" to each sixty men. Harper V Mommy. . .-. , Birth of a Double Lamb. Henry S. Bragg is the possessor of the greatest curiosity ever before exhibited in Lincoln County. It is a double lamb, born some time since on the farm ot Colonel Broady . Hull in this county. The lamb, of lambs, it is hard to tell whichj lived but a short time after birth, and may be described as follows: The monstrosity has one head, four ears, eight legs, one body until midway, then two. The body is natural until about half its length, when it divides,- the re mainder being two separate and per fectly formed bodies. About where the shoulders should be is the breast of one of the lamb3, and here two perfect legs come out and bend backward. Instead of the shoulders is a breast out of which comes two legs. It is beyond doubt the greatest curiosity of the kind ever seen in this section, and hundreds hare called to see it. Troy (Mo. Times. i Cuba's sugar crop, this year is 267,000 toaa more than in 1880. A Young Kiug'g Squirt Gan. The big-eyed little King of Spain far very fond of his garden, and some time ago one of the Queen's Austrian rela tives, who was going to pay a visit at the Spanish court, bought a very nica squirt-gun in Vienna for the young mon arch to use in watering his plants. IE Majesty found it perfectly charming for this purpose. It would send a stream of water to almost any height or dis tance, and such a well-watered domam as the royal parterre had scarcely beea known before. Indeed, there was altogether too much of it to confine it strictly to the garden, and the King soon began to make ex periments in other directions. Fine . paintings, rich draperies and various works of art were played upon at in tervals, to the great satisfaction of his. youthful Majesty; but soon he yearned for more exciting subjects. There is no great glory in attacking inanimate ob jects that cannot move nor "answer back," and Alphonso next cast specula tive eyes on his noble playmates and the ladies who surrounded him. He ala cast the contents of his squirt-gun in the same direction, and found himsef in pos session of more enjoyment than his short life had yet afforded him.' The cries and scuffles of bis, victims, though muffled ia their veneration for their sovereign, added greatly to the zest of these per formances, and it was a long time before Queen Christina knew of the in-door waterings which gave her small son such infinite pleasure. But Alphonso especially loved a shin ing mark for his squirt-gun, an 1 chis4ed to his exposure and a tutor to keep him in better order, The Queen Regent gave a grand garden party, at which celeb rities from far and near were present; and the King, singling out a big .Gen eral in a magnificent blue and gold uni form, put himself behind a shrub and shouted at him. The General approached the spot, and Alphonso held up a hand ful of flowers to lure him on. The glit tering uniform came nearer, and when close to the shrub behind which His Majesty lurked in ambush, the point of the Viennese squirt -gun appeared like a serpent among the leaves, drenching and spotting the gorgeous suit which a mo ment before had been so imposing. The dripping General backed out ot range as quickly as possible, and before" the mischievous boy could reload aud follow up his victory, his injured subject had taken refuge under the protecting eye of Queen Christina. Then the merry monarch tried to inveigle into his share no less a person than Monsignor Del Vat, son of the Spanish ambassador at Vienna, but the young prelate had seen the Gen eral's plight, and was wary enough to keep several persons Jbetween him and his sovereign for the rest of the after noon. '. On the following day it was decided at the palace that a masculine hand was needed to lie heavy on Alphonso, and the cautious Monsignor Del Val was se lected to train his Majesty. Harper" Young People. New Feat iu Ophthalmic Surgery. A remarkable case of successful removal of a piece of metal imbedded in the re tina is reported by Dr, Thatham Thomp son,' Ophthalmic surgeon to the Card ill (Wales) infirmary. A blacksmith waa engaged in December last at a collierj near Pontrypridd, in stamping new tools, when a small splinter of steel flew oS and struck him in the white of the left eye, causing irritation and other syrup, toms which eventually rendered it neces sary either to remove the eye or make a attempt to extract the cause of the trouble. The latter daring experiment having been decided on, the patient was put under the influence of ether. The little wound was then reopened with am instrument known as a cataract knife and a curved pole of an electric magnet was introduced. This was then passed across the vitreous body as nearly a could be judged .in" the direction trav ersed by the splinter. On the first with drawal nothing appeared, but a second attempt in .which the pole was passed still further, ended in the fragment of steel passing easily through the opening in tow of the magnet. The sufferer k stated to have since resumed his duties with restored sight. Chicago Herald. Moving Grant's Tomb. '""v- "One of the most difficult things 1 have ever heard of was the moving ol Grant's tomb, in New York," said Henry J. Weatherly, a well-known Detroit Con tractor, at the Laclede. "The moving ol the tomb from, its temporary place some 200 feet distant was an extremely diffi cult task, and was awarded to James BL Gilligan, a well known New York mover. In the first .place the concrete base on 1 " L ll A 1 1- " ' 11 1 A wuica me to mo, wuuiuiu wie ca'iset,, rested had to be cut away with chisels, and this alone consumed six days. Then the tomb had to be raised sixteen feet and then carried over a sort of elevated rail road , to the new site. It took nearly it, and he greatest care had to be takes h nrntrnnf if a TillTrwr artav-t TIkiw s r-w.-t the steel casket containing Grant's body was not fattened in any way and there was great danger, if .it in any way got out of plumb, of it breaking the tomb, and taken on the whole it waa a job thai few men would care to undertake, and 'Contractor Gilligan deserves great and the $7000 he received as a compen sation is, I think, very, small." SL Louis Star-Sayings. Lions Frightened by a Whip. A correspondent who has had consider-1 able experience in South Africa, narrates au incident which occurred on the Lim popo River, the northern boundry of the Transvaal. One of his drivers was Hottentot named Cigar, and though the roads were heavy, he had to hurry on, time, being au object, not even halting; for the usual siesta in the middle of the day. But one day the bullocks stopped suddenly and refused to advance further. The Hottentot's experience told him there was something ahead that frightened .the oxen, so, seizing his whip, he went for ward to reconnoitre. He was not long in discovering the cause of the trouble, , namely, a splendid couple of lions with' their cubs, enjoying a mid-day snooze.' Without hesitation he measured with hi eye the distance, then raising his giant ox-whip, brought it down among them, with a succession of cracks' that rivalled the report of a jrun. Thus abruptly awakened, neither of the parents stopped to learn who had disturbed them, but bounded off into the adjoining jungle, ciosely followed by their progeaj. T6M York Journal. 'J :.i
Salisbury Globe (Salisbury, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 10, 1891, edition 1
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