y i s- . m
PUniCnH K V B it V TfTt K?DVT BY
X J. STEWART. Editor an! Proprietor.
PRICK OF SUBSCRIPTION:
oeYear....- -
ftx Months...
fhree Months........ . ... ... ... &0
ff Advertising Rates by contract,
treasonable. .
BoUcedat tbe pJst OBIse at Salisbury
aa secoad-clus matter.
i:
The bachelor wheelmen in Buffalo
Ihtc, announces the New York Tele
gram, established a fund, as an encour
agement to matrimony. They hare each
fcretfl to deposit $50 ia tbe bank, and
Mc total nun of $500 is to be given to
Ike first of the number who marries,
Srne one of these young fellows is
Bound to ride into matrimony-on the
heel of fortune."
Jn Queeiixland there are 20J0 acres
f ' land under cotton cultivation, and
larwers every wlara aro turning their at.
ftaotion to ks furlher growth. Owing to
excessive rain the season has beem
gainst them, but in some cases a ton of
otton per acra was secured, ths quality
freiog pronounced excellent by local ex
ferU iu the colonic) who alio claim that
it is much superi or to ordinary American
Cotton.
What thought-transference actually
weans was exemplified the other day m
New York City, when an en. ire school
4 blind pupils visited the Dore pxtiibi
Ikon of paintings, accompanied by the
Her. Dr. Stryker. Tuc latter explained
with much miuulcness of detail the gen
eral appearance of the picture and iU
various points of excellence, that the
children left the placa gleefully chatting
about what they bad seen through their
preceptor's eyes.
", A. remarkable sceue occurred at a re
rout meeting of the Bjwdley (England)
Town Council, which was heid for the
purpose of electing a Mayor for the en
uiog twelve months. The retiring
Mayor (Mr. Kitc'.iing', was proposed for
e-clcction, and one Mr. Crump was also
proposed. Tutrc were eight votes for
each candidate, the Mayor recording his
tote for hinvself. Then the Major ( vho
fcad persisted in presidium at the ejec
tion in defiance of a vigorous protest
from tho friends of bis opponen) pro
tecded to record a casting vote ia his
wn favor, and declared himself to be
duly elected.
It is computet ia Lou ou that during
the ensuing twelve mouths various debtor
Governments of the world will be seek
ing loans aggregating "over '5JO,000,
300, and it is felt that, no matter who
succeeds or who faiL, there will be a
bcavy deaiand on London for gold. Ti3
batik rate is abnormally low for the mo
neat, simply because Uissia has tern,
y orarily ceased withdrawing gold. But
protests against this dangerous optimism
re already heard and a general stiffen
ing is likely to cnuio before the new year.
The Rothschilds estimate Russia's sum
( gold m hand at 5G5,(.HJ,(jOO, but it
is carried between the Bank of Russia
nd the Imperial Treasury in such a mys
tifyiag way that the, figures can always
e' juggled from oae account to the other,
Vod ' withdrawals inny commence any
day.
The NewT York Tribune asserts that
'the proposition to islabiish a Road De
partment, or a Road Bureau in the inte
rior Department, has been received with
mall favor, by those most deeply inter
ested ia the construction ot g-."vi roads,
nd CougreAJ is not likely to be asked to
five serious attention to it. The senti
aaeut in iavor of go .id roads, however, is
steadily increasing. Excellent reports
lave been received from Vermont, Ma
achusctts, Maine, Maryland and Georgia.
14 appears that President Oilman, of
Johus Hopkins University, :'s taking an
active interest in the formation of local
league tor good roads in the vicinity of
mlin n,' llin Ufa in a Slti r!i!l,f in.
lis 10 unacrtao ine esuiui s liaeni oi
V leagues in hia State. It is highlj
yying to see this chvs of men zoal-
interestcc in this srood work. n
it ia a matter that concerns every
ar of the cnuim'uuity."
lotion or the dangers and diffi-
.
lich attend upon railway cop
India may be gathered from
done! Sargeaunt's report.
Uej Sta'e Rtilway, British
Une 3J4 miles in length.
fpTcgrvrt. All labor had
I. and the foo l supply to
The unheal thfuiness
was also a serious hin-
if of the laborers bemg
.nesi at a time. Uoder
Luces it is hardly surpris-
Iton Trarecript that large
a absconied. Tuo sub-
V j180. ufl"ered- much fr
Qj&i 5I t many l.ad to take lea
..avfr. iVv ,v;..
ilso tuflereti much from
leave.
rt-
-jMfbcemeut of ,.rl.y: . c isi leruly.
lliere-are bctw.,,,,, l-yo,, ' ftl 1 l.OJ'J
men nn the wors 'a '.hi ,.,rufixi
tft has been hoUie.f.
The increase in the number of persona
who wear glasses haj been very marked
vvithia a few years.
The courts of Georgia have recently
given out some interesting telegraph
law. One decision exempts telegraph
companies from penalties for failure to
deliver messages on Sunday, and an
other decides that a telegraph conlpany
is not excused from using care because a
message is ungrammatical.
The most recent estimates of the capi
tal invested in the elecricat industries of
the United States is 725,000,000, and
of this amount $330,000,00'J represents
the proportion which electric lighting
and power have attained; $100,000,000
is also the estimated investment in elec
trical tupplies, of which the electric
lighting and railway appfiacces consti
tute a large proportion.
The wheelmen of five years aero would
have laughed, opines the San Francisco
Chronicle, if any one had suggested that
a good road bicycle could be turned out
weighing oniy lij pounds, yet this is
what Berlo, the crack rider, has done.
The details of the construction of his
machine show the large part which fine
tube steel plays in it. Light gearing
and the pneumatic tire promise to reduce
the bicycle record materially during the
coming year.
Judge W. L. Putnam, of Maine, one
of the new L'aiteJ States Circuit Court
Justice?, never wa3 much of a.geniiks for
mechanics, but now finds that many of
the cases he is called to pass upon in
volve patents. This has led him to study
a class of subjects that he had not pre
viously had a fancy for. A few days
ago he was industriously investigating
the construction of a firecracker, and he
learned just how to make one before he
got through. Soon afterward he tacklea
the harrow question.
A charter has been granted in Phila
delphia to the "Society of the War ol
1812." The society numbers among iU
members fifty-five veterans, scattered
throughout the Union. David McCoy,
aged 102, is probably the oldest. He
resides in San Bernardino, Cal. AYhen
he volunteered, in 1812, he furnished
his own gun and horse. Tuere are
several members wliose age, it is . said ,
approaches 100, and Abram Dally, of
Brooklyn, who is over ninety-seven,
signed the charter without: glasses in a
clear, legible band.
Dr. J. William White, lecturer on
surgery at the University of Pennsyl
vania, has made a special study of in
juries received byfostball players. What
is his conclusion as a mcdital expert?
Taking the players on the team of the
Pennsylvania institution he made a di
agnosis of every injury received by them
and demonstrated that the worst case of
all was very trivial. He says further,
4I never neglect an opportunity to de
fend this great game of football, so in
ducive to health and so beneficial to tho
players in every way. It makes a man
of them in every way, develops courage,
endurance and every characteristic that
goes to make a traly symmetrical man."
The other day the Turks consecrated
the grounds on which the Turkish Pavil
lion of the World's Fair will be erected.
First, they killed a large white sheep, as
a sort of insurance to prevent Allah from
destroying the building. A hundred
men in bulging breeches, rimless red fez
and red slippers stood around the sheep,
which had been raised by an Iowa
granger. One map prayed, another tied
n bandage over the eyes of the sheep,
and Fahri Bey cut the animal's throat
with a sniekersnee. Then the hundred
men jelled "Patis hoem Jok vacua,"
which means ' 'Allah save the Sultan,"
after which Fahri Bey and Robert Lvi
made speeches. After this everybody
went to tbe Turkish village, where the
Sultan's stlk tent, valued at $100,000,
and a Silver bed from 'his harem were,
and the sheep was there cooked and
eaten.
A tax oh house rent has been substitu
ted for the proposed income tax in Rus
sia, and it is iutended that the amount
shall vary in accordance not only with
the size and importance of the town,
but with the position of the house of the
taxpayer with regard to a central point.
The neccessity of raising money is ob
vious from the published returns of ex
penditure during the last twenty-Sve
years of the Food-Supply Guarantee
Fund, which has replaced the former
village grain reserve magazines for that
period with disastrous results. From
1667 to 1S90, inclusive, thirtv-two mil-
lions and a quarter was expended in re
lief; in .1891 alone the amount was over
eighty-six millions and a quarter; in
1S92, from January to October, thcx
penditure was fifty-on; and a quarter
millions. Thus the relief for last year
and ten months of the present year cost
more than ten times the total expendi
ture in the previous twenty-four years.
The Guarantee Fund is unable to meet
the dcmiud upon it. It has received
nearly 135,100,000 from the Imperial
chest, which has now to be repaid. As
the hamlet- and village are not expected,
to be subject to tho house-rent tax,
the Government apparently contemplates
recovering a great jwrt of 'the debt of
the agricultural c'assei from the trading
and inlu-stria! clouieuts of the popula
tion. , ..-.v.:,..':.
SAND.
I observed a locomotive in the railroad yard
' one day, y
It was waiting in tho roundhouse, where
the locomotives stay;
It was panting for the journey, it wa3 coaled
and f oily manned,
And it had a box the fireman was filling fall
of sand.
It appears that locomotives cannot always
get a grip
On their slender iron pavement, 'cause the
wheels are apt to slip; I
And hen they reach a slippery spot, their
tactics tbay command.
And to get a grip upon the rail, they sprinkle
it with sand.
It's alont this way with travel along life's
slippery track.
If your load is rather heavy and you're
always fliling bact; ;
So, if a common locomotive you compSldly
understand.
You'll provide yourself in starting with a
goad supply o. san i. .
If your track is ftep ani hilly and you have
a heavy grade.
And if- those who've gone lefore you have
the rails quite slippery made.
If you ever reaca tbe summit of the upper
tableland.
You'll find you'll Lave 1 3 do it with a liberal
use of sand. I
If you strike some fri'il weather and dis
cover to your cost.
That you're liable to slip on a heavy coat of
frost.
Then some .prompt, deei led action will be
callod into demand,
And youM slip way to ttta bottom if you
haven't any sand.
You can get to any station that is on life's
schedule seeD, '
If there's fire beneath the boiler of ambition's
6trong machine,
And you'll reach a place called Fiushtown at
a rate of speed that's grand.
If for all the slippery p aces you've a good
supply of sani.
Richmond (Ind.) Register.
NOT HIS SWEETHEABT.
YOUNG man on a
summer morning
turned down a
Yarmouth row.
It was a long, nar
row row, and the
sun that gleamed
at the quay end
made its shadow
even less enviable.
He was a line,
handsome young
fellow, somewhat
shabbily dressed,
and as he walked
he carelessly took stock of his surround
ings. Near the bottom Df the row a window
was open, and, by a geranium that
in a pot, the first and only flower he
bad seen, a girl was leaning lightly on
her elbow. Her soft, hazal eyes were
fixed on the opposite doorway.
Here a woman" with, a; red faes aadJ
brandishing a broom in her hand was
barring the entrance against a herculean
man in a glistening oily frock.
'I ax you agin', John Wade," shout
ed he of the oily, 4Sif. you're' agoin' to
sea?"
"An' I tell you agin', skipper, replied
a dogged voice from the interior, "I
ain't agoin to sea."
"Then," cried the giant, , wildly,
"what am I to do? Here's the vessel
read to sail an" you askulkin. But, as
my name is Bill Thompson, .I'll police
ye."
He looked so big and helpless in his
muddle that the girl at the window,
who seemed used to such scenes, smiled.
Looking up at her and seeing for the
first time that she was in deep mourning,
the young man smiled also. Taen a
thought appeared to strike him.
"Am 1 of any use!" he said to the
wearer of the oily. "I want a job."
The skipper looked at him doubtfully;
he thought he was joking.
"If you're ready an' wiltin', tuy lad,"
he said, "you're of use. But if you ain't,
you ain't. D'ye want a berth?"
"I want everything," answered the
young man in a low tone. "I'm home
less and penniless. But I'm a lands
man." "That ain't a bit o' consequence.
What d'ye say? Will ye go? Tis for
eight weeks."
"I don't care if it's for eight years.
There's nothing to stop mc here."
"Come on, then," cried the delighted
fisherman. "But stop; who's gom' to
take vour pay card? What's your name,
my lad?"
"John Smith," was the answer and
his hesitation escaped the skippei.
"Well, Smity, for fear V accidents,
some one had better take your money.
V. ho'll ye leave it with?"
The young man again looked up at
the window at the sweet, pure face
above him. The gaza of the rough sea
giant beside him followed his glance.
"Ob, I seel" he exclaimtd; "yon're
goirig to ask it, miss. Well, you know
where to go. Old Tom Price is the
owter, au the n urn 3 of the wcssel the
Saucy Lass. '
"Come on, Smith, no more hankyin';
your sweetheart "ull take your m ney,."
and he seized the newly shipped by the
arm. ,
At the word "sweetheart" the cheeks
of the girl at the window grew as red as
the geranium by her elbow. Iu a
startled manner she stretched over the
sill
pfo, no," she cned in confusion, "I
ot know the eeutlemao. I I
it alreadv Smith, with the hand of
the IkiDDer on his arm. had been hur-
riedtout of earshot, and before she could
react the door the two bad vaaisned
d-wi the road.
Eight weeks later the youiur rain,
bronzed and hearty, stood on Yarmouth
quay. His sea rig had given place to a
decent suit of clothes, and he seemed
pondering which way to go. .
At last he wandered away to the sea
shore. Deep in thought, he strolled on
by the edge of the white crested break
ers till he came to the Danes. Finding
a spot where pale blue violeU lay low
among the sea grass, he fiang himself
down and pu'.led oat an envelope.
It contained a postofSca otder
n rapped in a piece of notspaper, and on
this was written "Katherine Perry.
The amount was the sum dua to binvoa
his pay card.
He had been to the houe, but found
her gone. Yet here was his inone? left
by her in this form.
What mystery was this? He lay back
in the son and tried to solvevit, but no!
solution came, and with murfDur of ths
sea in his ears he romantically vissed the
order. Then he rose and walkedbaek.
On his homeward path he stopped to
huy a morning paper. They were but,
just in, and the news vendor was smooth
ing them oat. Suddenly he caught bis
bieath. His gaze was riveted onan ad
vertisement that read thus:,
George Xeal ia earnestly requested to com
municate with Messrs. Faroes & Waoi
aohcitors, Lincoln's inn F.el ls. when he wii
hear of something to his. a i vantage
person knowing of the whereabout of the
said Cr. X. and cmmamcitin? ths game to
the above nro,, will be suitably rewarded.
Before nonn that day John Smith had
shaken the dust of Yarmouth from h
feet and was on his way to London. At
Liverpool street he hailed a hansom and
was driven to the office of Messrs. Fur
Dess& Wapp, solicitors, Lincoln's Inn
Fields.
As he burst into the office a carefully
dressed old gentleman wearing a pair of
gold rimmed glasses stepped forward tc
greet him. This he did by nearly shakin
his arm off.
Why, my dear George," he cried,
"how glad I am to see you. We have
been advertising for you all over the
country. How is it you haven't seen
our advertisement before?"
1 have been at sea," said the visitor,
with a smile, "in a fishing smack."
"Sea fishing smack!" gasped the
lawyer. "You, Georse! Is it pos
sible?" . , .
In a few words the young man told
his tale. The old solicitor listened with
much interest; then his face grew grave.
"So you have not heard the news, my
boy," he said. "Your uncle is dead."
"Dead!" repeated George Neal, sadly,
"and we parted in anger merely because
I refused to follow the profession he bad
chosen for me."
"It we thought oftener of the King
of Terrors there would be fewer quar
rels," said the lawyer, kindly; "but he,
too, was sorry, George, though when you
hear the rest you may think he took
rather an oid way of showing it.
"Yo'i know, of course, I was the per
son m'st trusted by your uncle; besides
being his confidential adviser I was also
his friend. Well, as soon as you left I
was called in to draw up a fresh will.
"At first, my dear boy, he wavered
between leaving his money to a home f oi
cats and the founing of a colony for re
formed pickpockets. These mad pro
jects, however, soon evaporated, and,
subject to one condition, he made hh
property over to you."
With a curious expression on his sun
burnt face, the young man looked up.
And that condition?" he said.
"Excuse me a moment," said Mr.
Furness, looking at his watch. "I ex
pect a ladv here presently; let us sten
into my private room."
The lawyer led the way, and in the
privacy of this apartment they both sat
down again.
"And that condition?" said George
Neal firmly.
"Now, my dear boy," said the law
yer, "don't tire up. You have had your
way ; let the dead man hs.ve his. You
Would not let him choose you your pro
fession, but he would find you some
thing, so he found jou a wife!
. "In some little miserable seaport on
the' east coast your uncle had what
nearly every successful man has nowa
days a poor relation. It came to his
knowledge that this poor relation had
died o.ad left a daughter. This was
quite enough for your uncle, and he
made it a requisite condition that you
marry her.
"The lady's name is "
"Stopl" With ,his face expressing
all the bitterness he felt the young man
rose.
"Before you continue," said Mr. Fur
ness, hurriedly, "allow me to siy a
word. I have confidence in you as a
gentleman, George, but I put you on
your guard. The lady is here."
There was a knock and the door was
gently opened. Tne clerk came fir3t,
then the lawyer, with old-fashioned
courtesy, hastened forward to intercept
the visitor. He took her hand and led
her over the threshold.
"Miss Kate Perry," he sid; "and
this, my dear young lady, is Mr. George
Neal!"
All the blood that was in Neal's body
rushed to his face. He stood grasping
at the back of his chair, unable to utter
a word.
Then the little hand that the lawyer
held started trembling so violently that
it attracted Mr. Furne3s's attention, and
he hastily led her to a chair. -Next he
slyly examined the pair of them.
"It is possible," he said, "that my
introduction come3 a trifle late. Am I
wrong in this surmise?''
"I I," sammered Kite. "3Ir.
Smith," then she stopped, blushing deep
lj. "S nith?" said the lawyer, mystiSed.
"Sraitu? It is a well kno-vn name, but
I cxnnot say that up to the present I
have heard it in connection with this
case."
At last George Neal's tonguo was un
tied, and he hastened to the rescue.
"I ha7e met this young lady before,
he said, "under very singular circum
stancss; we now meet under circum
stances stranger still. An explanation
is due to her, and, if you will give me a
little time to explain "
"Certainly, certainly," said Mr. Fu.--nes?,
rubbing his haaJs. " Take all ths
time you require. Iam quite coatcnt
to let Cupid take my place as mc-diator,"
and, with a beaming faci, he bowed
himself out.
If the old lawyer's cleric had any de
sire to look into that roon after his mis
ter had left it, he was disappointed. Mr.
Furness's eyes never left him for a mo
meat. When it seeme 1 to the despairing
clek that the best part of the day had
gone Mr. Funess went back to his
strangely met visitors. His eye3 fell first
on the drooping figure of Kate.
"May I hope," he said gently, "that
the explanation has not been a tiresome
one?"
No," said George, with a glowing
face; "to me it hasn't. Now, old friend,
listen to me. I have o2ered my dear
Kate the property without inrambrance.
But she has refused to accept it on any
suchteroa3. Woat are we to dof
"My advice," sail the old lawyer, 4is
to go into partnership. And if the
wishes of a dry oil bit of legal parch
ment, who had a love dream once, can
follow you far, they will repeat good
lu;k and much happiness." Coraniercia,'
Advertiser.
Our production of meat in 18S0 wa3
nearly half as great as that of Europe,
with its population of 330.009.000.
Wagons Full ot Gold.
What that?" asked a teamster at
Spreckels's dock, as he saw the crew of
the lloncwal landing little boxes from
a steamer.
"Gold," was the laconic reply of the
sailor; 'tons of it." And be returned
to the steamer's steel rault for another
lad of the precious metal.
The Custom House had barely opened
when permits to land $2,000,00 1 in
Australian sovereigns and gold bar 3 were
issued to three young men, who were
soon on the Oriental dock looking for
the Captain of the Monowal. It was a
simple matter to move all this gold
away. Nobody seemed suspicious. The
Captain looked at the papers and then
opened the treasure receptacle, and with
out questioning or investigating on
either side box after box was carried out
on the shoulders of the crew. One dis
tinction was made in favor of the gold;
No ordinary longshoreman was allowed
to handle it.
The sturdy little chests were about
eighteen inches long and nine or ten
inches square, of Australian hardwood
inch boards, and bound at each end
with band3 of iron, and to make the n
doubly secure great red seals were at
tached over each joint. As none of the
seals were broken the bank men were
satisfied and accepted their gold as if it
were ordinary merchandise. Forty boxes,
each one containing $25,000, were
placed in an express wagon, and twenty
each in two other wagons. The larger
load weighed nearly a ton.
There was no escort for these millions
except two banking men and tbe driver
on each wagon, as it was moved to
Uncle Sam's chests. The Anglo-Cali-fonia
Bank received $1,000,000 in
sovereigns, the Bank of British North
America $500,000 in sovereigns and gold
bars and the London, Paris and Ameri
can Bank $500,000 in sovereigns. These
banks will get back from the Mint an
equivalent in value in $21 pieces. In
surance costs them one-fourth of one per
cent, and freight about the same, yet
a nice profit is made on these large
transactions through the medium of ex
change on England and the balance of
trade. Bills are sent to Louden to Eng
lish bankers and in turn are utilized in
payment of California wheat-growers,
flour-millers, etc. Australia owes Eag
land and England owes America for
products, and by such a transaction as
this the first debt is paid by sending
money here instead of to London. The
saving in exchange pays the bankers.
Baa Francisco Examiner.
Why Inscti luf.st Plants.
The observations and experiences of a
long life devoted to horticulture lead me
to the conclusion that insects never at
tack plants or trees unless the same
have had some check or shock
in some way that has impaired
or injured their vital power, writes
John Sa'il, of Washington, D. C,
in an essay before the American florists.
Man when in robust, vigorous health
will not take fevers and other diseases;
he must receive a checc, something must
be wanting, before the disease will
catch, as in plants. We are told sani
tary measures are necessary to avoid dis
ease; these must be cleanliness, pute air
and water, and whatever may be neces
sary or conducive to health,' and this is
what is precisely requisite to plant life.
Bacteria is not a causi, but an effect;
they are the scavengers to clean up de
caying vegetation. A hriU3e of roses is
in perfect health without a speck of mil
dew during fall, winter or spring; the
atmosphere inside is about sixty degrees,
moist and genial; the roses look happy.
Outside it 13 colel and raw. Suppose the
side ventilators aie opened for half an
hour; a cold draught of air passes over
the plants. Tne plants have been chilled,
taken a violent cold, and in a shost time
will be covered With mildew.
Mildew follows from the check to
plants a violent cold. Any person may
try a similar experiment on himself.
Plants arc never attacked by insect?,
whether in the greenhouse or out of
doors, if in vigorous health, growing in
a suitable, well-drained soil, and a cli
mate or artificial atmosphere An perfect
harmony with what the particular species
requires. u
In place of spraying and destroying
insects after the life of our trees and
plants have been sapped away, let us
take a lesson from stock breeders; see
how careful they aro of pedigree; it
must have untarnished blood, must be
free from disease; how careful they are
that no check or injury shall in any way
impair growth or vigor; they know to
well that an injured, or stinted animtl
cannot be perfec: or beautiful when ma
tured. In precisely the same way must
the horticulturist proceed; tie nvit start
right with his plants, and follow the
same unerring laws, when he will ea
counter but few insects. Boston Culti
vator. Why tie North sie Is (ircrn.
The green color of ocean water in high
Northern latitudes depend upon tbe
number d medusae and other minute an
imal forms which inhabit it. The deep
green northern seas literally swarm witn
thes2 niiuintare crca'.ure, in s une places
as many as 123 ot tae.n harm; bee a
found in a single cubic inch of water. In
this pr jportion a cubic foot would con
tain 221,134, a cubic fithom. 47,775,
744, and a cubic mile, 47,776,000,000,
000. From soundings made in the
vicinity where tbtsa creatures arc found
in suc'a immense numbers it is probable
that the water will average a mile in
depth. Wuether tacss forms occupy the
whole depth or not is uncertain. But
whether they do or not, it gives us a
stupendous idea of tbe immensity of cre
ation; for, if the number of these little
living things in tbe space of one s ogle
mile be so great, what an ia Suite num
ber may be required to give color to the
hundreds of thousands of cubic miles
contained in the oceans of the globe.
Boston Cultivator.
Put Tonr Mst Fcot Furemost.
This piece of advice has been oilcred
to most folk, young and old, in the
cour-e of their lives. It is generally
equivalent to saying, "Now's your
cnance; do your very best and show
what you are capable of." Like a great
many common phrases this expression
has an old origin. In the days of an
cient Rome, when people were usually
the slaves of some superstition or other,
It was thought to be uniuiky" to cross
the threshold of a bonse with the left
foot frst. Consequently a boy was
placed at the door of the mansion to re
mind visitors that they were to put their
right foot foremost. The use of the
phrase in tbe wider sense soon became
obvious. ,
THE "SEA.-APK
OTTER AXD OTTKB-HOXTISO ON
the pacific coast.
Karly Hunter ot the Animal Ther
Ar Beooraing Scarce-Met hod
ot Unntlnjc Them Some
ot Their Ilabita.
STOUT old Captain Bcrinsr, the
Russian commanderof the square
built, higb-decked ship Saint
Peter, was the first European to
describe the strange "sea-ape," as he
called it. This, writes Charles H. Shinn,
in the New Orleans Picayune, was in
1740, and all that had been previously
known about tho Creature was that its
fur, which, as early as the middle of the
seventeenth century, had r. ached the
Amsterdam markets, was of surpassing
beauty and value. It was said that the
Tartars ca-ight the creature burrowing
underground, like an immense mole;
another legend described it as dwelling
on the sea bottom, and never reaching
the surface. Captain Bering's discover
ies awakeued Russian enterprise and led
to the settlement of Alaska and the Rus
sian fort on Bodega Bay. Captain Cook
wrote reports on the sea otter for the
English Government, and the Hudson
Bay Company soon entered the field.
Enormous profits were made in the first
years of the traffic; thousands of skin,
worth lrom $200 to $500 apiece, were
easily secured. Baranof carried $2,000,
000 worth to St. Petersburg from his
expedition.
At the present time, the plucky and
hardy sea beast whose fur has so long
ranked among the most precious of the
garments of king and czar is yearly be
coming more difficult to find. The
days when the rugged Aluets could sur
round bands of otters in the open sea,
and spear them from skin canoes, are
gone forever; the"kalan" as the natives
name the animal, is seldom attained in
these days by any of the old methods.
Sur shooting thrcate'ns to destroy the
last of the otters. Shrewd and wily
rifilemen patrol miles of shore, from
Humboldt to Alaska, and fire whenever
they get a glimpse of sea otter's head,
even a thousand yards away. Their
bullets are marked, and the dead ctter,
when swept to land, can be claimed by
the riflemen. Some are only wounded
and so escape, but tho noise of the surf
prevents the animal from taking alarm,
and tbe work goes on remorselessly dur
ing tbe season when the fur is "in
condition." The sandy beach of Gray's
harbor, south of the straits of Fuca, and
the islands of the Saanack are the most
noted shooting grounds.
The otter has many interesting habits
fully described tn Henry Elliot's attrac
tive monograph on the seal and otter
islands of Alaska. Tae creature sleeps
on the surface of the water, lying on its
back. Natives describe the ga nbols of
a mother otter with her "pup as par
ticularly "jolly" and playful. The acute
sense, strength, and swiftness of the otter
have long been the wonder of naturalists.
Still, popular knowledge of the animal
is very fragmentary, and good specimens
are far from common in museums. It is
not every collection that can afford to put
a $'300 skin into a glass case. Now and
then some retired sea captain oc Indian
trapper takes pride in the fine stuffed
otter in his 'hall or library, but the
whole number of these on the Pacific
coast would not exceed a score. The
time will come when naturalists will
speak of otter specimens as being as
scarce as those of the "great Auk."
Sportsmen sometimes have a try at
otter shooting, but it is by all olds the
most discouraaing work" that one can
undertake. The season is usually win
ter, and miny hours of patient watch
ing is required before a shot can be had.
The distance, the glint and motion of
the waves and the extieae caution on
the animal combine to make most
sportsmen willing to leave the se:t otter
to the hardy race of professional hunters.
But one occasionally finds gentlemen
who secure their own specimens, and it
is unnecessary for mc to add that such
trophies must rank highest in the scale.
Speaking broadly, a first-class rifleman,
coming to the Pacific coast for a winter's
hunting can find a caance to shoot otter3
from a boar, or from tho shore in many
places north of San Francisco, aud ia a
few places south. " He will discover that
jt is more easy to find and kill a grizzly;
the professionals only get three or four
or half a dozen otters apiece In the
course of a year aud the am itcur will do
well to rest on the laurels of his first.
And yet it is much to huve shot oue of
these shy, beautiful and fierce cca
creatures that poetry and legend have
so glorified. After a sportsman has
"potted his tiger" and dropped, his
Canadian elk, whero should he more fitly
turn his thoughts than to the swift otter
of tbe North Pacific shores?
To rrcv.ut Night C ngli.
When couguins at ni-ht is pirticu
lany troublesome thethcronh warming
of the bed previous to its beincr occupied
will often avert au attach. Toe taking
of a warm drink, preferably a glass of
hot milk, before retiria j, or better, after
getting in bed, is equally as good. The
opportunity to warm a bed is not always
possib'.e, but it is generally very easy to
procure a hot drink of some kind no
matter where one happens to be. Oue of
the nicest ways to warm a bed is by iron
ing tbe lower sheet, and as much of the
upper one as is thrown back when the
bed is opcccJ. After this is done quickly
draw up the bed clothing and place the
bottles of hot water or the old fashioned
warm log or bricks in between the
ironed sheets. Persona with consump
tion and heart disease will secure untold
comfort and many restful niyhts if they
always go t warm beds to seek repose.
Providence (R. I.) Journal.
"For My Sale." '
These three little words are the touch
stone of love. Tho application of this
touchstone begins with infancy and ends
only with the erd of life. If thu baby
in its mother a arms could speak in
tellectually, it would say "It's for my
sake that a mother's eye watches unsleep
ing tbrouirhtbe midnight hours, and her
arms ho!d me -until they are ready to
drop off for weariness." "For my sake,"
many a successful man acknowledges,
gratefully, that his parents toiled and
economized in order to buy books and
pay college bills. "For my sake" pro
vides the sheltering roof and the arm
chair for dear old grandma and the fire
side. Take these words out of language
and you would rob home of its sweetness
and human life of its noble aspiration.
; New York Commercial AdriTmcr.
New
Tbe rent pr
of all finana
in Xa- vLltW J of
moderate m
as an area ofj forty-one squa milV
fhich there is a copulation of r,.,
m. cirr T"s
has
800,000, while Philadelphia, Wlth
129 square miles of territory, hM J"
thing over 1,040,000 inhabitants.
There is an average of C33 square w
of space to each inhabitant of e
York, while there is an average ot 3i2j
square feet for each inhabitant of Phil,
delphia. There is still room, however
for many mere people in New 0rk'
although in one district the populati
is denser than in any other part f the
world.
But New York is lone and narrow
with tha businesa "centre at the south!
ern extremity, and, with imperfect
tems of rapid transit, this renders
house problem much more difficult thu
in other cities.
It is not surprlsine, therefore, to learn
from the Federal census of 189 J that
New York, with S12.76G families, has
only 81.S23 dwellings, while Paila-fci.
phia, with 205,135 tamilies, has 187,033
dwellings.
In New York there are over 18;. pr.
sons to every dwelling on an awne,
while in Philadelphia there are only
little over 5. -
These statistics explain, in a measure,
why it is that rents are so high in New
York. A whole house in New' York U
a luxury that comoaratively few people
can enjoy. Only 37,604 families out of
312,76G live in houses containing no other
families. Over forty-two per cent, of
all the dwellings in New York are tene
ment houses. Thero ara S572 dwellings
which contain ten families and over each.
Over one-lourth of all the dwellings con
tain an average of over twenty persons
each. Here many a inan is obliged "
nivfl nnA.fAiirth to one-third of hw in.
yr"!" is in
7
ejms
fc' . , i
come to the landlord. Apartiwerfts in
fiat house rent for more than whole !
houses do in other citiv4, and even two
or three rooms in a tenement cost as
much as a little dvelling elsewhere
Philadelphia Ledger.
Predicament 7 of Alpine Clliiihsrs.
It is a thrilling story of mountaineer
ing that is told in the Quarterly, says a
London paper, to illustrate the dauget"
of making difficult ascents with a single
guide. A traveler fell through a snow
bridge. His single guide could just pre
serve bis equilibrium, but was quite un
able to do more; be could only hold loy
ally by the rope and wait fcr the event.
It is difficult to couceive a crueler situa
tion or a more terrible responsibility
the very punishment devised by Mezen
tius and yet to decide upon cutting
himself free. Fortunately, after about
an hour but by the merest chance
another party came in sight upon the
glacier, and the traveler was drawn up in
time to save his life. If the rule is ob
served that at least three persons must
be on the rope no such danger can ever
occur. Though the idea still lingers
that brandy keeps out the cold, the
writer on mountaineering repeats that it
has the opposite effect, and adds that as
a cute for giddiness alcohol is also value
less. The broad path is the only remedy
for giddiness.
Another which was once tried may bo
efficacious enough, but is only men
tioned, without being recommended, in
the following story: A party of four ,
were entering on a narrow ledge, when
one of tho travelers declared that he was
giddy aud crmld not move. The leader,'
one of the two most famous Obcrland -men
of the time (nearly thirty years
ago), merely turned to the second guide
with the brief command: Push him
over.", His orders were always beyond
question, and the traveler was straight
way lowered over the precipice, and af
ter dangling on the rope for a few sec
onds was drawn back with all his powers
of climbing restored.
Are the Oceans Drying Up?
Newton, the great Sir Isaac, surmised,
alth ough he could give no reasons for
the conclusions he had reached, that in
the course of time the earth would be
come perfectly dry. Others, most no
tably Do Verne, Hamilton and the
younger Lysander, all believed that
eventually tne earta would become a
dry as the proverbial chip. Even in this
day and age the theory has many ad
herents. At a recent meeting of the
French Geological S ciety, M.
Tr&cschold, of Moscow, Russia, read a
paper eutitled "Noninvariability of the
Level of the Ocean." It term nated with
the following curious and interesting
conclusions:
1. Iu prOjorticn as certain parts ot
the earth's crust rise from the bottom
of the tea above its level, tho latter
m ist be lowerc 1.
2. Tre surfaces of nearly all the con
tinents and Islands have at one time
formed portions cf the ocean's floor.
They have risen from the water partly
because of the retreat of the waters.
3. As continents are formed one part
of the waters of the fcas is tr tusportcd to
them in the form of lakes, river, eternal ,
snows, glaciers and organized siibManccs.
Owing to tue?c actions the waters of the
oceans have been constantly diminishing
and their levels lowered corre'pondiogly.
4. In proportion as the earth cools
down ice accumulates near tbe poles and
on the tops of mountains; water is taken
more deeply into the surface of the ter
restrial crust, the formation of bydrated
minerals being manifested everywhere.
The result of these conclusions is lb'
since all the water that ever cxUied may
itill exist in the form of perpetual ice
snow, bydraved minerals, etc., W
waters of all oceans have been gradually
disappearing and that the lowering of
the oceans is going on even at tbe pres
ent day, and faster, perhaps, th?n ever
before. St. Louis Republic. :
Bfch Miss G'onlL .
Miss Helen Gould's inheritance makes
her, probably with one exception, the
richest young and unmarried . worn an In
America. The fortune oi jius uarrew,
daughter of the late President of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, b larger
than Miss Gould's, but a part of Misa
Garrett's fortune has been made by her
own business eagacity. Jay Gould did
not follow the example ot most of tbe
other creator of great fortunes in this
city, by giving the bulk of his estate to
the fons and a comparatively moderate
portion of it to the daughters. Miss
G-?uld is abuadantly competent to take
care of her interests, for she inherits
some of her father's business quality, al
though in dispoition, she suggests her
mother. She is now richer than aay of
the daughters of William II . YaaderbiU,
and very ranch richer than any of tbe
Aator irlf.Neiv York Press. t
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