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nn o c A A THE DEMOCRAT PUBLISHING CO., PUBLISHERS. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE SI.50 . PER YEAR. VOLUME I. SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1885. NUMBER 16. THE SCENT OF A FLOWER. The scent of a flower is a wonderful thing! It plays round the heart like the zephyrs of spring; So subtle, so soft, so resistless its power, -kt nn.iv-iivrnlfls like the scent of a flower. , yj 1 1 IV '111 1 Vome odors so blend with past happier years They move us like melodies breathing through l tears; or they bring back the faces and forms tha are cold, nd walks in the wild woods 'mid sunsets of gold. A frngrance exhales from a flower that 1 know, (Dear pledge of a love in the sweet long ago), When tastes were more simple, and purer our pleasures. And gifts of fresh blossoms were holiest treasures. thieve, when the dew on the leaves glittered f bright. le proffered th prize with a tender "Good I Night;" Ind my heart grew faint with ecstatic emo tion, I felt in that flower lay a life long devo- g tion. J is gone yet the scent of that delicate i flower till holds me with all the old passionate C power; Ipd oft my sick heart would lie down in I despair It that mercy divine melts my sorrow in - i prayer. "Consider the lilies." Lord, grant us to be "gthe field and thj garden brought nearer to i Thee; & ' read in sweet blossoms Thy gooduess and I power, id an infinite love in the scent of a flower. . v ft ' Jane C. Simpson, in the Quiver. X SHIP S CARPENTER. . We were lying in the Penarth dock, .r Cardiff, after Laving completed the st disagreeable of operations, the tak- fin of a large cargo of coals, and were y waiting for the tide in order to pur B our voyage to Caen. I was pacing deck, smoking the first pipe of peace had enjoyed in some days, when I ird a disturbance at the accommoda- ladder which led from the ship to quay, and in a lew seconds a wild, South-looking creature, with flashing ck eyes and long matted hair, came ting toward me, followed by my chief er. What's the row, Mr. Robbins?" I fd, as the stranger, panting and jthless, threw himself at my feet. I Can't make him out, sir that I i't," replied the officer. "He's a ichman of some sort or other " in (eyes of sailors all foreigners are chmen "and he comes aboard sayin low he wants to be taken on as a car' fter, 'cos he hears as how the Sunder J is a-goin' to a French port. "We I him as how we're provided; but he i't take no denial, and says he must thecap'n." tVell, my man," I said, sternly, pat is it? We don't want two car ters isn't that sufficient?" IonDieu! Monsieur le Capitaine," jpoor fellow returned, having rccov Ihis breath, "I have come to go vid as carpenter, or as any mortal sing ilike. I do not vant money no, I roik for nosing ; but I you pray to me vid you, and if you vill listen to pr von ten minutes 1 vill tell you for ere was something so tearfully earn t his manner, and he looked such a Sle object, that I motioned the chief Ip.to go away, and bade the man say It he wished. So he continued : Jam a scaramouch, I know I am 3 I am in rags ; but perhaps ven I "Z " tell you a leetle more you may sink dif it of me. I come from Rouen, on ze e; I vas a ship builder dere me and , t brozer. Ye vere not rich, but ve vere i lortable, and ve lived on ze Mont , '. ' te Catherine vid our only sister, ze re Jacqueline. She vas fiancee to a Jtenant of ze Twelfth regiment in ze '" jerne at Rouen, and she vas going to jharried in a few veeks, ven a friend of is, an Englishman, Monsieur le Cap 'ae, fell in love vid her, and he ran off X her, and me and my brozer has not 2U zem since. And di3 vas tree year Ot and ever since me and my brozer ve JVC been looking all over ze vorld fir m, and if ve catch him, vy then" and 8 man looked almost fiendish as he 9ke these words and tapped signifi itly a formidable-looking knife which ag in a leather sheath at his waist -y, den ve shall kill him !" Who -was he?"' I asked, "and what 1 his name?" ': His name vas Curtis," replied the jfl luchman "Richard Curtis; a big ' i he vas big of six feet, and he vas C. i ze captain of a ship." -- This was strange, for the consignees t iny ship at Caen were Richard Curti3 Co., and Dick Curtis, who answered $he description given by the French ji, had beenan especial chum of mine, aougU Phad not now seen him for ire years. fBut, my friend," I said, 'surely you I on a wild goose chase ! You might jail over the world for years without sting him, especially as you say he i a captain." 'Yes, dat is drue," allowed the mchman; "but I tink he has been p at Rouen or somevhere near again, I shall not rest until I find him." Pick Curtis, I knew, had been a bit scapegrace m his youthful days; Dut d not think he was the sort of fellow Km off with a young French girl who I already engaged to another man. fi i was not going to run me nsit vi a detta at Caen, so I firmly told my pucant that the ship's dooks were te full, and that in no circumstances Id I take him. He burst. French like, into a torrent of tears and estations; but I was inflexible, and ent away, looking the very picture isery. e got off by the eveninsr tide, and making good way, with the ele- is in our favor. Suddenly in no I sa w a figure spring up the bridge r, and the Frenchman stcod before 1 was very angry at first, swore that he should be im. ed at Caen as a stowawav for I ally a little anxious for Dick Cur- I had reason to know what a re 'il F renchman meant; but the man was so profusely apologetic, and so earnest in his promises to do anything required of him in order to work his pas sage, that I relented and told" him he might stay on board. From that moment Alexis that was his name became my most devoted and faithful servitor, and", as will be seen, I never had reason to regret taken him on. He acted fully up to his promises. My carpenter, a Portuguese, w as the merest apprentice by the side of Alexis, who was not enly thoroughly conversant with the duties of his calling, but wns an excel lent sailor, willing, daring and industri ous, and a good fellow to boot. If I heard sounds of merriment proceeding from the regions of the fo'c'stle, I knew that Alexis was the cause of them. He could sing endless songs, he could play the fiddle, he could dance, he couid tell the most amusing of stories in his quaint broken English, and in the most trying circumstances was ever ready with jest and gibe. Of course no one but myself knew his secret, audi must say that it made me very uneasy for, if Master Dick was not the hero of the escapade, it was one of the most extraord niry co incidences that ever came before my notice. However, I pondered the situation thoroughly and made my plans. My life as a sailor had been singularly de void of romance; but, sailor-like, my pet study was romance ; so that it was with mingled feelings of dread and pleasurable excitement that I looked for ward to our arrival at Caen. We arrived early on a,Sunday morning; and, in spite of all the precautions I had taken, Alexis, in the bustle and confusion attendant upon making fast and warping alongside the quay, managed to get ashore before any one else. I lost no time in making my way to the offices of Curtis & Company. Dick" was thcre,de veloped into a portly family man since we had last met, and was delighted to see me ; and, as may be imagined, in a very few moments we were talking of 61d times and exchanging experiences as only chtirascan aftcr long separation. " You'll come and dine with me, old fellow," he said. "As it's Sunday, I don't suppose you'll begin to discharge. I've a nice little place, just out of the town, near the race-course, and I'll intro duce you to the missis and the young sters." ; "What! married? " I cried. "I should have thought you were the last man' in tne world to go in iortuat sort of thing; for I remember you were always so full of the the rights of free, unhampered man." " Yes married," he replied, "and to a French woman, too; think of that! A pallor came over my face I could feel; I knew that what Alexis said was true, and that my old friend was the un suspecting object of his vengeance. Dick saw the change. "Why, what's the matter?" he said. "You don't think any the worse of me for having married a Frenchwoman, do you? At any rate, you won't when you see her and judge for yourself, and when I tell you that she's the dearest little body in the world far better than I deserved." "No," I replied, seriously, " I don't think any the worse of you for marrying a Frenchwoman. I am not such, a narrow-minded idiot as that for a good wife is a good wife, be she a Zulu, or a French woman, or anything yo'u like; but" . , " But what?" said Dick, impatiently. So I told him the story of Alexis ; and it was his turn to grow pale. "However," I said, in conclusion, "you leave it to me; it has caused me a lot of anxiety, and I have hit on a plan. But look here, I wouldn't show' myself much in the streets to-day, if I were you, for that fellow left the ship before I did, and is prowling about now with a knife as long as your fore-arm, and if he caught sight of you, why " and I fin ished the sentence with a significant whistle. "Anvhow," Dick said, "you'll be up by 6 o'clock?" "Yes," I replied, "and don't you be about when 1 arrive. So we parted. I went back to the ship. To my sur prise, Alexis was on deck, waiting for me. Well," I said gayly, "have you found your friend? "No, sar," he replied; "I have look very carefully at all ze ships in port, but I not can see him. But I vill have a look ashore dis evening ven ze people come from church." "And you mean to kill him if you do see him?" I said. "Mon Dieu! Monsieur le Capitaine, but vat else can I do? He have insult me and my brozer and ze lieutenant and zeole family! What else can I do?" he answered. "Well, carpenter," I said, "I'm going to dine and sleep ashore, and I want a hand to carry my portmanteau." "I vill doit,"sar, I vill do it, if you vish me to carry it to ze end of ze wotld," he offered. "Very well, then, I shall be ready in half an hour." At the expiration of that time I was on my way to Dick Curtis's house, Alexis following me with the portmanteau on his shoulder. We arrived at the house a typical French bijou maison de cam pagne, standing with;n its own gardens, which betrayed their English ownership by their unusual trimness and neat ness. "Wait outside," I said to Alexis, and entered. Mrs. Curtis a pleasant-looking little woman, coquettishly, . yet modestly dressed, a strange contrast to her raga muffin of a brother outside, met me. "I must introduce myself," I said, "as a very old friend of your husband's, and he has asked me to dine and to sleep the night here." Madame, in excellent English, assured me that she was charmed to see me, and led the way into a pretty little boudoir overlooking the race course. "You 'may think it strange," I re marked, "that I have come here in ad vance of your dinner hour; but I have ennri pthincr verv important to tell vou.". I said this so seriously that the little woman was alarmed. - 4'You speak so gravely," she returned, "that" I fear something has happened; iKlvmirnnor Dick-- " "He is all right, I assure you," I inter- osed ; "but he may not De au ngnt un ess we are careful." "Explain yourself, monsieur, I pray," said Mrs. Curtis, with tears standing in her black eyes mild reflections of the fiery orbs of Alexis. "Simply, madame," I answered," "your brother Alexis is here, and he U searching for your husband." "Alexis! " repeated Mrs. Curtis, in a , horrified voice. "Oh, ho will murdei j us all I know he will, for he has such a fearful temper!" - "No, madame, he won't," I said, "it you do as I tell you. You have children; bring them down stairs, and meanwhile I will call in your brother. If his heart is not softened at the sight of your hap piness and of your children, then he te I not me man l uikcuilu lur; lur, iiunougi he vows revenge against your husband, he loves you dearly, and ha3 often talked to me about you." I roe, went to the door, and beckoned to Alexis. "Alexis," I said; "there is a lady here who wishes to see you." "A lady to see me, sar?" exclaimed Alexis. "Mon Dieu, I cannot show my self to a lady in dis cloze" pointing rue fully to his stained and patched suit of blue jean. "Surely you're not afraid of your sis ter?'' I whispered. At these words the poor fellow gasped, his eyes started from their sockets, the portmanteau fell from his grasp. . "My sister!" he repeated. "Our Jacque line?" "Yes," I answered. "Now, just listen to me. I have found out that your sister married an old friend of mine ; she is perfectly happy, and is the mother of two children. If I let yougo in and see her, will you promise that " But before I could complete my sen tence, at a single bound Alexis had sprung into the house. I followed, and found him with hi sister, both of them alternately laughing and sobbing, trying to speak, kissing and embracing and holding each other out at arm's length in fact, behaving as foreigners genera! ly do in similar circumstances. "And you are happy?" said" Alexis, wher the first enthusiastic burst of greet ing had subsided. "Perfectly," replied his sister; and my husband is the best man in the world ; and see,. Alexis our children!" point ing to the two chubby little fellows in sailor costume who stoo:l soraewoat tim idly aside with their ringers in-their mouths, doubtless revolving in : their minds what possible connection there could be between their fashionable dressed mother and the uncouth-looking stranger. Alexis kissed the boys much against their will, evidently and then, with a melodramatic gesture, started aside. "But ze fader," he said; "ve have svorn to kill him, me and my brozer, if ve do meet him. I cannot break my oat; but I cannot kill him;" and, again kiss ing his sister a3sionately, he left the room. Alexis has never left me from that day to this; and never during the whole course of our acquaintance has there been the smallest shade of a di:Terence between us. From time to time I have offered him promotion ; but he has al ways remained, and swears he will re main until he hears of his brother, My Ship's Carpenter. The Monkey Temple of Benares. Moncure D. Conway, in an article on the temples of Benares, India, says The monkey temple is dedicated to Durga.in her ferocious aspect, and the pavement in front is. red with the blood of the sac rifices offered to her. She has a face of silver, a necklace of gold coins and gen erally gaudy dress. Along with Durga in this temple monkeys are worshiped. When l entered the precincts a priest came and thrcv a wreath of marigolds around my ntck, informing me that I was now sacred enough to enter and be hold the goddess. I was also by this consecration fitted to pay him a rupee. But I fouhcT the monkeys more interest ing than Durga or her priests. There were more than a hundred of them amus ing themselves in the sunshine. They gathered around me and ate leisurely, as if used to the treat, some sugar cakes which I had purchased for them at the door, that being the custom. When the csowd of monkeys had retired a patri archal monkey, whom I had observed sitting apart in the sunshine, approached me and having reeeived a par ticularly large . cake reward ed me by some ; informa tion while my guide was conversing with the priest. I gathered from our inter view that my surprise at the temples, shrines and ceremonies which I had wit nessed in Benares, though natural, was due to my not understanding that these are all survivals from the time when man did not exist, when the banks of the Gan ges were occupied by the simial race. It was the religion of monkeys I had been witnessing, though man since he came upon the scene has misunderstood much of that aboriginal faith and phil osophy and embodies his errors and dog mas along with them. Nevertheless the religion of Benares to -day preserves an unbroken continuity with the religion of simial antiquity, and the priests and apes dwell together in unity. After our in terview the old ape gave me a wink and walked away munching his cake, a little bit of which he threw to the goddess Durga. Back of the temple I saw an aged and large tamarind tree with a hol low, which is the lying-in home of the sacred , monkeys. Formerly there were thousands of these monkeys dwelling i and about this temple, but they becani so troublesome and mischievous that the authorities of Benares had to interfere and all the monkeys found outside the inclosure were transported for life. In some mysterious way the 'monkey popu lation has largely decreased. . Lip Reading vs. Articulation. The New York institution for the in struction of the deaf and dumb has adopted a simple-method of applying phonic analysis to the instruction of the deaf, recently devised by the principal of the institution, by which with the eye the patient may observe the motions of a speaker's lips and other organs of speech so accurately as to discern the words uttered, not by the context, or guess work, but by absolute recognition of their phonetic elements. It is found, moreover, that the deaf mute who mas ters this system of lip reading is enabled to speak within a shorter period and with greater precision than under the old system of teaching articulation. New York Her tld. AT THE CLINIC Operations Performed Under llie Eyes of Medical itudrnts. An outsider requires to have rather good nerves who attends a clinic. Here, when the medical students are assembled, those suffering from terrible maladies are brought in and they are cured, if possi ble. At every clinic there arc opera tions performed that are sometimes very trying to the nerve3 of the non-professional onlooker. As a general thing it is somewhat difficult for an outsider to obtain entrance to these demonstrations. Every medical student at Ann Arbor is provided with a colored ticket that en ables him to pass the sharp-eyed man at the door, and it is impossible to get ad mission unless you have the permission of the professor in charge. A clinic at one of the principal Ger nian universities is a sight that a person is not apt to forget. In certain cases all in the ioora, students and professors, are dressed in robes of white linen. These dresses are furnished and laundricd by the college, and the object seems to be to prevent any possible chance of out side impurities being - brought into the operating room. The walls and floor of the room are thoroughly cleansed each day and disinfected by some chemical spray. American colleges do not deem these extraordinary precautions neces sary, and the chances are that they are right, as the wonderful successes of the best American suigery show. The operating room at Ann Arbor i3 connected with the hospital and the temperature is so carefully equalized that there is no change in coming from the sick bed to this room. The students are ranged in semi-circular tiers, each posi tion commanding a full view of the patient and the operating surgeons. The first case that came before the students the day I was there was that of a man who was about to leave cured. He stood before them stripped to the waist. The marks of healed incisions were on his shoulders. He came there unable to move his right arm. The bone in his shoulder had been removed and the man stood there and held up. his right hand as if to swear to the. efficiency of modern surgery. Meanwhile the dis eased bone was being passed around among the students. They cheered as the fellow left, smiling over the success of the operation. The first operation was one that a cer tain young lady will be ti.ankful for eighteen or twenty years from now. This young lady of the future is at pres ent a very sweet and pretty baby 6 months old. One of the senior medical students a lady sat before the class wi'h the baby laughing on her lap. It made a very touching domestic picture. The lady student might have been Howells' "Dr. Breen," or'the "Dr. Zay" of Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. She was tall and well proportioned ; wore a dark olive-green dress that fitted as it should and became her exceedingly. Her lace was more than handsome. There was an expres- sion in it of skill, knowledge, firmness and courage. I take her as typical of the very best example of our American lady medical students. The girl patted the little thing on the cheek and the baby crowed and laughed. Dr. Mac'ean held the rosy foot of the child in his hand and briefly explained to the stu dents the cause and remedy of the trouble that was apparent to all. The two little feet were turned in toward each other till the toes touched. They were at right angles to natural posi tion, and the trouble if unremedied would cause the child to become a hope less cripple. At signal from the doctor a young man poured from a bottle the anaesthetic on a towel. This was spread over the laughing face of the baby. There was a frightened cry, a stifled sob or two, then stillness. With careful quickness the lancet entered the baby's ankle once twice thrice. Not a drop of blood wa3 spilled. The little feet were bandaged into their cor rect position, with a speed and deftness that were truly wonderful. During this there was not a sound in the room. The first to break the silence was the baby, whose tremulous cry of returning con sciousness just as the last bandage was Btiched showed that she thought sho had been taken a mean advantage of, just as Bhc wanted to crow and laugh at the lady who held her. There was nothing re volting about the operation. Dr. Mac lean has done what Shakspeare thought impossible and had spilled no drop of blood. When that . baby takes its first steps those chubby feet will be ready to do their part. A girl of twelve was next trundled in unconscious. She lay on the wheeled table to have a tumor taken from the side of her face a terrible legacy of that dread disease scarlet fever. The great difficulty in this case was the almost un avoidable danger of cutting the facial nerve, in which case one side of the girl's face would remain as if paralyzed. The operation was performed. The awaking was to be the test. The students looked on in breathless suspense. The doctor touched the lips of the reviving girl with the point of a needle. Finally the girl gave a pitiful wail that carried with it the suspended dread with which she had doubtless regarded the trial she was to pass through when the merciful anaesthetic overcame her. Instantly a murmur of approbation was heard. The students were quick to catch the results of the doctor's skill. "She cries on both sides of her face now," said the doctor. "But she will laugh on both sides of her face after ward." A big man came in with an ugly tumor on the back of his neck. They offered him the anaesthetic, but he waved the student aside, jocularly say ing: "Never take anything, thank you; swore off on New Year's." " This remark was appreciated by the Doys, and remarks of "plucky," "good grit," and so on passed among them. He set his teeth and stood it like, a Trojan not a groan or a cry escaped him. He did not even wince under the doctor's rapidly-plied lancet. When it was over he smiled, and looking up at the sea of faces, said: "Good-by, boys. See you later." Then the boys gave him a grand round of applause for his indomitable courage. "I cut my ankle with an axe eight years ago," said the next, as he laid down his crutches, "and there she is." With that he stuck out his bare foot and leg, pallid, withered and'apparently use less. When the man limped back to tha oom from which he came, Dr. Maclean announced that he was going to treat the ankle with tha cautcr. This instrument is the white hot iron that becasne some whit celebrated from the fact that Clara Morris, the actress, was benefited by its use in Pari3 some years ago. The item went the rounds under the heading "The Terrible Moxa," and benefited Clara also as a first-r.ite free advertisement. When the man next came in he lay un conscious on the table. The cauter is a strange instrument, whose working I must admit I do not understand. One man held a bottle, another a seemingly compres8aole green bulb. These, and the cauter which the doctor held in his hand, were connected by rubber tubes. The bottle contained naphtha, and by some means an intense flame seemed to be directed along the pencil like cauter, that speedily produced a white heat at the point of the instrument. As the doctor held it there was a hissing seund, and then with a z-z-z-z-z-z the point became dull red, next bright red, and finally a glowing white. With this, as with a pen of fire, the doctor wrjte on the white ankle of the unconscious man. Doubtless he wrote "healing." Every touch of the moxa was followed by a black mark, and a smell of burning flesh. Now and then the surgeon would hold the dulling iron in the air for a mo ment till the flame iashed it into a white heat again. Although the students applauded the pluck of those who stood the operations without the aid of the anaesthetic, yet on all other occasions the utmost silence was maintained. There was nothing theatrical about the clinic, yet some of the situations were certainly as dramatic as could be imagined. There were many other mot interest ing cases of which I have not the space to write. Those that I have mentioned will give some idea of what is to be seen "At the Clinic." Detroit Free Pres3. The Seat of War in Ezypt. General R. E. Colston, formerly a bey in Egypt, contribu-es an article in the Century, from which we quote the fol lowing description of a portion of the present seat of war: "He who has trav eled through the desert cannot form a just idea of that strange and marvelous region, in which all the ordinary condi tions of life are completely changed. It is essentially a waterless land, without rivers, creeks, rivulets or springs. Once away from the Nile, the only supply of water is derived from deep wells, few, scanty, and far apart. Long droughts are frequent. When I exp'ored the great Arabian desert between the Nile and the Red sea, it had not raiuel for three years; and when I traveled over the Suakim route and through Kordo fan, no rain had fallen for two years. Be tween the twenty-ninth and "the nine teenth degree of latitude it never rains at all. Water becomes precious to a de gree beyond the conception of those who have never known its scarcity. Members of the Catho ic mission at El Obeid, where water is much more plentiful than in the desert3, assured me that, the sum mer before, water has been sold as high as half a dollar a gallon by the proprie tors of the few wells that h.d not dried up. When long droughts occur, the always scanty crop of doura fails away trom the Nile, and the greater parts of the Hocks and herds per ish, as well as a considerable part of the population. It follows naturally that when undertaking a journey through the desert, the paramount question is water. A supply must be carried suffi cient to last to the next well, be it one or five days distant. It is usually carried in goat and ox skins suspended from the camels' pack saddles. These ara the water bottles of Scripture, which become leaky from wear, and always lose a con siderable portion . of their contents by evaporation. The first thing a fter-reaching a well is to ascertain the quantity and quality of its water. As to the former, it may have been exhausted by a preceding caravan, and hours may be re quired tor a new supply to ooze in ag;un. As to the quality, desert water is gener ally bad, the exception being when it is worse, though long custom enables the Bedouins to drink water so brackish as to be intolerable to all except themselves and their flocks. Well do I remember how at each well the first skinful was tasted all around as epicures sip rare wines. Great was the joy if it was pronounced 'moya helwa,' sweet water; but if the Bedouins said 'moosh tayib,' not good, we might be sure it was a so lution of Epson salts. The best water is found in natural rocky reservoirs in deep, narrow gorges, where the sun never shinos. As to 'live spring,' I never saw more than'half a dozen in six thous and miles of travel. " Eskimo Dogs. Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka says in St. Nicholas that hard as it may seem, the Eskimo dog never gets fed oftener than every other day, and generally about every third day; while in times of want and starvation in that terrible country of cold, the length of time these poor dogs will go without food seeni3 beyond belief. I once had a fine team of nineteen fat Eskimo dogs that went six or seven days between meals for three consecutive feedings before they reached the jour ney's end and good food ; and although they all looked very thin, and were no doubt very weak, none of them died ; and yet they had been traveling and drag ging a heavy sledge for a great part of the time. Other travelers among the Es kimo have given equally wonderful ac counts of their powers of fasting. The Eskimo have many tinaes of want and deprivation, and then their poor dogs must suffer very much. But when they are fed every other day on good fat wal rus meat, and they do not have much hard work to do, "they will get as fat and saucy and playful as your own dogs with three meals a day. One of the very best things you would imagine to be good for them is the best food they get; that is, tough walrus hide, about an inch; in thickness indas wiry as sole leather. Give your team dogs a good meal of this before they start, take along a light sup ply of it for them, and you can be gone a couple of weeks on a trip; when you get back, feed them up well, and they will be as fat and strong as ever in a very few days. ; In no country in the world is th6 patent office kept so busy ar in the United States. i - qUEER AND COSTLY DRUGS. A Powder Worth $:!00 an Ounce Miakc Virus as an Opiate. A doctor from one of the Western cities, who has a wide practice as an ocu list and aurist, entered a drug store the other day and purchased a small bottle of cocaine, the new anaesthetic used with such success in eye operations. He said lie had prescribed it for a diseased ear. The tiny bottle half full of whitish powder cost him five dollars. "Provincial physicians in this country are very enterprising," said the drug gist, when the Soctor had gone out. "They have already bogun the use of co caine in all sections of the country, and it is to many druggists a profitable drug, because they can chaige a fancy price for it. I quote it at over $300 an ounce." "A well-stocked drug store must be supplied with a great variety of medicines dow it its proprietor fills prescriptions for all schools," continued the druggist. "One day we had a call from a homoe pathic phjsician for rattlesnake virus. The doctor had been called in to sec a patient who was soon to die of cancer and who had taken ordinary opi ates until thev seemed to have but little i effect. We did not have the medicine, but the next time I saw the doctor he said that' he had obtained it, and that twenty minutes after taking a very low dilution of the virus the sufferer sank into a sweet sleep. The olden days, when all sorts of insects and animals were used in medicine, were fruitful of some beneficial discoveries. The poison, of a bee, when applied externally by a bee, is not particularly beneficial; but I know a doctor who claims wonders for it in cases of scarlet fever. "The beaver furnishes a remedy known as castor, used to quiet spasms, and the musk ox provides musk. It comes in the form of a coarse black powder, and the best of it is quoted at about $40 an ounce. We sell considerable quantities of it to the Chinese, who are said to use it for burns. It is believed that the Chinese have a knowledge of many val uable remedies which would benefit, but, although we have been able to pur chase some of their mysterious-looking drugs as curiosities, they have refused to impart the secret of their properties. Some idea of their notions with respect to medicine can be gained when it is known that they regard the wild gin seng root as sacred to the healing of royalty, and as a spiritual body, capable of volition and of concealing it self to escape capture. Its guardians are the tiger, wolf, leopard and snake. When a member of the royal family falls sick, as did the empress some time ago, a party of heroic men go in search of the root, whose presence is finally revealed at night by a halo over the spot of con cealm nt, which is marked, the root be ing dug on the following day. The cul tivated gingseng or jen shen, is not be lieved by the natives to be endowed with the properties of the wild, but is used freely by the subjects. It is be lieved that its chief value lies in its won derful recuperating power, prolonging life when a patient has begun to sink into his last sleep, and in giving him time to arrange his affairs. "In mentioning animal products as drugs I should perhaps have spoken of ambergris, a deposit of grayish matter, which is found occasionally in the head of a sperm whale. It sells often at $30 an ounce at retail. It is said thr t one whaler found a deposit of 750 pounds in a single whale. "In the list of expensive drugs the products of the Calabar bean may be mentioned. Physostigmine, which is rated by many as the best remedy in spasmodic affections.retails at over $200 an ounce. Apomorhine, while not to be compared with the drugs that i have mentioned, is expensive. It was dis covered by a man named Wright, who subjected morphine to a treatment that entirely changed its chemical qualities, so that instead of being an opiate it is one of the most powerful emetics known and is given only in extreme cases, like poisoning. As I faid at the outset, an enterprising druggist has to keep an extensive variety of medicines, the cheap est as well as the most expensive. Pumpkin seeds are frequently sold as a remedy for tapeworm and with the n.ale fern as a vermifuge. A doctor came i here the other day and called for sored everlasting life. Singular thing for doctor to prescribe, wasn't it? In medi cine it is a North American plant. Job'-, tears "is another queer remedy." Neti York Sun Horrible Chinese Atrocities. A Kelung letter to the St. Louis Globe Democrat says : The new and rapidly gro w ing military cemetery of Kelung i3 on the east shore of the bay, almost at th water's edge, conspicuous for the num ber of its mounds and its crosses. The guns of three or four men-of-war frown over the spot at a distance of only a few hundred yards. Yet every few nights bodies are disinterred, beheaded and left in nameless disfigurement. A few dayt since a servant of Colonel Duchesne, in pursuit of provisions, found a fowl which he desired to purchase. While bending forward to examine it some Chinese ttole up behind him and he was beheaded in a moment. Two or three nights ago the captain of a towboat, with his engineer, went on shore to look for water. Happening to stray a little from the beaten path they wrere attacked and beheaded. The Vipere, lying just off the shore, heard the cries of the men and sent a few shots into the bushes, but without avail. The two headless and horribly mutilated bodies were found the next morning. The French, exasperated beyond measure, resolved to retort in a similar fashion, and a day or two after ward, finding five men whom they sus pected of the crime, they tied their queues together, attached stones to their feet and drowned them in the bay. Some time ago they adopted in Tonquin a sim ilar policy of reprisal, beheading severa hundred captured Black Flags who had been practicing the barbarities peculiar to Oriental warfare. General Drum estimates that the whol number of men in the United States available for military duty is between 0,000,000 and 7,000,000, while the or ganized militia, officers and men,amour to only about 80, 000. German public schools are about to adopt Hawthorne's works for the study of .English, MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. An Oiiict r ot the Latter describes ihs Great Saval Rattle. From the article by Colonel John Tay lor Wood, an officer of the Merriraac during the light with the Monitor, in the Century War Series, we quote the follow ing: "At daybreak, we discovered ly ing between us and the Minnesota a strange looking craft, which we knew at once to be Ericsson's Monitor, which had long been expected in Hampton Roads, and of which, from different sources we had a good idea. She could not pos sibly have made her appearance at a more inopportune time for us, changing our plans, which were to destroy tho Minnesota, and then the remainder cf the fleet below Fortress Monroe. She appeared but a pigmy compared with the lofty frigate which she guarded. But in her size was one great element of her success. I will not attempt a descrip tion of the Monitor; her build and pe culiarities are well known. "After an early breakfast, we got un der way and steamed out toward the en emy, opening fire from our bow pivot, and closing, we delivered our starboard broadside at short range, which was re turned promptly from her eleven-inch guns. Both vessels then turned and passed again still closer. The Monitor was firing every sven or eight minutes, and nearly every shot struck. Our ship was working worse and worse, and after the loss of tho smoke-stack, Mr. Ramsay, chief engi neer, reported that the draught was so poor that it was with great difficulty he could keep up steam. Once or twico the ship was on the bottom. Drawing twenty-three feet of water, we were con fined to a narrow channel, while tho Monitor, with only twelve feet immer sion, could take any position, and always have us in range of her guns. Orders were given to concentrate our fire on the pilot-house, and with good result, as we afterward learned. More than two hours had pffsse3, and we had made no im pression on the enemy, so far as we eould discover, while our wounds were slight. Several times the Monitor ceased firing, and we were in hopes she was dis abled, but the revolution again of her turret and the heavy blows of her eleven inch shot on our sides soon undeceived us. "Coming down from the spar-deck and observing a division standing 'at ease,' Lieutenant Jones observed: " 'Why are you not firing, Mr. Eggle ston ?' " 'Why, our powder is very precious,' replied the lieutenant; 'and after two hours' incessant firing I find that I can do her about as much damage by snap ping my thumb at her every two minutes and a half.' "Lieutenant Jones now determined to run her down or board. For nearly an hour wc manoeuvered for a position. Now 'go ahead'; now 'stop'; now astern'; the ship was as unwieldly as Noah's ark. At last an opportunity of fered. 'Go ahead, full speed.' But before the ship gath ered hendway the Monitor turned and our disabled ram only gave a glancing blow, effecting nothing. Again she came up on our quarter, her bow against our side, and at this dis tance fired twice. Both shot3 struck about half-way up the shield, abreast of the after pivot, and the impact forced the side bodily in two or three inches. All the crews of the after guns were knocked over by the concussion, and bled from the nose or ears. Another shot from the same place would have penetrated. While alongside, boarders were called away; but she dropped astern before they could get on board. And so, for six more hours the struggle was kept up. At length .the Monitor withdrew over the middle ground where we could not follow, but always maintaining a posi tion to protect the Minnesota. To havo run our ship ashore on a falling tide would have been ruin. We waited her return for an hour; and at two o'clock p. m., steamed to Sew all's Point, and thence to the dock-yard at Norfolk, our crew thor oughly worn out from the two-days' fight. Although there is no doubt that the Monitor first retired for Captain Van Brunt, commanding the Minnesota, so states in his official report the battle was a drawn one, so far as the two ves sels engaged were concerned. But in its general results the advantage was with the Monitor. Our casualties in the sec ond day's fight were only a few wounded. "The Monitor was well handled, and saved the Minnesota and the remainder of the fleet at Fortress Monroe. But her gunnery was poor. Not a single shot struck us at the water-line, where the ship was utterly unprotected, and where one would have been fatal. Or had the fire been concentrated on any one spot, the shield would have been pierced ; or had larger charges been used, the result would have been the same. Most of her shot struck us obliquely, breaking the iron of both courses, but not injuring the wood backing. When struck at right ande3 the backing would be broken, but not penetrated. We had no solid proiectiles, except a few of large wind age to be used as hot shot, and of course made no impression on the turret. But in all it should be borne in mind that both vessels were on their trial trips, both experimental, and both receiving their baptism of fire." What is Life! "What is life?" asked a reflective friend of the philosophic Montford. The answer constitutes one of the most charm ing utterances ever expressed by mortal. Study it: "The present life is sleeping and wak ing. It is night on going to bed, and morning on getting up. It is to wonder what the day will bring forth; ij; is rain on the window as one sits by the fire ; it is to walk in the garden, and see the flower?, and hear the birds sing; it is to hear the news from the east, west, north and south; it is to read old and new book3 ; it is to see pictures, and hear music ; it is to have Sundays ; it is to have breakfast, dinner and tea ; it is to belong to a town, and have neighbors and acquaintances; it is to have friends, and love; it is to have sight at dear old faces, and it is to know ourselves thought of many times a day, in many places, by children, and grandchildren, and many friends." Dr. Lamphere, of Saginaw, has a cow which sports sixty well developed horns.
The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 12, 1885, edition 1
1
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