Newspapers / The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, … / April 23, 1885, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
HP XT ) A A THE DEMOCRAT PUBLISHING CO., PUBLISHERS. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE SI.SO PER YEAR. VOLUME I. SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1885. NUMBER 22, FROM NATURE TO MAI. Time was when .nature's every mystic mood Toured round my heart a flood of eager joy; AY hen pageantry of sunsets moved the boy jjore than high ventures of tfce great and good; When treUised shadows in the vernal wood And little peeping flowers, so sweet and coy, Were simple happiness without alloy, whispered to me things I understood, put now the strange sad weight of human woe, - And all the bitterness of human wrong, Press on my saddened spirit as I go, And stir the pulsings of a graver song; I; read mysteries of life and death I scan. As1 all my soul is only full of man. TV. Walsham Bedford. A x EAP FOR LIFE BY KUGEJi'T ROBINSON. I was spending the summer in the lVhite mountains, and was lucky enough to secure bed and board at a genuine farm-house ; no imitation establishment, no cruel mockeries regarding fresh eggs, no dismal delusions in respect to milk from the cow ! At Farm Lodge everything was of the best from Mrs. Rosetint, my buxom widow landlady, to the succulent green peas from the tender sirloin to the toothsome s juash. 3Iy bedroom was neat enough for a Rosere. and my wants were as eagerly attended to by a good-humored Irish girl -as though I had been Mr. Charles Stew art Paruell himself. In fact, I was liter ally, as well as metaphorically, in clo ver. I am an enthusiastic "walkist." Twen ty ay, thirty !miles do not give me a muscle ache. I am six feet, built in proportion, and the possessor of a pair of legs well they are my only vanity and 1 like to wear knickerbockers and Scotch heather stockings. My tramps in and out of the valleys, and up and down the sides of the White mountains, were a source of exquisite de l;glit. My seven o'clock breakfast over oh, those buckwheat cakps! my meerschaum pipe in my jaw, my Irish blackthorn Biddy's especial care in my fist, I was off, rain or shine, never putting in an appearance at Farm Lodge until rosy eve; a hard biscuit and some cold tea carried with me being my sup porters until a seven o'clock dinner. One evening after I had "tubbed," and fresh as a Dublin bay herring, I de scended to the dining-room, I found my self stumbling over not one, but half a dozen, Saratoga trunks, blocking the hall, and cutting off the stairs., " What the deuce is the matter, Riddy ? " I asked, as I staked a roasted fowl on a two pronged fork. "The new boarders is come, Misther Saltnsh." - "7ew boarders! Mrs. Rosetint never muitio-ie-d them." 'That's (juare, sir. We've been rr.kUin' the place for them the last tin days, no les3." " They w on't interfere with mc, I hope, Biddy." "Sorra a fear o' that, if I can help it, s:r: but I'm thiukin' that if yer not be spoke, there's wan of the young leddies that will spoil yer long walks if ye don't take her along." Here was misery! The very thing of ali others that rendered Farm Lodge so delightful to me was the absence of the "young lady" element. I was heart whole at six-and-twenty. Tough! deuced tough! as Major Bagstock has it and the worry of having to be couven t onal, and polite, and shirt collary dur iug my summer holiday was quite too tuo utterly provoking. "Never mind," 1 half-muttered, as I worried the drumstick of the succulent chicken, "I need not bother. -I am up Icfore these people will dream of stir ring, and as I shall be away all day, it dou't make much difference. I shall give them a tolerably wide berth. The next morning, as I thrust my body half-out of my bedroom window, to see what the day promised, my eyes encoun tered a girl of exquisite figure, attired in a tailor-made blue flannel, a soft felt hat on her head, and looking as fresh as Aurora herself. Her face was open and honest, and if apple-blossoms and roses were on her cheeks, cherries were on the deliciously carven lips, while in the startled eyes that for a second encoun tered mine, there was a light that actual ly electrified me. She had -a bunch of beautiful rosebuds in her hand, plucked from my favorite tree,a Gloire de Dijon. One of these buds had fallen. I "spotted" it, and before I attacked the buckwheat cakes, it was in my posses sion. "Who are these new boarders?" I asked of my fair Land Leaguer. " "They're from Boston, sir. La Fanu be name. The father i3 a counselor. Mrs. Rosetint was their cook wanst, and they never lost sight of her. The young leddies is sweet crayturs, and the old lady was down on Mrs. Rosetint for hav ing any strangers in the house, but the ttristhress made her quite aisy, in regard you, sayin' ye was a decent say-noth-a'-to-nobody, harmless young man." This was a stupid description of char acter enough. I wondered did my girl hear Mrs. Rosetint's description of me. The two sisters were in the garden as I passed through. My girl blushed the rosiest of reds as I doffed my hat en pas sant. I felt inclined to blush, too, recollect- ,n!I the ahrTriinaKI nnnpnrancfi T must have presented at the little window that niorninsr. Somehow or other, I could not banish her ;r eves from mv tViniiorbfa and ns I tramped over t.b mountains fhft elec tricity of her glance seemed to light up everything around me. Fate brought. In.. " " &" I Was sneedinsr dinnerward' and wna Btlll a flood thrAA mil oa frrm Vina muf fan nen at a turn, not in the road, but in iocks, i encountered the Misses La rami. MrvfK ....... i. nowers, and both were proceed! ne in the direction nf t a " u v j iUl JJUUgC. ow, to pass them would have been I .' People living beneath the same viiu me, so with a little quivering n , heart no, not ioHed my ver. and ere going homeward. palpitation I asked if they 'We are," answered Miss Kathleen, the elder mine was Gladys "if we can, but we greatly fear that we have lost our way." "Will you permit nie to have the honor of guiding youf" "We shall be awfully obliged." This from Kathleen, while her sister never vouchsafed a word. " "Did you walk up here?" I demanded. "Oh, yes, we are splendid walkers. We have been miles further on. By the time we reached Farm Lodge we were on almost intimate terms. You see, up in the mountains one is not con ventional. It was like shipboard, and I found that I knew some of their friends in Boston, and they discovered that tLey knew some of mine in New York. More than that, their mother was actually ac quainted with my maiden aunt, with whom I resided in West Forty-fifth street. Late in the evening I was presented to "mamma" and we sat. far into the moon light gossiping to our heart's content, while to the old lady I was as attentive as though I had been wooing her. From that date commenced our walk ing trips, mamma doing a sort of ''she dragon" business by joining us in a two horse break ut some given distant place. At a given distant hour. And, oh! what walks! How gracious every thing looked ! How blue the sky; how beautiful the mountains; how exquisite the foliage; how delicious the flowers! 1 gathered my rosebuds while I might. Gladys La Fanu was a very superior sort of girl. She knew so much and yet was so humble in producing her wares. Her French was pure Parisian, her Ger man Austrian. Her sketches were ab solutely charming. I am gazing at one of them of the mountain facing the Pro file house as I write. She was up in botany, and a "dab,:' to use a slang word, in a number of the ologies, but she never pounded one with her accom plishments, or discouraged by her su perior attainments. It was not until very recently that I became aware of the fact that she had gone through a course of Latin and Greek, to say nothing about the higher mathematics. Bless me! what blue stockings we met rambling the White mountains Girls who could and would talk of nothing but pre-somcthing or other, ana who wanted a post something reason for everything. How astonished I have seen them when Gladys quietly gave her opinion! Mr. La Fanu came to us to spend a week. He didn't seem to take to me. He regarded me suspiciously, and was as if on his guard. It was a sorrowful week to mc, for he was no walker, and as a consequence absorbed the girls dur ing his entire stay. "If I was you, sir, I'd go stravagin about the mountains while tit' ould chap is here,'' suggested the Land Leaguer, a hint that I took, for he was rather an oppresssive sort of person in fact, too learned by half for mc. Well, 1 was madly in love with Gladys La Fanu. Yes, from the very moment I laid eyes upon her that morning in the garden. Cupid came to me like a prize fighter; the more I fought against him the more punishment he gave me knock downs and facers every time. I was simply nowhere. Gladys was my adoration, the perpetual subject of my perpetual thoughts." Without her life was a black mist. She was so radiant, so lovely, so bewitching ! But did she care for me? When this question propounded itself, a sickening sensation throbbed through me. She had ,given me no definite en couragement, and yet yes, there was a nameless something in her eyes that told me to hope with all my might and main. The day came at length when the re turn to Boston avus announced. A letter had arrived from Mr. La Fanu, who was pining for his doves to return to Beacon street ark. Ah, what a dull thud .my poor heart gave when I "thought of the ending of our waiks, of our companionsliip, of our freedom; when I thought of the stern conventionalities of Hub life, when, in deed, of seeing my precious pet every day, aud all day, and in the most glori ous and romantic surroundings, that a stray glimpse of her, while passing up the street, a peep at her in the public gardens, where, thank heaven! she walked every day, and a lew words be fore others when I called, perhaps, once a week ! I resolved upon risking all, bv placing all on the hazard of the die; to declare my love, and be happy or desperate, as she determined. A last picnic was proposed, and we started in the two-horse break for an al most inacessible place called the Diamond Gorge. Mrs. La Fanu was so busily engaged. in making quince jelly that she allowed us to start without her ; so 1 drove the two girls, Gladys beside me. I am a good whip, and know a good deal about horses. The two brutes this morning, as if to spite me, were so fresh, that it took me "all I knew how" to manage them, and, instead of gentle converse with Gladys, I was uttering full flavored language to the horses between my set teeth. We came to a steep hill, the roadway cut deep like a ditch or trough, and so narrow as to ad mit of the passage of but one vehicle. -Kathleen asked me to pull up. "I prefer to walk this gorge," she said. Need I say how gladly I stopped? With the agility of a hind she leaped from the back seat to the fern covered bank that was on a dead level with the cushion. See strode on ahead, picking her way through the golden-hued autumn creep ers, and over the tangled roots of the errand old trees by which the cutting was jealously guarded. This was my . chance. Gladys and I were alone. : My heart began to throb great, great throbs, taking my breath away. What should I say? How commence? Her little hand, ungloved, lay on her lap. Would I dare I take it? At this instant the horses simultane ously pricked up their ears, and plung ing forward, commenced to clear the hill at a breakneck pace. I endeavored to hold them in, out to no purpose. Higher up the hill a magnificent oak hungovr the road, its roots in that picturesque tangle, like so many birds' claws, that Dore loved to sketch. Be ueath this tree stood Kathleen Le Fanu, clinging to a bough and Scuircg out ward, peering up the road, which at this point gave a sharp turn. Suddenly she commenced to scream and wave her disengaged hand. "Oh, good heaven!" cried Gladys. "Kathleen's hurt!" Ere the words came from her now white lips a thundering sound was heard up the hill, and ere 1 could realize the terrible danger a pair of horses attached to a huge farm-wagon appeared at the turn, tearing down in the wildest, mad' dest fright. Death a horrible death stared us if the face! What did I do? I am very strong nay,, powerful. . I may say so much without being accused of blowing. My strength is my pride, and I have cultivated it judiciously. The impulse, for which heaven be thanked, flashed through my very be'ng. In a half second I seized Gladys round the waist, sprang to the cushion, and at the very instant preceding the awful crash, leaped for the roots of the oak tree, to which I clung, my beauteous burden in my arms, with a tenacity be gotten of despair! "Yes, it was a narrow escape," said George Fiby, my best man elect, as 1 told him the story last Friday night. Took an Ammonia Bath. "Halston" in his "Hit and Miss Chat'' in the New York Times tells the follow ing story, in which Stephen B. El kins, the well known politician, figured as the hero: Some years ago Mr. Elkins was younger and less famous than he is now, but he was ambitious. As the story goes, here was an influential old farmer whom Stephen was anxious to conciliate. The old fellow had odd notions, and among them was one that no man was worth anything morally, mentally, or physically who was unable to do a full day's labor in a hay field. Steve went down to visit his ancient friend in blissful ignorance of his host's scale of judging ability. He had not been long at the farm when he discovered the old gcntlcmau's theory practically applied. Stephen was young and confident, and he boldly sallied out with the haymakers on one of the hottest days that ever izzled over lowlands. It was some thing out of his usual line, but Mr. Elkins toiled away manfully. The sun grew hotter and hotter and the mixture of water and molasses which served for re freshments began to lose its cooling effect. Off came the amateur's garments one by one, but this did little good. As his clothing grew lighter his temperature steadily grew higher and higher. Mr. Elkins perspired a3 he never perspired before. He endured it until he could stand no more, and in a moment of weakness acknowledged himself beaten by the weather. Ambition or no ambi tion, he wanted to get cool. The far- mer heard his confession and suggested an ammonia sponge bath ; that was cool j ing if anything in the world was. His visitor eagerly adopted the suggestion, ! and dragging his par-boiled length to tne nouse ana securing ammonia in abundance, he proceeded in the soli tude of his room to take his bath. It worked beautifully at firs', and he was charmed, so charmed, in fact, that he kept it up until he began to experience very strange sensations, sensations that kept growing more and more peculiar until he was enduring a well-developed case of palpitation of the heart. He was a sad and frightened man, but good nursing and prompt medical treatment saved him to ornament the political world. The old farmer had failed to tell him that a very little ammonia with a good deal of water was the proper thing; Mr. Elkins had ignored water entirely. But even unto this day Stephen is accredited with no sentimen tal weakness for midsummer hay fields and the joys that come afterward. A Venezuelan Summer Hotel. A letter from Venezuela, South Ameri ca, thus describes the peculiarities of a summer horel: The bedrooms all open upon a large court and are nothing but dark cells or closets, with no ventilation except what comes in at the door. When the doors are shut but they never shut them; they would suffocate if they did they hang a piece of matting or a sheet on a cord that stretches across about two-thirds of the way from the ground. This doesn't add to the privacy of the apartment, but it promotes comfort im mensely. If the night is so hot that you cannot stay in your room the alternative is to swing a hammock in the patio, and when morning comes creep back into your cell so they can set the tables for breakfast. There isn't a bed in the whole house ; everybody 'sleeps on cots. The guests bring their own towels and soap, but wine is furnished without extra charge. The landlord gives you a couple of sheets and a lumpy little pillow of wool or fine hay. If you want a blanket you must bring it alonsr, but there is very little danger of needing one. The bathing arrangements are quite as odd. The sharks are so numerous that it is dangerous to bathe in the surf, and nobody cares to have his legs nip ped off, so a semi-circular pen of piling has been erected, at government expense, reaching about 100 feet into the sea. Through this piling the surf beats quite fiercely. The pen is divided in the cen tre by a high wall, one side being for the ladies and the other for the gentle men. At the shore end is a miniature castle of stone, likewise divided into two large rooms, with a row of benches around the wall and hooks to hang your clothes on over them. Everybody bathes au nature ; bathing dresses are unknown ; you pay five cents for a ticket and ten cents for a large sheet, which is used as drapery and as a towel, and then un dress. The attendant hands you a sheet when you are stripped, and concealing your nakedness with that protection you climb down the stone stairway, hang your sheet over the railing, and plunge in. The water is glorious, warm and salty, so dense that it will almost bear you on the surface, and deep enough to swim and dive. When you have had enough! of it you climb up the stairs, seize yur sheet, and throw it around you, siting on the bench until you are dry enough to resume your clothes. - Nj Connecticut regiment ever lost a flag during the civil war, according to the statement recently made by a . public speaker. BLOODED HORSES. What Kent ii city ITTen, Women anil Children Think of Them. A Louisville (Ky.) letter to the Chica go Tribune says: With all due deference to Mr. Emerson, who says, "It is not a compliment, but a disparagement, to consult a man only on horses or on books, or on steam, and, whenever he appears, considerately to turn the con versation to the bantling he is known to fondle." I like to hear people talk about that which they best understand, and, naturally, that is apt to be the sub ject which they have nearest at heart and have most thoroughly studied. So when you want to ta'k "horse" look up a Kentuckian and "you will find your time will not be wasted. Almost every child you meet in the Blue Grass country can tell you about Longfellow, Ten Broeck or Tom Bowling while a great many of them do not know the name of the governor of Kentucky. They know that Ten Broeck at four years old ran three miles in 5:26, and four miles in 7:15 J, and at five years old ran two miles in 3:27, far better than they know the church catechism. They can even tell you the very year and day of the month when the great feats were ac complished. Few are the Kcntuckians who can de scribe to you the sad death of the la mented McWhirter, who ran his two miles in 3:30, without a touching lower ing of the voice and a suspicious moist ure about the eyes. After a visit to one of the great stock farms one can appreciate this enthusi asm. Indian Hill, the beautiful stock farm of Mr. T. Veech, is quite near Louis ville, and very numerous arc the visitors to it during a year. The celebrated trot ter Trinket hailed from here, you know. Last year, at his spring sale, Mr. Vccch sold a beautiful little three year filly, Femme Sole, for $5,000. Even Richard III., who offered "a kingdom for a horse," would be surprised, I think, at the prices that arc paid for some of them in these days. The colts at Indian hill are looking none the worse for the long, cold winter, except one poor little fellow who slipped on the ice as ho came out of his stable one morning. Even should he recover entirely from his lameness, you may be sure Mr. Veech will tell all about the accident when he 13 offered for sale. Last spring, at the sale, a colt was put up and 6old while Mr. Vccch was en gaged elsewhere. He arrived just as the horse was knocked down to the highest bidder. He stopped the auction eer and told him to state that the horse had been" hurt while a colt, and although in his opinion it did not injure the horse, still he wished attention called to the scar, and the horse could be resold. This was done, and Mr. Veech lost $100 by his candor. Some time ago Mr. Thorpe, a Louisville merchant, bought a colt from Indian Hill, and afterward laughingly told Mr. Veech that the horse had disap pointed him greatly. Whereupon Mr. Veech gave him the best colt he had that year. Thiscolt is now the promising horse Grecnlander, that trotted in Chi cago last year. These horsemen seem to know aud love their horses as a mau docs his children. One morning one of them missed a fine young mare which had been grazing in a field with eighty others. Search was. made far and near for days, but she wa3 nowhere to be found. At last a noise wa3 heard in a stable that had not been used for some time, and on examination she was found in between the floor and the ground. What she went in for and how she ever got in have remained a mystery to this day. The space was so small that the floor, had to be taken up to get her out. One of the most beautiful tights I ever saw was the show of fine hor.-es at the Louisville fair grounds several years ago. I was very much amused by a little six year-old girl who sat near me. Her mother was telling her about the horses, their names, etc.. "That is Harold," she s-aid, pointing to a group standing near, "the father of Maud S; that ugly white mare is Miss Russell; the mother of Maud S; and the little colt is Lord Russell, Maud S's little brother." Th child was deeply interested, beiDg Ken tucky born, and after thinking for some time she asked her mother in the most puzzled way: "If Miss Russell is the mother of Maud S. why is she called Miss Russell why don't "they call her Mrs. S. ? " Last year they had a number of the great stallions at the Louisville Exposi tion. They were in stalls in an annex at tended by a crowd of adoring trainers and stable-boys, but Mr. Harper was himself in Longfellow's stall, you may be sure. Some luckless man had brought a splen did Louisiana horse, Louis Napoleon, to show, and great seemed his chagrin that the partisan Kentuckians could scarcely spare a glance as they hurried by his stall to reach those of their beloved Longfellow, Ten Broeck, King Alfonso and Springbok. As we stood by King Alfonso the old colored man in charge invited us to come nearer, assuring us he was "as gentle as a lamb." One man, deceived by the man's words and the horse's looks, walked forward to pat him, whereupon his majesty bit at him, and almost caught his hand. I reproach ed the man for telling such stories, when he said, " La, he would not hurt anybody, he was only nipping at him in play." I, however, kept at a safe dis tance, as I made up my mind, if I was killed, it would not make any difference to me whether I had been maliciously bitten or playfully nipped to death. These stable-boys have the most won derful memories for the names, etc., of all the horses on the places. I asked one of Mr. Harper's boys what had be come of a little mare, Sallie M., that had been named some time ago for a friend of mine, lie quickly answered: "Yes, I know the mare you speak of; she was by Longfellow, dam Platina. She was considered very speedy, but she went lame, and now she has a very promising colt by her side." The curious effect which the placing of a fertilizer on 'one side of an orange tree", at Lake Jesup, Fla, and none on the other had on the fruit is noted by a Southern paper, which says that the side that was fertilized bore large, . bright oranges, and the other small, rusty one. "You can't make the wife, who has isked her husband for some money with out receiving a response, believe that silence is golden. Boston Pott. THE BIRD OF THE DESERT. Habits of tne (Tatrich A Glance at an Catrith farm. That ostriches are no simpletons, and have ways and fashions distinctively their own, may not bei.questioned. Just as well as would human folk, do they know when intruders have invaded their premises; even more, they discover at a glance whether the newly laid treas ures have been touched, and alack-a-day should but one egg be missing, or per chance the shell of one be cracked, never more will the insulted bird of the desert brood and watch over that outraged nur sery. Devotion turns to fury, and scorn ing to raise a broken-up family circle, with anger that knows no bounds, these mammoth feathered folk smash every egg left and hop frantically over the deso lated "remains." The nest of an ostrich is not by any means an elegant affair ; it is not even pretty, yet in accordance wTith their ideas and needs, "the hollow of ample propor tions, scooped in the sandy soil," offers every possibility of comfort; all the bet ter should the selected home place be shielded by heather or protecting shrubs; then, "with the patience of love, wisps of grass and tender bits of herbage" are deftly woven in and out, forming a com pact and comfortable bed for expected guests.. This snuggery, seven or eight feet in diampter, is sufficient for family accommodation, and here for a time the mammoth guardians rest content, fre quently turning the eggs, that each sid may have its due share of warinth. After a time Madame Ostrich asser, her right to the f:eedom of the plain, leaving to her partner all charge of house hold matters, and, to his credit be it told, paterfamilias accepts the care with a ferver and faithfulness quite won derful; with patriarchal dignity the am ple wings are st-.ead protectingly over the nest,containing sometimes two score of eggs, sharing the vigils with a calm 4 content, though it is a very uncerta n matter whether "rations" come regularly or not; his powers of endurance admit of long fasts, and he is often put to the test. Madame, roaming at will, utterly ig nores domestic courtesies; she is off for undisturbed recreation, and only when evenings are line, and marauders not lurking near, does her liege lord stroll out to catch a savory bite, and stretch his tired wings and cramped legs. Of all expeditions common with Sahara sportsmen, "the capture of an ostrich ranks next to the plunder of a caravan;" so many, too, are the risks that often sev eral horses are sacrificed. When pur sued, the wary bird "courses about in a circle," so as often to completely mystify its pursuers, and their fleetness of move ment and long strides render strategy a necessary study to hunters. If there be a large party, some of the horsemen set forth upon a gentle gallop, just to keep the prey in view, others move at right angles, and so, often coming upon their game unawares, but plucky to the last, the feathered victim yields only when exhaustion overtakes him, then express ing his indignation and wrath by "kick ing vigorously in a sideways fashion," a most ungraceful movement, but ' 'terri bly effective," as hunters have experi enced to their sorrow. Very dear to the heart of a Bushman are ostrich eggs; on finding a nest, he will, if possible, crowd himself within it, and courageously avait the return of its owners, "to tight it out." Sometimes he clothes himself in the skin of an os trich, and cunningly imitating the gf.it and motions of the bird, allures a return ing one, only to bring him low with the tiny bow and sraa'l arrows commonly in use among them; in this way are secured the finest ostrich plumes, so much iD vogue. An ostrich farmer using an "incuba tor" finds it no light task to raise the young; undivided attention docs not always insure success. Ostrich babies thus reared "are plucked before they are a year old, and for years no one can perhaps tell how long they are annual ly subjected to this process; of some it is recorded that for over fifteen years they yielded this profit, aud were still in high feather. " At plucking time the unsuspected creatures are enticed by unusual measures of maize, of which they aie very fond, and penned snugly where struggling is out of their power; not a wing can they spread, aggressive or defensive warfare is denied them; the poor things are ut terly at the mercy of their masters men who know not the meaning of that gentle quality. The, wings are uncere moniously lifted, and the delicate flossy plumage is pulled or cut out. If plucked, the weight in market is heavier, and the quill soon grows again. "Very sljght is the pain," coolly remarks the ski'lful operator; but who can tell? for fashion's high behest is all this accomplished, and as one has written of it, "in voice less dignity the sufferer endures." Pluck ing season over, the feathers are care fully sorted; the white primary outside rim, found just under the wing, is deemed the most valuable, and these are sometimes sold for $125 per pound. Sorting gives place to packing, and to market the beautiful treasures are sent. It is said that ostrich farming is, how ever, a most uncertain employment, be ing subject entirely to fashion's freaks. In ancient times eggs and plumes were to crowned heads most acceptable tribute-money. Ostrich egg omelet is uni versally regarded as a dainty dish; ex tremely convenient are they also, as, owing to the thickness of the shells, tCey retain their freshness for weeks; for this travelers hold them in high esteem. In the Metropolitan museum. Central Park, is a singular curiosity. Standing in a glass case is an artificial ostrich, ap parently not far from twenty inches in height.- It came to us from the rare and beautiful collection of Prince Demi doff. The body of the bird is represen ted by a full-sized ostrich egg ; the legs, feet, tail and head are one mass of ex quisitely chased silver-work, and in the sunlight glitter brilliantly. This wonderful piece of Italian handi crafts set with gems, precious sbpnes, pearly enamel and rich silver-work, and it is estimated ihat the jewels adorning and completing this masterpiece should be vaiied at $17,000. Thacrest of John, king of Bohemia, is f orned of three ostrich feathers ; the motto,"Ich dien." This was adopted by Edf ard, the Black Prince, Harper I FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS. The Zulu Indians have smoked cigar rettes for 700 years. Of the 176 varieties of snakes in the United States twenty-two are venom ous. In weaving, as well as a great many other arts, the Egyptians seem to have excelled even the progress of the present day. In a New York jewelry store window is exhibited a large knot, out from a tree, which is the exact counterpart of a human ear. Travelers in Africa frequently see float ing islands of grass and reeds, some of which are large enough to support cattlo which graze upon them. The grape cure practiced in Germany is paralleled by the treatment now in vogue at Oakland, Cal., in which the patient, for food and drink, is given Bartlett pears. An invalid is said to grow thin upon the diet, but in a few weeks usually grows stronger. The oldest relics found in Egypt in the oldest tombs are wooden coffins and idols not the least decayed, embalmed mum mies, the linen wrappings not the least soiled, rolls of papyri as legible as if written but yesterday, eggs looking fresh, garden seeds, loaves of bread, honey in the comb, etc. A French statistician has discovered that up to the present, 2,510 emperors and kings have governed sixty-four na tions. Out of this number 300 have been driven from their thrones, sixty-four have abdicated, twenty-four have committed suicide, twelve have become insane, 100 fell in battle, 123 were captured, twenty five died martyrs, 151 have been assassi nated, and 108 have been condemned to death and executed according to law. Birds arc without lips or teeth, the jaws beh?g covered with horn, form'ng a beak. This varies greatly in shape, being extremely wide in the whippoor will, remarkably long in the pelican, stout in the eagle and slender in the hummer. It is hardest in those that tear or bruise their food, and softest in water birds. The tongue is also covered with a horny sheath, its chief function being to secure the food when ia the mouth. It is proportionately largest and most fleshy in the parrots. Although three, four, five or six cents seem very little for the use of one dollar for a year, it is surprising what a large sum it amounts to when left for a num ber of years, as in the case of a Con necticut man who in 1838 commenced making deposits in a s tving3 bank. His total deposits from that date until 1885 amounted to SI, 962.25. Between 1838 and 1858 he drew from the bank $1,270. 70; and yet, a short time s'nee, on having his bank book written up and balanced.he was found to have a balance on deposit amounting to $11,273.33. Cripples in Congress. A Washington correspondent writes that there will be at least three one le r ged ex-Confederates in the ncxtCou gress, to say nothing of Wade Hampton, who is one-legged and an ex-Confederate, but did not lose his leg in the war. The three in question are Senator Berry, of Arkansas, Senator Butler, of South Carolina, and Stone, of Kentucky, who succeeds Oscar Tnrner. A one-legged man seems to be a better ruoner, on the whole, thin one with two legs. Mr. Oscar Turner on his arrival at Washington after the beginning of the last session of Congress, on being asked about his successor, remarked that he was a one-legged man, and an ex-Confederate. "They tried everything in the district with two legs," said he, with a grim smile, "and couldn't beat me, so they tried the one-legged fellow, and bv George, they beat me." There are a much larger number of wounded and crippled ex Confederates among Congressmen than there are wounded and crippled ex-Union soldiers. There will be a round dozen of them iD the next Congress, perhaps more. Berry will "rind company in the' Senate, for besides Butler, who lost his right leg at Brandy Station, there is Kenna, who entend the service a mere child he was but seventeen years old at the cloe of the war and was wounded in the ser vice. In the House there will be Mr. Stone, who outran Oscar Turner; Oates, of Alabama, who lost his right arm in front of Richmond in his twenty-seventh battle, and after .having been five times previously wounded. Herbert, of Ala bama, who was disabled at the battle of the Wilderness; Davidson, of Florida, who was so badly wounded in '04 as to render him unfit for further service; Cox of North Carolina; Aiken, of South Car olina, who was shot through the lungs in '62, but served a year or two after his partial recovery; Gibson, of West Vir ginia, who was obliged to retire from service on account of his wounds; Ca bell, of Virginia, who was wounded twice, and O'Ferral of the same State, who received no less than seven wounds during his career in the Confederate ser vice. Oriental Loafers. The Oriental has the art of loafing down to a very fine point, says a letter from Turkey. If I were asked to de scribe an Arab or a Turk of Damascus (for as we get nearer the Bosphorus, mov ing north, the Turkish element becomes more and more manifest over the Ara bian). I should ask you to picture to yourself a cotton striped robe reaching to his heels, and a red fez or a turban, squat by the brink of running water. There, hour after hour, men sit and let the hours slip by ; all days are the same. The women are frequently seen encamped by the water's edge, hidden behind their vails, and you do not at all know vhether they are conducting a flirtation with 6ome distant patriarch or saying their pray.rs. Laying Away Her Darling. A strange sight even for Tuscon was presented on the streets yesterday after noon a woman carrying a child's coffin on her shoulderr followed by a lot of little girls. The coffin, judging from its size, was evidently empty', otherwise she could not have marched along with it as she did. Later along the scene was reversed, and the coffin was carried by four little girls, followed by several women. It is no uncommon sight to see a coffin borne to the grave on the shoulders of a man, but a woman with a coffin on her shoulders is a novel sight even here. Tucson (Ari.) Citizen. A BRAKOIAN S EXPERIENCE. Dlscltarrreil Becanse a Tramp Who Fell off the Train Wasn't Killed. It was a . damp, foggy night in early spring, and I was one of the crew which had in charge a "wild" freight, which we had been most of the night for it., was nearly morning now in getting an insignifiicant distauce toward our desti nation. We had been side-tracked sev eral times for trains to pass us, the last time for several hours, so that when we got under way and thought everything was clear for a good run, it was only about an hour before daylight the very darkest time in a very dark night, how ever. I think I never saw a blacker, thicker atmosphere than we had that night; even the lanterns could not bo seen more than the length of half a dozen cars. When we got under headway I started to go up to the engine for something, and was groping my way over the tops of tb cars Ksry cautiously for it was dangerous work, on account of the darkness, for even an experienced brakeman, while I was green and awk- . ward when happening to throw the light of my lantern down between two cars, I saw a dark mass of something against the end of one of them. I stopped to look closer, and swinging my lantern between the cars saw it was some poor fellow stealing a ride. He had his hat pulled down over his face and, more asleep than awake, was keep ing in an upright position by clinging to the steps used for getting up on the car. The light I had thrown about him and the noise I had made roused him up. When he saw he had been discovered he put the best possible face on the matter and expressed his determination to stay on the train until we reached the end of the route. I told him that he could not do this and we soon got into an angry dispute. He then climbed up on the car, and as he did so I moved to the other end. In this position we continued our war of words, he meanwhile standing very close to the end of the car. I soon concluded to leave him and find out of the conductor what should be done. I did not like his impudence and knew that somehow we would have to get him off the train ; but with the indications of brawn and muscle which he possessed, I did not care about getting into close quarters alone on the top of a freight car. As I was about to move away the tram gave a lurch as she struck an imperfect rail, which almost threw me off my feet. At the same time I saw my unwelcome passenger make a wild grasp in the air, as his body swayed backward with the shock tkrough which it had been so hard for me to keep my position on the car, and as dimly as I could see his face the expression of horror and fright was one of the most painful sights I ever saw ; then he uttered a wild shriek, and half swinging around on one foot upon which he was trying to balance himself, he fell headlong out of sight between the cars. One more piercing wail reached my ears, and then all was drowned in the roar of the on-speeding train. It was not a manly thing to do, I am aware; but I fainted on top of the car. It must have been about half an hour afterward, for it was by this time day light, when 1 came to and began to realize what had happened. As soon as possi ble I got back to the caboose and de tailed to the conductor what had oc curred. By this time we were ten or twelve miles from the scene of the acci dent, so he said. "We're running wild, and if we go back and pick up the remainj of that fellow it'll take an hour. Oniy thing I. can see that we can do is to go on to the next station and send for orders. " This we did and got permission from headquarters to run back. The train had to back down, of course, and when we came within a couple of miles of the point near which we sup posed we would find at least a portion of our man, the train slackened its speed and the conductor and myself began to keep a careful watch along the track. Presently, from a clump of blackberry bushes in a corner of the rail fence som one sang out: "Gents, if you 'us cum clean back here fur me, I simply want to say thet I 'pre date it. 'Tisn't every road'd do it. I ain't no pressin' engagements at the end o' your line; but 1 'preciate your kind ness in comin' back fur me, anyhow !" We peered in the direction indicated by the voice. There, upon the top rail of the fence with one leg thrown over the other, and calmly smoking a short pipe a picture of impudence sat the fellow we had expected to gather up in fragments, safe and sound, scarcely a scratch worse off than when I first saw him between the cars. The conductor grasped the situation at once, and our train was soon again going forward. His feelings were so outraged to think the man hadn't been killed hadn't even been hurt that he did nothing but heap abuse upon me un til we got our train in ; and I believe he considered me as great a criminal be cause the accident didn't prove fatal to the fellow as though he had been killed and I was the direct cause of it. It seemed to me that I was an entirely innocent participant in the incident; but every one appeared to think that by all laws of nature the man ought to have been killed, and that I, somehow, was the the cause of the thing missing fire, and was not to be trusted in conse quence. So a few days later I got my discharge. Detroit Free Press. History of Life Insurance. The Boston Globe publishes a history of life insurance since it was first intro duced into thi3 country in 1812. It shows that the companies have handled since that time nearly $1,500,000,000 of the money of the policy-holders, while the net losses by failed companies have been $25,000,000,, or 1-6 of 1 per cent. Up to date policy-holders have paid to the companies in the. aggregate $1,282, 563,000. The companies have paid in death losses, endowments and dividends $900,000,000. Their present assets are nearly $500,000,000. What the compa nies have paid out, with their present assets, exceeds the amount received from policy-holders by $138,084,161. Letters from hundreds ol leading statesmen, lawyers, physicians and clergymen, and business men all over the country, which discuss life insurance, follow the history. The total population ruled by the czar was in 1882 100, 038, 342. .4 1 iii Uii 'A 1 J
The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
April 23, 1885, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75