THE DEMOCRAT PUBLISHING CO., PUBLISHERS.
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VOLUME I.
SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. THURSDAY, MAY 28, 1885.
NUMBER 27,
I
A NATURE PRAVErt.
Oh. birds that sings such thankful psalms,
Rebuking human fretting,
leach us your sot-ret of content,
Your science of forgetting,
for every life must have its ills
You, too, have times of sorrow
Trtsch us, like you, to lay them by
ml sing p gain to-morrow ;
p(r goms of blackest jet mny rest
Within a golden setting,
ivl he s w'se who understands
Tlws-'iem-eof forgetting.
Oh I'alnis that bow before the gale
I'nf if its peaceful ending,
Tca' h m your yielding, linked with strength,
oiv graceful art of bending;
Fir every tree must me9t the storm.
Each heart must encounter sorrow;
Teach us, like you, to bow, that we
M;iy stand erect to-morrow
For there is strength in humble grace
Its wise disciples shielding
And ho is strong who understands
The happy art of yielding.
h, brook, which laughs all night, all day,
With voice of sweet seduction,
Teach us your art of laughing more
At every new obstruction;
F r every life has eddies deep
And rapids fiercely dashing.
Sometimes through gloomy caverns forced,
Yet there is wisdom in your way,
Your laughing waves and wimples:
Teach us your jrospel built or smil3s,
The secret ot your dimples
Ob. oats, ;hat .-tand in forest ranks,
TaiJ. strong, erect, and sightly.
Ycv.r l-ranches arched in noblest graco,
A"o:;r leaflets laughing lightly ;
lra;h us your firm and quiet strength,
Your secrets of extraction
From slimy darkness in the soil
The grace ot life and action;
For ther are rich wh - undorstand
The secret of combining
The good deep hidden in the earth i
With !h:it where suns are shining.
Ch, myriad forms of earth and cir,
Of lake, and sea, and river,
Which makes our landscapes glad ana
To glorify the giver;
Teach us to learn the lessons hid
In each familiar feature,
The mystery which so perfects
Each low or lofty creature ;
For God is good, and life is sweto,
While suns are brightly shining
To glad the glooms and thus rebuke
Our follies of repining.
Er.ch night is followed by its day,
Each storm by fairer weather,
While all the works of nature sing
Their psalms of joy together.
Then learn, oh, heart, their sonj:3 of hope
Cease, soul, thy thankless sorrow;
For though the clouds be dark to-day,
The sun shall shine to-morrow ;
Ien rn well from bird and tree and rill,
The sins of dark resentment ;
And know the greatest gift of God
Is faith and sweet contentment.
J. E. Jones, in Courier-Journal.
THE SAILOR'S BRIDE.
A 6TRA5GE BUT TRUE STORY.
Many decades ago a vessel from Bos
ton arrived at a dock in London. Among
ihe hands on board was one named
Tudor, a steady, well-looking young
nan, who acted as a sailor. Very 'early
one morning a young, beautiful and de
cently dressed woman came tripping
down to the vessel and inquired of Tudor
lor the captain. She was told he was
not risen, but she insisted on seeing him
without delay. Tudor called him up,
and she addressed him with:
"Good-morning, captain! I have
railed to see if you will marry me."
"Marry you?" believing her to be a
suspicious character "leave my vessel
instant ly, if you know what is for jour
good !" She next went to the mate and
received a similar answer; she. t lien went
to where Tudor was, being engaged in
handling ship tacks, and put the same
question to him. "With all my heart,"
answered Tudor, in a jocular manner.
"Then,"' said she. "come along with
me." Tudor left his work and followed
li.r 11.; r : : j i
opened the ladv entered a barber's shop
fr!i.....i i., rr.r cm ,1 ,1 .. . .J.
of the raor to clip his beard and hair, j
boh of which he stood iu need. She!
paid the bills ami entered a hat store.;
The requested the best of beavers in the
store, and told Tudor to select one, and
he did f o, the price being paid by the
lady. Tudor threw his old tarpaulin j
aside. They next visited a shoe store,
and selected a pair of boots, the lady
also paying for them. Tudor, by this
time, was puzzled to devise the object
the lady had in view. He solicited an
explanation, but she told hira to be silent.
She led the way into a clothing store".
Here Tudor was told to select the best
suit of clothes in the store. The man of
the tar bedaubed pants and checkered
shirt was in a few minutes metamor
phosed into as fine a gentleman as walks
the streets, the bill, as before, being paid
by the lady. Tudor's amazement was
now complete, lie again and again ear
nestly insisted on an explanation; the
wily answer he received was: "Follow
me and be not. afraid; all will be ex
plained to your satisfaction." He there-
loi e resloved to ask no more
questions. Next 8he conducted
""a into a magistrate's office
nl politely requested the .miu
!stt'r of the law to unite her and her com
panion in matrimony. This was rather
a damper to Tudor, but he yielded. The
ceremony over, the counle were nro-
n,uuced man and wife. Without utter
lng a word or exchanging a kiss, Tudor
and his wife left the office, not,however,
sne paid ttie mariStrate his fee.
the couple walked in" silence, Tudor
Hardly knowing what he was doing or
, "ai ne had done. Turning the corner,
he saw a splendid house, toward which
'he wife di
lcu they entered, passing into a room
"'at was furnished in a magnificent
ali'e. She told him tn ill i1.n ..I
iake himself contented while she went
ITT anther room. The first one who
auuressed her was her uncle, who asked
, escapcd from her room and
bad been- Her on,y answer
w. i hou fiend in human shape; I al
low you iiiaf 1 A ' ..
f!Tn J "c Moui-- to remove your
tweets from this hnnu v i
'-v wvt f VU flJTV IVUU
to throusrh lif e : but vou are frustrated.
I am mistress of my own house. I am
married, and my husband is here!"
We must leave the newly-married cou
ple for the purpose of giving the history
of Mrs. Tudor. She was the only child
of a wealthy gentleman. Mr. A. ,
his daughter's name being Eliza. He
had been at great expense in her educa
tion, she being the only object of his
care, his wife dying when she was quite
voung. A short time before his death
he made a will by w hich his brother
was to have possession of all his property
until his daughter was married, when it
was to be given up to her husband, but
if she died without marrying, the prop
erty was to go to her uucle and I113 fami
ly. After the death of Mr. A, his broth
er removed into his house and Eliza
boarded in his family. She soon discov
ered that her uncle did not intend she
should ever marry. He shut her up in
one of the centre rooms in the third
story and refused her associates by tel
liug them when they called that she was
gone on a journey. The unfortunate
girl was thus shut out from the world
for three years. Her scanty breakfast
happened one morning to be carried to
her one morning by her old servant
Juan. Seeing the face of her old friend
and servant, Kliza burst into tears. Juan
well understood the meaning.
"Hush, Eliza? Some of your old ser
vants have long been planning means for
j-our escape."
"What?" exclaimed Kliza, "la it pos
sible that I am to be delivered from this
vile place?''
It is unnecessary to detail all the min
utia of the escape. Suffice it to say that
on the morning of the fourth day after
the interview she made her escape. This
was about daylight. She immediately
bent her steps to the wharf where tho
Boston vessel lay.
The amazement of Tudor and trans
port of his wife at the. sudden change ol
fortune may possibly be conceived but
cannot be expressed.
One pleasant morning some days after
the marriage the crew of the Iloston ves
sal's attention was drawn to a splendid
carriage approaching the wharf. Tho
driver let down the steps aud a gentle
man and lady elegantly dressed alighted.
The gentleman asked the captain
what port he was from, aud
many other questions all the tim
avoiding his scrutiny; at last,
turning to the captain and calling hiro
by name, he said: "Captain, before leav.
ing your vessel, permit me to make yoi
acquainted witU Mrs. Tudor." Tht
captain and those about him had not
recognized hini to be their old friend and
shipmate Tudor, whom they supposed
some fatal accident had befallen. You
may judgeof the congratulations thai
followed.
The captain regretted the harsh judg.
ment he had at first passed upon the
young lAdr, but unlike the mate, being
a married man, he was spared the added
mortification of the latter that he had
spurned even to consider so fortunate ap
offer of marriage.
This remarkable marriage, the bride
being snatched from prison walls, as if
were, and the groom called from the
hard ad humble lot of a common sailoi
both brought suddenly and unexpectedly
to positions of freedom and alfiucnce
has hardly a parallel in all history. The
union thus formed proved to be a very
happy one. The large fortune that then
fell under the active management ol
Freeerick Tudor was wisely handled and
largely increased. In due time Mr. and
Mrs. Tudor transferred their residence
to Boston.
With shrewd foresight, Mr. Tudor en
tered largely into the ice business, being
the first person to make shipments of ice
by sea. His venture wa3 made in 1805,
when he sailed himself with a cargo of
130 tons, in his own brig to Martinique,
West Indies. In 1S15 Mr. Tudor ob
tained the monopoly of the Havana ice
business, and important privilleges from
the Cuban government. In 1817 he
introduced the business in Charleston,
S. C, the next year in Savannah, and
in 1820 into New Orleans. In May,
1833, he sent the first cargo of ice to
the East Indies, which was delivered at
Calcutta in the autumn of that year.
Of the 180 tons, nearly one-half was
wasted in the voyage and in going up
the Ganges. The ice was sold imme
diately, at no more than half the cost of
VT" nt 'L
the first cargo of ice
natives. In 1831
was shipped to
Brazil by Mr. Tudor, and until 183G he
had a monopoly of the shipment of ice,
but it finally became so large and profit
able that others entered iuto the busi
ness from various ports.
Mr. Tudor's foresight secured to Bos
ton the chief position of the Calcutta
trade, and gave her ships cargoes for
Southern ports, thus reducing the costs
of freighting southern products to the
North. The extensive and valuable Tu
dor estates in Boston and vicinity, where
representatives of the family still reside,
are well known. The Tudors have al
ways been noted for public spirit, .in
telligence and refinement, and it was a
streak of good luck for more than two
that about the establishment of the fam
ily in America. Boston Commonwealth.
Nine Stories II
igli.
A New York correspondent of the
Chicago JlcralJ writes: How tall is the
highest church steeple in your neighbor
hood? Not over 125 feet, probably.
Hundreds of New York families live at
an altitude equal to the tip of that spire.
They are not poor people, in the garrets
of big tenements, but are thus domiciled
skyward in fine, and often sumptuous
apartments. One of the newest and big
gest buildings in Fifth avenue isa French
ilat house, nine stories high, and on the
topmost floor reside two families who
arc socially about as pretentious as any
in town. They own their domiciles, for
the establishment is co-operative, each
tenant investing over $30,000. Of course,
an elevator renders the ascent of no con
sequence, but as to the descent, a fright
has takeu possession of these lofty dwell
ers. The fall or a row of scarcely com
pleted houses, and the publication of a
list of more than-a hundred structures
buiit by the same man, caused a panic.
Nobody vow goes to bed at these great
heig hts without feeling the possibility
that he may go to the ground with a
collapse of the house. Formerly he
deemed himself safe if the means of es
cane were adequate in tho case of fire,
but the new peril is novel. In numerous
instances the architects are called upon
to prove the solidity of their work. .
TIMELY TOriCS,
Decoration Day throughout the North,
came to be on May 30 from that date
having been first named in a presidential
proclamation. There was at first a great
diversity of dates, but gradually all the
Northern States came to adopt May 30.
Mississippi may be far behind her sis
ter States of the North in many things,
but she makes better provision for her
agricultural colleges. 'There are two in
the State, one of which is for colored
students, and the appropriations for this
year arc over $500,000. v
Alcoholic intemperance is stated to be
increasing to an alarming extent among
the women of Australia. In discussing
the matter at a meeting of the Melbourne
medical society the physicians present
concurred in attributing the trouble to
close confinement, anxiety and the fa
tigue arising from overwork.
Here is a good question for debating
societies: A correspondent of the Scien
tific American asks if the electricity
which produces the electric light is a
manufactured article or is a natural ele
ment simply collected and stored. The
paper says it maybe said to be manufac
tured, as it is produced by the expendi
ture of power in a machine. It adds,
however, that it is probably a condition
or state of natural elements.
From various cities and towns in the
interior of this and other States, says the
Philadelphia Times, constaut advices are
being received indicating the gradual
subsidence of the rink fever. In a few
places, it is true, new rinks are still
being opened; but those places which
have escaped the epidemic thus far will
probably escape it for some time to come,
few persons being so free from indolence
as to desire so energetic a pastime dur
ing the heated term.
"Foor Man's Gulch," on Butte Creek,
in California, got its name in this man
ner: A miner named Noah Helm toiled
season after season in the gulch, but
grew poorer every yc i , and his neigh
bors often advised him to pull up stakes
and leave. He had confidence in the
claim, however, and said he proposed to
starve there or make a strike. One day
Helm struck a bonanza in the claim,
moved down into the valley and pur
chased aranch,built an elegant mansi on,
brought his family from the East, and
is now one of the most prosperous
farmers in the county. Although the
spot finally turned out well, it has al
ways borne the title of "Foor Man's
Gulch," given by the miners.
The young ostriches on a big feather
ranch in Southern California were born
with little legs, owing to the lack of
phosphates in egg and feed, and they
kept snapping o!f like pipe stems. An
ostrich doctor amputated one of the
broken limbs for a trial, and strapped on
a wooden leg, and the bird stumped
around in a thrifty way until the leg
broke again above the knee. A remedy
was at last administered in the food to
stiffen up the osseous economy of the
birds, and now their legs are strong
enough to fling rocks at their pursuers in
the orthodox manner as described in the
school geographies.
Some remarkable photographs of a
pistol bullet in its flight, under the il
lumination of an electric Epark, have
been secured by Frofcssor E. Mach, of
Prague. He ha3 also photographed the
air streams which one may see over a
Bunsen burner placed in sunshiue, and
has even obtained pictures of waves of
sound, these last being made visible by
a method in which advantage is taken of
the irregular refraction of light by the
waves set in vibration by sound. Al
though these experiments may not have
any practical value, they arc interesting
as showing the great degree of perfection
to which the photographic art has been
carried.'
To supply the demand for milk and its
products in this country 15,000,000 cows
are required. To furnish food for them
the cultivation of over 00,000,000. acres
of land is required. In caring for the
cows and their milk 700,000 men find
employment and 1,000,000 horses are
needed. Cows and horses consume an
nually 30,000,000 tons of hay, 90,000,000
bushels of corn-meal and the same
amount of oat-meal, 275,000,000 bushels
of oats, 2,000,000 bushels of bran, and
30,000,000 bushels of corn, to say noth
ing of the brewery grains and questiona
ble feed of various kinds that is used all
over the country. It costs $400,000,000
to feed these cows and horses.
On the subject of color-blindness, a
correspondent writes to the Pall Mall
Gazette: A very large proportion of the
cases of so-calied color-blindness is, I
am convinced, due to ignorance, and
in confirmation of this opinion there is
the undoubted fact that it is rarely
found in examination of female candi
dates. If color-blindness is an organic
defect of the visual apparatus, surely it
ought to exist in somewhere about the
same ratio in the male and female. I
don't for a moment deny the existence of
genuine solor-blindncss ; but I do con
tend that the genuine defect is a rare
one. My suggestion is that instruction
in colors and their names ought to form
a distinct item in the curriculum of all
elementary schools.
Dr. Zulinski has published in a War
saw medical journal the result of a long
series of experiments made by him on
both human beings and animals, with a
view of verifying the " physiological ef
fects of tobacco smoke. He found that
it is a distinct poison, even in small doses.
Upon men its action is very slight, when
not inhaled in large quantities, but it
would soon become powerful if the
smoker got into the habit, as some do, of
swallowing the smoke. The cigar smoker
absorbs more poison than the cigarette
smoker, and the latter than those who
smoke pipes, while the smoker who
takes the precaution of using a narghilie,
or any other apparatus which conducts
the smoke through water, reduces the
deleterious effects to a minimum.
A pension which had been regularly
paid for 502 years has just come to an
end in Switzerland, and the. Cantonal
government of Soleure, the paymaster,
bo much regret its extinction that they
are advertising for an heir. In 1382
Count Rudolph of Kilbourg marched to
the assault of Ihe town of Saleure,
against which his ancestors had long en
tertained treasonable designs. But one
Hans Roth, a peasant living in a neigh
boring village, was on the alert said car
ried to the townspeople intelligence of
what was brewing, and Soleure was
saved. For this very substantial service
Hans was rewarded with an annuity to
himself and his heirs forever. The last
inheritor, the juge de paix Roth, has
lately died, and all the Roths in Switz
ei land are now looking up their pedi
grees. Yan Phou Lee, of Canton, China, now
a student of Yale college, gave an inter
esting lecture on "Chinese Women," at
the Dudley Street Baptist church at
Roxbury, Mass., recently. He spoke of
the prejudice cxistintr among Chinamen
against female children, and touched
upon the prevalence f the crime of in
fanticide, which he averred was largely
due to the preference for boys and to the
extreme poverty of those who were guilty
of it. He did not seek to defend the
practice or overlook its enormity, but
sought to excuse those who were often
forced to it through extremcst destitu
tion. Some parents sell their children.
Boys bring a good price, while girls can
be had for the asking. Boys are pre
ferred to girls because when the girls
grow up it is an expensive thing to mar
ry them off and more expensive when it
cannot be done, while a boy is expected
to support his parents and glorify his
family. The lecturer spoke of the early
engagement and marriage of Chinese
girls and described the wedding cere
mony It was the intense desire of the
Chinese to . rear large families, that the
family name might be carried down.
Should a man tire of his wife lie has only
to take the trouble of sending her home
with a note to her parents, explaining
the reason of her return. The Chinese
idea of a beautiful women is one with a
moon face, small eyes and mouth,s!endcr
waist and small feet.
The subject of discussion among the
representatives of all the civilized powers
inthewoild, who are requested to meet
at the city of San Domingo, September
18, 18S5, will be the boues of Christo
pher Columbus. The question connect
ed with these remains of the great navi
gator has lately reached an acute stage,
and it has become necessary for the honor
of those concerned that it should be set
tled promptly : and as Spain and San Do
mingo are not prepared to declare war
about it, the dispute is to be referred to
a concress. The difficulty has arisen in
thiswise: Columbus died May 21, 1500,
at Valladolid.and his body was deposited
ia the Franciscau priory there. In 1513
it was transferred to the cathedral at Se
ville. The discoverer having expresLcd
an earnest wish to be buried at Haiti, in
San Domingo, his mortal remains were
conveyed there in 1550 (forty-four years
after his death), and interred in the ca
thedral. When the island was taken in
1795 by Ihe French the bones were re
moved by the Spaniards to Lorenzo, in
Havana, and were placed iu the cathe
dral there on January 19, 1796. The
Spanish academy of history defends the
thesis that they are there still, while the
government of San Domingo maintains
that it succeeded in burying the bones
with due honor in the cathedral of its
capital on September 10, 1877. The lat
ter position is supported by a learned
and lengthy historical disquisition which
has been officially communicated to all
the powers, who are now requested to
send representatives to a congress to ex
amine the facts and decide the question
once for all.
Lovers of Lotteries.
In Italy the weekly lottery has become
almost a second nature to the people,
says a Chicago Times correspondent.
Books are published to guide the choice
of numbers with refereuce to dreams and
events, both ordinary and extraordinary.
If you dream of a cat, you are bound to
play this number; if of a dog, to play
that, combining tho two numbers in a
fashion which the book duly describes
should you dream of both dog and cat.
But it is from a real not a visionary,
accident that your richest harvest may
be reaped, and the ei cater the accident
the richer the harvest. If your child
tumbles down stairs and breaks a leg,
you count the number of stairs, rush to
the lottery office, aud play the combina
tion of stairs, child, aud fall. AVhen
the cholera broke out last year in Naplei
certain numbers indicated by the calam
ity were played so generally, and,strang
to say, so successfully, that the govern
ment lottery banks lost heavily. Th
other day, at a table d'hote, a commer
cial traveler told us all with great ani
mation of a cruel disappointment which
had just befallen him. lie had had the
luck while traveling in the mountains, to
have an accident by which his carriage
was almost broken to bits. He immedi
ately utilized the chance by making un
the prescribed combination of numbers
representing carriage, accident, moun
tain, alarm, and the day of the month,
lie flew to the nearest lottery office; it
was closed. A Sicilian hotel servant
(true to his indolant nature) would not be
induced by the offer of five francs to
take the numbers to the office of the ad
joining village. The would-1 e gamblci
was forced to accept his destiny with
the Italian onntila of "pazienza" (pa
tience). But imagine the feelings of the
ingenious but balked speculator when
the very next day all his five numbers
(a most rare occurrence) were drawn at
Palermo, and he lound that he had thus
missed a fortune!
Washington's Charity.
To Mr. L.und, Washington, Mount
Vernon, November 26, 1775: Let the
hospitality of the house, with respect to
the poor, be kept up. Let no one go
hungry away. If any of these kind of
people should be in want ol corn supply
their necessities, provided it does not
encourage them in idleness. I have no
objection to your giving my money in
charity when you think it well bestowed.
What I mean by having ne objection ia
my desire that it should be done. You
are to consider thati neither myself nor
my wife are now in the way to do these
good offices. G. W. Monthly Magazine,
1800. -; - - ,
The Russian government intends to
start a summer tea plantation in the Cau
casus regioj ...
1ST ART LING DISHES.
What a Correspondent Ate in Control
America.
Alfred Balch, in a letter from the,
United States of Colombia to the Cook,
says: I am sitting under a mango tree on
the bank. Behind me is the village of
Nechi, consisting of one wide street with
thatched and wattled huts on each side
of it. Before me the Couca river, about
as wide as tho Hudson at Albany, rolls
down toward the Magdalena, and just
opposite, flowing between high banks,;
covered with the vivid vegetation of the
tropics, is the Nechi river. I feel in that
satisfactory frame of mind which is tho
result of dining well, at peace with all
the world, and as I watco the gray
smoke of my cigarette curl upward in
the still, warm air, I reflect with grati
tude upon the beauties from a gastro-.
nomic point of view of the water hog.
For the water hog is not outwardly fa
vored by nature, looking as he docs
something of a cross between a gigantic
muskrat and a badger. His grayish-t
brown fur covers, however, many excel
lencies, and when he is cooki i in a sa
vory stew, with plenty of onion, garlic
and . green pepper, a littie Worcester
sauce and some yuca in place of pota
toes, you cau eat him with plea -tin c t o
your palate and profit to your general
health. You would not think him as
good as he really is when he lies snarl
ing before you, tied up with string, but
then it is merely another of the mauy
lessons we get in this life not to judge
by appearances.
And, speaking of appearances, what
could be more hideous that the iguana.
Imagine a lizard about four feet long, a
row of spines down his back, making
him look like a monstrous saw, with
large hooked claws, an ugly head, a
cruel, cold eye, and a pouch under the
lower jaw, which he can inflate and
change the color of at pleasure. Yet
this brute lives in the trees, has a diet
composed exclusively of flowers and fruits
and is really perfectly harmless. I do
not mean that it would be safe to cut
the stitches which fasten his lips to
gether these are sewed up before he is
brought to market, because otherwise he
might snap, and a bite from those jaws
would probably be severe but he is
timid and would never at tack any one.
But when cooked, isn't he good? You
know what frogs' legs taste like? Well,
iguana is to frogs' legs just about what
pheasant is to capon. He is tender, he
is gamy with a beautiful gaminess, he
is very delicious! The white, delicate
flesh, the small bones, the attractive odor
of the viand, all unite to produce a favor
able impression which is more than con
firmed by the first taste.
There is an amount of resemblance be
tween the monkey and the man which
impresses one, whether he be a Darwin
ian or not. It is therefore difficult when
you fish up a black monkey's skull from
the depths of the boiling broth to resist
a belief that you have apprcached canni
balism. For that reason, if you have a
black monkey to eat and let me tell you
that it is one of the best dishes to be pro
cured in the terra calientc allow me to
advise you to omit the head when
making up the dish. Otherwise, as a
surety, you will go hungry at least for
the first time. With this precaution, you
can eat and bo thankful, the flesh tasking
about midway between hare and mutton,
or, I should say, venison. It is tender
and has a peculiar flavor in the right
season, owing to the fondness of the
animal for guavas. As these grow wrild
everywhere, in the guava time the black
monkeys get very fat, and one is looked
upon as decidedly a tid-bit. .
The boy's flat head, with its forked
tongue playing in and out, the smooth,
sinuous gliding motion of the great
snake as it travels between the trees and
bushes, reminding one of a well greased
rope and giving a greater idea of power
than anything I know of, would not,
under ordinary circumstances, make one
think of dinner. Yet the flesh of the
boa is eaten and considered very good.
I have tasted it simply from cu
riosity, but to me it seemed
a good deal like alligator
steak, somewhat musky. At the same
time I am bound to say that the meat
looked well and must be healthy, or it
would not be eaten as much as it is. The
same superstition as that mentioned by
Eivingston as being prevalent in Africa
about the flesh of the great snakes ob
tains here in a modified form. The
peons will tell you that eating the meat
will make you very stroug. They do not
say brave, but the old Spanish writers
record the fact that the Indians origin
ally in the country considered snake
flesh as being tit meat for warrior's only.
While alligators can be seen down here
in thousands, I have never heard of any
one eating them. Turtles, or rather tor
toises, are caught, and find a natural
grave in the bodies of the captors. One
of them, an oval shaped chap, i3 very
good in a stew, and serves to remind
you, though faintly, of the terrapin.
There is assort of worm, the larva of
some insect which I have tasted. It is
found in dead trees, and is about the
size of a man's middle finger. Boiled in
salt and water and then Daked, it tastes
something like chestnuts. - I' must, con
fess, though, that it is not an enticing
dish. However, if "many men have
many minds," certainly they have as
many dishes, and I know of no better
rule in traveling than that given by St.
Paul: "Eat, asking no questions."
Grant and the Skulker.
"General Grant is a firm believer in
the mythical lucky star," an old military
man said to me last night. "Like Na
polean, he believes what will be will be.
I was with Grant in the days preceding
the surrender at Appomattox. One after
noon, during one of the numerous skir
mishes of those last eventful days, one of
the drafted men, a poltroon and a no
torious coward, was caught skulking
among the horses in the commissary's
camp.
" 'Let him go,' said the general, let
him go. A bullet can find a coward in
one place as well as in another.' .
"Half an hour afterward the soldier
was found with a bullet- in his brain
within the corral of train horses and
dead. .The general's words had been
almost a prophecy." Pittsburg Chronicle
Telegraph. .- .
There are four coinage mints in the
United States, located at San Francisco,
Carson City, Philadelphia and New Or
leans. - There " was formerly a mint at
Denver, but this is used now merely as
an assay office. -
A QUACK'S DEVICE.
OT. Vlllars' "True Wafer of I.lTo"
Hi ConfcNMion.
Monsieur Villars, the inventor of pat.
ent medjeine, says an exchange, was ij
native of Paris, and educated among thq
horse-boys and lackeys of a dissipated
court, who flourished in the earliest part
of the last century. Naturally quick ol
wit, he turned his attention to the mani
fold diseases that afflicted the profligate
courtiers of the time of Philip of Orleans.
He beheld a generation of gourmands,
suffering untold miseries, who only
needed a season of proper dieting tr
gain relief. And that relief he deter
mined to give them : and he meant th it
they should pay for it.
By and by the people of the great me
tropolis were informed, by flaming pla
cards on the walls, that, "Monsieur Vil
lars, Physician Extraordinary" to about
all the crowned heads on the continent
who had saved his thousands offered to
his afflicted countrymen his wonderful
medical discovery, found by him in the
sarcophagus of an Egyptiau philosophei
and savant, aud now first given to suffer
ing humanity. He called it "Villars'
Water of Life" surely a modest name
for a medicine which claimed to cure
every disease under the sun which medi
cine could cure.
. After our quack had plastered the
dead walls of the city and its suburbs
with his flaming placards, his next step
was to play into the hands of all the
lackeys, and gentlemen's valets whom
he could get hold of, and by paying
some, and promising others, and pour
ing out wine freely, he got. them to stand
at the street corners, and at the entrance
to the cemetery, and at the grave, and
also at the place where the funeral ser
vices were being held; and whenever
there was a funeral these hired emissaries,
at their respective points, would feel
ingly cry aloud, as the funeral cortege
appeared, "Alas, poor man! if he could
have known of Monsieur Villars' won
derful Watcr of Life!' Ah! he would
not have been there !"
'And some were to add tho simple
story of cures they had seen performed.
Of course this gave the medicine a
start. People flocktd to see Monsieui
Villars. He gave to them his medicine,
and his last words to them were, as they
were about to turn away, "Aha! by the
way, monsieur (or madamc), you will
observe the directions. While you are
taking my medicine you must confine
yourself to the diet here specified. Wine,
rich condiments, late suppers, muck
pastry, liquors of all kinds, etc., etc.,
are to be avoided."
In short, he put them upon a simple,
healthful diet, gave them his medicine,
and sent them away. And in a very
short time the whole court was ringing
with praises of "Villars' Water of Life."
Its virtues were upon every tongue, and
the physician who dated to cry out
against it was denounced.
At the age of sevcuty Monsieur Villars
had gained an enormous fortune. lie
counted his wealth by millions millions
of crowns. Before he died he published
the following comprehensive and signifi
cant confession and manifesto to his mil
ions of patrons :
"Friends The medicine which I have Riven
you under the name of 'Water of Life,' is,
and has always been, tho water of the Heine,
with a small quantity of niter therein dis
solved. And yet 1 have not deceived you
harmfully, lhave caused you to renounce
your intemperance and gluttony, and to put
away a multitude of vices that were unman
ning you. If you will continue thus temper
ately and decently to live, you will never jrivf
a hard thought to M. Vili.aiis."
Will. Power a Young Man's Fortune.
President Gates, of Rutgers college
says: Every young man has a fortuii"
in the fact of his youth. The energy o'
youth is unblunted by defeat, or worr
by hope deferred. With age one be
comes more conservative and looks at a
impossible what a younger person wou!
endeavor to accomplish, in many can
with success. The effort, even if the
be a failure, isa grand success. R-Ii
confidence, or self-conceit, if you wish t
call it so, is a great thing. A you 11
man's fortune is not to be found in in
herited wealth or social position. Ever
man is the arbiter of his own fortune
Gracious manners or business habits a--good
things to cultivate, but are not al
Will power is the young man's fortuin
It is the essence of the mau. A youiv
man with only little willpower is a fon
gone failure. It should be cultivated
Genius is a gift of God and should 1101
cause pride, but an honest pursuit o
duties is an exhibition of will power an
is something to be proud of. Well d;
rected, educated will power i3 what -.
young man needs. Independent.
With Uncovered Head?.
Tne most wonderful transformation
scene I ever saw in the matter of hats
was on Fleet street, London, after Presi
dent Garfield's death. It became known
that the queen had ordered the great
bell of St. Paul's to be tolled, an hCnor
never before accorded, except to the
memory ot an English sovereign. Fleet
street and Ludgate Hill was one maBS of
hats, tall, black, glistening hats. All
traffic was suspended. The old phrase,
"a sea of hats," was most apt to this
scene and this was literally the Black
sea. Probably no one in the thousands
there had ever heard the mournful sound
of that great bell. The immense crowd
waited patiently for hours. Then came
the first low, dull, sonorous stroke of the
long-silent bell. Instantly every hat was
removed and the change from a sea of
hats to a sea of heads was most magical.
The English crowd stood, while the bell
tolled, with uncovered heads, a token of
respect for the uncrowned monarch who
lay dead beyond the ocean. Detroit Fret
Press.
An Insect .ioliat.Ii.
The bird-spider of tropical AmeiTci,
according to a French writer, has a body
as much as four and one-fourth inches
long, or a diameter of seven inches with
the legs extended, and is the largest of
the several hundred known species of
spiders. Its nc3ts resemble those of the
large caterpillers of France, and consist
of a beautiful white silken tissue, of scv
eral thifk layers, and strengthened by
very strong threads capable of arresting
a small bird. In tne "center are placed
the eggs, perhaps 1,500 or 2,000 in num
ber. The creature is very powerful, and
is provided With formidable instruments
Df attack, enabling it to destroy not only
young birds and adult, humming bird
'jut large lizards an4 reptile
life, death and eternity
w ,
And what is Life? I pray you tell;
A sluggard's paradise,
Where fools and idlers flourish well
And troubled winds ne'er rise?
Ah, no. my child! A battle-field
Where each must take a side ;
And 'midst the strife a sabre wield
And to the van-guard ride. '
Then what is death? I beg you tall;
A pall, a shroud, a bier,
A saddened dirge, a funeral knell '
And friends who watch and fear?
Ah. no, my child! 'Tis but a night
Of quiet, peaceful sleep;
W hen morning brings tho golden ligh
Sad watchers eeaso to keep.
Eternity! Say, what is it?
A cold and darkened tomb,
Where hope is vain and hopcrs sit
And wait long years their doom?
Ah, no, my child! One common breath
Will waft you to its shore
There sickness, sorrow, pain and death
Are felt aud fearod no more.
Will S. Monroe.
PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS
Did you ever sec a salad dressing?
The best thing out a big fire. Kyem
Servants belong to the hire types ol
humanity.
A court house The home of mar
riageable daughters. liij'e.
The way to make an overcoat last is to
make the undercoat first. Lynn Union.
Fixed stars members of a stranded
theatrical troupe. Burlington FreePrcs.
"There is always room at the top,''
probably originated with the late hotel
guest.
Energy and a boy digging fish bait
both mean about tho same thing. Chi
mgo Ledger.
The dentist who announces that ho
will spare no pains to pull teeth well jg
the man to keep away from. Picayune.
"I tell you, folks, I like to travel,
said a granger ; "and for that reason I
generally go to mill myself." Chicago
Ledger.
Japanese dentists use the thumb
and forefinger iu pulling teeth, and don't
charge anything extra even if it takes an
hour to do it.
This world is but a fleeting show
For man's illusion given,
A few mad sips of woman's lips
Is ail he knows of he-won.
Washington Hatchet.
Some one says: "You can tell when
it is noontime by looking in a cat's eyes."
Certainly, all you h ive to do is to hold
the cat, look directly into its eyes and
wait for the dock to strike 12. Boston
Pott.
A new song is called "The Coming
Step." The coining step is probably
that of the old man, and if you are a
prudent young man make your exit via
the window and over the garden wall.
Hartford Journal.
The average male head is said to con
tain 128,000 hairs. You can know at
any given time how many you possess
bj' counting each night those which your
wife has pulied out during the day and
subtracting. Boston Post.
"Belmont, N. II., boasts of woman
who goes out and chops wood with her
husband." It is quite a common thing
for women to mop the floor with their
husbands, but we never heard of chop
ping wood with them. fngleside.
1 Paragraphs are floating about to the
effect that diseases arc frequently com
municated by kissing. We supposed
every one knew that the most dangerous
and swift of all diseases was communi
cated in that way heart disease. Puck.
Out in the boundless West, when a
young fellow gets married, the first thing
he receives is a serenade from the local
band. This generally reconciles him to
any sort of treatment, and he settles
down and is happy afterward. Slates
man. A Southern woman boasts that she
has still iu use a rolling-pin bought when
she was married, sixty-one years ago.
Nothing like having a tried and trusty
weapon about the house to keep a hus
band in docile working order. Lowell
Citizen.
THE PRACTICAL POET.
For fame let youthful poets sing
Who feel not poverty's keen lash;
I'd ratluT that the inuse would bring
Me my reward iu solid cash.
I'll gladly leave the famo to those
W ho for a living need not toil ;
Fame won't buy me a suit of clothes
Or make tho family kettle boil
Boston Courier.
The proprietor of a menagerie relates
that one of his lions once had a thorn
taken out of his paw by a French major
in Algeria. The lion afterward ran over
the list of officers belonging to the regi
ment of his benefactor, aud, out of grati
tude, devoured both the colonel and
lieutenant-colonel, whose places were
then filled by the good major.
'TWIXT THE CUP AND THE LIP.
Last night at the rink,
I ruad-3 my confession.
Sho had liked me, I think,
Till last night at the rink:
I felt her form sink
I let go with discretion.
Last night at the rink
We made an impression.
Life.
Notwithstanding the apparently large
number of accidents at skating rinks the
managers of those places of amusement
say that only one person in five thousand
is 'hurt. When a man has had two or
three limbs and a half dozen ribs broken
in a skating rink it makes him feel really
happy to know that the 4,999 who were
with him escaped with a whole skin and
body undamaged. Boston Transcript.
A sportinir paper contains an article
entitled "How to prevent accidents in
the game of baseball." This difficulty
may be overcome by the substitution of
garden-digging for baseball. A young
man who is digging never gets injured
by running the bases or by the bat fly
ing out of anot her player's hand ; though
when he gets through with the game ne
may be induced to think he has ex
changed backs with a man 197 years old.
--Norristown Herald.
The spirit of liberty is not merely, as
some people imagine, a jealousy of their
own rights, but "a respect for the rights
of others and an unwillingness that any '
man. whether high or low, should be
wronged and trampled underfoot
- ; I