Newspapers / The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, … / June 4, 1885, edition 1 / Page 1
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nn DEMOCRAT. A he democrat PUBLISHING CO., publishers. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE SI.50 PER YEAR. Volume j. SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 1885. NUMBER 28. LIFE'S SUNNY SIDE. What you are dull to-tay fn a sad mull to-day? .l be social and -stirring, I pray, Why so lugubrious? Take a salubrious aml we'll talk, for I've something to ft-- Verily, verily, Things will go merrily ,n you sK merry and brave. Put if not cneenuuy Tempered, but tearfully, . on.l mil am i c elflVA If yo:i go wilfully, However skilfully hing your moods and your delicate firbiins, Life will be dumb to you, All things will come to you hed by a shadow that saJdons and Lliins. Life has two sides to it, Take the best guides to it, at the best and the brightest, my priend. Be a philosopher, Don't look so cross over ors you never can alter or men Look not so dismally Down the abysmally -hanging over the precipice- brink. Worst of all bias is Hypochondriasis ' ne is healthier than shadow, I think. If you would drive away GIivm. and would hive away liko ivai-e in your innermost cell, lVi-rk like the humble bee. Soft let 'your grumble be: your owu smoke, and the world will go II. P. Crancli, in Youth's Companion. jO SI'S EXPERIMENT. m was in a dilemma. sat ou the rocks overlooking the n the very spot to which he had attracted two hours before by the of a scarlet jacket, and thought Ids perplexities, and wondered how mid turn out. 'lague take the girl," he said, with. ir more emphasis than politeness, i grouud a pebble into the earth r his heel, "I'd like to know how to lie s'art of her." B - - Lit was just it ! How to get the start net statlord was what puzzled him thu u anvthinsr he had R-tteniDtcd in b time, lie had tried, in more wavs one, to accomplish the feat, and attempt had been a failure. He k'ttintr discouraged. to way of it all was this: Tom Win hud met Janet Stafford a "Tear arro. pad straightway fallen in love with joxr miss btailo.d was something llirt, "a rceru'ar. born flirt" was s way of putting it. and she liked !itali.e tho men, and especially Tom, nied to him. Time and atrain he bpened his mouth to propose, but 11 ways seemed to know what was lig, and by adroit tact would the conversation unon other topic, aud talk on and on, poor Tom would iret disc-usted. ponclude that he would wait for other opportunity to declare his In no wav could he determine nor she cared for him or not. He COt she did. however find Ihnt tii m following her rouud as faith- las her shadow, watching for an ffunity to put his fate to the test. "Win or lose it all" ' had seen her sitting rn t.h mi-ko afternoon, reading, and of course ueu ncr. lie wouldn't have hflen l Winters, if he hadn't. V-t knew, before he had been five It -. 1. - 1 -1 . . 3 u ner s:cie, mat sne was verg- "nra a proposal. She could tell uis lace, and the awful silence seemed to settle down about him concent rated his courage for the ntous crisis which he hoped was at It hand. jchlcnly she started up. m getting absent-minded, I think," Mighcd, "I promised to hoat- g with Jack Devere this afternoon, nau lorgotten all about it till this 1 m scrrv to leave von. Hfr. crs, but a promise is a promise you , mm uas to be kept;" and with ne ns gone, and poor Tom swal l the words that were stirkinfr in "iith, and sighed dolefully, while ujgiu unutterable tilings about Jack Who Was his filarial nuominn Ise he was a good deal more atten- j .'uss :tauora tlian Tom thought o lo OC. Wlsll Devere was in Phino " M Tom, irettinsr u and brushing USt off hlH clrttllPH nrnnnraf rrtr n P back to the bnfol fhat did you say, Mr. "Winters?" voice at ins 6ide, and there was otauorrt again. "I left my book somewhere, and came back after Pou t go boat-riding to-day," plead- ium, growing desperate under the F'ng glance she gave him. ' I I've ruins? nartionlar tn car tn trrkii " nUlSf. irn " cVia anon,-, lTxxiin1 feto stay ever so much. But I'll 'to keep my promise." ut one doesn't keep all the prom- )ne makes." RftiH Tnm nrt atuxr t had promised to eo boat-ridincr you, and didn't keen mv word. I er what r,.vi i. 1- t juuu I 11111 IV VI 111U t MISS Stafford. "Think- nnw Hia. J"ted Jack would be if I shouldn't le'd get over it," answered Tom. say n ' something particu will kppn - t . fj ... f ouie uiuer uay, an- ..uc idugn tnat always came ' .J?.8 face took on that lugubrious 1 here ars mnra l.r. know." ,JO wuuug, Suppose M- M.vui uau io aumir. Ut von novo. ; i wt I want to. I really believe Know wh:it T ... t . " nui iu say, OUl 'CI mp ca-ir It Z 4. A . --j ii, jufc iu torment in?re comes .Tv n 1: a ktWi".'w,U8tl ws heard down 'wtlinff frnm V, i 1. x. j.,. me other time you may tell me the 'something particular' you were going to to-day if you get a chance." That was it! If he got a chance I "It's a downright shame for her to treat me so," said Tom, watching her and Jack Devere, as they went down the bay. "Sometimes I think she does it to bother me, and sometimes I think she docs it because she likes me and wants to make me jealous, so that I'll be sure to propose. But it can't be that, either, for she won't let me propose. Hanged if I know wht she does mean by it." Poor perplexed Tom sat down and took a newspaper out of his pocket, and tried to forget his trials in its accounts of murders aud accidents and other cheerful matters of that sort. Finding them dull, he turned to the story de partment. There was a little sketch there called "Washed Ashore." Tom read it. It was about a man who loved a woman as he loved Miss Stafford and singular coincidence, he couldn't find outNvhethcr she loved him or not. One day he was out rowing and lost his hat. The waves washed it ashore. 1 he woman he loved found it. She thought he must be drowned, and to the poor, inanimate thing, she confessed the love she had borne for itt owner. The sup posed dead man happened to be near at hand, and heard her tardy confession of love and then and there all his troubles ended or began. "Why couldn't I try such an experi ment on Janet!" thought Tom. "If I could only contrive to make her think I was drowned. I might find out whether she cares for me or not. I don't sec as I'm ever liitcly to find out in any other way. I'll try it." He went down to the beach and en gaged a boat. He saw Devere coming as he went down the bay, and Miss Staf ford waved him a passing greeting with her sunshade. "That's lucky," thought Tom. "She's seen me going out on the water. I'll leave tho boat somewhere "along the shore, and it'll be found, and I'll be missing, and she'll be sure to think I fell in, aud was drowned, or committed suicide, and when she thinks that, she'll be likely to say or do something that'll give herself away, and I'll hear of it after I turn up, and then I'll know what to do." "It looks squally in the west." De vere sung out after him. "You'd better not go far, Winters." "Thank you," answered Tom; "but I'll look out for mvself," and he was soon out of hearing of Miss Stafford's merry laugh and Jack Devere's jokes at his expense. A peak jutted out into the bay, and lorn concluded that a boat abandoned there would be pretty sure to float back to the hotel when the tide came in. Ac cordingly he left the boat to the mercy of the waves, and started back a roundabout-way to the hotel, over the rocky cliffs. The sky was overclouded by this time, and the wind began to blow. To add to Tom's discomfort, the rain soon began to pour down in great, torrents, and he was drenched to the skin before he could find shelter. The sun was troincr down before the storm abated. it wTas quite well alonir in the evening before he got back to the vicinity of the hotel. He was thoroughly chilled in his wet garments, he was hungry, and he was atraid that nis man would prove a failure. Therefore he was not in a very pleasant frame of mind when he saw Janet Stafford's rd jacket just a little way ahead of him, as he came down the beach, lhc sight of that jacket, in it self, was not very disagreeable, but the sight of Jack Devere's broad brimmed straw hat, looking in the moonlight like an aureole about his rival s head, made him very angry. "Deuce his impertinent attentions," growled Tom. "He's a puppy! I sup pose he answers her, but I'd like to punch his head for my amusement. They:re coming this way. .Now s my time to produce a sensation. The waves were tumbling in on the beach. Tom threw his hat out among them, knowing they would wash it in. and that the couple coming toward him would be quite sure to sec it on the sand Then he hid behind a rock. "I haven't seen Winters come back yet," Miss Stafford was saying, when they came within hearing distance. "She's thinking about me," said Tom, "and that shows she's she's well, it shows she s thinking about me, anvway, if it doesn't show anything else," and this was some consolation to the poor fellow. "Perhaps they won't recognize the hat as mine, but if I keep shady to night and the boat is found, then they'll think that 1 must be lost and we 11 see what she'll say." "He mav have been cast away on some island along the shore," laughed Jack Devere. Maybe he'll turn hermit and end his days and troubles there." "I hope not," said Miss Stafford," "for if that should happen I should nev er know what 'something particular' was that he wanted to say to me. " Then she laughed, and the sound of her mer riment made the listaner's ears tingle. "Poor fellow," said Devere, but hi3 tone didn't seem to have as much pity in it as his words did. "iou're really too hard on mm. What s that at your feet, Janet? A hat, isn't it?" "Sure enough," said Miss Stafford, stooping to pick it up. "Why, Jack, I do believe it's Tom Winters', for here's a bunch of blackberry leaves sticking in the band, and 1 remember giving him some I had cathered vester day. He begged so hard for them that I couldn't refuse him. Oh, Jack! do you suppose he is drowned?" "I wouldn't wonder at all if he was," answered Jack. It made Tom's blood run cold to hear his rival's matter-of- fact tone. "He was a perfect muff with a boat, and never ought to have been al lowed two rods from shore in one." "I hope he isn't drowned," said Miss Stafford, and Tom listened delightfully to .the sigh that accompanied the words. It proves that she must care something for him. "Just wait till 6he hears of the boat," chuckled Tom. "I presume she'd give way to. her feelings now over the hat if he wasn't by," -. - Poor Tom! "Oh, Jack!" exclaimed Miss Stafford, a moment later, ."if he is drowned I shall never listen to that 'something particular,' shall I," and then she laughed. - Tom could hardly credit his senses Looking at it from their standpoint, in J all probability he was dead. And yet I she could laugh. "Heartless creature," though Tom, dis gusted with all the world. "I wouldn't have believed it of her. She didn't care two buttocs for me. What a fool I've been. I wish somebody'd kick me I" "I don't want gentlemen saying, 'something particular' to my promised wife," said Jack, and then he kissed Miss Stafford, and she kissed him back, and said she'd "do just as he thought best, only it was such fun to bother the silly fellow." 1 lis promised wife ! Tom didn't want to hear anything more. He didn't want to see anything more. He had heard and seen enough already. "I don't know but we'd better so back and get some one to turn out and look for Winters," he beard Jack say. "lhcy needn t bother themselves about me," thought Tom, making his way up the rocks as fast as he could. "1 m afraid, lom inters, youv e made a great fool of yourself, and that your experiment was a failure. And yet, after all," he added, as he stopped to take breath on the summit of the cliff, it wasn't, for now you ve found out what she thinks of you !" It is hardly necessary to say that Tom's "something particular" was neve? said ; at least, never to Miss Stafford Even h. llcafard, n Chicaijo Ikra'd. Storms at Sen. In November, 1881, the steamship Venice, from Savannah to Europe with cotton, while running before a heavy northwest gale was boarded by a tre mendous sea. The captain determined to heave to, and men were statioued to pour oil down the closet chutes forward and to throw waste, soaked in oil, to windward. The vessel came round with out shipping any water. As she kept falling oil, it was concluded to put her aga n before the sea, which was done without trouble, and it was found that she kept perfectly dry as long as the oil was used. Again m January, 1884. while crossing the Atlentic to New York, after running before a northwest gale for sometime, she was laid to with out difficulty or dauger by using oil in the manner stated. Captain llitchie, of the English steamer Fern Holme, while on his last voyage from Baltimore to Shields used oil bags while running before a west southwest gale. He hung one over on each side, just forward of the bridge, and they prevented the ship from taking water on deck. First Officer W. Maltjen, of the Gcr man steamer Colon, in December, 1884, used oil bags with remarkable effect. Two bags ill led with boiled oil were hung over the bow. The oil spreading over ths surface prevented the waves from breaking, and tho ship rode quite easily during the continuance of tho gale. Captain Jones, of the British steamer Chicago, while rescuing the crew of the brig Fedorc, used oil with best results. It was blowing a heavy gale, with very high sea. The Chicago ran to wind: ward of the Fedorc, and during a iull, oil having been poured ou the water, the port lifeboat was successfully launched and started. A can of oil was taken in the boat, and by using this the seas were kept down in the immediate vicinity, though they broke in masses of foam a short distance away. As the boat ap proached the Fedore. the crew of that vessel poured oil on the water, which so calmed the sea that the boat got along side aud rescued the shipwrecKed crew without sustaining any injury. About half a gallou of oil was used by the boat during her trip. The brig P. M. Tenker, Captain Charles Barnard. "New York to Cuba, in 1872, ecountercd a northeast gale when four days out. Several heavy seas came on board doing great damage. A small bag with holes punched in the bottom, was filled with oil and hung over the stern. The oil prevented the seas from combing, and the vessel ran for several hours with dry decks. Scientific Ameri can. The Ruler of Afghanistan. IIis Highness was dressed in military costume; light-colored coat, astrakhan cap, and loose trousers tucked into shining top boots. His waist was girt by a broad belt studded with silver orna ments, and he wore a sword with richly chased scabbard. He sat his horse well, and wore the air of perfect self-possession and impassiveness which always marks him. He is too dignified even to show surprise or astonishment, and takes every, thing as a matter of course. His High ness Abdurrahman Khan, ameer of Ca bul, is rather a tall, burly man, large of limb, broad-shouldered, slightly inclining to stoutness, his face not of the strongly marked Jewish type which prevailsso much in Afghanistan, but round and full, with a free growth of whiskers and beard, traces of gray showing in the latter, features clearly marked, and eyes keen as Afghans' always are. From his face one would scarcely judge the ameer to be a man of strong will and determination such as he has shown in his past career. Bather one would judge him to be of a quiet, pacific character, worn somewhat by the stress and strain of fortune, but now con tent for the world to take its way, a man approaching fifty years of age, and with every year lived to the fu!l since early manhood. He has suffered much of late from gout, which his journey from Ca bul must have aggravated, and in step ping from the carriage his temporary lameness became apparent. .He was dressed in a uniform of dark oolor, and without the elaborate gold embroidery which some of his officers boasted. He wore a richly ornamented sword, and had two small stars of silver, I think, on his left breast. His headdress was a low, conical cap of gray astrkhan or fur, with a broad, turned-up border, on wnicn glittered some jewels. He looked a soldierly figure, and had an air of dignity which well became him. Pall Mall Gazette. . Last year's income of the Girard tate in Philadelphia was $950,000. Its real estate alone is valued at $6,346,000, beside the college building and grounds. The collieries of the estate produce 1,400,000 tons of coal during the year. T.voo ia'91J. Hmf lurcrpr thftt Tihnrif i IsUud. -' . . .. THE DIAMOND COUNTRY. Growihand Extent of Diamond Finrt iiiK IntoutH Africa.. A Kimberley (South Africa) letter to the London Times says: Among tho "cu riosities of commerce" none, perhaps, is tnore curious than that the major por tion of the produce exported from South Africa is simply used for the adornment Df ladies. Out of a total value exported Df 7,500,000, ostrich feathers and dia monds account for 5,000,000. Twenty years ago all known diamonds had come to Europe or the United States from im memorial Eastern stocks or from the icanty produce of mines in Brazil and slsewhere, which were calculated to yield aot more than 50.000 worth in the year. To-day, situated in the midst of a wide stretehing plain affording at all points a jea line horizon of flat "veldt," we find this town of Kimberley with a large Eu ropean population of wealth and well-to-do people, and a large native population parning every year more than 1,000,000 in wages. And from this mining oasis in the agricultural desert has been sent in the last fifteen years something like 40,000,000 worth of diamonds in the rough, which, with the cost of cutting, Betting and selling, must have taken from the nockets of consumers something approaching 100,000,000. As all the world knows the South Af rican diamond mines have their own 3tory of unexpected discovery at the least as startling as that of any gold field or other rich mineral deposit in the world. In 1867 the first diamond was found, the favorite toy of a little Boer girl, which she had picked out from among the roots of an old tree. Its genuineness was not long in doubt, and in a few months the bed of the Vaal river was known as a profitable diamond region. Prospect ing became the rage, and here and there on the open, flat, grassy veldt diamonds were found in spots with common pecu liarities of soil and so forth. In three years' time the secret of the diamond de posits had been so far fathomed as io prove that they were strange circular deposits, or patches, of peculiar earth isolated from one another and few jn number. These were at once 1 'rushed" and a regulation digging community look possession of the new district. Private individuals, previous proprietors, and governments fought for the claim to these new mineral riches, but despite these squabbles the practical work was carried on of marking out these circular patches in diggers' claims over the flat surface. At first the rule was each dig ger for himself; and with pick and shovel diamonds were brought to grass in such profusion that the whole mining world was startled by a discovery ex ceeding in magnitude, real and prospec tive, any previous find. But, as men dug deeper in their claims, so they found l necessary to arrange and amalgamate with their neighbors; more over, the deeper they went the more necessary for machinery to hoist the soil to the surface. And then as they passed on through the top "yellow," they came upon a "blue'' soil which was yet more rich in diamonds. Suffice it to say, that In ten years time each one of these greater circular areas had been so far emptied of soil as to rep resent great quarries 100 to 200 yards across and 300 or 400 feet deen. The walls of these basins are locally known as "tne reets, and in tneir greed to se cure all they could the older miners cut out all the ' 'blue' right up to the reef, When, however, the cuttings got down deep the wal's or reefs began to fall in, owing to the disintegrating action of boiling sun and heavy, rain, covering up in their fall large areas of valuable blue. At hrst the digging was simple and cheap the mere turning up and searching of loose soil ; a second stage was reac when the soil had to be cut out and hauled up to the surface with the aid of machinery: a third stajre broueut the miners to a stiffened biuc, which had only to be brought to the surface, but then spread about aud broken up by hand-labor and exposure to the weather, and at the present moment all aroiTml the mines are to be seen literally miles of the "blue," laid out in shallow layers over the veldt. With these more extended operations came more elaborate machin ery for hoistinz, for spreading on the 'floors," and for sorting. Now. round each great basin or quarry is a circle ot steam engines working wire rope lifts up and down to the botton of the quarry, and around the brink run loco motives and trains of trucks, whisking the "blue" so brought up away to be spread out like so much ma nure over the veldt, and to be taken thence, when duly disintegrated by the weather, broken up by hand, and har rowed and rolled, to the washing places, where it is all sent by hydraulic action through a series of rotatory seives and pulsators, on the principle of, in successful mechanical operations, washing away all dirt that is lighter than diamonds. . The washers are so arranged that the outfall of each portion is graduated in size, and falls on a series of sorting tables. At these stand five or six of the principal men owners and directors of companies among them spreading out tne clean washed stuff, graduated from the size of pebbles to that of sand: and the visitor may stand by in wonder to see the searcher at the one end pick out his eight or ten "big" stones per hour, or assist the searcher at the other busily sorting out of the sand innumerable white specks of diamonds. The day's work, tumbled into small snuff-boxes, will frequently reach a local value of 1,000. One can look into a quarry of slates or stone and see the rocks themselves cut down aud carted away for use ; but in these quar ries the soil and the rock are cut out and dug out, and what for? Simply that out of every 100 tons raised out of the quar ry an ounce weight of diamonds may be secured. It is a startling and impressive thought in gazing into these great quar ries that all that soil should have been dug out at a cost for labor alone of something like 15,000,000. and with the aid of invested capital of 1,000,000 in machinery, in order to distribute so many hundredweight of precious stones to decorate the Lidies of civilized centres in the eartv days, when each, man worked for himself, there was no dia mond stealing, but as it grew to be necessary to work on a larger scale and by the aid.f;1ired labor, and at the same time the process of operating af forded new opportunities for stealing, this crime grew--;jfcol)e,lone of the great purees f tbe;nus,tryv -iAt present at every stage of the process laborers or employers come across diamonds. The men down in the mine, blasting and picking out the blue, frequently come acro.ss the valued stoues; and as the "stuff" is handled at every stage dia: monds show themselves. The natives posted to empty the buckets coming up from the mine watch keenly for what may gleam in the process, and so does the engine driver or mule man who runs the lnden trucks out to the floors. And on these floors the regular gangs, who unload and break it up, find many and large "stones;" and so, right through the process, there is ample opportunity at every turn to pick up a stone which is sure to be worth pounds and may be worth thousands. How to prevent or even check this thieving has taxed the best energies of proprietors and police for many years past. Success has not yet appeared, for with every new appliance some new form of theft seems to come into being. There arc endless means actually adopted. S wallowing the stones i9 quite common, and at one time the thief threw them wrapped in dough to dogs, which were killed and cut open by his confederates outside. Hiding them about the dress and pitching them away to be picked up at night are among the other means. It is estimated that every year from one fifth to one-sixth of the stones exported are stolen, or, in other words, something like $500,000 worth of stolen diamonds leaves the colony annually. At the dig gings at first there was a not unnatural laxity in dealing with this new and pro lific wealth, and the solid soil was at the least congenial to the development of this laxity into customs little less than criminal. Nowadays there is danger that this" stealing, with its necessary complement, the "illicit diamond buy ing," or "1. D. 15. trade, as it is euphe mistically known, may sap the morality of the community, and against this vig orous protest is now being made. The mine owners arc willing to pay large sums to stop this illicit trade. One mine cal culates it loses each year at present 100, 000 in unnecessarily depreciated price, and 100,000 in value of diamonds stolen, or a total loss of 200,000 in an output of 1,000,000, but there seems grourd for hope that this great evil may be successfully put an end to. A Norwegian Institution. The sacter is strictly a Norwegian in stitution, writes a correspondent. One must first realize that every accessible, and many an apparently inaccessible, bit of land is made use of in this country. During the few summer months, the high mountain plutceus afford a pasturage for goats; and here are built little cabins for the people, mostly girls, who tend the herds. The cabin consists of two rooms a sleeping and dairy-room, and the room where the great pots of sweet goat's milk hang over the fire, and the cheese boiler is built into the wall. From the whey is made the light, brown cheese which one sees among the almost incred ible assortment of big cheeses which fill the tables in Norway. This variety of saeter cheese is in the looks rather like refined molasses sugar, and has a sweet taste which doesn't seem to belong in cheese. It is very popular, especially among the women. A hole in the roof of the cabin often serves for a chimney as well as for a window; for it very rarely rains during the summer cheese season. The saeter life is unique and primitive. Up from the ends of the fjords and in the Bomsdal region, it is quite likely that an energetic mountaineer will spend several nights in such places. Sometimes an establishment is quite free from any "preserved milk" odor, and offers a wel come shelter. The wooden bowls of cream and flat bread cannot be beaten for deliciousness, and one musn't be too nice when all hands armed with spoons sit around the same big bowl. There are frequently many cows also pasturing, and earh with her pet name. The favorite composition of Ole Bull, entitled "The visit to the Saeter," is being played now in Bergen by the popular virtuoso Wolff, who accompanies Miss Thursby in her triumphal tour. One sometimes hears the sacter girls calls the cows with the melody which Jenny Lind is said to have sung so often to delighted audiences. The cows seem remarkably intelligent, and are so tame that they are treated almost as associates on equal terms. Story of a Bottle. . sea captain, says the Boston Herald, relates that on June 4, 1884, the schoonet It. Bowers, Captain Thompson, bound to Gloucester from Messina, was pitching about in a long ocean swell. We had made a good run thus far, but on this particular day struck a dead calm: There was little to do, except to watch the ves sel and whistle for wind, and several schemes were invented by the officers to pass away the time. The second mate of the schooner, Mr. Cruikshank, had left a sweetheart at home, and naturally hi3 mind drifted across the watery waste to her bright eyes. Noticing his preoc cupied manner, the captain's wife sug gested that he send his love a message from the sea. The idea seemed a good one. He wrote a note,, inclosed it in an envelope, addressed it to the young lady at Big Brook, Cape Breton, inclosed the whole in a bottle, and threw it over board. There was a great speculation at the time as to where the bottle would bring up; but in a few hours a breeze sprung up, and in working the vessel all thought! of the bottle and its contents were for gotten. The schooner in due time ar rived in Gloucester, and Mr. Cruikshank started for Cape Breton. His arrival was expected, but his astonishment may be imagined when his lady love brought forth the identical bottle which the mate had thrown into the sea, and produced the note contained therein. The story of the drift was a singular one. ' It had been picked up on the shores of Little Dover bay, on the east end of Nova Sco tia, after a drift of forty-one days' du ration, and the finder sent it to the young lady. Another singular circum stance connected with the finding of the bottle was the fact that the finder turned out to be a near relative of Mr. Cruik shank, although - they hi d never seen each other. The bank of England holds one-sev teenth of the total bank -deposits of Great Britain. The total amounts in the banks is $37,000,000,000, THE HOME DOCTOR. Cure for Sore Xliroat. Everybody has a cure for sore throat, simple remedies appear to be most effec tual. Salt and water is used by many as a gargle, but a little alum and honey dissolved in sage tea is better. An ap plication of cloths wrung out of hot water and applied to the neck, chang ing as often as they begin to cool, has the most potency for removing inflam mation of anything we ever tried. It should be kept up for a number of hours; during the evening is usually the most convenient time fur iippl;ia,j this remedy. Neural;? Hundreds of women all over the coun try are sufferers from neuralgia to such an extent, in many cases, as to find life a burden. The following extract from the British Medical Review gives one so lution as to the cause : ' 'There is no re cognized reason why of late years neu ralgia of the face and scalp should have increased so much in the female sex as compared with our own. There is no doubt that it i3 one of the most com mon of female maladies one of tho most paiuful and difficult of treat ment. It is also a cause of much men tal depression, and leads more often to habits of intemperance than any other. This growing prevalence of neuralgia may to some extent be referred to the ef fects of cold upon the terminal branches of the nerves distributed to tho skin, and the reason why men arc less subject to it than women may, to a great extent, I think, be explained by the much greater protection afforded by the mode in which the former cover their heads when they are in the open air. It may be observed that tho surface of the head which is actually covered in man is at least three times that which fashion al lows to a woman; indeed, the points of contact between the hat or bonnet and the head in the latter are so irregular as practically to destroy any protection which might otherwise be afforded. If I were to report to the journals a case of facial neuralgia cured ou the principle of protecting the lateral and frontal sur face of the face as well as the superior part of the scalp, it might excite a cer tain ridicule. I can assure you, how ever, that my patient considers that her case ought to be reported ; for she ays that, if we caunot do much for neuralgia with our prescriptions, we ought to op pose fashion when we find it prejudicial to health and productive of suffering." Lay a Faint ii Pcrnon Down. It is surprising how eagerly everybody rushes at a fainting person, and strives to raise him up, and especially to keep the head erect, says a physician. There must be an instinctive apprehension that if a person seized with a fainting or other lit fall into the recumbent position, death is more imminent. I must havo driven a mile to-day while a lady, faint ing, was held upright. I found her pulseless, white, and apparently dying, and I believe if I had delayed ten min utes longer she would really have died. I laid her head down on a lower level than Iier body, and immediately color returned to her lips and cheeks and she became conscious. To the excited group of friends I said : Always remember this fact, namely : faintiug is caused by a want of blood in the bran; the heart ceases to act with sufficient force to send the usual quantity of blood to the brain, and hence a per son loses consciousness because the func tion to the brain ceases. Restore the blood to the brain, and instantly the person recovers. Now, though the blood is propelled to all parts of the body by the action of the heart, vet it is still under the in fluence of the laws of gravitation. In the erect position the blood ascends to the head against gravitation, und tho supply to the brain is diminished, a compared with the recumbent position, the heart's pulsation being equal. II then, you place a person in a sitting position whose heart has nearly ceased to beat, his brain will fail to receive the blood, while if you lay him down, with the head lower than the heart, blood Avill. run into the brain by the mere force of gravity; and in fainting, in sufficient quantity to restore conscious ness. Indeed, nature teaches us how to manage fainting persons, for they always fall, and frequently are at once restored by the recumbent position into which they are thrown. Trilune and Farmer. - "Professional Amnsors.' The "professional amuser'V is.an insti tution in New York soo.;ety.: Blakely Hall says of him : : f . The life of a professional amuser must be a curious one. There are a great many men in New York now who devote them selves to the task of amusing others. The best of them all is Frank Lincoln. Jimmy Burdctte, as he is affectionately called, pushes Mr. Lincoln very close. They are both of them young men, clever and original. Lincoln is the fashion. Night after night all through the season he is at a dinner, concert, club banquet or a children's party, and he is perpetually on the go. The stupid half hour after the coffee is served, which usually falls on a party of diners, and which was formerly filled with te dious or tiresome speeches, is now admi rably utilized by the professsional amuser. But I wonder what the amuser himself thinks of it? Probably Mr. Lincoln went to a hundred dinner parties during the winter, and in most instances he goes in as one of the guests, dines, is profes sionally jolly for an .hour after the din ner is finished, pockets a $50 fee if it happens to be that sort of a dinner party waves his hand gracefully and with draws. The diners loll back in their chairs and discuss Mr. Lincoln. I wonder if he discusses them? If he has brains enough to write his memoirs, and they are truthful, they ought to be very in teresting. The jester's estimate of the king. How often is the jester greater than the king! The annual cost of maintaining the reading-room of the British museum is $125,000. There are o r one hundred em ployes, eighty-two of whom are engaged in taking out and replacing books. Their salaries range from $G00 to $4,000 per annum. A Japanese dentist never uses forceps, When he draws a tooth he has to dig it out with his fingers, St, Paul Eeiaid, NECESSITY. Gaunt faced and hungry eyed she waits, This sombor warder of our fates, " Forever sleepless while we sleep, And silent wtailo we watch and weopt Sometimes, beguiled by smiling skies And wooing winds, we shut our eyes, Forgetting for a little space That tireless, unforgetting face. Or, stirred as stirs the sap in spring By nature's force, we laugh and sing, Or run to pass that waiting shape With flying footsteps of escape. But where we run she leads tho way, She goes before us night and day, No flying footsteps ca-u escape, By any path, that somber shape. Always she waits with whip and spur To urge us on if we demur; With bitter breath we call her foe, As driven thus we rise and go The roads we follow wind and twist Our eyes grow blind with blinding mist Blown down to us as we ascend Tho upland heights that near the end, And at the end "Where is our foe? Where hideth she?" wo cry and lo, Through breaking mist, an angel's face Looks out upon us from her place! Nora Perry, in the Congregationalist. PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS The mouse a woman never fears: A moustache. The laundress' daily soliloquy "Aye, there's the rub." Lowell Citizen. Some youths shave against the beard, while others shave down ouly. Water' loo Observer. A bridge should never be condemned until it lias bee tried by its piers. Boston Courier. Women are not inventive as a rule. They have no eagerness for new wrinkles - A'ew Orleans Picayune. A Kansas man has been fined $10 fo smiling in church. Kansas is a prohibi tion State this year. Graphic. Man wis born in an Eden,, and he Ins been a needin' creature ever since. Cincinnati Merchant- Traveler A man may be loaded lo the eyebrows with philosophy, and yet become aa helpless as a child when ho tries to get the last word with a woman. Chicago Lcihjer. The hen may be negligent of her du ties durinir the winter weather", but she generally manages to come up to the scratch in the "time of spring garden ing. Sifting. "Will you pass the butter, Mr. Fogg?" asked Brown. "Every time," replied Foggi The landlady said it was the way Fogg said it that made her mad. Bos ton Transcript. A cyclone resembles a AVestern man, because it is some on the blow. It is like a woman, because when it makes up . . 11 il 4. its mind to gosomewnere an eariu cau -stop it. Chicago Ledger. "The tendency to do wrong increases toward night" says a well known cler gyman. 1 think this is very likely to be true, for when Adam ate the forbidden fruit it was near Eve. Boston Tiroes. "Papa, what is Wall street?" "Wall street is a place where they raise - lambs in the spring,' shear them in the fall, and then turn them loose to hustle for them selves in the winter. Ecanscille Argus. "Don't kick a man when he's down," folk say, And the reason for this Is plain: He might make it hot for the kicker some day When up on his feet again. JJonton Courier. "She cried for succor, and I went to her aid," he said, as he pulled out hia cmptv pockets. "Yes, and by the looks of things I should think she found one," was all the comfort he got. The Judge. It is scntentiously remarked that "the worldly possessions of men of supposed means are usually overestimated." That philosopher had evidently asked a mil lionnaire for $10 and got a nickle. Philadelphia Call. "Yes," remarked Fogg," "Miss Sin gleton is a nice girl, but somehow she re minds me of that field pver there where those cows are slowly but surely starving to death little past her age, you know." Boston Transcript. ; IT 19 HUMAN NATCKE. -The poet whose fame is a wide as the world Believes there win no er iwsuwra, And oft in derision his proud lip is curled As he hears of a rising young brother. The gifted soprano oft vanity shows When a enntatric famous we find her. And the cornet soloist turns up his nose When ho pases tho organ grinder. boston Courier. "Never go back," advises a writer. "What you attempt do with all your strength." This may be good advice, but it wouldn't work satisfactorily. When a young man, for instance, at tempts to court a girl he may do it with all his strength, but he goes back, all the same. He goes back about sir nights a week. Norristown Herald. A SONG OF BASE-BALL. You may talk of the places statesmen take In tho temple of fame sublime, Of men and women who strive to make A name in prose or rhyme; But give to me no classic degree, Be its honor ever so high, The bat I'll swing, and I'll try to bring The ball that goes whistling by. Some men may follow the greed of gold Till their hair grows thin and gray. But worrvand fret makes young blood old, And they fritter their lives away. Though my face is bruised and I am badly used By a hot ball, what of that? I'll boldly stand, with blistered hand, A catcher behind the bat The cyclist may ride his glitt'ring wheel The skater his rollers don, And pugilistie cranks may feel Great pride in the doughty John; But give to me the diamond free, With its bases, its rush and shout, Though a tooth I've lost, do I count the cost When I've caught their best man out Boston Globe A firm in Grahamstown, South Africa, have lately imported a large font of mu sic type, intendins to produce on the spot the songs and other works of an eminent colonial musician. Mississippi has 444,141 school chil dren, for whom but 67. cents a head is annually aoDropriated. - 7' 7
The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 4, 1885, edition 1
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