Newspapers / The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, … / June 25, 1885, edition 1 / Page 1
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nn tj tut1 A A fHE DEMOCRAT PUBLISHING CO., PUBLISHERS. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE $1.50 PER YEAR. VOLUME I. SCOTLAND NECK, HALIFAX CO., N. C. THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 1885. NUMBER 31. MAN WHO BUILDS A HOME. , hurrying host e'er crowds the van, With plaudit and acclaim, V yield its honor to the man Who makes himseu should bo his htaceu, That people can uesw" . good name fair ana sweet m, happiness or at prai wnere us ubwi vevi mo uiusu 8 through eartn s trouoies rusn me s nose, With ligM or heavy load. ian who highest praise deserves, 'Seath heaven's eternal dome, he who ne'er from duty swerves, An& makes a happy home. home! Not merely four strong walls. To turn the wolves away, 'o rest within till grim Death calls I'nto a brighter day; But such a home as hearts may love, And live and bloom within, fefleeting joys from heaven above, And never knowing sin. man who builds a homo like tht Is greater far than he JPThose wealth would waken sensuous Dliss, Whose name tills lan 1 and sea. lis wealth may llee, his name go down; But homes with hearts of love iVill keep through ages their renown As echoes from above. lien hail the man who builds a homo While lin-. rins on the earth; wlitMi lie s-vs heaven's gilded dome Twill whisper of his worth. ii bo ?! ho Imiids a home in which lie noMv lives and dies find fin I iti counterpart a niche Awaiting in the skies. Karl Marble, in Youth's Companion. A FRIEND IN NEED. They all lived together in the Pallt- EHmu Hats a cheerful building, neither cry extensive nor very towering, and itli nothing imposing about it excepting ;ihaps its name! The Dolitcls bachelor brother, maid 1 sister, and widowed mother occu pied the topmost suit of apartments, and i contiguous rooms overlooking au mr.tv and airy courtyard were tenanted respectively by a pretty saleslady and a iile young music teacher. They had been neiguoors ior a year or more an t hev had all become quite neighborly to- bet her. - 'Only Maud Kayne is so much more ociablc and obliging than the music teacher is. ' the Dolitcls used to eay mong themselves. 'K-.ichel Lennard may be just as gen erous and sympathetic, even if she is so indemonstrative, Mr. Kit Dolitel was inclined 'o maintain. "Oh, she ain't sympathetic a bit," dis- kented the maiden sister a diminutive and colorless personage with somewhat characterless features. "While mamma was so alarmingly ill she never came near 3 though to be sure she did send to nuuirc if she could be of service. But Maud the dear soul! was in and out constantly, and always advising some thing to help us." "tier advice was no sacrifice to her." bachelor Kit said. "And if I were tlarmingly ill, I fancy I should not care to have anybody in and out constantly, chattering and gossiping. "And her chauer did sometimes rather torture my poor weak head." said Mrs. 'olitel. who was still an invalid "and hc advised nothing which was reallv Jl'Iliflll Tint fcVm infiminrl vor-l-T, , , . - , , ..u- kind Maud would do anything in the world for a friend." "She quite insisted I should take that lovely zouave jacket it was a present to her, too; and to be sure I do not need it a bit," said the somewhat rapid Mis3 Dolitel. "It cost her Dothing," the brother commented with an amused twinkle in his fine, frank gray eyes. "And she cannot wear it herself sky blue em broidered in silver does not eminently become a sallow brunette !" "She is always insisting we shall Ae some trifle from her," saul the mother, ignoring the sarcastic comment; "and I had much rather she would not. But she can afford to make little gifts to her friends, I suppose; she certainly earns a good deal mjre money than Rachael does." "Teaching music is not always a lu crative vocation," Kit observed soberly. " Oh. but Rachael does not care to make gifts to any one she is such a miserly little creature," sjid the sister. " She actually begrudges the keeping of her parrot, Maud says." " Maud must have been joking," Mrs. Dolitel interposed. "She would not be likely to begrudge Ihe keeping of ;t pet like that it is a wonderfully intelligent and rarely taught bird, and valuable be side. One of her pupils would give her iiunured dollars for it any day." "And she would not part with it for a hundred times the sum. She has nothing else to love, she says. She is an uncommonly silly girl, I think," the not particularly brilliant Miss Dolitel said, With a little shrug of her diminutivo shoulders. "And she has need enough of money, too 1 am persuaded of that. She has worn nothing but shabby old cashmeres ever since she has been in the house," bs. Dolitel said, in a suddenly altered and failing tone, and she . abruptly dropped the needlework which for some Moments she had hel l in an uncertain sort of way. "ou have been exerting yourself too m'th. mother" said Kit nnnnntislv re garding the changing countenance of his fragile parent. 'You are ill again, mamma," the daughter cried, as ahe hurried to the sofa nere the invalid reclined, now faint a"d gasping, as spasm after spasm of pain drenched her weakened frame, th a2am sue wa3 indeed so ill mat for days and days she lay in a dark ened room, to which the exceedingly so ciable and obliging Maud Kayne was re used admittance. let me S to her coxild be such L ?wP t0 her and a littIe chat would Rn k her 80 much- And 1 am always nappy when j can do Bomething for a "" supplicated the young lady, her sloe 8 Gasped beseechingly, her thetic k Cyea TCr 801611111 and 8vmPa "Vou cannot go to her yet; mother must have absolute quiet," Kit answered with ungallant obstinacy. "Kit dou't intend to be uncivil, saia bis sister, who was whimpering plain1 tivcly in one corner of the big hair-cloth sofa. "He is very fond of you, just as we all are; he appreciates your unselfish sympathy for us and your generous desire to assist us. And to be sure we never needed a friend as we do now." 'You have no immediate cause to feel disheartened, Sis," the brother remarked, with a disapproving glance toward the small figure crouched on the sofa. "Ah, then there is really no danger; dear Mrs. Dolitcl will recover," interpo lated Maud, mistaking the import of what had just been uttered. "Oh, mamma will soon be well again. But misfortunes never come singly and we arc in such trouble," was wailed from the sofa. Tne young lady looked very interested and commiserative, and Kit frowned and turned away as if the topic were no less unprofitable than distasteful. "All the whole year Kit had been so unfortunate about getting work," con tincd the weeping Miss Dolitel, unheed ing the frown "and where there is so much illness and no employment there are always debts and difficulties about rent and" everything. To be sure the rent is not so much to owe ; but we must pay the quarter at once or we must leave the apartments, the agent says." "How very sad," murmured Maud, looking decidedly uneasy. Perhaps she felt that her unselfish sympathies were being tested too severely just then. "I do not mind a bit for myself," the other resumed, "Kit and I can always manage somehow 1 But mamma is too wean to be taken away; the excitement would be fatal to anybody just conva lescing as she is." "Dear Mrs. Dolitel could remain with me. you know that," Maud said, hastily and with another uneasy irlancc toward Kit. for whom she had antiuaffected par tiality; "but I am afraid my room would be entirely too unquiet for her disordered nerves! she would be distracted by the eternal prating and screeching of the odious parrot. I cannot understand why Rachel Lennard keeps such a disagree able bird ; but then she is not the sort of girl to have any consideration for her neighbors." Kit, standing by a window and gazing impatiently down into the busy avenue, smiled dryly beneath hi3 handsome mus tache. "Mother would not mind the parrot," he interposed, coldly, "but she would decline being a burden to you. We shall not impose any such inconvenience upon your generosity, Miss Maud." "Ah, but you know I am willing to do anything in the world for you," Maud iterated, with an air of inconcealable re lief. To be sure you would," Miss Dolitcl hastened to say; "and if my-brother were not so absurdly proud he would not hesitate to mention one thing you really can do for us. He knows you would only too gladly loan us for a time the amount which the agent requires." "Sis!" her brother ejaculated, in ac cents of rebuke and consternation. But there was another grim smile be hind the handsome mustache, as he noted the suggestive expression of the pretty, brunette features. "Ah, what an unlucky body I am!" Maud exclaimed, with a gesture as if of unutterable regret. "I have just made a most expensive purchase some finery, so costly that I shall be obliged to scrimp my own board money for a long time to come, I fear. I am so sorry you did not ; mention the matter before I had invest ed all my savings, and a. good deal I have yet to earn beside." "We know you are sorry, dear," Miss Dolitel sighed, ruefully. "But we take the will for the deed, and thank you just the same. You most not fret about us, Maudie," she added, as the young lady moved toward the door; but Kit looked only amused as the door closed behind her. "I have a notion our worries have un settled your wits, sis," he said, with a look of "profound annoyance. "You must know I should never request nor receive such a loan from any young woman, and assuredly not from Maud Kayne, whose refusal is precisely what I should have predicted, the lovely zouave jacket and sundry specious trifles not withstanding. People who so zealously thrust undesired trifles upon their neigh bors are often the people who deny the one thing which would be beneficial and really prized," he concluded, sentcn tiously. As he still lingered by the window, his mind reverted to the depreciated young music teacher who had never been prodigal of her neighborly civili ties, who had held herself aloof with gentle dignity, and who had nothing to love but a great green parrot. "But even a great green parrot is !, preferable to an insincere friend," he thought. Just then there was a sound of foot steps on the stairs outside, then a sweet voice responsive to a deep bass, whioh was unfamiliar, and then a timid little tap upon the door. "Come in," the maiden sister called fretfully from her disturbed repose among the sofa cushions. And at the instant Kit turned to be hold Rachel Lennard a fair, slim girl with large, grave eyes and the calm face of a pictured Madonna. She was not alone a prepossessing old gentleman held open the door for her that she might introduce himself and his erraud. He was the father of one of her pupils, she gracefully explained, and he had come to tender her neighbor a vacancy in his manufactory. 'But the explanation is not complete," the gentleman said, as he plaeed a de taining hand upou the arm of the girl who, with a beautiful blush, had turned to withdraw. "You must not be allowed to remain iguorant of the sacrifice Miss Rachel proposed to make for you. When she became aware of your difficulty about the rent, she felt a neighborly desire to aid you, and so she determined to sell a possession she values a thou sand times more .than the sum my daughter has again and again vainly offered. But as much as we should have liked to secure the wonderful par rot, neither my daughter or myself could have permitted Miss Rachel to part from the pet to which she is so greatly at tached we preferred to aid you fnnt.w and with more pleasure dif to a lady whom we have learned to regard with affectionate esteem. We have al ready adjusted the unpleasant affair with the agent, Mr. Dolitel, and you may be gin your duties in the manufactory ar soon as you deem most convenient to yourself." And then the prepossessing old gentle man released the charmingly embar rassed Rachel, and so betook his benign and satisfied self away. "A friend in need is a friend indeed," Kit quoted with a mischievious glance toward his amazed and maiden sister. delighted "Do 1 ell her how grateful we all are to her, Kit," came faintly from the dark ened room where the invalid mother had been sleeping rcstfully until awaked by the deep Lass tones of their benefactor. At the bidding, and with a strangely commingled sense of hcsi;ancy and eager ness, he followed Rachel, who had already retreated to her own apartment. As he paused on the threshold, he be held her bending over the great greeu parrot which, with a look of almost hu man intelligence was peering at the sweet flushed face all wet with tears. "Poer pet," she was saying; "and you are all I have." But the words few and hushed and simple were eloquent of her utter lone liness, ol her womanly capacity of affec tion, and of her nobler capacity of serv ing a friend in need. With a countenance agitated by a ten derness no longer controllable, Kit moved to her side. "You have more than this, Rachel," he began, huskily. "You have-what might have be. n your3long ago, had you not been too shy to listen to the plead ings of my love for you." She lifted her beautiful calm eyes and smiled; the sweet lips trembled with some magic utterance, and then he drew her to his heart and covered the fair face with happy kisses. "Our friend in need is to be yet dearer to us, mother," Kit announced, a? he led Rachel to the bedside of the convalescent, "Rachel is to be your daughter." Miss Maud Kayne was effusive with her congratulations, but she did not long remain a resident of the Palladium flats. She complained that her neighbors had become too unsociable for her exceed ingly sympathetic soul, and that they had become disagreeably curious djout a certain expensive purchase which she had somehow failed to consummate; and so she decided to transfer herself to a more congenial place of abode. Ettie ltogers. An Odd Animal. The armadillos are the mail-clad war riors of nature; and the most completely armored of the whole odd family of arm adillos is a beautiful ornamented little fellow called by the naturalists Toly pentes, and by the Brazilians "bolita." "Bolita" means "little ball," and the armadillo was so named because it ha. the power of rolling itself up into tht shape of a ball. Its various shields are so arranged that when the bolita rolls itself up it makes a perfect ball of hard shell. A traveler in Brazil tells of watching some littc children at play tossing a large ball, about the size of a foot-ball. When they were tired of the game they threw the ball on the ground, and to his surprise it turned into an animal, and ran hastily away. It was one of these little armadillos. ' - The same traveler says that he has seen these animated balls used by a little child.in playing with a kitten. The game may have annoyed the bolita, but it could not have caused it any injury, because of the perfect protection afford ed by its armor. - It has need of all the protection it can have, for it lives in a land where, the mischievous monkey is plenti ful. Anj'body who has seen monkeys teasing each other, will be able to gain some idea of the torment the slow-witted armadillo must undergo as it is passed from one to another of a party of mon keys, v When Toly pen tes is set upon 'by the frolicsome monkeys, however, it sud denly curls up, and is safe within itself. The baffled tormentors turn it over, look ing in great astonishment for the tail they know must be there. If Toly pontes had any sense of humor, he would cer tainly laugh heartily within his shell at the chattering, grinning crowd. As the bolita, like the other armadillos, burrows in the earth, it has forefeet suit able for that work. Its toes are armed with long and hard claws, which enable it to dig with wonderful quickness. In stead of walking upon the flat part of its front feet, the bolita walks upon the tips of its toes, and in doing so looks comic ally dainty and mincing. At the same time it can move with considerable swiftness. The aramadillos live only in South America, and are all small in size com pared to the gigantic armadillo that lived ages ago. The largest now living is not more than three feet long, while that of former ages was as large as a big dining-table. St. Nicholas. "Comin Thro' the Rye." The popular misconception of this well-known ditty is to the effect that the Scottish bard who wrote it Robert Burns intended to picture in the fasci nating lines a laddie and lassie meeting and kissing in a field of grain. The couplet : If a laddie meet a lassie, Comin' thro' the rye, and especially the other two lines : A' the lads they smile on me, When comin' thro' the rye, seem to imply that traversing the rye was an habitual or common thing among the "lads and lassies" in the Land o' the Scots, and suggest, perhaps, a harvest scene, where both sexes, as was the cus tom, are at work reaping, and where they would come and go through the fields, if indeed not through the rye itself, so as to meet and kiss in it. The truth is, how ever, the rye in the song is not grain at all, it being the name of a small shallow stream near Ayr, which, 'having neither bridge nor ferry, was folded by the peo ple going to and from market, custom allowing a lad to steal a kiss from any lass of his acquaintance whom he might meet in midstream. That this is the true explanation, any one may see who refers to Burns' oiiginal ballad, in which the first verso refers to the lassie wetting her clothes in ihe stream: . Jenny is a' wat, puir body, Jenny is seldom dry. She's dragit a' her petticoat Comin' thro' the rye. HUMOROUS SKETCHES Wanted to r.o Fishing. Boy working in the garden with hi8 father; straightens up every few min utes, leans on his hoe, rubs his back and looks wistfully toward the creek. "Come, Tommy; come, Tommy," says the old man, "keep at it; there's lots to be done." "I bet the fish would bite to-day, pa," says the boy, with another longing look toward the water. "Well, you keep right on with your hoeing, my laverick, and they won't bite you," says the old man, as ho aims at a big clod and makes the dust fly. Chi cago Ledger. Uii)JKeIltM as Common Property. "Pardon me, sir, but I think you are carrying my umbrella. I could swear to that ivory handle anywhere. If 1 had not recognized it I should not have presumed to stop you. That carving was done--" "Spare me the details, please. It is al together probable that this is your prop erty. I have no further claim upon it." "Then how did it come in your pos session?" "It was left in my hall last night by a burglar who got away with most of the family silver!" "I I guess my umbrella was a size larger than that, after all." Detroit Journal. Orange Blossoms. "George," said a country young lady to her beau as they snuggled into a seat, "it's nice to ride on the cars, ain't it?" "Yes, Sarah." "George, if you were going to travel a long ways on the cars where would you rather go ?" "To Chicago or California, Where would you rather go ?" "To Florida, by all means." "Why?" "Be-bccause, you know, George, be cause because in Florida they have so many orange blossoms, you know." On the return trip they sat still closer together, and she laid her pretty head upon his big shoulder. He must have taken the hint. Chicago Herald. The Effect of Snuff on Deer. The Duke of Athole had recently as a guest a Frenchman who was desperately anxious to shoot a stag. He shot at many, but with one unvarying result, that when he opened his eyes the animals had disappeared ; but one happy day a herd Hew past him; he fired and a monarch of the glen fell. The count's joy was extreme, lie rau forward, seated himself on the prostrate body, of the stag and sympathetically condoled with on his misfortune to be shot. "Welf mon ami, so vou are dead '. Poor fellow?'. he cried, and having stroked the defunct,, proceeded to take some snuff. With an air which nature has denied to all but the French nation, the count held a pinch of snuff to the deer's nose. "Take a pinch, mon ami take a pinch!" he exclaimed, and in a moment found himself alLkff heap on the ground. Whcthertho deer j had been stunned, shot through the loins or in some other way terapbrarilydis- j abled does not appear ; but, revived by the snuff,-he sprang to his legs and bolted. "Stop, traitor, stop!" cried the count; but the stag never heeded; and so, consigning the oeast to regions re-. mote, the poor count returned sorrowful and stagless to dinner. Ediriburg Scots man. He Took I lie Leap. "Yes," he answered, as he seemed to huddle himself up in a' heap, "I've been there.. That is, I've jumped from a -rail-load train running at a speed of forty eight miles an hour, and I can't say as I want to repeat the experiment." "Where and when?" "About thirty mi!es cast of .Chicago, on the Michigan Central, three years ago." . .'. t "What-was the occasion?" "I did it on a bet of $5. The bet was that Idaren't walk out on. the platform and take the jump without picking out my ground. As it happened, the ground was pretty clear, but a million dollars wouldn't hire me to try it again." "How did you come out?" "Well, it's hard to describe the sensa tion. As 1 sprung from the step I seemed to fly. I sailed along in the air until my wings grew tired, and then I dropped down to see the country. I've got a good pair of eyes, but I didn't see much. I was too busy turning cart wheels and handsprings and somersalts. Sometimes I beat the professionals all hollow, and again I made a muss of it It was my intention to skip all puddles and avoid all the stumps, but you can't always have your way in this world. By and by I rested my case. That is, I brought up in a fence corner, and waited for a first class hospital to come along." "Much hurt?" "Might have been worse. Broke an arm, two ribs, and had over a hundred cuts and bruises, and it was seven weeks before I could walk a rod." "But you won the $5. "Ye-e-s; but there is where I always grow sad. The stakeholder sent it back to me from the first town in the shape of a pine coffin, and it didn't fit my length by seven inches. J had to sell the blamed thing for a misfit at half price !" Detroit Free Press. Allopatlilc Hen. Dr. Jones, who practices in a suburb of this city, has an elaborate machine for making pills. The doctor's practice is quite extensive, and when he puts the machine in operation the result is enough to scare a nervous patient into convales cence or spasms. Not long ago Mr. Jones made several quarts of pills, and waited for a bright day to dry them. As soon as he got a good look at the sun, he spread the pills carefully on the roof of a convenient outbuilding, and drove off to see his pa tients . About half an hour after the doctor's buggy had disappeared Mrs. Jones heard an unusually vociferous squawk from the rooster in the backyard, but she did not have curiosity enough to investigate the cause, being confident that no colored brother would invade the chicken reser vation on such a bright day. If she bad looked she would have seen the rooster perched on the roof of the outbuilding eating pilis as though he were laying up for seven lean years of famine. Attracted by the rooster's summons to ihe banquet and his evident enjoyment. thereof, one or two hens flew up to the top of the shed, aud proceeded to de vour the pills. They cackled and clucked a little after satisfying the:r appetites, and more hens came. Then more hens cackled. Then there were still more hens, and less pills. The increased volumo of the cackling indulged by the hen convention finally attracted Mrs. Jones' attention again, au l she went forth to learn the cause. She didn't learn it just then, for the entire cause was concealed withiu the hens. Not a pill was to be seen. Two or three hens lay on the ground writhing from the ef fects of blue mass. The unfortunate , rooster sat grimly in a fence coiner un der a dose of podophyllin. Two hundred and thirty-seven pills were found in the craw of one of the chickens which were killed for dinner that day. Nobody could explain how they got there till the doctor came home. He examined the shed, aud the pills taken from the slain chicken's craw, and said one or two little words. The fam ijy dined that day, on eggs bought at the grocery store. Philadelphia Times. Shooting Falls on a Lumber Raft. The raft was 100 feet long, twenty four feet wide and contained about 100,- 000 feet of lumber. The middle was piled up with laths and other small lum ber, by which a deck considerably above the rest of the raft was formed and a large space at each end left clear for working her. The steering apparatus consisted of two large planks, one at each end, no less than forty feet long, used as sweeps, and two immense oars, both plied at the stern. The raft was moored well out in the stream, and a single cable was all that held her to the shore. We had to wait a short time, so as to arrive at Bangor at high tide, but soon the hour had come; and almost before I knew it, we rapidly left behind the dock and the houses of the town. I knew that we must be gliding along at a high rate of speed, by the way wo passed the trees and rocks along the shore, yet to look down into the water there seemed to be hardly any motion at all. And here I learned that a raft runs much more swiftly thau the current; for sometimes in order to follow the channel we were forced to make a run transverse ly across the river, passing in our course floating sawdust, chips and logs. Soon we came in sight of Orono Falls, and 1 began to be a little uneasy, and to wonder how much terror I should feel in the descent of them. We had on board, beside our crew of four men and mj'self, a Frenchman who. -was taking this means of transit to Bangor as being cheaper than the railroad, and who had been for some time sitting hear the" mid- die of the raft with his feet hanging over the side. "That feller will leave that place pretty quicK, now you bet," ex claimed Bill, the manipulator of the big rstern oarand, as he spoke, the foremost end of the huge floor laid over the brink, bent down until the middle was doubled up Iik(F3jvhale's back, and then straight ening itself out stretched precipitously down before you. The water plunged over the forward deck and amidst a sea of blinding spray, the Frenchman came bounding past us, safe and dry in our elevated' position, and catching-up his capacious valise on the way, landed squarely on the after-deck, up to his knees in water, still holding his grip sack -firmly in Ins hand. UI course 1.; everybody was heartily amused at this incident, but the amusement was of short duration, as it required the united ef forts of, .all the crew to tend the raft which was now careening along with a frightful velocity. ' One year a raft run by out -crew struck on a ledge and not a single trace of its former shape remained, while the unfortunate occupants reached shore as best they could. Last year a raft carrying a large party was wrecked on a pier just below the sluice, and all had to be taken off in boats. Lewiston (Me. Journal. Narcotic Plants. .-.InrVick,s Floral Magazine we read of a flower which creates laughter. It grows in Arabia; the liowers are of a bright yellow and the seed resembles- enjHeni jjeni One instance is jziven this l j' black beans. These are dried by the na- 1 r wiH liu thft Tin.. tives and pulverized, and it is said that small doses make a person behave like a circus clown or a madman, for he will dance, sing and laugh most boisterously, and carry on in a ridiculous way for an hour. The stage of excitement is fol lowed by exhaustion and sleep. This reminds us of an experiment we made many years ago. We had seeu Pro fessor James R. Buchanan experimenting with pulverized herbs by placing them in the palms of the hands of a class of medical students. While they sat in a sort of expectant mood, waiting for something to turn up and holding va rious powdered herbs in closed fists, every now and then some of them would tell of the symptoms which were being produced upon him. It was to us then a new and surprising revelation that medicines could thus act without being taken into the stomach, and we are not yet fully satisfied as to the way they act under such circumstances. But having seen Professor Buchanan's experiments we were led to try it ourselves on a cou ple of boys about seventeen years of age. Powdered Cannabis Indica from the same plant which gives hasheesh, a narcotic used by the natives of India, was placed in one hand of each of the boys, while they sat quietly waiting to see what would turn up. One of them soon com menced to titter and then to laugh bois terously, and soon he became so hilarious with excitement that we thought best to take the drug away from him. He soon sobered down. During the period of ex citement we tried to get him to pay why he was carrying on in such a way, but he was utterly unable to give any ex planation for it other than he simply felt that way. The other boy quietly nodded off to sleep in his chair. This experiment illustrates two im portant things: first, that medicine can exert an action in this curious manner, and second, that a medicine will act differently on different persons, according to temperament or idi osyncracy, ' or susceptibility, what ever you choose to call it. Furthermore, it may be remarked that both the exhil irating and the stupifying results ob served in these casesare known to be the effects of hasheesh upon the human sys tem when taken internally. Health, Monthly. " - The total value of orchard products in, this country in 1880 amounted to $47,-i 433,189. " " - - FACTS FOR THE CURIOUS. The lrtnrrncf legitimate word in the English language is disproportionablc- ncss. Formerly in great houses, as in some colleges, there were movable stocks for the correction of the servants. It is stated as a curious circumstance that sheep placed on Key West island lose their wool the second year. It was formerly the custom in England to make people convicted of perjury wear papers, while undergoing punish ment, descriptive ol their offence. . "Punch and Judy" is a contraction from Pontius and Judas. It is a relic of an old "miracle play," in which the actors were Pontius Pilate and Judas Is cariot. ' It is a peculiarity of the Red River Valley that often pure water is found at a depth "of a few feet, and a few rods away at the same depth the water will contain so much alkali that it cannot be used. Pigs have been known to live to the age of twenty, and the rhinoceros to twenty-nine. A horse has been known to live to the age of sixty-two, but aver ages twenty-five to thirty. Camels some times live to the age of 100; stags are very long lived; sheep seldom exceed the age of ten; cows live about fifteen years. A plant allied to the lilics-of-thc-val-ley, the Convallaria polvgonatum, is a remarkable traveler. Every year v. knot forms upon its root, and these knots drag the plant about an inch annually from its original position, so that in a period of twenty years the plant will have trav eled about twenty inches from its first location. A Mexican historian makes a new at tempt to show that America was discov ered in the fifth century, A. D., by a party of Buddhist monks from Afghanis tan, of whom one, llwui Shan, returned to Asia after an absence of forty-one years. A short account of the land which he visited, supposed to be Alexico, was included in the official history of China. There is proof that Hwui Shan actually visited some unknown Eastern region, and the traditions of Mexico contain an account of the arrival of monks. The oldest bank note probably in ex istence in Europe is one preserved in the Asiatic museum at St. Petersburg. It dates from the year 1:309 B. C. and was issued by the Chinese government. It can be proved from Chinese chroniclers that as early as 2697 B. ; C. bank, notes were current in China under the name of "flying - money." The bahk.'notc -pte5 Served at .St. Pet0sshuibMrRili?ian oe ine lmaenai uanK, Mm.iimnura it -r i 1 I 1 contains Wen a list of-thennimenta 1 inflicted for forgery of notes. This relic of 4,000 years ago is probably written, is said to have been introduced in China only in the year 100 A. D. Luck in Seal Hunting. hunting around the island Seal of Newfoundland is proverbially a lottery. Steamers are' fitted for the voyage at great expense, cayying crews of ,2U0 pr more men. If a successful strike is made no venture iti the world is mor'c'profita-1 ble. litit-tnere are always - oftMnaJlg; blanks as prizes,drawn this year more, of the former than I he latter. The steamer' Resolute' brought in-'fhis spring i two-. trips over 42,000 seals, which at $2..0U. per seal makes-th-yago worth. $105, 000, both trips .bei ng made inside of six 'weeks. The total number of seals brought in varies from 537095 in 1871, to 200, 500 in 1883. This vear it is feared the take will not much exceed that of 1882; The captains who have returned all agree that there is no lack of seals, but owing to the closely-packed ice they were una ble to reach them. One immense patch. of seals was seen by several vessels, but only one had been able to approach them. There are . cases on record where , vessels have . got in to the seals, and the fortune 'close which seemed td be within their grasp has been I . i . r i T Tli rl'l . ...... .T I year, that of the Neptune. ThisvesseT fell in with a huge herd of selsT'wTifch' were lving thick onrthe ice as far as eye coula reach 30,000 at least oping in sight. The crew bounded orfuie ice, formed ii semi-circle wkrfa distance of five miles between the extremities, and advanced to the attack. In an hour they had killed 3,000, when a fierce snow-storm set in ; the ice began to open in all directions; the men lost sight of the ship, many of them found themselves on floating pans of ice in immense lakes of water. At times, owing to the storm it was impossible to see twice the length of the ship. The men were scattered over an area of five square miles, and in great peril. The seals had to be aban doned, and all efforts directed to picking up the men. So skilfully was this ac complished that before night closed in every man was safe on board; next morning the seals were gone. Had the day continued fine the Neptune would have had from 10,000 to 15,000 on board or "panned." Such are the for tunes of war in Traveler. seal-hunting. Boston Kiowa Surgery. It is the habit of tho coroner's dDii ties, while conducting autopsies, to de scribe for the benefit of those around, the various functions of the organs ex amined in deternKning the cause of death. When the operation is over, the various cuts are sewed together, and the body is left looking as if it had never been mutilated. While an assist ant was sewing the parts of the scalp of a man at the morgue the other day, a spectator said : "That reminds me of a cut I saw on the head of a Kiowa down in the Wich ita mountains, in the Indian Territory. There was a fight, and the Kiowa got a slash more than five inches long right over the top of his head and clear into the skull. His friends laid him out on his back and proceeded to shave the hair all away on each side of the wound, except a single row of hairs rhjht along the edges. When they'd got that done ,thcy took those hairs, one "on each side of the cut at a time, and tied them to gether, drawing the lips of the j:ut tight together. Then they gathered a hand ful of weeds and chewed them into pulp and put it over the cut and tied it xra. with a red cotton handkerchief. It wasn't ten days before the Indiq yras as well as ever. Neva York Sy,n. SOMETHING SURE. What a pity nothing ever Has a beauty that will 6tay!" Said our thoughtful little Nellie, Stopping briefly in her play. "AH these velvet pansies withered- And I picked them just to-day l" "And there's nothing very certain." Answered Bess, with face demure; ' Whon it rains we can't go driving I wish promises were truer ! I could rest, if I wore cortain Of a single thing that's sure I" Grandma smiled from out her corner, Smoothing back a soft gray tress; " Sixty seconds makes a minutei Did you know it, little Bess I isixty minutes make an hour, Never more, and never less. " For tho seconds in a minute, Whether full of work or fun, Or the minutes in an hour, Never numbered sixty-ono J That is oiie thing that is cerUiin Ever since the world begun. Though the ros3 may lose its cr'msn, And the buttercup its gold, There is something, through all changes You may always surely hold; Truth can never lose its beauty, Nor its strength, by growing old.'- Julia P. Ballard, in Our Little Ones. PUNGENT PARAGRAPHS. A host in himself the inn-keeper. Do spiritualists write on rapping paper? Waterloo Observer. This is the season of the year when the hook and lyin' stories fill the air. Sift ing. What sort of a flag does a man unfurl when ho waives an examination? Pitts lurg Telegraph. When the heart is full the lips are , silent; when the man i3 full it is differ ent, Texas Sifting. One man ia Germany has made and sold 0,000,000 thermometers. That's what you might call making money by degrees. ";2r-l A philosopher says: "Man was born " to rule in this world." It is believed that the philosopher was never married. Brooklyn Twiei. . There are about 700,000 cats in Lon- - don. The manufacturers of bootjacks -?; have all they can do to supply .the do niand. Boston Mranscript . . .. " ,v: In. France, therq ve.l00jholidays; "fri1 tiiis .country there are bnlf'sijffyW-. JfhiaiS.a. Vis; one rascifWlfitfe dnVjfen.acel. .ti a..M .r,an (h;nJ,i,- -rMSkX 9 TbpMfwero soBiauv kaiiui3..auije men Tl.ou lmi-B Iwn -:lV(l dAi-k'liflfesf Ttti F"! T'-J e "I thfW1 rtOtlWfllWHlh"' the first Jine. of.recept. poem. ..That Is'- the great trouble with women's 'tM-owiflg; stones: they never know where, they :ilWr;.:t hit.--Bucl-a .-. j. ... . j There is one aspect in which fashion-"" gble. young ladies and old herring' fisher-" r i;en are exactly '"alikethey eth spe:,. , ihffgf'latpart ;:.fc tjieij;;.tunp-tl,raggng Lablastsyfacatsh. .. VUcIJumble ce's MisraKe- nrins iitle'of new poeuil Tfi buWble Jnafr ij mistake ma . mriE-octttyi43 Ueverhss agttheagee to 5ei..ni3.yorit. iu, u imc. - v ctmtwn'plateJliiju said a le'ctuVc;glhinbiUh 'tthao. the resistless .pper. qtthefmaelsJrom'?,rT And a hen-necked looking irian'iti'the''J rear of his ,Miftmgl:pWplied &- malcstroni .. $.-f s-j .. ' : Thi8:.ot..jAwy-riHouryf 6aid a tender-foot as he surveyed the rugged hills Hna- IWf Western-- StaW i 'Thinkf-nOi ?" as:iner,,vyoahpuJd see: tbttx revolvers flourishing in a hot'' 6pell. Boslon Courts. "" -: - So highly ''dcorSed':-:atci-Jlh6 rattan chairs in 'the fashionable drawing-rooms that it is hard to tell which is the chair : WUaii is uiuiB awiui w and, which is ribbon. One who sits in one -of these'chaiM makes'aTaf eaeup.of thv Uadtffy.SprinafteU Union. - There are 3,000 women cmpioyeu iu Australian railway offices. The Aus tralian s arc a long-headed people. What a woman don't know about trains, how long or how short they should be, etc., etc., is not worth acquiring." Lowell Citizen. Junior Partner "Our traveling men ouht to be punished. He told one of our customers iu Albany that I am an ig norant fool." Senior Partner "I shall speak to him without fail and insist that no more office secrets be divulged." Boston Beacon. Thirteen millions is what we pay an nually for postmasters and their clerks. With what eager pride and exultation must these figures be read by the hun dreds who preside over the destinies of village oostoftices at a princely salary of $150 per annum. Sif tings. Flupon is becoming quite proficient as a gardener. He planted some beans this spring and in a short time noticed the seed pushing through the ground. He was amazed and exclaimed, as he pushed the beans back into the earth: "Them vegetables don't get away from me this time, b'gosh." Judge. Doctor "Your wife is in a very criti- . cal state, and I should recommend you to call in some specialist to consult on the case." Husband "There, you see, doctor, I was right again! I told my wife long ago she ought to get proper medicar advice, but she thought you might get offended." Fliegende Blaetter, THE AMATEUR GARDENER. With joyous expectation filled He goeth to his home at night, Explores the patch, so lately tilled, And hopes to find the shoots in sight. Some tiny sprouts begin to show The precious promise of his seeds; He tends them for a month or so, To find at last they're worthless weeds. Boston Courier. A German scientist has drawn atten tion to the fact that the Sutlej, one of the great streams of British India, is probably the swiftest large river in the world, having a descent of 12,000 feet in 180 miles, an average of about sixty seven feet per mile. There is something wrong rithin among aU those who are afraid to ofl$ within.
The Commonwealth (Scotland Neck, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 25, 1885, edition 1
1
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