.y"
DEMOCRAT
niiT i i
WE MUST WORK FOR THE PEOPLE'S WELFARE.
SUBSCRIPTION: 51.50 flR YEAR.
E. E. HILLIAKD, Editor and Proprietor.
SCOTLAND NECK. X. C, THURSDAY, APRIL l'J. ISSs.
NlMIiKi: Ml
VOLUME IV.
Beneath tho Tines.
i : ju t deeps of northern pines!
I ) 1 i oad, snow-laden arms of fir!
; i : ai.-l'-s where wolves slip to and fro,
And noiseless wil i deer swiftly skirr!
iv.'; of w ind songs wild and grand,
As -nits thy mighty strains: O harp
i.i 'hi h the north wind lajnshis handl
1 walk thy pungent glooms once more
And hout amid thy slormful roar.
As In d-'ep seas a haven is found,
wintry tempest stirs, though high
A-, hills the marching waves upbound
And break in hissing foam, so I
VV;.lk h- re M-eure; though far above
'1 he s'orm king with his train of snows
S.c j s downward from the bitter North
Ar.d -houts hoarse fury as ho goes.
I l.iii'h in tunes of chiming gleo
'J'n m" tli- shaking of his hair,
A.ii i.t ar l.-um out lii.s cloud of beard
His ;' (' imperial sweep the air.
The dark pii:cs lower their lofty crests,
As warriors Low when cb tuft-in gria
I tides l.y an I sh aits his 'tern behests,
Ami with f:wi:t answers eemo him.
Ilajnlin Garland.
MISS BECKY'S HOME;
3Ji-s Becky was going to the "Old
I. dies' homo'' at last. It was a sorry
f u t, but there was nothing else for her
: do, it sccmeu. no wouia minic 01
c if' iing any other homo to a poor,
:;!:i:nst helpless oil woman who had
-'..tiived her iisefulaf S3. Having passed
r days in other paople's houses, so to
s-cak, mi jlit not mind it as much,
; r!;ap-, as a more .fortunate being.
' Yes,'' she sai l, -"there's a vacancy
:i the '.d Ladies' home,' and tho
and red dollars that Parson Amory left
i u ill pay my way id, but it wouldn't
i.;-t long if I began to spend it, you
;i w, and 1 shall lmvc a warm bed and
r, v regular meals without worrying
i; ut where the next one's coming from.
! ' most tired worrying about the ways
; I means. Seems a3 though I had
about it all my liffc; ever since
i. ilser was taken with heart disease
h "ring the class in algebra. Now that
i i;..' rheumatism has got the better of
iv, so that I can't work in cold
:::th . r, and the doctor says it 11 draw
:iv fingers up so that I can't use them
o i, it doesn't s.'ura as if there was any
thing ielt for me in this world but the
home and I ought to be thankful for
that."
Miss Brekcy had had other expecta
tions in her day, when young Larry
IJogu-s nut her and earned her basket;
whel
his strong arm paddied her down
the broad river to church on Sunday
morning"', when they sang together in
the chur from the same hyinn book;
when they loitered homeward in the
fragrant summer dusk, and heard the
whip- oor-vi ill complain and startled
1 1 1 3 lirc-ilies in the hedges as they
bru-h' d by. It sometimes seemed to
M:ss U-:eky as if all this had happened
in another planet. She was young then,
with a bloom on her cheek; but, al-
tli
gh tho rheumatism had bent her
figure and reiideredhcrmore orless hope
less at times, yet her dark, velvety eyes
looked out like soft stars, and tho ghost
of a dimple still flickered on her cheek
ard chin in spite of her sixty odd years.
Mi-s ILeky's father had been the dis
trict school teacher in those far-off days
of her girlhood. He had taught her
the simple lore of his command, but it
was Larry lingers who had taught her
mn-ic hour after hour in the empty
sehoolhousc; they h id practiced together
while he wrote the score on tho black
board. But all this had not sufficed to enable
her to earn a livelihood. Her educa
tion, musical and otherwise had stopped
short of any commercial value. In
those days she never expected to earn
her living by the sweat of her brow.
Larry was going to give her everything.
How trivial the little quarrel seemed to
day which circumvented this final ro -solve
of hi'. But what magnitude it
had assumed at the time. Oa his re
turn from a trip to a neighboring city
pome busybody had whispered to Larry
that Mi-s Becky had been seen driving
with Squire Eustis' son, behind his
trotters. Sam was just home from col
lege, a harum-scarum fellow, they said,
who made l.vo right and left and
gambled a bit; and when Larry re
proached her with it she had not de
nied ; she had simply said: "What then?
If you choose to listen to gossip rather
than wait till you "
"But vou didn't tell me. and I've
been lure a week.''
"1 had forgotten all about it till you
reminded me," said Becky.
"It's such an everyday affair for you
to drive with Sam Eustis" which in
credulity so stung Becky that she would
not condescend to explain that she had
carried some needle-work up to Squire
Eustis', which she had been doing for
his wife, and that as she left to walk
home Sam was just starting of! with his
smart chai-e and new dapple grays, and
the squire had said, "Take Miss Becky
home, Sam, and show her their paces;"
and how plie had been ashamed to re
fuse their kindness, although prefer
in '.r to walk a thousand times; and
how, once in the chaise, Sam had been
the very ink of courtesy, and begged
; er to dnvj over with him to Parson
Am nry's, three miles out of her way,
"that Lucy Amory may see you didn't
Us lain my company. For you see,"
said Sara, who wa3 not a3 black as he
was paintjd, or as many liked to sup
pose, "Lucy can make me what tho
will ; without her I shall bo nothing
and nobody; but they've told her all
kinds of wild things about mc; they've
told her she might a? well jump into
tho river as marry such a scapegrace.
An J, perhaps, if I rcado her a little
jealous you know there's no harm in
that, is there ? All's fair in love, and,
perhaps, if the old folks see me driving
about with Becky Thorn e my stock may
go up, and I may be 'saved from the
burning,' as Parson Amory say3."
And Becky had consented. IIow
could 3he refuse to do a g"od service
for such a true lover? So slight a
thing, too? She had often traversed
the samo road since on foot, on her
daily rounds of toil or mercy. Sam
Eustis had married Lucy Amory years
ago, and was the foremost man in tho
country to-day. Strange how that
friendly drive had interfered with Miss
Becky's prospects; how the simple fact
of carrying home Mr3. Eustis needle
work should have determined her fato
and devoted her to a life of hardship
and tho Old Ladies' home at the end!
Talk of trifbs! Poor Miss Becky!
She remembered that once or twica the
opportunity offered when she might
have made it up with Larry; but pride
or a sort of fine reser.vc, had locked her
lips Larry ought to. know that she was
above silly flirtations. Oice when they
met at Lticy Amory's wedding, when
they all went out into the orchard
while tho bride plantcl a young tree
and the guests looked for four-leaved
clovers, she had found herself whether
by accident or design sho could not tell
on tho grass beside Larry; their
fingers met on the same lucky clover,
their eyes met abovo it, and for an
in3tant she had it oa her tongurj's end
to confess all about tin drive and its
result, to put pride ia her pocket; but
just then Nell Amory called to Larry
"Oh, a horrid spider on my arm,
Larry! Kill him quick do! Oh! --oh
oh!-I shall die--I shall faint !"
And that was the end of it.
The old orchard with its fragrant
quince lushes, its gnarled apple trees,
its four-leaved c'ovcrs, was a thing of
the past; a cotton mill reared and thun
dered there all day long, where the
iids built and the trees blossomed
thirty-odd yean ago. It no longer
blossomed except in Miss Becky's mem
ory. She had turned her thoughts to
raising plants when she was left to her
own resources, but one cruel winter's
night killed all her slips, an I tho capi
tal was lacking by which she might re
new her stock. Since then she hid
i gone out for daily sjwmg, hai watchod
! with the sick, hid b-en in domanl for a
temporary houskecper whenever a tired
matron wished an outing, but latterly
her eyes no longer served her for fine
work, and sewing machines had been
iitrodticel; sho wo3 not so alert in the
sick room as of yore, she moved more
slowdy and her housekeeping talent was
no longer in request; ad led to this the
bank where her little earnings hid been
growing, onedayfailel and left her
Irgh and dry. Some of her friends had
traveled to pastures new, some ha. I
married away, some had ignored or for
potten her. -As for Larry Itogers, he
had been away from Plymouth this
many a year. Somebody had sent him
abroad tho year after Lucy Amory's
marriage, to develop his musical geniu3.
He had grown into a famous violinist,
playing all over the couatry to crowded
houses, before the first people in the
land. It was a beautiful romance to
Miss Becky to read in the local paper
about our "gifted townsman;" sho did
not blame him because she sat in the
shadow, because her life had been cool
ness. She sang again the old tunes ho
had taught her, and made a little sun
shine in her heart. All of happiness
she had ever known he had brought her.
"Why should she complain? And now
sho was going to the Old Ladies' home.
"It isn't exactly what I expected in
my youth," she said to the old doctor's
widow.
"No; but you'll have a nice room and
a bright fire, and the neighbors will
drop in to see you and make it home
like. Now, there's old Mrs. Guna.
Nothing can persuade her to go to the
home. She sayi it's only a genteel alms
house after all; and so she rub3 alonrjr
with what she can earn and what the
neighbors have a mind to send in, and
they have to do it very gingerly, too, just
as though they were asking a favor of
her. Lor', sho doesn't earn her salt."
"I dare say." returned Miss Becky.
"Now, if it hadn't been for the rheu
matism I could earn my living for years
yet, and maybs got something ahead
again; but it seems as if the rheuma
tism laid in wait for the poor and
friendless."
"You ought to have married when
you were young, Becky," said the doc.
tor's widow who had forgotten all
about Becky's love affair, and labored
under the impression that she never had
a chance, an impression which matrons
are apt to entertain concerning their
single friends. Miss Bocky had been
spending some weeks with Mrs. Dr.
Dwight who had moved away from
Plymouth after her husband's death.
She was there chiefly to put Borne
stitches into
,h. I
eLso would uo "rcason-
which nobody eLso
ably," that lady's grief hiving incapaci
tated her from holding a needij or giv
ing her mini to material details of "seam
and gusset and band." Bit during the
visit Miss Becky had been seized w ith
her sharpest attacks of rheumatism,
which had kept her ia bed for weeks,
till her wages were exhausted by drug3
and doctors' fee3. It was at this time
that she made up her min i to go into
the home on her return to Plymouth.
Mrs. Dwight saw her off at tho sta
tion. "I hope you'll find tho home
cos-," she sail, outside the car window.
"It's lucky Parson Amory left you
that $100 after alL He might have
doubled it.
"Yes, I suppose so," Mus Becky
answered meekly. Perhaps she was
thinking that, if she were Mrs Dwight.
no old friend of hen should go begging
for a refuge at an almshou3e. Perhaps
sho was thinking of the pretty, com
fortable home waiting for har friend,
and wondering why their fortunes were
so unlike.
"Write when you reach Plymouth,
and let mj kaowlnw you're suited,"
said Mrs. Dwight, and just then the
cars gave a lurch and left her behinl,
and Mis3 Becky turned her glance in
wards. Somebody had taken a scat be
side her.
"Your face is familiar, madam," said
tho occupant of the seat, a fine-looking
gentleman, whose dark hair showed
many streaks of silver. "I am going to
Plymouth, my early home, which I have
not seen for twenty years. I am on my
way to look up my old friends."
"Twenty years h a long time," an
swered Becky. "I'm afraid you won't
find many of your friends left. You'll
hardly know Plymouth."
"I suppose not I suppose not. Havf
you lived there long?"
"I? I have lived there all my day.
"Good! I'm hungry for news of the
people. Tell mo everything you can
think of. Dii Parson Amory leave a
fortuae? He was called close. Whore's
Miss Nell, married or dead? I can see
the old place in my mind's eye, and tho
parsonage under the elms, aud tho or
chard behind it where Lucy Amory
planted a you lg tree o i her wedding
day, and the gown little B.cky Thorno
wore. By the way, is sho alive? Di
you know her ? '
Miss B.-cky hesitated an instant.
"Yes," she replied, "I know her
more or less. Shs's aliva."
"And married ? She must be sixty"
odd; sho was a pretty creature,
such -I suppose they are wrinkles now.
Where have the years gone? Is her
home in the old place still?"
"Her home!'' said 3Iiss Becky, flush
ing a little; ".slie has none; she is on
her way to the Old Ladies', home."
"To the Old L ;dies' home! Becky
Thorne!" he gasped. "And I"
"You seem to have known her pretty
well!' said Becky, who was beginning
to enjoy the inognito.
"I should think so. I've loved Becky
Thorne from my cradle; we had a silly
quarrel which parted .us; such a trifle,
when I look back. Do you ever look
back, madam? '
The twilight was falling about them;
Becky's face had grown a shade or two
paler all at once; sho turned her dark
velvety eyes full upon him with a
startled air.
"You?' said fhc. "You must bo
Larry Kogers !" Then the color swept
to her check ia a crimsoa wave.
'Do
you know, I never thought that you
had grown old likcmyscli! Don't you
know me? I am Becky Thorne."
Just then the train thundered through
the tunnel and they forgot they wcro
"sixty odd."
"On the way to the Old Ladies'
home," she wrote to Mrs. Dwight, "I
was persuaded to go to an old gentle
man's instead !''
A Big Eastern Stock Farm.
Dr. W. Seward Webb has just bought
1800 acres of land in Shclburn, Vt. The
extensive farm or park, as it will
shortly become, contains 1S00 acres of
the finest land to bo found in Sherburn
Valley, beautifully situated on one of
the most commanding points on Lake
Champlain. A force of 230 men has
been engaged during the past season ia
making improvements at a weekly ex
pense of $2000, and the farm already
presents the appearance of a flourishing
village. Dr. Webb will make blooded
stock one specialty and ho will have
one of tho finest stock farms in the
country. He already has 150 horses,
thirty of which are fine brood mares,
and four stallions. Ho also has a herd
of fifty Jersey cows, 100 Southdown
sheep and several hundred selected va
rieties of fowls. Mrs. Webb is a
daughter of the late W. IL Yanderbilt.
Albany Argus.
Figures Never Lie.
"Now, John," said the keeper of a
cigar store to his boy at shutting up
time, "bring in the figure of tho Indian
and let it lie behind the counter."
"Hadn't we better stand it up bej
hind the counter, sir?"
"Stand it up?"
"Yes sir: Figures never lie, you
know, jdBostoa Courier.
ARTFUL SMUGGLERS.
D
vices to Escape the Duty en
Precious Stones.
How tho Lynx-Eyed Officoro
Detect' Them.
Although the officers of the Customs
Department take great precaution to
prevent smuggling, says ths New York
Telegram, they are confident that large
quantities of diamonds and other
precious stone? are brought intq the
country witUout payment of duty.
Tho veteran, Captain Isaac Trimble,
who spent twenty-two yean of hij life
ia the Custom House, and was during a
great portion of the time a custodian of
the seizure room, relates many instances
of the ingenuity of the smugglers. Oa
one occasion' Captain Trimble exhibited
a copy of the bible to a visitor.
"Do you see anything peculiar about
the book?" the Captain asked.
Tho visitor examined the covers on
both sides, as well as the back and
edge, and then replied :
"Well, I can't say that I do."
"But it is a smuggler's bible," tho
officer rejoined, "and if you will un
clasp it, you will know how tho rascals
made use of it for smugghug dia
monds." Tho visitor did as directed and was
surprised to find that the bible had been
converted into a box. An oblong cavity
had been cut through all tho leaves of
tho volume, the person who did the
work being careful to leave tho covers,
back and edges in the same condition as
they wcro when they came from the
biuder. The box was about five inches
long, three wide and two deep. In this
oddly contrived box had been concealed
about $G000 Avorth of
diamonds.
smuggled
The person who brought thc30 dia
monds to New York was a passenger on
one of tho German steamers fro u Ham
burg. He had no idea that the customs
inspectors would take tho pain3 to
examine an old and well-worn copy of
the bible. Had he left the biblo ia his
trunk the probability is that it would
have attracted uo special attention from
the official', but the owner took the
book under his arm and was seemingly
so jealou3 for its safety that ho raised
tho suspicions of an inspector, who im
mediately stepped up and relieved him
of it in short order.
With tears in his eyes the owner ex
claimed :
"Oh, don't rob me of my bible. It
was given me by my mother when I left
my home in the old country."
But the inspector was inexorable. The
book was retained and examined and
the officer congratulated himself that he
had done a pretty good day's work for
Uncle Sara.
One of the tricks most frequently re
sorted to by smugglers is to conceal dia
monds and other precious stones in the
linings of garments. An overcoat which
was worn by a foreigner who landed on
these shores about ten years ago had no
less than ten thousand dollars' worth of
gems quilted into the palded lining. It
is probable that for every one of this
kind of garment that is detected by the
inspectors there are a score which are
never discovered. Among the curiosi
ties which were preserved ia the seizure
room for a long time was a coat of this
description, . the lining and padding of
which contained over two hundred
quiited squares, and ia each was a gem.
Some of tho gems were very small, not
b:ing worth more than five dollars each,
but the aggregate amounted to a pretty
large sum.
Whenever tho inspectors see a newly
arrived passenger of suspicioui appear
ance on a foreign steam diip they look
at his or her shoes or boots to see if the
soles are of extra thickne33. many
thousands of dollars' worth of smuggled
stones have been found in these extra
thick soles. There are shoemakers in
Switzerland who make a specialty of
manufacturing smugglers' foot gear.
Trunks with false bottoms have long
been so common that they excite no
surprise on the part of the customs of
ficers. It is cu tomary with an inspec
tor when he examines baggage to thrust
a cane down into the trunk and then
measure on the outsile. By this means
a false bottom can bo easily detected.
Several years ago a smuggler carried
on a successful smuggling business by
hiding diamonds ia the handles of
palm-leaf fans. The duty on the fans
was so low that he could well afford
to pay it in view of the valuable con
tents of tho handles. Finally the
game was spoiled by an inspector who
discovered that the cad of each handle
was plugged. The inspector extracted
the plugs and out rolled the diamonds.
Men and women have defrauded the
customs by hiding gems in their hair.
In fact, there rre so many ingenious
methods adopted by smugglers that the
officers are often in despair.
Sunlight is a3 essential to animal as
vegotable life. Physicians say the num
ber of patients cured in ho3pital rooms
exposed to the rays of the sun are four
times as great as those confined in dark
ened room3.
Materials Ur Colors in Paint. '
Every quarter of tho gloi-e ii ran
sacked for the material cciir-a'., vege- .
tie, and mineralemployed in the
manufacture of the colors ouo Cadi ia a
paint-box. From the cochineal insect .
are obtained the gorgeous carmines, as '
well as the crimson, scarlet, and purple ;
lakes. Ssphia is th-3 inky fluid dii- J
charged by the cuttle-fish, to reader the i
water opaque for its own coacealment j
when attacked. Ivory-black and bone-
black are mado out of ivory chip?. The
exquisite Prussian blu is got by fuing
horses' hoofs and other refuse animal
matter with impure potassium carbonate.
It was discovered by an acci lent. In
the vegetable kingdom are included tho
lakes, derived from roots, bark, and
gum'. Llue-black 13 from the charcoal
of the vine-stalk. Lampblack is soot
from certain resinou3 subs-tances. From
the madder-plant, which grows in Hin
dostan, is manufactured Turkey red.
Gamboge comes from the yellow sap of
a tree, which the natives of Siam catch in
cocoanut shells. Riw sienna is the natural
earth from the neighborhood of Sienna,
Italy. Whoa burned, it is burned
sienna. Paw umber is an earth from
Umbria, and is also burned. To these
vegetable pigments may probably bo
added Indian ink, which is said to bo
made from burnt camphor. The Chinese,
who alone can produca it, will not re
veal the secret of its composition. Mas
tic the base of the varnish so-called
is from tho gum of the mastic tree, in
digenous to the Grecian Archipelago.
Bistre is the soot of wood -ashes. Of
real ultramarine but lit t lo is found in
the market. It is obtained from the
precious lapis lazuli, and commands a
fabulous price. Chinese white is zinc.
Scarlet is iodide of mercury, and cinna
bar, or native Vermillion, is from quick
silver ore. Luckily for the health of
small children, the water-colors in tho
cheap boxes usually bought for them
have little or no relation, chemically, to
the real pigments they are intended to
counterfeit. Argonaut.
Missionary Moonshiners.
Ozark Mountains arc inhabited by a
people as peculiar and primitive as thoso
Miss Murfreo has made known through
her Tennessee mountain stories. Liv
ing within fifty miles of a railroad,
many of these peo ple have never seen
even so much as the gleam of the rails
in the distance, and a locomotive would
be to them not less a wonder than was
the steam horso to the Indians a few
years ago. Born in those mountains
they have tramped up and down their
f-ides, cultivated patches of earth and
worked out of their littlo farms suffi
cient to live upon. There is little de
mand for the products of their farms,
and many farmers have drifted into
illicit whiskey manufacture to utilize
the corn they grow upon the mountain
side. The revenue agents have found
them out, broken the stills and prose
cuted the distillers, but some other
farmer has gone into the business. Tho
whiskey is sold for almost anything it
will bring. In general it j exchanged
for articles of food or clothing needed,
for it is seldom that money finds its way
into tho Ozark mountains. St. Louis
Post-Dispatch.
An Electrical Dog Cart.
Mr. Volk, whose electric railway is
known to all visitors to Brighton, Eng
land, has constructed an electrically
driven dog cart, which attracts a good
deal of attention among the leisured
crowds which throng the gay Sussex
watering place. It is driven by a half
horse-power Immisch motor and 10
small accumulators, which have a ca
pacity equal to six hours' work. In tho
desire to keep the machinery i'ght,
scarcely sufficient power has been pro
vided, so that, although the vehicle will
make a speed of nino miles an hour on
asphalt, it only makos a speed of four
miles on a soft macadam road, while,
with two passengers, an incline of 1 in
CO is tho limit of its climbing power.
E'ectrical World.
Henry Benrli.
nry Bergh was bora in New York
ia 1823, where he was educated, finally
"raduatin"' at Columbia college. Ho
spent some years more or less actively
engaged in literary pursuits, and wrote
a large number of tales and sketches,
none of which, however, had any very
lasting fame. In 18G3 he was secretary
of legation to Russia, ard also acted as
vice con3ul there. Ia 160G he founded
the American Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals in New York, in
tho face of much scoffing and oppo
sition, and to the work of this society
he has since devoted his life. later
Ocean. Always Prepared.
"Did you ever have a lady hand you
a lead quarter?" was asked' of a car
conductor yesterday.
"I have."
"Nicely dressed, high-toned ladies?"
"Just so. There were several on this
line who U3ed to hand me lead
quarters."
"And you didn't feel like eaying
anything to them?"
"There was no need to. I always
had four lead nickles ready to return
for change," Detroit Free Press.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
Electrical motcrs are to be introduced
en tire undrgroun 1 railways in London.
A paste cf chlorile of lime and -water
we.l rubbed ia tu'.l takaiak iUins froa
ti ver cr plated ware. Waih and wipe
as u-u.d.
The pendulum governor for steam aao
gas engines has appeared in thii country.
It has only one ball, i not rotary, ace
consumes uo power ia diiviag.
A hitherto uncharted island, twt
mile long, is reported to eiist ia lati
tnliSdeg. l- uiia. south, longitude
1U0 deg. 30 min. east.
Portions of the Andes eeem tobetink
ing, the altitu lo of Quito haviogdiinia
ished TG feet ia 122 years, and that of
another pok 21S feet. A crater has
sunk 425 feet in 25 years.
The telcphonograph consists of an ap
paratus for recording ia legible charac
ters articulated and musical souids. It
has a ll.'siblc diaphragm to lo vibrated
by the impact of sound waves and to
vibrate an ink-discharging pen, which
marks upon a paper ribbon.
It has been found that old crowbars
made of the best Swedish iron and used
by the early settlers of New England.
have become so rotten that they could
not be welded together when broken,
and had an offensive smell when tho
welding heat was applied.
At a recent meeting of learned mon !
in Berlin it was said as a fact that when
abeo has filled his cell with honey nnd
has computed the lid he adds a drop of
formic acid which ho gets from the
poison bagconr.ccted with tho sting.
To do this he perforates the lid with tho
sting. This acid preserves the honey.
A writer in Science comes to the con
clusion that, as a result of his investiga
tions, "it seem i idle to discuss further
the influence of forests upon rainfall
from the economic point of view, as it
is evidently too slight to be of the least
practical importance. Man has not yet
invented a method of controlling rain
fall." A veteran of tho Into war, who re
sides at Croyden, N. H., claims to have
invented a new engine of war, which he
calls a "Time Torpedo." It has no
clockwork and no chemicals, but by a
subtle combination of forces known to
every hchoolboy the charge explodes at
any given time, varying from two min
utes to two weeks.
Tho statement has recently been
made by a practical iron worker of fifty
years' experience, that not only does the
metal rot from age, but that continual
jarring has the clf.-ct to weaken tho
tensile strength, an illustration of a fa
miliar kind in this line being afforded
by the step of a carriage, which, when
new, may be bent back and forth with
out breaking, but after a few years' ser
vice will certainly break no matter how
well preserved.
Professor Morgan caught a scorpion
and pierced it in three places with its
own sting, on wl.ich in each case there
was a drop of poison, but the creature
remained alive and r.ctive. But these
and subsequent experiments led him to
believe that the poison has some effect,
causing sluggishness arid torpor for a
wdiile. He also agrees with Professor
Bourne, that it is possible for a scor
pion to feting itself in a vulnerable pla-c.
Messrs. C. II. Hartwig and G. Hunter
have recently succeeded in reaching the
crest of the Owen Stanley Range, ia
B itish N-"''-:- They had some
difficult'
4 r v an p ir:i(Mt j-7 r , jon r,t
the tribeer them for Heaven's continued
tain, Panics upon tliir wedded life so
li v i to be nnd auspiciously b;guii.
the depart KoANO''e
placated, au.,thf N Ci
we. tribe
the ascent.
followed the
1 I'Jth , I
in
methot"
t to support electric
wi Cl"" ground in such a way as to
Tri?.h'tic3 f 1 de tho dangers and dif-
i tJTittcai vIie 'l Pole ??'it'rn' " wel1
I I fyco expense and inconvenience that
' ' ; d most of the propo ed under-id-found
remedies, is the tower Fystem
i, ;, nfrM-lnr-ofl ii Vow Orleans. The
towers are to be quadrangular, and
where placed at the corners of streets
their leg3 are at the st reel corners. A
pipe of suitable si.'i is to be rermanent
ly fixed upon each tower for fire pur
poses. There are to be about S00 of
these towers in New Orleans, 30') to 400
feet apart. Their height is to be from
12o to 10 feet.
Pangerou in Leap Year.
Gus: "So you really think of going to
Boston for a couple of weeks, Jack? '
Jack: "Yes."
Gus: "Heavens! dear boy, you wil;
have to bo careful."
Jack: ''Why, is Boston a dangerous
place if-'
(Jus: "Dangerous? I should say fo.
Don't you know thi3 is leap year?''
Epoch.
No (ireat Loss.
Aliss Clara (to Featherly, who is mak
ing an evening call) Poor little Bobby
swallowed a renny to-day, and we've
all been so much worried about it.
Featherly (somewhat at a loss foi
words of encouragement) Oh, I er
wouldn't woriy, Miss Clara; a peimy ia
not much. Harper's Bazar.
1h Toautifu! I.inl.
Tl" i ! i -. i ." i-' ' ; i ii- '
f tn- far fui-l i - v , ' t v
Wl. :. ,-r r ;:. . .-.- .-.
'
T !h- J. . f ... i ' '
A; 1 .-.. I- r :.. ni-.U ..s
I w ii th . :s : ' '
Sir.v.f.t i:l t U.." . 1 .":!' 1
t
Kl at t t! " b -i .: .! 1-v.s I
Tt.f .l:p. f Xhf watf! i. L. i-I .! t'u
At. I the jjri'f tht :.' " '
n their nuked . I j t ' u .4 '
iht,
!J.vu-li out tl. jr w r-i. ! 1
;;-
All 1 JS-V
.11 lh.'
An ! ..nil U ll.- tin -.
That diafu ..'or tho -. t .
hi -urn ft fi to th.-
t. ! 1
t-V k
I i-lo in til- : h : T .:. . r .
With faf. M:n -w hit-. 1 '
Ar. I lily h.ia U k;- l v X'
tro.ith.
That tr.i fn.tn th- .! Jv.i.l
TLt-v hir u.-t a u !! fi"'ii t:.
1.V
r-- . till
valo;
Tluy v iwt n U-.-k ni !..!. !,
4 two-llv thov -! p m lh I. rr;
tho ln-nutilii!, tr-t ', IU, i.n. l
I lll !iAl).l 1:
vd
Hi'Mouors.
Th men win rstal li'h the lrd trust,
will have a soft thing in hand ri muu
mer. A littl.i girl .trtirrib"s a :nk ui "a
thing that'e a tail nil tho w iv up to iti
head."
Hardly a wc.-k j asses but wo nr re
minded that wo aro c o:.M antly sur
rounded bv pr i'i.i V'fti and h ru no.
A young mother '..eked i i ti nty "it
different novel to Had u name f..r l.cr
girl baby, and finally b' ttled : M
ricr. S.'imencsi in dre-s li.-s not ji.wtiys
look well. Th" una w h wears a t-hitiy
silk hat .Iocs not wa it a vhiay i -t to
go with it.
finest nt hotel "I v.
hcot, weather stri.' o.i
special call boy, piivat
..ii'
th
: extra t"m
o wis: 1 , 8
d I 1 g I ''ii
1 1 ' t - -1 ft tk
I think y"u'v?
cider- lown quilts a:.d
"Hold on, my dear sir,
ma le n mistake. This isn't h-iv. ii.''
Practical American jutlo r: ".New,
Count, before you can go any fuith r in
this matter, so far as my d;,u !,!
concerned, I fdmuld like y.oi t. otn
your identity." Coint: "I ill -!.
my patent of i.oei'.ity." 1. A.
"That is all vcrv v.vll; I own n
r i
y "U
1'. :
.oral
patents my-f !f;but hew ! I l.no'.v your
is not an infriti'-"mf nt '
Where (Jold Seemed to (.'row.
A few weeks ajo parties who r. 'odl
in this (itv weromakiag an e xaai i , at i on
of the old S )gg c .hut-: f the Metnli dd
mine, nnd fouf.d n o:i' of tho t!op s of
the abandoned u;.p' r work", whi h huvo
not boon touched for a p ri 1 of
twenty-two year', apirof vry rieh
quart, which had b'-en brok :i .01 two
w ith a hamm' r and Li 1 upon th
fe-,t-
wail, probably by sorr.e
intende 1 to carry it aw iv,
CMlpl' V! V. ho
but v. is pr fl-
vented doiriir &o. d'ho two
Rer ! i.,m
wcro lying ab'.-ut half a:i ii.h njmrt
upon a highly mineralize i rlay. Tho
fragments were carri'd to the surface,
and washed, and an effort mado to join
them together, whf n it was found to he
impossible, tin puM of one pir-
refudng to re-tr.ter th ruvitir
to which th'-y c orrfj. or.de J
in the other, th'-": cavities
having partially filled with gold Mnco
the fracturo was mile. In tiorri" '.i"-n
a thin, foliat'.d film of gold hud c;
ead
the surface of tho ro'.:k
but th
in tha
'woticeablo formation was
I .ics and Huro. When plaor-d uvh.-r
a powerful magnifying glan it cou'd be
plainly icon that the I wo pi. c 4 were
originally one, ar.d that a formation of
gold had taken place, no that t join
them accurately again was i pom b.
Thii quartz was laid, as be for .tuted,
alone on a be 1 of clay, ar.d this provi
that the gel 1-j ro luMag power is t ot
confined to the rot k and earth alori",
but must exist in curr'-ntu, which are,
stronger in Rome p'irt; of u mine thai in
ethers. But the pro' e-s of Kol 1 growth
is slow, arid it requires ages t b .e .ir.'s
large enough to rnike the formation, in
which fctatc it exist', of vai-r: to th
niaer. -Neva la Ci'y K'a'.; Herald.
A Titled Kleptomaniac.
The earl cf D' ri.y, whose i-at is iathe
euburls of Liverpool, is a pronounced
kleptomaniac. His graec' particular
weakness is for o'd shv-f-r, ar. 1 thj
greater its antiquity ail b vuy, the
more certain it is to find its way into hi
pocket. There is a story to the '.'Text
that when kneeling at the comrouaion
table oidy the ready hand A the reetor
savel the quii.nt old v. ir.e-c .p from
sliding up the eari's sleeve. It is tho
duty of his valet to examine his master's
clothes every morning, when he has
dined cut the night before. Whatever
is found is taken to the countess, who
returns it to the owner, with a pp-tty
note of apology. Tin earl is quito
aware of LU unfortunate weakness, and
has struggled against it in vain. No
fear of detectives or expo-ure makes
heavy his light fingers, and it is said ho
will not tru-t hims. If to go alone to a
public sale where old silver is displayed.
Argonaut,