North Carolina Newspapers

-1 JLs Cms v J 1 a V J i 1m Ixb R. H. COWAN, Editor and Proprietor. We Proudly call ours a Government by the People. Cleveland. TERMS: 82.00 Per Year. VOL. II. WADESBORO, N. C, THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 4, 1886. NO. 48. r. - - ,c53L A"" 3'OA -i a ATd. J ' TerniniCnsh in Advance, j One Tear 12.00 j Six Month - - ... fi.oo ! Tferee Months 50 ADVERTISING RATES. One square, first insertion, - -Each subsequent insertion Local advertisement, per line ?1.00 so ; 10 j3TFpectal rats given on appUoatio for ! ongfr time. I .Advertisers are requested to bring in their ; advertisements on Monday evening of each ; wlr, to inxurp Insertion in next issue. t PROFESSIONAL CARDS. T olui I.). Pemberton. ATTORNEY..-. AT LAW, WADESBORO, N. C. Prac-Sr? in th $tate ant Fe-iera JAMES 1 10CKHART. . . Attorney and Counsellor at Law, WADKSBORO. N. C. rrartice at ail the Courts of the States a LITTLE. W. L. TARPON ' LITTLE k PARSONS, ,. ATTOn'EYH -A.T LAW, WADESBORO, N. C. t ollertions Promptly Attended to. II . II. DePew r ' DEN T I S T , WADESBORO. N. G.' ' Ollir-e av(r G. AY. Huntley's Store. All Work Warranted. May 11, -5. tf. DR. 1). II. FKONTiS, PHYSICIAN ANff SURGEON nffei )v T'ri'i'esFional Services io the citizens f Y aiflioro ajal iuri-buinLng country. Of fice opposite Bank. A. R Huntley. M. D. J. T. J. Battle, M. D Drs. Huntley & Battle, PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS Wadeeboro, N C Office next to Bunk May 7 tf I- IT. HORTON, JEWELER, WADESBORO, N. C. Dealcar in batches, Clocks, Jewelry, Musical Instruments, Brooch and Muzzle" Loading Shot Guns, Pistols, &c. Anson Institute, WADESBORO, N. C. . d. a. McGregor, principal J. J. Burnett, A. B. h W. Kilgo, A. B. Assistant Mips M. L. McCorkle, ) The Tpring Term begins Monday. Jan uary 11th. 1895. Trrriox In Literary Department. 2. 3 and S4rr month. Instrumental Music, 4 per month. Vocal MuPic, ?4 per month. re of piano for practice 50 cents per month. Board, $10 per month. Contingent fee. ?1 per year. For Catalogue apply to the Principal. Moj ven High School, MORVEX, O. JAftfES W. KILGO, A. B Principal. iTheFaU Session begins on the 3d of Angus 1885. and runs through five months. TUITION. PER MONTH. Primary, Intermediate. . Advanced . ... S2.00 2.60 3.00 Board from $3 TO $10' per montt For further particulars address the Prin cipal. 11U WI. i MURR, VrXT FACTCRER AICD DEALER IX ta, Ti-ware, Sta-Iii AXD HOLLOW WARE, WADESBORO, N. C. c o c CO c c c c I - 0- o .f W c te: .- c ? 3 x- c S 3 X n c u c c s u HOTELS. YARBROUGH HOrSE, RALEIGU, K. C. PRICES REDUCED TO SUIT THE H CALL AKD 8 EE UB. Si If (lug nortlnrard the niiv-clood past Leaving the grass Cool mad damp, Then at the tun the poppies kindle Each its lamp. Lot, remember not cloud nor rata; Bmfio again. My heart liee Waiting, with all its flower onldndled. For your eyes. E. C. Sanford, in Overla nd. WIPED OUT. I had been mployed by the Great Im provement and Reclaim company, of Mo pile, to explore and map certain lands in Florida lying well down on the edge of the great Cypress Swamp.. The com pany had purchased nearly 1,000,000 acres of wild land in the location I have mentioned, and it was necessary for some one to visit it and walk over most of the ground before it could be put inte mar ket in the manner contemplated. I had been on the ground three weeks, having two men with me, when the adventure happened which I am about to relate. One morning the three of us left our camp beside one of the lakes on the up per St. John's for a tramp intending to return by evening. While I made notes and kept the topography the men noted the varieties of woods, nature of the soil, and other details of interest. On' three different occasions we had encountered white men in the dense and lonely forest, and knew from their looks and surround ings that they were renegades from civil ization. Twice we had stumbled upon rude camps occupied by negroes and refugees. We had traveled a distance of perhaps three miles when I was stung on the back of the right hand by an insect resembling a hornet, although much larger. In fif teen minutes the pain brought me to a halt, and my hand was swollen like a puff-ball. After a consultation, it was decided that I should return tocamp,and the men would push on bv compass and pover a certain area, and come in toward night. Before I had covered the dis tance to camp I was near screaming out with the pain, and my arm was puffing up with the poison. . There was a remedy in the medicine chest, but it was a full hour before the pain was relieved. Then I began to feel sleepy, and I bunked down and was soon fast asleep. At about, noon, after a nap of two hours, I was awakened by the sound of a human voice. "Say, you!" I opened my eyes to find a white rene gade stand over me, holding one of my revolvers in his hand. "Git up!" I sat up. All our goods in camp had been packed up and taken away. The man wno confronted roe wai the wickedest-looking fellow we had yet met in the swamps. His hair and whiskers were so long and unkempt that little of his face except his ugly black eyes and yellow teeth could be seen. His clothing was part cloth and part skins, and it was plain that he had avoided civilization for years. "Git up and come," he growled. "Who are iypu and what do you want?" I demanded, as I reached my feet. "Walk!" he commanded, pointing to the west. At that moment a third actor appeared. It was a woman tall, gaunt, ferocious, and dressed in the same nondescript cos tume as the man. She came out of the jungle to the west, and as soon as near enough to make her words understood Vhe said : "If he won't move down him and tie his hands and feet. We cfcn tote two sich as him." She had the other revolver in her hand, and I noticed that both had hunting knives. I was unarmed, still weak from the effects of the poisonous sting, and en tirely in their power. The woman struck into the jungle. I followed, and the man brought up the rear. After a walk of about a quarter of a mile we reached the bank of the lake. Tied to a tree by- a rawhide rope was a floating cabin. The foundation was a rough-made scow, and the upper works, as they may be termed, consisted of a long, narrow and stoutly-made hut -of logs. There was a chimney of mud and sticks, from which smoke issued, and two persons were on the bank to receive us. One was a boy- of twelve or thirteen, and the other a girl two or three years older. They looked more like wild ani mals than human beings, and talked in a language so strange that I could not un derstand a word. "Go ahead," said the man, as I halted on the bank ; and I followed the woman aboard of the scow and into the cabin. It was a house in which there was but one room, with the hides of cattle thrown over the wild Southern moss for beds. There was no stove, but a sort of fire place made of stones, with two or three iron kettles on the hearth as kitchen fur niture. All our camp equipage had been removed to the cabin, and my Winchester rifle stood in the corner. As this was then a new arm I did not believe they knew how to use it, but my revolvers were Colt's old pattern and loaded with powder and used percussion caps. "Sot thar," said the woman, as 6he "pointed to a corner. I went over and sat down on the bed. It was not the corner in which my rifle stood, but the weapon was not more than ten feet away. The woman then said something to the children in her own mongrel dialect, and both of them sat down facing me and onlv three or four feet away. Then man and wife cast off the rope, seized long poles, and presently the boat slowly moved down the lake to the north. The lake appeared to be about three miles wide by five long, and was shut in by the dense forest. The views I had through the open door and the chinks between the logs showed me that the craft was kept near the shore. While the people seemed in no great hurry to get down the lake, they kept the scow moving at a fair pace until we were aboutthree miles from the place were we had embarked. A landing was then made in the mouth of a creek, and the scow was entirely hidden from sight of any one on the lake. Hunters and tour ists, and even small pleasure steamers came up from the main river as far as this lake. It was mid-afternoon when the boat was made fast. The pain and swelling had now entirely departed from my hand and arm, and the helpless feeling which had come over me when hrst captured had given way to a determination to help myself out of the scrape. If I could get hold of my rifle I would be a match for the whole four of them. I counted them as" four, because the . boy and girl had hunting knivest and would surely take part in any scrimmage brought on. Their looks and actions proved this. They i maintained their places direct ij in front of me, and their eyes never left me for a second. They held their knives as if they expected an attempt to escape, au, neant to thrust ,mi.1 rut if I tri-rl it. While tht? lo.it was moin; l'.. e w no show for me. A score of alligators, "orae of monlrous size, followed us in procession, and I had but to look out -non the lake to realize that it was alive Mth these fierce reptile. One who jumped or fell overboard ivould be seized as soon as he struck the water. Not a word was addressed to me until the boat had been tied up. Then the man came in, took a single-barreled rifle from under the other bed, and, after a few harried words with the woman outside, jumped ashore and disappeared. When he had gone the womap entered, lighted a pipe, and, tending the boy out side to watch, 6he sat down in his place with the cocked revolver on her lap. She had a face which betrayed the mind of i beast. "Well, what are you going to do witl me?" I asked after a while. 'Teed you to the alligators," she re plied. "Where has vour husband gone?" "To kill the other two men." ""What do you want to murder us for' We have in no way injured you." fWe was whipped and druv out of the settlements, and we want revenge," sh( growled. "But we had nothing to do with it,' I protested, in a firm tone. "Can't help that. You come poaching on our claim," she answered. "But we'll go away," - "I guess you won't. We never let an j one git away to tell on us !" I said nothing further, but I by no means looked upon myself as a dead man. If worst came to worst I would give them a fight. I could not .move then, with knife and bullet. ready ?for me, and deemed it wiser to ' settle back and bide my time. The man had been gone about half an hour when the faint report of a rifle came to us through the trees. The woman had been listening for it, and as it came she gave a start and cried out : "There goes one of 'em." rWho?" I asked. 'One of your partners. Dan has dropped him for sure." There was such a fiendish, blood thirsty look on her face that I was ap palled, and the same expression, to a certain degree, rested on the faces of the children. Like dogs, they licked their chops in anticipation of a bloody feast. In about half an hour the man appeared. He had a bundle of clothing in one hand and two rifles and a revolver in the other. "Git one?5' the woman asked, as he came aboard the ungainly craft. "Yes." "Didn't "git the both?" "No. The other got away. I'll git him to-morrer," he replied. "Git much?" "Lots." He had in his hand the suit of clothes, rifle, and revolver belonging to one of my men George Sheen, of Mobile. There were blood-stains on the clothing, and as he unrolled the bundle I 6aw a .bullet hole through the vest. He had killed the man and then stripped him stark naked. Yes, he had books, socks, hat, collar, everything. The other man was Robert Jackson, of Chicago, who had worked with me for years. He had not "got him. Why! Jackson was well armed and a brave man. If he had been present at the shooting of Sheen, he would not have run away. Sheen had an old-fashioned rifle; Jackson had a Winchester. He" would in turn have killed the outlaw. The two men must have been separated and the outlaw must have ambushed Sheen. Leaving the children to watch me. the man and woman now cast the scow loose and poled her out about 300 feet from shore. The sun was getting well down, and our side of the lake was in a deep shadow. When the scow had been an chored by a stone, the pair inspected the personal property and counted the money taken from the victim. The outlaw then washed the blood from his hands. When they entered the cabin, or house, the woman produced some cold meat and hoecake and threw hunks to each one, including myself. It was only after the provisions had disappeared, I eating mine with the rest, that the man addressed me. "See yere, stranger," he said, "what brought you up yere?" "Looking over lands," I replied. "Urn I Who be you?" I told him. "Didn't count on seein' Black Dan, I reckon?" he sneered. " " "No." "Which is unfortunit fur you. I've killed every land hunter who ever sot fut on my claim, and I'll keep killin', sure." "We didn't come here to disturb 01 annoy you," I 6aid. "It's jist the same thing. I'm down on the hull human race fur the way I've bin used, and I'll kill whenever I kin git the chance. I've dropped one- o' youre fellers. To-morrer I'll drop the other, and then take keer of you. Git over thai and lay down." "Over thar" was the far corner, and ntirely out of reach of my Winchester. When I bunked down in my corner the gun was removed entirely, and the family lay down in such a way as to hem me in. For the first three or four hours they were like cats, starting up at the slightest move, but toward midnight I was satisfied that all were asleep. I could not reach the firearms without stepping over the bod ies, and they knew that any effort on my part to loosen a low would arouse them. About midnight, after a long and cau tious effort," I sat up. It was a starlight night, and, as there was no door to the cabin, I could see out. I was fully de termined to make an effort to escape, but when I came to canvass the chances, I had to abandon the idea. The alligators were constantly about us, often rearing up to paw at the logs, and unless I could get hold of the firearms and begin the fight, I should be wiped out in any effort I made. I think I slept for an hour or two, and what aroused me I cannot tell. I was still sitting, and, as I looked out upon the night I saw a human figure draw itself up on the bows of the boat. I at first supposed it was one of the fam ily, but a moment's observation convinced me to the contrary. This figure moved cautiously, as if desiring its presence un known, and was a long time in reaching the door. It then leaned against the logs and made a long turvej of the inte rior, and finally sank out of sight. My heart was beating like a trip-hammer, and I could not fathom the mystery. Was it an Indian or another outlaw? Moving so cautiously, what object had he in view? Had I once thought of Jackson, I should not have dared to hope he had come tc my rescue through that water; and, too, I could not have believed he knew of my whereabouts. From the time I first caught sight of the figure to daylight was probably an hour and a half, but it seemed to me as if I lived five years. I had no hopes that the man was a friend, and yet I could not look for a new enemy. Perhaps, after all, it was only one of the refugee negroes, of whom scores were hiding in the swamps, who had made his way to the scow m hopes to lay hands on provisions j or clothing. I kept my eyes on the spot where I had last seen hin and, as he did ; not reappear, began to feel that he hau j slipped back into the water and returced j to the shore. :r.w:,;. j Did you ever watch the coming of day j light when you felt that with it -might j come some fife or death transaction? The first signs came from the birds. Then, afar up the lake, came the cries of water ; fowl. A fox or some other animal stood j on the shore near where we had tied up i the night before and barked in-an angry voice. The stars paled and drifted out of ! sight, and the interior of the cabin began I to light up until I could distinguish the ! forms of the sleepers. Where was the strange man friend or ! enemy? As if in response to my query he suddenly, rose up, stepped noislessly ! inside the door, and next instant a re I volver began to crack and a voice shouted j at me : j "Keep down, Colonel ; hug the floor 1" I rolled over on my face and I heard i yells, screams and groans. It was j all over in thirty seconds, and some one ! called: i "All right, Colonel; I've wiped the ! varmints outl" j ;T sprang up to find Jackson standing in the centre of the cabin, and on the : floor lay outlaw, wife and children, all dead; It was as I had argued the day previous. The two men had separated j fa the woods Sheen to return directly to j camp and Jaokson to hunt for game for j supper. The outlaw had ambushed ! Sheen and killed him, and JackBon had j heard the report of the gun and become suspicious. He hurried to camp to find I me gone and everything taken, and had traced us to the lake. He found indica tions to prove that a boat had been used, and had followed the shore of the lake down uptil he found the seow at anchor. Not one man in a thousand would have shown his nerve. He knew of .the alli gators, could see a dozen of them moving about, and yet he disrobed, tied his weapons across his head, and swam straight for the scow and reached it un molested. He saw that the only way was to wipe out all the gang, and as 60on as daylight would guide him he began his work. When we had buried our comrade we made a close search of the floating cabin, and we found indisputable proof of the murder of five or six persons. In an old wooden bucket were two gold and three silver watches, several pocket knives, half a dozen rings, and $825 in gold, sil ver and greenbacks. As none of these Articles could be traced back to their owners, and as vengeance had overtaken the murderers, we felt no hesitation in taking possession of everything for the benefit of Sheen's widow. The last act was to set fire to the scow and push it out into the lake. It, was as merciful to consign the bodies to the flames as to see the alligators fight over them. Such human wolves did not de serve burial. Billingsgate. The word "Billingsgate" has, strangely enough, been transferred from the place Itself to the language spoken there. For Webster 6ays, "The word is from a mar ket of this name in London, celebrated for fish and foul language." A visit to this renowned fish market in these days will perhaps give one a better idea of the place than Webster's explanation. There is'considerable slang and good-nafured chaffing among the buyers and sellers, but one is not overwhelmed by that tor rent of foul language he has been taught to expect from his associations with the word. The best time to visit the market is on a Friday morning. The wooden barn looking square wiere the fish is sold is crowded soon -after six o'clock, with shiny cord jackets and greasy caps. Everybody comes to Billingsgate in his worst clothes, and no one knows the length of time a coat can be worn until he hns been to a fish sale. Over the hum of voices are herd the shouts of the salesmen, who, with their white aprons, peering above the heads of the mob, stand on tables, roaring out their prices. All are bawling together salesmen and hucksters of provisions, hardware and newspapers till the place is a perfect Babel of competition. ' 'Ha-a-ansome cod I best in the market 1 All alive ! alive ! alive O !" "Ye-o-o! ye-o-o! here's your fine Yar mouth bloaters I Who's the buyer?" "Here you are, governor, splendid whiting ! Some of the right sort !" "Turbot! turbot! All alive! Tur bot!" "Glass o' nice peppermint, this cold morning I a ha' penny a glass !" "Here vou are at your own price! Fine soles O!"" "OyJ- Oy! Oy! Now's your timel Fine grizzyling sprats ! all large and no smal!" "Hullo! hullo here! beautiful lobsters! good and cheap I fine crabs, all alive O !" "Fife brill and one turbot! have that lot for a pound ! Come and look at 'em governor ! you won't see a better sample in the rr.arket !" "Here, this way for splendid skate! skate 0 1 skate O !" "Had-had-had-haddickl all fresh and good!" "Currant and meat puddings! a ha' penny each!" "Now, you mussell-buyers, come along ! come along ! now's your time for fine fat mussels !" "Here's smelt, 01 Here ye -are, fine Finney haddicks I" ' 'Hot soup ! nice pea soup ! a-all hot I hot!" "Ahoy! ahoy, here! live plaice! all alive O!" "Now or- never 1" whelk! whelk! whelk ! Who'll buy brill O ! brill O ! ' 'Eels O ! eels O ! Alive ! alive O I" "Fine flounders, a shilling a lot! Who'll have this prime lot o' flounders?" "Shrimps! shrimps! fine shrimps Wink! wink I wink!" "He! hi-il here you are, just eight eels left just eight !" "O hoi O ho! this way! this wayt this way ! Fish alive I alive ! alive O !" This is a fair sample of what may be heard at Billingsgate on a fine Friday morning. But no ingenuity of printing can give any adequate conception of the peculiar intonation of the London fish monger. That must be heard in order to be appreciated, i I Lowlj. Dot Welcome. tfheu I have said my quiet say. When I have mhz'mr little boost, 3ow sweetly, sweetly diet the day, The valley and U hill along; Sow sweet the sommon, "Come away r That calls toe front the bury throng. j I thought bnsUde the water's flow Awhile to lie beneath tha leaves, i thought in autumn's harvest glow To rert mr hoed upon the sheaves; But lol raotnink ii day was brW And dandy; flowor, nor fruit, nor loaf i bring, aud yet accepted, free Ana tut, my Iord 1 come to Uee. What matter now for promiso lost, Throajh blast of ?pnng or summer rain ? TVhaA matter now for purpose crost, iVhsfc tf the olive iut yields, "What lhe grsp babligtfcedJ TUo fbe CJOCa6'Oc tMRJawid fteids, -' Upcsr iv,Uj the via fboa lovew stiu the poor; Obi la pvtTtv beloved to be! " Less lowly & my choice confees'd, I love uw rich in loving thee! Hy spirit bare before thee stands, I bring no gift, I ask no sign: i come to thee with empty hands. The sui-cr to be filled from thine. Dora GreenictU. RELIGIOUS READING. Urtai Triumphs, "Behold I see the heavens open, arid ;he Son of Man standing on the right land of God." Thus spake the proto-matyr in tho jxpectation of death. And in ail ages lave there been those -across whose vision, at their dying hour, sfmilr icenes of blessedness have passed. VAs j )rbs of light meet our gaze when tho larkness of nightfall covers theearth, jo do scenes of glory sometimes appear ;o the Christian when the shadows of ivening closes his day of life. "Christ"- "angeLT "beautiful" 'magnificent" "delightful," was the anguage of the expiring Dr. Hope. "Home, home!" said Xormand Smith. I see the New Jerusalem. They praise him they praise him." "Now farewell, world," said Rev. Mr. Holland, ".welcome heaven; the Day Star from on high has visited my leart. Oh speak it when I am gone, ind preach it at my funeral. God lealeth familiarly with man. I feel lis mercy. 1 see his majesty. Wheth jr in the body or out of the body I ;annot tell: butl see things which are anutterable." - I have been," raid Walker of Tru- ro, "upon the,, wings of cherubim. Heaven has in a manner been opened ',o me. J shall soon be there. "Do you see," said Edmund Auger, "that blessed assembly who await my irrival? Do you hear that sweet mu sic, with which those holy men invite me, that I may henceforth be partaker )f their happiness? How delightful it is to be in the society of blessed ipitits! Let us go. We must go. Lol me go!'' "You seem to enjoy foretastes of Heaven." said ODe to II. S. Golden. ' Ol), this is no longer, a foretaste," was the joyful assent, "this is heaven. 1 aot only feel the climate, but I breathe ;he ambrosial air of heaven, and soo.? shall enjoy tho company." "If I innst die and die I must Let some kind seraph come, ADd bear me on his Iriendly wing, To my celestial home. Of Canaan's land, from Plagah's top, AJsy I bat have a view. Though Jordon should o'orflow its bants, I'll boldly vonture through. Independent. Tlie First Tro If? ipljs. Memorable as John's testimony was, .t seems on the first day to have pro liiced no imraediato result. But on the second day, when the Baptist was itanding accompanied by two of his iisciples, Jesus again walked by, and John, fixing upon hira his intense and tamest gaze, exclaimed again, as ihough with involuntary awe and ad miration, "Behold the Lamb of God!" The word! were too remarkable to je again neglected, and the two Gali lean youths who heard them followed Ihe retreating flgmo of Jesus. He saught the sound of their timid foot jteps, and turning round to look at them ;is they came near, he gently asked, "What seek ye?" It was but the very b3ginnlng of nis ministry; as yet they could not know him for ail that he was; as yet they had not heard the gracious words that proceeded out of his lips; in com ing to seek Hira thus they might bo actuated by s inadequate motives, or even by mere passing curiosity; it was fit "that they should come to Him by spontaneous impulse, and declare their object of their own free, will. , But how deep and full' of meaning is that question, and how sternly it behooves all who come to their Lord to answer it! One of the noliest of the church's saints, St. Bernard, was in the habit of warning himself by the solemn query, "Bernardi, ad quid venisti?' "Bernard, for what pur pose art thou here?" Self-examination could assume no more searching form; but all the meaning which it Involved wa8 concentrated in that quiet and simple question, ''What seek ye?". They came and saw where Jesus dwelt, and as it was then four in the afternoon, stayed there that day, and probably slept there that night; and before they lay down to sleep they knew and felt in their inmost hearts that the kingdom of heaven had corue that the hopes of long centuries were now fulfilled, that they had been in the presence of Him who was the de sire of all nations, the Priest greater than Aaron, the Prophet greater than Moses, the King greater than David, the true Star of Janob and Scepter of Israel. One of those two youths who came earliest to Christ was Andrew. The other suppressed his own name be cause he was the narrator, the beloved disciple, the evangelist, St. John. "Xa wonder that the smallest details, down even to the very hour of the day, wai treasured in his memory, never to bi forgotten, even in extreme old age.- Farrar. In the report, in one of the New York dailies, of a notable social event the giving of a reception by the Sorosis, in honor of Mary Anderson, recently the significant fact is noted that the menu differed from similar affairs for men only in "the entire absence of wine from the table." WARNING TO A HUMORIST. AI.KX, SWEET WHITES AS OPE2T LETTEB TO GEORGE W. PEGS. Why the "Sifting Maa Wemia Dearly Like to Meet the "Bad Boy Humorist. Alex Sweet, editor of Tom BtfMnpt, publishes in his paper the following letter to George W. Peck, of the Milwaukee Sun and "Bad Boy" notoriety: Mt Dear Peck : While you were In New York a couple of weeks ago you called at the office of Txa Sifting, but I did not get to see you, as I was not in at the time, but I found your card on my return. I mean on my desk, where you left it when vou. vourself. left. In ius- tice to :pI will also state th I lid not miss anytning out cf the office. It seems you did not improve your opportu- nities. I was very sorry that I did not get to see vou, for 1 wanted to than you per- A new fraud has recently been de sonally for a favor you did me about j tected by a French chemist." On exam eight years ago, when I was on the edi- ining a sample of preserved tomato, he tcrial staff of the Galveston iVViM, There are some doubt among the peo ple of Texas as to my veracity. Some few people intimated that I didnH have any at all, but the general opinion was that I could tell the truth if it was to my inter est to do so, and I made an earnest effort. Juat at this crisis I received the follow ing letter from you, which I published for my own vindication. After request ing in the letter the temporary loan of ninety cents, to enable you to purchase a pair of new pants, you went on to say in your letter : ' 'I have never in my wildest dreams thought of competing with the Sifter as a truth crusher. I am an ordinary Wis consin liar. I have never had the advan tages you possess. My surroundings are not good for the development of genius in lying, as the community in which I reside is pious, and I have no competi tion. No person can succeed unless he has some competition to bring out the talent that lies hidden in him. Now, it is different down in Texas. You, al though you may be the champion, are not the only liar there. You have competit ors. Every man you meet has some claim to prominence, and your talent is con stantly being burnished. I would be only a nine-spot in Texas. I was there in 18G3, and I know what I am talking about." "I fully appreciated this compliment). From that time on my status as a truth wrencher was fixed. Everybody in Texas had heard of Peck and his endorsement was nil that was needed to be regarded as a talented journalist. I have often longed for the opportu nity to take you by the hand and thank you, and ask you when you were going to pay back the ninety cents I sent you. This is why I am sorry I was not in when you called the other day. However, you can rt mit either by postal note or check or both, if you see proper. I have to express my obligations to you for another favor. A few days ago, while putting on my new sixty-dollar overcoat, a disagreeable odor assailed my nose. I noticea it even after I got into the street. On meeting me, people would gasp, hold their noses, and cross over to the other side of the strv;t. Several dray horses shied and a mule fainted. When I entered the office of Tms Siftings everybody present snorted, and looked at me pretty much as a Texas pony does when it hears a brass band for the first time. There was a vo ciferous smell in the office strong enough to drive a dog out of a slaughter house. I received several kindly suggestions to consult an undertaker, or a coroner. A gentleman who was about to sign a $2,000 advertising contract, dropped the pen and fled in wild dismay. He has never come back. I think he has left New York for his health. We have lost $2,000. Owing to the warm air in the office I reached into my pocket to get mvhand kerchief to fan myself with it. When I pulled out my hand there was adhering to it a sticky mass which said "Limber ger'' very plainly. It spoke right out. How do you suppose that Limberger got ii.to my pocket? You don't know, eh? Well," let me tell you. I have a boy at home of about nine years of age. Of late he has been reading a book called "Peck's Bad Boy." Ever hear of it? My boy, Norman, got that Limberger sug gestion out of that book. He it was who put tuit old cheese in my pocket. He said that was what Peck's Bad Boy did to his pa. Weil, he don't read that book any more. He can't read even his Sunday school book now without lying on his abdomen to do so. I don't feel safe for my life unless I know that boy is at school or asleep. If you read of my fall ing down the stairs and breaking my neck in consequence of the 6teps being lubricated, or if I come to any other sud den and mysterious end, you may close vour eyes at night with the consciousness of knowing that the diabolical suggestion that shoved me into the tomb originated in that infernal book of yours. When you send me that ninety cents, include in it the $2,000 ad. we lost through the Limberger cheese. I'd like to known when you are eoming to New York again. I want to meet you at the depot when the train comes in. You will be able to identify me bv a large club which I shall wear in my right hand. How the coroner will be able to identify you after I get through with you is not very plain. Oh, come to the bower Tve shaded for you, And IH make an effort to be there too. Your true friend and future benefactor, At.pt Sweit. Lightning and Tree. A writer in the Building New explain what takes place within the bark of a tree when struck by lightning. Most ol us have seen the effects which are here described, but not all of us can tell the reason way the tree has Euch an appear ance: In a tree which has been destroyed by lightning, the layers are not only shat tered and separated into strips, but the wood also appears dry, hard, and brittle, as though it had been through the process of curing in a kiln. This is attributed to the instantaneous reduction of the sap into steam. When the sap is abundant, as in May or early in June, the amount and force of the steam not only bursts and separates the layers and fibres, but rends the trunk inpieces or throws off a portion of it. When the amount of steam thus suddenly generated is small, owing to a dry condition of the stem from continual evaporation and pelf exhalation, there may be no external trace of the lightning-stroke; yet the leaves will wither in a few days, show ing that the stem has been rendered in capable of conveying supplies, and the tree will either partially or entirely die. Still lighter discharges may be conducted -down the moist stem without any injury SELECT SIFTINGS. Sir John Lubbock declare that iha i mind of ants differs from that of men ! only in degree. Sunday was once a popular day for j marriages. The brides of the Elizabethan I Seriod were usually married on the first 1 ay of the week. " It was an old prejudice, which is not quite extinct, that those who are defec-: tive or deformed are marked by naturt : as prone to mischief. From one tree, sixteen miles east ol ! Tampa, Fla., there were gathered 11, 643 oranges by actual count. This is the jr the largest yield from a single tree ever ' known. A writer in La Xature has calculated j the power of the spring which moves s ' j watch, and his conclusion, in plain lan-' - j guage, is that a machine of onc-horse ; power could -keep 270,000,000 watches j j going. - I found that it contained but little of that vegetable, the remainder beins ebiefly composed of carrots and pump kins, colored with some aniline dye. The practice of ' going n gooliii!j'" was once a custom of St. Thomas's Day. which occur? December 21. Ii was per formed by women, who presented ?prig of evergreen and Christmas flowers, and begged for money in return. This term means going about to wish good even. Dr. G. Rolhfs considers woolen cloth ing to be unhealthy for wear in the tropics, ne finds support for this theory in the fact that sheep from cool countries soon lose their wool from Cen tral Africa and become covered with a thin coat of hair, while lions lose theii heavy manes in hot regions. In old times the death of th van quished person was always considered a certain evidence of his guilt. Among the customs connected with dueling, it appears that, according to the old law, knights were to fight with the lance and sword, as those of inferior raDk fought with ebon staff or baton, to the farther end of which was a bag crammed hard with sand. The magnitude of the Escurial, the preat Spanish palace, may be inferred from the computation of Francisco dc los Santos that it would take four days to go through all the rooms and apartments, the length of the way being reckoned at thirty-three 6pani&h leagues, which is aboot 120 English miles. There arc 14,000 doors and 11,000 windows in the edifice. - ill m i i i mm Sense of Smell in Insects. In some insects a keenly developed, sense of smell appears to be the dominat ing sense. Sir John Lubbock has shown that the most intelligent of insects, the social ants, seem incapable of appreciat ing sounds, and that they make compara tively little use of their small eyes. T,heir leading sense is that of smell. It erf ras to be by aid of this faculty that they find their way about, and follow their multi farious daily avocations. A recent writer, speaking of the mode in which ants fol low an established trail, says : "I have experimented with this, fre quently obliterating the scent for a space of but a few inches, and watching the razzled wanderers, each going an inch or ess beyond his predecessors, hunting the lost clue 'until the blank was finally bridged over. After that, if the new route, as re-opened, differed from the old it was nevertheless rigidly followed, even if longer." Again, as evidence that bees and but terflies select the flowers which they visit by means of smell rather than sight, a writer 6ays: "Bees and butterflies visit a distinct variety, and for the time confine their attention to it, settling on and suck ing the honey of that variety only: e. g. a bee settling on a scarlet geranium will not go from it to another species or varie ty, but gives its attention to that particu lar variety only never coiner from a scarlet eeranium to another scarlet flow er, even if in contact I never remarked a bee go from a lily to an amaryllK or the reverse." W. M. Gabb, writing from St. Domin go, with regard to the butterfly, says : "My Indian servants always carried w ith them a fermented paste of maire flour, which they mixed with water to the con sistency of gruelj as a beverage. On our arriving at the side of a stream in a nar row gorge, invariably, within a few min utes after they opened a package of this Easte, although there might not, have een a butterfly in sight before, those most brilliant of their kind would com? sailing up, always from leeward. 1 have made some of my best catches in this manner. I have also caught them by baiting with a piece of over-ripe or even rotten banana. -At other, times, they were almost unap proachable." Dio Levnii? Nugget. Useful in Many Ways. Never throw away old paper. If you have no wish to sell it, use it in the house. Some housekeepers prefer it to cloth for cleaning many articles of furni ture. After a stove has been blackened, it can be kept looking very well for a long time by rubbing it with paper every morning. Rubbing with paper is a much nicer way of keeping a tea-kettle, coffee pot, and teapot bright and clean than the oid way of washing them in suds. Rubbing with paper is also the best way of polishing knives, tinware and spoQns; they 6hine like new silver. For polishing mirrors, windows, lamp chimneys, etc., paper is better than dry cloth. Pre serves and pickles keep much better if brown paper, instead of cloth, is tied over the jar. Preserved fmtt is not so apt to mold if a piece of writing paper, cut to fit the jar, is laid directly over the fruit. Paper is much better to put under a carpet than straw. It is warmer, thinner, and makes less noise when one walks over it. A Lucky Confectioner. A German confectioner, while tramp- fnc throusrh Turkey a short time vnroul; il x us icy a ouui nbitftd the Sultan vicorously as the latter drove past. Unaccustomed to such an j exhibition of cordiality, one of the sul- tan's officers thought "it best to inquire if it had any significance. His explana tion proving satisfactory and bis inno cence clear, and the avowal of his avoca- tion, moreover, creating evident interest, ; the man was dismissed with a present and j an injunction to turn up the next day i with a clean skin and new clothes. The result of th second interview was that j the confectioner was set to making pastry, j and his success was so complete that he was engaged right off at a salary of 5v0 j piasters per month- iue pastry louna its way to the sultan's table, and hii highness was so pleased with it that he made the stranger his confectioner at once; with 1,000 piasters a month fox making tarts. BE KIND. 0 be kind to those who love yea' tirleve no human love awayl Twine it tenderly about you. Let it bless you day by day, Tho' the sunlight now may daztle. Life has many a clouded sky; floard your treasures of affection. You will need them by and by. Oh! be kind to those who love you! Give them gladnast while you may Here to-dav, tomorrow's sunrise May beholdthetn pa.a away. 1-avish love on all around you ; Smiles and sunshino freely streW And, like broad upon the waters. They will yet return to you. Lillie Xhculnn, in Inhrr-Octan. IIFMOR OF THE DAY. A smart boy .Just after a whipping. Even the honest farmer will water hi itock. CaU. Better an emptv head than one with e ;old in it. Lite: There is one thing that is always pretty sound about a church, and that is the bell No man should complain about- his lot -unless it be a lot of old rubbish. Hoi Springs Neirs. . A philosopher says that the best way , to avoid getting into debt is to dieyoung. THIRTY TWO PEOKEES. The way to school the small boy hateth. On learning, turns his bark, arid skateth. Life. If a passion, -like love, grows by what it feeds upon, there is no doubt tho wish is fodder to the thought. Xew Orleans Picayune. It costs $10,ono to convert a South Sea cannibal to Christianity, and then he Is only worth $3 a v, eek in a dime show. Fall Hirer Admnrc. is f'AXAD v. The firelight dances on the walls, ' My heart throbs wit h lovo's elation, When like a cat my lni lin squalls "Ouch!. Dear, don't squoern my vacdne natlon!" - Burdett. . "I want the music of the 'Mikado,". said n little boy; entering a New York music store.. "For singing, or for the piano?'' "I don't want it for either, I ; want it lor my sister. " Sifting. Dio Lewis says that -we busy, high pressure "Americans should go to -'bed at 9 and rise at . Such things make us tired. How can a man get out of bed four hours before he lies down? Brook lyn Eagle. Wc see by the burnine of a cigar store in Chicago nearly a million cigars were, smoked up at one -sitting. Did it make anybody sick? you ask You bet, simple one. It made the owner of the store sick. Burdctte. Another of the old settlers is gone. We had a piece of him at our landlady's table this morning. Immediately beneath the epidermic formation from his back we found a piece "of eggshell, bearing the legend, "Laid 149." St. Paid Uerahl.. ' A standard target, for American rifle men has iust been adopted by tho clubs of the United States, which have had the matter under discussion for several months. Wc hop" it is large enough to protect the indiscreet cows and pigs that wander about the various rixgan.0-Boton Pott. A Charhiing Little Story. Several years ago a resident of one of the suburbs had the misfortune to become totally blind, a cataract forming over his eyes.' While in this condition his wife died. A young German girl, whom the unfortunate man had never seen, was very attentive to the wife In her. last illness, and, after her death, did what she could to make the grief-stricken husband and his two little children as comfortable as possible. Such devotion did not go unrewarded. The blind man proposed and was accept ed, ne married the faithful girl. Two children were the result of their union. During his years of blindness the sight less man never iost hopes that some day he might again look into the beauties of nature and the loved ones arotindhim. A physician was finally consulted, who agreed to attempt the removal of the cat aract. The operation was successful, and he from whom the litht of day had been shut out so many years, saw again. He was almost beside himself with joy; A friend, who was at once recognized, came, leading a lady, by the liund. "Do you "know who this i:-T he said to the happv fellow. " "No, I do not." ,' - r' "That is your -.vife,"' and then the pair, one of whom, had never seen the other, fell into each other's nnijs, and a domes tic scene of pathetic be;:uty ensued The two children were also brought, in to their father. lie clasped them to. his beating heart, and-all the miseries of the past were forgotten in the pleasure of that moment. This is a true 6tory; .The actors in this life panorama, covering a Eeriod of ten years, are all alive. The usband seems as well as he ever did, and is now in business in this city.-'-Cinar-nati Bun. ? Shorthand. The latest abbreviation crank hail from Illinois. ne registered at tin Southside hotel thus: "Y & et.' It wai deciphered to indicate "Wyanet." Out in Kansas they always write Leaven worth 1 '11 worth." and Wyandotte "I &." All this is done in the interests ol. economy, not through indolence. Then was a man. once whose name was Jamet Hole, and who was so lazy that in regis tering his name he simply made a '-'Jr and then punched a hole in the paper John Underwood, of Andover, Mass., always signed himself: "Wood, J. ' Mass." Chicago ManX. Both Escaped, Lord t1i;.::es Beresford is almost as fearless a soldier a3 his friend (Colonel Burnaby), and consequently a great fa-.. vorite. It is related of him that during the hot fighting in South Africa he was riding back after an engagement, he overtook one of his troopers, wounded, arid slowly making his Avay afoot. lie stopped and told the trooper to get up behind him. The trooper refused on the ground that if Lord Charles Beresford ' rode on alone he was certain to escape. Lord Charles Beresford looked at him a moment, and said: "If you-don't get up I shall Tiave to get off and knock you down." Whereupon the trooper mounted, and both escaped. London Letter in i;LiUu...-- . r.iwn in a vear. rt crops of corn can be i E