Published by Roanoke Publishing Co.
k'fOR GOD, FOR COUNTRY AND FOR TRUTH."
W. FLKTCHEB AUSBONj EDITOR.
C. V. Vf. ACBBON, B08INKBS MA.HAQBB.
VOL.111.
PLYMOUTH, JN. C, FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1892.
NO. 44.
The Baltimore' Sun- thinks that Pro
fessor Koch's alleged consumption euro
was tiro Ecientitic failure of the year.
There is more genuine physical culture
in productive labor, avers the Detroit
' Free Press, than there is in a fancy gym
aa urn.
16 ingenuity of the American people
tshown Irom ttio lace toat luuy three
f oatthVpf jlae entire manufacturing cap
ital of this country, or $6,000,000,000
is based upon patents.
I A Russian city is trying a novel plan,
to produce good servant?, by giving
prizes to every servant who can show a
record jof. services performed to the.satis
faction of her employers for the terra of
two rears.,. The money for . the prizes
Lrtyjfrsometv: raises bv sellirisr nass-books
, . v "
to the girls who wish to enjoy its bene
fits. In these pass-books are inscribed
. the testimonials' of employers., y.
,, 'sPVS-the. last session of the Cali-
fnia'" Ljfgfelttrej' ; a law was passed
f4fkia ij,t(hekity of the Country' Board
of Horticultural Commissioners to in
spect orchards, nurseries, or other places
in their jurisdiction" J": where they shall
deem it necessary. ' By said law it is
'also their duty, .if such localities are
'found infestefl with the scale insuct,
the codlin moth, jor other' pests injuri
ous to plants or trees, to notify tbt
owner of such a' fact, and they shall
request such owner to eradicate or de
stroy ths said pests wkhin a time sped
, -fied. ' " ' ' . -.
The total fleet of Chile, including
transports and all typfes, wood and com
posite, numbers' thirtyfour; but, except- '
jingthe Magellane3 - and O'Higgins, the
fighting wooden . stiips,' says Harper's
.Weekly, are nearly all "lame ducks," as
the sailors phra3e it. We have certainly
(fifteen effective wooden snips, including
,the two frigates Pensacola Knd Lancaster, ';
iwhieh are in every way , better built arid '
equipped than .any Chile could isend
against them ; and as "a reserve, on both
coasts, a large fffiet of merchant-vessels,
jfrom which blockaders, fighting, des
patch, transport and torpedo vessels ol
an excellent character could be drawn.
Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, who has en
gaged in reforming drunkards by the bi
chloride gold curefaunouces that he has
discovered a specific, for the grip. ' Ht
Jsaye,: 4 'Assafoetida, in dose3 of sixteen
jgrains adminstered four times a day, will
jcompletely break up the worst case of
'grip at any stage of itj developement."
yAssafcetida is very common ana ea9y tc
procure, observes
the JNevr York lade-
pendent, ahfho vlpd ot" DrrKeelehs
.recommendation can be very quicxly
'teBted. If if Houldhirove;to : Be " - a sure
Jcurehe will.erifctied to the'grattfucb-.
I of the world,t 4east of that Jarge par
lof the world which has Je'eu ' subject' ta
imis very naia3suig.iisusse. - ..
Modern inAQd Xet!''!. "W to.-'
introduced into China, . contract' with:
an EnlisU fiTn having been'made '"fdi
the supply pt .complete Bessemer plant,
i.to include wt five-ton converters with"
, icupolas, blftig eniues, cranes and
lother machinery. The contract also in-
. eludes the sopply'-of the machinery for a;
uarge rau m4U4; pmw umif wu,
twenty pud&lfag-furnaces, "and two blast
'furnaces of .the Cleveland type, the whole
being for an-output of-100. tons of pig
iron daily. ThbSe works are to be located
rear the citj of vHankcw on thes slope ol
the Hanyatfg-lWls. lb- is further stated
that a foreign technical staff for the con
duct of these works has been secured.
The fire losses in the United States
and Canada in the year 1891 aggregated
the enormous sum of $137,716,150, the
heaviest annual losses by fire which the
country has sustained since 1872, the
year of the great Boston fire. The loss
by that conflagration alone was $S0,000,
000, while the loss by the Chicago fire
in 1871 was upward of $200,000,000.
' Vfhh the exception of tne tro years,
1871 . and 1872, there has 'not been' a
year in the history of the country when
the destruction of property by fire has
been as great . as in the year just closed.
This does not' speak well ?;for the.im-
'provements that have been niade in fire
proof construction, the provision bf fire
annunciators and automatic extinguish
ing apparatus, and the enormous annual
outlay by the greafcf. cities for the in
creased equipment and efficiency of fire
departments. There is evidently, a
screw loose" somewhere outside of the
.fire plugs.
THE . UTOPIAN FARMER.
Come bere.my dear, I want ter say a word
or two ter you
'Bout what I think's the proper thing for me
'n' you ter do. .
Ye've gave me mighty good advice sence we
n. was wed that day .
Way back In Eixtv -one, 'n' now Pd like to
have ye say "
Ef you don't think I've got a right ter do aa
others does, r .
'2S' sell the crops before they grows, jest like
them Easterner?, s ... .
Why, Meg, a man out in Noo York hez sold
a lot o' corn . '
Thet's several thousand bushels- more then
what the country's borne
'N got his money too, I'm told, 'n' didn't
have a peck ' ' Y-
Of grain o! any kind in hand to back his lit-
jtle spec, i . , '
He cleared a hundrid thousand cash! W
Meg, that's more'.n we . ;
Have cleared atfarmin' all our days, or ever
will by gee I' .'-.'. '
'N' I can't say I sees the use o workin' day
by day ...
'N' only sellin' what we raise for mighty !ifc
tlepay, When them as hasn't any grain can sell np
there in town
A million pecks f wheat 'n' corn, 'n' git
their money down. -The
modern plan's a dandy Meg, 'n' ef we
makes it go.
I'll get you that planner, 'n' the trottin'.
'' .. horse for Joe.
We'll raise the mortgage off this roofn"
-.t. .. paint the qld barn red,
W send the gals to Pari?, France, and buy a
rosewood hed.
w en gee new carpets ror tne floors, 'nViecp
a hired man,
Ef only I can go to town 'n' learn to work
the plan.
'N mebbe, Meg, I'd make enough ter run
ifor Governor,
Or get sent down to Washln'ton a full-
-' fledged Senator.
I tell yer, gal, this is an age thet beats crea
: ; tion. Say, .
What would yer fatherve said, d'ye think,
t:; if he wuz here to-day, ......
Ter see folks sellin' wheat and corn, and hull
.' cars full o' rye.
'N' leven-twelf ths of all they, sold nowhere
? V tut in their eye?
jsow te wouid yell ter think of us a-makin
b' gd at sellin' fellers things we haven't
J.really gotl ,
What's thlt ye say? It isn't straight to sell
. what ye don't own?
W if I goes into the spec, I goes it all alone?'
The music on the planny ye think' would'
- , drive yer mad. .
If it was bought from sellin' things ye never
rightly had? r
Wall, have yer way; Til let it go; I didn'-t
mean no barm; '
But what is straight in cities can't be crooked
on a farm. V .. .
John K. Bang?, in Harper's Magazine.
ALICE GUMBLEfOiTg CAT.
1 BT W. 1. HENDERSON. "
UCH like Brer Rab
bit was the village
of Uumbletown in
that it lay low
jal But nevertheless it
Q boasted ,:the proud
W nossession of a ho
tel, seven churches, a
wholesale store" and
a small steam- fire
engine of " brilliant
appearance and un
tried ability r.
otay, : there was
also a high school,
the Guttob'etown
Free Academy as it was called At which
the yp.fth ot both sexes applied their
,ruby lips.to the Pierian Spring with e.di7
fyisg .-results. . The tcaool prospered
with s large and unctuous prosperity,
and the number ot its scholars increased
and" multiplied until it became necessary
to engage an additional professor. He
came, irom no maixer wuere-u was
over, the hills and far away. And he
looked it.
He was a wonderfully handsome man,
and his name was Bartholomew Spunk.
He was-a chemist by profession, and he
had become so fond of communing
with nature in her secret moods that it
was well nigh impossible to induce him
tj communicate with anybody elee; es
pecially if anything else had iorfg hair
aid wore skirts. Professor Spunk had
no fear of unmentienable chloride nor of
indescribable oxides; but he was afraid
of woman,' lovely woman. She was not
afraid of bim, however; but, so far a
she was of Gumhtetown extraction, she
spent much of her time in endeavoring
to get a good look at the Professor's
eyes, which were said to be very beauti
ful. . ' - '
Bartholomew Spunk took up his aboo
m a moss-covered boarding-house, where
the fried steaks and the coffee grounds
sang together as morning stare, and the
cold boiled ham came out on the eastern
horizon as the sun slipped down the
west. The Professor came and went in
silence, and he lived his daily life in hii
own solitary fashion. Every evening he
went out in the garden beside the house
and smoked his big briarwood pipe, a
relic ol college days. The garden was
pretty, and just on the -other side bf the
fence Vas another still prettier. The
Prolcssor frequently peered through the
lence at this garden and wondered 'who
kept it in such exquisite order. "If he
Mm- ''. mi
bad, known that every time he peeped
through that fence he was watched
closely and by a young woman, 'he
would have sunk through the earth, if
hV could
In the next bouse lived the remnants
of bne of tho primeval families of . Gum
bletown. Even that isolated village had
old families and blue blood, and when
old Jonathan Gumbleton, after whom the
town Was named, had died forty years
before, he left two young sons, who
hastened , to marry and extend the
family.:
The widow of one of these sons lived
in the house to which belonged tho pret
ty garden. . She had a daughter, and
that daughter's name was Alice Mary
Gumbleton, Blue blood frequently de
clines to associate with beauty, but in
this case it did not. Alice Mary Gum
bleton was as beautiful a creature as one,
or even two, could wish to see. Her
hair was as black as the shades of night;
her large eyes were a deep, 'soft brown,
her complexion was like the bloom on a
lily ; and her mouth well, there is no
way to describe her mouth except by
saying it was one of the most enticing
features on earth. Miss Alice Mary
Gumbleton resembled Professor Barthol
omew Spunk in one thing she was
bashful. Not all the awkwardly ex
pressed admiration which the swains of
Gumbletown had laid so generously at
her feet had 'ever been sufficient to in
spire her with the smallest portion of
that, self-confidence which usually ani
mates a belle. She was hopelessly shy,
and her conversation was terribly mono
syllabic except to her cat.
Alice Mary Gumbleton had a Maltese
cat upon which she lavished the treasures
of her heart and her intellect. Every
one who ever saw that cat said it was
the wisest looking animal in the world.
And it ought to have been wise; for
Alice Mary talked to it by the hour and
gave it the choice results of her long pe
riods ot silence and meditation. The
name -of the cat was Jane. !; And the cat
was as beautiful as its name. Yet in
spite of Alice's devotion to this animal
she was obliged one day to speak to the
Professor, or. I .should. say that it was
because of . her devotion. '
v A few doore away from the home of
the fair Alice dwelt a hideous youth
whose favorite companion was a large
bull-dog. This bull-dog was like unto
the rest of his kind. He loved not man
nor beast. -. His soul was filled with per?
petual gloom, and he ' went about the
world. with a depressed 1 .might say
hans-doa look " which boded no one
good.' One day. Alice was aroused from
a deep meditation by a series of heart
rending" shrieks followed, by. a - dire dis
cord of hissing and spitting which she
at once recognized as being the product
cf the energies of Jane. Rushing to -the
window she beheld the dear cat mount
ing 0 the fence ' with less dignity than
haste. At the foot of the fence stood
the,, obnoxious bull-dog, looking very
angry. ' " '
"Oh, .my beautiful Jane!" -screamed
Miss Alice.. She rushed from the house
with' ahfoOm.in her hand prepared 'to
meet death in the defense of her pet.. But
when, the dog wheeled round and pre,'-.'
pared to reist her onslaught, she paused
and changed her tactics. ,
"Go away, you nasty, beast 1" she said.
But the dog failed to catch the idea, and
remained, where, he . vus, still keeping a
watchful eye on the cat. . '
4Oh,dearl" said Alice, 'what shall
I dol" -'-';; V''
At that moment the Professor entered
his garden by the front gate, having just
returned; from school. His. eyes fell
upon Alice, who'was a lovely picture of
despair,-as she stcod gazing atthe fero
cious, dog' and the unhappy cat; " The
Professor was . speechless with admira
tion. He stared at Alice as he had sever
-look at a woman before. Then his scat
tered senses began to return to him, and
he felt ihe blood mounting . to his fqre
.head, while his heart was. going like a,
steam fire-engine. He gazed about him
and finally perceived the cat, but not the
dog. .
" "Can I shall I that is I beg par
don but but do you want ths cat I"
he stammered.
"Yer, sir; if you if you p--please,
sir," was the reply.
The Professor advanced slowly and
hesitatingly toward the fence. Sud
denly he heard a low growL . He paused
and looked around; but, seeing nothing,
again advanced.
"Oh!" exclaimed Alice; "take care.
there's, a h-h-hole in the fence; he can
get through."
The Professor stooped ana peerea oe-
tween the pickets. . Then ne saw the
bull-dog. The next moment the Pro-
fessor had vanished into the house.
"Ah-hl" screamed Alice; "please to
come bak and save Jane."
She had miscaculated the Professor's
gallantry. In another moment- he re-,
appeared, bearing. in his hand a huge
navy ravorv er. '... , .
"Please go into-r-the nouae,.' he said;
"I might hit you.' , . s
But Alice remained transuxed with
breathless anticipation. The Professor
advanced cautiously toward the fence.
When he had reached a position from
which he could see the do r, he pointed
tna pistol carefully, turned away his
head, shut bis eyes and pulled tne
trigger. There was a tremendous report;
epliDters flew in every direction and a
cloud of smoke obscured the Professor's
view. - The astonished dog laid back his
ears and fled down the street as if ho
thought the end of the world had come.
No sooner had he gone than Alice rushed .
forward, seized the unhappy cat,
anl, pressing the animal convulsively to
bet bosom, rushed into the nouse.
When the Professor got the smoke out
of his eves, and found that girl, Cat and
dog had all disappeared he marveled
greatly at the extent or ms own prowess;
and had ho not caught a glimpse of
Alice through the window, would cer
tainly have gone and surrendered him
self to the town constable The next day
the Professor rose early and robbed bis
landlady. He stole a saucer of milk and
went out to look for for the gray cat,
of course, ne found Jane basking in
the sunlight. As a basker. in the sun
light there was no cat that could sur
pass ' Janei The Professor stole through
the opening in the fence and set the
saucer ot milk Under Jane's whiskers.
At that instant a window flew open, a
fair head popped out, and a timid voice
said: -
"Thank you." '
Then the window shut with a hang,
the Professor jumped clear over the cace
and disappeared. When he returned
from school that afternoon he found a
cote on his table. It saicL .
I meant "thank you" for saving Jane, not
for milk. , .
That was all. Day after, day the Pro
fessor fished vainly for an opportunity to
see that girl again; but he could not'. He
had vague suspicions that she watched
him from behind half-closed blinds and
half -drawn window curtains; - but he
could not verify his suspicions. They
were true enough. PoorAlice'l She was
in a miserable state of mind on account
of her own dreadful forwardness in sendv
ing that note. But the damage was done .
now.
The Professor sought consolation in
the society of Jane. With stolen saucers
of milk he enticed the cat through the'
fence, and finally up to his room. There
he used to pick the purring animal up,
walk about the room with her - in his
arms, and mumble ridiculous nonsense in .
her dun-colored ear. ' , .
She's the mos' boofulst lady, in
world, Kitty. Yes, s'e is. Don' yo
wag you' ear an- say s'e's not. An' pU
p'ofessor, he jus' lubs her um-m-m so"
much. But you mustn't tell, Kitty." ''
And Jane didn't.; She never said a
word about it. It's strange, too ; because
when she went home, her mistress .used
to seize her and1 embrace her, and say:
"Ob, Jane, darling, you've been to
see him I . And I'm sure he mugfc.havc
kissed you, because you're so lovely. 1
wonder where. Oh," it must have been
right there on your beautiful forehead.!
There, there, there!"
It was strange that Jane held her
peace after that; but she was a wise cat,-"
and knew that time -works wonders.
Perhaps if Jane had known what won
ders time had in store, for her but nq
matter,' . One day Jane wehi to the Pro--fessor's
.'-room when He wis out.'; Jane',
waited, some time," 'and? then, becoming'
restless, she began to wander about the
room. Over in a corner she saw a lot of
bottles. .She decided to examine them..
She did so. One4' of them feH"oyet
against another. There was a flash, a
report, a yell of anguish ; and Jane rushed '
from the jhotlse-- a sad . ani.- grewsome
sight. ' Hairless, black,- and . feeble, . the"
once glorious Jane went -home and : lay
down at her mistress's feet;' 'A ,quaj
of an hour later, Professor Bartholomew
Spunk,- entering the gate of. bis plain and
substantial .bording-ho.use,- was con
fronted by the figure , of ..a ; weepfng
.4It's all your fault!" exclaimed, Alice. ;
"If you had let my darling Jane..aioner
and hadn t coaxed her into jour iouse,
it would -.have been all right. Now
sow she's gone and gone and got
herself-all all blown, up and she'll
die and, ioh, and oh--oh'-? I, h--hate.
your-; , - v;-.':.m,; '-'
Bartholomew; - Spunk . turned deadly.
pale. ..(- - ..-. v-c. t.'Si
"Alas IV he said; "ana is jane-iown-
up ? But but what can T say I ' P6r
haps that is Mis3 Alice may be
fell ;will you take me instead of. thV
cat?" r- : v ? ... :
She looked up Into his eyes Then
she decided that a gray cat wa not-the
help that was meet for her. Puck.8
Is Snrtr a Fertllizerl,
-
ten
The query is snow a fertilizer! is often
asked. There cannot be a better reply,
perhaps, than this one by the Country
Gentleman: It. was common many
years ago to give .much credit to snow
as the "farmer's fertiliser,'! but later in
vestigation proves..- it as of very slight
value at best, -mesmounc. oi nitrogen
which is absorbed and biought down in
rain and snow in one-whole year is only
about one-sixth' part of the amount re
quired for the growth of crops, and it
is therefore ouite insufficient to feed' a
growing crop, even if it remained, long l
enough in the soil to prove in any degree
effective. But the snow can secure'only
a small portion of the yearly feupP1 nl
.therefore it is safe to make no account
of the snow as a manure.
' To go a little more into detail, the
results cjf pareiul 'examinations by emi
nent scientific men show that the total
amount of ammonia brought down in a
whole year in the rain, .dew and snow is
about eight pounds to. an acre 6 f surf ace,
varying somewhat with seasons and lo
calities; while in a crop of twenty-eight
bushels of wheat there were iorty-nve
pounds of nitrogen , ia two and one-half
tons of meadow hay there were fifty-six
pounds, and in two and sue-half tons of
clover hay there were 108 pounds. New
York. World.
- i- ii
Two centuries and seven different men
claim the invention of. gunpowder,
LARGEST AMERICAN DEER.
HTTimwa THE ELK IN THE WILDS
OF THS FAB WEST.
A
Magnificent Animal Shooting
Iwo Bull Ellcs While They Were
Engaged in Deadly Combat.
I TO my mind, says Civil Service
in the
New York Sun, one of the most
attractive sports of the West is
elk uuntincr. The elk used to be found
over almost the entire United States,
but it now exists, in any numbers, only
in the great . mountain chains of the
Rockies and the coast ranges in Oregon
and Washington. It is without excep
tion the lordliest ol the deer kind, and
in size is second only to the moose.
Nothing can surpass the grand beauty of
an old bull elk bearing -; his twelve-tined
antlers aloft with easy grace as he roars
out his challenge to all rivals.. In some
parts of the We?t afar . from the
settlements the elk is still plenti
ful. He offers to the hunter not
only the grandest of trophies . in the
shape of his magnificent head and horns,
but also an abundant supply of the
best possible meat. There is no venison
upon which one can live so long without
tiring as elk meat, the only drawback
being that it. must be eaten hot, as the
fat turns into regular tallow as soon as
it cools.. . During the summer, while
their horns are in the velvet, no true
sportsman will "shoot the' elk, nor will he
shoot cows and calfs at any time save
when absolutely in' need of meet; but in
September the velvet drops off his horns,
and then each of the master bulls begins
to collect a harem, of .cows, from five or
six to twenty or thirty in number. He
keeps all the small bujls afar from this
berdfc.and wages furious war against
,every rival of! the same size and antler
growth as' himself . At this season the
bull nas a very extraordinary and peculiar
note; The frontiersmen call it whis
tling, but it is not like a whistle at all;
it is more like a bu'zle, consisting of a
. bar r.two.of music on a rising scale.and
. then another,, bar or two on a falling
,scale, fpilowed sometimes by three or
four flute-like notes. It is most exciting
to creep up to a bull when he is whis
tling in this way. '
Once I shot two bulls while they wert
engaged in deadly combat with each
other. I had been lying out in a high
alpine valley over night with a com
panion.. We had no blankets with us,
nothing but our . jackets, in which we
had slept by the aide of the fire all night.
Before dawn we were off, threading our
way through the cool, dim archways tf
the pine forest, and just at sunrise we
, heard, half ,a mile in pur front, the clat
ter ot. horns: and s thesavage. squealing.
- which marks an elk fight. Stealing up
softly, we 'were soon-within 125,. yards
of the combatants," iwp powerluV and
, evenly-matched bulls. -They fought by
charging each' other I&e rams; the shock
being tremendous... as '.the great beasts,
with, bristling ",haiK flashing eyes, and
lowered horns, crashed together. .' unce
the antlers were interlocked each strove
by sheer 'strength and address to -force
his opponent backj and they1 stood for
.minutes ' straining with' their haunchei
gathered under them, squealing; fiercely
at times ; then the j would separate, retire
.some little distance, fronting each, other
- with glarirfseyeSi8jidJt.hen.come togetner.
The great objeet of ; each. was: to .catpn.
the ether Hn '-the flanki The hair atfd
tM. in itKi tranl- gii atiVmMra nfthfl
i waDitias te elk is more properly callej
f -.V Jti tJL , Lki.' w
offer a nearly impenetrable" shield ; . hjit
,the- skin Js softer ph" the flant"ad.
haunches and almost '- he only sericais
damage that is evfir .doner in a fight is
"when- the -victor is able.to. catch he
v eaker animal in the flank i as he turns,
or' pverfcake arid 'punish him as he 'flcs.
I have neyer knqwB'hord to go thraiga;
the hide around' the although yt ter .
-a conflict t&eilesh.w1ill show great briises
there under the sk'." jtim parti'aiar,
instan.ee, howevervil iatirrupted th con?
flict'long before- itebad-. time to eoxxe to
a fatal conclusion; 'tilling both .coobat
"ants one by a stfol la the shoulder as
"tW 'wrestled toffeher.'s.rid;,theofhjfr b? '
- a bullet ia the flank as it, rah; JQn Jiad
, had no breakfast that morning,' anl' the.,
first thing we did was to cut put. u strip
of steak from alongside toe. loins, -build
.a fire and roast ' on willow twigs ' UtUe
kabobs of luscious meat. ' . 1 ' ' '.'
If taken in the open; an elk :tn be
run down by a good horse. ' Ihaxa never
myself tried the. experiment, bu three
years ago, near my ranch, VcQwbgywith
whom I have often worked pn,roivd-ups
performed the feat. He was 'n-..the
round-up, and was driving some cattle
put ox a brusn paten at ine - uoitcyi tu
coulee when an elk sprang; -tip 'irectly
aneau vi uim sau u yiv
,ing trot characteristic of the. ipeeiss. . A,
trotting elk can go aU day, , buAi - if it
should be forced .to gallop,, though, it
goes -very fast for a; few hundreo. rods,
it speedily tires. The cowboy on his
soeedv. wiry .littl; .pony instanly dashed
at the elkfprped it to -gallop, Mi kept:
it on the run for nearly a milej then.. it
began to fag v-Be( then caina. miongside
and threwhis rope' over the horms With
the utmost exertions,, however, he was
unable to master it until anothcx cow
puncher rode up and shot it with a re
volver. ..
Seals when, basking-, place one of their
number on guard to-give the alarm in
case of danger- Tho signal is a quick
clap of the flippers on a rock. Rabbits
signal with their fore, paws and have
regular signals and calls, .
SELECT S1FTIN6S.
There are twenty-nine kinds of Metho
dists. Twelve average tea plants produce one
pound of tea.
. A pet dog in Paris, France, wears
itockingt and shoes.
Butler County, Penn., has a genin,
who dreams the correct location of oil
wells.
Poor persons are supplied with spec
tacles free of charge by a Boston (Mass.)
society.
The proportion of pure Anglo-Saxon
words in the Bible ia uinety-eeven per
cent, of the whole.
British horses were famous when
Julius Caj3ar invaded the country. He
carried some of them to Rome with
him.
An old well m California which, for a
number of years, has furnished excellent
water, has suddenly turned into an oil
well.
In the sleepy littl town of Winborne,
in Dorsetshire, England, is an ancient
library in which all the books are chained
to the selves.
It is a common sight among the Es
quimaux, according to a traveler's story,
to see a nursing intant with a quid of
tobacco in its mouth.
The National Library.in Paris, France
with its 2,000,000 printed books and
160,000 manuscripts, is the largest liter
try storehouse in the world.
, Late tests prove that the strongest
wood growing in the United States is
the "nutmeg hickory" of Arkansas. The.
weakest is the yellow or West Indian
birch.
In a recent libel suit in Detroit,Mich.,
there was a diversity of opinion as to the
verdict, ranging from six cents to $60,
000. A compromise was Anally reached
on $11,000. '
Bergen, Norway.boast a paper church
large' enough to seat 1000 persons. The
building is rendered waterproof by a
Bolution of quick-lime, curdled milk and
whites of eggs.
The Chinese make what is called "Chi-wah-hi,"
or grass cloth, from the fibre of
the common nettle. It is said to make a
splendid cloth for tents, awnings, etc.
When made into belting for machinery
t is said to have twice the strength of
leather. , -
Walter S. Campbell, of Chicago, III.,
met his sister Alice at the general deliv
ery window in the Indianapolis . (Ind.)
postoffice . ihe other day for the first
time in twelve years. The family lived
Keokuk, Iowa, but Walter, at sixteen
years of age, ran away, and had. heard
nothing of his old home until this meet-
In the language of the millions of
China and Japan there is no term that
corresponds with oiw - God.T Every
student of missions knows ..well the
abiding difficulty in China over the ques
tion of a term tor God. Both' the na
tive Christians and the foreigd mission
aries are divided among themselves over
this perplexing question; - :
" The oldest rose bush in ; the world is
at Hildersheim, in Hanover, Germany.
. 1 t J , - 1 nn n Wn..aan)
It was pittmei more iiiuu- ire uiuumuu .
years go by Charlemagne. in commem
oration of a visit made to- him by the
ambassador of the -Caliph Haroun al
Haschid.... The bush is now twenty-three
feet high and covers, thirty-two feet of
the-wall. The 6tem Cis only . two inches
in diameter : .
- - Boots in Drains.
- .-Recently, in the yard of a public
.school in Philadelphia, a drain from the
out-buildings was found . to be choked,
and on examination a little root of a maple
tree had been found to penetrate a very
small pore in the terra cotta pipe; yet so
rapidly did these roots- increase, after
they found there was plentjt".of food at
command in the drain, that although the
pipe was eight inches in diameter,several
bucketfnls . ol. small, hrous, roots were
taken out, and which had completely
choked all circulation through the drain.
It was; a wonderful example of the in
crease of roots.under circumstances favor
able through the abundance of food. It is
said that ia this case no trouble is antic
ipated ia future, years, as it is believed
thatTa bucketful or two of salt brine,
passed' through the drain .'-once or twice
a year, will effectually scorch off any
fibres that may attempt the same frolic in
future. Where, however, this remedy
cannot be applied, it will' be" a caution
not to have drains in the vicinity of the
toots of trees. Moehan's Monthly.
: ' Ylolets are"Pnrlue.:
What would you say if you were told
tha't there'i no such thing in thd world
as a real" bin viofetlThere lsn t, as
serts a hotaaist,. inrl.ne; San' Francisco
Call.. ...Tha fasWpnatile': sweet-scented
violet, or viola oddrata,. 'naturalized
from Europe," and the viola cordata, or
-"heart-leaved violet," its near relative of
American "woods, are . probably the spe
cies which have given rise to the popular
superstition.. But they are purple,as any
body may see who examines the spec
trum. He who cannot distinguish, a
decided tinge of red in the petals must
be' color-blind.- '
The handsomest of all native American
violets' is the "bird-foot," - oi viola pe
data, -The centre is quite conspicuous
by reason of its pretty white and golden
eye.
When a violet ia not purple it is either
yellow or white.