4 . ' '
ANEXCELLHINT,,,
Official Organ of Washington County.
FIRST OF ALL THE NEWS.
ADVERTISING 4 HEDItfMT
Circulates extensively in Ihe Counties' ot""
Martin, Washington, Terrell and.Beanfor ' ; v '
Job Printing In ItsYarious Branches.
1.00 A TEAR IK ADVANCE.
" FOB GOD, FOR COUNTRY, AND FOR TRUsTH."
SINGLE COPV, 5 CES1
VOL. IX.
PLYMOUTH, N. C, Fit r DAY. JANUARY 1898.
LONG
I once knew all the birds that came
And nested In our orchard trees ; . , ,
For every flower I had a name
My friends were woodchuoks, toads and
bees,
I knew where thrived In yonder glen
Yhat plants would soothe a stone-brulsed
toe- , , ,
O, I was very learned then', i- ' i
But that was very long ago.
I knew the spot upon the hill
Where eheckerberrles could be found ; '
I knew the rusWes neat the mill
Where the pickerel lay that weighed a
pound 1 ' . ..
I knew the wood the very tree
Where lived the poaching, saucy crow,
And all the woods and crows knew me
But that was very long ago.
t J' T" a
A. Gat and; Dog
Aunts are often odiously eccentric
persons.' The idea had occurred to me
even while Aunt Maria Markhain was
alive. After her death I was convinced
of it. . . . i-'i
So was poor, dear Julia, though cir
cumstances (thanks to Aunt Markhain)
withheld her from informing me of the
fact.
By Aunt Maria's will I was to have
the brute of a bulldog and Julia the
cat. ! 'The conditions were that with
each quadruped the legatee wan to re
ceive $500 per annum. This sum to
be paid as long as the cat aud dog re
spectively enjoyed life in this terres
trial sphere, and afterwards also for
our respective lives (Julia's and mine)
if the said quadrupeds eventually died
natural deaths. . ' ' ,
It was simply iniquitous for sev-
ral reasons.
To begin with;' Stronjr,, as.,the bull-
6g was called, had frightful teeth and
a yet more frightful temper. I should
think aunt had paid hundreds of dol
lars in" hush-money to folks whose
flesh and blood the brute had tasted
to say nothing of trousers, dress skirts
and hose.
Sweet, as the cat , was named, was
an enormous object, with enormous
claws. Its temper was really not bad.
But once arou"sed,Sweet was a demon;
nothing less. ' Iu aunt's time I had
seen thf -great tiger of a cat stroll care
lessly inco the yard where Strong was
chained and there lay itself down to
rest just three feet from the limit of
Strong's tether. The sight of the dog
when it happened Was pathetic. But
it didn't trouble Sweet. ' NThe cat lay
half curled, with its green eyes on
Strong, and I would not have put odds
on the bulldog if they could have had
a straight set-to without any favor.
Visitors loathed Sweet. She pos
sessed a lazy, cool way of clawing up
a fellow's legs and yawning while she
hung on to the skin. And no lady
was safe from her. Be tho dress ma
terial what it might from cambric to'
satin Sweet was bound to assault it
on the sly. ' ;
But all this was comparatively noth
ing to the great hardship of all.
In jest I had more than once told
Julia that I had told Aunt Maria that
she (Julia) was the only person fit to
take charge of such a dear treasure as
Sweet in case of sad happenings.
Really, I had done no such thing, but
Julia now disbelieved my solemn as
severations. -
"I will accept Aunt Markham's
charge," she said, "but we must never
see each other again,, you and I."
We were cousins, you know, and
rather better than engaged, I imagined.
I could (previous to aunt's demise)
have conceived; the collapse of the
heavens, but not Julia's repudiation
of our joint future. ,
And so she fetched Sweet and in
stalled the slick demon in her dear
studio, and I. was left to console my
self with that more than demon, Strong,
the bulldog.
It' was under stress of this treatment
by Julia that I did a thing that now
i3ltus to me superhuman.
'Please, sir," said my aunt's house-;
keeper, when I contemplated the dog
that was mine, "I don't know how
you'll ''get him to your rooms, nor
what you'll do with him when you
get him there. Since the poor missus'
death he has.been fiomething awful."
"Oh, he has, has he?V said I, staring
like one fascinated at his awkward,
broad chest. 1 1 ;
I walked off there and then driven
by rage and the thought of Julia aud
came to an old curiosity shop. . Here
there was a complete suit of rusty ar
mor, not too h javy for an athlete of
my build. . I arranged to barrow that
armor, put it on in aunt's own parlor
and then with my rliinoceros hide stick
walked up to the lair of the dog.
Mean it mahave been. I care not.
For y''- Ves ' I smote Strong
q T i.l,:fe left in him.
,1 'V.i, marks .and
hat didn't
''Ktiinutes
.Kin;Iy,
' ,'U.ul.
ACO.
And pining for the joys of youth,
I tread the old familiar spot.
Only to learn this solemn truth :
I have forgotten, am forgot.
Yet, nere's this youngster at my knee
Knows all the things I used to know i
To think I once wus wise as he
But that was very long ago. '"'' 1
' " "' ' r """
I know it's folly to complain
Of whatsoe'er the Fates decree ; .
Yet wore not .wishes all in valrf, js i ? iC
1 tell you what my wish would be :
I'd wish to be a boy again,
'Back with, the friends I ttsed to fcnow;
For I was, Oh! so happy then ' ""' r
- But that was very long ago.
Eugene Field.
A ftr r A -Jl AAA f Jfc -ftr A
Life for Tmo.
V WWWWVWWV
. Julia was madly devoted to art. She
wore "new" garments aiid "new"
modes of hair; but they all became
her, though hideous on any other girl.
With aunt's 500 a year, she had money
to scrape along on. Literature was
my rope of fortune. I had enough
to keep myself in bread ' and cheese
and the dog in bones.
But a fellow: requires other things
than mero necessaries. I. yearned for
Julia, i Thrice I made ah effort to see
her, and thrice I wrote. All in vain.
I had the wretched bulldog as com
pensation and nothing more. , ,
Now in the third or fourth week I
began to experience the joys of being
master of such a brute as Strong. He
had to be kept in my own room, if
you please, because there w as no yard.
While X was in it was all right; he
would sit watching me as humble as a
dog could be. ( But the moment I was
free of the house he would bark and
rave and keep it up until I returned.
. Of course X got served with sum
monses on behalf of the nuisance. '
AH this time I was without explicit
intelligence''of Julia.' It was madden
ing. To think of this poor, dear way
ward child alone, as it jwere (though
not quite) in a great city, consuming
her own pride. For I felt, you see,
that she really still loved me as I loved
her. And yet hot one word v could I
get from the worthy, devoted old
housekeeper who looked after her.
But one evening, when many weeks
had passed and I had bred a wrinkle
on my brow, who should come to see
me but Mrs. Green herself this same
good housekeeper. .
.""lis no good , talking, -'Mr. Wil
loughby," she (burst forth,' "and ; for
nobody that ' lives will I siee my dear
Miss Julia breaking her precious heart
least. of all a cat." "
"Go oh, Mrs. Greeri," I urged, and
she went ou. k ; , ;
"The times we've had, sir, I'd never
have believed possible, and all along
of that Sweet wretch.' You're ac
quainted with the animal, Mr. Wil
loughby, but not as she's- grown up
of late.. There's an evil spirit in that
beast not fit for a decent person to
live with and least qf all a j tender
young lady like Miss Julia." , ...
"You' are extremely right, Mrs..
Green, extremely," T remarked. "Tell
me more."' ,, . ., . ' - ;. . ' .
"The very last thing, sir, was the
scratching of the "King, of Scotland"
from head to foot and him ready to
be sent to the academy. , 'Six weeks'
hard work and all for nothing!' my
young lady sobbed and said,a-pointing
at the cat, which lay purrin' like the
evil hypocrite she is. There's nothiu'
safe from the false great object. And
ilia milk it drinks and the dainty bits
it does steal- why, . it's $5 a week
damage it does one . way or another,
if you'll believe nie, Mr. Willoughby."
I believe every word you say, my
dear Mrs. Green," I replied. ."Look
at that other object."
I pointed at Strong as I spoke aud
made a click with my tongue. Strong
obej'ed that click. He stole, growling
towards MrR.'Green; w-hd jumped up,1
screamed and fled. But I arrested her
outside and took her by the arm aud
whispered in her large red ear and
was so glad that I could hare kissed
her, though she carries much hair on
her upper lip and r unequivocal down
on her chin. ' ' ''
"We will go in a cab," said I at
length, -when I had sootlied her. And
on the way I convinced her .that my
plan w as "a reasonable one and that
she (Mrs. Green) would be far more
comfortable and opulent as house
keeper to two souls than as house
keeper to one, soul and a demon- cat.
And in tho street", where Julia gives
consecration to the atmosphere, I first,
pressed adollar into the dear creature's
palm and then sat her on the pave
ment. .
Then back I drove to my rooms to
find that Strong had, in a playful fit,
reached down my collection of foreign
stamps' (in a $20. album) and divided
it into an incalculable number of
parts. But for once I did not curse
the pretty creature. "
"Good uld Ig," I said, as I patted
him on the head. And he wap;se.l his
v tail and straightway proved his
'.V'ooduess by swallowing a
British
Ml'iinea stamp of 1835 worth
np of 1835 worth and
.,4night 1 dreamed many dreams
"Vnlin, Mrs. Green, tne dog
i tfil'vue cat hwec
But I aw
1 VAfor I was
. tflKbe cat Sweet were strange-
ivoke l .ifreshed,
ras full of hone.
Jtor had I any compunctions, for J
felt that the happiness of two human
souls was better than the happiness oi
a couple of demoniacal quadrupeds.
In the morning an insurance ageni
called and, speaking in a high voice
that seemed menacing (though ol
course was not), got mauled at the
ankle.
"The law, my friend, will give me
my revenge," said this gentleman,
when I had escorted him in safety
downstairs. . You see, I had not wanted
to insure my life. .
But at half pastthree I uprose and,
taking Strong by the chain, led him
into the street.
Thus to the studio. Here Mrs.
Green received me with a pale face.
"Miss Julia is not in," she said;
and I, dissembling, remarked that il
was a pity. .
"If I might rest awhile," I pro
ceeded.
"Oh, certainly, sir," replied the
astute creature. "Perhaps you would
like to leave the dog iu the kitchen?'
The good soul opened the door.
Then I slipped Strong's chain, pushed
him in and shut the door.
Immediately afterwards I invaded
Julia's studio and Mrs. Green with
me. We shut ourselves in and dis
cussed the weather, the last cure foi
colds (Julia having oue) and. much
else. We talked without ceasing, in
deed, for many minutes.
But in spite of everything the riot
in the kitchen reached our ears. Ter
rific at times it was, with fateful lulls,
followed afresh by piercing cries, now
of a cat and now of a dog. I opened
the door an inch and peeped in.
At length, by half-past four, uttet
peace reigned. Mrs. Green and I
looked at each other and started foi
the kitchen. :
On the landing, however, whom
should we meet but Julia.
"James!" she exclaimed, bliuhing
divinely. . ...
"I brought the dog with me," I
murmured. "I am going now. I
only wanted to know that you were
well. He is in the kitchen."
Her eyes brightened when I men
tioned Strong. Hatred of Sweet pos
sessed her she said so afterwards.
Then I opened the door, and in a
moment I saw that we were saved.
"Oh.Miss Julia!" cried Mrs. Green,
running to the lifeless body of Sweet.
' 'Strong, w hat have you been doing ? '
said I. But I expected'no an3wer,for
side by side with the cat lay the. life
less dog. '
For many seconds we contemplated
the dead warriors. Then I turned to
Julia. Tears were in her eyes, Mrs.
Green considerately went away.
"Dearest," I said, "there is nuthing
now between us," and I opened my
arms to her.
She hesitated for a moment, then
came to me, and I , kissed away her
tears.
The death of Strong and Sweet was,
after due legal debate, reckoned ex
ceedingly natural.
The quadrupeds slumber in one
grave. or. .Louis fotar.
MASTERFUL MRS. SLIMS.
The Neatness and Despatch witU Which
She Broke Up a Iog Fight.
The man who was doing the talkiug
has endured a good many hard knocks
while making a very successful way
through the world, aud, like most per
sons w ho have survived such experi
ence, has very decided opinions of his
own. "I have always regarded woman
as the weaker vessel," he said, "but
want to say right here that Mrs. Slims
is a very remarkable person. I don't
believe she could teli a Perch tr on
from a Kentucky thoroughbred, yet I
saw her start a balky horse the otl r
day afte'r twenty men and boys h&.l
been beating, kicking and cursing the
poor brute for half an hour. The per
suasion she used was a couple of lumps
of sugar and a few kind words.
f 'But it was just yesterday that she
convinced me of her great superiority.
You can gauge her knowledge of dogs
from the fact that she paid $5 for a
long-haired mongrel puppy, under the
impression that she was buying an
aristocratic pug. Slims has a bull ter
rier that's a professional fighter, and
Torton, who lives next . door, owns a
big St. Bernard. The two dogs began
an argument through the fence, and
the larger one simplified matters by
crashing through a board into Slims
yard. The whole neighborhood was
soon engaged in an effort to part them.
Strong hands tugged at tails, legs and
ears. Clubs were freely used, water
was dashed upon the belligerents, and
the stern orders for them to 'break
away' could be heard blocks ofiP. When
Mrs. Slims appeared on the scene she
seemed to grasp the situation in one
terrified glance. She flew into the
house, dashed out again, and insid9of
a minute had the savage fighters slink
ing away from each other."
"How did sb e do it V"
"Bottle of ammonia. Surest thing
on earth to break np a dog right, and
it's original with her. Why, those
two terrible beasts quit like pet sheep,
and the joke of it is that each dog
thinks the other administered the aw
ful dose. They never see each other
now that thev do not cilrl their nose
as though sui fling amn
onia, and
ectiuns."-
trot
-De-
briskly in opposite ' dii
troit Free Press. .
The skeleton of n
weiaha about twenty
i average vhale
five tons.
GOOD ROAD OF AMERICA.
STRIKING SCHEME FOR A GRAND
TRANSCONTINENTAL HIGHWAY. .
General Roy li. Stone, Chief of the Good
Itoadtf Bureau . in the Department of
Agriculture, Suggests How (Such a Na
tional Thoroughfare Might Be Built.
. A good many incomplete references, '
some of them misleading, have been
made to the suggestion of General
Stone of the department of agricul
ture concerning a grand highway to
cross the continent. What he actually
suggested. was that: ,
"A great national highway might be
constructed, called, perhaps, 'The
Great F.oaa of America, ' Which should
first join together the states along the
Atlantic seaboard; then strike across
the country on a central line, say from
Washington to San Francisco, joining
there another line which connects the
states on the Pacific coast; . this road
to be built, not by the general govern
ment alone, but by the states, under
such arrangements as they may make
within their own borders, and by the
government through the territories
and its own lands and reservations;
built not by taxation of the states or
the people, but practically out of its
own benefits. I have seen so much of
the benefits of good roads, and of the
. s. . i r i l
their lines, that I see the . possibility
of building even a great national.thor
oughfare, costing ten or twenty thou
sand dollars a mile, and building it ul
timately out of its own benefits, by a
temporary use of the government or
state credit, to tide over until those
benefits can be realized.
"There is no question but that such
a road would benefit .property to the
extent of five miles on either side of
it. Suppose that property were to be
assessed with a long term of payments
in instalments running up to ten or
fifteen or twenty years, and suppose
the property actually adjoining the
road were to be assessed two dollars
an acre, for instance, and the next
balf mile back a little less, and the
next a little less, and so on, but al
ways giving the party owning the
property the privilege of selling out
his land at a valuation if he did not
choose to pay the assessment, and of
buying it back again by paying the in
terest, if he found he had made a mis
take. The government could well af
ford to mke that liberal proposition,
and it would result in nearly all the
present property owners getting the
actual benefit of the increase of the
valued of their property, And paying
the assessment entirely out of such
increase of value. j ,
"I have merely outlined this, not as
a perfect scheme, but as something
that has suggested itself to me out of
my experience in road building, which,
I think, with proper study and care,
might be applied on a grand scale.
Such a scheme would arouse great in
terest among the whole people of the
United States; it would be something
worthy of the nation; something wor
thy of the beginning of the twentieth
century. The'inere location of such a
road would have great historic value
and importance. The line along the
Atlantic coast would be the old post
road in the time of the Revolution.'
The route across the Alleghanies might
be the line that the early settlers of
this region followed when Daniel
Boone and his comrades came over the
mountains to settle these beautiful
plains. The line across the Rocky
mountains might be the line of Lewis
and Clark and Fremont, and when we
struck the Pacific coast we would
strike the oldest road in all our his
tory, the Camina Real, the great Span
ish royal highway which joined togeth
er the Catholic missions of the Pacific
coast. The whole scheme would carry
with' it something that would inspire
the entire nation. It is not any new
scheme; it is not any new idea. It
van the idea of Jefferson and Madison
and Gallatin and 'many other great
men who helped to start the national
road which led through Pennsylvania,
Ohio and Indiana, and reached as far
as the Mississippi river."
. . j
COOSE-PLUCKINC.
Odd Scene in a New York Basement
Where Women Are the Workers,.
An. important business function of
the east side is the weekly goose
plucking, carried on sometimes by a
private individual and his family,
sometimes by , a poul try-dealer, who
pays his assistants so much; a ..bird.
The pluckers are invariably women
and young girls, and some are experts
at the trade. The plucking begins
about three o'clock on Thursdays, .in
anticipation of the early buyers on
Friday morning, which is market-day
in that section. The plucking con
tinues until Friday afternoon, and
ambitious fingers, spry at the task,
strip off great quantities of feathers in
that time, and reap quite a harvest of
nickels. Five cents a goose is the
highest price paid by, auy dealer.-
The scene of the goose-plucking is
odd enough to unaccustomed eyes, i A
basement, down to w hich a stepladdei
gives entrance, is the workroom. The
big, bin-like compartments, barrels
aud boxes for stowing-away the feath
ers, and the benches on which the
pluckers sit are the chief features of
furnishing. The air iu this under
house pluc'tiag ' place i3 misty with
drifting down that adheres to ihe
ceiluhMind settles over the" elothina
of the workers. The hair,of tha girh
and. the wigs of the older women, are
decorated with' tiny white feathers.
The geese are killed according tb th'e l
Jewish method, and are pluck afi as
soon after as maybe, .as the feathers
quit the skin more, easily when the
flesh is warm. , . '. . '
"It's a k pity , that one coatingfol
feathers is all we can get," said the
manager of a Ridge street goose-plock-ing.
' 'If them birds ?uld have been
plucked when livin' and then turned
loose, they'd give lis as many pounds
again later. We get 40cents a'ponnd
for these breast-feathers," he added,
plunging his - hands down into the
yielding mass of curliness. . "TJiia
qualitv don't need any curing. Those
in the other bins are the inferior
grade. I am careful to keep thera
separate. " .
Geese half-plucked, wholly plrfeked,
and those yet to be plucked hang
head-downward from the walls or' lie
scattered on the stools and boxesi
The pluckers all . wear-; big, coarse
aprons, and the yellqw breasts of the
birds gleam bare and pimply in the
straggling daylight as they are di
vested of their covering. ' "Rip ! rip !
rip !" is the only sound in the place;
the pluckers are- too busy to 'talk:
4 - 17 ' ' luc c-x uc "
i ;,3 u
mem; boiiih me . uoi ; wormue ai
are . not woi Kmg at so
much a bird, but by the hour,, or to
pay oft' some past obligation. Only
the younger women can speak . Eng-.
lish. A country goose-plucking, where
the squeaking goose hasher long neck
twisted round . under the 1 pluck'er's
arm, and is robbed of her glory under
the very eyes of the hissing, rebellious
gander, is far. more spirited,' particu
larly when, j after the ordeal, - the
plucked victims find themselves free,
and waddle ofi in loud conclave, mak
ing indignant ado oyer, their treat
ment. The east-side goose-plucking
in the basement is tame in compari
son. . "' '
The orthodox Jews use goose-grease
in the preparation of all their food
lard being prohibited, and even butter
is prescribed in the cooking of certain
dishes. This obligation makes neces
sary the consumption of . many geese..
The flesh of the goose is liked also,
not only by the Jews of that populous
neighborhood, but by the Germans as
well, so the weekly killing and pluck
ing of the long-billed cracklers-assumes
important place in the- doings
of that particular vicinity. New York
Post. . . .
The Antiquity of Gold; "
Gold was probably the"first 'metal'
observed and collected, because of "the
instinctive understanding of its- in
trinsic value. About it superstitions
grew, religious and ceremonious rites,
and strange crimes weve acaiimitted
for its possession in the days .when, it
was believed that it was of. .such, stuff
that the sun itself was made and. .the.
halls of Valhalla paved. : Rock paint
ings and, carvings of Egyptian tombs
earlier than the davs Joseph indi
cate the operation of washing aurifer
ous sand, and a subsequent melting
in furnaces by the aid of blow-pipe's.
Less than twenty years ago the old
mines of Nubia, so. graphically de
scribed by Diodorus, were redis
covered on the shores of the Red sea,
together with a line of ancient wells
across the desert; the underground
workings where ore veins had been
followed by the pick, the rude cupel
ling furnace for assaying, picks, oil
lamps, stone mills, morfars and
pestles, inclined warming tables of
stone, crucibles and retorting fur
naces of burned tile, by which the en
tire process could be' traced. '
Here slaves and hapless prisoners
of war exchanged theiriife blood" foT
glittering dust to fill the treasuries of
their captors. In India and Asia
Minor the powdered ore was washed
down over smooth, sloping rocks and
caught gold in the fleeces of 'sheep
skins sunk in the stream. It
was literally a golden fleece that
Jason brought back from the Cauca
sus. Further .north, and following
the eastern foothillof Mount Ararat
to the southern slope of. the Ural
mountains in Russian Siberia, where
last year millions were taken out of
the old mines, the ancient Scythians
broke up rock and gravel with copper
implements, -scraped out the glitter
ing dust and-nuggets with the fangs
of wild boars, and carried their gain
away in bags of leather." Modern
Machinery.
Wild Geese Cnme Aboard. "
On her down trip on Green river,
recently, near Cromwell, 1 the steam
er Gayoso ran into a flock ol
wild geese, and ther electric liglit sc
dazed them that they flew toward the
boat, striking the forecastle and chim
neys, aud getting, tangled in .the guy
ropes. There was great excitement
among the passengers and crew, each
trying his best to "catch a goose." In
the exciting struggle, which lastedbnt
a few moments, they succeeded in
capturing three out of the number.
They were placed in a coop aud the
next day the passengers were treated
to a sumptuous wild goose dinner.
Louisville Post.
At BeVeles,Suffolk, Englaud, 'there
is a" young man, a nephew of a former
rector of the parish, who, though blind,
is a skater, dancer aud bicycle rider.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
4. The baked banana is the .ideal fooJ, .
for nervous and anaemic brain workers. -
Oil . an average, ' man's" physical
, strength begins to decay at the agf
of -thirty-six. - - "
A curious present for a deaf person
in Germany is a fan, deftly concealing
a' tiny ear trumpet in its stick. ' .
The temperature of the cucumbei
has been found to be on a degree be
low that of the surrounding atmos
phere. . '
According to French figures, 'a man "
adds eleven years ' to v his theorejca','
and statistical life by marrying a4 , C
age oi mirty. , ,
ihe most powerful microscope er ,
invented has just been perfected byr
Professor E. L. Gates of Washington;
D. C. Its magnifying power is 3,000, -000
diameters. .'
Lighthouses in Denmark are sup
plied with oil, which is pumped on
the waves during a storm. This ex- '
plains the fact that two or three ves-1
sels are always to be seen round each
lighthouse in rough weather.
At present the world's production
of nickel is considerably in excess of
the consumption, but as there are but
four or five districts in the world whet e
it is worked the price is maintained by
controlling the actual production. The -world's
total output last year was
about 4803 metric tons. .
Of the candidates ' for the British
army who fail. to pass the tests four
ou of five are rejected because of de
fective vision. The "eyesight" test
consists of being able to count cor
rectly with both eyes, as well as each
eye separately, a number of small
black dots exhibited on a card ten feet .
from the candidate.
According to the statement of the
Engiuee' ng and Mining Journal, an ,
authority on mining matters the new
Klondike placers may be expected to
produce about $60,000,000 in gold. ,
This statement is admittedly limited
by the fact that there has been no
systematic examination of the alluvial
deposits to admit of an exact deter- :
ruination. ' '
A strongly phosphorescent strontium ;
sulphide has been investigated by Pro- .
fessor Mourelo of Madrid. The pure
compound shows no phosphorescence, "
the presence of a small quantity of
alkali seeming to be necessary and a
trace of subnitrate of bismuth an ad
vantage. After cooling from a high
temperature slowly, . the substance is
niade strongly phosphorescent by even .
a very little light. Pulverization de
stroys this property, which may be '
restored .by long heating with starch. . -
, Mexico has now.becomei producer
of sulphur, aside frota that which is
obtained from the crater of Popocate
petl for local' consumption, a trial con
signment having been received re
cently at Yuma from the . mines in .
Lower California, which are being
exploited by an American company.
Arrangements for the construction of '
an aerial tramway to bring sulphur on
a large scale from the summit of P0210
cate'petl to the foot of the mountain
have been discussed for a long time,
and surveys have been made. ,
The Trade in Locusts.
Locusts are regularly shipped from
Algeria to London, ' where they are
worked up by manufacturers of guano.
This information is of unusual inter
est now .owing to the report of a pur
chase for the English markets of Ar
gentine lo -usts, which may compete
with the African article. In this con
nection a report of the British consul
general in Algiers is of importance.
Algeria had two flights of locusts last
year. Tna visitations in .that
country are of magnitude is shown
when it is stated that the area over
"which the egg3 .were laid last year was,
424,500 acres, while 270,120 bushels
of young locusts were destroyed, and
these are said1- to be below the real
figures. The barriers or lines of de-,.
fence, made of the "Cyprus appara
tus," or of zinc, extended over 322
miles, while 27,113 ditches were dug
at the foot of these to catch the young
locusts. The damage for the year is
estimated at about $250,000. Bos'ton
Transcript.
An Aluminum House.
A. F. Howes of Weyouth, Mass.,
has recently secured patents , in this
country and in Canada on a port-able
aluminum house, which when .packed
sfor transportation is in three compact
bundles and weighs but 130 pounds,
including the stove and sundry cook
ing utensils that go with it. The
Klondike home, as it is called, will
comfortably house four people, and
besides being built.in such a way that
its inmates ar -well protected from the
coldest weather, is is . fireproof, a fea
ture which is'of no small importance
when one considers the strong incli
nation of prospectors to overheat their .
stoves in order to keep oue half com
fortable. Washington Star.
A specimen of German architectural
and business solidity is afforded by
the fact that in Nuremburg there are
houses still in good order which were
erected iu 10H0, and that in the same;
town alirm has been engaged in man
ufacturing harmonicas since 1560, sixty
years before the settlement in New
England. . .', . . ....
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