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A GKEATLANM'OM*
Pen and Ink'sk^* of the States. Third
Richest Man in the Un ited
The third richest man in the union,
according to the New York Morning
^Journal, Is John heir Jacob of the Astor, Astor the estate, chief
owner dike and millionaires, says the
many Astor has both name
(nd writer linked with fabu¬
lous riches-a name
wealth for three succeed mg gene
SSKi iatinns The #90,000,000 estimated value to #100,000.- of the
So from of gold. John
a veritable mountain sole
Jacob and William B. are its own¬
the former’s interest said to be
ers,
a century the title of be
in* “the landlords itself to them. of New John York" Jacobs has
attached houses, lots and farms may
interest in thousands.
be computed in the
Amono- the valuable buildings prin- chief
ciuallv owned bv Mr. Astor as
heir to the estate is the old landmark,
the Astor house, which was sold to his
father by his grandfather, the founder
nf the immense estate, for $1. Its
K nresent value is said to be $2,000,000,
assessed at $1,750,000. The
Guaranty and Indemnity building,
chieflv owned by Mr. Astor, was pur¬
chased a short time ago for $1,000,000,
while the Astor estate pays taxes on
$50,000,000 of real estate situated be¬
low Chambers street, most of which
consists of business houses on Broad¬
way and Wall street There is scarce¬
ly a ward, street, or avenue in the city
in which Mr. Astor does not own real
estate, on which the total amount of
taxes is over $400,000 annually.
Another point of difference between
Mr. Astor and other millionaries is in
his investments. In Wall street his
name never appears as a speculator
and seldom as an investor or seller of
stocks, bonds, or other similar securi¬
ties. Having an income of 10 per cent,
on the gross amount invested in real
estate, he quietly buys more houses or
lands when opportunity for good in¬
vestment offers. In an inventory made
of his various properties an item of
$6,000,000 in cash appeared banks as “money waiting
in trust companies and
investment in real estate.”
Mr. Astor is a man of striking six per¬
sonal appearance, being over inclined feet
in height, stout, somewhat to
corpulence, and straight quick, as an elastic arrow.
When on the street his
step and smiling face, fringed with
small gray side-whiskers, invariably
attract attention. His dress is simple
and surprisingly neat. At business or
in the street he wears a broadcloth cut¬
away or frock coat, with trousers to
match, comfortable-looking shoes, al
wavs lightly polished, while in his
hand usually purple silk swings umbrella. as he In walks a
large, his is changed black sum¬
mer costume to a
serge coat and trousers of some lighter
color, while an easy straw hat rests
lightly on hit ivory-white hair.
Mr. Astor, though seldom speaking
of himself, recently told a friend that
although he had completed threescore
years, he felt as well and hearty as he
did at 40. Benevolence is his striking
characteristic, one probably inherited
from the founder of the Astor library.
Many of his charities are published,
though the actual amount of good done
with his every-day check-book is little
known. In nearly all the charitablo
institutions of this city the names o
himself and his wife and often
jointly, appears as large givers. Dur¬
ing the winter months Mr. Astor is
either at his office at No. 21 West
Twenty-sixth Fifth street, or at his home at
No. 838 avenue. The latter is
familiar to nearly every resident of
Fifth avenue, and is conspicuous for
nothing but its plainness and the spa¬
cious grounds which surround it. It is
built of fine molded brick, with trim¬
mings of brown stone, and has a
double stairway leading to the fron
entrance. The interior compares fav¬
with
Buring the late illness of his wife,
Mr. Astor’s time was chiefly devoted
to cheering her weary hours at the bed¬
side with the same untiring affection
he has shown throughout the many
years of his married life. His principal
recreations are visits to his elegant
seat at Rheinecliffe-on-the-Hudson '
and
yachting. cient-looking The country seat is an an¬
establishment, kept in the
finest order, and is a reminiscence of
olden time. Well shaded with trees of
every kind, its immense lawns and gar¬
dens are traversed by long drives and
walks.
Here, in the long days of the sum¬
mer months, Mr. Astor sits on the cool
piazza or under some shady tree and
reads. He is having built one of the
finest pleasure yachts yet launched in
the waters of this country, the cost of
which is placed at a trifle over $200,
000. It will be completed early in the
coming summer.
Singular Theory of Sex.
An English author, Mr. G. R. Stark
Weather, thinks he has discovered a
great “law of sex,” of which we give
this summary: If the husband is su
periortothe wife the family will con
Bist mostly of giifis, and vice versa.
Bark complexion is superior to light,
dark plants and trees are the most
hardy, and dark horses the best. A
square forehead and prominent veins
are (which “superior,” a large prominent eye
“indicates conversational pow
ers”) dication is the reverse. But the best in
prominent of superiority is a large aquiline, and
nose, Roman or face!
full a third the lawyer!, length of the
Philosophers, literary editors, workers poets,
men k and brain gen
orally, Fine have large tavern-keepers? excess of daughters.
merchants, small
retail Usicians dealers, orators, physicians, and
Ws. Clergymen have a preponderance just of
le appear to incu!- strug
bg through the “stigma the ordeal inferiority, without being
of tTi
8 f°t r a nd
Lbilii pv,» nffl h°r 0 r, uTTt ur e ’hi™!
Kb ffsrsftisss S S SS
beir profession (and the most dis
wished as an exception have largo
qlias lleakers of daughters), and mere pub
jprder do not posses* “the intellect,” liigh
of faculties of
in most of them “tho base of tho
b l will be found to uroa juiuuto
°wie superior portion.
GLEANINGS.
About 8,000 persons are r.naually
buried in the New York “Potter’s
Field.”
Princeton College has raised the
price of academic tuition from $75 to
$ 100 .
If the Mormons send fifteen mission¬
aries to Texas, as it is reported they
will, they liad better send men they
can spare.
The St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press
has come to the conclusion that, in
comparison with the ordinary railroad
manager, the oyster is an indiscreet
and garrulous individual.
The bookkeeper of the Washington
Bank, Boston, has been in the employ
of that institution fifty years, and lias
never asked for nor taken a day’s va¬
cation.
teeth Killing alligators for their skins and
Florida, employs a large force of men in
who have engaged to furnish
500,000 skins to a French tannery in
s given time.
A deputy collector in Russell County,
shine Kentucky, brandy seized 400 gallons of moon¬
and stored it in a barn.
That night the stuff was stolen, and
now it cannot be found.
A friend of Tennyson’s writes that he
has a vivid recollection of hearing him
say: “When I was a young man a
Lord was looked upon as a small God
changing.” Almighty. Thank heaven, that’s fast
A Bournemouth hotel-keeper an
nounces that he is the proud possessor
of eleven beds, which have been occu¬
pied by royalty, and of these nine have
been used by royal personages stopping
in the hotel. Here is a fine chance for
snobs.
Considerable discussion has been held
of late in certain social circles as to
the finest private residence in New
York City, The house of William K.
Vanderbilt, on Fifth avenue, is proba¬
bly the most elaborate residence in
America.
At Bacup, in England, recently, a
girl, aged seven, died from inflam’ma
mation of the brain, brought on by
overwork at school. The medical offi¬
cer in reporting the case strongly con¬
demned the practice of making young
children do home lessons at night. He
said it worried them and made them
restless at night.
One of the novelties in London is the
literary bracelet. It is made of twelve
tiny books (silver or gold), attached to
each other by a double chain. Each
little book bears the enameled name of
a favorite poet or novelist. There are
also musical bracelets of the same
model, only they, of course, have the
names of operas or composers.
South Carolina has a local option law
which applies to incorporated cities,
towns and villages. When a place
votes in favor of prohibition it is said
to have gone license “dry,” is and said when another
votes for it to have gone
“wet.” More than twice as many
towns have gone “dry” as have gone
Because his sister would not quit
her place winter, and Thomas attend Irving, school with Holland him
this of
Patent, N. Y., drowned himself in a
well. He left his hat on a pole where
a neighbor slip of would pass, which and in the hat
a paper on was written,
“It is all over now; it is all over now;
the best friend I have on earth is
Grade.” He was twenty-one years old.
In 1830, France had only 115 um¬
brella makers, and their business did
not amount to more than $900,000 a
year. In 1847 the number had in
creased to 303, and their business val¬
ued $2,000,000. Last year the um¬
brella and sunshade makers of Paris
alone numbered 408, and they employed
1,500 men, who turned out $2,600,000
worth of umbrellas, etc.
The highest velocity is given that has been
imported second, to being shot equal as mile 1,626 in feet 3.2
per to a
seconds. The velocity of the earth at
the equator, due to rotation on its axis,
is 1,000 miles per hour, or a mile in
3.6 seconds; and thus, if a cannon ball
were fired due west, and could main-’
tain its initial velocity, it would beat
the sun in its apparent journey around
the earth.
Taylor, the wizard, got a $90 house
in Paso del Norte, and then said that
he would show the assemblage a trick
that would open their eyes, termed
“The Mystic Man, or the Disappear
a nee.” He brought out shut a large myself box
a nd said: “I will now up
in this box; the trick is to find me.”
Five minutes later everybody knew that the
he had escaped from the rear with
receipts of the evening and a coat be¬
longing to an employe of the theatre.
A London paper says: “The fashion
now is decidedly in the direction of
wall lamps. Some are tinted of great glass beauty.
Two of a set are opal The in which and
two rose colored. sconces
^ey are fixed are fitted in the frames
? f “ lrro f- wlth beveled cd f s * rbese -
tbeir } framed , brass, beau
£ un ’ are in
tifully chased, I hose lamps of are placed
near the four corners a pretty
Rawing room, alternately. the opal As tinted wall and
tbe red the
P a P er » a P attern °/ daisles ln £ old
and P“ . k a ground of warm cream
™ th P lnk effect shade is s very are f good. atter ed Cannes abou t
the room 111 . P"™* . and at * table ( ln <l a
con f r a . ! ow reading lamp sheds asoft
ened radiance upon books and writing
materials.
The London Telegraph says: “The _,
entire “ eat oonsumption of Europe
amounted and tbe m . 1880 to.8,100,000 l tons
° “°"
tban 7,3<X>,000 tons yearly. Thus, in
the greatest meat^onsum.ng con i
d f Clt f .ftiS #hL f.tlw
’
observed that, owing o, to the h gher
wages of the
2” tt l n^r d Th°tSa S r North
America has done little to show its
ass <•. £ -ra't/cr.L sr
“•* '|™ •“A. “•(‘"•'to tho I*.*.™
iUelt at It T e “« wouhl de t thiis ? “ appoar 1" that
f money ai,in « is . cattle £ be * made hoe P and in l^.country ho 8 for * omo in
‘ »
time t0 como ‘
Everybody likes to look at pretty
girls, and the admirers of pretty girls
should take a walk some of these tine
Katurdw evcuiugi along thu Uowerv
tp Grand street, fbrnihg ihto the latter,
and there spend a brief time between 8
and 10 o’clock admiring the thron<>- of
New' York’s working women. Who
ever leisurely takes this advice, and will do it
and with an eye single to
youth and beauty, will see hundreds of
lovely iveness faces and forms, whose attract¬
and style would do no discredit
to any locate or surroundings. It is
the favorite promenade of the “shop
girls.” One of the first things to strike
an observer who has traveled is the
commingling modifications of types and the marked
which change of climate
and material conditions is making
especially among our foreign-born population—
the younger generation.—
Graphic.
A letter from Fayetteville, X. C.,
says: “For a number of years Cross
creek was the home of the stanchest
and most relentless of all the ‘tories’—
the beautiful heroine, Flora Macdon¬
ald. After the defeat of the Pretender,
George for his 11. offered and a reward for six months of $80,000 he
capture,
was lands. a fugitive Flora Macdonald in the Scottish High¬
befriended
him in a most romantic and daring
manner, attendant disguising left him home as her female
She and friends,
and, after a series of hair-breadth es¬
capes and most interesting adventures,
succeeded where he in getting enabled him to the coast,
was to make his es¬
cape to France. Afterwards she and
her husband came to North Carolina,
and spent a number of years at and
near Cross creek. Her husband was
killed in the early days of the Revolu¬
tion, and she afterwards returned to
her native land. Her intelligence, per
sonal magnetism and strong ‘tory’
proclivities are traditional in this part
of the Stale.”
The Character of Henry V.
E. S. Brooks, in his article on “Har¬
ry Monmouth, the Boy General,” in
the April St. Nicholas, the third,of his
papers on “Historic Boys,” thus takes
issue with Shakspeare in his estimate
of the character of Henry V.:
“But when you come to read in
of '■jhakspeare’s ‘King Henry matchless IV.’ verse the plays
V’.,’ do in and delight King Henry his
not, your over
splendid self word-pictures, permit your¬
to place of too ‘Prince strong Hal,’ a belief in his his
portrait and
scrapes and follies and wild carousals
with fat old Falstaff and his boon com¬
panions. For the facts of history now
prove the great poet mistaken; and
‘Prince Hal,’ though full of life and
spirit, fond of pleasure and mischief,
and, sometimes, of rough and thought¬
less fun, stands on a record as a val¬
iant, high-minded, clear-hearted and
conscientious lad. ‘And when we
reflect,’ says one of his biographers,
‘to what a high station he had been
called whilst yet a boy ; with what im¬
portant commissions he liad been in¬
trusted ; how much fortune seems to
have done to spoil him by pride and
vain-glory from his earliest youth, this
page of our National records seem to
set him high among the princes of the
world ; not so much as an undaunted
warrior and liimsetf, triumphant example hero, as the
conqueror of the of a
chastened, modest spirit, of filial rev¬
erence, and of a single mind bent on
his duty.’ It
“The conqueror of himself! was
this that gave him grace to say, when
crowned King of England in West¬
minster, ‘The first all act of my offend- reign
shall be to pardon who have
ed me ; and I pray God that if He
foresees I am like to be any other than
pleased a just and take good king, He the may world be
to me from
rather than to seat me on a throne to
live a public calamity to my country.’
It was this that gave him mag nificent
courage at Agincourt, and in the midst
of the gorgeous pageant which wel¬
comed him at London, made him refuse
to let his battle-bruised helmet and his
dinted armor It be displayed a3 trophies
of his valor. was this that kept him
brave, modest, and high-minded
through his all the glories and successes that
of short but eventful life;
made liim the idol of the people, and
one of the most brilliant figures in the
crowded pages of English history.”
Almost a Fiasco.
Odd things will sometimes happen
on the first night of a new play. As a
fact ’ they
matter of generally do hap¬
pen, and occasionally importance an unforeseen
accident of trivial under
other circumstances, will kill a theatri¬
cal production outright. Belasco, the
dramatist, had a narrow escape with
the first performance of his “La Belle
Russe” in California. In the most
thrilling scene of the the hero play, where their the
villainess and have
strongest scene Mr. together, Osmond Miss Tearle Jeffreys
Lewis and were
alone upon the stage. Mr. Tearle was
sitting down with folded arms, and
Miss Lewis was standing, just oil the
point of delivering the her longest and
heaviest speech. felt At something very instant give
of beginning she
way about her waist, and a garment
which the editor would not allow me to
mention, slid slowly down towards the
floor. Miss Lewis had sufficient pres¬
ence of succeeded, mind to disentangle without discovery, herself,
and she
in pushing the garment back to the
end of the sofa, where it could not be
seen by the audience. Then she went
on with her speech. Just after this
point in the handkerchief play Mr. Tearle had to
draw his from the breast
pocket of his coat. It so happened
that his handkerchief on this particu¬
lar night was in his hip pocket, and in
transferring it to his coat the article
slipped from his hand. Reaching hold
down without abandoned looking, portion he caught of Miss
of the
Lewis’ wardrobe, and that lady was
horrified to see him raise it slowly nearly to¬
wards his breast. He had it up
when his eye fell upon the frill which
adorned it, and he let go with great
precipitation. Mr. Tearle played the
scene through without any handker¬
chief, and luckily no one in the audi¬
ence had observed his attempt to pick
it up. “La Belle Russe” had a very
close shave that night. I
Englishmen like their strawberries
very fresh. Frenchmen wisely believe
that they are improved by a day’s
staleness, and prefer to send them to
market in jars rather tban In baski
The shaking up of tho frying jars brings brings out > 1
their flavor, just m out ]
timt of a banana.
A Virginia Romance.
While visiting an old friend in a Vir¬
ginia village a month ago I attended
church, worship one Sunday at the parish
and was very much attracted
by an aged and handsome couple who
sat in the pew opposite me. The pas¬
tor preached a very interesting sermon
on “The Prodigal Son’s Return,”
which, I noticed, affected the old lady
to tears, and had a marked effect on
ihe gentleman. I mentioned the cir¬
cumstance that evening to my friend,
when she related to me the following
sad, true story:
Tiie old couple were Mr. and Mrs.
Colonel D-. ',1'hey were both of the
most aristocratic, wealthy families of
Virginia, Colonel 1) was an hon
orable, upright gentleman, but very
proud and passionate. He liad one
son, “Gus," his only heir—a warm¬
hearted, generous, pleasing young man,
just turning his twenty-first year. He
was well known throughout the coun¬
him. try, and was beloved by all who knew
He inherited his father’s pride
but not his violent nature.
About a mile from Colonel D-’s
residence lived a gentleman between
whose family and tne Colonel’s a feud
of long standing existed. Colonel
D-had frequently warned his son
not, under any circumstances, to visit
any member of the gentleman’s family.
A daughter of the hated houso, on her
eighteenth which birthday, gave a large party,
to all the young people were in¬
vited, including the venerable Colonel’s
son Gus. On hearing of the party and
his son’s invitation to it, he sent for
him and most positively forbade him to
attend. The son promised he would
nob f
The invitations were for four o’clock,
as a supper on the lawn was a part of
the programme. About three o’clock
on t hat day Gus called for his team, a
splendid pair of handsome grays, and
ordered the coachman to drive him.
Some time after his departure, Colonel
D-, who had been away since morn¬
ing, returned, and on asking for his
son was informed that he had driven
out a couple of hours ago. The Colonel
flew into a passion, called for his hunt¬
ing whip, ’toward mounted his horse and rode
swiftly the mansion of his
neighbor. As lie dashed rapidly
past he saw his son’s team under tho
trees, and cared for by 'his own coach¬
man. He kept on to a small shady
lane leading in an opposite direction
from the house, when he suddenly came
upon his son walking with a young
lady, and, without a word, he rode up,
seized him, and cut him several times
over the face and back with his riding
whip- “You ungrateful scoundrel,
said he, “never cross my path again.”
The Colonel’s face was white with pas
sion as he rode away.
This happened over fifteen years ago
and although thousands of dollars have
been spent, and every effort made to
find some trace of the missing man,
they have been ineffectual, and not one
person who knew him before has ever
seen his face since that day. The sad
truth was that the Colonel’s son, it was
found afterwards, had not gone to the
party, but loaned his team to a young
friend to whom both his father and
himself were warmly attached, and
who drove Gus as far as the lane where
his father had met and chastised him in
the presence of her whom he loved, and
whom he had accidentally met.— Phila¬
delphia Press.
Teaching Animals to Converse.
IL. Stuart Wortley writes as follows
to Nature: A dog of mine knows in¬
stantly whether he may go out with my
housekeeper or not, according to
whether she wears her hat or her bon¬
net. In tho first instance he knows
she is going where he may go, and he
is on his feet barking with joy :i s soon
as she appears. If she has the bonnet
on, lie kuows it to be church, or a visit
to friends in the country, where he can¬
not go, and, like the “eldest oyster” (I
quote from memory), he “winks his
eye, and shakes his Jioary head.” If
drawings of hat and bonnet were made,
he would know them at once.
Some years since I had a remark¬
ably clever Syke terrier, who-' -.doin
was at the time shown in a let: to the
Times. This dog I taught a i lows:
When I went out it. was quite .-t.Kicient
to say “Yes” or "No” in an ordinary
tone; but wanting to take him beyond
that, I taught him very quickly to
know the uvo words when printed on
cards, YES or NO, and after a few
weeks’ teaching lie never mistook
them. I have ho time now for much
teaching; be with if i had, I am sure it could
done the dog I now have.
The intelligence of cats is greatly
underrated. My wife’s favorite cat
foliows her everywhere, and comes
when called wherever she may be.
Gats, too, are very grateful for kind¬
ness. When I went into the Malakhoff,
I found a eat on whose paw a bayonet
had fallen and pinned it "to the ground.
I released it and \ook. it home, and it
the always followed me all over camp till
end of the war. And this cat did
as follows: I took her to a doctor of
the nearest regiment for two mornings
to have her foot dressed. The third
morning I was away on duty before
the daylight, doctor’s and the cat went herself to
tent, scratching the can¬
vas to be let in, and then held up her
paw to be doctored. The intelligence
that can be developed in almost any
animal depends on our treatment of it.
A resident of Nashville. Tenn., who
has been down to visit Jeff Davis, at
Beauvoir, Miss., and found it “a sacred
place, beautiful, heart-satisfying, and
real,” thus gives vent to his emotions:
“There is a harmony soughing in the through sobbing
breezes as they move
the plumes of the pines that tower
above. Melodious strains, low and
sweet, linger faintly clamor in the the soft even¬
ing air. The of seas, a
trifle louder, soon follows in rhythms
like the distant notes of the bass viol,
whose bow is held by an unseen band.
Now and then a chord is lost, or a note
broken, and a thousand quivering
chimes are heard in the distance, grow- j
ing lower, lower, until silence reigns i
supreme."
Tire late Duke ofland, of Buccleuch which distrib- owned |
458,108 acres was
uted in six counties of England and ;
seven ,unties of Scotland. His an
nuai income from this land w: nearly I !
$ 2 , I i ). His income from other
sources was $50,000 a year. i
‘ Tho, First Ice-Palaec.
The first ice-palace was built bv~Th*w
F.mpress Anna Ivanovna, on the Neva,
in 1739.
In tho construction of this work the
• implest means were used. First, the
purest and most transparent ice was
selected. This was cut into large
blocks, squared with rule and compass,
and carved with all tho regular archi¬
tectural embellishments. No cement
was used. Each block when ready
was raised to its destined place by
cranes let ana down pulleys, and tho just block before which it
was upon
was to support it, water was poured
between tne two ; tho upper block was
immediately lowered, and as the water
froze almost instantly, in that intensely
cold climate, the two blocks became
literally one. In fact, tho whole build¬
ing single appeared of to be, and The really effect was, it a
mass ice. pro¬
duced beautiful must than have been infinitely been more
if it had of the
most bluish costly marble—its it rather transparency
and tint giving the ap¬
pearance of a precious stone.
In dimensions, tbe structure was
fifty-six feet long, high, eighteen and feet wide,
twenty-one feet with walls
three feet in thickness. At each corner
of the palace was a pyramid of the
same height ice, as the roof, the of course
built of and around whole was
a The low actual palisade length of the of the same front material. view,
including the pyramids, was one hun
dred and fourteen feet.
The palace was built in the usual
style of Russian architecture. The
facade was plain, being by pilasters. merely divided There
into compartments
was a window in each division, which
was painted in imitation of green
marb le. The window-panes were
formed of slabs of ice, as transparent
and smooth ns sheets of plate lighted, glass.
At night, when the palace was
the windows were curtained by canvas
screens, on which grotesque figures
were painted. Owing to tho transpar¬
ency of the wholo material, the gen¬
eral effect of the illumination must
have been fine, the whole palace seem¬
ingly being The filled with a delicate pearly
light. and appeared central bo division door, but projected, in
to a was,
fact, a large window, and was illumi¬
nated like the others. Surmounting
the facade of the building was an or¬
namental balustrade, and at each end
of the The sloping roof was a huge the chim¬
ney. entrance was at rear.
At each side of the door stood icc
imitations of orange trees, in leaf and
flower, with ice-birds perched on tho
branches.—St. Nicholas for April. .
A Georgia Snake.
So many snake stories have been
published Northerner by the Southern press Ohio that
every who crosses the
River begins to look for serpents. A
Michigan trip last man, fall who down was into taking sunland, a brief
reached Rome, Ga., without having
seen a snake, and he felt so glad over
it that he couldn’t keep his feelings to
himself. At the hotel were several
guests who determined on a joke at
his expense. A darkey in town, who
had several samples of stuffed snakes,
was interviewed to the extent of half a
dollar, and a plan was perfected to
give Snakes the had Michigander been talked a terrible of scare.
for a day or
two. to get the man’s feelings properly
worked up, and one evening he was
invited to take a seat on the veranda
for a smoke. His chair was so placed
that a boy could creep up and deposit
the specimen under it, und when this
had been done some one began to talk
about the way snakes sometimes
into houses.
.“One evening last summer as a lot of
us sat out here,” observed one of the
crowd, “a rattier about seven feet long
crept up there, dropped down on the
floor, and such a time you never saw!”
Every man bent over to look under
his chair, as if suspecting the presence
of a snake. Tho Wolverine caught
sight of the serpent under his, anti lie
slowly rose up, pulled the chair away,
kicked the reptile clear over the railing
of the veranda into the street and sat
down with the remark:
“Well, I s’pose I’d get used to it
after living here awhile, makes but just now
the sight of Who a snake me rather
nervous. tells the next story?”—
M. Quad.
Bismarck's Dislike of America.
Bismarck is not enthusiastic in his'
love of Americans. He believes in
blue blood, and thinks there is but lit¬
tle of it in America. He is convinced
that we are an uneducated people, or
we should send educated men to rep¬
resent us in foreign courts. He Snubs
Minister Sargent every chance he neith- gets,
for the reason that he can speak
er German nor French, and is a mere
ligure-head Tho book in “Germany the Gorman Seen capital. Without
Spcetacles,” published by in Henry Boston, Rttggles, has kicked re
ccntly here,
up a good ail deal of bobbery It has had over large
from accounts. a
circulation in Germany, many copies
having been sent by German-Ameri
cans to their friends in fatherland,
The author says he has lived two years
in Germany, and several chapters of
the book give the Germans rather un
merciful criticism in their habits of liv
ing, customs, treatment of their worn
en, etc.
These chapters have been translated
and extensively copied by the German
press, and of late one could not go into
a Berlin club energetically or cafe without cussed hearing
the book and dis
cussed. A few weeks since, report
says, a Berlin publishing-house had
made arrangements of for book, issuing an Bis- e ■ -
tire translation this but
marck on hearing of it sent a note to
the publishers, with his own signature,
which quietly put an end to the matt.r.
A German told me seriously, Bismarck yester
day, in the Cafe Bauer, that
would never smile on Americans as
long as they published Germans, such if harsh they
things about the even
were true .—Berlin Letter.
Samuel A five-gallon McDaniels’ jug was farm, plowed near lslan up o fi-S
Shoals, Ga. Tearing off a tin stopple
he found it containing some vary good
brandy and got drunk on it. His
mother went out to call him to dinner,
arid, examining tho jug, found in it
$9,500 in $5 gold pieces. The money
was buried by his grandfather.
Picturesque Caves.
The new discovery is a multiplicity of
grotesque and fantastic-looking objects
of nature’s fashioning. Persons of
lively imagination can. out minds of the al¬
scenery, make perfect and in their differ
most any archetype, many The ent
parts of many different animals.
numerous chambers and many narrow
passages ioned, and with molded different shaped, fash¬
scenery are sur¬
prising through and astonishing. A man does can
go what is discovered, and
go through through it; tho writer discovery, has gone
part of the but he
believes that no one person whodoes
go take through and it has hold a all mind that large enough be
to in is to seen
in that arcadu.ii formation. If lamps
with large, brilliant burning llames to
emanate roundings streams placed of light on the the sur¬
were there, sights
would bo dazz ing. The snowy white
and wax-colored stalactite and incrusta¬
tions that cover the sides can not be re¬
produced and vitreous in pictures. The wax-colored
stalactite pendants hang¬
flashes ing from the lower extremity reflect
ing of the light, held and when the burn¬
candles arc still the visitors be¬
hold the appearance of innumerable
splendors. The
incrustations on the bottom of
some of the chambers include patches
of imitation hoarfrost, which is so hard
and sharp that it makes prints in the
bootsoles; but its glistening in the can-;
dle-light is like a body of newly-fallen
snow in the when the early air’ sunbeams There strike imita¬ it
tion morning that look and are velvety,'
sponges soft
but hard and sharp to the touch of the
hand; imitation coral and coral fringes
of very beautiful shapes and eolors; a’
body of stalagmite resembling the snow
clad Mount Hood and the Ghost cham¬
ber that came near scaring the life out
of the cave man when he discovered it.
Before entering into the big chamber
there is overhead a vertical aperture
that seems to run up the distance of
thirty feet, and all the way it seems to
have the same diameter. A strong cur¬
rent have of air spins through, and their visitors ligips
to take extra care of
or they may lose them. The big cham¬
ber is well named. It is a spacious un¬
derground wide, room, vaulted being roof 364 feet rising long, 50
feet its to a
height of from 50 to 75 foot, and its size
imposing to the beholder. Its sides
and roof consists of rock, differing from
any other cave Chamber that the writer
has seen; enormous bowlders cover the
bottom, and on the shelly sides bunches
of gravel are sticking that contain
variously-colored pebble stones.- Grant's
Pass Circular.
Reports to the Rime-Kiln Club.
The librarian reported the receipt of
several valuable books during the p ast
week, one of them being a volume con¬
taining tion of the thirty history, different trial, murderers. and execu¬ He
announced that the roof leaked in sev
en different places, and that much of
the literature had to be placed in the
oven and dried previous to being lent
out to members. He asked for an ap¬
propriation of $125 to stop the leaks.
“Bat’s zactly de way wid some
folks,” replied the president “Dey
buy $50 a $400 kerridge to bo pulled by a
boss When wo expend $125 to
preserve $60 worth of books we shall
will nave inaugurated obleege a financial post-office policy dat
soon us to rent
boxes to receive our dunnin’ letters.”
The treasurer said he had discovered
an attempt to tamper with the club
safe. Some one had evidently tried to
unlock the door with a boot-jack, as
the key-hole had been found filled with
scrap-iron. He would announce for
the benefit of crooks that the safe never
contained above 80 cents in cash, and
that any attempt to blow it open
would surely result in bringing down
the entire roof of the hail.
The janitor, reported that the north¬
west corner of the Iiu.ll had lately sunk
eight inches, but he had no recom¬
mends to make. If the lest of the
members building didn’t sink to the same level
would soon get accustomed
to walking would on a slant end and no ex¬
pense be entailed.
As most of the lamps liad gone out
for want of fodder, the meeting then
adjourned .—Detroit Free Press.
A Cool Client.
An acquaintance of mine-—a young
feelbss lawyer, tired cf being briefless and
here in San Francisco—deter¬
mined a year ago to establish himself in
some interior county seat. A few
months after ho wrote me that he had
won it. It was a hard ease, he wrote,
one that required much study and in¬
genuity, but he had won it, and assur¬
ed me tliat he considered his fee—fifty
dollars, I believe—as well earned. His
client was an old countryman, simple
and unsophisticated, and he had en
deavored to post him on the ways and
tend doings the of courts, so that he should at
trial without embarrassment
or trepidation. the By his coolness in
court client did honor to his lawyer,
My friend came down here to spend
the holidays, and wo met. I asked
him, had another laugningly, since whether his first. he had He
case
looked at me curiously, and told mo
that something incredible had happen
ed in regard to that affair. That same
morning appetizer he met his they former had client, discussed and
over an
“That only cost me a hundred doll
ars,” said the client,
“A hundred?” asked the lawyer,
“Yes—I took the judge out for a
drink, and gave him fifty dollars,
That’s why I was so cool ln court”
The feelings of my young lawyer
scribed. friend can Still be oetter he looked imagined tban de
upon it as a
good joke. 1 rather spoiled his amuso
ment by askiDg his client him whether his he had re
turned to “well-earned
fee .”—San Francisco News-Letter.
Alice Stone Blackwell, who writes
in the Boston Herald that the services
sidered commonly rendered by wives are oori
worth much more than board
performed and lodging, by when they have to be
a hired servant, further
remarks: “In 1880 there were in the
United States, according to the eensqs,
9,945,916 families, and only 1,075,855
domestic servants. Thus only about
one family in nine keep a servant, even
if uo family kept more than one. The
great work." majority of wires do their own