Newspaper Page Text
J. W, ANDERSON, Editor and Proprietor
THE TRUMPET BLOWS.
he brown clods quicken Into creeping; green,
The hushed air whispers low,
sre boughs burst out in tender, misty sheen,
On banks the violets blow;
be orchards blossom sudden like a bride,
j And far hills melt in haze,
[bile golden willows stand on either side
Along the brook’s glad ways.
lancing with quiv'ring wings from bough
to bough
The bluebird finds his mate;
; trill—a dash of piercing melody—
: Nay, coy one, why so late?
i every little wood a bliss to sing—
The trembling, fluttering birds;
r ith rapture satisfied the copsos ring,
A joy beyond all words.
5 the light kisses of the odorous air
My pulses rise and fall,
nchanted by that timid touch, awa
Of one who stirs in all.
too, am borne by influences deep;
I tremble, like the rose.
3vc hath awakened all the world from
sleep—
For me the trumpet blows!
—D. II. It. Gooclale, in Harper.
ALMOST A TRAGEDY.
’It might be truly said that a band of
jusic welcomed them upon their arrival
ir as the hotel coach drove up to the
por, Mr. and Mrs. Winsum, the sole
fccupants, stepped out to' the tune of
Pee the Conquering Hero Comes,” one
r the various melodies with which the
bmerous guests of the Mountain house
lere entertained on pleasant afternoons,
Dark hair nnd eves, well-cut features!
road shoulders, Winsum. five feet who ten, such waj
fr. Frank sprang firs
[om the clumsy vehicle and assisted a
llle lady with golden hair, violet eyes,
prfee! complexion, retrousse nose—Mrs
hmlc Winsum.
I The bridal couple, for such they proved
b be, were received with undisguised
Itisfaction.
I We were getting tired of the despotic
bntrol exercised by Mrs. Vandeville, a
111, dignified woman, exceedingly
lender, with a Roman nose, piercing
lack eves, and an imperious manner,
pich overawed most of us, more particu
plv her husband, a meek little man,
in was a terror in his office and a slave
home.
[She had directed the social element of
fountain house for a month past, and
completely subjugated its inmates
nt 1 fancy we hardly ventured to take
drive before consulting her as to the
!?t road.
Tlie new people were on their honey
non trip, and an event of so novel and
mantic a nature claimed immediate in
best.
Mrs. Vandeville, who was the mater
;1 parent of two auburn haired daugh
rs, eyed the fascinating bride with
Id suspicion.
“Who are these persons?” she said in
Severe tone, looking round her small
role of adherents. “We cannot be too
refill. We are wives”—this with a
ithing look at her timid spouse—
tul mothers,” casting a sentimental
mre at her fair progeny, who imrac
Holy began to whimper; “and it is
e to our families that we should find
It exactly who these Winsums are be
pe allowing ourselves to become inti
Ite with them.”
[Although kder fully agreeing with their
that evening the next day an in
eduction to the enemy completely
hired tunelessly their prejudices, and one and ail
went over to the other side
Ithout instituting a single inquiry as
[their antecedents, or, in fact, asking
Ivthing about them.
Mrs. Vandeville accepted the situation
pt it was evident she did not intend to
pinquish She the field without a struggle.
|r bad chosen the picturesque spots
picnics. superintended the ice
earn parties, occupied the post of
[Ilv to the younger and prettier woman,
lt on the contrary cherished a feeling
■ bitterness, and determined to be
'Uiged upon her lovely rival.
Wc were located at. a sort of farm
>use hotel almost on the top of the
urdock mountain in Sullivan county,
here were not more than forty boarders
Must enough to make a pleasant party,
| Before the advent of the Winsums it
R divided, each clique endeavoring to
‘persede the other; jealous, and in
nnv ways quarrelsome. But somehow
lls bn L f bt little couple soon changed all
at.
They were not well off, that was cer
id, and occupied the cheapest room in
IC bouse - The bride’s dresses, though
Hng exquisitely, were made of the
ainest materials, here and there trimmed
I ith th her a bit of ribbon, which, together
piquante beamy, made her en
rely charming. Th»., were both brim
mg over with talent.
Trank possessed an inexhaustible fund
’ r ' lever songs, and, with a good bari
ns'oicc and an excellent knowledge
music, accompanied biinself to every
>dy s satisfaction.
As for little Mrs. Frank, she wa»
Bl| y wonderful. She invented de
ghtful games for the children, taught
* girls the newest and most
uches in crochet, drew exquisite
Z” j* - 4 " I-** Ik., proved positive) >'
valuable.
®he Comnaton St ax
Mrs. Vandeville became sullen with
isappeintrtient, . and finally declined to
oin us in any of our innocent amuse¬
ments.
Summer waned, as the poets say, and
we were beginning to meet at breakfas t
time with questioning looks and ‘'What
shall we do next?” written upon every
face. No one had anything new to pro
pose, and our social circle seemed at a
standstill.
During the week Mrs. Vaudeville
maintained a mysterious silence that
aroused suspicion, and presently vague
whispers were circulated to the effect
that the facinating Winsums were not
what they appeared to be; that their af
ection in public was a delusion.
This dreadful rumor demanded instant
investigation.
As a matter of course, the ladies ques
tfoned Mrs. Vandeville, while the gentle
men interrogated Mr. Vandeville, who
nervously admitted that he and his wife,
bearing strange sounds issue from the
Winsums’room, which adjoined theirs,
considered it a duty to society to listen,
and in consequence thereof had heard
the most dreadful things, adding under
his breath, “It makes my blood run
to think of it, and you must excuse me,
! for I will say no more.”
This was enough. Several guests who
j still remained loyal to the Vandeville
colors congregated in that lady’s room
at a late hour the same night, not only i
to verify Mr. Vandcville's statement, but
also to satisfy their own curiosity. j
The door of a large closet which sepa
rated the two rooms was purposely left
open, and ordinary conversation could be
easily heard,
Mrs. Vandeville looked virtuous and_
important; her husband disgusted and
abashed. A tiny clock on the mantel
chimed eleven. A slight rustling could
be distinguished, and the listeners be
came interested.
Suddenly a low voice broke the op
piessive stillness; but the confused jurn
ble of undertones was too indistinct, and
disappointment was plainly visible on
every countenance,
After a few moments of inaudible con
vernation, the, voices grew louder and
still louder, until, the occupants of
Mrs. Vaudeville’s room, in their excite
ment, exhibited signs of immediate be
trayal. *
That lady made an imperious ges
* llre - at, d the eavesdroppers listened
**‘tf brqptldesslyj.o the following dialogue:
will hear no more, I tell you.
What have I to live for? I placed my
honor ln ? our bands > and hDW have L ou
repaid met”
“Indeed. Harold, I have always loved
T 011 . illwa vs been f ** tbful t0 V ou! ”
-
“Harold 1” echoed .Mrs. Courtenay, the
*\ audevilles’ dearest friend. “.Then his
“ isn’t Frank, after all!”
“Hush,
TLe stern voice continued:
<‘0h, Marion!”
“Marion!” ejaculated Mrs. Courtenay
in horror; “why, she said her name was
Eleanor,”
“Hush!” murmured the assembled
l )ar -J’ a e a ' n -
“Oh, Marion, you dare assert your in
noeence, knowing that I hold the actual
proof of your guilt here in my hand?
What is this letter, but an avowal of
love for tbe man whom 1 have taken by
the hand and called friend, and who de
ceivcs me beneath the very roof we both
cab b° me ?
“Gracious me!” whispered Miss Mer
ton, a gentle* spinster of forty, “He
must mean brother Fred. You know
how outrageously she flirted with him. ”
“Silence!” said Mrs. Vandeville.
“Harold, have mercy; do not shut me
out from y° ur beart See, upon my
knees 1 P lead to y° u - In ot the
many happy hours we have been to
“Enough! not one word. To-night
you leave me forever.”
<>oh! this won’t do at all,” cried Mr.
Courtenay, who was usually an extreme
j v qjnet and punctilious man. Some of
thing must be done. The propriety
this establishment ought to be main
tained. A departure at such an hour
would be ruinous.and create disagreeable
gossip. Mr. Vandeville,you must knock
at these people’s door and tell them all
is known, that no scene will be permit
ted To-morrow they will be more than
welcome to take their leave; but by all
means beg them to make no disturbance
at midnight. We will follow and in
darse anything you may consider proper
ro say.” fell m . ano . e
The party in ne, an
moment were facing, rs. m-urn s < oo i
'Troth whence a faint cry was at t is in
stant audible.
thissoun am , c
Fmboldehed by , . r.
ville rapped hastily, and a hearty om
in!” responded.
Pushing her husbam asu e. am c raw
ing Mr. Courtenay by the arm, rs. an
deville entered the room, fol.ov t.< co }
by the remainder of the party
decidedly The picture embarrassing, that conlronUi^^
sum, comfortably ensconced, m 1
rocking chair, held ”
upon “■ ^ knee; er «r a. ^ •
b«,
over a cov „ e d boot.
COVINGTON, GEORGIA, JULY 29, 1885.
“Oh, my!” said the little worn 5",
springing- up; “is this a suifiriso-paify?
mnk, dear, put on your coat,” nnd,
with her face suffused with blushes,
she rattled on: “You see,'wo Mine to
our room early this evening, because
we were getting up a little plan for
something new; so we've concluded
it would be a good idea to arrange a
series of private theatricals; but, as
caught ue tending-over a piav
book; you shall4>e taken into thoffeerpt"
at once; therefore,”—with a dramatic
gesture—“enter all. and choose your
parts.”
“I think, my dear Mrs. Winsum, that
" e already have the characters best
suited to us,” said Mr. Courtenay, who
aa honestly ashamed of his share in
the conspiracy.
“Why, I don’t understand you. What
characters , do
you mean ?”
1 hose of busybodies and foo s;” and
thereupon the whole story came out.
^ be next day two trunks marked
“'Vandeville ’ were conveyed to the sta¬
tion. Mr. and Mrs Winsum became
greater favorites than ever, and a roar
ing’’farce was the only result of what
bnd promised to become “Almost a
’-Tragedy.”
Scenes in Sonora.
Around these <5ases, says a letter
Sonora, Mexico, were scattered a few
mud huts, ojten merely a. roof of dry
branches supported on crooked tree
trunks. Sometimes an adobe house
with heavy wooden trellis-work over the
•openings, a brick roof covered witha
foot of clay, and the whole whitewashed
represented the casa mayor of the ran¬
cho. Within reach of the water we
could see a few rosas and-nulpas (corn
patches tilled, the first with a species o
hoe, the second with a Mexican plow
but beyond this no sign of cultivation
could be discovered. The yellow grass
of the prairie seems, notwithstanding
the apparent dryness, to be excellent
fodder for the cattle, of which many
Were grazing near the- railroad
line, and ran away as we came
near. There is no murrain, no diseases
of any kind to frighten the ranchero.
Provided the rainy season lias been a
fair one, be knows that his nerds are
multiplying and are in good condition,
If there has been but a slight fall of rain
he must simply drive his stock nearer
to the next river. For himself and his
household he has raised enough corn to
last untu-lhe next crop; He Has as many
chickens as he will want, a few .pigs,
and now and then lie kills a cow or an
ox, which gives him meat enough for a
month or so; and from the grease he
makes the dozen candles he requires (the
fibre of the weasel makes a very good
wick). His saddle is still in good order, he
has a carbine, an imitation Smith and Wes -
son, a belt full of cartridges, and a good
mule. Ilv selling a cow he can buy
enough cotton to clothe his family and a
little coffee and panoeha (brown sugar),
which are his luxuries. Once a year he
can indulge in a new hat. Beyond the
above he has nothing to wish for. He
looks with astonishment at the passing
train, and wonders at the stupidity of
people who crowd the occupations of a
-week in one day. What is the use of
going so fast? If you get through with
* h to-day, what going to
s 0 m i ic are you
Ao to-morrow? Following this line of
philosophy, he prefers to ride along the
road within forty yards of the rail track,
and prefers supervising his pack train
himself to taking a ticket, checking his
luggage, and having uothing more to
occupy his mind. After all he may b
right.
American Fables.
^ p ox made a call on a Peasant and
as k ed bis Advice about Reforming from
his Evil Ways,but in place of any Words
j.j le p ea snnt gave him a Terrible Whack
>xperw ®
.
the 1 easant, tu.it u ormation is mos
always letting go o oor . u on m
order to grab for oir o>n Ntcak; As a
Reformed Fox you woul et my
Hens alone, but go for my ° UD ®
Geese.’
Moral - 11 Tox was or -ing or
both chicken and goos e.
the cooper’s complaint.
A certain c 00[ , er who made many
Barrelg went -before a Judge and desired
fQ Lodge R ser j 6 U s complaint against the
Faml!v ij vin g nex t door to his Shop.
gound of t h t -ir Mill grinding
Cq _ at n0 oa 'gives me a Chill,” he
comp]ailied “ahd I ask for an Injunc
tion t0 Suppress the Noise. They have
Peace.” '
nQ B ig b t to Disturb my
y0 „ maintain a continuous
Poundi> g' fp o m j i n the morning to 6 at
nmht,” protested the Judge.
Tour Honori but. mine is a case
w y, e they caD drink cold
Water in place of Coffee.”
,.^ nd b y th* same line of Reasoning
we tan p Ut our Flour in Sacks instead
^ Barrels. Your Injunction will not
Lie-costs, $11.50.”
Moral: Our Hens never Annoy the
Neighbors, but how awfully the Neigh
bor’s Do- does Rack our Nerves .-Free
FX*.
»,£, Fe li 0 ws who paint the town red over
«. IM* » Mi H. I. a. IMM
ceortie ike
History of the Tomato.
A writer on horticulture states that the
tomato is of South American origin, and
was introduced into Europe by the
Spaniards in the sixteenth century, who
discovered its valuable qualities as an es
culeat. . From Spain its cultivation ex
tended to Italy and the south of France,
and finally to this country, where it first
began to be used as a vegetable in the
latter part of the last century. The toma¬
to is mentioned by a writer on plants in
England as early as 1597. Parkinson
calls them “love apples” in 1656, and
says ••they are regarded as curiosities.”
Dodoens, a Dutch herbalist, writes in
1583 of their use as a vegetable, “to be
eafen with pepper, salt, nnd oil.” They
were eaten by the Malays in 1755, Ar¬
thur Young, the English agriculturist,
saw tomatoes in the market at Montpelier,
in France, in 1793. The tomato was prob¬
ably brought from San Domingo by
the French refugees, who also intro¬
duced into this country the egg-plant,
l he okra, and the small Chili pepper.
Dr. James Tilton, of Delaware, stated
that when hq returned from study in Eu¬
rope, about 1801, he found the tomato
growing in the gardens of the Duponts,
Goresches, and other French emigrants
from San Domingo, and remarked to
his family that it was a vegetable highly
esteemed and generally eaten in France,
Spain and Italy, and especially valuable
as a corrective of bile in the system Dr.
Tiiton emigrated to Madison, Indiana,
in 1829, and raised the tomato in his
garden there, it was then unknown in
Louisville or the adjacent parts of Ken
tucky. It is also ksown that the tomat 0
was planted early in the present century
on the eastern shores of Mart land, that
land of terrapins, soft crabs, oysters,
chnvasback ducks, and other epicurean
delicacies. Many years elapsed, how¬
ever, before tne tomato became a favor¬
ite esculent in that region. In 1811
the Spanish minister saw the tomato
growing in the garden of Mrs. Philip
Barton Key, whose husband wrote the
‘fStar Spangled Banner,” and he lecom.
rfiened it as having been used in
Sjpain for many years. In 1811 a gen¬
tleman dining with a friend at Harper’s
Ferry, and seeing tomatoes on the table,
remarked: “I see you cat tnmaloes
here; the District people are afraid of
them.” Tomatoes were brought to
Massachusetts by Dr. Goodwin, a son of
Txuuiam (iaodwin, cashier of khe bank of.
Plymouth, Massncnusetts. ur. ’*ooa
win spent many years of his early life in
Spain, at Cadiz, Aileapte, and Valencia,
and was American vice consul at Terra
gona during its terrible siege by the
French troops iu the peninsular, war. He
came home to Plymouth in 1817, and
died at Havana in 1825. He belonged
to a family of epicures on his father’s
side, and his mother, a daughter of Cap¬
tain Simeon Sampson, of the armed ship
Mercury, on which Henry Laurens sailed
for Holland in 1780, was renowned for
the excellence of her cuisine. He planted
the seed of the tomato in the bank gar¬
den in Plymouth, whence the plant was
disseminated throughout the town and
to Clark’s island, in Plymouth harbor.
In Mr. Goodwin’s family and that of Mr.
Watson, on the island, it was used as a
vegetable as early as 1823. Tomatoes
were sold in the markets in New York
city in 1820. They were only eaten, how¬
ever, to a limited extent.
Whalebone.
We often hear from some old seafaring
friend an expression of wonder amount¬
ing almost to incredulity, as he meets
with an item something like this in one
of the New Bedford papers: “We hear
of sales of 5,000 pounds of Arctic
whalebone for export at $3.10 a pound. ”
His memory goes back ro the time when
he himself used to bring home cargoes of
whale oil and bone from the Southern
na te if he <rot the odd ten cents on the
pm]nd for 7, let alone the $3. He is
tWakjn j the time and labor he has
tinsecuri °p go maL7 tons of stuff,
w bj c h hardlv aid for the handling
w ben it was finally brought to market,
ftnd of the exceptionally big catch in
^ jj vr1v sally, which would havo
niade him almost a million
aire if the present price current had ruled
in his younger days. We can well
member the time when a large proper
tion of our whalers were tilted expressly
pursuit of the sperm whale, and when
the owners and officers of such ships
held all whalebone whales in contempt,
as hardly worth wasting their time upon.
Those who went on right whaling voy
ages brought home the bone too, for it
was worth something and served to eke
ollt the earnings, enabling them to esti
mate the proceeds of the whole catch at
a ra t e a few cents higher on a gallon. It
wgg re! ,. irdcd as a kind of subordinate
attachment to the oil, like the straw to
the wheat, or the stover to tbecorn crop.
but who in those days could ever have
supposed that the commercial value
the two commodities would be revolu
tiouized' For the expensive and
gerous venture o w being made into the
„
arc tic regions by a comparatively few
ships each summer might well be called
a vovage for bone and oil rather than
*
for oil and bone.— Nantucket (Mast.) n .
quirer.
A Turcoman College.
Among the semi-civilized inhabitants
of Central Asia, education is of a very
limited character, and consists princi
pally in learning to read the Koran,
[ The college at Gumush Tepe is a fair
specimen of such institutions, and is
thus described by the author of the
1 “The Merv Oasis:”
“My kibitka (house) was within thirty
feet of the river’s edge. In the interven¬
ing space, standing on a kind of earthen
pier, and protected by boards against
the action of the current stood another
kibitka, of unusually large dimensions.
This was the mosque attended by the
more select portion of the community ?
and it was the only instance I had seen
of a covered building used for religious
purposes by the Turcomans,
“In the intervals between the hours of
prayer this edifice was utilized as a me¬
dresse, or college, iu which candidates
for the priesthood were instructed in
reading, writing and the precepts of the
Koran, by an ahound, or professor, who
passed as the possessor of great erudi¬
tion.
“He was a square, solidlv-built man of
about fifty years of age, with a suspici¬
ously Tartar-looking nose, a slight chin
tuft, and still slighter mustache. He
habitually wore spectacles, which im¬
parted to his countenance, for a resident
of Gumush Tepe,a wonderfully sagacious
and learned look. He was an Oozbeg,
from Bokhara, and had studied theology
at the college of Samareand. Beside his
professional functions, he also exercised
those of timber and general merchant to
the community. He was very active, and
seemed to sleep but little. His class of
some fifteen students, all young men of
about seventeen or eighteen years of age,
generally assembled about midnight, and
from that time until 3 in the morning
there was an incessant babble of tongues
within this Central Asian seminary.
“All the pupils were engaged simul¬
taneously in reading from the Koran at
the highest pitch of their voices, which
were not very feeble ones. Turcomans,
from living constantly in the open air,
and conversing on_ horseback, have nat¬
urally vigorous voices, and habitually
speak in very loud tones. Indeed, I have
often seen two of them, seated nt the
same fire, within a house, adopt the same
stentorian tone in conversation as if they
were addressing each other from opposite
sides of the river. By this it may be im
cr f-i *”---*
medresse was no ordinary one, and that,
being only 9 few feet removed lroin my
dwelling-place, it was not easy to go to
sleep under such circumstances.
“Toward 8 o’clock, by which time they
seemed to become rather fatigued, the
professor took up the chorus, and com¬
menced to expound the Koran in a pom¬
pous and pretentious tone, and daylight
would be well advanced before he thought
fit to desist.
“During the remainder of the day he
attended to his secular affairs, or kept
an eye upon his college, to see that no
unauthorized intrusions took place within
its holy precincts; and I have more than
once seen him, spectacles on nose and
stick in hand, furiously chasing a multi¬
tude of hens and geese out of this Trans
Caspian temple of theology.”— Youth's
Companion.
Rafts on the Rhine.
The timber rafts of the Rhine are a no
ticoable characteristic of that river.
They consist of timber felled in the
mountain forests and brought down to
the Rhine by the Necker, Main, Mo
eelle, and otfier rivers, The single logs
are first hurled down from the heights
into the mountain torrent, then a few
are tied together, and as they float
down the streamlet grow like a snow¬
ball, till in the Rhine itself they are
made into huge floating fabrics, which
are carefully navigated to Dorhecht
and sold. A raft has often ten or
twelve small houses on it, and from 400
to 500 workmen, rowers, and pilots.
The vast pile is steered by means of mi¬
mense oars, and is so constructed as to
twist like a huge snake in the narrow
channels. The sale of a single, raft at
the end of the voyage often realizes
about $150,000.
One of Life’s Calamities.
When a long-suffering fisherman acci
dentally and unexpectedly finds a big
trout has actually grabbed his hook and
gh 0 ws fight and darts around and pitches
an <l cavorts, and lashes the water and
bends the pole almost double and you
brace yourself for the great occasion
with hope in your eye and your heart in
yo ur mouth and begin to draw him in
U nd up and out, and just ut the inex
p re ssible moment of success and triumph
he gives a flirt aud falls back— oh, what
a fall was that, my countrymen! What
goneness, what helplessness, what crush
I ln g, subduing feelings come over a man.
| ie couldn’t •m ie if he was going to be
| hanged if he didn’t. It is worse than to
] iave a cow die,or to be left by a train. I
] la ve experienced that, and gone home
as hurabe as a wet dog. It isaeto
jrrief over the loss of a half dollar fish—
BtJ Arp, in At anU Const it U on.
. entered ...... the list of t compel- ,
1 Flonda . , has
itors for the Northern flower market A
| horticulturist ar Tangerine recently
shipped 30,000 tube rose bulbs to the
1 dealers in the North.
VOL. XI, NO 37.
LIFE IN AFRICA.
.cueer Incident*! of Travel Among
When an AfricaTSf travels he
nkes , the whole , , part of , , his . , house
: or a
hold with him. The simple aborigines, ’
therefore, . , are apt , to look , , upon the soli¬
tary white traveler who wanders through
their country without a single wife in
his train as a suspicious character. They
are quite sure he needs close watching to
prevent his running off with some of the
•females of the tribe. Dr. Barth, the ex
plorer, said, after living five years in
Africa, that it would be better for a trav¬
eler in those regions to take his wife
with him, if possible. He said the
tives would respect him more, and he j
would get along better, “They had
nothing to object to me,” he wrote, “ex
cept my being a bachelor. ”
If the traveler has no wife the native
chiefs, as a rule, are not backward about
offering to supply the deficiency. Nearly
all the explorers have had some annoy
ing experiences with kings who were
auxious to have them settle down, marry
into the royal family, and grow up with
the country. Some travelers have felt
compelled to leave very abruptly in order
to escape the attentions of women who
were determined to detain them as their
husbands.
Dr. Buchner, the German traveler, who
lived for six months at the capital of
the Munta Yanvo about five years ago,
was :i*ch distressed by the deep inter¬
est with which he had unwittingly in¬
spired the sister of that Central African I
potentate. He describes her as a mid
dle-aged and remarkably unprepossess¬
ing person of great avoirdupois. She
insisted that Buchner take her for his i
wife nnd settle down comfortably as the I
joint proprietor of her extensive herds
and fields. She importuned him so fre¬
quently that he was glad to escape her
at last by quitting the ■country.
One of the daughters of the king of
the Ambuellas, near the Zambesi river, j
fell desperately in love with Serpa Pin¬
to, the Portuguese explorer, who re¬
turned to Africa a few months ago. Her
elder sister, who ably abetted her matri¬
monial designs, was very indignant when
Pinto refused to marry the young girl. 1
She wanted to know in the shrillest of
tones, if there were any prettier women
in the country he came from, and what
sort of a man he was anyway. The
ters sharp-witted heard the wife of and one entered of Pinto's the rmr. hut.
row
Assuming an air of great indignation,
she told their royal highnesses that Pinto
was her husband, and they had better let
him alone. She bundled them out of
the hut, and Pinto and his party left
early next morning to avoid any further
complications. In the picture Pinto’s
book contains of the infatuated young
woman she appears to be quite a fine
specimen of an African beauty.
Explorers have learned by experience
that it is best to permit their porters to
take their women along with them, even
if their journey is to be thousands of
miles in length. When a carrier has his
wife with him he is not likely to run
away. Beside the «women carry bur¬
dens nearly as heavy as those of the men.
They wash and cook better than the
men, endure fatigue better, carry their
burdens more cheerfully, and work for
less pay. African women have proved
valuable adjuncts of nearly every expedi
tioa that has penetrated the continent
> n the P a8t tea y« ar8 - i ■
Mr. Hore,a missionary on the great Lake
Tanganyika, found near the southern
coast three years ago a flourishing tribe,
whose ruler was a woman. She was a
good-looking she' negress, nearly forty years
old, and was attended everywhere
she went by a train of fifty ladies in
waiting. Mr. Hore wag the first white
mau *)ueen Mwema had seen, and she
thought she would like to have the pale
faced stranger permanently near her res¬
idence. 8 he begged him to live in her
town, and when he insisted that be
could not, she did not let him go until he
had promised to send some of his breth
reu to res de in her district. The queeu
said she would give them houses and
j lenty of land. At last accounts a mis
sion station was about to be established
in Queeu Mwena’s tovfn.
The late King Mtesa, whose subjects
inhabit the beautiful shores of Lake Vic
toria Nyanza, made a unique response
when a missionary applied to him for
food supplies two or three years ago.
lie listened in silence to the good man’s
petition, and then sent an attendant out
into the streets of .liubaga with instruc
tions that the missionary did not hear,
Present the attendant returned with a
_
dozen damsels of Uganda in his wake,
Then bis majesty informed the poor mis
sionarv that he was tired of supplying
him with food. He had concluded to
present him with these women as his
wives. They would plant his garden,
prepare his dinner, and support him very
handsomely, and he musn’tcome bother
ag around the place any more. Mtesa
was very angry when the missionary de
dined to accept this wholesale niatr.mo
nial offer, lie told him to shift for him
self, and the poor fellow and his com
rades would doubt’ess have had to flee
from the country if Mtesa’s envoys to
England hadn't opportunely returned
with such wonderful stories of w'hat they
had seen that the politic despot thought
it best to keep on good terms with the
i . ..
■whites, He restored the missionaries to
favor. Last year all his daughters were
: permitted to receive religious instruction,
and one of the “’. who "as converted,
now occupies / asking’s sister, ’ a position
large importance , and influence among
the Waganda.
On the great interior plateaus of Afri¬
) ca, whose inhabitants are generally much
j 9U Perior in mental and moral develop-,
ment to tbe coast ne ^ oea > the men ex *
hibit a S° od deal of Action for their
women. Livingstone, who usually speaks
of African women as “ladies,’’makes many •
allusions to this fact, and so doScbwein
furth ’ Burton - and other explorers. The
red sklnned Nyam Nyams are as noted
a8 tbe Zulus for tbe5r intelligence and - .
bravery, but an y of their women are
captured by an enemy they will make
any sacrifice and incur any disgrace to - ;
get them back again. The coast negro,
however, appears to know neither love
nor jealousy. Mr. J. Menteiro, who has
lived for many years on the west coast,
says that he never saw a negro there nl
manifest the least tenderness toward a .
negress, or give or receive any caress
that would indicate the slightest loving ■1
:
regard on either side. x»
It is to the credit of the natives that
tbe 1vldte women who have entered the
depths of Africa with their missionary
husbands have almost invariably received
kind treatment. If they could endure
the climate they had nothing to fear
from the aborigines. Mme. Tinnc is
perhaps the only white female traveler in
Africa who has been killed. She wan
dered in safety among the blacks of the
upper Nile, but fell a victim at last to
Mohammedan fanaticism. Travelers
say they would often be unable
to make any progress whatever
among the most savage tribes if
they were not able to convince U
the native!} that they possessed super¬
natural powers. A few conjurers’ tricks
will often open the way among savages,
who would tight the explorer if they did
not think he could bewitch them all. r
Young Thompson, who recently came
back from the Masai country, traveled
far on his reputation as a man who could
take bis teeth out of his mouth and put .
them back again. He had two false teeth
a plate. When argument and en¬
treaty availed nothing, he had only to do
the teeth act to get about everything he
wanted. A chief south of Lake Nyassa,
who had never seen glass, became the
n (ti iu 'iivuu ui (• imontvu r» intov *i mciu
he was examining. He could see the
hands right before him, but he coqjdn’t
put his fingers on them, and he thought
the white man by some occult power
kept him from touching them.
Some petty chiefs have been in the
habit of appearing before explorers and
personating their sovereign the Big King
for the purpose of getting a handsome
present. The explorers have found a
means of exposing these frauds. As a
’ ♦
rule, none but great chiefs are allowed
to possess gaudy or .highly-colored
cloths. If such goods are offered to a .
6 ub . ch i ef who pretead9 to be the king
he refuseB to reccive them, and stands ’
revealed as a fraud. Consul Elton car¬
ried a quantity of red velvet with him in
his travels through East Africa. He says
he reserved the velvet for great chiefs or
impostors, and that in both cases it
answered admirably .—New York Sun.
. Guns That Burst Easily.
% bravado placed , . the ..
a young man
muzzle of his fowling piece under the
water and tired the charge, lhe result
was the bursting of the barrel near the
breech, and the mutilation of his hand,
Another placed and held the muzzle of
bis gun square against a piece of plate
window glass and tired the charge
powder and bullet. The glass was shat
tcred, so was the gun barrel. Another
instance was that of an experimenter
who had heard that a candle could be
fired from the barrel of a gun through an
inch board. He drove a candle into the
muzzle of the gun, fired, and the ex
plosion split the barrel almost its entire
length,and did not even drive the candle
from the muzzle. Still another burst of
a gun-barrel was caused by the use erf
wet grass as a wad, well rammed down
over a charge of shot But perhaps one
tbe most singular exhibitions iu this
bne was a Colts navy revolver, which
some sears ago was sent to tbe factory
in Hartford, Conn. This was before the
adaption of these pistols to the metallic
cartridges, and it is probable that in
loading with open powder and ball only
a small amount of powder got into the
chambers, and the bullet was not p;o
pelled with sufficient force to drive it
from the muzzle; at least the bullet did
not S° old ’ but lodged. As the shooter
did not know whether the bullet es
ca l ,ed or not - be kept on firing umil the
barrel burst or bulged, and when it was
sawed in two longitudinally there were
found fourteen bullets wedged one into
the other, and so much “upset” by the
hammering of the successive explosions
of the powder charges that some of them
were not less thaD one inch in diameter,
flattened dies instead of conical bullets.
— Manufacturer and Builder.
; The territorial government of Dakota
l |as ottered $5,090 for the discovery and
i development of a mine of anthracite coal
j a { b»t territory, and prospectors are
| busy.