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The CoviNbrTON Star.
J, W. ANDERSON. Fditorand Proprietor.
Winter Days.
Onr birds have flown:
Tliolr barren nests are left alone,
In g- tn g to leafless bush or wind-topped tree,
unentoee mote of Springtime’s blue and
green,
’ fragrant orchard* blossoming between
Brown, gun-warmed walls,
wide swung doors and breezy halls,
id flower-beds decked for the drowsy bee.
But now, alas!
The blighting frost is on the grass.
»rn are the wither’d leaves from each loved
tree;
is brooks are still, the woodlands dim and
cold,
ad harvest fields have yielded all their gold.
O, swift-winged bird!
»that bright land where now is heard
ly tuneful lay, I’d gladly follow thee.
IN THE ALTMARKT.
BT MART N. PRESCOTT.
Violet had lost both her situation and
lover when Mrs. Van Buren called.
“I’ve just had a letter from my old
, iend Frau Schilling in Dresden,” she
“She wants me to find her a com
in America who can sing a little.
anything be more fortunate? I
to send you, Violet.”
“You are very kind to think of me.
in order to go, I shall be obliged to
all the money I have put aside for a
day.”
“But it is not exactly fair weather now,
it? Besides, it will be capital well in
:sted. You will see the world, you
ill learn German, and you will forget
r. Dabney, and perhaps marry a Ger
an baron.”
“I don’t want to marry a German bar-
1 , but I think I will go, thank you.”
And the next outward-bound German
earner carried her to Hamburg. Not
a syllable of the German tongue,
engaged a young German woman who
returning home to travel with her to
where Frau Schilling met her.
found her situation no sinecure, to be
Frau Schilling’s English was so
as to be almost beyond repair.
or twice Violet went out with her
afternoon tea, where she sat like a
itue, trying with all her might to grasp
thread of conversation in vain; the
of a stranger in a foreign land,
to speak the language, possessed
It sometimes seemed to her that she
die unless she could find some
to whom she could rehearse her
and trials in good terse English.
Schilling lived in the eastern part of
city, in a street leading out of Durer
Although it was remote from
central market-places and the shops,
from almost everything, it made up
this inconvenience in being cheap,
Frau Schilling convinced everybody
she lived there for the pure air and
view. Of course the tramway ran
on its way to Blasewiltz, but Frau
and her companion always
when they went out—it was so
healthier. Violet had been to the
Gallery and the Altmarkt but once,
the convoy of Frau Schilling, when
afternoon, after sho had been a fori
in the city, it occurred to her to
out aloue, and make acquaintance
the place. It was quite late in the
however, before she got started, and
sky was already adeep saffron-color
the west. She remembered that Frau
had conducted her down Du
past Holbeinplatz, through the
larrow little Zeigelstrasse, pausing to
at the old Saxon monument at the
of the Botanical Garden, where
with his hour-glass, stands like a
behind the warrior. The stream
passers scarcely observed her as she
upon the Terrace of Bruhl, and
to count the spires in the Neus
a band was playing in the Belvedere
homesick strain that persued her as
went on toward the gilded groups of
that adorn the flight of steps
upon tbe Schlossplatz.
The sunset light was upon everything;
steamer was towing a fleet of barges up
river; the hills across the Elbe looked
and enchanting in the distance: but
all made her feel more alone and bereft.
was a fair, a great world; but what
it signify to her now that John Dab¬
had forgotten her? She crossed the
Platz and went slowly up Schlosstrasse
and into the Altmarkt; it was the longest
way round, but it was the only way she
She venture! into one or two
shops, and struggled to make herself un¬
vainly; she stopped witli the
crowd to gaze in at the windows of a
print-shop at some effort of the modern
masters, and wondered if it was wrong to
think them quite as satisfactory as some
of the masterpieces Frau Schilling had
pointed out to her in the Royal Gallery;
the Altmarkt was thronged with people;
carriages hastened, who knows where;
every one seemed gay and cheerful; she
wished with all her heart that she knew
a few of these pretty women, these kind
ly matrons; she longed to hear somebody
speak her name over her shoulder, to
happen suddenly upon some familiar face.
Once she passed two people talking Eng¬
lish, and she turned back and made be
lieve an interest in the embroideries in a
neighboring window that she might li»
ten to the delicious sounds.
“I was so surprised to see him,” the
lady was saying. “He said he had come
to Dresden on important business; I can’t
think what it is.”
“Perhaps he will tell you,” laughed
her companion.
“Oh, no; nothing of the kind: he was
never sweet upon me; we are first cous¬
ins."
“And cousins are dangerous things.
When did he leave New York?”
New York! Violet’s heart bounded;
here was somehody straight from home.
Perhaps she knew him. At any rate, he
must know John Dabney; and she found
herself wondering what this stranger’s
“important business” might be; but at
the thought of John her “old sorrow
waked and cried.” It was such a mere trifle
that had separated them, “the little rift
within the lute.” How foolish it had
all been, and yet how irrevocable! How
sorely she missed his kindness, his pres
ence, the right to think of him as belong
ing to her! how bleak and barren the
world seemed without himl Life was
ended for her; that Is, all that made life
worth living had left her; nothing sig¬
nified after that; she could think of noth¬
ing that she could substitute for his love;
nothing in all the world could make
amends to her for aU she had squandered,
and she had a doubt if heaven would be
heaven without him. In the distraction
of her she had walked on till
was tired, and now she turned back
into the Altmarkt. How the scene had
the people, the shops, the car
were still there, to be sure, and
figure of Germania in the centre of ,
square still seemed to soar into the >
heavens. It was all another world
gaslight; such necromancy had been
that Violet could not tell which
to take toward home; so many
lights puzzled and blinded her.
was hastening homeward;
had some one waiting and
for his approach, some one
of him. Only she was forlorn
alone and desolate. She forgot that
“No wind conld drive her bark astray,
Or change the tide of destiny.”
Of course it would be impossible for
to lose herself to-day in Dresden;
laughs at the idea; but at that time it
quite a different story. The Alt¬
as everybody knows, is a square
in with shops, with two streets
out of it from each of its four !
so to speak. In a frenzy of fear
choose one of these streets; if it
the Schlosstrasse through which she
come to the Altmarkt, she knew it
presently bring her in view of the
leading into the Schloss.
where the gilded groups on the
of Bruhl’s Terrace would show
that she was all right for home.
was the only route she knew, but j
walking some distance, the street
against a dark and forbidding
then she retracted her weary
and hurried in the opposite direc¬
into Wildrufferstrasse, and as this
upon the Portplatz, she soon saw
she was wrong again; always she re¬
turned to the Altmarkt, feeling that this
her only guide and safety, as the
street which had brought her there must
lead out of it, unless some enchant
has been at work.
In her haste and excitement she ex
plored one street after another without
hitting upon the right one, and, in fact,
following several of them more than once
before recognizing her mistake. If it
had been daylight, she felt that all would
be well, the adventure would have been
delightful; but here, with the clocks strik¬
ing eight in the darkness, made more per¬
plexing by the numberless lights, without
German word in her vocabulary, it was
anything but comfortable. Desperate at
length, when the Schlosstrasse really
seemed to vanish out of existence, she ac¬
costed a woman and asked her way in
English. The woman smiled, and shook
her head. It was of no use asking the j
way; nobody understood her. ■She was
hungry and cold and faint. It seemed to I
her that she had been hunting for the 1
Schlosstrasse for hours, and might con
tinue in that occupation all night if no
one came to her aid. There was the
droschkas, to be sure, drawn up in long
lines, waiting for passengers who never
seemed to arrive, the drivers wrapped in
their blankets, smoking or sleeping con
tentedly; but she dared not take one,
even if she could have made the driver
understand where she wished to go. A t
that ti r> e she did not know that a Dres¬
den droschka is as safe as one’s roof-tree.
At last she paused in her mad and dis
pairing haste to beg help of a gentleman
with his wife upon his arm. They an¬
swered her in broad German, and she re
plied in effusive English. It seemed to
her that the woman began to regard her
with suspicion, to question if she were a
beggar or what. The man opened his
purse. ^ ’Violet shook her head, and the
tears sprang into her eyes, “I have lost
my way,” she persisted. “If I could find
the Terrace, I should be all right. I
know the way well from there.” While
she spoke, somebody else stopped and
listened, arrested bv her voice.
“Violet! Violet!” somebody said, close
at her elbow; and Violet answered:
“Oh, John! . John _ , .... 1 is it you?
“Yes, it-is I. I found I oouldn t live
without you. And Violet was in his
arms, safe and happy and the German
gentleman and his wile smiled at each
other and at Violet, who no longer - •«
anybody in the crowded square but John
Dabney. -Harper’s liuzaar.
COVINGTON. GEORGIA, WEljlESDAY, MARCH SI. 1886.
THE ZOUAVES’ GOAT.
And How He Overthrew the
Commanding Officer*.
A Remarkable Quadruped that it Lacked
Respect for Rank.
‘I never see a goat,” remarked Col.
Fred Martin of the Brooklyn elevated the
other day, “but I am reminded of abeau
tiful animal once owned by Billy Wilson’s
Zouaves. I can’t truthfully assert that
Billy owned the goat; he didbi’t; it be
longed to the regiment, but as Billy
owned the regiment it’s pretty much the
same thing. That goat was a jjoy forever,
and his peculiar talents were largely en
hanced by the disinterested e'fforts of his
numerous friends in Billy Wilson’s corn
mand.
“I made the acquaintance: while cam¬
paigning along the northern Gulf shore.
Billy’s crowd were penned up as a garri¬
son in Fort Pickens, and the rebs held
all the Florida coast, so that the butter¬
nut gunners at Fort Barrancas used to
amuse themselves plumping shells into
the sand heap on which Pickens stood,
Santa Rosa Island’s its name, a real pret-
ty name for a horrible locality. About
the only thing those shells accomplished
besides keeping the hands of the gunners
i Q was to spoil the parade ground. Every
time one exploded it would blow out a
hole big enough to hide four cows in, and
this just worried Gen. Israel Vogdez,
who was commandant there, until he
couldn’t stand it any longer, and he set
Billy’s men to work with shovels filling
up the holes, and, as there was a fresh
crop every day, Billy’s men got pretty
tired. They weren’t fond of work, any
way. You see, about 500 of them had
died or been killed off before they struck
Pickens, but those left were game chick¬
ens, and didn’t take kindly to shovelling.
“It was hot on Santa Rosa—just the
place for Billy’s men to get acclimated
in. Vogdez was the best read man in
the army, and he didn’t take kindly to
the boys’ social ways, and he took pains,
with the able assistance of the Confeder
ate gunners, to keep down their exuberant
spirits. One day, when a gang of ’em
were toying with a sand pit, and filling
it at the rate of about one shovelful in
two hours, the general rushes out from
his casement, hauls the lazy detachment
up in line, and goes for them baldheaded.
He wasn’t more’n five feet tall, Israel
wasn’t, but as he was most as thick and
as wide, he made up for it. Standing on
the edge of the crater, in a costume that
was mostly trousers, he lectured, stoop
jug lower xvith every point laid down,
“As it was, he made a lovely target,
and that cussed goat who was loafing in
the parade got on to the range, and all of
a sudden, after many skips, jerks, and
prances, he let himself off, and hit the
General like a 15-inch round shot, piling
him head first into the hole.
“It was an awful moment for Billy’s
men. There’s a time to laugh, the Scrip
ture says, and Billy’s men thought it was
there, but they didn’t dare grasp the op
portunity, and they feared for the goat
whom they loved. Vogdez was awful
mad. He made BiUy promise to have
the goat massacred, and Billy gave the
order, but it was never executed .—New
York Sun.
A Hunted Hunter.
Of all tbe native birds in Florida none
is more interesting than the Heron tribes.
The king of all these tribes is the great
Blue Heron. It grows to an extraordinary
size. Captain Dummitt, who planted the
most noted orange grove in the State,
killed one on a bayou near Mosquito La
goon fifteen years ago which measured
nine feet seven inches from the point of
«* bil1 *® the ti P s of its toe8 - Tbe ooast -
w i se bayous and lagoons are usually dot
ted with small mangrove islands. In
South Florida the mangrove grows to a
height of sixty and eighty feet, but north
of Cape Canaveral it is a gnarled bush
fro® ten to fifteen feet high. The bushes
cover the little islands as hair covers a
man’s scalp, The islands are veritable
thickets, and woe betide the man who is
lost in them, for they are infested with
«and flies, red bugs, mosquitoes and scor
pions. ' Creeks, intense in crookedness
snd of uneven tide, wind among these
islands like the paths of a labyrinth.
These solitary creeks are the favorite fish
ing grounds of the great blue heron.
Some of the happiest days of my life
have been spent in hunting the bird in
tkese haunts. Seated in the bow of a
Canadian canoe, with my gun on my
knees and a guide in the 6tem, I was
noiselessly poled over the winding creeks
beneath the arching mangroves. At
sharp turns there was frequently a scream
of affright. Huge wings were unfolded.
The great bird wafted itself into the air,
and was brought to earth by a shot well
aimed. It is dangerous sport, however,
for a stranger. Even the best of guides
are sometimes lost in the green labyrinth
and suffer untold tortures. Unpracticed
hunters are apt to lose their eyes; for the
beak of the great Blue Heron is as sharp
^ # ^ ^ ^ neck ^ jm .
mense SWC e p and great power. The bird
^tes with marvelous precision and with
^ rap jdit y 0 f lightning. When wound
ed it is especially dangerous. I was once
struck on the cheek within half an inch
tkp eyf , q>he blow was made by a
erippied snowy heron on an island in
'
Lake Worth. It wast after twilight.
The darkness saved aye. I was in a
thicket looking for bfcthat I had shot
wliile on the wing, iw a snowy spot
in the undistinguishalloliage,und took
it for a dead bird. Ajstoopcd to pick
it ceiving up my cheek thrust was pi|d Jletto. as though re
a from This ad
venture made me ejmely cautious
while huntin g herons, j finally led to
a laughable scene. i
In the spring of 187^was encamped
in the heart of Turnb^Swamp, about
eight miles from the jad of Indian
River. The weather w very dry, and
there was much less wal in the swamp
than usual. I was luting paroquets,
wild turkeys, wood duq, deer, bears,
wild-cats and pumas. The swamp is
streaked with savannas hundred yards
wide and miles in extei Deer becom
ing scarce in my vicinitj set a savanna
on fire one morning \tle on a turkey
hunt. After the burner of the dead
grass the new crop won serve to bait
the deer within a fortnkt. At sunset I
was miles away from cs \ At dusk I
saw several gobblers fljnto a grove of
tall cypresses, and m; ed them, with
the intention of return;; in the morn-
ing at daylight and sho ng them from
the trees. The redden sky gave me
bearings on my wayjtack to camp.
After wading for ten .mutes through
mud and water, listenir to the doleful
music of a death owl, emerged upon
the burning savanna. The sky was
overcast. It was as dal as Erebus. A
brisk south wind was ’riving the fire
northward. The flami were leaping
over the tall, diy grassland tinging the
clouds and the tops of je cypresses an
orange hue.
Suddenly I saw in th lurid light far
above me four great Bin Herons. They
were in line, flapping tfcir wings with
the precision of machines. sLlder. Instinctively
I drew my gun to my On in
spiration I discharged itjfor the “sight”
was invisible. The secud barrel did
good work. The third hron in the line
stopped, fell ten feet, antlcame swooping
toward the ground in grett circles. I saw
that the bird would drop! some distance
away, end ran forward tojmark the spot.
But tht burnt part of the nvanna, despite
the lurid light from the tilling wave of
fire in the south, was % black as the
bellying darkness of the ri jud*. I heard
tbe Wra stiXAe tlie eareu Wi»«. -
did not see where it fell The black
ashes of the burnt grass were ankle deep.
I searched for the prize, Rut did not find
it.
I was perplexed. Suddenly a feathery
form arose from the ashes ten feet away.
It seemed to hover above me. It was the
heron. It had elevated tie white plume
on its head as an angry cockatoo draws
forward its topknot. The plume alone
could be distinctly seen in the darkness,
to^artedf d " CUrdli ?k *'w dLlI 1
bird darted for me. I knew the the danger.
On the spur of the moment I turned and
ran toward the blazing savanna. lhe
bird gave chase, screaming frightfully at
every jump. I divined the situation. Its
wing was broken, and it was thoroughly
infuriated. If it struck me in the rear
with its sharp and powerful beak I fan
cied that its head would go through me.
In my haste to secure my prey I bad ne
glected to withdraw the empty shells
from the fowling-piece. It would not
to stand the chance of a fight by
the gun as a club, for if was so dark
I could not guage the bird s distance.
Besides the bird would be facing the light,
and I would be facing the darkness.
continued my retreat; I ran as though
evil one was after me. In my flight
threw open the barrels of my gun,
drew out the empty shells. In
haste I reloaded and relocked the barrels,
still running at the top of my
Then I stopped, wheeled about
banged away with both barrels.
bird shrieked worse than ever and
untouched.
Again I sped toward the burning
I bad regained my composure, however.
Fear gave way to mirth. I laughed
right at the absurdity of the
blessing my stars that no friends
near to chaff me. Again I reloaded
gun, turned and fired. I was on the
of the blazing canes, and had a fair
of my pursuer. At the second shot
heron fell, and the impetus from its
was so great that it came against me,
wings, neck and beak, in a limp lump.
had shot it through the neck. Its
was attached by the skin of the
alone.
I carried the prize to camp. Its
was the perfection of feathery
Old Conner, my guide, was awaiting
return with a supper of roasted
and yams. The bird was so tall that
ner fastened its beak to the back ot
coat-collar, drew the neck over my
and the feet touched the ground. He
ward severed the head from the
and hurled it across the fire at ttie
of the palmetto—I have seen performers
a circus handle a knifein a similar
the sharp beak entered the tree,and
quivering there like a
bodkin; and for all that I know t
mains there to this day.— Amos J.
mingt in the Cook.
Edison claims that in ths new phono¬
graph upon which he is at work,
sound will be amplified four tunes
than the human voice,
i
SCIENTIFIC' SCRAPS.
Tin is converted by extreme cold Into
a seini-i 1 -erystaIhne . mass having large cavi
ties. The pipes of a church organ have
been so affected by the cold as to be na
, on S r sonoious.
,
The continuous heating of cast iron foi
several days in a vacuum, without melt
ing, is found by Monsieur L. Forquignon
to cause the metal to become malleable,
with a uniformly black surface, dotted
with black grains of amorphous graphite.
Recent observations, according to Mr.
E. J. Miers, of the British Museum, show
that crabs do not reach great depths in
the The Challenger expedition ...
ocean.
obtained few specimens from points more
than 400 fathoms below the surface, and
only a single specimen was found at a
depth of 1,000 fathoms.
An investigation by Mr. W. F. Smith,
ail American chemist, indicates that good
cider never contains less than three and
one-half per cent. of alcohol, and should
have about five per cent. The acetic
ac jd in genuine cider vinegar may fall
be i 0 w four per cent., but a good article
should contain five per cent., and from
fj ve and one-half to seven cent, when
prepared from the better grades of cider,
A very noticeable change has taken
place in the grass growth of the open
sheep plains of Australia since its civili¬
zation. The grass originally grew in
large tussocks some distance apart, but
now has assumed the appearance of 8
sward, owing to its having stooled out
when fed upon by sheep and cattle, and
i from the seed having been trampled into
the ground, where, in the absence of
bush fires, it germinated.
801,16 remarkable representations of a
bouquet were made by Henry DaRon
j the late English microscopist. Each of
them was preparei on g ass, rnm c
| 804108 and to and the hair naked of Brazlhan looked butterflies like smal
eye
shot, but under a powerful instrument
showed eighty-two distinct flowers o'
various shades and colors. There are
i 1 some fifty of these microscope slides in
I i this country, it is said, and they are held
so valuable that money can scarcely pur
chase them.
In some recent scientific experiments
j on the effects of cold, two frogs were
frozen solid in a temperature of about
i Fahrenheit, and kept in
! condition for half an hour. On
slowl v the y recovered perfectly, but
.
was found hn S er exposure invariably
killed the animals. The experiment was
! ^ed of freezin g hermetically sealed meat,
1 80 48 to kil1 its bacterial organisms and
thus render it incapable of putrefying,
It was found, however, that so low a
temperature as 80 degrees below zero
would not destroy the vitality of micro
It was thus made clear ~ that
time by amomentary freezing of it
j jhandoned
. . ., .....
The Doom of Human Hair.
A startling prediction comes from the
jft ne teenth Century Clufc. Dr. William
Hammond advances the opinion that
| j n abou j one thousand years, which will
c a iry us to the year of Our Lord 2885-6,
aP raan j f j n( j be ba i d . Unless the
g enera tion living in that age should
to counterfeit their ancestors
, ^ be presen t day by wearing wigs
gmoothty polished beads destitute of
covering will be visible from
| f am ;i y circles of theatres or the
of churches.
Dr. Hammond does not undertake
predict to what men and women of
distant era will resort to supply this
ciency of hair, or whether they will
gard it as a deficiency at all. He
makes a proposition based on his
vation of the steady increase of
without even expressing an
whether the decline of hair will be
blemish or an ornamentation.
the esteemed doctor is inclined to
lt as the tatter, since his own head
lates the days of 2885, except as to a
filamentous fringe which borders the
of the skull.
It is difficult to conjecture to what
universal baldness may lead. If
presen t fashions should pn vail in
days it is not improbable that ladies
enjjdoy distinguished artists to
Mikado figures, birds of bright
or indescribable animals on their
^ enterprising men of business may
the smooth space for advertising purpoe
es. If ladies decide upon wearing
the business of the hair-dresser and the
lady’s maid will be considerably lighten
ad.
If Dr. Hammond is correct in his pre
diction it is certain that the termagant
w if e 0 f 2885 will not be able to take as
firm a hold upon he husband as the wife
0 f tbe present time. It may also be ques
tioned whether the politicians of that
date will be any more barefaced than
t bo se of 1885, even if they hould be
mor e bareheaded.— New York Wtrld.
—-
She Knew They Were ?»ressed.
1 There’s a huckster, mum, at the
door,’ - said the iiired girl to a St Louis
lady one day last week, “as wants to sell
you a chicken.”
“Are they dressed?”
“Oh, yes, muni, they’re dressed."
“You’re - u. : !" sure, are you?”
“Yes, mum. quit* sure, I seed thf
feathers on ’em meaell”
VOL. XII, NO: 19.
CHANGE THEIR COLOR
Wonders of Animal .... Life in
California.
Bats that Live in Trees and Lizards that
Drop their Tails.
It is often said of California that things
are reversed here, says a letter to the
New York Times. This is true as to cli¬
mate, and might be applied to the habits j
of animals, as some of the squirrels live
in the ground and rats in the trees. The
ground squirrels are particularly noticea
ble on the mesa land, and in the canon
^ ^ of thy rats were met at every
The largest are on the ground, in
^ form of mu**, 0 r mounds three or
(our f eet high, and made up' of twigs and
sticks, corncobS) variou8 articles
rtolen by the wood rats , which are noto¬
rj oug thieves. Other nests are built at
the bases of trees and about them, the
ma ss of material being so securely bound
t oge ther that it is difficult to tear them
apart The nests in the treeB resemble
tbe squi^ei nests seen in Central Park in
lie Autumn, though they were not more
similar
nest is found here by a rich steel-gray
squirrel. These graceful creatures were
extremely common, and were often treed
by the watchful hound that made occa¬
sional “sorties” into the brush. On one
of these incursions a fierce snarl was
heard, followed by a deep baying and
yelping, music telling of large game, and
by the time we reached the spot beyond
some live oaks, a big wild cat was seen
climbing up the sides of an alder. A
bullet brought her down for the dog, and
being only wounded, the fur flew for a
few minutes, the hound soon silencing
her, getting well scratched in the melee,
but apparently satisfied with her share in
the sport. In climbing over the rocks
numbers of lizards and tree toads were
found, tbe latter affording a striking ex
ample of protective resemblance. Most
of the boulders were of granite, and pre¬
sented a mottled surface. Several times
I noticed a small toad leap seemingly
from in front of me, and finally, by ex
amining the rocks ahead, I saw a smaU
one, and, proceeding carefully, secured
it. In color it was a fac simile of the
boulder, having a streaked white ground
dotted with black, so that the animal
appeared to be a mere projection of the
stone upon which it rested. It was one
of the tree toads, and had delicate disks
upon its feet, which enabled it to climb
up a pane of glass later on.
To determine the limit of the variation
of color this specimen was kept in con¬
finement, and placed on successive
objects of a different color. The first
was a sheet of white paper, and some
hours later the animal had turned several
shades lighter, the ground color becom
“S U 8 hter > und tlle black 8 P ots fadifl S
out 80 tbat H 10 ? were almost invisible.
From this it was placed upon a black
base, and before long the black spots
grew perceptibly darker, and finally
seemed to pervade the entire surface, the
skin assuming a dark hue, quite sufficient
for protection. Before other experi
ments could be tried a horned toad, tbat
was being similarly treated, succeeding in
injuring it, so that other specimens will
, have to be obtained, but the above serves
to show that this tree toad could adapt
1 itself to a black, white, or spotted rock,
and find almost perfect protection.
Among the damp leaves a number of
lizards were discovered, varying from
four to twelve inches in length, and were
noticeable for their snake-like appear
ance. One specimen had lost its tail,
and my companion suggested that it had
thrown it—a faculty possessed by several
geckos. The operation of casting I had
observed in another though smaller liz
ard a few days previous, and it
: is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable
methods of protection found in the ani
mal kingdom. The lizard observed
myself was a small road lizard of
country, seemingly taking the place
the chameleon, though being a
ground animal, and very common
the roadsides. Ordinarily it is somewhat
difficult to catch them, but this specimen
I was fortunate in surprising in open
ground. In attempting to capture it I
struck the sand sharply in its near vicini
ty, not, however, touching it. The mo
ment the blow was given I saw the
lizard make a sudden turn as if lashing
its tail, and then the latter became de
tached and hopped up and down, while
the lizard itself darted away so quickly
that it was almost impossible to follow it;
indeed, the sufficient leaping and squirming tail
was quite to divert the atten¬
tion. I immediately tail took out my and watch it
and placed the in my hand
moved vigorously for two minutes, and
for some time longer showed signs of life,
The dismembered part was remarkable in
its resemblance to a large worm, its mo
tions helping to complete the simile, and
it was evident that the pursuer would be
immediately attacked by it, Blinking lizard time it a
worm, thus giving loss the wily tail might
to escape. The of the be
disastrous, sometimes were it not replaced by a new
one, and two new ones grow,
giving the animal a curious appearance.
A living specimen in my possession Examina¬ shows
a new tail almost complete.
tion of the tail shows that the vertebrae
are joined very closely, and a sharp jerk
on the part of the animal is quite suffi¬
cient to cast it. As soon as the tail is
thrown off the stump is elevated the as wound high
as possible, the probably gro.uid, to keep
away from
In Alter Tears.
In after years, when buds that scent
The air to-day ’ncath mows are bent,
And when the gold-emblazoned sky,
That seems some prond King’s canopy,
Is like a torch-lit funeral tent;
And when life’s sweetest days are spent,
And one by one our joys are rent
From us, and song is changed to sigh
In after years—
I shall not moan, but be content
If only some dear dream be lent
Of youth and love’s wild ecstacy;
If I may see in memory
The day twain lives in one were blent
In after years.
—New Orleans Times-Demoerot,
HUMOROUS,
Home Rule—The baby’s.
The ghost of a smile—Smelling the
cork,
It is a curious fact that rich relatives
are apt to bo distant ones.
“What is your idea of love, Mr. Sin
n j ck f” “Three meals a day and well
c00 ]£ed.
A woman never so fully realizes her
dependence upon man as when she under¬
tokes to sharpen a lead pencil,
Mary (to young
“Adieu, adieu, Mary’s little brother—
“That fellow’s adieu’d, ain’t he?”
Japanese girls bronze their lips, and it
is a significant fact that they always re¬
quire rebronzing on Monday morning.
Literary man (laughingly)—Yes, I took
to literature naturally. I was vaccinated
from a quill, you know. Friend (grimly)
A poetess says, “He gazed upon my
burning eyes and fled. This would
ggem to indicate that he was not a mem¬
ber of the fire department,
« <How do you do> Maryt rve been
^ to catc h up with you for half an
hour. I knew you just as soon as I set
eyes on that bonnet. I’ve known it as
long as I can remember, It is such re
marks ag tMs that fiu ^ female heart
with bitterness.
A Chicago boy of fourteen years re
«««y ran away from home to become a
P ,rate W- He was captured by a
PoHceman and returned to Ins parents,
He didn’t become that kind of a king,
but after \ bnef *temew with his father
6 was acll ’ n S
They Had Met Before.
A short time ago a gray-haired old
man was in one of the hotels of Cen
tralia, El., when a stranger got off a
train which had just arrived, and passed
through the waiting room. He eyed the
old man closely, and over the face of the
latter there dashed a look of recognition.
“Pardon me,” said the stranger, “your
f acR bas a familiar look, yet I cannot
pjace you. Perhaps I am mistaken. 1
II Oh, no,” said the elderly gentleman.
it I know you are not mistaken. I know
you like a book.”
“Indeed?"
it Yes, sir. You used to board with
me.
“Is it possible F’ said the stranger.
“Yes, sir, and you left without paying
your board.”
“That, sir, cannot be," was the indig¬
nant man’s answer, as he became more
an( j more confused.
“And,” continued the old man, “you
left in the night and neglected to take
your luggage."
By this time the stranger was furious.
He grew red with anger, and intimated
that only the gray hairs of the tormentor
gayed him from violent treatment.
11 Oh, you needn’t get mad, said the
0 id gent, remaining provokingly cool,
“You did all these things, and I caa
prove it."
t* See, here, old man, who the deuoe
y0U) an d where are you fromF’
am Capt. Jack Warr^r, and
you are Quartermaster Miirphy, and you
escaped from Libby while I was quarter
master of that institution.”
“Great Scott 1” was the stranger’s ejac
ulafcion, as he warmly clasped the hand
of the old ex-Confederate. “Are you,
indeed, the old commissary? Well, I did
board with you a while, and I gave vou
the slip, too," he laughingly continued,
Quartermaster Murphy belonged to a
New York regiment, and was captured
and sent to Libby. It was the practice
of the Confederates to allow prisoners
who had been practitioners of medicine
to attend the sick of the prison hospitaL
They were given the freedom of the
prison, to come and go at will.
One day a green sentry would not al
low these men to pass, when he was
sharply reprimanded by Capt. Gibbs,
and was told that those men who worc
ribbons on the labels of their coats should
pass unmolested.
Murphy overheard this and took ad
vantage of it. He had some red lining
j n hi s ves t, and, tearing off a strip, be
pblne r d the .* physician insignia on his coat,
-
and ’ watching an opportunity, . he got
past the guard and escaped over into tha
Union lines— Cine nati Con cud- Qa
telle.
Impossible to Counterfeit It.
n Speaking of oleomargarine,” remarked
McSwilligen this morning, “it has oe
curred to me that there is one kind of
butter which will always defy counter*
f citing."
“Ah I What kind of butter is that?'.
asked Squildig.
, “The goat.”- —Pittsburg ChronicU.