Newspaper Page Text
The Covington Star.
-
J, W. ANDERSON, Editor and Proprietor.
Walt for Me.
8 f»ward mils the little stream
I Whero the wagoner cools his team,
whore, between the banks of moss,
( .Stand the stepping-stones to cross.
D’er them comes a little maid,
I Ijaughing, not a hit afraid;
bother, i there upon the shore,
Crossed them safely just before.
This the little lassie’s plea—
Wait for me, wait for met
ftli, so swift the waters run-—
I One false step ’twas all undone;
Inttle heart begins to beat,
I "Fearing for the little feet,
Boon her fear will all be lost,
[ When the stepping stones are Crossed,
(liree more yet on which to stand—
I Twopnqre—one more—then on land!
’Tis the little lassie’s plea—
Wait for me, wait for me!
ft b, for you, my laughing lass,
[ When the years have come to pass,
Hay One still be near to guide,
[ While you cross Life’s river wide,
When no helping hand is near,
| None, if you should call, to hear—
Dunk, however far away,
[ Mother still knows all you say;
E’en in heaven heeds your plea—
Wait for me, wait for me!
\-0. C, Bingham, in Washington New?.
A Treasure Of the War.
ET AN EX-CON FEDERATE.
[When lerman’s Johnston was falling back before
advance through Northern
Borgia, and before the conflicts at
ki Pine Mountains, I was continually
[the front with a band of scouts. We
petrated the Yankee lines time
pe, but always to return to headquarters
|th the same report. Sherman had one
[the | grandest armies in the world, and
was in such strength that he could
hit Johnston in front and pass his
Inks at the same time.
[One na day, when scouting between Mari¬
and Etowah River, the Federal cav
fy passed and cut off my retreat by the
bhxvays, and for six or seven hours I
Is obliged to secrete myself in a thicket,
[was in leaving this hiding place that
panic across a dog which was doubtless
rned in the near vicinity, but had been
[ghtenod Ishing. into the woods by the skir
Ho took to me kindly, and had
bged my heels for half an hour when
[suddenly b leaped aside and began paxv
the ground at the foot of a large
reh. 1 halted for a moment and saw
pt the earth was fresh as if a grave ha /1
len dug. It was but natural to con¬
ude that some one had been shot near
i and that his comrades had given him
trial.
[Upon closely examining the tree 1
kind the fresh-cut-lines: “D. S. G.”
ey were not where one would have
ked for them, but within three feet
i ground. I had no doubt
it a dead man rested there, and I
ked up a club and drove the dog away
under the impression that he was hungry
and determined to get at the body. I
succeeded after a couple of days in get¬
ting back into the Confederate lines, and
the incident did not recur to me for long
year
One summer’s day in 1870, while I was
Big from Rome to Cartcrsville, I formed
e acquaintance of a stranger who gave
s name as Charles Gains, and who
limed to be a Virginian. He said lie
is looking for improved land, and had
fen advised to locate near Marietta.
This story was straight enough, except
tha I did not believe he was a Virginian.
'Be hadn’t the look nor the dialect, and
1 Bfc'-’i I came to quiz him about certain
foci lions around Richmond lie soon bo
Mn. confused.
was then a detective in tlie employ of
several railroad lines, and it was only
natural for me to ask myself why this man
■Id lied tome. I took pains to let him
km v that I was willing to answer all his
HjUcst ;ons, and directly he began asking
^^■out ■■arietta the section of country between
and the Etowah. He wanted
to know the value of land; if much forest
been cleared since the war; if there
been any finds of treasure around
Marietta, and various other things. He
^^Bming ^■irked the answers out of me without
to be more than generally i 111 < r
^^■cd, B and while I was somehow suspic-
111 of him, could not exactly
om what to place my linger. But lie had
^^■cstion, ^■d. Why? 1 kept asking myself this
but could not answer it.
■He had a ticket to Cartcrsville. and be
loic we readied that place I had made
my mind to go with him to Marietta,
^■hat decided me was this: He sat on
F outside of the seat and a
(ing off.' to the water-cooler knocked
it It rested for a moment in
and I plainly read the name
p” inside in gilt letters. The name
« maker was above it, but I could
fBh it. No hat sold in
puld id bear the name of Boston,
he get it? By and by I made a
J examination of his boots. He
pight them south of the Ohio. I
fied the same in regard to his elothing.
fe was trying to deceix’e me. What
pt could he hax’e in view?
[When xve reached Marietta both of
nt to the same hotel. I thought
?an to fight shy of me and I took
keep out of his way. During
‘ning he asked several townspeople
;ard to the country north of
d engaged of a livery man a
Re for the next day. I did a heap
thinking that night over the stranger’s
case but when morning came I was none
the wiser for it. His horse was brought
around after breakfast and he rode off. I
was tempted to get another and follow
him, but by what right? What had he
done or what was he going to do? I
went up to my room on an errand, not yet
decided whether to go or stay, and in the
hallway my foot struck a memorandum
book. I carried it into my room, and the
first thing my eye caught was the name
inside the cover, “George Paige.” It was
a well-worn book, and nearly full of en
tries. Most of them seemed to relate to
trips between Boston and Providence,
but near the back end I "found one read
mg:
“About ten miles north of Marietta,
Ga.; turn to right where highway bends
to left; go into woods about ten rods;
look for twin beech tree, with initials T).
S. G.’ cut low down.
My heart gave a jump, That was the
spot where the Yankee cavalry run me
into hiding, and these were the initials I
had seen on the tree! Had this stranger
come down to unearth a skeleton ? I was
wondering over the matter when I heard
tlie clatter of hoofs and knew that he had
returned. He had discovered the loss of
his book. Now, then, I did what you
may call a mean trick. I pocketed the
book, got down stairs without being seen,
and went to the nearest Justice and de¬
manded a warrant for the arrest of George
Paige for robbery. Before he had ceased
looking for his lost memorandum a con
stable made him prisoner. Meanwhile I
had engaged a horse and wagon, bor
rowed an empty tea-chest and a spade,
and, as Paige went to jail, I drove out of
town. I wanted to unearth that skeleton
myself.
It was six years since I had left it, but
I had but little difficulty in finding the
grave, although the beech tree had been
cut down. Indeed, I walked almost
straight to it, and, though the initials
were indistinct, they were there as wit¬
nesses. In half an hour 1 had unearthed
the “corpse.” He, or it, consisted of a
rotten coffee-sack wrapped around a
moldy blue blouse, and inside the blouse
were three gold watches, $420 in gold
$1,203 in greenbacks, half a dozen gold
rings, a fine diamond pin, two gold
bracelets, a gold-lined , cup, a full set of
cameo jewelry, a solid silver back comb,
and about four pounds of silver spoons
and forks, the whole find being worth to
me nearly $ 8 , 000 .
The stuff had been deposited there by
two or three or perhaps half a dozen fora
gers, and much of it had been stolen
from the dead on the battle fields.
When the treasure had been secured I
drove on to Cartcrsville, and from thence
sent the horse back and telegraphed to
Paige my regrets at his situation, as I
had discovered my mistake in accusing
him. lie was held a day or two and
discharged. He rode out to the spot,
found the treasure gone, and left the
State without a word as to what his real
errand had been .—Detroit Free Press.
Genius of the Mexican People.
Tlie Mexican government, poor as you
call it, nevertheless supports 10,000 pub¬
lic schools, where you can see the poor
Indian boy with his slate and primer, as
well as tlie young man or young woman,
solving problems in mathematics, chem¬
istry, etc., with facilities equal to many
colleges in the United States.
If you pass through tlie Academy of
San Carlos you will see pictures executed
by native Mexican artists in the highest
style of art, comparing most favorably
with any production of tlie academies
of design of Paris, Rome, Munich, or
elsewhere.
Go with me, if you please, to a narrow
lane in the small but picturesque city of
Cuernavaca, and there ill a small room,
working with impliments of his own
make, you will observe a native, whom
you would perhaps class among the peons,
carving a crucifix in wood, so highly ar
tistic, with the expression of suffering on
our saviour’s face so realistic that any
foreign sculptor of the highest renown
would be proud to call it a creation of
his own.
Again, visit with me the village of
Amatlan de los Reyes, near Cordoba, and
observe the exquisitely embroidered ltui
pilla of some native woman, surpassing
in many respects the designs of the art
needlexvork societies of New York or
Boston—not to mention the tine filagree
work, figures in clay and xvax, as exc
cuted by the natives in or near the city
of Mexico, the art of pottery of Guada
lajara, the gourds, calabashes, alld
wooden trays highly embellished by n::
tive artists whose sense or acceptation of
art is not acquired by tedious study at
some academy of design, but is inborn
and spontaneously expressed in such
creations.
Only yesterday, in mv xv.ilks about
town, 1 entered the National Monte de
Piedad, where I heard the sxveetest and
most melodious strains from agrand pianc
of American make, and beheld, to my
astonishment, that the artist xvas a na
ti\ r e, a cargador, or public porter, clad
in cheap sombrero, blouse, xvhite cotton
trousers, and sandals, xx itli his brass plat:
and rope across his shoulders, ready to
carry this very instrument on his baek tc
I the residence of some better-fax-ored
j brother from a foreig land,—JfGVflU
| Financitr,
COVINGTON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2*. 1886.
CELESTIAL HUMOR.
Some Illustrations of Chinese
Wit and Fun.
Stories With a Familiar fling, and Olhers
j ' With an Oriental Flavor.
^ hina review publishes a collee
j tion of Chinese humorous anecdotes, se
i 1 d Bom the Ilsiao Lin Kuang, or
Book of Laughter, some of which are
, interesting because they are identical
with stories familiar to western civiliza
Bon, while others have a peculiarly Celes
''al accent:
Two persons standing over a stove on a
cold day, warming themselves, were over
heard indulgingin the following dialogue:
j ^°- I> apathetic, and given to verbiage,
addressed No. 2, reputedly hot-tempered
and decisive, whose clothes lie noticed
smoldering, as follows: “My dear friend
Biere is something I would like to speak
to you about; I have seen it for some
Bine, and all along have wanted to tell
you, but as people say your temper is
fiery, I hesitated; on the other hand, if I
do not speak you may be the loser, so I
have 00,11,1 to the conclusion at last to ask
y° ur permission to do so.” “Out with
ir ,” said the other. “Well, your clothes
arp burning,” mildly continued No. 1.
“Why the deuce,” cried No. 2 in a pas
; 8io, b as he observed considerable damage
already done, “could you not speak at
once? “Its true then what people say;
what temper he has got,” muttered No. 1,
as he lazily moved off.
The following is told of an incorrigibly
j bile offspring of a literary father: A
youngster, having a great disinclination
j to study, was shut up in a closet, w.th
strict injunctions to apply himself. Steal¬
ing near, the parent, to his delight, heard
the boy droning over his book, and was
presently still more pleased by hearing
the supposed student exclaim: “I un¬
derstand it.” The excited father rushed
ln , crying out, “I am proud, my son, that
you have at last mastered that work.”
“Yes,” said the boy, “I always thought
books were written, but to-day I have
discovered they are printed.”
“Come home to dinner,” cried a good
housewife to her husband at work in a
; field, i . All right,” he shouted, . • as soon
as I have hid my hoe. At dinner his
wife remonstrated with him for shouting
RO loudly about hiding his hoe, “I am
certain,” said she, “the neighbors have
| llcard you, and someone has already stol¬
j en it. Struck w ith the remark, the man
i returned to the field, and sure enough the
; hoc was gone. On returning to his house,
and impressed with the wisdom of her
j previous caution, he whispered into his
wife’s ear, “The hoc is stolen.
The following impromptu, though con¬
sequent on a fall, can not be looked on as
the outcome of deficient understanding.
A man stumbled and fell. Trying to
rise, he again fell. “Hang it,” he cried)
“if I had known I was to fall again, I
: would not have tried to get up.”
A woman was fanning the corpse of her
husband, and being asked by the neigh
I bors why she fanned a dead man in the
middle of winter, she replied: “My hus¬
band’s last words were, ‘Wife wait till I
am cold before you marry again.
The feminine propensity for concealing
age, and resenting impertinent questions
in regard to it, is common to all times
and nationalities; but this does not de¬
tract from our admiration of the trick bv
which the truth was got at- m tlie follow¬
ing instance: A man newly married,
thought when his wife unveiled for the
first time, that she looked rather old and
wrinkled. Telling her so, lie asked her
real age, when she replied, “45 or 4(>."
; “You wrote in the marriage contract 38
years,” said lie, “but 3011 look even more
than 45 or 40.” At last she admitted 54.
Tim husband was still doubtful; so he bo
thought himself of a stratagem for get
ting at the truth, Jumping up he said,
“j mus t cover up the salt before going to
or P ] S e the rats will eat it all before
morning. “Well,” said his wife, laugh
ing, j “I have heard of and seen many
strange things in the sixty-eight y'ears of
my life; but I never saw or heard of rats
eating salt before.”
! A noted liar told friend that he
once a
j had at home three precious things; a bul
j ock which could run one thousand li a
day; a fowl which crowed at the begin
ning of each watch, day and night, and a
j ,] 0 g that could read books. The friend
j intimated that he would lose no time in
| seeing, xvith his own eyes, these marvels,
\ The man did not expect this, as his
house xvas somexvhat distant; so he went
, home and told his wife that he had got
i caught at last, and that to-morrow the
man would arrive and lie would be dis
graced. “Never mind.” said his spouse,
"leave that to me; it xvill be all right;
only you must keep out of sight.” Next
morning tlie x-isitor arrix’ed, and, being
met- by the mistress, asked where her
j husband xvas. “He has gone to Pekin.”
she replied. “When xvill he be back?”
“In eight or nine days.” “Why, how
can he bo so quick ?” Ho has gone off on
our fast bullock, and can do it easily.”
• “I hear you have also a wonderful fowl,”
f. a jd the visitor, and, behold, as he was
; speaking, a small cock crew. “That’s
jt ( ” said the wife, “he crows, at the be
ginning of each xvatch, and a!»o when a
visitor arrix-es.” “I would also like to
j sff your learned dog,” he said. “Ah,"
said she, ‘I am sorry; but you see we are
very poor; so he keeps a school in the
city.”
A doctor opened a drug store, but for
a long time had no customers; at last
one customer came. When supplying his
wants, the vender observed that the drug
was full of weevils. ‘What is this!’’
said the buyer. “Kiaug tsan” (medici¬
nal larva;), replied the doctor. “But,”
said the man, “Kiang tsan are always
dead, ”“Yes,” said the doctor, “but you
see they could not remain dead after eat¬
ing my medicine.”
A barber shaving a customer’s head
drew blood, and put one of his fingers on
it. Again he made a cut, and put down
another finger and soon till he had no
more fingers free. “Ah,” said he, as lie
paused in his work, “a barber's is a diffi¬
cult trade, we ought to have a thousand
fingers.” "•
How theSlinli of Persia Lives.
The Shall leads a very simple life, says
a Teheran letter to the London Globe.
He is an early riser, and generally an
hour or two after sunrise emerges from
the inner apartments, has a walk in the
garden, and then receives some Ministers
in audience. He is occupied with affairs
of State till about noon. He then par¬
takes of his midday meal, eating frugally,
and generally of one dish only, He
takes no wine with his meals, although
he lias the permission of his medical ad¬
visers to drink it. After the midday
meal he retires for an hour or two to the
inner apartments. Very frequently, too,
he has this meal in the women's apart¬
ments. lie conies out again for three or
four hours in the afternoon and evening,
Very often he goes out shooting, and
then leaves early in the morning and re
turns in the evening, having thoroughly
tired all his men and animals. In his
leisure hours he likes to read the favorite
Persian poets and historical works and
books on science and art; he also occa
sionallv writes poetry, which his own
people tell him is superior to that of
Hafiz. The unbiased critic can only say
that the Shah’s poetry is above mediocri
ty. In spite of his having been twice in
Europe, where he saw much of the ways
of Kings and Emperors, he has not yet,
in Persia, sat down to a meal with any
one else, has not yet not,' attended any State
dinner, and docs as a role, return s
salute. His vices an few, his virtues and
good qualities ..iany*, <frthftugh we may
say that he is one of the most sensible
men in his dominions, and the best ruler
Persia has had for over a century. That
he has not done as much for the country
as it was hoped lie would do is not entire¬
ly his own fault, as I may show in future
letters.
An Exile’s IIold on Savages.
There is a tale told of a sea captain,
who, in a distant corner of the southern
seas, visited an undiscovered or unex
plored group of beautiful islands. After
landing and trading with the gentle ua
tives, lie was astonished by the visit of-a
white man, evidently a person of means
and consequence, who, after making
himself very agreeable, implored the cap
tain to give Him a story-book, if he had
such a tiling in his possession. The cap
tain had, and, deeply touched by the
pigs and cocoa-nuts which the white ex
ile had given him, bestowed on him a
copy of the “Arabian Nights’ Entertain
ments.” Overcome by tlie present, the
exile burst into tears, and cried: “You
have saved my life, and given me rank
and wealth.” On explanation, he said :
“I should long ago have been eaten, but
while they were fattening me I learned
enough of their language to tell a child
the story of “Little Red Ridingliood,”
The child repeated it, and the whole
population were mad xvith joy. They
had never heard a story before. From
that day I became great a and honored
man. When they had a national festival
I sat on top of a hill, and thousands wept
(while some elderly relative was being
cooked for a feast) at the cruel death of
the grandmother as caused bv the wicked
wolf. I had with me a volume of ‘Fairy
Tales, - and I soon began to set a price on
my performances. ‘Red Ridinghood’ is
rather worn; I only get a hundred cocoa
nuts for her now: but’ ‘Cinderella’ is still
good for four pigs and a turtle, and
‘Beauty and the Beast’ brings six or sev¬
en, according tlie quality. But xvith tlie
‘Arabian Nights’ I shall lie able to go on
accumulating pork to the end of my
days.”
A Street Car at Sea.
Therc is a lawyer in Boston xviio is in
the habit at times of addressing individ
ual jurvmen when inattentive or restless,
and sometimes his nrguincntcm ad homi
nem is affective, Some time ago he was
trying a case against a street railway
company, and there was an old sailor on the
jury who seemed to give no heed to what
cither counsel said. The lawyer made
his most eloquent appeals, but all in vain,
Finally he stopped ill front of the sailor
and said: “Mr. Juryman, I xvill tell you
just hoxv it happened. The plantiff was
in command of the outward-bound open
car. and stood in her starboard channels.
inward-bound '
Along came the close car
and just as their bows met she jumped
the plaintiff track, sheered to port, and knocked
the off and ran over him.” The
sailor was »U attention after this version
of the affair, and joined in a $5,000 ver
diet for the injured man,
A MEMBER’S MAIL
Many Letters Received Daily
by Congressmen.
flow They are Answered, and the Queer
Contents of Some.
“Carp” says in a Washington letter to
the Cleveland (Ohio) Lender: The let¬
ters received by Congressmen are of all
kinds, and some of them are very funny.
Your average Congressman gets from ten
to fifty letters a day, and the number
who would do any work great
questions < f the country must use a steno¬
grapher. Now nearly every member lias
bis shorthand clerk, who comes to him in
the morning or evening, answers his mail,
and runs about the departments for him.
The Congressman takes a bundle, of about
twenty letters in his hands, and sits down
in his room with his stenographer at his
side. The stenographer has a pencil and
a notebook. The Congressman takes up
letter by letter, and ns fast as he can talk
reads off an answer to it, which the short¬
hand man takes down as fast ns the wor Is
fall from the member’s lips. A half hour
passes, and the twenty let.ers have been
finished. What would have taken the
member four hours to do for himself, he
has accomplished in thirty minutes by the
aid of his stenographer. This may be at
11 o’clock in the morning. He now goes
to the Capitol and, when he returns for
dinner at 5 I is twenty letters are lying on
the table ready for him to sign. He does
this and his clerk mails them. Some
Congressmen allow their clerks to write
their notes on the type writer. Others
must have tI,cm written out by hand, as
letters on the type-writer look too much
! hke printed circulars. In written letters
' nine out of ten men who receive the let
! tcrs wiu think Bie Congressmen did all
j the writing themselves. A long letter
! B'om a Congressman is a big thing to the
! constituent in tire back county, lie takes
J * around and shows it to his friends,
; then it away in the family Bible, and
! kpe P s ns reverently as though it was his
grandfather’s will and the old man was
alive - had lots of property, ar d likely
1 to dl '°P ofI any day. Some Congressmen
answer every letter they receive,-no mat
ter how trivial the affair, or how silly the
! request. Others throw a great part of
their correspondence into the waste-bask
ct, and some never read
letters at all. A great part of the corre
spondence of a Congressman relates to
garden seeds and public documents. An
Ohio member told me the other day that
his constituents kept a better track of the
government publications than lie did
: himself. Said he: “They watch the
i papers closely, and when anything new is
| published my first knowledge of it, in
many cases, comes from requests for it.”
The pension letters form another large
portion of the Congressmen’s mail, and
General Grosvenor says that he gets let
ters from every State in the Union on
pension matters. A number of letters
have been coming in lately from an old
crank who wants Congress to pension
school teachers who have outlived their
usefulness. This man says that the gov
eminent lias millions of idle money in the
treasury and he thinks that fifteen mil
lions ought to be devoted to this purpose,
A Kansas man got a letter the other day,
accompanied by a curious horse-shoe,
which a blacksmith wanted him to get
patented for him, and another member I
know has just answered a letter of a
Yankee doctor who is anxious that the
President should send him out West
the government vaccinator of the Indians,
A Uup of Tea.
i There is tea and tea; and the dcc«c
tion that is sometimes served in tin's
name is a terror to gods and men. A
cup of tea, in its finer significance, is the
symbol of hospitality. Properly made it
is the nectar and ambrosia of the gods,
It should lie served in the dantiest of
porcelain, and it should be made at the
time of serving. The port Longfellow is
said to have always made his tea at his
own table, of a peculiar kind expressly
s nt to him from abroad. It was a liquid
! amber, full of sunshine and inspiration,
To make a cup of tea is a fine art. The
most delicate flavor is obtained by a ju
dicious mixture of Oolong black, English
breakfast and Japan tea. There is
brand of the Garden Formosa that is all
balm and fragrance and sunshine, and
that, combined xvith the Orange Pekoe ’
is a beverage fit for the gods. But a cup
; of tea cannot be truly enjoyed a la soli
taire. Its very nature demands the social
circle. The tea that is made of these ar
tistically composed mixtures; that comes
fresh and fragrant from the boiling xvater
poured over it; that is drawn off in
dainty, decoratix’c porcelain—such ten
has nothing in common with tea as served
in a philistiue fashion. To make a cup
of tea is a household rite. It requires n
lady to perfectly execute this—no unedu
cated servant can possibly bring to it the
delicacy of touch and finer adjustment
essential to its success. It is an art—to
serve tea that is nectar and ambrosia.—
Boston Traveler.
----—---
1“ some Virginia counties the courts
have stated rexvards for hawk heads, and
these emblems of bird existence are fre
quently seen in the windows of cross-roads
groceries, whose pfpprieton Wte them in
i trade,
VOL XII, NO, 28.
1 SCIENTIFIC SCRIPS.
! It has been suggested in England that j
the telephone may be advantageously
■
used to transmit messages between suf¬
ferers from infectious diseases and their
friends.
Aeeording to a medical journal the
i discovery has been made in Columbia of
a shrub which exudes a juice having so
powerful an effect in arresting the flow
of blood that large veins can lie cut by a
knife and smeared with it without caus
tug ; hemorrhage. The plant is called j
i . aliza" by the natives.
The food of Burmese peasants includes
almost all kinds of reptiles, the grab of a
ball-rolling beetle, a kind of ant which
constructs nests of leaves in treetops
(eaten in curries), and hill rats. The last !
named exist in such hordes that their i
consumption is almost a necessity to pro
vent the rats eating the Burmese.
During a recent trip of the steamei
Princess Beatrice between Larne and
Stranraer, the man at the wheel observed
curious disturbance of the compass
needle, which was afterward traced to
the magnetic influence of an umbrella
carried by one of the passengers. The
deviation was so serious that the steers¬
man reported to the mate that he could
not keep the vessel to her course.
An interesting experiment, showing
the influence of electricity on the growth
of roots, has been made in Germany by
Professor Holdefleiss. Plates of eoppei
were thrust upright into the earth and
connected by wires with similarly-placed
zinc plates about one hundred feet dis¬
tant—an electric battery being thus form
ed, with the earth between the eoppei
and zinc in the circuit. Both potatoes
and beets planted between such plates
i gave an increased yield—beets 15 pei
cent., potatoes 25 percent.—as compared
with other parts of the same field.
Dr. C. Keller, of Zurich, claims that
spiders perform an important part m the
preservation of forests, by defending the
trees against the depredations of aphidei
and insects. He has examined a great
! man y spiders, both in their viscera and bj
feeding them in captivity, and has founo
them to be voracious destroyers of thes«
pests; and he believes that the spiders in
a particular forest do more effective work
of Bus kmd than all the insect-eating
birds that inhabit it. lie has verified hit
views by observations on coniferous trees,
a few broad-leaved trees and apple trees.
The direction of the Atlantic currents
is being systematically studied by the
Prince of Monaco, whose recent experi
j ments arc proving very interesting. Lasf
July he sunk a large number of ingen
iously-amnged bottles, globes and bar
rels at different points north of the
Azores, each floating vessel containing 1
j paper time in different of immersion, languages, stating th<
and place and begging
the finder to note down tlfc hour and
place of discovery, and forward it to th»
nearest French consul. Now three ol -
these bottles have been found in the |
Eastern Azores, having followed a south
easterly direction, instead of going to the !
northwest, as expected, |
The Helping Hand.
I shall never forget the feelings I had j
oncewhen climbing one of the pyramids
of Egypt. AVhen half way up, m 3
strength failing, I feared I should ncvei
he able to reach the summit or get back
again. I well remember tlie help givei
by Arab hands, drawing me on farther
and the step I could not quite make my
self, because too great for my wearied
frame, the little help given me—some
times more and sometimes less—enable!
me to go up, step by step, step by step,
until at last I reached the top, and
breathed the pure air, and had a grand
outlook from that lofty height.
And so, in life’s journey, we are climb
Ing. We are feeble. Everyone of us,
now and then, needs a little help; and !
we have risen a step higher than some
other, let us reach down for our brother’!
iiand and help him to stand beside us.
And thus, joined hand in hand, we shall
ff° on conquering, step by step, until the
glorious eminence shall he gained. All,
how many need help in this world!—
P oor > afflicted ones; poor, sorrowing
,, ™Pt , * d ones, who have been
overcome, who have been struggling, not
quite able to get up the step; trying,
falling; trying, falling; trying, despond
ing; hoping, almost despairing! Oh, give
such a one help, a little kindly aid, nnc 1
the step may be taken, and another stej
may then be taken; and, instead of dv
ing in wretchedness at the base, he may,
by a brother’s hand, be raised to safety,
and finally to glory .—Biohop Simpson.
A Facetious Barber.
One night Bob fell in with a fellow
who was “ English, you know. The
latter J was berating the Yankees for do
ing all manner of business in their shop!
and not folloxving the better Euglis
plan of sticking to one branch. The next
day he sxvaggered into Bob’s shop to be
shaved. Bob gave his face an extra good
soaping and left him, at the same time
seating himself to read. The English
,Mn ke P‘ T liet for a few minutep ’ whp3 <
seeing Bob reading, he blurted out
“ Why don't you shave me, sir?” ‘ Y’ou
will have to go up street for your shave,”
quietly replied the barber, “we only
lather here." The answer took the rjr
out of the cockney IrmtcTiDt,
The Evcr-Grcen Plnfci
Oh, a valiant tree is the ever green pine, ‘
That grows on the bleak mountam side:
Hot a fear does it feel of the wind or the
storm,
As it stands like a king in its pride.
The lightning may flash ’round its tall wav¬
ing crest,
And the wind ’mid its branches may rave;
But it stands in its strength like a lion at bay,
Or a hero, who’ll ne’er he a slave.
Oh, a sorrowful tree is the ever-green pine
That grows in the sweet smiling vale,
It murmurs forever a low, plaintive song
That resembles a lorn lover’s wail,
It stretches its strong, shady branches abroad
And it sighs to the flow ers below,
And it tells of the sorrow corroding its heart
To the breezes that merrily blow.
Oh, a bountiful tree is the ever-green pine
That grows on the hill's slooping side;
lt Alters the woodbir.l, gives shade to the
deer,
And makes cheerful our house, far and
wide.
Then honored and loved be the ever green
pine
That fears neither lightning nor gale,
And cherished still more be the sorrowful
tree
That sighs in the sweet smiling vale.
—31. J. Biordan .
HUMOROUS.
i. Ahem !” exclaimed the needle.
Justifiable homicide—Sleighing girls.
It is said the axe trade might be
sharper.
A roadbed is for the convenience of
wheels when they are tired.
“No, said the hack-driver, “I can’t
stop; my business is driving.
In this progressive age it is pleasing to
know that every milk train has its cow¬
catcher.
A fashion exchange tells of new
wrinkles for men. It seems to us that
what is most wanted is not new wrinkles,
but some method of getting rid of the
old ones.
This is most trying situation, i'
. . a
spouted the little whale, when he was
cut up and put in the boiling vats. “I’m
afraid it’s oil over with me,” and he be¬
gun to blubber.
i . Why do all the cold waves come
from the northwest, my dear ?” asked a
fond husband. ‘Oh, because there is
so much coolness between St. Paul and
Minneapolis,” was the reply.
Thoughtful Young Lady (to college
graduate)—Who, in your opinion, Mr.
Muscle, was the noblest Roman of them
all ? College Graduate—I used to think
Ilanlnn was, but I wouldn’t beta cent on
any of ’em now.
A taste for painting? I don’t know;
He may, perhaps, be full of it;
He (lid his best to paint a eow,
And—-well ? He made a bull of it.
An Irascible Musician.
Great musicians are not to be trifled
with. At Moscow, the other day, a piece
by Glinka was being rehearsed. The
conductor, the famous Hans von Budlow,
remarked to a clarionet player that, In a
certain passage, there was a mistake, and
that he was to play an F sharp and not
an F natural, as written. The clarionet
player replied that ever since the piece
was in existence F natural had been play
j Budlow, furious, exclaimed that lie
d ;j IU) ; a ]i 0 xv any one to give him ales
S on in counterpart. The rumor of Bud
loVs comlu( . t spread through the town
immediately, and the professors of the
Pon8ervato ire signed ; a petition praying
j the Gran(1 Duk Constantine, president
(1 j Gic Russian Imperial Society of Music,
to order Budlow not to change Glinka’s
scorP
Ilis imperial highness immediately
wrote to tlie irascible German composer
to that effect. . . Very well,” said Voa
Budlow, “then I will not conduct the
performance to-niglif and to-morrow I
will leave Moscow.” He was, however,
i n( j UPP( | to change his mind; but in the
evening, as he appeared on the platform
in front of his desk, he shouted at the
clarionet player: ‘ ‘By order of his impe¬
rial highness, \-ou will play F natural,
which is wrong, instead of F sharp r
which is right .”—.!Lux O'Bell's ljet ter.
Hie “Jogger.
A newspaper correspondent writing
from Aiken, S. C., the famous health re
sort, thus describes an institution ongin
al in that village:
So far as I have observed it is found
only on the piazzas of boarding houses.
It consists of a long pine board, each of
whose ends rests upon wooden standards,
The jogger has a health function, being
intended and used as a means of exercise
for the invalid boarders. The long pine
plank has been chosen for its elasticity,
and when burdened with the proper
weight, springs up and down at a lively
rate. After meals the boarders take
turns in riding. Gray-haired men fly up
into the air in very undignified fashion;
middle-aged dyspctic-looking men bounce
away like jumping-jacks; children cry
out with delight, and timid women hold
ou xvith flight, The jogger is a great in
stitution. For exercise it rivals the
Aiken saddle horses, Its movements re
quires little strength, and brings every
muscle int0 P la >'. 11 is cllM P and UI >
patented: there is no danger of a suit of
infringement or royalty. Above all it is
both an appetizer and digester. In
boarding houses where the jogger is
found Aikea bt-cDttak cm he eaten wltj}
perfect impunity,