The Covington star. (Covington, Ga.) 1874-1902, June 09, 1886, Image 1

The Covington star., June 09, 1886, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextThe Covington Star J. W. ANDERSON, Editor and Proprietor. Silent Sounds. H do not hear it? Unto mo ^ i sweet low sound comes ceaselessly I, floating, floods the earth and sky f With tender tone ! J I do not hear the restless beat >n the floor of childish feet— feet that tread the flowery street Of heaven alone. horn, at noon, at eve, at night, jar the patter, soft and light, I catch the gust of wings, snow-white, I About my door. I on the silent air is borne [voice that from my world was torn— ft left me, comfortless, to mourn, [ For evermore. betimes floats up from out the street [boyish laughter, bird-like, sweet— rn, forgetfully, to greet, My darling fair: I as the ripple of the stream, feze-kissed beneath the moon’s pale beam, ft strangely real doth it seem! I And he not there. Ino; you cannot hear his call; [ catch no laugh, nor light footfall) k his mother—that is all; And Ho who said, kill not leave thee desolate," [ [left somehow, loosed the bonds of fate ajar the golden gate Which hides my dead. —Nellie Watts McVey. SINGER'S ROMANCE. , full, rich, powerful voice, crude ns I and untutored, yet with the unmis Lble attributes of genius, a voice ch promised a glowing future. Bing it again, Nora—that’s splendid, ” the singer commenced again, kill, swelling, passionate, until the e died away in a trembling, weird moan. dene. — A large, scattered workshop he heart of the bustling, busy city, [e—Noon. Cast of Characters—Some pty or more tired shop-girls, seated ind the stove, eating their plain, pe dinner. Not a very romantic Ir, and yet from that shop was to |e [ch one who should weave a romance I know to be true. Lf I had a voice like yours, Nora, I’d le it tell,” cried Maggie Hunter, a p-uatured lentedly girl, who sat by the lire, munching an apple, fct I had your voice, Nora Neale, I’ll [you what I’d do. I’d never rest con pul in this old shop, but I’d make it P my living for me. God didn’t give beauty, Norn, but He did give you a pidid voice, and it’s your own fault if don’t make the most of it.” Oh, do you really think it is good pgh led for that, Maggie?” and Nora her flushed face to the speaker. I I thought I should ever be a fine lor, I would work day and night for 11 would be willing to wear a calico Is all the days of my life, only to have less at last.” »o need of your wearing calico all I life. Your voice will earn you silks, ■u only have sense enough to make ■ eturned her companion. II through the long afternoon strange lies ran through the head of Nora |e. ic sharp click of the sewing-machine time to the busy thoughts whirling igh her brain, and as she walked 5 in the dull, November twilight, ft resolution filled her soul. /l\TJ:n-A YOUNG GIRL TO WAIT on the door and assist the housekeeper, f^o. i\j Beacon street. Jra laid the paper down. Outside -bill, drizzling, November rain fell rily, making sad, desolate music; Inside Nora’s heart was full of sun ie knew the house well. Every ling, for over a year, she had passed her way to the shop, often stopping lar the sweet melody filling the air. >w many times she had wished as she the name of the great musician, that could go to him and cultivate the ! God hud given her. id now, not only to enter his house to live there I What matter if she r n, y the girl to wait on the door! P d s he not constantly hear the glori belody floating out on the air, and P she not gleam some knowledge | K° "hat harm she trying, could overhear? said Nova, as she fd the paper carefully and went to loom. P '’ 1 Ihhik you w ill suit. The fact ad the old housekeeper grew confi in!, “I ain’t so young and spry as I to be. 1 find that running up stairs d n " n stairs, is almost too much for hi i when I spoke about it to Master he told me to get some nice, youn r-r i-" n " mt on the door, and run er > for me. Yes, dear, you look smart nm, I think you will do.’’ And eft the talkative housekeeper with lul heart. week later and Nora Neale was an ,(f '' f * ar ' Mntzell’s beautiful home. I r d housekeeper was in her room, her customary afternoon nap. i had finished her work, and taking II mi els the housekeeper had given ' m , s he brought them into the r '"om, and sat down at the win to ■ sew. m ’ ‘ 1<! ne *t room the voice of one 11 ‘ri s pupils practicing a diffi i a V’. -t came I distinctly to her ear: could only hew what he. tells l hen I might practice it to-night, ho 0Vi *' murmured Nora, and dn A Cf icket softly to the door, just in time to hear him say, “Try ‘that again, Miss Morton. The voice should linger a trifle more on the upper tone.” Again the clear bird-like voice of the pupil rang out, until the delighted teacher clapped his hands softly, ex¬ claiming : “Bravo, Miss Morton, that was finely rendered.” Nora listened eagerly, until the rust¬ ling of silk warned her that the lesson was finished, and she heard the lady rise to go. That night, after Carl Matzell left the house, Nora having satisfied herself that the housekeeper was busy chatting to an old friend, stole softly to her room, and commenced the lesson she had listened to that afternoon. Days and weeks glided away, and Nora steadily practiced the lessons she stolo from her unsuspecting teacher. A year had passed away since Nora had entered Carl Matzell’s home. The housekeeper was out, and Carl was away. Seated before the open piano, Nora played softly an accompaniment; then her full, clear, rich tones filled the room. Trilling, like she had heard Miss Morton, then bursting forth in full, clear molody. The door softly opened, and Carl Mat¬ zell silently took the picture in. Wait¬ ing until the singer had finished, he ex¬ claimed, softly: - I Very well done, Nora. Very well done, my girl.” Poor Nora; a deep blush overspread her face; then, suddenly, she became pale as death. “Never mind, Nora, a happy aocident has revealed to me the power of your voice. It is my wish for you to com¬ mence a thorough course of instruction, for I have every reason to believe that, with proper training, you will become one of the finest vocalists I have ever heard.” Nora knelt at his feet in gratitude, and impetuously kissing his hand hastened from the room. “At last,” she murmured, “at last. To think I shall really become what I have always longed to be. And Mr. Matzell 1 oh, he is so good 1” and happy Nora burst into a flood of tears. Never did Carl Matzell have a more industrious pupil than Nora, and never was enthusiastic teacher more abundantly rewarded. Two years from the time Nora Neale entered Carl Matzelis home, as an humble maid, found her dressing for her debut. Nora's voice trembled as she glanced at the surging mass before her, but ono look at her teacher’s face reassured her, and she retired amidst the wildest ap plause. Nora Neale rode home that night a distinguished woman. Her appearance had been a complete success. But Nora was not perfectly happy. Foolish Nora had learned another lesson. She had learned to love her noble teacher In vain she chided and reproached herself for her folly. I,ate that evening Carl Matzell, open¬ ing the door of the music room, was sur¬ prised to see Nora sitting in the utmost abandonment, her head resting on the table, her rich robes sweeping the floor. Sob after sob shook her frame, and Carl watched her tenderly, pityingly, while a deeper, warmer feeling crept into his heart. A new emotion thrilled him as he looked at the young girl. That eveniug he had been proud of Ills pupil, had admired her as she stood b - fore the delighted audience, but not until he beheld her, desolate and alone, did the love, long slumbering in his breast, wake to full life. 4 4 Nora,” he cried, softly; and Nora raised her tear-stained face from the ta ble. “Nora, come to me; and Nora sped to the open arms, thankful for the loYe and protection offered her. Many years have passed away sinci Nora Neale became the wife of the noble Carl Matzell, and every year but strength ens the love they bear each other; while in the whole city there is no happier home than that of the wealthy music teacher an d his gifted wife. Medical Intelligence. , , n\e Col. Witherspoon, to w om wt frequently referred to as t le man in Austin, has been la P oor ca ‘ for some months past. c P r ' n t' 1 P a cause of his feebleness is his unwilling ness to feed himself with sufficient cop. ousness. A few days ago, while he was taking the air, he met Dr. Perkins Soonovcr. Witherspoon thought this was a good chanec to get some medical advice with out paying for it. i • How do you do this morning, col onel?” asked Dr. Soonover. “Poorly, doctor, poorly. For some time past I have been suffering from weakness. As you see, I can hardly walk. What shall I take, doctor?” “Take a hack. re plied the doctor, gruffly, as he strode off.”-- Siftings. She Knew Him. Sarcastic wife — “Coming home aa usual, I suppose?” husband Fond of staying out late H Yes, ceitainly.” letter Sarcastic wife—“Well, put this in the first mail in the morning, and Lf you meet the milkman tell him to leave two quarts.”— Judgt, COVINGTON, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE, 9, 1886. THE MADSTONE. Something about a Supposed Cure for Hydrophobia. Doctors Say Both the Stone and Cures Effected by it are MythicaL “Madness in dogs,” said a physician, i. is mentioned in the Iliad of Homer, and hydrophobia is described as a disease by Aristotle. Democritis, the laughing philosopher, developed a theory of the malady 400 years before the Christian era. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, and contemporary with Democrates, recom¬ mended the sucking of the wound made by the bite of a rabid dog. In the ab¬ sence of a physician to cauterize the wound or a surgeon to cut it out, the medical fraternity of to-day would pre¬ scribe the same remedy. The first thing an awkward person does when he smash¬ es his linger with a hammer is to jam the injured member in his mouth. Persons bitten by venomous snakes have removed the poison in the same manner. “The absorbent qualities of certain kinds of earth or clay have led to their use in cases of poisonous bites to absorb the poison, or laceration of the flesh to stop the flow of blood. When the soli¬ tary plowman encounters a nest of bees and gets the worst of the contest he ap¬ plies a handful of earth moistened with tobacco juice to the stings. The adhe¬ sive quality of a spongy sort of clay prob¬ ably gave rise to the mythical stories con¬ cerning the use of madstones for. bites of rabid animals. Madstones have a mysteri¬ ous history. Everybody has heard of them, but very few persons have seen them. The encyclopedias describe them as light, porous stones which have the quality of adhering to a wound. Their origin is not even hinted at, and their peculiar qualities are not given. Medi¬ cal authorities do not mention them, though they speak of all the different remedies applied to the wounds made by animals afflicted with hydrophobia. il Tradition says the stone is flat, oval shaped, and of a bluish color. It is said that it will adhere to the poisoned wound until filled with the virus, when it falls off. After being washed and soaked in hot water or milk it will again stick to the wound if it contains any poisonous matter. It is claimed that these stones are efficacious if applied to the wound several days or even several weeks after the victim has been bitten by the mad dog. “The cures effected by this wonderful stone are mythical as the stone itself. The possessore of these magic healers claim many lives saved from rabies. The medical records do not mention a case. It is impossible to lay your hands on the man who has been bitten by a mad dog and saved by the mad-stone." Dr. George P. Cunningham has made the study of hydrophobia a speciality, and it is more than probable has cauter¬ ized more wounds made by dogs than any other man in Chicago. His office is a few doors from the Ciiicago avenue police station. Every person on the North Side bitten by a dog supposed to he mad rushes to the station and the vic¬ tim is hurried to Dr. Cunningham. For¬ ty to fifty dog-bitten people come to him every year, and he estimates that he has cauterized over two hundred wounds made by these animals. But three per¬ sons whose wounds he has treated have died of hydrophobia. 4 ■ If the madstone is a fraud, the medi¬ cal fraternity ought to prove it,” Dr. Cunningham said. “I have examined all the encyclopedias and medical author¬ ities that come within my reach to secure some positive information concerning madstones. I have not the slightest idea of their origin. I can’t even find out what they look like, I have always wanted to see one so that in rambling about I might pick up a stone that look¬ ed like it and make some experiments. j | y jj ave never seen a person who had seen Thev must have the power of a suction-pump if they can draw out the p 0 j son that has been in the system two or ^ree weeks, as it is claimed they car. do. nj j ma gine that a madstone has about per. « ™ uch Anything eff * ct “ that ** Pj° ha£ e absorbent ® f quail- ^ ^ would be beneficial, but I should hate to risk a madstone thirty minutes a f ter the poison had entered the wound CV en if it has the qualities claimed for it. The virug enters the sys tem the moment ^ ^ ^ Not all of the poison is taken up at once, of course, and by promp. cauterization the remaining virus is destroyed.”— Chicago News. Didn’t Hurt Him. A hillside farmer, driving r miserable looking horse, stopped in front of a feed store and was trying to sell a frost-bitten rooster when a man rushed up to him and said: “Look at your blamed old horse, up to his eyes in my bale of hay.” “i s it your hay?” j “Of course, it is. Take your horse away from here.” “Of course I will, fur I never like ter tramp on a man’s rights— ’ “Take him away, I tell you!” “Yes, I will. Ya, back here! Well,” he added as he climbed into the wagon SIld started away, .. thar’s one consolin’ thing er bout the transackshun. The hoss don’t ’pear ter be hurt much."— Arkan sow Trawler. Life Cars. In a little gray house with a red roof, which stands on a desolate stretch of beach in Ocean County, New Jersey, there hangs an oval iron case which has a singular history. The house is a station of the Life-Saving Service, and the case is the first life-car ever used in the world. Its story is as follows. After the organization of the Life Saving Service as a branch of the Gov¬ ernment, in 1871, its inspectors visited every part cf the coast to examine into the condition of the station-houses and their equipments. One of these officers was on the New Jersey coast during a heavy storm, when , a ship was driven on the bar. He saw , I the desperate efforts of the surfmen to reach her in their heavy life-boat. They at last succeeded, and took off as many of the passengers as the boat would hold, but in returning, it was swamped by the furious breakers, and rescued and res cuers were washed into the sea. For weeks and months afterwards the inspector went about like a man dis¬ traught, intent on devising a model for a boat which should be at once light enough to handle in such seas, and heavy enough not to be overturned by them. The problem was so difficult that he was in dispair. But one day he startled his companions by exclaiming, “Swing it on ! a cable, and put a lid to it 1” i The idea was at once carried out. This : life-car was mada,—an oval, air tight i case closed by a lid which screws down, and hung by iron rings on a cable ex¬ tended from the shore to the ship. On the first day it was used, two hundred ! ■ persons escaped in it from the Ayrshire, a vessel wrecked off the New Jersey coast. These cars, of an improved shape, arc now to be found in every life-saving station. But this old battered veteran is regarded with a touching pride aud af¬ fection by the brave surfmen. i t She has done good work in the world,” they say; an epitaph which we would all be glad to share with the life car.— Youth's Companion. | Harpy-Hunting. The Dutch planters in Java invite each other to bat soirees. The cavernous south coast of their island harbors my¬ riads of kalongs, or fruit-eating bats, for their size about the most voracious mam mals of our latter-dav creation. In a sin gle night a full-grown kalong will eat his own weight in bananas, grapes, or bread-fruit, and in stress of hunger will attack any soft vegetable substance, and, indeed, almost any organic substance whatever, for captive specimens have been know to devour sponges and kid gloves. A few minutes after sunset those harpies leave their dens, and, after cir¬ cling about the coast in shrieking swarms, decide on the plan of theircampaign, and descend en masse on the fruit groves of the most convenient valley. At the first alarm the villagers snatch up their slings and start at a double-quick, picking up stones as they run. Every minute’s de¬ lay may cost them a bushel of fniit. But before charging the marauders they send their best marksmen to some vantage ground on the seaward side of the battle ground, having found by experience that the flying harpies will take a bee-line to j the coast. A few scouts then rush j in with loud yells, or open the at- I tack by firing off a blunderbus, aud in ! the next mirmte the answering shrieks of the harpies rise on the air, and with a rush the whole swarm sail away, fol lowed by a volley of hurtling stones. Felix L. Oswald. Cuts as Bed-fellows. In reply to the query of a correspond¬ ent as to the popular belief that a cat will suck the breath of a sleeping infant, Babyhood says; “Dr. Tomlinson of Chi¬ cago, dismisses the subject Socratically: ‘What good do you suppose it would do a cat to draw into its lungs breath which a human being has just exhaled?’ Never theless it may be said, with all respect for Dr. Tomlinson and no respect at all for superstition, that the warmth-loving cat has a way of preferring baby’s crib as a sleeping-place to any other bed or cor ner. If driven away, she .'ill return stealthily again and again to the snug covert. She loves, furthermore, to nes¬ tle close to baby’s body, as often as not thrusting her whiskered nose against the velvet cheek, pink and warm nith sleep, Tims far, she may do no harm. But when she occasionally curls he' bulk of five, six or eight pounds’ weight upon the sleeper’s heaving chest mischief may come of it. To escape the risk of this mischance, if for no other reason, keep pussy away from your slumbering baby, j Indeed, he is best off without any bed fellow. The Doctor Nonplnssed. A little fellow happened into Dr. Hutchins’ office a few days ago on an er¬ rand. The physician looked him over and rather startlingly remarked: “You’re just the kind of a boy I’m looking for. I’m going to kill you. The small chap was not a whit abashed, I but looking wisely up into the doctor's face, asked: | “Do you kill many boys in the course | of the year?” I The doctor gave him a quarter in place of a dime, and forgot to ask for the change.— Minneapolis Tribune, - LITTLE MRS. DODDS. How She Proved Herself a Woman of Great Nerve. A Western Stage Robbery that Ended Badly for the Robberi Soon after the close of the civil war. and when the West was a great deal wilder than it is now, several of us took the stage one day from Austin to Eureka, Nevada. As a matter of fact, there were five men and one woman, a dumpy little body with rosy iace and blue eyes, whose name was Mrs. Dodds. She lived in Eureka, and was returning home after a visit. The stage route had been clear of road agents for a long time, but as a matter of ceremony each man carried a revolver in a hosier belted around him, and there may have been two or three bowie-knives In the crowd. We got away from Aus¬ tin in good shape, and in an hour we were all pretty well acquainted. Noth¬ ing of particular interest happened dur¬ ing the day or early evening, but about 9 ©’clock at night, while most of us were half asleep, the stage came to a sudden balt ’ !lnd a clcar ’ ^rp voice rang out: “ If ^ mOVC a foot rl1 send a bullet tbrou ® h y° ur head! Insidc the sta « c there! No non8Case > now! Haud thoso P^ls e tbrcw out butt t e foremost c ' oor open 1” and covered “ “ everybody with the muzzle of his revol¬ ver. Stage passengers have been called cowards for permitting themselves to be “held up” by one man. The time be tween the stoppage of the stage and the opening of the door was so brief that none of us could have pulled a pistol. After that, to have made a motion would have been to invite a shot. Any one of us would have been a fool to resist. .. Step down here!” commanded the agent, and one by one we “stepped, As each man descended he pulled his pistol and laid it on the ground, and then took his place in line. “Ah! a woman here!” said the agent as Mrs. Dodds started to come down. “You may remain in the coach. I don’t rob women.” She settled back, and he turned to us, a pistol in each hand, and briskly re¬ marked: “Now, then, time is money. Each of gents shell out, and place the boodle on the ground. Ihc man who attempts to swindle me will get a dose of lead.” ^" e began to shell. I stood nearest coacb ' ^he head of the line, and I placed watch and wallet on the ground. As I straightened up I saw little Mrs. Dodds hitching about in the coach. In a few seconds the barrel of a revolver rested against the side of the open door. The agent had his left side to the coach, and was about twelve feet away. If the woman missed him she would certainly hit one of the men in line. She must know this, and I doubted if she would take the chances. “Come don’t be slow about it,” called the agent. “At this rate you won’t get into Eureka for a week! I want- !” At that instant there was a flash and a report, and he leaped clear off his feet and t0 tbe ground in a heap. Vi e grab bed for our pistols and rushed upon him, but he was as dead as a nail. 1 he bullet from hcr revolver has struck him full in the ear and he never knew what hit him. We turned to the coach, and there was little Mrs. Dodds crying just like a wom¬ an, while the smoking revolver lay on the seat. We just lifted her down and hug¬ ged her as if we were her five brothers, for she had saved the crowd a matter of $18,000. We couldn’t press a present upon her, but when we got to Eureka we made her j husband pocket a puree of $500, and we slipped in another hundred to buy the ! little woman the nicest silk dress in the Silver Sta te. Letroit Bret Press . Determined to Vote, Wc clip the f oUowing( from aG]asgow I (Scotland,) letter: Wliat will American voters think of the fact that some had to walk twenty miles to record their votes, 1 ftnd they watked ; t utld er torrents of rain! j other cases they had to cross stormy channels in small boats. So determined were the pcople <)f my nat ive place to vote that the men joined together and hired a small steamer. In another case the candidate himself chartered a steamer for the day, and on arr j va i suc h was the tempest that the gma jj boats could scarcely get out to it. Not to be beaten, the voters carried on the!r ghou j ders a i arge boat from far fn ; nnd an( \ launched it for the occasion, Thus, by boat and steamer and road, the npw V(dcrs found their way to the far-off polling booths, and for the first time re¬ alized they were men of national impor¬ tance. | Her Method of Revenge. t • Here is rather a sad incident in tho paper, “What my is dear,” it?” asked said Squildig. his wife. | I “A Bohemian girl in Chicago commit¬ | ted suicide to spite her lover, who had offended her.” i . . The foolish girl 1 I wouldn’t have taken out my spite in that way.” “What would you have done?" “I’d have married him.” { And Squildig went down town won dt ring how lie had offended his wife be they married. 1 fore were VOL. XII, NO, 29. SCIENTIFIC SOUPS. It has been demonstrated by Mr. J. W. Slater that caterpillars are affected by magnetic currents, which hinder their development and even kill them. In a paper on harbors, Prof. L. M. Haupt mentions that from New York to the Gulf of Mexioo there are only four natural entrances where the depth at mean low water is over sixteen feet, while the largest ships draw from twenty-six to twenty-eight-and-a-lialf feet. From recent experiments by Dr. Par j , 0JJS on the disinfection of clothea md bedding by heat, the conclusion is reached that the gormg of the ordiliarj in f ect ious diseases cannot withstand an exposure of an hour to dry heat of 220 degress Fahrenheit, or an exposure of j five minutes to boiling water or steam of j 212 degrees. In the Smithsonian Institute at Wash¬ ington is the small nugget of gold, a lit¬ tle larger than a pea, that first met the eyes of John Marshall in the sawmill raceway at Sucramento, and was the be¬ ginning of those discoveries in Califor¬ nia that have added nearly $1,500,000, 000 in gold to the world’s stock of the precious metal. At a recent lecture delivered in Phila¬ delphia by a prominent scientist, the gentleman said it takes a prodigious amount of vegetable matter to form a layer of coal; that the present growth of the world would make a layer only one eighth of an inch thick, aud that it would take 1,000,000 years to form a coal bed 100 feet thick. A curious phenomenon has just been brought to light by the removal of a lightning rod. To the end of the rod, which has been imbedded in ferruginous earth for about fifteen yeare, was found attached a lump of iron ore, weighing ninety-six pounds, supposed to have been aggregated by the action of electric¬ ity from the surrounding earth. A French journal calls attention to the rich oil contained in the grains of the tong-yeou, a tree which grows in China. This oil is easily extracted by pressure, has a density of 0.9362, and possesses a variety of curious properties. It dries more rapidly than any other known oil, it has also the power of solidifying un¬ der the action of light and out of contact with the air. The purified fat of shcep’3 wool, which has been introduced into the drug market under the name of lanolin, is said to pos¬ sess remarkable susceptibility of absorp¬ tion by the skin. When 1Q00 parts of it are mixed with cne part of a soluble me¬ tallic substance and applied to the scalp, a metallic taste is noticed in the mouth within a few minutes. It is thought the substance will be of great value for oint¬ ments. A number of able European scientists have been engaged in observing the spots on the sun with a view of ascertaining whether they have any perceptible effect upon the climate of the earth. After comparing notes, they have come to the i ! conclusion that as far as they have been able to determine, they cannot say posi- j lively whether the activity of the sun, as shown by the spots, means a decrease of the solar heat received by the earth or i the contrary. An Imaginative Statesman. In the legislature Representative Bob-j bitt, of Kentucky, generally selects a subject and an occasion that suits him, and then he is prepared for all comers. He does not like to be interpreted when he is addressing the house. Recently, when the galleries were filled with ladies, I a widest member arose aud asked Bob bit$: “Will the gentleman yield for a ques¬ tion?” i I No, sir,” retorted Bobbitt instantly; “I do not care to have any common flow ere thrust into my gorgeous bouquet. Columns could be filled with odd bits from his speeches. “I’m as free as the winds that fan my marble brow,” was his initial announce ment to the house. He referred the other day to “the county I have the honor to represent and the county that has the honor to be rep resented by me.” “Don’t interrupt me," he replied to Major Moas; I am engaged in painting with the pencil of H >£rrr!b, and I want no daub, arm my n.agnificant canvas.* —Atlanta Constitution. 1 Uninformed. A bright-eyed little girl of 9 years wae on board a Kansas Pacific train bound for Denver. She had never before been bevond the the limits of her Eastern home and manifested unusual interest in all she saw. The wide plains and the prairie dogs interested her, but she was most anxious to see a genuine specimen of that purely Western product—a cowboy. The train was waiting at a station in Kansas when the longed for cowboy ap peared. He was a typical specimen— wide sombrero, leather breeches, red flannel shirt, a belt filled with knives and pistols and a desperate-looking character generally. “There is a cowboy for you, whis pered a gentleman to the little girl. “What! that!” she asked in unfeigned surprise and evident disappointment. “Why! I always thought a e wboy was fait boy and part cow."— Fres Press- Newport News, 1886. The huge sea monster, the “Merrimac;” The mad see monster, the “Monitor;” You may sweep the sea, peer forward and beck, But never a sign or a sound of war. A vulture or two in the heavens blue; A sweet town building, a boatman’s call; The far sea-song of a pleasure crew; The sound of hammers. And that is all And where are the monsters that tore this main? And where are the monsters that shook this shore? The sea grew mad! And the shore shot flame! The mad sea monsters they are no more. The palm, and the pine, and the sea-sands brown; « far sea-songs of the pleasure crows, j air like balm in this building town— And that is the picture of Noport News. —Joaquin Miller in Independent, HUMOROUS. The lawyer’s advertisement—Give me a trial. Felt slippers—Those applied to vicious youngsters. What is taken from you before you possess it? Your photograph. It’s the little things that tell—espe. cially the little brothers and sisters. The letter carrier that gets around quickest is the cylinder of a printing press. Professor (who is about to have his hair cut)—How cold is it in this room. Pray allow me to keep my hat on'. A western sight-seer being told that the dried-up man of 110 pounds weight was Evarts, the New York senator, said: “By gosh! I’ll bet he boards.” An English paper reports that during recent explorations at Nineveh a petrified umbrella was found in one of the temples. Near by was the petrified man who was just about to make off with it. Professor—Does my question trouble you, sir? Studeat—No, sir, not at all. But I am a little in doubt how to frame my answer so as to give you the precise information for which you seem to ask. “Mamma,” said Johnny, “can any¬ body hear with their mouth?” “No, child, I don’t think they can,” replied the mother. “Then, mamma, what made Mr. Jones tell sister he wanted to tell her something and put his lips to her mouth instead of her ear?” “Landlord,” said a Wisconsin trav¬ eler, emerging from the dinning-room after a long and fruitless struggle to se¬ cure a dinner—“Landlord, there’s one thing you have here that’s as good as the Palmer House, Chicago, “I am very glad to please you, sir. What is it?” “The salt.” Natural Selection in Mankind. it The strongest men in intellect,” said Professor Dana in his closing lecture on Evolution in Peabody Museum, New Haven, “are gradually taking possession tbe S* obe > thus exemplifying natural selection. This is seen in the spreading ou * ; °* England s domain, Before 1859 U was su PP osed that that s P ecies had a1 ' wa ? s existed in the same condition in which the y were thea fou,ld ' Now tWs has all vanished. The reasons for the mi £ ration of auimals and P lants Rre sweeping. All changes in physical con¬ ditions of migrations may work great changes either good or bad. Let the temperature or humidity of a climate be changed, it will be for the benefit of some and the disadvantage of others. Thus, cutting down shade trees will strengthen the grass which was under the tree, while it will crowd out the weeds. Remains of tropical species are found in Great Britian, showing that it was once joined to the continent. North America was once joined to Europe across the Arctic ocean, allowing the passage of animals. Migrating birds and storm winds may carry with them many hundreds of miles small insects and seeds. The migration of the potato bug from Colorado has been rapid, and were it not for man’s care there would have been a complete de struction of the species of potatoes.” * Blunting the Feelings. “Curious how one’s feelings get blunt¬ ed by the sight of blood and horrors,” says Sir Chas. Wilson, in his new narra tive of the Nile expedition. There was one strange incident. An unwour.ded Arab, armed with a spear, jumped up «><* charged an officer The officer grasped the spear with his left hand, and with his right ran his sword through the Arab’s body; and there for a few seconds they stood, the officer being unable to withdraw his sword until a man ran up and shot the Arab. It was a living em bodiment of one of the old gladiatorial frescoes of Pompeii, It did not, strange to say, seem horrible; rather, after what had passed, an every-day occurrence, I used to wonder before how the Romans could look on at the gladiatorial fights; I do so no longer.” No Uncertainty. Angelina: Didn’t you promise me, when you went out that you’d be home by one? Edwin: Yezh, my dear, yezh, and here I am jezh to the moment. Angelina: Just to the moment, in¬ deed! Do you know what time it is now? Edwin: Jezh one, my dear, ezh one. heard it strike one ov«r and over again.— L\fe.