Newspaper Page Text
The Covington Star
J. W. ANDERSON, Editor and
The Golden Bridge.
Let him listen whoso would know
Concerning the wisdom of King Tee Poh.
Pair is Pekin, with round it rolled
t'avo on ware of Its river of gold;
hey gird its walls with their ninefold twine,
Lid the bridges that cross them are ninety
and nine;
Lnd as soon as the wind of morning blows,
ind the gray in the east takes a fleck of
lose
jpon each bridge ’gins the shuffle and beat
)t hundreds of hoofs and thousands of feet;
Lid all day long there is dust and din,
,nl the cooii) elbo ws ill s mandarin,
lnd gibe is given, and oath and blow—
fwas thus in the time of King Tee Poh.
I It grieved the king that it should be so.
Then out of his wisdom spoke King Tee
Poh:
'Build me a hundredth bridge, the best,
[igber and wider than all the rest,
Pith posts of teak and cedarn rails,
[nd !il planks of sandal, with silver nails;
1 it and paint it vermilion red,
bid over it place the dragon’s head;
nd be it proclaimed to high and low
hat over this fortunate arch shall go
is.enger none that does not throw
oldea toll to the river below;
nd when the piece of gold is cast
arice let the trum >ets sound a blast,
nd the mandarin write, with respectful
look,
le passengers name in a silken book,
i that I, the king, may have in hand
be list of the wealthiest of my land.”
[Straightway the bridge was builded so
LAs had sjoken the wisdom of Kin g Tee
Boh.
ad every day from dawn till dark
key who watched the fortunats arch could
mark,
ko a cloud of midges that glow and gleam,
ie gold toll cast to the burry in r stream;
id all day the trumpet sound d loud,
id tko mandarin of the guard kowtowed,
he wrote the name, with respectful look,
the passenger high in his silken book;
id all the while grew the renown
the fortunate arch in Pekin town,
1 of the wea thiest it was told:
e spends his day on the bridge of gold.”
d when a month and a day were spent,
e King Tee Poh for his treasurer sent
o to the bridge,’’ said he, “and look
the list of names in the silken book;
d of all that are written, small aud great,
ifi-eate to me the estate;
the sage Confucius well doth show,
realihy fool is the State’s worst foa”
ind the treasurer whispered, bending low:
Great is the wisdom of King Tee Poh."
—George T. Lanigan.
FATTY'S FIES.
Did Mrs. Markoe was rocking leisurely
ck aud forth in a willow chair, on her
rcli, in the soft noon sunshine, with a
ce of knitting in her hand, when Pat
WallaCi came up the three broad, shal
steps with hesitating movements.
*Oh, it’s you, is it?” said old Mrs.
rkoe.
‘Yes,” Patty diffidently answered, “it
I.
Mrs. Markoe was seventy; Patty was
it twenty. Mrs. Markoe’s hair was
titer than sea-foam; Patty’s was of the
lest rippling gold. Altogether they
ssented a strange contrast.
11 Come to borrow the paper? ’ said
rs. Markoe, kindly.
“Not this time,” answered Patty, red
ning. “I thought, perhaps, you might
mt to buy a little pearl brooch. It was
p mother’s, and I don’t think I shall
er wear it. I would be willing to sell
for a dollar.”
[Mrs. Markoe g'anced indifferently at
ie old-fashioned trinket, with its tar
kin d pearls and general a-pect of an
luity.
[“No, said she; “I don’t care for
[“Do by you know any one who would
it?” Patty wistfully questioned.
[“La ftat’s nol” said Mrs. Markoe. “But
your notion to sell it?”
“I—I would like a little money very
inch,” said Patty, almost in a whis
IT.
! For she felt insinctively that she could
lardiy explain to old Mrs. Markoe her
tcret longing for a new bonnet, to wear
t> the picnic at Clive Hollow—a fresh
firing straw, of modern shape, in place
1 the old, bleached-over abomination
finch her soul secretly loathed.
“Money, eh?” said Mrs. Markoe.
‘Aunt don’t give you all you want,
h? Pretty close-fisted, ain’t she?”
Patty colored once more.
‘She gives me all that I nee J,” said
he, “but not always all that I want.”
“Patty,” brusquely spoke out the old
lady, “you ought to get married. A
b iglit, pretty girl like you, with lots of
Jeaux! And then there’d be plenty of
Coney always at your disposal, without
fudging around from pillar to post to sell
|>oarl brooches.”
Patty smiled, dimpled, and tossed her
bead.
“That’s easier said than done,” said
he.
“But why?” persisted Mrs. Markoe.
“Oh,” with sparkling, downcast eyes,
‘they have never any of them asked me
■° marry them, Mrs. M rkoe."
"They will in time, my dear,” said the
'Id lady, encouragingly.
Patty sighed softly.
“There used to be a song in my time,”
tuded Mrs. Markoe, “that was quite
ta-h:onable. ‘Why don’t the men pr -
pose?’ That was the name of it. Is that
the way you feel, Patty, eh?”
“Somewhat,” owned Patty, with s
fcriaaace. "Well, if you don’t care foT
tne brooch, Mrs. Markoe, I’il go with it
to Mrs. Parker. She may perhaps buy
it."
“Mrs. Parker, a blooming widow of
forty, did not want the brooch, and said
so, frankly.
“But, Patty, said she, “I’m awful
glad to sec you! I’m going to have all
Uncle Jeremiah’s. folks here to tea, and
Deacon Goodlie’s wife, and Haven Hill’s
family, and I’m just driven to death.
Could you stay and help me a little
while?”
“With pleasure,” said Patty, untying
her Shaker straw bonnet, and laying
aside the white muslin scarf she had
worn, while she Badly dropped the little
pearl brooch once more into her
pocket. * i What shall I do? asked
she.
Well, you and I will choose,” said
Mrs. Parker. t 1 There is the best parlor
to scrub and dust,and the front windows
to clean, and there’s apple pies and
sponge cake to make in the kitchen. I
baked the biscuit before breakfast thi 8
morniDg. Now, which would you pre
fer?”
“Oh, I’d rather be cook!” said Patti.
“I can make pies with any woman, and
I know a famous new recipe for sponge
cake, and only eight eggs to the pan I
Just lend me a white apron, will you?”
“You’re the dearest little girl in all the
world,” said Mrs. Parker, kissing her.
“And the very next time that you have
a raft of unexpected company, I’ll come
over to your house and lend a hand, see
if I don’t!”
And Patty, rolling out crisp crust, mused
on the future. She did not belong to
the race of prudes who affect a horror of
matrimony. In her mind, a happy mar¬
ried life was the crown of all earthly
bliss. Old Aunt Judith was kind to
her, after her own crabbed fashion; but
Patty felt that her whole existence was
becoming dwarfed and blighted.
It was quite true what Mrs. Markoe
had said—Patty was a belle. She had
plenty of gallants at every gathering.
She was never allowed to occupy the
position of wall-flower when others
danced. She had plenty of company
home from singing-schools, spelling
matches and evening church. But no
one had ever asked her to change her
single 6tate. And in anguish of spirit,
Patty repeated to herself the words o r
Mrs.Markoe’s song, “Why don’t the men
jiiupGatt”
“I can’t go out and ask them,” said
Patty to herself, as she ran the notching
iron deftly around the edge of the
pie that was first ready for the
oven. “I wonder if that’s what they
expect?”
But she brightened up a little when a
stream of gay young people came up the
hill, from a fern-hunting expedition
in the woods, and paused at the open
kitchen door.
We stopped for you, Patty, ” cried
they, “but your Aunt Judith said you
were gone out.”
Yts,said Patty, as she brought them
a gourd-shell of fresh, cool water to
drink. “I’m Mrs. Parker’s cook now.
She uttered the words laughingly, and
gave them never a second thought; but
they were destined to bear fruit in the
near future, as is the case with many a
word that is spoken one moment and
forgotten the next.
i i Well,” it’s a shame I” said Lucy
Whitman; “such a pretty girl as Patty
Wallace is.”
“That old aunt of her’s must be a reg¬
ular crab, said Phiny Duane, “to
turn her out into the world in that sort
of way.
The sponge cakes proved a success, the
apple pies a perfect triumph, and Patty
Wallace was sitting on the little
front porch at home, tired, yet exul¬
tant, when there came a footstep up the
hill.
“Oh, Mr. Jeffreys!” cried Patty, rec¬
ognizing him in the starlight.
< l I’ve just come from Mrs. Parker’s, n
said the young man. il I expected to find
you there.”
l t Did you?” said Patty, rather sur
prised. begin,
“Patty, I—I don’t knowhow to
but I should be proud it you would con
sent to marry me,” blundered on the
honest young fellow.
it Oh, I couldn’t!” said Patty,thankful
that the soft, purple dusk hid
the blushes on her cheek. “Oh, thank
yo.u very much; but I never could do
it.
: * Are you quite sure, Patty?”
• i Yes, quite; but thank you all the
same 1”
Patty trembled all over, and her heart
beat as Mr. Jeffreys slowly retraced his
steps down the wooded slope, Her first
offer of marriage, and yet she felt actu¬
ally as if she had committed a crime.
“But one can’t marry the first man
that asks one, she reasoned within her
self.
a Patty!” Etherege
She stafted. Here was Guy
standing close to her.
Had he ari pped from the clouds?
“Dear me l” she exclaimed, involun¬
tarily. Mrs. Parker?” ho
“What’s this about
demanded. Patty.
if About Mrs. Parker?” repeated to-day!
“Ob, I was there, helping her
Why?" Patty!” said Ether¬
“I won’t have it,
imperiously. t i H you're going to
ege,
COVINGTON, GEORGIA, NOVEMBER 3. 1886.
help anybody, you must help met You
must marry me, Patty!”
Patty opened her lovely, wine-brown
eyes very wide.
“Must I?” said she, with rather a
startled air. “But I—” 1
“A letter for Miss Wallace, please,”
said Ned, the little colored boy who ran
errands for the village hotel, “Please,
missy, I’s to wait for an answer.
“I must see what this is!” said Patty,
with appealing glances towards Ether
ege.
“Very well,” said he. “I’ll wait here
for fifteen minutes precisely.”
So he waited, while Patty hurried in¬
side, lighted the lamp, and broke the
seal of her letter.
It was from Judge Spiker, the portly
lawyer who boarded at Eagle Hall, and
was reported to be the richest man in
town. It said;
“Mr Dear Miss Wallace; It is with the
utmost regret that I learn that you have en¬
tered service at my good friend Esquire Par¬
ker’s. But this fact emboldened me to en¬
treat you to become my wife. Need I say
how impatient I am to learn my fate? The
single monosyllable, ‘yes or ‘no,’ written op
the outside of this envelope and sent back bj
the messenger, wi.l make me either the luck¬
iest or the most miserable man alive.
“Yours most truly,
“Aristides Spiker"
Patty took up her pencil and wrote, ii
the blackest letters of which its lead was
capable, the word “NOl” Then she
gave it to Ned, and returned to the
front porch.
“Well,” said Mr. Etherage, “have
you considered the matter?”
“Nol” she answered.
“Then what have you been doing all
thiS'time?” a little reproachfully.
“You have no right to ask that ques¬
tion," said Patty, demurely.
“No right?”
■ Nol” said Patty. “You—you are not
my husband yet 1”
Something in the saucy phrase—some¬
thing in the half pathetic quiver of the
voice, filled Etherege’s heart with exul¬
tation.
“Patty!” he cried. “My shy, bright
eyed darling 1 my soul’s treasure! Now j
I am the happiest fellow in all the
world I”
go it was that Patty Wallace found
herself engaged to be married.
“I thought it was coming,” said Mrs.
oo. <( A profiy girl liL-a Patty IU
sure to be snapped up.”
And Mrs. Parker’s apple-pies was the
key that unlocked the puzzle of Patty’s
life. When it was believed that she
was driven to work for her living, all the
lovers who had stood worshiping her
from afar of, rushed promptly to the
rescue.
But good Mrs. Markoe never knew
this .—Helen Forrest Graves.
Over Niagara Falls.
It is an error to say that no creature
that ever went over Niagara Fails
escaped with its life, In 1836 a bull
terrier went over aud came out alive. Io
1858 another dog was flung in above the
falls, and an hour afterward it came
dripping up the ferry steps, a little rat¬
tled and disgusted with things in gen¬
eral, but otherwise uninjured. A recent
writer says that there can sometimes be
seen at the foot of the falls water cones
apparently ten or twelve feet high.
These are formed by the rapid accumu¬
lation and condensation of the falling
water. It pours down so rapidly and in
such quantities that the water below, so
to speak, cannot run off fast enough, and
it piles up as though it were in a state of
violent ebulition. These cones are con¬
stantly falling and breaKing. A hardy
animal falling on to one of these cones as
on a soft cushion might slide safely into
the current below. Tho dogs were,
doubtless, fortunate enough to fall in
this way and were also aided by the re¬
pulsion of the water from the rocks in
the swift channel through which they
passed. As Graham’s feat of running
the rapids has now been equalled, aud as
the barrel route promises to become a
popular route for ladies and children, he
will have to go over the falls in his bar
rel or remain overshadowed. The
chances are strongly in favor of his
going over the falls safely .—Detroit
Free Press.
Ha f ' ents Warned.
There is a crowing h demand in New
smaller ,, . than a cent.
Yo-k city for a com
The inenuie little red reu w coin has traveled West
until unu it has reached the shores of tne
Paeific where it be , said ... to meet .
may
the coin br- c-h of Cathay, and no smaller
“ is needed in the West. But here a
ha ent would tend to prevent waste
amomr the poorer people Tims there
are plenty p iy of toys which are retailed at
,,, , ,,
a cent eacn wn c ,
be, profitably so d at half a cent. One
— buJ “
sugar and an even
of goods, or lose half a cent. It will.
sound mean to some people to hear one
complain of the loss of half a cent, bu'
the old Scotch proverb about wilful
waste and woful want cannot be ignored.
“The standard coin of France is the
franc,” said Frenchman , to me Jester- ,
a
day, “and it is as big a com there a,
dollar is here. That is because we have
al» the centime-, fifth of your cent.
It would make America richer to give ■
the people a half-cent com. roo yn
Eagle-
LADIES’ 1EPARTMENT.
Gcrn an Uirli.
There is less difficulty in German
of the rai Idle class finding suitable part¬
ners for life than is the case iu the same
class in England, German girls, ns
matter of course, lake their share in
household work; this does not prevent
their being frequently very accomplished,
often excellent musicians, but it does
prevent a great deal of restlessness and
vague discontent. A young man who
marries in that class knows that he may
reasonably expect his bride to be a good
housewife. If he is in the upper middle
class, for instance a shopkeeper, his wife
often keeps the accounts of the shop. I
have wondered at the close attention to
business details shown by women who
might have expected to 1 e Spared such
exertions; but I was assured they pre¬
ferred to be thus occupied, partly in
order to save for their children. It
seemed to me that the master and mis¬
tress in most shops were on friendly
terms with their assistants, who were
permitted to rest at intervals during the
day in a room behind the shop.— Nation¬
al Review.
Actual Results of Tluht Ltclnj.
Some year or two ago, says a writer
in an exchange, I attended a course of
medical lectures for the purpose of study¬
ing anatomy. I had been at perhaps a
dozen lectures when the human subject
had been dissected and discussed, but it
so happened that in every case the sub¬
jects had been men—sailors, brawny,
muscular longshoremen, in the prime of
vigorous manhood, who had met their
deaths through accidents or murder.
One night there was the body of a
woman on the table, and as the lecturer
laid open the cavity of the abomen with
a few deft strokes of the kuifu he re
marked:
“There, gentlemen, is the result of
tight lacing.” I will never forget it.
The girl must have had in life what one
would call a trim figure, but every organ
was pushed out of place, was cramped,
distorted and deforme 1. The liver, the
heart, the stomach, the lungs were
crowded by one another and hampered
in their duties. It produced so strong
an impression upon me that I have never
seen a small, round waist since that I do
not think, “Yes, a pretty waist, but
where isynm- liver?”
The Cuban Woman’s Reality.
In the physical beauty of thj Cuban
woman the commanding features are the
foot, whose daintiness and symmetry are
marvellous; the supple, willowy grace of
movement of person ; the exquisitely
modeled form, and llie eyes, which never
lose their lustre and glow.
Cuban women wear shoes no larger than
the No. 1 size for women in the States.
Nor is this diminitive size the result of
any pinching process. She is born that
way.
She is the most graceful woman on her
feet, in her walk and carriage, in the
promenade, or in tho dance, you ever
saw.
Of her form, it is perfection. Nine
women out of ten you meet arc models of
symmetry. There is a greater delicacy
in line and proportion. They do not so
torture their persons or themselves.
The Cuban woman's face may be Baid
to be wholly interesting and lovely rather
than wholly beautiful. Its beauty is iu
its expression rather than in repose. This
face is of the Latin mould, oval and with
a delicate protruding of a pretty and
shapely chin. Her complexion is warm,
creamy, with no carnation in the cheeks,
But her mouth, large, mobile, tremulous,
with just a suggestion of pathos in the
slight drawing down at the corners, has
lips so red and ripe that her ever-perfect
teeth dazzle in brilliant contrast. Her
hair is of that lead-black darkness which
suggests a weird, soft mist upon the night
and is indeed a glory ever.
But her eyes are her priceless, crown¬
ing loveliness, her never-ending power
and charm. They cannot be described,
When you say that behind their long,
dark, half-hiding lashes they are large,
dark, dreamy, yet glowing, fl.ishing with
fire, liquid with languor, you have only
hinted their inexpressible expressiveness.
They are the same eyes at 8. at 19 and at
80 .—Philadelphia News.
Ad vice to Country «il«.
City life is not all ........ that it is painted. . . ,
^ •>
& h « iu f«" ree 8nd conveniences
but it also has its serious drawbacks. .
XJe.ure Before making maaiu the plunge i into . , life in the
0
city country girls should ask themselves
what ,s really to be gamed by it.
P^ap* in their qmetrurai home, some
stray advertisement Las reached them,
p‘omismg to young women h.gh salaries
for liirht work. Hundreds of these ad
vertisements are framed forthe very pur
of deeciving the unwary. They ac
—*•*-ir-’-w" numbers of girl rus up to ‘" the 8 ‘
young
tvty dazzled by the generous profusion
of promises.
A girt irora the farm answers one of
these advertisements. Li e may have
Aieen slow at home, but there was always
mood food aud in plenty, and there wa
^ to care for iu the old farm
whcn che ?oeg t0 the big
^ find; ^ the ,. Ught work » consists
,, in „ bad | y lighted
workgh hwe soorei of other girl
^ TOffl , a !ir(; um pi oye d at wages hard
ly high enough to keep body and tool
together.
We know what often comes next. The
girl has left home; she is ashamed or
unwilling to return, and she must take
the consequences, oftimes one of two
things — shame or suffering. Many a
girl finds first in the fivolities and next
in the iniquity of the streets that excite¬
ment by which regrets and remorse may
be deadened. If she is too strong in prin¬
ciple, too pure and elevated in tone thus
to sink down to one of the pitiable wo¬
men of the street, she may find herself in
some cold garret, lonely, overworked, de¬
spondent and miserable.
Better remain at home than risk the
failure which attends so many girls who
go to the city in pursuit of high pay for
light work. It is the saddest of all ven¬
tures—forsaking a country home for the
illusions and deceptions of a large town.
— Heading (Pa.) Timet.
Fashion Kotos.
Bonnets made of gorgonia hare become
popular in Paris.
Safety pins set with jewels are in favor
for millinery purposes.
Lace is frequently combined with em
broidered crepe de chine.
Velvet jackets, sleeveless, of course,
are worn with lace dresses.
Buttons of mother-of-pearl have the
monogram or crest in go d.
Tulle veils merely cover the eyes and
keep the front hair in order.
Woolen lace of all colors and designs
will be used for autumn dresses.
Sleeves are made in a variety of stylet
and rejoice in all sorts of names.
Vests are made long and full, ending
considerably below the waste line.
Stripes are arranged perpendicularly, J
horizonta'ly and diagonally in the same
costume. |
White silk vests, braided with gold of
a pale tint, are worn with blue tailor- <
made dresses.
Malines lace is revived for dress cover¬
ings and trimmings over white or tinted j i
silk or moire.
G.oves of pean de Suede have the arms
from the waist upward of guipure lace
corresponding in tint to the kid.
The travelling dress this season, to be
in high fashion must resemble a riding
4 \f nffnAf
Overdresses are caught up in front by
frill rosettes or Maltese crosses of ribbon,
after the fashion of furniture drapery of
“lang syne."
(4 Sea gull” and “robin red-breast”
plastrons correspond in tint to the birds
for whom they are named. They are
made of silk and satin.
Tussore silks are now striped or bro¬
caded, or printed in bright colors. They
will clean admirably, and are therefor*
serviceable for dresses for young girls.
Breton vests are exceedingly popular.
They are set in under bands of galloon
or bias folds of the material, or are
simply buttoned to the bodice on either
side.
Serge is considered the best material
for yachting costumes. It must be of the
best quality in order to retain its fresh
appearance after frequent showers of salt
.
water.
The Swiss fichu is a pretty novelty. It
is made of flower-brocaded India mousse
laine de soie, or pale tinted crape. |
Sometimes delicate colored surah is
chosen.
i
English driving capes arc of canvas,
lined with silk or plain, thin waterproof
cloth. They are made with three capes
the lowest one having sling 6 sleeves lined !
with contrasting silk.
Short wraps of plain velvet are more
and more worn, and can be added to by
independent ornaments of jet or colored
beads, with finish ol beaded lace; while
cloth wra;>s, either plain or figured, are
also popular.
The newest Parisian sleeves are cut
from one piece, so as to fit quite snugly,
but half as long again as the arm. They
are gathered at the seam, which is ar
ranged well underneath, so that they wilj
wrinkle on the arm like a long glove of
Suede kid.
Immense buckles and huge rosettes are
now ignored by the new regime in
French boot-dressing, and instead are
worn low-cut French mules of bronze kid
fastened with a single slender strap held
by a very small buckle of Irish dia¬
monds. Dove-gray kid sandals in low
Roman style are tipped with gray silk
embroidery « cut steel beads, and worn
with pearl-gray silk hose devoid of orna
mentation.
The First Plane,
The invention of the modern form of
the piano dates back to about 1700. The
spinet, of rectangular shape, which we
manage to ca’l square, was called a .
virginal. It is frequently stated that it !
wasdone to compliment Queen Elizabeth,
but this cannot be true, as it is found
mentioned among the musical instruments
of Henry VIII. It is more likely that it
was ao .named because it was intended to
be played by young ladies. It was
essentially a lady’s instrument, fer it is
said that at a conc.rt in Oxford, Eng¬
land, the public performance of the first
male pianist was rewarded by a stiorm of
VOL. XII. NO, 50.
SC1EN1IFIC SCRAPS,
A gradual increase in the average size
of the skull among the natives is be¬
lieved by a B >mbay ph ysician to be tak¬
ing place as an effect of civilization in
India.
Monsieur Palmier! of the Vesuvian ob
sci vat< ry, ha- made some interesting ex¬
periments showing that when steam is
comb n -ed by cold,negative electricity is
developed, but that positive electricity
is manifested when evaporation takes
place.
A number of European botanists have
had reason to belive that the seeds of
many New Zealand plants will not ger¬
minate readily until after they have
been frozen. The same curious obser¬
vation has been made in relation to
Himalayan seeds.
Bees are said to have such an antipathy
to dark-colored objects that black
chickens have been stung to death while
i the white ones of the same brood are un
! touched, and a man in a black plug hat
! is rarely stung on account of the atten
tion the bees give to the hat,
A deposit of mineral paint at Clifton,
1 Tenn., is thought to be the largest in
the world. It is said to be oily, of a
Venetian red color, and that it is better
for iron or tin roofs than lead, as it
sticks better. It is believed that several
million tons can be mined at a cost of 50
cents per ton.
Thnnder showers are believed to be
fruitful sources of fertility, and serve to
hasten the growth of vegetation with
wonderful rapidity. This is doubtless
due to the nitric acid produced by the
currents of electricity passing through
Mr. The explosions are thought to
causo * chemical combination of the
° Xy f n and nitw f D ot the air - which
r68U tS . tric
ln u ‘ ac ‘ •
Magnesium, which has more than once
been abandoned as a source of light, ap¬
pears likely to be employed again, a pro¬
cess having been discovered for producing
pure magnesium by electrolysis, and at a
price much less than that at which it
was formerly obtainable. At the works
in Bremen, where the manufacture of
magnesium is carried on, prizes are offer
ed for the construction of the best mag¬
nesium lamps having clockwork move
ment.
In order to learn why there is so much
alkaline carbonates “t" n “ ,'““1 rnjri the on little free M.
in asnes,
Dieulefait has analyzed the surviving
species of the families of coal plants,
particularly the Equisetacem, and has
found in them an unusually large pro¬
portion of sulphuric acid. He concludes,
therefore, that the coal plants were more
highly oharged with sulphur than most
existing plants, and that for that reason
their alkaline constituents assumed the
forms of sulphates instead of carbonates.
Canoeing;
it Bicycling is going out and canoeing
is coming in,” said Mr. James F. Latham
to me the other day at Lake Bluff. “I
have just come from Waukegan, where I
have ordered a $100 canoe, and it will
be, I assure you, a daisy. It will be only
fourteen feet long and twenty-eight
inches breadth of beam, and draw only
four inches of water, but it will be as
pretty as a piano, and will contain an
immense amount of accommodation and
comfort. Besides carrying me, I can
take along a week’s provisions and a
complete set of rigging and sails, and I
can transform it in a moment into a de¬
lightful bunk. Bicycling will do for
people wh o simply want air and exercise;
b „ t lovers of nature and inte iie C tual peo
are idIy abandoning it for this
latest fashionable ,, amusement. It took
its rise three or four years ago, with the
publication of McGregor’s book on ;
“Twenty Thousand Mi'es in a Canoe,”
and bag gpre ad ail over the world with i
astonishing rapidity. Chicago and every
large c jt y now bas a Ep ; end i d canoeing
club, though there are very few of them
that can hold a candle to the Chicago
club. The amusement consists of ship
ping yourself to the head-waters of some
river, and then paddling your way down
hundreds or thousands of miles to the
mouth. When night comes, you either
go ashore to visit your f. iends or tie up
in some delightful cove and go to sleep.
All the way along you enjoy a panorama
of beauty that you do not rush by, as
when you are on a steamer, but which
you examine at your leisure. If you
are a "botanist, a geologist or a naturalist
you amuse and instruct yourself with the
illustrations of these sciences as you go
*long. In short, there’s nothing like it. ii
<—Chicago Journal
Country and City Press.
In the great cities the press is arro¬
gant, dictatorial and assumes to rula
over and domineer over the opinions of
the people. In this the press only shows
in what contempt it is held by an in
^P^ent People. , The country press
on, y as9umes to be " ri flcx of the °P in *
ion of the community. It is also rep¬
resentative, and can be and often is
influential and leading. It often seeks
to influence and lead, b..t never to
drive the people. And this is the rea¬
son that the country press possesses
twenty times as much power as the
metropolitan press. It is not the great
dailies but the country press that shape
the politics of the nation. — j \fad4&n
(TFw.) Democrat.
Ill-Starred.
Ob, prayers and sympathetic tears, -
For each anil every ill-starred nighty
For whom ring no victorious cheers)
For those who, early in the fight,
Saw daylight turning into night
And yieldup to Fate their spears,
The donted shield, the pierced cuirass,.
Sad story is it that they tell
Of brave young knights whose hopes, alasi
Boro meagre fruit, who fighting fell
Before the foe3 they coul i not quell)
Who found no wine within the glass.
For some there are but ill-equipped
To face the world; some weak of wdH
And some faint-hearted, feeble-lipped.
Fit but the lowests posts to fill,
Soon shivering with the coward’s chill,
And of the armor courage stripped.
O ye ’gainst whom the fates are set,
E’en though you've failed on every field
To gain fair honor's banneret,
list high above be held each shield,
Each one with purpose strong annealsd,
And each shall win a victory yet.
—Will M redith Nicholson.
HUMOROUS.
Kidnaping—boy asleep.
Straw hats show which way the wind
blows. l
The darkest hour is when you can’t
find the matches.
You can’t have the last word with a
chemist; he always has a retort.
If you want a name for a cat call it
Plutarch, because it has so many liras.
Nothing in the world will produce
such activity in real estate as an earth¬
quake.
A smart boy’s composition on babies
reads: “The mother’s heart gives 4th
joy at the baby’s 1st 2th.
When they get into a scrimmage down
in Mexico it always takes people quite a
spell to tell accurately which is the gov¬
ernment and which the revolution.
An accepted suitor, one day walking
with the object of his affections, suidi
“How transported I am to have you
hanging on my arm!” “Upon my word, ■i
said she, “you make us out a very re¬
spectable couple, when one is transported
and the other harging. m
Ministers who picach long sermons—
in the summer—will be interested in the
comments of their smallest hearers. One
of them, when asked what lesson was
was to be learned from the story of Paul
and Eutychus, replied: “Piease, sir.
ministers snouia learn not tonreacn too—
long sermons!” Another, a little 4-year
old, commented thus: “Mamma, that
minister preached me all to hunger 1”’
A Bee In a Telephone,
The experience of telegraph operators,
inspectors and linemen brings them into
close acquaintance with all sorts and
conditions of faults in connection with
their work; the variety of these faults is
wonderful, many stranger than fi *ion.
One of the most curious in connection
with telephony which we have ever
known has just happened within the last
few days at a place called Moss Bay.
The lineman’s attention was called to the
circuit in question, as hearing was diffi¬
cult; on listening at the telephone he
heard a “sort of booming, which came
on intermittently, very much resembling
the distant roll of the tide, and which
rendered speaking and transmission of
work almost impracticable, Having
satisfied himself by the usual methods
that the instrument was right and
the line free from induction, and that it
was not picking up vibrations, the con¬
clusion was arrived at that the fault
must be in the general office, Moss Bay. ‘
An examination of the telephone appara¬
tus disclosed a novelty. A huge bee
was inside the telephone, and, in trying
to make good its escape, it had become
fixed between the sounding board and
microphone, and it had hummed to the
extent of interfering with the human
organs of the circuit. How the bee
came there the lineman cannot say,, 1
whether by accident or design he knows
not, but the bee was the cause of the
fault. In concluding his report, the
lineman candidly states: “I have met’
gome very tedious and technical faults in
connection with various telephone ap
paratus, but I never was done with a bee
before .”—Mechanical World.
A Peculiar Tree.
Fresno and the colonies surrounding
the town are well supplied with beauti¬
ful and attractive ornamental shrubbery,
in addition to the endless variety of
fruit trees and vines. Among the orna¬
mental trees is found one peculiar to this
section, and at present found in no
other portion of the state in any num¬
bers. We refer to the imported “um¬
brella” tree, introduced by a local nur¬
seryman. This tree is shaped as near
like an umbrella as it is possible for a
plant to come, hence its name. Thera
are hundreds of them in this section, all
presenting a most attractive app.arance,
and several individual specimens in this
city which are the pride of their owners.
One in the dooryard of F. H. Ball is a
beauty, and as a shade tree is perfection
itself. It is now only 5 1-3 years old
from the seed, is eighteen feet in height,
twenty-eight feet from tip to tip of its
branches, and its trunk is two feet and
eight inches in circumference two feet
above the ground Its shade is as dense
as a jungle, not a particle of the sun’s
rays ever reaching the ground through
its folia ge.—Frame (OaL) Republican.