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DEVILTRIES.
—A man always feels put out when he
is taken-in.
—What should be lighter than a lamp?
Why, a lamp-lighter, of course.
—A heartless correspondent speaks of
the darn victims in Connecticut.
—Don’t buy a coach to please your
wife. Better make her a little sulky.
—The iady who took everybody’s eye,
must have had quite a number of them.
—A Pennsylvania editor wishes to
know at what age a tadpole turns into a
hop-pole.
—Charivari declares that London has
eight months of winter and four months
of bad weather.
—Lexington has a girl so industrious
that when she has nothing else to do she
sits and knits her brow.
A 16-year old boy in Jones county,
N. C., has just married a red-headed
widow with five children.
—“ Mamma, what are twins made for?”
Precocious older brother, quickly—“ So
that cannibals may eat philopenas?”
—St. Louis is always behind Chicago
and Cincinnati with its baby show. The
babies could not be got ready in time.
—That awful lad again: " Ma, pa has
got the best of you—you can’t strike
matches on your trowsers like he can.”
—An Irishman was once asked why he
wore his stockings inside out? “ Be
<an i here’s a hole on the other side,”
was the reply.
—Dresses are to be tied back tighter
than ever this year. If a husband kicks
his wifi- on the *iiin the bruise will be
plain to tiii’ public eye.
—A L -Kington boy, when his mother
was castigating him the other/day with
the fiat side of a picket, expressed a wish
to go behind tiie returning board.
—The Moravia Register asks, “Are
Americai! girls delicate?” It depends
very much whether you oiler them cocoa
nut cake, and ice cream, or a bar of soap
and it washboard.
—lt is a sad but solemn fact that to
tiie average man a scientific description
of a lady’s i>ali costume and a corres
ponding account ii a tadpole are equally
veiled in language quite beyond compre
hension.
—An exchange utter.y ruins the moral
e leci ni the story recently published
concerning tiie liberal donation of the
poet tJuiiii . to t..e Westminster Abbey
bv credit, eg him witii giving a “ painted
widow,"'instead of a window.
— "I hi-,. ;h '.-re you about two hours!”
.-die said, with great tenderness. “And
why. ni" ilea’ - ?” he asked, with consider
ii , rest. " Because,” she said, toy
sic with hi- watch-chain, “ then I’d buy
my wife anew spring bonnet.”
—An ingenius Yankee lias invented a
portea:. !:o ; .ue.it in at ean be used as a
w itch key. n >'t jack, a tooth-brush, a
coal-hod. a un.iig folk, an opera-glass
and .. garden hose. This is what the
glorious imlent has done for our imper
iled country.
—A St. Louis man set out last week
to eat thirty partridges in thirty days on
a wager. He ate the first one without
any trouble, but the grocer refused to
give him any further credit the very
next day, and he is hopelessly stuck on
the other twenty-nine.
—“ Well,” lie complained, pulling off
his pants, “ I shan't go poking about cold
mornings building fires when I die!”
“ No,” was her cruel reply from beneath
the warm coverlids, “ for if you get your
just deserts you’ll find the fire all burn
ing red hot for you every morning.”
—One does not desire to be personal,
but if the young man who sat down in a
chair where a lady had left a dish of
molasses candy to cool the other even
ing when he called on her daughter, will
return the saucer it will save himself
further trouble. No questions asked.
—“ Put out your tongue a little fur
ther,” said a physician to a fair invalid.
“ A little further still, if you please.”
“ Why, doctor, do you think a woman’s
tongue has no end ?” said the gentle suf
ferer. “An end perhaps, madam,” re
plied the doctor, “ but no cessation.”
—Small boy, on tip-toe to his compan
ions: “Stop your noise, all of you!”
Companions : “ Hallo Tommy ; what’s
the matter?” Small boy : “ We’ve got a
new baby ; it’s very weak and tired;
walked all the way from heaven last
night; mustn’t be kicking up a row
round here now.”
—A story is told of a shrewish Scotch
woman, who tried to wean her husband
from the public house by employing her
brother to act the part of a ghost and
frighten John on his way home. “Who
are you?” said the guidman as the apa
rition rose before him from behind a
bush. “lamAuld Nick,” was the re
ply. “Come awa’, man,” said John,
nothing daunted, “ gie's a shake o’ your
hand: lam married tae a sister o’ yours. ’
—“ I went in to bathe,” said a Yan
kee, “ but before I was long in the water
I saw a huge double-jawed shark making
rapidly towards me. What was to be
done? When he was within a yard of
me I faced round, dived under the shark,
and taking a knife from my pocket, rip
ped the monster up.” “ But did you
bathe with your clothes on,” asked an
astonished listener. “ Well,” answered
the story teller, reproachfully, “ I do
thiuk you needn't be so tarnation par
ticular.”
®ljc (Ogldljorpc <0d)o.
BY T. L. GANTT.
Written for the Echo.]
“ PEXXEES."
BY “ FRANK O’LEARY.”
The violets and daisies are blooming again,
And softly the rain-drops fall—
The whippoorwill lone, with mournful tone,
Doth its wandering mate recall;
While the babbling stream,
From its icy dream,
Will wake at the south wind’s call.
But the locks on ray temples are white and thin,
Mine eye hath lost its fire,
And the signet of age is on the hand
That wakes the poet’s lyre,
To breathe in pain,
A sacred strain
O’er many a hallowed pyre.
I remember the Spring and summer of life,
And the ships I sent to sea,
On dreamy waves, with banner of song,
A splendid* argosy—
Which ne'er came back,
Across life’s track,
With joy or fame for me.
Though gentle the touch, no music flows
From a lute with broken strings,
And sad the note of a wounded bird
That sits with waveless wing—
For the poet’s heart
There’s no healing art,
When he feels but cannot sing.
My harp-strings are jangled and out of tune,
Though my musical chimes may ring
In peans of praise, through all my soul,
I have no power to sing,
Or tell the tale
Of the magical vale
Where Fancy her flight doth wing.
Then why will such burning thoughts still come
\\ hen I have no words to tell
The beauty of the dreatn-like land,
Where the “ song child” loves to dwell ?
* Where all rejoice,
With melody’s voice,
And the anthems grandly swell.
THEY SAY.
They say—Ah ! well, suppose they do;
But can they prove the story true ?
Suspicion may arise from naught
But malice, envy, want of thought;
Why count yourself among the “they”
Who whispers what they dare not say ?
They why the tale rehearse,
And help to make the matter worse ?
No good can possibly accrue
From telling what may be untrue;
And is it not a nobler plan
I o speak of all the best you can ?
They say—well, if it should be so,
Why need you tell the tale of woe?
Will it the better wrong redress,
Or make one pang of sorrow less ?
Will it the erring one restore,
Henceforth to “ go and sin no more ?”
They—oh ! pause and look within !
See how thy heart inclines to sin !
Watch, lest in dark temptation’s hour
Thou, too, should sink beneath its power!
Pity the frail, weep o’er their fall,
But speak of good, or not at all.
HEAEIH OF EMPLOYMENTS.
The following instructive table was
prepared by direction of the Massachu
setts Legislature, showing the average
duration of life in the various professions
and trades:
Years.
Men unimploved 68
Judges 65
Farmers 65
Bank officers 64
Coopers 58
Public officers ! 58
Clergymen 56
Shipwrights 55
Hatters 54
Lawyers 54
Ropemakers 54
Blacksmiths 51
Merchants 51
Calico printers 51
Physicians 51
Butchers 50
Carpenters 49
Masons 48
Traders 46
Tailors 45
Jewelers 44
Manufacturers 43
Bakers 43
Painters 43
Shoemakers 43
Mechanics 43
Editors 40
Musicians 39
Printers 38
Machinists 36
Teachers 34
Clerks 34
Operatives 32
By this table a loafer lives twice as
long as an operative. We predict that
after this publication our Loafers’ Club
will receive many recruits.
Similar tables prepared in England
show that, after the country gentlemen,
members of the clerical profession live
longest. A suggestive distinction also
appears in the difference of longevity
between clergymen of the established
church and disseuting ministers.
Keep the Sabbath. —Here is a sim
ple verse, written by Sir Matthew Hale,
a great and good man, who was Lord
Chief-Justice in England 200 years ago :
“ A Sabbath well spent
Brings a week of content.
And health for the joys of to-morrow ;
But a Sabbath profaned,
Whate’er may be gained,
Is a sure forerunner of sorrow.”
I advise you all to commit these lines
to memory. They may help you some
day to resist a temptation to break God’s
holy law.
Buttercups are favorite flowers.
Smalls caps are very fashionable.
Small vcllow roses are in demand.
LEXINGTON, GEORGIA, FRIDAY MORNING, MAY 4, 1877.
The Story of a Factory Girl
OR,
REVENGED AT LAST !
“ Did you advertise for hands?” The
speaker was a sad-faced, delicate girl in
search of employment, and this question
was addressed to the presiding genius in
the office of one of the large factories
where women are employed.
“ Got all we want,” answered the young
man thus addressed.
The girl turned slowly away, too sick
at heart to notice the bold and admiring
gaze of one of the group of gentlemen
seated around the stove. She reached
the street, and walked on as one in a hor
rible dream, cold, tired and dizzy, and
fairly crushed with despair. All that
day, and many preceding, had she been
exposed to the pitiless cold in her worn
shoes and thin garments, traveling
through the streets in fruitless searches
for work.
“lam one too many in the world,”
she thought. “ Why should I live ?”
■Visions of the river and of herself
taking the fatal plunge which would end
her troubles, were begining to float
through her mind, when a gentleman
whose step she had been too much pre
occupied to hear, stepped up beside her.
“ Pardon me, miss,” he said, in a polite,
but off-hand manner. “ I believe you
just left the office of Ogden & Sons!”
She gave a quick, startled look at the
intruder, and at sight of the handsome
gentleman beside her, she nervously
scanned her poor, worn clothes, and
blushed at her mean appearance.
“ Yes,” she answered, with a sad digni
ty. “ I have just left the office. Have
you any business with me ?”
“ Oh, I am one of the firm—youngest
son, you know. I was in the office
when you applied, just uow, and I came
after you to say I can get you in the fac
tory, if you wish.”
“ Wish it I Certainly, sir. You do not
know what a favor you are doing me.”
She turned her glowing face to him in
glad and eager surprise ; but, before she
could find words to thank him her over
strained nerves gave way, and she burst
into a flood of tears.
The gentleman, who had been looking
into her eyes, as if he would fairly absorb
their sweetness, felt extremely awkward
at this, and walked on in silence beside
her until she could control herself suffi
ciently to speak.
The, girl as an apology for her tears,
gave him an account of her succession of
disappointments, and, by dint of sympa
thy and kind questioning, he wou from
her her whole history, with a confession
of the resolution she had almost formed
to destroy herself, and how his coining
just then had dispelled it.
“I hope then the life I have saved
may, at some time, belong to me,” he
said taking her hand and gazing so ar
dently into her face that she blushed
crimson. “ I think I will know how to
value it.” The next day saw Kate Wes
ley installed as one of the hands in Og
den’s factory, through the agency of
William Ogden, the junior member of
firm, and youngest son of its head.
Kate regarded, with the warmest
friendship and gratitude, this man who
had lilted her out of the fearful slough
of despond into which she was sinking,
and ere long she returned his love which
he avowed for her.
Every evening found him a guest at
the noisy tenement house of Mrs. Finn,
who took in washing. He was so devo
ted in his love for her, so lavishing in
his gifts to her, and so desirous of doing
everything to contribute to her happiness,
that she grew to look up to him with al
most worship. He had come into her
dark life like a prince in a fairy tale,
turning every thing to brightness and
taking her heart a willing captive at
once.
To a nature like her’s love was life,
and the object of it became almost her
God. She obeyed and believed in him
implicitly, and gave herself up to him
body and soul; listening in blissful trust
to his promises of marriage as soon as he
could, with safety to his pecuniary in
terests, incur his father’s displeasure by
doing so.
He took her from the factory and from
Mrs. Finn’s, and placed her in luxurious
rooms of her own—made heaven to her
by his presence—where she lived, his
wife, all but in name.
During his absence she devoted her
time to study, and made astonishing pro
gress.
“ He shall not have cause to blush at
my ignorance when I am his wife,” she
thought.
This was the state of things when Kate,
one day, went to take her customary les
son in music. She arrived at her desti
nation rather early, and the professor be
ing engaged with other pupils, she was
shown into the waiting room.
The building in which the professor’s
rooms were was devided into offices of
various kinds, and only a thin board-par
tition separated the room in which Kate
was shown, from one of said offices. She
was no sooner seated than she recoguized
the voice of her lover in conversation
with another gentleman in the office;
aud, as she was seated close to the par
tition, every word of their conversation
reached her ears.
“ You see. Well,” said the strange
voice, “ that comes of a fellow running
wild over every pretty face he sees. You
seem to have a faculty for getting into
scrapes of this kind.”
“ But,” said her lover, “ this is a devil
of a scrape. She expects me to marry
her.”
“ Why, have you promised her?”
“ Well, yes, I had to ; but of course I
never meant it. I’m brought up with a
short turn now. My resources are all
exhausted, and the time is drawing near
when I am to fulfil my promises. I’ve put
it olFso often, you see, that I can't see
my way out of it this time. Come, old
fellow, use your ingenuity and help me
out of it.”
“Is she pretty?” asked the stran
ger.
“ I rather think she is. I’d like tosee
you find one prettier.”
“ Could she pass for a lady in manner
and education ?”
“ Yes; she has been studying hard to
improve herself, in expectation of our
marriage, and has succeeded as well as
one could wish.”
“ Why the duce don’t you marry her,
then?”
The answer to this was a long, loud
whistle of astonishment.
“You must be a madman. Marry a
shop girl ? Ambition is a family failing
of ours, and you see I posess the failing
to an unusual degree. Your suggestion
is madness, my dear fellow ; think of
something else.”
“ Well, then, hang it, man, leave the
city, and write her a farewell letter.”
“ Agreed.”
Kate waited to hear no more, but
rushed wildly into the street. Having
reached home, she hardly knew how she
crushed the wild paroxysm that she was
laboring under, and wrote a letter to the
destroyer of her happiness, telling him
how she had discovered his perfidy.
“ This shall not degrade me,” she said.
“By God’s help, I will live down my
disgrace, and win for myself a position
at least respectable. And by his help,
also, I will be avenge'd.”
* * * * * *
Seven years had elapsed since Wil
liam Ogden had seen Kate Wesley. He
had received her letter, and felt relief
that the affair ended with so little trouble
to him. Of Kate’s sufferings he would
not allow himself to think, and her mem
ory was soon buried with many other
loves of the past. During these seven
years he had become a thoroughly base
man of the world. His friends doubted
his capacity for a real pure, honorable
love, and he agreed with them. That
sort of thing was too hum-drum and pro
sy for him, he said. And so opposed was
he to matrotnony, that he wagered the
half of his fortune that he would never
enter into it.
Just about this time, Miss Kingford,
a beautiful English heiress, made her
appearance in society, turning all the
male heads, old and young. Her beauty
offormand face,and her fascinating pow
ers of conversation, were peerless. Wil
liam threw himself at her feet at once,
and, to the astonishment of all, became
the most ardent suitor for her hand ; as
people said, thoroughly in earnest for the
first time in his life.
Among Miss Kingford’s suitors, also,
was the gentleman to whom William had
staked the half of his fortune in the event
of his marriage. So enraged was this
man at her preference for William, that
he swore to hold him to his wager. Un
daunted by this, William eagerly pressed
his suit, and was accepted.
It was anew kind of happiness to
William, and one that lie once thought
never existed, to feel that being bound
to this woman for life would be like
heaveu.
It was arranged that Miss Kingford
should sail for Europe immediately and,
William should follow on tne next
steamer ; almost immediately on his ar
rival they were to be married.
William followed his betrothed to a
lovely little town in the north of France,
where, she informed him, the friend re
sided at whose house the wedding was to
take place.
On arriving at his hotel, he found let
ters awaiting him, directing him to come
at once to the chateau of the Count de
Chantry. Eager to clasp his bride in his
arms, he hastened thither. He was ush
ered into a spacious salon, the magnifi
cence of which astonished even him,
accustomed as he was to luxury. In a
moment the object of his visit entered,
dressed in a regal style of splendor, a
glittering coronet adorning her stately
head.
William started eagerly forward to
greet her as she swept into the room, but
she haughtily motioned him back.
“ We will make our interview a brief
one,” she said, “as my husband awaits
me.”
William gazed at her, as if doubting
her sanity.
“Your husband!” he exclaimed,
hoarsely, the veins in his forehead
standing like cords. “Who are you
then!”
“ The Countess Chantry,” she said,
bowing profoundly. “ Seven years ago 1
was Kate Wesley, the poor shop-girl,
whom you scorned. I told you by God’s
help, I would be avenged, and you see
I spoke truly.”
He rushed from her presence without
waiting to hear her story, how, when
she separated from him, she had taken a
place as a nursery-governess, and how
an old lady of the family being taken
ill, she tended her faithfully until her
death, and how, out of gratitude, she had
made Kate her heiress, and at last,
while traveling abroad, how she had met
the count, who married her.
That evening, the countess heard that
an American gentleman, who had just
arrived at the hotel, had shot himself
from some unknown cause.
They found, from letters on his per
son, that his name was William Ogden.
A Horrible Crime. —A Naples pa
per relates a horrible crime as having
been committed in Capua by a priest.
He was bead of a boys’ school and had a
canary of which he was very fond. One
day a number of boys were playing about
the room, when one of them accidentally
knocked over the cage and the bird escap
ed. When the priest returned and miss
ed his bird he inquired who it was that
had released it, and on being informed,
he sent the rest of the boys home, but in
formed the culprit that he could not go
home to dinner. His parents, becoming
alarmed at the boy’s long absence, final
ly went to the house, but could not gain
admittance until the father burst open
the door, when a terrible sight met his
gaze. The boy bad been stretched out
upon a table, his hands extended and
nailed to the wood, while both his feet
had been chopped off. The frantic fa
ther at once began a search for the priest,
and having found him, immediately
stabbed him to the heart.
Couldn’t Get a Divorce. —A wo
man out on North Hill being counted
out the other morning, after a debate on
the question, “ Who shall arise and build
the fire?” got up and split her husband’s
wooden leg into kindling wood, and then
broiled the steak with it. It made him
so mad that he got hold of her false teeth
and bit the dog with them. She cried
until she had a fit of hysterics, and then
flipped out her glass eye and climbed
upon the bed post and waxed the glaring
eye to the ceiling with a quid of chewing
gum. Then lie took a wisp of her false
hair and tied it to a stick and began
whitewashing the kitchen with it. Then
she started off to obtain a divorce, but
Judge Newman decided that he couldn’t
grant a divorce unless there were two
parties to the suit, and there was hardly
enough left of them to make one.
Tornado in Tennessee.— A tornado
swept over Lavergue, fifteen miles from
Nashville, Tennessee, Thursday night.
Four cabins, two dwellings, two stores
and a livery stable were blown to atoms,
even the foundation being swept away.
A little girl, lying in bed with her broth
er, had her brains dashed out, while he
escaped with only a few bruises. A negro
man and a negro boy had their thighs
broken. An old lady who was carried
forty yards amid flying timbers was deep
ly gashed on the back of her head, had
her arm twice broken, while a piece of
some unknown substance passed entirely
through her wrist, making a ghastly
wound. Others were rescued from un
derneath logs, which lay across their
bodies.
Frightened to Death. —A sad case
of a little boy being frightened to death
oecured at Astoria, Fulton county, 111., a
few days ago. About nine o’clock in the
evening a son of Mr. Rowland, six years
of age, was passing along the street of
town alone, when another boy, son of
Dr. Wm. Toler, who was dressed in a
hideous-costume and playing in the Iront
yard at home, seeing the little fellow
passing played the part of a ghost, and
jumping out suddenly upon the little
fellow, at the same time making a strange
noise, so frightened him that he fell pros
trate on the pavement. He jumped up
quickly and ran a few rods, when he
again fell, this time a corpse.
Newspaper Enterprise.— A certain
paper published in New York is only
seventy-five cents a year, and each sub
scriber is promised “ a gold-plated watch
chain, lady’s jet brooch, jet ear-drops,
pair gold-stone sleeve buttons, lady’s
bfeavy wedding ring, set spiral studs, new
style collar stud and gent’s diamond
pin.” And yet we are told that some
persons call the publisher mean and
close-fisted and over-reaching, because
he won’t throw in a three-story brick
house and a tvro-horse carriage. But he
couldn’t do that unless he was to ad
vance the price of his paperto one dollar
a year, and then they would growl again.
Jones’ Cake. —Somebody praised a
kind of cake Jones brought down to his
office. He was asked for the recipe for
building the cake, and next day appeared
with the following, which his wife dicta
ted, after dinner : “ Seven cups of mo
lasses, three pinches of flour, two heaping
qua r ts of salaratus, a pint of sugar, two
pounds of milk, fruit to suit taste; stir
well and boil over a slow fire for three
hours, aud then set aside in a cold oven
for a week.” Somehow, Jones said, it
didn’t sound right, bnt that was the way
his notes read.”
A Simple Cure for a Felon. —As
soon as the parts begin to swell, wrap
the afflicted part with cloth well satura
ted with tincture of lobelia, and keep it
wet with the tincture. This is said never
to fail if applied in time.
Putty color is revived for kid glove?.
VOL. Ill—NO. 30.
REPTILE IMPRISONMENT.
Au Immense Suako Taken from a
Roy's Stoniarh.
The Dubuque Herald relates a won
derful and almost incredible story of s
snake which was imprisoned iuthestoin
areh of a lad lor the period of five years.
The boy, whose name is Benning, resides
with his parents near Dyerville, in Dela
ware county, la. Five years ago, being
then ten years of age, he began to suffer
from pains in his stomach and abdomin
al region which at times were almost
beyond endurance. The best physicians
within reaching distance were consulted,
and every remedy known to medical
science was brought into requistion, but
all in vain. As the lad grew older the
pains became less frequent, bnt when
they did occur they were of such an ex
cruciating nature as to throw him into
terrible convulsions. Just before the
pains and fits came on, young Benning
would declare that he felt something
crawling in his body and winding and
twisting about his intestines. The boy
ate voraciously, but remained poor and
emaciated. Several physicians believed
him troubled with tape-worm and treated
him for the afflictiou, but without favor
able results. The cramps and convulsions
continued, and recently were accompani
ed by choking sensations. Be lining’s
parents having tried every means in their
power to procure relief from his troubles,
recently sought the advice of a doctor
who happened to visit Dyerville for the
purpose of lecturing. This physician,
whose name is not given, made an exam
ination of the patient, and stated that
the boy’s stomach was inhabited by a
•living reptile of some sort. • He adminis
tered a dose of medicine, and expressed
the belief that it would so operate as to
make its appearance in the boy’s throat.
The doctor proved to be correct. In a
few minutes after administering the medi
cine the head of a snake appeared in the
boy’s month and was gently drawn forth
from its five years’ imprisonment by a
forcep in the hands of the doctor. The
snake was of the garter species, beauti
fully striped, and measures 16 inches in
length. The snake died soon after leav
ing its prison, and is now preserved in
alcohol. The Herald says that it has been
seen by hundreds of people, and that the
event created considerable excitement.
The theory given for the presence of the
snake in Betining’s stomarch is that lie
must have swallowed it while drinking
from someone of the springs in the vi
cinity of iiis residence, or else drank the
germ from which his suakeship grew into
his formidable size. The stoFy is a re
markable one and well calculated to ex
cite wide-spread attention.
A RAT IX A BISTLE.
But for the pluck of a young and pret
ty woman the other morning there would
have been an exciting scene in a local
train on one of our railroads.
The blustery condition of the morning
made people don their clothing with an
unusual degree of alacrity. The young
lady referred to took the train, and hav
ing settled herself in a seat commenced
to review a hastily-made toilet.
Feeling something move behind her
she gave an indignant look at the young
man who occupied the seat with her,
supposing that he had placed his hand
upon the ground sacred to the latest
style of bustle. A crawling sensation
quickly convinced her that something
other than a human hand was threading
the mysterious mazes of the garments
beneath her red petticoat.
She followed the object with her hand
until it made a semi-circle around her
body, and then seized it. Had the young
man dared he would have assisted her r
but those striped stocking*, that had
just cost seventy-five cents, were not to
be profaned by a man’s rude touch.
Pale as death, the young lady whispered
to him to raise the window quickly. He
did so, and supposing that she might
have eaten something for her breakfast
that, did not agree with her, instantly
hopped out of the seat. Scarcely had he
done so when, with her other hand, she
drew forth a huge rat and slung him
into the middle of next July. The ani
mal had probably got into the hustle as
a roosting place in the early hours of a
very cold morning.
A Blue Dress Cure. —A young man
in Dubuque, Icwa, went on Saturday
week to a country dance and did not re
turn to his home until the church bells
were ringing the next morning. His fa
ther told him he must go to meeting, and
he went. Before the minister had fin
ished the opening prayer the young rev
eler was sound asleep and dreaming of
the dance. An old lady who sat next to
him touched his hand to arouse him,
whereupon he seized her wrist and shou
ted : “Ail join hands and circle to the
left! Swing the girl with the blue dress
on !”
Delirium Tremexs.— Gough’s de
scription of a case of dilirium tremens:
“ Doctor, if you can prove to me that
there is no physical suffering in hell I
will cut my throat. Doctor, I have had
great spiders draw their soft bodies with
hairy legs all over my face, and, eugh !
eugh! in my mouth. I have had green
flies buzzing iu my ears, and crawling,
eugh 1 eugh! over me. They are coming
now ! They are coming now I”
till? ©glfftorpr tTrh.o,
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SUNS IN FLAMES.
A Terrible Rmisor that Jlenswe Our
World.
The catastrophe in the stellar system
| —the conflagration of a star —which caus
; ed so much commotion in astronomical
| circles a few months ago, is made the sub
je t of an article in the* Belgravia (March)
! by Richard A. Proctor. He says that
j this catastrophe happened probably a
hundred years ago; the messenger which
brought the news to us, though travel
ing at a rate sufficient to circle the earth
eight times in the course of a second, liatf
traversed millions upon millions of
miles before reaching us last November.
If a similar accident happened to our
sun, the creatures on that side of the
earth turned towards him would he de
stroyed in an instant, and the rest very
quickly afterwards. The heavens would
be dissolved, and the elements would
melt with fervent heat. The question
is asked whether the earth is in this
danger, and whether warning would he
given of the coming destruction. The
answer may be gathered from the facts
mentioned in the article. There have
been other solar conflagrations before
that which was made last fall. The first
on record—observed by Hipparchus—
occurred 2,000 years ago. It was seen
blazing in full daylight, showing that it
was many times brighter than Sirius, the
blazing dog-star. It was called anew
star because it had ever been invisible
until its conflagration made its light tem
porarily visible. The next new star (oc
stellar conflagration) appeared in the
region of the heavens between Cepheus
and Cassiopera three times, A, D. 945,
1264, 1572, and is expected to be seen on
fire again before long. This star re
mained burning at its last appearance for
sixteen months. It appeared larger that*
Jupiter and brighter than Sirius. It
did not attain this lustre gradually, but
shone forth at once in its full size and
brightness as if it had been of instant
creation. In 1596 Fabricius observed a
new star in the neck of the “ Whale’'
constellation, and in September, 1604, a
new one was discovered in Ophiuchus..
In 1670 anew star appeared in the con
stellation Cygnus, remaining visible for
nearly two years. In 1848 another was
seen, which has continued iu existence
since its apparent creation. By the aid
of the telespectroscope—an instrument
combining the telescope and the spec
troscope—it was found that the increase
in the star’s light rendering the star vis
ible was due to the abnormal heat of the
hydrogen surrounding that remote snn.
But it could not be so easily decided
whether this hydrogen was aglow withi
the heat of the star or whether absolute
combustion was in process. In other
words, was it as a red-hot piece of iron or
like a red-hot coal? These star com Bagra
tions, it is believed, arc caused by con
tact with other heavenly bodies—meteor
ic flights traveling on eccentric paths, or
those in attendance of (he comets. The
meteors attendant on a comet continue to
follow in its path years after the comet
has disappeared. The tail of the comet
of 1843 must actually have grazed our
sun. Newton’s comet nearly approached
it. At any time we might be visited by
a comet mightier than either, traveling
on an orbit intersecting the sun’s surface,
followed by flights of metoric masses
enormous in size and many in number,
which, falling upon the sun, would excite
his whole frame to a degree of heat far
exceeding what he now emits. We have
evidence of the tremendous heat to which
the sun’s surface would he excited in
such a case. In 1859 two motoric niaoses
cauie into contact with the sun. The
downfall of these two bodies only affected
the whole frame of the earth at. the very
time when the sun had thus been dis
turbed. Vived auroras were seen where
they had never been seen before, accom
panied bv electro-magnetic disturbances
all over the world. In many places the
telegraph struck work, the signal men
received severe shocks, and at Boston a
flame of fire followed the pen of Brain’s
electric telegraph, which writes the mes
sage upon chemically-prepared paper.
This was the effect of two meteors. The
effect ot a comet, bearing in its flight
many millions of metoric masses failing
upon the snn—should that take place—
can he understood. Our sun seen from,
some remote star whence ordinarily he
is invisible would shine out as anew sun
fora few days, while all tilings living on
our earth and whatever other members of
the solar system are the abode of life
would inevitably be destroyed. If a
comet came out of that part of the con
stellation Taurus, arriving in such a
time as to fall upon the sun in May or
June, the light of the sun would act as a
veil, and we should be instantly destroy
ed without knowing anything about it.
If it fell in November or Ueeember we
should sec it for weeks, and astronomers
would be aide to tell us when it would
fall upon the sun. The disturbance upon
the sun would be temporary, but there
would be no students of suieuce left to
record the eflects. The chances are
largely against such an accident, yet
during the last 2,060 years less than
twenty such catastrophes have been re
corded. Mr. Proctor, moreover, reassures
us in another way. He says in effect
that all but one of these conflagrations
have appeared in the *one of the Milky
Way, and that one in a region connected
with the Milky Way by a well-marked
stream of stars; that the process of de
velopment is still going on in that re
gion, but that if there be among the
comets traveling in regular attendance
upon the snn sun one whose orbit inter
sects the sun’s globe, it must have struck
before the era of mart, and that in our
solar system we may fairly believe that
all comets of ifc#-,destructive sort have
been eliminated, and that f.r many ag* q
still to come the sun will continue tu
discharge his duties as fire, li'lit and life
of the solar svotcui,