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Home Journal.
pREENSBOBO, GEORGIA.
f— • -
THE PLUCK THAT SUCCEEDS.
THE SICK MASSACHUSETTS MAX WHO WENT
TO /ROOSTOOK AMD BUILT HIM A HOUSE.
Our party rein up to a fine, modern
built two-atory farm-bouse, with a com
modious barn, stable, and outbuildings,
mts a correspondent in Caribou, Me.
Mr. John Eddy lives here. He was a
pioneer and a fair sample in some re
spects of the average Aroostook farmer.
Says Mr. Eddy: “It’s 22 years since I
came here from Massachusetts, a poor
man, a painter by trade, broken down in
health and purse. In fact I was $250
worse off than nothing, with such poor
health that my friends said that I could
not stand Aroostook life a year. I’ll
confess I half thonght so, too, but I told
them, live or die, I was going to make
the attempt. I started here on the
plac& There’s the stump of the first
tree I cut,” said Mr. Eddy, pointing to
the remnant of a decaying rock maple
stump standing close up to the corner of
the primitive log-house which still
stands as a memento of his pioneeT life.
“I still keep the ax with whioh I cut
that tree, and intend to do so as long as
I live as an heirloom to hand down to
posterity. There was another big birch
standing ont yonder which took me four
hours to felL You see I was unused to
work. But I came to stay, and these, to
a man in my condition, almost insur
mountable obstacles, did not deter mo
from carrying out my purpose formed
from the start. I built this log-house and
stuffed its cracks with moss. There’s
the old shaving horse that turned out the
shaved shingles from the endless amount
of cedar; so I had ns good a roof over
my head as the next man. I lived in
this house 12 years, the same sort of a
structure doing duty for a barn when I
came to have anything to put into it.
Now you can sec something of what I
have done. As I told you, I was $250
worse off than nothing, and in nddition
I hired SSO to start mu along, with no
health, but. strange ns it may soem,
plenty of pluck. I have a farm of 100
acres, 50 of it under the plow and in
pasture, a mile of fencing, and this set
of farm buildings, and a good stock of
cattle. Now, lot mo show you my house.
It’s two-story, finished throughout, and
every stick and every board has been cut
and placed by myself.”
"How did you get time to carry on
your farm amt build such a house at the
same time?”
"Oh, you see, I was 10 years about
it. I made my plans, and evory stick of
timber I cut when it was worked off was
Tendy to fit into the place it was designed
for. I was not a car]>entcr, but handy at
tools, it is true, but I believed I could
make a door and hang it. I linvo dime
so, and myWrk, begun s6 long ago, Ims
but just been finished. About my crops.
You see that field over yonder ? ' It con
tains iust 2 acres and 10 rods. From
that plot I dug 848 bushels of potatoes.
I seed down with wheat. Thirty bushels
of wheat to the acre is no uncommon
crop. Our soil will produce hay inr
definitely.”
The Washington Monument.
The monument has now reached a
height of 410 feet. With all of its enor
mous weight it is but the oue-Bixty
lonrth of an inoh—tho thickness of a
•licet of stout writing-paper—out of
plumb. Onr par*" went ni in eia-M
•n *jkt j a Tn*Tri6 top In ftn
Otis elevator, taking up two of Hugh
Bisson’s marble blocks for the last course
of stone laid this season. It was a tremu
lous ascent up tho dark marble alley
with those heavy stones, tho elevator
quivering as it went along, and as it
reached sunlight at tho top, audible
breathing indicated that relief from tho
suspense was a boon to most of the
party. The ascent could have been
mado by Btairs which nro constructed
plong the inner walls to tho top.
Aronud the monument at tho present
height are swung exoellently contrived
hempen hammocks from all four sides,
ao in cose of u fall no danger would ensue
to the workmen. These tumbles are not
dreaded, and are said to be frequent. A
week since n Baltimore beauty sh dazed
a workmen that in lifting his enp and
stepping back to let her pass ho fell
over, and in the hammock, 400 feet
above the terra iirma, continued his ad
miring gaze with his cap still in hand.
The superintendent says that in live
years the most serious accident has not
l*oen more than a mashed finger among
his masons and laborers. The height
now to go is 145 feet. The base of tho
upper platform will commence when 500
feet iB reached. This will be as high as
the visitor can go. The interior of tho
monument is twenty-five feet square,
which continues to a height of 150 feet.
Its dimensions are then increased to 111
5-12 feet by tbe width of the walls being
reduced; from that point to the top the
inner walls arc perpendicular. The outer
face of the walls has a batter or slope of
one-fourth inch to tho foot until they
will reach 500 feet.
As before said, tho ascent ia made by
an elevator, one of the Otis patent. It
has a carrying strength of seventy-five
tons, and the wire cables would break
only at a test of 150 tons. Even with a
break the safeguards ore such ns would
prevent a fall of over ten umbos. Yet
the superintendent says he has frequent
ly had to 6top, return and put men off,
whose fears were such as to compel re
lief. He added he never knew a lady to
be unnerved in that direction.
Society of Engineers.
I). J. Whittemore, chief engineer ol
file Chicago, Milwaukee and St. l\t.J
has lieeu nominated for the
Presidency of the American Society of
Civil Engineers. The position, a purely
honorary one, is considered a worthy
object of ambition among the most emi
nent members of the iwofessiou of engi
neering. The society's membership list
contains over 500 names, ineluding the
ioremost engineers in every portion of
the American continent. The ejection
will take place at the annual meeting of
the society in New York city on the
third Wednesday in January. Mr. Wliit
temore is a native of Chittenden county,
Vt., and passed his early years in that
State, where also he received his educa
tion. He began engineering in 1817 on
the Vermont Central and Vermont and
Canada Railroad, serving until it
was completed, and then going upon the
Great Western Railroad of Canada,
where he had charge of a portion of the
construction. He was next occupied on
the Central Ohio Railroad from Wheel
ing to Columbus. He went to Milwau
kee in 1853. His present position has
been held by him since 1860.
The best rule for good looks is to
keep happy and cultivate a kind dispo
sition.
editorial xotes.
Two plans are proposed to relieve Hie
over-supply of cotton spinners and Wea
vers in the Massachusetts mifls-either
to colonize the surplus laborers on south
ern lands or to direct them to cotton
mills springing up in the south, where
they may find employment at their life
long avocations. While the first effort
is perhaps the best, the latter is more
immediately practicable. It is almost
impossible to induce mill hands to take
up and operate the cheap lands of the
west and aouth.
The c’vil list includes an army of men
over 83,000 strong. Excepting the post
masters and ra lway mail employes, this
army is classed by states as follows;
District of ICriiimbUrilTiclHchiasn fll
lUilw&j mil nerric*. 4,00 c Minne#oU
l!uk, 7 Missouri 61J
Arkansas 11l Nobraska
Colorado ITU New Hampshire 38
Connecticut SM New Jane,. 1M
Dakota SB* New Mexico —. 94
paiaware 79 Hew York..., 4.191
P orirta 174 North Carolina M 4
Ueorfcia. 177 Ohio 671
Idaho I*6 Oregon 171
llhmois I.CSS Psuosyi ranis 1,913
Indiana. SSI Rhode Island 13
Indian Tenltonr I<* Sooth Car01ina....... 147
lowa 172 1 rennesaee 263
Kansas lai;Teias ;. 293
Kentucky SSljUtah 41
liirniahma 639 Vermont. 99
Maine 294 Virginia 840
Massachusetts l.il Washington Tsrrltory 169
Maryland 669 West Virginia. 6t
Diplomatic and con- Wisconsin 229
sular in foreign Wyoming Territory... 61
omintries. 899 ——■
Po<tni*teni 48, QU0 Grand total 88,288
If we add to this number the army
and navy, we have a foree in ths employ
of the government over loo,odo strong.
The following table will show the
number ol emigrants who have arrived
in New York during the present year
from foreign lands:
Oermanjr.../ 154.219 Finland 899
England 37,036 Liiaenbor* 877
Ireland 62, 0361 Turkey 93
Scotland 7,867 Ind a 6
Walen 8.380 (Jbina 303
Auiitiia 9,498 Japan g
Hungary 10,49 U British Eaat ImlioH.. 25
HKronen 1H,663 Algeria lo
Norway 11,266 j Africa 6o
Danmark 7,866 (’anada 4l.’|
Netherlands 8,789 Novi* Hcotia 66
Belgium 1.476 Cuba <g
Switzerland 8,931, Wot* Indian 1,450
France 8,543 Mexico 213
Italy 23,666 * Jem ral America 121
Ron mania 100 Brazil ... j
Malta 1 South America 813
(ireoce...., 58 Sandwich Inlands.... 2
Spain 1,082 Auntralia 60
Portugal 48 Now Zealand 3
Rimma 6,787 Iceland 12
Bohemia 4,444 Bermuda* Q
Of this immigration New York state
has receive! the largest number, as has
been the case for many years past. Al
together 146,637 aliens have settled in
the state, less than 40,000 of whom re
mained in New York City. More than
16,000 of the latter figures were German,
Irish and English serving girls, who
came here with the intention ol finding
such employment and were furnished
situations by the labor bureau. The
avowed destinations of all immigrants
arriving during the p3st year can be
teen by the following table:
- Manitoba 84
Alktomi 283 N„w llnm)mhira a&3
Ariwn**" : 446 North <:r„lina v
Brit lh Columbia o Nebraska... 4 7iw
fiSSfiSd.* 18H7 New Jersey 8,83
BfttffVv ill ft Oregon U 54
pintriot Columbia... 214 Pennsylvania 86,618
- *,a IlhiKln I.lnnd 2.4*1
Florida _...„ U 6 South Carolina 78
4)<*>no* 4i 168 Tanneaao* 886
'W:;-.;.:...,. 8.010 Wisconsin 16,141
Louisiana 2H5, Waahingtou Ter 08
Maine 813 Wyoming 148
Maniand 1.4871 West Indies 15
Michigan 13,018 New Mexico 66
MiHsmtri
Minnesota 13,6.37' Nova Nootia 7
Mississipiu 60 New Zealand 26
Montana 188 (Juba 18
Mexico 46 Vancouver's Jgiand.. -0
Massachuseetts. ... 10,633
A good judge of tho artielo will find,
nine times out of ten, when he orders a
bottle of French wine in Now York that
the vintage is either Ohio wine or very
poor California wine. Very little of tho
wine sold in this country ever saw a
French vineyard, although it may have
been doctored and fortified in a French
laboratory. In this, however, the fancy
labels on tho bottles deceive thousands.
When American wine ia sold- without
vivacious adulteration it is thinned by
adding about one-third water.
Ellen Terry presented tho puhlio
her full mental statute when blig wrote
in response to a request for her auto
graph. “Those who lovo mo call me
Nellie.’’ It is that “io” business which
makes the modern girl appear such a
weakling. Ellen is a goixl name, and so
1b Mary, Katharine, Nancy or Elizabeth ;
but Mamie, Katie, Nannie nnd Bessie
are what Professor Pygmolion Whiffles
(‘‘Piggy,” for short) would call “good
chewing gum names.” In our horror of
being considered st rong minded, let us
not indeUiblv stamp ourselves weak
minded.
Tree culture is now attracting much
attention in some sections of tho coun
try. The land where quick growing
trees are planted must he in hrst-class
condition, deeply plowed, and as well
prepared as if the cultivator intended to
raise a crop of com. Tho hard w.oils
are slower of growth, but are more prof!
table. The walnut, seven years after
planting the seed, bears fruit, and all
the lumber producing trees pay at least
15 per cent upon the cost of land, plant
ing and culture. Close planting pays, sa
the trees can afterwards lie thinned oul
and the best allowed to remain. As our
great forests are about exhausted, 'it is
time to provide for a future supply, by
planting trees on a large scale.
Tax Philadelphia Record having ex
amined the figures given by provision
dealer* iu that city fiuds that fully three
fourth* of the butter sold by them is
counterfeit. Besides the local supply,
between four and five thousand tubs of
butter are brought to the city daily.
Since the oleomargarine and buttering
were so easily detected, an article has
been introduced wlrich is manufactured
under the name of suene and tastes like
the real production of Jersey cream. It
is made of pure leaf lard, thoroughly de
odaiized, and fresh creamy butter and is
sold for thirty-eight cents a pound.
Chicago and Detroit are the principal
manufacturing places, the former city
making 80,000 pounds of suene each
day.
Savants all over the world are trying
to account for the recent brilliant sun
sets, All Sorts of theories hshfe been |td
vaneed, but just at present the most
popular is that the earth is passing
through a zone of meteoric dust, and
that to the presence of this dust in our
envelope are due to the strange effects
alluded to. The late snow storms have
materially aided scientists in testing this
theory. The snow, upon examination,
has been found to contain meteoric par
ticles in great quantities. Travelers in
the Arctic regions have noticed on Spitz
burgen, where no dust could prevail,
great patches of yellow and black, pie,
sumably of meteoric origin. Peculia
storms of blood-red and black dust, snow
and rain have occurred from the earliest
history of the world. No satisfactory
local cause has ever been assigned fo
these manifestations, and in the absenc
of anything better the cosmic dust theor
will probably hold its own.
An experienced cultivator of Gorman
carp says that this new industry fully
warrants the construction of ponds foi
the purpose. Stock ponds, however,
may be easily converted into carp ponds
at little cost. It is advisable to con
struct ponds in such a manner as to per
mit tlie water to be drawn off. The fish
then can bo captured and assorted.
Those intended for breeding purposes
can be returned to the pond while the
remainder can lie placed in tanks or
boxes shore they can be conveniently
handled for marketing. Draw off the
water enables the fish cultivator to get
rid of branch minnows, frogs, turtles,
etc. Warm water, of course, is best for
growth, and every pond should contain
a place aliout three foot deep for the fish
to winter. Carp is really a vegetarian,
although he will eat anything. He will
also do as well without feeding as
chickens. A ton of carp can be raised
off a one acre pond, and even at ten
cents a pound this would amoun. to S2OO.
A correspondent of the Chicago
News writes of a visit to Molokai, the
place which the Sandwich Islanders
have reserved for the victims of leprosy.
This mysterious blight, which prevails
bo extensively on the beautiful islands,
is not simply a skin disease, as moat
people think, but a painful decaying of
every portion of the body. Nine years
is the longest period a leper has been
known to live, seven years being the
usual limit of the disoase. Old women
live longer and suffer more than any
other victims. Families often lrido their
afflicted relatives in tho mountains, but
tho police officers bring more than a
hundred lopers every two months to the
hospital at Honolulu, where the doctors
examine them and consign them to ban
ishment to tho leper settlement, from
which death is the only escape. Many
touching stories grejwld of, the dera*giH>
the gentle islanders show to their loved
ones who endure this horrible death in
life. One young physician, finding a
leprous spot on his hand, gave himself
at once to tho authorities and yvent out
to Molokai to study tho terrible malady
for the benefit of medical science.
GENERAL NEWS.
Baltimore owes $38,000,000.
Florida farmers are importing Ger
man labor.
A large hotel is to be built at Plant
Cit£, Florida.
The southern lumber trade continues
to g ow In Importance.
The growing of the camphor tree in
Florida is proving to be a success.
Sorghum is attracting the attention
of North Carolina farmers as a paying
crop.
Louisville, Kentucky, lias lost by
fire during the past twelve months $85,.
484 63.
In four years Arkansas, Florida Lou
isiana and Texas have doubled their
railroad mileage.
The Birmingham, Ala , iron furnaces
are all in blast, and making pig iron at a
cost of §0 per ton.
Texas marriage notice: “No cards,
no cake, no flowers, no thanks, no re
grets, nobody’s business.”
During the year 1883 the value of
importations passing through the Louis
ville custom house was $242,261.
The postmaster general is preparing
a bill to have introduced in Congress to
exclude newspapers publishing lottery
advertisements from the pound rate.
The decrease of the public debt for
December was nearly twelve millions;
while the total decrease since the thir
teenth of June was over fifty-three
millions. .
The Mexican government has declar
ed forfeited the concession made to Gen
eral Grant for a submarine cable con
necting Mexico and the United States
sad Central America, o work having
been done within the prescribe 1 time.
Under the provision of the last post
ofllee appropriation bill that when the
compensation of any’ postmaster of the
fourth class reaches $250 for four con
secutive quarters, exclusive of the com
missions on the money order business,
he shall be assigned to the presidential
grade, the following named fourth class
offices have been placed upon the list of
presidential offices with the salaries of
tte postmasters as stated; Yorkville,
South Carolina, #1,000; Morristown,
Tennessee, $1,200 ; Jonesboro, Tennes
see, SI,OOO ; Rockhill, South Carolina,
$l,lOO ; Attnns,
Quitman, Ga,f 1,100.
The business ftilures of the United
States during 1883 j as reported by R. G.
Dun & Cos., number 9,189 against 6,738
in 1862, an increase of 2,446. The lia
bilities for 1883 ar $472,000,000, against
$101,000,000 for 1882. The failure* of
last year are greater than those of any
year since 1878, when they reached
10,438, with liabilities of $234,000,000.
A close analysis ol the tables presented
in the circular tilyrrn that out of every
ninety-four person engaged in business
in 1883 one failed, while in 1878 one per
son failed Out of (very sixty-four traders.
In Canada the proportion of failures
during the year Wis one failure to every
forty-eight traders
The Railway Jx/e publishes a sum
mary 6f the railway building in the
United States Mo r the past twelve
months. It shffits 6,600 miles of main
track laid, at uf approximate cast of
$165,000,000, mating the total miles of
railway in the country to date about
120,000. The cdis ruction during 1882
was the largen the history of the
country—ll,6(l*miles, and the year
before 9,800. 'He States and Territo
ries which lead m the construction this
year are ts felkiys:
Montana jJL 413
Dakota .... 409
Michigan. JgE ßtt 406
New York 375
Pennsylvania. V-‘> 339
Ohio It 326
Mississippi 1 305
New Hampsh.re, Rhode Island, Con
necticut, Dela Are, Nevada and Wy
oming are States and Territories
in which no neHj-oads were built.
Alaska is native place of the
seals whose fur ks> highly valued, and
about one hund,ld thousand arc annu
ally slain on theTslands in Behring Sea.
The Alaska Cor.,|any pays to our gov
ernment a yearly rent of $55,003, be
sides $2 on eacijWiin taken. Theyourg
male seals aftorjllie best fur and it is
fin st when three years old. The
hunters go to thS islands in June and
surrounding thflerds of young seals at
night, drive th|Rinto inclosures where
they are knockeaon the head, stabbed
to the heart and quickly skinned The
skins are salted and shipped direct to
London where tbfy are prepared for use.
The seals near y one
hundred years ago by a fur trader whe
was lost in a fog, and drifted among the
islands. A warm current from the gulf
of Mexico maken a delightful summer
resort for the seals in the frozen zone.
Queer Shadows.
It was twilfgffl. The red flashes
thrown on the window-panes by the set
ting sun had slowly faded out and given
place to the first soft shadows of night,
whioh bring the cricket from its hiding
place and send thabee and the butterfly
to sleep. There was a feeling of rest in
the room— a feeing of quiet content
ment and perfect satisfaction/ The
hum from other rooms lulled instead of
annoyed; the voces of children on the
Btreet seemed fayMsay and had a touch
ease. His
•Byes rested on tho wall at the foot of
the bed—his thin, wrinkled hands were
folded one over the other—there was no
pain to deepen the lines on his kindly
face. He had seen the sun go down,
and he listened for the voice of the
crioket and the call of the whip-poor
will.
What was that?
A shadow suddenly flitted across
the wall in front of his eyes. Now
another and another. Now tbe first
shadows flit back to head a procession.
Passiug from right to left-the procession
moves— a procession of queer shadows.
They take on faces ns they move along,
and the old man’s heart beats faster as
each face comes before him. Here are
the friends of his youth—faces which
grew whito in death so long ago that
ho had forgotten them. This one was
a child—that a youth—that a fair young
girl when he stood by and saw the
earth cover them. They smile at him.
and his heart grows younger.
One procession ends and another be
gins. These are the faces of men and
women stricken down in the noonday of
life. Some of them had shared his
hopes and sympathized with his sorrows
—all had been his friends. The sea, the
lake aud the forest gave their dead to
the procession of shadows, and each face
was recognized and remembered. The
procession moves on and on. He is
shocked to realize that so many of his
friends fell in the battle of life while he
was spared to grow old nnd rest in peaoe.
Now comes the third procession.
There is a father, old and bent and fee
ble; a mother with wrinkled, patient
face; brothers in youth and middle age;
sisters who wept with him over some of
the graves. Every face looks as it did
iu life; every eye meets him with a glad
look of recognition. The shadows wave
their hands and move on, and the old
man's heart grows childish and big.
There is another procession. The
first shadow is that of a loved wife, who
died while the snow-white locks had
Scarcely turned gray. Then came the
children—sons and daughters—five in
all. One by one they had grown weary
and rested by the wayside, leaving hus
band and father to pursue the journey
alone. The procession halts, aud every
shadow holds out its hands to the poor
old mini as if in supplication. His heart
swells—tears fill his eyes, and he cries
out to them:
“I see you all—l am coming !”
Back with your light! But it is too
late. The glare of the lamp flings the
twilight out of tho room with hasty
band, and the shadows which crept
along the wall are gone forever. No one
saw them but the old man, and yet there
is proof of their presence. His poor
old hands axe outstretched on his
white cheeks are tears—on his wrin
kled face a smile of joy and gladness.
His spirit had joined the shadows !
M. Quad.
“The President of the United States
was once a boy like you, my son,” ex
plained a fond father to his heir ; “be a
good boy and some day yon may become
President” “ Then if I’m a bad boy,”
responded yonng America, “Imay be
come Vice-President, hey, dad ?” * The
question was referred for future con
sideration.—Boston Courier.
Unhappy soldier to the Court Martial;
“Oh, gentlemen, I couldn’t - help it! I
assure yon, gentlemen, I couldn’t stay
awake f I knew it would be death, but
sleep overpowered me! Spare me, good
gentlemen I Remember that before I
enlisted I had served on the police F
AUTUMNAL DREAMS.
When the maple turns to crimson,
And the sassafras to gold;
When the gentian’s in the meadow,
And the aster on the wolil;
When the noon is lapped in vapor,
And the night is frosty cold,
When the chestnut burrs are opeaed,
And the acorns drop like hail,
And the drowsy air is startled,
With the thumping of the flail—
With {be drumming of the partridge,
And the whistle of the quail;
Through the rustling woods I wander,
Through the jewels of the year, .
From the yellow uplands calling,
Seeking her who is still dear;
She is near me in the autumn,
She, the beautiful, is near.
Through the smoke of burning summer,
When the weary winds are still,
I can see her in the valley,
I can hear her on the hill,
In the splendor of the woodlands,
In the whisper of the rill.
For the shore* of earth and heavea
Meet, and mingle in the blue;
She ean wander down the glory
To the places that she knew,
Where the happy lovers wandered
In the days when life w as true.
Bo I think when days are sweetest,
And the world is wholly fair,
She may sometime steal upon me
Through the dimness of the air,
With the cross upon her bosom,
And the amaranth in her hair.
Once to meet her, ah ! to meet her,
And to hold her gently fast
Till I blessed her, till she blessed me—
That were happiness at last;
That were bliss beyond our meetings,
In the autumns of the past !
Bavajid Taylor.
A TELEGRAPHER’S TALE.
"And must you really go away and
remain all night in that nasty old box of
yours, and leave your Little Rosebud to
imagine all sorts of horrid things hap
pening to her poor old boy ? Couldn’t
you stay at home just for this one
night ?”
“Couldn’t possibly do it, my love,”
said I, struggling into my overcoat.
It was Christmas Eve, and I really
wanted to stay at home, but duty first,
ever.
My wife lingered by the porch, follow
ing me with her eyes ; and so long as the
house was in sight I could, on looking
back, see her white dress in the light
which streamed through the open door.
At the time of which I write I was
Telegraph Superintendent on a line of
railway. One of the clerks who was on
night duty had been taken saddenly ill,
and I had taken his work myself until
such time as he should recover. I had
only been married a few months, and
was by no means reconciled to leaving
my wife to pass the night in that “nasty
old box,” as Mag called it. Bnt it was
a necessity, and no grnmbling of mine
conld mend the matter.
A drive of abont eight miles brought
me to my post; but on that night my
mind was filled with vague, indefinable
fears, for which I tried in vain to ac
count. The night was clear and wind
lees, and away in the northwestern sky
the aurora borealis was flitting to and
fro in a thousand strange fantastic
shapes.
On entering the telegraph station, the
clerk whom I had come to relieve was
ready to go. ,
“You won’t have much work to-night,”
said he. “The instruments are unwork
able; no signals have been received for
the last three hours. Good night. ”
When I was left alone, I found that it
was as he had said. I drew my chair to
the stove and taking down a book which
I saw on a shelf I tried to interest myself
in tbe story; but it had no power to
quiet my wild, wandering thoughts.
While I was turning listlessly over the
leaves, thii stillness was startled by the
sharp, quick clanging of the electric bell,
the usual signal to prepare to read off a
message. With a shiver of alarm I
turned quickly to the instrument, hut
soon perceived that the bell had Iteen
rung by no earthly power, for the vibrat
ing needles made no intelligible sign,
and I knew that the sound had been
produced by a current of atmospheric
electricity acting upon the wires. Smil
ing at the nervousness which caused me
to start, I turned from my desk and
again sat down by the fire.
But smile as I would, and reason as I
might, I felt I was fast succumbing to
vague feelings. Thinking the atmos
phere of the room, dose and hot, might
have something to do with my peculiar
condition of mind, I flung open the door
and stepped outside, in hope that the
cool air might scare away the phantoms
of my brain. As I crossed the thres
hold, the midnight express crashed past
with a speed and force which shook
every timber of the building, and, utter
ing a loud shriek, disappeared into the
tnunel, at the summit of which my
station was placed. When it had gone
there was stillness, stillness broken only
by the sighing of the air passing along
the wires, heard even in t lie calmest of
nights. From that my mind reverted to
the earnestness with which iny wife had
asked me to remain at home that night,
and her manner when she- bade me
good-bye. "What could be the meaning
of it all ?
But I resolved to stay where I was,
and get through the night as best I
could. ‘‘lf this goes on,” said Ito my
self, as I turned inside again, and poked
up the coals with more noise than was
necessary—“if this goes on much
longer, i shall have to consult a doctor,
that's plain.” I filled my pipe and lit
it, but the weed had lost its usual tran
quillizing power. Again the bell rang
sharply; but, as before, no intelligible
sign was made by the needles. I leaned
my elbows on the desk, and, with my
head between my hands, watched their
unending motions. An hour might have
passed thus, when once more I was
startled by the clang of the bell. This
time it was louder and more urgent, and,
it seemed to me, with a peculiar un
earthly sound, such as I had never heard
before. It seemed as if there miugled
with the metallic ring the tone of a hu
man voice—the voice of one I knew.
The needles, I now observed, l>egan to
make signs which I understood; and
slowly, as if some novice were working
• the instrument, the letters “C-o-m-e”
were signaled. No sooner had I read
off the final “e,” than, to my amaze
ment and terror, I distinctly saw the
handle of my instrument, although I
was not touching it at the time, as if
grasped by some invisible hand, move
rapidly, and make the signal “Under
stood,” which the receiver of a message
transmits at the end of every word.
A cold thrill ran through me. I felt
as if every drop of blood were leaving
my heart. And now I could perceive
that another word was being slowly
spelt out. But so terrified was I that I
failed to catch the signs. Again my
handle moved, and this time made the
Bignal “Not Understood.” With an over
whelming feeling of awe, I watched the
dials intently while the letters were
again signaled, and this time I read “H
--o-m-e.” There was a cessation of all
motion for a second or two. I stood
petrified with fear and amazement, half
believing I was in a dream, for reason
refused to accept the evidence of sense.
Conld that be a message for me ? If so,
what hand had sent it ? The bell again
sounded with a clangor still more loud
and unearthly, and after a few uncertain
movements, the magnets repeated the
words “Come home—come home !”—the
handles moving as before. I could re
main at my post no longer. Come what
might, I felt I had no alternative bnt to
obey.
I ran to the house where the clerk
lived, and on rousing the inmates, and
gaining admission, told him he must
take my place immediately, as I had
been suddenly called away. In a minute
or two I was dashing along the road on
horse-back in the direction of home. I
shall never forget that ride. Although
I nrged my horse with whip and voice
until he flew rather than galloped, the
pace was far too slow for my excited
mind ; and at last, breathing and pant
ing, we clattered up the long street of
the village near which I lived. Sud
denly a horse and rider appeared at the
other end of the street, and a hoarse
voice uttered a cry: “Fire!” At the
same instant, the church bell was rung
violently, and at once the whole village
started into life.
Great Heaven ! my worst fears were
realized. It was my own home. I
choked and own the agony, and arrived at
the scene of the fire. The house was a
large old one, and when I reached it
smoke was issuing in thick, murky vol
umes from tne windows of the second
flat, while fierce tongnes of flames were
already leaping along the roof. A crowd
of men were hurrying confusedly about
with buckets and pails of water. “My
wife 1” I exclaimed, as I rushed forward,
“where is she?” “God knows, sir,” said
one of the men. Without uttering a
word, I entered the house, and ran along
the lobby—the woodwork on each side
one mass of blazing and crackling flame.
Before I had taken three steps, I fell
back, blinded, half-suffocated with the
smoke. Two men caught me in their
arms, and tried to restrain me by force.
“Let go, yon cowards !” I cried as soon
as I could speak; and with the strength’
of madness, dashed them aside. I rushed
up the stairs, and this time reached the
first landing in safety. The room which
we used as onr bedchamber led off a
small parlor on this flat. Groping my
way through the smoke, I found the
door, but, to my horror, it was locked!
I dashed myself agaiust it again and
again, but it resisted all my efforts.
Despair gave me strength ; and lifting
my foot, I struck it violently against one
of the lower panels of the door. An
other blow and it was driven in.
“Maggie! Maggie!” I shrieked,
“where are you?” bnt no answer was
returned. Crossing the parlor, I gained
our bedroom door. To my joy, it was
open, and stretched on the floor I found
the apparently lifeless form of my wife.
I bent over her, and on placing my hand
on her heart, I found it still beating. I
lifted her gently and carried her in my
arms to the window, which I broke
open. Of what followed lam only dimly
conscious; I have a confused remem
brance of men briuging a ladder, and
strong arms helping us down, and the
people cheering; but it is all very
vague. My next recollection is that of
finding myself in my father’s house all
bruised and weak, with my wife bending
over me. We nad been burned out.
On the evening of the next day, when
the winter twilight was closing round
and the snowflakes were falling, Maggie
drew a stool close to the couch on which
I lay, thinking over the strange events
here related. I had said nothing to any
body regarding the warning which I had
so mysteriously received.
“Willie,” said the soft voice of my
wife, “if yon had not come—”
“Hush, darling. Don’t talk like
that.”
“But it might have been. And do
yon know, Willie, I had such a strange
dream that awful night. You remem
i>er,” said she drawing closer to me,
“the evening yon took Mary and me
into the telegraph office, and told us all
about the batteries and things which we
couldn’t understand, though, we pre
tended to do so. lest you should think
us stupid?”
“Perfectly.”
“And you remember how, when I
said I should like to send a message
with my own hands, you made me take
hold of the handle, and then you guided
it, while I sent a message to your
brother, who was in the office at Lowes
toft then? ADd the end of it was,
‘Gome home—come home 1’ which I re
peated over and over, until I could do it
without your help.”
I turned quickly round, but she did
not perceive my startled look.
“Well,” she continued, “the night
before last, when you were away, I
couldn't sleep for a long time after I went
to bed ; then I dreamed—such a hor
rible dream ! I thought I was in your
office again; and I had fled there be
cause I was chased by some terrible
thing. I did not know what it was, but
it was close behind me, and nobody
could save me but you. But you were
not there, and so I seized the handle,
and signed the words, ‘Come home—
come home!’ as yon had taught me,
thinking that wotild be sure to bring
yon. Then, when you did not come,
t felt its hot breath on my neck, as if it
were just going to clnteh me in its dread
ful arms, and I screamed so lond that 1
awoke. The room was all dark, and
filled with smoke so thick that when I
jumped np, I fainted for want of air.
And, Oh, Willie, if you cid not eome
just when you did, I might —”
“There, Maggie, don’t let ns think of
it.’’— Chambers’s Journal.
A Case of Conscience.
“Speaking of conscience money,”
said Collector Robertson of New York,
“I had an uncommonly interesting ex
perience some time ago. I was sitting
alone in my office one morning, when a
well-dressi gentleman came in. ‘ls
this the Collector ?’ said he. I assured
him that I was the Collector of the Port
and he said that he had come to see me
on a delicate matter. He was a member
of a prosperous business firm in this
City, and he had but recently ascer
tained that one of his partners had
either wittingly or unwittingly de
frauded the Government by undervalu
ing dutible goods imported by the firm.
The offenses had been committed prior
to my appointment as Collector. ‘I
consider,’ said my visitor, ‘that my firm
is justly indebted to the Government to
the amount of SIO,OOO, and here is my
check for that sum.’ Of course, I took
the check and reported the matter to
the Treasury Department, and I pre
sume that the SIO,OOO was covered into
the 'conscience fund.’ The man’s name?
Oh, no, it would not be right for me to
make that public,”
THE JOKER’S BUDGET.
WHAT WE FIND IN THE Ht.UOROC*
PAPERS TO SMILE OVER.
STATIONERY POETRY.
Why did the ptnhcjder so tight,
' And let the paper cutter so ?
When Papa Terry knew ’twant right
To hare a rnler for a bean.
Why did the inkstand idly by,
And note that things weren’t straight ?
It shonld have tried to rubber dry,
And make the paper weight.
—Merchtud Traveler.
tfOUSD OUT.
“What has become of ‘Bowery Mike/
who kept a saloon which was a popular
resort for notorious characters some years
ago?”
“He is in the Legislature.”
“And his partner, where is he ?”
“He got found ont and is in the Peni
tentiary. ”
AN AWFUL TIME.
Ethel—“l hear that a twenty-four
o’clock time dial is proposed.”
Edith—“ Yes; isn’t it awful? Oh, it
I only had the inventor of that thing
here, wouldn’t I pull his hair!”
Ethel—“But pa says it will greatly
simplify matters.”
Edith—“ Simplify them, indeed 1 It
will drive us all crazy.”
Ethel—“ln what way, dear?”
Edith—“ Why, pa and ma nearly take
the roof off now when dear Augustus
stays until after 12. Just imagine the
fearful time I would have with them if
the new dial were adopted and he should
stay some night until half past 24
o’clock I” —Philadelphia Call.
PRICES IN NEW YORK.
“So you wish to marry my daughter.
Well, I rather like you personally, but
the question is, can yon support her?”
“I have an income of SB,OOO from an
uncle’s estate.” .
“Good; that will pay the rent of a
house.”
“I get $7,000 more from bonds which
I own."
“Good again ; that will pay the ser
vants’ wages.”
“I have $5,000 a year from a business
firm of which I am a silent partner.”
“Yes, that will feed you. What else?”
“That is all, sir.”
“All 1 And do you expect my
daughter to go without clothes ? Do
you thiuk we are Hottentots ? She can
never be the wife of a poor man. Good
day, sir.” —Philadelphia Call.
HOW SHE KNEW.
He—" Before you give my old overcoat
to that beggar, my dear, had you not
better look through the pockets ?”
She—“ When did you wear it last ?”
He—“ The latter part of last March, I
think.”
She—“Then I know there’s nothing in
the pockets. ”
He—“ How so?”
She—“ Because that was before you
stopped drinking.”
“he hain’t eager fob the contest.”
“Mr. Smith, do you know the charac
ter of Mr. Jones ?”
“Wall, I rather guess Ido, Jedge,”
“Well, what do you say about it?”
“Wall, he ain’t so bad a man after all.”
“Well, Mr. Smith what we want to
know is: Is Mr. Jones of a quarrelsome
and dangerous disposition ?”
“Wail, Jedge, I should say that Tom
Jones is very vivid in verbal exercise,
but when it comes to personal adjust
ment, he hain’t eager for the contest. ”
“Peesness Vhas Shaky.”
A few days ago a clotliingfdealer in
one ot the cities np the lake supre opened
the door for a customer who laid a
bundle on the counter and began :
"Two months ago I bought this ’ere
suit of clothes from yon.”
“Oxactly, my frendt, und it doan’ fit.”
“I bought it to bury my brother in.
Perhaps yon remember the circum
stance ?”
“Oxaetly—mit der greatest pleasure.
Vhell, did yon dig him oop und take
off der clothes?”
“No, sir! My brother lay in a trance
for four days and then came to life and
is now perfectly well.” •
“Vhat a shame to act like dot ! Und
so he doan'yhant der clothes?'’
“No; they are too smtdl for him.
Being as he never wore them Rethought
you might take the suit back and return
the money.”
‘'Dot vhas ompossible, my frendt.”
“Why?”
“Vhell, dot vhas not only against all'
der rules of commerce, but such a
practice would bust a peesness all oop.”
“I paid you sls; can’t you give me
twelve?”
“Ompossible.”
“Say ten.”
“My frendt, you doan’ know how dis
clothing peesness vhas. You bought
dot suit eight weeks ago.”
“I did.”
“Vhell, right away after dot dere vhas
an awful decline in wool. Next comes
some big failures in Rochester und New
York. On top of dot I sell oudt to my
brudder. Den my brndder assigns to
my wife. Den cotton goes down nnd
my vife assigns to me. Shust now der
clothing market vhas shaky, nnd only
an hour ago I gif my brudder a shattel
mortgage to secure a loan of $300.”
“Say $8 for the suit.”
“I couldn’t do it. If yon like to leaf
it nnd take a $4 ofercoat I shut my eyes
so dot I doan’ see you take it avay und
half to tell my brndder dot we doan'
make enough profit to pay our gas-bills.”
“I’ll never do that—never!”
“Veil, dot vhas for yon to say. If
your brudder vhas a man he dies " vhen
his time comes nnd not make all dis con
fusion. I doan’ keep sthore for men to
go into trances und come to life. Good
bye! I like to oblige, but peesness vhas
too shaky.” —Detroit Free Press
HE’D WAIT AND SEE.
During the war a couple of New York
ers went down into Pennsylvania to
prospect for oil, and, having discovered
a “stratum,” they undertook to purchase
five acres of land of an old German. He
was up to snuff, if not to oil, and refused
to sell at any reasonable figure. One of
the would-be purchasers finally said to
him :
“See here, Mr. Klopp, we propose to
buy this land and turn it over to the
government.”
“Vhas for?”
“To help put down the rebellion. The
time has come wh jn every man must
show his colors. Are you for the
Union ?”
“Yhell—vhell ”
“Are you a patriot, or not ?”
“Vhell, I tell yon how it vhas. If dere
vhas oil in my land, I hold it for one
tousand dollars an acre und vhas a
rebel. If dere vhas no oil, I sell it to
you for two hoonered dollars an acre und
vhas a good patriot”
“Is rr too warm to-day to wear an
overcoat?” Well, if it’s anew one it
isn’t too warm ; but if it’s an old one it
ifl. —Kentucky Stale Journal,