Newspaper Page Text
THE MONROE
VOL XXXIX.
fHE JINGLER.
TU# nr<?1#Bt poatry machine In rnin<: out of
Aixl tli> lo,
I >f late f ri ntlou j* E' w purcbnfii i
For the hy the pile.
old < ;>«• \ mii • ;it « 8 »heavy, it
Wft* ll
And about hard to is lingo a Hudson Hi vr r
bars
You had t iud it up at Eight and oil it evory
And •day,
It luftdn a lot of t uhio for the poot every
A ml th ,B K w «b so t.U crlnln vou could never
COUUt IIJHII i li
If you wantnl a; n uil \ •ti wicnt It rnttloil ofT a
Hoinot onimt;
itm »» It hail a kj am ana would warhlo In
Ae Eight
*1 av.-iiltcn nftwigo neighbors from their i»I l
-
lie in allr ght
" Itb con am 11,ain’t, m awful for u haril to eon tom
Ami plate,
no it h (UnrulynnIn w**re Humorous tuid
Hut great,
* the Jinglor Is ’ ’’ an ’ 8urdy c< ’ ni °
to
It is It V of ml htmpnt rind is always sun to
You l-hiy,
c- IIII fCK us it at pleasure for a joein grave or
No a'sy 1 11,1 ' 1 r 11 I “‘ lluttl or n
nm! t»*r what thomMro is or how tovoro tho
You simply prcis tho button and the Jingicr
docs the iest.
—Argonaut.
MARIAN S LIGHT.
Far iliiwn ! tiin L Mnin nnst if’ in mho or
the the many m v bail ors of of that, good old
iiihMfitcdVv"s’lmH^tlsher L fo?k
oration after generation has been
bom nid lived and d ed in the .
Li village Htims vet the I,?,. neonie .ViYnt seem to
1 l,c b , W
-.f tv y vea™ u,lt Ml. a K°’ from n ‘c old,
S'^amr^tbcn^ulev , . gill,less ^cm ami'simple mi S
unusoal degree,
and kindly, while to the stranger
with inipu th<>ir imnrino -u ij
limit
At a late hour one soft, sweet
n ght In early summer, while so¬
journing for a time among these peo¬
ple, 1 noticod, far down on a point of
land, that, rocky and wovoworn,
makes out into tho sea, a strange
light* that seemed to lie suspended a
few feet from the earth. Foft and
<5*
\ & t
■ -4
* \ iy\
yi \
U j 0 v
• _ ’ Y
bilehtli hi took lien™ ms »TBOKO arms,
wavering It was, sometimes dim; but
so unmistakably a light, that I was
somewhat porpclxed, and the next
morning 1 asked my hostess the cause
of the phenomenon.
The woman’s countenance changed
in an instant, as she replied, with a
wise, uncanny shake ot her head,
“Why, that is Mistress Marian’s
light*” And so she went on and
told me this story:
Away down on the loint, where
the brown soil of the interior of the
island begins to mingle with the
white sand along the ^a, there was
many years ago a cottage, tm it by a
seafaring man, who. with his family,
occupiod it for a short time. They
then removed to a neighboring shore,
and the house remained untenanted
many months.
In the course of time two strangers
came to tho island, an old man and
his little daughter, Venerable in
deed was tlie father, and with his
snow-white hair and beard, and his
dignified, scholarly bearing lie might
have been a king among men. No
one seemed to know just when or
how they came; they appeared sud¬
denly and unexpectedly, and seemed
to find relief in the quietness of tho
place.
To the little uninhabited cottage
on the point they went, and the sim¬
ple life of the islanders became their
life. They became a part, and still
not a part, of the fisher folk, The
dignified old man was so unlike any
one whom they had ever seen before
that they were shy of him; and long
though he lived among them, quietly
assisting the needy, and lending a
helping hand to all, they were never
quite at ease with him. though they
worshiped him from afar.
Not so the child, with her soft
brown eyes and her gentle, winning
manner. “A lady horn and bred, she
is,” the good dames said, one to an
other, many times. But she was a
child, strangely alone, so the motherly
arms were opened to her, and the
vcfMren made this little Marian their
.»*.
seemed to be people of means
^P?his father and daughter. The
cottage was furnished cumfortab y,
oven luxuriously, and many books,
some of them in quaint and curious
bindings, were abou\ On the low
Wails hung several pictures, the like
Df which Ihe islanders had never
seeu before; rich rugs covered the
floors: a piece of tare eastern era
bro derv was flung over a low couch:
upon a shelf were some bits of china
delicate and fragile, while every
Where in the tine house were evi
donees of refinement From what
faraway land the strangers came, or
why they had sought refuge on the
little island, they themselves never
said, nor were ever questioned The
people, with their simple faith and
childlik 3 credulity, accepted the fact
of their coming as they did all the
good things that befell them—thank
ful, asking naught
So these two lived on in an alien
land, their lives leplete with the sat
Isfaction that comes from help ng
others, their desire to do good satis
tied by the appreciation with which
their efforts were met. Thus the lit
tie girl, the dainty-Marian, grew to
maidenhood, learning much from her
father and his 1 ooks, but more from
nature, of the sea with its wonderful
FORSYTH. MONROE COUNTY, GA, TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 28, 1891.
treasures: of the rocks that she lovetj,
gaunt and gray though they were; of
flowers and fishes and birds. Every
mother on the island felt a deep af
fcctlon for her, and her young mates
were p oud to be called her friends,
The lads of the village were filled
with unspeakable delight wher she
h; oke to them in her sweet, low
voi e. Not one of them but that
would have risked his limbs, almost
his life, for anything that she wanted
a wiid-fiower, a stone, or a bright
bit or seaweed. Yet for none ot them
had she more than a word or a smile,
except for tail, manly 1 liil Anderson,
rrom her childhoo 1 she had seemed
set him apart from all others as a
hero; and when he came to her out
on the rocks one sweet summer night
an(t ,( )hl her of his love fur her, she
accepted it quietly and trustfully.
^ was :l happy summer for the
two, passing all too quickly. When
? utui1 1 ! 1 caiue . J'hil wa s to sail with
his .ather . on one more voyage—to
make his fortune, he said; then he
waH coining back to m ;rry Marian
an 1 take her away into the great
world of which they wej;e never tired
of l ; alk:
So ( the weeks slipped by. October
came. < no bright, cool morning Phil
WCn l fl 0 W Jn 1,0 the little house to say
« > bmTyoung^saBo “ell"
^de ' , l,lc inc thc !, ra\e young sai.o. • fare farewell,
t ', icn 8ent ’ him ouL to ^hc rocks—the
L' ilC 1 " an J of a,wa th "' tin,! r bclr sil “"Uy ol b al—where he took
-
her in , his strong amis, kissed her
^ 1 ckly ? air S ’ her 0 forehcad [h[ueh and hocouhTnot her sweet
nu 't |iway «iura' as hCC0UM
tru ms his courage ' longer. l neer
. year passed, bringing two letters
to Marian fr in her lover, telling her
of such success as even his fondest
hopes had failed to picture. At the
end ol the third year, just after an
oilier letter had come, telling her
tii it tbe Watersprite was homeward
bound, and happiness seemed in store
for her, her father died. For months
the old man had been slowly failing,
living only in his daughter’s happi¬
ness. Now that she did not need
him longer, he seemed to lose all
power of holding on to his life, and
one evening passed quietly away with
the setting olnthe sur.
The grief of the young girl was
well-nigh unbearable, The only
bright tiling that life seemed to hold
for her was the fact that her lover
was on his way to her. (So she waited
anxiously, longingly, expecting tid¬
ings every day. But after the third
letter no news came.
As the days lengthened to weeks,
and the weeks to months, the island¬
ers were tilled with apprehension and
forebodinps, Agloom sctMad over
the people, which even the lingering
Indian summer failed to brighten;
and when ohe bleak November day,
beneath a darkening sky, a strange
vessel came into the harbor with tid¬
ings that the gallant Watersprite
had sunk and every soul on board
had i erished, It was almost a relief
to the anxious watchers. Certainty,
though hard to bear, was better than
hope deferred.
Gently did sympathetic friends tell
the mournful news to the lonely girl
at tho point; but dazed and bewil
deretl, she did not seem to comprc
head their meaning. For days she
lay in a kind of stupor, unheeding
everything, even the presence of the
&
j i «5SI I
,
m
mm ipip
Iirr. LIGHT IVAS A BRIGHT BEACON.
kind okl dame who watched by her
side night and day with tear-dimmed
eyes. Only when the waves dashed
loudest would the girl stir uneasily,
raising her head as though listening
for someone’s comiug.
At last she awoke from her long
sleep, coming 1 ack once more to life
and to her senses; but the beautiful
hair was as white as the foam that
dashed against the rocks she used to
lo\e, and the dark eyes looked large
and mournful beneath the snowy
wealth. As strength slowly came
back to her, so also came the firm
conviction that her lover was not
dead, but would one day return to
her. So firm was her faith that she
crew cl. eeriul, almost ha py. Once
more she assumed her duties—cloth
ing little children, ministering to the
sick and aged, helping weary house
w ves. There was not a person on
the bland who had not at one time
or another felt her kindly influence
or her strong, stimulating presence,
Every njght at dusk, after her day’s
work was done, she would place a
large bright light in the window of
the little sitting-room that looked
toward the harbor, leaving the cur
tain drawn aside, so that should he
for whom she watched comeat night*
he would find her still waiting for
him. Not a night did she fa 1 in this
most important of all her duties,
Her light was a bright beacon. Sail
ors soon learned to know it and look
for it, and they never looked in vain;
it was always there, steady, clear,
unwavering.
Thus passed several years, when
suddenly, mysteriously, without a
shadow of warning, Mistress Marian
disappeared. As silently as years ago
she had entered the life of the fisher
folk, so now did she leave it: and as
they know not then whence she came,
neit er did they know now whither
she went
There were many conjectures as to
the strange disappearance One old
sailor affirmed that one night when
1
h 3 was out Ashing he saw a little
boat come from tne point, bearing a
solitary j assenger with snow white
hair, who rowed out toward a large
ship that could be dimly seen, as
through a fog, and was taken on
board; then the huge ship ■ ui kly
vanished. But as this old man was
well known to take ni.s black bottle
with him on his fishing expeditions,
and as no other person could be found
who saw this wonderful ship, hi;
slory did not gain the credence that
its ingenuity deserved. The most of
the people inclined to the belief that
she had gone back to her father's
relatives; but how, when, or where,
not even the old woman who lived
with her could tell,
A decade or two passed, and the
old house in its exposed locality grew
more and more weatherworn and di
lapidated; and finally, one winter,
doubtless feeling that its time of use.
fulness had passed, it succumbc 1 to
fate and, during a heavy gale, fell to
the ground. Some of the timbers
were washed away, others were used
for firewood by campers and lisher
men: so that after a time nothing
remained to mark the spot where
the cottage had been, save a few
damp, moss-covered logs.
But still in this same place on
sultry time of July and August,—the ^
time when the Watersprite was said
to have perished,-this weird, white,
uncertain, trembling light, a. lew
feet from the ground is at times
plainly seen. Kot aU the scientific
akp,anations «* ”!?" hcad ". c f ?<*"'
vmce the simple villagers that this
strange light is any other than
Marin’s beacon for her sailor love,
or shake their faith in the plausi
bility of a story handed down from
successive generati&is.
The merriest sailing party, round
ing the point on a sweet summer
night, will become subdued at the
sight of the light, while the timid
maiden will nestle closer to the
skipper at the helm, as s ,e says in
awe-struck tones, “(see, Mistress
Marian’s light is still burning.'’—
Utica Globe.
AFTER THE NEXT SEA FIGHT,
Tho Victor Liable to 15e Embarrassed Ira
Disposing: of His frizo.
When one battleship captures an¬
other in midocean in the next naval
war, what is she to do with her prize,
asked the Philadelphia Times. In
the old days of wooden walls there
was no difficulty in the practice. If
the captured shipjcould float a prize
crew was put aboard and all practi¬
cable sail was made for the nearest
friendly pcirt, while the v'etor con¬
tinued on her cruise; or if both ships
were badly injured, both put Into
harbor. But nowadays the position
of a prize crew would be far from
commanding. The captured vessel
could not be managed bv her captors
—she would have to remain in charge
of her own engineers and her own
firemen, and the victors, instead ot
sailing the ship, while the prisoners
remained under hatches, would be
reduce 1 to the status of a police.
And thus would the opportunity for
a recapture be greatly increased.
For. while in the old days the entire
captured crew were disarmed and
imprisoned, the noncombatants of a
captured battleship would have to be
given their liberty, practically speak¬
ing, and much might be accom¬
plished ny a couple of second en¬
gineers with their wits about them.
For instance, would it be so difficult
to superinduce a slight explosion in
the port engine and under cover ol
the confusion to liberate the prison¬
ers? Again, the armament of a mod¬
ern battleship would complicate af¬
fairs. Kelatively to the powers of a
machine gun the prize crew would
be greatly disproportionate in
strength, since the chances for the
prisoners to obtain control of one of
these engines would be increased by
the freedom of their noncombatants.
Altogether the number of men re¬
quired for police duty on a captive
battleship would be very large, and a
victorious ship would have to reduce
the efficiency ol her own guncrews to
Jin unpleasant extent. It would
probably be found necessary in al¬
most every case for the captor to
stand by and accompany her prize
home across the Atlantic or the Pa
citic, as the case might be. And
this would be a double incentive to
toe con ;uered to effect a swift and
noiseless recapture of their own ship,
for if tbey r did so one unexpected Imr
j edo or discharge of a 12-inch gtfb,
carefully aimed, might very easily
turn the fortune of war entirely in
their favor. In other words, and not
to wlft“e"or^1!£e define too closely ca°* theraptureTa u on the nos<;i
battleship in an ocean duel in the
uext naval war will by no means ease
tbe mind of the successful command
er. He will have a leviathan on his
hands that it will tax all his safely^into engergy
and cleverness to bring
p or t, and there may be moments
wbe n he will be tempted to lock up
every mother's son ot her engineers
a nd firemen in the military tops and
run ber home under jury sails,
Florida Phosphates.
Tu 1888 Florida produced 813 lorn 1
tons of phosphate used in making fer
tilizer. In 1889 the quantity had in
creased to 3.780 tons, the “three
year-old” record was 181,*316 52,381 tons, and
j n 1391 scored ’remarkable tons. The
year 1892 showed the pro
auction reached' of '51.317 tons and the
vear nearer 400,000 tons
j 3 ro f. Sbarplin savs referring Boston' to this
development, in the Herakb
“In my opinion it is the greatest in¬
dustrial discovery that has been made
f or ma ny years, as well in the matter
of its vast extent, as in that of its
b j gb gr ade of richness.”
Whenever we hear of two part
ners who get along, we cannot >help
thinking that both of them must be
good fellows.
SOMEWHAT STRANGE.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIOENTS OF
EVERYDAY LIFE.
Queer Facts and Thrilling Adventures
Which Show that Truth is Stranger
Than Fiction.
The recent drought in southern
Kansas had a peculiar effect on the
atmosphere, says the Lyons Genius of
Liberty. It caused the shadows of
sev era! prominent citizens to shrink
to one-half their natural size.
A Baltimore man has hit upon a
novel idea for a hearse. It is a two
storied vehicle, with a receptacle for
the coffin in the upper part, and the
mourners are to ride below, as if they
were in a stage. The mair object is
ecomomy, to save the expense of car¬
riages. *•
Kate Grimes, a Devonshire milk¬
maid, was nearly’ frightened out of
her wits last week. She had just
finished milking a cow, when, to her
intense surprise, the milk in the pail
turned green. It remained that way
until evening, when it resumed its
normal color. »
The following advertisement ap¬
peared in a Parisian paper recently:
“A young man of agreeable presence,
and desirous of getting married,
would like to make the acquaintance
of an aged and experienced dissuadShim gentle¬
man who could from
taking the fatal step.”
Mrs. Pickard, of Parisi. Texas, was
alone in the house 1 ht ’other day
when a tramp demanded dinner and
a cash contribution. He was found
some distance away from the house
a little later trying to fix up several
holes INIrs. Pickard punched in him
with her scissors, and she is now r a
heroine in her neighborhood.
The smartest cat in Maine is sup¬
posed to reside in Brooklin. His
owner writes the Journal the follow¬
ing example of his intelligence : “My
hens got out of the yard, and Thom¬
as was seen marching them back into
custody in regular order. He could
not repair the break in the yard fence,
but put himself in the gap till it was
mended.”
James O’Shea, a poor "huckster in
Chicago, received a legacy of $100
000. He bought a house, and gave a big
establishment carte blanche to fur¬
nish it, with the understanding that
red carpets were to be laid on every
floor. pended The in sum bronza of ,$|TM)00 O’Shea was had ex¬
rare
them. pai'vWd wJb ; L m*M | they
“looioefF rusty.
The latest thing out in the way of
clubs bears the title “The Six Fin¬
ger Club.” Each member of this
particular club must have at least six
fingers on one hand. An elaborate
report drawn up by the secretary
shows that there are 2,173 persons in
the world with six fingers to each
hand, and 441 with seven fingers.
One individual, indeed, is the proud
possessor of eight fingers on one
hand.
Snakes have never been accused of
chivalry up to date, but here is a
yarn that goes to prove something
like that quality. At Greensburg,
Ohio, Jim Martin came across a little
reptile and killed it. Just as he fin¬
ished the job a big rattler emerged
from the brush and* gave battle to
him, apparently for the sole purpose
of avenging the death of the little fel¬
low. Jim killed his antagonist at
last. It was twelve feet long.
Ex-Sheriff Plummer, of Kent,
Md., has struck upon a novel but
very effective method of securing ab¬
solute immunity from thefts near his
house. After having refused several
offers for the large scaffold upon
which the execution of the four Hill
murderers took place, he has removed
the scaffold to his farm and has a
smokehouse built of it, where he
keeps his meat. The thieving por¬
tion of the population steer religiously
clear of this house after nightfall.
A young woman of Crab Creek, Ad¬
ams county, Oregon, indulges in fre¬
quent freaks of somnambulism. One
of her recent exploits was as follows :
She arose from her bed about 3
o’clock in the morning, and was seen
to approach Crab Creek in her night
robe. Upon reaching the stream the
young woman waded in for a short
distance, as if feeling her way, and
swam safely across. Upon reaching
the opposite bank she awoke, half
frightened to death, dripping wet,
and shivering from the cold, and
made her way to the house of a neigh¬
bor, where she was cared for and ta¬
ken to her home.
One of the best specimens of Con
federate bank notes is owned by a
merchant of Delanco, X. J„ ’ who
picked . , . it ., up some years ago. T It , is .
prin ed on paper of the finest of test
finish, and, though issued by the St.
John’s Bank of Jacksonville, in the
first year of the war, is still in an ex
cellent state of preservation. The
most curious and pathetic part of
this piece of extinct currency is an
dorsement in ink on the back, still
legible though a bit faded. It is in
a strong, masculine hand, showing a
business training and some culture,
The endorsement reads: “The last V
of $50,000, and all spent for whiskey,
Dec. loth, 1861.”
In Victoria, Vancouver’s Island,
where there are thousands of China
men. the police were for years in the
habit of making Chinese arrests by
catching the coolies by their pig
tails. The trick worked so well and
became so generally relied upon by
the police that at last the crooked
Chinamen met it by wearing false
queues. Some had their real pigtails
stuffed under their shirts and some
had no real pigtails at all, but all of
them wore false queues of horsehair,
ADVERTISER.
When the cjoliee chased such a Chi
naman and caught him by his pigtail
the false appendage came off in the
officer's hand and the “crook” ran
ahead and escaped.
T 4 MFS H 1 ; y. SrnrrFov V cantnred cn{ [i a -
wild goose at his place, r near Homer,
Oregon, one day recently, ,, and , he ,
thinks that he has a grand prize. 1 At
taclied to the bird s leg is . a very thin .
piece of brass, an inch long and j , half ,,
*
as wide. y-i On this is punched 3 with a
pointed . , , instrument, . , . ,* “Fremont >r , , Party, *> .
September, K , v ...... is V> B. It. T> J. t >> It is •
presumed that the initials are those
of Colonel B. B. Jackson, who was a
member of Fremont’s exploring expe¬
dition when it passed through this
region nearly fifty years ago. The
venerable Colonel is on deck some¬
where in Sonoma county, California,
and has been written to. If he
members having turned a tagged
goose loose in 1843 the bird will be
presented to the California Pioneer
Society.
Andrew Puksakosky, of Nanto
coke, Penn., was only seven y’ears
old, but he showed that there was
more manhood in him than many a
full-grown man possesses. He was
walking with his five-year old sister
along the banks of a creek, which
the heavy rains had turned into a
raging torrent, when the bank caved
under her, and in a moment she was
swept away, struggling in the roar¬
ing waters. Andrew could not swim,
and the water was swift and deep,
but he ran rapidly down the stream,
screaming for help, until he was
ahead of the floating girl, when he
plunged in and caught her. It was
some minutes before people, attracted
by the boy’s cries, could reach them,
and finally, when they w’ere drawn
out of the water, the girl, was dead
and her heroic little brother uncon¬
scious. Every effort was made to re¬
suscitate him, but in vain.
“ I once had to run into Chatham
Island in the South Pacific Ocean,”
said an old sea captain, “and was
amused to see the way in which the
people accepted their fate in regard
to the jumping of time. This little
island is just on the line of demarca¬
tion between times and dates. In
order to keep right with the remain¬
der of the world it is necessary to
skip from noon on Sunday to noon
on Monday every week in the year,
and hence the joke that it is possible
to spend a whole day at dinner with¬
out eating an average meal. The
island is so near the antarctic region
that days and nights are altogether
mixed up from the idea of an ordin¬
al y individual, but this plan of jump¬
ing the afternoon of one day and the
morning of the next so as to keep in
line -with the almanac is something
so ridiculous that none but a seafar¬
ing man can appreciate it, or under¬
stand the necessity.”
William Duncanson, of Stockton,
Minn., is the father of Orrin Dun¬
canson. He is also the owner of
what is known as the Mosquito mill
at Stockton. One day recently Mr.
Duncanson and one of his mill hands
went up to the quarry near the mill
to secure some rock. In their oper¬
ations they uncovered a large natural
cavity from which a passage entend
ed some distance. Following the lat¬
ter, they found it led into another
and larger cavity, perhaps twenty
feet square. In this they found over
four bushels of rattlesnake skeletons.
At the mouth of the passage leading
into the larger cavity was a good
sized stone and in the centre was
worn a regular trough fully six inches
deep. The large cavity was evident¬
ly the place of hibernation of rattle¬
snakes, which abound in the vicinity
in great numbers, and it must have
been occupied a century or perhaps
longer for the snakes to have worn
the gutter in the solid rock, which at
that place was as smooth as glass.
The skeletons found were evidently
those of old and enfeebled reptiles
and those which had died from other
causes.
To look at a railway locomotive
one would scarcely think that by any
possibility it could be put together in
less than one day, remarked liios.
G. Bick,of Montreal, “yet that aston
ishing feat was accomplished not long
ago in England, the work occupying
less than ten hours from the driving
of the first rivet to the application of
the final coat of varnish. The start
was made at 9 o'clock in the morn
ing, and eleven minutes afterward
the first rivet was put into the
frames. The cylinders were set and
fixed in one hour and seventeen min
utes. Four hours and seventeen
minutes from the start, ’ the boiler
was in place, , and . an hour , and ,
twentv minutes later the engine was
wheeled The wheels were supplied
as they left the shops and the eccen
trie sheaves had to be fixed, and the
axle it. boxes, connecting x- rod , and , coup
ing rod brasses fitted by the erect
tors. Eight hours and twenty-two
minutes from the start the valve set
ting was completed and the painting
of the engine was begun hfteen min
j utes later. In nine hours and forty
seven minutes from the start the
j engine and tender were hundred completed and in
every detail, One
: thirty-seven men were engaged in the
work. The locomotive was put into
regular service on the day it was
completed and has been running
continuously ever since.
“I never was very much afraid of
snakes,” said E. W. Grimshaw of
Washington, “but on one or two
occasions during my life I have come
into a little closer contact with some
of these venomous reptiles than I
would care to go through again. Sev
eral years of my life were spent in
New South Wales, which country is
infested with a great number of poi
sonous snakes. One afternoon as I
was crossing my garden carrying
glass of water in my hand l suddenly
felt what I knew to be a snake wind
itself around my leg. The next mo - 1
ment I heard an angry hiss, and felt
a sharp blow strike the glass in my
hand. Involuntarily I dropped the
and leaped hack. By this move
ment I released the snake, on whose
tail . .. T I had , , been , 7) and it
r, ‘ , * 1 . grass. At
another , time . T I sitting .... alone . at t
was n
table , ., which ... stood . , glass of .
a on a 0
'
milk. T I was leaning , . forward, . , with
•
, head . , buried . , . , hands. , All ... at ,
my - in mv
attention ,. .. arrested , . . by
once my f was J
, nd , f , ,„ ppln
, h Thinking
it was the cat I reached out my hand
to pat her, but to my horror my
hand came in contact wit h the cold,
clammy body of a snake. 1 started
to my feet with a cry of horror, and
snatching my cane from measured a corner
killed the rentile, which
over seven feet in length.”
Prairie Dogs Thriving.
The drought in the western one
third of Kansas, which has made bar
ren that vast region, has had no
effect on the prairie dog crop. Those
little animals continue to thrive,
and the more desolate the country
on account of the lack of moisture,
the moro numerous are the little
that are just now making so
much trouble for the frontier farmer,
who is earnestly coaxing his wheat
and corn to grow in the dry soil.
Travelers over ( lie lines of railroads
which run through western Kansas
are greatly amused at the many
prairie dog towns. They are to be
seen everywhere. During the day
they are always out near their holes
hunting for something to eat. When
one approaches they dart down into
the earth, into which they burrow
several feet. They are very destruc¬
tive in corn and wheat fields. They
burrow down and take the seed, and
they also live on the green blades as
soon as they come through the
ground.
The farmers of western Kansas
have tried many plans for extermi¬
nating these pests, but Farmer Dun
forth, of Gray County, believes he
has discovered a way, though very
expensive, by which the pests can be
exterminated.
He says he kills prairie dogs by
driving empty cans, open end down,
into their holes and tramping the
dirt solidly about the cans. He says
the dogs will come up into the can
and work till exhausted to get out,
and smother or starve; at least he
never hears of them again, Mer¬
chants are selling tin cans made very
cheaply for this purpose in many
towns in western Kansas.
The Spider’s Thread.
In a lecture at Boston, Professor
Wood dealt with the phenomena of
spider life. In one tribe the female is
one thousand three hundred times as
large as the male. The spider’s
threads or fibres, one of these threads
being estimated to be one-millionth
of a hair in thickness. Three kinds
of thread are spun. One of great
strength for the radiating or spoke
lines of the web; the cross lines, or
what the sailor might call the ratlines,
are finer and are tenacious; that is,
they have upon them little specks or
globules of very sticky gum. These
specks are put on with even interspa¬
ces. They are what in the first in¬
stance catch and hold the legs or
wings of the fly. Once caught in this
fashion, the prey is held secure by
threads hung over it somewhat in the
manner of a lasso. The third kind
of silk is that which the spider throws
out in a mass of flood, by which it
suddenly envelops any prey of which
it is afraid, as for example a wasp.
A scientific experiment once drew
out from the body of a single spider
three thousand four hundred and
eighty yards of thread or spider silk
—a length little short of two miles.
Silk may be woven of spider’s thread,
and it is more glossy brilliant than
j that of the silkworm, being of a gold
| en color> An enthusiastic entomolo
g j s t S aid to have secured enough of
f or weaving a suit of clothes for
j j^oujg XIV
! Children's Eating.
So „ ” e P arents , ? beir cbl1 '
dren , to eat against tbar will, as when
th G’ c ° me to h ° brank,a ?‘ A“ b !°
w,thout an ”PP«ite or have lost it in
P™spect of , a visit or a ride, or for
tbo «*• °, f eat,n * tbe,r
aI f, n > n discouragement of , waste
i ful habits. Unless we are thirsty we
cannot , dnnk . . , the P urest . s P nn . 8 water . , _
, , ap p ‘„ e ute, it is re
... „ ».
! ra
self by ?„ attempting l to take a second
meal twen ,/ y m i nutes s(ter haring
a r dlnner . The appetite,
, hunger f is excited ‘ £ice bv the d re
gence 0 gastric B J about the
stomacl b ut if th ere ig n0 | gastric
; there can be no h no
J °
^ tite and to el a c hild tc
s llo w food when it is distasteful
is an absurdity and a cruelty.—[St.
Louis Star Sayings.
A Self-sacrificing Act.
On one occasion General Lee, while
making an observation, stepped to a
somewhat exposed position to secure
a better view, and thus stood for a
moment at personal risk, when Gen
eral Gracie, who was in the party,
quietly stepped before General Lee,
without obscuring his view, and re
mained thus covering the body of his
superior until the fieldglass was low
ered and the danger over—a simple,
quiet act, but showing cool bravery
and self-sacr.ficing spirit.—[Wasb
ington Post.
NO. 33
FOR THE YOUNG FOLKS.
A FUNERAL OF ANTS.
The ant has long been an object of
special interest with naturalists and
others, who say many wonderful
things about him, and who back him
up strongly for possessing a remark¬
able degree of intelligence. acute
One of these gentlemen, an
observer of the insect-, furnished a
very interesting incident of a funeral
procession. accidentally killed
Having noted a num¬
ber of soldier ants, he a com¬
motion among the adjacent surviv¬
ing relations, and, determined to
watch their proceedings closely,
followed four or five t hat started from
the rest toward a hillock a short dis¬
tance off, in which was an ant’s nest.
This they entered, and in about
five minutes reappeared, followed by
others, and all fell into rank, walking
regularly two by two until they ar¬
rived at tho spot where the dead
bodies of the ants lay. In a few mo¬
ments two of the ants advanced and
took up the dead body of a comrade;
then two others, and soon until all
were ready to march. First walked
two ants bearing a body, then two
without a burden, then t wo others
with another dead ant, and so on un¬
til all the defunct insects were ele¬
vated. Then the procession moved
slowly onward, followed by an irregu¬
lar body of about two hundred ants.
Occasionally the two laden ants
stopped, and, laying down the dead
ant, it was taken up by two walking
unburdened behind them ; and thus
they arrived at a sandy spot which
seemed to suit. Here the body of
ants now commenced digging with
their jaws holes in the ground, into
each of which a dead ant was laid,
and then they labored on until tho
graves were refilled.
This did not quite finish the re
markable proceeding.
Some six or seven of the ants had
attempted to run off without per¬
forming their share of the digging;
those were caught, brought back,
and promptly killed upon tho spot.
A single grave was quickly dug, and
they were dropped into it.—[Atlanta
Constitution.
FETS AT SEA.
We had on board the Royal Ade¬
laide a very clever fox terrier.
Rattler one day accompanied his
master to the other side of Plymouth
Sound, involving a long journey
through the town of Plymouth and a
passage across a steam ferry, Riflo
practice was going on on the other
side, and Battler, being gun shy, de¬
serted his master; but he arrived on
board the Royal Adelaide by tho
dinner boat, the only passenger in it.
I have often wondered whether ho
made friends with the captain of the
little steamboat, or whether lie took
the bull by the horns and swam
across the Cattewater in his anxiety
to get back to the ship.
Still more remarkable were the
habits of a dog on board H. Af. S.
Pear], in China some years ago. The
ship was lying in a river, and Airs.
Pearl, as she was called, was in the
habit of landing frequently. If she
was too late for the officers’ boat she
used to take a sampan, barking furi¬
ously to intimate that she wished to
be taken off to the ship. The quick¬
witted Chinese boatmen always
brought her off without having pre¬
viously paid her fare. On one me¬
morable occasion she surpassed her¬
self. The officers hoard a tremend¬
ous barking in the screwwell, and on
the cover being removed there was
Airs. Pearl seated on the frame
beneath, asking to be let in. For
some reason she had chosen to swim
off to the ship.
Sheep often get very tame wher
brought on board ship for the table.
We had one in the Southern Cross.
He became such a favorite that
Bishop Selwyn would not allow him
to be killed, and he survived the
cruise and was brought up to the
headquarters of the mission, and
looked upon as a friend. We had a
sheep of most pugnacious character
on board H. Al. S. Shannon. The
captain had a couple of fine spaniels
on hoard, but Billy seemed to think
a little brush with Dash and Stella a
very good joke; but I am afraid that
the two dogs eventually turned the
tables upon him by scrunching hit
bones.
During one of the commissions of
H. Af. S. Satellite they had a farm
bear. Bruin on one occasion, during
an evolution, climbed up into the
rigging. This led to a signal from
the admiral, “You have a man in
your rigging,” to which the only
reply was, “It is not a man, it is a
bear.”
Dogs, by the way, are fond of at¬
tending the daily prayers on the
quarterdeck, and in general they
behave so well that in my capacity
as chaplain I have quite ceased to be
disconcerted by their presence. In¬
deed, we had a rough black and tan
terrier at home who, if he was at
hand when my father read family
prayers, would invariably get up and
bark when the last Amen was reached.
Biit of all animals that ever find
place on board ship the monkey
reigns supreme. There was a monkey
on board one of Her Alajesty’s ships
stationed on the west coast of Africa
who out-heroded Herod liimself in
the crimes lie used to commit! It is
said that on one occasion, when a
foreign officer of high rank came on
board to pay a visit of courtesy. Mr.
Jacko stretching out a long hairy
arm from some convenient point of
vantage, whipped off the visitor’s
cocked hat, and made away with it
to some inaccessible point in the
rigging, when tlie offender, rather
than be baffled of his prey, whiskt d
the stolen finery into the sea.—[Boy ’s
Own Paper.