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TRAGIC LOVE MAKING.
Female Spiders Kill the Swains Who
Come to Court Them.
There are the spiders, who live
and die in the shadow of a unique
law, which declares that the female
shall be in all things stronger and
wiser than the male. It is impos
sible to find elsewhere in nature
such an astounding sex relation, for
it is the chief object of the male
spider to escape being devoured by
the female spider to whom he has
elected to surrender his heart. His
whole structure is designed to aid
and abet him in this perilous under
taking. He is small—indeed some
times minute—strong of limb, agile,
wary to an extreme. As a natural
result his personality is not pre
possessing. He is no expert spin
ner. He goes his way through life,
now and then weaving an inade
quate web—a poor, lopsided affair—
to snare the one or two gnats which
are all he needs as sustenance for
his diminutive body.
At length, at the proper hour, he
discovers the silken castle of a fe
male and, observing it, hesitates,
profoundly meditative. In this he
is not alone, for others, too, have
obeyed her silent summons—have
come from far places to group
themselves discreetly near her.
There is one suitor perhaps pos
sessed of great valor—even so, for
days his courage fails him, but at
last valiantly this troubador ad
vances and twangs one of the
strands of her web. By this he
strives to discover her temper, to
discern her mood. At last, overcome
by his own temerity, he risks all and
goes up her silken ladder, stumbling
over his own multifarious legs, so
great is his haste.
She watches him, immobile, a
tiny sphinx made of velvet; then
there is a sudden rush, a fatal wrap
ping of the entangling mesh—and
an ogre drops aside the body of a
gallant knight, sucked dry. It was
not auspicious this venture, and six
more suitors may meet a like fate
before one succeeds in soothing her.
No, the lot of a spider is not a
happy one.—C. William Beebe in
Atlantic Monthly.
An Amazed Woman.
A woman who had an Arabic
glass cup of the fourteenth century
and did not know its value took it
to the British museum. After due
consideration the expert, to her sur
prise, said that, though the museum
did not want it, it might be worth
$2,000. The woman shuddered, be
cause she had been carrying in a
crowded London omnibus a bit of
glass worth so much money, and it
had miraculously escaped smashing.
Finally, wanting money more than
Arabian glass, she sent the object to
an auctioneer’s. Fancy her amaze
ment when, starting at $2,500, the
Arabic cup went by leaps and
bound > and was finally knocked
down for the nice sum of $6,500.
The bidding of two rival collectors
did the business.
. Watch Papers.
When thick watches with remov
able cases were carried it was the
custom for watchmakers whenever
they cleaned a watch to place in the
bottom of the loose case an engrav
ed label with their names and ad
dresses, on which they would write
the date of the repair. Frequently
these labels were elaborately en
graved. Sometimes they contained
maxims or verses around the out
side. This habit gave rise to the
fashion of placing in the cases
verses and devices, tokens of friend
ship or love, sometimes written on
paper, but more frequently painted
or worked on satin. All these were
designated as watch papers irrespec
tive of the material of which they
were composed.—Exchange.
Most Ancient Condiment.
Mustard is the most ancient of
condiments. The Egyptians regard
ed it as an aid to digestion. The
Asians ate it freely. It was sold by
peddlers in Solomon's time. The
Kormans and Anglo-Saxons in the
earliest times never went to war
without an ample supply of prepar
ed mustard. It was their food and
medicine. The plant seems to thrive
in all parts of the world and is
eaten by every civilized nation and
many heathen tribes, either as a
spring salad (the young leaves are
most delicious) or a seasoning pre
pared from the ground seed.
Power of the Press.
A soap millionaire and an actor
manager were talking business.
“I,” said the actor - manager.
‘Tiave discontinued the use of pos
ters. My announcements appear in
the newspapers exclusively. I have
heard that those who don’t read the
papers don't go to the theater.”
ou are wise,” said the soap
millionaire, “and I do like you.
Long since I discarded every form
of advertisement save that of the
press, finding that they who didn’t
read a newspaper had no use for
soap.”
I
I ISLANDS OF SAFETY.
Fearful Conditions tn; F<“ncn
Desperadoes fre-e.
In France a crij... v.....
.ed as incorrigible either >vnt to'
| the islands of Safety, of: the Guiana!
i coast—of which Devil'.- island,
I where Captain Dievlu-
is one—or to St. Laurent or St.
Jean, a little higher up the river.
In this terrible climate, says a writ-
■ er in the Wide World Magazine.
, with the scorching sun beating
down upon them, the criminals are
■ made to work m the gold mines or
opening up the jungle, and as the
officers in charge have practically!
unlimited power over them thev are
often ill treated.
The inhabitants of these prisons
range from murderers of the worst
type to professional thieves and
desperadoes. About one-fifth of the
criminals are women and—a thing
that seemed incomprehensible to a
visitor—are permitted to marry the
male convicts! In some cases wives
had joined their convict husbands.
What dreadful children must be
raised in this atmosphere of crime
and brutality!
Escape is the one thought of the
convict. The doors leading to the
jungle are not guarded any too well,
and the officers in charge do not
seem to care if a criminal escapes
into the forest, knowing very well
that men seldom get away alive
from this terrible region of deadly
malaria and ferocious wild beasts.
Fugitives have also to reckon with
the natives, to whom the hunting of
convicts is great sport. In many in
stances prisoners escape in batches;
of twenty and thirty and are more]
dangerous to meet than wild ani
mals, as their main object is to ob-,
tain weapons and food. To get
these they will attack and murdei
without mercy.
| --
Rubies and Carbuncles.
Carbuncles, to which the ancients
attributed fantastic properties, were
lin reality rubies. They served, it
! was said, to give light to large ser-
I pents or dragons whose sight had
i been enfeebled by age. They bore
■ them constantly between their teeth
and laid them down only for eating
and drinking. It was even claimed
that the carbuncle emitted light in
darkness and that the thickest
clothing could not stop its rays. I
Without all the exaggeration of •
such legends it was believed for a
long time that rubies contained
luminous rays. The truth is that
they have double refraction and
send out the red rays with unequal
ed brilliancy. Traversed in a vacu
um by an electric current, they are ;
illuminated with a red fire of ex
treme intensity. The greatest heat
does not change their form or color.
Variations of “How Are You?”
“How do you dor” That’s Eng
lish and American. “How do you
carry yourself?” That’s French.
“How do you stand?” That’s
Italian. “How do you find your
self?” That’s German. “How do
you fare?” That’s Dutch. “’How
can you?’’ That’s Swedish. “'How
do you perspire?” That’s Egyptian.
“How is your stomach? Have you
eaten your rice?’’ That’s Chinese.
“How do you have yourself ?” That’s
Polish. “How do you live on?”
That’s Russian. “May thy shadow
never be less.” That’s Persian—
and all mean much the same thing.
—Milwaukee Free Press.
Magnetic and Geographical Poles.
The “geographical poles” of the
earth are the extremities of the
imaginary line passing through its
center of gravity and about which
it revolves. The “magnetic poles”
are in no way coincident with the
geographical pole and are deter
mined by the “dip of the needle.”
The north magnetic pole was lo
cated by Captain James Ross, in
1831, in King William’s Land,
northern Canada, latitude 70 de
grees 5 minutes 2 seconds. The
south magnetic pole has been locat
ed in 72 degrees 23 minutes. —New
York American.
The Faint Heart.
“You say, Mr. Sibley,” said the
girl in a low, thoughtful, this-is-a
serious-matter sort of tone, “that
vou have loved me for five years
and have never dared to tell me so
until tonight ?”
“Yes,” he replied.
“'Well, 1 cannot be your wife. A
man who has no more courage than
that would pretend to be fast asleep
while a burglar stole his baby’s
shoes.”—Liverpool Mercury.
Misinformation.
There was a dance in the lobby of
one of the big apartment houses in
Washington. A man wffio rents an
apartment came in, saw the crowd
and asked one of the negro elevator
hoys:
“What’s going on out there?”
“Why.” the boy replied, “that is
a dance jfiven by one of the ma
ternities of Georgetown university!”
—Saturday Evening Post.
THE HUDSON RIVER.
Its Name Has Been Changed Nearly a
Score of Times.
While Henn Hudson i? univer
sally acclaimed a- the discoverer o!
the noble river which bears his
name, it is well known that nearly
a centurv before Hudson’s success
ful exploration John da Verruzano.
a Florentine, entered the mouth of
the Hudson and reported that lie
had passed up the river about a
league in a boat, not venturing to
sail his vessel, the Dauphine, up a
river with which he was unfamdi;!r.
A rtidden squall impelled him i<» > •-
turn io his ship. Verrazano cal;.-
the Hudson “the river of stew
hills." This was in 1524. Some
'ears later Verrazano’s brothm
made a map of the region, and he
named the mouth of the Hudson
“San Germano.”
In 1525 a Spaniard named Go
mez. who came to America on an
exploring trip, made a chart upon
which he designated the Hudson as
“San Antonio."
When some eighty years later
Henry Hudson in his efforts to
reach the east Indian possession.'
of the Dutch East India company
by a northwestern route accidental
ly ran into the Hudson he promptly
dubbed it the “Manhattes,” from
the name of the Indians who dwelt
at its mouth.
Hudson sailed slowly up the rivet
as far as Albany, and his experi
ences with the Indians and his ob
servations of the surrounding coun
try were so gratifying that he re
turned home with glowing Yeoorts
of the new found country.
The Dutch at once realized that
great commercial advantage might
be gained in the new territory, and
various companies were organized
to colonize and exploit it.
In 161 <4 a charter was granted to
the Nmv Netherlands company, and
the river wa- there referred to as
“De Riviere van der Vorst Mauri
tius" in honor of Prince Maurice of
Orange.
In various other charters granted
at this time and public documents
in which the river was mentioned it
was spoken of as the “Groote Rivi
ere,” the “Noordt river,” the “Rivet
of the Manhattan'" and the “Ric
de Montague."
In addition to these names, the
Indians had a number of others sot
it, among which may be mentioned
“Sanatatea." "Shawnatawty.” “Ca
hohatatea" and “Cohongorontas.”
As late as 1754 the river was
referred to by a French writer as
the “River Orange."
When the English took posses
sion of New Netherlands they per
sistently called the river “Hudson’s
river." and despite the nearly a
score of other names bv which it
was known that name finally
“stuck." although many of the early
colonists spoke of it as the North
river in contradistinction to the
Delaware river, which was common
ly known as the South river.
A Natural Thermometer.
It was a sapphire that led the
late Dr. Sorby to the discovery of
the nature of the liquid sometimes
found inclosed in the cavities of
crystals. The gem in question con
tained a tube shaped cavity a quar
ter of an inch in diameter, which
was so regular in its bore that it
served by means of the liquid par
tially filling it for a thermometer.
The contained liquid half filled the
bore at 50 degrees F. and complete
ly filled it at 89 degrees. A study
of the rate of expansion of the
liquid led Dr. Sorby to the conclu
sion that it must be carbonic acid.
Expensive Absentmindedness.
“What is all that noise about in
there?" said the museum manager
to the attendant, pointing to the
room of the living skeleton.
“Why. you see. it was this way,”
was the reply. “The living skeleton
is engaged to the armless wonder,
and in a moment of absentminded
ness he bought her an engagement
ring. That noise you hear is the
man kicking himself.” —New’ York
Times.
Berbers and Arabs.
The Berbers are not Arabs. The
Berbers have been in North Africa
for as long as history can tell us.
They were there when Carthage
was founded, seven or eight hun
dred years before Christ, and as
they were then so they are today,
apparently unchanged by the chang
ing ages; the same brave, liberty
loving nomads thev were in the
days of Hannibal and Scipio.
The First Encyclopedia.
The honor of first bringing a dic
tionary of general knowledge intc
alphabetical order belongs to
Ephraim Chambers, an English
Quaker, whose taste for literature
was acquired in a globe maker’s
studio. He stole the time belong
ing to his master to compose behind
the 'hop counter the encyclopedia
published in 1727.
.... - * -
-.W I liwiwyu aiwiHi 111
«■ "TJ! _ "rc 1 «ii
SIMEON FORD’S CLOSE SHAVE
Famous Hotel Man Almost Guilty of
Forgetting Somewhat Familiar
Acquaintance.
Simeon Ford was standing in the
lobby of his hotel the other day when
a tall, portly, well-dressed man en
tered and leaned over the cigar stand,
carefully examining the wares within
before making a purchase.
“I know that man,” said Mr. Ford.
“His face is perfectly familiar, but
somehow I can’t place him at the
moment; and I’m supposed- never
to forget a guest after speaking to
him once!”
Mr. Ford was evidently annoyed.
I ’ e stepped across to the cigar stand,
passed the time of day* with the
portly, well-dressed man and came
back again.
“Did you identify him?” asked the
acquaintance to whom Mr. Ford had
been speaking.
“Oh, yes. He’s the barber who
has shaved me every other day for
eight years. But this is the first time
I ever saw’ him with his white coat
off and his black derby on.”
AS THE ORDER CHANGETH
Old-Fashioned Drug Store Seems to Be
No Longer a Necessity of Life
in Modern Day.
“The old-fashioned drug store,
where a man could obtain in a few
moments all of the materials for a
first-class sickness, to say nothing
of suicide, seems to be passing,” says
one observer. “It has gone through
various stages in its development
from the herb to the postal card. The
first druggist was equipped only with
a bronze ax. He went out and cut
up roots, boiled them over a fire and
produced a combination hair restorer
and physic. From this idea started
all of the patent medicines.”
M e are not as dependent on drug
stores as we used to be, because we
('an die a thousand new’ ways every
year. There are motorcycles to hit
us between the curb and car tracks,
and aeroplanes to drop on us.
The druggist who used to mortar
and pestle his trade into steady cus
tomers now deals out froth and films
A SHORT CRUST.
Newedd—What’s wrong with this
pie crust? It doesn’t half cover the
pie.
Mrs.. Newedd—Why, dearest, I
asked your mother all about how to
make them to suit you, and she said
to make the crust very short.—Bos
ton Transcript.
HIS SENSE OF FITNESS.
Judge (to man arrested for drunk
enness) —What is your business?
Prisoner Proofreader, your
honor.
Judge—Ah, I’ll send you to the
house of correction.—Boston Eve
ning Transcript.
SHOULD BE STRAIGHT.
“Even the honey we get is adulter
ated.”
“Why mention that particularly?”
“Well, you’d hardly expect anyone
in the bee-line to be crooked, you
know.”
HIS HABIT.
“The judge has a manner strictly
in keeping with his office.”
“How do you mean?”
“It is sententious.”
THE COMEDY OF IT.
“There is something funny about
that legislative bill/’
“To be sure there is. Hasn’t it
got a joker in it?”
ALSO FOND OF HER FEET.
» *
She—Let’s sit out the next one.
He—Why, I thought you were
fond .of dancing.
She—l am.
HER RIVAL.
“What became of that talking ma
chine you had?”
“Had to get rid of it; it made
my wife jealous.”
YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM IT.
“I thought your daughter received
me rather stiffly.”
“Ah I Then she did go to that
tango lesson yesterday.”—Judge.
HOMAGE.
“Should a man go down on his
knees before a woman these days?”
“Seems to be considered the cor
rect thing in shoe-store circles.”
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Last
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TO
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TUESDAY SEPTEMBER IST
Round Trip From
SI.OO Gainesville SI.OO
Special train will pass Gainesville 10.50
a. m; arrive Tallulah Falls 12.40 p. m.
Leave Tallulah Falls returning 5.00 p. m.
same day.
Via
Souther Railway
Premier Carrier South
For further information call on ticket
agents, or address
J. C. BEAM, AGPA R. L. BAYLOR, DPA
Atlanta, Georgia.
GAINESVILLE RAILWAY AND POWER CO
OWNEDiLOCALLY
Furnish Street Car Service, Electric Lights and Power
Reduced Rates on Cars by Purchase of Street Car Tickets.
Schedule anH Prices Furnished at Office
INSURANCE
Strongest ana Best Companies on Earth
We have an Attractive and New Proposition on insurance
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PHONE 302 - 8-9 GRANITE BLDG
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Arrive Gainesville.
v . __ 9.15 a. hi
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Leave Gainesville,
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No: 4 7.7.7777.1 p. m