McDuffie weekly journal. (Thomson, McDuffie County, Ga.) 1871-1909, April 15, 1885, Image 1

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VOL. XIV. POOR LITTLE BLOSSOM. **o, dear,*l*,nj so tired and lonesome, I wonder way Mama don’t come? B’e told me U> it’nt #p my b'ae ey*, And ’fore I waked up s’ed be home. s'e was gmngto g'rraluia, B*e lives on th j river s bright; I ’spect oiy Mam i fidGu’in th-re, Aud p'raps s'e won’t turn tom tonight. u i dess Pee af ad to -tay up here Wiy.iiit any fire or li^Ut: Bat Dod’n ligbteti t.‘* lamps up in heaven l *ee ’em * tviailing s .1 bright* “I led* r.l g inw > .* i II -* Pipa, £ kaaw he a ■•tcippd **tte st ;re ; (t‘ ft itwat, pretA? iUW ful. if txitties WidU he w-n 'f g t ere no more “:rv>m j'iunj he ■> ok wh he com-ho , lie -dembi ‘.I t .‘.up h* M ill’: A' 1 c *>. i lif ■• i .i • h •.r i l i. k *1 • m peor Util- e a r '\V ‘ . • , *jd f if; . ; And ir: ■; ; -'G S- t. AWi ■; ; ij. And -Vs hr ■ i. 1, Oat iftw W-.:T)} An*? Vi-./ - With i’-uisa-'-vrTspsidgfd' broty'tV hat: Out into hiby, it r lUf ■> it -t a w;t t ttH'hl. r.1.-sh-t—tts-. t h- j i .’he h.t; •. *; # . U*e I op-ul, R V f~fH l 9 I Jr.* -I t !l i>r :i* i .tv roJ, Bhe aj?d in th li • •**. : Oh, Papa P* -h** w’D lni r>h reached hint. 'lUl Ml .1 , : An l mv* i ;u gi.i l 1 is uero. “Tin lights are mo pretty, dear P uis. \;:d i rink that the iiiuae > sweet; But I dess it is supper time, P p i, And lilossom wails something to eat.’’ A insurant the bleared eyes gaize 1 wildly Down Into the face hw*s> t an < <lca% And then, as the demon possessed him. He grasped at the back of a chair. A moment -a second -’twin over. The work of the fi; and was complete, And the poor littic innocent Hlosa nu Lay broken aud crushed at his fed. Then swift a* the light came to reason, And showed him the deed he ha-1 done. With a groau that the demon might pity, He knelt by the quivering form. He pressed the pale lips to bis bosom. He lifted the fair gulden head. A moment the baby lips trembled. Then poor little Bi os.so in wu# dt ad. A I.ITKRAHY SUBPUISK. A Pfminln Author i> #*v>v<‘rptl UnUer Male P<*eud'nyin— Ch*rl**A Egbert Craddock ’■ Mil* Murfree. One of the best veiied literary iden tities iince the t me when George Eliot was supposed to be a man has been that erf Chivies Egbert Craddock, the writer of the beautiful and powerful stories of Tennessee ma intain tfe that have appeared in The All intic for sev eral years past. The announcement, therefore, made that “Mr.” Craddock was a woman and had been the cause of a great surprise to D . Holmes and Mi. Howells on meeting or at dinner at Mr. Aldrich's, caused a thorough sensation in literary circ os. The de elopment of this author is a proof, not only of the wealth of liter ary material lout Res hidden through out the United States, in obscure re gions. but also that the conditions ti er# existing may* produce the genius to utilize them. It has been known, though not generally, that Charles Eg bert Craddock was a pseudonym, bur no one can have suspected that tho rax*ter of a style so strikingly mascu line as that in these mountain tales was not a man. The secret ha*, until now. been well guarded, and publishers and editors have in tlreir dealings, ad dressed the author as Mr. AL N. Mur free. or M. N. Murfree, Esq , tho ob serving editor choosing the latter form, taking it for granted that one who bad so accurate a knowledge of legal meth ods as is shown In the stories, must be a lawyer. Charles Egbert Craddock had been a favorite contributor to The Atlantic for several years. Mr. How ells, when editor, was quick to see the striking qu tlity of the stories. Tne first one printed was “The Dancin’ Party at Harrison’s Cove.” When Mr. Aldrich became editor, he remem bered this story, and his first act was to write to the author, askingfor furth er contributions, meanwhile printing, as soon as possible* two stories which had been on hand some little time, un used in consequence of a press of other matter. Mr. Aldrich used to muse considerably over the personality of the author, and he once wrote asking how the latter could have become so inti mate with the strange, quaint life of the mountaineers. He received a pleasant reply of several pages, which, however, did. not throw much light upon the author personally. The manuscript of “Air.” Craddock certain ly had nothing feminine about it It was almost startlingly vigorous, with large bold characters, every letter as plain as print, and strikingly thick, black lines. Mr. Aldrich toid Miss Murfree that he used to suppose that •he wrote with one of those “dip” brushes which the mountaineers use in their habit of “dipping snuff!” So liberal was tiie author in the use of ink that last fall, when Air. Aldrich was about to write to ask for the pow erful novel, “The Prophet of the Great Smoky Mountains,” now running in The Atlantic , he remarked: “I wonder if Craddock has laid in his winter’s ink yet, so that I can get a serial out of him?” with the idea tiiat Mr. Crad dock must get his ink in large quanti ties, just as other people get their coal or floor. It was owing to Mr. Aldrich’s urgent representation that the collec tion of stories, “In tiie Tennessee Mountains,” was published, the pub lishers hesitating under fhe impression that there was no market for short stories collected in book form. Ilis judgment was justified, for the book is now in it# ninth thousand. One day recently as Mr. Aldrich was in the editorial room of the Atlantic Monthly, word was brought that a lady wished to see him. He went down and a nleasant young la<iv, who re- marKcu in at sue was yuanes r.goert Craddock. Mr. Aldrich could hardly have beeu more astounded had the roof fallen in, and he turned and ran sever al steps under the pressure of the shock, before lie recovered his lisua ly imperturbable presence of mind. He would have been better prepared to tied under that name a strapping six foot Ten'essecAn than the delicate looking lady before him. He now says that he is inclined to doubt the sex of all other Atlantic contributors whom lie has not met; there are certain things in George Eliot's writings which, now that one kuows. one can clearly see could have been written on.v bv a w man; but in the writings of Oh . es E bert Craddock there is not tii sightest trace of feminine inlluuice. I)". ILdmes and Mr. Howells were tui v astonished at meeting Mr. ■\ ck in Miss Murfree. Mr. How • i .1 written that hecould not come, to a o;h*r engagement, though u:e l v*ry much to “meet Crad a,” out lie was persuaded to come i urgent reipi si of *r. Aldrich, av ie called at a prominent r s. who said: ‘ Toll Craddock • ; round to see us.’ 1 *' u'-.l imrdiy he a violation of priv t say that the evening was a do me to all; that t;ie chief guest ■ i ‘ss das *‘taey” by the host, •: if ion of tue dualit y of Miss • and Cuartes Egbert Craddock, w ** iio t.*ss could not lose the from her ill i aud compromised < * ali-a Croduock.’l M " Murf.ee was born at Murfrees • . 'lean., and is the daughter of a prominent law\er, who has written ie ant'd as autliorlty in the e • Murtree-horo is the location i:•.• uovei, “Where the Battle Was i,’ . 'id tho windows of the where t e faintly lived up to two veai-'* igo overlook the battle-ground. i*'u year.- ago Mr. M i free moved *v>;n hn t iiudv to Bt. Louis, where •y i; w live. For a numoer of years, ft -m <iu Id hood up. M ss Muriree was •* to usi her feet, but her health i* n w much belter, and she can get r iid witu slight assistance. It seems a litt. short of marv lons that under such circumstances the author should have been able to gain so inti mate a knowledge of the life of the mountain folk and their almost inac cessible homes and onviroment. Bou ton Her dd. Polk Lore for Sweetheart*. Perhaps your affect one arc still dis engaged, but you wish to bestow them on one who will return like for like. In this case there are plenty of wish ing chairs, wishing gates, etc., scatter | ed through the country, A wish breath- I ed near them, and kept secret, will : tjponer or later have its fullillment. ! But the e is no need to travel to the | Lake country or to Finch ale Priory, near Durham (where is a wishing chair); U j you see a pteee of old iron or a borse | shoe on your path take it up, spit on if, l and throw it over your left shoulder, j framing a wish at the same time. Keep 1 this wish a secret, and it will come to j pass in due time. If you meet a pit bald horse, nothing can be more lucky; | utter your wish, and, whatever it may j be. you will have it before the week bo j out. In Cleveland the following i method of db ining whether a girl will | be married or not is resorted to: Take | a tumbler of wafer from a stream , which runs southward; borrow the I wedding-ring of some gitile-wifi ami suspend it bv a hair of your head over the glass of water, holding the hair be tween the finger and thumb. If the ring hit against the side of the glass, the holder will die an old maid; if it turn quickly around, she will be mar ried once; if slowly, twice. Should the ring strike the side of the glass more than three times after the holder lias pronounced the name of her lover, there will be a lengthy courtship and nothing more; “she wiil be courted to dead,” as they say in Lincolnshire; if less frequently, the .affair will be brok en off, and if tlicre is no striking at all it will never come on. Or if you look at the first new moon of the year through a silk handkerchief which has never been washed, as many moons as you site through it (the threads multi plying the vision), so many years must pass before your marriage. Would you ascertain tho color of your future hus band’s hair? follow the practice of the German girls. Between the hours of 11 and 12 at night on St. Andrew’s Eve, a maiden must stand at the house door, take hold of the latch, and say three times, “Gentle love, if thou Invest me, show thyself.” .She must then open the door quickly anil make a rapid grasp through it into the dark ness, when she will find in her hand a lock of her future husband’s hair.— Btlyravia. >m ♦ The Beggar Boy* of‘ Home. The poor look always cold. They are always ragged and dirty, in very I picturesque clothes, and on their poor | shoes lies the earth of the Lacustrine j period; and yet what a privilege it is i to be even a beggar in liom ! i thought \ so at St. Peter’s on Sunday, as I heard | Cardinal Howard sing mass on St. Peter’s day. Cardinal Howard is a stately prince of the church, and most admired by the English ladies here, who, it is said, kiss tiie hem of his gar ments. On the occasion of this splendid cere mony, the choir of the Sisline chapel answered antiphonally tho choir of the Cathedra). The famous tenors their best, and so did the sopranos of St. John Lateran; and no such music was ever heard in all the world outside of Rome. In front of me stood the little beggar brothers, no covering on j their curly heads. They were enrap tured with the music, as they well might be, and shamed my Protestant coolness by kueeling and crossing themselves in the rigiit places. They were very much in my way, anil they smelt of poverty and ganic; but 1 en vied them—for they can always see Rome, while I must leave it. I gave them a small copper tribute of respect, and of gratitude that they had taught me how rich a beggar might be. They rewarded me with a smile Raphael might have coveted, and a compliment in Italian far sweeter than anything I have ever heard in English. In Old London. Except the dealers who kept stalls on Chepe, (a great open market-place in the old days.) the city men of the Mid dle Ages lived at their places of busi ness. We can get a fair idea from “Fitz Alwyne’s Assize” (the first Met ropolitan Building act promulgated 1191, by the first Lord Mayor of Lon ! don) of what an ordinary master arti ficer’s house was like in the thirteenth THOMSON, GEORGIA, WRDNJCSDAY, APRIL 15, 1885. and fourteenth centuries. It was neith er very large nor very commodious. The party walls were of stone, 3 feet thick and 16 feet high. From them the roof, made of tiles, or in old houses of thatch, rau up to a point forming a ga ble toward the street. Tho rain, run ning down the slant of the roof into a gutter made along the top of the wall* was disc urged from a projecting spout into the kennel, unless the head of a passer-by happened to intercept the stream. The front and back were till ed with timber and plaster. Joists at a height of eight feet from the ground supported the floor of the upper and the ceiling of the lower story. Tho “solar,” as the first floor was called, was probably entered, like a modern hayloft, by a ladder through a hole in the floor. Tiie ground floor was used as one room, or divided into several, according to the size of the house and the needs of its inhabitants. Glass 'as scarcely known in dwelling houses at the commencement of tiiis period* and the windows were simply holes guard ed by iron bar and closed at night by shutters. But before the end of Ed ward lil.’s reign glass windows of lat tice work were common. Chimneys likewise were a refinement which Lon doners generally did not adopt till about the beginning of tho fourteenth century. A movable stall, jutting out into the street, formed an annex to the front ground-floor room, and provided a shop window, behind which the mas ter and his apprentice could work at their craft and keep watch over their wares at the same time. A cellar, re ched bv steps from too outside, ex isted under most of the houses, lieeds on the floor and whitewash on the walls were usually the only internal decora tions of w ait to our modern notions must, have been an extremely squalid comfortless abode—a mere hut. The (Ju arteriy lievicw. llow Fahrenh it Got His Zero. Fahrenheit was a mathematician and knew that a circle was divided into 360 degrees. He :oupd that •steam and ico were the most natural fixed points in temperature* at opposite poles, lie therefore naturally divided the distance on Ids glass tube bet ween ico and steam into the number of degrees iu the diam eter of a circle, which is 180. lie waul ed an in vtrmueut which could be cheap ly made and which would measure above steam and below ice, so far as would be lists! in everyday life. He found that artificial cold could be pro duced which would cause the mercury to fall just thirty-two of tho spaces ho had marked off on hia glass between ice and steam, and ho there, sensibly or not. placed his zero or point from which he could Count. 11 neo ice or freezing is thirty-two degrees above, and steam or boiling water is the diameter of his c ircle or 180 degrees: above ice, or 212 degrees above zero. —Uluo ttato Jour nal. Delayed , “In view of the hi cl that over 50,- 000,000 parcels of mail matter arc annu ally delivered from this office, and over 200,000,000 annually sent from it, is it strange,” said Postmaster Tobey to a Globe reporter, yesterday, “that errors occasionally occur? “Them i*> one thing,” continued the Post.uastei, “taut we constantly im press on tho minds of our employes, and that is that they must at a 1 times be courteous and polite, however irri tating the pu lie may be, when sup posing the management of the office at fault. It would be an act of simple justice on the part of any one who may have Cause for complaint, real or imag inary, to make it known to the Post master direct, thereby giving him the opportunity to investigate the matter, and apply a remedy, if any is needed, instead of complaining to tho public, and creating a very erroneous impres sion as to the efficiency of the service generally. “The statement that letters are oft en delayed at this office is an erroneous one. It will be seen at a glance that the original fault is with the senders in not prepaying at least one rate of post age. If one full rate is paid, namely, 2 cents, no matter bow much more postage may be required, the letter will be delivered at once, mid the de ficient amount collected on delivery. If to be delivered in tho city the car rier must pav the postage before tak ing it from *ne office and collect it from the addressee on delivery. This, as you will see, occasion no delay.” “Tlow if tho letter is addressed to a box?” “In that case a notice is at once placed in the box requesting the ad dressee to call at section three in the post-office, pay tiie extra. postage and receive the letter. Neither is any de lav occasioned by this. It is not a red tape regulation of the Boston post office, but a postal law, requiring full payment of postage to be made on all mail matter before deli erv. i heso letters 1 have referred to are known in the department as ‘short-paid letters.’ The letters which full rate has not been paid are designated as *hoiu for-postage letters,’ and cannot be de livered by law until the full postage is paid by either the writer or the ad dressee. Wi en the writer’s address is on tiie envelope the letter is at once re turned for the necessary postage, but if the envelope does not bear the ad dress of the writer a notice is at once sent to the addressee. “The latter system is certainly a vast improvement over the former Jaw requiring held-for-postage letters not bearing the address of the writer to be sent to the Dead L iter Office, from which the addressee# were notified that, upon receipt of the necessary postage* their letters would be forwarded to them. This, of course, occasioned much unnecessary delay. The Boston post office, under its present manage ment, was the second office in the country to adopt the system of card notices I have described to you, and, by demonstrating its advantages to the department, it was the means of its in troduction throughout the country. “If a letter bearing the address of the writer, and addressed to a street and number in Boston, can not bo de livered—no such party being known— a circular is sent to the writer stating the reason 'for its non-delivery and asking for a correct address. On an average about twenty-live of those cir culars are sent out every day, and in almost every instance they are returned with the information that the letters were intended for some other city. They are then forwarded as requested. “Charges of red tape in tfiis office and delay in the transmission of mail matter are not true,” concluded Mr. Tobey, “and in all cases where letters are detained it will be found due to negligence of the senders.” —Boston Globe. . Linen CnlT* ne'il Collar#* The popularity ot tiio tailor-made suit lias revived the prestigf of linen cuff# and collars; they are necessary to its completion. All cloth suits are now finished with a straight stauding collar or band, braided or finished to match the bodice, and showing just a line of white above its edge. Tho sleeves are narrow at the wris s, and match tho collar in finish, the culls behig narrow and not more than half tjedopth of those formerly used. These narrow stylos are known as “Jersey” cuffs* anil are intended for narrow, close-fit ting coat sleeves; but they can be turned or reversed, for wear at both ends, each end having button-holes. Tiie long gloves are m.t a satisfactory substitute for cuds, partly because one does not wear gloves indoors, and t-lie bare extent of the wrist, or fywer arm, revealed by the shortened sleeve**, is not neat or becoming. Sleeve-lmttons are small and flat, plain pearl being as good as any, and a collar-button is es sential; but some ladies prefer that both should be of plain burnished or frosted gold. Both cuffs and collars are perfectly straight in form and of line double linen s.uiply stitched on tho edge. The ti med-down corners and embroidered finish have almost disap peared from the styles approved by the best authorities. — Dcmorcst's Month y. Georgi; Gould. There is no immediate prospect of young George Gould marrying, lie is not p.xvi g serious attentions to anv young lady, and unless lie happens to get unexpectedly smitten there will be nothing to interfere with his father's plans to make a speculator of him. George’s going into the New York Stock Board was his own idea. He had been trading a little through brok ers, and ho wanted to see how it would seem to execute orders himself, lie says he likes quick trailing, and has a mind, as soon as lie gets his hand in, to become a “scalper” for the excite ment of the thing. The second day George was in the room a stranger came up to him and spoke in an under tone about some commonplace thing. Then the broker stepped out on the floor and offered 1,000 shares of stock a trifle under the market, lie did that to “guy” young Gould by creating the impression that the latter had declined the stock. George got nis back up at once, lie was not going to be made a butt of even if it did cost him some thing. He wasted no time, lie whis pered to another broker standing near to take tho stock for him, the trader was wo!u ly disappointed at having his offer grabbed up Without delay. Men of TalOnt. to tho Fashion. A man need be n* ither rich, hand gome nor shandy to dress elegant iy, or even set a fashion. Though a good in come is de irab!e, tho arrfof dro ig lie* not in expensiy up *s-Zb. ; : priaf.enbss, finish, and twill Ihu something that tho world calls >tyie and philosophers character. if n* l. horn in a man ii can be arrived at only with vast ] ains, and ev -n men a m j will of etl die*'-* a* -.., well th;.;i his valet. It is only when garments semi exactly to express ti man’s true ielf, uncon sciously; when they are atoneo effective and unaffected; arc entirely harmo nious, ea-y and upm'opriato. and, above all, are suggest.! o minor than conspicuous, that lany arc ur-adic, dis tinguished and of ethical value. In other word , what looks well o i one mail won’t look weii on .ill ltten. But only a few recognize the gr- al; truth or have courasro to practice it. There fore, the man who drosses to correctly suit himself is cerium to produce a re sult that will be copied by others who admire it without regard to whether it suits them or not. Ibis is how men of talent set a fashion, a; and vviiy it re quires men of talent to do it. Lord Hertford and Lord Steyne. The letter# of Lord Hort ord to Mr. Croker show him to have been a shrewd man of the world, but they do not in the least justify the accusations against Mr. Croker. Lord Hertford when Lord Yarmouth was a member of tho House of Commons, and it was prob ably there tho intimacy with Mr. Crok er commenced. On Lord Yarmouth’s succession to the title in 1822 it appears the management of the estates was con fided to Mr. Croker. There is the fol lowing description of Lord Hertford in Vanity Fair: “The candles lighted up Lord St ey tie’s shining bald head, which was fringed with red hair. He bad thick bushy eyebrows, with little twink ling bloodshot eyes, surrounded by a thousand wrinkles. His jaw was un derhung, and when he laughed two white buck teeth protruded themselves and glistened savagely in the midst of tiie grin. He had beoit dining with royal personages and wore his Garter and ribbon. A stout man was His lord ship, broad-chested and bowlegged, but proud of the firmness of his foot and ankle, and always caresSfrig his Garter knee.” Thomas Moore was very se vere on the color of Lord Yarmouth’s hair, but this did not occasion much uneasiness, for one day as Lord Yar mouth won a large stake at cards he gathered up tho money, exclaiming: “And Yarmouth’s red whiskers grew redder with joy.” Lord Hertford was renowned for the fetes with which he entertained the great world, and for the magnificent shooting which he gave to his friends at Sudbourne, in Suffolk, but at the same time he was anxious to -ave sixpence. “One day when ho was out of Parliament he came all the way from Seymour-place to the Admiralty for a frank to his servant in the country. It was the depth of Autuam, and there were no peers or members in town, so that iio was obliged to come to me, and the object of his letter was to give orders for the reception of a parly of friends which cost him at least £SO0 — ; here lie saved sixpence; and, if he had . been tired would have got into a hack ney conch and paid half a crown fare in order to get this said frank.” There is a characteristic story told of him. When the Thistlewood conspirators had Oceu hanged, somebody who had wit nessed the execution went to Lord Hertford to give an account of the proceedings; among other tilings he mentioned that one of the prisoners had prayed fervently on the scaffold. Lord Hertford said: “He and and quite right to hedge—you should never throw away a chance.” —TcuiyLc liar. Wel>4tcr*# Eye#. Mr. Allen, in his article on Daniel Webster in the last (Jentun/, writes a , correspondent to The Boston Adverlim r, j mentions his “great, suit eyes,” as be [ ing peculiarly attractive to children. This reminds me of an incident which may perhaps show that those eyes had sometimes adi crent effect. Mr. Web ster wa once spend ing the slimmer in a town near Boston, and, as was his cus tom, attended church regularly, both morn ug and afternoon. On one occa sion it fell to the lot of an unfledged youth to try his wings in that pulpit, lie rose, as was natural, with some trepidation, to begin the service. This trepidation gradually increased, till to ward tne close of the hymn he faltered perceptibly, and as he sat down by the mmi-tor of the parish, he whispered: “Doctor, l don’t know to whom those eyes belong wuich are directly facing me, bill they are quite too much for me and lean not preach.” Mr. Web ster was responsible dor an extempor aneous discour*e that morning. The Cent ip'do’s Bite. A few days ago Lumen Alexander ro- , ceived, from a friend in Arkansas, a ! specimen of that venomous animal, the i centipede. Mr. Alexander placed the j articulate in a jar of alcohol aud has it | on exhibition at his store. Almost ] every one who has been attracted by ! it has related remarkable incidents ; about it s family. The centipede is said j to be one of the most poisonous reptiles 1 in existence. It is claimed that its j sting is sure death, ami an antidote for . its poison is among the undiscovered I wonders of the world. One of the stories related of this spe- j cies is that of an ex-soldier. He says : that when among the Ozark mountains j a companion felt one of them crawling I up his leg. He knew its sting was slid- | den ami fatal, but the varmint was on i hi n. Wluit must lie do to be saved ; was tho question. Ho know it would : be impossible to shake it off, because at tho least disturbance it would plant its fangs into his flesh. He felt it crawl ing, and as it enmo higher ami higher on ids limb the perspiration boiled from : ♦ very pore of his body. Every moment | was one of agony, ami he began to re- j aliz© that his life hung on a slender I tnread. Finally an idea suggested itself. He dealt the centipede a terrific biovv, killing it; but of course at the first touch its tangs wore inserted in his flesh. Almost instantly he disrobed, and with a common pocket knife made an incision around the affected part and removed about a pound of flesh. This was twenty years ago. and the man carries an ugly sear to this day; but to tiiat sear he owes his life. Another story more remarkable, is briefly told. A company of emigrants had camped in New Mexico, and one night one of the party, who was sleep ! ing on tne ground, was awakened by a i peculiar sensation oil his toes. Ho j looked and saw a monstrous centipede crawling aero## his foot. Only a few ] feet from him was the camp-lire, and ; be could see every fibre of the reptile. | Knowing its peculiarities and the ollect of its sling, he, too, was in a fever of excitement. Afraid to move a muscle, j he dared not attempt to shake it oft. .'liter a second’s pause he reached un der his head, got Ids pistol, and, taking . lei J.crate aim, tired. It was a life | saving shot lor the man; the centipede : divided and dropped in two parts on , cither side of his foot. But here comes | the most remarkable part of tho story. Within an hour after li o shot was fired I the men heard a terrible groaning from one of their mules picketed only a few ; yaiils away. They went to them and | found one of them with his left fore leg ! stolen an enormous size. The I swelling increased as did the agony i and groans of the brute, until it died in about thirty minutes thereafter. An ! examination was made, and it was dis ! covered Unit tiie bmlet which had sev | - red the centipede had entered the | mule’s foot just above the hoof, and in | octiiufe-.i it with the poison from tho j reptile. The person who related the above ; incident bears a splendid reputation i for truth and veracity, and he einpha | sized that it was a true story, but his audience, nevertheless, gave him a look of suspicion. “It may be true,” said one, “hut l’il be blamed if i’ll believe it. ” —Louisville Courier-Journal. i The report of the Inspector of factor ies and workshops for the State of New I Jersey, which has just been published, ■ says that tne c ildren in these institu tions are lumentu -ly lacking. This opinion is founded on questions put to them. One of the questions was, “Who was George Washington?” and some of the answers were as follows: “He is a I good man.” “He chased the Indians I away. “He died a few years ago.” j “He is President.” “1 saw his pict ; ure.” “lie is a high man in war.” I “lie never told a lie.” “He discover !ed America.” “The best man who 1 ever lived.” New Charge Agnlnst Holler-Skating. A stylish-drcKsed young lady, whose features were concealed by a thick veil, entered tho down-town office of a prominent physician yesterday after noon and, with some show of nervous ness, requested an audience with him. Tiie doctor led the way into Ids private office* and the fair patient removed her veil, remarking as she did so, “I wish you would tell me what is the matter with my face.” In the dimly-lighted room the physi cian was unable to discover tiiat any thing was wrong. Stepping to the window tho lady said, pointing to the roguish diinpics that Nature has placed on cheeks and chin and the little creas es about the corners of her eyes: “Do you see that? My face looks as though I had been working in a coal-mine.” Closer inspection showed the physician that the dimples and creases as well as the larger pores in the lady’s face were filled with a dark, grimy substance. “1 have scrubbed and worked at that un til lam tired, but cannot remove it. 1 am satisfied it i§ not dirt,” sho con tinued, evidently judging from the : hvsician's look that he was about to te;i her to take a bath. “I understand,” remarked the doc tor, with a smile; “the roiier-rink again.” “What do you mean?” sho asked in a troubled tom*. “Nothing but roller-rink dust. That 18 all It is notiling serious. Try soap and water again and use this solution before retiring at night, and your com plexion will be all right again.” “O, I am so giad,” the lady re marked, as she adjusted her veil and departed. “Tiiat is the latest feature of the roll er-skating craze,” remanded the phy sician to a reporter who had overheard the conversation with some amusement. “That is tho second lady who has been to see me with a s miliar complaint with n a week.” “What is tho cause of U P” “Why, yon see. the dust t.**at rise# from ttie floor of the link is very line Hiiu peiiuirauug, ami warn it nwttios on ti e skin, dampened with perspira tion. it at once finds it way into the pores. ” Cleveland Leader * Oae Meal n Day* Just how when perhaps the cheapen ing of living is ot more importance, temporarily at least, t .an the most finished statesmanship, the example of a man up in Massachusetts who had been subsisting and performing tho average work that farmers in the rocky eoil of the Bay State usually perform, on one meal per diem, may be regarded as an interesting exhibit, if not exam ple. of what may be accomplished in dieto-cconomics. As he is said to bear himself with un-Yanueelike slowness at table, the probability is that the weight of food consumed does not amount to more than that furnished to and curried away in a dyspeptic shape by the average individual at the this ty minutes-for refreshment * railroad sta tions. Yet it is within the possibility that a man who has evidently devoted so considerable attention to dietary affairs may have so systematized the habit and necessity as to have built out of them scion e and art, in which case it is not beyond belief that he has demonstrated that in eating, or in many other things, the truth of the adage “tho more haste the less speed” holds pre-eminently true. However, as to the quality it is fair to believe that it is not so large by one-half as what lie would have eaten had he continued a thrice-meal-a-day man. His theory was at the outstart that man consumed more food than necessary, ami really more than is conducive lo health, and lie seems to have proven this.—Tills bury Telegram. THE WIDOW'S IMLACE. Mrs. Mark Hojikin* uud Her New House at Great Barrington, Mans. A paragraph was published some days niro in which it was said that Mrs. Mark Hopkins, of California, had de termined to build a $5,000,000 resi dence at Great Barriugton, Mass. Previous to that the Boston papers had published the report that the house was to cost only one-fifth timt sum, and the third and last report is that the amount to be expended is only $500,000. It is true, indeed, that Mrs. Hopkins is go ing to build a residence at Great Bar rington. It is furthermore true that it is to be a very expensive one—the most expensive probably in Massachusetts, or even Now England. It will not cost ho much as $5,000,000, but it will cost more than $1,000,000. The plans are completed and have been accepted. They now rest in the hands of New York architects, and will not be made public for some time. Work on the foundation of the building will be commenced the coming Spring, and Mrs. Hopkins expects to see it ready for occupancy three years hence. There is some interesting history woven iu and about the life of Mrs. Mark Hopkins. She is the widow of Mark Hopkins, who was one of the live men of California who built the Central Pacific Railroad, and made each a princely fortune out of it. The others were Leland Stanford, C. P. Huntington and tho two Crockers, Hopkins was the treasurer of the com pany from its organization in 18G1, or thereabouts, till his death, in 1878. He left an estate that was inventoried at $21,700,000. Ho died without having made a will and without children. By the com mon law Mrs. Hopkins would have been entitled to only one-third of the immense estate. Tho courts made her the executrix, and she took possession, but the two brothers of her deceased husband, Moses and Samuel, for the latter had died, brought a suit against her, and secured her removal from the executors ip of the estate, and an ac counting of it. Tho matter was finally compromised, Moses Hopkins, and the sons of Samuel llopkins being content to receive together some $4,000,01)0 in hard cash. Mrs. Hopkins got the re mainder, which, as already stated, now amounts to about $.‘50,000,000. Thus do we come to know who Mrs. Mark llopkins is and now she became so rich. Before Mark Hopkins died he built the first of those palatial residences that have since excited the wonder and admiration of all who have in the past ten years visited the city of San Fran cis'o. It was constructed of wood, like all the others of its class, but had about it all the elaborateness and ex travagance of some of the finest Eng lish country houses, it was said to have cost $1,000,000, ami at that time j the Stewart residence in Now York i City was tho only dwelling house in | America that had cost that sum. it i w:fs the Hopkins mansion that made Nob Hill the fashionable quarter of San Francisco. Ail have heard of the splendid residences t at Governor Stanford, James Flood and other Cali fornia millionaires have since built } there. Since her husband’s death Mrs. ! Hopkins lias purchased Menlo Park, Ralston’s famous country place, and I there she hue settled her adopted sou, a young man of 2(1, who recently luar i rietl a Mi-sCrittenden of California, a niece of Mrs. Hopkins. Notwithstanding all these large pos sessions, not to speak of others on the I Pacific coast, Mrs, Hopkins proposes to m a Lie her home in her husband’s native j town of Great Barrington. Mass. She [ has always had an affection for the place, and comes there because its peo ple and surroundings are congenial to ' iDT taste. During recent years Mrs. llopkins has come here to spend her Summers. It was there that she lived when a young girl, and there that she was married. When she grew rich she added the porticoes, put colored glass in some of the windows, arid furnished it luxuriantly. Tho carpets in eVory i room are sn soft as down, the chairs arc of nntlqfte mahogany upholstered in yellow silk plush. Every bit of pot tery, every bit of bronze, every foot | stool, every sofa, lounge, chair, stand, vase or whatever it may be, bears evi dence of having been selected with cultivated taste. Tho new building that is to supplant the old will be 178 by f4B feet, and will be built of blue dolomite. It is a very hard stone, of finer grain than granite, and is obtained from a nerghboring | (marry owned by Mrs, Hopkins herself. I The exterior walls are to show flic stone ! in rough surface, with cut scams. The | stables and the coachman’s cottage are j already built. They are of the same t dolomite to bo employed in the con | struction of the residence, and look as though they would endure through all i the ages to come. 1 can not give a ! description of the residence for the ex | cellcnt reason that I have not seen the ' drawings. I The ground upon which Mrs. Hop kins is to build her castle extends a hundred yards alon.rr the uriueiual JSTO. 15. streets) and back of it* to the south 4 little, is a level meadow valley that runs off along the shore of the flousa -1 tonic and to tiie foot of the picturesque i Berkshire hills on the other side. In J the midst of this smooth meadow field ; is an artificial basin in which is a fouu | tain from which in Summer springs a j stream of water nearly a hundred feet : in the air and comes down in a mist I that is as soft as a silken veil. Mrs* Hopkins is a woman of great strength of character. She is well tit j ted to care for the vast estate left her : Both in appearance and mental charac i teristics she is strongly masculine. Sho is of commanding appearance, undone i is always made to feel, when in her presence, that she has the unmistakable | elements of superiority. She is thor oughly acquainted with all the ways of business* Ims a broad grasp of financial questions* looks after her vast interests with the closest minuteness, and drives a bargain with tact and economy. Her husband was passionately fond of hors es; so is she. Her .stable at Great Bar rington is one of tho completest and most comfortable in the country. Its inmates are of the finest breeding and movement* and are looked after by their colored master with the greatest care. During her visits to Great Bar rington, Mrs. Hopkins may be seen on the afternoon of every fair day driving out behind a pair of the trotters, sho herself holding the reins. She makes long excursions about the surrounding country, and every inhabitant, young or old, knows her. She is the great woman of Great Barrington; New York World. Ten Thousand Dollars for a Drink. “Yoll may not believe it, but 1 oned paid slo,i 00 for a drink of whisky,” said a corporal on duty at the arsenal in the mess room the other day. Tho talk had turned to war prices and some pretty steep figures were mentioned. No one believed the corporal and all laughed. But the corporal braced up ami said: “When I left Petersburg in ’65 1 had $2),000 in Confederate scrip. It was as cohi as blazes and a feller got warm thinking of whisky. I was hard up for a drink, and as L had been reading a paper on tho delicious liquor, my mind wandered to it. Before I had gone far 1 met a traveling whisky sa loon on wheels. Yes, a sutler, you know. That’s wlint we called them. I hadn’t a cent except the scrip, but 1 just went up and says: “ ‘Stiller, have you any good whisky P* ‘That I have,’ says he. ‘Well, if you will give me a good drink, Says I, ‘l*ll give you $10,000.’ Well, you should have seen him smile. lie knew it was a gag, but just to see the thing out he filled me a cup full of tanglefoot, which I drank with a relish, you bet. Then I gave him SIO,OOO. I ottered the other SIO,OOO, but he had becu there.” It is said that not one of the Vander bilts is trading in Wall street now, but when they were all speculating tho commissions they paid to brokers are said to ir’ve aggregated close on to $1,000,000 a year. - —i WIT AND HUMOR. A 2-cent cigarette never feels so cheap as when it is being sucked by a 1-cent dude. A vegetarian writes: “Immorality lurks in mutton-chops, brutality in beef, perverseness in poultry, and vil lany in veal.” Same at our boarding house.— Travelers' Magazine. A New Jersey man wants a divorce because his wife hasn’t spoken to him for nearly two years. Some men don’t know when they are well oil*.—Hen pecked Adi tor Norristown Herald. “Ah! you Hatter me,” lisped a dude to a pretty girl with whom he was con versing. “No, I don’t,” was tho re ply. “You couldn’t be any Hatter than you are.”— Turlington Fret Press. To write for all t ime is the ambition of every author. The man who origin ated the series of negro-minstrel jokes is tho only one up to date who has ap parently succeeded in his endeavor. Hon. Charles Carroll, of Shawnee town, has our thanks for a a neat and well-executed check. We transferred it into bacon, and are transferring the bacon into brawn and brains.— Benton (7.7.) Herald. A little Williamstown girl had the whoopin-cough. and when she recover ed from it she said she was glad she didn’t die while she had the whooping cough, because “God would not like to i have little coughing angels.” 1 At a recent lecture delivered in a I Massachusetts town Anna Dickinson’s ! audience consisted of one auditor and j that a dude. Anna said it paid. Of course it did; how was it to got in if it didn’t payP— Yonkers Statesman. “No interruption of business oil ac count of the weather” is, the motto a Kalamazoo lien nailed above her nest, and when the mercury was 82 degrees below zero she came off with a brood of young chickens. Detroit (Mich.) Post. “What amused me most, at the op era,” said an Arab Chief who had been taken to hdar “Faust/’ “was one of tho musicians in the orchestra, seated a lit tle higher than the rest, who performed on .an invisible instrument with a stick.” In a recent breach of promise suit the “course of true love” was traced in this manner: “Dear Mr. Smith,” “My darling John,” “My own darling John,” “My darling John,” “Dear John,” “Dear Sir,” “Sir,” and all was over. The Lowell Times notes the fact that the Civil War broke out and rolled skates were invented the same year. This is true, but the war did its worst and stopped in four years, while roller skate* continue to plunder and murder even up to this time.— boston Post. Robinson (at the window) —Hullo! There goes that woman Brown’s so dead sweet on! Mrs. R. (rushing up with excitement) Where? who? where? Wiiat, that —in the gray Why, George, how ridiculous you are! That’s his wife! Robinson—Exactly, my dear!— Punch. An irishmen, recently over, entered! a barber shop in Main street, Danbury, Friday for a shave. After the barber was through ho asked the customary question: “Have bay rum, sirP” “No, sor—tho fact is, sor, I’ve just had a glass of boor, an’ don’t loike mixin’ drinks.”— Hartford Times. •‘Examiner—“Now, if I were to give fifty marbles in charge of this boy” (indicating tho biggest), “to divide equally amongst you, how many would I you each receiver” Small boy (of ex perience)—“Please, sir, we shouldn’t ' get none at all; Vause he’d collar them all kissel/.”— London Punch.