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THE BLIND ALAN.
lit hold a blind maul no learned dog hath hot
Hut he hath gold, aud stock*, and lands iu fee.
Sburp an* his wits; his optics clear aud
bright—
A** sound an eye as over saw the light;
And yet not blinder Is the creeping molku
To Nature's charms, thau la his sordid mml.
In truth, for him the world io light arrayed
Js little better than a Jungle's shade:
Aud all the thousand charms of Earth and
skies
Are blanks or blotch©# In hia bat-like eyos.
In vain for him the mom, in beauty clad.
Tripe o’er th<* hills and makes the valley* glad;
In vain for him tho verdure of the world,
Ur radiant cloud-wreaths round the moun
tains curlel;
He secs no glories in the effulgent Sun,
Which, smiling earthward when his oourae be
run,
Sets all the world aglow with tintings rare,
Aud crowns with splendor ail the heights ox
air.
In vain for him doth Nature’s royal hand
Paint all the sones with pictures rare and
grand;
Unheeded all tho Autumn's matchless dyes;
Unseen tho squadrons of the Summer skies,
far gloaralug from tho depths of
night—
The mountain's vastnees, and the ocean's
might—
Or myriad flowers, sweet favorite* of God,
Which, ever smiling, deck the grateful sod.
These wake uo joys within hia darkened mind.
His eyes, they m: yet lo! the man is hhindt
K, If. BLii.tell, fn Chicago Trttninc.
Spoopendybe Grab-Fishing.
Coming up tho river the other day,
f saw a middle-aged gentleman in a
plug hat and business suit seated in a
icow beside an attractive lady, feeling
iround among a lot of strings pendant
from the side of the boat, and warning
the lady that she could not keep too
quiet.
“ Now, my dear, - ’ observed the gen
tleman, “don’t you move, because I feel
i crab on this line. I’ll pull him up
until he is in sight and then you slip the
net under him. See?”
“ Yes, dear,” replied the lady, a
little flustered as she contemplated her
share of the performance. “But, Mr.
Spoopendybe, what shall I do when I
get the net under him?”
“ Scalp him!” retorted Mr. Spoopon
dyke, drawing slowly on the line. “Now
wait, he’s there,” and Mr. Spoopen
dyke became even more cautious in his
movements. “See him! There he is!
Scalp him, quick!”
Mrs. Spoopendyke jabbed the net
into the water and swashed around
with great vigor.
“What ye doing?’’ yelled Mr.
Spoopendyke, straightening up and
glaring at her, as the crab struck a line
for Newark Bay. “What’d ve think I
had there, the bottom of the river?
What’d ye suppose ye was trying to
catch, a church? Take it out! (live it
here!” aud he grasped the lady around
the waist and took the net away from
her.
"Did 1 scalp him?” nsked Mrs.
Spoopendyke, flushed witli her exer
tions and trembling with her excite
ment. "Show him tome! let me see
what he looks liko!”
“ Look, like!” roared Mr. Spoooen
dyke. “He looks like Sandy Ilook by
this time! Why didn’t you scalp him ?
What’s the matter with you?”
“ I—l couldn’t tell which was his
head,” faltered Mrs. Spoopendyke, who
hadn’t seen anything at all. “I’ull him
up again, and you'll see if I don’t
scalp the last hair on his skull!”
The Knglish language lost, its last
•harm for Mr. Spoopenkyke, and he
turned to his strings with a withering
look of contempt for his wife.
“Now you be careful,” he said at
length. “Here’s another varmint, and
you musu’t let him get away. When I
say‘Scalp!’ you shove the net under
him and fust bring him aboard.”
“Can you see him yet?" asked Mrs.
Spoopendyke, waving the net over her
head and peering into the water.
“Wait! Yes, there he is! Careful,
remember. Now, scalp!”
He must have been a crab of phe
nomenal scholastic advantage, to nave
gotten rid of that swoop,for Mrs. Spoop
endyke, with a view to redeeming her
self,"went for the end of the string blind
ly, but with a strength of purpose that
made failure impossible. She not only
got the crab, out she slammed net,
crab and all over Mr. Spoopendyke’s
head.
‘What —wah-h !!” shrieked that
gentlefban, as he felt himself im
pounded.
"Lost him again!” exclaimed Mrs.
Spoopendyke. who hadn’t the remotest
idea what a crab looked like. “Why,
dear, what’s that awful big spider in
the net! Good gracious!”
“Take it off!” howled Mr. Spoopen
dyke. “Take it—wow! the thing has
got me by the ear! Haul him off, will
ye?”
Mrs. Spoopendyke dropped the han
dle of the net as if it were an old-fash
ioned bonnet, and gazed upon her hus
band in consternation.
“Gast the crab!” yelled Mr. Spoop
endyke, tearing the net away. “Let go,
ye brute! Wah ha!”and the unfortu
nate man wrenched the fish from off his
ear and dashed it in the bottom of the
boat. “What’s your scheme in doing
that?” he demanded, holding his ear
with one fist and shaking the other at
his wife. “Think you’ve got to eat era
right out of the water? (Jot a notion
that he came up cooked and you must
down him quick or he’ll spoil?” yelled
Mr. Spookendyke, enraged beyond all
control by the sight of the carnage that
trickled down his fingers. “What’d ye
mean by it?” and he sprang into the
air and alighted on the unhappy crab,
slipping up and sprawling full length in
the bottom of the boat.
“Was that a crab, dear?” asked Mrs.
Spoopendyke, assisting her husband to
arise and contemplating the mangled
fish with anything but favor. “Is that
what you call a crab? f thought—”
“ You thought!” ripped Mr. Spoop
endyke, kicking at the bewildered crab.
“That’s the trouble with you—you think!
Did ye think I was going to stand
here and let that crab chew on my ear
till his legs ached? P’raps ye thought
he was whispering to nc! Maybe ye
thoug v ’ he was telling me a funny sto
ry! Well, he wasn’t, and if he was his
voice was so hoarse I qouidn’t enjoy it!
Ye thought, did ye!” squealed Mr.
Spoopendyke, his wrath rising as the
pain and fear subsided; “thought a
crab talked with his toes, like some wo
men think, did ye! Oh, you thought! If
I had such a head as that I’d fit it up
with shuck beds and a stick of gum and
starts female boarding-school! With
your ability to think, you only need a
squint and four long words to be a Con
cord School of Philosophy!” and Mr.
Spoopendyke plunged the oars into the
water and began to row vigorously.
“ Where are you going, dear?” asked
Mrs. Spoopendyke, timidly, after her
husband had pulled hard tor sometime.
“ Home!” grinned Mr. Spoopendyke,
with a horrible expression of visage.
“ I’m.going horae. to show the people
how much damage a rusticating idiot
asylum can do with one measly crab
when she ping herself down to it!”
bOf eoone." assented Mr. 6poop-
£l)c (^njcttc.
VOL. IX.
endyke, humbly, “nut say, uoar,
wouldn’t you get on faster if you untied
the boat?”
Mr. Spoopendyke turned and gave a
sharp look at tho bow. Then he hauled
his hat down over his ears, stepped
ashore and struck out at a brisk walk.
“ I don’t know,” sighed Mrs. Sponp.
endyke, as I look her' boat in tow, “I
don’t know, but I don’t think I care
much for crabbing, though I’m not sure
but what it’s more fun than walking
home on the wrong side of the river with
no bridge within seven miles cither
way!”— Brooklyn Eagle.
Frightful Sculp Diseases Transmitted
In False Hair.
A terrible alarm has been created
amongst tho ladies by the announcement
of a visitation of the most dreadful kind
- nothing less than the arrival of the
horrible disease of the hair known as
the plica polonica, which lias hitherto
been confined to the inhabitants of Po
land and the frontiers of Russia. No
medical science lias been able as yet to
ascertain the exact cause of the disease,
which renders its victim a moat hideous
object to behold, transferring sometimes
almost suddenly the most beautiful and
luxuriant crop of hair into a matted,
disgusting mass of twisted snake-like
ropes, which stand out in horrible con
fusion all over tho head, through which
no comb can ever be drawn, and which
can never be cut owing to the agglom
eration of tho roots into one united
mass, which, as the roots are tilled with
blood, would cause the sufferer to bleed
to death were they to he violently re
moved.
The doctors here account for the ap
pearance of the disease, in two cases
which have appeared of lale, to the re
cent importation of false hair from Po
land—a country hitherto forbidden to
traders iu the article of false hair, [t
appears that the hair-cropping season
having been rather unsuccessful in the
usual districts to which the trade lias
been till now confined, in consequence
of the immense demand made upon the
peasant girls of tho continent for the
last two or three years through the tre
mendous plaits, and “chignons.” and
“cascades’’ and “ falls ” and “frizzes ”
that have been worn, heavy enough on
the single head of a lady of fashion to
despoil the poor pates of half a dozen
poor potato weedors or lace-makers of
the Normandy villages, it has become
necessary to widen the fields of opera
tions. and after ransack tig Constanti
nople, Smyrna and Damascus, the yield
has even then fallen short of the de
mand.
The traders, after a run into Ger
many, have been compelled to make a
swoop down upon Poland, In spite of
the point of honor by which they were
bound to avoid all dealings of the kind
with that country. A lot of the most
beautiful hair was imported thence
from a great fair held in the environs of
Warsaw toward the end of the month.
Most of tho hair was of the finest and
most silky quality—highly polished,
clean, and evidently well eared for by
its former proprietor; but as most of it
was black it had to be dyed to suit the
fashion of the day. which commands
that every woman that man delighteth
to honor shall have flaxen, red-gold, or
orange-colored hair. But nothing is
easier to the hair trade than to change
the color, and by the chemical mixtures
manufactured for the purpose this ob
ject is attained in ft moment.
However, one of these individuals,
residing in Clerkenwell, who had pur
chased a bag of Polish hair of the finest
quality, was horrified on perceiving the
liquid in which he had plunged it for
dyeing turn gradually of it blood-red
color, until the whole mass had changed
to the same lurid tint. Chemists were
called in to ascertain the cause of the
strange occurrence. The mixture was
submitted to analysis, but. nothing was
discovered, until at length the doctors
were summoned, and after examination
by the microscope, the bulb of the plica
polouiea was detected in a great propor
tion of hair which had been bought by
one espocinl trader who had attended
the fair. It was but the germ of the
disease, but the tube of the hair was af
fected, and had it remained upon the
wearer’s bead would in a short time
have been developed into the most viru
lent form of the disease.
Other dealers have kept their discov
ery secret, and have sold the hair at a
cheap rate to inferior hairdressers.
Much of it must have been used to or
nament the heads of the humble aspi
rants to fashion and distinction, who
wait behind the bars of the lower pub
lic houses, or behind the eountors of the
general shops of the East. End. It is
certain that two cases of the disease
have been reported —one of them a very
young girl employed as nurse in a
tradesman's family, whose head had
been lately shaved after an attack of
scarlet fever, and who had bought a
“fringe" to render herself “ less.shock
ing” beneath her cap. The doctors are,
of course, busily occupied in the inves
tigation of the germs, and undertake
to prevent the. spread of the disease.
They remember the failure experienced
bv the French and English medical fac
ulties in their endeavors ‘.o cure the
singer Madame Cruvelli, who was com
pelled to leave the stage and retire from
the world, in the mhlst of a career as
brilliant as that of her sister, in conse
quence of this terrible visitation.—Liv
erpool (Eng.) Courier
The Alexandria Massacre.
Christian family consisting
of four adults and four children, who
were driven out of Alexandria, arrived
in this port on Saturday and are now
lodged at Castle Garden. The adttifs
include a woman. AU are clad in
European attire, and compared with
the emigrants of other nationalities sur
rounding them, prevent a very superior
appearance. One of the men, Mohan ua
Baraka, speaks English well, and acting
as interpreter for the party told a
Graphic reporter a story of rare interest
this morning in connection with the re
—To cure earache, take a pinch of
black pepper, put it on a pic-cc of cot
ion batting dipped in sweet oil, and
pint- - in the car, and tie a bandage
around the head, and it will give al
most instant relief.— St, Louw Ulobt,
SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 15. 1882.
Professor Haeckel’s Life In Ceylon.
My great resource as an article of
diet, was tho fruit which abounded at
every meal. Next to tho bananas of
every variety, of which I consumed
several at every meal, my standing
dessert consisted of mangoes (Manqife
ni indica), egg-shaped green fruit, from
throe to six inches long; their cream
like guidon pulp has a faint but distinct
aroma of turpentine. The fruit of the
] ossion-flower ( passijlora ) was very
pleasant to my taste, reminding me of
the gooseberry. I was less pleased
with tlie renowned custard-apple, tho
Annum i sytiamosa , and with the Indian
almond, tho hard nut of the Ttrminalia
catappa. There are singularly few ap
ples and oranges in Ceylon; the latter
remain green, and are not juicy: but
yvaut of cultivation is doubtless chiefly
answerable for tho inferiority of this and
other fruits; tho Singhalese are far too
easy-going to make any progress in
horticulture. Refreshed with my mod
est repast. 1 employed the hot hours of
mid-day -from twelve to four o’clock—
in anatomical or microscopic work in
making observations and drawings, and
in the preservation and storing of my
collected objects. The evening hours,
from four to six o’clock, wore gen
erally occupied with some lovely
country excursion; sometimes 1 made
a water-color sketch, sometimes I
sought to perpetuate one of the
beautiful views in photography. Now
aud then I shot apes and birds in the
woods, or i olleeted insects and snails,
or hunted among the coral reefs on the
shore, adding many curious objects to
my collation. Richly laden, 1 re
turued to the Rest House an hour or
less before sunset, and worked for an
other hour at the preservation and ar
rangement of my specimens. At c : ght
o’clock my second chief meal, or din
ner, was served. Tho piece de resist
ance at this was again the inevitable
curry and rice, followed sometimes by
a fish or a crab, which I enjoyed im
mensely, and then by some dish com
posed of eggs or meal, and finishing
again with delicious fruit * * *
The important question of "what to
drink ” seemed likely at first to prove
a difficult one. The ordinary drinking
water of the low lands of Ceylon is
considered very bad and unwholesome,
the highlands, on the contrary, t cing
rich in springs of the purest and fresh
est water. The great rains which fall
daily on tho island bring down a mass
of mineral and vegetable deposit into
tbe river-, and the stagnant water of
tho lagoons is not unfrequeutly in com
munication with them. It is not cus
tomer! to drink tho water unless boiled
or made into tea, or with the addition
of claret or whisky. My friend Scott
had given me an abundant supply of
the last-named beverage, but on tho
whole I found no drink so pleasant and
re resiling, as well as wholesome, as
the fresh milk of tho co oa nut..
My frugal dinner at an end, I u-ual!y
took a solitary w alk on the shore, or de
lighted my eyos with tho sight of the il
lumination of tho palm w-oods by
myriads of fire-dies and glow-worms.
Then I made a few entries in my note
book or tried to read by tho light of a
cocoa-nut oil lamp. But l was gener
ally quite tired enough to go to hod soon
after nine o’clock, after another careful
shaking of the clothes for the expulsion
of scorpions and millipeds.
The great black scorpion (uearlv a
foot long) is so common in Ceylon that
1 oneo collected half a dozen iu the
course of an hour. Snakes exist also in
great numbers. Slender green tree
snakes hang from almost every bough,
and at night the great rul-snalte (I 'onj
phoilon Slumenbachii) hunts rats and
mice over tho roofs of tho huts. Al
though they are harmless aud their bito
not poisonous, it is by no means a
pleasant surprise when oue of these rat
snakes. five feet long, suddenly drops
through a hole in the roof into one’s
.l oom, occasionally alighting on the bed.
On the whole, however, mv nights io
Belligam were but little disturbed by
animal intruders, although I was often
kept awake by the howling of jackals
and the uncanny cry of the Devil-bird
(a kind of owl, Burntum Jndrani), and
other night-birds. Tho bell-cry of tho
pretty little troe-frog, which make their
dwelling in the cups of large flowers,
at-ted rather as a slumber song. But I
was far oftener kept awake by the whirl
of mv own thoughts, by tho recollec
tion of the many events of tho past day,
and the anticipation of that which was
to come. A brilliant succession ' -
Iv s enes, of interesting ohsoi OWfc*.
and varied experiences minglod in mv
brain with plans of fresh enterprise and
new discoveries for tho morrow.—
Deutsche llundschau.
The Old National Pike
The opening of the Redstone branch
of tho Pittsburgh, Virginia & Charles
ton Railroad marks a still further decline
in tho famous old National turnpike
from Cumberland to Wheeling. “An
act to regulate the laying out and mak
ing a road from Cumberland, Md., to
tho State of Ohio,” became a law in
181)6, and the first stage-coach carrying
the United States mails over that route
made its first trip on August 1, 1818.
T lie distance was one hundred and thir
ty miles and the total cost of construct
ing this great highway across the Alio
ghanies was 51,700,000, Its traffic
soon became enormous, and inns to
accommodate the traveling public
sprang up so thickly along its line that
they were said to average two to a mile.
The pike was admirably constructed,
but th> heavy traffic which demon
strated its necessity put it in need of
frequent repairs, and the Government
finally turned it over to the States of
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio, and
they established toll-gates to pay for its
maintenance. In 1852, with the open
ing of the Pennsylvania Railroad to
Pittsburgh and tbe Baltimore & Ohio to
Wheeling, its decline began.
A 3teamer that was sunk in eighty
feet of water two years ago in Lake
Huron has been ra’sed, and her cargo,
consisting of 500 barrels of porter, fifty
cases of gin, and 100 cases of brandy,
all imported goods, has been found un
harmed, and. having lain so long under
water, lias escaped duty. The present
owners pa and $2,000 for the steamer and
cargo, and $6,000 for the work of raising,
Chicago Herald,
Violins.
Louis Blumenborg, tho violoneelol
virtuoso, lias been spending liis between
seasons hero at his home. When tho
Sun correspondent dropped in lie was
contemplating his instrument with a
dissatisfied air. Tho amber varnish on
the violoncello shone with its wonted
mellow luster, its long neck was firmly
erect, its carved head thrown back in
true Stradivari us pose, and the strings,
as they were fretted by the virtuoso’s
fingers, emitted sonorous notes.
'• What Is tho matter?” was asked.
“1 can’t tell exactly,” was the reply.
“It is tired ami needs rest. If 1 lay it
aside for a week or so. it will regain its
perfection of tone, without anything
else being done to it. It is a hard thing
to explain, and it is a fact familiar to
every artist. If you use an instrument
too much it loses its tone not enough,
perhaps, tor the average auditor to per
ceive. but the artist knows it.”
“ May bo the trouble is 1 hen with tho
artist himself—-losing the precision of
his touch from over-practice,” said the
caller.
“That is the explanation which most
naturully occurs to one, but it is not
good. The trouble is with the instru
ment. Every artist meets with it. and
has to keep more than one in use.
Wilhelmj lias to lay his Stradivari us vio
lin aside occasionally, and use his
Gemunder until the Stradivarius is rest
ed. Every man who uses a razor
knows that it gets tired from too much
use. and regains its temper from being
laid aside for a while, and it is the same
with musical instruments. Tone is a
puzzle anyhow. A track in the belly
of a violin or ’cello you might think
would be fatal to tone from its intercep
tion of sound vibrations, but soraet’mes
cracks seem to cause an improve
ment. instruments that are well treat
ed improve by age. It may be that
the rich tones of a fine Stradivarius or
Guarnerius are due largely to the r ago,
and the exquisite mellow quality which
wo find in them is the acquisition
of years. Guillaume, who was, in
liis time, a celebrated Paris maker,
is now in disrepute because the lino
tone he imparted to his instruments
was not lasting. Ho had some process
for medicating tho wood of his instru
ments thul gave them strength and
softness of tune, but age, instead of
improving them, impaired their quality.
Then, again, tho tune of instruments
seems to result from happy chance ad
justments of tlieir parts which cannot
be repeated with any certainty. The
masterpieces of the Cremona school
now in existence may be strokes of good
fortune that tlie old makers themselves
•ould not always certainly effect. You
see that the bridge of my ’cello hero is
not a particularly fine-looking bit of
wood, some time ago when t hap
pened to drop into an instrument
maker’s shop, iie said: “1 have got a
splendid piece of maple one hundred
and fifty years old, just tho thing to
make you anew bridge.” Well, ho
made the bridge and it looked right,
aud seemed to lit right, but when 1 tried
it tho strings didn’t sound right. I
worked with it some time, hut finally
bad to give it up. Then tlie bow lias a
great ileal to do witli tlie tune, its
wood must be strong, and at (lie sumo
time slender and light; it must be firm
without being rigid, and must have per
fect evenness of texture, so as to give
the same quality of percussion from
whatever point it may be applied to the
strings. There are celebrated makers
of bows as well as of instruments. The
Lupot bow is famous. The maker is a
Frenchman who flourished in the first
quarter of this century. He got hold of
a fine lot of Pernambuco wood, and all
liis bows were made of selected pieces.
A good Lupot bow is worth one hundred
dollars. An ordinary bow, which would
look us if il were just as good, euu ho
bought for five dollars.
“It is a hard thing to get hold of a fine
old instrument,” tho virtuoso went on,
the’cello strings now sounding in mel
ancholy chords under his straying
lingers. “I believe 1 told yon that "Wil
heltnj plays a Stradivarius.. Remenyi
has quite a collection, but generally
plays an Amati. 010 Bull lmil a largo
violin by one of the earliest makers of
the Cremona school, Gaspard do Salo.
Some fine instruments are in the hands
of amateurs. Assistant-Secretary-of-
Stato Hunter has a violoncello of Stradi
varius tone, if not. of that make. Ex-
Mayor Havorneyei-, of New York, al
though not himself a ’cello player, I bo
o, paid about $2,500 for a Guar
neriiiH It is the rich amateur who runs
up the price of such instruments until
they are out of roach of the poor artist.
There is a manufacturer of garden tools
in Hartford who lias a splendid collec
tion of violins, and yet, so farashisown
playing is concerned, an ordinary fiddle
would do him just as well as a Stradi
varius. In his collection is the famous
King Joseph Guarnrius violin. It is a
wonderful instrument. I can't describe
to you tho power, softness, and sweet
ness of its tones. They are exquisite.
I suppose he could got $4,000 or $5,000
for that violin at any time. It is
almost impossible to appreciate tho
value of such an instrument. He has a
collection of fifteen bows tha' would
bring from $1,500 to $2,000. No in
struments could be better cared for
than those of his collection; but,
strange as it may seem, there are per
sons with a mania for collecting instru
ments who don't know bow to take care
of them when they get thorn. I knew
a Baltimore collector who had violins
all over his house, often in places where
they were liable to be broken at any
time. I was up-stairs in his house
once, and was going to sit down on a
bed, when he shouted to me to look
out that a violin was in there. Sure
enough, a violin was stuck under the
bed-clothes because he was too careless
fo get a hag for it. I once came across
a fine’cello in a town in Central New
York, owned by a man who ean’-t play
if, doesn’t take proper care of it. and
yet won’t sell it. If it were not for such
men artists would not bate to make
great sacrifices to get instruments
with which they can realize tbeir con
ceptions. Of course they must have
fine instruments. Nothing less will
content them, even though audiences
should We just as well satisfied to hear
any well-made instrument as the divine
voice of a Stradivarius.” — Baltimore
Cor, S. Y, 6un,
SCHOOL 1 3 TOO KEN VP.
Tlu* boys haVo oomo back to their schools,
Ah, mol
To violate tmunmar and rules,
8o free.
The lawless Joke, and the stonlthy grin,
Tin* clingiiiK' wax, and tho crooked pin,
Tho cupsi /.oil ink, and tho whispered din,
Ah, mo!
Tho faces chalked on the outer Avails,
1 see;
And tho coiling stuccoed with paper bulls,
Ah, mol
The shuttling foot on tho gritty ttnor,
Tho inky face tit tho clnss-room door,
Tho sudden pinch and the mullled roar,
Ah, mol
The questions brisk and tho answers slow,
Ah, mo!
Tho “Ifurgot” and tho “Idun’no,"
Just sool
“ 'N four turns seven is twenty-nine;"
“ Home is u town on tho River Hint*;’’
“Gecrge is a verb 'n agrees with wine,’
Ah, mol
Grimace ami giggle, grin and wink,
Dear mol
l)u!&7. und Whisper—who can think?
An. mol
Wouldn't it be a better rule
To lot tho boy grow up a fool,
Kuthor than send him back to school
And me?
—Burlington llawlteue.
A BIG NUGGET.
Two Hundred und Twenty-seven Pounds
of Solid Gold.
Iu the early times in California claims
were small and road-agents numerous,
and men, if they found a nugget of ex
traordinary size, were afraid their
ground might bo jumped or themselves
robbed and perhaps murdered going
below, and tints kept the largest gold
finds a secret until they could get out
of the mountains and tha State. The fol
lowing facts, that have never before been
in print, 1 came across in a most singu
lar way, ami I ran l-cly on tlie word of
the narrator: in 1851 and 1852 1
mined with a man from Massachusetts
named John Dago on several fiats and
placers around Down eville and the
Middle Yuba. In 1853 I lost sight of
him, but heard that he had gone East..
In 1858 I went with the rush Lo British
Columbia, ami worked out a good
claim, an l then took a trip to Australia
In going from Sydney up to the in ties
we camped on a creek by tlie roadside,
where a great many teams stopped on
their up and down trips, as water sup
ply in that dry climate was a long way
apart. Tho groat teams and American
wagons arrived along toward evening
on tlie creek in a perfect stream.
As wo were eating supper we heard
a teamster's voice that I thought was
familiar, ami driving into camp, I
strolled among the teams, and almost
the first man 1 met was my old 1 town Se
ville partner. He was most glad to see
me, and I being so recently from
Downieville he requested ule to call
after ho hail fed iiis animals and eaten
his own meal, to talk over old times in
( alifornia. He owned the whole litout
that he was driving—was freighted up,
carrying hides, tallow and other co
lonial products on his own account for
back freight. He had married in tho
country, aud was doing a profitable
business with liis team.
After talking of old times here in Cal
fornia, the whereabouts of old friends
nnd acquaintances, he said: "By the
by, George, you never knew why or how
1 left California so suddenly.” I an
swered, "No;” but he had not slipped
from my memory; but many men in Hie
mines like ourselves were missed, and
often turned up thousands o', miles away.
He said: “I can give you tlie eventful
story now.
“Well, when we worked together in
the summer of’s2 on the Middle Yuba
I heard you tell of the rich claim and
coarse gold you found on .Slale Castle
Ravine on the South Fork, one mile
above Downieville. Myself and Jiill
Hopkins, together witli a German
partner, went quietly to work iu tho
summer of ’53, and occupied an old
cabin that had been deserted and the
ground abandoned. We stripped tbe
cluim iu another direction, and came
across the load containing coarse gold,
as you had described, and made for two
weeks per day per man fr im one to
three ounces. Tlie ground was getting
deeper and heavy lo strip, and I started
a small drift to see how wide the lea I
was befoio we stripped further ahead.
It was Saturday, about noon. Tlie
ground continued still to pay, and wo
were down in a soft slate crevice, when
I struck the pick into a bright lump of
gold that seemed to run into tho solid
grave). J tried to pry it out, but it was
too firmly imbedded. Then I worked
carefully around it. and it appeared to
grow larger as I dug tho gravel away.
Wo placed one on tlie lookout to see
that no one surprised ns, ami I toll yon
we were startled; and after some time I
got it loose, and by hard lifting, and
there it lay, almost puro gold, nearly
the shape of a heart, nnd it fitted ex
actly the bottom of tho crevice. The
quartz attached to it was crystallized,
and would not exceed throe pounds in
weight. We got it in tho cabin as quick
aa possible, in a sack, and placed it
under one of the bunks, intending to ex
amine it more thoroughly at night.
“We staid away from town on Satur
day and Sunday, and brought it out at
night, to feast our eyes upon it again,
and each guessed it would weigh at
least two hundred pounds. We con
cluded not to take it to town to weigh,
but divide it some way; for if it were
known there would be intense excite
ment. Wo had gold scales, but they
would only weigh only one and a half
pounds. Ailrs ->me time spent in con
sultation, Bill Hastings suggested a
rough | air of original scales; we piled
on rock and iron weighed by the gold
scales till wc got the balance, and tho
nugget brought down two hundred and
thirty-one pounds gold weight. Wo
burned tho quartz, and thoroughly
picked it out with the point of a knife;
the pure gold brought down two hun
dred and twenty-seven pounds, and Iho
grand specimen looked more beautiful
than ever. Jf we had taken it to tho
London express office there would have
been the wildest excitement. On Mon
day we cleaned up the remainder of the
crevice, and it paid well, but to us the
pa'fnow seemed small in comparison.
New each had enough. Wo had at
least $50,000 to divide, enough to make
all three com ortably rich. No doubt
we could have made more by exhibiting
it, but we could not run tho risk. We
NO. 43.
came to the conclusion to cut it up, di
vide it, roll each one’s share up in liis
own blnnkots, and start for the
steamer to Panama and tlie Atlantic
Status. 1 went to town on Monday
evening, got a sharp cold-chisel made
lo cut”aud divide tlie prize in equal
shares, and it took us about all night to
cut and weigh it witli our rude appli
ances.
"It seems liko vandalism to destroy
the grandeur of such a precious speci
men of Nature's Work. At the first
blow of tho chisel it sank deep into tlie
pure yellow metal, il was so soft and
yielding. Before daylight we had com
pleted our singular dividend. Wo caved
down the bank near the mouth of the
drift, took a brief sleep, got breakfast,
rolled up our blankets, and passed
through town early, net caring to bid
any one good-by, and then no explana
tions were required. We left the cabin
and everything for the first lucky ones
to possess. There was plenty more
gold, no doubt, for t lie ground wo left
contained big pay; but we bad $16,000
or $17,000 ea h, and we were satisfied
with our good fortune. We tried to
appear like three prospectors, carrying
our blankets, and pa-sed Goodyear Hill
and the dreaded Nigger Tent (then the
boat of tlie road agents), and hurried lo
San Francisco, arrived in time to board
the next steamer, and landed safely in
Now York. I have many a time regret
ted the way wc destroyed that natural
gold specimen, perhaps the largest ever
found in the world, in ancient or modern
times. ,
“When I returned to Downieville
after fourteen years’ absence, 1 visited
old Slate ('aslle Ravine and tried it oneo
more, but twenty years liad nearly ex
hausted its riches; still I tried, and
made small wages, but its glory had de
parted. My old partner. Dodge, was
an earnest, truthful man. I believe
tons of gold wore carried below in early
times by tlie lucky ones, and all kinds
of advices were adopted to evade the
highwaymen, and often large parties
went below together, well armed and,
perhaps, many a large nugget, besides
millions of dollars in gold dust, never
saw tlie lip-lit until it was safely de
posited in the banks or mints of the At
lantic States.”— Downieville (Cal.) Mes
senger
Ho Snt Dawn.
We woro running through South Car
olina, when a great big giant of a fellow
with a terrible eye and a voice like a fog
horn boarded the train at a small sta
tion. 1 think most of tho passengers
sized him up as a chap whom it would
bo dangerous to arguo with, but the
giant wasn’t satisfied with that. He
blustered at tho conductor, growled at
the brakeman and looked around as if
seeking someone to pick a fuss with.
Everybody answered him civilly, and
he had two or three seats to himself, but
the man who wants a row can generally
find some pretext. About the center of
the car a pale-looking chap about twen
ty-five years oid occupied a seat and was
reading a newspaper. After a time the
giant rubbed along tc whore tho young
man sal and growled out:
“Stranger, what may bo tho first cost
of such a hat as yours?”
Tho young man looked up with a
flash in his big blue eyes, and then
turned to his paper without replying.
“ Hey! Did you hear me?" roared
the other, as ho leaned over the seat
ami lifted tho hat off the young man’s
head.
Quicker than one could count six a
shining revolver came from you couldn't
lull where, lifted itself on a level witli
the big man’s eye, and the white fin
gers clutching the butt never trembled
a hair’s breadth as a quiet voice uttered
the words:
“ Drop that hat?”
The hat fell from tlie giant’s grasp,
and tho quiet voice continued:
“ Now you sit down or I’ll kill you!"
The muzzle of the weapon was not six
inches from the man’s eye, and I saw
him turn from red to white in ten sec
onds. Ho backed away at the command,
sat down in a seat opposite, and never
stood up or spoke another word during
his ride of twenty miles. Ho had a
“navy” under his coat, but something in
that quiet voice and blue eyo warned
him that the move of a finger on liis part
would crash a bullet into his head.—
Detroit Free Press.
Indian Marriage Laws.
A paper, on thin subject, read by Rev.
J. Owen Dorsoy before the American
Association, notices somo remarkable
customs in relation to marriage and kin
ship as prevailing among tlie Dhegitha
Indians, particularly tlie Omahas aud
Poncas.
When a tribe is hunting it camps, by
gentes or nations, in n circle, each gens
bearing tlie name of somo animal. All
the members of one gem are relatives,
and marriage between members of one
gens is absolutely forbidden. Member
ship in a gens is by descent in tlie male
line, not in the female. The relations
of a man are denoted by colors; for
example—black, grandfather or graml
nrother; blue, father or mother. His
connections arc denoted by mixed colors,
such as pink head aud skirt, witli light
blue triangle on the body, for sister-in
law. A man can marry liis brother’s
widow, and her children call him father
even before their father’s death. Bis
sister's children are only nephews and
nieces. His mother's sister is always
called mother for the same reason, and
even liis paternal grandfather’s brother’s
son is liis fattier. Those, and many
other distinctions, show that tho terms
of relationship are far more numer
ous and complicated with the Oma
has than with us. A man may
marry any woman belonging to an
other gens, whether connected with him
or not; though marriage into his moth
er’s gene is also forbidden. A man can
not marry any woman to whom he is re
lated by tho ceremony of tho calumet
dance. Sometimes a mau may take tho
children of his deceased brother without
their mother herself. Sometimes tho
dying husband, knowing that his male
kindred are bad, tells his wife to marry
out of his gens. If a widower remains
single for two, three or four years, ho
most remain so forevor. Widows, how
ever, must wait four years before remar
rving. Tlie same system prevails among
tbe lowas, Otos aud Missouri*.— Popular
Science Monthly,
■S'- PITH AND POINT.
—Eloquence is the best speech of the
best soul. >
lt is difficult for a woman to keep a
secret, and I know more than ono man
who is a woman.— La Fontaine.
—“Tho astronomors at Harvard Uni
versity have figured out that the comet
went around tne sun at the rate of 400
miles a seoond. Probably the sun had
a bill against tho oomot.”— Chicago
Tribune.
—An English woman says: “English
women can’t hold a candle to French
women in tho matter of flirting.” Per
haps if thoy could it would throw somo
light on tho subjeot.— Norristown
Herald.
—There is a cow in Pennsylvania that
goes limping through life with a
I wooden log. What a bonanza the owner
would have if ho could turn that leg
into a pump and make the animal stand
in a stream of water while he was milk
ing.—N. Y. Advertiser.
—A great many things are accepted
by us as a matter of course in this coun
try. An Austin notary was called to
j take tho acknowledgment of a witness
Ito a doed. He wrote out: “To me, well
| known, personally appeared by the
way, what is your name, anyhow?”
—Orchestral players are getting to ho
intoieralily conceited. The piccolos are
dreadfully high-toned, tho trumpeters
are always blowing their own horn, the
fiddlers complain that they aro sub
jected to such violint exercise, and the
drummers are all on a strike. — N. Y.
Post.
—Whioh arm—the right pr left
should be given a ladv when walking in
a crowded street? —George. In Phila
delphia and other orderly cities give Iter
the right arm, so that she may not bo
jostled by the passing crowd. In Chi
cago and St. Louis give her the left
arm and carry your right hand in your
pistol-pocket. — Philadelphia News.
“What makes you ask such a high
prioo for this little room?” asked Ko
siusco Murphy of an Austin landlord.
“Well, there is a young man next door
who plays on the aecordeon. Yon don’t
expect to have vour innermost soul
stirred up from the bottom every even
ing and not pay anything for it, do you?
Ho sings, too!" — Texas Siftings.
A great many of the scandalous
stories current, are built on this formula:
heard Mr. Johnson say that Mr. Handy’s
aunt was present when the Widow
Burnham told Captain Ball’s cousin
that old Mrs. Oxby undiystood that
■flam Trifle’s wife said, in so many
words, that her mother heard on the
best of authority that you weren’t any
better than you should be. If I were
you I should look the matter up, for the
thing comes pretty straight, you see.” —
N. Y. Herald.
- i.jj 1 Eg
The Guatemala Boundary.
From that epoch which was signal
ized by the fall of the ephemeral empire
of Iturbide until tho signing of the re
cent treaty between Mexico and Guate
mala, the people of these two countries
have been engaged in a constant dipnte
concerning the true bondarv line be
tween tho republics. Several times com
missioners from either country had
traced the boundary line, and definitely
marked tho northern limit of tho ambi
tious little nation, but as often Guate
mala refused to acknowledge the de
cision of tho arbitrators. When (ion.
Barrios had destroyed or Intimidated
tlie enemies of public peace and begun
the work of reforming and aud regen
erating Guatemala, his Government re
newed this vexed question, and began
persecuting Mexican oitizens who re
sided in the territory in dispute. The
property of Don Matins Romero, Mexi
can Minister at Washington, was do
st royed by the troops of tho Guatema
lan Dictator several years ago, and Mr.
Romero’s losses amounted to a large
sum. Nor was he tho only victim. Many
other Mexican oitizens were ruined by
raiding parties from Guatemala, and
several times Mexico was on the point
of declaring war against her trouble
some neighbor.
The boundary line claimed by Mexico
is tho same that lias since been conceded
by Guatemala. Thus a sanguinary war
and complications with our own Gov
ernment has been avoided by tho firm
ness of the Mexican President, the states
manship and tact of the Mexican Sec
retary of State, and the diplomacy and
good management of tlie Mexican Min
ister at Washington. Now both Mexico
and Guatemala aro rid of this “bug
bear’’ of a war-cloud that constantly
Imng suspended over them, and ure at
last on friendly terms. Tho work of re
form that has been going on in Guate
mala for the past few years will be con
tinued. Mexico, which has made such
vast strides forward in the path of po
litical arid material reform, at peace
with tho entire world, can also devote
’ her attention to the grateful task of de
veloping her vast internal resources and
reticulating her boautifnl territory with
iron bands.
While the American people have the
deepest interest in tho weltare of Moxi
co, and rejoice that sho has at length,
under the progressive rale of Porfirio
Diaz and Gen. Gonzalez, assumed a
proud position in the sisterhood of na
tions, they are also pleased that mod
erate councils havo prevailed in Gaute
malan Government oircles, and that
war, which once seemed so imminent,
has been averted by the prudence and
good sense of the statesmen of both
countries. — New Orleans Timcs-Dcmo
crat.
- ———s - - L '" —"
The “Mlleh-Cew Racket.”
During his wanderings through the
yards yesterday tho reporter stumbled
onto another little scheme which it was
thought was exterminated a few months
ngo, hut while there aro “suckers” in
the world scalpers and other not over
scrupulous persons will always do a
"rushing business.” The “milch-cow
racket” ’s the term used by those who
are posted, and from the profits derived
therefrom tho racket is a profitable one.
Milch cows aro always in demand, and
the prices obtained approximate sixty
dollars. When the demand exceeds
the supply the “scalper,” in order to
“accommodate” the customer, goes to
some remote pen and purchases a cow
called a “stripper” —that is, one whoso
days of usefulness as a milker are over.
A calf a few days old is then purchased
for a few dollars and tied in a pen
along with Ihe cow, which is supposed
to biTits mother. The customer soon
makes his appearance and a trade is ef
fected—the purchaser takes tho bogus
cow and calf and the accommodating
"scalper” the sixty dollars. The trick
is soon found out. and the buyer makes
a strenuous complaint, bntf 'there is no
remedv, and lie has to accept tho in
evitable. The tr.ek was practised yes
terday, and came to tho surfaco shortly
afterwards. The buyer on this ocoas on
made an unusually strong break, which
was subseauently settled by a com
i promise —ilhicrjuiQ Tribune,