Newspaper Page Text
A NEW FRENCH FLAY.
'Vllh ti riol l.nlit in u„. i „|,rrt
“Le Nouveau Monde," a four act
>liama which ia creating a sensation in
I‘aris has its scene in tiro United States
during the War of Independence. The
principal personages are Lord Cecil,
commanding the English forces; Ruth!
his unacknowledged wife; Mrs. Andrews,
an adventuress, and Stephen Ashwell,
who is loved both l>y Ruth and Mrs.
Andrews. Toward the close of the play
wo are introduced to the interior of a
squatter s house, the hist outjxiHt on
Rhode Island. The war is at its height,
Washington's army has been thoroughly
organized and for soruo time past hits
been engaged in repeated tights with
the English under Lord Cecil. Mrs.
Andrews lives amid the troops. Ilcr
courage and devotion to the wounded
excite general admiration. She trasses
for being the noblest of women, and no
one suspects the odious nature of plans.
Nor are Mary and Ruth less heroic.
Ruth has even been wounded in the
houhler during a recent engagement,
in which she had followed Stephen.
1 he attack on the English has Wen
fixed for the next day, when, to the
■Wuuwlnnont uf ti,,. Americans, Lord
Wil's soldiers, which were believed to
W at least ten miles off, make their ap
pearance on the Sonne. Unless they are
driven back an irreparable disaster is
inevitable,
Washington is vuinly trying to un
derstand the strange movement of the
enemy when word is sent him that his
plan of attack laid been betrayed to
Lord Cecil by Ruth. The real traitress
is. of course, Mrs. Andrews, who brings
the infamous charge against her rival.
All appearances, however, are against
her victim and Ruth is compelled to own
that she is the wife of Lord Cecil, the
commander of the hostile forces.
Though the revelation has almost over
whelmed Stephen he .!■ fends her; but
she is put in chains. Her trial is fixed
for the next day. The enemy is close,
at hand, and as the safety of the army is
of paramount importance, Ruth is aban
doned.
Mrs. Andrews then sets fire to the
house and : '.’4M|M:iig forest. Lord
Cecil finds his wife amid the flames, has
her chains broken, and carries her away
to Boston with his retiring armv.
The first tableau of the fifth net shows
ns the hall of the Military Court, at Bos
ton, ou the morning of the 4th of duly,
177(1. Boston, besieged bv Washington’s
army, is in a desperate strait. The En
glish troops are Wtween two fires
threatened from without by the besieg- j
iug forces, and from within by an upris
ing of the Bostonians, which seems im
minent.
Lord Cecil, seeing no prospect of re
lief, embarks the remnants of his armv,
and only keeps with him one company
of 120 men as a guard of honor. With
these he determines to brave death for
the honor of old England and let thv
town be carried by assault rather than
surrender. *.
Before starting, however, lie teils
Ruth that he has informed Stephen and
Washington she is innocent of the trea
son she was accused of.
The fodcrals rush on for the last as
sault. Lord Cecil and his companions
are killed in the breach. Stephen ar
rives only just in time to save Ruth
from the dagger of Mrs, Andrews, who
is herself sill J|, and tile piny ends by la/,I a/,
solemn proclamation of the Independ
ence of the Unit 'd States.
lii a Single Might.
Many remarkable tales have been told
of portions who, bv reason of fright or
other causes, have found that their hair
has turned white in a single uiglit. But
there is not, we believe, Hays the Boston
Journal, anywhere on record a case
where a person went to tied at night in a
calm state of mind, rested soundly until
daylight, and awoke in the morning to
find that during sleep his or her hair had
changed from ebony to silver. That is ,
to say, there never was such a case until
last week, when just this sort of an inci
dent occurred in Boston. The subject
was a lady, who retired at her usual hour,
taking with her to her room another and
an elderly lady, a visitor, who had ar
rived late in the day, and for whom no
other accommodation could be arranged.
The subject of this incident was noted
for the fineness and beauty of tier hair,
which was said by good judges—people
w ho had been abroad and were acquaint
ed with the appearance of ravens—to ri
val the raven's wing in blackness and
lustre. Being bl< ssed with a good con
science, and having eaten nothing indi
gestible at supper, the lady slept peace
fully during the night and awoke re
freshed in the morning. But on looking
toward the mirror, she saw that her hair,
instead of being black as when she went
to bed, was plentifully streaked with
gray. She sprang up at once to assure
herself by a nearer survey, and just be
come convinced that her first view was
correct, when at that moment her elderly
companion, who had already dressed and
gone down stairs, entered the room, and,
with the words, "It was sodark when I got
up that I put on the wrong switch,” re
placed u]>on the bureau a black and
glossv coil. Catching tip then the gtsy
tresses that had for a moment so alarmed
the younger lady, she deftly arranged
them in their appropriate place and
ftgjiin quietly with<lxoiv.
Thouble.— On a holiday in China
town, San Francisco, a matinee perform
ance'in the Chill's:; Theatre was an
nounced to last from 4 o’clock a.m. un
til t p.m., but the manager attempted
to get rid of his audience an hour earlier.
The result was a riot, in which tho
benches and other fixtures were smashed.
Poet- -“But, my dear air, it is now
four years since you accepted my epic,
and yet no steps have been taken to pub
lish it.” Publisher—“ Don’t be in a
hurry, young man. Homer had to wait
three thousand years before he got' into
print, and you will hardly claim that
your poem "is an Iliad. ” - Meg- njr Rial.
ter.
VOL. X.
The Treatment for n Cold.
The Monthly Magazine (London) re
ports Dr. Oralmm as Raying that it is not
a correct practice, after a cold is caught,
to make flic room a person sits in much
warmer than usual, to increase the quan
tity of bed clothes, wrap up in flannel,
and drink a largo quantity of hot tea,
gruel, or other slops, because it will in
variably increase the feverishness, and,
in the majority of instances, prolong
rather than lessen the duration of the
cold. It is well known that confining
inoculated persons in warm rooms will
make their small-pox more violent by
augmenting the general heat ami fever ;
and it is for the same reason that a simi
lar practice in the present complaint is
attended with analogous results, a cold
being in reality a slight fever. In some
parts of England, among the lower order
of the people, a large glass of cold spring
water, taken on going to bed, is found to
lie successful remedy, and in fact many
medical practitioners recommend a re
duced atmosphere and frequent draughts
of cold fluid as the most efficacious rem
edy for a recent cold, particularly when
the patient’s habit is full and plethoric.
Dr. Graham further says :
It is generally supposed that it is the
exposure to a cold or wot atmosphere
which produces the effect called cold,
whereas it is returning to a warm tem
perature after exposure which is the real
cause of the evil. When a person in the
cold weather goes into the open air,
every time he draws in his breath the
cold air passes through his nostrils and
windpipe into the lungs, and, conse
quently, diminishes the heat in these
purls. As long as the person continues
in the cold air, he feels no bad effects
from it ; but as soon .os ho returns home,
lie approaches the fire to warm himself,
and very often takes some warm and
comfortable drink to keep out the cold,
as it is said. The inevitable consequence
is, that lie will find that lie has taken
cold. He feels a shivering which makes
him draw nearer the fire, but all to no
purpose; the more lie tries to heat him
self, the more he chills. All the mischief
is h re caused by the violent action of
die heat.
To avoid this when you mine out of n
very cold atmosphere, you should not at
first go into a room that lias a fire in it,
or if you cannot avoid that, you should
keep for a considerable time at as groat
a distance as possible, and, alsive all,
refrain from taking w arm or strong li
quors when you are cold. This rule is
founded on the same principle as the
treatment of any part of the body when
frostbitten. If it were brought to the
fire it would soon mortify, whereas, if
rubbed with snow, no bad consequences
follow from it. Hence, if the following
rule were strictly observed—-when the
whole body, or any part of it, is chilled,
bring it to its natural feeling and warmth
bv degrees—the frequent colds we ex
p lienee in winter would inn great meas
ure be prevented.
A New Profession.
Anew profession, that of accompanying
young girls to and from balls, lias been
recently started, the New York Hoar
tells us. Hairdressers, probably of the
fair sex, advertise that they will dress
the hair of ladies and then escort them
to their destination. The pressure of
engagements which is apt to reduce
mamma to a limp and wilted condition
long before the season is over, and ex
asperate papa to a point which unfits
him for polite society, makes it necessary
to employ the services of some dispas
sionate) and fresh attendant, and maids
are not always trustworthy, as was
proved on a recent occasion when
Abigail, being dispatched for her youth
ful charge, somewhat after midnight
willingly confided the young maiden to
the tender mercies of a gallant cavalier,
and returned peacefully to her couch
and slumber. The arrangements were
perfect, save in the neglect of one item—
the latch-key—tho absence of which
rendered all other precautionary meas
ures null and void, and when the young
damsel and her cavalier arrived at tho
paternal mansion, the hell was found
quite inadequate to the aw akening of the
door-keeper. Hotels and friends’ houses
were out of the question—and to spend
the remainder of the night, on the cold
doorsteps, not the most enlivening pros
pect in the world—“especially,” said the
lady, “when no one will believe that we
did spend it in that way. But her com
panion was a man of ready resources,
lie espied a policeman, and hailing the
guardian of the public peace, bribed
this functionary to remain with them in
the capacity of chaperone, and pace the
pavement in front of the house until
daylight. The noise of voices, however,
effected what the sound of the bell had
failed to do, and Abigail herself, roused
from her indiscreet slumbers, rushed to
the aid of the wanderers, and their an
guish waß at an end. The most extra
ordinary part of the story, however, is
that two women and two men—one a
policeman—kept a secret inviolate; that
is, with one or two exceptions to this
praiseworthy reticence.
A Sad Fate. —Female children are
sold from the establishment for found
lings at Canton at seventy-five cents
each. Their future may be imagined.
This commerce re. not approved of by the
Government, it is said, lint no means
have beeu taken to email it out.
SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MAY 30. 1883,
THE COMING MAN.
The President of tlic IJiiie-Klln Club Tell*
I’m Wiini lie Shall lc.
[From the Detroit Free rrcus.]
‘‘I)o cornin’ man hasn't come yet,”
said Brother Gardner, as he looked
Giveadam Jones square in the eye and
motioned to Elder Toots to draw in his
feet and let the heat of the stove have a
chance to circulate around the hull.
“No, gem'leu, do cornin’ man hasn’t
arrove in ilis kentrv yet, an’ if do rheu
matics keeps on bodcrin' me, I can't
expect to be on airih when he gets heali
an'take him by the ban’ an’ toll liim how
powerful glad 1 is to s o him. But some
of our chill'on may lib to see him, an'
dar’ll he sich a celebrashun as no Fo’tli
of July kin hold a candle to.
“Do cornin’ man, my friends, will go
to Congress unpledged, an’ como home
unhribed an’ widout fear of mootin' do
people who sent him dar’.
“Do cornin' man will be 'looted State,
County or City Treasurer, an’ when his
term has expired his books will balance
an' his accounts will be sqnar’ to a cent.
"Do coinin’ man will have a reverence
fur de Constitusliun of do Union an' a
respect fur de laws of his own State.
"Do cornin’ man w ill look sternly upon
embezzlement, bribery an’ all sorts of
fraud, an’ he will take a squar’ stand
upon an honest polyticnl platform.
“If de cornin' man should happen to
lie looted to de Common Council do peo
ple of dat. city would 1 1 ’nr such a rattlin’
an’ blinkin' of dry bones dat. do music of
ten brass bauds couldn’t drown do noise.
"As T menshuned bofo’ de cornin’ man
hasn’t got heali yet, an’ when I pick up
de daily paper an' scan do daily record
i J crime, I can't help but fool dat do
hero will find sich a job laid out fur him
dat ho will go down into his butes an'
nobbor bo seen nor beard of again.
“While 1 don’t want to occupy downl
unlil? time ol) dis meet in’ ober ail hour
all’ n-ltalf furder, I feel it my dooty to
remark did dis Lime-Kiln Club isn’t
gwino to wait fur any coinin’ man to
come. De Committee on Finance am
gwiue to look into our lodge safe once a
week all freudo y’ar, an’ if de money
fioan’ tally wid de Secretary's figgers a
cyclone will begin to circle. While de
janitor ob dis club am only allowed to
handle seventeen cents per week, de fast
time he makes seven an’ five count up
thirteen lie will be missed from his ac
customed paths.
“While dar am naterally a fraternal
foolin’ in a lodge of dis sort, dat feelin
must chop squar’ off when a brudder
member am seen promenadin’down to do
stasknu in company wid a purleoeenmn.
J.ove one anoder, but return borrowed
money exactly when you promise. Btan’
by a member in distress, but let him
know dat as soon as he gils well he will
be expected to airu his own meat an’ ’bi
ters an’ liah-wood. Anticipate a redue-
B j,un in house rent, but doan’ move out
in de night owin’ do landlord hack rent.
Bo olileegin’, but when a man returns
your coffy-mill minus de handle an’ boat
cog-wheels, doan’ fail to drap a hint dat
it would be less trubble fur him to drink
tea or pound his coffee in a rag. Let us
now embarrass de reg lar order of biz-
Adulteration of Sugar.
Our Washington correspondent re
ports that when the bill to prevent the
importation of adulterated tea is brought
into the House an effort will he mad - to
add to it a clause forbidding and pun
ishing the adulteration of sugar and mo
lasses also. In the light of a letter from
Mr. Duncan F. Kenner to a glucose
manufacturer in this State, which has
become public, we hope that not only
Congress but the State Legislatures also
will make haste to declare fraudulent the
selling of a mixture of sugar and mo
lasses with glucose, unless the quality
and proportions of the mixture are open
ly stated. Whoever wishes to use glu
cose Inn: a right to do so. And if any
one prefers to use a mixture of cane
sugar and glucose rather than pure cane
sugar he lias the right to do this. But
whoever sells such mixtures as “sugar”
or “molasses” commits a fraud on the
public, and ought to be liable to severe
pu>
Glucose is a much cheaper article than
cane sugar. It is worth only about half
as much and it is much less sweet. It
does not improve, but, on the contrary,
it debases the cane sugar or molasses
with which it is mixed. The mixture is
made for the dishonest purpose of get
ting a high price for an article of inferior
value. It is a fraud upon the public, and
ought to he severely punished. Wo
hope some member of our Legislature
will make haste to introduce a bill pro
tecting the public against this abomin
able swindle, and making its commission
a punishable offense.—xV. Y. Herald.
Tire Cow Bovs.—The leading cattle
men whom a newspaper correspondent
says he met in Arizona had a Southern
cut and accent, and were apt to have
hailed from Missouri or Texas. Some
few appeared in full suits of broadcloth.
The wide felt sombrero was invariably
worn. The landlord of the hotel de
scribed them as “perfect gentlemen,
some good at the bar for S2O and $25 a
day.” _
Adjourned. —Tho Legislature of .Ar
kansas adjourned out of respect to tlio
memory of a member who had commit
ted suicide while intoxicated,
SOMETHING ABOUT EARTHQUAKES.
The province of Murcia in Spain, had
a pretty lively shaking tip on Tuesday.
Twenty-two successive earthquake
shocks were felt there, several houses
were destroyed and consternation pre
vailed among the inliabitiuils. The day
before there was a heavy earthquake
shock in Bohemia. Last week, southern
Illinois and western Kentucky were
shaken. Siuoo tho beginning of the
year, there have also been shocks in New
England and Canada.
These disturbances of the earth’s
crust, occurring in rapid succession, at
tract attention to the theory thill, earth
quakes are sometimes, at least, tho result
of onuses affecting a large portion of the
earth, or perhaps tho wholo globe.
Various so-called earthquake cycles
have been pointed out, but it cannot be
said that any one of them has been satis
factorily established. It is impossible
to predict earthquakes, and the utmost
that careful observation has so far
proved is that there arc certain periods
when earthquakes are unusually numer
ous. All sorts of theories have been in
vented to account for these periodic dis
turbances of the earth. Home h ive as
cribed earthquakes to the influence of
comets, although the idea is about, as
well founded ns that of tho astrologers,
that comets foretell war's and famines.
Others have thought that earthquakes
may result from the varying force of at
traction of the sun, the moon, and the
other planets upon the earth. There is,
at least, some appearance of plausibility
in this theory, but the, whole question is
yet, open, and a great deal more informa
tion is needed before it can bo in any de
gree set tied.
There is, perhaps, no other display of
natural forces, not even excepting vol
canic: eruptions, so frightful as a grout
earthquake. Earthquakes have des
troyed many thousands of human beings,
and laid wuiste whole cities and provinces.
They are entirely beyond human control,
and experience has shown Ihiil they are
just as likely to occur now as they were
centuries ago. Tho questions, what
causes them, and is there any means of
foreseeing their visitations, are therefore
of great interest, and we have reason to
be thankful that in this part of tho world,
tho solid ground is not often shaken, and
that when the earthquake shock is felt
it doss little damage.
Buttered Yiitli Humbug.
A man is not more justly known by
llio company he In rpi than by the char
acter of business lie chooses in follow.
One would not willingly confide, in a
mock-auctioneer, or lend a denier in
pinchbeck “ live dollars lill lie call nil
his dog.” We could not think of George
Washington as engaged, xanqile, in
degrading with cheap glucose the stand
ard of sweets, or conseniing to re all/.o
profit from adult rat ion of tea. Tho
truth cannot abide in a person whose
money is got by deceit, no matter how
large the siib-liancment where lie works,
or how expansive the superstructure in
which he displays his lying goods. J)o
we draw good water and bad from tile
same fountain V May we, expect figs
from thistles’ Do “ die peaceable, frails
of righteousness” grow in disguise? “Yu
cannot sene two masters.” It was lu
cidly said of a certain parson that lie was
an angel--in the pulpit. But lie killed
official utterance by ltis week-day walk
arid conversation; “the simple fact is,
his preaching wasn’t sanctioned by his
practice.” Bo it is a cold day for Reform
when it is championed by a man who
feeds on fraud.
Everybody known, or may know, that
oleomargarine never appears with its
proper name when it can palmed off as
butter. Hundreds of thousands of per
sons in this city, in every town, and in
foreign countries as well, are to-day buy
ing and using this refined soap-grease as
genuine product of the dsiry cow. Tin
very completeness of the counterfeit
gives the more occasion for criticism. If
by the shrewd arts of the laboratory, de
cent suet, or the refuse fats of tho slaugh
ter-house, or of worse sources, can, in
open competition, be made to take the
place of butter (as they do secretly take
it to the extent, according to figures, of
17,000,000 pounds per year), no one
could fairly remonstrate ; hut the simple
fact is that not a tithe, of that vast quan
tity could be marketed if it were placed
on grocers* counters for exactly what it
is—as not only a sense of honor would
require, but us tho law itself directs,
This is the ground of tho objection we
urge now to oleomargarine, and to the
man who has come to be known as the
mogul of its commerce ; who, using the
machinery of an extensive trade, tills his
pockets by circulating the article against
which even the barriers of legislation
have been set apparently in vain.—jY, V.
Tribune.
Pkactioin’G RErAKTEK; “How inatten
tive you are, Tommy! Wliaf 1 say goes
ill at one car and out of the other. And
why do you lean your head on your
hand like that?” “Toprevent wlrat you
say going out at the other ear, Miss
Sharp.”
Scene in a Chicago .hoc store: “What
size?” “Two’s, please.” An interval
of hard work. “Do you want a pair of
shoes, Miss, or only one?” “A pair, of
course.” “Ah ! yes, f see; twie - two
are four; John, stretch a pair of No. I
gaiters,”
Life in n Lighthouse.
There are Horrible stories told of for
mer days, when a couple of men being
i a duty on some isolated rock, one of
them happened to die suddenly in rough
weather ; when tho survivor, foaling of
being charged with tho crime, remained
shut up in the closest proximity to tho
corpse of his comrade ti'l the lull of tho
storm brought relief and the opportunity
of explanation. This very week we hear
of a case which might well seem incredi
ble were it not amply authenticated.
The watchmen on the Wolf Rock, oppo
site the Cornish coast, were out off from
nil communication with their kind
through the two dreariest months of tho
winter; and it was nearly the middle of
January when relief reached them at
last. Nowadays, however, the light
warders in similar circumstances invari
ably consist of three at the least; and
both on the light-towers and in the
lightships, the men are surrounded by
all manner of material comforts. They
have rooms as snug ns the limited struc
tural arrangements will admit; they have
ample rations of excellent food, nor are
the needs of their minds by any means
in glide,l. still, il must be an unnatural
life at the best. and one Hint is perilously
lilted to nourish sombre fancies. We
iimv conceive that in the men who take
most kindly to the occupation, the imag
ination is seldom strongly developed;
hut nevertheless, they must lie quick
and intelligent. Generally speaking,
some moderate amount of exercise is be
lieved to be indispensable to.preserving
tlio balance of the bodily and mental
powers ; and in the dullest routine of or
dinary drudgery there are usually occa
sional changes of scene and company.
But in many a lighthouse the occu
pants are hi Id fast by the logs, for exor
cise becomes something more than ef
fort, when il is reduced to practicing tho
treadmill upon the steps of a corkscrew
staircase, or to taking half a dozen stops
upon a slimy rock at low water. The
crews of tho lighthouse are somewhat
more favorably circumstanced’in this ro
sped, since they can do their walking on
a more or less roomy deck, and they en
joy, besides, a greater variety of com
pany. But the life in bolh cases must
be intolerably monotonous; and to a
landsman tln.-ro would ho Utile to choose
between the terrors of the one and tho
other, when tin- sea is wrapped in im
penetrable fogs or jH being lashed into
fury by howling lempcs's. In a storm,
(he lighthouse is in reality (he safer resi
dence of Ihe two, for, thunks to the skill
of our modern engineers, it is most un
likely that another Eddystono will be
swept away. Yet tho waves rush up the
side of tin 1 , tower, and toss their tons of
si elliiug green water against the lower
courses of masonry, seeming to shake the
massive structure from tile liglit-room to
the foundation, it must need nerve and
long habit to resist the belief that the
violence of the elements may bring about
a catastrophe. As for the lightships, being
moored in shallower water, they may ho
less exposed to the extreme fury of the
storms, though there is always a chance
of their being torn from their anchorage,
lint, on the other huml, in even moder
ately bad weather they must nl ways be emi
nently disagreeable places of abode. Tho
peculiar jerking motion, when the natural
heaving of the ship is being perpetually
cheeked by the straining cables, is said
tube trying to the most seasoned of
mariners, and to be one of those incon
venience s to which no custom can re
concile one,- Saturday Review.
“ Cliunipngnc <lc la Champagne. *
The “ Hermit,” of New York City,
lias ascertained that during the past
year sixty-three women were received at
the inebriates’ homo at Fort Hamilton,
some of whom were members of first
class families. The number of male pa
tients is vastly greater, lie says, but wt
know that it is much easier to send men
to such institutions than women. Physi
cians anil others who have the oppor
tunity of close observation say that many
if not most, of the splendid receptions
which mark the highest rank of society
nro followed fin many eases) by symp
toms resembling incipient delirium tre
mens. By flu's is meant Unit reaction
caused by intense excitement. The drain
on both mental and physical strength
inevitable on such occasions calls for
stimulus which is only measured by the
cxigi ncy of the hour. At such times
few who drink know the extent of their
potations, llcnee.it has 1 icon suggested
that instead of styling the first circles
creme de la creme, the proper term
would lie “champagne do la champagne,”
vinen the hitter is not only the great
lonrce of inspiration, but is also the
Itondard of taste.
Liquor in Russia.
The decree regulating the liquor traffic
in Russia, recently signed by the Em
p. ror, is one of the most stringent char
acter. There is to bo only one liquro
shop in a village, and where two or three
villages are almost contiguous one shop
must suffice for their combined inhabi
tants. The publican must boa native of
the place, appointed and paid by the
Common Council, and must sell food as
well as liquor. If ho allows any person
to get drunk, he is liable not only to
dismissal, but to fine and imprisonment.
If any Russian village is reported to the
authorities as addicted to drunkenness,
the sale of liquor may he interdicted for
as long a period us may seem necessary.
NO. \\)
More Than They Asked For.
The Whigs of Now York and Boston,
wishing to show their appreciation of Mr.
Webster, contributed a largo sum to ena
ble him to purchase a suitable residence
at Washington and to live there during
the negotiation with Lord Ashburton in
good style. Ho selected a house facing
the northeastern corner of Lafayette
Square, which lmd been built by Thomas
Swann, who had been engaged in mer
cantile pursuits at Alexandria and at
Washington, utid whoso son had been in
recent years Governor of Maryland and
a Representative in Congress from Balti
more. Moving into this house, Mr. Web
ster lived in becoming style, entertaining
nearly all of the Senators and many of
the Representatives. Ho was not able,
however, to pay for the house, which fell
into the hands of William W. Corcoran,
the banker-beliefaetor of Washington,
who lias since resided there, although ho
has greatly enlarged and improved it.
Soon after Mr. Webster had removed
into his now house, Messrs. Moses H.
Grimiell, Richard M. Blatehford and
Simeon Draper, of Now York, wore one
day his guests at dinner. 'While linger
ing at table over the raisins and Ma
diera, Mr. Grinnell Viaid: "I have a
groat favor to ask you, Mr. Webster.”
“You ean ask no favor which will not bo
promptly granted,” was the reply.
“Well,” continued Mr. Grinned, “Mr.
Washington Irving finds it necessary to
have access to the Spanish archives in
completing his life of Columbus, and
will soon leave for Spain. As the consu
late at Madrid is vacant,, Blatehford, and
myself, wi . out Mr. Irving's knowledge,
have date . mined to ask you to appoint
him.”
Mr. Webster, after quite a pause, in
quired: “Do I understand you, Mr.
Grinnell, as asking the appointment, of
Washington Irving as Consul toMndrid?”
Mr. Grinnell said they had determined
to make the request, and he hoped that
Mr. Webster would grant it. Dir. Web
ster listened attentively, then, straighten
ing himself in his chair, said, in his deep,
bass voice: “Why not Minister Pleni
potentiary to Spain, sir?” This was
more than the New Yorkers had thought
of asking for, and they did not say a
word. The sitting at tublo was pro
longed for some lit tie time, but no further
allusion was made to it. The next day
the appointment of Dfr. Trving as Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten
tiary was announced. He went, to Spain
and' remained there as Minister for sev
eral years.
The Siirlng Styles.
Tho earliest hint of spring styles, says
Harper’s Razor, is found ill the cotton
dress goods that merchants display m
midwinter, and that ladies have niudo up
at home in advance of the busy season
when seamstresses and dressmakers uro
too much hurried to make these simple
dresses. Cotton satteon is tho fabric
most largely imported. Instead of tho
white and very dark backgrounds used
last summer, those now have strawberry
red, terra-cotta, robiu’s-egg and part
ridge brown grounds in narrow stripes
or cheeks with white lines, strewn all
over with largo shaded disks of moon
and sun, white balls, egg shapes, paral
lelograms, wheels, snails, Greek key
figures, blocks, and the inevitable polka
dols, of all sizes, from tho merest speck
to those an inch and a half in diameter.
Shamrock patterns are shown, and tliero
are nautilus shells and bivalves; the
transit-of-VenUH design is among the
shaded disks, while all the fioral designs
of last, year are repeated in bouquets and
in single detached sprays. The newest
patterns in polka dots have very large
white balls nearly touching each other,
and almost covering a pale blue, dark
red, green, or strawberry ground. Tho
stripes shown are even and very wide,
with a color and white alternating to
make pleatings, with tho white stripe
folded inside. The checks are so small
that they are merged into a plain surface
at a littlo distance. These goods of
(willed surface are nearly a yard wide,
cost forty-five cents a yard, and about
fourteen yards are required for a dress.
Ottoman satteens, repped like coteline,
are in similar designs and narrower
widths. The solid colors of tho twilled
satteens aro handsome enough to bo
made up under transparent fabrics, as it
is difficult to distinguish thorn from real
■satin. The hall patterns of these goods
stand out as if raised from tho surface.
Cambrics and batistes are imported in
similar designs. The preference for soft
muslins without dressing remains, and
ladies will do well to warn tlieir laun
dresses that starch destroys much of tho
beauty of these twilled cottons. Tho
silver gray, and black and white cotton
satteens for 1 allies in mourning aro in
neat ball and striped patterns.
Tire Tilton Family. —One of the daily
papers furnishes some account of the
once happy family of Theodore Tilton.
The girls are all married and doing very
well. One of the boys is a clerk and the
other goes to school. Mrs. Tilton is
hoarding in the city with her daughter
Florence. Mr. Tilton does not contribute
any stated amount toward the mainte
nance of his family. Though liis children
go to sco him from time to time, Mis.
Tilton has never met him since the trial.
There are some people in this world
who closely resemble mosquitoes. There
isn't much of them, but they tease and
fret you all the time.
THE MAN WITH PUNCH.
Whin n Wralrrn lliillroitd Conrfuolar h to
Suy About llin I.im* of Huln cm.
“Young man, if you are looking for
information in regard to tliis business,
with a view to following it,," says a Wes
tern railroad conductor, “let me advise
you, before it is everlastingly too late, to
lot up right whero you are. You are not
a man of the physical build to stand the
strain of forty-eight hours on tho road.
As regards our dutios, of course, they
are not very had, and a man with an iron
will, a four-ply constitution, and tho
physical euduranoo of a prize-fighter,
can stand it without any trouble. But I
tell yon it is tough on some of tho tender
ones. You let a man get up in the mid
dle of the night and start over a run of a
couple of hundred miles, and stand the
| wear and tear of knocking about tho
| train, or standing in the snow up to the
I bosom of his pants, on the side truck of
| some out of tho way station,' waiting for
j ‘No. 13' freight, that is stalled half a
I mile down the track, to pass, it takes the
! tuck out of the best of them. You can
j bet that during the winter season, with
snow blockades that send tho conductor
out with tho brakeman and fireman, to
help bail snow out from under the engine
with a fence hoard, or walking ahead of
the engine and sounding for track with a
pole, the conductor business is full of
hardships. The little trials which tlic
conductor experiences in being knocked
over four seats and jammed up against
tho stove by some crowd of drunken
lumbermen who refuse to pay their fare,
or helping a fat woman with two satchels,
three or four bundles, a bird cage, an
umbrella, a baby, and who always gets
off at some flag station, and is obliged to
climb down with tho conductor’s aid,
and who persists in falling through a
culvert with one leg; while the other
waves around in the air and knocks tho
conductor over in the snow, nro all the
hardships that the public sec about the
life of a conductor. But these arc not
one half.
“And again, while tho conductor gets
good pay, he is obliged to squander half
he earns in good clothes in order to keep
himself up in line with his position. And
he is responsible for about everything
that occurs on the line of his run from
the time he ‘pulls out' until he reaches
the end. Everything from the running
over of a cow on a crossing to the leaving
of some passenger at an isolated station,
is charged up to the conductor’s merit
account. If he permits a poor, friend
less woman to rido free on liis train,
because she has not money enough to
pay her way, and she must get to the
bedside of her dying husband, he is
liable to be reported by some ‘ spotter,’
and ‘lsyed off’ by the management.
And if he does not allow the poor woman
to ride he is judged by tho passengers
and the community as a heartless wretch.
No. let me tell you sir, as a friend, that
you better take no conductor life in
yours. It looks rather nice on the fane
of it, but it is full of trials and dangers
and responsibilities that would turn
the hair on some men’s heads gray in
a single night. If you are yearning for
a little railroad life let me adviso you to
get some good soft thing as agent at a
flag station or measuring wood for tlio
company at $lO per month. There may
not ho tire same amount of cash in the
business but there is a groat deal less
responsibility.”
Taking in the Situation.
“I wits playing in a minstrel troupe
one season and traveling through Texas.
Oil" night, I think it was in Palestine,
we missed connection and were com
pelled to lay over. Frayne was then
playing ‘Si Slocum,' with liis wife acting
as Lucy Slocum. As he was to occupy
the Opera House that night, I, accom
panied by several of our troupe, went
over to see tho show. The hall was a
miserable tumble-down frame shanty,
lighted by candles and lamps. The light,
you may be sure, was not the best in the
world, but, nevertheless, the audience,
which completely filled the house, seemed
to thoroughly enjoy the play, and mani
fested their approbation by loud shouts
and liuzzahs. When the time came for
Frayne to shoot the apple from liis wife’s
head, she was brought on the stage blind
folded. She was nervous and excited,
and shook like my bass drum when I
give it a healthy whack. The light was
too poor for Frayno to seo distinctly, and
it was plainly to he seen that he had mis
givings of liis own power.
“The audience seemed to take in the
situat ion. Suddenly one of the auditors,
a big, burly cowboy, with a sombrero as
wide as the Tabor stage, jumped up from
his seat and pointed a pistol fair at
Frayne, saying out in n|ilrm voice ;
‘Don’t shoot, or T’ll pulverize you!'
Frayne glanced down at the resolute
looking stranger, and seemed to be glad
of his intervention. The whole house
took up the cry, ‘Don’t shoot!’ and tho
affrighted woman tore the bandage from
her eyes and said in pleading tones :
‘Don’t attempt to anger that gentleman,
Frank; he means what he says.’
“ ‘Bet yor hoots, gal, I do,” replied
the stranger. That part of tho play was
omitted for that night, and tho Indians
had to ho killed twice to make up for tho
cutting of the programme.”
The Gout.
On the anniversary of his late birthday
Gen. James Watson Webb remarked to
a visitor that, having had the gout for
flfty-nino years, he had become quite
accustomed to managing it. Describing
liis occasional twinges, he said they re
minded him of the Frenchman’s descrip
tion of the difference between rheuma
tism, inflammatory rheumatism, and
gout. He said:
“Put your foot in a vise and squeeze
it as hard as you can; that srheumatism.
Give it one more squeeze, with the aid
of a friend; that’s inflammatory rheuma
tism. But send out iuto the street and
bring in some strong fellows to put on
the screws still harder; that’s the gout.'*
Frank Fiuy.ne should go to Niagara
Fall* and shoot the rapids,
' 'iff. ST'