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WIT AND WISDOM.
'Electric girls are great on the spark.
Up in arms—The squalling infant at
midnight.
A tea-tot aller—The tea merchant’s
accountant.
A wife at home is worth two on a visit
to her mother.
Flirtations are defined as “attentions
without intentions.”
A promising young man—one who
gets his clothing on credit.
A crank is a person who does not al
ways agree with you, but has an opin
ion of his own.
“What are clouds ?” Well, one kind
is when you call to see your girl and
find that the other fellow is in the parlor
with her.
There are a good many real miseries
in life that we cannot help smiling at,
but they are the smiles that make
wrinkles but not dimples.
It is wonderful how silent a man can
be when he knows Ills cause is just, and
how boisterous he becomes when he
, knows he is in the wrong.
Foes sisters named Carr were married
at Joliet, recently, and the clergyman
who performed the ceremonies is now
called a patent Carr coupler.
We don’t know why the "God of Mar
riage is called Hymen, Julia, unless it is
because the groom is generally a very
“short” man after his marriage.
The foundation of every good gov
ernment is the family. The best and
most prosperous country is that which
has the greatest number of happy fire
sides.
It is vert true, my son, that “Puss
in gloves catches no mice,” but then you
must bear in mind that a cat that can
afford to wear gloves has no need to
catch mice. She can buy fish.
During the war a great many Amer
icans emigrated to Canada. That was
because of the draft. Recently numer
ous cashiers have sought British soil.
This is because of the overdraft.
The private letter always beats the
public letter in getting into print. The
more ‘ ‘private” it is the more certain it
is to be published. A letter the writer
wants destroyed should never be marked
“private.”
Hard on him—Mistress: “I really
cannot put up with your voracious ap
petite any longer, James. Why, even
the beasts of the field know when they’ve
had enough, but you never do.” Jdtttw
“Please, ’m, you never tried me I ’
One of the neatest things said during
the campaign was the remark of the St.
Louis Post that “the enthusiasm and
enterprise with which general Gordon
telegraphed for 81,500,000 would seem
to show that the Soudan is an October
State. ”
There is nothing like "trying,” It is
related of Rev. Philips Brooks that he
conferred with a distinguished doctor of
divinity and asked him what he thought
of his trying to preach. “You might
try,” was the not very encouraging re
ply. He did try.
“Why don t yon trade with me?” said
a close-fisted tradesman to a publisher,
the other day, “Because,” was the
characteristic reply, “yon have never
ivsked me, sir. I have looked ail through
the papers for an invitation in the shape
of an advertisement.”
A traveler through Arabia writes
that when a Bedouin is asked to drink
his answer would frequently be: “No,
thanks— I drank yesterday.” In this
country the answer usually is: “Weil,
I've teen at it all the morning, but
I guess I can stand another.”
—
Paid the Damages.
A n ick driver, waiting in a street of
New York city for his passenger, who
bad gone to make a call at a mansion
neat by, thought it would be good fen to
see if he could bring his vehicle round
with a sweep that would wrench off the
shaky wheels from a littie cart.
Dr. Crosby happened to note the
movements of the fellow end surmised
what his purpose was. So he w alked
slowly, with his “eyes open.” Round
swept the carriage with the neatest turn.
Then followed the snap of the littlr
wheels, the barking of the big dog, the
cry of tue child and the laugh of the
driver as he drove away, and in a mo
ment more picked up his passenger and
passed from sight.
Dr. Crosby had noted the number of
the hack. When the poor woman came
out he told her to take the cart to a cer
tain shop and have it repaired in the
very best style and send the bill to him.
He then called at the stable where the
hack belonged, told the story to the
owners and added that he held them re
sponsible for the payment of the bill.
They denied that they could be held
responsble for the injury done, and said
they would have nothing to do with the
matter. In the course of time a bill of
items, which must have made a complete
“one-boss shay” out of the rickety little
vehicle and which footed np fourteen
dollars, was presente d to the doctor.
He paid it promptly, and as promptly
r< ’ t it to the hac < < fti :C with a note say
in.' that if the money was not in his
hands by six o'clock legal proceedings
would be begun. At five o'clock a mes
senger appeared with the amount.
■
with a business eye.
The cowboy’s cure for snoring is
unique and effectual if not soothing.
On the Utah & Northern last Sunday a
200-pound roan laysnoring on two facing
seats. His roar had been heard to the
discomfort of a car full all the afternoon.
At about I p. ci. a cowboy got on at one
of the canyon stations. He heard the
foghorn with evident impatience for
about half an hour or so, when he
stepped up to the sleeper and said:
“Say, stranger, stop that ar snort or
you’ll get fired.”
The cowboy was not large, but he was
full of guns and there was business in
his eye. The big man said nothing, but
lay still, and his sleep, if he slept, was
as‘ quiet as the slumber of infancy.
-Butte Miner.
€lje C&ujetk.
VOL XI. SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA. WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 1885. NO. 52.
BALLADE OF CHRISTMAS GHOSTS.
Between the moonlight and the fire,
In winter evenings long ago,
What ghosts I raised at your desire
To make your Duping blood run slow ’
How old, how grave, how wise we grow !
What Christmas ghost can make us chill—
Save those who troop in mournful row,
The ghosts we all can raise at will?
The beasts can talk in burn and byre
On Christmas-Eve, old legends know,
As one by one the years re ire,
We men fall silent then, I trow—
Such sights has memory to show,
Such voices from the distance thrill,
Ah me ! they come w.th Cmisimas snow,
The ghosts we all can raise at will.
Oh, children of the vil'.age choir,
Your carols on the midnight t row i
Oh, bright across the mist and mire,
Ye ruddy hearths of Christmas glow !
Beat back the shades beat down the woe,
Renew the strength of moral will;
Be welcome, all, to come or go,
The ghosts we all can raise at will.
Friend, sursnm cor da, soon or slow
We part, like guests who’ve joyed their fill;
Forget them not, nor mourn them so,
The ghosts we all can taise at will.
—Andrew Lang, in Harper's Magazine,
THE CHRISTMAS LOAF.
It was Christmas Evo. The snow
was falling fast, and little Jack Layton
trudged along the busy thoroughfare of
N , vainly calling “Matches !
matches ! Buy matches 1 ’ All day lie
had been out, but had only sold two
boxes; no one seemed to want any
matches ; they all seemed too intent on
their own pleasure to care for anybody
else; and so it was that little Jack,
weary, heartsick and cold, dreaded to go
homo
“Oh, if I could only sell a few boxes
bo’s to get enough to buy bread for to
morrow!” he said to himself, “I would
bo so glad. Poor mamma and Ettie are
waiting for me, but I cau't go home yet.
I must have some money I” and with
those words Jack stopped before a bril
liantly-lighted bakery, from which came
an appetizing odor, and looked wistfully
through the window at the large brown
loaves of bread, wishing, oh, so much!
that he hud one to take home.
“Move on now!” called a rough voice.
“Don’t want any beggars prowling
round here !”
“Are you hungry, my child?” asked
a gentleman who was passing, his atten
tion diawn by the rough voice and the
longing look in Jack’s eyes.
“Yea, sir. Oh, sir, please buy some
matches; please sir.”
“Wait here,” said the gentleman, step
ping into the bakery and reappearing in
a minute with one of the very loaves
Jack had longed for. “There, eat!” ho
said, handing it to him. “And now,
how much are your matches ?”
“Two cents a box, sir.”
“Two cents? Well, I'll take as many
boxes as my pockets will hold,” said the
gi ntleroan, beginning *o put the boxes
bis pock'. Is, c uniiug them as he did
so.
“There; they hold ten boxes; bntwhy
don't you eat, child ? I thought you
were hungry 1”
“So I am, sir; but I want to take it
home so’s mamma and Ettie can have
some. I can, can’t I?”
“And who is Ettie?” queried the gen
tleman.
“She’s my little sister, sir 1”
“Now let me see,” continued the gen
tleman; "ten boxes—that’s twenty
cents, isn’t it ?”
“ Yes, sir; thank you very much.”
“But now fs it that a little chap like
you should be obliged to be out in this
weather soiling matches? Where is
your father ?’’
“He is in heaven, sir.’
“And your mother?”
“ She is sick, so I have to sell matches
so’s as to buy bread for her and Ettie.
She used to take sewing before she got
sick. I’m most times home by this
time, but to-morrow 'is 'Christmas, you
know, and 1 wanted to sell al! my matches
if I could, so’s a<= I could get some coal an’
wood for a fire to morrow. It’s so cold
where I live, an’ we haven’t had a fire
this winter.”
The gentleman looked down into the
honest blue eyes raised to his, and could
but believe the story.
“ And where do yon live ?•” he queried.
“ We live down st firs in No. C
street. It isn’t a very nice house, sir,
but when I grow up to be a man, like
you, I'm going to work an’ then I’ll get
a nice one, and then Ettie and mamma
will be so glad,” said Jack, his face
teaming in the anticipation of the fu
ture.
“That’s right, my little man. You’ve
the right spirit. Keep a stout heart,
my litfte lad, and you’ll never fail.
There’s the money for the matche*,”
and J ro sing a quarter in Jack’s band,
he strode away.
Jack now took up his basket and
wa: .cd with a light step and a light
heart to his home, a turuble-down, rick
ety tenement far from the busy thor
oughfare.
■ • ,-,-n . ,-<n and a
1 gl< ci idly out:
“Ob, Dackie’.-> torn, d home at las, an
he’s dot a dreat b : d loaf < f bread 1”
The room into which Jack entered was
utterly devoid of caipet, w aud an old
rusty stove, a baekh-ss chair and a bun
dle of straw were the only articles there.
On the latter lay a woman. Her thin,
pale face, with its refined features gave
evidence that she was ill, and that she
was unused to the poverty she was now
in. A bright smile illuminated her face
as Jack, having tossed his cap into the
corner, seated himself beside his mother
with the loaf of bread in his hand.
“Oh, pease div Ettie a piece I Ettie
bo hundy 1” said Ettie coming forward
with a knife in her hand.
Mrs. Layton cut the bread with a
smile.
“Wait, Ettie, and Jack; we must never
be too hungry to thank God for our
food,” and laying her transparent hand
on Ettie’s and Jack’s, she thanked the
Heavenly Father for the bread he had
sent.
“An’, mamma, I tan hang my statin’,
taut I ? Tos it’s Tristmas Eve and San
tie Tlause ’ll be tomin 1” asked Ettie, as
after eating the frugal meal, she stood
ready for bed, a tiny stocking in her
hand
“Yes, dearie 1 but I am afraid he
won’t come this year!”
“ Es he will, mamma; he tamed las’
'ear, an’ he brought ever so many tings.
Don’t ’ou fink he’ll turn, Dackie?”
“Why, yes, Ettie, I,guess, he will,”
answered Jack, wishing from the bot
tom of bis heart thet he would. “But I
am i.fraid lie won’t find us, Ettie,” said
Mrs. Lay ton.
“Oh, ’es, mamma, he will, tause I’ll
ask Dod to tell him de way.” So saying,
E tie clasped her tiny hands and rais
ing her eyes to heaven she began:
“Pease Dod send Sauutie Tans, and sow
him de way; don’t ’et him fordet us.
Amen.” And with those words she lay
down in perfect faith, believing that God
would answer her prayer.
“And what has my little boy been
doing all day ?” asked Mrs. Layton, lay
ing her hand fondly ou Jack’s head.
Jack *' >ld his mother all be had seen
and done, and then ateut the kind
gentleman. But he was interrupted by
low rap on the door, and upon open
Ing irne saw'CTiat very gentleman stand
ing before him !
“I have come to see yon, my little
man, and have brought a lady to see
you, also; Mrs. Johnson, my wife.”
Mrs Layton raised herself ou her el
bow, a faint flush on her cheek, as in a
low voice she bade the new comers en
ter.
“Jackie,” she said, “get the lady the
chair. It is all I have to offer you,” she
| explained. “But you will excuse it, 1
know.’
“Certainly I will. Th nk you, my
little lad,” she said, seating herself on
the dusty chair regardless of her hand
some cloak and dress.
But a low cry from the ii. valid caused
her to start in su rpriso, for Mrs. Layton
had recognized in the handsomely dressed
lady before her her old friend and school
mate of former years. “Oh, Ruby,
don’t you know me? Don’t you re
member Ettie Wilscn, your playmate,
your schoolmate and friend?”
In a moment the lady was on her
knees beside her, and clasping her arms
around Mrs. Layton she kissed her pale
lips again and again
“Is it possible that yon are the merry,
romping little girl I used to know and
play with? The sympathizing friend I
bade good-by to so long ago ? Oh, how
sadly you have changed ! But how is it
you are in this strait ?”
Then Mrs. Layton began, with her
head pillowed on her friend’s bosom,
and told her bow her husband had been
lost at eea and how she had been
obliged to sew for a living, and then how
tier over-strained nerves gave way, and
thus if was that Mr. Johnson found
them when be came back.
“Ob, Frank 1 who would have thought
I should have found my old friend here.
This is Ettie Wilsun, the playmate I
have spoken so much of. Oh, Ettie I
what a lovely child ! How old is she ?
Is she not pretty, Frank?” she said, as
she saw Ettie sleeping quietly beside
her mother.
“She is four years old.”
“Four years old? That is just the
age my Ettie would have been had she
lived. I named her after you, Ettie,”
said Mrs. Johnston, her dark eyes fill
ing with tears. “What is her name?”
“It is Ettie, too,” said Mrs. Wilson.
“Oh, Ettie, what lovely children you
have! Would that mine had lived, but
it was God’s will that they should not.
But, Ettie, I am not going to lose sight
of you now. I am going to take you
home with me to-morrow, and We will
all have a merry Christmas. Oh, lam
so glad I have found you again ! Well,
we will have to go now; but « hat’s
this ?” pointing to Ettie’s little stocking
from the mantel shelf.
“She hung it up f>r Santa Claus,”
said Mrs. Layton.
“Frank!” and Mrs. Johnson whis
pered a few words to her husband, who
went out and returned in a few moments
with a doll and some confectionery, and
filling the tiny stocking, she bid Sirs.
Layton a warm good-night and departed
with promises to come ou the morrow.
Mrs. Layton, with clasped hands,
thanked God for bis goodness, while
little Jack, bewildered by the strange
doings, fell fast asleep.
Ettie was the first to awake in the
morning; her joyful scream of delight
i awoke the others as she came running to
j the bed with her stocking clasped tight
in her bauds
“Oh! ’ook, mamma! I knew he’d
tome ! Now Dod sent him, didn't he,
mamma
“Yes, dearie, He did I’
Just then the door opened and Mr.
Johnson entered with a cheery “Good
morning.” Tenderly he gathered Mrs.
Layton in his arms and laid heron the
cushions of the carriage, and then put
ting Ettie end Jack in, they drove off
and in a few moments were at their
destination.
Mrs. Johnson was at the door await
mg their" arrival. What a happy day
that was! Ettie and J ack enjoyed
themselves immensely, and from that
time Mrs. Layton improved rapidly
and in a short time regained her for
mer rtrength. But she never forgot that
Christmas Eve, when she anticipated
such a dreary Christmas, but which was
turned into such a pleasant one !
Capturing n Ghost
A young man in woman’s dress frees
MYSTIC FROM A TERROR-INSPIRING
VISITANT.
Three ghosts have been frightening
the women and children of the village of
Mystic,Conn.,for several weeks. Women
and girls were at first pursued almost
nightly by a tall, white figure that rose
up suddenly from the wayside and
seemed to their excited fancy to float
swiftly on the wind toward them. They
sped down the street closely chased by
the apparition and dashed into their
homes out of breath and fell on the
floor. At length the terror became so
general that few women and girls ven
tured out of their houses after dark and
when they did so hurried along the
roads, often turning an affrighted glance
over their shoulders lest the three ghosts
might steal on them unawares.
Ni xt n company of young men wasor
ganiz d to lay in wait with loaded shot
guns for the ghostly disturbers of the
peace, and several parties stayed out all
night for a week or more, at different
points about the village, lying in the
frosted grass behind walls or fences, or
in the shadow of unlighted buildings.
No spectre appeared in the silent streets
and the watchers went home and thawed
out in the chimney place with draughts
of hot cider. Thereupon a committee of
two or three young men arrayed them
selves in hoop skirts, dresses and bon
nets and after dark minced coquettishly
np and down the sidewalks hoping to
lure the ghosts into pursuing them.
For two nights the ruse was without
result, but a few evenings ago one of the
ghosts was tempted out. He sprang at
one of the m:u aueraders who at first
fled, hading tht ghost on, until he sud
denly wheeled, *d, throwing his arms
around the ghost, held him in a merci
less hug. The captive was lugged be
fore a Peace Justice, who had him
locked up. The ghost was a jack-of-all
trades of the village. He was sentenced
to thirty days in jail for disturbing the
peace.
The other ghosts have not been seen
since the arrest of the first one.
The Territory of Alaska
The Territory of Alaska, purchased
from Russia in 1807 for 87,200,000, has
aH area of 580,107 square miles, or a
size equal to all of the United States
east of tiie Mississippi River and north of
Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina.
Its extreme breadth from cast to west is
2,200 miles. The Island of Attu, in
Alaska, is as far west of San Francisco
as the coast of Maine is east of that city.
The length of Alaska is 1,400 miles, and
the shore line up and down the bays and
around the islands is 25,000 miles. In
other words, the coast of Alaska, if ex
tended in a straight line, would belt the
globe. Along the entire length of coast
its islands are grouped before the gently
curving mainland, and between them
run deep channels, with a heavy growth
of trees and shrubs covering their banks.
There are big islands and little ones, but
all have-their thick covering of forests,
which in nearly every instance have
never been disturbed by man. So
thickly indeed do the trees grow, and so
rank is the shrubbery, that one can
hardly travel inland, and the natives of
the country depend entirely upon their
cedar canoes when moving from place to
place. The canoe, in fact, is to the
people of Alaska what the gondola is to
Venetians; and like the dwellers by
Adriatic, those in the far North know
nothing of and care nothing for the
horses which in other places are so neces
sary.
Life in Hayti.
In the police courts they (the whites),
know their fate beforehand. * * *
During my stay, an elderly Frenchman
was summoned before a Jiige de, pair
for an assault upon a black. The evi
dence was so much in favor of the white
that even the Haytian magistrate was
about to acq lit him, when shouts arose
in different parts of the court: “What 1
are you going to take part with the
white ?” And the Frenchman was con
demned. * * * Two brothers were
accused of murdering a Frenchman,
their benefactor. The evidence against
them appeared overwhelming, and their
advocate, a thorough ruffian, was at a
loss for argument to sustain the defense.
At last he glanced round the crowded
court, and then turned to the jury with
a broad grin and said: “Apres tout, ce
n’est qn’un blane de moiiis.” The sally
produced a roar of laughter, and the
prisoners were triumphantly acquitted
| by the tribunal, but not by public opin-
ILL ABOUT TAME COBRAS.
The Gentleman Nnined Quain* and the Very
Narrow Escape He Had.
[From tho Youth’s Companion.]
Up in Poona, a delicate gentleman
named Quain, passionately fond of nat
ural history, was visited one morning by
three Hindoo snake-charmers. In the
bungalow compound, or garden, they
showed off their time-immemorial tricks
of making cobras raise themselves half
up and sway gracefully to the harsh
music of bamboo pipes.
It occurred to him that he might
train a couple of snakes, and be in a po
sition to observe their habits closely.
He asked the snake-charmers if the
fangs of the cobras were out, and seeing
that he contemplated purchasing the
snakes, they assured him, by Gunputi,
that the fangs were undoubtedly ex
tracted. For a few rupees he bought
the reptiles and turned them loose in his
own bedroom, where he used to watch
them crawling along the bamboo mat
ting, sniffing with their cold noses
against the walls, or twisting them
selves up within each other’s coils like a
slimy knot.
He made a little box for them, lined
with cotton-wool, into which they used
to creep in the heat of the day, for at
night-time they were always peculiarly
active, probably because the weather
then was comparatively cool. In differ
ent parts of the room he laid down plat
ters full of milk, aud toward these the
cobras crawled whenever they felt in
clined for food. It would seem almost
as if they knew his voice, for when
Quain entered the room aud spoke, they
would lift their heads and crawl slowly
in liis direction. He even had a pet
name for each, but I am not aware that
any of them recognized it, for when he
called, they would both wriggle quickly
to his feet. He often fed them himself
when they came to him in this way, and
many persons used to call and see
Quain's loathsome pets, which were con
sidered one of the wonders of the Can
tonments.
Ladies were frequently invited to call
at Quoin’s bungalow, and see what a
human being could do by kindness, etc.,
even with cobras; but they were more
interested in the phenomenon in the ab
stract than in detail, and preferred to
stay away and hear all about it from
the officers who called upon them. Most
of them agreed that Mr. Quain certain
ly had very singular tastes, and that it
would be an outrage for any person to
marry him. Quain, however, lived
through warnings and ridicule, and
went on feeding his cobras.
Quain had a small imported Scotch
terrier, which was a great favorite, as it
had a wag of the tail and a merry little
bark for everybody that looked respect
able and friendly. “Zip” used to go
regularly into the cobra-room with his
master, and, after he became accustomed
to the reptiles, would crouch down,
bark at them, and then leap and tumble
over their backs. The snakes would
only wriggle out of the way, Zip follow
ing them and barking at their tails, so
that everybody believed and said tbs'
the terrier and the snakes were the best
of friends.
About four months after Quain’s pur
chase of the cobras, he entered the
room with some bread and milk and
called them to him. Both glided noise
lessly to his feet and lapped contented!)
at the milk. Zip, pretending to bo
jealous, jumped forward barking, and
leaped with his forepaws upon one of
the cobras. It shook itself out, and
went on lapping. Zip then went for its
head, and jumping and running back,
barking all the time, made a playful
snap at its head. The cobra ceased
lapping the milk, reared its head about
a foot from the ground, and with its
spectacled, outstretched hood, com
menced waving the upper part of its
body to and fro. Zip made one more
jump forward.
Like lightning the cobra struck at the
dog, and then wheeled off, hissing, to
its lair beneath the couch. In ten min
utes afterward, after enduring horrible
sufferings, poor Zip lay dead with his
master almost crying over his body.
Quain then learned for the first time
that a cobra can renew its fangs in about
three months, that his pets had re
newed their fangs, and that he had
actually been playing with certain death
for several weeks. The occidental
death of the dog had in all probability
saved his life.
The Washington Monument.--The
Washington monument has reached a
greater height than that of any other
structure in the world, being 520 feet 10
inches above the floor of the monument.
The next, highest structure is the spire
of the Cologne cathedral, which towers
515 feet above the floor of the building.
It has teen estimated that it will take
only twenty-five working days to com
plete the monument, so that there is no
doubt of its being finished in time for
its dedication on the 22d of next Febru
ary
“What is you (loin o be, Tommy,
wheu you dit a man ?’ “I dun know.
What is you doin’ to be ?” '‘Why. I’m
•loin’ to be a livery stable man, so I can
ride in a horse and buggy every day.”
“Oh, I know what I’m doin’ to be! I’s
doin’ to be a preacher so I can dit chick •
ens to eat all the time, an’ poun* cake,
too.”
TIIE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOYS.
The Opportunities the Boy of To-Dny Hn»
Over the Other Boy
As to the difference between city and
country boys it lies entirely in the train
ing. The farmer’s son may have the
most intelligence as a child, but natural
intelligence must be trained and culti
vated or it becomes low cuning instead
of wisdom. The country boy has a dis
trict school, run in almost any fashion,
while the city boy has graded schools
conducted on the wisest system. So
long as he is kept in the country
the farmer's boy has no show at
4 all compared to his friend in town in the
matter of education.
We look at a man’s personal deport
ment before we test his intellectual abili
ties. The farmer’s son has no associates
outside of his own class. The semi-soli
tary life of the farm has few refining in
fluences. The work must be done (
whether or no, and farm-workers cannot
expect time to cultivate song or music.
He is not brought into contact at church
socials, parties, lodges, lyceums, etc.,
with the refined and educated. He
grows up in his ways and he remains
thus. While the social condition of the
American farmer is immeasurably su
perior to that of any similar class in any
country on earth, it is not what it could
be made or what it will bo fifty years
hence.
And now, my boy, says M. Quad
who is Jelling the story, let me
say to you that no matter what State
you live in or what avocation you intend
to pursue, you have advantages which
you may not fully comprehend. There
are no social barriers to keep you down.
An honest, truthful, respectable boy or
man can step right to the front without
capital. His merits are recognized and
rewarded. You have advautages over
the boy of twenty, ten, or even five
years ago. Every progressive step in
the country's history helps the boy as
well as the man. Twenty years ago the
money of the country was handled by
men whose gray hairs were supposed to
be proofs of honesty, and the business
was in the hands of men past 40. To
day the country is giving the boys gold
en chances. They are put at the day
books and ledgers, at the cash desks, in
banks and postofflees, in positions of
trust and responsibility everywhere, and
the active business is in the hands of men
between twenty-five and forty. But for
the boys who are taking an active part
in business to-day the wheels would
move slowly. You have the advantages
and opportunities; if you miss them it
is your own fault.
The, United Stalls Senate.
One of the strange customs of the
Senate is the annual exchange of cards
between Senators. Every Senator is
supposed to call during the season upon
every one of his colleagues. This cus
tom has been abridged into an annual
exchange of cards. Upon a.fixed day
after the season opens each Senator
sends out seventy-five cards to his Sen
atorial associates, and if the mails work
well the Senator finds next morning
upon his desk seventy-live cards from
Senatorial associates. This may seem a
trifle absurd among dign lied men who
see each other every day, but rude and
careless would be the Senator who would
try to break down the custom. He
would very soon feel the result of his
neglect in his loss of dinner invitations.
As dinners are the chief incidents in the
career of a Senator, great care is taken
to observe every requirement of etiquette
necessary to keep the dinner-ball mov
ing. A very rigid system of bookkeeping
is employed in connection with dinner
giving. Each man invited has a dinner
charge against him, and when he comes
to give a dinner he must discharge his
debts by inviting all who have fed him
before he can go outside the circle of his
credit! rs for guests.
A Senator in talking about the pres
ent spirit of harmony and good-fellow
ship that prevails in the Senate said :
“I was never before associated with
men who appear to be so utterly devoid
of all spirit of envy or jealousy. There
is a great deal of good-natured chaff
going on, but there is nothing malicious
in the floating badinage of the cham
ber.” H ■ cintiuned: “ I suppose it can
be accounted for in a measure. Most
of the men who reach the Senate have
been through so much in getting there.
The average Senator has been hunted
by bloodhounds, torn by tigers and
tramped on by wild elephants in his
fme, and all this has a tendency to take
everything small out of his disposition.”
A Kicker.
The Los Angeles Express says: Dr.
Sketchley, who has charge of the os
trich farm at Anaheim, was plucking
one of the things one day. When
they pluck them a stocking is kept on
the head to blind the bird. While he
cannot see he is quiet, but if his blink
ers gets uncovered then he “goes for”
the plucker. The Doctor moved his arm
so as to disturb the stocking aud instant
ly he saw what he had done, and went
head first out of the pen, not caring for
i anv more plumes just then. As he tum
bled bead first over the fence the bird—
he was a jack one, of course—let fly a
kick,which, striking a fence board, made
1 toothpicks of a whole panel length. The
I mule’s occupation as a kicker is gone in
1 this country since the ostrich came.
NOTES' AND COMMENTS. ’
It has been decided by the British
courts that when a person insured has
not been seen or heard of for seven
years, according to the evidence by re
la'.ions or others, the presumption is
death, and the company must pay up.
The wives now living of ex-Presidents
are Mrs. Polk at Nashville, Mrs. John
Tyler at Richmond, Mrs. Grant in New
York, Mrs. Hayes in Fremont, and Mrs.
Garfield in Cleveland. Mrs. Polk, Mrs •
Tyler and Mrs. Garfield draw from the
Government pensions of 85,000 a year.
The elaborate icing that imitates
frost and ice on Christmas cards is done
by scattering particles of ground glass
over gummed cards. These tiny atoms
penetrate the lungs of the poor girls
employed in the manufacture, and
either kill them or render them helpless
invalids.
It is proposed to extend the ceremonies
it the dedication of the Washington
Monument over a period of ten days,
and to ask Congress for an additional ap
propriation of 825,000. The affair will
be attended by a large number of peo
ple, and will be a festive occasion for
Washington.
Jerry McAuley, the reformed river
pirate, who lately died at his mission post
in New York, had one or two downfalls
after he began to try and live a better
life, and said it was not until he quit to
bacco that he could keep his temperance
pledge. As long as he smoked there
was a continued thirst which sent him
to the bottle.
The Great Eastern will sail soon from
Liverpool with goods to the exhibition
nt New Orleans. After discharging her
cargo the ship will bo utilized as a sort
of floating hotel and excursion barge,
where all who desire to pay well tor the
privilege can enjoy the novelty of living
on the water and going back and forth
to the shore for business or pleasure.
An English statistician maintains that
the daily increase of wealth in the United
Slates is upward of 825,000,000 or about
8838,000,000 a year, which is one- third
as much as the entire increase in wealth
of the whole of the rest of the world.
England, whose increase in wealth is
next to our own, makes only a profit on
all her business of 8300,000,000 a year,
or but little over a third of own.
The vote of Dakota Territory indi
cates that southern Dakota has a popu
lation of 245,000, and northern Dakota
175,000. The population of the former
section therefore exceeds that in 1880 of
either of the States of Colorado, Dela
ware, Nevada, or Oregon. There seems
to be no reason why the admission of
one or both of these sections into the
Union will be longer delayed.
The anniversary of one of the families
whose ancestors were hanged for witch
ery has been celebrated in Salem. The
houses are still standing where the
Judges of that famous time lived, aud on
»one of the principal streets is a quaint
old gabled structure where one of the
supposed witches is supposed to have
resided. It is now occupied by a corn
doctor, who sells witch-hazel ointment
to the credulous.
The government printing establish
ment at Washington is the largest in
the world. The buildings cover eight
acres of ground. While Congress is sit
ting 400 compositors, etc., are at work
to print the speeches, reports, etc.
There are seventy-five presses in the
establishment, mostly of recent con
st ruction. A book oi 1,000 pages can
hero be composed, corrected, printed
aud bound in forty-eight hours.
—e
Top Dressing Grass Lands.
The fall is the best season for top
dressing gross lands and putting them
in good shape for the spring. When
meadows have been pastured the drop
pings should be broken up and spread,
and all the unconsumed bunches of
herbage should be mowed off level. It
might perhaps be resented as too trite
and unnecessary an admonition that
grass should not be pastured down too
closely just now, but it is one of those
points upon which “line upon line and
precept upon precept” is entirely appli
cable. For even knowing the unprofit
ableness of feeding the herbage which is
hard, innutritive, and indigestible, and
the injury of leaving the sod bare and
unprotected, farmers as a rule neglect
the plainest and simplest wisdom in this
respect, aud leave their cattle out on tho
meadows until the herbage is worn down
to the roots. A common objection made
to leaving an aftermath upon meadows
so that the rank “fog”or dead grass is an
obstacle to mowing the next season.
This is wholly a gratuitous alarm, and if
one needs a proof he is referred to tho
wild growths of the prairies aed
meadows, which thrive exceedingly
well in spite of it. ,
—
A Pair of Large Shoes.
A pair of No. thirty-five shoes have
just been sent by a Lynn, Maes., shoe
manufacturer to their owner a colored
preacher of Charlotte, N. 0. The length
from heel to toe is just twenty inches,
and the width of ball, including a pro
tuberance that may be a corn and may
be natural, is a trifle over seven and a
half Inches. Some idea of the “tout
ensemble” may be gained from the fact
that a pasteboard copy of the sole of one
of the shoes, which a reporter carried in
his overcoat pocket, extended from the
lowest depth of the pocket to the arm
pit. The copy was taken from a meas
urement of the bootless foot of the cler
gyman, and those who know pronounce
it exact. From the forward end of the
sole a piece the size of a dessert-plate
could easilv lie cut.
Scene on railway pla (form at Heidel
berg: Traveler to university student—
“ Sir, yon are crowding; keep back, sir.”
U. S. (fiercely)—“Don’t you liko it?
Allow me to toll yon that I am at your
service at any time and place.” Traveler
| (benignantly)—“Ah, indeed, that is very
kind of you. Just carry this satchel for
i me to the hotel.”