Newspaper Page Text
THE STORY OF A SOLDIER
HOW HE WAS TREATED WHILE
NERVING HIS COUNTRY.
Taken Prisoner, he Makes a List of Pris
oners and is Punished tor it.
A correspondent in the Graphic, de
scribing the services of Clara Barton,
alludes to her work in numbering the
graves of the Union dead at Anderson
ville, and also to a young soldier who
assisted. Our correspondent does not
recall the name and speaks of him as a
Connecticut soldier. An interesting
story is connected with this mention.
The young man was a Vermonter, by
name Dorrance Atwater, now United
States Consul at Tahiti. Mr. Atwater
was a drug clerk when he entered the
Union Army. He was captured at Win
chester, Va., in 1863, and sent to Ander
sonville. There he was placed in the
drug room of the hospital. On the day
of his capture he had received news of
his father’s death. Feeling keenly in
this sorrow the anxiety of his mother,
who might not know of her son’s fate,
he was led to conceive the idea of pre
serving in some way a copy of the death
roll, to the making of which he was de
tailed. At daily risk of h>s life he made
this copy, concealing the coarse brown
sheets whereon it was written about his
person. Thirteen thou-and names, with
regiments, etc., were thus obtained.
Atwater desired to publish them so that
the families might at least know of their
members’ fate. When exchanged he
was also mustered out. Arrived in
Washington, he desired the government
to have all the benefit of his work, but
he also wished to publish it He was
induced to re-enlist in the general ser
vice, as a clerk, with the understanding,
as he believed, that when copies were
made his originals should be returned.
His work was of great pecuniary*value,
as it pei fected records and enabled the
government to properly settle claims,
etc. Mr. Atwater found that the official
mind (and that being military also, it
was more than commonly overbearing
and arrogant) lepudiated the agreement
and declared that the proposed publica
tion would be injurious. The government
copy was made. Miss Barton, who had,
in the Sanitary Commission Service, or
ganized a bureau for tracing missing
soldiers, was requested by Mr. Stanton
to go to Andersonville with a quarter
master and escort and assist in marking
the graves of the dead. Mr. Atwater
was also sent, having charge of his orig
inal rolls. The work was done. Mr.
Atwater believed these rolls wore his
property, and in some way conveyed
them to the New York Tribune office
for publication. On his return to Wash
ington he was arrested at the instigation
of an officer named Breck, tried by
court-martial, and sentenced as a thief
to one year’s imprisonment at hard,
labor in the Albany Penitentiary. Great
indignities were heaped upon him.
Wirz's trial was in progress and Atwater
was mobbed on the streets while passing
under guard, the returned soldiers being
told that he was trying to save the An
dei-oaville keeper. He went to prison
and served six months of his sentence,
while Miss Barton kept up a constant
struggle in his behalf. She got a reso
lution of investigation before Congress,
and then the Judge Advocate-General
reviewed the sentence, declaring it to
Ire -illegal, as the larcenous motive was
wanting, the young man having fully
believed that the rolls were bis own
property. In the meanwhile the Trib
■ur. h: ’ published them. Mr. Atwater
wei at once released, and soon after ap
p -luted United States Consul at Zanzi
bar, Africa. He has been m the Con
sular service ever since.
. I■. . ♦ ■
Fiendish Bobbers.
BURNING A MAN WITH A BED HOT POKER
TO MAKE HIM SAY WHEBB HIS MONEY
WAS.
A bold robbery was committed near
Wheeling, W. Va., by the gang of mask
ed men who are at work in that section
.of tfie country. Their victim was Elijah
Marlin, a rich farmer, who lives about
four miles east of the city. The robbers
burst the front door in and seized and
bound the old man. They attempted by
threats to make him divulge where bis
money was hid.
F*fling in this, they heated the poker
red hot, and, after stripping their victim,
proceeded to burn him all over the back
and chest. The old man was tied to a
bedpost, stripped and the red hot poker
applied to his back and burned him in
no less than twenty places. Hot oil was
also poured down his back, and his suf
ferings were terrible in the extreme.
He evidently had no money concealed
or this would have brought it. In their
anger at failure the burglars dealt him a
heavy blow on the head and left him
hanging insensible in his fastehings until
noon. He was found nearly frozen and
half dead, and his condition is danger
ous as he is nearly sixty years of age.
The old man is a miser, and lives alone
on one of the largest and finest farms in
Ohio county. The entire community is
greatly exercised over the affair, and
large rewards will be offered for the
arrest of these bold fiends.
Laborers’ Wages on the Isthmus.
It has been stated by those favoring
the Nicaragua canal that white laborers
from the Northern States can be hired
to work on the canal for 81 per day.
The current rate of wages paid to ordi
nary unskilled negroes on the Panama
Canal ranges from $2 50 to 83 per day,
and the Panama Canal Company pays
their passages from Jamaica or other
We.= t India Islands, and a bounty of $5
per head in addition. This being the
case the rate per day at Nicaragua could
scarcely be counted at 81 per day.
A Butter. — The plea of a Nashville
negro, convicted of butting an enemy
almost fatally, was that in infancy he
had been fed on milk from a notoriously
belligerent goat The Judge said he
could not regard that fact as an extenua
tion.
%
(j&ajette.
VOL. XII. SUMMERVILLE. GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 4, 1885. NO. 3.
JL4 YTIME IN MID- WINTEIc.
The world, what is it to you, dear
And me, if its face be gray,
And the new-born year be a shrewd year
For flowers that the fierce winds fray ?
Yoh smil•, and the sky t-eems blue, dear,
You laugh, and the month turns May.
Your hands through the book shelves flutter;
Scott, Shakespeare, Dickens are caught;
Blake’s vis ons, that lighten and mutter;
Moliere— and his smile has naught
Left on it of sorrow, to utter
The secret things of bis thought
No grim thing writt n or graven,
But grows, if yon gaz *. on it, bright;
A lark’s note rings from the raven,
And tragedy’s robe turns white;
And shipwrecks diift int > heaven;
And daikncss laughs, and is light
Grief seems but a vision of madness;
Life’s key note peals from above
With nought in it more of sadness
Than broods on the heait of a dove:
A* sight of you, thought grows gladness,
Aud life, through love of you, love.
Swinburne.
THE LIGHT-HOESE KEEPER.
A STORY OF THE SEA.
“The fog is as thick as ever, father.”
"Yes, but it won’t last, Lizzie. The
glass js steadily falling, aud wo shall
have pleu’y of wind ere long, most like
ly from the southeast. ”
“That’s a fair wind for the Gannett’
soliloquized Lizzie, half aloud, as hjr
thoughts wandered of! to her sailor
lover, Archie Lovell, who—after a year’s
absence —was daily expected in New
York.
“Ab, Archie has forgotten you long
ere this,” said the fond father, to tease
his daughter, who only laughed and
retreated into the clearer atmosphere of
the single but small aud cosy upper
apartment of the lofty light-house.
Before following her to ascend to the
lamp room to light up for the night,
Richard Lee stood for a moment on the
narrow iron balcony that surrounded
the tower, to observe the weather. He
could not see far—scarcely to the mid
dle of the narrow and tapering erection.
The pinnacled rock on which it was
built, fully a hundred and twenty feet
below, was invisible. Nor could he
trace the other rocks of the ledge of
which it was the termination, that
stretched thence to the coast of New
England, half a mile distant. The fog
cloud in which they were enveloped,
extended for miles either way, and far
out at sea.
The light house had been erected to
warn vessels about to round an adjacent
sharp bend of the coast, to avoid the
dangerous rocks on which [disastrous
wrecks were frequent.
Lee had been keeper of this light-home
for twenty years. He had received the
appointment only on the proviso of his
marriage. This accomplished, for his
application for the position had been
made solely to provide a homo for a
wife, he settled down to the monotonous
life of a night watchman. But love soft
ened its sameness and tedium. For
Mary was one of those genial and happy
natures that look rather to the dark side
of life, and shed the sunshine of their
own heart on everything and everybody
with whom they come in contact. Her
home was small, but she made it happy.
Her sphere of duty was limited, but she
filled it to perfection. L” t’s choice of a
wife—a selection not always or altogether
a lottery, proved to be in every way
wise and discriminating. It was neither ■
hastily made nor hurriedly consum
mated.
Their mutual happiness was increased,
if that were possible, by Lizzie’s birth,
two years after. And their life flowed
on for eight years as uneventfully aud
unvarying as the currents of the ocean
on whose bosom they lived. For the
success of his light-house, placed there
as an experiment, had been complete.
No disaster had occurred since its light
bad warned the navigators away from
the dangerous rocks on whieh it stood.
Lee's duties were merely routine and
mechanical; to keep the light clear and
bright, and occasionally go for their
periodic supply of provisions; but never
yet the sad one of rescuing shipwrecked
castaways on the iron bound coast.
But, then, his hou-ehold sky became
overcast. To his intense grief, Mary
died suddenly of a long latent malady;
leaving her husband alone with his lit
tle girl. Aud it was well that he had
her to soften his sorrow with her inno
cent prattle and winning ways.
Lizzie resembled her mother much,
especially in her happy disposition;
soon supplied her place in her father’s
small establishment, and became as
necessary a companion to him. Born
and brought up in the light-house, she
knew little of mankind or of the great
region beyond her own little world. Ste
had never landed or been out of the
light-house until two years ago, when
she paid a short visit to her aunt, and
first met Archie Lovell, and, like him
self, fell in love. Trusting, guileless,
and acquainted with little else than her
father’s and mother’s uprightness of
character, she knew nothing of the
world’s deceit and uncertainty, and be
lieved as firmly in Archie’s constancy as
she did in her own; so that her father’s
remark created no suspicion or jealousy
in her bosom.
The light had long been ht; and
Lizzie had retired to bed. Lee was busy
about his nocturnal duties, when a
fierce squall broke in on the serenity or
the night and carried the fog off and
away inland. The heavy gust was
merely the prelude to a series of heavier
winds, which at last became continuous
and increased to the fury of a gale,
which even shook the light-house in all
its strength, and woke Lizzie, accus
tomed ns she was to the roar of rough
seas and fierce blasts. The fog had
lifted, but the sky was overcast and the
night was intensely dark.
“Lizzie,” cried Lee, after a time,
‘get up, girl. There’s a brig trying to
round the light-house, and I doubt if
she’ll weather it. Get up and prepare
for accidents.”
The vessel, befogged for days, and un
able to get a reckoning to ascertain her
position, had been drifted out of her
course and nearer to the coast than the
light-house when the first squall struck
her. The only chance of safety lay in
weathering the rocky ledge at the end
of which the light-house stood. And
this they were attempting to do when
Loe first noticed them. Being doubtful
if the light, only made to shine seaward,
would be seen by them, he removed one
side of the reflector to give them the
benefit of its aid, and warn them off the
reef. This timely aid was soon appar
ent by their altering their course. They'
had not previously noticed the light
house, and even if they had, before its
light told them what it was, it was more
hkely to prove a snare and lead them
into greater danger by making them
strike the middle or most dangerous
part of the reef than to help them to
escape into safer waters.
Lizzie and her father stood watching
the vessel with intense anxiety from the
lofty light-house balcony, as they saw
her alter her course and stand more out
at sea in the attempt to weather the
light-house rook. It was a case of sal
vation or destruction—life or death. The
ship was ably handled, and well found.
Not a rope or spar gave way, as she kept
bravely on in her course, almost in the
teetli of the wind.
But who can struggle against the in
evitable ? At the most critical moment,
when a brief lull in the breeze or even a
a temporary steadiness would have al
lowed her to weather the rock and pass
tt« danger, a fierce gust laid her almost
on her beam elide, so that she lost head
way and would not answer her helm.
Instead of gliding past the base of the
light-house, she lay still for a moment,
then drifted toward it, aud, carried bv
a huge w ive, dashed right on the sharp
est pinnacle, a helpless, unmanageable
wreck, doomed to destruction.
As the heavy waves struck her now
fixed hull, they made short work of her
aud her crew. In ten minutes she was
in pieces. An iron-clad could not have
withstood the irresistible force and
weight of those waves; aud very soon
not a vestige of her win to be seen.
Lee and his daughter heard the de
spairing cries of the drowning men, but
were powerless to render aid. Their
little boat could not have lived in such
a sea, even if they could have success
fully launched her. Even if Lee had
descended the narrow iron ladder that
led to the narrow ledge at the foot of the
light-house, he could not have remained
a moment; but would have been washed
away like the wrecked mariners.
He descended, however, as far as the
tower landing and stood watching and
peering through the darkness into the
surging billows below. Ere long lie
thought he heard a cry from the back
oPthe rock and moved round to recon
noitre. Sure enough, there was a man
clinging to the life rope which girt the
the base of the light-house. Partly by
being washed and partly by swimming,
he had been carried into the eddy, and
fortunately c night hold of the life lino.
Lee had no means of descending to
help him, except by the stout iron
lightning rod; down which he slid to aid
the nearly exhausted seaman by lifting
him up to the slippery and unsafe foot
ing on which he himself stood. Together
they pulled to land a hatchway to which
was fastened the inanimate form of a
man whom the mariner already saved
had promised not to desert.
Tae only way to restore him to life
was to get him as speedily as possible
into a warmer atmosphere. Lee’s com
panion volunteered to climb for a line.
He was younger and more active; aud
was soon up and in the little parlor
where Lizzie stood preparing a coil of
rope, having already, with a woman’s
forethought, discovered what was
needed.
“Lizzie—lass; don’t you know me ? Is
Archie Lovell forgotten ?” eaid the
i'. anger, as he advanced.
“Archie—oh, Archie—is it yon ?' Oh,
Heaven • and I didn’t know of your
danger!”
Then, woman-like, when ne hal
fol led her in his arms, she began to cry
for joy, knowing that he was safe and
also true to his troth.
“Never mind, love; it’s all over now;
out I musn’t delay when there’s a gen
tleman in sore need of help. Gve mt
that rope, lass, and come with ma.”
Fastening one end to the iron balco
ny, he let the other down to where Lee
was anxiously clinging in a perilous po
sition, and immediately descended to
help him. After unfastening the insen
sible man from the hatchway, they tied
him under the armpits, when Lovell re
ascended to help Lizzie hoist him up.
Lee remained Delow to pilot him clear
of the rocks aud above the wash of the
waves, and then mounted to aid them.
On placing him before a fire in the par
lor it seemed almost more than doubtful
if he could even be resusticated, so
limp, cold, blue and pulseless was he.
“1 declare uncle doesn’t know me any
more than Lizzie did,” said Lovell,
when they laid the insensible man down.
“Lord bless me 1 is it Archie Lovell
that we’ve saved ? And so the wrecked
brig was the Gannet. How you’ve al
tered, boy. ”
As they chatted, they were busy
chafing the apparently lifeless body;
and fortunately didn’t desist; but perse
vered bravely till warmth began to re
turn —then the pnlse—at last faint
breathing—then his eyes opened as if in
a dream, and he asked where he was.
He was saved, but not yet out of dan
ger; for ho had beai long immersed and
considerably bruised on the rocks. So
they put him to Bed. With these ex
ceptions every other soul in the Gannet
was drowned; their bodies subsequently
were recovered on the beach. The storm
continued with groat fury all night. For
years it bad not been equaled in vio
lence. The light-honse had never been
subjected to such a strain and succes
sion of shocks. The anxious watchers
could feel it quiver and rock under the
assault of the raging elements. But it
bravely withstood their fury. As day
broke the wind lulled, the sea went
down, and they fell and thanked God
that they were safe.
“Lizzie,” said Leo, as they sat at the
stranger’s bedside next day, for he had
quite recovered the shock, and all but
the bruises, “don’t you think he resem
bles your mother; only you wore too
young when she died to remember.”
“I had a sister,” interrupted their
guest, “when I foolishly ran away from
home, years ago. We lived in Portland.
My name is Watson.”
“Watson—Stewart Watson ?”
“The same.”
“Then you must bo my wife’s long
absent brother. Arcbio, did you know
this ?”
“No; he was a passenger, whose name
1 never inquired; atjd wouldn’t have
guessed the secret though I had. We
conversed often enough, especially at
the end of the voyage; and when the
storm came on I promised to look after
him, as I had taken a fancy to him aud
could swim. ”
Os course there was great rejoicing in
the small circle at this new discovery.
“How came you to return home in
the Gannet ?” at length asked Lee.
“Well, as I said, I ran away when
young. Something had offended me,
and I was independent and determined
to do without home help. I reached the
Brazils; wandered away into the wild
interior, and finally settled far from any
means by which letters could be con
veyed, even if I wished to send them.
At last I made, not a large fortune, but
a competence, and longed to take a look
at the old spot where I was born, to see
if my sister survived, and if any one
would recognize me. Having reached
Rio Janeiro, I took passage in the brig,
j And so this pretty girl is my niece ?” he
jocularly added, after a time, when they
had told him of his sister’s death. “I
wish she had been some one else, that I
might marry her myself. ”
“No—thank you,” said Lizzie, look
ing archly at her lover.
“Ah, well,” said her uncle, seeing
how matters stood, “I can give you a
helping bund.”
Aud he performed his promise. Not
only were they his kinsfolk, but they
had saved his life. Ere long Lizzie Lee
became Lizzie Lovell. They had a quiet
wedding. Both Lizzie and her father
insisted that it should be in the light
house, with which so many associations,
both happy and sad, were connected.
Lee wished them to live there and suc
ceed him.
But the newly-married pair laughed
at the idea; and ultimately persuaded
him to leave his charge, having no one
to look after him, and reside with them.
This he did, but very reluctantly, so
wedded had he become to his singular
abode.
They settled in one of the seaports of
Maine, not far from the uncle, who gave
Lizzie a handsome dowry. Her hus
band became a shipping agent, and is
now a prosperous sliip-owner, likely to
ama‘s wealth; while Lizzie herself has
proved to be as worthy a wife as was her
mother.
The Chinese as Fishermen.
Captain li. W. Tucker says in an
interview: The Chinese are the greatest
fishermen in the world. I have spent
four years on the coast of China and
have It'd special opportunities for study
ing the people. If it were not for the
abundance of fish along her shores,
there would be a perpetual famine in
China. The masses of people have only
two articles of diet, fish and rice.
Every Chinaman along the coast and
for several miles inland is a fisher
man. He understands all the secrets
connected with the business, and can
tell you a thousand and one things
about fishes which yon never heard be
fore. Much of tfie business is in the
hands of large companies. The nets
used by them are monsters in size. I
saw one of them which required the
united efforts of a hundred men to
bring it ashore.
WIT AND WISDOM.
“Beware,” said the potter to the
clay, aud it became ware.
The future destiny of the child is al
ways the work of the mother.
The only answer to all criticism, the
best test of all work, is—result
He who can suppress a moment’s an
ger may prevent a day of sorrow.
All cunning men are as dull on one
side as they are sharp on the other.
A native Mexican never catches cold,
but the reason of it is he is too lazy.
Pabtings and heartaches must come at
some time or other, even in the happiest
lives.
The power to do great things gen
erally arises from the willingness to do
small things.
A man too busy to take care of his
health is like a mechanic too busy to take
care of his tools.
People care a great deal more for
keeping up appearances than for keep
ing up realities.
Bores are people who are always
speaking of themselves when we want to
speak of ourselves.
When alone we have our thoughts to
watch, in our families our tempers, in
society our tongues.
White injuries in dust, but kindness
in marble. Envy is a turnkey by birth,
and an executioner by profession.
Gentleman (entering rail car)“ls this
seat engaged?” Self-conscious young
lady—“ Yes, sir, that’s engaged, too.”
A boy says, in his composition, that
“onions are the vegetable that makes
you sick when you don’t eat them your
self.”
A lady correspondent writes to us
for a receipt for a mince pie. This we
will most willingly furnish when we re
ceive the pie.
It is said that when a man is full his
pocket is usually empty, and when he is
tight his tongue is loose. This is para
doxical but true.
“Charge 1 Chester I charge!” “Was
Chester a plumber, that the poet should
tell him to charge twice in one line?”
asked a subscriber.
“Do you know anything about the so
lar system?” “Well, I should smile.
That’s a queer question to ask a father
who has five daughters to shoe I”
Inquirer asks: “Why is it that so
many dogs have fleas ?” To be perfect
ly honest we think it is because there
are so many fleas. This, however, is
merely conjecture.
A patent medicine advertisement
speaks of “the liver failing to act.” We
suspect tho manager cut down his
salary. When the liver refuses to act,
the drama of life can’t go on very suc
cessfully.
An Idaho editor, having received 600
pounds of potatoes on subscriptions,
asks his friends to call around with salt
and pepper and board With him. Thue
the generous heart of the good man gets
away with him.
Fat man (who is something in a
hurry) “I'll give you $5 to get me to
the station in three minutes.” Cabman
(with provoking slowness) —“Well, sorr,
you might corrupt me, but you can’t
bribe that horse.”
Misb Rosewood, who took part in am
ateur theatricals: “Oh, I’m so tired; I
had to stand all the evening.” Miss
Sharp, who was in the audience: “My
dear you did not have to stand nearly so
much as we did.”
A personal item inform us that “Vic
tor Hugo mostly goes to bed on a crack
er and a herring.” A funny notion, that.
If the cracker should get mashed and
scatter itself, Victor would be apt to pass
a very restless night.
A New Rule.
Perhaps, boys, you would like to know
the day of the week on which you were
born, if there are a dozen or so of yon
in the family, your mother can’t remem
ber the day, your father don’t care,
your older sister is sorry you were born
at all and don’t want to know, your aunt
never knew, and your grandmother is
dead, and so you must rely on some
rule, as follows: Set down the year of
your birth less 1, divide by 4 (throwing
away remainder, if any), and add to the
date; also add the number of days from
January Ist to the date of birth, divide
by 7, and if 0 remains, Sunday is your
birthday; if 1, Monday; 2, Tuesday,
and so on.
Example— Suppose you were born March 9,
187?, then 1 has would be—
-1874
Divide by 4 4CB
Add January, 31
Add February, 28
Add March 9, 9
Divide by 7)2410
344-2 remainder.
This makes '1 uesday the day on which you
were born.
In computing don’t forget to give
February 29 days, if your birthday was
in leap year, and if the above rule don’t
vzork we will forfeit a last year’s alma
nac.
Mbs. Blinker asked Matilda, the
house servant, a few nights ago: “What
dreadful scratching is that out in the
kitchen ? It mu u t be the dog trying to
get in. I never heard anything like it
in my life.” “Dat’s no dog scratching
door; dat’s de cook writin’ a lub letter
to her honeysuckle who works ober in
Guatiiam. ”
FORMATION OF BATTLE.
Effects of the Use of Breech-1.o«d nw
Hi flea—Using the fSkirmirdi-Line.
Captain Edward Field, of tho 4th Ar
tillery, read a paper before the Military
Service Institution, entitled “No Foot
steps, but Some Glances, Backward.”
It • was devoted to a consideration of
changes in formation for battle which
will probably be produced by the use of
breech-loading rifles. Captain Field
said that the only war in which wo had
really an opportunity to judge of the
effect of the modern breech-loading rille
was the Russo-Turkish War, and then
the effect of the Peabody-Martini rifle
was most deadly. The feasibility of
making the skirmish line tho formation
to be used for a line of battle was care
fully and fully considered.
“The objections were said to be the
difficulty of directing a large body of
men deployed as skirmishers, the diffi
culty of rallying them when once thrown
into disorder, and the loss of that stead
iness and concert of action with which
men move to battle when elbow touches
elbow aud the electric thrill of the con
flict passes from man to man. If this
style of fighting is to be employed sole
ly,” said Captain Field, “war would de
generate into a barbaric conflict like that
carried on by the Indians of the plains,
or else soldiers would refuse to move with
out protection and become like those de
generate Roman legions who protected
themselves behind shields of wicker
work. As examples of people who fight
independently and those who fight in
concert take the Indians and the ancient
Scandinavians. There never was a more
war-loving people or a people more brave |
personally than the Indians, but what
are their shouts of conflict and songs of
war compared to the measured clash of
armor aud the steady chant with which
the devastation of the world moved to
battle ?”
In concluding this part of his paper,
Captain Field recommended the em
ployment of a line of men deployed as
skirmishers with a guidon for every
company borne in their rear, these
guidons to have conspicuously displayed
on them the letter of the company, to
serve as rallying points in case of need.
He believed that troops should be moved
on to the field in double columns, and at
the proper deployed into hue
and precipitated through the curtain of
skirmishers upon the enemy. Captain
Field also believed that when large
bodies of troops were brought into
action armies operating on exterior lines
had an advantage over those operating
on interior lines.
- -
Precious Gems Are Cheaper.
DIAMONDS FROM 30 TO 40 FEB cent, be
low THE PRICES OF A FEW YEARS AGO.
“Diamonds are from thirty to forty
per cent, cheaper now than they were
two or three years ago, “said a prominent
diamond dealer. “This is mainly owing to
the large discovery of diamonds. They
are being unearthed nearly everywhere;
not only in the far Western States and
Territories, but in some of the Southern
States. Agates, sapphires and garnets
are found in large quantities in the fur
West, and of course this cheapens the
price of gems. Diamonds and other
precious stones to the value of about $7,-
009,000 are yearly imported to this coun
try and that does not include the large
amount that are smuggled in, mainly by
women. A great many women make
their expenses of a trip to Europe by
smuggling diamonds. Well, if they are
caught, they cry. What else can a wo
man do? But they will try the very
same thing over again.
“Another thing that cheapens dia
monds, is the many excellent imitations
that have recently flooded the market,
it being so difficult to detect the genuine
from the real article that a great many
people wear *ho imitations, which, of
course, lessens the sale of real diamonds.
These are mainly worn by actresses and
actors who understand the art of color
ing and setting the imitation so. that. it
would readily be mistaken for the gen
uine article, No I The hotel clerk never
resorts to such deception. He will wear
the genuine article, if it takes a year’s
salary to get the sparkling gem.”
Sending Them Home.
A San Francisco paper says: About
the middle of last month Ah Sam, a
hard-working Chinaman, took a contract
from the Chinese Six Companies to dis
inter and prepare for shipment to the
Orient the bones of the Chinese tem
porarily laid in the City Cemetery. He
began work with a gang of Mongolians
on the 17th of December, and up to the
present time has removed over 200
bodies. Every Chinaman coming here
in the service of the Six Companies re
ceives a guarantee that if he should die
his bones will be. Bent home for burial,
aud this agreement is most scrupulously
observed. Where Chinamen die with
out having made any such contract with
the companies their friends see to it
that their remains are sent home in duo
time. Ah Sam has with him in his
present undertaking several women as
well as men, and the bodies are plun
dered of everything of value. Every
Chinaman is buried with a coin of some
' kind in his month. The women who
. assist Ah Sam take thia piece of money
1 as their reward.
A BATCH OF GOOD THINGS
FOUND FLOATING IN THE nUMOROU
COLUMNS OF THE PRESS.
In Ilin Own Interest—A Cbrlstinns Conte!-
bnilon—A Foolish Question—Full of Ite
rell-ln n Quiet VVuY-fle Would bo nu
Owl, Etc., fcac.
IN HIS OWN INTEREST.
“If you do not at once remit the SIOO
you owe our firm,” wrote a dun the
other day to a delinquent doctor, “we
shall be obliged to put the bill into the
hands of a lawyer.”
“My dear sir,” replied the doctor ur
banely by the next post, “if you are
happily acquainted with a lawyer who is
able to collect SIOO from me I beg you
to send him to me at once, for I shall
be glad to employ him in my own in
terest. — Ch icago Tribune. ”
ALL IN A QUIET WAY.
“I wonder the English allow them
selves to be governed by a woman,”
said a citizen the other day.
“Why not ?” said another. “America
is governed by women.”
“Governed by women ? How do you
make that cut ?”
“Why, don’t you see, this is a govern
ment <f the people.”
“Yes; but tho women have no hand
in it. The country is governed by the
men.”
“Certainly; and the men are governed
by tho women.”— Boston Coiirier.
HE WAS JUST LIKE OTHER MEN.
They,, were coming out of a dime
museum.
“I don’t believe that wild man of
Borneo is a wild mau at all,” she whis
pered.
“Why not?” he asked.
“He’s civilized just like other
“What makes you think so ?”
“Didn’t you see the manager pay / in
a 101. of money ?”
“Yes; a S2O bill and a lot of small
bills.”
“Well, didn’t you notice how careful
the wild man was to fold the twenty
outside ?”— Chicago Newt.
SHE DIDN'T GARB TO REMEMBER.
“Miss Jonkins, permit me to intro
duce Mr. Smith.”
Miss Jonkins is a lady whoso alabaster
brow has begun to fade, and whose eyes
have grown dim in vain looking out for
a husband.
“Delighted, Mr. Smith.” •
“Why, Miss Julia, what a pleasant
surprise. lam sure you must remem
ber me. It is so delightful to recall
pleasant moments. I well remember
our first meeting. We danced together
at a ball at Mrs. Jones’s in ’56. Don’t
you remember?”
But she didn’t, and he wondered all
night why she was so cold and distant.
—Nan Francisco Chronicle.
ELOQUENCE INDEED.
“I hear you are highly satisfied with
your new minister, Brown ?”
“Satisfied is a tamo word to express
our opinion of Uhn., Wo are delighted
with him.* - - - i q
“He is very eloquent, I understand?”
“Eloquent! Why, sir, when he is
preaching he affects the congregation so
powerfully that there is hardly any in
terest taken in the flirtations of the
choir.”
FULL OF DECEIT.
“The world is full of deceit,” said old
Mr. Squaggs, “aud wimmin is mostly at
the bottom of it.”
“I know it,” said old Mrs. Squaggs;
“it is after a man gets a wife that he be
gins to practice deceit. If he hadn’t a
wife ho wouldn’t need to lie so much
about where he spends his evenings.
You are perfectly right. It’s the women
that cause the deceit.”
O’d Mr. Squaggs became very thought ■
fill.— Boston Gazette.
SOME OF US KNOW HIM.
A well-dressed young msn was seen to
stare at a woman impudently, hail a
street-car imperiously, pay his fare con
descendingly, seat himself fashionably
and expectorate furiously.
“Who is that distinguished gentle
man ?” whispered an awe-struck passiF
ger to the conductor.
And the conductor replied: “He j
the janitor of a West Side flat.”—Mer
chant Traveller.
A FOOLISH QUESTION.
“Lend me your ear a minute,” re
marked Mrs. Brown to her husband the
other evening.
“Will you give it back to me ?” he in
quired with mock anxiety.
“Os course I will, you idiot I Doyon
suppose I want to start a tannery ?”
She got the ear. — Graphic.
HE WOULD BE AN OWL.
“I wish I was an owl,” said the young
lawyer as he gentiy felt the dimensions
of her alligator belt.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because then I could stay up al
night, you know, dear,” he replied.
“What would you want to do such it
a ridiculous thing as that for?” she tit
tered.
“To wit:—To woo 1” Pittsburg
Chronicle.
— ——
The Way They Live In Mexico.
A Mexican traveler received the fol
lowing lesson in etiquette from a young
lady of the country: “I saw you eat
ing an orange on the depot platform,”
she said. “In Mexico that would be
considered unmannerly. There It is un
mannerly to eat anything outside of a
house, even candy. And I noticed
when Mr, Romero gave you a Mexican
match you threw it away after using but
one end of it The other was still ser
viceable, and you should have returned
the match with your thanks. If you
baud oue a cig ir or a cigarette to light
with, you must take a whiff af:er it has
been returned to you, though Itmiy be
so short as to burn your fingers.”
A dude returned from college to his
parents’ city apartments. As he war
undressing to go to bed at night he no
tioed a handsome motto on the wall,
“God bless our flat,” and it bothered
him all night so that he could hardly
sleep.