Newspaper Page Text
CLIPPINGS FOR THE CURIOUS*
A cup of strong coffee, without
sugar or milk, will do much towards
removing the odor of onions from the
breath. Better still will be found a
few grains of the burned coffee bean.
Small-pox was accurately described
by Rhazes, an Arabian physician,
about 900 A. D. It is supposed to
have been introduced into Europe by
the Saracens, and it was spread wide
ly among the Indians by the early
explorers of America.
Should an emergency arise the
President of the United States is em
powered by law to order the militia of
any state to any part of the United
States deemed by him necessary, of
which necessity he is made the abso
lute judge.
It is the pride of a Maharajah of
Travancore to weigh as much as pos
Bible. When he attains as great a
weight as he thinks he ever will he
has himself weighed in public against
a mass of pure gold, which gold i>
then, with much ceremony, broken
up and dispensed in charity. The
Maharajah was recently weighed,when
he tipped the scales at 185 pounds.
After Columbus had discovered the
island of Cuba he sailed eastward and
discovered Hayti. There on the shoal>
his careless sailors lost one of his
ships. The native prince, Guacana
gari, showed great sympathy and
placed a guard to protect the property
of the ship. The natives saved every
thing from the wreck, treated the
crew kindly, and were requited with
cruel wrong.
A great Paris drapery house is sell
ing “bath bags,” by the use of which
“refined people” may obtain a sort of
velvety, oatmeal soap complexion
ablution for the moderate sum of
eight cents. These queer articles con
sist of a bag containing half a pound
of bran, some meal and a little pow
dered soap. On wetting and pressing
the bag a lather is produced, and at
the same time a soft pad for rubbing
purposes.
It is said that fruits, even after
being detached from the tree, give of!
both poisonous gases and carbonic acid
gas, thereby vitiating the air of a
room so as to produce death by poison
ing. Such accidents have been caused
by ripe apricots, oranges and quinces,
which gave off the gas in the night.
Sweet-smelling flowers, such as jas
mine, tuberose and magnolia, and also
odoriferous leaves, give off a similar
deadly gas.
A Man who saw Washington.
It does not seen possible that there
should be a man yet living who would
ever profess to remember having seen
Washington’s face. But there is, and
what is still more curious, he professes
to have seen it only about 50 years ago.
It is W. 11. Burgess, of Alexandria.
He says that he was employed in 1836
as laborer to assist in building the
tomb at Mount Vernon and removing
the bodies of George and Mart ha Wash
Ington from the old to the new tomb.
“1 was but a lad,” he said, “and I re
member this was about my first piece
of work. When the vault was com
pleted, I assisted in removing the
bodies from the old tomb to their pres
ent resting-place. It was decided to
open Washington’s coffin, and when it
had been conveyed to the new tomb,
the lid was raised. A number of peo
ple were present and stood in breath
less silence while the w orkmen extract
ed the rusty screws. When the top of
the coffin had been lifted, I looked in.
The body was apparently perfectly
preserved. The features of the face
were complete, and there was nothing
to indicate the length of the time he
had been dead. The exposure of the
air, however, had its immediate effect.
In a minute or two the body suddenly
collapsed and shrunk into almost un
recognizable form. Other than this
my recollections are very indistinct. I
do not remember how the body was
dressed or anything further about it.
The features, as I remember them,
were like the pictures I have seen.”
Mr. Burgess now is a white-haired
old man, 7U years of age.— Baltimore
American.
The African slave Trade.
Stanley, in his book tells of finding
in the vicinity of about 990 miles in
land from Leopoldville, Africa, a band
of slave traders having in their pos
session 2,300 captives. “Both banks
of the river,” he says, “showed that
118 villages and forty-three districts
had been devastated, out of which
were educe! 2,300 females and
children and about 2000 tusks of
ivory. To obtain these they must
have shot 2,500 people, while 1,300
more died by the wayside. How
many are wounded and die in the
forest or droop to death through an
overwhelming sen«e of their calami
ties, we do dot know, but the outcome
from the territory, with its million of
souls, must be 5000 slaves, obtained
at the expense of 33.0 00 lire*!”
HOUSE- CLEANING.
A topsy-turvy tumult and a strange strife
stirred.
A dusty, damaged dinner, and a wild, wicked
word.
The chronic carpet cleaning with a strong,
stout stick,
The pipe that’s so perplexing and the tack’s
tragic trick,
The subtle soap sequestered where the fleet
foot falls.
The pasty painted passage and the white
washed walls,
A boundless bill to balance and a scarred shin
to scan,
A weak and weary woman and a mad, moody
man.
—Chicago Tribune,
(Bajettc.
VOL. XII. SUMMERVILLE, GEORGIA. WEDNESDAY EVENING. SEPTEMBER 30. 1885. NO. 37.
FARMER STEBBINS ON ROLLERS.
Dear Cousin John-
Vo got here safe —my worthy wife an’me,
i \n* put up at James Sunny hopes’—a pleasant
place to be:
• \n’ Isabel,his oldest girl, is home from school (
just now,
An’ pets me with hsr manners all her young |
man will allow;
: \n’ his good wife has monstrous sweet an’ |
culinary ways;
t is a summery place to pass a few cold win
ter days.
i Besides, I’ve various cast-iron friends in dif
ferent parts o’ town,
That’s always glad to have me call whenever
I come down;
' 'ut yesterday, when ’mongst the same I un
dertook to roam,
I I could not find a single one that seemed to
be to home!
\n’ when I asked their whereabouts, the an
swer was, “I think.
j If you’re a-goin’ down that way, you’ll find
’em at the Rink.”
. 1 asked what night the Lyceum folks would
hold their next debate
’ I’ve sometimes gone and helped ’em wield
the cart's of church an’ state);
\ An’if protracted meetin’s now was holdin’
anywhere
I like to get my soul fed up with fresh celes
tial fare);
r when the next church social was; they'd
give a knowin’ wink,
I \n' say, “I b’lieve there’s nothin’ now trans
pirin’ but the Rink.”
What is this‘Rink f ” I innocent inquired,
that night at tea,
’Oh, you must go,” said Isabel, “this very
night with me!
\n 1 Mrs. Stebbins, she must go, an’ skate
there with us too!”
i !y wife replied, “My dear, just inform me
when 1 do.
. dut you two go.” An’ so we went; and saw
a circus there,
, With which few sights I’ve ever struck will
anyways compare.
It seems a good-sized meetin’ house had given
up its pews
The church an' paster had resigned, from
spiritual blues),
An’ several acres of the floor was made a
skatin’ground.
Where folks of every shape an’ size went ,
skippin’ round an' round;
An’ in the midst a big brass band was helpin’ |
on the fun,
; An’ everything was gay as sixteen weddin’s :
joined in one.
• I’ve seen small insects crazy like go circlin' I
through the air,
j An' wondered if they thought some time
they’d mayl>e get somewhere;
I’ve seftn a million river bugs go scootin’
round an’ round,
i An’wondered what'twas all about, or what
they'd lost or found;
■ But men an’ women, boys an’ girls, upon a
hard-wood floor.
All whirlin' round like folks )K>ssessed, I
never saw liefore.
An’ then it ail came l»n<*k to me, the things
I’d read an’ heard
About the rinks, an' how their ways was
wicked an’ absurd;
I’d learned somewhere that skatin' wasn’t a
healthy thing to do;
But there was Doctor Saddlebags—his fam’ly
with him too,
I’d heard that ’twasn’t a projier place for
Christian folk to seek;
Old Deacon Perseverance Jinks flew past me
like a streak.
Then Sister Is’bel Sunnyhopes put on a pair
o’ skates,
An’started off as if she’d run through several
different States.
My goodnetw! how that gal showed up! I I
never <1 id opine
That she could twist herself to look so charm
in' an’ so fine;
And then a fellow that she knew took hold o’ :
hands with her,
A sort o’ double crossways like, an* helped
her as it were.
I used to skate; an’ ’twas a sport of which I
once was fond,
Why, I could write my autograph on Tomp
kins’saw-mill pond.
Os course to slip on runners, that is one thing,
one may say,
An' movin’ round on castors is a somewhat
different way;
But when the fun that fellow had came flash- |
in’ to my eye,
I says, “I’m young again; by George, I’ll
skate once more or die!”
A little boy a pair o’ skates to fit my boots
soon found—
He had to put ’em on for me (I weigh three
hundred pound);
An’ then I straightened up an* says, “Look
here, you younger chafis,
You think you’re runnin’ some’at past us i
older heads, perhaps.
If this young lady here to me will trust
awhile her fate,
I’ll go around a dozen times an’ show you
how to skate.”
She was a niceish plump young gal, I’d no
ticed quite awhile,
An' she reached out her hands with ’most too
daughterly a smile;
But off we pushed, with might an’ main—
when all to once the wheels
Departed suddenly above, an’ took along my
heels;
My head assailed the floor as if 'twas tryin’
to get through,
An' all the stars 1 ever saw arrived at once
m view.
Twas sing’lar las not quite unlike a saw log
there I lay)
. How many of the other folks was goin’ that
same way;
They stumbled over me in one large animated
heap,
An' formed a pile o’ kgs an’ arms not far
from ten foot deep;
! But after they had all climbed off, in rather
fierce surprise,
I lay there like a saw-log still—considerin’
how to rise.
Then dignified I rose, with hands upon my
ample waist,
An' then sat down again with large and very
painful haste;
An rose again, and started off to find a place
to rest.
Then on my gentle stomach stood, an' tore
my meetin’ vest;
When Sister Sunnyhopes slid up, as trim as
trim could be,
An she an’ her young fellow took compassion
ate charge o’ me.
Then after I'd got off the skates,an’ flung ’em
out o’ reach,
I rose, while all grew hushed an’ still, an’
made the followin’ speech:
“My friends, I’ve struck a small idea <an’
struck it pretty square),
Which physic’lly an’ morally will some atten
tion bear:
Those who their balance can preserve are
safe here any day;
An' those who can’t. I rather think, had bet
ter keep away.”
Then I limped out, with very strong unpre
cedented pains,
An’ hired a horse at liberal rates to draw
home my remains;
An' lay abed three days, while wife laughed
at an' nursed me*well,
An’ used up all the arnica two drug stores
had to sell;
An’ when Miss Is’bel Sunnyhopes said, i
“Won t you skate once more?”
I answered, “Not while I remain on this ter
restial shore.”
Will Carleton, in Harper s Weekly.
There are eighty-two glue factories in
this country, and with the present de.
pression in all kinds of manufacturing it
j would not surprise us if one or more nf
j hem gets stuck.— Lowell Cttieen.
THE PRIZE STORY.
One summer not very long ago, I was
spending the warm months at a North
ern resort noted for its salubrious climate
j and beautiful surroundings. While
■ there I made the acquaintance of a tai i
ented young artist and his wife. lie was
fair, tall and slender, while she was a
dark eyed little woman of the dumpling
order. They seemed eminently fitted
for each other, there being evidently a
perfect sympathy between them. She
studied art for his sake, and had ac
quired a fine critical taste.
One day, when she was showing me
her husband's pictures, I was much at
tracted by the portrait of a young and
beautiful girl; but the face bot ea cer
tain undefinablc expression that baffled
me. It was not hope, neither was it
utter despair, but rather a blending of
the two, combined with a certain mourn
ful resignation. I felt the tears start to
my eyes as I gazed.
“You ate attracted by the expression
of that portrait,” said Mrs. Shelton. “It
is a picture of a relative of ours. My
husband painted it from a photograph
taken in her girlhood. It does not much
resemble this, does it?” And she handed
me the photograph of a handsome, ma
tronly woman whose face bore a peaceful,
happy expression, much unlike the other.
“The features are the same,” I an
swered, “but the fairy godmother has
touched her with her magic W'and.”
“Since you are so interested I will tell
vou her story,” said my friend.” “As
to the fairy godmother and her wand,
I you shall judge for yourself.”
j “When I was a little girl,” she began,
: “my parents lived in the country, in the |
suburbs of a small village. I was about ]
! twelve years old when Catharine Haw- j
I ley came to teach our school. She was |
lan otphan, and had the care of her
brother, a delicate child about my own
1 age, but lame. He had to bo wheeled
’ about in a chair. They boarded at our
house, for she was very particular that
' Merlin should have plenty of fresh air,
' good food and milk fresh from the cow.
He was wheeled to school every day by
us children, and then homo again at
night.
“We became very much attached to
him after a while. He had such shy,
gentle ways, and, though sickly and of
ten suffering great pain, he was a better
scholar than any of us, and used to help
the older ones with their lessons, ami
! tell stories and draw funny pictures for I
the little ones for hours together. In re
' turn we would do anything in our power
for him.
“Miss Hawley had the finest percep- ■
i tivo faculties that I ever saw in a
■ teacher. She could tell if a pupil was
: guilty of any misdemeanor by instinct
almost. Her eyes penetrated all dis
i guises of look or tone or action. The
I boys used to wonder sometimes at being
detected in their wrong doings. There
: was a suspicion among them at one time
that Merlin told on them.
; “My brother John, though not a quar
| relsome boy, caught one of them on the
i way h ome from school one night, and j
j gave him a severe thrashing for calling
I Merlin a ‘white faced tell-tale.’ The boy
■ was larger than John, too, but indigna
! tion had made my brother brave.
“Merlin felt very badly when ho heard
j of the quarrel, and he never rested until
he got the two boys together end had
I them ‘make up.’ He told them, too,
i that he disliked tell tales as much as
they did, and he didn't blame them for
getting angry when they thought h in
one. After that any of them w aul h ive
fought for him.
“One day a celebrated lecturer came
to the village. He and father had I een
schoolmates together, and he tool: tea at
our house. He was much interested in
Merlin, and told Catharine of a famous
physician whom he thought could cure
him. Catharine was very much excited
over it. That evening, I remember, she
was sitting on a low stool by Merlin's
chair, and he was smoothing her hair.
She took both his hands in hers and said:
“‘What would you rather have, Mer
lin. ot all things in the world?’
“And he answered in a whisper, with i
a glance at his helpless feet:
“ ‘You know, Catharine.’
She cried a little while quite softly be.
fore she said, almost as if she were talk
ing to herself:
“‘God will surely open the way. He
will surely help us.’
“A day or two after that I saw her
with a paper in her hand. She seemed
very much interested in something she
read in it. I slept in the room next hers,
and I noticed she sat up till quite late
that night. She was very thoughtful
and absent-minded for a week or two;
then she seemed seized with a mania for
writing. She was always writing nights
and mornings and Saturdays. There
were no more cozy evenings now, with :
Catharine laughing, singing, and giving
us riddles to guess, as we once had. She '
had a beautiful voice, as you might know ;
by looking at those great, expressive eyes .
in the portrait there. Her singing had
i been one of our greatest pleasures.
“Child as I was, I noticed this change
in Catharine and was pained. She didn’t
| love us as she used to, I thought. One j
day I said as much to her. She took my
i face between her hands and kissed me. j
“ ‘Can you keep a secret?’ she said.
“Then she told me. There was a prize
j offered for the best story, and ah« was j
trying to win it. She wanted the money
to send Merlin away to the doctor. Pro
fessor Jordan had advised, so that ho
might have the chance, at least, of being
cured. And I must be her little friend,
she said, and do my best to take her
I place with Merlin and the children, so
that they should not think of her as
neglecting them.
“After that she would read me the
story, a few pages at a time, as she
wrote it. And when, in my childish
intensity, I would laugh or cry, as tho
humor of the story was, her face would
lighten beautifully, and she would be
quite hopeful.
“After a while the story was finished,
and I took it to the office for her. Then
came a trying time for poor Catharine, j
The double work, teaching and writing, |
had been a great strain, and left Iter
weak and nervous. As the time drew
near for the decision to be announced
in regard to stories, the suspense became I
painful to us both. We used to walk |
together in the woods back of the house I
—a beautiful place in summer—and talk
about it.
“‘Oh, if I fail,’ she would say, ‘what
shall Ido next? The Lord will surely :
help me! But he can’t be expected to |
supply the lack of capacity, I suppose.’ I
And the smile on her white lips was sad- |
dcr than any tears.
“Teachers didn’t get such large wages ;
thqn as they do now, and Catharine i
barely made enough to clothe and board :
herself and brother. So this really
seemed to be her only chance.
“Merlin knew’ nothing of it. Catha
rine wouldn’t have bis hopes excited,
she said, for fear they would not be re
j alized. But sometimes she would sit
i ami look at him as, cheerful and patient,
he wheeled his chair about the porch,
i with such an agony of suspense in het !
face that a lump would rise in my throat |
and I would go away and cry.
“I had begged the privilege of going I
to the postoftice for the mail. I wanted I
to be the bearer of the news to Catharine |
that was either to raise her hopes or des- i
troy them. One day among the letters
was one addressed to Catharine, and I
knew by the postmark that it was the
one. My feet scarcely touched the
ground on the way home. I rushed up
to Catharine’s room she nearly always
awaited my return from the office there—
and thrust the letter into her hand.
“For a few minutes she sat holding
the letter with the seal unbroken, as if
she feared to know her fate. Then, with
fingers that trembled so that she could
scarcely control them, she broke the
j seal. A bank note fell out upon her lap.
: She gave one loud, joyful cry, then I
fainted dead away.”
Mrs. Shelton paused in her narrative,
ostensibly to loop back the curtain, but :
—well, I brushed the tears from my own |
eyes, and we were both quite composed ■
when she resumed :
“Well, there was quite an exciting !
time. Mother came running up with
the camphor bottle, in answer to my dis- i
tressed call for help, and the children ;
formed a frightened group outside the
door. When Catharine regained con- I
sciousness she looke I about for Merlin;
then, remembering where she was, she
just swept us all aside and was down
stairs ami by his chair in a moment.
“Mother kept us all away for a long
time; but when I did creep out on the
porch the brother and sister had their
arms about each other, and Catharina
face shone like an angel’s.
“Well, Merlin went away. Catharine
stayed with us and taught. She could
not give hciself the comfort of being
with him, for fear her money would not
hold out. There was a very difficult op
oration to be perform ’d, and such thingi
are expensive, as you know, it was
during those days of suspense that Cath
arine’s face took on the expression in the
portrait there. The other was taken
since her marriage.”
“But Merlin—was he cured after all?”
I asked.
“There is no trace of his lameness ex
cept a slight limp, as you may see foi
yourself,” she answered, pointing to her
husband, who was coming up the walk.
“But I thought you said his sister’s
: name was Hawley?”
“She is my husband’s halt sister.
They are children of the same mother.
By the way, Catharine is coming to
morrow. I should like you two to be
acquainted.”
Afterward, when I had the pleasure of
counting Catharine among my friends, I
did not wonder at the devotion with
which her brother and his wife regarded
her, for she was truly one of the noblest
women I had ever known.
A Petrified Squirrel.
The following is from the Stevens
I Point (Wis.) Gazette: “One of the great
st curiosities of the present day, found
among the pines of Central Wisconsin,
( was discovered near Knowlton a few’
; weeks ago. It Was in the form of a pet
: rifled squirrel, about the size of a com
mon squirrel, and was taken from the
I heart of a tree by some woodsmen. It
was of a brownish color, as hard as rock,
j and was ‘as natural as life,’ even to the
s kink in its long, bushy tail. The curi
osity was carefully packed and sent by
William Mulhollen, its owner, to Presi
dent Cleveland, from whom a personal
letter of thanks was received last week
I by the sender, saying that it would be
carefully preserved and placed in the
| public museum at Washington.”
A MINE FOUND BY A MULE
A Sensational Mining Discov
ery in Arizona.
How Three Prospectors Came Across a
Valuable Silver Ledge.
A sensational mining discovery was
made in 1875 in Arizona. It was one
of the most interesting finds ever made
on the coast. Three prospectors Cope
land, Mason and another, were one day
dodging Indians in the neighborhood
j of Queen Creek, Pinal County, about
: fifty miles from Florence. The Indians
had been very bad that year in that re
gion and no prospectors felt safe a mo
i ment. One evening Copeland and par
ty were looking for a place to camp
when all at once one of their pack
mules gave a snort and with ears poin
ted forward stood stock still. A mule’s
| scent for an Indian is keener than that
I of any dog for game, and the party
i knew there was danger ahead. They
. dismounted and reconnoitered. While
I Copeland prepared to scout on the side
! of a little rise, he tied his mule to a
| clump of sage brush which grow in
I the cleft of a ridge of float rock, while
’ he was gone something scared the
’ mule, and the latter jerked the sage
| brush up and started down the
canyon. The party located a
“rancheria” of Indians a mile
off and wisely beat a retreat undis
covered. A half a mile away they
picked up the mule, the sage bush still
hanging to his bridle. Copeland de
tached it and was about throwing it
away when something clinging to the
roots attracted his attention. It was
. a piece of shattered white quarts, as
I big as a walnut, the disintegrated
j mass being held together by a perfect
j network of pure white silver threads
I the size of a number eight wire. Somt ;
of the roots of the bush ran through
j the quartz and firmly attached it.
The party were greatly excited, but
they did not then dare go back on ac
count of the Indians. They staked the
locality, and Copeland fairly cudgeled
his brain to impress upon it the exact
spot he had tied his mule. Two weeks
after they ventured back and to their
joy found the coast clear. For several
hours they searched among the rocks
and scoria of the vicinity, and at last
Copeland found the place where the
sagebush had been torn up. A few
minutes digging revealed the crown of
of the most beautiful silver quartz,
| ledge any of the prospectors had ever
| seen. They dug for several days on
: the spot and laid bare a section twen
’ ty feet long and ten feet wide. The
i vein was without foot or hanging
i wall, was of pure white quartz, with
I streaks of native silver (pure white
j silver) and blotches of black sulphur
ets running all through it. This was
’ the discovery of the famous Silver
King mine of to-day. This mine has a
peculiar interest from the fact, that so
many public men of note invested in
it. Soon after its discovery Colonel
James M. Barney, of Yuma, bought
the property for $275,000, and placed
the stock on the Eastern market.
The mine has paid since 1879
$1,501),000 in dividends, and has pro
; dttced something like $3,400,000 in
silver. Strange to say, the ledge
stands alone by itself. Scores of loca
< tions have been made around it, but
nothing has ever been found in any of
them. If any other evidence were
needed to prove that mining for the
precious metals is a game of chance,
the history of the Silver King deposit
alone would prove it.— Chi<M<)o Herald.
The Beauties of Mexican Feather
Work.
While In Mexico I tried hard to find
out how they made the lovely birds on
cards which they offered for sale on
the streets. A friend took me to the
house of one of these artists. It was
a little hovel, where he sat on the mud
floor and toiled. But when he heard
us coming he put away all his work
and would not let us see it. He was
an Indian, with brown skin and black,
straight hair. He wore ragged clothes
and had an old blanket to keep him
warm at night. Poor as he was, no
money would tempt hitn to show us
the secret process he had learned from
his father, which had been kept in the
family for a hundreds of years. Great
skill is required to produce a perfect
picture. First, the Indian traces on
the cord the outlines of the body of
the bird in wax, just enough for the
feathers to stick to. Then he begins
at the lower part and places them on,
one at a time, one row lapping over the
other as a slater lays slates. He works
very slowly and patiently. Perhaps
this is the secret of his perfect work,
and the reason that no other people
have been able to equal him. The re
ult is, a bird that looks as if it might
sing or fly. The eyes are made with
small glass beads, and the bill and feet
are painted so nicely that they appear
to be a part of the bird. Then he
paints a twig or branch for it to rest
on. or makes one from a feather, and
his work is done,— .San Antonia Light.
PEARLS OF THOUGHT.
Tie that wants hope is the oorc.lt
man alive.
lie who knows nothing is confident
in everything.
Only whisper scandal and its echo
is heard by all.
Success is a gleaming head-light
which attracts the moths of adulation.
Men are like w igons—they rattle
prodigiously when there is nothing in
them.
If thou wouldst attain to tby highest,
go look upon a flower; what that does
willessly, that do thou willingly.
He that resolves to be very eloquent
in making a speech, oftentimes cannot
speak at all, but sticks by the way.
“Hold fast that which is good,” im
plies more than being satisfied with
present possessions; it must push
ahead and get more.
If there were no enemy, there could
be no conflict; were there no trouble,
there could be no faith; were there no
fear, there could be no hope.
Whatever is coming, there is but
one way to meet it—to go straight for
' ward, to bear what has to be
’ borne, and do what has to be done.
( Happiness is defined by Madame do
Stael to be “A state of constant occu
pation upon some desirable object,
with a continual sense of progress to
ward its attainment.”
Among the Tucomans.
Any traveler who has crossed the
wild upland region lately occupied by
Russia on the border of Afghanistan,
and'has seen the Tucoman camps and
Afghan villages with which it is stud
ded, has surveyed at one glance the
past and the present Central Asia.
The fortress-like Afghan hamlet, with
its huge gray mud wall and narrow,
sinister loop-holes behind which the
low, flat-roofed earthen hovels huddled
so closely together as barely to leave
passage room between them, repre
sents the marauding shepherd of the
east in his more advanced stage of fix
ed residence In one spot, but still re
taining enough of his guerilla natiiro
to regard every stranger as an enemy
and to build every house like a fort.
The light Turcoman tent of felt and
saplings, set up or pulled down in a
few moments, typifies the same man
in his original character as a wander
ing herdsman, flying from his enemy
or pouncing upon him with equal sud
denness, swooping off with his booty
into the desert like one of its own vul
tures, ever occupied with the duties
of finding grass and water for the
flocks and herds that formed his whole
possessions, and of anticipating any
foe who wished to cut his throat by
cutting the latter’s throat first.
I n
But despite all the these bandit qual
ities the Turcoman at home is not a
bad fellow by any means. Drawing
bridle on the crest of one of those long,
! low swells that break at times the gray
unending sameness of the vast plains
' of Central Asia, you see below you a
tiny stream, sharply outlined against
( the surrounding desert by the dark
belt of undergrowth fringing it. On
the bank stand a dozen or more huge,
pointed dark gray objects very much
like gigantic “dunce-caps,” around
which a number of sheep and cattle
are feeding. A shrill cry from a tall
figure among them brings out of the
s tents a half score guant, sinewy fel
lows in soiled, white tunics and caps
of black sheepskin, handling menac
ingly the spears and guns which they
have snatched up.
The Turcoman “Beg,” chief (for
such he is,) greets yon with a guttural
“Kosh amedeid” (you are welcome)
' more reassuring than the short curved
1 sabre within reach of his hand, which
’ shows by its notches that its has once
1 done a thrifty business. But its mas
-1 ter is now a tolerably peaceable sub
-1 ject of Russia, converted by that per
‘ suasive strategy which might give a
1 hint to the invaders of the Soudan:
“We never wasted time in pursuing
' them, but beset the water-courses
1 whither they must repair sooner or 1 a
’ ter, and then we had them at our mer
’ c.y.” He kindly offers you a seat on
1 a newly flayed ana still bloody sheep
’ skin and hands you an earthen jar of
- milk and a wooden spoon, licking the
' latter clean as a special compliment
1 Should you arrive on the day of un
wonted plenty, which results from a
’ camel’s death by age or disease, you
1 may preface with the blue, stringy
• meat a bowl of “brick-tea” with salt
' for sugar and rancid fat for cream.
’ The chief’s little brown girls who
’ crowd around yon to play with your
■ sash tassels and the fringe of your fur
3 ban, wear a small brass coin iuibedderl
" in the skin of the forehead,a Turcoman
1 lady's traditional ornament ever since
1 Isaiah denounced its Hebrew counter
part. But with all this hospitality
r you will do wisely not to prolong your
call, as every Turcoman tent swarms
1 with “indigenous creepers” not classi-
I. fled by any botanist.— New York Ts irtes.
CHINAMEN IN NEW YORK.
Their Principal Occupations
in the Metropo'is.
Oolott'al Gambling Dens, Restaurants,
Laundries, and Other Employments
The Chinese gambling-dens in New
York are devoted to a game called
Fan Tan, which is to the Celestial
what faro is to some Americans. Its
basis is betting on the number of coins
left on the table, after the dealer has
put a pile of metal on the board, from
which he removes four coins at a time
until either one, two, three or four are
left. The game in the main is a “square
game,” and allows the house a profit
of seven per cent on all business done.
It is highly popular with the Chinese,
and gives employment to about 200
persons. Chinese gambling resembles
American. Each house has its propri
etor, backer, cashier, dealer, cappers
and hangers-on. The largest game is
conducted at No. 12 Mott-st,, and fre
quently handles over a thousand dol
lars a day. All of the games are own
ed and managed by syndicates, and
never by a single individual. Chin
ese policy is played in eighty numbers.
The managers draw each evening
twenty of these. A player is allowed
to play on ten numbers. If the ten he
selects are all drawn he is paid SIO,OOO
for sl. If he draws four numbers or
less he receives nothing. Twice have
players drawn ten numbers. In one
case the lucky player received his mon
ey in full; in the other, where he had
bet $4, he was compelled to compromise
for $15,000. This case happened in
San Francisco.
The restaurants are practically open
day and night. Each is noted for
some particular dish or style of cook
ing. No 4 Mott-st is noted for its
pates and dumplings, No 11 for soups
and stews, No 14 for style and fancy
dishes, No 18 for meats, one near Mott
and Park sts, for cheap prices, and the
Pell-st, restaurant for American cook
ing. Prices are lower than in Ameri
can eating places. An average lunch
for an Oriental is tea, rice, chiken and
fish. The cost of these is for the tea,
nothing; rice, five cents; chicken, fif
teen, and fish, five or ten; in all twen
ty-five cents. The same meal in an
American restaurant would cost him
sixty cents or upward. An ordinary
dinner and its costs are: Chicken soup,
nothing: tea nothing; rice, five cents;
duck, fifteen; perfumed pork, ten;
maccaroni, ten; fish, five; meat-ball,
five; rice-wine, eighteen. The amount
served is sufficient for two guest. In
these restaurants the kitchen and
food are visible and open to the guests.
The customer wanders from the din
ing table to the kitchen examines the
articles he has ordered, chats with the
cook and then returns to his table.
The Chinese are particular in regard
to their meats and insist upon till
poultry being alive in the morning of
the day on which it is eaten. For
this reason in all the restaurants there
is a coop from which unlucky chick
ens and ducks emit continual discord.
The article, chiefly used in the order of
their popularity are: Meats—chicken,
duck, pork, beef; vegetable foods—
rice, macaroni, Chinese turnip, onion,
celery. Muttons, lamb and veal are
seldom used. Preserves and pastry
are popular. Every fruit known to
the American markets as well as a
hundred indigenous to China is em
ployed in every for? , dried, smoked,
evaporated, compressed, candied, pre
served and canned. A price-list from
a Chinese grocery will sometimes con
tain as many as five hundred fruit
preparations.
The Chinese population of New-
York and its neighborhood, according
to its vocations, is about as follows:
Laundrymen, 4,500; cigarmakers, 390;
200 sailors; 200 gamblers; 300 unem
ployed, who are looking for places tc
start laundries; 100 merchants; 10 doc
tors; 5 carpenters; 2 barbers; 4 provis
ion-agents; 8 musicians and one or
two each of sign-painters, interpre
ters, fortune-tellers, tailors, commis
sion men, fruit vend?rs and insurant#
agents. There is also one journalist.
At present there are in New-York
about 1,000 laundries, in Brooklyn 300,
in Jersey City and Hoboken 175, and
in the other near places about 50 more.
Each laundry employs from one to six
men, besides the proprietor, and they
average three men each. These laun
dries range in value from SIOO tc
$2,000. — New York Tribune.
Great Artists.
Squire Pummel: “I tell you, dea
con, my daughter Sue is going to be s
first-class artist. Her cattle pieces arc
so natural you can almost hear the
critters low.”
Deacon Pummel: “Pooty good.
But my daughter Sal can beat that
She hain’t no faith in cattle pieces,
But she’s painted some green cowcum
bers so nat’ral that the hull family
came mighty near havin’ chol’ra mor
bus.” — Boston Beacon.
ARMY INTELLIGENCE.
An army officer, who had been dis
missed from the army for duplicating
bis cash account was seen walking on
the street of San Antonio with a lady.
Several U. 8. officers in the window of
the club saw the couple, and Colonel
Mountain Howitzer remarked to Ma Ar
Blow:
“I can’t comprehend how he has the
:heek to be seen on the streets with a
woman who would so far forget herself
as to walk out with a man of his reputa
tion.”—Austin Siftings,