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VOL. XIX.—NO. 881. ATLANTA, GA., DECEMBER 10, 1892. PRICE: ®2 00 A YEAR. 'MY RUTHERS.” I tell you what I’d rutlier do— If 1 only had my ruthers— I’d rutner work when I wanted to Than be bossed round by ethers, I’d want to kind o’ git the swing O’ what was needed first, by jing! Afore I sweat at anything! Ef I only had my ruthers. In fact, I’d aim to be the same With all men as ray brothers, And the >’d be all the same with me, Ef I only had my ruthers. The poor ’ud get their dues sometimes— Ef i only had my ruthers— And be paid dollars ’stid o’ dimes, Eer children, wives and mothers; Their boy ’at stokes; their girl ’at sews— Fer others, not herself, God knows! The grave her only change of clothes! Ef I only had my ruthers. They’d all have “stuff” and time enough To answer one another’s Appealin prayer fer “lovin care” Ef I only had my ruthers — They’d be few folks ’ud ast fer trust— Ef I only had my ruthers— And blame few business men to bust Theirselves or hearts of others; Big guns ’at come here durin fair Week could put up just anywhere And find a-full and plenty there, Ef I only had my ruthers ; The rich and great ’ud ’sociate w ith ad their lowly brothers Feel in we done the honor un— Ef I only had my ruthers. —James Whitcomb Riley. DAMASCUS THE ANCIENT. Moslems Growing Richer, Chris tians and Jews Poorer. The British consul in Damascus, in a report which has lately been issued by the foreign office, gives some inter esting information in regard to the condition of that city and its neigh borhood, says the London Times. Damascus sends to Beyrout and oth er towns in Syria, flour, grain and fruits, while in regard to the neces saries of life, it is practically self-sup porting, with the exception of Man chester manufactures. The trade of the Diace is almost sta tionary from year to year; if there is an increase in the trade in an article one year there is a corresponding de crease the next, for luxuries are scarce and the necessaries of life will only luctuate with the population, while the exports depend on the harvest, which rarely fails. The population is given at about 210,000, of which 180,000 are Moslems. The number is supposed to be increas ing, but it must be slowly, for the old walls still surround the greater part of the population, and the houses built outside are very few. The poverty of the Christians and Jews is remarkable, the Moslems hav ing of late years absorbed the trade and wealth which were formerly in the hands of the others. The Moslems steadily increase in wealth, while the Christians and Jews as steadily de cline. This unusual state of things is said to be due to the loss of the through trade at Bagdad, to the difficulties which those who are not Moslems en counter in business, and to the insolv ency of the government. The Damas cus bonds, which were repudiated to the extent of £500,000, were mostly held by Christians and Jews, and the repudiation was a heavy blow to them. But it appears that the wealth of the place has considerably increased in the last 30 years, and it is probable that Damascus will still further in crease when the railways now pro jected from the coast are constructed. The exportation of licorice root, how ever, seems to be doomed by the dis covery of root of a superior quality in Asia Minor and elsewhere. Apricots form one of the chief prod ucts of Damascns. It is estimated that in a good year no fewer than 17,- 000 tons are gathered. Large quanti ties are sent fresh into the. neighbor ing towns and villages, while the rest is dried or made into paste and ex ported to Egypt. Hemp, too, is an im portant local production. Local industries are numerous, and gome are of importance. The chief is weaving. There are about 2,000 looms for cotton, wool and silk weaving. The first produce calico, curtains and divan covers, the material used for the long coats worn by Moslems, and for the cloaks which cover the native women from head to foot. The manufacture of ropes, harness, hammered iron, copper and brass work are among the other industries. The ornamental brass work and mother-of- pearl inlaid work are chiefly supported by travellers, why pay exorbitant prices. Comets’ Pranks. When Ciesar was assassinated a large double-breasted comet, with its tail over the dashboard, was visible day or other. It had too perihelions and an extra blonde nucleus. The tail ap peared to be obscured by the moisture in the atmosphere. In 1645 another comet showed up. Several persons died during the year and the comet was supposed to be im plicated. The great peculiarity about this comet was that it had lost its perihelion and neglected to advertise for it. The convulsions of this comet were larger than those of any other comet in the business. 1728 a comet appeared in some parts of the United States and Mexico whose tail was so long that it had to be con tinued. It was very brilliant. In 1812 a sorrel comet, with a bob- tail, attracted considerable comment. Some were of the opinion that this IDOlfTOTT^lfT. A TALE OF RUSSIAN NIHILISM. By Carl Crofton. Author of "Phyllis,” 1 Ivy's Secret,” ‘ The Mystery of White Towers,” etc., eic CHAPTER I. Every one who knew George Dono van—and there were those who hated him, those who loved him, and those who were utterly and comfortably in different to him—agreed in one thing and night in Rome. It was also seen | was the same comet they had seen be—that he was a lucky fellow. It wa THE EQUITABLE BUILDING, ATLANTA, GA. in Utica, Syracuse, and other places in New York Stats. it was in the year 1456 that a $250 comet, with a nucleus as big as a ham, appeared. It w r as of such a frightful aspect that the Pope issued a bull against it. It roamed around the milky way, hut finally got mad and went off without doing any damage to the shrubbery. In 1127 a comet shone so bright that the stars failed to draw. In 1246 the largest comet ever seen had quite a run. In 1308 a comet, three times as big as the other, filled a three weeks en gagement to crowded houses. In 1409 there was a still larger comet that shone so bright the gas companies did a losing business, it was steering straight for the earth, but it was side-tracked for some reason fore, and was merely giving a farewell performance, a la Patti and Salvina, but other savans maintained that it was an entirely new comet that had never been used before. Quite a number of other comets have appeared and disappeared, which is a way comets have of doing when they get near enough the earth to discover bow much gall and unreason there is among the inhabitants. The present comet will probably follow their ex ample as soon as it has a chance to read the daily papers.—Texas Sif tings. Japanese women put up their hair with wooden, ivory or tortoise-shell pins, seven or eight inches in length and fully half an inch wide. The pins are usually carved, and are often capped with pivoted figures that dance with every motion of the wearer. a verdict agreed to without a di sentient voice. Yet, viewed impartially, there were a good many circumstances against him, the prime one being that he was poor. Then he belonged to an Irish family so commonplace that its mem bers did not even try to establish a line of direct ancestry with the ancient kings. On the other hand he was young, strong, well-built, nandsome as men go, pushing and energetic, though romantic and fanciful too, with the happy national faculty of making the best of things and seeing the light in dark places, with brains he was at once too shrewd and too genuine to let lie fallow, and, finally, was a man who could not vegetate; also he had been taken up, enthu siastically taken up, by the great Serjeant Ryder, Q. C. And there lay the prime factor of Donovan’s “luck.” In the same orbit of society in which the Serjeant moved there was no more brilliant star than Rosa, Lady Gilder- dale. She was a handsome and wealthy widow, old enough to be sensible, young enough to be charming, under standing the dual arts of dressing and entertaining to perfection, and more over a woman of such strong and genuine stuff that a dozen years of ordinary fashionable frivolity had not frittered away her brains. Lady Gil- derdale liked people who were some bodies. “Lights,” literary, forensic, artistic and musical—all were alike fish that came to her ladyship’s cos mopolitan net. And she had the art of drawing together people who never clashed with each other. People who as a rule rather shirked “society” came to her, and of these Serjeant Ryder was one. And with him mostly came George Donovan, for, as a second piece of luck. Lady Gilderdale had taken a fancy to him. Tne season was at its height, and Lady Gilderdale was in her glory; one of her most successful “evenings” was in full swing. All her invited “lions” had come, and had, in their various ways, exhibited themselves with affa bility. Lady Gilderdale, standing in a curtained doorway, which com manded the full suite of rooms, was imparting her satisfaction thereat to her particular friend, Mrs. Charlcote. Her ladyship was looking her hand somest and brightest, and, as always, was perfectly dressed. Mrs. Charl cote, a smaller, slighter woman, passee now, hut who had once been very pret ty, wearing a tasteful mourning gown of black and white, looked, as she always did, gentle, quiet, refined, and a little depressed. She, too, was a widow. Her ladyship looked about her wPh a pleasurable satisfaction. How well dear Mary is looking to night!” she said, suddenly. “She was always pretty, but I really think she improves every time I see "her. I sup pose”—in an amused tone—“that some credit must be allowed to the charm of propinquity. Young Donovan is very devoted.” “Yes,” said Mrs. Charlcote, for the moment ceasing to smile. Both, as they spoke, had glanced across to another recess, where a white-gowned girl was seated on a capacious ottoman with a young man beside her—a very pretty girl, whose plentilul hair, long lashes, and large eyes were all of the same soft, hazel tint, and who had the purest of lovely milk-and-roses complexions. The man, whose smooth, conventionally-crop ped dark head was bent so closely to her little ear, showed as he glanced up a face whose principal claim to strict beauty lay in the deep, purple-gray Irish eyes. But for the lurking smile in these eyes, the general expression of the face might have been pro nounced too grave and fixed for so young a man. Most people who looked at hiiii looked again for there was pow er, character in George Donovan’s face. His look was not grave or fixed now, for he was talking to the girl with whom he was in love, and more over, with a girl whom he knew was in love with him. •‘You don’t seem to like it, Emily,” said Lady Gilderdale, frankly, follow ing her friends glance and noting her sudden gravity. “Surely you like w j ^ good-humored frank determination to • George Donovan?” be somebody one day. Essentially be | (coxtinckd on fourth faoe.J