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The Cedartown Advertiser.
Published every Thursday by T>. B. FREEMAN.
Terms: 01.50 per annum, in advance.
OLD SERIES-VOL. YII-NO. 6.
CEDARTOWN, GA., APRIL 22, 18S0.
NEW SERIES-VOL. II-NO. 19.
CHARITY.
There's not that differenoe in the scale
Of Luman life, that some pretend ;
The cock may flaunt a rainbow tail.
And be a cockerel to the end.
Up from the earth alike we come ;
To Mother Earth alike we tenl ;
One path we tread ; one common home,
Invites us at the journey’s end.
* High born’ or low ; *tis all the same ;
Who follows best God's righteous plan,
For boneat living beat may claim,
The title of a nobleman.
Ere while frem yonder crawling worm,
.^n airy form of beauty spr ngs 1
£o many an humble human form,
But half conceals the augel wings.
Eot’e have a care, then, how we tread,
Le t we despoil some humble friend,
1 hat by a different path is led,—
Whcse life we cannot comprehend.
And if, perchance, some brother stray,
Frorp-,wisdom’s straight.snd narrow track :
Though priest and Lfeyite turn'away,
Be it ours to lead the wand'rer back.
One may be weak, another strong ;
E’eii honest men do-em most blindly *,
Yet, though the deed itself be wrong,
’Iwere well to judge the motive kinily.
Forgiveness.
A BUort winter efteraoon wa9 fast deep
ening into twilight, and the snow, that had
been threatening all day, was beginning to
tOBB about the first of its white favors, as a
lady stood at a large casement anxiously
gazing across., the valley on the cedar-
fringed mountain road opposite.
She was apparently about twenty-five
years pf.age, with.soft..gray eyes and a clear
though pale complexion. "Could she have
been transported to Chestnut Street or
Broadway, with the accompaniments of
crimps, rats, turban and pheasant wiDg, she
might have passed for scarcely twenty; hut
here at home, in her soft lavender dress
which harmonized so well with the shining
brown hair plainly braided hack from her
face, and the tiny blue bow at her throat,
the five years seemed rather to be cn the
other side. But her countenance was not
dependent for its charm on either youth or
beauty; but one of those quiet home faces,
which as the years pass along, gather by
the side of sick-beds, over cradles—and it
may he over graves—a beauty which the
evanescent glow of youth rarely equals. Bo
at least thought Dr. Aslilcy, when three
yearB before, he took her from the village
school, and the tuition of rough miner’s
children, to he the light and comfort of his
home. . ,
It is for him that she is straining her
eyes with looking into the darkness, and a
glad smile rises to her face as something
moves among the cedars, clatters across the
bridge in the valley where the village lights
are already twinkling, and a moment later
the well-known gig rattles up to the door.
He was only a rough old country doctor,
this husband of Lucy ABlilcy, hut to her he
■was a hero—demigod—the representative of
nil that is noble and good iu manhood.
known you; but I should, pet; 1 would
have found you out somehow, and then
you might have had silk dresses, and all
manner of fine things as other ladies have. ”
‘‘I don’t want them,” she answered
quietly. “I would much rather that you
would let me have that little babf hoy.”
“That is perfectly ridiculous!” he ex
claimed. “Why should you wish to take
upon yourself that burden?” But noticing
the expression of her face (he had seen too
much of the maternal instinct in his profes
sion not to know wliat it nw»nt) he relent
ed. “Well, my dear, as you desire it so
much I wish you could have him. What
ever makes the woman so stubborn ? Tardy
justice is better than none at all. And I
solemnly declare that unless she sends that
paper, which I have every reason to sup
pose was in her husband’s possession,
neither the mother nor the child shall cross
my threshold.”
This seemed to end the discussion, and,
for a long time Lucy sat looking into the
fire. At last raising her eyes pleadingly,
she said: “Robert, you won’t like my say
ing this, and I dont like to seem as though
I were preaching, but all day as though
they were written on my brain, 1 have seen
.the words: “If you forgiva not men their
trespasses'
A loud knocking interrupted the sent
ience. A tali miner stood at the door ask
ing for the doctor.
“What is the matter ?” asked the doctor,
who was already drawing on his overcoat.
“Bill Barton's child has gots fits—two
miles t’other side of Lenuox Bluff ”
All right! Ill be there as soon as pos
sible.
The hardnes had all vanished from his
manner ■ again, he w T as the sympathizing
physician as he turned to his wife say nig.
“Goodnight, Lucy, do not sit up; I may
not be in much before morning. This
poor child has been subject to these at
tacks from her birth. I fear each will be
the last.”
After his departure, Lucy sat a long time
gazing thoughtfully into the fire. “There
is no use hunting tne garret again,” Bhc
mused. “It is only in stories that missing
wills and deeds are found in old furniture.
So, having sent her little maid to bed, and
prepared some fragrant chocolate, setting it
where it would simmer slowly till the doc
tor’s return, she resumed her seat by the
fire, and her sad mediations.
Meanwhile Doctor Ashly pursued his
journey through the stormy night, and
those last words spoken by his wife were
exerting a spell on him too. The mountain
wind, rushing through the cedars, seemed
to sing in trumpet tones, “If ye forgive
not,” while on every hand the dry tongued
laurels whispered “forgive, forgive!”
Arrived at his destination, he found the
little patient better, lying pale and ex
hausted oa her mother’s lap. The paro
xism was over—the danger was passed
once more, and the mother expressed real
sorrow for having brought the doctor out in
the storm.
“Oh, no matter about that!” he an
swered, hastily; then, after preparing a
composing draught, he bade them good-
and love at last. But not for long, for
when the snowdrifts melted btneath an
April m9l she too vanished from the earth,
gladly going to rejoin her husband.
Tears have passed; the doctor’s step is
not quite so firm as of old, and some silver
hairs hare found their way among Lucy’s
shining braids. But Robbie, or the young
doctor, a3 they call him now, is the com
fort of his uncle’s declining years, and the
very pride and joy of Aunt Lucy’s heart.
The Conquest of the Mule.
A Notable Wager.
And, indeed, we might make heroes of
worse material than of some of those ( — - , , j
bronzed and weather-beaten disciples of the j W*, and ’ started u P oa hls honieward
hC !^ iD f livL'r m- J But Uic thoughts from which lie would
■cold, day or night, spend their lives iu at
'tending suffering humanity.
“Waiehing, Lucy?” cried the cheery
voice, as having shaken off. the feathery
snowflakes the doctor entered the casement
which she held open for him.
It was a very plain room; deriving the
most of its charm from the white cur.ains,
fragrant plants, and neatly arranged tea-
table, yet pervaded by an air of comfort
..which in, more luxurious apartments is
’"often lacking. '
After the pleasant tea was over and the
doctor established in dressing-gown and
slippers by the fireside (a position lie might
possibly hold throughout the evening, but
from whence it was more probably that he
■would soon he called to drive six or eight
miles over the mountains), Lucy brought
her low chair and her knitting and sat be
side him. Evidently she had something of
importance to say, for her work progressed
tfltfiilly, till at last throwing it down in des
peration,- and raising her eyes, she ex
claimed, hurriedly, ns though the subject
was disagreeable and must he gotten
through quickly:
“Robert, another letter came to-day from
iMiA Hervjy. ”
“To you?”
“Yes; at least addressed to me, though
of course it concerns you more nearly. I’ll
bring it”
“Mo,” 6aid he, detaining her. “I dont
care to see it. I suppose it is only a reas-
sertion of her husband’s innocence?”
“Tes, principally; she says that his last
wvrds were, 'ask Cous n Robert to forgive
me for these years of estrangement, and tell
Jdm, on the word of a dying man, that I
know nothing of the deed which has
■caused, all the trouble.”
“I've heard all that before I Had the wo
tt»»i sent the deed it would have made a
difference ; but as she won’t, why should
she presume to trouble you about it?"
“I suppose she thought tiiat I could plead
Jier cause better than herself, and indeed
iRobert, I cannot help thinking that there
may have been some mistake. Another
reason is, she says, that she is herself sink
ing rapidly, that she has no relations in the
world, and asks us to receive her little
lx>y, who is your namesake. She adds
that if she only could get your forgiveness
to carry to her husband, she would
be willing to travel on foot lay her baby
In my arms, and die.
“Nonsense!” exclaimed the doctor. She
need do nothing more melodramatic than
sending on the deed. And as for her hus
band, if he has God's forgiveness ho does
not need mine. I tell you, Lucy, that man
injured me more than j t ou eon understand;
lmt for him, I might now be in possession
of a lucrative city practice, instead of drag
ging out a beggarly existence among these
hills.”
“But I would never have known you,
then,” And Lucy, laying her clasped hands
on hi* knefi.
“Which mean*, I suppose,” he rejoined,
smiling and smoothing hack a stray tress
grom '■bet' face, “that I would Q8Ter have
gladly have been free were only interrupted
not dispelled. Again the unseen spirit
voices seemed to whisper around him, and
memory went back to his childhood, when
blue-eyed Cousin Fred was his dearest
companion. He thought of the green
summer davB when, together, they had
fished in the old millpond, and sailed mimic
boats under the willows. Then, of the old
college times, when the gay young student
had clung to him as unto an elderly brother.
And now! Ah! now he was dead.
The storm had increased in violence, but
the doctor scarcely heeded it, for remorse
was kuawing like bitter hunger at his
heart. Away to the right he heard, above
the noise of the elements, the shrill whistle
of a midnight train. The startling cry,
that clearer than clan call, or blast of toc
sin, reminds the lonely of the great brother
hood of man. It aroused the doctor from
his musings. He remembered that half an
hour ago, a train arrived in the village be
hind him, but, having overtaken no travel-
lie felt thankful that no one had to seek
his home among the hills to-night. A
moment later he saw something directly in
front of him.
Only a cedar bush,” lie reasoned:
but watching closely, he saw it waver more
and more, and at last sink down upon the
snow.
As he sprung from his sleigh he heard a
low moan, and hurrying forward, ho found
a sad sight, a woman completely paralyzed
with cold and weakness, and in her arms,
closely pressed against her bosom, an un
conscious, sleeping babe. He placed them
hastily in his sleigh, and five minutes later,
Lucy by her fireside was startled by an un
wanton noise at the door.
“It is well you’re up, Lucy!” exclaimed
the doctor, as he came in with his burden;
“get some water, quick!” Lucy hastily
brought the necessary remedies, and while
the doctor applied them, she took the now
wakened babe, warmed him, gave him
drink of warm milk, hushed him to sleep
again, and placed him snugly in bed. At
last tile patient opened her eyes. “Oh,
whore am 1 ?” she cried; “where is
Robbie?”
“He is safe,” replied Lucy, holding
warm wine to her lips; “he Js sleeping
sweetly.”
Having revived a little more, she re
sumed: “I cannot thank you enough for
yonr kindness to a stranger, but if you
will tell me where Dr. Ashley lives I will
be going, I must reach there to-night. I
came in tke train, but I must have mis
taken the direction. ”
“You are thoro now. I am Doctor
Ashley.”
“Are you indeed?” exclaimed the poor
creature. “Oh, will you forgive me for
coming !. I could do nothing else.”
“Forgive yon!” cried the doctor, with a
great sob in his voice. “Ah, Mary, if for
Fred’s sako you will forgive, it is enough
mine has been the sin of remorsless cru
elty.”
So the poor wanderer had found home
Tho western pack-mule is small, sinewy,
and, like old Joey Bagstock; tough, oir,
tough! but de-e-vlish sly I ” Most of them
are bred from Indian ponies and are born
on the open plains. Having previously
been lassoed and branded, when three
years old they are driven (or inveigled)
into a coral and exhibited for sale at bron
chos. An untamed horse is a model of
gentleness beside them. Sometimes they
are accustomed at once to the saddle by one
of those wonderful riders who can stick on
the back of anything that runs, and more
rarely they are broken to harness; but or
dinarily tlieir backs are trained to bear the
pack, which is generally the only practica
ble method of transporting freight through
these rugged mountains. The first time
the pack-saddles are put on, the excitement
may be imagined. The green mule, strong
in his youth, having been adroitly “roped”
or lassoed, is led out into an open space,
stepping timidly, but, not seeing any cause
for alarm, quietly; before he understands
what it all means, he finds that a noose of
the rawhide lariat about his neck has been
slipped over ins nose, and discovers that liis
tormentors have an advantage. He pulls,
shakes his head, stands upright on opposite
ends, but ail to no avail. The harder he
pulls, the tighter the noose pinches his
nostrils, so at last he ecmes down and
keeps still. Then a man approaches slow
ly and circumspectly, holding behind him
a leather blinder which he seeks to slip
over the mule’s eyes. But two long ears
stand in the way, and the first touch of the
leather is the signal for two jumps—one by
the beast and one by the man, for packers
are wise enough iu tlieir day and genera
tion to fight shy of the business end of a
mule. The next attempt is less a matter of
caution and more of strength, and here the
animal has so much advantage that often it
must be lassoed again and thrown to the
ground. It is a fine sight to witness the
indignation of such a fellow 1 He falls
heavily, yet holds his head high and essays
to rise. But his fore feet are manacled by-
ropes and his head is fast. Yet lie will
shake almost free, get upon ins hind-feet,
stand straight up and dash down with all
his weigtit iu futile efforts for liberty. Se
cured with more ropes, allowed but three
legs to stand upon and cursed frightfully,
he must submit, though he never does it
with good grace. It « not always, how
ever, that this extremity is resortod to.
Some animals make little resistance while
the strange thing is being put upon tlieir
backs and the fastenings adjusted—all hut
one; but when an effort is made to put
that institution called a crupper under a
young mule’s tail, language fails to express
the character of the kicking I The light
heels describe an arc from the ground to
ten feet above it and then strike out at a
tangent. They cut through the air like
whip-lashes and w*uld penetrate an impe
diment like bullets. But even mule-flesh
tires. Strategy wins. The crupper is
gamed and the first hard pull made upon
the flinch (as the girth is termed!, which
holds firmly every liair-hreath, and will
finally crease the contour of the mule’s
belly' into the semblance of Cupid’s bow.
But this one pull suffices to set him spring
ing again—bucking, now, with arched back
and head between his knees, landing on
stiff legs to jar liis burden off, or falling
full weight ou hi9 side and rolling over to
scrape it free. He will sit on his haunches
and hurl himself backward; will duck his
head and turn a somersault; finally will
stand still, trembling with anger and ex
haustion, and let you lead him away, con
quered. _
The life of Ben. Perley Poore has been
an eventful one, and his warm friendship
for Charles Summer and other prominent
men has closely connected him with public
events. Maj. Poore was a great dinner-out,
and a frequent guest of Gen. Burnside. His
round form and florid complexion tell that
he is a high liver. He is short in stature
and weighs 270 ‘pounds. In conversation
the other day, his wife related an old story
of her husband. During Pierce’s canvass
for the presidency, Maj. Poore, then a
young man, w'agered with a friend living in.
Boston that Pierce would not be elected. 1
He agreed if he lost the bet to wheel a
barrel of apples from his home, 30 miles
distant, through the streets of Boston to his
friend's door. The election came off, and
the friend held the major to his wager.
Mrs. Poore thought It too severe a task,
and begged her husband to have the barrel
sent in a wagon. The major was too con
scientious to do that, and insisted on ful
filling his wager. He went to a neighbor
ing farm and bought the fullest, barrel of
apples to be had. Witnesses saw that the
barrel was well and closely packed. He
put on a pair of snuff-colored pants, tucked
into his heavy farm boots, a velvet vest, a
jacket and a large red felt iiat some one had
sent him from California. Thui arrayed,
he started at daybreak for Boston, wheel
ing his heavy load on a wheelbarrow. His
wife sent a man with a wagon after him,
so that in case lie gave out, there would be
some one at hand to help him. After the
sun was up the country people began to
pass him as he trudged along, perspiring and
dusty. Each one offered him a lift or tried
to persuade him to give up tne job. He
kept on 15 miles, tired and sore, then he
concluded to put his apples iu a farmer’s
barn and go back home for the night, and
start afresh the next morning. He rode
home and was glad to rest. He was sore
and bruised, but after a good rubbing and
a night’s rest he was able to proceed with
his task. By this time the people along the
road heard of his coming and they gather
ed together to meet him. Boys followed
him and women stood at their door to see
him go by. There was great excitement,
and the news soon traveled to Boston. It
reached the ears of the authorities. They
sent him word not to enter the city in the
evening, but to stop outside and come in
the morning. A few miles from Boston
hi stopped over night. The next morning
on the outskirts of the city lie was met by
a large crowd of people and a brass band.
He was escorted by this procession through
the principal streets of the city to his
friend’s home and from there to the Tre-
ment house to a $600 breakfast. He had
accomplished his feat and was amply re
paid by the reception and breakfast given
him by the city authorities. It was many
days before he could appear without being
stopped and asked “if he was the man who
rolled a barrel of apples through the streets
of Boston.”
empty pockets and register as a guest. That
is, men who cannot give good references or
reasonable excuses for being ‘dead broke. ’
We have guests here every day who have
been robbed or lost their money or been
swindled or something of the sort, but they
can send home for funds or give security.
No, the out-and-out hotel beat has money,
but tries to beat us on general principles.
He goes on the theory that every hotel owes
lnm a living, and he is a hard bird to catch.
He dresses well, seems to have plenty of
money, calls for the best, and is gone before
you even become suspicious. Few of them
ever come back on the second visit, and our
only revenge is to give them away to some
other hotel men. The system of passing a
dead-beat from man to man is now so per
fect that the professional dead-beat has al
most been driven to the wall.”
Tlie Baobab Tree and Frntt.
The Czar's Tenants.
Men Who Keep Hotels.
Monkey-bread grows on an enormous tree
called baobab; botanically named for
Adanson, a French botanist. The tree is a
native of Senegal, in Africa; also found on
the hanks of the white Nilq. It has been
raised in England from the seed, and in
India. At Alipore, near Calcutta, there is
one whose trunk measures in some places
over sixty feet in circumference. The
lieigM*«f baobab is not in proportion to its
diameter. It has very long roots, seeming
to lik*he earth better than do many trees.
•They have been measured cue hundred feet
laid bare and were doubless much longer
still. The lower branches of the tree bend
to the ground, almost concealing the trunk.
They have large, dark-green, abundant
leaves. The flower is large and white, its
■stamens gathered into a tube below, and
spreading like an umbrella above. The
tree is muciiagiuous in all its parts, the
fruit being, the most useful. It is, for what
reason cannot be ascertained, called Mon
key-bread. It measures from nine, to twelve
inches long, and four in diameter, at the
middle, being rather pointed at each end.
It has a brownish color when ripe. The
pulp is ‘slightly acid; that between the
seeds tastes like cream tartar, and is used
for fevers. Strong cords are made from
the hark of the tree. The baobab was long
thought to be the largest tree in the world.
The discovery of the mammoth sequoias iu
California has proven the mistake of this
supposition. Livingstone judged a baobab
which he examined, in Africa, to be at
least, 1,400 years old. The tree is not easy
to destroy, but it is subject to a natural
disease, a sort of correspondence to what is
called brain softening. Can it be that this
vegetable giant becomes dizzy with its
grandeur and superiority, and thus grows
both vain and weak ? it is sometimes easy
for imagination to invest inanimate life
with soul-life; and what man shall sjy
where tho mys' eriou3 lines of distinction
begin or end iu the divine plan and fulfill
ment ? It is a question often asked before
—one that sounds unreasonable, chimerical;
but God has so constituted the human mind
as to give it the impulse and curiosity of
inquiry. The baobab tree appears to have
a positive limit for its age. It will sickeu
and die by a softening process, finally fall
ing. by its own weight, into a ruined heap.
The tnmk is usually hollow. Executed
criminals, to whom the law denies rites of
Firemen's Horses.
“Beg pardon, but you are mistaken in
the hotel! You don’t want to stop at this
house.”
These words were uttered by the proprie
tor of a Detroit hotel one day last week to ^ ; have been entombed in these
a stranger who had picked up a pen and | * .
An Avalanclio in Nevada.
An avalanche recently occurred on the
slope of the Sierras in Nevada by which
three men were instantly swept away and
buried, and a fourth dangerously wounded.
The slide occurred at the head of Marlette
Canyon, near the mouth of the tunnel of
the water company. Five men—McLane,
Kennedy, Birney, McCaul and Tait—start
ed on a recent occasion to go up the
mountain to work. Tait told the others
that he feared there would be a snow-slide,
as the conditions were favorable. Soon
after the snow was seen to start over a
large space on the side of the mountain at
the head of Marlette Canyon, and in an in
stant the avalanche was upon them. Tait
saved himself by a stump and hanging on
like “grimdeath.” McLane, Kennedy and
Birney were swept away and buried under
the snow. McCaul was swept about fifty
yards and was found by Tait buried to the
shoulders, the snow so tightly packed
about him that he could not move his hands
or arms. A hat belonging to one of the
others was found some distance below
where McCaul was discovered, and this was
the only trace of them that was to be seen.
About fifty woodchoppers were soon on the
ground and engaged in searching lor the
missing men, but at last accounts none of
them had been found. Some are of the
opinion that the todies will not be found
until the snow melts off in tho spring, as
Marlette Capyon is said to be filled up to
its full width for a considerable distance.
It was a slide of the dry, new snow, which
had fallen upon the crust that covered the
old snow. The stump behind which Tait
took shelter was not so large but that he
was able to clasp his hand around it and
in this position he held on until the slide
had passed over him.
He Forgot Them.
There was an alarm of fire the other
night, and Mr. Tolimglower, of Union
street, being awakened by tke noise of the
bells, sprang hastily from his bed, and
thrust his head out of the window. A man
was rushing by, and Mr. Tolimglower
hailed him with.
“Whash isli sliwire?”
The man stopped in his mad speed, and
yelled, “What?”
“Whash ish shwire?” repeated Mr. Tol
imglower, craning his head still further out
of the window, and scanning the darkened
heavens anxiously.
“I don’t know what you’re talking
about,” shouted the man, beginning to get
his legs ready for another run.
“Ish shez whash ish shwire—crash shut-
tersthash!” yelled Mr. Tolimglower in a
rage.
“Oh, go swallow yourself,” muttered the
man, darting off with an exclamatory
“fire!”
And just as Mr. Tolimglower was going
to shriek after him a wrathful malediction,
his wife touched him on the shoulder and
handed him his false teeth, which he had
forgotten in his excitement to put on. And
when. Mr, Tolimglower had donned that
most essential portion of his wardrobe, he
was enabled to shout to a passing boy, in a
perfectly intelligible manner:
“Where is the fire ?”
started to register his name.
The man stepped back, looked first" as
tonished and then indignant, and after the
two had stared steadily at each other for
twenty seconds, the stranger laid down the
pen and walked out of the house without a
word.
“Rather cool, I admit,” explained the
hotel man, “but that fellow is a beat.—
Five years ago come next month, he beat
this house out of three days’ board.”
“And you remember him?”
“In an instant. He has grown a full set
of whiskers since then, and is, of course,
five years older, but I remember that nose.
I never forget a face, and I can call 5,000
travelers by name.
“If a detective strikes three cases out ol
five where he has to identity faces, he is
lucky,” continued mine host, “but if we
did not do better than that we should make
no profits. I take an inventory of every
face. Some are so peculiar as a whole that
they are never forgotten. Many faces have
the same general expression. In such
cases you must look for a squint in the eye,
something peculiar about the nose and
mouth, a limp in the gait, a peculiarity iu
the speech, and even the teeth are not to
be overlooked. I can mark my man while
he is registering. Fean tell the moment he
begins to write-his name whether it is his
own cognomen or one borrowed for the oc
casion. Hundreds of men travel under as
sumed names. Some do not want to be
published in hotel reports; others are on
private business whicn they do not wish ex
posed; others are private detectives, and
others still up to trickeiy of some sort! It
is by no means a sign that a man means to
beat his hotel bill because he takes another
name, and it is seldom that we consider that
a point against a guest.”
“As to my memory of faces,” continued
tho landlord, “I had a test case recently.
Some four or five years ago a stranger
jumped the house on a two day’s board bill.
He returned the other day, greatly changed,
and to be remembered only by a little red
scar on one side of his nose. When he
called for his one day’s bill I added the old
account. He looked the figures over, hesi
tated, looked at me, and paid the whole
without a word. I was prepared to give
the number of "the room he occupied, the
hour ho came and the color of the coat he
had on.”
“In the reading and smoking rooms and
the office,” said the host, as ho looked
around, “are fifty strangers. More are
coming and going all the time. Now you
would think it very easy to sly up stairs or
come down and go out and not be seen by
any of the employes, but many have tried
it to their cost. There are three of us here
in the office most of the time, and porters
and bell boys have their eyes abodt them.
Men do come and go and never dream that
their movements are noticed. They are
hone6t men and a glance at them is enough.
Let a person not registered here come in
and go up stairs, and in two minutes we
will know his business. Ho has either
called upon a friend or he is up to mischief.
It won’t take thirty seconds lor word to
come down here as to what room he has
entered.”
No, we hardly ever ask a person to pay
in advance,” he replied to the question.
‘It would be no insult on an honest man,
but yet it is not the rule, I believe. I do
not get mistaken in my man more than
once in 5,000 times. You or any other
man stopping here with money to pay your
bill have a freedom of mind and body which
cannot be assumed. You come and go,
take everything easy, and call for your bill
when ready to leave. The penniless man
who tries to assume that easy demeanor al
ways overdoes it. It is a part which few
actors could play with success. A man
coming here without baggage will generally
tender his money in advance il he has it.
If ho is penniless, he will most always
state the fact, and give his excuses and
promises.
♦‘The regular hotel beat is not the penni
less man, it takes more nerve than most
men have got te walk into a hotel with
trunks. The bodies soon withered and be
came dry like mummies.
In the time of Nicholas, the father of the
present Czar, a number of sentries were
posted on the roof to guard against fire or
foeS. Finding the climate up there not
altogether so comfortable as could be wished,
this permanent watch at length contrived to
convey on to the roof the materials for a
number of huts or cabins, which iu course
of time they erected under the shelter of the
chimney stacks. So snug and cozy did
they manage to make themselves that it at
length occurred to the married men among
them that, as there was plenty of room up
there, they might as well enlarge their
establishment. Accordingly wives and
families, one after another, found their way
out on to the imperial leads. Several of
the single members of the guard, finding
such a tempting opportunity of setting up
housekeeping economically, took wives to
themselves, and after a while quite a con
siderable colony had sprung up. How far
the development might have gone on if the
individuals composing this parasitic little
village had been reasonably cautious and
careful in their behavior it is difficult to
guess; but the establishment of families
among the chimneys of the palace led grad
ually to the accumulation of domestic ani
mals. Fowls multiply amazingly, and
goats become numerous and flourish so well
in the bracing atmosphere that at length it
was suggested that a cow might convenient
ly be added to the farm stock. How the
animal was elevated we are not informed,
but it is stated as a fact that it was by some
means hoisted to the roof, and was event
ually the ruin of the community. The
lowing of the cow came to certain official
ears, and led to an investigation and the
total breaking up of the queer society.
Even at that time it is said that the Russian
emperor felt so little confidence in his per
sonal security that nobody ever knew in
which bedroom he was going to sleep. A
large number was always kept ready and
unoccupied, and at bedtime the Czar would
quietly slip into one of them selected at the
moment. The Winter Palace is described
as the largest palace in the world, being
one-third larger than that of the Emperor of
Austria, and unsurpassed in point of splen
dor. It is the residence of the Czar and his
court during the winter, and stands on the
left bank of the Neva, on the site of a house,
which in the reign of Peter the Great be
longed to his high admiral. Count Apraxin,
who bequeathed it to Emperor Peter II.
It was so completely destroyed by fire in
1847 that it was necessary to rebuild it, and
one of the not least remarkable facts con
nected with it is that its present form was
the work of two short years. Custine gives
a terrible description of the rise of this
monstrous citadel. In order to complete
the task at the time appointed by the Czar,
the interior works were continued during
the great frosts; and when the thermometer
outside was thirty deg. below zero of
Reaumur, 6,000 workman were daily shut
up in halls heated to thirty deg. of Reaumur
iu order that the walls might dry the quick
er; so that these poor wretches had to en
dure a difference of sixty deg. of tempera
ture. No wonder a considerable number
of them died daily; and it is said that those
who were engaged to paint the interior of
the most heated halls were obliged to place
on their heads a kind of bonnet of ice in
order to preserve use of their senses under
the burning temperature.
The Old-Fashioned Cotillion.
An Honest Miner.
If you go iuto a mining district in Corn
wall, England, you will see, not far from
the mine works, rows of neat little cottages;
most of them extremely clean in the in
terior, and here the miners may be found
seated at comfortable fires, frequently-read
ing, or in the summer evenings working in
their little gardens or in the potato fields.
Frequently they become experienced flori
culturists, and at the flower shows that
occur arnually in several of tbe Cornish
towns they often carry off the prizes. A
pleasing anecdote is recorded of the honesty
of a poor Cornish miner. There lived at
St. Ives a lady named Prudence Worth,
whose charity was remarkable. A miner
living at Camborne had his goods seized
for rent, which Le could not pay. He had
heard of the many good deeds done by
“Madam” Worth, as she was usually called,
and he determined to apply to her for as
sistance. He’said:
“Madam, I have come to you in great
trouble. My goods are seized for rent, and
they will be sold if I can not get the money
immediately.”
“Where do you live?” inquired Mrs.
Worth.
In Camborne, and I work in Stray Park
Mine.
Perhaps the only cld-la3hioned dance
that survives is the cotillion. The dance is
full of Spanish grace. In South America
they introduce some odd tricks into their
dancing. Ladies fill empty egg shells with
eau de cologne and carry them to the ball;
there they break them upon the heads of
the gentlemen. It is meant as a challenge.
The gentleman who receives this moist tri
bute is bound in gallantry to find out the
lady and return the compliment. Another
trick is for a young man to go behind a
girl, place his sombrero directly over her
head, letting it fall over her eyes, and then
to spring back among the dancers. If the
girl throws off the hat it means that she can
dispense with any attention the gentleman
would like to pay to her, and he is obliged
to pick up his hat amid a general laugh.
If the hat is retained, then at the end of the
dance the owner claims it from the lady
and with it her hand the rest of the even
ing. The cotillion is clearly based on
fancies of this kind. The introduction of
the chair, the seating of a lady, the presen
tation of the gentleman, the blindfolding of
a gentleman, with a lady on either side of
him, and his hazardous choice of one of
them as a partner, are distinctly Southern
elements, giving graceful life and laughter
to the waltzing accompaniment. This sur
vives, but the other dances are ended.
Whether they are worth reviving is a ques-
The horses stand in stalls in the rear end
of the main room. There is nothing re
markable about these stalls except that they
are kept absolutely clean, and are so ar
ranged that the horse faces the front door.
Their hitching straps terminate in rings,
which are fastened to the side of each stall
by a bolt so ingeniously contrived that the
same electric current that sounds the alarm
draws the bolts and frees the horses. The
instant they hear the stroke of the gong
they jump from their stalls and clatter over
the resonant floor to their places, under the
shafts of the tender and on either side of
the engine pole. “Firemen take great
pride in their horses,” said an Assistant
Foreman, “There is great rivalry in the de
partment, and a company’s reputation de
pends in a great measure upon its possess
ing quick, intelligent beasts. We find that
so far as intelligence goes, horses are very
'much like human beings. Some are am
bitious, quick, and as anxious to have
everything work smoothly as the firemen
themselves. The department purchases
good animals, and pays more for them, I
believe, than any ordinary purchaser might
be willing to give. Every horse is taken
on probation and sent to the company that
needs him, with the understanding that he
be returned if he does not give satisfaction.
The dealer also agrees to take the horse
back if unsatisfactory. We can teach
a good horse all that he needs to know in a
week. If he is not both bright and willing
we do not waste time over him. Fire
companies often try a dozen horses before
they accept one. A horse sometimes learn
learns what to do, but proves unreliable,
or insists upon walking slowly to his place.
It is the never-failing horse that goes for
the pole with full fore e that is accepted.
“It is difficult to say how long they last.
Some last eight or ten years, others two or
three years, and others still are ruined al
most "directly. They are liable to meet
with accidents while running at great speed
through the streets.”
£ Our informant said that the train
ing and readiness of the horses enable
the men to leave the engine house in eleven
seconds after an alarm, and often in less
time. On exhibition time, when the fire
men are all prepared for the alarm, the
men and engine can be started out of the
building within six seconds after an alarm.
The Foreman corroborated this statement,
and kindly volunteered to permit the re
porter to time the performance. The fire
men at the time were scattered through tho
apartments, up stairs, and down stairs, and
only two or three could have overheard the
conversation. The Foreman struck the
big gong. It had been quiet in the house,
but instantly there arose a confusion of
loud sounds. Firemen ran in from the
street door, down from up stairs, up from
down stairs, and toward the engine from
every direction. Only one fireman did not
move, who sat at the desk. Ordinarily
he would have been as bu3y as the others.
The instant the gong sounded three of
the horses bounded from their stalls and
thundered across the floor to the engine
and in places beneath the harness, which
hung by many cords from the ceiling. A
fireman snapped the patent clasp of the
collars, clasped another strap between each
horse’s belly, and stepped to one side while
the driver pulled a cord that detached the
ropes from the harness, and that, at the
same time opened the great front doors.
In the rear the harness that is kept fasten
ed to the shafts of the tender, was fitted to
the third horse with equal rapidity. Time
—Seven seconds.
A second time the obliging firemen per
formed this feat, but this time the faces of
people at the window startled a horse, and
two SBeonds were lost. Finally, on the
third trial, every man and horse was in his
place within six seconds after the alarm.
“I know nothing of you,” observed the
lady, and you may be a drunkard or an tion for girls to decide. At all events, one
imposter.” may believe a girl could never look more
“Madam,” replied the miner, with ! picturesque than when engaged in one of
energy, “as I live, I am neither; and if j these old-fashioned dances, just as it is cer
you will lend me the money, I will return | tain that a girl is never seen to worse ad
it in four months.” ! vantage than when she has released herself
The money was lent, the period of four from the grip of a man, after a long, pant-
months elapsed, and, true to his promise,
llle poor miner, notwithstanding that bad
luck had attended him, had managed to
get the amount borrowed together, and set
off on foot with it. Arriving at Hayle
River, he found tho tide coming up, but to
save a journey of three miles round by St.
Erith Bridge, he resolved to cross the
water, which appeared to him shallow
enough for this purpose. Tho poor fellow
had, however, misealeu
and was drowned. When tho body
was brought to shore, his wife said that he
had left home with three guineas in his
pocket for Madam Worth. Search was
made in his pockets, and no money was
found, but some one observed that his right
hand was firmly clinched. It was opened,-
and found to contain the three guineas.
ing, and perspiring waltz, as this dance is
now performed.
Wine at Uinner.
Briefly, the rule, by general gastronomic
consent for those who indulge in the luxury
of wiue, is to offer a glass of light pale
sherry or dry Sauterne after soup; a delicate
Rhine wine, if required, after fish; a glass
. . _ of Bordeaux with the joint of mutton; the
however, miscalculated the depth, same or champagne—dry, but with some
true vinous character in it, and not the
tasteless spirit and water just now enjoying
an evanescent popularity—during the en
trees; the best red wine in the cellar, Bor
deaux or Burgundy, with grouse or other
roast game; and—but this ought to suffice
even for that exceptional individual who is
supposed to be little if at all injured by
“moderate potations.” With the ice or
desert, a glass of full-flavored, but matured
champagne or a liquor may be served; but
at this point dietetic admonitions are out of
place, and we have already sacrificed to
luxury. The value of a cigarette at this
moment is that with the first whiff of its
fragrance the palate ceases to demand either
food or wine. After a smoke the power to
appreciate good wine is lost, and no judic
ious host cares to open a fresh bottle from
his best bin for the smoker, nor will the
former be blamed by any man for a disin
clination.
“Can’t go Back on Lent.”
Three ministers sat in the pulpit ofaPitts-
burgh church on a Sunday reently. A rising
young artist who is one of the workers in
said church, walked bravely to the pulpit
before service and gave one of the ministers
a notice to read before benediction. The
service were about being closed when the
young artist went forward to remind the
minister that he must not forget tho notice
of the temperance meeting down town. The
minister begged pardon for his remissness,
took the slip of paper from his vest pocket,
read it, looked dazed, rubbed his eyes,
then smiled. Then he passed it to a brother
minister. He smiled. Then he passed it
to the minister: and he smiled. Then No. 1
remarked that he would like to speak to
the artist. The latter advanced to the pul
pit, received the notice, looked at it, color
ed very red, and looked as though he would
like to jump through the window. He had
given the minister a notice of a temperance
meeting which read something like this;
Dear Jonx: I am so sorry I can’t let
you come to see me as frequently as usual,
but papa and mamma think I ought not to
receive even my dear friends during the
the Lenten season. It’s awfully disagree
able if not positively cruel, but then you
know we Episcopalians can’t go back on
Lent. I shall tee you oftener, I hope,
when the holy season has gone where the
woodbine twineth.
Yours with friedship,
That notice was omitted.
A White Squall.
One day, in 911, Notker, a monk of St.
Gall, wnile watching som« workmen build
ing a bridge, at the peril of their lives,
composed a Latin anthem. From it the
solemn words in the burial service of the
Episcopal Church, “In the midst of life we
are in death,” were taken. The following
incident recalls the occasion of their first
utterance:
Some years ago two large ships met in
mid-ocean, one heading for Australia, and
the other homeward bound. The day was
fair, and the wind dying away, the vessels
were becalmed close together.
The passengers at once busied themselves
to write letters home, and officers and crew
became occupied in the interchange of
courtesies.
The placidity of the weather led to a
feeiiug of careless security that can never
be 6afely indulged in at sea. All the can
vass was set, idly flapping against *thc
masts, when a squall struck both ships and
passed off iu a few moments.
When the confusion and excitement re
sulting from it were over, and the crew of
one of these vessels were able to relax the
attention demanded for their own safety,
they looked for the other ship in vain.
She had gone down with all on board,
and not a vestige of her was to be seen any
where on the wide sea, which looked
serene and beautiful as if nothing had hap
pened. _
Value of spare Minutes*
Madame Do Gcnlis composed severs
charming volumes while waiting in the
school-room for the tardy princes to whom
she gave daily lessons.
Daguesseau, one of the chancellors of
France, wrote an able and bulky work in
the successive intervals of waiting for din
ner. . .
Elihu Bumtt, when earning his living as
a blacksmith, learned eighteen languages
and twenty-two dialects, by simply ini
proving his “spare moments.”
A celebrated physician in London trans
lated Lucretius while riding in his carriage
on his daily rounds.
Dr. Darwin composed nearly all his
workB in the same way, writing down his
thoughts in a memorandum book which he
We’re Lost.
A lake steamer got into Detroit rather
earlier than usual one morning last summer
when suddenly the passengers were startled
by loud cries, “We’re lost, we’re lost. Give
me a life preserver!”
At the same moment a state-room door
was flung open followed by numerous
others, who, emerging into the cabin, en
countered an o’d man in his night clothes
with the water dripping over his head and
trickling down his face and garments.
“ThankGod!” he exclaimed, “I thought
I was drowning.”
People thought this a remarkable thing
to be thankful for, and finally the old gen
tleman explained that he was thankful to
find he wasn’t drowned. His head was
completely bald, and while lying in an up
per berth "asleep a flood of water from the
hose with which the men were washing the
hurricane deck, came in upon his unpro
tected pate and made him think, as he sud
denly awoke, that the waves of the lake
were closing over his head. But instead of
a watery death it was only a watery berth.
Air as a Stimulant.
An Old Grizzly.
A few years ago, on an August after-
oon. mounted on a patient old horse, a
man was leaving a cabin in California
where some comrades lingered over the re
mains of a primitively cooked game dinner.
The elder of a jolly quartelt qf hunters, he
boasted the ownership of an ancient double-
barreled shot-gun. His chums carried
rifles and levolvers. It is far from incre
dible that he was the “colonel” of the
group; often the butt of their ridicule, tho
target for concerted fun, and, too, because
he so facetiously bore it.
The colonel',” he had more than once
repeated, “will run toul of a grizzly some
time; then his old Daniel Boone piece will
be the death of him.” But he frequently
declared that he wanted to meet a gnzzly,
to which he was as ofien retorted :
‘Aye, you’d scratch up the neaiest tree,
or beat for your life, if he didn’t swallow
you instanter.”
Leave the dishes until I come back,
’ll have a treat for supper,” said the
‘colonel,” on this August afternoon. His
three friends uncorked another bottle of
wit, but he retreated too rapidly to see or
hear the effervescence. Galloping toward
mountain stream, five mile9 distant,
which in the summer’s decrease of its vo
lume left in the narrow valley pools here
and there wherein small fish thrived, he
hoped to spy a stray deer. A few occa
sionally loitered behind, after the herd that
had roamed down from the mountain snow
fields in the rainy season returned at the
approach of the dry season. They seemed
loath to leave the green willows and chap-
parrel around these pools.
Our horseman had trimmed his gun with
nine piston shot bullets. He now descend
ed the slope, and, having reached a grassy
spot, was preparing to lariat, not having
dismounted. Suddenly he discovered an
enormous bear lying fast asleep under a
scrub oak, not more than a hundred yards
from where he had halted. His surprise
may be imagined. He afterward declared
that at the moment he felt no twinge of
alarm, but that his first thought was to gal
lop to the cabin and bring the boys out for
grizzly. Then his repeated boasting came
to mind, and he thought, “I must shoot at
him.” And so he walked the herse cau
tiously some paces nearer to the “game”
between the bushes. Now the old guu was
leveled, his finger on the trigger, but his
hands trembled slightly. “This won’t do ;
what ails my arm !” thought tho veteran
hunter, who would not risk an unsteady
shot ever so little short of firmness. He
lowered the piece, and a sudden vision of a
ghastly scene flashed across his brain. He
thought of a young man whose bowels had
been literally torn out in an encounter with
a grizzly foe, and whom he had assisted in
burying in a mining district.
He hesitated no longer; slid down on
his feet; placed his arm within the bridle
noose, and aiming at the bear’s ear, dis
charged. Quicker than thought he sprang
to the saddle, spurred to utmost speed, ven
turing not a glance backward till a mile or
more up the slope. Then, hearing no roar
or rush behind, he turned and slowly re
traced. Almost incredible to his judgment
his eyes beheld the bear in a slightly alter
ed position stone dead. The effective,
judicious shot had entered the brain.
Now the colonel rode triumphantly back
to his comrades.
‘There’s a big old grizzly over yonder.”
‘Why didn’t you shoct him?” all in
a quick breath.
‘I did shoot. ”
‘Don’t believe it. With a shotgun! ”
‘I tell you, boys, I have killed him.”
‘Tell that to the babies.”
‘I say he is as dead as other bears have
ded. Come with me and bring him home.”
A two wKeeled cart was borrowed of a
neighbor. They all piled into it, and first
drove impatiently in their hurry a mile in
an opposite direction to enlist the services
of two friendly Indians. When arriving
on the ground, and convinced unmistakably
of the shot-gun’s victory, their huzzas made
the desert ring. The Indians immediately
addressed the hero colonel by* the distin
guishing title of “Wama Shactoo”—Bear
King. His chums long afterward styled
him Col. Shactoo, but his name is not
King.
The dead animal was supposed to weigh
1,100 pounds; one of the largest bears ever
shot in California. The Indians had their
share of the meat with the hide, which
after a rude manner they dressed and
tanned, rendered it as hard as board. The
writer has seen one of the toenails of this
veritable grizzly. It is in a curve, of
course, measuring at least four inches.
The Shad dick.
The exciting and stimulating properties
of pure oxvgen are well known, and every
one has felt the invigorating influence of
fresh air, yet no practical application has
been made of three beneficial properties of
a substance so cheap and universal. When
the body is weak, the brain fatigued, and
the whole system in a state of lassitude just
go into the air, take a few vigorous inspir
ations and expirations, and the effect will
be instantly perceived. The individual try
ing the experiment will feel invigorated,
the blood will course with freshness, the
lungs will work with increased activity,
the whole frame will feel revived, and
nature’s stimulant will be found the best.
| But few men can handle a hofc lamp-
TilwmmZ^earned Greek w hile eliimney ami say ttoe is no place like
walking te aad fro from a lawyers oiiee. > koine at the same t
A consignment of fish quite new to the
London markets was lately offered f ir sale
at Billingsgate, under the name of “shad-
dick from Russia.” They averaged eight
to nine pounds, were very silvery, and
somewhat peach-like in form. At first
sight they were taken for sea bass, or, as
they are called at Ramsgate and Margate,
“whitesalmon.” The shaddick, however,
turns out to be the “pike-perch,” Perea
lucio perca or Zandr. The pike perch is
a name very appropriately applied to this
lake or pond fish, as it combines ths quali
ties both of the pike and perch. Its mouth
is armed with a most formidable array of
taetb, more carnivorous if possible, than
those of the pike. On the upper jaw there
are four terrible sharp conical canines.
When the mouth is closed these six teeth
fit together like a steel rat trap. The pike-
perch is a common fish in Europe. It is
excellent eating, and is frequently served
at table d’hotes in Berlin and other Conti
nental cities. Herr Max Yon dun Borne,
the author of a book on angling in Prussia,
describes the pike perch as being an excell
ent rod fish, giving good sport, and biting
freely. Pike perch would probably do
well in this country, especially in large
lakes and ponds with sandy or gravely bot
toms. Several attempts have been made
to bring them over, but they are very diffi
cult fish to cariy, and the transport by
means of eggs is impossible, as the eggs
are very minute, and cannot, like salmon
eggs, be packed tn ice. At the late meet
ing at Lowestoft ox the Fish Acclimatisa
tion Society of Norfolk and Suffolk the
merits of pikc-perch were discussed, and
it was finally agreed that it would not be
advisable to make any attempts to acclima
tise this fish in the rivers and brooks of
East Anglia. Notwithstanding the pre
daceous habits of this fish, many piscatorial
authorities consider that it would form a
valuable addition to ornamental waters in
private parks which at present, being fuU
of comparative valueless fish, such as roach,
bream, carp, tench and pike, would be oil
the better for the addition of a fish that
would prove to be a eame rod fish as well
as good for the table. This fish is known
by stuffed specimens to anglers, but it is
not often that it is brought to this country
in the flesb. We should recommend the
owners of waters in Russia containing shad-
to try the experiment of splitting, curing
and smoking these fish for the London
market. If properly prepared, they would,
without doubt, form a new and excellent
relish for the breakfast or lunch table, as
these fiqh are so delicate that it is difficult
to keep them in ice for any length of time.
—There are 48 rolling mill* in
32 ot which are in operation.