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=553* <thc ff dartoun ^chfrt jsfr. Office, VABEHOISE STREET, On* Door north of Cotton Warehouse. Advwfisements inserted at the rate of $1 per square for first insertion, and 50 cents per square tor each subsequent insertion. The space oi one.iuch is reckoned as a square. Special rates given on advertisements to run tor a longer period than one month. MY NEIGHBOR’S GARDEN. Advertiser. D. B. FREEMAN, Publisher. LABORING FOR THE COMMON WEAL. TERMS: $1 50 Per Annum, in Advance. OLD SERIES—YOL. X- NO. 39. CEDARTOWN. GA.. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25. 1883. NEW SERIES-VOL. Y-NO. 46. CffortiWtt rtfcir. In the bound of mine own enclosure The flowers are fair to see; But the rose in my neighbor's garden Is fail er than all to me. So white and slender and stately, So gemmed with sparkling dew, This rose that blooms for another, Is the sweetest that ever grew. My heart to its grace and beau'y Goes forth as to a shrine; And I sigh to its mystical fragrance— “If it were only miner’ And yet if hot my neighbor, Bat I, in fee and thrall, Held all that marvelous glory On the other side of the wall. I might, perhaps, grow weary . Of its royal pomp and grace. And love with my love some daisy With a shy, uplifted face. ' For since the gates of J " tVWtehhut on Adam i The flowers we have are' nevei So sweet sis the flowers we leave". " And rich within my _ Though many a flower might be, The rose that bloomed for another Might seem the best to me. UP THIS FLUE. “You must have some rare expel ences to tell us, Mrs. Boswell,” sa persuasive Lieutenant Bussel, whi we waited for the mail stage. “Xi have been at this frontier post n . since Captain Boswell was stationed here?” ‘•Yes; we have been here eight years,” she replied, with the rare smile that glorified her face. “I have passed through many trying ordeals here, but I really think I had an adventure in the east, before I married the captain, equal to anything that I have experienced.” “Will you relate it, and oblige us?” urged Bussel. “Mrs. Boswell,” said Dan, the Irre pressible youngster of our party, “Jim,” jerking bis thumb toward the lieutenant, “is out west on purpose to spill ink lor the New York papers. You can become a heroine of romance if you will.” "Thank you,” said our little,liostee “I don’t mind accepting the honor.” Three of us were sitting in an inner apartment of the small frontier hostel ry. The bar-room was packed with miners, and we had chosen to have our supper -served by ourselves, as we bad appointed to go on to Custer City in con pany. Mis. Boswell was much below the medium size, quick of speech, light of movement as a bird, and graceful as a fawn. “It was in 18—,” she began; “I had just made the acquaintance ot Captain Boswell, he having some business mat ters to arrange with father, had called at our place several times. Finally, there came a rare day in autumn, and be and father were closeted the greater part of the day, overhauling papers, memoranda, deeds and receipts. My father at that time was doing a great deal oi business as an attorney. “At teatime fathersaid to me: ‘Bess, yoa wonTr-mtnd ntrrreatng alone,' long as Thomas is about, will you.’ “1 said no, for although there were mauy robberies being committed in the neighboring cities, private families in th suburbs felt no fear. Our house was a mile from the city proper, and a hall mile from neighbors either way. . “‘We find, 1 he continued, ‘that the captain has got to hunt up some more papers concerning the estate before he can give Barron a satisfactory title. We shall go to Judge Whitcomb’s of fice, and our search may be so success ful that 11 o’clock will find us home again. Still we may be detained longer. Shan’t 1 call and teii your Coilsin Milly to come down and spend the night with you?’ “ \No—yes,’ 1 contradictorily an swered. ‘Do as you please; lam not ti mid in the ieast, with Thomas about.’ ‘“ButCautain Boswell is going to leave $5,000 here until he returns,’ “‘Does any one know about the money?’ “ ‘Only ourselves.’ ‘“.then I am not afraid. Besides, you are likely to be back befor grave yards yawn andthievesdo walk abroad. ’ ‘‘Thomas brought the horse round, and wUilefatherspoketohim, 1 touched the captain’s sleeve: “ ‘\V here is your money left?’ “ ‘In your father’s desk in the lib rary.’ Then he looked with a tender, inquiring glance into my face (how the little woman’s cheek flushed at the me mory) and said: ‘Little girl, if you are iu tue least afraid we will not go to night, although it is absolutely neces- saiy.’ “I told him, honestly, that I was not afraid. 1 never had that strata of timid ity in my make-up peculiar to woman kind: and so they rode away. •T sang about my work as I put things in shape around the room, and viewed the brilliant sunset, without a fear or care. “Thomas, our new man-of-all-work, was very busy puttering about the grounds, tying up grapevines and .mul ching evergreens. 1 knew there was some coarse aftermath upon the hill that father was anxious to have put on the strawberry beds, and seeing Tho mas go up there with his basket 1 tied a scarf over my head, took another basket, and went up to help him. “As 1 passed up the lull I saw a man in the highway speak to him. 1 hesi tated about going on, but the man made only a moment’s pause, and then went down .the hill, and was soon concealed by a turn in tbe highway. ‘“Who was that, Thomas?’ I inquired, “ ‘Oh, miss, it was a man from the mills, saying that my brother has had a bad fail on the dam, and is bellowing for me to.crme and see him. His legs are broken entirely, ’ “ ‘Wte* will you do?’ “ T told the man I could not come to see hnn to-day—but if 1 went, miss, 1 would sure to be back by 11 of the clock, if hot earlier,’ “ ‘You may go, Thomas, if your brother is hurt, so bad. Papa will uot be away loug.’ ‘“But. my young lady ’ “‘.Never Hind me in such a case a- this.’ I always was very tender-heart ed, ‘You may go, and I will run right l»ack to the house,’ “He talked a few minutes more, was profuse in bis thanks for my kindness, and then started down for the city. 1 took up the two baskets, and went sing ing to the house. “I sat an hour by the open window, enjoying intensely this being alone, and the quiet beauty of this, cool autumn evening. “Perhaps you will wonder at this,” and the dimples played about her pretty month, “but little birds were singing let me hear the sweet echoes. “But directly I chided myself for be ing rather careless, as the road was a thoroughfare, and a chance straggler might surprise me. I arose, closed my window, and, obeying some strange, impressive power, I walked through the hall into the library, took my fath er’s key from its accustomed place, un locked his desk, found the package of five thousand dollars, and, placing it in my bosom, relocked the door, and re turned to the sitting room. 1 did not light a lamp; I had no need of a fire, as that from the kitchen stove warmed the sitting room sufficiently in this mild weather. “The house was old fashioned, very, with a fireplace in the sitting room opening up into a chimney of capacity sufficient for a foundry stack. We had cheerful open fires later on; but the familiar with all the house. ‘•Why did 1 not drop down and es cape outside? “First, then, they had locked the outer door and withdrawn the key to prevent a surprise from without. Se cond, there might be a third confeder ate outside. But the most important reason of all was, it seemed to me, that I never could get out of the aperture that had allowed me entrance into the chimney. I ran the risk of discovery and death in any case. “Oh, why did not ray father and his companion return? It might be hours first. “They had found me absent from my chamber and the adjoining rooms. They no longer used extreme caution. They hurried from one apartment to the other. 1 could feel the jar of mov ing furniture, and closet doors were opened hastily. Theriipper part of the " or but the worl on account val of daptain Boswell and this import ant business affair. “I would have enjoyed immensely to kindle a sparkling tire in the huge wide fireplace, but as, affair*.were I could not. So 1 mused in dafleaeasfor hour*. '' ‘ no heed of time, until absent when my father calted, and re turning later had come down to stay With me. i"I Sprang np with a- „ her knock, albeit I was abtfjefRMuof her pretty face, bdt no imp' and the echoes died out, and i __ X concluded that I had deceived myself in regard to them. Anyhow -1 would light the lamp. I did so, and was star tled to find it past 10 o’cloqk. I had gqtUn sufficiently aroused- from my re verie to want a book from the library shelves. 1 took up my lamp and went singing into the room. ' I obtained tbe desired volume, ■ad down from the stool, and— ever any one felt themselves dy teg, I did at that moment. My song died oh my lips, while a thousand thoughts seemed to flash into my mind in one instant. Involuntaiily 1 gasped, and tnen with a strong effort of the will power, for which X am famous, I took up the song again and sang it to the close. “Among other things I remembered that the lock was off the library door for repairs. 1 remembered the late ness of the hour and the probability that all the people were in bed and asleep. I remembered the footsteps in the aooryard, and—there was a fresh, pungent smell of tobacco smoke in the room. A scent of smoke that was not in the room when X was there and placed the package of money in my bosom. ‘Do you wonder that my brain reeled and my heart stoi now. With, oaths they rummaged the lower doors, and finally returned to the sit ting-room. “‘I saw the light here last,’ said Thomas, moving with his lamp across the room, ‘and here is the lamp on the table.’ V ‘“She must baire got out.’ “‘Na; I watched for her, and every window is fastened on the inside.’ Then he continued: ‘Curse her! she’s a witclil’ and baffled they stood and poured oaths after me. ‘X’d like to catch and knife her myself now.* How lie ground it out between his teeth. “ ‘Shall we search more?’. ‘“It’s no use; we’ve turned over everything under which a mouse could hide.’ “ ‘What, then? Shall we waylay the old man and fix him?’ They liaven’t the money; it was left here.’ “ ‘The cellar,’ suggested the voice. “Once more they dashed out, only to return in hot haste now, for there was the trot and rumble of a horse and car riage on the bridge between us and the city. “‘Stay,'urged the stranger, ‘trump up some kind of a story, and we may secure the money yet.’ *‘‘1 would.’ returned Thomas, ‘but the girl's a witch, and I am just as sore that she is somewhere near ns ail t^p time, and would hand me over to jus tice—’ “There was a scamper outside and the sound of feet running toward the river came down the wide month at the top of the chimney. Father and Cap tain Boswell drove into the yard and up to the door, just as the clock struck twelve. “ ‘Thomas!’ called my father, in his ringing tones, ‘come and take care of JJie horse.’ was, he would soon begin work, not knowing how early my father and the captain might return. And I should be murdered. Somewhere within a few yards, or a few feet of me, the robber assassin was concealed—either in the recess behind the cabinet, or under the long, draped, paper-strewn table. “A faint sound Outside nearly made me drop the lamp; still X had uncon sciously left my first song and was sing ing: “I knew that temporary salvation— power and liberty to leave that room, even—depended upon my appearing un conscious of the robber’s proximity. ‘T got out of the library and found myself in the sitting-room. A hasty glance at the door showed the key ab sent from the lock. Treachery?” 1 wonder that this new revelation did not sunocate me. The man on the highway—the injured brother—Thomas had betrayed us. He had overheard about the money. A robber was in the bouse and another was outside. My retreat would be cut off. How thoughts ran riot through my mind. How would they kill me? Would I suffer long? At that instant I was sure that I heard a faint creak of the library door at the far end of the long hall. “One swift, despairing glance around me, one wild idea of escape, and X ex tinguished the light upon the table, and crouching in the fireplace I rested one foot upon the andiron, swung out the iron crane, stepped the other foot upon the strong support, and rose up into the flue. Something touched my head. Thank God! It was the rope with which the dislodged bricks had been hoisted out. Grasping this carefully with my hands I held myself like a wedge in the opening. If I had envied large, noble looking women before, I now had rea son to be thankful for my diminutive form and ninety odd pounds of avoir dupois. “1 had little time, however, to con sider anything except the imminent danger of dislodging a fragment of brick or mortar, and thus discovering niy hiding-place, for the clock began with sonorous peals to strike eleven. Under cover of its echoes there were quick, soft steps in the hall, and the bolt of the outer door was withdrawn. The huge flue must have acted like a telephone, for X heard every sound with fearful distinctness. First, there was a pause by the door of the sitting-room, then breathing in it, then whispering. ‘•I heard Thomas distinctly, when he said: “ ‘She isn’t here; she’s gone to bed, but the money is in the library.’ ‘“Be cautious,’ advised a strange voice, ‘and we may not have to hurt her.’ ‘‘They carefully retreated, and my heart struck off the seconds against my ribs in a way that was suffocating, for I knew that their search would soon be over, and what then? “In less than five minutes they were whispering in the room again. “ ‘Confound herl’ aspirated Thomas, ‘she took the money with her.’ “ ‘Then we’ll have it if—’ “The pause meant all that words could convey. “The cold sweat was coming out ol every pore of my body. The dust of the creosote had penetrated my month ana nostrils, and I had to take one hand from the rope in their - absence and place a finger upon my lips to prevent •Come, hurry,’ was the angry watchword exchanged between them, and I heard the stairs creaking as they Receiving no response from his usu al punctual factotum, he sprang up the steps, and uttered an exclamation of horror at finding the door open. “ ‘Boswell,’ said he, ‘we certainly saw a light here when we came down the hill.’ “ ‘Foul play? My God! my poor little girl.’ “ ‘Father,’ I strove to call, but the first attempts, choked in the dust and soot, ended in a hysterical hiccough. “ ‘Where is that? What is it?’ called my distracted father, and both men dashed for the library. “I now strove to descend, but the movement brought down bushels of mortar aud broken bricks from ail sides, and closed up the flue. 1 bethought me of the rope, and by sticking my toes in here and there I went up the chim ney hand over hand. “Agile as a cat, when I reached the top of the low chimney X sprang down upon the roof and began calling loudly for father. ‘ You should have heard them run through the house and halloo before they located my voice. At last the captain came out of doors. “ Will you get me a ladder, please,’ said I, ‘I want to get down from here.’ “ ‘A ladder, Jason,’ shouted the cap tain, ‘the little girl is on the roof.’ “ ‘For the love of heaven, girl, how came you there?’ said my father, as I landed upon the ground and began shaking the soot from my clothes. " ‘X went up there through the chim ney, papa. But you had better put up the horse—you will have to groom him yourself to-night—and then I will tell you all about it. “The captain led me into the house, for 1 was trembling violently. “‘Now,’ said tether, being absent only a moment or two, without letting me have time to mop the smut from my face and hands; ‘now tell ns what this means—my little girl climbing the ridgepole like a cat at midnight? ’’ “In a few moments matters were ex plained. “‘Thomas, the villain!’ ejaculated my tether; ‘I’ll have him if 1 have to hunt the two continents for him, and he shall have his deserts.’ He kept his word. Thomas got a term in the state prison. “When I gave the captain his money I should have burst out into hysterical sobbing only I remembered the soot in time to prevent shading myself in black crayon; and Captain Boswell believed that stature and bulk were not always certificates oi the best materials, and—” “And,” finished Dan, our je3tor, “it may be said, Mrs. Boswell, that you actually flue to his arms.” She smiled and bowed as the sonor ous tones ot the driver came in among s: "Stage ready, gentlemen.” The town of Wilton, Conn., enjoys the distinction of having among its un usually large number of aged citizens, a person who lived beyond five score years, and who is probably the only centenarian at this time in Fairfield county, and probably in the State. This is not new’to the community in which she dwells, for everybody knows and reveres Mrs. Clarissa Davenport Raymond, who, humanly speaking, has fair chances of reaching April 25, 1884, when she will celebrate her 102d birthday and enter upon her 103d year. Mrs. Raymond resides opposite the Congregational church in Wilton of which she became a member before most of those who surround hsr were born, in a mansion which has about lues of antiquity—just such a spot as centenarian would choose as an abidin;: place. “Her girl,” as Mrs. Raymoni familiarly calls her, Mrs. Nathan Coin- stock, now-drawing nigh to seventy- nine years and a well preserved mat keeps house, and she is assisted In duty by a son, Mr. Jolin Comstock, nearly sixty years old and his wife,' and when his son, Mr. Frank Com stock, aged thirty years, and his wife and children come up to the old home from Norwalk to spend the day, as they frequently do, the scene under the old roof is one peculiarly interesting. Mrs. Raymond takes upon her knee children of the.fifth generation, and talks to them of events occurring a great while ago, when she was a child, like them—years before George Wash ington had been thought of as a candi date even for President of the United States. By chance she might tell them of his first inauguration as President in New York, in 1792, when she was 10 years old, of liis death and the sor row which accompanied its announce ment, in 1799, when she was 17 years old. Favored ones are they indeed who can enjoy the privilege of listening to the intelligent narratives of their great, great grandmother, and thisf] veteran, amiable in the lingering twi light of the evening of a life so pro tracted, can interest those who are older by calling to their minds events, some of them historical, which she actually observed, but which they knew nothing of save in books, and she has frequently been known to correct the errors made by those who have gone into print as historians wearing the garb of authenticity. Mrs. Raymond is very genial, and rarely forgets a face she has once set eyes on. She hears tol- ably well, and her sight is so acute that she carrthread a coarse needle and read coarse print unassisted by glasses. She moves about the house with a fir mer step than many who are fifty years her junior, and when conditions of weather permit calls on her friends residing near, walking to their houses. She attends church seldom now, but her interest in the church has never flagged, and no more welcome visitor is on her list than the Rev. Frank Thompson. A few days since she called on Mrs. George. A. Davenport and vividly described a thunder storm which took place seventy years ago. ~ ecret of Mrs. Raymond’s lon gevity inay Be“conTpllaiice'fOr untold years with the rule, “Early to bed,” etc. In this particular her habits have been regulated, as it were, by the clock, and as a consequence each morning’s light, to her, means glad ness, and “day's decline and darkness sombre” bring neither dread nor sad ness. When asked a day or two before how she felt, she said, “Well, as usual, though I believe I’m getting old.” Mrs. Raymond lias no lack of visitors, many of whom call simply that they may look upon the face of a centena rian. She has a pleasant word for each, and she never forgets to express an affectionate personal regard for all her real friends. I really seem to fill it—like a blackbird in_a goldfinch’s cage. The parlor looks all me. Nevertheless, ‘the cabin 13 convenient,’ as X said before. Its negative merits are very great.” She had managed .to make it—as some women can make the poorest place—a “very nest of comfort;” and this is the cheery way she describes it irj one of those sketches of hets which so many thousands of persons have toad: A cottage—no—a miniature house, with many additions, little odds and ends of places, pantries, and what not; all angles, and of a charming in-and- outness, a little brick court before one- half, and a little flower-park before the other; the walls old and weather- stained, covered with hollyhocks, roses, honeysuckles, and a great apricot tree; the casement full of geraniums (ah, there is our superb white cat peeping flat from amonjpthem); the closets (our landlord has the assurance to call them Mms) full of contrivances and comer- Upboards; and the little garden behind foil of common flowers, tulips, pinks, larkspur, peonies, stocks and carna tions, with an arbor privet not unlike a sentry-box, where one lives in a deli cious green light, and looks out ou the »est of all gay flower-beds. That iuse was built on purpose to show 1 what an exceedingly small compass imfort may he packed. 'And that description shows the . jetic side, and what a happy faculty die had, like Gudfrand’s wife, ot mak ing the best of everything. It does ’ it look as if the place were poor, but was; though very picturesque with at old shed and granary overrun, like 1 the rest, with untrimmed and uu- uned things—as pretty a subject as qi artist could desire, f The American visitors found her ,t morning in the bit of front yard cb kept her house from shutting it on the turnpike road. She was ing along a passage between two of geraniums as tall as she was. ipping off the decaying leaves with ir of scissors. She wore a cap, and snowy white muslin handkerchief pinned across the bosom of her leap black gown; and on her plump inds she had mitts such as our grand- others used to wear (and they have le into fashion again), where the ers were all free while the thumb a little compartment by itself; it ims to me that they were of thick (lack crape with rows of white feather itch down the back, and they did look 1 0 quaint, like the antiquated gentle- roman who wore them. She was short i ind stout, a “dumpling of a person,” With a face as round and good-natured as Phebe Cary’s; and as she slowly Walked and snipped she was chirping like a canary to a silky-haired spaniel who kept close by her gown, and an bid house-cat on the window-ledge, tier voice was sweet; her manners were diarming. The Irish Harp. The old style Irish harp was about four feet high, had no pedals; and was strung to the back with straps. The one belong ing to Ring Brian Bjroihme, killed at the battle of Clontaif, in 1014, slid exists In the museum of Trinity College Dublin. It is black with age, and polished, but now worm-eaten, and adorned with silver orna ments. It was taken by his son Teague to Rome after the hattle and presented to the Pope with tbe crown and regalia. A succeeding Pope presented it to Henry VIII. with the title of “Defender of the Faith,” and tlenrv gave it to tbe E trl of Cl-nnclde, in whose family it was held until the beginning of t le eighteenth cen tury. It then passe 1 through several hands uutii 1786, when the college became Us owner. •Most animals drink by auction, as the ox, and a few by lapping, as the dog; tbe elephant pumps the water up with its trank, and then pours it into its throat. Birds excepting doves, fill tbe beak, and then, raising the heed, allow the water to ran down. Fishing In the Geysers. 'Speaking of fish,” said the smiling stranger, “if the President wants to have some genuine fan. he wants to cast a line u some o’ them geysers. Tuat’a where you get fish. X got in there once about a year ago, aDd ketched 1,009 smelts in an hour anl a qa.trter! And tront! Well, I should whisper in an undertone! I’m shout ing. gentlemen, when 1 say a man can take trout out o’ one o’ them geysers that'll weigh half a ton. I ve done it.” “I thought the water in the geysers was warm,” chipped in an unbelieving listener. “Hot, stranger, hot,” protested the unabashed Wyoming man. “And yon pretend to say those fish live in hot water?” “I never alluded to the possibility, stranger. I don’t even think of it. Tueui fi -li X ketened was dead, every dsh of ’em was dead and cooked. There’s were yon get the bulge on all other kind o’ fishin’. You get tbe fish all ready for the tabl.!” ‘•That sounds reasonable,” observed a keen-eyed man. “X trunk he’s telling the truth. I say, how do you catch those fish?” “With worms, stranger,” responded the Wyoming man, eagerly, rejoiced to find a friend in the crowd- “Yon bait your hook with angle worms, and the fiah takes right hold as soon as your Binker touches bottom.” Then we are to understand that dead and cooked fish will bite at a hook, are we? ’ asked the keen-eyed man. “In them geysers, stranger. They won’t do it anywhere else. In them geysers they are hungry lor worms, and beside that they ain’t cooked until you land ’em. You see, the water at the bottom o’ them geysers is cold, and it’s the hot water at the top, together with the friction, that cooks ’em. You don’t see it anywhere but in the geysers, but there you never miss it?” Mary Bussell Mlttord. He was no 9loacn. The Last Survivor*. Beavers are now so scarce that it 18 hardly credible that their dams once lined all the river shores from H udson’s bay to the Gulf of Mexico. Like the Chinese gardeners who live on artifi cial river islands, they certainly tried their best to be in nobody’s way; but at the current market value of their skins they could not be permitted to survive. And what has become of the wild pigeons that once darkened the sun with their endless swarm? There are a few “roosts” left in Arkansas, one or two in southern Missouri and West Virginia; in northern Ohio they are still hunted toward the end" of the year, and tty from county to county in flocks of four dozen or so; but what is that to the legion that once traveled through the beech forests of the Ohio valley? The naturalist, Audubon, once saw a swarm eight miles wide, as nearly as he could estimate it, flying overhead at the rate of at ieast fifty miles an hour; and after sitting five hours with his watch in hand, hoping to see the end of the phenomenon, he got tired of waiting any longer, for as yet the swarm had not perceptibly diminished. Of their total number hardly one in ten thousand is now left. How many pounds of powder must it have taken to exterminate the rest? Still, our last wild pigeons will out live tbe last buffaloes and last grizzly bears for in the warfare against a su perior foe caution is a better weapon than strength. The forests of northern Europe were once inhabited by a fight ing ox, the Ur, or Auer-Ocbse, an ex tremely fierce brnte, that often turned the tables against its would-be hunters. But the invention of gunpowder deci ded its fate, and the only wild speci mens are now found in the deep forests of eastern Caucasus. The grizzly bear has been driven back to the Pacific slope, and seems to disappear faster than his black brother, who has more talent for tree-climbing and cave-digging. Wherever gunpow der is used in the warfare of man against the beasts and birds of the wil derness, the art of hiding is their best hope of escape, and of all the forest creatures of this continent the last sur vivors will probably be the raccoon and the squirrel. Halcyon Days. Many years ago some Americans who were traveling in England took a post-chaise, after the old-fashioned way, and bad a morning drive to pay their respects to an old-fashioned woman who was living in poverty with her one servant in a cottage not ter from the town of Reading. The word “cot tage” must have a little explanation, for with us it is so often made to mean a quite capacious house, almost a man sion, or a villa on a moderate plan. This cottage was far enough teem being ample; it was small and poor; to be plate, the rooms in it were not much bigger than closets, and were close and stuffy, raid in heavy rains the roof leaked. As the mistress of it once wrote about it to a friend it was a tight “squeeze,” and she added, “In deed my great objection to a small room always was its extrema unbe- comingness to one of my enormity. The otter day Bill Higgonson, a well- known character of the White Springs neighborhood, came to the city in com pany with several yonng ladies, to one of whom he was engaged to be married. Bill has alwayB thirsted for notoriety. He wants to be known by the leading men iu town, and to show people of his community that, although born in ob scurity and reared on the farm, he can address prominent men in a familiar way. While the young ladies were at the hotel Bill went into a wholesale store, and approaching a man who sat in the offise, said: “Cap’n, you can do me a big favor, if yon will. I’ve got a lot of gals in town with me, an’ I wanter show ’em X ain’t no slouch. X want ’em to go home an’ say that Bill—that’s me come to town an’ was knowed by the big bngs. Now, I want to make this agreement with you. Fil go away, an’ putty soon will come around with the gals an’ come in here, slap yon on the shoulder an’ say, ‘Old chap, how do yon hold out?’ Then you slao me, an’ say, ‘Why, Bill, old boy, I’m glad to see yon.’ xhat will be blovel all over my country, an’ will be wnth money au, character to me, lemme tell yon.” The gentleman said that he did not object to helping a yonng fellow along, and that tbe aspiring William might come in and slap him, when he would go through with his part of the pro gramme. BUI, highly delighted with the ar rangement, went to the hotel and told the girls that he wanted them to take a walk with him. As they walked along toward the store, Bill said. “Now I’m going to show yon, ’Liza, that you ain’t going to marry no slouch. I’ll show you that your own Bill is looked np to an’ liked by the best of ’em.” The girl laughed self-complacently, and declared that it was nice to marry a man that “wan’t a stranger an’ a slonch." When they reached the store, Bill con ducted the ladies to the office, where a man sat looking over accounts, he was not the man with whom the arrange ments had been made, but Bill did net recognize the difference. Advancing, he struck the man a pretty heavy slad, and exclaimed: “Hello, old chap, how are you hold- in’ out?” The gentleman sprang to his feet and glared at William, but William, with oat embarrassment, punched him among the ribs and said: “Old chap, how are yon holito’ out?” “Look ont, here! What do yon mean?” “No foolin’, old boy. Don’t you re member the agreement?” he added in an undertone. It’s me; don’t yon remem ber the man what seed you jes’ now?” as he fancied he saw a change of count enance, he j olted the gentleman amour the truncate ribs and exclaimed, “How are yon holdin’ oat?” The gentleman "lianled off” with an ink bott.e and knocked Bill down. The girls screamed and ran awav, and BUI, as soon as he. was able to regain his feet, snlked away. Wnen he reached the hotel with his face a!l besmeared with ink, his betrothed ran to him, punched him in the side and said: “Hello, old chap, how are yon holdin’ out?" “This settles it with ns,” he said sadly, regarding the girl with a look that spoke of tbe melancholy yellow leaf. “Jest at the time I need your sympathizin’ the most, when old fnen’s go back on me and knock me down, yon jffie the enemy. Go and pay yonr hotel bill an’ go home.” “Ain’t you goto’ to pay my bill?” “Nary red_” “Would yon see me disgraced right in a place whar there’s so many folks?” “That ain’t my lookout. 1 ain’t a goto’ to pay nary red cent for yon.” ‘ ‘Then I’ll take all back an’ I am sorry that I made fan of yon.” “Naff said. Come an’ pnt year head on this here manly shonlder,” Timber In Skye, According to the ancients, the king fisher, called in Greek, Halcyon (from “the sea” and “brooding upon”), was so named from Halcyone, a daughter of JEolus, -and the wife of Ceyx. The story goes that Ceyx was drowned while on his way to consult the oracle, and that, in a dream that night, Hal cyone was informed of the fete of her husband. Next, morning, as she wan dered disconsolately on the shore, she found his body washed up by the waves, and, overcome with grief, threw her self into the sea. The gods, to admir ation of their mutual affection, changed them into kingfishers. The kingfishers were supposed, at that time to make their nests during the seven days pro ceeding the winter solstice (about De cember 21st), and to lay their eggs during the seven days directly following it; and it was a popular superstition that the sea remained calm and tranquil while they reared their young. And, therefore, these fourteen days were called “hidevon days,” or days of cairn, pleasant weather. On this account the ancients regarded the halcyon as the symbol of tranquility, and because it lived near the water it was con secrated to Thetis, a sea-nymph. The bird about which each wonderful stories were told was probably nothing more than the common kingfisher of Europe, —A recent day’s buzziness at the the habits at which are very much like j Dead Letter Office included the open- those of the belted kingfisher. | teg of a box of live and lively bees. Throughout the isles timber is a rare and precious article, most frequently the gift of ocean. The man who secures a good log of driftwood has obtained a prize worth having. It may have been a brave old tree, tempest torn from its home in some distant forest, carried to the sea by rushing torrents, and perchance tossed by the waves and wafted to and fro by many a current, ere it drifted to its rest on these far isles. Or it may be the mast or spars, or perchance the cargo of some wrecked vessel—whatever its story it is treasure- trove, and most deeply valued. Though lncnisted with barnacles or riddled by pholades it can all be turned to good ac count; the smallest piece will make a stool or a settle, or a box, or part or a door, while large Umbers become rafters—pre cious heirlooms, for a young couple cannot wed until they have accumulated enough rafters to support their thatch, and should they have occasion to “flit” tbe only part of their botby that commands any pecuni ary compensation is the roof; not the woodwork only, but also the heavy thatch saturated with thick greasy peat-reek (in other words with a thick coating of sou ). Tms, when broken np, forms a valuable manure for the unfertile crofts. Poor, indeed, are many of these island homes, generally consisting only of two rooms; an outer byre for the cattle and an Inner room for the family; and until recent years all such bothies had a fireplace in the middle ot tbe floor, around which the whole fam ily might gather and equally share its com fort. But now most bouses have the fire place at one end of the house, and though the smoke generally contrives to wander at will among the rafters (farming a blue hszs stinging to unaccustomed eyes, and at last res jiving itself into the rich browns so dear to the artistic mind), it does some times find a wide, open chimney prepared tor Its escape. Bui more frequently a hole in the thatch is the only means of egress, hole perhaps crowned with an old herring barrel in Jteu of chimney cap; this; now- ever,is an elegant superfluity, to which few aspire. All, however, must take tbe pre caution of tying on their roofs with a network of ropes, and weignt them with large stones, in order to resist the wild gusts of wind, which would carry of any ordinary cottage roof. As a general rule these bothies are too wretched to be even picturesque, yet here and there 1 recall one which, happily rendered on canvas, might yield to the artist mure gold than the inmates ot the hut might hope to earn in all their lives. —Troy’s (N. Y.) assessed valuation has been reduced 200,000 by the recent He Revels In Golden Luxury, The ruler of the two hundred and fifty millions of which the Chinese nation prob- ably consists is now within five years of his majority, and is au occupant, wnde yei a minor, of the same appartments in which lived the Emperor who preceded him on the Dragon Throne. There he eals with gold-tipped chopstieks of ivory. There he sleeps on a large Niugpo bedstead; richly carved and ornamented with ivwrt and g ild, the same on which the noble minded Emperors Bang flsi and ChieD Lung used to recline after the day’s fatigue last century and the century before. Like one of those living Buddhas who may be seen in a lamasery on the Mongolian plateau, he is knelt to by all his attendants and honored as a g d. There is this differ ence, that the respect felt for him is more profound than for them. The secl ision in which he is kept is also far more complete. The hfiilding in which the Emperor resides is called f ang Bsin Tien, and is a little to the west of the Cb'ien Ch’ing Men in the miifclle of the palace. At the back of the central gite, on the soutliside. is the great reception hali. VY hen Ministers of State and others enter for an audience at four, five, or six in the morning, according to custom, they have to go on foot to the centre of the palace over hair a mile, if they enter by the east or west gate; and when the get on in years they can appreci ate the Emperor's favor, which then by a decree allows them to be borne in a chair instead ot walking. The rooms of the Emperor consist of seven compartments. They are provided with the divan or k’ang, the peculiar institution of North China. The k’angs arc covered with red felt 01 native manufacture, and the floor with European carpets. The cushions all have embroidered on them the dragon and the pbceaix. Pretty things scattered through the rooms are endless in variety, and are change 1 in accordance with any wish ex pressed by the Emperor, Tbe rooms are in all ih rty yards long by from eight to nine yards deep, and are divided into tnree apartments, tne Throne-room being the middle one. Folding doors ten ieet in height open into each of tuese apartments to the uortk and south in the centre of each. The upper part of these doors is in >pen-work in which various auspicious characters and flowers are carved. At the back paper is pasted to admit light into the rooms, Tbe front is ornamented with gilding, sculpture, and varnish of various colors. The doors remain open even in winter, because during that season a thick embroidered curtain of damask is hung in the doorway, whicn by its weight keeps ils place close to the door post and prevents cold air from entering. In summer this is replaced by a curtain admitting the breeze on account of its being made of very thin strips of bamboo. The silk threads used in sewing the strips oi bamboo together are of various colors, and passing through the whole texture of the curtain irom the top to the botom are very aggreeable to the eye. These summer and winter curtains are rolled up to give air to the rooms when required. Exit and entrance are ef fected on each side of these curtains by side doors. Along the while front ot thirty yards there is a covered flight of steps fit teen feet wide. The roof over this res’.s on two rowB of pillars. Tne pillars shine with fresn vermilion, both within tbe rooms and on the steps outside, and are decorated with sculptured work, partly gilt and partly varushed. The Hippo who lately returned from Canton gave the Enperor a present valued at $8,000. It cousisted of chande.iers hold ing 500 wax candles each. His Majesty has also some electrical machines and numberless foreign curioet ies. The Emperor was vaccinated when an infant, before his high destiny was thought of; otherwise it would have been difficult vaccinate him, for his person being sacred when E nperor, no lance3 can touch him. His mother, tbe Princess ot Ch'un, who is a sister of the Empress of the West, will be raised to (he rank of Empress Dowager when he is sixteen, and his father will also be made T’ai Sbang Huang. At least this is to ix expected by prece dent, so that after three years we shall again have two Empresses Djwsger, but in this case they will be sisters. The Princess, his mother, goes in to see him once a month, and kneels when she first speaks to him, but rises afterward. His father does so too. The Emperor studies Ch nese daily for an hour and a half, and Mancbu also for an hour and a halt. He spends two hours in archery and tiding, and in winter amuses himself in sledging. He has a little brother of five, whom it may be hoped the mother takes with her when sne goes to the palace. The teachers who instruct him kneel to him on entering, but af'er wards sit. The Emperor ha9 eight eunuchs who constantly attend hun, besides an Indefinite number for special occasions. He has his meali alone, and tne eight eunuchs wail around him, re straining him if he takes too much of any one thing. His school room is at the back of the Yang Hsin Tien already described, and tbe hall for conference each morning with Ministers is a Jittle to the east. Job Printing. THE ADVERTISER JOB OFFICE IS EQUIPPED WITH GOOD Press and Mew Material, EMBRACING Type, Border, Ornaments, fnfxST ^ ’ ates *deigns, and all orders J ? b "(ork will be executed neatly, cheaply and promptly. 7 NEWS IN BRIEF —Gold, when coined, becomes hard money though it is (legal) tender. —Ferrets are said to be rapidly dying off In this country, of a disease some thing like the epizooty. -Thirty-five total abstainers are said to have membership in the British House of Commons. —London, Eng., consumes, it is esti mated, about ten and a half million tons of coal annually. —Frank.Carpenter of Sodus, N. Y., pared srxfy-five bushels of apples in nine hoars. , —“ A million bats” are said to In habit the dome of the Brenham (Ga.) Court House. —The “hot water cure”—a glass of hot water sipped before breakfast—has spread to England. —The Weather Department Dromises New England rains from time to time, but the drought reigns there aridly. —By the aid of the American idea of using refrigerator cars, Londoners now enjoy fresh herring from Scotland. —The Peruvians can travel for as long as three days without other food, solid or liquid, than the mate leaf, it is said. —California’s orange crop will be the largest in her history, it is report ed, but the lime crop is smaller than usual. —Watermelon rinds and banana skins arenot’in themselves fall goods, but they frequently cause displays in that line. —David Hinkley, of La Grange, Me., is over 90 years old, but he drove about GO miles in one day recently, on * visit to an older brother. —Senator Bayard will give the city of Wilmington, Del., the grove adjoin ing his home if the city will acquire the rest of the square for a park. . -^The largest cow In America is be lieved to be the one that John Pratt, of Chase co., Kansas, owns; she is 3 years old, 22 hands high and weighs 3209 lbs. —Russia has decided to use petro leum as fuel for her Black Sea fleet. Russian vessels in the Caspian Sea have for some years used naphtha refuse for fuel. —An exhaustive report on the dis eases of plants, and of the parasites that infest them, is to be made to the Swiss Government by Dr. John Eriks son. A Rival of Niagara* Two Omaha capitalists and a banker, of Butte, Montana, have embarked in no less an enterprise than the purchase of a waterfall—the Big Shoshone—m Idaho. Until six months ago the property was not “in sight” and its existence was only known through the report ot an occasional banter, who, reaching the edge of the basin which surrounds the approach to the fails, peered at them cunonsiy at a distance of three-fourths of a mile and gained only an unsatisfactory impression of a vast body of water, much spray and more roar. From the edge of this btsin there was no sure tooting to a nearer point of view. Blasting and picking have cot a path through the rocky sides to the water’s edge and tbe falls can now be as easily viewed as Niagara. The Snake river, which forms these falls, is at this point a deep stream, run ning for twenty-five miles through lava rocks hundreds of feet in height. At the falls, which are 1,500 feet wide and have a descent ot 210 feet, the rocks loom up grandly to from 500 to 1,000 feet in height. Their brown walls are utterly bare and, except for a grassy plot ot a few acres, with a cool sp’ ing and a shady grove, which border t be falls, the scene is one ot utter desolation. For miles beyond tbe lava beds si-e'ch away, with only the sane brush sail caetas to relieve their barren waste. Three miles above are tbe Twin Falls, with a descent of 180 feet and cloven by huge rock. The river is broad and deep between the Twin Falls aad the Big Shoshone and a boat ride along this stretch is exciting, but not necessarily dangerous. Perpendicular walls rue on either side and a “hello” or a cornet peal echoes and rebounds a dozen times. Several tourists who have visited the place within a few weeks declare it a wonder and do not hesitate to draw comparisons withNigaara. —Columbus (O.) parents are petition ing for the teaching of German in the public schools of that city. —Rev. Sydney Gedge, who died at Cromer recently, was one of the oldest clergymen of the Church of England, of which five of his sorts were also clergymen. —The winner of the recent interna tional swimming match at Berlin swam a statute mile in 41 min. 3 sec. The champion diver remained under water 81 seconds. —The female mackerel, itisasse-ted, is tetter, sweeter and much superior iu flavor to the male fish, and may be dis tinguished by the distinct dark line of the backbone. - *—The Paris Temps reports that the Count de Cbambord left 60,000,000 francs, which are to be divided be tween the Duke of Parma and the Count of Bardi. —A good brick will absorb a quart of water, it is said. There is also a certain kind of brick, not good, that may be absorbed with less than a quart of liquid, net water. —The lives and property of some 20,000 persons in Houston, Texas, have been guarded until recently by three policemen. The force has been in creased to eight men. —Prairie fires are annoying ranch men in southwestern Texas. Incen diarism is charged, certain persons hav ing been offended by the ranchmen’s fencing in their pastures. —Patti will receive $5000 for each of the concerts she is to sing at in Bir mingham and Manchester, it is under stood—the highest price ever paid for such performauces iu England. —Munkacsy’s picture, “Christ be fore Pilate,” has met with an enthusi astic reception in Manchester, England, no fewer than 130,000 people having seen it within the space of a few weeks. —According to a Lorraine newspa per, it is intended to collect the scattered bones of all those Germans who fell in the battles around Metz and to deposit them in a huge ossuary, with a suitable monument. —A newsboy of Cincinnati, John E. Flynn, Is said to have drawn from bank $22,000 the other day to go into the ho tel business in Denver, Col., with, the money having been all made at news paper selling. —There are over 520,000,000 acres of land in the Sooth of which 70,000,000 are m cultivation. In 1882, these cultivated lands produced crops valued at $900,- 000,000, an increase of $214,000,000 iu value over the production of 1880. —The total number of pension claims pending in the Pension office at Wash ington on the 30th of June last, was 244,505, of which 148,813 were for ar rears. The number of claims from Pennsylvania was 24,953, of which 16,- 369 were for arrears. —General C. P. Stone estimates the cost of tne Florida step canal, 137) miles in length, and sufficiently wide to allow the passage of two sea-going steamers of the first class, at $46,000,- 000. The saving of distance between New York and New Orleans will he 500 miles. —The First Comptroller of the Trea sury reports that the total amount of money in circulation in the United States is $1,575,104,642, of which $743,- 347,573 is coin and $881,757,069 paper. Assuming the total population of the country to be 52,000,000, the distribu tion per capita would be $30 29. —The revised figures for marriages in Paris during 1882 are as. follows: Between young men and young women, 17,579; 7oung men and widows, 1,206; widowers and young women, 1,170; widows and widowers, 904. The num ber of divorces is given at 12. The last is an instructive figure which New England papers might do well to copy. —An estimate, which seems to have been made with considerable pates, says that the number ot- melons raised in Georgia this season was not far from 6,500,000. About 1,200,000 wen eaten in Georgia, made into syrup,' opened for the seeds, or left on the vines. Three acres of land produce two car loads. There are about 1,200 melons id a car load. Tbe cost of rais ing a car load is not far from $14, and that of gathering and loading is $15. The average net profit is about $45 to the car load.