Newspaper Page Text
XXIII.
Professor Angel!, of the University
of Michigan, in a recent address be¬
fore the woman’s league of the Uni¬
versity, said that in his opinion the
faculty would contain women in the
near future.
There is a movement on foot in
Europe to raise money for “the peace¬
ful civilization of the African tribes.”
Most of the money would have to bo
npent m guns and ammunition, tho
New Orleans Picayune opines.
If the children were included it is
stated that the average amount spent
every year by tho inhabitants of the
United Kingdom in olotbing does not
exceed §15. Tn France §7.50 is the
average, in Germany §5. The inhabi¬
tants of India spend only about fifteen
cents each per annum on clothes on
the swrage.
The potato crop is a failure in many
■parts cT this country because of its
overwhelming abundance, The total
crop is estimated, in the New York
Sun, at 282,000,000 bushels, the
world’s crop being 3,478,000,000
bushels, an unprecedented yield. The
price i i in many places too low to
make it profitable to dig the. potatoes,
and many Kcres aro being loft iu the
ground to rot.
A well known London physician
says ho fears that the tendency of too
much education or intellectual devel¬
opment in women is apt to make them
lose beauty. He instances the Zaro
women of India. They are supreme.
1 hey woo the men, control the affairs
of. tho homo and Nation, transmit
property and leave man nothing to do.
1 ho result is that they aro tho ugliest
womcr on earth.
Ileus have been remarkably indus¬
trious during 1895 and, according to
B. A. Foster, of Winona, Minn., the
man who cornered the egg market in
Chicago last winter, tho market is
glutted with eggs. According to his
information, there is an enormous sur¬
plus of eggs in the cold storage wnre-
houses throughout- the country, the
surplus over 1894 being about 100,000
■cases, or 36,000,000 eggs. The price
of eggs in Chicago now is 14-V cents a
dozen, which is said to be unprofita¬
ble ; but, unless there is long contin¬
ued cold weather, Mr. Foster doesn’t
see much money in the egg market.
A Texas philosopher has been talk¬
ing about tho month. He finds that
your mouth is the front door of your
face. It is the aperture of the cold
storage rooms of your anatomy. Some
mouths look like poaches and some
like a hole chopped into a brick wall
to admit a now door or window. The
mouth is the hotbed of toothaches, the
spiggot of oratory, and a baby’s
crowning glory. It is the patriotism’s
fountain head and a tool chest for
pie. Without it the politician would
be a wanderer upon the face of the
earth, and the cornetist would go
down to nil unhonored grave. It is
tne grocer’s friend, the orator’s pride,
the dentist's hope and the woman’s
safety valve. The philosopher should
also have told people with loud mouths
when it is best to keep them closed,
adds tho New Orleans Picaynne.
The New England Homestead man-
tains that preseut farm conditions
should teach at least one important
lesson—the follv of urging ” 8 the sad-
‘
den extensive cultivation of any one
crop by a considerable number of peo-
pie. Last spring those who ought to
be authority *• iu apiculture, * ’ expended p
their . energies in . picturing the great
advantages and large profits in rais-
ing potatoes. A number of railroads
also favored this scheme one in ? nar-
ticn.ar .. , making special effor , to induce .
t
farmers to go into it A yield of im-
mense proportions in the West and
Northwest.out of keeping -r.® with the de-
rnand, - the .. result. Excessively low ,
is
prices now rule. In ,act so plentiful
are potatoes in Minnesofa. Wisconsin
and South Dakota that many fields
v ill not be du<* ‘’"S’. Undoubtedly 1 JOOttbfaaly exteD «xt,o.
hvo potato raising is desirable, ea-
pecialiy where it is necessary to prac-
tiee diversified farming, bat the acre-
a > 1’9 0 e GU o„„nt ’ht to to have here b°en been gaadnallv
increased so that an unmanageable
surplus would not have demoralised
the market and thoroughly discour-
aged the ra*ser G \ .uTcleeTe^uT moderate vearlv '
of eege f *.
the , would . have admitted of its
crop
being utilized in feeding, etc. Now
stock is not sufficiently plentiful to
consume the surplus. The same is
tine m a general way of apples. Im-
raensc young orchards are coming
into bearing in Southern Illinois,
iu Missouri and Arkansas. However,
it takes a lone * time to develon " ** aa
orenard . , and tuere less of
is oa&ger
f udden overproduction. Diversify but
uo not wake extensive radical
-eiiftcge?.
The Toccoa News.
SING AGAIN,
You sang me a song, 1
Twas the close of the year.
Slag again?
1 cannot remember the name
Or the words,
’Tis the same
Wo listen to hear
When the windows are open in spring,
And the air’s full of birds;
One calls from the branch some sweet
’ ”
And v
one slugs on the wing
The refrain.
You sang me a song.
My heart thrilled to hear.
The refrain
lias run like a filet of gold
Through the woof
Of the cold
Dark days of a year.
To-night there’s a year at Its start,
All the birds are aloof,
Your eyes hold the sun for my part,
And the Spriug’s in your hearfj
Sing again!
—>1. L. von Yorst, in Scribner’S.
HER FATHER’S SECRET.
\b BEAUTIFUL girl
m sat at tho draw¬
ing-room window
which overlooked
the sea and the
m , •4 ^ but Cleveland she Hills,
saw
v -m neither sea nor
U „ hills. Emily
m §Lf % i Vane father, and with her the
servants, had
been now some
five weeks at Saltburn, in a large
house which Mr. Vane had rented for
the summer. Henry Vane, Esq.,
owned a good-sized mansion in Bel¬
gravia, where he had lived for the
past eight years during the London
season: and an estate near Notting¬
ham, amid picturesque scenery, where
ho generally resided when not in Lon¬
don. Each summer, however, he
rented his house at Saltburn : for not
only Emily, but himself, too, was
charmed with the quiet, beautiful
Yorkshire watering place. From all
of which it will be at once surmised
that Henry Vane, Esq., was a man of
wealth.
His money had been acquired
abroad, and though of his family
nothing or little was known by society,
he was received by some excellent
houses; for even a titled person does
not income care lightly to offend one whose
is £10,000 a year.
Emily Vane saw neither sea nor
hills. Her thoughts were wholly oc¬
cupied by two letters in front of her.
Both had come that morning, and
both were proposals for her hand.
The first of them was from the Earl of
Seacroft, who for some time had been
paying Miss Yaue noticeable atten¬
tions, and who, both as regarded per¬
sonal qualities and position, was in¬
deed no bad match for any English
maiden. He was yet young and fairly
wealthy, aud for some months—in
fact, since Emily had “come out”—
had been a victim to her beauty and
oharme. She admitted to herselt that
Lord Seacroft’s proposal was not one
to be lightly set aside.
The other letter was from Mr. Hu¬
bert Wells. Emily had met him about
six months ago, at a country house,
since which time he bad been her de-
voted admirer. 8he frankly con¬
fessed to herself that she liked him,
that ehe liked his society, that she
knew that he loved her. Bnt Hubert
Wells was not rich, and had no par¬
ticular position. He had only about
£100 a year, which his father, long
since dead, had left him to live upon.
Emily Vane still sat, looking first
at this proposal, then at that. She
had for the past week or two expected
both, end so unsettled and doubtful
was she that she had given neither
suitor any chance of proposing per-
sonally. But now it had come—both
on one morning! The ordeal had to
be faced; the decision to be made!
He * P ri<Je » her love for her father, her
Seacroft, Jfl"® 14. yet * taere am r Q of was Vane a ’ small
voice underneath which whispered
“Hubert.’
* n ^ er Perplexity she picked up the
•«. he* »»«>„ fa
his study. Emily A ane s mother had
died at her birth; her father was her
closest confidant. As Emily entered,
he rosed up and kissed her lovingly,
then, smoothing her hair, said quietly:
“Which of the two is it to be love?”
The beauti f u i gir i gai , e d at him with
eyes half dimmed with tears, as she an-
swered, blushmgly:
“Whichever my papa likes! He
always chooses for the best,”
-Well, my dear, suppose I should
8a y Lord Seacroft? I have always
wished such a husband for you—
titled, yet noble in nature’s' best
wa 7 s -’
..Yes, papa,”
"Yet i like Mr, Wells.”
Emily’s heait beat a shade quicker,
“He cannot give you what the Earl of
skkeroft caD, and what I have so often
£ pic tnred .you; ‘ Mi yet-and yet-he
hi „ fath er . s Bon ...
The girl gazed, half in fear and as-
tonishment, for her father was as pale
43 <*e a *b, and shook visibly.
* * W.»"^
“Sit down, my love, replied , v Mr.
y ftne% ««j t ^ as on i y come, as I felt
certain some day it would. God has
brought it out in His time. I must
tell you now. Don’t be afraid, Emily.
It is the secret of my life which I’ve
hidden for thirty-five years; now you
must share it. I feel I should not be
doing right if I let yon choose to-day
without telling you of it. When you
have heard my story you must choose
for j^e yourself, whichever aud be assured please* your I
c b 0 f it is, will me.
As for what you will hear, it will re-
main your secret and mine; I shall
«wp it as Wfwe, ana I must beg q!
TOCCOA, GA., THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 1896,
you to do the same ali|your life, even
from you husband.”
Emily eat in doubt and fear, sure
that the kind father who had so loved
her would not tell anything to distress
her, if he could help it; and yet anx¬
ious as to what such an awful eeetet
could be, The master of Oltou sat in
a chair with his face away from the
light, watching intently that dear,
sweet face of his daughter, upon which
the fall sunlight shone.
“Thirty-fivo 1 years ago a convict
ship was sailing from England for
Botany Bay, under the command of a
brave captain and crew. There were
no fewer than forty convicts on board
—despera’o fellows of every descrip¬
tion—thieves, highwaymen, mauslay-
ers, all kinds of vi'lains. Among them
was one whose case had excited imteh
interest at home, since many people
believed him innocent—morally, at
any rate—of a crime he was said to
have committed. Among a gang of
poachers one night he, their superior
in rank, had had the misfortune
to shoot one of the keepers
who had watched for them
and attacked them. The shot had
killed the keeper, but there was seme
uoubt as to whose gun it had come
from, and, when the convict in ques¬
tion was arrested and charged, tli9
keepers swore that he had fired the
shot. For himself; he know hot
whether this was so; several of his fel¬
low poachers said he was innocent,
and that the real culprit had escaped.
His sentence, however, was that of
penal servitude at Botany Bay for life
—probably the doubt alone saved him
from being hanged.
“Naturally, his spirit was galled ; he
beeamo morose, wild, severe in aspect
as in temper, and his reputation on
the convict ship wrs that of the worst
criminal on board. Ho rebelled at his
jailers, at his food, at his confinement,
and felt ready for any d"rk deed. The
chance soon came. The vessel was off
the Cape of Good Hope, some miles
away, when he first got knowledge of
a projected mutiny, in which the cap¬
tain, crew and jailers were all to bo
murdered; and the successful muti-
neering convicts were then to steer
for some unknown point to Africa and
land there.
“It was a desperate scheme, and
with the mutiny h9 was thoroughly in
unison, but not with murder. He was
not yet as black as that, and tried
hard to dissuade his fierce companions
from it, but in va n. As they persist¬
ed in tlieir plans he felt that all he
could do was to keap quiet till the
time for action cams; but the captain
and his wife had been really kind to
him, and ho determined that they
should not die. Yet he would not be¬
tray his companions like a coward,
“On September 8 the attack was
made. He stood near the captain’s
cabin to protect its unsuspecting in¬
mates. When the mutineers, having
seized the watchmen deck and killed
them, came rushing down, he ordered
them back from that cabin; they re¬
fused to go, and a fight ensued. The
captain became roused, the alarm was
given, and, after a desperate resist¬
ance, the rebels were overpowered and
put in irons. The captain begged of
the guards to set the convict who had
saved his life at liberty, but they de¬
clined, pretending that, in reality, he
was as bad as the rest. So he was
closely guarded.
“It was on touching at Perth that
the captain’s opportunity came. Hav¬
ing secured the eo-operation of his
mates, he entertained the whole of the
guards at dinner one evening, and
made them hopelessly drunk. In the
meantime, one of his party contrived
to secure possession of the keys, and
in a very few moments the convict’s
irons had been unloosened, and he
was free. The captain himself ®ame
and shook hands with him ere he sent
him off iu the boat which was waiting
for him.
“J’Fknow,’said he, ‘that what I have
done for you is risky, and may cost
me something if my part is discovered ;
but you saved my life, to I will take
this risk to save you from the crush-
ing penal servitude, All I have to
say to you is, get away from the coast,
a f ^ r ?° n have latjded ’ a3 s0 ° n as P 08 ’
sible, . change u your name and appear
ance as much as you can; go into some
honest business, and, though it is not
likely, if ever I do hear of you again,
let it be iu ».eh a way that will do you
credit, and repay me for giving vou
freedom to-night.’
“The tears stood in the eonv ; c t’ s
eyes as he thanked his benefactor, and
grasped his hand.
“ ‘Sir, I shall take vour 'almost advice. Mv
little bit of good was fgone by
the brutal treatment I have suffered—
for I don’t think I killed that game-
keeper, but even if I did, it proved was pure-
ly accidental. Yon have to
me that all the kiudness and gratitude
are not some°dav yet gone out of the wc*ld, and
I hope to be able to s h ow
yon how I appreciate it. ’
“ tVithin a few minutes more the
boat hia landed him cn the main-
land. He watched it return to the
snip, and wasjsix then departed.
“It years after this that,
with money made in sheep farming,
-Toeeph Tnrnell, the former conviot
turned no at Ballarat just as the first
rush of the gold fever occurred. It
was Tnrnell who bought the great
tract of land which was afterwards
under the *° snrfaee, ?* ^ and wao sold it,
after getting some thousands out of it,
for a very large sum. But nobody in
England or Australia, when Joseph
Turneil’s name was mentioned, ever
thought for a moment that he was the
escaped convict abont whom such a
stir had been made at home, both on
bis escape, and later, when a dying
tramp confessed that it was his gun-
shot that memorable night which killod
the keeper.
' “Joseph Tarnell wealthy, and
was
had married a dear girl in Victoria,
who had born* him u daughter ere she
died, Need l go ob, Emiij? lot* have
guessed it all! He came to England
and took having the name of Henry Wane,
owing to had some estates left
him, as he told his friends; in lealitv,
to throw any chance old acquaintance
off the scent. There is no fear now of
any discovery or disagreeable thing
happening. I felt nervous the first
year or two, but now the only two
who know all this are you and I, for
even the good old captain is dead.
So. you See, I was imprieoned unjustly
after all, but it has turned out a good
thing for me in the end. And, now
you have wealth and beauty. I wanted,
for my own ambition, to see you a
lady by title and position, and the
Earl of Seacroft could have no finer
coautees, nor you a more desirable
husband,”
She sat pale and agitated, yet smil¬
ing now, for was not her dear father
free of that awful even if uninten¬
tional crime which made her feel so
sick as he told her the story?
“So you think I must choose Lord
S9acroft?” she asked.
“Nay,” replied Mr. Vane*, “I have
scarcely done yet. Hear the rest and
choose for yourself. As you know
now, all I have I owe to that good
captain—my freedom, my wealth, my
fair fame. I promised—and God
knows I have tried—never to forget
him and his wife.. Emily; that cap-
taiu's name was Hubert Wells, and
this Mr. Hubert Wells is bis son ! I
found out all easily by iuy agents. I
have never repaid the father, never
can, nor the mother, either, for what
they did. My own, dearest half darling
can, if she chooses—and I suspect
it will be agreeable—sacrifice with mo
oar ambitious hopes, and repay the
eon for his father’s sake!”
Ho stopped and looked at her.
Emily Vane’s eyes wandered thought¬
fully out in a long gaze over the sun¬
lit sea; then she turned with a ealm
smile and whispered:
“Yes, dearest papa, and she will.”
“God bless you both,” said be.
“The captain, though far away, will
be as delighted as I am.’’—Tit-Bits,
Solved at Last.
An old gentleman in the north of
London has recently been making a
series of interesting experiments with
a view to finding a solution to the
question often asked: “What be-
comes of the countless myriad* of
pins, etc., that are annually lost?”
As he expected, he finds that it is the
disintegrating effeots of the air which
resolves even these intractable little
instruments into their elements.
He put some hundreds of brass and
steel pins, needles, hairpins, etc., in a
quiet corner of his garden, where they
would be subject to all the destructive
agencies of dampness, earth, wind,
etc., although secure from the preda¬
tory hands and disturbing feet of in¬
quisitive intruders. The results are
curious.
Ordinary 15*4 hairpins were the first
(taking days on an average) to ox¬
idize into a brownish rust—ferrous
oxide—which was scattered by the
wind as it was formed, and not a trace
of a single one eoald be detected at
tho end of seven months, Common
bright pins took as long as eighteen
months before their combustion was
complete, but braes ones had been en¬
tirely turned into green verdigris
long before that, At the end of fif-
teen months an ordinary penholder
had had its nib entirely rusted away,
but the wooden stick was still almost
unaltered, It is probable that the
paint on it bad somewhat of a pre¬
servative effect.
Some used wax vestas were almost
gone, with the exception of the cot¬
ton wick, in less than eighty days
from the time they were deposited,
but the sulphur heads of some unlit
ones wore as perfect as ever. Polished
steel needles of a small siae lasted a
very long time (over two years and a
half; but a black lead pencil proved
itself to be practically indestrnetible,
both cedar and plumbago being al¬
most as good as .when had 'new, even
though harder things quite rot¬
ted. --New York News.
Favors Small Men and Horses,
General Dragomiroff has expressed
his dissent from the views of some
English officers who praised the
T1 il ^egimenw . no .. ihe, . .
f, rcac 1 o J“* a
^ ho.ses, says tfte uenerai, may be
no good at all for cavalry purposes,
H is a mistake to require big men and
aiassive horses , both wan p enty o
food and at regular times. Msttle-
and i horc.es are ineom-
Usably better for all present-day pur-
l )0seF - Who wants them now to cnarge
E( i” are8 - are chiefly good
advanced guards and scoots ia a
strange country
Tae Cossack horse, which . is . not
much digger thau a pony, is worth a
dozen les3 spirited big [cavalry horses
^ uch as tay English admire. The
^ eaeraI has aiso had bis say about
Wloon* They are very l.ttle good,
,a tis,opuaoc, -unless to the enemy.
A balloon is a traitor, in the sense
that it reveals the where outs of an
ene m 7> whicn mig ^ W1 ou n re *
. T . “ .
? sm “ ose “ f‘, 8
deceptive notion of , the surface of tne
country, which looks, unless where
fbere are high “ills, qui e flat. A
ca '^ rca tower or a ta 1 .ree on
SS“tL”o^ \ 10D /
aur 5 n 8 little^ French linesman, ,
inarches fourteen hour- a, a Sv!.etch,
to be tke most de tg a eing ha,
eveA was ' -
, „
The longest wagor bridge in the
world is situated at Galveston, Texa..-.
It is more than three miles loug, an l
spans the Galveston Bay, irom norsn
to south. It is built mainly ef wood
and has one draw. It is aiso one oi,
if not the widest, bridges in America,
allowing the passage of three vehicle}
at oae time.^New York Herald,
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
A Warning—At the Grocer’s—Oreal
Running—No l>oubt of It—At
the Zoo—The Samo
Thing* Etc* A
tfew woman aspires to roach man's posi¬
But tion,
she'll not catch the man. we're afraid;
For when she’s attained to her cherished
ambition
Tho new woman will die an old maid.
. —Judge.
at the grocer’s.
Parlormaid—“Give me a pound of
tea.”
Shopman—"Black or green?”
Maid -“Doesn’t matter which;
missus is blind!”—Paris Charivari.
GREAT RUNNING.
“Jones is a chrome candidate. To
thirty my certain knowledge he was running
years ago.”
“Whero was that?”
“In the war.”—Atlanta Oonstitu-
tieu.
AT TnE ZOO.
Leopard—“Have you packed your
trunk, Mister Elephant?”
Elephant—“If you don’t stop twit¬
ting me about my trunk. Leopard,
I’ll knock the spots of you!”—Detroit
Free Press.
QUESTION,
Caddington (boastfully) — “Yes, sir;
I come from people! Wbv, mv grand¬
father was a celebrity in old New York
•—they called him ‘Gentlemau Joe.’ ”
Fulljames---“Indeed ! What was he,
a burglar or a boxer?”—Puck.
A SENSITIVE POtNT.
DoZber — “Do you think that con¬
stantly to wearing bald?” a hat has a tendency
make a man
Jazlin—“No; but when a man is
bald, I’ve noticed that it has a tend¬
ency to make him constantly wear his
hat.”
A YOUTHFUL STOIC
Willy Slimson — “That cocoannt
cake looks nice.”
Mrs. Witherby—“Yes; it does.
Shall I help you to a piece, Willy?”
Willy (wistfully) — “No’m; I guea3
not. One piece would only be an
aggravation. ”—Puck.
NO DOUBT OF IT.
Softleigh—“Do you remember
Dick Soaker, whom yon introduced to
me at the olub a few weeks ago? I
didn’t like him at first, b it he’s a man
that grows upon yon. ”
Eowntown — “Yes, confound him ;
he’s a regular parasite.”—Brooklyn
Life.
EASY.
George (nervously)—“I’d like the
best in the world, Kiltie, to marry
you, but 1 don’t lcnow how to pro-
pose.”
Kitlie (promptly and practically) —
<r That’s all right, George. Yon’ve
finished with me, now go to papa.”—
London Fun.
THE SAME THING.
She- “Dearest, papa has spoken to
nfte about your being so much at the
house, and be wanted to know when it
was going to end.”
Ha—“Did you tell him we were en¬
gaged?”
She—“I told him this was only the
baginning. ”—Puck.
STANDARD OF FRIENDSHIP.
“Do you have any friends in school
of your own size, Johnny?”
“Yes’m; they’re tho only kind I
have got.”
“Why, how is that?”
“I’ve licked all of ’em littler’n me,
and been licked by all of ’em that’s
bigger.”—Chicago Record.
SPAIN WILL MAKE A GOOD SHOW NOW.
“We have received valuable rein¬
forcements,” said Marshal Campos to
one of hie generals.
“I am glad to hear it, Marshal.”
“Yes, General; we have imported a
telegraph instrument which will send
away news of four different victories
on a single wire, at the same time/’
he was dreaming.
“I am dreaming, yes, dreaming of
thee! » Bttid the yQUQg aan in3istB
0 n trying to sing.
“Charles,” said his friend, “it’s a
Ter y bad habit you have. ”
“What is?” was the inquirv that in
terrupted the song.
“Hallooing in your sleep.”—Wash
i D gton Star.
-
took too xi-h for granted.
,. H “ ors6
, hat , •
^
-«You bet I did ”
<‘How did vou m .na^ e i t ?”
“Told the fellow that m y mother-
in-l.w could d^.od dr he-A" vohmunvwhe™'' ™-
. tJisa3tlv . h* ha't never saen her i”
_Chicago ° Fecord.
___
.
,< T _ ______ a c 0(aaliat ...
. g. ^ as*e ’ ne
^
r-issive^ltruist ,* reDlie(J Mr Brokedown
«,j ’
am a •>
“WW in toe ^ name of eommon ____„ sense
-
*
- . ieTe . ,
. , . ^ ,, ,
#>BTl ’ ,, laqianaDolig'jonrna'f p 1 ‘ 8 ^ 1
exactly the sensations.
Cowboy Pete—“Glad to git home,
shore.”
Lariat Lew—“Missed yer hoss an
there ic the "
city, eh?”
“You’re right. Was awfully strong
reminded of’m one day, though.”
“How was that?”
“Fell down four flights of stairs fe
the hotel!”—Chicago Record.
A BAD WAT.
“Is Bilious Tote here yet?” inquired
a prominent citizen of Oklahoma who
had just returned from a trip to
Arizona; “when! left he was say in’
that he wanted to git out of this town
the worst way.”
“Wal, he did, 5 * %nswered the man
addressed; “the IjPys whirled in aa’
lynched him about a week after you
left.”—Pack.
THE EVIDENCE THERE.
The leteet red rays of the setting
sun lingered lovingly upon the
beauties oi paradise complete.
“Adam,” faltered Eve, “am I. the
first girl you ever really loved?”
He looked into her liquid eyes and
sighed.
"How can you doubt me?” he mur¬
mured, something reproachfully.—
Detroit Tribune.
A SHORT SIGHTED MAN.
Jinks—“Our friend Fobson is ex¬
tremely short-sighted.”
Oculist—“He ought to come to me
to bo treated.”
Jinks—-“J’m afraid you can't help
him. ”
Oculist—“Why not?”
Jinks—“It isn’t that kind. I asked
him to leud mo ten dollars and he told
me he couldn’t see it.” -Detroit Free
Frees.
How Snakes Eat Frogs,
How a snake eats frogs is worth the
telling. The writer distinctly remem¬
bers witnessing a dramatic meal of this
kind, in which, of course, tho snake
cam s out the winner, getting his din¬
ner in excellent 6tylo aud completely
vanquishing the frog. YVhilc a snake
may seem at first sight nn organism
that is extraordinarily slow of compre¬
hension, any well regulated ophidian
knows, nevertheless, exactly how to
satisfy the wants of nature iu the most
approved manner.
A snake invariably grabs a frog by
the hind legs. This preliminary strag¬
gle is one of the most impressive feat¬
ures of tho combat. With a woli-de-
fined natuial instinct, tho chief effort
of the frog is to keep his other hind
leg far away from the snake’s mouth,
in the hope that he may speedily ex¬
haust his enemy’s strength, and also
because he feels that if his other hind
l8g is made captive he will have less
power to fight.
Once both hind legs are within tho
serpent’s fangs, the act of swallowing
begins. Inch by inch the struggling
frog is drawn further aud further into
the yawning orifice that expands at
each gulp. The chauael through which
the frog has io piss is gradually en¬
larged by slow efforts on the snake’s
part, accompanied by fiercer and
fiercer convulsions of the wretched
wiggier.
The guliet of the snake in its natural
proportions is quite large enough to
contain the limbs of the frog, but as
by frequent gulps the body is drawn
further aiuI further into tbe gullet, tho
difficulty of swallowing increases.
Gradually the ophidian’s throat is dis¬
tended, gradually the frog is com¬
pressed and drawn out. Finally the
latter is double his normal length and
half his circumference. As the process
of expansion on the one hand and con¬
traction on the other goes on, the frog
is worked down little by little, until
he starts in on his afternoon nan.—
New York Mercury.
Conquers an Alleged Texas Terror.
Dr. Schwarz, an expert attached to
the Bureau of Entomology, has just
returned to Washington from a trip
to Texas, where he went to investi¬
gate the sensational stories about the
deadly bite of an insect known there
as the “eucurazza. ” Its bite was said
to be certain death. All through tho
southern part of the Lone Star State
it is regarded as a terror, and is usu¬
ally killed on sight. Dr. Schwarz was
informed that the creature in question
was too swift to be shot, aud that
amputation was of no avail, inasmuch
as the person bitten usually died be¬
fore a surgeon could be eecured.
At San Diego, Texas, Dr. Schwarz
induced several young men to capture
a cacurazza. A crowd of people had
assembled for the purpose of seeing
tho learned bug huntsr and the cncu-
razz i settle matters between tb -m.
Dr. Schwarz with some cautiou, re¬
moved the cover of the box coatain-
ing the specimen. The terriblecrea-
ture was there. It was a beetle, aboni
an inen long and very pretty m cTor,
a polished black with a border of deep
To the horror of all observers,
the doctor placed the insect on the
back of his hand and permitted it to
pinch the skin with its mandib.es.
The cnourazza wax no h.ng more or
less than a common species cf groiin l
beetle—absolutely harmless, incapable
of biting, and actually beneficial to
man ’ i nasmuc b as it devours caterpil-
l»rs and potato bug..-Chicago T.mee-
Herald,
Dangerous Stoves.
Aside from the always coUnt present bum",eg per-
ile of explosion, the
of oi! and gas stoves is deleterious to
com f or t S Dd health. Such stoves
should never be allowed in a sleeping
rooca, for, having no connection 'with
a chimney flue, they throw the po:-
sonous carbonic oxide of combustion
in t G the air of the apartment, vitiate
tbs atmosphere and render it unfit for
respiration. Even the burning of an
ordinary oil lamp during the night is
dangerous, especially if turned down,
bnt the oil stove is much worse, as
having a larger flame it consumes
more of oxygen and gives off much
unisonous g»e.—Saa Francisco Chroa*
;cle»
NO. 11.
POPULAR SCIENCE.
Two deaths trom the effects of poi¬
son ivy occurred in Connecticut with¬
in a few days of each other recently.
Liverpool (England) workhouses are
to be supplied wiin incubators, as too
many babies die there from sheer
weakness.
The average number of annual ad¬
missions to the general hospitals of
Paris is 115,0U0; to the special hospi¬
tals, 3*2,400.
In many parts of China the natives
wear paper shirts, and they are said
to bo much warmer in cold weather
than ordinary cloth.
The American Museum of Natural
History, New York City, has been
granted special privileges of excavat-
ing and exporting antiquities from
Mexico.
Professor Blake, of the University
of Kansas, recommends for diphtheria
a mixture of salt and water through
which an electric current has been
passed, used as a gargle.
They have discovered at the London
“Zoo” that tho smell of lavender water
is extremely greatful to lions aud
tigers, aud that under its influence
they bucoino as docile as lambs.
Captain Wiggins has again succeed¬
ed in carrying a cargo of steel rails
and canned goods through the Kara
Sea to the Yenisei, though, as winter
set iu early, bis ship, tho Lorna
Doone, met a great deal of ice.
The “Life Tree” of Jamaica is
harder to kill than any other species
of woody growth known to arboricul-
turists. It continues to grow aud
thrive for months after it lias been
uprooted and exposed to tho sun.
Discoveries of valuable onyx, which
promise to develop into very largo
mines, have been made near Healds-
burg, Cal. The stone is beautifully
marked, and a blast of the face of the
ledge has exposed it in great quanti¬
ties.
In weight the Scotch tike the first
place, weigbiug 163.3 pounds; the
Welsh second, 138.3 pounds; the
English third, 155.0 pounds, and the
Irish last, 154.1 pounds. For each
inch of stature f. Scotchman weighs
2.49G pounds, a Welshman 2.375
pounds, an Efinlishman 2.301 pounds
awl an Irishman 2.270 pounds.
The infinite superiority of nature’s
handiwork over the finest work of man
is clearly illustrated iu the relative
fineness of the point of a b.- e’s stiug
and that of a delicate cambric needle.
Under a powerful microscope the
former is hardly discernib.e, while
the latter appears to be about an inch
in diameter, and very coarse and rough
in finish.
A novo! life buoy and life-saving
coat has been invented by a Swiss
scieniisf. The buoy an 1 urets con-
tains an air ceU, which i? automatic¬
ally inflated by means of the vapor oi
;■ t- mall quantity of chloride -of methyl
when the buoy enters the water, while
a capsule of phosphide of calcium,
wetted by the water, yields a bright
flame, or night light, lasting three-
quarters of an hour.
1 Tie Largest Tort i<e.
There is reported from the Isles Eg-
mont, in the Indian Ocean, not lar
from the Isle Maurice, the capture of
au enormous mala laud tortoise, the
largest thus far krowu, says Cosmos
in reporting its dimensions. Tiieso
islands are without fre-A -<vater,
though one of them nas a salt bike of
considerable area, They !■ ive not
been known hitherto an the resort of
land tortoise-, though th:; uc-ighoo.-
ing islands h tVd them in aban biuce.
This tortoise an 1 ius mate have been
seen on the island recently at v.irious
times. Here are hi-; chic, ditnen : >ta !
in -i-.es.
Height when walking......... .. .. 2!) ‘JJ
Vertical« !ita< .....126
Hor zontal eirsuao me . .... l r *7hf
h cjgtli of back... ■ ... . <55.
Length oi hr-ast pia *... .....3-.3/
Depth of concavity of hr** plate 34.97
Length oi tai............ 23.«i
Length of hind foot....
Circumfeioncc of hinT foot............ 3 "-® {
Length CireuTaforen of for * oi foot............- h* 1 | -.- - • ~ D'-o-j \ 4 |
re 1 near «
Length o'n**c^:................... VJ.'il
Weight, 523 pcu-i i3
A curious fleshy excrescence on each
side of the shell is conjectural to be
designed as a protection to the latter,
when the creature is in certain posi-
tions. It is not known iu other land
tortoises, though it may be a peculiar¬
ity of aged males. rh’.a tortoise is
12o pounds heavier thau the one no v
living at Port Louis Isle Maurice, re¬
cently known as the largest captured
living.—New York Sun.
• 4
Evidence Against Hin,
“Why don’t yon have me called at
6 o’clock?” roared n commercial trav¬
eler in one of our city hotel?, as he
faced the clerk a rl banged his fist
do wn on the regis:. r. clerk.
T did,” calmly replied the
“You did not. sir.”
“i. tell yon J. did.”
“You did not, sir. and I can prove
it.”
4 ( Ill right, go ahead; but you
ern’t prove it.”
“Yes, I can.
“Prove it, then.”
“Wei!, yon did not have me called
at o o’clock, because J did not leave
word to be called at all,” and the com¬
mercial man grinued and iooked for
th“ clerk to blush anl apologize.
'dm he looked in vain. A little
thing like that wouldn’t bother a ho¬
tel cierk.—Bangor News.
Jlother ot Pearl.
Mother of pearl is the hard, silvery,
brdliant substance which forms tue
internal layers of several kinds o*
shells. The interior of our common
oyster shells is of this nature, bat the
mother of pearl used in the arts in
much more variegated with a play of
colors. The large shells of the Indian
seas alone have this pearly substance
gl tlii«koe 38 to be of ase,