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OUT OF SORROW.
As violets crushed are sweet;
As petals of the rose
Bhed fragrance on the wind
That o'er it roughly blows;
As perfume from the lilies bent
Ascends upon the air—
Bo from the chastened soul doth rise
Incense of song and prayer.
Lydia T. Robinson, in Harper.
A REPENTED HEROISM.
It was not poor Ethel’* fault in the
least. She could not prevent Tom Ken
dall loving her any more than Rhe could
help being the dimpled, merry little body
that she was. Tom could not have told
you when lie l>egan to care for her, be
cause as far back as he could remember
Ethel had been the prettiest girl in the
world to him.
Only a low garden wall separated the
two houses, and it was quite natural that
Tom should come over it every day. It
was a little shorter nay than around
through the gate, he would say; and
Ethel gazed admiringly at him' as he
cleared the wall at a bound. It was lone
some at home for him with only the old
housekeeper and hi* father, and they did
not. take the lively interest which Ethel
did in kites and dead insect*. Tom’s
mother had died in giving birth to him;
so he had never known the tender words
and loving touches for which in his child
ish way he hud unconsciously hungered.
His father, a sombre, studious man, lost
all his interest in the world in losing the
one woman who understood him and
brightened his home like a sunbeam.
Though he whs very fond of Tom and
kind to hint, in his own quiet way, yet
the child stood a little in awe of him, and
gave his father none of the childish con
fidenccs or merry chatter which might
have roused the silent man.
They were not rich; but Mr. Kendall
had a small income from certain proper
ties he owned, and on that they lived ; the
fsthei among his books and studiis, and
the son growing up, as children will. It
is a wav they have.
Ethel’s mother was a widow and
wealthy. Besides being the only daugh
ter, Ethel was an heiress in her own
right, and would be mistress of a large
fortune as soon as she reached the age of
twenty-two. Mrs. Van Zandt was fully
alive to the importance of her daughter’s
prospects, but the thought of money
never troubled either Tom or Ethel.
As they both grew older, however,
and Ethel was almost eighteen, the un
pleasant fact became evident to Tom that
Mrs. Van Zandt disliked him. He had not
noticed it as a child; perhaps the dislike
was only passive then—perhaps not there
at all; but it certainly seemed to be there
now. Her bow was frigid, her manner
icy; the dear little drnwing-rnnmi had
lost its coziness for him.
And now, unknown to Tom, the worst
had happened. Mrs. Van Zandt had for
bidden Ethel to have anything further
to do with him, and Ethel had heard the
edict in silence. Accustomed to obey,
her silence was taken for assent; and
Mrs. Van Zandt congratulated herself on
the management with which she had set
tled this little affair.
And poor Tom! He could not under
stand, at first, why all his invitations
were refused by Ethel, why she was no
longer “at home” to him; no more do
lightful little strolls; no more rides.
What was the matter? There was on%
one solution of the mystery, and that
was one which he did not like to discuss
even with himself.
One moonlit evening Ethel had gone
down to the garden, and there, leauing
on the little wall, was Tom. She started
back, but he called her so imploringly
that she half hesitated, and then was
lost, for in another moment she too was
leaning on the garden fence.
“Oh, Tom, Tom,” she whispered, “I
must go back—l niiistl”
“Now sec here, Ethel,” he said, half
in command, half entreaty, “what is the
matter with you anyhow? Lately you
refuse to see me; you run away if 1 come
in sight, and now you are unwilling even
to speak to me. No—l shall not let you
go till you tell me. Out with it!”
And as the dismal story was told Tom
gnawed the ends of his moustache dili
gently, and then the wretch laughed—
actually laughed. She looked up at him
in surprise.
“Do not be angry, Ethel,” he said.
“Of course, it is rather serious; but do
you think it will stop my loving you?
Why, Ethel, dear, nothing on earth can
do that. I wish though X hail known this
sooner, although 1 have suspected as
much from the first. 1 shall set my wits
to work at once, and we’ll see, Ethel—
we’ll see. So don’t cry. Certainly you
must obey your mother as well as you
can; but I have not made any promise
to her, nor do I iutend to give you up.
We'll see!”
And a little lator, as Ethel went softly
up stairs, she thought to herself how wise
and brave he was.
The day was glorious; the salt breath
of the sea swept over the yacht, the gulls
dipped and rose; the little craft danced
along—yes, it was a glorious day. The
gay part}* on deck were enjoying it to the
utmost, and the laughter and chat
mingled with the plash of the white
capped waves.
Ethel leaned against the railing and
watched the ripples gliding by. Veiy
lovely she was looking, in the soft
creamy folds of her yachting costume,
with the bars of gold across it; and the
white wings in the little sailor hat. Lord
Fenyll at her side gazed at her in ap
proval, and considered her an awfully
jolly little girl. He had met her that
day for the first time, and had immedi
ately surrendered. All the morning he
had monopolized her, and Mrs. Van
Zand: at a distance was watching the
performance with great satisfaction.
Already, in her mind’s eye she saw
herself installed as mother-in-law in Lord
Fenyll’s magnificent country house; she
saw herself seated in his beautiful car
riage, smiling and bowing to congratu
lating friends; she beheld in fancy his
famous town-house filled with her
sruests: she saw—and the rose-colored
vision floated quite plainly before her
eyes, blotting out the sea, and the sky
the ahip and the scene* on deck. Mrs.
Vau Zandt had dozed off very comfort
ably.
It is possible that, her slumbers would
not have been so peaceful had she be
held the next act of the drama. My
Lord, in his eagerness to fetch Miss Van
Zandt a cup of chocolate, as he returned
neglected his usual caution in holding
on, so that the unlucky man, ere he
reached her, has succeeded in distribu
ting the entire contents of the eup over
i his jaunty yachting suit. The deck was
| crowded, and even politeness could not
restrain an audible smile. Ml retreat was
as precipitate as his entrance.
Here was Tom's chance. He had been
hovering in the distance like a bird of
prey, and now he swooped down on
Ethel with alacrity. His face was
wreathed in smiles as he half coaxed, half
rompelled her to follow him to a corner,
where for the present th#y could be com-
paratively alone.
“But, Tom,’’she pleaded, “mamma
she is watching me. I can’t stay here.”
“.Just wait a minute,” he began, im
peratively. “I have b*cn trying to speak
' to you all day, and tbit glass-eyed little
rad would not give ar.y one else a chance.
| You must listen to rre for a moment. I
have an idea, a thought. I have evolved
a plan which is really a stroke of genius.”
And then, abruptly: “Ethel, is your
mother fond of you!”
“Why, yes, of course”—in surprise.
“But I mean very fond. What would
she do if she were to lose you—if you
were drowned, for instance?”
She looked at lam askance.
“Tom,” she said suddenly, “you look
sane, but you do not act so. What is the
matter with you! Is the sea breeze too
much for you?”
“Ethel, do you love me?” he queried,
irrelevantly.
All the l :kter had left his face, and
J she saw only nic passionate love and mag
| netism in his blue eyes—deeply, darkly
[ blue they were now, almost black. She
I turned a little pale, her quick breath
came vet more quickly. His face was
; very near hers, so near that a wanton
breeze blew a stray tendril across her
cheek.
“You kaow it,” she said, simply.
Was that a kiss? The sea gulls could
have told, but they never did.
“Then, Ethel,” he said, “I have a way.
It. is a little dangerous, I will not deny
that, it you love me, dear, as well as I
do you, you will not fear.”
The liand in his trembled slightly, hut
she mule no protest.
“I cannot give you up. This is a
desperate remedy, but desperate cases
need such. I am going to make a heroine
of yon. You must tall over the rail into
the water ”
“Tom!” she gasped, staring at him
with wide eyes.
“Yes—wait. You must fall into the
wa*tr, you see, and then I will jump over
and save your life. It will be easy. As
soon as you fall I will be overboard, too.
Do not be afraid tp trust yourself to me,
theic is really not much danger, because
lean swim as well ns I can walk. It is
the only way, dear, believe me. You are
not afraid!”
She considered a little.
“I see, Tom, you think mamma will
be so glad to have me brought back to
life that she will—will let us have our
way.”
“Yes, that is just, it,” he agree!.
“But, oh! is there not some other
way? This is reckless, it is—”
“Well, Ethel,” he said, “I can see no
other way. I shall be sure to save you,
and then—then, little girl, you are mine
for always.”
“But, Tom,” she urged, “suppose
mamma will not yield then?”
“She will, though,” he asserted, con
fidently.
Somcthiug of his own daring spirit in
fected her. The spice of danger, her
full confidence in his ability, their long
love, otherwise hopeless—she made no
further objection, but. entered heart aud
soul into the wild scheme.
“How am I to know when to fall?”
“You must find your opportunity.
Scream as you fall, and then away I will
go. I shall be very near you all the re
mainder of the day; but do not notice
me at all. You will bo very careful, so
that no one may sec that the fall was pre
meditated, Ami—there goes the. first
bell! Uun, Ethel! No one must, kuow
we have been talking. And, Ethel, do
not let that Lord—” but she was gone.
Slowly passed the day. Luncheon
was over two hours ago and the after
noou was slipping on. In tho saloon the
tinklo of a guitar mingled with the
sound of merriment and singing; only a
scattered few were left on deck. Watch
ing the waters were Ethel and the in
evitable Lord Fenyll, with his inevitable
eyeglass; she could not get rid of him;
the miserable young man was too in
fatuated to perceive her abstraction.
Little by little she drew near to a part
of the boat where she thought she might,
make the dreaded plunge most easily.
Tom, in the shadow of a sail, appeared
to be absorbed in a novel. No one, not
even himself, knew that the book was
upside down. Ethel stole a glance at,
him. Will he be. in time? she wondered
in agony of fear and anxiety. How
blue the water was—and how deep!
What if—but no! no! she would not
think of that. Now was the time, she
decided feverishly.
“Is that not a sail, Lord Fenyll!” she
asked.
“A sail! In which direction?”
Eagerly he took up his telescope. This
was just the opportunity she wanted.
Slowly he swept the horizon with the
glass.
“Why, yes,” he says. “Isee it quite
plainly. I can even read the name on—
oh. Miss Van Zandt! Help! help!”
With a shriek of terror she had disap
peared over the side; only one terrified
seream, but in an instant the deck was
tilled with eager, frightened faces.
Lord Fenyll was rushing from one end
of the place to the other, dragging with
him an immense coil of rope, tangling
up himself and any one else, cryiDg out
the awful accident at the top of his
voice,
Mrs. Vars Zandt and another lady had
fainted; tae gayety had vanished; all
was confusion and haste.
Tom saw nothing this. He was in
the water before the echo of her voice
had died sway on the startled air. With
firm, rapid strokes he licat the waves,
and his eyes were alert to catch the first
glimpse. The sun glared into his face,
but he did not find her. Ilis heart failed
him. God! he could not see her! Why
did she not rise? “Ethel!” he cried
aloud in a frenzy. But what was that
white speck yonder? Could he reach it?
A moment more—only a moment more:
with ebbing power, as the white face
came to the surface, he threw one arm
Hround the body. His strength all but
exhausted, he was taken with his lifeless
charge into the boat lowered to meet
him. The glad news was shouted to
the waiting yacht, and willing help was
ready to greet the rescued and rescuer.
The little figure in its clinging white
seemed devoid of life. The soft baby
curls around her forehead clustered
darkly golden ; the large drops of water
slipped off one by one, till there was
little pools on the floor- Pale and pure
and still as death itself she was—ahl
pitifully still. The red, laughing lips
were pallid now; the soft white hands
limp and inert.
“My girl, ray little girl!” moaned and
sobbed Mrs. Van Zandt, and while they
talked in undertones, and while tears
fell, they took her below, and toiled for
hours to summon back the wavering
spirit.
“Tom—unhappy Tom—was the hero
of the hour. But he could not be quiet;
he could not wait in patience. Great
waves of remorse filled his breast, till the
drops stood out upon his forehead and his
lips whitened. The dull boom of the sea
seemed to roar in his ear3; he felt that
lifeless body still lying passive in his
arms. Never again to see her smile,
never again to hear her voice, with its
gentle, tender accent; never—ah, no!
It could not be too late—she must not
die! Up and down, outside the door, he
paced, listening to each sound, wrestling
with his misery, praying to God ashehad
never prayed before.
Suddenly the door opened again, and
Mrs. Van Zandt herself came out.
He dropped into a chair and hid his
head in his hands. He heard hercoming
directly toward him—to tell him—what?
And then Mrs. Van Zandt’s arms were
around his neck, she was calling him her
dear boy, her hero; she was thanking
him through tears and sobs. He a hero!
—he could have laughed aloud bitterly
at the mockery of it. She was telling
him that Ethel had come back to them;
she was awake again; she wanted to see
him—would he come? With a choking
in his throat he made his way to where
his little love was lying. Mrs. Van Zandt
softly closed the door, and they were
alone.
White she was like a bent lily; the
damp yellow hair lay over her pillow and
brushed back from her white forehead,
where his eyes saw the mark of a cruel
bruise, a blow as she fell; but her lips
were smiling, and one hand was out
stretched to him. He could not take it;
he sauk on his knees at her side.
“Ethel, sweetheart, can you forgive
me?” he groaned, and with the words the
floodgates were swept away, aud he
sobbed aloud: “Ethel, it was almost
death—it would have becu murder, and
I your murderer!”
“Tom, Tom,” she whispered, weakly,
“do not frighten me so. lam not dead;
1 will soon be well now.”
“Forgive me, Ethel; say you forgive
me!” She stroked gently the brown
head buried in the pillows.
“Yes, Tom, I forgive you.”
And then he raised his haggard face at
last, and a great pity swept over her ten
der heart. Both hands were outstretched
to him now, and as he took her reverent
ly in his arms, she murmured, so faintly
that he could barely hear it: “And I
love you, dear, dear Tom!"— Times *
Democrat.
The Tongue.
Taste is not equally distributed over
the whole surface of the tongue. There
are three distinct regions or tracks, each
of which has to perform its own special
office or function. The tip of the tongue
is concerned mainly with pungent and
acid tastes; tho middle portion is sensi
tive chiefly to sweets or bitters, while the
track or lower portion confines itself en
tirely to the flavors of roast meats, but
ter, oils and rich and fatty substances.
There are very good reasons for this sub
division of faculties in the tongue, the
objects being, as it were, to make each
piece of food undergo three separate ex
aminations, which must be successively
passed before it is admitted into fuli par
ticipation in the human economy. The
first examination gets rid of substances
which would be actively and immediately
destructive to the very tissues of the
mouth and body; the second discriminates
between poisonous and chemically harm
less food-stufls, and the third merely de
cides the minor' question whether the
particular food is likely to prove then
and there wholesome or indigestible to
the particular person. The sense of
taste proceeds, in fact, upon the principle
of gradual selection and elimination; it
refuses first what is positively destruc
tive, next, what is more remotely dele
terious, and, finally, what is only unde
sirable or over-luscious.
The Snail’s Tenacity of Life.
The snßil is blessed with very great
powers of vitality. A case is recorded of
an Egyptian desert snail which came to
life upon being immersed in warm wa
ter, after it had passed four years glued
to a card in the British Museum. Some
specimens in the collection of a natural
ist, received after they had apparently
been dead for fifteen years, and snails
frozen for weeks together in solid blocks
of ice have recovered on being thawed
out. The eggs of this creature are as
hard to destroy as himself. They seem
perfectly indifferent to freezing, and
have been known to prove productive af
ter having been shriveled up in an oven
to the semblance of grains of sand.—
Longman’s Magazine.
BUDGET OF FUN. ,
HUMOROUS SKETCHES FROM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
My Problem—Tho Wrong Man Con-,
victetl—Need ofa New Weat her /
Indicator What He
Took, Etc., Etc. tr
U
Sooner or later in life there comes -
To each and every one,
Some trying problem to be solved,
And, ’tisn’t always done.
My problem deep, o'er which to solve, {
In vain I daily strive; *
Is—how to make one dollar bill
Go just as far as five.
—Life. •
THE WRONG MAN CONVICTED.
Visitor (in court room) —“What
dastardly crime was committed by the
prisoner who was just convicted?”
“He stole a ride on a railroad.”
“And the man who got free?”
“He stole the railroad.”
NEED OF A NEW WEATHER INDICATOR.
Husband—“l really believe that my
rheumatism has entirely disappeared.”
Wife—“ Well, I hope it will not stay
away for good, as then we will have to
buy a barometer to find out when it is
going to rain." —Texas Siftings. S
*6-
IT WAS A COLD.
Miss Sharpe—“Oh, how do you do
Mr. Sissy? You are not looking very
well.”
Mr. Sissy—“No, Miss Shawpe; I’ve a
cold or something in my head.”
Miss Sharpe (calmly)—“l think it must
be a cold,Mr. Sissy.” —Mu nsey s Weekly.
GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE PRICE.
Mr. Slowpay—“l don’t like to com
plain about trifles, Mrs. Snapper, but my
hash appears to consist largely of frag
ments of deal board.”
Mrs. Snapper (the landlady)—“Well,
what kind of board do you expect for $5
a week? Polished mahogany?”—Mun
sey $ Weekly.
WHAT HE TOOK.
“What did he take?” inquired the de
tective that had been hastily sum
moned.”
“I think he took the train for Canada,”
replied the bank President, who was
walking about through the empty vault
and whistling dolefully an andante in G
minor.” —Chicago Tribune.
VIGOROUS METHODS.
Mr. Barkling (undergoing a medical
examination for insurance) —“Are you
going to punch me again like that,
doctor?”
The Physician—“ Just ouce more.”
Mr. Barkling—“Well, before you do
it just have the policy made out and
signed, will you?”— Judge.
A LOST OPPORTUNITV.
“I think that’s a very pretty piece of
music,” he remarked, self-complaccntly,
after he had thrummed away at the piano
for fifteen minutes. “Which part do
you like best?”
“The part you didn’t play,” replied
the fair girl, and he went forth into the
world, for he knew he hadn’t the ghost
of a chance there.— Lawrence American.
HIS FEELINGS WERE HURT.
First Tramp—“ Bill, I’ll never go to
that house again. The woman there ain’t
got no manners whatever.”
Second Tramp—“ What did she say?
Set the dog on you?”
First Tramp—“Naw; but she gimme
a soit biled egg, and when I asked for a
napkin, she said: ‘Don’t be so pertik
ler.’ ” — Light.
CIRCUMSTANCES ALTER CASES.
Yabsley—“lf ever I marry,l shall marry
a woman of education.”
Wick wire—“l used to talk that way
myself. But, in fact, I never had a
thought of marrying the present Mrs.
Wickwire until one day I got a letter
from her announcing that her uncle had
‘d-i-d-e’ and left her sixty-five thousand
‘d-o-l-e-r-s.’ ” —Terre Haute Express.
SPECULATIVE HEREDITY.
Matcrfamilias—“lmogen, I don't think
f could ever approve of vour marrying
George Rockpate. I should hate to think
that any of my grandchildren would he
like him. He was such a hard-headed
boy, and it runs in the family.”
Imogen—“ Yes, mamma, I know all
the Uockpates are awfully hard-headed,
but you must remember that there is
softening of the brain in our family. ”
Life.
A DIFFERENT QUESTION.
Reginald (in the conservatory)—“Now
that we are alone, Claire, I can ask you a
question that 1 have been burning to ask
all the evening.”
Claire (overcome with emotion) —“Oh,
Reginald.”
Reginald—“ Ever since I entered the
ballroom I have felt that my necktie was
slowly creeping over the back of my col
lar, and the thought of my appearance
made me miserable. Tell me, Claire, is
my necktie all right?”
HE COULDN’T FORGET HER.
Wife—“ Whatever are you writing
there so busily, darling?”
Husband—“ Only working at my diary,
love.”
Wife—“Oh, ah, I see! Well, I hope
you've mentioned your little wife in it
somewhere.”
Husband—“ Rather; I’ve alluded to
you as ‘the sun of my life; - and now I'm
in the middle of a graphic description of
the day when you made it so unusually
hot for me.”— Boston Transcript.
THE DOCTOR'S STRATAGEM.
Doctor—“ Really, madam, if you wish
those splitting headaches to stop, you
must throw away that spotted veil I see
you wear.”
Fair Patient—“ Pshaw I”
“But your eyes will be ruined if you
don’t take my advice.”
“Bosh!”
(Desperately)—“Freckles are to be in
fashion next summer, I understand.”
Fair Patient (excitedly)—“l’ll stop
wearing the veil right away, doctor.”—
Lawrence American.
REASON ENOUGH.
“Can you love me a little, Ethel?”
“No, Mr. Arden.”
“Not the least little bit in the world?”
“Certainly not, sir.”
“Then I must bid you an everlasting
farewell.”
“Before you go I think you might at
least ask me the reason.”
“The reason why you can’t love me a
little?” '
“Yes.”
“Well, why?”
“Because I love you a very great deal."
— Puck.
STUCK IN A HOLE.
Mamma—“Johnny, what is a year?”
Johnny—“ Three hundred and sixty
five days.”
Mamma—“What is a day?”
Johnny—“ Twenty-four hours—and an
hours’s sixty minutes—and a minute is
sixty seconds.”
Mamma—“What is an instant?”
Johnny—“An instant? An instant’s a
hole in the ground.”
Mamma—-“A hole in the ground? Why,
how do you make that out?”
Johnny—“My book says ‘The dog fell
down in an instant.’”— Light.
THE DARK CONTINENT.
“Does anybody live in Africa, mamma?’
asked seven-year-old Harry.
“Why, of course, my dear. Peoph
live in all parts of the world. What
made you ask?”
“I should think they’d be scared.”
“Scared? Why, no. What should
they be scared about?”
“’Cause it’s always night time there.’
“Why, no, iny child, it isn’t always
night time there any more than it is here.
Who gave you that idea?”
“My teacher did. She said Africa
was the ‘Dark Continent.’ ” — BuffaloE
press.
nAD DONE ENOUGH.
“Fellow citizens,” said the candidate,
“I have fought against the Indians. I
have often had no bed but the battle
field, and no canopy but the sky. I have
marched over the frozen ground, till
every step has been marked with blood.”
His story told well, till a dried-up
looking voter came to the front.
“Did yer say yer’d fought for the
Union?”
“Yes,” replied the candidate.
“And agin the Indians?”
“Yes, many a time.”
“And that you slept cn the ground
with only the sky for a kiver?”
“Certainly.”
“And that your feet bled in marching
over the frozen ground?”
“That they did,” cried the exultant
candidate.
“Then I’ll be blamed if you hain’t
done enough for your country. Go hom<
and rest. I’ll vote for the other fellow."
THE MIGHTY TAXPAYER.
There was a crowd of men around the
opening of the big Woodward avenue
sewer at Adams avenue, when one of the
bosses sang out:
“Come, now, you people, stand back!
You are in the way here!”
All the crowd except one man stood
back.
“Stand back there, you!” yelled the
boss.
“What for?”
“Me!”
“Not much! Do you own this
sewer?”
“No, sir, but I boss this job?”
“And it's my tax money that is help
ing to build the sewer and pay your
wages. You are my hired man, as far as
my money goes. A share of this ditch
belongs to me. I don’t stand back worth
shavings!”
And he sat on a beam, drew a paper
from his pocket and during the next half
hour he seemed to thoroughly enjoy the
situation. —Detroit Free Press.
The Candle Fish.
People who are accustomed to gas and
electric light would doubtless think it
very strange to depend chiefly upon a
fish for illuminating purposes; but the
candle fish is the chief, and in many
places the only light used by some of
the natives living in the northwestern
part of North America. This curious
and useful fish is of slender make, and
measures about a foot in leugth. It is
silvery white, and is regarded by the na
tives as the most delicious of edibh
fishes. It is nearly impossible, how.
ever, to broil or fry it, because the fish,
so treated, almost completely melts intc
oil; and it is this latter quality which
makes it so esteemed for lighting pur
poses. When a candle is required, a
dried fish is stuck, tail upwards, in a
lump of clay or in a cleft stick; alight
is applied to the tail, which instantly
flames up, and the fish burns steadily
downwards, giving a light superior to
the best quality of “dips.” In some
cases a piece of rush pith or a strip of
the innner bark of the cypress tree is
drawn through the fish with a long
wooden needle, to act as a wick. The
fish is, however, most successfully used
as a torch, because in moving it through
the air, the rather dense smoke which
it emits is got rid of. The natives
find a profitable trade in bartering the
fish with those of other places, and lat
terly the extraction of the oil has be
come a regular business in the districts
which it frequents. The oil is used for
many purposes, but is most highly
prized for its medicinal qualities. It is
is said to be as efficacious as cod-liver oil
in pulmonary diseases, whilst it has the
advantage of being much more palatable.
Senator Plumb, of Kansas, was an
editor before he went into the railroad
business and became a millionaire.
VICIOUS PLANTS.
TREES WITH ALCOHOLIC BEV
ERAGES TO ATTRACT VICTIMS.
Xegetable Whisky Shops and Beer
Saloons—Propagated by the Gov
ernment—How the Shrubs
Attract Their Customers.
The Government has been going quite
extensively of late into the propagation
of whisky shops and beer saloons. Its
laboratory employed for this pur
pose is the National Botanical Garden in
Washington. For the beer saloons and
whisky shops referred to are purely of a
vegetable nature. They are, in fact,
nothing more or less than plants of a very
extraordinary description, which devote
their attention exclusively to the man
ufacture and sale of intoxicants.
A reporter learned that attention is
being given to an investigation of their
manner of doing business and to analyses
of the liquors they dispense, which is ex
pected to have very important and use
ful results, opening up a line of inquiry
in an altogether new direction.
The vegetable whisky shop is perhaps
the most astonishing plant in existence.
A number of members of its family are
represented in the green houses of the
botanical garden. Each one does busi
ness on its own hook, and most of them
sell differing brands of liquor, that sup
plied to customers at one shop being un
like what is offered at another. This
does not appear surprising when it is
considered that every vegetable whisky
shop does its own distilling.
You would be struck at once with the
curious appearance of one cf these vege
table whisky shops if you saw it standing
in a big flower pot, carrying on the end
of each of its long green leaves a pitcher
shaped receptacle. If the plant is open
for business you can look into its pitch
ers and find them to contain quite a
quantity of watery-looking liquor. This
is the intoxicant which is offered to cus
tomers, each one being permitted to help
himself to as much as he likes for the
stipulated and invariable price, Maybe
you will find the pitchers all shut up, for
each pitcher has a cover that shuts down
whenever any rain or dew is falling to
prevent the liquor from becoming diluted.
Now, the customers spoken of are in
sects of all sorts—such as blue-bottle
flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, red ants
and so on. There is not a bug of any
sort, apparently, that has not a weakness
for the liquor supplied by the vegetable
whisky shop. The insect walks out on
one of the long leaves until he comes to
the end of it, and finding there is a j
quantity of delicious drink in the pitch- '
er he crawls in and swigs and swigs at it
until he dies, as is supposed, of alcohol- !
ism. At all events he pays for his drink
with Inis life and leaves his corpse in the j
pitcher to sustain by its absorption the i
healthful existence of the plant. And it 1
is just for this object—to entrap cus
tomers for food—that the plant prepares
and places on sale its liquor. What the
said liquor is composed of, chemically
speaking, attempts are now being made
to find out oy analyses. So far, is is only
known that it is a powerful and palata
ble intoxicant. How much the insects
enjoy it you can perceive by looking in
to the pitchers, where you will often find
in each receptacle hundreds of t igs of
all descriptions. Another form of veg- |
etable whisky shop has long, perpendie- 1
ular trumpet-shaped receptacles for the 1
liquor, with the wide end of the trum- !
pets at the top, where the 1 ugs are ex
pected to crawl in. And when you tear
open one of these trumpets—it may be a
foot rr more in length—after it has sur
vived its usefulness and dried up you will
usually find it fil.ed from one end to the
other with flics and ants and such things.
It has recently keen discovered—and
herein lies the expected usefulness of the
investigation now going on regarding
these plants—that different vegetable
whisky shops, like their prototypes on
the city streets, have different classes of
customers. One kind of these shops is
frequented almost exclusively by cock
roaches, for whose reception unusually
large pitchers are provided—the plant
carrying them looking as if it had sus
pended from the ends of its strong leaves
a lot of small bath-tubs. Another kind,
with pitchers that resemble in appearance
great big beans, is frequented only by
red ants; and ..till anotaer kind is pat
ronized by slurs, and has the rims of
its pitchers armed with teeth to delay
'uests who might wish to depart. So it
would appear that these whisky shops
could be propagated for use in destroy
ing such enemies of the household and
the garden, and it is proposed to find out
how far such a thing may be practicable.
There is no difficulty, certainly, in rear
ing and maintaining the plants, which
nre not tropical exotics, but natives of
the region about Washington, and readily
cultivated in any temperate c.imate.
Quite as interesting in its way as the
whisky shop is the vegetable beer saloon
referred to at the beginning of this arti
cle. In general appearance it resembles
the whisky shop strongly, but its pitchers
are wider at the mouths and have no tops
to them. Thus the liquor dispensed by
the beer saloon is diluted more or less by
the dews and rains, so that it is not very
intoxicating. However, the drmk is in
tended to attract the insect customers,
and not to poison them. Patrons, crawl
ing into the pitchers, take a drink, and,
without feeling it go to their heads very
much, start to walk out again. But, un
fortunately, the whole inside of the
pitcher is lined with strong hairy projec
tions, all pointing downward toward the
liquor and away from the brim. It was
easy enough to walk downward, but when
the victim attempts to go upward and
out again the hairs obstruct his progress
so effectually that he finally tumbles bark
into the drink and is miserably drowned.
That is the way the vegetable beer saloon
captures its customers—by drowning.—
St. Louia Globe-Democrat.
Two citizens of Charlestown, Mass.,
propose to start for Russia, shortly, to
publish a newspaper in behalf of Siberian
exiles.
Skianlng Rattlers Ally*.
Fires broke out all over Sapele Island
last week, says a Darien (Ga.) correspond
ent of the Globe-Democrat. Much game
was killed, but the most Interesting
was the rattlesnake hunt led by
William Cro®!? keen** t>.,i
light. Quite a company, ladies as well
as gentlemen, assembled at the Spot
where the snakes’ den had been located.
AH things were as they had been left,
and it *oon became manifest from ths
sounds below that the rattlesnakes Wert
there likewise. All things being ready,
the sticks coveting the hole were re
moved and digging commenced. In a
short time a snake was discovered mov
ing about, and presently the ominous
rattle was heard from below. It was
short Work to bring the reptile—a full
grown rattler nearly six feet long—to the
surface. With reared crest, glittering
eye, quivering forked tongue and com
tinuous rattle, he warned the hunters
that he was ready to put in his deadly
work.
Mr Cromley, who is a skilled taxider
mist, came forward, armed only with a
looped twine string supported upon a
stick about the size and length of a walk
ing cane, and, placing the noose around
the snake’s neck, just behind the jaws,
instantly captured him and held him
swinging and writhing in the air. He
at once hung him at a convenient height
to a limb agaiDst a tree. He then with
a long pair of suigeon’s forcepts pro
ceeded to open wide the snake's jaws.
Then was presented the most revolting
sight of all. The great white open
mouth, the fangs, nearly an inch long,
protruding, the poison spurting and
dripping from them. Mr. Cromley, with
a long pair of surgeon’s scissors, clipped
off the fangs close, after cramming the
mouth full of lint cotton with his for
ceps, the snake all the while writhing
and rattling at a dreadful rate. He then”
with a scalpel, begau deliberately to take
the skin off, holding the same with
the forceps, beginning at the head
at the end of the upper jaw,
This he did dexterously and ex
peditiously, going carefully around the
eyes and breathing holes, down to the
lower end of the jaws. Then he took
the lower jaw in the same way and to the
same point. He then took the skin off
well down on the neck, behind the jaws,
and cut off the head. All this was done
while the snake was writhing, squirming
and rattling most fearfully. He buried
the head and all things to which poison
could have attached, took the body down
from its suspended position and placed
it in a basket with a lid, such as fisher
men use hung at their side in which to
carry fish.
While Mr. Cromley was going through
with the one, as above described, another
was taken, not quite as large, a male
rattler, from the same den. He was sus
pended and taken through, in all respects,
the same process as was his mate and
placed in the basket to be taken home,
there at more leisure to be carried through
all the details practised by the taxidermist
iu preparing his subjects to present a
most .ifelike appearance.
Lockjaw Bacilli.
Some interesting points regarding
lockjaw were brought out by Dr. Henry
Leffmann in the course of his lecture on
the chemical causation of disease at the
Academy of Natural Sciences last night.
lie considered lockjaw or tetanus tc
be caused by the development of an or
ganic poison in the system. “The tetanus
bacilli,” he observed, “are like little rod
likc vegetable forms of great minuteness,
looking under the microscope not unlike
pieces of broken-up match sticks.” This
bacillus adheres to various objects, such
as a rusty nail or a rake left lying out in
the air or other similar things, and when
these pierce the skin the poison is intro
duced into the body.
It is incomprehensible to many people
that a puncture from a rusty nail in the
foot or a little cut or scratch in some
part of the body can cause such terrible
suffering and death, but when the bacilli
are taken into the system and get into
the warm blood they multiply with won
derful rapidity and are soon scattered
through every part of the system in great
numbers. It is a curious fact that there
is somewhat of an analogy between the
action of the tetanus bacillus and that of
strychnine upon the system, mauy of the
symptoms and convulsions ot tetanus
being present in case of strychnine
poisoning.
Dr. Leif man n related a fairly well au
thenticated case to prove the germ origin
of tetanus. During an earthquake which
occurred within the last few weeks a
number of people who had taken refuge
in a couple of churches were injured by
the collapse of the buildings. It was that
many of the wounded from one of the
churches were stricken with tetanus,
while those from the other edifice were
unaffected. A careful examination re
sulted in disclosing the fact that the
walls and interior parts of the former
church were swarming with tetanus
germs, while the other was free from
them. Every person in the infected
church who was wounded by flying bits
of plaster or wood ran the risk of being
stricken with lockjaw. —Philadelphia In
quirer.
To Build Upon the Sands Securely.
A process of preparing foundations has
been patented by F. Neukireh, of
Bremen. Its object is to make loose
sand firm and resisting as solid rock. At
present the universal method of doing
this work, if under water, is to remove
all loose material and then make a beton
or some similar substructure. The pro
cess under consideration, which is only
of use where the materials are fairly
clean siliceous or calcareous sand, aims
at consolidating the grains by covering
them with a film of cement, which is
forced into the spaces between the par
ticles by compressed air, steam, or water
underpressure. Sheet piles are employed
to prevent the spreading of the cement
over more ground than is necessary. The
system has been largely used in the
harbor of Bremen, and is to be tried in
preparing dry foundations. — Builder*'
Reporter-