Newspaper Page Text
W. F. SMITH, Publisher,
VOLUME IX.
NEWS GIE4NIN6S.
Selma has fifty fine artesian wells.
The tobacco crop of Virginia will be
short this year.
Vegetation is frightfully parched in
Middle Tennessee.
Real estate is on the upgrade in Baton
Rouge, La. • •
The blackberry crop of Pulaski coun
ty this year was worth $3,500.
Arkansas has 2,500 miles of navigable
rivers.
Wilmington, North Carolina, is ship
ping a large amount of lumber to
Hayti.
Belma, Alabama, has fifty-five over
flowing bored wells affording a plenty
of good water.
Mississippi produced the largest
amount of cotton in 1880, the number
of bales being 055,808.
The Mississippi river commission will
build ninety barges, and will have five
steam tugs.
A live oak tree in Miconopy county,
Florida, measures twenty-two feet in
circumference.
A North Carolina colony is talked of
which shall be free from “beer saloons,
churches, ministers and lawyers.
Nashville wants to be the iron center
of the South. It is now the next thine
to it—the rock center.
Railroads, railroads, railroads, is the
cry from one end of the South to the
other.
Southwest Georgia is happy in tho
success attending the boring of artesian
wells. Water in abundance has been
obtained at a depth of 530 feet. <
J. B. Morrison, of McClellansville,
South Carolina, has raised three hun
drod pounds of excellent Malaga grapes
lm season.
The Fort Smith oil-mill and cotton
compress is about completed. It is one
of the largest in the country, and cost
$75,000
Pleas Harper, a negro, bought a plan
tation on Broad river, in Georgia, pay
ing for the same $32,000. It comprises
2,100 acres.
The official majority against prohibi
lion in North Carolina was 116,156
Only three counties in the State gave
majorities in favor, which, combined,
amounted to but 258. Next year la di
ana tackles the same question.
There is great anxiety at Vicksburg
for fear that the recent Congressional
appropriation of $75,000 for the im
provement of the harbor at that point
is not going to he expended as judicious
ly as expected. The citizens are mov
ing in the matter, because at this stage
of water good work can be accomplished.
The German society organized at New
Orleans for ihe purpose of promoting
the interests of German emigration to
the South is meeting with flattering
success. It is stated that a large num
ber of Germans are now on their way
from Europe to points in the Seuth.
Now this does begin to look like busi
ness.
One of the Cotton Exposition’s at
tractions will be an “ ensilage cattlerv”
in full operation. The pits are being
dug, and the multitude of horses, sheep,
hogs, cows and mules will be fed in the
ensilage during the exhibition. The
main object of the system is to save la
bor and time.
The Georgia Legislature has passed a
bill making a complete change in the
management of the State penitentiary.
By it the office of Principal Keeper or
Warden is abolished, and a board of
three Commissioners elected, clothed
with unlimited power to control the
operation of affairs. This power was
formerly in the hands of the Governor.
The thirty-eight States of the Union
contain 2,299 counties. Texas leads off,
haring 151 counties, followed closely by
Georgia’s 137. After Georgia in the
table comes Kentucky with 117 coun
ties; Missouri, 115; Virginia; 105; II
linois, 102; lowa, 99; Tennessee and
North Carolina, eac, 94, and Indian
92. Asa rule, the Southern Btates have
more counties than the Northern
States.
The Charleston Courier comes to the
defense of the Southern girls who are
charged with being unwilling to work.
It says that “it is only necessary to look
at Columbus or Augusta in Georgia, or
at Greenville or Spartanburg in this
State, or wherever manufacturers are
established in the South, to prove the
falsity of this charge. Charleston will
he no exception to the rule now that
favorable opportunities are given to the
people.”
to Industrial Interest, the Biftrionnf Trath, the Establishment ef Justice, and the Preservation of a People’s Government.
*OPXCB OP THI DAT.
Governor PiiAKprao, of Maine, is to
marry next October.
Vennor says the outlook for the ap
proaching winter is pleasing.
Secretary Kibkwood smokes too
much, so the doctors say.
A movement is on foot to settle a large
number of Swedes on the wild lands of
Eastern Kentucky.
Oscar Wil.de, the aesthetic poet who
writes of the barren ideality of unkissed
kisses, is an Irishman.
A lady in Colorado claims to possess
the crucifix which Columbus held in his
hand when he first landed in America.
The four-hundredth anniversary of
Gutenberg’s use of printing type will
soon be celebrated by the printers of
Vienna.
Tiie Thousand Islands, a few years
ago, sold at $25 apiece, and now many of
them are held as high as $15,000 by
their owners.
Charles Darwin, the evolutionist,
has given the rent of a hall m Downes,
England, to a zealous evangelist for a
religious revival.
It is said that most of the men in
Washington Territory favor woman suf
frage. We expect so. They make them
•vork for all they are worth.
In the everglades of Florida has been
found a species of wild coffee, and it has
been demonstrated that coffee may be
raised there equal to the best imported.
The most utterly utter nonsense yet
recorded is that of a young female in
the Catskills, who pitches her voice for
conversation by means of a tuning
fork.
The Baltimore American says that of
the 70,000,000 gallons of water used per
day in Chicago, one-half goes for beer
manufacture, and the other half for
•cabling hogs.
It is a remarkable coincidence that
the Russian Nihilist, Leo Hartmann,
who believes in assassinating Czars, and
Guiteau, bear a strong resemblance to
each other. They look nearly enough
alike to be mistaken for brothers.
Charles Stewart, the Mississippi wife
murderer who was suspended between
heaven and earth by an indignant mob
the other day, was first prayed for by
his father-in-law, who subsequently
helped to adjust the noose.
Sojourner Truth is living in fair
health at Battle Creek, Michigan. Her
hair, which for years was white, is turn
ing dark again, and her eyesight is im
proving. According to the best informa
tion her age is 106, though she thinks
she is older.
Charles Bradlaugh rejects utterly
the title of atheist applied to him. He
contends that there is not sufficient evi
dence to convince him of the existence
of God; but he does not deny that such
a being may exist. He simply suspends
judgment.
Consumers of canned fruit bad better
improve their opportunity by canning
for themselves, even paying a high price
for the fruit, for the scarcity of all kiuds
of fruit will place the canned article on
the market at an unusually high price
the coming season.
Twenty years ago James A. Garfield
said: “ I regard my life as given to my
country. lam only anxious to make as
much of it as possible before the mort
gage on it is foreclosed. ” It has looked
for a good while as if the foreclosure
were pretty close at hand.
A bouquet was affixed a few days ago
to the door of the cell in which Walter
Malley, accused of the murder of Jeunie
Cramer, of New Haven, is incarcerated.
The offering, of course, is “quite too
previous,” but it will cheer the poor
fellow up and may be cause him to feel
a little sorry.
The Whitehall Times thinks that men
should furnish wives with politics and
that women should furnish husbands
with religion. The objection to this is,
religion is free—no, salvation is free ,*
religion is the part that you pay for, and
men are now complaining of the drain
on the pocket-book. We object.
The Cincinnati Gazette says : “A let
ter from London states that the condi
tion of Lady Burdett-Coutts is becoming
very interesting. Anent which an ex
change remarks that the Bartlett pair
promises to prove fruitful.” We have
read the paragraph fourteen times, and
don’t know what to make of it.
INDIAN SPRINGS, GEORGIA.
Two fellows started, a few weeks ago,
in the little dory City of Bath, from
Bath, Me., for England, and have
reached their destination. A dory is “ a
canoe, or small boat.” The journey was
a perilous one. The reckless fellows
would have perished during the trip
had they not been freshly supplied with
provisions by a passing steamer.
Mb. Morton, United States Minister
at Paris, has been informed by the Pre
fect of the Siene, that the name of Place
de Bitche, where his official residence
is situated, has been changed to Place
des Etats Unis. This is considered a
compliment to Mr. Morton and the
United States. We most heartily con
cede that there is a decided improve
ment also in the sound.
Although dancing masters are known
as professors at many of the watering
places, and are boarded free of charge,
their calling is going into decline with
gentlemen. At all the watering places
gentlemen who dance are gradually be
coming fewer, and the ladies are com
pelled to take partners of their own sex
or await the opportunity .to dance with
a gentleman, which, however, does not
always present itself.
The Arizona Citizen , referring to the
fact that “ Billy the Kid,” the notorious
desperado, was a native of New York,
says that the desperadoes who commit
tlieir depredations in the West over
which Eastern people express such hor
ror, are mostly Eastern graduates. Very
few r of them are natives of the West. This
is a fact that but few people consider
when they talk about the need of Chris
tian influences in the West. Outlaws
go there to get out of the roach of the
law's and church.
Mrs. Annie Besant, Charles Brad
laugh’s friend, and copublisher of that
book “The Fruits of Philosophy,” of
which they had such a wide sale, and
the publication of which gave them so
much trouble in the Courts of England,
has passed in the first class at the pre
liminary examination for the degree of
B. Sc. in the University London, lw
tutor being Dr. A. E. Aveling. Mrs.
Besant has also passed in the advance
classes in seven subjects at South Ken
sington.
Anstrian Dogs.
In Austria, -while the large dogs are
made to work, and make themselves use
ful in various ways, the little fellows are
taken to the bosoms cf the ladies, and
treated as if they were veritable angels.
It is not uncommon, when traveling, to
see almost every lady with a dog in her
arms, and occasionally a footman or
maid, whose sole duty in traveling with
the mistress is to take care of the dog,
and see that he has water and food on
the route.
The doctors tell many amusing anec
dotes of having been called up at mid
night and finding that their services were
needed for a poodle that had been over
fed in the effort to kill them with kind
ness. They could make heavier
with the assurance of prompt payment,
in such cases, than if the patient had
been a child or a husband. “Love me,
love my dog,” seems to be the sentiment
of these ladies; and on one occasion the
writer saw a finely-dressed lady, who
had her dog in her arms, take off her
gloves w T hile standing in a railway sta
tion, and diligently pursue and kill a
flea which she had discovered depredat
ing among the fleece of her favorite. It
is quite common to see them led tender
ly along with ribbons, and in some cases
to see a gold chain attached to a lady’s
belt, and at the other end of the chain a
poodle dog traveling by her side or re
posing in her arms.
Signs in the shop windows tell you
that “Dog soap is sold here,” and that
various patent compounds that will in
duce canine health and longevity are on
sale. A lady walking in any of the pub
lio grounds with a dog is sure to be ac
costed by a number of seedy-looking in
dividuals, who will draw out of their
pockets pups, which they offer for sale.
The offering for sale of anything in the
public grounds being prohibited, they
thus keep them concealed in their pock
ets. In the upper grades of life a moth
er trusts her children to servants and
governesses, bat her poodle dog she
keeps under her own eye; and a scream
from the nursery might pass unheeded,
but a yelp from the drawing-room or the
boudoir would startle “her Ladyship”
from the soundest sleep. Of course
there are exceptional cases, but it in
cludes most of those who aspire to fash
ionable life. We see dogs caressed much
more than children are, and their comfort
studied with jealous oar a.
School Children’s Headaches.
Dr. A. Jacobi, of New York, in a paper
on “Neuralgia in Infancy and Child
hood,” read before the Kings County
Medical Society, said of the hardf
worked school children nowadays, their
long confinement in school-rooms and at
home, the consecutive disorders of the
circulation, the insufficient oxygenation
of the blood because of lack of exercise,
the digestive disorders resulting from
their sedentary life, are just as many
causes of impoverishment of the blood
and insufficient nutrition and stimulation
of the nervous system. In all these
cases headaches are very frequent
Prevention Better Than Core.
Prof. E. G. Jan©way leotured before
the Young Men’s Hebrew Association
about the prevention of disease, advising
that great attention should be paid to it
in order to obviate the necessity of cur
ing the disease when it should come.
All, h 9 said, were familiar with the cost
of sickness, involving tyie expense of
medioal attendance and loss of time,
work and wages, but many were igno
rant of how to prevent it. A man should
first learn his hereditary tendencies, and
if he was likely to inherit disease he
should guard against it by his mode of
life, his choice of an occupation and of a
dwelling-place, etc. After enlarging
somewhat upon the tendency to con
sumption and gout, he spoke particu
larly of hereditary insanity. If a child
were liable to that the greatest care
should be taken from the earliest infancy
—first to develop the body. As he grew
older he should be trained to avoid worry
and anxiety. Action was desirable for
such a person rather than undue reflec
tion. All mental shocks should be avoid
ed. It was bad for him to be wrapped
up in one idea, such as the acquisition
of money or power. He should choose
a congenial pursuit and by no means be
forced by his parents into a distasteful
one. There were good reasons why he
should not marry, but, if he did, he
should carefully choose a congenial
wife. •
The lecturer then spoke at great
length on the necessity for pure air,
water and milk, giving several instances
of the deleterious effects of bad air,
among others that of the passengers on
the ship Londonderry in 1848, 150 of
whom were shut up by the Captain dur
ing a storm, in the steerage, an apart
ment 18x12x7 feet. Seventy of them
died in an incredibly-short time, having
convulsions and bleeding at the eyes and
ears. Speaking of the danger of im
proper air in dwelling-houses, the lect
urer described a house he had examined
in whioh he found the cold-aii box of the
furnace connecting directly with the
sewer. In another house he knew of
three cases of malaria where the tenant,
examining a drain that the owner had
guaranteed to be all right, found a cess
pool under the house. He had also
known people to put their garbage bar
rels under the cold-air box of the fur
nace. People should examine the
plumbing in their houses for themselves
and not be satisfied when a plumber
said it was right. Whenever it was
gpossible, a tenant, builder or purchaser
Jot a house should insist that the piumb
ing work be all in sight and not buried
in walls. If people would all insist
upon it houses would soon be built so.
But if the plumbing is in the walls the
peppermint test should be applied. A
considerable quantity of the essence of
peppermint should be poured into the
liighest trap in the house, and if there
was a break anywhere the peppermint
odor would betray it. Bad odors in a
house were like the rattles of a rattle
snake. They meant bad plumbing and
danger.
He then spoke earnestly in regard to
vaccination, saying that 100 years ago
ten deaths in every 100 were caused by
small-pox. Now, by vaccination and
isolation, the prevalence of the disease
was checked. By being vaccinated in
infancy and once in fifteen or twenty
years afterward a person was compara
tively safe ; but, by being vaccinated
about once in seven years he was as safe
as he could be. He then concluded
with a few directions in regard to disin
fecting and nursing in cases of infec
tious diseases. —New York Herald.
Benevolence to Animals.
Almost all boys are fond of dogs, and
yet nearly all will persecute cats, rob
bird’s nests and pelt frogs. There are
exceptional boys who delight in cruelty,
and they frequently grow up with their
evil propensities strengthened by age
and exercise. There are also men of
brutal disposition who have acquired
their ruffianism after passing through the
juvenile stages of their existence, and
they are at once the plagues and the
puzzles of society, defying its punish
ments and resisting its benevolent en
deavors.
Cruelty to animals is partly the work
of brutal natures, and partly perpetrated
by well-meaning people, under the in
fluence of bad habits; and if we could
estimate the total quantity of cruel in
fliction imposed upon birds, beasts, rep
tiles and fish, be should probably find
that by far the larger proportion resulted
from the ill-regulated action of good
and even benevolent persons. Much of
ill treatment of animals comes out of
the ordinary proceedings of trade. It
has been the custom to bleed calves, to
cram sheep and poultry into the smallest
possible apparatus of transport, to drive
cattle for long distances without permit
ting them to drink and to slaughter
them without sufficient avoidance of
pain. Each little circle in which these
malpractices occur forms its own theory
of cruelty and benevolence, and laughs
scornfully at outsiders who object to its
ways. Tme fox-hunter thinks a man a
fool who reminds him of the unbenevo
lent character of his sport, and the fine
ladies who flock to aristocratic pigeon
matches have no more compunction at
witnedug the suffering of the poor
birds than the Spaniards have for the
gored horses and tortured bulls in their
disgusting national recreation. It may
be affirmed that the cruelty of custom
or indifference does not lead to the de
moralization which inevitably results
from a deliberate choice of action that
inflicts unnecessary pain, and yet all
familiarity with needless and useless
suffering must tend to damage charac
ter unless it excites strenuous resistance
to the evil and efforts for its cure.
Incident of Lincoln’s Murder.
“Those are not cheerful-looking
things, are they ?” said Counselor M. A.
McDonald, as he sauntered into the of
fice of the United States Marshal, and
pointed to a pair of handcuffs which were
lying upon the table.
“Not especially enlivening,” replied
a deputy, picking up the rogue’s
bracelets and examining them thought
fully.
“There was a time when I thought
they -were the most cheerless and terrible
things in the world.”
The deputy looked up in surprise.
“Yes,” continued Mr. McDonald, “I
bad them both on my hands and feet at
once for a number of hours. I assure
you they are not pleasant things to
wear. ”
“Were they put on to keep you a
prisoner V queried the deputy, wonder
ing if his friend could have done any
thing criminal. ”
“ You would have thought so had you
been in my place. I was arrested" by
officers who thought I was J. Wilkes
Booth.”
“No!” ejaculated the deputy, more
as an expression of surprise than an in
tentional reflection upon the veracity of
Mr. Mo Donald.
*‘ It came about in this way, ” began
the lawyer, whose dark hair and eyes, even
now that sixteen years have passed, bear
a striking resemblance to the assassin of
Lincoln : “ Lincoln had been murdered
but a few days, and .the entire country,
plunged in grief, was wild with desire for
revenge upon the murderer. My home
was in Titusville, Pa., and I was on the
way to it from Washington, where my
father was then a Government con
tractor. The route was by way
of Erie. The train had left Erie
and gone perhaps a dozen miles, when a
couple of officers surprised me by put
ting me under arrest and clapping hand
cuffs on my feet. In vain I protested.
They would not believe that I was not
Wilkes Booth. To add to the unpleas
antness of the thing, and a fact which
also gave color to the belief that I was
the President’s assassin, it was well
known that Booth had interests in the
oil regions of Pennsylvania, and had
been there a number of times. The men
who arrested me did so upon the
strength of my great resemblance to a
picture of Booth which they had in tlieir
possession. When it became known on
the train that the assassin of Lincoln had
been arrested and was on that very
train, the excitement was intense. The
officers who were guarding me had all
they could do to prevent the infuriated
passengers from doing me bodily harm.
It had been telegraphed along the line
of the road that Lincoln’s murderer was
under arrest, and would pass through on
his way to Titusville. At every station
the train was met by infuriated men who
climbed upon woodpiles to get a glimpse
of me, and many times on that journey
I feared that the mob would get posses
sion of me. When the train reached
Curry -there was a man boarded the train
who knew me. But the officers would
not listen to him, and it was not until
Titusville was reached,where every man,
woman and child knew me, that the
handcuffs and manacles were removed
from my wrists and ankles, and I was
allowed my liberty. I have the photo
graph which furnished the clew to the
officers who arrested me in my posses
sion now.” —Denver Tribune.
Some Familiar Sayings.
Sliakspeare gives us more pithy say
ings than any other~author. From him
we cull, “ Count their chickens ere they
are hatched. ” ‘ ‘ Make assurance doubly
sure.” “Look before you leap.”
“ Christmas comes but once a year.”
Washington Irving gives us “The Al
mighty Dollar.” Thomas Norton quer
ied long ago, “What will Mrs. Grundy
say?’’while Goldsmith answers, “Ask
me no questions and I’ll tell you no fibs. ”
Thomas Tasser, a writer of the sixteenth
century, gives us, “ It’s an ill wind that
turns no good,” “ Better late than nev
er,” “Look ere thou leap,” and “The
stone that is rolling will gather no moßg.”
“All cry and no wool ” is found in But
ler’s “Hubibras.” Dry den says: “None
but the brave deserve the fair,” “ Men
are but children of the larger growth,”
“ Through thick and thin.” “Of two
evils I have chosen the least,” and “The
end must justify the means,” are from
Mathew Prior. We are indebted to Col
ley Cibber for the agreeable intelligence
that “Richardis himself again,” Cow
per tells us that “Varietyis the spice of
life.” To Milton we owe “The Para
dise of Fools.” From Bacon comes
“Knowledge is power,” and Thomas
Southeme reminds us that “ Pity’s akin
to love.” Dean Swift thought that
“ Bread is the staff of life.” Campbell
found that “ Coming events cast their
shadows before,” and “’Tis distance
lends enchantment to the view.” “A
thing of beauty is a joy forever,’* is from
Keats. Franklin said ‘ ‘ God helps those
who help themselves,” and Lawrence
Sterne comforts ns with the thought
that “ God tempers the wind to fhe
shorn lamb.”
So fab from persistence being an as
sociate of weakness and inferiority, it is
itself .a power which underlies and up
holds all others, and without which they
could never develop into value or effi
ciency. The feeble, inefficient, inferior
man is he who, whatever may be his
latent abilities, lacks the force necessary
to make the most of them. _
It is a remarkable fact that the centre
of population of the United States has
advanced in a straight line since 1790,
due west from Baltimore.
Good nature extracts sweetness from
everything with which it comes in con
tact, as the bee extracts honey from
every flower which it visits.
SUBSCRIPTION-SUED,
NUMBER 3.
HUMORS OP THE DAY.
A Western desperado reoently shoß
dead a man because he wouldn’t prav.
How very dangerous Western life would
be for many of ns,.—New Haven Reg
ister.
“How could you think of calling
auntie stupid? Go to her immediately
and telfc her you are sorry.” Freddie
goes to auntie and savs, “Auntie, I am
sorry you are so stupid.”
Emma Abbott has invented anew kiss.
If she desires to dispose of the old lot at
cost she can learn of something to her
advantage by ealliug at his office out of
business hours. —Lowell Citizen.
“Twenty years ago,” says a colored
philosopher, “niggers was wuf a thou
sand dollars apiece. Now dey would be
deah at two dollars a dozen. It's ’ston
ishing’ how de race am depreciatin’.”
“Your 1 usbaud is nol in to-day,
ma’am,” said a collector who called at
the door. “No, he is not.” “Do you
know where I can find him ? ” “I guess
he’s gone fishing. He carried, a glass
bottle with something he called bait. ”
Aunt Matilda—“And do you study
geography, Janet?” Janet—Geogra
phy? I should think so, indeed!”
Aunt Matilda—“ Where’s Glasgow?”
Janet—“ Glasgow? Oh, we haven’t got
so far as that. We’ve only got as far as
Asia. ”
Now that elephants’ milk has been
analyzed and found to be superior to
cows’ milk, of courso it will become
fashionable. And as it will be sold at a
high price, dealers can afford to make it
of a fine quality of chalk and very pure
water.
“Sam, you are not honest. Why do
you put all the good strawberries on the
top of the measure and the little ones
below?” “Same reason, sail, dat makes
de front of your house marble and de
back gate chiefly slop bar I, sail. ”—Ex
change.
Uncle Mose asked Gus De Smite
why it was that the weather was so muoh
warmer in summer than in winter. “ I
thought every darned fool knew that,”
growled Gus. “So did I, boss. That’s
why I puts de question to you on pur
pose.”—Texas Rifting s.
“But do you know, pa,” said the
farmer’s daughter, when he spoke to her
about the addresses of his neighbor’s
son, “you know, pa, ma wants me to
marry a man of culture.” “So do I, my
dear, so do I; and there is no bettor cul
ture in the country than agriculture.”
“The Bible aays, ‘Love your neigh
boras yourself,’” the parson remarked;
but of course we must not take this lit
erally. If you manage to love your
neighbor one-hundredth part as much as
you do yourselves, many of you, it will
be all that can be reasonably expected of
you. ” —Boston Transcript.
"Z Mamma—“Did you enjoy your ride,
Elise?” Elise—“No, mamma, and rea
son enough, for Connie James says the
Van Smiths are going to give a dance,
and we’re not asked. ” Mamma— ‘ ‘ Well,
my dear, your poor aunt’s death was
providential—of course we can’t go.”
It is said that death lurks in cheap
colored stockings. —New Orleans Pica
yune. Slio! We’ve known death to
lurk in the of* an enraged parent’s
boot, but didn’t suppose he could kick a
man to dea’th in his stocking feet. We
wouldn’t go there any more if we were
in your place. —New Haven Register.
Laughing Away a Duel.
Laughter is an antidote to anger. Even
a duel has been prevented by some
amusing answer which turned wrath
into mirth. A man holding both his
sides can’t hold a pistol.
A Georgia Judge named White, who
wore a cork leg, once challenged a
brother of the bench, Dooly by name,
and a wag, to mortal combat. At the
appointed hour both appeared on the
field, but Dooly was alone. White
sent his friend to ask where his an
tagonist’s second was. “Gone into
the woods,” replied the humorous
Dooly, “to get a bit of a hollow tree
to put one of my legs in, that we may be
even.”
The answer was too much for Judge
White; he laughed and so did his
second, and the challenge was with
drawn.
An Irsh lawyer, who had never fired
a pistol, was challenged by a famous
duelist whom he had offended by severe
comments upon his testimony in court.
The duelist, having been crippled in
one of his duels, came limping upon
the ground. He had one favor to ask,
permission to lean against a mile-stone,
as he was unable to stand without sup
port.
The request was granted, and, just
as the word “Fire! ” was about to be
given, the lawyer said he also had a
request to make. He asked the privi
lege of leaning against the next mile
stone.
A hearty roar of laughter from seconds
and challenger dissipated all thoughts
of a duel.
The great orator of the Revolution,
Patrick Henry, once received the follow
ing note, preliminary to a challenge
from Gov. Giles, of Virginia:
“Sir: I understand you have called
me a * bob-tail ’ politician. I wish to
know if it be true; and, if true, you*
meaning.”
Mr. Henry replied in this style :
“ Sir : Ido not recollect having called
yon a ‘ bob-tail ’ politician at any time,
but I think it probable I have. Not
recollecting the time or oocasion, I can’t
say what I did mean, but, if you
will tell me what you think I meant,
I will say whether you are correct or
not”
Of course there was no duel. — Youth’s
Companion.