Newspaper Page Text
THE ADVERTISER
VOL. V, NO. 23.
The Narrow Way*
Tell me, ye saints
And king* of old,
Where shall we find
The land of gold ?
The heavenly land,
With joys untold 1
Hear what the Spirit
Hath to say:
•'It lies beyond
The gates of day—
Just at the end
Of the narrow way.
"They who shall choose
To walk therein,
M oat bear the cross,
And cast out sin;
And life eternal
They then shall win.*'
There are shadiest thorn*
In this narrow way ;
There are blackest clouds
To hide the day ;
But hear what the Spirit
'Hath to say:
"Cheer up! cheer up!
Oh, heart of gloom !
For every thorn
Shall roses bloom
In tlje garden of God,
Where there is ro nis
"A crown for him
Who slay by day,
With patient feet
That never stray,
Bet ret h his cross
In the narrow way.”
THE STRANGER.
It was years ago, Bessie, when I was
but eighteen, and just engage I to Frank
Fenton. If you want to hear about it,
eit down on tho stool at my feet, and
prepare to be bored.
Wo had been sweethearts for a long
time. Went to church and singing
Bchool together; rode, walkod, danced,
and took long rows on the river which
ran past my lather's house. In fact,
this had besn going on for so long a
time that wo finally die ded that we
might as well bo always together, and
so lIso preliminary arrangements were
begun, and our wedding-day drew
near.
We lived on tho banks of a river—
One ut tho loveliest streams in Lous Inn a
—a quiet spot some didnuce from any
plantation; but as soon as our mniringc
took placo wo young folks were to re¬
move to a neighboring parish, and
thither Fintik went, shortly before the
wedding, to prepare our now home.
Ho left me bu*y ns u bee with the
trousseau and arrangements for the affair,
which was to bo a grand one for the
country, as my futhrr was a well-to-do
planter and 1 tho only child.
Ho had been absent about a fortnight,
and I was expecting him back daily,
wl.en one day father c.imo, with a
troubled face, into ihc ro in w!.c;e 1
was • tting, surrounded by lace and
muslin and dainty necessaries of toilet,
which wore just as much tho fashion
then as they are now, Bessie, popular
cant to tho contrary, notwithstanding.
“L trie,” said he, hurriedly, “I’ve
got to go over to Squire Ilmt’s to see
about lome titles. I came ucar forget¬
ting the appointment, an I I’ll have to
burry right fast to get there on time.
Can you do without me?” I laughed
and nodded; then suddenly an uneasy
feeling took possession of m\ I re¬
membered the money—quite a large Bum
—with which Frank and I were to “be¬
gin tho world,” and which lay securely
hidden away in the house, tho nest egg
of our future fortune.
I knew that l was destined to a lonely
night of it, .for father could not po;
■ib!y return within twenty-four hours;
the servants had all gone to a ‘ break¬
down.” on a neighboring plantation,
except an aged crone, Aunt Dinah by
name; my mother was an iuvul.d, weik
and netvoits; 1 felt that, alone as I wa»,
the outlook was not very enlivening.
Father observed my troubled expres
•ion.
, “1 don’t sco how 1 can help it,
daughter,’’lie said gravely. “Tin# is
a very important matter, and admits of
no delay, it is the fault of my iroach
crons memory; had I only remembered
the engag moot with the fquiro 1 would
have kept some of the scivauts at home
as protection for you.”
But 1 was no coward, and so 1 kissed
him and laughed away his anxiety, and
aaw him depart w.th assumed cheerful¬
ness; but as he rode down the avenue
which led to the outer gates, I saw him
turn iu the saddle and gaze after me
anxiously onco more.
I returned to my household duties
and my pleasant task amid tho billows
of laoe and muslin, and so sang and
worked the long, bright day away.
It was nearly sunset.
1 had persuaded mother to lie upon a
couch, which I had pushed out upon
ho vine-covered gallery, and seating
my*olf beside her, I began to read
aloud some wild old tale of super
natural horrors, upon which I had
stumbled. Before I had half finished
I had worked myself into a state oi
nervousness, and as 1 noticed the paling
face of my mother, I tossed the book
nj>oa the table, with a contemptuous
expression* and arose to make her tea.
At that moment the gate Latch
clicked, sod as I turned in its direction
1 could not repress a cry of alarm.
My eyes fell upon a strange sight.
The figure of a woman—a very dwarf
in s;Z) and stature—clad in a fade l
black dress, with a battered bonuet
upon her he ad, and a torn shawl about
her tiny, stooping shoulders.
Slowly and hesitatingly the creature
moved up the walk, until she had
reached the gallery.
Hero she paused to gaze curiously
upon us, with a pair of round, bcad
like black eyes.
Then she spoke, in a voice clear and
well- modulated:
“I have lost my way, ladies,” she
said, beseechingly, “may 1 crave a
night’s shelter? ’
I g'ancjtl at my mother, She was
pale and trembled violently.
I had conceived an unaccountable
aversion to the small stranger; but who
could have the heart to turn a woman
away into the pathless forest, with night
crating down, dark and threatening,
for the sky was overcast, and there
were signs of an approaching thunder
storm, and the wind moaned drearily in
the boughs of the pine trees.
So I told her that she might remain;
but 1 resolved to know no slumber that
night, but to watch the long hours
through.
My mother must not bo alarmed; so
sending the strmgor to tho kitchen with
Aunt Dinah to got some refreshments,
l coaxed mother to take her ten, and
carried her off !o bed in triumph.
It was 10 o’clock before I left her
sound asleep and stole off to the kitchen
to tako an ob ervition. O.i the thresh
old I pause I, my heart beat wildly, my
brain seemed on tire; I trembled so that
I could scarcely stand; I pushed tho
door ajar anil glanced in. What a
sight met my astonished eyes! The
dwarf was standing erect, and young,
and lithe; the woman’s garments hal
been discarded, and I saw beforo mo a
man, small, but muscular, and with a
diabolical face. IIo was stooping over
tho form of Aunt Dinah, in one hand a
vial, which ho held to her nostrils. I
comprehcade l the situation at a glance.
Aunt I).nah was d.ugged; even thefrai;
protection of her presence was gone
and the next step would be rebaery,
perhaps murder.
The villain replaced the vial in his
picket, with a grin on his u -ly face.
“There!” lie ejaculated, “that will
work. With tho old woman ou l of- tho
way, the rc*3t is easy. Luck/ that I
know where to look for the mraer; it's
in tho old woman’s room, I saw the gal
put it there. Let me see, right hand
corner, top drawer in dressing table.”
It flashed over me then, my own
carelessness, when father had given the
pockelbook into my keeping; the open
window near us, and some gay words
that I had uttered, all came back to me.
I was so frightened, it seemed as if
I should die. Then calmer thoughts
succecdel; nnd I resolved to fi,dit for
that money to the death. Softly I stole
away, and re-entered my mother’s
apartment, Taking the pocketbook
from the drawer, I hid it in my bosom;
and then, p.using, to assure myself
that she still slept, I turned to the hall
where our small provision of fire-arms
were stored. Oi, heavens! They were
gone! A low, horrible chuckle fell
upon my cars. Tho robber stood at
my side, a look of triumph on his hate¬
ful face.
"Well,* he sneered boldly, “where
is it?”
“What do you mean?” I gasped.
«> The money, of cour e. I've just
been to the old woman’s room, but I
find you’ve been too many for me.
Now, girl->’’ he stepped closer to
me and raised oue haa i threateningly;
his awful eyes glared into mine; his
lips, as they opened, resembled those of
some huge wild animal. “I kuow you
! have the money; hand it o it!’’
With a low cry of fear I turned and
fled. Hick to the large, old kitchen,
my heart surgiug and beating madly, I
flew like the wind. Old Dinah still
lay upon tho floor in blest unconscious¬
ness. I shook her and callel aloud
and sliricke l for help, but no other
sound broke the stillness save the low,
dreadful laugh of the robber, who hal
followed me.
“Stop that noise? ’ he growled.
“You're wasting breath, you know.
S e’s drugged, and won’t wake till I’m
safe out o’ this. I want that money.
Give it to me and I promise to leave
you in peace; refuse, and-”
1 thought of Frank and our futu-e.
“I never wili!” I cried, as bravely as
I could. Agaiu, that horrible, mock¬
ing laugh. He spring forward and
seized my arm; one hand passed around
my waist and held me tightly, the
other prepared to close about my throat.
Just at that moment ray eyes fell upon
the huge brick oven; something un¬
known in these days, B-Jssic; an im¬
mense structure occupying one side of
the kitchen. I noticed that the wide
door had been left open, and a sudden
FORT GAINES. GA„ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8. 1890.
thought—an inspiration—darted int ° ?
my mind. It was worth risking at all
events.
The villian’s band was pressing closer
about my slender throat; I felt a drrad
ful, choking sensaiion. I was sure that
i should die. Now—or never—I
thrust one hand, quickly, into the
bosom of my dress, and snatching the
pocket-book therefr>m with a qu ck,
tuiden movement, I threw it into the
oven—away in—I could hear it fall j
Upon the bottom, with a heavy thuJ,
for most of the money wa< in go!!.
With a horrible imprecation the wretch
released his hold, aud, dartrag forward,
sprang into the oven. I darted toward
the huge door. I se'zed it in both
hands; with superhuman efforts I 1
pushed it shut and slid the heavy bolt
into its place. I was saved! Theu I
sauk upon the floor iu blissful insensi
bihty.
I was arouse I by the pressure of lip?
upon iny own; and felt m/ head
pidowed in somebody's arms. I opened
my eyes. Frank was holding me close
to his heart, his face pale aud auxious.
He had returned unexpectedly; and see¬
ing a light burning in the house—an
unusual occurrence at so late an hour,
for it was midnight—and fearing that I
was ill—he had ventured to stop, j
told him the whole story; and, old as I
am, I have never forgotten the look on
his face as he clasped me to his heart.
It did not lake him long to ride to the
nearest town and summon tho sheriff
with a posse of men. The oven was
opened and the wretch within, insen¬
sible and half dead, was dragged forth
and away to justice. Ho was proven to
bo an old offender, and soon received g
long sentence.
I was quite the heroiuo of the country
around, for a long time afterward; but
heroics were not in my line, and I never
wished for a repetition of that night’s
experience.
A Steamship Stoker’s Life*
The stokers on one of the greit ocean
steamers work four hour* at a stretch,
in a temperature ranging from 12J to
169 degrees. The quarters are close,
and they must take care that while
feeding one furnace their arms arc not
burned on the one behind them.
Ventilation is furnished through a shaft
reaching down to the mid lie of their
quarters. Each stoko' te.ids four fur¬
naces, spins! ag p r’uaps two or three
minuics at each, then d ishes to the air
pipe to take his turn at coo ing off, and
waits for another ca l to liis furnaces.
When tho watch is over, the men go
perspiring through long, cold passages
to the forcastb, where they turn ia for
eight hours.
Ouo mau, twenty-eight years old,
who was iuterviewe l by a rep rtcr, had
beeu employed at the furnaces since he
was fourteen y.-ars old. lie weighed
180 prui Is, and was ruddy and seem¬
ingly happy. IIj confessed that tho
work was terribly hard, bit “it came
hardest on those who did not fellow it
regulariy. But if wo get plenty toeat,”
he said, “and take cere of ourselves wa
are all right. Here's a mate of mine,
aearly seventy years old, who has been
a stoker all his life aud can do as good
work as I can.”
Stokers never have the consumption,
and rarely catch cold. Their grog had
been knocked off on the Eiglish and
American lines because the men got
drunk too often, and the grog did them
much harm.
“Whea I u ed to take my grog I'd
work just like a lion while the effect
las'cd I’d tnrow in my coal like a
giant, and not mind the heat a bit;
but when it worked off, as it did in a
very few minutes, l was that weak that
a child cou’.d upset me. Take a man
dead drunk before the fires, and tho
heat wou’d sober him off in half an
hour or give him a stroke of apoplexy.”
Effect of Great Altitudes on Bogs.
A former B >s:onian who is now in
Colorado, many thousand feet above
the sea level, is in grief over tho loss of
two hand ome dogs which he took out
there with him. They were, he writes,
the pride of the mining camp where he
was located, aud they seemed to be in
excellent health until the week before
their death. Everybody prophesied
that the San Juan country would not
hold them long, but I had begun to
feel perfectly safe about them. At first
the change in the altitude did not seem
to affect them so badly as it did me.
Of late, however, they felt unusually
sleepy and languid, and began to ex¬
hibit symptoms of an alarming nature,
aud they startled the camp by rushing
around and snapping at the air in a
manner quite sugg stive of the rabies.
They ended by going into convulsions
and were shot l»y a badly frightened
miner. Cats and dogs, as a ru c, live
but a short time when taken to these
h'gh altitudes, while men, on the other
hand, often find them more healthy
than the sea level. Why the man can
live where the smaller animals cannot,
is a matter which has never yet been ex¬
plained.— Botton Advert iter.
DDDCI Ed\.Oinil A M PFNAITIP^ 11^0.
I 1
The Different Methods by Which
They Are Carried Out.
The Bastinado, Mutilation, Im¬
prisonment and Death.
The commonest form of punishment
Persia, says Thomas Stevens in
Souths Compimon t is the bastinado, or
bealing on the bare soles of the feet with
willow sticks. I saw this punishment
inflicted upon a peasant for some small
offense.
The culprit was laid on his back, his
feet weie lashed together and held solc 3
uppermost by passing through a loop in
a horizontal pole. A bundle of sticks
that had beau rendered pliant by soak
i ig in water wa9 brought and placed
close at hand.
AH being ready, two farrashes seized
each a stick and proceeded briskly to
belabor the upturned feet. Thep3a?ant’s
feet "were hard and calloused from
habitually walking barefoot, and uuder
these conditions his punishment was
probablyless se vere than it seemed.
The flagellation went merrily on un¬
til fifty sticks had been broken over his
feet. Now and then the man would
squirm and give a sorrowful groan of
“Al-l-ah!” but it was easy to see that
much of this was hypocritical. When
at length released, he roso to his feet
and limped slowly away, one of the
farrashes fetching him a smart cut
across the shou.dcrs to accelerate his
pace.
Fifty sticks is considered a “wy light
punishment; sometimes several hundred
arc administered, in which case the
punishment is, of course, severe.
It is not regarded as a disgrace iu
Persia to have been bastinadoed. Most
of thes: s> dealt with are simply men
unable to piy their dcbls. Nj ouo is
exempt from the bastinado except royal
personages.
Sometimes the Shah, displeased at
one of h'13 ministers or high sta'o of¬
ficials, orders him to bo bastinadoed.
The cffic al, perhaps a dignified old
gentleman, with a venerable, flowing
beard, living in a luxurious palace, mas¬
ter of fifty servants of his own, meekly
r ece'ves liis punishment at the bands of
the king's farrashes, and deems it no
disgrace. Nobody p tints the finger of
scorn at his neighbor who has been bas¬
tinadoed, for none know upon whom
the displeasure of the “powers that be”
may next descend in a like summary
manuer.
Sacak thieves are punished by mutila¬
tion. For the first offence they arc de¬
prived of an car or the joint of the fore¬
finger. This is usually a sufficient
warning, but if brought up a second
time, off comes the right hand. The
hand is laid on a block and chopped off
with a sword; the wrist is then plunged
in a kettle of boiling tar to stop the
bleeding.
When tho Indo-European telegraph
line was built through Persia, the
natives used to cut and steal the wire
for making bracelets. This caused so
much auuoyance to the telegraph com¬
pany that the Shall ordered the hands of
all persons found weiring telegraph
wire bracelets to be chopped off. This
terrib'e punishment soon put an end to
(he practice of stealing wira.
In travelling through Persia I saw
many people with the right hand miss¬
ing; they are generally found begging
on the streets of the cities.
The punishment of death is inflicted
for murder, highway robbery, treason,
and also for robbery from royal persons.
Desperate criminals are sometimes made
examples of by the most cruel punish¬
ments.
No female prisoners were in the jail
we visited. Women are never incatcer
ated in a public prison in Persia. A few
days’ forcible detention in the house of
a priest is the usual punishment inflict¬
ed upon them for small offences. When
their crimes are such as to merit capi¬
tal punishrasnt, however, no mercy is
shown them because they are women.
Near the city of Shiraz is a deep well
into which women guilty of certain
crimes are cast alivo. The woman is
conducted to the well, seated on a don¬
key, with her face turned toward its
tail. She is followed by a hooting mob,
who fling mud at her and jeer at her
misery. Arriving at the well, she is
made to kneel down at its brink. A
word or two is uttered by the priest,
the executioner gives the wretched wo¬
man a shove with his foot, and all is
over.
One Hark, Black Night.
A long silence had fallen on the
group around the little stove in the back
of the Oklahoma dry goods store.
Each of the rough citizens had told his
story or related some experience which
once befell him,and the silence that fol¬
lowed an incredible yarn of the Hon.
Jim J.nks was intense.
The stranger from the Erst had lis¬
tened throughout in a list.ess, wander-
ing manner, and yawned exceedingly
when the others laughed. The silence
thickened with the smoke, and as they
looked at one another iu the growing
darkness for cncouragemeut to break it,
Mr. Miko Swipes with a slight hem,
said:
“Wall, now, we’ve all bed our say.
Let the stranger say suthiu.”
All eyeawvere turned toward the
stranger, who had come from the East.
He pleaded ignorance of a good story,
but they persisted. They weren’t par¬
ticular. After a momeut’s deliberation,
during which all snugly placed tliem
sJves in tlicir favorite attitudes, the
stranger consented, and began in a mo¬
notonous and sing-song voice a9 fol¬
lows:
“One dark, black night a band of
robbers gathered around a camp fire in
the heart of the Harz Mountains, in
Germany. They had just returned
from a pluuderiug expedition, and were
resting themselves, Tho camp lire
threw a flickering light on tho weird
scene. The captain of the band was
standing in the shadow, leaning against
a tree, his hands resting on his gun.
IIL eyes were bont on tho grou 1 1, and
his face bore a troubled expression.
Suddenly he turnc 1, and walking to
where his lieutenant stood, Fflid to him:
“ ‘Scuddy, my boy, tell mo a thril¬
ling story.’
“Scuddy settled himself on a log
seat, and told tho following thrilling
tale:
< i One dark, black night a band of
robbers gathered around a camp fire in
the heart of tho Harz Mountains, in
Germany. They had just returned
from a plundering expedition, and were
resting themselves. Tho camp fire
threw a flickering light on tho weird
scene. The captain of tho band was
standing in the shadow, leaning against
a tree, liis hands resting on his gun.
His eyes were bent on tho ground, and
his fac3 bore a troubled expression.
Suddenly lie turned, and walking to
where his lieutenaut stood, said to him:
“Sculdy, my boy, tell me a thrilling
story.” Scuddy settled himself on a
log seat and told the followiug thrilling
tale:
“ ‘One dark, black night a band of
robbers gathered around a campfire in
the heart of the Ilirz Moun’ains, in
Geimmy. They had just----. » ft A
sudden click was hear i iu tho store,
followed in quick succession by two
more click*. Silence again fell on the
group. The little oil lamp which had
hitherto lightc I the scene want out, an i
all was dark. Somebody struck a light,
and in the glare it was found that the
stranger had disappeared.
“Huh,” muttered the II m. Jim
Jenks, as he pocketed his shootiug
iron. “He saved his skin this ’ere
time.’’— New York Sun.
Japanese Babies.
Iu Japan you cau tell a baby’s age by
its hair. The fuzz is shaved from tho
scalp of the Japanese iufaut as soon as
it is born; when it grows to the age of
a certain number of m mths a ring of
hair is allowed to remain" surrounding
the bald oasis of the crown. A few
months later a little tuft is blocked out
in the center of this oasis, and a palm
tree like wisp grows upan it. Then
other little wisps are allowed to come
down under tho ear, and, at last, the
hair is grown all over the head, This
shaving of the head makes the hair
very stiff, and the Japanese has his
head covered with stiff, black wires.
He looks as if his head were one gigan¬
tic cowlick, and he has this crop to the
length of about one inch. The old
fashion of shaving a strip from fore¬
head to crown, and of wearing the hair
long, and doing it up on the edge of
this bald strip in the shape of an old
fashionel door-knocker, is being don*
away with in the cities, and you find it
only in the back con dies, and in those
who pride themse v;s c n belonging to
the old regime. — Courier- Jou ~nal.
Cleanliness a Modern Virtue.
The Eiglish upper classes are clean,
but cleanliness of any high degree is a
very modern virtue among them. It is
an invention of the nineteenth century.
Men and women born at the close of
the eighteenth century did as French
people do today; they took a warm bath
occasionally for cleanliness, and they
took shower baths when they were pre¬
scribed by the physician for health,
and they bathed in summer seas for
pleasure, but they did not wash them¬
selves all over every morning, How
ever, the new custom took deep root in
England because it became one of the
signs of class. It was adopted as one
of the habits of a gentleman.— Pall
Mall Bui gel.
Belationship.
Little Boy—“Did you ever see my
big brother John? He’s a distant rela¬
tive of mine.”
Visitor—“A distant relative?”
Little Boy—“Yes, indeed. He livea
in San Francisco,”
WILL B. CRASH, Editor and laiipr.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
An English fish culturist has found
that a six-pound eel contains about
9,000,000 eggs.
; Gen. Rosencrans, Register of the
Treasury, has decided to introduce the
me of electricity iu his cilice as a mo¬
tive power to mi the punching ma¬
chines for cancelling the redeemed
treasury uoles.
Measurements of a quarter of a mil¬
lion i f soldiers have shown that, males
do not reach adult age until about 28.
and Professor Shalor's observations at
Harvard prove that full menial power
is not reached before 25.
The simple method of iroating drun-.
enness practiced in Norway and Sweden
is reported to bo very effective. The
inebriate is placed in confinement and
fed only with bread soaked in wine,
which in eight or ten days creatrs ia
positive loathing for 9lrong drink.
A German authority affirms that oak*
are more frequently struck by lightning
than beeches, because the leaves of the
beech are covered with a lino down,
which is a bettor conductor than the
smooth leaves of the oak. Experiments
with electrical machines confirm tho
theory.
Dr. Dornil of Paris has discovered
that ice is often a medium for transmit¬
ting infectious diseases, and particular¬
ly typhoid fever. Ho cautious people
to use artificial ice, made from boiled
or spring water, and condcmu9 ice ob¬
tained from ponds or rivers liable
contamination.
The magnetic needle points in the
pame direction as to the mag ictic poles
in all parts of tho earth. The magnet
poles do not correspond with the axis
of tho earth, which makes a variation
of tho needle at places not on a meri¬
dian which coiuC'des with both poles.
The needle is never inver;eJ,- b'lt dipa
as it approaches the magnetic poles.
A substitute for whiskey as a remedy
for. intticsnako bites has been discov¬
ered. A man in Clinton County, Mo.,
was bitten on the leg by a rattler while
in the woods two miles from home e
few days ago, wiped the blood off with
a leaf, and taking a b\gr of tobacco
from his rn<?u£ii bound it on the wound
with a piece of bark. After reaching
home he bathed his leg with ammonia,
and has suffered no ill effect other than
a slight swelling of the bitten spot.
A Horse’s Memory.
“Say, friend, you’re on my horse,”
said ouegentlemin to another as he
reined his horse before the door. “Your
horse! Oh, no; why 1 bought this
horse two years ago!” “You did?”
answered the other; “well, I lost my
horse—it was sto'en—just two years
•g
is conversation took place under
the far-spreading oaks of an old-time
plantation home. A planter was sur¬
prised to see his horse return home
after two years, and ridden by a gentle¬
man who evidently Imd bought the
horse in g >od faith. After some con¬
versation the old owner of the horse,
with much earnestness, said: “Well,
sir, if you will dismount, unsadd'e the
horse, and he don’t go to the fence,
lake the bars down, walk to the well,
and if ho don’t find water in the bucket
l:t it down the well, and then walk off
to his old stable, I will give up and that
horse isn’t mine!” “At your word;
the horse is yours if he does all that,”
c ied the visitor, and leaping from the
horse, unsaddled it. What was his
astonishment when the horse went
straight to the fence, let down the bars,
crossed over, went to the well, and find¬
ing no water let the bucket down and
then, as though he had left home but
yesterday, walked to the old stable!
The animal remembered the trick and
the owner recovered his horse. There
are those living now who can attest; to
the truth of this story, though it "hap¬
pened years ago.
The People of Siam.
The Siamese are very jovial and light
hearted, and greatly addicted to public
shows as well as the gambling houses.
They have their fill of spectacles when¬
ever a member of the royal family dies.
It cost $500,000 to duly cremate one of
the king’s children a while ago., A
special temple for the cremation services
is built for each defunct royal highness.
The temple is a very gorgeous affair,
tut it is pulled down as soon as the
royal clay is reduced to ashes. The
i ceremonies include processions, music,
the king on his golden chair, an im¬
mense display of royal banners and
mourning, and all the pomp and cir¬
cumstance needed to impress the event
deeply upon the people. Of course the
nobles cannot afford funerals on such a
lavish scale, but they spend alt the
money they can on them. The masses
flock to see the show as our people do
to a circus, while it will probably be
the r own fate to be burned at the cost
of a few cents, or flung to the vulture*
and dogs.—New York Sun.
b
In Happy Day*.
The harvest moon stands on the sea,
Her shining rim’s a-drip:
She gilds the sheaves on many a lea.
The sails on many a ship;
Glitter, sweet queen, upon the spray,
And glimmer on the heather;
Right fair thy rays to show the way
Where lovers walk together.
The red wheat rustles, and the vinoa
Are purple to the root,
And true love, waiting patient, wins
Its blessed time of fruit;
Lamp of all lovers, lady moon,
Light these glad lips together.
Which reap alone a harvest sown
Long ere September weather.
—Edwin Arnold.
Hl’MUROUS.
Of interest—A pawn ticket.
Food for tho blind—Sea biscuit.
Soot king-syrup manufacturers arc paid
considerable hush money.
Tho average college oarsman is no
chicken; no, not when ho ii in bis
shell.
"l’vo had a great many trials in my
timo, ” remarked the veteran criminal
sadly.
Crusty—Be careful, waiter, your
thumb is in tho soup. Waiter—I don’t
mind i‘, sir, I’m used to it.
“I will tos3 coppers with you,” re¬
marked one steer to another as they
made for a couple of policemen.
Ho (fondling her hand)—Your little
hand is never chapped, is it? She
(coyly)—No; I wish it might bo. And
then he popped.
The ^burglar who was [caught in
a shoo storo after midnight naked to bo
discharged by tho judge on tho
ground that it was a fitting placo for
everybody.
Tho Toronto Olobs tells of a mau who
has cooked liis own breakfast for fiftcon
years. Apparently he has no regard for
Shakespeare’s famous receipt: “If it
..were done when ’tis done, then
weii iV^yxuu} done quickly.”
*
fat. Car Car crowded. a1!~'v£ thin 1‘ pr ^ i^Tn7
stops, very mat ’
Has great diflui'ty in f.,uoczing himscll
into a bir scut. Ho gets angry nnd
oays, 4 Poo pi o ought to pay faros ac¬
cording to weight.” Fat neighbor
answers, “If they did, tho car wouldn’t
stop for you.”
They begged him to play a little.
He seemed to fool bashfull at first,
but after a while began to paw the ivo¬
ries vigorusly. “What power!” said a
listener to tho owner of tho piano.
Yes,” exclaimed the latter, in alarm;
“lie seems to have considerable muscle;
but he ought to know that this isn’t a
gymnasium. ”
Sales of Cats.
As to tho cat as an animal mechan¬
ism, it is perfect, and 1 uilt especially
for business. Considered in a u.eful
sense only, the cat really does mors
service to mankind than the dog, and
if there were not millions of cats there
“would be billions of vermin.”
In judging cats, the total points
being 109, the credits are given foi
head, eyes, fur, color, form, tail, size,
and condition, but nothing for be¬
havior. It really is too bad, not in
keeping with the age in which we live
in, to reckon for nothing the moia’.s of
the cat. Tails in cats are of diffjrent
standards. Some should bo thick,
some thin, but tails ought always to be¬
gin in a massive way, like a well-bred
lady’s finger, and taper down to noth¬
ing. As to “markings,” only an ex¬
pert can determine the mysteries of
them. If there is an American cat
lover who can show a black and white
cat with “white tip on a black tail”
let him rejoice, for he has a cat of cat?.
Something we all know, or ought to
know, is this, that the white cats with
blue eyes are invariably deaf, and a
deaf cat is a nuisance, because she or
ho does not know how to regulato her
or hi? vocal powers. These unfortun¬
ates never are conscious that tho music
they make is fortissimo and Wagnerian
all the time. There are occasional
white Persians with blue eyes not deaf.
A good Angora, with tine manners,
is worth $55.
There are many nice Persians in the
United States, and Cincinnati is head¬
quarters for this breed. We cannot
say that Persian cats or Persian men
have very reliable tempers. We have
had personal acquaintance with some
Persian cats of a most gentle and lova¬
ble disposition, while others have be¬
haved in a very vicious manner.
Charles James Fox, who kept his
eyes open, once made a wager with
that scapegrace, the Prince of Wales,
that he (Fox) could see more cats on
his side of the street than could his
gracious prince. Fox counted thirteen
cats, and the prineo but one. The
royal personage asked for an explana¬
tion of this apparent miracle. Mr.
Fox said: “Your royal highness took,
of course, the shady side of the way,
as most agreeable; I knew the sunny
side would be left me, and cats always
prefer the sunshine.”
•a **