Newspaper Page Text
OFFICIAL ORGAN
— OIP—
FRANKLIN county.
VOL. 111. NO. 38.
St. Louis claims to be the greatest
ivater melon market in the United States.
The march of cholera toward the West
Is a fact that can be looked at only with
concern by all tho Western Nations.
New Jersey will adept the best means
to stop the inroads of the sea along its
coast, and Holland methods are being
studied. ____
The Chicago Herald asserts that “a
South Dakota girl lost a bet of 1000
kisses on Blaine’s failure to get the
n o;ninatiou, and conscientiously paid the
same. A recount was demanded and
rather than be mixed up in a contest she
consented."
Complaints are rife in Australia that
the navies and mercantile marine of Eu¬
rope draw their supplies of salt beef
from Chicago, and especially the Eag-
lish vessels on. the Australian seas, which
ate provided, for both the inward and
outward voyages, with American meat.
In a history of Philadelphia it is
stated that as late as 170 i fines were
levied on persous refusing to accept of¬
fice, and a large part of the city's reve-
nuo was raised in this way. "If any cits
in the country depended upon such fines
now,” comments the Atlanta Constitu¬
tion, “its treasury would go empty.”
Dried bananas are packed at Trinidad
by slicing them lengthwise, ancl wrap¬
ping about a dozen closely together in
their own leaves, the end3 being cut off.
The package looks neat, is air-tight, and
preserves the flavor aud juices of the
fruit. The cost ot placmg them on
the market is lour cents per pound,
which does not include any profit to the
producer.
The Christian Union, writing on the
inbject of country road improvement,
pays a well-deserved compliment to
Chauneey B. Ripley, LL.D., of West-
field, N. J. Dr. Ripley has labored for
many years for the good cause of road
reform with tongue and pen and hard
cash. It is owing in no small degree to
his public-spirited efforts that many of
the New Jersey roads have become so
good as to meet the best expectations.
The Christian Union says that “he his
planted elms and maples enough along
the sidewalks of his village to reach
from his residence to the postoiH.ee in tue
City of New York.”
Several weeks before the fruit ou the
berry farms of New Jeisey begins to
ripen the growers arc risite.1 by an agent
who finds out how many pickers will be
needed aud agrees to the furnish these
by a specified time. This agent, gen¬
erally an Italian, goes back to the Italian
colony in Philadelphia, arranges with his
people for the work to be done, goe3 to
the farms with them and remains until
everything has been settled with the far¬
mer, During this season from 5000 to
7000 ot these people—men, women and
children—picked berries in Atlantic and
Camden Counties. They earned from
thirty cents to $1.50 per day. Th^y
worked about fifteen hours each day,
breakfasting at 4 o’clock, lunching at
9,12 and 3:30, and having a substan¬
tial meal at twilight, after' the day’s
work is done.
Stephen Bonsai, of Baltimore, well ,,
kuown to American newspaper men, is
to-day, declares the New York Sun, the
hero of the British journalistic J world,
and , his name is bracketed with those of
*orbes and Stanley. He was in Morocco
With a roving commission from the
United Press of New York and the Can-
tmi tral News Agency * of , London, T wnen . „„ q;,. Sir
Laarles Euan Smith and the members of
the British Mission started out to nego-
Gate a treaty with the Sultan ot Fez.
Bonsai J joined the tae caravan CdldVda ] and aaa was wd
. treated f of and
as a member the mission,
rapidly rose to the position of right-hand
m an to Sir Charles. The conference
with the Sultan resulted in a number of
trntrir* g i* ncidents, 'a *. all ,, o; f whicu s Bonsai „ ii as
-
fiesenoed at length in the English news-
papers. Negotiations were finally broken
iTtoT angier, “I 831011 but 8tar Bonsa ‘ e:1 °. Ut , striv Mo;'!! g
ut f°r himself, rode across the desert
With the news, keeping in the saddle
«ighteeu hours a dav and heatin'* tho
caravan by nearly ' y a week From Tan-
s'er eipr ■ be cabled ,, the dispatches , which ...
electrified Great Britain, and on his ar-
ri7 »> in London he was summoned to the
sJ-1 Foreign nffl 1 r conference e with -m Lord T
“Jury. Besides being feted on all
Sll ies Bonsai was fired at on his way to
Fez, and promptlv made a representation
to the tne Sultan Su.tan nn on 1" bis • arrival. -1 Oompensa- I’n.
the amount of $5000 was offered
0 llln L but this was declined, and then
the Sultan wrote him a touching letter
of civiC/ apoloav r! v?? ..l- ,-
S ®
caildren and praying him to
oept a jeweled s vord of honor. This
Wi “ ll= ra - e d papers, his o-ograp.iy
been published, and he is one of the
cf the day m London.
THE ENTERPRISE. l- f
LOVE OVER ALU
Riches are naught. A jewel crown
May be undone, and gold will melt,
But an ended pain is lonj, long felt.
Kisses are swee’, but prayers are beet;
Only the lips to a kiss are given,
While the soul goes, with it* prayer, to
heaven.
Breams are shadows, yet sometime! come
Like blessed curtains tint drop upon
The scorching light of a noonday sun.
Hopes betray us, but Faith is sure,
Nor asks for au answer. She smiles and
waits,
A patient child at the heavenly gates.
Love over alii A jewel crown,
A pain that stays, and a prayer, a kiss,
Dreams, hope, faith, patiencs, are met in
this.
—Mary A. De Vere.in Ladies' Home Journal,
AMONG THE SUINS.
A STOBY OP INDIA.
E T W E E N the
. . towns of Mysore and
Coimbatore, India,
j£. and on the left called bank
a stream
. th e Honbollay, are
ruins of three or four
largo villages. The
If second one west of
the foothills of the
Mysore range of
mountains is called
Garre w, and amid
the general desola¬
tion are the ruins what was once a great
temple. These villages aro only three or
four out of hundreds to be found in the
great empire. Now aud then their his¬
tory can be traced back to some terrible
plague which depopulated them in a
month, and again the desolation is due
to war between tribes and factions. As
a rule, no native will approach one of
these ruins, and no attempt is ever made
to rebuild the towns. In 1868, while I
was at the village of Bheeta, about thirty
miles from Harrow, the Government
sent a commission of three officials to
survey and inspect the village with a
view of restoring it by offering to re¬
build the temple and give lree deeds to
all settlers. I was invited by the com¬
mission to go along, and this appearing
a splendid opportunity for an extended
inspection of the historic ruins I gladly
accepted. Including servants there were
twelve of us in the party. On arriving at
a small village called Mussan, six miles
east of the village we meant to survey,
we were told of some strange things that
had lately happened. It was declared
that spirits had taken possession of the
ruins. Strange lights had been seen flit¬
ting about at night, and a hunter whose
ardor had led him among the ruins had
heard the sound of stones being moved
and had been pelted with rocks. He
had a bad bruise on the shoulder to prove
the latter statement. While the most
intelligent natives of India are fuii of
superstition, the common villagers and
farmers are so thoroughly imbued with
it that signs and dreams guide most of
their daily transactions. The commis¬
sion was headed by an Englishman named
Grant of the civil service. The second
was a Mr. Artwell of the same branch,
and the third a Mr. Marlin, who was a
civil engineer. With them, as secretary
y and clerk, was a young man named
Thomasson.
Little attention was paid to the stories
of the villagers, and next day we moved
over and camped in a grove on the
stream, about half a mile above the
head of the desolated town. The site
was covered with shrubs and grass ami
vines, and here and there were groves of
young trees. No tigers had been seen
in I hat neighborhood for years, panthers, but the
place looked like a paradise for
wolves, hyenas and serpents. The town
had extended along the bank of the
stream for a mile and a half. That
evening, while we were settling down in
our new quarters, a number of stones
from some unseen assailants were sud-
deniy thrown with great force at one of
the uat j ye3 w p 0 had strayed beyond the
]; m its of the camp, hitting him on the
head and rendering him insensible for
several minutes. The missiles came
j rom a thicket between us and the first
^ Qf tbe and a(ter we had
] ocate d the direction we fired a volley
from our guns and put an end to the dis-
turbance. The native servants were
thrown into a state of great consterna-
and arguing that our
ence had offended the spirits but keep-
j n , r g Uar d over the ruins, and for
Mr. Giant’s threats the crowd would
have bolted and left us.
..I think I can see into this business,”
^ exp , ain;d t0 us afeer the seivants had
"; eted dowD . "These ruins have band either of
teen taken possession of by a
robbers or there is a party here hunting
for treasure. In cither case our presence
unde sirab!e, and that demonstration
wag tQ driyo U3 away . We’ll try to
ma k e ft a bad job for them, whoever
^The'explanntion asked was the a gentleman reasonable one, if a
and when I
ru j ; n a3 0 ] d as this ever yielded " up treas-
ur he replied: yes! It has been luck
"Bics you, my
to be ‘in’ on two jobs as old as this,
Ti a “ tribal ‘ war depopulated this town,
or le33 treasure was hidden
because it could not be carried off.
Tf ola^ue appeared, thou those who
a T thought only of saving
burned w »v ook little or nothing
’ d t about
1 g orne where in or
,, . . i.' e are pretty sure of finding
plant worth picking up." lights
He ww ctiM U talkin'' " when q queer 8
the shr ub
M’i , Btran „ e wild cries were
~ er ^\ frnm amco ^ the ruins. The na-
4 fell down and covered their heads
f 0 ’ . ' tnn f.j.rhtened to even cry
out, ou calmly con-
-
“ n u< L i: wondering how it
, , ntTO t ,,. n
undisturbed 80 V viyor3 a s
;.|nn i'ionat hacc.. o •- ‘
k t - - its existence
Equal Rights to all, Special Privileges to None.
CARNESVILLE FRANKLIN CO., GA.. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23.1892.
No native of India would give an Eng¬
lishman a pointer on treasure. We have
gathered in plenty of loot since the
mutiny, but never with their assistance.
They call it robbing the dead. If the
party there are after the treasure they
belong to some clan up among the
mountains. They rob each other's ruins,
but never their own.”
By and by the lights disappeared and
silence reigned over the ruins and we
turned in again. Soon after daylight
came one of the natives, who had now
recovered a portion of his natural cour¬
age, inspected the shrubbery and found
plenty of evidenco that it had been oc¬
cupied by men during the night. Somo
of the stones thrown at us were found
to have been freshly broken from large
blocks.
“It’s a gang of treasure hunters for
sure," said the Commissioner after this
last proof had teen submitted, "audit
i? quite ueedless to caution you that
we must bo very careful, No one
must enter the shrubbery alone, and wo
must be constantly ready for an attack.
They are doubtless Sholaga men from
the hills, and they will stick at noth¬
ing.”
"But why not send down to Bheeta
for a detachment of soldiers?" I asked.
"And so give away our ‘find,’ in case
there is one? We are not quite so green
as that. The Government must have
its share, of course, but we want no
further division. I think we are strong
enough to rout ’em out, and we will be¬
gin business right away."
After breakfast the five of us moved
down on the head of the village, leaving
the camp in charge of the natives. As
soon as we got among the ruins we found
it tough work to get along. It had been
a very substantial town. There being
plenty of building stone at hand, more or
less of it had been used in every house.
It must have taken an earthquake to
fling tbe blocks about in such confusion.
Here and there a piece of wall was stand¬
ing, but in most cases everything had
fallen in a confused heap. Tue difficulty
ot climbing over the blocks was added to
by the vegetation, and wherever the sun
beat down on a stone we were sure to
find a serpent sunning himself. We
were heading for the walls of the temple,
but after an hour's work we had not ad¬
vanced over half a mile. Mr. Grant
called a bait, and we were sitting on the
huge blocks of stone in a glade about
fifty feet across when something very
queer happened. The foliage was dense
enough to throw the glade into a
shadow approaching twilight. Our ears
were suddenly saluted with groans and
moans, as of some person in deep dis¬
tress, and while we were looking about
aud at each other a figure came out of
the thicket on the south side and slowly
floated across the glade. It looked like
a human figure, though draped and muf¬
fled, and though it passed over the
ground at about an ordinary height, the
motion was that of floating along in¬
stead of walking. It wasn’t over twenty
feet from us, and when it disappeared
into the thicket on the other side the
air was heavy with a strange perfume.
"It’s nothing but a trick to scare us
off,” whispered Grant, after the figure
had disappeared. “If it come3 again,
everybody open fire on it.”
We waited in nervous silence for five
or six minutes, when the apparition dis¬ ap¬
peared again, preceded by the same of
tressing noises. It was scarcely clear
the bushe3 when we opened fire, each
one of us with a revolver. It floated
along as beforo and at the same pace,
and we got in three shots apiece before
the smoke obscured it.
"We’ve riddled one of them, any¬
how!” chuckled Grant, as we waited for
the smoke to clear ; but a minute later,
when it had floated away, tho figure was
not to be seen. We had fired point
blank at a distance of eighteen or twenty
feet, and it was absurd to suppose that
all fifteen bullets had mused.
"And how do you account for that?”
I asked, as I felt my hair trying to climb
up * their conjuring tricks, ”
, Ht’s one of
answered tbe engineer, “and was pretty
well worked. I've seen stranger things
than that. We had best get out of this
at once 1"
"We were hardly off the blocks before
a rock weighing at least twenty pounds
crashed down tfirougb the tree tops and
f e ii where we had been sitting. Ten
seconds earlier would have resulted in
one death at least. As we made our way
along I asked the engineer how such a
rock could have been heaved into the air
to fall with such exactness, but he could
not explain. Instead of pushing to the
temple we now made our way to the
right to get out of the ruins, and soon
were on the open plain. point,”
"The temple is our objective
explained Mr. Grant, "and it’s no u*e
pushing through these ruins to get there.
We’ll go down opposite and then strike
in. Now look at that, will. you?
About 100 feet away from us ana
right in our couree was a bushy-topped
tree about thirty feet high. There was
only a light air stirring, and yet the top
°n aheavy g*\e. the wl foot slowly of the advanced tree. I
until we stood at
had expected to see a native up there,
but nothing was in sight. While we
stood there the tree continued its antics,
and none of us were sharp enough to
solve the mystery.
"It’s just a trick to scare us off," said
Mr. Grant, “and we'll see moro of them
before we’re through How they do
these things I can t pretend to and say, would but
they are done for effect
frighten a native out of his senses. We
must push along and not mind them.
Opposite the ruins of the temple we
entered the thicket again, Mr. Grant
Iea ding, and the rest following in tadtan
] tile. We had not advanced a hundred
feet when we beard sob3 and moans from
> both sides of us, and one would have
sworn that a dozen women were wan-
dering about in distress. The sounds
appeared quite close to us, but yet we
could not detect the presence of a human
' «uch screams and shrieks that my knees
i ™ve out aud I had to clutch • limb to
support me. I erpected to be ridiculed
for my exhibit, but the others came to a
bait with serious faces, and the eugiueer
said:
"I’m blessed if the sounds don’t give
me a chill, though I know it’s all a
blooming trick of the gang to keep us
out. There must be a lot of the fellows
in there."
"And I'm thinking it would be a wise
thing to send down for more help," ad¬
ded Mr. Grant. "Good Lord I but see
that!"
A block of stone which seemed to be
four feet long, a foot thick and three
feet wide was lying in tbe grass within
four feet of us»° we stood in a group.
This block suddenly stood on end, rose
into the air fully six feet, and then fell
to tho earth with a jar which made
things tremble. I toll you simply what
fivo of us suw or thought we saw. What
sort of jugglery it was I don’t protend to
say, but it was jugglery of some sort, of
course. Directly after the stone fell four
or five largo pieces of rock came crash¬
ing about our ears, and no one hesitated
to beat a speedy retreat. tricks,"
"I’m not running from thoir
said Grant as we headed for camp, "but
I'm satisfied they are a large patty and
desperate fellows. They are probably
strong enough to wipe us out, and I’ll
have up a company of Soldiers to beat
the cover."
A messenger was at once despatched
to Bhecta, which is a military post, but
it was three days before the soldiers came
up. There wero ninety of them, and
though we had heard nothing further
from the treasure hunters while waiting
we felt sure they were still among tho
ruins. The troops entered from three
different directions, having orders but to
shoot down anythiug they sighted,
the whole place was beaten up and only
one native found. He was lying among
the ruins of tho temple with a broken
leg. He was a 8holaga from the hills,
and after having been carried to camp
and his injuries attended to ho talked
freely. The party had numbered fifty
rneu, and had been working for two
weeks when we appeared. The leader
bad been told ot the existence of a cavern
under the ruths of the temple, and they
had labored hard in their eff orts to secure
it. As weafterwardsaw for ourselves they
had moved at least a thousand tons of
debris before opening the cavern. Their
appliances were of the rudest sort, and
everything had been accomplished by main
strength. During the period of their
lab ora five ot the party had died of snake
bites and two had been killed in moving
the blocks. The cavern wa3 found the
day before the soldiers came, and in
opening it this native had been hurt.
His friends had deliberately abandoned
him, but he bore them no grudge. On
the contrary, he was highly escaped gratified the to
know that tho treasure lijd
English. When, asked as to its value his
eyes sparkled and he answered:
“Sahib, there were millions! Over
thirty men had. each a .heavy, load made
ready to carry when I fainted away. It
would have made a hundred English¬
men rich for life I"
We found the cavern to be a room
eight feet long, six broad and ten high.
It had been swept clean. Tfio native
said it wa3 nearly full of gold and silver
and plate and jewelry. If so, the gross
value was a tremendous big sum, and
the fellows must have made two or three
trips of it to carry everything away.—
New York Sun.
First Woman in the Treasury.
One of the first women who was ns^
signed work in the Treasury Building
was a colored woman, Sophie Holmes
by name, writes Mary S. Lockwood in
the Chautauquan.
One night when Sophie was sweeping
the refuse papers in her room she found
a box of greenbacks that had been cut,
counted and packed to transfer to the
vaults and had been accidentally over¬
looked.
She did not dare call the watchman for
fear he would be tempted beyond re¬
sistance. She thought of her four small
children at home alone, with no one to
give them their supper or put them to
bed, but the one duty that stared her iu
the face was to protect that money. She
sat down upon the box and quietly
waited for the hours to go by.
At 1 o’clock iu the morning she heard
the shuffling step of General Spinner in
the corridor, and heard him open the
door to his room. She quietly slipped
along the corridor, knocked at his door
and told him what she had found.
The General had the box taken to hia
room aud sent Sophie home iu his car¬
riage. The next morning when she re¬
turned she found the General still keep¬
ing guard. That night ho sent for her
and placed in her hand her appointment
papers, given for honesty, and for thirty
years she has earned and drawn her $5(J
per month.
Fifty thousand dollars was in this
box. At another time she found $30,-
000, for which the testimony can be seen
over General Spinucr’a own handwrit¬
ing. I ’
' The Frontal Headaches.
Nine-tenths of the nervous headaches
are situated over the brow, and'they are
accompanied by langour and chilliue3s.
if the headache continues dull and neavy
for any length of time, the patient has a
distaste for food, becomes nauseous,*and
with a general feeling of uncomfortable-
ne33t To cure 8U0 b a headache lapidly
and quietly two grams of the potassic glass
salt should be dissolved in a wine
of water . when it is dissolved sip the
m jjture slowly, taking the whole dose
j u about ten minutes. The iodide acts
immediately, and in half an hour after
the medicine has been taken theunpleas-
anfc 8yraptomB will have disappeared.
The dose can be repeated in the small
quantities later if the headache is not re-
lieved> These gmall dogcs appcar t0 bc
mo re effective than larger ones, and one
should not lose faith in them on ac
count of the smallness of the dose until
they have bfeea fairly tested.—Yankee
Divine service is held in eighteen
j London theatres on Sunday evening*,
BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS 8K.KTOHK9 PllOM
VARIOUS SOURCES.
Better Than I'ure Gold—They Agreed
— lloth Could Judgo ot It—A
Business Hoad—And Fin-
iahthe Job, Kto., Eto.
For love and wealth, fame, peaoe and health
-Mankind has striven
Since Eve was driven
With Adam irom tbe garden fair
To struggle through a world of oare.
The forces these
That ever please, mortal happiness.
That make for
Who gets tbe first is not accurst,
Though lackiug all the rest!
And happy he, whoe'er he b.»
Whom with all then' the go is shall blesj,
I have no wealth,
No love, no health.
And yet 1 count me truly blest.
Oh, happy we as we can be.
No moro shall bitter strife embrute us,
For, after years of fights and tears,
We’ve got a hired maid to suit us.
—Detroit Tribune.
THEY AGREED.
Wife—"I know I do foolish things
sometimes, and you do, too; you'll ad¬
mit; won’t you, dear?"
•Husband—"Yes, I know you do." —
Yankee Blade.
BOTH COULD JUDGE OF IT.
Barber—“This is tho best shaving
soap I’ve ever used."
Customer—"Well, it doesn’t taste any
better than that you had last week."
—Chicago News-Record.
AN BXOBFTION BKRHAP3.
Dodge—"According to the papers,
blondes are all tho rage now.”
Lodge—"I don’t know about that.
My wife’s a brunette, and there is a good
deal of rage about her at times.”—
Puck.
A BUSINESS HEAD.
Lady—"I wish to get a birthday
present for my husband."
Clerk—"How long married?"
Lady—“Ten years.” the
Clerk—"Bargain counter, to
right."—New York Weekly.
WANTED A SHOW.
Giglamp—"Why does Rowley always
keep his mouth screwed up in that way ?”
Surface—"He got into the habit while
trying to pronounce his words so that he
can get them in edgewise when talking
to his wife."—New York Herald.
AND FINISH THE JOB.
When Fogg came Into the room unex¬
pectedly, Mrs. F. gave a scream and ex¬
claimed, "You frightened me half to
death 1"
“Did I?" was the unfeeling reply;
"suppose I try it over again?”—Bostou
Transcript.
ONLT A NICKNAME.
Joseph is a witty head waiter. One
day during the hot spelt a guest said to
him:
"This weather is pretty hot, isn’t it,
Joseph?” jabers," responded, "hot is
"Bo he
only a nickname for it.”—Detroit Free
Press.
VALUABLE ASSISTANCE.
Kissarn (to his father-in-law, after the
elopement and forgiveness)—"I must
thank you, Mr. Scadds, for facilitating
my suit with your daughter.”
Scadds—"Facilitating it? Why, sir,
I opposed it with ail ray might.”
Kissatc—"Yes; that’s made Blanche
determine to marry me.”—Judge.
INVOLUNTARY HEAD WORK.
Tapper—“So you don’t altogether
like the new pastor’s sermons, oh? ’
Dapper—“No, necessitate they arc too much profound head-
—they too
work."
Tapper—"Quite true; I noticed you
were nodding through his entire dis¬
course yesterday.”—Boston Courier.
AN IMPORTANT BRANCH.
Bunker—“I thought your son, after
graduating from college, was going right
into business, but I hear now that he is
to take a post graduate course.”
Hill—"Yes; we thought it neces¬
sary."
Bunker—"What is he going to study?’’
Hill—"He’s going to learn how spell.”
—Life.
* BANG.
They had been watching for some
time tho stowing of freight into the ca¬
pacious hull of a lake steamer when,
rather unexpectedly, operations ceased
and the boat pulled out.
"What’s that boat going off for?” in¬
quired ;‘Possibly,” the lady. responded tira
man, ab
itractedly, "because it is loaded.”
Tho lady looked around for a dray pin
to hit him with but there was none, and
the river’• flowed ’Bilcatly on.—Detroit
cn t
MR. BOWSER AND THE MOWER.
"Did that lawn mower come up this
afternoon?” asked Mr. Bowser, as he
came home an hour ahead of time the
other evening.
"Was that a lawn mower?” querie i
Mrs. Bowser in reply. such "What thing?" on earth
possessed you to buy a
"For two very good reasons, Mrs.
Bowser. I propose to save about fifteen
dollars on lawn mowing this summer, and
I want the exercise. I could have got a
health lift, but I thought I would com¬
bine business with pleasure. Always kill
two birds with one stone when chance
offers. I’ll work up a muscle in a couple
of weeks to astonish you. The doctor
says it’s exactly what I need."
"But I wish you hadn’t bought it.”
"That’s you to a dot I Always in op¬
position to everything I do! That’s why
we take so much comfort as a family!
The only thing you wouldn’t oppose is
my dying I”
Mrs. Bowser had nothin" more to say,
and after dinner Mr. Bower made ready
for Ins cxerciso. Ho got into an old suit
of clothes, dragged the lawn mower into
the back yard and oiled it up, and was
presently ready to make a start. He
looked up at the back windows, and see¬
ing nothing of Mrs. Bowser, he spat on
his hands and said:
'■Ilnl This is what'll give a $100 man
muscle. Only costs $9, and I’ll get
benefit out of it. I suppose I might as
well make a stHtt."
Ho made one. He had gone about
tea feet when the machine stopped sud¬
denly. So did Mr. Bowser. He stopped
so suddenly that his feet left the ground
and the handle of the mower just missod
his cliin on an upper cut.
"Struck a post, eh?" ho muttered, as
lie investigated aud found one rising
about six inches out of tho earth.
"That’s all right, however, I didn’t
expect to mow ilowu posts as well as
grass. Seems as if my muscle was work¬
ing up a little already." headed
lie dodged tho post and for
the back feuce, and his couutenauce had
just begun to beam again when there
was a great clattering and tho machine
stopped.
"Oyster cans!" ho growled, as he
kicked two or three out of tho grass.
"She’s probably watching me, aud she’s
probably tickled half to death, but I’d
mow this yard if it was full of deadly
torpedoes." reached tho fence without furthor
Ho
mishap, leaving a trail behind him as
crooked ns a serpont’s, but at the first
dash he made on his return journey
something hnppened again, Tho ma-
chine stopped with a biunp, and Mr.
Bowser pitched forward over the
handle and brought up iu a heap on the
ground. hope draw another
"Now, I to never
breath if I don’t slaughter somebody for
this!” lieyellod as soon as ho could get
his breath.
He was going to jump up and ldok
somebody or something, but it occurred
to him that Mrs. Bowser might bo look¬
ing, and ho sat up and looked around
and pretended could to rest. Mrs. Bowser,
Nothing be seen of
however, and after a couple of minutes
he got up aud moistened his hands for a
fresh start. Everything went as smooth
as grease for tho next twenty feet.
Then the mower picked up a hundred
feet of stovepipe wire and waited for
results.
"That woman’s hand again l" hoarsely
whispered Mr. Bowser, as ho saw what
was tho matter; "but I wouldn’t give in
now if I knew that death was two rods
oil I"
It took him ten minutes to clear away
the wire. When this had been accom¬
plished he pulled off his coat and vest,
glauced up at all the back windows, and
t here was a dangerous light in his eye as
ho gripped tho handle, drew a long
breath, aud went ahead. At the fifth
step Mr. Bowser’s right foot found •
post hole, and followed it up until hs
tell forward on his stomach and plowed
along the grass. His first thought was
to get up and kick both line fences
down and make a bonfire of the splin¬
ters, but as he slowly reached his feot a
better idea occurred to him. He picked
up the mower by tho handle and raised
it over his head, and pounded the earth
with it until nothing hut the handle was
left. Then he gathered up wheels, cogs,
ratchets, flues, pulleys, cylinder heads,
and low water indicators, und tossed
them over the back fence aud walked
into the house. Mrs. Bowser sat read¬
ing, and looked very innocent and hum¬
ble, but he was not to be deceived.
Standing before her in his sternest atti¬
tude ho said:
"Mrs. Bowser, there is an easier
way!"
"Why, what do you mean?”
"Kill me off! If you ara so bent and
determined to get rid of me, why don’t
you poison my food or cut my throat
when I’m asleep I No explanation, situation not
a word! I understand the per¬
fectly, and nothing you can say will ex-
cuso dastardly machinations.”
"But didn't I say I was—”
“Never! Never said a word! That
will do, Mrs. Bowser! Wo will not dis¬
cuss tho subject further. In the morn¬
ing we will seek an a nicable ad justment
of difficulties, and I will go with you to
the train. There aro two trains a day
by which you can reach your mother,
and I will telegraph her of your coming.
Our child will, of course, remain with
me. Good night, Mrs. Bowser. Any
suggestions you have to make had best
be put in writing and submitted the
first thing in the moruiug.”—M. Quad,
in New York Sun.
A Battle Witli a Bee.
An observer writes us that he is satis¬
fied that there is just as much rivalry
between humming birds and bees in their
quest for honey us there is between mem¬
bers of the human raco in their struggle
for thp good things of life, and describes
a recent quarrel that he saw in a Port¬
land garden, where a humming bird with
au angry dash expressed its disapproval
of the presence of a big bumblebee in
the same tree. The usually pugnacious did
bee incontinently fled, but he not
leave the tree, lie dashed hack and
forth among the branches and white
blossoms, the humming bird in close
pursuit. Where will you find another
pair that could dodge and dart equal to
these? They wero like flashes of light,
yet the pursuer followed the trac; of
tho pursued, turning w'neu tho bee
turned. In short, tho bird aud the bee
controlled the movements of their bodies
more quickly and mors accurately than
he could coutrol the movements of his
eyes. The chase was all over in half the
time that it has taken to tell it, but the
excitement of a pack of hounds after a
fox was no greater. The bee escaped,
the bird giving up tbe whole chase and
alighting on a twig. It couldn’t have
i tV -n chasing tho bee for food, and there
is .’4 possible explanation of its unpro¬
voked attack, except that it wished to
have all the honey itself,—Portland
(Me.i Transcript. --------
OFFICIAL ORGAN
-OJP THE-
FRANKLIN COUNTY ALLIANCE.
$1.00 PER YEAR.
"I LOVE THE WOODS.*
I love the woods.
Oh, give me hut that crap; of roclr
On which to build my simple co^,
And ril not ask for places.
Nor murmur at my lonely lot.
I do not need the silkeu garb,
The cushioned couch, or seasoned food;
I do not need the tongue of men
To voice tho word that "Life is good."
I do not need the amber scent,
The honeyed smile au 1 tutored sonfc.
Or crowd of glittering sycophants
That in tho halls of Croesus throng.
I love the woods.
When o'er the distant lino ot hill*
The rosy morning peeps Its head,
And stars that through the night have
watched,
Now quench their light and go to bed,
I rise from couch of perfumod pine
And seek the purling brook that flows
Between its fringe of velvet moss,
Where tiny turquoise blossom blows.
I need no marble fountain rare
To purify and lave and dean.
And when I say my grateful prayer,
_ »Ti* in His mighty dome of green.
X lovo the woods.
My silent friend, my faithful do g,
The horse that hastens to my calf.
The birds that sing above my head—
They constitute my all in all.
I breathe the forest’s filters 1 air,
The breeze that cools tho mountain brow,
The snow-clad smmil's atmosphere,
And praise the Lord I'm living nowl
I love the woods.
—Rlohard Mansfield, in Harper’s Weekly.
PITH AND POINT.
A guard of honor—Conscience.
You generally got a fresh breeze from
the salt water.—Cape Cod Itora.
Latin will never be a dead language
until nil tho lawyers aro killed oil.—
Puck.
Presence of mind is sometimes indi¬
cated by absence of conversation.—
Washington Star.
Unconscious Wisdom: “Is your father
a musician?" "No, indeed, ho writes
operas.”—Elmira Gazette.
The commonplace young man often
fails in courtship because he hasn’t "a
H park of .originality.”—Washington Star.
People who imagine the average mes¬
senger boy can do nothing quick will be
surprised to learn that one has been dis¬
covered fast asleep.—Statesman.
"Was your dog well treated at the
bench show?” “I should say he was.
Ho bad one ot the judge’s calves for
lunch yesterday.”—Brooklyn Life.
Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wile could eat no leau.
And as 'twas rude to scrape the dish
They made a comproPiisj on fish.
-New York Hernid.
Binks—"What do you suppose two
euch odd people as Mr. and Mrs. Scrap¬
ple are ever got married for?” Jinks—
"To get even, I presume.”—Detroit Free
Press.
Fannigle—"Did you ever suffer on
the railroad anything like sickness?”
Mullix_" Well—ei—1 remember once in
the west having to throw up my bands I”
—Boston News.
He rifles a “bike” at lightning rate;
He's won a racing ami cuy; swings weight.
He hangs on bars a
To work his muscles up.
When sickness starts upon a “bust,
Anil takes the weakest first.
Why is it that the athlete’s just
The man who gets it worst?
-Pick Me Up.
Tho boy had been sitting for three
hours watchiug tbe bob on his fish-line
when the man came along, "What ara
you doing there?" buUI the man. "Fish-
in’,” said the boy. "Got anything?”
said the man. "Yep,” suid the boy.
"What?” said the man. "Patience,”
said the boy, and tho mau offered him $4
H week to come down to the railroad
ticket office and answer questions.—De¬
troit Free Press.
A Giant Cactus.
Philip Betts, the mail carrier of the
villago of Newportville, has a cactus
plant whicn is the talk of the surround¬
ing neighborhood and which many per-
sons intcrested in floriculture have visited
from this city, says the Philadelphia Re¬
cord. Mr. Betts got it when it was a
year old and has, with his wife's aid,
taken remarkably good care of it for
seven jears, keeping it in the house in
the winter and setting it out in his pretty
garden as soon as the weather became
warm enough each season. During the
past winter, however, the plant de¬
veloped with such surprising rapidity
that when the time came to move it to
the outer air, it was found that it could
not be taken through the doorway or the
windows, as it had a spread of six feet
in one direction and nine in another,
and had reached almost to the ceiling of
tho spare room iu which it is kept. Mrs.
Betts declined to permit any of the
branches to be cut off, and so the plant
still remains indoors where it has been
admired by persons from the surround¬
ing neighborhood. It has never shown
a tendency to bloom, but its proud
owners hope that next season it will do
so, even if it is forced to remain a
prisoner in the room which it has out¬
grown, but which fortunately is one that
jg well aired and gets a generous supply
of sunshine.
The Bacillus of Cholera:
Professor Brieger, of the Koch Insti¬
tute in Berlin, is experimenting dili¬
gently with the cholera bacillus, and is
reported to have succeeded in innoculat-
ing Guinea pigs so that they will resist
the disease. Among the curious discov¬
eries made by the professor is the. fact
that these deadly miorobes cannot bs
killed even by a heat of dtegreas
Fahrenheit, and that alter being froesn
for twenty.four hours in a lump of solid
ice, they are still alive and kicking.
—Boston Transcript.
M.