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A LITTLE GERMAN STORY OF THE
MIDDLE AGES.
Where the Story which Irvins Wrote ami
Jcllersou interprets had its Rise.
A correspondent of the Boston Cour¬
ier says : Of the thousands of people
who have read "Washington Irving’s fa¬
mous story, “Rip Van Winkle,” compar¬
atively few, I believe, are aware that
the story is not original with Irving, but
was taken from an old German legend in
which the main features are identical
with the narrative of the American au¬
thor. The tale was primarily called
“Peter Claus,” of which the following is
the original version :
Peter Clans was a goat-herd of Sitten
dorf, and tended his flocks in the Kyff
hausen mountains. Here he was accus¬
tomed to let them rest every evening in
a mead, surrounded by an old wall,
while he made his muster of them; but
for some days he had remarked that one
of his finest goats always disappeared
some time after coming to this spot, and
did not join the flock until late. Watch¬
ing her more slipped attentively, he observed
that she through au opening in
the wall, up‘which he crept after the
animal, and found her in a sort of cave,
busily employed in gleaning the oat
grains that dropped down singlv from
tire roof. He looked up and shook his
ears amid the shower of com that now
fell down upon him, but with all his in
quiry heard could discern nothing. At last he
above the stamp and neighing of
horses, and from whose mangers it was
probable the oats had fallen.
Peter was yet standing in astonish
ment at the sound of horses in so unusual
a place, when a boy appeared, who, by
signs, without speaking a word, desired
him to follow. Accordingly -he as
cended a few steps and passed over a
walled court, into a hollow, closed in on
all sides by lofty rocks, where a partial
twilight shot through the overspreading
foliage of the shrubs. Here upon a
smooth, fresh lawn he found twelve
knights playing gravely at nine-pins and
not ene spoke a syllable. With equal
silence Peter was installed in the office
of setting up the nine pins.
At first be performed his duty with
knees that were knocknig against each
other as he now and then stole a partial
look at thfi long beards and slashed
doublets of the noble knights. By de
grees, however, custom gave him cour
age; he gazed on everything with a
firmer look, and at last even ventured to
drink out of a bowl that stood near him,
from which the wine exhaled a most
delicious odor. The glowing juice
made him feel as if reanimated, and
whenever he found the least weariness
he again drew fresh vigor from the inex
haustible goblet. Sleep at last over
came him.
Upon waking Peter found himself in
the very same inelcsed mead where he
was wont to tend his herds. He rubbed
his eyes, but could see no sign of either
dog or goats, and was, beside, not a lit¬
tle astonished at the high grass and
shrubs and .‘trees which he had never be¬
fore observed there. Not well knowing
what to think, he continued his way over
Siaees titter 1 st itsa ite liccns^’
tomed to frequent with his goats, but
nowhere could he find any traces of
them. Below him he saw Sittendorf, and
at length with hasty steps he descended.
The people whom he met in the village
were all strangers to him; they had not
the dress of his acquaintances, nor did
they speak exactly their language; and
when he asked for his goats, all stared
and touched their chins. At last he did
the same, almost involuntarily, and
found his beard lengthened by a foot,
at least, upon which he began to con¬
clude that himself and those about him
teere under the influence of enchant¬
ment. Still, he recognized the moun¬
tain he had descended as the Kyff
hausen; the houses, too, with their
yards and gardens, were all familiar to
him, and to the passing questions of a
traveler several boys replied by the name
of Sittendorf.
With increasing doubt he now walked
through the village to his own house. It
was much decayed, and before it lay a
strange goat-herd’s boy in a ragged
frock, by whose side was a dog, worn
and lank with age, that growled and
enarled when he spoke to him. He then
entered the cottage through an opening
which had once been closed by a door.
Here, too, he found all so void and waste
that he tottered out again at the back
door as if intoxicated and called his
wife and children by names; but none
heard, none answered.
In a short time women and children
thronged around the stranger with the
long, hoary beard, and all, as if for a
wager, joined in inquiring what he
wanted. Before his own house to ask
after his wife or children or even him¬
self, seemed so strange that to get rid of
these querists he mentioned the first
name that occurred to him, “Kurt Stef
‘fen. ”
The bystanders looked at each other
In silence, till at last one old woman
said :
“He has been in the church-yard
these twelve years, and you’ll not go
there to-dav. ”
“Velten Meier ?”
“Heaven rest his son],” replied an an¬
cient dame, leaning upon her crutch.
“Heaven rest his soul ! He has lair
there fifteen years in the house that he
never will leave.”
The goat-herd shuddered, as in the
last speaker he recognized his neighbor
who seemed to have suddenly grown
-old; but he had lost all desire for fur¬
ther questions. At this moment a brisk
young woman pressed through tbe
crowd of anxious gapera, carrying an in¬
fant in her arms and leading by the
hand a girl of about 14 years, each one
of the three the very image of hri wife.
With increasing surprise he asked her
name.
“Maria. ^ ’
“And your father’s?” _
“Peter Glaus, heaven rest his _ soul! It
is now twenty years since we sought b:m
day and night on the Kyffbausen moun
tains, when Lis flock returned without
hinn I was then but seven years old.”
Tae gout-herd could contain himself
no longer.
i am I eter Claus, he cried “lam
Peter Claus and none else," and he
SEia tched the child from his daughter's
arms. All for a moment stood petrified,
until one voice and another exclaimed :
“Yes, this is Peter Claus. Welcome,
neighbor 1 Welcome after twenty
years.”
WHAT SOLDIERS’ CLOTHES COST.
Less) Thau Two Hundred Hollars Allowed
lor Five Years.
A private soldier in the United States
Army receives $13 a month, rations,
medical attendance, full pay when sick,
a pension if disabled, and a certain the
allowance of clothing. The pay is
same in all branches of the service, but
the allowance of clothing materially
differs. The soldier enlists for five
years. At the start he is furnished with
a complete outfit, which is renewed,
with the exception of a great-eoat, at
least once during the time he has to
seive. His helmet has to last him until
the third year, when he gets another
one. He is given a forage cap annually,
a uniform coat the first, second, and
fourth years, three pairs of trousers the
first and third, and two pairs the second,
fourth, and fifth, making 12 pairs in all.
Eleven dark blue flannel shirts, 15 under
shirts, and 15 pairs of drawers are ex
pected to last the five years. He has a
P 331 °I hoots, two pairs of shoes, and
tive P ail ’ a of stockings each year. Each
year he has a blouse, and, if he is an en¬
giueer or a mounted man, a pair of over¬
alls. He has to content himself with a
woolen blanket the first year, and another
tllc third, and with two rubber blankets,
or > if he is a mounted man, rubber
ponchas, during the five years. Fifteen
white Berlin gloves are deemed neces
sar Y to cover his hands each year, rights
or lefts; whichever he may need. If he
i 8 °n duty in extremely hot climates he
ma Y l> ave a cork helmet instead of a
campaign hat, in his first and third
years, or if he is where he needs arctic
overshoes or mittens, he is given one
P 831 °? the former in his first and third
years and two pairs of the latter every
12 months.
The value of the clothing allowed each
man varlcs eacl1 year, and depends upon
the rank and duty of the man. A
Sergeant in the Signal Corps gets $68.17
worth the first year, $40.50 the second,
843-19 the third, $40.50 the fourth, and
830.90 the fifth, making a total of
8223.26. This is the largest amount
allowed to any enlisted man. A chief
trumpeter receives $218.43 worth for the
b ve years, and a private in the artillery
p r infantry $194.95. Wind apparently
1® hold 1° be worth more than muscle,
If a man df ? es uot draw a11 tlle cloth
i . n S allowed him, the value of that re
maining is credited to him, and he can
6 e t H'P money the next year or at the
expiration of his term. Recruiting
officers tell candidates that a careful man
should save from $50 to $75 in this way
during his term.
Women Sea Captains.
Mrs. Mary A. Miller is not the first
woman who has served successfully as
mistress of a ship. Mrs. Capt. Patten
of Bath, Me., who while her husband
was lying ill in his berth navigated his
’MfrigT around' Caphalbrii and’up''“to Han
Francisco, although his timid first officer
wanted to stop at Valparaiso Clifford, for assist¬ of
ance; of Mrs. Capt. Abbie
the brig Abbie Clifford, who after her
husband had been washed overboard
brought the vessel safe into New York
Harbor from below the equator; of Mrs.
Capt. Reed, of the Oakland, of Bruns¬
wick, Me., who was a practical Miss naviga¬ Jenet
tor of celebrity, and of
Thoms, who often used to navigate her
father’s ship, who is now teaching a
school of navigation in New York city
and who was in part the author of
“Thoms’s Navigator,’! a’book of author¬
ity among mariners. These cases are
all of recent date. To them the Leaven¬
worth (KaD.) Times adds tho case of
Mrs. Capt. John Oliver Norton, of Ed
gartown, Mass. Her husband com¬
manded a whaling vessel, and she fre¬
quently went with him into the Arctic
waters. On one of these expeditions all
the boats were out, leaving on board the
captain and just enough of the crew to
manage the vessel. A whale was noticed
off to the starboard, and the captain
and men were puzzled how solved to
get it. It was the woman who
the problem and settled the fate of his
whaleship. Going to the wheel she pre¬
vailed upon her husband to leave the
ship in her charge, with two disabled
men, while he and his men went after
the whale. He did so. The woman
managed the ship ail day until nightfall,
when the boats returned, that in com¬
mand of her husband having captured
the biggest whale ever seen in those
waters. When the ship put in home the
New Bedford owners made the “woman
commander” a handsome present.
What Made Him Hate Cards.
“No, it wasn’t poker that made me
hate cards,” said a man who had seen
better days, “bnt a quiet game of
seven-up. Shortly after tbe close of the
war my partner Philadelphia and myself and had doing a nice
place in had were whenever a
big business. We a habit
business was slack of sitting down in
the office and playing a game of old
sledge for the beer or cigars. I used to
drink beer in those days, but I quit it
long ago. One day he and I and a man
who worked for ns were playing a game
for the cigars—three for a quarter. It
was very close, and at the end of it I had
it in my power to give the game to
either of them. I thought my partner
could stand it better than the fellow who
was working on a salary, and so I stuck
him.
“Well, sir, he got mad and abnsed me
so that I got mad and chucked the cards
into the stove. That made him madder
still, and before night we had dissolved
partnership, I paying him a big bonus
to get out. Then he went and rented a
place next door and started in opposi
tion to me and we went to running each
other. He thought he could run me
out and I thought I could run him out,
an q we kept thinking so until we both
went broke. The sheriff sold me out
—even have the mermaid left. 1
haven’t played a card since that game in
Philadelphia. Thery’re altogether too
i expensive a luxury.”— St. Louis Sun.
DREADFUL MINE DISASTER
ONE HUN DICED AND FIFTY-FIVE MEN
KILLED BY AN EXPLOSION.
Not One of Those at Work In or About the
rUine Left to Tell the Tale— The Machin¬
ery at the LUftwth of the Shalt Blown 300
Feet Away—The Mine ou Fire.
A terrible gas explosion occurred at
one o’clock Thursday morning in the
Laurel Creek mine, operated by the
Southwest Improvement Company in
Pocohontas, Ya. One hundred and fifty
five men were at work thero at the time,
and such was the force of the explosion
that everyone was killed, and the fan¬
ning machine, engine, and cars were
blown. 300 feet from the entrance. The
engineer at work near the mouth of the
mine, as well as his assistant and a col¬
ored boy, were blown hundreds of feet
away, and their mangled bodies were
found scattered in every direction. The
engineer’s head was found in a ravine,
and his legs and arms were picked up
near the mine. Of those at work in or
about the mine not ono was left io tell
the story.
The little hamlet, whose population
numbers about 500, and made up en¬
tirely of the houses of the miners, was
resting quietly when the explosion whole oc¬
curred, but soon afterward the
place was roused, and the scene which
followed beggars description. The few
living beings who saw a puff of smoko
shoot from the mine, and the sudden
upheaval of the engines and cars, has¬
tened into the town with loud cries for
help. Men, women and children were
roused, and as soon as they compre¬
hended the dreadful news they made a
wild rush for the scene of the disaster.
Despite the cold night, women, as well
as men, ran off scantily clad. Expe¬
rienced miners, on reaching the scene,
were satisfied that no men in the mines
were living. A slight rain and snow
was falling, which added to the horrors
of the situation, which has been intensi¬
fied by the discovery that the mine is od
fire.
The Laurel Creek mine is the only ono
in that part of the State, and has been
operated for about two years. It con¬
sists of a tunnel running three-quarters
of a mile in the mountain side, and a
railroad runs the entire length of the
mine. There are lateral galleries at in¬
tervals. The mine is situated above the
water level, and for this reason it has
until now been free from accident, not a
single fatal casualty having occurred
since operations were begun. W. A.
Latbrop, the superintendent, is an ex¬
pert mining engineer and has had many
years’ experience. The mines have been
worked by reliefs every six hours.
A train of cars, drawn by a small en¬
gine, was near the entrance and moving
in the mine at the time of the explosion.
Four oars and the engine propelled W'ere blown
out, and a car axle was by the
force of the explosion into the side of a
small frame house occupied by two
miners, William Amony and Jake Sex¬
ton. Both were asleep, having left the
mine at six o’clock. The noise awoke
them. Their escape was wonderful, the
iron wheels of the car falling by tho side
of their bunks. They struck a light,
and, so for as can be learned, strd, were the
first to rea lize the situation
the alarm. * Y "
The cause of the explosion is not yet
definitely ascertained, all of as bad the air, entries but to
the mines are full the
presumption is that one Several of the miners
struck a fissure of gas. parties
ventured into the mines, but could not
endure the foul atmosphere. A number
of bodies were discovered horribly man¬
gled, some of them with their heads
tom from the trunks, and others with
the limbs all gone, representing a horri¬
ble spectacle. The work of destruction
was not confined entirely to tho interior
of the mineB, but houses 200 or 300 feet
removed from the mines were over¬
turned, and in several instances entirely
demolished.
The large ventilator of tho Southwest
Improvement Company was blown to
atoms, and the mines cannot be entered
until another is constructed for the pur¬
pose of freeing the atmosphere of the
suffocating fumes. This work is n>w
progressing speedily. outside A large the force is
engaged on the of mines,
constructing coffins and perfecting other
arrangements for the interment of tne
dead. Those who were not killed out¬
right by the terrible force of the explo¬
sion most likely perished from the after¬
damp.
Tlie men employed in the mines were
mostly Hungarians without families. A
number of negroes from Lynchburg and
the surrounding cou ntry were also em¬
ployed. What effect the disaster will have
on
the operations of the miners can only lie
conjectured until the full extent of dam¬
age is knowD. The mines have not been
long opened, but the company had gotten
well under way, and was supplying a
large section of country with coal, and
the prospect was most encouraging, a
large coaling station for the supply of
ocean steamers being in process of con
structure at Norfolk. While the accident
will have the effect of retarding work at
the mines, it is not believed that it will
cause a permanent discontinuance of
operations, as a great deal of money has
been expended there by Northern capi¬
talists composing the Southwest Improve¬
ment Company.
The latest intelligence concerning the
explosion in the Pocahontas mines is to
the effect that about 150 men were killed
and that the accident was caused by the
men’s going too far into the mines with
their lamps. A relief train, with physi¬
cians and a force of workmen on board
has gone to the scene of the accident
from Petersburg. A dispatch has been
received at Petersburg asking that safety
lamps be sent to Pocahontas at once to
facilitate the work of recovering the
bodies
The mine in which the disaster occur¬
red is known as the Fiat Top Mine, and
is situated in the northeast portion of
Tazewell county, at the base of the Flat
Top Mountains, which divide that part
of Virginia from West Virginia. The
company working the mine is nominally
known as tbe Southwest Virginia Im¬
provement Company, but the mine is
really under the control of the Norfolk and
Western Railroad Company who have a.
branch road, known as the New River
division, running from New River to
Pocahontas, about sixty miles. JohnC.
Ilsey, Improvement of Pennsylvania, Company, is president of
tlie and William
A. Latkrop is superintendent of the
mine, which is comparatively new, hav¬
ing been in active operation but little
over a year. From 500 to 600 hapds were
employed, being and a large quantity of coal
was taken out.
IIE IS NO HUNTER.
Bnt was Blessed with Surprising Hood Lurk
or lias Highly Imaginative Neighbors.
[From the New York Sun.]
Frank Kent lives in the Snekett’s Pond
neighborhood, Sullivan county. The
region is a wild one. Residents of the
neighborhood coming to town during the
past week have had much to relate about
a exploits, recent hunting exploit, or series of
of Frauk Kent, who, they
declare, is no hunter at that. A few days
ago, while he was at work in his yard,
he saw his dog suddenly make for the
woods as fast as it could run. In a few
minutes he heard the sounds of a strug¬
gle between the dog and some other
animal.
Kent got his gun and ran to the spot.
He found his dog and a largo red fox
lighting. The fox whipped the dog and
the latter sneaked back home. The fox
ran into its burrow, at the mouth of
which the fight occurred. Kent dug the
fox out and started home with it alive.
He h'StHr.keu a few steps only when a
small animal flashed across an opening
in front of him, immediately followed by
another. Close behind the" two hounded
a large animal. Tho first two were rac¬
coons. They were being pursued by a
wildcat. The coons scrambled into a
hollow log. The wildcat, seeing Kent,
did not stop until it had gone a hundred
yards further on. Then it took a posi¬
tion in a chostnut tree. Kent hastily
took off one of his suspenders and teth¬
ered the fox to a chestnut sapling by
both hind legs.
He then ran to the hollow log where
the coons had taken refuge, and closed
up both ends with chunks of wood. The
wildcat still remained in the chestnut
tree in plain sight. Kent walked to¬
ward it, but it showed no inclination to
escape. Kent stood under the branch
on which the wildcat crouched, uot more
than twenty-five feet above him. Tho
animal prepared itself to spring upon
him, but before it could do so Kent sent
a rifle ball into its heart, and it fell to tho
ground and died almost instantly.
Before the report of the gun had died
away Kent heard a noise off to his right
in the underbrush, and he thought it
was a cow that had wandered in tho
woods. He went into tho brush toward
the spot where the noise came from, and
to his surprise discovered a large boat
dragging itself along with both of its
hind feet in a heavy steel trap, to which
was attached a long chain. Kent was
obliged to shoot the bear twice before he
killed it.
After waiting a few minutes to see
whether he would be called upon to kill
or capture anything more, Kent went
back after his fox. He got back just in
time, for by its struggles tlie fox had
freed one of its legs, and would soon
have gained its liberty. Kent carriod
th e Jqx hrt- ' and placed it in his smoke
. ho went out and broug't -
i. 1c took a ai “
cl imprisoned. He removed
of wood from one end arid
Jftw the mouth of the bag over tho
hole. He shoved a stick iu at the other
end of the log, and the coons ran out
and into the bag. Kent drew tho bag
off of the log and carried the coons home
alive and turned them into the wood¬
shed. Then he went out and dragged
in tho carcass of the bear. He has not
found out yet where the bear and tho
trap joined company. Kent’s exploit
consumed fifteen minutes only. But
his neighbors insist that ho is no hunter.
Starling an Avalanche.
The snows in Nevada, says a corre¬
spondent, have been for the most part
wetaud heavy, and hove Under been followed these by
warm, sunny days. with cir¬
cumstances slides have occurred
great frequency, and have wrought de¬
struction unexampled in recent years. It
does not take much to start an avalanche
which a moment later may make tho
earth tremble. Two miners living on
Alum Creek, went up the mountain
above their cabin to set some stakes.
After their work was doffe one of them
made a snowball and threw it at the
other, who returned the fire. One of
the balls lodged on a slope more than a
mile long, directly above their cabin.
The sun was shining brightly, and the
snow was soft. For a second, tho ball
rested where it fell, and then it began
to roll, increasing in bulk as it went.
Presently the ball, once held in a man’s
hand, grew to the size of a hogshead,
and when a furious momentum had been
gained it burst into several pieces, each
of which continued rolling until a strip
of ground of a hundred In feet descent wide these was
cleared snow. their
huge snowballs picked up rocks and
earth until, merging in one down immense
mass, the avalanche, bearing giant
trees and stumps, struck the cabin of
the men who started it, and carried it
away as easily as if it had been made of
paper. Everything in the path of the
slide was swept to the bed of the stream
and buried fifty feet deep in snow. The had
miners watched the havoc they
wrought, and, after examining the spot
where once their cabin stood, they
started for Hawthorne for a tent and
blankets, and then returned to their
claim for the purpose of building another
cabin. They will start no more ava¬
lanches if they can help it.
Running Night and Day.
“How’s business?” asked a gentle¬
man, in Pittsburg, of a prominent glass
manufacturer of that city.
“Immense !” was the reply; “we orders are
fairly rushed to death; have got
ahead clear up to August.”
“Is that so?” was tbe surprised ques¬
tion. “What line of goods are you at
work upon ?”
“Diamond breastpins for summei
hotel clerks.”
Damages.— A San Francisco physi¬
cian has sued a man and his wife whose
family physician he damages has been for three
years for $10,000 for slander in
saying: “He is a quack; ho is no doc
♦or- he killed our child,”
OUR CAVALRY BOYS
A Little Insight Into tho Work They Ilavo
to Perforin.
Col. Bracket, of the U. S. Army in a
letter says: Usually some farmer comes
riding in on horseback in his shirt
sleeves, laboring under the greatest ex¬
citement, hallooing, “Indians! In¬
dians ! 1” and, after he has become suf
ficently cooled down to tell his story,
unfolds a sickening tale of the manner
in which some of his relatives have been
butchered in cold blood by tho savages,
or his horses and cows killed so as tc
leave him completely impoverished.
Then there is hurrying to and fro in the
little fort—rations have to be drawn and
put up in bundles, the pack-mules sad¬
dled and loaded, and then the cavalry
horses themselves have to be saddled
and made ready for the field. Just at
nightfall, perhaps, tho hill motley dale caval¬
cade moves out over and in
search of the trail of the savages. After
scouting from seven to ten days no ene¬
my is seen, no trail discovered, and the
Indians themselves have vanished like
the veriest phantoms of tho mountains.
Not one scouting party in twenty finds
Indians, the greater number of scouts
rendering unsatisfactory results. Al¬
though similar, no two scouts arc exact¬
ly alike, nor are they generally over the
same portion of the country. Some¬
times an officer stumbles on a war party
of Indians, when of course there is a
lively skirmish, and again, by dint of
perseverance and determination, a war
party of savages is overtaken and re¬
ceives merited punishment for its dep¬
redations. This following the trail, day
after day, is a trying ordeal for men and
horses, and on these occasions they may
be said to suffer real hardships. No
fires are allowed to be lighted, the ba¬
con is soon consumed, and there is little
or no hard bread. This may occur iu
the cold and sleet of Wyoming or Mon¬
tana, or on the hot and parched plains
of Texas or Arizona. Men and horses
must suffer, and a dear price is paid,
even though a few red mon are made to
bite the dust. After capturing an In¬
dian camp, enough dried meat may
sometimes be found to appease tho
pangs of hunger, and not unfrequently
horses and mules have been killed while
traveling along to furnish a moat supply
for the half-fomished soldiers. Iu these
days whon the savages are well armed
there is no small degree of danger in tho
skirmishes that take place with them, ns
we all know. They are a very brave race
of men when cornered, but, like tlieir
civilized brethren, they take advantage
of everything they can. To lull as many
of tho enemy as possible without loss to
themselves is considered tho highest
typo of warfare, and I am not sure they
are not correct about it. They are never
found throwing away their lives useless¬
ly in war, though some of their exploits
are daring in the extreme. They know
they have comparatively few men,
while the whites are as plentiful as the
leaves on tho trees. They bother have no them, train
i t subsistence storos to
f 4ach man carrying along what Indian he can
get la the way of rations. An
can eui pioro and at the same time live
on less thu’i„ any other human being,
tlieir gastrono 'ftkfc ntMjftt times proving
The Star Fish anil tlie Oyster.
Tlie large internal capacity explains
the gluttony of which the star fish is
capable on occasions. Tho destructive¬
ness of those voracious pests has been
long recognized aliko by naturalists and
fishermen, and many years ago tho En¬
glish Admiralty Court laid penalties on
oyster fishers who did not destroy all
tin! star fish they tho drew up, “lieeauso
that fish ami gots into oysters when they
gape sucks them out.” Modern
science anil observation have proved
that when tho “star” concludes to have
oystors, scallops, or other moliusks for
dinner, having met his destined victim,
he treacherously embraces him, folding
all live arms about tho unhappy Protruding victim
of his deadly caresses. his
strong, muscular ring about the mouth
of the stomach through tho month, he
seizes the newly grown edge of the
shell called the “nib” or “bill,” arid
breaks it off in bits until an entrancejis
mode. Tho burglarious star tho forces into
the opening thus made distensible
nouth of the stomach and seizes upon
the body of tho oyster within, which ho
at once begins to draw into his stomach.
As tlie process goes on the star's stom¬
ach is pushed farther and farther into
the shell of the oyster, until, if the lat¬
ter is especially brought large, into tho requisition, auxiliary
pouches are
and by tho time tho large oyster is con¬
sumed tlie star has practically turned
himself inside out. These pests have been
dredged up while engaged at dinner,
with the stomach hanging out half the
length of ono of the arms. If put into
a bucket of salt water he will gradually
resume his normal condition, but if used
with any violence he wi^ throw away his
food, drawing in his stomach instantly.
ffliat they Want In Texas.
Says a Texas newspaper correspond¬
ent: I was talking with an old settler
the other day, about tbe society of the
State. He bad been expatiating on the
marked improvements in morals during
the past few years, and as he shifted the
weight of bis body on tbe other bin, be
remarked seritcntiously: “What Texas
needs mor’n all things is women; make yes
sir, women; women sich as will a
man slick up a little and have some stylo
about him. Thar’s homes for 50,009
women on the line of the Texas Pacific
Railroad, an’ welcome. Men witli means
is plenty, hut women sich as I’m allud¬
in’ at is scarce. 1 never knowd a mar¬
riageable woman who stayed three
months in a town bnt could a had the
pick o’ the country by noddin’ her head,
far to a cow-man who has been on the
range all summer a red flannel petti¬
coat looks as nice as a sating dress an’ a
breast-pin o’diamonds does in Chicago.”
Pakasiteh. —Dr. George Hutton, in
giving a list of the principal parasites
which affect man, enumerates bacteria,
which are almost innumerable, intes¬
tinal worms of which there are fifteen or
sixteen varieties, a dozen insects that at¬
tack the skin, and half a dozen vege¬
table parasites that also appear upon the
surface.— Dr. Foote's Health Monthly,
WIT INI) WISDOM.
Alone exhibition: Picture of an old
bachelor.
Where nothing ia, the King has lost
his right.
Ha who anticipates misfortune falls on
his back and breaks his nose.
When is butter like Irish children?
When it is made into little pats.
To many who have hoped and waited
has come good cause to be elated.
Residents of Colorado The have Norwegian adopted
the Norwegian shoe.
shoe is a big thing.
In a courtship the position of purser
is occupied by a man, while woman looks
after the rigging and stays.
“Women,” it is said, “jump at con¬
clusions.” We never hoard mice called
by that name before.— Boston Star.
Too many persons like to tell how
“tuff” they “used to be.” We always
Bliun those “tuff” sinners for fear they
may have a relapse.
“What is this big corner in pork I
hear about?” asked Laura across the
cheery tea table. “The big corner in
pork,” replied Tom, “is the ham.” #
A health journal says that you hour ought
to take three-quarters rtf an for
your dinner. It is well also to add a
few vegetables and a piece of meat.
He would not marry her becauso she
had false teeth. But when his wife
kept him awake for nights with tooth¬
ache and neuralgia, he wished he had.
NEwsi’ArEit advertising compels in¬
quiry, and when the article offered is of
good quality and at fair price, the nat¬
ural result is increased sale.— McGregor
News.
It lias been discovered that a Tennes¬
see man has four living wives. He cor
laiuly has no excuse for not always hav¬
ing at least ono clean shirt for an emer¬
gency.
Leaf year is a good time to engrave
indelibly upon the hearts of the young
men that much misery is caused by not
saying “no” at tho right time.— Buffalo
Express.
“It seems to me that all the plagUM
of Egypt came together and hit me at
once, in a different place,” says Baker
Pacha, according to tho Burlington
Haw key e.
An exchange notes tho fact that a
complete piece of music can now be
bought, for the same price as a five-cent
cigar. Yes, but the bother of it is, it’s
just about the same quality.
In a recent Western political conven¬ poli¬
tion an ex-preaclier, who is now u
tician, offered the following resolution :
“ Resolved, That the weak shall inherit
the earth; and, further resolved, tliut we
ore the weak.”
First Dude : “Ah, say, would yon
marry the daughter of a pirate ?” Hoe
ond dude : “Aw, certainly not; hut I
once paid attention to tiio daughter of a
free hooter, and don’t you know, I got
the worst of it.”
Edith (aged nine) —“Wave yon written
all the invitations to my party, mamma?”
Mamma—“Yes, Edith.” Edith—“But
the best part will ho wlion the Recep¬
tions and deceptions begin to come in,
won’t it, mamma?” I
An English nobleman noiia traveling
is
hand to a servant-girl. Perhaps he
knows what wages servant-girl., get in
this country and is after her money.—
Philadelphia Call.
A Paterson girl cared a lover of his
infatuation by striking him medicine. over tho
head with a bottle of patent
The proprietors of tho stuff are after
him for a sworn certificate to add to tho
almanac literature of tho day.— Bis¬
marck Tribune.
“Didn't you promise to lovo, honor
and obey mo?” said the husband otter
a wordy wrangle with his wifo. “Yes,”
came the reply with a hiss, “but yon
were so exceedingly tender then that I
thought you’d always lot mo have my
own way. That’s why I promised you.”
Philadelphia Hr,raid.
Four Boys Dhl It.
It was nothing—nothing but the body
of a laboring man suspended to a limb o!
a tree on Hoventh street, moving like a
pendulum as tho night wind swayed it.
A woman who was returning from the
grocery caught sight of the ghastly
spectacle, and dropped two liars of soap
and a pound of candles on the walk anil
ran screaming away. Two boys came
along and took a skip through tho mud
and raised a yell, and the driver of a
milk-wagon stopped his horse and rang
his bell in a way to bring a dozen house¬
holders out doors. A Ualf-circlo was
formed about the tree, a policeman sent
for, and a sudden hush fell upon the
crowd.
"Probably ont of work, ond drivon to
it,” whispered one. trouble with bii
“No doubt ho had
wife,” sighed a second.
"Looks to me like a man who had
drained the cup of sorrow to its dregs,”
said a third.
By and by a policeman came and hurrying followed
along, puffing and blowing
by a crowd of boys.
“Btand back—all of you stand back 1”
cried the officer.
Nobody stood back, of course.
“Now somebody get me a step*
ladder 1”
Fifteen or twenty persons suggested
that somebody run for the coroner, hut
no one started. A dozen others sug¬
gested that it was against tho law to cut
a body down nnlesa the coroner was pres¬
ent, but the ladder came and the officer
mounted it and opened his knife and
commanded:
“Now, then, three or four of you come
here to ease the body down when I cut
the rope 1”
Four or five men stepped ont, bnt they
had no sooner seized the suicide’s legs
than they fell back. In half a minuto
more the officer backed down the ladder.
Then a general titter ran through the
crowd, and a small boy called ont:
“I seed ’em when they did it! It’s a
straw man, and four boys hung him up
and runn’daway ! ’—Detroit Free Pres*
Mr. Gatling, of Gatling gun fame, is
benevolent looking old gentleman,
with snowy hair and whiskers. He ia
slightly deaf, wears gold-rimmed wholesale spec,
taoles, and talks about his
slaughtering machine as unconcernedly
ns though it were merely an improved
hur.raka.