Newspaper Page Text
MAIL ODDITIES.
Some Curiosities That Lodge In
the Postal Pouch. .
Animate Objects That Come
Under Postoffice Ban.
Many queer things pass through the
mails. Some of them afford amuse¬
ment for tho clerk % and other.3 for a
time cause them to forget their religious
training. Every conceivable thing that
comes under the iules of mailable mat¬
ter, and many others besides, i3 daily
received at every large postcffice in
the land. Many packages are stopped
because of violation of the law and
are confiscated, while occasionally an
unmnilablc nrticlo slips through under
the guise of something else. Speaking
of the matter to a Herald reporter,
a Baltimore postoffice ofii ial said:
The mailing of merchandise, samples
and other things has reached such an
extent that I wouldn’t be surprised at
any time to see a man come in and
ask if he can mail a ton of coal to San
Francisco. A great many things are
sent by would-be jokers. A short time
ago a fashionable up-town lady received
a neatly- done - up and perfumed
package from a point in
Virginia. On opening it a garter
snake jumped out and ran across tho
floor. The lady screamed, and when
some of the other members of tho fam¬
ily went to her rescue she was standing
on a centre table and the snake was
coiled up on a sofa. A few days ago
when a mail pouch was opened a small
diamond-back terrapin crawled out.
Tho little reptile was carried to Mr.
Gus Warfield, who placed it on his
desk. It crawled about quite actively
for a while, and then pulled in its head
and feet and went to sleep. Mr. War
field placed it on the desk of one of the
clerks who had gone out for lunch.
When tho clerk returned he noticed the
terrapin and thought it was a paper
weight, and went on working. In a
few minutes the terrapin awoke,
stretched out its head and crawled over
on the clerk’s paper as if to see whit he
was writing. The young man had never
seen a liyo terrapin before, and, still
thinking
*
cession of dwellings wore encountered
stretching along for mile3. and
being built up in terrace form,
one above the other, with solid
masonry unlike the crude and pigniy
like clifl-dweilers of Arizona and
New Mexico. These dwellings had
more the appearance of regular streets,
being built above each other on the
shelving declivity of the canyon, and
being difficult of access, as if t had
been done for purposes of defense
against powerful enemies, The luild
ings have their front walls constructed
of hewn stones carefully cemented,
while the rear portions are built into
the sides of the canyon. All of these
ruins are in a remarkable state of pre¬
servation, so much so that they deserve
more the name of abandoned dwellings
than of ruins.
A r ter this canyon is pass d and the
open country reached an isolated mount¬
ain of symmetrical proportions is
reached, on the summit of which the
ruins of a gigantic stone structure are
encountered, the appearance of which
indicates that it was either a temple or
the palace of a king. A portion of
these ruins consist of a very hard con¬
crete. At the foot of this mountain are
substantially constructed terraced
structures, plainly showing the existence
in former times of an extensive
system of irrigation and storage of
water. The country for many miles in
all directions contains some relic 3 , such
as melates or stone tables, with appro¬
priate pestles for the grinding of maize,
stone hammers, various household uten¬
sils, and in some instances, bronze tools
of such extraordinary hardness aud tem¬
per that they are equal to modern steel
tools. 'Wherever the ground is turned
lip these relics are found in unfailing
abundance. The neighboring Indians
know of theso evidences of a former
civilizati* n. The belief is that the king
of all the Montezumas lived on the top
of that mouutain, but at what time and
what his name was they did not know.
— [Globe-Democrat.
A Few Statistics.
Interesting facts concerning ancient
cities; Nineveh was 15 miles long, 8
wide and 40 miles around, with a wall
100 feet high, and thick enough for
three chariots abreast. Babylon was
50 miles within the walls. • Mf'Vi were
DESERT SCHOONERS.
Overland Ox Trains of the West¬
ern Mountains.
The “Bull-Punchers” Who Nav
igate Queer Inland Craft.
Although there are many thousands
of miles of railways distributed over the
different states and territories of the
far West, it is well known that there
still remain vast areas into which the
civilizing sound of the steam-engine
has not yet penetrated. Far away from
the iron highways lie ambitioui little
“cities,” mining camps, Indian agencies
and government military posts, which
havo all to be supplied in some way
with the chief necessaries of civilized
life. In the transportation of th?se
supplies from stations more or less re¬
mote, freighting outfits of a primitive
but efficient kind are employed. They
are known as “bull trains’’ or “desert
schooners” in the frank vernacular of
the western man, aud tli3 navigator of
one of these inland craft is pithily de¬
scribed as a “lull-puncher”—a some¬
what invidious appellative, for it takes
j several sterling qualities, such as hon-
1 esty. steadiness, pluck, muscle and
hardy endurance, to make a capital
“bull-puncher. ” There are two classes
of these common carriers. One of these
follows a regular route, on a time
schedule more or less conformed to,
while the other is composed of men
who, owning their own oxen and wag
ons, prefer to cruise about promiscuous¬
ly for cargoes, like their much-abused
prototypes of the sea.
The number of oxen employed in a
team depends on the character of the
country to be traversed and the nature
of the cargo. As a rule, five yokes are
found to be sufficient, but sometimes
the numbers run as high as twelve. The
wagons are immense arks, consisting of
an oblong rectangular box, eight or Dine
feet high, over the top of which is
arched a dome-like covering of heavy
white canvas, which protects the load
from dust and stress of weather. Fittedto
the rear wheels of the wagon is an enor¬
mous brake with a great iron lever, to
which is fastened a strap by which it is
worked. On heavy down grades the
The Value of Cold Bathing.
The use of cold water for bathing
purposes is a time-honored institution
m many, if not ia all, countries.
Though necessarily limited in its ap¬
plication by considerations of conveni¬
ence, it is probably nowhere more
highly appreciated than in the British
Isles. Respecting its value as a bracing
general stimulant in suitable cases
there can bo no question, and tho
difference in this particular between its
influence and tho depressing cff.ict of
Irequently repeated warm bathing is
obviously a point in its favor, The
sharp and transient shock of cold is
doubly beneficial. It clearly acts not
only as a stimulus of the circulation,
constricting for tho moment the sur
face blood vessels, and thus provoking
their after-dilatation, but it is also by
the same process an acclimr. izer. The
risk of chill from sudden changes
of wind and weather is mani¬
festly lessened the caso
of those whose * vaso-motor
system has been traine 1 to adapt itself
to such moveme its by the discipline de¬
scribed above. It is true that constitu¬
tion, state of health for tho time being,
and ace cannot be left out of account,
but we shall not err in saying that,
given a fair degree of vascular tone, un
impaiiei by any serious weakness of the
heart muscle, a frequent cold bath rap¬
idly gone through is a tonic as natural
as it is beneficial. In beginning tho
practice it is wisest to choose the sum¬
mer season, and it may then be con¬
tinued daily or on alternate days
throughout the winter. A correspon¬
dent who has been in the habit of thus
refreshing himself during the past ten
ye irs informs ns that, though neither
young nor robust (his age is fifty), he
has enjoyed a dip every other
morning even in the depth of
severe winters. He experienced appa¬
rently equal benefit whether he selected,
for a given season, his bath, the sea, or
a fresh-water lake as the scene of his
ablutions. He is naturally a strong be¬
liever ia cold bathing. It is not neces¬
sary even for all bona fide bathers to
follow his plan in detail, but his general
rules are worth observing. These are:
To take a rapid dip, say one which oc¬
cupies three or four minutes; to batffi
on alternate days; to be well warm with
^xerdise b*for<» to ko #>r *
About the Hair.
An inquisitive physician lias discovered
that the dust, oil and water which ac¬
cumulates iu a hair brush, makes a fertile
soil for the accumulation of living germs,
and he charges that the public hait
brush, so accommodatingly placed in
boats, cars and barber shops, may easily
bj the means of spreading such diseases
as scald head, tetter, a id even measles
and the small-pox.
A Common-Sense Remeffy,
In the matter of curatives what you want Is
something that will do its work while you
contnue to do yours—a remedy that will give
yuu no i:,convenience nor interfere with y ur
bu incss. Such a remedy is Allcock'S POR
(,US l’LASTEiis. Tii* se plasters are purely
vegetable aud abso uteiy harmless. They re¬
quire no change of diet, and are u< t atleeted
by wet or cold. Their action does not interfere
with labor or busin s^s; you can toil and yet be
cured while hard at work. They are so pure
that the youngest, the oldest, the m st delicate
person of either sex can use them with great
benefit.
Beware of imitations, and do not be deceived
by misreprest ntation.
Askf r AllcoCk’s, and let no explanation
c r solicitation induce you to accept a sub¬
stitute.
“The King’s Daughters” now number 20,*
000 in the U. S. The society is to have a paper.
A IJus’ness-like tiffer,
For many y* ars the manufacturers of Dr.
Cage’s Catarrh Remedy have offered, in which good
faith, $5U) for a case o Nasal Catarrh
they cannot cure. The Remedy is sold b/
< ruggists at only . r i0 cents. 0 his wonderful
remedy has f »irly attain' a world-widerepu- ob
tatien. If you have dr ivy headache,
struct ion of t o r ages. discharges
falling from the 1 • > throat, eome
times profuse, wa * id. at others,
thick, tenacious, m> >u t, bloody and
putrid, if the eye * • * v*. , ; cry aud in
fiamed; if th re is n e ears, deaf
ness, hacking or cou^i n - c i the together ■ hroat,
expectoration o often in i , being
yyith scabs from ulcer t h< v ice
char ged and h ■ s a nasal iwane; the breath
offensive; smell and taste l nnaired: ncukv ion
of dizziness, with mental dt • n - a h ck
iug cough and gene al debility v ou a i «xi ff cr¬
ing t i cm nasal catarrh. The more comp) eated
your disease, the greater the number and di¬
versity of symptoms. Thousands. o“ ( asesj a li¬
nualiy without roanifes ing alf c ti ce®
symptoms, result in consump lon, v ' '■ dt
the grave. No disease is so common,
ceptive and dangerous or le-s und r. d, or
more unsuccessfully treated by phvsicn
The income of Andrew Carnegie, th
manufacturer, is s aid to b e $15,000yt day.
When a threatening lung disorder.
Shows its first proclivity, the border—
Do not let it cross
Quell it with activity.
Many a patient, young or olden,
< >wes a quick Pierce’s recovery Golden
All to Dr.
Medical Discovery.
Newspapers soaked in a solution of carbofic
acid make a good plug for ra; holes.
Conventional “ Menon ” It esolutf one.
Whereas , The M non Route <B. N. A. & C.
Ry Co.)<*es res to make it known to the world
at large that it f-/rms the double
link of Pullman tourist travel between
winter cities of Florida a d the summer re¬
sorts of the Northwest; and is
Whereas, Its “rapid transit” srsted*
eleg tiff Pullman Buifet
y^Lhicago aid