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Oi'STKKMM. ‘Loys.erOoe, Their Only Xdle Nffontli— on a Fresh Water Spree—Plant- . jug the Beds. • * \ f month it • ttz>q” August is the only , in ‘ CT-hea the Tenth North and Rj Eleventh ver stfficts ron , ^ -v tween with the masts of smart 1 e y - thick AH the rest 0 ® ea ' .f'' ter boats. from Prince ? s ay, - are sprv sloops Shrewsbury and the inlets of the stout seagoing schoou- Connecticut, with down the Jersey coast, from Delaware Bay and even from .the shallow waters of far Chineoteague. 4 Nine hum dred and ninety-nine' New Yorkers out of a thousand have never seen an oyster sloop except, perhaps, from the Brook- lyn Bridge or from the deck of a ferry- boat. Several hundred of these little vessels ply between New \ ork and the neighboring bays. If all slodps look alike to you, as they do to most persons, you would hardly know an oyster boat from a pleasure yacht; aud, indeed, the oyster sloofi makes a very fair yacut for those who do not insist upon the last second of speed and the utmost limit of beauty., Walk through one of the big scows that help to form a solid wooden wall along tbe oyster .wharves. , Standing on the I back porch of the scow, so to speak, you ! i 00 k down upon a dozen oyster, sloops, bi <r and little. They run from ten to twenty tons, and carry mainsail, jib, top¬ sail and jib-topsail, i They are trim mod¬ els, and on the stern you see in gilt let¬ ters a feminine name, followed by an ini¬ tial—a delicate tribute to some.wife or sweetheart. Oysters are piled all about the deck, aud the hold is full, The cabin, however, is clean and cozy, with small stove, bunks, a few plates, and here and there a picture. Uusuallv there ' are three men to each vessel, but the schooners from down the coast carry more. You may buy a good oyster sloop $'2000. Dredges, tongs, skills and floats cost another $1000, and having bought or leased your laud under water,you must have-something in bank while your crop grows. In fact, $5000 is little enough to begin on, if you wish to be a well- equipped and independent oysterman. Ten acres well sown with seed oysters will yield a handsome income in three years,, but you must keep on sowing if you would continue to reap. Most of the oystermen have partners among the oyster dealers ot New "York, The New Yorker furnishes the capital, the oysterman the skill, muscle and knowledge. It is a hard life for the oystermen. They have their little homes down along the shore, not far from the oyster beds. Ihere Is planting on the mud in ton to twenty-five feet of water ; transplanting to hard bottom in shallow water; dredging, tonging and fattening. This last process is called giving the oyster “a drink. It is done thus. The salty oysters, from Prince’s Bay, Staten Island.are brought from their briuy beds to the fresher water of the north shore and dumped out-on -a float. This looks like un aquatic hencoop. It is made of stout planks, nailed to cleats, with a space of half an inch between each plank, Around the platform thus made are nailed heavy log§,Which serve the double purpose of walls • and floaters.* The oysters are dumped doWn on the slatted float and the logs are buoyant enough to prevent the whole from kinking. For twelve or fifteen hours the -oysters are permitted to “drink” the fresh water, It is really a fresh-water spree, for the oysters come from their drink bloated far beyond their original size. Oyster- men say that a thousand oysters thus treated show when shucked a gaiu of fully a gallon in bulk. They also cleanse themselves of sand, lose their strong saline taste and improve in odor. The Shrewsbury River oysters need no such treatment, for they grow iu water con- siderably less salt than that of Prince’s Chineoteague oysters come fron Chin coteague Sound, a broad, shallow body of water off the coast of Accomack County, Virginia, between Chineoteague Island and the mainland. The whole sound is thick with saplings that mark the boundaries of oyster beds. These oysters are long, narrow and white. The island is inhabited almost solely by fisher- men of one sort or another, and the shore tor miles is lined in midsummer with dis- used oyster boats. The coves and inlets of Delaware Bay are rich in oysters, and some of them reach this market. There are few merrier sights than a little haven filled with Delaware Bay oyster boats. There may be no town within miles, but the oysermen form a village in themselves. The boats lie close together, so that social visits are easilv exchanged. fiddles There are sure to be a few in the fleet; “peach an’ honey” is not wanting, and tobacco is abundant, There is nothing cozier than one of these warm, when lighted cabins on a blustery night, the clouds are scudding overhead, Aihite caps are breaking far as eye can reach and the sound of fiddles-comes in musical gusts from neighboring cabin* mingled whistling with the creak and the°sound of winds. ,A sound night’s sleep on board is followed by early stirring, and sm< *e of breakfast rising from a -ozen cabins by the first streak of dawn. men follows a spreading of canvas, a ar P race for the oyster beds and a day of toil, to be succeeded by another coz*' night inshore. There is little hint of aU this at the oyster wharves in New York, but there are plenty of picturesque sights at the foot of West Tenth street. There are grizzled beards, tarpaulined heads and weatherbeaten features in abundance. Stout leather tips, like finger stalls, pro¬ tect the nails and finger ends of those who pile the oysters into baskets, whil° those who carry the slimy cargo ashore protect breast and right shoulder with a broad flap of sole leather. The ovster wharves are an unknown region to most personS) but a few epicures, who like to eat t - oyster i jj j t ce a most; as soon as e s ou of his bed, go down to the foot of Tenth street agd gorge themselves with oysters opened on deck while the eaters wait.— JYtic'York Star. ' 'V'- The Somals. The Somals are “kittle cattle” to deal w itb. Armed to the teeth with spears, daggers and clubs, they are equally skill- f u j anc j re ckless in the use of them. The men ]i ve to fight and to talk; what work g ets done is done by the women. Tribal Avars are incessant; sanguinary social q Uarre i s ar e of everyday occurrence, and jf death seldom ensues, it is because the clansmen on either side are zealous tc se p ara te the combatants before the fine f or homicide, borne in common by the relatives of a manslayer, is incurred. Camel driving is almost the only form of ma seuline industry, yet it does not ap- pear that time hangs heavy on the Somal’s hands. Hairdressing and dyeing (for he aspires to a blonde chevelure) agreeably occupy a good deal of it; and his por¬ tentous and inexhaustible loquacity is often indulged at the expense of sleep, i Ethnologically, the Somals may be de¬ scribed as Arabized Gallas. Although not aboriginal, since traces of a prior tumulus-building and fish-eating people abound near the coast, they have prob¬ ably occupied their present territory foi some millenniums. Through the ex¬ ample of Greek merchants trading tc Mosylon for myrrh and ivory, the Somal- substituted for a partial clothing of skins (Which even now survives among some of their outcasts) the dignified “sagnrc Arsinoeticum;” and their present national costume is perhaps the most purely ciaggfca! to be met w jth outside the sphere of antique statuary. It consists, for men and women alike, of a “tobe,’ or gtraight piece of cotton cloth (printed, or ^hite with a crimson border) two breadths wide and some twelve feet long, draped in graceful folds about the body and fastened on the left shoulder. San- dais are worn on the feet, strings of g aud y beads about the neck, amulets in the most suitable situations for warding off malefic influences. The physiognomy debased 0 f this people is of a high type, by the brutality of ages. The color ol their skin runs through all the shades of | )roW n. Their figures are tall and slender, y e t strong and well poised. They are 0 ft e Q skilled in horsemanship and adepts elepliaut hunting, yet, through dig- a jty or laziness, employ low-caste tribes ai . me d with poisoned arrows, to bring down their game .—Edinburgh Reciew. Eight of a Turtle and Saahe. 4 One of the most amusing fights that ever occurred in Alabama w’as witnessed by two hunters on the Warrior River, a few days ago, between a black snake and a mud turtle. What the causus helium was is not known, but the snake had wound itself around the turtle’s shell and was trying to make some impression on its back with its fangs. The turtle took things good-naturedly, seemingly, and every once in a while would poke out his head to see if the snake was look- i D g. if the snake’s head was too close, the turtle would draw himself back into the shell, and if the head was far enough away the turtle would seize his antago- n i s t, and when the snake, mad with pain, tried to revenge himself, the turtle would go back in his shell. This strange war- fare was kept up for several hours, when the turtle succeeded in getting his anta- gonist by the throat and nearly severed the head from the body. Then, with the snake still wrapped around it, the turtle reached the water, and the clead snake floated off on the surface. The turtle had been victorious. Ball-Players Experiment. At Washington the Boston League P la y ers tried the experiment of catching !l b^seh'dl tossed from the top of Wash- Monument. Nichols, Donovan iind Hodgman ascended to the top of the Monument, carrying with them three kalis. To get the direction of the wind a hat was first dropped, and was twenty seconds reaching the earth. Then came the tirst baU - U was i ust seven seconds before it struck terra firma, aud out of the reach of any player. Although the bal1 could be distinctly seen during its eQtire fli g ht . 14 * as impossible to judge its course with an >' accurac y whatever, Tbe second ball was just six and one- T» arter seconds in reaching the ground, and a g a i Q no 0Qe was withia reach of it. The third baU came down *“ the same time as the second one ’ and Wlth the same result .—New York Telegram. * The total population of Greenland at the end of 188S was 10,291. There had been 162 deaths during the previous year, of which thirty-one had been by drowning from the native canoes and ten by o tber accidents. * ---—- The estimated population of Ne w York State is o7&00,Ot>0. TERROR IN BATTLE. • PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF A VETERAN. inecdoteB of Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Malvern Hill, Antietam, etc. During the war we used to read of companies falling back, regiments giving ground, and brigades becoming demoralized, and the average reader took it for cowardice and openly ex¬ pressed liis contempt. No man ever went into battle twice alike. No com¬ pany, regiment or brigade were,, ever situated twice alike. A man maybe very brave in one battle and,-very timid in the next. His physical and mental conditions have much to do with it. A private soldier knows the position of his entire brigade irf a fight. If the position is a strong one lie is encouraged; if the flanks are exposed or the defenses weak he is nervous and apprehensive. It is a grand stake the soldier plays for in battle. If lie wins he. may live on until the next tight. If he loses he gets a headstone in a national cemetery. I cannot make you understand the situation better than to give you per¬ sonal experiences. The great majority of soldiers had the same feeling and passed through the same experiences. 'AJ first B.ttllTiiin my brigade gained ground for several hours. This, with a small loss of men, kept us encour¬ aged. . Indeed, it was hard for the officers to restrain us. Every man was hopeful and determined, and any single company would have charged a regiment. Tee panic had upset thous¬ ands before it touched us. Indeed, the retreat had been going on for two hours before we got word. We were well in hand and ready to advance when the news reached us. In five minutes every man was shaky. In ten minutes men whose faces were powder-stained were sneaking out of the raaiks to gain' the rear. In a quarter of an hour half a company of confederates could have driven the whole brigade Iike.a fiock of sheep. I saw men cry like children. I saw others 'tremble and sit down from weakness. Every fresh report added to the feelirg of terror, and by and by pride and discipline gave way to a grand rush, and it was every man for himself. No one would stop to rea¬ son. No one cared whether lfis com¬ rade was ahead or behind. This was called cowardice, but it was not. It was panic—the terror of battle—a senseless -but powerful something which "Seizes the bravest men and makes children of them. In tJjye streets of Fredericksburg I puav Federal soldi.rs discharge their muskets into the air, Avhen the enemy Avas Avithin point-blank range. I saw plenty of them drop on their faces and tremble and groan and cry. This avus a case Avhere every man saA\ T the hope- lessness -of attack. lie felt that he Avas pushed forward to be shot dosvn There \Vas no Avav for retreat until the lines should fall back. On the other hand, tho confederate troops posted behind the stone wall at the foot of Mayre’s Hill joked and smoked, and were iii the highest spirits, feeling themselves secure from bullets and knowing they could beat back any force. One of them told me that after taking a dead aim on thirteen different men and dropping every one of them he refrained from firing tho next quar- terof an hour out of sheer pity for the human targets being shoved up to meet death. At Malvern Hill my regiment lay in the dry bed of a creek at the foot of the elevation. It was a natural rifle- pit, and sheltered us so well that we had only a slight loss in killed and wounded. As the confederates charg¬ ed across the fields Ave felt to pity them. Wo poured in our volleys without fear of danger in return, ani out of fi\ r e confederates Avho rushed into our lines in their bewilderment three were cry¬ ing and sobbing. It wasn’t coAvardice but terror. No coward could have been induced to march across those meadows in the face of that terrific lire from cannon and musketry. At Cold Harbor, after beating off eA T erything in our front, and while most of the men were cheering, son e one started the report that the confe d ’ erates had gained our rear. Two thousand men broke back like a lot of boys, some eA*en throwing their guns 'away, and the jeers of the other troops had no effect until the frenzy had had time to evaporate. At Gettysburg my regiment bad the cover of a stonewall, and we knew that we were well sup¬ ported. We hoped for a charge, and when it came every man was cool and calm , and confident. One band of prisoners numbering about thirty was led past us on their way to the i*ear, and I noticed that many were crying and all were whitefaced. I have seen the best soldiers and the oldest fighters win their medals in one battle and show the white feather in the next. I saw a second lieutenant almost cry for the privilege of leading a charge at Antietam, and yet at Chantilly he fell into a ditch and pretended to be so liit as to drop behind in the charge. Cowards never go to war. If they get into the ranks through the draft they desert or commit suicide. It is only brave meii who face the grim monster on a field of battle, and next to the foe his worst enemy is a terror which siczes him as a chill or fever might come on, and there is no remedy for it except to get away from the screaming missiles of death until one’s nerve and sand return. A Colossal Engineering Project. The drainage of the great valley of Mexico, which has at last been defi¬ nitely undertaken, will be one of the most interesting works in the history of engineering, whether we look at the stupendous proportions of the project, or at ihe magnitude, of the sanitary advantages which will accrue from its completion. A sanitary engineer would say that the capacious valley, in the middle of which lies tin City of Mexico, was, notwithstanding its fer¬ tile soil and admirable climate, not in¬ tended by nature for the habitation of a teeming population. It is a deep, cup- like depression, surrounded by a moun¬ tain rampart and possessing no natural outlet for water or sewerage. Never¬ theless, for many centuries, not only since the Spanish conquest, but in AztelTahd the still remoter Toltec times the valley has been densely populated. The result is that the ground on which the large cities stand reeks with corruption, and the adjacent stagnant lakes are clogged w ith age-long ac¬ cumulations of filth, engendering the most dangerous miasmatic and tv- phoidal conditions. If the masses of Mexican people were not in the habit of drinking pulche instead of water, they Avould by continually, decimated, for it is impossible'in the City of Mexico to procure pure drinking water except, by distillation. Under the Spanish viceroys, an attempt was made to drain the valley, and a tunnel for that purpose was driven through one of the rocky Avails- that hem it in. But through some miscalculation of the constructors, the opening A\as begun at too high a point and is noAV useless- The neAV boring Avill be made at a level Ioav enough to effectually drain 4be lakes. [The Ledger. Wedding Rings. The latest thing in Avedding rings comes from England, and is a narrow but thick circlet of 22-carat fine gold. This lias come in falfion in Amer- ica in the course of the last year, replacing the old style ring, which is both heavy and wide, being sometimes half an inch broad. These latter have been in use as far back as I can re¬ member. The Get mans always buy two plain ;roid rlngS) the lady giving one to her betrothed and he one to her. The “alliance” ring is some- timcs ca!lcd for> aml often manufac- tm .. d to onler . p i s made of tAvo circlets fitting into each other and coming apart something like a pnfczle, and is a revival of a very old stvle. The ordinary Avedding ring costs from $7.50 to $15, although the English ring is somewhat more expensive. In engagement rings individual taste ia the only laAV, but set stoues are great faA'ox-ites. A novelty Is a ring of three circlets, almost as narrow as wire, each set with a band of different stones, 6nch as pearls, turquoises and conch- shells.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat. x Bounty For Sparrows. . In Dorchester, England, a bounty of 8 cents per dozen is offered for old sparrows, 4 cents per dozen for young ones and 1 1-2 cents per dozen for eggs. The sparrows have grown so i 'numerous all through Dorsetshire j that in some places they are said to de¬ stroy half the crops, while iu Aillages they ruin the gardens and cv.n strjp the thatch from buildings. TOWING CITY OF PARIS. THE CAPTAIN OF THE ADRIATIC? GIVES HIS VERSION. Laid by the Steamer for About Seven Hours and Left Her. The White Star steamship Adriatic brought in to-day the true version of what occurred when she steamed many miles out of her course to assist the • disabled Inman liner, the City of Paris, early on the morning of March 28. This version will be observed to differ a good deal from the version which made the Adriatic flit by, “hardly checking her engine, saying that she would take passengers to New York, hut would not tow us to Fastnet,” and followed her with the execrations of the City of Paris’ passengers. Capt. William Roberts of the Adriatic says he observed a boat from the City of Paris in charge of the chief officer at 1:30 A. M. He immediately stopped and took the chief officer aboard. “He reported tiie condition of his ship,” Capt. Rob¬ erts said, “and said that Capt. Wat¬ kins wished to be towed to' Queens- town. 1 told him that I had the Eng¬ lish mail aboard, and that I would not feel justified in towing the City ol Paris, but that I would do all in inv power to .save life. Another steam¬ ship, which I supposed to be the City of Chester, of the Inman line, hove in sight- just then, and I sent up' rockets at fnjquent intervals to intercept her. She was bound west, and was within four miles of the Adriat f c. The boat of the City of Paris, with the chief officer aboard, meanwhile had been put between the west bound steamer and our ship. The steamer kept on without paying any attention to our signals, which she must have observed. The chief officer hoarded us again. I tohl him I was going to the City of Paris, to save life if necessary, but not to tow her, and asked him to go back with me. He declined, saying he would make for the land. It was now 4 o’clock. On our way to the City of Paris we sight¬ ed the Aldersgate, bound for Liver¬ pool. We signalled her, and I sent my chief officer aboard. Her captain said he would go to the City of Paris and help to take some of the passen¬ gers from her if necessary. We then proceeded in company with the disabled ship. We were pre¬ pared to take the passengers’to Queens¬ town or New York if necessary. When we arrived along-side - of the City of Paris an officer from her came aboard and said that Capt. Watkins wifiied us to tow his ship to Queens¬ town. I answered that 1 had come to save life. After tho officer had con¬ veyed tny refusal to tow tho City of Paris, Capt. Watkins hoisted the sig¬ nals, ‘Thanks; go ahead.’ We then, at G:54 o’clock, piocceded, leaving tire Aldersgate and the City of Paris in communication. We received no in¬ timation from either Capt. Watkins or the officer who came aboard that the City of Paris was in danger of foundering. We stopped within a ship’s length of the Inman boatj and waved for the captain’s representative to come off’ in a boat. She did not seem to be in any danger. There was a long westerly swell, but the sea was not rough, and there were no indications of a sterm. When Capt. Watkins signalled that we could pro¬ ceed, we saw no reason for remaining. That Capt. Watkins appreciated our services in bringing the Aldersgate to him and in offering to save life if nec¬ essary,was apparent by his signal thank¬ ing us.’' . t The Adriatic had 893 passengers aboard herself, beside her large crew. There were over 1000 souls on the City of Paris. The Adriatic passed 21 ice¬ bergs off’ the banks within a space of 100 miles. The first officer of the City of Chest¬ er, which arrived yesterday, said they did not sight the Adriatic on the trip, and that if they had ‘ seen her signals they would have responded. The City of Chester’s course was further south than the Adriatic's, he said. Not Giving Away News.—ne (cau¬ tiously)—“What would you say, dar¬ ling, if I should ask you plumply to be tny wife?” Darling (even more cautiously) “Ask me and find out.”— Whashington Star.