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THE LAND OF LONG A GO. Sometimes, when thrushes sing, or sweet bells chime Far off anu faint across the silent sea, Or south winds wafts the breath of sunny c ‘ime, Or ringdoves coo their love by ba mg rills. Or the fair priestess of the dawn, star¬ eyed, eastern Trails her white robo above tlis ■. hills; lilies blow Down a dim way where stately 1 see the land—the Land of Long Ago. Then memory beckons, and with trembung feet I tread the ways where life was once so sweet; where See this dear face, that sleeps mar¬ bles shine, And that—but oeeins ’twist us roll their brine. “Dear ones, will you not come to me once mere And smile and kiss ms as in days of yore?’ “Ab, foolish heart! whan will yen learn to know Kona e’er return from the dead Long Ago?’ “But give me back my joy, the dreams of youth, Truth; Hope’s rosy visions, or the lamp of Roll back Time’s record from the dial- plate And snatch a trophy from the grasp of Fate.” Again I gazed with wildly streaming eyes On the dread angel that so much denies— Again the still voice breathed o'er fields of snovr, “These are the treasures of the Long Ago.” Alas, that land! that Land of Long Ago; No resurrection shines above its snow; Memory may enter, but a flaming sword Forbids with meuance stern Hope’s tender word. The Past is gone—the Now wa grasp full fond, And the To Ba looks darkly from beyond— And still the years roll on with ceaseles; flow Into the silence of the Long Ago — Oh, Land of Lang Ago! —Mary C. Francis, in Detroit Free Pres. JOHN'S STENOGRAPHERS jEY LSWIS ISAACS. kS OIIN BRANDON, ____the hero of this ^ thrilling romance, m the time •:rsr. at which our story w 1 ■ opens, a man of ,-S y /■ about forty years — robust •M a 2 c > ' _ constitution, and t the possessor of a r- luxuriant blonde beard and retiring aud bashful disposi- tioD. lie probably, on account of this latter infirmity, had remained a bachelor, though arrived at years of decretion. Mr. Brandon genius in his ' • was a way and natural mechanic. He had invented n number of useful articles the most uu« table of which were the Juvenile lie* versable Trousers, the Corpulent’s Com¬ panion and the Automatic Ventilating Hat. The Juvenile Reversible Trousers were intended to equalize the wear and tear of this necessary article of a boy’s ap¬ parel, but were not a pronounced suc- cess. The principal reason foi the fail- 1 ure of this invention arose from the fact that they being alike in front and rear, the juvenile individual who donned them never knew in which direction he was going. The Corpulent’s Companion, which consisted of a device by which a stout man could turn up the bottom of his trouser legs without having to stoop to perform this duty, was likewise a failure. For though everything worked well when the weather called for the turning up operation, no arrangements had been made for turning them down again. The consequence was that a man endowed with alder- manic proportions had to bend his adi¬ pose anatomy to an uncomfortable angle when he was desirous of having his pan¬ taloons resume their proper position, and thus, like the Juvenile Reversible Trousers, the Corpulent's Companion did not meet with unqualified success. “It is a long laue that no turn¬ ing,” and after many months of hard work, deep thought and persevering in¬ dustry, the Automatic Ventilating Hat, an invention over which Johu Brandon had consumed many gallons of midnight oil, was introduced to public notice, and became the rage. It was advertised in- teliigently and John Brandon became famous. The Automatic Hat had a number of miniature metallic tubes in- serted between the hat and the lining, the air entering at one end of the tubes and after circulating freely through them found egress at the other end, thus the head of the man who was fortunate enough to procure one of these celebrated hats, was sure to be cool and comfort¬ able. Mr. Brandon’s business now increased to such an extent that he invested in a typewriting machine and advertised for a stenographer. the situation The first applicant for was % Miss Moore, but she did not hold the position long. A short trial of her skill proved her unfittness for it. John hired her in the morning and discharged her the same evening. Miss Moore’s strength, like Samson’s, lay in her hair. She wore bangs; otherwise she was an ordinary evety day kind of a girl. The lightning rapidity with which she took down John's notes fairly staggered that gentleman, he being a novice at dictation, But, alas! she could not read her notes; when she attempted to do so the Empire Stale Express speed with which she had ta ;j en them down now' slowed down to tae favorite gait of a Fifth avenue stage, the poor girl in her despair tore her out by the handful when trying to what she had written, and the which once knew Miss Moore, knew her no more. Miss Amelia Thickly, Miss Moore's successor, was rather short in stature, but what she lacked in that respect she more than made up for in width, in fact she was nearly as broad a? she was long. As a stenographer Miss Tnicklv gave Mr. Brandon perfect satisfaction, but she was terribly hard on the office chairs, the manner in which they creaked and groaned under her weight made John so nervous that he grew thin, and his type writer continued to gain in flesh, as though trying to make up for what he lost in avoirdupois. Five chairs had become total wrecks under the strain brought to bear on them, and when the sixth, the sole survivor of the wreck of the half dozen he had bought, went to pieces all at once, like “the deacon’s one hoss shay,” patience had ceased to be a virtue, and Mr. Bran¬ don paid Miss Thickly two weeks’ sal¬ ary in advance and that young lady is now seeking employment elsewhere. Miss Mary Bonelv, the next occupant of the stenographic chair in the office of Mr. Brandon was very unlike her predecessor in office. She was a very angular young person, and had the ap¬ pearance of being all corners. Her el¬ bows were so sharp that when she acci¬ dentally touched John in the ribs with one of them in passing him, he thought somebody had stuck a pin into his anat¬ omy. Her elbows were her bane, she seemed to have no control over them whatever. Tim, the office boy, had them pushed into his eyes every time ho went near her to get the letters to copy. The consequence was that that young gentleman invariably had one of his optics draped in purple and fine linen. Mary had a little Jamb¬ like habit of meditating quite frequently during business hours, and when, she meditated she generally leaned her el¬ bows on her desk. Result two holes in it and an honorable discharge. Mr. Brandon was certainly very unfortunate. He had had to let two good operators go, out ol respect to his furniture. Miss Tabitha Tinkhain made applica- tion in writing, for the vacant position of stenographer in John Brandon’s estab- lishment. Ste stated that she had an experience of many years and was sure she could give satisfaction. If engaged by Mr. Brandon she requested permission to bring her own chair, salary not being so much.’ of an object as a comfortable position. The chair clause of the letter captured John, and he wrote to Miss Tinkham that he shoud be pleased if she would report for duty as soon as possible, arrived his When Mr. Brandon at office the following morning 3Iiss Tab- itha Tinkham was there. She was seated in a rocking chair that an expressman had just brought in, and by her side, on the floor, was a black cat that looked as though some one had^attempted to elec¬ trocute it, and the' manner iu which it elevated its spine when any one ap¬ proached would have caused a domedary to die of envy could he have witnessed this acrobatic Miss Tabitha Tinkham was a maiden ladv of uncertain age aud she wore a polka dot dress, black mittens and an angelic smile. Her hair was of a warm auburn hue, slightly sprinkled with gray, so that the little pug at the back of her head resembled a dwarfed sugared doughnut. In front she wore a little ringlet at either side resembling short fat gimblets. This lady was also the possessor of a squaky voice and was just a “leetle bit deaf.” Now, 3Ir. Bran¬ don had had so many trials and tribula¬ tions in all of his transactions with type¬ writers that he undoubtedly would have retained Mies Tinkham in his service for the remainder of her natural life, if it had not been for three things, her deaf¬ ness, her rocking chair and her cat. I he trouble was, that on account of the slight impediment iu her auricular organs he had to get pretty close to her in order to make her understand what he wished to have her write, and the consequence was that the rocker mashed hi3 toes all out of shape, and when his torture caused hiiu to groan, the cat elevated h C r or his back to such an enormous height that it fairly made John’s hair stand on end. When ho informed Mias Tinkham that, though he respected and her very much as a lady and a scholar, was very sorry to part with her, her cat and rocking chair made it necessary for to do so, she became so very hard ’ he had invest iu of hearing that to an ! ear trumpet before he could prevail ou this estimable maiden lady to depart with her furniture and pet feline in peace. is, What a poor, weak creature man the conclusion of this narrative will abundantly prove. Mr. Brandon de- clared that “he was disgussed with women in general, but with lady type- writists in particular,” and though he had suffered many disappointments, like Bruee, of Scotlaud, he thought he would “try, try, try again.” Migs Maud Milton, Alias Tinkham's successor, was such a contrast to that ancient dame in every respect that Johu Brandon could not help gazing at her. He first thought she was very pretty and ended up by considering her positively handsome. He would lay awake nig’ ta wondering whether the color of ner eyes were a deep blue or of a violet shade, and her voice he thought was the most musical he had ever heard. John Brandon’s correspondence at this time must have assumed enormous pro¬ portions for he was dictating letters to his new stenographer from morning till night, and when Miss Milton asked him “if she should take them home to make type-written copies of them,” big John Brandon blushed like an overgrown schoolgirl. Yes, John Brandon was in love, over head and ears in love, and the great foolish fellow who at last had got¬ ten a stenographer to suit him. asked her to resign her position in his office, to become his wife. Miss Maud Milton is now Mrs. John Brandon, and the name of Mr. Bran- don’s latest stenographer is John J. Smith.—The King’s Jester, labor-saving Inventions. Congressman Bunting in a recent Con¬ gressional debate gave interesting in¬ formation which is thus summarized by the Albany (N. Y.) Times-Unioi 1 “It appears that about forty years ago the preserving of fruits and vegetables by way of the hermetically sealed can was an infant industry, practically an American discovery. Cans were made entirely by hand with the crudest kind of tinsmith tools. Three men could turn out over 100 cans each, or 300 per day at a labor cost of $2.50 per 190 or thirty cents per dozen; a boy could carry them to the store-house on his back in two trips. Now, by the use of machinery, three men will turn out 100,000 better made cans in a day. The labor cost is thereby reduced to less than one cent per dozen. This great output can scarcely be loaded onto two freight cars. Twenty years ago corn was cut from the cob by hand at a cost of ten cent3 a bushel; two bushels in an hour for a boy was a good average. Now, by the means of one simple machine, a boy will cut seventy-five bushels an hour and do much better work. Ten years age peas were shelled by hand and the labor cost was from ten to fifteen cents per gallon. Now there is a machine which, attended by one man and two boys, will shell as many peas as 500 women could in a day, or 1800 bushels iu ten hours, at a labor cost of less chan one-eighth of a cent per gallon. Twenty-five years ago cans were filled by hand, the cook¬ ing was done in the crudest manner, and the capping was done by the use of the common soldering iron. Through im¬ proved facilities and machinery, twenty two hands out of every twenty-five have been displaced at the filling table; four out of every five have been displaced in the cooking department, and twelve out of every fourteen have been displaced at the capping stands. These marked re¬ ductions in labor, touchingevery feature of the business, enables the packers produce to pay the farmer old prices for and yet sell canned goods, such as corn aud peas, which sold twenty-five years ago at $G per dozen, at $1 per dozen. Thus by labor-saving devices, the co3t of production of canned goods has been so reduced as to place them within the reach of the poorest.” Smke Worship iu Dahomey. Snake worship takes precedence of all forms of Dahomaa religion, and its priests and followers are the most numerous. The is as an emblem of bliss and prosperity, and the killing of one of these reptiles is sometimes punished by death. If this penalty is not inflicted the offender is heavily fined and made to run through a crowd of snake worshipers armed with clubs and firebrands. Any child who happens to touch, or to be touched by one of the holy snakes must be kept one year at the fetish temple, under the charge of the priests, and learn the various rite3 of snake worship, with its accompanying (lancing and singing. The snake temple is a circular hut, with a conical roof made of palm branches, containing from 200 to 300 snakes. They are ail pythons of all sizes and ages. The joists J and pole3 supporting the roof are completely covered with them, and looking upward one sees nothing but a vast writhing, undulating mass of serpents. The ground is covered by others lying in torpor from their last meal. All are perfectly tame, and permit the officiat¬ ing priests to pull them about with very little ceremony. The ocean is very generally worshiped, and has a chief fetish man of high rank dedicated to its use. Sometimes the King of Dahomey sends a richly attired ambassador, with gorgeous umbrella, to his good friend, the Ocean. The am¬ bassador is taken far out to sea in a canoe and is then thrown overboard for a feast to sharks. The honor of this diplomatic post is not eagerly sought or coveted by Dahomey politicians. Where Columbus Died, The house at Valladolid, Spain, in which Columbus died, is now used as a cow stable. Above the stone archway is a time-stained medallion, bearing a j man's head, standing out in bold relief on the stucco. Underneath is the en- graved inscription: “Aqui murio Colon —Ano 150G.” (Here died Columbus, year 1506.) Ciose to this hung a small sign-board with the following inscrip- | tion: milked.”—Detroit “New milk sold Free here; Press, you ms j see it LOCALS. Mies Eunice McCoweD, a charming young lady of Cullcden, is visiting her sister, Mrs. H. F. Sanders. O. P. Wright spent several days in the Gate City this week. Capt. William Rutherford, one of Cul- loden's most prominent aud influential citizens, was in town the latter part of the week. The little daughter of Mr. Wachter, who lives near Mr. John Champion’s, bad the misfortune to get her eye badly injured while playing in the yard last Tuesday. It is hoped she will not lose her sight, as was first thought. Mrs. R. D. Smith and Mrs. J. W. Stroud spent last Saturday and Sunday with the family of Dr. J. Northrop Smith, at Hickory Grove. We learn that Culloden has two litera¬ ry schools in session now. One has very few pupils while the other opened this week with Miss Mattie Wilson as teacher, with flattering prospects for a good at¬ tendance. Miss Julia Rutherford is visiting rela¬ tives iu Roberta. The General Assembly met in Atlanta last Wednesday. Very li.tle work will be doue this week, except to get organ¬ ized and to appoint committees, elect of¬ ficers, etc. The Assembly is composed of an unusually fine class of men, aud the people are expecting them to do some fine legislating. A light rain fell last Tuesday morning, after which the weather at once began to feel chilly, and by night it seemed as if winter was upon us. It is rumored that the Rocky Mountain Oil Co. and the United Oil Co. will consolidate in a few days and form one company, which will be especially an¬ tagonistic to the Standard Oil Co. The old adage, “when thieves fall out, just men get their dues,”applies. Mr. R. E. Elliott, our foreman, spent the week in Reynolds. A Third party man, and a former leader of it, too, was asked last Saturday if he still belonged to that party. “How can I when there is now no Third party to belong to?” was his rep'y. We learn that some of the family of Mr. Jno. Harrison near Ceres are quite sick. The number of traveling salesmen comiug to Knoxville and Roberta seem to be increasing. This indicates better times ahead. Mr. W. II. Harris, of Macon, spent Sunday with his mother in Knoxville. The State Fair opened in Macon last Tuesday. The people of Crawford do not seem to be taking very much inter¬ est in it this year. Mr. Harris ThorntoD, of Taylor cou n¬ ty was in Knoxville last Saturday. Mr. Math Goodin was carried to the Asylum at Milledgvil! , on last Tuesday. The grand jury presentments which were read at the close of court last week were unusually favorab'e showing the county affairs to to be in splendid shape. We heard several prominent men re¬ mark last week that Jno. Culverhouse was the best and most accommodating sheriff Crawford has had in many years. C. H. Branch, a workingman, of Gainesville, Ga., has challanged Tom off Watson to a joint debate and to come time any where in the state at any between now and Nov. 8th. Since Tom¬ mie claims to be such a friend to the workingman it would fnot be amiss for him to meet Mr. Branch, even though he is not a congressman—neither will Tommie be one after Nov. 8th. Mrs. Mathews, wife of Rev. Joel N. Mathews, has been iu wretched health for some time. Some weeks ago she had the misfortune to fall and broke several bones. Her sufferings have been so in¬ tense that her mind has been temporarily affected, and her husband and friends de¬ cided it would be best to carry her to the asylum where she could get the treatment she needs. We sincerely hope and trust she may soon regain her former self for it does seem that the hand of affliction is resting sufficiently heavy on Mr. Mathews Yet he boars it all with a meek and God¬ ly submission. On last Friday afternoon Mr. Hugh Bankston was driving a young mule to his wagon hauling up corn, Mrs. Bank- ston approached the wagon, and put a couple of her little children in it, when the mule becoming Heightened and be¬ gan to run and continued running for some distance when it struck a tree with its head, killing it instantly. One of the children was quite seriously hurt, but the other escaped without any serious hurt. Mrs. Harrison, wife of President Har¬ rison, breathed her last at the White House on last Monday morning, after a long continued illness. Mrs. Harrison was a noble Christian woman and one who was an active worker in all char¬ itable and religious endeavors. She was devoted to her husband and always tried to advance his interest.. The sympathy of a whole nation goes out to Pres. Har¬ rison in his bereavement. There was a sleight of Land and magic lantern show in the dining room of The Harris house at Knoxville last Saturday. It was said to be very poor. Quite a crowd of small boys attended who amus¬ ed the crowd by their comments on the performance, 'o. P. Wright cm tell you about it. With this issue Tiie Herald will be discontinued, having sold it to the Cor¬ respondent. We ask a continuation of the patro .agc so liberally awarded us to our successor*. Tub Herald. SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTlii^ Mars is five times as bright BOw he will be when on the far side gj sun. otfin The number of stars visible to Bverj?* eyesight . ordinary night does on an ant much exceed 4000 for both herni- spheres. After considerable study a Connecticut scientist calculates that there are 43 200,000 mosquito larvm to an acre 0 f •swamp land. An astronomer has figured it out that it would take a canron-ball 3,000,000 year.;, moving at its ordinary rate speed, to reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest fixed star. Dr. Koch ha3 expressed himself strongly against excessive watering 0 f the streets during a cholera epidemic, on the ground that the baciii thrive ua’. der the influence of moisture. Corrosive sublimate, in the strength of sixty-four grains to the gallon °o£ water, is found by the Health Depart- ment of New York City to be the most effective of the germ-destroying agents. The new sub-treasury building at San Francisco, Cal., has an electric burglar- alarm installed between the rows of bricks so that any interference with either the bricks or cement will cause an alarm to sound. A fender for electric cars is made of sheet iron attached directly to the trucks, the lower plates coming within an inch of the rails, springs of great stiffness enabling the fender to throw aside any object before it. The difficulty of making an indelible marking on ivory push buttons has been, it is said, overcome by a London con- cern. The process employed is called endolithic printing, and the markings are claimed to be indelible in aav climate. The Swedish Government has adopted a new smokeless powder, which is said to have the following advantages;. It is easy of manufacture, produces no flames and does not heat the rifle. It gives the ball an initial velocity of 210(M feet, with a pressure of 2260 atmos-1 pheres. ! Jacques Inandi, the French lightning calculator, says that it is sound which guides his mind in its process, agd not the memory of or imagination how figures look. He wa3 horn with a gift for figures; long before he could read or write he solved the most intricate arithmetical problems. £ The bones of the head of some large prehistoric animal were taken Washington, out of the the ground at Ruby Creek, other week, at a depth of 250 feet. The great mastodon, judging from the depth at whica the bones were found, must have lived in an early period and is at present extinct. The shape of the head resembles that of a cow, only it is much larger. The three single eyes of bees have been a puzzle as to their use. Mr. Grim- shaw, of England, starts the theory that they are not eyes at all, but bull’s-eye lanterns that emit a very feeble light to guide the beesrin their work at night. Such production of light is quite com¬ mon among insects, and the source of the theory gives it some title of respect, for Mr. Grimshaw is an able observer. Mr. Romanes is experimenting in breeding rats and’rabbits, with reference to heredity. Those now bred are the re¬ sults of experiments intended to dis¬ prove what Mr. Romanes believes to be certain errors made by some writers on heredity. In the particular cases experi¬ mented on by him the progeny have certainly taken cither wholly after the father or wholly after the mother. Mr. Romanes does show certain case3 of commingliog, or ratber reversion, wines are highly suggestive. Tiie Lungs of a Plant. One of the prettiest microscopical studies is the examination of the lungs of a plant. Most people do not know' a plant has lungs, b'ut it has,and its lungs are in its leaves. Examined through a high-power microscope, every leaf will show thousands upon thousands of openings, infinitely small, of course, but each provided with lips which, in many and speeffes, are continually opening tiny closing. These openings lead to cavities in the body ol the leaf, and by the opening and closing of the cavity air is continually passing in and continually out, so that the act of respiration is going on. The sap of the plant is thus purified, just as the blood of an auimfi is cleared of impurities by passing through the lungs, and the average Bized tree will, therefore, in the cour t* of a day, do as much breathing as * man.—St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Growth of the l’o try Habit. “When I begaa writing verse,’ 1 said Mr. Whittier once to the writer, “it was considered a great gift to be able to make a rhyme with any facility. Percival anti Bryaut were the active poets then. Now almost any one can turn a couplet or stanza and many write poetry which in a less voluminous time would be re¬ garded as remarkable.” Nothing cul¬ bo emphasizes the advance iu general ture in this country as the fact indi¬ cated by Mr. Whittier in that remark. It is a more % difiicult thing to achieve a reputation as a poet now than a had ceutury ago, and there is no occasion to grieve because we have so many “versa writers” and m> “poets.”—Boston Jour¬ nal. *