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TIMES-RECORDER SUPPLEMENT.
PRAYER, WOKK AN I) PLAY
THE ARDUCUS DAILY ROUTINE IN
CATHOLIC COLLEGES.
A Count* of Study mikI Tr»in2it* That
Weeds Out from the Priesthood Many
Men Who Are Not Posses-ted of an L'n*
flawing Zeal—Plain Food and I’rayers.
What kind of a life is it in our col
leges? Well, I suppose it is much the
same as the life in colleges which are
not ecclesiastical. Of course, church
students have many more prayers to say,
and are expected to observe the rules
with more fidelity than other students.
They rise early—-ill foreign colleges at
5 in winter and 6 in summer—in most
English colleges at 6 all the year round.
Half an hour is allowed for dressing,
after which all go down in silence to the
church, where morning prayers are said,
and a meditation is held for half an hour
on some spiritual subject. Meditation
is followed immediately by the celebra
tion of mass, and altogether about an
hour is spent every morning in spiritual
exercises. Then follows study till break
fast time, at 8.
Breakfast consists of a bowl of coffee
or tea. with bread :.nd butter at discre
tion in the home colleges, while abroad
one has a choice between coffee, milk
and chocolate, but the bread must lx*
eaten dry. It is wonderfql what a sub
stantial meal can l>e made of coffee and
dry bread when there is nothing else to
be had. A few minutes for recreation
are allowed after breakfast, then work
goes on till dinner time, broken only by
half an hour's recreation at 11 o'clock.
PLAIN FAKKj
Dinner, which is eaten at 1, is al
ways a good, substantial meal, and
ample justice is done to it after the
rather thin breakfast. No study is al
lowed during the hour and a half fol
lowing dinner. All who are well enough
must join in the public games, which
for the most part are played with great
spirit and keenly enjoyed.
At 3 o'clock the studies commence
again, and class and lecture or prepara
tion for them, with half an hour's rest
at 5, go on until 7 or half past, when
thirty minutes are given to prayer and
the reading of the life of some saint.
After the prayers all go to the refectory
for supper, which, like dinner, is eaten
in silence, broken only by the voice of
the reader, who reads aloud some bio
graphical or historical work.
After supper there is recreation, and
at foreign colleges this is always the
favorite hour of the day. And very
pleasant it is to hear the fresh young
voices and merry hearted laughter echo
ing along the college cloisters.
At 0 the big bell rings out again for
the last time that day, and at its first
peal the talk and laugh are hushed, the
groups break up, all-professors and
church students alike—make their way
to the church for night prayers. Prayers
over the points for the next morning’s
meditations are read out, and after the
singing of a hymn nil retire to u well
earned rest, which in most cases is only
too soon disturbed by the noisy clanging
of the great bell in the early morning.
TIIE WORK IS HARD.
Of course, every day is not a study
day. Sunday is always, more or less, a
day of rest, and at least one afternoon
every week is devoted to outdoor recre
ation.
Yet, in spite of occasional play days,
LIFE IN GULF WEED.
All *»rt»
Curjmi* AnimwU Jourimy
with III* tiiiir stream** Current.
II is surprising what curious creatures
live in gulf weed. Not the lejist extraor
dinary of-these inhabitants of the float
ing algae which are borne on the current
of the gulf stream is a little fish that
make* its nest iu the weeds. For its
own protection from enemies, it is made
so like the weeds themselves, being or
ange colored with white spots, that one
cannot detect the scaly animal without
actually taking a handful of the vege
table stuff in which it seeks shelter and
scrutinizing it. The fhdi builds its uest
by binding together bunches of the gulf
weed with long, sticky gelatinous strings.
Its eggs are laid in a cavity. Its very tins
are finger shaped, counterfeiting the form
of the weed fronds. They are more like
hands than fins, and are actually em
ployed for walking through the seaweed,
rather than for swimming. The fish
utilizes them also in putting together its
CHASED HY MAD DOGS.
HAIRBREADTH
MAN AND
ESCAPE OF A CLUB
HIS BEST GIRL.
A Yarn Whirl* Go*** to I'rove That llark-
I ii IS Dog* l>*» Hits Kutm*tlut««—Still
So mu *MVtf|fi» Hriit** Don’t Wailo Much
Tim*- in Harking Wliru Out for lilootl.
No one had spoken at the club for
about an hour when a raconteur rose to
the occasion, haying aside his pipe with
a look of regret be ltegau:
“It's a popular saying that barking
dogs don't bite. Like other popular say
ings this is a fallacy and misleading.
Barking dogs do not bite while they are
barking, but there is only one species of
canine that sneaks up to you and takes
hold without saying a word. That is
the Scotch collie, which inherits its lmbit
of silent biting from a sheep nipping an
cestry. ”
‘Story! story!” called out the prea-
nests.
The great gulf current, in its course 1 ident.
northward along the Atlantic coast and “Story? ‘(iod bless you! I have none
around the great circuit that forms with j to tell, sir,"’ quoted the raconteur, re-
its eddy the famous Sargasso sea of
marine grasses, carries aloug with it an
•ndless stream of life in connection with
the gulf weed which floats upon it in
“windrows.” The. weeds, of varied
kiuds, bring with them from the tropics
creatures multifarious, conveyed by the
mighty liver of warm water through the
midst ol* the colder ocean. Most of them
die when the cooler latitudes are reached,
and thus it hap{»ens that the larvae of
many forms are found on the shores of
Nantucket and elsewhere in places to
which the adult animals are unknown.
They never live to grow up.
The floating gulf weed is literally
crowded with life. One cannot pick up
a piece that does not carry many shrimps
or prawns of different kinds as passen
gers. There are crabs, too, small and
bigger, which mostly imitate the grasses
iu their coloring. Of smaller Crustacea
there are numerous sjiecies. such as the
so called “sea fleas” and barnacles.
Barnacles are Crustacea which have un
dergone a “retrograde metamorphosis,”
is it is termed, having been free swim
mers in the early stage of their existence.
They, too, take passage on the seaweed
rafts and voyage to the land of nowhere,
seeking their fortune.
In the gulf weed also is an influite
number of inollusks, some with shells
and others without any. Among the
latter are the “sea slugs,” resembling the
garde u slugs, devourers of plants, which
are true niollusks also. Another tuollusk
often picked up among the gulf weeds
is the iM-autiful argonaut, a cephulopod,
celebrated in mythic story. It is only
the female argonaut that is interesting.
The male has no shell, and is very small
comparatively.
There are lots of curious marine
worms among the gulf weed, such as
tlie “sea centipedes,” abundant in the
West Indies, which have long detach
able bristles that sting tlie hand like
nettles when the animal is incautiously
grasped. These worms hide in crevices
of floating driftwood. The latter floats
until dest royed by the boring of the ship
worms that attack it, meanwhile afford
ing a lodgment for barnacles aud little
Crustacea. Small fishes follow the
pieces of driftwood as they are carried
along by the current, feediug ii|k>h both
crnstace;* ami barnacles, while many
seabirds skim about depending for their
meals u|hhi the same small animals.
as they are call.*!, and tlie holidays twice , T | wre j, „ of cra yflHli. too. f. mud
a year, the life is hard enough. It must , j„ f; K . we,..! that makes a curious cliek-
necessonly so on for some dozen years I a , lisH with itl) c | aWl)>
before tliu student is called up for ordi
nation. The life of H Catholic priest is
indeed one to which many are called,
hut few are chosen. A great uuiiilier of
those who go to college, at tile age of
fourteen or fifteen, with the intention of
becoming priests, do not reach the goal
of ordination.
In some cases health breaks down,
many grow weury of the routine and
strict discipline of the life, others dis
cover that they have no calling for the
ecclesiastical state, and go out into tlie
world to begin life nfresh. So, from
one canse or another, tlie student finds
that by tlie time he is ready for ordi
nation he has lost the company of many
who stood by liis side when lie entered
college.
Of six who went to college some
seventeen years ago with tlie present
writer, one is dead, one is practicing ns
a doctor in the United .States, a third is
manager of a bank in tlie north of Eng-
land, another is serving as a mounted
policeman in South Africa, and only two
are priests.—A Catholic Priest in Lon
don Tit-Bits.
No Animal* III tl»* Dry 1’Mrti of Chvpi.
No animals whatever are found iu tlie
dry parts of caves. Dampness, or a cer
tain degree of moisture, seems to be es
sential to their existence. Under the
stones one finds white, eyeless worms,
and in the damp soil around nlwnt are to
be discovered blind beetles in little holes
which they excavate and bugs of tho
thousand-leg sort. These thousand-leg
bugs, which ; n the upper world devour
fragments of dead leaves and other veg
etable debris, sustain life in tin* caverns
by feeding upon decayed wood, fungus
growths and bats’ dung. Kneeling in a
beaten path one can see numbers of them
gathered about hardened drips of tallow
from tourists' candles. There are plenty
of crickets also.—Washington Star.
Queer Religious Sect, in ltil..ls,
M. Tsakni, a Russian writer, ha* pub
lished tin interesting work upon the curi
ous religions sects of Russia, from which
it appatis that there are not less than
3.",COO,000 followers of insane and cranky
notions in that empire. These com
munities of devout and deluded Chris
tians are constantly springing up in spite
of all the efforts of Russian despots to
keep th;m down.—St. Louis Republic.
The Ur lent Side.
Yourgbusband—You've made a fool
of me.
' Mrs. Youngbushaitd—That will be
handy for yon now, my dear. Yon can
doaiJljr things to keep tlie baby amused.
—New York Epoch.
Wliat most people call the “fruit" or
"seed pods" of the gulf weed are simply
little air vessels designed for thepur]sise
of keeping these interesting vegetables
afloat. .Microscopic creatures called
"brivzoa" weave around the air chum-
liors a delicate lacework, which often
remains in alm|ie after tlie vegetable
matter lias decayed away ami disap
peared, thus forming exquisite filamen
tous capsules. However, these are only
a few of tlie passengers that jonrney by
the path of tlie gulf stream on rafts of
drifting weeds.—New York 81111.
Cleaning Cnr Wheels.
Very efficient work is now ls-ing done
in various departments by the use of the
sand blast. One of tlie latest applica
tions is to tlie cleaning of car wheels.
The wheel, after being carefully soaked,
is rolled into a small chamber, where it
stands in a vertical position. The trend
of tlie wheel stunds on rotlers, which are
moved by gearings so tiiat tbe wheel is
slowly revolved without changing its
position. A flue into which cinders are
fe<l by a chute leading from a bin aliove
leads a blast of air against the face of tlie
wheel, which is then reversed.
The cinders used vary from the size of
a grain of wheat to much larger aud are
ao hard that they can he used several
times. The time saved by this method
can lie imagined when one mau can clean
twenty wheels in three hours and a half,
including the time consumed iu rolling
them to and from the machine, und the
saving in lalsir is proportionately great.
—Chicago News.
Ignorance Aim,it Ostriches.
Americans in general must lie iu [k»-
sessiou of avast fund of varied, accu
rate and well authenticated ignorance
about ostriches. This is tlie conclusion
reached by a reporter after an hour’s
conversation with a professional ostrich
farmer. Tlie gentleman is Mr. H. G.
Reid, wlio paid $12,000 and gave five
years' hard work to acquire what lie
knows. He is a Scotchman of education
ami intelligence, and has a rare faculty
of making people take an interest in
wiiat interests him. He has sismt sev
eral months in teaching Californians
how to get a little profit out of ostrich
fanning. —St. Louis Globe-Deinourat.
Alum Water fur » Shiny Skin.
Alum water in the proportion of half
an ounce of alum to a pint of water is
recommended as a cure ami prevention
to “shiny” skin. It should Is* applied
gently with a soft cloth, and after a mo
ment the face should be wiped over with
s dry, soft cloth.—New York Times.
membering his classics; “this is only a
memory of two dogs, accursed brutes,
that lived witli an unfriendly man on a
hill, over which tlie postroad was laid.
This man, who was a Cain among his
fellows, kept two savage mastiffs, who
not only barked but bit whenever it was
possible. I was courting my first wife
up there in tlie Cumberland mountains
in British Nortli America where this
happened, and had to pass tlie iionse
regularly. I drove a blooded mare that
went like a bird, and tlie dogs were no
match for her, but it was very annoying
to have them follow me down the hill
for a mile or more barking and yelping
like demons. They would bark at the
stage coaches and run long distances
after them, but tbe passengers were safe
inside and tlie driver and those oil the
outside were too high for them to reach.
But I heard frequent stories of their at
tacking men, anil, being beaten off with
sticks and stones. I asked why they
were not killed and my answer was
always tlie same, a shrug of tlie should
ers and the remark: ‘You don't know
the kind of man their owner is.' It
seemed that lie lived alone with'his
dogs, and (leople feared him so much
they dare uot go to him to complain
or call in the provincial laws to help
them.
A TEIIRIBLK CI1ASD
"A crisis came, when one day 1 took
my sweetheart out for a sleigh ride in a
low pung belonging to her father, to
which was harnessed my own sure and
swift footed mare. It was a lovely day
aud we expected to make a safe and
rapid descent of tlie mountain, a dis
tance of ten or twelve miles. Tlie air
was crisp and cold, tlie sleighing fine,
and we skimmed up tlie ascent and
reached the landing before we knew we
lmd started. There we were met by tlie
dogs. I think it would have been less
difficult to have gotten rid of a pair of
wolves. 1 dare not. give my mare her
head going down tiiat long, steep declivi
ty on frozen snow, and tlie dogs, em
boldened by the cold or maddened by
rejieateil lashings from my whip, jumped
at tny companion and tore her cloak and
tier dress ill mouthfuls. I clubbed with
my whip and heat them on the tiead, but
they did not even seem to feel my blows.
Their great black and yellow frames
quivered with ferocity. Tlie hair on
tle-ir hacks stood up like manes; their
eyeballs gleamed red audnngry, and the
noise they made was deafening and dis
tracting.
“ *011!' I exclaim id. 'why haveu't I a
pistol?"
" 'Look iu the box under tlie seat,'
cried inv conqianion. whose face was
blanched.
“1 lisiked quickly, and found a rusty
double barreled horse pistol of a make of
forty years ago.
•• -Is it loaded'?' I naked.
“ * Yes, hut don't shoot. If you do that
man will kill you!'
TWO SHOTS FIXED THEM.
“1 remember thinking how like a
woman it was to tell me where to find
the pistol and then ask me not to shoot.
“I laid the reins loose on the mare's
hack ami away she went like tlie wind,
heyoml my control now, nnd 1 knew she
would never stop till she was a mile lie-
yond the level ground at the foot of the
iiill.
•'If tlie pung held together; if nothing
made tlie nmre swerve from tlie direct
line; if, in fact—if Providence kept an
eye on us, and the breeching didn’t
break, we might escape breaking our
necks. (looked hack aud saw tlie dogs
gaining on ns, even at that mad guit—
then I took aim and fins). Bang! Bang!
There were two dark objects lying prone
on the snowy road, and as quick as she
could gather tier feet under lier my mare
stopp'd in her tracks. She was trained
to tlie use of a gun.
“But my companion urged me to hur
ry on, and we were soon down the in
cline and beyond the reach of recogni
tion or pursuit, and strange to say 110
one but onr two selves ever knew who
killed I hose dugs. We heard the must
marvelous accounts of the slaughter, the
weapon varying from a Queen Aline
musket to a cannon, but dead they were
ns door nails, and their reign of terror
over. I imagine their owner did not care
to venture out to avenge their death. 1
drove boldly past tlie house every day,
but waa never molested or even suspect
ed. But 1 ofteu heard their unknown
slayer praised and applauded for the
deed which rid the neighborhood of their
hateful presence."—Detroit Free Press.
LTeutiiitg Fish DMcrllwI.
■The first time my little .Marie, aged
twenty-six mouths, saw the girl dressing
the fish for dinner she cauie running to
me, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“Mamina, mniumn!" site exclaimed,
“Mary comb fishes' hair wid de knife
and it all come off!”—Cor. Babyhood.
Until Hern Tilers Before.
“1 feel constrained to tell you, Fred,
that 1 have lieen engaged liefure this,"
she whispered.
“Don’t mention it," lie said gently; "I.
too have been jilted."—Harper's Bazar.
Ilnii' Nrinkes C'limli.
How do snakes climb? is a question
which iias been frequently asked. Many
have thought that they accomplish the
feat by wrapping themselves about the
tree and following a spiral course up
ward. Several years ago a story went
the rounds of tlie papers to the effect
that two wood choppers, having felled a
large oak tree several feet ill diameter
and very tail, found in its top two com
mon blacksnakes.
After [Hindering for some time tlie
men arrived at tlie conclusion that one
snake had taken hold of tlie other's tail,
and thus by co-operation they had been
enabled to clasp the trunk, and by cir
cling alsint it had ascended to the top.
Whatever probability may have at
tached to this conclusion has been dis
pelled by tlie observation of two young
naturalists while hauling firewood from
the forest.
A black snake, measuring [lerhaps a
trifle over six feet, was found clinging
to the side of a small tree, around which
it could have wrapped itself nearly twice
bad it wished to do so. Instead of tills
the snake passed right and left at short
listances, catching the folds along its
ander parts over and belliud the slightly
projecting roughnesses of bark.
As tlie snake rested only five or six
feet off tlie ground one of the yonng
men grasped its tail to test its climbing
qualities, but so great was the force with
which it pulled upward that it proved a
liffienlt task to hold it. Finally, becom-
ng annoyed at this ill treatment, the
make reached down threateningly at the
offending hands, and losing its hold fell
to the ground. It was borne home in
triumph but was afterward returned
uninjured to the forest.—Youth's Coin-
[Minion.
The Lady Factotum.
Tlie “lady factotum” is what our Eng
lish neighbors call those engaged in tlie
vocation of “visiting liousekee[ier." This
is an employment which has been highly
recommended, and which a number of
ladies in this country as well ns in Eng
land have adopted. Snell a person visits
ladies who from ill health or some other
reason are nimble to perform their do
mestic duties. She oversees the servants,
inspects the stores and possibly under
takes shopping, marketing and the writ
ing of notes, and she performs other
offices which are of too confidential and
responsible a nature for tho ordinary
servant to undertake.
If she is a woman of energy, tact and
health she can accomplish a great deal
by visiting a number of families for
about an hour a day. She may go so
far as to employ assistants in marketing
and shopping, whose work she is able to
oversee with intelligence. She is paid
for this work on even a better scale than
a visiting governness, and if she is an
able, efficient woman in the items of in
specting stores and furnishing food at
down town prices, she can easily save a
family half her liberal remuneration.
The institution of such a vocation is
a great relief to many overlmrdeneil or
ill or incapable housewives, and presents
an excellent and lucrative field to women
of efficiency and refinement. It is a
place such as an elder sister might take,
and such indeed us many elder and un
married sisters do take for no remunera
tion beyond “love anil affection."—New
York Tribune.
THE LEAD MINES OF L0.
TRADITIONS CONCERNING THEM IN
PENNSYLVANIA.
'‘Tower of tlie Tongur*."
Our story of tlie Tower of lialiel is
known in Chaldean nnd Armenian tra
dition .as "Tlie Story of the Tower of
Tongues." It isoneof theeurliest recol
lections of tlie Tigro.Euphrates basin,
and is related by Borosns in tlie follow
ing manner:
Tlie first inhabitants of tlie earth,
glorying in their own strength aud aize,
and despising tlie gods, unilertiHik to
raise a tower whose top should reach the
skies. This tower they erected in the
p ace where Babylon's ruins now lay
thickly strewn over the ground. In
erecting this monster roadway to heaven
they toiled incessantly. Bat when it
hail approached near unto heaven the
wind assisted tho gods anil overthrew
tlie work upon ita contrivers; and its
ruins are said to be still at Babylon.
And at about tlie same time the gsds
introduced a diversity of tongues among
men, who till tlmt time had all spoken
tlie one language. Tlie place in which
they attempted to build tlie tower is now
railed Babylon, on account of the con.
fusion of tongues, for confusion is by the
Hebrews called bable.”—St. Lonis Re
public.
Suicide* In English Aristocracy.
Suicides nmong the aristocracy in Eng
land ure rattier numerous. Lord Congle-
ton. who was Mr. Parnell's great-uncle,
hanged himself in 1*13. In the same
year the Earl of Munster, one of the il
legitimate sons of King William IV,
shut himself iu tlie head. I11 1809 Lord
Cloncarry, tlie hist of his house, jumped
from a window and broke bis neck.
In 1833 tins last Earl of De la Warr
drowned himself, ami in 1870 Lord
Lyttleton, tlie insane brother-in-law of
Gladstone, escaped from his keepers,
threw himself off tlie staircase of his
own house and was killed.
A story of suicide in which sentiment
is mingled is tlmt of Prince Bauilouin,
heir to the throne of Belgium. The
youthful prince loved lien>»atli his sta
tion, anil fiinliug that love could never
lie realized sought ]ieaee in tlie eternal
silence of tlie grave.—Cincinnati En
quirer.
Two Classes of Gypsies.
Tlie gypsies of today are divided up
into tlie full blooded or tent gypsies, ana
the Knirengro’s or honse dwellers, who
keep their gypsy blood a secret. This
division of tlie race shows tiiat they are
gradually yielding to the pressure of
outside influences. nnd the complete ex-<
tinction of their national Identity will
simply he a matter of time.—George
Ethelbert Walsh in New York Epoch.
Caw Von Hay Till.? Try It.
Hour much pleasanter it is to sit iu a
cab and think how lunch pleasanter ft is
to sit in a cab than it is to tie walking,
than it is to In- w. ng and think how
much pleasantci 1 . - to ait in a cab than
it is to be walkir g. —Stoughton Sentinel.
A lllackimiltli of Former Hay. Who Han
Into lliillet. Ore Supplied by Indiana.
Pointer. Tiiat I>o Hot Develop—Red
Mell'a Pipe, and Weapon..
Where, if anywhere, ure tlie lead
mines of northwestern Pennsylvania? In
connection with attempts to answer this
question tlie writer hereof, in boyhood,
harvested many stone bruises by day
and treasure dreams by night, together
with nnmerous traditions of the days of
practically unbroken forests, bears'
grease arid primeval economy.
This section, comprising parts of
northern Venango and southern Craw
ford counties, is about forty miles south
of Corry, sixteen miles north of Oil City,
ten miles west of Titusville and eight
een miles east of Meadville. There is no
doubt in the minds of plenty of entirely
rational people that somewhere within,
or contiguously Without, the region of
country which these towns bound, there
is a locality where an exceptionally good
luality of lead ore may be obtained, or,
at least, the locality where ore of such
quality was obtained formerly by the
Indians, both for their own use and to
sell or trade to the white settlers. As
the source of this supply was carefully
kept a secret by the Indians—mainly of
Chief Cornplan ter's tribe—and has never
been discovered, it is regarded as rea
sonable to infer that it may yet be a
source of profit as to believe that it was
exhausted.
A PIONEER'S EXPERIENCE.
At what is now Bradleytown, a vil
lage three miles southwest of here, on
one of the branches of Sugar Creek, a
pioneer named Jacob Jennings lived 100
years ago and had near his pioneer
house a small blacksmith shop. From
Mrs. Samnel Matson, of Ciiapmanville,
and John Jennings, of Sanville, some
interesting reminiscences were obtained
as related by their father, who was a
son of Jacob Jennings. The latter, at
his blacksmith shop, frequently smelted
and run into bullets rich lead ore sup
plied by the Indiana. They made peri
odical trips to this place for that pur
pose. Coming up from the Allegheny
river they made it a point to reach his
home in the evening, there being usually
several iu tlie party. They would be
allowed to stay and would sleep around
the fireplaces in the house and simp. At
daybreak they would strike northward
up the creek nnd wonld return a few
hours later with a stock of the lead
product to be melted. No amount of
persuasion, of barter or of purchase
price would cause them to disclose the
whereabouts of the lead deposits.
Fifty years ago, according to a mem
ber of the family, Mrs. Robert Gillespie
nud a daughter, then a little girl, were
lost in the woods, and during their wan
derings fonnil along a ravine an out
cropping of lead-filled rock, n piece of
whicli they took with them. After find
ing their way home they were unable to
find their way back with older members
of the family to the point where they
bad found the lead. Various and con
tinuous searches have been made since
along the ravines in that section, one
enthusiast devoting a considerable por
tion of a year to the search; bnt aside
from a fragment weighing abont four
pounds, nnd fonnil in a field in Randolph
township, Crawfoid county, where it
iuul apparently been dropped, no lead
ore has lieen discovered.
MATERIAL FOR PROSPECTORS
Tlie prospector able to develop [wint
ers from Indian relics may find consid
erable material in that line in this sec
tion. At Wallaceville, three miles south
east of here, lie may find a whole field of
yet well defined mounds auil excava
tions. A mile north of here, just across
the line in Crawford connty, lie may
find remnants of several large stone
piles constructed of stones having nota
ble uniformity in size und piled up by
the Indians for some unknown purpose
before the time of the earliest settlers.
If he will follow tbe plow for a season
in the southwestern part of this town
ship— Plum township, Venango county
—or the northerly adjoining township of
Troy, in Crawford county, his labors
will probably be rewarded with a fresh
stock of pipes, weapons and other relics
of the noble and ignoble Lo.
If he will further follow the plow in a
field along the Sugar Creek flats, about
two miles north of the Jacob Jennings
homestead, and will fail to lift tlie point
of liis plow when lie readies a certain
point in that field, his plow liauilles will
smite him hip and thigh and put him to
rout The cause thereof will be turn, the
plow point will strike tlie edge of a circu
lar bed of burned aud pounded stone It
is about ten feet in diameter, projects to
the top of the ground wiiere efforts have
nut been made to get down to the bot
tom of it. and is known to have been
there fully 150 years—how much longer
no man knows, as it was then, accord
ing to pioneer tradition, as much a mat
ter of mystery and antiquity as at pres
Hilt.
If the lead prospector chooses to con
sider it or uo value to him, he may re
gard it us one of the places where the
Norsemen, poking out this way from
Newport and tlie vicinity of Boston,
paused to bake beans. Ir be i- inclined
to be less skeptical In* may do as tradi
tion says the early settlers did—regard
it as tlie foundation of a sort of Indian
crucible or furnace which served in part
a smelter for lead previous to tbe in-
trodnetion of firearms on this continent,
and forpurpises unknown.—Plum (Pa.)
Cor. Philadelphia Press
THE ANGEL OF SORROW.
A poet whose snugs were as sweet u could u
Hill were light as the foam of tbe resti*
Was stopped one day, on his joyous way.
By an angel, w hu said: "I would speak win,
thee.
"Every true poet should aim to bring
Peace to Soule heart by tbe songs hsn,,
sing; 1
But how can he know wliat will comfort woe
Until he has felt In his own heart ita sting-
“Thy life has been free from sorrow or care
Hast thou the courage to suffer, aud share
Tbe grief and pain of others, to gain
The power to cheer those who burdens hear."
Tbe poet made answer, "I have no fear
Of pain if it bring me the power to cheer
Lay a cross upon me, and, though heavy it ...
Close will I bold It as a treasure dear."
Tbe angel said gravely: "Thou hast chosen
aright,
And a cross will be laid upon thee tonight
There is one to thee dear, and her loss, I
Will be hard 10 endure"-then vanished
from sight.
This was lung ago; the |met, grief worn.
Has through the slow years his cross liravei,
borne; 1
His songs are replete with sympathy tweet
And are dear to the hearts that loved onei
mourn.
Els firmly trusts in a heavenly morrow,
Hia verses their charm from suffering bor
row.
3a her grand roll Fame haa written his aams-
It was whispered to her by the angel Borrow
—Charles W. Linnell la Good Housekeeping!
To Toll Pare Silk.
If you wish to purchase by sample and
to test the quality of Bilk take ten fibers
of the filling of any silk, anil if on break
ing they show a feathery dry and lack
luster condition, and discolor the fingers
In handling, you may at once be sure of
the presence of dye and of artificial
weighting.
Or take a small portion of the fibers
between the thumb and forefinger and
gently roll them over and over, and you
will soon detect the gum, mineral, soap,
etc., should their be any, or their ab
sence.
Another simple bnt effective way to
test the parity of silk is to burn a small
quantity of the fibers. Pure silk will
instantly crisp, leaving only a pure char
coal. Heavily dyed silk will smoulder,
leaving a greasy yellow ash.
If you cannot break the ten strands,
and if they do not discolor tlie fingers st
the point of contract, yon may be well
assured that yon have pure silk, that Is
honest in its make aud durable In the
wear.—Detroit Free Press.
Tlie Prayer Should Have Been Answered.
A member of a certain Massachusetts
parish, prominent for liis thrift and per
sonal consequence, was also notorious
for his overbearing assumptions ami
pompons airs. Under the distreas and
fright of a dangerous illness he "put up
notes” on severul successive Sundays,
and after his recovery, according to us
age, lie offered a note, to be read by the
minister, expressive of his thanks.
The minister was somewhat “larga”
in this part of his prayer, recalling the
danger and tlie previous petitions of the
"squire,” and returning hia grateful ac
knowledgments with the prayer that the
experience might be blessed to the spirit
ual welfare of the restored man. He
closed with these words:
“And we pray, O Lord, tiiat thy serv
ant may be cured of tiiat ungodly Btmt,
so offensive in tlie sanctuary."—Atlantic
Monthly.
I'ocktttbooks In Letter Boses.
From time to time pocketbooks are
fonnil in the pillar boxes. Pickpockets
have taken this way of returning to their
owners whom they have robbed the valu
able contents of pocketbooks, generally
papers, which are of 110 use to any one
but tlie owner. Tlie thieves in this way
get rid of articles which might lead to
their conviction, and at tlie same time
assuage tlie losses of the pocketbooks
in some measure. They of conrse have
no time to do up a package, but drop
the articles into the most convenient
boxes.—London Tit-Bits.
II* Hitt! Change.
Trump—Have yuu change Tor half a
dollar?
Gentleman—Yes Where's the half
dollar?
Tramp—I haven't any, hut 1 thort if
you bad ciutiige for a half dollar yon
might have a dime er two fer a poor
man wot’sieen letter days. All the genta
I have asked Ter help said they hadn’t
any change*—Good News.,
Ilullroud Humbling.
“Can you loll me,” he asked, us he en
tered an office on Broad street tlie other
day, "why the railroad should discrimi
nate so heavily against dressed meat over
live stock?”
“Certainly, sir. Dressed meat is deal,
isn’t it?"
“Of course."
“Well, anything that can't kick is al
ways bulldozed by a railroad company
—Texas Siftings.
A Tree That Produce. Mill*.
A growing wonder is the cow tree of
South America, which is credited with
yielding u lacteal fluid which, in color,
taste and nutritive property closely re
sembles the offerings of yonr milkman.
It forms large forests in some districts
of Venezuela and is mncli prized for d*
product.—Philadelphia Times.
A process lias been discovered for mak
ing flour of bunanas. Chemical expen
ments show that this flour contains m°r*
nutriment thnn rice, and that when
eaten with beans, corn or sago it forms »
very palatable and nourishing diet.
Blood travels from tlie heart throng!'
the arteries ordinarily at tlie rate
about twelve inches lier second; “*
speed through the capillaries is
rate of three one-hundredths of an Inc
per second.
Reports from tlie Bahamas state tli.it
the cultivation of sisal hemp is proving
to lie a great success, and the r pHUI
will »k»i amount to 60,000 ton? anno
ally. The quality is said to l"> ver -
flue.
The Japanese lie upon matting with »
stiff uncumfortablo wooden neck* 8 *
The Chinese use low bedsteads, oft*
elalairattly carved, and supporting ou "
mats or coverlets.
The largest animal known is the rer
qual, which U 100 feet in length;
smallest is the twilight monad, wbic
only the twelve-thousandth of an in*
Pepper waa known to the ancients* •“
the Middle Ages It wnsone of the®"
costly of spices, a ponnd of it being
royal presenL