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She Montgomery Monitor.
D 0 SU ETON. Eilif-»r .-ind Prop’r.
Winter Violets.
you nsk me w*>y m.v eyes fire filled with tears.
Whene'er 1 swot the’ vio.ets of the Spring?
You can not tell what thoughts of bygoue
years
Those simple flowers have never failed to
bring.
I bad a brother once: his grave Is green.
And long ago was carved the headstone's
date:
But fresh his memory slid—l have not seen
One like him, since he left me desolate.
For we were twins, and bound by ties so
strong.
It seemed that neither could exist apart;
Yet he was taken —Ah! tvhat memories
throng
E'en to this day, on my bereaved heart.
He fnded from us in the Winter time.
When all the sun’s warmth from his raj*s de
parts;
Sometimes we fancy a more genial clime
Might have restored him to our anxious
hearts.
My mother prayed him tell her was there
aught
That gold could purchase, or that lovo could
seek
Which he desired; so tenderly she sought
To bring back smiles upon the hollow cheek.
“Are there no violets yet?" Ilf nnswerod low.
We sent out messengers the country round:
In vain, in vain, the hills were deep with
snow.
And cruel frost lay on the level ground.
“Will not the violets come beforethe Spring?’’
How plaintive came the question—day by
day:
None could bo found; it only served towring
Our loving hearts to answer always '’Nay.”
At last one day he 'woke revived from sleep
And smiling thanked us for them; but wo
said
It was a dream, for still the snow lay deep.
Not e’en a snowdrop dared to lift its head.
Yet lie averred their perfume filled the air!—
“How could he doubt it?—sure the flowers
were nigh!”
Alas! we knew no violets could be there—
Yet seemed they present to his fervid eye.
So spake he. till he slept—he'woke no more;
Sweet brother, was it worthy of regrets.
That the next morn, from distuut parts they
bore
To our sad home, the longed-for violets?
Was he by fancy happily deceived?
Or were his dying senses rarefied,
And actual knowledge blissfully achieved.
Tasting the fragrance as he softly died?
I wept while bending o'er his coffined rest.
Hushing my anguish for a last caress;
I strew'd the Vioiets on his pallid breast—
Perhaps still conscious of their loveliness.
CONGRESS.
Pen Pictures of the House in Session—
The Etiquette of the American
Parliament.
The national house of representa-
How few people in the United
g. Gs s have seen it, writes a corre
to rbeCtevelnnu bindir, and
how different is their idea of it from the
reality. It is now 3 o’clock in the after
noon. The house is in the midst of
its daily session, and a din like that of
a boiler-factory surrounds me 'as I sit
in the press gallery and write a:; nearly
as I can a photograph of the scenes be
fore me. It is an immense room, this
house chamber. It is the largest leg
islative hall in the world.
Its floor covers nearly one-Tfth of
an acre, and its height from f oor to
roof is thirty-six feet. It looks the
smaller for the hundreds that are in it.
It is composed of a great central pit
about fifteen feet deep, with deep gal
leries rising from its top and going up
ward by five graduated lines of benches
until the fifth row strikes the buff and
green paper of the outer wall. Those
galleries will seat 2,500 people, and the
seats within them look down upon the
bear garden of the arena in the same
way as does those from which the
spectators watch a Spanish bull-fight.
The walls of this pit are paDeled in
pink and velvety flowered buff, and
around each panel is a gilt frame fine
enough to blind a Raphael or a Van
dyck. In two of these panels are pict
tures of historic scenes by Bierstadt,
and on either side of the speaker’s
desk are pictures of Washington by
Vanderlyn and of Lafayette by Ary
Scheffer.
In this wall, opening out of the con
gressional pit, are arched door-holes
all ornamented with carving and gold.
Some of these lead to cloak rooms,
others to the barber shops of the capi
tol, one to the house library, and six
to the outside corridors, where the
lobbyists and other bores have to wait
until their friends come out to see
them.
Sitting in the press gallery you can
look into the cloak rooms and barber
shops. Judge Reagan, of Texas, is in
the barber’s chair at this moment, and
his swarthy face shines out at me from
the midst of white lather. There are
a crowd of congressmen in the cloak
rooms, and among them I see Tom
Ochiltree’s red face wreathed in smoke,
and Judge Poland’s royal countenance
convulsed with laughter. The 325
overcoats and hats of the little great
men who are performing below me
hang in those cloak rooms. Some of
them are very seedy-looking, indeed,
and not one out of ten would be worth
stealing. The doors leading out of the
house into the corridors are double.
This is to keep the outs out and the
ins in. Each is also guarded by two
doorkeepers, able-bodied men who
hold their chairs down in those well
warmed halls for $1,200 per annum.
Each of the gallery doors also has a
doorkeeper, though there is little ne
cessity for it, and the officers of the
house, one thinks from their numbers,
are more numerous than the mem
bers.
But to return to the bear pit. The
press gallery is the central one at the
back. It is shut off from the other gal
leries by a wire lattice work, and is
devoted to correspondents solely. Fif
teen feet below these galleries is the
floor of the house. It is 115 feet long
by 67 feet wide. If you could take the
seats out you would see that it is made
up of six half-moons of rostrums, run
ping about a space as wide as the front
ot an ordinary city house, oft which the
speaker’s and clerk's desks are locat
ed. and rising by a gradation of four
inches, until it reaches the last half
ring of rostrums, where a flat floor
goes back from this to the walls.
In the center of this half moon, at
the front of the hall, is the speaker’s
desk. This is a series of three white
marble desks rising one above the oth
er. The first; about three feet high, is
for the stenographers of congress, who
get $5,U00 yearly. The tops of their
desks are covered with navy-blue baize,
and they have mahogany drawers in
which to keep their writing materials.
Back of them are the reading clerks
of the house, snobbish young men with
metallic voices, and above them on a
higher rostrum of white marble cut in
and out like an elaborately-carved pul
pit sits the speaker. This to-day is
Mr. Carlisle, a dark-faced, rough-fea
tured man, with no whiskers, who con
tinually chews tobacco as lie sits on
his spine and presides over the house.
Ilis chair is a swinging walnut one.
He has an ivory hammer or mallet in
his hand, and this he uses with energy
to keep the noisy crowd below him in
order.
Beside the speaker’s desk, on a pe
destal of Vermont marble, stands the
mace, or insignia of the speaker’s royal
ty. It is a bundle of lictor’s rods
bound with silver cords, mounted on a
silver globe and crowned with an
American eagle.
The members of the house sit on six
half-moons of seats, rising and growing
larger as they go backward, in front of
the speaker. These seats are ranged
on little ranges of rostums, and the
edges of these rostrums are bound with
shining brass, and are, as in the whoie
floor, carpeted with a rich carpet of
red Brussels, on which are flowered
ligures of clue and yellow. On each
range is a row of seats and desks. The
desks are small affairs of white wood,
having lids covered with blue baize,
which arc raised whenever the owner
gets at the $125 worth of stationery he
is allowed annually. Behind each row
of desks is a row of white cane-seated
office chairs, each on a swivel and
each so fixed on springs that the sitter
can lean back and put his feet on his
desk if he will. This is a favorite pos
turo with some congressmen, and I
have seen certain sleepy ones snore
away so for hours at a time. Half of
the chairs are on the average empty,
and some of them have been known to
continue so for an entire congressional
session. The owners are paid $5,000 a
-year-to fill-th©»i. Tk-.v-fh.iv. the mon
ey and leave the chairs empty. The
seventh and last half moon of chairs
backs up against curtains or lirc-screens
of blue baize on frames of bright brass
rods. Back of these screens there is
room to walk about the house, anil in
the two corners at either end, where
the grate fires are, are half a dozen
sofas which are generally filled by
lounging, sleeping, and smoking con
gressmen.
Do congressmen smoke during ses
sion? Why, bless you, yes! I have
seen ladies grow sick in the galleries
from the vile odors of the tobacco
which rose from the two-for-5 cent ci
gars glowing in the mouths of the so
called gentlemanly congressmen be
neath. I have seen members smoking
in their very seats, and have watched
through the wreaths of smoke to catch
the eye of the members behind them.
The}’ chew, too. These godlike con
gressmen do chew! They spit! and
every desk has a spitoon of pink and
gold china beside it to catch the filtli
from the statesman’s mouth. It costs
at least SIOO a year to care for the
spittings of the house, and your aver
age congressman will disregard the
spittoon and spit upon the floor.
They are a neat sot! The house at
this moment is littered with scraps of
paper like a garret. In front of the
speaker’s desk are scraps of letters,
torn newspapers, and other litters, and
and under the desks % of most of the
members are heaps of the same nature.
There is a spittoon beside the chair of
the speaker, for Mr. Carlisle is an in
veterate chewer of tobacco, and his
heavy jaws caress the cud as joyfully
as they do free-trade statistics.
As far as order in the house is con
cerned, there is none. If an ordinary
member has the floor a bedlam straight
way rises. His fellow-members talk
out loud to each other, and each goes
on with his business as if he was alone.
Dozens of members are writing letters;
others are mailing documents to their
constituents; others are reading news
papers; some will be sleeping, and
many will be talking and laughing. If
a member wants to cross the hall he
does not hesitate to rush between
the congressman speaking and the
speaker, and if another wants a page,
no matter If his brother congressman
speaking beside him is in the midst of
his finest period, he will clap his hands
like the shot of a pistol.
I have seen members sleeping when
their next-seat member was speaking,
and it is no uncommon thing for a
member to be talking with not a single
fellow-member listening to him. 'I he
speaker generally pays attention, but
not always. lie favors whom he
pleases to a certain extent, and has the
opportunity to display considerable
power.
The ceiling of the honse chamber is
a wonderful structure, made of glass
and cast-iron. Through this the house
is lighted—in the daytime by the light
of day, and during the evening bv fif
teen hundred gas-jets, which are light
ed by electricity. This ceiling is made
in panels, and these are painted and
gilded, and each bears the coat of arms
of one of the states of the union.
Just over the entrance door of the
Kmise is a large, round-faced clock,
which regulates the time of opening
the session and which limits the time
MT. VERNON. MONTGOMERY, (’()., G.V, TII V RSDA V,**t*l’Oßr.rmdSß6.
allowed to each speaker. It is a sober,
judicial-looking old clock, and its face
is a terror to the average long-winded
congressman.
Jus* over the speaker’s desk and op
posite this clock under the press gal
lery is ■' gold eagle looking out over
the speaker’s head, and apparently
ready t,> tty. On each side, of it hangs
a dingy American flag, covered with
dust and discolored with age.
The two doors in the walls «t the
side of the speaker lead to the mem
bers’ retiring-rooms, in which are hung
crayon portraits of all the speakers
since the organization of congress.
They cost the government SSO apiece,
and some of them are fairly good like
nesses. This room is well-furnished.
It has a number of sofas and easy
chairs, with two doorkeepers at an ex
pense of a couple of thousand a
year to keep the barbarous public
out of them.
Such is a brief description of our na
tional house of representatives. It is
a tine structure, and 1 sometimes think
far too good for the men who have the
right to seats in it,
The old house was in the hall of the
statutes, as it is now called, which lies
between this house chamber and the
dome. It was in this that all of our
greatest efforts at oratory were made,
where Clay, Calhoun, and Webster
fought their forensic battles, and where
for thirty-two ygars history was made.
It accommodated seats for 232 mem
bers, and its galleries seated about 700
spectators. The members’ desks were
of mahogany, and each had an arm
chair. The reporters to the extent of
twenty wore accommodated with sofas
and desks, and the speaker had a drap
ery of rich crimson at his back. It
was in 1857 that the house was moved
into its present quarters, and in 1864
tiie old house was dedicated to its pres
ent use as a statuary hall.
The average congressman considers
himself a great man, but ho is only a
clerk after all. He is paid by the
country to come hero and apportion
out the public funds to the running of
the government. Other men decide
how much, the government needs, and
they furnish the congressmen the lig
ures. The average member knows
nothing about it, and the best member
for the country perhaps is ho who
knows the least. We merely pay them
to divide our money for us. The gov
ernment is already organized. Wo
have all the laws we need, and the
United States, if it were not for the
necessity of the formality of passing
the appropriations, could do better
without congress than with it. Still
we have it, and we have to pay for it.
We pay well, too. The estimate for
the legislative expenses for the current
year is put at more than three million
and a half of dollars, and the house of
representatives alone will cost nearly
two •> >d one-half millons. It takes
$413, i a year to pay the salaries of
our senators, $1,800,000 to pay the
mileage and salaries of the representa
tives, and the understrappers about
the house and senate get salaries of
$700,000 and more at each congression
al session.
“Walking Typhoid.”
A case of uncommon, but not un
heard of, malady came under the wri
ter’s notice recently. A young married
man sent a note to his wife that he was
summoned to a neighboring town on
business and would bo away all night.
As this contingency frequently arose
in his occupation nothing was thought
of the announcement until the next
day, when, he not having returned, in
quiries were instituted, but no trace of
his whereabouts could be found. Five
days later he was found in a distant
western city, over one thousand miles
from home, about to take a train which
would carry him still further toward
the Pacific coast. Ho was brought
home ill, and suffered a course of ty
phoid fever, from which he recovered
as well as ever. His physician diag
nosed his case as walking typhoid, and
the recital in detail of his wanderings,
which he was able later to perfectly
recall, was terribly suggestive. Ho
had passed one entire night walking
up and down the suspension bridge at
Niagara Falls, under the impression
that his wife was to meet him there
and would bo frightened to find herself
alone in such a place. Distressed at
her failure to bo on hand, he started in
pursuit of her. He stopped at various
hotels and restaurants, boarded and
left trains always with a definite pur
pose. Frequently he came to his senses
and knew that he was far from home
and traveling under a delusion, but be
fore ho could fully recover himself the
hallucination was strong upon him.
ft is possible that many disappearances
begin in just such a half-rational desire
to wander, with, however, not the
same fortunate ending. —New York
Graphic.
Hill Nye at a Military Banquet.
lam not much of a military man. 1
once undertook to hold a claim in the
North Park, but a bitterness sprang up
between myself and the Indians, and I
lost my front hair. Cholera, chief of
the Utes, came to the Boomerang mine
one day and said he would give me two
sleeps to get away in. I didn’t want
any difficulty with him, and I thought
one sleep was enough, and so I hurned
right away. I said to him: Noble war
rior of the knock-kneed Utes, take my
mine, you can have it, it’s already
salted; it will keep through the hot
weather all right. Help yourselves to
anything you can find; take my grub,
take my whisky; drink yourself into a
premature grave at my expense, fire
up with my nitro-glycerine and drop
on yourself. And then I got out.—
Boston Globe. |
“SUB DEO FACIO FORTITER.”
GLEANINGS.
The Princess Beatrice is two inches
tailor than the Queen, and has a tigure
! which is called absolutely perfect.
There are 7,000 acres in Judge David
Davis’ Illinois farm, and ho devotes his
personal attention to its cultivation.
Don’t drink cider through a load
pipe. Half a dozen men in Massachu
setts town took their cider from a
barrel in this manner and are suffering
from lead poisoning.
The custom of brides wearing orango
blossoms was derived from tho Sara
cens, among whom tho orango blossom
was regarded as a symbol of a pros
perous marriage, a circumstance which
is partly to bo accounted for by tho
fact that in tho east the orange tree
boars ripe fruit and blossoms at tho
same time.
mi regard to the operation for divid
ing certain fibrous bands in tho- little
linger so as to give pianists more free
dom in tho usd of it, tho British Med
ical Journal suvs that in tho fourteen -
cases of Dr. Forbes, of Philadelphia,
good functional results have been ob
tained, but suggests that “the effort ‘
necossary to stretch any fibrous hand
existing between the lingers' is itself
useful,, as tending to stretch all tho
muscles attached to them.
Old Mrs. Grant showed tho other
day that sho has lost none of tho strong
common sense which used to mark her
speeches. When her daughter, Mrs.
Sartoris, complained of the crowds that
arc always lingering about tho cottage
at Mount MacGregor eager to got a
glimpse of tho famous general, and
said she foil as though sho were stand
ing for a photograph, her mother re
plied with more truth than compli
ment: ‘‘They don’t come to soo you,
Nellie; you needn’t mind.”
Tho negroes of Louisiana are charged
n O
not only with eating up tho birds of
.hat state, but with devouring the
eggs of partridges, robins, wron and
mocking-birds whenever thoy can find
th mi- and they are oxport hunters.
These colored people are as bud as the
la u s who encourage tho slaughter of
our beautiful and useful songsters by
th > barbarous practice of wearing
wihgs and plumage on their bonnets.
Bi '.Ween the black men and white wo
rn u the birds have a poor show and
in>e,cts flourish.
?n a rocky bluff near Oouvornenr,
N V., there is to be soon a strange j
f>v-vk of nature. To all appearance
- sonCj v.\ .'«? chopper been engaged
in cutting stove wood, heading down
the block and splitting off. Tho kerf
is perfect, showing the ax marks, even
to tho point where the header was out
straightor to deepen it. The season
cracks on tho log aro perfectly imitat
ed, and the whole is in solid rock,
resting on a bed of tho same material,
precluding the idea of its petrifaction.
In the early days of tho war of tho
rebellion Nathaniel Kimball, of York
county, Pennsylvania, a brick manu
facturer, contracted a debt of 80 cents.
To pay it ho produced from his pocket
a varnished brick, inscribed “Good for
75 cents —Nathaniel Kimball,” und a
pumpkin seed, marked “Good for 5
cents—N. Kimball.” This currency
was accepted. The brick is still in ex
istence and Kimball is ready to redeem
it, but the present owner, who paid
$1.25 for it, will not sell it.
Mr Bancroft’s collection of roses at
Washington is princely in its splendor.
Friends have sent him all old-world va
riaties, which, with those of native
growth, recall tho roses of which Sap
pho sang, as they hang their heads
with fragrance. There are the im
perial Jacqueminot, the queenly La
marque, roses that are of royal purple,
roses that aro white and yellow, roses
that blaze like stars. Moss roses, tea
roses, sweet-briar roses, climbing roses
- all varieties aro represented, and the
air is filled with an exquisite odor. Mr.
Bancroft passes an hour every morning
among his floral treasures.
Tho colonv of Jewish refugees from
Russia established three years ago on
I, acres of land near Vineland, N.
J. purchased by the Hebrew Immigra
tion Society of New York and the
Jewish Society of London, lias outlived
the hardships of its first years and is
beginning to be a prosperous commun
ity. Scattered here and there among
the bills and hollows of tho tract tho
sixty frame shanties in which tho
colonists live arc hardly noticeable.
There are no streets, no church, no
stores, mills or factories nor any other
indication except the scattered houses
that 305 people are there.
Many have attempted to scale Coto
paxi, the loftiest of activo volcanoes,
but the walls are so steep and the snow
is so deep that ascent is impossible,
even with scaling ladders. On tho
south side of Cotopaxi is a great rock,
more than 2,<Xto feet high, called tho
‘‘lnca’s Head.” Tradition says that it
was once the summit of the volcano,
and fell on the day when Atahuallpa
was strangled by the Spaniards. Those
who have seen Vesuvius can judge of
the grandeur of Cotopaxi if they can i
imagine a volcano 15,000 feet higher, i
shooting forth its fire from a crest
covered by 8,000 feet of snow, with a
voice that has been heard 000 miles.
The first survey of Pennsylvania was
commenced in 1835 and completed in
1858. It was one of the earliest geolo- i
gical surveys made in America, and, I
although it was to a great extent a
reconnoissance survey of the then little ;
understood geology of the state, it was
of great value in directing many of the
since active mineral developments. I
The results of the second survey, com
menced in 1870, have been of a more
detailed and practical character, ex
tending and elaborating the work of
the first survey, in order to aid those
interested in exploring ami exploiting
the minerals of tho state.
An English correspondent writes:
“Apropos of Frank Auckland’s life,
there is an amusing story current—
which, however, wo give with all re
serve of his father, the Dean, who,
when on a visit lo Nnnehani, was
shown a casket containing (what was
esteemed a most precious relic) tho
heart of one of the earl}' French kings.
No sooner was the casket opened than,
to the unspeakable horror of tho own
er, Dean Bucklund pounced upon tho
relic and instantly gobbled it, up. Ho
had a passion for ascertaining tho fla
vor of everything he came across, and
never having tasted a king’s heart,
the temptation was too strong to bo
resisted. He is said to have eaten
through, the whole of tho animal crea
tion, and averred that, though the molo
was somewhat disagreeable, tho worst
creature of all to tackle was a blue
bottle tly. Subsequently he went out
of his mind and crawled about tho
deanery on his stomach, fancying him
self an. ichthyosaurus. ‘ln which con
dition,'’ said his son (so runs the story),
‘he was far mom interesting than ho
had ever been before.’ ”
There are some personal remini
scences of (leu. Gordon in a recent
number of (ho Nineteenth Centura
which are interesting from their ob
vious sincerity. Mr. Stanuard, who
contributes them, was assistant to tho
manager of the contractors for the for
tifications at Gravesend, and his recol
lections, while completely agreeing
with what is known from other sources
of Gordon’s noble life of self-sacrilico
there, yet serve to remind us that Gor
don was not one of those colorless
saints who are unredeemed by a single
human weakness. Os the familiar side
of the picture here is a charming pas
sage: Gordon’s house was already as
full of poor boys as it could hold, when
another ragumullin applied for admit
tance. lie was put up accordingly in
an empty stall in tho stable, and at 0
o’clock sharp next morning "the colo
nel made his appearance, carrying a
lump of soap, a bath-towel, ii brush,
and a sponge. Hu callod the little
vagabond out into the yard, and hav
ing poured a pail of hot water into tho
trough, ho then and there stripped his
young friend and gave him a thorough
cleansing from head to foot.”
The Hilling Passion.
"Just before tho battle of Fredrick
burg, knowing .•> ho mnnlwr
of Pennsylvania troops were with Burn
side, ami that a general engagement
between the two armies was imminent,
l went to Washington and asked for
transportation to the front. A tug was
placed at my disposal, and I reached
the army in time to witness the battle.
Tho terrible slaughter of our troops on
that disastrous day we all know.
“When our defeat was beyond ques
tion 1 boarded the tug and hastened to
Washington, hoping, as railroad com
munication was impossible, to forestall
the exaggerated rumors that might be
expected, and to alleviate even in only
a slight degree the shock of unwelcome
tidings. It was considerable past mid
night when I reached Washington, but
1 proceeded directly to the White
House. It was no surprise to mo to
to learn that the President had not re
tired. I was immediately ushered into
his presence. As he accosted me and
read in my face tho character of the
nows I had to communicate he sank
into a chair with a sigh of distress.”
"What news, Governor?” said he.
"Had! very bad.”
"Tell me all!” He rested his head on
his hands while I gave the outline and
the results of the battle. He heaved a
heavy sigh arid looked at me with an
expression of intense suffering, and 1
remarked:
"I heartily wish I might be a wel
come messenger of good news instead
—that I could tell you how to conquer
or get rid of these rebellious States.”
Looking up quickly, with a marked
change of expression, Lincoln said:
“That reminds me of the two boys in
Illinois who took a short cut across an
orchard, and did not become aware of
the presence of a vicious dog until it
was too late to reach either fence. One
was spry enough to escape tho attack
by climbing a tree, but the other
started around the tree, with the dog
in hot pursuit, until, by making small
er circles than it was possible for his
pursuer to make, he gained sufficiently
to grasp the dog's Dm, and held with
desperate grip unti 1 '‘-arly exhausted,
when lie hailed nit companion and
called to him tft corne down.
" *\V hat fori" said ti i boy.
“ ‘J want you to help r«e let this dog
go.’
“If I could let them £o,” said tho
President, in conclusion; ‘ but that is
tho trouble. lam compelled to bold
on to them and make tiiem f‘ay. - New
York Telegram.
ft is not to the Methodists, as is gen
erally thought, but to the Prerbyter
ians, that America owes the word
camp-meeting. Certain Presbyterian
ministers held a sacramental meeting
at a place called Cano Kidge, in Ken
tucky, in 1800. It was attended by
more than 20,(XX) people, and was pro
tracted for weeks. This was the first
camp-meeting ever held in the United*
States, i
A new London hotel has room clos
ets with double doors, one opening into
the sleeping compartments and tho
other into tho ball, through which
guests pass their boots to have them
blacked instead of setting them out at
the door - , where they look bad a a aro
in danger of being stolen. The idea is
clever enough to have been su -"estod
by an American.
VOL I. NO *6
Tlio Witching Weed. ,
Cigars were not known until about
1815. Previous to that time pipes were
used exclusively.
Chewing had been in vogue to a lim
ited extent for some time, while snuff
ing dates back almost as far as smok
ing.
Tho tirst package sent to Catherine
do Medici was in line powder. She
found that smelling it In the box affect
ed her similarly to smoking, which led
her to till one of her smelling-bottles
with the dust. Her courtiers adopted
the habit of snuffing small portions of
it up the nostrils, and as tho precious
stuff became more plentiful the snuffing
habit became more general, until at
last a man or a woman was not consid
ered as in proper form unless they
snuffed.
Tho custom became so common in
England that a snuff-box was no longer
a sign of rank. Thou it was tho law
prohibiting the culture of the plant, ex
cept for medicine, was passed. About
the same time a heavy tariff was placed
on the imported article, thereby prac
tically placing it beyond the reach of
the common nerd and giving royalty a
complete monopoly.
Since it first began to be used as a
luxury there have been conllicting opin
ions in regard to its effects. The Rom
ish church once forbade its use, and the
Church of England declaimed against
it.
The Wesleys opposed it hotly, and at
one time it was considered so unclean
as to unfit men for membership in tho
Methodist cliureh.
Baptist and Presbyterian ministers
preached against it, and societies wero
organized to oppose tho spread of the
habit, but all to no purpose. Parents
disowned and disinherited their chil
dren because tiiey used it,and husbands
divorced their wives on,aceountof their
having contracted the habit of srnok
ing.
It is singular that when women get
into tho habit of smoking a pipe they
prefer a strong one.
There aro few men who havo nerve
enough to smoke a pipe such as a wo
man likes when she has become a con
tinued smoker. Wiion they tirst begin
puffing cigars they prefer them very
mild, hut it is not long until they want
them black and strong and lots of
them. Pittsburg Dispatch.
Truth in it I‘la.iu Suit.
Elder Toots having got most of his
feet under the redhot stove, and Colo
nel Cahoots having succeeded in knock
ing down a bust of Plato and wrecking
18500 worth of relics, Brother Gardner
arose and said: *
“What 1 hanker arter am to meet a
plumb up an’ down man. Dar’ am
piissons in dis club who wobble about
like a loose wagon wheel. One day
dey greet you wid a grin as soft as
June, an’ do ncx’ day dey doan’ know
you as you pass on de street. I doan’
mean to hurt no man’s feelin’s, but I
mean to be plumb.
“If Whalebone Howker should come
ober to my house an’ ax de loan of a
dollar I wouldn’t keep liirn on de hooks
fur half an hour fur a decision. I should
at once reply to him: ‘Whalebone, de
man who uses money aimed by his
wife at de wash-tub to buy lottery tick
ets can’t get no dollar outer me!’ When
a man axes my religion I doan’ beat
itroun’ do bush to find out if he has
found a short cut to heaben, but 1 de
nounce myself as a Baptist an’ take my.
chances by de ole roau.
“When you think yes or no doan’ i
hesitate to say so. Doan’ be leanin’ j
one way one day an’ some odder way
on do nex’. De man who knows whar
to find you won’t go away mad, ebon if
von decide agin him. Our SaniueT
Shin am one day gwine to be a states-,
man, an’ on de nex’ he’s gwine to open
a saloon wid a gilded ceilin’. One day j
you will find him a Methodist an de
nex’ you will see liiin devourin’ a Uni-,
versalist sermon. Meet him in de!
mawnin’ an’ he am a feroshus Repub-j
lican; notch him in de afternoon an’ he ;
am a good Dimocrat.
“Be plumb lip an’ down. If you am
sot on bein’ good stick to it. If you am
sot on bein’ bail doan’ let de purleece 1
bluff you off. If you like a man tell J
him he can have de use of your snow
shovel all summer. If you can’t hoe j
co’n wid him, ax him to buy or sell out
an’ take some odder cow-path. De
wobbly man am a pusson to be shun
ned. Tryin’ to do bizness wid him am
wasted labor trown away.”— Lime Kiln
Club in Detroit Free Tress.
Derivations.
Tho word “pamphlet” is derived
from the name of a Greek authoress,
Paruphylia, who compiled a history of
the world in thirty-live little books.
"Punch and Judy” is a contraction
from Pontius and Judas. It is a relic
of an old “miracle play,” in which the
actors were Pontius Pilate and Judas
Iscariot. “Bigot” is from Visigotha.
in which the fierce and intolerant
Arianism of tho Visigoth, conqueror of
.Spain, is handed down to infamy.
“Humbug” is from Hamburg; “apiece
of Hamburg news” was in Germany a
proverbial expression for false political
rumors. “Gauze” derives its name
from Gaza, where it was tirst made.
“Tabby cat” is all unconscious that
her name its derived from Arab, a fam
ous street in Bagdad inhabited by the
manufacturers of silken stuffs called
atabi, or taffety—the wavy marxings
of the watered silks resembling pussy’s
coat. “Old Scratch” is the demon
Skratti, who still survives in the super
stitions of Northern Europe. "Old
Nick” Is none other than Nikir. the
dangerous water demon of Scandinav
ian legend. The lemon takes its name
from the City of Lima. _,^