Newspaper Page Text
®h c iltmritor.
D. C. SUTTON, Editor and Propr.
At Thirty-Five.
If half of three-scoro years and ton
Make half the life of man;
If life is merely time, why, then,
I’ve but to live my past again,
To finish out my span.
But since a thousand years may run
Through one brief moment's t hought
My life, though it were nearly done,
I’d count in truth but just begun
Had I accomplished naught.
What have I done* Well, this at least
I’ve taught myself to strive;
I’ve learned that era its may make a feast;
That wealth is only want decreased—
I live at least at thirty-five.
—[Chicago News.
THEY RAN AWAY.
BV REBECCA IIARDIXG DAVIS.
My auut, said the doctor, was brought
up in a queer way, different from any
American girl, though she was an Ameri
can.
Among the mountains in Pennsylvania
there are two or three ancient German
towns, founded long before the Revolu
tion, by the Moravians. The huge, mas
sive stone buildings stand still—and are
likely to stand for centuries—in which
the early communities dwelt together,
yet separate. There arc the Brother and
Sister Houses, and the Gcmein, or Com
mon House. These are occupied now
by the widows of Moravian missionaries
with their children.
There is a deadly quiet and chilly
cleanliness about these great dwellings.
Each little suite of family rooms opens
out into wide stone corridors, iu which
no speck of dust is allowed to remain.
A fly would hardly dare to enter the
open windows, to disturb that absolute
order and silence.
My Aunt Maria was the only daughter
of one of these widows. She had never
known any other home than the huge
Sister House, where life went on like a
clock that moved without tickin''.
o
; She rose at dawn, and helped her
mother put their three neat rooms into
still more perfect order. Jheq she ate
her breakfast, and was washed for the
second time; her flaxen hair wj.o
behind, and tied with a bow of brown
ribbon; then, books in hand, the de
mure little maiden paced across the
green quadrangle to the school where
all the children of the church were
taught. When school was over, she sat
with her knitting by her mother’s side.
She never had ventured into the quiet
street alone.
On rare occasions the children in the
Community houses played liide-and-seck
in the attics which ran under tire roof
around the three sises of the great
square. These proceedings, however,
were usually regarded as disorderly by
the grave widows.
But Maria had one adventure in her
life which rose out of it, as the peak of
Teneriffe does out of the flat ocean
around it. When she was ten years old,
she ran away! How it came about no
body ever knew, Maria herself least of
all. It may hav,; grown out of a tempo
rary insanity’, the reaction from the long
dullness and quiot.
John Freitag, the Widow Freitag’s
son, persuaded her into it. He told her
of the plan a hundred times, on the way
home from school. Some of the town
boys told him of it; it was an every-day
matter to them. When old Gottfrey
Sohner started to the next settlement
I
about five miles down the valley, his
wagon loaded with great bags of corn,
the boys would hide among the topmost
sacks, and there lie safely until the en l
of the journey was reached. Gottfrey
was a go*d-humored old man, and, after
grumbling a little, always brought them
back in the empty wagon before night
fall.
The idea grew, week after week, in
the little girl’s mind, under her dull
eyes and smooth plaits, and at last she
suddenly declared that she would go and
“see the world.”
One morning in September, after
Maria and John had gone into the school
and hung up their wraps, they took
them down again, waiked slowly out of
the door, and down the street to the inn
yard. Even in running away, they did
not hurry; they did not know how to
hurry. In the yard stood Sohner’s great
wagon, heaped with sacks. Nobody
was near, and they ciimbed up and lnd
in the hollows on the top. Presently
the mules were brought out and har
nessed, Gottfnv climbed up and cracked
his whip, the great mass shook and
rocked, and they were off.
My aunt always told me that she was
not afraid. She forgot her mother, and
that she was committing a horrible sin, 1
according to the rul.-s that sir; had leea
taught.
“It was all so strange and beautiful,” j
ahe used to say; “the clouds rushing
past us overhead, the moving procession
]of trees, the strong wind—t was wild]
I could have shrieked for joy I”
I always fancied my staid aunt had a
turbulent heart under her brown cape.
Both the children soon, fell asleep, be
ing unused to the steady rocking motion.
When they awoke the sun was over
head. Could Gottfrey have spent four
hours in driving five miles? Could lie
be going farther than usual? They
whispered to each other in alarm, but
there was no way of finding the real sit
uation. John had never made this des
perate veuture before, and therefore
knew none of the landmarks. They
dared not let Gottfrey know that they
were there until the journey was over,
or he might abandon them on the road.
Who knew what wild beasts inhabited
these jungles of laurel through which
they drove?
Noon passed. Gottfrey stopped to
bait his mules, and to cat a hearty meal
out of his well-packed basket. The
children had brought no food. They
were hearty enters, who never had
waited 10 minutes for their mid-day
meal. The smell of Sohner’s ham and
cheese melted their hearts. They began
at once to think of the misery of their
mothers, and to shed tears of remorse.
I need not dwell on their sufferings,
which were real enough before the jour
ney was over.
Gottfrey drove down to Philadelphia.
The trip occupied two days two
nights. The children did not discover
themselves. Their terror of being aban
doned outweighed all their other fears.
Gottfrey stopped over night at road
side inns, leaviug the wagon in the yard,
and John clambered down, when all was
still, and found some turnips in a
neighboring field, which kept the little
wp' derers from actual starvation.
On the morning of the third day,
Gotifrey started long before light, and
at dawn drove into a wide enclosure, in
which were great houses made of canvas.
The end had come 1 Now they could
show themselves. He would be angry,
perhaps. But he would not leave them 1
He would take them home 1
He unharnessed the mules and led
them awav ns the.v ciinnnscd In fnnrl
them. Then he would return to unload
the corn, and would find them.
When he reached the gate, they saw
him stop and parley for some time with
a couple of men; then mounting one of
the mules he rode away.
The children waited, afraid to speak
lest the men in the field should discover
them. Maria began to sob. Siie was
weak from long fasting, and for the first
time in her life she was untidy and un
washed. The neat little Moravian
loathed herself.
“Look here!” cried John, peeping out
through the sacks. Out of one of the
tents came a man striped from head to
foot like a zebra, another in purple vel
vet and spangles, and a fairy with flut
tering gauze wings. Maria had never
heard of fairies. She had never heard
or read of anything which could explain
these monsters.
A minute later, a man carrying a great
basket of raw beef went into one of the
tents, and there came from the inside
furious growls, yelps, and last, the roar
of a lion.
John’s red face turned to a pasty color.
He shook as if the beasts had him in
their jaws, and opening his mouth,
uttered shrill shrieks. Maria, without
a word, got up, and catching him by the
shoulder dragged him down from the
wagon, towards the gate. It was then
that she showed that there was good
stuff in her.
“Hush!" she said. “Come out of
this. lam going home.”
Just then the flap of another tent
lifted, and two moving mountains of
fl sh came out, and advanced towards
her. The girl had never seen even the
picture of an elephant. She stood still,
as if paralyzed, in front of them.
“I'm going home,” she mechanically
repeated, looking up at them. Some of
the men dragged her out of the path.
“Who are you? Where did you come
from?” they asked.
John was too frightened to speak.
“We came on Gottfrey Sohner’s wagon”
said Maria, her round eyes still fixed on
the elephants.
“The Dutchman who brought the
corn?” said one of the men. “Why did
I you stay behind him? He lias gone
1 home long ago.
John gave a cry of despair, and the
! oor girl sank as if she had been shot.
1 Hunger and terror, with this last blow
had crushed her stout little heart at last.
The children were in a circus and men
: agerie to which Sohner, by previous
I agreement had brought his corn and
oats.
Some of the women took Marie to
| their tent and put her to bed. They fed i
her and mused her tenderly all das’, i
They gave John some work among the j
MT. VERNON, MONTGOMERY CO., GA., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2.T 1887.
horses, for doing which lie received his
meals. The two children were kindly
treated and even petted by all the queer,
half wild people of the circus. The poor
girls who rode on the barebacked horses
in robes of tulle, ran in between tho
acts to see if Marie bad eaten her soup
and to pat her stout shoulders aud nod
kindly to her.
The next morning tho manager sent
for the children.
“Sohner,” he said, “left his wagon
for us to bring with us. We go to
Easton next week. Will you wait and
go with us? We shall pass through
your village. Or shall we send you di
rectly home? If you stay, these ladies
will take good care of the little girl.”
It was Maria, as usual, who spoke.
“We’ll go homo, please. The ladies
are very kind. But—l want mother,”
and she began to sob.
The bare-backed rider looked at the
clown, who jerked off his cap edged
with bells, and passed it round. The
silver pieces jingled in it, until there
was just enough to pay for the children’s
fare iu the wagon which ran once a
week from Philadelphia up the Lehigh
Valley. They started that very night, ;
loaded with little gilts and provisions i
for the journey.
Years passed before John and Maria j
were forgiven by the good Moravians j
for their freak. They were regarded as j
dangerous characters for a long time,
though, indeed, they had never been sc j
humble aud dutiful at heart ns they be
came after this terrible adventure.
In process of time they grew up aud [
were married. John became a mission- j
ary, but died in a year after their wed- j
ding. Maria came back, a widow now
herself, and took tho rooms her mother j
had had in the Sister House.
She lived there, for nearly half a cen
tury, a calm, orderly, peaceful life. She
never again left the quiet building in
which her childhood had been passed,
or tried to break its dull monotony.
But when she used to ti ll of this, her ;
one adventure, her eyes would burn and |
her chin quiver.
She would never hear an evil word
„ - '• ••
“I, myself,” she would say, “was
once among the abandoned of the earth,
—poor circus players aud wild beast
tamers, —and they treated me as though
I had been their own child. God’s mark
of ownership is on all 11 is children—•
somewhere.”—Youth’s Companion.
Moderation in Diet.
“The Roman soldiers,” says the Sci
entitic American, ‘ who built such won
derful roads and carried a weight of
armor and luggage that would crush the
average farm hand, lived on coarse
brown bread and sour wine. They were
temperate in diet and regular and con
stant in exercise. The Spanish peasant
works every day and dances half the
night, yet cats only his black bread,
onion and watermelon. The Smyrna
porter eats only fruit and some olives,
yet he walks off with his load of 100
pounds. The coolie, fed on rice, is more
active and can endure more than the
negro fed on fat meat. The heavy work
of the world is not done by men who eat
the greatest quantity. Moderation in
diet seems to be the pre-requisite of en
durance.”
A Dog in League With Rats.
Napoleon, a huge mastiff who domi
nates the cellar of Charles Dueey, oa
Sixth avenue, says the New York Mail
and Express, has so far forgotten his
canine dignity as to form a league with
the rats that infest his domain. There
was some hope that Napoleon’s presence ;
would scare away the vermin, but noth- :
ing of the sort occurred, and now the
Newfoundland lives royally upon a share
of the dainties stolen by the rats. When
a rat appears with a roast chicken or a j
piece of beef Napoleon barks fiercely
and snatches the meat from the rodent’s
jaws. His meal over he affectionately •
licks the coat of his provider byway of
thanks.
Will Outgrow It.
“I’m not going to pi ly with Willie
Waffles any more,” was Flossie’s dic
tum.
“Willie is a very nice little Iroy,” said
her mamma.
“I don’t like him. In fact, I don’t
like boys at all, mamma. 1 guess it is
because I’m not old enough.”—[New
York Sun.
Pharaoh’s Flowers.
The remains of no less than li tv-ninc
species of flowering plants from mummy i
wrappings in Egypt have been identi
fied. The flowers have been wonder
fully preserved, even the de icate violet
color of the larkspur and the scarlet of
the poppy, the ehlorophyl in the leaves,
and the sugar in th* raisins, remaining.
[Cliieag > Horn'd.
“SUB DEO FACIQ FORTITER.”
TURKISH SCHOOLS.
leaching the Young Idea in the
Ottoman Empire.
The Branches Taught in Pri
mary and Normal Schools.
- ■
Not until a Turkish child reaches his
sixth or seventh year does his education
begin and his first day at school is cole-«
: brated with ceremonies that are unheard
! of in America, says S. S. (’ox in Youth’s
Companion. No other such pomes are
to be found as the spirited iron-gray
I ponies of the east, and one of these is
j gorgeously caparisoned for the new pu
pil, who is met at his father's house by
all the school, dressed in holiday
clothes.
A priest makes a short prayer, the
child is placed upon his pony, and the
, pupils, males and females, are formed in
double line. The procession moves,
I singing hymns as they go, with the little
j hero of the day following, and thus lie
is initiated into the new world of learn
| ing.
In the primary schools hoys and girls
| are educated together. Tho teachers
j nre taken from the priesthood, and from
the graduates of tho theological univer
i siiics who have learned to read the “Ko*
' ran," which is written in Arabic, ami
| which all good Musselmen must learn
how’ to read. Persons of this class of
teachers nre consequently stringent re
-1 ligionists, and some of them are quite
fans ical. If the pupil does not. acquire
j much, discipline or information portain
-1 ing to modern material progress, it is
j because the twig is not bent in that di
rection.
A primary school is composed of one
or two rooms, or “holes in the wall,"
with three divans for the pupils, and a
scat for the teacher. The pupils sit
cross-legged in a line on the divans,
holding their books on their knees and
j reciting all at the same time, in a loud,
: shrill voice. They learn grammar and the
four rules of arithmetic.
I*l .1 ..*1.4 14* i I
Koran a little, they take up writing, and,
as there arc no writing tables or desks,
they hold their copy-books in their
hands. This is all they education they re
ceive in the primary schools.
Besides the primary, there are four
superior schools, except the military and
naval schools, and the school of medi
cine, established in 1830, and outside of
these no education is to be had. Wealthy
men engage European teachers to help
their children hi the study of languages
and modern reience; but the common
people have to satisfy themselves witli
the little that is to be obtained at the
primary schools. If any one isastonished I
that I lie governing class in Turkey
generally talk French, and often Eng
lish, Greek, Italian and German, it may
be stated that the Turk has an aptitude,
like the Russian, for tongues, and makes
his necessity the mother of bis study.
During the reign of Sultan Abdul
Medjid, some thirty-live years ago, an
effort was made to spread normal schools
throughout the Empire, but without
success. It is only during the reign of
the present Suit,an that the matter of
education has been earnestly taken up.
In tho course of eight or nine years, tli**
Administration of Public Instruction lias
established throughout the Empire in
Europe, Asia and Africa, three hundred
and eighty-eight primary and normal
schools, and last year there were twenty
thousand and ninety-three students.
Besides these, there are eighty pri
mary and normal schools in Constanti
nople, in which there are five hundred
and forty students, two hundred and
seventy-five being iri the free school, the
only one in the empire, and six bundle I
and thirty-four in private schools. The
programme of the studies is divided into
four years, and the pupils must recite by
heart, beside writing down the lessons,
which include calligraphy, arithmetic,
history, grammar and theology. More
time, however, is given to the study of
the Koran than to anything else.
No account of the education of young
Turks would be complete without some
reference to the storytellers of the East,
who have as much influence as the pro
fessors of mathematics an I history. In
the early training of the child by its
nurse and tutor, wonderful stories are
told to him to inculcate moral and reli
gious truths, and by them be is taught
that he must not be afraid of death;
that he must not be astonished at any
thing, no matter how strange; and that
he is not obliged to say anything in con
versation that will be against lils own
interests.
They say that elephants have dropped
down to S.IOO cacti. But tigers have not
lowered in price. It costs just as much
as ever to see the tiger.
I
A Bogus Army.
Diiiing the war with Spain last con
tury, when England carried the fighting
into the Spanish possessions in South
America, a funny incident happened
near Cnrthagena. This city was at
tacked in 1711 by the British fleet and
aimy, and one night, after a furious
bombardment, a regiment of soldiers
was landed near one of tiie chief forts,
the officer being ordered to watch tho
foe, and to summon aid if tho Spaniards
d, threatened an attack in force. Between
ten and eleven o’clock he sent word that
four hundred of tho enemy were coining,
but by the time that more troops had
been got ready to assist him a messago
arrived that the Spaniards had retired.
Then tho alarm was raised again, and
again contradicted, and so it lasted
throughout the night, to tho great fa
tigue of tlie men. Tho officer in com
mand at last grew tired of these move
ments, aud the next time a message
reached him he sent an officer with in
structions to inquire into the matter.
The advanced guard then showed him
what looked like a body of men in
white dresses (the Spanish uniform) and
wearing black lints. Suddenly they dis
appeared. On a further inarch forward
they as suddenly came iu sight again,
and once more vanished. The astonish
ment thus caused was tremendous; but
the mystery was solved at daybreak.
The source of all these alarms was
found to lie a grove of mancliinco!
trees, whose bark is white. The Span
iards had cut them down to within five
feet of the ground, and then burned tho (
tops of the stumps, thus making them |
wear “black hats.” In the uncertain j
light of an often-clouded moon these
white tree stumps appeared and reap- j
poured, and quite upset the soldiers, as
lias been seen, with their peculiar be
havior.—[Little Folks.
A Snake Farm.
'Flic Omaha Herald is responsible fur
a description of a snake farm, which it
says is situated at Galton, 111. The farm
it says, consists of forty acres of virgin
prairie, owned by 001. Dan Stover, and
thirty-seven mounds of earth on the farm,
prepared in such away that the snakes
use them for nods, and there are about
ten or twelve nests to the mound. Tho
Colonel says each nest, turns out about a
dozen rattlers each year, so that his
stock is increasing rapidly. He has a
contract with a Philadelphia patent med
icine linn that is making a rheumatism
cure,and furnishes them with 250 snakes |
a year at $2.25 each. No snake less I
that four feet long is accepted. Last
year 708 snakes were sold, bis customers
being scattered through a number of eit
ies. As. much care is taken of the young
I snakes as if they were lambs. The new
ly hatched sunk--, if not properly cared
for by their lr.olli .0 they are taken to
the Colonel’s h.t. ie, locate I in one cor- |
ncr of the lot, and (here fed l>y the j
children who catch bugs for them about
the garden and street. Sometimes tho !
eggs arc hatched out under the Hove. A
half dozen very large snakes with theii
fangs drawn are kept about the house ns j
pets. They nre excellent mousers,much
better than cats, the Colonel says. The
Colonel wanders about lii s farm, taking
nf) other precaution against tho reptiles
than to wear a pair of thick hoots. When
a report'!.! called on him t!i- Colonel
complained that the neighbori did not
come to visit him very often, and Mint
his wife didn’t like that very much, for
she waa fond of company, but, on the
whole, since there was plenty of money
in the business they wer; well content.
Pig and Kitten.
A correspondent writing to Nature
from Pollokshields, FLsgow, says: “My
children and their ' .veiriess, when flay
ing in the north of Ireland lately, wit
nesses! the following curious display of
feelings in animals not usually credited
with feelings. A boar pig was in the
habit every morning of going to the
basket where a blind kitten of about six
weeks old was kept, allowing the little i
thing to creep on his back and then
taking it about and caring for it
flaring the flay. The kitten got its food
at the same time as the pig, and at the
-nine trough. In the evening the man
who saw to the animals used to carry
the kitten back to the basket to pass
the night.”
A Blind Boat Builder.
It is a positive fact that Hcrrcshoff)
the boat builder, is totally blind; but so
sensitive and acute to his touch that lie
an pick out different sheets of draw
ings, and seems to bo able to make his
ears perform the function of his vision,
lie seems to be able to carry a plan in
mind's eye ami to follow i i imagination
bis lines as .veil as others using their
sight, Several others in his family arc
also blind.— [New York Tin es.
VOL. 11. NO. 38.
|
Sen ttnnprn.
Aloft anil alow in tho glimmer and glow mt
stars,
Across and along the path of tho new moon
creeping.
The dawn of the crescent sails on the dusk of
spars,
J>nns over to kiss the lips of tho ocean
sleeping.
Tho wind that touches tho soorot pulsing
places
Aloft and alow on those perfect breasts of
snow,
Is crooning across tho midnight’s peaceful
spaces
A song t hut came out of chaos through
time to grow.
And under the how (lie lucent, ripples break
In shapes that are fair, in rhythm that is
sweet beyond measure;
Till tho heart is full and no more its thirst
can slake
In the fathomless fountains of joy where
the sea makes pleasure.
Afar where tho waves and the sky together
are growing,
Out of the jaws of night with muttering
roar,
Conies a tremendous thunder, a sound as of
sea kino lowing:
Tho voice of the deep that, is sullenly
smiting the shore.
Adown from the measureless mountain of
sails above,
When the starlight falters and melts and
is too faint, to glisten,
A sailor lad murmurs an old world ballad
of love;
Ami the sea nml my heart ore silent and
tremble anil listen.
—[W. .1, Henderson.
11l MOKOUS.
Kich bread A big pay roll.
Companions in arms- -Twi.ti.
Tim sculptor is the in in w’lo carves
out bis id I. f ortune.
Th ' d (hi! base ball club should
lo found in tbc pitcher.
“Hear with me a little," observed tho
grizzly as ho hit ;ged the hunter.
“Oh mamma! ’sighed little Rthcl, “I
have such a headache in my sash!”
It is the silent watches of tho night
tlittt render alarm-clocks necessary.
making fioth otitis meet whontie case lies
an eel.
An advertisement in a live paper is of
great assistance to a dentist. It “draws"
for liiin.
There is one drawback to being a
queen. The people know just how old
you are.
No, Nellie, a stirrup is not what they
used 'o beat eggs with, but to ride
horsed,i.h.
Sqtiildig calls a big bull dog in his
neighborhood “Delay,” because delays
are dangerous.
Wife: “In the game of lawn tennis,
my dear, what is the most, ditlieult thing
to acquire?” Husband: “Tito lawn.”
An old woman may lie an incorrigible
gossip, Imt when you come right down
to facts, (lie peacock it the greatest tail
hearer of all.
Teacher (to the class in chemistry):
What does sea water contain besides the
sodium chloride that we have mentioned?
Head boy: Fish.
The man who has “nothing toj live
for” calls in the doctor as quick as any
other man when there it anything tho
matter with liitn.
Thirty-two hundred babies arc born in
the United States every day, and yet
people wonder where all the squalls and
cyclones come from.
(iucst (to child of hostess) —“My
little pet, why do you sit next to rao at
table to-day?” Child—“Betause—be
tause mamma says oo drink like a fish,
and I want to see oo do it.”
Foreman (to editor) —Do you want
the Kev. Mr. Goodman’s sermon, “Feed
my Lam Its,” to go on the c-clitorial page?
Editor (adsent-mmdcdly)—No. Hun it
in the “Agricultural Department.”
Seasickness, it is said, does not origi
nate in the stomach. This may be true,
but those who have been its victims cat}
avouch that it starts straight for the
stomach the moment it attneks you.
A barber says that his occupation pro
duces the most nervous men in the
world. This is probably owing to the
fact that a barber is no sooner through
with one scrape than It: begins another.
Little Boy—Pa, what does “phenom
enal” mean? Father —It is a word used
by the citizens of Illinois, lowa, Kansas
and Nebraska when they rcler to the
growth of their respective towns. It
doesn't mean much.
The Rev. Joseph Cook says it is hard
for a man to get away from his environ
ment. The youth paiufully realize*
thii when he has a barbed wire orchard
fence on one side, a ferocious bull dog
on another, and the old man coining at
him with a hay fork.