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PLUCK OF K MAGICIAN
Houdin’s Experience Among the
Marabouts of Algeria.
AN ARAB TRAP THAT FAILED.
The Great French Conjurer Stood the
Test and Then by Another Trick
Cowed His Infuriated Antagonists.
The Story of Palmer’s Curse.
There are some points of reseru
blauee between the story of the great
French conjurer, Robert Houdin, and
the marabouts and the story of Palm¬
er’s curse. The first named tale is,
strictly speaking, Incredible only when
regarded from the oriental point of
view.
In the fifties the administrators of
the French African empire were seri¬
ously hampered by the fanatical mar¬
abouts, who by their tricks of Juggling
persuaded their followers of their own
supernatural powers and used this be¬
lief to fan the spirit of insurrection.
Houdin was sent officially on a French
warship to Algeria to confound them.
While his task proved easy, the trip
was not without its dangers.
In Algiers he had allowed himself
to be shot at with pistols loaded by
the marabouts. But once in the inte¬
rior, when he was absolutely without
the tools of his profession, he was
forced to repeat the experiment. He
was frightened, but he did not allow
his fears to be perceived. He persuad¬
ed his audience to postpone the test
until next morning In order that he
might pass the night In prayer, as he
was without the talisman that he
needed if the feat was to be perform¬
ed immediately.
The night he devoted not to prayer,
but to insuring his Invulnerability, and
the next day before a great horde of
Arabs he submitted to the test. The
French conjurer insisted that in the
sight of every one the pistols should
be loaded by his enemies themselves.
Then he calmly took his place and
gave the signal. The sound of the pis¬
tol had not died away when Houdin
opened his lips, showing the bullet
held firmly between his teeth.
His infuriated adversary reached for
the other pistol, but the conjurer was
too quick. “You could not harm me,”
he said, “but now see how much great¬
er ray powers are than yours. Behold
the wall." He fired, and out on the
whitewash at the exact spot of his
aim there crept slowly a great splotch
of blood. The marabouts, in terror,
cowered before the prowess of the Eu¬
ropean magician.
Less fortunate in his fate than Hou
diu was the English orientalist E. H.
Palmer. He fell a victim to fanati¬
cism, but the story of his terrible curse
will long be repeated and cause shud¬
ders to run round Bedouin campfires.
Only upon the theory of metempsycho¬
sis can be explained his extraordinary
powers of assimilating the languages
and ideas of the east.
He was brought up in the conven¬
tional atmosphere of England, but
when he turned his attention to orien¬
tal subjects he did not merely learn;
he simply absorbed. Not only were
Persian, Hindoostanee and Arabic per¬
fectly familiar to him, but he knew
every obscurity of the slang of the
camel drivers, and during his long
voyages in the east his European ori¬
gin was never suspected. Just as
Houdin had been officially employed
by the French government, so Palmer
was by the English, but in a more
intimate capacity.
Before the exploit that proved fatal
he had many dangerous adventures.
Once he was led away by a treacher¬
ous guide and betrayed to an Arab
gang who meant to rob and kill him.
He guessed their intentions, and when
they began to inflict upon him petty
annoyances he pretended not to notice
them. Finally, however, the abuse be¬
came too obvious to be longer Ignored.
He sprang to his feet and drew out a
letter that he had received from an
English lady. “This to me! Down on
your knees, you dogs, and kiss the
handwriting of the sultan!” Down on
their knees, cowed and groveling, fell
his 300 captors.
In 1882 Palmer was sent on a secret
service mission among the Bedouin
tribes to persuade them against join¬
ing the rebellion of Arab! Pasha. He
was betrayed and shot. But just be¬
fore his death he laid upon his assas¬
sins the weight of his terrible curse.
Now, In the east a curse is something
not to be regarded lightly, and Palm¬
er's was one of particular awfulness.
It was his last means of defense,
and. while it did not save him, it blast¬
ed the hearing and destroyed the lives
of those upon whom it fell. They
shrank away from one another In hor¬
ror. Some of them confessed their
crime and were executed; all of them
within a few months came to violent
deaths. Palmer’s curse is still remem¬
bered with terror in the east.—Book¬
man.
Got Moro Than the Cigar.
He was dining at a restaurant In the
neighborhood of Leicester square, and
while he was sipping his black coffee
and thing 500 glances to the minute at
a girl In a fluffy pink and white dress
a stranger gracefully commandeered
his overcoat. He had just reached the
door when the owner tapped him on
the shoulder.
“Pardon me, sir,” he said meekly,
“but would you allow me to get an¬
other cigar from my coat pocket In
case I do not meet you again?”
Keep alive In your breast that little
spark of celestial fire called conscience,
—Washington.
AN INFERNAL MACHINE.
Its Fearful and Deadly Work In the
Bremerhaven Explosion.
Thr. greatest fatality ever caused by
an infernal machine is known as the
Bremerhaven explosion, and it occur¬
red near the end of 1875, when a fel¬
low who called himself Thotnas and
was said to be an American took up
his residence with his family in Brem¬
en. His finances were at a low ebb.
and to replenish them he conceived the
idea of sending to America some
worthless but highly insured packages I
of goods. By the same vessel he in¬
tended to ship an Infernal machine,
which was to have exploded a few
days after the vessel had left port.
The explosion occurred, however, just
before the package was put on board,
causing terrible loss of life. :
Thomas, whose real name was said |
to be Alexander, charged his machine
with nitroglycerin, which he had pro¬
cured in America and purchased the
clockwork and the ease containing the I
machine in Germany. The hammer of
the clockwork, which was to act in six
days after leaving port, was to strike
a blow of thirty pounds weight. In
his confession later Thomas said that
when testing the clockwork the ham¬
mer smashed a mahogany table.
He sent the contrivance to Bremer¬
haven to be shipped on the Mosel for
New York via Southampton. He him¬
self took passage to the latter port,
where he had arranged to ship his
cases of rubbish for New York. The
Mosel was to leave Bremerhaven on
Saturday, Dec. 11, and on that day
the infernal machine was sent to the
dock, which was crowded with porters,
passengers and their friends. For some
reason that has never been explained
the heavy case slipped from the crane
on to the wharf as it was being lifted
up the ship’s side, and the charge was
instantly exploded. Death and destruc¬
tion were dealt around, 128 men, wo¬
men and children being Instantly
killed, while fifty-six others were ter¬
ribly wounded.
Thomas was waiting on board the
ship to receive his case and see it
stowed away in the hold, but right aft¬
er the explosion he went to his cabin,
locked the door and shot himself in the
head with a revolver.
He lingered for several days in the
hospital and made a full confession be¬
fore he died.—Exchange.
A CRATER TOWN.
Where the Inhabitants Build Ships In¬
side Extinct Volcanoes.
Saba, in the West Indies, is one of
the most extraordinary places in the
world. By courtesy it is called an is¬
land, but it is really nothing more than
the summit of an extinct volcano stick¬
ing up out of the sea.
Inside the crater live the only inhab¬
itants of Saba. They live there because
there is nowhere else for them to live,
the outside slopes being nearly as
steep as the sides of a house.
The place belongs to Holland, and
the people are all Dutch. Nevertheless
they speak English as their native
tongue. They call their crater town
Bottom because It is situated on the
top of a mountain.
Although surrounded on all sides by
the sea, they often spend weeks with¬
out seeing it, for that Involves a long
climb up to the rim of the crater. Still
less frequently do they touch salt
water, because to do so they must, in
addition, climb downward for a dis¬
tance of 1,500 feet by a precipitous
rock hewn path known as “the lad¬
der.”
It Is, however, in regard to their sta¬
ple industry that these Dutch people
who speak English and who live aloft
In a volcano in a summit city called
Bottom reach the extreme of topsy
turveydom. One might imagine them
making balloons or kites or, in fact,
anything but what they do make,
which is ships—not ocean going liners,
but good, serviceable schooners and
luggers, whose repute is great all over
the Windward islands. The ships
when finished have to be hauled up
to the rim of the crater and then
lowered over a precipice into the sea.—
Exchange.
African Pygmies.
The pygmies of Africa, says Captain
Guy Burrows in his “Land of the I*yg
mies,” are masters in the art of hunt¬
ing. They can kill even elephants with
their little bows-and arrows, blinding
the animal first by shooting at its
eyes. Once be is blinded they never
leave him till he falls. A pygmy, I
have no hesitation in saying, eats, as a
rule, twice as much as will suffice a
full grown man. He will take a stalk
containing about sixty bananas, seat
himself and eat them all at a meal, be¬
sides other food. Then he will lie and
groan throughout the night until
morning comes, when he is ready to
repeat the operation.
Error of Judgment.
“I thought, count, you were a dead
shot?”
“I am.”
“And yet, though you said you
would shoot your adversary through
the heart, you hit him In the foot?”
“It was an error of judgment. I
thought his heart was In his boots. It
turned out to be in its right place.”
Wouldn’t Be Convinced.
“Bobson thinks he plays a good game
of bridge.”
“Yes, he does. I spent $27 tlm other
night trying to disabuse 1dm of the
idea—and failed.” — Cleveland Plain
Dealer.
Plenty of It.
“Jedging from the amount of It
killed In this settlement,” remarked a
visitor in I’lunkville, “I persoom there
must be a bounty on time.”—Louisville
Courier-Journal.
THE COVINGTON NEWS
DEMOCRATIC PEERS.
The Hcuse of Peers Not One of Birth
or Ancestry.
Strangely enough, the house of lords
still remains the most democratic in
stitution in England. It may still
claim for itself to be the Witenagemot,
or gathering of wise men, and one
wonders why it does not defend itself
along those lines.
It is not a house of birth or ances¬
try, for it is. composed today to an
overwhelming extent of successful
men from almost every walk of life.
No one cares a fig what a man’s an¬
cestry was in this matter of fact land
if he succeeds, if he becomes rich
ar.4 powerful.
The mother of the great Queen Eliz¬
abeth was the daughter of a plain Eng
lish gentleman.
A pot girl of Westminster married
the master of the pothouse. After his
death she consulted a lawyer named
Hyde. Mr. Hyde married her. Mr.
Hyde afterward became lord chancel
ior, with the title of Lord Clarendon,
and liis wife, the former pot girl, bore
him a daughter. This daughter mar¬
ried the Duke of York and became the
mother of Mary and Anne Stewart,
both afterward queens of England.
It is evident that if queens of Eng¬
land may have a barmaid for grand¬
mother lesser mortals need not fret
on the subject of ancestry.
The Englishman would not be what
he is nor would he in the least be
.
transmitting his very valuable Saxon
heritage if he gave up his democratic
custom of an aristocracy of power for
the feeble continental custom of an
aristocracy of birth. What the one
nml the other is today answers the
question as to the relative merits of
the two systems without need of dis¬
cussion. The English, though nowa¬
days many of them do not know it
themselves, are the most democratic
of all nations.
William the Conqueror divided Eng¬
land among the commanders of his
army and conferred about twenty earl¬
doms. Not one of these exists today,
nor do any of the honors conferred by
William Rufus, 1087-1100; Henry !..
1100-1135; Stephen, 1135-1154; Henry
II., 1154-1189; Richard I., 1189-1199;
nr John. 1199-1210._
PRISONERS OF WAR.
Friendly Foes That Changed Places as
Guests and Hosts.
A cheerful incident of the war be¬
tween the states is told in “Mission
Ridge and Lookout Mountain.” The
Third Ohio, under Streight’s command,
was en route for Richmond, prisoners
of war.
One night they camped, worn, fam
ished, with hearts heavy and bqrne
sick, near the place where a Confeder¬
ate regiment, the Fifty-fourth Virginia,
was stationed. Many of the southern¬
ers strolled over to the prison camp to
see the sorry show of the poor, sup¬
perless Yankees.
They did not stay long. Back to
their own camp they hurried and soon
returned with kettles of coffee, corn
bread, bacon—the best they had and
all they had. Presently little fires be¬
gan to twinkle in the prison camp, and
the aroma of coffee rose like a fra¬
grant cloud of thank offering. Union
guests and Confederate hosts mingled.
The next morning the prisoners de¬
parted.
Now comes a happy sequel which
well balances the affair. Later, when
the prisoners were exchanged, the
Third Ohio was encamped near Kelly’s
ferry, on the banks of the Tennessee.
On the day of the storming of Mis¬
sionary ridge among the prisoners tak¬
en were numbered the Fifty-fourth
Virginia.
Some of the Third Ohio were on
duty at the ferry when the prison do
tachments arrived.
“What regiment is that?” they asked.
When told they started on the run.
shouting as they went:
“The Fifty-fourth Virginia's at the
ferry!”
They dashed into their camp with
the news. The place was astir in¬
stantly. Treasures of coffee, bacon,
sugar, beef, preserved peaches—every¬
thing was turned out and carried
double quick to the ferry. The cir
cumstances were the same, with the
difference that guests and hosts had
changed places.
Genuine Peruvian Guano
Untouched by the Chemist or the cManufactuter 3
For TOBACCO 3 =3
/v, As. COTTON, TRUCK 23 3S
" *
: v* P eruvian Guano Corporation
CHARLESTON, S. C.
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Elaborate SPRING LINES
day shipments of the I
We are receiving every new and elderly and neat and stylish! I
suits of clothes for young men men our line is 4
j cidedly the most nobby of any we h avei I
yet had. j
In Schloss Bros. Clothing we have the three- piece summer
suits ranging in price from $1 7.50 to $25.00.
In Cohen-Goldman two-piece suits the price is anywhere
from $10.00 to $17.50 and these lines embrace the very
heighth of good clothes perfection.
In our Shoe Department you will find
the celebrated Douglass shoes in all the
shapes and styles for men, and the Zeigler
shoe for women.
I CtfBvnohted ***09 ** The most up-to-the-minute line of
SCIU0SS BB0S. ft CO.
fine tloihes Makers Dress Goods in the city. Call and
Baltimore and New York see
these lines. We are sure they will please you in both price and
quality of the goods.
Heard, White 8c Co.
Covington, Georgia
THE WILY COMEDIAN.
His Mixup With a Contract, Legal
Fee and an Opinion.
There was a certain comic opera
comedian who made no end of money
and who scorned anything like osten¬
tatious recklessness In the spending of
it. He was almost morbid on the sub¬
ject, in fact, and there were those who
said that he went to evening instead
of morning service so that be might
have the use of the money he dropped
into the box a little longer. This is by
way of explaining the grief which
once befell him In Cleveland.
Somebody had played an engagement
at a certain theater and had received
a frigid reception, which stage people
call a frost. The comedian wasn’t go¬
ing to run any risks. He wouldn’t
play at the theater unless, a certain
amount of money was promised hiru.
The manager of the theater offered a
j very large percentage of the receipts;
but, oh, dear, no, the wily comedian
wasn’t going to be caught by such
chaff as that. He insisted upon a lump
sum regardless of receipts. The sum
was guaranteed, the contract signed.
The comedian came to town and. stroll¬
ing as if by chance into the box office,
asked how the house was selling.
“Oh,” said the ticket seller, “we sold
every scat in the house ten days ago!”
The comedian’s blood boiled.
“Would,” said he to himself, “oh.
would that I had accepted the percent¬
age! It would have been double what
I get now.”
It was too late, however, to rely on
simple woulding to change matters, so
! he sought the foremost attorney of the
town, showed him the contract and ex¬
pressed his desire to break it and
abide by the customary percentage
plan. Before the attorney would con¬
sent to express an opinion the ques¬
tion of foe came up, and the comedian
handed liim $500. The man at law
then took the paper and examined it.
“My dear sir,” said he, “that con¬
tract can’t possibly be broken. I drew
it up myself.”
It is not told what the temperature
of Cleveland according to the govern¬
ment report was that day, but in the
neighborhood of that comedian things
'airly fizzled.—Washington Star.
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4
We deliver the best Jelico Coal to your residence
promptly at the lowest price and will appreciate your
orders. Better get enough to finish out the winter before
the price advances and the weather gets cold. Office at
j I Heard White & Company.
j A^A<
uiki AiA
IS, Covington, Ce. I
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“MEAT ME AT i
BRUCE & STEPHENS
MEAT MARKET”
There are already a number of people in the city doing just
this thing and they are getting the best fresh meats ever
brought to this market. We handle nothing but the best and
our prices are all to the good. It won’t hurt to give our place
a look when you get hungry, we will be glad to serve you.
BRUCE & STEPHENS |
| At Everitt Building. Phone 90. |