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THE CUCKOO. Curious Superstitions That Are Con¬ nected With the Bird. There is a popular belief that what¬ ever one is doing when first one hears the cuckoo that will be what one will most frequently do during the year. In many parts of Scotland and in the northern counties of England people turn their money in their pockets on hearing the first call of the cuckoo, as this, they say, insures a lucky year. In the counties bordering in Wales not only do they do this, but they also have a wish at the same time, this wish being kept secret, of course. To have a gold coin in one's pocket when the cuckoo's call is first heard insures good luck for the rest (*f the year. The German peasants declare that aft¬ er St. John’s day the bird changes into a sparrow hawk. The Danes have a curious legend re¬ garding this bird. When the village girls hear its first call they kiss their hands and repeat, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, when shall I be married?" As many times as the bird calls '‘cuckoo” in an¬ swer, so many years will the maiden have to wait. The old folk, bent and bowed with rheumatism and age, ask instead, “Cuckoo, cuckoo, when shall I be released from this world’s cares?” and the answer comes in ihe same way. So occupied is the poor bird in answering these questions, say the Danes, that she never has time to build her nest, so is forced to lay her eggs in the nest of another bird.—Danet. The Lace Curtain. Just why there must be lace curtains even where there is no piano or rubber plant or gilt chair has never been ex¬ plained to the entire satisfaction of man. He only knows that there must and lets it go at that. It often seems to him that if he could have his way, which is out of the question, of course, there wouldn’t be lace curtains, at least above the cellar floor. They are in the way when windows are to be lowered or raised; they are apt to blow into tlie gas and burn down the house, and alarm is constantly sounded for fear the man will soil or tear them. They do not serve to keep out tho light when there is too much of it, and the dog can’t toast himself in the sun without getting tangled In them. Still, there are lace curtains every¬ where, and that is all there is to it.— '‘rovldence Tribune. The Lark’s Song. A writer on “The Wonders of the Spring" says that the volume of sound produced by the skylark is most won¬ derful. “The lark ascends until it ap¬ pears no larger than a midge and can with difficulty be seen by the unaided eye, and yet every note of its song will be clearly audible to persons who are fully half a mile from the nest over which the bird utters its song. Moreover, it never ceases to sing for a monlent, a feat which seems won¬ derful to us human beings, who find that a song of six or seven minutes in length, though interspersed with rests and pauses, is more than trying. Vet this bird will pour out a continuous song of nearly twenty minutes in length and all the time has to support itself in the air by the constant use of its wings.” *2 I >2 New Racket Store « | New spring and summer goods are here, I Have added several new lines. COME AND SEE THEM. | Same big cash values as we have al | ways given you. Remember new goods | of the season arriving every few days ands marked at the lowest spot eash | prices Yours truly, 1 J. I. Guinn, Govigtrion, jjj i >2 I 1 Georgia, Vfl *if V V V V ‘i* ti* V 'i* V • • v *;< £<• «£• •£« «£• I NICE FRESH GROCERIES You will always find at my store as nice and fresh Gro¬ ceries as can be found in the city, and when you purchase them from me I make it a point to get them to your home just as quick as it is possible for me to do it. FRESH MEATS I also have in connection with my store a first class Meat Market and can furnish you with the choice kind of Meats you like so well. Giveme an order. I will appreciate it and will try to please you. Cigars aud Tobacco, Cash Paid for Hides. R. F. Wright, Covington, Georgia. NATION OF SAVERS. Frenchmen Are Thrifty and Invest In Government Bonds. If you were a Frenchman with a very small surplus to invest, if even that surplus were but a modest franc, you might become the holder of a French government bond. From the cradle to the grave the French sub¬ ject is taught to save and to turn his earnings into safe income producing account, says Charles Speare in the Review of He views. The state pays a premium on thrift. It rewards its school children for vari¬ ous good performances with a tluy bank deposit which invariably will have grown into goodly size when the recipient has reached maturity. Hav¬ ing nursed its people through the early stages of economy, it directs their steps in the choice of investments and even assumes paternal power in arbi¬ trarily transforming the savings bank account into government bonds or rentes. Thrift is a national charac¬ teristic. France is a nation of little savers, of little incomes and of little farms. Collectively these exercise a tremen¬ dous power on the affairs of Europe. The holder of the one or two franc bond and the possessor of the bank account, so small that bankers of oth¬ er countries would scorn it, have built up a monetary power that commands the respect of the world ancf indeed regulates the finances and politics of much more presumptuous nations. Bonds of states and governments, of railroads with a government guaran¬ tee, bonds of cities and towns, of mort¬ gage companies, are the Frenchman's choice. It is safe to say that in Baris coupons are cut from the bonds of nearly every government under the sun. A GREWSOME BEQUEST. Extraordinary Legacy by the Father of Lord Audley. Probably the most grewsome be¬ quest ever named in a will was that made by Philip .Thicknesse, a dissipat¬ 'd Englishman, who died in 1702. Some years before bis death he had quarrel¬ ed bitterly with his son. Lord Audley. and to spite him had placed on the Dutside of the family mansion a hoard bearing this inscription in large black letters; “Boots and shoes mended, carpets beat, etc., etc., by P. Thicknesse, fa¬ ther of Lord Audley.” Finding he was about to die, he sent for bis lawyer and drew up a will con¬ taining the following extraordinary clause; “I leave my right hand, to be cut off after my death, to my sou, Lord Audley. I desire it may be sent to him in hopes that such a sight may remind him of his duty to God after having so long abandoned the duty he owed to a father who once so affectionately loved him.” The dead man’s wishes were scrupu¬ lously carried out, and his severed hand, inclosed in a hermetically sealed leaden casket, was forwarded to his sou. There As no record as to how Lord Audley received his unwelcome legacy or how he disposed of it.—New York Press. THE COVINGTON NEWS ESAW WOOD And the Story of the Saw Esaw Saw . Saw Wood. Esaw Wood sawed Wood. Esaw Wood would saw wood! All the wood Esaw Wood saw Esaw Wood would saw. in other words, all the wood Esaw saw to saw Esaw sought to saw. Oil, the wood Wood would saw! And oh, the wood saw with which Wood would saw wood. But one day Wood’s wood saw would saw no wood, and thus tho wood Wood sawed was not the wood Wood would saw if Wood's wood saw would saw wood. Now, AVood would saw wood with a wood saw that would saw wood, so Esaw sought a saw that would saw wood. One day Esaw saw a saw saw wood as no other wood saw Wood saw would saw- wood. In fact, of all the wood saws Wood ever saw saw wood Wood never saw a wood saw that would saw wood as the wood saw AVood saw saw wood would saw wood, and I never saw a wood saw that would saw as the wood saw AVood saw would saw until I saw Esaw AVood saw wood with the wood saw AVood saw saw wood. Now AVood saws wood with the wood saw AVood saw saw wood. Oh, the wood the wood saw Wood saw would saw-! Oh, the wood AVood’s woodshed would shed when Wood would saw wood with the wood saw Wood saw saw wood! Finally, no man may ever know how much wood the wood saw* Wood saw’ would saw if the wood saw AVood saw would saw all the wood the wood saw Wood saw would saw.—Woman’s Home Companion. A PLUCKY LAWYER. The Way Stewart Returned a Des¬ perado's Threat. “The late Senator Stewart believed in muscular Christianity, and many a rough and tumble tight did he have in the old days in California and Nevada,” said a California congressman. “He was not quarrelsome, but be was never known to run away from an encounter, and as he was a powerful man piiysically there were not many who were keen to tackle him. On .one occasion a noted desperado -was inter¬ ested in a mining suit and sent word to Stewart, who was attorney for the other side, that if he appeared to argue the ease he might count on being killed. The fellow had slain half a dozen men, but his threat in nowise intimidated the plucky young lawyer. The desperado had a well known sys¬ tem of hiding a pistol in his coat pock¬ et and shooting his man without open¬ ly drawing the weapon. This, Stewart knew, and so when he walked into the courtroom the first thing he did was to lay down a bowie knife about a foot and a half long and a six shooter as big as a young cannon on the table direct¬ ly in front of him. Then, sternly eying the bad man, he said: ‘I hear you mean to kill me if I argue this case. That’s a game two can play at. That pistol you have in your coat isn’t worth a cent against this layout. The minute you put your right hand in your pocket I’ll send a bullet into you, and if that doesn’t finish you this knife will.’ “An old miner who was present and told me the story said the fellow turn¬ ed white as a sheet and slunk out of the courtroom to appear no more.”— Baltimore American. To Improve Flight. During a big Presbyterian conven¬ tion in 18(35 a rhetorical Scotchman from Ohio got the floor. His speech w’as replete with mingled humor and sarcasm. In the course of it, says the Rev. Galusha Anderson in a book en¬ titled “A Border City During the Civil AA'ar,” he made this remark about his own eloquence: “The speech of the brother from this city brought to my mind an experience of my school days. I wrote an ora¬ tion and handed it to my teacher. “AVhen he had examined it he called me to him and said: “ ‘Taylor, if you would only pluck a few feathers from the wings of your imagination and stick them Into the tail of your judgment you would write a good deal better.’ ” The Best Part of the Speech. Young James had never heard his papa speak in public, and it was thought time to take him to hear his father deliver a lecture. During the evening a stray dog which ventured upon the platform was disposed of as gracefully as possible. On the way home James was asked how he liked his father’s lecture and gave the an¬ swer, “It was all right, papa, but I liked the part where you put the dog out the best.”—Delineator. When Real Knowledge Comes. “Mamma,” asked a little girl, “how long did you know papa before you married hiift?” “My dear,” replied the mother, “I was acquainted with your father for several years, but I really didn’t know him until after we were married!” The Boy and the Professor, “I was mimicking Professor Bore yesterday, and he caught me.” “AVhat did he say?” “Told me to stop making a fool of myself.” Hope. “Hope,” said Uncle Eben, “is a bless in’ when you’s willin’ to back it wif a , little hard work, ’stid o’ lettin’ it play itself out on a policy ticket.”—Wash¬ ington Star. Enjoyment stops where Indolence begins.—Pollock. PROFITS CUT ALL TO PIECES ON PIANOS J - ..« .« if L .__ ■ratf li Ml ft } i : T Jw >• t ' • J 3 * Ten or Fifteen Different Makes. $10 Profit HA'IMll.l on Factory iilAWllilAii Prices. iiiii.M : I lllft See This Line Before You Make ■f K Jk :.,ippn U, -MGI ilil* Your Purchase. * It Means Money To you. % ■c; f|s H3-1IL V • * ; __ k . ■ •: ‘i. »' l." : < HARWELL, C. A. ■ J'iliHiijy Leader In f I Furniture and Undertaking O i in t * U: j Covington, Ga. '* ____■ e in. ( r> trf 4 - A f. it »j v m Straws AND Panamas. «» i Cali around and look at our new Lids. Straws==they’re here ga= lore. Yatch and Milans $1.00 to $3.50. • Hi*; <• All the best shapes in Panamas== $5.00 to $10.00 Try a B. V. 1). Union Suit. LEE BROTHERS.