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Queer Notes from the Draper’s
Dictionary.
There are some queer mites of infor
mation to be picked up from the his
tory of almost anything in a draper's
shop. Take, for instance, a child’s
pelisse. Who that is not familiar with
the vagaries of etymology would
think of any connection between such
an article and the white surplice that
has become so prominent an o' ject in
our modern church service ? Yet the
road from one to the other is “plain a->
way to parish church.” A pelisse
was a coat of prepared skin—Latin
pellis, a skin—a fur coat, in fact.
Churchmen who had to perform early
services in cold churches at all times
of the year were wont to wear tiipse
fur coatg or “pellh se ” A synod, our
compiler tells us, held in London in
the year 1200, restricted the black
monks and nuns to the use of lamb,
cat and fox skins, with the view of
preventing the spread of luxury in
dress. It may be easily uuderstoud
that, at a time when godliness and
uncleanliness were to a great extent
identical, those pelli se would in time
get decidedly unpleasant both to the
eve and nose, and as a means of miti
gating these objsotions somewhat,
linen tunics or mp°,r pelliccB were
adopted, and from this to the abbrevi
ated “surplice” the progress would be
easy. This suggests a very interesting
reflection upon the important doctri
nal significance which has been com
monly attached to this very decent
and appropriate church vestment.
Another dip into the dictionary
bring? before us some curious phases
of our forefathers. We light on the
word “counterpane,” which, we are
told, is a corruption of counter
point, derived from the French contre
pointe or point contrcpoinle—stitch
agaiust stitch—denoting something
sewn on both sides. And then our
author proceeds to give us some ac
count of the sleeping habits of ancient
times in this country. “Our Saxon
ancestors,” he says, “were not so nice
in their night garments as we are,” a
statement which he immediately fol
lows up by observing that, as a matter
of fact, they had no night garments,
which reminds one somewhat of Dr.
Harrebrowe’s famous chapter on
“Snakes in Iceland,” where, the doc
tor at once proceeds to observe, there
are no snakes. The Saxons required
their under-garments for other pur
poses than wearing by night. The
servants, it seems, were accustomed to
put out their candles by throwing
their chemises at them, a humorous
practice which saved the cost of ex
tinguishers, and did not always set
the house on fire, though we are told
it was “denounced.” As good people
in those days slept without night gar
ments, the counterpanes were padded,
and the padding stitchi d in by diag
onally crossing lines resembling the
panes of church windows. Hence it
has been supposed “counterpoint”
became “counterpane.” He would be
a learned draper who should thor
oughly appropriate the contents of this
new dieti mary. Wnether his schol
arly stores would conduce to the effici
ency of his business management we
are unable to decide. It is quite con
ceivable that in the learned days to
come a shopman who could discourse
volubly ou the farthingales and fur
belows of the Middles Ages, or could
trace back the cloak iu its various
forms and phases to the Norman in
vasion, would have a peculiar fascina
tion for ladies in blue spectacles, and
it may be that such a salesman would
command a higher price in the market
than one who could merely pass
the usual commonplaces upon the
weather. At present, however, inter
esting as this volume before U3 un
doubtedly is, it cau hardly be recoin
mended for ha if-holiday study.
A Strarge Cure.
I was ferried across the Dart on
June 17 last by a man about sixty
years of age, who had always lived in
the name village, on the right haul of
the river. He told me that in his
childhoi.d he had the “king’s evil;”
and his parents, having tried all the
doctcs in the district, but without the
least advantage, were at length pre
vailed oh to place a dead toad in a silk
case, and to cover that with broad
tape. “This,” said my informant, “I
put on when I was nine, and I wore
it on the pit of my stomach, round my
neck, for ten years; end it made a
perfect oure. I’ve to bless the day
when I first wore that toad.”
Gladstone says the fear of becoming
ridiculous is the best guide in life.
Ladies who follow the fashion are
without a guide.
Stories of the Turf.
It is related of Jack Mytton the elder
—ono of the wildest and most reckle-s
madcaps that ever charged a bullfinch
or took the dice-box in hand—that
upon one occasion he won a very large
stake at Doncaster Races. In those
days every patron of the Turf who
could afford a post-chaise and four
horses disdained to employ any hum
bier conveyance, and it was said of
“Squire Mytton” that wb ;n he died
in 1834, every post-boy in England be
wailed the loss of his best customer.
“The Druid” tells us that when the
“Sailor King” was on the throne, and
during the first years of her gracious
Majesty’s reign, the post-chaises at
C neater ford—the first stage out from
Newmai ket—were never at rest, and
upon the death of Mr. George
Payne, in September, l->78, it was
computed by one who knew him welt
that he had spent more money iu post-
horses than would have sufficed to
provide a competency for a moderate
fuan. Reverting, however, to “Jack
Mytton,” it will readily be believed
that, haying come to Doncaster iu a
post-chaise and four, he was not likely
to leave the racing metropolis of the
North in any other vehicle, after he
had undergone w hat was to him the
strange experience of winning a laige
sum of money. In those remote times,
when posts were slow, and the deliv
ery of letters uncertain, it was the
uniform practice of racing men, w ith
one exception, to settle at Doncaster.
Tue exception to which we allude was
that of the once celebrated b lokmaker,
“Crutch R ibinson,” who was in the
habit, when he could, of drawing
what was due to him from customers
who had lost, but of saying to those
who had won from him, ‘I settles in
Lunnon.” When “Jack Mytton”
was so fortunate as for once to spoil
the Egyptians, or as they were then
called, “the Greeks,” at Doncaster, he
set off for his home at Halston, Shrop
shire, with his pockets full of notes.
The rest of the story had best be told
in the words of Charles James Apper-
ley, his biographer. “I have reason
to believe,” says Mr. Apperley, “that
the money Mr. Mytton had at various
times lost—not at play, for there I
should say he was borne harmless, as
he was a very dangerous oppone nt of
the table when he took the dice-box in
hand—would have puichased a pretty
estate. I am afraid to say what was
the amount of bank-notes that were
blown one night out of his carriage on
his road home from Doncaster races,
but I have reason to believe it was
several thousand pounds. His ac
count of the affair was that he had
been counting a large sum in bank
notes upon the seat of his carriage, in
which he w r as seated alone, with all
the windows down. He fell asleep
and did not wake until the night was
far spent, his servant who sat behind
in the dickey paying all the charges
on the road. An equinoctial gale
sprang up suddenly and carried a
great part ot the notes aw T ay, sweeping
them out of the open windows of the
post chaise. It was always h's custom
to have a large sum of money in his
writing desk, but it was more than
usually large at this time, as in addi
tion to winning at the races he had
broken the banks of two well-known
London ‘hells’ on the eve of his de
parture for Doncaster.”
“Jack Myttous” are scarce; but,
within the memory of many still liv
ing, the son of the mad Squire cf Hal
ston rivalled many of his reckless
father’s freaks. Thus, the younger
Jack Mytton once had a commission
to lay against a horse who was a lead
ing favorite for the Derby in Pyrrhus
the First's year. Thinking that it
would enable him to lay more money
If he feigned to be half-drunk, he
sprang upon one of the brown tables
at Limmer’s Hotel when the c«ifee-
room at that famous sporting-tryst
was filled with visitors one night after
dinner. When Jack Mytton hud
laid as much money upon parole as he
could get credit for, he ran upstairs to
his bed-room and returned with sev
eral notes for £1,000 each iu his hand,
and proceeded to lay upon what he
called “ready-money principles.”
“Perhaps I was not quite so drunk as
they thought,” he afterwards remark
ed to a friend. In tiuth, the "ready
money business” of the turf would af
ford materials for many a chapter
worthy to be added to such books as
“Post and Paddock” or “Silk and
Scarlet,” if only a master-hand were
available for the purpose of arranging
them. Thus it might be told that one
of the most famous jockeys of a cen
tury since, Dick Goodison, was al
ways in the habit ot carrying a £500
note ubout with him, because he had
once missed a good bet through Inabil
ity to post the money. A place might
be found for the story of the York
shire blackleg who repaired to an
auction-room where an estate was
about to be put up, a; d had it knocked
down to him for a big sum. Perceiv
ing the man’s rough attire, aud the
fact that wisps of hay were twined
round his legs, the auctioneer naiur
ally demanded that a substantial de
posit should be paid do wu. “Here is
the cock-bird,” exclaimed the pur
chaser, as lie pulled qut a bank-note
for one hundred thousand pounds,
“and I’ve got the old hen at home.”
Among the many stories told about
Derby settlings, it might be remember
ed that when Sir Joseph Hawlejq for
the second year in succession, von the
great Epsom race with Musjid in 1859,
he requested his bankers to keep their
doors open a little later than usual, in
order that he might carry thither the
harvest he had garnered at Tatter-
sail’s, and deposit it with Messrs.
Child before night fell. A gentleman
who was once a prominent figure upon
every race course, and is still living,
although he lias retired from the turf,
might be consulted upon an incident
which befel him many years ago at
Goodwood. He was making a book
upon one of the races, and offered to
lay one thousand to three hundred
upon the field. “I’ll take it, sir,” was
exclaimed by a well-dressed, gentle
manly man standing just behind him,
aud, anxious to do business, he con
sented to book the bet, which he won.
Oa the following Monday at Tatter-
sail’s he i a?erly awaited the advent of
his debtor, who, as the clock struck
five, rushed hurriedly into the room.
Apologizing for the delay, ou the plea
that his train had broken down, he
pulled out a note for one thousand
pounds aud asked for ehange, which
was gladly given, and away went the
sharp customer with his seven thous-
dred pounds. Upon paying the one
thousand pound note into his banker’s
hands the astonished bookmaker was
told that it was a stolen note, and that
payment of it had been stopped at the
Bank of England. These and many
other stories of a like kind would well
repay their collector for his trouble iu
disinterring them.
In a Strange Market.
The market for the harvest gathered
in the streets of New York is some
what dull at present, as many of the
producers are out of town, resting by
the wayside and visiting farm houses.
Thedemaddis fair, and dealers expect a
livelier business in the fall. The follow
ing are the latest quotation, the piice
per pound being given in each case:
Old rubber overshoes and boots, 2
cents; broken glass,} cent; hemp string,
3 eents ; rags, 4 cents ; • paper, } to 1 $
cents; lead, 4 cents ; brass, 9 cents ;
copper, 12 cents; old stoves pipes, J
cent; nails, old kettles and all old iron,
£ cent; tin, } cent; old boots and shoes,
} cent. The supply of tin is very
large, arid the market is glutted.
“What is done with old tin?” a
wholesale dealer was asked.
“It is cast into sa'sh- a eights.”
“How is the market for old bones?”
“Fair, but quiet; prices rather firm
now at 30 cents a bushel. Bones is
,iigh, I reckon, ’cause bee is high, but
i tell you they must come down. Shin
and knee bones uf prime quality de
mand better prices ; but if beef don’t
come down they’ll kill the market by
this Yankee bone—hand-made bone,
like. ”
“You mean celluloid?”
“You’ve got it now. It’s just as
good for buttons and knife-handles.”
“What is the most popular article in
your line?”
“Bottles, of course. Soda-water and
beer bottles are worth a cent each ;
sometimes they run up to two cents.
Champagne bottles bring more. They
are sent back to be filled again.”
‘ Shipped back tc Europe?”
“Now, don’t. Yes, yes to Europe;
but ou acoount of the strikes they
don’t get further nor Hoboken.”
“ What becomes of the old shoes?”
“Sent to the mills. What rniils?
Pepper mills— them that’s poor. Oh,
they make tine pepper if well roasted.
The others go to the sole leather mills.
They are ground up aud pressed into
sole leather. Big business while beef
is high.”
Old straw is worth 05 cents a hun
dred weight; hardware paper, 90 oenis;^
newspapers, $1.70 ; light print paper,
$1; manilla paper, $2.12} ; mixed rags,
$2, aud all-wool rags, $5. Careful junk
dealers, who assort their wares ready
for remanufacture, make a good profit.
Some of them ure very rich men.
Domiciliary Visits in Russia,
There is a sound that strikes with a
weird and unplea a5 int effect upon the
ear not well inured to the everyday
noises of the Russian capital. You
generally hear it during part of the
two hours that immediately succeed
midnight. First there is a tramp of
heavy feet resounding along the cor
ridor. Then, if j ou listen am nttvely,
you may detect the jingle of spurs, snd
the occasional voices of n en. For a
while the noise continue 3 , aud it may
either cease suddenly or die awav in
some part of the building too remote
for it to bo traced to tbe point of cessa
tion. But it you follow, trusting to
your audacity aud powers of conceal
mei t, you may easily learn the char
acter and purpose of your disturbers,
'’’he light from a lantern carried by
one of tlie party shows it to be a body
of police headed by a military otli i<r.
The nocturnal visitors pause before
the door of au apartment indicated by
their leader, aud, after some little
knocking oblain ei trance, the occu
pant is requested to rise and drees
While he does so, the police peer into
every box and cupboard, examine
every book and tui n over every leaf,
pry beneath sofas, search beneath car
pets—rummage the apartment as com
pletely as custom-house i fficirs rum
mage a vessel suspected of contraband
trade. And when the occupant—
half blinded by the lignt, and terrified
in proportion to his consciousness of
guilt—has hastily cast on his attire,
the examination of his bed begins.
The mattress is turned over, the sheets
separated, aud the pillow.’ explored.
The search over the poll e re’ire, car
rying with them all printed matter of
a compromising character, a? well as
any letters or written documents too
long to be examined on the spot. The
“domiciliary visit” is thus over, yet it
by no means terminates with the de
parture of the midnight intruders.
Occasionally—that is to say where
there is obvious guilt—the occupant of
the apartment is removed in custody,
and, even when his criminality is not
immediately evident he is practically
under arrest until the close ot the in
vestigation. The process is precisely
the fame in the case of females, and
illness is one of the last things that
can be pleaded in postponement of the
search.
The promoters of the Nihilistic pro, -
aganda occasionally iuflict the most
serious consequences upon members ol
society perfectly inuocentof Socialistic
or revolutionary tendencies. Seditious
pamphlets are distributed in thousands
at a time, andug often enon the post
man is employed to convey them to
their destinations. The discovery of
one of these pamphlets in a room or
house amply suffices to briDg the occu
pier into the hands of the police. Thus
it was with M. Vinovich, a rising
young barrister of St. Petersburg.
During his absence from home some
body had pushed a revolutionary pam
phlet into his letter-box. The police
found it there, aud M. Vinovich’s re
turn was the signal for his arrest. He
knew nothing ot thepamphletandhad
not authorized anyone to send it to
1*im, yet he was thrown into prison.
His friends were not long in establish-
i lg his innocence, and at the end of
three weeks he was set at liberty.
But it was then too late. He had
gone mad.
The audacity with which they are
made is by no means the least start
ling of the characteristics of false de
nunciatiwns. Take, lor example, the
case of Boolab .sh, the mayor of a
small town in the Ekaterinsky gov
ernment. This functionary—whose
name, by the way, has had the honor,
or the ignominy, of adding a new verb
to the Russian language—took offence
against two apparently respectabe
citizens, aud formally denounced them
to the police. The usual domiciliary
visitation was made, but it yielded
nothing in support of the accusation
of “political infidelity” (neb lagona-
d< zhnost). The mayor was thereupon
aBked for his proofs. He promptly
got Into the witness-box and swore
that on the evening of a certain day,
which he named, he saw tbe two ac
cused posting revolutionary placards.
He did more —he produced printed
copies of the placards, and trium
phantly asked for a couvlotion. The
accused were, in fact, committed to
prison, aud had the case rested solely
on the statement of Boolabash, they
would have been ultimately banished
to Siberia. But mark the sequel. The
matter was not allowed to remain
where the mayor’s evidenoe had left
it. An investigation took place, aud
it was established not only that the
accusation was a false one, but that
Boolabash had actually got the revo
lutionary placards printed in older to
ruin the innocent victims of his tyr-
rauy. ;n a case like this one is tempted
more to enjoy the di-emnfiture and
disgrace of the mayor who was
stripped of all his dignities as a func
tionary, as well as of his rights as a
I citizen, than to dwell much ou the
! tardy justice meted out to those made
to sufL r at his hands. And the teuip-
tatiou wiil be ail the stronger when it
is remember that punishment very
rarely follows in the wake of these un
founded denunciations. This two
residents of a country district near
Ka^an found out to their cost. Living
quiet aud harmless live u , spending
t leir time mainly in agriculture, they
seemed the last persons in the world
likely to conspire against the Czar’s
Government. Yet they were de
nounced. Their house was ransacked,
and both were conveyed prisoners a
di t’inoe of i 500 versts in order to
be present at au investigation, which
resulted in the completest proof being
afforded of their innocence. For a
blunder of this kind one would rh>nk
somebody should be made respo sible.
Ugly cases of this kind, liowe> , are
quietly “dropped” by the Russ m po
lice It occasionally happens, too,
that they look on with approval at a
compromise. This they did at Kiry-
loff’, in tbe government of Novgorod,
under singular circumstances. Here
the denouncer was a priest named
ltubinoff, and the “suspect” a well-
known teai’her in one of the popular
schools. The zealous cleric formulated
no fewer than six denunciations, ad
dressing one to the district educational
council, another to the marshal of no
bles, a third to the school inspector,
a fourth to the school dirtetor a fifth
to the provincial council of education,
and a sixth to the governor of the pro
vince. The case looked black for the
suspect under this terrible array of in-
dictments, and, had it taken a merely
ordinary course, the prayer of the ec
clesiastic. would have been granted,
and the schoolmaster prohibited from
further exerci ing pedagogic functions.
But the zeal and intelligence of a
school inspector gave the case a differ
ent aspect and in the end the six de
nunciations were shown to possess
no further foundation in fact than the
feeling and hatred which brought
them into being. Yet no punishment
followed. The affair took a decidedly
comic turn. At the wish of the school,
the injured pedagogue shook hands
with the priest, who is said to have
displayed leady willingness to be
“reconciled.”
The Dispensary.
Apples.—A more extensive use of
apples aa food at out meals, remarks
Dr. J. H. Hanaford, will do much to
diminish dyspepsia aud biliousness.
They are “loosening,” and therefore
tend to remove constipation—a promi
nent cause of digestive derailment.
The acid of this fruit—one of the very
best known in aid of digestion—acts
favorably on the liver, causing it to se
crete the bile, which is nature’s
cathartic, thus preventing this consti
pation. While eating them between
meals must derange the stomach—
like the use of all food at that time—
they are real’yavery valuable f oil,
demanded especially in warm weather.
They may be too cooling in the cold
est weather, while the more acid ber
ries are better^Ln the spiing and sum
mer.
Quantity of Food—If children
are very hearty eaters their food should
be ot the simplest kind, and thus pre
vent eating more than the system
really needs. The tirsi reason for con
suming food should be necessity, and
the second may be the gratification of
the appetite. Usually children have
appetites so strong that they need no
stimulants, no condiments, as spie s,
pepper or mustard. These articles
should be reserved for failing appetites
of debility and age. They are useful
only by way of increasing the appetite
aud promoting the dull digestion of
what is eaten. They may stimulate
the nervous system, aud should be
avoided i?i all inflammatory tenden
cies of the system. The excessive use
of syrups, sugar aud molasses may
induce fermentation iu the stomach
and long canal. In moderate quanti
ties they are useful, aud sometimes
are strongly needed. Articles pre
served in syrup should be sparingly
taken, as they are usually uot easy of
digestion. Since health aud growth
demand that the amount of food
should vary with the amount of exer
cise, the kinds of food should be suoh
as may supply the needs of the system;
the amount of food should be no more
than oau be easily digested.