The Sylvania telephone. (Sylvania, Ga.) 1879-current, October 05, 1880, Image 1

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The Sylvania Telephone. C. II. MEDLOCK, Editor and Purusiier. VOL. II. Good-Fellowship. A pilgrim once, upon his way Grew weary at the close of day, And feeling on his eyelids oreep The gentle drowsiness of sleep, Dropped down upon the mossy ground At last, in restful ness profound. But, as he rose and onward trod, He noticed that a single sod Of earth, on which his lootsteps fell, Exhaled a most delicious smell. Said he; “ What magic spell is her# To so enrioh the atmosphere ? No common earth is this, I know, To sweeten, by its oreiflow, So broad a space beneath the sky, And periume all who pass it by!” The broken earth, in simple trust, Replied: “I am but worthless dust; But once a rose out of my breast Shone iorih—its loveliness confessed— And so my oonseerated mold Was by another’s worth controlled.” ’l'is so with men, who fall or rise, Often by kindred ministeries; And that ihey do not downward slip, They owe to goad-companionship. —From the Persian, by Joel Benton. CHANGING- HIS MIND. “lama miserable man,” said Cyrus Maddox, gloomily, “and it is best that the world should be rid of my presence. No one cares for me.” “ Oh, don’t say that, uncle,” said Liz zie Silver, beseechingly. “ You know bow I love you. You are the only friend I have in the world, and if you were to die, what would become of me?” “I suppose young Guy Cheevers would console you for my loss,” said Mr. Maddox, grimly. “ AS «ny rate, I don’t care. I will end my troubles and sorrows to-morrow at twelve o’clock.” And with these fearful words, he strode out of the room, leaving Lizzie sobbing, with her curly black head resting on a dinner plate. “ What’j the matter now, Bess? Has the milliner disappointed you in the love of a bonnet?” asked a warm, hearty ,-moe i - rrfcli.b the “ young Guy Cheevers,” as Mr. Maddox called him—as that gentleman strode into the room. “Oh, Gus,” sobbed Lizzie, “Uncle Cyrus is going to die to-morrow at twelve o'clock.” “ How do you know?” asked Guy. “ He said so.” “ But how does he know?” “ He’s going to kill himself.” “ So as to make himself a true prophet, eh?” asked Guy, laughing. “Oh, Guy, don’t joke!” cried L ! zzie, tearfully. “He will; I know he will.” “I doubt it,” said Guy, skeptically. “ But he has tried to commit suicide several times,” persisted Lizzy, tear fully. “ Ouee he tried to smother him self with burning charcoal, bat he for got to stop up the keyhole, and I smelt the smoke, and got some neighbors to break open the door and save him. Then he tried to hang himself, but the cord broke, and he fired a pistol at him self, but he forgot to put any ball in it, so that failed, and then—” “Gracious!” cried Guy, a3 Lizzie stopped for want of breath, “ what a determined man he must be. Such per severance deserves to be rewarded. Have you any idea what plan he will try next?” “ I’m sure I don’t know,’ ’ said Lizzie, mournfully. “Something dreadful, I suppose-” “But what uoes he want to make away with himself for?” asked Guy, wonneringly. “Why, he says, he is a miserable man, a burden to every one, and that life has no joys for him, and that he is weary of this world—” “And so would .ike to try the next?” said Guy. “Perhapshe won’t find it as pleasant as the one he is quitting. What an unreasonable man he must be. He i3 rich, talented, healthy, and has a very pretty niece ’’—here, in a moment of ab straction, he allowed his arm to wander around Miss Silver’s waist—“and what more can he want? But some people never are satisfied. It seems he is de termined to pry into futurity, and it seems a pity to d sappoint so laudable an ambition; but duty—duty to myself compels me to interfere. I dislike scandal or excitement. A corner’s jury would cause both, therefore we must balk his little game,” “ But how will you do it?" asked Liz zie, curiously. “A prudent general,” said Guy, haughtily, “never confides his plans to his army, particularly when that army is of the feminine gender—so excuse me; mum’s the word; but rest assured, my dear Elizabeth, that unless your worthy uncle shuffles off this mortal coil in a surreptitious manner before twelve o’clock to-morrow, he will not do it afterward—of course, I mean illegally. Farewell till to morrow.” Having concluded this address, Guy strode off in a tragic manner, leaving Rizzie greatly surprised, but still quite SYLVANIA, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1880. reassured, for in her opinion what Guy could not do was not worth doing. The next morning Mr. Maddox made his appearance very saturnine and gloomy, and ate his breakfast with a mournful air that was terribly impres sive. Having finished eating, he then took leave of his niece in a feeling man ner. “ I am about to leave you,” he said, mournfully. “ I am about to put an end to this miserable life. I hope that you may ever be happy.” ‘‘Oh, don't go,” said Lizzie, tearfully • clinging to him and looking up into his face pleadingly. “It’s useless,” said Mr. Maddox, firmly. “ My mind is fixed, and noth ing you may say can persuade me to relin quish my purpose. But you, my dear child, shall not be unprovided for. I, .intend to make my will in the few nours that are left me, and you will not be forgotten. Good-bye, my dear child farewell!” and then, after embracing his niece fervently, Mr. Miliox rumed from the room frantically anl securely locked himself in his own room, and began to prepare himself for his last j jurney. “ Nine o’clock,” he said to himself, looking at his watch, “ Three hours yet, Enough to do all I have to do. r'irsf, to make my will.” The last will aad testament of Mr. Cyrus M i idox was evidently not a long one, as it wa3 finished in an hour. “ Eleven o’clock,” said M r. Maddox, ‘‘and I have finished. How slow the time passes, to be sure. Now what shall I do uutil twelve o’clock, for I am determined not to die until noon—” A knock at the door. •‘Go away,” cried Mr. Maddox, an grily. “ You can’t come in.” “I am very sorry to disagree with you,” said a voice outside the door, “ but Pcan come in. I have a duplicate key here, and if you don’t open the door I will.” Air. Maddox rose and unlocked the d< or savagely, and Mr. Guy Cheevers walked into the room, carrying an ob long box under his arm. He placed the box on the table and then took a seat opposite Mr. Maddox and^stared “What *<lo blandly at warn?” him. ttsked Mr. you Maddox, fiercely. “ D on’t you see that I am engaged?” “Oh, I know,” said Guy, “what you are about to do. Don’t think that I’m going to interfere; not at all. But be fore you make your quietus, I wish to ask you a few questions. Have you provided for your niece’s future wel fare?” • What’s that to you?” r Considerable. I am about to marry Miss Silver, so her interests are natur ally mine.” “ Then she is provided for amply.” “Thank you for your information. Very glad to hear it. And .ow, excuse tbe apparent impertinence of the ques tion, but where is your will?” “Here,” said Mr. Maddox, laying his hand on it. “Suppose you give it to me to take care off? ’ “Give it to you. Why, pray?” “It might become misplaced,” ex claimed Guy. “I’ll keep it myself,” said Mr. Mad dox, roughly. “ Then just leave a memorandum on tbe table,” said Guy, earnestly, “to tell where it is. It will save trouble, per haps.” “Get out,” cried Mr. Maddox, an grily. “Ah, I see,” said Mr. Cheevers, coolly, “ in a hurry to begin. Well, I won’t detain you, but I have a little sug tion to offer.” “ It is this,” said Guy. “ Miss Silver informs me that you have made several previous efforts to cut short your troubles and your breath, and always unsuccessfully. Now, it seems tome, you don’t go the right way about it. This box,” and here he opened the box before alluded, “ contains several little plans that I think might please you. Here’s one,” and he showed a little steel instrument. “ What’s that?” asked Mr. Maddox, curioudy. “ This,” said Guy, “ is an article that you can place around your neck like a collar, then, by striking your hand on the left side of your neck, a sharp spike is driven right into your jugular vein—” “But that would kill me,” said Mr, Maddox, staring. “Well, ain’t that what you want P” demanded Guy, sternly. “Now here’s another,” he wen ton. “ Here’s a wheel, you observe. You place this band around your neck, pass it under the wheel, and give it two or three turns, then let go. The recoil will twist your head almost off your shoulders—kill you to a certainty. Mr. Maddox stared at him with un feigned horror. “ Then,” went on Guy, coolly, “ here’s a little package—a torpedo. It contains nitro-glycerina. You place it in your mouth, snap your teeth on it, and off goes your head, smashed .into millions of atoms.” “ONWARD AND UPWARD.” “Good heaven,” exclaimed Mr. Mad dox, fearfully. “ What a terrible idea.” “ Not. at all,” said Mr. Guy, soothing ly. “Beautiful invention—I quite pride myself on it—scientific suicide, you see! Anybody can take poison or blow their brains out; but to do it scientifically requires real talent. Y;.u have it, and I am confident you will re flect credit on my inventive skill. Now,” he continued, confidently, “ if you could use all three of these inventions at once —cut your jugular, garrote yourself and blow your head off, all at once—why I’d thank you.” “ What,” cried Mr. Maddox, fiercely, “ do you think I’m going to use any of your infernal inventions? Get out of this room, you cold-blooded villain, be iore I throw ycuout of the window.” “But I have a great many more to show you,” remonstrated Guy, “and you see I want you to try as many as possible. Well, well,” he added, as Mr. Maddox grasped the poker threatening ly, “ I’m going. But I’ll leave this box here, and before you get rid of yourself .just make a memorandum oi what you will U3e, and leave it on the table, be cause, you know, there will probably be nothing left of you to draw conclusions from, and so—” Here any further speech was cut short by Mr. Maddox’s seizing his visitor and bustling him out in the passage. “Well,” said Lizzie, anxiously, to Guy. “I think it’s all right,” said Guy, grin ning. “Get the lunch ready. Your uncle is all right. He’ll be down.” And sure enough he was, and though he spoke not, he ate most voraciously of everything. “ Lizzie,” said he, suddenly, after an hour’s pause, “did you ever see an in fernal old fool and an idiot?” “ Never, that I know of,” said Lizzie. “Why?” “ Because, just look at me, and you’ll see one,” said Mr. Maddox, grimly, and he stalked upstairs. Up to the present time of writing Mr . Cyrus Maddox is still alive, enjoying good health, and he seems to be on friendly terms with Mr. Cheevers and his wife Lizzie. Hi probably forgave that gentleman on account of a dis made that. ♦"’•<> nit glycerine torpedo contained nothing more dangerous than salt, and the other “infernal inventions” we^e in fernal in about the same ratio; but Guy still maintains that when a person is weary of life they should cease their troubles by scientific suicide. What Will Mrs. Grundy Say? Noah M. Ludlow, of St. Louis, is beyond question the oldest American actcr and stage manager. He was born five years before the nineteenth cen tury came in, and he contronted his first audience upon the boards at Albany in 1814. His active stage experiences, as actor and manager, covered the period from 1815 to 1853, and were, for the most part, in the West and Sou’hwest. Mr. Ludlow has just published his remin iscenses ol the stage. Here is an inci dent which occurred at Nashville, ai d which may, perhaps* be accepted as an explanation of the origin of the name Mrs. Grundy as applied to public opinion: An incident occurred during the per formance of the comedy of “Speed tin Plow,” which produced considerable merriment among the audience. In the progress of the play, one of the char acters, Dame Ashfield, frequently men tions a person who, like Saree Gamp’s “Mrs. Arris” (Harris), in one of Dicben’s novels, is never seen—one “Mrs. Grundy,” that in the dame’s opinion would seem to be a "rural oracle,” for she often refers to her by remarking: “ What will Mrs. Grundy say?” Now it so happened that there was a family of that name living in Nashville at the time, Judge Felix Grundy and family, and Mrs. Grundy was a lady that mingled with the best society of that city, and was highly respected; buc, being a member of some church that prohibited its mem bers visiting theaters, she was not present on ttie occasion; so whenever the name was mentioned there was a general titter and a laugh throughout the whole audience. This, to the actors, was incomprehensible, until a friend explained the matter to us. Judge Grundy, after Martin Van Buren’s elec tion to the presidency, was made at torney-general of the United States. The expression, “What will Mrs. Grundy say?" soon after became famil iarly used by writers in newspapers and others to mean public opinion. A Wisconsin cow died not long ago, after a lingerin > illness, attended by a persistent cough. After her death a veterinary surgeon ope. ed the wind pipe to discover the cause of the irrita tion, and found in the upper part of the lung a live striped frog of ordinary size. The surrounding portion of the lung was much discolored. Don’t pick up a child for a fool. He will ask you some questions that the condensed wisdom of the world cannot answer.—New Ilaven Register. RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES. There are a number of vacant pulpits in the Baptist churches of California. Of the 60,000 inhabitants of Quebec, 54,000 are Roman Catholie. There are 350 Christian churches in Burmali, mostly Baptists. The Lutherans of Nebraska expect to gain 18,000 members by Scandinavian emigration to that State. Of the 208 Congregational churches in Connecticut, 132 are in debt, owing amounts varying irom ten dollars to $25,0C0. The Methodist Episcopal mission in Italy reports 430 members and 279 pro bationers—in all 709. There are twelve native missionaries at work. Thirteen bishops of the Methodist Episcopal church have united in an ap peal to the denomination to clear off the indebtedness of the Metropolitan church, Washington, D. C. St. Patrick’s cathedral, in New York city, is, according to a current item, en titled to the distinction of having the largest church debt in the country— $400,000 in one mortgage, at five per cent. Mrs. De Groat’s church, built at her own expense in Newark, N.J., cannot have fairs, festivals or other entertain ments held therein on penalty of the property reverting to the original owner. The Protestant Episcopal church on Ling Island has eighty-four Sunday schools, with 17,478 members. Their contributions last year were $19,650, while the parishes gave for their sup port $9,047. The colored Baptists of Texas, Ar kansas and Northern Louisiana, num bering about 100,000, have determined to build a college for the education of ministers and teachers in the city of Marshall, Texas. The seven largest Congregational churches in this country are: Plymouth, Brooklyn, 2,549 members; Chicago, First, 1,193; Central, Brooklyn, 1,048: Broadway Tabernacle, New York city, 968; Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, Shar. ?? ffee- N--w York city, 847; Oberlin, First, Ohio, 743. Since the meeting of the general as sembly in May last, twenty-two Presby terian ministers have died. Their ages ran from forty-3even, the youngest, Rev. W. H. Dean, of Tucson, A. T., r to ninety-three, the oldest. Rev. D. M. Smith, of Princeton, N. J., both of whom died in July. The minutes of the fifth general con ference of the Congregational church of Alabama, give forteen churches with 732 members, and sixteen Sunday schools, with 1,282 teachers and scholars. The churches contributed during the past year $1,659 lor parish purposes, and $263 for benevolences. In Rhode Island there are ;sixty Bap tist churches, eight mission stations and 10,630 members, represented in three associations. In Texas the Baptists number 120,000 communicants of all colors. In Colorado the denomination has twenty-four churches and 1,100 members, but only nine of the churches have pastors. “ Go where there is the most sin, sir,” said the old clergyman’s coach man, when asked which of two calls the dominie ought to accept. The good man thought over it, and concluded that where there was most money there would be the most sin. So he accepted the call which offered the most sub stantial salary. The Presbyterian church of Canada reports 740 pastoral charges and 659 ministers. The pastoral charges em brace 1,350 churches and stations. Con nected with the church are 63 843, mak ing a population oi 3J0.000. There are 107 971 members. During the year 10,748 were added to the fellow ship of the church, the net in crease being 3 619. The entire income for the year was $5,162,154 A Lutheran student was sent out to preach during the summer vacation among the Swedes at Leadville. They told him they did not want him, but he said he had been sent there, and would stay and preach, and took board in the house of the man who had warned him away. He reports that his perseverance has been rewarded beyond his most san guine expectations. In a trip afoot 150 miles over the mountains he found many Swedes, and preached co a hundred Scandinavians at Kokomo, 12,009 feet above the ssa Cincinnati has now seven colored schools, giving the same course of in struction as the white ones. Thirty teachers are employed in them, all of whom are colored except one. Leigh Hunt was asked by a lady at dessert if he would not venture on an orange. “No, madam. I should be very happy to do so, but I am afraid I would tumble off.” Fori Bowie. In Southern Arizona, in what is named, irom the tribe of Indians so long its only human inhabitants, Pima county, stands old Fort Bowie, on the main trail from El Paso to Tucson. Like most of the so-called forts in tiie southwest, it is a low structure of adobe sun-dried brick, and would make but a poor defense against even the weakest of modern artillery. As a stronghold against the Indians, however, it has on many occasions, proved amply suiiifient. The country in which it is situated k one of the wildest and most barren portions of the American continent. The land everywhere presents marked traces of volcanic action. The plains are mainiy deserts, the mountains bar ren rocks, often without a trace of vege tation. The rivers run in deep candns, whose perpendicular walls rise to the height of two thousand feet. The traveler may be in sight of water, and yet require a journey of fifty miles to reach it. Yet these rugged mountains are rich in gold and silver, and the ter ritory is rapidly developing and increas ing in population year by year. The completion of the Southern Pacific railway will open up vast dis tricts now too inaccessible to enable mining to be profitably carried on. Fort Bowie takes its names from the famous Colonel James Bowie, the inventor of the bowie knife, who was one of the pioneers of Texas, and in his search for adventure explored many districts beiore unknown, except to their Indian inhabitants—the great tribes of the Comanches, Apaches, Navagoes, Cayugas, Pimas and Mari copas. Colonel Bowie fell at the massa cre of the Alamo on the San Antonio river, in Texas, on March 6, 1836. The Alamo was a small adobe fort, not unlike Fort Bowie in its construc tion. It was defended by one hundred and forty Texans, commanded by Colonel William Travis, while the Mexicans, led by Geneial Santa Anna, numbered four thousand. The Texans fought with such despera tion that, when finally overpowered, but six of the little band remained alive. Among these were th<»^ celebrated Colonel anffTfinjor David fevaoj. Crockett, 'itiey^urrenueicHTlb fJolon^ ^owie Colonel Castrillon under his promise of protection; but on being taken before Santa Anna, were by his orders in stantly cut to pieces. The Mexican loss was one thousand six hundred. The massacre of the Alamo was followed by the battle of San Jacinto, which resulted in the defeat of the whole Mexican army, and the capture of Santa Anna himself with most Texans; of his generals. the At this battle the shouting war ery, “Remember the Alamo!” charged with such resistless fury as to carry all before them. Sardines. These little funny creatures are caught in nets, and after being well washed the heads are cut off, and the fish are sprin kled lightly with salt. After lying for a few hours they are placed on girds in lows almost perpendicular. The frames are then placed in pans containing boil ing olive oil. This oil is changed as soon as it becomes too black and dirty for continuing the cooking process. As soon asihe fish are considered sufficiently cooked they are withdrawn from the pans of oil, and the girds are placed on the tables covered with zinc, the surface o! the tables inclining oward a groove in the center. The oil is thus carried to a vessel prepared to receive it. Around these tables stand the women whose business it is to pack the fish closely and uniformly in boxes. The boxes being full, the fish are covered with fresh oil, and the lids are then soldered down. Thus hermetically sealed they are placed in iron baskets and immersed in boiling water. The smaller boxes are thus boiled for about half an hour and the larger ones somewhat longer, in propor tion to size of box. The fish are then ready for the market, and being packed in cases, are sent to the ends of the earth. Utilizing the Sun’s Heat. Very practical results are reported to have arisen from the experiments of M. Mouchot in utilizing solar heat. By means of a large collecting mirror, twelve feet six inches in diameter, and capable of resisting the strongest gale, he has succeeded in raising more than sixty pints oi water to the boiling point in eighty minutes, and in an hour and a half more produced a steam pressure of eight atmospheres. During one day last March, in Algiers, a horizontal en gine was driven at the rate of 120 turns a minute, under a pressure of three and a half atmospheres; and at another trial the apparatus worked a pump, raising at the rate of 264 gallons of water an hour one yard high. The pump was kept going from 8 o’colck a. m. to 4 o’clock p. m., and neither strong winds nor passing clouds sensibly interfered with its action. M. Mouchot can now readily produce a temperature applica ble to the fusion and calcination of alum, the preparation oi benzoic acid the purification of linseed oil, the con centration of syrup, the distillation of sulphuric acid and the carbonization of wood. TERMS—$ I 60 per Year. NO. 11. Ode. My soul goes out to greet thee, With joy X ever meet tfioe, Thou art no hollow sham Or mockery; Thou ticklost my diaphragm On crockery. Oh, sweet terrestrial solace of all woe. To thee all hail ! Thou that in bronze glory e’er doth glow, 1 never fail to eat thee With a sigh— With joy I ever greet thee Oh pumpkin pie! — .‘Hr, us' Bazar. MISCELLANEOUS. “Amateur.”—“I have $100 in cour terfeit money. What can I get for it?” Answer.—“Ten years.”—New York Dis patch. “I hate these close-fisted fellows,’ said Swagger, as he picked himself up after running against the shut digits of a hard hitter. An Indiana editor says: “ Coal-oil rubbed on the neck and head will cure hog cholera; we have tried it.” Who can dispute testimony like that? The original Seckel pear tree is still standing near Philadelphia. It is near ly 200 yearn old, and, of course, it is a mere shell, though it still bears a few pears. Postage is cheapest in England and the United States, and costlier in Rus sia, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland, in the order named. “ Is your cough any easier?” said one of poor Hood’s acquaintances, on call ing to see how he was. “ It should be,” said the wit, from bis pillow, “I’ve been practicing all night.” John Ericsson is said to have invent ed a “ torpedo gun” which starts a tor pedo off on its mission at a speed of “ 160 miles a minute,” an initial velocity of 14,080 feet a second. It is possible that American competi tion in meat will be as formidable as the competition in wheat. America already supplies twelve and a half per cent, of the meat used in England “ In what condition was the patriarch Job at the end of his life?” asked ~ Brooklyn Bunday-s.'ohoo; teacher - of quiet-looking boy at the foot of the class. “Dead," ealmiy replied the quiet-looking boy. The bashful young man who asked a lady if he “could see her home,” was much surprised to hear her reply: “ That he could go up and see it if he wanted to, but she didn’t think her father wanted to sell,” and then coolly walk off with the man of her choice.— Yonkers Statesman. The mints of France belong to private corporations, but coin money under the supervision of the national authorities. Any person possessing silver or gold can have it coined, The five-franc piece in silver is tlio only standard national silver money, the other pieces being mere bullion for market conven ience. To delect counterfeit coins an electric contrivance of never-failing accuracy has been introduced in the English mint. Two pieces of metal exactly alike will similarly affect two equally strong currents of electricity. If two such currents flow through two con nected coils of wire, each of which con tains a good coin, the balance of the currents is not disturbed, as the coins are duplicates of each other. But if for cither coin a suspected coin be sub stituted, either the balance of the cur rents will remain undisturbed and the coin is good, or it will be destroyed, and an index will indicate the disturbance and detect the counterfeit. Population of Africa. People who have forgotten their school statistics may bs surprised to learn that the population of Africa is much greater than that of North and South America. We are apt to think oi Africa as mostly desert and wilderness, with here and there a few tribes of Arabs or villages of negroes. Beyond the borderland with which civ ilization is familiar, it is natural to think of the inhabitants of Africa as a few and far between, like our Indians. As a matter of fact, Africa is much more thickly inhabited than America. Authorities which set the population of the latter at 84,542,000, give the former 203,300,000. In the Soudan the popula tion is rated at 80,000,000, one town on the Niger containing 90,000 inhabitants. East Africa is rated at 30,000,000, and equatorial Africa at 40,000,000 souls. It is estimated that the members of the negro race number 130,000,000. “Many of the tribes,” says our authority, “ are above the condition of savages. They have fixed habitations, though merely mud huts, defended by stockades, and they have some laws or customs favor able to commerce. Among several tribes the native merchant is greatly es teemed, and property is safe even during the war. The land is cultivated; the inhabitants wear dyed cotton clothes; gold and iron are ingeniously manufac tured, and a certain kind of intelligence seems to be very slowly spreading.”