Newspaper Page Text
The Sylvania Telephone.
C. H. MEDLOCK, Editor and Pbrusheh.
VOL. II.
Indian Summer.
The tronqniljriver glideth to tho soa,
Thro’ purple haze tho golden sunbeams fall;
The white sails glimmer by us silently—
The hush of dreamland lieth over all.
Our spirits live like flowers in the light,
Nor foel nor icar the sting of earthly pain,
Nor dread the shadows ol the coming night.
In peacelul rest we lie; all toil is vain.
Vain are the hopes and tears and doubts of
youth,
We dream our lives away, and ask not why;
Vain all our lofty aspirations after truth;
To-day we spend in ease, to-morrow die.
Why should wo work when nature’s heart is
still?
Why should wo strive when nature bids us
rest ?
We let her influence sweet our being All,
Hushed as a child upon the mother’s breast
—Mary B. Ferry , in Good Company.
The Mysterious Organist,
A LEEEND OF THE RHINE.
“ Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple fuith than Norman blood.”
Years ago, at a grand old cathedral
overlooking the Rhine, there appeared a
mysterious organist. The great com
poser who had played the organ so long
had suddently died, and everybody from
thekingtotbe peasant, was wondering
who conid be found to fill hi3 place.
One bright Sabbath morn, as the sexton
entered the church, he saw a stranger
sitting at the crape-shrouded organ. He
was a tall, graceful man, with a pale
but strikingly handsome face, great
black, melancholy eyes, and hair like a
raven’s wing for gloss and color, sweep
ing in dark waves over his shoulders.
He did not seem to notice the sexton,
but went toplaying; and such music as
lie drew from the instrument no words
can describe. The astonished listener
declared that the organ seemed to have
grown human—that it wailed and sighed
-sad --red . When the h\urJc s'
length ceased, the sexton hastened to the
stranger and said:
“Pray, who are you, sir?”
“Do not ask my name,” he replied.
‘■1 have beard that you are in want of
an organist, and have come here on
trial.”
“ You’ll be sure to get the place,” ex
claimed the sexton. “Why, you sur
pass him that’s dead and gone.”
“ No, nc—you overrate me, resumed
the stranger with a sad smile; and then,
as if disinclined to conversation, he
tumed from old Hans and began to play
again. And now the music changed
from a sorrowful strain to a grand old
paean, and the mysterious organist,
“ Looking upward lull ol grace,
Prayed till from a happy place
Hod’sglory smote him od the tace,”
and his countenance seemed not unlike
that of Saint Michael as portrayed by
Gnido.
Lost in the harmonies that swelled
around him, he sat with his far-seeing
gaze fixed on the distant sky—a glimpse
of which he caught through an open
window—when there was astir about
the church and a royal party came
sweeping in. Among them might be
seen a young girl, with blue eyes like
the violet hue, and lips like cherries.
This was the Princess Elizabeth, and
all eyes turned to her as she seated her
self in the velvet-cushioned pew appro
priated to the court. No sooner had the
music reached her ears than she started
as a ghost had crossed her path. At last
her eyes met those of the organist, in a
long yearning look; and then the
melody lost its joyous notes, and once
more wailed and sighed and clamored.
“ By my faith,” whispered the king to
his daughter, “ this organist has a mas
ter hand. Hark ye, he shall play at your
wedding!”
The pale lips of the princess parted,
but she could not speak—she was dumb
with grief. Like one in a painful dream,
she saw the pale man at the organ, and
heard the melody which filled the vast
edifice. Aye, full well she knew who
he was, and why the instrument seemed
breathing out the agony of a tortured
heart.
When the service was over, and the
royal party had left the cathedral, he
stole away as mysteriously as he had
come. He was not seen by the sexton
until the vesper hour, and then he ap
peared in the organ-loft and commenced
his task. While he played, -a veiled
figure glided in and knelt near the shrine.
There she knelt till the worshipers dis
persed, when the sexton touched her on
the shoulder, and said:
“ Madam, every one has gone except
you and me, and I wish to close the
door.”
“ I am not ready to go yet,” was the
reply; “ leave me—leave me!”
The sexton drew back into a shady
niche, and watched and listened. The
mysterious organist still kept his place
but his head was bowed upon the instru
ment, and he could not see the lone
devotee. At length she arose from the
GEORGIA, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1880.
I
aisle, and, moving to the organ loft,
paused before the musician:
“ Bertram!” she murmured.
Quick as thought the organist raised
hiB head. There with the light ol a lamp
suspended to the arch above falling upon
her, stood the princess who had graced
the royal pew that day. The court
dress of velvet, with its soft ermine trim
mings, the tiara, the necklace, the brace
lets had been exchanged for a gray serge
robe and a long, thick veil, which was
now pushed back from the fair, girlish
face.
“ Oh, Elizabeth, Elizabeth!” ejacu
lated the organist, as he sank at her feet,
and gazed wistfully into her troubled
eyes.
“ Why arc you here, Bertram?” asked
the princess.
“You are to be married on the mor
row ?"
“ Yes,” sobbed the girl. “ Oh, Ber
tram, what a trial it will be to stand at
yonder altar and take upon me the
vows which will doom me to a living
death 1”
“Think of me,” rejoined the organist.
“ Your royal father lias requested me to
play at the wedding, and I have prom
ised to be here. If I were your equal I
could be the bridegroom instead of the
organist; but a poor musician must give
you up.”
“It is like rending body and soul
asunder to part with you’” said the girl.
“ To-night I tell you this—tell you how
fondly I love you, but in a few hours
it will be a sin. Go, go, and God bless
ycu!”
She waved him from her, as if she
would banish him while she had the
power to do so. And he, how was it
with him P He rose to leave her, then
came hack, held her on his heart in one
long embrace, and, with a half-smother
ed farewell, left her.
The next morning dawned in cloud
iess splendor, and at an early hour the
cathedral was thrown open, and the
sexton began to prepare for the brilliant
wedding. Flame-colored flowers waved
by the wayside; flame-colored leaves
came rushing down from the trees, and
lay in light heaps upon the ground;
and the ripe wfieat waved like a' gb'ldern
sea, and the berries dropped in red and
purple clusters over the rocks along the
Rhine.
At length the palace gates were
opened,JandJtbe royal party appeared,
escorting Princess Elizabeth to the
cathedral where her marriage was to be
solemnized. It was a brave pageant;
far brighter than the untwined foliage
and blossoms were the tufts of plumes
which floated from stately heads, and
the festal robes that streamed down over
the housings of the superb steeds. But
the princess, mounted on a snow-white
palfrey, and clad in snow-white velvet,
looked pale and sad; and when, on near
ing the chnrch, she heard a gush of
organ music, which, though jubilant in
sound, struck on her ear like a funeral
knell, she trembled and would have
fallen had net a page supported her. A
few moments afterward she entered the
cathedral. There, with his retinue,
stood the bridegroom, whom she had
never before seen. But her glance roved
from him o the organ-lort, where she
had expected to see the mysterious
organist. .He was gone; and she wa3
obliged to return the graceful bow of
the king, to whom she had been be
trothed from motives of policy. Me
chanically she knelt at the altar-stone;
mechanically listened to the service and
made the responses. Then her husband
drew her to him in a conclusive embrace
and whispered;
“ Elizabeth, my queen, my wife, look
up!”
Trembling in every limb, she obeyed.
Why did those dark eyes thrill her so?
Why did the smile bring a glow on her
cheek? Ah! though the king wore the
purple, and many a jeweled order glit
tered on his breast, lie seemed the same
humble person who had been employed
to teach organ music, and bad taught
her the lore of love,
“Elizabeth,”murmured the monarch,
“Betrram Hoffman, the mysterious
organist, and King Oscar are one! For
give my stratagem. I wished to marry
you, but I would not drag to the altar
an un willing bride. Your father was in
the secret.” While tears of joy rained
from her blue eyes, the new-made queen
returned her husband’s fond kiss, and
for once two hearts were made happy
by a royal marriage.
We read in an exchange of the white
China geese. We take it that it must
be those birds that lay the elegane
white china nest eggs which we have
seen at the crockery stores. Perhaps by
cultivation [they can be bred to that
high degree where they’will lay a whole
set of crockery in a [season. —Marathon
Independent.
The city of Paris, after trying almost
every possible means of dealing with its
sewage, now irrigates with it about one
thousand acres ot land within five miles
of the city, and the plan has proved so
successful that it is proposed to extend
the! irrigation to other districts.
“ONWARD AND UPWARD.”
Flood Rock, Hell Gate.
The mining of Flood Rock, Hell Gate,
in the East river, at the northerly part
of New York city, preparatory So blow
ing it up after the manner of the Hal
lett’s Point work, is being pushed for
ward rapidly. The expenditure last year
amounted to $140,000, and a large part
of the $200,000 appropriated this year
for the improvement of East river will
go to this work. Employment is now
given to 135 men, divided into three
shifts of eight hours each. The central
shaft is fifty feet deep.
Running across the river are twenty
headings; at right angles to these are
eleven cross headings, none of which
have yet been extended their entire
length. They average seven feet high
and ten feet wide, and are situated about
twenty feet apart. Near the main shaft,
however, where more light and space
are required for working, they are
larger. Three acres have thus been un
dermined, or one-third of the whole. It
is not intended to enlarge the headings
until each one has been carried out to its
full length. Then the chambers will be
widened and made higher, so that the
whole excavation will resemble an im
mense cave, the roof being supported by
the rocky pillars which now form the
sides of the headings. The thickness of
the rock forming the roof will then be
about ten feet, varying according to the
character of the rock, whereas it is now
from fifteen to thirty feet in thickness.
The work of tunneling proceeds very
slowly, owing to the hardness of the
rock of which the reef is composed.
The rate at which it is now going on is
from 500 to 630 feet a month, repre
senting an excavation of about 1,500
cubic yards. It is impossible to tell
when the whole will be accomplished
even at this rate. Frequently a seam is
struck in blasting which stops the work
in that heading altogether, on account of
the leakage. In such a case it is cus
tomary to work around the leak. Ac
cording to the last report, the work
done during the past year was'mueh
greater than in any previous year; 24,
000 cubic yard3 of rock were removed,
43,000 blasts made, and 57,066 drills
sharpened. The numbe^of blasts made
eactr mgST riowb*ven*ge^8o.
thu3 broken up is loaded on scows and
dumped in the deep water to the south
of the reef. Part of it was also used to
fill up the space between Big and Little
Mill Rocks, which lie to the north.—
Scientific American.
Karen Intelligence .
A curious anecdote ol attachment and
observation in ravens occurred at Red
Lion inn, Hungerford, England. A
gentleman who lodged there, thus tells
the story; “Coming into the innyard,’>
says he, “ my chaise ran over and
bruised the leg of a favorite Newfound
land dog, and while we were examining
the injury, Ralph, the raven, looked on
also, and was evidently making his re
marks on what was doing; for the min
ute my dog was tied up under the
manger with my horse, Ralph not only
visited him, but brought him bones,
and attended him with particular marks
of kindness. I observed it to tho hostler,
who told me that the bird had been
brought up with a dog, and that the af
fection between them was mutual, and
all the neighborhood had been wit
nesses of many acts of kindness per
formed by the one to the other. Ralph’s
friend, the dog, course of time, had
the misfortune to break his leg, and
during the long period ot his confine
ment, the raven waited on him con
stantly, carried him his provisions, and
scarcely ever le ft him alone. One night>
by accident, the stable door had been
and Ralph had been deprived of
his friend’s company all night; but the
hostler found, in the morning, the door
so pecked away, that had it not keen
in another hour Ralph would
have made his own entrance. The
landlordnotonlyconfirmed the hostler’s
but mentioned many acts of
kindness ahown by this bird to all dogs
in general, but more particularly to
mained or wounded ones.”
But, however, attentive they may be
to dogs, as in this case, or to men.
as in the preceding one, the following
instance of shrewd cunning show that
they are ready enough, when it suits
their interest, to trick each other. At
the zoological 'gardens in the Regent’s
park, London, two ravens were kept in
one large cage or pen; a'visitor passing
by threw them two pieces of bun, when
one of them immediately jumped from
his perch, and before his comrade could
reach either of them, he had both se
cure in his beak, and had regained his
former position on the perch, holding
them until he saw his comrade at the
farther end of the cage; he then flew
down, buried one of the pieces, which
he carefully covered with gravel, and
back to his perch with the
other piece, devoured it. He then
hopped down for the other piece, and
that, much to the annoyance of his comp
panion, whom he thus artfully an
cleverly contrived to outwit.
In the great retail stores in Philadel
phia pneumatic tubc3 have been intro
duced to do the work of cash-boys.
for the ladies
Irish Lace,
It is in beautiful, delicate needlework,
and in the making of lace of different
kinds, says a writer in the Argosy, that
the Irish sisters excel. There are sev
eral houses in the south of Ireland, each
of which is famous for some special
kind of manufacture. Persons who are
learned in such matters can tell instantly,
on looking at a piece of work, at what
convent it was done. The crochet made
under the superintendence of Youghal
nuns is exquisite, and so fine that it has,
in many cases,sbeen mistaken for other
kinds of lace. I have heard ofa lady who
purchased a quantity of what she be
lieved to be old Roman point, in Italy,
at a great expense. On bringing it home,
she took it to her dressmaker in Dublin,
and gave it to her lor a trimming for a
dress, with many cautions against waste,
and with repeated orders not to cut it
unnecessarily. The woman smiled
when she heard the discolored work
called antique point. She got a magni
fying glass and showed her customer
that she had in reality bought Irish
crochet lace, which had been dipped in
some yellow fluid, in order to give it an
appearance of great age. The clever ex
pert was, moreover, able to tell from
what part of the country it had origin
ally been procured. Some ladies are
very fond of purchasing sleeves and col
lars of this beautiful work, to wear at
the table d’hote when traveling on the
continent, as it does not-require what is
technically termed doing up; when
soiled, simple washing and drying will
restore it to its pristine daintiness. Be
sides this, it i3 quite uninjured by any
amount of pressing or crumbling.
F stiion Notes.
Plaids are in high favor.
Polish caps with tassels are worn.
Buttons are more artistic than ever.
The dolman visite is the favorite wrap.
Mull fichus and scarfs remain in high
favor.
■ Ytomiol Lc-lracvnls Hm oHcq. r>f
felt skirts.
Imported evening dresses have very
long trains.
All very dressy costumes are trimmed
with embroidery.
Both square and round trains are
worn in evening toilet.
Some very small bonnets appear
among late novelties in millinery.
A trimming much in vogue is black
net embroidered with jet beads.
Irish point and church lace trim the
most fashionable mull neck scarfs.
Velveteen, farmer’s satin and flannel
skirts bid fair to supersede felt ones.
Rough and shaggy cloaking cloths are
in demand for jackets and sacks.
Sets of buttons are sold with each but
ton bearing a different artistic design.
Tortoise shell combs, both in the am
ber and dark shades, always remain in
vogue.
Short dresses are made up in the rich
est materials for reception and visiting
toilets.
After the rage for big bonnets has
subsided, the medium size will prob
ably be most worn.
Fancy comb3, headed with balls of
gold, coral, steel or crystal, to imitate
diamonds, are worn.
Among novelties are sashes to match
the costume, tipped at the ends with
spikes, tassels or balls.
Bonnets, muffs and costumes match
when worn by the most fastidiously
fashionable women.
Jet or colored crystal beads enrich all
the richest trimmings and embroideries
on dressy costumes.
To muffle the throat in several yards
of white or black tulle, a la Sarah Bern
hardt, will be all the fashion.
Crystal beads in iridescent hues, white
and clear as glass, are used to excess in
trimming evening dresses.
Jet, gold, amber, purple, iridescent
and jewel-tinted and crystal beads trim
booh bonnets and dresses.
Bonnet ornaments, in the form of
little gilded pigs, spiders, bees and
beetles, ornament the new plush muffs.
The petals of many of the new arti
ficial flowers are made of soft plush in
most gorgeous and delicate tints.
White plush bonnets, with the crowns
or brims dotted with medium-sized pearl
beads, bid fair to be favorites.
Plush muffs are flat, and tne plush is
arranged in loose, irregular folds, not
tight or smooth around the muff.
Plusn muffs to match hats are trimmed
with coffee-stained lace and furnished
with gold cords, which suspend .them
around the neck.
Black and brown beaver plush bon
nets and hats are frequently lined with
amber-colored yellow, red, blue and
other pale-tinted plush.
The plain skirt, plain corsages of
American costumes have not as yet made
any impression abroad, but they are
much worn in New York.
Fashionable hair-dressing makes the
head look as small as possible, but the
curls and frizettes worn make the coif
ure as costly as ever.
Many of the handsomest wraps are
trimmed with jet embroideries in ar
tistic designs, set figures, bands, gimps,
cords, tassels, spikes and galloons.
Circulars will be much worn as the
weather becomes colder. They are in
more graceful shapes than last year, be
ing cut with a slight spring in the back.
MiOSlESTOCH MATTERS.
The entire length of the costly railway
line of which the St. Gothard tunnel
forms a part is 151 miles. The main
tunnel is about nine and one-third miles
long, but there are twelve other long
tunnels which aggregate nearly ten miles
in length; five tunnels between 220 and
550 yards long, and twenty-five between
110 and 220 yards long. There are in
all no less than fifty-two of these sub
sidiary tunnels, having a total length of
sixteen miles. There are also on the
line over sixty-four bridges and via
ducts.
Prussian generals seem to enjoy a rare
longevity. Without reckoning Marshals
Von MoltKe and Von Roon, there is
found in the higher grades of the army
a body of veterans who began their mili
tary career three-quarters of a century
ago. General Von Schreibershofen, born
in 1785, entered the service in 1797, and,
after having risen through all the inter
mediate grades in the long wars which
marked the beginning of this century,
was created a major-general in 1829. On
the first of November last he celebrated
the fiftieth anniversary of his elevation
to that dignity. To-day, at the green
old age of ninety-five, this veteran dis
plays an almost youthful vigor.
The interesting old Flemish city of
Bruges, which in the height of its pros
perity had a population of some 200,000
souls, has since the sanguinary persecu
tions under Phillip II. been gradually
declining in wealth and numbers, so
that at present it uWes not possess onfi
fourth the population it tbad three cen
turies ago. The population ot the city,
which in 1869 numbered 47,621, tell to
a4,950 in 1877. The lethargy of the in
habitants is attributed to the effect of
the numberless convents and the richly
endowed benevolent institutions, which,
by perpetually supply ing the wants ol
large numbers of the inhabitants with
out any exertion on their part, hive
tended to deprive them of that energy
and spirit of independence which are in
despensable to success in commercial
life.
Mr. Wathorson, an eminent London
jeweler, gave an inteiesting lecture
lately on gem3 and precious stones. He
said that with the exception of the
diamond in the glass cutter’s hand, they
are intrinsically worthless, their high
estimation in olden times having been
due to their use as magical charms
against evil, while in latter times they
have : been prized as concentrated ex
pressions of wealth and splendor. He
said that the Braganza, belonging to
the crown of Portugal, and stiJl in the
rough, is the largest diamond. It weighs
1,680, and the Koh-i-noor, before being
cut, weighed 787 carats. There are
cruel allegations against the Braganz a, to
the effect that it is only a white topaz.
In this case a diamond belonging to the
rajah of Matan come3 to the top. A
governor of Batavia offered $2,500,000
for it, and the rajah refused the offer,
saying his diamond wa3 a talisman upon
whose possession depended not only his
own happiness and success but that of
his whole family. Of rubies scarcely
more than two can be deemed historical
The first and most famous is that in
Victoria’s cross. It is believed, on
tolerably good authority, to have been
worn in front of the helmet of Henry
V. at Anincourt.
Words of Wisdoui.
No man ever offended his conscience,
but first or last it was revenged on him
for it.
Look well to thyself; there is a source
which will always spring up if thou
wilt always search there.
That laughter costs too much which
is purchased by the sacrifice of decency
and propriety.
The divinity of charity consists in re
lieving a man's needs before they are
forced upon us.
A man is great |just in proportion to
his superiority to the condition ol life
in which he is placed.
Minutes lengthen themselves out im
measurably when passed through the
rolling mill of anguish.
There is no strength in exaggeration;
even the truth is weakened by being ex
pressed too strongly.
A strong man is one whose passions
stimulates his reason and whose reason
controls his passions.
TERMS— f 1 50 fkk Year.
NO. 16.
Compensation.
Oh, birds, that flit by ocean's rim,
And make your plaint to silon t sky;
Oh, waves, that lap horizons dim,
Ye shall bo tranquil by-and-bye!
Oh, rose-tree, giving petals fair
In somo lost garden lone to lie,
Weep not because your stems aro bare;
They shall re.blossom by-and-bye 1
Oh, singer, singing in the night;
Turn not and cuiso the heavens and die
Your heritage is peace and light—
You shall lie richer by-and-bye!
—Edward King.
COMICALITIES.
A boil in the kettle is worth two on
your nose.
The longest period in a boy’s life—
Those between meals.
Men are geese, women are ducks, and
birds of a feather flock together.
Why do chickens have no hereafter?
Because they have their necks twirled
in this.
Is it an evidence of a low taste when
a man gets on his knee to drink from a
brook ?
The largest hotel in one of the We3tem
cities is calle . Rich’s. Probably because
he has wi.es.
Tne bo -tolled horse spendsjhis whole
existence in lamenting his lack of ter
minal facilities .—Boston transcript.
Spots on the son are sometimes
freckles and sometimes photographs of
a mother’s loving but weighty hand.
The women are always looking under
the bed for a man. No man ever thought
of looking for a woman under such cir
cumstances. He always scans the mirror
i^hen he is in search of the female.—
Bloomington Eye.
A great punster was asked one even
ing in compa r y, to make an extempore
pun. “Upon what subject?” he in
quired. One of the party answered;
“The queen.” “Oh, sir,” he replied,
“ the queen is no subject.”
Some fellow writing music notices
mention the title and price -k-QM piece,
‘• I'm’ xnui–tBg or la v ’*>■ ?
Forty cents.” We’ll be! tne chap had
to set up the ice cream for lour during
the late heated term.— Steubenville Her
ald.
The McGregor Hews remarks that “ it
is very queer that a man’s creditors will
all arrange themselves on the shady side
ofa street when lie goes from dinner and
make him walk down in the sun. It’s
mean to use the sunlight to help collect
a bill.
A baby can put its rosy little toe in its
mouth more easily than its father can,
but when it coine3 to putting the whole
foot in it, the man of years and experi
ence can discount the baby halt a hun
dred and then run lout—Burlington
Hawkey e.
A man who had suddenly become
very wealthy recently attended a din
ner party at which there was the usual
fillet of beef and mushrooms. While
engaged upon the beef he whispered to
his neighbor; “ Do you cat the clothes
pin heads, too?”
An impertinent busybody importuned
a young lady with the question; “ What
shall I say to people who ask me if you
are going to be married?” “Say the
truth,” the girl promptly replied.
“Yes, and what is the truth?” contin
ued the questioner, eagerly. “ That you
know nothing about it!” was the con
clusive reply.
Lai>er Hirers anil Sharks.
The pearl divers of the Coromandel
coast are not infrequently attacked by
ground-sharks. As a rule, a shaik will
leave a man with a dark skin alone, but,
when hungry, it rarely makes a differ
ence between a European and a Hindoo.
Knowing this, the divers of whom I
speak frequently arm themselves with a
stout bamboo, in the shape of a cross,
with the extremities made sharp. With
this four-pointed dagger they will dare
any shark to seize them, for, as the mon
ster turns on his back and opens his
mouth for the bite, they dexterously
thrust the bamboo across between its
jaws. Great care is taken of the strength
of the bamboo; the consequence is that
the shark, on closing its mouth to obtain
the first taste of 1 his anticipated meal,
drives the spike well home between its
jaws. Fisherm on say that when a shark
has a sturdy, well-pointed and placed
bamboo cross-fixed in its distended
mouth, no efforts ol the creature can rid
it of the wood. Its efforts are described
as being often furious and comic. The
diver, as soon as he has impaled his
enemy, has to get out of the way as fast
as possible, as a blow from the tail ot
an infuriated shark is no joke. As for
the comic side of the picture, it must be
a ludicrous sight for little fishes to wit
ness, to see their dreaded, but now im
potent, arch-foe wildly tearing about
hither and thither in the deep, with a
cross-bar between his distended jaws.