The Sylvania telephone. (Sylvania, Ga.) 1879-current, November 09, 1880, Image 1

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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.