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THE LUMPKIN INDEPENDENT.
A. W. LATIMER, Publisher.
YOL. XV.
Ihic #wkpnukni.
Pu v ished every Saturday Morning
T EitMS:
OMi TEAK...
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itntew ol'AdvcrtisinK.
One inch one insertion........ $ l ot
Each subsequent insertion...... 50
One inch, one month......... to
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One inch, six months.......... -1
One inch, twelve months....... 10 l-O
One quarter column, cue month 6 00
One quarter column twelve months 35 00
One halt column, one lnsnth... 10 0
One half column twelve mouths coco
One column one month....... 15 00
jne column t.velve months.... 100-0
All bills for advertising arc due i.t
any time upon presentation after
first appearance of advertisement.
Address all letters to The Lumpkin Inde
PENDENT, or A. W. L VTlMEii,
TILE ‘‘CURE-ALL” TRADE.
FORTUNES MADE BY SUBSTITUTING
NEW NAMES FOR COMMON THINGS.
The rubllc I.ike to bo Humbugged—A
Cstrhlng Title for a Simple Drug—.Tile
lioad to Success Lies Through Much
Advertising.
People in the country can look back to
the time when the quack doctor visited
tlicir towns anil villages and expatiated
upon the blood purifying qualities of sarsa¬
parilla from his buggy in the street. lie
offered a decoction of it cheap in n bottle,
or sold the root itself with instructions
bow to treat it. Sarsaparilla was found
to be of service, and it became, and has
remained, a favorite medicine In one form
or another, and indeed is found in every
saloon ns a regular beverage. Only some
ten years back a gentleman from Califor¬
nia with winnings from the gambling
table advertised broadly a specific cure to
relieve tho physical disorders for which
sarsaparilla liad been so generally adopted.
He gave it a high sounding name, pub¬
lished testimonials as to its virtues, gave
It away to the druggists on condition that
they should not sell it under a certain
price, and in this way created a demand
for 1t. The people who tried it as a medi
Y'inc were satisfied with its results, and it
js now a business paying a handsome
revenue.
LIKE TO TIE HUMBUGGED.
Now, if you happened to be a chemist
of some repute, and truthfully told the
public that this medicine was only sarsa¬
parilla, and they could get as much for ten
cents as there was In this dollar bottle
with the new tangled name, would they
be thankful? Not at all. They wouli
shrug tlicir shoulders and say “Perhaps. l '
Because the public like to be humbugged.
That is nil that it- is. No lawyer could
make out a charge of swindling in the
ease mentioned, lie does not sell some¬
thing for sarsaparilla which is an infcrioi
drug. lie simply takes as his motto:
“Sarsaparilla by any other name would be
as good, and pay better.” It is the name
ho endeavors to manufacture, and often is
Is a costly process. The public buys and
pays for the name, and there is no false
pretense about it.
“Words are words and things are
tilings. The question is the connection
between the word and wliat it expresses.”
This is the thought upon which Mr. Sar
cey has made an excellent book. So far
ns it applies to such goods as depend upon
large advertising, it is a thought that must
have struck many people. There are
many compounds in a drug store that are
in no very strict accord with the labels
they bear.
“But the point is this,” said a drug¬
gist who lias lieen on Broadway for many
years, “the people have to pay so much
for advertising. The consumers pay it
all in the end, of course. For instance,
ejuite a number of there patented articles
arc of simple ingredients, and very few
of them. There are a lot of old-fasliioned
remedies in general use since our great
grandmother's time. The manufacturer
takes one of these, whether it be rhu¬
barb or senna or friar’s balsam, or what
not, and lie decides on a catching title
for it. This title he advertises every*
whero until people begin (o try the goods.
ADVERTISING IS THE TIIING.
“In many instances they grow to have
faith in them. A lady came in hero to¬
day and purchased a dollar remedy largely
advertised. My next customer might
have been one who asked for the very
same drug by its common name, and he
would have been supplied with it for ten
cents. No, we don't make any large
profits on this patent business, because
wo have to keep such a varied stock, and
if the goods have not a ready sale, we are
likely to lose.
“Take it that the drug costs ten cents
only. Here is a dentifrice, for instance.
That is simply Croton water with a little
alcohol, a dash of color and a little per¬
fume. very little else. But there the
pretty bottle, tho engraved label, the man¬
ner In which it is put up. This will bring
up the cost to about thirteen cents. You
may put on all the way from ten to forty
cents a bottle for advertising, and then it
is sold wholesale for fifty or sixty cents.
It is the advertising that costs the money.
The best remedy in the world would be of
no use without it.
“The name is a great thing. No mat¬
ter if it bears any reference to the article
or not, if it is attractive and catching. Of
course a man does occasionally spend
$50,000 or even $ 100.000 in advertising
and his article does not take, but very
rarely. With sufficient advertising you can
sell anything. The patent medicine busi¬
ness is a business of advertising more than
of scientific discovery or manufacture.
In it the capitalist places nil his funds and
all Ills hopes. The number of fortunes it
lias made, from Holloway up, arc enough
to fill a prescription book.’—New York
gtar.
Telegraphy for Army Officers.
The German war office having decided
♦lint all sub officers must learn telegraphy.
100 officers selected from the Berlin gar¬
rison and 100 from the garrison of Stras
burg and Metz have begun a course of
tuition.—Frank Leslie's.
*1KT-
LUMPKIN, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1887.
A WONDERFUL CHANGE.
HOW A FASHIONABLE YOUNG WO¬
MAN BECAME INTELLECTUAL.
A11 Owing to the “Pumper” and the
“PoUnher"—Filling Up With Informa- ,
tion Every Few Days — Memorizing
Drlglit Sayings and Funny Stories#
Julia is the most vehemently fashion
able young woman I know. Her raiment
ls always stunning, the glitter of her dia
monds is bewildering, her bonnet aspires
upward in an excelsior way that ts quite !
overpowering, and the corsages of her full i
dress toilets lead the van of retreat in the j
other direction Julia is and has always
been brilliant and beautiful to the eye, I
and nothing else. If her precious Uttlo
head had been a wax form in a hair
dresser’s window it couldn’t havo had less
in it. But not very long ago the son aiul
heir of a family that goes in for tho ill
tellectual took Julia’s wealth and Julia
along with it to his pocket and heart, and
since then the most amazing chango has
come over her. She is not a wliit less
strenuously stylish than she was before,
but she has actually become quite intel
lectnal. and is even brilliant in con versa
tion. She who was never known to say
anything smacking more strongly of iu
tclligence than “Oh, how lovely!” can
now talk interestingly about almost any
thing that society knows about, and is
wittier and more sparkling than any of
her husband’s intellectual circle. I said
something to her the other day about what
a wonderful change marriagehad made in
her, and she laughed and said:
“Oh.it isn’t marriage that has done
that. It’s all owing to tho pumper and
the polisher.”
“The who 5 ”
“The pumper and the polisher," she re
plied, ns cooilv as if slie had been telling
me what tailor had made her dress. “That
is what I call them, because one of them
pumps information into me me'off, by the head
fill, and the other polishes makes
me brilliant, tells me wliat to say to be
wittv You see after I was married I
found that all my husband’s family were
too awfully cultured and intelligent to
think anything of my dresses and dia
monds, and that they were disposed to
look down on me ns an empty headed
chatterbox who didn’t know anything and
wasn’t, very myseif sria-t nnvwav Well I tost
vowed to that‘tliev 'thankful shouldn't do it,
and (hat I'd make them to have
me in the family. But I couldn’t think
of going into the thing deep, you know,
studying, and all that. I hadn't the time
and it would havo been too much of a
lK-re. I had heard of tho pumper; some
of the girls I used to know employed him,
and so I go to him three or four times a
week and' just get filled up with informa
tion about anything I want to know.”
“But how can you tell what subject
you’ll want to be filled up with?”
“Oh that’s easy enon-h Yon know ‘
converscation generally starts from a™ some
topic of tlie day, and if you 5;eep yourself
pretty well filled on those you can keep
your oar going. Occasionally I have him
give me an extoa hour or so on some otl.er
subject, and by starting tlie conversation
in that direction and ^ ad " a1 ^', "' daadi n:?
Mentor'“SI”’h^rtll*&e \ ft** t
„ ■rwswss&’tsrm v «
a '% “Goodness, no! I (ion't"trv don t try to ,» It If, s
too much trouble If I think I sin 11 need
it I let him fi!l me up again on the same
subject Ton sec, lie .mows cveiT .mg
I think lie must eat and dnnk looksas
ivcH as rcail them. If I want to know
about TV agners music or Munkacsys
let listen him and talkit take a atmeforanhourw^ fewnotes, and altogctlicr
I remember enough of it to pass for know
™ my dear, you o ’ ^
fectly astonished, if you know liow many
patrons lie has among too very best peo
pie. Society is full of them But I’ll
wager my new diamond ^r rings that
not one of them would admit ever having
the the polisher, mdWher what w lint about about ldi^” liim?
“Oli.thnt’sthe funmest partof t alk
101 know I’m supposed to be qmto a
witty, entertaining person. Well that .s
all my polisher I go to him regularly
every day, tell him Where I expect to go
and whom I expect to see, and then he
^cr httle idL if sandwto^ in" and
funny stories to tell that will probably bo
apropos to the conversation that I shall
engage in. That man has been worth lilt
weight in gold to me, and I think I’ve
paid him about.that much already for his
services. But I never could have got on
without him.”
“Does he have very nftmy employers?”
I asked, beginning to wonder how many
of the bright things I had admired only
tlie night before hnd come from him.
“I don’t know about that, because, as
you can imagine, he keeps everything con¬
cerning his business as secret as the grave.
But I am awfully afraid he has begun to
duplicate his witticisms in my own set.
If he docs that I suppose I shall havo to
deed him one of my mines outright to get
liis services all to myself. Oh, It’s a great
bore, and it's awfully hard work, too. I
don’t know whether or not I’ll he ablo to
go through the winter with it. But I was
’determined I wouldn’t lie looked down
on.”—Clara Belle in Cincinnati Enquirer.
Contributor and Editor.
An eastern magazine writer was enter
tertained by several gentlemen in a west¬
ern city, and introduced the topic of fresh
periodical literature and suggested that
some of the party might do something in
that line. Several of the party thought¬
fully smiled at tlie recollection of neat
printed missives from their guest laid
away in their desks at home. There is a
western story of one of these eastern edi¬
tors being so much interested in the rela¬
tion of certain circumstances by hig neigh¬
bor at a dinner that lie said lie would bo
glad if his neighbor would write him an
article on the subject. The gentleman liad
simply lieen giving the editor all he could
remember of a paper recently rejected by
tho interested editor. It is possible that
in these instances the contributor talked
better than he wrote, or perhaps the din¬
ner table had a more soothing influence
than the sanctum.—Courier-Journal.
There are some men who have so much
genius that they can’t do anything but sit
around all day and think about it,
A WeeklT Newspaper, Published ia the Political, Social and Agricultural Interests of Stewart County.
THE HABITS OP ELK.
Wliat a Western Hunter Has Observed.
Cow Elk an<l Calf.
Tho habits of elk are similar to those of
deer, but they aro much larger animals.
Cows that aro in good condition dress
about 350 pounds, and fat bulls dress
about 450 pounds. I have heard of bulls
that dressed 600 pounds, but I nc\er saw
so large an elk, and I have seen hundreds
of them. In September tho calves dress
from.80'to 100 pounds. Their meat is ten-,
der < ’'V? tasteless and veal-like. A fat
year-old elk heifer is probably the best
,ueat °» earth, at least I think so. The
flood eating, hut inferior to black
^lcd deer. 3 ho bulls are rather tough at
n11 timcs - -Mid their meat is unworthy of
be,n S cooked during tho rutting season. tlio
Shortly after the rutting season begin
nccks of tho faU antlered hulls to
swell and to grow hard. Then it requires
a “ exceedingly hard shooting rifle to drive
a baU lbrtm 8 b their necks. I saw, while
this hunt four bulls shot low down on
the n f ak > and iu “? “'-stance did tlio ball
P”® 3 through, and m no case did it strike
the neck bone. In all instances it lodged
““(ler the skin on (ho opposite suie from
1 hunter. Wo used 44-60 Winchesters,
the latter figures expressing the number
of grains of powder burned belaud the
Ml. This rifle will throw a ball through
““ ‘ ,k « through a hear from side to
sk ' e > but it will not carry through ail elk b
l!c ‘' k -
Bull oik „ drop , „ t.ieir . antlers „ in . January T
generally, Ixxtt this, I suppose, depends on
the latitude in which they live. A bull Is
*} lU antlered when ho is J years old, then
there are six prongs on each antler, borne
times the antlers sport, as corn does,
and tho horns take queer shapes. This is.
» very serious disaster to the elk, as lie
cannot light effectively with “sported”
millers, and lie is driven out of the band,
? hnve a of fmtlcra - ‘Sports,” which
ba ''.° thirteen prongs on each horn, ihe
bnU that "rare these heavy, useless nut
lc » spent tlie scusou in seclusion. He
co, “ d not fight.
One of the most remarkable spectacles
. «>e pine clad highlands is to see a full
a “tlcred bull elk trot at speed through a
* ,rc3t ' vhcro thc trcci i Btand thickly
♦>'«■*, a horse , has ( to slowly pick its way.
A have frequently seen an elk bnll, whose
spread of antlers was at least four feet,
at full speocl through a belt of tint
' cr ' vl ' crc 1 c °" ld not lollo -\ v on lu,r f~
hack, because the trees were too close , to
ff hcr > and ho did not strike a trco ' Vlth
h,a antlers.
When a cow ctk ls , killed . her ca ,, f wi ...
,,<T ? lud f m ««> "roods. But it will
frequently return to tl.e place where s
mother ufell, and ,’ t ° tte " 1 }
u "« r v search . with its life. . I shot a
-
fat co w oac ,norl ' in & nnd raTV two cah «
not , f ,ar nom ucr ' When the rifie
c ™ kcd , 1 tbc ,, . i cnlv , 1 c3 tho d,30 fac PP \ car of ^’ U . '° cah That . .f
»<>' com >' a,le - Ho 3t “ d;
I£ > uu v \ dl «° Ul “ 0 ”
,n S wiU probably , find both of r the
caives snooping 1 around in tho woods
ntar t, '. e d , c ‘ l<1 , £hc> ’
, v ( , ‘ . mp and , rp ,
- ’
«££ t “‘ o"f -esvlSL 'voit n- hall eo” bel
wagon tol meat
. „ ^ , , . n n
I went back the next morning. Tlie t wo
beautiful graceful calves stood by their
dead mother trying to make her rise.
!?";?’ ih-vi'l’ :;•% 1 vzuftiSS .Irik'
Lr I"'' 11 or
sharply with their forefeet. It was a
‘ ltjfuI sight V nn ,i i f,.]t like a murderer,
j did have the heart to kill the
^ j drove them nway nnd wllPn n, y
d came llp l with the pack ‘ animals I
to]( , hjm my ri( , e did not go o(Ti which
true. For four weeks I walked daily
shooting elk. I stukied the habits of the
* n Intelligent super
comrade, who had lived
them for years, and whose living,
in ;• great ” measure, ’ depended \ on his being
, () season
w , f animals. The hunt was
alrnost a slaUf; lter . yjnt wo lost no meat;
wa9 , lsed to bait benrs ,'- no „ e thrown
away Kvcry I)ound that e fiid not cat
carefully saved and sold. Tlie meat
was I,ackrd 0,1 horsc8 ’ ba<ks for from five
t o ton miles through dense green timber,
bnnM!d ] a „ds and across fallen tim
bf . r F thero it wns bau , cdlo i, llra .
j ’ Fort Coffins and Rawlings for sale,
? obtained for it was cx
ded fol . p ovision8 . Tbo trailg on
wo ^ ^ th(j clk range
othcr pc rs0ns - Cor. New York feun.
Manufacture of Artificial Ivory.
IIow is artificial ivory made ? Of late
years the scarcity and dearness of genuine
ivory have driven inventors to manufact¬
ure artificial compounds capable of re¬
placing it for ninny industrial and domes¬
tic purposes. These compounds, which
may almost without exception be classed
under the name of “celluloid,” are formed
of divided cotton waste or some similar
substance, soaked in either vegetable
naphtha, nitre-benzol, camphor or alco¬
hol. Sufficient of these solvents is used
to make a soft,, plastic mass, which is sub¬
jected to hydraulic pressure and mixed
witli oils, gums nnd coloring matter.
Any degree of flexibility can he given to
it, and it can bo made white and trans¬
parent or of any brilliant color. It can be
mnde hard as ivory, or retained in so soft
a condition ns to be capable of being
spread in layers over textile fabrics in the
same way as paint is laid on. It can be
pressed nnd stamped, planed like wood,
turned in a lathe, cut with a saw, carved,
woven or applied as a varnish. When
dyed the dye runs through tlie whole sub¬
stance, and cannot tlierefore .be rublied or
washed out. An artificial ivory of creamy
whiteness nnd great hardness is nownmdo
from good potatoes washed in diluted sul¬
phuric acid, then boiled in the same solu¬
tion until they iiecomo solid and dense.
They are then washed free of tlie acid and
slowly dried. This Ivory can be dyed un"
turned and made useful in many ways.—
Chicaj) Tribune,
Don’t Hurry at Dinner,
Eat your dinner at an hour (be it early
or late) when you have time to digest it.
The blood, like anything else in the econ¬
omy of nature cannot occupy two places
at once. Blood used by the brain cannot
at the same time be in the stomach to
digest the food. There is more dyspepsia
from a hurried dinner in the middle of tho
day than from dinners eaten at night
after the brain work is over.—Ladies
Home Journal.
TEXAS PANHANDLE.
A GLIMPSE OF SOME OF ITS SOCIAL !
INSTITUTIONS.
A Population Over Which the State and
Nation Ilave Practically No Civil or
Criminal Jurisdiction—Everybody Ill.
•
.
}
It the truth were known, the Pan
handle of Texas would be voted the poll ti¬
cal, social and material curiosity of this
country. There is nothing like it in this
country or any other country. It is
strictly original, stands out by itself and
freezes on to its peculiarities with a stead
fastness characteristic of America in gen
oral and Texas in particular,
q'h 0 Panhandle covers a territory nbout
as largo as tho state of New York. It ex¬
tends from the Indian territory on the
north, almost to the Texas & Pacific rail
road, on tho south, and from New Mexico
on the west, almost to the Fort Wort-li &
Deliver railroad on the east. It is larger
than many European countries that sing
loud in mi international chorus. Within
i t3 confines aro mountains and forests,
lakes ami streams, valleys and rivers, iron
mines, copper mines, silver mines, coal
mines that are known of, and perhaps
much more mineral wealth that is not
known of, hamlets, ranches, caves, mesas,
mineral springs, steep precipices, shady
groves and many verdant plains,
The Panhandle is divided into fifty
three counties, but not more than six or
seven of them arc organized. The people
of the Panhandle have a very supreme
contempt for law, and have not much
more use for a sheriff or an attorney than
they have fora grass burner or a cattle
thief. When the word “law” is used, it
should be remembered that it applies to
tho enactments of what tho Panhandle
folks contemptuously term the “Austin
law factory.” There is an unwritten code
(„ t he Panhandle, and woe to the man
who violates it. A man must not steal
cattle In the Panhandle; neither must ho
cut fences, burn grass, fill up wells with
earth, break dams or kill a man in cold
Moo d. There are less than 100 women in
the Panhandle, and they are all good
women. There are no jails in the region,
lines are looked upon with contempt, and
the only punishment awarded to those
"ho violate the code of the region is death
or expulsion. If a man kills another in a
flflbt he lias toanswer before no law court;
right to kill a man in a fair fight is
not questioned,
Jl'IIGE LYNCH’S JUSTICE.
If a man kills another liy stealth—that
Is, if he steals up behind him and plunges
a knife in his hack or shoots him unawares
—Judge Lynch immediately takes hold of
tlie offender, administers rigid justice
devoid of technicalities or quibbles or
stays of proceeding, nnd if tlie murder was
cold-blooded and cowardly the murderer is
more certain of being hanged than he
would bo in St. Louis, Chicago, New York,
San Francisco, New Orleans or Galveston.
If a man In convicted of cattle stealing
before Judge Lynch he is certain of being
hanged. If a man is caught cutting a
fence or setting fire to grass he is shot
down without hesitation,or if subsequently
arraigned before Judge Lynch and it is
shown oil testimony, direct or circumstan¬
tial, that lie was guilty of the offense, he
will be hanged. This is about all the euro
they have in tho Panhandle. A man must
take care ot himself. He must fight his
own battles. If lie is not able to fight, if
he is afraid to figllt, if lie has any prejudice
against fighting, lie had better seek some
other location than tlie Panhandle of
Texas for an abiding place. In fact, the
Panhandle might, be described as one vast
region devoid of law, defying law, getting
along comfortably without law.
Of course the great majority of the Pan¬
handle people are not addicted to reminis
cenco. The man who receives mail matter
from a former home in another state is a
rarity. Blit, of course, there are excep¬
tions. No doubt many Panhandio men
could prove that they are wearing tho
same name now that they inherited from
tlicir parents. But it is not considered
good'taste in tho Panhandle to be too in¬
quisitive, nnd tlie man who persists in
delving into the affairs of another man is
almost certain to have a fight on his
hands without unnecessary delay.
The people are social, hospitable nnd
generous. The ethical code of tlie region
forbids any inquiry concerning a stranger.
If the new arrival wants a job ut wire
punching or lino riding it is taken for
granted that it is his intention to become
a permanent, resident; if he loafs around
without attempting to secure a job at any¬
thing ho becomes an object of suspicion.
Detectives sometimes have the hardihood
to penetrate the Panhqndle, hut if they
should be suspected they are invariably
treated to hospitable graves. Detectives
and law officers are not wanted and will
not lie tolerated in the Panhandle. Tho
permanent sojourners in the region make
no pretense of denying that they are thero
because of a disagreement with the rules
of action prescribed by law in tho regions
whence they came. It is a republic of tol¬
eration, anil mind your own business is
tlie constitution.—Cor. Globe-Democrat.
Where Do the Fins Go?
“Whero do all the pins go to?” asked a
friend of me tho othcr day; and “What
becomes of all the dead birds?” I asked in
reply. Tills brief colloquy led me to try
an experiment. Having a day at my dis¬
posal, in consequence of a slight indispo¬
sition, and t he weather being line, I deter¬
mined to devote a whole day to looking for
waste pins and dead birds. I first hunted
all over the floor of my room for pins, and
ns I passed out of t he house made a search
along i all the halls and at tho front door;
but could not find a pin. I then walked
along the street all the morning, looking
for pins and dead birds, but found none.
In tho afternoon I took in several of the
parks. I hunted near tlie seats for pins,
and under all tlie trees and in the crevices
of fences for birds, but all in vain.
Toward e\ cuing I realized how benefi¬
cial it is to walk “with an object,” but I
did not have a single pin or bird to show
for my hunt. I was compelled to admit
that it was something of a puzzle to tell
wliat became of them. Not, however,
that I never sco a stray pin or a dead
sparrow. I have met with a number of
people who never saw a dead goat or a
i dcad , lmllc - bnt everybody , , has picked . , up a
P ln > nnd at lo,, 8 Intervals seen a dead
bird ' Tbe I mz;du ls that, while so many
miUio " H of I’ 1 " 3 and birds ,mlst bo gotten
awa >' ' vi,h every day, we find so few of
them. By the way, I think I never saw a
,!ea<1 pigeon in my life.—Chicago Journal.
West African Dwellings,
In this primitive fashion we at length
reached the closely packed mass of native
huts forming the real “town” of Bonny,
to which the handful of European houses
around the landing place serves only as
a kind of preface. The huts were for
the most part of one traditional type, viz.,
that of an enormous basket with one side
knocked out. In fact, were a monster
picnic to disperse suddenly, leaving their
hampers and lunch baskets scattered
around in the dirt, it would represent
fairly enough an ordinary African village.
A few of the larger hovels had attained
tho dignity of a roof of corrugated iron
stuck on the side like a soldier’s cap,
while patches of the same material clung
to their sides like overgrown postage
stamps. Tho interiors of one and all
were fully open to the public gaze, which
mattered tho less inasmuch as there
seemed to bo nothing in them except two
or three cracked pots and a tiny fire.
The room in which Mr. Nat Fine
Country received us was as extraordi¬
nary as the name and appearance of its
owner. It had no roof, and might utmost
bo said to have no lloor, cither, consisting
ns it did of a crazy wooden platform
around its four sides, with a deep hollow
in the middle, the whole thing being ex¬
tremely suggestive of a public swimming
bath. The platform was so narrow that
there was barely room upon it for our
chairs and ourselves, and when I unwarily
pushed back mine in getting up to take
leave, I came within a hair’s breadth of
tumbling backward head over heals into
the yawning pit below. On leaving the
house we were beginning to make merry
over this singular apartment, when an ob¬
ject suddenly confronted us which made
us all grave enough. It was a strange
looking hut of wattles and grass, hung
round with broken jars and bottles, and
standing all by itself ns if the surrounding
dwellings had shrunken away from it. To
all appearance it had neither door nor
window, but through a chink in the wnt
tlework w r e could see that its earthen floor
was literally heaped with human skulls.
“What on earth is this place?” asked I of
our conductor. The answer, brief though
it was, spoke volumes: “It’s a fctieli
house.”—Bonny (Western Africa) Cor.
New York Times.
Tho Counterfeiting of Hare Coins*
The late Capt. Wallace W. Hall, of the
United States secret sendee,shortly before
his removal to St. Louis is said to have
been investigating a gigantic counter¬
feiting scheme by which alleged rare,
costly and antique coins were being put
upon the market ns genuine. In 1885, a
Philadelphia coin dealer named Hazeltine
advertiscd an auction sale of his super¬
fluous coins, including an 1804 dollar, only
six of which are known to have been coined
before the issue was recalled. The value
of one of these dollars is $500 or more,
and so great, interest was excited in tho
sale.
A well known connoisseur who attended
discovered that some of the coins were net
genuine, and on the collection being sent
to the mint it was discovered that a large
number of the coins had been made with¬
in a year. Similar eases were soon re¬
ported from all parts of the country, and
Capt, Hall, who happened to be in Phila¬
delphia, set to work to investigate the
matter. Ho found that the counterfeits
included all of the recalled issue pieces,
and thousands of coins of interest, an¬
tiquity and high value. The dollar of
1804 had been frequently duplicated by
boring (he “3” out of a dollar of 1883 and
inserting aping “4,” which was soldered
with a blow pipe and treated with an acid
bath to give it an antiquated appearance.
Other coins he found to be counterfeited
by the use of plaster molds, and all were
so cleverly done that none but an expert
could detect any difference between the
counterfeit and the genuine. It is not
known whether Capt. Hall ever obtained
any clew to the counterfeiters’ mint.—
Chicago Tribune.
Whore Andrew .Tncksou Lived.
Near by the Hermitage is a small,
square brick church, which Jackson Intel
built for his wife, who was said to be a
devout Presbyterian. Entering the Her¬
mitage yard, through the large iron gate,
one notices immediately that the carriage
drives (which are outlined by cedars) form
an immense banjo. To the right of the
large lawn, which is ill front of the house,
is the flower garden and family burying
ground. There are old fashioned beds
filled with old fashioned flowers, although,
of course, many of them have died for
want of care. 1 believe the plants which
predominate now arc fig trees and box
plants. In one corner of the garden is
Jackson’s tomb, surrounded by those of
his immediate family. The base of the
tomb in which he and his wife are in¬
terred is about nine feet square, with hori¬
zontal slabs of stone on which "tho cpi
! i taphs are curved.
The house and outhouses at the Hermit¬
age aro in an exceedingly dilapidated con¬
dition. The place is owned by the state
of Tennessee, granting the family who
now occupy it the privilege of living there
during the life of the elder Mrs. Jackson.
They are in rather reduced circumstances
and are not aide to have the place re¬
paired. They have even been forced to
the necessity of selling many articles valu¬
able both on account of their intrinsic
worth and on account of their historic as¬
sociations.—Nashville Cor. Philadelphia
Times.
Contagion In Hag Mattresses.
A newspaper man in San Francisco paid
a visit the ol her day to a mattress factory,
which was conducted upon n plan admir¬
ably adapted to the purpose of propagat¬
ing disease by wholesale. Ip a rough shed
were two machines technically known as
tensers. These implements were revolv¬
ing at a high rate of speed. Sharp teeth
of iron wore tearing piles of the most
filthy and disgusting remnants of old
clothes and other woolen articles Into
shreds, until the entire fabrics were re¬
duced to fine filaments. This material,
known ns patent wool, is used principally
for filling the lied coverings of chintz sold
In t he stores under the nuine of comforters.
The first handling which the remnants of
garments receive is by tho Chinese rag¬
pickers, who convey them into Chinatown
and there pick out the cotton and lluqn
fabrics from the woolen ones. The former
find their ultimate destination at the pa¬
per mills, while the latter are used by
mattress and bed comforter makers after
j being teased by machinery. Without be¬
I ing disinfected or in any wuy deodorized
these materials are liable, from the uses
j they are put valuable to, to become a source
i whereby many lives may be lost.
—Boston Herald-
Terms $1.50 Per Annum.
TECUMSEH'S TEETH.
rhe Fart They Played In tlio First Die
coTory of Gold In California.
Gen. W. T. Sherman has boed promt
nently identified with matters affecting tho
world’s history independent of his brilliant
military career in the civil war. He drew
up the first official report to the govern
ment of the United States of the great dis
covery of gold in California, which report
at once electrified the continent, while the
subsequent immense production of the
prcciou 3 metal in a few years revolution
ized property values throughout the entire
commercial world, and gavo an unprcce
dented impetus to industries, enterprises
and general prosperity.
Gold was discovered in California in the
spring of 1848, about sixty miles above
the present city of Sacramento. Gen.
Mason, was at that timo in command of
the United States forces in California, and
acted as military governor with head
quarters at Monterey, tho capital of the
territory. Gen. Sherman, then a young
lieutenant of the Third artillery, was the
adjutant of Gen. Mason's staff. Yerbo
Buena, now tho great city of San Fran
cisco; was then but a hide trailing port of
400 native inhabitants. As soon as gold
was discovered, Capt. Sutter went down
to Monterey with a quantity of samples of
tho precious metal for the inspection of
tho military authorities.
Gen. Sherman, in a conversation with
some friends at Chamberlin’s a few even
ings since, referred to this important his
torical event—so pregnant with results
nffecting tho whole world—substantially
ns follows: “Capt. Sutter brought into
Gen. Mason’s office several small packages
of samples and spread them out before us.
The specimens presented varied in size
from fish scales and split peas up to the
size of beans. Gen. Mason asked if I
knew how to test whether this stuff was
gold or not. 1 said certainly, and imme
diatcly -tried my teeth on a lump, and
mnde an indentation which impressed mo
that it was malleable. I then sent out for
a hammer and an ax, nnd pounded several
pieces out flat. This was a crude but
practical test, but wo then applied acids,
which verified the fact that the samples
were genuine gold.
“I was at once sent up to the diggings
and made a thorough examination of the
gold discoveries, which were rapidly being
found in new localities and in wonderful
amounts. I returned to Monterey with a
quantity of specimen samples and drew up
tho official report to tho government, which
was signed by Gen. Mason. This report,
accompanied with a quantit y of samples of
gold, was forwarded by a special bearer of
dispatches, who was no other than Henry
D. Cooke, recently the first governor of
this District of Columbia. He was sent off
in a small sailing vessel, with instructions
to intercept a British steamer on tho south¬
ern coast, and make rapid transit to Y. r ash
ington, regardless of expense. Wo had not
then been advised of the ratifications of tho
treaty with Mexico, ceding California to
tho United States, and were necessarily
very anxious that the government should
possess information of the discovery of gold
at the earliest moment. ”
Thus, less than forty years ago, “Old
Tecumseh’s” teeth made the first official
impress, put the first government stamp
of value on to the subsequent thousands
of millions of gold delved from tho mines
of this modern laud of Ophir.—Washington
Critic.
King of tho Soapy FJt» Triclc.
One of tho bitterest pangs for tho really
deserving pcor must he the thought of the
many Iniquities that hypocrisy commits in
their name. The crnclest cf these perhaps
is tho shamming of fits in the public
streets. The practice seems to bo almost
as old ns lying itself, yet it admits of regu¬
lar revival in each generation of impostors.
A fellow charged with t!“s offense at Lam¬
beth police court was said to lie a very old
hand. Au officer of the Mendicity society
saw him havo three fits in succession—
each followed; of course, by a collection—
nnd very properly invited him to finish the
third in a police station, lie uttered deep
gioans and foamed of. tho mouth in a man¬
ner shocking to behold, until It bccamo
manifest that his sign of suffering was duo
to t ho simple, but unsavory expedient, of
chewing a piece ot soap. Nothing is really
wasted in a great city, and tho bits of soap
that arc too small for toilet use are, no
doubt, eagerly bought up by “the trade"
In sham epileptic fits.
Tlio practitioner in question is said to
stand at the very head of his calling, and
he is known professionally as tho “King of
the Soapy Fits Trick.” In these stormy
times the title mustseem enviable to many
a potentate of wider dominion. The mon¬
arch in question has ono true note of roy¬
alty in a sort of passive persistence in a
chosen courso. He has elected to live by
chewing soap, and-ho goes on living by it,
in spite of years upon years of prison hard
labor, and even of ono whipping. On liis
release from jail, apparently, lie begs, bor¬
rows, or otherwise provides himself with
a piece of sorp and starts in business again.
If society, on tho one hand, never wearies
of correcting him, the King of tlio Soap
Fits, on the other, never wearies of being
corrected. It is, perhaps, more discourag¬
ing for society than him. It is strange
that no ono lias thought of soliciting his
testimonial to a new soap. His recom¬
mendation ought to bo supreme authority
on tho question of lathers.—London News.
Admiral Aube's New Gunboat.
Admiral Aube, of the French navy,
seems to bo a wide awako and lively old
salt. His new gunboat has just been
tried and found worthy, her speed being
ov“r nineteen miles an hour. • He proposes
to build a great fleet of these boats, each
carrying a single gun of tho most power¬
ful description. Half a dozen of such
boats, it is now believed, would bo more
effective in a naval engagement than one
large iron clad ship. A first class man-of
war of the modern typo tvould, it is
thought, be us powerless against a fleet of
such lively little gunboats as a bull
against o swarm of hornets, Tho Ger¬
mans aro also turning their attention to
smart gunboats of pretty much the same
kind, and possibly in the near future com¬
petitive examinations in the tactics of this
new marine cavalry may form part of the
programme of naval Service reform.—
New York Sun.
The Sun Bear’s Claws.
“Yonder is the hardest animal in the
world to keep confined in a cage,” said
the reporter’s escort, indicating the sun
bear, an importation from Borneo. “We
were compelled to line his cage with iron,
as you see. He has claws on him nearly
a foot long and as sharp as knives, and
he’ll cut his way through the hardest
yipqd ip po time.”—Cincinnati Enquirer,
NO 49.
WOMEN WHO ARE ATHLETES.
Circus Performers Tnu 3 ht the. Art at an
Uptown Gymnasium.
Many people have long been at a loss to
know where tlie lady athletes learn the
art by which they earn a livelihood and by
whom they are taught. A professor has
a private gymnasium iu an uptown street
at which many of tho queens of the air are
instructed in the art of hanging by their
toes and going through various other acta
well known to the frequenters of the cir
cus and the variety theatre. A reporter
had a long talk with this professor and was
told how these athletes are taught. When
the reporter entered the studio he found
the professor instructing two young ladles
in trapeze maneuvers. The visitor was
invited into a private room, as it is against
tho rules for nny ono to he present while?
pupils aro taking lessens. Tlie rooms the
were decorated with pi. rtographs of
shining lights of t lie profession, whom tha
professor had fitted for tho business,
After the lesson was over tho professor
took the scribe through the different apart
meats.
“I suppose n person must be very young
nnd supple at the start to make any
thing like a good acrobat?”
“That’s where you are entirely wrong,
sir. Aliy woman can become a good per
former after a proper course of training, if
she lie but healthy and not too stout. It
is all mechanical and can be acquired only
by constant jiraetice. I have ladies come
to me who are anything hut graceful, and
by following my advice and suggestions
t-losely they havo become first class per¬
formers and are now earning good sal
aides. Many fail because they can’t stand
the hardship inseparable from the first few
days' practice. After the initial lesson
they invariably decline to take the rest of
the course. Nine persons out of every
ten give it up after the first lesson. If
they would only keep on tlie pain would
gradually disappear and they would bo all
right and never he similarly troubled
again.”
“What is tho first lesson you give?”
“The first lesson 1 give is to get my
money—my retainer, as it were. That is
also the first lesson they give me. Then
they are ready for the first lesson, which
consists of hanging by the hands and
swinging to and fro across tlie room,
which 1 have them do in order to satisfy
myself of their strength. They generally
swing .across twice .and fall upon a feather
bed. The next figure is to hang by the
hands from the bar. After they have
gone so far they take hold of tlie ropes and
slide up into a sitting position. After a
few moments’ rest I make them get down
by reversing tlie motion.
“When I have progressed thus far I
teach them to hang by their knees. This
is not quite so difficult as tho previous
" lesson. After they through
have gone
this motion several times they feel like
going home, When a woman has gone as
far as this without complaining much, it
is pretty safe to say she will succeed in
tho profession she has chosen. Most ol
them think every muscle in the body has
‘lieen severed. 1 have had pupils come to
me after an absence of a week and tell me
they fdt tlie bars across their backs.—
New York Mail and Express.
A “Smart” Little Daughter.
Then- is a family up town in which tha
daughter and the father are hand in glove,
lie does not teach her slang; he does not
use it much himself. He is literary and
learned and intellectual, and he is inocu¬
lating tlie little girl with the highest views
on literature and art. The two hold long
discussions on very serious subjects, and
tho mother sits by nnd listens. The child
is very young, but she lias noticed that her
mother does not interfere with these dis¬
cussions. Doubts, indeed, have filled her
mind as to her mother's education. The
other day slio came up and asked the
mother some very abstruse question. “I
can’t tell yon, dear, you must ask papa.”
“Oh, I know papa knows all about it, but
1 only wanted to see if you knew any¬
thing.”—San Francisco Chronicle.
Managing a Prlma Donna.
Opera Manager—It's a terrible thing, a
terrible tiling to have a prima donna to
manage.
Omaha Man—I did not suppose a bad
temper necessarily accompanied vocal
talents.
“Well, it is not temper exactly; but a
prima donna seems to be in a continual
state of nervous irritability; can’t help it,
somehow.”
“Oh, that’s it. But, my dear sir, you
should reflect on the fearful nervous strain
she has to endure at every performance
when the sticks you have hired to support
her begin to sing.’’—Omaha World.
A Hint to Shipowners.
Col. Parker, of Tlie Boston Gazette,
speaks most wisely when he advocates that
on all ocean steamers should bo a suitable
air tight room under the charge of the
ship’s surgeon, where the bodies of passen¬
gers dying during the voyage could be
properly cared for. The brutal consign¬
ment of a dear ono to tho sea ought to be¬
come at least a matter of option with
friends. “And steamship companies”
continues Col. Parker, “should be com¬
pelled for the sake of humanity, if for no
other reason, to make some such provision
as this.”—New York Graphic.
An Anarchist's Joke.
Several months ago, when Anarchist!
Parsons was a free man, ho entered a cob¬
bler’s shop on Indiana street, nnd, tossing
a bundle on a bench exclaimed:
“John, I want those corporation shoes
mended.”
“Why do you call them corporation
shoes?” asked the cobbler, examining tha
contents of the bundle.
“Because they have no soles,” replied
the Anarchist, laughing at his own joke.
—Chicago Ilcrald.
A Scientific View.
A scientist says that a woman who
weighs 100 pounds hero would weigh 2,700
pounds if on tlie surface of the sun. Bub
not one woman in 1,000 will start on a
journey to tho sun in order to increase her
weight. Now, if ft were the moon it
would be different. There is a man in
that orb.—Norristown Herald.
Whistler nnd Wilde. •
A Boston artist tells this story of Whist
ler mid Oscar Wilde, who has the reputa
tion of borrowing Whistler’s bright
speeches. Having heard tlie artist say an
unusually dSploringly: good thing Oscar exclaimed,
“I wish I could have said
that.” "Oh,” know replied will Whistler it.” derisively*
"but you you say