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THE LUMPKIN SPEND1
A. W. LATIMEit, Publisher.
YOL. XV.
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PENDENT, or A. W. LUTHIER,
MUSINGS.
The moon lias risen, half dissolved in gray
And watery clouds, and casts a muddy light.
Like sunshine dead, o'er all the dismal night.
Is this the world that once was fair with May
And splendid with September! Swift decay
lias shorn its presence, beautiful and bright.
Of all tlmt made it lovely to the sight.
And only left the skeleton of clay.
Woe unto him whose heart strings are a lute
(As were the holy angel Israfel's,
Of which tho Bible of Mahomet tells).
For nature never lets tho chords bo mute I
And tbough she loves the notes of highest glad¬
ness
6he sounds the strains of misery and madness.
—Franklin E. Denton in Tho Current.
Newspapers at the Hotels.
But few persons possess tlie remotest
idea of tlie importance of tlie newspaper
slant! within the precincts of onr principal
hotels. Thoso who do must admit it. is as
great an auxiliary as tlie chief chef. The
majority of tlie habitues of hotels are in¬
veterate readers. They would rather lore
nil the tobacco and liquors of the country
than submit to Uic deprivation of their
favorite newspapers. As a rule the news¬
papers arc always on file in tlie reading
and smoking rooms of the hotel, but it is
seldom that tlie guests avail themselves of
tlie privilege of reading there. Outsiders
do that. They prefer to purchase the
papers at tlio stand and Lie themsolves to
their rooms for an uninterrupted perusal.
The keeper of one of the stands informed
a reporter that she disposed of 2,000 daily
papers in this way. The income each day,
she said, amounted to nearly $75. All
this is not, realized by tlie sale of newspa¬
pers, however. A well established stand
invariably places on sale besides tlie popu¬
lar magazines, books, novels and period¬
icals of tiie day, copies of all the leading
papers of nearby cities. The Boston, Phil¬
adelphia, Baltimore, Washington and Al¬
bany morning press is for sale before noon
every day. They arc retailed at a few
cents in excess of (lie regulation price.
Tho men who own these stands lease them
from tlie proprietors of tlie hotel. All are
wealthy, a few being regular features of
Wall street.—New York Mail and Ex
press.
One of file Yellowstone Marvels.
At the Cleopatra spring, upon a.terrace
forty foot in height and covering three
quarters of an acre, the deposit is unusually
rapid, and for this reason the spring is
utilized for the purpose of encrusting
the various articles that are sold as
curios and souvenirs in tlio valley. The
spring has n temporature of 154 degrees
at the edge, but in every basin that is
fed directly by a hot spring the tempera¬
ture increases rapidly as one approaches
tlie source, and the streams that flow
from tho basins retain an agreeable
warmth even at a considerable distance
from the main terrace. At the Cleo¬
patra spring 1 Kittles are sunk or hung
under the dripping water between the
shallow terraces and iu four days (ninety
six hours) they are covered with a cal¬
careous deposit to the depth of onc-six
teenth of an inch. Ornaments made of
twisted wire after a suitable bath in this
marvelous spring emerge like bits of
branch coral. Tlie amuletic horseshoe is
in great demand. A horseshoe that is
sown in corruption, ragged, msty, dustv
and with the nails still twisted in it. is
mined in incorruption, a thing of beauty
and a joy forever. It is in very truth
the materialized ghost of a horseshoe.
If you are making the tonr of the park
let me advise you to deposit your souve¬
nirs in tlie Cleopatra spring on the day of
your arrival, and when you arc ready to
depart you will find them whiter than
Bnow.—Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.
Demand for Small Change.
“The demand for small bilLsand coins,”
says a Philadelphia sub-treasury official,
“is snch that we cannot begin to supply
$1 and $2 bills as fast, as they aro called
for, and wo nre away behind in the matter
of small change—pennies, five cent pieces,
dimes, quarters and half dollar bits. One
of the peculiarities of tlie day is the new
demand from the south and southwest for
pennies. Heretofore tlie people in that part
of the country have had no use for one
cent pieces; they have rather inclined to
sneer at such money; but the great growth
of liveliness in trade down there seems to
have changed affairs materially. And all
over the country it would seem as if this
demand for .smnll currency is a fair indica¬
tion that there is a boom in retail business.
That would explain the demand for this
new abundance of small money, a demand
that the public really does not appreciate,
so great is it.”—Chicago Times.
He Probably Waft.
“Was the early man a savage?” asks a
__ magazine writer. .. That „„ , depends , If the
early man arose at 3 a. in. and rushed
fn°find to find ’.‘wT that he 1 ‘° was r T too h thB early , ‘^ by P0t about ? nly
8ay l t he Wft8
somewhat sat age._____
silk ltaiuui i n n*.i. ’
About . .-nr.,, 1 i-OOO pounds . of silk cocoons,
averaging $1 per pound, have been raised
m Utah during the last year. The in
dustry is still m its infancy, but tlie out
look is very fluttering.-Chicago Herald,
- 1 - r ... ; -
A church that can’t do anything but
fceep itself straight is a failure.—ltev. Sate
Juu-.s.
LUMPKIN, GEOKGIA, SATURDAY, PEBRUARY 12, 1887.
SPIES ON THE RAIL
PULLMAN CONDUCTORS WATCHED
BY PRETTY FEMALE DETECTIVES.
How the Little Breaks aro Reported at
Headquarters—The Detective Service a
Very Perfect One—Spotting the Spotter.
Good Result*.
A brunette, plump, petite and pretty,
with something of the fcerless freedom of
an actress about her, was one of tho first
passengers to board tho Chicago limited
at the Union depot a night or two ago.
Many eyes followed tho trim figure, and
many masculino hearts envied tho col¬
ored porter who held her arm for a
moment as she climbed into the car. A
reporter would not havo noticed the lady,'
for pretty women aro not unusual sights
in the depot, had she not been pointed out
to him in New York three years ago as a
wonderfully clever detective in Pinker¬
ton’s service. As the reporter was talk¬
ing to a Pullman car conductor a few
minutes later, the attractive lady passen¬
ger came out on tho front platform of tho
car. Nodding his head toward her, tho
conductor said:
“There's my shadow. Site was a faith¬
ful one all yesterday, as faithful as she is
pretty. I should havo flattered myself
that sho was kind of sweet on me, if I had
not been told by a porter who recognized
licr who sho is.”
BRIGHT BROWN EYES.
“Tlien you know her calling f"
“Certainly; she’s a detective, a spy, one
of the agents of the secret service of the
Pullman Car company. Those bright
bnglit brown eyes of hers watched me
during a trip of about eOO miles, they
watched the porters and they kept
a dookout for tho passengers as well,
I 11 bet that she could give a pretty ac
curate account of everything we did for
tliose twelve hours. I remember I used
pretty strong language to a thick headed
porter early on the journey before I dis
covered her lad) ship. At the end of tho
month I shall receive a report from head
qunrtcrs notifying mo that on sncli a day
am on such a train I used bad language,
aml warning me not to do t again. Every
little break a conductor makes is recorded,
and he is told all about it at the end of
tho month. The conductor who commits
any serious indiscretion or puts money
into his own pockets instead of the com¬
pany’s, and the secret service agent secs
tho act, lias to get down and out very
suddenly.” “The detective service is perfect
a very
one. then?”
Yea, as perfect, ns any other part of
the Pullman Cur company’s system.
Until a few weeks n#o the detectives were
called inspectors. That title has been
abolished, and the ladles and gentlemen
who so kindly wait upon tho conductors
like angels unawares are now known ns
special agents. 1 hey arc numerous, but
exactly liow many of them there are of
course I don t know. Nobody but tho
highest executive ohicinls arc supposed to
know who these agents are. I know a
dozen or so by sight, most of them men.
Ulicy travel m all sorts of shapes. They
b «y tbcir r*idroad tickets and purchase
their berths in sleepers just like the
of the world. In every way possible their
true identity is shielded and suspicion di
verted from them.
SPOTTING THE SPOTTER.
“Yet the conductor who is unable to
spot the spotter is the exception. You
catch a pair of eyes looking at you a little
too attentively; you detect a touch of the
pump handle iu a casual conversation, and
then before your mind has hardly had
t 'time to lead to conclusion
you any you
find yourself given over to the pleasant
occupation of watching your shadow. A
new man, and I suppose a dishonest man,
will not enjoy tho idea of always being
under surveillance; but, bicss your soul,
I’ve grown rather to like it. Of course
the spying is not nlwnys going on, al¬
though tho company by its monthly report
to its employes tries to make us bclievo
that we are never out of the Bight of the
special agents.”
“Is there much chance for a Pullman
conductor to rob the company?”
“Thero are not very many opportuni¬
ties. Here is one; it occurred on the Inst
trip I made. The pretty woman whom f
pointed out to you as a special agent had
a lower berth. The upper berth was not
taken. After we liad gotten out a few
miles on our journey she culled to me and
asked mo to fold up the upper berth, to
givo her tho entire stateroom, in fact.
According to tho rules of the company
tills could only bo done on the payment of
$2.50. I told tho lady so. ‘Oh,’ sho
said, with a beseeching look at me, ‘you
wouldn’t charge mo that.’ 1 replied that
I was sorry, but I couldn't make the
change for a penny less. She tried to
persuade me, but I wouldn’t give hi.
Then sho carried the war Into Africa, but
I whispered a word to the colored porters
and thoy resisted the smiles and even the
$1 which the lady offered. I know she's
put out with me, and she’ll paint my pro¬
fane spell in very bad colors, I know,
when she reports it. A conductor who
did not know he was dealing with a
special agent accepted a reduction on the
regular tariff, and got his discharge be¬
fore his next trip came round.
“I rather like some of the results of the
special agent system. If it does not keep
some of us out of temptation, it, at least
renders ns invulnerable in a great de¬
gree.”—Pittsburg Dispatch.
Preservation of tlie Dead.
Edward I, who died in 1307, was found
not decayed 463 year's subsequently. The
flesh on the face was a little wasted, but
not putrid. The liody of Canute, who died
in 1017, was found fresh in 1766. Thoso
of William the Conqueror and his wife
were perfect in 1522. In 1569 three Roman
soldiers, in the dress of their country, fully
equipped with arms, were dug out of a
Peat mass near Aberdeen. They were
quite £rP * h and plump * after a lapse * of
about l?i7 1 500 years
In the bodies of I July Kilsyth and
| ler infant were embalmed. In 1790 they
wt ‘ re found as perfect ns in the hour they
were embalmed. Every feature and limb
,vas ttdl- Tlie infant’s features were as
composed as if ho lmd only lK:en asleep for
eighty years. His color was us fresh and
his flesh as plump anil full as In tlie per
feet glow of health. The smile of infancy
and innocence wus on his lips. At a little
distance it was difficult to distinguish
whether Lady Kilsyth was alive or dead.
The question Is: What preservative was
ttsed, and how upplied?—Guiliard’s Med
ical Monthly.
A Weekly Newspaper, Published ia the Political, Social and Agricultural Interests of Stewart County.
A VISIT TO GEORGE ELIOT.
Oil to Harper’s Pen Picture of the Noted
NorcHst—Not a Handsome Woman.
Whilo we were sitting in the reception
room a tall gentleman with a very smooth,
low voice camo in and said that George
Eliot was quite indisposed that day, mid
that she would receive us in Bpito of that
fact, knowing that the lady had come so
far for that purpose. This gentleman was
probably Mr. Lewes, though he did not
say so. Wo were then led into a still
darker and more sunlSss room, which was
fitted up as a study. In this room, seated
before a glowing fire, though it was May,
in a great easy chair and wrapped anil
bundled up in a fleecy white shawl, was
tho famous woman. She had a sort of
nubia, also of white wool, thrown over her
head, and tho ends held under the shawl.
Her figure was all curled up in tho chair,
so that it was impossible to judge of licr
height or form, but I judged her to be
rather under tho medium height and very
thin, as her hands wero thin, long and
bony. Her face was rather thin and very in’
long, with the under jaw setting out a
very unlovely manner. Her eyes were
deep set, and her mouth and nose inde¬
scribable, but very ugly in shape, 'though
licr features boro the undeniable stamp of
raro intellectuality, they wero cold and
unsympathetic.
Her voice was clear, and every word was
distinct, though she spoko in a low tone,
and licr eyes showed very little change as
she spoke, as if she had no deep sympathy,
or - rather as if she did not care to waste
such a sentiment on any one but her fle
titious characters. Her conversation
w «rmth or vitality, though licr
apathetic manner may have been due to
-weakness. Somehow she managed to con
voy tho impression that her mind was too
g roa t for licr body, and that slio was
physically wasting w'hile her mental fac
ultics burned too brightly.
Xu (] le collrg0 0 f conversation slio said
that she thought out her work while rest
ing bodily, and then in tho forenoon,
wliilo her physical condition was at its
best, sho wrote it down, rarely writing
ovcr s j x ty lines a day. After sho had
finished one of her books sho immedi
n t e ly left the city; anil went traveling
for BPTCVftl months before she could ro
c , lpcrate her strength. During tlio visit
p ) lp was gcntlo but not sympathetic, was
not silout nor talkative, and though, ns
far 03 I was concerned, I did not find
any womanly charm about her to love, I
was very glad to have seen so famous a
woman. She kindly invited us to visit
her again upon my return from tlio con¬
tinent, but before I eume back Mr. Lowe's
was dead, and I uever sow licr again.—
Olivo Harper iu New York Mail and
Express.
A Pretty Mean Man.
Old Billy W. was one of the richest men
who lived, Rome fifteen years ago, in that
p al *t 0 f West Philadelphia called Mantua,
and one of tho meanest men who over
drew breath. One day he took a Lan
caster avenue car for the city, carrying in
his hand a basket of superb white grapes,
raised in his own greenhouse. Old Billy
W. sat in one corner of the car and a poor
mother with a sickly child in her lap looked sat in
the corner opposite. The child at
the grapes wistfully as tlie car rolled on,
square after square. At last the old man,
in a tone of ra'iping curiosity, asked the
child where she was going,
“To tlie park, sir, to see the grass and
the birds.”
“Do you like grapes?”
“Yes, sir,” and tlio pale little face
brightened up as the cliild half rose from
her mother's lap.
The old man lifted up his basket of lus¬
cious fruit, and, plucking one grapo from
a giganlic bunch, gave it to tho child.
The rest of tbo passengers said nothing,
hut tlie way thoy looked at tho old man
would have split a stone post.—Uhiladel
News.
Development of Cholera.
M. Thoinnot is of the opinion that chol¬
era, iu its progressive stage, lins a marked
tendency to follow tho banks of rivers
and water courses, and that its develop¬
ment is usually more frequent and re¬
markable along tho smaller streams and
rivers. Water, in fact, is, he alleges, n
powerful medium in jiropagating the dis¬
ease, whether at short or at great dis¬
tances. Cholera develops Itself around
wells and cisterns, wlion the water lias
been polluted by the cholera germ, and it
has been observed that if there arc two
sorts of drlnkablo water in a country, the
one contaminated and the other not, chol¬
era will attack those who use tlie first and
spare those who use tho second. Givon
also two or more centers of population
suffering from cholera, It will be found,
other conditions of health being equal,
that the victims to tho diseaso are less
numerous where the best potable water is
had! -
to be — Cleveland Leader.;
Newest Scare in Hygiene.
Speaking of the bath, reminds one of the
newest scare gotten up for poor human¬
ity’s good by The Sanitary News. “What
damage can lie ilono by the batii tub? Who
can tell?” it asks. And we ask, Who? It
says, if made of copper, it exudes bibasic
acetate (oh, horrors!) commonly known as
verdigris. Lead and zinc contribute those
oxides which are soluble in water, which
means lead poisoning. Beside, t he tubs of
copper, tin, lead, zinc or wood would soon
become dull, tarnished or foul, and then
all sorts of dreadful things happen. Clean¬
ing and scouring, The News thinks, is in¬
effectual. The remedy it suggests is more
practical in ones own house than elsewhere.
—tho porcelain lined iron or enameled fire
clay tubs with rounded corners. Witli
glass surfaces to our bath tubs, The News
will let us bathe in peace.—Now York
Graphic.
The Duke’s Old Clothes.
The Duke of Wellington's o'd clothes
may not interest housewives, but. they
may like to know that over fifty uniforms
of his huve recently been found in good
condition, owing to tlie fact that Ills old
valet packed them away in the bureau
drawers, “with two common tallow can¬
dles in each one to keep out the moths.”
So successfully were they preserved in a
small room at Apsley house that tlie duke’s
son, the late duke, did not know of their
existence, and it was not till after his
death that they were found. Boelim, tho
sculptor, had access to these uniforms and
trappings in modeling the duke’s statue.—
Boston Transcript.
j -
A genius in Troy has just Invented a
stove that saves three quarters of the
wood, while the ashes it makes pays for
the fOBjaiftdei;.—Boston Budget.
EAST AFRICAN DRUGS.
VEGETABLE POISONS USED FOR
ANOINTING SPEARS AND ARROWS.
A "Running; riant Whoso Active Prin¬
ciple Is Similar to Strychnine—The
"Poison Tree’*—Narcotic Indulgence
Conti nod to Tobacco.
Of curative drugs the east African
manifests but little knowledge. Near
Lake Ugnmbo a small wild aloe, when
the green skin has been peeled off, forms
an ice cold and healing application to
hums; and in the neighborhood of Dar*
es-Salnam a highly aromatic plant, with
hairy purple stalks, called arcaza
mtidl, is reputed a good native cure for
pains in the stomach. The Somalis oc¬
casionally eat the lo ial variety of dragou's
blood, n resin of acidulous flavor obtained
from the moll tree (Dras, cemiscliizantha).
Between Zanzibar and Dar-es-Salaam oc¬
curs a creeper with bean like, hairy, S
shaped pods having severe stinging pow
ci’s; it is nbout four inches long, of yel¬
lowish brown color, and is called upnpu.
The pain yields to cowilung and wood
ashes. In 1 h c samo region a broad bladed
grass called mwauga mwitu enjoys some
famo as a styptic.
ARROW POISONS.
Arrow poisons come much more promi¬
nently within the range of native study,
and most tribes use some description of
vegetable poison for anointing their
spears and nvrn vs. Tlie most important
is a species of Stroplianllius, either S.
hispiilus or S. kombe, which will proba¬
bly prove to be tlio solo source of this class
of poison used on I he eastern coast, from
Zanzibar to Somali land.and oven far into
tlio interior. Tlie plant is a runner, bear¬
ing large, rough ribbed leaves arranged
in clusters of throe or four together.
Each shoot consists of tlirco branches, of
which one bears tlio seed and the other
two tlio leaves. Tlio flower is yellow,
with curiously tailed petals. Tlie seed
lias tlio form of a huge military frog
button, with lobes nine Inches long, and is
the direct, source of the poison. This, ac¬
cording to St. Vincent. Erskine, is called
unitsuli in Gaza or southern Mozambique,
and is so energetic that men wounded by
arrows in tlie fleshy part of the leg have
been known to die within t.liv-c hours,
and with small bucks the poison takes
effect before they can principle run out of sight,
lie likens tlio active to strych¬
nine.
These facts quite accord with the de¬
scription given by R, W. Felkinand A. W.
Gerrard of (lie poison used by tlie Wanilia
and Waknmba tribes, west of Mombasia,
except that several roots arc supposed to
contribute to tlio deadly effect. These
authors mention an antidote composed of
sundry roots reduced to charcoal, which, Care¬
however, proved a failure on trial.
ful investigation of tlie umtsuli reveals
the fact tlmt it. is n powerful cardiac
poison, as powerful ns digitalin and more
powerful than verntria when injected
under the skin. But it. causes only
nausea, voniiling uml some weakness
when taken by (lie mouth.
THE “POISON TREE.”
Tim flesh of animals killed by this
poison is eaten by (lie blacks without ill
effects. Probably identical with this is
tlie “poison tree,” from tlio roots of which
the natives of Somali land extract a black
and pitchy substance for poisoning tlicir
arrows. Perhaps, also, the pitch like
poison obtained f rom tlie boiled down
bark of a tree used on tbeRullji river for
application to arrows, lances and even
bullets, and the mimvi or poisonous de¬
coction of the bark of a tree employed in
the trial by ordeal of the natives of the
Nyassa and Zambesi valley, is the same
article under another guise.
Indulgence in narcotics appears to bo
confined to tobacco, which is very com¬
monly grown under cultivation. It is a
special product of tlie Handei district,
whence considerable quantites of the sun
dried leaf, beaten into little round flat
cakes about two Inches in diameter, are
sent down to Pangani for export.
The tobacco is coarse and strong lmt of
fairly good flavor. The Iiiswahili use
water pipes (kiko)madoof gonrdsof vari¬
ous shapes. They swallow tlie fumes in
smoking and seem to enjoy the paroxysm
of coughing which results.—Journal
Society of Arts.
Where do Whale's Winter?
Just where all the arctic whales winter
has long been a mooted qnestiou. They
nre found nil along the roast of Califor¬
nia during some of tlie winter months.
But their breeding grounds there are tlio
lower latitudes, as at Magdalena bay and
In the shallow bays of the lower Mexican
coast. It is probable tlmt somo go down
ns far as the Central American coast.
AH flic right whales seen along tho coast
do not enter the Arctic, although it would
seem that the greater number do. Many
nre found in (lie summer season in tlie
Okhotsk sea and along the const of
Silieria. Tlie right whale seeks out liis
summer feeding groundsill high latitudes
and seeks out breeding grounds in low
latitudes. This annual migration and
return is counted on witli tlie greatest
certainty. As many whales come out. of
the Arctic in autumn as enter in the
spring. These facts govern the operations
of the whaling fleet.. Hence, nfter tho
Arctic whaling season is over many ships
discharge and refit at once and go down
tlie const preparatory to a later cruise in
high latitudes. At several points along
the coast in this state thero nre shore sta¬
tions where a considerable number of
whales arc caught ns they go up and
down tlie coast.—.San Francisco Bulletin.
Calling; Names.
Two young salesladies at Many’s no
longer speak as they pass dry goods over
the counter.
Said one—You’re a man old thing!
Said the other—You’re a—a salesper
son!
And now war is in their hearts.—New
York Sun
The Fatnon* IhIo of Cumbrae.
The Marquis of Buie lias purchased the
famous Isle of Cumbrae for which t lie
Scottish minister onco prayed: “laird,
bless tlie Greater arid Lesser Cumbraes
anil tlie adjacent ishinds of Great Britain
and Ireland.”—Morning Journal,
Von Dloltke and the Children.
Count von Moltke is fond of visiting
the village school near his Kreisun home,
The and putting questions to the children,
old gentleman is said to enjoy (his
keenly; but it is likely that the children
$ou’t.— Boston .Budget.
~
FIFTEEN MINUTES TO CALCUTTA.
Wonderful Improvement In tile Tram*
miHNiun of Cable Messages.
“How soon will this reach Calcutta?”
asked a white haired man as lie slipped a
ten word message through the receiving
wicket of the down town office of a cable
company.
“Can’t say exactly,” said the receiving
clerk. “It’s 5 o’clock now and there’s
work enough on hand to keep the wires
red hot till midnight. We’ll get it off by
2 a. m.”
“I’m sure you’ll send it ns soon as pos¬
sible, but that’s not what I mean. When
will it reach Calcutta. I retired from
business many years ago and havo for¬
gotten some tilings about cable telegraphy
with which I was once familiar,”
“Why. before if it leaves hero at 3. It’ll get
there 3.80 any way.” •
“You are joking, young fellow. I re¬
member well enough waiting a week for
a message from India or Hong Kong; no
dopbt the world moves faster now.”
“I wonder what he would have
thought,” said the clerk to a reporter, “if
1 told him that ids message would be in
Calcutta in fifteen minutes from the time
it left here. And yet that is not an under
estimate of the time, if no unusual delay
occurs in transferring from one system to
another. The New York merchant of to¬
day does not fully appreciate the wonder¬
ful system of submarine intercommunica¬
tion which is always at liis service; but
old city men know well enough llie an¬
noyance and losses on European and
Asiatic business caused through native
operators when messages had to be
liandod from one government to another
before they reached their destination.
Twenty years ago eight days’ delay on
Indian messages was quite common. Tele¬
grams that had to pass through Turkey
were thrust aside at Consta ltiuople until
the turbaned operators laid cleared their
lines and their work of mutilation often
cost tho merchant his message and the
price of a “repeat” when the receiver was
unable to translate the mangled English
delivered to him in Bombay or Calcutta.
“Now nil this is changed. British and
American operators are to lie found in all
parts of Uic globe, much io tho surprise
of outsiders, who wonder why natives
cannot lie trained to take charge of cable
circuits. Our operators proceed to foreign
stations and in the most unhealthy
climate manfully do tlicir duty. Muti¬
lated messages aro no longer common,
and (lie merchants of this country reap the
benefit. Tho other day I was asked why
half breed Spaniards could not ho trained
to take appointments at snch places
as Vera Cruz and Panama, where Anglo
Saxons cannot live. Tlio real Spaniard
does not make a model operator. What
tile Mexican - operator would be like I will
not venture to suggest.. I have heard on
good authority that it is nothing unusual
for a Spanish operator to give ‘M. A.’
(wail) while* he saunters to a neighboring
restaurant to indulge in a cigarette—re¬
turning to go on with liis work when he
has finished liis refreshments. It is no
wonder that cable companies are glad to
do secure English and American operators to
tlicir work, for they seldom forsake
their posts while they have a leg to stand
on.”—New York Tribune Interview.
Going Huck to Simplicity.
It is evident that ( lie days of bric-a-brac
arc feel numbered, and (hat vve arc about to
a strong reaction toward th# classic
styles and severe simplicity. Tlie archi¬
tects and decorators in New York say that
people profess themselves weary of the
clutter they havo been having round them
in tlicir houses and asked to bo furnished
in white and gold. Of course this was to
he expected sooner or later. In former
and less hurried times the reaction
would have been delayed some time lon¬
ger, but in these days fashions change
with great rapidity.
Very likely we may go all the way back
to tlie Grecian type of house before we
stop, when once tlie mania for simplicity
sets in, and if nny one would know what
that type is a beautiful example maybe”
seen on Broad street, near Girard avenue.
This is n house built about forty years
ago liy the late Mr. Styles. It is very
beautiful in its plain square of white
marble, with the smallest portion of clas¬
sic ornament and a great relief to the eye
after the bewilderment of curious tilings
which lately have been getting built.
Tlie people in tyie suburbs who are put¬
ting rustic stone walls of preposterous
thickness nround their tiny Queen Anne
boxes had better take warning that they
will soon be out of style.— Philadelphia
Times.
The Widow of Gen. Pickett.
Among the visitors at the panorama of
Bull Run at Washington the other day
was a lady of striking appearance, who
seemed greatly interested in tlie p’eture
of the fight. When the lecturer began to
describe tlmt portion of the battle near
the railroad track and said “tlie conflict
here can only be likened to features of
the battle of Gettysburg, and tlie dasli
made at this point is said to have equaled
tlie famous Pickett’s charge," the Indy
seemed to take a greater interest in the
picture and when she turned to look at
tlie lecturer he recognized her as tlie
widow of Gen. Pickett, that dashing Vir¬
ginian who led the Con federal e charge at
Gettysburg. Tlie lady is living at Wash¬
ington now and licr name appears on the
pay roll of the Interior department ns a
laborer. But Mrs. Pickett is not required
to do laborer’s work. She is assigned to
clerical work. She is a refined and cul¬
tured woman and is only one among the
widows of renowned soldiers on both sides
of tlie late war who fill small places here.
—New Orleans Tiuies-Demoerat.
Garrett’s llicli Secretary.
Mr. Robert Garrett,president of the Bal¬
timore and Ohio railroad, has three
private secretaries, one of whom lias be¬
come rich by speculating in stocks on tips
given him by liis employer. Mr. Garrett
owns one of tlio finest private libraries in
the country, and has decidedly literary
tastes.—Harper’s Bazar.
A Conundrnm,
Mr. Bones—Now, sir, can you tell me
why an oyster dealer is like a suction
pump? Interlocutor—1 don’t know, Mr.
Bones; why is an oyster dialer like a
suction pump? Mr. Bones—Because he
works bivalves. Interlocutor—Mr. Hoar
scy will sing “When the Bridge Begin3
to Turn.”—Rambler.
The gulf is growing wide betweer
Lazarus and Dives, only the two hav
changed places. Dives is in Abraham'S
bosom.—Col. Bob Iugersoll.
Terms $1.50 Per Amiiim.
A Bounder's Life.
1 was asking a “rounder” the other day
how he managed to keep his head above
water, and after a moment spent in re¬
flection he replied:
“To be a successful vagrant and dead
beat requires twice the planning it does to
get rich. I divide my life oil into two
portions, as it were. The first idea is to
get clothes. Those I beg of old time
friends. The next is to get money. I
must have about $3 per week to run me,
and I do more scheming and planning to
get that small amount than any working¬
man does to get $10. I can live on twenty
cents per day. Ten of this must go for
the night’s lodging, and two nickels will
get mo two glasses of beer and two free
lunches. Tho third Idea is to conceal my
identity. Not my name, but my charac¬
ter. I am just as anxious to prevent
strangers from looking upon me as a dead
be:# as a man can bo. By hook or crook
I see the daily papers everyday, and I post
myself on all the now3. I can therefore
talk intelligently. I make fifty excuses
per day for not being better dressed, and
for having no overcoat.”
“I should think you would bo collared
by ‘1 the police.”
take precautions against that. I have
made it a point to givo away ‘shady’ peo¬
ple when I can do so, and the police would
bo ingrates to run mo in. 1 have to patron¬
ize the poorest lodging houses and am
obliged to hang out at disreputable places,
and I keep my eyes open. I can tell a ‘fly’
man as soou. as the next, and I lose no
time in tipping some detective tho wink.”
“If a situation paying, say §10 per week
was”
“No, sir! I have no one dependent upon
me, and all I care for is to get through the
day as it comes. In spite of the occasional
suffering and kicks and contempt, I get
along first rate. I shall be found dead
some morning, the city will bury me, and
my tramp will be o’er. That’s all, and if
you could lend mo ten cents until Satur¬
day, I’d”
“Certainly.”—Detroit Free Press.
A Doxvneaster’s Electric Light.
A Skowhegan electrician has invented a
new electric light, which lie is confident
will revolutionize electric lighting all over
tlie world. He lias been fostering his
electric scheme and burning midnight oil
for over a year. The light is now per¬
fected, and patents in America, England,
Germany, Franco and Russia have been
applied for. This invention is creating
quite a stir whero it is understood. Tlie
new light was tested in tlie Skowhegan
electric light station one evening not long
since, tho and it is said its superiority over
ordinary arc system was apparent to
many of the citizens of Skowhegan who
were eye witnesses to the experiment.
The light is produced by a spiral carbon,
entirely different to anything heretofore
used by electricians. It is claimed that
this new el ectr ic light will produce a
brighter light than has yet been found.
It is what is called tlie mechanical feed.
It is claimed by I ho inventor that not only
is his light brighter than electric light
nowadays, but thero will lie no quivering,
flickering or hissing lo the new light, of
which greater tilings are predicted than
have heretofore seemed possiblo in tlio
realm of electric light.—Lewiston (Me.)
Journal.
An Adorer of tho “Form Divine.”
A lively writer, who lias visited the
studios of both 1 tenner and Carolus Du¬
ran, in Paris, says: “Painter of the femi¬
nine form, which his very pencil seems to
caress upon tho canvass, Henncr is an
adorer of the mysterious being, angel or
sphinx whom we call woman. Ono day
a girl, with long blonde hair streaming
over her neck and shoulders, was seated
beforo him on tho huge platform draped
In red which occupies the middle of tlie
studio. Suddenly Ilennor arose, left his
easel, went over to the model, took her
tresses in his hands, kissed them religious¬
ly, then went back and sat down to liis
work. His worship of beauty is no idle
jest. But Carolus Duran, when ho deigns
to allow a beautiful young person to sit
beforo him, now and then says to her:
‘Come here, child! Look at this picture
(the one he has been painting of licr).
Would you bo pleased if you were as pret¬
ty os that? Novv tell nie truly.’”—At¬
lanta Constitution.
Character In tlio Hair.
If Hie color is not to be taken ns an in¬
dex,“ho habitual appearance is as a safe
guide to at least a few points of character.
Our faces carry with them tho story of
our live3, though it bo written in liioro
glyphic3 unread; to somo extent we our¬
selves have made thorn what they aro;
not tho features, but tho expression, is our
making formed unconsciously all our life.
In just the samo way, it is not tlio hair
itself, but, so to say, tho expression wo
have given it that tells the tala. White,
black, gray or brown, ruddy, yellow,
aslion or flaxen—what matter it?—our
hearts and our ways are not colored to
match. Curly, or straight—liow could wo
help it? But our care and our carefulness,
our work and our troubles havo given it
an uppearaneo of its own, which is a part of
our individuality; and therein nre tlie se¬
crets of character.—Cassell’s Magazine.
Deadly Electricity.
Three or four of us wero watching an
English sparrow picking up his breakfast
the other morning, lie finally got a large
piece of cracker and flew up to the electric
wire overhead to cat it. Ho alighted on a
spaco where llio insulating covering had
met with an accident and been stripped
off, and his feet had no sooner touched the
wire than down lie came, dead as a stone.
When we picked up the body it had a
pulpy feeling, as if every bone had been
broken. It was a striking proof, even on
a small scale, of tho vindictive current
which buzzes and flashes and leaps over
and around us, ready at tho slightest
provocation to strike a victim with the
chill of deuth.—Detroit Free Press.
Jay Gould's Calm Urbanity.
Jay Gould is never in a hurry. When
he is on tho witness stand ho is as cosy as
an old shoo, sinks into tho chair with o
benevolent complacency, looks mildly
nround with an innocent air and—lets tho
opposition attorney try his hand on him all
ho wants. Nothing can Bnrpass the calm
urbanity of Mr. Gould at such n time, and
nothing can surpass his skill in answering
questions, lie tells everything lie knows,
yet he tells nothing. Mr. Gould moves
uround quietly and unostentatiously and
no man knows whero ho will turn up
next, whether in St. Louis or in a pew in
Dr. Raxtou’s church.—New York Tribune.
*............. —■*—*****s.
NO- 50
SONG. •
Our boat Is aground on a spit of sand.
But what caro we? t
The stars am out and tho moon 15 at hand,. , 1
And so hoar the roto of the sea.
Our boat Is aground on a spit of sand
While wo wait the turn of the tide.
The birds are waking in morning-land,
And tho planets beginning to hide.
Where is tho night with its shadows and song.
The sand spit, the roto of the sea!
Were they but myths that todreams belong.
Like the loro that he sang to me! I
—Mary N. Preseott in Harper's Bazar,
Tit* South African Quaggz.
It 13 stated that the quagga, tho beauti¬
ful wild striped ass of South Africa, has
suddenly ceased to exist. Tho bootmakers
of Loudon and New York wanted his
skin for a particular kind of sportsman's
boot, and ho consequently passed away
out of zoology. Thero may be a few loftt
on the highest and wildest plateaus, bull
tho Boers, tempted by the high prices,
havo extirpated the herds which only ton
years ago existed in South Africa. That
will be tho fato of the elephant, too, and
possibly of the crocodilo. It takes wholo
provinces to supply ivory for one advertis¬
ing firm in Oxford street, tho price is four¬
fold the price of a quarter of a century
ago, and the beasts are limited with a per¬
sistency which in no long time must be
fatal.
Tlio Indian government is making ef¬
forts to protect the Asiatic breed, but they
will nil be futile. Animals which when
dead are exceedingly valuable contract a
habit of dying, and laws establishing
close timo are powerless when it is worth
wliilo to run the risk cf broaking them.
The crocodile’s skin is used by smoker’s
and pursemakers, and so ho will disap¬
pear. Whatever Europe wants Europe
will have; and if the fashion of turning
tigers’ claws into brooches had developed
and spread to America, tigers would havo
perished. There will soon not bo a bird
of paradiso on earth, and the ostrich has
only been saved by private breeders.
Manhviil not wait for the cooling of tho
world to consume everything in it, from
teak trees to humming birds, and a cent¬
ury or two hence will find himself per¬
plexed by a planet in which thero is noth¬
ing except what lie makes. He is a poop
sort of creator.—London Spectator.
Tho Court Martial System.
“It is a startling fact, shown up by re¬
liable figures,” said an army officer yes¬
terday, that 50 per cent, of tho soldiers in
department were, during the past year,
tried by court martial. Most of them, of
course, were tried for petty offenses, such ns
drunkenness, of absence. being off duty without leave
This is a pitiful showing, and
at the samo time its truth cannot be dis¬
puted. It proves that there is something
radically wrong with the present system
of court- martial. As the thing is now, if
a soldier goes off or becomes intoxicated,
lie is immediately tried by court martial
and sentenced to a term /n the guard
house. 'That relieves him from duty, and
1 blows t lie work on the men who behave
themselves. Tills discourages the good
soldiers and helps flip bad ones.
The fact is thero ought to be a fixed
code of laws, rigidly enforced, with a cer
fain punishment for each crime—some¬
thing similar to the code whicli obtains in
the police court. Then a soldier who dis¬
obeys these laws would know just what
punishment to expect. Under the present
system a soldier, tried by our court mar¬
tini, might get a sentence moro severo or
more lenient than a soldier who commits
the very same crime, but is tried by a dif¬
ferent court martial board. In my opinion
there ought to bo less guard house sen¬
tence mid more lining done. Let a soldier
understand that an infringement of tho
law is going to cost him the half or wholo
of his month’s pay, and he will be pretty
apt to keep straight. For that reason a
fixed codo of laws and fines ought to bo
determined upon.—Omaha Bee.
New Fad for Collectors.
A new fad for collectors has been dis¬
covered, namely, engraved plates. It is
not enough to collect etchings and engrav¬
ings, but these enthusiasts want tho steel
and copper plates that they were printed
from. Is there a stray hobby for any one
left to ride? This is an age of collections,
and what “rafts” of matter pass through
the auction rooms into tho parlors and
libraries and cabinets of our wealthy citi¬
zens! Pictures, prints, first editions,
coins, clocks, watches, bric-a-brac, min¬
erals, curios, autographs, photographs,
gems, postage stamps, walking sticks, um¬
brellas (!), gloves, firearms, swords, carv¬
ings, play bills, book plates, buttons and
business cards. Tho man who made a
collection of cigar stumps Is ulready noted
beyond liis deserts. Tlie piquancy of thia
metal plate collecting doubtless consists In
tho difficulty of securing examples of
value, for those made by painter etchers
are commonly defaced or destroyed after a
limited number of impressions have been
taken, and it is a matter of principle with
Hie etcher that no impression shall be
struck after tlie lines begin to show signs
of weakening under tlie strain of tha
press.—Brooklyn Eagle.
A Heartless Man.
Wife (looking up from book)—My gra¬
cious alive, I would not have been tha
wife of tbo earl of Warwick for anything.
Ilushand—Why?
Wife—Because I Bee it stated that no
less than 30,000 persons ate daily at hia
table.
Husband—Whot difference would that)
have made?
Wife—Do you reckon I"d want to wait*
on so many people? Think I eould wash,
so many dishes? Think that a woman’s)
created merely to work? 1 never saw tha
like. Men haven’t got a bit of sympathy.
Here you sit at easo and want mo to set
tho table for 30,000 people. I ought not to
live with you another minute, you heart¬
less thing.
Husband—Why, Mary, don’t carry on
so. I have never asked you to wait on so
many people. In fact, I don’t intend that
you sliull.
Wife (smiling through her tears)—Oh, I
didn’t think you would be so cruel, but
the way yon spoke, dear, I thought yon
wero in earnest.—Arkansaw Traveler.
Heading and Thought; "" '
For every hour of reading two hours
should lie given to thought; indeed, on.# „
ail ,better afford to stop reading than
barren thinking. Many great readers are woefully
of ideas, but thero was never a
■ treat tiiinker—a frequent thinker—who
was not strong iu individuality,—Denver
lribune.