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J. G. HEARTSELL, Ed. and Pub.
VOL XII.
London is two and a bait times as
wealthy as Paris.
The university extension idea seems to
be taking fast hold on the agricultural
Southwest.
The King of Siam has decreed that no
prophet shall be entitled to credence un¬
less he can sit in a coal fire for half an
hour unharmed.
An important decision has been made
by the New York Supreme Court iu a
criminal case, allowing a new trial to a
convicted man on the ground that at his
first trial evidence of past misdealt not
connected with the case was allowed to
go before the jury and prejudice the.r
minds. A man can only be convicted of
the crime for which be was indicted.
He is allowed to bring evidence to show
previous good character, but this rule
cannot legally be made to work aguiust
him.
The immense amount of work done by
eur voluntary hospitals is never real¬
ized, admits the New York Sun, until
the added figures of the annual report
Btnow the totals. For example, the
Metropolitan Throat Hospital treated
1160 new cases in 1891. These cases
represent 6000 visits, 2421 prescriptions
and 226 surgical operations. Yet the
Metropoliton Throat Hospital is one of
the smallest of New York’s special hos¬
pitals, aud receives no grant from either
State or city.
The Pamunkey Clnb, on Pamunkey
Island, in Currituck (N. C.) Sound, is
said by Alexander Hunter, who has been
shooting ducks down in those famous
waters, to bo the “most exclusive club
in the world.” There are only four
Pamunkeyites, three of whom live in
New York and the other in Boston. The
initatiou fee is $1800, aud as the club
owns the island and considers its shoot¬
ing not too much for the present mem¬
bership, neither money nor influence
will secure admission. Two “Pamuri-
keys," as thevoall themselves, killed 180
canvas-back ducks in one day's shoot¬
ing.
_
The Cremation Society of England has
published a report stating very satisfac¬
tory progress of the idea. This idea, to
use Sir Spencor Wells’s epigrammatic
expression, is “purification versus putre¬
faction,” for the cremation of the dea l
purifies air and ground, both of which
are rendered impure and nauseous by the
putrefaction of the dead in graveyards.
At the crematorium in Woking only three
bodies were incinerated iu 1885, but
fifty-four in 1890, and last year, 1891,
the number of bodies rose to close upon
100. Slow as it be, the progress is
iteady and satisfactory. It is also re¬
ported that the city of Manchester and
some other places in the country crema¬
tories are in course of erection.
A new charity lias been commenced in
England under the auspices of one of
the sisterhoods in South London. It is
the opening of a house for the reception
of sick persons who are neither curable
nor incurable in the technical sense used
by physicians and hospitals, but who arc
simply dyiug. They say “the need is
very great. London does not possess a
single house where a dying man can end
his earthly days in peace, and so day by
day men pass into eternity in untenable
agony, the spirit within then- crushel
into despair or defiance.” This, of
course,explains the New York Independ-
ent, applies solely to those who have no
comfortable homes, but to multitule3 of
such this charity will be of immeasurable
value.
It seems to the New Orleans Picayune
as though the educational interests ol
the United States would soon be almost
exclusively m the hauds of women. Sta¬
tistics show that the number of male
teachers is falling off, as also their wages
as compared with those of women. In
Massachusetts statistics show that while
there has been an increase in the whole
number of teachers of 322, it is wholly
in favor of females, there being a de¬
crease of one in the number of males em¬
ployed, with an increase of 323 in the
number of females. Tnere is a corre¬
sponding decrease in the average wages
of males and of Jemales, the former re¬
ceiving $8.51 less per month and the lat¬
ter $s.38 more than the previous year.
The average of the wages per month for
male teachers is $118.07 ani for females
$48.17, The low wages for which young
women can be hired to keep school is an
obstacle to the employment of an increas¬
ing proportion of male tachers.
SPRING PLACE, MURRAY COUNTY, GA. APRIL ‘28, 189*2.
WHEN DAY IS DONE,
The sinking sun;
A mass of gold and purple in the West;
The drowsy twitterings of birds at rest;
A long, low house that sihouetted stands,
Silent and lone across the meadow lands;
A broken silver ring against the sky—
Then one belated thrush’s far-oif cry,
And day is done.
—Charlotte L. Seaver,iu the Cosmopolitan.
i SHEEP IH WOLF'S CLOW.
BY B. L. KETCHTOI.
HE pull is
uphill for al¬
most three
miles along
here, and the
horses plod
W' along slowly.
The dust is
just as deep;
but now, in-
stead of blowing off to leeward, as it did
awhile ago, it hangs close arouud the
stage in a thick, dense, reddish-yellow
cloud, almost shutting off the view from
the passengers inside, if they eared to
look out. But the beauties of na f ure
hold their interest only slightly, just at
present. The dust occupies their atten¬
tion to a large extent. It fills their
mouths, and eyes, and nostrils, and
clings to their hair and ears in much
profusion. It is disagreeable—very;
and the man who has enough spirits left
to try to keep up the conversation is
voted an ass by his fellow-passengers.
They were all very friendly only a short
time ago; but they hate each other with
a bitter hatred just now—all on account
of the dust. Dust is a great destroyer of
good humor.
Somehow, the dust doesn’t rise very
high,or else the driver and the passenger
on the box don’t mind it, for we cau
hear them talking. Old lien, through
some uuseeu but easily imagined in¬
fluence, has relaxe 1 from his usual taci¬
turnity, and is quite communicative
to the beardless, bqyish-lookiug young
chap who got ou back at Alpena and is
sharing the box with him.
As the stage reaches the level and
rolls into the shadows of the mountain
and the tall pines, Ben points with the
whip to the mouth of the narrow pass
leading out of the canyon a quarter of a
mile away, and remarks:
“See them two big rocks—road runs
b'tween ’em. Uh-huh. Wal, right
tliar—mebbe a couple rods ’r so lu’ther
on—was whar I was belt up oue day in
tb’ summer of ’76.”
“Yes? ’ said the passenger’s pleasant
voice, interrogatively. “Would you
mind telling me about it?”
Ben chirped to his horses, spat im¬
pressively and liberally, and began:
“Wal, ’twuz thisa-way. That morn-
in’ th’ ’xpress box was loaded plumb
full o’ liaid stuff, th't bed t’ go through
that day. Now, jes’z luck'd liev’ it, oue
o’ the gyards—we hed gyards them days
— turned up missin' ’bout th’ time we
was ready t’ start fr’m Eldorado in th’
morniu’. Berry McNeill, th’ other gyard,
goes arter ’im, an’ fin’s Mr. Man laid up
with a gash in th’ head fr’m a beer bot¬
tle—be'u scrappiu’ night b’fore.
“Th’ agent an’ me was thinkin’ pow’-
ful ’bout who we c'd git t’ take Haus¬
er's place ef he was sick, w’en hyar
comes Mac, whistlin’.
“‘8ay, fellers,’says he, ‘Hauser got
plunked with a bottle las’ night, an’ is
lavin’ on his downy couch with a head¬
ache. Reckon I c’n go it b’ my lone¬
some; 1 got Hauser’s sawed-off gun.’
“We both kicked a whole lot, but
Mae, he’d made up his min’, an’ was
boun’t’ hev’ his own way; b’sides, we
didn’t hev’ no one right liaody t’ go
’long, so we hed t’ give in, an’ Mac,
whistlin’ one o’ his everlastjn’ toons, piles
up ou th’ box, an’ we pulls out. They
waVt no passengers.
“Wal, we kep’ our peepers skun right-
sharp, but ev’rythin’ went lovely till jes’
long’bout hyar. Then Mac says; ‘Ben,
I b’lieve they’s some cusses lavin’ fer us
up b’ them rocks—I think I seen a fel¬
ler’s head, jes’ now.’ Says !• ‘Mao i
y're full o’ hop. I seen it, too, an
’twa’n't nothin’ but a hawk, crossin’ the
road.’
“Istirred up the critters a bit, how*
somever, but jes'z we turned th’ rocks,
somebody jumps out fr’m both sides an’
nails th’ leaders, an’ they was so many
guns starin' intuh mv face th’t it made
me ashamed o’ myself. Mac cut loose
wi’ th’ sawed-off shot-gun, an’ then be¬
gun wi’th’ Winchester, gittin’ two fel¬
lers an’ skinnin’ up some more—but they
was too many of ’em, an’ they c’d shoot,
too, so Mac he never got no chance t’
pump that gun dry. He oughtn’t t’ hev’
shot, nohow, but he alius was a nervy
cuss—more nerve "u sense. I usetuh say,
‘Mac—’"
Half a dozen dusky forms leap from
the road side—the big cowboy who got
aboard early in the afternoon, and Has
been dozing and swearing in a sleepy
way about the dust, is suddenly wide
awake, and we, on the inside, get a good
look at the muzzles of his two big re¬
volvers—we bear Ben ejaculate, “Wal,
this do beat all 1"—and then we are in¬
vited to get down into the road, where
the pleasant-faced, boyish-looking young
man, who got on back at Alpena, pro¬
ceeds to business, and, politely, courte¬
ously,butlirmly,withal, relieves us of our
spare *’**•* change—and, more, too.
*
*. This is my part of the story. Of
course, there were quite a number of
other people present, including the
“ TELL THE TRUTH ”
youthful highwayman and his capable
assistants, and they, also, have a claim
on the above narrative. I did not mean
that I owned it; what I tried to say was
that that is the only one of the events
from which come this veracious tale that
I took part in, and I think it has been
shown that my part was entirely a pas¬
sive one. Perhaps we had better call
that portion of the story the gentlemanly
road agent's, beoause he got about every¬
thing else there was to get. The rest is
Hallegan’s.
Hallegan and I were traveling to¬
gether, and it was his foresight—or,
rather, an odd notion of his—that en¬
abled U9 to resume our journey to Den¬
ver after the road-agent incident. This
odd notion was in the form of a thin
chamois insole, which he wore in his left
boot, and which, in addition to a card
giving directions tor the disposition of
his body in case be should be suddenly
called hence while among strangers,
contained a fifty dollar bill. It was an
ordinary fifty-dollar bill, but when Ter¬
ence flashed it before my dazzled eyes in
the hotel at Merrill that night, 1 was
quite sure that it was larger and more
valuable than the opinions of a New
England hired man. It took us to Lead-
ville, anyway, and that was all we could
reasonably desire.
But for the rest of the story;
It was about two years after the road-
ageht affair, in which we lost almost
everything but our good names and the
clothing we wore, when, one day, I was
thunder-struck to receive Hallogau’s
wedding cards. It was the first time I
had heard from him in a year, and had
any oue else told me Terence Hallegan
was a marrying man, I should have de¬
rided him; but when Terence himself,in
his own peculiar chirogiaphy, directed
to me an envelope containing such start¬
ling news, all set forth In the highest
style of the engraver’s art—well, it was
too much, aud I went down into the
camp, where there were a full score of
Terence's friends and acquaintances to
toast his memory and console with each
other. And grief was our lot, until the
day Jewett “struck it” in that hole he
had been pegging away at, over on the
other side of the gulch, and excitement
reigned supreme.
In the midst of the confusion, tele¬
grams came and went, flying—brought
and sent by special courier to and from
the office at Sunrise, nine miles away;
and, one day, came one for him who sits
here burning the nocturnal kerosene.
It wu3 from Hallegan, who was now liv¬
ing in Chicago, aud summoned me to
hasten to that city, where I was needed
to assist in closing a transaction involv¬
ing the sale of some mining property in
which Terence and I were interested.
Terence met me at the station. He
looked remarkably well, even for a per¬
son whose health and spirits had always
been of the very best, aud 1 told him so,
adding that in deponent’s opinion he
must have drawn a capital prize in the
matrimonial lottery.
He smiled happily, and took my arm
to walk outside the train inclosure, as he
said 1 :.
“That I did—that I did, me boy;
just wait till you see her, and you’ll be
sure of it.”
He called a cab, gave the driver some
brief instructions,and leaped in after me.
We rode several minutes iu silence; then
Hallegau turned to me in a rather em¬
barrassed way, and said, iu a strained
tone:
“Billy, me boy—it’s very near dinner¬
time at our house—and there’s no time
for—explanations. Only—if you think
you've seen—my wife—if her face is fa¬
miliar—please don’t mention it, or act as
though you noticed it. I’ll explain after
dinner.”
I acquiesced wonderingly, and won¬
dered yet more after I had met Mrs.
Hallegan, for I was quite positive that I
had never seen her before, and there was
ample opportunity, during the course of
the excellent dinner we presently sat
down to, to study her. She was slightly
above the medium height, aud of a per¬
fect, though rather slight, figure. Her
hair and eyes were dark, setting off ex¬
cellently her cleai olive complexion, and
her features were all that an artist could
desire. She was hardly what one would
call a beautiful woman, however.
“Handsome” would be the better word
—or, perhaps, “striking." There was
something about the firm, set of her
mouth when not speaking, and the
strong, rather masculine chin—in which,
oddly enough, there was a charmingly
feminine dimple—that caused this effect,
I think. One would never have taken
Mrs Hallegan for the daughter of the
little, white-haired, sweet-faced old lady
who sat opposite me, and whom she ad¬
dressed as “mother.”
Dinner over, the ladies rose to leave
us, smiling over the broad hint Terence
had just thrown out concerning a desire
to smoke. As they reached the door,
Mrs. Hallegau turned and bowed mock¬
ingly to her husband, whose hand was
just reaching for the bell. “1 hope, Sir
Terence, that the cigars may prove dry
company.” Then, with a bright smile,
she vanished.
I flopped into my chair, breathlessly.
Where tad I seen that mocking bow?
Then, suddenly, there came before me
that little scene in the mountains two
years since; tho dust, the heat, the
sleepy cowboy inside the coach, the
dapper little chap who so politely took
our money and watches. He bowed just
that way wheu he finished his work aud
departed. “Her brother,” I thought—
“black sheep,blot on family escutcheon.
Ho# much they resemble—"
“Well, me boy?” v
Hallegau was looking at me quizzically
through the smoke, we having lighted
our cigars meanwhile. I suppose 1
looked embarrassed. Of course it was
all rot; the idea of there being any con¬
nection, however remote, between the
stately creature who had just left us
and the little rascal who engineered that
hold-up 1
Hallegan spoke;
“Billy, me boy, I won’t make a short
story any longer thau is necessary. You
remember the little fellow who held us
up, two years ago?
“Of course I do.”
“Yes, very likely. Well, I fancy I’d
better begin at the beginning.
“Three years ago, a young fellow
named Wilson, who had been employed
as cashier by the L. aud A. Stage and
Express Company, got into trouble over
his accounts. The manager—Robin¬
son—charged him with a shortage
amounting to several thousand dollars.
There was an investigation, and, on the
strength of certain circumstantial evi¬
dence which need not be stated, as it is
immaterial, backed by the testimony of
Robinson, the manager, Tweedy, the
superintendent, and Frank Robinson, son
of tlio manager—who, by-the way, had
always been Wilson’s bosom friend—the
cashier was convicted on trial and sen¬
tenced to a long term at Canon City,
Strange to say, he oilered no testimony
and made no defense except his plea of
“not guilty.’
“Well, it killed him. Inside of a year,
the worry and disgrace, along with the
hard work and close confinement—ho had
never been very strong—had wasted him
to a shadow, aud when, at last, he knew
he couldn't live very long, he sent for
his mother and sisters to come to him.
“His mother was too ill herself to
travel, and one’of the sisters—a cripple
—was obliged to remain with her, but
the elder sister wont.
“She found him dying—dying in
prison. It was tho first she had known
of his trouble, and, naturally, she was
terribly shocked.
“He told her the true history of the
affair—that young Robinson, between
whom and himself and existed a sort of
DamoU and Pythias friendship, was the
guilty one; and how, when some of tho
stockholders got wind of the shortage,
the two Robinsons and Tweedy, who was
a brother-in-law of old Robinson, had
conspired to shield the guilty man by
sacrificing an innocent one, who would
not defend himself. The confession
made by the dying man was net alto¬
gether a voluntary one. His sister, who
had known nothing except that be was
innocent, caught a hint of tho truth from
him when he was raving in delirium—
the rest she made him tell her.
“After young Wilson’s death, his sis¬
ter went quietly to work to see what
could be done to prove her brother’s in¬
nocence and to placo the guilt where it
belonged, but soon found that nothing
could be proved. Tho Robinsons were
too strong for her.
“About this time Mrs. Wilson and hor
younger daughter were obliged to go
South on account ot ill health, leaving
the elder daughter, who was studyiug
medicine, here in Chicago. Not long
after this, the hold-ups on the different
lines of the L. and A. begau. For' the
first few times there was only one road
agent—a little chap, buc a nervy one,
who got talked about by the papers a
good deal; but pretty soon there were
others, until a band of about eight or
nine had organized, under the little
fellow’s leadership, and they made life a
burden to tho L. and A. people. It
made no difference what precautions the
company took, or how many guards it
employed; the road agents were too
sharp, and the boldest kind of hold-up3
it were *busted’ successfully made—and,.by Jove!
the company’s business. The
L. and A, wasn’t a heavy concern, of
course, but had always made a good deal
of money. The frequent hold-ups on its
lines, though, proved a settler, It
wasn’t long before nobody would ship or
travel over any of the L. and A. Com¬
pany’s lines unless actually obliged to,
and the company was kept pretty busy
settling the losses of its customers. Then
came the crash, and somehow people be¬
gan to suspect that the Robinsons had
not iun things as they should have been
handled, and the stockholders investi¬
gated. Old Robinson died in disgrace
shortly afterward. The young man took
all he could lay hands on and skipped,
but was caught at Santa Fe. He’s
where he should be—at Canon City.
Tweedy got off on a technicality.
About seven or eight months after we
were held up, a stage full of fellows, in¬
cluding myself, were stopped and re¬
lieved one afternoon, about ten miles
from Milliken, on the old Mule-shoe
Trail. The young fellow was one of the
robbers—I know him in spito of his mask.
There were only four of the road agents
on this occasion.
“They pulled out, leaving us orders
not to touch our arms (which they had
stacked on the ground) for twenty min¬
utes, under penalty of getting shot. But
one of our party was a devil-may-care
chap, and no sooner were the bandits
gone than he walked right over to the
pile of guns and picked his out, remark¬
ing that he ‘didn’t believe there were any
road agents around just then.’ And
there weren’t.
“Well, the result of this fellow’s fool¬
hardiness was that we concluded it would
be money in our pockets to get on the
trail of those four road agents, so we
started after them, separating a little dis¬
tance from each other. We followed
them all the afternoon, but couldn’t find
a trace.
$1.00 a Year in Advance.
“You know how the old Mule-Shoe
Trail is! Well, the driver had gone on,
agreeing to meet us on the other side of
the Shoe—it is only three or four miles
across.
“1 was just about making up my mind
to join the other fellows,and had stopped
to thin’.; >f the best way to cross the
creek, when I heard a queer sound, like
a woman sobbing. I looked cautiously
around, and there, within two rods of
me, was the young road agent, crying as
if his heart would break. There 'A.15
nobody else there, it wa3 plain to be
seen, so I quietly sneaked up and re¬
quested him to throw up his hands.
“Did you ever hear a womau scream
at the sight of a mouse? That’s just
the way this young fellow screamed
when he saw the muzzle of my gun —•
and I, as soon as I saw the scared, tear¬
ful face turned to mine, knew as well as
I know now, that the famous bandit
known as ‘Foxey’ was only a woman.
She seemed to trust me, somehow, and
pretty soon 1 had the whole story from
her. Then I sat down and talked to
her like a brother; and the result was
that next dry the road agents missed
their leador, and, inside of a fortnight,
Miss Jean Wilson was back here in Chi¬
cago, at her studies again.
“I need not say that this gentle ban¬
dit, who ruined the business of the L.
and A. Company, took not one cent of
the proceeds, and never permitted any
of the band to interfere with Uncle
Sara’s mail. The latter fact accounts, in
a measure, for their success, for Uncle
Sam is a bad man to interfere with. The
former fact, I think, had to do, to some
extent, with the strong hold which
‘Foxey’ had over his subordinates, al¬
though they must have had a good deal
of failh in his demonstrated ability as an
executive. The band was broken up
not long after ‘Foxey’s’ disappearance,
and three of the men were caught, but
they didn’t know any more concerning
their mysterious ex-chief thau did the
public at large.”
“And—and Miss Wilson is-’’
Hallegan’s eyes twinkled: “Is wait¬
ing for us. Let us join her," ho said.
—Argonaut.
Courtship in Toms Strait.
The people living on the islands ot
Torres Strait are divided by Prof. Arthur
C. Haddon iuto the eastern and western
tribes, and customs differ considerably
among them. While the usual course in
marriage is followed by the eastern tribe,
in the western tribe the girls propose—
or did, till “civilization” overtook them
—marriage to the men. “It might be
some time before a man had an offer; but
should ho be a fine dancer, with goodly
calves, and dance with sprightliness and
energy at the festive dauces, he would
not lack admirers. Should there still be
a reticence on the part of his female ac¬
quaintances, the young man might win
tho heart of a girl by robbing a man of
his head. Our adventurous youth could
join in some foray ; it mattered not to
him what was the equity of the quarrel,
or whether there was any enmity at all
between his people and tho attacked.
So long as he killed some one—man,
woman or child—brought the head back
it was not of much consequence to him
whose head it was. Tile girl’s heart
being \^on by prowess, dancing skill, or
fine appearance, she would plait a strong
armlet, tiapururu; this she intrusted to
a mutual friend, preferably the chosen
one’s sister. On the first suitable oppor¬
tunity the sister said to her btother,
‘Brother, I have some good news for
you. A woman likes you.’ On hearing
her name, and alter conversation, if he
was willing to go on with the affair, he
told his sister to ask the girl to keep
some appointment with him in the bush.
When the message was delivered, the
enamored damsel informed her parent
that she was going into the woods to get
some wood or food or made some such
excuse. In due course the couple met,
sat down and talked, the proposal being
made with perfect decorum. After mat¬
ters had proceeded satisfactorily, the girl,
anxious to clinch the matter,asked when
they were to be married. The man said,
‘To-morrow, if you like. 1 They both
went home and told their respective rela¬
tives. Then the girl’s people fought the
man’s folk, ‘for girl more big’(i. e., of
more consequence) ‘than boy;’ but the
fighting was not of a seiious character,
it being part of the programme of a mar¬
riage. ‘Swapping’ sisters in matrimony
was a convenient way of saving expense
in the way of wedding gifts, for one girl
operated as a set-off to the other. —Pop¬
ular Science Monthly.
Where Ice Water Came From.
Within the last quarter of a centuiy,
writes Murat Halstead, the Americans
have invaded Europe with many of their
notions, and there are some traces of
their conquests. They have not done
many things more remarkable than the
triumphant introduction of ice water.
When on the way from Vienna to Dres¬
den, I saw the Elbe high and full of ice,
I felt an American thrill such as one
should experience on discovering far
from home the flag of our country.
There was a sense of satisfaction in look¬
ing upon such a torrent of ice water in
the heart of Europe. Now the American
is not regarded as an idiot and treated
with derision when he wants a pitcher of
ice water to cool his stomach withal when
he goes to bed, and even in the most be¬
nighted lands the American idea that
water is sometimes good to quench the
thirst of men as well as horses makes
way.—Chicago Times.
NO. 8.
THE CURE OF nOMMOHBL T
We listen for an hour or more
To brilliant conversation
Of women competent to bora
The whole of male creation,
And find our heads in such a whirl
We’re almost Bedlam cases,
Till rescued by some simple girl
Who talks plain commonplaces.
We hear the chat of Fashion’s court;
The chatter empty headed,
That makes existence but a sporty
And thinking to be dreaded;
And, oh, how gladly we forget \
Their baby talk and faces, '
Aud in their stead a model set—
The girl of commonplaces.
—New York Heralds
PITH AND POINT.
The beauty of the ivy is that while it
climbs, it never loses its grip__Puck.
The man who gives himself away gets
the best of the bargain.—Boston Tran¬
script.
Wife—“Shall I have my black silk
fixed over, dear, or would you get a new
one?” Husband—“By all means get a
uew one; it’s cheaper.”—Cloak Review.
“Those Parker girls are very dull.”
“They can’t be. They cut Mawson at
the Old Guard entertainment—and you
know how tough Mawson is.”—New
York Herald.
A street-car driver in Toledo recently
ran over a young lady and she was
thrown to the ground. He was prompt¬
ly fired by the company for knocking
down the fare.
Tattle—“I seo you everywhere with
Miss Mennibowe nowadays. You seem
to be very friendly with her, but you
don’t say much about it.” Rattle—“No.
Wherever 1 go I find you’ve saved me
the trouble.”—Kate Field’s Washing¬
ton.
Customer—“I giant that In this res-
tanrant the services are quicker than at
other places, but then the portions are
only half the usual size.” Waiter —“It
comes to the same thing. Do you forget
tho old proverb, ‘He gives twice who
gives quickly?’ ”—Wasp,
The eldeily visitor smiled a capacious
smile and disclosed a pair of gold-
crowned bicuspids. “Mamma," said
Tommy, “what makes Mrs. Fly about—”
“Hush Tommy 1” “carry her—’’ “Keep
still, Tommyl” “cuff -buttons in her
mouth?”—Chicago Tribune.
Madge—“When that poet called to¬
day he happened to pick up the book
he’d given me and I was awfully embar¬
rassed when he began talking about the
poems.” Cora—“You were afraid your
criticism wouldn’t sound learned?”
Madge—“Oh, dear, no. I was afraid I
hadn’t cut the leaves.”—New York Sun.
Sapphires From Poultry Yards.
“This sapphire was found in the giz¬
zard of a turkey,” said W. H. Reed of
Montana to a group ot acquaintances at
the Hoffman House, New York City, tho
other day. He held up a beautiful stone,
pale blue and of no little brilliancy. It
had been cut and polished by a New York
lapidary and Mr. Reed said he proposed
to have it set. He placed it in a littlo
ease beside a number of other stones—
sapphires, garnets and opals. Thero
were twenty-eight which had been cut,
and Mr. Reed produced a handful of
rough ones from his pocket. They were
found in Montana along the bed of the
Missouri River, about ten miles from
Helena. Some of them came from the
tract recently $2,000,000. purchased by an English
syndicate tor
“Yes, sir; that stone was found inside
a turkey,” repeated Mr. Reed, “and
there have been a good many of the same
kind found iuside the fowl kept by farm¬
ers all through that country. TEe result
is that when a farmer kills a turkey novr
he goes on a hunt through its digestive
apparatus for precious stones.
“Sapphires must be thick along the
bed of the Missouri,” some one suggested.
“There is a considerable section where
it pays to hunt for them,” Mr. Reed said.
“They are found in the old bed of the
river. Many thousand acres in the vi¬
cinity have been considered sapphire-
bearing lands. Probably there are valu¬
able stones on a small part of this terri¬
tory.”
“How are they mined?”
“In about the same way that the old-
time placer mining was carried on. Thu
gravel is gathered up and washed. Sap¬
phires of all colors have been found ia
Montana, and some of considerable value.
A New Yorker has sold one at $80 a
karat aud a jeweler in London has sold
one or more for $120 a karat.—St. Louis
Republic.
Where It Tluiudars Most.
Java is said to be the region of the
globe where it thunders oftenest, days having
thunderstorms on ninety-seven in
the year. After it are Sumatra, with
eightv-six days; Hindustan, with fifty-
six; Borneo, with fifty-four; the Gold
Coast, with fifty-two; and Rio da Ja¬
neiro, with fifty-one. In Europe, Italy
occupies the first place, with thirty-eight
days of thunder, while France and Sonth-
ern Russia have sixteen days, Great
Britain and Switzerland seven days, and
Norway only four days. Thunder is rare
at Cairo, being heard on only three days
in the year; and is extremely rare in
Northern Turkistan and the polar re¬
gions. The nothern limit of the region
of thunder storms passes by Cape Ogle,
Iceland, Nova Zembla, and the coast of
the Siberian Sea.