Newspaper Page Text
;, «y.l oil* COPPER PLACE.
‘ sr
f j-sraatt On duty cle&r i 1 -
rsonWnatakhiB word or note
Xnlta* L trust in him ony for boat a groat,
* lift an oar
Which he might steer.
where’er he be,
i^h^mayVaShmugh and open hand house and land
cheerin’ face
Continually.
He merits praise,
Who will not to mi fortune bow,
cocks his bonnet on h s brow
ffh* and fights, he kensna how,
lud fights " Through lang, hard days.
wnuMnft gie an auld bawbee
j that I could see
for onv man
What dinna hold
The sweetness o’ Ins miUier's name,
The kindness o’ his brother's claim,
The honor o’ woman's fame,
For mair tlian gold.
Sor j, it hard for him to do,
Visa kens his friends are leal and true,
Love sweet and strong,
^ og # heart knows not from year to year
The shadow o’ a doubting fear,
Or feels the falling of a tear
For ony wrong.
fat gie him praise, whose love is pain,
ff ka’ wrong’d forgives, and loves again..
And though he grieves,
pets not the dear one from his care,
got lores him mair, and mair, and mair,
And bides his time wi’ hope and prayer,
And still believes.
Ay, gie him praise who doesna fear
The up-hill fight from year to year,
And wha grips fast
His ain dear ones through good or ill.
Wha, if they wander, loves them still;
gome day of joy he’ll get his fill;
He’ll win at last.
—Mary A. Barry, in Harper's Weefcly .
A Bad Indian Conquered by Soup.
"An Apache,in full warpaint, stalked
into an Indian school at Albuquerque,
X. M., one day. The children were im¬
mediately terrified, and tremblingly They told
ns he was a ‘bad Indian.’ said an
nude of one of our boys had killed his
bother, and they feared he had come for
revenge. dinner-time,” the teacher
"As it was
says, “I saw nothing better to do than
Lave’ fhe children marched into keep the din¬
ing-room, as usual. We open
Louses to Indians at, all times and treat
them as distinguished guests, so I mo¬
tioned to our Apache to take a seat at
the table.
“He sat down, terrible in his war¬
paint, and laid two loaded revolvers on
the table before him. The children be¬
gan to tremble. I summoned all my
courage and said:
“ ‘Put those revolvers on the window.’
The Apache never moved. The cook
placed liefore him a cup of coffee and a
bowl of soup.
“ ‘Take away that coffee and soup,” I
commanded, with my heart in my month,
adding, to the Indian: ‘You shall not
Lave them until you put those revolvers
on the window. ’
“Trembling for her life, the cook
obeyed. When the Apache saw his
dinner removed he deliberately arose,
picked up his revolvers, and—shall I
ever forget ,,that terrible moment?—
quietly hud them ou the window. His
dinner was restored to him; he ate it in
silence, aud then picked up his property
and walked out without a word.
“I did not see him again for home, years.
But this last time, on my way as
I was waiting in the train at Santa Fe,
tny terrible Apache, in all his feathers and
war-paint, got into the car and walked
its whole length, as if looking for some
one. My blood ran cold. He stopped
lieside me, gave a gnint of satisfaction,
mid broke into smiles. Then nothing
would do but I must vigorously aud shake
bauds. He then left the car, re¬
turned with a dozen other braves, as
horrible as himself. He introduced
them all, and all must shake hands. ”
Pickled Green Corn.
Select the young, immature ears of
com, when they are three or four inches
long; husk the corn aud remove jars, all with the
silk; put the ears into glass a
bay-leaf, a red pepper and three small
onions, vinegar, to each quart jar; the pour jars, in cold seal
them enough to fill and
Or, air-tight. husking the throw them
after ears,
into salted boiling water, and when the
water boils again drain them; when they
we cold put them into glass jars. Fill
one jar with cold vinegar, then pour it
out for again, and allow the same quantity
each jar. Put the vinegar into a
saucepan with a red pepper, a clove of
jar; garlic, a bay-leaf and ten cloves fear each
sCald the vinegar, and then cool it.
When the vinegar is ccla pour it over
the corn; put a tablespoonful of mnstard
seed in the top of each jar, and then
close the jars and seal them air-tight.—
Jena. Cokson.
Innocent.
The conviction of innocent men upon
charges of crime has been of such fre¬
quent occurrence of late in Germany that
the press is calling earnestly for the pass¬
age of a law to secure indemnification at
the hands of the Government in such
rases. victed, Innocent men thus unjustly con¬
and perhaps utterly mined there¬
by in fortune, have no redress whatever
npon the discovery of the error. The
latest reported victim is a man who was
adjudged criminal guilty of arson last year by the
court at Thom, and sentenced
to three years’ imprisonment, with hard
labor. After serving over seven months
°f his term, indisputable eA'ideneo of his
innocence is now discovered, and he is
released from prison a ruined man.
It is all very well for a man to believe
that the earth revolves on its axis, bnt
'•'hen he becomes thoroughly convinced
that he himself is the axis the less you
have to do with him the better.
TI «■ WEEKLY
VOLUME VI.
THE HIGHER GRADE.
Some of the Question* Applicants fefr
Positions have to Answer*
The following questions are asked of
applicants for positions in the higher
grade under the United States Govern¬
ment:
W T rite a letter to the President, giving
your views, as far as you are willing to
express them, regarding the duties and
responsibilities of an officer of the public
service which you desire to enter.
One of the examiners will read dis¬
tinctly any passage of fifteen lines from
the Civil Service act or rules, and ap¬
plicants will write the same as the read¬
ing goes on, ns a test in copying and or¬
thography. Write of the States border¬
the names
ing on the Atlantic, in their order, be¬
ginning with Maine. railroad
Write the names of ten cen¬
ters, fifteen seaports, and fifteen navi¬
gable rivers. the following: Fifty
Express in figure? thousand, four hundred
millions, fifty hundred and
and seventy-five; also, one
forty-three millions, one thousand and
one, and one ten-thousandth.
Write in words the numbers expressed
by the following figures: 30,063,103; also
3^001,300.1. definition of verb,
Give a a a noun, an
adverb, an adjective, a preposition, a
conjunction and the phrase “the gram¬
mar of the English language.” received
The Postmaster at New York
two bags of mail which contained 9,891
letters, but one bag contained 1,211
more than the other. How many did
they each contain ? Give the operation
at length. furnished the Govern¬
A contractor
ment articles as follows: June 8, 1880,
300 barrels of flour at $4.50 a barrel;
July 6, 1880, 187 yards of carpet at $1
per yard; August 4, 1880, 1,000 yards at
87c. per yard. Government paid on ac¬
count as follows; June 12, 1880, $1,000,
July 12, 1880, $100; August 4,1880, $500.
State the dealings in the form of a debit
and credit account, showing the balance
due. reduce
To 3-5 of £ add \ of 7-10 and to
lowest terms; multiply the sum so ob¬
tained by 2i, and rednee to a mixed num¬
ber; from the product subtract 5-6 aud
reduce to lowest terms. Give operation
at length. deposits $37,500, having
Au officer re¬
timed 2| per ceut. ou the whole amount
collected. What amount did he col¬
lect?
A disbursing agent failing owed the Gov¬
ernment one item of $308.45 and another
of $2,901.02. The Government agreed
to make a discount of 13 per cent, on the
first item aud 11J percent, on the second.
How muoh was payable under the agree¬
ment ?
Divide | of 8-9 by 1-7 of 3-5 and sub
a tract 1-7 from the quotient. is the Govern¬
Into what three forms
ment of the United States divided and
what are the. functions of each ?
What are the essential characteristics
of a republican form of government? Presidents of
Give the names of ten
the United States and the length of theft
, dministrations respectively.
Anecdotes of Lincoln.
Ben Perley Poore says, in the Youth's
Companion.— Mr. Lincoln was hardly
installed in the White House before the
wild hunt for office commenced. Among
other good stories told of him was one oi
a man who came day after day asking
for a foreign mission. At last the Presi¬
dent weary of his face, said: “Do you
know Spanish ?” “No,” said the eagei
aspirant, “but I could soon learn it.”
“Do so,” said Mr. Lincoln, “and I will
give you a good thing.” and The needy six
politician hurried home spent
months in studying Oliendorf’s gram¬
mar. He then reappeared at the White
House with a hopeful heart and a fine
Castillian accent, and the President pre¬
sented him with—a copy of “Dor
Quixote” in Spanish. great devil-fish,
The lobby —that
whose tentacles clutch clammily at the
national Treasury—ccnld never get He od
the bliDd side of Mr. Lincoln.
treated them with courtesy, but would
never encourage their schemes. Hia
favorite among the Washington corre¬
spondents was Mr. Simon B. Hanscom, a
shrewd Bostonian, who had been identi¬
fied with the earlier anti-slavery move¬ Lin¬
ments, and who used to keep Mr.
coln informed as to what was going on in
Washington, carrying him what he had
heard, and seldom asking a favor. “I
Ree you state.” said the President to
Hanscom one day, “that my Administra¬
tion will be the reign of steel. Why not of
add that Buchanan’s was the reign
stealing.” I remarked, spoke .
Mr. Lincoln, as often ended in¬ in
parables, and a story might an have
terview which otherwise
been prolonged for hours, On one Ocea¬
sion a distinguished visitor was endeav¬
oring to recall-to his mind a young nian
whom ho had seen, but forgotten, who
was an applicant for office. Mr. Lincoln
did not think that the young man was
qualified for the position, and he finally
said: “Oh, yes. I know who you mean;
it is that turkey-egg-faeed fellow that
you would think didn’t know as much a?
a last year’s bird’s nest.”
A boy was lately caught stealiug cur¬
rants, aud was locked up in a dark closet
by the grocer. The boy commenced
begging most pathetically to lie released
and? after using all the persuasion that
his voting mind could invent, ne pro¬
ved K • “Now, f.W, if you’ll hofl let me out for^o and
for rny besides. par Jon The
currants aud lick me this appeal,
grocer could not withstand
and released the urchin.
CON YERS, GA.. SEPTEMBER .14 1883.
Notes by Hie “Sun's” Naturalist.
In corners of a woodshed two spiders
had suspended their webs. Each web
bad a funnel-shaped den into which the
spider retreated with its captured io sects,
to feast- upon them at leisure and in se¬
clusion. One of the webs was destroyed,
and its occupant took refuge in the 'web
of his neighbor. The next morning a
tly was thrown into the web. One of
the spiders cwne forth and seized it,
while the other looked on quietly from
the top of the den. The harmony con¬
tinued for several days, and until a large
grasshopper spiders was thrown in. One of the
approached the powerful pris¬
several oner cautiously points. and either fastened him at
He received a
kick from the grasshopper or became
tired, for he went back and his partner
took up the work. The self-relieved
spider hung on the mouth of the den
with his head and forelegs above it,
watching, and not without seeing some¬
thing. The one that was binding the
grasshopper stopped work to take a taste
of him, and he did not stop tasting.
The other spider moved uneasily for a
second, then made a furious rush and
overturned his greedy housemate, which
sneaked back into the den.
The shell of a spider was seen on the
web the next day.
The web of the largo black and yellow
garden spider is woven with a wide strip
of folds of gossamer in the center reach¬
ing from top to bottom. An inquiring
person threw a big insect into one of
these webs which was attached to a
grape vine. The spider did not leave
the center of the web at once, but began
to sway back and forth upon his long
legs until the web had a swinging mo¬
tion. The insect was quiet and seemed
to be magnetized. of Suddenly the spider
took down a fold the gossamer, ap¬
proaching the insect, and wrapped him
in it, as a grocer’s clerk would wrap n
parcel. This spider strip of threads
spins in a width an
eighth of an inch at one time.
How They Strike in France.
The city of Marseilles has been, dur¬
ing the present month, the scene of two
new strikes, the motives of which aro
out of the common run. On the 6th of
July about 1,300 Piedmontese employed
in the St. Just Oil Factory left work
and tried to prevent their countrymen
in the main"’ Magdalen Factory of discontent from working. the
The cause on
part of the workmen was not their small
pay—from 55 to 80 cents a day for
twelve hours’ work—but the tyranny of
the companies, which keep all doors
closed during working hours, so that the
men are compelled to buy from the break¬ in¬
side canteens what they need for
fast or lunch. They asked for half an
hour for breakfast and on hour for lunch,
a practical reduction of an hour and a
half in the working day. The other
strike was that of 2,000 waiters em¬
ployed in the hotels, restaurants, cafes,
and saloons of the great seaport. It be¬
gan ou the 12th instant, the first demand
of the knights of the white apron being
the liberty to wear a moustache. They
refused to submit longer to the custom
obligiug them only to wear whiskers
and took the ground that, when out of
work, they were mistaken for lawyers,
which, so they said, deeply wounded
their self-love.
Yery True; So They Do.
A Boston writer says Washington Ir¬
ving’s lifetime earnings were less than
$200,000. James Parton says a “literary
man can rarely earn $2,000 a year; our
most successful authors rarely pass
$5,000 a year.” So, if you think you
would like an easy life, and just sit down
now aud then as the fancy seizes you
and “dash off” something brilliant and
take things easy, don’t do it. The
“dashing off” business is only done by
characters in novels, and the anthor of
the novel is very careful not to report
what literary character “dashes off.”
There is no harder work than literary
work, from the successful novel down to
the hack work of a Bohemian who is
only writing “potboilers.” than the novelist, Newspaper
writers fare better as
a class. They are certain of their sala¬
ries, if they are employed on solvent
journals; and a successful newspaper
correspondent has always all the work
he can do, and if he dies poor it is his
own fault. But before you reach that
point, young man, you aro going to eat
so much humble pie you will take oil
your hat every time you meet yourself.
The “Hero,” 1820.
This little sloop of forty Conn., tons, belong¬
ing to Stonington, was com¬
manded by Capt. N. B. Palmer in 1820,
then only 21 years old. In her he dis¬
covered the island known to-day as Palm
er’s Land, south of Cape Horn. While
coasting along its shore in a dense fog
he encountered the Russian squadron
under Admiral Krusenstern, who was
felicitating himself on his discovery of
the same land. Palmer hailed him,'and
told him if he steered the course he was
then steering he would be onshore in less
than an hour. He was asked who he
was. “I am the sloop Hero, from the
United States of America,” was his re
plv. The Admiral would not believe
him, but was soon convinced by Capt.
Palmer’s papers that he had before him
a live Yankee commander, and the Cap
tain piloted the Admiral to an anchorage
in his island haven which he had discov
ered .—The United Service.
At St. Anne’s Sunday School in
Lowell in answer to the festival?” question:
“What is the greatest church
a little orphan of 6 years promptly an
swered: “Strawberry festival.”
Fruit in Glass Jars.
A California correspondent v.no in glass has
great success in putting up fruit
jars kindly gives her process for the
world at large.
In the first place she uses the Mason
jar, with porcelain tops, and is always
snre that the rubber rings are perfect.'
Peaches, pears and blackberries she
makes just sweet enongh to cling taste pleas¬
antly, except White Heart peach,
which she preserves and pickles.
For preserves or jam of any kind the
role, is three-fourths of a pound Plums of sugar aud
to one pound of fruit used.
apricots are made into preserves. Mar¬
malade is also made of ripe auricots with
three-fourths < f a, pound of should sugar to one be
of fruit. Fruit for pies not
made too sweet.
Begin the process by placing a teacup¬
ful of water in the preserving kettle wiih
the sugar. When the sugar is dissolved
and the Byrup is hot, lay in the fruit
carefully and let it heat thoroughly all
through, but not boil to pieces. At the
same time have a glass jar ready stand¬
ing on a plate in a pan of hot water on
the stove, the jar full of hot water.
Have also the cover and the rubber in
hot water. When the fruit is ready,
pour out the water and fill the jar im¬
mediately. When full, pass of a the silver jar
spoon-handle down the sides
to cause any bubbles to rise to the top,
and add a little syrup if not full. Next
screw on the top' as tightly as they you can
and place the filled jars where Tighten can the
stand until quite cold.
cover by screwing it several times while
eooling.
Reading’s Big Gnu.
The Haskill innitiebarge gun, which
has been in course of manufacture at
the Scott foundry in Beading, Pa., for
the past two years, is finished. It will
be shipped to New York and taken to
Sandy Hook to be tested in the pres¬
ence of officers of the army and navy.
Congress made a special The appropriation J. R.
for this purpose. inventor,
Haskill, has constantly given military the work
his own supervision. Many ex¬
perts have inspected the gun, and pro¬
nounced it the most destructive engine
of death, perhaps, ever invented.
It is twenty-five feet long, and weighs
twenty-five tons. It cost $50,000. Un¬
derneath the gun are three pockets for
the holding of powder. Each pocket
contains twenty-sight eighteen pounds, pounds and in there the
are besides
breech, thus concentrating the force of
over one hundred pounds of powder in
place of one-fourth the amount usually
put in the breech of the cannon now in
use.
It is claimed that it will hurt a pro¬
jectile twice as heavy as those used in
the ordinary cannon, and that it will
penetrate a solid piece of iron twenty
four inches thick and will easily carry
the projectile from twelve to fifteen
miles. It is intended for both naval and
coast defense. A company with a
capital of $10,000,000 has already been
organized to manufacture the gun. Mr.
Haskill is President, and John F. Smyth,
ex-insurance Commissioner of New
York, are some of tho other parties in¬
terested.
his poetry.
Bayard Taylor never fully reconciled
himself to the vocation of a prose writer.
He believed that the world should have
demanded nothing of him but poetry. goo'd
Concerning this he used to tell a
story at his own expense. During
his last lecturing trip through the West¬
ern States he was the guest, in a small
city, of the chairman of the lecture com
mittee, a self-satisfied and prosperous
citizen, who met Taylor at the train, and
carried him home to his own smartly
furnished house. While waiting for the
evening repast the well-fed chairman
said, with manifest pride, that probably No,
Mr. Taylor did not remember him.
Mr. Taylor did not. “Why,’’ said the
chairman, “you were here in this towu
ten years ago this very winter, this very
month, and stopped with Taylor me, as professed you are
stopping now.” Mr.
his interest in the important fact. The
chairman, glancing around on the
chromos. the new carpets, and the glit
tering white walls of'his home, said,
“Yes, yon see I have been prospering
since then. Yes, the world has been a
pretty good place for me. It has for
yon too, Mr. Taylor. I have watched
your course ever since I got acquaiuted
with you, ten years ago, and I suppose
I am one of the few people who have
read everything you have wrote.”
“What.” said'Taylor, “everything?” could lay
“Yes, sir, everything I my
hands ou.”
“Then,” said Taylor, “perhaps of you
will tell me what you think my new
poem, ‘Lars’?'*
“Gosh l” said the man, “do yon write
poetry?”— Harper's Drawer.
Clover. —Each head of clover con
tains sixty distinct flower tubes, each
of which contains a portion of sugar not
exceeding the five-hundretli part of a
grain. The proboscis of the bee must
therefore be inserted into o00 clovcj
tube- before one grain of sugar can be
obtained. There are 7,000 grams three- in a
pound, and, as honey contains
fourths of its weight of dry sugar, each
pound of honey represents 2,500,000
clover tubes snekoiVby bees._
“May I have the honor to con net
your daughter to the snpper •
asked a society gentleman of a lady from
the country, who is staying with some
friends whom she is visiting here in Ans
tin. “May you take her to supper?” and
was the response: “why, That’s of course, what
you can take me, too. wf
came here for .”—Texas Siftings.
NUMBER 25.
SAD, BUT ROMANTIC.
A CHILD ENDEAVORS TO UR AMT HER
MOTHER’S UYINU REQUEST.
She Htenlft Flower* with which to Decorate
Her Mother’* Chamber »ml i* at 1-n.t
Discovered, but l.et to Unpunished.
[From the London Telegraph.!
The gardeners of the South London
public park had on more than one occa¬
sion discovered that larcenous liberties
had been taken with the newly arranged and
beds of snowdrops delinquent, and crocuses, who sat
a watch for the was an
early morning visitor. A watcher had
noticed a small girl, a poor lititle ragged
urchin of seven or eight years old, who
frequently came through the park as
soon as the gates were opened, but a.i
she always emerged at the gate of exit
empty handed and her scanty skirts
showed no signs of bulging pocket her. be¬
neath, suspicion didnot attach to
It was not remarkable, since her attire
was made up of mere makeshifts of odds
and ends, that she should wear an old
bonnet many sizes too large for her, and
it was in the capacious crown of this ar¬
ticle of headgear that the stolen flowers
were bestowed. The gardener saw her
pause at a bed, and, after looking • warily
about, produce from her bosom a piece
of slate fit for digging with, and then she
knelt down, taking oft 1 her bonnet, to
which half a dozen tiny roots were rap¬
idly transferred, she placed it on her
head again and went on her way, to be
presently stopped in a fright and accused
of the petty robbery. It was useless to
deny it, nor did she attempt to do so.
She’went down on her knees, however—
this time without producing the crimin¬
ating piece of slate—and begged the park
keeper not to take her to .the police sta¬
tion, because, if her mother, who was
ill in bod, came to hear what she had
done it would kill her. Presuming that
it was much more likely that the child's
story was but an artful pretence, and
that probably her mother had sent her'
to steal the flowers, to be afterward
converted into buttonhole bouquets for
sale in the streets, the little girl was
taken before a magistrate and put back
for a while for inquiries to be made.
The address she gave was at a house in a
squalid back street in the Borough—at
least a couple of miles from the park
where she had purloined the snowdrops, tele
and it was soon discovered that ttie
the child had told as to her mother be
ing ill was quite true. The bed poor in croatuic dark
was fonud confined to her a
aud miserably furnished back room, and
there she had lain dying of consumption
since last winter sat in. The father was
in prison and the sick woman’s on],'
means of support was her two children,
respectively two and four years older
than the child in custody, and they all
earned a few pence each daily by selling
cigar lights near London Bridge. At a
glance it was evident what had become
of the stolen flowers. A piece of foot board
was fastened shelf-wise across the of
the sick woman’s bedstead, and on it, in
three or four gnlli-pots, and snowdrops were as many and
bunches of crocuses,
wall flowers, each in a setting of greei
grass. The poor invalid had not the
least suspicion that they had been dis¬
honestly obtained, and the person in¬
quiring being in unofficial costume and
perceiving her condition charitably re¬
frained from enlightening sir,” her. her “You white
are looking at my garden, smile. “They
face lighting with a wan
are wild flowers, sir, so my little girl tells
me, but she has to go ever so far to pick
’em. When the winter weather went
away and the sun came out I began to
f ee l that craving for the sight and smell
() f fresh flowers that I couldn’t express if
j tried. It is through lying dull here s< •
ma ny weeks so dreary and and so
many hours all to myself, T suppose;
but I knew it was no use thinking abont
’ em a t fhe price they are when they first,
come in the spring, though I couldn’t
kelp talking aud saying that if I had a
few I felt sure they would do me more
good than all the physic. And so, with
ou t saying a word about it to anybody,
my little Kitty—a mere mite of seven,
6 j r —she gets up at five in the morning,
a nd before breakfast time she’s back
w Rh as pretty a bunch as ever you set
eyes on. They didn’t last very long,
poor things, in this stuffy little room,
au( j it seems almost a shame to bring ’em
here out of the fields where they ’em there, grow,
but there’s thousands of
Kitty tells me, and I don’t think that
those who have their health to go
and see ’em growing wonld grudge me
just a few brought away for my share.”
“No one certainly would, supposing the
little girl you speak of comes by them
honestly,” the visitor ventured. “No
fear about that, sir,” replie MQj the sick
mother confidently. “Why, happened
only to hint something like what yon
just said when she brought home tin
first lot, and she fell crying so that !
didn’t know what to do with her. ” Sc
the kind hearted park official came away
with his original purjjose nnfulfilled, and
the magistrate being informed of the cir¬
cumstances discharged the terrified little
prisoner with a caution. Whether she
ran home and made confession I cannot
eay, but unless she did so within a week
it was too late, for at the end of no longer
an interval she was motherless, and it
was my privilege to assist in placing
Kitty and her two sisters in a country
home, far removed from the vice and
temptations of London streets, and where
wild flowers in plenty may be had for
the picking.
When Henry was courting Sarah he
used to boast that he bad a "doss , girl;
now that he is married, be finds he has a
“boss’ wife, bnt he never mentions it.
1IUVELS OF A DIAMOND.
DETAILS OP THE ORI6I.V OF TH8
JEWEL IN THE IMPERIAL SCEPTRB
OF RUSSIA.
How Central Melfkor’* Ancestor i.'ld the
Jewel that Made Him aud Htu Deeec«4~
ants Immensely Rleb.
[From the London Truth.}
The following details of the origin of
the famous jewel which adorns the im¬
perial sceptre of Russia were furnished
me during a residence in St. Petersburg
by a descendant of the Armenian mer¬
chant who brought the stone to Russia.
The diamond in its rough state, formed
the eye of an idol in a temple near Trich
inopoli, and was abstracted by a French
renegade, who escaped with his prize to
Persia. Here he wandered from Iowa
to town trying to dispose of it for a mod¬
erate snm, but only meeting with dis¬
trust and suspicion. At length when
the news of the theft had spread over
India and reached Persia, fearing arrest,
he accepted the offer of a Hebrew mer¬
chant and surrendered the diamond for
$10,000. Meantime the Shah was in¬
formed, not only of the robbery, but also
that, the thief was offered residing the In hia
territory, aud had stone re¬
peatedly for sale
At onoe his Highness gave orders to
arrest the man, dead or ahve, and to
seize the diamond. The Jewish mer¬
chant naturally became alarmed for the
safety of his new acquisition, an well aa
that of liis head, and gladly sold the
stone to aa astute Armenian merchant
uamed Shafras for $60,000. Tho mag¬
nificence of Catherine the Great and her
court was a by-word in Armenia and Per¬
sia, and Shafras knew right well that if
he could reach St. Petersburg Avith his
diamond he would be able to dispose of
it at a handsome profit. Tho greatest
difficulty was to secrete the stone so
thoroughly abont his person that .in case
of his arrest it should not be discovered.
It was too large for him to swallow,
so he solved the problem calf of by his making left »
deep incision in the leg,
inserting the stone, and sewing up tho
wound with silver thread.
When the cut bad cicatrized suffieien I -
ly to alloAv the removal of the wire,
Shafras began liis travels toward Russia.
Had he known ou arriving at the frontier
that the diamond had been traced to tho
Jewish merchant, and front him to an
Armenian, be would probably have tried
to conceal liis nationajity. Rut lie boldly
proclaimed the himself Shah’s inquisitive an Armenian mn>
chant to officials,
w is arrested, and consigned to pn ou on
suspicion. Strong emetics were admin¬
istered, but no diamond carno to light.
He was stripped naked, plunged into a
hot bath, and then examined from heed
to foot, with no better success. Evei i a
little torture and in the was end tried, but bundled Shaft as aw. a
firm; ho was un¬
ceremoniously over tho -frontier his
petty Oreubnrg, cash being and hero retained. He roaohi <1
him some compatriots
advanced some money to reach the
capital
Catherine the Great was short of ready
nonev Avhen Shafras offered tier his
diamond for sale. He demanded $200,
000 for it, bnt the Empresa o ut. not
raise more than $100,000, and lie igli
she offered 40,000 dessiafins pit 5 nr
acres each) of < rown land in addition to
this sum, Shafras refused. Gattierine
.vas greatly chagrined but and did no! hide
her anoyance; she was too noble a
character to resort to the coercive im is
ure which a Shah of Persia would have
adopted without allowed a moment’s hesitation.
Shafras was to depart umnoh -t-ti d
and betook himself to Amsterdam to
have his diamond cut. Hero'll was that,
tho famous Oount Orlov lust sa w tho
jewel for which his imperial mistress had
sighed, and he determined to lav d as a
gift at her feet. The bargain AvitV 'Sha¬
fras was concluded off-hand, for Count
Orlov never haggled. In exchange for
the diamond (which weighs J85 «. onto,
and is valued at $1,500,600) Oount i >rlov
promised Shafras, on his return 1< Tdm
sia, $350,000 down, an annuity of $2.00!■,
and a patent of nobility. Shat
The Count kept his word; n* ihu
merchant became Lazarev the gon Mi • 11 >,■ i.,
cashed his bills at the imperial treasury,
and drew $2,000 a year for the rest «>* his
life, which, as usual with annuitants was
a very prolonged one. Before he died
he became one of the richest men in
Russia. With the price of the diamond
he bought mines in Oural, land in Bes¬
sarabia, and bouses in St. Petmsi.urg.
The “unearned increment” in flirty
years made him ten times a millionaire,
and at the present day his descendants,
numbering hundreds, are all immensely
rich. Loris Melikov, former Munster of
the Interior, and Delianov, at present
Minister of Public Instruction, arc grand¬
children of the Armenian Laze rev.
IMncing in Earnest,
Dancing is very popular in Italy, but
it is conducted differently to what it is
in this country. The first the men and
women do is take their shoes and-stock¬
ings off, if they happen to have any on.
A man does not go up to a girl and oak
if she will dance, but he fixes bis eye
upon her from a distance and nods.
8he nods in return, and then both ki 'k
off their shoes an advance toavard each
other and begin to dance. Tho dance,
besides Vicing an incessant up-and-down l“vo
of steps, represents also quite a little
drama in gestures, and the success of the
dance depends on tho cleverness of the
dancers to express this mimic scene.
I’he mar courts, pleads, beseeches, runs
after liis dancer, tries to clasp her wa sfc
and kiss her all the time he is dancing,
without even pausiug. The girl of
course, denies, laughs, shakes her head
and escapes her partner, till at last, the
dance finished, she rushes to her place
and resumes her shoes.
Seed Cons .—“My plan from of long saving corn
for seed, which I know exj>er
ience to Vie a good one,” writes a fanner,
"is to gather the necessary amount at
that stags of growth when it is in 1 aid
roasting ear and, if possible, before my
d ost comes. This will prevent any pos¬
sibility of freezing. 1 break the <> iter
shucks off aud with the inner one of
,ach two ears tie them together: 1 m-n
bang it up in some dry, airy placi 4 ud
let it remain until planting time. i n
pnllcd early and put up in this v it
will never fail to grow.”
