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DIAMOND DIGGING.
South African Mines Worked by
Native Laborers.
Guarding Against the Theft of
Precious Stones.
“The South African diamond mines
are worked almost entirely by native
laborers—the Kaffirs, Zulus, and Hot¬
tentots and the rest, said a diamond
merchant These receive good wages;
about $125 per month, and are hired
for a term of three months. During
this period they are confined in com¬
pounds located on the edge of the
mines. The compounds consist of
rows of buildings of corrugated iron,
forming a hollow square, surrounded
by a big board fence and covering sev¬
eral acres of ground; Within this
corral are stores, a hospital, boarding
houses and other conveniences. Wood
and water are furnished free, but no
alcoholic liquors arc allowed. During
their term of service the natives are
not allowed to have any communica¬
tion with the outside world, and are
under a system of close personal sur¬
veillance in order to prevent the theft
of diamonds. When they come up
from the mine shaft they aro careful¬
ly searched, and many ingenious
methods aro adopted to reduce the
loss from this source to a minimum.
“Notwithstanding all that is done,
however, the theft (jf diamonds still
continues. It is estimated that from
10 to 20 per cent of the diamonds
found are stolen every year. In or¬
der to prevent this a very stringent
law was passed providing that all
rough diamonds should be registered
with the detective bureau of the
Government as soon as they were
found, aud that every man who sold a
diamond must give with it a certifi¬
cate of registry.
The penalty for having au unregis¬
tered rough diamond is seven years
on tho Capo Town breukwater, and
the mere fact of possession is prima
facie evidouco that will securo convic¬
tion. So it happens that if one labor¬
er wants to do up another ho manages
to slip a rough diamond into the
other laborer’s coat, or into lii.^ room,
and then toll tho police to keep a
sharp lookout. Of course tho police
make a search, tho coutrabrand stone
is found, and the man is in for a term
of seven years. A groat many unjust
sentences have unquestionably been
secured in this way, but despite the
opposition to tho law, tho company is
powerful enough to keep it in force.
“There nro other diamond fields
outside of tho Kimberley district,but
they aro difficult workiug and are
mainly exploited by diggers working
on their own account, The totul
product is not large aud tho work is
very arduous, the diggers being most¬
ly men who have been thrown out of
work by the consolidation of the Kim¬
berley mines into one vast corporation
and the subsequent restriction of pro¬
duction. This latter, by the way, has
had a curious effect upon the town of
Kimberley itsolf. As late as four years
ago Kimberley had a population. 25,
ODD or 30,000 people. It was laid out
for a great city aud enjoyed for a time
a big boom.
“Fine brick blocks aud residences
wero built, hotels and theatres and
water works and everything pertain
iug to a modern city. Now a good
third of these places are empty and
Kimberly is as dead ns a New England
town that is dependent upon a single
mill. All the supplies and machinery
for the mines are now bought, of
course, by a single company, so that
more than two-thirds of the business
of the town is gone. There is noth¬
ing there to sustain a town except the
mine, and with the opening up of the
gold fields much of the population
moved on north to Johannesburg.”
An Old Boy’s Costly Fun.
Alagistrate Harrison is laughing
heartily over a case that was adjusted
before him the other day. A wagon
loaded with mineral water jugs backed
up to the curbstone in front of a bot¬
tling establishment last week, and the
driver proceeded to unload his wagon
by tossing the jugs one at a time to a
colored youth who stood on the op¬
posite side of the curbstone, ready to
catch all that came his way.
When things w ere moving nicely,n
•Id man who occupies a house nex
door stepped out of his own door,
threw a brick as straight as a bullet
and broke one of the jugs while it
was in transit from the driver to the
colored boy. He darted back into
his own domicile before tlxe driver
could recover himself enough to make
a protest. A tew minutes later an¬
other jug was smashed, and again the
old man disappeared with a merry
laugh. This was kept up until about
a dozen jugs had been smashed, when
the angry proprietor stopped the fun
by causing the old fellow’s arrest on
the charge of malicious mischief.
When Judge Harrison read the
charge to him the old man laughed
until the tears rolled down his cheeks,
and then admitted his guilt. In mak¬
ing an explanation he told the aston¬
ished magistrate that he was able and
willing to pa}- for the damage he had
done, and said: “I saw those jugs Hy¬
ing, and I knew in my own heart that
I would have thrown bricks at them
when I was a boy sixty years ago. I
just wanted to see how it would feel
again, and I couldn’t help myself.”
The explanation was satisfactory, and
after settling the old fellow went
away still laughing heartily.—Phila¬
delphia Record.
A New Opening for the Blind.
As Japan comes more closely in
touch with the rest of the world
many of its customs are being adopted.
In Japan the art of massage is widely
practiced, and almost exclusively by
the blind. It is a very lucrative pro¬
fession, aud the most skilful operators
gain large sums every year, The
reason for its being-a profession par¬
ticularly adapted to the blind is read¬
ily understandable. Every one knows
that when one sense fails its absence is
supplemented by the increase acute¬
ness of others. So with people de¬
prived of sight the sense of touch be¬
comes highly cultivated.
The blind man and women.of St.
Petersburg and other Continental
cities have not been slow to grasp this
idea, and tho number of them who are
masseurs inconstantly increasing. The
head of that protession in the Rus¬
sian capital is totally blind, and ho
has a large class of pupils, whom lio
instructs daily in the mysteries of
massage, who are likewise deprived of
sight.
Chinese Artificial Digestion.
l)r. Fades, an American physician
who spent somo time in China, found
that the Chinese had a wide kuowl
edge of what we call artificial diges¬
tion. “Whenever,” he says, “meats
of the indigestible class aro to be used
as food, the cook increases their as¬
similative character by tho use of
peptoniferous tripe and vinegar. I
have often out of curiosity examined
the numerous dishes of the Momgo
liau cuisine with a view to ascertain¬
ing their constitution. AVhether it
was soups or stews, ragouts or fricas¬
sees, pot-roasts or boiled, I have
found tripe finely shredded or thinly
sliced in three dishes out of every
five. The ratio was largest in house
holds of wealth, where well paid cooks
were the rule. As they discovered
the peptic virtue of tripe iu all animal
foods, they likewise found the same
quality in the gizzard of the bird
kingdom.”—New York Post.
Invaded by Bats.
A queor invasion of a house by bats
is reported at Deering by the Lewis
tou (Me) Evening Journal. The family
of ex-Mayor Sawyer had heard queer
noises in the walls, and occasionally
received an unexpected visit from a
bat who entered through a ventilator,
and the other day they decided on an
investigation. A hole found under
the eaves was stopped up, and at once
the bats began to appear. Through
the ventilators into the bathroom and
into the cellar they swarmed, sixty
five being killed in one night. About
200 have been killed, a half-dozen
being found drowned in a basin of
water.
A Death Custom in Jamaica.
In Jamaica, when death occurs in
a house all the water in the house is
immediately thrown out as poisonous
and dangerous to use. The people
say that when death has completed his
job, he proceeds to cool his “sting ”
by dipping it into the first water he
finds. As death is invisible it is held
safest to throw out all the water in the
house.
DENTAL MARVELS.
No One Need Longer Dread Artifi¬
cial Teeth.
If You Have the Money the Den¬
tist Does the Rest.
Within the past fifteen or twenty
years dentistry in all its branches, but
particularly as regards artificial teeth,
lias made rapid professional progress.
Today my lady may part with all her
grinders, if she so wills, yet the
specialist in artificial ones will re¬
place in porcelain the two sets intact,
with such perfection that her dearest
foe cannot detect the change.
The fashioning of false teeth has
been reduced to a science; their
maker is become an artist. He nses
his head as well as his hands, When
his charming feminine patient comes
to him with tears in her eyes and in
her hand her front tooth carefully
wrapped in tissue paper, he assures
her, and with truth, that he will make
her a duplicate that will deceive her¬
self. This alleviates the mental stress
of the sufferer, whose grief could not
have been more intense short of the
loss of a dear friend or relative.
When in the course of time, it be¬
comes a case of an entire set, the
sjiecialist makes a close study of the
fair patient’s teeth nature origiually
gave her, and works accordingly. If
they have been straight and white, ho
snakes the new ones so. If, depart¬
ing from their original plan, they
have changed color or been filled, the
alteration is copied. If they chanced
to be irregular or imperfect, the im¬
perfection is produced to the letter.
The plate no longer fills the mouth to
overflowing and crowds out tho lips.
All is compact and tight fitting. But
in case the cheeks or lips need hold¬
ing out, the artificial gums are more
6r less enlarged, so that the prover¬
bial plumpers could not do better.
This continuous gum plate, as it is
called, is a marvel of art and work¬
manship with its half circle of ivory
colored tines. It takes its moulder a
full week of hard work as he presses
and carves the pliable material and
slowly brings it to perfect on. Aud
how relieved is his anxious patieut
when she tries it in and finds the gum
tinted to perfection, the teeth shaded
to match her departed ones, and even
her pet filling in view. She smiles
with contentment aud she finds that
she is prettier than she ever dared
hope to be again, and can smile as
broadly as she pleases, there being no
dividing line between her gums and
teeth, but just a fine, wholesome inte¬
rior is inviting inspection.
A first-class specialist asks from $100
to $250 for a single upper or lower set,
as the material used is expensive, his
time is money, and he must use his
brains and ingenuity to perfect his
work. The teeth must appear to spring
from the gum, he must do his best to
duplicate nature, while he aims at a
restoration of the form aud expression
of the face. And each new subject re¬
quires new treatment; what looks
well in one mouth would spoil another.
Platinum is the metal used for the
plates uow-a-days. It comes from
Russia, and is taken from tho Ural
mountains. It is as expensive as gold
aud more easily manipulated. The
gums and teeth are made from pow
dered feldspar, rock or porcelain, and
baked two or three times while under
going the process of transformation
into a row of pearly teeth.
Of course, if the dainty sufferer has
not $250 at hand, she can be supplied
at cheaper dental rooms with anything
to suit, down to the “full set” as ad
vertised “to fit you while you wait”
Dut art and science will be left out of
the question.—Detroit Free Press
Wooden Yarns.
Wooden yarns were unknown up
to a few months ago. Now they are
being utilized in several classes of
goods. .They are not entirely com¬
posed of wood, about half their com
position being wool, Wood pulp,
glue, borax, litharge, tallow and one
or other ingrediento are well
agitated and dissolved, the mixture
being then run through holes and
drawn into strands, which are rolled,
dried and polished. They may then
De interwined with wool yarns or
bronzed and given a metallic nature,
and can be knitted or woven into
goods which have the appearanco of
fabrics made from the usual fibres.
Some of the wooden threads have
been bronzed and worked into fancy
patterns with good results. Tannic
acid is largely used in bronzing, also
a solution of permanganate of potash,
A bath of cachou is employed m the
finishing. The bronzed pulp yarns
are glossy and attractive. They look
well in designs. So cleverelv are the
wood-pulp , made . and . well
yarns so are
they introduced into the goods that
it is not easy to detect them. They
are flexible, like wool, smooth, uni
form, elastic and otherwise much like
ci fibre yarns. But „ , they ,, have t no felting 1 . •
power. They can be pulled apart
abruptly.
If the presence of the yarns is sus¬
pected a thread should be removed
and an attempt made to pull it apart.
That is, try to break it, pulling grad
ually and with sufficient force to sepa
rate it. If wooden, the ends will
break off short; if wool or other fibre
the ends will separate irregularly. —
American Cultivator.
How He Lost an Arm.
The death of Be.ja.oia Ke.ce Che
ney, at his home near Boston, recalls
the accident that deprived him of his
arm when only a young man. The
Rev. Dr. Elon Foster of Brooklyn,
then a theological student at Concord,
AT. H., was returning from hiss um
mer vacation, and was on the same
■
train. The train had passed White , T
River Junction, Yt.,and was approach
ing Lebanon, N. H., when suddenly
the cars bounded like a ball over the
ties, but did not upset. Mr. Foster
started for the door. Looking through
the window into the baggage car,
which was next in front, he saw that
everything was being ground up. Air.
Cheney was in that car and was thrown
outamoug the fragments of the wreck.
His arm was'cut off near the shoulder,
only holding by a piece of flesh. With
it all he did not lose consciousness,
though the wonder was that he was
not killed outright. The wounded
man was carried to the nearest house
on the only thing he had, a buffalo
robe. A train was dispatched to Han¬
over, N. II., for Dr. Thayer. Mr.
Foster remained with Air. Cheney un
til the doctor arrived, and did what
he could for his comfort. Air.Cheney
did not realize that his arm was cut
off, aud asked Air. Foster to take the
glove from the hand of the severed
arm, adding, “the glove pinches me.”
This must have occurred in the year
1854 or 1855. It was after that time
that Air. Cheney achieved such suc¬
cess in business and acquired his great
wealth.—Now York Tribune.
An Indian Bow with a History.
Dr. J. R. Cardwell has turned ovei
to Air. H. N, Barnhart an Indian bow
and arrow, which has long been in his
cabinet of curiosities. The relic is
highly prized by Air. Barnhart, as the
bow was taken from a Rogue River
Indian who was in the act of shooting
his grandfather, the Rev. Hamilton
Campbell, with it when killed; Air.
Campbell was one of the earliest mis¬
sionaries to this state, and at the time
of the “accident” was on guard in the
camp of the party he was traveling
with. He saw the Indian stealthily
approach the camp, and, having espied
the sentinel, drew his bow to shoot
him, when Air. Campbell, who was
something of a shooter himself, dis
discharged his rifle nnd brought the
Indian down. This was some fifty
years ago, and the bow, which is of
yew, has so relaxed with old age that
it has bent the wrong way, the inside
now being the outside. It is still hard
and strong, but the wood has lost its
elasticity and would probably break if
bent much.—Portland Oregonian.
The Authorities.
“And so you love this young girl,”
said the fin de siecle mother.
“Yes,” replied her son. “You
know how beautiful and good she
is.”
“Of course. But her family. Have
you consulted the books about
them ? ”
“What books ? ”
“Why, Bradstreet’s and the blue
book.”
Suburban doctors in New York and
other cities are using the bicycle in
preference to the horse and carriage
in visiting patients that are approach¬
able by good roads.
Reform in Beds ami Bt-a<
--~~ ** n “'
TV. i • r'hillhj
We s ball"be ° U “ llt Dotlo V
gle it is iron banished brass forever Th^ 6 T *'hfa> sin.
that or bedstead 3
cun be kept easily v.;, 1311 *'
-,
° 1 ^
ought bed, for to it be belongs banished withV°^ T"„ U fMlei ° u ^®
to the ,'^5
an dthe backwoods. The prop.
be frequently * s a lightweight blanket thai* JT '
washed and h Q i Csa
and 1 Pt8of
wbltR _ Tuckjrjr/ th e 1 i ‘
tightly is another custom
by dwellers in artic wilds. The 0,11
tice of making up a bed and makih plats
•
sturd.l’ airt *°kt obtains ai^
stupid peojale and is as nnheakliV®
it ja unclean.— Philadelphia Ti M
1Illei j
_
_
All Broke at Once.
“So you took your family t 0 ft
shore?” said the facetio us 5%
i “I did,” the fcian. *
“Where was melanehoi y reply
there is such grandeur i,
the breaking of the waves—”
“Yes.”
“And the breaking of th 3 eiipg,,
ments—”
"Wes, and of the $20 bill ’ ”__k- ,
ington Star.
Nearly as Bad.
^ “Brother Wilgus,” said the deaeoJ
Caps five years ago.” * 1
“It was not quite that had” ( |
the minister, with a slight smile; “jl
wa ® onl y a threatened donation partv.’l
-^ana pohs Journal, ‘
Keep T«nr Weather Eye flj„» I
spurious imitations a sLimng mark. Occasional HostettsrJ
spring up of
Stomach Bitters, the great American
Ju^atiom
f^Sn^ro^uaUy ofhigh wines. Lr ok out 1 ^^ for the fJcaf b'iitjS
firnnigimtaj
and the Dragon. -1
flienJS VlSit US hl pi ' 0S!,erit 5' 0 'k'vtiei
iuvited
When Nature
Needs assistance it may be best to renter i
promptly, but one should remembertcuseeveJ
the most perfect remedies only when need
The best and most simple and gentle remedii
the Syrup of Figs manufactured by the CaH
fornia Fig Syrup Co.
A fool who has a flash of wit creates astt
ishment and scandal.
Dr. Ki’mer’s S w a M p - R o o t enre*
ali Kidney and Bladder troubles.
Pamphlet and Binghamton,N. Consultation fr -e.
Laboratory Y.
Reason cannot show itself thingsunreasonallj more reasonattii
than to cease reasoningon
Pain is Not Conducive of Pleasure.
—--— ...... : -----
It Will Pay
To make some provision for your physics
health at this season, because a cold «
cough, an attack of pneumonia or typhoid
fever now may make you an invalid all win
ter. First of all be sure that yonr blood i|
pure, for health depends upon pure blool
A few bottles of Hood’s Sarsaparilla will yoj tj
a paying investment now. It will give
ture, rich blood and invigorate your sysU-a
3
Sarsaparill
Is the One True Blood Purifbr.
Hood’s Piiis STlfeSt l
The Greatest Hedical Discover?!
of the Age.
KENNEDY’S
Medical Discovers
DONALD KENNEDY, OF ROXBURY, «ASS.,j
Has discovered In one of our coma®*
pasture weeds a remedy that, wes
kind of Humor, from
down to a common pimple. .
He has tried it In over eleven
cases, and never failed except in W J
(both thunder humor). He has bo
his possession over two hundred
cates of Its value, all within twenty
of Boston. Send postal card for Dow
A benefit is always experienced fro J
first bottle, and a perfect cure is wa
when the right quantity is taken. d
When the lungs are affected it ™T|
shooting pains, like needles J- jj*
through them; the same wit
Bowels. This is caused by «e
or di«PP»^
being stopped, and always
week after taking it. Bead the
If the stomach Is foul or bilious
squeamish feelings at ” rs
cause nee****, j
No change of diet ever
the best yon can get, and e » ^
Dose, one tablespoonful in wa
SmA Sold by all Druggists. ____
Clecvie, «. 101 -store gw*h
Promote, B a
ft*
Eeat B £3Sr w dnsffla^n
•K i