Newspaper Page Text
VOL. X.
AMONG THE REDWOODS
FELLING BIG TIMBER IN a CALIFOR
NIA LOGGING CAMP.
How th. Chopper. Begin Work on th.
Sequoia Glgant*.—Felling Tree* with
a Cro»-Cni Saw Th.
Barker - Log*.
(California Cor. New Orleans Times-Democrat ]
Here we arc at Rockpo t, in Mendocino
county, at a red wood uaw-mill, with a
capacity of 80,000 feet per day. It is 6
o'clock am., with a damp, cool air,
and the men attired in blanket flannel
overshirts, worn outside their trousers,
look like sailors in the morning watch.
They are about to take the train for the
woods, and we will go with them. They
axe of every nationality, and work under
the direction of a foreman, or “ boss of the
woods."
We stop beneath a monster tree, fully
800 feet high, and eight feet in diameter
at the base, tapering gradually to a
diameter of about thrift feet. Standing
perfectly erect, leaning neither tovs ard the
top nor bottom of the steep billside upon
which it grows, this tree affords a fine
example of the methods used here in fell
ing timber. The choppers first erect a
scaffold around it that will elevate them to
the height decided upon as mod expedient,
and which in this instance is seven feet
from the ground. Notches are cut in the
tree at the proper height, in which each
chopper inserts the end of his spring
board, a stout, Iron-bound board
specially prepared for the purpose.
Standing on these spring boards, both
on the same side of the tree, they began
operations, one chopping right-handed
and the other left handed, and in a short
time their vigorous and skillful blows ef
fect a “scarf, " or opening, fully three
feet through. This done, they dismount
from their scaffold, notch the other side
of the tree, shift their spring boards and
begin again. Il Is their design to have
this tree fall toward the lower side of tbs
bill, across a space where there are no
intervening trees to be injured. To in
sure this, they insert into the "undercut”
apiece of wood called a “gun stick,"
which they explain with geometrical con
ciseness. shows the true center of the tree
and the point toward which it will fall.
Having cut into the reverse side of the
tree until almost meeting the undercut,
the choppers give several loud shouts of
“Hallo! Look out below!” as a warning
to any one within range of the tree, ana
then with a few more blows they send the
monster crashing down the side of the
mountain. Down, down it goes, leaving
a trail like that of a dozen gang plows,
down to the very foot of the mountain,
where th. top sinks ten or twelve feet
into the ground, and the headlong descent
is checked.
In many respects the methods of fell
ing timber here described is similar to that
in use “at the east,” but where the tree
leans down hill, or toward other
standing timber, the method is
unique. The tree Is first undercut
upon the upper side. Then the scaf
folding is shifted to the lower side and a
ten-foot cross cut or falling saw is brought
into requisition and an “incision" made
just behind the undercut When the saw
has penetrated a few inches two immense
steel wedges, weighing twenty-five pounds
each, are Inserted in the cut behind the
saw sod driven in solidly with a twenty
pound sledge. The monster at first settles
on the wedges, but the steel resists lhe
strain, and the position of the tree is
gradually shifted until the saw, reaching
the centre of gravity, it goes toppling
over, lodging safely at the top of the hill.
The practice of sawing down timber is
not confined to those trees leaning the
wrong way but is gradually becoming
general
The choppers having completed their
work, the barker comes on the scene. In
the midsummer days his work is in some
respects lightened by the action of the
weather, the bark yielding as much to the
heat as to his barking bar, a piece of
octagonal steel about seven feet long flat
tened and sharply pointed at the end,
with which be pries off the bark after
having cut rings around the tree at in
tervals of say ten feet Imagine a
tree 200 feet long, lying up and
down on th. side of a mountain
at an angl. of 45 degrees, with the
top lay layer of bark removed, and a man
compelled to walk down on the fallen
trunk, leaning from side to side as he pries
off the bark, and you have before you
the average position of a redwood
barker at work. To guard against sliding
off the tree, he ha. inserted in the heels of
his boot, three iron “calks” sharply
pointed and projecting about half an inch
from the leather, which he drives into the
log after the manner of the line repairer
climbing a telegraph pole, except that
these “calks" are under the heel. Al
though this bark attains a thickness on
some tree, of eight to fourteen inches, the
barker s labors are lightened by its corru
gated form, which causes it to break lon
gitudinally as it is pried up from the wood.
The bask is utterly valueless It is also
the b. rker's duty to lop off any limbs
found on the tree —a duty he is seldom
•ailed upon to perform, as the few limbs
belonging to a redwood are generally
crushed in its falling.
The cross cut sawyer next appears, and
the third stage in the preparation of logs
for the mill is entered upon. These saws
are always plied by one man only, even
on the largest log., and the tree is cut into
lengths which, except in rare instances,
when there may be a special demand for
rough lumber twenty-two or twenty-four
feet in length, range from twelve to
twenty feet Th. cross cut sawyer s out
fit consists of an eight-foot saw, a chop
ping ax, a maul and two or three wedge
axes. He stands upon the ground along
side the tree, sometimes seven or eight
hours in one spot, making a single
cut through one of the monsters.
Where th. tre. lies up and down
a side-hill, it is apt to “pinch ” his saw
•nd impede its progress. This he re
medies by inserting the wedge axes on
top of his saw cut, and driving them well
in At times it happens that a tree falls
•cross another, or lias upon and over a
number of ridges in the hill side. In this
event he props it up on both sides of his
saw-cut to prevent its snapping after the
Center had been reached.
The trM. having been sawed into the re
quired lengths two men each provided
with a patent jack, having a cog-wheel
and crank attachment used tn turning over
logs by the leverage of a steel dog fastened
to an eighteen-inch bar and propelled by
the cogs, ascend the hill to the spot where
they are lying and roll the logs to the foot
•f the hill This work requires strength,
skill and activity, as may be inferred from
the fact that one of th.-e jackscrews will
Weigh fifty-two pounds, and has to ba
packed from log to log by the man using it.
Josh Billings: Yung man, don’t aware
—yu may convince yurself bi swaraiag,
yu ÜB’l Um other phclisw.
-4 -wSI wk,
„ J-‘ ........ : _
HENRY CLAY AT POKER.
iln Interesting Gaine with Dick Bright—
Apologizing to the Minister.
(Washington Cor. Baltimore Herald.]
“Yes, sir, that’s the very same table on
which Mr. Clay used to lose the greater
part ot his congressional salary. As I
said, Clay and Bright sat down to play at
8 o’clock. ‘Now, Dick.’ said Mr. ( lay,
as the game began, understand that I
cannot play later than 12 o’clock. I
promised to attend church in Alexandria
to-morrow morning, and I don’t want to
I go there looking as if 1 had been up all
night. ’
“The blind was half a dollar, a dollar to
come in and no limit to beta In those
days there was no limit, as there gener
ally is now. .ill a man could demand was
a sight of his money. The cards were
cut and Clay got the first deal. He was
a noted card shu her. lie could hold his
hands four feet apart and lly the cards
from one to the other without a single
card falling. His favorite style was to
mix the cards from the end, and not
from the sides, holding a half deck in
each hand, flirting the ends with his
thumbs, and mixing them into a perfect
pack with one movement He usually
dealt with one hand with scarcely a per
ceptible movement of the arm, his long,
muscular fingers enabling him to throw
each card to its proper place. But Clay
was not a good poker player. Like most
intellectual men, he played for the ex
citement, not for gain, and. as a
rule, he was so careless about his bets
that he came out loser. He had a pas
sion for big bets, and he rarely failed to
straddle the blind or raise the bet after the
game got fairly started. So, if the luck
came his way. he would win heavily as
long as it lasted. But he was a great bluf
fer, and bet high whether he had the cards
or not. The men he clayed with found
this out, of course, and he never came
out of a prolonged game without being
fleeced.
“For nearly two hours that night Clay
had everything his own way with Bright..
If he didn’t hold a king full four times
hand running, followed by a jack-full,
then 1 hope 1 may be shot for lying.
Bright tried his best to catch Clay in a
bluff, but it was no use. Clay came to
the front every time with a hand that
nothing but fours could phase. At 10:30
Bright had lost $1,500, and had borrow-ed
SSOO from John Hancock. After that
Clay’s luck deserted him, but be failed to
recognize it. He continued to bet as high
on a pair of duces as be bad
been betting on an ace-full. By
midnight lie had lost all his winning anil
SI,OOO besides, all the cash he had with
him.
“ ‘I guess we’d better quit,’ said Bright,
‘as you want to go to church to morrow.
“ ‘Oh! blow the church,’ replied Clay;
‘do you suppose I want to hear a man
preach right on top of losing SI,OOO at
poker? Not much You just lead me
SSOO and let the. game go on.’
“So the game proceeded, anil at day
light Clay was in debt to Bright to the
amount of $1,500, and that is the way it
stood when the game ended. I heard
afterward, from Hancock, that Clay liq
uidated the debt by giving Bright a deed
to 320 acres of Kentucky land and trans
ferring to him six shares of stock in a
l.ouisviHe bank. ”
“So Clay didn’t go to church that
morning?” the Old Timer asked.
i “\\ ell, I was just going to tell you
about that. lam not responsible for the
story, as I was not there and have no
personal knowledge of it. But, as told
then, i lay went to his room that Sunday
morning, shortly after daylight, to go to
bed. But he took a sudden resolution to
go to Alexandria anyhow and keep his
church engagement, ile went in the car
riage of a friend. Ijuite a crowd followed
Idm when he went out to get in his car
riage. There a number of people were
presented to Mr. ( lay, among them the
rector of the church. The story was
, that while he was talking to the reverend
■! gentleman Clay put his hand in his
pocket to pull out bis handkerchief, and
iu doing this a pack of cards was sud
denly spilled on the ground. Clay was
not the least abashed, but deliberately
gathered up the cards, replaced them in
his pocket and remarked to the minister
and others who were standing there that
a friend had put the cards in his pocket
as practical joke ”
Why Hoosier Owls Have Stumped Toes.
[lndianapolis Journal.]
Representative Cabbage will be remem
bered in Indiana annals for all times to
‘ come for his Owl bill—a brave, but inef
fectual effort to protect the barnyard bird
from the savage bird of night i ears ago,
Uncle Jimmy Frazier, of Fike township,
this county, was, like Representative
Cabbage, the unrelenting foe of the owl.
He bothered not with sta'utory amend
ments. He pondered ami, as he pondered,
his chickens diminished and the owls in
creased.
One day a happy thought came to him.
He took down his scythe, and all one
long summer afternoon played a sym
phony upon it with an old fashioned
blue whetstone. When he finished, it
was of razor-edge keenness. Placing a
ladder against the chicken-house, he
nailed the scythe high aloft, its keen edge
skyward—a most inviting resting place.
The old gentleman had calculated rightly,
and half a hatful of owls' toes were found
next morning under the scythe. This
continued for several days, a fresh crop
rewarding the early riser each morning.
After awhile some owl, wiser than the
rest, must have discovered the practical
joke. At any rate their visits ceased,
though to this day all the elderly Pike
township owls are distinguished by their
stump toes.
A Gigantic Engineering Structure.
[Chicago Times.]
The inclined plane on the Pennsylvania
railroad, at Pittsburg, is a gigantic en
gineering structure of its kind, built ac
f ording to the most advanced scientific
designs, and without regard to cost.
Teams, freight and passenger cars are
hauled up by means of steel cables, the
plane having a total length of 810 feet,
with a rise of nearly forty-three feet to the
hundred. It is built on arches, the long
est span being 232 feet, another is 120
feet, and the rest are 60 feet each. The
1 cables for hauling the cars are entirely of
steel, and the largest ever made in this
country. The engines furnishing the mo
tive power are of 700 indicated horse
power.
He Wasn’t Drunk.
I [Chicago News.)
“You’re a pretty man, you are. ”
1 “Wha z smatter, m'deari”
’ “Ain't you ashamed to come homereel-
' ing drunk?”
' “Why, blesh me, m’dear, d’you zhink
I’m dr hie unk?”
1 “Os course you are drunk, you brute.
You can't walk a step without reeling all
1 over the room. *
“ Tha’z so. m’dear, but I ain’t drunk.
Y'see I been down t' th’ roller skatin'
i rink, m’dear, an’ I ain’t got over the mo
tion y«L Tha’x all
I
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 7, 1885.
A NttwvDeaUng Bootblack.
[Gath’s New York Letter.]
All over New York are growing up
bootblack parlors, which consist of base
ments where some enterprising colored
man has got in a patent shoe-cleaning
chair or two and an apprentice, and he
shines boots at 5 cents, sells the papers at
the entrance, and keeps old files of news
papers iu the rear to satisfy curiosity. I
go to one of these places on Broadway
and [>ay 25 cents for seven tickets, gener
ally losing a part of the tickets, but
avoiding the temptation to pay
more money than the shine costs
by having the ticket I found the
boss, who was a large negro from about
Washington, with his head tied up and
spectacles on. Said I: “What is the
matter with you?"
“ 1 don’t know what it is, ” said the black
man, “ 1 reckon my nerves are out of or
der. 1 have been picking away in the
dark basement here over these old news
papers files, and I suppose I have strained
my eyes. I’ve lived in basements four
teen \ ears now. I ain’t never been well
since I came to New York to live. This
climate up this way don’t suit us. I was
always strong, but I think I am giving
away a little. I would get out of this
basement, ” he continued, “if I knew i
where to go and get cusL m. But I have
to pay $450 a year rent far this cellar. ”
I was struck with the amount of money’
for sinh accommodations. The cellar it
self is probably right o» the ground and
its supports already rotten, and
the stairway to come down was
narrow and awkward, and yet com
manded a rent equal to a good house in
an ordinary town. The man hunted me
up a newspaper which lonly half wanted, ,
anil when 1 came to pay for it I saw there l
: was some sense in keeping those old pa- i
pers. The newspapers and dealers have a ;
surplus of copies almost every day, and
these men buy them for about the cost of i
, the paper and carefully arrange them and '
■ put them aside. Suddenly a man who
wants an advertisement to prove up a law- ;
suit, or a newspaper writer wants to get
an article which he failed to preserve, or
there is a lawsuit about some factor ad
vertisements, and they have to go to the
' obscure negro. He ha. a fixed rate, which
is to charge the price on the day it was
issued and to double it every mouth he I
has kept the paper. So he got from me I
15 cents for a three months’ old paper, i
| which was equal to three boot-shines.
An Interview With Zola.
[Paris Letter.]
I reproduce word for word that part of !
the conversation which ushered in my in- |
terview with M. Zola one morning at hia ,
country’ house at Medun, some twenty- :
seven English miles from Faris.
"Your readers would like to know'
something about me? Well, tell them;
what you know yourself, and if you wish i
to institufe any comparison between tbv
writer who is going to endeavor to inter
I est them for some months to come aivl
: those whom they are likely to know best,
tell them this: 1 have not a grain, per- j
haps, of the genius of their own Swift,
not a thousandth part of the humor of
: their Oliver Goldsmith, not a millionth
part of the learning of their Samuel John- j
son, but 1 have seen much blacker misery i
and privation than the whole three to- I
‘ gether.
“ Like to the authors of 'Guliver’s '
i Travels’ and ‘The Vicar of Wakefield,’ j
the university authorities refused me my
degree; nor did they even bestow it upon j
me as a favor, and they did in the case of I
the future deans of St. Patrick. Like the
author of the ‘Lives of the Poets,’ I i
have been without shoes, though
again iu my case no one hail tho
kindness to put a decent pair at my
door. I have been obliged to pawu ,
the only coat I possessed and to come
back iu my shirt sleeves, though it was in
the depth of winter. I have lived for
months and months on three sous of bread
and cheese a day, not counting the days I
when there was neither the one nor the
other. But I never lost courage, 1 never ,
put the blame of my hardships upon any |
one, not even upon myself. If after that
they do not think me a lit narrator of tho j
Buffering of the poor—mind, a narrator, :
not a judge between them and the rich— i
let them slip my weekly installments and
and return to more profitable reading. ”
A New Uh® for Trad® Dollars.
[Mail and Express.]
A new use has been found for the much
abused trade dollar by an enterprising
jeweler of New York. He takes the de
spised coin and makes it up in such shapes
as he can without destroying its identity.
“It is the Bachman idea, ” said he to a re-
I porter. “ Some of the designs are copy
righted, just as a publisher would copy
right a book, to keep the sharks and guer
rillas of the trade from stealing them.
Here is one, ” he said, producing what ap-
I pealed to be a new specimen of the coin,
! “designed for a pocket-piece. The piece
■is split and hollowed out so that a pict-
ure can be placed in it The pieces fit |
together so perfectly that no one would J
ever suspect the use to which it has been !
adapted. Here is a match box made of '
four of the dollars You see the coins, j
although split so that both surfaces show j
the face of the design, are so bent and |
worked into shape that their outlines are |
undisturbed. Nothing else enters into the '
composition of the box but the hinge. ” ■
Another curiosity shown was a cigarette !
case made of coins of various denomina
tions, dimes, quarters, half dollars and !
trade dollars, welded on to a silver base of I
alligator skin, and so oxidized that the
coins seem a century old.
“Is there no law against putting the
coin to such use?” Inquired the reporter.
; “ You can do as you please with United I
: States money if you do not attempt to
counterfeit it or try to pass it after you !
I have mutilated or otherwise tinkered
f with it ”
The Largest Circulation.
[lnland Printer.]
The paper with the largest circulation
in the world is the Petit Journal, of Paris
It now circulates 750,000 copies per day. :
Its director, Mr. Hyppolite Marinoni, is
the inventor of the Marinoni perfecting
presses. He was originally a cattle-herd?
When he first started there was not one
perfecting press in France, and no news
paper would buy one of him; but he
secured the contract for printing the
edition of some of the papers at a
certain price. Among the papers he
printed were The Figaro and Petit
Journal. The latter then had a circula- ,
tion daily of 100,000 papers. It ran be- 1
hind in its bills with Marinoni, and to save
himself from loss he had to take hold of ,
the paper. He spends SIOO,OOO a year for
advertising, and is confident that within
two years he will sell 1,000,000 copies per
day. He is allowed SIOO,OOO per year for
printing the paper. Notlessthan sl.2oper
line is received for advertisements in any
part of the paper, and as high as $8 per
line for one insertion is charged. Once as
much as SIO,OOO was paid by De Lesseps
for an article on the first page announcing
the issue of the Panama canal loan. The
paper is unseusational in the extreme,
but nays close attention to news
I sw-. f |
HUNTING SNOW BIRDS.
A Man Who Lives by Supplying Them to
Restaurants.
[Chicago Tribune.]
The spectacle of a man hunting game
for a living on the street is not an every
day occurreuca However, it has been
the case tor the last two weeks, and yester
day a reporter had an interview with the
hunter. “Snow birds,” said he, “is no
common dish, and when a feller feasts on
such delicacies he has to put up and
somely. However, I make a right smart
livin' at the business, an', if the police
don't molest me, 1 hope to stow ’way right
smart sum ’fore spring. ”
“ How did you come to know that there
was a demand for such game?”
“Well, 1 wuz shootin’ ducks all fall an’
s’plyin’ restaurants, when one day the boss
tole me that ducks were a drug in the
market an’ that I would have to get up
some new scheme. I didn't want to starve
and was kinder scratchin' my head for an
idea when a little snow-bird hopped in
front of the place. The boss saw him an
says to me; ‘Bring me a dozen of those,
birds and I’ll give you 60 cents.' I tried
to kill them with stones and arrers, but it
■ wouldn’t work. 1 wouldn't be ’lowed to
' use powder anil ball, so 1 jus' buys this
air gun, put a slug in her, and let drive.
See this bag? Three dozen since morn
ing; got 'em all on Twenty-second street. ”
The bag was filled with dead snow
birds, which in a few hours were served
for food in a restaurant The birds
are numerous along the cable-car
line, and at this season of the year
are very fat. \\ hen dressed they are
about the size of a small egg, and are
i luscious to the taste. A restaurant-keeper
: who had over 100 iu a window was asked
I what was the cause of the demand for
such diminutive game. He said that deli
calc persons and invalids were tho classes
' that called for the dainties. “We have
any amount of calls for quail, ” said the
speaker, “but when a person orders snow
- birds on toast, you can rest assured that
he is an invalid or else his stomach is in a
disordered condition. With the usual side
dishes, four sn w-birds will cost you 60
cents pretty tiff price, but the invalid
must have cm. ”
I In the meantime the hunter travels the
■ street with an air gun on his shoulder,
■ looking for food for the epicure and
' invalid. Occasionally his aim is bad, and
i the shot crashes through a street car or
j house window. Such mistakes, however,
I are rare. Upto date the hunter has not
; been molested in his business, which aver-
■ ages $3 per day.
How I’atti Spends Money.
[l'hlladelphla Record.j
! Patti makes a great deal of money,
1 and she spends a great deal. At the rate
she lives it must cost her something like
$100,600 a year. She has a retinue of
i people and a large suite of apartments at
the Windsor hotel —private table, of
course—and her own chef, whom she
brings with her. Then she has a castle
; in Wales to keep up, and that is an enor
mous tax upon her income. Even when
■ she docs not live there she has ten or a
' dozen people taking care of the house,
and as many more on the place. The
I castle itself is as large as a small hotel.
It has forty-five furnished rooms besides
other rooms that are not furnished. It is
j a whim of Patti to keep up this place,
, and she has enough money to indulge
j herself in expensive whims.
j Besides the money that Patti earns, she
i has $200,000 that can never be touched;
at least the principal cannot be touched;
I she has the use of the income, of course.
’ But this she does not lay much stress
upon. The income of $200,000 is a small
item to a person who can make as much
money as she does. Christine Nilsson is
really wealthier than Patti, because she
has more laid up and better invested than
is Patti’s money. The castle in Wales,
which represents a little fortune, is an ex
; pense rather than an income. All the
money that Christine Nilsson has in real
estate brings her in a good, round interest
! Then Nilsson is thrifty. She spends very
; little money compared to Patti. It is hard
ito say which is the wiser—the one who
l spends as she goes, or the one who lays
iup her money. Patti will always have
that $200,000 to fall back on, so she saves
very little of her earnings. There is no
one to come after her except Nicolini’s
children, and to those she is very liber.
now.
Where the Tramp Wag Welcomed.
[Chicago Herald.)
“Yes, we's do run up agin some queer
snaps, ” observed the tramp, as he steamed
behind a red-hot stove in the station wait
ing room, “some peculiar fakes we’s has
on our travels. 'Bout six weeks ago ez
Hi was cornin’ up ter town to look fur my
winter quarters Hi got hawful ’ungry one
day. Sucked half a dozen ens eggs w’ich
Hi found in a barn, but raw heggs
beeunt worry fillin’ on a cald
day. Purty soon Hi struck a town,
j an' goin’ up to a neat but 'umble ’ouse
—it’s de poor dut sde friends of we’s, yer
know -Hi knocked at the door, an’ was
told to come in. ‘Please, mum,’ sez. Hi to
ide ’ooman of de place, ‘please, mum, but
Hi’m starvin'. Can’t ye give a poor man
! a bit o’ sup to-day?’ An p w’at d’ye suj>-
! pose she said? “Elp yousqlf,’ sez she,
| wid a cold potato kind o’ smile on her
I face; ' elp youself to hanything yer can
llnd in the ’ouse. Take hanything to heat
yer can find, my poor man.’
! “Yer can bet she broke me all up.
j Never seed nothin’ like it before in all my
; travels. Then Hi thought she might be
I afeerd o’ me. ‘Don’t be skeered, mum,’
Hi sez; 'Hi won't urt ye s.’ 'Hi in not
afraid o’ you,’ sez she, ‘nor o’ what you’ll
eat. Help yourself, Hi say, to whatever
I you kin find. Hi m a minister’s wife, an
we bed a donation party here last night.
You're welcome. ’ ”
Nature and Art.
[Chicago News.]
“ Oh, Mr. Savage, it is so kind of you
to come up to criticise my poor little
painting for The Art Monthly. ”
“Yaas Wheah Is this daub of
youahs, miss?”
“ There it is, on the wall, sir. ”
“Ah, that will nevah do. No art in it,
miss. Very bad. Coloring simply shock
ing. Pains me to look at it. And bless me
if you haven't even put some leaves on
your trees when the whole landscape is
covered with snow. Nature nevah ”
“Why, .Mr. Savage, you are looking
out at the window. This is my painting—
this little flower study behind you.
Advantages ot a Pistol.
[Texas Siftings]
The following conversation between
two Houston negroes, one of whom was
exhibiting a new pistol that he had just
purchased, goes to illustrate the lamblike
natures of the children of Ham.
“What use has you got for a pistil.
You has got a knife ter defend yerse’f wid
if anybody ’tacks yer. ”
“Ter can’t make a jury believe data
knife went off accidenterly itse’f and
killed somebody, but you kin make a pis
til go off accidenterly, and kill somebody
es dey has • spite agin yer. "
IN THE UPPER TIER. I
GLIMPSES OF THEATRE LIFE AMONG
THE “GODS.”
People Who Take a Blrd's-Kye View of the
Stage—Not So Bad as It’s Painted
A Chance for tho
Poor Man.
[New York Herald.]
The definition of the gallery as the
“nigger heaven, ” dates back: to another
epoch iu our national history—the time
whi n black men were chattels in the laud
and when the gallery—and even that only
in some theatres—was the only part of the
house in which a colored man could get
admittance. It was not until the passage
of the civil-rights bill that he had a right
to choose a seat in a place of amusement.
The average American knows as little
of the “nigger heaven” of the theatre as
he docs about the big theological heaven,
which occupies so small a share in his
thoughts and aspirations. Ile looks upon
it as a disreputable region, inhabited
by news boys and bootblacks
who spend their time in consum
ing peanuts, chewing tobacco, and
giving vent to ear-splitting whistles and
resounding thumps of sole-leather. That
there can be any good iu this Nazareth is
a proposition to him ns absurd as if ho
were the most orthodox of Israelites. He
looks upon the gallery as a nuisance, and
not a necessary one either. Why do not
managers abolish it? he wonders. Proba
bly to add a few dollars to their sordid
piles, he thinks. And with this conclu
sion he banishes the confounded subject
from his mind. The average American I
cannot afford to go to the orchestra chairs I
very often, so he takes in the theatre '
about half as often as the less proud and |
particular European in the same finan- I
cial circumstances. He goes seldom, but
stylishly.
With all due deference to the average
American, the gallery of a ..first class
theatre is the noblest and most worthy
part. It is often more decent, better be
haved, anil more intelligent than the pros
cenium boxes, and fully as appreciative as
the orchestra. Financially, it represents
the people to whom, m.ire than any one
else, “the play s the thing. ” And, while
the gallery of a sensational amusement
house may be objectionably inhabited as
it is popularly supposed to be, the rule
does not hold good in the high class places
of amusement, which have no attractions
for the denizens of the vulgar monde.
To the average A merlcan the gallery is
a golden gate which opens the realms of
poetry and art to thousands of people in
Hie less prosperous ranks of life w ho,
; without it, would find existence a barren
waste of unilluminated drudgery. Its
reality is quite unlike the picture you
have drawn of it. and if you want a really
and thoroughly enjoyable experience, set
i apart an evening and a quarter or half
dollar, as the case may be, and pay a visit
to the hot unpleasant, precincts. The ex-
I pcrience will be worth more than the price
of an orchestra chair iu the center aisle.
The reporter spent half a dollar one
pleasant evening and visited a popular
theatre during the run of a highly success
ful comedy He went early in order to
get a good seat, and was obliged to stand
some time in a long line of men, young
and old, who were in pursuit of a similar
end. Fye and ear took the measure of
the human string. There was nothing
objectionable about it. Most of the young
: men belonged to the ancient and honorable j
order of clerks. There were a few ob- |
' jectionable persons among the incomers. I
Quite a number of women of the lower
walks of life added refinement to the as
semblage. Some were well-dressed, and
among them were a number of people of
loreign birth—people without the false
pride of the average American—who know
they cannot afford the $1.50 seat, but do
deprive themselves of the pleasures of the
drama on that account.
But surely, says the average American '
in the orchestra chair, there is no pleasure j
in witnessing a drama from the gallery!
There can be no enjoyment in watching
the tops of the actors’ heads, while stew
ing in the hot and vitiated atmosphere of
j the “nigger heaven. ’! Wrong again. In
many a theater —the Star, for instance—
the front row of the gallery is the best
point ot observation in the theater. In
nine cases out of ten tho most apprecia
tive part of the audience—that portion
which the actor [days to—is there, and,
granting that the air is not always of the
best, it is worth some inconvenience to be
surrounded by rapt and attentive listeners,
who laugh at the right place and applaud
with the hearts in their hands and feet
Between the acts you will sometimes
hear bits of critical talk that are worth
their weight in gold, and sometimes caleb
rdminiscenses that would add brightness
to the morrow's newspaper. Sojne theat
rical old timer will frequently encoun
tered who has seen the theatrical celebri
ties of half a century, and who is al lo to
dilate upon their excellencies in away
worth Lsteuipg to, if not always worth
believing.
Prod nets of Petroleum.
[Blackwood's Magazine.}
Many and varied are the uses to which
human ingenuity has already contrived to
turn this precious gift of dirty-green
earth oil. At first its value was only rec
ognized as a lubricating oil for machinery,
and a somewhat dangerous burning-oil for
illuminating, commonly culled kerosene.
Now it has been discovered th.,t, by care
ful reining, all the highly infiainm ible
naphtha, which is the dangerous ingredient,
can be separated and made valuable to j
painters and chemists, while the oil, thus}
purified, becomes absolutely safe for do-1
inestic use.
Another valuable product of petroleum
is gasoline—a form of gas convenient for
use in country houses. Then comes pre
cious paraffine, in the form of beautiful
wax-light candles, and vaseline, for heal
ing broken skin or bruises. For medical
use we have an anoisthetie called rhigo
lene, and for cleaning we have benzine.
\ arious volatile ethers have been obtained,
among others a petroleum-spirit, which
acts as a substitute for turpentine, and
which will dissolve la juer.
And, after all these good things have
been separated, there still remains a res
iduum of tar, which yields anthracene,
benzole, and naphthaline, from which are
obtained a madder red, mauve, magenta,
and indigo-blue dyes, which bid fair to
supersede those already known to com
merce, and even seriously to affect the in
terests of our indigo-planters, as they have
already injured the madder-cultivators of
Turkey and Holland.
A Burning Question.
[Arkansaw Traveler.]
A magazine writer devotes twenty pages
of fine print iu showing why society is
likely to improve within the next hundred
years. Yes, very likely, but how about
the price of cord wood? A little society
goes a long ways, but cord wood —well,
Us very contemplation makes a man feej
•srioua t
A CONCORD LOVI- STORY.
I [James Jeffrey Roche in Boston Transcript.]
Shall wo meet again, love,
In the distant When, love,
When tbo Now is Then, love,
And the Present Past!
Shall the mystic Yonder,
On which I ponder,
I sadly wonder,
With thee be cast?
Ah, the joyous fleeting,
Os our primal meeting,
And the fateful greeting
Os the How and Why!
Ab, the Thingness flying
From the Hereness, sighing
For a love undying
That fain would dial
Ah, the Ifness sadd’ning,
Tho Whichness madd'ning,
An<l tho But ungladd’ning,
That lie behind!
When die signless token
Os love is broken
In the speech unspoken
Os mind to n ind!
But tho mind percoivoth
When the spirt' grieveth.
And the heart relieveth
Itself of woe;
And the doubt-mihts lifted
From the eyes love-gifted
Are rent and rifted
In the warmer glow.
In the inner Me, love,
As I turn to thee, love,
I seem to see, love,
No Ego there,
But the Menosi dead, love,
The Theeness fled, love,
And born instead, love,
An Usness rare I
How to Borrow the Wlie re withal.
|Boston Globe.)
"Some men are never able to keep along
' with a good deal, while other men seem
|to have an excellent time of it on noth
ing, ” mused the philosopher.
“1 have often observed that phenomena
myself,” returned the disciple. “How do
you account for it?”
“The principal reason, as I view it, my
young friend, is knowing how to bor
row the wherewithal. When you
haven’t got it, and somebody else
has. if you only know how to do It you can
generally manage to keep up a healthy
circulation. It is only necessary that you
have a large and ever increasing circle of
acquaintances, my son, and know how
to play your cards, and you can’t help
winning. This borrowing business is the
most ancient chestnut in the world, but it
is always fresh and new to the victims.
The world is made up of fleecers and per
sons willing to be fleeced, and if you are a
man of infinite variety you may continue
to make merry at your friend’s expense as
long as you live. Here are my rules for
borrowing. Study your man before you
tackle him. If he is of a sensitive and
confiding disposition, take him aside and
pour a tale of woe into his ear. If he is
neither sensitive nor confiding, never ask
him except when he is surrounded by
acquaintances. Then he will be ashamed
to refuse. Between injudicious sympathy
and false pride you can find a field large
enough for your talents. Once in a while
you have to change your base, you know.
An expert borrower told me. it took about
two years to exhaust a single community.
Always borrow a dollar three times and
pay back again, and the fourth time stick
him heavy. That's my rule. It is in
fallible. ”
The Senator’s Daughter.
[Washington Cor. Cleveland Leader.]
She < ame into the 3-cent ear as it was
going up Fennsylvania avenue with a
I full load of passengers, and without a word
; of thanks plumped herself down into a
seat politely given her by a young colored
man. She had diamonds in her ears; a
sealskin cloak upon her back and beneath
this shown out a dress of flowery velvet
brocade. Her bangs were cut in the
latest edition of fashion’s dictates, and her
nostrils dilated almost contemptuously as
she pre sed her dress carefully away from
> the cheap threadbare but clean coat of her
I colored neighbor. She evidently thought
herself on a plane many degrees above
him, and when she handed him her
change in three coppers I noticed that she
was careful that her hand should not
touch his. She held it so far off, indeed,
that one of the pennies dropped, and
falling between the close, net like crate of
the floor, reposed serently, a copper island
in the midst of a sea of tobacco spit
The young lady with an angry glance
looked up at the man, and said: “Can
you pick it up?” He politely stooped
over and made the attempt, but it was
impossible. As he reached the coin it slid
further into the filth, and without saying
a word he reached up and paid the young
lady’s fare out of his own pocket As
for her she noticed that the coin was still
there. She glanced at it and said nothing,
not even a thank you. As the car rolled
on the passengers silently drew compar
isons and I can tell you they were notin
favor of the senator’s daughter.
Wanted—Frivoloas Young Men.
[Boston Courier.]
“It is no use, ” a young lady recently re
marked, despairingly, “there are no frivol
ous men any more, and it is quite useless
to try to have parties. Nobody comes but
the solemnly audish empty-Linins that it
gives one cold chills simply to look at, and
if one of the fellows that is really interest
ing does stray into a ball Or an assembly
he has the air of having made a dreadful
mistake and he gets away as quickly as
possible. Everybody is so dreadfully in
earnest either for working or being a fop
that there isn’t a good comrade left. ” The
lively young creatine had more to say in
much the same style and to the same
general purpose, the burden of her com
, plaint being that there were no society
[ men who seemed, as she phrased it, worth
while, and that the individuals who wer#
' really worth while—whatever that mys
terious formula may mean—could not be
dragged into those gay assemblies whither
the belles of the town repair to criticise
each other’s dresses and to meet the op
posite sex.
Abyssinian Cleanliness.
[English Illustrated Magazine.]
The excessive disregard to cleanliness
is quite a mania with Abyssinians. It is not
from a want of water. There is plenty;
and the famous soap-tree, called indeed,
grows everywhere, the seeds of which,
when carefully dried in the sun, may be
worked into a good lather, that is very
' cleansing. An Ethiopian will tell you
without a blush that he is necessarily
washed at birth, washes himself on his
marriage morn, and hopes to be washed
after death; that once every year he dips
himself in the river on the festival of St
John, and every morning he wets the end
of his toga with the moisture from his
mouth and freshens up his ey< a When
ever he feels hard and uncomfortable he
will annoint himself with mutton fat till
his head and body glisten in the sun.
The saddest hour in any young man’s
life is that in which he first becomes
possessed of the idea that there is an
easier and better way of acquiring money
Ilian by squarely and fairly earning U.
ISO. 218
CELEBRATED 0 A
Fitter 5
« The neoMßlty for yrompt and »ffloient bou««-
hold em dlf” n de ly ■ rowing more inoperative
et d of tbeHe HoMetur'a Stomach Bittera ta the
c Lief in n erit »ud the mo*t io, ular. Irregu
larity of the efoaach and b<>»ele. malarial
fevers, liver complaint, debill*y, rbeutnati
and minor ailrnei ta, are thoroughly conquered
by thia <nc mparable fan lly restorative and
m< d cinal miegu'rd, and it te juttly regard'd
att the parent and n opt comprenenatve remedy
of'ta cl»«H, For B>le by all drugsiata and
dea'era rot $•• al'y.
PIEBI PILES!! FILES!!!
Sure cure for Blind, Bleeding and Itch
ing Piles. One box has cured the worst
cases of 20 years’ standing. No one need
suffer five minutes alter using William’s
Indian Pile Ointment. It absorbs tumor*,
allays itching, acts as poultice, gives In
stant relief. Prepared only tor Piles.
Itching of the pt ivate parte, nothing elsa.
Hoti. J, M. Coffenbury, of Cleveland, says:
"I have Used eceres ot Pile cures, sod it
affords me pleasure to say that I have
,’n ver found anything which gives such
immediate and permanent relief as Dr,
William’s Indian Pile Ointment. ” bold by
iliugglets nnd mailed on receipt of pries,
sl. Foi sale by Brannnn <t Carson, B.
Carter, John P. Turner and Geo. A. Brad
ford, Columbus, Ga.
Dr, Frailer'. Baot Bitter
Frazier's Boot Bitters are not a dram
ahi p beverage, but are strictly medicinal
In i very sense. They act strongly upon
the Llvi r and Kidneys, kwp the bowels
open and regular, make the weak strong,
heal the lungs, build up the nerves, and
cleanse the blood apd eystem of every Im
purity. Sold by druggists. SI.OO.
For sale by Brannon i, Carson and Jno.
P. Turner, Columbus, Ga. ..-ffiite
Dr. Frailer’* Magic Ointment. mMH
A sure cure lor Little Grubs in the Skin,
Bough Skin, etc. it will remove that
rouuhnesH from the hands and luce and
make you beautiful. Price 60c. Sent by
malt. For sale by Brannon A Carson and
John P. Turner, Columbus, Ga.
Mrs. Dr Wwltoa’a Periodical Tea.
Mvtliei Walton has prescribed thlsval
uabli medlceine tor a great many years
het private practice. It has proved an
unfailing specific In the treatment of the
many disorders to which the female con
-tttiitlon 1s subject. Il Is a sure cure tor
the monthly troubles that so many women
suffer. Mailed on receipt of price. 50c.
For s ale by Brannon A Carson and Jno
P. Turner, Columbus, Ga.
Baratcja High Boek Spring Water for
sale by >;t! dniggtsts. tnhSSeod&w
CH IDHuOCHtt SHERIFF SALES.
W' ILL I E SOI D EE F’BBT 1 DT !a
J.i n»rj ii xt, 1 b 6 at tbe Court H. use in
aid ('< nitty. ' ithiD tb» «ga. : Lorjg to
tl e blghvn bidd r toi oath tie iuUowlng prop
erty to wit. tie horse zuuie ) »Ke Aitx f eno
m»r- vh Dime Boc'y. abcut itiue yt a a cld; <ne
f;,vr»horae wa* <n. Fa’d ptoinriv levied m as
the iitpfry of G W. MtKiiSieto aatlaly a
n ort»<s>. e isiur'ue :f om the bu per lor ( cart
g! raid <J< untj, hi i«v- rof Ceo. p, rwiit & Bens
sg liiat «aia .W. MtKiusie
' hie 2»tn day of N.vtXLber, 18f4.
novdi-td. L. Ha BP, Sheriff.
WIILPEtiOIDON ”Blt FIRST TCEBD/Yln
Jiiiuiry, at the Ccnrt Hone* inaaiff
County, witbin the 1 gal boors ot asie to tho
bi> best bidder for c u ah, ts e ioll> wing property
to«*ii: Due i rcwD h< r> e male Dime A)ex, about
twelve years < Id. Haid property k vied on fb tbs
j roperty o; Neal bande a to a»tlaiy an execution
ibrufdfrom <be Superior Court ot said County
iu fcver of llddeu A Curtis against 'Neal
a: ders.
This .9th day of November, ItM
novßo-l<! L HARP, Sheriff
JOHN S. STEWART
=1 Prater.
GEORGIA STEAM AND OAB PIPI COMPANY.
Job .unlink c Every description eieoated
Neatly tod Promptly.
inelit
Market Stalls to Rent.
WILL be rented at the Market House, at pub
lic outcry to the highest bidder, on Mon
day, January 5, all the Stalls in the Meat Market,
under the direction of the ( ommittee on Market.
Quarterly notes with good sureties will be
required. M. M. MOORE,
decl7-td 4, lerk » ouncil
OR. JOHN NORWOOD.
OFFICE A.T
BREEDLOVE & JOHNSON’S Drug Ston,
Randolph. Street.
Beildtiiice with H. h. WOODBUFF,
Oriwlcrd, be. ween Troup and ForiytO Htrnt
■epW-S at
IMPORTANT
TO
Farmers, Trucksters and Gardeners.
—0
i w1: l.furtlsh on board tbe .Cara at Flora,
Alabama, a very
Rich Marl
AT .« JX > OL.I AI.B Fl it TON
CASH!
And a Very lew Bale of Fre’fht
Ih offered by the M. bile k Girard B. B
gßy analysis of the State Geologist thia
UABL eimtalue tiou 6 to 8 per eent. ot
Fnotphate with oth> r te.tll zin; qualities.
For eompoatlig end brondreetlng for
irrnlr fl ide, oicuatde and lav nr It will be
found
A|Valuable L Stimulator.
This 1s not a Guano, but a BIUH MABLi
——o
Ai y ord>r»> ’or weided to
R. J. ORB, Agent, Flora, Ala.,
Mobile A Girard Kailroad, will meet with
prompt attention. deoll-tt