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THE LINCOLNTON NEWS
VOL. III.
Evolution.
See! 1 drop this tiny seed in the ground,
And cover it over in cold, dark earth,
Ao<I you fancy with lack of light and dearth
Of warmth, that its stillness will be profound.
Yet you may not dream, in that little mound
How the germ of a lovely flower finds birth
So, perchance, hero is bom, whoso »
a worth
And valor, years hence, the world may as
tound.
Like the rose or lily, dormant he lies
In the now hopeless soil of poverty dank; •
Bat time in its changes enricho3 the mould
That covers a flowor which shall gladden the
eyes;
So a tnind is maturing, whose future rank
Will tell not wlmt forces its birth con¬
trolled.
—Lilia JV. Cushman, in Chicago Sun.
OLD BULLION'S BRIDE.
Let me see—where was It that I
first met her? Oh, yes, it was under
the superb arches of High Bridge,
boatiug by moonlight. A globe of
reddish pearl slowly ascended out of
the East—the shadows of the great
bridge resting softly on the mirror¬
like surface of the Hudson river; the
sound of a flute played softly afar off,
and all of a sudden the keel of my
boat came sharply in contact with
somebody else’s oars.
“Hallo, you!” cried out a clear inci¬
sive young voice. "Where are you
going to? Why don’t you look which
way you are steering?”
“Charley Dresden!" cried out I, lit¬
tle heeding the torrents of obloquy he
was beginning to heap upon me.
“Old Mottimore,” he responded joy¬
ously. “Why, who on earth would
have thought of finding you dreaming
on Harlem River. Here! Come into
my boat; hitch on your old craft be¬
hind, and let me introduce you to Miss
Sophy Adriance.”
I looked as sharply at Miss Sophy as
the moonlight and my own modesty
would let me, for I knew that she was
the especial admiration of my friend
Charley Dresden.
She was pretty,, slight, round and
rosy, with china-blue eyes, a dimple in
either cheek, and golden-brown hair
worn in long, loose curls. There was
something flower-like and delicate in
her prettiness—something unconscious¬
ly imploring in her way of lifting her
eyes up to your faca
We rowed home together—or, at
least, as far on our way home as the
Harlem River would take us. Sophy
sang little boat ballads, Charley
roared out tenor barcarolles. I even
essayed a German student Song which
I had learned in Heidelberg no one
knows how long ago, and we parted
the best of friends.
A week afterward Dresden and I
met face to face on Wall street.
“Hallo, Mottimore!” said Charley,
his honest visage lighting up. “What
do you think of her?”
“I think she is a pearl—a jewel—a
princess among women!” I answered,
with perfect sincerity.
“Congratulate me, then!” cried
Charley, beaming all over, “for I am
engaged to her! Only last night! Look
here!” opening a mysterious silver case
which 'he took from his inner vest
pocket. “What do you think of that
for an engagement ring?”
“A fine diamond,” said I, putting
my head critically on one side; “and
fancifully set.”
“We’re to be married in October,”
said Charley, lowering his voice to the
most confidential tones. “It might
have been sooner if I hadn’t under¬
taken that business in Europe for our
firm. But I shall be sure to be back
by October, and the money I shall
make will be acceptable toward fitting
up and furnishing our new homa
Because, you know, Mottimore, I’m
not rich.”
I spent an evening with her after¬
ward at the genteel boarding house
where she and her mother—a nice,
bright-eyed little woman, the full¬
blown rose to correspond with Sophy’s
budding loveliness—dwelt in the cosi¬
est of apartments, furnished in dark
blue reps, with a turn-up bedstead, in¬
geniously disguised as a high-backed
sofa, and canaries and geraniums in
the windows.
“It is so kind of you to come,” said
Sophy, with a gentle pressure of the
hand when I went away. “I am so
glad to welcome Charley’s friends.”
And I felt that I could cheerfully
eit through another evening of com¬
monplace chit-chat and photograph al¬
bums for such a reward as that.
Well, Charley Dresden went away,
and as he didn’t particularly leave
Sophy Adriance in my charge, I didn’t
feel called upon to present myself at
the genteel boarding house. I sup¬
posed, naturally enough, that all was
going right, until pne day I received a
note from my old friend, Bullion, the
banker, a man of sixty, who wears a
■wig and spectacles, and counts his in¬
come upon the double figures.
Bullion wrote from Saratoga, where
he had gone because he didn’t know
what else to do with himself in the
THE AUGUSTA, ELBERTON AND CHICAGO RAILROAD.
dull season. He asked me to be his
groomsman. Bullion was going to be
married.
“Of course, you’ll think it a foolish
thing for, me to do,” wrote Bullion;
•‘but even at 60 a man has not entirely
outlived the age of sentiment; and
when once you see Sophy Adriance
you will forgive any seeming inconsis¬
tency on my part,”
I went straight to the genteel board
ing house, It was possible that I
might be misled by a similarity of
name, although even that was unlikely.
“Is Miss Adriance at home?” I asked
of the slatternly servant girl who an
swered the bell.
“No, sir. Miss Sophy’s spending a
few weeks with a friend at Saratoga,”
she answered promptly. •
That was enough. I went home
and inclosed Bullion’s letter in an
other envelope, directing it to poor
Charlie Dresden’s address, l’oste Res
tante, Vienna, adding a few lines of
my own, wherein I endeavored to min¬
gle consolation and philosophy as aptly
as possible.
And then I wrote, curtly declining
to “Stand up” with old Bullion.
It was but a few weeks subsequent¬
ly that the waiter showed an elegant¬
ly dressed young lady into my room at
the hotel. I rose in some surprise.
Aside from old Aunt Miriam Platt
and my laundress, my lady visitors
were few. But the instant she threw
up her thick tissue veil I recognized
the soft blue eyes and damask rose
cheeks of Sophy Adriance.
“Oh, Mr. Mottimore!” she cried pite¬
ously, “I know you won’t mind my
coming to your parlor, because you
seem exactly like a father to me.” I
winced a little at this. “But I have
received such a letter from Charley,
and as—as you’ve known him a long
time, I thought perhaps you could ex¬
plain it to me. Oh, I have been so
wretched. And indeed, indeed, I
didn’t deserve it!”
She gave me a tear-blotted letter and
tken sat dowD £o cr Y quietly in the
corner of the sofa until such time as I
sboidd bave finished its perusal,
“What does he mean, Mr. Motti¬
more?” asked Sophy plaintively,“when
he accuses me of deceiving him, of
selling myself to the highest bidder?
Oh, it isao dreadful!”
I folded the letter and looked se
verely at her.
“Miss Adriance,” said I, gravely, “it
strikes me you are trying to play a
double part here. The affianced bride
of Benjamin Bullion ought hardly to
hope to retain the allegiance of poor
Charley Dresden into the bargain.” •
“I dont understand you,” said Sophy,
looking wistfully at me.
“Are you not to become the wife of
Mr. Bullion, the banker?” I asked,
“Oh, dear, no,” said Sophy. “That’s
mamma!”
“Eh?” gasped I.
“It’s mamma,” answered Sophy.
“She’3 to be married next week! Didn’t
know it? ’
I stared straight before me. Well,
had got myself into a pretty pickle
by meddling officiously in affairs that
concern me.
“Look here, Miss Adriance,” said I;
“I will tell you all about it”
So I did. I described old Bullion’s
letter, my own false deductions there¬
from, and the rash deed I had com¬
mitted in sending the banker’s corres¬
pondence to Charley Dresden.
“And now,” said I, “do you wonder
that he is indignant?”
Sophy’s face grew radiant
“But there’s no harm -done,” said
she. “No real harm, I mean. Because
I've written him a long letter all
about mamma and Mr. Bullion, which
he must have received almost the next
mail after he sent off this cruel, cruel
sheet of reproaches.”
Sophy was a true prophet There
was no “real harm” done. The next
mail brought a letter full of entreat¬
ies to be pardoned,and a brief, brusque
note to me.
I stood up with old Ben. Bullion,
and that full-blown rose, Sophy's
mamma, after all; and when Charley
Dresden came home I cut the big wed¬
ding cake at his marriage feast
From New York to California by Sea.
The ships that sail from this port to
San Francisco take about 125 days to
make the outward trip. The price
usually charged to carry a passenger is
$300. As one can get to San Francisco
by rail for half that sum in a week, it
would not at first appear that people
could be found to occupy the fine state¬
rooms that are fitted up for the use of
passengers in all of the California clip¬
pers. But the existence of three class¬
es of monomaniacs—people who are in¬
ordinately fond of the sea, drunkards,
and love-sick youths—furnish occu¬
pants for the staterooms and helps to
swell the profits of the owners of the
ships. A young man who likes the sea
and whose health has been undermined
by office work and kindred frivolities,
LINCOLNTON, GA„ FRIDAY. JUNE 12 , 1885.
determines to build up bis system and
enjoy himself at the same time by tak
ing a trip around the Horn. The cap¬
tain of the clipper likes to see him
come aboard. He is not apt to be sea
sick,and is so wonderfully and fearful¬
ly nautical that he furnishes a consid*
erable amount of innocent amusement
for the first month at least. Then he
always insists in hauling at the braces
or the halyards when those ropes are
to be operated upon, and so, though
he is somewhat in the way at first and
manfully restrains his desire for pull¬
ing and hauling just as he gets to be
handy, a good deal of work can be got
out of him in a quiet way. The drunk¬
ard is another sort of a passenger. He
goes to sea not by chioce, but on the
recommendation of his relatives and
friends, who generally offer him the al¬
ternative of an innebriate asylum. He
usually smuggles enough liquor aboard
to k#ep him in his favorite article of
drink and good humor for the first
month; but after that he is apt to get
sick or ill-natured. Sometimes he gets
cured of his bad habit, and is an agree¬
able companion for the entire trip.
The love-sick youth mourns and
sighs about the ship and gets frightful¬
ly sea-sick, and writes long letters and
maudlin poetry between spells. He
has to be petted and waited on, and is
really a nuisance. If he recovers from
his love and sea-sickness, he is apt to
become a good fellow and an acquisi¬
tion to the society of the ship. If the
trip around the Horn accomplishes for
these three classes of people what it is
intended to accomplish (and if it does
not, nothing will),the pale clerk comes
back a hale and hearty fellow with an
appetite that strikes terror to the heart
of his landlady and a grip that makes
his friend wince as he shakes hands
with them; the drunkard comes back
with his passion for liquor in subjec¬
tion, and the love-sick youth returns
gladly to marry the heiress and willing¬
ly forget the French chambermaid.—
New York Tribune.
A Sentinel Cat.
It was at one of these hydraulic
mines that the fugitive cat had found
friends; and as after several visits she
lay watching their operations, she
seemed to reason it all out in her own
mind that as soon as the great dirt
bank opposite her showed signs of giv¬
ing way under the action of the water
forced against it, the men would rush
for shelter to the shanty near by, to
which, of course, she too would scam¬
per to escape the falling earth. So,
reasoned pussy, if these kind friends of
mine are always in danger from these
tumbling-down banks, why cannot I
in return for their kindness, w T atch the
dirt-banks and give them proper
warning?
Now, as you all know, there is noth¬
ing a cat dislikes so much as water;
just watch your kitty shake her paw3
when she steps into a puddle, and see
how disgusted she is if a drop of
water falls on her nose or back, But
this Sierra Nevada pussy was a most
conscientious cat She felt that it was
her duty to make some sacrifice for
her friends, and so, after thinking it
all over, she took her place right on
top of thenozzle of the “monitor” (as
the big iron pipe throngh which the
water.is forced is called), and here, in
spite of occasional and most unwel¬
come shower-baths, she would watch
for the first movement of the falling
bank, when away she would go like a
flash with all the miners at her heels
until they all reached the shelter of
the hut. So faithfully did she perform
her self-imposed task that, in a little
while the men gave up their precau¬
tion of keeping one eye on the danger¬
ous slide and waited for puss to give
the signal. As soon as they saw her
spring down from the comfortable bed
which the miners had made for her on
the “monitor,” they would all cry,
“The cat! the cat!” and start on a run
for the shanty. And it was at just
such a moment that I came to the
mine and encountered this most con¬
scientious cat leading her" friends to
safety.— St. Nicholas.
Salt River.
An imaginary stream up which a
defeated candidate is supposed to be
sent, and whence he is not expected to
come back. The origin of the ex
pression is as follows: Salt River geo¬
graphically, is a tributary of the Ohio.
Its source is in Kentucky, and, being
very crooked and difficult of naviga¬
tion, it was in the early days a favorite
stronghold for river pirates. These
highwaymen were in the habit of
preying upon the commerce of the
Ohio and rowing their plunder up Salt
River, whence it was never recovered
Hence it came to be said of anything
that was irrevocably lost, “It’s rowed
up Salt River.’’ By an easy transition
it was applied to unsuccessful candi¬
dates. “He has been rowed (or rode)
up S. R.,” or “We’ll row him (or ride
him) up S. R. next fall .Magazine of
American History.
'[’JJg LOBSTER * 4ND CRAB
' ' '
The Former Crustacean Dis¬
appearing from View.
A Crab with Legs Eleven Feet Long and
Hardly anybody to Support
The small logs seen anchored in the
neighborhood .of Hell Gate at certain
seasons of the year are buoys for “lob
ster pots,” so Prof. Bickmore told the
class of public school teachers in a lee
ture, delivered at the American Muse
um of Natural History in New York,
The “lobster pots,” he said, are made
.of slats in a semi-cylinderical shape,
with a flat bottom, in which is an ori
flee large enough to admit a lobster.
The animal having been tempted in,
has not the requisite amount of sense,
as a general rule, to find its way out.
The appendages of the lobster werere
marked upon as peculiarly adapted to
its natural wants. The two claws or
pincers differ the one from the other,
a fact which always gives them an un¬
gainly appearance. One of the claws
has a series of grinders and is used as
a mill to crush shell-fish and other
hard substances, while that on the op¬
posite sideis provided withasharp edge,
which is used in cutting up fish and
similar substances. The lobster pro¬
pels itself by means of thin plates at¬
tached to the body which it uses as
oars. Its eggs are attached to the un¬
der side of the body and carried about,
and to protect them from rocky bot¬
toms the tail of the animal is doubled
up under it, completely covering them.
There were said to be lobsters in the
Mediterranean, which had no claws.
The rate at which the animal in this
country is disappearing wasdeprec ited
by the speaker. “In my boyhood,”
said he, “we used to gather any quan¬
tity of them between high and low
water mark on the coast of Maine, and
they were much larger than those we
see now, too. At the present time
they were almost entirely taken from
deep water, and at the present rate of
decrease will shortly become curiosi¬
ties to be found only in the museums.
The crab is a higher order of animal
than the lobster, the Professor said,
and he described a number of different
classes of the species. The fiddler
crab was so called from the peculiar
shape and motion of its claw. It has
a set of grinding teeth in the anterior
portion of its stomach, and a grinding ‘
movement is kept up almost continu¬
ously. The eye of the crab was very
peculiar, consisting of a series of tubes
bound together, each tube represent¬
ing a single eye. He sees singly by
combining the images in his mind af¬
ter the manner of a mosaic. The long
feelers of the crab are designed for
reaching into the crevices of the rocks
after its prey. The giant of all crabs
is found in the bay of Jeddo. Its legs
are 11 feet long and it scarcely has
body enough to hold them together.
The hermit crab is a queer sort of an
imal, which takes up its habitation in'
shells vacated by other animals. The
Professor said that if a hermit crab
was placed in a tub of water with sev¬
eral shells it would examine them all,
and then select that best adapted to
its comfort. If two or three crabs
were put among the same shells they
would often fight for the best shell.
hermit often traveled about in
with a polyp as a means
of protection from the octopus. The
polyp did the fighting, while the her¬
mit carried him about and collected
for both.
A crab and a cocoanut were held up
by the Professor before his audience.
The crab, he said, was a palm crab and
lived in cocoanut groves. It tears off
the husk with its claws, hammers
through the shell, and then lifts out
the meat in chunks with its pincers.
The palm crab has a special breath¬
ing apparatus which enables it to
live out of water. The most pecu¬
liar of all the crabs was a certain
species which lives in the mountains.
The animals keep well out of the
way during the daytime, but they
are fond of making moonlight excur¬
sions in little groups to wet their
gills in water. They not infrequent¬
ly stop at vegetable gardens in their
marches, and the damage they do
make the farmers their enemies.
The barnacle was said to be of the
same species as the lobster and the
crab.
JPioneer Account .
A man who had been running his
business on the credit system was fin¬
ally compelled to put his books in the
hands of an expert.
“Ahem,” he remarked as he looked
over them, “these accounts remind me
very much of the far western plains.”
“How?” asked the merchant in
surprise.
“Very sparsely settled.”
Then he took off his coat and
brought in a bill of $100 for expert ac¬
countant services .—Merchant Travel
er.
Hurt from Bolter Skating Rinks.
A stylishly-dressed young lady
whose features were concealed by a
thick veil, entered the down-town of¬
fice of a prominent physician yester¬
day afternoon, and, with some show of
nervousness, requested an audience
with him. The doctor lead the way
into his private office, and the fair pa
tient removed her veil, remarking as
she did so, “I wish you would tell
what is the matter with my face.”
In the dimly-lighted room the physi
cian was unable to discover that any
thing was wrong. Stepping to the
window, the lady said, pointing to the
roguish dimples that nature had placed
on cheeks and chin and the little
creases about the corners of her eyes.
“Doyou see that? My face looks as
though I had been working in a coal
mine.” Closer inspection showed the
physician that the dimples and creases
as well as the larger pores jn the
lady’s face were filled with a dark,
grimy substance. “I have scrubbed
and worked at that until I am tired,
but cannot remove it. I am satisfied
it is not dirt,” she continued, evident
. ly judging . , . from the , physician ,
s look
that he was about to tell her to take a
bath.
“I understand,” remarked the doctor
with a smile; “the roller rink again.”
“What do you mean?” she asked in
a troubled tone.
“Nothing'but roller rink dust
is alL It is nothing serious. Try
soap and water again and use this so
lution before retiring at night, and
your complexion will be ail right
again.”
"Oh, I am so glad,” the lady re
marked as she adjusted her veil and
departed. ,
“Thatis-the latest feature of the
roller skating craze,” remarked the
physician to a reporter who had over¬
heard the conversation with some
amusement. “That is the second lady
who has been to see me with a similar
complaint within a week.”
“What is the cause of it ?”
“Why, you see, the. dust that rises
from the floor of the rink is very fine
and penetrating, and when it settles
on the skin, dampened with perspira¬
tion, it at once finds its way into the
pores .”—Cleveland {Ohio) Leader.
A Singular Tree .
You will be astonished when I tell
you of a tree, the bark' and leaves of
which are marked by nature with al
phabetic images in the language of
Thibet. It is called the “ tree of ten
thousand images.' I will give you
the legend and the description of the
tree:
Fan away in the dreary land of Am
bo, a part of Thibet, is a green valley,
in which, in a Tartar tent,was born a
wonderful boy named Tsong-Kaba.
From his birth he had a long, white
beard, and flowing hair, and could
speak perfectly his native tongue.
manners were majestic, and his
words were few but full of wisdom,
V hen he "as three years old, he re
solved to cut off his hair and live a
solitary life. So his mother shaved
his head, and threw his ... long, flowing „
locks upon the ground outside their
tent door From his hair sprang the
worner u ree.
Tsong-Kaba lived many years, did
countless good deeds, and at last died.
But the tree which had grown from his
hair lived on and they called it the
“tree of the ten thousands images,”
and at last accounts, it was still alive,
and much care was taken of it. The
people built high walls of brick
around it, and an emperor of China
sheltered it beneath a silver dome.
Two French missionaries saw this
tree some years ago, and they say that
it seemed then to be very old. It was
not more than eight feet high; but
three men with outstretched arms
could scarcely reach around its trunk.
The branches were very bushy, and
spread out just like plumes of feathers,
The leaves are always green, and the
wood, which was of a reddish tint, had
an odor like that of cinnamon. The
bark of the tree was marked with
many well formed symbols in the
Thibetan language: alphabetic charac¬
ters also appeared in a green color, on
every leaf, some darker, some lighter,
than the leaf itself.
Now all this seems marvelous, and
some of it more than we can believe;
but the missionaries actually saw the
tree, and were fully convinced that the
marks upon it were of natural growth.
How China Gets its Name.
The Celestial empire has borne in
its time many names’ for it was a cus¬
tom when a new dynasty ascended the
throne to give another name to the
empire, asHai que, Chum que Han que,
etc., according to the name of the rul
ing monarch. The true name is said
to be Chumque, “the centre kingdom
of the world.” This term was by us
age corrupted to Chin que, and from
this word the Portuguse gave it the
name of China.
HUMOROUS.
A railroad, strike—A collision.
The type rigbter—The proof-reader.
A calico wrapper—A dry goods
clerk.
It is the girl who wears a good deal
of false bair that “puts on” lots of
style,
A Lesson in Physics; Teacher—
“What is velocity?” Pupil—“Veloc
ity is what a man puts a hot plate
down with.”
Three cats sit on tho high atone wall
And soulful sing their evening lay;
Upon them oft the moonbeams fall,
And bootjacks from across the way.
‘ Were you ever caught in a sudden
squall t asked an old yachtsman of a
worthy citizen. “Well, I guess so.”’
responded the good man. “I’ve helped
to bring up eight babies.”
“I see they are serving refreshments
on roller skates in some of the restau
rants,” the husband said, as he laid
down his paper. “Good gracious!” ex¬
claimed the wife, “have they no
plates?”
“ So Mr. Blank was here to-day?
Servant—“ Yes, sir.” “And you told
him what I said, I suppose?” “Yes.
sir.” “Did he take umbrage?” “1
didn’t notice, sir; but if he did, he’ll
bring it back> He>s a particular
gentleman, you know!”
, .. \ at "Europeans _ .
~ f SJ *; 3 in
. !* 3U T ° T snak ® 3 ’ the
** l ° g eir eet ’ w ach 15
the . part of the body most frequently
struck by serpents.” In this country
the boots would have to come up over
the mouth in order to afford a protec
tion against “snakes.”
“Don’t sit so near the window, dar
said a spoony young bridegroom
t0 bis bride ° n their wedding tour:
“let us try to keep the car all to our¬
selves. Some crank is sure to get in if
be sees jour pretty face.” The same
speaker, thirty years later: “Move up
to the window, old woman, so that we
may have the car to ourselves; you
will frighten all the other passengeis
away, you know.” *
A Mountain That Moves.
Over in Churchill county, Nevad.-,
there is a great curiosity, "mention of
whieh we do not remember to have
seen in the papers. This curiosity is
nothing more nor less than a traveling
mountain of sand. The winds have
gathered together a great heap of sand
and kept it constantly moving like an
immense glacier. It crawls steadily a
long over valleys and through canyous,
never ceasing, the sand making a low
musical sound as they rub against each
other, much as they do around the
Sphinx every morning at sunrise, which
gave rise to the legend that the stony
statue was greeting the morning sun
with a song.
But the moving mountain of Church¬
ill contains still another peculiarity.
While its sides are symmetrically form¬
ed and lay in folds like solidified waves,
there' is no cone at the top. Instead of
it going to a peak there is a hole there
made by counter winds, and whoever
js rash enough to scale the ridge and
pass int0 that hole pay3 for his rash _
neS3 with his i i£e , for the fickle sands
yield beneath his feet, and the more he
struggles t0 get back the faster he
sinks until he is smo thered to death,
The Indians tell of several of their
t r j be having been thus swallowed up,
a nd no trace has ever been found of
them since —Reese River Reveille.
The White House.
The White House covers about one.
third of an acre, and its cost up to the
present time is about $2,000,000. It is
modled after a castle in Dublin, and
the architect, who was a South Caroli
na man, named Hoban, goi $500 for
drawing the plans. When it was first
built, away back in the nineties, it cost
$300,000, but the British burned out
its insides, and its cost has since added
that sum about $1,700,000.
In it all the Presidents since Wash
ington have lived, and each has added
to its beauties and its expenses. It
was John Quincy Adams who bought
the first billiard table which was used
it. But in John Adams’s time it was
half furnished, and Abigail Adams
to dry her clothes in the big east
Year bv year, however, the fur¬
has gone on, until now it is a
of art and beauty.
Uove’s Ebb and Flow.
The course of true love never did
smooth. The way it ran in a cer¬
instance may be traced by the fol¬
commencements of letters pro¬
the other day in a Paris breach
promise case: The first epistle com
“Dear Mr. Morland,” th© sec
nd “My dear Charles,” then “My
Charles,” “My own darling
darling,” “Dear Charles,”
Sir” and finally “Sir.” This
e diminuendo tells the whole
as musicians would say.— Qali
Messenger,
NO. 35.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS,
A c ock whose motive power will
be the movem n of a column of
mercury, caused by the variable
changes in the temperature, is one of
the inventions of the future. It will
run perpetually.
A specimen of ancient dentistry, In
■-he form of dental bridge-work made
by the Etruscans in the fifth century
before Christ, has been discovered in
mold burial place near Civita
3bia **y Dr. J. G. Van Marter,
I‘ orne -
To the many uses of glycerine an
Jther has been added by Surgeon
NIajor Cotter> , n India He ha3 found
that painting with glvcerine removes
±e dryQes3 o£ tho ton which
causes enteric fever patients much
wakefulness and suffering.
The opinion of Prof. Lockyer now
favors the theory that several
able seas, including inland seas,
some of them connected and
some not by strait3 with still larger
seas, are at present definable in the
southern hemisphere of the planet
Mars,
A wonderful engineering exploit is
proposed in Ital 7> " here they talk
throwin S a brid ?« over the Straits of
Messina, that separate Sicily from
Italy. A place where the channel i 3
two-and-a-balf miles wide and 361
feet deep is selected. Two piers will
support a viaduct of steel rails to a
hei ht o£ 328 feet above the water .
On August 23 and 29, 1886, will
r -’ ccur a total eclipse of the sun, the
maximum duration of which will be
six minutes. The moon’s shadow will
? a ," S ' ar ° r tbe ^ iad " ard
- ;mds ‘ on He northern coast of South
America It will then sweep across
the Atlantic, and touch no land
until it reaches Benguela, on the Af¬
rican coast.
Luminous paint, so-called, continues
to be imported in large quantities by
regions where earthquakes are preva¬
lent. In the Phillippine Islands small
metallic plates, coated with the paint,
are so disposed about the houses as to
afford read T guidance at the first inti,
mation of an earthquake for the in
mates to reacb tbe street doors and
make their csca P e from the buildings
in dan S er o£ becoming ruins sud
denljr ’
The treeless condition of parts of
the South American pampas, of the
La Plata region, at least, is attributed
by Mr. Arthur Nieols to the work of
an omnipresent ant, which feeds upon
leaves and quickly destroys tree seed
lings and other tender plants as soon
as the leaves appear above ground,
Indian corn grows freely on these
plains, its growth being so rapid that
the insects do not succeed in com
pletely devouring the young plants.
A Silent Man.
Among the reminiscences of the
war the following extract from an in
terview with an old Virginia Metho
dist preacher is interesting:
“Yes, my house was full of your
generals last night< There was g heri _
Jan> Humphreys, Meade, Custer, Ord,
and quite a number of others, and they
were a lively set and full of fun, and
all were quite jolly with the exception
of one officer whom I noticed sitting
in a corner smoking and taking but
little part in the sports in which the
rest were engaged. They all went out
of the house but this solitary, silent
man, and as I was going out he asked
me where the pump was, as he would
like to get a drink. On offering to get
him some water, he said: ‘No, sir; I
am a younger man than you, I will go
myself, and as I passed out he came up
behind me. When in about the mid¬
dle of the hall my little granddaughter
came running toward me, but the si¬
lent man, spreading out both arms
)
caught her, taking her up, fairly
smothered with kisses, said: ‘This re¬
minds me of my little girl at home,
and makes me homesick.’ To the
question, Where is your home ? he re¬
plied: ‘Galena, III., but I have my
family at City Point, and am anxious
to get back to them.’ I said ‘Will you
permit me to ask your name, six ?’
‘Certai nte my name is Grant.’ ‘Grant,’
exclaimed I; ‘Gen. Grant?’and I stood
there awe stricken and paralyzed with
astonishment, while my heart went
out after this man. I thought to
myself, here is a man whose name is
now in the mouth of man, woman and
child, throughout the civilized world,
and yet withal he exhibits no emotion
and seems unconcerned and unmoved
until the little child reminds him of
his loved ones at home, and I fairly
broke down, as Gen. Grant had been
pictured out to us as a bloody butcher
and I had looked for a man looking as
savage as a Comanche Indian. Tosay
I was agreeably disappointed when I
saw Grant expresses my feelings but
feebly.”