Newspaper Page Text
J. P. A. DuPONT, Proprietor.
VOLUME III.
Labor and Trust.
Wearily I Bit and weave
The tangling web of lile.
The pattern which my hands have wrought
Is but a bit ot oolor fraught
With daily, hourly strife.
Longingly I seek to trace
The unwove threads i span;
To know how this and that unite,
dor bringing forth tho figures bright
That iorm the perfect plan.
Rapidly the shuttle flies
When heart and hope are mine-,
When on the loom the sunlignt hoursj
The flecks of gold like summer flowers
In wondrous beauty shine.
Gloojni'y the Angers move,
Dark-tinted is the work,
When ’rnong the threads an evil knot—
Envy and malice—love iorgot—
Doth unexpected lurk.
Patiently, witli bowed head,
I weave in sorrow’s day.
Scarce can I tell what threads I hold,
I only know that grief untold
Iiidos all but sodden gray.
Trustfully I sit and weave;
I know ’tis mine to do
That which He gives into my hands.
Complete in Him who wisely planned
Shall be tho pattern truo.
A Lesson, and How Two
Learned It.
Betty sighed. Now why sne snouia
have sighed at this particular moment,
no one on earth could tell. And it was
all the more exasperating because John
had just generously put into her little,
shapely hand a brand-new ten-dollar
bill. And here began the trouble.
“ What’s the matter?” he said, his
face falling at the faint sound, and his
mouth clapping together in what those
who knew him but little called an
“obstinate pucker”—“now what is
it?” '
Betty, who had just begun to change
the sigh into a merry little laugh rip¬
pling all over the corners of the red
lips, stopped suddenly, tossed her head,
and with a small jerk, no ways concili¬
ating, sent out the words: “You needn’t
insinuate that I’m always troublesome!”
“ I didn’t insinuate—who’s talking of
insinuating?” cried John, thoroughly
incensed at the very idea, and, backing
away a tew steps, he glared down from
his tremendous height in extreme irri¬
tation! “It’s you yourself that’s for¬
ever insinuating, and all that, and then
to put it on to me—it’s abominable!”
The voice was harsh, and the eyes
that looked down into hers were not
pleasant to behold.
“And if you think, John Peabody,
that I’ll stand and have such things
said to me, you miss your guess—that’s
all!” cried Betty, with two big red
spots coming in her cheeks as she tried
to draw her little, erect figure up to its
utmost dimensions. “Forever insinu¬
ating ! I guess you wouldn’t have said
that before I married you! Ob. now
you can, of course!”
“Didn’t you say it first, I’d like to
know?” cried John in great excitement,
drawing nearer to the small creature he
called “ wife,” who was gazing at him
with blazing eyes of indignation; “I
can’t endure everything.”
“And if you bear more than I do,”
cried Betty, wholly beyond control
now, “ why then I’ll give up,” and she
gave a bitter little laugh and tossed her
head again.
And here they were in the midst of a
quarrel! Those two but a year before
had promised to love and protect and
help each other through life.
“Now,”said John, and he brought
his hand down with such a bang on the
tablo before him that Betty nearly
skipped out of her little shoes, only she
controlled the start, for she would have
died before she had let John see it,
“we’ll have no more of this nonsense !”
His face was very pale, and the lines
around the mouth so drawn that it
would have gone to any one’s heart to
have seen their expression.
“ I don’t know how you will change
it or help it,” said Betty, lightly, to
conceal her dismay at the turn affairs
had taken, “ I’m sure,” and she pushed
back, with a saucy, indifferent gesture,
the light waving hair from her fore¬
head.
That hair that John always smoothed
when he petted her when tired or dis¬
heartened, and called her “child.”
Her gesture struck to his heart as he
glanced at her sunny hair and the cool,
indifferent face underneath, and before
he knew it he was saying: “There is no
help for it now, I suppose.”
“ Oh, yes, there is,” said Betty, still
in the cool, calm way that ought not to
have deceived him. But men know so
little of women’s hearts, although they
may live with them for years in closest
friendship. “ You needn’t try to endure
it, John Peabody, if you don’t want to.
I’m sure I don’t care !”
“ What do you mean !” Her husband
grasped her arms and compelled the
merry brown eyes to look up to him.
“I can go back to mother’s,” said
Betty, provokingly. “She wants me
any day, and then you can live quietly
and live to suit yourself, and'it will be
better all around.”
Instead of bringing out a violent pro¬
testation of fond affection and remorse,
which she fully expected, John drew
himself up, looked at her fixedly for a
long, long minute, then dropped her
arm, and said, through white lips, very
slowly:
“ Fes, it may be as you say better all
around. You know best,” and was
gone from tho room before she could
recover her astonishment enough to
Utter a sound.
fy—rx (k 4
With a wild cry Betty rushed across
the room, first tossing the ten-dollar bill
savagely as far as she could threw it,
and flinging herself on the comfortable
old sofa, broke into a flood of bitter
tears—the first she had shed during her
married life.
“How could he have done it—oh,
what have I said—oh John, John !”
The bird twittered in his little cage
over in the window among the plants.
Betty remembered like a flash how John
and she filled the seed-cup that very
morning, how he laughed when she
tried to put it in between the bars, and
when she couldn’t reach without get¬
ting upon a chair, he took her in his
great arms, and held her up, just like a
chiid, that she might fix it to suit her¬
self. And the “ bits” that he said in
his tender way, why they had gone
down to the depths of her foolish littie
heart, sending her about her work sing¬
ing tor very gladness of spirit. And
now !
Betty stuffed her fingers hard into her
rosy ears to shut out the bird’s chirp¬
ing.
“ If lie knew why I sighed,” she
moaned. “ Oh my ‘ husband!’ Birth¬
days—nothing will make any difference
now. Oh, why can’t I die?”
How long she stayed there, crouched
down on the old sofa, she never knew.
Over and over the dreadful scene she
went, realizing its worst features each
time in despair, until a voice out in the
kitchen, said: “Betty!” and heavy
footsteps proclaimed that some one
was on the point of breaking in upon
her uninvited,
Betty sprang up, choked back her
sobs, and tried with all her might to
compose herself and remove all traces
of her trouble.
The visitor was the worst possible
one slie could have under the circum¬
stances. Crowding herself on terms of
the closest intimacy with the pretty
bride, who with hor-' husband had
moved into the village a twelvemonth
previous, Miss Elvira Simmons had
made the very most of her opportun¬
ities, and by dint of making great par¬
ade over helping her in some domestic
work, such as housecleaning, dressmak¬
ing, and the like, the maiden lady had
managed to ply her other vocation,that
of newsgatherer, at one and the same
time, pretty effectually.
She always called her by her first
name, though Betty inwardly resented
it; and she made a great handle of her
friendship on every occasion, making
John rage violently, and vow a thou¬
sand times the “old maid” should walk!
But she never had—and now, scenting
dimly, like a carrion after its prey, that
trouble might come to tho pretty little
white house, tho make-mischief had
come to do her work, if devastation had
really commenced.
“ Been crying!” she said, more plain¬
ly than politely, and sinking down into
the pretty chintz-c overed rocking chair
with an energy that showed she meant
to stay, and made the chair creak fear¬
fully. “Only folks do say that you and
your husband don’t live happy- but la!
I wouldn’t mind—I know ’tain’t your
fault.”
Betty’s heart stood still. Had it come
to this! John and she not to live hap¬
pily! To be sure they didn’t, as she
remembered with a pang the dreadful
scene of words and not tempers; but
had it gotten around so soon—a story
in everybody's mouth.
With all her distress oi mind she was
saved from opening her mouth. So
Miss Simmons, failing in that, was
forced to go on.
“An’ I tell folks so,” she said, rock¬
ing herself back and forth to witness the
effect of her words, “ when they git to
talkin’ so you can’t blame me, if things
don’t go easy for you, I’m sure l”
“You tell folks so?” repeated Betty,
vaguely, and standing quite still.
“Wliat? I don’t understand.”
“ Why, that the blame is all his’n,”
cried the old maid, exasperated at her
strange mood and her dullness. “ I say,
says I, why they couldn’t no one live
with him, letalone that pretty wife he’s
got. That’s what I say, Betty. And then I
tell ’em what a queer man he is, how
cross, an’—”
“And you dare to tell people such
things of my husband?” cried Betty,
drawing heraelf up to her extremest
height, and towering so over the old
woman in the chair that she jumped
in confusion at the storm she had raised,
and stared blindly into the blazing eyes
and face rosy with righteous indigna¬
tion, her only thought wa3 how to get
away from the storm she had raised,
but could not stop. But she was forced
to stay, for Betty stood just in front of
the chair, and blocked up the way, so
she slunk back into the smallest corner
of it. and took it as best she could. “ My
husband!” cried Betty, dwelling with
pride on the pronoun—at least, if they
were to part, she would say it over lov¬
ingly as much as she could till the last
moment; and then, when the time did
come, why people should know that it
wasn’t John’s fault—“the best, the
•kindest, the noblest husband that was
ever given to a woman. I’ve made him
more trouble than you can guess; my
hot temper lias vexed him—I’ve been
cross, impatient, and—”
“ Hold!” cried a voice; “ you’re talk¬
ing against my wife!” and in a moment
big John Peabody rushed through the
door, grasped the little woman in his
arms, and folded her to his heart, right
before old maid and all!
“ Oh!” said Miss Simmons, sitting up
straight, and setting her spectacles more
firmly.
“And, now that you’ve learned all
that vou oan,” said John, turning round
VERITE SANS FETJR.
DUPONT, GEORGIA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1880.
to her, still holding Betty, “ why—you
may go!”
The chair was vacant. A dissolving
view through the door was all that was
to be seen of the gossip, who started
up the road hurriedly, leaving peace be¬
hind-”
“ Betty,” said John, some half hour
hour afterward. “What was the sigh
for? I don’t care now, but I did think,
dear, and it cut me to the heart,
how you might have married richer. I
longed to put ten times ten into your
hand, Betty, and it galled me because I
couldn’t.”
Betty smiled, and twisted away from
his grasp. Running into the bedroom,
she presently returned still smiling,
with a bundle rolled up in a clean
towel.
This she put on her husband’s knee,
who stared at her wonderingly.
“I didn’t moan,” she said, unpinning
the bundle, “ to let it out, now, but I
shall have to. Why. John, day after
to-morrow is your birthday!”
“So ’tis!” said John. “Gracious!
has it come around so soon?”
“ And you, dear boy,’’ said Betty,
shaking out before his eyes a pretty
brown affair, all edged with silk of the
bluest shade, that presently assumed
the proportions of a dressing-gown—
“this is to. bo your present. But you
must be dreadfully surprised, John,
when you get it, for oh! I didn’t want
you to know!”
John made the answer he thought
best. When he spoue again, he said,
perplexedly, while a small pucker of
bewilderment settled between his eyes:
“But I don’t see, Betty, what this
thing,”laying one finger on the gown,
“had to do with the sigh.”
“That,” said Betty, and then she
broke into a merry laugh, that got so
mixed up with the dimples and the
dancing brown eyes that for a moment
she couldn’t finish.. “Oh, John, I was
worry ing so over thbse buttons; they
weren’t good, but they were the best I
could do, then. And I’d only bought
em yesterday— Two whole dozen. And
’when you put that ten-dollar bill in
my hand, I didn’t hardly know it, but
I suppose I did give one littie bit of a
sigh, for I was so provoked that I
hadn’t waited buying them till to-day.”
John caught up the little woman,
dressing-gown and all! I don’t think
they have ever quarreled again—at
least I have never hoard of it.
Women In the Surf at Honey Island.
A New York paper describes in the
following artiele how women behave in
the surf at Manhattan beach: The
women lined t he ropes, the boldest
standing where the swells circle their
necks as they rolled in unbroken. The
next boldest stood just inside of them.
The strongest and heaviest took the full
force of the breakers as they began to
comb. Then feminine courage tapered
gradually up to a point where the sand
was alternately wet and dry. If a woman
cannot get hold of a rope in the surf she
will trust a man, but whatever she is
obliged to trust she wants to take hold
of. She has little faith in an encircling
arm unless she grasp3 it with her own
hands. She always shudders when the
foamy lip of the first wave kisses her
dry, white feet. When a breaker, even
if it is not more than two feet high,
breaks against her, she immediately
puts her hands to her hair to feel
whether it is wet. When she sees a
wave coming after her she jumps up a
little too soon. When she comes down
the wave oatches her at a disadvantage,
but if she is able to resist its onslaught
she always gives two little jumps just
after it has passed. She stands facing
the rope, which she grasps with both
hands, and looks over one shoulder for
the wave. Besides jumping up she
always turns her back upon it. When
the wave throws her down she has only
one resource. She screams. She still
holds the rope, however, but finds her¬
self sitting in the water facing the At¬
lantic ocean and the next wave. She
never ceases to scream until she is
righted. When a waves passes in along
a rope, there is also a wave of jumping
women, who rise and fall successively
like the letters of a recently introduced
patent sign. Some women swim grace¬
fully out beyond the breakers, and some
would venture ont very far except that
it is discouraged by the life-saving ser¬
vice employed at the beach.
Why He Didn’t.
There was a case in Justice alley yes¬
terday in wl.ieh the lawyer for the
plaintiff had a sudden drop. It was a
matter of trespass, and the defendant’s
only witness was an old man. He stated
that he rode along a certain highway
with defendant, held the horses while
defendant got down, but he saw no act
of trespass.
“You say you rode down to the
Corners with him P” queried the lawyer.
“ Yes.”
“ When he came to plaintiff’s farm he
got out, didn’t he ?”
“ I think it was about there.”
“ And he entered a field ?”
“ I don’t know.”
“You don’t. Wasn’t it broad day¬
light ?”,
“Yes, sir.”
“ Did you turn away your head so as
not to see him
“No, sir,” ,
“Was your face toward him P”
“Yes, sir.”
“ And yet you testify that you didn’t
see him enter the field P”
“ No, I didn’t see him."
“ Did you want to ?”
“I did.”
“Then why didn’t you P"
“Because I am blind !’’—Detroit Free
Press.
How Trees are Struck by Lightning.
M. Colladon says: The lightning al¬
ways, or most always, strikes' he upper
blanches, especially.those tha~ are most
elevated and mo3t exposed i > the rain
storm. From thence it descem s through
almost the the entire mass of branches
to the main branches, and from these to
the trunk. Those large branches, and
especially the trunk, being in general
much poorer conductors than the young
branches, the passage of the electricity
produces therein heat and repellent
effects which lacerate the sap wood or
the bark, and sometimes scatter the
debris to some distance (150 feet and
beyond.) This is a law that I have as¬
certained by very numerous observa¬
tions. The tree recently struck in Rue
des Glacis de Rive presents an interest¬
ing case, in .that it confirms this law.
It is not a very common thing in
France to see trees struck by lightning
in May, when their a3 .yet young leaves
have little consistency. The tree under
consideration was struck essentially on
its chief branch, the highest one by some
inches, and situated on the southwest
side. The young leaves of this summit
and those of the branches immediately
bmeath were neither dried nor withered,
but they were gashed in • part and
broken into small fragments and strewn
over the surrounding earth. In fact,
they had suffered from. the effect of a
violent concussion of the air, like the
window panes which bad been broken
in two neighboring houses, and were
reduced to fragments just as they would
have been had a dynamite cartridge
been exploded near them. Even before
seeing the tree I had made up my mind
that there must have been-a well or
stream of water near there in ■ contact
with the roots of the poplar; for the
vicinity of a spring or subterranean
stratum of water is very often the de¬
termining cause to attract the lightning
to the summit of a tree standing near
it. Here, again, this influence is ren¬
dered evident by two interesting facts.
At about eighteen feet from the tree, on
the north side, there is a lead conduit
which leads water to a laundry, and a
drain which carries the waste water off
under the street. At the base oi
the trunk, the wounds swerved to¬
ward the north, and, midway between
the tree and t’-e lead conduit, o board
placed as a border on the earth was
pierced with a round hole about four
inches in diameter, showing "that the
electric fluid, concentrated expresA^^allowable), in a power¬
ful jet (if that
shot directly from the foot of the tree
toward the lead conduit by the shortest
route.
Where the Difference Came In,
A certain gentleman requiring legal
assistance had been recommended to
one of the two brothers, but had for¬
gotten the Christian name of him he
sought, so he called at the office of the
one first found and asked for Mr. Pod-
ger.
“ That is my name, sir.”
“But there are two of you of that
name here in town?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I wish to consult with the
Mr. Podger—excuse me for the allusion
—who wears a wig.”
“We both wear wigs, sir.”
“ Well, the one I seek was divorced
from his wife not long ago.”
“There you hit us both again, sir.”
“The man to whom I was recom¬
mended lias recently been accused oi
forgery, though, I trust, unjustly.”
“There we are again, my dear sir.
We have both had that gentle insinu¬
ation laid at our doors.”
“Well, upon my word, you two
brothers bear a striking resemblance.
But I guess I have it now. The one I
am after is in the habit of occasionally
drinking to excess—sometimes to in¬
toxication.”
“My dear man, that little vice is un¬
fortunately cliaraeteristic of the pair ol
us, and I doubt if our best friends could
tell you which was the worst.”
“Well, you are a matched pair cer¬
tainly. But tell me,” continued the
visitor, “ which of the twain it was that
took the poor debtor’s oath afpw months
ago?”
“ Ila, ha, we were both in that mud¬
dle. I was on Bob’s paper and he was
on mine.”
“ In mercy’s name!.” cried the appli¬
cant, desperately, “ will you tell me
which of the two is the most sensible
man?”
“Ah, there you touch bottom, mj
friend. Poor Bob, I can’t stretch the
truth, even to serve a brother. If yon
want the more sensible one of the two 1
suppose I must acknowledge the corn.
I’m the man .”—Terry (Miss.) Enterprise
A Fossil Forest,
An interesting discovery has been
made at Edge Lane quarry, Oldham,
England. The quarrymen, in the course
of their excavations, have come upon
what has been described as a fossil
forest. The trees numberabout twelve,
and some of them are two feet iu diame¬
ter. They are in good preservation.
Tho roots can b,e seen interlacing the
rock, and the fropds of the ferns are to
be found imprinted on every piece of
stone. The discovery has excited much
interest in geological circles round
Manchester, and the “ forest" has been
visited by a large number of persons.
• The trees belong, to the middle coal
measure period, although it has been
regarded as sdmewhat remarkable that
no coal has been discovered near them.
The coal is found about 250 yards be¬
neath. Professor Boyd-JJawkins, of
Owens college, lias visited the quarry,
and declares that there is not such a
sight in Europe.— London Times.
Pillows!
When Jacob became.a fugitive from
"the anger of his brother Esau, he took
stones and laid them for a pillow. In
some nations a sort of cricket, of wood,
is regularly used for the same purpose.
The proper object of the pillow is, not
to raise the head above the level of the
body, but to fiil out the difference be¬
tween the level of the shoulders and
that of the head when the body is on its
side. And this is the natural position,
for it is seldom sale to sleep on the back.
Hence, the pillow should be con¬
structed simply to furnish the needed
support for the head, with the body on
the side. It should not be too large,
and yet be large enough. It should en¬
able the head to retain its natural posi¬
tion, neither bent down toward the pil¬
low, nor raised upward out oi line with
the recumbent body.
This position is more important than
some think. For all the blood of the
head must pass down through the large
veins of the neck, and if these veins are
much bent, they impede the return of
the blood. It is, of course, specially
objectionable to sleep on the back, with
the head on a thick pillow, since there
is no proper space for one, and the neck,
is more bent and the flow of blood
checked.
Further, pillows of feathers should
never be used, for the head sinks into
them and becomes unduly heated. The
old rule, “ Keep the head cool and the
feet warm,” is always a good one, but
it'is particularly necessary at night, na¬
ture herself pointing in this direction,
since, by a wonderful contrivance, she
arrests the activity of the brain and ren¬
ders sleep possible by greatly diminish¬
ing the flow of blood to the brain.
Whatever heats the brain sends blood
to it.
There is nothing equal to the hair pil¬
low, the year round. * For common use,
in the country, the soft inner leaves of
corn-husks .make, good pillows.—
Youth's Companion.
Teeth of Americans.
There are, as is well known, says a
New York paper, mere and better dent¬
ists in this country than in any other,
for the reason, it is believed, that there
is greater need of them and that they
have ample occasion for practice. OI
the correctness of the opinion theremay
be considerable doubt, Americans have
unquestionably more perishable teeth
than the English; probably than the
French or theSpanish. But whether they
have worse teeth than the mass of
Italians, Germans, Russians, or other
races, is by no means certain. The com¬
mon people, even many of those in tol¬
erable circumstances, in other lands
neglect their teeth, rarely going or
thinking of going to a dentist. But here,
as a rule, almost everybody, especially
in towns or villages of any size, takes
more or less care of his teeth, and de¬
pends on art to make up for the ravages
of nature. This is clearly shown by the
fact that not less than 12,000 dentists, or
one to every 4,000 inhabitants, find em¬
ployment in the United States. A promi¬
nent dentist has lately published an
article in which he declares that about
half a ton of pure gold—representing
tome $500,000—is annually used for fill¬
ing teeth in the republic, and that nearly
four times as much material of acheaper
sort, silver and the like, i3 used for the
same purpose. He estimates that only
three centuries would be needed to put
all the goid coin now in circulation in
the country—$150,000,000—into gfave-
yards by filling the teeth of different
generations. lie also says that almost
3,000,000 artificial teeth are made or
mounted on various kinds of plates
every year, and that out of an average
of eighty persons of all classes here—
the estimate is based on carefully pre¬
pared statistics—only one person has
oerfectly sound teeth.
Words of Wisdom.
Have not the cloak to make when it
beginsto rain.
Love, undying, solid love, whose root
is virtue, can no more die than virtue
itself.
He who is false to the present duty
breaks a thread in the loom, and will
see the effect when the weaving of a life¬
time is unraveled.
To (U1 the sphere which Providence
appoints is tme wisdom; to discharge
trusts faithfully and live exalted ideas,
that is the mission of good men.
No trait of character is rarer, none
more admirable than a thoughtful in¬
dependence on the opinions of others,,
combined with a seusitive regard for
the feelings of others.
Men, not having . been able to cure
death, misery and ignora nee, have imag¬
ined to make themselves happy by
not thinking of these things.
The happiness of your life depends
upon the quality ot your thoughts;
therefore, guard accordingly, and take
care that you entertain no -notions un¬
suitable to virtue and unreasonable to
nature.
Bayatd Taylor's Rules*
These are the rules I have always ac¬
cepted : First, labor. Nothing can be
had for nothing'; whatever a man
achieves he must pay for; and no favor
for fortune can absolve him from duty.
Secondly, patienqe and forbearance,
which uro simply dependent on the slow
justice of time. Thirdly, and most im¬
portant, faith. Unless a man believe
in something far higher than himself,
something infinitely grander and purer
than he can ever become—unless he has
an instinct of an order beyond hia
dreams, of beauty ami goodness and
justice, besides which his own ideas are
dark, ho will fail in every loftier form
of ambition, and ought to tail.
STTBSCRIPTIOM—$1.00 per Year, in Advance.
The Largest Treo in the World.
In Nelson’s “ Scientific and Techina
Reader ” there is an account abridgec
from Hutching’s “ Scenes and Wonders
in California,” of a grove of trees. This
grove is situated on the water-shed be¬
tween the San Antonio branch of th<
Calaveras river and the north fork of thi
Stanislaus titer, at an elevation o
4,370 feet above the sea level, and at t
distanc- of ninety-seven miles from
Sacramento city and eighty-seven froir
Stockton. Within an area of fifty acres
there are 102 large trees, twenty o!
which exceed twenty-five feet in diam
eter, and are consequently over seventy-
five feet in circumference. The “fathei
of the forest,” the largest of the group
lies prostrate and half buried in the soil:
it measures at the root 110 feet in cir
cumferencc.is 200*feet to the first branch
and from the trees which were broker
by its fall is estimated to have been 435
feet in length; 300 feet from the roots il
is eighteen feet in diameter. The “ big
tree” was bored off some years sincr
with pump angers and then wedgec
down; the stump,which stands five anc
a half feet above the soil, is sound tc
the core, and has been used as a ball¬
room. This tree was ninety six feet ir
circumference at the ground, and 305
feet high. The “ mother of the forest ’
was stripped of its bark in 1854, for ex¬
hibition in the New England States,
and now measures, without the bark,
eighty-four feet in circumference; sev¬
eral feet up it is thirty-nine and a hall
feet (also without the bark); its heigh!
is 321 feet. The “ burnt tree,” prostrate
is estimated to have been 300 feet high
when standing, and ninety-seven feet ir
circumference; it measures thirty-nine
and a half feet across the roots. “ Her¬
cules” is ninety-five feet in circumfer¬
ence,and 320 feet high. The “pioneer’s
cabin,” broken off 150. feet from th<
ground, measures thirty nine feet in di¬
ameter, but, owing to it3 being hollow,
and its surface uneven, its average is no!
quite equal to that. Fourteen otkei
trees average 291 feet high, and seventy-
eight and a half ieet in circumference.
It is estimated from the number of con¬
centric layers of wood in these trees,
each layer of which is supposed to b(
the growth of a single year, that theii
age is almost 3,000 years, considerably
younger than the one on exhibition.
This grove is also described in an amus¬
ing manner by T. W. Hinchliff, in his
“ Over the Sea and Far Away,” 1876
Frem his account, the trees occupy s
belt 3,200 feet long and 700 feet wide,
which contains from ninety to 16f
quisoias of the largest size; the highest
is 325 feet, and the diameter of ont
(which I think must be the “ big tree ”)
is twenty-seven feet. At six feet from
the ground, he says, the survey party
counted the rings of this section, and
found the number to be 1,255; this tree,
he thinks, is one of the finest in the
grove.
His Honor and Bijah.
The morning sun was dancing over
the floor in double-shuffles as his honor
fell into the station, his face flushed, his
hair wet, and his general look one ol
goneness.
“Bijah, did you ever see such a
scorcher P” he faintly inquired, as he
fanned himself with his hat.
“ This ’ere weather,” replied the old
janitor, as he stood his broom in thi
corner, “is freezing compared to some
that I experienced in Mexico. Why*
judge, I’ve seen it so hot in Santa Fd
that ink boiled in the inkstand while I
was trying to write a letter to my
mother. I was sunstruek seven times
in one day while driving an ice wagon.”
“Mi. Joy,” said his honor, as he rose
up and moved to his desk. “ I w as in
hopes your late illness would be taken
by you as a solemh warning, and I am
•grieved to hnd you still treading that
same old path.”
“ Wasn’t I ever in Mexico P” demanded
the old man, as his face grew red.
“We won’t argue the case. I am
sorry for you.”
A bootblack behind tho stove hero
began to grin. Bijah walked over and
seized his hair, and gave him a lift in
the world and whispered in his ear:
“Boy, I want you to understand that
I’ve been in more Mexicces than you’vt
got hairs on you scalp, and any more
grins around here will lose you the top
of your head!”— Detroit Free Press.
Oriental Physicians.
The Oriental physicians are the great¬
est quacks in the world. Take the fol¬
lowing specimen of their profoundity:
An emir, supposed to have the heredi¬
tary gift of healing, prescribed for a
patient, an upholsterer, lying at death’s
door with the typhus fever. The next
day’he called to see his patient and
found, to his astonishment, for he had
given him up, that he was much better.
On inquiring into the particulars the
convalescent told tho emir that, being
consumed with thirst, he had drank a
pailful of the juice of pickled cabbage!
“Allah is'great!” cried the emir, and
down went the fact on his tablets.
Tho doctor was soon after called upon
to jittend another patient, a dealer in
embroidered handkerchiefs, who was
ill of the same disease—typhus fever.
Of course he prescribed a paillul ol
pickled cabbage juice. The next day
he heard that tho sufferer was doad
wheroupon ho made the following entry
upon his books:
“Although, in cases oi typhus fever,
pickled cabbage juice is an efficient
remedy, it must in no case be used un¬
less the patient is an upholsterer."
It was evident, to the Eastern sage that
his patient died because it was his mis¬
fortune to deal in handkerchiefs instead
of sofa coverings.
NUMBER 25.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
It is said the United States army nses
up about half a million pounds of to¬
bacco every year.
Miss Rivers, of Charleston, S. C-, has
a court dress worn by Marie Antoinette.
It is of purple satin, and is still in good
condition.
Ilanlan, the oarsman, has a widowed
sister in Montreal who lias beaten him
in a two-mile single scull race and can
do it again.
A company has been formed with the
object oflaying down from 14,000,000 to
15,000,000 ot American oysters upon tho
Schleswig and Holstein shores.
Brooklyn takes a dog census every
year. Last year it had 7,615 dogs. This
year there are 10,232 canines in the city.
A tax of two doliars on each dog is im¬
posed.
Two ol the most popular literary men
in English society just now are the
Americans, Bret Ilarte and Henry
James, Jr., whose books are sold largely
at railway stations.
Discharged soldiers ol the United
States in applying for pensions on ac¬
count of wounds received while in the
service, can have their pensions date
only from the time of application.
Josh Billings sagely remarks: There
are men who don’t seem to komprehend
the difference between notoriety and
reputashun until they find themselves
serving out a three years’ term in sum
Sta’e prison.
Just now the newspapers are teeming
with the paragraph, “ Don’t drink ice
water when you arc hot;” and it is one
that should be regarded by all. The
time to drink ice water is along in the
dead of winter when it is a tight scratch
to keep from freezing to death.
A farmer in New York State protects
his hen roo8ts from hawks and thieves
by a dozen guinea hens. The hen roosts
will be safe until a deaf hawk or a thief
without hearing prospects among them.
No liawk or thief would go within a
mile of a guinea hen’s voice, except
upon compulsion.
One of the census enumerators of Mc¬
Lennan county, Texas, found a widow
thirty-five years old with a son twenty-
seven years old. The generally accepted
explanation of the circumstances is that
the boy lied and claimed to be older
than he was.
The oldest timbtr in the world which
has been subjected to the use of man is
found in the ancient temples of Egypt.
It is found as dowel-pins in connection
with stonework which is known to be
at least 4,000 years old. These dowels
appear to be of tamarisk or chittim-
wood, of which the ark is said to have
been constructed.
With the development of New Mexico
and the increased value of grazing land,
the old system of ranges over which the
cattle roamed at will is rapidly being
replaced by that of individual owner¬
ship and fencing. It is claimed that the
added security of stock and the lessened
expense of herding much more than pays
for the interest on the investment, and
it is probable that five years from now
it will have become the almost universal
custom to fence all ranches.
The census makes striking changes in
the table of cities. New York, Phila¬
delphia and Brooklyn retain their places
at the head of the list. St. Louis which
was lourtli in 1870, has changed places
with Chicago, which was then fifth.
Boston is now sixth, having gained a
point at the expense of Baltimore. Cin¬
cinnati remains where it was. San
Francisco has also gained, New Orleans
receding to the tenth place. Washing¬
ton, Cleveland and Pittsburg have gone
ahead of Buffalo, which had the eleventh
place in 1870, but which now drops to
the fourteenth place, Newark comes
next, and is followed by Milwaukee,
Detroit, Louisville and Providence.
According to the United States fish
commission, the world is indebted to a
woman for the discovery that the oil of
the “menhaden” fish has much com¬
mercial va’ue. Abcut the year 1850
Mrs. John Bartlett, of Blue Ilill, near
Mount Desert, Me., while boiling some
fish for her chickens, noticed a thick
scum of oil on the surface of the water.
Some of this she bottled, and when on a
visit to Boston soon after, she carried
samples to some of the leading oil mer¬
chants of that city, who encouraged her
to bring more. The following year the
Bartlett family industriously plied their
gill nets, and sent to market thirteen
barrels of oil, for which they were paid
at thcrateof $11 per barrel, in all $143.
Emperor William is described as look¬
ing better than he has done for years,
and wearing a robust and hearty air.
He regards himself at Ems as a soldier
on leave of absence. He seldom wears
his customary uniform, but generally
appears in plain dress, which is, how¬
ever, less becoming to him than ilia
well-known regimentals. His mode of
life at Ems is rather monotonous. He
rises early, visits the “ Brunnen,” takes
his constitutional walk on the prome¬
nade, and then sets to official work.
Any distinguished lrequenters of tho
famous Spa may be sure of an invitation
to his majesty’s ever hospitable board.
The evenings are usually spent at the
Royal theater, in the Kurhaus, wharo
he sits among the audience without any
particular box being set apart for him.
He delights in listening to comedies and
farces, whose wit never fails to evoke a
smile or arouse his laughter, which,
ringing with unaffected ploasure, is
alw ays a tv eat for the whole houae.
