DuPont Okefenokean. (DuPont, Ga.) 187?-1???, September 18, 1880, Image 1

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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.