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LAD Eh* DEEAK MESI.
»<•< to topee* at er*.
A }»!■ Miinent <>|irnttoron the street
Mkf<i <« n* rrning th* trnrnlMT and < harnc
teT u! women whoß|M*< ulate.
••lU’d telling ***' “hut th? n* arc
rertiui y «»vci om* hit nd r«*d hi thia * ity
whof|«* ‘hut daily, and then* may lw aa
many i» f»»«- hundred. Millin' ’* j» the
'i-t<’ttt aprrtilaterw, ami • general
worn* i whocondwt an imbqwnd* ..I l»u*i-
DfMit” ag«i likrly than utherwto dabble
in *b ••».** Ikmf'Hi (J lobe.
rierewee Into* I Kool.
A Im * who ha* jii«t n turnefl from an
rttem v« Lm<»|H-an tour tell* of an inter
flew ».te enjoyed with Mina Florence
Kight it gale, the famous heroine, at her
Lomtei home During the cunvcraati’Bi
■ln m”l not fail to notice the singular
aiia|H f that eminent lady’* foot, Hh<
bad never heard that Mia* Nightingale
wa* lame or malformed, but certainly
•*»metLing wa* the matter Her rurioaity
prompted her to inquire of a mutual
frirmi who at onw explained that Mi*-
Night;.-gal**, denpiaing th<* modem inatru
n»< nt* <f tortun- vended by fimhionablc
bootiniik* rw, in w cuatonw**! to plant her
■forking foot firmly on a piece of leather,
dniw4h< outline of tbr figure it form*
and h*»v* her *!ux made to correspond ci
a/ tiy with it.
hlnn About Hinn*.
Ts in ..nderdood, nay* an authority on
tin wui-o *t, that ;i gentleman who d< ire*
te marry w* uh a plain or rhawd gobi
ring u|m i» th* lirot finger •>{ the left hiuid.
Wh* i< h*’ le •< oiik-o engaged th* 1 ring
paMw* te the second finger. After mar
riaw |Mu»*eM to th« third linger. If,
h*'W« vet. Un- gentleman d*--irca hi* lady
fri* nd» to churl y mid* r>tand that he ia
not “It the market/' and doe* not wiah
to marry at all, hr wear* Um aignet u |h>ii
hi- litti* finger. Thi* will inform all the
hnli' that hr im beyond reach. With the
lariir i*.. plain or < lihm *1 gobi ring on the
litth I J.g'i of (hr left hand indicates “not
engaged or “ready for an offer."
Wh»-i« ♦ ifgagrd the ring t*» the third
fiiig* r <>t> th* righthand When mmrird
the tl o| linger on th*' left hand receive*
th* t When a yoiuv.' hilly d«-Mf to
defy mi I or* dir phicr* ring* one on
tin lb*: Hid unron the fourth tlngri.
Jnpnutar M oiu< n.
Pi-tty .!•» alm i* on t pictured fan, n
.JajMii • women i* f.n nun itisfyint' to
tin Hf‘*h*ti< hoiil a* dir pallet along,
alive, <i> her wooden < log* or *trnw -an
•Lib tbr |»oorrat woman in her single,
cheap rottoii gown 01 kimono i«aaniurh
n pn i io :im hrr richer ‘•idrt in nilk ami 1
< r«|M With their h*inl- elnliorntrly
<li» *m<i .Hid fold* of gay <iqw 01 a glit
tennp hair pin tlimd in th* smooth loq|>m
of bhc him k hair, tin y win nlwuyM in
gala ' ’V, Mini, lain or diinr,never cover !
thoM • aboiati* coiffure* with anything •
num ti.aii a papei umbrella Below that
th' |< < w* droaii, opining in a point nearly
to th* waial, ha* lining and fold* of gay |
ri < r.»p* * and wilk* laid in*id<-, and the
glory of the toilet ctlhuinate* with the
broad •bi 01 .i'h The obi* of striped i
and (iyurtni crape . brocade* and silk*
ait : led With Mifliy -tandied cloth,
Wound round and i mud the waist and
fa*t«-11*11 in a big cudliun like bow nt
the ba- * I'hr lung, I<m»m sleeves give
gran ..nd rn to the M ani,smooth gown,
mid « h hlrndvr figure is a pretty study
by h* r*« II Tla swert, soft voiirs, tin*
g'-iith manner* and elaborate courtesy
d *» h»y»d by r\ ry one of them add the
l ist altd llio-l gj.ii ion* tou<-he* to thesi*
ph tun Mpic and irresistibly charming
women.
Aly lr» in Hi m« r Iris Mini < laa|»«.
Jt w * |ed licit* w ith superb clasp* are
•howte to Im* worn with round waists;
the*' <ost a little fortune, but antiipie
our* in silver <an be purcha-Msl more
iheapiy India work, very pliable and
firn , itoU sometimes lx obtaimxl at a side
of curio* in b»lt* and necklaces.
Aim-ng novelties in lace pins and cor
ernaiui ut' are diamond* set in plati
num in the of an ann and hand,
th. tinier and thumb holding a ni.agniti
Cent *a|>,diire, »l*o a ainall pin repn *<'nt
iiij; ymne »n allows one in sapphires,
an th>r in rubies, and the other in dia
meuds Th<» are parti, nlatlv tine, and
Cost ..way up in the hundred* A lovely
Alexandra it in white and vellow dia
tnonda, whit, bull (rogs, . spiders, and
nrii'U. unique designs darrle the eye*
and tempt the generosity of the wealthy
BraceleU an broader than they were.
A sufa rti one, not with a cat’s eve, sap
phin ..nd ruby, it *.',000 A stylish
bra.«l. tis uuall links and a spiaiv jew
«lmi clasp, while apn sent that a King
might make, or an American diols is a
diamond ncekla. of perfect stones, from
Un to two carats each, that is value ! at
>SO ,<K<O. Colored stones eontinu to l»e
faahtonabli, surround.*! with diamonds,
for < ar-rings A perf.vt pair of rub i.-s I
set in this manner will bring ’"' ,l
r> m sapphin-s often have v. ry small dia
moud. surrounding them that do not d
tract from the beauty of tin .tones t’ortd
purws have a jeweled ball at ther end
and two thick tewehsi rings .Vrw )' 1
Jhir.
tinU’party dreswes of sift cashmere
are mmni.sd with oriental lace and !• ■»-
and ks'ps of water- d riblon
Beaded < ollaf -Il •* 11-raid m* .-IT-'* t*.
Ilucheaw lae. is mad. Up in full ja
bot"
Evening »ilks have su|h rb br.H iul h-
I sign-
!p>u< Ir > i.dh has -tri|H of plush or
1 moire.
fthcll cam. o -<l painted brooch. - will
‘ii he won.
Evening reception and dinner dresc s
have long train*.
Velvets for panels are hrminied with
rich gold leave*
Visiting and home drewu-a are made
■ with <b-mi trains
Material* with woven Ixird.T", for trim
ming are favorites.
Bwansdown is used for trimming party
I dreaaea for children.
Velvet- and plushes have fine gold
' thread* running vertically.
Plush beaded w ith garnet ornaments is
used for millinery purjsis.*.
Whirred collarettes of ribbon are worn
contrasting in . ..lor to th<- dreaa.
Chain gold purses, with a gold initial
or diamond monogram, an- the lat.-at
Parisian fancy
Tabli.-ra of tulle, Ince or gauze, richly
embroidered with bead*, an- worn with
til rolx-s of < < r.-mony.
Yellow continues in favor, and some
tilm sis too lavishly used on walking
costumes to be in good taste.
The new striped brocades have water
lilies and leaves and deli, ate fern designs
on grounds shot with gold or silver.
A aealskin plush bonnet is trimmed
with bows of light brown faille ribbon
on top, a band of gulden filigree galloon
cros-es the bonie t from ear to car.
Folds of white or colored crape have .
superseded niching" for the neck. Some
times the folds are enriched by large
pearls, which always match the crape in
color.
Clasps of the rarest workmanship in
gold and silver are used for fastening
bodice- Persons having old Norwegian
orto rmnn wrought silver ornaments are
utilizing them for embellishing th.-ir
bodices,
A brown felt hat of Spanish shape
has the brim lined with brown velvet.
The crown is em in le.l by a band of the
velvet, while ill front are three knots of
ribbon set one behind the other against
th.- crown, the outer one is of |s-arl
white faille, the middle one of moss
green and the hist of golden bronze.
dwindling by Hock Auction.
That agi-il m-iiiii of swindling by
means of mock million sales of cigars is
"till enrrii-d on mu , <---fully in New York,
rin- other day a well known Southern
man i-iitcred a little place where cigars
were being sold by an am tionecr. There
wen- apparently three or four nu n who
were bidding bri-kly, and as the cigars
sevini-d to be tine the stranger coni|>eted
for a choice box, which was knocked
down to him for s"> Immediately after
ward the sab was declared closed. The
Southerner stepped up to the counter,
when- apparent customers were rei eiving
parcel-and a-ked sot hi* box, at the same
time tendering a $5 bill.
"Aon owe $6(1,” said the cashier se
verely.
“For what?”
'■ The»e cigars are sold in lots, not by
the box.”
“But I distinctly bid for one box.”
“You are mistaken.”
“We all bid for lots.” declared the
“customers.”
The Southerner concluded he had a
bargain anyway and that his friends
would Im- glad to take such cigars off his
hands. He thought that he might, after
nil, have been bidding under a misappre
hension. H<- wrote an tinier on a promi
nent hotel when- he was staying for S6O,
and directed that tin- cigars Im- sent
then-. Then he went down town and
forgot all about the matter until evening.
M hen he n-tunnsi to the hotel the
clerk said: “We paid your order, but.
we know that you have Im-cii swindled."
“Oh, no; the cigars are worth double
the money.’’
“I.ook at them and see!"
The package was untied, and twelve
boxes of the commonest kind of i abbage
leaf cigars were ex|M>sed to view. The
Southerner turned away in intense di
gust. .
"Don’t give me away,” he begged.
“Rather give the cigars away to the
porters anylmdy."
Ihe next day he took a piiliceman to
the auction -ton*, vow ing vengeance.
The place wa- empty', ami he invested
another dollar i*a treats to the ortieial,
Iwgging him also in the same disgusted
maimer, "Don’t give me iw.iy ' \
)’■ I T ibnne.
Knew *he was Right.
M-ft Why ilo law y et-s ; w. ( \- t
mad with witness.- toward the end of
their examination, dear!
H- md N nai ' Th. y don t
Will Henry, you an* alw iv-trving
to maki -ut I don't know anything But
I've got you thi- time. Listen to thi
(reads). “The attorney for the defendant
then follow -,1 with a en*s- , xaniiu.itien."
And they always do end up with wit
lies-. -in that way I've read about it »
hundred tinu- /., ,•»
4 I.ll’PlNfi* POK THE t'VBIOVS.
Th<-gr. it-r the depth of ocean water
th.- mor.- salt it is.
It wa- in olden time customary to rat
i... I ...I- in. nt by a ls-nt coin.
t h- Cuban dandy sonietim<-« attends a
ball in a black dre— suit, a whit" necktie
nd i green shirt.
K\ > -n.itor St-’Wart of Nevada intends
to cl.-viite a gold-mounted lightning-rod
on th'- fine residence which he is build
ing ut 4 'ar-on.
4 esar bought lands to be distributed
among the poor. Tin- system of public
di-trilnitiori of bread or grain among the
|sopli- wa» not abandoned until the
seventh century after Christ.
St. Peter's Cathedral, just finished at
Moscow, has five cu|xdas, and 1100 |iounds
of gold were used in overlaying them
The doors of the t.-mple cost $310,000,
and the marble tioor» $1,500,000.
T* a was sold in England in 1660 for
sixty shillings a pound. This, consider
ing the different value of money, was
about twelve times as much as is paid now
for n pound of the same commodity.
The practice of saluting ladies with a
kiss was once very general. The cele
brated “kissing comfits” were sugar
plums, once extensively used by fashion
able |x-ople to make their breath sweet.
In days gone by neither sowing, plant
ing or grafting was ever undertaken
without a scrupulous attention to the jn
crense or waning of the moon. It was
thought that the increase of the moon
made plants fruitful, and that tin
der the full moon they were in their best
strength.
One of the most common weeds in all
southern and western Texas is the trom
pillo (Solanum eleognifolium), whose
black berries when ripe have the remark
able property of curdling milk, though
they disclose no acid reaction. The
Mexicans crush the fruit, put it into a
muslin bag, aud submerge this in a pan
of inMk until coagulation has taken
place.
Millions of ipiirrels have been emi
grating from Mississippi to the more ele
vated grounds of Arkansas. The plucky
little aninals swim the Mississippi River
beginning at a point about five miles be
low Memphis, and continuing from there
twenty miles down stream. Thousands
of them have been killed by the farmers,
who use clubs in place of guns, on ac
count of the immense number". A similar
emigration took place in 1872.
Village Life in France.
Many of the houses in the village are
of the fourteenth or fifteenth century,
and have walls four feet thick and win
dow-with deep embrasures; one house
especially is a good specimen of the re
naissance. Every one in the village, its
indeed in all this part of France, how
ever miserable the hovels they live in, is
monsieur or inadume. Every one is a
proprietor, though a very small one.
They can all talk of my house, my gar
den, my vineyard. The different fami
lies live so near each other, and so entire
ly removed from every one else, that they
ach other at all hours of the day.
and the children are brought up together
like a flock of pigeons. Every Sunday
in summer the whole population takes to
the river like ducks, swims, plunges, and
teaches its children to throw themselves
into the deep water from the top of rocks
or to fish w ith their hands under the
great stones of the river. Afterward a
joyous partition is made of the fish which
has been caught, and they go home to
enjoy all but the best, which are sold at
Argeuton, w hen there are no strangers in
the village. In the evening they dance
"ii the castle hill in the bourree which
though long and monotonous, is full of
character. Life is very cheap at Gargil
esse. When a house is for sale, which is
not very often, a very tolerable residence
and a plot of ground in this lovely
situation may be bought for £25. Half
of one of the double whitewashed cot
tages. in the very centre of the village
, life, with a steep roof, and stone steps
( 1 ading to its door, was that where
George Sand lived, loved and wrote. The
i landlady of the little inn remembers all
about her, and was the Madame Rosalie
of the “Promenades autour d’un Vil
lage."—Art Journal.
A Confederate Giant’s Sabre.
i Among the relics of the late war stowed
away in the I nited States Ordnance Mu
seum on Seventeenth street is a sabre,
I fully five feet long, which was found on
th* battle field of Manassas. This for
midable looking weapon was evidently
mad. in some village blacksmith's shop,
from the fabled plow-hare, at the out
break of the war and its handle ap|x-ars
to hax. Ims n can i d with a jackknife
from :> cow - horn. A Virginian who
* - - d the mu-cum la-t week recognized
th -,-ibrv as one that had l>een used bv a
u mt Virginia cavalryman in "Jeb”
Stuart's command.
I'll, ' ivalryman in question," said
tin Virginian to the Hatchet, “was near-
I seven feet high and broad in propor
ti"ii. IL had that big sabre made by a
ero—roads hoix -hoer and promised to !
I; w hi- way through the Yankee lines
with it and enter Washington, but, pcxir
I w. he wa- shot at Manassas before he
i . d « .irry out hi- rash purposi.* -
, —II . ihinat .. HaMirt.
KING OF SPIDERS.
THE HOME AND HABITS OF THE
UGLY TARANTULA.
A House Underground—Ferocity of
the Insect Tigers as Displayed
in Pursuit of Prey—A
Wily Lizard.
In wandering along the foot hills of
the Sierra* after a rain, on what is called
adobe ground, the sharp-eyed observer
will sometimes notice a sudden move
ment of the earth. A seeming leaf or a
bit of soil about as large as a silver dollar
will drop, quiver or shake. Some little
prescience on the part of the walker will
enable him to discover the cause of this,
and close and careful examination will
disclose an oval sjzot, perhaps an inch
and a half across, that seems separated
from the surface. Now insert the point
of your knife into one side and lift.
Surely there is something holding back ’
Now you gain a quarter of an inch and
obtain a glimpse into the black cavern
so uncovered of a hairy, uncanny look
ing object, the tenant you are trying to
evict Another lift and something gives,
and you have opened the door of one of
the most cunningly devised and marvel
ous structures in the entire animal king
dom - the trapdoor of the king of the
spiders, one of the commonest but per
haps least known insects of southern Cal
ifornia; a huge, hairy fellow, sometimes i
three inches across, a menace to timid
walkers and not particularly appreciated
bv the professional naturalist, who is sup
posed to be en rapport with “bugs and
things.”
The ferocity of these insect-tigers is
displayed when in chase of prey, and the
size of the animals they attack is some
times astonishing. A large one has been
seen to attack a young gopher. The lat
ter had tunneled along the edge of an
adobe tract, coming up within two or
three feet of the door of a large spider’s
trap, and soon began a series of short and
erratic migrations from its hole ; each time
loading its pouches with bits of grass and
weed. The spider, in making its trap,
had fastened in a bit of the latter, and
when this was pulled out by the goph*r,
the hinge gave way, and in asecond a ball
of hair and fur was rolling about, and
twelve legs and claws were grasping the
air. The spider had rushed out sudden
ly, and xvith a quick leap seized the un
lucky gopher near the throat, and had
evidently penetrated it with its poison
mandibles. The gopher, terrified at the
assault, at first backed toward its hole,
but the pain caused it to defend itself,
and the two were soon in a sanguinary
struggle ; the spider merely retaining its
hold, rei ving upon its poison, while the
gopher struck and pawed the insect with
its claws, also . endeavoring to use its
powerful teeth. The result of this was
that the ground for several inches about
was soon covered with gopher’s blood
and spider’s hair and legs. Over and
over the comb atants rolled. Finally the
gopher, rising on its hind legs, tore the
spider off and staggered to its hole, 1
where it undoubtedly succumbed.
The poison of these spiders is probably
more virulent one time than another, and
is absurdly exaggerated in Mexico, xvhere
I have been told that to even allow a tar
antula to walk over a person during the
intense heat of summer, would be pro
ductive of fatal results. The truth is,
that in certain cases the bite might prove
fatal, just as people have been killed at
the bite of a wasp, the fright and ner
vous shock ’’acting together Jto produce
such a deadly result. The majority of
small birds, mammals and reptiles often
succumb to the poison. The great spider
does much of its foraging at night; at
tacking the mole, crickets, mice, and
various insects that suit its palate.
In some experiments tried with a mouse
and tarantula (this being the popular
name in this section), both being placed
in a box together, the former showed im- |
mediately its distress and terror. Either
bitter experience or instinct warned it
that the hideous creature was a mortal
enemy. The spider remained perfectly
quiet, but the unfortunate quadruped lost
its head and darted over the hairy insect,
whereupon a fierce struggle was com
menced. Their movements could not be
followed, but in less than three minutes
the spider was torn in pieces by the little
animal, that a few minutes later dropped
upon its side, gasped and died.
The tarantula has few enemies. Some
of the large insectivorous birds (as the
butcher bird) would probably attack it,
but its enemies may practically be con
fined to a large insect called the tarantula
hawk, that seems to be the only insect
that knows the “open sesame” of the big
spider. The latter, when returning to its
trap at full speed, can lift the lid and
slide in so deftly that its disappearance
appears almost miraculous. It would
seem as though the hawk watched this
performance,ns it finds the trap with com
parative ease, lifts the silk door, and
darts in, overpowering the spider and
killing or paralyzing it. In the body it
deposits its eggs. The latter in time
hatch, the young tarantula hawks feeding
upon the body that has formed their birth
place. Thus the hawk not only destroys
the great spider but converts its body into
a storehouse for its eggs and the trap for
a home for the coming brood, who. per
haps. have got their first suggestions as to
“tarantula hunting.”
This method of providing for the fu
ture young is found among a large num
ber of this tribe; and when it is remem
bered that many of them only paralyze
their victims, putting them on ice, as it
were, so that they will sleep until the
eggs that have been deposited in the
boay are hatched, it will be considered
most remarkable.
The tarantula finds one wily victim
that it only captures by piecemeal, and
that by accident. The little brown lizard
that frequents the clearings is sometimes
caught napping, and before it can escape
the huge spider is upon it. and seizes the
slender tail, confident perhaps, of a din
ner. But nature has provided the lizard
with a method of escape. The first
crunch of the mandible into the delicate
skin and the tail is completely whisked
off. the cunning lizard darting away and
leaving the drv but squirming caudal ex
tremity behind. At times the body of
the lizard is seized, when the victim soon
ceases its struggles, probably quickly
overcome by the virulent poison.
It would seem a difficult feat to tame a
tarantula, yet they are susceptible to
kind treatment and will recognize their
I owners or the one that feeds them, and
i crawl over his arm without offering to
dine thereupon. A green spider that I
have had upon my desk until within a
| few day®, that was remarkable for its
| mimicry, being the exact tint of the stems
' of the flowers vpon which it lived, was so
tame that it fed from my hand, taking
flies as I provided them.— San Francinco
( ' n "-
A Thanksgiving Day Question.
Rev. John Anketell. presbyter of the
diocese of New York, Jias witten to the
governors of the States in the I nion, ask
ing their opinions on the advisability of
changing our national Thanksgiving Day
from the last Thursday in November to
October 12, the alleged date of the dis
covery of America by Columbus. Some
twenty-one governors have responded,
and the tenor of most of the answers is to
the effect that any date will do, and so
they see no very good reason for the
change. Beside, historians differ as to
the exact date of the discovery.
The governors of Tennessee, Arkansas
and Kentucky think the suggestion a
good one. Most of the others do not
quite understand the affair, and their
answers are interesting.
Governor Hill’s private secretary write*
to say that the people of New York are
satisfied with the present date. The
governor of Missouri says briefly, and to
the point:
If turkeys are good on that day I see no
objection.
John S. Marmaduke.
The Governor of Rhode Island writes
to put another day on his list:
I have always thought that we, as a people,
have too tew public holidays, and believe
that perhaps an additional one, so admirably
chosen on the 12th of October, might well be
added to our list.
Geo. Peabody Wetmore.
The Governor of Connecticut knows
his New England constituents, and says:
The people are apt to adhere very tena
ciously to their ancient customs, without be
ing much influenced by any efforts to change
them. H. B. Harrison.
The gentleman who presides over the
destinies of Indiana knows history. He
says:
i fail to see the importance of one day over
another, especially when the exact time of
the discovery of America is in controversy,
and likely to remain so.
Isaac P. Gray.
The New England conservatism crops
out again in the reply of Massachusetts
governor that—
The associations which cluster around the
time now usually fixed are very precious to
the people of Massachusetts because of the
adherence to the well-kept custom of so many
years. Geo. D. Robinson.
. “Absurd and preposterous,” says the
governor of Minnesota, and the cautious
governor of New Jersey carefully guards
himself in the following reply:
I prefer not to express an opinion at pres
ent on the subject matter of your letter.
Leon Abbett.
Governor Pingree, of Vermont, speaks
of the senseless flummery of thirty
eight proclamations following that of
the President, and the governor of
Texas writes:
Formal thanksgivings are rather distaste
ful to me, and when thanksgivings become
fixed facts and come as a matter of course
and pro forma, the heart of the people will
not be much in it. Jno. Ireland.
The replies are interesting as indicate
ing the immense variety of subjects upon
which the gubernatorial opinion is
wanted. These are only samples of
scores of similar letters received every
week by the thirty-eight governors in
the Union.— New York World.
A Little Girl’s Heroism.
Brave little ten-year-old Ethel Spooner
has received $20,000 in the Kings county
(N. Y.) court from the Delaware, Lacka
wanna and Western Railway Company.
Ethel is the daughter of Dr. Walter A.
i Spooner, of Brooklyn, and her story is
worthy to find a place among the tales of
modern heroism. During the summer of
1884, Dr. Spooner, with his wife and
family, went to pass his vacation at
Orange, N. J. They occupied a house
near the track of the Delaware, Lacka
wanna and Western Railroad, on which
there are several unprotected crossings at
that place. On November 19th Ethel
was out playing with two little
cousins, and the little chaps got on the
track just as a train was approaching.
Ethel ran and got them out of the way,
but just as she was to leave herself, her
foot slipped down between the rail and
the -wooden walk, and she could not
extricate it. She called to one of
the little boys to come and help
her, and he, after tugging at his com
panion’s leg, w;is about to unbutton
her boot when the train came dashing
along and was upon them. The child,
with presence of mind, seeing it was im
possible to extricate her foot, threw her
self down on the wooden walk and al
lowed the twe wheels of the locomotive
to pass over her leg below the knee,
crunching it into a shapeless mass. The
limb was amputated above tne knee the
same evening by a local surgeon. She
has recovered from the shock, but must
use crutches all her life. She sued for
$50,000 damages. It was shown during
the trial that at the Greenwood avenue
crossing where the accident took place,
there were neither gates nor flagmen.
The defense tried to prove by several wit
nesses that the child was playing on the
line, and the accident was due to negli
gence on her part. After a few moments’
absence the jury found a verdict for the
plaintiff. A demonstration on the part
of the audience was stopped by the court
officers. After being discharged each of
the jurymen walked round and shook
hands with Ethel, one of them saying to
her, “You’re a plucky little lady.”
Paper Rail reads.
The paper rail seems about to become
a practical reality, a large establishment
for the*manufacture of rails of compressed
paper being projected at St. Petersburg.
Among the advantages claimed for this
material are extreme durability, a cost
about one-third as great as steel, light
ness, greater adhesion to the driving
wheels of the engine, and a reduction in
the wear and tear of both the road and
the rolling stock.
Americans are the third highest in
point of the number of foreigners resid
ing in Japan, according to statistics pub
litihed in a native newspaper. T.e Chi
nese stand at the head of the list with
2,4.1 residents, followed bv the English
with 618, the American* numbering 187.
SCIENTIFIC SCRAPS.
In China metals are strewn about the
empire in profusion—enormous coal
measures, prodigious deposits of iron,
vast veins of copper, great tracts of
galena, chrome, plumbago, cinnabar,
cupreous nickel (white copper), sine
pyrites, manganese, etc., are found in
every section.
A singular tree, just discoveted in
Australia, has been named in honor of
Professor Owen of this country. It
propagates only by suckers. The seeds
will not germinate. They are contained
in a solid stone, so dense that it can only
be broken with a hammer. When it
decays the seeds perish also.
From his studies of the Krakatoa
catastrophe Verbeek is led to maintain
that part of our globe remains still in a
molten state, and he disputes the theory
which has been advanced that the heat
of the volcanic furnaces is entirely due to
local chemical action.
From his recent observations Capt.
Pillsbury finds that the strength of the
current of the Gulf Stream is invariably
on the Florida instead of the Bahama
side of the stream, and that the temper
ature of this great “river” in the ocean
ranges from 42 degrees to 81 degrees.
The greatest velocity of the stream at the
surface is about four and a half knots,
but the fluctuations are frequent and con
siderable.
In his lecture on the heat action of ex
plosives, delivered to the Institution of
Civil Engineers, London, Capt Noble
said: “Twenty-five years ago our most
powerful piece of artillery was a 68-
pounder, throwing a projectile with a
velocity of 1570 feet a second. Now the
weight of our guns is increased from five
tons to 100, the velocities from 1600 to
2000 feet, and the energies from 1100
foot-tons to over 52,000 foot-tons.”
It is often a matter of surprise that
drunken men sustain little or no injury
from falls which might have been ex
pected to result fatally. The reason of
this immunity is that the nerve centers
are so paralyzed in the drunken man as
not to be affected by the shock of the
fall, which, in a sober man, would have
acted upon them so violently as to stop
the heart, arrest the circulation, and
cause instant death.
A Business Swell’s Life.
Frank Burr, writing to the Boston
Herald from New York, tells how the
fast business swell leads a merry, but
transitory life:
He was dressed in the top of fashion
and a valet stood by his side, while the
porter blacked his boots in the entryway
leading to the Hoffman House bar-room.
The young man threw the Irishman a
half-dollar for the job, and then slipped
to a table not far away, ordered a pint of
champagne, drank it and sauntered out
“You have just seen a perfect type of
the young New Yorker,” said a friend
who knew the fellow who was so well
dressed and who gave the bootblack fifty
cents for a shine. 1 ‘He is a broker who
is just blooming out for himself, and has
made a fat deal. Money is no object to
him just now, and he is hunting any new
vice or extravagance he can find. His
life will not be long. If he succeeds for
any length of time, his dissipations will
kill him, for, like most of his class, he
bums the candle at both ends. He is
only one of the many who help to make
hotel life in New York needlessly expen
sive. Chance has brought him a fortune,
and it is handed out as easily as it came.
If the man who polished his boots got
fifty cents, the boy who served his break
fast probably received a dollar. While
his practice gets him well waited upon, it
compels other people to be equally ex
travagant or be slighted. This lavish
tipping of waiters has become so common
here that many times and in many places
they make themselves positively disagree
able to guests who do not fee them with
open hand. This one is but a fair type
of the “swell” business man. He sits up
all night, rises in time to get to his office
and pitches into the excitement of the
day only half rested. Wine takes the
place of sleep in keeping him in condi
tion to do business. The average length
of such a life is only about ten years.
Some may stand the whirl for fifteen, but
the great majority have lost their vitality
at ten, and either die, get broke or go
out of the rush and hurry of the street.
Deadly Hair Dye.
From Toledo comes a story of peculiar
interest. A gentleman well known as a
grain operator and noted for the glossy
blackness of his hair and whiskers re
cently died. When his friends, who had
not seen him since he fell sick, took a
last look at his remains they saw that his
hair and beard had turned gray. Then
it was disvovered that they had been so
for years. It was also found out that his
death was caused by this hair dye. It
was deadly poison, and as he drank hot
tea and coffee the liquor strained through
his mustache and carried from it a little
of the poison of the hair dye. In time
his stomach became inflamed with the
poison and death was the final result. —
Cleveland Plain Dealer.
The total number of deaths from small
pox in Montreal during th" late epidemic
exceeds 3000. distributed among over
500 houses.