Newspaper Page Text
§entiuel.
HARLEM. GEORGIA
PUBIJiUKD KVEKY THUMDAY.
Ballard «*> A-Hi 1n«o»x.
>-*"i«assM
John Deere - , the great plough manufac
turer of Moline, Illinois, 1* dead, al tho
ripe age of 82. II" had boon making
plough* for flfly year*, beginning with
three in 1837, and turning out us many M
73,000 in re< ent year*. II leave* a for
tune estimated at a million and a
half.
Compliments pass when quality meet,
■tore particularly when it la Chine**- qual
ity. When tho outgoing Chinese minis
ter gw* to call on hi* nuccriwor, he g'*'*’
In all hi* clothes, top knot, je-acock
feather* ami a him: jK'tticoat. In tho
houw, say* a Washington correspondent,
he wear* a bonnet, which ho takes off
when he goe* into the street, a* Cliim-c
etiquette goes according to the rule of
contrary.
fVarcley anything will give one a lot
tor idea of the vast extent of our coun
try than the variety of its products. The
rai«in industry of California is proving
to be one of immense value. The “|>ack"
for the present year already has boon
contracted for, of which one house in
Chicago is to receive twelve car loads.
The California man who sets out a raisin
vineyard in a locality adapted to il«
growth hue a pretty sure mortgage upon
the future.
~ ' T -
On the eastern bunk of the Rio Grande
river and aleiut six miles from low Cru
ces, N. M., is a colony of people whose
Customs, history and religion are the most
peculiar to bo found in tho country.
They call themselves "Fstithists," have a
Bible written by one of themselves, have
a new calendar in w hich tho days, Sab
baths and holidays are changed, and tho
montlts arc called signs; cut only two
meals a day, while fish and flodi are for
ever forbidden ns an article of food.
In Bordeaux, France, workmen may
dine as follows; A large plate of vege
table soup, 2 cents; a large piece of
bread, 2 cents; a bit'" plate of red Inri
cot lu-ans, Scents; half a p'ate of roast
Veal (the quantity being ample for an
ordinary man), 4 cents; a plate of rice, 1
cent, and half a bottle of vin ordinaire, I
cents. This is n good deal of dinner for
fiitccn cent*, but it must be borne in
mind that in Bordeaux fifteen cents
is a good deal of money to a working
man.
In a recent lecture in London, Mr. .1,
G. Baker estimated the number of char
acteri'ticslly tropical plants ns from 40,-
000 t<> 30,000. The plants of the north
temja-rsto zone embrace about 20,00(1
sjM'cles, while the higher mountain re
gions pm-aibly furnish 2000 i total of
8000 species of what gardeners cull al
pine*, that is, plants specially adapted to
a cool, damp climate with a short sum
mer. Mr. Biker csiimatr'S that 40,000
apccies of plants are represented in tho
possessions of Great Britain.
The Kansas City Journal remarks that
the suggestion that the penitentiary
should be -n ideal home for Socialists
has a great deal of truth in it as well as
grim humor In tho penitentiary no
man can acquire property, no man can
dress better or cat be ter food than
another. There is to be found the most
complete application of the leveling doc
trine. Tho former capitalist works side
by side with the railroad navvy, cats
with him, sleep* in his cell, perhaps is
chained to him. Let Parsons, Spies and
company try the penitentiary at Joliet.
It will hardly be thought that there
are not on tho whole glolie fifty cities
containing 900,000 people; but such is
tho fact, and anyone may convince him
aclf of it by consulting a geographical
dictionary. It would seem at first that
there must be at h ast 200 cities of 200,-
000 population, but there is not one
fourth of the number. Os these, Great
Britain has about 9; France, 3; Italy, 4;
Germany (proper), 5 or <5; China, -ome
9; India, Bor 9, and tho United Slates,
according to the latest census, 0 or 10.
It is somewhat remarkable that a coun
try only 100 years old should have as
many (if not mon-) large cities as the
oldest lauds; but it is not improbable
that, before another century, we shall
count as large a number of cities of 200
000 inhabitants as there are now in the
whole wort 1 . We are inclined to think
that old and famous capitals, like Cordo
va, Granada, Cadi.’, I’l. r nc . Venice,
I‘sdus, Verona, Bdogna Warsaw, Cm
cow, Anlw rp, Ghent, It •tteislam. Ley
den, laapsic, must lx- very large, though
they really have no mon* than from 70.
000 to 140.000 or 150 000 people each.
Theciti s that can lay claim to 100,000
population and upward are perhaps
about 130, and three include many of
those which at first though, we should
supp'sc contained two or three tim s the
■limber. This planet is very little after
all. Ila m Ilion* are not so near numer
ous a* it would seem that they ought to
be, and the l ulk of three do tel come
within our idea of civilization, any
more than wo came within their idea of
it
One of the most interesting ol modern
charities in tho “Loan Exhibition" of
fine picture* in the cast end show* of
London. The first one was held six
year* ago; a devoted clergyman of the
Church nt England, inaugurated and
■till direct* the *chetno, mid so far a*
popularity qud artistic merit go—and
they seem to about cover the cus- -it is
n great suro **. The artist* mid many
owner* of gnllerici cordially a-sist in the
work, an 1 tic* exhibition Is always very
fine. A cntalogu • with explanatory
note* is so'.d for u penny, ami licsidre
oral explanations of tho pictures are
given. Tn<’gallery whothe picture*
are shown is continual y visited by all
rhvse* and conditions of men. The
promulgators of tho move do not contend
that the sight of good pictures is going
to reform the. Eist Eid of L ndon, but
they think th" tendency of the exhibi
tion is in that direction, mid that even
the “smallest service i* tru • service."
A match is a small thing, but in the
maniifai lu <• of matches one of the great
cortiorations hns grown up. It originate 1
in a combination of tin- h ading match
manufacturers. Th" capital stock is
about $25,000,000, and l i t year a divi
dend of eight |ier cent, wus pai I.
Matches are much ehc.iper now than
tin y u.<d to be, by r" is >n of some out
aide competition with th t reat combina
tion. The Chic igo manager of this
combination, referring ti th" c nstant
consumption of pine, -.ays that Ir.s com
pany has pine enough to l i t for twenty
five years. It is loc.it"d in the Ontona
gon region of Michigan. Mutches cun
lie ma le out of str aw boar las well as of
pine, but there is small inducement to
attempt to make straw b nd matches
while pine can be hi 1 in the production.
Wax matches can also b ■ m ade cheaply.
Southern pine cannot be used for matches,
since it is too full of pitch. The dry,
punk-like pine of the northern woods is
the only pine which is really fit for use.
The further north the supply is s-cured
the better the pine for the purpose of the
match maker.
A Base-B ill Bog.
The rival nines were made up of lioys
under thirteen, and Major. As I reach
ed tlie ground it was his inning, and his
m ister, who claimed the privilgo of strik
ing for him, wis nt the bat. The dog
was right behind with one paw in ad
vance, and his eyes on the striker. In
ciiine the twisters, and Major made sev
eral false starts; but finally, as the ball
went scudding from the b it, of! he rush
ed for first base, his ears flapping, his
plume-like tail out straight behind. But
the short stop was too nimble for the dog
ami just before he reached the base the
bull arrived there, and he camo slowly
back, his tdl hanging low, and a very
mournful expression in his great eyes.
"Maji-'sout, side oq<!” cried the boys
qn I imnit liately conceived a method by
which he could retrieve this disaster; the
dog seemed to regain his spirits, dashed
into the field, and was speedily in his po
sition as left fielder, before any of tho
others hud reached their places.
In the preliminary “pass around” that
preceded tin- play, Major was not left
out, and I saw that the bulls that were
thrown at him directly were quite as
swift as those delivered from base to
base; and in justice to him, I never saw
him “mull.” When a ball was thrown
at him, he settled back, and dropped his
great lower jaw, into which the projec
tile see neil to fit; then, with tail wag
ging, he would hasten to curry the ball to
the next player. Ho was equally pro
ficient with low balls, either catching
tin in in his mouth or stopping them with
his broad chest, and in fielding he could
not be outdone. When he caught a ball,
he carried it nt full speed to the nearest
thrower, and not a few players were put
out by his quick motions and activity.—
St. XicMi.
A Dakota Judge on Ills Bignity.
We will stiqi taking testimony for ten
minutes, said a Dakota justice of the
|M-ace, removing his coat, during which
time tho court will lick the attorney for
the defence. The constable will plea*"
remove the chairs and small boy, ns we
propose to Imi him down on tin* floor
about twenty times. When a lawyer re
fers to this court as a squan or.icred
sage hen of the alkali de-ert ami accused
it of having been bought by the preset u
tion for $2.50, he will find that this
judicial body is I>a led for game found
only in the tall timber, namely, bars
gentlemen, largo gr.-'ly b’ars. We pro
]*>so to maintain our dignity while set
ting on this hen* mii. k er lx*nch and
will do so if we have t > st iv at horn cir
cus day and pound lawyers. Awl if we
can't do it alone wc intend to invoke the
power of th" Vnited St u - c d get
backed up by the .supreme court and reg
ular anuy. If the attorney for the de
fens' has any friend* in th room, they
will lx* given an opportunity to shake
hands with him and take any instructions
he may wish to »end to his family. The
gxmtlemen will please form ring and we
would direct the constable to pull him
off if he attempts to bite or pull liair.
Take your |>osition for the court is a-com
ing!—Kttfllinf \JKik.} Bell.
The largest coffee district in the world
i* the Braxilian an 1 Bolivian table land.
Coffee, cotton, tapioca, rice, corn and
I wheat thrive in the same latitudes.
. A Fragmeat.
What If, while I «it her* a'onn,
A voire I have not Ix-ar l tor year*
Hboul'l gr et me in the low aw et one
That once wai tnuai ’ to my ear*;
And I ab'ruld start from memory 1 * *way,
And, turning, find you sdting there
Vnchaag**!, as though 'twero yewV-nlay
Your fact went tripping down the ata r.
Or if, upon «ome lummer day.
'Mid « >ng of bints and bum of Inna,
I (hould g'i down the w< odland way
To our old tryst beneath th" trees;
And, starti g liaek in glad surprise,
I should Iwbold you waiting th re,
Tho o d light shining in your eyre—
Th" sunlight tanglod in your hair.
In vain I shall not »«> the glow
Os wine-brown eyes or catch tho smile
Os ruby lip*; but yet I know
That you are near mo all the while.
For I no love 1 you in that ran o
Os sunny years that my poor heart
Would bleed afresh an I count it trango
To think God hold u • far apart.
And so, when evening shulows creep
And night falls softly o'er the lea.
You touch my eyelids and I Bleep,
And sleeping, dream of heaven and thee.
And when some sun mer morn shall break
That, finds mo chid -d by d -a h's cold dew, j
You need but kiss me, 1 shall wake.
And waking bo in heaven with you.
—Jean Ingleeide.
THE ASTROLOGER’S DUPE
A little old woman, gray-haired and
trembling, sat a little while ago in the
back office of a Wall street stock broker.
Her gaze was fixed on a wide blackboard,
where chalk figures showed the drift of
stock market quotations; there was no
lustre in her eye; her whole aspect was
thatof one dumbfounded, brokenhearted.
She had a sad story to tell were there
only spirit enough left to her fo>a recit
al. A year ago she came to this same
brokerage office. Her purse was fat with
bank bills and she gave an order for the
purchase of 500 shares of a stock which
had been active a long time. The broker
ad vised her against the purchase, and
told her plainly that he had what he be
lieved excellent reasons for expecting a
heavy decline in the particular stock she
had selected to buy. But she persisted
in her determination, declaring that she
had information which could not be
wrong that the stock was bound to go
up a good deal very soon. She had her
way, despite the counsels that plainly
predicted the loss of her money. She
left $5,000 in cash us a 10 per cent, mar
gin to protect her interest and went her
way with a calm confidence shown on
her countenance. “I shall make a good
deal of money," she said as she left, “for
the information 1 have comes from the
very highest authority.” The stock per
perversely declined forthwith, and each
day saw some fraction clipped off of the
preceding day’s quotation. Within a
month the original $5,000 margin had
dwindled down to SI,OOO, and broker
was obliged to call for unother deposit
from bis customer to protect her interest,
she came down town with the same self
satisfied smile, and with the same expres
sions of confidence produced her rounded
purse again. Four thousand dollars she
left in the broker's hands this time.
“The advance, I am told, has been una
voidably delayed a little while,” she said,
with a tone full of assurance ami faith,
“but it is bound to come soon now, and
I feel as sure that my money is safe as if
I had it all in bank awaiting my orders.”
This was in response to further grave pre
dictions from the broker, who, by much
argument tried to convince her that she
was being misled. Another short period
elapsed; and another enforced call was
made upon the sunny faced old lady.
Just a bare suspicion of disquiet was be.
ginning to show itself, but there was no
backdown in her action. Out camo
more money. And so a little later did
more still follow. Then not long ago
she came yet again; now she brought her
bank book. She showed to the broker
that a year ago it credited her with de
posits of SIB,OOO, of which but $2,500
rem lined; and that $2,500 —every p nny
of it, every penny she possessed in the
world—she handed over. She was not
yet utterly downcast. “But yesterday,”
■he averred. “I ha'l my information re
peated again and the rise which I’ve
waited for so long is to come now right
away.” Down went the market, lower
ami lower dropped the price of the ex
pectant woman’s 500 shares of stock, till
that day a little while ago when for the
last time she came into Wall-street again,
drop|H'd into an armchair before the quo
tation board and gazed long and listless
ly, as one in a deep dream, confronting
the white figures that glared out at her
there like the eyes of so many demons.
All of her SIB,OOO was gone; she had
only poverty left. But she was brave
still, and when her broker approached
lier she rose with the grace of a woman
young and queenly and thanked him for
all his courtesies and the good advice he
had waisted on her.
“Now, Madam, will you do me the
great favor of telling me from what
•ource you received th" false information
on which you relied so implicitly and
risked* so much money I” This was the
broker's question.
“Upon an astrologer. This was her
amazing answer, and she nanus! a man
whose “card” is flaunted publicly in the
metropolis. There wasa stupefied broker,
a broker who got mad. He didn't say
“Fool!" but he looked it. The old lady
talked then freely. It was no new thing
she Mid, for her to »e<-k the advice a
thi* “astrologer," her husband hud dont
the same b dore t?r an I a acore of hei
friends, ahc said, h i I implicit confl I nci
in the revelations of the se-r.
“I’ll give you $1,000,” said ’he brokci
hotly, “if you'll promise me on ■ thing.”
The old lady's lightening countenance
showed that he need have no doubt of
the promise. “Never come into Wall
street again and have no more to do with
this blanked scoundrel whose lies have
! cost you so <1 early.”
The promise was gladly exchang ’d foi
I the money, and the old lady went hei
way. But this was not the only *eque<
to this speculation. Three or four days
ago a dapper little fellow with a face
weazened around a pair of twinkling ad
der eyes thrust himself into this same
brokerage office. He sought the mana
ger and said he want"d to buy some stock
on a margin. He had brought a one
thousand-dollar note along to put up as the
necessary deposit. He was just ready to
hand over his money when of a su Iden
lie looked into the broker’s face anil ejac
ulated, “You’ve got u bright eye; may I
draw this bank note across them just for
a second?” The broker was astonished,
but to humor a customer, whom he sup
posed to be only in a jovial mood, he
consented, and the bill blindfolded him
momentarily. The customer closed his
own eyes, withdrew the bill, and ejacu
lated as if io himself alone, “Correct;
perfectly correct!” He deposited his
money, and was about to leave when sud
denly the broker, urged by a strange sus
picion, called him and said: “Will you
tell me why you went through that per
formance of putting that bill over my
eyes?” “Certainly, certainly!” ejaculat
ed the sallow fellow. “Certainly; I was
testing the information I had. lam an
astrologer, and—”
“Are you the man that sent Mrs. X
here to buy stock?”
“Yes, oh yes!” and the adder-eyed
customer rubbed bis hands ecstatically.
“Yes. oil yes! I toll her to come here.”
“You swindled her, you scoundrel.”
The broker’s voice wasn’t sweet to
listen to, and the astrologer looked more
than a little scared.
“Why, I believe in the powers myself,”
he whined, “or, of course, I wouldn’t be
putting up my own money.” It was
only because there is a Police Court in
this town that the fellow was not sum
marily kicked into the street. As it was
the broker contented himself with saying:
“Your account will be closed in this
office to-night. If there is anything duo
you you can have it at 3 o’clock. Get
out of here now, quick.” At 3 o’clock
when the gentleman called he found that
something had run afoul of the market
during the day and his 203 shares of
stock had fallen enough in a couple of
hours to wipe out every cent of his SI,OOO
margin. And I betray only a little bit
of confidence in saying that the fellow
wouldn’t have been far wrong if he had
suspected that his own broker was re
sponsible himself for the sudden decline,
having hammered tho market and paci
fied his conscience somewhat in remem
brance of the duped old lady whose
fortune had gone at the idle dictation of
tlie arrant humbug who now to some ex
tent was doing penance for her sorrow.—
Jfeu> York Times.
Washington anil Bunker Hill.
It was on the lot i day of Jane, 1775,
that George Washington was chosen
Commander-in-Chief of the American
army. The next day he made his answer
to Congress, in which he declared that
he accepted the office, but that lie would
take no pay. He left Philadelphia on
his way to Boston June 21, escorted by a
troop of horsemen, and accompanied by
Schuyler and Lee, who had ju t been
made major-generals by Congress. They
had gone about twenty miles when they
saw a man on horseback coming rapidly
down the road. It was a messenger ri
ding post haste to Philadelphia, and
carrying to Congress news of the battle
of Bunker Hill. Everybody was stirred
by the news and wanted to know ti»t*
particulars.
“Why were the Provincials compelled
to retreat?” he was asked.
“It was for want of ammunition,” ho
replied.
“Did they stand the fire of the
regular troops?” asked W ashington anxi
ously.
“That they did, and held their own
fire reserve until the enemy was within
eight rods.”
“Then the liberties of the country are
safe!” exclaimed Washington. He re
membered well the scenes under Brad
dock, and he knew what a sight it must
have been to those New England farm
ers when a compact body of uniformed
soldiers came marching up from the
boats at Charlestown. If they could
stand fearlessly, there was stuff in them
for soldiers.— St. Nicholas.
Room to R nt.
“Had a terrible shock this mawnin’,
Awthaw. Met a low fellow who asked
me if I had rooms to rent; actually took
me for a beggarly landlord.”
“Oh, no, Percy. I daresay he only
meant to insinuate that you had an
empty head.”
“Do you think so? Quite a relief, I as
suah you. So awful to suspect that 1
looked like a low landloard.”— CalL
i A WONDERFUL FARM.
•‘Lucy Baldwin’s" Great
Ranch in California.
A Primely Domvn. Fonrtnn Miles Long,
Containing 58,030 Acres.
A letter from California to the St.
Louis Globo- Democrat says: Lucky
Baldwin’s possession from the control of
mines on the Comstock have gradually
grown until now he has a half a dozen
great enterprises under full headway.
He owns the largest and finest hotel in
San Francisco, with the single exception
of the Palace, and which contains a the
atre within it. He has a fine summer
hotel on Lake Tahoe, and he has shrewd
ly bought up a large strip of the shore of
this beautiful lake, which in a few years
will be sought after for villa sites. Fin
ally, he owns the great Santa Anita ranch,
near Los Angeles the breeding place of
the string of swift-footed flyers with
which he goes East to contest for the
prizes on the chief racing circuits, and
one of the best general fruit and stock
ranches in the State. This pr.ncely
domain extends fourteen miles cast and
west and twelve miles north and south,
and embraces 58,000 acres. He shears
thousands of sheep every year, raises
wheat enough to charter entire ships for
conveying it to Liverpool, and makes
more brandy than any one else in the
State, besides turning out a large quanti
ty of wine.
The men who are boarded on the ranch
get $1 a day, and the few Chinese who
remain—-not over a dozen, all told—get
$1 a day and board themselves. What
. adds to the likeness to the Southern
plantation is tho appearance of young
darkies driving carts or herding stock.
These are members of a colony of North
Carolina negroes whom Baldwin brought
out here from their old homes two years
ago. He paid their fares and made a
; contract with them to work for him
for a term of years. He built them
neat houses, and here arc. installed the
ten families comprising about sixty mem
bers. They have made excellent hands
in the field and the orchard, because tae
women and children can be counted on
for good work in cultivating and pick
ing fruit.
The man who has charge of all the
practical details of this huge place is J.
F. Fulby, a shrewd, energetic Californian,
who knows wheat growing and fruit cul
ture so thoroughly that he is a terror to
all incompetent hands, and who keeps
his small army of workmen under regular
military discipline. Judged by the re
sults, his management is the best of any
that I saw in the southern country.
The wine celler is always an object of
curiosity to the average tourist, but even
though one enjoys the companionship of
the manager and the hospitality of the
ranch, it is very dangerous to sample
California wines. There is so much
strength in the juice of these lusty grapes,
even when mellow with age, that unless
one is a seasoned vessel the chances are
that he will be overcome before he knows
it. The cellar is piled high with them
ten years old. All th) latest machinery
for distilling is here, and the place is in
charge of a French expert, of life-long
experience in wine and brandy making in
his native country.
After one has seen the orange groves,
the orchards, vineyards, and the other
features of the home place, he is prepared
to extend his observations to the great
wheat and sheep ranches on the Santa
Anita. You may drive for miles through
fields where the who it is now knee high
and shows an even stand which would
delight the eye of a Dakota wheat grow
er. Beyond the wheat farm the visitor
comes to the Puento sheep ranch, com
prises about 3J,00 J acres of gently roll
ing footliill land reaching back to the
mountains. The old Scotchman, named
Cameron, who has care 1 for sheep all his
life, going from Scotland to New Z aland
and from New Zealand coming here. Ho
is a man of wide information, and he
seemed liked an anachronism in this free
and easy California life, for he adheres
to the Calvinism in which he was bred.
An example of the rigid insistence upon
his creed was furnished last summer
when Baldwin had a party of friends at
the ranch. The supply of meat ran out
and the millionaire sent over to old Cam
eron to slaughter four sheep. The an
swer was returned in broad Scotch:
“There will be na killing of the sheep on
the Sawbath," and Baldwin had to send
to town for his meat.
Ba'dwin is engaged in splitting up a
portion of the ranch into small tracts of
from twenty acres upward and selling
them to Los Angeles people for summer
villas and to Eastern people who wish a
winter home in one of the most beautiful
valleys of southern California. A rail
road will be completed through the
ranch this fall, anil then one mly reach
the city of Los Angeles in fifteen min
utes. The only drawback to rapid set
tlement ol the ranch is the price charged
for the land. With perpetual water
right. $250 per acre is asked for unim
proved land. The majority of those
who buy this land will be wealthy peo
ple, who can afford to spen I from $lO,-
000 to $20,00) in laying out and improv
ing a place.
Uniform prices: What the tailor
charges sot soldiers’ cloths.
The Sailor's Ont tit.
“What is a sailor’s outfit for a i oß _
voyage?" repeated a weather-beaten old
tar recently, as he munched a piece of
old navy and gazed respectively into
glass of grog in a Front street siloo n
“Why, as for that matter, no two
ors are alike. One will go to sea with *
nice outfit of long togs for nights ashore
and a sea rig large enough to start a s ec .
ond-hand clothing store on South street
and another will fire all his boodle away
in a night’s jolitication, and away to sea
the next day for a voyage around the
Horn with the suit he stands in and a
ragged suit of oilskins that have weath
ered both capes and the storms of three
seasons.
“Well, take the average sailor, and
give me an inventory of the contents of
his chest. ”
“I think I will tell you what we
found in the chest of one of our men
who died last voyage; it would hit the
mark, perhaps. We had been struck by
a squall of Hatteras and had hard work
to get the muslin off the ship before the
gale which quickly followed hove us to
under close-reefed maintopsail. As the
men lay down from aloft one of them
was pitched headlong overboard by the
parting of a ratlin, and he was astern
and swallowed up by the angry waves
before any effort could be made to save
him. As is the custom, his chest wa*
brought aft, opened, and an inventory
made of his effects, that might be for
warded to his friends. In addition to
the heavy clothes for bad weather, and
the light ones for use under sunny skies,
were found many little presents which
the dead man had picked up and was
taking to his friends at home. There
were dress patterns of rich China silks,
pretty toilet boxes, and bits of fancy
carving. Each was wrapped up and the
address of the recipient written upon it.
From letters which were found in the
till of Jack’s chest wc learned that he
hailed from an inland town of Pennsyl
vania, and the gifts were intended for a
mother and sisters there, who will wait
long for the return of their sailor boy.”
The Cuban Milkman;
In a letter from Havana a Chicago
News correspondent says: The lechero
and his system here are worthy of maga
zine illustration. Milk for the markets
and hotels is brought into the city by
immense ox-carts in cans having the ap
pearance of diminutive cylindrical pago
das, but a large proportion of the inhabi
tants cling with obstinate conservatism
to the ancient method of supply. At all
hours of the morning I have met on the
highways away out in the suburbs sober
droves of a half-dozen cows accompanied
by a half-dozen muzzled calves as they
were being leisurely driven into the city
by a brown-faced countryman and two
or three of his barefooted boys. Arrived
in Havana these rustic groups became
the traveling milk supply. Almost with
out guidance the animals seek tlie be
ginning of the “milk route,” and on
reaching the door of the first cus
tomer, come to a halt, the cows and
calves taking position with military pre
cision, in single file, along the flag-stone
footways of the narrow street. Our
guajiro or countryman is now tlie city
lechero or milkman. The urchins rim
into the customer’s house, secures the
order, and the letchero milks the requir
ed quantity there and then before the
very eyes of the housemaid, the portero
or el senior himself. In this way from
house to house the queer cavalcade
passes, until cow after cow is milked
clean, when the muzzle is in turn re
moved from each mother’s calf, and the
little tcrnerillas arc free to take undis
puted passession. of the “strippings.”
The system has obvious advantages, The
milk is assuredly fresh. It would be
difficult for the lechero to secrete a wa
ter-butt about his person.
Hooking a Broken Submarine Cable*
The ends of broken submarine telegraph
cables are picked up with an instrument
called a grapnel iron. It is a stout bar
of iron about two feet long, with five
prongs or hooks about six inches long at
one end and a swivel at the other. A
rope long enough to lower this grapnel
iron to the bottom of the ocean is at
tached to the swivel, and the iron is
then dragged along on the bottom by a
steamer, which steers direct,}’ across ths
place where the broken cable lies, and
two or three miles, as near as may be,
from the broken end. By means of tw»
wires, which run down the rope and a
simple device on the grapnel iron, an
electric circuit is completed w’henever
the hook catches on anything and a bell
on board the ship begins to ring, and
continues to do so until the strain on
the hook is relieved. If the hook should
catch on a sock the strain on a dynam
ometer attached to the drag-rope sud
denly increases, and the strain when
the cable is hooked gradually increased
A ship may have to steam across the
line of a cable many times before succeM
is attained. When the cable is hooked
the end is brought on board the ship
and a dispatch sent to the office on short
to test that part of the cable. The end
is then buoyed and sent adrift until the
other end is secured. When this is done
a new piece of cabie is spliced in be*
tween the two ends and after a thor
ough testing the whole is lowered over
board.—New York Sun.