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VOL. VH.
IN THE CHINA SEA
* «* A jfX W . - *
I t-i ^
^ ’OF ADVENTURE.
A NARRATIVE
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“Would I; knqgy, jiim again?'' I re
plied rather warmly. “Why, his ugly
face hasn’t been sout Of my gightjsimse
I saw it. WtiuW I know him'GYVell ‘
just let me get my finders on his ac
cursed throaft. VJjftJttyrn fath^i;y»jjtld, :
not know him then!’’
Mr. Snell’s littld kbout.fo eyps optfued,at my
warmth. He was reply, When
Ralston returned. Mr..: tjnell skill
fully change(LtWauby<*ei; -
On January - the ofs
we suw in
tauce horizdfoo % fft^0ok$,dTlli* lana^ -JS'Vr laSkeqj, j
the plied-."" capteisi if ; it Jtas -.puch.. Jjte' re
“Yes, that -• t " t is ■Jd« land. s* It is ■ J - tjlo '■-'-4
and of FormqfcsrA,, W<|,are enter
ing the China: Sqa,” . - \V
The Chink Sea jaterestid ine otily'
as the stretch o.f w^tef jhat then sepc*
ated us from.Hogg Kong. A's w« bo-’
gan to dr^vy so near to the epd of our
journey, hasten through I felt a with feverish affair, aujxiq|y, to
our
It had. becomqyiy habit: night. of. late Some- to
meditate on deck at
times Langston and Bavston,- went-,
Sometimes only one or the other
would be with me. Sometimes I went
alone. : f •
the ...... the day passed'
On h:ght of we
Formosa, I went on deck, as usual,
Ralston was readiig f -.'and’ Langston
was busily engaged in # conversation
with au .Indian army officer. They
said they would be Bq> later. I did
not objeqf-. fo ljeing; aloo-e. Mv
.
thoughts kept‘life bompanj*.' T liked
to stand by the rail and muse over
the possibilities of what was before
us. I knew they were wide and vari
ous. Knowing that my two frieuds
were aiming to join me, I did not turn
when I heard a footstep behind me.
“Fine evening, thees,” said the
voica*of Mr. Gambok Snell. ‘.[Axe -
you enjoying that moonlight. Me,cpter
Creekmofe?” '■ " • 1 •'
“I. am enjoying the prospects ol
lauding much more, I replied.
“Vary-good. B^t ha,v-e you nntis,
Creekmore, ,wh»t a queer light comes
from .the China leetle Sea t^bea-cthe moo a
dance in its waves? ■
leaned ,
had not noticed, I oy-er the
rail, and there surely was a peculiarity
in the emerald sheeifl that W;aS*re
fleeted from the water. I bent low,
admiring the gretiy effget. aeized ,• from
In an-inst*mt I,was be
hind in an. iron grip. I turned quick
ly, but was at a disadvantage. Be
fore I could cry out, Ireceivqd a,sfcun-,
niag blow on the head-., Only half
consoioas, I felt myself .lifted- and
shoved over the rails.
A hateful vdice sounded in my ears;
“Now you can’t identify anybody,
can ly® you, -^[Hid Orickmore?”^ whistled p’ast fa.ee; I
nay
fell. I felt the .waters close over rfie.
I had been thrown overboard by Gam
bok Snell.
I was powerless to utter a sound as
I went down. I struck the water
head first as clean as though I had
taken a dive for, sport. ,
The momentum pf the ship and Jlie
height from which I .-had
me deep into the sea. -Down—down ^
I went,.until iq a Jmlf-cqnscious n y
I wondered if I was ever going to
stop. I do-not know how far down I
went or how jong it.took me to get
there—probably not many seconds—
when I felt a rush of cold water. The
coldness of the water restored
senses, Auit.Ljffias .ajifsplutelv power-,
less. The rush of the ifater'was
tremendous. It whirle.d me
turned mie^ upside,, dpwn,, rolled^Img
over an# over And swiptme 'it flashed,oyer
piece, IVis'fn o£ paper,
that one of
marine currents so common in the
south seas. Some of these inde
pendent currents are said to travel at
a greater rate of speed, tjhau, a.^mile a
minute. The one that had me in
grasp was not the slowest of its kind,
What has ever since seemed, tu .me
a most remarkable thing, but -
did uot eeern at all ftrange then, was
the fact lhat IjdhJ nbt |hke my
is enee true. « Jjaiud,.1 I helpless'in cohld-Mo.-aoj|ing,.it the
of this the that 'watqrg. I held But breaith I sjpifully.-realized and let the
toy me.along
great force sweep unresist
ing.
Since boyhood I had been a good'
swimmer. Hours and hours I had
spent swimming in the water, floating, diving,
under water, and I had, in
my medals library "that'*I' in San had* Francisco, taken in several college
aquatic contests. stead. This training now
stood me in good
It was possible lot .me; to hold »my
breath under water for some minutes,
Bat it seemed like five years to me
shooting along uqder the China Sea.
It was probably just about five min
ntes before that icy current let go its
grasp. Feeling the warmer and calmer
ffktetBjKoqnd me, I sbat upward with
THE RECORD.
DEVOTED TO THE INTEREST OF JOHNSON COUNTY AND vmm.«
WRLGHTSYTLLE. GA„ THURSDAY, DECEMBER 28. 1899.
stroke. I felt, rather than
the-light through the rapidly shal- 1
lowing water as I neared the surface,
T also felf-the. decrease in tho pres
sure. A few .more strokes aud I
breathed,again.
I looked anound me. '
T'lie 'i gopd ship. City of Rio do Jane
ijsjipp.ased to.be her— 1
T 0 r
was visible in the far distance, just a
.Ltyk --^teak and a .cloud of smoke
marking Tier course. It wao ylain that
no help could be expected fiv»m her.
it they, had aware of wj
eatastroptie at once, I was so quickij
Carried opt of * their reach that t&ej
. (
^ofuld Jjangstoi'and give me Ralston up. I would wondered learn how ol | j
»ud if they would suspect
Qatnbok Snell. I did not think the
probable. The fellow was actor
to be the first to break the
news of my : “accident” and to be at
the same time the most grief-stricken
person on-board.
The Island of Formosa could not be
aet }n. I judged from the direction in
which I lay from tho ship, that For
©osa was on the other side of her. 1
did not know- 1 north, from south, but I
knew that-when we bad passed For
mosa we had been south of it. This led
mo to believe that I had been carried
,*.outk by the current. Later events
proved this, although I greatly mis
calculated the distance, and was prob
ably mistaken iu supposing the smoke
r saw to he from the ship I had left. I
floated for some little time on my back,
until I had fully recovered my breath,
pflen I scanned the horizon, for some
thing that promised hope of shelter,
hut I saw nothing. I thought oi
sharks, but, as none were insight, J
hoped to escape those dreaded mon
sterg of tlie deep. So far as swim
flung any distance - was concerned, ]
had up fear. I could without diffi
culty remain on top and propel mysell
.whither I wanted to go. But my greal
danger was exhaustion from hunger,
I did not know how long I would be
compelled to sustain myself in the
water, and if hunger made me its vie
Dm j knew I was lost.
ffhe thing to do, then, was to make
the best speed while I could.
I started offwith a long, easy stroke,
• The water of the Chiua Sea is very
a fl,| gives great buoyancy to a
floating body. My only work was tc
propel myself.
Without stopping I swam forward for
about ah hour. I was a rapid swimmer,
|jut the distance covered was but a
dot in the vast expanse of water. Then
i rested,a moment and raising my
h ea d aa high as I could I took an
othqr survey joy, I of the horizon. far away—in To the my
great saw
direction . toward which I had been
going—what appeared to be land. I
eould see no trees or evidences of
vegetation of auy kind. Probably
this was an island of rock. I had
heard that there were many-such oil
the*Chinese coast. But whatever it
was, it afforded'hope; and with re
newed courage P swept the water
again with my-vigorous strokes aud
.started toward the speck. The island
,m|ty\have have' been been five. two miles Distance away is or, al- it
mpy
most annihilated'iu the clear moon
'light of this region. All that I know
of the distance is that I swain about
four hours before I got near enough
to tell what it really was.
I saw the barest rock, rearing its
bald head high above the water. Rock
~ Rut even tbal
.was something, and I gathered mysell
'for'a'final effbf*f» Guriing miyself irf
in a knot I succeeded in getting ofl
my shoes. Then my coat I flung fron
me, coat, bu^I I’|cdttl^ Jinew bqv6 it liked would to retard save th« mj
progress, s$iui. and Iliad along distance
yet to I was fighting for life,
so the coat went with the shoes.
I did not seek to increase my stroke,
I wished,- rather, to husband my
strength.' It was well I did so. Thu
cock proved to lie farther away than ]
imagined. But, at last, I had the
great joy of being near enough to see
the greenish-white foam from
waters that broke upon its base. I
hah-met with no greater danger than
the water itself. ' I hqd no doubt that
these southern seas swarmed with
toan-eating monsters, but \he help of
a Higher Power must have been with
toe, for I saw not one. ,
I reached the rock.
My heart sank within me, for its
rides were as smooth and as per
pendieular as the side of a liQiise.
.There was no handhold or foothold,
"Thq,frowning stone rose high above
me > cold, inhospitable, pitiless. I
started to swim around it.
The rock covered, I should judge,
if reduced to figures, about four acres,,
out it was like swimming around a
continent to me, so hopeless had I
become. There was no other land in
sight. My hope of life hung on this
roc ^
At last, haying sjyum sore than
Wf«r »«»a. r foaiiil „p„i«g
that surprised me. A gateway was
formed by two jutting crags. This
Dpening led into an inelosure—a
miniature bay or inland sea, not more
than fifty feet ip extent, or perhaps a
hundred, in which the water was per¬
fectly calm, and would be so in any
weather, for it was absolutely sheltered
from tho wind. I went through the
gateway, which was about twelve feet
wide. Inside the inclosure‘I found,
on one side, what appeared tq be a
fastened.
The sight of anything that betokened
the presence of a human being in
that waste was something of a
But there was hope in those rings for
me.
By a great effort I reached one cJ
the ringp and drew myself upward,
It was no light task to scafe that rook
even by aid of the ring and tlierough
hewn step. I put forth my entire
strength. I stretched, reached,
climbed, orawled and glued myself to
the rock like a mollusk. I was saving
my own life. A man performs wonder
ful feats of strength under those cir
cumstanoes.
At last I stood on a flat table-rook,
It was bare and barren. I had found
a resting-place, but no more. Not a
sign of sustaining food. I could not
eat rock, and I saw nothing else. I
saw in my future nothing but a linger
ing death from starvation. Had I any
kind of a contrivance with which I
could fish, I would gladly have de¬
voured some of the finny inhabitants
of the deep without any coo'king, hut
I had nothing,
I began to despair,
It is not a pleasant thing to look
death in the face at auy time. It is
simply horrible to see it staring you’
out of countenance when you are in
full possession of health, strength and
faculties, and especially so when that
death will certainly be of a lingering
kind, preceded by the pangs of hunger,
shooting pains of the most violent
kind through the body, a frightful
mental excitement and even madness
itself, then exhaustion and death. All
this I thought of, and resolved, if it
came to the -worst, that before my
mind gave way I would leap from the
rock and destroy myself before the
suffering was too great to bear,
But I was calm, wonderfully calm,
as it seems to me now as I lookback
upon the awful situation. I even
smiled, with a grim sort of ghastly ap
nreeiaiion of my predicament.
‘
“If I can’t eat,” I said to myself
aloud, my voice echoing from the high
rock behind me, “I can at least rest—
and I will.”
I stretched myself on the flat rock,
-with no covering but my wet clothe*
and tho brilliant stars above me.
I was exhausted. I fell asleep,
When I woke the sun was high and
the rock was warm. My clothes had
dried and I was covered with a coating
of solt. My arms and-legs were stiff,
and I ached in every inch of my body,
The rough stone had not been a com
fort-able bed, but the long sleep had
refreshed me—mentally, at least. I
got up and straightened out the kinks
iu my joints.
I was very hungry.
This was the beginning of my slow
death. I realized this, aud the bitter¬
ness of despair was upon me. I even
contemplated casting myself into the
gea to end it all.
I had read of Robinson Crusoe. His
was luck, indeed, compared to my
miserable outlook. I would? find here
u 0 man Friday to keep me company;
no goats to give me refreshing milk;
no grain to sow and reap in the future;
no ground to sow it in if I did. Here
was, none of the good fortunes of ths
famous Swiss family Robinson, who
were cast away on a supposed desert
island, and found ready for their
teaching all the adjuncts of a success
ful stockfarm. I would train no ze
bra to carry me. I would find no
bread-fruit-tree to give me lffe. I
would-.find nothing but death. To all
intents aud purposes I was’dead,
Nothing known of man could save me.
But even a dying man abandon*
hope grudgingly. I determined before
the end came to thoroughly inspect
the rock* hoping I knew not what—
possibly to find some food swept there
from a passing ship; possibly to find
something left by a wayfarerlikemy- solve'
aelf; possibly to penetrate and
the mystery of the presence of the
iron rings.
I picked my way from the flat rock
upon which I stood, over a ledge of
let of water. The ledge seemed hew*
by hand, but not of recent date. It
was above highwater mark. No ac
tion of the tide had-dona it. And it
was too rough for that. What vras
more, I thought I could see the marks
0 f cutting-tools. I carefully followed
the’ ledge, which led to a crevice
j u the rock, down into which—oh,
j 0 yi—some rude steps were cut.
Down into this pit they led, and
m y heart hounded with hope. The
interior of the pit was securely above
the waves, sheltered by the high sur
rounding rock. An overhanging wall
kept out the rain. Now I began to
think of Monte Cristo. What if I
found there vast treasures in gold or
silver or precious stones? Well, what
if I did? I asked myself again. I
would simply die in the midst of it all
unless the lawful or unlawful owners
of it came there aud succored me.
There was greater danger of them
killing me. So the discovery <rf what
might prove to be the hiding-place of
the famed and feared pirates of the
South Seas was not going to help me.
Gingerly I went down the stone
steps. There were at least one hun¬
dred of them, and I knew, when I
reached the bottom, that I was below
the level of the sea.
CHAPTER V.
A CHINESE MONTE CRISTO.
I was in the bottom of a great, fun¬
nel-like pit, with a solid wall of rook
around me.
I could see no opening, not even a
hole large enough to put a finger
through. What, then, was the pur¬
pose of the stairs? I sat dowu oq the
bottom step and tried to think. I had
heard and read all kinds of treasure
islands, but I could recall no mention
of any where time had been spent in
hewing stone steps that led to nowhere.
It might be that the pit was used for
storing goods by the pirates of the
coast, and at this time happened to be
empty. The glimmer of hope I had
felt wherf-1 discovered the stairs now
loft me, and my hunger came back
with renewed pangs.
What a miserable fate! To die there
alone, leaving no word or sign that
could ever reach my friends to tell
them of my unhappy endl
It was hard to die so. No one to
care for me in my last moments; no
smooth pillow for my weary head when
the madness of fever was rpon mal
Nothing but stone—stone—stone!
[to bb continued. 1
Farmer Armour’s Acorn Deal,
I’. D» Armour, late in his life, has
returned to his first love, and is now
living pu a farm near ONniomowoc, on
aeeouup of his health., Any day he can
he seep directing the work of the
“hjred^ hands,” superintending the
building of corn cribs and generally
showing the influence, ,qf his early
training. The people of the neighbor¬
hood say he is a shrejyd horse trader,
and is feeding the-fattest hogs that
have -been seen in that section for
twenty years.
Long ago. before Mr. Armour em¬
barked on his career as a financier, he
entertained the theory that the best
feed fot pigs is acorns. Accordingly, as
soon ns he took up farming again, he
sent out word that he would pay 25
cents a bushel for acorns delivered in
the farmyard. lie got enough in a
week to feed all the pig around Oeono
mowoc, hut he also got a note from the
district school teacher, which read as
follows;
“Dear Sir: When you offered to pay
25 cents for acorns there were sixty
scholars in my school. Now the regu¬
lar attendance Is about ten. In the
interest of education, I wish you would
suspend your operations for a more fa¬
vorable season.”
Farmer Armour saw the point and
acted accordingly.—Cincinnati Euquir
er.
A Louisville physician has been
pondering on the question, “Does it
pay ?” aud in an article contributed
to The Cincinnati Lancet-Clinic de¬
clares that it doesn’t. The “it” which
he pondered was his profession.
“Taking everything into considera¬
tion," he says, in conclusion, ‘*1 think
I am perfectly safe in saying that it
does not pay financially to be a phy¬
sician.” This is surprising to those
of us whose knowledge of medicine
was acquired from settling doctor’*
bills.
Three Papers a Week
FOR ABOUT THE
PRICE OF ONE.
This paper and the Atlanta
Twice^a^Week Journal for
..$ 1 . 25 ..
Here you get the : news of
the world and all your local
news while it is fresh, paying
very little Jmore than one
paper costs. Either paper
is well worth $..00, but by
special arrangement we are
enabled to put in both of
them, giving three papers a
week for this low price. You
cannot equal-this anywhere
else, and this combination is
the best premium for those
who want a great paper and
a home paper. Take these
and- you will keep up with
the times.
Besides general news, the
Twice-a-Week Journal has
much agricultural matter
and other articles of special
interest to farmers. It haB
regular contributions by Sam
Jones, Mrs. W. H. Fslton
John Temple Graves, Hon.
C. H. Jordan and other dis
tinguished writers.
Call at tki« office and leave your
subscription, for both papers. You can
gat a sample copy of either paper hare
on application.
GOOD ROADS NOTES.
Whai It Coflts to Haul Produce.
“The condition of roads in the
United States, taken as a whole, can
most clearly be shown in figures. If
we can make inquiries of a hundred
farmers, in as many localities, as to
how long it takes them to haul a load
of crops to town, liow far he hauls it,
and wbat his time aud that of his team
are worth, wc cau readily ascertain
what it costs on an average to market
a load of crops,” says Otto Doruer,
Chairman of the Highway Improve¬
ment Committee of the League of
American Wheelmen.
“If the number of these inquiries
bo sufficiently increased, aud exteuded
over the entire country, the result
will pretty nearly show what it costs
on an average in the wholo United
States to haul a load of crops to mar¬
ket. If with each inquiry we also as¬
certain the weight of the load, we cau
figure out how muoh it costs per 100
pounds, or per ton,to market all these
crops, aud if the inquiry also include
the number of miles comprising each
haul, we can easily figure the cost of
hauling these crops per ton per mile.
This gives a unit which can be com¬
pared with the same unit, similarly
obtained, by similar inquiries made
in other counties.
“An inquiry of this kind was made
in November, 1895, by the United
State* Department of Agriculture,
through its office of road inquiry. Ten
thousand circulars were sent out to
farmers in all parts of the United
States asking for information in these
various particulars. Replies were re¬
ceived from over 1,200 counties dis¬
tributed throughout the United States,
aud the results were carefully com¬
piled. Tho weight of loads hauled
varied between an average of 2,409
pounds in tho prairie States and an
average of 1,397 pounds in the cotton
States, the average weight of farm
loads for the whole country being
2,002 pounds, or practically a ton.
The average length of haul was found
to be 12 1-10 miles, varying be¬
tween 5 9-10 miles in tho Eastern
States aud 23 3-10 miles in the
Pacific and mountain States. The
average cost of marketing a ton of
crops in the United Statas was found
to be $3.02. It was as high as $5.12
in the Pacific Coast and mountain
States, due to long hauls, and as low
as $1.87 in the Northern aud Eastern
States, which are more densely settled,
and where railroads are numerous
aud hauls are shorter. Tho average
cost of hauling a ton a distance of one
mile was 25 cents, it being 22 cents in
the prairie aud Pacific Coast and
mountain States, and rising as high as
32 cents iu the Eastern States.
“The net grand result of all these
inquiries and computations showed
very clearly, and as nearly as human
intelligence cau, that it cost the farm¬
ers of the United States, on the aver¬
age, in time, labor and energy, figur¬
ing tho value of teams, wagons and
men at what they can reasonably be
hired for, twenty-five cents every time
a ton of their crops was hauled a mile
nearer to market, or briefly, that it
costs twenty-five cents per ton per
mile to move crops in the United
States.”
Enforce Present lloart Laws.
The increasing strength of the
movement for good roads is bringing
to light many forgotten facts, and it
is encouraging to find that roads need
not, perhaps, be quite so bad as they
are in most places, even under the
present inadequate and radically bad
methods that generally obtain. It
appears that iu Some States, at least,
road officers can be held responsible,
aud compelled to get the best results
that are possible under the law.
Judge Monks, of the Indiaua Su¬
preme Court, has given his opinion
•that road supervisors can be com¬
pelled to keep the roads in their dis¬
tricts in good condition, aud may be
fined for failure to do so; Judge
Woodward instructed the Luzerne
County (Penn.) Grand Jury that it is
their duty to make return of roads
known to be bad, and that the courts
will compel the supervisors to do their
part, and now Judge Wright, at the
opening of the session of the Supreme
Court at Rome, N. Y., calls the at¬
tention of the Grand Jury to tho road
question, and the duties of road com¬
missioners and pathmasters.
Expect to Introduce Hills.
There are twenty-two State divis¬
ions of the League of American
Wheelmen which expect to introduce
“good roads” bills iiqtheir Legisla¬
tures this winter. In several others
there will be bills calling for the
building of cycle paths. Tie National
the Highway Improvement Committee of
league is working in conjunction
with the State divisions to secure the
passage of theso bills.
The Anti-Hut Agitation in Brief.
It is claimed that the improvement
of the roads in Allegheny County,
Penn., has increased the value of farm
property about thirty-five per cent.
Have you tried wide tires? The
wider the tires the li ghter the draft.
Don’t save the horses by walking, but
ride and let the wagon become tired.
In the fall the entire road should
be gone over to see that all gutters
and bridges are free, that the road
NO, 41
may not be washed out by winter
storms and spring rains.
The L, A. W. is beginning to re- .
ceive applications for membership
from automobilists, who are as much
interested in the cause of good roads
as the wheelmen and farmers.
The application to the road work of
the business rules which govern every
progressive fanner in the conduct of
his farm, with the work done under
the supervision of a responsible man,
will accomplish wonders.
A distinguished Canadian civil en¬
gineer, attached to the Department of
Agriculture of Ontario, has calcu¬
lated the direct finaucial loss daily in
Ontario from poor roads and he shows
that the province could afford to spend
$8000 on every mile of public high¬
way.
Example of Dervish Treachery.
An incident of which Carl Neufeldt
was au eye witness, while he was a
prisoner in the Soudan, is related by
him in his book describing his experi¬
ences: “The day after the battle of
Kirbekan, au outpost was being sent
forward. Moving to its position it
espied a wounded dervish making
signs for water. One of the soldiers
slipped off his camel to give him some,
and his comrades moved on. As time
went on, and their chum did not catch
them up, they came back to see what
had happened. There he was still at¬
tending to the wounded dervish, hia
hand resting on his shoulder, and
there was no movement from either.
Approaching—this was the tale plainly
written. The lines on the ground
showed that ‘Tommy’ had taken the
wounded man in his arms, and half
supporting and half dragging him,
had placed him in a sitting posture in
the shade, with his back against a
rock; then, taking his water bottle,
he began pouring the life-giving drops
dowu the throat oi the dervish, for he
still grasped the empty water bottle.
With returning life came, of course,
returning strength — strength suf¬
ficient for the dervish to slip off his
knife, poise his hand for a second of
time behind ‘Tommy’s’ back, while
he was occupied with his mission of
mercy, and then, plunging it in with
sufficient force to divide the spinal
column, the dervish died happy as
‘Tommy’ fell dead across his shoulder.
That dervish was glorified in the
Soudan, aud thousands of others were
awaiting the opportunity of dying as
gloriously.”
Coal Exhibits at Paris.
It was a happy thought to make an
exhibit of American anthracite at the
Paris Exposition. This is au Ameri¬
can product which is losing its mar¬
ket, and is likely to lose it more rap¬
idly in the near future. It is well to
face the situation and provide a new
market, if possible, to re-inforce the
present one. As a fuel for ordinary
workaday use anthracite has been
supplanted by bituminous to a large
extent already, and is being further
supplanted constantly. There is rea¬
son to suppose that, before many
years, both will be largely superseded
by electricity. But this will not de¬
stroy the usefulness of anthracite; it
will merely change its UBe. It is a
luxurious fuel, and as such will al¬
ways be in domand for stove, furnace
and open grate fires, while the demand
will increase as its merits become
known. It is now used for that pur¬
pose in the homes of those who can
afford it all over the United States,
but there is a large market awaiting it
in Europe, where anthracite coal is
practically unknown and bituminous
is now the universal mineral fuel. Its
display at the Paris Exposition will
introduce it to thousands of people
who Lave never seen anything like it,
and should be the means of introduc¬
ing it to a wide circle of consumers
across the Atlantic.—Philadelphia
Ledger.
Cannot I.lvo in Thla Lake,
Several times in the past efforts
have been made by the cities of Utah
to interest the United States Govern¬
ment in planting fish in-the Great Salt
Lake. The United States Fish Com¬
mission has just published a report,
giving the result of an inquiry into
the subject, by H. F. Moore, in which
he concludes, as the result of careful
examination and study of the condi¬
tions, that any attempt to plant fish
in the lake would be useless, as the
water is absolutely unfitted for them.
He says that no fish could live there.
There is plenty of fish food; indeed,
its quantity exceeds that usually
found in the sea. This is dae to the
fact that there are no fish to eat it.
It consists of brine, shrimp and in¬
sect larva). But the water is of such
salinity and its other constituents are
so inimical io life that fish would per¬
ish in it.
Dangerous Pleasantry.
A oitizen of Boston who attempted a
little pleasantry while the Dewey
function was going on in the streets
of Boston, received a sudden eye
opener as to the danger of a too free
use of irony, or sarcasm, or even of
perpetrating an innocent little joke in
mixed company, One man near tho
grand stand asked facetiously, “Who
is this man Dewey?” whereupon two
or three other men, who had a some¬
what seafaring look, promptly knocked
him down and hammered the Ad¬
miral’s fame deep into him.—Buffalo
Commercial.