Decatur Democrat, Volume 36, Number 52, Decatur, Adams County, 17 March 1893 — Page 3

A POKE 0’ MOONSHINE. I * - I How Willis Farsell Secured a Wife and I a Fortune. f BY FRANKLIN FILE.

■ CHAPTER I. H tan nrricn or the clarion or libxbtt. ■ If the Canada lino had been a streak ■_ of bright color on the ground, an it ie on the maps, the new March enow ■ would have covered it wide and deep. ■ A man and a woman in a Blelch, drawn ■ by a horse whose bells jingled furious- ■ ly with his rapid gait, wore looking for ■ some sign that they had crossed the ■ border. They came to a post upholding ■ a board which was blank on the side of ■ their approach, as though there was ■ nothing in that direction worth an inI scription; but, when they had passed it | and looked back, they saw on its other surface the big word, 'Vermont," underneath which was the smaller line, •Liberty Three Miles South." At sight of that the travelers lifted their faces a little above their ample furs, showing that the eager eyes belonged to young persons. “Now we’re In Yankeeland," the man exclaimed, in a congratulatory voice. “But not yet to Yankee Liberty." the woman responded, with a look forward and then back, as though safety lay In front and danger behind. "G’long!" and a touch of the whip made the horse shake the bells more violently with a plunge Into a still faster pace. The young woman Imbedded her nose again In the fur, and only her bright •yes were visible between the mink of collar and cap as she kept a lookout for the village of Liberty. As their sleigh slid Into the first street of it, they met a man who was putting his feet down and taking them up so very deliberately that his purpose did not seem to be to go anywhere, but rather to make tracks ’ in the snow with a huge pair of new boots. “Can you tell me, sir," said the driver, as he pulled up the horse, “where we can find a clergyman?" “A minister?" and the pedestrian stopped, surveyed the horse and sleigh critically, and then yellowed a spot In the snow with a mouthful of tobacco juice. “I guess I kin." "Well, will you?" “I guess I will, es you want me to. Elder Perkins he’s gone down to Pownal; but there’s Willis Fassell, don’t you reckon he’d answer?" “Whom did you mention?" asked the young woman, exposing one red little car above the fur, which had prevented her hearing the name. . "Elder Perkins’ assistant, ma’am; I afeHW I “IS IT ron?" •a. ——w r- — -- ■ , - guess he’s down tew the Clarion off! g jest now—’er Jedge Purry’s, and that’s the same thing. Drive right straight along, same way you’re goin’, till ye come tew a winder with ’Law Offis’ onto it, and anuther winder with ’Clarion of Liberty’ onto it, and a door between ’em. I guess you’ll find Elder Perkins’ assistant right in there." Those directions were successfully obeyed. While the man stayed in the sleigh to hold the reigns of the fractious horse, the young woman got cut to make the inquiry. She pushed open the door, and, on confronting the only inmate, impulsively shut it between them and her sleighing companion, as though the two men ought not to see each other. "Why, Will Fassell! Is it you?” she exclaimed. “And Grace Wlllowby! Is it you?" he responsively ejaculated. She expressed apology and regret along with het astonishment at encountering a former acquaintance, while he was manifestly glad and yet grim on seeing her. He bowed politely, and she quickly regained perfect composure. Then they shook hands and momentarily scrutinized each other. She saw a tall, good-looking fellow of twenty-five, with a neatly trimmed beard, a frock coat buttoned up, and little of the aspect of a rural Vermonter. The woman whom his startled eyes encompassed had not long ceased to be a girl, for her maturity was still fresh and smooth, and the chill of a wintry March day had seemingly frosted the delicate blonde of her hair and skin, making her look like an exquisite image in bisque. “We were looking for the clergyman’s associate,” Miss Wlllowby said, with a markedly English accent. “You have found him," was Fassell’s steady reply. “I am a licensed preacher, and, on occasion, I act as substitute or assistant for Elder Perkins. What can Ido for you?" “Marry me, please, to the gentleman out there in the sleigh. ” Fassell involuntarily grabbed at his heart, as though that organ had omitted a beat, then he drew a hard breath, his windpipe having developed a sudden obstruction. But Miss Wlllowby was determined not to see any symptoms of his agitation, and, opening the door, she called out: “Shamus! Shamus! The gentleman is here." Turning to Fassell, she continued; "Mr. Shamus O’Flarretty is an ex-Cap-tain of the British? army. I met him in Quebec. We have eloped from over the border, and " The entrance of Mr. O’Flarretty introduced a man of military straightness, alert gray eyes and bristling red hair, very thick in a mustache as Well as on his head. She explained to him: “Mr. Fassell and I are old friends, Shamus. We knew each other very well, Indeed, when he was a student at Yale and I lived at home in New Haven —before I went abroad, you know." "The lady and I are in a bit av haste * ■ to be married," said ex-Oaptain O’Flarretty, with a touch of Irish brogue in some of his words; “that is to say, me dear sor, circumstances and meself combine to overcome her natural desire for convlntlonal decorum. We must be married at wonce, sor. Cah you do it 10 “I have no doubt of it," Mr. Fassell dazedly answered. "lama little of a lawyer—a sort of assistant to ex-Judge Purry—this is his place," and he indicated the half of the room whose win* dow was lettered "Law Office." That moletv of the premises was railed by Itself, and It held a desk, a

safe, chairs, bookshelves and other denotements ot a lawyer’s work. "As a clerlco-legal composite, sor, If you’ll permit me to fay so," exclaimed Mr. O’Flarretty, explosively, “you’re mighty handy in this case. You're doubtless competent as a lawyer to decide whether, as a clergyman, you can legally marry ustwe." ‘Oh, the ceremony would be valid, no doubt," but the emphasis and intieotion of the word “valid" indicated, to Miss Wlllowby's alert apprehension, that the speaker condemned the proceedings upon other than professional grounds. But O’Flarretty was not keenly perceptive as to any side matter. We want, sor," he went on, “what I'm minded to call an instantaneous marriage. And, when it’s done, we’d like to have it published. The newspaper office " “Is this other half the room," Fassell interposed, as prompt and perfunctory as a tourists’ guide. That area was railed off, like its opposite, and Its furniture, too, indicated that mind was there turned into matter. A heap ot various newspapers here, a bunch of proof slips on a hook there, a batch ot manuscript on another hook yonder, and characteristic literature everywhere —these things could belong to nothing else than a country editor's sanctum. Miss Wiliowby’s glance went swiftly from one object to another, and was not puzzled until it rested on a big cake of maple sugar, a squirredskin cap, and a bunch ot home-knitted stockings, which lay in a row on the bit ot counter which topped a section of the railing. Then her gaze became fixed on a huge yellow pumpkin, which was held tightly In the arms ot a capacious armcha'r, and an explanation seemed to be demanded. "No," said Fassell, “Colonel Burble, editor of the Clarion of Liberty, doesn’t deal in country produce—further than to take it for subscriptions when he can’t get cash. These things have come in to-day. I received them in the Colonel’s absence. lam his associate in the Clarion, you know." “Really, I didn’t know," Miss Wlllowby responded. “So you are the aid of Elder Perkins in the ministry, of Judge Purry in the law, and ot Colonel Burble In journalism? You used to tell me that one professorship at Yale would satisfy your ambition." “Have you forgotten one other aspiration that " “And your versatility is such a convainyance, sor," O’Flarretty vivaciously broke in. “You can marry us on the spot —legally and ecclesiastically—and then—when does the Clarion go to press?” “This evening." “And then you can publish the marriage notice for us to mall back to Canada to-morrow. You are, sor, the man for ivory duty connected with this affair." . , u J “Except that of bridegroom, sighed the triple friend in need. “You promise to do this and print It?" “I do. O’Flarretty took the hand of Miss Wlllowby, and they stood beside Fassell, ready to be united in wedlock. The apportionment of confidence and temerity in this bridal party was unusual. The bride was placidly acquiescent, it is true, but the bridegroom had a dominant and leading aspect fit for the officiating clergyman, while the man who stood in that capacity was confused and hesitant “Do you, Grace, take this man?” he began, like an expostulation. "Howld on, sor," O’Flarretty inteirupted. “I don’t intend to be capraclous and I don't wish to cause a delay that might be dangerous; but wouldn’t it be in accordance with custom to first ask me, ’Do you, Shamus, take this woman?' Not that it makes, sor, any difference in the wurruld." By this time it well clear to Miss Wlllowby that no formula ot marriage at all between her and O’Flarretty would be liked by Fassell, who looked as though he would collapse before reaching the end of the briefest possible ceremony having for Its climax, “I pronounce you man and wife.” It happened also that the delay caused by O’Flarretty’s criticism, although momentary, endangered his project, for the door opened before the confused celebrator could start anew, and Silas Purry, ex-County Judge and present counselor-at-law, entered briskly. The group amazed him. “I was about to marry this 1 dy," Fassell begun. “You marry the lady!" Mr. Purry exclaimed. “I was about to marry this lady," and a gurgle of regret broke the sentence again, “to this gentleman. But maybe, Judge, the legal points ought to be first submitted to you. Really, Mr. O’Flarretty, I would advise that course." “And I agree," said Miss Wlllowby, thereby making the complexion of the impatient Irishman Imitate the hot hue

of his hair. “I don’t see, Gr-r-race ” he began. But Judge Furry, who was a heavily suave and overpoweringly placid man of middle age, conducted the bride presumntive to a chair within his own railing, and seated himself opposite her In his accustomed pose of a 'judicial listener. “Pray state your case,” he said. “I will put it into few words,” she replied. “I am heiress to property which an eccentric uncle willed to me with the odd proviso that I should marry on my twenty-first birthday—neither sooner nor later. I shall be twenty-one years old at eleven o’clock to-night The fortune was in twenty big and fine but uncut diamonds, well worth a thousand dollars apiece on the average. Uncle mined them himself in South Africa, and on returning rich to Quebec placed them in a bag for stowage in a safe-deposit vault. Well, the chief executor of the will was my guardian, and he had a son whom he planned to become my husband to-day. My protest was all in vain, but my ingenuity, aided and abetted by Captain O’Flarretty’s interest—" "Say Captain O’Flarretty’s love, me darling," suggested that gentleman, who was leaning over the rail. “Aided and abetted by Captain O’Flarrety’s love," she obediently began again, “my Ingenuity was not in vain. The diamonds were brought to the house early this morning, to be given to me after the wedding, for which all essential preparations had* been made except to gain the consent of the bride, well, as I said, aided by Captain O’Flarre tty’s " - „ “Interest," prompted Willis Fassell, who had listened to the narrative absorbedly. . ... “Love," suggested the Captain, like the flare and boom of a bomb. Without accepting either of the suggested words she went on: “I seised the bag of* diamonds, slipped from the

house, Jollied Captain O’Flarretly, and •loped with him a rose the border. Now, what I can’t make out is the legality of the Mt." The fact has already been given that Miss Wlllowby spoke with a markedly English accent, contracted during a residence of several years in England, and her narrative to Judge Purry had been delivered like a Briton born, clear through to the last “cahn’t." "I 'cahn’t' advise In a breath," said the lawyer. "I beg your pardon, I mean I ‘can’t,* * and, resolutely escaping from LelbiA rtt j® 4s* 11 “PRAT, STATS TOTO CASS." the beauty’s spell and pronunciation, he repeated “I can't" with the short, hard “a'* of a true and loyal Yankee. Unquestionably the diamonds were not yours when you took them. Just bow culpable in law you are for the seizure is a nice point. Besides, there is a minor question as to customs duty, and whether they are not liable to confiscation for Icing smuggled into the United States. Again, would your marriage here, under all the cir.ums anoee, place you in a safe attitude. lam excessively busy to-day, as a nominee for the judical bench, with the election only three days off, but I comprehend the urgency of your case, and will prepare mysell to guide you with sound advice In time for you to wed before midnight* “Meanwhile," said she, “here is the bag of diamonds," and she produced from a pocket deep in the mysterious labyrinth of her skirts a small buckskin bag. “I see you have a sate. Will you lock up the stones while the Captain and I are getting supper?" Judge Purry took the bag and held it out with one hand, while with the other hand he pushed the coatsleeve up from his wrist, as the sleight-of-hand performer does when seeking to convince his spectators that no tr ek is to be played at that moment. He unlocked the outer door of the safe, and then an inner box, using one hand only, while the otter was outstretched with the treasure. In that circumspect manner he at length deposited the bag in the box, and locked the two doors. “I don’t mean that your bag of diamonds shall become a poke o' moonshine," he said. “And what is that?” she asked. “Oh, ‘poke’ means bag, and there’s a fairy legend in this neigh orhood of a night chase for a bag of treasure. But when it was found, and looked into, the captor saw only moonshine. That’s the tale of the poke ’o moonshine." CHAPTER IT. THB CLARION OF LIBEHTT GOES TO PRESS An hour passed, and the office of the Clarion of Liberty was silent and empty, while the allied one of Judge Purry contained only Willis Fassell. The departure of his one-third employer and the clients from Canada had left the young man quite inert and collapsed. Ho sat slumped in a tipped chair, the balancing of which on its rear legs seemed to engage all of his mind and body that was alive. One hand was touching its fingers in rotation to the railing, as though the smallest lapse from the exact digital sequence would not only disturb the easy see-saw of the chair, but also be a cruel slight to the omitted finger. But suddenly the quietude of the place was broken. The outer door opened and*shut with a bang, inclosing more air in the little entry than it could hold, and so puffing the inner door open, with a clatter of latch and a squeak of hinge. A cyclonic movement of the air was developed, whirling a wreath of snow through the doorway and fluttering every loose bit of paper in the room. The center of the storm was Colonel Hiram Burble, editor and publisher of the Clarion and an embodiment of oommotion. The brim of his soft felt hat was taking to Itself a new shape, as though agitated by the action of the brain which it held. The unbuttoned overcoat was flapping its skirts in a seeming endeavor to empty the pockets of their protruding papers. The plump figure of Mr. Burble became very pantomimic while he was discovering his idle associate, and his smoothly shaven face was busy, in all its features, with various expressions of surnrise. “Willis! Willis! Willis!" he exclaimed, speaking the name thrice in the time that almost anybody else could have uttered it only once. “Can it be, Willis—and no, it can’t—that you have forgotten this is Thursday? And don’t you know, Willis—of ccurse you do—that the two hands of the clock are shaking each other as they pass in their race for 6 p. m.?’ The Colonel had by this time entered his sanctum and paced rapidly twice around a circle therein, and at each passing had deposited on his desk a handful of memoranda and papers grabbed out of one or another of his pockets. "Is the last form closed. Willis? No —you’re going to say ‘No,’ when you have leisure to answer. Os course, you know I always come in with the last gust and on the final wave, like an argosy freighted down with a wealth of news. Why, sir, man and beast and the very elements themselves load me with news to burgeon the columns of the Clarion, while those of the impoverished Banner perish in their paucity.

- m Jim — 1 “IT JUSTLY COMMANDS BY ACK’ The so-called editor of the Banner had passed Squire Dickson's house, which is being painted red, and had made a memorandum which, you may be sure, Willis, will falsely itemize it yellow, when I came along; upon which the painter fell from the ladder and broke his leg." Here the Colonel plucked a scrap of paper from his vest pocket and consulted the scrawl penciled thereon. ' “His name is Francklyn—with a ‘o’ and a *y’—Caulkins—with a ‘u’,“ ho continued with unabated velocity; “doubtless he caught his feet in the loop of the useless ‘y’. Would you believe ■ it, Willis—why shouldn’t you, as I tell It, and not the presumed editor of the oblique- and sidelong Banner—Long Ben Dilworthy’s horse ran away an in-

•taut in front of me. tad five minute beh nd that vituperative, prevaricating interloper in journalism. His name is —la—is—" and he fumbled in one pocket after another. "Samuel Ransom," said Fassell, who had been aroused from his lethargy. "Willis — Willis — Willis," and the editor advanced upon his associate with an impetuosity whi< h, had it been unusual, would have made that y ung man prepare to lun or fight, “you are well aware that the nam > of that creature is unprintable in my paper and unspeakable In my office. I was alluding to the horee, sir, whoso decent, if somewhat libelous, title is Chilled Syrup. The Clarion’s account rhall be headed ‘Chilled Syrup Runs in March,’ while the nonentity across the way won’t have a line." The Colonel strode across the room to a doorway at the foot of a staircase and called, with a lift in key and volume for each word: “Eb! Lben! Ebenezel Ebenezer”! At the first shout a pair of heavy feet had struck the top step, and at the last one a boy reached the bottom with a thud. He was the printer's devil of this establishment, and the ink on h's face might have been mistaken for smut from work st purgatorial fires. He wore neither coat nor vest, and whether he would much longer wear trousers depended on the frail resolution of a single suspender. “Eb,* the editor commanded, “tell Johnson we can dose up in half an hour. I’ll give him just about three stickfuls of copy. Ask him if the Frolic Burlesque ( ompany’s ad is In ” “Yessir; it’s in. A hull column with picters,” the boy interposed. “Pictures anything like those on the fence by the Postofflco?” and by a spreading of his arms and a lifting of one leg Burble clearly Indicated a ballet dancer. “Some on ’em like that, and some on ’em like this,” and the boy kicked higher than his pursy employer could hope to. “Good gracious! H’m—ba! Well, tell Johnson to make up the church notices in the adjoining column. We must preserve a mo: al balance in this community, even if we can’t stand on the toes of one foot and comb our hair with the other set. Willis, did you make a safe, conservative notice?" “Oh, yes; one calculated to warn the righteous and advise the wicked.” “And did you write the topical verses, with what the manager called ‘local gags,’ to be tung in this blithesome and prismatic show?" Fassell implored silence with a gesture so violent that Colonel Burble obeyed it. “The doggerel has been written,” the editorial associate said, “by a reluctant person, who would not like to be known as its author, I assure you.” “Well, you can ease your conscience—his conscience—by writing, or letting him write, a hymn for Elder Perkins. Genius must be versatile." “And compose stanzas, to the refrain ‘That is what a naughty echo said to me.’ ” “Say, Kernel Burble," said Eb the devil, “lemme say suthin’. Put them verses inter the Clarion. There ain’t no zim in this week’s paper." “Zim? Do you mean vim or zip?" “I mean anything with er ziz-z-z-z---zlz to it. There ain’t a crime head,| there ain’t no mysterious affair, and there ain’t more’h my arm’s length about next season’s baseball. But there’s too much guff, and a whole handful of it is about old Aunt Hetable Green’s big punk." “Aunt Hetable’s pumpkin,” and the editor placed one hand on the abnormal growth, which filled a chair, “is a great agricultural achievement, and it justly commands space." The editor sat down to write his items, which he did with celerity, while the sub-editor labored much harder at a shorter piece of manuscript. The boy fetched proofs and carried copy until the chief’s two paragraphs were in the hands of the typesetters. “You’re writing an obituary, Willis," said Burble, crossing. the room and glancing over his aid’s shoulder. “I see it in your solemn face. The Clarion has lost a subscriber? Ah! ‘A young, lady?’ The good readers die young—and of complicated diseases, judging by your obliterations and interlineations.' - Fassell covered the page with his hands, as though It was a secret love letter Instead of matter for publication. “Oh, it is a legal document!” Burble continued. “Now, Willis, I don’t wish to be exacting, but I do demand my third of you. Thursday is my day clear through, and you shouldn’t take a minute of It from journalism to give to the law." For answer the young man handed the sheet of copy to the editor, who read from it a brief account of the case of Capt. O’Flarretty and Grace Wlllowby. [TO BB CONTINUED. I A Medicine Man. Although in perfect health, James. Mund, of Eastern New York, is always taking medicine. Recently he brought home two small bottles. “What alls you now?” laughed his wife, who had ,for years told him he needed no medicine, the physician agreeing with her. “That,” he said, pointing to one bottle, “is appetite medicine.” And she knew he ate more than any other man in the neighborhood. “That.” he said, pointing to the other bottle, “is sleep medicine.” And she knew he slept soundly from bedtime until she awoke him in'the morning. “I hope you may soon recover, ” she said. At night, having taken his medicine, went early to bed. “Now for a good sleep,” said he. About midnight he called to his wife, who was fast asleep: “Mary! Ob, Mary!” “W-what is it, dear?” said she. “I’ve made a mistake,” he moaned, “the greatest mistake of my life. Instead of the sleep medicine, I took the appetite medicine, and I just can’t stand it; I’m hungry as a bear." She did not scold as she prepared beefsteak and coffee. In the morning, after taking his medicine, he sat down at the table to await breakfast. “I’ll eat you out of house and home now, Mary,” said he. When breakfast was ready she asked: “Tea or coffee, James?” But he did not answer. He did not look up. He was sound asleep. She did not awaken him, perceiving that this time he had taken the sleep medicine for the appetite medicine. With staring eyes, he sprang from the chair about noop, and, laughing when hr saw his wife smiling, he threw both bottles as far as he could into a tire-acre field of clover. Vanilla. Vanilla is an orchid, which, in the West Indies, creeps over trees and walls like ivy. A substance called “salep.” somewhat resembling arrowroot or sago, is obtained from the tubers of a variety that grows in Turkey and Persia, where it is highly esteemed.

OLD SIGHT. An Kaplanatlen er an rm.rMtlng Philological Phenomenon. The change in the visual organs which result!! in what Is called old sight does not Indicate old age. It precedes the age even of fortv-tivc, though till about th it time persons with normal eves remain unconscious of it. The change Is not pathological, but occurs in the regular course of nature. It is a part of the general change that hardens, and to some extent shrivels, the muscular system. In the process of seeing, the crystalline lens constantly alters its degree of convexity, according to the distance of the visible object This Is accomplished by the “muscles of accommodation.” Up to about the age of forty-five these muscleshave no difficulty in effecting the necessary accommodation, and the person is unaware of any effort although he really makes more than he formerly did. With advancing years the lens becomes not only harder, but less tranparent and of less refractive ppwer, and at the same time the contractile activity of the pupil is lessened. The earliest conscious indications of old sight are less facility iu reading fine print and threading a needle, a feeling ot discomfort in the eyes and forehead, and a tendency to hold the book farther off, or to waut a better light. In old sight, the rays of light from the object do not converge on the retina. but tend to go beyond it. Convex glasses of the right power increase the convergency and bring it to the right point, but because they have no “power of accommodation,” those which are of use in near work are worse than useless in seeing remote objects. This difficulty can be removed by having the glass in each bow consist of two parts, the lower suited to reading and the upper to seeing at a distance. The time to put on spectacles is when the above mentioned symptoms begin to show themselves. To delay because spectacles suggest age is a foolish weakness, which can result in nothing but harm. Some persons have the idea that glasses weaken the eyes, and they think to save the eyes by putting off wearing glasses as long as possible. The reverse of this is true. Many people do injure their sight when 'they put on glasses, but it is by putting on such as are too strong for them. They rely on their own Judgment instead of oh that of an expert, or perhaps, out of mistaken economy, they utilize the disused glasses of their older relatives. The glasses should not magnify perceptibly, but should simply render reading easy. In from two to six years stronger ones will be needed. Wh?n short-sighted people become < old, they read better without their glasses; but their case is wholly unlike that of people in general.— Youth's Companion. Mr. Jones Tells a Story. “I know the best story about Sinhson to-day,” said Mr. Jones, as he settled himself comfortably for an evening at home. “You've seen that fur coatof his, Maria—well, it was—” ■ •“Wait till I get my sewing, Jeptha, ” said Mrs Jones. ‘ There now begin.” >. • >'You know the outside ot the coat |s beaver—” “Whose coat?” “Why, Simpson’s.” “Oh, yes Goon.” ;. , “And it isn’t to be sneezed at—” “Oh, dear, where’s my thimble? Just let me run and get it There, now. What was it Simpson sneezed at?” “Who said anything about Simpson sneezing? That’s just like a woman,” snarled Jones. “If you think you can sit still for five minutes I’ll go on with the story. He made a bet—” “Who made a bet?” “Simpson did—that nobody could tell what the coat was lined with—” “Wasn’t it fur-lined?" “If you know the story better than I do perhaps you will tell it,” suggested Mr. Jones. “The boys all guessed—” “What boys?” “The fellows—the crowd —” “Just let me get this needle threaded,” said Mrs. Jones, as she tried to thread the point of a cambric needle; “I can listen better when I’m sewing. Goon.” “$e were all injt, so we guessed cat-skin— ” ‘■Jeptha! that reminds me. I haven’t seen old Tom to-day.” “Confound old Tom! Will you listen, Maria, or—” “Wait till the scissors roll by. There! I’m all ready. Was that the door-hell* Now tor the story.” “We guessed the skin of every-ani-mal in the catalogue—” “What catalogue?” “Heavens, Maria, you’ll drive me mad! Simpson won the bet, and—” “What bet?” “About the lining. It was—” “Then it wasn’t cat?” “No! no! It was calf—when he was in it—ha! ha! See?” “Rather fur-fetched, wasn’t it?" said Mrs. Jones, yawning. Then Jones rose to offer a few feeble remarks about telling a story to a woman, and expecting her to see the point, etc., et£ —Free Press. lumping Out Loudon's Water Supply. The chalk under London can no longer be looked upon as a source, of great additional supplies of water. This is already utilized by upward of 200 wells,and while at thecommencement of the century the water, when tapped, rose in many places to the surface, it stands now at a level of about forty feet below Trinity high water mark. It is considered that the rate of depression now varies from one to two feet per annum. The effect of the continuous pumping of water from the chalk has thus been to lower the plane of saturation, whereby the flow of distant springs and streams has been more or less seriously affected. Practically the amount of water pumped from the chalk under London is so much taken from the streams that are fed by the natural overflow from that formation. —Natural Science. There is a time in the life of every man when ho becomes a producer. It is when he is obliged to make his train.

Merryman’S FACTORY Yon can get all kinds <A Hard and Soft Wood, Siding, Flooring, Brackets, Molding, Odd-Sized Sash and Doors. In fact all kinds of bnilding ma terial either made or furnished on short notice. J™\Erie Lines. Schedule In effect Nov. 13. Trains Decatur as Follows TRAINS WBBT. No. 5. Vestibule Limited. daily for I ~.. p M Chicago and the west f No. 3. Pacific Express, dally for M Chicago and the west f 1 No. 1. Express, dally for Chicago I to. p ~ and the west..*....y f No. 3L Local >10:35 A. M < TRAINS SABT. No. 8, Vestibule Limited, dally for i - p v New York and Boston f • »• No. 12, Express, dully for New I i^q A . m York I No. 2, Accommodation, dally ex-I a ,~. p M ceptSunday f i r ' No. 30. Local >10:36 A. M. J. W. DiLokg. Agent. Frank M. Caldwell. D. P. A. Huntington, Ind.; F. W. Buskirk, A. G. P. A.. Chicago, HL LOOK HEREI I am here to stay and can mH Organs and Pianos cheaper than anybody else can afford to sell them. I sell different make*. CLEANING AND REPAIRING done reasonable Bee me flrit and aare money. eT. T. COOTS,Decatur, Ind, A Scientific American /a. Agency |Sy. I TRADE MARKS, DESIGN PATENTS. COPYRIGHTS, etcJ For Information and free Handbook write to MUNN * CO.. S6l Broadway, Nxw York. Oldest bureau for securing patents tn America. Every patent taken out by us is brought before the public by a notice given free of charge in the Teresa circulation of any scientific paper tn the world. Splendidly illustrated. No intelligent man should be without it. Weekly, 83.00 a year: IIJO six months. Address MUNN 4 CO, Knut rsnrHs- 361 Broadway. New York City.

The Lyon & Healy Organ Is the best and most salable Organ of the Day Organs sold on Installment Payments at Low Figures. EOR CATALOGUE. Fred K. Shafer, Agt. BERNE. IND. RRANGE BLOSSOM ■ A POSITIVE CURE FOR- ~ V-8-ALL female DISEASES. Miir nr THE A Ured. I.nptid feeling, low spirited and dwpond.nt, with no apparent oUMt Ur InC OTMIIUInu! MUM. taeadsche, pains in the back. pain, arrow the lowcrpart of boirei.. Great soreness in region of ovaries. Bladder difficulty. Frequent urinations, Leucorrhoea, Constipation'of bow«ls, and with all these symptoms a terrible nervous feeling is experienced by the patient. IHE OKAAWE BLOSSOM TREATMENT remove* all these by a thorough prooeea of absorption. Internal remedies win never remove female weakness. There must be remedies applied right to the parts, and then there is permanent relief obtained. EVERY LADY CAN TREAT HERSELF. O. B. Pile Remedy. 1 SI.OO for one month’s treatment. 10. B. Stomach Powdera ex R Catarrh Cure. I —prepared by— I O. B. Kidney Cones. J. A. McCILL, M.D., & CO., 4 panorama place. Chicago, ill FOR SAT.~E BY Bolthouse & Blackburn. Decatur. Ask for Descriptive Circulars. HOFFMAN & GOTTSCHALK Keep & full line of Drugs, Patent Medicines, Paints, Oils, Groceries, Lamps, Tobaccos, Cigars, and a general stock of Merchandise. Prescriptions carefully compounded. . LINN DROVE, IND, H ft - At Magley, keeps a large stock of Dry IARIIAAA Goods, Notions, Groceries, Boots, Shoes s 1111 *5 U and ’ n f aot « v « r y thln g kept in a general IOZa |g store. Buys all kinds ot Country Produce jUCJ MJUUmJ or which the highest market price is paid. Kid Kw J tengnaraatee to cure all nervous diseases such ns Weak Memory, MF 'SK’V 1 ' wl to., of Brain Power, Hendache. Wakeftalnes., Eo.tMaaKV * \ ) j&f “VI hood. Nightly Emission., Qulckne.s, Evil Dream., Eaek of \* V pj CoaUdeaee. Nervouuies.. Lamltude, all drains and low of 1 aMn i diaßxl power ot the Generative Organs In either sex caused by over exec--1 tion, youthful errors, or excessive use of tobacco, opium or sttnuk Wk . lante which soon lead to Intlrmlty. Consumption and Insanity. Pul lup convenient to carry in vest pocket. Sent by tnall tnplaln package an r address for SI. <r <> lor S 3, i With every S 3 order we give a written gnaraateo to cure or refand the moneg.) BKIOU AJTO 4TTK* USIHG. . • — For Sale by W. H. Nachtrieb, Druggist, Decatur, Ind.

Grano Rapids & Indiana RailroM Trains run on Central Standard Time, Mtolputee slower than Columbus or former time. Took effect Sunday, Deo. 18. UM. GOING. NORTH. STATIONS. No. 1 No. 3 No. 5 No. f Cineinnatt .lve 8 05am 910 pm HmMOOd 2 20pm 10 M.. 114* Winchester.... 3 if.. 1155 .. 1243 am Portland <«. I2.r>pm 123.. ....... Decatur 5 10. l»t.. 220 Ft. Wayne...arr 800.. 2 15.. 300 <♦ “ ...Ive 2 35.. 3 20.. 805 am Kendallville 3 41.. 4 28.. 2 10.. Borne City 3M.. 4 40.. »2«.. WoloottvlUe 4 01 9 81.. Valentine 4 11 S4>~ LaGrange ... 4 10.. 506.. 061.. Lima 4 20 IO(«.. Sturgis 4 40.. 5 28.. 10 10 .. Vicksburg.... 6 36.. 650.. 11 00.» Kalamazoo, arr .. 6(A 11 40.. •• ..Ive 420»m 625.. 000.. iWpm Gr. Rapids.arr 645 .. 810 !K,. “ -• ..Ive 7 20.. 10 10.. 1 |npm 4IS _ D.,GH.*M.cr 1045. 727 Howard City 11 50 , 841 Big Rapids 1236 am 045 Reed City. ............. 103 ...c ...... Cadillac.....arr 1130.. 2 05.. 510 •• ....Ive 230 '.. 010 „ Traverse City 7 Otpm Kalkaska 3 4.8.. Petoekej 635 .. 015 MacktnueClty. 8 00, 10 36 GOING SOUTH. STATIONS. No. 2 No. 8 No. 4 No. 6 Mackinac City 715 pm 745 am 200pm Petoskey 9 10.. 92U .. 345 Kalkaska 12 36 . 11 38 .. 502 Traverse City It 10.. 450.. ........ Cadillac ....arr 2 20am 115 pm 7 IM» .. 8 06am " ..Ive 215.. 136.. 650 pm 810„ Reed City 328 .. 2 30.. 7 60.. 900 .. Big Rapids 4 00.. 2 58.. 826.. 9 4*.. Howard City.. 4 56... 343.. 920.. 1032 D.G.H.AM.cr 606 .. 606.. 1026.. 1136.. Gr. Rapids .arr 630.. 515.. 1100.. 150*. “ " ..Ive 7 00.. 6 00.. 11 20.. ?00pm Kalamazoo.arr 8 50.. 8 00.. 1255 am < 340.. ..Ive 855 .. 805 846.. Vicksburg 9 24.. 833 412 .. Sturgis 1019.. 926.. 506.. Lima .... 1032,. 940 617.. LaGrange. ... 10 44 .. 952 529 .. Valentine...... 10 53 .. 1002 Wolcottville... 1104 .. 1014 547 .. Rome City 1109.. 1019 ».. Kendallville .. . 11 25 .. 10 39 6 08.. Ft. Wayne..arr 1240 pm 11 50 7 15 .. “ ..Ive 100.. 12 58am 545 am ........ Decatur........ 146.. 12 58.. 630 ..... Portland 2 40.. 1 56.. 730 Winchester.... 3 17.. 2 38.. 809 Richmond 4 20 .. 3 40 .. 9 15 Cincinnati 700 .. 666. 1201 nm • Trains 5 and 6 run dally between Grand Rapids and Cincinnati. C, L. LOCKWOOD. Gen. Pass. Agent JEFF. BRYSON. Agent, Decatur, Ind First Class Night and Day Service between Toledo, Ohio, )AND( — St. Louis, Mo. FREE CHAIR CARS DAY TRAINS—MODERN EQUIPMENT THROUGHOUT. ! VESTIBULED SLEEPING CARS ON NIGHT TRAINa! SQUEALS SERVED EN ROUTE, <utf tear, PAT OR NIUHT, at modtrau coat. { Iskfor tickets ria Toledo, SI Louis i (anut City 1L Clovek Leaf Route. For further particulars, call on nearer Agent of the Company, or address Ou O. JENKINS, teMr&l Pumnr Afort* ’ TOLEDO, OHKX W. L. DOUGLAS S 3 SHOE GENTLEMEN. And other specialties foe Gentlemen, Ladies, Boys and Misses are the Best in the World. Seo descriptive advertiaeWK iSO 1 ruent which will appear to nL I this paper. Take no Substitute, but Insist on having W. Im DOUGLAS’ SHOES, wUh NOS V name and price Etamped <m nnMfIIHB bottom. Sold by For Sale by Henry Winnes, Second door West of Adams County Bank, Monroe St.