Decatur Democrat, Volume 49, Number 41, Decatur, Adams County, 14 December 1905 — Page 2

A GODDESS OF DEATH ONE WOMAN WHO WAS TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR THIS WORLD. She Had Florence In Mourning For the Victims of Her Loveliness anti Heartlessness—Her Power Over Men and Her Awfal Fate. While personal beauty is naturally the most coveted possession of woman. It is a gift which may be almost as full *f danger to herself as to those who fall victims to it. From the days of Helen of Troy and of Cleopatra to our own time it has brought perhaps more disaster to the world than delight, or, at least, happiness; but to one, at least, it brought a life of such tragedy and suffering as has rarely fallen to the lot of any woman. It was at Florence that Rosaura Montalboni, perhaps the most beautiful woman the world has ever seen, lived in the days of the Medicis. No man has ever ventured with pen or brush to portray her beauty, and it is only from its effects that one can judge of its surpassing brilliance. From early girlhood this beauty gave her a power and an empire over hearts such as no queen of Europe could wield. Men flocked from all parts of Europe content to catch a glimpse of her during her rare walks abroad. If she appeared in the streets of Florence it was a signal for hundreds of worshipers to flock around her for the mere delight of gazing on her or by some happy chance touching the hem of her gown. When she went to church thousands flocked to see her, and it was in vain that the priests tried to conduct the services. The door of her residence was besieged night and day with lovers of every class, from princes of the greatest . 'suing families of Europe to peasant- and fishermen. Every day brought her rich stores of presents, some of which might well have bought a king’s ransom, while others were the tribute of lowly admirers, who offered them as humbly and reverently as if they were laying them on an altar. None would receive payment from her, from the wealthy merchants who laid at her feet their treasures of rich dresses and jewels to the humblest tradesman or domestic who ministered to her, and, crowning triumph of all. women were as eager as men to render homage to her beauty and vied with each other in their offerings and their worship. It was inevitable that many should suffer for beauty such as this, and especially as Rosaura was as heartless as she was fair. Scarcely a day passed when she was not the object of some fatal duel or when some lover did not destroy himself in despair of winning her. It is said that there was scarcely a family of any position in I Florence or fQr many leagues around ~ jl that Lad not to ino“7n a son or neai' relative, and many complaints were made to the authorities by indignant parents. On several occasions she was brought before the judges, who were as powerless against her charms ns the most love stricken youth in Florence. They ■camo condemn rer -lrtinOiJ to 'worship her fatal beauty, for as she appeared before them in all the glory Os her beauty even the eyes of stern judges were dazzled, and they were ready to go into the dock for her sake. It was about this time that great distress fell on Florence. The city was in the grip of famine, and hundreds were dying fOt want of bread, ofit While wort* Starving Rosaura give up nothing of her luxuries. It came to the ears of the poor that while Jhey were dying for a crust of bread this spoiled child of fortune was drinking the costliest wines, eating the rarest delicacies, enjoying her baths of perfumed milk and squandering every day more than would keep a hundred families in comfort. Roused to a terrible anger, they besieged her palace and forced their way into it, with the object of killing a woman so heartless. Without a tremor Rosaura went from her room to meet her would be murderers, and the mere sight of her radiant and stately beauty so subdued the ringleaders that tlu»y fell on their knees and kissed the ground at her feet. But Nemesis was Coming nearer every day. Once, when a court official had committed suicide for her sake, she was condemned to be branded and sent into exile, but no executioner could be found to do the work, and one of them sacrificed his life rather than touch her shoulder with the redhot iron. When she was summoned before the reigning duke. be. too, was v anquished. and, instead of punishing her. he sent her away with presents and a benediction. It was Ins successor. Ferdinand de Medici, who broke the spell of this fatal beauty. Realizing that she was the greatest enemy to peace within his kingdom, he issued orders for her arrest. She was brought for the last time bqfore judges, who were proof even against beauty such as hers, and was sentenced to lifelong imprisonment and to wear a mask, fashioned like a skull, to conceal the face which had wrought so much havoc. For forty years Rosaura suffered this horrible punishment, her very jailors shrinking from the grinning skull which always greeted them. When at last she was liberated and the skull mask was removed, the wrinkled, shrunken face that was disclosed to view was almost ns hideous as the mask that had so long hidden it. A Good Name and Riclies. “Your enemies are saying that you have made your name a byword,” said the censorious friend. “Yes,” answered Senator Sorghum serenely, ‘I fancy I have arrived at a point where my name at the bottom of a cheek will buy about anything I want.”—Washington Star.

BIRTHPLACE OF MASSAGE. Queer Nnbl.l, Where the Inhabitants Never Take a Both. The masseur had just returned from Nubia, the birth place of massage. •'I didn't learn as much as I expected to,” be said, ’but I got hold of two movements that will eradicate wrinkles and remove fat in an incredible way. “Nubia is a queer place. They have so little water there that they never take baths. The 'masseh,’ or kneading, whence our word 'massage,' is the bath’s substitute. You strip, lie down and are covered from bead to foot with a cream made of mutton fat, musk, sandalwood powder and certain plant juices. Then you are kneaded, you are massaged. I studied the Nubian movements thoroughly and learned, as I say, good things. "The Nubians are a handsome and queer race. They hunt elephants with the sword. A hunter steals upon a dozing elephant and slashes him in the back of the leg ten inches above the hoof. This cut severs the artery, and the elephant bleeds to death. “They cook meat on hot stones. First they build a fire, then they put big stones on it, and when the stones are hot enough they clean them of ashes and embers carefully and throw on the meat. This is a better way o’ cooking tln’.n the broil, for it preserves all the meat juices. But greenhorns don’t know what kind of stones to use. Most kinds heated explode. “The Nubians are shapely and handsome. They never wrinkle, they never get fat. their skins are smooth and fine. They impute these graces to the 'masseh'—the massage—that they take regularly three or four times a week. Every masseur ought to go to Nubia if be wants to learn his business thoroughly.” GLOBULES. One-third of the land surface of the globe is covered witli trees. A Birmingham man named Batchelor has just married a young lady named Widdow. A penny is estimated to change hands about 125,000 times in the course of its life. A paper chimney fifty feet high and fireproof is a curiosity to be seen at Breslau, Germany. Cats are licensed in Berlin, and every cat in that city must wear a metal badge bearing a number. Gibraltar may fairly be called the land of tunnels, there being over seventy miles of burrowed rock. London h s only one mile of tramways to every 30,000 of her population. Manchester has one to every 5,600. The China Times of Peking is issued ia seven languages—Chinese, Japanese, Eu-.iL’' l . French, German, Russian and Italian. ; - T’ ' '"lie is noted for the variety of its fl.'!.. A:i expedition sent by the British museum brought home 0,000 specimens. Glasgow has the largest tramway system of buy town in the British Manchester stands second, while Liverpool makes a bad third. Lion tamers frequently perfume themselves with lavender. There is, it is said, no record of a lion ever liav.ng attacked n trainer who had taken the precaution of using this posfume. In Fiji the coinage cor" ; sts chiefly of whales’ teeth, those of gt. r value being dyed red, The uath cs exchange twenty white teeth for one red one, as we change copper for silver. Where Vessels Have Eyes. Tainted on the prow of nearly all the junks, or Chinese sailing vessels, are to be seen huge eyes. It is believed by the superstitious inhabitants of China that if the eye, which is raised as in relief, was not there the vessel could not see where to go and would therefore come to destruction. Even il when at sea the eye got destroyed or damaged another would have to bi painted in at once, N° Cblnamin will sail on a junk which is not adorned by an eye, and even an English passenger boat which plies between two Chinese towns has a huge eye painted on each side of her paddle boxes. Whitman on Emerson. I often say of Emerson that the personality of the man —the wonderful heart and soul of the man. present in all he writes, thinks, does, hopes—goes far toward justifying the whole literary business—the whole raft, good and bad: the entire system. Yen see I find nothing in literature that is valuable simply for its professional quality. Literature is only valuable in the measure of the passion—the blood and muscle—with which It is Juvesite.l—- -— lies ccneviili-d ami active in it— From Horace Traubel’s “With Walt Whitman In Camden” in Century.

Bettor Than References. "Can you give me references from your last place?” “No, ma'am. The last woman I ; worked fur was Mrs. Libby that used Ito live next door to you. She an’ I 1 couldn’t get along at all. You don't know how mean she is. I could tel’ i you ever so many”— ! “You may come.”—Chicago Tri’ Very Important. "Uncle John, should I b<- . writing to a young man / - — i written to me?” haa n, '' w “Only on very * ; jjq y dear.” ,Z*irb.‘.;tnt bn-.uess. “Well, this is want him to • business. I Bits « r hrtr?v me!”—lllustrated z In <■ “ —— ~ wo’ South American !’.t j- Z»h draw t!*- front teeth. C3to> m--4'is' an omstWent the black gap that *r.ide. - J t- - -

NELSON’S FIGHTING MEN. Hud Few I’lea.ure. and Faced Death With a Je»t. Os tne “wooden wails o£ England. ‘ the great sailing ships in which Admiral Nelson won his victories, and of the men who worked them, a critic writes: "Though beautiful to behold ant! ternble to tight with, those old men-of-war were •wore often than not abodes of tyranny and wretchedness. The violence of the press gangs, which seized men of all ages and occupations, was but a prelude to the oppression that followed. Decent men were herded indiscriminately with ruffians, the rights of free born Englishmen were ruueiy snatched from them—for them thenceforward there was no law save the will of the captain and the dread articles of war. Shore going leave was nonexistent, the food was atrocious and scanty, punishments were barbarous, and the only thing served out with any liberality was rum, on which the men got drunk and then were flogged for that offense at the gratings pext morning. "In Nelson's time the seaman had few pleasures save the prospect of a hot fight and bis daily pint of rum. But to these must be added the vainglorious satisfaction be took In his clothes. When rigged out iu his best he frequently wore rings his ears iifid silver buckles on his low shoes, his short blue jacket would be decorated with gold buttons and colored ribbons sewed down the seams to give an additional gayety, his waistcoat might be red or canary, and a black silk handkerchief would be knotted loosely round his throat. As the finishing touch his hair would be banging in a cue down his back. The broad collars were first worn as a protection against the grease and pomatum used in dressing the pigtail. "But all these fripperies were discarded when the guns were cast loose from their lashings and the linstocks were lighted. It was the custom of the men when going into action to strip to the waist. They took their black silk handkerchiefs and bound them very tightly round their heads over their ears, so that the roar of the guns might not deafen them for life. It was remarked that men going into action always wore a sullen frown, however merry they were in their talk. “Methods followed in that day were curiously primitive and toilsome, but the results were undoubtedly satisfactory save to the nameless and numberless sailors who met grim death on the black and blood stained decks or in the dark horror of the cockpit. That those hardy and careless men often faced death or disablement with a jest or a cheer only renders their unconscious heroism the more impressive.”—Chicago News. FOtiF Good Reasons. All amusing incident happened th other day at a club which had hospitably thrown open its floors to two other clubs. A certain well known officer in the brigade of guards was gui.i;. of the offense of smoking in the ih .rn ing room. As a matter of fact, he was under the impression that it was the SiiieV>n« r.om. A brother officer t >ld him of his . take. He went up to the only othe: occupant of the room, an old gentleman dozing in a corner, and apologized for having inadvertently broken one of the r”’ss of the club. The old gem an replied, without haste, as follow ’ iy cenr sir, pray do noi apologize. Tn the first place, I am sure yoii worn I hot have smoked had yoil known that it was prohibited; in the ’•econd, I should be the last person to blame you if you had done so; in the third, I am not a member of the club, and in the fourth. I have just been smoking myself.”—Loudon Globe.

The Empire of Dollars. Wall street is the capital of the empire of dollars. Like all other capitals, it has its intrigues, its favorites, its duels, its cabals and its camarillas, and. like all other capitals, it gives its color to those who spend their lives they? It has even a sort of patriotism —‘•wolf honor'—which brings its citizens together at times in defense of the dollar and of property rights. The empire of dollars is not altogether a noble spectacle. We are not thrilled at the mere thought of those t eniee bankers who “financed” the crusaders. We do not like to think of those Wall street manipulators who tried to corner the gold supply during our civil war, when the nation needed gold.—Samuel Merwin in Success Magazine.

Time For n Change. ■*' What shall we do with our parents? There is my father ruining himself ftnU me by his willful ignorance and my mother •; u g h v her extravagances. It is a great development of the times that the ordinary child who is past twenty is altogether better educated. more experienced and wiser than are his parents! It has occurred to me to suggest that after tljo eldest child reaches twenty the parents should therefore como under the bulltrol of the children.—Letter in London Graphic, • * s I Belgium Shrimp Fisliere. Horses play an important part lit I fehrimp fishing along the Belgian coast-. A procession of weather beaten fishermen starts from the toh&re, each man mounted upon the back of a trainee horse, dragging the triangular pu!sc shaped not which scoops in the sbt'irnp as it passes over the sands. These fishermeh on horseback frequently make hauls of several litftdredweigb < tn A single trip. “David Harum,” the novel written bv the late Noyes V. cstcott netted the author's estate about $125. ! 000, according to a statement made it ’ ; the'surrogate’s court, Syrr.er.se, N. Y.

r- ——“ children’s friend— Jayne’-s Tonic Ver mis ug e Diives out blood impurities. Makes strong nerves and muscles, Gives tone, vitality and snap. \ Get it from your druggist

BRONCHITIS Druggists Smith. Yager & Falk Tell the People Quickest Means t to Cure It. Asked one day in his store the question, “What is good for baonchitis?” A member of the above firm answered, “for years old fashened cod liver oil has be«n known to possess the most remarkable curative and healing properties for throat, baonchial, and lung troubles of anything known to medicine, but ou account of the grease enveloped itscurative principles it has been impossible for man v people to take enough of it into their systems to :ombat a thoroughly settled disease withough clogging the systeme and npseting the stomach. < Now, however,’’ continued this well known druggist, ‘ we have \ inol, which contains in a highly concentrated form al of the medicinal curative elements of cod liver oil actually taken from cods’ liver, without a drop of oil or grease to upset the stomach and retard its work, the physicians agree that it is the greatest cure for all throat, bronchial and lung troubles known to medicine. Miss Anna R ly writes us that after ■ufferiEg for five years with bronchit s ind trying all kinds of medicines without any relief, Vinol cured her, and we have hundreds of just such letters. We wish every person suffering from chronic colds, coughs, bronchitis, and -very aged, weak, or convalescent person who needs a healing, strengtncreat ng and blood-making tonic woule try Vinol on our guarantee to return the purchase money if it fails.” S nith, Vager & Falk, Druggists.

I’. : Jo Cure a Cold in One Day Take Laxative Bromo Quinine Tablets. oneveryl Seven Million boxes sold in past 12 months. This Signature- - sc. I ■ Mild II IMIIIIIIMMM— Opportunities in California The trade in the Orient is opening up. Our exports to Japan and China multiplied during the last year. There will soon be a tremendous increase in the trade of the Pacific Coast cities with the Far i< . East. * T t Big opportunities for the man who lives there. E- Why not look the field over? f . -O Only $62.50, Chicago to San Francisco or l os J Angeles and return, May 1,2, 3,9, 10, 11, T 2 29, 30, 31, June 1, August 6,7, 8, 9, 10, 1 ‘ 2 * and 14, 1905. Tickets good for return " iOr j ays ’ ... > Rate for a double berth in a c^ mfortable tourist sleeper from Chicago to . Francisco, Los Angeles, Santaßai bara, a’ Yinmny other points ir J Cahfoi ina/jiiiy $7. x hrcugh train sendee from union Passenger Station Chicago, via the \ * t. \ Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul,, i Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Line This is Ae route of The Overland Limited, leaving Union Passenget Station, Chicago, 6.05 p. m.. and The California Express at 10.25 p. m. The California Express carries tourist sleeping cars to California every day. Both trains carry thrd'hgh standard sleepers. I ' J Complete fti'ortnation sent free J on receipt fef coupon with blank » - * lines tilled. Name _, —- - ’ i £ I .:■ tK .S. HO (WELL, Street address_ —- — | GenTEastern Agent, 381 Broadway. NEW YORK CITY, n : or City State — t» ; F. A. MILLER, 0 ., ~ . . ’ Pfob~bl3 destination —" • General Passenger Agent, ® 1 ‘ : ' ~T “'’J

Quite Natural. Husband—What did you thin!; when you beard the chandelier fall last ni?ht? Wife—Why. I thought you had been detained on business again and were getting upstairs as quietly as you could. Looking Forward. “Progress is becoming extremely rap- ' “Yes. Indeed. In the year 3000 cr so lightning will have to get a move on if It wants to lie considered fast.” Lucky Patients. "Did you ever make any mistakes', doctor?” “Well. I’ve had several patients get r well that I expected would die.” Two Hindu of Boj«. "My sou got brain fever from studying too hard.” said one mother to another, trying to repress a thrill of intellectual pride. “That’s bad, but my boy broke bls leg and two ribs iu his first game of football,” replied the other, with motherly gratification.—Baltimore American. Thinking: of the Cook. Jones—What makes you think Snubbs Is absentminded? Freyer—We went Into an auction store yesterday. The auctioneer was shouting, “Going, going!” and Snubbs shouts: “Please don’t go! I will give you $5 a month more and have a girl to help you with the washing!” Eels In Scotland. Although eels abound in Scotch waters and are caught in great quantities, they are not considered fit food there. No matter how plentiful and how very fine and large they may be in any district of Scotland, no native will eat one. The objection to the eel is said to be based on its serpent-like appearance and the fact that it Is not overfastidious as to what it feeds on. Tons of choice eels for the London market are taken from streams that are not conspicuously free from sewage

Torture or a Preacher. The story of the torture of R ev f> D. Moore, pastor of the Baptist church of Harpersville, N. V., will interest you. Hesays:“l suffered agonies, because of a persistent cough, resulting from the grip. I had to sleep sitting up in bed. I tried many remedies, with out relief, until I took Dr. King’s N ew Discoveay for Consumption Coughs and Colds, which entirely cured mv cough, and saved me from consumption.” A grand cure for diseased conditions of Throat and Lungs. At Blackburn and Chri’ten drnggist price 50c aud ?I.o\ jnau'nteed. Trial hottie free. On account of the live stock ex position, the Erie will sell excar sion tickets from Decatur to Chicago and return at rate of <6.10 for the round trip. Tickets on sale Dao. 16, 17, 18, and 19th. Return limit Dec. 24th. Ask agents for particulars, or write Enos Marion O,

PARKER'S I „ HAIR BALSAM Cleans and beautifies the hair, I Promote! a luxuriant growth. I Never Faile to Restore Gray! Hair to its Youthful Color. I Cures scalp diseases & hair ta.u«. L 56c. and | LOO at Druyistg “ | ft'eakii’en Maae vigorous r.SAT rre&rr What PEFFER'S NERVIGOR Didi It acts powerfully and quickly. Cures wtien al others fan. Young men regain lost mantood: old men recover youthful vigor. Absolutely Guar anteed to Cure Kervonsneau, Lost Vitality In.totency, Nix-htly FmißSio.i., Lost Power either sei. Falling Memory, Wanting Discanes, ana ad effects of self-abuse or excesses anc indiscretion. Wards off insanity and consumption Don’t let druggist Impose a worthless substitute or you because it yields a greater profit. Insist on having KEFFER’S N ERVIGOK, or sendfor It Cat be carried in vest pocket. Prepaid, plain wrapper. 51 per box, or 6 for $5, with A Written Guar jnteotoCureor Refund Money. Pamphlet fret ViSFEEB MEDICAL ASS’N. Chicago, IU Sold by Blackburn & Christen i