Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 June 1883 — Page 1

THE DEMOCRATIC SENTINEL. 1 " ' ml■-■!-. ■ ■ ■- A DEMOCRATIC NEWSPAPER. PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY, BY James "W. McEwen. ■RATES OF SUBSCRIPTION. One year........ sl-SO Six months. 1.00 Three months... -W gg~Arlver I»tng rates on annHration.

THE UTIU COMFORTER, Chare a little comforter That climbs upon my knee, And makes the \torld Mem possible When things go wrong with me. She never is the otoe to say, “If yon had only been More careful and more sensible This these had been foreseen.* She blesses me, Uaresses me, •And whispers, “Never mind: , To-morrow night All will be right, My papa, good and kind.” To give me wise and good advice I have of friends a score; Bnt then the trouble ever is, 1 knew it sll before. And when one’s heart is full of care, One’s plans all in a mess. The wisest reasoning, I think. Can’t make the trouble less. My Mamie’s way. Is Just to say, ”0 papa, don’t be sad; To-morrow night Alt will be bright, And then we shall be giadl* Some think I have been mnch to blame; Some say, “I told you so And others sigh, “What can't be helped Must be endured, you know.” Of course, if troublepan’t be helped. Then crying is in vain; Bnt when a wrong will notxjgme right Why should I net complain/ Tn Mamie’s eyes rmalways wise; Bhe never thlnkfune wrong; It's understood I’m always good— Good as the day is long. Then come, my little comforter. And climb upon ray knee; You make the world seam possible When things go wrong with me. Fcr you've the wisdom far beyond The reach of any sage, The loving, tender, hopeful trust That be can strengthen age. Say, “Papa, dear, Now fear; Before to-morrow night The cares you dread Will all have fled, And everything be right." —Harper’s Weekly.

LOSS AND DAIN.

BY MRS. A. R. FERRIN.

“It’s of no use talking about it any more, Percy. The necessity is laid upon ns, and all that is left for us to do is to take up our separate duties and do them bravely for the Master’s sake. If I had remained free from other tie*, Heaven knows how willingly I would have become your wife. B.ut as it is—” “O, Mercie, how can I ever give you up ? For two years it lias been the one absorbing dream of my life to call you my own. And now, within a few days of the consummation of my hopes, to have that dream so rudely broken. After all, Mercie, she was not your mother. The ties you speak of are more imaginary than real. Has she no relatives or friends with whom you could place the children until they shall be old enough to take care of themselves ?” “Not that I know of, Percy. Her parents are both dead and her sister, too, I think. She had one brother living in the State of Illinois, from whom she had several letters after her marriage with papa. But I have never seen him. And besides all that, Susan Browne was just as true a mother to me as if I had been her own child. She came into our home when I was a wild, neglected, untutored girl, and what I am to-day, her love and kindness made me. I shall try to be just as true a mother to her children as she was to me. I shall never give them into the hands of strangers while I have health and strength to take care of them.” Mercie Browne laid down her knitting work, and, opening the oven door, took out a couple of pies and set them on the cleanly-sooured kitchen table, while the firmlv. drawn lines about her mouth, and the decisive set-look in her eyes, convinced her lover of the earnestness of her purpose. “And this is your final deoiision, Mercie ?” “My final decision,” she answered. Percy Harrington arose to his feet, with a bitter, cynical laugh. “I had hoped, Mercie, that you cared more for me than for any one else. But I see I have been mistaken. Of course, you do not expect me to wait for you until these youngsters are grown ?” “No, Percy, I dp not expect you to wait for me. Here are all the presents you have ever given me, all the letters you have ever written to me. I shall expect a similar return on your part.” with a low, mocking bow, Percy Harrington passed out of the wide kitchen, door, while Mercie, unable longer tn restrain her feelings, fell upon her knees\by the lounge, and, burying her face in her hands, sobbed aloud. But, what was done was done; and, like the law of the MedefHlnd Persians, unalterable. \ “Heaven heljrine to be patient and true,” she moapel in her distress. Mercie Brown’afather had been dead two years, and nW the gentle stepmother had been lari by his side in the quiet church yard, having three small children to be cared for by somebody. Mercie had at once concluded that this “somebody” meant hersdf, and quietly all other claims, had set reso- / about the test. The. reader has already gleaned that S’ie wat the promised wife of Percy arringttn. But, while that gentleman felt perfectly willing, nay, anxious to assume thp responsibility of Mercie’s maintenause, he did not, as he said, feel called upO; to take upon him-elf the care of her Hep-mother’s children. Mercie reasonedthat they were her father’s children as such, entitled to her services. The consequence, as already seen rupture of' their engagement. Sri months later Percy married Elsie Htvtins, a gentle, fairfaced girl, and moed away into an adjoining county. While David Bro ne lived, he had found his small estavuy careful management quite his family since his death, debts bad ohAwufllnted, and Mercie found that whenNri estate was Bold, and these debts paio^^|. e -would be but a eomparatively-snii amount left for the support of. thpchildrep. This she must invest as judici> B i y an< j economically as possible. an «|or the rest she must depend upon L own labor.

Being a neat and rapid \,’ter Bhe, with the aid of a few influujJ friends, at length obtained a situil n as copyist in a respectable law-offidL a neighboring city. As the pay tv good and the children old enough to V left alone during the day, she thought perhaps, it was the best she -could dc and, renting a small house, she remove thither with her three small charges.

Did it ever seem to Mercie Browne during all these days that it was a cruel dispensation of Providence which compelled her thus, at 19 years of age, to

exchange all her bright dreams and pleasant anticipations for these hard, stem duties? If it did, she made no outward sign, but bravely tqok up her. allotted task and worked on, meeting always her reward, the reward of a heart at peace With itself, through a

VOLUME VII.

consciousness of duty faithfully performed. ‘ - The time came, however, when she knew when she could realize, with an intense thankfulness, that it was “all for the best.” For two years she heard nothing at all from Percy Harrington. Then there came vague rumors of the fast life he was living, of his often going to his home in the small hours of the night, grossly inebriated; then of the seizure of his goods and chattels by the exe* cutioners of the law; lastly, of the sudden death of his gentle, patient, heartbroken young wife. Then his’name ceased to be mentioned, and be dropped, as it were, entirely out of her world. Another year dragged its slow length along the stream of time, bringing into Memo's life but little of its sunshine and sweetness. By dint of unceasing industry and patient economy, she bad managed to keep the wolf from her door. Nav, more, she had kept her little family comfortably clothed, and Millie at schpol most of the time. Millie was now 12 years old, Jack 9, and little Herbert 6.

But hard work, anxiety and-constant confinement were making sad inroads on the once robust constitution. The erewJfcdle rosy, blooming country lass, was now a pale, leaden-eyed, care-worn woman. Would her strength hold out? It must, it must. It was only the spring weather making her feel so weak and exhausted now. Bhe would ask the doctor for a tonic. She would ask her employers for a couple of week’s vacation in June, and she would run down to G , her native town, and get a smell of the wild roses and a taste of the sweet, fresh air, which would be sure to bring the color into her cheeks again, and strength into her limbs. Alas! alasl for all her little plans. The doctor decided that the tonic would do little if any good, without rest and quiet, and her employers utterly refused the much needed vacation, “on account of a stress of business, ” they said. So, with the hot, unshed tears hanging heavily under her eyelids, and her limbs growing weaker eveiy day, Mercie worked on.

But when fragrant, breezy June had given place to the burning, sultry skies of July, there came a cessation of it aIL She was returning to her home one evening, after a busier day than usual, feeling almost too tired and ill to care much whether she lived or not. In attempting to cross the street, she became aware that a furious, runaway horse was dashing directly toward her. A sudden weakness came over her; a swift darkness closed in around her. knew she was falling; knew she was under the very feet of the frantic animal, and then all was blank. When she came to herself, she was lying on a rudely-improvised couch in a small grocery store, surrounded by a crowd of gaping spectators. Her head was pillowed on the arm of a tall man, whose face was covered with a long, brown, silky beard, and who seemed to be anxiously regarding her. She raised her head and attempted to speak, but fell back with a groan. “Thank heaven, she lives!” exclaimed the brown-bearded man fervently. “Doctor, do your best now. Let her be removed to some place where she can be taken care of, and provide good nurses. It was my horse that caused the damage, and I wilTfoot the bills. Let there be no expense spared.” “Take me to my own home, ” moaned Mercie. “And where might that be, little woman ?” the brown beard interrogated. Mercje gave the name of the street and the number of the house. Then she was lifted in the arms of strong men, placed upon a hastily-constructed litter, and carried to her home. Before they reached it she had fainted again, and her unconscious form was borne in and laid upon the bed amid the distressed cries of the frightened children. While the doctor aud the women who had been summoned,were caring for the unfortunate girl, the brown-bearded stinger drew the children into the little kitchen, told them all about the accident, and elicited such information as he could concerning their circumstances. Millie proved to be rather reticent, but from the boys he gathered the facts of their orphanage, of Mercie’s relation to them, of her failing health, and of her employer’s refusal to grant her a holiday when she needed it so much.

“What was your father’s name V” he asked at last, mainly for the sake of saying something to hold their attention. “David Browne.” The stranger started curiously. “Your mother’s name ?” “Susan Browne,” was answered just as promptly. He was getting some vh at excited now. ’’Where did you live before you moved here?” “In the town of G., in the southern part of this county. ” “My dear childred,” he exclaimed eagerly, “I’ve got good news for you. lam your own uncle; your mother was my sister. I’m so g'ad I’ve found you at last. ” “Are you Uncle Herbert Hazelton ? And have you been looking for us?” asked Millie with a sudden accession of intere t.

“I am Uncle Herbert Hazelton, and I have been looking for you. At least, heard a rumor of your father’s death and wrote several times to your mother. Failing to get any answer, I concluded that she must either have died too, or changed her place of residence.” “Having business to transact in this city,” he went on' “I thought I would come myself and attend to it, then go down to G , find out what I could about it, and try and hunt you up. But here you are, and I should be very glad if only that poor girl hadn’t got hurt.” “Are yoti Mercie’s uncle, too?” asked little Herbert, suddenly jealous for her •share in this new acquisition of relationship.

“No, dear, I’m not Mercie’s unele,” adding under his breath, “and I’m very glad of it, too,” though I doubt if he could have told why he was glad. Mercie’s injuries proved to be less serious than was at first anticipated. A dislocation of the right shoulder and a fraction of the arm below the elbow, were the most serious ones she had sustained. Under the care of competent burses, with a liberal supply of the

pmforts and luxuries of life, and, Hthal, the daily visits of Herbert VLeton. she became rapidly convales-

TrVbert was the only son of the family. Like a certain per--8?n golden times, he hod taken his ? father’s goods and gone mto a \ coun t r y»—that is, a distant him, he had not wasted addedthfc rioto .f H . vix f.- but “ La w «k from time to time, until now ne wa* prosperous

The Democratic Sentinel.

man in every sense of the word. Add to this that he was 4 bachelor and yon have a very interesting combination Of circumstances, They say that pity is akin to love. It may be so, for certain it is that from pitying Mercie Browne there crept into Herbert Hazleton’s heart a deeper, tenderer feeling, and at last he acknowledged to himself that life would be nothing to him without heir. And Mercie. Who shall say how often she looked forward with sad foreboding to the time when Herbert would go away to his own home, and carry all the light and beauty and warmth of the world with him ? Who shall say how often during those long, happy days of convalescence, when he brought to her books and papers and magazines, and read to her, or marked for her reading all the choicest thoughts of the best thinkers; and talked to her, and led her out into a new world, into which Bhe had often looked, but had never dared to dream she might enter. She thanked Heaven for for this man’s friendship. Perhaps she contrasted his broad culture and intelligence and noble generosity with the narrow views and selfish motives of her farmer lover. Who shall dare to blame her if she did ? At last Mercie had so far reoovered that she began to talk about resuming her place at the office. It had been supplied for the time being, with the understanding that she was to go back as soon as she should be able. And still Herbert Hazleton tarried. With no ostensible purpose, he yet stayed, and he yet made his daily visits to the little house where Mercie lived with his sister’s children. “Mercie,” he said one day, looking up from the book he had been reading, “do you know that I intend to take Susan’s children home with me when I go?” “I had feared tliat was your intention,” she replied, in a low voice, without lifting her eyes from the sewing she held in her hand. “Yes,” he said, “I have a large, comfortable house, and plenty of money that is doing nobody any particular good, and I feel it to be my present duty to take care of them; to give them a good education, and a chance in the world.”

“It is your privilege, certainly, Mr. Hazelton,” she said, still without looking up. “I have done the best I could for them. Of course I know that you can do much better, and, if you insist upon taking them, I shall have to submit, however painful the parting may be. ” Tears' fell upon the snowy fabrio through which her needle was flashing nervously. He regarded her in silence for some moments. She felt his keen gaze fixed upon her, and thought that he was testing her to see whether she really cared for the children or not. Burning blushes suffused her neck and face at the bare idea that he could mistrust her motives. She had never dared to think that he cared sufficiently for her to ask her to share his home with them. “Mercie,” he burst out, suddenly, “I shall want some one to help me take care of those children.” “Of course you trill,” she answered, very quietly, “but I think you will find no difficulty in hiring a good, capable woman to oversee the arrangements of the household.” “But that isn’t what I want,” he answered, impetuously; “I want you to go.” “Me?” with a swift, surprised upflashing of the blue eyes. “Yes, you.. Why not?” Down west those blue eyes again, while a look of exquisite happiness crept into her face, glorifying every feature. She understood him now. “Yes, Mercie,” taking the little trembling hands in his own, “yon oannot be blind to the fact that I have learned to love you. Your sublime self-abnegation in taking care of my sister’s children won my respect, your heroic patience under the ordeal tff suffering compelled my admiration, and you, your own sweet loving self, have captured my heart. Yes, Mercie, I want you for my very own. Can you love me, little one ? Wiil you be my wife ?” It were needless to record Mercie’s answer. Suffice it to say that two weeks later there was a quiet sale of her few effects, a quieter wedding, and then a happy little party embarked upon an outward-bound train, seeking Herbert Hazelton’s distant home.

Securely anchored in the sure haven of her husband’s love, resting her tired spirit for support upon his strong; noble and generous nature, Mercie Browne forgets that she has ever suffered, or remembers it only to be thankful that out of her trial and loss there has come to her an infinitely greater gain. —Chicago Ledger.

Got a Concession.

He burst into the office of a wellknown with his hands full of papers and called out: “I’ve got it! I-’ve got it 1 I’ve got the. biggest and most profitable enterprise on earth.” ’ “So?” “I have, and I’ll let you in for half a million and nothing less.” “A new canal?” “No, sir! I have a concession from the Mexican Government to build a railroad from Tarqua to Cinquaxa—a bee line 400 miles long!” “Let’s seel” mused the capitalist, as he brought out his map. “Here’s Tarqua and there’s Cinquaxa. ” “Yes.”

“And between them seven mountain ranges from 4,000 to 6,200 feet high, 100 miles of desert, 200 miles of wilderness, the Apache tribe of In 6 ran a and five rivers! My dear sir, sell me a half interest and I’ll throw in my patent right for a railroad suspended from balloons! It’s just the chanoe to see how it will work!” The man with the concession is now figuring on the cost of forty miles of tunnels and eighty-seven curves and 200 miles of blasting, but this shouldn’t deter Americans from making a gridiron of Mexico with railroad tracks. — Wall Street News.

Fortunately.

I was chatting with a bright yotmg girl the other evening at » small German, when our attention was directed to a tall and handsome woman who had just entered the room. “Who is she?” asked my cpmpanion, and I, wishing to be poetical, answered: “A daughter of the gods.” “I don’t know her,” my partner replied, critically examining the new-comer through her lorgnette, “the gods are not in our set.” —New York World . A sleeping-cab porter who traveled 650 miles with ten passengers worth over $3,000,000 each says that his perquisites were only 50 cents.

RENSSELAER, JASPER COUNTY, INDIANA, FRIDAY, JUNE 1,1883.

"See here, yon coon, you get out of kere;” said the grocery mail to the bad boy, as he came in the store with his face black and shining, “I don’t want uiy colored boys around here. White boys break me up bad enough.” “O, philopene,” said the bad boy, as be put his hahds bn hi& knees and laughed so the candy jars rattled on the shelves. “Yon didn’t know me. lam the same boy that comes here and talks your arm off,” and the boy opened the cheese box and cut off a piece of cheese so natural that the grocery man had no difficulty in recognizing him. “What in the name of the seven sleeping Sisters have yon got on your hands and face?** said the grocery man, as he took the boy by the eat and turned him around. “You would pass in a colored prayer meeting, and no one would think you were galvanized. What yon got np in such an outlandish rig for?” “Well, TO tell yon, if yon will keep watch at the door. H yon see a baldbeaded colored man comingalong the street with a club, you whistle, and I will fall down cellar. The bald-headed colored man will be pa. Yon see, we moved yesterday. Pa told me to get a vacation from the livery stable, and we would have fun moving. But I don’t want any more fun. I know when I have got enough fun. Pa carried all the light things, and when it come to lifting, he had a crick in the back. Gosh, I never was so tired as I was last night, and I hope we have got settled, only some of the goods haven’t turned up yet. A drayman took one load over on the West Side, and delivered them to a house that seemed to be expecting a load of household furniture. He thought it was all right, if everybody that was moving got a load of goods. Well, after we got moved pa said we mnst make garden, and he said we would go out and spade up the ground and sow peas, and radishes, and beets. ' There was some neighbors lived in the next house to our new one, that was all wimmin, and pa didn’t like to have them think he had to work, so he said it would be a good joke to disguise ourselves as tramps, and the neighbors would think we had hired some tramps to dig in the garden. I told pa of a boss scheme to fool them. I suggested that we take some of this shoe-blacking that is put on with a sponge, and black our faces, and the neighbors would think we had hired an old colored man and his boy to work in the garden. Pa said it was immense, and he told me to go and black up, and if it worked he would black hisself. So I went and put this burnt cork on my face, ’cause it would wash off, and pa looked at me and said it was a whack, and for me to fix him up too. So I got the bottle of shoeblacking and painted pa so he looked like a colored coal heaver. Actually, when ma saw him she ordered him «ff the premises, and when he laffed at her and acted sassy, she was going to throw biling water on pa, bnt I told her the scheme, and she let up on pa. O, you’d a dide to see us out in the garden. Pa looked like Uncle Tom, and I lfioked like Topsy, only I ain’t that kind of a colored person. We worked till a boy throwed some tomato cans over the alley fence and hit me, and I piled over the fence after him, and left pa. It was my chum, and when I had caught him we put up a job to get pa to chase us. We throwed some more cans, and pa come out and my chum started and I after him, and pa after both of us. He chased us two blocks and then we got behind a policeman, and my chum told: the policeman it was a crazy old colored man that wanted to kidnap ns, and the policeman took pa by the neck and was going to club him, but pa said he would go home and behave. He was offul mad, and he went home and we looked through the alley fence and saw pa trying to wash off the blacking. You see that blacking won’t wash off. You have to wear it off. Pa would wash his bee with soap suds, and then look in the glass, and he was blacker every time he washed, and when ma laffed at him he said the oftulest words, something like ‘sweet spirit hear my prayer,’ then he washed himself again. lam going to leave my burnt cork on, ’cause if I washed it off pa would know there had been some smouging somewhere. I asked the shoe-store man how long it would take the blacking to wear off, and he said it ought to wear off in a week. I guess pa won’t go out doors much, unless it -is in the night. lam going to get him to let me go off in the country fishing till mine wears off, and when I get out of town I will wash np. Say, you don’t think a little blacking hurts a man’s complexion, do you, and you don’t think a man ought to get mad because it won’t wash off, do you?” “O, probably it don’t hurt the complexion,” said the grocery man, as he sprinkled some fresh water on the wilted lettuce, so it would look fresh while the hired girl was buying some, “and yet it is mighty unpleasant, where a man has got an engagement to go to a card party, as I know your pa has tonight. As to getting mad about it, if I was your pa I would take a barrel stave and shatter your castle scandalously. What kind of a fate do you think awaits you when you die, anyway?” “Well, I am mixed on ihe fate that awaits me when I die. If I should go off sudden, with all my sins on my head, and this burnt Cork on my face, i should probably be a neighbor to you, way down below, and they would give me a job as fireman, and I should feel bad for you every time I chucked in a nuther chunk of brimstone, and thought of you trying to swim dog-fashion in the lake of fire, and Straining your eyes to find an iceberg that you could crawl up on to cool your parched hind legs. If I don’t die slow, so I will have time to repent and be saved, I shall be toasted brown. That’s what the minister says, and they wouldn’t pay him $2,0Q0 a year and give him a vacation to tell anything that was not so. I tell you, it is painful to think of that place that so many pretty fair average people here are going to when they die. Just think of it, a man that swears just once, if he don’t hedge and take it back, will go to the bad place. If a person steals a pin, he is as bad as if he stole all there was in a bank, and he stands the best chance of going to the bad place. You see, if a fellow steals a little thing like a pin, be forgets to repent, ’cause it don’t seem to be worth while to make so much fuss about. But if a fellow robs a bank, or steals a whole lot of money from orphans, he knows it is a mighty serious matter, and he gets in his work repenting too quick, and he is liable to get to the good place, while you, who have only stole a few potatoes out of the bushel that you sold to the orphan asylum, will forget to repent, and yon will sizzle. I tell yon, the more I read about being good, and going to heaven, the more I think a feller can’t be too careful, and from this out you won’t find a better boy than I fun. When J come in here after this

THE BAD BOY.

«► tad take a few dried peaches or crack ers and cheese, yon charge it tight np to pa, and then I won’t have it oh my mind and have to answer for it at the great judgment day. I am going to shake my chum, ’cause he chews tobacco, which is wicked, though I don’t see how that can be, when the minister smokes, but I want to be 6n the safd side. lam going to be good or bust a suspender, and hereafter yon can point to me as a boy who has seen the folly of an ill-spent life, and if there is such a thing as a 15-year-old boy who has been a terror getting to heaven, I am the hairpin; I tell yon, when I listen to the minister tell about the angels flying around there, and I see pictures of them purtier than any girl in this town, with chubby arms With dimples in their elbows and shoulders, and long golden hair, and think of myself here cleaning off horses in a livery stable and smelling like an old harness, it makes me tired, and I wouldn’t miss going there for $lO. Say, you would make a healthy angel for a back street of the new Jerusalem, but you would give the whole crowd aWay ufiless yott washed up and sent that shirt to the Chinese laundry. Yes, sir, hereafter von will find me as good as I know bow to be. Now I am going to wash up and help the minister move.” As the boy went out the grocery man sat for several minutes thinking of the change that had come over the bad boy, and wondered what bad brought it about, and then he went to the door to watch him as he wended his way across the street with his head down, as though in deep thought, and the grocery man said to himself, “that boy is not as bad as some people think he is,” and then lie looked around and saw a sign hanging up in front of the store, written on a piece of. box cover with blue pencil, “Spoiled canned ham and tongue, good' enough for church picnics,” and he looked after the boy who was slipping down an alley and said, “The condemned little whelp. Wait till I catch him.”— Peck’s Sun I__ 1 __

Men Under the Razor.

Of all the types seen in barbers’ shops probably the man in a hurry is the most multitudinous. He tears open the door, glares wildly around the room at the comfortably-filled chairs, mutters a gentle imprecation, and, with a despaiing look, fires himself out into the street again. Or, if he is not in quite so much of a hurry, he hastily examines the stage at which each patron has arrived in the tonsorial process, compares his time with his plans, asks when his? turn will come as if he didn’t know that would be as soon as the chair was empty, and finally, after fidgeting around and making everybody miserable, he leaves the shop just before “next!” is called. The thin-skinned man is a tender little body and wants the barber to be “O! so careful,” and to play lightly over his cuticle or he may break through. And the barber selects a delicate weapon, goes only “onceover” his victim, and when he with a towel drenched in bayrum, the thin-skinned man starts and shrinks like one who is dosed with a strong hair tonic on a shampooed scalp. The Man-with-a-Tough-Skin rarely deigns to reply to the inquiry: - “Does the razor suit you ?” He wants to be shaved as close as Shylock, “right up to the roots,” and his stubby beard yields slowly to the best steel and with disastrous- effect upon its edge. He is dreaded by the most artistic shaverd, but he does not belong to a small contingent and has to be put up with. The bald-headed man does not cost au establishment much for hair oil, but the muscular energy expended in making the top of his cranium shine like a bil-liard-ball takes off the profits. The highest degree of polish is attained by a rotary motion of the right hand wrapped in a towel while the left hand holds the victim steady. Going asleep in the barber’s chair is" the favorite habit of apoplectic individuals who are not afraid of losing flesh or blood while the tonsorial artists scrape the soap off their faces. They will nod until there is imminent danger of a casual ear disappearing in their blissful ignorance of their environment, and yet the papers have not recently reported any oases of fat men getting their throats out in respectable barbers’ shops. There may have been such cases that have escaped the vigilance of the reporters, but probably they were few in number. A special Providence seems to wait on fat men in barbers’ shops when they sleepily shake their heads at the agile razor as it plays around their expansive countenances.—N. Y. Times.

Webster Wanted Cider.

Daniel Webster visited Cbambersburg in the summer of 1834. He had been at Bedford Springs, and upon reaching this place on his way to Washington, was taken sick and confined to his room in the Franklin House, where he remained for several days. The late Dr. Samuel Culbertson was summoned to prescribe for the “King of the Senate,” as he ’vyas then fondly termed by his admirers. The doctor readily discovered that his patient was not seriously indisposed. When Mr. Webster was convalescing, he expressed a strong desire for some cider, and inquired whether any was to be had in Cham* bersburg. Dr. Senseney replied thafl he had no knowledge of any, but it wad possible that John Hutchinson, who kept a tippling-place around the corner, might have some. Swallowing the contents' of the first bottle brought to him, and declaring that it was the nectar of the gods, he turned to Carson, an old servant, and said: “Now, Ned, you and I will want a good deal of this stuff, and you mnst instantly go down to Hutchinson’s and engage all he has in stock, whether it be fifty barrels or less,” which was accordingly done.— Chambersburg (Pa.) Opinion.

Curing a Bad Memory.

Your memory is bad, perhaps, Imt I can tell you two secrets that will cure the worst memory. One, to read a subject when strongly interested. The other is to not only read, but think. When you have read a paragraph or a page stop, close the book and try to remember the ideas on that page, and not only recall them vaguely in your mind, but put them into words and speak them out. Faithfully follow these two rules and you have the golden keys of knowledge. Beside inattentive reading there are other thing injurious to memory. One is the habit of skimming over newspapers, all in a confused jumble, never to be thought of again, thus diligently cultivating a habit of careless reading bard to break. Another is the reading of trashy novels. Nothing is so fatal to reading with profit as the habit of running through story after story and forgetting them .as soon as read. I know a gray-hairel woman, a life-long lover of books, who sadly declares that her mind has been ruined by such reading.—SL Nicholas*

THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.

What R Was, What It Ik.Rew, and It Is to Bd. History of What Will Be the Highest Structure Ever Raised by Han*s Hand. [Washington Telegram.] Probably few persons outside mt Washington realize that the time has come to speak respectfully of the WashihgtOn Monument The unsightly column—as it was for so many yeabs—which used to stand as a big s tone stump between the lonic portico of the Treavurv and the broad, glittering shallows bf the Potomac, has, within the past two years, risen into a stately obelisk, whose marble sides gleam In the sun—a simple and imposing shaft, which will one daybe majestic. The paragrapers, who are still joking abdut it, are behind the age. It is now higher-than any of the Egyptian pyramids, except that of Cheops and its companion pyramid. King Shaira s; and when it is completed, it will be more than 100 feet higher than either of these, and will be not on W the highe t known strheture in the world,, but. So it is Said, the highest structure which is known to have Over been raised by the hand of man. The great spire M the Btra* burg Cathedral runs up to the height of 468 feet; the height of the tower of the Cathe* dral at Cologne is put at 611 feet: Bt. Peter’s, from the pavement to toe base of toe lantern, is 448 feet, and tne Milan Cathedral is 366 feet to the very top of toe statue of toe Madonna. The Washington Monument is now 340 feet above toe floor of the shaft When completed, as it WiU be by December, 1885, at the latest, it will teiM feet high, or more than forty feet higher than toe very tip of toe slender pinnacles at Cologne. The comparison is an awkward one, perhaps, but it has Its uses neverthe-* less—a plain shaft is not to be compared, architecturally, with a cathedral or pyramid; but it is of some interest to remember that while the tower of toe Cologne Oa* thedral will probably taper into toe air wito a very small diameter, tne Wapiungton Mon* ument at 500 feet, or almost exactly thl same height, will show a width of thirty-tnd feet on each of its four faces. At toe base each of these sides have a width of nfty-nve f6 The engineering feat by which a new and enlarged foundation was inserted under a structure 150 feet high and weighing 71,500,000 pounds, as the monument was when work was begun in 1378, is one whioh cad only be adequately described by Col. Casey, the engineer in charge, and be says that, though often, urged to do so, he shall aol write a line upon the subjeot until the monument Is completed Perhaps it will make the story more intelligible to go back a little. Ti e plan of a monument to Washington in the city bearing his name was ad many will remember, formally approved by Congress in a resolution parsed less than a fortnight after his death, and which requested that his family permit his body to be deposited under it, Tx.e monument was to be erected by toe United States, but nothing was done. In 1833 an association of leading ci'tirem here wes formed, which, having collec ed enough money by private subscription to begin wont, secured the site from Congress in 1848 and laid toe corner-stone on July 4of that year. In toe eight years following the shaft was carried to toe height of 156 feet, where work was suspended for lack of funds, and no stone was laid on the shaft from that time until August 8, 1881, , an interval of twenty-four years, during which toe slavery agitation, toe oivil war and the convulsions growing out of it, united to distract the public mind from a work peculiarly national and suggestive of peace and unity. But one of toe great reasons why toe now of little subscriptions from all over the land was stopped, was the belief, whioh became general, that toe foundation was not strong enough. When Mr. Corcoran, Dr. John B. Blake and other oitizens here, succeeded in inducing Congress *o undertake the completion, which it did by a resoifftion in the Centennial year constituting a joint commission, it was found that this belief was correct The monument, which, as already stated, showed a breadth of 55 feet on each of its faces at toe base line, rested upon a foundation only 80 feet square and 23 feet deep, and poorly constructed at that Below this was the ground, of rather a yielding nature. If they had gone on heaping stone upon the monument, the result would simply have been that toe weight would have driven it downward like a punch. It would probably have settled unevenly; and we should have had either a new leaning tower of Pisa, or perhaps no tower at all, whioh would have furnished either way n fine paragraph for toe newspaper correspondents, but would not probably have been ol much benefit to any other class In the community. Obviously, the foundation needed to be strengthened, and CoL Casey addres ed himself to a task which a good mamy engineers would have preferred not to undertake. Going down below the foundation already built, he dug from under it all around, leaving a core of earth 44 feet square directly under the center of toe founda ion and monument; and the 71,500,000 pounds of weight stood on tots pillar of earth The new excavation was of a depth of 13 feet, and nude a cellar under toe foundation 126 feet square. This was filled with 6olid masonry, except where toe core of earth stood, whicn was not removed. Then toe sides ol toe old foundation above were tom down for a considerable distance under the walla of the shaft, rebuilt of better materials, and spread out further over the new base below, thus distributing the prefirra over a much larger area So, Instead of a foundation oqly 80 feet square, that is, extending only feet beyond each of the four faces, there is now a foundation 126 feel square, extending 85 feet beyond each face, and running 13 feet deeper. A good many engineers have come at different times to visit the monument and Inspect this interesting work. One of them looked at it a longtime without saying anything. Then he remarked quietly, “well, that’s easy enough to do, but I don’t know one engineer in a thousand who would want to toy It* The result proves how well toe work has been done Since the laying of stone was renewed 28,865 tons of stone have been added to the pile, and the settlement of the shaft due to*this load haa been just one and a quarter inches. The settlement is so even that the greatest variation in the sinking of the four comers is a difference of four-hnndretbs of an inch between the southwest and northeast comera The --other two have settled exactly alike, even -td - the hundreto part of an inch. The total pteisure now borne by toe bed of foundation is 74,871 tons, or 90 per cent of the whole pressure that will be plaoed upon it. The line at which the work rested in 18.56 can plainly be t een, toe old portion of the monumen; be ng darker and more weather-beaten than the new. The slow ra ; .e at whioh contractors are able to deliver the marble regulates toe progress of the monument Tne money which Congress has ar< ady appropriated, about 0800,003 in all, will suffice to complete the shaft and pyramidion, as it is oalled, toe pyramid which is to top the shaft at the he ght of 500 feet a* d rise for fltty-flve feet, part of it being of gia=*, in order to light the deep well of the monument.

VENDETTA.

A Southern Feud Leads to the Slaying of Nine Persons. [Telegram from Baton Range, La] News lias been received here to the effect that Robert Morrison, a brether-ln-law of the Kirbys, was found dead in the woods yesterday near where the affray took place "between the Lanier and Kirby parties In the first statement it was reported that not only were the two Laniers killed, but that the Coroner had found toe body of William Kirby where toe Kirby party made the attack, showing that the Laniers had resisted them. The supposition is that 2T orrison was wounded m toe fight, and died while endeavoring to get home. Samuel Lanier, aged 15, has not been heard irom, and he is also supposed to have been shoe down during the fight, and to have sinoe died in the woods This is a family fend, which has caused the death of nine men already. There are three members of toe Lanier family, with due brother-in-law remaining, of one faction, and one Morrison and two Kirbys of toe other. The quickest time on record made by a i-t umßhip from Florida to New York was made a few days ago by toe steamer Ctyafctahooebe In seventy-two hours

NUMBER 18.

UNITING GREAT CITIES.

Opening of the Suspension Bridge Over East liiver. rhe Greatest Structure of the Kind in the World. The completion bt the great suspension bridge over the East river, between New York and Brooklyn, has been looked*orward to with a great deal of Interest all over the country, and the formal ceremonies of opening the structure to the public traffic were witnessed by an immense throng. The building df a bridge to connect the two cities was first suggested by Thomas MoElxath, of the New York Tribune, nearly half a century ago, but it was not seriously entertained, however, and nothing was done then. In January, 1867, Mr. John A. Bo«tvling, a Brooklyn engineer, acted on bf the state of popular teeling. suggested the construction of a suspension bridge, to cost #2,(00,000, With a roadway 20J feet above highwater mark, that Should be available both for vehio.es and pedestrians, and on on which trains shou d run from shore to shore at short intervals This may bet aid to have been the first definite proposition blade. Three years later, in April, 1800, the same gentleman ttited his views in the columns of the Architect »’ and Mechanic»' Journal. He then animated the cost at #4.000,000, ad the annual revenue derivable from a 8-ceut to l, which should include the fare over in the oars, at # 1,1)00,000. Six years more elapsed, and then Mr. Wiliiam O. Kingsley, of Brooklyu who had taken up the project warmly, and who was seconded by Henry C. Murphy (since deceased) and Congressman William E. Robinstn, began to work zealously for the acoomp ishment of what many dbnsideie t an impossible design. A bill was introduced into Congress, empowering a company that had been formed to build the bridge, and it passed in March, 1869 The work was commenced under the auspices of the company, which, like others, was at first a privat ) corporation. But as it progressed it became evident that its cost would largely exceed the estimate. Objections were oJeo raised to gaoh an undertaking being in the hands of the company. The result was that in 1875 a bill was passed by the*Legislature of this State, authorising the cities of New York and Brooklyu to buy out the etoek, the former to the extent of onethud and the la.ter to that of two-thirda This anangement was ca:ried into elect, and a Board of Trn tees was appointed by the Mayors of tho two cities, under whose direction the work has been car. ied out Operations were commenced on Jan. 3, 187 u, so that the work has gone on for nearly thirteen years and five month - . Tae approaches to the bridge are not 1 63 complete, but they ate soon to be. lire total lengtii of the bridge is 5,989 feet, the span between the two columns being 1,595 feet 6 inches long. . . The summits of the towers that support the great struoture are 278 feet above high water, and their foundations po down on the Brooklyn and New York sides respectively 45 and 78 feet The clear height of the bridge above high water In the center is 135 feet, the grade of the roadway is feet in lix), and tare width of the bridge 85 feet No less than 14,3(51 miles of wire were used tor tie cables, each single wire being 3,•> < 9 feet long. These cables, which are four in number” weigh 3,588% ton 5 . The ceremonies attending the opening of the great bridge were under the direction of the Brooklyn authorities, and were of an imposing character. Business was generally suspended in both cities President Arthur and his Cabinet Ministers and a large number of other distinguished persons graced the occasion with their presence, and the parading of the crack local military regiments added eclat to the affair. Gen. James Jourdan was Marshal of the day. At night there was a pyrotechnic display on the bridge, and the public buildings of the two cities were illuminated. The completion of this grand structure marks another decided advance in the construction of this cla*,s of bridges, as this is the largest of its kind In the world, and probably in all material respects the most notable one. It certainly Is the most remarkable one In this country, in regard to the length of span and the amount of material used In its construction. At the time of its construction the suspension bridge built by RoebUng at Niagara was regarded, with respect to Its single span, its elevation above the water, and the daring involved in its construction, as an additional wonder of the world. This was in 1855; and, however great may have been Its prominence at that date, U has since become so dwarfed by greater constructions that it is now scarcely noticeable. In 1860 the bridge at Cincinnati was completed with a span of 1,057 feet, or nearly 200 feet mors than the Niagara bridge, and it at ono# sup. planted the Tatter as a work of art, to™* matter of magnitude. Then Roebllng bull! 1 the upper bridge at Niagara, with a span of 1,250 feet, some 400 leet more than the tort Niagara; and then the Cincinnati structure fell back to second plaoe. And nowßoebBng has once more excelled himself by constructing a bridge, with a si*»#rl* 1,000 feet, nearly double that ofhis first work, and a third larger than the Cincinnati 6tt There is no suspension bridge in Btjrops that is at all comparable to any of them, unless it be to the first one built by Roebling at Niagara There is one at Fribourg in Switzerland, which has a span of 870 feet, some 50 more than the Niagara span; end there are three or four bridges of the kind in England which have spans of DO twees 600 and 700 feet

THE COLORED CONVENTION.

Card from Fred Douglas—Traitor* and | Informers Denounced. A recent Washington telegram Bays that Fred. Douglas has come to the front In defense of the proposed colored convention, of which he is the leading spirit In a published card he denounces these colored men who oppose the convention in tine following vigorous language: “There are traitors and Informers among all oppressed and unfortunate people. Colored men are not an exception to the rule There are those who axe never doing anything for the race themselves, but are ready to scream themselves hoarse In opposition when anything is attempted by others. lam not at all surprised when some of those for whom I have lived and labored lift their heels against me. Binoe the days of Hose# such haa been the fate of all men earnestly endeavoring to serve the oppressed and unfortunate, but this infirmity of oppressed people, just now conspicuous in the conduct of the opponents of the proposed National Convention, will not deter me. or those associated with me, from going forward with the convention in question. I can see at the bottom of this opposition only groundlesl apprehension on tne part of some of oui mends, and every ambition and Jealousy od the part of most of the colored men who are Just now gaining a little notoriety by assail J lhg the motive, of better men than themselves.”

PISCICULTURE.

What is Being Done at the National Fish Hatcheries. [Washington Telegram.] Fish-hatohtng is attracting a good deal of attention at th 9 old Armory Building Just now, 760,000 eggs being received daily from the Potomac stations OoL * McDonald, who is ‘in charge of the distribution of expects the yield of this season to be npward of 60,000,C03 shad* Three car-loads are sent away every week. The production of young herring has been enormous and Mr. Page, who is in charge of the hatching, estimates that the yield of the season will be 100,000,000. CoL McDonald is devoting a pood share of the froduct of the season to slocking the upper otomac. The hatching at the Armory is In full operation, all apparatus being worked to the fullest capacity, It is expected that fully 28,000,0C0 good eggs will be secured from the Potomac this season. The lateness of the spring put back the Work considerably. _ Jax Gould Is in for homeopathy.

THE DEMOCRATIC SENTINEL, OtJB JOB PRINTING OFFICE Has better facilities than any offloe in Northwestern Indiana for tho execution of all branches of 7033 r»ni3srTixvr&. #BT PROMPTNESS A SPECIALTY. "W Anything, from a Dodger to a Prfoe-Ltat, or from a Pamphlet to a Posies, black ee colored, or fancy. B«~ Satisfaction guaranteed, _ _

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

TOT of Police of Richmond was discharged a few day* ago for drunkenness. Mur jj, rxkvks, the richest man in Eastern Indiana, djed the other day of a carbuncle on his face. Two rODKO men of Shoals, Martin oounty, killed thirty-three squirrels in a few hours, one day l«st week. Tot Mormon Elders have received threats of being egged if they continue their preaching in Seeleyville. Rockpokt has an organized female base ball club. The first game was played last week on the college grounds. Vn Albacoh, of Martin county, captured an eel, a few days ago, which measured five feet in length and six inches in diameter. Tot last of the Indiana internal improvement bonds, issued in 1847, were paid, with interest The holder, who paid #454,000 for the bonds, received #184,14U Tot Northern Indiana Editorial Association, of whioh Dan McDonald, of the Plymouth Democrat, is President, meets in Fort Wayne on the second Thursday of June next » A family fight was indulged in to a considerable extent In Indianapolis, a few days ago, which culminated in the breaking of an old man’s skull by the son-in-law of his second wife. Charley and Eddie Graham, aged 8 and 5 years respectively, were picked up by the police of Jeffersonville T.ey said their father brought thorn from New Albany and deserted them. Tot First Presbyterian Church of New Albany is to be thoroughly repaiied and refurnished with carpets, etc., at a cost of about #B,ooa The walls and ceilings are to be frescoed and beautified. Tot body of August Ruehman, of Evansville, was found the other morning in Jacob's pond, near the Belt railroad. As he was well off, no cause can be found for his confmitting suicide He leaves property worth #20,000. Tot ohief of polioe of Terre Haute made a raid on Prichard’s gambling den the other <jay, the only game open at that time, and captured the proprietor, dealer, and whole outfit Nearly 100 persons, mostly boys were present A delegation of well-known citizens of Indianapolis presented a petition to the County Commissioners a few days ago, praying for an appropriation of #20,000 to erect an additional building to th 6 Orphans’ Home. Mb. Bullock and an employe, living near Evansville, while plowing up a piece of land that had not been touched for two or three years, turned up the skeleton of a human body. The skull was orushed, showing signs of foul play. Mr. J. L. MoNaughton died at Jeffersonville on Sunday, aged 77 years He was probably one of the oldest members of tha order of Odd Fellows in the State, having joined the order at Leavenworth, Ind., thirty-three years ago.

A law student in Lafayette was surprised the other day in the wood-shed, violently sawing the air and swinging his arms like windmills before a saw-horse and twelve sticks of cord-wood set on end, In an imaginary Blander suit. Tot May reports'of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the school enumeration show that the population of school children in Ev ansville, is 15,718, while in Fort Wayne, which strives for the rank of second city in the State, the number is 14,466 The Greenlawn Cemetery Investigating Committee, of Indianapolis, attempted to question the colored sexton relative to the abuses of the pauper dead, but the latter declined to answer for the alleged reason that the inquiry was a “Democratic conspiracy” to ruin him. The committee will recommend his dismissal

, William Middubton, of Oonnersville, Fayette county, arranging a conductor at the corner of his house during a shower, a few days ago, received a slight stroke of lightning, the electrio fluid running from h’s knees down his limbs He was paralyzed for some time after he was picked up, and was severely scorched. » Wnr-iAM A. Wbickue, of Rockport, Ind, was knocked down, murderously an suited with a knife and robbed of #sll, one night recently, at Decatur, 111, by three strangers, who escaped with their booty. Four men were arrested on suspicion, but they could not be identided by Wriclcle. Thx farm laborers around Muncie are making a vigorous onslaught on the use of the labor-saving self-binding machines, and are applying the torch very extensively. Within eight weeks over eight bams containing these machines have been burned by these laborers, and more trouble Is feared.

At Columbus, Bartholomew county, George Dahn went to his stable to feed just as an unknown man had saddled and bridl d one of his most valuable animals The thief started to run, when Dahn collared him, but was dealt such a blow that the man escaped Officers were soon in pursuit, and after a chase of more than a mile the vi lain was captured He gave his name as John Frank, paid #12.50 for assault and battery on Dahn turd was allowed to depart. Teds estimate of the number of domestic enimals in Indiana for 1882 is as follows: Humber. Estimated value. Horses 4*8,881 #24,6>4,030 Mules: 48,516 2,910,*00 Cattle 1,110,623 11,106,2#) HOOT. *,721,646 16,608.3* Sheep 1,092,701 2,188,402

Mb. Fbanx O’Fbbbaia, of Lafayette, has in his possession a very unique specimen of the ancient coins. It is a Homan sesteroe, coined in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, and therefore is about 1,760 years old. Its value at the time of Its coinage was about 4 cent*. It is ornamented on the obverse side with a medallion of the Emperor, and the words “Hsdrianns Augustas * On the revewe is an image of the goddess, with the word “Css” and the letters “X X X,* and beneath is the abbreviation “ft Cl," standing for the phrase Ex Senatna Oonaulto, “By consent of the Senate ” The coin weighs about two ounces and is about one inch and a half in diameter. The Gravel Road Company engaged in building a road north from Seymour recently purchased am acre of ground from which to procure gravel The ground purchased has proved J» be an ancient bury* ing-ground, it Is supposed of the Momd Builders. About a dozen skeletons ha e been exhumed, most of which are in a gcod of preservation. Hon. A. A. Davison, Superintendent of the “road, and Dr. Millard P. Gerrish have made a-careful examination of the bones. The bodies had been bulled with the heads to the east, and not in the sitting position characteristic of the Indians Two earthen Jars, or vases, were found; which wqre unique ip design. Numerous lime and sandstone bowlders not common to the locality were unearthed. There is an absence of arrow-head*, <Wln<U*n relics.