Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 March 1884 — Page 6

THK TALISMAN AND THE LEECH: A ( EBAGMEN I. It wm « lav®ly Indy that on her stok-hei Uy; It was her lozdly lover that spurred tor the leech away, • And met upon the highway, crouched cn the ccld hard stone, A withore 1 white-haired beggar that made for alnid her mom. The lordly lover cast her his purse from saddlebow. V “My love is lying dying, and for the leech I go. In yonder ou g phyi-ic ans a many are, I trow: Would that th: skdlfuiest cf all among them I cot id know;* “Take th!*:” the crone, upstarting, placed on his hand a ring Of dull and tarnished copper, a mean and batter d thing. “Wear this, an i when thou rldest np to the leech's door. See for rhyseM what company of guests doth stand before, "v And be'or 5 the knight could thank her she vanisaed quite away. And there was naught but a woe brown bird sitting u.oon the spray r And the light-hearted lover onward he spurred his cotuser uray. And kissed the battered talisman, and ble.-scd the kindly fay. Up the ringing street he darted to the chief physician's door— Heaven! what ghastly company was standing it before! The souls of all the slain were there, ten thousand souls, I trow. Like wttoh-tires in a pallid night, a-wavering to ana fro. On passed the knight to another leech, but before the door perdie. Was quite as ghastly if not quite so great a company ; And up and down the burg he rode, but everywhere ho went, , Watched the spirit o' each patient under a monument. "Alack! doth never a leech have skill?” was his despairing cry; “And must the Lady Cunegnnd in her youth and beauty die? There is but one physician left, and yonder at his door— Oh, heavens! there floats a single ghost—a single ghost, no more! "Oh, a blessing on the talisman and on the kind, ly fay 1 Here is the surgeon skilled shall charm my lady's hurt away. Ho! busk ye, busk ye. Master Leech, and ride away with me, And thou shalt save a precious life, and win a priceless fee." Up sprang the good physician then behind the gallant knight, And swiftly up th.; sounding road clattered the courser wight; And merrily the knight he sang and shouted in his glee, “A blessing on the kindly fay that guided me to thee!” “Now, by our good Saint Anthony, wkat is it thou dost say? Dost thou not know, Sir Knight, there is no goblin, neither fay? But tell me truly, who it was to me thy steps did guide, For how should a poor leech be known throughout the country-side?" “Oh, trust mH, trust me. Master Leech, thy fame spreads far and near; On every side of thy healing skill what miracles we hear! For though thy cheek doth lightly bear the rosy hue of youth, There is no doctor so renowned in all the land, good sooth.* “Sir Knight, it ill becomes thy rank to mock a simple man, One who doth practice Galen's art with all the skill he can; But only yesterday 1 hung my shingle out at door, And I have had but a single call—one patient, and no more." “Now by Saint Anthony I* exclaimed the knight The remainder of this Interesting balled has been lost.— Harper's Mauazine

HIGH UP IN A BALLOON.

"Late on a clear autumn afternoon of 188- the well-known “Woodard’s Gardens,” in the city of San Francisco, could scarcely contain a surging crowd come together from all quarters of the city to witness-the ascent of a monster balloon. In that ascent our artist and the faithful reporter were directly interested; nor was the flight into ether which they and the Captain (an experienced aeionaut) of the undertaking proposed by any means a common-place affair, being no less than an attempt to cross in mid-air the mighty range of the Sierra Nevada, and land far on the other side of that tremendous palisade, in Salt Lake City itself. It is hardly necessary to state that this aeronautic feat had never been accomplished. Undertaken, the truthful writer regrets to confess, it had been, and by the same venturesome trio, who, flitting in shame on the roof of the cowmed where they had collapsed at the very outset of their trip, railed at the ■brick chimney which had wrecked their air ship, endured the jeers of the throng below with humility, and vowed to repeat the attempt within a week. A charity picnic afforded an excellent opportunity. The balloon had been patched, the temper of the trio restored, and once again the immense swollen bag toppled in air, pulling upward with all of its 34,000 cubic feet of

gas. Our party were fairly prompt. We took our places amid the cheers of the crowd. Everything was looked to quickly. “Are you ready?” rang out the question. “Ready; let go!” assented the Captain. the cables were jerked off; with the sweep of the hurricane our aerostat shot up into space. The ground, the crowd, the buildings surrounding the gardens, the tallest treetops outlying us, dropped like enchantment below—still further below—far beneath. Our undertaking was Well begun. So much has been said of the impressions which the air voyager derives during the first half hour of his ascent that space may be saved here. The thrill of intense excitement as all connection with earth seems sundered; the up-turned faces and black coats in the concourse of spectators becoming black and white dots; the universal “foreshortening” of all creation as one looks down upon it —all combine to produce a feeling that can never pall. The fascination of floating at so vast an altitude as a balloon can soon attain is delicious. Few persons are troubled by giddiness. Confused sounds rise lullingly to the ear, one scarcely distinSushable from the rest. A kind of inxication steals over the navigator. To live and move thus seems a rapture. Small wonder that the man who “balloons” once will “balloon” again and again each time becoming more infatuated in tempting fate. Our evening was perfectly serene and cloudless. A gentle breeze wafted us northward. The earth became a pale green and gr ay map as we reached the level of 2,006 feet above the Bay of San Francisco, which stretched out glimtnering toward the horizon. We could discern the city, the Golden Gate, the Farallone Islands. On the east rose

Mount Diablo and the Coast Range summits. Northward rippled, Sacramento Bay, with a golden dust of cloud hanging over it The prospect invig- ’ orated us and soda water was approI priately absorbed by all • present, ■ stronger beverages being interdicted. Sunset came on. We had been ; gradually reaching the speed of ninety I miles an hour. Not that it was possible to perceive the fact without scientific help. Eten if a hurricane be blowing, there is still the endless sensation of floating, floating, for the air-current and the air-ship keep exact pace. Thanks to the pieces of tissue paper which were flung out lavishly from i time to time, and to the gauze stream- | ers fluttering from our cordage, we I could ascertain the direction of the wind. Even a few handfuls of sand thrown out from the ballast bags hanging over the rail caused us to rise | perceptibly, for the best and most delii cate scales in the chemist’s laboratory I cannot register the fractions of an ounce as does the balloon, The sun went down. Dusk advanced. “We must descend and put up for the night, friends,” said our Captain. With the vault above turning to a deep indigo, we sank gently, and skirted along the country from Which the Coast Range rises.

We were just in time to attract the attention of a number of farm hands returning from work through the fields. With much shouting back and forth, our dragging ropes were caught and made fast. “Tie it to anything, from a gate-post to a steeple,” suggested our artist, in a series of whoops worthy of a calliope. After a stiff battle, in which some of our kind assisters were pretty severely pulled about, we found ourselves on terra firms, and on the way to a neighboring farm-house. There we made light of a famous supper. washed down gayly with superb California wine. Our first stage was accomplished, and wo slept the sleep which it would be a great pity for only the just to enjoy. “Daylight already?” was the common exclamation when our vigilant Captain administered sundry shakings to each one of us. In an hour breakfast was over, and we were retracing our steps through the fields. The anchors were loosed after hearty handshakes with our hospitable hosts; once more the delightful sensation of boundless freedom and buoyancy. “Isn’t this rising early in the morning with a vengeance?” queried one of the fraternity, as the Captain Announced us to be overtopping 16,000 feet. “The man who will make a joke of that character under such matutinal circumstances, deserves to be-thrown out of this conveyance,” responded the Captain, grimly. .But our atmospheric conditions were not long favorable to joking. The cold grew intense. Our voices seemed mysteriously muffled,and it was necessary to shout instead of chat. Ears tingled, and the rush of blood to the forehead foreshadowed the sudden nose-bleedings that followed. Our Captain, prudent sailor, thoroughly approved of husbanding the ascensional powers of his craft. We dropped apace to a warmer and more normal level, where life was livable at lower pressure.

By this time our second day was well begun. The morning mists evaporated around, above,and below us. The west wind spun us toward the gigantic peaks of the Sierra Nevada, which finally mounted the eastern sky in full sight. We greeted them with cheers. “Ah, old fellows, we will be on the other side of you soon I” cried one of the party. “Take care,” responded the Captain, smilingly; “you are by no means there yet.” Beautifully penciled in green and black, the forest slopes extended to our view. “Look over there,” ejaculated the Captain. “Do you make out the track of the Central Pacific ? See! There is a train climbing up that grade!” Our artist did make out railroad and train, and contrived to sketch the same. In a little time we passed nearly over both, and caught the rumble and roar of wheels and the sight of a flurry oi handkerchiefs from the car windows. But our mighty air ship could not delay for courtesies; the lightning express fell far behind. Steadily, wind and all else favorable, we rose and swept forward. With a fresh cheer we saw the highest peak of the lofty mountain wilderness lying 3,000 feet beneath us.

“At this rate we shall be on the other side, and asleep in Salt Lake City tonight,” cried two of us. Alas! this boast was scarcely uttered before its punishment came upon us. Streaks of cloud suddenly appeared above the great Nevada table lands. The wind veered to the north. Its speed and ours increased. Our Captain’s uneasiness grew evident. A mostnre like dew began to freeze over us. We began to sink rapidly. Clearly we were in train for experiences of a most unexpected sort. “Throw out the ballast!” called our Captain. Rising once more, we darted into a dense cloud, and there drifted with lightning speed still northward. Water froze upon our cordage. There was only one thing now to do. “Over withall the ballast!” commanded our leader. It was in vain. We shot down perpendicularly with the speed of a bullet—l,soo feet in each second. Presently the whizzing of the gale in the tree tops of the mountain summit became terribly, audible. To land under such circumstances was imposible. Everything we possessed was tossed overboard—our spare clothing, our provisions—still, to no purpose. A moment or two later, with a series of crashes, and boands, and leaps that made us hold dn like grim death itself, our basket was dragging through the thick-set pine tope. Who could fitly describe the frightful sensations that ensued ? With all visions dissipated of success in ounetpedition, and possibly reaching Salt Laker City or, anywhere else alive, we croached' with clinched hold and sot teeth in the basket. Occasionally, as wo were borne across some depression in the mountain sides, we were free from collisions, and wore swfept somewhat upward. I well remember tjiat during one of these intervals ®r Captain, finding the rope of the escape valve had become entangled above. with masterly

j address clambered the network iof the bounding globe, and, ; clinging tightly to what slender hold Ihe found, adjusted it It was a feat to tremble at in recollecting. In less than ten minutes after it had been accomplished we struck the tree tops again, and were hurled more mercilessly than ; ever among their creaking branches, until with one tremendous shock our basket struck the strong limbs of a mighty forest giant and held firm. To pull the ripping rope was the work of a second. With a crack a whole seam of the balloon parted. The gas fell about us in our wretched situation, nearly choking us. Our late tyrant collapsed and hung suspended from its collossal peg, the pine tree. We were safe. Upon the remaining adventures of that luckless day neither reporter nor artist is disposed to dilate. Our valiant Captain, being inured to such untimely ends to all the pomp and circumstance of glorious ballooning, was subsequently seen to smile over the affair. With vast difficulty we managed to glide down the glippery trunk of the pine, whose only branches, among which we perched, grew eighty feet from the ground. We had landed on the summit of a spur of the Sierras. By compass we took our bearings and set out for shelter. Around us rose the wilderness pure and simple. There was no trace of road or habitation, and we were forced to fight our way through the dense undergrowth until nightfall. Without provisions, and utterly exhausted, our little party throw themselves down under the thicket’s shelter, and slept till the pallid dawn. A second day of such fruitless wandering meant something so nearly approaching death that we hardly cared to contemplate it as we trudged onward. By noon of the second day the strength of one of the party had given out entirely. The other two were manfully preparing to carry him between them, when a roaring brook was struck, and feebly followed with reviving hope. It was scarcely a quarter of an hour before the expected flume was discovered, at the foot of a steep declivity. A solitary Chinaman stood beside it plying a spade. We made our way toward him. At first our haggard appearance and scarcely understood tongue made the suspicious Celestial little disposed to listen to us or have aught to do with us; but, speedily becoming convinced that we had no designs upon his claim, he lent a wondering and compassionate ear to the narrative which our Captain communicated, and presently summoned all his pig<-tailed fellowship to hearken and aid us. We were, in truth, very kindly cared for by our yellow-faced friends during the two days which we found we must pass in that lonely i '«amp before' mules and wagons and men could be summoned from Nevada City, fifty miles distant. When they arrived the balloon was looked up, and, ripped apart, forwarded to Reno. The overland train was finally taken, and our trio speeded to San Francisco, in defeat, but with thankful souls. — Harper's Weekly.

Waxing Hard-Wood Floors.

“Yes, I deal in antique furniture, and get up new furniture on antique models, • and repair things, and so on, but my principal business is in waxing floors—-hard-wood floors, of course. This is increasing all the time. I don’t have much to do with the floors of dancing halls, because the men having charge of them get into the way of waxing the floors themselves. It is in private houses that my services are in demand. Three years ago there were very few waxed floors in New York residences, but they are all the rage now among New Yorkers who live in good style. Some have them because they are nice fora germanor a small social party; but they are also popular among those who do not dance, for they give an air of richness, of well keeping, and are so much cleaner than carpets ever can be. When you sweep a carpet you send up a cloud of dust and fibers from it, but that cannot be the case -with a waxed floor, which gathers no dust, and the more it is swept and brushed and polished the smoother and brighter it becomes. A hard-wood floor should be waxed thoroughly three or four times a year, besides rubbed occasionally by the servants of the house. “To wax a floor properly we first clean it with turpentine, so, that not a speck of dirt is left either on the surface or imbedded in the exposed pores of the wood. If the wood is rough we sometimes scrare it and give it a coat of shellac, to fill the pores. When it is perfectly hard, dry, and smoothed, we apply the wax in one of two ways, either hard or melted, with turpentine. If the latter, it is laid on with a brush, left to dry two or three hours, and is then polished with brushes. The wax used is common beeswax. Here is one of the brushes, very large, flatland made with very stiff bristles. They cost ?4 a pair, and are made large, so that if desired one of them can be fixed under the foot by means of a strap, and the polishing done ’by wagging the I leg to and fro. That way of brushing is employed in dry waxing, which is much the hardest, and requires most vigorous polishing. “Dry waxing costs about four times as much as the other, and will last two (r three times as long. In either case the wax has to be polished right into the grain of the wood. It will not do to put oil on a waxed floor, as it will render the surface gummy and sticky and nasty. If properly done, oiling makes a floor nice, but is never so good as waxing, and costs nearly as much. Raw linseed oil, mixed with turpentine for a drier, is used. Price? Well, that depends upon the size of a floor, and to some extent on its condition. One say 14 feet by 16 feet will ordinarily cost $5 for oiling, $7 to $lO for waxing, and S3O for dry waxing. There are some floors here that I have waxed regularly for eight years past.”— New York Sun.

Friendship Between the Groat

The friendship between great men is rarely intimate or permanent. It is a Boswell that most appreciates a Johnson. Genius has no brother, no comate ; the love it inspires is that of a pupil or a son.- - Buhoer Lytton.

The First Pass.

If a man never has a pass on a railroad he goes through life paying his fare, and never thinks of its being a hardship, -but when once the free pass enters the system he is no good to a railroad forever after, and he looks upon the paying of fare on a railroad as a wicked scheme, an outrage, as it were. Up to 1860 the writer had always paid fare on railroads, and probably had expended as much as $7, all told, in riding from one town to another on the cars, and he never missed the money, feeling that it was the duty of every citizen to support the great highways of commerce. In an evil hour the writer became interested in a newspaper at Jefferson, and one day there came in the mail a pass for himself and h s partner, on the Northwestern Railroad. It was a great event in the history of that road. After the recipient of the pass had recovered from his astonishment, and had begun to realize that he was entitled to ride free between Jefferson and Chicago, and had shown the pass to nearly all the populace who were at the Postoffice waiting for the mail to be distributed, he began to inquire of the depot agent what time the first train passed the station, going either way. It did not make much difference to the editor which way th& train was going, as long as it went. It was found that a freight train would go along in about five hours, bound south, and the holder of the new pass was compelled to pfit in those five hours waitin’g for the train. It seemed a month, and the pass seemed to burn a hole in the pocket, and it was taken out a dozen times to cool off, and to show to different persons who had heard of its arrival anctahad come down town to see it. Finally, the train pulled up to the depot, and the editor took his seat in the caboose, and it seemed as though the people on the depot-steps were talking over the new era in railroading. It seemed as though the train never would start, and after it started it seemed as though the conductor never would come through to look at the pass. A lady had a crying baby, and the editor in his kind-heartedness attempted to quiet the baby bj showing it the pass, and was nearly paralyzed when the child put a corner of the pass in its mouth and began to chew it. By prompt measures of chocking the infant the pass was recovered, and |he conductor came along, and the editor handed up his pass with an air of one who always rode on a pass. The conductor looked at the date of the pass, and it did not take efiect till the next day, and he said tho editor would have to put up twenty cents, the fare between Jefferson and Fort Atkinson. It was cruel, but no argument would convince that freight conductor that the pass ought to be good until the day after, and it was necessary to pay good money for a ride down and back, forty cents, a ride that was taken for no other purpose on earth except to try the pass. That night the editor 'took a solemn obligation to make 'that railroad sorry for the o'utragejand for a year afterward it was a cole] day when the railroad did not have to carry the writer or his partner somewhere. They divided themselves up into reliefs, and it was the duty of one of them to go somewhere every day. They were both too lazy to work, and riding on the cars was just about exercise enough. They would go to Milton Junction, or Janesville, and back, and conductors got so that if one of the Jefferson editors did not show up at the depot when the train stopped they would hold the train. The pass became so worn that it had to be renewed the first six months. It was a proud day for the writer when his face became so well known to the conductors that it was not necessary to show the pass. The of pulling out the pass'*before a carload of passengers gradually wore off, and there was more pleasure in having the conductor come along and smile and pass on, because passengers would think the man’so favored by the conductor must be at least one of the owners of the road. Since then the writer has'ridden on passes across the continent, and up and down it, and has been offered a pass to Europe, but in all the free rides of thousands of miles he has never felt so much as though he owned the earth, and had a fence around it, as he did when he got that first pass on the old Northwestern, and put in a solid year trying to make the pass pay for its keeping.—Peet’s Sun

Scott Dictating “Ivanhoe.”

Lockhart says that Sir Walter Scott dictated the greater part of the “Bride of Lammermoor,” the “Legend of Montrose,” and “Ivanhoe” to William Laidlaw and John Ballantyne. “GooC Laidlaw,” he adds, “entered with such zest into the story, as it flowed from the author’s lips, that he could not suppress exclamations of surprise and delight: ‘ Gude keep us a’!—the like o’ that—eh, sirs! eh, sirs!’ ” Mr. Laidlaw used to shake his head at this passage of Lockhart: “I remember,” he said, “being so much interested in the part df ‘ Ivanhoe’ relating to Rebecca, the Jewess, that I exclaimed: ‘That is fine, Mr. Scott! get dn—get on! ’ He laughed, and replied, “Ay, Willie, but recollect I have to make the story.’ I have more than once heard Mr. Laidlaw relate this anecdote; adding, that Sir Walter was highly pleased with his character of Rebecca, saying, ‘I shall make of my Jewess!’”

A Petulant Passenger.

“Kind sir,” pleaded a fashionable lady to a palace-car conductor, “won’t yon please, please, please allow me to take my pet poodle in the car ?” “No, ma’am, can’t do it, ma’am. The company permits only one car pet in the coach, and that is on the floor now.” “Oh, you dear little angel I” sobbed the lady, as she kissed the poodle’s nose, “the wicked man will make you ride in the baggage-car, Pet!” and, filled with anguish, she entered the coach, sadly, sorrowfully and alone.— The Hoosier. People are commonly so employed in pointing out faults in those before them as to forget that some behind may at the same time be discanting on their own.— Dillwyn.

HUMOR.

The dark corse—a dead darky. , An old gentleman who got tripped up while trying to crow the ball-room remarked, os he slowly crawled to a perpendicular, that it was always pleasant to be thrown in the company oi young people. “Abe you near-sighted, miss?” said an impatient fellow to a young lady who aid not choose to recognize him. “Yes,” she retorted; “at this distance I can hardly .tell whether you are an ape ora puppy.” “Abe you to take astronomy next term, Elsie?” inquired a classmate of her young friend. “Hardly. But Augustus is giving me splendid astronomical lessons during the vacation.” “Isn’t that nice! Has he text-books and an atlas?” “Oh, Louise, my dear, he says I’m all the world to him, and when I lean my head on his shoulder he is my Atlas. ” “I thought,” said the senior Boggles, as he produced a suspicious-looking flat bottle from his son’s valise, “that there was nothing but your surgical instruments in this bag. “That’s what I said, dad.” “Then, sir, what do you call this?” “That? Oh, that’s my eyeopener, dad; very useful instrument, very useful; indispensable, I assure you.” A boy was sent to milk the Cow, and after he had been gone something over two hours his father started out to look him up. He found him sitting patiently on a three-legged stool in the corner of a ten-acre lot. “What the mischief are you sitting therefor?” demanded the irate father. “Why don’t you do your work and get back to the house ?” “Because,” answered the boy, “the teacher said to-day that all things come to him who waits, and I am waiting for the cow. ”

“Ought not to laugh at my own jokes!” exclaimed Poots, whose wife had just ventured to give him that j piece of advice; “I’d like to know why: not ? Who knows as well when to • laugh as the man that makes the joke, I I’d like to know?” “That’s so,” resumed ! Mrs. P.; “I didift think of that, and, ! come to think of it, I don’t suppose : anybody would know anything about your jokes if you didn’t start ’em off with a laugh.” Then Poots, man-like, got mad and went down town with his hat on wrong end foremost.—Cincinnati Saturday Night. Unsuccessful American—l don’t see what is to become of me; I have not 1 a dollar left, friend —Have you tried I lecturing? U. A.—Yes, and nobody came. F.—You paint well? U. A.— Nobody will buy my pictures. F.—You are also a remarkably fine actor? U. A.—l can’t get any engagement. F. —Then, why don’t you return to your first love? U. A.—The magazines decline anything I take them now. F.— Ah 11 see what the trouble is and how to overcome it. U. A.—Well, tell me, for I am becoming hopeless. F.—You must trade the clothes you have on for a second-hand English suit, and learn to drop your h’s.—Philadelphia Call.

Contesting Wills.

Unless it is quite manifest that the heirs have been treated in a manner defiant of equity and justice they seldom contest a will. When the hand of the dead has been laid too heavily on the living public sentiment is in favor of releasing the merciless grip. The will is broken and the property equally distributed among the heirs. This fact is full of significance. It indicates that the wishes of deceased persons do not command the respect that they once did; that the will, when not based upon an equal distribution of property, has, in fact, become a decadent institution. Democracy, with its concomitant of equality, cannot tolerate anything savoring of entailment and primogeniture. It permits people to accumulate large fortunes, but not to hand them down intact to the eldest born or nearest heir, or a favorite relative or friend. The will which often attempts to a greater on. less degree this sort of thing is antagonistic to the spirit of the age. Equal distribution, not concentration of wealth, is the demand of democracy. Another fact has tended to loosen the foundations of the will. Not infrequently the testator, failing during his life to revenge himself upon some hated relative, seeks to accomplish his detestable object after death. He either deprives that relative of a rightful share in the estate, or makes conditions repugnant to justice, often to decency and self-respect. In such a case the will is almost certain to be broken. The hand of the dead must not be permitted to strike the living. The conclusions to which these considerations lead us is plain. A will not based . upon equity and justice is almost certain to be broken and the estate distributed equally among the heirs. But if a will in the first place makes the equal distribution, it is simply aoperfunotory document. Had it not been drawn up at all the laws would have made the same disposition of the property.— Rochester Democrat.

Misapprehensive Bravery.

A stout, able-bodied lady was aroused the other night by a noise in the hallway, and on going down stairs she discovered a man fumbling around in the dark. The lady immediately assailed him with the ferocity of a tigress, and ejected him from the house in quite a number of seconds less than no time at all, and slammed the door after him. As the man tumbled down the steps on to the sidewalk, he was gobbled by a policeman, and promptly marched off to the cooler. The next morning several of hey friends called and congratulated her upon the heroism displayed in throwing a full-grown burglar out of the house. “Gracious!” exclaimed the lady, growing pale and agitated, “was that a burglar?” “Why, certainly, didn’t you know it?” “Know it! Heavens.no! I thought it was only my husband home again late from the lodge, or I wouldn’t have done what I did for flie world.”— Texas Siftings. Florida is a good place for camphor trees.

INDIANA STATE NEWS.

The office of Chief of Police has been abot lahed in Lafayette. Tira wages paid Brazil miner* will be r» duotd IS cents per ton. * Albx. Jxxxinß, a miner at Brazil, had hk back broken by falling alate. Alfreds Lewis’ residence, near For! Wayne, was totally destroyed by fire. Loot $6,000. Harlan B. Hill, of Shelbyville, wants SSOO from the owner of a vicious dog for injuries received from the bruw. Mrs. George Hodges, of Muncie, fearing starvation, as her husband was out of work, committed suicide by poison. Gao. Loper, of Fayette Gounty, undertook to cross a defective bridge. He fell through and was injured. He now sues for damages. The low temperature, in addition to the water-soaked earth, is believed by Indiana farmers to have been a severe blow to the growing wheat. Ex-Mayor Kimmel, of Lafayette, at present Government Agent for Alaska, now home on leave, will probably not return to his post, on account of ill health, but will resign. Maurice Evtnger, a young farmer living near Terre Haute, was waylaid by highwaymen and robbed of SIBO. They dragged him from his horse and out him severely before rifling his pockets. One of the reasons set forth by James P. Hicks, of Evansville, in a petition asking foe a divorce from his wife, is that she prays to God daily that he may die, and he is afraid, it is said, that the prayer will be answered. The Fair Ground Company, at Connersville known by the name of “The Eastern Indiana Agricultural, Mechanical, and Trotting Park Association,’’ has surrendered its charter and gone out of business.

Jeff Smith, of Crawfordsville, had a spasm, during the continuance of which he suffered terrible agony. So great was his L Buffering that the muscles of his leg oonI traded sufficiently to break bis thigh. William Mansfield, of New Albany, has I instituted suit against the Air-Line Railroad i for SIO,OOO damages. He alleges that a con- . ductor of the train induced his son, James E. Mansfield, to pass over a train of freight cars to remove some tramps, and while so doing, his son was thrown from the train and killed. Several destitute families of Indianapolis subsist entirely upon the refuse of the city’s dumping ground. The spot is near the river ' and covers a space of several acres, which is ■ filled with decayed vegetables and animal matter, all kinds of cans, broken crockery, glass, etc, Mr. Peter Mitchell, who recently died in Charlestown, left SIO,OOO in bonds in his sachel in the McCombs House,! n that town, to be divided between bis two children—FilL more Mitchell and a married daughter. Mr; Mitchell was a very frugal person, and saved i &U of his means, his expenses being less than 50 cents a day. The Clay County liquor dealers have issued a manifesto in which they declare their determination to prosecute all persons other than licensed saloon-keepers, for selling whisky, boycotting all persons selling goods to or buying of drug stores, and assert that henceforth their places of business will be closed on the Sabbath day.

R. D. Slater, of Indianapolis, the expert employed by the city of Vincennes to examine I the books of ex-Treasurer McCarthy and i Clerk Cripps, reaching bock two years, finished his labors and made his report to the ' Council. McCarthy was found to be indebted tq ' the city SI.BO. and Cripps 50 cants. McCarthy ; is a candidate for Sheriff, and demanded the ' investigation owing to rumors that he was behind $4,C00. South RemS Tribune. Albert Vetter, one of the family living north of this city, just over the State line, who have been suffering from trichiniasis for several weeks, died, and was buried in Niles. His age was 21 years. Portions of the muscles were taken from his body after death, and thoroughly examined by microscopists. The result revealed trichinae in numbers almost incredible. In a portion of flesh 5-16 of an inch in breadth and 1-200 of an inch thick, there were found 18T well-developed worms. Several more of the family are still ill from the same disease, but hopes are entertained of their recovery. Two sons of John A. Dwegemeyer, ex-City Treasurer of Fort Wayne, quarreled at the i table about the amount of board they each i ought in justice to pay their father, and the ! eider, John, slapped the face of his brother ! Charles. The latter left the table and the ' house. John followed, and hot words were exchanged. Charles walked down the street, and, John overtaking him, Charles picked up a corn-cob and threw it at his head. John thereupon whipped out a revolver and fired four shots, which narrowly missed the brother, who disappeared over a fence. Later John was locked up by the police and bound over by the Mayor in SSOO. He went to jail. He is a painter and 20 years old. The following table shows the number of coal mines in the State and the number of men employed in the same. The amount of coal mined is estimated at 2,560,000 toneThe amount of capital invested is $1,600,000: No. of No. of Counties. mines, men. Clay 34 1,712 Daviess 21 860 Fountain >. lo 267 Dubois io 98 Green.. 6 25 Gibson ■ 1 io Knox 6 181 Martin 5 34 Owen 3 80 , Pike 15 378 I Perry ; 8 176 [ Parke 15 415 Sullivan 12 238 Spencer 15 50 Vermillion. 5 89 Vigo 11 251 Vanderburg 5 272 Warrick 15 226 Warren 2 10 Total 201 5,109 A case of cruelty and neglect came to light In Columbus recently that is enough to Shame a Hottentot. The wife of a drunken brute named Jordan was confined and the neigh, bora discovered that the husband had pro. vided nothing for the family for over a week, but parched corn. The woman’s bed and clothing had not been changed since her con. flnement, and she and the babe were almost dead from starvation. Charitable hands al once ministered to their wants, and they are | now improving. t Columbus is thinking of erecting an opera house.