Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 August 1888 — EL MONTON DE BASURA. [ARTICLE]

EL MONTON DE BASURA.

From the Spanish. L 4 certain morning Senor Juan, ragpicker, thrust his hook in a heap of rubbish that had awakened his coveteousness. It was a magnificent rubbish-heap, rich in colors, rich in smells, with many attractive rags, many pieces of fine paper, many fragments of broken victuals. As he thrust his hook in the heap of rubbish he remarked: “Here’s a good day’s job for us!" But, Immediately withdrawing the iron, he examined it with a look of inquietude and surprise. He had felt the hook come in contact with something soft, as if it might be flesh. He observed blood on the point of it. Senor Juan remarked to himself : “The notion comes to me that I have heard the complaint of some new-born? Generally, those that they throw in the street are dead; this one, goodness! they have thrown it out alive I

“And they have hidden it away in here a little carefully, he continued, separating with his hand the rubbish that covered the infant “Gracious!—it is several days old! I believe if it had not been for this wrap that it would have frozen last night.’’ As the rubbish-heap pertained to him, so to him pertained the baby also: accordingly, he carried it away and delivered it to the Senora Maria, his wife, who sent it to a wet nurse. And so, a son without a father, a son with several mothers,. the ehild was saved, was weaned, grew, and became Juan Maria—called by the neighbors whose sentiments were good, “the son of the Heap," and by the malicious and evil-spoken, “the son of the Rubbish. ”

Who could have foretold that, years '?ard, that red little castaway would n. owner of one of the most important color manufactories in Madrid? He is a millionaire, and even yesterday could have been seen in the avenue of San Isidro guiding a phaeton drawn by three superb nags, covered with gay tassels and bells, and satisfied to carry in the vehicle behind them his wife, Dona Evarista, his daughters Curra and Petrica, and othei ladies and gentlemen, the formor clad in costly robes of Manilla, and the latter covered with those great wide-winged white sombreros which are called fungii. And how did he attain to a position so opulent and comfortable? To ailswer this question would be a matter of writing a book. „ He reached it, and that is enough. IL The child of the rubbish heap was born to labor. He gained a few dimes, and pretty soon understood the science oi making the labor of others increase these dimes to dollars. He was a beneficent person. Senoi Juan, Senora Maria, and Senora Cokisa (the wet nurse) lived long enough to know that they had not sown their affection on a rock. In his way he encountered a pretty young tailoress. She was very sensible and he married her. His wife was an excellent person; of mild ftiaracter if she was not contradicted and always very amiable when she had her own way. For the rest, she was quick-tempered, but as quickly pardoned everything from her heart, which was of Soria butter. Both were happy six days of the week’, but the seventh clay they were less happy. Why? Because Everista got up in bad humor, with an inclination to quarrel, and a quarrel always brought up a grave question. "What can one expect of a man who has not wished to discover his parents?” she generally asked. 111. In fact Juan had related to Evarista, after their marriage, a certain episode of his life that for him was full of sadness. Here is what he had told her:

‘ ‘lt happened when I was some 12 years old. I was then apprentice to a painter of doors, and that day found me in a grand portal that we, my master and I, were restoring. Suddenly a carriage was detained in the street, and my attention was attracted by the loud voice of the coach man asking other coachmen whose vehicles were obstructing the street, to move out of the way. What I ;»w was a magnificent equipage, horses gaylv caparisoned; aixi an open barouche on whose soft cushions was reclining a lady so beautiful and so elegant that 1 stopped, with the brush in one hand and the paint-pot in the other, gazing and admiring her in a kind of a rapture. "I was only distracted from that delicious contemplation by the furious cry of a little lackey of my own age, resplendent with a thousand gilt buttons and with an enormous galloon of gold on his hat. ‘Come, Juanin, to work!' said the master. "Then happened something very surprising. A tall, robust gentleman of very respectable appearance, wno had stopped on the walk and was contemplating me and contemplating also the ladyjof the barouche, directing himself to the master, said: ‘Let him look! As the boy is learned to be a painter, it is best that he should form a good taste.’ ” Then turning to me, he said in a voice very low, and so close to my ear that the hairs of his mostachos tickled me: •Look at her, and look well, because that woman is your mother!’ "Having said this he went away. The dame, who had seen the gentleman talking to me, then directed to me a gaze full of wonder. The coach paflsed on, and, in passing, the impudent lackey laughed at me, seeing me so bedaubed with blue and red. ‘To work! to work, Juanin! All those are vanities!’ cried the master. I

»eui m j iiu.k mui teivui, urn, uuna, aeaf and stupid with confusion. ‘I tell thee, Juaain,’ said the master presently, that when thou hast a beard thou wilt resemble that gentleman who was talking to thfe. Nature performs strange things T " This is what Don Juan had related, very secretly, to Evarista. During the period of boyhood he gave not much importance to the episode. But in later years it came to be a subject of serious meditation. “Yes, yes, those persons were my parents," he said to himself. Evarista believes it as well as he; believes that Juan is the son of a duke, or a prince, and therefore must be a marques, that is to say, that she, his snouse, must be s marquesa. She urged him to make inquiries and bring an application to the courts. Over this subiect they quarreled one day, at least, of the week. Useless quarrels! Juan is Immovable, saying always this only: “The world has forgotten that I am the son of the Heap; let us not remind it that I am the son of the Rubbish."

uutniione-i ay stem oi noi-Kisg, One of the most strangely marked traits of Mr. Gladstone’s character is the method and exactitude which he brings to bear on his daily work, This is the great secret which enables him to get through an amount of labor which frightens ten ordinary men. It is owing to the possession of this quality that lie is able, in tne midst of his arduous Parliamentary toil, tc write articles, treating of such diverse subjects as the poems of Homer, the early Christian fathers, and modern theology. As a trifling instance of Mr. Gladstone's curious habits of precision, it may be mentioned that he rarely opens a parcel without untying—not cutting—the string, tying it carefully up, and putting it away for future use in h drawer which is reserved for the purpose. His papers and documents are also kept in scrupulous order by himself, so he can lay his hands on any one of them at a moment’s notice. It is to his habit of doing so much of his work for himself that the mastery of detail, which Mr. Gladstone shows on every subject with which he grapples, is in a great measure due. Preserving Fish Alive. It is proposed to preserve fish alive by placing tliem in vessels partly filled with water and hermetically sealed. It is said that fish so confined have been found alive after three weeks without air or water having been changed, while fish in an opep jar have died in forty-eight hours. If the air in the vessel is compressed the life of the fish is still further prolonged.

“In 1860 the burdens of national taxation were light. All our revenues, including loans, amounted to only $76,000,000. Our expenditures were $77,000,000, and our whole public deist but $65,000,000. In the year 1860 the tonnage of our ships upon the seas was 5,353,868 tons, which was more by 140,000 tons than in any other year of our history before or since. Twothirds of our imports were then carried in American bottoms, as were also more than two-thirds of our exports. Our exports that year reached the aggregate value of $400,000,000, which was forty-three and onehalf millions more than during any previous year. Our imports were $362,000,000, decidedly more han any other year. And I make this statement on the authority of David A. Wells, that in 1860 we were exporting te foreign countries more American manufactures than in any other year of our history. * * # * * * The fact is, Mr. Chairman, the decade from 1850 to 1860 was one of peace and general prosperity. —Extracts from speech of J ames A. Garfield in the House March 6, 1878.