Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 April 1892 — Page 4

SOMETHING. A hover* in the air, AnA poises o’er the naked tree, And rides upon the winged cloud, Yet huth no so-m the eye can see; But to the deeper, inward sight. It is a presence sweet and true, That fills the universe with joy, And wakes the earth with impul e new! A something in the forest word, It scarcely may be named a voice, Yet fettered captives hear its call. And in their longing heart rejoice:— A subtile whisper in the breeze, So soft, it seems a spirit’s breath, Yet leifless boughs grow tremulous With ecstasy, at what it saith ! A something rises with the morn, And lingers with the sun’s last ray, Brings rapture to the silent nig it. And lustre to the shining day; With yearning, half of bliss and pain, It swells my heart, and, wondering, I ask, —what can it be? A bird (sings at my window —“It is spring! ” —{Zitella Cocke, in Youth’s Companion.

A PECULIAR GIRL

BY MRS. WILLIAM WINTER.

Rachel Landor began life by being peculiar. Instead of the customary and orthodox yell with which the youthful inhabitants of this planet groet their first sight of it, Rachel remained per-' fectly quiet, only looking up into the nurse's face with a calm and questioning gaze, which greatly disconcertod that experienced matron —or, to quote her own words, causing her to be “'so all struck of a heap, it was a blessed miraclo she hadn’t droppod the uncanny little thing then an’ there, an’ so stopped her from any chance of making nny noise in the j world, either then or thereafter.” Bat the baby thrived, and ns her.: young life advanced from weeks to months, and from months to years, she managed to keep up her reputation, so early begun, of being unlike otlior children. Of course, sho heard a groat deal of this “peculiar” way of hers, and sho liked being mado the subject of wondering remarks and admiration —though, perhaps, that was not peculiar. Anyway, she soon became imbued whh the idea that everything that happened to her was special and unusual; and though na.urally warm-hearted, and not more selfish j than the goreral run of her sex and ago, .she certainly developed a remarkablo amount of egotism. At eighteen she fell in love, quite convinced that, though other girls might have imagined themselves in love bofuro her time, there lmd never really been any one who thoroughly understo d the heights and depths of that passion till it was exemplified in her. George Murray encouraged her in that belief, anl declared that ho responded to it with fervor and intensity which could only ho experienced in tho unknown recesses of the male heart. There was soon an almost bitter fooling of rivalry between the lovers as to which of them loved the more, and while ; this feeling was at the height, Amy Rivers came home from hoarding-school. , Amy was tho kind of girl that men go mad about. Sho was small and slender, with dainty hands, and feet of diminutivo size, and a heart of similar dimensions. Sho had a mass of fluffy blond hair, a complexion of lilies and roses, and great china-blue eyes, very soft and dewy, and shaded by long, silky lashes, that gave them an expression of deep feeling, such as their owner had nover experienced in all her shallow life. For tho rest, she 1 had great taste in the adornment of her j charming person, and her maid faithfully car led out her best ideus. Miss Amy Rivers very speedily settled the curious rivalry that had existed be- j tween tho lovors. She had not boon home a week when George Murry ceased protesting the superior depth of his attachment to Rachel. By the end of tho ; second week he never spoke of his lovo \ at all, and looked bored when his fiancee j spoke of hers. By tho end of the third week he had almost ceased visiting Rachel, and then only on compulsion; and by the end of the fourth week the whole town was talking of his elopement with Amy Rivers, nnl wondering if Rachel Landor—who hud fallen like one dead when she learnod of it—would ever rise from the bed on which they laid her. But Rachel didn’t die. As she said, bitterly, that would have been too simple; and, being peculiar, she had to live for something much harder to bear. Poor girl! It was really a groat grief, aud her suffering was acute; but, after her custom, sho made it worse. There had never been so great a wrong committed against any woman, and none other had ever felt such so deeply. Having said that, sho closed her lips on the subject. Year after year went by, and many people had forgotten Rachel Landor; and those who knew her, sometimes failed to recognize the worn, haggard woman of twenty-five, who certainly looked ten years older; and when people spoke of her, it was either with pity or contempt.

“Such a wasted life —an only child, worshiped by her p.routs, who werodying of grief for her selfish grief—a rich woman, too, who might be doing so much good with her hoarded woalth—and all about a man who had jilted her! It was wicked and shameful," said her critics; and likely enough they were right. But ltachel did not hear them; and if ■he had, she would not have cared, for in her own way her life was ordered carefully aud methodically, and her money was not hoarded nor wasted; but, being peculiar, as usual she chose to live in her own way, and to do that which she felt she could to, in- the manner that best suited her. The poor, the sick and tlis suffering knew her well. They did not think her life a wasted one. What this poor, embittered, disappointed woman felt in the silent depths of her own reticent, intense nature, she hardly knew herself; for she shrank from formulating her own thoughts 6ven to her own mind, but occasionally something in the outside world seemed to shape them for her. As, for instance, one morning when she suddenly found herself gazing at an old woman whom she met in her morning walk—a wretched woman, her face seamed with wrinkles, her hair au unkempt frowze of gray, straggling locks, her clothes tattered and torn, though well hidden by on old black shawl that draped her head and fell in folds about her—a most painful aad unlovely sight in the morning of an early, cold March day. “Shall I ever look like that ?” thought Baehel. “Old. withered, broken-hearted poor old woman! Perhaps if I could know her story I should learn that some mmm jilted her in the street springtime mi kmg ago. Being a poor, gentle femjfcsiae creature, she didn’t die, though her bear! broke, and as the burden of life are* 100 henry to bear, she began to Msk-«t first, to ferget, aad then to

The tears that sellom rose to Rachel’s eyes for her own awes, overflowed for the imagined sorrow of this forlorn old wreck of humanity The woman was quiok to see, and' instantly stretched forth an imploring land, in which Rachel placed a liberal donation. It was this incident that paved the way for an unexpected but far more important encounter. As Rachel, walking quickly, and with eyes still wet with tears, and a heart wildly throbbing with newly quickened feeling, turned the corner of the street, she rushed directly into tho arms of a young man who was coming toward her. He was pale mnd wan, he stooped under tho weight of that experience that is moro aging than years, but Rachel knew him in an instant, and ns his arms involuntarily closed about hor and held her for one moment to his breast, sho cried out, as if ho had thrust a dagger in her; “George—George Murray!” “Rachel,” ho said, softly, “forgive me. 1 did not moan to touch you. It was so sudden—”

“Yes, yes, I know. It is my fault. I didn’t seo you.” And sho wrenched herself from his hold, it was, indeed, from his embrace, for he clung to her us if ho could not again let her go. But soeing her face, which grow like marble at sight of him, his arms dropped away from her. “Oh, can you forgive me?” ho cried. “It was all a wild delirium—a inadnos! I novor loved but you I Cun you not forgivo me—can you not even try to forgive ine?” “I cannot even try,” she said, aud her voice was like the knell of hope; and, with a gesturo of unspeakable contempt, sho waved him aside, and passed on. How sho reached home Rachel Landor never know; hut somo hours later she was aware that sho was in her own room, the doer locked, and all tho world shut out. How long she had been there she didn’t know, but she remembered that when sho came in sho had sunk upon the sofa half fainting; but now hor heart wus beating wildly und every pulso thrillod as if with some new lifo—a feverish, delirious ecstasy such as she had nover known before. She glanced up and saw tho reflection of herself in the long mirror opposite, and wondering, doubting her own eyes, sho rose, went over cioso to the looking-glass and stared. Was that Rachel Landor, that radiant vision of brilliant, gracious womanhood? Tho years seemed to have rolled back, she looked ten years younger than sho had looked when sho went out that morning. A joyous excitement glowed in her great, deep, dark eyes, hor cheeks und lips were flushed with tho hue of tho rose, the mass of dark-brown lmir, usually worn in a tight knot at tho hack of hor head, had slipped from its fastening and fell in a disheveled, waving, glossy mass about her neck and shoulders, reaching to her waist, and her tall, slender figure in its unconscious poise of triumph, hud all the lissome grace of buoyant girlhood. “Gun it he 1?” she murmured, wonderingly. “Yes, it is, indeed I, aud I am beautiful. Ah! my day has come—tho day 1 never even darod to hone for! lie loves me, and I am a thousand times more : boautiful than that pule doll that took; him from me! ’ And he—he loves mo! My hour bus come! It is just, and I will use my power. I will bo revenged—revenged!” And, like poor old Lear, Rachel determined that hor vengeance should be the terrors of tho earth—a revenge uniquo, unusual, peculiur, like herself. From that day Rachel Landor returned to society. She soon learnod what, lmd she been accustomed to the gossip of tho town, she would have kuown mouths ago —tlmt Murray had returned a brokenhearted, ruined man, bitterly disappointed in tho wife who had squandered his fortune in their brief married life, leaving him not oven the m nnory of hor -love when he laid hor in hor grave, hor shallow, frivolous heart forever stilled, and his life enbittcred with tho mingled poison of self-contempt and remorso. It was very soou us plain to all who saw him as it wus to Rachel, tlmt his love had roternod to its first object with a passionate intensity such os he had never before known himself eapahlo of; und, indeed, ho only seetnod to lit o in Rachel’s prosence, seeking her whenever she could bo found, foilwing hor ev. ry movement with adoring eyes, breathing, almost, to the sound of hor voice. But lie never put his love into words, he scarcely dared to speak to her at all, contont if ho might* only gaze on her when she moved. llow Rachel felt about this silent worship none could tell—in some ways she wus moro peculiur than over —but it looked, at times, as if she chafed under it.

One night Rachel Landor missed tho figure of George Murray from a largo party, at which she was, as usual, tho brilliunt and beautiful attraction. As hour after hour went by, and still he came not, sho was uneasy, tho people soon bored her. Presently sho could enduro the crowd no longer, and, with a strange, uneasy tremor, sho withdrew quietly, ordered her carriago, and was driven home. Tho same thing happened the next night, and the next. On tho fourth night sho had grown almost haggard with disappointment and—rage, she said to herself. But presently she overheard a remark dropped in a whisper: “George Murray is ill—dying. The doctor gives no hope.” And at these words the very beating of her heart seemed to stop. “ ‘ 111 !’ ‘Dying !’ ” cdie repeated, in a sharp, agonized whisper. “Impossible! lie must not be ill! lie dare not die!” Her vengeance was not yet complete, that revenge for which she lived—on which she lived, her very life itself! Sho fled from the place, and hiding herself within her carnage, bade the coachman to drive to tho home of George Murray. Sho soon found thatdiis condition had not been exaggerated. A violent and deadly form of typhoid had stricken him, and he was alreudy raving lin delirium. The physician mado no pretense of hope. He told Rachel plainly that in all human probability her friend was doomed. “There is but the shadow of a chanoo in a hundred that he may live.” “But, doctor, we will take that one shadowy chance, and let the other ninetynine go,” said Rachel. « Doctor Frank looked at her, but said nothing; he didn't understand her. Like everyone else in the place, he knew Rachel’s story, and he asked himself: Could it be possible, after all, that she loved this man who had jilted her and broken her heart? Her face told him nothing. She was vofy pale, and her eyes glowed like live coals—but their meaning was a mystery to him. On the following morning Rachel took her place in Murray's room. A capable nurse was already there, and being a woman, perhaps she understood Ra'chel better than the doctor, anyway, sho made no objection to her presence, and if she had, it would not have made any difference. Miss Laudor was accustomed to haviug her own way. The days went by and grew into ’ weeks, and they were sk>w and tedious Ito nurse and physician, as snak days

were wont to be, for they began now t« count the hours till George Murrny'l breathing should cease—that breathing that was often so faint that more than once it seemed to have ceased entirely. But Rachel kept no reckoning of time One day in the oarly summer the windows wero open, for it was very warm, and the odorous breath of roses *nd honeysuckle and purplo clematis filleJ the room with perfume. The sick man lay asleep, white as tho tall lilies in the window. “He will never come out of this sleep,” said the nurse in a hushed voice.

Kuehel drew a long breath, and took the wasted hand in both her own and held it close, while her very soul seemed to pass into tlmt touch. She bent over him, almost as pale as himself, only that her cheeks burned and her eyes wero fixed on his fnce with a look that seemed to bathe him in the glow and fervor of their light. She did not speak, and hot gaze never left him. Hours passed. The hand she held lost its deathly chill, and grew warm and moist, a faint, dewy moigture was on the brow and temples, and the breathing grew stronger, longet and steadier. It was evening when the sleeper stirred slightly, slowly unclosed his oyes and smiled, as he looked up and recognized Rachel. It was a week later, und she was again beside him, while Doctor Frank and tho nurse spoke of him in the next room, comparing notes as to his strange and unexpected recovery, “They say you have saved me, Rachel,” he said, in a voice still faint und low. “Yes. I could not lot you go, George.” “And what uro you going to do with me?” “I am going to be revenged on you.” “Ah! But how, dear?” “I am going to marry you—” “Rachel! Do you moan you have forgiven me?” “Yes, dear, I’m afraid so,” murmured Rachel. “You know, George,that I was always very peculiar.” Bhe bont down and pressed a long, lingering kiss upon his trembling lips. —[New York Ledger.

A Country Without Fences.

South Carolina is a country without fences, writes a correspondent, and it is a vast improvement in the landscape, as well as a great saving in money. It looks odd at first on the big, level plain on which Aikon stands to soo a greut stretch of country unbroken by a single fence, and here und there a house or barn without .ny protecting walls or fences. Tho Legislature has abolished fences by declaring that evory man is entitled to enjoy his own land, without interference or damage from his neighbors’ cattle. T, at is, if I own two scrubby and hungry pigs and you have a thousaud-acro farm next door, I must keep my pigs at homo and not compel you to spend half your • substance in building a fence uround your farm. Life, liberty, and tho keeping of pigs and mules are all sacred under the South Carolina Constitution, but the man who owns the pigs or inules or any other amiinals must feneo them ia or otherwise confine them, if they run looso or brouk loose and do any damage, their ownor must pay for it.

This is tho most sensible solution of fence problem that I ever seen or heard of. It is entirely now to me, so I onjoy it all the more, and the more I think of it the more sensib e it seems. It goos right down to tho root of justice. Here you have in New York State or in New Jersey a thousand acres of land or a hundred acres, or any other quantity, and you are entitled to roap and enjoy tho fruits of your labor on tho capital invested in that land without let or hindrance. But ono of your neighbors may wish to keep a dozen sheep, and another cow, and a third a handful of chickens that probably that will not lay eggs, (I speak fioni experience hero,) und for that reason you must put a fonco of a certain legalized height and pattern arouud your whole plnce, or olso you cannot make your neighbors pay for any damage their cattle may do your crops. It would ho just as reaj sonab.o to, say that no man shall : bo convicted of burglary unless tho i house lie breaks into has walls so many ■ feet high and so many feet thick. South ; Carolina is fifty years in advance of the j North in tho handling of this fenoe j problem.—[New York Times.

Hy draulic Clocks.

A system of hydraulically controlled clocks has recently been installed in tho Berlin University by tho Urania-Uhron and Saulcn Comrnanditgesellschuft(Breslauer aud Dr. Von Orth). The installation consists of au ordinary clock, seven secondary clocks and four ringing arrangements, all connected by a system of water conduits to a central apparatus erocted in the vestibule 5 of the building. At the end of each complete hour tho principal clock seuds an electrical current through tho olectromagnet of the central apparatus, thereby disengaging nn arrangement of wheels and opening a water-cock. Tho water then flows through the water-jet pumps aud absorbs the air in a network of tubes to which all secondary clocks and ringing arrangements are connected. Each of the secondary clocks is provided with a brass casing, which is closed by means of a leathor membrane. As soon ns the air in the casing becomes rarified the membrane lifts a bar, by moans of which the hour finger is mado to act ut the exact momeut of completing tho hour, and the clock is wound up to the extent it has run dowu during tho hour just completed. The ringing arrangements aro also fitted with a similar casing and membrane, which, during the rarefaction of the air, lifts the hammer and causes the bell to ring threo times. When the necessary amount .of rarefaction of the air has been attained and tho work of the apparatus is completed, the watcr-eock in the ccntial apparatus is automatically closed. .Several installations of clocks on this system have already been made, notably at tho Berlin Exchango and the Potsdam railway station.—[lndustries.

How to Keep Books.

It is true that books are better preseved by being shut up behind glass doors, but they do not yield half their benefits in this way. Even a single shelf of books adds to the coziness of a room, and the home that is fully organized will have s’uch a shelf in the guest chamber, us well as in other rooms A book is often a great boon to a visitor, who may, perhaps, have risen too early for breakfast, or enjoys a solitary hour with some good reading before retiring for the night. It there are a great number of books in the house, and there is no library, be sure und have them arranged in an open book-case in the parlors. A book-caso can be made of pine boards and stained. With a pretty, straight cover across tho top and hanging over the sides it will be the most attractive object in the room.—[New York Recorder.

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERY-DAY LIFE. Queer Episodes and Thrilling Adventures Which Show that Truth Is Stranger than Fiction. One of the spots which have been selected for public squares in Philadelphia is famous as tho identical place whero William Penn made his great treaty with the Indians. But oven before that time it had a claim to historic attention as the site of Gov. Fairman’s mansion. Thomas Fairman occupied the land under the authority of the Duko of York, filing Ms patent as early ns 1684. In the house which he erected Penn spent the first winter of his residence in Philadelphia. Govs. Markham, Haize, Holme, Evans, and Palmer also lived in the house. Gov. Palmer used to keep a pleasure-barge in which he made journeys by water to the “city,” or the district now included between Vine and South Streets. In front of the mansion rose that old elm under whoso branches the memorable treaty was made. This tree was blown down in 1810. Its girth was 24 feet, and or.o of its branches spread for 150 feet towards the river. Irom tho rings in tho cut section of its trunk it was estimated -to he 283 years old. Where the tree had stood, a commemorative monument wus erected, and a railing was put around it. Vandals have chipped tho shaft and the railing has been broken down, until now only a seamed and broken fragment of marble remains as a testimony ta Penn’s league of amity. The spot is at present almost invisible amid piles of lumber. Now that a public park is to be laid out, the monument will probably be restored. The property has passed through mauy hands. The Fairmans owned it until 1715, when it passed into the hands of Joseph Redman. Redman sold it to Robert Worthington, and tho latter sold it to Gov. Palmer in 1730, and Charles Wort became owner in 1738. After several other transfers, William Yard became tho owner in 1705, and in 1798 ho sold it to Matthew Vnudusen. The captain of a coasting vessel, who arrived atGuayamas, Mexico, a few days ago, tells of a strange discovery made by himself during his last trip. He traded up and down the coast, doing business among the inhabitants of the islands and coast villages between there and Sun Diego, Cal. A heavy wind drove him far out of his way. and when the storm abated, ho found that he was so far out of his usual path that ho had lost his reckoning, lie was out of sight of shore, and when lie saw land, bore down upon it, pnd found an island that was not down on any of the charts, lie sent a boat ashore and the men returned, saying that no on.) lived there, hut 'that then.) were many houses and evidences of the place liuving at ono time been inhabited. The captain then went ashore himself and found that th<? island had undoubtedly been swept hv a scourge of some kind. There were numerous huts, hut not a living thing was to he found. An examination revealed the fact that tho former residents had died in such ! numbers that they had not been buried. | The skeletons were lying around the isl- ; und where tho people wero when death overtook them. In ono hut were found ! tho remains of seventeen people, while in many others wore the hones of great numbers. They had been dead for such a time that the bones were beginning to decay. There was Lttlo to be found to show wliut kind of people they were, hut it is supposed that they holonged to one of the island tribes which were so abundant in this part of the coast fifty years ngo. Of course thero can only be conjecture as to the probable causo of the wiping out of an entire tribe, but the knowledge of the fearful swee i of scourges on the island leads to the belief that a pestilence swept off the inhabitants.

Thb Japanese Commissioners at Chicago have been fortunate in securing extremely advantageous sites for their country’s exhibit. A certain island which has long been covoted by rival applicants is now definitely promised to them, und this favored spot will probably bo occupied by a reproduction of the famous edilico known as Idowo-do, one of tho finest and best-preserved examples of ancient architecture that the empire contains. It stands in tho village of Iji, a suburb of Kioto, and was built when the Emperor’s first fixed their residence in that locality. Its name may be translated “Phoenix Temple,” the word “howo”signifying an imaginary creature of the air, credited with attributes akin to those of our fabled emblem of immortality; and its shape is sup; osed to ho suggestive of a huge bird with outstretched wing and spreading tail. Tho original structure covers 15U tsubos of ground, a tsubo being equal to six feet square. It is expected that ouo result of Japan's possession of the island above referred to will be tho exhibition of specimens of ship-building, representing differout periods of the nation s maritime development. This feature, if fully carried out, will bo a surpriso to those who imagine that the Japanese were always a homekeeping and isolated people. Threo centuiies ago there was not unvwherea more daring or enterprising race of navigators, and their adventurous expeditions, not only to various parts of Asia, but even across.tho Pacific Ocean to America, are matters of' historical record.

For genuine grit and presence of mind, J. N. .Sacry, a brakeman on the Montana Union, is entitled to wear the belt. Sacry is on the run between Butte and Garrison One evening recently he left on his train for the terminal point, but at Stuart some switching was necessary, aud Sacry got off to assist in doing the work. While walking along tho however, one of his feet’became fastened in a switch frog, leaving hitn exposed to the tnerey of the bucking truiu. which was only a few feet away. Being unable to extricate tho foot, he threw himself on the ground with force enough to break one of his thigh bones and wrench the foot from the frogjust as the trucks of the, first car passed. The unfortunate inuu was brought to this city aud taken to Murray & Gillespie’s Hospital, where his injuries were attended to. Taking into consideration that this class of accidents is quite numerous on railroads, and that very few persons so caught escape more serious injury. Sacry considers himself quite fortunate in escaping even at the expense of a broken limb. Widow Abigail Houc.hton-, who lives near Scranton, Penn., has 200 pet sparrows and she has given up one of tho rooms in the house, where she lives alone entirely to their use, One of Widow Houghton's geese got into the iudiscreet habit of laying in the weods by the creek on the place, and a crow of the lower classes, possessed of a certain degree of low cunning, “caught on,” as they say in

St. Louis. So he perched himself on a tree near by, and as soon as the goose left her nest he dropped down and flew away with a fine large egg. One day a sparrow in citizen’s clothing caught the robber in the act, and, summoning assistance, punished him so severely that he dropped in the grass from sheer exhaustion and the Widow Houghton wrung his head off. The sparrows have also detailed a force to protect the widow’s pond from the fish hawks, and the chicken hawks noif give her poultry yard a wide birth. The New York Tribune tolls a story of old man Hiram Potter, of Scranton, Penn., who, it says, Ims a poor memory. Ten years ago he lost his teeth, so he wen*, to Philadelphia and had tho best set that could be found fitted to his mouth. In a little while ho had forgotten the incident and was wont to brag of his sound teeth and rebuke young men for having the toothache. Recently he was troubled with neuralgia of the face, and, after suffering several days, he concluded that he had tho toothache and went to a dentist. Tho dentist assured him that there were a number of his teeth that needed attention and went to work accordingly. After six hours Mr. Potter happened to remember his visit to Philadelphia, and getting out of the chair, took out his teeth and laid them on tho table. An argument and a sceno followed, in consequence of which Mr. Potter carried his urm in a sling and the dentist was not able for a while to leave his bed. The Boston Journal tells a story illustrating the power of a strong wiilSome forty years ago a Massachusetts good wife lay in her bed apparently dying with consumption. As tho family lived four miles frota the undertaker and pastor, and as the roads were badly blocked with snow, the husband when called to the village on business on a Tuesday decided—thoughtful man!— to save an extra journey in thut bitter weather by engaging the minister and undertaker at once, and appointing tho funeral for tho following Friday. In some way, on Wednesday, the sick woman heard of this, and arousing herself from her supposed dying condition, declared: “There'll be no funeral in this house this week!” The funeral took place on a recent Friday, forty years after it was originally set. The husband is still living at the age of eighty. Four adventurous persons, throe men and one woman are about to leave Seattle, Washington, for New York, with no other moans of conveyance than a wheelbarrow. They are J. F. Cheatham, John Howard, E. W. Caston and Miss Lou Howard. The men will take turn about at pushing the wheelbarrow, and only when the woman gives out from exhaustion will she be allowed to ride. (Jn'y in case of sickness will stops of a longer duration than twelvo hours be made at any place until Chicago is reached, where it is intended to remain three days, and thou push on for New York, it is the intention of the quartet to cover tho distance between Seattle and New York in five months. While Frank Moffatt of Calais, Me., was in the woods ufter timber this winter, his wife and their two small children lived in one of his camps on the Maguerra-woc-k. While Mrs. Moffatt was out gathering firewood recently one of the children set tiro to tho bed. The mother hastened back just in time to savo the younger child from being burned to death. The camp and its contents were destroyed, and Mrs. Moffatt and her children had to start on a night journey through tho woods to Milltown. It was a terriblu journey, for a cold storm came up and tho show was Knee deep. Tho travelers were obliged to s:op at a play camp, which some boys hud built in the woods, where they remainod two days and nights, stormbound and starving. A hunter happened along and rescued them. Cartain Pitcher, of the United States infantry, has been tolling a reporter some curious things about a hot spring in Wyoming, near Fort Washakie. He said : “It is near .our camp and about ten yards in diameter. Tho perpetual temperature is llOdogrees above zero. Often in the winter I have como home from a cold ride when the thermometer was 15 degrees below zero and taken a swim in tho springs. It is not inclosed, and it is a funny sensation to go swimming in a temperature of 110 degrees above, while your head is exposed to a temperature of 15 degrees below, zero. 1 have often seen the soldiers take a swim in the spring and follow it up with a roll iu the snow. It almost makes a Turkish bath.” Ax example of the cunning of gulls was observed at Tacoma when several alighted on a bunch of logs that had been in the water a long time, with the submerged sides thick with barnacles. One was a big gray fellow, who seemed to bo the captain. Ho walked to a particular log, stood on one side of it close to ihe water, and then uttered poculiar cries. The other gulls came and stood on the same side of the log, which under their combined weight rolled over several inches. The gulls, step by step, kept tho log rolling until the barnacles showed above the water. The birds picked eagerly at this food, and the log was not abandoned until every barnacle had been picked.

Seven years ago Mr. W. E. Mason, o£ Millsboro, W. Va., went out with $485 in greenbacks in his pocket to feed his hogs. He did not mean to feed the hogs on tho $485. But while ho was feeding them sorry nubbin corn the money fell from his pocket and was promptly appropriated by tho biggest financial hog of the drove. Mr. Mason made his hogship disgorge, but the man who printed them wouldn’t recognize them. A bill has just been’ introduced in Congress asking Uncle Sam to roplace Mr. Mason's money. Will he do it? Mr. Masou is waiting to see. There is a man within one mile of De Kalb, Mo., Mr. William Jones, who ia 24 years old, 6 feet high, 52 inches wound tho waist, wears a GO-inch coat (chest measure), wears a No. 12 shoe, a No 10 hat, and weighs 315 poun Is. He can hold out at arm's length with ease a man weighing 160 pouuds. He is a farmer and cun do as mnch work as two common-sized men. Mr. Jones is married to a lady that weighs only 92 pounds.

It is said that there is a horse in Chicago which is so strongly charged with electricity that when warm with oxercise it will give a powerful shock to whoever touches it, and even yield enough of a spark to light gas. Tho fact was discovered by accident a few days since, and the electric horse will gopn probably figure as a dime museum curio. We have seen a mule communicate a shock powerful enough to knock out a man’s brains and he was not considered a curiosity, nor was his power attributed to electricity. Alexandra. EsvpT. pos*osees the largest artificial harbor in the world.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The Belgians don’t fight, but they fur. nish a largo amount of fighting material, os last year they exported no less than 15,400,000 worth of firearms. There are hundreds of Mexicans in the Bio Grande counties, says the Pecos Valley (Tex.) News, who are voters, yet have no knowledge of English. They cannot read nor write even their own language and never will know how to speak English or to write it, and yet their votes must be counted along with that of the most intelligent American. Henry T. Oxnard of Nebraska, who represents four out qf the six beet sugar factories in the United States and inaugurated the beet sugar industry in this country, says: “Inside of ten years the factories of this country will be producing from boets all the sugar used for home comsuinption. It is no longer a matter of experiment, but business. There are four factories in the West, two in Nebraska, o*e in Utah, and another in California vhich are producing beet sugar. Each o these factories cost about $50#,000 to 1 liid. A largo proportion of tho States can profitably grow the beets.” The people of T mpkins county, N. Y., arc jubilant over henew salt industry located near Ludloi ville. A few years since a scientific sirvoy disclosed the fact that a layer o salt was imbedded along the eastern sh re of Cayuga Lake, and that it approach d the surface nearer ut Myer’s Point thin any other place. A syndicate has recently erected a plant there that is now inactive operation, and turns out some 7C) barrels daily. A farmer near there p irchased the first ton of salt for $3 per to i. It is a very nice, clean-looking salt, I it they are putting in improved machin ry, and intend making a superior quality. This industry will' add greatly to thi praffic of the Lake Shore Railroad.

“The arguineits against the cruel practice of dockinj horses’ tails,” says a correspondent, “night meet with more consideration in tlis Christian land if the gentle dames who countenance tho practice were instruettd-as to the origin of the custom. During the time Warren Hustings wa3 Governor of India, over a century ago, the English wqro first shocked by encountering this cruel fashion, originated by the savage Tartars in tho I'hibetiun mountains. So repulsive did it seem to our good Anglo-Saxons that they not only refused to buy horses thus deformed, but actually paid the mountainers a bounty to induce them to forego the practice. And now, 0 world of inconsistency, it is England which has persuaded the gentle American to take up, as tho height of fashion, this rude and burbarous mode, long since discarded by tboso mountain savages. Shall we be obliged to import a missionary from the savages to bay us iff?” Professor Muybrigde, of the University of Pennsylvania, is strongly of the opinion that uien will somo day learn to fiv. “Edison has told me,” he says, "that ho firmly believes a porfect fiyiugmuehine some day will be invented, and that lie also bolieves the wing of a tty is tho model upon which that machine will be constructed. Lubbock, and Helmholtz, and Langley, of Johns Hopkins University; Ray Lankester and Sir Willium Thompson—a group of names that are probably tho most renowned in the scientific circles of to-day—share Mr. Edison's opinion, and unite with him in urging me to tnako a study of the locomotion of insects upon tho same system 1 adopted so successfully in my ‘Auimul Locomotion.’ 1 havo already elucidated to the world the bird’s flight, and shown how complicated a matter it is. Now an insect, it is well known, can fly faster than a bird, although the manner of its flight is not known, but merely guessed at.”

Residents of northeastern Washingtoil are circulating a petition praying Congress that the fine forest and mountain country in the neighborhood of Lake Chelan be set apart by United States for the purposes of a national park. The petitioners say: “We are wholly influenced in this request by a desire to perpetuato the groat beauties of the region referred to, which presents scenery of a more varied, beautiful, and artistic nature than is to bo found anywhere olse in the picturesquo Northwest; and to preserve the deer, tho elk, and tho mountain goats found therein that are fast disappearing from American mountains.” The land described is mostly mountainous, many of tho peaks rising to a height of 7,000 feet from tho water’s edge. Chelan Lake is a narrow body of clear water averaging two miles in width und extending from a point near tho Columbia River in a northwestorly direction sixty-eight miles towards the slope of tho Cascade Mountains. Tho land within the proposed park is for the most part unfit for cultivation, but the mountains abound in wild game of all kinds, while tho lake and the streams emptying into it swarm with fish. There are also in tho region sought to be set aside as a national park (which is described by metes and bounds in the petition) many small lakes, the feeding places of wild ducks and geese.

Making Smelling-Salts.

A simple rule for smelling-salts is one gill of liquid ammonia, one-quarter of a drachm each of extract of English lavendar and of rosemary, and eight drops each of oil of bergamot and cloves. Mix all these materials together in a bottlo and shako them thoroughly. Eill tho vinaigrette or any small bottle which has a good glass stopper with bits of sponge, and pour in as much of tho .liquid preparation as the sponge will absorb. Invert tho bottle, with the cork out, to soo that it is all absorbed. Cork the bottlo tightly. A bottle' of smelling-salts is very useful to any one who is tiuble te faintness.—[Now York Tribune.

A Galvanic Caterpillar Teaser.

Carl Ilering, the olectrician, has invented a curious device to prevent caterpillars from crawling up trees. Mr. liering’s scheme is simply to run alternate wires of copper and zihc around the trunk of tho tree, at a distance of about half ait inch apart. When the wires have boon placed in position Mr. Caterpilkir staris his ascent. He strikes tho copper wiro, pokes his little nose over it, and continues. Half an inch further up his feet strike the copper wire, while his body is still in contact with the copper. immediately the current is carried through his body. With a howl of pain Mr. Catterpillar drops to the ground, or if the current be strong enough, remains a prisoner until the grim reaper comes. [Philadelphia Record. Sontag Mohawk is 17 years old, and is tho youngest mare in the world with seven of her produce in the 2.30 list. Alma Mater is 20 years old and has live in the list. Beautiful Bells is 20 years old, with six in the 2.30 list.

TROTTERS AND PACERS.

Milkmaid, 2.221, failed to get in foal to Mambrino King last year. Knickerbocker, son of Ilambletonian 10, is now owned at Nashville, Term. There is nothing like the prejudice against pacers for road use that formerly existed. The old-time trotter Wells Fargo, 2.18}, by George M. Putchen. Jr., is being driven on the road in Michigan. Budd Doble's opinion of Monbars, 2.lG}, is such that he will breed a mare to Jay Bird, tho sire of that colt, this year. There is a very fast young mare by Jerome Eddy, 2.16}, owned at Bayou Sara, La., that will bo campaigned this year. Deck Wright, 2.19}, mado in 1880, is now owned in Brandon, Manitoba. He was the subject at stake iu a raffle the other day. In 1806 the gelding Yankee trotted a mile in 2.50, and in 1891 the mare Sunol took a record of 2.08}. What will 1892 bring forth? A yearling colt latoly trotted a mile in Indiana in 2:10 around the stove. His owner was presented with the armchair and a fresh chew o Munroe Salisbury, is reported as*saying that Direct has paced a quarter in 27 seconds, a 1:48 gait, and he thinks the champion will go a mile in 2:04 this year. F. D. Barton, of Waltham, Vt., is reported to have refused a large offer for his Nutwood stallion Homestead, dam by Pancoast, 2.21}, and 2dam by Hambletoniun 10. Margaret S., 2.12}, will be bred to Axtell, 2.12, and afterwards will be campaigned. Her dam, May Day, who also produced Incas. 2.14}, will be bred to Direct, 2.06, this year. C. W. Williams, «wner of Allerton, declares that the great stallion shall never again be placed on board the cars and that all his racing in the future must be done at Independence.

Drivers should know that the region ovor tho kidneys should be kept cool rather than warm. “Don't put a doubleply blanket over tho kidneys,” is the advice of an experienced care-taker. The colt Fred S. Wilkes, 2:18, by Hector Wilkes, that last Fall beat Belle Archer, 2:15}, Dr. Sparks, 2:17}, and Stella Jlelmont, 2:21}, will be sent to Buffalo, N. Y., soon to bo trained by Ed. Geers. Tho success of Captain Lyons, 2.23, last season is attributed to better handling and balancing. He was shod lighter, and given longer scores so as to get on bis stride. He beat some of the best in the Central New York circuit last year. Tho pacer Indianapolis Boy, 2:21}, that during tho early part of last season was about the most unreliable horse on the Western turf, but that afterward became comparatively well behaved, is to be driven next season by Mat Maloney. It is claimed that Mat can bold him down. Ono of the latest farms to appear in the directory of New England’s breeding establishments is that of C. 1. Hood’s, Lowell, the celobrated manufacturer of Hood’s Sarsaparilla. It is located on the banks of the Merrimac, between Lowell and Lawrence, on the highest point oi land between tho two cities. Amy King, 2.22}, like Constantine, 2.19}, is another instance of very close inbreeding. She is by Mambrino King, by Mambrino Patchen, and her dam is by Kentucky Clay, who is out of the dam of Mambrino Patchen, and her second dam is by Mambrino Patchen, out of Betty Brown, by Mambrino Patchen, her third dam bbing by Mambrino Chief, sire of Mambrino Patchen.

A Monument to Spite.

There is one very funny relic of bygone ages on a house in old Berlin. In the time of Frederick the Great's fathei there were two rival blacksmiths living across the road from each other. Each kept tally of the number and condition of tho other’s patrons. It chanced one day that Frederick William 1., who was very fond of going about the country disguised to feel the pulse of tho people, rode up to one of tho blacksmiths to have his horse’s shoe tightened. The daughter of the blacksmith opposite, seeing the exceedingly plain little personage on horseback, considered him beneath her envy, and, to show her contempt for him, made a horrible faco, thrusting her tonguo out as far as she could. I nfortunately, for what was to be shown to future generations, the damsel was no longer in the springtime of youth. That day the king called together the woodcarvers of Berlin and offerod a premium for the most hideous fury's head and bust, giving a few necessary points suggestive of the farrier lass. A few days Infer tho blacksmith's daughter thought they had eternally and totally eclipsed their neighbor, for the king's state chariot drovo up and stopped at her father's door; but what was bei horror when sho beheld the same plain little person who bad stopped at the rival’s but a few days before, and behind him a man bearing a fury’s head, showing pitilessly the ravages of time ; the face horribly distorted and the tongue, long and sharp, thrust out so far that it seemed to be only another one ol the many serpents that writhed aboul the head. The'woman stood petrified u’ith consternation; but tho petrifaction was soon changed to activo fits when she heard the little man, in whom by that time she had recognized the king, give orders that the fury should bo nailed ovei the door, to remain there as long as wind and weather should spare the wood. And tbeie it remains to this day, a lesson to rivals and a warning to petty spite.

Method of a Famous Song Writer.

The late C. A. White, the songwriter, had no theoretical knowledge of music, and studiously avoided going to the opera and like performances, lest his originality should be impaired. His soug, “Put Me in My Little Bed,” was suggested to his mind one night as he was going home, by seeing a picture of the prophet Samuel in tho window of a Boston shop. Samuel was kneeling by a bedside with his hands clasped in prayer. Mr. White wrote the melody and the first verse in about fifteen minutes. When ho composed “Marguerite,” he decided to attempt a love song, and then thought out a story. With this in mind ho picked up his violin, tuned it and the melody seemed to come of itself without coaxiug.—[Chicago Hera’d.