Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 February 1893 — Page 6
In Sheep's Clothing.
BY Capt. Ormond Steele
CHAPTER ll—Continued. “Why this rejoicing?” asked Lea Bodges, reining in her horse -before Squire Condit’s gate, and addressing 'Ellen, who stood with more than the sunset glow on her fair cheeks. "Oh, Lea! good news! good news!” Scaled Ellen, running out and taking her friend's hand. ■ ■ ‘Then do not keep it back, Ellen, for imy very soul yearns for news good, bad jor indifferent; anything to break the jmOnotony of this dull life. Ah, if I [were a man I should make my own [news and give the world a fresh and [startling supply every day, but being •only a woman, ‘a weaker vessel,’ as the dominie says, who ” Lea would have gone on at some jlqngth in her bantering, half-real, halfllaughii’g way, had not Ellen Condit interrupted her by calling out: j “The Sea Hawk has just anchored in •the harbor! ’’
“The Sea Hawk?” echoed Lea Hedges, and for the instant the color fled, under the excitement, from her cheeks, and ■she sprang from her horse, the spirited ■creature making no effort to get away, jthough there was no restraining hand ion the bridle. I “Yes; she has in sight for an •hour, and Ralph has signaled that he is ■coming ashppe ,at bnce. Mother has gone in to order Supper, aud every Iservant on the place is hard at work to igive thelf favorite a welcome.” i “There, Ned, go home and tell Black 'Joe to put you in the stable.” Lea Hedges threw the bridle rein over ithe pummel of the saddle, and the inItelligent horse, with a snort that no [combination of letters could convey an idea of, tossed up his head and walked ■away with comical dignity. I “You will come into the house and wait.” suift Ellen, encircling her friend’s wais t with her left arm, and making as if she Vdle going to the house. “No, my love, we shall take the other direction; 7, said Lea. “To the village?” “No, to'the shore. Let us greet the brave boys before their feet press the soil, Ten months since they sailed away; it has seemed like ten years. The Sea Hawk carried with her all the life and glory of the island. I pray that tho pirates have torn none of them from us.
! This was said as the girls hastened down to the beach, a few hundred yards below Squire Condit’s house.
“The pirates have not taken the Sea I-lawk,”'teaid Ellen, who, though as much rejoiced at the ship’s arrival, had neither her-friend’s enthusiam nor her fluency of expression. “I knew the pirates never could take hor.- they might destroy her, but she •would go down with the'flag flying and every living man at his post,” skid Lea. ! "The people are cheering and the (bells are ringing, Lea.’’ “Aye, but the iheers are all too faint [to express my feeling, am the bell .tinkles,when it should clash, and clang, and Benin. Hark, a gun from the ship! -Bee- the smoke rising from the port like ;a monster's breath on a frosty morning. [There is music in that sound. How did mo® fight before the roar of cannon set th* warrior blood to throbbing in their veios?” I Ellen Condit did not attempt to an•swer'hei• friend’s question. By this time coufd see a boat lowered away (from the Sea Hawk, into which six irowers and four officers got. The boat shot away from the ship. ,and headed straight for the beach where ■the girls—now the center of a large (crowd of whites and gaily attired In■dians —were standing. | Fmm the stern sheets Capt. Denham waved his hat, and the people answered .with a cheer. ! The men at the oars threw all their [streilgth into-WW-quiveriug blades, till (the boat at each stroke seemed fairly to ■leap from the water. - - - \Vhile the Captain's cutter was' still several-hundred feet from the shore he (recognized among the throng the faces of .Ellen, his adopted sister, and of Lea, ■his old playmate and friend. He rose in his place and raised hts hat,'and the first aini second officers did the same. Ttfc&ifi.WP 1 -® 011 shore supposed the greeting to be general, and they at once sent up a cheer, which the men at the oars answered, and as they shouted tho ;boat seemed to leap from the water, as If it, too, were animated, and shared in the joy at again touching the soil on which it was built.
1 Captain Denbam sprang ashore the Instyittathe boat.’# bow grated, on the tyjiach, and the people were not surprised to see him catch Ellen in his arms, for was she not his sister? Lieutenant Dayton was near him, and his armh were about Lea, wuose fine eyed" were How full 'of tears of joy. YtalenQhe was her own cousin, some eaid he was her lover, but of ihat this is not the time to speak. , Every man at the oars was native to the place, and had mother, sweetheart, or sister to greet him. ... i It would be a waste of time to describe what the most prosaic reader can easily imagine. The men laughed and shook hands aga|xt and again. " * The women smiled through their tears audwseemed never to weary of repeatjtinjpthe fl^st greeting. . And in thetnidst of it all. down came (Sqijtire Condlt and Dr. Hedges, and to 'them the weicpmes were repeated, and ,the gathering people cheerei till the in- : creased volume of sound rolled out to {the ship. Here, the watching sailors— to stay on board—caught the joyous contagion, and springing into the Jrigginfe f they shouted in a way that 'called out all the crew of the stranger, .who cheered also. To speak of the feast and dances that •followed that night w iuld take a goodsized volume. 1 . The officers of “The Stranger,” as we 'shall call the other ship for the want of a better name, were invited, and how jthis was brought about, we shall now {proceed to explain. . CHAPTER 111. u. NEARER VIEW Of THE OEKJCERs AND CBEW | ; O* THE c.TRANOKR While there was no name visible on Jthe bow or stern of the stranger— at least to those linable to make a close {examination — on the caps of the sailors, oa&WS coverings of the upper-deck guns, apd<m the many small boats swinging tin headiness from the davits was the .word ■‘•Wanderer." * Aa oh the Sea Hawk .'everything on (board the Wanderer was in the state of perfect order which old sailors desig-
The crew were powerful, flerce-look-ing fellows, and, though there was not one man with gray hair or beard visible, all were in that golden prime of life when experience restrains the Impulses of youth, without lessening its activity or vigor. The majority of the crew was decidedly English, but accent and face told that the minority was composed of many nationalities; not an unusual thing in this day when England, in order to recruit her warships, sent press gangs on shore, and, if occasion required, did not hesitate to force into her service the sailors of merchantmen overtaken on the high seas. When nations became robbers in selfdefense, it is not to be wondered at that pirates were plenty, as much for their contempt for law as their desire for plunder. With one or two exceptions the officers were men between 30 and 40 years of age, and there was that in their manner that told of perils daringly met in the past; and the adventurous spirit In their stern, restless eyes showed that, like their beautiful ship, they were wanderers, impelled on and on by the spirit of adventure, which, though rife in that age, cannot be said to be peculiar to any. Capt. William Fox, commander of the Wanderer, looked like a man in every way qualified for his duties. He was about 35 years of age, rather slender and of medium height, with hair and beard that would be called “golden” by the poetic and “red” by those or a prosaic turn. His eyes were blue, but with that steely glint that is rarely seen except in eyes of gray. Capt. Eox must have been in these waters before, for when a yacht came alongside offering a pilot, he shouted down: “I know the channel, and I can’t fail If I keep In the wake of the Sea Hawk.” He seemed the very personification of activity, but it was act.vity without nervousness. His short, quick commands were given with decision, and obeyed with the promptness and regularity of fine mechanism. After the anchors were down, and the
sails furled, Capt. Fox said to a blackeyed officer, some years younger than himselt: “Come to my cabin, Mr. Frenauld. I wish to speak with you. ” “Aye, aye, sir,” replied Lieut. Frenauld, touching his cap and following the Captain down the companion-way. The cabin of the Wanderer was quite in keeping as to neatness with the other parts of the ship, but the furniture Was such as even an admiral could not have afforded. The place was crowded with works of art. The walls were covered with pictures, the most incongruous religious pieces being hung side by side with fierce battle pictures, and rude cupids placed in companionship with winged cherubs and seraphic madonnas. Through the open doors of some of the staterooms opening into the cabin the same lavish adornments could be seen, giving the idea of a floating artgallery. rather than tho quarters of officers on a ship of war. And this lavish profusion of wealth was visible in the persons of the officers, certainly in the two who now retired to an inner cabin. Their fingers were half covered with rings, in whioh emeralds of deepest tint and diamonds of purest water flashed, and the buckles on their shoes, or “pumps,” as they were then called, were masses of the same gems. After dosing the door of the cabin behind him Captain Fox pointed the lieutenant to a chair and sat down himself. This done, ho deliberately pulled off his pumps, and drawing a plainer pair from a drawer near by he put them on. He then removed his finger rings and threw them, with the shoes he had taken off, into a box. “We must put away these things for the present, Mr. Frenauld,” said Captain Fox. “it is well enough to wear them at sea, where the sight of them will Inspire our mon to deeds of greater valor, but here they may create suspicion, and that is the very thing we must avert.” “Of oourse, sir,” replied Lieutenant Frenauld, and he at once removed his jewels, going into another room to remove his pumps. Coming back, he asked: “Shall I instruct the other officers. Captain?” “No; I have ordered them to wear nothing that does not accord with their rank as officers in the service of the good Queen Anne ’’ Captain Fox, hesitated, and Mr. Frenauld nodded, and said: “I understand, sir.” “I expected that Captain Denham would have done me the honor of a visit the instant the Bea Hawk came to anchor. ”
“Gad, sir, he would have visited us before that if he knew who wo were," said Lieutenant Frenauld, with a low laugh. The Captain frowned, bit his lips, and, evidently 111-pleased with his subordinate’s levity, he continued as if he had not heard It. “Perhaps I should not blame Captain Denham, for this is his home, and the home of most of his officers and men, and It is natural thatne and they should hurry ashore to see their kinsmen and sweethearts.” “A sweetheart In Denham's case, sir, for, as we know, he has no kin here. ” “You forget,” said the Captain, tapping the table with the tips of his fingers and frowning. “Pardon me, sir, but I did not think,” said the lieutenant, apologetically, “that it would be amiss to allude, under the circumstances, to what we both know about Captain Denham’s ancestors.” “It is amiss, sir. Zounds! if an echo of the facts came to his ears, all our great schemes would crumble to ashes like the Dead Sea apples, even though we had them ripe in our grasp, and we are near that now. Let me speak if there be speaking necessary; it is your duty to act. ” And now the oaptain brought his clenched hand down on the table. “I have never been below, sir, when there was work to do aloft,” replied Lieutenant Frenauld, his dark eyes showing that he did not at all relish his superior’s rebuke. ■. “Very well.” The captain’s manner was mild in an instant, showing that he was an actor as well as a sailor. “YVe must go ashore to-night, and pay onr respects to the authorities. In the meantime, I shall send a note on board with my compliments to Denharm. Get the cutter ready with a picked crew, and after supper I will go ashore, taking with me yourself and Harry Ludlow. Full dress, mind you.” “And side arms?” asked Mr. Frenauld, as he rose to leave. “How, sir, can an officer in her majesty’s service be in full dress without his side arms?” snapped the captain, his eyes flashing again. “True, sir " A rap at the door, an d "before Frenauld could say another word Captain Fox shouted: “ Colne A handsome lad of sixteen came in, bis cap in one hand and a note in the other. “Well. Don?" “The cards of two gentlemen who
have just come aboard, sir,” replied the cabin boy, Don. speaklnywith a strong Scotch accent, and handing the paper to the captain. “Ah, by the Spirit of Blake!” cried the captain, here are the-viLjage fathers come to do us courtesy; They shall have a royal welome. Stay, Frenauld, and help me receive them. Stand by, Don, we shall need your services at once.” The captain’s face and eyes lit up. He was all animation now. His moods were like those of an Alpine sky, or would have been were they not the direct effect of his strong will. He sprang into his private cabin, and in less than a minute he came out again in a dress coat, a regulation chapeau under his arm, and a straight stiff-sword belted to his hip. He hurried on deck, where Squire Condit, in a blue coat with brass buttons, knee-breeches, silk hose, low shoes with silver buckles, and a well powdered wig with a pendent black ribbon, was looking about him with that air of awe a landsman shows when first he steps on board a ship-of-war. Dr. Hedges, except that his coat was bottle-green—a color at that time affected by the medical profession—was dressed exactly like bis friend: and save as to some difference in stature — the former being short and stout—they might have passed for twin brothers. “I am Goodwill Condit,” said th< squire advancing to the captain with a bow, intended to be stately, and hia right hand extended, “holding a commission under hor majesty—whom may God preserve—as Justice of the Peace in the County of Suffolk, in tne ProV' inceof New York.” |TO BE CONTINUED.]
Quinine as a Protection Against Cholera
Dr. Laurie, a physician well known in India, long ago asserted that he would stake his reputation on the efficacy of quinine a« a prophylactic against cholera. A five-grain dose of this drug every morning while the disease is about is, he held, a sure preventive. During the epidemic of cholera in India last year, Dr. Hehir made certain investigations which resulted in the discovery of the presence in the blood, etc., of cholera patients, of a peculiar parasitic pretozoon or microbe, although whether this is the cause or result of the disease has yet to be determined. He fount] that this organism could not live in strong solutions of quinine, and he further found that the protective virtues of quinine were amply demonstrated during the epidemiclie now commits himself unreservedly to the opinion expressed by Dr. Laurie, and recommends the use of quinine as a prophylactic in addition to sulphurous acid. It has been his practice for years to administer one drachm doses of acid every three hours to all the inmates of a house in which the disease breaks out during the time the patient is in the house. He has given it in about 7,000 instances, and for the last three years he has not seen cholera occur in any case in which it was used. If quinine is really the effective prophylactic against cholera that these eminent authorities have such excellent cause to believe it to be, this fell disease has lost its terrors, for nothing is easier and less harmful than taking a five-grain dose of the drug during the epidemic of the disease.
How Caste Affects Trade in India.
The trades in India are governed to a great extent by the castes, and, to a certain extent, each caste is limited to a certain choidb of trades. Thus a Brahmin may be a carpenter or a mason, but he may not' be a waterman or a sweeper. If a chow, kidar, for instance, belongs to the Brahminical caste, lie has his own cooking utensils, and if a Mussulman should touch them under any circumstances they would be defiled, and before they could be used again would have to be purified by some mysterious and tedious process before the Brahmin could use them without himself losing caste. A chowkidar could not be induced to use a sweeper’s broom. It would be defilement for a Hindu to receive food or water from the hands of one of lower caste than himself, and drinking water may only be received from one of a higher caste. A carpenter will not take drinking water from the water carrier who supplies the kitchen, and a Brahmin must be employed for the special purpose of bringing water to the workmen. Each servant may get his own water, hut need not bring any to the others, as they would not taxe any from him. They would dry up and blow away first.
Progress of Steam.
The Union Pacific, 1892, operates 10,928 miles of road. Nevada has 1-117 of a mile of track to the square mile. The daily earnings of a passenger locomotive, 1892, are SIOO. Illinois has, 1892, greatest length of railroads, 10,213 miles. The average cost of' a passenger locomotive, 1892, is SB,OOO. In United States, 1892, there are 202,786 miles of railroad track. The Colorado Midland, 1892, ascends 11,530 feet above sea level. New Jersey has a quarter of a mile of track to the square mile. The total assets of United States railroads are $10,205,493,050. Rhode Island, in 1892, has least length of railroads, 212 miles. In 1892 the estimated cost of United States railroads is $9,000,000,000. In United States, 1892, there are 31,062 locomotive engines and 1,090,813 ears. The Manhattan Elevated Railroad carries 190,000,000 passengers every year. * Twenty-four United States corporations have each over 1,000 miles of track. The longest railroad bridge span in the United States Is at Poughkeepsie, 548 feet.
Sensible Change.
There lias been a decided stand against wearing crape for some years past, but the Princess of Wales gave it the coup de grace by dispensing with it during her mourning for the late Duke of Clarence. Now there is a further protest against the heavy crape worn by widows, and doubtless before another year has come and gone the modification in this direction will be very perceptible.
One Every Three Days.
The Fayette City* (Pa.)News contains the following unique advertisement: “J. G. Sanforth, undertaker, eighteen years’ experience. In that time I have buried over two thousand persons. My motto is ‘Live and Let Live.’ Good goeds and low prices to every one.*
SIBERIA NOT A DESERT.
It* Valley* a* Fertile a* Tho#e of Western Ann erica—Great Railroad System, Siberia, coupled as its name Is with stories of Russian barbarity, is not the barren, terrible land of limitless deserts which fiction and the drama have pictured it. The building of the trans-Siberian railway and the extension of lines along the northern frontier of China will greatly change the entire drama of civilization. The railroad from Vladivostock to the Ural Mountains will briug that great Russian naval station within fourteen days’ journey of St. Petersburg, and along this route stations will rapidly grow into towns and offer opportunities for new and striking development. Russia’s enterprise, says the Hartford Globe, stimulates that of China, not only as a matter of Competitive ambition but for strategic reasons. The railways now being surveyed and completed within the Celestial Empire are numerous, and to this end many foreign engineers are employed. Soldiers and convicts are largely employed* a 3 workmen, thus cheapening the cost of labor as far as possible. The trans-Siberian railway extends to a length of nearly .5,000 miles, and it is expected to cost $200,000,000. It is divided into six sections, each section comprising three or more divisions, and the contracts for building is given to these, thus employing a large number of contractors for limited distances.
It is a mistake to suppose that Siberia is a desert, or a glacier, or a mountain fastness, or incapable of being made habitable. The valleys are level plains, and said to be as fertile as the western portion of the United States, and it is not unlike the West in the variety of its resources—in minerals, timbers and in agricultural facilities. It is a marvelous treasure-trove of stored-up opportunities. Its wealth is practically unlimited. With the advantages of railroad communication and telegraph lines, a vast country is added to the world of civilization. The cultivation of the land and the introduction of all the elaborate machinery of enlightened life will, as scientists depict, modify the rigors of the climate, although in Southern Siberia even this obstacle does not exist.
Days of Small Things.
Long before the Revolution a young printer In Philadelphia, when he had taken off his working apron at night, used to sit poring over his dozen of old volumes by firelight. He soon knew them by heart, and hungered for more. But books were costly, and he had hut little money. He had eight or ten cronies—young men who, like himself, were eager for knowledge. Ranging his hooks on a shelf, he invited his friends to do the same, that each of them might have the benefit of them all. Ben Franklin thus laid the foundation of the first circulating library, and now one of the largest in this country. Thirty years ago a kindly German pastor, moved to pity by the condition of the homeless orphans in the city in which he lived, took three of them into his own home, appealing to Christians for aid to feed and clothe them, and to educate them into useful, good citizens. Three great orphan asylums in different cities of the West are the result of this little effort.
A good woman in Philadelphia, twenty odd years ago, asked two or three of her friends to join her in renting a little room where they could meet occasionally to drink a cup of tea, and consult together how to help other women whose lot in the world was harder than their own. Opt of that little room has grown the stately N T ew Century Club with its collateral Guilds, Classes and Clubs of workingwomen, which have helped and strengthened many thousands. Many readers who live in inland towns are bewildered when they visit the cities by the great libraries, hospitals, associations for charity, education or mutual aid, and wish hopelessly they had the same helps to broader and higher life in their own homes. Let them begin with a little effort, and persist in their good work. Some good will come from every attempt of this kind. The most firmly grounded institutions are those which grew out of poverty slowly, and were not built to order.—Youth's Companion.
How Words Change.
Language is the result of ages of growth. Word after word has been added to the previous stock—some of them new Inventions, as new things have been discovered or brought into use, others but perversions or variations of terms already familiar. The process of word-making and wordtransformatjion has been carried on, not by scholars only, but by the common people, with the natural result that many words have curious histories. As a writer in Chambers’ Journal remarks, “People must have words which they can understand and recall,” and they are not scrupulous as to the means by which they obtain them. Take the common word “titmouse,” a chickadee. The first syllable means something small, and the two together ought to mean a little mouse. But the word was formerly “titmose,” “mose” meaning a little bird. Somebody—there is no knowing who—changed the name to “titmouse.” The'new form tickled the popular ear; by aud by it was generally accepted; then the old and true form went but of use altogether, and the plural, which ought to be “titmouses,” became “titmice.”
Long ago when a certain article made of sturgeons’ bladders came into use in England, it was known by its Dutch name “huizenblas,” that is, “sturgeon-bladder.” The term was a meaningless one to English ears, and by some means or other was transformed into the word which we all know, “isinglass.” The change was precisely like that which in some quarters has turned “asparagus” into “sparrow-grass. ” In the same manner the old word “berfry,” which means simply a watch-tower, was transformed into “belfry.” It became the custom to hang bells in such towers, and by common consent a change of spelling followed. What is the derivation of the word
“steelyard”? Most readers would rereply without hesitation that It must have been invented as the name of a certain familiar instrument for weighing, an instrument made of steel, and about three feet in length. In point of fact, however, the word meant in the beginning nothing but the yard, or court, in London, where the continental traders sold their steel. In this yard, of course, there was some kind of balance for weighing the metal—a steel-yard balance. Language is full of such cases. “Blindfold” has nothing to do with the act of folding something over the eyes, but is “blindfelled,” or struck blind. “Buttery” has no connection with butter, but is, or was, a “bottlery,” a place for bottles. A “blunderbuss” was not an awkward or inefficient weapon, but on the contrary was so terrible as ta be called a “donderbus,” that is to say, a “thunderbox” or “thunder-barrel.” The advance in the art of war is happily—or unhappily—typified by the fact that a weapon once so terrible has become an object of ridicule. Will the world ever find our present iron-clads and mortars nothing but things to laugh at?
Enemies of the Diver.
The diver, as the reader may imagine, gets many scares when below. A fifteen-foot shark, magnified by the water, and making a bee-line for one, is sufficient to make the strongest heart quake, in spite of the assertion that sharks have never been known to attack a man in dress. Neither is the sight of a large turtle comforting when one does not know exactly what it is, and the coiling of a sea snake around one’s legs, although it has only one’s hands to bite at, is, to say the least, unpleasant. A little fish called the stoneflsh is one of the enemies of the diver, continues a writer in the Century. It seems to make its habitation right under the pearl shell, as it is only when picking them up that anyone has been known to have been bitten. I remember well the first time I was bitten by this spiteful member of the finny tribe. I dropped my bag of shells, and hastened to the surface; but, in this short space of time, my hand and arm had so swollen that it was with difficulty I could get the dress off, being unable to work for three days, and suffering intense pain the while. Afterward I learned that staying down a couple of hours after a bite will stop any further discomfort, the pressure of water causing much bleeding of the bitten part, and thus expelling the poison. One of the strange effects that diving has upon those who practice it is the inevitable bad temper felt while working at the bottom; as this irritability passes away as soon as the surface is reached again, it is only reasonable to suppose that it is caused by the unusual pressure of the air inside the dress, affecting probably the lungs, and through them the brain. My experience has been that while below one may fly into the most violent passion at the merest trifle, for instance, the life-line held too tight or too slack, too much air or too little, or some imaginary wrong-doing on the part of the tender or the boys above, will often cause the temper to rise. I have sometimes become so angry in a similar way that I have given the signal to pull up, with the express intention of knocking the heads off the entire crew; but as the surface was neared and the weight of air decreased my feelings have gradually undergone a change for the better, until by the time I had reached the ladder and had the face glass unscrewed 1 had forgotten for what I came up.
Havoc of Great Waves.
The sea has in store one danger that the landsman never sees. Like the voyager he may receive a visit from a cyclone, but he knows nothing of the power and terror of the great waves. Uniting in themselves the force of a flood and that of a tornado, they are appalling and resistless. The experience of the Normannia, which suffered severe damage from the visit of one of these monsters of the deep, recalls that of other vessels. But this wave was slight compared with the waves that they have encountered. While it injured only several of the Normannia’s crew, the wave that struck the Italian bark Rosina in October, 1888, swept every man aboard but one into the sea; he escaped only because he was an invalid below. A hundred persons lost their lives from the wave encountered by the steamer San Francisco in December, 1853, says the Rochester Courier.
The height of these waves can hardly be realized. The one encountered by the Umbria five years ago rose to the top of her masthead, fifty feet above the sea. Several waves measured by Capt. Kiddle of the Celtic, in January, 1875, roSe to the height of seventy feet and moved at the rate of twentyfive miles an hour. Equally high waves were observed by Admiral Fitzroy, of the English navy, off the Cape of Good Hope. The appalling height of 100 feet was reached by the waves that Dumont d’Urville saw in the Southern Sea. Of course nothing could withstand the weight and force of these masses of water. Under them the most powerful vessel ever built would scarcely be more than an eggshell. There is no doubt that many of the ships that have gone to sea never to return have fallen victims to their pitiless and resistless force. As to the origin of the great waves there has of late been some interesting speculation. It has been discovered that they are confined to the temperate latitudes. In these latitudes it has been discovered further that the surface of the ocean is .often struck during storms by powerful downward currents. The conclusion is drawn from these two facts that the waves in question were the products of these vertical currents. Students of the subject claim in support of this conclusion that the most powerful wind blowing over the surface of the sea could not raise a crest above twentyfive feet
May They All be Lucky.
The members of a club of rich young men in Venice are pledged to marry poor girls.
LARGEST RUPE DRIVE.
One Wheel Weighing SUty-Ove Tone and Carrying a Poyrey of 3,000 If one*. The accompanying picture, repn> duced from Power, shows the largest driving wheel in England. It is in use in the woolen mill at Darwen. The mill was formerly driven by leather belts, but did not prove successful, and rope driving was resorted to. The 85,000 spindles and preparation are driven by a 2,000-horse power tandem compound engine, with cylinders 23 and 44 inches in diameter and 72-inch stroke, running at 54 revolutions per minute. The fly wheel is 30 feet in diameter, weighs 65 tons, and is arranged with 30 grooves for 11-inch ropes. These ropes lead off to receiving pulleys upon the several floors so that each floor receives its power directly from the fly wheiel. The speed of the ropes is feet, or practically a mile a
LARGEST ROPE DRIVE IN THE WORLD.
minute. It. will interest every American to know that American rope is used on England’s greatest wheel. A Lambeth rope 2 inches in diameter has run at a speed of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet per minute, day and night, for eight years without having apparently approached its limit of durability.
A READING CHAIR.
It Is Very Comfortable and Can Be Made ati Home. The chair which we illustrate, aftfer Cassell’s Magazine, is an improved model of one long used by the Duke of Wellington at Walmer Castle. The back is so formed that a person can sit in the chair in the ordinary way or he can sit astride and lean his arms on the shelf with the book before him. The change of
A READING CHAIR.
position is a practical convenience which will be appreciated by many. This kind of chair is not manufactured so far as we know; but the figure will guide a maker in constructing it to order.
Literal Obedience.
Although the Scotchman’s sense of humor may not be of the keenest—an imputation which Sandy bitterly resents, by the way—he is quick to turn an adversary’s weapon against himself. A certain minister was noted for his avarice. One morning he had been driven by his man servant to the nearest station to catch the first train to Edinburgh. The obliging porter at once began to assist the man in disposing of the baggage, tut the minister, thinking he would expect a tip for doing what was only his duty, told him somewhat snappishly to mind his own business. Some months later the minister had occasion to go to Edinburgh again, and as usual was driven to the station in good time to catch the train. The morning was very cold, and there being no waiting-room at that time at the station, he went into the comfortably heated lamp room, where the porter was engaged in cleaning the lamps. Having seated himself, he planted his feet on the hearth, and became engrossed in a book. Presently his light rubber • shoes began to be affected by their near proximinity to the fire. The minister felt the heat penetrating through his boots, and taking his eyes from off the book, saw that the overshoes had nearly left him, and certainly would be of no further use. Looking up to the porter, he inquired if he had seen the rubbers undergoing the change, to which he replied that he had “Then why did you not tell me?” he demanded. “Every one minds his own business here,” was the dry re •ponse. A Scotch woman was return ing by train from a market town, where she had made a few purchases. Just as the last bell rang a fussy gentleman, elegantly dressed, and with a man-mind-thyself-looking face, rushed into the compartment, flung himself hastily into a corner, pulled out an evening paper and proceeded to devour its contents. Hardly had he become seated when the woman timidly addressed him: “I’m vera sorry, sir, but—” “I never listen to beggars,” fiercely interrupted the gentleman. “If you annoy me further I’ll report you!” Christy’s eyes flashed, then twinkled; she said no more, and the choleric gentleman retired with an angry frown behind his paper. All went merry as a dinner-bell until the train arrived at Cromlade, when Christy, stepping out, again addressed the churlish individual in the corner: “I carena, sir, whether ye report me or no’; but I want that pun’ of butter ye’ve been sittin’ on for the last sax mile!"
OUR BUDGET OF FUN.
HUMOROUS SAYINGS AND DO< INGS HERB AND THERE. 11 »« '• IK* « foIHM and Jok»l#U that Art Snpposod ta Hava Baaa Recently Barm- Saying* aad Doing* that Art OdA Corlou* aad X-anghabla. Tea Table Talk. Bakersville will have to he spelled with a capital F in future, —Philadelphia Record. The ascent of the balloon is generally a soar point with the aeronaut. —Binghamton Leader. A new broom sweeps clean; so will an old one in the a new Janitor.—Union-Standard. The merchant finds that his hardest work begins when everything is dun.—Chicago Inter Ocean. The Greeks solved the theater-hat nuisance by not allowing the women to go to the theater.—Detroit Journal. * *• ■
Some claim that the counterpart in the opposite sex of the grass widow should be designated the hay rake.— Philadelphia Times. Pat —“ Have yez an almanac, Moike?” Mike—“l have-not.” Pat—- “ Then we’ll have to take the weather as it comes. ” —Truth. Tommy —“ What’s the turkey strutting around that way for?” Jimmy —“Guess he’s trying to look tough." —lndianapolis Journals By adding a few medical properties to the mucilage the Columbian stamp might be utilized to crush..the. porous plaster trust—Washington Post." Jaleby— l don’t see why Smith calls Miss Harper’s conversation intoxicating. Felton—l suppose because it’s extra dry.—Chicago Intel Ocean.
Jinks —Gallon was dead to the world last night. Filkins—Did he have a storied urn? Jinks—No; just an animated bust.—Field’s Washington. Reggie —“ Van Harding has been expelled from the club." Ferdie—- “ Why?” Reggie—“He was getting too beastly bwainy.”—New York Herald. Tommy— “ Say, paw?” Mr. Figg—“Well?” Tommy—“ When a hole in the ground is filled up with dirt whal becomes of the hole?”—lndianapolis Journal.
“You were out again playing poker last night,” said the father. “No, father,” replied the truthful young man, “1 was in just sl7.”—Washington Star.NeVEHGO— ‘T’m willing to wait one hundred years to gain your love." Miss Tiredtodeath—“lt seeiffs to mi the time must be almost up.”—Detroit Tribune. She—Dudes haven’t more than half sense. Mr. Sappy—Aw, Misi Mawy, are there no exceptions? “Oh, yes, Mr. Sappy; some haven’t any. ” Brooklyn Life. “I have discovered a way to cure cockneys of pronouncing horse as it it were orse.” “How?” “Spell it orse. Then they’ll be sure to saj horse.”—Puck. There' is, no end to New York’s jealousy of Chicago. A street car conductor of Gotham even refused to accept a Columbian half-dollar at Its face value.—Pittsburg Dispatch. “Does your husband pet you?” asked Mrs. McCorkle of Mrs. MeCrackle. “Oh, yes,” was the reply; “when he’s drunk.” “How nice it must be to be petted all the time. Truth.
“What do you mean by thrashing your boy without provocation?" “Well, you see, a busy man like me must discipline his children when he happens to have time. ”—Fliegende Blatter. “John,” said Mrs. Norton, as she seated herself at the hotel breakfast table, “did you call a waiter?” “Yes,” said Norton, looking up from his paper, “I called him and he had a tray full.”—Life.
“Don’t you think you are overdoing this matter of delay?” said the creditor. “Not at all, ” replied the debtor, “but I am satisfied that ycur part ot the transaction' is decidedly overdun.”—Washington Star. Young Husband —What! You are 25 years old to-day? Why, you told me a year ago, just before the wedding, that you were only 20. Young Wife—(wearily)—l have aged rapidly since I married. —Life. He—“ You don’t mean to tell me you are going to marry that old, baldheaded professor?” She—“He is rather bald, but think how many young men of to-day are bald on the inside of their heads. ” —Truth. Editor —You say you want a check for some jokes you left- here two weeks ago? Why, those jokes have been paid for. Mr. ChestnutHow long ago, sir? “Oh, about fifty or a hundred years, I imagine.”— Life.
Brown —There were some things in which the ancients surpassed the moderns. Dunn—What, for instance? Brown—Noah was a better weather-prophet than the fellows who make the predictions nowadays. -Puck. Heading Him Off: Gildersleeve —“When are you going to propose to the wealthy Miss Munn?” Tillinghast —“Never.” Gildersleeve—“What’s the trouble?” Tillinghast—“Well, she sent me as a Christmas gift a book entitled ‘Dou’t.’” —Christmas Puck. Magazine Office Boy —“Oh, there’s been an awful time up in the editorial room to-day.” Business Manager —“Eh! what’s the trouble?” Office Boy—“ The janitor made a mistake and put the No Admittance’ sign at the subscription office and the ‘Welcome’ door mat in front of the editor’s room.”—Good News.
Servant Has the Best of It.
An investigation which has been prosecuted by the British Royal Labor Commission indicates that in England the servant is far better off in regard to .-facilities for local redress than is the employer, and that legislation would not bring these two classes closer together.
What a Differencel
Away back in the year 1313 eggs sold in London at 3 pence for two dozen.