Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1893 — Page 4

THE SPINNING IN THE MALL.

Twas more than a hundred years ago And Boston town was young, yon know, In that for day, and what we call The “Common” now, was then the “Mall”— A line, old-fashioned name that meant A pablic green where people went To roam at will or play a game With “mall,” or mallet, much the same As now they play with bat and ball. Twas her.-, then, on the Boston Mall, More tha i a hundred years ago, There was the pret iest sight and show That any eyes had ever s en, Upon the lovely level green, F r in the cool and leafy shads That elm and oak tree branches mado, A littl : flock of smiling girls, Wi h dimpling cheeks and teeth of pearls, And modest cap and gown and frill, Sat spinning, spinuing with a will. An hour or more with girlish graco, The busy workers held their plaeo, And eager cr jwds came up to gaze, With some to wonder, some to praise, While newer comers beat to say— As you p rhaps may say to-day Who read this page—“Ob, tell us why And wherefore now these spinners ply Their busy wheels in sight of all, Upon the open public Mall? A curious show, a pretty scene, tint tell us what the show doth mean?” It means, it means, that long ag >, When Boston town was young, you kuow, Its councillors and rule s sought From d y to day, with praverful thought, To serve the interests of the town They held beneath the British crown. And so one day, amidst their wise And well-laid schemes of enterprise, A. scheme arose to b iug the art The Irish weavers knew by hcirt Into the t jwu of Boston bay. And ere the scheme con d cool, straightway A message went across the sea To Eiin’s shore, and presently In Boston harbor cam to laud A little group, a little band, Who jovially settled down Within the p ecincts of the town To teach the folk of Bost n bay To spin and weave their famous way. Bnt fancy their amazement there, The curious question, and the stare, When, flocking to the spinning class, Came many a high-placed little lass. “ ’Tivaj net for these the scheme war laid And carried out; the plau was mado For poorer folk,” the rulers cried. Then smiling g ntry-folk replied With never a word of yea or nay, But, Btill persistent, held their wjyl And thus it fcl. that high and low, And rich and po r, flocked to and fro Across the town tc lea:n the art The Irish weavers knew by heart, And such the skill was soon displayed, That by and by each littl; ma d, Or rich or poor, or high or low, Washomospun-diessed from top to toe. And then and there it came to pass The spinning -school, the spinning-clas', Became the fashion of the hour, And raged with such dosp >tic power That then and there the folk decreed And all the councillors agreed, That on the people’s public green These spinners spinning should be seen. —[Nora Perry, in St. Nicholas.

A LAY FIGURE.

It was a “private view” at the Academy. Like all private views the place was thronged. Surging from room to room, the people, with their fluttering catalogues, were like a sea dotted with whitecaps. In the east room a picture was attracting considerable attention. The artist had painted a scrub-woman stopping work to take a dram. Still on her knees, her head thrown back, oue coarse list held the bottle to her lips while the other rested on a pail at her side The puddles of dirty water, the filthy rags, all the slovenly details of the room, were reproduced with marvelous exactness. It seemed as if the very canvas might soil one's fingers. In front of the painting stood a group of men and one womau—Katherine

Strong. Probably no woman of thirty ever had received more offers of marriage than Katherine Strong. She lived, with her father, in the family mansion on Washington Square. She was known to be rich—very rich. There was, however, something so curiously repellant about her that the most daring fortune-hunter made his proposal by letter. It seemed impossible to speak of love to Katherine Strong. No man had ever dreamed of it, much less attempted it. “How docs this sample of realism strike you, Miss Strong?” asked one joung fellow, giving a twirl to his mustache. Katherine moved nearer the painting and gazed at it iu silence. She was plain, masculine in her ugliness; each gesture was awkward; her lace seemed roughhewn from a block of granite. “The man has power,” said she, briefly; “who is he?" Two or three were ready to answer the -question. “Manton Howard. Haven't you met him? He’s the most unpopular man in town; one of those fellows who makes disagreeable remarks, priding himself upon his truthfulness. His pictures are all in this style; realism, you know. He’d rather paint a mud-puddle than a lily, ejid he calls it being true to Nature. i’ll look him up, if you'd like to meet him. ShdJ I?” “Yes," said Miss Strong, laconically. She was a woman of few words. The party moved down the room. Not many of the other pictures were interesting. Katherine glanced at a few, and then signified her intention of goinohome. Several cavaliers darted, off to find her carriage. The one unfortunate left to entertain the heiress felt his courage ooze from every pore. To his delight Manton Howard appeared a few steps from them. “Ah! there is the great artist, Miss Strong," he whispered, hurriedly. “I’ll present him now, if you wish. Howard, dear boy, I’m glad to see you! Miss Strong—my friend, Mr. Howard. We’ve been raving about your picture, old man. Great thing, isn't it?” “Do you think so?” asked Howard, bowing to Miss Strong. The little man who had introduced them disappeared. “Not at all,” answered Katharine, coolly. “It interested me because it has an idea and is well painted. No one would think it great.” “In that you are mistaken. lam the artist, and 1 think it great.” There was a dead pause. After a dozen years’ experience as an heiress Katharine had formed the habit «t speaking but occasionally, and of wooer talking. Young men generally lathed to her. Howard was puzzled. He prided himself upon reading character, OjpaA haring no illusions, no enthusiasms, MOO aerer losing his temper—in fact, •pomfaanmerabie qualities. He was .

woman-hater, and cared nothing for money. the choice had rested with him he never would have met Miss Strong. If the conversation had opened differently he would have closed it ns soou as possible. Now it seemed as if Katherine had closed it. She stood looking at him, no signs of life in her face. It was the coldest face he had ever seen. Even the eyes, deepset and small, had not the redeeming quality of color. They were light gray; the lashes amounted to nothing; the eyebrows and hair, however, were dark. This scrutiny Katherine bore with complete indifference. Howard might gaze at her as long as lie chose—or at least until her carriage were called. And Howard did gaze at her. Something lay behind that extraordinarily inexpressive face. “Miss Strong," he said, abruptly, “you have given me an idea. We artists cannot afford to throw away such a gift. Will you sit for me?” Katherine moved slowly toward the door.

“Do you carry your realism to that extreme, Mr. Howard?" she asked. He had thought her cold; now she was icy. “I am considered blunt, Miss Strong; my enemies even call me rude. A great deal of time is wasted in conventionalities. I don’t believe in them. Why should I wait until I have known you a year before I ask you to sit for me? My idea would he lost. May I expect you at my studio by ten to-morrow morning?” “No,” answered Katherine; “this week is fully occupied. Next Monday you may call upon me and I will appoint the sittings to suit my convenience. Good afternoon.” licr carriage had been found. One cavalier outrunning the others, breathlessly hastened to offer Miss Strong his arm. Howard turned away smiling. “Even a sphinx has vanity. No woman ever refused to sit for her portrait. If I read the riddle before I paint the sphinx my picture will be a failure. She will interest me only until I fathom her. She must, therefore, iuterest me until the sittings are over.” This calm way of regulating his interests had given Howard years of selfish ease. He thought little about Miss Strong until he culled upon her on Monday to arrange for the sittings. But at the first one he found that, say or do what he would, she did interest him intensely.

“This is not to be a conventional portrait, Miss Strong,” he explained. "I shall want you to take a tiresome position, and I warn you that I am a slow worker. To begin with, let me tell you my idea. Look at this photograph. Now look into this mirror. Do you see the likeness?” TFig photograph was of a sphinx—the ordinury sphinx every child sees in its geography. But line for line, feature for feature, the face was Katherine Strong’s. After that morning, Howard transferred his interest from Miss Strong to his Canvas. He knew that what he had done was great, and he worked as he had never worked before.

“You’re doing a portrait for Katherine Strong, I hear,” said a friend, meeting him oue day. “I didn't know that sort of thing was in your line. What can you make of her?" “Make of her?” repented Howard, “I can do anything with her; I never have had such a model; she’s a perfect lay figure. She holds a position without moving a muscle, and I don’t have to talk a string of nonsense to keep her good-humored. Now that I thiuk of it, I don’t believe she ever was good-hum-ored.” He laughed amusedly. Good-humor did seem a ridiculous expression to apply to Katherine Strong. “You’re an extraordinary fellow,” said his friend; “for downright ugliness Miss Strong has no equal; but do you think she will like one of your realistic studies? You don’t know human nature. A plain woman is vainer than a beauty.” “Well, whatever she is, the picture is uppermost in my mind. I stake my reputation on it. I didn’t know I couid get up so much enthusiasm over anything.”

Howard was in a predicament when he next saw Katherine. For some reason or other he could not settle down to work. It was absurd that thinking about Katherine should make it impossible to paint. By abolishing her individuality lrom his mind, he had made great strides with his picture. Now that he had begun to notice her again, he could do nothing. “Pshaw!” he exclaimed, throwing aside his brush. “Miss Strong, it’s no use, my mind, is occupied with something else, and perhaps you’ll be glad of a rest to-day.” Katherine rose composedly. “Just as you please, Mr. Howard; good morning." “Oh! I don’t mean to hurry you away,” cried Howard. “Your carriage is gone, and you may as well wait for it as usual, I want to talk with you. I suppose I have your permission to seud this picture to the Academy in the spring?” “Of course; if you wish it.” Katherine went over to the easel. “It is better than your other work; is it not? How many more sittings will you need?” “It is not like,my other work,” said Howard. “You know my mrbit on is to pull down ideals. Truth is my hobby, and truth, in art, is realism. But I don't want to bore you with a lecture on art. Do you care for painting, Miss Strong?” “Yes; some painting. I think your portrait of me good.” “It is good, and it interests me more than anything I have done. You are an intellectual stimulant to me. Love is one of the ideals I consider absurd. I make no pretense of offering it to you, but Ido offer you my respect and ask you to be my wife. There is no reason why our lives should not be much more useful together than apart. Don’t you agree with me?”

Katherine’s face was impenetrable. “Yes, Mr. Howard, it would be a most sensible arrangement. I value truth, and believe you to be above marrying for money. Those two qualities I have not yet seen combined in oDe man. I should like to lead a useful life. As you -say we may accomplish that together. I will undertake it with you.” Her manner surpassed his in businesslike coldness. There was no fear of being bored by an emotional wife in such a woman. Howard was satisfied. “Katherine,” said he, with some hesitation—he was not a shy man, but it took courgc to address Miss Strong by her Christian name—“ Katherine, you are as independent as I: suppose, for the sake of the picture, we hurry our wedding. I have an order I must fill before the end of the month; after that I shall want you to pose, incessantly, and our being married will save much time and trouble.” “For the sake of the picture,” repeated Katherine, 6lowly; “yes, for the sake of the picture it would be best. I will marry you by the end of the month.” The next few days passed more quickly than Mr. Howard had expected. Be-

fore he knew It came the wedding, the crowded church, the conventional reception, and all was over. He and Kathe rine were man and wife. It was their second week of marriage. Howard had been painting steadily that morning, and now, tilting back his chair, he surveyed his work, weary but wholly satisfied. “I want to know when this is to end." It was Katherine who spoke; hut that voice, broken and passionate, could it have come from Katherine’s lips? “Katherine! What do you mean?” She had risen and had come over to him. The suppressed passion of years, swollen into a mighty flood, had broke down the barriers between her and humanity. Nature had made this woman on the heroic scale. For years Katherine had fought against Nature, stifled impulse, shunned friendship, distrusted every one. Now Nature had won the right of way; the floods had risen; the harriers were shattered forever.

“Manton, look at your picture; it is finished. You say it is great; but have you thought why it is great? You have painted more than you know. You have gone higher than you dreamed. There is a soul in that picture. Y'ou asked me to marry you after a few weeks’ acquaintance. You were abrupt, businesslike; you came to the point instantly. I was a good lay figure, you thought—ah! do not interrupt me; in society there are many kind friends to report little speeches such as that. You told me plainly that you despise love. You think it an ideal to be destroyed, and you are a realist, a lover of truth. I tell you you are not a realist; no realist could have painted that picture. You do not know your powers. You are incrusted with vanity. A curious vanity it is to want to be less than you really are! Your picture at the Academy pleased me because, tho’ coarse, it had something besides its brutal realism. I agreed to sit for you, and during those sittings, I studied you better than you studied me. Then you asked me to marry you. Manton, you never have asked me why I married you. Let me tell you; listen to me; look at me! I married you because I loved you. Stop! She laid her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “ I must go on. Do not move. Do not interrupt me, Manton. I have been as cold as ice all my life. I have not known what was in me. I have distrusted every one. I was born into a society that worshiped money. I had admirers because I had money; all my life I have loathed money. Do you know, Manton, that nobody has ever loved me ? ”

She shivered. The break in her voice was more pathetic than a sob from another womau. Once having bared her soul, Katherine would not spare it a torture. “I have longed for some one, some creature, to love me; and then I have repelled them all. You did not pretend to love me; you admired the face others thought hideous. Do not think I deceive myself. I know you admire it because you prefer hideousness to beauty; but I was weak enough to be gratified that you saw something in my ugliness. Now look again at your picture. There is more in me than ugliness; the picture testifies to it. So much for myself; Manton. what of you? “You have lived on the surface oi your nature as an ignorant man lives on the earth’s crust, knowing nothing of the fires, the forces, the wonderful secrets that lie hidden beneath him. You havemade a garden of your life. You have arranged your likes, your dislikes, your pleasures, as you pleased. You have dug into your nature only deep enough for your trivial daily wants. Had you dug deeper you would have struck gold. Oh! my husband, I believe it; for I love you!’’

The blood rushed to Howard's face: lie breathed quickly, unevenly. 11c (lid not stir or speak. Katherine faltered, and then faced him with simple dignity. “Manton, I can be of use to you, if you can love me. I too have been weak enough to trust in my own strength. 1 thought that I could force you to lovt me. To-day 1 think differently. Yoi must understand me when I say I cannot live like this; 1 must leave you. 1 will go back to my father’s house. I have shown you my heart, and I see 1 have touched yours. Do not pity me— I have enough strength left to spurn youi pity; but if ever you can love me anc need me, if ever your soul strains, yearns, craves for me as mine does for you, ther recognize that feeling as love. You have been selfish in your life; you may have been loved, but you never have felt love. ‘I have been selfish also, in my way, but no one has ever loved me; no one has ever told me how to love. God put it into my soul; Nature taught me what he meant.”

Her soul was in her eyes, in her face, in her voice, as she spoke. Her words, like molten lava, had fallen drop by drop burning, destroying, the superficiality ol her husband’s nature. In bearing hei heart she had bared his, and out of the shame of his wasted years he saw arise the promise of a nobler future. But Katherine? He must have Katherine. He could not lose her. He had just found tier. Now he understood the interest she had excited in him from the beginning. Now he knew why her glance could thrill him, why he oould not bear to have her go. A mist swam before his eyes. Indistinctly he could see Katherine move toward the door. He sprang to his feet. He caught and held her. “Katherine,” he said—“ Katherine, 1 love you!”—[Annie Flint, iu Independent.

Effect of Climate on Physical Size.

Climate or altitude has a great deal tc do with regulating the size of the human species, Dr. Henry Goldthwaite says. “Big men, physically speaking, are not found in tropical countries or low lands. Now, there is Tom Reed of Maine. Any one would know without being told that he came from a cold or mountainous country. Size is not so much a question of eating and drinking and inheritance as it is of locality. I believe that the children of giants, if born and raised iu a low, hot country, would eventually become as small as the average inhabitant of the district.”

Capable of Anything.

A pert young Scotch advocate, whose case had gone against him, had the temerity to exclaim that “he was much astonished at such a decision, ” whereupon the court was about to commit him to jail, when John Scott, afterward Lord Eldon, the counsel on the other side, interfered in his favor: “My lords, my learned friend is young; if be had known your lordships as long as I have done, he would not have expressed astonishment at any decision of your lordships”—an apology which seemed to satisfy the court.—[Argonaut.

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERY DAY DIKE. rjueer Facts and Thrilling Adventures Which, Show That Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction. Tice, superintendent of an orphanage at Secuudra, India, writes to a St. Louis paper an account of a boy-wolf who is now under his care. Some time ago the boy was discovered by some hunters in the country near that place, who saw him sunning himself upon a rock. He appeared to be a child about five years old, naked, hairy and dirty. When they approached him, he scampered off on all fours in company with a wolf, which they had not seen, and took refuge iu a cave. The hunters built a fire before the cave to smoke its -occupants out, and presently the wolf ran out, and after it the boy, whom they captured, but only after a severe struggle, iu which one of the men was badly bitten by the ferocious child. For a long while nothing could he done with him. He resented his captivity, would wear no clothes, ate nothing but raw meat, which he gnawed on the ground like a wolf, lay sleeping all day, and moved about restlessly in the night. Uuder the care of the orphanage he has become more tractable in the lapse of time. He will now endure clothing, and eats cooked food, but will not undertake to talk, though he appears founderstand what is said to him, and manifests considerable intelligence. It is supposed that he was stolen away from his parents while a baby by a wolf, which perhaps had lost her young aud adopted the child.

The Baltimore American says that the indignation of the passengers on a Western Maryland traiu was aroused the other day by the unusual spectacle of a richly clad boy of five or six years, whose legs and feet were perfectly bare, although the day was a cold one. The child was accompanied by his mother and sister, who were evidently people of wealth and refinement. On inquiry it was learned that the boy was the sou of a prominent physician, who had lost several children with throat diseases, until he hit on the idea of turning his children out barefooted. The experiment proved to l>e a perfect success. The barefooted boy was the picture of health. At the Union station in Baltimore he ran around on the cold bricks totally unaware of any discomfort. People are constantly shocked aud amazed at seeing the children of this gentleman going about barefooted, winter aud summer, but inasmuch as it saves their lives, in his opinion, he is indifferent to criticism.

The Chinese Cabinet at Whitehall Yard, London, is replete with objects of interest, while among the naval curios is the tin box found in the body of a shark, the story of which has been graphically narrated by the late Mr. John limbs in his “Curiosities of Loudon.” A ship bound for the West Indies fell in with and chased a suspicious-looking craft having the appearance of a slaver. During the pursuit something was thrown overboard from the chased vessel, which being captured was taken into Port Hoyal to be adjudicated upon as a slaver. The ship’s papers were not forthcoming, and the vessel was in a fair way to escape condemnation, when a ship came into port which had caught a shark, in the stomach of which voracious monster was a tin box containing the missing papers, and these clearly showed that the captured craft was engaged in the slave trade.

Frank Harvey, a fireman, committed suicide at Indianapolis, Ind., from a peculiar cause. Three years ago he asked a day off duty and Ulysses Glazier was put on duty iu his place.. That afternoon the Bowen-Merrell fire occurred and Glazier was one of the twelve men who met death in the collapse of the building. Since that time Hasty has been subject to fits of melancholy and often referred to the fire and to the fact that lie regarded himself as responsible for the death of his friend. Some weeks ago another fireman died and this preyed upon Harvey’s mind, as his death was indirectly caused by injuries received in the fire, lie refused sustenance of any kind and was finally taken to a sanitarium, where he hanged himself to the bedpost in the absence of the attendant. Trap-shooting of English sparrows is all the rage among the Albany, (N. Y.) marksmen, who hold open matches and keep scores after the fashion in pigeon ‘tournaments.” As the sparrows are regarded as undesirable settlers, there are no compunctions about killing them wholesale. They are caught in great numbers in the West Albany railroad yard, where they swarm around the grain-cars. After capture they are turned into a large cage in a well-lighted outbuilding, and fed until the collection is large enough for the demands of the tr.ip-shooters. The sport calls for as much skill and greater quickness than the slaughter of the slow-starting housepigeon. A cues aUK against profanity in the public streets is being carried on with vigor in a number of English towns. A laborer at Wisbech was convicted a week or so ago of publicly using four profane oaths, and fined a shilling for each oatli and thirteen shillings costs. The conviction was obtained under an act of George 11., which imposes a penalty of one shilling per oath when uttered by a laborer, two shillings when the offender is above the social degree of laborer and under the degree of gentleman, and five shillings for each oath when uttered by a gentleman. Under the provisions of this act the penalty is the same whether the oath is uttered un a man’s own premises or on the public streets.

A neat pickpocket dodge practised upon rural-looking persons in New York is based upon the known good nature and courtesy of the average American citizen. The pickpocket, clad in fine raiment and carrying a stick, stands upon the rear platform of a street car, facing the dashboard. He struggles with a pair of tight gloves, and having vainly essayed to button one after putting on the other, appeals to the kindness of the man facing Kim on the platform. In nine times out of ten he picks the right man, and while the benefactor buttons the glove the pickpocket with his disengaged hand takes the other’s watch. The confederate inside is at hand to baffle the pursuers in case the theft is detected.

The story of a singular tragedy comes from Buchanan County, Virginia. Charles Carroll, a moonshiner, who was being pursued by deputy marshals, concealed himself in an abandoned cabin, barred the door, and stood peeping out through a knot hole. The posse came along the road, stopped and began talking on the edge of the clearing.' A bet was made and taken that one of the party could not shoot through a knot hole in the uoor. A Winchester >y* s levelled and fired, and something was heard to fall inside the cabin. The

officers rushed to the spot and found writhing in death the man for whom they were hunting. A lady at Ashford, England, has just received a bequest of $750,000 from an old gentleman, an entire stranger, for e small act of kindness rendered to him five years ago. He was in the crowd outside Buckingham Palace watching the arrivals at one of the Queen’s drawing rooms when he became faint and staggered helplessly. The crowd jeered him, shouting that he was druuk, and commenced to jostle him rudely. The lady saw he was ill, and h/lped him through the crowd to a seat in a park close by. He soon recovered, asked her name, and they parted, and she did not hear of him again until two weeks ago, when his solicitors informed her of his death and that he had bequeathed her the sum named.

The famous smuggling schooner Halcyon, which has led the United States revenue boats and officials so many interesting chases along and off the Pacific coast, aud has landed her contraband goods every trip, has been refitted and rechristened, and as the Vera she will sail from Victoria soon as a seal pirate She will be flitted up in the best style, with six crack shots and the most experienced hunters, and her owners expect her to come back the “high liner,” that is, with more skins than any other vessel in the sealing fleet, an odious distinction in the infamous business of slaughtering of seal mothers and their young. Nervousness shows itself in queer ways. There is a young New York newspaper mau who exhibits a commendable self-possession on most occasions, and would not be supposed to have such a thing as a nerve about his person, but there is one spectacle that he cannot endure, and that is to see a man’s lust blow off. If this calamity occurs in his presence he catches his breath, shudders, aud reaches about for something to hold to until the sensation of losing himself has passed. This is constitutional and is the only exhibition of uer zous weakness that he ever makes.

Nink years ago last summer Farmer Jesse Gibbs of Fleetville, Penn., lowered a crock of butter into a well on his place to let it get cool. The string broke, the crock sank to the bottom, and Mr. Gibbs made no effort to reclaim the butter, as the well was very deep. A few days ago the well went dry for the first time, and Fanner Gibbs got some men to clean it out. The crock was lifted to the surface, and when the farmer opened it he found, much to his surprise, that the nine-vear-old butter was as sweet aud palatable as it was when it had been packed in the crock. A traveler in the Maine baekvsods this season was wvnewhat surprised on coming upon a lumberman’s camp, full thirty miles from any settlement, to hear the music of an organ and the strains of an operatic air. He was met on entering the camp by the organist, a bright, neat Maine girl, who he found was also the cook, who had taken along her parlor organ out to camp to entertain her father and his crew in the long evenings during their stay in the wilderness. To prevent the escape of his spirit, at death, George Francis Dobson, of Muskegon, Mich., hr fit upon a Strange idea. He has made arrangements for his friends, just before the spirit leaves his body, to seal him in a huge glass cylinder, so that his spirit may be kept from departing, and at the same time be enabled, by a series of systematic disturbances of the air, withiu the cylinder, to communicate with his friends through a telegraphic instrument placed in the cylinder. Professor Morse of Salem, Mass., has solved the problem of house heating in a curious fashion. He has built a house with all its rooms fronting southward, and only a passage on the north. Almost the whole southern front of the house is made of glass, and by means of reflectors Professor Morse is enabled on sunny days to heat his whole house with sunshine alone. At night ami on cloudy days he has hearth fires going. He believes that by this contrivance he has the most wholesome heat that is attainable. The body of Julia Reeder, a young lady of Booneville, Ind., was prepared for burial. The sign of apparent death had succeeded a severe attack of typhoid fever. Her friends were gatherer around, and just before the final leavetaking, her lover took her hand to kirn it. The lover was astounded to feel his fingers pressed by the hand of the supposed corpse. The joyous discovery was thus made that the young woman was alive. A tame dove belonging to Andrew Fairchilds of Fallassburg, Mich., flew from the dovecote into his house and alighted upon a cradle which contained an infant. No one was in the room except Mrs. Fairchilds. She, attracted by the baby’s cry, ran to the cradle, and found the dove picking at the child’s eyes, one of which was punctured aud ruined forever. Several men who have outlived their greatness are now glad to earn their living as coachmen in Berlin. Amoug them are sixteen nobles, seven retired army officers, and three pulpitless pastors. Three British notabilities now gleefully crack the whip as London cabmen; they are an ex-member of Parliament, a baron, and a marquis. Surprise and terror caused some zinc miners to desert a shaft they were sinking at Webb City, Wis. As the opening became deeper, they noticed that the atmosphere became warmer. At the deptli of 103 feet the heat was so intense that work was stopped, and soon they saw flames burst into the shaft.

Drowned by a Shellfish.

Among the showy shells of the Pacific Coast of the United States none are better known or more widely distributed than the sea-ears or abalones, and none are more eagerly sought for by Chinese fishermen. One would scarcely anticipate danger, much less disaster, from the pursuit of an object so harmless in itself; but it is reported that a Chinaman once lost his life near Bartholomew Bay, on the cost of Lower California, while gathering abalones. The foot of this shellfish is capable of taking a firm hold on a flat surface, and in most cases it becomes almost impossible to detach the shell without breaking it into frs.jpn«vnts. The unfortunate fishtreiwi referred to was collecting the shells unde: a shelving rock between tides, and had thirst his arm around a sharp edge to dislodge a large one which he saw on the surface. Having no stick convenient to pry off the abalone, he placed his fingers under the shell and tried to detach it by a quick motion. The abalone. however, contracted suddenly and held the fingers of the Chinaman so tightly that they could not be pulled away. Tire tide rose and the man was drowned. His companions returned to search for him at the next low tide and found his body still imprisoned by the powerful grasp c< the abalone upon the rock.—[Forest and Stream.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

As is to be expected at this season of the year, many reports of losses by fire are coming to hand. Some of these losses are from the nature of the case, inevitable, but by fur the greater proportion of them could be prevented by the exercise of common prudence. A later paper gives an account of the burning of a livery stable and the loss, by this fire, of five valuable trotters. There was no mystery about the origin of the fire. It was pure carelessness on the part of some person at present unknown. This party dropped a parlor match on the floor and was to heedless to pick it up. A horse stepped on this match, ignited it, and in less time than it takes to write about it the stable was in flames. With slight variations nearly every prominent paper has a similar story to tell. Heavy financial loss is involved and in many of the cases animals are fearfully tortured. Sometimes human lives are also sacrificed. These seem like severe penalties, but they are the result of the violation of certain natural laws which man cannot set aside. The only way to prevent their infliction is to be careful to avoid all causes of fires where the fires themselves are not desired.

Most of the steamers plying between Germany and this country bring, among other things, consignments of songbirds, such as canaries and linnets. According to information given by a correspondent, there must have occurred the escape from some Reamer inward bound, sailing close to the shore, of a large number of those songsters. In November, during gentle southerly weather, canaries aud linnets came from seaward to the mainland on the south side of Long Island, between the Forge River and East Moriches Life Stations. Many must have quickly perished, but numerous others were captured. They were greatly fatigued, and famished for food and water. The correspondent who gives this information secured a canary which flew into his house. The bird is still in his possession, and has developed into a fine singer. Possibly the officers of some steamer inward bound from Germany may be able to recall the escape of the birds referred to. If so, it would be interesting to know at what distance from land they commenced their flight.

Tasmania has a climate favorable for the growth of apples. The producers grow only the varieties best fitted for a long journey and the requirements of the English market, and they are instructed and assisted by Government inspectors. The quantity sent to London last year was 200,000 bushels, and for the next season all the available space in the cool storage chambers of the steamships has been engaged. The freight charges are heavy—about sl.lO per bushel—but the fruit arrives in England at a time when no other apples are in the market. Pears and oranges have been sent successfully, but in small quantities, and an attempt will be made to put grapes on the London market in February. Honey is exported from New-Zealand, and arrangements have recently been made for supplies of black ducks, teal, and pigeons to arrive in London from New South Wales, during the months of January, February, and March, at the rate of 1,000 birds per week. A serious famine prevails in Finland, aud advices from several sources state that a large proportion of the inhabitants of that country are perilously near starvation. Two hundred thousand persons of a total population of 2,000,000 are entirely destitute, and before the winter ends it is expected that onefourth of the whole number of inhabitants will be in a similar sad plight. The Finns have hard work to make a living at tr.e best of times, because of the poorsoil aud rigorous climate. Last summer the potato and rye crops were either destroyed or seriously damaged by constant night frosts in July. August, and September. Many districts known to be in great distress are now. isolated by snow and ice, and in others the inhabitants are existing on bread composed largely or wholly of birch bark. The Finnish Senate has voted several million marks for the reliefof the sufferers, and a Government committee i 9 trying to cope with the distress, but it’is said further help is urgently needed by the people. Tub Barzilians, now that they have a new form of government, have decided that they want a new capital. And, says the Argosy, they have gone about getting one in quite business-like fashion. None of the other cities of the republic suit them, so they propose to found and build one to order. A special commission has been appointed, consisting of five civil engineers, two astronomers, a naturalist, and an expert in hygiene. They hope to find a site that will possess such a combination of advantages that there will be nothing to hinder the new city’s becoming the metropolis of South America. The- result of this novel way of securing a capital for a country will be watched with interest. The summary manner in which the Brazilians have set about the matter reminds one of town building in the mining regions of the far West.

The financial value of technical training in the United States is illustrated by the fact that engineer officers of the navy frequently resign their commissions to accept profitable employment with large manufacturing concerns. A man armed with the training and technical education of a naval engineer can command in civil life a salary from two to five times as grei tas his pay in the navy. Engineers must serve for the greater part of their lives for less than $5,000 a year, and the number to pass $6,000 must be exceedingly small. The plums that await such men in civil life are of a sort to prove a serious temptation to all who feel the necessity of a large income, and it is only the ease and dignity of a naval life that keep skilled engineers in the service. The Rev. Father Callaghan of the Mission of Our I.udy of the Rosary, New York, has received a novel request from Hotel Keeper Dineen of Huron, South Dakota, through Father Brown of St. Vincent’s Curch, at Springfield, South Dakota. Mr. Dineen said he and neighbors wanted a car load of marriageable Irish girls shipped to Huron. Mr. Dineen said that husbands were as abundant as blackberries in J.uly, and land could be had for the asking in South Dakota. Those who were not anxious to marry at once could get steady employment and good wages for an indefinite period. Washington State is quarrying a monolith which is to be the largest ever cut in this country, and twenty feet longer than the much-talked-about monolith Wisconsin has prepared for the Chicago Fair. It will be taken from a quarry near Tacoma, and will be 130 feet long, or high, and four feet square at the base, and will be set up at Chicago alongside the largest flagstaff ever raised in America, which is also to come from Washington. The beautifully embroidered band trimmings for dresses for all occasions are extremely fashionable, and likely to continue so. The embroidery is executed in Byzantine, Turkish, and Persian styles, with colored metal and gold and silver thread.

POPULAR SCIENCE NOTES.

Trees Struck by Lightning. —Mr. D. lonesco has compiled statistics concerning trees which are struck by lightning, md arrives at the following interestmg conclusions, which are given in the last issue of the Electrical World: It lias beeu supposed for a long time that certain kinds of trees are particularly subject to destruction by lightning, while others are quite free from danger. Among the first is the oak and among the latter the laurel. An investigation of this statement led the writer to the following conclusions: “At very high potential electrical discharges ail kinds of trees may be subject to destruction from lightning. Trees containing oils are less subject to be struck; those containing very much oil being protected the most. Lightning appears to prefer those trees which contain oil to a slight decree only in 3ummer. The quantity of" water contained in the trees has no effect on their liability to being struck. Dead limbs of trees, of those containing starch as well as of those containing oil, are particularly subject to being struck. Cambium, bark and leaves do not alter the conductivity of trees. The nature of the soil has noconnection with the frequency of the destruction of the trees by lightning.”

Foundations for Sea Walls.—Successful methods in securing suitable foundations for sea walls are amoug the most important of modern engineering triumphs, and one of the latest of these is what has come to be known as the Shield system, originated abroad, and of special adaptation where the bottom is of irregular rocky service. Careful longitudinal sections are taken along thelines of the inner and outer facSs of the foundations, and planks cut and nailed to timbers in such a manner that one edge of the finished frame conforms exactly with the rocky bottom; theseframes are weighted and sunk intoplace, where they are fastened by long bolts wedged into the rock in such a manner that a mould for about twenty feet of the bottom of the wall is thus formed. The tops of the frames are brought to a true horizontal position by means of a spirit level, and the space between is tilled with concrete; where a large mass of the latter is used, it is composed of four to four and one-half parts of sand and gravel to one of Portland cement, the top being finished off with concrete composed of one and a half totwo parts of sand and gravel to one of cement. The material is lowered in a. canvas bag holding about two and onefourth cubic feet, and so arranged that the bottom can be easily opened when it touches the spot where the concrete is tobe laid. The material as it leaves the bag is simply pressed down by the flat hand to the required level, and then gently struck off by a straight edge resting at each edge on the frames. In this way a perfect surface is formed five or six feet below water, becoming hard enough in three days to receive the blocks of the wall. Velocity of Rain Drops. —Of course we all know that it would be an utter impossibility for storm clouds to form and rain to fall were it not for the forty odd miles of atmosphere that rises above our heads; but, supposing it were possifor human beings to exist in an atmosphere that only rose to a level with their mouths, and that storm clouds could form in the region outside such a low-grade atmosphere, then every rain drop would prove as fatal to earthly creatures as if it were a steel bullet fired from a dynamite gun. All falling bodies, whether they be crystal rain drops or meteorites, fall with what philosophers term “a uniform accelerated motion;” in other words, if a body be moving at a certain velocity at the expiration of one second from the beginning of its fall, it will be moving with twice that velocity at the expiration of two seconds, gaining in speed at a uniform rate throughout the course of its fall. Careful experiments have shown that the rate per second at which bodies acquire velocity in falling through the air is thirty-two feet per second at the end of the first second from starting. At the end of the next second it is going at the rate of sixtyfour feet per second, and so on through the whole time of falling. Where the velocity is known the space through which the body has fallen may be ascertained by multiplying the velocity at that period by the number of seconds during which it has been falling, and dividing the result by two. This rule applies, however, only to bodies falling through a vacuum. The resistance of our atmosphere materially retards rain drops, hailstones, aerolites and all other bodies which fall through it, and were it not for the resistance it presents, every rain storm would be disastrous to the human race, as each drop would fall with a velocity great enough to penetrate the full length of a full-grown man’s body. —[Nature. .

Famous Hunters.

In Signor Gessi’s “Seven Years in the Soudan,” the author describes “the Brothers Duma,” two hunters “renowned, from Kanka to the Victoria Nvanza.” They were in the habit of killing the buffalo, the rhinoceros and the leopard—the fiercest animals in the country —with no more emotion than a European would, experience in shooting rabbits. They were often sent for from different partsto kill some lion which was doing some mischief. Of their elephant hunting the author says:—ln all the villages the brothers found an enthusiastic welcome; the people knowing that wherever they were, meat was never wanting. Both men were strong-limbed and of uncommon agility. When an elephant rushed upon them, they calmly awaited him, and at the right moment leaped to one side. The elephant, not being able to stop, turned towards one of the two brothers, and the other plunged a lance into his side. The animal then quitted the first man, and fell upon the one who had wounded him, and that instant the other cut the tendons of the hind legs,bringing the elephant at once to the ground. One day, however, one of the brothers was near falling a victim to his boldness. He attacked an elephant alone in the usual way, but stumbled and fell. He rose directly, but the elephant had already seized him in his trunk, and hurled him to a distance of fifteen feet. Fortunately he fell in the middle of * thick bush, and escaped with somt scratches and bruises. His friendt laughed at the accident, and the next day he said: “I would rather eat my wify several times than not take my revenge. ’ ‘ He set out again, refusing the company of his brother. Late in the evening he returned and called the village together. “Come," he said, “help me bring in the tusks, and take as much meat for yourselves as you like.” All the population followed him. He had killed nine huge elephants. Sevebal States will not have as substantial or costly buildings on the Woild’s Fair grounds as some business houses will have. One firm is to erect a building to cost $22,000,and many others will have handsome and expensive headquarters.