Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 September 1893 — Page 4

W*AT HAS COMB OVES THi SUNSHINE t Whit has come over the sunshine? It is like a dream of bliss. What has come over the pine-woods? Was ever a day like this? O white-throat swallow, flckiug The loch with Ion? wing-tips, Hear yon the low sweet laughter Comes rippling from itslip s ? What has come over tho waters? What has come over the trees? Never were rills and fountains So merrily voiced as these. O throstle, so.tly piping High on th topmost bough, I hear a new song singing; Is it my heart, or thou?

UNCLE JERRY'S STORY

BY G. P. GREELE.

“Tell me,about it, Uncle Jerry," I said, lying full length in the -warm sand, letting my eyes alternately rest on the smiling water at my feet, or follow the motion of the brush in Uncle Jerry’s horny hand as it splashid a vigorous coat of green over the worn sides of his old boat.

He was a character in his quiet way—the skipper par excellence of the little seaport of L ; an autocrat whose word was law in his native town, and who had been, since the days of our childhood, the epitome of all that was worth knowing in sea-lore. We were great friends, he and I, and many a long summer day had I spent beside the bent old frame, watching his rough fingers mend nets or sails with the deftneßa grown from long practice, and listening to his tales with keen enjoyment; but there was one incident of his life cm which be had never touched, nor could any amount of coaxing induce him to approach it It had happened while I was in Europe. The horror of it roused the neighborhood, and they said, those who knew, that Uncle Jerry was never the same again. Whether that was so or not I found him greatly changed on my return after six years’ absence. This afternoon, for the first time, he betrayed a willingness to confide in me, and I settled myself in the shade, by the bow of the boat, and waited. Presently Uncle Jerry began: “It were nigh five years ago. The year before the hotel was built. The cove was crowded. It seemed like we all had mor’n we could make comfortable, and the boarders was crowded inter old Miss Holt’s in a way that did seem wonderful when we heerd how they lived in their big city homes—reg’lar palaces, the gals thet come with ’em to take keer the’r clo’s said.

“Ihedjest bought a new sail-boat, a fifty-footer, an’ a reg'lar goer;' I calculated ter make a heap out o’ pleasure parties sn’ seeh—an’ I did. In the raornin’s I went lobsterin’, ’cause Miss Holt's folks bed to her sea things, an’ every afternoon I ‘red’ up in my blue coat with brass buttons an’ sailed skipper of the sloop yacht Foam. “I tuk the same crowd pretty reg’lar, an’ in time I got to know ’em well. They waa as nice a lot of young things as ever came in my path; but they was carcless-like. an’ they didn’t allays think. “The girls was healthy an’ hearty, an’ iny! but they did go it lively. There wasn’t nothin’ they didn’t try. Tennis, an' ridin’, an’ rowin', an’ shootin’ at targets made o’ white paper, an’ sailin’, The sailin’ bothered me. They was all over tbc boat at once, an’ nothin’ would do but X must larn em to sail. I bed to tell ’em I wouldn’t take ’em if they wam’t quieter, an’after that they kinder settled down.

“I grew powerful fond of ’em all, but there wa» one little girl I tuk a special shine to. She wasn’t very strong—l heard tell she was jest gettin’ over a fever. She had a sickly look, but you coukTeee she’d been bonny. “ Her eye* was blue an' round, an’ her teeth was little an’ white—like Miss Holt’s Sunday china. They’d cut off her hair when »he was sick, an’ it was all over her head in little short otirls, like iny ’Lize when she was a babe. “ I remember a trick she bad of takin’ off her cap an’ lettin’ the wind blow her hair, an* if the day was damp it would carl up tight, an’ she’d run her fingers thro’ it an’ pull it out straight to see how it was growin.’ “As I said, she warn’t very strong, an’ when they all got to larkin’ it seemed like she couldn’t stand it, for she’d leave the rest, an’ with her little polite bow she’d come an’ say, so gentle like: * Unde Jerry, do you mind if I stay here with your I was mighty glad to have her, an' she seemed to know it, for she’d settle herself in a pile of cushions an’ sit there quiet as a mouse. “Gradually the rest of ’em kinder forgot her, and by-an’-by she’d come right away from the start, an’ I got so used to havin'’ her there at my right hand that when she stayed home 1 felt real lonesome.

“She begged me to larn her how to steer, an’ when I saw she meant it I showed her one thing and another; an’ somehow she never forgot what I told her. An’one day she says to me: ‘Uncle Jerry, I believe I could sail a boat as well as any one if I were only stronger.’ Bless her heart! I’d have trusted her soonor'n any young foliar in the party if she’d had a little more muscle in her arm. “When August come I begun to see she wans't happy. She grew paler an’ thinner, an’ her eyes was so wistful-like it made my heart ache to sec them. “There was a young feller iu the partynamed Grey. He was a likely chap, about twenty, I reckon. He had lots of money, an’ I heard from some of the ladies’ gals that he used to be a great friend o’ Miss May’s before she was sick; but he was a great sport, an’ after she begun to go about, an’ he found she couldn’t do things he did, he jest naturally slipped away from her and tuk to goin’ with Miss Julie Webb. “Miss Julie was mighty pretty, with frowserty light hair, a mouth big enough to swaDer a doughnut hull, an’ rows of teeth “like pearls,’ I beard Mr Grey say. They looked strong enough to bite ncJls, ’an she showed ’em all the time. When she warn’t talkin’ she was laughin’. She bad a voice like a steamwhisfle. There warn’t nothin’ she couldn’t do except keep still, an’ bein’ Mr. Hugh was always doin’ himselt, they spent roost of their time together. “Miss May used to watch ’em with that heart-breakin’ look on her dear face, an’ finally Miss Julie took to jokin’ her, aayin*: ‘May don’t you want to play tennisf or Til run you a race on the ponies this afernoon, May,' or ‘Why don’t yon wake up, May? What are you dreaming about?’ But Miss May never answered Miss Julie a word, ah’ finally •be? stopped even that, an’ left her altogether atone. “Pm getting to my story now. I hnia't never told it before. It hurts **•» tow, after all these years.

‘Tve given you an idea pretty much how things went on till the afternoon they ended—forme, anyway—fori never sailed that boat again. “It was tho 10th of August, The month had been very hot, and we hadn't had any sailin’ breeze for four days, but thatmornin’ a nice stiff breeze begun to come in from the sea. It was a squally breeze, an’ I didn’t jest like it, hut after a time it settled down, an’ I concluded it would stay clear till next mornin’.

“Well, I was settin’ in mydoormeudin’ a sail for my cat-boat, when I heard the crowd »-comin’. I always knew ’em by Miss Julie’s voice. I most generally could hear that by the time they left Miss Holt’s door. “They had a couple of city fellers down from the city for the day, - an’ nothin’ would do but I must take ’em sailin’. I wouldn’t have gone, but jest at the last minute little Miss May. come up an’ tuk m.v old brown fist in her two little white paws, an’ sez she: ‘Oh, Uncle Jerry, do go! I’in going home tomorrow, an’ I want one more sail, an’ this is my last chance.’ An’ so it, was, poor lass! but not in the way she meant. Well, I couldn’t say no. She made me think of the little one I lost twenty years ago, an’ so—we started. “The tide was runnin’ out, an’ the wind was due east, which made the whitecaps fly; blit I put in a tack' and, started for the mouth of the bay. Jest about the time we got out from under the cliffs the squall struck us, an’ I saw ray mistake. “The Foam heeled over till her stormdeck was two feet imder water. I threw her head up into the wind, but aa she came around a cross sea struck her bow, an’ when I looked for Tom to take in sail. Tom waa gone.” U ncle Jerry laid down his paint-brush just here and gazed with dim eyes over the smiling bay, living over again the great tragedy of his simple life. And I sat upright, and burying my hands deep in the white sand about me, tried to absorb all my faculties in-the act of listening, following Uncle Jerry's knotty forefinger as it pointed to the distant horizon hill, and gave meaning to his words. “Well. I didn't dare tell them young things what had happened. I saw they'd need all their oourage before they got home, if the Lord ever let them get there at all.

“I looked at little Miss May, an’ there she sat, her head on her knees, her two little hands over her face—somehow she’d never looked so small before. Jest then she raised her head. She was white—but then she always was that—but I can tell you a cold chill went down my back when 1 heard her give a great laugh. I thought she’d gone clean out of her mind with fear, but it was nothin’ of the kind, for the next moment she says, still jokin’ like: ‘The idea of Tom’s bein’ such a coward! Hugh, will you an’ the bovs git down the sail for the captain? Tom’s below an’ can’t do anvthing.’ “Then I knew she knew, an’ that she saw our danger as plain as I did. “The boys sprang for’ard, but they hadn’t time to reef it, so they jest cut it away an’ tried to reef the jib instead. Those boys meant well, but every minute waa precious, an’ it did seem to me they tcok an hour to get it done. “The mast bent like a fish-pole, an’ every minute I thought to hear it crack. All this time the water waa cornin’ over the sides, an’ little Miss May stood there up to her kneea in ii, coaxin’ those great healthy boys an’ girls, nn’ scoldin' when she couldn’t keep ’em quiet without it. “There was no use makin’ light of our danger now. It didn’t need tellin’— they all saw it. Then, na the boys turned to come aft, the city feller lost his footin’ an’ over he went after Tom. “ Mr. Hugh an’ the other feller just looked at each other an’ staggered to their places—an’ then they ran in to Miss May. She didn’t give ’em time to git more scart. She jest handed ’em two buckets and said, kinder stern: • Here, don't be cowards. If we must die, let’s die bravely ; but in the meantimework.’

“I bad given up then, an’ kinder resigned myself to what was comin.’ I had time to look around, for the tiller was lashed fast—no man could hold it in a sea like that—au’ I can remember Miss May as plain as if it was yisterday. “ They told me afterward that her grandfather was a famous sea captain that went downstandin’on the bridge of his ship; an’l guess she tuk after him, an’ it come to the top when it was wanted, ’cause she was as cool as a oowciunbcr. As fast as the others got scared, she grew quiet; an’ her voice, that was so soft an’ gentle when she used to sit lieside me, rang like a bell as she told ’em what to do. It seemed queer to sec her standin’ there among them great girls that had laughed at her ’cause she couldn’t keep up to ’em, an’ they cryin’ an’ screamiu’—an’ the men warn’t much better. “She was wet to the skin now, standin’ pretty well forward, as she was, every wave that come aboard splashed over her. “The wind or somethin’ had brought the color to her cheeks, an’ every now an’ then she’d take her cap oil an’ shake the water from her hair. She seemed to grow taller, too, an’ her voice, which the wind brought back to me, sounded for all the world like the last echo o’ the fog-bell t'other side the bar. “YVe were gettin’ on now. With that wind at our backs an’ the racin’ cut of the Foam we could’t help it. We were in past the lighthouse, an’ I begun to think we’d weather it. Jest then there was a report like a pistol, an’ I went heelin’ to leeward with my arm in flinders. I remember thinkin’ that was the eud o’ things, an’ then I fainted.” Uncle Jerry drew out a gorgeous red cotton handkerchief and mopped his brow, from which the perspiration was rolling in streams; then he continued : “When I come to, there was Miss May and Mr. Hugh holdin’ the tiller with all the’r might. The derned rope I had used to lash the handle had broke. They told me afterward that when it happened Mr. Hugh an’Miss May sprang to it, an’ between ’em they managed to keep her head before the wind.

“My arm was painin’ me jest awful, but I managed so put my well shoulder to the wheel, so to speak, an’ found I could help considerable. The rope had got pushed about the painter of the dory, an’ was trailin’ in the water behind. “The girls had kinder waked up, all but Miss Julie. She couldn’t seem to get over her fear, but sat there as white as a ghost with her teeth chatterin’. Miss May looked at her a minute, then she got up and went over to her. I never knew, but thinkin’ of it afterward, it seemed to me she must have felt somethin’ of what was cornin’. “Miss May stood there so sweet an’ tender, an’ sez she: “Never mind, Julie dear, the worst Is over. I feel sure you'll reach home safely an’be happy. ’ Then sudden-like she stooped an’ kissed Miss Julie, an’ come back to Mr. Hugh an' me. “I think Mr. Hugh’s eyes begun to be opened then, for be gave her the

queerest look. She met hia eyes, an’ for a moment her bright new color went away; then she turned to me an’ said, so pitiful: ‘Poor Uncle Jerry! Hugh, help me to lash the rudder again; Uncle Jerry can't stand much more.’ “I moved a little over, an’ they both reached for the rope. The next moment Miss May gave a horrid, groaning cry, an' Mr. Hugh was in the water holding on by the rope. Miss May's face was deathly pale, an’ she was all bent over in the queerest way—telling Mr. Hugh to be patient. She didn't seem able to move, an’ I remember I waa sorter cross at the idea of her givin’ out jest when she was most needed. I called one of the boys, an’ between us we got Mr. Hugh on board, Miss May all the time leantn’ more an' more over the side, till I feared she’d be over, too. I warned her. but she only said, ‘No fear of that, Uncle Jerry ’ an’ laid her head down on the side of the boat. I might have kuown —dear lass, dear lass!” Uncle Jerry paused to control the quiver in his old voioe. “As we pulled Mr. Hugh on board there was a sudden jerk, an’ Miss May went over. I saw then what the trouble had been. The rope that held the dory was only partly out. an’ the sudden pull Mr. Hugh had given it had hauled it tight an’ drawn Mias May’s arms tight across her chest.

“The pain must have been awful, for when we found her both arms were broken an’ there was a great dent across her chest where the breath had been knocked out of her, almost. “She knew if she said anything Mr. Hugh would let go, so after that first cry she nevar let a sound pass her lips. “For a second or two the rope held her up, an’ I thought I could save her, but she knew better. As I started to pull her in her dear face came above the foam about it. She tried to shake the water from her eyes in the old wav. “ ‘Good-bye, Uncle Jerry,' she says, her soft voice all hoarse and strained with tho aeoay she was in—then she looked at Mr. Hugh, an’ that look has haunted me ever since. It was so full of love! You could see all she cared for him, an’ all she’d suffered, kinder, in her eves. ‘Good-bye, Hugh, my dear, dear Hugh,’ she said, an’ his name, as it left her lips, was the last sound she made; then the water closed over her an’ she never rosejagain.” Uncle care to conceal the honest tbsfc rolled down his cheeks, and soiopthlqgTn my own eyes blurred the sea vision. Neither spoke for a minute,, then I said: “Did you say they found hers” Unele Jeriy. replied,gruffly: “I found her myself, after the storm, lyin’ on a bed of sea-weed, that same lovin’ look on her faco. I didn’t tell no one, for I oouldn’t bear no one to tetch her. I got my wagon un’ lined it with clover an’ ferns that [ cut on purjiose, an’ tuk her up to Miss Holt’s, an’ laid her on the little bed she’d slept in all summer. The next day her friends come and tuk her home. “It closed the season at Miss Holt’s, an’ I sold the Foam for twenty dollars to get her out o’ the hay, an’ Ijhain’t never took a pleasure party since. Guess I won’t paint any more ter-day.” And gathering up his brushes, Uncle Jerry loft me abruptly and started through the heavy sands for home, while I moved my seat out of reach of the incoming tide and watched his stooping figure till it vanished in tho door of his cabin, and meditated on what I had heard.—[Frank Leslie's Weekly.

Quite Clever Birds.

Early one morning last summer, writes a correspondent to the London Spectator, I was called to the window by a great noise among the bird people of the garden, and saw the following scene: A young blackbird was standing, fascinated by a cat, who was crouched under a bush, ready to spring on him. Au old blackbird, on an ilex close by, was uttering loud and agitated cries, and there was a general cackle of anger and sympathy from other birds all round. After a few seconds the cat sprang on the young bird and held it down. Auliat instant the old bird came down on them. There was a moment’s struggle, the bird beating her wings violently in the cat’s face, and, I think, pecking at her eyes; then the cat jumped back to her bush, the young bird made off with long hops and the old one flew up to the ilex, amid a jubilant chorus of commendation, which lasted some minutes. I never saw this before, though I have seen a robin oome right close to a cat stalking another bird, and scold and flap his wings in her face. The ways of birds are.delightful, and in a small garden yon can have many by keeping earthenware saucers full of water for them to bathe in.

Exploring in Iceland.

Iceland is still a field for explorers. From a lecture delivered recently before the Berlin Geographical Society, by Herr Thoroddsen, the Icelandic explorer, it appears that a hitherto unknown group of lakes to the west of the glaciers Vatua Jokull has been discovered by him. Thoroddsen employed ten summers in making himself acquainted with the interior of Iceland, and during these ten journeys he was übQut 500 days in the saddle. It was necessary to be provided with food for himself and food for his horses, as he had endless deserts to cross, and met with very few human dwellings. Before July there is no possibility of traveling, the ground being too soft with snow water. Even in summer there arc ofteu terrible storms, and the glacier rivers are difficult to pass. Theie are, by the way, five printing presses in Iceland; ten newspapers and eight magazines are published, and that the Icelanders have a great impulse to intellectual production is proved by the fact that the 12,000 Icelanders who emigrated to Manitoba have founded twelve newspapers in their new colony.—[Boston Commercial.

The French Peasant.

The steady field laborer is very orderly in his habits and has a good dose of common sense. Each province has marked characteristics of its own. The Bretons, for instance, are staunch, enthusiastic Catholics and Royalists, a stubborn raoe with a will of its own; excellent sailors, poor agriculturists and true patriots. The Provencal, on the other hand, has much of the Andalusian in his oharacter, something, too, of the Irishman; witty, poetical, improvident, grandeloqaent, hot-headed, smelling of garlic ana personated in Daudet’s inimitable “Tartarin de Tarascon.” The Norman peasant is suspicious, miserly, cautious, and a good beginner, who has never yet been known to commit himself by a decided yea or nay. The Northern man is clearsighted in business matters and not overbasdened with heart or imagination. He would let his house burn to the ground without owing to see the blaze provided it were insured.- .[North American Review.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The typical plant of the new world is maize, or Indian corn, declares the Chicago Herald. The early adventurers and settlers both in North and South America found in it a delicious food, easily cultivated, apparently indifferent to soil or climate, yielding in abundance twice that of any other grain, with much less labor, and susceptible of preparation for the table in many forms. The white settlers found it the food of the Indians aod made it their own, and for four centuries it has l>een the best knowu, as it is the cheapest and most nutritious, of the food supplies in the western hemisphere. And vet. after these centuries of knowledge, it has not obtained great favor iu Europe. The potato, another plant indigenous to America, early became a popular European food, common to the tables of the rich' and poor, and the chief support of the poor in Ireland, but corn, a much more nutritious food, and quite as easily cultivated, has never been widely adopted. Our most persistent missionary efforts have accomplished but little more than convincing Europeans that our corn is good food for animals, though Colonel Murphy hopes for good results from his efforts of the past few years. We who are familiar from childhood with rousting ears, mush and milk, corn bread, johnrfy cake, and all the various'"Toims of toothsome dishes that can be made out of Indian corn, wonder at the supineness, or rather obstinacy, with which people abroad meet our recommendations of it. The poorer people stick by their heavy and unpalatable black bread, while the wealthier classes look with disdain upon a grain they think only fit for horses and hogs. The American aborigines regarded it as the best gift of the Great Spirit, and their folk lore abounds in stories and legends concerning it. In “Hiawatha” Longfellow repeats one of the legends of this “new gift of the Great Spirit.” One of the great results of the World’s Fair will undoubtedly he to make this golden grain more familiar to the world and prove its value as one of the be9t of foods. Cambkidok Umvkiisity in England is about to institute an examination in agricultural science. The subjects of examination will be botany, chemistry, physiology and hygiene, entomology, geology, mechanics and engineering, bookkeeping and agriculture. The London Daily News, in commenting upon this decision, remarks: “This is one more sign that our system of socalled practical teaching has completely broken down in all the arts. Our rivals in industry, the Germans, train for everything, and with marked success. The French are not very far behind them. Their school of commerce is probablv one of the best in the world; their school of forestry is admittedly the best. For a long rime, if not actually at the present moment, our civil service students who were working for appointments in Indian forestry had to complete their education in France. It would be difficult to name any single branch of a great industry which can uow be cultivated with success without a knowledge of its principles. Through tho want of such a knowledge British farming is where it is to-day.” It is interesting to observe the progress of American education upon the Pacific coast. There are schools and seminaries in California which boast of pupils gathered from half the world. *V list of the graduates of one of these institutions, published in a San Francisco paper, contains names not only from that state and adjacent territories, but also from Mexico, Guatemala. Salvador, Chili, Tuhiti, Honolulu, Japan and Australia. The influence which such a collection of students must exert among their own people on their return to their homes must be wholly American in sentiment, democratic in politics and liberal in religion. The teachings thus received must enlighten and revolutionize the dead old world of tbe Pacific.

The inconvenience created in Italy by the scarcity of silver coins, will be alleviated by a measure just taken by Signor Grimaldi, the Finance Minister. He has decided upon the coining of nickel “pieces” or coins of 20 centimes, or 4 cents, similar to those in use in Belgium and Switzerland. Meanwhile the clause relative to the internationalization or exchange of small divisionary coins between the countries belonging to the Latin Monetary League has been abrogated. Thanks to this, the exportation of such coin will become impossible; and it is expected that the scarcity of silver money, which has caused lately great, loss to Italian commerce, will promptly cease. A physician has written an article to show that dyspepsia is due to a disorder of the head, and not to the stomach. He says: “The numbers of so-called dyspepsia that are cured by the disappearance of business, domestic or social annoyance are nearly unlimited. Au overdue note in the possession of a beetle-nosed and beetle-eyed creditor is more productive of dyspepsia than a meal of second-hand carpet tacks. In fact, it may be a safe thing to assume that in dyspepsia we had better look, in the garret, closet or cellar of the dyspeptic’s house or among his business or social relations, rather than to his stomach, for the solution of the difficulty.’’ The election of Miss Ella M. Grubb to be Superintendent of Schools for Adams County, 111., has aroused great interest there, for next to Cook county, the head city of which is Chicago, Adams' is the most populous county in the State, and this is the first' time in its history that a woman has been elected to office. Miss Grubb is only twenty-eight years old. As au instance of her pluck and high character it may be said that she lias already paid back from her earnings as a teacher the money she wa3 compelled to borrow to secure a college education. Carp fry were liberally distributed to the waters of the lower Delaware and its branches several years ago, and .the results of the distribution are now seen from time to time. A 17-pouDd German carp was killed the other day when workmen were blowing out the piles of an old bridge across the Appoquinimink, a tidewater tributary of the Delaware emptying into the river twenty miles below Wilmington. A Hungarian lad hauled up with the aid of other boys at hand a 42-pound carp from the waters of Armstrong’s creek, a small stream emptying into the Delaware near New Castle. Arrangements are being made for holding an exposition at Lyons, France, next year. The fair is to be opened on April 26, 1894. The principal building is to be polygonal in shape, with a loftycentral dome which will rise to a height upon the interior of 180 feet. It rises in a graceful curve, the structure being strengthened by means of airy lateral supports. The building will be 760 feet in diameter, and will cover a space of nearly 500,000 square feet. The total weight of the entire structure will be only about 2,480 tons. According to the Government statis

tics, Canada imported from the British Isles no less than 886,000 immigrants during the ten years ending in 1891, but the recent Canadian census shows that only 36,159 are left in that country. The United States census gives much information as to what has become of them. Li-lli nu-Chamo has intimated, according to a Daily News Shanghai correspondent, that a new treaty between. China and the United States will be necessary in view of the present condition of the Chinese immigration question, and that the new Minister will probably be charged with the task of arranging one. Mme. Tei. Seno, a Japanese lawyer, is said to be the only feminine member of the bar in the land of the Mikado. She was educated in this country. She takes a great interest in the welfare of her sex, and has founded a training school for women.

JOURNALISM.

The First Printed Newspaper—The Oldest Newspaper in the United •States. The first printed newspaper, according to Thorne, authority for the following statistics, was The Gazette, published iu Nuremberg, in 1457, and the oldest paper extant is The Neue Zeitung aus Hispanien und Italien, printed in the same oity in 1534. Other countries followed Germany in issuing printed newspapers in the following order: England, in 1622; France, in 1631; Sweden, in 1644; Holland, in 1656; Russia, in 1703; Turkey, in 1827. The first American paper consisted of three pages of two columns each and a blank page, and was published in Boston Sept. 25,1690, tinder the name of Publick Occurrences, Both Foreign and Domestic, but it was immediately suppressed. In 1704 the Boston News Letter appeared, printed on one sheet of foolscap paper. It flourished for 72 years. The oldest newspaper in the United States is the Weekly Massachusetts Spy, published at Worcester, Mass. This paper was established at Boston March 3, 1771, by Isaiah Thomas, the historiau of American printing. It was removed to Worcester in 1775, where it has been issued continuously ever since. The total number of newspapers pub lisbed in the world at present is estimated at about 43,000 distributed as follows: United States, 17,000; Germany, 5,500; Great Britain, 6,000; France, 4,092; Japan, 2,000; Italy, 1,400; Austria-Hun gary, 1,200; Asia, exclusive of Japan, 1,000; Spain, 850; Russia, 800; Australia, 700; Greece, 600; Switzerland, 450; Holland, 300; Belgium, 300; all others, 1,000. Of these about half are printed in English. The whole number of periodicals published in the United States in 1887 was 16,310. The whole number of copies printed during the year was 2,497,354,000. The first printing office in the United States was established in 1039, the first political newspaper was in 1733, the first daily paper in 1781, the first penny paper in 1833 and the firs‘ illustrated paper in 1853.

The First Real Beau.

The first beau appears along about when we are touching fourteen or sixteen. There have been, of course, many little boy admirers, but according to a writer the genuine gallant does not materialize until we put on long dresses and commence making ourselves up for young ladies,a comprehensive phrase that all girls will understand. He is usually the brother of some special chum of ours, and in this way we are enabled to see him more often thau if we had no reason for going to his house. He is exceedingly bashful before people, but can talk a blue streak when we are alone. He squanders his allowances on ice cream, soda and caramels, and ou rare occasions invites us to a church sociable or concert. He is always one of the group of youths who wait outside the church or ■Sunday school door, and he is the one always to escort us to our homes on such occasions. We are teased unmercifully about him and really enjoy it, though pretending to be fearfully indignant and provoked about it. This sort of thing goes on until something happens, as some things have a way of doing, and either he goes to college or we leave for boarding school, or perhaps a quarrel or change of residence occurs. At any rate, years perhaps will roll away before we see a bearded man who can bear the slightest resemblance to the young, rosy-cheeked boy.—[ElmiraTelegram.

AROUND THE HOUSE.

To clean the woodwork in yom halls and rooms do not wash it. Soap destroys the looks of woodwork that is finished in natural colors. Wring a flannel cloth out of hot water and wipe off the dust. When all the woodwork has been dusted in this manner go over it with a woolen cloth made damp with cotton-seed or sweet oil and alcohol or turpentine; two parts oil and one alcohol or turpentine. Rub hard and with the grain of the wood, then rub with clean flannel. It will revive the color and gloss. Light woods must bo wiped with a damp flannel and polished with a dry piece of flannel. When cleaning paint it is a good rule not to have the cloth so wet that the water will run on the paint, as it will leave streaks. Wash only a small place at a time. Wash the blinds with clear water. When you come to the window ledges do not use so mu&i water that it will run down on the outside of the house, marring the appearance of the walls. Always rub with the grain of the wood. To clean the railing of banisters wash off all the dirt with soap and water, and when dry rub with two parts of linseed oil and one of turpentine. If the odor of turpentine is objectionable use two parts of sweet or cotton seed oil and one part of alcohol; but the mixture of linseed oil and turpentine is more desirable.

RELIABLE RECIPES.

Bouillon*. —Six pounds of beef and bone. Cut up the meat and break the bones; add two quarts of cold water; let it simmer slowly for five hours. Strain it through a fine sieve, removing every particle of fat. Season only with salt and pepper. Asparagus. Asparagus is often served as a separate course, cold, as a salad, with a French dressing, or it may equally be so served hot, with the ordidary cream sauce or the following, which is better: Melt two ounces of butter in saucepan and sift into it a level tablespoonful of flour, stirring all the time; add a gill of cold milk, salt and pepper; when the sauce is smooth and thick pour «'n a gill of cream and a teaspoonful of Tarragon vfnegar or lemon juice; mix well and add one-half ounce of grated Parmesan cheese. Serve hot at once.

THE BODY AND ITS HEALTH.

Eat Salt. —“Most people," a doctor is quoted as saying, “donot eat half enough salt. If salt he taken in moderate quantities regularly every day the general health of the user will be greatly improved. Nearly every time I take a glass of water I add to it a teaspoonful of common table salt. After being taken several times the taste will be found more agreeable than otherwise. All mineral waters should take salt added before being used, for scarcely any of the various kinds contain enough. Enthusiasts ou the salt diet 'laim that its free use prevents malarial troubles. Though Ido not claim quite as much for it as that, I think it is a very valuable article of consumption, and should be used more than it is.” Injurious to the Nerves of Smell. —Every one does not know that aromatio salts and very strong pungent odors are Injurious to the nerves of smell and often produoe serious, if not incurable, difficulties. It is well understood that certain scents start the action of the secretory glands of the nose and throat; and often the eyes fill up with tears. Frequent indulgence in the use of such perfumes will soon overtax the secretory organs and weaken them. Some days the person observes that the hearing is less acute than usual and the sense of smell seems defective. This is, of course, accredited to a cold or some similar cause, and but little is thought of it. After a time the entire head becomes affected, hearing and smell are almost, if not altogether, lacking and there are throat and lung complications which are likely to end in chronic, if not fatal, illness.

Indigestion.— lndigestion seems to be the great American disorder, says a medical writer. It is one that is especially augmented by recklessness, yet equally amenable to prudence. It ia a well-known fact that ih a proper diet is adhered to, and strictly persevered in, the most obstinate cases of indigestion will give place, without medicine, to sound and healthy conditions. But for those who will gratify the appetite and enjoy the good things of the table, regardless of consequences, the following notes may aid in temporarily relieving the suffering attendant upon such indulgences, all the remedies given being simple, harmless and efficient. A simple tonic that prepares and strengthens the stomach, somewhat, for its coming work and abuse, is a glass of cold water, taken upon rising, in the morning. One has no idea of the value of this pure remedy of nature’s own, until tried. Its effects are as noticeable as those of powerful drugs. Sensitive stomachs, very delicate constitutions, should begin with hot water, gradually lowering the temperature, till cold water is used. It is amazing how robust and able this will make one feel. The usual trouble is, it is tried a few morniugs, and then omitted and forgotten. To feel in good health and spirits is amDle compensation for the perseverance. This use of water is a tonic and preventive, but when food refuses to digest or the stomach is acid or “distressed,” a small piece of dry magnesia will relieve the trouble. Some take carbonate of soda, and even become addiotedto its use, as does the drunkard to his cup, but it is a most harmful habit, as the soda is quite too severe for the tender lining of the stomach. It unites with the acid of the indigested food, and really forms a soap that would extract the color from a delicate fabric, and hence unsafe and unfit for the hu-, man stomach. An excellent simple remedy for indigestion is the white of an egg, beaten to a stiff froth, and stirred into a wineglass of cold water. It should be taken after each meal. Tincture of nux vomica, from the druggist, is the extract of the root of the foreign deadly nightshade, a rank poison, ana akin to strychnine in its properties, yet when properly used, it is a wonderful stomach regulator. It is widely known and much used in medical practice. Two drops of the tincture added to a tumbler of cold water, and two teaspoonfuls of this taken several times a day, will usually set indigestion in order, if followed up. Another simple remedy that must be persevered'in to get its benefits.

Albinism Among Animals.

A correspondent writing from Norwich, Conn., calls attention to several rather remarkable instances of albinism recently observed among the lower animals. This season, he says, an unusually large number of albino birds have been seen in eastern Connecticut. A day or two ago three milk-white young robins flitted about in the trees of the Congregational churchyard, at Stonington. Some persons who doubted at first that the birds were robins became convinced when a pair of mature, natural-hued robing, putting in an appearance, took charge of the freaks, and coaxed them away from the neighborhood of a curious crowd that had gathered there. The little fellows were only just learning to fly, and two of the Stonington citizens finally captured and caged them. The birds are said to be getting on well in captivity. Two albino “red” squirrels were seen in the outskirts of Norwich about a fortnight ago. Abram I. Kinne, a farmer of East Plymouth, discovered recently a perfectly white crow in a nest of other normal little ones, which was built in an oak in the woods near his house. He has domesticated the queer bird.—[Scientific American.

The Curling Sword Snake.

There is a little reptile belonging in Madagascar known as the scimitar snake, that is, the curling sword. Running along the back from head to tail is a blackish, horny substance, which bends with the convolusions of the snake’s body as readily as would a well-tempered 'teel spring, and throus'b.out its entire length it bears an ecifPas hard as fliut and as sharp as a razor. They are not poisonous, but when one springs on a man, which he is very likely to do, he will soon have a leg off unless cracked on the pate. Some snake specialists claim that the presence of this reptile on the island is the reason that there are no large quadrupeds to be found there at present, the curling sword in back ages having taken off legs faster than they could be oreated.—[Chicago Herald.

A New Voting Machine.

An Indiana man named Dobbins has invented a voting machine which is said to be more simple and accurate than any similar machine. The tickets are printed on one continuous roll, which is locked in the machine. Beneath a glass-covered table the ticket passes from this roll to another roll fitted into a ballot box. The glass cover is divided into four sections, and between »ach section is a row of keys similar to the Typewriter. The upper key is larger and is called the straight ticket key, and when this is struck it locks the other keys, thus preventing mistakes.—[lndianapolis News.

"DEAR ME!"

First Time an Officer Heard the Expression on the Plains. “ ‘Dear me!’ has become popular in New York as a retort unexpected, I have discovered,” said Lieutenant Oscar King at the Lotos Club several nights ago, “and I remember the first time I ever heard the expression used in that way. Since I have been in New York I have heard Wall street men say ‘Dear me’ when they lost heavily. 'They have said it so that it sounded like * Dear ah me.’ To appreciate the humor of this expression one should hear it sprung in that way on unexpected occasions. For instance, a man gets a knock-down blow, no matter of what kind, and he bobs up serenely and says flippantly, ‘Dear ah me!’ It seems to have taken the place of the expression, ‘l’m bored stiff.’ “It was in Cheyenne several years ago that I first heard this expression used in an unexpected way. I was stationed near there at the time, and the cowboy bronco races were on. If you have ever teen any of these races you know the motely kind of a crowd that gathers for them. Cowboys of all descriptions and various degrees of badness were there with their broncos and their guns. They were out for sport and they were loaded with dust.v The most noticeable man in the crowd, however, was an Englishman .mounted on a well-groomed thorough bred. His horse was a high stepper and he looked very large by contrast with the broncos. The Englishman rode with short stirrups, and that attracted attention. Moreover, he wore a pair of white ‘baps’ and patent leather boots, with a. polish in which you could see your face, buch an outfit had never been seen in that part of the country. He eclipsed the cowboys as a show, and they didn’t like it. No one watched their races.. Every one centred his attention on the very gorgeous Englishman. That meant trouble for him. “Bronco Pete, who was willing to admit that he was a bad man, always ready for a fight, followed the Englishman around, and just in front of the grandstand he rode past, him with a rush, and fired his revolver close to the thoroughbred’s ear. The horse did a skirt dance, kicked up a cloud of dust, and thcL bolted. His rider was missiug. When the dust settled there was the dapper Englishmen stretched out on the ground. Would he shoot? Bronco Pete was waiting to get the drop on him if he made a demonstration in that direction. It was a critical moment from a Cheyenne point of view. The Englishman rose to his feet slowly, looked at his horse running wild, and then at his dusty boots. He pulled out his handkerchief and flecked the dust from his patent leathers. Then he looked at the grandstand and said: ‘Dear ah me.’ There was a whoop that nearly raised the roof, and since then ‘Dear ah me’ has become a standard expression in Cheyenne for the unexpected.”—[New York Sun.

Something In the Eye.

Never needlessly expose the eyes to foreign particles, but when necessary wear plain glasses or goggles. When experimenting with chemicals always turn the mouth of the tube or bottle away from the face and eyes. Whenever an eye is injured severely, says the Hygienic Doctor, place the patient immediately in a dark room and under the care of a skilled physician, whose directions must be implicitly followed. Th» foreign bodies may be solid, as sand, cinders, hair, dirt, etc.-, lime, acids or alkalies. Don’t rub the eyes, avoid sudden glares of light, never look directly at the sun. To remove the solid particles from under the lids it is sufficient to pull the lid away from the eye and to wipe th'j body with a piece of moist paper or th* corner of a handkerchief; if it is under the upper lid, grasp the lid firmly between the thumb and fiDger, lift it from the eyeball and draw it down over Hie lower lid, and then allow it to slide slowly back to its natural position. The foreign body will be scraped off on the lashes. The operation may be repeated several times. Or lift the lid from the allow the tears to accumulate between the lids and forcibly blow the nose. Or plaoe in the eye a few grains of flaxseed, which, forming a mucilage, will promptly bring relief. Or place acrose the upper lid the point of a pencil or bodkin and turn the lid back over it; in this way the foreign particle is brought into distinct view, and can be readily wiped away. Lime and Roman cement are very dejtructive to the eyes if permitted to remain any considerable time. Wash the eyes immediately with water, then with water containing vinegar or lemon juice. For acids in the eye wash with water containing a little ammonia or baking soda. For alkalies, wash with water containing vinegar or lemon juice.

How the World Will Die.

According to all probability, notwithstanding all the circumstances which threaten it, our plauet will die, not of an accident, but a natural death. That death will be in consequence of the extinction of the sun in 20,000,000 years or more—perhaps 30—since its condensation at a comparatively moderate rate will give it, on one hand, 17,000,000 years of existence; while, on the other hand, the inevitable fall of meteors into the sun may double this number. Even if you suppose the duration of the sun to be prolonged to 40,000,000 years, it is still incontestable that the radiation of heat cools it, and that the temperature of all bodies tends to au equilibrium. The day will come when the sun will he extinct. Then the earth and all the other planets of our system will cease to be the abode of life.

Growth of Willow Trees.

Garden and Forest has received a photograph of a willow tree standing in Waterbury Center, Vt., the trunk of which measures twenty-four and a half feet in circumference, and whose symmetrical top shades au eighth of an acre of ground. A person who knows the early history of the willow testifies that in 1840 it wa3 a tree about six inches in diameter, which had grown from a walkingstick driven into the ground a few years before by some children. In that year it was cut down deep into the ground in the hope of killing it, but it started a new growth, and has reached its present dimensions in fifty years. The rapid growth of the willow in favorable localities is well known, and Doctor Hoskins (from whom the photograph was received) writes cf another near his home, which sprang from a cane carried by a returning soldier in 1860, and thrust into the soil in his dooryard. It is now more than four feet in diameter with an immense top, and bids fair, at an equal age, to reach tbs dimensions of tbs one spoken of.