Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1894 — Page 4

A SONG Of HER. Would life have one joy to bless— Sweet! without this golden tress? Could there be a rose to shine Redder than these lips of thine? Golden tresses, gleam for me! Lips—a rose for my lips be! Beams a light in any skies Brighter—lovelier than thine eyes? Could there be a dove's dim breast Softer than this hand caressed? Dearest eyes, still brightly shine! White hand, keep this kiss of mine! —[Atlanta Constitution.

A Promise Under Stress.

The Comtesse de Moncley—who will soon change her name, as you shall see—is one of the most delicious widows imaginable, and also one of the cleverest I have ever met. From the very first day she knew precisely how to avoid any exaggeration that could be considered bad taste in the expression of her sorrow, without falling into the other extreme and making those who saw her in her widow’s weeds think she must wear red satin under her crape. Early in April she had quietly left her Paris apartment, where no male visitor had set foot since her husband’s death, and it was only by accident that, a week later, I discovered the address she had so carefully concealed from everyone. It was “Sycamore Villa, Chantilly.” On the first of May there might have been seen to arrive at a little bit of a house, situated at a convenient distance from Sycamore Villa, several trunks, an English cart and pony, a saddle horse, a bull-terrier, two servants, and a man bordering on thirty. That man was myself. I hasten to add that, in this circumstance, I acted solely at my own risk and peril, witliout authorization, any right whatever, and with no other motive than my love—my profound love—to prompt me to hope that my change of domicile would not be a dead loss. Ah, well—nothlngventure, nothing win. And what did I venture? The Salon, the May fetes, the Grand Prix, the mob in the AJlee des Po-, teaux, a few balls—what t:«re they in comparison with the charosft of V most attractive neighborhood? i have known men to cross the seas end spend fortunes to follow to the ends of the world adventurosses whose whole body was not worth the tip of Mme. de Moncley’s little finger.

Clarisse’s pretty anger when I presented myself at her house, on the day of my arrival, was my first delightful recompense. In spite of her grand air, I saw that she was touched, and I doubt if ever [over gxperienced so much pbjasure in Being iii£ ibsi. i>y a woman. •She tooknef urn?*'aßout IT, tos, and only pushed mh Irilo tße street after a regulation phillippic, to which I listened very humbly, replying only so much as was necessary to lengthen the lecture, which concluded in these words: “And now do me the favor to return to Paris. The train leaves in an hour.” “An hour!” I objected, timidly. “That is hardly time to ship two horses and a carriage and throw up a lease ” “ What is this !” she cried. “A lease! You have presumed to—go, sir! What audacity 1 A lease ! And, if you please, where is your house ?” “A long distance from here,” I hastened to reply; “atthe other end of the forest. lam sure it must have taken me fully three-quarters of an hour to come here.” To be precise, it had taken me about five minutes. “To think,” she exclaimed, “what a poor woman, deprived of her protector, is exposed to! You would not have dared to do this if my husband were still alive. And to think that he considered you his best friend! Poor Charles!” “He has never had any cause to complain,” I murmured. “Let us talk together of him.” “Never!” “Then let us talk of ourselves, that will be better still.”

This suggestion shocked her so that it took me a long time to calm her. Finally, she did not wish to let me go without having sworn never to set in her house agaip. It is needless to say that it took half an hour to persuade me to make this promise —which I broke the next morning and as often as possible. ~ ~ Mi - ~ »-• ■, I pass over the months that followed, merely declaring that in this vale of tears there is no more happy lot than that of such an unhappy lover as I wqs. Clarisse had the most adorable way of annihilating me with a look from her blue eyes—eyes that were intended for quite another purpose than annihilating—whenever she saw that I was going to fall on my knees before her, and I must confess she saw it at least ten times during every visit I made her, still in despite of her express prohibition. The day she left off crape I profited by the occasion—naturally enough, it seems to me—to propose myself in set terms as a candidate to succeed poor Charles. That evening, it was a June evening, and the acacias made the most of the power which certain vegetables possess of intoxicating one with their perfume—that evening her hand reached for the bell. Clarisse did not threaten this time, she acted. I saw that I was on the point of being put out by her servants—who consisted of an old woman who had been her nurse, and whom 1 could have bowled over with a breath, However, it'was no time for airy persiflage. Without waiting for Nancy to seize me by the collar, I took my hat and fled. When day broke I had not closed my eyes; not that the situation seemed desperate, for I had learned to read Clarisse’s eyes. But, all night long I had repeated over and over again to myself: “Heaven grant that the little hotel iii the Atenue Friedland is still for sale! We would be so comfortable there.” In spite of this I was no further advanced when September came, the last month of my lease. I was no longer shown the door when I suggested ray candidacy, but Clarisse assumed a bored air and calmly talked of something else. Between

ourselves, I would rather she rung the bell, for I divined that she was thinking: “My dear friend, you do not displease me; quite the contrary. But you must confess that, in the solitude of Chantilly I have scarcely had opportunity to enjoy my widowhood. Let me see if it is really worthy of its reputation. In a year or two we can talk of your affair.” In a year or two! Pretty and charming as she was, Clarisse would have a score of adorers around her, and adorers around the woman one wants to marry are like flies in the milk; they may do no great harm, but they certainly do not improve the milk. Early in September Mme. de Moncley informed me one day that she was going to Paris on the morrow to have a look at her apartment. “I sincerely hope,” she added, in a severe tone, “that you do not think of accompanying me.” “How can you suggest such a thing?” said I, with apparent submission. “You leave at ” “At eight in the evening, as I do not wish to be seen. I shall send Nancy in the afternoon to prepare my room. Ah, poor Paris!” She rio longer said “Poor Charles I” I admit that this “Poor Paris!” made me much more uneasy. The next evening, at eight o’clock, the doors of the express train, which stops hardly a minute, were already closed. Clarisse had not appeared. She reached the station just as the bell rang. “Quick, hurry up, madame!” cried the railroad official. “Hurry!” I repeated, opening a compartment at random and helping her in. But instead of getting in, she fell back, almost fainting, in my arms. Here is what she had seen, and I, too, had seen over her shoulder; The seats of the compartment were unoccupied, and three men, perched like monkeys on the back of the seats, held to their shoulders three guns, whereof the barrels shone in the lamplight like cannons. One of them, as we opened the door, had shouted in a terrible voice: “Don’t come in, /or ”

I had closed the door so quickly thai we had not heard the end of the sentence. Then Clarisse and I bundled ourselves into the next compartment without quite knowing what we were doing. The train was alrtudy under way. We were alone. Mme. de Moncley seemed half dead with fear, and I must confess I was violently shaken. “Did you see them?” she cried. “What can be happening in that compartment? They are going to fight—to kill each other! What terrible tragedy is to be enacted right beside us?” “I replied. “Only"Sh£ explanation sSems possible to me. They are hunters who nave suddenly go tie crfizy. Otherwise, why should they climb upon the seats? If they simply wanted to kill each other, they could do it without all that gymnustics.” “No,” suggested Clarisse, “it is some dreadful American kind of duel. In such a case, it seems, they climb up on anything they can find. But why didn’t they stop them at Chantilly?” "The train itself scarcely stopped there.”. “Did you hear how they called out ‘Don’t come in!’? The wretches, they don’t want to be disturbed while they are killing themselves. Goodness 1 Just listen 1” The fusillade had commenced right beside us. Several gun-shots had sounded, dominated by a shrill, piercing cry, which still rings in my ears. Then a deathly silence ensued; they were all dead, however bad shots they might have been. Though we were making about fifty miles an hour at the time, I made ready to get out upon the step and find out what was going on in our neighbor’s compartment. As I lowered the window two arms seized me and a voice broken with anguish—but which sounded very sweet, just the same—gasped behind me: ‘ Philip, if you love me, do not go! They will kill you!”

I saw the advantage of my situation, and I resolved to profit by it. I profited by it so well that, afer a dialogue too intimate to be repeated Jiere, I was in a position to sing—if I ha<i k voice, which I havn’t—“Thouoq ha-ast it.” For she had said it. Poor Charles was distanced now. She had said the sweet words: “I love you.” A prey to emotions bordering on the hysterical,..Clarisse sobbed and clung to me with all her strength, though I had not the faintest desire to intrude on the massacre next door. As for me, I was very much occupied just then. That is why, early the next morning, I hurried to my lawyer to speak to him about the little hotel in the Avenue Friedland, which was still for sale, but thank fortune, is now no longer in the market. Decorators and furnishers are at work in it, and when January comes, you will see it occupied by a certain young couple that I know of. But let us not anticipate. When the train pulled into the city, my companion and I had quite forgotten our neighbors, or what was left of them; but now the authorities must be informed and the bodies removed. I had jumped out and was looking for a sergeant de ville, when I beheld the door of the famous compartment open and the three hunters calmly descend from it, carrying, rolled up in a rug, an inert mass which looked as if it might be the body of a young child. Without an instant’s hesitation, I seized one of the assassins by the collar.

“Scoundrel!” I cried. “What have you got in that rug!” “Don’t make such a row,” he replied, “or we’ll have a hundred people at our backs. It is only my poor dog.” “Dog!” I repeated, indignant at the man’s coolness. “Come, come, you cannot deceive me. I saw it all.” My captive, whom I still held by the collar, opened a corner of the rug and showed me a setter’s muzzle with flecks of foam on it dappled with blood. I dropped my hold on the man’s collar in the greatest confusion.” “Really, J scarcely know how to

apologize,” I said. “But, frankly, j it is not astonishing that I should have been deceived—three men crouching on the seats of the carriage | and shooting “Still, the explanation is very simple. My dog was bitten three weeks ago. I had the wound cauterized, and thought the animal was saved. We had been hunting all day near Creil, were we on the train than hydrophobia developed and the animal began to J snap at us. To attempt to put the beast out was to tempt death, and there was nothing for it but us to climb up on the seats and shoot the dog. We were not able to do so until after we left Chantilly, for the poor brute had taken refuge under the seat. Finally, by calling it, I persuaded it to put its head out, and then we shot it. I tell you, it’s a trip I shall not soon forget.” “Nor shall I,” I replied, and I rejoined Clarisse, who was waiting for me at a little distance and whose curiosity was vastly excited to see me thus politely take leave of the assassins. “Well, then,” she said, making a little face when I had told her story, “that doesn’t count. I take back what I said.” But at the same time she softly squeezed my arm with her own, and I saw in her eyes that “that” did “count.”—[From the French, in the Argonaut.

Boon to South Africa.

“The secretary bird of South Africa,” says Eli T. Wilson, of Washington, “feeds upon rats, mice, lizards, etc., but is especially fond of snakes. So valuable are its services that the white settlers levy a heavy fine on any one who kills one of these birds. Its name, secretary, was suggested by the fact that the large feathers projecting from the apex of the head suggested a clerk with several quill pens stuck behind his ears. It is about four feet in height, and its mawlike bill is a formidable weapon, capable of splitting the head of a large snake at a single blow. As snakes do not willingly submit to the operation, long and exciting fights often take place before the bird cleaves his opponent's head. I once came upon an encounter of one of these birds with a snake about seven feet long. For several minutes the activity of the belligerents displayed itself in feints and blows. Finally, one lucky blow seemed to stupefy the snake. Instantly the bird seized the serpent near the neck and bore it, wriggling and struggling, aloft about 100 yards and then dropped it. With closed wings the bird descended so rapidly as to reach the ground almost as soon as the snake. Quick as thought the bird struck the serpent a blow upon Jie&sJ which killed it.” —[St. LouiJ Globe-DerhodTat.

Amateur Nursing.

Blessed indeed is that household that knows not sickness and requires no nursing; but this is a blessing that in the natural course of events cannot continue. There are many women, excellent housekeepers in other respects, who know nothing about nursing or caring for the sick. Trained nurses are not always desirable, even when they can be afforded, and so we call attention to the fact that in this day of practical training some knowledge of nursing should be a part of every girl’s education. In acquiring knowledge that will be of value in the sick room, it is not necessary that anatomy, physiology and materia medica should be studied, though it will be conceded that some knowledge of these subjects may be of great use. The care of the sick, particularly when they are weak or petulant is in itself a most valuable art, and one which some have naturally, but which all can acquire. What can the sick eat, how should it be .prepared, and how served? are questions of the greatest importance, for cooking for the sick is an entirely different thing from preparing food for the robust. It is not necessary to take a course in a training-school for nurses to acquire knowledge that will be of great use in this work. There are many books published on the subject, and these with sympathetic dey otion will furnish all the information i?£ceskary.

The Sunflower.

Few persons appreciate the value and profit of this common flower. By many it is regarded a nuisance, and yet its cultivation will pay largely more than cotton and grown at much less cost. An acre of land planted about twenty inches apart will yield an average of eighty bushels of seed, the oil from which will produce about 150 gallons. The oil cake is a valuable food for live stock. The oil is said to be equal to olive oil, is superior to linseed oil for painting in spreading and drying qualities. The stalks having long, strong fibers, make superior paper. The green leaves are very nutritious as stock food and the young flower cups very palatable to man. Machinery for expressing the oil is easily obtainable and inexpensive. Bees have a perfect “bonanzo” in a sunflower patch, and the seed is very valuable for poulfiry as an egg producer. The sunflower is independent of weather and persists in growing under the most unfavorable conditions. —[Atlanta Constitution.

Big Guns for Business Only.

People always expect fa big ship tc fire her biggest guns on saluting. Big guns take big charges, which means big money. Consequently vessels use their secondary batteries, six-pound-ers and small ordnance when firing for politeness, and reserve their big guns for business. Moreover the life of these big guns is limited, a few hundred discharges exhausting their vitality and making them dangerous to those who serve them.—[Boston Transcript. A Buddhist priest in Siam recently deluded many'of his people into the belief that he could make them invulnerable by tattooing. One of the viotims gave a test of his charm by placing the muzzle of a loaded gun in’his mouth and pulling the trigger with his toe. Usual result. One half the population of Mexico are full-blooded Indians.

SOMEWHAT STRANGE.

ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS OF EVERYDAY LIFE. Quesr Facts and Thrilling Advanturaa Whieh Show that Truth is Stranger Than Fiction. Si Formas, the Florida rattlesnake charmer, collected a crowd in the streets of Jacksonville the other day with a diamond-back rattler, which he had caught near Springfield. It was five feet eight inches long. He extracted its fangs without assistance in the presence of the crowd. A story comes from Harrisburg, Neb., of a cyclone that picked up a log 14 feet long and 15 inches thick and carried it sixty rods. After ;his warming-up heat the wind gathired up Bufus Woody and his horse, ind carried them through the open •oof of a shed and landed them 200 feet away. Neither man nor horse was much hurt, although Woody’s ilothes were blown off. It has been discovered, through agricultural meetings in New England, that certain farmers have been feeding sawdust to their horses. At first blush this sounds absurd; but jvery one knows how fond horses and ;attle ate of small shrubs, and may not sawdust be regarded as prepared grown up sfirub? It is claimed, by those who have tried it, that sawdust beeps the horses in good condition. One farmer fed his horses with a mixture of equal proportions of crushed oats, fine cut straw, a little hay and fresh elm sawdust. The Henderson (Ky.) Courier says of a remarkable woman in Webster county: “The oldest grandmother in Kentucky; the oldest great-grand-mother in the history of the State of Kentucky; the oldest great-great-grandmother in the history of the United States is Betsy Shelton, who is the mother of fourteen children, the grandmother of 117 children, and the great-grandmother of 282 children, and the great-gr|at-grandmother of nineteen children. She was born in North Carolina in 1798. She moved to Kentucky in 1867. She is still living and in moderate health.” Two extraordinary eases of bullet wounds becoming active after a lapse of twenty-four years are reported by a German medical paper. One is that of a watchmaker named Kleeman, living at Duseldorf, who was wounded in the Franco-German war. Thre* years ago he had a bullet success-' fully extracted from his right shoulder, and a week ago, after a month’s illness, a second bullet was extracted from his left side. The second case is that of a station master who a few days ago was operated upon at Bonn and had a French bullet, which pierced his right shjylder in the war, 6ut from his right side. In the town of Ratibor, province of Bilesia, Prussia, on the left bank of the Oder River, stands a maple tree which is a wonderful combination of najure and man’s patience and ingenuity. It is said to be more than a century old, and has been turned into a kind of temple of two stories, each of its compartments being lighted bj r eight windows, and capable of containing twenty people with ease. The floors are constructed of boughs skillfully woven together, of which the leaves make a sort of natural carpet. The walls are formed of thick leafage, in which innumerable birds build their nests.

In a treatise on the subject of alcohol, Mr. Lawson Tait exonerates the human race from the imputa.tion of being the only creatures that naturally take to drink. Wasps, he says, have the same proclivity. Mr. Tait has watched the wasps eagerly attacking over-ripe fruits, when the sugar had had in some degree been coverted into alcohol. Around such fruits, especially rotten plums and grapes, the wasps may be seen fighting and struggling for precedence; and afterwards, when they are absolutely drunk with the spirit, they crawl away in a torpid condition and hide themselves in the grass till they have slept off the orgie. The wasp is even more quarrelsome than usual in his cups, and will sting most venomously on the slightest provocation. “Did you ever hear of a dog having a wooden leg?” inquired S. P. Ordway, of Logansport, Ind. “I know a man near where I live who has a small dog one of whose front legs was crushed some time ago by a wagon wheel. Being somewhat of a surgeon, his master carefully amputated the crushed leg and when the wound was healed provided the dog with a light and strong wooden leg. In the course of time the dog, which is a very intelligent little animal, became aware that he could rest his weight upon this wooden leg and use it for all ordinary purposes. In walking or trotting the dog always uses his artificial limb, but if he has occasion to do any fast running or leaping he will gracefully hold up the wooden leg and depend solely upon the other three for the service required.” “It is a curious fact,” said a New York physician, “ that while it is very difficult for the average citizen to get poisonous drugs in small quantities, it is easy to get them at wholesale. I know of a man who walked into the retail department of a big drug store up town and tried to buy five grains of morphine. The clerk refused to sell it to him without a physician’s prescription. The man simply walked through a passageway into the wholesale department and asked for a package of the drug containing sixty grains. It was handed over to him without a word. The reason for the distinction is doubtless because the person intending to commit suicide usually goes to the retail drug store. At the same time, all the morphine and opium fiends purchase their favorite drugs at wholesale, principally, I suppose, because they get them much cheaper that way.” Away from the shores of the broad Pacific, up in the northwestern part of our vast country, comes the story of two men who were spearing salmon on the Oregon River. As they worked they noticed a large gray eagle hovering over the water, but they paid no attention to the bird until it suddenly swooped down and

pounced upon the big fish. The fish must hare weighed nearly as much as the bird, for it soon became evident that it could not lift it clear of the water. After several efforts the bird next tried to free himself from the fish in which its talons were buried; but he was caught as if in a trap. After a desperate struggle the eagle was dragged into the water, and the swift current bore down the odd combatants until they lodged in the fish net, where they were caught. When the men reached the place, they killed the giant salmon; the reckless eagle was already dead. There is a nurse at the City Hospital at Cincinnati whose strange power over patients is attracting much .attention among those who know of it. She is Mrs. Mutchler, a petite, good-looking widow. She calls her power hypnotic, and the manner in which she handles obstreperous or insane patients is wonderful. No matter how violent they are, at a word and touch from her they instantly become mild and tractable. A few days ago an insane girl who required several stalwart policemen to handle her, was brought to the hospital. Mrs. Mutchler was called, and in five minutes the patient had ceased her struggles, disrobed and was taking a bath. Recently a colored giantess, who long had been a terror to the police, was taken to the hospital. She could whip any three men, and was very vicious. Mrs. Mutchler first saw her in one of her violent fits, and quieted her at once. Mrs. Mutchler says she cannot account for her power, but never saw a woman she could not control. Mrs. H. R. Ludwig, of Montague, Sussex County, N. J., possesses a gift of magnetism which gives her wonderful control over animals, birds, reptiles and insects. The most vicious horses, which are utterly unmanagable by any one else, become perfectly tractable and obedient under her voice and touch. DogS, cats and other domestic animals, whether belonging to her or to otners, seem to understand every word she speaks, and they do the most astonishing things at her order. Shy, suspicious and unapproachable as the wild fox is, he will not only not fly at the approach of Mrs. Ludwig, but will come to her at a word of command. Wild birds follow her when she walks about her farm, and frequently will not be driven away by her. One particular robin is so infatuated with her that it hovers about the house continually, although Mrs. v,udwig has taken it far away several times and tried to frighten it into leaving her. Mrs. Ludwig insists that birds and beasts have a language, and that she understands it instinctively.

A Scared Son of the Desert.

That the Arabs of Egypt are not quite up with the advancement of electrical science is seen by an amusing experience of Werner Van Siemens while traveling in that country. He, with several companions, climbed the great pyramid and there attempted some experiments on atmospheric electricity. His work had not progressed far before the Arabs arrived at the conclusion that he was practicing sorcery, and became uneasy. Finally they insisted that the savants should leave the pyramid. As their entreaties and threats produced no effect, they proceeded to resort to force. “I placed myself then at the highest point of the pyramid,” said Von Siemen, ‘‘and charged my strongest Leyden jar at the moment when a chief of the band was about to seize my hand to try and pull me from the place that I had chosen. At this critical moment I brought the rod of my condenser within a centimeter of his nose. The effect of the discharge was greater than anything that I could have expected of it. The son of the desert, whose nerves had never been put to such an ordeal, fell backwards as though he had been struck by lightning; but uttering a yell he sprang up and, in an instant, vanished from our vicinity followed by all his companions.” [Detroit Free Press.

Multiplying Brickwork.

The Boston Journal of Commerce gives the following: Ordinary bricks are about eight inches in length,and, with a mortar joint, about half that in width, so that each brick on the flat will give a horizontal surface of about thirty-two square inches, or four and a half bricks will cover one square foot. As ordinarily laid there are nine courses to every twenty-four inches, or four and a half to the foot; four and a half courses, with four and a half bricks to the course, will give twenty and one-fourth bricks to the cubic foot. Waste, cutting and close joints will easily require an allowance of twenty-one bricks per cubic foot, which will be found a very convenient figure for estimating the number of brick required for a wall of given height and thickness as it thus becomes unnecessary to find the cubic contents of the wall, but merely to multiply its face area, or the product of the length and height in feet by seven-fourths of its thickness in inches, which, as the thickness is always some multiple of four inches, is a very simple process. There are many jet bonnets trimmed with little Mercury wings heavily incrusted with jet or with rosettes of rose-colored velvet or of bright stem-green. Still other bonnets are made up entirely of tiny wings, brilliant with spangles and discs of glittering black jet. Tulle cravats are worn with the tulle trimmed hats, and are made with two large rosettes, instead of the bow which has prevailed so long. An extreme fancy for giving breadth to the revers and keeping them in place is carried out by putting a slender whalebone in the upper edge. There are little bonnets of white rice straw, trimmed with black velvet and bands of bright olive-green velvet, heavy ecru lace, black ostrich tips, and a pompon of jet. This seems heavy for summer, yet the trimming is delicately put on, so that the velvet forms a strong relief for the bright hue of green and the dead white of the straw.

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Rudyarb Kipling told the St. James Gazette the other day that he lives on the borders ol “the great pie belt which extends through New-England and across Northern New York.” A movement has been begun to present a well-bound copy of the Bible in Japanese to each one of the 80,000 native physicians in Japan. It is proposed that these Bibles shall be given by the medical men of America and England. Under the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, all persons in the acquired territory who were regarded as citizens of Mexico were considered to become citizens of the United States, and thus many people of many tribes in Mexico, Arizona and California are legally citizens. This is how a Kentucky Judge charged the jury the other day: “If you believe what the counsel for the plaintiff has told you, your verdict will be for the plaintiff; but if, on the other hand, you believe what the defendant’s counsel has told you, you will give a verdict for the defendant. But if you are like me, and don’t believe what either of them said, I* don’t know what you will do.” The jury disagreed. Recently an articie went the rounds of the papers to the effect that children and uneducated workingmen do not use more than five or six hundred words in communicating with their fellows. An intelligent lady who had a bright child of seven determined to test the truth of this by writing down the different words used by the child in one month, and she proved that the statement was wrong, by exhibiting nearly eleven hundred words which the child had used, and used understanding^.

There are more working days in the year of the American workman than of any other save the Hungarian. The latter works 812 days in the year, and thus has almost no holiday save Sunday, The number of working days in the American year is 808. This is the same as the Dutch; it is 30 days more than the English, 41 days more than the Russian, and from 6 to 18 days more than the working year of any other European country. It is noteworthy that even newly arrived immigrants keep American holidays. The foreign population in Japan according to the “Revue Francaise du Japon,” amounted on December 81, 1898, to 9,080 persons, of whom 6,780 were males and 2,800 females. They belonged to the following nationalities: China, 5,540; England,l,46o; United States, 700; Germany, 415; France, 850; Portugal, 150; Holland, 80; Russia, 70; Switzerland, 70; Denmark, 55; Austria, 45; Italy, 40; divers, 55. Ab it is seen, the Chinese element is the most considerable ; and still the anti-foreign party which has caused recently two dissolutions of the Chambers in Japan never mentions the Chinese in its attacks, which are reserved exclusively to foreign residents of European origin. Farmer Schuette, of Chester, 111., who recently took unto himself a charming wife, thought he could not afford to lose a Utter of fine pigs, whose mother died and left them helpless orphans, so the two young economists constructed a pig-feeder—a trough with ten holes in it, one for each little grunter, and bottles with nipples attached, to fit, nipple down, through the openings. It required but little coaxing to teach the piggies where and how to obtain their lacteal nourishment almost as naturally as before the demise of their maternal parent. It is quite an amusing sight to watch the porcine babies when feeding time comes fighting over the choice of position, and grunting with satisfaction when their sides puff out as they imbibe their dinner.

People who object to a multiplicity of departments in the Government should be thankful that they do not live in New Zealand, where in addition to the usual State divisions there is the Rabbit Department, which is the most important of the lot. It has the organization and equipment of forces and the planning of campaigns against the rabbits, which, if not kept under control, would overrun and devastate the south island. The need of this department is shown by the fact that in the last five years about 64,000,000 rabbit skins have been exported, and it is estimated that nearly 800,000,000 animals were killed to obtain that number of salable skins. In spits of this wholesale slaughter the number of bunnies is constantly increasing, and the, handling of the enojmous multitude of animals is an undertaking requiring both judgment and force. T#e French capital has just had a nine days’ Culinary Exposition, which was very largely attended, and is regarded as a success by its promoters. America has already had a number of food expositions, but they have differed widely from that held in Paris. Cooked foods were a specialty in the exhibition at the Palais de [’lndustrie, and visitors had an opportunity of witnessing the preparation by skilled cook-s of dishes* from the roast beef of old England to the .most delicate of French desserts. The raw material and the cooking were, of course, the principal features of this unique fair, but the decorative part was not forgotten. The proper way to serve food and the art of table garniture were illustrated with rare skill. Cooking appliances were an important feature of the Cullpary Exposition. It took the conceit out of American visitors who prid* themselves on the mechanical ingeyuity of their countrymen, to see that in kitchen appliances the French not only lead, but are away out td sight to the front. Living alone in his comfortable little home at North Fairfield, Huron Coupty, Ohio, is James Williams, the last living member of the once powerful Wyandotte tribe of Indians. He is about ninety years old, but is still able to do a good day’s work and is highly esteemed by his neighbors. When “Uncle Jim,” as he is called, was a child the Wyandotte tribe numbered 700, owning and operating farms on the upper Sandusky. They were a peaceful and industrious tribe,

f their habits being good as a rule. Next to them in strength were the Delawares, who lived near the Wyandottes, the Senacas and Ottawas following. Not long ago “Uncle Jim” j made a large bow, which he uses with I ease and accuracy, showing what a | dangerous weapon it must have been in the hands of the savages of old. Williams, so far as known, is the only living being who can fluently speak the language of the Wyandottes. Some of his reminiscences are fuUy corroborated in local and other historical works. Williams draws a pension on account of the death of his son, who fell in the civil war. Western Kansas is being steadily drained of its population of farmers. In 1888 twenty-two counties contained 102,669 people, and to-day the total is only 54,668. The exodus has been caused by the settlers’ failure to raise their crops on their arid plains. The hope of those who have remained is in irrigation. At the present time they are investing in windmills, and hundreds of these machines will be set to work thi9 summer wherever there are signs of water beneath the surface of the prairie. The furnace-like winds which hitherto have parched the farmer’s wheat will then do him service as an agency in irrigating his lands. The agriculturist has not been the only loser, however. All along the branch lines of the SanteFe, Missouri Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads are decayed towns that once were full of promise and even aspired to greatness. In the boom times many brick buildings ivere put up and wide avenues were laid out. Some of the buildings have never had a tenant, and others were soon abandoned. On the wide streets there is no traffic worth the name.

Electrical cars that run on rails are not at all novel in America; but we have no cars in use that run on ordinary roads, propelled by electricity. Such carriages are getting to be quite common in England, where they are known as “Pickford vans.’’ In outward appearance these vans look very much like old style omnibusses, exthat there are no horses. The drivers are expert in managing them, and even on crowded streets they can wind in and out among a tangle of other vehicles as speedily and safely as if drawn by quiet horses. The storage batteries which furnish the power for drawing the cars are suspended beneath the body of the vehicle, and when they are exhausted a new set may be substituted in a few minutes. The van is lighted by electricity, and in the winter season it can be heated by the same means. The speed is controlled by a switch, and when going at the rate of ten or more miles an hour it can be brought to a stop in less time and a shorter distance than if drawn by horses. The driver’s left hand holds the switch, and in his right hand is the steering apparatus, the latter enabling him to make short turns and go in any direction he chooses. The cost of running one of these electrical vans, with a' power equal to two horses, is about four cents a mile, and the batteries have sufficient power to continue from thirty to forty miles without recharging.

The wild camel in the Arizona desert, supposed to be the survival of an army experiment, has been written about a good deal, and there seems to be strong foundation for the report that these beasts are occasionally seen, like ghosts, on the line of the horizon. The story that a small flock of ostriches are running wild in the Mojave desert, in Southern California, has an air of greater probability, for several experiments in domesticating the South African bird have been made on the Pacific coast, and are still being tried. The wild birds were originally imported and placed in a corral by an enterprising breeder, who did not take the precaution to build his fences high enough. One morning the ostriches stampeded, jumping the fence, and were never again rounded up. Mexicans lassoed some of them, pursuing on horseback, but to this day others are at large and ranging the desert. Speaking of ostrich farming in California, it is said that it is not likely to prove profitable. Only the wing and tail feathers are of commercial value, the best bringing about SIOO per pound. Each bird furnishes from half a pound to a pound and a half of feathers yearly. When the risk of losing birds by sickness and accident is reckoned, the margin of profit is found to be rather slender. Two men, who had been out hunting in the mountains-of Southern California, returned to their camp one evening, when they were attracted by the fierce barking of their dog, who had scared a panther into a tree. Each hunter had four shots left. One succeeded in breaking the panther’s leg, but failed to bring him to the ground; the other then fired all his ammunition without doing serious damage to the fierce creature in the tree. As the animal was still strong and defiant, and the hunters did not like the idea of being beaten, they held a consultation. They made a running noose in a lariat, or long rope, and one of them climbed the tree next to that in which the panther found refuge f by means of a pole he had taken up with him, he tried to slip the noose over the creature’s head. But at every attempt the panther knocked the pole aside with his paws. Suddenly the man saw another chance, and slipped the noose ovey the animal’s brpken leg, pulling it tight. This done, he climbed down the tree, and with the help of his companion began to pull on the rope. Presently down came the panther. For a few minutes there was a cyclone of panther, dog, men and clubs. When the contest ended, it was discovered that the men and dog were badly wounded and the panther was dead.

Foot Bicycles.

An ingenious inventor has provided himself with a pair of bicycles for his feet. The wheels are about four inches in diameter, and are strapped to his feet like skates. They have rubber tires, and glide over the concrete pavement with great ease. They are very superior to the common roller skates, -and the owner moves along almost as fast as the bicyclist.—[Scientific American. [