Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1894 — Page 3

UNITED AT LAST

-CHAPTER XXlll—Continued ■ James Wyatt paced hi* roam in the darkening- shadows, deep in thought. He had sent a poisoned bat h to the heart of the man he hated, and be was glad. There was not a petty slight of days gone by, not a small insolence, for wtych he had not paid himself ■handsomely by to night’s work; but it was not to avenge the millionaire’s petty slights and small insolences, not to uplift the wounded crest of his own self-esteem, viper-like, that ho had -stung his enemy. His hatred of Gilbert Sinclair had a deeper root than wounded pride. Disappointed love was its source. But for Gilbat t Sinclair he might have been loved by the one woman whose regard he valued. Clara Walsingbam’s constancy to her old lover was the oifer.se that made Gilbert loathsome to his quondam Iriend, •and it was to gratify his own jealousy that he had aroused the demon of jealousy in his rival's breast. “He shall know the flavor of the anguish he has caused me,” thought Wyatt, “if his coarse soul can suffer as I have suffered for a woman s sake. Whether his wife is guilty or innocant, matters nothing to me. The pain will be his. If he were man enough to blow his brains out, now, there might be a chance for me with Clara. So long as he lives she will cling to the hope of winning him back. Where is she hiding, I wonder, and what is her ■scheme of life, while I am wearing my life out for her sake'?" Mr. Wyatt had not seen Mrs. Waleingham since that interview in which she had refused to keep faith with him, flinging hir promise to the winds. He had gone to Half-Mom street on the following Saturday evening, determined to make peace with her at •any sacrifice of his own dignity, with the slavish pertinacity of a man who loves- He had driven up to the door, expecting to see the lighted windows shining out on the wintry street, to hear Herr Klavierschlager pounding the Erard, and the hum and twitter of many he went up the narrow 'flower-scented staircase; bat to his surprise the windows were all dark, and a sleepy little maid-servant came to the doer with a sputtering tallow candle, and informed him that Mrs. Walsingham had gone abroad, the maid-tervant knew not whither. “Was there no direction left for forwarding letters'?” asked Mr. Wyatt. “No, sir, not as I knows or. The ■hagent, p’r’aps, wot has the lettin' of the ’ous might know.” Mr. Wyatt went to the solicitor, who politely refused to give his client's ail'd! ess. “Perhaps she ha? gone into a convent,” thought James Wyatt, at his wits end, and this disappointment ■added not a little to the bitterness of his feelings toward that profitable •client of his, Gilbert Sinclair.

Staples, the butler, came in with the lamps, shut the solid oak shutters, ■cleared the tables, and brought his master a cup of coffee, all in an orderly and respectable manner that was -well worth his sixty pounds a year. Mr. Wyatt was a man who would not diave kept a bad servant a week, and never parted with a good one. The postman's knock sounded on the ponderous door while Mr. Wyatt was dipping his coffee, and Staples came in with several letters on a silver waiter. James Wyatt spread them out before him thoughtfully, as if they were card; and he were calculating their •value. Handsome, creamy envelopes, thick and aristocratic, with armorial - bearings on the seals; others b.ue and business-like, and unpretendingly inexpressive. One narrow little envelope. thin, green, and shiny—this was the first he opened. The letter it contained was written in a small, scratching hand, unmistakably foreign, litt e curly tails to all the •d’s, a general scraiginess in the y's, a paucity of capitals. “Why do you not let me see you, cr write to me? Is it not that it is cruel, after so much of promises? You leave •me to languish, without hope. Dream you that I shall content to be a servant lor always, after what you have promised? But do not believe it. I have -too much spirit. It must that 1 talk t j you of all that at leisure, the eyes in ■eyes, that I may see you if you are true, if you have goid intentions to my regard. Write me, and very quickly, my friend, it must that I have of your •news. Always your MELANIE.” “This comes of an innocent flirtation— pour passer le temps—in a stupid ■country-house,” said Mr. Vyatt, -crumpling the letter savagely. “This girl will worry my life out. I was a fool to amuse my self with such a dangerous litt e viper. And if I were to oe frank with her, and tell her to go -about .her business, she might make matters unpleasant for me. The law i •comes down rather heavily on anything in the shape of conspiracy, and •that little affair at Schoenesthal'might be made to assume that complexion., And the law never comes down to heavily as when it gets its hoof on a man who has plenty to lose. Your British jury, too, has no liking for a man who turns his superfluous capital ■to good account by lending jt to fools. No, I must keep that Schoenesthal business out of the law court; at any •cost. Melanie must be pensioned, and sent back to her native valley, or her native slum—for I should think such an artful young person must have been born in some festering city alley rather than among vineyards or orchards.” • i Mr. Wyatt went to his writing-table, -and answered Mlle. Duport s letter without delay—briefly and cautiously. CHAPTER XXIV. GILBERT ASKS A QUESTION: If Lord Clanyarde had been within' easy reach, Gilbert Sinclair would have gone straightway to upbraid him with his treachery in bringing Sir ■Cyprian to Davenant disguised and in « false name: but Lord C.anyarde, finding himself at £0 years of age entirely unfettered by domest c incumbrances, was indulging his natural

BY MISS M E BRADDON

frivolity among more agreeable pe iple than his serious and business-like fel-low-countrymen. Lord Cianyarde was eating ices and playing dominos under the colonnades of \ enice,with thoughts of mov ng t> Tyrolean m untains when the weather grew 'too warm in the fair sea-girt city. So Gilbert, not being able to get at Lord Glanyarde, nursed his wrath to keep it warm, and went straight home to Davenant Park, where Constance was leading her calm and happy life, seeing hardly anything of what the •world calls “.ot iety,” but surrounded by the people she had known since her childhood —the geed old lector, who had christened her the de oted lit.le doctor, who had \vatched h?r so i atiently when her dull eves had hardly recognized hi? familiar face; the s.hool-misire s, the old pupils, the gray old gardeners, and sunburned game-keepers; the gaffer? and go d.es who had been old when she was a baby, and seemed hardlv any olcer for the twenty years that had parsed ever their heads since then. Cneeks a little more shriveled, perhaps, brows more deeply wrinkled, shoulders a trifle more bent, but exactly the : ame appreciaticn of tea and tonacco, half crowns and new neckerchiefs, the Psalms and the rector's termon-. Never had spring seemed to her so beautiful as it seemed this year, when she led her little girl through the woods and showed her the newly awakened flowers, and told her the names ofjthe birds that poured out such gushing songs of gladness in the warm bright upon. The child's lips began to shapo isolated words—mam. mam, and birdie, sowers for flowers-divine language to the mother s ear. Never was a child happier cr more fondly loved, Martha Briggs, nothing doubting, hugged this little waif to her honest heart; and even Melanie, who had a curious inward revuls on from the child, had to pretend a most enthusiastic devotion and deepest gratitude to Providence foe the little one s restoration. Once, inspired by some familiar spirit of evil, she could not resist dropping a little poison into her mistress’ cup of joy. “Do you feel quite sure there has been no mistake, ma’am ” she asked. “I sometimes fancy our darling could I net have been saved. I saw her carried away by the current, carried past me like a straw, and it has neVer been quite expla ned how she was rescued.” Constance looked at her with eyeson fire with indignation. “Am I sure that this is my child?” she cried, clasping the baby t> her breast. “Am I sure of my own name, of my life? If all the re?t of li e were a dream or a shad jw, I should know that Christabel was real and true. Who can deceive a mother.-” “You were so ill when the little girl was brought home, ” suggested Melanie, with an air of conscientious doubt.

“Not too ill to remember my Christabel. We knew each other, did we not, darling? Our lips clung together as if we had never neen parted. Not know my own child, indeed! Never dare to make such a suggestion again, Melanie.” After this Mlle. Duportwas discreetly silent on the subject of this present Christabsl’s identity with the Christabel of the past; but the time was to come when Constance Sinclair’s faith was to receive a ruder shock. Gilbert went home that evening after the Two Thousand savage, with h.s mind full of scorpions. Goblin's success was nothing to him. He hardly remembered that one of his horse? had won a i ace for the first time since he had kept horses. He had counted on James Wyatt’s fidelity just as he had counted on his horse or dog - a creature bought with his money, fed and housed by him. Wyatt had profited b/ him: Wyatt was b ;und to stand by him; and as to those various sl'ght? which he had put upon his confidential adviser at divers times, almost unconsciously, it had never occurred to him that there could be any galling wound left by such small stings, the venom whereof was to react upon him-.elf. If he had heaped favors upon the man, if he had been the most unselfish and devoted of fr.ends, he could not have felt James Wyatt’s treachery more keenly. He was angry with himself for having been so ea~y a dupe, for having given any man power to get the better of him. “The whole thing is a planned revenge,” he thought. “Wyatt knew how it would ga'l me to see Sir Cyprian back at Davenant.” And Wyatt had flung a fire-brand into that revelation about the pretended German dcct:r. Could it be, Gilbert asked himself, or was it a malicious invention of Wyatt’s? Would Lord Cianyarde have lent himself to such a deception? Even Lord Cianyarde might have been hoodwinked by his daughter s Ever.

“I won t accuse her, not yet a while,” he said to himself. “It will be batter to keep quiet and watch. I have been too olten away. I nave given her too much license. That innocent face of hers would deceive Satan himself. And I have allowed myself to think that there was no guile in her; that, although she has never loved me, she has never wronged me. Hard to find, after all, that I have judge 1 her too leniently." It was after midnight when Mr. Sinclair arrived at Davenant. and he had to ring up one of the servants to let him in, his return being altogether unlooked for. He did not see Constance until the next day. and by this time had regained the mastery of himself. The position of affai.s between husband and wife since Mrs. Sinclair’s recovery had been a kind of armvd neutrality. Gilbert had never alluded to that awful day on which he had raised hi; hand against his wife, nor had Constance. Doubtful whether she remembered that unhappy occurrence, and deeply ashamed of the brutality into which passion had betrayed him, Mr. Sinclair wisely kept his own counsel. To apologize might be to make a revelation. His remorse showed itself by increased civility to his wife, and a new deference to her feelings, for which she wa; duly grateful. Gentle, submissive always, she gave her husband no cause of offense, save that one rankling sore .which hal begun to gall him directly the triumphant sense of possession had lo t its power to satisfy —the consciousness that he had never won her heart. The smoldering fire needed but a spark of jealousy to raisea fatal flame.

Constance expressed herself much pleased at Goblin's success, when Gilbert announced the fact, with very little elation, on the day after the race. They were dining together te o-a-tete in the s; acious paneled room, which seemed so much too big :or them. These ceremonious late dinners were Ci ns lance s aversion. In her hu -band s ab ence she dined early with Christabel, and spent thp Img afternoon; walking or driving, and came tv me at 1 wiHght to a s cial tea-party with Martha Briggs and the babv.

“I didn't think yon cured ab;ut raceI horses," said Gilbert, as if doubting I the sincerity of his wife’s congratulations. “Not in the abstract; they are such I far-off creatures. One neve.- gets on ■ intimate terms with them. ' They arelike the strange animals which the i Emperor Commodus brought to Rome ‘ —articles of luxury. But J am very i glad your herse h.s won, Gilbert, on ‘ your account. ” I “Yes, it’s a great triumph for me. If I I can win the Derby I shall be satis-, fled. Racing is confoundedly expen- : sive, and I’ve had quite enough of it. | I think I shall sell Goblin* and the • wh le stud after Epsom, and the new 1 stables into the bargain, and then I • shall improve that great barrack of a , place in the North and settle down. ; I'm sick of this part of the i too d d civilized," added Mr. Sin- . clair, forcibly. “Do you paean that you would leave Davenant?" asked Constance, with astonishment. “Yes. 1 ought to have told you, by the way—Davenant ceases to be mine “after mid-summer-day. I've sold it.” I “Sold Davenant!”

“ Yes. 1 have neter really cared for the place, and 1 had a good offer for it while you were ill. Things were not looking very well in the North just then, and I was in want of money. I dare say you 11 be pleased when you hear wno is the purchaser,” said Gilbert, with an uncomfortab e smile. Constance teemed hardly to hear the latter part of his speech. “To think that you should have sold Davenant —the dear old place!” “I thought you did not care for it.” “Not just at first, perhaps. It seemed too b g for me. 1 liked shabby old Marchbrook better. Gut I have been so happy here lately, and it is so nice to live among people one has known all one’s life.” “Yes, old associations are sweetest,” sneered Gilbert, the demon jealousy getting the upper hand. “But, aft r all, the place itself matters very little,” said Constance, anxious to avoid anything'that might seem like upbraiding—no wife so conscientious in the discharge of her duty as a good woman who doe? not love her husband. “I should be just as happy in any cottage in the neighborhood.” “Especially if you had old an friend settled here, "said Gilbert. “You haven’t asked me the name of my successor; but perhaps you knew." “How should 1 know?” “You might have means of obtaining information. ” “Who is the person, Gilbert?” “Sir Cyprian Davenant.” He waiched her closely. Wai the announcement a surprise, cr did she know all about it, and wa? that look of grave astonishment a touch of social comedy? She looked at him earne?tly for a minute, and gre.v somewhat paler, he thought, a? if the very sound of his rivals name were a shock to her. “Indeed! he has bought the old place again;” she said, quiit y. “Thatseems on y right. But I thought he had gone back to Africa.” “Did you really?” with a somewhat ironical elevation of his evebrows. “Well, I thought so, to. But’it seem? he is still in England. Oh, by the bv, do you remember that German doctor, who came to see you when you were ill-” There was a purpose in the abruptness of this question. Ho wanted to take her off h-r guard; if possible startle her into betraying herself. If there were any truth in Wyatt’s assertions, this question must be a startling one.

Her calm look told him nothing. She wa? either innocent of all guile or the m st consummate hypocrite. “Yes, I can faintly remember. .J can just recall that night like a dream. Papa and you coming into my room, and a curious-looking old man with a kind voice—a voice that went to my heart, somehow.” Gilbert started and frowned. “Yes, I remember It seems like a picture as I look back; your anxious looks. <he fire-light shining on your faces. He asked me to sing, did he not? Yes, and the song made me cry. Oh, such blessed tears—they took a load iff my ifcitd. It was like the loosening of a band of iron round my head. And he spoke to me about Christabel, and told me to hope. Dear old man, I have reason to remember him.”

• Ha? he never been here since?” “Never. How should he come, unless you or papa brought h m.-” “No, to be sure. And you have no curiosity about him-no desire to see him again?” "Why should I be curious or anxious? He did not deceive me with lalse hope. My darling wa? retored by him.” “And you thank h m for that.-” “I thank God for having saved my child. I thanx that good old Doctor for being the first to tell me to hope.” This mueh and no more could Gilbart’s closest questioning extort from his wife. What was he to think—that Wyatt was f :oling him, or that Constance was past mistress in dissimulation? He did not kniw what to think, and was miserable accordingly. [to be continued. |

Steel Pipes for Sewers.

An engineer suggests that sewers of rive.ed steel pipe, coated with pure asphalt or other suitable compound, are in every way adapted to t leir purpose. It is claimed that for large sewers this pipe is cheaper than brick, lasts longer, and will not cave in. The editor of a leading engineering news journal, by way of comment on this suggest.on. says that before any city a .opts steel pipes fir sewers it must settle the question whether the sewage carries a sufficient amount of acid dr alkaline matte - to cau e corro-ion, and whether the steel could be so protected a; to prevent corrosion. Another question to be considered would he the relative cost of steel and iron pipe. Both steel an 1 iron can now be bought at marvelouslv low figures, and the difference in their cost is less than ever before. Most sewer work is done in streets that' are fairly accessible, and this fact in a great measure lessens the urgency of using steel pipe; on the score of lightness and greater ease cf handling. Furthermore, the advantage of cast iron is that it resists corrosion better, and furnist.es a gi eater thickness of metal which must rust away before leakage will occur.

Droll Stephen Grant.

Stephen Grant was an erratic genius, whose jests and extravagant sayings ; were e ijoyed by his contemporaries. I I Mr. Fell, in bis “Bench and Bar of i ■ New Hampshire/’ gives the following I specimen of his droll way of putting things. He was a “rolling stone” in ‘ his profession, the law, and once went 1 I to Wentworth to live, but did not stay , ! there long. Being asked hi; reason for leaving the place so scon, he replied: j “There’s not rcom enough there. The hills come down all round so close together that there is no space to turn ■ round in. A little shoemaker moved in and began business there, but when he tried to pull out his wax he hit both i , elbows against the hills.’’—Youth’s Companion. 1 1 ‘ -. ' Almost ai many orators as raw re*, I cruits shoot too high.

THE INDIANA STATE FAIR GROUNDS.

Beautifully Situated and Splendidly Improved Modern Buildings—Fine Race Course.

The above cut gives the reader an excellent birds-eye view of the new Indiana State Fair Grounds at Indlanapvlls, upon which the State Fair will be held on September 17 to 22 inclusive. The new grounds are located northeast of lhe city on the banks of the White River, and reached by pretty drives and the electric cars on the Citizen Street Railway. The trip to the grounds is through the most Interesting part of the Capital City and one of the pleasant features of a visit to the State Fair. The Electric Railway has made especial arrangements for the rapid and safe tiansportation of the th usands, and commodious and neat stations have been constructed at the grounds, 'lhe fair can also be leached on the Laae Erie and Western Railroad. The buildings erected last year are all commodious, modern, and tasty. They arc so situated as to afford the visitor the very best means of a comprehensive examination of exhibits. The race track is one of the finest in the world. It was hero Hint Nancy Hanks made her famous record of 2:04 j In 1803. The races this year will doubtless be more than interesting.

AROUND A BIG STATE.

BRIEF COMPILATION OF INDIANA NEWS. WlSat Our Neighbors Arp Doing—Matter* nt General and Local Interest—Marriages and Deaths—Accident* and Crimes—Personal Pointers About Indlanlans. Roby Cases Settled. The celebrated Roby prize fight cases, which have attracted the attention of the sporting world from Maine to California and from Chicago to New Orleans, were settled in the Lake Circuit Court at Crown Point, the other day. When Martin Costello, at the November term. 1893, of the Lake Circuit Court, was tried, found guilty of riotous conspiracy and sentenced to two years in prison, it was the first time inthe history of the United States that any one ever received a penitentiary sentence for prize fighting. When the eases were railed for trial only three of the numerous defendants were in court. They were George Siler, the referee of all the fights that took place at Roby: Billy Woods, and Sol Smith, all the others being represented by their attorney. Johnß. Peterson of Crown Point. A proposition was advanced by tho defendants that if all the riot, conspiracy, and prize fight cases would be dismissed as against all the defendants, Dominick O’Malley, Solly Smith, and Billy Woods would plead guilty of assault and battery. This was finally agreed to by tho prosecution, and O’Mallev was fined SI,OOO and Smith and Woods S3OO each. These eases have cost the county in round figures about $4,000, and in return the county has received Sfi,ICO, including the for'eiture of Costello’s bond. There is an end to prize fighting at Roby for all time to come.

Minor State Item*.

A HORSE kicked Harry Bush’s knee cap off at Anderson. Shelby County is being raided by a band of burglars. The apple butter and cider harvest will be a failure at Oakland City, this year. Chas. Cowmas, a Big Four brakeman, was killed by the cars at Terre Haute, Wm. Brann, prominent Rushville citizen, was stricken with paralysis. Will die. Slaking lime splashed in tly face of Israel Blair, Crawfordsville, blinding both eyes. A farmer near Chesterton claims to have raised over sixty bushels of wheat to the acre. A sea serpent is a Christiana Lake novelty now. Said to be fifty foot long and as big as a barrel. Thomas Ryan’s crop of oats and wheat was burned near Union City by a fire started while threshing. Burglars cracked Merchant Jager’s safe at Cynthiana, and took $l2O. Ako carried off $1,200 worth of goods. William Ardery’s barn, with contents, was burned by a tramp in Bartholomew County. , Loss, $2,000. A paving ordinance passed by the Noblesville Council will compel the L. E. & W. to lower their tracks twenty inches. Company isflghting'it hard. The Adams County Bank, at Decatur, has been reorganized with a capital stock of $175,000. James K. Niblick is president and R. K. Allison cashier.

A HORSE driven by Mrs. Wm. Rinear, Franklin, took fright, and jumped from a bridge. Mrs. Rinear was badly injured, the horse killed, and the buggy splintered. • Dr. John A. Seaton, a prominent specialist of Fort Wayne, was found dead in bed, death resulting from heart disease, and was not anticipated. He was an old soldier, and a wellknown Pythian Knight. At Muncie, Michael Grady was at? tempting to run a large L. E. &W. engine into the roundhouse, when he lost control of it and the engine was dumped into a deep turntable pit. Grady was pulled from beneath seriously injured. The engine was badly demolished. At Mier, south of Wabash, a traction engine ran over a gas pipe leading from a well belonging to the town of Converge, burst the pipe and the escaping gas exploding badly injured W. S. Pence, owner of the engine, and Tep Marks, riding with him. Marks cannot survive and Pence is frightfully burned. James Ryan, aged 04 years, a section band on the Chicago division of the Big Four, received fatal injuries at Indianapolis, by being struck by an engine. He was walking on one track and stopped on another to avoid an approaching engine. Another engine on the second track struck him knocking him with great force to one side. He lingered for several hours and died. He leaves a wife and eight children.

A two-year-old son of Edward Garrity was drowned in the Connersville hydraulic. A HUGH tooth, supposed to have belonged to a mammoth, has J been plowed up near Vincennes. Edward Grimes of Richmond, was instantly killed at Greenfield, by being struck by a west-bound freight train while lying asleep on the cross-ties. George Shrider, aged 30, df Muncie, was killed at New Castle while attempting to board a passenger train. His right leg was ground off just below the hip and he died within an hour. George Reed, who murdered Ben Henderson at Torre Haute, for s(i.2.‘>, seems utterly unconcerned about his fiendish crime and freely says that he might kill another man lor money, though not for so small a sum. The petrified body found in a ditch near Goshen has turned out to be a fake. The two men who claimed to have unearthed it, purchased tho sreoimeri In the East. They realized over S2OO a day off of their ‘•museum. ’’ The C-ypar-old daughter of J. R Broomfield, a hardware dealer, while playing in a laundry, had u vessel of hot lye spilled over her head and shoulders. The caustic liquid burned her frightfully. Her recovery seems impossible. Patrick Padgen has filed a suit against tho United Window Gias? Company Orestes, asking SIO,OOO damages tor injuries sustained while working in a trench twenty feet deep, when one of the walls caved in on him, crushing him. William Pierce, near Metamora, in Franklin County, was hauling a loud of stone, when his horses ran away and he fell under the wagon wheels. His backbone was broken and he died in two hours. He was (10 years old and leaevs a family. Bert Stevens of Elwood, has sued tho American Tin-plate Company, asking SB,OOO damages for injuries sustained by him while at work June 27, 1893. He was caught in a line shafting and nearly k.lled, one of his arms being permanentlj injured. The body of Edward Garrity, the fl-year-old son of Mrs. John Garrity, a widow, was found near his mother's home floating in the Connersville hydraulic, dead, ho having, it is supposed, fallen from one of the bridges and drowned just a few minutes before found.

The 4-year-old child of August Schultz was burned to death at Bedford. Its clothing, under very mysterious circumstances, either caught or were set on tire. Before the child became unconscious it claimed “two naughty boys’’ had set it on fire. This is all that is known about the accident. A young woman of Flora has given birth to two monstrosities, which have j created the greatest excitement in that place. The children, if such they may be called, have all the appearance and characteristics of the canine tribe, even to the voice and covering of hair, I The mother is a very comely and fairly ■ intelligent young woman. While the funeral cortege of Mrs. I Anna Chez was on its way to the cemetery at Shelbyville, two powerful ! horses attached to the mineral water wagon of F. Rehme became frightened on an adjoining street and ran along, through the procession, scattering the cabs and buggies in every direction. A number ol persons were badly frightened and somewhat injured. Elijah Dalton, aged ($, a convict j in the State Prison South, died'at that institution recently. Ho had bpen confined in the prison for nine months,' being sentenced for complicity in the White-capping of his wife near Salem, Washington County, about a year ago. The trial at the time attracted widespread attention. Although Dalton did not ass st in whipping his wife he stood by and witnessed the deed without attempting to interfere. Isaac G. Botts, M. L. Fuller and J. W. Sinclair, all Delaware County farmers along the Mississinewa River below Albany, a small city east of • Muncie, have entered suit against the | Albany Strawboard Company for sls,- j 000, complaining that this company, by allowing the refuse from the factory ! to be dumped into the river, lias damaged them to that extent. They claim their lands have been damaged to the extent of >ls per acre, their water privilege SSO?, and in all to the amount of sls,- 00. The fifth annual Barrett reunion was held near Knightstown last week. Members of the family numbering, about 400 were pre ent from Indiana, I Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, and West Virginia. Interesting talks were made by President George W. Williams, Rev. Elisha- Earles, Prof. Eli Butler, James H. Carr and others. New officers were elected for the ensuing year as follows: Asa M. New, I President: A. V. B. Sample, Secretary; Isaac Barrett, Treasurer. All kinds j of amusements were on the program. j The brass band fro n the Soldiers’, and ; Sailors’ Orphans’ Home furnished the music. The next meeting will be held I at Greenland..

Patents has been Issued to the following Indiana people: .Joseph L, Potter, Indianapolis, trench machine; <)wen Albion, carriage jack; George J. (’line, Goshen, roller and ball bearing: Christian Klenk, Connersville, liquid wood-fitter; Robert M. Roberta, Anderson, glass carrying trench; Francis W. Robinson, Richmond, threshing machine. A sad accident occurred at Taylor'a mills, six miles west of Columbus, by which Lonnie Coons, aged 12, lost his li e. Young Coons took a position on the front end of a wagon loaded with cord wood, and a standard broke, throwing him off. A part of the load of wood fell on him and the rear wheel of the wagon pasted over his neck, almost severing the head from the body. The coroner Is looking into the case. The residence of Mrs. Mary St. Clair, at Jeffersonville, was destroyed by lire. The family were out of town, and the premises were loft In charge of Edward Thomas, (0 years old and partially blind. When the building was in Hames bystanders hoards roams from within. Next morning George Willis und others, while removing ashes near whore Thomas slept, found human bones lying full lonuth in the ashes and badly charred.

Clever Diamond Smuggling.

•Talking of smuggling reminds me of a t lek 1 saw resorte i to by a passenger in one of the big steamers a couple of years ago,” said a loquacious gentleman at tho Savoy hotel the other evening. ‘’You knew there is a duty on diamonds in America, as 1 here is on almost everything else, and one of the passengers had t hree laiue stone, worth five or six hundred pounds, which he had purchased in London. Tho problem of how to evade yaylng the duty/on the stones worrle him considerably, but at last he evolved a plan, and a few days before the steamer arrived In New Yo khe proceeded to exo uto It. “Tho chief oilier had a little Skye terrier, and the passenger, after considerable coaxing, indue ed him to sell the dog. As soon as the smuggler gained possession of tho animal ho tied him up and gave him nothing to eat until just before He went ashore, lie then procured some fat meat from the cook, and cutting off a piece a little larger than a walnut, made a hole in it into which he placed one of tho diamonds. “A dog will generally bolt a piece of fat meat without chewing it, and of course, a diamond will go down with it The hungry dog swallowed the meat, as his owner expected he woul', and in a short time the three < iamonds were safely stowed away in hlo into ior. The diamond smuggler had no difficulty In evading the vigilance of the Custom officials, and was soon up town, leading tbe dog by a string. ‘ I met him again a few days ago, and ask him how he recovered his stones. ’Easily enough,’ he replied. As soon as 1 got home I shot the dog, and found the diamonds after a short search. Of course I was sorry lor the d< g, but dogs are cheap, and the tariff on stones is high and I never allow sympathy to interfere with business.”

The Center of England.

An oak tree which stands in the middle in the highroad leading from Leamington to Warwick is said to mark the center of England; How long ago it was planted is not known, except b.f computation of its girt, which is aboi.it 12 feet and shows the tree to be between 300 and 400 years od. Tradition has warranty for the importance it gives to this ancient oak. The bole would be cut in two by straight lines drawn from Ber-wickon-Tweed. to Southampton, Carlisle tojbelsea Bill, Birkenhead to Eastborn. Holyhead to Deal, St. David's Head to Lowestoft, Land's End to Ingoldmell’s Point, Devonport to Salttieet, Bridgport to Hornsea. Portland Bill to Scarbo:ough, Bournemount to Saltburn, the Needles to Sunderland, Brighton to Lytham. Hastings to the north of the Lee, Greenwich to Abergele Hythe to Conway, Dover to Bangor, and Harwich to Aberdovy. These are all places on or near the coast and do not exhaust the list.—Boston Transcript. Theke are times when a weak ruler is more dangerous than a strong enemy. S’Edal legislation may produ e eclipse but can’t make sunlight. Russian railways have ladies smoking cars. __ Sapphires are mined at Franklin, N. C.

OUR BUDGET OF FUN.

HUMOROUS SAYINGS AND DOINGS HERE.AND THERE. Joke* and Jokeleta that Are Supposed te Have Beea Recently Born—Saying, aad Doings that Are Odd. Curious, and laughable—The Week's Humor. Ix-t <’• All Lau~h. “Don’t forget, then Ann. that your master is a colonel.” “Oh, I adore soldiers, ma’am.”—Tid-Bits. Youth (defiantly)—Mine Is no idle b >ast. Maid—lt isn’t like anything else of yours, then.—Detroit Free Press. ‘‘Did you ever go to Bins, the tailor? “Yes. Got two suits from him. One dress suit. One law suit. Very expensive man.” Clerk— “Are you going to discharge me, then?” Druggist—“ Yes; 1 think we can dispense without you.’’—Harvard Lampoon. low/ a referied to a conversation he had had with two female deaf mutes as little exercise with the dumb belles.”—Philadelphia Record. Wife—“ Don’t you believe the gas meter is defective in some way?” Husband-“It may be. but I notice that it is able to All the bill every month.” She—-“ You arc awfully young to be called colonel " He—“ Well, I have been In eighteen engagements and tho girl and I fought in every one.-”—New York News. Easterly—“l suppose the cyclones you have out here often lift everything right off of a farm.” Westerly —“Er—yes; everything except the mortgage.’’—Buffalo Courier. Smith-Jones—“How do you manage to keep up your mental energy so well?’’ Smith-Brown—“My wife gives me a p'eco of her mind every morning before 1 start to work.’’—Harlem Life. Tommy—“ Paw, I heard a man say that Mr. Batts was a self-made man. What is a self-made man?” Mr. Tinkle—“A man who knows how to buy a dollar’s worth of work fcr 50 cents. ’’ Love In a cottag n is becoming a board of health affair. Although bread lias thus far been exempt, diphtheria bacilli have been found in the cheese and kisses.— Philadelphia Ledger.

Stillingfleet—“What would yoa do with a tailor who never has your trousers done at tho time he has contracted to deliver them?” Wienblddlo—“Sue him for breeches ot promise.” The sarcastic girl always says lots nf brilliant things In the course ot her career, but she doesn’t usually get married as young as the majority of her high school classmates do.— Somerville Journal. Mrs. Skeleton Bang—“What new dishes have you had since you have your new cook?” Mrs. Tinkle— “A whole new dinner set and several extra pieces besides, and she's only been here a week.” Nurse—“ Luke at the awkward little rascal! Tryin’ to put his tithin' ring in his eye ” Fond Mother—“lt Is not awkwardness at all, Mary June; it is instinct. Ho takes It for a monocle.”—lndianapolis Journal. “Krause will have It that he made a speech of two hours’ duration at the meeting, but I see It only takes up the space of half a column in the pajiers.” “Ah; but, you know. Krause stammers.”— Humoristicher Blaetter. Studious Boy—“ What is the mean, ing of 'market value’ and ‘lntrinsic value?’” Father—“ Tho ‘market val. ue' Is the price you pay for a thing; •iqti inslc value’ is what you get when you sell it to a second-dealer.”— TidBlts. Amy—“l remember your friend Clare married Mr. Nicotine so as to reform him. He was such an intemperate smoker. How did she succeed?” Joe—“ Perfectly. He gave up toba:co entirely—and took to drink.” —Arkansaw Traveler. “Hot!" he exclaimed. “Well, I should say so. And the least exertion wears me all out.” And while his wife toted a crying baby around he wandered downtown and walked eight miles and forty two laps around a billiard table.—Minneapolis Journal. When a young man returns fiom a picnic and sais he had a good time, after rowing boats and pulling lilies for summer girls, and eating lunch in a pasture wittithe bugs, It is just as much a lie as though he Said he caught three hundred fish or killed a bear.—Atchison Globe. He—“l love you, dearest, and I never shall love you one whit less. It shall be my purpose as long as I live to make you happy and contented.”She—“ Yes, yes: 1 ve been married before. Let us come down to someth! ng practical. How much are you going to allow me per week for spending money?” “I wonder If it is necessary to balance books in business?” said Mrs, Smith, addressing Mrs. Jones. “f don’t know; but why do you ask?” answered the latter lady. “I was thinking if it was absolutely necessary they ought to do away with it, for my husband n ver stays down to his office at night t> balance his books but he comes home drunk.”— New York Press.

Cost of Growing Wheat.

The United States Department of Agriculture has issued a summary made from estimates of 25.000 farmers of the West and Northwest and of 4,000 experts of the department on the cost of growing wheat. The average cost per acre for the reg*«on covered is $11.09, while the average for Wisconsin is more than a dollar higher, or $12.93. Ground rent is the heaviest single item, and estimated at nearly $3 pfer acre. The principal items of cost have rema ned about normal during the past four or five years, being slightly higher where any change is noted, owing to increase of cost of labor during the prosperous times from 1890 to 1892. During that period, however, the price of wheat fell nearly one-half. As a result either wheat production must be restricted or* a large part of it must be done at a loss.