Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 July 1895 — Page 4

WHEN THE TIDE IS COMING IN. Somehow, love, oar boat sails lighter, Smoother, faster on the bay— Samebow, love, the sun shines brighter, Softer, warmer thro’ the spray— Somehow, love, the sky is clearer, God and man seem nearer kin Somehow, even you are dearer When the tide is coming in! “ ’Tis the spring of life, unending At the source of motion, dear!” • ’Tis the stream of hope ascending From the depths of ocean, dear!” * Tis the heart of nature beating, When the throbs of life begin!” “Earth and heaven gladly meeting, When the tide is coming in!” Somehow, love, your eyes are brighter, Softer, warmer thro’ the spray. And your laughter ripples lighter O’er the whitecaps on the bay, In our path no tinge of sadness, In our wake no shade of sin. For our hearts are filled with gladness When the tide is coming in! —Minneapolis Journal

THE BLIND WITNESS.

“Yes; I have been in many remarkable criminal trials. Probably the most remarkable was the Gorton murder case. The murder itself was, so far as motive and the mode in which it was perpetrated are concerned, of a character common enough, unhappily, in our criminal courts —a young girl shot by her rejected lover, mad with jealousy. But •what gave to this particular case its exceptional character was the agency by which the murderer was brought to justice in a very curious and most unexpected manner.” We were in the chambers of my friend Mr. Grimshaw, Q. C.—the eminent criminal lawyer—in the Temple; and over a cigar, after luncheon, my host was giving me some reminiscences of his long and brilliant career at the bar. “Gorton is a small village, about twenty miles from. Barchester, the well known manufacturing town in the Midlands,” continued Mr. Grimshaw. “One September evening, some fifteen years ago, the normal peace and quietude of the place was disturbed by the news that the dead body of a young lady had been found in Burton Grove, a shork distance outside the village, under circumstances which left no doubt that she had been murdered. The police of the village had received information of the crime from a blind man—one of those wandering musicians who perambulate the country from village to village, led by a dog. "His story was that he had walked from St. Olaves—a village about seven miles from Gorton—that afternoon, and as the evening was sultry, he decided to save the 6d. he would be charged fora night’s lodging in Gorton by sleeping in Burton Grove. The grove is a thick plantation of trees and shrubs,' midway between the mile of road which connects the railway station with the village, and as it lay at an angle of the road, a footpath through it afforded a short cut from one point to the other. “The blind man further stated that, as he lay under the shelter of a

bush, a few yards from the footpath, with his dog close beside him, tired after his trump, and composing him- | self to sleep, he heard footsteps coming along the pathway, apparently going toward the village, and the voices of a man and woman, as if they were having an angry altercation. A few minutes after the parties passed where he lay concealed from view, he heard a shot, then a woman’s shrill, agonizing scream, followed by another shot. He scrambled to his feet, terror stricken, his dog barking, and shouted, ‘What is that?’ No answer was given to his outcry, but he heard the trampling of the undergrowth, as if someone was rushing wildly from the spot. The blind man immediately proceeded to Gorton, and gave information of what he had heard to the police, who, when they arrived at the grove, iound the body of a young lady named Emily Dicey, with two bullet wounds in her he a d and close at hand a discharged revolver.

'‘-Miss Dicey was the only child of a ■shopkeeper of considerable business at Barchester. It appeared that a very ardent attachment existed between her and a young man named Griffiths Turner, a clerk in her father’s employment; that her parents were opposed to a marriage, that they Jiad done everything to try to break ■off the match, but were unsuccessful, *nd that finally they dispensed with the services of Turner and sent their -daughter to her aunt at Gorton. “On the body of the unfortunate .■young lady was found a brief note ■from Turner, written in Barchester, which stated that on the evening of tbhe 6th of September (the evening of (the murder) he would run down to 'Gorton to see her. ‘Perhaps,’ he added, mysteriously, ‘it will be the last time we shall see each other.’ “He paid his promised visit to Gorton that evening, and, indeed, had been two or three of the villagers with Miss Dicey in the Grove. A. warrant was issued for Turner’s arrest, but when the police went to

his lodgings at Barchester next morning to take him into custody it was found that he had left for Liverpool en route for Canada. This, of course, increased the suspicion. A telegram to the authorities at Liverpool secured his apprehension that evening cn board one of the outward bound transatlantic steamships. He was brought back to Barchester, and after the usual magisterial investigation was held for trial at the ensuing winter assizes. “I was retained for the defense. The evidence against him, though altogether circumstantial, was very strong. “The ticket collector at Gorton railway station swore that Turner returned to Barchester by the 9.30 train from Gorton—half an hour after the time of the murder; while the girl's father stated that his daughter had promised that, although she was unalterably attached to Turner, she would not marry him without her parent's blessing. “In this latter development of the WM to be found, in the view of the Crown, the motive of the murder. had convinced himself that 1

the parents would never consent to a union between him —a penniless young man and with no prospect of bettering his worldly condition —and their daughter; and that conclusion prompted him to commit the crime. “The defense was that Turner, finding the parents of Miss Dicey were utterly opposed to the marriage, and that the young lady would not marry him without the consent of her parents, had decided to go out to gome-relatives in Canada, determined to make his fortune in a few years, then return to England, and win the consent of the girl’s parents to their union.

“On the eve of his departure for the new world he went down to Gorton to bid Miss Dicy good by, and, after two hours in her company he returned from Gorton by the 8.30 train to Barchester, and at 6 o’clock the next morning left the latter town for Liverpool en route to Canada“You will notice that on the moat important point, as to the train by which he returned from Gorton, there was an absolute contradiction of his statement that he traveled by the 8.30 train in the evidence of the ticket collector, who was positive that the 9.30 was the train. It happened that both trains ran from Gorton to Barchester without stopping at any of the intermediate stations, and that the tickets were consequently collected at Gorton. The prisoner stated he had taken a third class return ticket from Barchester to Gorton. I, therefore, inquired whether the return half of the ticket had been collected on the 8.30 train or the 9.30 train; but here, again, was discomfiture, for the halves of several return tickets issued that day between Barchester and Gorton had been collected on both trains, and Turner’s could not be identified. “The revolver from which the shots were fired did not help the prisoner in any way. It had been bought some months previously at an establishment in Barchester, but the shopman could not identify the purchaser. Was it possible that Miss Dicey had any other suitors for her hand, and did her parents urge any particular person on her acceptance? Of this I could learn nothing. “These inquiries were made by nr while I was making myself acquainted with the facts of the case before the assizes. The entire case against the prisoner had been laid bj‘ the Crown before the magistrates at the preliminary investigation. The same witnesses were examined at the trial before Baron Graham: and they repeated substantially the depositions they made in the court below. My cross examination of the witnesses failed to make any material point in favor of the prisoner. All 1 could do was to keep well before the jury the defense of the prisoner, weak as it appeared to be. “The last witness for the Crown, and, therefore, the last witness in the case, was the blind man. His evidence was followed with intense interest by the crowded court. He was asked by the counsel for the prosecution whether he had caught any of the words of the man and woman who passed along the footpath in the Grove close to where he lay just before the shots were fired, and when he said ‘ Yes,’ every ear in court was strained to catch his evidence of the conversation. “ ‘What was said between the parmy learned friend. “ ‘As they passed me,’ replied the blind witness, ‘ I heard the man say : “ But your father objects to the marriage,” and the lady said : “ Yes, and I do not mean to marry without his consent.” “ ‘They continued to walk on, and a few moments after I heard the man, in a loud, angry voice, say: “No one else will have you.” Then there was a shot, and the lady screamed ; then another shot. My dog began to bark, and I cried out in terror: “ What is that?” The man then rushed away ; I could hear the crunching of the brambles and undergrowth as he fled.’

“I rose to cross-examine the old man with some trepidation,” continued Mr. Grimshaw. “Before do- i ing so I asked my solicitor, in a whis-' per, what was the quality or timber ’ of the prisoner’s voice ; and he re- I plied that it was rather sharp or acute in tone. I had but one question of importance to put to the witness. I trembled to put it for the answer might not, on the one hand, do the prisoner any service, while, on the other hand, it might seal his fate. ■ “Having asked a few questions on rather unimportant points, I put to him the fateful question of which I spoke, determined, of course, should the answer prove unsatisfactory, to drop that line of cross-examination at once.

“ ‘What sort of voice was the voice of the man in the grove that evening?’ I asked with all the unconcern which I could assume. “But the Judge and my learned brother on the other side, and the jury—and more especially the foreman of the jury—grasped at once the importance of the question. I saw that fact visible; the strained look of attention on all their faces as they

breathlessly awaited the answer. The die was cast. However the answer might be favorable or unfavorable to the prisoner at the bar—l saw I was bound, and would be obliged to pursue the matter to the end.. I had the occupants of the jury box particularly under my gaze. I watched, as every counsel does, the effect of each statement on the jury, so far as that effect manifests itself on their faces. I noticed that the foreman of the jury—a rather young man, with a self-absorbed manner—listened for the answer of the blind witness to my question with the most intense and painful anxiety. The reply of the witness followed quickly on my question . “ ‘lt was a deep voice,’ said the blind witness. “How my heart jumped at the answer! Here was the first important point for the defense I “‘Would you recognize that voice again?’ I asked. The witness said ‘Yeg, ’ and every one believed him, for the extraordinary keenness of hearing in|he blind is a well known fact. I began to entertain some hope for the prisoner. “ ‘My lord,’ I said, turning to the Judge, ‘I should like the prisoner to speak a few words. I am sure you recognize how essential it is for the

purpose of my cross-examination.* “‘Certainly, certainly,’ said the Judge. ‘Prisoner at the bar, be pleased to address a few words to me.’ “‘My lord,’ exclaimed the prisoner, in tones of the deepest feeling, before God I protest that I am innocent of this crime.’ “The voice of the prisoner was, in its intense earnestness, shrill and piercing. It certainly was not a deep voice. “ ‘Well,’said I, resuming my crossexamination of the blind witness, ‘is that like the man’s voice you heard in the grove before the shots were fired?’ “ ‘No, said the witness, ‘not a bit like it.’ “‘You are sure of that?’ I asked. “ ‘I could not be surer of anything,’ he again replied. “I scrutinized the foreman of the jury again. He seemed to be laboring under the greatest agitation. When the judge had reviewed the evidence the jury retired; and after an hour’s absence returned into court At last the foreman handed the issue paper to the Clerk of the Crown. “ ‘Gentlemen of the jury, you agree to your verdict?” asked the Clerk of the Crown.

“ ‘Yes,’ responded the foreman in a deep voice. “The blind witness, who sat in the well of the court, just below me, now started up, laboring under the most intense excitement, and fixing his sightless eyes on the jury box, listened intently for the declaration of the verdict- “ ‘You say the prisoner is guilty?’ continued the Clerk of the Crown. “ ‘Yes, my lord, guilty, responded the foreman, in his deepest and most solemn tones, and with a remarkable emphasis on the word ‘guilty.’ 1 ‘But it was not for the verdict that the blind witness had been listening. It was the voice of the foreman of the jury, which stirred him to the soul, and when it fell a second time on his ears, he loudly exclaimed : “ ‘My lord, that’s the voice I heard in Burton Grove just before the murder. That’s the man,’ and, extending his right hand, he pointed in the direction of the foreman of the jury. “You can imagine the profound excitement which this sudden and most unexpected scene created among the crowded and overwrought occupants of the court It was the most thrilling moment of my experience as an advocate. “All eyes were turned on the foreman of the jury. His face was livid; he nervously clutched the desk in front of him, and, as if physically unable to remain standing, dropped heavily into his seat. “The prisoner, in reply to the Clerk of the Crown, protested that he was innocent, while the Judge, in another moment, put on the black cap and sentenced him to death. “Turner was immediately removed from the dock. Baron Graham, with characteristic imperturbableness.declared the court adjourned. The foreman of the jury—pallid and broken—groped his way rather than walked out of the building, avoided by everyone with instinctive apprehension .” “But what was the end of the drama?” I asked Grimshaw. "Was Turner hanged?” “No; he was not hanged,” replied Grimshaw. “The attention of the entire country was aroused in the case, and immediately a demand arose for a fresh investigation. It turned out that the foreman of the jury was James Clarke, another Barchester shopkeeper, and one of the rejected suitors of Miss Dicey. The Crown’s theory with regard to Turner was actually true of Clarke. The continued attachment of the lady to Turner convinced Clarke that Miss Dicey would not be his, and, filled with mad jealousy, he decided to kill her. On the day of the murder he went on a fishing expedition to Gorleston, which is reached by a different railway line. He then walked from Gorleston to Gorton by an unfrequented road, and concealed himself in Burton Grove in the hope of meeting Miss Dicey. Unhappily, he did succeed in meeting her, as she was returning to Gorton through the grove, after having parted with Turner, Then he waited beside the railway line, at some distance from the station, until the train —the 8 :80 — conveying her lover sped past her and vanished in the distance. What occurred in the grove you already know. After the murder Clarke made his way back to Gorleston, and thence returned to Barchester the same evening. I maj* tell you that this is his own confession.”

“But what has become of poor Turner?” I asked. “Turner,” said Grimshaw, “received her Majesty’s gracious pardon —for a crime he never committed. He went out to Canada,and I believe succeeded in making a considerable fortune. He acted very generously toward the blind witness, and I am told that he frequently sends money to relieve the necessities of the old man, whose evidence was the means of saving his life.”

Bees in a Railway Car.

A singular and exciting incident took place at Stone Railway station, Staffordshire’, England, recently. It appears that two hives of bees had been consigned to a station beyond Stafford. The porter, in placing the two hives in the guard’s van, accidentally knocked the tin bottom from the hive. The bees filled the guard’s van, making the guard beat a hasty retreat, while the porters and others who were in the immediate vicinity also took to their heels and ran. Several people were stung, particularly one gentleman who had journeyed across from the opposite side of the platform to get a better view. The train was delayed, and ultimately had to proceed on Its ourney without the guard’s van.

Ocean Telephone.

Practical experiments have now satisfied some of our best electricians that telephony from the new to the old world is practical with mass wires for service, to separate cities at one and the same time. Wires adjusted to this purpose have already been tested, and are being drawn for 86,000 miles of service.

MODEL SUBURBAN HOME

For SI,OOO--LaborSaving Machines Responsible for Cheap Building. [Copyright 1895 by the Co-operatiye Building Association, N. Y.] During the last few years the proportion of families who own their own homes has been increased, owing to the multiplication of building and loan associations. It is no longer necessary that a man should be possessed of a snug capital before he can transform himself from a tenant into a householder. There is a mistaken idea very prevalent that a small house that shall be attractive enough for a man of taste cannot be built for less than $2,000 or $3,000. Less than half that sum is sufficient if it be judiciously expended. Any amount of money can be squandered in non-essentials and in decorations that areas useless as inartistic. In the main we only require from a house, as from a man, that it perform its duty well and do the things it was intended to in the best way and be pleasing and graceful in doing it. A model home, if it be skillfully planned, can be erected for a surprisingly small sum in these days. The inventiveness of Amiricans, which has devised all sorts of machines for joining and carpentering to replace the expensive hand work, has made this possible.

Wise men who look to the future are gradually availing themselves of the present conditions. The nearby suburbs of all cities are being built up with inexpensive homes, and the effect will soon be felt in the problem of municipal reform. The assertion does not need proof that the householder is a better citizen, in that he is more keenly alive to the administration of affairs, than the dweller in a rented house. He feels that it is not a mere privilege, but a duty as well, to exercise the franchise arid to give keen scrutiny to the acts of public servants; he has a personal interest in the affairs of State —he is a householder and a taxpayer; when he speaks of home—a veritable “home” as distinguished from the rented house —in his eye he has pictured a pretty cottage something like the one below.

First Floor

To build this house would cost about $1,050. General dimensions—Width thro’ dining room and kitchen, 23 feet 6 inches; depth, including veranda, 33 feet 6 inches. Heights of stories—Cellar, 6 feet 6 inches; first story, 8 feet, 6 inches; second story, 8 feet. Exterior materials—Foundation, stone and brick; first and second stories, gables and roofs, shingles. Interior finish—Two coat plaster; soft wood flooring, trim and stairs. Interior woodwork painted colors to suit owner. Colors —Body, all shingles dipped and brush coated in oil. Trim painted white. Roof shingles dipped and brush coated red. Sashes painted bronze green ; blinds, Colonial yellow; veranda and porch floors and ceilings, oiled.

Second Floor

The principal rooms and their sizes, closets, etc., are shown by the floor plans. Cellar under parlor and hall. Loft floored for storage. Open fireplace in dining room. Double folding doors connect parlor with hall and dining room. Another chimney may be introduced in parlor. The alcove off front bedroom may be partitioned off for a hall bedroom with entrance directly from the hall. A bathroom with a full or partial set of plumbing may be introduced in the second story. The price ($1,050) is based on New York prices for materials and labor, and in many sections of the country the cost should be less. Mantels, ranges and heaters are not included in the estimate, being left for the individual builder to select. Additional signs of reviving trade

and encouraging evidences es improvement are seen in all directions. Since Jan. 1, 1895, up to the present time, the increase in real estate sales in the vicinity of New York was 40 per cent., and in building permits7o per cent. In Chicago the increase in real estate sales was 25 per cent., and their increase in building permits 40 per cent., a greater increase than there has been for the same period of time for the last five years. Figures in the last census present a striking picture of the home conditions under which the mass of wageworkers in this country live. One of - the recent bulletins shows that out of every 100 families in the United States 52 hire their homes or farms, 35 own them without incumbrance, leaving 13 in every one hundred who own them with incumbrances. The proportion of the dwellers in the cities who own their homes is, of course, smaller than this. In 420 cities and towns,having a population of from 8,000 to .100,000, 64 in every 100 families hire their homes, 12 own them with incumbrances and 25 without incumbrances. It may be predicted with confidence that the next census will show even a better record than this.

SANTA ANNA’S ONE LEG.

A Good Story of Crow-Cunning, Told by Congressman Cummings. Ex-Congressman Cummings, of New York, tells this good crow story in the Washington Pathfinder: “It was in Florida. Tom Murrey and I had made a camp a little back from the shore—object, fish. Among other things we used to immolate a turtle every morning. The sea turtle does not lay its eggs under what you might call the Australian system. Whole herds come out of the sea together, and the way they mix up their eggs must make it a tangle when one of them tries to call its family together. You know Murrey, great cook and all that! Well. Murrey claimed to know all of these turtles by their given names, and used to stroll about among ’em and look in their faces, and pick out one to kill. Murrey claimed that you should pick out a turtle for food by his head.

“ ‘lf he has a broad, flat head, wide at the jaws, like an adder.’ says Murrey, ‘don’t touch him. He is a turtle with a savage temper. He fights other turtles and gets into fits of rage and spoils his flesh. Pick out a turtle with a round, kindly face; one that you would not hesitate to accept for a guide, philosopher, and friend; that’s the turtle to eat.' “But about the crows. They used to flock about camp by the thousands to peck at the shells of the turtles that Murrey had slain and to grab off biscuit crumbs and scraps. One of these, I noticed, was a one-legged crow. Somewhere in the game of life he’d lost one of his pins, and was pegging around making a living on the other. I felt sorry for him. My fad is cripples, and so I ran a deadline around the camp and wouldn’t let the other crows come inside. We just gave Santa Anna the run of the camp—that’s what we called the one-legged crow, Santa Anna—and he was welcome to the biscuit, the baking powder, and anything we had. Santa Anna became quite tame, and would let us pick him up at times. As he ransacked the camp and filled up on the delicacies, the other crows perched about on the scrubby trees glowered at Santa Anna, and loathed him, and wondered where he got his push. “But one day we missed Santa Anna. He came not. The next day and the next were vacant of Santa Anna. Murrey and I felt lonely. The other crows stood about in the trees and gloated over us. By the look of green and Satanic exultation in their eyes we could see that they had murdered Santa Anna.

“On the third day after our pet’s disappearance, however, we were delighted by his sudden coming back. There he was pegging about on one leg and standing in on the sugar and the dried currants as of yore. Tom and I were tickled to death. It was as if a stone had been rolled from our hearts. What grew to be wonderful, too, was the appetite Santa Anna had brought with him. He ate from morning until night. He was at it all the time. Murrey is superstitious, and I knew that a crow that ate through twelve straight hours and never let, up was due to break up our camp. “I concluded to catch Santa Anna and see if I could solve the mystery of all this grub he’d been stowing away. I'd got to be careful, for another peculiarity which Santa Anna had developed during his three days’ vacation wa as profound shyness. It pained Murrey to the heart, after all he had done for him. I approached Santa Anna with great caution and suddenly reached for him. I missed him, but in his hurry dodging away, Santa Anna stuck out a second leg, which he’d carried hid away in his bosom feathers . , At this the other crows, which were sitting in the trees watching, screamed rudely and flew aWay. The secret was out. They had killed the real Santa Anna, and now, one by one, they would hide a leg in their feathers and hop into camp and work me and Tom.”

American Rural Festivals.

Of most respectable antiquity is the custom of celebrating Nature’s largess to Mother Earth, at midsummer, by a pageant in which the beneficiaries adorn themselves with garlands, to ride, drive, or walk in joyous procession. ‘‘o, 'tis the merry time 1” wrote old Stevenson in 1861, ‘‘wherein honest neighbors made good cheer, and God is glorified in His blessings On the earth.” Variants of this custom were familiar in many parts of England, and, curiously enough, their gradual disappearance from the soil of the mother country seems to have been followed by their appearance in full vigor in Puritan America. For years past our country, from Maine to California, has witnessed a series of summer rural fetes, variously conceived, carried out with more or less attention to detail, each stamped vividly with the color of the region that gave it birth, and all seeming to have been fashioned without reference to a common original.

THE SEA PLANTS TREES.

How Old Ocean Transports tha Germs of Future Forests. By far the greater part of the tree seeds which germinate fall directly to the ground, and spring up near the spot where they grew. Many seeds, however, are carried long distances by birds, squirrels and other animals, while some are borne on the wind, often for many miles, and are thus spread rapidly into regions where they never existed before. Such examples are familiar to all who have kept their eyes open and observed what was going on around them. But it is not generally known, perhaps, what an important partthe sea plays in carrying and planting seeds. It is in the tropics, where the sun pours down a flood of light and heat throughout the entire year, where vegetation grows unchecked at a time when the temperate regions are wrapped in winter, that any careful observer may watch at any time the process by which the ocean plants forests. Says a traveler: “ I have seen in small bays and sheltered coves among the West Indies thousands of bushels of tropical seeds of every size and form imaginable—from little things not half so large as a kernel of wheat up to a great cocoanut. “In many places they cover acres of surface in the water, or are piled up in regular ricks along the shore. “In most parts of the tropics there are one or more rainy seasons in the year, during which, often in a very short time, an immense amount of water falls, which carries vast quantities of seeds into the streams, and so into the sea. Sometimes the forests reach to the shore, and the fruits that grow on them drop directly into the water. “Some of these, such as mangrove and the Avicennia, germinate before leaving the tree, and are ready to begin life in the capacity of young plants as soon as they find a suitable place in which to grow in. During storms the tide sweeps over large areas of low land, bearing out an immense amount of loose material. Elsewhere the sea is constantly encroaching upon the land, carrying away quantities of trees and undergrowth. . “On the east coast of Honduras I have seen acres of forest toppling over into the sea, where the shore was being carried away by waves and currents.

“Prof. Agassiz estimated that from the mouth of the Amazon River to the northern part of South America a strip of land not less than 300 miles in width had been- washed away by the Gulf Stream since the present species of plants have existed. “Thrown thus upon the bosom of the sea, these little wanderers start out on their journey for unknown shores. It may be for days, months, or years, alone or in great dri ts, perhaps to be stranded on a cold, inhospitable coast to perish, or to land on some bright tropical beach to find a home as warm and sunny as the one they left, or, possibly, to return again after a lapse of time. “Little is known of the length of time the germs of seed will live in the ocean. I have seen cocoanuts floating about along tropical beaches with roots a foot and a half long, and leaves fully twice that length, ready to grow as soon as they were thrown upon the land, and apparently in the most perfect vigor. “Young mangroves will live on the sea for a whole year. Perhaps the storm that throws them on the shore sweeps them far in over lowland before it deposits them, other great breakers roll in and cover them with sand and mud, or they may land in the forest, and thus be screened from the rays of the sun. In a few years a colony is established, planted by the hand of the sea, and matured in the lap of the earth. “On the island of Trinidad there is a splendid ‘cocal,’extending for fourteen miles along the beach, which has grown from a shipwrecked cargc of cocorfhuts.”

To Catch Summer Boarders.

Jest put it in the paper, And put it. so ’t’ll win The quick attenshun kindly O’ fo'ks wot’s got the tin. Thur hain’t no fresh made buttei Narnew laid eggs each day; Thur visturs o’ the lan'scapes Don’t stretch in dreams away. No daisies in themea'lers. No dimplin’, purlin rills. No underlatin’ pastur’ lan’s Arisin’ inter hills. I did thet-style last summer— B’ gum! the? went away, An’ left me wi’ a mor’gage, F’r b’ gosh! they didn’t par. —New York Herald.

LOVE OF GOD.

Love of God, its presence quelling All the strife of carnal day. Flooding souls eternal wending Onward, upward, home to Thee. Love of God, its sweetness welling, Lo! a spring of joy I see; In Thy greatness like a river Coursing onward home to Thee. Love of God, its influence swelling, Streaming from Thy throne on high; Blessing hearts immortal, tending Onward, upward, home to Thee.

Nearly all the glass eves used in the world are made in Thuringia Germany.

Gruesome Souvenirs Mede from the Cuticle of Desperados. The report comes froze Tacoma, Wash., that the cuticle of Tom Btancfc, a desperado who was killed a few days ago, will be tanned and made into pocketbooks. While in jail in Seattle, Blanck made a wooden imitation of a pistol, with which be held up the jailor and escaped. He was followed by the jailor and a posse and killed, as he would not surrender. Exactly how the pocketbooks will be disposed of is not stated, but judging from the results of several enterprises of this kind in the past, the owners of Blanck’s skin will have do difficulty in disposing of their manufactured stock. One of the inhuman practices brought to light by the investigation set on foot by Gen. Benjamin F. Butler into tbe affairs of the Tewkesbury (Mass.) poorhouse was the skinning of dead patients and tbe making of souvenirs of various kinds of the skins, for which tbe keepers or others in the sc’«.une found a ready market. The same state of affairs is said to have existed at the Ohio State prison, in Columbus, fifteen years ago. Prisoners were knocked in tbe bead or shot on the slightest provocation by the keepers and guards, who were all banded together for the traffic in human skin souvenirs. These outrages finally became so flagrant that an investigation was held, which resulted in tbe turning out of all the keepers and guards in the prison. None of the men was ever prosecuted, as it was impossible to get tangible evidence. There must have been money in this human skin traffic or the men engaged in it would not have taken such chances. There are many persons whose morbid tastes make them delight in the possession of just such gruesome souvenirs, and it is not infrequent that some man of a reckless, roving disposition and a checkered past is seen proudly displaying a tobacco pouch, purse or other “ pocket novelty ” made from the skin of a human being. The use of human skin in making small articles that could be carried in one’s pocket was quite common in Mexico and the wild Southwest forty or fifty years ago. It is more than possible that some of tbe possessors of these articles flaunted them as an evidence of desperate and bloodcurdling tendencies. During tbe French revolution tanning of human skins was common, and volumes of Rousseau’s works are said to have been bound in the cuticle of those who had derided him.

Mrs. Anna Collins, of Troy, Tenn., is probably the oldest woman in the United States. She was born in Robertson County, Tenn., April 7, 1788, and is therefore in her 108th year. Her husband, Francis Collins, was born March 11, 1791, and came from South Carolina to West Tennessee. He was one of the most noted Methodist evangelists that was ever in the South. It is said of him that in one of his revival meetings suc>‘jnthusiasm was manifested that there were in two weeks 845 conversions and 456 accessions to the church. Five children were born to Francis and Anna Collins, two of whom are still living, the eldest being a man of three score and six years. She has used tobacco constantly for fifty-five years, and is as strong to-day as most women at the age of 45.

An ingenious boy of Hannibal, Mo., has succeeded in shooting a playmate with a gun which had no trigger. Andrew Coleman, of Athens, Ga., had his eye put out, and later died, from the effects of a pin shot from a child’s toy gun. J. M. Pike, the “ Orchard King of Kennebec,” was loading a cart in his barn cellar when he saw the cart tipping up. He sprang upon the pole too late to keep it down, and the end of the pole pinned him to the ceiling by the head. He couldn’t shout, but made some noise which attracted attention to him, and he was released. Sewickley, Penn., has its council chamber over the lockup. When the latter was cleared out recently so many bedbugs climbed upstairs that they broke up the next council meeting.

At the entrance to Point Defiance park stands a fir tree at least 150 feet in height and 6 feet in diameter at the base. At the very apex of that sturdy trunk one day last week a shaft of lightning struck. From the point where it first struck the tree, straight down one side for fifty feet, the bark was torn away from the body of the tree, laying bare the surface of the wood; thence as though actuated by some spirit of mischief the bolt began a spiral course around the trunk, tearing the bark off for a width of six inches, twice completely encircling the tree in a distance of 100 feet before entering the ground.—Tamoca (Washington) News.

The population of Great Britain in 1894 according to the returns of the registrar general, was 38,776,154, England and Wales having 30,060,763, Scotland, 4,124,691, and Ireland, 4.590,700. The birth rate for the year, in England and Wales, was 29.6 per 1,000 , 2 per 1,000 less than the mean for the previous ten years, and declared to be the smallest on record. The death rate, 16.6 per 1,000, was also the lowest on record, being 1.5 per 1,000 less than the previous lowest rate, that for 1888, and 2.6 lower than the ten year average.

Sir Robert Ball, the famous English astronomer, has been reckoning the cost of a trip to the stars, supposing a cslestial railroad could be constructed. At the rate of 2 cents per hundred miles, which would never enable a company' to pay dividends, it would cost $3,865,000,000 for a single fare and 5,000 huge carts would be needed to convey the number of half eagles required to defray expenses. At the rate of making change at certain offices how many passengers would be likely to catch the train ?

Perhaps the best example of an English word having two opposite meanings is the word “cleave,” which means to adhere tenaciously, aud, also, to separate by a blow. The word “let” expresses hindrance as well as permission. “ Nervous ” means strong as well as weak. “ Master ” is a term applied to a boy and also to his teacher; and there are many other instances.

If you want the bees to visit your garden and if you know any thing" of plant life, you are aware that they are a necessity, invite them by having plants which bear blue blossoms. Sir John Lubbock says they manifest a decided preference for that color.

M. F. Doolittle.

PURSES OF HUMAN SKIN.

Oldest Woman in America.

Odd Accidents.

[?]ove Makes a Giant Barber Pole.

Population of Great Britain.

Financial Astronomy.

Uncertain English.

To Attract the Bees.