Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 October 1895 — Page 4

MEMORIES. A little window, and a broad expanse Of sky and sea, A little window where the stars look in, And waves beat ceaselessly; Where, through, the night, across the silvery foam. The moonlight falls like blessed thoughts of home. A little space within a crowded ship, A restless heart; A little time to pause awile and think O’er lives apart; To pause and think, while others pray and sleep; A little while to bow the head and weep. A little window, but a heaven of rest Bent over all. Where, through the silence of the star-lit dusk, The angels call; Where the dead faces of the vanished years Look in and smile across a sea of tears. A quiet room —a quiet heart of peace With earth and sea; A little corner—but a glimpse of heaven, An angel’s company; O, steadfast soul, O, flowret pure and white, Still on my lips I feel thy last “Good night.” —Chambers’ Journal.

Captain Jacobus.

BY L. COPE CORNFORD.

Although the time was long past midnight, lights were still gleaming from behind the shutters of the little blind alehouse hard by the Reading road, not far from Winchester; and Captain Jacobus, riding gently up, judged it prudent to enter by the back door in consequence. The inn was a bouse of call for the captain, and the landlord a creature of his own, but at a time when detachments of Cromwell’s soldiers were rough riding the country, it behooved a gentleman of the road to use caution. Indeed, in the estimation of Captain Jacobus, it was no insignificant item in the long score held by him against the Commonwealth that a king’s gentleman should sometimes be compelled to sneak into his inn by a menial entrance. After stabling his' horse the captain entered the kitchen, where the landlord, a little, dark remnant of a man, with a short pipe between bis teeth, was going to and fro, busying himself amid a htter of empty bottles and greasy plates. Stopping short in bis employment, the landlord nodded to his patron without a word, at the same time jerking his thumb over bis shoulder towards the half-door, above which a square of the paneled wall of the inn parlor was visible. Captain Jacobus, without further hesitation, walked promptly into the parlor. The long, low, red curtained room was brilliantly lit with a wasteful profusion of candles, a huge fire of wood, roared in the fireplace, and, standing side by side, witli their backs to the blaze, were two very tall, loosely hung men, dressed in the decent black garb and falling white collar affected by the Presbyterian ministers of the day. Save that the elder man had white hair and wore a beard, while the younger was clean shaven and almost bald, so that his great head glistened like a moist egg in the firelight, the two resembled each other in every particular. Captaiu Jacobus took off his hat, with a sweeping gesture, and began, with - some show of deliberation, to unbuckle and lay upon the table his sword and pistols. The two parsons returned tlie salute with a grave inclination, tlu> younger bowing just a fraction of time behind the elder, after a momentary glance at him; as if (thought the captain) the junior hadjso lively a habit of subservience to the senior that he manifested it unconsciously, even in the most trivial actions Captain Jacobus disposed himself comfortably upon the settle against the wall, and called for wine. Opposite to him, the travelers’ saddles were piled, together with their riding cloaks and great slouched bats. “You travel late for gentlemen of the cassock,” remarked the captain. “Have you no fear of highwaymen ?” “We put our trust in the sword of the Lord,” replied the elder clergyman, piously.

“And of Gideon,” echoed the younger, in a thin, high voice, extremely out of keeping with his bulk. “Spoken very godly, and a mighty pretty sentiment!” observed the captain, rolling his liquor on his tongue. “And yet it seems to me you run something of a risk, notwithstanding.” “My son and I,” returned the old man, with much tranquility, “shoulder to shoulder, have bested the devil these many years past.” “Yea, even when he traveleth abroad in the guise of a robber,” the other chimed in, cheerfully. “Ah 1” said the captain. “But perhaps you never met Captain Jacobus, the cavalier, who rules this very road from Reading to Winchester. They say he hath a very deadly spite against Puritans. The Parliament dispossessed him of all estate, I’ve beard, and he vowed the pragmatical rebels should pay for it among them.” Pausing to sip his wine, the speaker eyed the two parsons over the edge of his glass. They returned his gaze in silence, with a watchful attention. “He has a mighty pleasant way with him, so I’m told, hath Captain Jacobus,” pursued the captain. “None of your common, stand and deliver methods for him, but all manner of pretty knacks and strange devices. Why, now, just to give you an example; supposing he were sitting where I sit now,” —the speaker paused a moment, but the two big clergymen did not move so much as an eyelid—“it’s likely he would propose a game at the cards to you two gentlemen. Down you would’ have to sit with him, willy-nilly, you see; and inside of an hour I’ll wager he would have won the very coats off your backs. All by pure skill, you understand. No violence at all. And talking of cards,” said the captain, briskly, with a sudden change of tone, "what do you say to a turn? Come! Landlord, a clean pack!” The highwayman rose, moved an elbow chair to the table, and, looking at the two parsons, with a very eloquent expression of countenance, sat absently fingering his ptetds. “I am exceedingly sorry, sir; it is impossible that I should pleasure you in so carnal a diversion,” said the old man, mildly. “And, setting aside the claims of my holy office, I know not one painted toy from t’other. I will ask you to pardon me—we have ridden far to-day,” and, with a courteous gesture, he sat down upon the settle in the chimney corner, and leaning back upon the bundle of cloaks and saddles, closed his eyes and folded his hands. “And you, sir? Come, doff the priesthood for an hour! Unchain the old Adam, and give him a run! Trust me, you will be a world the better for so self-denymg an exercise. What! ’ tis not so long since you were to college that your fingers have forgot the feel of the cards, so glossy and lickhab, 111 warrant, Sit down, young

man, sit down, and cut for the deal, like a saint of sense!” The momentary silence that followed was broken by a tiny click, as the captain cocked a pistol. The bald young man started slightly at the sound, the recumbent figure on the settle opened its eyes, and the two exchanged a glance, so rapid as to be scarcely perceptible. “Sir,” answered the young man, earnestly, “you touch me nearer than you know. I am naturally eager for social divertisements; and I own it seems bard that a single traveler like yourself must sit and twiddle his thumbs because his fellow guests chance to be clergymen. Yet, see how it is. Before I was a man grown, I gave my word to my father never again to touch the cards.” “Johnny,” broke in the old gentleman, “I give you back your word. Do as your conscience bids you. And call to remembrance the House of Rimmon, sonny.” “Nay,” said the captain, pleasantly, “say no more. I would not be an occasion of stumbling to any. It would be a thousand pities to risk a sojourn in purgatory for the sake of a trumpery game of cards;” and, cocking the other pistol, he laid one on either side of him. The bald young man, a good deal flustered, drew up a chair and sat down, wiping the beads of perspiration from his forehead with his coat cuff. “It becomes my turn to entreat the pleasure, although I fear you will find me but a dull opponent,” he said, with a ghastly attempt at urbanity. “Come, sir, let us to’t. lam heartily glad of the opportunity.” “No, no,” said the captain, shuffling the cards. "Y* are forcing yourself out of sheer good nature. I see it. 1 will have no man blacken his record in heaven for me I”

“Not a jot, not a tittle,” returned the other, with an obsequious alacrity. “And I take it greatly as a favor you should play with so rusty an amateur.” “Well, have it as you will, then,” said the captain. “And what shall we call the stakes ?” “Shall we say—Jacobuses?” said''the bald young man, smoothly. A doubt crossed the mind of Captain Jacobus, and he looked up sharply at the speaker. But the bald young man was laboriously dealing the cards, his white face creased in a fatuous smile; and the captain could make nothing of bis expression. “Why, yes, with all my heart,” returned the captain, “Jacobuses, certainly!” and the two men settled to the game, the clergyman conning his play with the most arduous attention, often clutching bis jaw and pausing to consider; and the captain, with scarcely a glance at his hand, nonchalently tossing ids cards on the table. They played without exchanging a word; at intervals a smouldering log broke and fell upon the hearth, disengaging a shower of sparks; the old clergyman snored in the chimney corner, and the night wind rustled in the trees outside. At first the game went evenly; but, as the night wore on, a little heap of gold began to accumulate at the elbow of the bald young man, in a manner to the captain quite unaccountable. The doubt in his mind grew and pricked him. He began to watch the other narrowly, and presently detected a piece of very deft manipulation. The highwayman said nothing, but, twisting his moustache, looked the other full in the eyes. The cheat blinked, went very white, and glanced swiftly round at the sleeper, who continued to snore placidly; but the captain, at the moment of choosing a card, and without turning his head, saw the old man’s eyes open wide and shoot ah answering look of meaning at his son. The incident passed so quickly that to an onlooker the pause in the game would have been barely noticeable. Captain Jacobus, under cover of the table, unsheathed a short dirk, and laid it, naked, on his knee.

Soon the pile of gold pieces began to dwindle and change sides upon the table, when suddenly, as the bald young man laid down a card, the Captain, with an oath, drove his dagger through the back of his opponent’s hand, deep into the oak. “Not again, my cully!" he cried. The man screamed and fell back in a swoon, and at the sound the other parson leaped to bis feet with a cry, whipping a great horse-pistol from his pocket. But the Captain was too quick for him ; before he could bring the ponderous engine to bear, the highwayman had caught his wrist with one hand, and trust the muzzle of a pistol into bis face with the other. The clergyman’s weapon exploded harmlessly, the bullet striking the ceiling. “Now,” said Captain Jacobus, releasing him, “it’s my turn! Obey orders!•" he thundered. “Hand up those saddles!” The old man with shaking fingers and a very wry face, heaped up the baggage and dumped it on the table, where the litter of cards was afloat in widening pools of blood. "Empty out the saddle-bags!” Give me but the shadow of disobedience, and I’ll put a bullet in you. What’s here? Now what is a couple of rascal parsons doing with a fortune of gold? Won at the cards, I suppose! And what kind of gear is this for a clergyman ?” For among a miscellany of personal effects were two bulky leathern bags, full to the throat with broad pieces, a great, jeweled watch, and a handful of ladies’ rings and trinkets. The sham clergyman, biting his fingers, and looking haggardly at the spoil, stood in sullen silence. At the other end of the table the bald young man was moaning and writhing in his chair, his band pinned 'fast. The Captain, vigilant as a bird, but thoroughly at his ease and enjoying himself hugely, leaned against the panelling, eyeing the pair by turns. “Come,” he said, "speak up, parson! Make a clean confession. You may tie up your little boy, if your care to, while you talk.”

The old man cast a venomous glance of contempt upon his abject 'offspring. “Serve him right!” he broke z out savagely. “The clumsy fool!” “I begin to perceive you are something of a precisian,” remarked the Captain. “Let me make your son’s excuses. To get the better of Captain Jacobus is a highly temerarious enterprise for a young man, though I say it. But. I must ask you to take my dagger out of him, and to clean it. I thank you. Now add your purse to the blunt, and pack it all carefully up again. It’s time for me to go, as the song says.” “Come,,” returned the other, roughly’, “let’s talk sense, Captain. The crop was fairly’ nimrued on the road, as you might have done yourself. You can’t mean to whiddle your fellows ?” “On the road? You surprise me! And yet I had some kind of an inkling ! that it wasn’t entirely parson beneath those beautiful blaqk clothes, too,” said the Captain, genially. “Why, of course! of course! gentlemen of the road, like yourself! said the old mil i, brightening somewhat at the friendliness of the other’s tone. “But parsons we’ve been for the last six months, just to implant a little confidence." “And how did it all come about ?” inquired Captain Jacobus. “Parsons we were for six months,” repeated the imposter, “in Kingsclere yon-

der.” He jerked his thumb over Ms shoulder. “Did you.aever try the lay, I Captain? You have to live mighty strict while it lasts, but it’s a good lay! a good lay'” The speaker smiled, souriy, at the recollection. “Highly respected by rich . and poor, there was nothing good enough for such a brace of saints as Johnny and ' me. Fat collections every Sabbath, and the poultry and butter and cheeses, —why, | we lived like a couple of kings, except for ! the liquor. Your parson must be cruel ] sparing of the bene-bowse. That was where the shoe pinched. But at last our chance came along, for a girl of the place was go- ' ing to be married to some bloated cit in Winchester. Her men-folk were out o’ the way, and who fit to escort her and her mother—ami her dowry—as the two tall parsons? So, one on each side, all for fear of you, Captain, we jogged along till i nightfall . . . And here we are, and I offering you a third of 'the swag; and what could be fairer ?” “You dogs of Egypt!” began Captain Jacobus, in a voice that made the glasses ring, “would you make terms with me ? By the heavens you blaspheme you shall strip yourself of every doit! ’Tis you and your like bring disgrace upon the names of the King’s gentlemen. Are we to keep the road, with curs like you snapping at our heels? What! You would decoy two poor ladies upon the King’s highway, and drag the very rings from their fingers? You would poach on the manor of Captain Jacobus, take possession of his inn, sharp him at the cards, and shoot him through the head afterwards, if he hadn’t been a match for the hulking pair of you rum clapper-dogeons ! All that you would do; and, when be gets upsides with you, you have the bravado to inform him of it to his face, and to offer him a share! A share! Tome!” and the orator interpolated some highly-stimulating oaths. “A share! You shall see, now! Empty your pockets on the table. Take off that ring—off with it—that or the finger. Search the other rascal. Now strip, the pair of you ! Quick about it! Am Ito dance attendance upon you, while you make a toilet ? Put the clothes on the fire. So!” The two men, constrained by the brace of grinning pistol muzzles, stripped to their shirts and obeyed in silence. The face of the elder was flushed to a dusky red ; his eyes shone in his head ; a trickle of blood from bis bitten lip streaked his white beard ; and the younger tottered to and fro, with a death-white face, hugging his wounded hand. “Now,” said Captain Jacobus, “you shall lade my horse for me, by thunder !” Keeping his eye on the two, he moved to the door, opened it, and whistled. Instantly there was a clatter of hoofs, and his black mare came trotting around the corner and trampled into the room. The Captain stood by his horse’s head, rating the shivering wretches like dogs while they strapped on the baggage ; and when they had done he led the animal into the i road. “Hold my stirrrup, Gideon!” said the . Captain to the hapless Johnny ; and inI eluding them both in a final exhortation, “The landlord takes your nags for the reckoning. But if ever I meet you out on the pad, I’ll shoot you down like vermin, so sure us my name is Captain Jacobus. Stand dear!” And with a bound he was gone, leaving the two half-clad rascals a prey to the humilation of impotent fury, and the most deadly discomfiture of body, amid a scene of the dismalest disorder, the last sparks of their clothes flying up the chimney in the icy draught, and the gray light of the winter’s dawn paling the candles. It is upon record that Captain Jacobus took it upon himself to restore all the trinkets, and, according to his rule in such cases, one-half the money, to the rightful owners thereof; and that the other half went into the bottomless pocket of King Charles the Second, then living very privately in the city of Cologne.

Carrier Pigeons.

In the middle of the square around which the Herald building is built in New York city is a carrier-pigeon house on a level with the roof. Great care is taken with the pigeons. Their pedigree is kept and they are all named. Then, too, a murk is stamped on their under wings, so there shall bo no mistake, and by this means the/ have often been recovered and sent home when they have lost their bearings or have been stolen. The man whose duty it is to attend to them takes a personal interest in each and every kind. When a newspaper tug starts down the bay for the yacht races, one of the principal articles taken aboard is a basket with carrier-pigeons, and each bird has a brass band on its foot. At different times during the race messages are written on the thinnest of paper and made into small parcels. These are attached to the band, and the birds thrown up into the air. A pair are usually sent off together, as they fly better, it is thought, in that way . For a moment they wheel about apparently dazed, poise themselves for perhaps a second, and then fly straight for home. On one of these races from half an hour to thirty-five minutes was the longest time taken from the moment they were thrown into the air until they arrived at their destination, and the messages were taken from their feet. It was a beautiful sight, and a wondrous one, to see these birds arrive. Curiously enough, in some instances they brought back with them strange pigeons who had joined them on the trip, evidently much interested to know the outcome of the yacht race. The strange birds did not stay at the cote after nightfall, and apparently felt themselves quite out of place with pigeons of such intelligence.

An Improved Saw.

People who cut up very valuable timber into merchantable shape have always felt a certain amount of regret at the great waste as seen in the enormous piles of sawdust that accumulates. For this reason it has been economy to use band saws, which are extremely thin and durable. Circular saws have not heretofore been as available for this work on account of their much greater thickness, but, being cheaper and much more easily managed, they have been used, even though the waste of material incident thereto has been great. By a new means a 12-gauge 54-inch circular saw has been operated, and the inventor says that it behaves in the most approved fashion in all respects, doing the work as well as thick saws and standing the strain in the most satisfactory manner. This is of a great deal of importance, as a thin circular saw can be operated where a band saw is difficult to handle, and is therefore an economy and also much more convenient.

CUBAN WEAPON.

THE MACHETE A TERROR IN THE HANDS OF THE INS, SURGENTS. The Skilful User Cuts and Tears the Spanish Enemy and Sometimes Severs His Head. Cuba has a terrible national weapon. In the present conflict in progress in Cuba the insurgents have done such deadly execution with it that the Spaniards have decided to arm their own infantry with it in order to be able to meet the insurgents on more nearly equal terms. This weapon is the machete. The machete is the Central and South American agricultural tool. It is pronounced as if spelled mah-tchay-tay, with an accent on the ay of the second syllable. It is the husbandman’s implement in all sugar growing countries. There are some three or four hundred styles used in Brazil, the Central American States, Mexico and San Domingo Each country uses a different blade, and of each there are about a hundred varieties. But wherever it appears and whatever its style, it is a murderous weapon in the hands of those accustomed to its use. It has played no small part in the history of all uprisings in the Spanish speaking provinces. But in Cuba it has done such execution that if the island should win her freedom the machete ought to be included in the coat-of-arms of Cuba libra. In Cuba every man possesses a machete, no matter what else he doesn’t own. It is the tool of the Cuban workingman. With it he earns his living cutting the sugar cane. With it he cuts the firewood for his own use. Indeed, it is hatchet and knife combined for him. Every Cuban except those who live in the big cities, like Havana, is familiar with the use of the machete. The rank and tile of the Cuban insurgents, who corns from the plantations, are not skilled in the use of firearms. But they make up for it by the ferocity with which they engage in close-quarter encounters with Spanish soldiery with the faithful machete. When this is the case the Spaniard fares badly and the machete man leaves a lot of bloody corpses or wounded bodies behind him.

A young Cuban explained the most common manner of using the machete. It is entirely different from sword practice; the thrust is not employed at all. The aim of the machete user is to cut, rip and tear his opponent and disable or kill at once. Among the insurgets the who are armed with machetes, carry the weapon in the scabbard at the left side of the belt or dangling from a chain abot the right wrist. In any case the weapon is not held for use until the lines are within a few yards of each other. When the word it passed the machete is pulled from the scabbard with an upward stroke diagonally to the right, with the longest and sharp edge toward the enemy. This constitutes one stroke, and is aimed at the abdomen of the attacked person with the design of cutting or tearing the body. With the weapon raised to the length of the right arm the wrist is simply turned over, and the machete makes a stroke back to the left so as to slash the attacked person’s neck and, if possible, partially behead him. With still one more turn of the wrist the edge of the machete strikes downward, cleaving the body again. This is all done with wonderful dexterity. These strokes are the easiest form of attack to learn among edged weapons. In the hands of the insurgents who are habituated to the use of the machete and are very strong the blows are described as wicked. Many times heads are all but severed from the body, and a machete wound is usually fatal. The machete used by the insurgents at present is a very cheap and ordinary looking affair and costs less than a dollar. It is made in England and in Germany. The blades are from twenty to thirty inches long. Some of them have a blade slightly curved backward towards the thick, dull edge with a rounded point curved back to the thick edge. 'The favorite and the one that has done most damage to the Spanish forces has the thirty inch blade, about three inches wide, long, straight and clean looking, and with the end cut off diagonally to a point,as a milliner cuts the ends of a ribbon bow. The handle is of rough looking bone, the handle of the blade being run through the centre and fastened together with what looks like four ordinary nails with the heads cut off. There is no guard at all and the machete man often gets his fingers badly wounded. That is the simplest machete. Others have the bone handle curved to fit into the palm of the hand. When the Cuban husbandman gets his machete it isn’t at all sharp. He, however, whets it up until it cuts very easily. A Cuban who has been with the insurgent army described the scene after an encounter, when the insurgents sat around, each busily sharpening his machet for the next assault. Not only the privates, but the officers as well use the machete. The officers have a shorter weapon and of better stuff. The long blades of the machete of the private will almost bend double without breaking. The shorter, broader, thicker weapons have not the same elasticity. Astonishing stories are told of the force of the blow that the insurgent can give with the native knife. In the National Museum at Madrid is an American rifle, which, it is claimed, was completely split in half lengthwise, with a blow from a machete. Women have been known to use the machete, and during the Ten Years’ War there were numerous instances where women whose husbands were away fighting defended themselves and children with the machete.

The Great Sails of Racing Yachts.

The sails of the racers are probably the most wonderful part of their whole make up. Defender, when she has her mainsail, her jib, her jib topsail, her staysail, and 1 her working topsail up, carries 12,000 square

feet of canvas. And when she substitutes for these working-sails her balloon jib, her club topsail, and pats out her spinnaker she almost doubles that area. These sails cost thousands of dollars, because there must be several of each in case of accident to one or another, and for use in the different kinds of wind that may prevail in the race. There is a heavy mainsail for strong winds, of sea-island cotton or Egyptian cotton or ramie cloth, while the jibs are made of lighter grades of the same material, until they come down to the constituency of a coarse pockethandkerchief. One of Defender’s spinnaker’s is of Scotch linen. In 1893 it was reported that one of Valkyrie Il’s, big spinnakers was of silk, but it was npt; it was of exceedingly fine Irish linen. Taking all these matters into account, and considering that each boat must have from forty to fifty saildrs to man her, it becomes evident that the building and maintaining of such a yacht is a matter of no small expense. Mr. George Gould spent no less that S4O,OCX) to put Vigilant in condition to race with Defender in the preliminary trials this year. Ths crew has to be engaged and trained for weeks before the racer is put into commission, and kept at work for a couple of months before the great contests for the cup are held. These sailors, of course, cannot live on the yacht, since there is no room for bunks or lockers or a galley on the modern racing machine. Therefore both Defender an I Valkyrie had steam-ten-ders.'

AMERICAN TORQUOISES.

One ' m Which We are Mining Extensively. Although the United States cannot claim to be considered one of the great gem-producing countries of the world, almost every known variety of precious stone has been found within its limits. Few gems, however, are common enough to be of decided commercial importance, and systematic mining is rarelj' carried on. The only exception to this is afforded by the turquoise. The last edition of the “Mineral Resources of the United States’’ gives the value of the rough gems of all kinds produced here during 1893 as amounting to $264,041 —of which $143,136 goes to the credit of the turquoise mines. Almost all of the American turquoise comes from Santa Fe County, New Mexico, or Mohave County, Arizona. As in Persia, the turquoise, both in New Mexico and in /Vrizona, occurs in veins permeating volcanic rocks, a yellowish brown trachyte being the commonest matrix. The Pueblo Indians find them an easy way of making money, as they can be obtained with little trouble, and after being subjected to rough grinding, can be readily sold to travelers. Formerly, when the Indian was more unsophisticated, choice stones could be obtained from them at the outlay of a few cents, but of late years the sellers have begun to realize the value of their goods, and now few real bargains can be secured. The ancient inhabitants of Mexico mined the turquoise extensively, and the invading Spaniards found it largely used to incrust human skulls, and also to inlay mosaics and to decorate obsidian ornaments. Traces of the old mines can be found to this day, and rubbish heaps are common in the turquoise district. In the Arizona mines they tell how, on a tunnel being run through a turquoise deposit, the miners came across the remains of a more ancient tunnel, its top and sides rent and caved in as if by an earthquake, while in a small space, three or four feet each way, was the skeleton of the unfortunate Aztec, who had been imprisoned there by the falling in of the roof. In one hand the skeleton still clutched the handle of his old mine hammer, and at his side was a leather bag containing, as the discoverers found, several choice stones. It only shows that in the old days men would take as big risks in search of treasure as they will now. Another tale of turquoises drifts up ' from Yucatan. It tells of an idol in an ancient temple, around whose neck, arms and ankles are hung strings of magnificent turquoises, while each of its eyes is a single large stone. The narrator, a Mexican miner, claimed that these eye stones were about three inches in their largest diameter. There is something in this story irresistibly suggestive of Rider Haggard’s idols.

Marked Cent Reappears.

Ross Gillespie, a well known silversmith, was displaying with great pride an ordinary copper cent, one of the cartwheel variety, to his friends last night, says the Philadelphia Record. The.coin bore the date of 1861, the year Mr. Gillespie began his apprenticeship. On the reverse side was stamped a wreath, in the center of which were Mr. Gillespie’s initials, “R. A. G.” The design was placed upon the coin thirty-four years ago by the then young man, who turned it loose in the world of commerce with a remark to his friends that he expected ijome day to see it come back to him again. Like the bad penny it was, it did turn up, but in a rather unexpected manner. Passing up Tenth street one day Mr. Gillespie paused to look* at the display in the show window of a numismatist. One moldy-looking copper cent attracted his attention, and a close inspection revealed the coin that had been marked by him years ago. It took twenty-five cents to purchase the coin, but now it is a priceless charm, dangling from the gold watch chain of its proud owner.

An Electrified Mail Box.

There is a United States letter box on Grand street, Paterson, with letters in it which will not be delivered to the addresses in thp morning mail. Letter Carrier James Low attempted to take them out last evening. When he rested one hand on the box and with the other inserted his key in the lock he was sent reeling twenty feet away and picked up dazed. Others tried to open the box with the same result. The box is charged with electricity, and unless the current is cut off the box cannot be opened.

A Valuable Dime.

Whoever has a dime of 1894, coined by the ban Francisco mint, has a coin for which $5 has already been offered, and when all the facts are known regarding its scarcity it is not unlikely that it will command a much higher premium. Inquiry at the mint elicited the information that during the fiscal year of 1894 only twenty-four dimes were coined at the San Francisco /mint. How this came about was told by Chief Clerk Robert Barnett. “All undercurrent subsidiary coins, viz, those containing other than the design now being used when received at the Sub-Treasury, are not again allowed to go into circulation, but are sent to the mint to be recoined with the current design. In the course of the year 189£ we received a large sum in these coins, but having an ample stock of dimes on hand it was not intended to coin any of that denomination in 1894. However, when nearly all of this subsidiary coin bullion had been utilized, we found on our hands a quantity that would coin to advantage only into dimes, and into dimes it was coined, making just twenty-four of them. “My attention was first drawn to the matter particularly by the receipt of a letter from a collector somewhere East requesting a set of the coins of 1894. In filling this order I found there were no dimes of that date on hand. Subsequently I received quite a number of similar letters, and in each case was, of course, unable to furnish them. “Plenty of dimes were coined that year at Philadelphia and New Orleans mints, but there are many collectors who accumulate the coinage of each mint, as each has its distinguishing mark. Those coined here bear a letter ‘S’ under the eagle. New Orleans used the letter ‘O’ and Carson City the letter ‘O',’ while Philadelphia coins are identified by the absence of the letter. “We receive each year about fifty requests from coin collectors for coins, mostly for those of silver.”

Curious Fish in Lake Galilee.

In the Sea of Galilee—or Lake Tiberias, as it is also called—there is a strange fish named the Chromis Simonis, which is more careful of its young than fish generalljr are. The male fish takes the eggs in his mouth and keeps them in his natural side pockets, where they are regularly hatched, and remain until able to shift for themselves. By this ingenious arrangement the brood is comparatively guarded against its natural enemies; it is easily fed, too, but it is a puzzle how the little ones escape being eaten alive. A month ago, says a traveler writing to a religious contemporary, 1 found in my net a number of Chromis Simonis without eyes. Others of the species, when I lifted them up, dropped a number of little fishes out of their mouths, which swum away hastily. The natives explained the phenomenon. The blind Chromis are the victims of sea hawks. When these birds have eaten their fill they begin to look out for tit-bits. After catching a fish they hit its forehead with their sharp beak, knocking out the middle part, in which their eyes are set. The bony structure is dropped into the water, but the eyes are eaten by the birds with great relish. Strangely enough the fish generally survive this rough treatment. The wound heals up quickly in the water, and they continue to ply the lake for food as if nothing had happened.

The Dreaded Ant Lizard.

The natives of Mexico say that what in the volcanic districts troubles them most in cutting through the forest is the perro sompopo, or ant lizard, a dreaded creature that travels in great armies and attacks everything that comes in its path. The pero compopo resembles the ordinary lizard in its bodily conformation, but its head is wider and flatter, and its eyes are large, protuberant, of extraordinary brilliancy and at night are said to be phosphorescent. When te'n thousand of these creatures are in motion in one direction on a dark night, they give the trees of the forest the appearance of being set in a bed of undulating fire. The bite of the perro sompopo is fatal, and the agony r preceding death is said tc be something frightful. The lizard usually attacks the instep —the natives are always barefooted—and within ten minutes the foot begins to swell and in half an hour the swelling has extended to the body, which begins to turn a purplish red, not unlike the neck of a man in an apoplectic fit. The unfortunate wretch loses the power of speech because of the dilation of the vocal organs and the thickening of the tongue. The whole body generally becomes paralyzed, and the end comes usually within an hour after the bite has been inflicted. No antidote has yet been discovered for this poison.

A Unique Entertainment.

At a corn social lately given by 7 the Methodist Protestant Endeavorers of Princeton, 111., the lunch consisted largely of preparations made from corn. There were blanc mange, cornstarch cake,popcorn balls, loose popcorn and coffee. Each guest found at his plate as a souvenir a cornplaster tied with yellow ribbon. Each lady received a small one, and each gentleman a large one. Among the amusements of the evening was a guessing contest, the contestants striving to guess the number of grains of popcorn in a small dish. The successful guesser was rewarded with a wall rack made by screwing three toilet hooks in a great ear of white corn, hung by 7 a silk ribbon. It goes without saying that at this interesting festival no one Was “corned” in the popular use of the word.

Artificial Indigo.

What is known as “indigo salt” is now being introduced as the latest substitute for the genuine article. It is said to possess the property oi being converted into indigo by 7 means of caustijC soda, and, in dyeing, all that is necessary is to treat the cot-, ton in a bath of the salt and then pass the treated cotton into a solution of the soda. The value of this method may be estimated from the statement made that, in printing, it suffices to thicken a solution of the salt with dextrine, print this on, and pass the printed fabric through caustic soda.

THE WHITE BIRCH.

A Splendid Tree That is Put t» Many Uses. “Why not call trees people ? since, if you come to live among them year after year, you will learn to know many of them personally, and an attachment will grow up between you and them individually.”’ So writes that “Doctor Amabilis” of woodcraft, W. C. Prime, in his book: “Among the Northern Hills,” and straightway launches forth into eulogy of the white birch. And truly it is an admirable, lovable and comfortable tree, beautiful to look upon and full of various uses. Its wood is strong to make paddles and axe handles, and glorious to burn, blazing up at first with a flashing flame, and then holding the fire in its glowing heart all through the night. Its bark: is the most serviceable of all the products of the wilderness. In Russia, they say, it is used in tanning, and gives its subtle, sacerdotal fragrance to Russia leather. But here in tho woods it serves more primitive ends. It can be peeled off in a huge roll from some giant tree and fashioned into a swift canoe to carry man over the waters. It can be cut into square sheets to roof his shanty in the forest. It is the paper on which he writes his woodland despatches, and the flexible material which ho bends into drinking cups of silver lined with gold. A thin strip of it wrapped around the end of a. candle and fastened in a. cleft stick makes a practicable chandelier. A basket for berries, a horn to call the lovelorn moose through the autumnal woods, a canvas on which to draw the outline of great and memorable sish —all those and many other indispensable luxuries are storecTup for the skilful woodsman in birch bark. Only do not rob or mar the tree unless you really need what it has tn give you. Let it stand and grow in virgin majesty, ungirdled and unscarred, while the trunk becomes a firm pillar of the forest temple, and the branches spread abroad a refuge of bright green leaves for the birds of the air. Nature never made a morn excellent piece of handiwork. “And if,” said my lady Greygown, “I should ever become a dryad, I would choose to be transformed into a. white birch. And jthen, when the days of my life were numbered, and the sap had ceased to flow, and the last leaf had fallen, and the dry bark hung around me in ragged curls and streamers, some wandering hunter would come in the wintry night and touch a lighted coal to my body, and my spirit would flash up in a fiery chariot into the sky.

The Nautch Dancer.

The tent was already densely packed with Hindoo spectators, a. line of statuesque torch bearers stood around a long carpet,, and at the end of the carpet lay a pile of cushions under a canopy, all of gold worked crimson velvet. This was the Rajah’s place, but as he had sent word that he could not be present, the music struck up when our party had seated themselves in a row of chairs on a raised platform at the right. Then the dancing began—dances by several bayaderes, and single dances ac-. companied with song or recitative, en ling with a performance by the court actors. After a preliminary ballet, in which two or three took part, a dainty little personage came forward—graceful, gazelle-eyed—en-veloped in a filmy cloud of black and gold gauze, which floated airily about her; she was the living incarnation of the Nautch, as interpreted by the sculptors of Chitor; from the air oi laughing assurance with which she surveyed her assembled subjects, it was evident that she was accustomed to homage and sure of conquest. She held her audience absorbed and expectant by the monotonous and plaintive cadence of her song, by long glances full of intense meaning from half closed eyes, and by swift changes of expression and mood, as well as by the spell of “woven paces and of waving arms.” One may see many a Nautch without retaining such a vivid impression; much of its force was owing, no doubt, to the fitness of the place and the charm of strange accessories, the uncertain glare of the smoking torches, ths mingling of musky odors with the overpowering scent of attar of roses, and of wilting jasmine flowers; these perfumes were intensified in the close air of the tent by the heat of the night—the prelude to the fiercer heat which comes with the morning and the rising of the hot wind.

A Whistling Pig.

Some Leavenworth (Kan.) hunters, who have been taking a vacation in the Icicle mountains, describe a peculiar animal, many of which they say are to be found in the higher parts of the range . This animal is known as the “whistling pig,” but it is said to resemble a fox more than a pig, and io weighs from twenty-five to forty pounds. In color it ranges from a dark gray to almost white. It is said to whistle in a most remarkable manner, and many a time it has fooled the lonely prospector into the idea that he was not alone in the mountains. One of the gentlemen declares that these animals are musical wonders, and that often they give open air concerts that are well worth hearing.

New Race of Roses.

What Is now described as “ a new race of fpolyantha roses” has been, known to rose-fanciers for several years. It is a cross between th® polyantha and a hybrid perpetual, with perhaps an accentuation of the tea-blood of the hybrid. It blooms constantly, is hardy with little or no protection, and is perhaps the best of all roses for borders. The Clotilde'’ Sounert is a good example of it. The science of hybridization is carried to a higher degree of perfection in roses than anything else, but still the best new roses are nearly always accidental hybrids created by bees and butterflies. When men assist nature she shows them how to improve on their best efforts. Bulgarian beat-skin caps are still frequently seen in the dominions of Prince Ferdinand, i