Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 June 1896 — Tons of Honey in a Rock. [ARTICLE]

Tons of Honey in a Rock.

On Elk Mountain, Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, a few miles from the Jefferson branch of the Erie Railroad, there is an extraordinary lot of wild honey. The hive is located in a rift, which penetrates the rocks probably to a depth of 160 feet. The orifice is thirty feet long and seventeen feet wide. The rift was discovered to be the abiding place of a huge swarm of bees, which flies in a close column, one foot in diameter. Many persons have tried to get to the honey stored by the bees, but were invariably driven back. One man. three years ago, nearly lost his life in the attempt. Others have built a scaffold, 125 feet high, in the hope of reaching a place whence they vainly tried to run a tube into the hoard of sweets and extract a little. Within four years the bees have added probably not less than fifteen feet of honey to their treasure. It is thought that there are several tons of honey in the rock. A man named Duncan, who lives in a cabin, not far from the spot, each summer obtains from the rock, by the sun’s heat, more than enough for his family. All through that region, the second highest point in Pennsylvania, wild honey is found in cracks of rocks.-r New York Press. Spain has a population of about 20,000,000 people.

HOW TIPTOES CARRIED A IJE FTBS. Little Mary and her kitten Tiptoes were very fond of each other, and when Mary had to be sent to her uncle’s, four miles away from home, to attend school, one of the hardest things for her to do was to part with kitty. A few days after she had left home, as she was walking slowly toward school one morning, what should she see in the rpad a few feet from her but Tiptoes, trotting straight toward her uncle’s house. She ran and caught her up in her arms, and laughed and almost cried at the same time. But this was not the strangest part of what Tiptoes did, for kittens often find their way over long distances. When Mary returned from school that night she wrote a letter to her mamma, telling her of the kitten’s adventure, and then °tied the letter with a ribbon around Tiptoes’ neck and told her that she must go back home and carry the letter to mamma. And what do you suppose, for this is a true story ? A few days later Mary received a letter through the mail from mamma, saving that Tiptoes had come home and delivered the letter safely. Now don’t you think that Mary has reason to think Tiptoes a pretty smart cat ? A MUSIC-LOVING RABBIT. Alice was acquiring a habit of whistling while working on the prairie just outside of her sod bouse. She could whistle very sweetly, too, which was something of an excuse for the habit. One day, while in the midst of her whistli ig and picking up corncobs, she happened to glance towards the corn-field that was only a few rods from the house, and was very much amused to discover a jack-rabbit peeping at her from behind a corn-stalk. She stopped her work, and at the same time her whistling, to watch the funnylooking little fellow; and he, just as soon as the whistling had ceased, became terrified at having attracted her attention, and, bounding away, quickly disappeared from view. Alice again began to whistle, merely as an experiment, and presently the long ears pointed at her from behind another corn-stalk. She went oa whistling, and the foolish little animal became so reckless that he hopped from behind the cornstalk into full view. Sae then whistled her sweetest, an I he came a few feet nearer. She suddenly stopped, and after a few moments of dazel indecision, the timid creature began hopping back to the corn-field as fast as he could go. Suddenly, though, she began with some sweet bird notes, and when he heard the whistling again, the little animal stopped on the instant, as though she had transfixed him with a spear. The amused experimenter continued these sweet notes with variations, and the fascinated animal, by degrees, came nearer and nearer until within a few feet of the charmer, and there he sat upon his haunches, literally “all ears,” gazing at the whistler entranced, his long ears sticking straight up in the air, as it he wished to catch every note. Alice kept up the whistling until she was out of breath, and when site stopped the funny little creature again looked dazed, and seemed quite un lecided as to what he should do; then, coming back to his senses, he was seized with a sudden panic, an 1 casting around him a terrified glance, nude long, hesitating leap? for the corn-tield, w tere he dashed into the shelter of the shady stalks and quickly vanished onee more from her sight. After that, whenever Alice felt lonesome and wanted to see the jack-rabbit, all she had to do was to whistle for him; and it was not long before he began to listen for her summons, while he peered cautiously from behind a corn-stalk on the very edge of the field.

SAVED BY HER PET. Little Mary Walsh lived in the country. “I hive the funniest pet for you that ever you saw,” said her papa one evening as she was coming from school. “What can it be?” she wondered. “Come with me to the barn, and you shall see,” sail her papa. The “pet” was in a little box a'l by itself. And what do you suppose it was ? It was a very small pig. “Not a very nice pet after all,” thought Mary the first time she sav it. But she pitied it because it had no mother to care for it. And strange as it may seem, there came a day when piggy saved Mary’s life. I will tell you bow it happened, for I doubt if you could ever guess how a creature so senseless and selfish as piggy could save a little girl’s life. In the first place, every morning before school and every evening after school, Mary would feed piggy, who was very son I of milk. Piggy soon learned to squeal and grunt in great glee when he would spy her coming with her bright little pail. Mary was sure he loved her. But her papa thought piggy was only a glutton, who liked milk better than he liked his kind, young mistress. No matter which was right, it is certain that when he was allowed to run at large, piggy would follow Mary about like a dog, every time she carried a pail. Few pigs were fed so well as piggy. In a few weeks he grew so fat that Air. Chaup, the butcher, wanted to buy him. Mary had never admired Mr. Chaup, and she liked him still less when he called her piggy a hog. Her tears saved piggy’s life. One day Mary went out for blackberries. Of course she carried her pail, and, of course, piggy followed her. He squealed so loudly that Mary had to let him look into the pail to show him there was no milk in it. Even then he did not seem to feel sure that his eyes were telling him the truth. Mary went out into the thicket where

the berries were large and luscious, fit an hour her pail was more than half filled. She came to some very large stones. Beyond these the tempting fruit hung in richer dusters than any she had gathered. She could not c imb over the rocks, but she thought she could go round them, so she began to push aside the bushes. She was so busy that she paid no attention to the warning, “whir-r-r, whir-r-r, whir-r-r-r," which her father had so often cautioned her to beware of. At length she noticed; but alas, not in time to save herself; for a great yellow rattlesnake lay coiled at her very feet Her limbs were paralyzed with fright. She knew its fangs were charged with deadly poison. Dropping her pail to the ground she uttered a single piercing scream. “Snap, snap, whir-r-r-r!” Piggy plunged past her at the very moment the reptile was about to strike its cruel fangs info her flesh. Shake, shake, shake. Behold, piggy, who was greedily devouring Mr. Snake. “Poor, poor piggy,” thought Mary, “be has saved mv life. But he will surely be poisoned." Just then Mary's pipa came running to her. He had heard her cry. “Poor piggy is poisoned,” she said with tearful eyes. ‘ ‘He ate the snake to save my life.” “He will not die. There is nothing in the world which pigs like so well as rattlesnake meat. But I must admit that piggy has saved my little girl’s life.” “He is a real hero,” Mary said. “How he loves me I” “And how he loves snakes!” eaid her papa. “You will never sell him to Mr. Cbaup, will you, papa ?” “No, dear, that I will not. Piggy deserves to die of old age.” “And he is not a hog, is be, papa? That horrid Mr. Chaup talks as if ptgiy were only a common hog, you know ” “Whatever he is, my child, he has proved to-day that it pays to be kind, even to a pig,” said her papa, taking her in his arms and starting for home, while piggy squealed loudly for milk. To this day Mr. ( haup eyes piggy wistfully every time be sees him, but gets no encouragement either from Mary or her papa.