Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1896 — Page 5

THE JOKER’S BUDGET.

JESTS AND YARNS OF THE FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. Real Estate Quiet-Precaution—A Modest Photograph—Was Disappointed—-Not Waltzers—He Wanted to Guide. REAL ESTATE QUIET. Eastern Man—“ Anything stirring in teal estate out your way this season ?” Western Man (gloomily)—“No-o, not even a landslide.” precaution. Briggs—Does your wife laugh when you tell her a funny story? Braggs—Oh, yea. I always tell her beforehand that it is funny. A MODEST PHOTOGRAPH. Mrs. Dearborn—Will my feet show? Photographer—Oh, mercy no! Pm not going to make the picture as big as that! THE EXCEPTION TO THE BULE. “I suppose Fred’s letter is about the same silly thing as usual ?” “No, it isn’t; be didn’t mention your name once this time.” WAS DISAPPOINTED. Wigwag—How does the political situation strike you? Harduppe - I’ve been looking for one for the past twenty years, and it hasn’t struck me yet. not waltzv'Rß. Mabel—l understand that there were only square dances at Mrs. Flippit’s small and early. Maude—Yes; there weren’t men enough to go round. A PROSPECT OF RETRIBUTION. First Ball Player—They say this umpire’s goin’ to get married. Second Ball Player—ls he? I hope he’ll know how it is himself not to be let talk back.

HE WANTED TO GLIDE. Odorous Oliver—Oh, dear, I wisht I wuz a snake. Dingy Dick—Gosh! Whaffor? “So’s 1 could move’thout havin’ to git u-V* * NOT SAFE. Miss Huggine—My father is very good at reading faces. Mr. Kissam—Then I had better not print any kisses there. SURPRISED. “Weren’t you surprised when he proposed ?” “No. Why should I be?” “Everybody else was.” DIED AS HE HAD LIVED. Bizley—The ossified man at the dime museum died this morning. Paley—Poor fellow! I suppose he was resigned. Bizley—No, indeed. He died hard. APPROPRIATELY NAMED. Hoax—What is Chisler going to call that statue of his .representing a young man in tears? Joax—He calls it “Crossed in Love.” Hoax—Ob, I see. Chisler cut him out. A MONUMENTAL PUN. Judge—On what grounds do you bring the action ? Lawyer—This man refuses to pay the bill for his wife’s burial. Judge—Um—that’s a grave charge. EXPLAINED. Rydes—Wheeler is bumped-over, I know, but he’s great on the bike. Why, he can ride backward! Walker—Well, he’s only following his bent AN EARLY RISER. Gadzooks—Keen scheme Wiley has for getting up early; isn’t it? Zounds—What’s that? Gadzooks—Eats a yeast-cake every night when he goes to bed. WANTED TO SEE IT WORK. “Let me take the blamed thing home,” said the patient, as the dentist relieved him qf his aching molar; “I want to take it hor»e and poke sugar in it to see it ache!” WORDS FIULY SPOKEN. “Did you hear about that ha ! r-raising story Hone was circulating ?” asked the barbel in Grabenstatter’s. “Djn’t tell it to me," hastily replied the customer. ‘ ‘Keep it for your baldheadeji victims.” ungentlemanly. “Itheems to me,” shouted Uncle Allen Spark) to the fleeing bloomer girl, whose bicycp had given him a severe jolt at a crossing, “you might stop a second or at leastlook around to see whether you’ve knocked anybody down or not That would be the gentlemanly thing to do.” ABSOLUTE PROOF. A recruit, wishing to evade service, was brought up for medical inspection, anc the doctor asked him : ‘Have you any defects ?” I‘Yes, sir; I am short sighted." “How can you prove it ?’’ '“Easily enough, doctor. Do you see tjat nail up yonder in the wall ?” / “Yes.’’ I “Well, I don’t. A SUPERFLUOUS QUESTION. / ‘ ‘These scales, ” said a Dallas druggist, “are adjusted so nicely that you can tell on them the difference between the weight of a blonde hair and a dark hair." “Which hair weighs the less." “The light hair weighs less, Of course.”

Where Cold Goes.

A dentist In a good practice uses over SSOO worth of gold a year In filling teeth. Some prepare their own gold: others get it from the gold beaters, but the greater part obtain it from dental supply firms. This gold is put up in eight-ounce packages, packed in small glass phials, each containing a fraction of an ounce. The cylindrical pieces of gold in it are gold-foil of a very soft and spongy kind. When pressed into a hollow tooth, one of these cylinders will not take up onetwentieth of the space it occupies in the bottle? About $10,000,000 is now concealed in the mouths of people in the world.—Boston Traveller.

Odd Names for Babies.

The generation of Boston women who were known about the year 1640 labored under a burden more weighty than is usually realized. Boston records about the year 1640 show the following among other names that were affixed to innocent baby girls: Believe Gridley, Tremble. Gridley, Hopestill Vical,-Joy cliff e Rudock, Desire the Truth Allers, Father Gone Dinley, Strange Beck, Waitstill Winthrop, Rc> demption Scott an<T so on. San Francisco has over 7,000 saloons

AMERICAN VICE PRESIDENTS.

An 111-founded Prejudice Against an Office Which Has Been Held by Statesmen. The routine duties of the office of vice president are unimportant and the influence of a vice president in the administration of which he is a meml>er is insignificant. He has less to do with the course of than any of the members of the Senate over which he legally presides. In executive matters and in the consideration of appointments a president consults with his cabinet—never with the vice president. The president’s private secretary, indeed, outranks usually in point of influence and authority the vice president. and the latter personage has come to be regarded as an amiable figurehead, whose only real importance arises from the possibility of the president’s office becoming vacant. Yet some of the most important men in American history, especially in the early days of the republic, have held the office of vice president, and have brought to the discharge of its duties qualities of the very first importance. The first vice president of the United States, John Adams, was afterward president, and certainly no New England man was more prominent than Mr. Adams in support of the revolution. A signer of the Declaration of Independence, he was accredited as Minister to France in 1777 and as Minister to England in 1785, two of the most important offices which an American at that time could fill, and outranked only by the office held by George Washington, Mr. Adams’s predecessor as president, who was Commander-in-ehief of the American army. The second vice president of the United States was the illustrious Democratic statesman. Thomas Jefferson, whose participation in the events leading up to the Revolution was certainly more active and important than that of any of the members of the Senate over which he presided. George Clinton, who enjoyed the remarkable distinction of being Governor of New York for eighteen years consecutively (and the first Governor of New York, too), was the fourth vice president of the United States, and Daniel D. Tompkins, who was Governor of New York for ten years, was the sixth. It has been said often by critics of American political history that the most distinguished statesmen, HenryClay, Daniel Webster, and others of like prominence, have by some political fatality fallen short of the presi-, dency, and the name of John C. Calhoun of South Carolina has generally been included in this list. But Mr. Calhoun did not fall short of the vice presidency, for he succeeded in office Gov. Tompkins of New York, and was for eight years the vice president, having as his distinguished successor Martin Van Buren of New York. Mr. Van Buren was certainly the most prominent Democratic statesman in the period in which he lived, and after serving as vice president he was elected president in 1836, defeating William H. Harrison, grandfather of Mr. Cleveland’s predecessor. A careful and satisfactory performance of the duties of the vice president was, in the case of Mr. Van Buren, no bar to his subsequent promotion to the presidency, and later Millard Fillmore, elected vice president in 1848, became president, and in the presidential contest of 1856, though running on an outside ticket of a third party, Mr. Fillmore received 800,000 votes. In more recent years the office of vice president has been of less prominence, but It has been held with distinction by at least two New York Republicans—Chester A. Arthur and Levi ft Morton—the former afterward president and the latter a candidate for that office.

A PHENONEMAL HUMAN HEART

t Beats So Loud That it Ca»i Be Heard Twelve Feet Away, Two great English physicians are the authority for the unique and strange fact that there is a girl in London town whose heart beats so loud that its “murmur” can be heard twelve feet away. This is a case so unprecedented in medical annals that doctors acknowledge it the loudest heartbeat in the world. When it comes to be considered that hearts under ordinary conditions beat silently, so that they cannot be beard unless one’s ear is put close to the chest, the wonder and the oddity of a heart whose pulsations can actually be heard four yards away, or fully across the ordinary room of a city house, is manifest. One would think that such a girl would be in a very bad way, that she must be seriously ill and likely to die quickly. But just the reverse is true. The girl who has this unique heart, a fifteen-year-old English maiden, of rugged health, strength and vigor, is so well that the only inconvenience she feels from her abnormal heart action is that she gets quickly out of breath. In all other respects she is quite in normal health. Her heart is not enlarged or dilated, and she is able to do the things day by day that an ordinary English girl does. Not only can the beating cf her heart be heard twelve feat away, but it can be heard when the young woman h'as all her clothes on. The doctors that have reported the case have experimented to a considerable extent with her, and they have found out what is even more remarkable, viz., that if, her chest being bared, she stands three feet away from a closed door and a listener places himself three feet on the other side of the door, the listener can hear her heart beat distinctly and perfectly. The curious disease with which she is affected is known scientifically as “mitral murmur,” “mitral” being the technical name of the valve between the left auricle and the left ventricle of the heart. Thus the disease is what is known as a valvular trouble. In most cases any valvular affection of the cardiac region is attended with considerable danger, and not infrequently it results in death within a few years. But the physicians anticipate no such termination in this girl’s case. She is in too good health generally and she feels little inconvenience from the malady, if it be one.

The Mosquito Not in It.

M. Fougard says that a single pair of aphdies will bring 1.000.000.000,000,000,000 individuals of their kind into existence in a single season of five months, or, say, during the months of May, June. July, August and September. No other known species of insect which can be seen with the naked eye breeds with anything like such amazing rapidity.—St Louis Republic.

UNIQUE BASEBALL.

FT IS PLAYED BY BOYS WHO ARE EN TIRELY BUND. How the Inmates of the Kentucky Institu* tion for the Blind Enjoy the Came. Novel Features of the Sport Should the Louisville Baseball Club at the close of the season have succeeded in successfully defending twelfth place in the pennant race, they may earn fresh laurels by challenging and probably defeating the nine from the Kentucky Institute for the Blind,which is located near the Falls City. In the Kentucky Institute there are two regularly organized nines, between which there is the fiercest rivalry, and the institute pennant Is as highly prized and will be as blttteriy contested for, as that gaudy strip of bunting which, whatever else happens, will not wave next year over the Polo Grounds. Professor R. B. Huntoon, of the Kentucky school, describing baseball among the blind, makes the astonishing statement by way of preface, that among the boys and young men, who must go through life in darkness there is a fondness for athletic exercises, and an ambition to excel in feats of physical power almost as deep founded as among the students of the universities. The gynasium is well patronized, and field sports are in high favor, notably sprinting, longer races up to a mile.running jump, hop, skip and jump, and putting weights. Intense excitement prevails during these contests, the results of which must be reported by word of mouth to both contettants and “spectators.” The baseball game differs, of course, in many of its details from the regular games played by the youth of America. The diamond is not of regular size, but is of regulation form. The distance between bases is but forty feet, instead of ninety. The infielders are stationed the same as in a National League game, with the exception that there is a right shortstop, thus making ten men to a side, an arrangement once seriously considered by professional ball managers. In the outfield, on public games, there is an unlimited number of players, each taking a turn at the bat, first moving up one position whenever a batsman is put out. The catcher sits on the ground, well back from the home plate, and, to guard against injury, he wears a mask and a chest protector. His position is such that when the pitcher delivers a ball it strikes the ground just between his knees and is taken on the short bound.

The batsman takes his position at the plate, with a heavy flat bat, somewhat like those used in cricket. The umpire, who must be a man of unimpaired vision, calls upon the pitcher to get ready, and then clearly sings out, “One, two, three!” At the word three the pitcher must loyally deliver a ball that can be hit by the batsman, who, standing there in the darkness, with a sharpened sense of hearing and a wonderful conception of the time that must elapse before the ball reaches him, is prepared to strike. Baseball writers often refer to “the whlsh of the ball, as like an arrow, it fairly split the space over the home plate.” To the quickened sense of the blind this “whish of the ball” is a reality, and it is astonishing, guided by this refined development of the hearing faculty, how often the ball is struck by the batsman.

If the batsman should miss, the ball bounces into the catcher’s lap, and is at once returned to the pitcher by a single toss with a precision that is wonderful. When the ball is batted, the umpire calls out quickly to the fielder in whose direction it is travelling, and he, guided by a sense of hearing, either catches the ball or follows it in its course through the grass. Six strikes are an out. In fielding any number of bounds are permitted. If the batted ball is a “hot liner” and travelling straight for an infielder’s head, the umpire shouts a warning, and in such cases the endangered player ducks or falls to the turf. It is possible, in fact the ball is frequently fielded to first in time to put out the runner. When throwing to first the assisting player, who is guided by thevoice of the baseman, calculates the distance with nicety and throws the ball so that it strikes the ground a few yards in front of the baseman. The latter hears it coming, and usually gets it without further assistance. Running bases was formerly a difficult thing. There were then three trees on the diamond. toward which the runner ran with outstretched hands. Bags have since been substituted for bases, and therunner is guided by the voice of the baseman, who is required to shout “First, first first.” In like manner the other bags are won. Once on a base the runner is guided by the voice of the unless his side dies at the home plate. Six outs put a side out Naturally there is no approach to scientific ball playing, but under all circumstances it is astonishing to note the frequency of “clean hits,” while the base running and fielding are at times almost marvellous and present a most wonderful exhibition of the refinement of the development of the sense of hearing in an effort to compensate for the loss of sight.

FREE ROCK FOR THE ROADS.

California Highway Bureau’s Rock Crushing Plant. Following close upon the heels of recent events in road improvement agitation, the good roads’ convention at Santa Cruz, the supervisors’ convention at San Jose, and the universal stirring up of the question throughout the state, comes the opening of the state rockcrushing plant, at Folsom penitentiary, on Saturday last. June 6. The crusher is one-half a mile from the Folsom power house. The i>ower is conveyed by means of compressed air through a Lafel turbine wheel and a six-inch pipe. At the machine the compressed air rushes into a receiver, where it is heated by the Injection of a fine jet of steam no larger than a pencil point. This crusher is the largest of its kind in the United States. The foundation is 34 feet deep in solid rock, filled up with granite blocks 18 inches thick. The weight of the rock-bunkers, when full of rock, is nearly pounds. The main shaft of the crusher is about as large as the shaft of the line-of-bat-tie ship Oregon. Its capacity, running

at full velocity, h 110 tons an hour, or almost two tons of crushed rock per minute. Th!® great engine is a product of home labor. It was built by the Union Iron Works at a cost of $30,000. The total coet of the plant represents an outlay, if built by ordinary labor, of SIOO,OOO, but the use of convict labor represents an important saving to the state. On the state property there Is an unlimited supply of the finest kind of trap-rock for road-building purposes, which the highway bureau is authorized to use. The crusher is operated by the same agency which oversees also its distribution. For this purpose an elaborate set of blanks has been prepared to insure that all the rock sent out goes to the roads for which it is designated. The contractor must file applications with the mayor or board of supervisor® and with the bureau; be must have all kinds of certificates from the board of supervisors that he has been granted the contract, and from the city engineer that the estimates are correct. before the rock is shipped. We have mnch to learn from the Roman people in the matter of road construction. They had the greatest system of highways the world has ever seen. At one time twenty-nine great roads centered in Rome, and there were 320 state roads throughout the empire.

These highways, which extended through what is now Germany, France, Spain and even into England, and south into Africa, were built to withstand the heaviest of traffic. They were excavated 4 feet deep and filled with four solid layers of rock of decreasing size, the bottom layer being of solid rocks, hewn and fitted by hand, with mortar and cement poured into the interstices. Smaller stones were then laid in, and the top finished off with something like the macadam of the present day. On these great thoroughfares the Roman prisoners labored, and, in time of jieaee, road-making was the occupation of the soldiery. Opponents of convict labor usually base their objections on the ground that it throws out of employment a certain amount of free labor by the introduction into the market of goods at low prices which would otherwise have to be made by free labor. However, the fact is that the convicts employed at rock crushing in Folsom do not compete at all, but actually create work for others. The fact is that rock crushed by outside labor is so expensive that it cannot be used by the state or counties for road making at all; whereas, the stone prepared by the convicts is supplied by the state for road building at a nominal charge, i. e., that of the oil and waste used on the machinery, and the cost of transportation to the point where it is to be used.—San Francisco Wave.

LUCK IN MINING.

One Miner Lost a Big Fortune, but Saved His Boy. “I could have owned half of the Enterprise mine at Rico for S2OO if a telegram from Denver had not announced the decision of the doctors to use the knife on my baby boy for hernia. I lost more than $1,000,000, but I stopped the knife, and my boy is healthy and rugged.” These were the words of a gentleman seated with a group of prospectors a few evenings ago, which led up to a number of stories relating to similar incidents. “I knew a man more fortunate than myself, however, who grasped his opportunity,” continued the speaker. “Dave Brown, of Aspen, gave a prospector $75 worth of lumber and onefourth of the Aspen mine. Brown was then a stock clerk. He is now a millionaire, banker and operator.” “It's not always management that secures a fortune,” ventured another of the group. “It was luck, pure and simple, that made Dick Swickheimer a millionaire. He knew nothing about mining, but a miner told him to sink, and lie did sink. He ran out of money several times, but others, who were interested in learning what greater depths he would encounter on Dolores Mountain, loaned various sums, and at last a lucky lottery ticket drew $4600, and this money reached the ore In the Enterprise inline.” “Yes, luck had a great deal to do with it," said the third speaker. “Several people in Durango had an opportunity a few years ago to get into the Cottnmbus mine in La Platte for a few dollars, when the man who located it owned it. I knew one Durango man who had a good chance to buy the mine for less than SSOO, the price received, who had spent twice as much in trying to find something like the Columbus.” “Chances like those are often overlooked in Durango,” said another of the group. “There was a little fellow down there from McQuiety, a couple of years ago, showing some good-looking ore from a claim, which he offered to trade a quarter of for a rifle. He went to the gun store and all over town trying to trade for a rifle, and the kind of gun he wanted was selling second-hand in stores for $5 or $6, but the little fellow couldn’t get a rifle. I saw the property last fall that he offered to trade, and saw some of the ore roasted 1n a blacksmith forge. Gold boiled out of It very freely, and I doubt If all the guns In San Juan county would buy a quarter interest in that property now."

Two Thousand an Hour.

“Standing on the Boulevard the other night at Eighty-sixth street, New York, watching the throng of bicyclists,” said a west-aider. “I counted those going north between the hours of 8.40 and 9.10. There were 545 men and seventyeight women—623 altogether. I did not undertake to count those going south at the same time, but I should say that at a moderate calculation there were at least half as many more, making the total number passing that point in thirty minutes about 1000. The currents vary in strength—later there would be fewer going up and more going down; but in the busier part of the pleasant evenigs a total of 2000 an hour would be a reasonable estimate.” —New York Sun.

Consoling to Johnnie

Johnnie Chaffie—Mamma, papa gave me an awful licking while you were away. Mrs. Chaffie —Don’t pay any attention to him, Johnnie; I daresay he don’t mean anything by it.—Texas Sifter. The First Lord of the British Admiralty receives a salary of $22,500.

THE SALE OF A WIFE.

Extraordinary Story Showing How 111 Cotten Cold Brought Ruin. Here is a story of real life with more tragedy and romance in it than can be found in half a dozen novela. So impressive is it that it has stirred all Germany. where the scene is laid. Thousands who never read a novel with a purpose have heard of this lamentable story, and have learned therefrom a salutary lesson which no novel, could teach them with such effect —the lesson, namely, that, according as a man sows so shall he reap, and that the sins of the father shall l»e visited upon the children even unto the third and fourth generation. There lived in Berlin some years ago a well known brewer who had an unusually pretty wife. The brewer’s name is an often secret, but it is not divulged and he is only referred to as H. The pretty wife felt indisposed one day, and a servant was sent for a physician. Dr. S., who lived close by. responded to the call, and the remedies used by him were so effectual that Mrs. H. was soon as well as ever. The physician, however kept on calling, and it («>on became evident that be and the brewer’s wife had become warmly attached to each other. The physician was unmarried, and the only apparent bar to his happiness was the rigid fact that the adored one was already the wife of another. Dr. 8. pondered the matter deeply, and finally took a bold step. Going to the brewer he asked him point blank on what terms he would surrender all claims to his wife—in other words how much he would take for her in solid cash. To tilts question the brewer gave a prompt answer. Knowing that his wife loved the physician and cared no more for him, he expressed his willingness to dispose of her for 90,000 marks. This offer was accepted. The physician paid the money and married the wife, and the brewer continued to live alone with bls only child, a boy. Evil days, however, were dawning for the brewer. He fancied that he could live at ease on the interest of the money obtained in this infamous manner, and so he disposed of bis business and began to live like a gentleman of leisure. But this life did not suit him, and craving excitement of some kind be began to drink heavily, with the result that ke was soon laid in a drunkard's grave. Strange to say the physician died about the same time.

The brewer’s proix>rty, including the infamous money for which he had bartered his wife, was divided tietween his brother and his young son. The brother, who was in the livery’ business, spent his share buying coaches and horses and in otherwise improving his property. But, like the brewer, he soon waxed lazy and began to drink heavily, with the same result that he, too, died early. Tlif brewer’s son wns now a young man and he became sole proprietor of the livery business. The income therefrom was very satisfactory, but he soon became dissatisfied with the business, and so he sold it and determined to live on the Interest of the money, which included the 1)0,000 marks for which his mother had been sbld. His next step was to marry a pretty but otherwise undesirable waitress. His friends remonstrated with him, but he would have his own way. He and Ills wife went to live in Brandenburg street, and it was not long liefore appalling stories of domestic infidelity began to circulate among the neighbors. The young husband quickly’ found out that he had made a great mistake, and like bls father and uncle, took to drink, which very soon carried him off.

His pretty young widow came into possession of’the ill-starred property, and straightway started to spend it lavishly. She kept open house, surrounded herself with all the luxuries that money can buy, and in a short time became the wife of a retired officer of the army. Much of the property had disappeared by tills time, and she and her husband went to Potsdam, where they opened a fashionable wineroom. The ex-waitress presided over this estal> Isibment, and by her beauty and seductive wiles soon attracted a host of customers. But the profits of the wine business were not sufficient for her, and she let it be known that persons who wanted money could get it from her, provided they were willing to pay handsomely for loans. Now, ns regards money lending the German laws are rather strict, and, hearing curious stories about this apparently respectable wineroom in Potsdam, the law officers determined to make a strict Investigation. But when they went to the wineroom they found that tile birds had flown, and all they could do was to publish a description of the exwaitress and to charge her with usury. They are trying to arrest her now, and if they catch her she will probably be severely punished. So from generation to generation, this shameful blood money, this money fixed by a husband as the price of his oy-n wife, has wrought Incalculable mischief, and the story of the ruin which it has caused teaches a lesson Which is not likely to be soon forgotten.

OUR VETERANS DYING.

A Survivor of the War Will Be Hard to Find in a Few Year*. The National Encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic will be held this year in the month of September at St Paul. Last year the encampment was held at Louisville, the year before at Pittsburgh, in 1803 at Indianapolis, in 1802 at Milwaukee, in 1801 at Detroit, and in 1890 at Boston. In 1880 the . .ational Encampment was held at San Francisco, and the year previous at Portland, Me. The number of delegates to Grand Army encampments is regulated in each State by the total membership of the posts participating, and this year the G. A. R. of New York State will have but thirty-eight delegates, one less than last year, in the National Encampment at St. Paul During the last year 2,000 veterans left the posts in this State, a decrease caused mostly by death. One effect of this reduced membership is the putting of New York below Ohio on the G. A. R. roster, Pennsylvania continuing to be at the head of the column. The Grand Army reached ita highest point of membership during the administration of President Harrison. On January 1,1891, the membership of the Grand Army of the Republic was 385,000. and it increased gradually until

January 1, ISM, when it was 387.040. Then a decline began, and on January 1, 1895, the total membership of the posts had fallen to 369,660. On Jauu- ! ary 1, 1886, the total membership of the ■ Grand Army had fallen to X",»«9. I Since then there has been a loss of over i J.tluO members in New York, and of a i sufficient number in other States tc ’ bring down the total below 350.000. In respect of present membership Pennsylvania stands at the head of all the States with 43,000. Until thia yeai New York followed with 38,036, anc Ohio with 36,000. but now Ohio has taken the second place, fourth on th< list Is Illinois, with 27.000: fifth, Massa- : chusetts, with 22,000; sixth. Indiana, with 21,000, seventh, Kansas and Michigan and Missouri, with 16,000 each; then lowa, with 15,000 members, and Wisconsin, with 12,000. The first encampment of the Grand Army order was held at Indianaisilis on November 20, 1866. The several Commanders-in-chief of the Grand Army received much honor in American polities. John A. Logan, Com-mander-inch lef for three years, was United States Senator and Republican candidate for vice president in 1884. A. E. Burnside, his successor for two terns was United States Senator from Rhode Island. Charles Devens of Massachusetts, who succeeded Burnside, was Attorney-General of the United States, and John F, Hartranft was Governor of Pennsylvania and Collector of the Port of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hartranft’s successor, John C. Robinson, was twice Lieutenant-Governor of New York State, and Louis Wagner, elected in 1880, was director of the Philadelphia department of Public Works, of which, it Is said, C. H. T. Collis, New York Commissioner of Public Works, is a graduate. The late Lucius Fairchild was Governor of Wisconsin. Russell A. Alger, elected in 1889, was Governor of Michigan, and John Palmer, elected at the Detriot encampment in 1891, is now Secretary of State in New York, and one of the numerous Republican candidates for Governor this year to succeed Levi P. Morton. Present circumstances are not favorable to the further growth in membership of the Grand Army of the Republic, and it is expected by the 'leading men in the organization that from now on there will be a steady and gradual decline, in which the falling off In New York’s representation Is one of the first tangible and visible evidences

A Strange Lead-Lined Cellar.

One of the curiosities of Bremen, Germany, is the Blelkeller (lead cellar or vault), often passed by the hurrying tourist. Aside from its historical Interest, lie Ing located In the old cathedral built on the site of Charlemagne’s wooden church, erected in the twelfth century, the cellar Is famous scientifically for having the property of preserving dead bodies, human and animal, from decomi>oKitlon. Many theories have been advanced by doctors and scientists as to the cause of this mummifying process, but no satisfactory explanation has been given, other than that the moist atmosphere In the cellar is impregnated with a lead salt which prevents decomposition of flesh matter, as long as a Ixxly Is kept In the even temperature and chemically changed atmosphere of Gils peculiar tomb. The coffins contain the bodies of priests who had been dead for centuries. The coriMes have all the appearances of an Egyptian mummy, being better preserved, without the wrinkled appearance of flesh on face and body as seen in a corpse from the pyramids. Another curious fact Is that chickens, crows, dogs and rabbits are well preserved In like manner when left hanging In the embalming atmosphere of this remarkable old-world refrlgeratoi cellar. The church derives quite a revenue from the great number of tourist visitors who winter and summer pay the stipulated fifty pfennig (twelve and one-half cents), liesldes a tip to the attendant, to look upon the strange results of this underground phenomenon

Swallowed a Snake.

A year ago last fall Bessie Morgan returned to her home, at Susquehanna, Pa., after having spent the day gathering berries. She complained of paint in her stomach. Family remedies were tried In vain, and the child gradually grew pale and thin. The family physician was called in recently, and tried several experiments that proved of no avail. He finally told the girl to fust for three consecutive days. At the end of the time specified the young girl told the doctor that the pain had Increased, and she suffered from a chocking sensation. The doctor required her to open her mouth, while he slapped her violently on the back. She commenced to choke, and then the doctor forced a pair of pinchers into her throat and drew forth a snake of the garter species that measured nearly six inches in length. At the sight of her tormentor the girl fainted, but was soon restored. Miss Morgan is inclined to think she swallowed the snake when it was very small while she was hastily eating a handful of berries. She said, however, that while in the woods she had frequently lain down to drink from n brook, and it is believed that In this way the reptile slipped down Her throat. She has fully recovered, and no 111 effects are expected.—New York Journal.

Longevity Among Doctors.

The recent death of Dr. Reynold Salmon, in England, at the ripe age of 100, bears out the truth of Dr. Saltymann’s statistics regarding the increasing longevity among medical men. From the archives of his province, Dr. Saltymann shows that whereas the average duration of life among doctors in the sixteenth century was 36 years and 5 months, in the seventeenth century it had risen to 45 years and 8 months, and at the present time had reached 56 years and 7 months.

A Penny Sold for $ 1,000.

A penny was recently sold at auction in England for SI,OOO. It was of gold, worth twenty pence (40 cents), and was coined in 1257 by order of Henry HI. But two other specimens are known to be in existence. They are In the British Museum. St. Louis is acknowledged to be the largest mule market in the world.

MURDERERS CAIN LITTLE.

Assassins Make Very Little by Their Crimes. Statistics recently compiled throw a good deal of light on the assassin's trade as practised in modern times. Especially interesting are they in view of the popular but very erroneous Idea that the assassin’s trade is a profitable one. That it is quite the reverse seems to be clearly proved by a record of the profits gained by notorious assassins or would-be assassins during the last thirty years. Obviously a record of this kind could only be made in modern times. Assassins have flourished during all periods of the world’s history, but not until comparatively recent times was the motive for their crimes a lust of gold. In ancient days assassins, brigands and other cutthroats rarely worked single handed, being, as a rule, pensionaries of potentates who used them In order to' rid themselves of troublesome enemies. For these services the murderers sometimes received considerable rewards in money, but nevertheless history does not record many instances of assassins who grew wealthy in this manner. But times are changed. Armed bands of assassins and picayune potentates are things of the pasL The modern assassin works for himself, and, whatever his motive may be, the gain or loss will be his. So far as money is concerned the modern murderer Is not, as a rule, very successful. Biographies of a large numlier of French murderers, some of whom paid the penalty of their crimes on the guillotine, while others were transported to New Caledonia, show that the average murderer makes far less money at his abominable trade than is made by any third rate artisan or even day laborer. Here, for example, are the names of a few criminals and a statement as to the actual money profit that resulted in each case:—Sejournet committed one crime, and his profit was 312; Rossell, one crime, 38; Dueret, one crime, 340 worth of jewelry; Cathelln, one crime, altout 31; Welnhoor, one crime, 3180. These are not princely profits, but they are large compared with others. Three men, for example—Georges, Voty and Franck—committed a horrible crime, and only made about ten cents apiece. Several other worthies were-less fortunate, for they gained nothing at all. Other knights of the road found to their dismay after despatching their victims that they had no money on them, and they were consequently bound to be satisfied with such booty as they could obtain in the sha]M* of watches and other jewelry, which, of course, is less desirable than money, as it is not always easy to dls]xwe of It. True, a few assassins have made a considerable sum of money. ThreeMartin, Begheim and Laimmmeraye—were especially fortunate, or unfortunate, In this resix’ct. Martin found 34,000 in bls victim's purse, Boghelm got 30.000 worth of jewelry ai Lapommeraye also acquired n large sum of money at one stroke. These men, however, did not live very long to enjoy their wealth, as justice got bold of them and quickly despatched them to another world. Such men are the Monte Cristos of the profession, and their number are very small, so small that a careful calculation shows that the average amount made by French assassins during the last thirty years does not exceed two or three dollars for each crime.

Such being the case, the wonder la that there are so many murderers. And a greater wonder is why, if they are determined to kill for the sake of obtaining money, they do not arrange to kill persons who are known to be wealthy, and do not seize an opportunity when their Intended victims have their (rackets stuffed with gold. M. Hammard, a distinguished official of the police force In Paris, says that assassins act in their usual foolish manner simply becauM they are imbeciles. “It is the easiest thing in the world to kill a person,” he says, “but It Is very hard to reap any profit thereby. On the other hand, while it requires a good deal of talent to liecome a successful swindler, a man engaged In this business runs far less risk than a murderer and makes a good deal more money. An adroit swindler or bank robbbr can make off with $1,000,000 and has a reasonable hope of escaping, while, even If he is caught, he will not get more than five years in prison. An intelligent assassin could also make a good deal of money, but, then, there are very few intelligent assassins."

Rusticating in a Cactus House.

Probably the cheapest residence ever constructed was one recently built by Frank Haven, a young man from Boston, on the border of the great Colorado desert. The lot on which the house was built cost him nothing, and the house itself next to nothing, says The Chicago Chronicle. Mr. Haven went to California for his health and for a time lived In a-cottage, but finally decided that the more of that sunshiny air he could get the better it would be for him. He tried living in a tent, but it was blown away in a sandstorm. Then he went out on the desert, in the neigborhoood of Indio, and found a clump of gigantic cacti. These made the walls for his dwelling. For a roof he bought seventy-five cents* worth of stout muslin. His only other Implements or materials were an axe to chop down the cactus pillars that were in the way, and a ball of strong cord and some tacks to lash and fasten the roof to its support. There he eats, sleeps, reads, writes, thinks and gains health. There have been several fierce sand storms, but none of them has harmed the cactus house or caused him any discomfort. The sole cause of annoyance to him has been the presence of wild animals, which for the first week or two of his residence in thnt strange abode howled vigorously about his cabin.

Cheap Medical Attendance.

A well-known Rockingham county. New Hampshire, physician has kept a running account with one of his patient’s family in Kensington for forty years, and lately in looking over the account on both sides it’was found that the doctor owed the family $13.28, and then the account was settled satisfactorily to both parties. The same doctor attended a family in his own town over thirty years, and had been to the patient’s house 1,200 times with his team and never received anything for his trouble or time, and d,uring these many years the family had plenty of means to compensate the physician.