Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 December 1896 — Page 4

CHAPTER XXXV. “Wish to sec his lordship?" exclaimed she footman who. at Herrick Hall, answered the doorbell, and who stood aghast at the audacity of the proposition. “I do desire to see Earl Wyvern.” replied Obadiah, who was the applicant for admission. "1 am little used to trouble the mighty of the earth to listen to my words for my sake; but 1 come on business, to attend to which, unless 1 judge wrongly, my lord the earl would gladly rise, even from a king's feast.” “What name, please?” “I am Obadiah .ledson —Captain Jedaon they call me.” answered the jet hunter, impressively. “Tell the Earl that I can throTv light upon what happened here in Horseshoe Bay seventeen long years ago. Sir William llerrick, your master, can hardly fail to have heard of Captain Obadiah .ledson. the jet seeker.’ The footman capitulated, and went in to do Obadiah's errand. In a few minutes —in fewer minutes than the gaunt old chief of the Jet hunters' company had reckoned on—the footman came back. “Sir William did know of you, Captain,” he said more respectfully than lie had spoken before, “and so did her ladyship, l’lease step this way. My lord will see you in the dining-room.” Thither Lord Wyvern quickly came, somewhat of a frown upon his brow. “Mr. —or Captain .ledson,” he said, “you have evoked very painful recollections —1 trust not on frivolous grounds. If you have anything to tell which is worth the telling, I am prepared to listen to you.” “Lord earl,” replied Obadiah, confronting the peer with a grave dignity that challenged respect, “I forgot neither what is due to a nobleman's rank nor to a father's heart, when I ask your lordship to hearken to a rough man like me. 1 am a jet hunter—a captain of jet hunters. It seems to me but yesterday that our camp was pitched as it is tu-dny, in Horseshoe Bay, hard by. It was seventeen long years ago. It was summer weather. It was the day of a sharp and sudden storm.” “Hell!” said the Earl, as his lips quivered, and the lines that furrowed his broad white brow seemed to deepen. “My lord.” Obadiah resumed, "1 am not one of those who believe in luck —lieatlienly so called. But there is a guidance, if we eould see it aright. On that day of sudden storm on the sands, close to the leaping waves, on the inner side of the black rocky headland that juts out into the sea, and cuts off the bay from Slirapton and the coast line, we saw. as if it had dropped from the sky, the figure us a child.” “Alive?” asked Lord Wyvern, hoarsely. “Alive," Obadiah hastened to say, “ami well and fearless. A beautiful boy, with silken curls and great dark eyes, richly clad, dainty to look upon—like a little prince torn from a palace, and set there on the desolate sea beach, almost within reach of the furious sea." “Of what age was the boy?” asked the Earl, quickly. “An hour or two ago, lord earl, I knew not of your loss,” answered the jet hunter. “The overhearing of a chance conversation—if there he such a thing us chance, for I hold that what is written that shall be—has brought home to me. after all these years, that our foundling, and my own foster-son, the little fellow whom we adopted among us, was no other than your sou, my lord.” The tears that started to Earl Wyvorn's haughty eyes and the dep sob that shook his frame were answer enough. “Is he —my boy—yet living?” asked the Earl, and it was wtitli almost an imploring gaze that he fixed his eyes on Obadiab’s rugged face. “He Is—he is, my lord,” the jot hunter made haste to say. “Roughly as we reared him, and poor as we were, he grew' up to be as handsome and ns noble a youth as ever gladdeued n father’s eyes. He still goes by she name of Don —Mr. Don they call him, for all believed him to be a gentleman’s child from the first—and a braver lad. or a gentler, never won the praise of high and low along the coast here.”

“Don! Yes. it was a name Ihe Italian servants gave him at Naples, where they called hint Don Lionello —Lionel Arthur Wyvern was his real name—and I, too, called him nothing else,” said the Earl, thoughtfully. “1 saw a young man, and a singularly handsome one, at AVoodbutu Parsonage, who—” “Why, that must have been our Don—pardon me for interrupting your lordship —since Mr. Langtou taught him, and liked him well, until that business came up about Miss Mowbray.” And in a few words Obadiah recounted how Don had become a clerk in Lord Lhorsdale's land office, how he had won Violet’s love, but, at her guardian’s bidding. had been banished front the house. “We may remedy that,” said the Earl, smiling. “But I forgot. Have you preserved, Captain .Tedsou. any of the elothes which the child wore.” “I have carried them with me, under lock and key. in all my wandering career,” answered Obadiah. as he undid the bundle, and laid it on the table before him. "Here, my lord, are the boy’s clothes. This fine green velvet tunic, as you Bee, frayed and whitened now, but with the silver buttons yet bright, for I have burnished them at timeS; and here are the rest of the things—cap, shoes and all, and the belt, with its clasp of silver—that is bright, too—and a coral thiug that hung by a thin gold chain.” “That,” said the Earl, “is a Neapolitan charm against the Evil Eye—a mere toy. But the belt—did you not wonder at wbat you found within the clasp?” “Indeed, no. I doubt if I understand you, my lord.” said Obodiah, wondering in bis turn.. “I will see,” said the Earl, “if I have forgotten;” aud after one or two attempts he pressed a secret spring, when instantly a silver plate flew open, revealing within a cavity that contained two tiuy locks of hair and certain graven letters. "Those are his mother's initials and mine. That is his mother's hair and my own. 1 doubt no more,” said Lord Wyvent. “Aud now. Captain Jedson, how can T ever repay the debt?” When suddenly Obadiah struck his forehead. exclaiming, “Dolt! dullard that I aw! My lord, I greatly fear that tne good news -couies too late. They have driven «ur Don half desperate by separating him from the girl he loves, and to-mor-row, early to-jnormiv, the brave boy Ktarta so seek his fortune beyond the seas t-ataru for Mexico.”

A LOYAL LOVE

J. BERWICK HARWOOD

“This must lie stopped!” said Lord W yvero. And then Sir William Herrick was taken into council, and & mounted messenger was dispatched to Hlirajitoa lo bespeak a train to be in readiness in the morning to set off at an hour sufficiently early to render it possible to intercept Don at an important junction, at which he must necessarily stop during his journey toward Southampton and the steam packet, West India bound, that was to waft him across the Atlantic toward Vera Cruz.

CHAPTER XXXVI. The fly which was to convey Don and his scanty luggage to the Daneborough • station arrived* very early at the old steward's house tit Thorsdale Park, and Don's young fellow clerk was still asleep as his office companion started. “Switchaiu Junction. Change!'* said the guard, going quickly along the line of ca triages. Don. with the other passengers, got tint and waited. Suddenly there was a little bustle on the platform. “See all clear there! special coming, as telegraphed from the north!” bawled a deputy inspector, and there was a moment of activity. "M,v lord!" said a strange voice, in a tone of deferential eagerness, so close to Don's car that the young man could but start and turn his head. “1 beg your lordship's pardon!” said the man. raising his glossy hat. Don stared at him in very natural surprise. “This is some mistake,” he said, tolerantly. "Xo mistake at all. asking your lordship's pardon for the liberty,” said the stranger. “We have followed your lordship from the north by special train, and—l am speaking. 1 hope, to Mr. Don?” added the man servant, rapidly, and with some anxiety. “For whom do you take me?” 'I or Lord Ludlow*, my lord. T ant here by orders of your lordship's father, my lord, and ” So far had the valet proceeded in his speech, when a deeper voice struck in; "Don. my dear boy, the man tells the truth, strange, and passing strange, as it may sound in those young ears of thine.” And Don saw at his elbow the towering form and striking face of the aged captain of (he jet hunters. "M.v boy, my foster child!” began Obadiah, “when first you came —a wee thing —to break our bread and warm your little limbs beside out* camp fire, 1 knew* from the first that you belonged to gentle-folks. You were like a tiny eaglet that had dropped dvivn from tlie eyrie aloft, and had but the barbed feather and the dauntless eyes to tell of what race you came. At last the truth is known. Your futher. who grows impatient as he waits yonder to press you to his heart, is a grand nobleman, a belted earl, my lad." "His name?” Don naked, ns bis breath went and came more quickly than usual. “Hjs name is Earl Wyvern. You are yourself, it seems, Don, a lord, and your true name is Lionel Arthur, Lord Ludlow.” The end of the colloquy was that, as fast as the special train could hurry him along. Dan sped over the iron road to Shrapton.

CHAPTER XXXVII. Sir William Herrick, who was the soul of hospitality, had thoughtfully provided that Don, on his arrival at the Ilall, should be ushered at once into the presence of his father. In the librnry, a large room where well-stored book shelves alternated with the branching antlers of stags slain long ago, and with armor kept bright by Ihe care of sundry generations of servants, the Earl received the longlost son whom he had so long sorrowed for as dead. All Lord Wyvern’s pride, ail the habitual coldness of his manner gave way at once, uml he did not even try to hide the unwonted tears that dimmed his eyes, as, opening his arms, he pressed the young man to his breast. “M.v boy!” lie'exclaimed, pushing Don from him a little way, with a hand upon each shoulder, so us to see him better, “you cannot tell what this meeting is to me! To find again, as if the very grave had, through heaven's mercy, yielded him up to me. the little child—all that my Marian left me —and to find in him a man grown, and a son of whom any father would be proud indeed.” Mir Richard, finding himself a detected forger, suddenly disappeared. lie was reported to have closed his London house as summarily as he had put down his establishment in Yorkshire, and to have sailed for Demeraru, where rumor alleged him to possess a small estate, inherited from his father The grim old captain of the jet hunters, to whom 1 iotli the Kail and Don felt they owed a deep debt of gratitude, refused tiie liberal offers of money which Ltfrd Wyvern pressed upon him. But Don's knowledge of the old man's peculiarities prevailed, and Obadiah accepted the gift of a small farm which Earl Wyvern had purchased for him in Beckdale, the place of -his birth, and of some such freehold as that which the veteran jet hunter—descendant of a race of yeomen that had sunk into poverty—confessed himself to have been all liis life ambitious to lie the possessor. So the famous old company of jet seekers was broken up. most of its members turning their attention to more prosaic forms of bread-winning. Glitka, the baronet once gone, found her further sojourn in England uueudurable, and much regretted by her partial mistress, Lady Thorsdale, returned to her native Hungary. The wedding bells rang gayly. and flowers and lace and jewels sparkled and rustled and bloomed their best, when, with the fullest and freest consent of all concerned, Violet and Don—Miss Mowbray and Lord Ludlow, in newspaper purlance and drawing-room and dub-room gossip, but to each other Don and Violet eternally—were married in the spring. It was a grand wedding, as became a bride and bridegroom so favored by nature, and a house such as that noble one of Wyvern, aud royalty in some of its junior branches graced the nuptials of the former foundling of the wild seabeach. I There is not much more to tell, save that Don and Violet, loving and beloved, keep up a friendly intercourse with good Air. afid Mrs. Langtou at Woodhurn. and that they continue to live with Earl Wyvern, whose heart was greatly softened by the sudden joy that repaid him for yean* of lonely suffering, and who cannot bear again to be separated from the soil of whom he is so proudly fond. Obadiah, though bent and feeble, yet survives; and frequently the future Earl and Countess

of Wyvern—let them be Don and Violet to us still—talk with affection and gratitude «>f the good old man. and marvel at the talisman of hidden happiness for them that lay Within the Clasp. THE END.

Heat Dries Up Four Englishmen.

I Tide Robert William Qulinliy of Lewiston says that lie lias traveled in all tbe warm countries of the globe and that he has been lit the coldest latitudes. He does not think that we have such very hot weather. If people would make provision for the hot days as they do in India lie thinks we should not notice It so much. “But,” says lie, ‘'the wannest weather that 1 ever experienced was on n small island called John's Biscuit, off Cape Gracias, on Honduras. The Elisabeth Jennings, on which I sailed in 1870, front Portland, stopped there for water and a boat’s crew went ashore for it. It was a little volcanic island and awful dry and hot. We didn’t know whether there would be any water there or not, but we did find a spring with a stream as large as a broom handle pouring out all the time. Aud do you believe mes The water was dried up and soaked up before it bad run four feet in the sand. The place was covered with dried trees and a little distance away was what looked like a hut—a habitation for man. We went iu and fouud the shrunken remains of four men, sailors probably, who had died in one night, to judge from appearances. One was sitting leafing against the wall in a sitting position. There was dry food on the table, drymeat iu a box jtud everything was burning dry. “A letter in the pocket ot one man was dated Liverpool, 1846, and on the table was a bottle with a note irt it, evidently intended to be cast adrift. It said they were four English seamen, marooned by a captain, left to die. The note was dated 3840, and I suppose they had been there dead in that hut for over thirty years, and they must have died of heat one day and dried right up. We left them where we found mem.”—Lewiston Journal.

Giants Survived the Flood.

Among the many queer stories related in the old Jewish Talmud is one concerning the action taken by the great race of giants at tbe time of the deluge. According to Rabbi Eliezer, when the flood broke upon the earth, the giants exclaimed “If all of the waters of the earth be gathered together they will only reach to our waists, and if the fountains of the great deep be broken up we will stamp them down again.” The same writer, vfio was one of the compilers of the Talmud, says that they actually tried to do this when the flood Anally came. Eliezer says that Og, their leader, “planted his foot tqion the fountain of the deep ami with his hands closed the windows of heaven.” Then, according to this same queer story, “God made the waters hot aud boiled the flesh from the bones of the haughty giauts.” The Targum of Palestine also says that the waters of the flood were hot, aud that the skin of the rhinoceros lies In folds because he was not allowed to enter the ark, but saved himself by hooking his horn under the sides of the vessel and floating with it. But Hie water which was directly under and at the sides of *ne ark was not hot—the rhinoceros loosened his skin swimming from a mountain peak to the side of the vessel. One account says that Og and another giant named Lain! also saved themselves by taking refuge lathe cool water under the edge of the ark’s bull, along with the rhinoceros. One rabIdulc authority quoted by Gould hi his “Patriarchs and Prophets,” says that Og saved himself by climbing upon tbe top of the ark, and that when Xoali discovered aud tried to dislodge lilm. he swore to be a slave (o Noah's family forever, if allowed to remain.

Underlaid with Gold.

Percy E. Marks, one of the proprietors of the London Financial News, one of the recognized authorities on financial matters, arrived in San Francisco last week on the Monowai. The paper Wits founded in 1883 aud is owned by himself and his brother, Harry H. Marks, a member of Parliament. This brother, previous to embarking in this London enterprise, obtained his journalistic ex peri' ace on American papers. Mr. Marks has been in Australia making a careful study of the gold fields in west Australia, New South Wales and New Zealand. As these mines develop, whieli they are now dolug very rapidly, he predicts a very remarkable Increase In the supply of gold, amounting, in fact, to a glut of the yellow metal in the market. The mines of west Australia are particularly rich and extern* ive, hut have the disadvantage of being in a country scantily supplied with wood, water aud means of transportation. But these disadvantages are being rapidly overcome. The government is extending the railroad which runs front Perth to Coolgardie on to Kalgoorlie, better known as Hoauuus, twenty-five miles, an extraordinarily rich mining region. The government has also asked Parliament for $5,000,000 for the purpose of laying 300 miles of water pipe. In many places drinking water sells for 50 cents a gallon. From here Mr. Marks goes to Cripple Creek to investigate the mining prospects there. His paper, lie says, lias always had a favorable opinion of Cripple Creek fields.—Los Angeles Express.

Early Almanacs.

The history of written almanac dates back to tbe second century of the Christian era. The Alexandrian Greeks in the time of Ptolemy, A. D. 100-IGO, used almanacs. Prior to the written almanacs of the Greeks there were calendars of primitive almanacs. The Roman fasti sacri were similar to modern almanacs. Knowledge of the calendar was at first confined to the priests, .whom the people had to consult not only about the dates of festivals, but also concerning the proper time for instituting various legal proceedings.

Sundowners.

“Sundown doctors” is the appellation said to be applied in the city of Washington to a class of practitioners who arc clerks in the government offices and who have taken a medical degree with a view of practicing after the hours of tlielr official work are over*

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES.

ITEMS CF TIMELY INTEREST TO THE FARMERS. Cultivation in Apple Orchards... Profit from the lncubator...Feeding Wheat... Farm and Carden Notes. ROLLING LAND AFTER WHEAT ROWING. This operation is hardly ever desirable; it may be before the sowing, to break down the clods, but a good harrowing should be given immediately after. Then the seed should lie drilled in or sown; in the latter case tbe seed should be well harrowed in. It is bes* to leave whatever small clods may lie on tbe ground, as these attract moisture, and so help the seed to sprout if I'lie weather is dry after the seeding. Later, these clods, if only small, will lie a protection to the young plants. The effect of rolling laud every time and under every condition is to cause the soil to lose its moisture and not to retain it. The more the surface is loose and open, the less it dries out; the harder and more crusted it is. tinmore moisture it loses by evaporation. —New York Times.

PROFIT FROM THE INCUBATOR. In the twenty-one days that it takes to turn a perfectly fresh fertile egg into a chick there is more protit in proportion to the capital hwvsted tjiaii in any other farm operation. So the old lady was not far out of the way when she said she would not sell eggs under twelve cents a dozen, or a cent each, because it didn’t pay for the lieu's time. If an egg is worth one cent, a lively young chick, newly hatched, is worth at least six cents, if not ten. Six hundred to loon per cent, profit in twenty-one days’ 'time is not to be sneezed at. There is another side to tb:s, of course, when sickness or something else thins off the young chicks, and their dead little bodies are not worth even tin- cent that tbe egg cost from which they were hatched. It is by looking on all sides that conservative fanners usually called rather slow are saved from enthusiasms in the egg and poultry business that have deceived aud disappointed many who have gone in without experience, and have come out with more experience than they wanted.

HOW MUCH lIAY TO FEED.' Farm horses, almost without exception, are fed too much hay. One exception may be noted: A horse of nervous disposition, inclined to scour, should have all the hay In- can be in-dtu-ed to cat in addition to the grain ration. The horse of this character will not usually eat more than ten to twelve pounds of bay daily. Again, you find some horses that you are almost compelled to muzzle to keep them from stuffing the bedding. It is difficult, on account of the different uses to which horses are put. to tell what amount should be given them. Opinion is divided on the subject. One stockman says that four tons of bay will lie enough fora 1,000-pound horse a year. Another says that a liorse should have from eighteen to twenty pounds a day. The stage driver insists that twenty pounds a day is none too much. Wc believe that each horse should be considered by himself, and fed accordingly. It is better to give not more than one half of the amount in hay, where twen-ty-five ]K>uuds of feed a day is allowed, the larger amount always to be given at night. The grain ration should be adapted to the Individual horse and the work Inis required to do.—The Silver Knight.

TINE CASES BAI) FOR EGGS. The trouble with pine for egg cases is that it is very liable to impart a bad flavor and stncll to the eggs. This occurs in the presence of moisture. When eggs come out of a cold refrigerator car into a warm atmosphere they become damp, often wet, from condensation; so does the case itself. This causes the pine to emit a strong, pungent odor which taints the eggs. The same effect is noticed in damp and muggy weather. We have observed a number of instances lately where eggs in pine cases have been returned from buyers on the ground that they were “ tasty” though apparently fresh and sound. Investigation has shown that the trouble was due entirely to the absorption of the pungent pine aroma from the wood. For holding in ice house the pine case is absolutely tabooed; and even for ordinary use in marketing stock for current demands, it is a detriment under any but the most favorable conditions. It is best to pack stock in such a way as to give it the benefit of every outlet, and so as to avoid all accidents. The white wood false is far the best case made and should be universally -adopted, at least for packing stock of first quality. A white wood ease with medium fillers aud a No. 1 filler as top and bottom layer, is free from objection, and if properly packed should prevent mau.v of the losses which often harass the less careful packer.— New York Produce Review.

CULTIVATION IX APPLE ORCHARDS. Regarding the cultivation of old apple orchards which have been a long time in sod, the general consensus of opinion among leading horticulturists of the country is that it is not best to attempt to plow up these orchards and improve them by cultivation, but rather to depend upon surface mulching and feeding for i heir maintenance. But a few days ago. in visiting the farm of a friend, who is a great lover of fruits and flowers, 1 have fouud that his apple orchard, which has been planted in sod for many years, had last spring a small strip of land ploWed and thoroughly manured all around the outside of the orchard and been planted to flowers and various small fruits. Through the summer they have had Ihe liberal culture necessary for their best development, and while from appearances those well repay all the labor put upon them the difference in the

fuliage of lbe apple tree* and the ap. jM-arame of the fruit on these outside rows is suc4i. as to warrant the belief that the increased value of the orchard will many times repay the culture, which v.'js never intended for t !.v apples at all. It looks to me that if the whole orchard was put under the same treatment, it would lie a decided lieuetit. Ido not know the exact age of the trees, but judge it to be an ordntnl of upwards of forty years' growth, and even though it has been in soil for a good mauy years past and had better treatment titan the average orchard, and been profitable in its returns. I am sure it can be made more valuable iu the future by judicious plowing and cultivation.—Hartford Courant.

FEEDING WHEAT. D. E. Salmon, D. V. M„ Chief of the Bureau of Animal liudiystr.v, Dejuartment of Agriculture, recently said inregard to the relative value of wheat and corn for feeding purposes: "When wheat and corn are ilrc same price per bushel, it Is preferable to feed wheat and sell corn: First, because wheat weighs 7 per cent, heavier i>er bushel than *-orn; secondly, because wheat is weight for weight, au equally good grain for fattening animals, and better for growing animals; and. thirdly, because there is much less value in fertilising elements removed from the farm in corn than in wheat. "There are certain points to lie borne in mind when one is commencing to feed wheat. Our domesticated auiavals are all very fond of it. but are not accustomed to eating it. Precautions should consequently lie‘observed to prevent accidents and disease from its use. It is a matter of common observation that when full-fed horses are changed from old to new oats they are liable to attacks of indigestion, colic and founder. If such results follow t:be change from old to new oats, howmuch more likely are they to follow a radical change, such as that from oats to wheat? For this reason wheat should at first lie fed in small quantifies. It should, when possible, be mixed with some other grain, and care should be taken to prevent any one a u aii at from get ling more than the quantity intended for it." At a meeting of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture. Mr. .1. W. Kirby said: "The wheat that is being fed to farm animals is mostly soaked. 1 have fed large quantities and it appears healthful and nourishing. Hogs fatten on it about one-third better than on corn, making about sixteen pounds of live pork per bushel. Whan a mixture is needed for fattening hogs, oats are found excelent. Wheat mixed with au equal measure of oats js fed to work horses, and this ration maintains strength and flesh about the same as corn or oats. For feeding horses, wheat is worth about thirty-three per cent, more than corn. Wheat is selling here at thirty-eight and corn at thirty-five cents per bushel. It would pay better to feed the wheat than to sell at forty cents and buy corn at thirty cents per bushel, but to sell wheat and buy bran or shorts at current prices, would be doubtful profit for the feeder, I feed brood sows and sucking pigs on soaked wheat, giving them all they will eat, and keep plenty of water in the feed trough to prevent the feed from becoming dry. Older hogs. With plenty of green feed or running in pasture, are fed dry wheat, which they seem to masticate and digest better than when soaked.—Farm and Fireside.

FARM AND GARDEN NOTES. Special care should be- given tt young fowls to keep them .growing, so ns to get them in good shape for the winter. If fowls do not moult well look for lice. Put a little Hour of sulphur in their food and a little iron in the drinking water. For good results in egg production, the hen house during the winter should not be allowed to become colder than 40 degrees. The natural heat of the sheep is about 100 degrees. Any dip that may lie used should never be more than 20 degrees above this temperature. In preparing lambs for show it is essential to have many kinds of green fodder. Rape, green clover, cabbages, roots or green fodder are excellent. Breeders report an unusually good demand for rams, especially of the mutton breeds, from the West. The work of improving tlie mutton Quality of range Hocks is apparently going on rapidly. The yards and houses should be made ready this month for winter. This work should not be put off; cold weather will come and catch some without proper preparation. Do the work now. Every breeder should take his best birds to Ills home county fair. It will help to make a good fair, and also incidentally help the breeder by advertising his business. It pays in more ways than one. Success in sheep husbandry is not a matter of luck. The “lucky" sheep farmer is none other than the pains taking, humane, enthusiastic shepherd, whose success turns upon his attention to details. It has been found that a late dipping in the fall has such an excellent effect upon the skin that the growth of the fleece is more than sufficient to pay all the cost of it. not to mention the comfort to tln> flock of a clean skin free from the tormenting ticks and the surety against scab. If eighty or ninety pound lambs are the favorites of the present somewhat fastidious .market, it may be well to remember that up to this fashionable weight the lambs of the heavy breeds have been mainly raised on mother's milk, and lias cost the feeder but a trifle beyond the expense of the mother’s keep.

A Train Robber's Bequest.

Polk Wells. I lie noted train robber who died in the lowa penitentiary a few days ago, willed his heart and Skeleton and the bullets found in his body to'the man who marries; Polk's divorced wife.

A STONE WITH A HISTORY.

The Old "Postal Store,” Where Saiiore Used to Leave Their Letters. A stone has just been unearthed in South Africa which bids fair to take its place among the historic stones of the world, iu the estimation of the people of that part’ of the globe at least. It is called the old “Postal Stone,” beneath which, for at least two centuries, the mariners who touched at what is now Cape Town were wont to deposit their letters to await the visit of the next homeward or outward bound vessel. It is of hexagonal shape, about five feet in diameter,'and bears in old English lettering the date of ltig'J. After this homely auxiliary to the precarious letter carrying service of the time was suiterseded, and Cape Town sprung into being, it was lost sight of until the other day. Now it will be placed in a museum. There is no doubt about this stone being authentic, in which respects it differs from many another reputed find, like that, for instance, of the Runic stone, which was dredged up in the harbor at Havre not long ago. This at first excited no end of speculation and controversy, as it was thought to be a relic of the old Viking settlers of Normandy. It subsequently transpired that it had formed part of a Norwegian exhibit at the Paris Exposition in 18t>7, and had been lost overboard on its return to Norway shortly afterward. Though the Blarney Stone—the only and original—was reputed to have been at the Chicago Exposition, and is said to be yet iu this country, the one in the castle wall of Blarney, which has been sanctified by the kisses of so many generations of pilgrims, is still on view, as it has been near three hundred yeais, since Oorinae McCarthy’s soft promises and delusive delays made his liesieger, the Lord President, the laughing stock of Elizabeth’s court. Another example of the occasional fallacy of lapidary legend is furnished by the so-called "Stone of Job,” situated not far from Damascus. From time immemorial it has been asserted that it was upon this hard couch that the Patriarch rested in the course of his wanderings. It was only recently that its inscription was deciphered and found to refer to Raineses 11., or Effypt, who flourished after Job had beeu dead and dust two hundred years. Probably there is no stone in the World about which more legend clings than that upon which the rulers of England have beeu crowned since the days when Edward I. brought it from Scotland to 'Westminster. This coronation stone is also called "Jacob's Pillow” and the "Stone of Destiny.” According to the most ancient traditions it was the stone on which Jacob slept when he-had his dream of the ladder, and was originally preserved iu Solomon’s Temple, whence it was conveyed to Egypt by Jeremiah.

A SLICHT INTER RUTION.

Incident of a Reporter’s Visit to a Fire Engine House. A reporter who had sought at a fire engine house information on a point concerning which the driver could best inform him, stood talking with the driver by the stall of one of the horses. The horse was secured by a tie strap commonly used in tne department. One end of the tie strap is made fast by a staple driven into the side of the stall, while the other end is passed through the throatlatcli of the lmrse’s bridle, and held on a pin that rises in a little recess in the side of the stall. By means of a simple mechanical contrivance the pin is pulled down at the first stroke of the gong when an alarm is sounded, the tie strap is released and the horse is set free. As the driver and reporter talked, the horse, m a friendly way, bent his head (lowd toward the driver. Suddenly an alarm was sounded and the horse was transformed and likewise the driver. The horse’s head went up and he "was alert in every fibre. At the first stroke tiie pin had dropped and the horse was free. With a single bound he cleared the stall and made for his place by the engine, with the driver beside him. The two other horses of the team—this was a threehorse team—were clattering forward at the same moment. At the front of the house men were sliding down [Miles like lightning. There were a few sharp, quick, snapping sounds, as the men already then# snapped the together around the horses’ necks, and over it all the booming of the gong. In all the newer tire houses of the city the stalls of the horses are placed as nearly as possible abreast of the engine. so that tiie horses shall have the shortest possible distance to go. In some of the older houses in which there is less room the stalls are at the rear. That is where they were in this house. Surprised a little, the reporter had lost a second or two in getting to the front. A\ hen lie got mere he saw the driver in his sear, holding the lines over the team ready to drive out, and waiting only for the last stroke on the gong. All fire teams are hooked up on every alarm; on first alarm they go out only to fires within their own district. This alarm was for a fire outside the district. Unhooked, tiie horses trotted back to their stalls; descending from his seat the driver took un tiie interrupted conversation just ns if nothing had happened.—New York Sun.

A New Plant.

Tin? cultivation of the cassava piar, has been begun in the United States. It is a shrub from six to eight feet tall, and beat's large tubers underground. These are first heated to drive off the poisonous hydrocyanic acid, and they are then made into tapioca'and dextrine. It is said that the latter can be more easily manufactured from this plant than from corn.

Mentality During Sleep.

There are many authenticated examples of increased power of mind during sleep. One of the beet known is that in which the great naturalist Agassiz successfully reconstructed from certain remains the skeleton of a fossil fish, at which lie lmd been working unsuccessfully in his waking moments for several weeks.

THE JOKER'S BUDGET.

JESTS AND YARNS BY FUNNY MEN OF THE PRESS. ARalytics?- Blessed Reassurance—-Th# Modern View—A Matter of Taste—No Use—Available Either Way—They Knew Her-Etc., Etc. ANALYTICAL. “What does Slyker thiuk about this silver question?" ‘ ‘There's no telling. All we know is what he says.” BLESSED REASSURANCE. Air. Frost—"l must turn you away; I have no work for you-” * Rugged htroug—“Bless yer, air; bless yer.” THE MODERN VIEW. Mamma—Why were the five virgins whose lamps lacked oi! called foolish? Tommy—. Maybe they had their bikes with ’em. DEFINED. “Wbat is an accommodation train, papa?” * ‘An accommodation train, my son, is one that stops at every station that you don’t want to get off aL” BAD RESULTS. “Binks is a sort of photographic lover, isn’t he'-*’ "Photographic? What do you mean?” ‘•vVhy, lie's always bringing out negatives.” A MATTER OF TASTE. Customer—You are using a different kind of soap from what you were, aren’t you ? Barber—What makes you think so? “It doesn't taste the same." FAIR ENOUGH. His Fiancee—Are you sure you would love me just as tenderly if our conditions were reversed—if you were rich ami I were poor ? He—Reverse our conditions and try me. LONG DRAWN OPT. “How did you feel when Charlie was proposing?” “1 felt sure I’d say yes if he ever gat through.” HIS OCCUPATION. “What are you doing down there so long?” shouted the proprietor to Rastas. “Helpin’’Lias, sah.” “What's’Lias doing?” “Nurtin.” LEFT IT TO IIIM. JoDes—Heflo, Smith! Got horns again? Smith—l suppose so. I don’t look as if I was out of town, do I? AT THE INQUEST. Coroner—ls this man whom you found dead on the railroad track a total stranger ? Witness (who had been told by the company to be careful in his statements) —No, sor. His leg was gone intoirely. He was a partial stranger. THEY KNEW HER. Mabel—How many engagement rings did you bring back from tiie seashore? Gertrude—None. Mabel—Why, how did that happen? Gertrude—Unluckily, I got in with the same crowd that I met last year. AVAILABLE EITHER WAY. Helen—He is extremely reticent about his family. Her Brother—Hum—must be a good man of bad family or a bad man of good family. You had best encourage him. NO USE. The conversation dragged. “You are worth your weight iu gold,” he ventured to observe to the girl lie so madly loved. “Excuse me,” she replied, freezingly, “but I detest politics.” Again the conversation dragged. AWKWARD, Toil KNOW. Flossie—'’an you remember whether Tom’s engagement ring had five diamonds ? Cissy—No. why ? Flossie—Because I’ve lost a ring in th; water, and don’t know whether it was Jack's or his. COULDN'T RESIST. , Old Boy—l pride myself on keeping myself to myself. For instance, I did not speak to my next door neighbor for ten years. r-'on —How did you come to speak to him first? Old Boy—He brought home a new bicycle, and 1 couldn’t resist giving him some hints how to ride it. EXPLICIT. “Patrick. I was sorry to hear that you were arrested last week. What whs thecharge against you ?’’ “Sivin dollars an’ co3ts, sir.” ‘ 1 mean, what were you charged withwhen they brought you before the Justice?” “Apple brandy, sor.” HARD TO TELL. Little May—Why do they consider marriage such au important step in life? Agatha—Because it’s so hard to tell whether it’s a step up or down.

Real Value of Potatoes.

The real value of potatoes, depends upon file starch contained, which may vary from thirteen per cent, to a bunt twice as much. While the price does not vary accordingly, it is of advantage tocultivators to select seed rich in starch, and a French inventor. M. A. Allan], has devised an instrument called the feculometer for enabling them, to do this. It depends upon the principle that increase in the proportion of starch increases the density. It is a kind of large aerometer, consisting of a lower*receptacle lor a weight, a central float in fit which is put a kilogramme of very clean: and very dry potatoes, and a rod graduated for density and corresponding richness in starch. When plunged intoa cylindrical vessel of water about twenty inches deep, the inptrtflnent promptly indicates tlio quality of the potato by the depth to which the ml sinks. The same apparatus may lav used for determining the density of other farm products, such aS"beets and grain, a special scale being provided for each kind.

Some Men Are Frivolous.

The Emperor Dondtlan occupied his leisure in catching flies. Cardinal Richelieu amused himself with his collection of cats. Uowpcr was at no time so happy as when feeding his tame hares. Maznrhi employed his leisure in playing with an ape. The Marquis de Montespnu amused himself with mice when occupying the gilded apartments of Versailles. The mice were white and bad been brought to him all the way from HUx’fin. Latude, in i lie Bastile, made companions of twenty»ix rats which occupied his ceil.