Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 December 1881 — Page 8

MY SPIRITUELLE "SPOTIER.”

One, two, three—yes, I wss sure that I had traced a family resemblance in three very different faces, during the same day, and that these faces had repeated themselves at intervals during a period of several days. It happened in this wise. I wasaconvaiescent—recovering from nervous fever, which had rendered my Imaginative powers morbid, and so shattered my system that it was necessary to recover it by the mildest means and the slowest stages. I durst not walk out, so I was recommended to ride. Much reading, even of the lightest character, was declared one of the worse things possible for me; so my ycuug friends got' up private theatricals for my benefit, and though I was forbidden as yet to take 4 public part in them, it gave me infinite amusement to aid them in their preparations. By degrees I became quite an artist in the necessities of a successful “make Up;” could decide, at a glance, whether th« eye-brows required encouragement, or whether the eyes were of a shade to stand a narrow but severe touch of rouge immediately beneath them. I could tell at a single glance look whether the whiteness of a false complexion was due to flake-white, bismuth, or alternate layers or camphor-ice and powder; and probably no one ever answered more repeatedly the question, “Have I too much on tonight?' * That I became the criterion in matters was one of the piquant recompenses I had for not being in a position just then to take part in the public performances. I have said that I was int?rdicted from much walkiDg. This drove me to the city passenger-cars, for I could not afford the daily luxury of a carriage. It is one of my idiosyncrasies —call it a weakness if you will—that having once got into a track, it is hard to drive me out of it. Consequently I acquired the habit of riding up and down the same city passenger track — which one it is not necessary to particularize —several times a day. Upon one of these occasions I found myself occupying a corner of the car diagonal to one that was in possession of a' lovely spirituelle blonde. A very fair, pure blonde! And what ( paore exquisite sight is there on earth , than that of a - white-rose-skiuned, violet-eyed girl, with face framed in with rustic entanglements of lightgolden hair? - This was the style of a beauty that encountered me in that posseuger-car, and whispered to me that my destiny was at hand. It was about 9 o’clock in the morning, and we were all alone in the car. •She took no notice of me at all, nor indeed of anything but the schoolbook she bel-.i open in her lap. I noticed that the conductor looked at her from time to time, with an expression which might have meant a good deal had I in the least suspected the truth. or met a case resembling it before. The young lady stopped the „ car in the neighborhood of a large red brick building, which I took to be a young ladies’ seminary, and got out without betraying a consciousness of my existence, from which I opined that she was afraid of being late for school and didn’t know her lesson. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon I found myself riding up town in the' same car. The lack of other means of ’ amusement had rendered me a close observer, and consequently when the car stopped and a w Oman’s-rights-look-ing woman got in. apparently a spinster of uncertain age, my looks were riveted upon in spite of the 1 difference in age, attire, manner, and everything wbicn constitutes personality, I exclaimed to myself: ‘ Heavens! what a strange family resemblance! I could swear -this woman !s-rights- looking-woman was the maiden aunt of my spirituelle blonde. Those eyes, that nose, that chin,” and thereupon I sank off into a retrospective reverie which lasted until I found I had been driven six blocks past the paternal residence, and reflect- " «d that the dinner had by that time probably grown unpalatably warm. The mystery was not at an end yet. That same evening at about 8 I took another tide, which was to last me until next morning. Being again the cole occupant of tne car, I was about to solve the problem how great a portion of my body could re|>ose upon the velvet-cushioned seat wituout an inpin gem ent of my dusty feet thereon, when the car stopped. I heard the conductor exclaim: “All right,aunty,” and the next moment there ambled in a middle-aged woman, who seated herself, p&iulully and with heavy breathing, opposite. She wore a thick veil, but my eyes were sharpened by much observation, and, for the second time that day, I exclaimed to myself: “Heavens! what resemblance!” and fell back on the old work of comparing eyes, chin and nose with those of my spirituelle blonde of the morning. Ves; the family resemblance was there, there was no disguising that. If the Feman’s-righta-woman had been the spinster aunt, this woman was the dowager mother. Mixine with it all there was a confusion, a mystery, a contradiction and defiance, which I in vain to understood or remote. Why, of all the faces I had seen that <lay, these three should flit before me, weaving themselves together, growing out of one another like monstrous beads, alternating each with incessant repet’tion, and mingling their ider ties like objects reflected infinitely in opposite mirrors, was the most inex--1 plicable question of all. I dreamed about those faces all that night. They grew out of my bedgfets; they hid themselves in the ids of my mosquito net: they sprouted from my neck and flashed before me like a fabled monster, and when I awoke in the morning ’twas as though they had divided my appetite between them, for I certainly had none for breakfast.

So wearisome had grown this onant brooding* that in despair I went to my doctor, and conquering my fear •of being laughed at, stated the case. My doctor is an eclectic. He is not am old fogy. He is a young progressive, with respect for past good, but •with greater respect for future better. He believes in phrenology, and he leads tne newspapers, consequently he knows a thing or two which more cel- . b l ßiclanß rai gbt search in toT vain.

viduality, and then he asked me tte very singular question: “Do you know what a ‘spotter’ is?” I pondered for a few moments, and then pensively shook my head. I was no’ excessively green in city life, but I did not know what a “spotter” was, and so I said: “I thought, perhaps, I was a little out of my head,” 1 added. “Sometimes 1 fancy my fever jarred me terribly. And I have been so haunted by these three faces. You don’t know—” * * At this point, for the first time, the doctor interrupted me with a hearty laugh. ( “I do know all, my dear fellow,” he said, slapping me on the shoulder. “Nothing’s the matter there,” touching my head. “Your being ‘haunted,’ as you call it, with those three faces, on the contrary, is one of the best proofs that you are all right. Take your customary ride to-day. Ten chances to one but you will encounter the same three faces. When you do, get as close to them as .possible, and if your eyes are not strong enough, borrow a pair of eye-glasses. Report the result of your ot«ervations to me, and if by that time you don’t knew what a ‘spotter’ is, I will tell you.” I rose to go, with returned cheerfulness.

“One word more*” he said, holding out his hand as I stood on the threshold. “You are not in love with your violet-eyed blonde?” “Ah! She is very beautiful,” I answerei, turning away; “mid I think —I don't know—but I thinks I am iu love,” and, disappearing amid the doctor’s merry peal of laughter, I went on my mysterious quest. It was several dayi? ere I called on the doctor again. When I did so it was with a clearer head, but a heart not altogether lighter. I had pursued my investigations closely in the interim, and was now going .to him with the result. “And what have you to report?” he asked. “The girl,” I replied, “has genuine, unassisted beauty, and I pity her from the bottom of my heart that she is obliged to eara her living in such a way. Her spinster aunt is admirably got up, but I noticed that the way she counts is by turning down a leaf of the book she carries for every fresh passenger that gets in. The old lady is the greatest success of all. She takes her notes by pretending to figure up grocer’s account in a greasy blank book. But they are all three first-class ‘spotters,’ aud do their business well.” “And pray, my friend,” asked the doctor, “now did you arrive at a compreheusion of the deep signiflcence of that term?” “My own eager eyes and senses infhrmed me,” I replied. (“You are pretty’ well cured,” 1 beard the doctor mutter half aloud.) * “A ‘spotter,’ usually a female is au employe in the secret service of a passenger railway company. Her duty is to ‘spot’ dishonest conductors, and report them to the directors of this company. These winien, whom I have seen, are all ‘spotters” regular artists in the work.” “Aud how about the family resemlla ice?”

“The same face,” I replied, ‘ ( bears sn extraordinary family resemblance in itself, when seen in a number of clever disguises. I have said these women are artists and do their work well. But there is only one woman in the case! My spirituelle blonde is nothing but a spirituelle ‘spotter,’ and my voilot-eyed beauty, my spinst~r aunt and my dowager motner are one and the same person. I brushed □ear her with the eye of a hawk. I saw the paint ami patches aud powder. It is the best ‘make up’ on or off the stage, I ever witnessed. But I think one or two of the conductors, from the way they looked at her, are a little suspicious; and I expect my lady will soon be obliged to ‘spot’ on another line.” From that hour my convalescence was rapid, and I ride fees than formerly in city passenger railway cars.

How the States Were Named.

New York. Times. The Hon. Hannibal B. Staples read a paper at the annual meeting of the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester on ■ the 21st inst, in whicn he discussed ttie origin of the names of several of the states. His conclusions were as follows: New Hampshire gets its name from Hampshire, England. Massachusetts is derived from an Indian name, first given to the bay, signifying ,‘near the great hills.” Rlrode Island has an obscure origin; the ‘‘lsland of Rhodes/’ the “Island of the Roads,” and a Dutch origin “Red Island,” were mentioned, the first seemiug to have the best historical support. Connecticut is an Indian name, signifying “land on a long tidal river.” New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland were passed over. The Carolinas and Georgia have a royal origin. Maine was named from the fact that it was supposed to contain the “mayne portion” of New England. Vermont has no especial question, except that it is claimed to have first been an alias— New Connecticut alias Vermont. Kentucky r da.ly signifies either a “dark and i ; dy ground,” or a j river,” or “the long river.” Tennessee -nmes from its river, the name !be - derived from the name of an ' .an village on the river,“Tanasee.” Ohio is named after an Indian name signifying “something great,” with an accent of admiration. Indiana comes from the name of an early land company. Illinois from the Indian—the name of a tribe. Michigan is claimed to mean “lake country/’ it probably came from the name of the lake, “Great Lake,” which bore this name before the adjacent land was named. Louisiana is from the French. Arkansas and Missouri are Indian—the former being beautiful; the latter is claimed to mean ip its original*‘muddy water,” which describes the river. lowa is also Indian, with doubtful meaning. Texas is popularly supposed to be Indian, but may be Spanish. Florida is Spanish, “a flower land.” Oregon has a conjectural origin it is claimed. It is probably Indian, but a Spanish origin is claimed. California comes from a Spanish romance of 1510. Nevada takes its name from that of the mountains. and they get theirs from a resemblance to the Nevadas of South America. Minnesota is Indian, “skytinted water.” Nebraska is variously rendered “shallow water” and “flat country.”-Kansas is from an Indian

’ root, Eaw, corrupted by the French.' Mississippi is “great water,” or “whole river.” Alabama is Indian, the name of a fortress and a tribe, signifying, me is claimed, “here we rest.” Incident of Chief Me-sirth-gotne-sia Kushvllle Republican. • About twenty years ago, Uncle Harmony Laughlin made ft a business) to take frequent trips to Watftsh bounty where he purchased ponies of the Indans, and brought them baok to Rush county. Ononeparticular occasion he visited the camp of Me-shin-go-me-sia, a, few miles from Wabash. Thecrafty old fellow was hard to beat in a > trade, and the extent of his knowledge concerning “bosses” was only equaled bytthe size of his body, he nearly 300 pounds. Mr. Laughlin purchased five or six of the ponies, and was shrewd enough to have them delivered already haltered, inasmuch as the “critters” were as shy as so many, mountain goats. This was considered’ a big feature in a trade. Salt was such a rare luxury to the ponies that they would risk life and reputation to gain a small amount of it. So an old squaw approached the ponies with a handful of salt, and when the animals saw the tempting artiole, they approached the woman, who elowly backed intoarickety building. As soon as the ponies were in the structure, the door was hastily closed, and behold, a number of equine prisoners found themselves at the mercy of their masters. Old Me-shin-go-me-sia, halter in hand, entered the building, and pilloried the “nag” designated oy Mr. Laughlin. The astute Indian was loth to bring the animal out in the open air, well knowing its friskyness.'Unele Harmony insisted, however, and out they came with a dash. Me-shiu-go-me-sia, it should here be 6aid, was clad only in a shirt, reaching to his knees. The pony reared, ran, kicked, snorted aedihot out like a cyclone, the obese retfruOn holding on like a leech. The next thing Mr. Indian knew he was sitting flat on the ground, with nothing between his naked anatomy and Mother Earth, scooting along like a fast horse on a race track. “Stop horse! stop horse! Injun sick!” howled the aboriginal citizen. A number of braves rushed to his assistance, and rescued the sliding man. Old Me-shin-go-me-sia sold the rest of the ponies, but he refused to lead the animals from their quarters single-handed. 11 is supposed that he reposed on his stomach every night for a mouth after.

Lucky Days.

.Loudon Saturday Review. It is curious to note that in India a rainy di*y is considered unlucky fora wedding, and that Scandinavian Thursday, the day of Thor, or thunder, was also of bad omen. St. Elroy, in a sermon, warns his flock from keeping Thursday as a holy day, and Dean Swift, in a letter to Sheridan, rhymes Thursday to “cursed day.” The Estonians consider it unlucky, and in Devonshire it has but one lucky hour. Mr. Jones, who by the way makes no mention of Thursday as the fatal day of the Tydors. does attempt to generalize these curious 'facts, which, indeed we have picked out from different parts of the book. Unlucky days in Cochin China—perhaps among the Mohammedan Malays, but we are not told—are the third day of the new moon, being that on which Adam was expelled from Paradise; the fifth, when the whale swallowed Jonah; the sixteenth, when Joseph was put into the well; the twenty-fourth, when Zachariah was murdered; and the twentyfifth, when Mohammed lost his front teeth. The ancient Egyptians were like the Chinese in their careful observance of lucky and unlucky days,and Mr. Jones may turn with profit for his next edition to Mr. Mitchell’s amusiDg calendar, in which they are detailed at length. Mr. Jones says that from ancient Egypt the evil or unlucky days have received the name of Egyptian days, given them in “a Saxon MS (Cott. MS. Vitel, c. viii, so 20).” They are the la9t Monday in April, the first in August, and the “first Monday of the going out of the month of December.” which leaves us somewhat in doubt as to all the Mondays iu that month.

Pistol Practice in Arkansas.

Detroit Poet. Some time since a Detroitei went to Arkansas to look up some property left by will, and in his wanderings he put up one night with a farmer who hadn’t much to brag of in the way of a house. There was only one big roof with a garret above, and when it came bedtime the Detroiter was packed awavi under the roof. White he had mer with no adventure worth recording, he knew that he was in a section where every man is expected to look out for himself. Therefore, before going to sleep, he put his revolver under his pillow and made up his mind what to do in an emergency. About midnight the emergency arrived. The Wolverine heard some one in his room,and he reasoned that robbery and murder could be the only excuse. Out came the levolver and he blazed away at a dim figure until he had fired six bulled. After the last one a voice inquired: “Stranger, have you got through shootiu’?” “Who is it, and what do you want?” demanded the traveler. “It’s me,” replied the farmer. “The old woman’s got the toothache till she can’t rest, and I come to ask ye fur a pinch of that flnecut tobacker as a remedy. I wa* just goin’ to speak wheii ye blazed away with yer popgun!” “And I might have killed you!” “Yes, about one chance in a million. Say, stranger, let me gin ye a piece of advice.” “Weil?” “Trade that pop-gun off fur a fifteen cent drink and by ye a knife. When ye hit with a knife the splinters has got to fly, but when ye begin shootin’ with sick irons as that, ye are apt to spile all the old woman’s red peppers or shoot yer own thumb oft. The fellers around here have been poppin’ away at me for three years back, and the only damage they ever did was to knock a nind button off my coat.”

Astonishing fertility is elaimed for the soil of Colorado.- A vegetable gardener, who owns twenty acres of land near Canon City, is reported by the Denver Journal to have raised 80,000 head of cabbage of the largest size upon his small tract He shipped the greater part of his crop to Kansas City, and estimates his nroflts at over 10,000.

FINE CUT.

Hbw John Anderson. £p«e*4idd ft • r and Made a Fortune. - » * i Kew York Sun. j John Anderson made his foriotje mainly from a brand of Hr# cut chewing called Solaoe, which was first produced when “plug” Was . the popular form of cheWiifg 1 tobacco. ace has made.other Jprtunes besMe Mr. Andersopto. The milflouMye/tobacconist was fond of recalling tne history of this brand, and It made an interesting tale. ' • Thirty or more years ago he kept a little tobacco shop on W4U-street,close to Broadway. It was so small that three*men could not move freely before the,counter, yet It was haunted by the conspicuous men about town. General Winfield Scott, Colonel Mon-, roe, son of,the president; Mr. Williams, the translator of Eugene Sue’s works; Park Benjamin, of whom Mr. Anderson used to say “he was the editor of more papers than there were streets in that ward;” C. Edwards Lester. who wrote “The Glory and Shame of England,” and many of the fops, the merchant princes, and the politicians of the metropolis were among the frequent visitors there. Snuff tt&ing was universal then, and many of the youDg men felt privileged to go behind the counter and mix the snuff to suit themselves.

One day Gen. Scott asked why it was not possible to obtain a. special brand of chewing tobacco better than that which was iu general use,and of course at higher cost. John Anderson replied that it was possible, if they would pay to have the tobacco specially manufactured. “How can it be done?’’ asked Gen. Scott. ■ ‘How can you make tobacco better than tobacco?” “I’ll tell you how,” Mr. Anderson said, and then he addressed Col. Monroe, adding, “And you, Colonel will understand me, because you are familiar with tobacco. You know that the top leaves of the tobacco plant are always the finest, just as the fruit on the south side ot a tree is always better thau that on the other side. Well, I would use nothiug but the top leaves, and those I would treat with special care. You know that the tobacco leaf is always rid of the central stem, a woody, fibrous stock, containing properties that do not exist elsewhere in the leaf. I would not only take out the backbone, but I would carefully cut out all the smaller ribs leading from it. I would brush each leaf to rid it of foreign particles, and all through the process of preparation I would use the utmost care without sparing expense.” The military men ordered this especial brand made, and it was not long before it became the standard tobacco among the officers *of the army, and thence it become known to the public generally. It was packed in big jars, which Gen Scott ordered, an.l emptied rapidly, for he was au inveterate chewer.

“As it was mainly the fancy that they were paying more than others could afford, that Gen. Scott and Col. Monroe dwelt upon,” said Mr. Anderson last summer, “I compliment d them, and those who adopted the lashion of chewing new tobacco, by charging a handsome price.” At this time chewing tobacco was Eut up in paper wrappers. This was ad for it. In a dry place it crumbled iuto a became musty. The Mexicau war broke our, and General Scott was ordered to the command of tbe troops in action. He was a very big man, very gorgeous in dress and very imposing in manners,and Mr. Anderson recalled the fact that all these characteristics became imm* a-urably aggravated when the big chieftain stopped at the doorway of the little tobacco shop and made his way in. What with his high chapeau and higher plume, his widespread epaulets, and his rattling sword, he always seemei, as the wit of the day put it, to be in the mysterious position of those ships that ingenious triflers build in wine bottles to excite curiosity ap to how they got in or out. “Anderson,” said the General, “I have got to go to Mexico directly. You are an ingenious and inventive man. I want you to suggest some way of packing chewing tobacco so it will keep, 1 can’t' go lugging that forty thieves’jar around Mexico with me, and I must hkve some means of packing small quantities of tobacco in my saddle bags.” “How would India rubber do?” queried Mr. Anderson. “It. wouldn’t do at all,” the general replied; “the smell of it would get into the tobacco.” “Bladders,” the tobacconist suggested; “how would bladders suit you?” “No, d the bladders,” replied the commander-in chief: “1 see too much of bladders in the army. Whisky is smuggled in*to the men in bladders wbicu the women conceal about-them. Bladders won’t do.” Mr. Anderson thought it over, and tried tin-foil. General Scott was delighted. He took a packing-box full of little oblong ) ackages. Down in Mexico the people In the commissiouary deSartment broke open the box, and fen era! Scott had only what he had put in his Eaddle bags. He wrote a characteristic note to Mr. Anderson, saying that he was thankful for a plenty of whisky, but wretched for want of tobacco. He ordered thiee ca°cs Jo be sent to as many Mexican cities, eo as to be sure of tobacco whereever he might be. While the war went on, the-proprietors of the city hotels sent word that they wanted to put on sale sojne of the tobacco General Scott wtausing, and thus began the distribution of tin-foil parcels of cut. But Mr. Anderson was troubled for a name to give the new brand. One day Mr. Williams, the English literateur, who translated Eugene Sue’s books, happened along, and Mr. Anderson confided his trouble to him. Williams laughed at Mr. Anderson /or poring over tne dictionary, and hastily wrote down a dozen words, the first erf which was “Solacfe.” “That ’la’ the* word,” said the tobacconist, adding r “I won’t look at any other.” Z When General Scott returned to New York he found John AnderSod in a big and showv store at Pine street ana Broadway.: He took the tobacconist’s band and looked at him with an expression of friendly regard. “John,” said General Scott, “you are going to be a rich man. .1 know

Nothing ,of affairs, buhl have seen all along that you are goiag*to*e j 4 very successful. man. -Take my ad- I ,fioe. “Don’t giye way la whisky, and pn no acoount he lctf iritb* fashionable Society.V --4i*>»*■• * nr

Garfield'S Distaste for “Conflicts Of Men."

; Mr. E. *V. .'•Erfiai(ey contrfodtW.Vo the December tth.tuiy Mafeazine a paper ou ■'‘Characteristics'm Preeiaeut chiefly based on' long apd‘ intimite personal acquaintance, time following extract Is significant; • “I <fo not tfiihk Jt is generally known" that Garfield rejected'otWtures in 1872 to be elected Jo ifie Benau? by thai votes !of the Democrats combined with those' ’of a number of Republicans fiom his section of OLio, who, were dissatisfied with the caucus nomination /"Bt their party. The reason he gate "for his course was that the position would not .be an independent one, and that he would be placed under, obligations to the Democrats, although they asked no pledges. Three times he declined to be a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of Ohio, when he had only to oonsent to let his name go before the convention to have had the honor conceded to him without a contest. In preferring the House of Representatives to the executive chair at Columbus, he was wise. His place was in the field of ideas, arguments, and constructive work, and ne would have been restive at any post of duty which limited the activity of bis intellect, and held him down to the enforcement of statutes made by otbei men. Indeed, the Presidency was foreign to his tastes, except as it gave him opportunity to impress his ideas upon ConS ess and the country. A few weeks fore he Was shot, I heard fiom his own lips an expression of th 9 distaste he felt of the business of deciding between the claims of individuals for office. ‘I have all my life delighted in conflicts of ideas,’ he said, ‘but I never cared for conflcts of persons. Now I am obliged to spend*nearly my whole time in hearing arguments and appeals in behalf of individuals.’ He went on to say that, if he failed of success in his new position, he thought it would be because of his want of liking and training for this important part of executive duties. He found it almost impossible to give his mind to the question" Whether A, B, or C was Ihe best man 10 be Postmaster at Peoria, or whether D should he turned out of a colleetorship to make place for E.”

A Viennese Superstition.

The bodies of twenty-three more victims of the Ring theater at Vienna have been recovered. The remains of the remaining 600 or 700 victims will be placed ia large metal coffins and interred as found, without further religious ceremony. Of those only the ashes and a few charred bones will ever be recovered. Over the large grave in the Friedhof a monument will be erected, and it is even proposed that theßing theater be razed and in its place a monument erected -to the thousand victims who perished there. Strange to say this proposition meets approval in spite of the value of the ground on which the building stands, for there is a superstition among the people of Vienna that the very site is accursed. When the present beautiful Ring-strasse was formed of the graves of the city walls thirty years ago,.the city executioner' dwelt on the spot. After the revolution of 1847 had been Sut down, it was here that Robert llum was shot, and after him *many others were hanged and shot ,tm the same spot. At that time the legend began that the curse of God would reßt on the place for all time. Perhaps it was this curse that has made the five or six managers of theßing theater bankrupt since 1874. It certainly seems to have rested on Director Janner’s directorship. Of those now buried, only 125 have heen identified; the rest are unrecognizable by their friends and relatives. This is best, for the memories- /of the loved departed are happier than they would have been otherwise. It will be the last resting place of ail, irrespective of their confessions. Catholics, Protestants, Greeks and Jews all rest together. Priests of all four confessions joined in the solemnities at the Central Freidhof, each forgetting their religious rivalries in the common sorrow of the people.

Changes of a Century.

The nineteeut n century has witnessed many and very great aiscoveries and changes: In 1809 Fulton took out his first patent lor the invention of a steamboat. The first steamship which made regular trips across the Atlantic Ocean were the Sirius and Qreat Western in 1830. The first application to practical use of gas illumination was made in 1802. In 1813 the streets of London were for the first time lighted with gas. In 1813 there was buiit in Waltham, Mass, a mill, believed to have been the first in the world, which combined all the requirements for making finished cloth from the raw cotton. In 1790 there vrereKouly twenty-five postofflees in the whole country, and up to 1837 tne rate of postage was twenty-five cents for a letter sent over 400 miles. In 1807 wo<*leri clocks began to be made by machinery. This ushered in the era of cheap clocks. About the year 1833 the first rail road of any considerable length in the United States was constructed. In 1840 the first experiments in photography were made by Daguerre. About 1840 the first express busin--ess was established, The anthracite coal business may be said to have begun in 1820. In 1836 the patent for the invention of matches was granted. Steel pens were introduced for use in 1803 ? Tne first successful tri ts of a reaper took place in 1888. / ■ In 1846 Dias Howe patient for his first sewing machine. The first successful method of making •vulcanized India rubber was patented in 1839. , ■■ ■ 1 ~ ■* - Thomas Schofield, aged 01 years, walked nine miles to renew his subscription to a New London paper. Ttf is the general impression among publishers that there are a number of subscribers who are waiting until they are 91 years old to come in and pay for their paper.

THE STATE

! H^nry.^rwiton f ,who killed Qqojgg MorijgpaJW&*4ow, coupiy,,!*** August, has bevn-aentenoed lffe%r thdjdfyr ; ' Tins Court decided Mon-v day tkat flogs are property This has heretofore been a debatable question of law in this State, t 'The Chicago and Atlantic railroad te buying quite a number of small farms* in "Wabash and adjoining counties for the timber upon them. It to with great difficulty that ties for the roadway pan be. obtained, and the price has beep forced up lately. , The wife of William Schumacher,of Fort Wayne, was found floating in the canal, where she had committed sui» cide on account of a quarrel with her husband the previous night. She was not missed nntil morning, although it to supposed she left the house about midnight. About two weeks ago William Felds and Toby Carter, two colored men at work on the Jacob Fry place above Utica, got into a difficulty over a pig, and Carter emptied the contents of a shot gun into the breast of Fields. The wounded man has been confined to bis bed ever since, and is now reported as dying. Carter has fled. * As Frank Winter was descending the stairs at his home, near Richmond, with a shot gun in his hands, it was accidentally discharged, and the load struck and killed a cat that his little brother was carrying up in his arms. Only one shot struck the boy, but that carried away the first joint of the index finger on the right hand.

The American Humane society, of New York, is about to establish feeding goints along the line of the Wabash, t. Louis and Pacific railroad, and Wabash appears to be the place which meets with the officials’ favor. The company is organized for the purpose of attending to the feeding and watering of stock en-route to the-east. The Indiana cotton mill managers at Cannelton, Ina., are building an addition to ibeir mill large enough to add 800 additional looms and a 500 horsepower improved engine. The engines, iron pillars, beams, hangers, shafting, pulleys and all other iron work but the looms will come from England, via New Orleans, all the way by cheap ocean and river transportations. Nearly all the work on the Cincinnati, Wabash and Michigan railroad extension between Elkhart and Niles, Mich., to completed. The contract specified that the track should be completed by December Ist, but unforseen delays the work has been retarded. Trains, however will run through between Elkhart and Niles by * January Ist if the weather continues favorable. A contract has been closed with the Brush elctric light company for illuminating a portion of Lafayette. By the terms of the contract the company agrees to erect and maintain an electric light of 20,000 candle power, five lights 4,000 candle power each, on the to#er- of Ford school, lightning and extinguishing by the schedule that governs the gas company, and aggregating 24,000 hours per annum, for the sum of $2,500 per year. The contract is made /or two years. The council expect by the use of the light to do away with 125 gas lamps on the hill, which cost annually $4,750, and effect a saving thereby of $1,230.

Vanderbilt and His Two Boys.

The railway king avoids Wall street and all other unavoidable excitement* Tbe report that he had suffered a paralytic stroke suggests at least his liability to such a misfortune, and hence the importance of keeping quiet. His luxurious Style of life is not adapted to promote health, and one need not be surprised at any time to hear ut a fatal result. The fact that be has just Jbeen sued by two Rochester men illustrates that liability to such annoyance which his position involves, and this suit will be one of a highly vexatious nature. Vanderbilt is at present’much engaged in the construction of his palace, which J 9, necessarily, very slow work. The ob has beei\_ under way three years, and it may require two more to finish, it. Considering the brevity of human life, this is a disproportionate share to be spent in mere preparation for living. William has an immense estate to bequeath, and he would like the railway empire preserved intact,but experienccr has taught him that any favoritism, may lead to breaking tbe will. Hir sons, William K and Cornelius, each inherited $2,000,000 from their grandfather, and so did Frederick. The latter, however, is rather an outsider at present, having incurred paternal displeasure by marrying a woman almost old eqough to be his mother. Neither of the two above mentioned sons are business men* and hence can hardly be expected to succeed their father in his distinguished position. William is trying to teach them business. and hence na? mad? one of them director, while the other is his private secretary, but this is a very different thing from controlling the destinies of a railway empire. William knows this, and hence the future of the family is overhung with many doubts and misgivings, and the construction of tba will is a task of peculiar difficulty.

The Oldest Pensioner.

Baltimore North American. Maryland can probably claim the oldest pensioner in the United States in the person of Mrs. Elizabeth Cretzer, who resides in the Ninth District Of Baltimore county, upon the York •road. She was 103 years old in last December, and is the widow of John Cretzer, of Captain Perry’s company of Maryland militia, who served in the war of 1812. Notwithstanding her age, she can walk about the house aad attend ta household duties. She has the record pf her birth and of her mar? riage to John Cretzer in the year 18Q1*. Her sight and hearing are good, and her mental • facilities are in pxqallpnt . preservation. On Tuesday she Was driven in to receive her pension payment at Mgjor Adreon’s office, on CaW - vert street, and as -he would not give - her the trouble to alight he carried hep * check to her at the carriage and found' her thoroughly cheerful 'and in the humor for auite a talk. She is believed to be the oldest pensioner, if not' tha I oldest person, in the United- States.