Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1883 — Tit for Tat. [ARTICLE]

Tit for Tat.

A Louisville man, having gone to see a play where the principal actress plunged from a ferry boat into the riy. er, astonished his room-mate that night, who sat up reading, by rising straight on the bed and, throwing his arms wildly above his head, dive headforemost to the floor. On opening his eyes he asked if she had been saved, and then it was learned that he «had been dreaming, and that he plunged from the bed to the floor to save Carrie Swain from a watery grave. He has a' sore ‘head and a bruised body, but he will be able to be out in a few days.

The sleeping-car companies make their porters lower each berth *at night, whether occupied or not, so that the person having the lower berth shall not enjoy more comfort than is bought. The object is to make it necessary for any one who requires a whole section to pay accordingly. The Illinois Legislature has now made a law. providing that any person paying for a double lower berth in a sleeping-car “shall have the right to say whether the upper double berth shall be opened or closed until such Upper berth is actually sold and occupied,” and that thereupon it shall be the duty of the conductor “to comply with the request of such persons or persons. ”

The possibilities of a boy’s pocket have often engaged the descriptive powers of humorous writers, but no imaginative literature has ever included the actual experience of a Philadelphia lad named Robert Cridland. He was observed the other day, in the Chestnut Hill Consolidated School, .picking a small package with a pen. An instant after a loud noise rang through the room and Robert was bounding into the air, minus two fingers and a thumb, while the Consolidated School rapidly became disintegrated. His plaything was a small dynamite cartridge which he had found in a quarry and had put among the treasures of his pocket, in order to while away the monotony of the. arithmetic hour. After all, boys of larger growth handle dynamite as carelessly as young Cridland, and with even less excuse.

Boston Globe: F. D. Handy, of Northboro, Mass., keeps a meat market which has been infested with wharfrats of prodigious size. Mr. Handy has recently placed in* position a new large meat refrigerator, and the first night after it was set in place a huge rat gnawed his way through the thick planking to the interior, and was enjoying a fat repast when discovered. His ratship was captured, and Mr. Handy, armed with a pair of pincers, proceeded to pull .out all the teeth the rat had in its head. At the conclusion of the operation the rodent was allowed to depart, with the prospect of being obliged to subsist hereafter on spoon victuals. Th§ singular feature of the case is that, although the number of rats formerly about the premises was very large, yet since the dental operation not a rat has'* been seen or heard about the market.

Famine is the present distress of Iceland as it has been of Ireland. To aid the sufferers Great Britain subscribed about SIOO,OOO, or less than one-fifth the loss in cattle and produce. Farming is an impossibility in Iceland, and the people are entirely dependent on the outside world for food. The wealth of .the- people is in live-stock, which they exchange for breadstuff's and fabrics, and the starvation of stock by the failure of grass has reduced the people to a dire extremity. take years to replenish the stock, and unless there is some better means; afforded to meet the requirements of the people, they will die of starvation by the hundred next winter. The people of several places have expressed a desire to leave, Iceland and come to America. They are a thrifty, honest people, and as they only number 70,000 there is room for them all in this rich country, where lands are fertile and industry fruitful. It is thought 900 families will speedily be brought over.

An old Indiana lawyer named Judge ■Complete, who had been used to hav* ing his own way in court, once arose .and began an argument for the purpose of darraining a new and young United States District Judge. Before the lawyer had gone far, the new Judge interrupted him with: “Judge Complete, .you needn't pursue this line of argument any further. You know that is

not the law. The startled old counselor could hardly believe his own ears, “What did you say, sir?” Ke asked,* sharply. “I said,” repeated the young< Judge, “that you need go no further on that line of argument; that you were not stating the law as it Ist* “Well, sir; well, sir,” said the old gentleman, taking off his eye-glasses nervously, “perhaps your Honor knows the law better than I doand then, in a more insolent tone, “your long experience no doubt enables *you to speak.” “Mr. Clqrk,” said the new District Judge, “enter up a fine of $25 against Judge Complete for contempt of court;" and Judge Complete, routed for the first time in many years, sat down in a daze. The young Judge is now known as Postmaster General Gresham.

The Town of Red Bank, N. J., is all torn up because Mrs. Finch has built a board partition dose to the windows of Mrs. Loew’s house which looked directly into Mrs. Finch’s bedroom. She had warned Mrs. LoeW while she was building that she would not suffer the window to remain unobstructed. She had the ground surveyed twice, and felt sure that* she had built the obstruction on her own land, and will not take the boards down. Mr. Loew, husband of Mrs. Loew, says: “I did think I would contest the right of Mrs. Finch to obstruct the view from my '- windows. But I have.come to the conclusion that I do not care to get into a quarrel with a woman. The lawyers tell me she had no right to put up such a structure for the mere purpose of cutting off light and air from my building, although she has a right to build on her own lot so as to shut up my windows. However, if she chooses to let the obstruction stand, I do not propose to interfere, with it. As it stands on my land about two inches, I have no doubt I could cbmpel her to move it; but I guess it will be quite as much annoyance to her as to me.” It is only a variation of the “line fence” difficulty.

Boston Herald: Mrs. Lydia Pinkham, of Vegetable Compound fame,* died not long ago of paralysis at her residence, No. 233 Western avenue, Lynn, Mass. There was no woman in the city so well knoyn as she; her name had a world-wide circulation and fame and had become almost a household word. She was born in Lynn, Feb. 9, 1829, both her parents being Quakers. Her maiden name was Estes. She passed through the public schools, graduating at the Lynn Academy and teaching school both at Wareham, Mass., and Lynn. Some forty years since she was married to Isaac Pinkham, by whom she had font sons and one daughter. Three of the former are dead, but her husband is still alive, as also her daughter, Mrs.- Caroline C. Gove. Fifteen years ago, Mrs. Pinkham commenced to manufacture the compound which has made her so widely known. She first started in the business in a very small way, apd used to distribute the medicine about to those whom she thought needed it. Seven years ago the firm commenced to advertise extensively all over the world, the sum annually spent in this way being not far from $200,000. During the past three years Mrs. Pinkham has been at the head of the firm, devoting her entire energies and time to it. Mrs. Pinkwas a Spiritualist, and her funeral was conducted by a proponent member of that denomination from Boston.

“One day,” said a gentleman, “before harvest, I met a fashionably dressed person with a large handful of ears of wheat taken from my fields. I saluted him respectfully and expressed my admiration of the beauty of the wheat. ‘Yes,’ said he, ‘it is truly a.fine sample, and does the farmer great credit who grew it.’ I acknowledged the compliment, and asked him from which of my fields he took it. After he had pointed it out, he assured me he always liked to take a good sample home, as it interested the ladies. Upon that, noticing with admiration the style of his coat, I asked him to allow me to look at the skirt. He readily did so, and I quietly took out my penknife and cut a large piece from the tail. The gentleman bounced and swore; but I told him I always took samples of cloth, and I found they greatly interested my wife. I added that he had eno more right to take my wheat, than I had to take his coat, and that I wished the public to bear this truth in mind.” This was experience bought with a vengeance.— Chambers’ Journal.

Thk last census shows that the number of foreigner's living in Paris is very considerable. There are 45,281 Belgians, 31,190 Germans, 21,657 Italians, 20,810 Swiss, 10,789 English, 9,250 Dutch, 5,927 Americans, 5,786 Russians, 4,982 Austrians and 3,616 Spaniards. The German colony in Paris ■was greatly increased since 1876. It consisted at that time of only 19.024 .soul*.