Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1887 — Page 6

! AnA'D BKRINNING. ‘I want to b« an angsl,“ ’ 1 ( Sings tha niKblen in the choir; She i> no* for wings and thinks she'd like , To twang a golden lyre. 15ut if she'd note tlie costumes Of maideiii < f to-dav, Sh d surely .i-otU«ft angels Would never drees that way. ( For instance, take the bustles. Such as you'll da-1 meet; Now. wouldn't they look queer If worn Upon the golden street ? And Saratoga waves and bangs. And fals- teeth and blondin»; -r— . An wiigol, gtr s. with such uthiirt Would surely ne'er lx- seen. So, girls, if yoit're in earnest. You see ypu stafed wrong ; Am if you're.not, why don't you quit And sing some other song?* r •—Merchant Tmr I -r.

THE JOURNEY OF A SOUL.

BY TOM P. MORGAN.

Harry Valjenn and Major Dartmore sat opposite each other in the latter's cheerful den, smoking and talking, its they wntehed the blue clouds roll upward and float, an azure stratum, above their head*. Jhe Major, though still firm in step and upright in carriage and with dark hair yet untouched with silver, had had a world of experience, and had traveled, rumor said, wherever the foot of man had'trod. The decorations of the den were of the trophies gathered by him in every clime, and an interesting collection they were to Harry Vaiiean's eyes. Now, as they talked, the Major sat with a scarlet Algerian fez on liis h«-nd and the stem of a hideous Tutkish pipe between his bearded'lips, and' Valjenn thought he had never met a more companionable man. They were famous friend-, those two. and I question which enjoyed the friendship of the other the belter, the Major, with bis genial, matter-of-fact ways and marvelous and ever-entertaining narratives, or Harry Valjenn, the struggling author and dreamer, with his tender, romantic fancies and visionary outbursts. The Major had been telling a weird, wild tale of adventures in Hindartan, and. Harty bad listened with that rapt, dreamy intensity peculiar to him. Then, as the narra.ive was finished and he half reclined in the comfortable divan watching the blue smoke roll lazily upward, his eyes slowly roved, as if drawn by some unseen attraction, to the pager-weight on the little table that stood beneath the collection Of barbaric and Oriental swords. It could hardly have been called an ornament, so hideously uncouth Was it. Its form was that of a misshapened and repulsive dragon of copper on a base ot the” same metal, curiously inlaid with gold, in an odd variety of patterns. The entire affair was about five inches in height and about the same in width nt The base. The head, which was singularly hideous, had eyes of fire opals that gleamed balefully with almost living glances. The mouth, turned upward and distended in a cavernous yawn, was set with teeth, evidently from some reptile monstrosity, and set rated and hooked backward in anything but an inviting way. The tongue was of gold, set at the point with a single, gleaming bloodred stone. The feet were tipped with unsheathed claws that once were the weapons of some small, savage cat-like beast. “Of all odd, ugly ornaments,” said Harry Valjean,slowly, “that paper-weight is c«r-„ tainly the most superlatively hideous it was ever my lot to see.” “So, you do not admire it, Hany boy,” returned the older man, blowing an azure cloud from,the uncouth pipe. “No, I decidedly do not admire it, Major, but, some how, whenever I turn my eyes away from it, the hideous thing draws my gaze back, almost unconsciously, with a weird fascination I cannot account for.” “Pshaw: you are getting more imaginative than ever, Harry. I fail to see anything about the ugly object to attract any one. except, perhaps, its extreme uncouthness.”

“Neither do I,” answered Harry Vai jean. “But, nevertheless, the fact still remains that that idol, or what ever you are pleased to call it, has, since I first set eyes upon it, drawn my attention more powerfully than I would have believed any inanimate night- j mare of ugliness could have done. By the ■way , J do not remember having seen it till a few minutes ago. Where have you been hiding its regal loveliness, and where did you first obtain it?” “There are several odd things connected with that hideous object,” answered Major Dartmore. “The tale is rather a. long one; however, it may serve to amuse you a trifle. The reasonyOu have not seen it before is the very prosaic one that it has been lying, unseen and uncared for, in the bottom of ! one of my numerous cases of curiosities, j Yesterday morning I exhumed it, and, membering the legend attached to it, I brought his ugliness to the lights and ( shadows of my den.” ! “The legend.' Tell me”' said Harry Vai- j jean, eagerly., . ’ j “In the first place, my manner of'coming in possession of it~was a trifle singular,” began the Major., settling himself more comfortably in an indolent attitude. “some seven or eight years ago, when, as perhaps you are aware, I was somewhat younger than I am at present, I was in company wi:fi several friends, hunting in • ' that- vast and little - known regi on, in Arkansas and the Indian Territory, com- ; monly called the Sunk Lands. This is ! a 9 explored tract of almost: impenetrable"swamps and quagmire, where the foot of man bad rarely trodden. The hunting, where the land is above water, is such as to make it a Nimrod’s paradise. A very indefinite —tradition had some trifling credence among the Indians, that somewhere in the midst of that wilderness of swamps and quagmires, with all their terrors of miasmas and reptiles, once lay an elevated tract of land, of some few acres in extent, clothed in a wealth of semitropical verdure. A mountain of some altitude, tradition said, rose from this delightful little island, and was rich iu inexhaustible stores of precious metals and copper., .’■ ■ _ ____ Here dwelt the little rfimnant of a race, the Aztecs, perhaps, who had been hemmed in, closer and closer, by the sav.iee red men, in the days before the steps of Che intruding white men defiled the huntinggrounds, and all but those who had taken refuge on the swamp island were exterminated.” “By Jove! Major”broke in Hnny Valjean, “you are getting really quite romantic amThaveexcitedriny curiosity.”’' “Thanks, Harry boy," answered the Other- “I feared you would find the tale dull and uninteresting. Well, to resume: This little band, tradition had it, had remained on the swamp island, hemmed Tn

by their savage persecutors, but manfully keeping the latter at bay. Disease Nand death crept into the ranks of both parties, and at last the red men became discouraged at the unsuccessful siege and gave if np. They went away and left the persecuted ones in peace, and at last their location and almost their very existence were forgotten, except for the tradition which was almost wholly looked upon a fable, even by those who related it. ~~ “Although we put but little faith in the legend, we resolved to make a search foi| the mysterious swamp island, not expectins' to’ discover it, but thinking we might stumble onto new and untried huntingplaces. Weeks we Were buried in the

swamps, lost to the world, and almost savages Ourselves, but always having glorious sport. One foggy, dismal day, when I hnd l»een separated from my companions for hours, J suddenly discovered, to my consternation, that I whs lost. To be lost, in thedismnl quagmires of the Sunk Lan Is is no joke, and I at once set about discovering and taking my camp-ward way. Idr hours I climbed, tramped, and waded,, only to find too late that I was at least not going in the direction of camp. Night tame on, and I sought a little > elevation and built a fire, by the side of which I essayed to make myself comfortable. The effort was unsflWiißsful. My head began to throb, as iff intent upon bursting, and my blood rusheld through my veins like a flood of flamt*, 1 and my whole person seemed afire with fever. My sight seemed to half fail me, and presently I sank to the ground unconscious. Presently m'y senses . ) nrtially returned, and I rose to my feet i mid started in a wild career through the ! tangled vines, oft-times sinking to pa y I waist in the treacherous ooze, but always! plunging onward. At last I readied the! edge of a dryer tract of ground, and al- i though my sight was a good deal like the I dim vis on of a drunken man, I saw that it was of considerable extent and believed, in my half-insane, unreasoning way, that ! had reached the island told of by the legend.

"The details are very dim to my mind, and I only remember that, in my dazed ! condition, J wandered among ruins, great and small, wi bout giving them a second" thought. Their forms I did not note, and ! only remember that all objects were strange I nnd weird to me. Finally, when 1 had wandered aimlessly for some time, I sank down exhausted, my head roaring and booming with fever till it shut out all external sound*. Reclining seemed to reI rive my lever-stricken senses somewhat land quiet my throbbing head, for pres- , ently I was enabled to take note of m v suri loinidings a trifle. As I lay I saw before ! mo the ruin of what might once have I een | a temple. Part of a wall and three Muted ■ columns were stid standing. I wondered dimly at them and then closed my eyes in sleep. , , . “I awoke with a start, and was conscious of a sound of feeble groaning behind me. Turning, I beheld a litile hut built against a half-destroyed stone wall. Staggering to the hut, I entered and beheld an emaciated figure of a man stretched on a couch of skins. His wrinkled face, as dark us that of an Indian, was like the face of a white man in features, and was creased and seamed with age to a surprising degree, Feebly he addressed me in an unknown language, and w hen I shook inv bead, he. spoke slowly in a sad mixture of English and Cherokee dialect with which 1 was familiar. He was the last of his race and dying, he said, and, in my muddled condition, I asked no questions, but attended to liis few wants as best I could. How long I was there, an inmate of the hut, I cannot tell, but I remained till the old man died. He feebly called me to his side, and drew from beneath the skimpillow of his couch the hideous object I now use as a paper-weight. It was aM he hnd to give me, he said, in his broken dialect. 'There was gold in the mountain, but that was of little value compared with this gift.' It had n strange power and had been regarded by its possessors as priceless, and now as he, the last of his race, was dying, he gave it to me. “I but dimly comprehended him, but held the hideous thing in my hand as he talked. If it only contained the power the old man so earnestly gave it credit for possessing it would be indeed priceless.” “And, what was that wonderful power?" asked Harry Valjean, with a quick breath of interest. “As near as I could gather from his utterances, in the head of the dragon lies concealed a powder’ from which, when exposed to the air, arises an almost heavenly perfume. Inhaling it produces a sort of coma. It is then, according to his theory, the dream-soul lives.”

“I do not understand,” said Valjean. “Well, as near as l ean explain what I do not understand myself,” said Major Dartmore, “it is the soul that leaves the body in dreams; while in ordinary sleep there is a consciousness, a directing force, a will, that holds the dream-soul in check, but, once under the influence of the subtle odor from the dragon’s head, that will becomes as naught. The dream-soul then annihilates space and goes whither it will, and, in this case, he assured me, it had the pqwer of returning through time and,space to the island in the swamp, and the time when the little swamp kingdom was in the height of its prosperity. Bolts nor bars had no ' effect upon it, be said. More he told me, but that is the Substance of it, and then he died, almost without a struggle. “AVhat I did, I donotknow. My com- ' rades found me nearly a week after I had i left camp, wandering daft and raging ' with swamp fever, but with the copper dracon still clutched in my hand. I “To their eager questionings I answered I with the story I have told you, and they i laughed me to scorn. It was all a hallucij nation of the fever, they said, and, but for ' the little dragon, I would have believed them.”

“What did they say about the dragon?” asked Valjean. “That was a subject upon which they all disagreed. One advances tbif theory, .and the other that, but none believed my story.. I had been insane With fever-,-they said, and had lit’le or no knowledge of where I had been or what I had done, and they were about right. But still the dragon existed and would not be done. ..away with by theories.” . “And have you never ; tried the wonderful power of the magic powder contained in the dragon’s head 0 ” questioned Harry Valjean, eagerly. • ' “No, for the very good reason that there is no powder, magic or otherwise, in the hideous object’s head 1 ; I have examined it closely, m my; a time, end have failed to discover th® slightest trace of' a davily which equid contain the wonder. Look at it yourself. The magic powder probably existed only in my wild, feverish fancy.” " Valjean examined it critically, and with hands that trembled slightly with eager ' curiosity. There was certainly no indication of any receptacle which might contain tlie odorous powder that could eau<e the 1 dream-soul to vacate the body. Valjean ' returned the ugly little idol to the table with a sigh. He would have so loved to have tested the unnatural powers of the wonderful dust. A timid-knock-was heard -at the door. “Come!” cried the Major. clearly. A bey of bashful motions and washedout appearance entered, clutching in a sunburned paw .a note. This he delivered very timidly,to Major Dartmore. .“By Ge<>ree!” crie<l the Major,as he -pe» rused the contents of the missive. “This is unfortunate as it breaks up our chat, for a time at least. Gates wants to see me on an important matter, and ! must go at once, j However, that does not prevent your amusing yourself as best yon can till I return. I shall not be absent long! Make yourself at home, Harry boy-; ta, ta!” and the genial Major was off. ... Harry Valjean gazed dreamily at the odd little dragon for some time, wondering what stories it could relate were it i endowed with life and speech. Through ' the cloud of smoke the opal eyes of the ’ idol seemed to gleam balefully, and Harry Valjean felt half fascinated by their glitter. J He lifted it again from the table, and as he i did so it slipped from his half reluctant I grasp and fell to the floor. Upon spring-

ing to recover it, he was astonished tq nqje that thq golden tongue had been dislodged from the hideously gaping mouth, revealing a little cavity beneath its former lodgment place. From the powder. now half caked into a lump, with which the indenta- , tion was filled, arose a pungent, sweetly sickening or or that was inexpressibly pleasant to Harry Valjean’s nostrils. He sank back in bis chair with a sigh of infinite -ati-factioii. 0 “It is like the nectar of the gods!” he I cried in ecstatic delight, He forgot the overturned dragon, everything, m the bliss of the glorious inhtdai tion. His suiroundings, the room and its I contents, faded from his eyes, and his sight , only beheld the dragon. It righted jitself, : and, surrounded bytan encircling mist of j the smoky vapor that poured from its ( gaping mouth, grew in size, increased, i broadened, heigthened, widened, and Harry | Valjean.was vastly overtopped by it nnd its fellows, that now stood in two symmetrical ! rows. A new Inngunge sprang to Valjenn’s I lips, and even his thoughts were couched !in the strange tongue. The idol no longer I appeared dull and lifeless, bnt seemed to I breathe forth the vapor that was so enjoyable to Harry Valjean’s nostrils. This dragon ho called in his thoughts the •dragon, for it was the only one that seemed endowed with life. All the rest sat solemn in their graven gravity and hideousness. I'], the dragon-guarded avenue, shaded by bending bougho of strange trees, aud kicking aside the rare, unnatural foliage of unearthly flowers, Valjean strode, attracted by the sound of weird music, uncanny in its glorious sweetness. At each side of the avenue, back of the dragon idol, were structures of rare architectural beauty,.but strange forms. Among and about them, human beings were moving. 1 ' They had the features of Europeans, but were of a dark, rich complexion. The beautiful, unearthly music grew louder and more entrancing, hnd Valjenn suddenly came to a temple-like building that, before, had seemed to be hidden by the dimness of a great distance, but now was just before him. Great fluted columns and pillars of some rare, unknown stone upheld the ponderous, over-hanging roof. Adi were adorned with carvings, lin'd evefy part of the great building seemed to be inlaid with precioustatones, ivory, and rare woods, ip barbaric splendor. The vast structure seeitaed to stretch away and be lost in the dim distance. Valjean took little notice of time or space, but continued to advance over the marble aud ebony floor of the stately edifice toward the-weird, sweet music, that grew louder and more entrancing as he neared its source.

He turned aside; drawn by the magic strains, and found himself in a room of almost inconceivable sjilendor. But Valjean saw it nofc. His eyes were riveted in a souEenslaved look on the perfect being who produced, from a strangely-fashioned guitar, the melodies that had so entranced him. The odor of paradise filled the room and intoxicated Valjean with a flood of delight. The beauteous being laid aside the instrument, and, with a glad, welcoming cry, sprang from the rich divan, half throne, half couch, and advanced to Valjean’s side. With sweet words of welcome she led . him to the divan and seated herself beside him. Her robe of rare fabrics adorned with gems and precious metal, draped enchantingly, half repealing, half concealing, a form perfect in its voluptuous beauty. Her face was that of a vision of loveliness. When, with her soft, rounded arms about his neck, drawing his resistless head against her swelling bosom and her bewitching face close to his, she chided him for being so tardy in coming "at her bidding,'Valjean wondered dimly why he had neglected this beauteous being so long, when he seemed to have a consciousness that he had but left her for a season when he went to earth.

It seemed days and weeks to Valjean that he lingered at her side, a willing captive. They were all in all to each other, and knew no past, no future, and lived only for the present. Each anticipated the wish of the other, and it wr.s fulfilled almost before it was formed. And Valjean was happy, more happy than mortals are, as he lingered in her enchanting presence, and lived a hundred lives of ecstasy and pleasure. They were constantly together, and wandered through the beauteous bowers of strange plant growths, renewing the vows they had made before Valjean went to earth. One day the elements seemed angry with the little kingdom of enchantment. The sunlight was blotted almost into oblivion at a breath. Great clouds of inky blackness overspread , the sky and seemed to shed a rain of blood. The inhabitants of rhe kingdom gathered frantically around the smoking idol, which now occupied the center of the beautiful room in which Valjean first met his perfect love. She, the prie-tess to the great idol, placed heavenly incense on the sacred fire, and cried aloud the prayers of her people. The vengeful clouds gathered thicker and .faster, and the -thunder boomed and crashed like a thousand parks of artillery. The, great building shook and trembled in the tempest that raged without. The hideous face of the idol Wore a terrifying frown, and the baleful eyes emitted sparks of fire. The roar of the tempest was almost deafening, but above it rose sweet and silvery the voice of the beautiful priestess as she chanted the supplications other people. ;

Suddenly they raised their bowed heads and glared at Valjean. “It is the work of the intruder!” thev cried. "The gods are angry at his presence, and only his blood will appease them!” Their words rose almost to a roar of maledictions. The great idol seemed to smile. With their dark faces aflame with passion they- sprang toward Valjean, their hands grasping gleaming weapons. In spite of his mad struggles, they held him fast, and one, a giant, raised a glittering sacritical sword,-snatched from an altar, arid, in another moment, would have cleft his skull in twain. The beautiful priestess sprang forward, her jeweled robe flowing away from the snowy loveliness of her>heaving bosom, and shrieked, in a voice that rose above the roar of the “tempest, a warning couched in scathing ’terms, threatening the instant vengeance of the gods if they dared to harm a hair of Valjean’s head. She drew him to her side before the idol, and, with her clinging arms around him, warned them not to advance a step. The tempest increased in’ power and fury and the great building rocked like a house of clouds. A moment the band of insurgents hesitate!, and then with wild cries sprang forward. She drew a jeweled dagger from her girdle, and whispered close to his ear: "We will die together!” Astrong languor seemed to hold Valjean in charns, and he cared not if he perished, merely feeling as a passive spec - tutor. And there, beneath the frown of the idol. the priestess stood at bay, with an arm about Valjean’s neck, and the dagger gleaming defiance. Then, as the insurgents were about td spring upon them, the tempest rent the great building in twain, and it came crashing down upon them with a shock that seemed to blot out every atom of life into the darkness of death. Valjean strove, newly awakened by the first sound of ruin, to save the beautiful being, he knew not how, but the tempest snatched her from him and sped away into the outer darkness. Her last shriek rang in his ears: “We shall meet on earth!” she cried, and the darkness enshrouded her lovely face, 3he idol seemed io shrink within itself from very fear,

! and then, the great structure fell on Valjean’s bared head, nnd he fell, unconscious, dead to pain, everything. Strong hands lifted him up, and Major Dartmore called, excitedly: “Valjean, what in Heaven’s name is the matter?” Valjenn opened bis eyes slowly. “Am I dead '” h>* asked, dully. “She promised to meet me.” . > ‘ • “Well, upon myv soulLHaj-yy boy,” said the Major; “you have had a bad attack tP be sure.’ So she promised to meet you, eh?” “Yes," said Valjean, slowly, looking with an almost vacant stare at. Major Dartmore. "Who are you?” he queried. “Well, by George! that’s a good pne,” roared the Major. “Here, I come home after an hour’s absence, and find you wallowing around the floor, and then you have the colossal gall to ask me a question of that kind. Well. I’ll be hanged!” Valjean slowly regained his scattered senses. He picked up the overturned paper-weight. "Sea?" he said. “Yes, I see.” answered the other, “that you have broken the tongue out of my dragon. How came you down on the floor there, anyhow?” e . Valjean showed him the cavity that the displacement of the tongue revealed. “Uy George!” was the Major’s only comment.

The cavity contained only a dry, odorless cake, the volatile t erfnme having totally 1 disappeared. Then Valjean, with many gestures of nervous excitement, told the tale of his-vision, and he and the Major puzzled their brains greatly over it. “She promised to meet me on earth,” said Valjean, earnestly. “Andl’ll find her if it takes a life time.” Both he and Major Dartmore are on the qiti rive for the beautiful priestess of Valjean’s vision, who never fulfills her promise.

The Paris Stock-Exchange.

Edward King describes, in the Cosmopolitan, one of the most interesting institutions of Paris, as follows: If the peaceable daughters of Heaven, who once wandered through the pretty arcades of the Convent of the Daughters of St. Thomas d’Aquinas, could have foreseen that the site pf their nunnery was to be occupied by one of the great temples of commerce, and was to become a rendezvous for the most excitable commercial class in Christendom, they would have felt some slight perturbation in their innocent breasts. The Paris bourse, or exchange, the building of which was decided b/ an imperial decree dated March 16, iBOB, was erected almost in the exact center of the French capital, on a part of the grounds that, up to 1790, had been occupied by the above-mentioned convent. Napoleon, with his magnificent eye to business, saw that this was the exact spot for the daily meetings of all classes of commercial people, and sb he fulminated one of liis decrees. The State gave the site, tile city of Paris’paid' down the money for the expenses of building, and the old architect Brougiart furnished the plans for the edifice on the model of a pagan temple. He had spent a little more than 8,000,000 francs when, in 1813, death carried him off, and his successor, M. Labarre, continued the work until 1827." The edificewas dedicated on the 3d of November, 1836. Surrounded by its majestic Corinthian columns, fourteen upon each of the fronts and twenty upon either side, the bourse of Paris is, perhaps, one of the most important edifices of the capital. Decorated with costly statues of Justice, Prudence, it is a veritable “monument” in the European sense. Its interior is exceedingly simple. The central hall, reserved for the operations on ’change, can hold about 2,000 persons on the ground floor. A spacious gallery, extending entirely round this hall, enables the populace of Paris and the strangers to observe the mad antics of the speculators—antics that are as ridiculous and remarkable as those-yon the New York stock-exchange. All the French volubility and capacity for gesture are here intensified a thousand-fold.

Evaporation of Water.

It is an almost universal practice to have a vessel of water attached to furnaces and stoves for the purpose of moistening the air of rooms heated by them. The common notion that the aqueous vapor purifies the air in any way is, of course, absurd; but the possibility that it may render the air heated by the furnace more healthful and easier to breathe may be worthy of consideration. The following calculation, based upon conditions actually, existing in a residence, may serve to show the fallacy of this belief. In the house referred to, eight rooms, with an aggregate capacity of 16,500 cubic feet, are heated by a hot air furnace, which evaporates one pailful of water, weighing eighteen pounds, daily. At a temperature of 70 degrees, assuming the air in the house to ,be only half saturated with moisture,, the total amount of water contained in it will be about twelve pounds. This would apparently show that the eighteen, pounds of water evaporated would have marked effect upon the hygrometric state of air, but it must be remembered that a constant current of fresh air is passing through the furnace and into the house. It would be a low estimate to assume that the air is comuletely changed every hour, and therefore dfily ah additional three-quarters of a pound of aqueous vapor Would be present in the air- at any one time, which would only increase the percentage of moisture from 50 to 53.1 per cent., an amount too small to be of any consequence. An actual test made on two successive days with the dry and wet bulb hvgrometer, showed that the percentage of moisture in the air was the same, whether water was evaporated in the furnace or not. In a close, unventilated room, the impure air may be easier tolerated by the lungs when saturated with moisture; but with the constant supply of fresh out-of-door air with which every apartment should be be supplied, any artificial addition of aqueous vapor is both unnecessary and useless; and only in very exceptional cases is it likely io produce any beneficial effect upon the health of the persons breathing it.— Popular Science Monthly. An Irishman says he can see nd earthly reason why women should not be allowed to become medical men.

FARM PRODUCTS.

Wheat in Michigan Shows No Improvement—A Slight Advance in Illinois. The Country’s General Acreage Nine Per Gent. Less than at This Time Last Year. National Department Report. [Washington telegram.]

The report of the Department of Agriculture for May relates to the condition of winter grain, the progress of spring plowing, and proportion of the proposed cotton area already planted. It indicates a decline in the condition of wheat of two points since April 1, the general average for the whole country being 86, Against 95 at the Fame date in 1886, 70 in 1885, and 89 in 1884. The changes in condition have not been uniform throughout winter-wheat region, some States showing an increase, the majority a slight decline, and a few a heavy falling off. The States of the Middle Atlantic coast from Pennsylvania to North Carolina show some improvement. In New York aud New Jersey the amount of winter-killing was not fully known on April 1, and this, with cold, unfavorable weather during the month, has caused a serious reduction of condition. Drought has reduced the average somewhat in the Eastern Gulf States, and has wrought v»ry serious damage in Texas and Arkansas, lowering the condition during the month nineteen to ten points respectively. Favorable temperature and seasonable rains have improved the prospect in West Virginia, and Kentucky, the coudit on being considerably higher in those States than it has averaged in May for the past five years. The most serious reduction of the month is in Ohio, where there is a falling off of eight points since the Ist of April. Michigan and Indiana show a slight decline, while in Illinois and Missouri there is a gain of one point. Unfavorable weather in Kansas and California has caused a slight falling off, while in Oregon the prospect has advanced, it being the only State in which condition reaches 100.

' The averages of condition by States are: New York, 86; Pennsylvania, 72; MaryVirginia, 80; North Carolina, 90; Texas, 60; Arkansas, 93; Tennessee, 96; West Virginia, 89; Kentucky, 95; Ohio, 71; Michigan, 90; Indiana, 87; Illinois, 93; Missouri, 96; Kansas, 81; California, 89; Oregon, 101. Rye has suffered from the same condition which has seriously affected wheat, but on account of its hardier nature the general average is considerably higher, standing at 90.8 against 92.5 April 1, and 95.7 at the same date in 1886. The condition of bailey is low, the average being 87.8 against 96.7 in May, 1886. and 82 in 1885. The season has been more generally advanced in all parts of the country than usual, spring plowing being seriously behind only on the Atlantic coast south to Pennsylvania and on the Pacified slope. . The proportion of cotton already planted amounts to more than four-fifths the proposed area, and is slightly greater than at the same date in any of the preceding five years, but is a little less than the proportion returned by the correspondents as tie average planting at tliht date. !. .

Reports from Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. [Springfield (Ill.) special.] Advance sheets of the May crop report of the State Board of Agriculture show the condition of winter wheat in Illinois May 1 to be 92 per cent, of an average. This is an advance of 2 per cent, over the previous month.. It is still 6 per cent, less (han the average condition of May 1, 1886. In the northern and southern counties the average condition is 88 per cent., and the central counties 101, (Indianapolis special.] Reports from every county in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio state that the wheat crop has been damaged somewhat by the spring rains, and the average per cent, of condition during April was 83 in Indiana and Hiinois and 79 in Ohio. The acreage of oats is 97 in Indiana, 104 in Illinois, and 98 in Ohio. The fruit crop promises to be larger than for several years past. [Lansing (Mich.) special.] The Michigan crop report for April shows severe drought in all parts of the State. On sandy soil wheat has made good growth, but on clay soil the growth has been unsatisfactory. In the southern tiers of counties the condition is 87 as compared with average years. The central counties show 94 condition, while the northern counties return 93. But little of the grain will be plowed up. There has been marketed 54,891 bushels of wheat. Clover is badly injured, and in many sections it will be plowed up. - The condition of horses and other stock shows but little change since last month.

Injury from the Drouth. [From the Chicago Tribune.] Drouth in the grain fields of the Mississippi Valley was the one great topic of conversation in commercial circles Tuesday, and it materially influenced the course of prices for the leading cereals. The ground is very dry in the Southwest, and to this is superadded the appearance of the chinch-bug in Kansas, while the news from the great spring-wheat regions of the Northwest was very bad, the crop prospects in the fertile Red River Valley being described as poor indeed. Grass seeds and hay, as well as oats, corn, and wheat, promise but a scanty yield, unless there be a speedy change in the conditions. And in some cases the season is too far advanced to permit reasonable hope of a full crop. The time for spring showers has gone by, and the good, vigorous root, which is possible only when moisture has been supplied during the early stages of growth, is hardly to be expected now, the indications being regarded as decidedly unfavorable to an average yield in proportion to acreage. Our street markets show the effects of the unusual dryness in other directions. The strawberry patches in Mississippi are' desiccated to the extent of Tendering the fruit unmarketable, while the dusty appearance of the berries received from Tennessee tells of almost equal drouth in that State. m

LIVED NEARLY 102 YEARS.

He Voted for Madison and Cleveland, and Never Rode on a Railroad Train. (Freeport (HL) telegram.] The oldest man in Stephenson County, if not in Illinois, has just died at his home, about seventeen miles northwest of Freeport. Had he lived until July 29, Mr. Smith would have been 102 years old; He was bom in Guilford County, North Carolina. In 1815 he moved to Highland County, Ohio, and from there came to this county in 1816, and has resided here. ever since. When about 20 years old he was married to Boreas McDaniel in his native county. She bore him twelve children, all of whom but one grew to manhood and womanhood Two years ago his hundredth birthday anniversary was celebrated with great pomp, there being present perhaps

2,000 people. When in hi« younger days he enjoyed fishing and hunting exceedingly, but when it came time for him to get down to business he learned tbe blacksmithing trade, which he followed for some time. The greater part of his life was devoted to fanning. With the exception of chewing tobacco, Mr. Smith was a most temperate man all his life. He never joined any church, bnt had always been nn attentive and careful reader of tbe Bible, and abont six years ago was baptized. He cast his first Presidential vote for James Madison, and his last for Grover Cleveland, and had always been a Democrat. He never rode on a railroad train and never ate a meal in a hotel.

BLOOD-STAINED BURGLARS.

Mother and Daughter Brutally Murdered by Rustic Robbers in West Virginia. An Aged Woman a£ New Haven Bound and Strangled by Unknown Marauders. Mother and Daughter Foully Murdered. I Steubenville (O.) speciaL] A shocking double murder was perpetrated at Halliday’s Cave, Hancock County, W. Va., on the Pan Handle Road. When Mr. Van Baker, who left home Monday at 4 p. m. and spent the night at his father’s, in XV ashington County, Pennsylvania, returned Tuesday morning, he found his wife, Eliza Baker, and her mother Snzelle McWha, lying dead in the sitting-room with their heads beaten brutally by a car pin. An ax was also lying beside them. Mr. Sn -Vs the only thing missing is 5'350 belonging to him. Evidences of search are plainly to be seen. The theory at first given for the murder is that it was for robbery. Mr. McWha had a few days ago received several thousand dollars, and Monday he went to Pittsburgh to deposit it. His son-in-law, Mr. Baker, also being absent that night, it is thought some one familiar with the situation, but not knowing that the money was gone, attempted robbery, and being discovered and identified by the women, killed them to conceal their crime. Mrs. McWha was 70 years old, her daughter about 40. The belief is general that the murderer is some one familiar with the family.

An Aged Woman Strangled. [New Haven (Conn.) telegram.} Mrs. Margaret Ernst, a German lady, aged 74 years, was found early Tuesday morning by the milkman in the front room of her house, No. 34 Spruce street, with her hand and feet bound with ropes and a rope around her neck. She had been choked to death during the night and robbed. She was supposed to have had on her person at least S4OO in bills, but when the Coroner arrived Tuesday morning only •$1.27 was found. She was the owner of two houses, and there is about $1,500 in the bank to her credit, she being worth about. SIO,OOO. She made a will about two years ago and had notified her attorney that next week she desired to se« him, as she had concluded to change it. The Coroner and police see in this fact the motive for the crime. She was the widow of John Ernst, a Union veteran who died twelve years ago.

GEN. BERDAN’S TORPEDO.

Designed 'Especially for the Attack of Vessels Protected by the Steel Net. [New York dispatch.] The Berdan torpedo, , a working model of which was shown before the United States Naval Torpedo Board at the Navy Yard Friday, is designed especially for the attack of vessels protected by the steel net, though equally .effective in the absence of a net. The individual expression of the members of the Board was that o’s favor and admiration for the device, but this was not formulated by the Board, as it must await an authorization to accept the terms under which Gen. Berdan will let it go to the Government for trial. There is no doubt that an agreement will be reached, and the trial made this summer. Out of twenty-five torpedoes offered to the consideration of the Board, twentythree to be unworthy of being ordered to trial. The one selected besides Gen. Berdan’s was the Howell, a self-di-recting torpedo, against which the net is a sufficient protection. Gen. Berdan has contracts with the Governments of England, France, Germany, Russia, Turkey, Italy, and Spain for thie use of this invention. In England it is known as the “Yankee trick.” The torpedo is described as a diving torpedo, with a snubbing line. It can be rigged on vessels of any size, and has, the advantage of being capable of working effectually in heavy seas and rough weather when a self-steering torpedo would be as helpless as a chip on the waves. The boats are intended to be swift, handy craft, and to be used in connection with mother ships to carry coal and supplies. A heavy ram bow, plated to protect the men and machinery, is a feature of the boats, the slanting surfaces requiring only light plating for this purpose. The torpedoes may ba fired automatically or by mechanical or electric devices controlled from within the boat. /

A SHOCKING ACCIDENT.

Five Men Fatally Burned at the Edgar Thomson -Steel-Works. [Pittsburgh dispatch.] A terrible accident occurred at the Edgar Thomson Steel-Works, at Braddock, which will probably cost five lives. Furnace E was blown out a few days ago, and Tuesday a gang of men was put to work clearing it out. An arch[ had formed, composed of coke, limestone, and other materials, which was still at a red heat, and part of the men were working beneath this mass. Shortly ifter 10 o’clock at night, without warning, .ne arch gave way. The red-hot matter Was thrown in all directions, knocking men down and in some instances almost burying them. Few of the men in thevicinity escaped uninjured. In a short time the debris was removed, and five men were taken out in a horrible condition —the clothing burned from their bodies and the flesh literally cooked. The names of the victims are: John Zawloskey. John Geaiciit, John Gedard, John Lawatte, Charles Ledonofki. The physicians who are attending them entertain no hope of their recovery.

Southern Baptist Convention Adjourns.

(Louisville iKy.) dispatch.] . The Southern Baptist Convention has adjourned CO meet at Richmond, Va., on the second Wednesday of May, 1888. Gen. Green Smith’s report on temperance was adopted, after some sharp debate upon the clause, “Liquor as a beverage.” A number of the delegates held that intoxicating liquors should not be allowed even aa a medicine. A meeting of the alumni of the Baptist Theological Seminary was held, at which Da:. Bryce said that a New York man had offered $25,000, provided $75,000 more were raised, one-half to endow a professorship. During the meeting $l,lOO was subscribed by the students as the nucleus of the fund which it is proposed to raise.