Saturday Evening Mail, Volume 20, Number 25, Terre Haute, Vigo County, 14 December 1889 — Page 2
A SI'KCTER OF THK SEA.
THE BARK THAT SAILS BY THE CHORES OF THE UNSHAPEN LAND.
OanvKH Set, but No One »t the Helm. Skirting the Crushing Pack and DodcIng tbe Crumbling Iterj^—How John
Hattft.en Shocked,
Stout John Ugj^yv. wrap] al .ail iu furs, stood at the wheel of the bark Reindeer, a whaler of the Arctic seas* It was night, and the vessel was working along the ice pack with Cape Smythe just looming in the .distance. The biting wind twirled about Hansen's feet, catching up the light snow and sending it swirling across the darkling water. There was a brisk breeze and the night was too cold for comfort by reason of the proximity of the floe: but Hansen cared little and cheerily whistled the tune of a folk lore song he learned while a child sporting on the shore of a Norwegian fjord. He seemed as strong and fearless as one of his Viking ancestors when they faced the unknown Atlantic until "cloudlike they saw the American shore stretching to leeward."
THE PHANTOM OF THE MOHT.
Suddenly, right out of the pack came another bark, bow on. Her mizzirn was gone and she veered and yawed strangely, but her sails were set and she was making fair hsadway. Hansen could hear the swish of the wind in her shrouds and the swash as she munched the bone in her mouth. In an instant she tacked and bore away. Then, before going 100 yards, she came about and made straight for the Reindeer again,
Hansen hailed her. There was no answering hail. His voice rang hollow and strangeas the wind took it up and seemed to make of it a mocking echo. Then he hailed again. No return.
Hansen's lips grew white. His knees shook. He put his helm hard over and made for the open sea. Then he muttered a prayer which had not come to him since a ship burned under his feet in the Southern ocean way back in the CO's.
He had seen the spectral ship, the Flying Dutchman of the frozen ocean. The phantom came so near that he could see the glisten of the salt spume frozen on her rigging and the icicles which hung from her spars. There was ice upon her deck, and upon her wheel, and upon her battened hatches—ice, and nothing more.
Her decks gave back no echo of footsteps. Her sailing lights wore out. She was so low in the water that she seemed almost awash—but she kept on Into the darkness, reeling, staggering, unsteady, but on and on and out of sight.
John Hansen came into port. Death sat watching by his bedside. He chattered and glibbcred, and stared with straining eydballs. For no man may look upon the phantom ship and live.
THE WRAITH OF THE YOUNG PHCENIX.
But what John Hansen saw in the depths of that July night was not a specter of the seas nor was itthogrim vision of a fever stricken brain. It was something far more dangerous than an airy phantom—a derelict of the deep. It was the wreck of the Young Phoenix, wlxich, since the 5th of Aug., 1888, has! been sailing through ice and gale, breasting the crushing pack, dodging the toppling bergs, guided by an unseen hand, and sailing for no known port. No one may say she lias not touched the northern pole. No man may tell where she will be seen again.
On Aug. 8 of that year the whaling fleet was riding between Point Barrow and Capo Smythe, waiting for the ice pack to clear, when down came the southwest galo, beating the sea into ridges and tossing the stout ships like the paper argosies of children. Down went the bark Fleetwing that had outlived many an arctic storm. The Mary and Susan strained, plunged aud foundered. The iea'a great maw took in the schooners Ino ami Jane Gray.
I.EFT TO THKHt FATE.
Things were lively on the Young Phoenix then. Both anchors were let go and the men were ordered to the pumps. Sho was leaking badly and the heavy seas swept clear over her. With the night the wind shifted to the west and came in stronger gusts. One after the other the cables parted and the bark drifted. Then an effort was made to get to sea, but the vessel fouled the Triton when trying to get over the bar. Her rudder, stern jwst and jibboom carried away and the leaks wero started freer.
The crew of thirty-seven men stuck by the hark until Aug. 0. By that time the water wad at her tower deck. Her rnizzemnast had been cut away. It was not thought that she could float more than an hour or two longer. The sails on the fore and main masts were set or partially furled when CapL Millard ordered the men to the boats, and the Young Phqanix mailed away, rudderless and undirected, to meet whatever fate might come.
Sho was not seen again that year, and it was supposed sho had foundered or been squeezed between the floes. But ehe kept on her erratic course, buffeted by the winds, caught by the currents, lonely and forlorn.
On May 5, J889, she was seen and boarded by Mr. Leavitt, manager of a whaling station on Cape Smythe. She was then clow in shore, some sixty miles from where she had been abandoned, A few relics were taken from her, and the next morning sho was gone again. She was little changed, and though watertogged, made good headway.
This abandoned craft is probably the phantom whose ice-sheathed shrouds and silent decks loomed upon the startled vision of big John Hansen that chilly night in July, and gave him that shock from which he may never recover. For nearly a year she had roamed the cltartfces sea, touching at no port, piloted by no hand, answering no hail» purposeless, silent and jdone.—San Francisco Examiner.
Tiff Title na«s Him.
Jennie—Weil, wBit do you think of young Gabbeweli?
7
jeAe-Hes a perfect phonograph. Jennie—A what? Jessie—A phonograph. Ho talks witL' out thinking.—-Pittsburg
EARLY SHAKESPEARES.
Adolph Sutro has endeavored for a long time to complete his unfinished 'first four folio" editions of Shakespeare. With liim this lias been a labor of quiet, but uninterrupted, research. Of the first folio edition (1613) there are only five complete copies known to exist. One is in the British museum, another In the French National library, another In the National library at Munich, One in ihe possession of Lord Ellesmere, and ihe remaining one is now owned by the Baroness Burdett Coutts.
These books are now worth a king's ransom in gold in fact, it is rot to be supposed that money could purchase them from their opulent possessors. In che Sutro library this first edition was rendered almost complete yesterday by the receipt of seven plays heretofore lacking. What is now sought after to render it entire is the last leaf in the play of "Locrine," a play which is an apocryphal one, so far as Shakespeare"s authorship thereof is concerned, but which is always found in the first four editions of his works. Besides, there gtill remains another defect
The original steel engraving, copied from an oil portrait of Shakespeare now in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, and found only as the frontispiece in the first edition of his works, is wanting. This is known as the "Droeschut engraving." To procure this Mr. Sutro relies upon his ingenuity and money to purchase it from some one who has a broken set of this edition, and who will not be so likely to hoard it in the presence of a tempting price. Of these there are supposed to be quite a number among Ihe private families in England and perhaps in the musty alcoves of second hand dealers on the continent.
The second edition (1632) was rendered complete by yesterday's contribution, save that it too is minus the last leaf of "Locrine." The same should bo said of the third edition (1GG4), while the fourth edition (1G85), so remarkable for its width of margin, as compared with its predecessors, is exempt from any deficiency.
All these editions are alike in the table of contents, containing besides the now commonly accepted plays of Shakespeare, such dramas as "The London Prodigal," "History of Thomas, Lord Cromwell," etc., while the dedication is quaintly addressed to "the mo3t noble and incomparable pair of brethren, the Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery."
The rent roll of Shottery Meadow is a queer little piece of bound vellum, sixteen pages, bearing date 1G20-21, and which began its accounts and statement of rents about the period when the Pilgrim fathers were storm tossed on the ocean on their way to their new home. Shottery Meadow is located three miles from Stratford-on-Avon, the birthplace of Shakespeare, and the little book of parchment, parts of it well preserved, with its chirography quite distinct, but in some places faded and obscure, showed how accounts were kept with small farmers in'those days, when land was leased by the acre, dole or sfcvath, the latter deriving its namq. and^eing measured Jn width by the sweep of a scythe.
The book possesses intrinsic interest for the admirers of Shakespeare, because among the tenants therein recorded, together with their allotments of land, are the names of Thomas Combe, to whom Shakespeare left his sword by will Bartholomew Hathaway, the poet's brother-in-law, and "John Will the older and John Will the younger," also relatives of Shakspeare.—-San Francisco Chronicle.
A Horse Swam Klslit Allien.
A horse belonging to a ferryman was on the boat yesterday at Irvine, and was in the act of drinking, when he plunged forward from some cause and fell into the water up to his nose. With remarkable instinct ho turned around and swam to the boat, and made several attempts to
crawl
back into it, but it only served
to push it further away. By this time lie had drifted below the ferry, and then ho made efforts to get out upon either hank. In this he also failed, as the bank was too steep.
He then turned aside and swam down the middle of the river. The ferryman, Mr. White, made vain efforts to rescue, his liorsa, and, watching him until he was out of sight, gave up all hopes of overseeing him again. Next morning the messengers on the Irvine stage were amused afc the manner in which the ferryman was fondly caressing a horse which had just arrived, and later learned that the steamboat from Ford had picked up the swimming animal eight miles below. When dragged" upon the boat he sank down, too completely exhausted to stand. When this became known the sympathizing passengers joined with Mr. White in his exuberance over the recovery of his noble steed.—Richmond (Ky.) Register.
Kx-Crown Princess Isabel.
Isabel, who is Dom Pedro's only living child, was born in 1846. In 18&4 she was married to Prince Louis of Orleans, comte d'Eu, the eldest son of the Due de Nemours, and cousin of the Comte de Paris. She lias throe sons, the eldest 14 years old. The crown princess acted as regent during her father's absence in 1870 and again In 1S8& In a public address at Pernarabuco about two months ago the Count d'Eu. hor husband, then a generalissimoin the army, solemnly declared on behalf of his father-in-law, Dom Pedro, and in the name of his wife and children, that the entire imperial family was prepared t« surrender the throne and leave Bnutil as soon as the nation had by popular vote expressed its desire for a republic in lieu of a monarchy. From this it would seem that symptoms of disaffection had appeared at that time.—Chicago Herald, ..
Better Wake Cp.
If such a monarchy as that of Dom Pedro can be quietly overthrown .and a republic proclaimed, the crowned heads of Europe had better wake up and bolt the back doar and ring for Ihe paired wagon. lis the handwriting on the •rail.—Detroit Free Frews.
TERRE HAUTE SAT 01
of
Something: About the First Editions the Great I'oct's Works.
A MOTHER'S HEART
The Chinese
"i
AH tbe children come to me. Look up at me, and rtm to me: Little babies peep at me, First'lprtive tad then knowingly, And »)on thefr wandering eyes wiD smile. And for moitent they beggulle My careworn Boai to falryiand. Oh, how they come! they know niy Iosb They draw the nails from out mr eroaa Suffer them. Lord, to come, to coma Once, children never noticed For then I bad a child at home But now they know the look In me^ 3^ And they are sitting on my knee, flJ, Their little arms around my neck.' & One. two or three, 1 liuie reck I want them all. where once but one & Was ali I loved—but tie is gona What gaaft is mine their souls to move? It is tha hungry
loofe
°r
lov,x
The famine in my heart'inspires My weary eyes with restless tires: Mine eyes tbe widp world sadly roam For that I once beheld at hornet1-^
Longfellow Remembered Him.
About 1&56 an Englishman of letters! Mr. Kingston, visited this country. Whilf in Boston he took occasion to call upon Mr. Longfellow with letters introductory! from a mutual acquaintance in England: As he describes the interview in his "Western Wanderings," it must .have been very gratifying to the visitor. •'We were soon discussing books and: and writers of books, the leading spirits! of our two great countries. After talking for a few minutes he stopped short and said: 'I am certain of it—we have met before—many years ago, though. 'When can that have been? I must own that I have no recollection of your. countenance but then, from being neail sighted, countenances do not make niuchi impression on me.' I,replied. 'Did you not cross from Ostend to] London one night in September, 1842? and did you not spend the first part of it on deck, as the cabin was crowded?' he asked. 'I am pretty certain 1
edly
did,
undoubt
about that time and 1 think 1 made a note in my diary that I had met on board a very agreeable American, with whom I had" much conversation, but little thought I who it was!' I exclaimed, gratified at being so recollected." Youth's Companion.
Infantile Protectors.
Writing of the risks of travel in out of the way parts of China, Mr. Colquhoun expresses his opinion as to the best protection from robbery and personal violence, to which the traveler in that country is often exposed' The Chinese reason that all foreigners are wealthy, and carry great riches with them.
As we could nqtPavoid. carrying money, no secret was mado of the amount, and it was kept, in an old tin dispatch box. 1
Having''the cash with us, we were compelled to place our revolvers in sight, a point which I had been very anxious to avoid, for I am no believer in firearms for travel in a strange land. For choice I should infinitely prefer an umbrella, or, better still in China, a baby.
are so
fond of children
that such an appendage would be ever to returh to earth or not surest weapon of defense and the t$est possible means of ingratiating one's self with the natives.
Only One Skin.
William Crawford, 22 years old, who died recently in Chicago, was peculiarly afflicted. He had only one skin, which is to say that he had no outer skin at all. The veins stood out all over hi9 body in the plainest manner possible. From the time he was 6 years of age young Crawford had been subject to bleeding spells, which were liable to break out at any time and in any part of his body. He lost vast quantities of blood in this way, and was afraid to take any sort of exercise for fear of starting the bleeding afresh. For two weeks the young man had beeu confined to his. bed, being too weak to sit up, and bleeding at the nose having set in he soon passed away. Physicians were sent for from various cities in the east, but they could do nothing for him. A new skin could not be grafted on.—Montreal StaV.
Louis' Fanaticism.
Louis XIV had a terrible fear of hell, and believed that anybody not in favor with the Jesuits would surely be damned. A courtier once wished to take a certain gentleman into his service. The Jesuits, to injure the said gentleman in the king's estimation, said he was a Jansenist. His majesty sent for the courtier and said to him: "What is this. I hear? Are you thinking of taking a Jansenist into your service?" "I?" answered the courtier "1 never even thought of such a thing." "But," said the king, "you are certainly going to take whose mother is Jansenist."As for him," replied the courtier, laughing, "far from being Jansenist, he does not even believe in Godr "Oh," said the king, much relieved, "if that is all. take him and welcome."—San Francisco Argonaut.
Difficulty Easily Surmounted.
Francis Nautet, the Belgian, who undertook to travel from Brussels to Paris in a conveyance drawn by a couple of handsome dogs, was passing through Louvroll, a small country town in the department du Nord, when the mayor, on the strength of the Grammont law against cruelty to animals, forbade him to proceed. Mr. Nautet thereupon had recourse to a capital expedient for overcoming the mayors scruples. He packed his dogs into the cart and dragged the conveyance through the town himself. When lie had got clear of the boundary of the township, the Belgian exchanged places with the dogs, and completed his trip to Paris without any further hindrance,—French Exchange.
1'wfetiion and Performaace. Jomime—Hello,
doctor, here's a riddle
—what Is the difference between you and me, professionally, you know? Doctor—Why. you preach, but 1 prao-
Dosanie—Nearly I preach to save em you ctioo to grave 'em—a mere *"fTrrencc wf salvation and damnation.' iMjod-by. doctorl—Belford's Magazine
imam
DAY EVENING MATT.
THE WORLD'S FUEL SUPPLY. I It Is Estimated by a Scientist to Be About
Six Trillion Tons.
Time was when the carbon and hydrogen, which form practically the whoie Of our supply of fuel and the principal part of our food, were inorganic—no more capable of sustaining combustion or animal life (if we except certain microscopic forms which decompose carbonic acid) than granite or slate. 'I
For vegetable life, however, the supply of food was at its maximum. Vegetable life came, generated in some unknown way by the solar energy which poured through the atmosphere and the heat energy which penetrated the earth's crust from within.
Through the unimaginable ages of the carboniferous period a gigantic flora fed on the rich atmosphere, assimilating its carbon and hydrogen, and thereby setting free its oxygen, until it could sustain its animal life, at first in the lowest, then successively in the higher forms. This gigantic flora, with its enormous potential energy of chemical separation from oxygen—an energy derived chiefly from the solar energy of that period, easily admitted and tenaciously retained by the atmosphere—is now stored up in the earth as fuel for the future generations of our race. Future, I say, for tremendous as the annual consumption of coal, petroleum and natural gas for a generation has been, we have as yet only begun upon the great store. Hitherto Mother Earth has been able to supply her children's needs by expending only her current income.
In this latter day, however, their demands have multiplied so rapidly that she has been obliged to draw upon the capital stored up during the long ages of her maidenhood. How long will that capital last at the terrible rate at which we have begun to squander it? Is her children's prodigality actually making her poorer? or has she the power to nullify the effects of their extravagance? and are her diminishing resources due only to the decreasing energy of her natural supporter and protector, the sun? However prodigal man may be in his use of earth's treasures, he can never annihilate one atom of her substance or transport it beyond her domain.
In his "wasteful" consumption of fuel he is only restoring its elements to their primeval condition as constituents cliieflyof the aerial aud aqueous oceans which surround our globe. It follows, then, that the: more rapid the combustion the richer.becomes the atmosphere in its power to sustain and force vegetable growth. If it were possible for that period so often predicted to arrive, when the 6,000,000,000,000 tons, more or less, of fossil fuels now stored up in the earth's coal bins shall have been consumed, the atmosphere will simply havo returned to its primeval condition—that which preceded the carboniferous period.
The only essential difference, therefore, which will mark the* two remote geologic periods, the past and future, will be due to whatever reduction will have taken place in the sun's energy. But whether that condition is destined one thing |s certain: It will not be through lntman instrumentality. Ages before its arrival tli 9 percentage of carbonic acid in the atmosphere will have passed through the point possible to the continuance of human life. If not through human agency, then how is it to come? Certainly not by any of the processes now in operation. The percentage of carbonic acid in the atmosphere does not materially vary.
1
This fact means simply that somewhere On the earth's surface vegetation is taking up the enormous surplus of carbonic acid constantly pouring forth from our millions of furnaces, and thus restoring it to the form of available fuel. The weight that is constantly sinking is thus being constantly reiifted by the daily conversion of solar to vital energy. Only some stupendous convulsion of nature, like those dreamed of by John of Patnios and Lord Byron, in which "the elements shall melt with fervent heat,' can undo the work of the carboniferous ages—some tremendous upheaval in which the subterranean stores of fuel shall at once be laid bare and given over to the devouring oxygen. Then would anew cycle begin, another carboniferous era, in which the storehouses would be again slowly filled for future generations of men. Again and again might the cycle return, until the diminishing energy of the sun should fail to uplift the fallen weight, to reorganize the anorganic.—E. P. Jackson in North Ameri* can Review.
A Story of Burton.
The following is from Joseph Jefferson's autobiography in The Century: "I have often thought that Mr. Burton must have had Irish blood in him. for he was continually spreading the tail of his coat for a fight—I mean an intellectual fight, as physically he was not pugnacious. Quarrelsome persons who do not indulge in pugilistic encounters are fond of law suits: it is only another way of having it out, and Burton must have spent a fortune in fees. His humor on the witness stand was quite equal to that of Sam Waller. On one occasion while the actor was going through bankruptcy, an eminent lawyer in Philadelphia thought he detected a desire on Burton's part to conceal some facts relative to a large gum of money that he had made during the production of the 'Naiad Queen.' Rising with great dignity, and glaring fiercely at Burton, he demanded: 'What became of that money, sir? The comedian looked him straight in the fece then rising in imitation of an attorney, he replied: "The lawyers got it.'
Grains of Gold.
A good book needs no preface. One ought to have a good memory after one has told a lie.
Indulging in dangerous pleasures Is like licking honey from a knife and cut-
ti,e
fat"
with the eyes! the eye through the arm to the pencil, how much is lost!—Young Ladies' Jour-
IjWhence Weeds Come. s.
The Farmers' Gazette, of London, recently made some practical remarks upon weeds and whence they come. It is probable, according to this article, that the® six most otraoxious weeds found on arable soils are "the dock, thistle, nettle, charlock, the poppy and bindweed. A weed is defined as any plant out of place. Cultivated grasses are frequently found growing in arable fields, and there they are distinctly weeds, inasmuch as they are fed upon the food which the cultivated crop requires and occupy the place which it should occupy. In answer to the question whence weeds come there are, writes a correspondent of The Manchester Guardian, "eight replies given, to one or two of which I may refer. It is remarked that die seeds of weeds are often present among the seeds which are sown, and that especially is this the case in grass seeds. To guard agaiust this the farmer should go to seedsmen who are known to have taken great, precautions in the cleaning of their seeds. "Further, it is remarked that many Beeds are introduced with manure which is distributed upon the land. The wind is responsible for carrying the seeds of weeds both into our gardens and fields, and this is one reason why farmers should not only keep their fields but their hedgerows also clean. The hedgerows are the cause of a great deal of mischief, as well as the strips of land on either side of the high road, which nobody owns and which few attempt to clean. If the farm is to be kept free from weeds, the hedges, the ditches and the roadsides must be kept clean also. Among other methods of distributing seeds, it is suggested that running surface waters and streams carry them from field to field, that seeds are dropped by birds and are found in their manure, K'hile others are carried in the mud on their feet. Again, some seeds cling to domestic animals and even to the clothing of the men. It is remarked thai, after the invasion of France by the Germans, weeds which had been carried by the German army appeared in some places where they had been practically unknown before."
Praying and Eating.
If religious festivals make a people religious the Sardes are among the most religious of nations. Seldom did wo enter a town or village without finding the place either in the midst, of a festa, anticipating a coming festa, or discussing the festa just ended. Scattered pver the island area multitude of small chapels dedicated to obscure saints, and to which the villagers for miles around flock, with provisions and bedding once or twice a year. They camp out in the open or sleep in adjacent caves a priest says mass in their midst, and they all eat and drink as if they had never before had a good meal, or as if the rest of their lives was to be one long fast.
A disagreeable litter of ox bones, ribs of sheep, orange peel, bean skins and stones of olives strewn amid the grass near the hermitage or on the level earth at the very church door, bears constant witness to the traveler of this sort of religious junketing up and down the land. The following statistics of food consumed at a traditional gathering, merely to celebrate the ordination of a priest in the district of Mamojada, shadows forth the magnitude of the Sarde festas in general. Two thousand five hundred people were present, and between them they ate 22 cows, 26 calves, 28 deer and wild boars, 740 sheep, 300 lambs, kidlings and sucking pigs, 600 fowls, 65 measures—of what size indeterminate—of sugar, 50 pounds of pepper and spices, 280 measures of corn, a hundredweight of rice, a hundredweight of dates, 50 sugared cakes, 3,000 eggs, 25 large barrels of wine, 8,000 fish and a vast quantity Of confectionery. —Chambers' Journal.
Died When It Reached It# Value.
Henry J. Mowry, of Syracuse, is a great horse buyer and a man who can tell the good and bad points about a horso with his eyes shut. He was so expert in horseflesh that President Cleveland trusted him to buy his horses, and the finest animals Washington has ever seen were brought there for Mr. Cleveland by Mr. Mowry. Several years ago, in Syracuse, he went into a car stable which had just received a fresh stock of horses. He was asked to look them oyer, and did so. After he got through ho told the hostler to bring out a certain horse ho designated. "How much did you pay for that horse?" he asked one of the directors of the road. "Seventy-five dollars." "In two years, with careful training," said Mr. Mowry, "that horse will be worth $15,000 or I'll eat him."
The director followed Mr. Mowyy's advice, had the horse carefully trained, and in one year more was worth $15,000 to the owner. But on bis first race he made a misjump over a hurdle, broke his neck, and horse and $15,000 went skyward.
When Mr. Mowry told the director to take that horse out and train him for a hurdie jumper he did not state that he would be apt to break his neck lief ore he made a cent for his owner. Therefore the director was out $2,000 for training and a* §75 horse.
Qaong Lee's Be fence,
Quong Lee, a Bridgeport(Conn.) Chinaman, is preparing to go into*the trucking business. The Bridgeport Farmer says Quong thought he had been overcharged by a truckman. It continues:
"Quonjr
horse
was mad, and, calling at the
Bosedale freight Office, he expired himself as follows: 'Me no likee the tluckman in this place: mafcee Chinaman pay too much. In my clountle man owns
and wagon, charge you six cents and carry your goods five miles. Man and horse here charge twenty-five cents. Too much. Chinaman washee thlee shirts for twenty-five cents take two hours, tluckman make twenty-five cents in five minutes. Me get a horseand tluck velly •uick. Horse cost $60'and tluck $100. Get tluck painted red hi Na Yolk this «rsy: Quong Lee move goods all over
way: yuong juee move city, six cents."" -.-j?1'
VVti
'"'i-:-A,.
THE PIANO HAND ORGANS.
Bovr Those Popular Instrnfatents of the Street Are Made.
These pegs are not nearly as broad as a pin head, and the fact that, unpleasant as the machines are to a trained ear, they rarely if ever strike false notes, is evidence of the care and nicety employed in their construction. For, in a machine pegged for ten tunes, the cylinder is simply black with the pegs, and the slightest inaccuracy in placing them would bring out a wrong noto somewhere.
The relation of the pegs to the hammers may be understood if one plays his two hands side by side upon the table, palms down. The fingers and thumb may represent the pegs, each peg playing its part in the different tunes. The space between the levers which otie peg lifts is just wide enough to pass nine other pogs. It happens, of course, that the same noto does not occur in every one of the ten tunes in that case no peg would be driven in in the line of ten when it came to setting llio cylinder for this especial piece.
A manufacturer in Elizabeth street makes most if not all of the mechanical pianos heard on the streets in^his neighborhood. Ho makes everything in his own establishment. "There," said he, pointing to a pile of lumber, "are well seasoned boards that are being kept for working into frames and other parts of the piano. There is tlio machine for making the wires. And all through the house are materials for the various parts of the instruments and the tools for putting them into shape. Now, the piano tliat was played in front of The Suu office immediately after the aldermen rescinded their order forbidding street music was one of the best we ever made. If kept witlisn doors and played moderately, like a house, piano it would remain in good tune for many weeks: in fact, as long as the swell instruments. Played out of doors, it gets out of tunc more quickly. The exposure to the weather and the rumbling over rough pavement's, as well as constant playing, brings this about.. 'i'he men who have pianos in use bring them in here on an average of once in two weoks to get them retuned. Of course, another influence to put them out of tune is the extreme force with which the wires are struck." "How is music adjusted to the cylinder?" "It requires not only a musician but a man v.-ho understands the mechanism of the machine to do this. The first thing after selectyig the composition is to buy the piano score,. Then the musician takes a sheet of paper just large enough to cover the cylinder entirely and writes the piece upon it in dots. The dots correspond to the pegs. The musician, of course, knows the mechanism, so that he can tell where to place a dot to bring out the corresponding tone. When he has marked the paper over, a mechanic uses it for a chart, and drives pegs into the cylinder exactly on the spots indicated by the dots. But the musician's part is by no means limited to a mere transfer of the composition from one style of notation, as it were, to another. If that were done the effect would be feeble and utterly uninteresting. The mechanical piano has its own characteristics, and the musician must understand them ho that he can double notes in a chord, and even quadruple them, in order to make the sound tell in the open air. As a matter of fact, a piece played ofi a mechanical piano is. substantially the same as if it were arranged for eight hands on two pianos.—New York Suti.
How an Oregon Horse Prayed.
^Recently, as a train load of circus was coming into town over the West Side road, a short distance south of town a car containing some of the elephants was derailed. No damage was done, but two of the elephants were obliged to walk into the city. They were very indignant, either at being thrown off the track or at having to walk, and as they passed South Portland they were waving their trunks wildly, while their drivers wero what an old bull whacker called 'socking the gad to them," and, as heswore, driving six inches through their hide at every blow, a horse hitched by the side of the street through which the elephants passed was so scared that he sat down oh his haunches and folded his fore feet across his breast in an attitude of prayer, and sat and trembled till the horrid monsters were out of sight.—Portland Oregonian.
The Bridegroom Not Invited.
A-young lady in Stonepile district a few days since prepared a nice wedding supper, and invited rektives and friends tote present on an evening mentioned to witness her marriage to a young man of the neighborhood. At the appointed hour the crowd assembled, the bride was attired in her wedding costume and the supper was in waiting, but the bridegroom was nowhere to be seen. At a late hour, however, he accidently happened along, dressed in his everyday clothes, and being made acquainted with Ute object of the assemblage expressed great surprise, stating that he had no notice whatever of the intended wedding. The crowd seeing that it was impossible for him to get ready within a reasonable time, it was agreed that the wedding be pokponed, but the supper was highly enjoyed all the same.—Clayton (Ga.) Cor, Atlanta Constitution*
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Their musical merits aside, the mechanical pianos trundled about the streets by the re-established peripatetic performers are remarkable affairs. The principle on wliicli they are made is, of course, well known. They are enlarged musics boxes, the hammers that strike the wires being set in action by coming in contact with minute pegs set in a cylinder thaVi extends the whole length of the frame, or, popularly, the key board. In the largest of these pianos the cylinder is pegged to play ten tunes, and it takes one complete revolution of the cylinder to finish one tune. After that the performer may continue to grind out the^ same tune again, or by moving a lever push the cylinder forward by as much-as the width of one peg, and so bring out a different piece.
