St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 17, Number 46, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 4 June 1892 — Page 7

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CHAPTER IX. THE LETTER. Ralph Prescott stood spoil-bound, overwhelmed. He knew the woman in : that room; he had met a surprise most [ startling; he had recognized the false j nurse as the last person in the world he ! expected to see in those som- I her habiliments. “It is she! What does it nrt-im'.’ What | can it mean? Oh, this is bewildering, f improbable. ” _ ■ ■ She? Yes; the one woman in the world ; who filled his mind’s thoughts to the ■exclusion of all others. She —Ruth! the ■disowned, the wife of another, the heiress of Maple Leaf Farm. There could be no doubt as to her identity; there could be no mistake; "there was no need of a second glance. | The same pure, soulful eyes looked I torth, only a trifle sadder than of yore; the fresh bloom of roses on the pearly cheek was the same, only a trace of the canker of care had paled it almost imperceptibly. Resolution compressed the ' lips slightly, anxiety brooded on the fair brow, but —Ruth Elliott was there! What did it mean? From wonderment to flashing suspici on the thoughts of the enrapt lutker passed rapidly. Ruth Elliott was here, had been here for over a week. She had passed the J cynosure of curious eyes with her identity unguessed; but had not Geoffrey Forsythe known her—had not he possibly even suggested the disguise? If so In the bewildering jugglery -of surmise, doubt, and speculation Ralph Prescott lost himself. Here, indeed, "was a mystery —a mystery with a motive, surely—a motive that had made of a timid, shrinking girl a bold, resolute woman. For sweet ‘ love’s sake she had undertaken a mon- : strous imposition; but why and where- I fore the tangible issue of it all? “It’s beyond me —I can’t understand ? it,” breathed the lurker. “But I will know. Where there is secrecy there is ; mystery, where mystery, a plot. I ■ thought myself a master hand, and this girl—she has outwitted, defeated, crushed me utterly.” i He drew back from the window as he saw that she slept. His sinister face expressed every emotion in the gamut of a scheming rascal’s mind—avarice, ■ suspicion, love, hate, vengeful persist- ’ ency. For an hour he ruminated alone in the garden. Night influences were i about him. The brooding clouds all inaptred J,im to subtlety and plotting. He approached the broken shutter again. Rufli slumbeied. ■■!

“I will act with caution,” he muttered ■ grimly. “A sudden confrontation might precipitate flight. I will watch and wait but I must /.now what her continued presence here means. I must know her scheme. I must balk its outcome, ii possible. The letter she was writing!—that may reveal all. If I could only get a glimpse at that!” Prescott approached the unshuttered window of the vacant apartment. The door of communication with the adjoining one was closed securely. Ruth slumbered profoundly. He was an adept at sneaking into the house after late hours, a natural burglar, too. ith his pocket-knife and a rusted piece of hoop, he forced the catch and pried up the window sash. The next moment he was in the room, | On tip-toe he advanced to the stand < where the written sheets lay outspread. ; Eryerly he took them up. His elfish •eyes scanned their contents. The joy of a great gloating exulta- | tion came into his eyes as he read the story of a woman’s struggle for the right of a woman’s faith in a loved one’s I fidelity. For the letter told all—it cast light on darkness, it constituted the history of : as singular an exploit as ever fell under the eyes of mortal man. CHAPTER X. WHAT THE LETTER TOLD. It was fortunate for the secret plans ■of Ralph Prescott that the occupant of the adjoining apartment slept, for so absorbed was he in reading the letter that; lay before him that he was impervious to ' aught for the time being. That letter was in Ruth’s well-known , dainty handwriting. It was addressed ! j

to Paul Dalton, her husband and it was a chronicle of events rather than an or- j dinary epistle. “I do not know where you are,” it be- : gan. “When we parted at the altar,, with faith supreme in your loyalty, i only asked to know that you had gone i to make a final effort to clear np the ■ mystery of your life. Since then, events have happened that you must know. I have but one clue to your whereabouts. You mentioned Ferndale once. At haphazard, I wrote you there yesterday, asking you to return here speedity. “To-night, recalling still another town, I write you there also. Come back, for while your fair name must not go uncleared, I have outwitted the man who strove to blast your reputation—Ralph Prescott.” And then, in terse lines, the writer told the story of Ruth the outcast. Driven from her father’s door, she had w ndered wretchedly in the snowy night. An inspiration of faith in her old grandfather, Geoffrey Forsythe, sent her steps thither. She had not mistaken the affection of the old recluse. He had received her with open arms. He had listened to her pitiful story; he sympathized with her; he questioned her particularly in detail as to the vari- ) ous sums of money that her father had

■ missed, the dates of the abstractions, and much concerning the habits and ac- ■ tions of Jteilph Prescott for a month past. Putting together what he knew and what she revealed, old Geoffrey Forsythe amazed Ruth by denouncing Ralph Pres- ■ cott as the real thief. He said that of late ho had heard considerable about the schemer’s gambling ' I proclivities. He had employed a man ito watch him. He knew of almost ev--1 ery money deal of the young man. He ' | now knew that certain amounts he had paid corresponded exactly with the sums John Elliott had lost; in fact, he proved Ralph Prescott to be the thief, ; beyond dispute.

“I had begun to suspect that he was ' a hypocritical time-server,” he had told Ruth. “My eyes were just beginning to open to the sacrifice I was demanding of you in wedding a man who has no claim ; upon me, except for a sentimental re- ' gard on my part for his dead mother. Ruth, you will stay here. Disguised, you will be my nurse until I can explore still more deeply into this knave’s deception. Your happiness is everything in life to me. A woman’s heart cannot usually be wrong in estimating the character of the man she loves. I have faith in Paul Dalton, in a man who : stood ready to be adjudged a criminal, I rather than anger your father against! you with a revelation of your mutnal i love. We "will await his return, and if j he disproves the charge that he is a | i convict, your father shall be made to do you both justice, and Ralph Prescott ’ shall be unmasked in his true colors.” But sickness came sooner than old Geoffrey thought. His hours were numbered, and he knew it. Afraid of the wily cunning of Elliott, if he left Ruth his fortune, he divided it as known to the reader, and left the bulk of it to her husband at her suggestion. All this Ruth wrote to Paul Dalton; all this, sick at heart, the enraged, baffled, unscrupulous Ralph read. Now she bade her husband return. He was wealthy now, and what might not money do to untangle the knotted skein of his mysterious life. Ralph Prescott stole from that room with a pale, perturbed face. He reelosed the window as he found it—he left no trace of his felonious visit. He knew all now, and that information was "weighty, vital. To Ruth his true character was fully revealed, and if he dared openly to per- ■ secute In r she possessed the means of I proving him to bo the thief of Maple i Leaf Farm. Furthermore, for love of | the man she had wedded, she would use ■ that knowledge if he tried to annoy her again. Paul Dalton had captured the double prize—bride and fortune. ■ What should he do? His natural impulse was to seize on all the ready cash I he could get his hands on, and, like the | craven he was, sneak out of the lives and memories of those he had wronged. A thought of revenge, however, a ■ subtle suggestion of thought, a hopeful i belief that there was yet one weak point ■ in the armor of his foes, awoke a last ; desperate combativeness in Ralph Pres- ■ cott’s wicked heart. “If Paul Dalton should die,” he glowI cred ‘ a sinister hiss of hate, “then all the fortune would revert to Ruth. Who h^ow^xrt^^inayhappen? The’ tramp

viet, let him say what ho likes. I will anticipate Ruth. I will go at once to 1 ferndale. I will dig up this man's past that 1 may effectually blight his future.’ : Oh, there is some way out of this labyrinth of mystery, there must bo some ( compensation for all he has made mo ;lose!” And, hiding the fa-t that his own evil pottings had been the cause < f his misfortunes alone, Ralph Prescott, at early dawn, started on horseback on the trail of the man who had so mysteriously disappeared. CHAPTER XI. VICTORY. Ferndale was nearly eighty miles i from Ridgeton, and located in another ; State, but by dint of hard riding and ; few Stops Ralph Prescott reached Ids ; journey’s end the next morning. The plotter’s thoughts and calculai tions were vagu n What good he could ! gain by the present investigation he did not know. Circumstances would guide . him. he told hlmseif. He hoped to learn something more I about Dalton’s past. A man who had i been a forger, a convict, might have ; many serious flaws in his life. There might be other crimes for which Paul . Dalton was wanted—else why had he sought the obscurity of Maple Leaf Farm? If this was true, and he could learn sufficient to be of real weight against Dalton or Ruth, the plotter might terrorize, persecute, blackmail them. He hardly thought as far as ever gaining Ruth. Money ami revenge were now the sole actuating mo- . fives of his mean nature. If he had hoped to find Paul Dalton established and publicly known at Ferndale he woe

j ue hus uoomea to disappointment. Inquiries at several places revealed ’ no definite knowledge of the man he i sought. One man thought the name sounded . familiar, another started strangely, and ' repeated it over and over vaguely. ' That name ain t altogether unknown to me, he said, “but I can’t fit its owner. Seems to me, though, that old Danby, the miller—yes, that’s it—l remember now. 3ou see- ” The man cheeked himself suddenly. “Well, go on,” insinuated Paid eagerly. “No, I may be mistaken, and I don’t want to make trouble. You see D. nby.” “Where will I find him?” queried the self-appointed detective. He was directed to a dilapidated mill structure. A somber-faced old man j patching up the worn-out machinery of the place, looked Up from his labor irritably as 1 rescott asked him if he was Mr. Danby. “Yes, Danby’s my name,” he replied. “What of it?” “I am looking for a man I was told you knew.” “Who is he?” “Paul Dalton.” The effect of that name upon the mil- I ler was something extraordinary. He arose erect as from a shock. His

i— ■ . li.. face turned pale as death. With lowering eyes and quickened breath he surveyed his visitor, and, trembling all over I with some suppressed agitation, de- ' manded in a hoarse, unnatural tone: “Who sent you here?" Prescott retreated, a trifle frightened, j for there was a gleam in the old man’s eyes that was dangerous. “Why,” he stammered. “I—l came myself.” “No one sent you? He did not send you; she did not send you? Answer me.” “No one sent me.” “Because,” went on the miller between his set teeth, “I would treat a messenger from them as I would they themselves —as reptiles, deadly enemies!” “I simply wanted to find this Paul Dalton. I wished to learn all I could about him. You seem to hate him?” “Hate him!” echoed the miller, bitterly; “as the viper that st’ngs, as the savage who strikes the hand that tenders him bread. He stole my child away

from me—my little Isabel” —and ^the . gruff voice died in a pitiful sob. He made my home bereft, he well-nigh beg- | gared me. Oh, curse his handsome lace , and s >ft ways! Curse him, I say, to all ; eternity!” . , I Strange words to inspire joy, and jec : a savage delight permeated the heart of | the eager listener as he realized that he was learning more than he had hoped for. : Was this Paul Dalton a villain who operated the same at all places —robbing his benefactor, running away with his daughter? It seemed so; but a still deeper satisfaction was in store for Prescott. “That was five years ago. One night thej’ disappeared. A week later I received a letter from Isabel. She begged forgiveness. She asked that they both j return to the homo roof; that her husi band was repentful for the theft; that : the money hail gone in gambling. I went j to the town whence she wrote, armed i -with a horsewhip. I cowhided him for the miserable poltroon that he was. I j cursed her as no child of mine. ’ “And were they married?” “Ah, I made sure of that. I would j ■ have killed him if it had been otherwise, j i As It was, I left them. They had made j their bed. In it they must lie.” Fierce, venomous joy tugged at Ralph i Prescott’s heart-strings. Married! Then the ceremony at Ridge- ! ton was a mockery. Ruth was not a i wife! Visions of her humiliation, amid . which she would gladly accept a new husband to hide the disgrace of the old one, ran riot in the schemer’s mind. A i broken will—the Forsythe fortune yet । won or a threat of prosecution for bigamy—ah, all was not lost yet! “The hardened villain!” gasped Pres- [ cott, in a spasm of high virtuous indignation against a man whose rascality seemed to discount his own. “Married! I Then all is safe, provided —one word!” . ■ he utters quickly, as the miller turned ' away. “Is your daughter still alive?” ■ “Yes." , : “Glory! What luck! The game is > mine!” chuckled the delighted plotter.. i “Sho wrote me a year ago. She said . her husband had fallen heir to a great I fortune. Would I allow her to repay me what he had stolen?” "And you replied?” “Not a word! Those two are dead to me." ["TO BE CONTINVEI’I Virginia’s Historic Ground. , The large price that the owner of the farm on which the famous “bloody - angle” in Spottsylvania is situated 1 has obtained for his property, having ; made a sale to Northern parties, rei calls how important a proportion of । Virginia soil has an extensive value , on account of its association with his>i toric events. With the possible ex-

of 9^B^ Mil doubt whether an excepliAn'ought be made In the instance of these countries—there is no land in the world which contains more localities which derive their interest from the j records of history, and which, if put ■ up for sale would bring a larger sum I for reasons which have no relation whatever to the question of natural productiveness or general convenience. Fortunately, though these . semes may change hands, they cannot, i like Libby Prison, be moved bevond the borders of the old State. Jamestown. A orktown, Fredericksburg, Cancellorsville, Manassas, the Wilder- i ness, they are here to stay and to call up in the minus of the remotest generations of Virginians the heroic deeds of their ancestors, which are a part of the character of the living.— Richmond Times. The Capitan Pratt. Chili's most powerful war vessel has a name not at all suggestive of its formidable size and capabilities. . It might not unfitly have been called the Terror or the Thunderer, and it is not a little remarkable that so ardent. not to say flamboyant, a people as the Chilians were content with so prosaic a title as plain Captain Pratt. For actual business the Pratt has the following qualifications: It is 328 feet long: beam over all. 60 feet 7 inches; depth, 34 feet 9 Miches. It will mount in its main battery four guns of 9.45 inches caliber, and it has also four i

guns of 4.72 inches, six rapid fire guns of 1.97 inches, and four rapid fire guns (two Nordenfelt and two Hotchkiss) of 0.78 inches caliber. It has six torpedo tubes of the Canet

system. The Capitan Pratt is, in short, a last and formidable armorclad vessel, with powerful engines of the latest and most improved description. and a guaranteed speed of eighteen knots an hour. The Old Gentleman Knows How. Samuel Davis, of Whitneyville, Me., who is 84 years of age, shot four foxes in one day, making a total of forty this season. He says that "foxes are uncommon cute critters, but they’re easy to get if you know how.” Two Cures for Toothache. A dust of bicarbonate of soda (1 aking soda) not only will relieve a burn but, it is said, will soothe a toothache. Oil of cloves will surely do this. Every housekeeper should provide herself with little conveniences for doing her work. A short-handled, broad paint-brush to wash the outside of window sills, and an old tooth-brush for washing around the glass.

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AN INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE LESSON. j i — Reflections of nn Elevating Character— Wholeiome Food for Thought — Studying th* Scriptural Lesson Intelligently and Profitably. The Fiery Furnace. The lesson for Sunday, Juno 5, may bo found in Dan. 3: 13-25. INTRODUCTORY. Here is a lesson for the individual believer. These four lessons from Daniel have a curious and interesting relation with tho first four Psalms. Like Psalm 1, the first lesson out of Daniel speaks of tho blessedness of simple loyalty to i God and to his word. The second lesson, like the second Psalm, has refer- i

ence to the triumphant kingdom of tho Son. This third lesson, in its turn, fcl- ! lowing the analogy of the third Psalm, makes its appeal in behalf of a personal , faith. Next week we shall be ccnsid- I ering the truth that is found alike in the fourth Psalm and in the narrative oi Daniel and the den of lions, the place and value of humble, fervent prayer. No one can study these discriminating selections from God’s word without having his soul refreshed and strengthened. WHAT THE LESSON SAYS. Nebuchadnezzar. The king has soon ) and quite readily forgotten the events of chapter two, probably occurring several years prior to the incidents of the chapter before us. His rage and fury. More accurately, in rage and fury. Is it true? Better; Is it with design or with deliberate purpose? As with Daniel who “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat,” Dan. 1:8. Worship, i. e., pay adoration. Same word used of the king and Daniel at 2: 46. Ready. Or prepared. The root of the word seems to be time. Deliver. The ] word is, curiously enough, shazav, a । seemingly foreign corruption of yazav. I It occurs several times in this chapter. Not careful to answer. More literally, no need to answer. Douay: No occasion to answer, i. e., to apologize or justify their conduct before the king. The word answer originally meant to return or send back. Our God. The our is emphatic, coming last in the Hebrew. Whom we serve. See Paul on the Mediterranean, I Acts 27: 23. Able. Or, has it in his I power. The root of the word is to contain, to have capacity. Fell down. Or simply, fell. Bound. Emphatic. Stands last in the Hebrew sentence. Astonied. Akin to the word gaze, hence, wonder-struck. Rose up,

spake, said. The language of nervous excitement. The Douay precedes this verse with a long interpolation of prayer, put into the lips of the Hebrew children, similar to the cry of Jonah in the whale s belly. Loose. In contrast with b< knd, in the preceding verse; unbound is the literal meaning. Walking, 1. e., moving about in the fire. The word is applied to one’s accustomed going and coming. ■ The Son of God, or rather, a Son of God, referring probably to the gloriousness of his appearance. WHAT THE LESSON TEACHES. Who is that Go 1 that will deliver you out of my hands? There was contempt in the query. It was not simply ignorance but derision of the God of the Hebrews. We see here again the heai then raging and the kings of the earth ' i setting themselves, the rulers taking counsel against the Lord and his anoint- ■ cd. saying let ns break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from . us. And how does God answer this de-

h J US- AHU ULM' won vol. ux - and dominion? By ।, 4’^. 1 a sublime and loi^ u gBJ I well founded, puts man’s poor haughtiness to the blush. “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." Even so the . Christian is to view the world's derid- • ing. bi his inmost soul he may laugh at it. 1 his is the real import of that passage from Romans: It God i,,, f or us. wh > is he that is against us?” i. e., what cares the God-attended man for any one that may come against him? God is with him! Wt are not careful to answer thee in this matter. Our answer is to God, not । to man. So spoke the disciples, when I threatened. "And now, Lord, behold । tljeir threatenings,” they say, "and grant unto thy servants' that ’ with all boldness they may speak thy word." Ihey were not as careful regarding their response to insol nt m m as to the omnipot, nt and holy God. This indeed was the attitude of the Christ, “who when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, h ■ threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously.” There is altogether too great anxiety among Christian men to-day as to how they shall justify themselves before the world, too little concern for the vindication and acceptance of Go 1 himself. Let us make our appeal to God. Be more careful :o answer the Most High than to answer the creature. The answer to God, indeed, is the effectual answer to this world. Lo, I see four men loose. There is always one man more than the world counts on. The Son of man is never included in carnal computations; he is forgotten in the accounts of men. But he is here, and in the ultimate reckoning men will see it. The world beholds

it to-day indeed where faith is fully present and trust is strong. Says the Psalmist, “I will not be afraid of ten thousand of people that have set themselves against me round about.” That would be rashness and effrontery, were it spoken by man standing by himself and unaided. It is two that shall put ton thousand to flight, but whore is the other man? "Arise, O Lord, save me, Omy God!” And now we see the other, the One indeed; and all is well. Remember this, Christian, faith’s reckoning always counts one more than the world descries. One who is mighty to save. Next lesson—“ The Den of Lions”— Dan. 6: 16-28. All Sorts. Six thousand Chinese coins go to make one English sovereign. The first photographs produced in England were taken in 1802. Only one couple in 11,500 live to celebrate their diamond wedding. Forty-three Popes reigned during the building of St. Peter’s Cathedra^ Rome. The Koh-i-Noor, or mountain of light, is stated to have been discovered in the diamond min ?s of Goleenda more than 3,000 years ago.

* AN INGENIOUS SCOUNDREL, ’j A Begging Letter Writer in College and । the Kesult. Let me tell you a very strange true J story. Three years ago a young man, in the middle of his sophomore year, found himself in debt to hjs -landlady, to his tailor, to the college, and, in fact, to everyone of whom he could borrow or buy. He had no parents on whom he could call, and his future wasn’t very roseate, to say the least. But he was a genius. He had come to college to graduate, and didn’t intend .to drop out just because he lacked money. There was plenty of unemployed capital in the country, he was sure, and he was equally sure ; he could get hold of some of it, so । ’ this is what he did: In some way he learned the names | of ten women in one of the small | Western towns and wrote them the j ! following letter: Mv Dear Mbs. :—I am a student in College end am absolutely without a cent. Unless I receive aid I shall be compelled to abandon the ambition of my life—to enter the Christian ministry. I am an orphan and am solely dependent on myself. Will you kindly send me 10 cents and mail a copy of this letter to ten friends, numbering each copy 2? Please request them to do the same, numbering their copies 3, and so on, stopping at number 10. Tep cents is very little, but ten dimes I makes a dollar, and a hundred dollars would I be truly a godsend to me. Very truly yours. , Georoe W. Martin.

I He figured that about three or I four in the first ten would respond, i and that the same ratio would be i kept up. Some would be ignored, : some would miscarry, and in some i cases several copies would be sent to j the same person. It is easy to count that if every letter and copy brought in 10 cents lie would receive millions. If four in the first ten responded, he would still be a millionaire. The plot succeeded. He didn’t receive a million, of course, but he did get a very large sum of money. Not one person in a hundred would stop ' and figure up the the-actual amount which the tiling would bring to the j letter writer. In some cases minis- , tors read the letter in the pulpit and i recommended the scheme to their • congregation. The letters which he received were studies. Some con- ; tamed stamps, some . dimes wrapped ■ in paper, some motherly old souls

wrote long letters with volumns of good advice, and some more philanthropic people sent 50 cents, a dollar, and a few even five.—N. Y. Press. Getting Even With the Borrower. A popular young fellow who is widely known in athletic circles tells ’ this storv: ‘T was in the office of a friend of mine on Walnut street, above Fourth, the other morning, when a rather seedy-looking young chap came in, and nodding to him in a jaunty way, said: “ ‘Billy, old man, I want to borrow a dollar.’ “ Tl-m-m-in,' replied Billy slowly, ‘well, if 1 iemember rightly, I loaned you a dollar last week.' “ ‘>o you did,' said the visitor, ‘but I'm dead >t rapped and m ist have a dollar now.’ ‘■Hilly pondered a monfbnt and replied: “ ‘Well, you're no good: I'm convinced of that, and so I’ll not lend you a dollar, but I'll gite you one; —.l • i

-WUe will selUtJess than fbef I'ii-t rate, responded7 heshmnmA less striker, and then, after a mo- | merit or ■<.. as the cash was not forth- ‘ coming, be added: AV ch, w here's the dollar vou are going to give me?’ " >h.' replied Billy, smilingly, I'll i gi\e \ou the dollar you borrowed last ■ week.'" — Philadelphia Record.,

A.Kama -es or Latin. The Bi ston Saturday Evening Gaz tie tells a story showing that an ignoram ol Latin is sometimes a disad\antage. A young business man Os Boston had a slight sore throat ! in lht“ w i n ter, and meet: ng his c us in, a nhjsician (and also something of a wag), he asked him what to do for it. ■i>iu 111 write a prescription for \ou. was the answer. He wrote it, and the gentleman glanced at it before taking it into the druggist. It read something like this: “Aqua 1 ura — ounces; Ch ioride sodium — ounces. Shake before using, and g.ugle With it every half hour.’’ "How much is it?” queried the patient, as the druggist handed him the bittie. “I wo dollars, ” was the reply. Last week another sore throat asserted itself, and, remembering the efficacy of his first treatment, he took i in the bottle to he tilled again. An- i other clerk waited on him, and when - he inquired the price he was aston-

ished by the cheerful answer: “Oh, we don't charge anything for salt and water.’” He had paid 82 before for a bottle of water with two tablespoonfuls of salt dissolved in it.

Why Me l>is iked Ostriches. A naturalist, once had a baboon 1 that was trained to act as a sort of a watch-dog in his house in Egypt The monkey was very fohd of dozing in the sun beneath sumo straw on the top of the wall. Among the animui^ in the establishment were a few ostriches. T his bird, as you are aware, is a most inquisitive creature. Now, as fate would have it, an ostrich came along one day as the baboon w as sleeping, and espied its tail hanging down the wall. Taking it for a bell-pull, it gave it a good tug with its strong beak. At this outrage the monkey awoke as angry as it could be, and. in the twinkling of an eye. slipped from beneath its counterpane of straw, seized the intruder by the neck, and gave it a sound thrashing. Nor ever afterwards could that baboon be made to look with the slightest favor upon ostriches. When Suspicion points her little I finger at a man, the finger soon grows to be as large as a telegraph pul

RECORD OF FOUR FLOODS. High Water of This Season Compare® with That of 1544. 1851 and 1858. As the present flood in the Mississippi appears te have reached its culmination —unless it should receive accession from the usual June nise in the Missouri some account of the record of previous - floods in the same stream may be of interest. There have been three previous floods since the settlement of the country, which are well remembered by persons now living, and in which the rise reached about the same point as the present. These were in 1844, 1851 and 1858, and the limit above the low-water mark at St. LouW in those years was as follows: 1844 41.9 feet.lßsß 36.9 feet 1851 36.5 feet, 1892 36 feet It will be seen from these figures that j the flood of 1892 has not reached a point equal to those of 1851 and 1858, though | within a f action of each, but still falls I short of each by several inches, and of J that of 1844 by nearly six feet. The j present flood has been sufficitentto cover i about the same area in Illinois as the ! previous ones, in spite of tho increased height and strength of levees, except at East St. Louis, where the levee construction has been effective in protecting a portion ts the town. Owing to the vastly increased area under cultivation, both on the Mississippi and Missouri, the loss from the destruction of crops and the carrying away of houses and other property will be greatly inoreased over that of former years. The statistics given show that the flood of 1844 is entitled to rank as the

most memorable as to height. Like all the others, it was the result of a long succession of spring rains followed by an unexampled June rise in the Missouri caused by the melting of heavy snows in the Rocky Mountains. Previous to this date little if any progress had been made in the construction of the levee system above the mouth of the Ohio, and consequently the stream was not confined to a comparatively narrow channel as now. As a consequence, after it began to overflow its banks a greater volume of water was required to cause a moderate rise at St. Louis, where the river, by overflowing the American Bottom, spread to a width of eight to ten miles. Yet it then reached a height of nearly forty-seven feet above low water, covering the whole of what is called “The Levee" or Front street, where now the lower railroad bridge crosses the river, and flooding the business houses on that str et to a depth of several feet. As the city has since been extended to the bottom lands, both above and below the old city, some idea may be formed of the increase of the area exposed to the rav-

ages of the present floods. The whole of the “American Bottom” opposite St. Louis, extending from Alton to Chester, and covering an area of one to ten miles wide by ninety miles in length, was completely submerged with the exception of a few mounds and ridges, so that steamboats reached the Illinois bluffs from eight to ten miles from St. Louis. It has since become one of the most highly cultivated and productive sections of the State, and the loss in the destruction of some crops and in delaying the planting of others, to say nothing of other property, is almost incalculable. - Os course all these floods, with others which occurred at later periods, inflicted Immense damage upon the lower Mississippi, where the levee system was not as complete as it is now. A flood in 1882 devasted nearly 600,000 acres in the States of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana and compelled the furnishing of rations by the Government to 130,000 homeless people, with tents for sheltering large numbers. The loss in Louisiana alone was estimated at $2,000,000. Another flood in February and March, 1890, which was chiefly confined to the lower Mississippi, coming from the tttovLuxer,; -trices™

disastrous. The number of “crevasses” (breaks in levees) during the present flood has been very great, and heavy loss is inevitable. j Floods in 1876 and 1880 caused heavv loss to the farmers on bottom lands in Illinois between Warsaw and Quincv. and between Quincy and the mouth of the Illinois, in consequence of the

breaking of newly constructed levees, which protected a large area of recently reclaimed farming lauds. There were a . few losses of life, manj- narrow escapes, | and the destruction of growing crops yas almost complete. The rise at Quincy in 1851 was 22.8 feet, in 1876 19 feet and in 18b0 17 feet. So far this region has escaped serious disaster,* but °the Des Moines River has burst its bounds near its mouth and wrought havoc amon^ the rich farms in the rear of Alexandria, D ibtless the most memorable and disastrous floods in this countrv have been those occurring in the Ohio, usually at the time of some sudden breaking up of the ice in the winter or early spring. The following are the limits above low water reached in Cincinnati i different years: 1834, 64 feet 4 inches; 1847, 63 feet 7 inches; 1862, 57 feet 4 inches; 1882, 58 feet 7 inches, and 1883 (the highest ever known i, 66 feet 4 inches. Ihe latter destroyed a number of lives, millions of property and dei vastated several prominent cities, Shawneetown, II!., being among the number.

Scientific Points. A street in Germany has been paved with India rul ber with satisfactory results. It is said to be more durable I than asphalt and less slippery. • It has been found that sandstone as an engine foundation is far from per- | feet. The stone soon becomes saturated with oil, making it soft and easily friable. The first electric street railway in Russia will be constructed at Kiew a city of 130,000 people. It will t e opera"’T'L’A trolI « v system, and will be ready for business in a U A recent invention consists of a combination of levers in connection with the trucks of a railroad car, so that in case of derailment the airbrakes will work automatically and stop the train. _ The report of the progress of the Manchester.ship canal shows that all the receipts an I $1,060,0 W in addition N have been expended, and fully sl2,- g 000,000 more will be required to finish J £ the work. J'*- w ' kt An Austrian chemist is supposed^ have solved the problem of wateg^F ing leather by a cheap and method. He employs a solution of : parts of gelatine and five parts® mate of potash dissolved in I,S of water. Impregnating the le< this solution causes the albuit agulate In tiie pores. ‘ x