St. Joseph County Independent, Volume 21, Number 40, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 25 April 1896 — Page 3

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CHAPTER I. “To-night 1 shall see him! To-night! No, surely it can hardly be. In one, two, three, in seven hours, he will walk in to dinner.” This to herself, at sweet seventeen, spoke Camilla Harding, of a young fellow she had met but once before. To be sure, it had been at a county ball, and though they had only danced together twice, she and Horace Brudenell had been mutually well impressed, and had “got on,” as his friend Jack Forbes expressed it, “like wild tire." She is up in her room now, her thoughts on her first love, as she already calls him to herself. “Ue seemed to like me wonderfully,” she reflects. Lilia is petite. The highest possible degree of health without the most distant approach to coarseness, that describes her best. Her fluffy hair of light, light brown, always looks as if it were going to be blown away, and while you like it for dancing up. you long to smooth it ■down. Iler blue-gray eyes and her full little mouth have a delightful expression of asking for protection, which to the male heart, at least, is very touching. “You have no real beauty, child,” old Lady Prendergast, her grandmother, with whom she lives at Silvermead Park, had often said to her. “There is nothing of the Juno about you.” and the proud old woman would give her line old head a little shake and sit more bolt upright than ever. The luncheon bell summoned the young girl from her reveries, and dashing down a Gloire de Dijon rose she had been holding, she tripped and bounded down the gloomy black oak staircase like a sunbeam in a cavern, and caroling away as she went. Prompt as sho had been, Lady Prendergast was already seated in the great dining room, which was almost as severe as herself and the staircase. Here were these two close relations living together for years, and the strange thing was that the old lady, who was always saying unkind words, hid beneath all her harshness a passionate love for the girl; while Lilia, who scarcely ever forgot to be polite and respectful, had no spark of gratitude or affection for Lady Prendergast. I may say at once that this was the old lady’s grand cross in life, for she was under no illusion on the subject. She hoped, of course, for love of any kind must hope or die; but she knew that all the conscientious seventy, and all the indulgence, for she had tried both, which she so lavishly bestowed on her dead daughter’s child, had hitherto been as seed flung upon a rock. This thought was present in all its bitterness this April afternoon. “Os course,” said the grandmother, “I know I might as well talk to a wall as to you.” “Oh, gran'ma, don't say that; you know I do study, and play the piano some mornings.” “Yes, as your father was a good husband to my daughter—sometimes.” - “Well, he can never have been very bad, for you say she worshiped him to the end.” “But, you poor, silly thing, that w , out of the wealth of her goodness, not from his deserts. She loved him once and forever, as a mother loves her prodigal; poor sainted Agatha!” and the old lady wiped away a genuine tear; “and her death was a curse from Heaven upon your father for his incorrigible gambling.” This was a little beyond even Lilia's endurance, and she cried—“lt is no use your abusing papa, because it only makes me love him. if possible, more and more every time you blame him,” and she looked the old lady full in the face and the latter could not bear the glance. “Hear, hear him speak for himself,” and Lady Prendergast pulled a foreign letter from her pocket, and, adjusting her spectacles, prepared to read. Lilia’s face changed in an instant. “A letter from papa! Aad you never told me!” “Always time enough to hear what he has to say,” and there was smoldering rage as well as open contempt in the ring of the aged voice. • Then she road: “You will be glad, or, by-the-bye, I suppose I should say sorry, to hear that 1 have, at last, had a turn of luck. At the \ ieuna races I cleared six hundred pounds, so I write to say I will not trouble you for my monthly dividend this time. Also, that I feel confident that ! this little win is the turn in the tide of my fate. It is what I have long wanted in order to try a system at Monaco, which has never yet failed, but which so few besides myself have the self-command seriously to test.” “His self-command!” scoffed her ladyship. “(Jo on. go on!” “You know I am not fond of indoor work. 1 shall, therefore, limit my plundering of Blanc & Co. to ten thousand pounds, and then set up a racing establishment once more at dear old Newmarket. where my unrivaled knowledge of the craft must, if I have only the merest modicum of luck, rapidly make me one of the richest men in England. To me my future is clear and bright, and, this being so, my first thought is my darling Lilia.” “My own papa!” said the girl, almost to herself. "Yon have taken advantage of my misfortunes to part us, but I warn you to prepare for a change, as I Shall no longer be in need of your charity. I have a right to do as I like with my own child. I will that she remain under your roof for extra safety until my certain hopes are partly realized, but I command that she at once be permitted to write to me. Your forbidding our correspondence was always an unnatural abuse of the power which my cruel stars placed in your hands, and was only endured by me from sheer necessity. Your brief notes stating that Lilia is well are poor comfort to a father s heart.” *Qh, my poor, dear, darling, handsome

papa!” exclaimed his daughter. “Gran'ma. you will let me write?” • “Never,” said the old lady. “Think » for one moment, if you can think; if you ’ love him, reclaim him. You are his only stay, his only safeguard. He loves you and yearns every day, more and more, for your letters, for your company, but he loves his passion more.” “It is false!" “Is it though? Ho proves it. He can have you to-morrow, live with you, in decent comfort. I have offered seven hundred a year for his solemn word; for wretched as my opinion of him is in other things, I think he would keep his word.” “Think! My papa is the soul of honor!” “Oh, vastly honorable, in good sooth! Ho lias the honor of a gamester; enough to keep his word, not enough to care about bringing my child to the grave, and utterly disgracing his own.” It was now Lilia’s turn to flare up. With flashing eyes she rose and said: "Grandma, I will write!” “Will, indeed!” “Yes, will; so, quick, the address.” “I am not wicked enough^to give it to you.” “Then,” and the girl snatched the letter, but the next moment burst into tears of rage. The address had been neatly cut out from the head of the paper. CHAPTER 11. Lady Prendergast’s dinner party took place that evening as blithely as though no painful family scene had preceded it. The first of the dinner party to arrive was Miss Laffinch, a spiteful, even poisonous, old maid, who lived in the village, and who held her own with all the people of note round about, by what can only be described as the secret terror she inspired. The party was much too good for her. There were the Marquis of Caulfield and his handsome daughter, Lady Susan Grave; the County Member and the Hon. Mrs. de Basle, Lord and Lady Fouroaks, who keep the merriest and most open house for twenty miles round. Horace Brudenell comes in one of the last, with his chum, Jack Forbes. The object of Lilia’s infatuation is a pleasant enough object for'the general eye to contemplate. Not much above the middle height, he looks taller than he is, from his erect carriage and well-proportioned figure. His boyish dream was for the army, but Sir Howard would not hear of it, and he is now studying under his uncle's land agent. After shaking hands with his hostess, he does so with Camilla. It was with the merest commonplace that Horace opened conversation with the young lady of the house. “I hope you were not very tired the other night, Miss Harding, it is a long drive,” and he added to himself: “Well, you are a beauty, even prettier than I thought you were.” While she: "Tired! That is a thing 1 scarcely ever am, and never when I am happy." And to herself: “Oh! his eyes and his voice are too charming, and will distract me so I shall hardly hear what he says sufficiently to answer him." And she kept her own eyes down, not from affected modesty, but for fear they should speak too plainly, and too soon. “Shall you be at the Hasham dance on Monday?” "I do not see how it can be managed.” “Oh, but it must be.” “Must it? Why?" “Because —because, in the first place, you are fond of dancing, and then it will be a great pleasure to me to meet you there.” "Will it?" “I am sure you know it will.” “I am very glad." “Are you? That I want to meet you there? Oh, why?" "It is always pleasant to be appreciated." How long they would have gone on reveling in such nothings, like very lovers as they already were, I cannot say; for the announcement of dinner now came to interrupt their prattle. Brudenell was told to take in Lady Susan Graye, whereon Lilia suddenly found herself speculating upon that tall young beauty’s attractiveness in away she had never done before. “Well,” she thinks, “the same man could hardly admire us both, so if he cares for me at all, she will not distract him i from me.” The head of Lady Prendergast’s table monopolizes most of the dignity and dullness present. Her ladyship and the marquis have been friends and neighbors for forty years, so they find plenty to talk about. CHAPTER 111. It was such a precocious evening for April that when the gentlemen joined the ladies after dinner they found them sitting with the glass doors of the drawing room wide open, and one or two of the younger ones had eveh thrown something over their heads and shoulders and ventured forth upon the moonlit lawn. The conservatory at Silvermead was a regular lounge, and much of its spaciousness was devoted to a wide walk, where, contrary to the fashion of most flower houses, you could saunter three abreast. Seats were conveniently scattered about, there was an iron table or two, and, in short, you saw at a glance that it was not quite a place where the pancratia and orchids । were to have it all their own way. To i this spot did Camilla and Brudenell pros- ; ently repair, having contrived the move with so much tact that they got there without ever seeming to go. “I am thinking about Monday, Miss Harding,” said Horace, as they stroll off from the others; “ever since last week I have been wondering when I shall have another dance with you.” “Oh,” she says, “I am quite as anxious to meet you as you are ” Then she thinks that sounds forward and means “quite as anxious to meet you as you are

to meet me,” so she adds: “I am alreadf so fond of dancing, after one ball, I woul do anything to go to a second.” “Do you think,” he says, “is there no plan—no hope?” “Well, I think there is-just a gleam. Since you asked me about it before dinner something has happened. Lady Fouroaks, who, you must know, is a great favorite of grandma’s, came, of her own accord, and said sho had been thinking hoW it could be arranged.” “Well done! I was always fond of Lady Fouroaks,” quoth Horace, emphatically. “Yes, but it all depends on grandma, ami 1 fear she will never consent.” “Forgive the suggestion, I am only anxious this thing should be accomplished in some way. You told me the other night you lost your mother when quite a little thing, but why do you not write and make your father come and escort you to the ball?” Needless to say that Horace had never hoard one syllable of any kind regarding

him. It was one of those stray shots which sometimes tell with such killing effect. The girl’s face instantly grew purple. “I think your suggestion very kind,” she said, “but—well, my dear father is very far off —abroad; I love him so dearly, and the sudden thought that circumstances part us for the present ” “I see, I see—quite so,” said Horace, vaguely. "Perhaps I shall tell you a great deal about papa, when—when I know you better.” "Thon I will make haste and know you better as fast as over I can.” A rapid heavy female step was now heard, and Miss Laffinch approached them. The ungainly spinster hated all young men of all periods, because those of her youth had failed to appreciate her angular charms. To be sure, she did not bloom in the days of estheticism. “Mr. Brudenell," she snapped out, "we all want to know what you have done with Miss Harding, for we have wanted her to play and sing, and a thousand things?” On reaching the drawing room, Camilla was relieved to find the formality of her re-entry broken and unnoticed, owing to the general break-up that was going on. “I have carried my point,” said Lady Fouroaks, kissing her; “you come to me on Tuesday for the Hasham ball.” “No! Oh, you are good, dear Lody Fouroaks”—and there was a depth of feeling in those words which struck her ladyship’s sharp ear as having something more than mere gratitude about them. “Then we shall meet on Wednesday, after all,” said Brudenell, as* he wished Lilia good-night, and pressed her hand os much and as long as ever ho dared. She could not forego returning that welcome pressure, and with a mutual glance which kept them both awake half the night, they parted. (To be continued.) DIRTIEST PEOPLE ON EARTH. Recently Discovered by an Explorer in the Cauca«un MountuiuH. The dirtiest people in the world have recently been discovered by an explorer in the Caucasus. They live in an inaccessible mountain range between the Black Sea and the Caspian, their villages being so snugly hidden away that no government lias yet b-on able to reach them. As they were 2.500 years ago so they are to this day. Seen from without there is a certain picturesqueness about a Svanetian village, although it merely consists of miserable stone hovels, without any attempt at form or adornment. Within, however, the houses are inconceivably filthy. They are filled with rags, vermin and dirt of every description. They possess no fireplace or chimney. All the cooking, in fact, is done over a hole scooped out of the middle of the floor. In those houses men and women and children are huddled together; duri’ g the long winter months they are shut up for days at a time, the cattle often sharing their quarters. E cry aperture has to be closed on account of the cold. This long imprisonmer.t is. perhaps, the chief cause of the degradation of the people; horrible diseases result from it. which are aggravated by an abnormal consumption of arrack, the strong Jis tilled drink of the Asiatics. Besides being the dirtiest they are probably the laziest people on earth. It is an invariable rule to rak' four days a week holiday, with saints’ days as extras. Since they have adopted the holidays of every other country with which they have come in contact, it is not surprising that the men find little time for work. Farming, bee culture and cattle breeding are the only industries of these lazy people: throughout their territory there is not a single manufactured article; their children marry while very young; they attend no school, ami, lastly, they have no mom y. rnc’ Ephraim's Wisdom. "Virtues am crimes w'en yo’ hates deir possessah. “Se’f-detince may sometimes justerfy yo' speakin’ ha'd ob yo' neighbahs, but yo' haiu’t got no call ter be alius on de definsive. “Er man nebbah knows w’at er no’count scoundril ’e am tell ’e gits er-holt ob er story nt's been de roun's ob he r’lashuns. “I heahs er leetle innercint-lookin’ story ’bout er bruddah, ’n’ I tells yo erbout hit; yo tells hit ter anuddah bruddah, uddah bruddah tells hit—an’ hit am er lie! Ain’t we all free liabs? An’ till any one ob us own up ter hit? “Er narrow, se'fish, stuck-up, lowdown, dawgish, t’ick-skinned niggah ain’t wuss lubin,’ er pityiu', er ’spisin’, much less hatin’. Lub ’e don’ want, pityin’ ’e don’ know, ’e’s er-wantin’. ’spisin’ kain’t touch ’im, hatin's too good fo’ ’im. Leah ’im erlone. “W’at niggahs nebbah will seem ter leahn is nt de pahtakah am ez bad ez de t’ief, an' ut de man ut listens is ez much et fau’t ez de tawminted scan’almongah ’e am er-list’nin’ ter. “Es er man hain’t got no uddah claim on heblien, ’eThi't eT gojii* ter^ obah--looked es ’e Wks hfWffcfle m^tbaM^t*! ‘ say nuffin’ ut ’ll do any p o ’ bruddah ei inj’ry wivout doin' hese'f no good.”

TOPICsItOR farmers^ * DE ou» T o ENT spared for ° Ur Rural friends. Care for Timoth y Hay-Pro-n S the Fruit Season by Cold _o ra Ce—Hardiness of Winter Wheat Neats for Setting Hens. T Timothy Hay. . p r a cu t in the afternoon, when * froiu Q b external moisture, Just before noon the next day, an a , ° clock turn a second time, an U , a ^ an hour start the teams to tak ng it in. i learned by a losing exP CI tllat 13 necessary to have ventilation under the floor of a hay bay. I built a bay barn five or six years ago and laid a floor on mud sills, only a

few inches above the ground, and found nearly a ton of musty hay In the bottom of a bay 24x14 in size. I then raised my mud sills and placed them on stones so as to allow a space of a foot under them, and my hay has kept well ever since. Ido not use sills at all in a bay barn, but stand the posts on the foundation and spike a 2xß joist to them to hold them in place, and then place timbers on stone to support the floor joists, so that the weight of the ray rests on the ground and not on the frame of the barn. For our own use we prefer mixed bay, clover and timothy, and the mammoth clover is best, as it ripens with the timothy; but not over two pounds of seed to the acre should be sown, or the timothy is likely to be smothered out entirely tho next season. Another advantage of this thin seeding Is that the timothy keeps the clover from falling down, and helps it to cure better. I have never found mammoth clover satisfactory for liny when sown by itself, but with timothy It largely increases the yield of hay, and cures out so as to be eaten by all stock as well as the medium clover.—W. F. Brown, in Ohio Farmer. Cold Storage for Apples. Anent the recent progress in the matter of prolonging the season of fruits by means of cold storage, Prof. Craig, of tho experiment farm at Ottawa, Canada, thinks that the time may soon come when winter apples may not be a necessity, as fall apples can be kept in perfect condition until the next summer. This is entirely practicable, but as winter apples are quite as easily grown as summer or autumn apples there seems no need of dispensing with either. At the Columbian exposition, in the New York fruit exhibit, there were shown at the opening of the exhibition and for some weeks after, perfect specimens of the gwee* bough, sourbough, fall pippin, pound sWeet and Others, and they would have kept in the summer or fall without having been thus stored. In other words, contrary to the generally accepted I lea. the cold storage in no way impaired tlleir keeping qualities. It would certainly be very pleasant to Im able to have a supply of primate. Chenango strawberry, Gravenstein and fall pippin through the winter. The problem to solve is to make central cold storage plants In ! fruit-growing neighborhoods, where ; business enough can be secured to j make them profitable, operated by the i ammonia process, lee ucthods will I not answer. To fill the modem demand ; they must be able to freeze fresh meats, fish and poultry In one room, while keeping fruit at 30 degrees Fahrenheit in another.—Orange Judd Farmer. Hardiness of Winter Wheat. Winter wheat Isa much hprdier grain ; than is commonly supposed. If it were not it could not endure the changes which in our climate ordinary winter weather always Involves. With regard to flooding we found mar<y years ago that wheat can be entirely covered by water for a day or two in firing without injury, provided the writer was running, and there was an outlet below for It to escape through. An oat or barley crop, in similar circumstances, is much worse injured than Is wheat, often turning yellow and sometimes entirely retting down, while the wheat plant went through the ordeal uninjur- I ed. It is possible that tbw tenderness ! of the spring grain is due to its sudden and rapid growth, while the wheat leaves have been inured to hardiness by exposure to cold weather all the winter. But however hardy wheat may be against injury from a running stream, or where an underdrain beneath will carry off the wgter neither it nor any other grain can long live where its roots are surrounded by stagnant water. Nests for Sitting Hens. The nest for a hen that to sit and hatch a brood of chicks s\puld be on the ground wherever that js possible. With a little management qn the part of the poulterer this can uffijally be accomplished. The advantages of the nest on the ground are that the moisture arising from the soil prevents the eggs from drying up and destroying the germ of the young chick by excluding air. The egg shell is porous, but if there is no moisture the warmth from the hen hardens the membrane inside before the chick is able to break through it. In such case tho chick dies and the egg is addled. Every farmer has noticed that hens which steal their nests in summer usually come off with full broods. The only disadvantage of nests on toe ground for setting hens is that they may be disturbed by rats, skunks or otlysr vermin. But if such vermin abound It is quite likely that they will take more or less of the chicks, and it is better to have tho nest rifled when It contains only eggs than to lose all after the chicks have hatched. /BrcafjiMinA for-Bog- Chotera. • Thflte arlM rn*' ^y^^alled rq^aedies for the so-called hog cholera, and I have tried many of them, with vary- k

ing results. The one that has proved the most successful with me and under my observation is this,: ; First separate tho well from the sick ones, removing the well ones and putting them in other pens or fields, as far removed as practical from the diseased ! ones. Disinfect the old and new quarters with a strong solution of carbolic acid, and at the same time sprinkle around the feeding places and pens slaked lime. Whitewash the pens and fences with ordinary whitewash, in which put crude carbolic acid in the proportion of a pint, of the crude to an ordinary bucketful of the wash. Before removing the well animals sprinkle them with a solution of crude carbolic acid and water in the proportion of a pint of the acid to a gallon of water. Give Internally— espeelaEy during the period of fever—tincture of aconite, ten to twenty drops in milk, according to the size of the animal and the violence of the disease. Keep the sick in dry and comfortable quarters, and if an animal seems stupid or its bowels are not working right, give fifteen to twenty drops of turpentine in castor oil twice a day until the conditions change. Give no solid food to any of the affected; milk Is best, but if not at hand or in sufficient quantities make a warm gruel of cornmeal and allow the sick to drink of it in small quantities and often. Put hyposulphate of soda In all water used by the animals for drinking in the proportion of an ounce to a gallon of water. Care to prevent changes of condition and preventing the animals from taking cold is one of the important things. Sick animals should not be exposed to storms or sudden changes of the weather. Disinfect every daj- a.s above indicated. If instructions are followed strictly 80 per cent of tho afflicted can be saved.—“ Shep,” in Breeders’ Gazette. Old Apple Trees in Maine. Some of the old apple trees that seemed hard, tough barks before the borer became numerous are still living and productive. So long as new orchards are put out the borer attacks the young trees and leaves them alone. Tho secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture mentions an apple tree in lork, Me., which was brought over from England in a tub and planted more than 200 years ago. It was still bearing in IS7O. Another apple tree near Wiscasset bay was an old tree in ISOS, and it continues to bear fruit until now. Farm Notes. Larly potatoes, for family use, can be started in hotbeds and then set out In the open ground. It enables them to gain two or three weeks' growth. It is claimed that the wild goose phim, In order to bear fruit, must have 1 the aid of pollen from some source other than its own, as it is incapable of feniliziag its pistil. It is claimed that there is less wheat In the world than is required for consumption, even with prices much below those obtained a decade past. Wheat, however, can be produced for much less in cost, owing to Improved machini ery and implements. Wide tires on wagons not only lessen | the draft on the horses, but prevent j cutting up of the roads to a certain extent. They also assist in hardening ‘ and packing the roads after the frost is gone, and can be used on land where narrow tires are impracticable. For the potato beetles it is not necessary to use Faris green very liberally, as the smallest quantity taken by the beetle Is fatal. A mixture of one pound :cf l’aris green with one hundred ! pounds of land plaster is an excellent application, but the two substances must be intimately mixed. Now that the frost is making the roads soft, the farmers will find it profitable to compare the amount of taxes paid with the loss of time on the roads. With mud up to the hubs of the wheels, to say nothing of the cleaning of vehicles, good roads should find advocates on every farm without regard to their cost. By crossing we often procure large, well-developed chickens, which often I surpass in size and development either !of their pure-bred parents. Os course, ! for breeding purposes these chickens are worthless, but they were not bred for that end; they develop meat an«i eggs, and if they do this work they answer the ends of their being. It veiy rarely pays to buy different kinds of chemicals to mix together, unless It <?nn be done on a large scale. A little mr.kes more bother than the profit will bo from using the fertilizers thus mixed. But as stable manure is often deficient in mineral plant food, it will pay to buy phosphate and potash to mix with it. The mineral fertilizer thus used is much more effective tban if applied alone. Canned apples sell rapidly, and every year the demand increases so much as to somewhat lessen the demand for evaporated apples. The wastes from the evaporators are said to be used for making cheap jellies. In England turnips are used as the base of such jellies, and flavored with strawberry, raspberry, etc. The canned apples are largely being used instead, permitting of the utilization of early summer and fall apples that cannot be kept over winter, as well as placing on the market a wholesome article of diet. Every fanner should economize, but it is not economical to omit that which is necessary to the production of large crops. 1* may compel a large outlay to procure fertilizers for special crops^ but it will not be economical to endeavor to succeed without them. If the land will not jield largely without their aid they must be procured or the farm will be operated at a loss. It may be. a mlsfortime for a farmer to be com-j polled to iftake the expenditure, but low^ ■ prices and competition .must be met by compelling; the soil so do its best in production.

BRITAIN'S BIG SURPLUS Enormoua Revenue Receipts — Condition of Working Classen. In the British House of Common* Thursday the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, made the budget statement. He said that the surplus for 1895 and 189 G was £4,210,000, and he estimated the expenditure for the current year at £100,047,000. He said that this had been a wonderful year, and one of unexampled revenue in spite of the fact that the expenditures had been the largest since the great war. The surplus was the largest ever known, and a larger sum was devoted to the reduction of the national debt than ever known. The condition of the working classes, he continued, judging from the consumption of tea, tobacco and sugar, had materially improved, and it was a remarkable fact that while the decrease in the exports and imports for the first six months amounted to £7,531,000 the increase for the second half °f the year amounted to £28,228,000. Tea, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach further remarks, was driving coffee out of the market and British and Irish spirits were entirely displacing foreign spirits. 1 he increase in the import of tea was 10,000,000 pounds from India and Ceylon and replacing so much Chinese tea. The increase in the import of tobacco was 108,000 pounds. The increase in the import of tobacco was £IOB,OOO over the estimate, chiefly for cigarettes. The customs authorities calculated, ho added, that £1,000,000 yearly was thrown in the gutter, in the shape of the ends of cigarettes and cigars. The imports of wines had increased £1 .256,000; light wines were preferred. Beer had increased £617,000, the death duties were £2,881,000 and stamps £1,629,000. Referring to the estimates for the current year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that the expenditures were placed at £100,047,000, and the revenue calculated upon was £101,755,000. MADE BLIND TO BEG I Young Children in Chicago Who Are Cruelly Tortured. The police of Chicago have unearthed a system of child torture which is almost without parallel in the world’s history. One morning recently a police officer saw a woman of distressing appearance sitting on the sidewalk. With her were three children, two of them being blind. The eyes of the little ones were inflamed and red. The woman by signs was begging the people who passed to drop pennies in a little box which was in front of her. The women and children were taken to a police station. During the course of the day a stalwart Italian walked in and aslied for them. He was Achille Masselli, the husband of the woman and the father of the children. He was at once placed under arrest, for physicians had declared that the eyes of the little onea had been made blind with something like pepper or gunpowder. Both the man and the woman denied that anything had been done to the eyes of the little ones, but declared that they were born blind. From the investigation which has fol- | lowed this startling discovery has developed the fact, so the police say, that the practice of blinding the eyes of young children so that they will be more “useful" in begging is regularly carried on ia Chicago. The blindness thus caused is not always permanent, but in the case of the two children of Masselli, at least, it is very doubtful if their eyesight will ever be recovered. CROWDS ATTEND BaTiTgAMES. Total Attendance on Opening DaX Larger than Last Year. Nearly 80,t>00 persons saw the six opening games in the National Baseball League Thursday. This is somewhat larger than tho total attendance last year, and is not far from the greatest number ever recorded on an opening day. The figures: 1895. 1896. New York.. .18,000 Philadelphia 23,000 Baltimore .. . 12.000 Baltimore ...11,200 Cincinnati ...ll.lWCincinnati ...14,400 Louisville ... 9,oooLouisville ...10,000 St. Louis.... 12,0<>0St. Louis ....11,000 Boston 15.000 Washington . 9,253 Total 77,000 Total 78.856 This will serve to show that gr*&t enthusiasm is being shown everywhere over the national game, and seems to testify the predictions of the magnates that 1596 will be a phenomenally good year for baseball. Chicago defeated Louisville 4 to 2; Brooklyn worsted Baltimore, 6 to 5; St. Louis scored 5 to Cleveland's 2; Washington won from New York, 6 to 3; Boston scored 7, Philadelphia 3; and Pittsburg almost shut out Cincinnati, 9 to 1. OPPOSES HIGH HATS. Philip Fosdick, the Legislator Wlio Fathered the Anti-High Hat Bill. This is a portrait of the man who has made pleasure seeking in Ohio a process attended by difficulties. He is Philip Casa I 1"?™ ~ ' ; I wl v I PHILIP CASE FOSDICK. Fosdick, of Cincinnati, who has achieved fame by introducing into the Ohio Legislature the anti-high hat bill and by having it passed. Julius Mulh, the L nited States consul at Magdeburg, the center of the German beet sugar Industry, says die reidhstag will pass a sugar bill which will cheapen sugar in America, but will kill the infant ) beet sugar industry of Nebraska and Cali- ’ fornia. 2 United States Consul Hanger at Ber- f muda reports to the State Department that the work of improving the ship chan- 33 nel there has been completed and vessels q drawing twenty feet of water may come in at low tide directly to the wharves at £ Hamilton. g