Bloomington Telephone, Volume 14, Number 25, Bloomington, Monroe County, 16 August 1889 — Page 2

-IK VASTl'JSS.

BY VEXMA CiXD'EU MELVILLE. AH my life I've owwl 11 no castles, CVwnixl tiuo ensiles bui t ia air, Architect xi rod by my fancy, .Furnished in a manner rare.

People ibva wondro'is reopl

Diaering fur from tuo an 1 you Men who know no law In t duty, Women who uro ever true. Thro tbese castles oft I zander, Listening to the music sweet Of the plashing, c. ystal fountains JE'liiifciug spray beneath my feet ; Hovers sprir.gtog neath each casement Lovelier far th.iu lotos-jlooni. With like iover to thrall the senses 1 ill the air with pweet naff unie. Fain I'd linger there forever, Dreaming dreams of golden hue, TVIid the music and the flower; 'Mid che hearts aa Hea n true. Bnt e'en as I look and listen. Bound me fulls the castle fair. And I'm wafted swiftly ew inward From my castle in the fcirl St. Louis Magaritte.

TWO BADLY SCARED BOYS. Hair-Baising Experience of Two Texas Boys.

bis:

There are moments in our lives the collection of -which sometimes rises vividly before us like pictured realities. The one experience of my life which memory recalls like a nightmare was a narrow escape I once had from a panther. It -was away back in the days of my youth, Zill aicCaleb and I were bosom friends and used to roam around the bottoms and cane-breaks of the San Jacinto River, in Eastern Texas, on many a hunting expedition. From killing squirrels, turkeys, ducks, geese, and other smaller game, and hunting 'possums and 'coons at night by the aid of lire-pans aud dogs, we aspired to cover ourselves with glory by slaying our first deer. I Tell remember when we had accomplished this feat. Wo ' were out in the upper timber in the edge of the bottom' when we heard the long-drawn ttY-e-ow-oo! Y-e-ow-oo!" by which we recognized the hunting bounds which the Texas planters in those days (it was in 1858) kept in "packs" of from ten to fifty for hunting. We knew, from the absence of the winding, mellow notes of the horn, that the hounds were out on an independent hunt, as they sometimes went, and we stood still. My heart palpitated with anticipation, and I could see ZilTs hand tremble with excitement as we noted that the sounds were coming our way. We knew that they were chasing a deer, for they were too well trained to hunt anything else. We got behind a clump of bushes and waited. In a few minutes we saw a great buck come bounding and jumping with that long, graceful motion of a deer in full chase, and we almost fell to the ground in fright. "Shall I shall I must we shoot? I asked in fear and excitement. "Lordy! We've got to," said Zill, or heUcrosts our luck forever." "Then 111 count three aid both of us must fire at once,9 said I, fearing to take the responsibility on myself. All right; but we must make sure work of him or he'll get us sure as eatin'. .-In & moment the buck had bounded into a clear, sandy spot where his whole side was in view. I got the "buck ague" immediately and forgot the programme, and instead of counting One, two, three, shouted "Three V9 and pointed my gun, shut my eyes, and fired. It was well I did shout three, as Lills's gun went off at the same time. We rushed through the smoke over to where the deer had been, but he was not lying down. A broad strain of blood told us he was hit, and we rushed on in pursuit. To our surprise and glee we found him staggering around a few yards farther on, and heard the dogs coming in full tilt. We had reloaded, and, both of us remembering the awful stories the negroes had told us of the carnivorous propensities of a wounded buck, quickly raised our guns and fired again. He fell, struggled awhile, and died. Our last shots had not hit, ' jut our first ones had gone through hi to. We were delighted, and bore him home in triumph. From thence on are were the heroes of the neighborhood. We were only 13 and 15 years old lespectively, Zill being my senior. This so elated us that in a reckless moment we decided to go off on a threeday's hunt in the canebrake. We made

this announcement before we thought, and I guess no two boys evar repented of such a determination as we two did of that. We had swaggered around and bragged about that deer-killing, and invented tales of daring to tell the envious youths of the neighborhood about our adventures in the long and arduous chase after that noble buck, and of the terrible fight we had with him after he was wounded, so that we get to believe the stories ourselves. We were heroes in our own eyes. It was while inflated with these invented stories and while a number of our companions, with whom we would not associate as equals, were standing around silently listening to our

tales while their souls chafed under the galling thought of their own littleness and their eye-balls were seared with the sight of our taking the pick of the prettiest and most popular girls at church and walking off with them, that we publicly announced that we were going off by ourselves and hunt three days. We made this announce ment in a thoughtless spirit of braggadocio. We got behind the corn-crib afterward, and bitterly repented of it, for the negroes seemed at once to think of the most blood-curdling stories to teM us of serpents and hobgoblins, and "raw-head-and-bloody-bcnes" tales, until our hearts were sick at the very thought of going. "Le's back out and not go," said L "I'm a notion to. But then, blame

it," said Zill, "how can wo now that we've crot Angelina and Melissa away

from them stek-up felows, ReaJ

Moran and Sonnie Sao, and have been

tellin1 them all them blamed ;rns?

Why, we've got to go now, if we have to fight a panther." We both shuddered

at the thought.

blamed sorry we killed that

deer, now, 55LL

;Ob, I'm almost sorry, too' said I. "But tben, it's worth a good deal to bring them two chaps down like wo did, even if we have to tell soim pretty big storie3. But, come to think of it, Zill, it was no slouch of a tiling to kill that deer. Besides, yon know, he might have killed us, because ive forcot to spit in that horse-wallow." '-That's so," replied Zill. "And blame my cats if I didn't walk in your tracks along there by those blood-weeds near the new-ground cotton-patch !" "You did?' I exclaimed in horror, "Zill, if I'd knowed that, I'd never shot at that deer. I don't see how wi ever got back alive. Don't you ever do such a thing again. It's mighty lucky we're here, I can tell you." "Well we'll take some lucky stones and red corn with us thus time. I have

some lucky stones I saved out'n tbe last

gaspergou heads I caught in the swimmirjr-hole lust week."

So it was arranged that we should brave it 3ut, and go ou that three days' hunt. W then begin to tell what wo would kill, scorning anything smaller

than turkeys, aud naming bears, deer,

buffaloes, and even mentioning panthers, though ve both went out and walked three times around an alder bush, each time saving: "Panther, panther, no harm coiac nigh you." This was sure to keep "lie panthers off of us, as Ave had no idea of lettiug one get within hearing distance of us if we could help it. We took with us a large piece of bacon, a long-handled frying-pan, a lot oi salt, pepper, a sack with meal in one end and liour in the other, some onions, and a lot of ground coffee and an old pot. Wo scorned to take sugar or cups, as old hunters never used sugar and al

ways dra ak right out of the pot while j

the coffee was boiling. I have the scar in my mc uth to this day where I tried to be an old hunter on that trip, and Zill had all the skin taken olf his tongue and mouth. We threw the coffee away and made believe we drank it. It was dark when we reached our destination, which was about eighteen miles from home, in the edge of what was called the second bottom and the beginning of the canebrake. We found a beautifr.1 dell there, with long, rich

grass in abundance, and plenty of wood

we soon found ont that to swim a stream like the San Jacinto was no performance at all for a panther. We heaped several Jogs on the fire, arranged our beds with our saddles for pillows, put our sacks of provisions at our heads, loaded our guns heavily and placed them alongside of us, and retired for the night. My dreams were full of awful conflicts with panthers, lions, tigers, grizzly bears, and wounded bucks. I don't know how it came about, for not a sound did I hear, but I awoke about two o'clock in the morning with the feeling that some danger was near. We can feel the very presence of some awful calamity at times when no sight or sound has warned us. I awoke with that feeling so strong that I found great beads of perspiration standing out on my forehead, while my body was covered with goose-pimples, Zilfwas playing a nocturnal solo through hh nose. I was trying to quiet myself to sleep again when, horrors! I heard a soft, velvety tread at my head. An arctic wave swept down my spinal column, and I felt the gentle but hot breath of some animal in my face. I instinctively ducked my head nude the blanket. At the same instant the animal jumped back, and gave a low growl and gnashed its teeth. To sav that I was scared would be using language so mild as to be an affront to good English. It wasn't fright. I was literally scared out of my senses, and each separate hair of my head undertook the responsibility of looking out for itself, and arose in protest. I intuitively knew that it was a panther, aud that it would spring on us in a feAV seconds. I could not help wondering which one of us it would begin on first. I loved Zill like a brother. We had been playmates since infancy; gone fishing together, stolen melons and roastiug-

1 ears together: had slept together. I

SLEEPING BY COMPASS. SliaW We SUwp Willi Our to tbo JMiuntoi or the North 1 ol? Th o sleep-with-your-head-to-the-Notth idea had quite a' rui: a few years ago, and there are still a great many people who, perhaps rather from force of habit than otherwise, ranco their bads so that

' - r ft '

thev stand in lin

dition that he shall be returned to th dfnor when, by reason of age or Hick ness, he can no longer work." Seventy-three persons applied for the animal, to one of whom she gave him; but, on going to the horse-doctor, she learned that lie had lent he horse to

his brother, a farmer, whok in turn, had

range their bads so mat sod him to some one else The resmlt ine with the parallels of tl t 8jie had a iaw8Uit on her mnds

longitude, and sleep wit.x their 'feet to tiat t!0st j,er money and trouble, the equator," or as near as they can get length, however, she recovered to it. Habits are strong in such a mat- , ,)0;ssesion of the old nag, and confided

wsr. dui me tmur ui n nin to the Dries': ot a countrv Damn.

- " L i L '

. ill

relates that he was greatly troubled with sleeplessness and headache at night. Finally he bethought himself that it always made him ii.: when he traveled on" the railroad, if he rode backward, or if he lay in a sleeping-car berth with his head :o the engine; and

whom she bound, under his hand and seal, to use the horse gently, to give him due rest and nourishment, and have him properly taken care of in his old

acre.

This was taking a great deal of trouble

for an old horse, wiiose misery rmmt

that, on the other hand, if lie sat lacing ,mve beon kimliy endea by a bullet, j the eine or slept in his beriih Ylthrr,w i But perhaps there is neew of such a j feet to the engine, he slept well. lhejiesson ia the region honored by the .f ," ft on "In1 liim f ftTlDlV his OTDerl- l i T..

et I must confess that I prayed Larder he lJP8,t! d"e? len than I ever prayed before or since i ?'ail?,ls ?oin? at ?

could not have loved a brother more.

Y

tuen tnan 1 ever pr

that a kind providence would lead that panther to begin on Zill first. Alas ! now that Zill is no more, I realized how selfish this was. But I never thought of it then, and I doubt if any one else would. Zill continued to snore, but I aroused

ence to the earth itself, which is a sort

of great railroad ear, whirling along

from west to east at the rate of about 1,000 miles an hour. He proceeded to arrange his bed so that when he lay upon it his head M as to the west and his feet to the east, and after that he had no more restlessness or headache, but slept profoundly and sweetly, with his ufeet to the engine." He commends his discovery to all sleepless and nervous people, and does not doubt that he has. hit upon a bit of knowledge which will prove infinitely valuable to human kind. Bat what about people who would just as lief ride backwards on railroad trains, and who sleep better with their heads to tho engines of trains and the bows of vessels. A friend once strongly advised us always to sleep when traveling' with our head to the engine or the bow , and give some very plausiblo reasons for his philosophy. "The movement of a train," he said, '"tends to force your blood in

from the way tho

Youth's Companion.

and a good place to sleep. We staked I him with a few punches in the ribs. Ho i 1 -1 l fllfn ft 1 Atil 4- 1Al'nV IV t IT W 1 WhlHI

our norses out, cooKea supper, ana o"" L" xuaa u,l-,v"u """VVA

lighted pt.r corn-cob pipes to revel in the luxury of our first real hunt. I noticed that Zill, wliile appearing to talk easily and naturally, had a quaver in his voice and kept casting furitive glances around at every noise. I knew how he felt, for I felt that way mj self and hastilj- wished we had never seen that old brck. Anyone who has over spent a night in the woods can recall that there de more noises of a bloodcurdling nature around, below, aud above you than you ever read or heard of. I do not now remember who started it first, but our conversation soon turned on the stories we had heard in the negro quartern. And, hard as each of us tried to avoid the subject, we soon began to tell tales af horror in connection with panthers, ind the terrible stories we invented and told each- other about the cunning and blood-thirsty deeds committed by these animals were not calculated to make us feel sleepy or to en joy our hunt any the more. We each tried to outdo the other in these lies in order to appear to she other and to ourselves as really brave and reckless. It must have been about 10 o'clock when I had just finished a Munchausen tale about one panther smelling an immigrant party for forty miles and rushing over to them and waylaying them in a cane-brake and devouring the entire party in its insatiable greed for blood and human flesh. I made tiie number of people on this occasion thirteen, and then recollecting that this was an unlucky number, and seeing

that Zill noticed it and turned pale, I corrected it and said it was sixteen, and recited old Uncle Gabe Crewshaw, as my authority. "If Uncle Gabe says so, it's so," said Zill, in a whisper, this tale absolutely striking him speechless with fright, and my own powers of narration had made me also nearlv lose my voice in fright. I tell you what, Aleck," said Zill, "I think we "done a fool thing by com:.ng out here without getting Uncle Gabe to give us a bag with sulphur, and bear claws, and niae locks of hair from nhe head of a voodoo. That would hive kept anything from us. And " Just here i low, crying moan came floating to our ears from across the river half a mile d stant.

We both stopped and listenedand instinctivelv crept closer together.

"If it crie3 like a lost child, Zill, it is a n The moan grew louder, then followed a loud scream, half shriek, half human cry of distress, ending with a demoniacal yell. Tben a silence fell on us so still that we could hear our hearts go thum, thum, thum." An owl lit in a tree just over our heads and suddealy asksd : Hoo-hoo; hoo-hoo; hoo-are-yo-oo-o?" Zill and I never answered, but dived under the bankets and covered up heads and ears and shivered and listened.

In about five minutes of awful eus-

pense, wmcn seemea w us ua.ys, wuo uiy

was repeated, louder, sliril:er. more blood-curdling, and, as its ear-splitting

echoes reverberated through the woods

and came batik to us from the hills, the

very owls ceased their nocturnal noo-

hoo, and the insects nusned tneir monotonous but friendly notes. Zill and I nestled closer together and said nothing for several minutes. Then Zill asked,

in a whisper which I could never h ive recognized as his : u W-h-a-t is it Aleck ?" " Why, it's a panther, of course," said L u Nothing else cries like that in the woods; and I guess we'd better get up and go home." w Well who's agoin' to get the bosses ?" asked Zill, in a whisper of scorn. This broke up the motion to go home that night. The cry was not repeated, and we grew bold enough to stick our heads out from under cover. The a, silence reigning, we got up and listened. The owls were hooting again, and the entomological concert was resumed. We eomfortod ourselves with the fact ttot

J tba nanther was across the river, though

his ears heard tliose muttered growis and snapping teeth. He never finished his angry inquiry, but shot under the blankets like a ground-hog in its hole. As we lay shivering I repeated all I could recall of "Now I lay me down to sleep," and Zill in his fright could only recall his pious father's grace and chattered, "O Lord, for what we are receiving at thy hands make us thankful." I finally found thought and

! voice to bay :

"S-h-o-o-t t-h-tl-the pan-ther, Zill, or it'll eat us both up." "Shoot it yourself, if you1 want it shot," said Zill; and then he pulled the blankets tighter, as the growls and gnashing of teeth became plainer, and he repeated that grace over again. When the first gray s treaks of dawn showed themselves I peeped down and prepared to descend. I saw that all was clear beneath the panther had evidently slunk away at daylight. I came slowly down, revolving on how best to break the awful news to Zill's family. As I reached the ground I ndticed a form slowly crawling down from a tree a few yards from where I was. I started to shin up agin, when I saw that it was Zill, not hurt at all. "Where is the panther ?" I asked. "Why, if it wasn't you he was eyeing I guess that noise must a-been him dying. You must havq hit him when you shot. Let's look for him." The dreadful' monster we had killed was one of old man Sloran's razorbacked sowfs, which had been devouritiit our Diao visions while we &ieufc. But

o .

we never went hunting alone again.

is 10 say, uemg

liouid and under the influence in some

degree of the forces of gravitation and inertia, the blood is not carried forward so fast as the solid parts of the body, and tends to collect hi the end which is for the time being toward tho rear. Now, if your feet are toward the engine the blood will collect in your head and give you unpleasant dreams and sleeplessness. - Have the blood in your foot, on the other haid, aud you will sleep all the better foi: having it there." "But," we asked, "does not your being on a car constitute, as it wttre, a new center of motion, and every part of the body being carried along as fc-st as any other part, prevent any collecting of the blood in the extremity which is the 'aft?'" "The fact that you are on the train," replied the theorist, -"does not prevent the force of gravitation from acting independently of the train, and the principle of inertia certainly carries the blood toward your head every time the train starts. Try it with a spirit level, and you will see the bubble hug the aftermost e?idof the tube." American Analyst.

a

at night

Josh Billings' Philosophy. Enny man who iz willing to be flattered iz willing to be abated to hiz face. We are not a grace w&ys from hating thoze whom we envy. I kant tell just now which is the wust way to suckceed to be too aktiv or too lazy. Ask no favorz ov enny man that are not strictly legitimate. Thare iz lots of pholks who kant see no value in enny thing that they kant buy cheap. i notiss that when a man stubs his toe he wants to kuss all kreation, and not himself. Times haz finally got so that yu kant get a good thing at enny price, nor a

poor one without paying twice what it j

iz worth. The vulgar alwuss notiss every thing they see. Mi Avnflrifinflfl in life thus far haz

1 " . l-l-l i l. .IT

been, that 4 wont go into 3 and hav I money ana l Kept uio watcu, auu x

mutch of enny thing left over. guess we couidn7t have done Dotier.

If a man is strikly honest

An Honorable Sort of a Mam "Human natur is powerfully deceptive, ain't she?" queried the old man, after we had been silent for some time. "Sometimes." wYu bet she is! I'm a-Hvinor in the village of 11 , forty miles down the road. I've got a gal named Mollie. She': ab'mt as dandy a country gul ayou'll find in the State. Last winter a stranger btrocji the town, and at oice fell in love with Mollie. I didn't like his looks, and I said to the gal : " 43Jollie. beware of thftt chap. I kiu

read him like a book, and I tell you he j

hain't honest nor honorable- 111 bet a wheat stack to a pumpkin that he's a sharper "The gal diixered with me, and about

mouth ago they were married. "And how did the husband turn out?"

"Mighty honorable sort of a man. I was clean mistaken in him. They had been married three days when along came a woman from Dunkirk and claimed him and showed a certificate. I expected he would deay fre r, but he didn't. Owned right up like a little man. She was still there when a second one came on from Oswego. Looked bilious for my new son-in-law, and I looked to see him flunk; but he didn't. Jist acknowledged the corn and said he was willing to do the fair thing." "And how did it end?" "They had him arrested for bigamy. They wanted us to go agin him. too, but when I mentioned it to him he said : " 'father don't do it. Here's my watch and $60, and they are yours if you don't.'" "And you didn't?" "No. He was a-tryin' to do the squar' thing, and when a man tries to do the squar' thing by Komulus White, I can't era back on him. I erin the gal the

Sew York tinMpmUMl as a Hiding Place for Criminals. "Do you know if I were a criminal, wanted" in some other city, that I would hide in New York in preference to any other place?" The speaker was one of the best known of New York's police justices, who, with others, were discussing the occasional non-success of our police in running down criminals, the arrest of the men said to have been implicated in tho murder of Dr. Croniu in Chicago and tho failure to locate Tascott, the other Chicago murderer, being cited as cases in point.

Some of the listeners looked a trifle surprised at the statement of the learned judge. " Why, I should think that with our police system New York would be the very last place that a criminal would be able to hide in," remarked one of the group. "So would most persons," rejoined the judge; "but there I difier with them. There are a few things that are to be taken into consideration. This is a very big town. Its population is about 1,700,000. But you must take into consideration that during the day there are nearly one million persons from other cities hero in town. That is a pretty big crowd to hide in. Inspector Byrnes and his men are as efficient as they well can be, but they cannot keep an eye on all the crooks who come to town. They have all they can do to keep an eye on those who make their headquarters in New York City. There are any number of holes aud nooks in New York where a criminal from some other city, whose face is unknown here, can hide away. If he keeps quiet and refrains from that fatal weakness from which most criminals sutler, that of appearing too prominently in public, he is comparatively safe. There are more men who are 'wanted1 in other cities for various crimes than most people know. If they had taken to the woods or the country as some of the least intelligent criminals do, they would have been caught. As it is they are lost sight of in the whirl of the big city, and are unmolested. The police never have any trouble with this sort, of shady characters, for they are careful to give no trouble, and to refrain from further infractions of the law. That is the reason that few persons know that many criminals are hiding away in oui midst." The judge is certainly in a position to know whereof he speaks,, but it will surprise most people to learn that New York is a good hiding pla?e for criminals. Mail and Expre&s

with him

self he iz sure to be so towards others. Sassy children alwuss have sassy parents. (This remark took the highest prize at the late London show.) Yu kant quite most every time alwuss exakly tell why the thing iz, but

the crratest tyrants at times are

New York Sun.

Found a Friend. There is a good old maiden lady in France, named Mademoiselle Guyonet, who has chosen this way to amuse and console a too solitary lot. She receives

the '- iato her home cats, dogs, bu'ds, ana i other creatures that have lost their

Men talk about drinking rum to i masters, or have been turned loose by drown their sorrows. It iz cheaper, I them upon a busy world. I bene she

oi1 a miifoli mirpr Mire, to drown iaes care ux uulu sue c-iui mm iwtuo

themselfs in a mill pond.

About az low down ax a man can git

and not quite spile, is to live on his wife's reputashun. Temptashuns are necessary, A man kant even tell whether he iz honest or not until he haz been tempted. A perfekly natural man is generally a perfekly honest one. It iz a grate deal better to be ignorant than to kno and beleav what aint so. New York Weekly. Business Manager Slow to Grasp. She It must be awfully nice, Jack to be a great editor and to be able to swap men's minds with the stroke of a pen. He Ah, but you don't know the discouragements of the profession, Flo. I've been trying to sway the business

managers mind on a financial point for

but withov t success.

who want them. Far there is scarcely

a creature so forlorn and helpless a3 a lost dog or cat ia a large town. One day last winter she saw a man beating cruelly a poor, emaciated, broken-down old horse, that he was taking to be killed at the bone-boiler's. She bought the horse for the price of his carcass, which was three dollars, and led him home to her own stable, when he was soon restored to good condition. She then sold the animal to a butcher, who engaged to, bring him back in case he should prove ucequal to

j the service required of him. lhe I butcher soon brought him back, as the ! lady remarked, ''like an umbrella no I longer wanted." I Mademoiselle Guyonet then confided t the horne to a veterinary surgeon, and I paid fifty cents a day for his board and

treatment which restored him again to health. She then inserted the follow-

Romn wt eks.

Hho I dare say it js some deep, dark ing advertisement in a local journal : problem that he fails to grasp j 44 To bo given away. A gcod and jJe, yea . I want a raise of $2 a week, gentle horse, twelve years old, on con-

I mamillary Wounds. Genei'al de Trobriand relates many incidents illustrating the influence of imagination. One poor fellow believed that he had received a bullet in the head, aud at once prepared to die on account of it. He died. Another, with his eyt gone and his eyebrows burned otf. thought nothing was the matter.

7 C 1 W Another instance was that of a surgeon who had been alluied into the army by a salary. He had been a man of luxurious habits, and found himself living without tire in a tent covered vrith snow. He sought to make himself comfortable by building a fire in tho open air, and toasting one side whil the other froze. He could not get used to the meagre fare and no bed of the camp. But the roar of cannon ended his career. He became livid, trembling like a leaf; he shook at each detonation, and appeared about to Jose his legs. "I am a dead man I" he at last exclaimed, as if actually shot "I must go away, or I am a dead man J" And there had not beenv a shot anywhere near the division. He had to be carried to the hospital and discharged. At the three days battle of Gettysburg, a color-bearer staggered and fell back. "Steady!" called the Colonel.' "I am wounded," replied the colorbeaver, in a choking voice. "Where?" "In the throat." The commander leaned over his horae and looked for the wound. "It is nothing. I see no blood." Tho soldier immediately retook his place, and lifted his flag. The ball had really struck him in the neck, but had bounded off his leather collar, and the shock had choked him for a momeut. Irving' Sincerty. Washington Irving was good-natured and delighted to do little deeds of kindness; but he was also a sincere mau and would not pay even conventional compliments unless they were merited. Once, while in London, he and a literary friend were invited by a merchant to drive to his country house and spend a day or two there. The carriage stopped at the gate of the merchant's park. The host alighted and

asked his guests if they would walk through the grounds to the house. The friend started to get out, but Irving held him down by the coat, and they both drove on to the house; tho merchant followed on foot. "I make it a principle," said Irviug when they were out of hearing, "never to walk with a man through his own grt uiuH I have no idea of praising a thing whether I like ii; or not. You and I will do them to-morrow by ourselves," YoullCs Companion.

Gret t Floods. The great flood in the Conemaugh Valley, Pa., on May 31, wis a calamity that must be ranked among the worst of its kind for centuries. In a single day in a few hours, in fact five thoucand lives and thirty million dollars of property wero washed out of existence. Tho principal ruin was wrought in a valley about thirteen miles long, teeming with a happy and prosperous population of forty thousand people. i Less merciful than war, the flood spared neither age nor sex, and a happy valley was transformed into a ttcene of destruction and sorrow such as it hs neer been heretofore thie country's bad fortune to witness. In order to find anything approaching this disaster, in modern times, we must turn our eyes to China, where such visitations are sometimes of a magnitude to almost baflle belief. In 1887, the Hoang-HoKiver, flowing through the most populous districts of the Chinese Empire, burst its barriers and drowned nearly two million people, not to mention an awful loss of property; and later still, a flood in the province of Yunan destroyed thousand of human lives. But leaving China out, the great flood in Pennsylvania is nhe most disastrous, so far as loss of life is concerned in Europe or America for nearly three centuries. The most disastrous flood on record within the last five hundred years waa caused by the breaking of a dike in Hoilank, in 1530. A genei'al inundation followed, and it is said that four hundred thousand persona were drowned.

Nearly a hundred years later, in lbl7, there was a great flood in Spain, and ia the province of Catalonia fifty thousand persons lost their lives. Since then there have been many disastrous floods in Europe and this countrv. The Danube river is an old offender in this respect. In loll and 1813 it swept away whole villages in AustroHungary and Poland. In the latter year, a oorps of Turkish troops, 2,000 strong, encamped on an island in the river, near Widner, wero engfulfed ia the angry waters, and nearly 10,000 people were drowned in Silesia and Poland. In 1816, Strabane, in Ireland, was swept by a flood, caused by the melting of snow on the mountains. In the same year the ltiver Vistula overflowed and destroyed ten thousand head of cattle and four thousand .houses, besides numerous lives. In 1340, Lyons and Marseilles were partly submerged by break in the Khone, and in 1846 the Biver Loire flooded the n est and southwest o;! France. In 18G2, forty thousand acres hi Holland were submerged and Ihere vrere inundations in France. And so the record goes. On an average of once in two years, lakes and rivers have burst their ba rriers t.nd carried destruction to mankind. It is a noticeable fact tlat, in nearly every instance, disastrous; floods have been due to the erection oi: artificial barriers. When left to natural causes, rivers rarely overflow, exeepi gradually and then cause little damage; but the necessities, real or fancied, of mankind lead to erection of dams, jttiesf reservoirs and dikes, which give way under extraordinary pressure and precipitate the water into one great niasa. The memories of these former floods will certainly be recalled jiow, although they may fade into insirnificance, aa compared with the Conemaugh disaster, Gulden Days. The Fate of Old iiitoes. It may have been' noticed that now-a-days very few old shoes and &craps of leather are observable lying in our streets or dust heaps. This Lj iu a great measure due to the collections of '"Id scraps of leather, which are teken to mills wher they are cut up into fine dust. Tc this is added aboat 40 per cent, of India rubber, and the whole is

then subjected to a pressure of 6,000 or j. 10,000 pounds per square foot. The substance ia then colored, and it is sold

at prices some fifty per cent, below that of natural, leather. It is manifestly a poor substitute, and it is wholly wanting in fibre; in fact, if it were not for the insane craze for cheap articles, which buyers vainly hope to substitute for those "which, though the original cost ia greater, are yei- in the end cheaper, we should never hear of this compound, which might almost as well be made of saw dust as leuiher-duat. In consequence of the manufacture and sale of large quantities of inferior leather many old established tanners are now stamping theirs vith a trademark, which is some guarantee $o the buyer, as he may be sure no man will put his name or trade-mtrk on an inferior article. It is hoped by this means to enable those who desire to buy the best quality of leather to be able to secure what they want, namely, a reliable article at a moderate co3t.

Give the Fly a Chance. "Good many fiies iu here," he said to a shoemaker on Champlain street as he sat down to have a lift put ou the heel of his shoe. "Yes," "Never tried to driye 3m out, did you?" "No." "Don't want to keep 'em on the outside, I suppose?" "No." "Wouldn't put up a screen door thett if any one should give you one?" "No." "You must be the house-fly's friend "My fretidt, I vhas soooh a mau dot X like eaferypody to got along all right If you pitch on some flies he vhas mad; if you gif him a shance muype he goes py "himself und does vhell und vhas your frendt. Detroit Free Press. Four-Legged. "Johnny, what two-winged insect ia it that buzzes and bites and. drives us in the house nights?" "Skeeters." "Correct I And what is a felino? "Dunno." " Why ! what four-legged animal yowll and bangs andsnarU ft&dkoepauaawftke nights?" "Oh! I know. "Well? "Miss Tompkins' pianny!1 Chicago

Ledger.