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THE INDIANAPOLIS DAILY SENTINEL, SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 31, 1885. 11 OUR TORNADOES, THEIR FOrtMTIOvr AND P:.1DN ITCRY SIGNS OF APPROACH. Opprrlve SuItilneM Peculiar Ap pearance of the Cloud A Strange Llvidne Ilearj Koarlnjj The Fatal Italloon-Sbaped Destroyer. Compiled from Gen. Hayes' Report. Omitting consideration of the tornadoes, Bo-called by Portuguese and Spanish navi gators on tbe African coast, and confining our attention to the United State , it ia be lieved that tbe?e storms aie.posse'sed of the following prominent characteristics: Tho general direction of movement of the tor nado is invariably from a point in the south west quadrant to a point in the northeast quadrant. The tornado cloud assumes the form of a funnel, the small end drawing near to, or resting upon, the earth. This cloud and the air beneath it revolve about a central vertical axis with inconceivable rapidity, anl always in a direction contrary to the movement of the hands of a watch. The destructive violence of the storm is ometime.rconfined to a path a few yards in width, as when the small or tail en I just touches tho earth; while, on the other hand, as the body of the cloud lowers, more of it rests upon the earth, the violence increases, and the pat a widens to the ei ire mo limit of eighty rods. On tbe day of the storm, and for several hours previous to the appearance of the tornado cloud, what indications of its prob able formation and approach are within the comprehension of an ordinary observer, and can readily be detected by him? A fultry, oppressive condition of the atmosphere, described by various observers as follows: "I really experienced a sickly sensation ander the influence of the sun's rays." "I was compelled to stop work on account of tbe peculiar exhaustion ex. erienced from physi cal exertion." "It seemed a if the lightest garments that I could put on were a burden to me." "There was not a breath of air stirring." "Th air, at timas, cam in puffs as from a heatei furnace. " "I felt a want of breath, the air frequently appearing too rarefied to breathe freely." "I was startled at the sudden and continued ri-e in the ther laometer, especially at thij season of the year.' "It was terribly oppre sive; it seemed as if the atmosphere was unusually heavy anl pressing down on me with a great weight. " Enough examples have been cited to indi cate the effects and signs of this oppressive sultriness. Other signs may be found in the development and- peculiar formation of the clouds in the western horizon. Sometimes these peculiar clouds extend from th south west through tbe west by the north to the northwest. More frequently, however, they form in the northwest and southwest, some times commencing first in the former quarter and then again in the latter, but in either case they are equally significant. The marked ' peculiarity of the clouds is found to occur not only in the form but in the color and character of development. The sudden appearance of ominous clouds, first in the southwest and then almost, im mediately in the northwest and northeast (or perhaps reversed in the order of their appearance), generally attracts the attention of the most casual observer. In almost all cases these premonitory clouds are unlike any ordinary formation. If they are light, their appearance resembles smoke issuing from a burning building or straw stack, rolling upward in fantastic shapes to great heights; sometimes they an like a tine mist. or quite white like fog or steam. Some persons describe these liit clouds as at times apparently iridescent or glowing, as if a pale whitish light issued from their irregular surfaces. If the pramonitory clouds are dark and present a deep greenish hue, thi3 fairly for Lodes very great evil. So also, if they ap pear jeL biack from the center to circum ference, or if this deep set color appears only at the center, gradually diminishing in intensity as the outer edges of the cloud or bank of clouds are approached. Sometimes these dark clouds, instead of appearing in solid and heavy masses, roll up lightly out till intensely black, like the smoke from an engine or locomotive burning soft coal. They bave been described as of a purple or bluish tinge, or at times possessed of a strange li vliiws i, or fivqumtiy dark green, and again of an in'.cy liljcknes i that fairly 3tartl?s on 3 with it intensity. Another :s I TLV'mbl "tg-i of the tor nado's approach is a heavy roaring, which augmeat in intensity as the tornado cloud advances. Thii roarin? is compared to the passage of a heavily loaded freight train moving over a bridge or through a deep f)ass or tunnel, or as heard on damp morn ngs when the sound is very clear and loud. At times the roaring has beou so violent that persons have compared it to the timul taneou TU'h of 10,000 trains of cars." Again, tha roaring is likened to tbe low uTilbi;nT of di tant thunder. The varying intensifT of thtf.roar, as here represented, i3 apparently dud t5 tmj tec&pf uniformity in Iba positions 85 ÄSTiriCuI ZTTSfiXh respud to trrrj advancing tornado cIqucl ! Thöse Mtuated nearest the cloul, other things being equal, experience the loulest roar, while to tho e at greater diitances the noise is proportionally weaker. In any event, however, the noise is sufficiently pe culiar pfu di;tinct to create alarm, and as a means of warding should not be over looked under any pretext. The tornado cloud Lj, generally speaking.at its fiTitiSfmitiDn funnel-sha pod that U to say, it tapers from the top downward, not always m the same degree with every ap pearance of the cloud, but the lower end of It (the part nearest the earth) Is invariably the smallest, and this, too, whatever may be the inclination of the central axis of the cloud to the vertical or plumb line. As ?een in different position and. stagey of develop ment by various observers. located differ ently, the tornado, cloud ba$ been called balloon-shaped "tjasliefchaped," "egg shaped;" "traüini bn the ground like the tail of au enormous kite;" "of bulbous form;" "lik an elephant's trunk," etc. In themaiotlty of instances, however, observ QiScribo the cloud as appearing like an Sbrifcht funnoL "When the small end of the cloud just reaches t o the earth, the violence of it whirl causes a peculiarly formed cloud of dut and finely divided debris, around which playmall gatherings of condensed vapor. To appearances, mow, the tornado cloud has two treads, one on the surface of the earth and the other in the sky, the bjxiies of each jy!hingin mid-air and tapering both ways trith tbe smallest diameter at their junction. In other words, the cloud now assumes the shape of an hour-glass, and the lower portioa dlsplavs extraordinary de structive Violence. This last and most fatal form of the tornado cloud 1 fortunately, not a constant feature of the storm. The tornado clou I is constantly changing from the hourglass form to that of the upright fennel, or some other intermediate shap ppevteusly referred to. A Small Balance. rwaterbury American. Th? Lincoln' monument 1 fund amounted to C23.C00, raised by popular cxbscrrption soon cftsr Lincoln's death, but ciUHss and da- Kgns ior tee monument, ;wnieh was nver begun, uare left a balance of only $ 1 500 Of it. A DEAD NOVELIST. Some Reflection on H Ieatli of the Author of "Dark Days. Original, i Thed?athof Hugh Co:vay, the novelist, recently, at Monaco, isashrpreininlerof the mutability of all earthly p&ms anl pros-cts. It recalls the legend of tl-e wish au-:l, who hovers continually abou' mortals, hearing them express their most, cherished desires, lie grants their wish sooner or later, but under conditions which -Trip it of all ior. lie humbles human bein;. by giving them what they long for, and thereby proving the illusiveness of all drcaiastif happiness. . j Very little is known Vf Hugh Conway, ' whosa name in private fe was Frederick ? John Fargus. He lived, ipire 1, strove, and : in some measure achieve then lied iost as ! me se?moi to open befort him. That much is known. The ellipsis in. the short chapter can be readily filled by the imagination of any one who knows how Uep and rugged is the pathway that leads e ve u to the boundaries of success. : He was only thirty- serun years old, had had bis share of struggle, self-denial, priva tion and bafil jd hope, of j course, since none who strive are strangers to these dragons that crouch by tho road to eminence. Two years ago Mr. Fargus, wh was an auctioneer in Bristol, wrote "Called Hack," a story now known to two or throe hundred thousand readers here and abroad. It was published in Arrowsmith's Annual, 'and lay unnoticed on the London book stalls or weeks, and per haps months. On3 day i'lenry Labouchere, going on a journey, 'picked it up to beguile the tediousness of travel. He read it, was pleased with it, aril afterward spoke of it in Truth as a very :iever story. Then all London wanted to read it, and did read it. The Annual was komi exhausted, and "Calted Back" was brough t out in a new form. A hundred thousand copioj were soon sold. It was republished in this country, and had an 'enormous sale. Itwss dramatized and had a long run in London and also in New York. As a work of art "CaHed Back" had its defects, but it also hal hat offset the de fectsan indefinabls charm. It had force and feeling, the germ and life of all art. One felt that its author had a strong per sonality. It depicted no new phase of life, revealed no hidden things. It simply groupel some old, old figure of fiction in a more striking war. There was n flnvnr.of rwwha irgnrmys5aoout ft, and a surprise at the end of it. Tho characters which' figured in it, and whose fato had su:h a potent charm for so many thousands cf readers were: A blind man who recover his sight by the usual surgical operation, a beautiful mad woman, two very daring and successful villains, with a faithful nurse and one or two other ciphers in the shape of obscure servitors. Yet the adventures and entangle ments of these personages commanded the public's warmest attention. A few months later "Dark Bays" appeared. This had still greater success than its prede cessor. Its heroine was also a beautiful mad woman, and it had a captivating surprise in the last chapter. It was steady, unmitigated tragedy from the first to the List word. It was serious to the point of depression, never deviating into the slightest approach to the comic or flippant. It was an intense story, dramatically told in the first person. It had not a line of philosophy. Indeed, there was not a word in it unnecessary to the simple telling of a powerful tale. Its author had acted upon the old idea that a story should simply be a story nothing more, nothing less. He demonstrated that it needed noth ing but pqwer and feeling to make it tako hold on its readers. These two books brought gold and honor to their author, and opened the way for fu ture achievements iu the field he had long hungered to enter. Then, just as he had fairiy begun to breathe the air of his dreams, he died. Cloe attention to his wort left him exhausted. Seeking recreation and rest, be went to Rome, and there probably con tracted the malaria which culminated in typhoid fever at Monaco, and ended his life. We, who see only that part of life which begins and ends here, look upon a sudden lopping off lite this with sadness. It strikes us with mournful perplexity. Yet, it has been said, that some time we shall know that every lite is complete. The symmetry and perfection of human endeavor are hidden from our finite eyes, but they may be there. It cannot be that all human endeavor is empty and unrewarded. Even what looks so to us may elsewhere have its full fruition, its long day of Joy. Tbe soul, that mysterious star of our life, which "cometh from afar," turns its back upon the priz3s of the world that it may win greater ones in better coun tries. Death, the ancient mystery, bides many a perfected dreaui beneath a coffin lid. In deed, we may one day learn that he is kind est to thoso whose eyes he closes while life is still bright to them. They who pass out of the contest before they are wounded are doubtless tho most bless ?d. Yet we are so untaught in wisdom that we bestow upon them pity and lamentations instead of felici tations. We speak of the sadness cf a life ended when its desires were beginning to be realized. Wo forget that all honors, are tfjort lived, that fame is a breath which an ad verso wind may dis-ipnte; that fair pro jliswet-yojccfmli who twHtc witn us Gre from time to time? have wings and flv away fitfuUv, whispering never a word oC their return. Remembering how difficult it is to live, we should lav a flower upon the grave of Hugh Conwav with a smüe. The pen dropped from his hand when it had but begun to show its power; yet, who shall dare to say he has lost by the change? Man is, indeed, of few days upOn the earth, and those days are filled with what seem v a imaginings, futile strivings: Ilere sits he, shaping wings to fly, His heart forebodes a mysterv; He names the name eternity." Gertrude Gaiuusoit. New York, May 2S. Tossing the Teutonic Guard. Ben: Terley Poore." One of the most efficient divisions In the Army of the Potomac, as organiiod by Gen. McClellan in the fall of lSol, was that com manded by Blenker who came at the head of tbe Kirt German rifljs of New York, about 800 strong, a ad became the com mander of some 12,000 men, nearly all of them Germans Like the children of the captive Jews, Who spoke "half in Hebrew and half In the speech of Ashdod," thes Teutonic warriors had a vague idea of the English language, and their style of "chal lenging'1 was unique. As I was going the grand rounds with a lady and gentleman from Boston, we wer "passed" through all the pickets on tb Leesburg turnpike on the presentation of a free season ticket on a railroad route, which was first shown by accident instead of tht legitimate pass from headquarters, and af terwards to test the knowledge of the sen tries, "Yah I d&t ish goot forvartP was the approving verdict rtcr ach -ccten&ibU careful exaiainatioa ot tht card. pects mar erui in nerce storms; that joy may come with the morning and sorrow intrujjs nfctvVM? that hone, health. harninsj 11 DOWN IN MEXICO. HOW SOME OF OUR PEOPLE MISBE HAVE AMONG THE MEXICANS. Why the Average American I Not Liked One Trait Which Is Specially Provokini; The lludeness of an Excursion Tarty. Mexico Cor. New York Postl I have sai 1 the average American is not liked. As mi;ht be expaote 1, t'iera are many in Mexico who are just a much re apected anl likel as anybxly. No ona recocrniz a gentleman more quickly than the Mexican, and no one .ap reciates one more. Some of these Americans have lived there many years, hav9 well-established business, and own property; others have but lately com3 in with the railroads, or are connected with tliem, and hava entered the country to stay. The testimony of all these is unanimous that an American who attends to his own affairs, obeys tha laws and acts a3 he would in any other foreign country, i3 as well t eatad as anywhere on earth. My observation bs gone even beyond this, viz. : that an American who does not behave himself is not treatad half a badly as ht de-serves. Americans would not dare to behave in any other foreign country as most of them do in Mexico, yet their im pudence and intolerable swagger are pa tiently endured. If they do not in some way break the law, they are not molested; and, if they do, they often e cipe with half the punishment they deserve. Some of the Americans are coarse, vulgar loafers, whose looks condemn them half a mile away, whom it is safe to arrest at any time on mere suspicion ; others are roughs and refugees who are much "wanted" by prose cuting attorneys in th United State-;; others are genteel dead-beats wh", p3r haps bring good letters of introduction, borrow money anl get credit upon them, and suddenly disappear; others may be honest and industrious enough, but simply Ü1 bred. Of all the American's traits, hi? peculiar style of getting intoxicated most provokes the Mexican. The Mexican has no obj3ction to a man's taking too much. He h irr. self oc casionally mistages his gauge. But he does it at home, or if not he gets home or.to the calaboose with all pos ible dispatch with the aid of a friend or a p liceman. He makes no noise, disturbs no one, and generally goes to sleep. The American's style is just the reverse. He makes all the nois? he can, dis turbs everybody, and stays avake all night. Tüis is his sole conception of a ''high time." The Mexican generally gets intoxicated ac cidentlly, th American intentionally and with intent to "paint the town," which he here does in royal style. A much better class of Americans is now entering Mexico, and the Mexicans will perhaps soon presume an American to be a gentleman until they learn otherwise, in stead of the contrary. Still too many even of tho-e who should know better behave in Mexico too much as they would in an Indian village in their own country. Last winter an excursion party of some forty or fifty young men and women from San Francisco went down to Mexico. They were all over 21 years of age, and as tliey traveled in two special Pullman cars anl were fashionably dressed, it is fair to presume tbey had been brought up by somebody and educate 1 some where. At Paso del Norte some of them chippad off pieces of the church to tee what it was male of, and shook hands with the figure of the Virgin Mary. At other places they walked into houses and looked about as if they were ancient ruins, without asking permission or saying a word to the inmates. In others they felt of the people's clothes to see the quality of the fab rics. Everywhere they stared at native ladies and gentlemen infinitely their superiors in education, refinement and wealth, much as one would gaze at wild animals. In true American styJe it was assumed, of course, that none of the natives understood a word of English, and comments of all sorts were exchanged in full hearing of the objact of the comments. All such actions are pa tiently endured by the people, who generally attribute them to ignorance and bad breed ing, though there are plenty who are acute enough to know that they are thus treated simply because they are Mexicans, and that Americans would not 4hink of thus acting the hoodlum in England, France or Ger many. ON DUTY. Original. J Z The camp-fire dimly burns 7 I Through the night and the snow, And over a frozen earth The wild winds blow. But the sentinel stands at his post As the hours creep by, While clouds grow heavy and thick In the sullen sky. lite limbs drag hard, he longs To rest awhile; Yet over his white, cold lips Comes never a smile. For his heart is a soldier's heart, And his blood runs warm When he thinks of his brother-men Asleep in the storm. Then ho shoulders hi3 gun and draws A quick, deep breg&; What foe shall conquer htm now But the foeman I caShf A soul had sorrowed, much And had waited long - It had striven as heroes strive Am iii the throng. Yet firm as an oak lhat Swayi In tha boreal breath. It saw men fail and die, And smiled on Death. George Edqab Moxtoomert. New York, May 2S. Stage Fright of Experienced Actors. Brooklyn Eagle. The oldest and most experienced act ort suffer from stage fright when they appoar before an audience without the environment of a play. The hardy professionals who re cited at the lenefits recently given at the Casino and the Academy of Music were as nervous as a lot of untrained amateurs when they went out upon the stage. When Mr. Mantall, who is usually the most placid and elf contained of actors, went out at the Casino to recite, beads of cold perspiration bode wed his manly brow; tha first verses of hi! poem showed that the actor was ex tremely self conscious. That resolute and earnest young trage dian, Howarth, who never gave the slljht evidences of nervousness when nlarixur tC3 leadfng support1 of John McCullough , was as pale os a ghost when ha stepped out . to give his racitation in everyday clothes. J it was with Ormond Tearle, when he re cited at the Academy of Music I have often heard actors speak of it, anl the only ex- ! planation that I can give is that when they have the make-up on their faces and a char acter is developed in A play their own iden tity is lost behind that of the role in which they appear. The make-up on the face is a sort of ma k which gives them can fide nco. As an instance of this, Billy Kersands, the well-known minstrel, is as nervous as a schoolgirl on commencement day if he ap pears on the stage without burnt cork. Tne burnt cork i quite unnecessary, as K.?rand3 is a negro, but he puts it on regularly every night b:fore he gois upon the stage. Beauty and" Urewster. Chicago Tribune. This story is told of the first meeting of ex-Attorney General Brewster and his handsome wife: Bre Water as a lawyer had ioma business before tha bureau of the treas Cy, in which his wife was employed. He went into the room in which she was at work. Looking up and catching a sight of her future husband, she involuntarily ex claimed to the lady seated next to her: Well, that is the ugliest man I ever saw in ny life.' Brewster took off his hat and, bowing very politely to the surprised lady, said: 'Thcnk you, madam. I always like x hear a lady speak frankly what she liinks. An acquaintance followed anl a narriage came after. Mr. Brewster ha3 Irequently twitted his wife about the first vords she ever spoko to him." The Only Fighting Apostle New York Letter. It is well known that the late Elias Howe, Jr., the inventor of the sewing-machine, not culy enli&ted as a common soldier in the ranks of the Seventeenth Connecticut regi ment, carriel a mukat and did full mili tary duty during the war, but at a certain juncture when national finances were at a low ebb, he paid soldiers of the regiment their wages for three months out of his own pocket. Reiative to this incident, P. T. Bar num the other day told the following story, never before publiahed: While Mr. Howe was counting out the money referred to, a stranger who was a clergyman entered the tent and said he had heard of Mr. Howe's liberality and had called to ask him to contribute toward building a church for his congregation. "Ciiurch, church," said Mr. Howe, with out looking up from tho bills which he was counting. "Building churches in war times when so much is needed to save our country I What church is it?" "St. Peter's church," replied the clergy man. "Oh, St Peter's" said Mr. Howe. "Well, St. Peter was ihs only fighting apostle ho cut the man's ear off. I'll go 500 on St Peter, but I am spending most of my money on salt-petre now." MOSAICS. To me mora dear congenial to my heart, One native charm than all the gloss of art Goldsmith. The honors of a name 't is just to guard; Tnev are a trust but lent us, which we take, And should, in reverence to the donor' fame, With care transmit them down to othei band. Shirley. What is the Whichness of the Now And the Ituess of the This? A dainty maid with pouting lips, And a time to snatch a kiss. What is the Whereness of the Then And the Nearness of tha Who? An old papa, with uukind haste, And a number twentv shoe. John D. Sterry. She sat alone on the celd gray stone, And this was tbe burden of her moan: My uncle is cook on board of a sloop. My cousin has joinel a theatri.ral troupe. My si-.ter caught cold with.ha beau on the stoop. My lover dear Lies under here, And I sit alone and think and think, For I can't go alone to the ska ting rink. --the Judge. AWORD OF WARNING. Advice to Americans Who Are Tempted by the "IJargain" Teddlers of Paria. Paris Cor. Chicago Tribune. And here let me venture another word ol warning, in addition to tbe one about auto graph, which I hope may be useful to my traveling countrymen. Be on your guard against all those itinerant venders who call at your lodgings with so-called bargains which, for men, are contraband cigars pure cab-bage-leaveö pipes having belonged to some distinguished personage I was let in once with '"Gtm. Bern's meerschaumn and fancy cravats; and for ladies handkerchiefs, lace, and curtains 1 Everything is a mere catch. penny. Half the time they are stolen goods, for buying which you risk being treated as a receiver. Not infrequently their sale is a device of the enemy to take tho topography of youi apartment with an ultimate Yiew to its rob bery; and even when the seller is honest that is to say, when he is not the burglar's forerunner or the shoplifter's delegate, he palms off his gull articles that have been picked up bv him at some auction of cTfghtly dJTmaged gj ods," and which when examined after'they have been paid for, turn out to be vastly inferior to what can be pro cured at half their coit from any respecta ble Parisian tradesman. A regular association with a viw to ex ploit the credulity of foreigners exists in the French capital, and has iU ramifications all over the continent with male and female agents, who operate on the unwary with the connivance of your concierge or of the waiter at your hotel, who share the profits of the transaction, esteeming all strangers, and especially American strangers, as creatures who have been created and brought into the world simply to be the prey of impostors and charlatans. Turn a deaf ear, O, my compatriots, to these applicants for your patronage, charm they never so wisely, for they have honeyed tongues, and if you listen to their song will cheat you in spite of your better judgment Never mind if they do tell yon that they have been recommended by a friend of yours. Sometimes they have been by peo ple who, in order to get rid of their impor tunities, give them a list of their acquaint ances. Oftener they have copied the names which appear in the travelers' list of th Anglo-American newspapers; but whether they have been recommended by any one, or have forged a recommendation for themselves, kick them out unhesitat ingly, for they will not sue you for assault and battery, as they hugely dread any in- judicial antecedents; if you do not you will risk the robbery of your apartment, not in frequently complicated with a murder, and at the very least yog are saft to tt swisdled. . . ITIIE TOSTOFFICE. A GLANCE AT THE WORKING OF A BIG MACHINE. How New York's Mail Matter I Received. Sorted, Stamped, Distributed and Sent on Its AVay Details of the Work. New York Times. Along the Park row side of the New Irork postofilce. on a level with thj second floor and carefully protected at either end, there runs a narrow little gallery, bare and cold as a prison corridor. Now and then an em ploye of the office flits along over its stone floor or possibly a visitor walks through it Standing in this gallery one lookidown upon the principal working room of the largest and best-managed postofilce in the United State?. He is near enough to the roof to note, the great glass ceiling, ribbed with iron, through which the sunlight filters, and on which the rain falls with a muffled sound or the snow lies heavily. He is not too far from the floor below to be confused by the scores of hurrying men, the glare of dozens of electric lights, if the day be at all dark, and a curious jumble of sounds, some of which he has seldom or never heard before, and all of which iO?m to be hopelessly en tangled, although striving valiantly to ex tricate themselves. A bell cUngs somewhere, and the men dash about like the bits of glas in a kaleid oscope. Fat and important-looking baskets, loaded to the brim with letters and papers, go whisking around at a breakneck i-peed, turning corners with a tqueak and a scrape and ru-hing down narrow lanes as if bent on destruction and determined to have their own way. Stout bags and thin bag; bags that are old and humble; bags that are new and vain; bags on crutches, so to peak, and bsgs that look as if they could almost go scurrying over the world alone; bags that have seen better day ; bags that will j-ee worse; terra-cotta-colored bags, buff-colored bags, subdued buff-colored bags, ah-colored bags, black bags, bags of colors which are not named and never will be, bags of every kind, shade, character and shape all these are running in and out opening themselves on great tables, gasping as flattened out and empty bags ought to gasp, and then hiding themselves away in the basement with thousands of their kind, until called into use again, when they will go almot to the uttermost ends of the earth at the rate of 6,000 a day. Pile3 and bales of letters grow up on ths tables like mushrooms and melt away Irk a spring flood when the ice goes out Ther are all kinds of letters for all sorts of peop'e in all parts of the world. But of all these things the great machine down below the 'little gallery, unlike the postmaster or postmistress who somewhere may hand you this paper, cares nothing. Behind the high screen that hides its opera tions from the public gaze the machine stands waiting. At the little holes through which the public shoots its letters the post office's work begins. The acquaintance of the ordinary letter writer with the machine is confined to the cogs who sTt behind the little windows and wrestle with him over the amount of postage he mut pay. Even if they were not true and faithful parts of the great mechanism the-e cogs would .have a selfish interest in doing their work well. They own their own stock in trade as ab solutely as though tie stamps were so many village lots or shares of railroad stock. The room in which these cogs turn are fenced off from the rest of the building, and tbers are locked gates to prevent in trusion. Beside the stamp clerk are the sheets of perforated paper ornamented with portraits of statesmen and soldiers who are dead and gone, boxes of envelopes, pack ages of postal cards, little piles of coins and rolls of bills. On a shelf within reaching distance are the scales which furnish an answer to the question which in all the gamut of vocal xpres-ion bounces through the window hour after hour and day after day, What's-the-postage-on-thatr' Outside the four great white faces of a c!ock fastened to a column in the center of the room looks solemnly down on a scene that is infinitely more confusing to one standing there than when viewing it from the little gallery. Of all the jumble of sounds the one most readily separated from the others is the convulsive patter of the date and canceling stamps. These two are cast in one frame and attached to the same handle. One blow cancels the stamp and prints the time of the letter's receipt and the date. The time in hours is changed every thirty minutes the year round. One man does nothing but change the dates, working upon one set of stamp j while the other is in use. The clang of the bell indi cates the change, and from this man the stampers get the new stamps. Through the openings in the screen on the Broadway and Park row sides runs the fuel of the machine. The letters fly up through the openings, strike a shield and fall down on a table as smooth as glass and without an angle into which a letter may obstinately slip. During the day there are two or three men at each of these tables engaged in pick ing up the letters raining in through the openings, "facing" them that is, turning th?ni face up and carrying them to the tables near by. A dab of the stamp on the bit of ink-saturated lelt besjde each stamper, a light dab on tha letter, and away the piles go to tho man who separate them. Rtanding in the center of this room, which is not as large as it looks to be from the outside, with the screen rising up to the ceiling on three sides, and a medley of boxes, bags, doors and men on the other, one's glance in any direction is in tercepted by the rows of pigeon holes in front of each separator. Each one of these pigeon holes which rise above each other from the table to which they are attached to a convenient height for a man to reach, has some specific use, and if a man puts it to any other he is bound to hear of it Those on the "city side" are mainly for the different carrier route-, and they are emptied of their contents at regular intervals by the carriers, who fish out the letters from the back. Those on the "distribution sido" whore let ters going out of New York are handled, are f-r different cities, mail routes, states, and localities. New York state, for in stance, has five separations, and there are SS3 pi eon holes into which letters go. Ne braska has only one pigeon hole, the work of further separation being done on the postal cars. The separator must learn the location of these holes in the frame before him precisely as a printer learns his "case." In fact acquiring this knowledge is called "learning the case," The Parting. lExchange, The parting was sad, the tears were bitter. Hide, sun, thy kindly face, ' and gather ye tuna's bis ckn?V inky scroll t . Ifenderii&a tue a.e, wan cueeic; brush LaCkL"!Tj"dJ.ir clinging, auburn locks from the pale, higk brow which a fond mother' li;s have kissed since infancy. Speak the lat fa 1, parting word, the words which make us hngr 0 their echoes. Say good-bye for aye; pre the coll hand and watch the slow, retreat ing form which fades away forever. Hei going to play in his first base ball match. A Tobacco I'roblenv, rhUadelphfa Call. Mrs. Minks There 11 is aain. Tobacco always tobacco. What will you do whe you get to heaven, where there are no spit-toon-f Mr. Minks Perhaps there will be soma there. Mrs. Minks Indeed there won't Tbe ilea! What will you do then, Mr. Minksf Jut answer that Mr. Minks I really don't know, my dear unless we can get seats near tha edge. Wife of the Nihilist Trlace, Chicago Tribune. One of the pleasant thing in connection with the imprisonment of dangerous char acters in Ciaervaux by the French govern ment is the faithfulness of the wife of th Nihilist, Prince Krapotkin?. Sua has vis ited his prison 4aily throughout his long imprisonment, aal, though his appearance has changed her affection has not One day be appeared with not a tooth in the front of his mouth. They had fallen out Hü gums were so scorbutic from Uatu; want of air and exercise that they fell out as ha was eating a piece of bread. He writes scientific . articles for Nature and other journals, and she has been allowed to take them out of prison after the governor reals lb cm. A Dash of Melancholy. San Francisco "Undertones." A well-known judge of severe aspect arf impressive mien, a man of great legal at tainments, dropped into the theatre the other night to see Archie Gunter'. play. The strain of men til anxuty over knotty poirdr and ingenious technicalities was relaxed!, and he, a judge, laughed loudly as the rest The act drop fell and the jude surveyed the house. It was packed and the arithmet ical department of the judge's brain starte in to calculate the value at 75 cents a bead. When the act drop fell a second time he rose and threaded bis way through the thirsty crowd. A gentle dash of melancholy begaa to show in his stern face, and as he stood at the bar with a friend waiting for his turn at a tumbler he asked kind ot tadly: "Say, how much do you think Guatar makes out of this play!" "Oh, I don't know. Ferhapj $o00 a weefr at this rate," "You don't say." "Perhaps more in a bigger theatre. "How long does it take a man to write. play like this?1 "Three weeks or a month, mebbe. "Great Scott" . -J .4 "What's the matter I" . "Oh, nothing." Their turn came and they drank. Ak they wiped their lips and walked out the judge said solemnly: "I was thinking. I've spent my life writ ing a legal work anl all I've got out of it is ittOO, and I doubt if I'll get any morj and Gunter gets $o03 a week for a play I" HISTORY OF THE TtATQ. f Eaten Over Three Hundred Tears Age When it Came Into Common Use. Agricultural Exchange. A writer on horticulture t tales that th tomato is of South American origin, and was introduced into Europe by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century, who di covered iit valuable qualities as an esculent. From Spain its cultivation extended to Itily and the south of France, and finally to this country, where it first began to bo used as a vegetable in the latter part of the last century. The tomato is mention! by writer on plants iu England as early as lo'JX. Parkinson calls them "love app'e-s'' in lCoC and says "they are regarded as curi.ities. Dodoea-?, a Datch herbalist writes in 153 ot their use as a vegetable, "to be eaten with pep per, salt, anl oil." They were eaten by the Malays in 17. Vi Arthur Young, tie Eng lish agriculturist, saw tomatoes in the market at Montpelier, in France, in 1792 The potato was probably brought from Saa, Domingo by the French refugees, who also. introduced into this country the egg-plant the okra, and the small Chili p?pper. Dr. James Tilton, of Delaware, state that when he returned from tu iy in Eu rope, about 150-, he found the i to mat 3 grow ing in the gardens of th3 Dcpantv, Goresches, and other French emigrant from San Domingo, and remarked to hü family that it was as a vegetable high!' esteemed and generally eato.i in Franca, Spain, and Italy, and especially valuable ac a corrective of bile in the stem. . Dr. Tilton emigrated to Madison, Ind., in ISifi, and rabed the tomato in his garden there It was then unknown in Louisville or tbe adjacent parts of Kentucky. It is alsa known that the tomato was planted earlf in the present century on the eastern fhort of Maryland, that land of terrapins, sofi crabs, oysters, canvas-back duck , anl other epicurean delicacies. Many years e'aped, however, before the tomato became a favorite esculent in that region. In 1811 the Spanish minister saw the tomato grow ing in the garden of Mr. Philip Barter K6y, whose husband wrote tha "Star Spangled Banner," and he recommended it as haying been used in Spam for man years. In 1314, a gentleman dining with a f rienC at Harper's Ferry, and seeing tomatoes oc the tabla, rc marked: "I see you eat toniatoec here; the District people are afraid of them. Tomatoes were brought to Massachusetts Dr. William Goodwin, a son of William Goodwin, cashier of the Bank of Plymouth Mass. Dr. Goodwin spent many years of bk early life in Spain, at Cadiz, Ailconte, and Valencia, and was American vire consul a) Tarragona during its terrible siege by the French troops in the peninsular war. He came home to Plymouth in 1317, and died in Havana in l&il He belonged to a faxs ily of epicures on his father's side, and fcir mother, a daughter of Capt Simeon Sars son, of the armed ship Mercury, on whiefc: Henry Laurens sailed for Holland fa. 1780, was renowned for the excellence of bar cuisine. He planted the seed of the tomato in the bank garden in Plymouth, wheaoa the plant was disseminated throughout ts town, and to Clark's island, in Plymouth, harbor. In Mr. Goodwin's family,. and that of Mr. Watson, on the island, ftirai iiscdz a vegetable as early as 1823. , Tomatoes were sold at tbe nruVet fc: New York city in 183a They w.re is! i eaten, however, to a limited extent bt! , generally used for the man uf act uro of tet- ; sup. As early as 1020 tha tomato was sen tL ' up on the table of good old Mrs. Halliburton. ! in New Hampshire, although sho could hci-1 dorn Induce her boarders to partaLe of IX to imbibed a Usta for iafa&Va. I