Daily globe. [volume], March 27, 1881, Image 2

About Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
MUI/TUJI I* PABVO.
My love is just flvo-and-twenty.
Pretty ? A matter or taste ;
I ween there be rosier cheeks, Tom
Perhaps, too, an ampler waist.
But -what do you need with the earth, Tom,
When »■ hemisphere fills the bill?
'Tiß the idiot calls for Niagara,
When happiness lurks in a gill.
Remember the Titian Danao;
That girl in a thower of stars?
Got a lion's physique— it alarms mo
That she isn't behind the bars.
I'd like to sec Jove, the Immortal,
Aroused from an afternoon nap,
And brought face to face with the problem
Of holding that girl on his lap !
Then look at the Angelo frescoes;
There isn't a sea-dog that swims
But would leap at the flattering prospect
Of owning such mastodon limbs.
And what of the Venus de Milo ?
Reepects to the classical dame,
And— my wish that the rascal who found her
Had broken a third of her frame.
There might, in the ages agone, Tom,
Before men attended the club,
Be demand for thoso muscular females
To govern their lords and the tub,
And to wield in the gardens primeval
The earlier weapon or toil,
With the music ol beasts to enliven
The sun at its midsummer broil
Ere the arts of the corset and rouge, Tom,
Had Bent to their pioneer grave
These hideous demi-god models
That frighten, though never can save.
Hut what we need now iB a creature
Of meekneso and delicate size ;
Bay pounds just a hundred and ten, Tom,
When you talk of the capital prize !
A being exquisitely gent!e,
Combining the ro^e-leaf and queen,
Who will not settle down, on your knee, Tom,
With the force of a first-mortgage lien.
You don't quite agree with my notions ?
Ah ! well, ono competitor's gone ;
Yon swear by the elephant pattern
And I'll bo content with the fawn.
MY HERO.
I had but one hero in my childhood,
and that was a brother whom I had
never seen.
When I was born my mother died,
and Douglas, then a lad of seventeen,
-was sent to the Naval Academy at An
napolis. He went into the navy a few
years later as midshipman, and was sent
on a i'our years' cruise.
Jenny, my sister, andlreceived boxes
from him from China, Australia, India,
•with strange, costly toys, and joking,
affectionate letters, which we prized
more thau the gifts.
We talked incessantly at school of
•'my brother, the Captain," and be
lieved that tho adventures of Sinbad
■Were tame beside those which we im
agined for him. He was, in short, the
one heroic and brilliant, though unseen,
figure in our commonplace lives, upon
"Which we hung all the romanco and
.fancy which came to us from other
Sources.
My father died when I was a boy of
ten. Capt. Douglas came home in
time to see him before he died. I re
member of being led with Jenny to
father's bedside, where a tall, bearded
man stood, who put his arms about us,
and, with a broken voice, said:
"Before God, father, I promise you
that they shall be my care ! "
He was compelled to join his ship as
soon as the funeral was over. The next
•week Jenny and I were removed to the
town of Clinton, where we were placed
at different boarding-schools.
For nine years this invisible brother
was our guardian angel. Nothing that
money could supply was wanting to us.
His letters, always full of a sailor's rol
licking fun, were also tender as a wom
an'?.
There was a strange sensitiveness, too,
in his affection that might have belonged
to a mother.
"Whatever schools we were in, he al
ways insisted that we should be free to
pass one day in the week together ; and
on that day wo usually compared his let
ters, or messages, and brought him be •
fore each other in yet more heroic col
ors.
There was a certain mystery about
him, too, which added to our romantic :
affection. Why did he never come to
see us ? Surely in nine years he could
have had a furlough !
We becged him in our letters to come,
or, at least, to send us his photograph ;
but instead came only playful excuses.
All vory handsome men are modest,"
I said to Jenny, with the authority of a
college Senior, "and my recollection of
brother Douglas is that of a man of a
superb presence and the highest type of
manly beauty."
At last the day came when I was to
graduate, and Jenny to leave her school
in the same town. It was impossible for
Douglas longer to remain wholly sepa
rated from us. We both wrote to him.
"Surely," I said, " you will no longer
refuse to come to us. You have been
father, brother— fill to us. Let me show
you to my friends."
I tried to tell him how noble he
Beemed to me ; how I had made him the
model of my own life. " Come to us," I
urged. "Help me to be a man like
yourself."
Jenny inclosed a note, which I read
and had half a mind not to send, so
simple and girlish did it seem to me.
"Dear brother," she said, "we have
a right to be with you. God has given
us to each other. You are alone, and I
feel that you need the love wo have for
you. Let us at least make a home for
you ; yon have done everything fox us."
As if Douglas could need poor little
Jenny and me ! I thought of the wisest
and best men, the most beautiful women
in the country, as only a court in which
ho moved like a Prince.
The answer come almost immediately.
Douglas could not be very distant. It
■was, oddly enough, addressed to Jenny.'
He spoke to her as if she were a woman.
*• You are right, little sister," so the
letter ran, " I need more than you know
home and the love which you say you
have given me. I had fully resolved
never to show myself to you, but your
•words have moved me strangely. It is
as if God spoke to me through them. I
will come to you to-morrow."
I was wild with triumph. I was full
then of boyish conceit and the desire to
appear well in the eyes of the world.
The commencement day was a momen
tous epoch in my life. All of my college
companions and lady friends would be
there.
I had spokon to them all of my broth
er. Had described his excellences, and
his nobleness of character. When I told
them he was coming, they all desired an
introduction.
" I expect him," I said to my most
intimate friend, "in the noon train. I
suppose the President and faculty will
drag him oft to the platform as soon as
he arrives."
How happy and proud I was ! Jenny's
cheeks, too, were flushed and her eyes
shone with a brilliant light, but she
•was very quiet. The noon-train came,
however, and he was not there. The
college hall was crowded in the afternoon,
even the campus was dotted with gay
groups to hear the addresses of the
graduating class. But still no Capt.
Douglas.
My heart beat high with anxiety. I
glanced along the "row of dignitaries.
How they would shrink into insignifi
cance before my brother's splendid fig
ure in his uniform. He was every inch
a man.
My turn came. I avas the last speak
er. 1 was well known to most of tho
audience, as I had been a long time in
the college. The applause, as I began
and ended, was vehement, but I scarcely
heard it. A train had arrived just as I
had mounted tho rostrum. Surely he
mas in it ! Surely he would claim me
now before them all !
I stepped down when I had finished,
and took my place in the class to receive
my diploma.
It was given. There was a short
prayer, and all was over. Carrying the
roll of parchment in my hand proudly
as if it had been a Marshal's baton. I
went out, with Jenny clinging to my
arm, to the campus, crowded with my
friends.
Leaning against the fence was a
bloated, blear-eyed man, whose worn
clothes showed that ho had walked a
long way. Two of the professors were
talking together behind the pilW by
which I stood.
"Yes, that is ho," said one. "Gone
quite to the dogs. Ruin ! rum ! But
he has one redeeming trait. For nine
years he has sent his pay to support this
boy and girl, and has lived himself on a
mere pittance of his pay."
" But they never saw him. What in
duced him to sacrifice himself in that
■way ?"
"They were all he had. The only
drops of his blood in the world ran in
their veins. The poor wretch has never
had anybody to care for him, and per
haps he thought these children might
have some affection for him, ruined as
he is by his appetite for drink."
I stood, stunned and dumb. I — I !
It was — it was my brother, my hero,
that they meant !
At that moment the man came for
ward, trembling. He had not drank
that day, and was unsteady from excite
ment and the want of liquor. "Rob
ert!" He held out his hand, appeal
ingly. "lam your brother Douglas !"
I made no answer.
I glanced around in deadly terror lest
some one should hear him. They had
all heard.
Then I looked him full in the eyes.
" This man is mad !" I said, deliber
ately. "You are nothing to me — noth
ing ! I can own no relationship with
such as you !"
He staggered back as if he had been
shot.
1 ' Great God !" he muttered. " I did
not expect this ! But — I — haye — de
served it !"
There was a sudden rush, and a sob
bing cry, and Jenny had both her arms
around his neck. "Douglas! Brother
Douglas!" she cried. "I have you at
last !" Then Bhe drew back, with her
arm about him, and, turning to a party
of her friends who stood near, said, with
a calm dignity :
" This is my brother Douglas. I owe
everything I am and have in the world
to him. And I have never seen him be
fore. You will excuse me if I go with
him now."
She clung to his arm and led him
away.
"Let me go ! " he said, struggling to
withdraw from her. "Let me go back
and die in the gutter. It's the only
place for me ! "
" I will never let you go ! " Scried
Jenny, passionately.
"Look at those people, how they
stare at you walking with the drunken
beggar !
" These people," said Jenny, steadily,
keeping her hold of him, "know but
your one fault. I know you for the
noble, generous, bravo man you are,
brother. Let us go away from here. I
love you. We will make a home for
each other." _
She led him, weak as a cliild, to his
hotel. And, in spite of all my remon
strances, she left town with him next
day. I could not overcome the feeling
of disappointment and of outraged pride.
It was worse than foolish— it was wicked.
Nevertheless, 1 left them, secured a po
sition as clerk, and worked my own
way. I acted, in short, like an ungrate
ful coward.
When I found Jenny persisted in re
maining with him, I ceased even to write
to her. The work she began that day
she never gave up. She did make a
home for him, the first he ever had
known ; made it cheerful and happy.
She dealt with his failing as a disease ,
watched over him night and day ; when
the struggles with his tempter grew too
hard for him, gave him medicine ; prayed
for him, clung to him, never lost pa
tience nor hope, and showed him that
she had not lost them.
My motive in telling this story is to
show that the drunkard may sometimes
be cured by unfailing love and practical
She did cure him. He lived for many
years, and died in her arms at last. She
had, it is true, good material to work
upon. But there is almost always good
material in the drunkard. His ailment
is a physical as well as moral disease,
and should be combated by physical as
well as moral means.
When I attained full manhood, I rec
ognized the meanness and cruelty of my
position toward them. I went to my
brother and humbly begged his pardon.
He forgave me, but I have never forgiv
en myself. The remembrance of this
one chance which 1 lost to show myself a
man humbles me with regret and morti
fication. — Youth's Companion.
Luck.
The dispatches which indictate the
escape with no loss of officers and a
comparatively small loss of men, of
the 10th British regiment of infantry
from the recent disaster at Majela
mountain, should be cherished by all
who believe in M Luck." The 10th or
Bedfordshire regiment has been stead
ily out of what soldiers call " luck"
throughout the century. That is to
say, it has never been slashed or shot
to pieces in any of England's numer
ous wars in a way to entitle it to write
the name of one or another battle
field, as it were, in blood upon its
regimental colors. These colors are
called "maiden colors," therefore, as
certain assizes are called '• maiden as
sizes" when the judge receives a pair
of white gloves in token that there are
no criminal cases to be tried. Even
the 100 th Royal Canadian regiment
bears one name, '-Niagara," on its
banners, and, if we mistake not, out of
the 109 which, with the Rifle brigade,
the West Indian regiments and the
royal Malta make up the British line,
the only regiments which carry
" maiden colors" with the 10th are the
105 th Madras and the 107 th Bengal in
fantry, both regiments of recent crea
tion. The 16th were in Canada during
Fenian scare of 1866 and marched to
the "battle-field," but their good or
evil genius took them out of the right
road and they did not reach it in time
to " drink delight" of it. The British
corps which bears the longest list of
battle names emblazoned on its colors
13 the Rifle brigade, which carries 24,
including Conmna, Badajos, Vittoria,
Toulouse. Waterloo, Alma, Inker
mann. and Lucknow, and next comes
the 60th, or King's royal rifles, with
22. The Ist, or royal Scots regiment,
carries 20, the 23d royal Welsh
Fusileezs and the 40th Somersetshire
regiment carry ID- each, while the
"Fighting ßßth," or Connanght ran
gers, the 38th, or Staffordshire regi
ment, and the 45th, the Sherwood
Foresters, 10 each.
Representative Bodies.
The discussion of the apportionment
question in Congress brought out some
curious facts as to the legislative bodies
of other countries. The following shows
the number of Senators and Representa
tives in each of the State Legislatures :
Sen. Rep. Sen. Rep.
Alabama 33 100 Mississippi 33 ■ 107
Arkansas 31 93 Missouri 34 113
California 40 *80 Nebraska.. 30 84
Colorado 26 49 Nevada ; 26 60
Connecticut. 21 246 New Hampshire.l 2 379
Delaware 9 21 New Jersey 21 60
Florida 24 53 New York 32 128
Georgia 44 168 North Carolina.. so 120
Illinois 51 153 Ohio 37 111
Indiana 50 100 Oregon 30 60
lowa 50 10(1 Pennsylvania. ...50 201
Kansas 40 125 Rhode 151and.... 36 72
Kentucky 38 100 South Carolina.. 33 124
Louisiana 36 125 Tennessee 23 75
Maine 34 151 Texas 81 93
Maryland 26 84 Vermont 30 242
Massachusetts.. 4o 240 Virginia 44 132
Michigan 32 100 West Virginia... 2s 65
Minnesota 22 47 Wisconsin 33 100
New Hampshire, with a population of
346,984, has 379 members in the lower,
house, while Illinois, with a population
of 3,083,325, has only 153 members. The
question as to whether popular senti
ment is better represented in New Hamp
shire than Illinois is an open one. All
the newer States, it will be noticed, have
adopted a system favoring a membership
in the lower house sustaining the rela
tion of 3 to 1 or 2 to 1 to the Senate.
In New Hampshire the ratio is 30 to 1,
and in Pennsylvania and New York 4
tot
Outside of the United States the facts
as to legislative bodies are quite as in
teresting and suggestive. In Canada
the Parliament is composed of a Senate
with 78 members, and a House of Com
mons with 206 members. In Mexico
the Congress consists of a Senate with
a membership of 56 and a House
of 227.
In the Parliament of Great Britain
there are 538 members in the House of
Lords, and 658 in the Commons; in
Prussia, 302 members in the upper
house, and 434 in the lower ; in Hun
gary, 746 members of the House of
Magnates, and 444 in the House of Rep
resentatives ; in Italy, 270 members of
the Senate, and 508 members of the
Chamber of Deputies ; in Spain, the
Cortes has a membership of 408 ; in
Portugal the upper house of the Cortes
has 123 members, and the lower 149 ;
in Switzerland the Standerath, or upper
house, has 44 members, and the Na
tionalrath, or lower house, 135 mem
bers.
In Sweden there are 136 members in
the first chamber of the Diet, and 204 in
the second ; in Norway 28 members of
the Lagthing, and 83 members of the
Oldesthing. In Greece there is one
chamber of 188 members, and in nearly
all the smaller German states the legis
lative assemblies consist of one house.
In France the representation in the
Chamber of Deputies is based on the
population of the arrondissements, every
arrondissement to have one representa
tive, and an additional one fcr each
100,000 population or fraction thereof
when the population is in excess of
100,000. This gives to the Chamber of
Deputies, or lower house, 532 mem
bers. The Senate consists of 300 mem
bers, 75 elected by the Senate for Hfe
and the other 225 by electoral colleges
chosen indirectly by the municipalities
and communes.
The Legislative Assembly of the Ger
man empire consists of a Bundesrath of
59 members appointed by the govern
ments of the individual states and a
Reichstag of 397 members elected by
the people.
In Brazil the Senate has a member
ship of 58, and the House of Congress
122.
I lie Tadsbury Bat Fight.
The entire Tadsbury family were as
sembled in their front room, when sud
denly a bat, decoyed from his hole in
the roof by the lamplight, flew into the
house. Mrs. Tadsbury's first impulse
was to faint dead away, but she changed
her mind and exclaimed, " Ouch ! the
horrid thing. Oh, do put it out ! It
will bite somebody, and they say bats
are dreadful poisonous."
The next moment the family were in
arms, bent on the destruction of the un
welcome visitor. Old man Tadsbury
grasped his walking-stick, his wife the
tongs, while Johnny armed himself with
the broom. The old man thrust fran
tically at the bat with his stick, Mrs.
Tadsbury shrieked and knocked the var
nish off the furniture with tho tongs,
and Johnny sent the broom hissing
through the air with force enough to
kill a steer, but tho bat flew high and
remained safe.
"Johnny," suggested the old man,
" that infernal bat is sticking too close
to the ceiling, and you had better mount
a chair and let him have a whizzer, aa he
circles around."
"All right, dad," replied Jolinny,
placing a chair in the middle of the
room. "You get ready to pounce on
him when I knock him down.
Johnny took np his position on the
chair, and the old man yelled :
" Look out ! there he comes ! "
The broom went through the air like
a bullet ; but the bat passed by un
harmed.
"Confound it! Stop banging me
with those tongs !" shrieked Tadsbury,
as his wife caromed on his left ear while
trying to hit the bat over his shoulder.
Once more the bat came around, and
again the excited father yelled :
" Now, Johnny ; now's your chance."
Whiz went the broom. The mark
was missed, and the blow descending
hit old man Tadsbury on the head and
sent him crashing over the washstand.
His wife, in a wild attempt to get out cf
the way, fell over the prostrate form of
her husband, and jabbed the tongs
through the window panes. Johnny
kept his eyes on the bat and worked his
broom like a machine, and every ture
one of his parents attempted to regain
their feet the broom came along aid
turned their heels up to the ceiling.
About the time he thought he was going
to get in a solid lick the chair tilted a^d
he dived headforemost into a mahogany
bureau and broke the glass, while the
bat flew quietly out of the window.
" I'm murdered," moaned the old man
as he crawled from under a rocking
chair.
"My back's out of joint," sobbed his
wife, and Johnny, fearing that he would
have to answer for the general destruc
tion, skipped out of the house and sat on
the back fence until the sticking plaster
had been distributed and the wreck
cleared away. — New Orleans Times.
Wanted It Just Right.
" How much will this cost in your
paper ?" asked a quiet-looking man, as
he handed in tho following advertise
ment at the counting-room :
"Smith — Busted a trace, in this city,
Friday, just after dinner, Mary Smith,
wife of the undersigned, and daughter
of old Sim Pratt, tho leading blacksmith
of Denver, Col. The corpse was highly
respected by the high-tonedest families,
but death got the drop on her, and she
took the tip-bucket with perfect confi
dence that she would have a square show
the other side of the divide. The plant
transpires this afternoon at her boarding
house on Willow street. Come one,
come all:
" Dearest Mary, thou has left us,
For you on earth there wasn't room ;
But 'tis heaven that has bereft us,
And pnatehed our darling up the flume.
; ' Denver papers please copy and send
bill, or draw at sight.
' ' By her late husband, P. Smith. "
" I don't believe you Avant it in just
that way, do you? " asked the clerk rub
bing his chin dubiously.
"Why not, stranger?" asked the
quiet man.
"It don't read quite right, does it ? "
asked the clerk.
" Was you acquainted with the corpse,
stranger ?" demanded the quiet man.
"Was you aware of the lamented while
she was bustling around in society down
at that boarding-house? "
"I don't know that I ever met her,"
responded the clerk.
"So I reckoned, Jedge. You wasn't
up to the deceased when she was in the
living business. Now, Jedgo, the de
ceased wrote that oration herself afore
she died, and I want it in. Do you hook
on, partner ? "
"But it isn't our style of notice," ob
jected the clerk.
" Nor mine, neither," acquiesced the
quiet man. "I was for having a picture
of her and a lot more talk, but she said
she wanted it quiet and modest, so she
whooped that up. Say, stranger, is it go
ing into your valuable space without
any difficulty ?"
" I don't know," said the clerk, dole
fully.
",1 know, partner. This celebration
comes off to-morrow afternoon, and
that's going in in the morning, if it goes
in out of a cannon. I got grief enough
on my hands now, stranger, without
erecting a fort on the sidewalk, but, if
you want war, I got the implements
right in the back part of these mourn
ing clothes. Wha t d'ye think, Jedge ?"
' ' Does it make any difference where
it goes ?" asked the clerk.
"I want it in the paper," said the
mourner, " and it's going in if it takes a
spile-driver. Think you twig my racket,
stranger?"
" All right," replied the clerk. " I'll
put it in the 'Salad,' among other
mournful remarks. Four dollars, please."
" That's business," and the quiet man
paid the money. "If you ain't busy
come around to-morrow. I'm going to
give the old woman a good send-off, and
if that gospeller don't work up a pretty
good programme before he gets to the
doxology, his folks will think he's been
doing considerable business with a saw
mill. She was a good one, Jedge, and
she was pious from tho back of her neck
to tho bunion on her heel ; you can tell
that from the notice ;" and the mourn
ing widower wiped his eyes on the sly,
and, later in the day, was fined $10 for
thrashing the undertaker who had put
silver handles on the casket, instead of
gold. — Brooklyn Eagle.
Tricks of the Trade.
A New York manufacturer of tomato
catchup returned a report giving the -value
cf his manufactured product at $18,000,
and the value of his raw material as
uothing. His explanation was as follows:
Every year in the canning season he
sends to all the wholesale houses which
make a business of canning tomatoes
clean tubs, with the understanding that
the women who trim and peel shall
throw the skins and parings into these
tubs ; every day the tubs are removed,
the stuff in them ground up, fermented,
flavored, and sold as tomato catchup to the
extent of $18,000. Another singular
and decidedly pernicious business is the
manufacture of cheap candies from white
earth, or terra alba, mixed with a little
sugar and glucose. The deputy who in
vestigated the confectionery business re
ports that 75 per ceEt. of some candies
is composed of these substances, and
such candies, notably gumdrops, con
tain still less sugar. The effects of white
earth upon the stomachs of the unfortu
nate children who buy these candies is
yet to bo determined by future autop
sies.
What is called a fine brand of castile
soap has been found to be composed
chiefly of this white earth and grease,
but the evil effects of such an imposture
are trifling compared to the results of
turning children's stomachs into minia
ture pottery works. Among the new in
dustries which have sprung into exist
ence during the last few years is the
system of finishing in this city of foreign
goods imported in an unfinished condi
tion. Foreign articles composed of sev
eral parts are now largely finished in
this city, the parts calling for hand labor
being imported, while those calling for
machine work are made here. In this
way heavy duties are saved, although
the articles are sold as imported goods.
The manufacture of spirituous and
adulterated articles is not confined to
New York alone, for we find by the
French journals that the question of
adulterated and manufactured wines is
greatly agitating the French wine mer
chants, who have petitioned the Gov
ernment to intercede in their behalf by
such legal enactments as will effectually
prohibit and prevent the manufacture of
artificial wines, the petitioners asserting
that not one-third of the wine used in
Paris is made of grapes. The many
Americans who turn up their noses at
the juic€ of our own grapes will natural
ly wonder wh t the spurious French
wines are made of. The petition of the
French wine merchants says that there
are a number of large factories near
Paris in which wines are made from rot
ten apples, damaged dried fruits of all
kinds, beet* and spoiled molasses. Bui
there are not enough of these materials
to make as much wine as is.
required by foreign trade. Turnip
juice has been worked over into wine,
and American cider is the basi i of mill
ions of bottles of champagne, but gooti
apples and turnips are too costly to bt
wasted on cheap wines, su^h as most
Americans buy. — New York paper.
A Hint to Brainworkers.
A wrinkle for brainworkers—espe
cially for those who are suddenly called
upon for an extra amount of work.
Too generally they fly to tea and coffee,
powerful auxiliaries, undoubtedly, but
they exact too heavy payment for
their services. Brillat-Savarin recom
mends a cup of chocolate, with the
smallest piece of amber powdered and
added, as one would sugar, though not
as a substitute for sugar. He declares
this mixture enables him to 'get
through an immense amount of work,
while allowing him to sleep tranquilly
when his labors were over. On the
other hand, two cups of strong coffee
prevented him from sleeping for forty
hours. Marshall Richelieu, who took
Minorca from the English, was the
inventor of this innocuous stimulant.
Its only fault is that it costs money.
Cyclones.
If we consider the regions in which
cyclones appear, the paths they follow,
and the direction in which they whirl,
we shall be able to form an opinion as
to their origin. In the open Pacific
ocean (as its name, indeed, implies)
storms are uncommon ; they are infre
quent also in the South Atlantic and
South Indian oceans. Around Capo
Horn and the Cape of Good Hope heavy
storms prevail, but they are not cyclonic,
nor are they equal in fury and frequen
cy, Maury tells us, to tne true tornado.
Along the equator, and for several de
grees on either side of it, cyclones are
also unknown. If we turn to a map in
which ocean currents are laid down, we
shall see that in every "cyclone region"
there is a strongly-marked current, and
that each current follows closely the
track which we have denominated the
storm- cj. In the North Atlantic we
have the great Gulf Stream, which
sweeps from equatorial regions into the
Gulf of Mexico, and thence across the
Atlantic to the shores of Western Europe.
In the South Indian ocean there is the
"south equatorial current" which sweeps
past. Mauritius and Boiirbon. and thence
returns toward the east. In the Chinese
sea there i-3 the north equatorial current,
which sweeps round the East Indian
archipelago, and then merges into the
Japanese current. There is also the
current in the Bay of Bengal, flowing
through the region in which, as we have
seen, cyclones are commonly met with.
There are other sea- currents beside these
which yet breed no cyclones. But we
may notice two peculiarities in the cur
rents we have named. They all flow
from equatorial to temperate regions,
and secondly, they are all "horseshoe
currents."
Now, if we inquire why an ocean cur
rent traveling from the equator should
be a "storm breeder," we shall find a
ready answer. Such a current, carrying
the warmth of intertropical regions to
the temperate zones, produces in the
first place, by the mere difference of
temperature, important atmospheric dis
turbances.
But the warmth of the stream itself is
not the only cause of atmospheric dis
turbance. Over the warm water vapor
is continually rising ; and, as it lises, is
continually condensed (like the steam
from a locomotive) by the colder air
round. "An observer on the mooj,"
says Capt. Maury, "would, on a winter's
day, be able to trace out by the mist in
the air the path of the Gulf Stream
through the sea." But what must hap
pen when vapor is condensed? We
know that to turn water into vapor is a
process requiring — that is, using vp — a
large amount cf heat ; and, conversely,
the return of vapor to the state of water
sets free an equivalent quantity of heat.
The amount of heat thus set free from
tiie Gulf Stream is thousands of times
greater than that which would be gen
erated by the whole coal supply annually
raised in Great Britain. Here, then, we
have an efficient cause for the wildest
hurricanes. For along the whole of the
Gulf Stream, from Bernini to the Grand
Banks, there is a channel of heated,
that is, rarefied air. Into this channel
the denser atmosphere on both sides is
continually pouring, with greater or less
strength. When a storm begins in the
Atlantic, it always makes for this chan
nel, " and, reaching it, turns and follows
it in its course, sometimes entirely
across the Atlantic."
By a like reasoning we can account
for the cyclonic stoims prevailing in the
North Pacific ocean. Nor do the torna
does which rage in parts of the United
States present any serious difficulty.
The region along "-which these storms
travel is the valley of the great Missis
sippi. This river at certain seasons is
considerably warmer than the surround
ing lands. From its surface, also, aque
ous vapor is continually being raised.
When the surrounding air is colder, this
vapor is presently condensed, generating
in the change a vast amount of heat.
We have thus a channel of rarefied air
■over the Mississippi valley, and this
channel becomes a storm track, like the
corresponding channels over the warm
ocean currents. — Prof. R. A. Proctor.
APHORISMS.
On eagle -wings immortal scandals fly,
While virtuous actions are but born, and die.
—Pope.
Every wind is fair
When we are flying from misfortune.
—Sophocles. '
The taddest thing that can befall a eoul
Is when it loses faith in God and woman.
— Alexander Smith.
But who shall bo forecast the years,
And find in loss a gain to match?
Or reach in time a hand to catch
The far-off interest of tears.
— Tennyson.
Want of good Bense is the worst of
poverty.
Impatience dries the bloxl sooner
than age or sorrow.
A nation cannot afford to do a mean
thing. — Charles Sworner.
Justice is the bread of nations. They
are always famishing for it. — Chateau
briand.
A man should never blush in confess
ing his errors, for he proves by his avow
al that he is wiser to-day than yesterday.
— Rousseau.
One of the most effectual ways of
pleasing and of making one's self loved
is to be cheerful ; joy softens more hearts
than tears. — Alme. de Sarlory.
There is among men such intense af
fectation that they often boast of defects
which they have not more willingly than
of qualities which they have. — George
Sand.
The Value of Autographs.
The price of autographs is as vari
ble as that of pictures*, and the colletor
who regards them as valuable. capital
may find himself, or his heirs may
find themselves grievously disappoin
ted with the mean sums fetched by
some specimens, and, perhaps, equally
astonished at the figures given for
others. At the recent sale of an
autograph collection in the hotel
Dronot, a letter of Napoleon I. to
Oudinot vr as obtained for 25 fr, where
as a letter from the Comte de Cham
bord to M. Villemain was carried up
to the unexpected sum of 995f. This
may have been due in a great part to the
subject matter of the letter, as in it
the head of the house of Bourbon has
stated his views on the question of
the pope's temporal power. Letters
by his royal ancestors were knocked
down at comparatively insignificant
prices — a bundle of epistles by the
grand monarch himself for 300f.
Some by Mine. Maintmon were valued
at 90f, higher than those of her royal
partner, Charles VII. realized 68f.,
and Francis 11, only 48f . Some letters
of the Prince de Conde fetched 410f.;
but exactly the same sum was reached
by the actress, Rachel. A Meyerbeer
and a Bossuet sold for 70f. ; a Sainte
Beuve for 42, a Jules Janin for 40, and
a Tallyrand for 21 f. Doubtless the
value in each case was condition to a
great degree on the contents and com
pass of the letters. By far the largest
amount was obtained for 22 letters by
Prince yon Metternich, the great
Austrian diplomatist, which were
sold for 5,000f. The whole collection,
containing 273 letters, realized nearly
30,000.
The liomaucc of Exploration.
Few novelists have so exciting a story
to tell as that which Col. Prejevalsky
brings homo with him. He has been
traveling in regions which no European
foot had trod before him. While the
threatened storm between Russia and
China was growling on the frontier, he
was pushing his way among the unknown
territories of High Asia persistently and
undismayed. He has wandered through
forests that are bright with the plumage
of blue pheasants. He has explored the
Tibetan highlands, where the peaks are
said to rise 10,000 feet above Mont
Blanc, and the very rivers flow at levels
higher than the summits of all but the
loftiest of the Alps. Chinese potentates
have come within an ace of beheading
him. Tartar horsemen and Mongolian
brigands have fled before the unerring
aim of his, rifle. Natives have spread
the legend that his eyes could pierce
fathoms deep into the earth and charm
out the precious stones which iay be
neath ; and the best opinion that these
tribesmen ever held of him was that he
was a well-disposed wizard who flew
about at night. And, alter all this ad
venture, his hope of reaching the mys
terious "star-spread sea" still stands
for the present baffled. From the snows
of the Tibetan mountains flow two
of the greatest rivers of the earth,
the Yangtze and the Yellow river, the
main arteries of the Chinese plains'
Even to the people who dwell upon
them their sources are but vaguely
known. They arrrive upon the horizon
of exact knowledge as mighty rus"hing
waters break from the mountains. To
humbler origins Prejevalsky has been
unable to trace them. When he struck
the Yellow river above Gomi he found
it already a broad stream, clearing its
way swiftly to the east through a deep
ravine cut sharply out of the rocky table
land. At frequent intervals as the ex
plorer pushed along its banks with his
string of mules and camels he was
checked by cross ravines, in the bottom
of which tributaries rushed to the river.
"We would be marching over the un
broken plain," he says, "when all of a
sudden a fearful chasm would threaten
us with yawning throat and the passage
would cost untold fatigue to men and
beasts." He found, in short, that the
project of following up the Yellow river
was impossible. Nevertheless he still
believes that the source may be reached
some other time by starting further
west, and there is little reason to be
lieve that Russia, which for two centu
ries past has been distinguished for the
energy which she has devoted to the
work of geographical exploration, will not
long allow his services to remain unem
ployed. — New York Herald.
First Things in American Iron.
Iron was first made in America in
1620, at a point on Falling creek, a
branch of the James river, in Virginia.
The first iron manufactured west of
the Allegheny mountains was made in
Fayette county. Pa., in 1790.
The first rolling-mill west of the Al
legheny mountains was located on Cheat
river, in what is now West Virginia.
The date of its erection is unknown.
The first rolling-mill in Pittsburgh
was built by Christopher Cowan, an En
glishman, in 1812. It had no puddling
furnaces nor was it intended to roll bar
Iron.
The first rolling-mill erected west of
the Alleghenies to puddle iron and roll
bars was built in 1816 and 1817, at a
place called Middletown, better known
as Plumsock, in Fayette county, Pa.
Pig-iron, manufactured with bitumin
dus coke, is claimed to have first been
made as a regular product in the United
States by F. H. Oliphant, at Uniontown,
p ayette county, Pa., in 1836.
Uncoked bituminous coal was first
used in a blast-furnace about the year
1843, in the Shenango valley, Pa.
The first use of Lake Superior iron
ore in a blast-furnace was in 1853, bj
David and John Agnew, at Sharpsville,
Mercer county, Pa.
Cast-steel was made in the American
colonies at an early day. In 1805 there
were two steel-furnaces in Pennsylvania,
producing 150 tons of steel annually.
Bessemer steel was first made in the
United States at Wyandotte, Mich., in
the autumn of 1864.
The first Bessemer steel rails rolled in
this country were rolled at the North
Chicago rolling-mill on the 24th of May,
1865, from hammered blooms made at
the Wyandotte rolling-mill from ingots
of steel made at the experimental steel
works at Wyandotte.
The first iron rails of any kind made
in this country were cast by the Lehigh
Navigation Company, at their foundry
in the upper end of Mauch Chunk, Pa. ,
in 1826. A few flat rails were rolled
prior to 1842, but such rails were only
bar iron. The manufacture of heavy
wrought rails was commenced at the Mt.
Savage rolling-mill, in Allegheny county,
Md., in 1844.
The first iron vessel built in the
United States was launched at Pitts
burgh in 1839. It was named the Val
ley Forge. For general navigation pur
poses it was completely successful.
Other iron vessels were built at Pitts
burgh within the next decade, among
them an iron schooner for ocean service,
and an iron steamer, the Michigan, for
service on the lake — both built for the
Government about 1842. The latter is
still doing. Government service on the
lakes.
Madagascar.
The Rev. J. Pearse, of the London
Missionary Society, writes that "every
vestige of idolatry has been swept away"
from the districts in Madagascar in
which he labors; and yet that they are
great believers in charms, superstitions
and witchcraft. It was reported that a
dog had spoken and had appointed that
a hurricane, causing grievous famine,
would devastate the district ; that im
mense hailstones would descend, and
that even the heavens would fall. To
avert this the people were told to get six
black and six white beads and wear them
round the neck, and no harm would
come to them. Soon after this men,
women and children were seen with
twelve beads strung around their necks.
The fear of witches and witchcraft is a
great evil among these people. They
are not idolaters, but their Christianity
has in it a bad mixture.
"The first lady in the land" is
"Mother."
PITH AND POttiT.
What this country wants is a patent
automatic telephone answerer.
People with badly-ventilated coal
cellars are not admirers of Voltaire.
The only hand in this world which
blesses those Avho grasp it is a full hand.
Small dishes are decorated so hand
somely now that pickles look unhappy
in them.
Thermometers reform late in Hfe ;
they never become temperate until near
ly 60.
Why is the American stage like the
American eagle ? Because it has wings,
and flies, of course.
The principal of a young ladies' sem
inary in Syracuse has so exhaustingly
inflicted her pupils with "deportment"
that, when left alone, her girls of 16 act
like sixty.
" Do tot? favor my suit ?" said Claude
to Angelina, the other day. " Yes," was
the crushing reply, ' ' I look with more
favor on the new clothes than I do on
the owner."
Even the wisest is sometimes a fool.
For example, the philosopher who wore
his spectacles when he was asleep that
he might recognize friends he might see
in his dreams.
Indiana has a law to prevent weak
minded persons marrying. A crusty
bachelor insinuates that the weak-mind
ed are the only persons who ever think
of doing such a thing.
Father Time is pictured as an old
and bald-headed gentleman, but he man
ages to skip around quite lively, all the
same, in spite of being handicapped by
agricultural implements.
An exchange frantically asks: "Are
blacksmiths who make a living by forg
ing, or carpenters who do a little coun
terfitting, any worse than men who sell
iron and steel for a living ? "
A bachelor at a banquet in New
castle, Eng., gave the following toast :
"The women and coal of Durham coun
ty. Oh, how desolate our firesides
would be without them ! "
Venice is the richest city in Italy — it
is almost free from debt. And with all
those canals, too ! The Venetian Alder
men and State legislators are fearfully
behind the age. — Puck.
An impertinent fop made sport of an
old farmer's large nose, mouth, and
chin ; but the old farmer silenced him by
saying, " Your nose, mouth, an' chin
all had to be made small so 'at there'd
be material left for your cheek."
It takes a country school-master for
shrewdness. When the weather is cold
and the school-house imperfectly heated
he puts the head of the class nearest
the stove, and then all the scholars work
like blazes to rank high in their studies.
A gentleman once remarked to a witty
lady of his acquaintance that he must
have been born with a silver spoon in
his mouth. She looked at him care
fully, and, noting the size of his mouth,
replied, "I don't doubt it; but it must
have been a soup-ladle."
After all the evidence was in, a Gal
veston Judge asked the accused, who
was charged with stealing a watch, if he
had anything more to offer. "I did
have an old silver watch to offer you,
Jedge, but my lawyer borrowed it, and
hasn't brought it back yet." — Galveston
News.
Many, physicians claim that intemper
ance is a disease. It must be con
tagious, then ; at any rate, a man who
gets drunk finally catches it when he
goes home. There may appear to be
some little discrepancy or contradic
tion here, but we can't stop for that
now.
"Yes," remarked a musical critic, re
cently from Kansas, "the fiddlin' was
bully; but I tell you when that fat chap
with the big mustache laid hold of the
bass fiddle and went for them low notes
in the violin-cellar, I just felt as if a
buzz-saw was a playin' • Yankee Doodle'
on my backbone."
'Twas Sunday eve and the small boy stood
With his eye to tho keyholo pressed,
And he saw his sister Bessy's head
On Absalom Thompson's vest.
Then he ran to his parent stern and told,
And the parent stern replied :
" There ain't no harm in a vest; Blide out,"
Bnt the lad refused to slide.
" There ain't no harm in a vest, I know,"
And his eyes flashed bright that minute,
" But isn't it dangerous, dad," he asked,
" When Absalom Thompson's in it? "
Outrage by a policeman: Sam John
sing was up again yesterday. "What
brings you here this time ? " asked the
Eecorder. "De pliceman, sah ; de
same what brung me heah last time."
"I mean what did you do?" "I was
jess passin' a grocery store, when I
struck my head agin a ham what was
hanging by de dore. I tuck de ham
down to put it somewhares whar it
would be safe from folks bustin' their
brains out agin it, when de fust I lenowed
a pliceman tried to get de ham away
from me, and becase I wouldn't let de
ham go he jess brung me along, too."
A Case of Fascination.
It was my fortune, says a writer in
London Nature, to witness a case of
"fascination" between a large striped
snake and a medium-sized toad. When
first seen they were about fifteen inches
apart. The snake lay in a coil with its
head thrust out toward its victim, and
moving slowly, its eyes glittering and
its toDgue darting incessantly. The
toad was standing on the very tips of
his claws, with its limbs rigidly drawn
up to their full length, its eyes fixed
upon its captor and fairly bursting from
their sockets, its mouth covered with
foam, and its whole body swaying to and
fro, and seeming just ready to pitch for
ward upon its face. The movement of
the snake became more and more rapid,
and the agitation of the toad more in
tense, until the space lietween them was
reduced to some three or four inches,
when the snake opened wide its mouth,
and the labored breathing of its victim
stopped short in a low guttural moan.
At this point my own agitation became
so great that, seizing a heavy stone, I •
finished the snake at one blow. The
instant the snake was struck the toad
fell backward as suddenly as though it
self had been hit, and lay upon its back
for some minutes with no signs of life.
At length it gained its feet and began to
creep languidly away.
How a Lawsuit Was Won.
A Galveston man met a friend from
the country on the street.
"How do you come on?" exclaimed
the former. " When I last heard of you
you had a lawsuit on hand with Tom
Smith about a fine horse. How did that
end?"
" I won it. I completely got away
with Tom. You see the Justice was the
most honest man in the world, so I wrote
him a note asking him to accept the in
closed $5 bill."
" I should think the Judge would have
ruled against you for trying to bribe
him."
"So he would if I had not been care
ful to sign Tom Smith's name instead of
my own."