The Wahpeton times. [volume], August 08, 1889, Image 3

About The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
MS?'-
'.mi^
,m
ml&J
•$$N1
•te
A
W'
1
•••vjV.r
2&v
Cflv.v
&
„fiP'
Extract from the diary of & traveler:
1
crossed over into StUlhope county,
Kentucky, and fdr tlmr I found deep
interest in the contemplation of the
Boenery.. Every turn of the bridle
path presented a new beauty to me
and every heavily timbered slope held
a grandeur of landscape, but after
awhile I became tired. I wanted to
more evidences of the civilization
•df man. I wanted to smell a boiling
pot. After awhile I came to a house.
It was a mean looking structure, built
•of Ion,' but the sight of it was most
pleasant to me, for I had heard of the
hospitality of this wild region, and I
knew that 1 should find no difficulty in
getting something to eat I had dis
mounted and had tied my horse to a
•sapling before the house showed any
signs of life. Then a man came out
He was lank and wiry-bearded, had a
nose that resembled a hawk's bill and
wore boots that must have taken into
their construction at-least half of the
hide of an average steer. He came
forward, wiping his hands on his trous
ers, and I saw that he had been greas
ing his boots with tallow.
"Mawnin\ mawnin'!" he exclaimed,
'Vow are you?"
Just then, discovering a dog, I drew
back.
"Come right an he won't hurt
•you."
"But he will! Look at him!" I yell
ed.
'-Oh, he'll grab you ef he gits a
chance, but his teeth's so bad that he
ken only pinch a little. Step right this
way."
I did step that way, and I stepped in
a lively manner too, for 1 could see
that nothing would do the dog more
good than to Vpinch me a little."
"Thar ain't nobody ai home but me
and Zib thar," said" the man. Zib was
a small boy. "Wife and Nance air
down on the branch washin1. We gin
erally make it a pint ter wash ever'
summer whuther the clothes needs it
ur not, water's so powerful cheap an'
wood don't cost nothing.' Wife's got a
putty good axe, too, an* she's a mighty
peart hand in makln' the chips fly."
"I would like to get something to
eat," said I.
"Yas, you shall have some thin' too,
I've got a pone uv co'n bread in thar,
an' we'll git a piece uv midlin' putty
soon and fling it here on the Are.
What's yo' business?"
"I am not in any business at pre
sent"
"Ain't no candidate, I hope."
"No."
"Ain't got no new churn-dasher
that would knock butter outen stump
water in five minutes."
"No I have nothing to sell."
•'I hope you ain't round buyin' dried
fruit with plugged money."
"I am not trying to buy anything."
"Was you ever in any business?"
"I have been a school teacher."
"Good!" he exclaimed. "Come
here, Zeb (calling the boy). Come
here an' show this4 gentleman how
much edycation you've got. Thar ain't
no school in this section an' I have
been a teach in' uv him myself. Oh,
I'm determined that he shan't go out
in the world without any edycation.
Now, let's hear you spell gun."
"G-u-n."
"Right. Oh, he ken knock the fur
offen spellin'. Now spell shoot.
"S-h-u-t-e."
"You are wrong," I struck in.
"What!" the old fellow exclaimed.
"I say he is wrong. S-h-o-o-t is the
way."
"Look here, you air a blamed
aberlitionist, that's what's the matter
with you. Whut! you come here
tryin' ter pizen the minds of the young
folks? Have you come here ter t'ar
down the gre't work that's been built
up? Hand me that gun, Zcb."
I do not know whether or not Zeb
handed him the gun, but I know that
the old dog could not have caught me
as I was getting out of the yard.—
Arkansaw Traveler.
The Valley of Shadow.
Today the heart of the nation is
moved with sympathy for the sufferers
by the greatest calamity that has ever
yet visited this country, turning a
beautiful valley, the abode of indus
trious thrift and contentment, into a
vast charnel house, a valley of shadow
The mind stands appalled at the stu
pendous ruin wrought, ana the thou
sands of lives blotted out from the
record of the living by that terrible
flood which has devastated the Cone
maugh region. Earth has had before
its Black Fridays, but henceforth Fri
day May 31, 1889, will figure in Ameri
can history as the blackest and gloomi
est Friday this continent has ever
known.
Time will fix the responsibility for
this terrible catastrophe where such
responsibility rightfully belongs. The
present duty is not so much that of
dealing with the cause, as with the
effect The present duty is the
sepulture of the dead and the care of
the living, and to strengthen the hands
of those who have charge of the exe
cution of this duty, money is needed,
and is being munificiently supplied.
It needs but the cry fo^elp from any
section of the couutry w^rove the tie
of kinship that binds the heart of the
people. Sections may antagonize each
other in business rivalry, sectional
prejudices may erect harrier to the
freest unity of sentiment but in the
face of a calamitous visitation to any
particular section all barriers are
swept away, and there is no other riv
alry than that of benevolence, a warm
hearted competition for the honor of
doing most for the afflicted locality.
The sufferers are /or the present the
nation's wards, and the honor of the
country and every sentiment of hu
manity appeals in their behalf. How
well that appeal is being answered the
tide of monetary assistance that is
Betting in toward Johnstown well at
tests. Boston has always been a
prompt and generous city in respond
ing to the needs of- every afflicted lo
cality, be it the fever-stricken south,
the cyeione orbltsxardhewept west, ot
the cities suffering from earthquake,
fire or flood, and that same prompfe.
ness, that same open-hand benevolent
that .she has shown so often before!
she is showing to-day in behalf of that
valley of yloom and shadow, the
Conemaugh region—American Culti
vator.
Ten Good Things to Know.
1. That salt will curdle new milk
hence, in preparing milk porridge,
gravies, etc., salt should not be added
until the dish is prepared.
2. That clear boiling water will re
move tea stains and many fruit stains.
Pour the water through the stain, and
thus prevent it spreading over the
fabric.
3. That ripe tomatoes will remove
ink and other stains from white cloth
also from the hands.
4. That a tablespoonful of turpentine
boiled with white clothes "will aid in
the whitening process.
5. That boiled starch is much im
proved by the addition of a little sperm,
salt or gum arable dissolved.
6. That beeswax and salt will make
rusty flatirons as clean and smooth as
glass. Tie a lump of wax in a rag and
keep it for that purpose. When the
irons are hot rub them first with the
wax rag, then scour with a paper or
cloth sprinkled with salt
7. That blue ointment and kerosene
mixed in equal proportions and applied
to the bedsteads is an unfailing bedbug
remedy, as a coat of whitewash is for
the walls of a log-house.
8. That kerosene will soften boots
and shoes that have been hardened by
water, and render them as pliable as
new.
9. That kerosene will make tin tea
kettles as bright as new. Saturate a
woollen rag and rub with it. It will
also remove stains from varnished fur
niture.
10. That cool rain.water and soda
will remove machine grease from wash
able fabrics.—The Sanitarium.
The Value of Short Words.
We all know how to talk, and there
is a certain quota of words put on the
tongue of every man just as the sons
is given to the canary bird or to the
robin. But beyond the song these
birds cannot go. And beyond the
natural speech, or the words which
nature gives to every one. the illiterate
human being cannot go. His vocabu
lary is limited until he becomes a
student. Then it begins to widen, and
there is no boundary line to its possi
bilities. The writer who imagines he
can give additional emphasis to a com
position by the use of large words is
greatly mistaken. The economy of the
reader's attention is absorbed in under
standing and applying these big words,
and there is little of the mental energy
left with which to digest the idea
which these long words contain. The
picture which is brought before his
mental vision is therefore dim and un
certain. If the writer would give
more prominence to the idea and less
to the verbal frame in other words, if
he would use simple language, which
by contrast would bring out the idea,
he would not only economize his
reader's mental energy, but would
benefit himself by making himself
more easily understood. The mind is
not able to do more than one thing at
a time and do it well. It cannot delve
into the mysteries of a many-syllabled
word and comprehend the thought in
a proper manner at once. Does the
man say that he cannot write a book
or an article with little words? Then
he is very wrong. If he ki.ew how
many little words are in the speech of
the land hp would not say that he can
not find those small words. And it
may be said that these small words
have more force than the big words,
because the soul of the tongue, or it
would be more lit to say speeches, is
to be found in the short words more
than in the long. In this all the men
who write on words think as one.
They feel that the very life of the
thing is shown in the short word.
There is no long word that will take
the place of buzz, sour, roar, splash,
acid, scrape, sough, whiz, bang,
rough, smooth, keen, blunt, thin.
Each of these words is like the thing
which it sets forth, and so it is more
strong and helps the brain in its work.
—Ex.
A Remedy For Snoring.
Only the man or woman chained to
that rest destroying angel, a snoring
partner, can appreciate its sinfulness.
The wicked emotions aroused in the
soul of the sufferer can not be trans
ferred to paper. Could a man or
woman preserve their night thoughts
of the innocent offender during the
entire twenty-four hours, married life
would be a bleak, treeless, unwatered
waste. For this sort of affliction, if
made public, a man or woman gets
only the same class of sympathy ac
corded to malaria—a grinning "That's
too bad." There is a remedy for snor
ing. and that is bitter, too. Scientists
have discovered that sgorers are in
variably great laughers and talkers,
who exist principally with their
mouths wide open, thereby clogging
the breathing apparatus with dust and
roughening the delicate chords by con
tact with crude air. To these good na
tured and loquacious sleep killers
science says: "Shut up keep your
mouth closed better deprive the world
of your cackle and chatter than turn
honey into gall and make marriage a
failure." If this does not cure snor
ing, then Bob Burdette's remedy for
dandruff is the only resource—chop
the head off.—Washington Critic.
We Cheerfully Comply.
A woman writes the following note
to this office: "Last Sunday a gentle
man and hie wife called at my home,
and during their stay the wife was so
mean to her husband that I resolved
to behave myself better in future to
my own husband. Please' print this
for .the benefit of other wives who are
at times thoughtless and harsh.,"—
Atchison Globe.
'-"ari
HOW the Oovarhmttit Learns th
Rapidity of a Rlfl* Ball.
is proper shape for trave ling Col.
Flagler and hia offlcera say it ought to
go at a rate of 1,276 feet a Second upon
leaving a rifle.
1
This matter of speed is very impor
tant and if a cartridge is five or ten
feet too fast or too slow the quantity of
power must be changed. This matter
of speed is tested, in a very interesting
way.
At the northern end of the arsenal
grounds is a long wooden shed, in
which a distance of 100 feet has been
carefully marked off, says- the Phila
delphia Record. At either end of this
space is a stand something like a tar
get with a large circular opening
where the bull's-eye would be.
Across each opening is stretched a
small electric wire connected with a
delicate instrument in another room.
The rifle from which the firing is
done is so aimed that the bullet which
flies from it cuts both wires. Obvious
ly the difference in time between the
cutting of the first and of the second
wires will mark the speed of the bullet
through 100 feet
The measurement of this brief space
of time is done by an instrument of
French invention called the Boulinge
chromograph. When the first wire is
cut an electric circuit is broken and a
rod which is suspended from a magnet
falls a short distance, touching in .its
descent a point which makes a mark
on its side.
The breaking of the second wire lets
drop a second smaller rod in the same
way. By means of the difference in
the marks on the rods it is possible to
estimate the difference in the time of
their falling, and from this the speed
of the bullet per second. There is a
provision for detecting any error, and
nearly absolute accuracy is secured.
If it is found that a bullet has trav
eled too fast or too slow that means
that there is too much or too little
powder in the charge, that the com
pression is wrong, or that the atmos
pheric conditions are unfavorable.
The charge of powder varies from
sixty-nine grains, and is varied by as
little as a tenth of a grain to secure
just the right speed. The compression
may also have to be changed.
The tests of speed are made through
out the day, eight cartridges being
fired at a time, and it any error is de
tected the neoessary change is made
at once.
If it is found that the speed is all
right then the accuracy of the bullets
in hitting ah object must be determin
ed. For this purpose they are fired
over a 500-yard range at a twelve-foot
square target near the river bank.
By an ingenious device by which the
aid of photography is called in the
exact point of each bullet is rapidly
noted, and the general average of ac
curacy is afterward obtained.
Accuracy is, of course, absolutely
essential in warfare, and the greatest
care is taken to see that each bullet
will go straight to the mark if the rifle
is properly aimed.
I I II.
A Peculiar DueL
A very peculiar preliminary to a
death sentence, that deserves to be
put on record, was that in vogue in
Franconia in the fifteenth century—
that is, in the days of the ordeal, in
which heaven itself was supposed to
take a hand in the distribution df jus
tice. In case a woman had been made
to suffer in reputation by a man she
was at liberty to challenge him to
combat which took place in the fol
lowing way: A regular ring was
formed for spectators, and chairs were
placed for the judges. In the middle
of the ring was a hole about three
feet deep, in which the man armed
only with a club, had to defend himself
against the woman, who. was Armed
with a stone weighing a pound, tied
up in a handkerchief and attached
to a slender, willowy stick. The lady
had a space measuring ten feet in di
amater in which to evolute and to
attack.
The rules were as follows: If the
man in attempting to strike the wo
man touched the ground with arm or
hand, he made an error. If he made
three such, or if the woman succeeded
in disarming him, he was declared
defeated, and was then delivered over
to the executioner to be put to death,
which was by being buried in the same
hole in which he had vainly attempted
to defend himself. But if the man
succeeded in thwarting the attacks of
the woman, or in disarming her he
was declared the victor, and the wo
man herself was then the victim, and
was sentenced to death and buried
alive.—New York World.
An Unpopular King.
The subjects of the King of the
Netherlands are justly indignant at the
conduct of their royal master. He was
in a dying condition. The undertaker
called at the palace and took the meas
ure of the august personage. The
doctors were unanimous that his Royal
Highness was as good as dead.
When a king dies in Europe it is a
serious matter to all his subjects. In
this case more than half of the well-to
do families invested largely in the
heavy bereavement and mitigated
affliction departments of the dry-goods
stores. Immense quantities of black
cloth were purchased in which to
swaddle the public buildings.
Just at this crisis the Icing got well
mentally and physically. His faithful
subjects had to stop working the pump
handle of their emotions, and go down
into their garments for money to buy
fireworks to celebrate the recovery of
their lord and master. The conse
quence is they ara much more depress
ed, financially and otherwise, than they
would have been if the worst had hap
pened.
What that king needs is a couple of
New York doctors like those who at
tended Bishop, the mind reader. They
would have seen to it that the king did
not come to again.—Texas Sittings.
lwrival sat upon a hatomock In ihcj
back yard df the country boarding
house. His little fllppered feet patted
the gras8 gleefully, and the book In
his hand hung lazily athwart the gun
wales of the swinging net-work of the
aerial couch. There was a cynical ex
pression upon his innocent face, and
his Titian mustache curled like the tail
of a full-blooded pug.
There was a titter. It could not be
called a laugh. There was a distinct
ly audible titter swashing against the
leaves of the locust trees above him.
It came from the door of the kitchen.
No human being in sight and the par
rot had never been taught to titter n®r
to- twitter. The ugly-mouthed bird
lazily winked his watery eyes as he
stood upon his swinging perch. The
titter was not his'n. Percival wonder
ed where the titter came from. He
determined to investigate.
Slowly he knocked the ashes from
his malodorous cigarette. Gradually
he permitted his angular and attenua
ted form to elevate itself into perpen
dicular longitudinosity. Carefully ad
justing his eye-glasses, as a confirmed
detective is wont to do, he ambled
gracefully towards the kitchen. Some
one was behind the door. He pushed
it, said "Peekah-ah-booah,11 and
grasped the embroidered white skirt
which protruded. A voice tittered and
giggled, and then ejaculated:
"G'way fum dah, Massa Fslv'L
Ain1 you 'shamed flirtin' wid a yallar
gal like me?"
Lo, Tlllie the cook came forth and
clamped two glistening yellow arms
about his Adams-apple-throat and glued
two watermelon-loving lips to the thin
compression of mouth of which Percival
was so proud. Just then Blanchie, his
fiancee, came across tho lawn. Per
cival has returned to his counter in
"The Fair," and will not leave Chicago
again during the summer.
Facts About Refrigerators.
One of the most important articles
of kitchen furniture is the refrigerator.
Every housekeeper must have one, and
in a very short time during tho hot
weather its cost can be saved. Some
housekeepers experience trouble in
keeping their refrigerators sweet and
clean. A practical housekeeper recent
ly told a reporter for the Mall and Ex
press how she kept her refrigerator
clean. She said Bhe always selected a
cool day for this work, and when the
ice is low. All tho articles of food are
taken out and placed in a cool place,
and the ice is wrapped in a woolen
cloth. She then takes out the
chambers, shelves and ice rack, and
washes them thoroughly with soap and
water—a little ammonia in the water
will soften it The shelves and rack
must be well-wiped dry, and then it is
a good thing to placo them in the open
air. Wash the inside of the refrigera
tor well with ammonia and water,
using a pointed stick to go into the
crevices. Wipe every part well with
a dry cloth, and leave all the doors and
lids open until the inside is perfectly
dry. Vinegar and water will take any
stains off the zinc. To keep a refrigera
tor sweet, food that has the least ten
dency to spoil should not be placed in
it Take care that the inside is well
aired and thoroughly dry before re
placing the shelves and racks and put
ting back the ice. Never put anything
warm into the refrigerator it is sure to
injure some sensitive article of food.
Don't let the refrigerator be without
ice. Keep it in a cool place away from
fire and sun.—New York Mail and Ex
press.
Wouldn't Buy Whisky.
"Simon," said the governor of Mis
sissippi, speaking to an old negro who
had nursed him, and who had just ask
ed for fifty cents, "why don't you stop
drinking?"
"Wall, I tell you Mars Bob, I would
do dat but I'seerfeerd, sah, dat it mout
injury my helf."
"Injure your health!" the governor
exclaimed.
"Yes, sah, disergree wid my 'ternal
gestlons."
"You are foolish, Simon. Cold wa
ter is the salvation of the human fami
ly."
"Dat's whar you're wraung, Mars
Bob dat's zackly where you is wraung.
Water is de cause o' er good deal o' de
misery o' dis ye re worl'. It swep, de
country wider flood.way back yander,
an1 has caused er mighty heep o' 'stress
since dat time. Tuther day, sah, it
rushed down on dat town way up norf
yander, sommers, and killed thousands
o' folks. Doan come talkin' ter me
erbout water,-sah, caze I knows it
knows it frum de beginnin', I does.
Ef dur wuz ez-mucli whisky c/. dar is
water, w'y it mout cause jest ez much
harm, but ez dar ain't, w'y I reckon
water has got de bulge. But bo dat ez
it may, gubner, gim me fifty cents."
•'Not to buy whisky with, Simon."
"I sw'ar ter de Lawd, sah. I ain't
gwine ter buy whisky wid dat money."
"All right then, here it is."
"Thankee sir, thankee. Good day
(bowing when he had reached the
door) none o' dis money doan go fur
whisky. Too much o' er generman
fur dat Gwine git gin wid dis mon
ey."—Arkansaw Traveler.
He Was Industrious.
It is not literally true that Amos
Cummings ate cheese and drank beer
while sitting in the speaker's chair last
winter, but he was certainly abstract
ed. He had to write reports of the
daily proceedings of the house for the
New York Sun. At the same time he
was a member of congross from New
York. While he was hard at work
Speaker Carlisle, merely for wanton
ness, called Cummings to the chair
while he went out for lunch. Amos
took the chair, continued writing, and
ate his pio at tho same time. It was
unique.
Disinterested division.—''Did you divide
your bon-bons wlttt your little brother, Mol
lie!" "Yes, mamma I ate the candy and
gave him the mottoes. You know he is
awfully fond of feeding."—Time.
•appreciation
NSli
.. value of
ttaMSh vote11 which "influenced his
decision" in his refusal- to surrender
Moroney and McDonald, the alleged
suspects in the Cronin case, to the
Chicago officers. A New York news
paper criticises the Governor's refusal
on the ground that the United States
Constitution only contemplates
"charge" of crime as the basis of in
terstate surrender, and argues that in
such a case there is "no question of
asylum, as in the case of a citizen of a
foreign country, but only the question
of enabling a state to enforce its crim
inal laws, by reaching beyond its own
borders to arrest a fugitive from jus-
The men sent from Chicago failed to
identify Moroney and McDonald as the
persons who rented and furnished the
Carlson cottage where Dr. Cronin was
assassinated. This proves the trump
ery character of the charge made
against these men and fully vindi
cates the Governor's action.
But the London writer forgets that
tho Irish in America are divided on
the questions supposed to be involved
in the Cronin crime, and that every
reputable Irishman here desires the
punishment of every man implicated
in that crime. The New York writer
overlooks the fact that the constitu
tional provision relates to fugitives
from justice escaping from their own
state into another state. There was a
question of "asylum" in the case of
Moroney and McDonald, who are citi
zens of New York, not of Illinois, and
entitled to the protection of the gov
ernor of their state. They would have
been denied their rights under the
constitution of their own state if they
had been deprived of their liberty
and surrendered without "due process
of law,"
Gov. Hill did his duty in the matter
firmly and well.—New York World.
An Extraordinary Railroad.
One of the most interesting achieve
ments in modern engineering is the
electric mountain railway recently
opened to the public at the Burgenstock,
near Lucerne. The rails describe one
grand curve formed upon an angle of
112 degrees, and the system is snch
that the journey is made as steadily and
smoothly as upon any of the straight
funicular lines. The Burgenstock is
almost perpendicular—from the shore
of Lake Lucerne to the Burgenstock is
1,330 feet and it is 2,860 feet above
the level of the sea, The total length
of the line is 938 metres, and it com
mences with a gradient ot 32 per cent,
which is increased to 58 per cent after
the first 400 metres, this being main
tained for the rest of ths journey. A
single pair of rails is used throughout
and the motive power, electricity, is
generated by two dynamos' each of
twenty-five horse power, which are
worked by a water wheel of nominally
125 power, erected upon the river Aar
at its mouth at Buochs, three miles
away, the electric current being con
ducted by means of insulated copper
wires. The loss in transmission is
estimated at 25 per cent—New York
Sun.
Cars Run with Sails.
A Washington correspondent of tho
Philadelphia Telegraph was recently
looking at some models in the National
Museum of curious cars used in the
early days of railroading in this coun
try, when Mr. Watkins, the curator,
pointed out one particular one that
had a mast and sail. Experiments with
such cars were made on the Baltimore
& Ohio road and on the South Carolina
road. It was then a serious question
whether the motive power on railroads
would be sail, horse or steam. The
steam locomotive was still looked up
on as an experiment Sail cars
are used to-day on a guano
railroad on the island of Maiden,
in the south Pacific. They are, in fact,
used nearer home than that, for rail
road men at Barnegat beach, when the
wind is favorable, frequently ride over
the road on construction cars—sloop
riggid. "The wind has a good deal to
do with railroading even to-day," Mr.
Watkins said. If you go to the bureau
of intelligence at the Broad street
station, Philadelphia, and ask whether
some train, say from New York, is
likely to be on time, you may be in
formed that it is likely to be
four or Ave minutes late, because
there is a strong wind from the west.
Winds make considerable difference in
the running time of trains.
What They Caught
Four deluded youngsters
On a summer day,
Just to go a-fishing
Slyly ran away.
Willows, worms and tackle
To their work they brought,
And, if you'll believe me,
Ttais is what they caught.
Tommy caught a wetting,
He was overbold
Jimmy caught a scolding
Jonnny caught a cold
Harry caught a whipping.
Much against his wish,
But with all their trouble,
Mo one caught a fish 1
The Diamond Spark.
Tiny diamond sparks are being nsed
affectively by way of simple ornamen
tation. They are set in silver, and a
single row worn about the throat looks
like a cortinuous line of light. A sea
son's debutante worn at a late dinner
dance a costume of tuile, from its pe
culiar lustrous, silvery quality called
moon tulle. A fine strand of diamond
sparks encircled her slender white
throat, three or four of the same be
jeweled silver threads were twisted
about her arms the several small
wrought silver combs that caught her
dark coils of hair were likewise be
diumonded, and wee gems sent their
irridescent gleams from the tips of her
dainty satin shoes. Debutantes are not
supposed to borrow their brilliancy
from gems but so delicately were these
sparkles added that they seemed quite
in keeping with the weaver's youth and
freshness.—Table Talk.
8ah Tiin^w"1ffifriSaii l*1"'
Iii 1865, when the telegraph was
comparatively anew thing in South
era California, the operators of. the
Los Angeles circuit found their com
munication suddenly cut off. Line
men were sent out to discover the
b^eak and effect repairs, but they re
turned with the surprising intelli
gence that the break was a serious
one, and called for a lot of supplies.
About a mile of wire and poles
had disappeared as completely as if
the earth had opened and swallowed
them up. Further search showed no
trace of the missing materials, and
at considerable expense new ones
were furnished, and the line was re
constructed.
Then a detective was employed to
investigate the mystery. The coun
try was nothing but a desert, and
the detective worked for three weeks
without success. At the end of that
time, however, he stumbled upon a
small ranch, at which he put up for
the night.
He found the ground inclosed with
a neat wire fence, and in the morn
ing taxed the ranchman with having
stolen the telegraph. The man ad
mitted the fact at once.
"Oh, yes," he said, "I've been liv
ing here nigh onto three year, and
have watched the old telegraph wire
all that time. I never see nothing
go over it, and reckoned it wasn't
used."
There seemed no reason to ques
tion the man's sincerity, and the de
tective contented himself with giving
him a lecture on the invisibility of
the electric current. The case was
reported to headquarters, of course,
but no prosecution followed.
Area of Cultivated Land.
Some interesting statements re
garding the extension of the area
of cultivated land in the United
States are presented in the May re
port of the statistician ofthe depart
ment of agriculture. It appears that
the area under the four principal
arable
cropB—corn,
wheat, oats and
cotton—increased from 128,000,000
acres in 1879 to 159,000,000 acres
in 1885. This represents an expan
sion in nine years of the area under
these crops of 31,000,000 acres, or
an extent of land more than equal
ing the entire area of thethreenorth
era New England states. The in
crease in the area under corn, oats
and cotton is greater than the total
area of the state ot Ohio. This strik
ing result leads the statistician to
make the further calculation that if
the increase in all tilled and grass
land has been in the same proportion
as that in the four crops mentioned
we have now a total area of improv
ed lands in farms of 356,000,000
acres, as compared with 285,000,000
acres in 1878, or an increase almost
equal to the surface area of New Eng
land, New York and New Jersey,
equaling the entire area of improved
land in 1880 to the eleven cotton
states, with the addition of Delaware
and Maryland. The figures of the
coming census dealing with the agri
cultural area should present some in
teresting comparisons with those of
the last census year.—Bradstreet'a
The Sioux Opening,
It is given out that arrangments
are being perfected to run excursion
trains from the principal points in
the East to the Sioux reservation
immediately after the issuing of the
proclamation by the president de
claring the law in force by virtue of
the ratification by the Indians. The
traveler of the St. Louis paper, who
has been writing up the situation,
anticipates that in thirty days the
good lands will all be taken by the
homesteaders. If it is meant that
the bulk of the 11,000,000 acres is
desirable land, this would presume a
rush andscramblesuggestiveofOkla
homa. No doubt there will be some
eagernees to secure claims there, but
there are no present indications of
such a flocking. The fact that only
the homestead feature of the land
laws will be operative will check the
rush. The urgency for the opening
is not so much due to the need ot oc
cuping the lands, as it is of opening
communication with the Black Hills.
The good lands will all be taken in
due time without special effort.
Why Congratulation Was Delayed,
Washington Post.
We desire to convey our most
humble apologies to the esteemed
Maharajah of Bangapore for whut
may seem to him like an omission of
the international amenities on our
Kad
art. But the fact is, we had not
time to congratulate him on
his forty-sixth marriage when the
news of his forty-seventh came to us,
and we didn't like to send congratu
lations done up in bunches, like rad
ishes, lest it might seem our heart
was not in them. If the Maharajah
will let up on marrying for a few
moments end give us a chance to
catch up, we wiu try very pleasant
little conventional duties.
The old horse-shoes that accumu
late on a farm are not past their
usefulness. They will do to strength
en a post that has a tendency to
split at the rail holes or to make a
grape trellis. Nail one side to the
side of a post and lay light poles
across from one side to the other,
resting in the arch of the shoe, which
is nailed on upside down. The ad
vantage of this trellis is that a deli
cate vine can be dropped to the
ground and covered with manure in
the autumn, by simply taking the
poles out of their rests, and in the
spring the poles may be replaced and
the vine retained.
A poorly-kept hedge is worse than
no ferice at all, besides being a posi
tive injury to the land.
ago my wiife,whdv
lounge? ''nSa^r'Wn.'^llMtt^:
head that^ier old man ought to
himself up a bit Our daughter
going to get'married, and she
I ought to try and look as peart ss
possible at the wedding.
•What can I do?" SaMX-'^'^r*
•Color your hair and whiskers,*1 -Sl'MI
said she.
"She had read an advertisement ia
some paper about a wond*erful hair
dye, and she went to the drug store
and bought a bottle of it I didn't
have much faith in it, but just to
please her I tried it I put some oa
my whiskers and awaited results. t|i
The next morning. I got up, washed
myself, and takftg a German silver
comb out of my pocket found It turned
black. Then I discovered that I had
daubed my shirt bosom and cuffs."
"How did your whiskers look?'*
some one asked.
"There was a streak of black across
both knees of jny nankeen trousers,**
continued the old man.
"But the whiskers?"
"Took out my sliver watch and thn-t
was tarnished."
"Were.your whiskers colored? that's
what I want to know."
"Had occasion to use a little change.
Pulled out some silver pieces from my
pocket and hanged if they hadn't turn
ed blaok, too.''
"Your whiskers, were tbey—"
"A silver pen in my pocket looked
as though it had been through a fire.1*
"Did the hair-dye color your—"
"My finger nails resembled the
mourning wafers folks used to use."
"Can't you tell me how your
whiskers looked?"
"Found some black spots on the cai»
pet and on the wall paper, and some
of the furniture was stained with it"
"Your whiskers were dyed, weren't
they?"
"Thunder, no! I had blacked every*
thing else but the whiskers, and they
had washed out grayer than ever. I
threw the stuff away and have never
tried hair-dye since."—Texas Sittings.
Let Women Try if they Want
to.
"One of the most absurd arguments
used against a girl who wishes to be
come a physician," said a blue-eyed,
fair haired medical student in petti
coats the othey day, "Is that thl disa
greeable sights and experiences of the
dissecting room, if they do not alto
gether overpower her fortitude. will
coarsen her feelings and destroy her
delicacy. Bah, I say, to such mawkish
sentimentality. No one thinks it
hardens a girl to nurse a sick person,
and yet I tell you that in ministering
to the sick and the dying and the dead,
in the capacity of a nurse, I have
seen sights and performed more dis
tasteful and exhausting labor than I
would have been called on to do if I
had been the physician and all the
time I knew nothing of that keen in
terest in the scientific part of the work
which I now have, which so absorbs
my attention and thoughts that what
is revolting to others is by me almost
unnoticed."—New York Tribune.
Woman Hands omaly sin
forced
Science comes creeping to the front
and sheepishly affirms what woman's
intuition discerned centuries' ago.
Science has been bending its back
over dusty volumes. It has beea
studying earth and air, and water and
disease. It has reached a conclusion
which woman had practically Indorsed
since the beginning, to-wit: That
spring housecleanlng is necessary to
health that to this yearly regenera
tion of the household gods are due ths*"
superior health and strength of civil
ized nations. Men hate heuseclean
ing because they are dull creatures
and have only a regard for their pres
ent dignity. It galls a man to drink
cold tea and eat a cold chop from the
corner of the mantel or the kitchen
pantry. A man has no imagination
his soul cannot override the kitchen
furniture in the front hall, or bars of
soap, rusty nails, and tack hammers
on his library table, and picture to
himself the splendor of the afterglow.
But science now proclaims that dan
gerous disease germs, wicked and in
finitessimal, lurk about the habita
tations of man, dangers for which
there is no remedy but soap, and alkali
and water, and a woman with a towel
on her head and dust-broom in her
hand. Science has silenced man.—
Washington Post
0
'1
Devoted Wife A
Nearly thirty years ago, before he"V|
developed his philosophy of life,.
Count Tolstoi married the daughter of
a Moscow physician. She directs, con
trols, manages everything at the house
holds at Moscow and at Yasnaia
Polina. She assumes the whole respon
sibility of caring for the family, which
numbers thirteen children, superin
tends their education, and teaches
them English and music. Her business
ability is also shown by the fact that
she has sole charge of the sale, cirqutac
tion and distribution of ber husband's
books. Nor is she wanting in symj
thy for the count's intellectual labors?
She Is both amanuensis, revisor and
translator. Tolstoi's writing Is illegi-S||
ble to most readers, and his wife re-"*^?
writes his manuscripts again and again i,"!
until they suit his fastidious taste. In
this way she copied "War and Peace,"
from end to end, six times, and his last
work "Life," she wrote sixteen times,
besides translating it into French.—
Pittsburg Dispatch.
Miss Beanly (of Boston)—"Don't you
think Tannhauser is delightful I" Ma
Porkuplne (of Cincinnati, who is not a
teetotaler)—"Oh, I don't know. Milwaukee
is about as good."—'1'bo OwL
Teacher—"What is an unknown quantlf
tyl" Coal dealer's son-''What you vet
when you buy a ton *C'ocaL"-GaM«*
Days.
43
1
41,
H'f il
•8""