The true northerner. [volume], June 14, 1878, Image 3

About The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920

Image provided by: Central Michigan University, Clark Historical Library

                
FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 1878. .
Montana complains of grasshoppers,
Taut there are no feigns of serious trouble
from the scourge elsowLero in the West
as yet.
Titk recently-published story about
the rending of Bald mountain in North
Caiolina is pronounced pure fiction a
lie out of a -whole mountain.
Ttk Irishmen of Pittsburgh and vicin
ity are raising funds to employ counsel
for the defense of the five Grannahans
and two Ilaggertys, whose trial for the
murder of Lord Leitrim in the County
Donegal, Ireland, begins at Dublin,
July 25.
i
The hotel business is growing hazard
ous in Washington. Recently the furni
ture of Willard'a Ilotel, which cost near
ly a quarter of a million a short time
ago, was sold under the hammer, bring
ing only a small percentage of its origi
nal cost.
The trade in American beef and mut
ton has rapidly grown in Eengland. A
few years ago it was sold at a heavy dis
count under English stock. Now it is
eagerly sought. Our trade iu beef and
mutton this year "will amount to over
$8,000,000.
In the State of Rhode Island a foreign
born citizen cannot vote unless he owns
property to the amount of $131, though
if his wife owns that much it will do as
well The Supreme Court, in a recent
decision, declares a man can vote on his
wife's property.
Dubino the first ten months of the
current fiscal year the total exports from
the United States were $620,2G5,20G;
total imports, $391,356,251; excess of
-exports over imports, $228,908,955. , For
the corresponding period last year :
Total exports, $550,091,501; total im
ports, $39G,51C,o22; excess of exports
over imports, $153,575,179; increase of
export balance this year, $75,333,776.
Quite a " bonanza " for this country.
A New York doctor has a daughter,
now 22 years old, whose head is that of
a pig, though she is perfectly formed
otherwise, is thoroughly educated, and
is a pure, true woman. Her mother died
in giving her birth, and the daughter has
cultivated art in all its forms, being also
very religious. She goes out in a closed
carriage with her head muffled, and
speaks without trouble, though her
voice resembles the squeaking of a pig.
The hoax of the Cardiff Giant, accord
ing to the Popular Science Monthly,
was the outgrowth of a heated argument
between George Hull, a Binghamton to
bacconist, and the Rev. Mr. Turle, re
garding the former existence of giants.
The clergyman argued that the Bible
gave affirmative proof. Hull retorted
that people T?ere gullible about anything
in support of which scripture could be
quoted, and that idej suggested the
fraud that subsequently became notori
ous. .. lie,
Tns son of the late Speaker Kerr says
his father died absolutely without money.
There was not a dollar. His account
with the Sergeant-at-Arms was over
drawn, ho having used the advance to
pay local bills around New Albany. Ili g
life wa3 insured, and the family's first
application of that money was to settle
his account with Congress. The people
of New Albany and throughout the dis
trict he represented always believed that
he was rich, and that he had hidden or
invested funds.
Melissa Smith, the pretty daughter
of the lighthouse-keeper at Hatteras
island, on the cruel Carolina
coast, recently met a sad, strange death.
About to retire, after parting from .the
betrothed she was to wed in a few days,
she had thrown open her door to get the
sea breeze. Her pillow fell from her
hand, and, in trying to catch it, she fell,
striking the iron steps, down which she
plunged screaming, into the sea, and
was carried out by the surf as her father
came to the door.
,A great invasion of kangaroos re
cently occurred in various settled .parts
of Australia, especially Queensland, the
animals being, no doubt, driven from
the interior by the drought and its effects
in search of food. They came in thou
sands, devouring everything in the shape
of herbs or grain, so that the shcepand
cattle were often reduced to dry leaves
for fodder. The colonists promptly met
the attack, in somo places driving the
lcangaroos into an inclosure and shoot
ing them. In one battue more than
4f006 kangaroos were killed in four days.
Massachusetts papers state that there
are plenty of farms in Worcester county
which can be obtained for less money
than it would cost to transport a family
to Kansas or Nebraska and settle them
there In the rudest dwelling, moro prim
itive than any farmer in Massachusetts
has occupied since the colonial days
The same is true of many farms in
Maine, New Hampshire and other East
ern States, which their owners are anx
ions to dispose of at a great sacrifice in
order that they may fall in line and "go
West"
Sinck Edison invented the telephone
and phonograph he has more orders for
new inventions than he can attend to.
One party wants him to invent a bone
less shad ; another asks him to turn his
attention to a gas-meter that won't lie
always in favor of the company; a third
desires a pocket-book that will always
contain a dollar or two; and while he is
about it he might as well infuse some of
his inventive genius into a flight of
stairs that won't creak like all possessed
when a man sneaks into the house at
night
Carefully- prepared statistics show
that there are ever 600,000 drunkards
in the United States, and that 70,000 die
annually who go to the grave of a
drunkard. Every year 100,000 men
and women are sent to prison under tho
influence of intoxication, while 300 mur
ders and 400 suicides occur from the
same cause. Two Hundred thousand
orphans are annually thrown upon the
charity of the world by this curse of in
temperance. Nine-tenths of our crime
and not less than seven-eighths of the
pauperism are the immediate results of
whisky, and that at a cost to the Gov
ernment, besides individual want, of
not less than $GO,000,000 every year.
The terrible sufferings of a Tenth Cav
alry company on the Staked Plain of Tex
as, through thirst, are described by Sur
geon King. They were four days with
out water, and the weather was intensely
hot. Their predicament was caused by
the death of their guide, leaving them
to wander by themselves until a spring
was finally found. Their mouths be
came so dry that brown sugar would not
melt in them. Their voices grew weak
and strange, and their sight dim, and
when asleep they dreamed of banqueting.
A sense of suffocation was extremely
painful. They drank water greedily,
but it did not quonch their thirst which
shows, the Surgeon thinks, that the
sense of thirst resides not in the stom
ach, but in the general system, and, in
this case, could not be relieved until the
remote tissues were supplied.
If the English and the Russians in
their Asiatic quarrels should ever get
the Chinese stirred up and started on
the war path there is no telling when or
where or in what numbers these copper
colored Orientals would settle down
again. There are 300,000,000 of them,
swarming on the land and water of the
Chinese empire, and waiting, as some
ethnologists believe, for a fine day to
overrun Europe as other Asiatics have
done before. Just now, in the north
eastern provinces, they are dying by the
million; according to the official figures
of Minister Seward 15,000,000 are actual
ly in the clutches of famine, while 60,-
000,000 others are suffering more or less
from lack of sufficient food supply. This
is nearly twice the total population of
the United States rather a big crowd
of people to be starving at one time.
After all travelers have had to say about
the Chinese internal-improvement sys
tem, it is rather queer to read that this
distress is due rather to lack of trans
portation facilities in the stricken dis
tricts than to a scarcity of food in the
surrounding regions.
A Pennsylvania named Isaac John
son, of the village of Port Penn, has
had, according to the local gazettes, an
eventtul career, and inherited a fortune
after he had lost several and completely
given up the struggle of life. When a
boy of 10 he stole a wash-tub, launched
it upon the Delaware, got into it, floated
down the river into the bay, and was
picked up by a bark which carried him
to Vera Cruz. Thence he made his way
to the City of Mexico, where he was
adopted by a rich merchant, Don Hidal
go Hernandez, given a liberal education,
and, finally, a partnership. Having be
come a purtisan of Maximilian, he grew
so odious to tho people that he was ob
liged to fly to Texas. At the outset of
the civil war he entered the Confederate
army, serving as aide to Albert Sydney
Johnston. After its cessation, he re
turned North,went into the manufacture
of shoes in Philadelphia, and flourished
for awhile, but was eventually ruined
by the dishonesty of his partners.
Broken in spirit and estate, he went
back to his village home to die a pauper.
Recently he received notice that proper
ty to the value of $200,000, most of it in
Government bonds, had "been left him
by Don Hidalgo, and ho is naturally re
joiced thereat The moral of this is ob
ous. Steal a wash-tub early never
mind the size or shape and wealth shall
come to you unexpectedly after you have
lost your last cent
Capt. Catesby Jones, formerly com
mander of the famous Confederate ram
Merrimac, was killed in Selma, Ala.,
last summer by J. A. Harral, a neigh
bor. The fatal dispute arose out of a
quarrel between their children, and the
excitement over the result was intense.
Mr. narral was lately put on trial for
murder, but has just been acquitted on
the ground of self-defense.
THE TOUNU FOLKS.
Ilaba's foes.
O, the tiny, curled-up treaaurta,
J nut m cute m cute can be !
Come and help me count them, Mtdgle,
While the baby benda to aee ;
Peejia demurely over dainty
Skirta, drawn up to dimpled kneea.
IIy, my lady Lily I whoee two
llolj-poly feet are theae?
Bee the darllnn'e round-eyed wonder
Doea aha really know they're heraT
Now the reachea down to feel them,
While new triumph In her atlra.
Crow your All, my little lady !
7hoe are your own cunning toee,
Round, and eoft, and fat, and funny,
Aud hw many T Madgie knowa !
Call thein Ury.buda to pleaae her,
Madge aaya they are too pink,
Bar ten ronea In two poelea I
llather roee-bude, don t you think ?
Come, wee toca, lie still be covered ;
You've cut capera quite enough :
If vou don t, we'll klaa and put you
Each one In a paper ruff.
How Callata Went to Churoh.
I am going to tell you a truo story of
something that occurred about thirty
yen uko, uway out in lowa. When
Calista Moore was 6 years old, she was
about as full of fun and mischief as any
little girl need be. At that time her
eldest sister came home, after a long ab
sence, one nau oeen away in Cincin
nati, at her uncle's, but now she was go
ing to be married, so she came back to
her old home, with a trunk packed full
of beautiful new clothes.
Little Calista's eager, expectant eyes
danced with delight as the carriage
drove up, and she capered about all the
evening, with the new doll and picture
book sister Jennie brought her pressed
rapturously to her bosom. When at
last she was carried off to bed, she
struggled a little, but the sight of the
great unopened trunk in the hall awed
her into silence.
" What's in it?" she whispered to her
sister Mollie.
"Lots of nice things, I guess, and
sister Jennie's new clothes." This was
enough to set Calista's imagination
going, and all night long she dreamed of
the most wonderful chests, all full of the
loveliest toys, and beautiful dresses of
every size and color. Iu the morning
when she came down stairs, the mysteri
ous trunk had disappeared from sight,
but not from mind.
"Jennie." she said, timidly, "last
night when I went to bed, I saw the
beautifulest trunk in the hall, and now it
isn't anywhere. Where have they tooken
it to?"
1 ."Let mesee," said Jennie. "I believe
they carried it up-stairs, and put it in
the front chamber."
" What's in it, Jennie ?" she persisted.
with a soft, cai easing motion of her
plump little hands.
" Nothing for curious little girls."
said her sister; "only some clothes.
which you shall see some day, if you are
a good girl, and don t ask too many
questions."
During the days which followed, there
was many a long conference with closod
doors in the front chamber, from whioh
Calista was excluded. And the wonder
grew and grew in the child's mind until
she lived in a world of mystery. At last.
one Sunday it happened that all the
household went to church, leaving Ca
lista alone with Nora, the house-maid.
But Nora was busy in the kitchen,
and the child went roaming about the
he use at her own sweet will.
" There can't be any harm," she said
to herself, as she mounted the stairs,
'm just going into the front chamber,
and looking at the trunk. I'm sure no
body would care if I should do that."
So she opened the door and stepped in
side. Never before had the company
room, as she called it, looked so solemn
and magnificent as then, with its high
post bedstead, and closely-drawn cur
tains. She tiptoed softl up to the trunk,
and stood for some time, spelling out
her sister's name on the cover, J-e-n-n-i-e
M-o-o-r-e. " That sounds pretty, she
said to herself. "I wonder if I shall
have a trunk with my name on it when I
get big ? I wonder what is inside i It
couldn't be the leastest bit of harm to
look. '. Any way, sister Jennie said I
snouia see someume, anu j. migut jam
as well now, as to wait until I am old."
She tried to lift the lid, but it wouldn't
come. It was locked. She knelt down
by the side, and uttered a little excla
mation of triumph. The key was in the
lock. Her right hand shook so when
she took hold of the key that she had
to take both hands to turn it Then she
raised the lid and peeped in. In the sub
dued light she could not see plainly, but
she passed her chubby .hands over
some soft, sheeny fabric. ' Then she
gathered it up into her arms, and carried
it to the window. " Pretty," she sail,
and held it up to her round cheek.
And a pretty thing it was truly. A
dove-colored brocade silk wedding
dress. But Calista did not know
this. If she had known that her sister
was going to be married, and that these
were her wedding clothes, I dare say
she would never have done the thing
she did do that day, and this story
would never have been written. She
laid the shining dress down in a chair
and went back to her explorations. The
next article she came to was a white
crape shawl, with long silk fringe, and
heavily embroidered.
This she carried to the window, and
held close to her face and patted ap
provingly, murmuring "pretty." She
deposited it by the side of the dress, and
returned to the truuk, from whose mys
terious depths she fished up a dove-col
ored silk parasol, lined with white, and
a bandbox, which, being opened, dis
played to her delighted gaze the daint
iest of wedding bonnets, all dove-color
and white, with the very sweetest pink
and white artificials.
Little cries of delight escaped her, as
she lifted it out and turned it over and
over in her hands.
"I'll put it on," she said. So she
carried it to the mirror, and adjusted it
on her head. Then she shook out the
long folds of the silk brocade and put it
on, and hooked it over her print frock.
Then, spreading the white shawl on the
floor, and folding it neatly from corner
to corner, she drew it up about her
shoulders, and, with the parasol in one
hand and the dress gathered up over the
other arm, she left the chamber and
carefully made her way down stairs.
She had a little fear that Nora would see
her as she left the house. But no, the
way was clear, and the street deserted,
She passed slowly down the graveled
walk and out at the gate. Once she
caught her foot in the abundant skirt
flnd tripped a little, but the sidewalk
was clean and no damage was done.
The beautiful parasol was held direct
ly over her head, and she walked
straight to the nearest church (she knew
that the family had gone to one more
distant).
What a queer little figure it was that
passed up the broad aisle to the wide-
eved astonishment of the congregation.
But O, the troublesome parasol J She
could not close it with one hand, and she
dared not let go of the loner skirt with
the other, for fear she should tiip and
fall Poor little Calista 1 The glory of
wearing fine clothes was not unmixed
with bitterness that day. The lovely
dove-oolored parasol seemed to shut cut
all the sunshine of her young life, as she
marched up the aisle with it straight
over her head. Every eye was fixed up
on her. Some smiled. One little boy
giggled right out, and even the minister
looked amused. But when at last the
dreadful parasol was down, and he saw
the little scarlet face, and the blue ejes
brimming with tears, amusemen t ch an (red
to pity, and he at once gave out the
hymn, which set every one to finding the
page. Then the organ sounded, and the
whole church rose to piDg, and Calista's
painful embarrassment began to grow
less. Before the hymn was finished, she
began to feel quite at home and almost
happy, for she lovd music dearly.
Then came the long prayer, then an
other hvmn. and at last the sermon. It
was when the minister was beginning
his "thirdly" that a sudden anxiety
seized her. ,
What if her parents and the girls
should come home and find her gone !
Could she face the congregation again,
and go out as she had come in ? Yes,
it must be done. For a long time she
wriggled and twisted on tho seat, trvinR
to pet her courage up to the necessary
pitch.
At last, with a desperate "I will" be
tween hor teeth, she clutched the ob
noxious parasol and sprung out of her
seat, down the aisle, and through the
door, and in a moment was out upon the
street again. Then how she ran 1 When
she reached the gate, the door and win
dows stood invitingly closed, so she
knew the others had not returned. She
ran in and shut the door behind her :
then up the stairs in a trice, and in an
other moment was safe in the friendly,
somoer light or the great front chamber.
Nora had been sound afleep and
never missed the little girl. Very quiet
was Calista all the rest of that eventful
day.
After dinner she went out under a
lare maple and thought it all over.
Should she tell mamma and sister Jen
nie? She thought she should feel a
great deal better if they only knew.
But how should she tell them ? Some
times her mind was fully made up that
she would confess all, but then a
naughty little voice would say. " Don't
you do it They need never know, and
you didn t do any real harm anyway."
For hours the poor little soul was tem
pest-tossed between right and wrong.
until she could bear it no longer, and,
set ing Jennie walking alone among the
shrubbery, she ran to her, and, be
fore her courage had time to
give way, stammered out the story of
her morning's pranks. Was Jennie an
gry T les. at first, when she thought of
her beautiful wedding garments, which
she had guarded so sacredly, out on
publio parade. Then she thought of
the odd figure her mite of a sister must
have presented with trailing skirts and
parasol, and she laughed until she
cried. Then she tried to look sober,
but made a mistake and laughed again
and again, until she was obliged to run
into the house for fear the passers-by
would hear her. Of course her father,
mother and sisters came to ask what it
was all about; and such a laugh as they
had ! But to Calista it was no matter.
She had suffered too much at churoh
that day. Anna II. Diron, in New
York Tribune,
Terrible Tragedy iu Virginia.
Tho community in the neighborhood
of Tazewell Court House is in a great
state of excitement over a remarkable
and shocking tragedy that was enacted
last night. In the woods, two miles
from that place, is a small frame cottage
occupied for a number of years by Mrs.
Rebecca Baldwin, an old widow lady,
who lived in a state of solitude. It was
generally known that she possessed a
little fortune in the shape of gold coin.
The neighbors have often remarked that
old Aunt Becky, as she was called,
would some night bo murdered for her
money, and such has come to pass.
This morning early, a friend dropped
in to call, when a sickening sight met
his eye. Mrs. Baldwin lay on the floor,
weltering in blood. Life was almost
gone, but she was still able to speak.
In tho same room on the floor lay two
ded men who had beer killed, and ly
ing around were two bloody clubs, a
bloody ax, and a bloody knife. The old
lady was able, in broken sentences, to
give the following statement :
Yesterday at noon, three strange men,
whom she supposed to be tramps, culled
and asked her to change $10. She com
plied with tho request, and in doing so
she displayed a good deal of money. At
night, about 9 o'clock, after she had re
tired, her door was broken in, and one
of the same party that had been there
during the day rushed in. She jumped
out of her bed, and in her excitement
threw a large bag of gold into the fire.
The man stooped to jerk it out, and as
he stooped Mrs. Baldwin, like a plucky
heroine, seized an ax. which she always
kept at the head of the bed. and let the
robber have a blow on the back of the
head, and she did not stop until she had
killed him. Then another man with a
club ran in to the rescue of his comrade,
and the old lady struck him in the head
with the ax. They had quite a combat,
but she succeeded in killing him. While
she was administering the last blow, the
third man, who, it is supposed, had been
left outside as a guard, rushed in and
stabbed her with a dirk, and, thinking
she was dead, he fled.
Mrs. Baldwin recognized all the rob
bers as the same tramps that had visited
her to get the money changed. They
had been larking around the neighbor
hood several days. The old lady died
this afternoon. Wythcvillc (Va.) Cor.
Cincinnati Enquirer,
WILMA31 THE FIRST.
TIm Ke tire meet of the Aged Eaiperor of
Ocrmany,
Af tor having passed the span of years
allotted to man, and after a term of
twenty-one years spent as Regent and
King of Prussia and Emperor of Ger
many, says the Chicago Tribune, Will
iam I., lying in his palace and suffering
from the wounds of a cowardly assassin,
retires from the cares and duties of the
throne, and appoints as Regent his son,
the Crown Prince Frederick William
Nicholas Charles, or "Unser Fritz," as
the Germans familiarly call him. The
old Emperor has had an eventful life.
Ho was born March 22, 1797, son of
Frederick William IIL and Queen
Louisa, and as a boy marched with the
allies into Paris after the overthrow of
Napoleon. Coming into manhood as a
soldier, he has always remained one,
never giving up his uniform, and always
sleeping under his military blankets
upon a rude iron couch. When his
brother, Frederick William rV., ascend
ed tho throne in 1840, he was recognized
as the heir apparent His military pre
dilections gave rise to the idea that he
was an absolutist, and so general was
this idea that, in the uprising of 1848,
he had to leave the country. After an
absence of a few months he returned,
put down the republican insurrection,
and subsequently held several impor
tant military positions. In 1857, his
brother, being incapacitated by illness,
he assumed his functions, and the next
year was formally installed as Recent,
succeeding as King of Prussia in 1861. 1
From that ti me until 1870 he accom
plished a great work in giving Ger
many her present military strength and
prestige. He reorganized the army
as his first step. He made Bismarck
Minister of Foreign Affairs in 18G2; se
cured ochleswig and Lauenburg in the
Schleswig-Holstein war; in 1866, ex
tinguished Austria as a German power,
and added Schleswig-Holstein, nanover,
Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort to
Prussia, and established the North-German
Confederation; and in 1867 made
Bismarck Chancellor. The candidature of
the Spanish throne in 1870 precipitated
war between France and Germany. The
South German States joined the North
ern, and the war was marked by a suc
cession of brilliant victories achieved by
the German armies, with which he re
mained from the firing of the first shot
to the final surrender of Napoleon at
Sedan. On the 18th of January, 1871,
at hu military headquarters at Ver
sailles, by the request of the German
states, he was crowned Emperor of Ger
many, and his first proclamation incor
porated Alsace and Lorraine in the em
pire. Since that time he has cemented
still stronger tho friendship of Germany
with Russia, Austria, and Italy, and
carried on a prolonged and severe con
test with the Roman heirarchy during
the Pontificate of Pius IX.
The Emperor has but one daughter.
the Princess Louisa, born in 1838, and
married in 1856 to the Grand Duke
Frederick of Baden; and one son, Prince
Frederick William Nicholas Charles, in
whose favor he has retired. The Crown
Prince, now Regent, was born in 1831,
and graduated from the University of
Konigsberg. In 1858 he married Vic
toria Adelaide, the Princess Royal of
Great Britain, by whom he has had six
children. Like his father, ho i3 a great
soldier, and has performed distinguished
service in two important wars.
JAPAN.
Aaaaaalnatlon of an Imperial Minister.
Late advices from Yokohama, Japan,
embrace particulars of the cruel assassi
nation of Okubo Toshimitsi, senior Im
perial Councillor, and Minister of the
Home Department. He was attacked by
six men while riding from his residence
to the palace, at 8 o'clock, a. m. His
murderers selected an unfrequented part
of the route, cut down the horses, killed
the driver, and slaughtered their victim
as he sprung from the carriage. The
body was frightfully Titilated, the face
and neck covered with wounds, and one
hand cut off. The assassins immedi
ately proceeded to the palace and gave
themselves up. Tht-y proved to be fanat
ical followers of the late rebel Saigo, al
though not from his part of the country.
Two of them wrote letters and sent them
to the newspaper before setting out, de
claring their reasons. They say Okubo
was selfish and tyrannical, preferring
despotism to liberty, overriding the law
at pleasure, was arbitrary and proud,
wasted public money, excluded patriots
from a share in the Government, thus
exciting rebellion, failed to sustain the
dignity of the empire toward other na
tions, and, therefore, they killed him. A
seventh accomplice surrendered himself
the following day. It is not believed
any further extension of the conspiracy
exists. Okubo was the foremost mem
ber of the Cabinet for nany years, and
was next in rank to the two Ministers
known as Dal Jin. He was the principal
mover in the great reforms of modern
times. His loss is severe, though fortu
nately not irreparable. His colleague,
Okuma, Minister of Finance, is recog
nized as not less sagacious, energetic,
and progressive. Into his hands the
leadership of the Government now falls.
The Emperor has invested Okubo with
the posthumous title of U. Dal Jin, one
of the three officers nearest the throne,
and augmented his rank. The funeral
took place May 17, attended by an enor
mous concourse, including all foreign
officials. Okubo was a little over 40
years old. He was originally of moder
ately good birtht and distinguished him
self by reformj in his native province of
Satsmna. He secretly assisted the youth
of that region to travel abroad and study,
while yet forbidden by law and usage.
Of this early party were almost all the
Japanese now representing their country
diplomatically at foreign capitals. After
the war of the restoration he came
rapidly to the front in cifil affairs, al
ways maintaining his prominence, visited
America and Earope in 1872, under Iwa
kura. ne will be succeeded as Minister
of the Home Department by Ito niro
bume, hitherto Minister of Publio
Works.
The Bender Family Once More.
By telegraph wa learn that the Bender
family, who received such an unenviable
notoriety for a number of murders com
mitted by them in Kansas a few years
ago, were seen at Grand Fass, Oregon,
yefterday morning, traveling in this di
rection. They were seen by parties who
arrived here from the Eastern States not
long since, and who claim to have known
them at their old home. A large re
ward for their capture was offered at the
time of their escape, but it has been gen
erally believed that they were killed
some time ago while trying to avoid ar
rest Sheriff Manning is in pursuit
Jacksonville (Oa.) Sentinel.
SlttliULlll ROMANCE.
Troth Stranger Than fiction.
We published a few days since, says
the Troy Times, the story of the court
ship and marriage of Lieut. Philip
Reade, of the regular army, and Minme
Murand, of Topeka, Kan., and the sub
sequent death of the bride in Europe,
whither she had been sent by her husband
to complete her musical education, and
especially to cultivate the possibilities
of her wonderful voice. The Lieutenant
had been so fortunate as to save the life
of his bride from the assault of an en
raged bull, which he dispatched with a
well-directed shot from his pistol The
young lady and her mother were very
poor, and subsisted upon the small sal
ary she obtained as a church singer.
The adventure with the bull, a frugal
supper in the little cottage of the girl's
mother, a sight of Minnie's pretty face
and the ravishing sweetness of her voice,
settled the Lieutenant's fate. He laid
his hand, his heart and fortune at her
feet. These were accepted. It was
agreed between them that the bride
should go to Europe and study music.
while the Lieutenant remained at home
and pursued his soldier's duty. They
were married, and from the altar the
young wife went direct to the steamer
and set out for her long voyage. Placing
herself under the best masters, she
made rapid progress in her studies, and
iu a little while the husband was repaid
for the sacrifice he had made by hearing
wonderful account1 of his wife s success
as a lyric singer. She remained abroad
five years, when, her education having
been completed, the husband left his
distant post iu Arizona to go to Paris
and accompany her home. On the way a
copy of the New York Herald fell into
his hands; it contained an account of
her sudden death in the French capital.
We need not dwell upon his anguish.
In due time the remains of his young
wife arrived, and lovingly and reverently
they were laid away in the tomb at her
old Topeka home. All this is as strange
as fiction itself. But what follows is
still stranger, and once more shows how
events in real life eclipse the most start
ling and tragic incidents invented by the
romancer. From certain reports that
the Lieutenant received from friends in
Europe the extraordinary tale im
pressed him that his wife was still alive
and well, and was living in Paris with an
actor of the most distinguished character
as a roue. So fast did these stories
cross the ocean that at last he determined
to have the body exhumed and the coffin
opened, which had not been done on ita
arrival in consequence of the ad vanned
stage of decomposition of the corpse.
Then was it found that instead of his
wife's body being in the coffin it was
that of an old woman about 60 years of
age, with the square jaws and unmis
takable features of the lower Basque
provinces. Extraordinary pains have
been taken to keep these facts quiet and
from the press, but now they aro com
mon talk among a small circle, and are
discussed as forming one of the most ro
mantic episodes that have ever occurred
in this or any other country. Lieut
Reade is now in San Diego, Cal., in
charge of the telegraph construction
party of the signal service.
DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS.
Prof. Rlley'a lie port on the Locuet Ilia no.
reau at Work to Save 8150,000,000 Loat
Annually by Inaects.
Washington Cor. New York Trlbune.l
Prof. Riley, the Government Ento
mologist recently appointed to the Agri
cultural Department, is engaged on tne
last pages of his report as Chief of the
Entomological Commission appointed
last year by Congress to make special
investigations concerning the Colorado
locust" The brief paper upon the sub
ject read by the professor before the
Academy of Sciences, which recently
met in this city, attracted an attention
which gives proof of the interest of the
forthcoming report
The Entomological Bureau has existed
in name for the last fifteen years, but,
until the present time, it has contributed
very little to our knowledge of insects.
The law establishing it has been practi
cally a dead letter. It is now proposed
by the department to make this bureau
one of the most active and useful if pos
sible. Since his recent installment in the of
fice of Government Entomologist, Prof.
Riley has begun work with the view of
securing large and immediate practical
results for the benefit of agriculture
throughout the United States. One of
the chief functions of his bureau will be
the investigation of the habits of insects
injurious to all sorts of crops, and of the
remedies against them. It is estimated
that the annual loss to agriculture in the
United States, from destructive insects,
is not less than $150,000,000. Specimens
of these insects are const intly being sent
to the department from every part of the
country, with requests for directions for
their destruction. Prof. Riley asserts
that in every instance, if a proper inves
tigation could be made, an effectual
remedy of extermination might be
found. One of the most recent of these
requests is from an Iowa farmer culti
vating an orchard of several thousand
apple trees, which he says have been
rendered non-productive for several
years past by the ravages of a worm. The
specimen sent to the department is that
of a worm entirely new to science and
demanding, for the interests of Western
fruit growers, immediate investigation.
The loss from the ravages of the cotton
worm alone in the Southern States has
sometimes amounted to $20,000,000 in a
single fortnight Until the present ses
sion of Congress no adequate steps had
been taken for the investigation and
eradication of this pest It is asserted
now that the $5,000 recently appropriat
ed for the employment of a special ento
mologist for this purpose would have
leen much more advantageously ex
pended by the Bureau of Entomology
itself, inasmuch as the appropriation
will bo almost entirely consumed by the
salary of the entomologist, leaving next
to nothing for the cost of experiments.
Under the care of the Eutomological
Bureau, the Department of Agriculture
is at present feeding several thousand
French and Japanese silk worms.