The St. Charles herald. [volume], September 06, 1884, Image 1

About The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993

Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

                
ST. CHARLES HERALD.
Publishe d Every Saturday, In a Rich Sugar, Molasses and Rice Producing Country.
VOLUME XII.
HAHNVILLE, LOUISIANA, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1884.
NUMBER 36.
GRANDMOTHER BROWN.
Dear Grandmother Brown
Lived in Cran Derry town
And kindly old woman was she;
There was no one so bad,
Either lassie or lad.
But some groud in tho same she could see.
One June afternoon
Mistress Poily Muldoon
Ran in for that moment that ends
In an hour or more.
And did naught but talk o'er
The short-comings of neighbors and friends
But in vain did she scold
About voungr folks and olv,
Only patient exc ises she heard.
About young- folks and old,
)nly patient exc isesshe h
Till at lust she cried out:
"You would speak, I've no doubt,
For old Satan himself a good word."
Then said Grandmother Brown
Of Cranberry town:
"Well, whatever his failin's may be,
I don't think we could find
Many people who mind
The r own business as closely as ho."
—Margaret Egtingc, in Harper's Magazine.
VAMPIRE STORIES.
A Revivnl of the Old Superstition of Blood
Drinking Bats and Men—The Literature
of Vampirism and Its Influence on
European Peoples—Stories That Were
Told of Vampires and Their Doings in
the Last Century.
A physician of local fame in an East
ern city said to the writer recently:
' This is an age of queer mental and
bodily delusions, despite its enlighten
ment. Gne of the oddest cases that I
ever saw I was called on to treat tho
other day. A man came in to com
plain that his ankles were wounded,
found that the wounds were scratches,
and expressed my surprise that he
should have consulted a physician about
a trille. He said he often found the
skin of his ankles broken in the same
way on rising from bed. I suggested
that ho smooth the foot board, and not
kick it so much. Then thS real object
• of his visit came out. What do you
think it was': 1 With bated breath he
whispered that he was the victim of a
vampire—not a vampire hat, but
human vampire. Actually, here was a
sound, healthy, intelligent man cower
ing from tho effects of that old super
stition. He hinted to me that he knew
who Ihe vampire was—a former enemy
now deceased. He had come to me lor
a charm, or something else, to exorcise
his terrible visitor. I tried to laugh
and chaff' him out of 'beidea Whether
1 succeeded 1 don't know. The man
went away very much depressed, and
hasn't returned since. I ought to have
mentioned that he was a native of Hun
gary, and had imbibed vampirism in his
childhood's homo."
This is one of several instances that
have come under the writer's notice to
prove that I ho ancient and horrible
vampire belief is yet lingering upon
earth. Certainly no more extraordinary
or appalling belief ever troubled men's
wits. The very ideais startling. That
the dead returned from their graves to
prey on Ihe flesh and blood of the liv
ing should have ever been believed by
thousands of people sounds incredible.
But it is a fact nevertheless.
The history of tlit vampire supersti
tion ranges over 'A000 years. It begins
with the Lamia of the Greeks, a beauti
ful woman who enticed youths to her
in order to drink their "blood, and it
may be said to end with the dawn of
general education about seventy-five
Years ago. At certain periods its be
lievers have numbered hundreds of
thousands, perhaps millions, of people,
not, of the unlettered entirely, but in
cluded educated and scientific men of
France, Germany and Italy. Fifty
years ago the vampire was a well
known figure in literature and the
drama. The foremost poet in England
was credited with the authorship of a
popular play called the "Vampire,"
and did not wholly deny it. A hundred
years before this time vampires and
gnouls were the topic of interest in the
salons of Paris, that ranked with Law
and his schemes. At this period, in
deed, the superstition obtained the
greatest currency among educated peo
ple, and ils literature is the richest
Voltaire expressed astonishment at the
spread of the belief. The shafts of liis
pen and the powers of other writers
were directed against it. We learn
from the memoirs of a court ladv at the
time that vampirism was talked at
every soiree, and that its ardent be
lievers were nearly as many as
those who scoffed it. Among
the former were members
of the army, the law, several members
of the academy, aud numerous scien
tific men. Physicians were divided.
They agreed there must be some founda
tion for Ihe vampire belief, and for the
were-wolf belief, which was closely al
lied to it. Finally they gave the mono
mania which lay at the bottom of all
the vampire belief the name of lycan
thropy, Elaborate treatises were writ
ten for and against, and a host of minor
writers flung out books on the subject.
The principal of these were liaufft and
Calmet. The latter's work is especially
rich in cases of vampires, many of which
are described by actual witnesses.
One of the best attested vampire sto
ries in Calmet's work is that of Mar
shal de Retz. This was a noble, brave
and worthy man, who lived in France
in the reign of Charles VII. He was a
soldier and after distinguishing himself
in the wars retired to his country seat.
Shortly after he took up his residence
the neighborhood became alarmed -at
the disappearance of many young chil
dren. Only children under the age of
seven disappeared, and soon the num
ber of distracted parents mourning their
lost ones was very great. No amount
of vigilance could discover the mys
terious agency which as it were swal
lowed the children up. Accident, how
ever, directed suspicion to the noble de
Petz. His castle was watched by des
perate parents who had lost their little
ones, and circumstances multiplied to
give the people courage to accuse him
on
in
I
a
a
of being at the bottom of the mystery.
He was arrested and placed on tria 1 ,
charged with having kidnaped over one
hundred children. He was convict
ed and executed. Before he was
led to the block, the monster confessed
that in three years he had killed 800
chjdren. He was led to do it, he said,
by an insat able desire to taste their
blood. Calmet relates this story cir
cumstantially, adding though it is
largely exaggerated that he believes it
is not a myth. He citcä de Retz's con
fession that he was led to commit the
horrible atrocities by an irresistible im
pu'su as an evidence that there
must be a trait in humanity
which leads to vampirism, and
which awakens from its dormant state
in individuals from time to time. A
case rather different from the .a' ove
was that of Jean Grenier, a herd boy.
In 1003 he was placed on trial for at
tacking young girls m the form of a
wolf. The girls themselves and then
fathers gravely and po itively identified
him, and what was more singular,
Grenier himself admitted that their
charge was true. He declared that ho
had eaten several of them. He pro
duced what his judges accepted as good
evidence of his assertions. It is pre
sumed that he had suffered the pen ilty
of being a vampire, though Calmet
omits to state what his punishment
was.
'J he most celebrated vampire case,
perhaps, and the late t, happened in
18t!'. In that year the cemeteries of
Paris were entered, graves broken open,
and corpses rudely tossed about the
ground. The greatest alarm was felt
as the horrible depredations continued.
Tno strictest watch failed to detect
their author. Physicians who were
called to examine the wounds and
mutilations inflicted on the corpses
declared the depredators could not
be, as was first supposed, resur
rectionists. A man-trap was setin Pere
la Chaise, and a heavy bomb concealed
beneath it. One. night the sentinels
posted about the cemetery heard the
bomb explode. They entered, but be
yond a few drops of blood and some
fragments of military clothing, found
no trace of the vampire.
Next day it became known that Ser
geant Berlrand, a soldier, was danger
ously wounded. He was arrested. On
his court-martial, of which Colonel
Mansolon was President, Berlrand con
fessed to having committed all the hor
rible violations of graves, but could
not explain why ho did it. Ho was
controlled by a great power, he said.
Like do lietz, this man was frank, gay.
and gentle. He was sentencea to
twelve months' imprisonment, and a
counsel of physicians appointed to ex
amine his m ml.
These are more properly stories of
were-wolves, since the distinction in
vampirism made between the vampire
proper and tho were-wolf is that the
latter is alone all the time, and tho
otiier arises from his grave only at
night. The true vampire, according
to the superstition, may be detected
by the signs of life he presents on be
ing exhumed from his grave. His
cheeks are red, his lips moist, his flesh
warm, and his veins full of rieh red
blood. In tho literature and legends of
Hungary, Silesia, Poland, Bohemia,
Moravia and the Grecian Islands,
where the vampire is easiest found,
he is always the same, a terrible crea
ture who returns to earth at night
to kill men and women and drink
their blood. He is a vampire by in
clination, by inheritance, or by
the curse of his own misdeeds. He hals
usually the power to transform those
persons whom he attacks into vam
pires like himself Such is the vampire
of the legends of these countries, and
such, it may be added, he is in all es
sential particulars the same to-day.
For among the poorer and more ignor
ant peasantry of Silesia, Poland. Hun
gary, and especially Crete, tho vampire
belief is by no means eradicated. It
still exists. A traveler in the latter
country informed the writer he wit
nessed a few years ago tho ceremony of
exorcising a vampire. It was the same
method in use a hundred and fifty years
ago. The body was dug up, the heart
removed and burned on tho seashore.
Among the old charms this was the
only one considered effective. Driving
a stake through the vampire's heart,
whipping his grave with a hazel switch
wielded by a virgin not less than
twenty-five years old, putting pieces of
silver in his mouth, tying up his jaws
tightly, wore all of no avail—the vam
pire continued to return until his body
was exhumed aud incinerated.
From a large collection of vampire
stories these are a few of the best. The
story ot the Arnold Paul vampire gained
a wide celebrity in Europe about 172Ö.
Arnold Paul was a peasant who lived
on the borders of Hungary. Near
Madnerga he fell from a wagon
and was crushed to death. He was
duly buried and forgotten. Thirty days
later four persons had died, each with a
small incision in his throat, tho edges
of which were purplish. Another per
son, a young girl, declared that in the
night she hatl awakened with a ter
rible feeling of suff ocation. In the dim
light she recognized Arnold Paul, and
cried: "Avaunt, vampire, in Jesus'
name." and the vampire immediately
vanished. Paul's grave was opened
and his body was found to present
strong signs of life. There were traces
of blood about his lips and blood on his
hands. The Embassador of Louis XV.
was present at the disinterment and
stated that the full lile blood was in the
cheeks of the supposed corpse. Paul's
body was burned, his ashes scattered to
the four winds, and from that time the
vampire vexed Badnerga no more.
Another vampire story is taken from
a book containing many which was
uubibbed under tne protection of the
a
1 ,
is
it
A
a
Bishop of Olmultz in 1706. A herd»*
man named Blow, who lived near
Kadam, in Bohemia, was suspocted of
being a vamp re while in life. After
his death and burial several persons
were killed and the flocks about the
place were sadly decimated. Blow's
grave was opened. He sat up, con
fessed he was a vampire, and defied
the villagers to prevent him from
glutt'ng his fearful appetite. A
stake was put into his coffin by direc
tion of a physiciai, whereupon the
vampire thanked him ironically. That
night he arose and killed three persons,
besides twenty head of cattle. His body
was carried out of the village and
burned, his blood gushing forth the
while, and his lips uttering fearful cries.
Another somewhat similar case in
Gradltz is attested by two officials ol
the tribunal of Belgrade, and the Kino's
officer, who were present as oeulai
witnesses at the operation of destroying
tho vampire.
Mr. Pashley relates that a man of
note was buriod in St, George s Church
in Kalkrati, in the island of Crete. In
the popular belief he was in life a
vampire. An arch was built over hid
grave to hold him down. One night
a shepherd lay down to sleep near tho
grave, leaving his arms arranged so as
to form a cross. The vampire rose in
the night, but could not pass over the
cross. He requested the shepherd to
remove it, as he had important business
in the village. On his promise to re
turn shortly, the ehopherd removed the
cross. The vampire went into tho vil
lage, killed a man and woman, and
drank their blood. The following day
his body was taken out and burned. A
drop of his blood spurted upon tho foot
of a bystander, and instantly that mem
ber withered.
The scene of another manifestation
of the superstition which ended in a
tragedy was laid in Hungary. A young
miller, on the eve ot his marriage with
a peasant girl, was suddenly seized with
a mortal illness, expired, and was buried
the next day. That night several cattle
were killed fn a mysterious manner,
and the young man's betrothed dreamed
that she heard him calling for help.
Her story, together with the incident of
the dead cattle, inflamed the minds of
the villagers, already saturated with tho
vampire belief. They repaired m a
body to the miller's grave. On opening
it the supposed corpse sat up with a
loud c y. Tho mob c ied vampire, and
fell upon him immediately and beat and
mangled him with stones and clubs. A
physician who examined the body short
ly afterward declared it his opinion
that tho young man had awakened from
à trance only to be murdered by his
former friends.— Chicago Inter-Ocean
Presidential Brass Bands.
People throughout the city are won
dering why amateur musicians are dis»
laying so much industry in tooting on
urass horns just now. An old band
master smiled blandly when the subject
was called to his attention. "It's tho
harbinger," said he, "of that great crop
of spasmodic musical organizations
known as Presidential brass bauds,
which every four years, on the eve of a
great National contest, spring up
like mushrooms. You see, what
is wanted during an activo cam
paign, such as the approaching canvass
promises to be, is just enough music to
pass current, and as much noise as can
be gotten'from the biggest sort of bin
brass horns. Already half a dozen now
bands have made their appearance in tho
city since the Chicago Convention. It's
an easy matter. A musician of passable
acquirements and three or four fair blow
ers together, rope in a do zen or more
amateurs at a cheap rate who know just
enough to keep time, and lay in wait
for the campaign. They a e bound to
bo in demand, and at the end of the
canvass sometimes find that if they
have not mare much music they have
made some money. In a few weeks
you will find that Philadelphia brass
bands will bo legion."
Having thus delivered himself the
old bandmaster was about to move on
up Chestnut street. He had, however,
torgotteu something, and, turning back,
said, a3 ho winked with both eyes:
"Very few people are up to the corxed
horn dodge; but, for goodness sake,
don't say I told you! Somet mes the
supply of amateurs runs out when pol
itics get at a white heat. Then a few
wicked band men will play the dummy
racket. A club or a parade manager
wants a band and all tho first-class
bands are engaged. He sends to one of
the gorilla leaders and makes a con
tract at generally for so many pieces at
so much a head. He wants a good deal
of noise, and, therefore, contracts for a
large number of players. The head
manager gets together all the hard
blowing amateurs he can, and fills up
the number contracted for with dum
mies. To these, who couldn't blow a
note for their lives, he gives great in
struments, taking care, however, to
plug up the horns with cork. The dum
mies, thus equipped, march along with
the other musi-tans, pretending to make
music with all their lungs. Perhaps
the cork of one of these horns blows
out, and a wild, discordant note is
heard. The dummy quickly lowers his
instrument and pretends to blow tho
spittle out as he recurks the horn. Tho
dummy gets from $1 to $2 for his day's
work, and the manager pockets the
other $3 or as the terms of contract
may be.— Phia'.delphia Record.
—Deafness, it is said, can be cured
by one being suddenly surprised. All
a physician ne >d do, therefore, is to
whisper to the patient that he does not
intend to charge anything. Ten chances
to one the pat:ent will hear.— Philadel
phia Call.
<
About Corkscrews.
The oorkscrew is a contrivance
to facilitate the removal of corks
from bottles. When a cork protrudes
from the neck of the bottle far onough
to admit of grasping it with the hand or
olinohing it with the teeth, a corkscrew
is unnecessary. But when a oork is
Hush with tho bottle's mouth, or,
through unskillful manipulation, has
become lodged down in the nook, a
corkscrew is not only a convenience,
but almost a necessity. '1 he bottle may
be emptied of its liquid contents by
crowding the cork down through the
neck with a penholder or any other
suitable article that may be at hand,
but this method of opening a bottle is
generally roga «led as inelegant.
There are several kinds of corkscrews.
That which has bven tho longest in u-e
is th-j simplest. For several hundred
years it was the best, until a genius
added an improvement which brought
it to perfection, 'i he primoval corkscrew
consisted of a wire, pointed at one end,
twisted into a -piral with about five turns
tempe ed so as to give rigidity to it, and
provided with a wooden handle like
that of a gimlet, The spiral part of
the wire was about-two inches long
after being twisted, the part left
straight was of about tho same length,
and tho wooden cross piece was
round, and about throe inches in length
and half an |ineh in diameter. Tho
handle was made fast to the metal by
putting the wire through a hole in tho
wood aud clinching it. The metal was
not burnished, nor was the wood pol
ished or painted. It is safe to say that
thore never was a corkscrew job which
could not have been ac omplishcd
with one of these primeval corkscrews.
Tho name of the inventor of tho
corkscrew has not been handed down
to these generations. He lived bofo:o
the days of lette s patent, it is held
by a oertain sohool of theorists that ho
was no other than Archimedes. The
similarity of the oorkscrew to the spiral
of Archimedes is r—a theta. The i ork
screw can not have a constant equation,
for tho pit h varies not only in different
screws, but iu the different spirals of
the same screw. A oor,,screw fash
ioned after the equation of the spiral
of Archimedes, with important modifi
cations, would be serviceable; but there
seems to bo no sufficient rcaion for be
lieving that Archimedes invented the
corkscrew.
An important improvement in cork
screws is mentioned in tho foregoing,
iu order to comprehend its value, the
practical use of tiie ordinary oorkscrew
must lie understood, 'ihe bottle is
grasped by the neck with the loft hand,
the top of the cork is p icked with the
point of tiie spiral, and about six or
seven half twists are givou to tho cork
screw. Tho body of the I ottle is then
gripped between" the kno •», and a lift
ing force is applied to tho c rksorew
and through it to the cork. Tiie re
moval of the cork is accompanied by a
sound which may be airly imitated by
putting the left forefinger in tho mouth
with its end against the inner surface
of the right cheek, inllating the cheek--,
and then removing tho finger by a quick
push against the yielding right hand
corner of the mouth. His uerfeoted
corkscrew has the blunt end of tiie wire
brought back through tho wooden
handle and twisted around the sto.n of
the corkscrew till it comes down to the
top of tho spiral, where it is wound into
a concentric coil. When the spiral has
sunk into the cork the blunt end of this
coil strikes against the cork near its
periphery, and with the purchaso thin
obtained the oork is turned around in
the neck of the-bottle and withdrawn
far more gently than with tho unim
proved co. kscrow. A good article of
tiie perfected pattern may be I ought
lor about fifteen copia in almost any
general store in the country. In a cut
lery establishment in the city the price
would not be over seventy-five cents.
There are other complications which
ave intended to increase the usefulness
< f the corkscrew or niake'it more con
veniently portab'e, A metallic contri
vance shaped like the bow of a jews
harp, is substituted for the wooden
handle, and the stem of the spiral is
fastened between the ends of tiie bow
with a pin in such manner that the im
plement may be shut up like a pocket
knife. _ Th : s pattern of portable cork
screw is adapted for excursion or pic
nics, wherethere may l:o bo'tles of milk
tobe oponed. There is also a vury elabor
ate kind of corkscrew sold in some of
the drug stores and cutlery establish
ments. It is nickel plated « looks
as formidable as a toy steam engine.
It is so constructed that a r t r it has
been adjusted the engineer has only to
keep o:i twis.ing and the ceric will be
hoisted high and dry. There are a few
rules regarding the use of the cork
screw which are generally observed by
the elite. The place for the corkscrew
is not by the side of tho hostess's plate.
Champagne bottles are not opened
with a corkscrew, nor condensed milk
cans, nor cocoanuts. Any person who
has tried to take small cucmbei- pick les
from a bottle with a corkscrew will
ever afterward endeavor to have a pickle
fork a 1 hand, if he dues not go t> tho
extreme of having the pickles removed
from the original package before they
are brought to the table. It may be
set forth as a general rule that any at
tempt to utilize the corkscrew for any
purpose other than the removal of corks
will result in embarrassment, and had
best not bo tried except in privacy
N. y. Sun.
—Mr. Hammond, the owner of the
now-famous English raee-horsc St. Ga
lien, began life as a stable-boy at
Newmarket. Duriu^the last few years
he is said to have won 8400,000 on tho
race-course. By St. Gfrtien this voai
lie wins #100,000.
He Was Not a Kicker.
Ben Rldgley, a Louisville (Ky.) new»,
paper man, who for tho first twenty
years of h s life h id been accustomed
to feeding on champagne and dift
niond back terrapin, has for tho past
twenty years been having a catch as
iateh-ean wrestling match with the us
ual boarding-house spread, aud is still
alive, but weak. One day, early in the
spring, ho wont, to his landlady with
complaint.
"Madam," he said, with aderai-somi
quavor in his voioe, ami a piece of wet
ness in each eyo about as big as a buck
shot, "haven't I been a protty good
boarder for tho two years 1 hav e Tioen
with you?"
"Why, Mr. Kidgley, of oonrso von
havo. Only yesterday a lady asked
me how long you had been a "member
of tho Y. M. C. A., ropliod tho lady
in surprise.
"Yes, and when you gave us eggs
with tho feathers on did I ever kick "
' Wna what's tlialP" stammered
the woman, thrown off lier halunce
by tho suddenness of the blow.
"And did 1 ever insist on your clip
ping their wings?"
"Sir, 1 don't----"
"And didn't I keep right on, oven
though you let tiie butter wear it's
hair banged, when you knew 1 hated
bangs?"
"Mr. Ridgely, th ! s is going too—
"And did I complain when 1 found a
button in my pie, because lliore wn-n't
any buttonhole in the tlupp"
"Sir, 1 won't stand this any —''
"And did I report you to the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty when 1
picked that poor helpless cockroach
out of tho biscuit?'*
"Shut up, you-"
"Yes, when I found a minnow in the
milk did I ask you whether you milkod
your oow with a fishing-polo or a
seine?"
"W ha—wha—wh--"
"Don't mention it, madame. Whon
the steak was a little tough, was I one
of the boardors who sent a buzz saw
and^a steam engine up to tho house?"
"And did 1 ever object to paying for
furniture repairs, because the brcail was
so heavy that, whon i swallowed it. it
knockoJ tho bottom of tho oliair ou ?"
"You mean, goon for nothing —"
"Don't get excited, madam. " Did 1
ever inquire whether you drew yout
tea with a windlass or a chain punip?"
"Oh, you villain, you vvru.ch,
you-"
"1 hear you, m-idam and 1 want to
ask if 1 ever reflected on your molasses
can by asking if you hail a patent on
that fly trapP"
••Oh—oh -oh, you oh------"
"I ask, madam, d d 1 ever do any of
those things? And 1 answer by saying
■never, no never.' Therefore l want to
know why in thunder, excuse my for
cible language, please, when they bring
me a plate of soup with a dishrng in it,
they don't bring a'ong a pair of scis
sors to cut tho darned thing up so a
man won't choke on it. That's all
madam."
When tho lady was roeuscitniod, Ben
was compelled to go out Into the cold,
cold world and got another hoarding
house. Such is women's inhumanity
.to man.— Merchant Traveler.
The Leon.
This wild and solitary biro, once
Abundantly represented in this region —
in tho old days of tho early New En
gland settlements—is now but seldom
seen on our Connecticut rivors and
lakes. It is still o 'casionally met with,
however, on some of our Connecticut
waters, as on Hartlaud Point in West
Hartford, Long Hill Pond in New Hart
ford (where a low years ago, on a low
water island, it was known to rest),
and other places in not much frequent
ed localities. Dr. Wood, of FouLh
Windsor, shot ono on the Connecticut
River, opposite that place, not long ago;
hut tho loon is tho hardest of a'l birds
to shoot. His quickness is nuia ing.
Ho will escape a rifle ball liy diving
after he sees the flash, and this at a «lis
lance not greater than o ght roils. The
writer onee succeeded in hitting one
with a bullet at long range by creep
ing through thick cover toward a
small ami select company of these
wild birds that were havbyt n little pio
nie of their own * no water at siinr'so;
but, unie'"» tney oan be so taken they
ir>uat be shot. If at all, as Dr. Wood
shot his, by having his gun already
aimed at the probable spot whore tho
loon will rise, and firing at tho very in
stant tho water breaks, oven before the
bird's head really appears.
Hero is an account of the loon by tho
best observer of birds in America:
One of the strong and original
strokes of nature was when she made
the loon. It is always refreshing to
contemplate a creature so positivo
and characteristic. He is tho great
diver and tlyer under water. The loon
is the genus loci of tho wild Northern
lakes, as solitary as they are. t onto
birds represent the majesty of nat re,
like the eagles; others its ferocity, like
hawks; others its cunning, liko tho
crow; others its sweetness and melody,
like the song birds. The loons repre
sent its wildness and solitariness.—
Hartford 'limes.
—Actors have a dispiriting outlook
for next season. Managers anticipate
bad business in consequence of the dis
tractions of the Presidential canvass.
Not since the introduction of the combi
nation system have fewer performers
been engaged nor smaller salaries
offered. Those who last season re
ceived seventy-five dollars to ono hun
dred dollars à week can only get forty
dollars to fiftv dollars.— -Chicago Her
ald.
la: ill
I iu
SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY.
—Paper bottles are now made on ri
largo scale in Germany and Austria.
—A clay whtoh can be utilized ii^
the manufacture of putty has been dis.
covered in Attala. Miss.
—A Santa Barbara (Cal.) botani fe
has discovered a specios of gooseberry
wholly unknown to science, also a new
species of olive Woe.
—A Gorman paper says that a rtmf
can be made fire-proof by covering if
with a mixture of lime, salt and wood
ashes, adding a little lampblack togis
it dark color. This not only guai '
aga nst fire, it is claimed, but " also i
measure prevents decay.
—A New Haven man hat invente l g
new kind of a parachute, which tl
fastened around the centre of the
balloon itself and it Is expected to bring
the whole affair, including tho aero
naut, down safely if any accident imp
pens to the balloon.— Hartford l'oit.
. —There is hardly any safety raihvaj
appliance hut may bo improved, ««id
inventors who are socking for profitable
Holds of labor will do well to investi
gate tho cause of railway aooldcnts
and deviso means of greater -a'oty to
life, limb and property.— Seien Ha
American.
—Mr. Case, a watchmaker of Frank
lin, Pa., has completed a looomotl a
and tender six.Inches long all told, tfiat
has every part complete that s found
In a working onginc. It is mailu of
gold, silver and iteel, and is destined
for tho New Orleans oxhib tlon. Pi VS
burgh Post.
— Experiments by Dr. Fehl, of t.
Petersburg, go to support tho the« ry
that the waters of rivors are puriliod «y
the motion (mass or molecular) 1 a
parted to the liquid. Bringing water»
into rapid motion by means of a centri
fugal machine tiie numborof developing
.germs of bacteria was reduced by ninety
per oont.
—The brillianoy in tho eyes of eats !»
oausod by a oarpot of glittering lib« r*
called the topoum, which lies behind
the retina, and is a powerful reflector.
In perfect darkness no light, is observed
in their oyos, a fact which lias been i-s
lablishud by careful experiments. Nev
ertheless, ïivery small nuiou it of light
is sufficient to produce tho luminous tt;>
pearancc.— Detroit l'oit
— The Photographic , Tourna ' repo t»
an ingenious way to prevent forgery of
bank notes. This is no othor than t io
employment of an Invisible ucllnle In c,
of which no trace can bo seen ou t t«
paper or upon tho image upon the in
cusing screen. As soon, however, as
you eomo to develop your plate, 1,ha
word "forgery" appears In hold lett« ra
right across the negative.
—The hoight and velocity of clor I»
may be determined by means of pho
tography. Two oarm-ras are placed u)d
feel apart and provided witli instantane
ous shutters, which are released >y
eleotricitv at the satno moment. T a
tingle of Inclination of the cameras a >d
tho position of tho cloud as photo
graphed are thus obtained, and simple
trigonometrical operations give ti#
hoight and distance from those data, -i
Exchange.
FITH AN» F01NT.
—Lot the light of reason »hr flj
through your soul's windows, but keep)
warm by the fire of affection.
— Fight hard against a hasty temp
Anger wilt come, but resist it stoutly*
A spark may sot a house on fire.
— "G. is very c'oso," win observed
by B., "he wills niabble about a com '*
Well," remarked W., "1 have nlway»
thought that the lest one sipiahhi
about the'better."—-V. Y. Ledger.
An article in nn exchange is hord
ed "Costly Misuse of the Mail-." About
tho most cosily miss use of tho mntsi
that we know of aro indigent young
men marrying boires es.— Saxton Po <t,
— A Nevada lady took an unfivr ad
vantage of h r husband's Indulgence
in a bath, to elope with another mi nJ
and Dio bereft ono expressed a oonv od
tlon that «-he hud been waiting for :Ut.
pportunity for yean.—Detroit Frei
reis.
— Soft soap for all sort« of poopl
For a Lieutenant, call him a Capt:
For a miildle-aged Indy, say you no
took her for her daughter. !• or a you ng
gentleman ri-ing fifteen, ask fits o|
ou re meeting the comparative merit
of Mccnl and Mappin as razor- eilet
For young ladies, If yon know tlmhs
color to bo natural, accuse them
painting. —Odcago Tribune.
-Some pimple are poetl al by nature,
but there are othors to whom poet cal
or sentimental language is utterly uu ns
tolligible. Miss Molly MoDudo belongs
to the latter class. George Smitl era
has Leen paying her attention, amt a
few evenings ago, In a wild po 'tie out
burst, he exclaimed: "How fast t ma
vanishes in your company, dearest N ols
lio! The hours become brief minutes.'*
"How can you toll anything about it?.
You haven't even louk«:d at y. u*
watch," responded the proaaio Molly.—^
Texas Siflingi.
—Some stoic writes:
Mail that Is married to a woman Is of maa»
days and full of trouble.
In the morning he draws his salary, and In tha
evening.
Behold, it Is gone!
It Is a talo that Is told;
It is vanished, and no man knows whither 11
gooth.
He rtwuh up clothed In the chilly garments . i
« if « he night
And secketh the somnolent paregoric.
Wherewith to soothe his Infant posterity,
lie eometb as a liorso or ox,
Aud draweth the chariot of bis offspring.
He speedeth the sheekols In the purchase ol
tine linen
To cover the bosom of bis
Family;
Yet bfiipeir 1« scon at the gates of tho oitf
With ono suspender.
Yea, tic Is altogether wretebtxk