Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume], November 09, 1899, Image 4

About Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925

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ROMEO AND JULIET
Baltimore Lady's Impressions of the
City of Verona.
ROMANCE VERSUS REALITY
Borne ot Juliet Still SuuiUa out With
iKiicouy LiroLeu —in toe streets and
Murhet ot a Mediaeval Town —
. eronese W omen —the Scaiigors and
Capuiets.
Upon hist arriving at Verona near
fniiinighi., uuiammar with xtaly and
Italian, you teet a sense oi strangeness
not remote Horn timidity at the confu
sion oi tongues and the varied types of
the individuals who, in the guise of
poi ters, moseys, etc., taho possession of
your luggage and try to entice you to
then' respective noteis. At last
make your decision and, under the
gtauunce or a usany-tongued official,
you are couducted to a Vila.
As you rumble away fromthesUiUon
di perturbation ceases; the quiet of
ihe scene acts like bairn to your ruffled
•pints.
Nothing seems astir but romance.
You breathe the very air of Romeo and
Juliet, iou almost teol that it was on
just such a night, at such an hour, sue
vowed to .Montague Uiat her ' bounty
was as boundless us the sea,” her “love
as deep.” You dream, but only for a
moment.
The ’bus suddenly stops, a grizzly
dead is thrust in at the door, while a
torrent of strange words fairly gushes
from the mouth of an old soldier.
Hold up! Livery foreigner looks in
quiringly at the other. A woman (an
American to be sure) seizes her "grip ’
and, pointing to the custom-house
stamp, says, "Ala.” Bang goes the
door, on goes the ’bus and you are left
to conjecture whether you were halted
for the usual "octroi” or arrested at a
military station, where all travelers
are submitted to inspection.
Within Ihe city walls all is as serene
as a summer's night, hut your tranquil
ity is a thing of the post. The very
peaceful impression of the long, silent
streets is marred by the mediaeval
like gratings at the gates wind win
dows, which suggest that the Veronese
must protect themselves. As you rat
lie along, angry voices from time to
time break the stillness of the night,
and, peering into open doorways, you
see the dispute is over a caj'd table,
where liquor, tobacco and the passions
seem to reek and wrangle together.
At length you reach your hotel, and,
retiring as speedily as possible, fall
asleep, wondering if "Romeo and
Juliet" was only a fable, since tire din
and quarreling rrom a neighboring cafe
convince you that in Italy Diavolos can
toe heard in real life as well vis in
opera.
Verona is none the loss enchanting
when seen under a strong Italian sun,
with no trees to relieve its intensity.
Nothing, In fact, subdues 111. glare re
flected from the white walls and pave
ments, which at first, dazzles and al
most blinds the newcomer. The in
habitants, however, i-eenis to heed
neither sun nor heat especially the
women, who go about bareheaded, not
even wearing that mantilla which in
Imagination envelopes every fair
Italian.
“'Women" here is list'd in a tourist’s
sense, and only refer to those who
throng the streets bent upon their
diiily avocations. The ladles of leisure
must, pass their days in the seclusion of
their courts, far from the eyes of in
quisitive travelers.
The Veronese women have neither
the languid manner nor the sweet, sad
eyes of the typical Italian, for Verona
Is too near the border for them not to
resemble the Australians In both color
and feature. Although less attractive,
they aro not uninteresting.
It must be acknowledged the market
women in the Piazza della Krtve have
an uninviting liablt of fingering the
fruit upon their stalls, which rather
persuades an American that, they are
better to watch than to deal with
This Piazza, now ‘he fruit anil veg
etable market. Is one of the most
unique squares In Europe. Historically
as well as artistically, Its Individuality
stands out so you ore undecided
whether to study first the palaceo, with
their richly painted facades, represent
ing Cod the Father. Adntn and Kve,
perhaps a Madonna, or to turn Immcd
fatey to the Tribnua and recall the
days when the Piazza was a Forum,
end that seat, with Its canopy, sup
ported by columns, the place where
judgment was decreed In the days of
the Roman Fin pi re. The tall marble
column at the farther end was. In 1797.
crowned with the lion of St. Mark to
Indicate that Verona was subject to
Venice.
”* jf you turn from the Piazza della
Erbe into that of del Signori you will
see the tombs of the Scanners and re
call the brilliant existence the city en
joyed druing Ueir rule of 127 yoers be
fore It mme tinder the dc.minloti of any
neighboring power.
These tombs are Oothlc In construc
tion and wonderfully elaborate In de
tail.
The ladder, which Is fountt wrought
la every poaslb'e way Into the railing,
formed the ftmliy crest, ns the name
signifies. None mounted higher than
Can Grande. Francesca della Scnla.
when ha offered Dante an asylum In
his brilliant court during his exile front
Florence. History could never tmmor
tnlize Can Grande as the po't has in
that seventeenth canto of his "Parrt
lilso."
While inVeron* Pante Is believed to
have wrPi.cn a portion of his Dlvi-
Comedy. Many stories are told of his
life during those years, and some even
say that his sinster appearance led tne
people to regaid him with awe, and
that the women would point to him as
that man who goes to hell and then
comes back to tell what he has seen.”
His son, i’iero, settled in Verona, and
though his direct line became extinct
in 1509, the blood of the divine poet
still hows in the veins of the Marches!
Serego Alighieri, one of the noblest
families of the city.
It would be impossible to describe
the art treasures of Verona. .Every
where may bo seen works of the Vene
tian, Paduan and Veronese schools,
while the architecture of the city bears
the impress of such masters as Sanrni
chele and Fra Giocanda.
The amphitheatre, erected by Diocle
tian in A. D. 290, stands as a monu
ment of the Homan occupation.
This vast pile of grey limestone
affords seats for 20,000 spectators.
It appears that Homan Emperors
were not the only rulers who loved the
sports, for an Emperor of Austria is
said to have eDjoyed a bull fight from
ore of its tiers, whiile an inscription
on the second story commemorates the
visit of Napoleon and the restorations
carried out by his orders. Strange how
scrupulous he was to restore only what
ho had not stolen.
Some assert that the Amphitheatre
was the abode of Theodoric, or, as he
is better known in German lore, Die
trich von Bern. The castle of this
Nibelungen hero is on the other side of
the Adige, so before crossing the river
it would be well to visit the house of
Capulets.
in the southeastern section of the
! own, on the via San Sebastino, can be
seen a gateway surmounted by a hat
tht Indicates the home of Juliet’s pa
rents. A broken support is all that
remains of the balcony, and as you
look up at it you realize for the first
time the truth of Romeo’s words when
he entreats:
O, speak again, bright angel, for tliou
art
As glorious to this night, being o’er my
head.
Asa winged messenger of heaven.
The balcony was Indeed sky-high
and, oh, disillusion of disillusions, it
overhngu the street! So you wonder
what Juliet meant by saying, “Ihe Gr
it card walls are high and hard to
climb.”
But it is desecration to speak lightly
on such a subject, therefore banish all
irreverent thoughts and make the pil
grimage to the suppressed Franciscan
monastery, where they claim Juliet
was buried.
After entering the gate you are con
ducted along an old garden walk,
where, for the sake of romance, you try
to be oblivious to the garments drying
n|Mn the shrubbery (It is always wash
day upon the Continent)
Finally you reach a crude little
chapel, to see a mediaeval sarcophagus,
anil when you lookin you are profound
ly disgusted to see that hundreds of
ovor-cre<luious admirers have filled the
coffin with their visiting cards.
The obsequies that I for thee will
keep
Nightly shall he to strew thy grave and
weep.
Baedecker insists that there is no
ground for believing the Capluets were
buried here, but Lord Byron says in
ono of ids letters, "The Veronese are
tenacious to a degree of truth of Jul
iet's story, insisting on the fact and
giving the date as 1302 and showing a
tomb. It is a plain, open and desolate
ocuventioual guredu, once a cemetery,
now ruiued to the very graves. The
situation struck me as very appropri
ate to the legend, being blighted as
their love.”
It you are a practical American,
however, you will laugh, with Mrs.
Jameson, when she tells you that she
once met a gentleman in Italy who
wore a fragment of Juliet's tomb set in
his ring.
After the return to the hotel, ou
questioning a porter, he seemed dub
ious about the burial place, but gave
the pith of the tragedy iu very broken
English. "1 do not tink dey die dere,
but dey do say he love her, she love
him, dere faders would not let dem
marry, so dey bof go dere and make
demselves dead."—E. L. M., in Balti
more Sun
ONE MINUTE ROMANCE.
"You must be very careful when you
are walking out alone, Susan,” said
Harry W. Treat, owner of the Van j
Anda mine, to his girl guest from New
York, “because the suow often covers
a mine shaft or other opening. There
have been serious accidents to teuuer
feet that walk where miners fear to
tread," ho laughed, "so keep your wits
about you.”
"1 will,” she replied. “The best ones
l have. The new set sharpened and
made keen by use in the nor'west.
Good-by. I'm off for a walk before
breakfast."
( She waved him a farewell and start
ed off ga.vly. Her little boots creaked
in the snow as she strode sturdily
away.
"That's a nice girl, isn't she,
mamma?” Mr. Treat threw one arm
around his wife as she came to the
door, and they both stood looking at
Susan Hunt as long as her -seurlet
jacket made the most vivid mark in
the clear blue and white day.
“Yes, she is, and do you know,
Harry”—Mrs. Treat's voice sank to
'the note of confidence—"l’ve been
thinking wouldn't it be nice if she
should fall In love with \Yill Chrls
i topher or —or somebody—and stay up
j here in Vancouver. It would be a
great change for a New York society
i girl, of course, but—l wonder where
: Will Christopher is. anyway? He was
I coining up here to call on her last
I evening Did he write or send word
to you why he didn’t come? He didn't?
That’s funny. I thought he had bet- j
ter manners!”
Mrs. Treat turned and went inside
the house, her pretty face showing a 1
mark of vexation oven the failure of
her husband’s partner to live up to her
idea of him.
in the meantime .Sarah Hunt walked
along serenely, unconscious of hei
lriend’s match-making designs. The
weather was clear, crisp, and beauti
ful, and she felt as happy as a lass
with a good conscience and easy shoes
can feel out for a walk on a breezy
morning. Suddenly she stopped stock
still and listened. A faint “hello”
came from somewhere on her right.
“Help!” It came more distinctly,
and she called in reply:
“What is the matter”? as she ran
toward the sound.
A disused shaft yawned up at her,
and it seemed to the man lying with a
broken leg in the half-frozen water at
its depth that the face bending over
the edge so anxiously was lovelier
than he had ever seen before.
“I have been here all night,” he said,
with new courage, “and if —” but she
was gone, and he wondered miserably
if she had not been but a creature of
his dreams after all. But in a few
minutes she returned with a coil of
rope from the dilapidated shaft-house
near by, and, tying one end to a tree,
passed the other down to him.
An hour later Harry Treat and his
wifq came up to them. The long ab
sence of their guest had alarmed them
and sent them out to look for her.
They found her kneeling on the
ground trying to revive an unconscious
man.
"Will Christopher!” they exclaimed
together, and as he opened his eyes
Mrs. Treat exclaimed:
“So that is where you were!”
A week ago the young couple who
had met under such romantic circum
stances were married and Mrs. Treat
said, as she kissed the bride:
"It has ail happened just as I in
tended it should.” But she did not
mean the rescue from the mine at all.
Fate claimed all the honor for that.
ELECTRIC MARVELS.
Appliances For Moving Turrets and
Guns of the Kearsarge.
Much has been written about the
11,500-ton seagoing battle ship Kear
sarge,' but little has been said of the
remarkable electrical features pos
sessed by this fighting craft. An elec
trical engineer has made a study of the
electrical departments of the vessel,
and liis report, which appears in the
Electrical Review, is something of a
revelation.
The central electrical power plant
aboard the Kearsarge is just abaft the
main engines. Because of the exigen
cies of battleship design and allotted
space to the electrical machinery is
necessarily small and required there
fore an original installation.
There are seven generating sets
mounted in two tiers, three above and
four below. There is a main distrib
uting board located on the starboard
side of the upper gallery of the genera
tor room, and seven other distributing
boards scattered about the ship. The
scattering of the boards was made nec
essary by the confined space in the
generator room.
The three wire system prevails on
all of the circuits, with 80 volts be
tween neighboring wires and i6O volts
outside. There are about 800 incandes
cent lights connected with the 80-volt
mains, and the four powerful search
lights derive their current from the
same mains. Every auxiliary bit of
power on the ship, with the exception
of the windlass and steering gear, is
electrically produced by 55 large mo
tors. Even the great steel turrets arc*
moved by electric power, as well as the
guns, which are elevated or depressed
by the mere touching of a button.
The heavy turret, with its two fl
inch and two 13-inch guns, can be com
pletely revolved in about 40 seconds.
A force equivalent to 28 horse-power Is
required for this purpose. Shunt mo
tors are used to revolve the ventilating
fans and work the pumps, and motors
operate the rammer heads for the 13-
incli gilns, boat and ammunition hoists
and small windlasses. In fact, one can
touch a button or pull a lever in most
any part and develop power when
ever required.
Other electric auxiliaries on the ship
Include the Ardols signal lights, tele
phones connecting througnout every
j part of the ship, themostatic and other
i fire alarms and signal bells of every
description. Even the steering gear,
while not dependent upon electric pow
er. is equipped with an ingenious elec
tric arrangement for use in cases of
failure of the hydraulic mechanism. —
New York Journal.
MAKING IT EASY FOR HIM.
“Have you a sister?” asked Miss
Willing of her brother's college chum.
Alas! no,” he replied. “But I’ve
often longed for the soothing influence
of a sister's love.”
“How sad!” she said. “But, fortu
nately, you may bo able to secure a
| substitute."
“And what is that?” asked the young
I man.
“The love of some other fellow’s sis
ter." replied the artful maid. —Chicago
News
PERSONALITIES.
lae earl of ftesbury, whose
I father shot himself in a cab. is en
gaged to the duVe of Westminster s
'eldest granddaughter, l.ady Constance
j Grogvenor.
j At Port Washington the residence of
| Mrs. Catharine Johann was burned:
i loss, $3,000, with SI,OOO Insurance.
USE OF GOAT’S LYMPH.
Startling Results Predicted for a New
Discovery.
“I regard it as the discovery of the
nineteenth century and I predict that
before very long it will be used in
every hospital in New York.”
The above remark was made by Dr.
R. W. Steger in an interview concern
ing the goat’s lymph compound of Dr.
Roberts, of Chicago, and the case of
insanity it recently cured.
Dr. Steger Is one of two physicians
in Greater New York who have been
using the lymph in their regular prac
tice. He has just been elected presi
dent of the Roberts Medical So
ciety, an organization named for the
discoverer of the lymph. The so
ciety has arranged for the publica
tion of a medical journal for the ex
tension of the Roberts treatment
throughout the country. Dr. Fred
erick Holden, of Brooklyn, who has
been associated with Dr. Steger in the
use of the lymph, has been elected
secretary, and Dr. Joseph R. Hawley,
director of the institute in Chicago,
that has perfected Dr. Roberts’ lymph,
has been appointed editor.
The lymph is drawn from the lym
phatic glands, spleen and other or
gans of goats, and is injected beneath
the skin of patients. Dr. Steger de
clares that if put into general use
it would undoubtedly cure at least 40
per cent, of the cases of insanity in the
country.
“I have been using the lymph for
two months,” said Dr. Steger, “and
the results I have obtained from it are
simply remarkable. In fact, I hesi
tate to speak of many of the cures that
have come under my observation for
fear thrt other physicians will think
I am exaggerating.
“The lymph, in the first place, is
designed to effect cures in cases of
chronic rheumatism, locomotor a -.xia
and premature old age.
“It is designed to build up men who
have lived too fast and have become
old before their time. Introduced into
the system the lymph Invigorates the
exhausted cells and restores and in
creases power and strength. The
lymph has even been known to cure
consumption in the early stages, al
though I have had no cases of this
sort, and cannot testify as to that.
“The idea is that the lymph builds
up the system by restoring the diseas
ed tissue. The cells that are kept in
a healthy state coming in contact with
the cells that have deteriorated builds
up the latter. Probably the most im
portant case I have had and the one
that would occasion most surprise was
one of locomotor ataxia. The patient
had not been able to walk for two
years. Control of all the muscles of
the body had been lost.
"I used the lymph for several weeks
and there was a marked improvement.
I continued its use, and the last I
knew of the case the patient walked
to my office.
"1 have had 15 cases of locomotor
ataxia, and every one has shown
marked improvement. The lymph will
cure many chronic diseases ordinarily
considered incurable. The difficulty
with the lymphs that have been ex
perimented with heretofore is that
they have all been made from dead
tissue.
“That was the trouble with Dr.
Brown-Scquard’s Elixir of Life. Dr.
Roberts' lymph is made from living
tissue. It is well known that blood
corpuscles removed from living ~ssue
can be kept animate and can be trans
ferred to other tissue. In his experi
ments Dr. Roberts kept the cells of the
lymph alive for months after taking
them from the animal.
“The lymph is taken from the goat
while it is yet alive. Goats are used
because they are the healthiest of all
animals and the main point is to se
cure the very healthiest cells.
"Goats are especially bred for the
purpose and are very carefully raised.
When they are about five or six
months old they are chloroformed and
the glands are removed. Then this
lymph is made according to the form
ula known to Dr. Rooerts.” —New York
Evening Telegram.
ARTIFICIAL, SILK.
The production of artificial silk has
for some time past attracted the atten
tion of experimenters in France, and it
has been used with success to replace
natural silk in certain fabrics. The
Duke du Chardonnet, who claims to be
the first to have success fully carried
out the process, exhibited some fine
specimens of artificial silk at the Paris
exposition of 1889. Since then he has
perfected his system, and at the pres
ent time a factory of considerable im
portance is in operation at Besancon,
under the direction of M. Tricano.
Phis factory is now capable of produc
ing 150 kilograms of artificial silk a
day
Natural silk is largely made up of a
body called "fibroin,” together with
other substances, such as gelatin, al
bumen, wax, coloring matter, fatty and
resinous matter, etc., the cellulose of
the mulberry leaf being thus trans
tormed by the silkworm. The nature
of these transformations is of course
unknown, and in order to produce a
substance resembling silk, a method is
adopted by which the cellulose fur
nished by cotton is used as a base. The
cotton, having been transformed into
nitro-eellulose, or guncotton, by treat
ing it with nitric and sulphuric acids,
this letter is dissolved in a mixture of
ether fed alcohol, and the resulting
collodicflf is filtered under pressure.
In order to be sucessfully used for
the production of artificial si’.k. it is
found that the collodion must be a!-
| lowed to “age" for a certain period of
, time, the reason of which has not been
i definitely settled: however, it is cer
tain that the collodion, on being al
lowed to stand, undergoes certain mod
ifications by which it is better fitted
for the purpose. It Is then run into
cylinders, which have capillary hides
In the bottom, and the collodion is
forced out of those holes under a
pressure of 40 to 50 atmospheres. It
comes out in the form of white,
cylindrical filaments; these are united
to form threads, which are put up in
skeins, and all traces of alcohol or
water which. they may contain are re
moved. In this state, however, the
threads are extremely inflammable,
partaking of the nature of gun cotton,
and to remove this difficulty they must
be “de-nitrated,” that is to say, the
cellulose must be brought back into its
normal condition. This part of the
process, which is indeed an essential
one, involves considerable difficulty
and has been experimented up-nn for
some time by M. Du Chardonnet and
others. However, a process has at
last been arrived at which accom
plishes this in a satisfactory manner.
The details of this process have not as
yet been made public; but it is certain
that by this operation white, silky
threads are produced, which are not
appreciably more inflammable than
natural silk. The skein: which have
been made up of these threads are then
dyed by immersing them in a heated
bath of basic aniline color.
EGRETS NOT SLAUGHTERED.
Reported Massacre of Birds in South
America Denied.
People are not always quite as cruel
as they are reported.
An immense amount of testimony
has been published concerning the
cruel and wholesale slaughter of egrets
in South America and elsewhere to
furnish plumes for ladies’ headdress.
Now a correspondent, who has just re
turned to England from the upper Ori
noco, writes to London to say that such
slaughter does not occur and is not pos
sible. The correspondent says: "In
the first place, the birds are gifted with
long necks, and it is extremely diffi
cult to approach a bird in the daytime,
even by fraud. It has become an in
stinct to beware of man. In Nicaragua
the only time I could by chance-manage
to shoot a bird was to sit under a roost
ing tree and pop them off as they ar
rived. This only for about ten min
utes; the birds would never roost in
the same tree again. My object in
pointing out this is to show that by
means of powder and shot no one could
make it pay.” The writer then goes
on to say that by far "the greatest
quantity of egret plumes do not come
from shot birds, as I found out on che
Orinoco, but hunters without powder
and shot go round during the right sea
son to the breeding and roosting
ground and collect off the ground
plumes which are cast by the males
every year. The only thing necessary
is to pick them off the ground as soon
as possible. I learned from an au
thentic hunter that as many as forty
pounds were thus collected from one
spot. Again, in Venezuela many peo
ple are beginning to farm the birds.
It Is marvelous how easy they are do
mesticated. In Nicaragua very few
houses are without one or two, nd
this on the banks of their native lake
where they go down to bathe. They
never leave a yard when once accus
tomed to It. and are very useful for
killing all sorts of vermin, rats, etc.
On my homeward trip down the Ori
noco, I was fortunate enough to meet
two hunters (both Frenchmen) who
had been some time up country collect
ing feathers. They each had, I should
imagine, 100 pounds, and this without
killing one single bird.”
WHITE RULE WANTED.
A Revolt Against a Black Minority In
Santo Domingo.
Andriano Grullon, a representative
in New Y T ork of the revolutionists of
San Domingo, who is now in New
York, said to a Tribune reporter:
“This revolution is an effort of the
white men to wrest the control of the
government from the colored element.
Heureux was a negro; Figuereo is al
so a negro, and practically all the men
in power are negroes. In short, the
negro is supreme in the government,
notwithstanding that the pure whites
of the island —that is, those descended
from Europeans and Indians —compose
two-thirds of the population. But
neTO rule might have been tolerable
had not the negroes virtually under
taken to drive the whites out By op
pression, confiscation, imprisonment,
murder and what not, they have tried
to make the island a place a w’hite man
could not live in. The white men, who
comprise also the majority of the edu
cated, enlightened and liberal people,
have concluded to take things into
their own hands and institute a de
cent government. Jiminez was on ex
cellent terms with Heureux, but Jim
inez was the only Dominican whom
Heureux feared. Jiminez built a canal,
diverted a river to its old mouth at
Monte Christi, reclaimed a large log
wood district from swamps, and in re
turn received from the government a
title to all the district Then Jiminez
exported logwood, and it was the foun
dation of his fortune. By and by Jim
inez found that he had given Heureux
$200,000, and that the latter was de
manding more. He refused to give
again, and he and Heureux ceased to
be such cordist friends.”
E. D. York, secretary of the San Do
mingo Improvement Company, said to I
the same reporter:
M hen a town surrenders the'
insurgents take the defeated j
government troops with them. :
A ! government employes, the police, j
watchmen, etc., are armed w th Rem-'
ingtons and revolvers. An American
is as safe in San Domingo as he is in
New York—safer when the trolley and
cable cars are considered.
“The chief cause of dissatisfaction
and uprising in San Domingo is the
currency question. A man who has
prestige and who can obtain loans is
the man thte natives are looking for as
president Jiminez is hardly the inan*-
He is well known in New York, Ham
burg, London and Paris, where
banking houses have suspended. The*
chief products of San Domingo are to/
bacco, chocolate, fruits, wood, honey,
beeswax and hides. The best mahog
any in existence grows there. Ma
hogany is the scarcest and most valu
able timber known to the lumber
trade. The tobacco crops of this year
will be 80,000 sefons, of HO pounds
each. The country is in fine sanitary
condition, the interior furnishing ex
cellent springs for drinking water,
while rain water is caught in shallow
vessels for drinking purposes in the
cities. There is nothing offensive in
the way of sewage in any of the towns,
notwithstanding the fact that there are
as yet no waterworks in the Republic
of San Domingo, except at points along
our railroad.
“As to the people—the country peo
ple 1 mean —at first the boys and girls
go abroad perfectly nude. The first
article of apparel is invariably a hat;
the next a pair of shoes. After awhile
the boys wear a belt and a knife, and
the giris short dresses.
“Notwithstanding the present insur
rection, commerce is not affected. San
Domingo was never so prosperous as at
the present time. The present gener
ation does not inherit the revolution
ary propensities of the last and former
generations. The country people do
not want to light, either for the govern
ment or against it, and not infrequent
ly, in order to avoid military service
they take to the bush.”
A REMARKABLE LOUISIANIAN.
Amassed a Fortune of $10,000,000 and
Never Learned to Read.
The most remarkable man who has
developed in Louisiana in the last
half century died in this city tonight.
He was Leon Godchaux, who came to
Louisiana a young Jewish peddler
from Bavaria, without the vestige of
an education, and who by a phenom
enal business instinct amassed a for
tune of nearly $10,000,000, and won the
admiration of (he entire business
community. Only in recent years was
Godchaux able to write nis own name,
and he never learned to read.
At the time of his death he was be
yond doubt the righest sugar planter
in America, and he it was who de
veloped the sugar business in its pres
ent centralized system and caused the
abandonment of the old-time in
dividual plantation sugar houses,
which added much to the pictur
esqueness of the sugar business, but
were a great loss to the state output.
When Godchaux first came to
Louisiana it was with a pack on his
shoulders, which he carried from plan
tation to plantation along the
Mississippi river, and he was
driven off as a vagrant from
some of the plantations which he
afterward acquired. It is said in fact
that the young man shook his fist at
one arrogant planter and vowed he
would own the planter's home. This he
did. Godchaux first entered into the
clothing business in New Orleans and
his establishment is still the largest in
the city, nater he embarked in the
sugar business, and exhibited a
shrewdness in his operations that
easily ranked him as the most expert
sugar man in the state. His business
rapidly widened, although not
owning as many actual sugar lands
as the recently deceased Gen. Porcher
Miles.
Mr. Godchaux was born in Herb
villiers, France, in 1820.—New Orleans
Correspondence New York Tribune.
CURIOUS ~-uGHINo PLANT.
The laughing-plant grows in Arabia
and derives its name from the effect
produced by eating its seed, it is of
moderate size, has bright yellow flow
ers, which grow in tufts, and leaves of
a dark green color. Its fruit is a pod
or capsule, stuffed with velvetlike pad
ding in which lie snugly imbedded two
or three seeds resembling small black
beans.
i he natives dry these beans and then
reduce them to powder. When ad
ministered in judicious doses the pow
der produces effects very much like
those arising from the inhalations of
nitrous oxide, or, as it is called "laugh
ing gas.” BU
The person to whom the powder is
given shouts, laughs, sings, dances Ltd
mpnM lu , dicrous wa y- His merri
ment lasts for about an hour, and then
he quietly falls asleep. After several
f aWakens and ha * not the
slightest recollection of anything that
he said or did while under the in*
fluence of the powder. 6 in
It is said that an overdose of laugh
fng-plant powder is likely to cause
serious results, hut a small quantHv
does no harm. The powder is sweef
and it is a common joke to put a little
of it into the coffee of some unsuspect
ing person, in order to have a laugh ai
his expense.—Detroit Free Press
NEEDLES AND PINS.
Needles und bins, needles und bins
Yen a feller gittin’ marriet his drouble
pegins; / e
Ind his vife not sew puttons his
Bands on ven dey sind off gomln' ' ’ '
He choost haf to nails us Oder
Match stings unt ven he echwelb J
Her van box der ears on unt
She der bellcemans in call auf
Dot wagin’ blendy droobles yet.