The Brookhaven leader. [volume], June 07, 1883, Image 1

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VOLUME I. BROOKHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 1883. NUMBER 16. JBSUSlSSliSXSUS?""*
THREE HUS BA.VDR.
Three husbands went, smiling, out Into the
street,
Eueh steering a bee-line at once to the
"Shad"*.”
Three wives had lieen told that three husbands
must meet
Three men upon business urgent to trades.
For men, after supper, grow rest less If they
Must spenil with their wives one hour a day,
And women must over be groaning.
Three wives followed after three husbands,
and saw
Them laughing and drinking and smoking,
so gay.
Around a small table, and playing at “draw,”
With business carls In a business way.
For women are curious always to know
Wlmt business takes tired husbands out so.
And when they And out there is groaning.
Throe husbands, unconscious of danger, were
bold,
Tel dreading three lectures they knew
they'd incurred.
Three furious women marched in, and—be
hold.
Three husbands marched out without saying
a word.
For none are so meek as are husbands when
caught.
And none are so good—for a day— as
those taught
By w ives that they, too, must bo groaning.
—II. C. Dudge, In Detroit Fret Frets.
NEAR-SIGHTEDNESS.
Of the optical defects, or refractive
errors, which to a greater or less extent
are capable of correction, I will first
mention myopia or near-sightedness,
since it is not only of greater frequency
than any other eye defect, but from its
very nature tends to devtlop into se
rious organic diseases. When I said in
a previous article that the human eye
was practically round, 1 referred, of
course, to that organ in its normal con
dition. The myopic eye, instead of
possessing this spherical shape is elon
gated from before backward. The
round eye is so constructed that the
parallel rays of light are brought to a
focus on the retina. If this retina be
pushed further back—as it virtually is
in a near-sighted eye—the rays of light
will be focused before reaching it. In
other words, there will be no screen
upon which to receive the image formed
by the condensing media, and hence no
impression can be conveyed to the
brain. This variation in the shape of
the organ is not to be measured by
inches—hardly by lines. A single half
linn oi inu aujusung screw 01 me micro
scope, though producing no visible
lengthening of the instrument, yet
causes the object which was before so
sharply defined to become blurred and
indistinct. So it does not require much
pressing back of the rear wall of the
eye-ball to render our vision decidedly
defective. It is generally supposed,
nnd was even formerly taught, that the
eves of near-sighted persons necessa
rily protruded, and that the cornea
in such cases was more convex than
usual. It is now known that it is the
posterior segment of the eye-ball which
is at fault—that portion pierced by the
optic nerve, and which, as I have al
ready told you, is the weakest part of
the entire globe.
Near-sightedness is most frequently
an acquired condition, though the
tendency to this defect may, and in the
majority of cases probably does, exist
at birth. That it is one of the uuhappy
results of our modern civilization and
our closer application to intellectual
pursuits can not be questioned. No
one ever heard of a near-sighted Indian,
and before our civil war the full-blooded
Southern negro was equally exempt
from this defect. ‘ The difference be
tween the eyes of children who attend
the public schools of our large cities—
where their brains are developed at the
expense of their bodies—-anil of those
residing in the country, where at most
only one-half of the year is devoted to
school duties, can not have failed to at
tract the attention of all observant per
sons. From Germany, Russia, France
and England we have reliable statistics
to prove the relative frequency of these
eye defects. Germany, as we know, is
a land of students, and so common is
myopia in that country that it has long
been impossible to till the ranks of its
armies without admitting those who are
compelled to wear glasses.
The progressive character of this de
fect is likewise clearly illustrated by
some statistics furnished by Dr. Cohn,
of Breslau. He examined the eyes of
ten thousand school children and found
results as follows: In the elementary
sohool about six per cent, were myopic,
in the intermediate school over ten per
cent., in the high school about twenty
per cent., and in the gymnasia over
twenty-six per cent. Other examina
tions,both in Europe and this country,
furnish us with closely corresponding
data. A very interesting and still more
suggestive series of experiments was
reported from St. Petersburg, a few
years since, where, according to high
authority, thirteen per cent, of tne
scholars begin life with inherited myo
pia. Several thousand children were
selected from the public schools of that
city, and had applied themselves more
or less closely to their books outside of
school hours. Among those who had
habitually studied two hours each day
the thirteen per cent, had increased to
seventeen per cent., while those who
had devoted four hours to their
books twenty-nine per cent, had
become near-sighted; and among
the most industrious ones and those
who, in their competition for class
prizes had averaged six hours of daily
outside work, more than forty per cent,
had injured their eyes and required
concave glasses for distant vision. One
authority claims that some of the
graduating classes in the highest
schools of the continent of Europe
exhibit the enormous proportion of
seventy per cent, of near sighted
students. In this country, it is
true, wc have not yet reached such
frightful figures, but we have already
statistics enough to prove conclusively
that the number of near-sighted or
weak-eyed persons is rapidly increas
ing, and that each additional year of
study is adding perceptibly to the per
centage of myopic children; and, inas
much .. s with the increase of acquired
cases will come a corresponding in
crease of inherited ones, it may not be
long before thirteen per cent, of our
population will start in life with this eye
delect. There can be no question that
eye diseases of this character are rapid
ly increasing, and our public schools,
with their forced system of education,
have been justly charged with causing
a large share of this growing evil. Does
not really appear as if our higher ed
ucation was threatening the eve-sight of
our race? This is a subject of vital in
terest to us all, parents, teachers and
physicians.
were this defect to consist alone in
rendering distant objects obscun^ it
would be bad enough, for that would
necessitate our passing through life un
able to recognize or enjoy one-half its
t*eauties and pleasures; but there is a
far more serious side to be considered.
My experience has taught me that a
near-sighted eye is a dangerous eye.
Imagine the wall of a house bulging
outward, be it ever so slightly, you
would say at once: “That is a danger
ous wall and likely to give way entirely
at some time in the future." If the
bulging were at all marked you would
say without even examining the interi
or, the plaster within is undoubtedly
ciaeked, the paper lining the walls
must of necessity be more or less
stretched and torn. So with the my
opic eye. Its outer wall has yielded to
the pressure that close and con
tinued eye work has made, and it
has become only a question of time
whether the inner coats will give way.
Now I come to a point of great prac
tical importance. All acquired myopia
is the result of over eye-work during the
growing period of childhood. When I
told you that the sclerotic, or outer coat,
was firm and unyielding, I referred only
to the normal adult eye. In children
between the ages of five and fifteen this
outer covering has not become fully
matured, and its powers of resistance
have been by no means developed to
the highest point. Yet it is generally
at this particular period in their lives
that the eyes of children are subjected to
their severest strains. Parents anil
teachers seem to vie with each other in
etlorts to ruin, as rapidly as may be, the
eyesight of the little ones under their
care. In many of our schools the one
object aimed at is mental development,
no matter at what physical sacrifice.
Studies are multiplied and lessons
| lengthened until the child is compelled
to spend in brain-work the hours which
’ could be so much more profitably de
voted to healthful bodily exercise.
It is especially upon girls that
this forced system of educa
tion bears the hardest. Up to
about fourteen years of age they are, as
a rule, brighter than boys, and being
more domestic in their tastes and habits
are easily induced to devote a larger
portion of their time to studious pur
suits. Their education is generally
supposed to be completed when they
have reached the age of seventeen or
eighteen. Boys, on the contrary, do
not usually settle down to close mental
work until after their entrance at col
lege, by which time the stock of vitality,
previously acquired by them on the
jilay-ground, together with the rapidly
maturing condition of their eye-struct
ures, permits them to perform the tasks
assigneil them without special detri
ment to their eye-sight. Happily for
the comfort of the unfortunate class of
individuals who either inherit or have
acquired near-sightedness, our present
knowledge of eye matters enables us
to prevent and to a considerable extent
correct this defect. By the use of the
proper concave glasses in early life the
child is able to hold his book further
from his face while reading or studying,
thereby relieving the eyes from consider
able strain and pressure; the habit of
stooping, so common among myopes, is
not acquired, and the chances of the
development of serious eye affections
later in life are sensibly diminished.
Happily, too, the general public is be
ginning to realize that glasses, when
intelligently prescribed, are of great
practical value; and the absurd notion
that no one requires spectacles until
middle-age is reached is fortunately
rapidly passing out of date. Family
medical advisers, in the best interests
of their patients, should recommend
that all practically useless studies be
dropped so soon as it is found that the
eyes of the children under their care
are suffering in any way from too close
mental application. Parents and teach
ers should bear in mind that the super
ficial knowledge of many books will not
compensate for an imperfectly devel
oped body; and the ambitious scholar
would do well to ask herself whether
the coveted medal be not too dearly
purchased if the price required be the
loss or the serious impairment of the
inestimable gift of sight.—A Physician
in Troy (N. Y.) Times.
The Other Sort of Swindler.
There were six or eight of us in the
smoking-car as the train was running
down to West Point from Atlanta, and
everything was lovely until the seventh
man got on at a small station. He had
no sooner entered the car than he looked
fixedly at the man who had been telling
us snake stories, and directly he walked
up to him and called out:
“Ha! you infernal swindler, I’ve
found you at last!”
“Who's a swindler?”
“ You are!”
“ I never saw you before!”
“You’re a liar, and I’m going to
pound eighteen dollar’s worth of cash
out of you!”
It was presently discovered that he
recognized the snake-story man as a
fruit-tree agent who had sold him some
grape-vines which did not show up, and
he was spitting on his hands and making
ready to do the pounding, when the
other remarked:
“My dear fellow, I insist upon it that
you are mistaken. I was never in the
fruit-tree business, and I never swindled
you out of eighteen dollars.”
“I say you did.”
“Never! Instead of swindling you out
of eighteen dollars on grape-vines, I am
the man who charged you sixteen dollars
too much for a sewing machine, and
here’s your money!”
“ Well, now, come to look more close
ly at you, I believe you're right,” said
the seventh man.
“Of course I’m right,” growled the
other, as he counted out the money,
“and I warn ydu to be a little more
careful in future. I have a reputation
to sustain, and grape-vine swindles are
not in my line. Here’s your sixteen
dollars, and now I think you ought to
apologize! ’ ’—Detroit Free 'Press.
—The highest sum realized by Georg*
Eliot for any one of her later works wa
#75,000, while the lowest she received
was #40,000.
A Pleasing Experiment.
Every time I try to improve my mind
with science I resolve that I will never
do it again, and then I always go and
do it. Sc ience is so dreadfully tempting
that you can hardly resist it. Mr. Trav
ers says that if anybody once gets into
the habit of being a scientific person
there is little hope that he will ever re
form, and he says he has known good
men who liecame habitual astronomers,
and actually took to prophesying weath
er, all because they yielded to the
temptation to look through telescopes,
and to make figures on the blackboard
with chalk.
I was reading a lovely book the other
day. It was all about balloons and
parachutes. A parachute is a thing
you fall out of a balloon with. It is
something like an open umbrella, only
nobody ever borrows it. If you hold a
parachute over your head and drop out
of a balloon, it will hold you up so that
you will come down to the ground so
gently that you won't be hurt the least
bit.
I told Tom Maginnis1 about it,
and we said we would make a para
chute, and jump out of the sec
ond-story window with it. It
is easy enough to make one, for all you
have to do is to get a big umbrella and
open it wide,and nold on to the handle.
Last Saturday afternoon Tom came
over to my house, and we got ready to
try what the book said was “a pleasing
scientific experiment.’'
We didn t have the least doubt that
the book told the truth. But Tom
didn't want to be the first to jump out
of the window—neither did I—and we
thought we’d give Sue's kitten a chance
to try a parachute, and see how she
liked it. Sue had an umbrella that was
made of silk, and was just the tiling to
suit the kitten. I knew Sue wouldn’t
mind lending the umbrella, and as she
was out making calls, and I couldn't
ask her permission, I borrowed the
umbrella and the kitten, and meant to
tell her all about it as soon as she came
home. We tied the kitten fast to the
handle of the umbrella, so as not to hurt
her, and then dropped her out of the
window. The wind was blowing tre
mendously hard, which I supposed was
a good thing, for it is the air which
holds up a parachute, and of course the
more wind there is, the more air there
is, and the better the parachute will
stay up.
The minute we dropped the cat and
the umbrella out of the window the
wind took them and blew them clear
over the fence into Deacon Smedley’s
pasture before they struck the ground.
This was all right enough, but the para
chute didn’t stop after it struck the
ground. It started across the country
about as fast as a horse could run, hit
ting the ground every few minutes and
then bouncing up into the air and coming
down again, and the kitten kept claw
ing at everything, and yowling as if
she was being killed. By the time Tom
and I could get down stairs the umbrel
la was about a quarter of a mile off.
We chased it till we couldn’t run any
longer, but we couldn’t catch it, and
the last we saw of the umbrella and the
cat they were making splendid time
toward the river, and I’m very much
afraid they were both drowned.
Tom and I came home again, and
when we got a little rested we said we
would take the big umbrella and try
the pleasing scientific experiment; at
least I said that Tom ought to try it,
for w’e had proved that a little silk um
brella would let a kitten down to the
ground without hurting her, and of
course a great big umbrella would hold
Tom up all right. I didn’t care to try
it myself, because Tom was visiting
me, and wre ought always to give up our
own pleasures in order to make our vis
itors happy.
Aittir wime 10m s:tiu nr woiuu uu i
it, anil when the wind blew hard he
jumped.
It is my opinion, now that the thing
is all over, that the umbrella wasn’t
large enough, and that if Tom had struck
the ground he would have been hurt.
He went down awfully fast, but
by good luck the grocer’s man
was just coming out of the kitch
en door as Tom came down, and
he lit right on the man’s head. It is
wonderful how luck}’ some people are,
for the grocer’s man might have been
hurt if ne hadn’t happened to have a
bushel basket half full of eggs with him,
and as he and Tom both fell into the
eggs, neither of them was hurt.
They were just getting out from
among the eggs when Sue came in with
some of the ribs of her umbrella that
somebody had fished out of the river
and given to her. There didn’t seem
to be any kitten left, for Sue didn’t
know anything about it, but father and
Mr. Maginnis came in a few minutes
afterward, and I had to explain the
whole thing to them.
This is the last “pleasing scientific
experiment” I shall ever try. I don’t
think science is at all nice, and,besides,
I am awfully sorry about the kitten.—
“Johnny Brown," in Harper's Young
People.
The Clock of Strassburg.
The late transit of Venus curiously
proved the accurate calculations of the
ancient makers of that famous horo
logical curiosity, the Strassburg clock.
A few days before the transit, the
American Register tells us, visitors to
the cathedral, inspecting in the planeta
rium attached to the clock, noticed that
one of the small gilt balls representing
Venus was gradually moving toward a
point between the sun and the earth,
and on the day of the passage the ball
stood exactly between them. Old Con
rad Dasypodius, the Strassburg mathe
matician, superintended the manufact
ure of the clock and its accompanying
?lanetnrium some time between 1571
4, the dates differing according to
various authorities; and it is interesting
to note that, after three hundred years
of existence, the clock faithfully ful
fills the calculations of its dead inventor.
A correspondent sends the foregoing,
which is quoted from the London
Graphic, expresses doubts of its cor
rectness, and asks for information. One
of our astronomical correspondents
sends us the following notes:
The construction of a machine which
could exhibit accurately the motions,
distances and magnitude of the planets.
and could be kept in running order foi
three hundred years, is an impossibility.
Such a piece of mechan:sm would re
quire the skill of the (treat Architect of
worlds.
The history of the Strassburg clock
and the planetarium connected with it
bears witness, like everything else, to
the imperfection of workmanship, and
the frequent necessity of changes and
repairs.
The clock stands in the cathedral, and
dates back to 1352, when it was put up
under the patronage of Berthold de
Buchek, at the time Bishop of Strass
burg. As time passed on. the clock got
out of order, and in 1547 three distin
guished mathematicians were commis
sioned to put it in repair. They all
died before the work was finished, and
Conrad Dasypodius undertook the re
sponsible task, which he completed in
four years. The clock worked well
until 1783. the year of the Great Revo
lution. when it struck for the last time.
It was left undisturocu for nearly
fifty years, and fell into a dilapidated
condition, mournful to behold. An ef
fort was then made for its restoration.
This was found to be impossible, for
the works were rendered almost useless
by rust and verdigris. Finally,
Schwilgue, an artist and mathemati
cian of Strassburg, undertook to re
pair, modify and reinstate the clock.
He commenced the task in 1836, and,
after working four years, completed it
in 1840.
A mythical storvistold of him, which
docs not redound to the honor of his
fellow-citizens. It is said that he had
engaged to construct a similar clock for
the capital of one of the Swiss cantons,
and that his ungrateful townsmen put
out his eyes to prevent the fulfillment of
the contract.
Schwilgue placed the mechanism of
the old clock in the old casing, after
skillful improvements and alterations,
where it continues to be a source of
proud satisfaction to the inhabitants of
Strassburg, and an unfailing object of
attraction to travelers from all quarters
of the globe. Besides the remarkable
performance connected with the regular
clock-work, it shows the sidereal time,
the movements of the planetary system
and the precession of the equinoxes. It
is claimed that the mechanism is so per
fectly elaborated that it marks the 29th
of February in every' leap year.
It is not impossible that the planeta
rium may have marked the transit ot
Venus on the Gth of December last, for
if the inclination of the orbits of Venus
and the earth to the ecliptic is accurate
ly represented, Venus must sometimes
be at appoint directly between the earth
and the sun, and consequently make a
transit over his disk. The possibility of
such an occurrence probably never en
tered the mind of the ancient Conrad
Dasypodius; much less had he power to
make the accurate planetary arrange
ment to bring about a result, after a
lapse of three hundred years, depend
ing on contingencies then unknown. It
was not until the seventeenth century
that Kepler so far improved the planet
ary tables so as to predict that a transit
of Venus would occur on the 6th of De
cember, 1631.
We have no means of knowing what
improvements Schwilgue made in the
ancient piece of mechanism, but it is
safe to say that absolute perfection was
not attained. If Venus did actually
wheel into line between the earth and
sun on the 6th of last December, we aru
inclined to think it must have been a
simple coincidence rather than a result
of profound mathematical calculation.
If such were not the case, why did W6
hear nothing of the transit of Venus in
1874, nor of the six transits of Mercury
that have taken place since the planeta
rium was put in order in 1840?—Sciem
tiftc American.
The Outer Hebrides.
One mile from Mingalay lies South
Bernera, the southernmost of the isles,
a bold mass of gneiss, about a mib in
length and half a mile in width, sloping
gradually downward toward the east,
but presenting to the western waves a
precipitous front of about seven hun
dred feet in height, crowned with a
magnificent light-house of granite and
iron, such as may defy the wildest
storm and warn all mariners to keep as
far as possible from this deadly coast.
It is said that this blessed light can be
discerned at a distance of upward of
thirty miles, but practically the height
of the crag on which it has been placed
is found to be a disadvantage, as its light
is often shrouded in mist, while all is
clear below.
Lonely indeed is the lot of the men in
charge of this beacon light, left to their
own resources on this uttermost isle,
their only communication with the
outer world being when, twice a year,
the lighthouse stores are brought by a
steamer, which can only lie to for a
few hours, for there is no manner ol,
anchorage, and the only possible land
ing-place is a shelving Jeage of rock, on
which if he who would go ashore he must
spring-at the moment when his boat
rises on the crest of a wave, and then
make the best of his way to the summit
by scrambling up a slippery, shelving
rock.
Once a year, too, a priest from Barra
comes here to visit his little flock, num
bering about two score—a fine, hardy,
self-reliant nice. Their isle supplies
Casture for cows and goats, so they
ave the blessing of good milk; other
wise the sea-birds who congregate on
the cliffs—puffins and auks, guillemots
and kittewakes—supply their larder
with fresh meat in summer and salt
meat for winter use; also, with oil for
their lamps and feathers for bedding.
When fishing is possible the boats go
off to wrest a harvest from the sea
cuddies, haddock, herring, flounders,
lythe and sythe, rock-codlings and
skate. Eels they will not touch, but
dog-fish are welcome, and are salted
and dried for winter store.
In the spring time thousands of eggs
are taken by bold cragsmen, who ad
venture and sometimes sacrifice their
lives in this quest. -~AU the Year Round.
—Mrs. Sarah Ray, a washerwoman
of Leadville, and the first female who
dared set foot in the place, has amassed
a fortune of $1,000,000 by investing her
earnings in milring shares.— Denver
Tribune
PERSONAL AND LITERARY.
—Mrs. Langtry says she saw more
beautiful women in Baltimore than in
any other American city.
—Mrs. Mvra Clark Gaines, who has
obtained judgment for nearly f2,000,
OOJ from the city of New Orleans, is
seventy-eight years old.
—The oldest banker in the United
States is Mrs. Deborah Powers, aged
ninety-three, of the banking house of I),
Powers & Sons, at Lansingburg, N. Y.
j —“A Tallahassee Girl” was written
by Mr. Barton D. Jones, “a Northern
gentleman,” and the vivacious heroine
is no other than Miss Norio Long, the
daughter of a late Governor of Florida.
—X. Y. Times.
—Edward Manet, the French painter,
whose death at Paris has been an
nounced, was well known to Americans
as the illustrator of Poe’s poem of “The
Raven.” He was one of the leaders of
the “impressionist” school of art.
—Samuel B. Rindge, who died in
Cambridge, Mass., a few days ago, left an
estate estimated to be worth f2,000,000.
He began life as an office boy in a Bos
ton store and the same store was owned
by him at the time of his death.—Boston
Journal.
—Hayward Hutchinson, who died the
other day in Washington, was the most
genteel acquisition that place has had
since the war. He used the wealth de
rived from the Alaska seal monopoly to
make everybody happy and himself only
half so.—Washington Star.
—Mrs. Martha Dodge, of Oswego, N.
Y.,who is ninety-one years of age, visit
ed her birth-place recently in Middle
field, Conn., for the first time since 1806.
She found only one person living there
whom she knew in her childhood. He
was then a little boy of eight, and is
now an old man of eighty-four.
—JohnL. Stoddard’s leetureon “The
Alps,” at Philadelphia, was so graphic
that one of the gentlemen in the au
dience assured him afterwards that,
with his imagination thus stirred, he
had followed the speaker up Mont
Blanc, until {he atmosphere became so
raritied as to make his nose bleed.—
Philadelphia Press.
—Mr. Lyman, who has received the
appointment of Chief Examiner in the
Civil Service, has been in the service of
the Treasury Department since Decem
ber 17, 1864. In 1870 he was appointed
Assistant Chief of the stationery divi
sion, and July 1, 1878, he was pro
moted to the chief clerkship of the Treas
urer’s office.
—Chepeta. the widow of Chief Ouray,
whose lamentations while on the Col
orado reservation over her loss excited
the pity of the West, and who, with her
tribe, was sent by the Government out
to Utah, has broken her vows and mar
ried again. Her second choice is a Ute
named Toomuchagut, who has always
been peace-loving and friendly to t&e
whites. He has been frugal, and of
sheep and ponies he has more than any
other half dozen of his fellows.—Chicago
Tribune.
HUMOROUS.
—Bootblacks are friendly little fel
lows. They take a shine to anybody.
—A man in England has been fined
for biting off the tails of two dogs. He
must be something of a wag.—Roches
ter Post-Express.
—When a woman wrants to get rid of
her husband for an hour, she sends him
up stairs to get something from the
pocket of her dress.
—“Mr. Isaacs, can you tale me vare
vas the first diamond?’’ “No, Mr.
Yaweobs; vere vas it?” “Vy, Noah’s
son onde ark; he vas a Shem of der fust
vater."—Chicago Tribune.
—“Maria,” said Mrs. Parvenu to her
daughter, “who is that Mr. Dude that
the papers have so much to say about?
I must ask your father to bring him to
dinner, for I guess we ought to know
him.”-A. Y. Mail.
—Lady (to dry-goods clerk): “If you
will cut "me a small sample of this I will
(ind out from by dressmaker how many
yards I need, and can send for the ,
goods by the maid.” Enfant Terri
ble; "Why, mamma, that’s just what
you said in all the other stores.”
—Mrs. Malaprop was heard to re- j
mark apropos of the weather: “I can’t ;
see into this Wiggins’s idee. Of course,
Juniper and Satan bein’ in pedigree
would be rather like ter git up some
sorter storm, but it don’t seem ter me
that the sun and moon’s being in effigy
would raise any rumpus.”—Rome (N. j
Y.) Sentinel.
—An Irishman who had a pig in his
possession was observed to adopt the
constant practice of tilling it to reple- ,
tion one day and starving it the next.
On being asked his reason for doing so,
he replied: “Oeh, sure, and isn’t it that
I like to have bacon with a strake o’ fat
and a strake of lean aqually, one after
t’other.—Chicago Herald.
—An Arkansas boy, writing from col
lege in reply to his father's letter, said:
“So you think that I am wasting my
time in writing little stories for the
local papers, and cite Johnson’s saying
that the man who writes except for
money is a fool. I shall act upon Dr.
Johnson's suggestion and write for
money. Send me fifty dollars. "-Arkan
saw Traveller.
—It was not a doctor he needed:
Lawyer Pullman is an Austin Lawyer
who has a great reputation for collect
ing bad debts. If the money can be
got out of a man he will get it. It was
to this lawyer that little Bob Binckley
referred when he was requested to run
quick for a doctor, as a neighbor's child
had swallowed a coin. “Doctor be
blowed, I’ll run for Lawyer Pullman;
he’ll get the money out of the kid
quicker ’n a dozen doctors.”—Texas
Siftings.
—Committed of Solicitation—“Is
Mrs. Smith at home?” Mary Ann
(lately landed)—“No, ma’am. Sec
ond Lady of Committee—“How un
fortunate! We wanted to see her on
business. Please tell her so when you
hand her these cards.” Third Lady—
“Have vou any idea when she will be
in? ” ilarv Ann (who has been drilled
for formalities)—“Yes, ma'am; she
said when she ran out on the piazza as
bow she’d come right in again as soon
as she heard the door shut”— Chicago
Times
Temperance.
WHO HATH 80RR0W1
Who hath sorrow*, who hath woe*?
He who to the ale-hou*e goe*.
W ho hath fighting* *ml contention*,
CJrlef und fearful apprehension*.
C’auatde** wound*, a guilty *oul?
He who thir.*t* for alcohol—
Follow* it to ruin'* brink
In hi* craving* after drink.
Who hath babbling*? Who but they
I^ed by alcohol a*tray—
Idiotic in their talking.
Inline ami crippled in their walking
Who are these with eye* *o red.
Vile, besotted, rep.son fled?
Tho*e are they who tarry long.
Drinking wine and liquor strong.
Look not on the ruby wln«
W hen it* color seein* divine;
IVath I* In that *parkling cup.
Never dare to take It up.
For at la*t the serpent'* trail
And the adder’* *ting prevail.
Therefore on the goblet frown—
Hpurn the liquor, dash it down.
— Texas Siftingn.
A SUCCESSFUL TEMPERANCE LECT
URE.
“Jimmy, throw that jug into the pig
pen. Smash it first, and he sure you
don’t taste a drop of the vile stuff,” said
an anxious-looking woman rs she hand
ed her little son the brown jug which
she had just found hidden in the sheet.
“Father we>n‘t like it,” began the
boy, eyeing the ugly thing with a look
of fear ami hate; for it made mother
miserable, and father a brute.
“I said I’d make way with it the next
time' I found it, and I will! It's full,
and 1 don’t feel as if 1 could live
through another dreadful time like the
last. If we put it out of sight, may be
father will keep sober for another
month. Go quick, before he comes
home.” And the poor woman pushed
the boy to the door as if she could not
wait a minute till the curse of her life
was destroyed.
Glad to comfort her, and have the fun
of smashing anything, Jimmy ran off,
and, giving the jug a good bang on the
post, let the whisky run where it would
as he flung the pieces into the pig-pen,
and went back to his work.
He was only eleven; but he struggled
manfully with the old saw, and the
tough apple-tree boughs he had collect
ed for fuel. It was father's work, but
he neglected it, and Jimmy wouldn’t
see mother suffer from cold, so he
trimmed the trees, and did his best to
keep the fire going. He had to stop
often to rest, and in these pauses he
talked to himself, having no other com
pany.
Not long after the destruction of the
jug, he heard a great commotion in the
pen, and, looking in. saw the two pigs
capering about in a curious way. They
ran tip and down, squealed, skipped and
bumped against one another as if they
didn't see straight, and had no control
of their legs.
Jimmy was much amused for a few
mjnutes, but, when one staggered to the
through, and began to lap something
there, and the other tumbled down and
could not get up, he understood the
cause of these antics.
“Oh, dear! I let the whisky run into
the trough, and those bad pigs are tipsy!
What shall I do?-’
He watched them an instant, and
then added in a sober tone, as he shook
his head sadly: “That’s just the way
father does, lively first, then cross, then
stupid. They don't look funny to me
now, and I’m so so sorry for ’em. They
will be dreadfully ashamed w hen they
get sober. I’m glad there isn't any
wife and little son to be scared and mor
tified and sorry over ’em. I'll talk to
em, and tell ’em what the man said in
the Temperance lecture we went to
last night. May be it w’ill do ’em
good.”
So Jimmy mounted the choppino'
block close by, and repeated all he could
remember, making a funny jumble, but
being very much in earnest, and quite
unconscious that he had another hearer
besides the pigs:
“My friends, rum is an awful thing.
People who drink are slaves. They are
worse than dumb beasts who don't
drink. (Yes, they do; but that was my
fault.) Half the sin and sorrow in the
world come from rum. Men waste
their money, neglect their families,
break their wives' hearts, and set a bad
example to their children. People bet
ter die than drink, and make brutes of
themselves. Lots of money is wasted.
Folks kill other folks when they are
drunk, and steal, and lie, and do every
bad thing. Now, my friends (I mean
you pigs), turn from your evil ways,
and drink no more. (I’ll smash the
jug behind the barn next time, where
even the hens can’t find it.) Rise in
your manhood, and free yourselves from
this awful slavery. (They are both fast
asleep, but 1 11 help ’em up when they
wake.) Lead better lives, and don’t let
those who love you suffer shame and
fear and grief for your weakness. (I do
love you, old fellows, anti I am so sorry
to see you make such pigs of yourselves.)
Here is the pledge; come and sign it.
Keep it all your lives, and be good men.
(1 mean pigs.)”
Here Jimmy smiled, but he meant
what he said, and, pulling out of his
pocket a piece of paper and a pen
cil, he jumped down to use the block as
a desk, saying, as he wrote in big let
ters: “ They shall have a pledge, and
they can make a mark as people do who
can't write. I’ll make it short, so they
can understand it, and I know they wiil
keep it, fori shall help them.”
So busy was the boy with his work
that he never saw a man steal from be
hind the pen where he haJ been listen
ing, and laughing at Jimmy's lecture, till
something seemed to change the smiles
to tears, for, as he peeped over the lad’s
shoulder, he saw how worn the little
jacket wa$, how bruised ami blistered
the poor bands were with too hard work,
and how he stood on one foot, because
his toes were out of the old shoes.
A montn's wages were in the man’s
pocket, and he meant to spend them in
more whisky when his jug was empty.
Now the money seemed all too little to
make his son tidy, and he couldn’t bear
to think how much he had wasted on
low pleasures that made a worse brute
of him than the pigs.
“There!” said Jimmy, “I guess
that will do. We, Tom and Jerfy. do
solemnly promise never to touch, taste
nor handle anything that can make us
drunk.”
“ Now for the name*. Which shall
mark ftrst?”
“I will!” said the man, startling
Jimmy so much that he nearly tumbled
into the pen as be was climbing up.
The paper fluttered down inside, and
both forgot it as the boy looked up at
the mao, saying, half ashamed, half
glad:
“Wbv, father, did you hear me? I
was only sort of playing.”
“ I am in earnest, for your lecture
was a very good one; and I’m not going
to be a beast any longer. Here's money
for new shoes and jacket. Give me the
saw. I’ll do my own work now, and
you go tell mother what I say,”
Jimmy was about to race away, when
the sight of Tom and Jerry eating tip
the paper made him clap his hands, ex
claiming, joyfully:
“ They’ve taken the pledge really and
truly. I’m so glad!”
It was impossible to help laughing;
but the man was very sober again as he
said, slowly, with his hand on Jimmy's
shoulder:
“You shall write another for me.
I’ll sign it, and keep it, too, if you will
help me, mv good little son.”
“ I will, father. I will!” cried Jimmy
with all his happy heart, and then ran
in to carry the good news to mother.
That was his tirst lecture, but not his
last: for he delivered many more when
he was a man, because the work begun
that day prospered well, and those
pledges were truly kept.—Louisa M.
Alcott, in the Press.
The Action of the Michigan Legis
lature.
The members of the Michigan Legis
lature were highly appreciative of the
graceful presentation of flowers to every
man who voted for the Educational bill.
As their eyes caught sight of those elo
quent tributes, these who were the
fortunate recipients were touched even
to tears, one of them saying to the
ladies: “I must thank vou for this, it
was so unexpected; and’ when I read the
card, I could not keep the tears back to
think our work has been so appreci
ated.” Hut the unfortunates, those
who voted wrong, were in high dud
geon, and a representative of this small
class went so far as to say: “What
have the women to do with this hill?
what business have they to be meddling
with this?” Ah, gentlemen of the
Legislature, you could not have touched
women’s hearts more deeply than to
pro\ide such a fortification of good
teaching for the boys who are assaulted
on every hand, even on their way to the
school-house.
The following is the full text of the
law:
The District Board shall specify the studiet
to he pursued in schools of the district: f’rtj
ruied alusiys, That provision shall be made for
instructing M pupi l in even/ school in physi
ology and hygiene, with special reference to
the effects of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and
narcotics generally upon the human system.
No certificate shall tie granted any person to
teach in the schools of Michigan who shall not
pas- a satisfactory examination after Sep
tember 1, 1*84, in physiology and hygiene with
particular reference to the effects of alcoholic
drinks, stimulants and narcotics upon the
human system.—Chap. 3. See. 15.
If “all pupils in every school” in all
the States were being taught as this law
requires, how long would the Temper
ance question remain an unsolved prob
lem in this country?—Union Signal.
, ——
Temperance Items.
THIRTY-THREE REFORM DRl NKARDS
joined one Methodist Episcopal Church
in’ Cleveland, O., in one year. This
does not look as if it were impossible to
reach the drunkard.—S.S. Times.
The yearly consi mption of ale—a
beverage which is certainly less used
than many others—in Philadelphia
alone amounts to 200,000 barrels, repre
senting an expenditure of $8,000,000.
Another lkjl’OR-dealbr has been
converted to total abstinence, and has
shown the genuineness of his conversion
by his deeds. He owned a public house
in Ilkeston. Eng., and when he joined
the Blue Ribbon army he emptied his
stock of spirits into the gutter and pre
sented his sign-boards to the local divi
sion as trophies.
Here is good news. The Advisory
Board of the Grand Army of the Repub
lic. which is to “encamp” on a grand
scale in Denver, this summer, met one
day last month, in that city, and decid
ed that no liquor should be sold on the
grounds to tempt the 70,000 soldiers
who will share in the pleasures of the
reunion. They even went so far as to
make efforts to secure jurisdiction over
as much adjacent ground as possi
ble, for the sake of encircling the “boys
in blue” with a wide sweep of tempta
tionless territory.—Union Signal.
A LADY HAS JUST GIVEN $6,000 to
the Temperance cause, who, a few years
ago was told by her husband that, as
Temperance was l>eing agitated in their
State (Virginia), he thought he would
sign the Temperance pledge to help the
cause. With great pride she said; “1
would be ashamed of a husband who
would thus surrender "his personal lib
erty.” One year from that time he died
of ’ delirium tremens, and her sons,
learning to drink at their mother's
table, have both died drunkards.—Con
gregationalist.
The Maryland State Temperance
Alliance has been holding its annual
session in Baltimore, and shows that
under the Local-Option plan Prohibi
tion prevailed on the first of May in
thirteen counties of the State, excepting
three or four election districts, ana also
in localities of several other counties.
Mr. Daniel, President of the Alliance,
in his report recommends adhesion to
the methods of the past for securing
Prohibition in all the remaining coun
ties and districts, and to secure a vote
on the Constitutional Amendment ques
tion.
A Detroit Liquor Firm sent re
cently to Whitall, Tatum & Co., glass
manufacturers of Millville, N. J., an
order for one gross of bottles for the
purpose of putting up samples of liquor
for their traveling agents. The Phila
delphia house sent the following reply:
Philadelphia, March 20, 1888.
R. Brand * Co., Toledo. Ohio; Respected
Friends: We are In receipt of your favor of
10th. We cannot fill your order for one groes
bottles, as we are opposed to supplying the
liquor trade with our goods.
Respectfully. WhiTall, Tatum * Co.
This is just what might be expected
of the consistent Temperance men who
compose the firm, ana is only a sam
ple of what has been their position tot
a long time past,-?.Cmt»* Signal.