Semi-weekly independent., April 25, 1896, Image 6

About Semi-weekly independent. (Plymouth, Marshall County, Ind.) 1895-1897

Image provided by: Indiana State Library

                
SONG OF THE SHIRT WAIST,
How should a stenographer dress?
Second to none.
AVith finders nimble and strong.
With eyes that are sparkling and keen,
'A yuung woman sits in a womanly rig
With her pencil, her pad and machine.
Scratch, scratch, scratch,
With speed; not fussy with haste;
No poverty plaint, nor even a patch
Or smirch on her neat shirt waist.
IWrite, write, write,
From the business hour of nine;
'And write, write, write,
Till time to lunch or to dine.
Then it's oh. for a jolly langh!
With a bone of a rurk to pick.
Where sister workers meet and chaff
In the respite hour from click.
Click, click, click,
Merrily, line upon line;
Click, click, click.
And the shirt waist wavelets shine.
Quick-witted to catch the thought.
To correct each grammatical lapse,
Not sentimentally taught
By Balzac; but better, perhaps.
Click, click, click.
As eager at work as at play.
Click, click, click.
The sheet, rolls up and awaj.
E's and $'s and Y's.
Y's and $'s and E's;
Ticking them up with her twinkling
eyes.
And rattling them off the keys.
.Wnte, write, write.
All womanly work elevates;
."Write, write, write,
Esteem on faithfulness waits.
Oh, women with brothers dear.
Oh, women with husbands and sons!
(Heed not their sneers
At your sisters and peers.
Nor the talk of the morbid ones.
Right! right! right!
A just independence to gain,
And right! right! right!
Be it yours to help her attain.
-New York Sun.
GEO. EOCKERTOX'S
SWEETHEART.
I.
Alpheus Monrough had made his pile
as a speculator, principally in rails,
but ho still amused himself by dealing
Dow and again to the extent of $1,000.-
000 or so, although for general business
he had practically retired from 'change.
He was a widower, with an only daugh
ter. Miss Phyllis Monrough, aged -0
a lino, handsome Monde, who had
taken up the study of science.
' Phyllis had, of course, heaps of offers,
eligible and otherwise, but she had not
met the man whom she cared to marry,
and, at her urgent desire, her father
had sent her to Harvard to enable her
.to pursue her studies.
1 She went to the university with a
xniud fully made up to devote her life
to science and to abjure matrimony. In
fact, as she herself put it, she had lock
ed up her heart and thrown away the
key.
But we are told that '"love laughs at
locksmiths," and, in confirmation there
of, she; bad not been long at Harvard
when she found herself head over ears
In love with (leorge Stanislaus Boek
ertou, who was studying law there.
Young Koekerton came from a good
family, was rieb, good-looking, and in
every way eligible; but when Phyllis
wrote to her papa informing him of her
tender passion and asking his consent
to her engagement, she received a tele
gram (be" was so urgent that he would
not wait for the post to carry his re
fusal K
'"No. Come home at once."
. Phyllis had so rarely been denied
any tiling that she was angry, astonish
ed, dumfounded, brokenhearted all at
once. No mere words can accurately
describe her feelings. However, there
was no help for it. She must obey.
'And so, after an Interview with her
lover, in which they vowed eternal at
tachment, she precipitately threw up
her studies and her newly-found hopes
of bliss and returned to New York.
Her father received her kindly, but
With a firm-set countenance, which she
knew from her observations of his
dealings with others indicated that his
mind was made' up, and that nothing
could alter it.
She, of course, burst into tears to be
gin with. Put it made no visible effect
on her parent.
".My dear Phyllis," he said, "3 011 can
not imagine how it pains mo to bo
obliged to run counter to your desires,
but when I have explained matters to
you, I hope you will agree with mo
and give up the idea of marrying this
young Bockerton.
"When I was a lad, my father had a
farm out West, the adjoining farm to
.which belonged to Palph Koekerton,
the grandfather of the young man you
have met.
"I need not go into details; it will
suffice for you to know that my father
and old Itockerton had a bitter quarrel,
and that a feud arose between the two
families which can never bo healed.
'I would rather boo you in your cof
fin,' he added, melodramatically, "than
see you the wife of one of that brood."
"Put, papa," urged Phyllis, "It is a
very long time ago, and I don't think
that a quarrel between my grandfather
and his grandfather should be any rea
son why C'eo I mean Mr. Koekerton
should not be a good husband to me.
lie Is rich. I've always done as you've
.wished, and now, when I feel that my
life's happiness is at stake, you make
this stupid objection."
She sobbed afresh, but her tears were
thrown away on her obdurate parent,
so she tried to cross-examine him on
the subject of the quarrel.
"It must have lotn a very dreadful
quarrel, papa, for you to harbor re
jeue all these years. Tell me more
about It. If my life Is to be blighted,"
she said, sighing deeply, "I should like
to know why."
Mr. Monrough felt himself getting in
to a corner with his daughter's wiles
and tears, and he got a bit angry.
"It would bo of no use," he replied,
shortly; "my mind Is irrevocably made
up. Put I may say this, as was com
mon in those days, tbe quarrel led to
fighting, and until your grandfather's
death, which happened about two
years afterward, every member of
either family took every opportunity
of trying to take the life of some mem
ber of the other. After father's death
we pold the farm and came East, and
so the enmity ceased actively; but I
could never consent to your marrying
into the hated family never!"
"Put, papa," Insisted the girl, "what
was it about? What led to the quar
rel:" "It was about a stream, my dear,
which ran between the two estates.
Old Koekerton insisted that the water
was all on his land, whereas it was the
boundary, and we had the right on one
side of the stream and ho on the other.
Put it really distresses me to think
about that dreadful time, when for two
whole years I walked about with my
life in my hand, so to speak. I beg you
will say no moreen the subject."
"Well, Just one question, papa," ask
ed Phyllis, with an eye to future con
tingencies. "Was anyone killed?"
"No. No one was killed." answered
Mr. Monrough; "but your grandfather
was shot in the arm, and I can never
forgive them never never!"
Her father then Insisted on her prom
ising him that she would never marry
without his consent, which she did
readily enough, but she saw it was use
less arguing with him any further, and
for the time the matter ended.
II.
It soon became evident to Mr. Mon
rough that Phyllis was really fretting
and making herself ill about "tlMit con
founded fellow Koekerton," as he said
to himself. He was a man of action,
and determined to give her a thorough
change.
"Phyllis, my girl," ho said the next
morning at breakfast, "how would you
like to go to England for a bit?"
"Oh. papa!" she exclaimed, with the
most brilliant look on her face that he
had seen there for a long time. "That
would bo delightful You know I've
always wanted to go across and see the
old world. Put can you spare the
time?'"
"Well, no, my girl. I can't just now,"
he replied. "I am obliged to remain
here for a time, as I have a speculation
on which requires my presence on tho
spot, hut Mrs. Laking is going over by
the next Cunarder and she would cha
peron you to your uncle's in Manches
ter, where you could stay and amuse
yourself till I arrive, which probably
would lie in about three months."
So it was settled, and the following
week Phyllis, having first informed
young Koekerton, with whom she kept
up a secret correspondence, of her de
parture and her destination, stepped on
board tho mail steamship under tho
care of her lady friend and in due
course arrived at her uncle's in Man
chester. She was warmly received by her Eng
lish relatives. Thomas Spander, her
late mother's brother, had a large busi
ness in tho cotton spinning trade in
Manchester, and resided at IirkLile,
going backward and forward to his
business, so that she had the benefit of
the sea air. What with that and her
voyage over and her new surroundings
she in a very short time resumed her
old healthy looks, and, as Mr. Spander
wrote to Mr. Monrough, "she seemed
to have entirely forgotten her love
affair."
She also, of rouse, frequently wrote
to her father. In one of her letters she
said:
"I am awfully comfortable here. Ev
erybody seems to do everything possi
ble to make me happy. Uncle Thomas'
son leorge is at home from tho uni
versity, where ho Is studying for the
church. He seems a very nice young
man, not at all solemn as one would
think, and he plays tennis lovely. He
returns to Cambridge to-morrow."
"Urn!" reflected old Monrough, as he
read this letter. "That's more Ike it,
now! Put I'd rather she didn't marry
a parson. Still, if they knock their
heads together, I won't stand in the
way. I'll give her plenty of money,
and" (he had rather vague Ideas of
church matters) "It'll get him a deanery
or a bishopric, or something."
Phyllis had been in England for two
months, and everything had settled
down quietly, when Mr. Monrough was
electrified one morning to receive a
cablegram from her:
(leorge has come all the way from Cam
bridge. Wants to marry me immediately.
Do you consent and make us happy?
PHYLLIS.
"Well! this beats cock fighting!" mur
mured Mr. Monrough, as ho stared at
tho message. "Ho must have fallen
very deeply in love with her, indeed.
Oh, I consent. Put how about the set
tlement? I suppose that Tom Spander
reckons on my doing what is right, and
so I will. I wish I could get over, but
I'm stuck fast with that confounded
speculation for another month. It
might lose me a million If I left It, and
I can't afford that. Well, hero goes!"
And ho sent this reply telegram:
Don't understand the hurry, but I con
sent. Am very pleased. Wish every hap
piness. Cannot leave here for a month.
Tell uncle I vill arrange handsomely.
MUNKOCCJII.
III.
Ten days after this message, on tho
morning of the arrival of the Cunard
steamship at New York, Mr. Monrough
was sitting in his private ollice when
the door opened and in walked his
daughter, leaning on the arm of a very
well-set-up young man of course, her
husband.
The old man Jumped upw 1
"Well, this is a surprise !" he shouted.
"What on earth made you in such a
hurry to get married? Ah! well, I was
young myself once, and I know when
I fell In love with your mother I was
in a deuce of a hurry to get married."
"Oh, papa!" murmured Phyllis, as she
threw her arms around his neck and
kissed him. "It was so kind of you to
give your consent. I am so happy. I
thought you would, though, when you
knew what a long way George had
como to seek me!"
"Oh, well, I guess it's not such a very
long way, after all," replied her father.
"England's only a little place alto
gether, yon know.'
"Well." said Ceorge, 'Hint's true; but
it's nigh upon -1,000 miles before you
get there."
The elder man stared at this observa
tion, which (like some of the redoubta
ble Captain Punsby's) he couldn't un
derstand the application of. However,
he passed it over.
"Well, (leorge, my boy," he said, as
ho shook his hand In a hearty grip,
"I'm truly glad to have you for a son-in-law.
And how's your father?"
"My father?" echoed George. "He's
been dead this ten years or more."
"What does all this mean?" cried Mr.
Monrough, in amazement. "Am I mad,
or what is it? Y'ou have just left your
father, my brother-in-law, Tom Span
der, in England, haven't you?"
Phyllis threw up her arms and, with
a wild shriek, fell down on the thickest
part of tho soft fur rug that lay before
the fireplace, in what appeared to be a
dead faint.
The two men bent down at tho same
time to attend to her and bumped their
heads together, and everything was
confusion.
"My name's not Spander," said
Oeorge, hurriedly, as ho rubbed his
head with one hand and supported
Phyllis with his disengaged arm. "My
name's Koekerton, and I went all the
way from Harvard University in Cam
bridge, Mass., to England to secure
your daughter."
Tho pen refuses to record Mr. Ion
rough's forcible language when he was
thus suddenly made acquainted with
tho fact that he had given his consent
to his daughter's marriage with the son
of tho family to which ho had sworn
deadly hatred, and tho very man he
had before refused, while all tho time
he had thought Phyllis was marrying
t'eorge Spander, his brother-in-law's
son.
For about five minutes the place
would hardly hold him, and his anger
was such that he took no means to re
store his daughter, leaving her new
found husband to "bring her round" as
best he could.
However, by tho time he had roared
himself out of breath he saw the futil
ity of his further opposition and resent
ment, and, like the good business mai;
that he was. he veered round and me
the wind as it blew.
"Well! well!" he said. "I've been
done, but what's done can't be helped."
He then turned to assist Phyllis, but
by 1 strange coincidence that young
lady bad just come to. and in a burst
of hysterical tears, begged forgive
ness for the little misunderstanding.
"I forgive you, you little witch," her
father cried. "Hut I have my suspic
ions about the misunderstanding."
And Mr. Monrough has never been
able to decide in his own mind whether
it was accidental or of malice prepense
on Phyllis' part that the misunder
standing occurred. He has on several
occasions tackled his daughter on the
subject, but she has always managed
most skillfully to evade tho question,
and as she and her husband are tho
happiest couple Imaginable, and
"t'eorge is not such a bad chap after
all," Mr. Monrough has long since
ceased to inquire into it and has also,
of course, buried the hatchet with the
Koekerton family. Tid-Pits.
He Canght'the Lightning.
Mr. Pishop's cruise along the Allan
tie coast of the United States In a
paper canoe, some years ago, excited
wide remark, and his advent here and
there in little Inlets where he sought
shelter for the night was often a great
event, especially to tho colored Inhabit
ants. That a man could sail in a paper
boat was indeed a marvel. Of his re
ception at one such place he gives the
following account:
The blacks crowded around the ca
noe, and while feeling its firm texture,
expressed themselves In their peculiar
and original way. One of them, known
as a "tonguey nigger," volunteered to
explain the wonder.
To the question from one negro,
"How did dis yero Yankeenian come nil
dis fur way in do paper canoe, all his
sef 'lone?" the "educated" negro re
plied: "It's all de Lord. No man ken como
so fur in a paper boat ef do Lord didn't
help him. De Lord Hoes eberyting. Ho
puts de tings In do Yankee-man's head 4
to do 'em, an dey docs eni. Dar was
Franklin up Norf, dat made do tele
graph. Did ye eler har tell ob him?"
"Nebber, nelnVr!" answered many
voicis, and with a look of commisera
tion for such Ignorance, the orator pro-
ceodod:
"Dis great Franklin, Cap'n Franklin,
ho tort he'd koteh do lightning and
make do telegraph; so he fiics a big
kite way up to de heabens, an' he puts
ile rtring in do lottlo dat hab iuillin in
it. Den he holds up de bottle in one
ban', an ho holds de cork In do udder
ban'. Down comes do lightning an
fills do little full up, an' Oup'u Frank
lin he done cork him np mighty quick,
an kotched de lightning an made de
telegraph."
Our Hard Coal Supply.
A recent expert estimate of tho ox
tent of the anthracite coal fields In tho
United States places their contents at
ll.U'Jl, 400,000 tons. The annual pro
duction averages 40,000,000 tons, at
which rate the supply would last soma
2G3 years.
LET US ALL LAUGH.
JOKES FROM THE PENS OF
VARIOUS HUMORISTS.
Tlcasant Incidents Occurring the
World Over Sayings t)at Are
Cheerful to the Old or Young Fun
ny Selection that You Will linjoy.
AV i 1 1 i n tr Man.
He If there is anything a woman
enjoys It is being a martyr.
She And how willing some man is
to help her enjoy herself that way.
Indianapolis Journal.
Correct.
A little boy having hi music lesson
was asked by his tiacher: "What aro
pauses':"
"Things that grow on pussy cats,"
was the quick response. Louisville
Times.
There Are others.
"What is the Trouble between Ax
loigh and Ids wife:"
"Only a little family jar. He was
saying that he would give anything if
he could have a wheel and she suggest
ed that he might take one of those lie
had in his head." Boston Trauseript.
And lie Fled.
Inventor Say, (Jeorge, come with me.
This is a patent car fender. I want you
to lie on the track of the electric car
and be picked up before a crowd, prov
ing that a man cannot be killed when
It's used. I'll pay you after the exper
iment. One of It is Own.
Didn't the doctor toll Drinkum to
take only a thimbleful of whisky':"
"Yes: but Drinkum had a thimble
made to order." Boston Traveler.
Shailc5 of Newton!
Tommy Papa, there is a large black
bug on tin? ceiling.
Professor (very busy) Step on it and
let me alone. Fliegende Pdaetter.
Kathcr Ilunl.
He I'm going to apply my talents,
but can't make up my mind whether I
shall go in for art or poetry.
She Oh, poetry!
He (delighted) Have you over heard
any of my verses?
She No; but I've seen some of your
nrt. St. 1 'a id's.
Mr. Whistler and the Gusher.
"Mr. Whistler," .said tbe gushing lady
visitor to the cynical artist, "why do
you never paint a storm at sea 7"
"My dear lady, I've often tried, but
unfortunately I paint in oil. and as
soon as I spread my colors the waves
subside and the sea becomes as calm
as a duck pond." Xcw York World.
Her (ircat Hit.
'Well, did the new Juliet make a
hit':"
"Yes, she pulled the balcony over on
Romeo and nearly killed him."
His Epitaph.
Widow (ordering tombstone) And I
don't want any maudlin sentiment on
lt. Just put: "Died. Aged 75. The
good die young." Exchange.
V.'lmt He Did Know.
Drinkwattr, coming homo from a
banquet, accosts a gentleman of divin
ity in this manner: "1 say, bishop, can
you tell me if they have champagne in
ilea von V"
Tho Bishop I dont know about that,
but I can assure you of one thing, sir;
you will lind plenty of real pain in the
other place. To Dare.
The Worst.
Patron (to proprietor of saloon) Of
all the free lunch I ever ate that is the
worst.
Proprietor Certainly; it's weiner
wurst. To Date.
The Critic She Feared.
Mrs. Newricli Henry, you gave
yourself away badly at tho dinner table
to-night. Do you know you were ac
tually eating with your knife?
Mr. Newricli No! was I, though? I
hope none of tin? guests noticed it.
Mrs. Newricli Oh, I don't c.ire so
imn'li alnnit thembut our English but
ler did. Wilmington (iazette.
Spirit of the Ace.
"Do you desire the peace of Europe?"
Chorus of Croat Powers That de
pends on which of us gets the biggest
piece. Exchange.
(w It Ik
mL-Jisi sat
An Unfortunate Chap,
Ohockerly Poor Algj! He's so no-w
widly defawmed!
Stripes Def a win nod?
Checkerly Yaa.s, ixr boy; his eyo$
&ro ?o pwomiaent that he cawn't weai
a monocle! Truth.
Just the Thine
CÄNIO
(L':' jfei I i '.y;.t
Shopman You won't be far wrong
in buying that cane, sir. It fits you
beautifully.
Woman's Way.
"What is tho amount of the poll tax,
John?" asked Mi's, (awker.
"One dollar," replied Mr. Cawker.
"Yhen we women got tho ballot wo
will mark it down to P0 cents." Har
per's Kazar.
The Pen Is Mightier, Ktc.
It was simply a blunder of his In
writing and she should have known
better; but there! women are such
queer things! and she got as mad as
could bo alnnit it. You see, he meant
to speak of her "laughing eyes" and,
as luck would have it, he wrote "laugh
able eyes." That was all Boston
Transcript.
IJcst lie Could Do.
"All I demand for my client," shout
ed the attorney, in tho voice of a man
who was paid for it, "is justice"
"I am very sorry I can't aewmmo
dato you." replied tho Judge, "hurt the
law won't allow me to give him morj
than fourteen years." Cincinnati En
quirer. The Test.
"""Old man, I want you to be the best
man at my wedding."
Er I "
"Yhat! I thought you would surely
stand by a friend in his hour of trou
ble." I u d i a napolis .Tou rnal.
Art in the Household.
"tVhat an exquisite vase you have
those daffodils in, Miss Osmond."
"Yes; isn't it sweet? Mamma got
it with a can of baking powder."
The Latter Preferable.
Miss Kate I like a man with a past.
lie is always interesting.
Miss Duplicate I like a man with a
present, and the more expensive the
present, the more interest I take in it.
Kcspousiliility Disclaimed.
Hamlet McDuff (in Arizona) Eva
been playing in your town a week, sir,
and your paper hadn't contained a line
about me.
Editor Bazoo Well, in case of a
lynching they can't s:i3- that I Incited
it. New York World.
Warninir to Colorado.
Now that gold fields have been dis
covered in the United States, tho world
is waiting to see whether England will
claim that all along she has been under
a great mistake concerning tho true
boundary of her Canadian possessions.
Baltimore American.
Lawyer Beat Himself.
They are telling of a Boston man
but not Boston type of man who went
to his lawyer and told him to fix his
property In his wife's name, and fix
It so that even he could not get it.
When the lawyer presented his bill he
said: "I can't pay that bill, for I have
not a cent to my name." Fibre and
Fabric.
Outhracgcd.
Hard Knox 'Fewer I hit you once
they won't be nothiu left but to ring
for do ambiance.
Tuff Muggs-Is dat so? See dat mitt?
Well, do authorities don't allow mo to
wear gloves on do street, 'cause It
would bo a case of carry in' concealed
weapons. Indianapolis Journal.
Worse und Worse.
boots mshi
BIACKED KM'
INSIDE -H
"Them dudes Is gettin wus an wus.
Now they aro black'niu the inside of
their boots."
7 V (..(
1
i l Ii I. .'.! 11 7 1
ilLV "Ii I
mmr mi
mm-
J-m mm.
DEMON TREE OF BURMAH.
Indicts Terrible Torture Upon Tbos
Who Touch Its Leaves.
In far Burma h there grows a tree the
mention of tho name of which causeg
the native to shudder with terror and
and to breathe a prayer to his divinity
that he bo spared from its terrible, ex
cruciating, agonizing touch. It is
known to travelers and natives of lur
mah. the villages of the Himalayas and
the Malacca peninsula as "the burning
tree." A specimen of it. not much
larger than an American blackberry
bush, has been added to the famous
botani.'al garden at Madras. It is giveu
a liberal space to itself, and is snr
rounded by a picket fence upon which
hang placards in English and Hindoo
stance bearing the legend:
DAXcEitors:
All p -rsons ;irc f.trbiiMen to
touch the lea es or branches of
this tree.
To those who know what the burning
tree is the caution is quite unneces
sary. The name is a misnomer, as the
tree stings rather than burns, lieneath
Its smooth green leaves are stings com
parable to those of the nettle, only in
finitely more painful and aggravating.
These stings have points of microscop
ic fineness and pierce the skin without
leaving any apparent mark. Tho fluid
is secreted at the moment of contact.
j but causes a maddening pain, which
sometimes continues for months.
Victims claim the sensation is that of
having tho tlesh soared by hot irons.
On damp days the agony is augment
ed, and to plunge tho afilicted part iu-
to wat'T is to cause an ecstasy of tor
ture that will throw the strongest man
into a paroxysm. This tree ranges in
! size from a bush to the height of fifty
! and seventy-live feet, according to its
location. The smaller the tree tho more
terrible the effects of contact with it.
The Burmese in tho parts of the coun
try cursed with it hold it in mortal
terror and tleo wildly when they detect
Its continguity by the peculiar odor
which it exhales. Should one be so un
fortunate as to plunge into its branches
he falls to the ground, rolling over and
over and rending the air with his
shrieks. Dogs touched by it are driven
mail. They yelp and run, biting and
tearing tho parts of their bodies that
have been touched. Elephants touched
by the demon tree act like fiends, tear
ing up trees and rolling in the dirt bel
lowing in their agony.
A horse that had come in contact
with the tree ran wildly alnnit biting
at evi ry thing and everybody, and in his
frenzy jumped from a cliff and was
killed. Tho serpents of tho Burmese
jungle and the wild monkeys of tho
forest never approach the dread tree.
A missionary at Mandalay whose curi
osity led him to investigate the leaf of
the tree with tin tip of one linger suf
fered constant agony for a month and
for a year afterward felt occasional
darting pains in the. linger. Tho native
doctors know of 110 lotion that will re
lieve the intolerable pain.
His Xliouglit.
A man who is sad or sorry is often
approached best from tbe commonplace
side. In the "History of the Town of
Bedford" is a story of a mis.-inlhn.pie
patient in a Washington hospital dur
ing tho war. lie had a compound frac
ture of the knee, and as be was in pain
most of the time, could scarcely be ex
pect od to prove a jovial companion.
Yet, although he steadily frowned
down all efforts at conversation, one
lady, who was staying in tho hospital
to nurse her husband, succeeded in get
ting into his life one liitlo wedge of
human kindliness. She writes:
lb docs not care to have mo road
or speak to him; we call him "South
Carolina" because he wishes to be "let
alone."
One morning, as I took my usual
walk down the aisle, his head was rest
ing on his hands and he looked very
solemn. I felt that he was homesick. I
wa.s determined to call him out of him
self if I could. Acting on the impulse
of the moment, I said:
"A penny for your thoughts, sir!"
To niy surprise lie did not frown, as
ho had done before 'when I had spoken
to him, but said quietly: "My thought
is too foolish to tell."
"Perhaps not," I replied.
"Well," said ho, "I was just wishing
I could have some buttermilk biscuit
for breakfast, like those tho woman
used to make with whom I boarded lu
Now Hampshire."
He told me her name and whore sho
lived .and then I could say that sho
was my buslstand's cousin. That made
a beginning, and since then I have
dared to "be neighlrorly."
Thunder Myth.
A curious thunder myth is related by
Mr. A. L. Algers, who heard it from au
old Penobscot Indian woman. It ap
pears that every spring these Indians,
on hearing the first thniuler, build a
tiro in the open air, ami throw tobacco
on It to give "(Irandfather Thunder""
a smoke. The custom originated in a
legend of tho Poiujb.seots to tho effect
that a young woman of the tribe was
once saved from a "loathy worm" by
thunder and lightning. Mr. Loui
Mitchell, once the Indian member 0.
the Maine Legislature and a Passuna
quoddy Indian, assured Mr. Algers that
no Indian property is ever injured by
lightning, w hich is regarded as "(I rand
father Thunder's wife."
Cigarette Law Rejected.
The Massachusetts Senate has reject
ed the bill to prevent the manufacture
ami sale of cigarettes and cigarette to
bacco in this State; and very properly.
There is already a law prohibiting the
sale of cigarettes to minors, and that Is
quite enough. Boston Transcript.
If you want to write or say just
what you please, claim to be a reform
r.