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POPLARVILLE MISS, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1892. NO. 24. -I Ode to Spring. ft I wakened to the singing of a bird; Jij I heard the bird of spring. Stg And Io! j At his sweet note jjj. The flowers began to grow, j. Grass, leaves and everything, , As if the green world heard S ‘ The trumpet of his tiny throat From end to end, and winter and despair = Fled at his melody, and passed in air. s; I heard at dawn the music of a voice. Omy beloved, then f said, the spring Can visit only once the waiting year; The bird can bring Only the season’s song, nor his the choice 1 To waken smiles or the remembering tear I But thou dost bring '■ Springtime to every day, and at thy call J! The flowers of life unfold, though lcayes of autumn fall. —{Mrs. James T. Fields, in the Century. to A BOX OF DIAMONDS, * > - 1 • In the year 18G7 I found myself at J Bio Janeiro, Brazil, just out of hos ~ pital, not a dollar in my pocket, and ready to ask the American Consul to . aendmetothe United States in the * name of charity. I had been out with ! an American whaler, and had been 1 left there so broken in health that no Rone supposed that I could live two weeks.y As tho ship had taken no oil there was nothing coming to mo. In i deed, I was in debt to her, and but for ^ the few dollars raised among the men ui I should havo been a pauper on land “ ing. t One afternoon, while I was on my 16 way to tho Consulate to see what help 1 I could obtain, I encountered an Eng ^ lit liman, whom 1 at once identified as i’ a sailor-—captain or mute. He stopped r god inquired my name, nativity b and occupation and when I had given him the information he slapped me on t the back and exclaimed; ^ ‘’It’S a bit of luck that 1 met you! I've got a place for you, and we’ll drop in somewhero and havo a talk.” He was a blunt-spoken man, but n cautious one. lie did not unioiu ms J1 he had pumped me pretty pparently satisfied Iiimsell’ iat I was a man lie wanted. Even then I only got a part of the story, and am still in the dark as to many particulars. The stranger’s name was Captain Roberts, and ho had given up the command of an English brig on purpose to enlor upon a hunt for treasure. Two years before, as lie 1 informed me, a coasting schooner, ' which was carrying half a million dollars’ worth of diamonds, besides a large sum in rougli gold, between Rio t and Montevideo, had been wrecked about seventy miles below Porto Ale gre, Why this treasure had been in 2 trusted to a sailing vessel and wheth L er it belonged to church or state or some individual 1 never learned. The v captain bad nothing (o say about that, 'and I bound myself to secrecy regard* 5 the whole affair. ", How Captain Roberts had located v the wreck was a matter I did not ask /about, but 1 did hear it Bind that all / the crew were lost. I was a sailor and diver and lie offered to stand all the ignpense of the search and give me pM10,000 in gold if wo recovered the jmiamonds only. If we got the gold as j well I was to have a larger share. He * sad chartered a coasting schooner for « [hree months, and was then getting g pboard whatever he thought would be ill Heeded. I signed with him that after -Hoon as mate, and threo days after ve had picked up all our crew. For* -^.unately for us a ship camo in with •I.weive seaman rescued irom a imrn tng bark at sea, and we took eight of hem and u cook. This gave us eleven glands all told on the little craft, but Wrecking is a thing demanding plenty . if muscle at the cranks, windlasses l»d tail ropes. The crew proper were 3®t let into the secret, hut signed for voyage to Buenos Ayres and return. There was a Rio banker behind the xpedition.us 1 accidentlly discovered, ut he did not come near the schooner, $d Captain Roberts visited him only f night. Ve were so well provis m*d and provided that it must have 1 iUg sum of money to tit us is the hanker no doubt ad nd took his chances. At the louse we cleared for tho La allast, but some of that bal boen taken aboard under [darkness. VYro luid u diver's hers, planks, spare casks, 8 and chains, and about the ago received contained a iskets and a lot of fixed am munition. We slipped out quietly one night with tho tide, and before day light came we were far away. Captain Roberts had a pretty fair chart of the neighborhood of tho wreck, and after a speedy ran down the coast we reached it one afternoon about 4 o’clock. When wc canto to work in shore we got sight of the mountain peaks laid down on the chart, and in a couple of hours wero satisfied that the wreck was within a mile of us north or south. Just there was a reef about four miles off shore and extend ing up and down the coast for thirty miles. Behind this reef in many places was deep water up to the shore line. It being summer weather, with the winds light but holding steady, we anchored off the reef, and then the men were told that wo had come to search for a wreck. It was all right with them, and after dinner two boats were lowered to begin the search. Taking the schooner as the centre, wo pulled both ways, running close to the reef. The treasure craft had been dismasted in a squall and driven shoreward, and we confidently ex pected to find her hull, if it had not gone to pieces, on or near the reef. Before sundown wc had made care ful search for three miles away, but without finding the slightest trace of her. Next morning we tried it again, but nothing was brought to light. In some places the reef showed above the surface at low tide, in others there was plenty of water to carry us over at any time. The treasure craft might have hit tho reef at a favorable spot and been driven almost to the beach; but before accepting this theory wo got out the drag and ex plored tho deeper waters seaward from the reef. We spent three days at this work, grappling only the rocks hidden away from 30 to 60 feet be low, and using up the men with the hard work. The schooner was then sailed over the roof and anchored in a snug berth in 30 feet of water, and we >beg;ui Um search of the shore waters. The shoro was a rocky bluff crowned with a dense forest, with a few yards of shingly beach at long intervals. Wo had searched tins oay ror tour days without luck when 1 had the good fortune to discover the wreck with my own eyes. Sho lay within half a mile of the beach in 22 foot of water, and was bottom side up against a big rock. She had probably passed the reef in safety, bd't bad struck this rock, which thrust its head within three feet of the surface, and in going down had turned turtle. It seemed now that not a soul of her crew had escaped, and how anybody hud after ward located the wreck and made a chart of tho locality was a greater mystery than ever. Our lirst move was to bring tho schooner as near as possible, and then we began prepara tions to lift the wreck. She must bo turned over, go as to float on her keel, if nothing more. Lying boitom up, there was no possible way to get into her cabin. \Tn.- I .In.. n^Iltll Ikn I 1 ! ATT 11* ! ' T wont down in my diving dress and attached chains to her starboard side. These were spliced out with stout ropes leading aboard our schooner, and after half a day’s work we were ready to haul. We could lift her a bit, but not more than a foot, and after working one day we gave up that method for another. Casks were sent down to mo and attached wher ever possible, and but for tho presence of sharks we would have had her over in a day. As if one monster had communicated with another for miles up and down the coast, they gathered about the schooner and the wreck, and 1 had the closest kind of a call from being seized by a man-eater that was fully 15 foot long. Standing on our decks 1 counted 80 dorsal fins moving about ns at one time, and I don’t believe that was half the num ber of sharks within a circle of a quarter of a mile. There could be no more diving while they were hanging about, and we set to work to got clear of their company. Captain Roberts hud foreseen such an emergency and had come provided. I doubt if u ship’s crew ever had deeper revenge on Sailor Jack’s impla cable enemy. The muskets were brought up and four of the men told oil’ to use them. A fifth man was given charge of a whale lance, and the rest of us were kept busy admin istering a punishment which might be * . called barbarous by humanitarians. We boated bricks red hot on the galley stove, swiftly wrapped them up in cloths, and they no sooner touched the water than they were gulped down. As soon as a shark was wounded by ball or lance so as to leave a trail of blood he was at once eagerly attacked by others, and our hot bricks soon turned a dozen or more big fellows on their backs. It was a regular circus for about three hours, during which at least fifty of the monsters were slaughtered, and then those that were left alive suddenly drew off to the last one, and we did not sight another shark during our stay. I did not go down again for twenty-four hours, however, not feeling certain that some big fellow was not lying in wait behind the wreck. When I did descend I found the schooner lifting to the casks, and ; after attaching three or four more she slowly rose to the surface. We then got tho boats out and towed her into a depth of fourteen feet and then swayed her over until she righted. She went to the bottom again, of course, as tho casks no longer buoyed her, but wo expected that. When I came to go down iu my suit l found almost a clear deck. She had been schooner-rigged and both masts had been carried away at the deck. Beginning at tho heel of the bowsprit and running along the port side about twenty-five feet of her bulwarks were left standing. Capstan, windlass, hatch covers and the skylight of the cabin hid been swept away. This latter fact was greatly in my favor, as I could drop directly into the cabin. I was told to look for the treasure in the captain’s stateroom, but my feet had no sooner touched tho cabin floor than my outstretched hands encoun tered something which I knew by the feel to ho a dead man. My finding him in the situation I did stiil further deepened the mystery of the whole expedition. He was tied fast and 1 had to cut him loose with my knife. As soon as released tho body floated upward, and tho men told me that it floated out to sea with the tide, riding on the surface liko a cork. Evening was now drawing near,anil further search was abandoned until another day. After breakfast next morning I descended again, and with in two hours had tho treasure out of the wreck. I found it, not in tho captain’s stateroom, but on the floor of the main cabin—the diamonds wore in a cast-iron box about as large as a child's savings bank, and the gold in stout wooden boxc9, and I left nothing behind. From tho treasure being found where it was 1 argued that there had been a mutiny before the storm, and that the captain had been tied in the cabin and the crew was making ready to divide up the spoils. Perhaps after driving over the reef and striking tho rock one had been cast ashore to tell tho story, and it was on his informa tion we. acted. If so, however, the fact was not admitted. I learned no more than 1 have told you. Not one of the crow knew the value of our find, and, sailorlike, asked but few questions. When the treasure was safe aboard we returned to Rio. For four days not a man was permitted to leave the vessel. Then I received the sum agreed upon, with a considerable in crease, tho men were made happy with a snug sum of money counted down to each, and we were all bundled aboard a steamer bound for Cuba, each giving his promise to say nothing of tho wrecking expedition to anyone. I learned later on that Government vessels searched for weeks for the wreck, and that tho Rio banker had to flee to England for safety, but that only added to the strangeness of the adventure instead of clearing up the many mysteries.—[M. Quad, in St. Louis Republic. Reparation. Jones—I say, colonel, your dog bit iny child, and you’ve got to make reparation. Colonel Brown—All right, Jones, I’ll make suitable reparation. You (sadly) may have the dog. — fYaukoo Blade. Maud—1 believe Miss Sears would marry a man with a head as light as a t cork on one condition. Eihcl—What j would be that condition? Maud—That he popped. 1 QUEER ANGLING. Some Ingenious Oriental Ruses to Catch Wary Fish. The Chinese Hava Trained Cormorants to Assist Them. “The Chinese have many very cu rious ways of catching fish,’’ said a piscicultural sharp. “In winter they dive for thorn. A certain species de manded in the market seeks shelter during the cold season under rocks at a considerable depth. They cannot be got with a hook and line, and so the fishermen go down into the water after them, plunging from a boat. Three dives are made eacli hour, and a fire is kept up onboard tho boat for tho purpose of warming tho=e at work between whiles. Not infrequently they come up bleeding from the lungs, and rheumatism and skin diseases render them disabled by the time they are forty years old. “It was tho Chineso who invented the well-known plan of capturing ducks and other water fowl by wading toward them with a basket over the head and dragging them under water before they knew what had caught them by the legs. Theirs is the idea of employing cormorants to aid them in fishing. You have heard, doubt less, how the birds used fur this pur pose have collars around their necks to prevent them from swallowing tho roou they capture. At a signal given by their owner they plunge into (lie water after the prey. Whatever they get is taken from them, and they are rewarded for every success with a bit of fish small enough for them to eat. They are forced to work very hard all day long, but great care is taken of them and they are nursed most atten tively When they are siek. A bird is usually good for service until it is ten years old. The cormorant fishermen arp organized into societies, the birds belonging to each association having a peculiar mark. “In India also the natives employ many methods of fishing which seem odd to us. There is in the district of Oude a species of so-called ‘walking fish’ witli snake-like heads, which are often seen floating on the water as if asleep. The peopio shoot them with cross bows. Usually they sink when they are killed, so that they have to bo dived for afterward. In the Indus, the Ganges and other streams are nu merous fish-eating crocodiles which attain a length of more than 20 feet. Except when near their nest and anxious to defend their eggs they run away from human beings. Of fish they catch an enormous number, and it has been thought very strange that the fishermen should not destroy such rivals in their own business. But they regard the mere suggestion of such an idea with horror, saving that the croc odiles are brothers in trade. “The man-eating crocodiles of those rivers arc regarded as sacred and are never harmed. Of late years they have destroyed moro lives than form erly, owing to the prohibition by law of the ancient practice of consigning corpses to the streams. It was the good old way to till the mouth of the defunct respectfully with mud and leave the cadaver to bo swept away by the current. Upon such supplies of food the great saurians depended largely, and, being deprived of them, they lie in wait to snap up living peo pio and cattle. Five persons have been known to he carried off in one year at a single pool. However, the country is over-populated, but one would not think it an agreeable death to die. “Tlio Buddhists in India have a horror of eating the flesh of animals, holieving them to bo incarnations of human beings’ souls; but they permit themselves the luxury of fish, usually getting around the difficulty by saying that tlio fishermen take away the lislies’ lives and are responsible. On [ho walls of their temples are numer ous frescoes vividly depicting the tor ible tortures which fishermen will lave to endure ix» a future state. In hose paintings tires are represented dined hy imps, who are dragging he fishermen into the flames in nets, milling them by hooks and linos and irodding them from behind with fish i pears. “There is a story of a Buddhist 1 n iest who lodged for some tilue at [ Hie house of a fisherman. The latter liad recently reformed and was pursu ing another occupation. After two lays the guest asked why no fish woro served upon the table, and, being in formed thal his host was withheld by ■onscienlions scruples from catching them, he expressed his approval in high terms. At the end of a week, however, ho felt a craving for fish strong upon him, and inquired how far the fisherman’s net stretched across the neighboring stream. Ho was told that it extended one-third of the way across. “‘If that is the case,’ said the priest, ‘the fish have their choice as to whether they will be caught or not So, if they choose to bo taken nobody else is responsible. Therefore, “you will do right to try to catch some.’ “Accordingly the priest was served therewith with fish, of which delicacy he would have been deprived had it not been for the wisdom which sacred books had taught him.” How They Came by Their Names. The study of philology develops such curious derivations as those be low, and proves a most interesting— even fascinating—study. Blankets, it is said, were named after their first makers, three brothers of Bristol, England, named Edward, Edmund and Thomas Blanket, who established a large trade in this article of woolen goods, and were the earliest manufacturers of it in the middle of the fourteenth century. uaruDl'ics, we aro rom, camo irom Cambray, a town in French Flanders famous for its fine linens, and damask originated in Damascus. Calico is derived from Calicut, on the Malabar coast, nnd muslin from Moussoul, a city of Asiatic Turkey, giving evidence that, though these goods aro now sent to India and tho East, they were originally imported thence. Few persons have ever troubled themselves to think of tho derivation of tho word dollar. It is from tho German that (valley), and came into use in this way some three hundred years ago. There was a little silver mining city or district in Northern Bohemia called Joachiinsthal, or Joachim’s Valley. The reigning duko of tho region authorized this city in the sixteenth century to coin a silver piece which was called “joachims thalcr.” The word “joachim” was soon dropped and tho name “thaler” only retained. The piece went into general use in Germany and also in Denmark, where the orthography was changed to “dealer,” whence it came into English, and was adopted by our forefathers with some alterations in the spelling. X Population of Smugglers ami Thieves. The population of the Manchurian provinces of China is largely composed of hands of people who live by smug gling opium and ginseng and of horso thieves, who are so numerous that (hey alono form gangs of hundreds of mounted banditti. This class of people has been outlawed by tho Chinese Government, and it forms the nucleus about which discontented leaders may organize a rebellion against the imperial authority at any time. It is a junction of these vai * ous bands of outlaws which has brought tho present insurrection to its formidable proportions, and which bids fair to shake the ruling dynasty to its foundations. In case this re bellion should extend to the adjoining provinces, tho number of resoluto men engaged in it would very prob ably be enabled to accomplish that' cherished object of every thorough Chinaman's heart—tho overthrow of the ruling Manchu line of Emperors uni the establishment of tho ancient Chinese bouse of Mings upon tho lirono of which tho Tartars deprived hem in the 16th century.—[New Vork Times. The Most Durable Voices. All other things being equal, a bari. .one voice in a man, anil a contralto roico in a woman will wear better ind last longer than any of the others. It Is, however, impossible to lay down my absolute rule as to the voices of individual shigors, because so much lepends on the method of life, tem perance in food—solid as well us iquid—and I lie care of the voice ex treised b\ each individual. — [Detroit free Press. jfeifcSH; FSiiSstiiiiaiii.-..'.inii- •• i&i fev-; The Retnrn. Now home again comes Love who long Has absent been, and Joy once more From sleep awakes and, with a song, Hastens to meet him at the door. He sees In each familiar spot The friends who sorrowed when he weiu^ And all his exile is forgot,— ’Tis they who tell of banishment. For. like that wayward son of old Who left his kindred, far to roam, Love knew but half the grief they told Who long had exiled been at home. — [F. De Sherinon, in Youth’s Companion. HUMOROUS. A high-toned singer is generally off his bass. “Well, how did her father come down?” “With his heavy shoes on.” The depth of misery lies at tho bottom of a mud-puddle if you happen to step in it. The height of industry—a girl so industrious that when she has nothing else to do she knits her brows. Most tailors arc followers of fash ions—trying to catch up with tho young men who have them on. The truth of the saying “To be forewarned is to be forearmed,” often resolves itself into a question of speed. “Did you ever write any ‘Beautiful Snow’ poetry?” “I tried it once, but tho editor pronounced it beautiful slush.” A school journal advices: “Make the school interesting.” That’s what tho small boy tries to do to the best of his ability. “Does your wife pull down your ties?” asked Jenks. “No,” replied Brcezey, “but she frequently raises | my choler.” “Gentlemen,” said tho tramp, “it is j many days since food lias passed my i lips. 1 would like to dine-a-mite ’’ : And the people fled. To the chiropodist frankness is tho j most admirable of human character L Utica.} ho delights, in bearing men * ■' 'W'1 -*** acknowledge the corn. Saleswoman—Mademoiselle. I can strongly recommend you this style of mantle. Only last week an intimate friend of mine became engaged in just such' another. Harry—So she refused you, did she? Jack—Yes, and 1 shall remem ber wliat she said as long as 1 live. Harry—What did she say? Jack —She said No. James—I understand a new motor has been adopted for increasing the speed of horse cars in this place. Brown—So? What is it? Jones—A whip for tho mules. “No,” said ono chicken to another, “wo don’t speak to her. She wasn’t hatched from the same lot of eggs that we wero.” “Oh, 1 see. She’s from a different set.” “When I went away,” said the re turned wanderer, “Hardliit was crazy over Miss Lcely. Did lie ever get cured of his fancy for her?” “Ob, ybs; she married him.” The Ancient Beauty—Think of it, Cecolia, last night at the ball I listened to tive declarations of love. Her friend—Yon must havo been sitting behind a very pretty girl. Hunker—Ever since I can remem ber, Miss Flypp, I lmvo searched for the beautiful, the true and the good. Mbs Flypp—Oh, Mr. Hunker, this is so sudden. But you may speak to papa. Mr..Droplin—Look here, old fel low, excuse my frankness, hut why in thunder don’t you have that child’s hair cut ? Mr. Foresite—Not for worlds, dear hoy; 1 intend to make a professional pianist of him. Bingo (at the table)—Seems to me we have less and less to eat all the time. What’s the matter? Mrs. Bingo (sweetly)—You can't expect us to have as much as usual, my dear,wheu 1 am paying for my sealskin on the installment plan. Teachor—Now,' Willie Wilkins, I want you to (ell me the truth—did Harry Thomas draw that picture on the hoard? Willie Wilkins—Teacher, 1 (irmly refuse to answer iliat ques tion. Teacher—You do? Willie Wil kins—Because 1 gave Harry iny word of honor 1 would not toll on him. “I have an idea 1” she suddenly said. Iter lover was sitting near; He gazed at her fondly: “1 see that you have, tud au awful bright eye, dear." ■