Emmons County record. [volume], July 11, 1884, Image 2

About Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current

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EMMON&COIJNTY RECORD.
WHiLIAMSPORT, DAKOTA.
D. It STKEETER, PuiiLISHER.'
SSAXS RASPBERRY IS the romantic,
ruby ipa fruity name of an ardent old
lady who aspires to be in Atlanta -what
for many years Mrs. Myra CfflHSjpaines
•was in New Orleans. She sueifthe city
for the recovery of twenty-five acres, on
•which are eighty houses, claiming the
property as inherited from an aunt
irhose will was lost or stolen.
Mark Twain lives in his own house,
Dear Hartford, a house with its back
kitchen on the street, its front entrance
ton one side, bristling with peaks and
chimney pots, and in style of architect
ure the crystallized expression of an
«ncounter between Mark Twain and
"Queen Anne. Mrs. Clemens is the
source of wealth from which all this
springs.
MONCURE D. CONWAY, long promi
nent on both sides of the Atlantic as
an author and newspaper correspon
dent, intends before long to leave Eng
land, where he has lived for more than
twenty years and return to his native
Hand?. He has just got back from a
trip round the world, and is now ar
ranging his affairs in London with a
view to recrossing the sea and settling
here at as early a date as his numerous
engagements over there will permit.
GEN. GRANT, being invited to preside
over a meeting to be held under the
auspices of soldiers of both armies in
the late civil war to raise a fund to
build a house for disabled ex-Confeder
ate soldiers, writes Gen. J. B. Gordon
promising his support, financially
and otherwise. Gen. Grant adds: "I
am in hearty sympathy with the move
ment, and would be glad to accept the
position of presiding officer if I was able
to do so. You may rely on me, how
ever, for rendering all aid I can in car
rying out the designs of the meeting."
THERE is a grand rivalry in jam go
ing on now between the Queen of Sax
ony, President Grevy, and Premier
Gladstone. The Queen seems to have
the best of it. She spends whole weeks
in the autumn in making jam, and
balancing her housekeeping book daily.
Unfortunately, a taste for the regal
jam is not very prevalent at the Saxon
court. The countries, notwithstanding
their desire to be complimentary, find
their capacity for jam eating limited,
and the bulk of the Queen's preserves
is distributed to the poor of Dresden—
to such an extent indeed, that there is
a weak apropos joke prevalent in that
capital, that her Majesty never goes
out, even when unattended, without a
suite.
THE Russian Government has an im
mense railway project under consider
ation. The author of the scheme calls
it the Russian Pacific Line. The line
would start form Ikaterinanburg, join
Toboislc, Yeneseisk, and Yakutsk, end
ing in Nikolajew, with a branch line
from Yeneseisk and Yakutsk to
Kiakhia, which would form a connec
tion with the Amoor and China. A
second main line will start from As
trachan to connect Herat, Persia, and
India, with a branch line to Bokhara
over Cashgar. The extent of railway
•would be 3,000 geographical miles, and
cost one hundred million roubles. The
capital would be spread over twenty
years. One part of the proposal is to
employ part of the army on the works.
THE news of a remarkable natural
phenomenon is reported from Bona, in
Algeria. An isolated mountain, the
Dshebel Naibo, 800 foot high, is sinking
into the earth. Bound its feet there is
a deep hollow, and before long the
mountain will disappear. The district
of Bona has once before witnessed a
similar event the Lake Fezzs.ra, of
more than 12,000 hectares, did not
exist in the time of the Romans. St.
Augustin, who lived at Bona, described
the whole district without mentioning
the lake, and researches in 1870 have
resulted in the discovery of the ruins of
a Roman town at the bottom of the
lake. As in Arabian writings there is
nothing to be found concerning the
formation of the lake, it is supposed
tliqt it has existed only for about a
thousand years.
DURING the past year the average
quantity of water supplied to London
'W as 145,000,000 gallons per day, of
which 72,000,000 gallons, or nearly one
lialf, were taken from the Thames,
while of the remainder nearly the
•whole was obtained from the river Lea,
and only a comparatively small amount
from deep wells sunk in the chalk. In
a paper recently read before the Society
of Arls, Dr. Frankland showed that
much of the water derived from the
Thames is contaminated with sewage
and other objectionable matter, and
that such water might at any time carry
with it infection. The trouble seems to
be, that nearly nil the towns in the
Thames basin reject the river and its
tributaries as a source of water suppty,
but employ springs and deep wells for
that purpose and the great obstacl
in the way of a similar supply bein
obtained for the metropolis is the mag
nitude of the capital invested in existing
works, the interests of which capital
are at present allowed to override all
other considerations.
RAMSDELL'S Washington Letter to
Philadelphia Press: It has been a pret
ty tough winter for me. I have not
been free from and rheumatism
and colds the whole time, and I have
taken enough medicine to stock a drug
store. And just here let me say that if
ever you are troubled with rheumatism
avoid salioylic acid. All the doctors
prescribe it nowadays, and it certainly
relieves rheumatism, but it leaves be
hind something that is worse than that
painful complaint During the winter
I must have taken a pound of the medi
cine. It has destroyed my stomach,
taken away my strength, and robbed
me of twenty-five pounds of flesh, every
one as dear to me as Shylock's. I have
talked with many rheumatics, and, be
ing young in the business, I have been
laughed at unmercifully. Mr. Blaine
has suffered with rheumatism, so has
John Chamberlain and Mr. Barlow, the
art expert, and Mr. Chaffee, ex-Senator
from Colorado, and Mr. Spofford, hus
band of Harriett Prescott Spofford, and
many others not known to fame whom
I have consulted. And when I tolcj
them that I had taken salicylic acid they
each and all laughed in turn and said
I was a fool. I know it now, and want
to place it upon the record that salicyi
lie acid is worse than rheumatism. 1^
is a thing to be avoided. I
A WASHINGTON dispatch asks, What)
has become of all the fractional cur-i
rency In 1863 something over $20,-.
000,000 was issued, and the amountj
outstanding was increased about $5,000,-,
000 a year, until in 1874 the highest ag-i
gregate was reached, and the book of
the Treasury showed nearly $40,000,
000 in circulation. The redemption
was then begun, and has continued un-(
til the present time but since 1879 the.
amount outstanding has remained al
most stationary, with a balance of $7,
000,000 in favor of the Government at
the end of the last fiscal year, June 30,
1883. During the nine months of the
present fiscal year only $16,000 has
been offered for redemption, leaving
outstanding $6,984,000, the greater
quantity of which is either lost or de
stroyed, or in the hands of curiosity
collectors. Some of it is hanging in
frames in the offices of bankers, and
coin and postage-stamp dealers furnish
it to customers at a premium of about
200 per cent. The Government will
probably be the gainer by this scheme
of Secretary Chase to' the amount of
,500,000, as the Treasury officials do
not believe that much more will be sent
in for redemption. Clean pieces are
never received nowadays, and that
which comes in is so ragged and soiled
as to be worthless as a curiosity.
THE contagiousness of consumption,
says the Chicago Tribune, is the sub-|
ject of some sensible remarks by Dr.
Formad, of Philadelphia, who has given!
much time and patience to the investi-l
gation of consumption. He finds him
self unable to coincide with the conclu
sions of Dr. Koch, the noted German
investigator of what may for short be,
called the germ diseases, that consump-j
tion is caused by the germs or bacilli
that are found in connection with it..
The bacillus to which Koch imputes its
origin, is present in all cases of con
sumption, says Dr. Formad. It may be^
one of the causes of cuberculosis, but
still it cannot yet be said that its pres
ence in consumption proves that to be a,
contagious disease. A contagious dis
ease can have but one cause, and this
observer declares himself, as the result
of repeated observations, to be firmer
than ever in his former conclusions that
consumption may result from other
causes than the presence of the germ
which Dr. Koch has brought to notice.
Dr. Formad concedes that the germ
may on account of its irritating effects
be one of the causes of the disease, but
it is not the cause—at least it has not
been proved to be such. The fact that
people are known to be predisposed to
consumption stands in the way of the
acceptance of the bacillus theory. Dr.
Formad believes that he will be able to
show that consumption is not a conta
gious diseasa The bacillus of Koch and
Krebs is present as one of its symptoms'
But bacilli and similar organisms are
present in health. They may alter in
disease they may serve as carriers ot
the disease, but they are not, in the case
of consumption at least, the primary
and sole cause o£ it, as they must be to
sustain the claim that by their agency
consumption is infectious.
Nothing but Ears.
"Pa," said a little boy to bis father on
their arrival in St. Louis, "I din't know
people in this city had wings."
"Wings? Certainly not," replied the
father.
"Then, what are those things that
stick up so high
"Hnsh, my boy," said the father in an
under-tone "you mustn't speak so loud.
Those are ears."—Philadelphia Call
GIANT BIRDS OF OLD.
lloge Ancestors of the Ostrich—A Goose
Twelve Feot Blgki
There's an interesting slab, said a geol
ogist to a reporter, holding up an ancien
aud weather worn slab. "It's a fact
smile of a cast in the British museum,
that bears the remains of the oldest bird
known. It had a regular lizzard tail.
This specimen was found in the Bavarian
quarries at Solenhofen, where so much
valuable lithographic slate is found.
"The archseopteryx, judging from this
specimen, was about the size of a crow,
and the first thing that attracted the
finder's attention was the remarkable
'ail. If you can imagine the pope's nose
jf the bird or a turkey stretched out so
that it is longer than the bird itself, and
made up of twenty movable bones or
vertebras, each supporting a pair of
feathers, one upon each side, a fair con
ception of this strange tail may be had.
A further examination showed that the
fore limb had two toes or fingers free of
the limb, each arm with a powerful claw,
while a third was greatly elongated and
supported the feathered wing.
"The head of the arclneopteryx was
not found, but from later discoveries of
other early birds it is presumed that its
reptile like appearance was increased by
having veritable teeth in its jaws.
In our country the rocks of a later time
have preserved birds for us that are per
haps equally as wonderful as the long
tailed specimen from Solenhofen. For a
long time their footprints had been
known, and finally some specimens were
discovered in Kansas, that attracted uni
versal attention, from the fact that they
possessed veritable teeth. These curious
creatures were taken from the chalk beds,
and named by Professor Marsh, the dis
coverer, odontornithes. Twenty speci
mens were found, showing that the pos
session of teeth was probably general
among birds at that time. The largest
bird taken from the chalk was named the
hesperorious. It was a great water bird,
at least six feet in length. Its jaws were
lined with sharp teeth, set in grooves.
The wings were like those of the ostrich,
incapable of lifting it from the ground,
while its feet were webbed like those of
a duck. In fact, if we can imagine such
a strange conglomeration, the hesperorius
was a carnivorous or flesh eating, swim
ming, ostrich like bird.
"The flying birds of that age, not
larger than our common pigeons, also
had teeth. Such was the jettryordes.
Its teeth were in sockets, just like those
of the alligator of to-day, and it had a
backbone like that of a fish. Another
was a pigeon with teeth, and others
somewhat resembled swans and rails all
however, being provided with sharp
teeth of various kinds, showing that they
were hunters, and far different in their
habits from their descendant of to-day.
"Equally strange are some of the birds
that have become extinct in later times,
and have been preserved in the earth.
Within a few months some excavations
in the plastic clay of Bas Meudon,
France, have resulted in the discovery
of the remains of a gooselike bird, which,
when the bones were arranged, towered
aloft to height twice that of the tallest
man. Such enormous birds must have
presented a strange spectacle moving
about in flocks, and from them probably
came the legend of the rock of the Ara
bian Nights. The bones of a vulture
like birk have been found that exceeded
in size the gastomis of France. Its
name is the megalornis, and it probably
preyed upon the monster goose, which
could not escape by flying.
The caves of various countries were
evidently the resorts of the large birds of
early times, and in many caves the re
mains of remarkable birds have been
found. Thus, in France, a large crane
has been found in various caves, together
with the remains of the reindeer, all the
bones showing marks of the instruments
of primeval men. The remains of the
snowy owl and the willow grouse are also
common, and in the Zebug cavern, in
Malta, a gigantic extinct swan has been
iiscovered. South America caves have
produced over thirty-four different kinds
of birds but it is to New Zealand and
Madagascar that we look for the most re
markable gigantic forms. In the latter
island, which seems to have been the
home of many these animals, Isador
St. Hilaire found the remains of an enor
nous bird, the sepyronis maximus. In
'raveling through tiie country his atten
"ion was attracted to the symmetrical
dishes that were occasionally possessed
by some of the native tribes, and think
ing they were gourds, he inquired where
they were obtained. To his amazement
the owners informed him that the dishes
were part of the egg shells of a great
bird and upon further investigation he
found the remains of the giant and its
eggs. The eggs, when perfect, were
each equal in size to 135 hen's eggs, and
would hold two gallons of water. This
strange bird and others that have since
been discovered seem to have been
buiied in the sand beds of the southern
part of the islann, and there preserved
for ages.
"Larger even than the sepyornis was
the gigantic moa, whose skeletons have
been obtained in great quantities in New
Zealand. In a single swamp several tons
of bones were found, and of such prodi
gious bulk that at first it was supposed
tliey were the remains of an elephant
but the bills and feet proved them to be
large wingless birds, which had prob
ably waded into the swamp and became
mired, and so hardened and preserved.
Here, too, the great birds seem to have
resorted to caves, and what is called the
Moa Bono Point cave has produced great
numbeis skeletons, found buried with
the remains of the ancient Maori, and
recently some feathers of these great
birds have been found.
It seems almost incredible that a bird
should exist largo enough to prey upon
the great moa, yet such was undoubtedly
the case. A bird of prey, the harpagor
nis lived, that could easily have mastered
the largest moa. In still later times the
great rail, notorious, gigantic geese,
strange crested parrots, the king of
pigeons, the dodo, and the curious soli
taire have passed away, and become a
part of the strange amd wonderous history
of the rocks—New York Sun.
The Bootblack's Dog.
An English officer, who had occasion,
when in Paris, to pass one of the bridges
across the Seine, had his boots which
had been previously well polished,
dirtied by a poodle dogrubbmg against
them. He, in oonsequencc, west to a
man stationed on the bridge and had
them cleaned. The same circumstance
having occurred more than once, his
curiosity was excited, and he watched
the dog. He saw him roll himself, in
the mud of the river, and then watch
for a person with well polished boots,
against which he contrived to rub him
self. Finding that the bootblack was
the owner of the dog he taxed him with
the artifice and after alittlehesitation,
he confessed that he had taught the dog
the trick in order to procure customers
for himself. The officer being struck
with the dog's sagacity, purchased him
at a high price and carried him to Eng
land. He kept him tied up for some
time and then released him. The dog
remained with him a day or two, and
then made his escape. A couple of
weeks afterwards he was found with his
former master, pursuing his old trade
on the bridge.—The Eye.
Hanging Baskets.
Hanging pots and baskets seem to
have come into almost universal use the
past few years. These are usually of
earthenware, wire-work or rustic work.
Those of earthenware which are glazed
or painted are not considered by some
to be as healthy for the plants as those
that ore unglazed, since the moisture
cannot escape through the sides of the
pot, but I find by being very careful
not to overwater, I can keep plants in
them in a healthy condition. Baskets
of wire-work are apt to drip more oi
less, and they seem more suitable to
hang beneath a porch or piazza, in sum
mer. I like best those of rustic work,
where a variety of plants are to be
grown together. They can be bought
at very reasonable prices, or, where
economy is desirable, may be manufac
tured at home.
My rustic basket had been used for
years, and had decayed past all hope of
repair, so I told John that he might
make me one some rainy day, adding
that a nice one the size I wanted would
cost about one dollar. "Well," said he,
"I wouldn't pound my fingers nor vex
my soul for twice that I'd rather buy
you a new one." "All right, thank you,"
said I, and in due time the new one ap
peared. I had slips and plants already
started for it, and the last of September
I proceeded to fill it. I use the same
soil for basket plants that I do for
others, first putting in broken charcoal
at the bottom with a handful of moss
over it. The charcoal serves as a fertil
izer and purifier, and also absorbs the
surplus moisture, giving it out again
when needed. All hanging baskets
should be turned every few days, and
should be sprinkled with tepid water
once a week, twice a week would be bet
ter, as the atmosphere where they hang
is much dryer and hotter than that sur
rounding the plants on the stands be
neath, consequently they will be more
liable to suffer from attacks of the red
spider. I believe in "immersion" for
them, as water, water, water, is the only
remedy they dislike moisture.
I like to water my plants and baskets
as early as convenient in the morning,
using warm water, and toward spring
I give them, once a week, a drink of
barnyard tea, about the color of weak
coffee, being careful not to give it too
strong, or too often. For a rustic bas
ket, a foot or more in diameter, one
needs something showy and graceful
for the center, as. well as a little taller.
A crimson dractena is good for this pur
pose, so, too, is the white-edged green
variety. I have sometimes used a fright
coleus, but it needs constant pinching
or it will grow too tall. Around the
center may be grouped ferns, with a
rich begonia or two, a bright foliaged
geranium, with ivies or maurauddya to
run up the handles, and lobelia, musk,
vinca, tradescantia, etc., to droop over
the sides, interspersed with sedum,
wandering Jew, panicum variegatum
and Italian grass. Coliseum ivy is very
pretty growing in a large sea-shell sus
pended from the window, and the pret
ty, free flowering small oxalis is fine,
and looks and thrives best by itself.
Last winter I planted the yellow oxalis
in the same pot with the large pink va
riety, and they were pretty grown to
gether, as the sprawling habit of the
former was well hidden by twining its
long stalks among the stout foliage and
bright blooms of the large pink oxalis,
and the colors harmonized finely. A
plant of the ivy-leaved geranium, Pele
gante, is very attractive, with its pea
green leaves edged with white, often
tinted with carmine, and is an ornament
to any room.—Tick's Monthly.
Unruled Ambition.
An enthusiastic artist, desiring to
paint a storm on the sea, pushed his
boat far out on the deep, and when last
seen was painting the very wave which
engulfed him. That this man was a
fool is self-evident. The means he em
ployed defeated the end he sought. He
sacrificed his life to a passion which, if
properly restrained, would have been
innocent and even praiseworthy, but
which, being inordinate, destroyed him.
Does our judgment condemn this pain
ter If it does, it illustrates its own
soundness. But does it not at the same
time censure a multitude of living men?
What is this painter but a typical man,
illustrating the folly of thousands who
have surrendered themselves to the
control of an inordinate ambition to be
rich, or to be pre-eminent in society, or
in political or in ecclesiastical life?
What other interpretation than that
such a surrender has been made by vast
numbers can one give to those illegiti
mate methods which have taken posses
sion of the great marts of trade, which
so largely characterize our political
elections, and which in some small de
gree manifest themselves in ecclesiasti
cal circles? Ambition in church or
State, when curbed by Christian princi
ples, may be innocent and even praise
worthy but when it exalts itself into a
ruling passion, tramples on the claims
of God and humanity and seeks money,
honor, office or power as an end, it be
comes a deadly and dangerous sin, des
tructive of character and fatal to its
victim's immortal interests. Our painter
is the fitting type, both of his folly and
his fate.—Exchange.
IT IS better to lose a professed friend
by doing that which your conscience
tells you is right, than to do that which
you feel is not right hoping to retain
his friendship. A clear conscience is
the best and truest friend of man.
SLOTH, like rust, consumes faster than
labor wears, while the key often used
is always bright.—Franklin,
A Tale of Cats.
The cat is a beast of very ancient
lineage and high degree. Perhaps it
was from Nubia that the Egyptians got
the cat, which they at once began to
worship as the Goddess Pasht. The
etymology of the names of the cat
throw little or no light upon its orig
inal home. A recent American writer
mentions some children who invented a
"cat language," in which cats could be
intelligently addressed. Oddly enough,
a French philosopher, Dupont de Ne
mours, had anticipated this childish
idea, and made considerable researches
into the language whish cats talk
among themselves. He decided that
cats, which have a more extensive view
of the world from the tree-tops and
house-tops than dogs enjoy, have also a
more fully developed language than
their natural enemies.
"The cat has a speech in which all
the vowels of the dog are found, with
six consonants into the bargain these
being m, n, p, h, and f. Hence the
cat has a far greater number of words
than the dog hence, too, its superior
intelligence and cunning."
The Abbe Galiani, a famous wit, was
also fond of studying cats. He main
tained "the language of the torn is quite
different from that of the tabby, as it
ought to be." In this cats resemble
several savage races (such as the car
ribs, and a people mentioned by Hero
dotus), in that the males and the
females of the race speak twenty differ
ent tongues. The abbe detected "more
than twenty inflections in the language
of cats." He was certain that "cats
always use the same sound to express
the same thing." These philosophers
might well have wondered, like Mon
taigne, what their cat was thinking of
their diversions. Chateaubriand, a
great friend of cats, had rather a good
story of a ghost of a cat, accompanied
by a ghost of a wooden leg, which used
to walk up and down stairs together in
an ancient house. And if cats have a
language why should they not leave
gliosts behind them
Among the most illustrious friends
of cats have been Victor Hugo, Theo
phile Gautier, Prosper Merimee, Chat
eaubriand, Cardinal Wolsey, Richelieu
and Mahomet. The cat of Mahomet
was named Muezza, and for this worthy
animal he showed the highest considera
tion. One day the cat fell asleep on
the wide sleeve of the prophet's coat.
Mahomet had a business engagement,
but he could not dream of disturbing
Muezza. At last, as the matter became
pressing, this good natured prophet cut
the sleeve off his coat, went about his
business, and loft Muezza to repose.
Chateaubriand thought, and justly, that
the independence of the cat was one of
its most remarkable features. There is
always one who loves and one who lets
himself be loved in every affair of the
heart, and the cat invariably occupies
the later position. And why not?
"Man has sought the society of the
cat, it is not the cat that has sought the
society of the man," says Campfluery.
It is a natural, comfortable, selfish, in
dependent animal, and probably its so
ciety is valued because it so obviously
and unaffectedly makes the best of this
life without pretending to any enthu
siasm for humanity.—London News.
In the Champs Elysees.
With all the variety, life, and inter
est of the Champs Elysees during the
day, after dark it becomes a very scene
of enchantment. At nightfall a gauzy
vapor gradually overspreads the earth
and fills the air veiling every outline,
until nothing remains but a sense of
space through this flash innumerable
triple jets of gas, in rows, in circles, in
long double and quadruple lines, lead
ing far away through miles of illumin
ated mists, until they meet in the in
definite distance, reflected on the wet
asphalt by linear dashes of light, like a
palisade of fire. Through these glim
mering avenues, and through intervals
of dimness, glide countless lights some
swift as meteors, some slow as glow
worms, white, yellow, rod, higher or
lower, but always in the air, flittering,
following, darting, chasing, like thous
ands of will-o'-the-wisps. The immag
ination ranges with delight among the
beautiful, mysterious suggestions of the
phantasmagoria. "A firefly meadow,"
said Mr. J. R. Lowell, looking down
from the window. Yes and no, for the
lights do not twinkle it is more like
New York bay atnight from the heights
of Staten Island nor yet that, altogeth
er, because the spectator is so much
nearer this scene. It is most like some
of Martin's illustrations of Milton, with
out the terror: they are theatrical, and
so is this fantastic, fairy transformation
of the Champs Elysees on a rainy day
an unpeopled world of wonder on a
rainy night.
A Remarkable Time Piece.
"I wouldn't take one hundred dollars
for that watch."
"Hundred devils! Why, it never
was worth more than forty."
"It may not be worth more than that
to you, but it is to me."
"Family relic, I suppose?"
"Not a bit of it. I'll tell you why
that watch is so valuable. You see,
it never keeps the correct time."
"I wouldn't have it as a precious
gift."
"Maybe you wouldn't, but I would.
You see, I am a traveling man. I'm
traveling here in Texas all the time
where the railroads never arrive on
count. Now if I had a watch that kept
correct time I'd be left half the time,
but thanks to this watch, I'm more li
able to catch the train than I would be
if I had half a dozen watches that
could be relied on."—Texas Siftings.
The Tramp Would Not Drink.
A tramp rang the bell of an up-town
flat and the Irish servant responded
through the speaking tube:
"Who is it, and phwat d'yees want?"
"Will yer pleeze give a poor feller
a drink of coffee?" called back the
tramp pathetically.
"Put your mouth to the thrumpet,"
responded Bridget, "an' Til pour ye
down a drink."
The tramp did not reply, but de
parted in disgust.—New York Tribune.
MODERN education too* often covers
the fingers with rings, and at the same
time cuts the sinews at the wrists.
Sterling,
'I
-V:'v "-V
,'
TIIE BAD BOY.
"I don't hear much about your pa
lately," said the groceryman to the bad
boy, as he showed up one morning be
fore breakfast to buy a mackerel. "He
is alive, aint he? Is he in politics
yet?" and the groceryman took a small
rusty mackerel by the tail and slapped
it against the inside of the barrel to
get the brine off, and wrapped it in
some thick paper, heavier than the fish,
before he weighed it.
"Hold on there, please," said the
boy, who was watching the proceed
ings. "Weigh the mackerel separate,
please, and then weigh the paper, and
charge the fish to pa and charge the
paper to yourself. That is all right.
Yes, pa is alive, but he is not in poli
tics. He was throwed out of politics
head first on two occasions the night
before election. You see, pa is an en
thusiast. Some years he is in one
party, and some years in another just
which party gives him the best show to
make speeches. He has got speaking
on the brain, and, if he can get up be
fore a crowd and say 'feller-citizens,'
and not get hit with a piece of-brick
house, that is a picnic for pa. This
spring he went with the temperance
and saloon people. You know the
temperance people and saloon people
sort of united on a candidate, and pa
was red hot. He wanted to
speak. The fellows showed pa that
he had got to be careful and not
mixed, and they turned him loose to
speak. The night before election pa
went in a hall where there was to be a
meeting, and he got up and said what
the people wanted was the highest pos
sible license, enough to drive out half
the saloons. He was just going on to
demonstrate what a blessing it would
be if there was only one saloon, when
some one took him by the neck and
threw him through a window. It seems
that it was a meeting of people who
were opposed to any license, and who
believed everybody should be allowed
to sell liquor for nothing. A policeman
picked pa up and took the window sash
off from over his neck, -and picked the
broken glass out of his vest and pants,
and walked him around, and told him*
of his mistake, and pa admitted that
what the people wanted was free trade
in whisky. He said now that he thought
of it there was no justice in making
people pay for the privilege of engaging
in commercial pursuits, and if the po
liceman would take him back to the
hall, he thought he could set himself
right before the assembly. Well, the
policeman is the meanest man in this
town. He took pa to another hall,
around a block, where there was a meet
ing of the high-license people, and he
went in, thinking it was the one he
was in first. He was kind of
surprised that they did not at
tack him, but they were busy signing a
petition for high license. Pa waited a
minute to think up something to say,
and then he got up on a chair and said,
Mr. Chairman, this is a matter we are
all interested in, and the humblest citi
zen may speak. After studying this
matter thoroughly, looking at it in all
its bearings, and summing up an expe
rience of forty years, I have come to
the cocslusion that the city should not
grant any licenses at all.' That tickled
the crowd, 'cause they thought pa was
in favor of stopping the sale of liquor
altogether, and they cheered him. Pa
got his second wind, and continued:
As long as liquor is recognized as an
article of commerce, like sugar, and
meat, and soap, every man should be
allowed to sell it without any license at
all. Let everybody be free to sell
liquor, and we shall Pa didn't
get any farther. Somebody throwed a
wooden water bucket at his head, his
chair was knocked out from under him,
and several men took him by the collar
and pants and he went through another
window. The policeman met pa as
he came_ out the window, and asked him
if he didn't find it congenial in there,
and pa said it was too darned con
genial. He said it seemed as though
there was no suiting some people, and
he asked the policeman to take him
home. They passed a hall where there
was another meeting, and the police
man asked pa if he didn't think he'd
better go'in and try again, but pa went
on the other side of the street. He
said if he wanted to go through
any more windows he could jump
through them himself, as he knew
better which end first he liked to go
through windows, and he thought one
man better than six when it comes to
making an exit from a public hall. I
noticed pa came home early that night,
and he sat thinking a good deal, and I
asked him if anything had happened,
and he roused up and
"Hennery, a little advice from an
old man will not hurt you. What
ever you do, when you arrive at man's
estate, don't ever go into politics and
become a public speaker. If you are a
public speaker, you will never know
how to take your audience, or how your
audience will take you. They may
take you by the hand and welcome you,
and they may take you by the neck and
fire you out of a window." You can tell
how to go into a hall, but you can
never tell how you will come out. Keep
out of politics, and don't be a speaker.
If you have anything to say, be an
editor, and write it, and then if people
kick on what you say, you can go and
hide, or if fcliey come to you you can
fire them out. I have often thought
you would make a good editor of a
political paper, though vou would have
to learn to lie, I am afraid.' Oh pa
has had enough of politics, and I guess
he will not vote this year. Well I
must go with this mackerel, or we won't
have any breakfast," and the bov.went
out carrying the fish by the tail and
rattling it against the pickets of a fence
to make it tender.—Peck's Sum-
A Urease Tree.
They have in China what is known as
the grease tree. Large forests grow
there, and the oleaginous product has
become an article of traffic. The grease
forms an excellent tallow, burning
with a clear, brilliant white light, and
at the same time emitting not a trace of
w»y unpleasant odor, or of the ordinary
disagreeable accompaniment of conbuh
tion. smoke. .....