St. Landry democrat., January 19, 1878, Image 2

About St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894

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St. LaMry Demi.
0PEL0USA8, : LOUISIANA.
CURRENT PARAGRAPHS.
Souther» New».
The New Orleans grand jury recom
. jnenü a Sunday liquor law for that mu
nicipality.
The incoming South Carolina legisla
ture will likely call a convention to draft
a new constitution of that state.
Ralph Bingham, the seven-year-old
[Richmond, Va., oratorical proJigy, is
dubbed the " Boy Orator of Bethel."
Walter Malone, of " Waldron, Scott
county, Ark., recently shot his father-in
law dead when the latter interfered to
prevent the former from beating his wife.
R. E. Robinson, of Petersburg, Va.,
was dangerously wounded in the side on
the 24th ult. by the accidental discharge
of a pistol, which he was showing to his
wife.
The Mobile Register thinks the revolt
©f the western coffee dealers against the
Baltimore and New Yoak merchants and
of the railroad lines running eastward bas
called attention once more to the advan
tages of Mobile as an entrepot for coffee.
There is a mammoth scheme on foot to
abandon the James river and Kanawha
canal and build a railroad along the
tow path ; but it is believed the legisla
ture will never grant a charter giving
Richmond a controlling interest in the
road. It seems now to be conceded that
the canal will not be repaired west of
Lynchburg. Between that city and
Buchanan a charter is being pressed for
a railroad between those two pointa.
Showing the results of scientific farm
ing, while Austria produces on one square
mile 3,7 6 head oi stock, Prussia, within
tin? ««line limits, raises -5,537, ITrsnee^
6,670, Great Britain, 11 447. In Bel
gium, where agriculture is most naturally
pursued, a bquare mile produces means
of nourishment for 7,345 persons, wherea
in Poland the farming produces food for
only 2,229 persons per square mile, and,
taking the world at large, a far less aver
age than this it obtained.
Senator Gordon, of Georgia, has re
ceived the silver salver given him by
"Columbia women," and in acknowledg'
meut writes: "What assistance I have
been able to contribute to the relief of
voui Btate from the evils of misgovem
ment was rendered to a people bound to
those who sent me here by every tie of
kindred, of interest, of deathless mem
ories and enduring sympathies. I shall
treasure this beautiful gift through life
as a memorial of South Carolina s new
birth ami of the too generous tribute
paid to me by her daughters for the aid
it was my privilege to render in the time
of her distress and humiliation."
Aiken (S. C.) Journal : Dr. J. L,
Smith, of Sil vertod township, while open
ing up a new turpentine farm, noticed
something, fall to the ground and crawl
toward tlie tent where he was sitting,
On examing the object he found it to be
an alligator. In the course of a few mo»
ments a second one made its appearance
The doctor found six others within a
space of two hundred yards. The ani
mals were all quite lively and about
twelve inches in iength. The place
whereon they fell is situated on high
sandy ground, about six miles north of
the Savannah river. The anin als are
supposed to have been taken up in a
wattr-sprout, at some distant locality
and dropped in the region where they
were found.
Miscellaneous.
It is reported that petroleum of a good
quality has been discovered about one
hundred miles south of Dead wood, in the
Black Hills.
The Railroad Gazette thinks the year
ending July last was, the centennial not
withstanding, the worst for railroad
interests sinee the war.
Switzerland has passed a law prohibit
ing children under the age of fourteen
from being employed in manufactories
after the first of next May.
A cloth made from the down of birds
is coming greatly into favor in Paris. It
is waterproof, and estimated te be five
times lighter and three times warmer
than wool.
Mortar does not reach its usual firm
ness when dried in the heat of summer,
and one of the best authorities commends
the custom of the masons of northern
Italy,who,in constructions of importance,
water the masonry during the summer
months to prevent its drying too rapidly
The managers of the Washington mon
ument fund publish a statement to show
that about $240,000 raised by contribu
tors was received by the society, and that
about 1230,000 was expended to put the
monument in its present condition. A
very pertinent query h : Who has stolen
the money raised by voluntary subscrip
tions in nearly every city in the union 1
The two large business houses in Salt
Lake City, receiving two hundred letters
daily, hare not boueht 15 worth of
stamps from the Salt Lake City postoffice
for two years, but they have stamps con
stantly or »ale ; and one offered to furnish
the Silt Lake postmaster wiih $1,500
worth. A mormon from southern Utah,
coming into Salt Lake recently, bought
new furniture for his entire house, and
paid for it in postage stamps.
Eighteen thousand men are now en
gaged in the express business. Express
companies cover 60,000 miles of railroad,
and it m estimated that their messengers
daily travel 300,000 miles. Three thou
sand five hundred horses are employed,
and over 8,000 officers are required to
transact their business in, and an amount
of capital invested not less than $30 000,
000.
The experiments that have been going
on for the past year in making glass from
slag have oeen concluded, and a glass
suitable lor bottles is now being made on
a commercial scale. The Blag is taken
hot from a blast furnace in a ladle and
poured into a Siemaa's furnace ; carbon
ate of soda and silica are then added, in
various proportions, according to the
quality of glass to be produced. A large
manufacturing plant wiU soon be in
operation in this line of glass-making.
Ou * Saturday, the Illinois supreme
court decided a case in which the hus
band of the appellee was run over and
killed by the cars while drunk. The
appellee brought au action against the
saloon-keeper who sold to him the liquor
arid against the appellant who is the
owner of the building in which the saloon
was situated, and she secured thé judg
ment for $2,500. An appeal was taken
and the appelate court affirmed that of
tli« court below and sustained the con
stitutionally of the law. This is the first
time that a cage of this kind, brought
under the provisions of the Illinois liquor
law, has been sustained in the high
courte.
Lieutenant Walter Walton, assistant
inspector of liie-satinc service on the
Noijh Carolina coast, makes his report
in relation to the loss of the Huron,
showing that one Evan O'Neill, a fisher
man at N*g's Head, discovered the
Huron coming on shore at halt-past one
o'clock on the morning of the disaster.
She drifted and pounded along the out
ter edge of the bar, and finally struck
broadside on. He heard shouts and
screams go up from the stranded vessel,
and saw rockets go up, followed by burn
ing signals from end to end. So that
even light rigging and men could be
plainly seen. A boat on the starboard
side, full of men. disappeared when the
foremast fell. The shouting and scream
ing continued,and in about an hour and a
quarter after he first discovered the ship
the signaling ceased,Jand all was darkness
O'Neill went home, ate his breakfast,
and did not return to the wreck until
after sunrise. He knew where the keeper
of the life-saving station lived, only two
and one half miles distant ; bad a good
boat, a free wind to go and return inside
of Roanok island, and yet he remained
silent and indifferent lor three hours.
1'her eport concludes: "It is shocking
to report that out of ninety-one bodies
found, about twelve of whom were
officers, not a single trinket, such as
would be deemed a relic by the relatives
of the dead, was found on the bodies.
Watches and chains, money, and even
finger-rings, had been stripped off by
those who first found the bodies as they
wasbéd up. Good evidence is found in
the case of Lieutenant Simons, whose
third and fourth fingers of the left hand
had been scratched and gouged by the
body-robbers in their haste to secure their
ill-gotten booty."
Religion*.
The death of Bishop Marvin, of the
Meihodirt church, south, will necessi
tate the election of three bishops by
the general canference, which meets in
Atlanta.
A Methodist minister in Georgia
walks thirty miles in each week in order
to fulfill one of his appointments, and
works two days out of each week in a
Tjricfc-yard for com to feed bis family.
Bishop Miles, of the Colored Metho
dist Episcopal church, is about to start
out on a lecturing tour to raise lunds to
establish and endow denominational
colleges at Louisville, Xy., and Sardis,
Miss.
Rev. Dr. Harris, bishop-elect of the
new diocese of Quincy, declines the
episcopate, compelled to the conclusion
by considerations relating to the work
of the church in his present field of
labor.
The Reformed Episcopal church is
slowly developing its diocean or synodi
cal organization. Two synods have been
organized—that of Chicago and recently
that of New York. No bishop has yet
been appointed for the latter.
A theological seminary is to be opened
at Tokio, Japan, in connection with the
recent union of the three Protestant
missions, the American Presbyterian, the
Dutch Reformed and the United or
Scotch Presbyterian. The college
will have a permanent staff of three pro
fessors, one nominated by each of the
missions.
The Houston Southern Methodist
conference will send a petition to the
southern general conference next May
to change the name of the Methodist
Episcopal church to " Episcopal Meth
odist church." This name was once
adopted by the general conference, but
was not ratified by the annual confer
ences.
The work among the Chinese on the
Pacific coast, by the Congregationalists,
ba3 been carried on in schools with
seventeen teachers and over a thousand
pupils A Christian association and home
has been kept up by the Chinese converts.
A school building has been erected, and
despite occasional "hoodlum" outbreaks,
the work progresses."
About the Fnir Sex.
Madame Janauschek cleared $3,200 in
Philadelphia last week.
Frau Von Ingersleben is said to be the
rising novelist oi Germany.
Neuralgia is more fashionable this
season than ever before among fashionable
ladies, because the fashionable hat leaves
the top« of their heads bare.
They had a dance out in " Hackberry
Precinct," Nebraska, and the mothers of
families piled their babies, sixteen in
number, upon one bed while they danced.
A woman in the St. Louis Republican
has hit upon a remedy for the hard
times. "Turn the keys of banks and
treasuries over to women, and the jmoney
will soon be in complete circulation.
No doubt of it.
_ A'ter the failure of the late insurrec
tion in Japan, a richly attired Japanese
young lady was found lying dead in a
castle moat, with her father's head in
her right hand and a bloody knife in her
left. This devoted heathen heroine had
cut off her father's head, at his command,
and then killed herself, that the two
might not be taken prisoners.
Pale blue is bridal color in Russia,
Divorces are unlawful there, but a mar
riage may be annulled by the priests for
informality. A curious custom prevails
in Eome parts of Russia with respect to
this "informality" business. At the
marriage ceremony it is the custom for
the nearest relative of the bride to give
her a slap in the face as she is being led
forward to the priest. The slap is given
for nothing less than to convey to spec
tators the impression that the bride is
compelled to this marriage, and there
fore is unlawfully wedded, and can break
the matrimonial chains if she wants to.
The slap is given with a wise view to
future incompatibilities between the
wedded pair.
. .If a calico dress is washed carelessly,
starched stiff, sunned a day or two, and
half ironed, it is nota very comely sight.
But if quickly dried in the shade, very
thinly and evenly starched, and ironed
on the wrong side so that it will not
shine, it will look like a new dress for a
long time. Many pretty blue prints and
cambrics fade when washed in the usual
way. If they are washed the first time
in strong salt and water, or water to
which a little beefs gall is added, the
colon will be set so that they will be as
handsome as at first, and can be washed
ver after like other goods.
. .There are, it is said, no old maids in
Russia except the nuns. The public
sentiment is so decidedly against female
celibacy that when a woman reaches the
age of twènty-five, and still pines in sin
gle blessedness, she finds it best to go ofl
on a journey in search of a husband, and
usually returns, after some length of time,
and announces that she is a widow.
Russian etiquette, which positively for
bids any allusion to the husband in the
presence of his widow, is very convenient
fer thë purposes ef those ladies.
HOW TO MASTAÖE HIM.
" How shall I manage my husband." :
I will tell you my dear, il I can ;
He is really à wonderful creature,
That troublesome animal, Rian—
Yes ! re.illy a wonderful creature—
So strange, inconsistent and queer ;
But you'll soon know the secret by learning
The modus operandi, my dear !
If he stays out too late in the evening,
Partaking of supper and wine,
Don't prove him a false fabrica'or,
When he come* home by asking the time ;
For he sure'.y wUl tell you the town clock
But. the momeat before rang out one—
When it struck he bad counted it over
Juat three times before it had done!
Ard then, if his hat, in the merning,
Is smaller bv far than his head,
Don't hint by tie merest a'lusion
That his lordship went typsy to bed ;
But rather regard the occurrence
A phenomenon- puzzling and queer—
With a strange look oi mystification
In your eyes, if he's watching, my dear!
And don't fail to sew on his buttoBS,
And likewise his clothes mend with care;
Don't tease him for itioney for shopping ;
Don't frown when he acts like a bear ;
DoH't tell him too often, my deary.
That your poor head is aching with pain,
L*st he whisper, way down in his bosom :
"O! 1 wish I were single again !"
Don't teli him that Mary, the housemaid,
And Ann, tue obstreperous cool?,
Refuse to receive your suggestions
With even so much as a look,
Don't tell him how very annoying
Yon often have found it to be
To be tola to " Get out of the kitchen,
And dun't come a-bothering me I"
But always seem cheerful and happy,
And always look plea-ant and gay ;
Than a frown t > ere is nothing more potent
In driving one's husband away,
And thus you must ever keen striving—
You'll find it an excellent pian ;
liut whatever you do, dear, remember
ihat your husband is only a man.
THE ADIRONiDACKS VERIFIED.
HOW I KILLED A BEAR.
So many conflicting accounts have ap
peared about my casual encounter with
an Adirondack bear, last summer, that
in justice to the public, to myself, and to
the bear it is necessary to make a plain
statement of the facts. Besides, it is so
seldom I have occassion to kill a bear that
the celebration of the exploit may be ex
cused.
The encounter was unpremeditated on
both sides. I was not hunting for a bear,
and I have no reason to suppose that a
bear was looking for me. The fact is
that we were both out blackberrving, and
met by chance, the usual way. There
is among the Adirondack visitors always
a great deal of conversation about bears,
a general expression of the wish to see
one in the woods, and much speculation
as to how a person would act if he or
she chanced to meet one. But bears are
scarce and timid, and appear only to a
favored few.
It was a warm day in August, just the
sort of day when an adventure of any
kind seemed impossible. But it occurred
to the housekeepers of our cottage
there were tour of them- to send me to
the clearing on the mountain back of the
house to pick blackberries. It was rath
er a series of small clearings, running up
into the forest, much overgrown with
bushes and briars, and not unromantic.
Cows pastured there, penetrating through
the leafy passages from one opening to
another, and browsing among the bushes.
I was kindly furnished with a six-quart
pail, and told not to be gone long.
Not from any predatory instinct, but
to save appearances, I took a gun. It
adds to the manly aspect ef a person
with a tin pail if he also carries a gun.
It was possible I might start up a par
tridge ; though how I was to hit him if
he started up instead of standing still
puzzled me. Many people used a shot
gun for partridges. I prefer the rifle ; it
makes a clean job of death, and does not
prematurely stuff the bird with globule
of lead. The rifla was, a Sharp's, carry
ing a ball cartridge, ten to a pound ; an
excellent weapon, belonging to a friend
of mine who had intended for a good
many years back to kill a deer with it.
He could hit a tree with it, if the wind
did not blow and the atmosphere was
just right and the tree was not to far
off, nearly every time ; of course the tree
must have some size. Needless to say
that I was at that time no sportsman.
Years ago I killed a robin under the most
humiliating circumstancecs. The bird
was in a low oherry-tree ; I loaded a big
shotgun pretty full, crept up under the
tree, rested the gun on the fence, with
the muzzle more than ten feet from the
bird, shut both eyes, and pulled the trig
ger. When I got up to see what had
happened, the robin was scattered about
under the tree in more than a thousand
pieces, no one of which was big enough
to enable a naturalist to decide from it
to what species it belonged. This dis
gusted me with the life of a sportsman.
I mention the incident to show that,
idthough I went blackberrying armed,
there was not much inequality between
me and the bear.
In this blackberry patch bears had
been seen. The summer before, our col
ored cook, accompanied by a little girl
of the vicinage, was picking berries there
one day, when a bear came out of the
woods and walked towards them. The
girl f oak to her heels and escaped. Aunt
Chloe was paralyzed with terror. In
stead of attempting to run, she sat down
on the ground where she was standing
and began to weep and scream, giving
herielf up for lost. TJie bear was bewil
dered by this conduct. He approached
and looked at her ; he walked around and
surveyed her. Probably he had never
seen a colored person before, and did net
know whether she would agree with him.
At any rate, after watching her a few
moments he turned about and went into
the forest. This is an authentic instance
of the delicate consideration of a bear,
and is much more remarkable than the
forbearance towards the African slave of
the well-known lion, because the baar
had no thorn in his foot.
When I had climbed the hiU r J.jet up
my rifle against a tree and began
ing berries, lured on from bush to bush
by the black gleam of fruit that always
promises more in the distance t.ha n it
realizes when you reach it; penetrating
farther and farther, through leaf-shaded
cow-paths flecked with sunlight, into
clearing after clearing. I could hear on
all sides the tinkle of bells, the cracking
of sticks, and the stamping of cattle that
were taking refuge in the thicket from
the flies. Occassional] y, as I broke
through a covert, 1 encountered a meek
cow, who stared at me stupidly for a
second and then shambled off into the
brush ; I became accustomed to this dumb
society, and picked on in silence, attrib
uting all the wood-noises to the cattle,
thinking nothing of any real bear. In
point of fact, however, I was thinking
all the time of a nice romantic bear, and,
as 1 picked, was composing a story about
a generous she bear who had lost her cub,
and who seized a small girl in this very
wood, carried her tenderly off to her cave,
and brought her up on bear's milk and
honey. When the girl got big enough
to run away, moved by her inherited in
stincts, she escaped and came into the
valley to her father's house (this part
of the story w r as to be worked out, so
that the child would know her father by
some family resemblance, and have some
language in which to address him), and
told him where the bear lived. The
father took his gun, and, guide! by the
unfeeling daughter, went into the woods
and shot the bear, who never made any
resistance, and only, when dying, turned
reproachful eyes upon her murderer.
The moral of tbe tale was to be kindness
to animals.
I was in the midst of this tale, when
I happened to look some rods away to
the other edge of the clearing;, and there
was a bear! He was standing on his
hind legs and doing just what I was do
ing,—picking blackberries. With one
paw he bent down the bush, while with
the other he clawcd the berries into his
mouth, green ones and all. To say that
I was astonished is inside the mark.
suddenly discovered that I didn't want
to see a bear, after all. At about the
same moment the bear saw me, stopped
eating berries, and regarded me with
glad surprise. It is all very well to im
agine what you would do under such cir
cumstances. Probably you wouldn't do
it; I didn't. The bear dropped down
on his lore feet, and came slowly towards
me. Climbing a tree was of no use with
so good a climber in the rear ; if I start
ed to run, I had no doubt the bear would
give chase, and although a bear cannot
run downhill as fast as he can run up
hill, yet I felt that he could get over
this rough, brush-tangled ground faster
than I could.
The bear was approaching. It sud
denly occurred to me how I could divert
his mind until I could fall back upon my
military base. My pail was nearly fall
of excellent berries,—much better than
the bear could pick himself. I put the
pail on the ground and slowly backed
away from it, keeping my eye, as beast
tamers do, on the bear. The ruse suc
ceeded.
The bear came up to the berries and
stopped ; not accustomed to eat out of
pail, he tipped it over and nosed about
in the fruit, "gorming" (if therçis such
a word) it down, mixed with leaves and
dirt, like a pig. Whenever he disturbs
a maple-sugar camp in the spring, he
always upsets the buckets of syrup and
tramples round in the sticky sweets,
wasting more than he eats. The bear's
manners are thoroughly disagreeable.
As soon as my enemy's head was
down, I started and ran. Somewhat out
of breath and shaky, I reached my faith
ful rifle. It was not a moment too soon.
I heard the bear crashing through the
brush after me. Enraged at my duplic
ity, he was now coming on with blood in
his eye. I felt that the time ®f one of
us was probably short. The rapidity of
thought at such moments of peril is well
known. I thought an octavo volume,
bad it illustrated and published, sold
fiity thousand coppies, and went to Eu
rope on the proceeds, while that bear
was loping across the clearing. As
was cocking the gun, I made a hasty
and unsatisfactory review of my whole
life. I noted that even in such a com
pulsory review it is almost impossible to
think of any good thing you have done.
The sins come out uncommonly string.
I recollected a newspaper subscription
had delayed paying, years and years ago,
until both editor and newspaper were
dead ; and which now never could be
paid to all eternity.
The bear was coming on.
I tried to remember what I had read
about encounters with bears I couldn't
recall an instance in which a man bad
run away from a bear in the woods and
escaped, although I recalled plenty
where the bear had run from the man
and got off. I tried to think what is
the best way to kill a bear witk a gun,
when you are not near enough to club
him with the stock. My first thought
was to fire at his head, to plant the ball
between his eyes; but this is a danger
ous experiment. The beai Abrain is very
small, and unless you hit that, the bear
does not mind a bullet in his head,—that
is, not at the time. I remember that
the instant death of the bear would fol
low a bullet planted just back of his foie
leg and sent into his heart. This spot is
also difficult to reach unless tbe bear
stands off towards you, like a target. I
finally determined to fire at him gener
ally.
The bear was coming on.
The contest seemed to me very differ
ent from anything at Creedmoor. I had
carefully read the reports of the shoot
ing there, but it was not easy to apply
tbe experience I had thus acquired. I
hesitated whether I had better fire lying
on my stomach, or lying on my back and
resting the gun on my toes. But in
the
pick^rJSgitber position, I reflected, could I see
until he was upon me. The
range too short, and the bear
wouldn 'tlîait for me to examine the
thermometer and note the direction of
the wind. Ttrial of the Creedmoor
method, therefore, had to be abandoned ; I
and I bitterly regretted that I had not
read more accounts of off-hand shooting.
For the bear was coming on.
I tried to fix my last thoughts up on
my family. As my family is small, this
was not difficult. Dread of displeasing
my wife or hurting her feelings was up
permost in my mind. What would be
her anxiety as hour after hour pa^d on
and I did not return ! What would the
rest of the household think as the after
noon passed and no blackberries came !
What would be her mortification when
the news was brought that her husband
had been eaten up by a bear? i cannot
imagine anything more ignominious than
to have a husband eaten by a bear ! And
this was not my only anxiety. The
mind at such times is not under control.
With the gravest fears the most whim
sical ideas will occur. I looked beyond
the mourning friends and thought what
kind of an epitaph they would be com
pelled to put upon the stone. Something
like this:—
HERE LIE THE REMAINS
OF
EATEN BY A BEAR
August 20,1877.
It is a very unheroic and even dis
agreeable epitaph. That " eaten by a
bear" is intolerable. It is grotesque.
And then I thought what an inadequate
language the English is for compact ex
pression. It would not answer to put
upon the stone simply " eaten," for that
is indefinite and requires explanation ; it
might mean eaten by a cannibal. This
difficulty could not occur in the German,
where essen signifies the act of feeding
by a man and fressen by a beast. How
simple the thing would be in German: —
HIEB LIEGT
HOCH WOHLGEBOREN
GEFRESSEN
August 20, lo77.
That explains itself. The well-born
one was eaten by a beast, and presuma
bly by a bear, which animal has a bad
reputation since the days of Elisha,
The bear was coming on. He had in
fact come on. I judged that he could
see the whites of my eyes. All my sub
sequent reflections were confused. I
raised the gun, covered the bear's breast
with the sight, and let drive. Then,
turned and ran like a deer. I did not
hear the bear pursuing. I looked back.
The bear had stopped. He was lying
down. I then remembered that the best
thing to de after having fired your gun
is to reload it. I slipped in a charge,
keeping my eyes on the bear. He never
stirred. I walked back suspiciously,
There was a quiver in the hind legs, but
no other motion. Still, he might be
shamming. Bears often sham. To make
sure, I approached and put a ball into
his head. He didn't mind it now ; he
minded nothing. Death had come to
him with a merciful suddenness. He
was calm in death. lu ord.r that he
might remain so, I blew his brains out,
and then started for home, I had killed
a bear!
Notwithstanding my excitement,
managed to saunter into the house with
an unconcerned air. There was a cho
rus of voices :
" Where are are your blackberries?"
" Why were you gone so long ?"
" Where's your pail ?"
" I left the pail."
" Left the pail ! What for ?"
" A bear wanted it."
" Oh, nonsense !"
" Well, the la3t I saw of it, a bear had
it.
" Oh, come ! You didn't really see a
bear ?"
" Yes, but I did really see a real bear.
" Did he run ?"
" Yea ; he ran after me."
" I don't believe a word of it. What
did you do ?"
"Oh, nothing particular, except kill
the bear
Cries of "Gammon," "Don't believe
it," " Where's the bear?"
" If you want to see the bear, you
must go up into the woods. I couldn't
bring him down alone."
Having satisfied the household that
somethifg extraordinary had occured,
and excited the posthumous fear of some
of them lor my own safety, I went down
into the valley to get help. The great
bear hunter, who keeps one of the sum
mer boarding-house3, received my story
with a smile of incredulity, and the in
credulity spread to the other inhabitants
and to the boarders as soon as the stoiy
was known. However, as I insisted in
all soberness, and offered to lead them to
the bear, a party of forty or fifty people
at last started off with me to bring the
bear in. Nobody believed there was any
bear in the case, but everybody who
could get a gun carried one, and we
went into the woods armed with guns,
pistols, pitchforks, and sticks, against all
contingencies or surprise.—a crowd
up
But when I led the way to the fatal
spot, and pointed out the bear, lying
peacefully wrapped in his own skin,
something like terror seized the boarders,
and genuine excitement the natives. I
was a no
me excitement tntj uanvea. x
mistake bear, by George; arJ
the hero of the fight-well, I will not
sist upon that. But what a processif
that was, tarrying the bear home, an|
what a congregation was speedily ^atS
ered in the valley to see the bear 1 (tor
best preacher up there never drew lly
thing like it on Sunday.
And I must say that my pirtfftilar
friends, who are sportsmen, bdkved
very well, on the whole. Tiejjflidn't
deny that it was a bear, altloqjja they
said it was small lor a bear. Deane,
who is equally good with a 0e and a
rod, admitted that it wis s Irery fair
shot. He is probably tie |j|t salmon
fisher in the United Sta!es,j^hd he is an
equally good hunter. I Äppose there
is no person in America utjo is more de
I sirous to kill a moose than he. But he
needlessly remarked, after he had ex
amined the wound in the bear, that he
had seen that kind of a shot made by a
cow's horn. This sort of talk affected
me not. When I went to sleep that
night my last delicious thought was,
" I've killed a bear."— Charles Duddley
Warner.
THE PAK LOK RIFL13.
Curions and Interesting Tests by Or
W. F. Carver.
The extraordinary challenge issued by
that crack shot, Dr. W. F. Carver, in the
" Rod and Gun " column of last Sunday's
Chronicle, has produced so much interest
jn sporting ciicles here, that it was
thought worthy to make a report of the
practice which the doctor is now making
daily in order to prepare himself for the
matches he sees in perspective. I)r. Car
ver, in his contests last year with Bogar
dus, showed an excellent form in all the
fine points at pigeon shooting and glass
ball breaking, but the most remarkable
part of his challenge was the offer to
shoot with any one in the world for $250
or $500; 250 glass balls, his adversary to
use a shot-gun at thirty yards' rise, while
the doctor was to shoot with a rifle, the
ball being thrown in the air for him.
This parlor rifle is a Ballard of some nine
pounds weight, of 22 diameter, and Wed
nesday he gave a telling exhibit of its
powers by first picking off a ground
squirrel that was peeping from its hole at
some eighty paces distant. In practicing
at glass balls the thrower is placed at
some eight paces distance, and h&pjtopels
the ball perpendicularly some »«iteen
feet high, and then, as the ball recedes
from its highest point, nine times out
ten the shooter scatters the remnants to
the air. The performance is certainly
most remarkable one ; of course, there
a knack in it, as there is in all kinds
flying shots, but the accuracy of aim
appears to be altogether unprecedented.
Thus in twelve balls the doctor missed
but one, and that was thrown almost
directly over him. But after that the
practice was not so good, as the gun re
quires cleaning at the expiration of about
ten shots. He then took an ordinary
Springfield rifle and broke seventeen out
of twenty balls, and, after this, with the
same weapon, hit thirty-lourtarge stones,
thrown in the same manner, out of forty.
After exhibiting some fancy shots that
were quite interesting, he shot with the
parlor rifle three times at a half-dollar
spun in the air, and hit it fairly twice
and once so squarely that the bullet
remained in part imbedded in the coin,
and they were both picked up at some
eighty paces distant. It is certainly
curious exhibition, and it Dr. Carver can
exhibit the same skill and dexterity with
pigeons at thirty yards' rise he may well
be considered the champion rifle shot
the world. The practice took place
Shell Mound Park, with dull, cloudy
weather, that enhanced the difficulties
of the tests.— San Francisco Chronicle.
a
(
Henry Ward Beeclier Repudi
ates the "Hell Doctrine."
It was said Adam was created perfect.
It was also said that Adam sinned, and
that, in consequence of that sin, the
whole human race fell. The numbers
the human race were actually beyond
computation, and for thousands and
thousands of years they had been born
into the world, bad lived and struggled,
and finally died, and gone—where ?
you tell me they have all gone to heaven*
my answer will be that such a sw^epi^
of mud into heaven would defile ^
purity, and I cannot accept that./"
you tell me they have gone to hell, # en
I swear by the Lord Jesus Christ, ifl°m
I have sworn to worship lorevef
you will make an infidel of m <i
doctrine that God has been lor tjhisands
of years peopling this earth wil human
beings, during a period, thre^ urt ^ 8 °*
which was not illuminated $ an altar
or a church, and in places ^ere a vast
population of those people^® y ß t with
out that light, ia to jlnsform the
Almighty into a monste#^ 11016 hideous
than satan himself, an<}I swear by all
that is sacred that I n# er will wcrship
satan, though he shoal appear dressed
in robes and seatedJn the throne of
Jehovah. Men may^y> " You will not
go to heaven." A if&ven presided over
by such a demon af that, who has been
peopling this woi^ with millions of
human beings aw* then sweeping them
into hell, not likfdead flies, but without
taking the troujie even , to kill them, and
gloating and lai'hiug over their eternal
misery, is rotAich a heaven as I want to
go to. ' Tfce /fectrine is too horrible. I
cannot Wi*e it, and I won't. They say
the sain# heaven are so happy that
they dmind the torments of the
damne* i*hell. But what sort of sain,s
must-he? be who could be happy while
look a g down upon the horrors of the
botomfess pit? They don't mind.
Tby're safe; they're happy. What
w»uW the mother think of the 16 year
,id daughter who, when her infant was
,ying dead in the house, shonld come
dsncing and singing into the parlor, and
eiclaim. "Oh, I'm so happy mother, I
j ^ ^ ^ dead in the eoffin!"
| Wnil]d ahe not be ehocked? And so with
Aad , by the blood of
ttl19
Christ, I denounce it ; by the wounds in
His hands and on His feet, I abhor it ;
by His groans and agony, I abhor and
denounce it as the most hideous night
mare of theology.— Frcrn a recent sermon
in Plymouth church.
The Rev. îlatthews Hale Smith, in
a recent lecture on " Wit and Humor,"
said : " Tbe Bible is ehock full of wit
from Genesis to Revelation, abounding
in sarcasms and incidents where men
had eot the better of one another by
rare humor, and others had been lu
dicrously 'hoist by their own fpe
tard,'"
WAIFS AND WHIMS.
Tlie Mistletoe.
In anci. ut times tbe Druid [ riest*.
ith many a fo'emn vow,
Gathered thy branches, sacred plant.
I o crowti the priestess' brow ;
And chanting grave, mysterious hymn»,
« ith ujeakuied steps and slow,
Thev marched beneath the old oak-trees,
f'-aring the mistletoe.
IIow many a legend, strange and old,
Around t!iy branches clings,
Of superstitions tierce and dread,
01 wild, bsrbiric things !
What cuiious ."ties on saulsl'tiry plain,
What grand and Dompous siiow
Of Cîlts and Northm, *t. hast thou sc n,"
MyBterioui inistlitoe!
Those cruel, superstitious year#
Long M lire haT» onseed away ;
A fairer priestess th m of o.d
Blesses thy leaves to-day.
Trooping atroas the snowy fields
The laughing maidens go,
To gather for their festival
1 hu Christmas mistletoe.
The hall is bright with Christmas cheer,
And youths and maidens fan'.
With innocent and happy ht-aits,
Ilave met together there,
Willi pure r , deeper reverence
Thau U.uil priest cjuld know,
1 lie lover kiste-t bluihiug cheeks
Under the mistletoe.
■ Mrs. Partington remarks that f
persons nowadays suffer from suggestif
of the brain.
..Sometime ago tbe newspaper #<"■
respondents left the seaside, since
the sea s>. rpent lias not shown his
■ A poor man remarks that the#
advantage he gets from capitalists# 1 fr
''live within his income,'' wherein»
difficulty he experiences s to live
an income.
.." Even the boot which lifts sJ w %
machine agent off the front strf
contain a stocking which on
morning will overflow with bleusp fern
loving friends."
. It has been discovered that lager''
beer is a certain remedy for coins. We
believe the usual method of ap] y ing the
remedy is let it toak into the i rn froni
the inside of tho foot.
.. A Spanish illustrated nesrspaper a
threatened with prosecution (■* publish
ing a portrait of the Princess Meire<ie«,
the destined bride of King Al üoom , the
portrait being by no means 11.'
.. A schoolmaster cannot connu;' ui
cide without stating the proposition. A
fortnight ago a pedagogue in San Juan,
Cal., shot hinuelf after school bsurs,
but not until he had chalked on the
blackboard the words, "May thisiclvo
the problem."
.. Ah, love!" she murmured, asthey
wandered through the moonlight,'ah,
dearest, why do the summer roses hie?"
He happened to be a young chemisiof a
practical turn of mind, and he relied
that it was owing to the insuflioincy
of oxygen in the air.
.. A Philadelphia paper is movedtu
inquire why, if druggists by mistake
poisons to person^ causing death, re
prosecuted, those who sell explose
burning fluids, cause the deathof
people almost ^i'y, should be alioed
to go scot lree..
She used i> ^ ee P bits of broken chut
and crocker /piled up in a convenht
corner of th# c ' 03et > iin( l when asked er
reason for Reserving such domestic !u
ber, she rçfnld shost a lucid glacceat
her hushed) an( l merely remark, "le
knows them's for."
"I my breakfast ready ?" sai<hn
impat^nt young man who was tryinto
get lis breakfas* at a beer saltn.
.<ljjd 't know," said the waiter, '"'11
w ytle up and see." " Heavens ! o,
dfi't do that. I ordered sausage, anif
yu whistle you'll have the whole )t
own."
I
Il^
Another Koute to
tlie Noili
A dispatch from London to the Mw
York Herald says: " Captain Wiggis,
an Englishman just returned from ne
Jennessi and Obi rivers, in Siberia, e
ports that route practicable to tli«»
pole, with an open sea all the way.
also reports that there is an immenee
commerce with Siberia from China,
Captain Wiggins, with his schooner
orty tons burden, sailed from the capital
of Siberia to St. Petersburg, and
anchored before the winter palace,
where his vessel was visited by the
imperial family and by great crowds of
people. Step3 are to be taken to organ
ize a line of trading steamers, and thus
open to the world the marvelous timber,
grain and mineral resources of Siberia.
Seven tons of gold were taken from one
mine this year. Wheat, equal to that
of California, sold at $15 a ton. Beef is
one cent a pound. There are telegraphs
everywhere, and the large cities and fine
people exhibit the great spirit of enter
prise that Russia has carried into the
country. 'In England, people will not
credit the existence of the open sea, as
reported, nor the possibility of such a
commerce. It is only fourteen days
travel from the Jennessi river to Lon
don. ___
Bill« l.ut True.
There is said to be a young man in the
Missouri penitentiary whose parents at
their death, left him a fortune of *50,000.
There is where his parents made a fatal
mistake. If they had taken the precau
tion to invest that sum in a small dog,
and shot him, and th'en had simply left
tue young man a jack plane or a wood
saw "with printed instructions how to use
it, the chances are'that, instead of being
in the penitentiary, he would to-day hnrx
been gradually but surely working his
way up to a handsome "competency and
au honorable old age. But ever since the
days of Adam and Eve, parents have
made it a point to toil and struggle all
their lives to realize a sufficient ,sum of
money to purchase, when they are dead
and gone, their sons each a first-class
through ticket to the devil, and it is not
much to I« wondered at that so many of
their sons, reared in vice and idleness, as
too many of them often_ aje^Jave^no
hipher ambition than to invest their in
heritance in just that sort of transporta
tion.