Narragansett herald., December 28, 1895, Image 6

About Narragansett herald. (Narragansett Pier, R.I.) 1877-1???

Image provided by: Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project

                
The Wiad.
What dees it say,
'm."o
Over the meres where the willows are gray,
Where the dark rushes grow,
O’er:the water's dull flow,
Where never the sunlight in freedom may
glow?
Wailing awar,
What does it say?
What i= its song,
Rusbhing along,
Where feariess and careless the sea waves
are strong?
Does it whisper the deep,
Of the speils it can keep,
To rouse it at will from its langhter-lit sleep?
Rushing aiong.
What ie its soag?
What does it call,
Sweeping ©'er all,
Where mountains are steepest and forest
trees tall?
“ob. sach take your dower
Of life's little hour;
Mine ¢ the voice that makes order and
Sweeping o'er all,
8o doee it «all.
THE WHITE JASMINE.
BY AMALIA SOLANO.
The “Imperial Bagdad,” the -city
of the powerful Caliphs of the East,
was in mourning, for the pride znd
flower of Bagdad, the morning star,
Leils- Radvab, the Dbeantiful, the
dsughber of the Caliph, was dying.
All the men skilled in the medical
science in Bagdad, Magi from Persia,
Bugee from Egypt, who had acquired
iu & wonderful way the secrets of med
icine possessed by the ancient Egypt
inn prieets, learned physicians from
the Greek Empire—all had tried their
knowleldge and skill on the Princess.
One day when the san was sinking
in the far west, a traveler entered
Bagdad through one of the gates
whigh looked toward the side of the
rising sun. His dress, travel-worn
and stained, and made in a different
fashion from the prevailisg way in
Bagdad, indiested that he came from
s distance. The man approached an
Arab standing at a street corner and
said with quiet dignity :
““Take me to the palace of thy mas
ter, the Caliph.”
The Arab answered simply :
“Oome with me,” and the stranger
followed ou his footsteps,
When at the door of the palace the
traveler dismissed his guide and said
to the guard:
“I wish to see the great Caliph ; tell
bhim that & ‘Wise Man’ from far away
ludia bas come to cure the Princess.”
The soldier took bhim to the King,
for he had orders to immediately in
trodnee into the royal preseace any
vne coming on such an errand as this.
“Whut dost thou want?” asked the
Kmg
“Mirrorof the faithful! Defender
of the trae faith, the fame of thy
might and power has even reached to
the banks of our sacred river—the
parifving Ganges; also, of how thy
duughbter, the flower of Moslem, was
jil and dyviug, and earthly science
was poweriess to save her from cross
ing the dreaded bridge ; but 1,0 King,
enu save her.”
“How can that be?” asked the
Calipb, 'o wonder. ““Thou hast not
eveu seen her.”
“Thon hast said it, but the stars
have revealed to me their secret, and
I exn save her from death. Take me
to her.”
On a couch surronnded by her
femnie slaves, amid enshions and silks
of damask, lay Leila-Rudyvah, pale as
mooniight; the two midnight stars
which 1u bealth lighted her face were
heavily veiled by her evelids. She
was supremely beantiful, even at her
dving hoaur.
The Hindoo approached the couch,
and with his hand touched lightly her
forebead. She opened her eyes aund
closed them again, sinking imme
diately into the usual stupor.
Then the ““Wise Man” walked tow
ard the exit of the room and the
Caliph weut with him. The Hindoo
walked by the side of the monarch,
si.ent and thoughtfai, aund when they
vntered the throne room, asked from
the sovereign a secret andience.
Hastily dismissing evervone, the
Caiph prepared himself to hear what
the stranger had to say.
The Hindoo began to speak in a
low, impressive voice, carrying con
viction and hope to the heart of the
pour father.
“It i« decreed by fate that the
Prinecss, thy daughter, leave this
world for the one promised to the
taithiul, when four times the moon
shall bave shone full in the miduoight
sky; but Allah has left one hope.
Ouiy one thing can save her; and the
remedy is as difficult to obtain a« her
iliness is mysterions. Art thou ready
to muke cvery saeritice for her?”
“Yeu: if thou eanst do aught for
ber, speak, and 1f she lives, I will
give thee gold, wnd land, and slaves;
I will mane thee wealthy g mors, even
her Laend 1u warriage thoa shalt
have,
“No, Kiug, 1 ask pothing, aud only
wish to return to my conntry when
tue Princess is eared. Gold has no
eharms for me, nor woman any allure
ment. Her hand mas<t be the reward
of her savior; for 1 will only indicate
what will eare her, and a youag, vig
oroas man must go in search of it
Listen to me, O great Caliph!
“Far away 1u the west, in the re
gion of the setting sun, is a land; the
fairest land ia this mortx]l world. Its
vame is Hispatia. In this country
the sky is always bice and pure. In
this paradise of earth, cultivated by
the hands of an Louri, grows a beaati
fal white flower, exhaling a fragrance
like uunto that of the breezes of
heaven ; if anyone can go to that far
off land and bring this heaveuly flower
to Bagdad before thy daughter dies,
then she will live; for its perfume
means life and health to her. Huve
—Household Words.
thin fact proclaimed through all *Ly
kingdom, aud let those who wish to
undertake the verilous journey go,and
may Allsh grant that they return in
time. "
Through all the kingdom the criers
proclaimed the news, that if any man,
however humbile or poor he might be,
could obtain and bring the wonderful
flower from the Occident, he would
have as a reward the haud of the bean
tiful Leila-Cadyah.
Three powerful princes who loved
Leila-Radyah started on the long
journey in quest of the life-giving
blossom.
The first, young and handsome
Prince Ali, perished in the burning
sands when ecrossing the Arabian
desert.
The second, a nephew of the Caliph
Hassan, decided to make the voyage
by water; so, on reaching the Medit
erranean shore, embarked, and a few
days after fell captive into the hands
of pirates. He was set at liberty after
paying a heavy ransom, and tired of
suffering misfortunes, returned to his
native land.
The third Ab-de-Rbhaman, was a
prince of the royal house of the
Omnyades, a dynasty which had been
overthrown by the grandfather of the
present Caliph. Ab-de-Rhaman was
young and handsome ; Priucess Leila-
Radyah was the soul of his sounl, and
she also loved him, but the Caliph
had sworn never to give his daughter
to the young prince ; but how, should
h= go and bring the magic flower,
when the beautiful Liela rose from
her couch she would belong to him, for
the Caliph had promised her hand to
her savior, and a Culiph never breaks
his word onece given to his subjects.
He crossed the desert of Mesopotamia
and reached the seashore. He en
gaged passage in a Greek trading ves
sel bound for Galia and Hispania, but
a tempest threw him on the coast of
Africa. Nothing daunted, Ab-de-
Rbaman continued his way on foot.
He suffered hunger and thirst; he was
taken prisoner, but he escaped, and at
last, leaving behind the burning sands
and barren rocks of the African soil,
he erossed the narrow sea between the
African continent and Hispania.
That night the moon shone full in the
midnight sky for the second time. He
stood on the rock of Gibraltar and
gave thanks to Allah.
Beautiful beyond description was
Hispania. The sky was bluer than the
Indian sapphires, and the gronnd was
carpeted by bright-hued flowers. .
The kingdom of the Goths was es
tablished in Hispania, anl Ab-de-
Rhaman saw that the women wore
their faces uncovered. Their eyes
were of the color of the sky, and their
hair like sunbeams, Yet he saw no
woman as beautiful as his Leila-
Radyah.
The people spoke a strange lan
guage, and could not understand him,
so they took him to a wizard who
passed his time collecting flowers of
the field during the day, and at night
looking at the stars from the top of
an old tarret.
T‘u astrologer spoke to Ab-de-Rhn
man‘in his own language, and it was
like sweetest music to the ears of the
exiled prince. He told the wizard
his story, and received from his
hauds a beautiful pure white blossom,
with petals as white and soft as the
eilks of Damask, and perfume hke
unto that of paradise.
The magician also gave him a box
of sandal wood, of curious workman
ship, inside of which the flower should
be placed, that it could reach the
Eastern city fragrant and fresh.
How the Prince treasures his little
casket, containing the wonderful life
giving flower. Night and day he
presses to his heart his treasure, the
sandal wood box, with the health
giving flower inside: and at last one
day, Ab-de- Rhaman sees, with the first
rays of the morning sun, the minarets
crowned by the crescent of the queen-
Iy eity of Bagdad.
He hears the ulema, that from the
tall minarets calls the people to their
moruing prayer, and see that the
gates of the city are thrown open;
then, taking off his tattered shoes, the
Prince falls on his face and gives
thanks to the mighty Allah; for today
is the last day of grace, and in the
night the moon will shine full for the
fourth time in theé midnight sky.
He enters the eity. No one knows
him, so soiled and torn are his gar
ments, and hair and beard long and
unkempt. He goes to the presence of
the Caliph, and, Kkneeling before him
SAVS :
“‘Behold, O great king! mirror of
the faithful! son of our great pronhet,
behold, I bring here the flewer that
will cure the Princess Leila-Radyab,”
and the Caliph asks in wonder, for he
hud lost ali hope of ever having the
flower:
*“Who art thon?”
“l am the Prince Ab-de-Rhaman,”
and the Caliph again bows his head,
and says ‘lt is fate;” then ‘‘Follow
me."””’
Together they go to the bower of
Leila-Radyah, and see her beautiful
pale face. Now she hardly breathes,
but the “Wise Man” from Indias ap
proaches her couch, gives utterance
to some mysterions words, then places
the white blossom beneath her nos
trils, and ealls her spirit from the
shadows,
She opens her eyes, and the blood
comes back to her cheeks and lips;
then they kuow that she will live ;but
the beautiful white biossom, fresh and
fragrant a minate béfore, is withered
and yellow, as if scorched by fire.
There was great rejoicing at the
wedding of Leila-Radyah and Ab-de-
Rhaman ; but after a while the Prince
vearned again for a sight of that beau
tiful far-off land, which was the image
of paradise ; and so it came to pass
that he, at the head of a great army.
crossed Africa, congnerirg everything
on his way, aud crossed the Straits of
Gabraltar, and defeated the effemin
ate Gothic King King BRodrigo.
Beautiful Hispania was conquered
and submitted to the Saracen rulers,
and Ab-de-Rhaman was the first Caliph
and the founder of the great Caliphate
of Cordova, reigning many years in
glory with his beautiful Saltana Leila-
Radyab. ’
The wonderful sandal wood box was
preserved to the lust of the Saracenic
rule in the mosque of Cordova, then
It was lost, but the jasmine was al
ways considered by the Moselems a
sacred flower. —Short Stories.
Characteristics of the Papagos.
Certain characteristics of the Papago
Indian are remarkable, showing the
effects of environment. Water and
food being scarce, for the Papago
lives in a desert, he can ride, says Mr.
McGee, ‘‘one, two, and even three
days without drinking.” When asked
how they got along with little food in
winter, their reply was: ‘‘l'hey eat
only twicea day, and if there is not
enough, they eat only omne.” Bat
natare always will have deficiencies
supplied, so when the Papago hasa
chance he gorges himself. The
strength and fleetness of these Indians
are worthy of notice. A courier is
said to have run 130 miles in twenty
four hours, and 800 miles within the
five days. They have a game of foot
ball; when running with the ball,
forty miles will be covered by a per
former of an afternoon. Fnacy an
oid woman weighing eighty or ninety
pounds, walking away with a stone
mortar of 196 pounde, and earrying it
half a mile. The Indians live to a re
markably old age, but in all this
Sonoran country the longevity of the
people is extraordinary. It is by a
novel argument that Mr. McGee ad
vances the idea that agriculture had
its beginning in a desert, and not in
rich ground. The necessity that man
should live forced him to cultivate the
arid soil, or, as the author expresses
it, ‘“where agriculture is most ardu
ous, there agriculture began.”’— New
York Times.
An Intimate kFriend of Hornets,
It is Mrs. Brightwen's privilege to
be unusually well placed fors the mi
nute study of living creatures,and her
pets have included lemurs, an ichnen
mon, squirrels, doves, owls, tortoises,
and g 0 on. Squirrels and birds she
has lured from the woods and won
their affection by kindness, and in
addition to giving many particulars
about these, she has something to say
about studying nature, teaching chil
dren to be humane and the pleasure
of insect observation, ete. That in
sects can discriminate between friends
and enemies is, she holds, true, and
she remembers once in a country vil
lage seeing a man hard at work thrash
ing corn in & barn, and quite near to
bim there was an immense hornets’
nest hanging from a beam. When
asked if he was not afraid of them he
smiled and said: “‘Ob, they know
me well enough; one of 'em fell in
side my shirt the other day, but he
was very ceevil and never stung me,
for I never interferes wi’ them and
they never interferes wi’ me!”—
Westminster Budget.
Telephonic Cure For Deafness.
Many advanced aurists are now in
vestigating the effect of mechanical
and electrical vibrations in curing
deafness and various diseases of the
ear. A prominent New York practi
tioner has Invented an iustrument
which gives a sustained note of reed
like quality over several octaves of the
scale. Close to the instrument is a
telephone transmitter, through which
the sound passes to a receiver at the
ear of the patient. The exact pitch at
which the ear is found to exhibit nor
mal symptoms is first ascertained, and
then the corresponding note on the
instrument is started, and the concen
trated vibrations are allowed to play
on the eardrum of the patient for a
specified time every day. Another
leading aurist is experimenting on the
eifect of various kinds of electrical
vibrations in the trcatment of ear af
fections, and some promising results
have been obtained. —Atlanta Cousti
tution.
Latest Bicycle Regulation,
One provision in a 8 new orcdinance
for the regulation of bieycle riding
whieh is under cousideration by the
Sau Franeisco Conucil prohibits bi
cyclists from carrying on taeir ma
chines any child uuder the ag: of six
years. This is the outcome of the re
cent crusade by the Society for the
Prevention of Crunelty to Childlren. A
few days ago a committee from the
bicycle clubs of the city waited on the
council to express approval of tha or
dinance, but to argne that it be changed
so as to prevent the carrying on bi
cycles of chiilidren under fourteen vears
of age. —New Yor& Sun.
Three Strange and ‘e-arhbie Men,
As Dumas, the grandfather, prided
Nimself more upon “his wonderful
strength and skill in athletics than his
generalship; as Dumas, the second,
prided himself more upon his knowl
edge of cookery than the anthorship
of ““The Three Musketeers,” so Da
mas, the third, prided himself more
upon his knowledge of art than upon
the writing of ‘‘La Dame aux Came
lias.” They were three stirange and
remarkable men.—Rochester N. Y).,
Post Express.
Alligators Nearly Exterminated.
The craze for articles made of a i
gators’ skins has been the death .
two and a half millions of alligat s
in Florida during the last fi.tecu
years. The United States Fish Com
mission is now taking steps to fitll up
the vacancies by artificial ivenbation
of the eggs of these reptiles
THE TULIP MANIA.
Recalled By the Kaffir Diamond
Craze.
An Extraordinary Epidemic of
Financial Insanity.
The popular delusions which break
out suddenly and inexplicably and
run through nations like epidemics are
pure extravaganzas. At one time all
France is carried away by the wild
eyed fully of the Mississippi scheme,
which raised real estate to such a
price that it is valued at one hundred
vears’ purchase—that is to say, its
rent pays only one per cent on Its
cost. A little later and Eugland ex
plodes into the kindred absurdity of
the South Sea bubble,creating such a
hunger for special corporations that
one man, who advertised an unknown
scheme, to be revealed at the end of
the month, two pounds to be paid
down for each share, takes in $2,000
the very first day. Twenty yearsago
DBavaria was seduced into pouring
all its movable wealth into the lap of
a woman who had no security to of
fer,simply beeause she paid high rates
of interest and covered her banking
operations with the flowered robe of
priestly confidence. A dozen years
ago all New England, which is sup
posed to be the present home of the
Goddess of Reason, was taken in by a
swindling female banker of the same
sort, who offered the impossible inter
est of 96 per cent per annum to depos
itors.
And now we see before us the spec
tacle of millions of hard earned money
pouring into the diamond schemes of
Kaflivlaud.
Of all things in the world in which
to make a corner, to excite a specula
tion, to be puff-d by brokers, it would
seem as if flowers must be the last.
That whole nations shou'd go mad
after diamonds is not so extraordinary
as that they should go mad after bulbs.
Apd it adds to the extraordinary fea
tures of the latter craze that it should
have been developed among so phleg
matic a people as the Dutch, and
shouid have spread to so thrifty a peo-
Ple as the English. Yet in the early
seventeenth century the ferocious lust
after tulips developed into a raving
insanity.
The tulip had long been a favorite
among the Turks. It was unknown
to Christiau Earope until 1559, when
a single specimen found its way from
Constantinople te Augsburg. Soon
the plant grew into demand in Hol
land as well as Germany. Wealthy
burghers began paying large prices
for choice buibs. In 1600 tulips were
first seen in England. For a period
they were the objects of an admiration
which had its enthusiasms but not its
insanities. By 1634, however, en
thusiasm had barst its bonds in Hol
land and became rank fanaticism, The
ordinary industries of the people
were neglected. Necessaries were
shoved aside to give room for this
usejess luxnry. Everybody turned
to the caltivation of tulips. As the
mania increased prices increased. A
bulb of the kind known as a Viceroy
would bring $1,200 ; and Admiral Liet
kin was worth 81,800, and most pree
ious of all, a Semper Aungustus was
thonght cheap at $2,000.
The last named was a late
introduction. In 1636 there were
only two Dbulbs of this species
in the country—one in Harlem, the
other in Awmsterdam. There was
tremendous competition among buib
fanciers, Finally, the Harlem speci
men was disposed of for twelve acres
of valuable building land, the Am
sterdam one for a new carriage, two
gray horses, a complete set of har
ness and the sum of $1,840.
Strangers in Holland were unable
to understand this frenzy. A story
is told of how a sailor, mistaking =
bulb for an onion, made a Dbreakfast
worth $1,400, and was tearfully in
formed by the owner, when he com
plained of the lack of the true onion
flavor, that ‘‘it wouyld have been
cheaper for him to ‘have breakfasted
the Prince of Orange and all his
court.”
Muarts for the sale of tulips were
opened at the Stock Exchanges in
Amsterdam, in Harlem, in Leyden
and in other places. Stockjobbers and
ganmblers dealt largely in the bulbs.
As was natural, the price at first rose
with the demand. Fortunes were
made in an hour. It was believed
that the mania would spread to other
countries and that Holland would be
the tulip market of the world. Every
body rushed to purchase the bulbs,
Horses, lauds and farm stock were
converted into cash at runinously low
rates or directly exchanged for bulb -
The mania did spread. In Germany
there was a slight stir. In Eoglaud
there was what wounid be calied a
boom. Hollaud felt the effects. Money
began to flow in from all directions.
The prices of the necessaries of life
rose, with the rise ol tulips, commerce
seemed to rest upon a flower bed.
Then came the inevitable panic.
Eversbody had bulbs, and nobody
had money. Prices fell. Everybody
wanted to sell and no one to buy. A
Semper Augustus that would have
broughbt $1,600 or $2,000, was nowun
salable at $lOO. Wealthy men were
reduced to beggary. Defaunlters be
came common throughout the land.
The entire commerce of the country
received a sbhock from which it took
vears to recover. —New York Herald.
Kuowledge and Money.
Raggs—Some people have more
money than they know what to do
with.
Taggs—They seem to know what to
do with the dimes I ask them for.--
Detroit Free Press,
Revolting Cruelties.
The cannibalism of the secret society
known asthe Human Leopards in the
country near Sierre Leone, disclosed
by the recent trial, brings foreibly be
fore us the difference between the East
African and the West African habits
of eating human flesh. The Sherbro
cannibals waylaid and kille® their
victims and afterward feasted on theirr
flesh. The cannibalism of the east
coast is of a very different kind. The
flesh of the old people—the grand
father and grandmotbher of a family—
is dried and mixed with condiments;
and a portion of this is offered, with a
dim sort of sacramental meaning to
travelers who become guests of the
famiir. To refuse it would be a deadly
insult. To accept it is a passport to
the privileged position of a friend of
the house. Muny of our travelers in
East Africa have eaten thus sacramen
tally of some dark-skinned potentate.,
The cannibalism of the west coast
is, as has just beeu seen, of a more
horrible kind. The Sherbro case
seems to be connected with fetichism,
the worst developments of which are
peculiar to that country; bLut there is
a hideously genunine appetite for fresh
hnman flesh still existing. The canni
balism manifests itself in a refinement
of gluttony which has its mild analogy
in the tastes of Earopeans. Youug
boys are brought from the dark inte
rior, kept in pens, fattened upon
bananas and finally killed and baked.
To these Thvestean feasts come not
only the savage chiefs of the interior,
but also, it is whispered, merchants
from the coast.
Men who appear at their places of
business in English territery iu broad
cioth and tall hats, who ape the man
ners of their white masters, are said
to disappear annually into the inte
rior, where, we are told, they might
be seen in savagery, taking part in the
banquets on plump boys, in which
they delight. Be this as it may, some
how the native of the west coast and
its Hinterland is unlike the East or
South African nativein the deep-lying
savagery and the extraordinary facility
for returniug to it,which are his lead
ing and very unpleasant characteris
tics. —London Saturday Review.
To Prevent Collisions.
. Five miles of the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois Railroad have lately been
equipped with the audible block sig
nal, an invention which it is said will
prevent ninety-five per cent of the
railroad disasters. The system was
shown in practical operation recently
ia Chicago to a number of expertelec
tricians, railroad men and others, A
number of prominent Buffalo people
were in the party and took a special
interest in the test of the new device,
it being the invention of a Buffalo
man.
The test was eutirely satisfactory,
and it was found to work even better
in actual operation than the model.
After the trial was tinished it was d--
cided to incorporate a conipany.
It has been 1n use on the five miles
of road for several weekg, and Presi
dent Carpeuter of the Eastern Ilii
uois, says up to this time it has done
all that is expected of it.
It was shown at the test that the
system will give timely alarm to the
engineer of u moviug train when ap
proaching a standing or moving loco
motive on the same track, and of an
occupied grade crossing, an open
switch or drawbridge, or a car pro
jecting from a side track over a main
track.
As the signal given is the ringing
of the bell in the cab of the locomo
tive, whych will continne to ring until
stopped by the engineer, it is appar
ent that the system is ceriain to be
as effeetive in darkness as in daylight,
or durinz fogs or ramstorms, on
curves or heavy grades where a visible
signal eould not be seen in time to
prevent a disaster. —Chicago Tribuue.
Noble Sandwich Pedlers,
The news that the gentleman sand
wich man has become a fumihar fea
ture of the strects of Paris will sur
prise nobody who has studied the
problem of the unemployed, and the
tragic condition of what a French
paper calls “‘le strug-for-lifeur aristo
cratique.”
Six ‘gentlemen, says the Figaro,
wearing gray overcoats, aud uniformiy
ciad, pass slowly along the boulevards
two and two. They possess fine voices,
aad in tove sometimes a litany, some
times a duet, sometimes a psan of
trinmph singing the song of the new
chapean Marice, of the redingote
Rossignol.
They are “‘gentilhommes’™ by birth
and education, and the Frenen word
might even imply noblemen, The
noblesandwich man or the sandwiched
nobleman! And why not? A title is
often in its right place on a board of
directors; why should it not have its
own value between other boards?—
New York Herald.
An Eeccentrie Duchess,
Paris bas lost one of its curiosities
by the death of the Duchesse de
Poma, who was also Dowager Conntess
of Caithness. She was the daanghter
of a Caban planter named Mariategue,
immensely rich and fond of entertain
ing. She became a Spiritualist, took
up Mme. Blavatsky, and believed her
self to be an reincarnation of Mary
Stuart. The palace she built in Paris
she cailed Holyrod, and a statue of
Mary Stuart offered by her to the city
was refused, as it turned out to be a
portrait of herself. Her title of Duch
ess was given to her by Pope Leo.
With all her eccentricities she was
very charitable. —New York Sun.
A famous oak in Palestine is be
lieved by the peasant folk of that
conntry to have been planted by Cain
on the day before he killed Abel.
ROYAL TABBIES.
Handsome and Aristocratic Cats
From Siam.
They Are the Reigning Sensation
in Paris.
Dogs are always credited with hav
ing their day, and why should there
be any discrimination against cats?
The feline tribe is having more than
its share of attention just now in
Paris, and the star of the cat is now
in its ascendency. The dogs, at least
for the time being, are not in it. Alil
this stir in the cat world is caused by
the arrival of a distinctly new species,
hitherty unknown to catdom in Ea
rope or America. The royal Siamese
kiki, by which name the newcomer is
known, is the reigning sensation of
the hour. The Persian feline, which
has till now beld undisputed suprem
acy in the realm of cats, is ignomini
ously retired,says the Chicago Chroa
icie.
The Prince of Orleans, daring his
last visit to Siam, was very graciously
received by the king. In exchanging
the parting coartesies, the Siamese
ruler, as a special-token of the high
regard in which he held the prince,
gave him three superb specimens of
the royal Siamese eats. A man who
had always seeu to the wants of these
aristrocralic felines was detailed to
accompauy the gift to France. As
soon as they arrived in Paris the
priace gave the precious catsin charge
of M. Milue Edwards, superintendent
of this department in Jardin des
Plantes. They have been installed in
very commodious quarters and are
taking kindly to their change of home.
There has been an addition to the
family since its arrival, but the Kkit
tens are not for sale.
They are really extremely handsome
specimens of the cat tribe, being of
very pure blood. Their pedigree,
which unfortunately is written in
Siamese, is a terrifically long one. 1n
appearance these royal cats look some
what different from the ordivary ple
bian ones. Their bodies are a little
more elongated, not having that ten
dency to roundness =0 noticeable in
the ordinary house cat. An awk
ward cat is an impossibility, and the
royal kiki is the very ideal of graceful
movement. They seem to be partien
larly strong iu bone and musele, which
gives them the appearance of a pocket
edition of ecuriously colored tigers,
The family of these cats is a striking
examplie of what good breeding will
accomplish. All of them are exactly
alike, except that the females are a
little larger than the males, They
are beautifui in color, being of a sil
very fawn in the body, and having
their masks or faces of a glossy dark
chocolute shnde. The tips of ther
tails, the ears and feet are also this
color, which gives them a decidedly
aristocratic uppearance. Their eyes
are in very striking contrast to those
of our domesticated animal, being of
a dark Llue color. The pupils are jet
black, but susceptible to the mo-t
vioieut chnnges according to the hu-
Mor of the animal. Sometimes the
pupil looks like a superb amethyst,
und theu, again, it takes the hue of a
tierv earbuuele.
They srem to be of a mneh more
gentle and sociable disposition thau is
generally found among the eat tribe.
They rarely ever use their elaws or
teeth against anvbody unless greatly
irritated or frightencd. They are
thorough aristoerats iu the fullest
sense of the word. No matter bow
much the Persian aud other species of
their kind endeavor so obtain social
recognition from the royal Siamese,
they always receive a most nnmistak
sonb instead. If a well-dressed
visitor, be it gentleman or lady, comes
np to their eage, they are always gra
ciously receivel by these cat suobs,
but shounld a person approach whose
attire is not up to their standard they
make furious efforts to seratch such a
presnmptuons individual,
The cats have not as vet become
thoroughly acelimated and are very
susceptible to colds. That they are
expeunsive pets there can be no doubt,
as from $2OO to $l,OOO bas been
offered and refused for some of the
kitties.
Travels of a Turbine Wheel.
A five-horse power Laval turbine
in the works of & Paris gas company,
is kept at work thronzhont the entire
24 hours, and was receutly found to
have ran 5,390 honrs, and 3,609 hours
without a stop. The velocity of the
circnmierence being 160 metres per
second, the total distance traveled
by it had been about 1,900,000 miles,
or 78 times the distavce around the
earth. In 130 days it had traveled
w:thont & stop 53 times the disitance
around the earth! This is made the
more remarkable by the fact that the
ouly attention given to the motor was
the filling of an antomatie oiler once
in every twelve hours. —Trenton (N,
J.) Ameriean. 7
To Build a Novel Craft,
Some of the masculine residents of
Vinul Haven, Me., have a new plan
for keeping themselves occupied and
amused during the coming winter.
Each pledges himself to design and
build & novei craftto be controlled by
mechanical power only—the methods
and materials employed in constrac
tion to be kept secret from each
other until the exhibition and trial
race, which has been appointed for
some day in June, 1896. —New York
Post.
A Question of Antiquity.
Miss Winthrop-Bludblne, haughtily
Your people are rather—rather re
cent are they not? Now I am a
Daughter of the Rewolution.
Miss Nobody of Nowhere-—Mercy !
How well you carry your years, —New
York World.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
Antiquarians say that glass was in
use 2,000 years B. C.
OUne Maine hunter has shot more
than 70 coons already this season.
The region in the immediate vicin
ity of the Dead Sea is the hottest on
earth,
The jasper vase which the Czar of
Russia has presented to Paris weighs
four tone
A rattlesnake with thirty-two rat
tles was killed near Phoenix, Arizona,
a few days ago.
In Japan, paper coats, oiled, and
thus made waterproef, have been in
use at least ten centuries.
Marcus Antonius possessed a dwarf,
Sispphns, not quite two feet tall, and
yet the possessor of a remarkable wit.
American gold peus have the repu
tation in our own and foreign mar
kets, of being the best pens in the
world.
Green Lake, Col., is 10,250 feet
above sea level, and is said to be the
most elevated body of water in the
world.
William Cullen Bryant wrote poetry
when nine vears. At eighteen his
masterpiece “‘Thauatopis” was pub
lished.
Taking the whole land surface of
the globe into consideration there are
22 1-2 acres for each inhabitant on
this plauet,
There are two or three well-to-do
old ladies in Paris who make it their
business to feed the stray cats of the
city., One feeds more than 100 daiiy.
A Pennsylvania man began hunting
pheasants eleven days before the sea
son opened. He killed 82 during the
11 days, and they have cost him $lO
apiece.
Clintou, Me., got up a competitive
sknnk bhunt the other day, and the
place will smell sweeter for some time
to come. 7The game brought in was
130 skuuks.
In Paris, at the foot of all steep
inclines, are found members of the
““Wheelpushers’ Guild,” who for =a
small consideration push the rider’s
machine to the summit,
Tramps ia Holland are put in a
cistern which has a pump in the Dbot
tom. Water is turned on in sufficient
volume to keep from drowning. One
dose 18 generally sufficient.
James M. Muan, an official of
Evanston, 111., was relieved the other
day by a surgical operation of a piece
of bLombshell, which he has been
earrying in his nose for the past 32
years,
Mrs. Mary Rochester, colored, died
in the New Castle, Delaware county
almshouse a few days ago at the re.
puted age of 104 years. She bad
lived in that vicinity during most of
her life.
Sandwich is one of the few English
towns in which the curfew is not rung.
The custom was very nearly ended re
cently, as the people objected to the
ringer’s ringing the bell at 5 o’clock 1n
the morning, too.
Peculiar Chinese Parents,
It is a disagreeable fact that Chinese
parents are in the habit in certain cir
cumsiances of abandoning female in
fants to death by starvation, and.t is
one that an apologist for China would
like to pass over in silence. On tue
other hand, nething is gained by ex
aggeration, and ns far as my most
limited experience allows me to speak,
it is enormous exaggeration to talk as
if Chinese mothers exposed their
daughters habitually and withont a
second thought. At any rate, the
people of Fair Reply wounld repudiate
the charge with amazement. ‘“He hau
kal, tso mak kai 1it?” If she is a good
one why throw away?” they would
ask.
Why, indeed, when a girl of ten in
good health and fairly bonny.will al
ways feteh $100; while each of the
next five or six vears will add $lO to
her market value? So remembering
that from the age of five she will be
useful to gather bamboo husks for fuel,
mind the baby, feed the buffalo and a
year or two later cat fern, dig up pis
tachio nuts and carry water, it will be
seen that a healthy female child will
be by no means an unprofitable in
vestment, But if the child be sickly,
then it is different. The nasty little
thinz looks red and helpless and re
puisive. If it dies within doors its
fractious spirit will remain there, and
add another torments to tne iteeming
world of devils that surround uns. Bet
ter for all parties to deport the tiny
spirit to some lonely spot, turn awsy
qnickly and think of something else.
Charity might possibly aceept some
such revalsion of the maternal instinet
in explanation, and theanthropologist
will remember,” that *“‘holy thing,”
and the case of the rabbits once so
aptiy ecited in this conunection.
Blackwood’s Magaziue.
Petrolenm For Snake Bite,
A German, for many years a resi
dent of Brazil, affirms that petrolenm
is an infallible cure for snake bite,
The best pian is to batbe the wonnd
in the lignid, or rags soaked with
petrolenm wmay be laid over it. His
nephew aud his son-in-law were thue
saved. He meutions several instances
wherein persons were bitten far out in
the woods, far awayv from the remedy,
But even then reliefl was immediate as
soon as the petrolenm was applied,
New York World.
Somewhat Yague.
A guest at the country inn ex
claimed: *“‘l say, landlord, vour food
is worse than it was last year!”
“Impossible, sir; was the rather
ambiguons reply of the landlord,—
Pearson’s Weekly,
CHILDREN’S (OLUNN.
A SNOW FROLIC.
Jack Frost to his snowflake children
Said one cold November day,
“All summer long you sat so still,
Now you shall run and play:
But hurry home when the spring days come,
Go frolic while you may,”
So they slid down the windy banisters
That circle from the sky,
Aad they turned the prettiest somersanits
From roofs and steeples high,
(No fear of falls!) and with wee snowbaills
They pelted the passer-by.
And they kept up an endless game of tag
All over the meadows brown,
And they sat on the ridge-pole all in & row
And pushed each other down ;
That's the way the snowflake children play
When ever they come to town.
—Youth’s Companioa.
SENTINELS OF THE WOODS.
The sentinel of the woods is the well
earned name given to our bold,aggres
sive, pert, brave blue-jay. Many an
expectant sportsman has paused in
dismay when his stealthy entranee into
a pateh of woods was sunounced in
piercing screams that rang through
the whole region. *‘‘Here! here!
here!” the blue-coated watchman
seemed to yell. At their shrill warn
ing every bird and beast scarries for
& hiding place. No one seems to
know just why the alarm is given.
Whether to warn the jay's own family
only or otherwise. Certainly the jay
must be aware of the commotion he
causes, and if so one can well imagine
his often using it to spread a false ter
ror just for fun. They will play all
sorts of pranks on one snother, and
practical jokes are of hourly ocecur
rence.
Wiuter has no terrors for them,and
the brave fellows stay the whole winter
through in our inhospitable region.
Frequently they use a battered, lovse
jointed old barn for n roost at might
and in the Uay if sorely pressed .by
hunger they will come to thd door
vards for food. Through the <hill
automn days thev will fight with the
gray and red squirrels over tue divi
sion of the nut crop and repay all
thefts by giving bunny timely waraing
of the gunner’s approach. Through
the nisles of leafless trees the jays can
see the intruder at a great distance
and render correspondingly greater
service. Uscless it is for the gunuper
to sit quietly on a log and wait for the
watchmen to cease their racket. They
will continne to scream vehemently so
long as he is in sight.
Uulike some hhuman watchmen these
never sleep while on daty. Oaly one
weakness they show in common with
the human kind. They are apt to
wonder off their beat. A tryst with
some fair young girl blue-jay in the
neighboring grove, a feast at some
beantiful chestnnt or beech or a fight
between their clan and another, or a
hawk to be fouzht off—all the- e allure
ments draw them from duty, and 12
their absence the gunper yitl find his
best fun with the bushy-tails and the
rabbits, and perbaps wouder why he
Yever had such lnck before.—New
York World.
A SAMOAN SAVAGE.
““When Austin built bis fort against
- the Indians, Arick (for that is the
Bluck Boy’s usme) liked nothing so
much as to help wim. And this 1s
very funny, wheu you think thatof all
the dangerons savages in this island,
Arick is one of the most dangerous.
’ The other day, besides, he made Aus
tin a musical nstrument of the sort
they use in his own conntry—a harp
' with only one string. He took a stick
| about three feet long and perhaps
four inches round. The underside
he hollowed ont in a deep trench to
serve as a sonnding-box ; the two ends
of the npper side ?fe made to curve
) upward like the ends of a eanoe, aud
between these he streteched the single
‘ string. He plays upon 1t with a
- match or a little pilece of stick, and
‘ sings to it songs of his own country,
of which no person here ean under
stand a single word, and which are
very likely ali sbout fighting with bis
enemies in battle, and Kkilling them,
and, I nm sorry to say, cooking, them
in a ground-oven, and eating them for
supper when the fight is over.
“For Arick is really what vou eall
a savage, though a savage is a very
different sort of = person, and very
mwuch nicer than he is made to appear
in little books. He is the kiod of
person that everybody smiies to, or
makes [nees at or gives a smack as he
goes by ; the sort ol person that all
the givls on the plantation give the
best seat to and heip first, and love
to decorate with tlowers and ribbons,
and vet all the winle are langhing at
him ; the sort of person who likes best
to play with Aunstin, and whom Aas
tin, peroaps, hkes best to play with,
He is all grins aod gigzles aud littie
steps ont of dances, aal listle droll
waps to attract people’s attention and
set them laughing. Aud yet, when
you come to lovk at him very closely,
vou will find that his body ils all cov
ered with scars. This happened to him
when he was a child. There was
war in the way in these wild islands
between his village and the next, mach
as if there were war in Londoa be
tween oue street and another; and all
the children ran about plaring 1a the
middle of the trouble, and, I dare
sav, took no more noticz of the war
‘than vou children in London do of a
general election. But sometimes, at
general elections, English childrea
Juay get rau over by processions in
the street; and it chanced that a little
Arick was rnnning about in the Bush
and very busy about his playing, he
ran into the midst of the war
riors on the other side. These
speared him with a prisoned spear;
and his own people, when they had
found bim, in order to cure him of the
poison scored him with knives that
were probably made of fishbone.
B‘::ort Louis Steveuson, in St. Nich
o :
8