Narragansett herald., August 01, 1896, Image 6

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

Image provided by: Rhode Island Digital Newspaper Project

                
Where the Blackberries
Groew.
BY EMMA HOWARD WRIGHYT.
The girl stands looking at the pie
ture; the man who painted it stands
looking at the girl. What a swcet face
it has, so girlish, so untouched by the
sorrows and passions of life! The look
of pleased admiration in the soft eyes
gives him an odl seusation of pleas
:re. He is glad that his work pleases
er.
The girl is presently joined by a
tall, graceful woman. Slirely gives
a slight start. :
“Eleanor!” he murmurs.
~ *“Ob, mamma,” the girl is saying,
“‘sn’t this a sweet picture? I like it
better than anything I have seen
here.”
Some of the faint, delicate color
fades out of Eleanor Seaton’s beauti
ful tired face as she looks at the can
vas that has aroused her daughter’s
entbusiasm.
*“Yes,” she murmurs mechanically,
“it i$ a beantiful picture.”
And then with hands which are a
little tremulous, she opens her ecata
logue and seeks the number of the pie
ture,
“““Where the Blackberries Grow—
John Shirley.” I was sure of it,” she
murmurs, and looks again at the pic
ture.
A field, in which there are gnanti
ties of wild flowers, tall, beautifully
colored grasses, and bushes laden with
berries. In the midst of the black
berry bushes stand a boy and a girl.
The former is busily picking berries,
and his face is averted; the latter is a
charming little figure in a calico slip
and a small pink sun-bonunet pushed
back from a fair baby face, the pout
ing lips decply stained with biackberry
juice. A mass of gold colored curls
falls over the childish brow.
A fellow artist has joined Shirley.
“Mrs. Seaton and her daughter
appear to be admiring your picture,
Shirley,” he says. *“Come, let me
introducs yon. Mrs. Seaton is a
charming woman.”
“And the young girl is her daugh
ter?” says Shirley, as they move
awav,
“Yes, bat she will never be the
lovely woman that her mother is,” is
the reply, and Shirley smiles.
Some hours later Mrs. Seaton sits
before her dressing room fire. There
is an unusual quickening of her lan
guid pulses. In the leaping heart of
the fire she sces mirrored all the years
since she and Shirley gathered bLlack
berries in the acre ficld, one summer
day long ago. How faithfully he had
reprodaced the scene in hLis painting!
' The picture in the fire shifts a lit
tle; still the field with its wild flowers
and its laden bushes, but a young man
and a maiden replace the boy and
baby girl. :Back from the long past
there comes to Eleanor Seaton the ce
stacy of that unforgotten dar. She
seems to feel again upon her lips the
kisses of her young lover, and starts
up with flushing check and throbbing
heart.
Bat the picture has faded from the
fire and another replaces it. A wed
ding party; the bride—young and fair
of face, and white as her bridal robes;
and the bridegroom-—not the boyish
youung lover, but a middle aged, cyni
cal looking man. Her youth and her
innocence had eanght his faney, and
she bad bartered herself for his gold:;
sacrificed truth and honor, and, as she
but too soon realized, happiness also.
Bat she soon learned the lesson many a
woman has learned before her—to hide
ber aching heart beneath a smiling fuce.
Girlhood, happinecss—Ler own hand
had slain them. With the coming of
ber child something like peace had
erept into her -heart, Then Seaton
died, and she was once more free. O
ber young lover she heard nothiug.
She knew that ke had left the old
farm, that ke bad goue abroad to
stady art. Now,after all these years,
they met again. The farmer’s son
bad become a well known artist. A
gray haired, worn faced man replaced
the lover of her youth,
The pictures of the past have died
in the leaping flames. Other scenes
are mirrored there, and hope paints
them.
“What? Not dressed yet!" ex
claimed a fresb, girlish voice. *“‘Have
you forgotten that Mr. Shirley and
Mr. Halwell are coming to dinner,
mamma?”’
With dreamy eyes Eleanor Seatou
taras and smiles np into the fair face
of Lber young daughter. The girl
wears a simple white gown. She is
very girlish and very sweet.
*Ob,mamma! How lovely you are!”
Day exclaims, later, as her mother en
ters the drawing room in a beautifal
rose piak gown which is exceedingly
becoming to her dazzingly fair skin
and pale gold hair. And Eleanor
Seaton’s cheeks softly flush and her
eyes grow radiant. She is glad for
the first time in many years that she
is beantiful.
How swiftly the days and the weeks
and the months glide by after that
might! Shirley is a frequeat visitor
at the home of Mrs, Seaton. Then.
when the summer comes, Eleanor Sea
ton has a fancy to visit the oid farm.
The artist follows her and her dtngh-'i
ter. Oane beauliful evening Eleanor
stands at the old farm bhouse door.
The air is fall of the perfume of roses.
The sky is all crimson and gold. The
woman’s face is beautiful with the soft
radiance of a love dream.
Then Ray comes towards her
through the roses. The girl’s face is
flushed, her eyes droop. She moves
elowly to her mother’s side.
*‘Where have you been, dear?” the
latter asks, wondering a little at the
change in the girl’s face, -~
“To the blackberry field,” the girl
replies. ‘I went with Mr. Shirley;
be wished to show me the scene of his
painting, Ob, mother,” and the
girl’s arms goabout her mother’s neck,
“‘he loves me—can you imagine it?
He wants me for his wife,and I—l am
so happy.”
There is silence for some moments.
Then Eleanor Seaton lifts the sweet
face from her breast and presses lLer
lips to her daughter’s flushed cheek.
“I am very glad, dear, that you are
happy,” she murmurs.
The sunset glow has faded from the
sky, leaving it pale and cold and gray.
Eleanor shivers in the warm, perfumed
air, Her eyes, to which all the old
weariness has returned, look past the
brown Lead of the girl towards the
field *““where the blackberries grow.”
—Munsey’s Magazine.
Where the Apostles Are Buried,
Perhaps there is not one man in a
thousand who is able to tell where the
twelve apostles are buried; and yet
every Christian should possess this in
formation. Seven are buried in Rome,
as follows: St. Peter, St. Philip, St.
James the Lesser, St. Jude, St. Bar
tholomew, St. Matthias and St. Simon.
Three liein the kngdom of Naples,
St. Matthew at Salermo; St. Andrew,
at Amalfi, and St. Thomas at Orlona,
St. James the Greater is buried in
Spain. Conecerning the exact where
abouts of St. John there is much dis
pute. The following bit of infor
mation on the subject comes
from the Hartford (Conn.) Times:
St. Mark and St. Luke are
buried in Italy, the former at
Venice and the latter at Padua. St
Panl’s remains are also b:lieved to be
in Italy. St Peter is buried in Rome
in the church which bears his name;
80, too, are St. Simon and St. Jade.
St. James the Lesser is buried in the
Church of the Holy Apostles, St. Bar
tholomew in the chureh on that island
in the Tiber which bears his name,
The “Legends of the Apostles” places
the remains of St. Matthias under the
altar of the renowned Basilica,
A Humbugging Story.
The story of the plot to capture
William Penn first appeared in the
Uunited States more than twenty-five
years ago. It has been coutradicted
over and over again, but it still reap
pears periodieally in the newspapers.
It is nothing less than miserable forg
ery, intended to deceive the public,
either for the purpous: of putting
its credulity to a test or of
creating a prejudic: against the
early founders of New Eogland,
The name of Mr. Judkins is entirely
unknown at this library; no such
chest of old papers as is alleged to have
been deposited iu the archives of the
society has ever been received, and no
such person as the one said to have
made the deposit is known to the
members, At the date of the docu
ment Cotton Mather was ouly nine
teen years old, which fact alone would
be presumptive evidence that he was
not conuccted with any such piratical
scheme, Farthurmore, I doubt
whether the word ‘‘scampe” was in
usc at that period. —Notes and Queries.
Found a Lumianous Crab,
Onept‘ the marine curiosities re
cently fished from ths bottom of the
Indian ocean by a dredging vessel in
the employ of the Caleutta Society of
Natural History was & mammoth sea
crab which coutinually emitted a
bright white light similar to that seen
in the spasmodie flashes of phosphor
escent lumiuvosity kindled by our com
mon fireflies. The odlity was cap
tured in the day time and placed in a
large tank, nothiug peculiar exeept its
immense siz2 being noticeable in the
broad glare of the tropieal sun.
At night, however, when all was in
pitchy darkness, the crab surprised
the natiweralists by lighting up the tank
s 0 that all tfxe other sea ecreatures,
great and small, ocenpying the same
tank could be plainly seen. When
the luminous crustacean was prodded
with a pole, hLe emitted flashes of
light which enableq the experimenters
to read small print,even though other
wise they were in totul darkness. —St.
Louis Republie.
Fragrant Rose Jars,
Rose jirs are made by putting a
layer of petals of any fragrant variety
of rose in the bottom of a jar. On
this scatter some coarse salt; close
the jar tightly and place in the sun.
Next day, or as soon as You have
enough material to make another, lay
er, put in more petals and another
sprinkling of salt. Coatinue this as
long as you have flowers. Then add
cloves, cinnamon,orris-root and other
fragrant articles and mix the whole
mass well. Keep the jar well closed.
—Ladies’ Home Journsl
lodia ink is made by some secret
process which is ‘closely guarded by
its inventors, the Chinese, K
Curiens Freak of Lightning.
From the village of Coombe Bay,
which lies about four miles from Bath,
England, comes a story of a curiouns
freak of lightning, according to Pear
son’s Weekly. - Near the village there
is, or was when the incident occurred,
a large wood composed of oak and nut
trees. In the center of this wood
there was a small pastare, quite
hemmed in by the surrounding
grove. Here six sheep were kept
by their owner. The flock being
small, the pasture only fifty yards in
extent, contained herbage sufficient
for them. One day while the sheep
were in the field a severe thunder
storm came on, and a flash of light
ning killed simultaneously every sheep
in the pasture, It is to be presumed
they were mourned by their owner,
but no doubt considering that they
might be of some profit to him, al
though dead, he sold their bodies to a
butcher in the neighboring village
of Coombe Bay. The butcher began
his business of skinning the lightning
struck animals, To the astonishment
of the butcher and his assistant,on the
interior of each sheepskin they found
printed an elaborate and faithful
picture of the landscape surrounding
the sheep pasture. These natural
pictures were in no respect suggestive
of the impressionists daubs, but the
trees, the feunces, the rocks, the bushes
were all as preciscly represented as if
photographed upon the skin of the
animal. Every detail was exactly
drawn. The sheep had been killed ;
while huddled togethér in a corner
and the landsecape in each case was the |
same, the picture being of that part of i
the surrounding scenery which lay in
the path of the lightning flash which 1
killed the frightened animals.
Crime That Was Handed Down.
Professor Pellmann of Bonn uni
versity, Germany, has made a special
study of hereditary drunkenness. He
has taken certain individual cases, a
generation or two back, and has
traced the careers of children, grand
children, and great-grandchildren in
all parts of the present German em
pire until he has been able to present
tabulated biogrpahies of the hun
dreds descended from some original
drunkard.
The last person whom Professor
Peilmann has immortalized thus in
medical literature is Fran Ada Jurke.
She was born in 1740, and she was
a druukard, a thief, and a tramp for
the last forty years of her iife, which
ended in 1820. Her descendants
have numbered 834, of whom 709 have
been traced in local records from youth
to death by Professer Peilmann. Of
the 709, he found 106 were born out
of wedlock. There were 142 beggars,
and 64 more who lived from echarity.
Of the women 181 led disreputable
lives. There were in this family 76
convicts, 7 of whom were sentenced
for murder.
In seventy-five years this one family
rolled up a big bill of costs in alms
houses, trial courts, prisons and cor
rectional institutions. Professor Pell
mann says this bill,which the authori
ties of Germany and therefore the
taxpayers have paid, has been at leaat
about 81,250, 000.
Why Some Animals Lap,
The reason that certain animals lap
instead of drink seems to be an ar
rangement of nature to prevent car
nivorous animals, whose stocmachs are
comparatively swmall, from over-dis
tending themselves with water. Most
of the animals that suck when drink
ing are herbivorous and have large
stomachs, or more than one, with a
pannch or receptacle for unchewed
food, and with them digestion
is a slow process, and there is
little, if any, danger of over
distension, although such a thing is
not unknown with some herbivorous
animals. Digestion is a muech more
rapid process with the carnivora, and
it is important that it should not be
delayed Dby the ingestion of large
quantities of cold water. By lapping
the month and throat are thoroughly
moistened, while the water is supplied
to the stomach in sma'l quantities,
properly warmed and mixed with sal
iva. It may be fairly assumed that
the carnivora are of more recent crea
tion, for the herbivcrous animals are
their food, and that therefore lapping
may be considered a more highly de
veloped way of drinking than suck
ing. —Detroit Free press.
Franee’s Foreign Legion,
The foreign legion of the French
army is a unique body of troops. It
is always sent on dangerous missions
or where absolute foolhardiness is re
quired, and it has néver been known
to falter. An explanation is given in
the fact that many of its members are
foreigners who have been forced to
leave their native countries, They are
utterly reckless and are anxious for
death, but do not choose to commit
suicide. There are political refugees
of all sorte, besides men who have
been dishonorably dismissed from
other European armies for various
crimes and misdemeanors, as well as
criminals who are serving under as
sumed names.
Secrets of Photography,
A Manchester photognphex; relates
that he recently took a photograph
of a child who was apparently in good
bealth and had a clear skin. The
negative .showed the skin to be
thickly covered with an eruption.
Three days afterward the child was
covered with spots dune to prickly
heat. The cimera had seen and
plotographed the eruption three days
before it was visible to the naked eye.
It is said that another case of a
similar kind is recorded, where a
child showed spots on his portrait
which were invisible on his face a
fortnight previous to an attack of
smallpox,
A TIGER EEL
Formidable Monster Captured in
Puget Sound.
A Snake’s Body,a Bulldog’s Head
and a Tiger’s Fangs.
A specimen of the fabled sea-ser
pent, but which has since been defin
itely classified as a tiger eel, has been
captured in Pugct sound and brought
to Tacoma, Wash.,for exhibition. The
monster is nine feet two inches long,
and a most formidable-looking ob
ject. It has the body like that of the
snake, a head like that of a bulldog
and the fangs of a tiger. Aside from
its dead mate, and a small one on
board the United States Fish Com
mission steamer Albatross, caught
some time ago, its like, so far as can
be learued, has never before been en
countered in the waters of the
! Pacific,
- The body is spotted and ribbed like
that of a rattlesnake, while its move
ments are like all eels, serpentine in
character. At the neck it is about as
thick as a large man’s thigh,gradually
tapering to a point at the tail. The
under jaw is wrinkled and heavy, and
its general build indicates that it is
capable of exerting tremendous
strength in its native element. It is
finned somewhat like a halibut, having
a dorsal fin the entire length of its
vertebrae, while underneath is a sim
ilar fin extending from thestomach to
the tail. Back of the gills are two
side fins, about three inches long.
The eyes are as large as a man’s, and
very bright. They follow the move
ments of a person as closely as the
eyes of a cat follow a mouse, and with
out the slightest movement of the
head. The general color is darkish
blue, the spots fading into lighter
blue underneath. The skin is smooth.
It was caught in Hood's canal by R.
E. McClean and W. J. Kennedy, two
fishermen, who in all their years of
fishing, never made or saw such a cap
‘ture. They were fishing for black
‘bass at Chase’s rock, near the month
of the Humi-humi river, where a ledge
drops straight down into water 150
fect deep. They were baiting with
minnows, There was a tremendous
jerk on one of their lines and in a
moment they found that something
much larger than a bass had been
canght. This was the female of the
strauge species now being exhibited. It
struggled fiercely, but was finally towel
ashore, where, after another struggle,
it was dragged upon the beach. To
preserve it they got a 100-foot line
and fatening it through the gill, lari
ated it out on the shore. When
dragged upon the beach the big eel
would rush back over the sand and
swim out to sea as far as the line
would allow. There is a swish in the
air as it swings its tail and drts ahead
with tremendous speed.
Itis as ferocious as a tiger. The
sirnggles of the female when first
caught attracted the attention of her
mate, which rode to the surface and
attacked the boat. It had to be struck
on the head repeatedly with an oar.
After tying the female McClean and
Kennedy went back and hooked the
male. The bull made a desperate
struggle. An oar was snapped in two
by its powerful jiws in a second, and
a steel gaff, which was thrust through
bis gill into his month was bitten al
most iu two. So deeply wasit indented
that when taken from his mouth it
was easily pulled in two by one of the
fishermen.,
The male was nearly nins feet long,
similar to the female, but with a larger
and more ferocious head, It was also
drawn out of the water with a lariat,
but died a week after its capture from
injuries inflicted by the oar and gaff
hook. The animal’s jaws are sat with
rows of sharp, curved teeth, like those
of a cat, and the strength of the jaw
enables it to sink its fangs to the base
in a stick of wood. Each of these
powerful eels possesses a quantity of
heavy molars, elliptical-shaped and
fitting closely into each other. In the
stomach of the male was found a
small quantity of kelp, showing the
species to be at least partly herbivor
ous, as the molars would also indi
cate,
A few evenings ago when the tank
in which the female is kept was sur
rounded by ladies the monster was
ungered by unusually active efforts
with a stick to keep it swimming,
Quick as a flash it swished its tail
around and strack the sids glass panel
a blow with the end that cracked the
three-eighths of an inch glass eclean
across one end.
It is fed regularly on clanfy, oysters,
mussels, tom cod, smelt and herring.
Its appetite is increasing, and in every
way it seems to be thriving.
A Revolver for Game Wanted,
E. S. Parmenter, of Pueblo, Col.,
asks Shooting and Fishing why there
is no revolver suitable for hunting
on the market. He says that out in
Colorado a properly constructed re
volver, witlba bullet that is not too
heavy or too blunt, and a charge of
powder to mateh, would be a most
uselul weapon for shooting the small
game there,
Where the grouse are so tame that
one may approach within twenty-five
feet of them, and where edible squir
rels sit upon their haunches allowing
one
to come as near to them as u—x
eastern state chipmunk, a shotgun
givesano sport, a shotgun or rifle or
the revolver shooting the present
popular charges tears the ‘game too
much. With many hunters a three
pound 22-calibre target pistol finds
favor, but a single shot is not enough.
The possibilities of a revolver for
game at short range are'’ great,
The revolver is etrictly 8 man killer,
and would serve admirably if of 38 o
44-calibre as & deer killer on an Adi
rondack water rnnway. A number of
deer have been killed with revolvers
in the Adirondacks, but few hunters
have used them on small game. Doe
Morey, of Remsen, N. Y., shoots a
great deal with a 32-calibre center
fire revolver, and being a good shot
he often kills ruffled grouse and other
small game with it. Several deer have
also fallen before its muzzle.
SRS X
S
S
Personal Appearance of Tecumseh,
Tecumseh was the greatest Indian,
next to Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant)
that America produeed. It will be
interesting to our readers to learn of
bis personal appearance. Colonel
William Stanley Hateb, in the year
eighteen hundred and seventy-two,
published a little book ecalled “A
Chapter of the War of 1812.” Hatch
was & volunteer in the Cincinnati
Light Infantry and Acting Assistant
Quartermaster-General of that army.
His book is now rare.
He says: ‘‘His height was fivo feet
nine inches. His face was oval rather
than angular; his nose handsome
and straight; his mouth beautifully
formed, like that of Napoleon 1., as
represented in his portraits —his eyes
clear, transparent hazel, with a mild,
pleasant expression when in repose
or in conversation; but when excited
in his orations, or by the enthusiasm
of conflict, or when in anger, they
appeared like balls of fire; his teeth
beautifully white, and his complexion
more of a light brown or tan than
red; his whole tribe as well as their
kindred, the Ottoways, had light
complexions; his arms and hands
were finely formed ; his limbs straight.
He always stood very ereet, and
walked with a brisk, elistie, vigorous
step; he invariably dressed in Indian
tanned buckskin, *¢.
No Life on the Moon,
In the absence of all indieation of
any sort of life whatever onthe moon,
with no air nor water, together with
the fuct that no change of any de
scription has been noticed by the
keen and trained eyes which have
jealously scrutinized its surface from
the time of the first telescopic
efforts to the present we are com
pelied to conciude that there are mno
people who live in the moon. The
wonderful combination of mountain
and crater, val'ley and peak, is, after
all, only a vast graveyard; and if liy
ing beings ever roamed over its pluins
and n.zigated its great seas, now dry,
or frozeu with appalling cold, they
have been gathered to the nations of
the dead; and all traces of them
having vaunished, the tall shafts of the
mountains watch over their last resting
place, and, with the erater rings, con
stitute their eternal and magnificent
mausolenm. —Ladies’ Home Journal
The Perfection of Flight,
The metallic-colored feathers of
humming birds and sun birds have
been supposed to play some part in
the economy of these birds aside from
flight; but Miss Newbigin combats
this view, pointingy outin a paper pre
sented to the Z)ological Society of
London, that in the first place the
older view did not apply to all hum
ming birds, as in the metallic feathers
of some of them the barbules were
often connected by cilia. She held
that the very perfection of the flight
of humming birds led to correlated va
riations in feather structure produc
tive of their espeecially brilliant metal
lic tints. *‘The difficulty of the plain
colored swifts—possibly near allies of
the humming birds—was met by the
suggestion that the latter have fewer
enemies, aud had, therefore, had
greater scope of possible color varia
tion.”
Made Trouble for His Heirs,
Robert Huarvey, one of the oldest
citizens of Hendricks county, Illinois,
died Friday night, June 26. Just be
fore his death he muttered something
abont Btis buried money. His sister
began digging in the yard aud found
a tin box containing money. Since
that time almost $4,000 has been
found ia various places, often buaried
in loose carth. His will gives the lot
to his little grauddaughter, and Ler
guardian is claiming the buried coin.
His other reiatives lay claim to the
money,and the legal fraternity is try
ing to decide who really is the owner.
As Mr. Harvey owned abont 100 acres
of land and said before he died that
‘“‘there was money oun the farm, too,”
the search for his fortune will be a
long onc.—-Chicago Inter-Qecean.
The Doz Holds Himse!f.
There is a dog owner in Philadel
phia who tells a story concerning his
canine companion that tries the balief
of his friends, despite the fact that he
vouches for its truth. The dog is an
intelligent-looking animal, of the
shepherd variety, and is frisky and
fall of fun. The particular trait
of which its master boasts isthat when
he wants the animal to stay in one
place it is not necessary to tie him.
All that is necessary is to fasten one
end of a rope to a convenient post and
give the other end to the dog to hold
in its mouth. The patient.animal
will sit for hours in this way, and
would no more thiok of runuing away
than he woulg fly.—Philadelphia
Record.
Eleetric Tooth Pulling,
Some London dentists are now try
ing the novel experiment of extract
ing teeth by electricity. 'l'o the bat
tery are attached three wires. Two
of them have handles at the end, while
the third is attached to the forceps.
The patient grasps the handles, the
electricity is turned on suddenly, and
the dentist stimultaneously applies his
forceps to the téoth. The instant the
tooth is touched it, as well as the sur
rounding parts, becomes insensible to
pain. A ferk and it is out.
THE CIRCUS.
It Costs $5,000 a Day to Run a
Big Show and Menagerie.
Stories About Showman Barnum
by One of His Associates.
| “I was traveling with P. T. Bar
! num once,” said Mr. Stow, ‘long
before the railroad shows were in ex
istence. We traveled by wagons from
'town to town in those days, halting
' on the outskirts of the town to enable
, the circus people to put on their show
| clothes and prepare for the parade.
- We were to show in a small town in
‘ Pennsylvania, and I had noticed that
a bridge over which the wagons were
to pass was weak. I sent word to
Mr. Barnum to put the rhinoceros
wagon at the rear, but he did not do
so,and as it wasin advance it broke the
bridge. The show did not reach the
town in time to make much of a parade.
““That night Mr. Barnum was seated
! in the village hotel when an angry lot
of people who were disappointed at
the size of the parade, waited upon
him and told him that he was a fraud.
“‘dow so ?’ said Barnum,
““ ‘Well,’ replied the spokesman for
the crowd, ‘you advertised two miles
of parade and there was only one.’
““‘Yes,” replied Barnum, ‘there
was oue mile of parade and another
mile of fools following it. That makes
two miles, doesn’t it?’ "
A rhinoceros is the most expensive
animal in a circus. A well-bred and
well-developed rhinoceros costs $5, 000.
The Barnum show recently lost a rhi
noceros and was compelled to eable to
Hagenbeck at Hamburg to send on
another at once. Hagenbeck is the
largest animal supply agent on earth.
He furnishes the Zoological Gardens
of London aund similar gardens in the
capitals of Europe. Elephants are
quite common these days, and half a
dozen of them could be bought for
the price of ome rhinoceros.
The elephant is the meanest animal
that the show people have to deal
with. Everybody is afraid of him,
for no one can tell when the big
brute wili take ome wunawares to
gratify som~ long treasured or fancied
grievance,
A few years ago the show was in
Rochester, when the elephant keeper
weut into the elepbant ear to see that
everything was secare before the train
started. He fastened the rear door
and thoughtlessly passed through the
ear to examine the front door. As he
was passing the eiephant, the brute,
realiziug that he was nlone with his
keeper, crushed him to death against
the side of the car. The elephant is
the biggest coward of all animals, and
unever undertakes to get the better of
his keeper unless he can take Lim off
his guard,
It costs not less than 85,000 a day to
run a big circus and menagerie. Not
withstanding this seemingly large out
lay o first-cluss show is usually a sure
winner. Defore starting out a dis
count for rainy diys is made by aver
nging the rainy days during the past
ten seasons. While this is not by any
means reliable, itaffords a pretty fair
test.
Storms and tornadoes of late years
Lave iuterfered very much with the
profits of circuses. Last season the
Barnum & Bailey tent was ruined
by a cyclone at Des Moines. Mr.
Bailey at once telegraphed to Cinecin
nati for a new tent, for which the
dimensions were given, and in three
days it was made and erected by the
show. All the sailmakers in Cincin-
nati were employed in making the
Lnew canvas,
A new caunvasis made every year,
and the one used the previous year is
carried along with the show for emer-
gency. On the ocecasion alluded to
the old cauvas was left behind, and
the show exhibited three days in a
tent without a top. Fortunately the
weather was fair,
An idea of the magnitade of a big
show can be gained from the fact that
1,200 persous are employed in the
Barnnm & Bailey show. The system
observed in putting up the big canvas,
taking it down, and packing it in the
cars, and in putting all the rest of the
stufl in the ears each night is some
thing wounderful. There are,perhaps,
twenty or thirty foremen who run the
whole business. Without these men
it would take green hands a week to
put up a big tent and another week to
take it down.
When P. T. Barnum was in London
fifteen years or so ago he sent tickets
of admission to all the clergy and to
the Bishop of London and his family.
Barnum’s reputatjon asa philanthrb
pist had gone before him, and it be-
came necessary to establish a regular
picket guard around him to protect
him from annoyances in his hotel.
The applicants for charitable dona-
tions would frequently get through
the line and apply for donations rang-
ing from 100 to $lO,OOO. After the
Bishop of London and his family had
seen the show the Bishop called upon
Barnum and chatted with him for
some time. Barnum impressed him,
as he did everybody, as being a big
hearted, amiable and brainy man. The
Bishop on leaving, took his hand and
said :
—“‘:fir. Barnum, you are not such a
bad man after all. I hope to meet you
in heaven, sir.”
““Well, you will, if you are there,”
replied Barnum,
The answer was too much even for
the Bishop, and those who heard it
shouted with laughtér. Syracuse
(&. Y.) Courier.
Alex Newman of Decker, Ind.,while
hunting, was attacked by a flock of
cranes. They fought him fariously
and tried to pick out his eyes. By
clubbing them with his gun he killed
13 of them.
Queer African Birds.
A singular bird of Africa is the
bee-eater. The carmine-throated bee
eater is one of the most gorgeous of
tropical birds; their appearance in
flocks is almost dazzling. Most of the
body and tail (except the tip of the
latter, which is green) is of a beauti
ful carmine, shading to pink on tne
under parts, while the plumage im
mediately about the eye is black, and
the top of the head is green.
The two long feathers of the tail
give the bird a swallow-like appear
ance, and in their flight they are ex
tremely graceful. Like the swallow
they procure their food chiefly on the
wing. The birds nest in colonies in
holes in river banks, the nests being
about two or three feet apart, and us
ually six or eight feet above the water.
The tunnelsare cxcavated for about
four feet, when the orifice is widened
to form a nest. .
The hammerkop or *‘rain doctor, ”as
it is called,a member of the stork fam
ily, is one of the most remarkable of
African birds, Its name was given to
it on account of its peculiarity of
screaming before a rain sets in. Tt is
also called the “‘philosopher.” Ond
may observe it for hours, walking up
and down on small woody places along
a river bank. During its *“‘medita
tion.” the hammerkop frequently
shakes its head, but it will not utter
a sound. Often its noiseless walk
will turn suddenly into a wild dance,
the cause of thisabrupt change of be
havior being the arrival of its mate,
just come from adding the finishing
touches to the large and curious mud
nest, which the pair have been for
several wecks Dbusily constructing
near the river bank.— Philadelphia
Times.
Boston Market Women,
It’s the fashion among aristocratic
Boston women to do their own mar
keting. When one of these intellect
ual young persous was asked what she
did to oceupy her days she replied,
rather haughtily: ““Why, study and
go to market.” She is “‘co-ed” at the
Harvard annex, but finds time, it
seews, to go to Quiney Market twice
a week for the household supplies.
All the smart set of Boston go to
Quincy Market. Most of the women
manage to get along with one day’s
marketing, however. Friday and
Saturday mornings the market is
particularly interesting. Gay car
~riages, drawn by prancing horses,
with liveried attendants, stand in
waiting while the ladies wvisit the stalls
within. Tuey come down town on
purpose every day, these ladies of the
leisure class, to select the family din
ner, but on Friday and Saturday they
turn out in large numbers, a sort of
aristocratic beefsteak buying pienic,
80 to speak. Some of them have lists
kept in dainty leather and gold note
books, which they cousult, and will
not diverge from in the minutest de
tail. They seem to take special dec
light in throwing off the convention
alities for a brief time, and in brows
ing about in a homely way, among the
green strings and juicy meats,just like
any ordinary little housewife with her
busband’s wages in a Dbattered purse.
—New York Commercial Advertiser.
Power of Human Jawsg,
“Strong-jawed” women and “‘iron
jawed” men have long been familiar
at circuses, museums and vaudeville
entertainments. Some of these per
formers have claimed to lift horses.
In all these instances, where horses
have been lifted an examination would
have shown some trick in the arrange
ment of the tackle by which the per
formers secured a powerful leverage,
Many of these performers have
wonderful strength in the muscles of
the fuce. An Americin dentist has re
cently made a series of experiments to
determine just what power the maxil
ary muscles could develop. He made
experiments on about five hundred
persons of both sexes and of various
ages. The average amount of jaw
pressure shown was about one huundred
pounds, but this average gives no idea
of the extremes showan by differént
people.
A tiny girl of seven years exerted a
pressure of thirty pounds with her
front teeth alone,and sixty-five pounds
with Ler back teeth. A physician at
tained the maximum in the experiment,
270 pounds. These figures indicate
that the alleged deterioration of jaw
and teeth said to follow ecivilization
has not yet had any appreciable effect
on the residents of the United States.
A New Danger,
The craze for tall buildings that has
recently shown itself insuch a marked
fashion in some of our large cities
brings with it a new menace to health.
The ventilating pipes of buiidings of
ordinary height discharge their con
tents into the air just in front of win
dows of these sky-scrapers. A num
ber of cases of fever have Leen traced
directly to this cause. In view of this
fact it will bo necessary to connect
these escape pipes with other pipes
that reach the top of the taller build
ings in their vicinity, Under the cir
cumstances the height of the building
is & serious menace to health, and
those who go up many feet above the
street for the sake of gettiag good air
to breathe are in great danger of find
ing worse ills than the atmcgphere of
the common level. —Ledger.
Fond of Al;cfen', Eggs.
The Chinese are fond of eggs abont
100 years old, and old eggs are worth
about as much in China as old wine is
in other countries. They have a way of
burying the eggs, and it takes about
thirty days to render a pickled egg fit
to eat. Some of the old eggs have be
come as black as ink, and one of the
favorite Chinese dighes for invalids is
made up of eggs whick are preserved
in jars of red clay and salt water.
THE AMISH SECT.
Queer-Looking Neighbors of Cap
didate McKinley.
‘Where They Draw the Line Be
tween Useful and Vain Things.
i Wandering around amosg the
. crowds of bucolics that are drawn to
' Canton, Ohio, daily to see Major Me-
Kinley and the delegations that come
i to pay their respects to him, listening
; to the music of the bands and watch
- ing the fireworks are some odd-look
ing people, with Quakerish Lats and
clothes, square toed boots, long
i beards and hair caut in a peculiar
fashion. They never scem to display
luy emotion, but take every occur-
Tence asa matter of course. They
move deliberately in groups of three
‘ or four, and seldom speak to one an
other. When they have had enough
of it they climb into well-painted
wagons and drive away.
They belong to the Amish sect of
Mennonites, and are thoe followers of
, Jakopo Ama, a great preacher and
i leader, who lived in western Pennsyls
' vania sixty or seventy years ago.
i Their fathers came from eastern
' Germany, on the Russian border, and
| they are famous for their thrift, their
;’ tenacity of purpose, and many peculi
'arities. There are a good many of
!them in Stark and Wayne counties,
’ and I'm told they make excellent
citizens, although they are not pro
' gressive and do not believe in educa
'tion. Their children are seat to
' school until they can read, write and
! cipher, which they thivk is the extent
-of useful knowledge. All clse is
3vanity aud vexation of spirit. They
, have no mnewspapers and no books
‘but the Bible, which they interpret
‘ literally, and follow the teachings of
Christ, who is their example.
They mnever shave their faces,
because He is supposed to
have worn a beard, but I notice
that the upper lip of every man is
bare, which may have some peculiar
significance wuich I was not abie to
‘discover. The hair is cut at the nape
of the neck squarely and evenly, and
people say that they put a crock over
the head to get the proper length and
regularity. The women do not cut
their hair at all, but braid it both in
front and behind,and they never wear
colors. Their gowns are either white
or black, and entirely withont trim
ming or other ornament. And one of
the funniest things about their eloth
ing is that they never wear buttons,
I could not discover why. Their
clothing, of both men and women, is
fastened by tape or hooks and eves
They render unto Cezesar what be
longs to Cwmsar, and pay their taxes
promptly and without gnestion; they
are opposed to lawsuits and settle all
differences by arbitration; they are
extremely hospitable unto straugers
that perchance they may entertain an
angel unawares, and never charge a
wayfarer for either bed or board.
Their houses are all built upon the
same plan; they do their cooking over
open fires in the old-fashioned way,
and have plenty of wholesome food,
which they raise themselves. They
seldom buy anything at a groeery or
a market, and weave their own cloth.
They have high four-post bedsteads,
with a tick of feathers under and
another upon them when they sleep.
There are no carjets upon their fjoors,
and they seldom use stoves, but hekt
their houses with open fires.
The Amish do not have churches or
paid preachers, but meet for devo
tional exercises and religious instrue
tion at the most convenicnt house in
the neighborhood, and the elders lead
the worship and teach the young,
They wash each others’ feet and have
religious dances, but no sports or
games, and take life very seriously.
The Amish are all rich. They bave
large, fertile farms and fat, red barns,
and always seem to have fine crops,
even when the harvests of other peo-
ple fail. Their economy and frugality
and natural ability as traders are the
sources of their wealth, for they never
speculate and always buy and sell for
cesh. Formerly they buried their
money or hid it away in old teapots
and stockings, but of late years they
have been willing to invest in mort-
gages upon farm property and have
accumulated a good deal of the best
real estate in the country in that way,
—Chicago Record.
Wood Chrysanthemums,
| Jeanty Derogis, a youug man of
| Talais, in the south of France, has re
cently turned out an excellent imita
f tion of a chrysanthemum carved from
.wood. Taking a block of pine wood
: and a small pocket knife, the young
man goes to work, and in less than
fifteen minutes produces a most artis
tie looking blossom. After he had
finished carving petal after petal from
the block, he simply submerges the
entire flower in a yellow, pink or
white color bath and obtains the
proper shades without difficalty,
Placed as a bcuquet in a glass dish,
these imitation chrysanthemums pre
sent a most curious effect. The mois
tare of the air, time and dust seem to
have no effect, and they are, therefore,
much in vogue for the decßration of
rooms,
Statue of Highland Mary.
Mre. D. W. Stevenson, R. S. A., of
Edinburgh has just completed in clay
the oolou;ul statue of Highland Mary,
which, when cast in bronze, is to beo
erected on the shore at Dunoon.
Resders of Burns are familiar with
the name of Mary Campbell, who was
born in 1761 or 1762 at the farmbouse
of Auchnamore, which is on the high
road behind the ancient stronghold
knoewn as Dunoon Castle.