IKE SONG OF THE CAMP
"Qlve u» a suntf'" the wildier* crted,
Tr
outer tn-nrhfM
jomrtlinjE.
Whi'ii the hcni«il if tin* en i tip
allied
Grew wenry of bombarding.
TIM dark Redan in Kilcut ncoff
Lay still and threnl.-ninjc under.
And the tawny mounds of the MitlakofT
No 1OIIK»T foeiehed its thunder.
There whk a limine The k-u.irilHinan xaid:
••'We Hiorm the forts tomorrow
8tak' while we mar. another day.
Will brhiR enough of sorrow."
They lay alone tin- hut t-rv sile.
Below (In- siiiokiiur cunnon
Brmv.- hearts from Se\ ern ami from Clyde,
And from Oie hunks of Slinnnoo.
They mwk of lo»c an.
I not of fUM)
Forpot was llritttin's »rl,,«T.
SKhh
eart reculled a different
But all sail# "Annie I-aurie."
Voice after voice eaiiKhl tip tbe i
Until its tender pfisKion
Bow like an unthem. rich and
atroaic
Th»'ir lidttle-eve confession.
Dwr jrirl, her name he tml not apeak.
Yet. as the sorn nrvw louder.
11]
Wu*hcd off tile stains of |Mwdf.
Beyond the darkening ocean hut Bed
The liliHKly sunset's embers.
While the Crimean valleys learmiS
How English love remembers.
Awl once a^aiu a Are of hell
Ra inel on tlie Russian quarters.
With streams of shot and bur*U Of «heU
And bellowing of the mortars.
Sweet Irish Norah s eye* are dim
For a sintrer dumb and »P»ry.
Ami
Knelish Mary mourns for him
Who saiijc of "Annie Ijiurie."
Oh, soldier*' to your honored rent
Your truth and valor Itearing—
"tte bravest are the tenderest,
The loving are the daring:"
nm/vrd Tagtor.
ip int. i E.
"'You must have sonic rare exper
iences to tell us. Mrs. Boswell," said
persuasive lieutenant llussel. while
we-waited for the mail stage. "You
have been at ihis frontier post ever
since Captain Boswell was stationed
here?"'
"Yes we have been here eight
years." she replied, with the rare
Miiile that glorified her face. "I have
passed through many trving ordeals
here, but I really think i had an ad
venture in the east, before I married
the captain, equal to any thing that I
have experienced."
"Will you relate it and oblige us?"
urged Kussel.
Mr. Boswell,'1 said Dan, the irre
pressible youngster of our party,
"Jim,1' jerking his thumb toward the
lieutenant, "is out west on purjjose
to spill ink for the New York papers.
You can become a heroine of romance
if you will."
"Tluuik you," said our little hos
tess. "I don't mind accepting the
honor."
Three of ns were sitting in an
inner appartment of thesmall frontier
hostelry. The bar-room was packed
with miners, and we had chosen to
have our supper served by ourselves,
as we had appointed to go on to Cus
ter City in Company.
Mrs. Boswell was much below the
medium size, quick of speech, light of
movement as a bird, and graceful as
a fawn.
"It was in 18—," slielegan: "I had
just made the acquaintance of Cap
tain Boswell he having- some busi
ness matters to arrange with father,
had called at our place several times.
Finally, there came a rare day in
autumn, and lie and father were
closeted the greater part of the day,
overhauling papers, memoranda,
deeds and receipts. My father at
that time was doing a great deal of
business as an attorney.
"At tea time father said to me:
Bess, you wont mind an evening
alone, so long as Thomas is about, will
you'
"I said no, for although there were
many robberies being committed in
the neighboring cities, private famil
ies in the suburbs felt no fear. Our
house was a mile from the city proper
and a half mile from neighbors either
way.
'We find,' he continued, 'that the
captain has got to hunt up some more
papers concerning the estate before he
can give Barron a satisfactory title.
We shall go to Judge Whitcomb's
office, and our search may be so suc
cessful that 11 ©'clock will find us
home again. Still we may be detain
ed longer. Shan't I call and tell your
cousin Milly to come down and spend
the night with you
if'
'No—yes,1 I contradictorily an
swered, 'Do as you please I am not
timid in the least, with Thomas about.1
"'But captain Boswell is going to
leave $5,(MM) here until he returns.
"'Does any one know about the
money?'
'Only ourselves,'
4Theii
1 am not ufraid. Beside,
you are likely to be back before grave
yards yawn and thieves do walk
abroad.1
"Thomas brought the horse round,
and while father spoke to him, I touch
ed the captain's sleeve:
'Where is your money left?'
4In
your father's desk in the li
brary." Then he looked with a tender
inquiring glance into my face chow
the little woman's cheeks Hushed at
the memory) and said: 'Little girl,
if you are in the least afraid we will
not go to-night, although it is abso
lutely necessary.1
"1 told him honestly, that I was
not afraid. I never had that strata of
timidity in my make up peculiar to
womankind and so they rode away.
"I sang about my work as I put
things in shape around the room, and
viewed the brilliant sunset, without a
fear or care.
"Thomas, our new man-of-all work,
was very busy puttering about the
ground, tying up trraperines and
mulching evergreens. I knew there
was some coarse aftermath upon
the hill that father was anxious to
have put on the strawberry beds, and
seeing Thomas go up there with his
basket I tied a scarf over my head,
.took another basket, and went up to
Iielp him.
"As I passed up the hill I saw a man
in tbe highway speak to him. I hesi
tated about going on, but the man
made only a moment's oause, and thei
""went down the kill, and was soon con
isealed by a turn in the highway.
'Who was that, Thomas?11 inquir
ed.
'Oh, miss, it was a niau from the
mills, saying t'.iat my brother has had
a bad fall on the dam, and is bellow
ing for me to come and see him. His
legs are broken entirely.1
'What will you do?'
44
'I told the man I could not come
to see him to-day—but if I went, miss,
I would sure to be back by 11 of the
clock, if not earlier.1
'You may go, Thomas, if your
brother is hurt so bad. Pa will not be
away long.1
-But, my young lady
'Never mind me in such a case as
this.1 I always was very tender-heart
ed. 'You may go, and I will run right
back to the house.1
"He talked a few minutes more,
was profuse in his thanks for my kind
ness. and then started down for the
city. I took up the two baskets, and
went singing to the house.
"I sat an hour by the open window,
enjoying intensely this being alone,
and ihe quiet beauty of this cool aut
umn evening.
"Perhaps you will wonder at this."
and the dimples played alout her pret
ty mouth, "but little birds were sing
ing a new song in my heart, an4 the
quiet let me hear the sweet echoes.
"But directly I chided myself for
being rather careless, as the road was
a thoroughfare, and a chance strag
gler might surprise me. I aiose, closed
my window, and, obeying some
strange, impressive power. 1 walked
through the hall into the library, took
my father's key from its accustomed
place, unlocked his desk, found the
package of five thousand dollars, and,
placing it in my bossom, relocked the
door and returned to the sitting room.
I did not light a lamp I had no need
of a lire, as that from the kitchen stove
warmed the sitting room sufficiently
in this mild weatlwr.
"The house was old-fashioned,very,
with a fireplace in the sitting room
opening up into a chimney of capacity
sutlicient for a foundry stack. We
had cheerful open fires later on but
the house being an ancestral pile, was
getting somewhat dilapidated, and the
partition separating the Hues in the
large clumney had fallen in. Men had
b'H'ii sent out to clear the rubbish and
make repairs, but the work, half done,
was suspended oil account of the ar
rival of Capt. Bos
we
11 and this im
portant business all'air.
"1 would have enjoyed immensely
to kindle a sparkling tin' in the huge
wide fireplace, but as affairs were 1
could not. So I mused in the darkness
for hours. I lealh* took no heed of
time, until my quick ear caught the
sound of a footfall approaching, close
up to the doorstep, 1 could have taken
my oath. It was so light an echo that
1 sprang to my feet, thinking that my
Cousin Milly, absent when my father
called and returning later, had come
down to stay with me.
"I sprang up with a smile to answer
her knock, albeit I was a bit jealous
of her pretty face: but no knock came
and the echoes died out, and altogeth
er I concluded that I had deceived
myself in regard to them. Anyhow I
would light the lamp. I did so, and
was startled to find it past 10 o'clock.
I had gotten sufficiently aroused from
my reverie to want a book from the
library shelves. 1 took up my lamp
and went singing into the room.
"I obtained the desire volume,
stepped down from the stool, and—
"If ever any one felt themselves
dying, I did at that moment. My
song died on my lips, while a thous
and thoughts seemed to flash into mr
mind in one,instant. Involuntarily
I gasped, and then with a strong
e.H'ort of the will power, for which I
am famous, I took up the song again
and sang it to the close.
"Among other things I remember
ed that the lock was off the library
door for repairs. I remember the
lateness of the hour and the proba
bility that all the people were in bed
and asleep. I remember the footsteps
in the dooryard, and—there was a
fresh, pungent smell of tobacco smoke
in the room. A scent of smoke that
was not in the room when I was there
and placed the package of money in
my bosom.
"Do you wonder that my brain
reeled and my heart stopped beating
for an instant? Besides, whoever the
roblx'r was. he would soon begin
work, not knowing how early my
father and the Captain might return,
and 1 shall be murdered. Somewhere
within a few yards, or a few feet of
me. the robber assassin was concealed
--either in the recess behind the cabi
net, or under the long, draped, paper
strewn table.
"A faint sound outside nearly made
ipe drop the lamp still I had uncon
ciouslv left my first song and was
singing:
"Kor his bride a soldier won her,
Ami a winning tongue had he.'
"I knew that temporary saltation
power and liberty to leare that room,
even—depended upon my appearing
unconscious of the robber's proximi
ty.
"I got out of the library and found
myself in the sitting room. A hasty
glance at the door showed the key ab
sent from the lock.
"Treachery!"
"I yonder that this new revelation
did not suffocate me. The man oil the
highway—the injured brother—
Thomas had betrayed us. lie had
overheard about the money. A robber
was in the house and another was out
side. My retreat would be cut off.
How thoughts ran riot through my
mind. How would they kill me?
Would I suffer long? At that instant
I was sure that I heard a faint creak
«*f the library door at the far end of
the long hall.
"One swift, despairing glance
around me, one wild idea of escape,
and I extinguished the light upon the
table, uiid crouching in the fireplace
I rested one foot
UJKHI
the andiron,
swung out the imn crane, stepped the
other foot upon the strong support,
and rose up into the flue. Something
touched my head. Thank God! It
was the roje with which the dislodged
bricks had been hoisted out. Grasping
this carefully with my hands I held
myself like a wedge in the opening.
If I had envied large, noble-looking
women before, I now had anon to
be thankful for my dmmmUvo
form and ninety odd pounds of avoir
dupois.
"I had little time, however, to con
sider anything except the imminent
danger of dislodging a fragment of
brick or mortar, and thus disclose,
my hiding place, for the clock began
with sonorous peals to strike eleven.
Undercover of its echoes there were!
quick, soft steps in the hall, and the
hall, and the bolt of the outer door
was withdrawn. The hugli llue must
have acted like a telephone, for I
heard every sound with fearful dis
tinctness. First, there was a pause by
the door of the sitting-room, then
breathing in it, then whispering.
"1 heard Thomas distinctly, when
he said:
'She isn't here she's pone to bed
but the money is in the library.1
44
'Be cautious,1 advised a strange
voice,
4and
we may not have to hurt
her.1
"Tlier carefully retreated, and my
heart struck off the seconds against
my ribs in a way that was sulocat
ing. for I knew that their search would
soon be over, and what then?
"In less than five minutes they were
whispering in the room again.
44
'Confound her!' aspirated Thomas,
'she took the money with her.1
Then we'll have it if—1
"The pause meant all that words
could convey.
"The cold sweat was coming out of
every pore of my body. The dust of
the creosote had penetrated my mouth
Shall we march more?'
44
'It's no use: we've turned over
everything under which a mouse
might hide.
"'What, then? Shall we waylay
the old man and fix him?'
44
'They havn't the money it was
left here.'
44
1
that I never could get out of the aper
ture that had allowed me entrance in
to the chimney. I ran the risk of dis
covery and death in any case.
"Oil, why did not my fatlierandhis
companions return? It might be hours'
first. i
"They had found me absent from!
my chamber and the adjoining rooms,
They no longer used extreme caution.
They hurried from one apartment to*
the other. 1 could feel the jar of mov-1
ing furniture, and closet doors were1
opened hastily. The upper part of the
house was ransacked, and then they I
came down stairs upon the run. Time
was precious to them now. With dire-'
ful oaths they rummaged the lower
floors, and finally returned to the sit
ting room.
"'I saw the light here last said
Thomas, moving with his lamp across
the room 'and here is the laarn uu the
table.1
'She must have got out."
'No I watched for her, and every
window is fastened on the inside.'
Then he continued: 'Curseher! she's
a witch and baffled they stood and
poured oaths after me. 'I'd like to
catch and knife her myself now,'
How he ground it out between his
teeth.
The cellar,1suggested the voice.
nce more tlier dashed out, only
to return in hot haste now, for there
was the trot and rumble of a horse
and carraige on the bridge between
us and the city.
'Stay,' urged the stranger, 'trump
up son\e kind of a story, and we may I
secure the money yet.1
"'1 would, returned Thomas, 'but!
the girl's a witch, and I am just as
sure that she is somewhere near us all
the time, and would hand me over to
justice—1
"There was a scamper outside and
the sound of feet running toward the
river came down the wide mouth to
the top of the chimney. Father and
captain Boswell drove into the yard
and up to the door, just as the eUx-k
struck twelve.
'Thomas!, called ray father, in his!
ringing tones 'come and take care of
tlie horse.'
"Receiving no response from his
usual punctual favtotum he sprang
up the steps, and uttered an exclama
tion of horror at finding the door open.
'Boswell,1 said he, 'we-certainly
saw a light here when we came down
the hill.'
\uick, Jason,1 said the captain,
'there has been foul play here.'
'Foul play! My God! my poor lit
tie girl.'
'Father" I strove to call, but the
first attempts, choked in dust and
soot, ended in a hysterical hiccough.
'Where is that What is it? call
ed my distracted father, and both men
dashed for the library.
"I now strove to descend, but the
movement brought down bushels of
mortar and broken bricks from all
sides, and closed up the flue. I be
thought me of the rope, and by stick
ing my toes in here and there I went
up the chimney hand over hand.
"Agile as a cat, when I reached the
top of the low chiumuy I sprang down
upon the roof and began calling loud
ly for father.
"You should have heard them run
through tke house and halloo before
they hx-ated my voice. At last the
captain came out of doors.
"Will you gei me a ladder, please.1
said I, 'I want to get down from
here.'
'A ladder, Jason,' shouted the
captain, 'the little girl is on the roof.'
'Fo the love of heaven, girl,
how came you there?' said my father,
as I landed upon the ground and
began shaking the soot from my
clothes.
"I went up there through the chim
ney, papa. But you had better put up
the horse—you will have to groom him
yourself to-night—and then I will tell
you all about it.
"The captain led me into the house,
for I was trembling violently.
"Now," said father, being absent
only a moment or two, without let
ting me have time to mop the smut
from my face and hands now tell
us what this means—mv little girl
climbing the ridge{ole like a cat at
midnight?'1
In a few moments matters were ex
plained.
"Thomas, tlie villain!" ejaculated
my father "I'll have him if I have to
hunt the two continents for him. and
he shall have his deserts."
He kept his word. Thomas got a
term in the state prison.
"When I gave the captain his mon
ey I should have burst out into hyster
ical sobbing only I remembered the
soot in time to prevent shading my
self in black cravon and cap tain? Bos
well lielieved that stature and bulk
were not always certificates of the ma
terials, and—'1
"And,"' finished Dan. our jester
"it may le said, Mrs. Boswell, that
you actually Hue to his arms."
She smiled and bowed as the sonor
ous tones of the driver came in among
us:
"Stage ready, gentlemen."
i
and nostrils, and I had to take onej
hand from the rope in their absence
and placc a finger upon my lips to pre
vent sneezing.
'Come, hurry,' was the angry
watch wort! exchanged between them,
and I heard the stairs creaking as they
ascended to mv chamber. Thomas
was familiar with all the house.
"Why did I not drop down and es
cape outside?
"First, then, they had locked the
outer door and withdrawn the key to!
prevent a surprise from without. Sec
ond, there might be a third confeder-!
ate outside. But the most important
reason of all was, it seemed to me,
The Monkey Too-Much for Him.
John Moore, of Savannah, owner of
a big stamp-tailed bulldog, met an
Italian organ grinder with a monkey.
He offered to bet the musician $."» that
the monkey could not whip the dog.
"Maybe so," he answered" "1 try him."
A great crowd gathered as the Italian
tossed the inonkev at the brute. In a
jiff'v the monkey had his claws fasten
ed like a vice
OH
the stump of that
dog's tail. With one yell the dog ran
away. The monkey held on until
Battler sprang over a fence, when he
suddenly quit his hold and sat on the
top rail and watched the dog's llight
with a chatter of satisfaction. The
Italian shouldered his monkey, and,
walked up to Moore, said: "Your dog
not well to-dav: may
IK'your
dog gone
off to hunt rahbit. Y'our dog no like
my monkey—he not acquainted.
Maybe veil I come again next year he
ccm-j ck and fight some more.'"
A iliiriiniir Mine.
A correspondent of the Indianapo
lis Journal, traveling from Bismarck
to the Little Missouri, saw a burning
mine. He says: "It gives off so sul
phurous an odor that I at first thought
the heat due to the decomposition of
sulphides. But the glow is red little
sulphurous acid is formed you can
stand over the crevasse without fear
of either burning or suffocation. Sul
phur is volatalized ami recrvstalized
on the edge of the crevices. There is
no smoke the air quivers with the
heat. The burning area is from ten to
fifteen rods square, and has been on
fire since tke first visit by white men,
and n* one knows how many centu
ries before. It is only one of a num
ber of fires that are known on the Bad
l^amls." The writer goes on to say
that the Bad Lauds are probably tlie
ashes of extinct coal lires.
Maggie Gallagher, of Cincinnati,
was sentenced in the police court to
thirty days in prison and to p-iy a fine
of $ro for drunkenness. When she
heard the sentence she hurled a heavy
inkstand at the judge's hef.d. He
dodged, and the missile flew through
the window and fell to the pavement,
ment, the ink splashing over a lady's
elegant silk dress and totally ruining
it. The lady, in trying to shake the
ink from her raiment, frightened a
team of spirited horses, that ran away
with a carriage containing two ladies
and child, upsetting a fruit stand and
throwing th^ huhes into a butcher
cart, while the child was fastened in a
bunch of telephone wires about ten
feet above the sidewalk. The team
could not be stopped, and continued
on their flight, finally plunging
through the plate-glass windows of a
china shop. They ran through the
entire length of the store, spreading
destruction and devastation on every
hand: ran out of the back door, leap
ed into the canal, anil were drowned.
Now they talk of calling on the judge
for damages because he dodgei the
inkstand.
After Many fears.
Thirty years ago Kelly Smith, a ne
gro, was sold in .North Carolina, and
brought by his new master to Georgia,
leaving behind hiiu a wife and a babv
boy. Since that time he has not heard
from his family. He is employed on
the turpentine farm of Pelham, Stew
art iN: Co., seven miles from the town
of Pelham. A short time ago they
employed some hands from North Car
olina. and among Ihe rest a negro
named John, about .'50 years old. As
was natural. Kelly Smith made in
quiries about the people in his old
home, and pretty soon he ascertained
that he was talking to his own son,
whom he had not seen in three de
cades. From him the old man learn
ed that his wife was still living single,
having never married. He is now
corresponding with her, and it is more
than probable will induce her to join
him and his son in his new home.
She laid her head upon his shoulder
as he held her close to his bosom. Her
eyes beamed love, etc., into his. "Do
you loveme, Alphonso?" "Yes sweet
est." Then why delay naming the
daj'?'1 "I will not delay, love. It will
be some pretty day in the next spring
time, when tlie flowers are budding
forth in beauty and delightful frag
rance.11 "Oh, pshaw. Why, Wiil
Jones said he'd marry me next week.
But if you can beat that time, dearest,
I'm yours, for I love you so much.11
Alphonso took his hat and retired
from the race.
The Mormons are building a temple
at Logan, Utah, for which the sum of
sfc.lla.ooo has been raised. The dona
tion for the temple at Manti amounts
to $I7G.OOO. The temph^ at St. (Jeorge
WH*
completed several years ago.
Work on the temple at Salt Iutke
City still progresses.
SQUIBS.
The baggage agents of the United
States have just held their annual
convention, but the report that they
all went on a big trunk—a regular
Saratoga as it were— should be check
ed.
4
4When
1
I married Georgina,'1 said
Frank, "my folks told ine I was fool
i ish to marry a girl who didn know
i
how to handle a rolling pin. Ijord.
how they misjudged her! Do you see
that lump on my head? She did that
with a rolling pin."
.Ralph Waldo Emerson said: "All
healthy things are sweet-tempered.11
I We differ with Ralph. Now, we know
a perfectly healthy red-headed woman
who is—well, she just is, and no mis
i take about it.
Little Aggie's sister had invited her
[best ywung man to tea. There was a
lull in the conversation, which was
broken by the inquisitive Aggie:
I'
"Papa, is dose fedders ober Mr. Wob
inson's mouf
Ben ThitVr opened his campaign in
Massachusetts by addressing meetings
in three large halls in Boston, eonfin
ing himself mainly to Tbwksbury. He
then started on a leased palace car to
speak throughout the state and dis
tribute campaign documents.
i The eagle feels best at a bight of 12,
000
feet alMve the earth, while the
minute vou get a man on the roof of i
i a horse-idock his knees begin to week-1
en and he can't remember a word be
'vond "Fellow-citizens.1*
"This is Horrible," was the headline!
a Cleveland editor wrote to go over
an account of the defeat of the local
base-ball club. But the straw headed
printer got things mixed and put that
headline of a poem by a prominent
jMjet, and the joet wouldn't believe,
that it was the printer's fault, and
somebody is going to get hurt.
A large three-story brick dwelling-j
house in New Haven, Conn., is to lie'
moved about twenty-four feet, and
I tlie family occupying it are to remain
in it. At best a progress of only a few
inches a day can be made, and the
work will therefore occupy several:
I weeks, I
Profossor Price, a full-blooded!
negro, preached in Henry Ward
Beeeher's Church Sunday morning to
a lartre congregation, lie is a Metho-1
dist clergyman, and is connected with
i a college at Salisbury, N. C. His
subject was the elevation of the color
ed ministry.
A Bridgeport minister is worried
because he performed a marriage cere
mony without looking at the license,
i After the ceremony he found that the
document was issued in Massachusetts,
and now he does not know where his
couple are spending their honey
moon, so as to warn them that they
s must begin all over again.
There are sea Captains who profess
fo believe that sharks will not touch a
human being, but when asked to give
a poor shark a chance they retire on
their dignity.
"Here, waiter!" exclaimed Smith,
"what do you mean by giving uie a
dirty napkin The waiter took
away the soiled napkin and gave
Smith a clean one. murmuring as he
walked away. "Well, if that ain't the
most particular man I ever saw. That
napkin has been used by no less than
'a dozen men, and he's the first one to
make any complaint,"
The Autumn maiden is sure to
charm. She can play tolerably well
on the piano. She knows how to eat
oysters, and has been known to con-j
sunie ice-cream when the leaves begin I
to fail. But, Ix'stof all, she is fond of
a ride, and loves, "Oh, so much, you
know,'' to go chestnutting or hickory
nutting. She will stand so sweetly i
under the tree, holding up a jaunty
apron while you knock down the!
I nuts, aud till yourself full of thistles'
from the burrs.
The Scientific American declares,
that hot bread is poison, and lauuehes
its thunders at muffins, hot buscuitsj
and many other articles of diet that)
rentier life delightful. Now that the
season of buckwheat cakes has been
fairly ushered in. it is painful to re
fleet that every thing good in the world
is, frnin a scientific ^standpoint, so!
extremely bad. Nothing is healthy
but science.
No humiliation is so'crushing to a
I Mexican gentleman as to lie caught
ion the street with even the most in-'
finitc.simal bundle in his hand. He
I considers it undignified to earry a
letter home from the ostoflice. All
packages must b« carried by servants.
Fortunately the latter can be hired for
twenty-five cents a day. This saves!
the Mexican gentleman from extina
tion. 1
The national turnpike
oyer the Alle
ghany Mountains from Cumberland
to Wheeling, the nearest approach to i
a perfect road ever .«eeii in the United 1
States, cost $1,700,009, or $13,000 a
mile.
A child's epitaph at Wellesley,
Mass.:
"She glanced luto our world to nee
A "ample of our misery.
i Then turned her little head aside
And a siRh «ir two and tiled."
Traveler to enterprising citizen:
"You have put up a fine building
here." "Jus* tol'able." "1 think it first
rate. It's a credit to the town." Ai
what?'1 "A credit to the town." "Not
by a blamed sight! We paid every I
dollar iu clean cash."
Two months ago aa Englishman
left home for Switzerland. When he I
I had leen gone a month he got a let- I
ter, dated from his own residence in
London, from a gentleman who in
quired whether he, would allow hint
to take the house for another fort- i
night at a reduced rent. His servants
had let the premises in his absence
I and pocketed the proceeds.
I An old Ixiiiisiana fisherman speak
ing of the millions of por]K)ises in the i
i Gulf, says: "The porpoise is looked
upon kindly, as one looks upon a Po-1
land China hog. an enemy to nobodv,
a )e:tecable and good nntured fish, i
Fishermen and others have for him a
I kindly feeling at the enemy and mas-
ter of the shark, which he is said to
handle as roughly as a wild boar han
dles a yard-dog."
What to him was love or hopef
What to him was joy or rare? He step
ped on a plug of mottled soap the girl
had left on the topmost stair, and his
feet Hew out like wild, fierce wings,
and he struck each stair with a sound
like a drum, and tlie girl below with
the scrubbing things, laughed like a
fiend to see him come.
"What's that bell ringing for?" ask
ed a man who had just arrived in a
southern town. "Prominent citizen
dead, sir," replied the inhabitant.
"Well, I hope he'll stay dead. I've
been traveling over this country all
summer and haven't metanybody but
prominent citizens, and the fact that
one of them is actually dead gives me
great encouragement.
1
A competent authority estimates
that new railroads will be built in the
chief countries of the world, during
the next few year*, at the rate of 18,
000 miles per annum, exclusive of
railroad extensions in Asia, Australa
sia and the United States. India lias
in view a large expansion of her rail
way system in .Java, the roads are
being annually extended miles
of additional road will be built at
Japan a line from Constantinople to
Bagdad, 1.48S miles in length, has
been projected, and lines are being
surveyed in Turkestan and Persia.
It was generally agreed by the
street railway managers in session at
the Grand Pacific hotel, Chicago, that
all schemes for the heating of cars
should be rejected as impracticable,
expensive, unhealthy and uuprofita
l»le. The horse has been found to be
the best car starter. The subject of
"knocking down1'was discussed in a
way which will be found edifying to
readers of all classes, and the fact was
developed that some companies cm
ploy two sets of "spotters," one of the
sets being known to the conductors.
The kell-register and bell-punch are
thought to increase the profits of street
transit very considerably.
How tender is the heart of a Mor
mon polygamist. At the recent Salt
Lake
City
conference, II. J. Grant ex
pressed his supreme contempt for any
man who would put away a superflu
ous wife in ordefr to oblige the United
States congress. He said: "When a
man marries a wife, and neglects the
woman, and breaks her heart, he
should be punished. I have seen many
faithful women struggling along for
ten or fifteen years, and suffering neg
lwet. The desires of my heart are to
keep the commands of the Lord.'1 Mr.
Grant has married often.
The Lumber Trade of the Hoatb.
St. Ijoiii* Ki'imhlienn
An index to the drift of the lumber
trade of the South is afforded by the
statement recently published to the
effect that in three years the number
of saw-mills in Arkansas has in
creased from 31!) to 1200. Moreover,
the growth of the Arkansas timber
cut is not to be mea-ured alone by the
number offniills. There is also a mark
ed increase in the avenige capacity.
The assault upon the Southern pine
forests and the valuable hard-wood
timber has begun in earnest, and the
great lumbering centers are rapidly
shifting from Michigan and Wiscon
sin to o tlie quarters. )f course, there
is a large amount of timber still stand
ing along the Canadian border, and
there are various indications that the
lumber famine prdicted by the forestry
people is still quite distant, but the
fact is clear hat the accessible forests
in these regions will not long keep
busy all the mills that have been
erected there. The oft predicted lum
her boom in the South is no longer an
event of the future. It has begun.
He Saw Widows.
IHrit
Free I'niw.
Officer Button, at the Union Depot,
picked up the other day a memoran
dum book evidently lost by some one
attendinir the State Fair. All the en
tries are made of them are readable.
The first entry is:
"Shall take $10 with me to the
State Fair. Second-class hotel good
ttnough for nie. Beware of Piekpoek
ets. Keek your eyes open for a good
looking widow. iew the animals,
and don.t forget to take two clean
handkerchiefs along."
The second entry reads:
"Fair up to the average. Saw a
widow in the car going up. Didn't
seem to like my style. Somebody has
stuck me with a bogus half-dollar.
Saw another widow on the grounds.
1
lather to stout. iewed the animals
and was kicked by a is tee
r."
lliird Entry -"Good attendance.
Slept on the floor. Jam on the street
cars. Passed the bogus monev off on
a bootblack. Sa\y a widow "at the
hotel. Most t'K lean. Weut to the
theater last night. Can't remember
the play. Saw several widows, but
no chance t« make an impression."
torth Entry —"Big crowd on the
grounds. Beat my way iu. Saw a
widow on the fence. Most too boister
ous for my locality. Saw a horse
race. One horse beat all the others.
iewed the machinery ami was hit
on the ear by a loafer. Saw a widow
viewing a headless rooster. Mouth
most too large for ^03 part of the
State. Slept in a barn for nothing.11
Fifth Entry-"Saw a widow iu the
1 ostollice. Blind in one eve. No
good. Big jam. Tried to heat my
way in, but couldn't. Saw a horse
race. Saw a widow on the grand
stand. Bowed to her. Cold cut.
Viewed the bigox. Saw a widow in
llonev Hall, liaised my hat. Got
left. Feel blue."
As that was the last entry it would
seem as if he gave up in disgust ami
started for home. A person supjiosed
to be him "saw a widow" at the depot
Friday afternoon, and became so
obnoxious that she hit him
over
the
head with an umbrella,and twoor three
men reached for him with cowhide
boots.
The story of the suicide of a young
man in an Eastern city was briefly
told by the following sentence: "There
was nothing in his ]xckcts save a
larjre number of pool tickets on horses
which had lost in reocnt races.