Richmond Hill Public Library News Index

York Herald, 24 Mar 1881, p. 1

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( Financially, matters are going from bad to worse. We have now three distinct classes of paper moneyâ€"and no specie. First, there are the notes issued by the banks and the payment of which depends upon the govern- ment guarantee ; then We have the Inca notes, issued by Pierola at eight soles each, then run up by him to fifteen soles, then reducei to nothing by the entry of the Chil- ians, then given a value of ten soles each by ”$3 eating of merchants, who promptly re- £11 ed to receive them when tendered at that value, and now procurable to any amount at six soles to the Inca. The third class is poorer in quality than either of the former. It consists of five and ten soles. Peruvian notes, captured by the Chilians,and now being forced into circulation by decree of Gen. Baquedeno, because he has no other currency in which to pay his troops." ,n. . 1 Lima/s Condition as Described by a News paper Correspondent. LIMA, Feb. 6. â€"‘-Oalm reigns in Lima, it is true. but it )5 a most suspicious calm. There is no government. no police. no attempt at or- ganization, no public spirit,in fact, not one of the accessories of a. well organized state of so- ciety. In exchange'we have martial law, We have frequent burglaries, frequent robberies from the person, and a continual state of alarm which maintains stores and shops only half open. and prevents business running its wont ed channels. It is true the Chilians are fairly well behaved but among 20, 000 men there must be some black sheep, and these men are fast earning a by no means enviable reputation for the whole army. All the farms and haciendas in the neighborhood of Lima, with one or two exceptions, have been plundered. Pierols sent his first proclamation from a place called Choctas, thence he proceeded to Obrajillo, and at last reports he was in Terms, three days tram here by rail and horse. Sev- eral of his partisans have been to see him, begging him to cross the Cordillera and come to Lime, but he will not listen to them The last communication received from him an nounces that he feels convinced the country requires peace, and that he is Willing to treat providing matters be allowed to revert to the position in which they were prior to the bat- tle at Miraflores. This proposition the victors refuse to listen to. and so I suppose the pres ent state of uncertainty and alarm must con tinue indefinite. The Chihan authorities are placed in a pre- dicament by not finding a single official who will treat. or any group of individuals who will step forward and accept what they con- sider the opprobrium of signing a peace. Two or three efiorts have been made to hold a. meeting of distinguished citizens to discuss matters and form a Provisional Government, but they will not attend. The majority of the Peruvians acknowledge they are badly beaten, and principally through their own fault. and that they cannot hope to make headway against the Ghilians. but false pride prevents their stepping forward, acknowledging this fact and making the best terms they can in order to prevent the country suffering further loss. Perhaps, also, fear has a little to do with their hesitancy. Many of them think the lives of those who sign peace will be in danger directly after the Chilians leave. After recent events, in which bribery and treason are said by the populace to have played a conspicuous part, it would not be surprising if there were some ground for this fear. Under any circumstances, I believe slaughter would follow if the Chilians were suddenly to with- draw. Party stnie 1s already ra1s1ug1ts head, and anxious politicians, now thrown out oi employment by the arrival of the Chilians, eagerly await their departure to commence fighting for the skeleton of a treasury which may yet remain. The communists are also on the qui vive, and dec' are that the next time they W111 commit greater damage and take their revenge on the foreigners who quelled them the other day. The fears here expressed of further trouble are by no means exaggerated, and that they are warranted is borne out by Lima, Cellao, Yoa, P1880, Huacho. Uhicla, Trujillo and other towns. and more particularly Piura, whence many families are reported to have fled in alarm at the threatening aspect of affairs now the negroes are trymg to take command of the town. The country really seems to be breaking up ; and if Don Nicolas de Pierola does not recognize this fact and take control of it, I am airaid,inâ€" stead of a confederation, we shall see fight- inp,r and trouble in every section of the re- public. Auburn haired girls have come into flash I ion. Those who have fiery beads by nature I now account themselves lucky. Lemonl blondes have lost their grip, and black heads join them in cnvying the reds. Red hair is attainable, but with considerable trouble, for bleaching must be followed by dyeing, and the process requires lrequent repetition. Moreover, the peculiar complexion that usual- ly accompanies red hair cannot be simulated. It‘bas a clear, pallid hue for ground work (and this might by itself be counterfeited) but on it appear pale, reddish freckles, and to paint them in would be too delicate an operation to undertake. Red hair is becoming common on the street and in public assemblages, but the real is so easily distinguished from the false that the fashion is not likely to last long. In the matter of hair dressing, while it is no longer correct to wear the hair high on the head ‘ and voluminous puffs. braids and frizes, as: was fashionable only a year ago, it is never- 1 theless evident that the close, flat style of eoiffure if going out of date. Curls and loops are added from week to week. and gradually we are returning to the elaborate style of hair dressing which is really the only one suitable for the complicated details of the general toilet of to-day. When done in red hair, the fussiness is effective. Women with red hair are called rossas.‘ When attired with taste, they are bewitchingâ€"if they have fine complex- ions, good features, animated and intelligent countenances and eyes blue. gray, dark brown or bronze-tinted. That little article headed “ Secluded Whis- key ” which was copied from the Elmira Free Press, reminds me of a joke perpetrated on the State liquor agent in the town of Mâ€" , in Maine, a few years ago, and of its truth- fulness I can vouch, for I lived there at the time. Three young men assembled in a. stable op- posite the agency, and one of them thought of the following trick, which proved highly gratifying t9 those concerned : ,... u n n a . n, , 4,1,1. D .I In " ,7, Filling a bucket half full of oats the stable boy run over with it and breathlessly de- manded that it be covered with whiskey. as a valuable horse was dangerously sick n the barn. "The Whiskey was given him without a ques- tion, and the agent’s suspicion was not even aroused. ... Where the three young men obtained the liquor to get. drunk on was a mystery to those not in the joke._ â€"VVâ€"irlilrstgnjle of your Kansas readers try it and report? Prohibition is a fallute. T. L. J. “The Government of the Dominican re- public are evidently satisfied that the bones discovered in 1876 in the Cathedral of San Domingo are really those of Christopher Co- umbus, for the sum of $10,000 has been oted toward the erection of a suitable 1110):» went. beneath which the relic-I will be de- osited, A CAPTURED CITY. Powers. England has naturally, and with success. strives to maintain her naval supremacy; and, besides possessing the largest fleet, has, in the Inflexible, laid down in 1874 and launchedin 1880, the most formidable War ship in the world. In this vessel have been at- tained the extreme limit of thickness of armor and concentration of power. It is, therefore, a typical modern fighting machine, the essen- tial features being as follows : A rectangular citadel, 110 feet in length and 75 feet wide, rising ten feet out of the water, rests upon a :"limerged hull. floating 6 or 7 feet beneath the surface. This iron hull is double, with 138 water tight compartments, is covered by a shot proof deck, and carries a powerful ram at the bow. The citadel and submerged hull constitute the fighting part of the ship. To give better speed. shape and seaworthiuess, an unarmored structure extends in front and rear of the citadel, and furnishes living acco- modations for oflicers and crew. This. how- ever may be all shot away in action without destroying the stability of the ship. From within‘the citadel rise two revolving turrets, ‘armed each with two rifled guns of 16 inch calibre and 80 tons weight. throwing a pro- i jectile of 1,700 poundsâ€"the heaviest weapon fafloat except the 100 ton guns carried by the Italian Duilio. The turrets are built with outer 9 inch shell of iron, faced The Fighting Ships of the Maritime with steel, backed by 8 inches of teak and an inner strake of 7 inches of iron, the whole secured with steel bolts from within, making a thickness of 2 feet, 16 inches of of which are metal. The citadel walls are 41 inches thick, in alternate layers of iron and teak, and extend 6;» feet below the water-line to join the submerged hull. At the water- line the metal armor is 2 feet thick. in two courses of 12 inches each, separated by a course of teak. Inside the armor is a belt of cork compartments 4 feet thick, and inside this again a 2 feet thick belt of canvass and oakum. For further protection the space above the sunken shot proof deck is filled with coal and stores. The turrets, weighing 750 tons each, can be completely revolved in 1; minutes, or with extreme slowness. as may be desired, the movement as well as the loading and sponging of the great guns,being effected by silent and perfectly docile force of hydraulic machinery. The position of the tWo turrets rising in echelon on either side of the ship is such that all four guns may be fired ahead, astern, or to either side. The ship displaces 11,400 tons, of which nearly one-third is due to weight of armor ; draws 25 feet 5 inches ; has a speed of 14 knots, notwithstanding her great bulk and beam ; and cost, exclusive of the armament. about $3,250,000. There are two masts without rigging, for signal purposes only. The collective British fleet numbers 400 vessels. Of mailed athletes fit for naval combats, there are 28, of which 11 are turret ships and 17 cruisers, 3 belted only with armor at the waterline. The coast defendersâ€"heavy monitorsâ€"number 15, and the iron broadside ships 10. Of the un- armored vessels, the requisites are great structural strength to carry and endure the i great engine power, a few effective guns, and great speed, enabling them to overtake and capture an inferior vessel, or avoid conflict with a more powerful one. Of these England possesses 20 of iron or steel, 26 of the com- position class, 31-gun vessels and 58 gun- boats. , ' The Rover and Cleopatraclasses of cruisers. with hulls of iron and steel, sheathed with wood, displacement of 3 000 to 4000 tons, and speed of 13 to 15 notes. mmed with 7~inch rifles, and costing about $809,- OOOâ€"are extremely valuable and use ful types. uombining, as they do, great strength and durability with high steam and sail pOWer. .v‘ nA‘nAnl Tfie Mercury and Iris are of steel, 300 feet long, 46 feet beam. and 22 feet draft; ton- nage. 3.700; speed of 18% knots. and cost $1,000,000. . . . -.. ._,V<«,__,, The Mercury has made the extraordinary‘ E speed of 18.87 knots equal to 21,} miles per hour. The Italian navy will shortly possess four of therlargest ships, (Buying the heaviest > VOL. XXIII. The other European navies display no spe cial originality in construction, the vessels usually imitating the types of leading nations. and decreasing in dimensions and weight of armor in accordance with their relative rank. The Russians, however, were the first to ap- ply the useful idea of distributing the armor in a. belt along the water line, and have also invented the circular ships Popoflkas. Of these the Livsdia, somewhat modified from the circular horizontal section, has exhibited l great speed. The German navy is in process of con- struction, and becoming formidable. It con- tains 12 modern armored ships, 13 coast de- fenders and 21 effective unarmored vessels. The ordnance is Krupp’s steel breechâ€"loading rifles. The Russians own 25 mailed senâ€"going vea» eels and 15 monitors and Popofikas, besides 10 efleetive cruisersâ€"4 of them of American buildâ€"and a. number of older vessels. THE WORLD’S NAVIES. Turkey, a few years since, had a. first-class Greece boasts of 2 armed battle ships of the first-class, with 6 screw steamers and 7 other vessels; and even Portugal has her modem armored ship, with 4 scew corvettes and 6 wooden steamers. 0f the South American governments, Brazil has 18 armor clads. 2 of recent type, and 53 unarmored vessels of all classes. Austria committed the error in endeavoring to reconstruct her navy of attempting to re- build her wooden ships into modern vessels. In consequence her navy, though containing 8 casemated ships, 3 frigates and corvettes, and 2 monitors, is relatively weak. Holland‘s navy, though small is of good material, and contains no wooden ships. She has two mailed cruisers, 17 monitors, 18 unarmored efieotive and a, fleet of over 30 gunboate. Spain owns 11 armored ships of indifferent power, protected by 5 or 6 inches of iron, 2 iron cruisers and a. large fleet of 35 or 40 gunbonts, mainly for the defense of her West Indian waters. Denmark has 7 mailed and 8 or 10 unarm- ored cruisers, while Sweden's armored fleet. consists of 4 monitors and 10 gunboats. There are, however, a. large number, over 150. of unarmored vessels, ships, corvettes, sailing ships and gunboats well armed. Chili has 3 powerful mailed ships. including the famous Huascar, captured from Peru, 4 steam screw corvettes and 6 wooden steamers; and even the Argentine Republic possesses 2 monitors and 2 iron corvettes, besides 3 wooden screw vessels, and owns a fine armored ship of 4,000 tons, launched on the Thames last October. The Japanese have no less than 5 armored ships, 4 corvettes, 8 gunboats and others, all armed with heavy rifled guns. China surprises the world with a. powerful naval force.lergely built in her own yards, and has bought in England a fleet of iron gunboats, carrying guns equal in power to the 38 ton guns. She has also a. composite corvette and other vessels. navy, but. financial exigencies compelled the sale of several which were necessary to main- tain full efficiency. She still owns 15 mailed ships, with numerous monitors and guuboatsV The navy of the United States has no arm- ored vessels except a dozen or so monitors in various stages of dilepidation, covered with 4 or 5 inches of iron. armed with 11 or 15 inch cast iron smooth-bore guns, and capable of steaming 5 or 6 miles an hour. There are no vessels of modern type or strength, and no armaments of heavy rifles. . Of swift and efiicient see going cruisers, with iron. steel or composite hulls, there are none. The sea. going vessels are of wood. of no great speed. and armed, at the best, with a. few comparatively light rifles. The crack ship is the Trenton, with a displacement of 3,900 tons, speed of 14 knots and an arma- ment of eleven 8 inch rifles converted from cast-iron smoothbores. She carries a wooden ram covered with brass. Her whole broad- side can throw only 1,074 pounds of metal, which, if it could all be concentrated in one shot, would still have less than half the en ergy of destruction of a single shot from the English 80 ton gun. Sic Transit Gloria Mund. HOW A ROTHSCHILD GAVE AN AN- NUITY FOR A PORCELAIN SER- VICE. - Norway has 4 monitors, 6 unarmored ves elg and 22 gunbogts of moéetp type. _ _ (European Correspondence Dayton Jom'nel.) One day an old man, careworn, wrinkled. feeble, and apparently tottering on the verge of the grave, presented himself before Baron James Rothschild soliciting the honor of an interview with the famous banker. The old man was so aged, so poor. and had so de- jected an aspect that. the Baron was immedi- ately impressed with a compassionate feeling, and this became a lively interest on learning that he was a Jew. The aged visitor took from his bag a rich, a beautiful plate, so splendidly wrought that the Baron admired it exceedingly. " Sir," said the patriarch, " will you buy this of me? I have the whole set, and a service so beautiful must find its fitting place in the mansion of the prince of finan- mats." “7'; it is indeed very fine," said the Baron. “ How much do you wish for the service ?” “ Look you, sir,” said the old man, “ 1am bowed down with many years, and have not long to live. I am poor, and wish to end my days in comparative comfort. Will you in ex- change for this valuable set of porcelain give He Ah income for life of 100 francs ($26) a month '2 It is not much for you, and I am so old.” The Baron looked at line poor old man, examined the plate again, and after a few minutes’ reflection said : " Well, be it so ; here is the first payment. Send me the ser- vice. and give me your name that I may have it entered in my treasurer’e books." The splendid set of porcelain was delivered the same day to the Baron, and a mtnth afterward. while he was seated in his count- ing house, a man entered and asked for the second nuyment of the proposed income. But the man was young. scarcely 34 years of age, of a vigorous constitution and great muscular development, and looked as if he' would live for 1_00 years. ‘~ 1.. “ Butyyou are not the man I” exclaimed the astonished banker. “ Excuse me, Baron," said he, “ I am in- deed the man." “ But you appeared at least 80 years old, ” said the Baron. ‘ But, sir, I am only 30,” said the man. “ In fact." continued the Baron, “ Ithought your venerable appearance did not belie your assertion.” W" I have wonderfully recovered,” observed the man, “ and Vthankg t9 you; genexpsity." The Baron laughed heartily, and gave orders for the payment of the money, ex- claiming, “ Ah 1 you are an excellent come- dian, and have taken me in thoroughly." the man, “ and thanks to your generosity.” ‘ The Baron laughed heartily, and gave orders for the payment of the money, ex- claiming, “ Ah 1 you are an excellent come- dian, and have taken me in thoroughly." “ I am probably the first who has done so,” replied the Jew, politely bowing to the millionaire. For years Rothschild paid the monthly a1-. Iowance. His porcelain service is so exquisite that he does not complain. PUGET SOUND FIR-TREES. The fir tree growths of Puget Sound form one of the wonders of the American world. They average 200 fefitin hight, and some specimens have been cut that measured 320 feet in length and twelve feet in diameter at the base, with a straight and well propor- tioned leg length of ninety feet to the first limb. The cedar trees are in like proportion and are most valuable for wooden wares of all kinds, while the firs are the best for spar and ship timber yet found in any country. There are few nations that do not use them in ship- building. One fourth the wealth of San Francisco was culled from the firs of Puget Sound while the Government slept, and to- day all the principal steam mill owners who saw and prepare for market from 100 to 200- 1 000 feet a day to each mill-«and there are thirty or more millsâ€"are residents of San Francisco, where they invest their profits, to the great injury of residents of the Sound. There is, apparently, no exhaustion of the timber, and a century will possibly elapse be- fore Puget Sound forests will be cleared of their immense resources of varied tree growths. As a rule, highwaymen in the mining j ‘ States seldom operate upon a stage coach l with “ U. S. M.” on it. They know that these i initials stands for the United States Mails, : i and are a pledge that the whole power of the I [ government will be used to capture them. i l The detectives in the government service ,‘ g are quiet men, courteous in manner and from ‘ l. tle in speech. Mr. Hayes tells, in his book i on “ New Colorado,” of one whom he met, / who wore gold spectacles and looked like a i, ‘. German professor. Yet this man alone took I two mail robbers from the North to Texas. 1 At one place their friends planned a rescue. ' , He quietly informed his prisoners that while i ‘ their friends could undoubtedly kill him, they 1 I might be sure that the first motion would 7 , send both of them into eternity. Not a man ‘ 4 in the crowd moved a finger. ‘; On one occasion, a celebrated detective was on the stage which was attacked by two , masked men. The first he knew two revolvers ‘g were thrust in the coach’s window, with the command, “ Hands up, gentlemen l” 1 The highwaymen “had the drop” on the ' passengers, which in their vocabulary meant the certainty of being able to kill before , being harmed themselves. To his disgust, the . detectivewas compelled to give up his watch and money. As the robbers left he put his hand down in the “ boot,” and to his delight it touched a carbine. Asking the driver to go on a little further, and then st Vp and wait for him, he went back alone. The two men, unsuspicious of danger, were “ divvying up" the spoils, in the middle of the road. This was just what the detective had calculated on. “ Now, you scoundrels, it's my turn,” RICHMOND HILL, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 1881. Witchcraft in Erie Countyâ€"A Peculiar System of Treatmentâ€"Bigamy and Threatened Lvnching. The following is from the Bufialo Express : No need to go to Central Africa or the South Sea Islands for heathenism. The genuine article is manifestly produced much nearer home, to wit, in our own Erie county. Last Monday one Benedict Schmitt was arrested in the town of Clarence on acharge of bigamy, and was immediately brought to this city and lodged in jail, this expeditions committal of the prisoner being, as we now learn, for the reason that the usually quiet citizens of that rural quarter had expressed an eager desire to lynch him. Nothing of the case was known by the jail authorities or any others in this city until yesterday, when some of the Clar- ence people came in and made a statement to Assistant District Attorney Quinby. It was of a very peculiar nature, and we will en- deavor to present the alleged facts so far and in as clear a manner as propriety will permit. Michael BEnder is a farmer of rather ad- vanced age residing in the town named. - He has a wife and four children, of whom three are daughters, the youngest, named Katie, seventeen years old. Two years ago the head of the Bender household became afllicted with supernatural persecutions which continued and increased. He concluded that he was be- witched, that his family, his cattle, his poultry, etc.. were bewitched, and that the evil influence was exercised by another family residing in Clarence who are said to be very respectable and quite prominent people. By- the-way his. favorite cow died ; be hauled the carcass into the woods ; going that way a week later, he saw the cow standing up and looking at him, as he afterwards affirmed ; he ran as though all the fiends were let loose and after him. In his house and in his barn witchcraft caused him no end of inconveni- ence and alarm, changing everything" from its place. and turning domestic affairs topsy- turvy generally. It was high time that he sought some means of relief. Now it appears that in the town of Clarence they have Witch doctors as well as witches and believers in witchcraft. At least old Benedict Schmitt was known as and acknowledged himself as a witch docter, and at last Bender sought his advice, going through the woods to his house, or rather hut, about two and a half miles dis~ tant. The witch doctor consented to exer- cise his power of exorcism in behalf of the afflicted family, and repairing to their pre- mises diagnosed the case. His decision was that the whole familyâ€"~old man, old woman and daughters, were thoroughly bewitched, especially the daughters. Now we have to describe the witch doctor’s manner of treatment, and this is a delicate duty which will require nice use of the pencil; and the completed account will maybe fall as short as the recent performance of “ Boccac- cio” did in representing the “ Decameron” stories. Each patient was in turn denuded, and after being enveloped in a sheet was placed in a reclining position over a tub par- tially filled with hot water. The tub was especially constructed for this novel medical system, and was provided with an open frame- work to prevent the subject ot the treatment from falling in. The avowed purpose was to drive away the influence of the witches by this steaming process. It appears that old Bender, Mrs. Bender, and the Misses Bender were all in this way steamed. The cases of ‘ the women are pronounced nhstihate, requir- . infiifrequent repetitions of the treatment, and eventually it proved most convenient for the doctor to have them take a wa‘k down to his place instead of his going to their house. Assembled at the witch doctor’s, one would be put over the steamer in the manner related, and the others. all nude, as the doctor’s prescription now re- quired, would en-circle the tub in an all- handsaround dance. This unique “ in- cantation scene ” is said to have been often repeated. Benedict Schmitt, the witch doctor, is about sixty-five years old. It is alleged that in September. 187 7, he was married to Josephine Johnson, many years his junior.who soon left him because of ill-treatment, and has since resided not far distant. Not long ago Schmitt was married by Justice of the Peace Freeman to Katie Bender. The J ustice. it is said, had been warned by some of the people -there was getting to be a lively interest in the witchcraft matterand the new medical sys- temâ€"that Benedict was already married, but the latter averred that he was not married that it was very necessary that Katie and he should be married. and the Justice believed ‘them and performed the ceremony. Three ‘ citizens of Clarence, Latent Cunningham‘ Jacob Hannel. and Joseph Roy, last Monday appeared before Justice Freeman and lodged a complaint charging Schmitt with bigamy. A warrant for his arrest was issued and served. It had become noised about th Katie was advanced in an interesting condi tion, that another of the three Bender daughters was in a similar condition. and that the third was believed to be in a like situation. Then the neighbors wanted to hang the old witch doctor. so it was con- sidered best to hurry him to the Buffalo jail, as has been stated. A representative of the Express saw Bene- dict Schmitt, witch doctor, in jail yesterday afternoon. He is a rather stocky personage with stubby gray beard, attired with a. worsted jacket. overalls, a colored shirt, and a red necktie. The doctor was not very communi- cative. He aflirmed that he was a witch doctor, that the Benders had been bewitehed, and that he had treated them in his profes- sional capacity. He acknowledged that he had married Katie, but would say nothing when questioned concerning the other wife. ‘; On one occasion, a celebrated detective was on the stage which was attacked by two ‘ masked men. The first he knew two revolvers g were thrust 1n the coach’s window with the command, “ Hands up. gentlemen I” The highwaymen “had the drop” on the passengers, which in their vocabulary meant the certainty of being able to kill before being harmed themselves. To his disgust, the detectivewas compelled to give up his watch and meney. As the robbers left he put his hand down in the “ boot,” and to his delight it touched a. carbine. Asking the driver to go on a. little further, and then at Vp and wait for him, he went back alone. The two men, unsuspicious of danger, were “ divvying up" the spoils, 1n the middle of the road. This was just what the detective had calculated on. HOME HEATHENISM; A COOL DETECTIVE. he shouted, covering them by the repeat. ing carbine. ” Throw up your hands, or I’ll shoot.” The robbers, at this command, stepped one side, holding up their hands, while he picked up their revolvers. It, was not many minutes before the astonished passengers saw. the two highwaymen {walking down the road, with the cool detective following. They were taken into the coach and finally lodged iniail. 7 N A. . . . , 71,4 -... J”... The hero was Gen. Charles Adams. who subsequently went alone among the Utes,and secured the release of three women captives from the White River Agency. “ Yes.” said the conductor. biting off the tip of a. cigar and slowly scratching a match on» his leg, “ I’ve seen a good deal of railroad life that’s interesting and exciting in the twenty years that I’ve been twisting brakes and slamming doors for a living. I’ve seen all kinds of sorrow and all klude of joy ; seen the happy bridal couple starting out on their oridal-tour,with the bright and hopeful future before them. and the black‘robed mourner on her way to a new made grave. wherein she must bury the idol of her lonely old heart. Wealth and pinching poverty ride on the same train, and the merry laugh of the joy. one. healthy child is mingled with the dis- uuucu. _ “ I was running extra on the Union Pacific for a. conductor who was an old friend of mine, and who had gone south on a. vacation for his health. “ At about 7.30, as near as I can remem- ber. we were sailing along comfortable one evening with a. straight stretch of track ahead for ten or fifteen miles. running on time, and everybody feeling tiptop, as overland travelers do who get acquainted with each other and feel congenial. All at once the train suddenly slowed down, ran in on an old siding, and topged. - . . , ,‘L,_J a.‘ ‘Ln. nurrv... “ Of course I got out and mu ahead to the engine to see what the matter was. Old Antifat. the engineer, had got down. and was on the main track looking ahead to where twinkling along about six or seven miles down the road, apparently, was the headlight of an approaching train. It was evidently ‘ wild.’ for notuing was due that we knew of at that hour. “ However. we had been almost miracu- lously saved from a frightful wreck by the engmeer’s watchfulnees, and everybody went forward and shook old Antifat by the hand, and cried, and thanked him, till it was the most affecting scene for awhile that I ever witnessed. It was as though we had stopped upon the very verge of a. bottomless chasm. and everybody was laughing and crying at once, till it was a kind of cross between reâ€" vival and a. picnic. .. .11: 1 “ After we had waited about half an hour, I should say. for the blasted train to come up and pass us, and apparently she was no nearer, a cold, alammy suspicion began to bore itself into tue adamantine shell of my intellect. The more I thought of it the more unhappy I felt. I almost wished that I was dead. Cold streaks ran up my back, followed by hot ones. I wanted to go home. I wanted to be where the hungry, prying eyes of the great, throbbing work-clay world could not see me. “ When I surveyed the starry vault of heaven, and considered its illimitable space, where. beyond and stretching on and on for 1 ever, countless suns are placed as centers. around which solar systems are revolving in their regular orbits, each little world peopled perhaps with its teething millions of strug- gling humanity, and then other and mightier ‘systems, till the mind is dazed and giddy with the mighty thought ; and then, when I ‘ compared all this universal magnificence, ‘ this brilliant aggregation of worlds, with one ‘ poor, groveling victim of the dust.~â€" onlya lit- , t'e insignificant atom. only a. poor, weak, erring, worthless, fallible, blind, groping rail- ‘ road conductor, with my train peacefully side tracked in the gathering gloom, and patiently Iwaiting for the planet Venus to pass on the main track, there was something about the whole sombre picture that has overshadOwed my whole life, and made me unhappy and : wretched while others were guy. “ I called Antifat one side and said some- thing to him. He swore softly to himself and kicked the ground, and looked at the head- light still glimmering in the distance. Then he got on his engine and yelled ‘All aboard.’ In a few moments we were moving again. and the general impression was that the train ahead was side-tracked and waiting for us, although there wasn’t a side track within twenty miles, except the one we had just left. . ..-_,_, I‘ It was never exactly clear to the pasaem gore Where we passed that wild train, but I didn’t explain it to them. I was too much engrossed with my surging thoughts. “ I never felt my own inferiority so much as I did that night. I never so fully realized what a mere speck man is upon the bosom of the unguiverse. ” Sometimes Antifat and myself meet at some liquid restaurant and silently take something in memory of our great sorrow. but never mention it. We never tear open the old rankling wound or laugh over the night we politely gave the main track to Venus While we stood patiently on the sid- 11g.” [From the Albany Journal] l A day or two ago a lady on a Central Rail- I road train after depositing numerous bundles 1 in the rack overhead the seat, hung her um- ! brella upon the cord connecting with the air 2 brakes. A newsboy passing through the car I noticed the suspended gingham and politely ! informed the innocent owner that she must i remove it. “ What’s that string 101‘ if it ain’t ‘ to hang things on ‘2” inquired the old lady, as i she dropped the umbrella into the seat. The boy answered in all earnestness. “ It’s to call ‘ a waiter when you’re hungry,"and passed on. i Some time after there was vigorous pulling of the air-brake cord and the train came to a standstill. The conductor rushed up to the old lady and in a tone of amazement ex- claimed, “ What’s the matter?" “ Bring me a plate of pork and beans,” drawled out the ancient female with the umbrella, not in the least aware that she had stopped the train. An explanation followed. and the joking news- boy did not venture forth from the baggage car during the remainder of the trip. PORK AND BEANS FOR ONE. A HEADLIGHT IN VIEW. IDetroit Free Press.) M Teefy “ Would you be kind enouuh to direct me to the editor ‘2” asked a grave and venerable gentlemen, with a. kindly face and pleasant smile. “ He’s out," responded the law reporter. " Is there anything I can do ‘2” “ I am Dr. Holmes,” responded the gen- tleman. “ Where’ 5 your ofiice doctor ? Come to see about the diphtheria ? I can do as well as the editor. What 18 it '1’” and the law re- ports! braged himself. ...._. .. x'ln‘l,, “ Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes,” replied the gentleman. his handseme face beaming with good nature. ~‘ I have a little poem I should like to submit. Shall I leave it with 3011?” L XL -..J mu”! :5 The law reporter took it and read it aloud. “ You call it a. Winter Day on the Prairie,” eid he, “ h’m ; yes." A blinding glare, a. silver sky, A sea. of snow with frozen spray ; The foaming billows swelling high, Updashed againstthe icy day. Whiteladen northern whirlwmds blow Across the pale sen’s heavy breast, And fill the creamy ebb and flow With stormy terror and unrest. The etormbirds fly nthwart the main Like rudderless bewildered ships ; The stranded winds breath sobs ofpain. And frosty froth from palLid ligs. The seething milky waves, in sw1ft Harsh struggles with the fate that binds. Break into frozen rift,‘ anti drift _.. __:.‘,1- Dream iuuu uuuouuu, “a“. w. ..._ Against the wrecked and straining winds. A sea of loneliness and death, Whose waves are ghosts, whose vales are graves, Whose perspiration is the breath That lurks in northern winter caves ; A snowy gloom, whose icy shade Li. white beneath the sprayâ€"tipped crest, W11 53 silver sombreness is laid A glaring pall across his breast. “Just so, just so,” continued the law re- porter. “Did you want this published as it is 7” “ I had thought something of giving it pub- licity,” replied the doctor. L. __ -iMJ. How the Law Reporter leed 315 Verses WW, my”-.. m- _, V , “ You’ll have to get the advertising clerk to register it, then,"returned the law reporter. ” I wouldn’t take the responsibility of sending it in as it stands now.” _ u .u um .. .....__V __V “ What seems to be the matter with it ‘2” inquftgd ffhgjoctolr. I ‘7 ___. I. ....... “ I'don’t think it’s natural. Now, here, you take a snow storm on the prairie and make it a. sea. Then you freeze it all up and make it dash around. You’ve either got to thaw it out or quit dashing it. We may be able to alter it so it will do, if you leave it.” . my “ What alteration would you suggest ?" asked the doctor. “ I’d fix that first verse so as to be in ac- cordance with the facts; make it ‘ sequen- tial,’ as we say in law. Instead of having the blinding and the silver, and the roaming billows, and the white laden winds, and the creamy ebb. and all that rot, I'd put it in this way : In township thirty, range twenty-nine, Described in the deed as prairie land, It sometimes snows in the Winter time, As we are given to understand, This alleged snow falls on a. level, It’s said, some several feet or more, And when the Wind blows like the devil, It drifts from Where it was before. “ In that way,” continued the law reporter, “ you get the facts before the public without committing the paper so anything. finder your poem any man thetgwould prove that you were talking about his land could bring alibel suit. and the measure of damages would be what he could have sold it for if you hadn’t written it up as a sea.” 1 .n ,,L_: AL- 2... “ I‘m afraid not,” replied the law reporter. “ This business about the storm bird without a. rudder, and stranded winds and milky waves don’t prove anything. They wouldn‘t be admitzed in evidence anywhere. I suppose you want to express desolation, but the testi- mony isn’t good. Why don’t you say In _t_he place laforeeaid when the sad Winds! blow , Au 4 M.“ m. n‘\I\I“ tor. n: vuv yuwv w.u..,........ The tenants thereof don’t go about, And such birds as find the can stand the snow Look as though they ho. their tails pulled out. And when the said snow and said winds are gone. It’s found the said lands find a. ready taker, For though you can’t farm much when the win- ter’s on, The propertv don’t fall :1 cent an acre. “ There you get your desolation and your birds like rudderless ships, and at the same time you throw in a. clause which lets you out of the libel by showing that the snow don’t affect the value of the ground. The way you had it you would have brought all the Western settlements down on us. Been a poetulong ?>’_’ 1- ‘ ,', A, LL:...I. «”5” m... um, . “ I ~Iâ€"thst is, I begin to think not," gasped the unhappy doctor. “ But can’t you do something wrth the last verse ? " ' “ We might leave that out altogether, or we might substitute something for it. The last verse is a. contradiction of terms. It's a non seqm'tur, as we say in law, and could have no status in Court in the event of an action. You can‘t say snowy gloom or white shade, and as for a glaring pull 1 pre- sume you mean the white velvet ones they use for infants. I couldn’t pass that in, but I might change it for you. How would this do ? It is rumored thgt while‘the snow LU up up... Is on the land befoEQHeseribed It looks as though one couldn’t sow Seed to advantage, though this is denied. Some people hold that it empties the pouch To buy land in the Winter in the North; For this unsupported statement we cannot vouch. But give the story for what it is worth. ” This, you see, gives all sides to the ques- tion, without making the paper responsible for anything. I call that a superior article of poetry.” continued the law reporter. reading the three stanzas over in an admiring tone of voice. ”333% there isn’t. any poetry in it," stam mered the doctor. an... M. u“. “Ye. “ What is the reason theroisn’t ‘1" demanded the law reporter. indignantly. “ Don’t it tell everything you did, and don’t it rhyme in some places ? Don’t it get out all the facts, and don’t it let the people know what’s going on ?” “ Of course it does,” chimed in the police reporter. “ That’s what I call a. good item of poetry. I think you might add, ‘Startling de- velopments may be expected,‘ and that the polighavp got a. clue to the perpetrator." u__ 1*... .0. “ That isn’t necessary,” replied the law re» porter, loftily. “We poets always leave some- thing to the reader's imagination.” ” I befiewe I’ll go,” murmured the doctor. “ All right. sir. Come round any time when you’ve got some poetry you want fixed up,’ and the law reporter bowed the visitor out. There is a literature of gloves which read as follows : “ Yes ”-â€"Let one glove fall. “ No "â€"Left hand partly ungloved. “ Follow me ”â€"Sttike your left shoulder with the glove. “ I love you not "â€"-â€"Strike the glove several times against the chin. ' “ I hate you ”â€"Turn the glove inside out. “ (Jan I sit beside you? "â€"Smooth the glove gently. “ Am I loved :7 ”â€"Left hand gloved, with thumb slipped out. .1 1 L“ L, -_»....., ~-â€":râ€"~ , ,,,, “I love you ”â€"Let both gloves fall to- gethgr: 1 n m u, A _:A_-__..._...1 WHOLE NO. 1,182.â€"-â€"NO, 42. ova-nu-- “ We are watched ”--â€"Turn the gloves round the fingerg: .44 n. .. .u v 1 1"“... “ I am displeased”- -Strike the back of your hand against thg glgveg. “ Very angry”â€"Put them both in your pocket. THE LANGUAGE OF THE GLOVE. wwu Au uy w .- -_,_. Will the other verses do ?” asked the doc- TEE ASPIRING POET. (From the Hour.) Most amusing accounts are given of the new craze which has seized on a certain sec. tion of London society. It seems, for some time pasteundry young men and women have betaken themselves to the “ showing of their shapes,” as Jack Tar calls it, in the most fan- tastical costumes of the mediteval ages and playing such tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep. The women exhibit themselves in tight-fitting garments, devoid of all shades and color, clinging to the form and showing the contour of the figure With quite as much precision as the fleshings of the ballet-girl; the hair cut short and frizzed over the eyes and dyed of a deep orange brown; the throat enciicled by a double row of large amber beads, from which depends a medireval ornament ; and a looking-glass hanging to the side, as in the pictures of the Venetian ladies by Paul Veronese. The female aesthete is in general sallow and half- starved, woe~begone in expression, dry-lipped and always looking thirsty and exhausted. She affects the colorless raiment as beheld in the pre-Rap‘naelite pioturesâ€"olive-green skirt, long and trailing on the ground, but so tight as to show the angles of the knee-joints when she is seated; the bodice is of deep, dull orange color, laced with the palest blue ; the sleeves, tightâ€"fitting to the elbow, hang to the feet and are made of difierent color and material to the rest of the attire. A pale, dim fawn color is in general most patron- ized and is lined with the brownish-green seldom beheld in nature save on the back of a. toad. dingy look, which is attributed to the efforts made to attain to that dulness of coloring in which alone resides perfection, according to her ideas, and which in some cases has to be procured by artificial means. She sighs and looks vacantly around from beneath the shock of stifl, frizzled hair, dyed of a. red- dish brown, according to the law she has made unto herself of having no defined color on any portion of her frame. She scarce can open her lips to speak, so tightly are they pressed together. and never smiles save when the male aasthete approaches, and then they whiSper together, and sometimes disappear locked arm in arm toward the supper-room. where they are not more backward than the vulgar herd in their enjoyments of the crea- ture comforts provided. But while the female aesthete is simply ridiculous, the male of the same species is absolutely offensive. He iisps and ambles ; his locks flow uncombed over his collar, but, when no one is by he is not above investiga- ting the contents of a tankard of Bass’s ale, of which he partakes freely. He generally carries an artificial lily in his hand. at which he snifl‘i:l pathetically now and then. He has been caricatured unmercifully in the illus- trated. papers and even on the stage. but he heeds it not He goes on limping and sniff- ing. well aware that his new method of emerg- ing from the ranks of obscurity to which his own incapacity has hitherto confined him is the easiest and cheapest of all. To show the extent to which the sesthetes have encroached upon the domains of common sense and pro- priety, it is only necessary to mention one or two of the vagaries to which they have given vent of late. A lady of high repute ‘ and much beloved and respected, but who has gone in for the aesthetic phase, determined to act up to the character she had assumed. and at a soiree given at her house, after having treated her friends to a few melodious twangs upon the ancient lyre kept in her husband’s studio to assist him in painting his antique groups, she disappeared from the room. Presently she returned with a crystal platter on which was an antique goblet turned upside down. Going round to each guest, she whispered in a hollow tone, “ supper is ready," at which announcement the guest who accepted the invitation to descend to the supper room was expected to turn the goblet. The male aesthete, on his side, keeps a taper burning before the portrait of the lady who pleases him best ; never owns his love, but goes on sighing and meaning and dining and mapping at the same time, wlth the most self satisfied calm imaginable. 'An effort is now being made by the leaders of fashion to crush this affeetation, which is enervating the youth of both sexes and converting some of the salons of London into the semblance of the mortuary chapels of the Campo Santa It Pisa. A REPRESENTATIVE CONSTITUENT. He gave all the hackmen ; the Union de- pot a. stand off, brushed the boot-black: right and left, and shouldered his sixty pounds of baggage and started up Jefferson avenue in search of a tavern. He was a right up and down man. and he wanted to strike a tavern where they had an old-fashioned boiled din- ner. “ Just come in from Lansing," he observed as he fell in with a pedestrian. “ Did, eh ? Been out to the Legislature 7” “You bet I have. I’m not a member, but I made things hum out there all the same.” “ Have a bill?" “ Not exactly. I come down fromâ€"â€" county to take the kinks out of our member. He was sailing in witha high head, and if I‘d waited ten days longer he’d have been bossing the whole State. What d’ye think ?" “ I dunno." “ He wouldn’t speak to me when I first got there 1 Think of that I Up home there we rated him about No. 4, and sent him down to Lansing more because none of the rest of us could leave. and he wanted to cut me colder’n a wedge i What do you think '2 ” “ Rather mean.” “ You bet ! But I lowered his nose 9. bit. We heard how he was prancing around and putting on airs a nd making out that he run our country, and a few of us got together and i wrote him a letter. It didn’t seem to do any good, and so we got together again and they sent me down to put on the ourrycomb." “ And you did ?” “Didn’t I ?” He‘d put in about a dozen bills afieeting our county, and I mashed all but two. ,He had laid himself out for six or seven speeches, and I mashed all but one. The first day I got there he was support- ing motions to amend and strike out. but I mighty soon let him understand that no such chaff passed for oratory with us. He tried to bulldoze me at first, but when he found that his constituency had got after him he calmed down. He’d been fooling with the game law, and had got mixed up with a dog- tax bill, ands. saw-log law, and a bill about inland fishing, and I don’t know what else. I took him out behind the State House and says I : ‘Now, boy ; you squat 1 Your con- stituents demand that you calm right down. We don’t want no Cicero in ours, and we won’t have it. We sent you down here to do a little quiet work, and not, to prance around and imagine you've got Patrick Henry‘s hat on. We are a humble people, taking kindly to 103- houses and johnny-cake and we don’t go a cent on big words and long flourishes.’ That‘s what I told him, and he calmed." “ Did, eh ‘2" “ You bet he did! and if we hear anything more about his rising to explain his vote on the dog tax. or moving to recommit the mask-rat bill our county won’t be no place for him to return to. This is the place, eh ‘2 Well. I’ll fodder up and then take the train for home.”â€"Detroit Free Press. â€"The Prince of Wales and Mr. Gladstone attend all Irving's first nights ; the Poet Laureate, when he has done - hearing ” the magpie’s clatter gerrulous under a roof of pine," takes his pen in hand and composes a traged for the fashionable tragedian ; the “ big igs” at the British Museum hunt up authorities for him from the treasures in Great Russell street. Poets and Royal Acad- emicians jostle one another behind the scenes at the Lyceum, and lounge in the actor’s dressing room. anxious to be connected with one or other of his triumphs; and, as for the ladies, they squabble for his autograph and vie with one another for the possession of Irvine: relics. Even the ends of the cigars he smokes are in demand. THE NEW SOCIETL CRAZE.

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