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Conny Island oomesin {or agcod sh re of notice in the New York Tribune, 9- ing given some five columns 0! descri - tion and illustrated by several maps. gt is an extraordinary story of the sudden growth and development of a popular resort out of a barren sandy shore. Within less than ten years, four miles of the beachâ€"a sandy tract on Long Island at the entrance to New York harbor- was a desolate waste, which nobody claimed and nobody visited. There were a few bath houses. and a small hotel where an invalid could half-live, half-starve. A single steamboat did service as a tug-boat, lighter and (pass- eager boat. One railroad ran own near the center of the island, but there was neither hotel nor depot at its end. Within four years, and mostly within the past two, seven railways have been constructed; in place of one dilapidated there are three elegant steamers, and four more excursion steamers ply as regularly as ferries, the single hotel with its ilve shabby rooms has been succeeded by at least tWenty, three of which are as good as those at any sea- side resort Claimants are plenty for land 'whioh a few years ago nobody would own, and leases that then went beggin at seventy-five dollars each are now he «1 at 830.000 for the two years yet to lapse. Where 8100.000 was not in 1874 invested in hotels, railways, steamboats and avilions, now fully 35,- 000,000 ‘is emp eyed, and where fifty persons found oooupation‘three months In the year, now 2,500 find constant employment. It is remarkable that a place so convenient to New York and so well adapted for giving. the hot and weary people of the eity fresh air and water, should be so long given up to ”elammers” and “erabbers,” or to pie- nio parties of such a character that re- spectable people were ohligeg to keep within a few months after his recovery. He Ins lived in St. Louis since [867, having removed here in that year from ‘Indiangpolig, wher9_t_m pm a‘ little On Bremen avenue, a few docis west of Tenth street, there lives an eccentric old gentleman named Arthur 0. Black- man, who' is now in the fiftyofifth year of his age, and who although totally blind for the past thirt -one years, in- sists on wearin twog ass eyes. He lost his si ht w en about twenty-four years old w ile sufi‘ering from typhoid fever. He was then quite a handsome young man and somewhat vain of his personal attractions and the admiration of a large circle of friends. The loss of his eyesight weighed heavily upon him. He was conscious of their sightless stars and ghastly whiteness, and if he were not, the sympathy and pity of those around him would soon have informed him of thcr condition. In order to hide his infirmity as far as possible, be conceived the idea of substituting glass eye- mam from Yhigh husband away or submit to insult and possibly worse. Its rapid growth is equally reâ€" markable, and its advantages and capac- ity for entertaining the constantly in- creasing patronage is being developed more and more each year. eye: (or those from whigh 1:119 1i ht had gngout forever, End 91in 319‘. done 90510112,, from which he receives a. m era living income. Heis stopping with a sisterâ€"m -la.w,_ Mrs. Harding, 9n Bremen avenue, and very few of the people in the neighborth knew any- thing of his infirmity. He was pointed out to an Evenin Post reporter the other evening in yde ark as “‘ the man'with two glass eyes ’ when he was sitting on one of the trenches with a little child beside him, and from him were learned the above few facts eon- eerning his eculiar condition. He is well-inform , and apparently as thoroughlv up in the news of the day as if he had the sight of both his eyes and took halt a dozen dail papers. He walks with a firm tread, ongside of his child and companion, who generxl‘z ides him, and in no way betrays mflrmity to the casual observerASt. they could give him a peared to do him any good, and from one of appetite and sleeplessness the snake became a mere wreck of his former self. A large blanket had been placed in the serpent's cell for him to sleep upon. One morn- ing the keeper found that the blanket had disappeared. Search was made throughout the cage, but without euc- oese. At the same time the snake’s bod had swelled to the thickness of a o - sized sapling. He had swallow the blanket. But the blanket wouldn’t di- gest, and the snake became sicker than before. In this manner he rolled around like a wan dyspeptic for over four weeks. Finally the blanket was dis- charged !) naturalcanses. Immediate. ly the sna e_ began to imrgove. _ The Speaking of snakes, Superintendent Brown, of the Zoological Garden, said he could tell a snake story and not a second-handed one either. About a year ago one of the large reptiles in the collection took sick and seemed to be going into u_ deoline. Nothing thnt swelling in his bod gradually dwindled down and he grew erger and fetter than before, till the box became too small to hold him. He ate like a gormend, and at times found room for two and three times the customary quantity of food. The blanket acted as a sort of medicine upon his stomach and cleaned him out entirely. Now he in fifteen feet along, eighteen feet in circumference, and 18 the healthiest boa constrictor of the lot. Achange of color was the only visible effect on the blanket. Under lthe miscroacope it showed that it had tbecome a little Worn by being rubbed in a animal’s stomach. - It came out no- att ted and it we carefully packed W" in' the superintendent‘s rivete tents hhm‘n it. nnw line _..Pln'ln Allnln'n Louis Post. A Boa Swullows a Blankét. A Man With Glass Eyes. a the superintendent's than; here it now 1iea.-_-PMI lphia Coney Island. { Old Age. Growingwld ' ally issnut in whiohdqw (1 «(mm jettedion, = and yet sh " been A 11s a“ with the, grace su'i'tendern'gss that properly he- longtbthaiontumujnd winter of life. Therein. s 'poetryfthat should ling“; about-incl «own it with. respect, rover» once and admiration. The later days should bu set to quick, pleasant ammo, and on!)~ soft, sweet notes shoulgi rip- ple from the heart, where it is yet springtime with all its cherished asso- omtions. Old people deserve a sunny niche in the housrhold; their loving faces should be framed in the memory, dearer and clearer than the gems that come from the artist's brush which called for our admiration. Their deeds of mercy and loving kindness, of patience and endur- ance thronga trials, of thoughtfulness for others and sympath in the hour of need, should be prints on the heart in characters that will never grow illegi- ble. If their hearts have been full of kind humanity and sweet friendliness and generous acts, then the; coming nights should be gemmed with the stars of affection and devotion. Would they drift back with the tide, we often ask? Perhaps, if they could only redeem the errors of youth, could only stem the breakers more courageously and nobly, and make of life a richer oem. If their lives all the way through ave been set to the music of high thoughts, noble aspirations and brave deeds, then the blossoms of admiration and honor should be laid daily at their feet by kindly hands. To the old, the rush of early memor- ies comes back like the lost notes of a song they once loved. They delight to live over the past; for them the meadow daisies grow again, the yellow dande- lions are plucked with fearless fingers, the running brook murmurs no music sweeter than that they once knew in their hearts, and the fragrant clover- blossom breathe!) only the perfume of a vanished June. They carry with them always the poetry and sweetnes of re membrance. About those who grow old gracefully, there lingers forever the freshness and tenderness of youth. The silver hair wears “ Time’s gathered snows.” The foolish bathed hopes of mere worldly ambition fade away before the infinite lon ' g for thin shigher and holier,and to t ose upon w om they depend there come verses which never can be' written, of sympathy with sorrow, resignation in affliction, cheerfulness in disappoint- ment, and the sweet faith that helped to overcome all obstacles. We ofttimes smile at their odd fancies, and wonder why they cling so closely to little keep- sakes and treasures of the past; they may be but links in the chain of Time, that carry them back to a more golden dawn. Old age is full of study. It has battled with life so long, and grown weary so often over its broken .am- bitions, its repeated failures, its vain ho esp They often forget the world once he d for them so many aspirations; as they drift silently toward that unknown shore the rapture of that “ strange, beautiful song ” of youth seems only a dinlreality, half-forgotten. The Power of Niagara. ,‘Dr. Siemens, some months ago, in an fddress which he then gave, referred to the immense quantity of power which flowed ready-made over the Falls of Ni- agra, In 1118 Glasgow address he a sin referred to the subject, in order to s ow how is gigantic source of power mi ht be u ' ed to produce aotlon at a is- tonce.’ ‘ "When,” he says, “little more th atweléemonth ago Ivisited the out Fa ls_ of. .Nisgara, I gas phrticu rly_ The sunset hours of old age are filled with gleams of fading pictures, tinted with roseate, clouds or shadowed with tears, but if it be a season of content- ment, restful and cheerful, it always wears a gracious coloring, the dew- of its influence rests u on our hearts; and we insensibly yiel admiration, rever- ence and love to the unconscious charm of peace, repose and serenity that crowns beautiful, graceful old age, and gives it,a poetry grand and tender and sweet,‘ struck with the extraordinary amount 6! force which is lost, as far as the useful urposes of man are concerned. One undred millions of tons of water fall there every hour from a vertical height of 150 feet, which re resent an aggre- gate of 16,800,000 arse-power. In order to reproduce the power of 16,800,- 000 horsesfior, in other words, to pump back the water from below to above the fall, would require an annual expendi- ture of not less than 266,000,000 tons of coal, calculated at an aver e consump- tion of {our pounds of co per horse- power per hour, which amount is equiv- alent to the total coal consumption of the world. In stating these facts in my inaugural address on assuming the residency of: the Iron and Steel Insti- ute, I ventured to express the opinion that in order to utilize natural forces of this description at distant towns and centers of industry, the electric conduc- tor might be resorled to. This view was at that time unsupported by experi« mental data such as I have been able since then to oolleot.”--â€"Nature. After Thirty Years. Among the mat-ti o notices in a re- cont issue of the avnnnah Tenn.( Transcript is the following. ttolla how two sunderod hearts were united attor‘tnany yearn} “At th'e'ronidenoo of Mr. Lafayette gallons, 21 _t_he_ R_e_v. J. 'l_‘_. W_hi_t_o, Mr Usulens, b the Rev. J. '1'. Whito Thomas bite to Mrs. Rntha Polk. “ Them parties were engaged to each other more than thirty years ago, and each married to other parties and raised large famillea. Death removed the bar- riers, and now they have fulfilled their former engagement~ ' “We sfiofild always fill our engage- manta.” 'hfihy lives have been lost by tho‘E, both in England and in this country. A fear ‘of-flghtniug ieoltenllidicnled, hpt those realities indicate too genersgg‘neglect of proper precautions in thunder storms. It is desirable that people should be sumcientl apprehensive of danger to adopt suc safeguards as science recom- mends. especially where a failure to do solmey be followed by such terrible re- su ts. It will be noticed that lightning does comparatively little damage in the heart of large cities. The innumerable metal- 110 conductors to the earth which modern architecture supplies probably carry 03 in silence many discharges of electricity which would otherwise be explosive. Then the highest points, such as church spires, are usually furnished with em- cient lightning rods. Country dwell- iugs, however, and prominent unpro- tected buildings on the outskirts of cities are liable to be struck, and it is these and country churches which have sufl‘ered most durin the present sum. mer. It is altoget or probable that complete protection is afforded by light- ning reds, when they are of the right size and material, and suitably dis- tributed and attached. Such. at least, is the opinion of the great majority of competent physicists in all countries. Its correctness has been strongly con- firmed b the experience of the inhabit- ants of _ e_British colony of Natal. In The widenhiromlighming _' ortod M! 61.1mm me “an an m3wu9~ that part of South Africa, at certain sea- sons, thunder stems are of constant occurrence. Sometimes there will be four or five in a day, each separate and distinct from the others. and frequently they are of great violence. The de- struction of life and property efi'ccted by the lightning early demanded some preventive action; and this was taken by providing the houses of the colonists with metallic conductors of the most approved pattern. Since this was done accidents from lightning, which former- ly often occurred there, are stated to have been unlgoown in the capital. It seems plain enough, then, that country houses and barns should be pro- tected by lightning rods, which, indeed, ought to be considered indispensable in districts visited, by thunder storms. The need is more obvious in the case of coun- try churches, which are usually the loitiest buildings of the neighborhood. It would be dificult to find a more dan- gerous situation indoors during a thun- der shower than a lofty-steepled village church without any lightning rod. This view has been verified by sad and fatal experience in several instances within the last few weeks. Some *churches, however, are in a worse condition than if the had no lightning rod at all. We have {nown of several in New England on which the rods had accidentally be- come disconnected from the earth by a break at a considerable distance above the ground, and were carelessly allowed to remain so for weeks at a time. A foolish and dangerous habit which some persons indulge inâ€"we are sorry to any fix" many of them are young girlsâ€"is that of sitting by an open win- dow during the prevalence of a heavy thunder shower. Displays of lightning are doubtless attractive, but they are not worth risking one’s life for; besides they are best seen at a distance, and when thunderbolts are crashing all around the neighboring fields and hedges, it is wiser to withdraw from the window or close it. The ractice we speak of is by no means pru out, even in a properly protected house; while in any other it involves very great risk. And even in cities there have been several instances within the last few years of death by lightning while sittingat open windows. Wh Is it is true that the comparative morta ity caused by lightning is very small, we are confident that it could be largely reduced by the exercise of such precautions as 'we have indicated. In regard to lightning rods, 'we know that views differ greatly as to the best mate- rial and form; but perhaps the safest course in this respect, for persons with- out soientiflc trainingnvould. be to adopt the sort used By the nearest college or other prominent institution of learning. In so doing, they would be almost cer- tain to secures good system of protec- tion, if not the bestâ€"New Yorlr Sun. Neither is it wise to take refuge under a tree uringa thunder .shower. There is no 0 ection to remaining in a wood , deed, it is much safer there than on 11 open plainâ€"if care is taken to avoi bemg near the taller trees. Someti es, however, the traveller must choose etween remaining on the open plain o seeking shelter under a sin 19 tree, nder these circumstances t 0 best a thorities seem agreed that the safest ituation 18 a spot as far from the tru_nk _ the tree is high. Some interesting statements are re- ported to have been made at a meeting of the Clinical Society, London, show- ing that a slow pulse may in no wise in- terfere with health. The most remark- able case, perhaps, was that of Hewan, as related by himself. It seems that twenty-one years ago, after rolonged study and work, his pulse ell from sevent to fifty-five, 'and he felt '96 cold; rom that time its frequency gr - ually decreased until about eleven ears later, when it was but twenty-four eats per minute. Its present are about twenty-eight. Notwithstanding this he has not suffered from fainting fits or cold, is cagahle of great physical exer- tionâ€"of w ich evidence is to be found in his ascent of a high mountainâ€"and his digestion emains unimpaired. An- other speake said that NaKoleon had a slow pulse, eing about t irt toforty per minute; nd another state the rate of a horse’s lse to be only sixteen. Dangers of Lightning. Health and Slow Pulse. By this time I was so excited I was on the point of throwing down the pqle and rushing out in the lake, intendmg to run the fish down and kick it to death. I scgeameq to Mr. Dunlan: _ “Let him rim! Koo your line taut! Don't give him an inc of slack! Look out! Don’tlet him do that again! Let him run! Now, bring him in thisâ€" Look out! Don't let him do that again 1.". “You take the pole and land him; I never can." He refused. He turned and hurled his own pole, lance fashion, into the woods. A menpher (loos Fishing. I landed 11‘ fit oggm the first 8 evening dae “3%? innetonka. I amnda {1111 hemlhn. I told the boy 3 Clint I could do 1 little lain fishing, ln' twant thabe set own lor‘any my kinfiéol flntiug embroi .kn fe- plniting, 3r anything of that kind about it. I fished from the shore, by the side of a veteran fisher Mr. A. K. Dunlap of Titusville. He knows ever fish 1n the lake by name. He can tefi by the movement 0! the line what kind of 11 fish is at your 11003 Something ran away with 111 line. “ It’s a 8piokmel l’ shoute Mr. Dun- lap, in mtense excitement. “A big fel- low. Take out your lines, ” he yelled to the rest of them. “ Give him plenty of room ! Play him I" he shrieked at me. u l’ .n‘ hum ‘onh I Van-n unne- hnn ‘nnf I “ Here 1" he shouted, rushing down the bank about twenty feet below me, stooping down and spreading out his arms. “Here! Now! Bring him in here through the sheal water! I’ll get 11311111. " Careful, now I Careful I Steady l It was along time before we said any- thing. Mr. Dunlap climbed a big birch tree, in the top of which his pole had lodged, and Ta resumed our fishing. Presenth Char ey Armkneehh ‘ooughed, And fii, flap ,1 had him on the shore. He was a enuty. A little sunfish, about. {511596 and a_ halfrgnoh‘ea long. and I said: “ How funny the frogs sound over in the marsh.” And then we laughed a long time at the frogs. Along, long time and very hey-till: Ellhey wereyegy funny hzogs. But Mr. Duhlap fished on very sllentâ€" ly, and by and b be said the fish wouldn’t bite when t ere was very much noise. So we held our hush and the fish bit. But they didn’ t bite any of us very badly. The fishing is excellent almost any- wherein the lake. That evening on the upper lake one of the boys caught nine large pick'erel. When we came to count the fish, however, it appeared that he had caught one pickerel nine times. It was a very large fish, and they are go- ing to have its skin dried whole for a spectacle-case. I caught more fish than any one else in the party, but they were all, with one exception, catfish, and I learned, to my amazement, that I had disgraced myself and the lake. Why isn't a fish a fish, I'd'like to know ?â€" Burdette, in Burlington Hawkeye. Four or five city hall oflioials were sitting on the steps on the Woodward avenue side Saturday afternoon, discus- sing politics and the weather, when a amalhsh man, seeming to be in consid- erable mental distress, approached them and inquired: " Oéitainly there is,” they replied in chorus. “ Geitlemen, is there a scientific man ““4028 1°.“ ?" _- “ And you must be familiar with the laws governing storms ?” “ We are," was the prompt answer. “ Well then,” continued the stranger, “ I wish to relate what may seem like a singular occurrence. I live on Division street, and though it began raining at midnight the other night and continued for tWenty-{our hours, not a single drop of wgter fell upon gnxgardenz” There wasn’t even room for 3 aug- gestion. The crowd were astonished and silent. After a long minute one of the gentlemen turned to the stranger and asked : “ Is that po'ssible'l’rgasped one after the other. “ It is the solemn truth, gentlemen, and I’d .‘ike to know by what law of na- ture you can account for it ? It was a long-continued, drenching storm, yet not_ one drop fell upon my garden. ’ “You must have a theory haven’t, you ?” . ‘ ‘ I have.” “ And what is it ?” “ My theory, gentlemen, is that I rent rooms'on the third floor, and had nohgardep for the nip tofu“ on_l" Five nien rose up in chorus, brushed off their coat-tails, and followed each other into the hell in Indian file.â€"-De- trait Free Press. The American threshing machines on exhibition at Paris, are splendid s eei- mens of workmanship, and they airly astonish the elegant Parisians.. The Echo Agricola, of Paris, speaks of them in the following complimentary terms: “To see these threshing machines, con- structed with perfect taste as to shape, and with richness in the materials em- ployed, true specimens of cabinet work 11 inlaying; these reapers and mowers, where all the metallic portions shine like silver, one does not im ‘ne himself in the midst of apparatus estined for work which is reputed vulgar, such as cutting the wheat or mowing the grass but in a store of enormous jewelry and among true works or art. Never, in any country, have been seen such grace and splendor. It by the magnificence of the machine we are to 'udge of the character of the workman w 0 would not be inclined to suppose the American farmer to be equally flue, walkin the earth, not in blouse and wooden s oes, as with us, but in full dress and with hands gloved." , American Machines In Paris. 1118 Garden. Juan Gousalez has been executed at Valparaiso for killing a shopkee er in his shop in broad daylight. T cash only twenty-three he had been twenty times arrested for murder, robbery and other grave crimes. Thus far there have been nearly ten thousand mines recorded in the Black Hills, and they are still being discovered at the rate 9! about one hundred a week. For the year ending May 15, 1878, it was estimated that 84,000,000 had been produced by the gulch and quartz mines. The demand for postal cards ainco they were first introduced in 1873 has increased thirty per cent. annually. Mr. Tucker, of Fond du Lao, Wis., broke his arm, and the doctors had to out out four inches of the bone, including the elbow joint, though they left the muscles and ligaments unin'ured. A clever surgeon has just fit him with an artificial elbow joint that works like a charm. Signor Oozzi of Verona claims to have discovered a powder removing all 0:- plosive power from petroleum. In the valley near Bantas, 03L. 3 field of ripe wheat containing one thousand sores was recently destro ed by fire. Three hundred farmers foug t the flames desperately with wet sucks, but nothing seemed to have any efleot until the fire reached a belt of green wheat, there it stopped. The marble quarries of Oarrara. Italy, have been worked since the reign of Augustus. They embrace an entire mountain range. 40,000 tons of marble were sent to this country from these quarries year before last. The entire working populace in Can-are finds em- ployment in them. David Freshwater, of Carthage, Mo. had a fine farm, but the crops promised to be poor, and the other do one of his hogs died. His oup was all and, seizing a hatchet, he out several fright- ful gashes on his head, then jumped into a lake too} shallow to drown him, and finally, climbing a tree, jumped to the ground to dash ,his brains out but caught in the limbs and was taken ome to recover. Unoe in a while a man is found who distrusts saving banks and safe deposit companies, and institutions that take money on investm nt; who thrusts his savings into _old okings or_ trunks, gets it out and counts it before he goes ‘9 to bed, worries about it b day and dreams about it by night. uoh a man Mr. King of Vesey street, New York, seems to be. He had thirty thousand dollars in an old satchel which he looked in a small room in the top of his house. The money was fingered over daily to see whether it was all there. When it came time to go through withfhst op. eration on 8 recs urd fight. Elie satchel was 585%)?“ amass ‘ alf‘ crawled through the 'skylight and had made 011‘ with the cash that was to make Mr. King happy in his old age. An exhibition of the written addresses presented to the German Emperor after the recent attempts on his life has been opened at the Old Palace at Berlin. Besides thousands of telegrams, there are more than two hundred addresses, the number of signatures to each ad- dress va ing between ten and ten thou- sand. any of the addresses are perfect works of art, calligraphically executed and adorned with pen and ink drawin , water-color paintings and photbgrap 5. Most of the bindings are in blue velvet, the favorite color of the emperor, with gold or silver clasps, and alto-relievos in the same metals. Of all the rincipal. political, municipal and learn corpora- tions in German are added those from the German resi ents in Vienna, Pesth, Dublin, Brussels, Antwerp, Bevel, Mos- cow, St. Petersburg, Switzerland, etc. Nearl all the addresses are in German, b_ut there are _seve_ral in Latin, _Italian, Hebrew endother languages. s".l'he~getL ting up has probably never been enr- pasaed for taste, oostliuess and art. In his interesting manual of natural histor? which is now appearing in small instalments, Scarpaneri says that the carrier pigeons of good breed, although they may be started in oompan 11nd bound for the same place, fly te in- dependently of one another. finch one selects its own course some taking a higher, others a lower flight. and speeds on its way without taking any heed of its neighbor. The birds, in fact, seem to know that they are racing, and each one exerts itself to the utmostto arrive first at the goal. In the neighborhood of every pigeon house there are always certain places, trees, etc.. which are Wlwm 1m, 01m. 0W. vuuuu ll." usually avorite resorts of the birds, but when coming in in a race the well- bred pi eon never stops for a moment at any of t ese haunts, but flies straight to its own articular House, frequently arriving t ere in so exhausted a state as to be unableto eat the food it is most fond of. Birds which are sitting. or which have lately hatched young, are enerally taken in preference to others or racing; but instances have been known in which carrier pi eons of ood breed which have been t en to a resh home, and which have hatched oun there, have deserted their b an flown away to their ori a1 home at the first opportunity they ad of escaping. The funniest punctuation mark in tho lay-fun, of course. Nextâ€"Whitehall Times. The ueereat punctuation mark is the ri- d, to be sure. Next.â€" Romc ntinel. No, thank you. we are not so bold as-ter-riak making another. -â€"N. Y. Mail. ’ TIMELY TOPICB. Garner Pigeons.