McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 10 Jun 1885, p. 6

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.tttttrM* Publisher. ILLINOIS .L ' •TARE dMr8 C»I'ELTT. of the trollised house, _:e to discover .'•who wfliiW rot hurt ft mon» so your lover. -- your coffee to the cnt,> ">ke ' he . og for H >ur face arrows kinder** ' e brownbie's hummiftf- ; when he haunts yo.ir door--the town --Mitt coin inland murirs jroinff-- » ¥%)« teem to have sti che<l j-our ££§|>a890Wn, • lb that tons pieoe of aewinfr. m * I'M IOUK, I1UI .W T, / v > - lim a ' Good morniiM> Tou never g've a look, not yo j, j Kor drop nim a ' Good morniii To keep his Ions day warm and blue, Kor drop Po keep bit 60 fretted by your scorning. 'i.i flit 6bc shook her head "t he mouse and bBt- CFor crumb and tlower wiU Jinfptf 4v The dog- is hnppy at my fcnoo, " 4 The cat purrs at my linger, v i' "But ho--to him, the leastjthins g*vcn $ Moans arcal tb njrs at ad stnnoe; . Be wants my world, mv sun, my heaven;,. Soul, body, whole existence. j.,vr#-! 'I *%nlrss he piv: s me all in change, "•»-{' . I i'orteit ail things by him; •* •» v J , *Jtie kiss is terr liio ai d strange;' \0 1 71 tremble, doubt, deny him. Wh VHe'8 swertost friend, or hardest fos, ,, { *' Best angel, or worst devil; ,..- / it I either hate or love him so \ ' I can't be uere^ civii. vj **Tou trust a woman who puts foV& > ! Ber blossoms thick as summer'?; You think she dreams what love is worilM jfhocasts.t to newcomers. j -•Such love's n cowslip--ball to ftf ' A moment's pretty pastime; I give--ml me, if anythingr, 1> yhe first time and the lust tim<i„ "Hear neighbor of the trellise i hooso, ?•9 A man should nrirnuir nover, f ;. Though trente 1 jsorse than dog or mouse, ttlild .Ued 011 forever. .-,;••<•••• -^Elizabeth. JIarrett Browning. J7- : i«w#:" % t. 'P LUNY LEN, ' Mfe railroad station kno^ii ^wOleti Cove is one of the dreariest this side of that final abode said to be extremely sultry, where all presidents, directors, and other railway officials, more es­ pecially ticket agents, fetch np aaid finish their infernal labors. Were it not so hard on Mugby Junction, I should say Glen Cove was the Mug- by Junction of America. Indigestion is kept there, like field ammunition in the quartermaster's department, to serve out at a moment's notice to hun­ gry and insane passengers, and it is safe, for the trains carry away the «ufferers to die in other localities. One hot, sunny day in midsummer I found myself anticipating the punish­ ments due for sins and shortcomings in this world by waiting for an eastern- bound train long overdue, as if the trains, like thp passengers, disliked ap­ proaching the depot at which I suf­ fered. A surly telegrapher, also ticket agent, » who shot insults and tickets through a hole at people, told me aftet an hour's cross-examination that was very crbss, that my train had brought up in a corn field, and I could not possibly get away »>y rail before midnight. Now, what to do with myself from the noon of this information to the noon of night was a question that sorely per- ; plexed me. I had no books, no papers, j|0 anything to relieve the dull monoto­ ny of that awful time. I wandered listlessly about the dirty ' frame and platform. Both were hot enough to roast potatoes in the shade. I gazed on--nay, I studied all the col­ ored bills, giving picturesque views of various towns, and telling in assorted type the advantages each had over the •other--the only bit of amusement I had, and it was very mild. I found in Sessing at the missing letters of a 1 which read"Rough line to Chicago" some scamp had cut out the initial "th" •hen the bill had originally read, •Through line to Chicago." While upon the platform gazing at ' *b accomodation train just in. that was •Waiting its conductor leisurly getting •orders from the telegrapher, I was at­ tracted by a noisy crowd of men and hoys, gathered about a young fellow whose face indicated the idiotic condi­ tion that originated their entertain- He was a > tall, broad shouldered, well-formed yonth, and well dressed for ' one in his condition. But he had his •dfotbes half-buttoned, in the loose, zeckless manner of one of his class, wfliile his face, without its intellectual O£tlookt,was regular in feature, and ofee could see, had there been a brain Ipck of it, would have been eminently handsome. As anxiety and care had ceased writing its record of age upon his face, it was difficult to tell his age. tie had the form of a man and the face , el a child. "It's the opinion of this crowd, Len." •aid the blackatnith to the idiot, "that you can beatythat locomotive in a race from here to the tunnel, and we have fcet $10,000 on it" t- The poor fellow's dead face lit up .f*rith an expression of delight, so pita- hie that it would have disarmed any . other crowd than the one engaged in chaffing him. He gazed wistfully at * the huge locomotive that stood hissing in the hot sun as if wrathful at the de­ lay, arid then he turned to the cruel crowd as if the suggestion was slowly Working: fts way through his poor crip- i: .Jpled brain. b if'n* "Go in Len," cried one of the crowd, ' S#*we've got our money on you, and »|fou're bound to win." "We'll give you fifty yards the start. "Sou keep on the track," cried the t ̂ lacksmith, "and the thing can't pass ^ - 1 I could scarcely believe these scoun- idrels were in earnest, when the surly engineer gave the last bang to his t noisy bell, exploded a short snort from the locomotive in the way of warning, iind to my astonishment I saw the idiot throwing off his coat, start down Jlhe track ahead of the train. Fortun- 4 ths engineer caught sight of the ,g|)oor fellow, and checking the speed ; the locomotive, began ringing him & rthe track. This was responded to the idiot bawling out with great "Come on with your old tea- fcettle," and the brutal crowd cheered, jfcnd roared with laughter. The crowd, keeping along with the ^^eered lustily, and the lunatic spotted' as they say in a boat race-- ^toM^ shot ahead and exhibited con- maeOrble power as a racer by the speed with iwhich he got over the ground. The engineer, infuriated at the delay, 4: "n, put on speed and rattled after. But he "Was uj>on a down grade, and fearful of overtaking the unfortunate, he almost immediately put on the brakes and **)heclted up again. & ! By-this time heads were thrust out I windows and the platforms crowded py^paasengera whose excitement became » *nd intense as they discovered ^ was a human being instead of a yf J9w that impeded their progress. As ®r idiot, he paused only long anoqgn to indulge in a jeering laugh thandet'ent The crowd of brutal toafers that ex- hibited more industry in accompanying the race on this. oocMton than they had probably manifea^td in making an hon­ est living for a year previous, went tearing along eaoh side of the locomo­ tive, laughing, shouting, cheering on the idiot, while hurling all sorts of ex­ asperating epithets at the engineer,who by this time, was nearly blind with ratre. At this moment the conductor made his appearance, and crawling out upon the tender, began throwing lumps of coal at the boy. as the engineer, put­ ting on steam, drew near the poor fel­ low. Fortunatelv the conductor's aims were not well taken, for had the young man been knocked down the locomotive would have undoubtedly run over him. From this the rough autocrat of the train desisted, for the idiot's backers, with an American sense of fair play that animates even the roughest of our brutes, began pelting the conductor with stones, each pebble sent with the accuracy of a rillesliot at that part of his animal economy where the legs end and the body begins. Ho retreated hurriedly to the engine house, where he rubbed his person in n comical way with one hand while with the other he assuaged his rath by a furious ringing of the bell. The engineer seconded his efforts by letting off short shrieks and keeping the locomotive frightfully clo$e upon the heels of the wretched youth. Having bepfUtr life with a strange dis­ position to take upon mvsplf the ills of- others, and finding such practice ex­ tremely unpleasant and useless, I have gradually trained myself into the other extreme, and generally bear the Mis­ fortunes of my friends with a philo­ sophical indifference that is very com­ posing. On this occasion, however, I forgot my cynicism and found myself running under that bx-oiling sun, shak­ ing my fist, with my heart in my mouth, at the conductor, and demanding in the most authoritative manner that he stop the train. From the depot to the tunnel was about half a mile; to accomplish this distance the train and idiot occupied some 20 minutes. The passengers, crowded at windows and on the plat­ forms, took as lively an interest in the affair as the entire population of Glen Cove that accompanied the train and backed the idiot. It was a gedsend to the passengers, and they expressed their satisfaction by the liveliest betting and cheers, first for the locomotive and then for its strange competitor. It was neck and neck between life and the locomotive. A false step, a stumble, and the huge mass of roaring, throbbing iron would have gone crush­ ing over the frail body of the man, who so strangely impeded its progress. And such result was imminent; for the poor fellow, exhausted by excitement and over-exertion, staggered at times, and at times reeled as if about to fall, in a wav to make me shudder. That such would probably have been the result became painfully apparent, when an abrupt and somewhat unex­ pected termination was put to the cruel sport. The man stationed at the mouth of the tunnel and employed to keep its murky depths clear of obstructions, suddenly seized the youth, at the risk of his own life, and threw him with some violence to one side. Such was the effof t that both rolled over, and the huge locomotive, giving a shrill scream of triumph, dived into the tunnel, fol­ lowed by the long train, that disap­ peared as if the earth had opened and swallowed it. I sat down at the mouth of the sub­ terranean excavation quite exhausted as the crowd dispersed, and from the mouth of the dark entrance was pleased to find a cool damp air that came out in puffs, as if a dragon were coiled up within and panted out its cold, clammy breath. I asked the old watchman a series of idle questions, of a statistical sort, such as a man under the circum­ stances always indulges in. He grunted out the exact length of the tunnel, the time required to construct it, the acci­ dents that occurred within his remem­ brance, and altogether, in response to my leading questions, exhibited a good deal of information on tunnels. For a man to know one thing well is a power. It is better, however, to believe yoti know some one thing and impart the information to your friends. It is a bore at best and just as well when it takes the shape of a tunneL Having exausted tl)e hole in the ground--and really, come to think of it, there was nothing in it--I spoke of the late race. "Crazy jackass P' quoth the senten­ tious guardian of the excavation; he'll git killed yet, and sooner the better for all consarned." Why, do they often put him np to that?" No, not frequent. They do it on that train sometimes, for they hate the conductor. Onct, long ago. it wasn't needed. He used to run ahead of every train, clear through the tunnel, a warn- in' people off. They switched that out uv him. Now the ornary cusses> puts him up to it" "Queer sort of insanity." "Isn't it ? and he was onct a laright feller^--a rale schollard. "Indeed?" - "Yes, was onct, but left his senses in this tunneL" '"Why, how was that T' "Well, you see, he's the son of old Judge Conrad, of these parts--only child, at that--and was sent to college, and no end of trouble taken and money spent to finish and furnish up his in­ tellects. When he come lion»« to study law, what does he do but take after a little girl named Mary Grubbs, da'ter of the cooper, an' she was poor as a pig an' purty as a painted wagon. Well; I guess she was about tta hand­ somest critter in this part of the vine­ yard. Len Conrad was struck, I tell you, after. Polly, as we called her, an' I don't wonder; for her hair was as soft and light as silk on early corn, an' she had the handsomest teeth, an' the big­ gest, wondorfullest dark eyes, an' an angeliferous skin. But neither she nor her old cooperin' dad had a cent, no the Conrads, bein' toploftical mahogany high parties, just shut down on he*." "The old, old Btory." "I don't know ef its so old. Per'aps you've heerd it afore, an' I can save my wind." "I mean that the course of true love never does run smooth." "Oh! that's it, is it?" ' "No offense, old man. But proceed with your yarn and tell me how Len Conrad left his senses in the tunnel." "That's what I was a comin' to when you put in your chin music. When Len found the family wasforninst the court- in' he took to meetin' her unbe­ knownst. That was found out, and then it was decreed that Len should be sent to Yourope. The evenin' upon Len's departure he meets his girl, av course, an' they meandered n&terly a little too late, an' undertook; to make a short out to the eooper house through Sh« HW * Ms jSMtec* a weepin, an' he looked as if he'd lost his mother-in-law," "Mother-in-law!" "That's a little joke o* mine, mister. I mean he looked like a canned funeral. I warned 'em not to try the tunnel, for it was close on to the time for the lightning express. But they didn't heed or hear me--jes' kept on in. Af­ ter they had left I got that oneasy I iook my lanter an' inn arter 'em. Jes5 as i come m sight the infernal tlung came a roarin' past Glen Cove--it don't stopped there--an' I heard the whistle as the death on wheels plunged into the tunneL I jammed the wall, I tell yez. I could see Len push his girl agin the same so the train might pass and not touch, an' like a flash I saw her tear away. Now. whether she was scart and didn't know what she was about, or wanted to kill herself, can't bo known, but she shot right in front ov that train.* I saw the headlight shine like a flash ov lightning on a white, frightened face as I crowded back against the wall, an' then with a roar like thunder, an' the whole thing seemed wiped out as if a spongo had sorter sponged us out. I heard the train's thunder rfort of speed as it left the tunnel, as if sonndin' the murder over the land, an' I stood there in a sort ov a daze lisnin' to that roar die out in the distance. When I come round, which I^did in a miiiit, I ran on. I stumbled over poor Len, lyin' as if dead, an' then I run up and down at least twic^ before I saw a heap that looked like a bundle of rags soaked in blood, an' will you believe, the bundle moved. It was only a quiver, an' all was stilL She didn't make a lovely corpse when we got it together. Some people sickened an' fainted when they saw it." "And Len 2" "We carted him home. The doctors could not find any bones broken, cuts, or hurt inside or out, but he lay sorter stoopid six weeks and then got up an' has been looney ever since." "Poor fellow." "Should think so. Queerest thing about the poor chap was that he took to ruunin' ahead uv trains, goin' through the tunnel a-warnin' people off. He sorter got that hammered out uv him." "The old folks learned a lesson, eh?" "Not much; can't teach sich old stoopids much. They do say the old Jedge has soften in' uv the brain, but I don't believe he had any to soiton."-- Donn Piatt. Blistered Ears and Seasickness; The semi-circular canals of the in­ ternal ears are nowadays* pretty well understood not to be organs of hearing but of equilibrium. The sensation they normally give us is that of change of direction and speed ia the move­ ments of our head through space. WThen over-excited tliey gave rise to vertigo and nausea. A large percent­ age of deaf mutes, in whom the canals are presumably thrown out of func­ tion, are insusceptibly of being made dizzy. Of a considerable number of such deaf mutes who had been exposed to seasickness, none, with the excep­ tion of two doleful cases, had over suf­ fered. All these facts lead to the hypoth­ esis that seasickness may arise, in the first instance, from the over-excitement of these sensitive organs, and, finally, they lead to the practical suggestion that such over-excitement might be warded off or allayed by "counter ir­ ritation" which consists in blistering or otherwise reddening the skin above and behind the ears. The experiment is so Simple, and would be, if successful, so pregnant of relief that it seems a shame it should not be tested by a large number of persons. I have tried it myself twice. The first time was on the British Channel, on a very rough day, when every one around me was violently sick. I simply rubbed the skin behind my ears till it was slightly excoriated. An incipient nausea, which I felt at the end of the first half hour, completely vanished as the sensation of cutaneous burning became strong. In crossing the Atlantic I was less suc­ cessful but my seasickness was rather anomalous, its principal symptoms be­ ing a high fever and no nausea, and I do not consider the failure to be a re­ futation of the method. It may be tnat the latter will serve for short ex­ posures, like channel voyages, but not for long ones. At any rate the scien­ tific presumption in favor ot its utility is certainly large enough to warrant experimentation by any one who dreads the direst of all forms of misery.--Dr. William Jones, Cambridge, Mass. The Fan and the Flea. Thotwo most beautiful fans ever seen are one of lace that belonged to Mme. de Pompadour, now in the possession of Mme. A. Jubinal, and one of ivory, presented by the City of Dieppe to the unfortunate Marie Antoinette on the birth of her son, the Dauphin, in May, 1785. * The former, probably of Italian origin, is made of the finest embroid­ ered lace; it took nine years to finish it, and the cost was about $30,000. A row of miniatures almost indistinguish­ able to the naked eye, but of infinite precision and finish, forms its border, it is divided into five sections, each one decorated with a painted medallion, and all fine masterpieces of miniature painting. The central medallion was (suggested by a historical anecdote known by the designation of the "The Flea of Miss Desroches." In 1571), Etienne P&squier was one evening at the saloon of the Misses Desroches, who gathered around them the greatest literateurs and wits of their time. Per­ ceiving a flea on Miss Desroches' shoulder, Pasquier cried that he would give anything to be that flea, and that I10 would willingly celebrate it in a poem. The suggestion * was enthusias­ tically received by the company; every one offered to join in singing the praises of the "happy insect," and the result was that a volume of poems in Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and Spanish were soon published under the title, "The Flea of Miss Desroches." Ac­ cording to LaMonnoye, the best of all these poems was written by the young lady herself.--Horological Review. Enough to Begin With. Wilson C andless, one of the most pov­ erty-stricken young men of Galveston, applied to Col. iiichley for the hand of lfis daughter. In the first place I've sent in my ap plication to President Cleveland ̂ pr a position in one of the departments. "Have you any other resources?" asked the prospective father-in-law. "You bet I have. I'm seriously think ing about giving up smoking." "Pa!" exclaimed the young lady, "that's enough for us to begin witn, ain't it?"--Texas Siftivgs. The Musical (jirl of Dubuque. Dubuque Conservatory girls carry their noon lunch in a music ralL It must symphony to see them at their r*iJ Som^.lfciMarkablo Steep "Visions. Mr. Chfttl# H. Man tell, ot San Fran­ cisco, writelffo me of a most singular circumstance, the like ot which, I think, I have no other instance. He says: "Up to the. night of September 4, 1884, I never had# gray hair in my head. On that night I dreamed that I was walking on the English-Neighborhood Bridge, not far from which I lived when & boy. Tin* bridge, is one of the old- lasiuuiiovi ucsiiu ikiiiUi aiiCi niwuiii ten miles of New York. It is really not more than twenty feet above the creek, according to my memory, but in my dream it looked a thousand feet down to the water. I was in about the center of it when I heard what I knew to be the express train coming. There was no hope for me but to let myself down and hold on to the ties, letting the train pass over my head, but the train seemed to take an age to come. My hold weakened and my brain grew dizzy. I tried to climb back, but could not. I know it was only a question of a few moments when I should be obliged to let go, and just then the train thun­ dered on the bridge. The last that I remembered was when it was over my head, and I let go and lost conscious­ ness, as I went down--down--down-- and woke up gasping for breath and obliged to get out of bed to keep my­ self from smothering. In the morning, after sitting up the rest of the night when I stood before the class 1 found that my hair was gray, having turned from an absolute brown --I am only 30 --not a mere sprinkling of gray, but a positive gray, and has remained so ever since." It is the first instance in which I have ever known a dream to carry sufficient terror with it to affect the hair, though cases of its doing so in real life are well-known. Byron says in "The Prisoner of Chillion His hair is blanched, but not w'i;h years. Nor {new it white in a si: g!e night, As moi/s have dons Ircm sudden tears. There is no class of individuals who aro more prone tp pay attention to and taalk of dreams than gamblers. They want to dream and interpret accord­ ing to certain rules. Especially so were those of the olden time, who circulated through the West, or lived on the Mis­ sissippi They believed in no gems but diamonds, and would not wear any other, especially an opal. If they dreamed of * diamonds they played heavy that day, but if of an opal no in­ ducement could get them to make a venture. If a gaYnbler dreams of a dead friend, the following evening no matter how lucky he may be going on, he will rise from his game exactly at midnight, walk about a little, take a little light lunch, perhaps a drink, and not sit down again for a quarter of an hour at least. This is an invariable thing whether they -will admit it or not. A Mr. Herbert Marsh, of New York, ^tells us a strange story of a dream which we believe, and yet if it was a means of conveying certain information to him I cannot see why such means were taken. On the lGth of August of last year he dreamed that with diffi­ culty he was pushing his way through dense crowds, when a man whose faee he had never seen before came up to him and said: "I wish you would call at my house, I have some information for you that you will be glad to have," and then the man vanished in the crowd. When Mr. Marsh awoke he had a most vivid recollection of the man's face and dress, but he could not define what the crowd was or anything in connection with him, nor was it a face he had ever before seen. On the 23d of August he was going to Coney Island, and had forgotten all about his dream, but as he was pushing through it the man unmistakably of this dream came beside him. Mr. Marsh was startled, and kept sight of him until they got out of the crowd when Mr. Marsh spoke to him and related his dream. The gentleman laughed, said it was strange, but he could not see any bearing it could have upon him, as he was an entire stranger in New York, being a native of Manchester, England, and had just arrived from Lima, South America, where he had resided for years. The rencounter, however, led to conversation, when the stranger said: "My name is George Carliart. Will you give me yours?" Mr. Marsh did so, and Mr. Carhart exclaimed: Good God! can it be possible that you are the brother of William Vogler Marsh, whom 1 have been looking for ?" An explanation was brought about. Mr. Marsh had a younger brother of that name, whom he had lost all trace of for ten years, and this brother had wandered to Lima and there became the intimate friend of Mr. Carhart. William had died on the previous Jan­ uary, leaving a small property, and Carhart, expecting every day to go home by way of New York, had prom­ ised to find his brother Herbert, and give him the necessary information to take possession of what he had left. Mr. Marsh has just returned from Lima, Mr. Carhart having put him in possession of his brother's will, after recovering there about $30,000.--New York Graphic. A Finnish Wedding of Olden Times. On the Sunday morning the invited guests assembled at the sexton's house (which was generally near the church), and when the morning psalm was be­ ing sung the procession set out. First of all walked the fiddlers playing a fes­ tal march; then a swarm of children, young ralatives of the bridal pair; next the two bridemaids, then the bridal couple, and immediately after them the bride-dresser. Then followed the two groomsmen and the rest of the crowd --men first, women next, arranged by the groomsmen in certain order. The procession was so timed that they reached the church just as the psalm ended, and if they came a little too early they all waited in the porch until the proper time. So soon as the sing­ ing ceased, the wedding party entered the church, and walked up the center aisle,the fiddlers meantime playing right joyfully, till they came to the altar, when they turned aside, and stood play­ ing whilst the whole party was arrayed in order beforo the clergyman, who stood waiting for them. The wedding ceremony was then celebrated accord­ ing to the old Swedish rites. The wed­ ding breakfast was generally laid on three tables set in the form of a horse­ shoe. The bridal couble sat in the placd of honor--that is. in the middle of the center table. Next to the bride sat the bride-dresser, then the bride- maids and the rest of the women. Next to the bridegroom sat the clergy­ man, and then the groomsmen and the men guests. The groomsmen acted as masters of the eeremouies, and saw that eich one sat in his or her ap­ pointed place. Each guest brought knife, fork, and spoon, to the feast. The meal over, dancing began, when polka, waltz, minuet, and country dances of all kinds followed in rapid succession. Toward the end of the feast the bride was obliged to dance •with each one of the girls, who atctod m dies. Next thi with all the men, turn holding their ligfitsd candies. Then the bride danced with the mar­ ried women, and the married men held the lights, and then the bridegroom danced with the married men, the mar­ ried women holding the candles. After the dance was over the guest who lived' near went home, while those who lived at a distance staid all night, Next day u j T ' o i l a a b c t u u i c u u u t ' O U i v i O to breakfast The bride Was then dressed as a married woman, in a cap bound with black. After breakfast the old folks chatted over things old and new, whilst the young folks amused themselves with ring-dances, etc.,which, if the weather was fine, were held in the open air. This went on till sup­ per-time. After supper muoh of the time was spent in singing. Italsing Tfroiit. Now that fish culture as a calling has been fully developed it is being better understood. "That there is as much money to be made in an acre ot water as of land" has been found 999 in-1,000 to be false. When reports having to do with fish culture are read the state­ ment is often found "that millions of egVs have been hatched out and that millions of young fish have been turned into Streams." These figures are per­ fectly) reliable, but as to whether the imall trout or the small shad ever become an adult fish, affords no good ground for speculation. No one can tell what is the percent­ age of the young fish which are de­ stroyed. Natural disease takes off a great manv cf these fish in their early days and their enemies are numerous. Of a million of eggs which hatch out, as in trout, it would not be save to say that over 10 per cent, grow to be fish a year old. Fisli culturists who pro­ duce the young fish, rarely have the opportunity of following the fish through from the time it leaves the shell until it arrives at maturity. A thorough study of the trout has been made, however, bv the South Side sportsmen's club. Taking the fish from the very beginning, when the eggs are found in the hatching tray, the history of the individual closes when he is caught. The absolute record kept then between the ideal and the actual shows that with a great deal of care and judgment and under favorable con­ ditions, where the water is good and means of feeding the fish cheap, trout can be raised to advantage. Tho profits are not large, but they still exist. But the raising of trout for the stall save fcr ornamental purposes had better not be undertaken. Though we may be indebted to trout for having presented us as it were with the primer of fish culture, the raising of these fish had better be left in private hands, and the means of the fish commission devoted solely, for the present at least, to shad culture. Trout culture was commenced by the South Side spor'men'sclubdt Oakdale, Long Island, in 1876. Last year some 6,000 fish were taken with the fly, and every season as much as 1,200 pounds more of fish has been sold. The de­ mand existing for about 7,000 trout of two years old, to produce this number of fish some 700,000 young fish are in­ troduced into the streams. The greatest achievement, however, of the club,has been in the rearing of the rainbow trout. Five years ago, through Prof. Spencer F.fJaird, of the United States fish commission, some 400 eggs of the rainbow trout coming from the McCloud river in California were sent to Oakland. They were hatched out in April and placed with the ordinary trout in a small preserve. Little attention was at first paid to these fish. In about eighteen months their handsome appearance and vigor caused some curiosity, and it wa3 thought worth while to separate them from the ordinary trout. Of the 400 eggs 130 strong, lusty fish were found, which was thought to be a remarkable yield from the number of eggs. Some of these fish are still in the preserves, and will weigh five pounds. It often happens that animals and plants gain an increase of vigor and strength by transplantation, and this seems to be the case with the rainbow trout. Be­ tween the rainbow trout and the ordi­ nary trout the difference in growth is not remarkable until the fish are eigh­ teen months old; after that the rain­ bow trout inereases very rapidly in size, aud will weigh twice as much as the brook trout if not more.--New York Tribune. An Anecdote of tiurfleld. A year before his election, Gen. Gar­ field could have been seen sauntering along Pennsylvania avenue, laughing, talking, nodding his head to this ac­ quaintance aud to that, without any obstruction to his progress in the shape of a sidewalk reception. Those who did not know him personally were familiar with his face and name. The ladies had heard his eloquence in the House--the street urchins had seen him at the base-ball grounds, shouting, witlfthe eagerness of a boy, his pleas­ ure or dissatisfaction as the game pro­ gressed. While a member of the House lie often took occasion to run out into the suburbs of the city to witness this exciting sport. I remember one after­ noon when he reached the stand erected on the grounds a lew minutes after I did. I was leaning against the front rail of the platform, and, clapping me on the shoulder, he asked, "Who's ahead?" I gave him the information, and he thereupon became so interested in the game that he seemed unaware that his heavy weight upon my little body was, to say the least, inconven­ ient. He was constantly exclaiming: "Good catch!" "Fine hit!" "Oh! what a muff!"" and other well-known extracts from base-ball language, and he soon grew so excited as to make me feel the effects. I thought it wise to move to a place of safety, and I finally succeeded in edging away through the crowd.-- Edmund Alton, m tit Nicholas. How Webster Stopped a Leak. The Cabinet meetings are, you-itnow, always secret. Just off the Cabinet room is tho library, and when Webster was Secretary of State it was noticed that the Cabinet meetings were reported in full in certain of the newspapers. Various means were undertaken to find out who was the leaky member of the Cabinet, but each denied that he had told anything to anyone. One day Webster excuscd himself and went out into the library while tho others were talking as usual. He found he could hear every word uttered within. He came back and said he thought the secret must have gotton out through a correspondent listening in the library. After this the library was looked dur­ ing the Cabinet session, and the re­ ports immediately ceased.--"Carp," in the Cleveland Leader. AT an inn in the country the landlord has a sign posted up outside the door, "GoodCeer for sale h*c«, bfUt take my word for it." rT* ~ . Sfc ertttgllppa ofTlirlftyvUle for aylldbiter. Thriftyville want® a minister. They are looking far and near to find one; but they want tho "right man." Thrif­ ty ville is not one of your old, effete, worn-out places. It ia a place grown up quickly on Ilapid river, in the beau­ tiful valley of Eureka. It is a very im­ portant place--standing directly over the center of the parth. no that jf a hole it would pass through the very center of this great world. It has a growing population, and boasts of "a circle of very intelligent people." Moreover, it seems to be "the center of a great moral influence," and it now wants a min» ister second to none. They want to get the society out of debt, to repair the old wastes which time has already made in their half-built sanctuarv, to gather in the young, to "draw" a full house, and to make,the concern every way prosperous and respectable, and easy to support. Now for the qualifications desired. They are so few and simple that "the right man" probably stands at your el­ bow. He must be a man mature in intel­ lect and ripe in experience--and yet so young that all the people will rush after him. He must be quick, ardent, flashing, nervous in temperament, so that he can kindle quickly, *md burn brightly; prompt, ready, and wjde-awake--and yet a man of the most consumate pru­ dence, whose nerves will never be un­ strung, or out of tune. He must be' a man of great burning zeal, so that he can startle, and aronse, and kindle, and move the congregation and yet so cautious, so cool, that he is always safe, calm, self-possessed, unper­ turbed. He must have the power to awaken and arouse the church--and yet let them be quiet and look on, while he does all that is done for Christ. He must urge and move men, and lead the whole people to salvation, and get them all into the church--and- yet be so judicious that he can discern the difference between the wheat and the chaff, and let none but the real converts into the fold. He must be strong and original in the pulpit, and bring only beaten oil there--and yet visit daily from house to house, listening to gossip, twaddle, and scandal; and also be at leisure to re­ ceive any call, any interruption, and prepared for every occasion; and like the town pump, neVer lacking for water, or running dry. He must be a workman wlio shall go down deep into the mines of truth, and quarry out its pillars and set them up, and make men come and wrestle around them--and also be a gifted man in liglit conversation, on all that floats in the every-dav world around him. He must have health, so that his body never wearies; his nerves must never quiver; a real specimen of mus­ cular Christianity--and yet be a pro­ found thinker, a close reasoner. and a most diligent student, getting his books from any quarter where he can lind them. He must be poor in this world's goods, to show that money is not his object, and so that he can sympathize with the poor, and cannot help feeling humble and dependent--and must also entertain more company than any oth­ er man in the town; his children must be second to none in education and training; they must be respectably dressed; and he must give away more, and give more cheerfully than any oth­ er man in the place, not even excepting Squue Eich himself; and his family must be models, in all respects, for the community. He must be a man who can remain in one place year after year; and his con­ gregation must hear the same voice, on the same subject, several times each week--and yet he must come every time as original, as fresh, as glowing as if it were done but once a year. He must be able to live in a glass house, always acting in public, coming in contact with all sorts of men and of prejudices, so original that all will respect and fear him--yet never odd or eccentric, morose, repulsive or awe-in­ spiring in manners. f ' He should have the powers and at­ tributes of an angel, with the sympa­ thies, the gentleness, and softness of a child. He must be always ready, lofty, keyed to the best public pitch, and yet so calm in spirit, and word, and look, that nothing can disturb his repose. He must be able to serve three mas­ ters, at least--the Lord, the church, and the society or parish of worldlings who hire him; and he must so balance things that he will please all and offsnd none. He must never preach so that the people are not proud of him when they have a stranger in the pew, or so that the echoesof his sermon shall not come back when he goes abroad--and yet every sermon must be so beautiful that all the young people will admire it, and wonder over it, and so simple that the little child can carry it all home and repeat it to his grandmother. His wife must be the model of all models. She must be young and hand­ some, but not indiscrete or vain. She must be worthy of the admiration of all the people, and yet think she is the humblest of them all. She must watch, and discipline, and prune, and lead, and make her husband the embodiment of all excellence; but she must never be aware of her power, lest she become overbearing. She must be the model of a lady, have a fair face and white hands, though compelled to do all the work of her family. She must be ready to meet everybody with a smile, take her hands from tho flour at any mo­ ment, wear a checkered apron, and still be dressed like a lady. Her face must never be otherwise than cheerful, and her head must do its achings in secret; and she must give none occasion to call her oxtravagant, or to call her mean. She must be able to alter the same dress four times, turning it thrice, and fitting it to a smaller child each time. She will also be expected to be the very life of the Dorcas Society, the most zealous member of the All-labor Society, the very backbone of the Ma­ ternal Association, the warm leader in the female prayer meeting, and the head and mover in the reading circle, and the visitor-general of the poor. The minister mttst, of course, be of sound doctrine, able to lay his hands on the naked foundations of truth, to fortify and defend the hill of Zion-- and yet must never preach the old fash­ ioned doctrines. They aro not spicy. They are not taking. They will never "draw" a full house. It is rather desirable that he should be a pious man, and one who loves his Master--and yet, as this article, piety, has not acquired great value in Thrifty- ville, it would be well for him not to make that too obtrusive. Such, in a few words, is the man they want for Thriftyvillfe If they can light on him they will ]pay him from £80 to £100 that the mmister. if he _ _ man," can manage to live on it is ready? N. B.--All applicants must put extra stamp in the letter, or it will ceiveno attention. ̂ ̂ Murder of the Princes in the Tower. King Richard III. began his reign M the yaux 1-183, b.v tho blackost of hip' many wiefcea deeds, the order for the murder of his young nephews. The* eldest of these, a lad in his 13th year, had succeeded to the English crown a few weeks previous to the death of his father, Edward IV. The youth had been removed to the Tower of London under the pretense, on the part of his crafty and cruel uncle, that he would be safer there than anywhere else, and his younger brother had al-io been sent there to keep the young King company. This was in May, 1483. By the end of June, Eichard had manipulated affairs so successfully in his own interest as to secure a formal offer of the regal power. June 27, 1483, he was crowned at Westminster HalL A few days after his coronation, he went to Warwick and thence sent a letter to Sir Iiobert Brackenbury, Governor of the Tower, ordering him by Borne means to put the young princes to death. Sir Robert returned answer immediately, that be would not do such a wicked deed for the King or any man. King Richard then intrusted the horrible task to his master of tho Horse, Sir James Tyrrel, giving him authority to take charge of the Tower whenever he would for twenty-four hours, and hold sole pos­ session of the keys during that space of time. Tyrrel took as his assistants two base men, John Dighton and Miles Forest, and going to the Tower one day in August showed his authority from the King and took temporary possess­ ion. That night he stood guard at the door while Dighton and Forest entered the room where tho young princes werfe asleep and smothered them with the pillows of their bed, and buried their bodies under a staircase. Sir Robert Brackenbury suspected foul play when he returned and found the princes gone, but he dared not charge tiro King's official with the deed. A storv was trumped up of their having beffli carried away by some nobles known to be hostile to King Eichard, and the truth was not known until some years later, when one of the murderers, on his deathbed, confessed the crime. It was so far doubted, however, that wheh Perkin Warbeck, a young man of Flem­ ish birth, appeared in England in 1493, claiming to be theyounger Prince BicU- ard, ho obtained a large following. In 1074, Jong after the death of the impok-; tor, the commonly received story of the death of the two princes,was fully con* firmed by tho discovery under the staif* case in the White Tower, of the bone* of two youths. Those were taken to Westminster Abbey and there interred' by order of Charles II.--Inter Ocean^ The Persian King at Breakfast. The king of Persia is very careful eg";: his health, and his French physician! ' Dr. Tholozan, is ever within call, SO that the unfortunate doctor is as great a gadabout as his master. His majesty enjoys very fair health, a slight jwraly* sis having as yet been his only ailment, His habits of life are simple, his did! plain roasts and boiled. The King II an early riser, 4 or 5 a. m. being his usu­ al time in summer. This gives him a long day, but he breaks it by a siesta. It is the royal habit when tired to be shampooed by his attendants, and it is thought no indignity for a high official to be told to assist in the kneading pro­ cess. Shampooing is a real art, and is. carried out to scientific perfection by some of his majesty's more confidential servants. The chief barber is a man high in office. At 12 o'clock the royal breakfast II served. It is a solitary meal. The king is squatting on the ground; some fifty dishes are set before him. Hi? majesty selects the simplest, and quenches his thirst with buttermilk ox iced sherbets, which are served in de­ licious profusion in magnificent china bowls. Dead silence is observed by the few favored courtiers who staod around the walls of the apartments. The royal butlers silently hand the various dishes. As the King eats ha addresses those whom he may deign to honor with his notice, and these foi*" tunate ones bow low, and answer ih humble affirmatives, "May I be you* sacrifice, asylum of the universe. So it is said." " "It happened exactly as your majesty ordained," and so on. The same kind of language is used by the royal princes in addressing thefif father ̂and they would not presume to attempt to sit in the royal presence? but as in Persia no son would sit in his father's presence unless ordered to do so, this is more due to filial respect than the awe of majesty. _ - The King rinses his mouth and wipqfl his hands over a golden bowl, and thfl$i ho rises find the meal is served to the princes. On leaving them it goes to the courtiers, and lastly the r^val fair- rashes pick the bones and literally lick tho dishes clean. The royal dinner, served at 9 p. m., is a repetition of the, breakfast; generally it is enlivened by the playing of the brass bands, or bfr the music of the native musicians at­ tached to the court.--London World. t Announcing Engagements. When a couple are engaged there is seldom any sensible reason why all the world should not know it, and there­ fore the new fashion of announcing en­ gagements just before a prominent ball and having the ladies and gentlemen congratulated by their friends is to he commended. To be sure, if the en­ gagement is afterward broken, the thought of these public congratula* tions would be embarrassing; but if the fashion tends to prevent promises of marriages being lightly given it will serve good purposes. The girl who might say yes when asked to marry, with the mental reservation that if any­ thing better comes along she will coin trive not to keep her word, will think twice about it if she has to go through^ with such a form. Marriage engage­ ments are frequently too lightly £«t aside. The engagement should l|e nearly as sacred a contract as the mar* riage itself, and it should be such an engagement that both parties would be proud to have it known among all their common acquaintances.-- Dow^tiic Monthly. How to Catch a Train.; L. W. Roys, an Austin banker, met Ike Finch on the avenue. "I thought you were going to Sail Antonio," remarked Finch. _ "Sol was, but the train went^qfl' right before my eyes." _ . "You could have remedied that if y<|j|. .. had tried." "Why, how oould I have prevented the train from going off before mgr eyes?" "By turning yoft,tft<|$k Texas Sifting*. , f.vft - •

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