McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 20 Jan 1886, p. 3

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1. VAN SLYKE. Editir ai rfPsMshtr. McHENBY, - . - ILLINOIS. ALL the underclothing of the Mikado of Japan is made of a peculiar soft white silk, and as this "Son of Heaven" never wears a garment twice, nor one that.has been washed, he consumes a gre&t amount of this material But it is not wasted, for the royal cast-off garments are competed for as priceless possessions by his loyal subjects. THE state coaches of the Lord Mayor of London and Queen Victoria are tienrly coeval. The latter date from 1762, the third year of -George III. It was about 1712 that the Lord Mayor first used a state coach, on Nov. 9. The first coach lasted till 1757, when, the one now in use was built by subscrip­ tion and presented to him. It is very similar to the Queen's. • THE great river Euphrates is in dan­ ger of disappearing altogether. Of late years tbe banks below Babylon have been giving way so that the stream spreads' out into a marsh, until steamers could not pass, and only a narrow channel remained for native •boats. Now this passage is becoming obliterated, and there is danger that the famous river will bo swallowed up by the desert AT no distant day salmon fishing trill be one of the sports on the Seine and the Marno, in Francc. Some 500 parent salmon were imported from California in 1878 and the ova placed in the aouarium of the Trocadero. It has been calculated that the stock­ ing of the French rivers with Ameri­ can salmon, if it could be successfully accomplished, would represent an an­ nual gain to the country of some 40,- 000,000 francs. SCANDINAVIA cannot for the moment be called the paradise of pressmen. In Sweden the editor of the Sverigs Tid- ning has been sentenced to four years' penal servitude, fourteen months' addi­ tional imprisonment, and to pay a fine of 3,400 kroner fijr insulting the Princc and Princess of Wales and the Frincess Boyal of Sweden; and in Denmark, Herr Horup, editor of the Politikhen, has been sentenced to six-months' im­ prisonment for publishing insulting re­ marks concerning King Christian. LAI»Y RANDOLPH CHTJROHILL, whom the cable tells us has been invested with the order of the Crown of India, is the first American woman who has ever received a decoration. The Marchioness of Wellealey, nee Miss Caton, by virtue of her husband, who was Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, was a semi-representative of the sovereign for some time, and also lady in waiting to Queen Adelaide. But there were no orders in her day. That of the Crown of India was created in 1878. J 7^£RTEMCS MARTIN is the new librarian of the coast and geodetic surveys. He is one of the profoundesk of living mathematicians, and was a truck gardener by occupation before his* ap­ pointment He has recently been made an honorary member of a British Boval Society, and Master of Arts by the University of Michigan. He is a man of perhaps- 45, was tall and nn- gainly, dressed then as became his gardening, and looks as little like a fellow of a Boyal British Society as like British royalty itself. EXPERTS who, with pick and spade, have scratched the rough prust of the earth on the line of the Blue Ridge, in tbe county of Rockbridge, Virginia, re- , port the discovery of most valuable veins of tin ore. This tin ore is large( and many tracts of land have lately been bonded to miners, but the best veins appear to be along the waters of Irish Creek, in the northeastern corner of the county. Tbe veins are gener­ ally less than a foot thick, but some are three or four feet thick, and the tin atone occurs in crystals, in nodules, and in strings. As ALMCST every member of tKe h English Cabinet is a peer or relative of one, it may be interesting to see what peers and their relatives have received from the State between 1859 and 1884. Dukes, £9,760,000; marquises, £8,305,- 950; earls, £48,181,202. These are large sums, and no 10,000 families of those who are not peers have received one-hun­ dredth part of the amount It may be an exoellent plan that the executive should be in the hands of the aristocracy, but cheap it is not These Brahmins know how to take care of themselves and . their relatives. the rope down. When it had been grasped by the youth, up he. came, hand over hand, ana down he limped to Haverstraw. A FEW days ago a heated lamp chim­ ney in a New York elevated railway car snapped into twenty pieces or more, wbich fell upon the seats below. For­ tunately there was but one passenger within range of them, and no damage rdone. Not many months ago, at Union League Club's ladies' recep­ tion, a piece of carbon, heated to a white heat and about as laTge as a pea, fell upon the white silk dress of a lady who was walking beneath the electric light. Had it fallen a second sooner it would have burned her shoulders frightfully. Electricity has its dangers as well as advantages. THE microphone--an electric stetho­ scope whose sensitiveness to the faint­ est sounds has been described as mak­ ing "the walk of a fly seem like the tramp of an elephant--is likely to In­ come of great use in medical diagnosis. In the Atlanta Medical and Surgical Journal, Dr. Eve describes an interest­ ing series of experiments made by him with the instrument He was able to detect the nature of obscure fractures by tiie character of the sounds con­ ducted through the instrument, and could differentiate aneurisms from tu­ mors by the sounds of pulsation. Intra­ cranial and muscular sounds were made out with great clearness, and in diag­ noses for stone the instrument worked with mathematical acuracy. The doc­ tor suggests that an audiphone con­ structed on the principle of the micro­ phone would prove inestimable to peo­ ple of impaired hearing. THE ladies of Japan show not less readiness to adopts Western ideas and usages than the Japanese of the other sex. The belles of Yeddo order dresses from Paris, and the progress of imitation has gone so far a? to mfke a knowledge of the fashionable dances of Europe an indispensible feature in the education of every Japanese lady who respects herself. A riding sohool is about to be opened in Yokohama ex­ clusively for the use of native ladies, and it promises to be largely patron­ ized. The Japanese Government is about to take a step which will have the effect of bringing the more solid branches of Western education within reach of the female subjects of the Mi­ kado. A number of young women are about to be sent to Europe tn receive a thorough training in the essential branches of female education as it is understood there, with a view to their subsequent employment as teachers in their own couhtry when qualified. M. PASTEUR has been attacked by Rochefort, the fiery, untamed editor of the Jntransiyeant, who as the head and front of such as do not accept the great scientist's theory relative to his treatment for hydrophobia, seeks to destroy his reputation and to throw discredit upon his discoverv. In the columns of the Intransigeant he cites the fact that the girl from Alsace in­ oculated by Pasteur, had afterwards died, with all the terrible agony at­ tending hydrophobia, and claims that this completely refutes the experi. menter's claim that he can prf.vent these convulsions by inoculation at any time before they actually set in. M. Pasteur, in his own defense, explains that this girl was bitten in the head, so that the virus from the affected brute sppedily communicated with tho |brain, and that thirty-six days had elapsed before she was brought under his treatment. As a rule, lie says, the virus from., the dog works quicker with children than with adults, and'that it is ad^able to re­ sort to inocculation at the earliest hour possible. The public will not side in with Rochefort and those he speakaf for. First, because public sympathy is with the great Doctor in his efforts to find a cure for this most terrible of all complaints, and next because of M. Pasteur's reputation as a careful and competent investigator in the branch of science in which he has won his greatest fame. Jenner met with exactly the same kind of opposition, and had tcwait two years after vaccinating his &ist subject, a boy, until another would undergo the operation. The chances favor the success of Pasteur's theory, and the world's sympathy will be with him in all his experiments. THERE is a new anecdote about Haydn. The harmony between Haydn and his wife was frequently inter­ rupted by matrimonial discords, but, however severe these differences were, they always preserved the outward forms of politeness. Consequently, when Haydn was at Weimar, the con­ cert director, Krantz, was a little sur­ prised to see in Haydn's room a pack­ age of letters with unbroken seals, some dated many weeks back. "Only my wife's letters," said the composer. "She writes every month; so do L Neither of us open our letters." NEAR Haverstraw, New York, stands High Tor, a mountain of romantic rocks, beetling ledges, precipices, zig­ zag paths, and that sort of thing. A few days ago Mr. Blakledge and Miss Millicent Porter, lovers were coming down the mountain toward Haver­ straw, when he fell headlong from a cliff. His "pale" faoe was seen gazing up from a tree that had caught the falling form, and the heroine knew she must rescue him. Willing fingers ripped her cloak (how fortunate that She did not have her seal sacque on!), and, trying the four shreds to other ahreds, nobly obtained by the truly iieroic sacrifice of a petticoat, she let REMINISCENCES PUBLIC The Funny Man as aBon YiTant. "I want you to be sure and come to the house for dinner to-morrow, Tom," said a business man to his brother. "We are going to have a jolly time, and I wouldn't have you miss it for anything. Squibbs will be there, and you might as well com9 prepared to laugh till y6u cry." "Squibbs? Well, now, who the deuce is Squibbs?" "Why, Tom. he's one of these jolly men that write funny things for the newspapers. Things that would just about make a hearse driver laugh, you know." "Is he to be there. Fred ?" "Yes; he has given his promise to come without fail." "Then I guess you'll have to excuse me, Fred." "Nonsense, Tom? What do you mean? We must have you." ' "No, no, Fred; I can't do it I went to a party once that was to have been livened up by one of those fellows, and I felt afterward as though I'd been sit­ ting up with a corpse all night. At any other time I might manage to stand it for your sake, but in holiday time3 I like to be as cheerful as I can, and so I guess I'll go to a funeral that's to come off over our way instead. I know it'll be sunshine itself compared to this fellow's department outside of print"--Chicagt) Ledger. Extlusueness. (to waiter)---"Is this my Traveler room?" "Yes, sah." "There are two beds in it I don't want two beds; what's the other one for?" "De nex man, sah." "What man? 1 thought I paid for the right of being exclusive here." "So you can, sah; so you can." "How am I going to manage that?" "Doan speak ter him."--Pittsburgh Disvalch. , ^ BY BEN: PEBLET PUOHE. The French AdmiiHal* Count de Grasse. rendered, at the request of Gen. Washington, extraordinary ser­ vices to the American cause in the year 1781. He was in command of one of finest squadroons that ever sailed from France, and was thus enabled to con­ tribute materially to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. At the out­ break of the French Revolution, the De Grasses were, like most of the French notoility, ruined. About this time also, tbe count died, leaving four daughters. In 1795, these daughters, Amelia, Adelaide, Melame, and Silvie de Grasse, came to this country and memorialized Congress as destitute of the means of support Congress appropriated $4,01)0 for their relief, $1,000 to each daughter, and in 1797, granted to each an annuity for five years of 5400 a year. The family oi De Grasse, therefore, received in all from the United States treasury the sum of $12,000. Francis Depau was for many years .a French merchant in New York and one of the founders of the old line of Havre packets. New ;York gossips used to say that in early life he had been a eoachmau of Count de Grasse. Depau married the Count's youngest daughter, Silvie de Grasse, and named one of the Havre packets for her, and the ship bore her bust as a figure head. Wash­ ington Costar, a celebrated bupk, thirty years ago married one of Depau's daughters, Mortimer Livingston an­ other, his partner in business, S. M. Fox, a Philadelphia:}, another; and in 1839 Mr. Depau built five superb French houses^ on Bleeoker street, where they all subsequently lived in a style of great elegance for many years. Those splendid mansions are filthy lodging-houses now. their Italian mar­ ble staircases defiled with grease and tobacco, their inner courts, which for­ merly resounded with the impatient hoofs of tho horses of Costar and Liv­ ingston, the receptaclesof old junk and old clo'; their lofty casements, from which in other days the most delicious perfumes were exhaled, are now redolent only of cabbage and stale cod­ fish. Such is life in New York. A pal­ ace to-day, a hovel to-morrow. Fox and Livingston, who were large­ ly engaged in the French trade, failed about thirty years ago. Their personal expenses were stated, at that time, to be not far from $75,000 a year each. But this was probably an exaggeration of some dissapointed creditor. Costar, Livingston, and Fox are all dead. /the Boston Fnsileers visited Wash­ ington in June, 1H45, accompanied by the Boston Brass Band, with Ned Ken­ dall, the great bugler, as leader. They encamped on Capitol Hill and were es­ corted by a company of United States marines, commanded by Lieut Col. Broom. They were hospitably enter­ tained at the White Honse by Presi­ dent Jackson, at the navy yard by Commodore Hull, at the marine Bar­ racks, by Col. Henderson* and in Georgetown by Gen. Walter Smith. On Sunday, they attended divine ser­ vices at the Unitarian Ghurch, where they heard a sermon by tbe Rev. Mr, Palfrey. On Monday they went to Mount Vernon on the steamboat Syd­ ney, accompanied by a number of army, navy, and militia officers. A dinner was provided on the boat, with a profusion of good wines, and among the speakers were Major lien. Macomb, then Com­ mander in Chief, and George Washing­ ton Parke Custis, of Arlington, the adopted son of the Pater Patrirv. On their return they visited the mayor, and at an early hour the next morning started for Baltimore. Since then the Boston Light Guard, the Charlestown City Guard, the Boston Lancers, and tho Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company have visited Washington; also the Amoskeag Veterans and tho Pntman Phala.nx. It was on a visit of the Boston Fnsil­ eers to Mount Vernon that an army of­ ficer asked Col. Henderson if it was true tho President had some thoughts of sending a battalion of marines to aid in quieting the troubled Creek nation of Indians in Alabama. "I think he will should hostilities continue," re­ plied Col. Henderson. "But," said the army officer, "will that be the duty for which your corps was organized, ser­ vice at sea?" "It will be the next thing to it," retorted Henderson, "and if we cannot do any fighting at sea, we will do it among the Creeks." Gen, Clingman. of North Carolina, made a doleful spcech in the Senate in 1800-61, when the Southern Senators were bidding their adieux, as they left for Dixie. Clingman, who was one of the last to leave, compared the seceders to representatives of the "ten tribes of Israel." Senator Hale, that genial hard-liit- ter, replied: "Ten tribes," said he, "did go out from the kingdom of Israel, but the ark of the living God remained with the tribe of Judah!" This was loudly applauded by the Republicans in the Senate galleies, and the presid­ ing officer had to pound lustily with his croquet mallet to secure order. Then Mr. Hale proceeded: "I think the galleries ought to be ex­ cused for applauding a reference to the Scriptures. I say, there is where the ark of the covenant remained. What became of the ten tribes ? They have gone God only knows where, and nobody else. It is a matter of specu­ lation what became of them--whether they constitute the Pottawatomies or some other tribe of savages. But the suggestion of the Senator from North Carolina is full of meaning. There were ten tribes went out, and remem­ ber they went out wandering. They left the ark and empire behind them. They went out, as I said before, God only knows where. But, sir, I do hope and pray that this comparison, so elo­ quent and instructive, suggested by the honorable Senator, may not be illus­ trated in the fate of these other tribes that are going out from the household of Israel." Senator Hale did not then probably dream, and I doubt whether Senator Clingman did. that the seced­ ers, after leaving the Union ark of the covenant and warring against it, would return and seek to ensconse themselves in Federal offices. man. Ho insulted, unrebuked, those whose shoes he was not Worthy to lace. One tfternoon he was not at the club. The r-,ext day a fellow-member said to him. 'Where did you dine vesterday Bni;tmell?" I dined with a person by the name of R , who wants me to notice him, hence the dinner. But to give him his due, he let ine make up the party. We had every delicacy in and out of season, and the Sillery was perfect; but, my dear fellow, conceive my astonishment when I tell you &---- "had the auda­ city to sit down and dine with us him­ self."--Home Journal. Bean Brummell's Social Sway. Beau Brummell's social sway iu Lon­ don for a time so powerful that even to lend him money--when he conde­ scended to borrow--was considered an honor. A gentleman not of the elect once lent him 500 pounds sterling, hop­ ing by the loan to be chosen. Disap­ pointed, he asked the Beau for the re­ turn of his money. "I don't owe you any money,"said Brummell; 'I have paid you." "Paid me! When?" "Why, when I was standing by the wLidow at White's, and said as you passed by, 4 Ah, how do you do, Jemmv.' " Even an insult was accepted almost as an honor from the man, BO powerful had he made himself by his perfect personal decoration, and by his pro­ found knowledge of how to deal with 1 • Singing Parrots. An advertisement called for a singing parrot, with the addendum that the price must not be a fancy one, and that no dealers need apply. "Are singing parrots rare ?" a bird fancier was asked. "Singing is an accomplishment that very few parrots acquire," he replied, "and a good singing parrot--one that knows three or four songs and sings them well--i« very rare indeed. The advertiser will hardly secure one with­ out paying a 'fancy price.' His warn­ ing to dealers not to apply seems un­ necessary, for a dealer chanced to have a good one he certainly would not care to sell him cheap. But dealers do not very often have singing parrots in stock, for the birds only learn to sing well in private families, where music is an every-day recreation, and some one is patient enough to give them lessons. After they are once taught their owners are not willing to part with them. "The African and Mexican parrots are, by long odds, the best singers, as ther are tho best talkers and whistlers; they are. in fact, by fur tho most intel­ ligent, and so, of course, much the easiest to teach. If one ofieither kind i3 a pet in a musical family, and the person who feeds him sings to him while he is eating, he will quickly learn both the words and the tune of the song-- learn them so well that if his teacher is guilty of a false note it will be difficult to rectify the error later. One song should be thoroughly mastered before another is attemtped, and no effort should be made to teach a parrot to sing before he has passed his first year. If a parrot is well and patiently taught he will sing so accurately, both as to the tune and the pronunciation of the words, that it will be found, after a time, wholly impossible to distinguish his singing from that of tho human voice. We have had, though rarely, such birds, and if one of them were placed out of sight, but within hear­ ing, I would defy the sharpest musical ear in the world to detect anything in his song indicating that it was a bird singing, and not a man or a woman, for he sings always with a voice pitched after the manner of his teaoher. "Of course such birds are very ex­ pensive, and it is folly to advertise for a cheap one. Some time ago we had an African parrot here that sang •Pretty Polly Perkins,' but not very well. We sold him to a dealer for $50. He was perfected in 'Polly Perkins,' and sold him for $100. Later, having learned a second song, he brought $200, and finally, a finished master of three songs, he was bought by a gentleman in this city for $300. You could nor pur­ chase him now for love or money, he knows so many songs and whistles such a number of tunes, to eav nothing of hi^ conversational powers. "The birds learn to sing in German, English, or French indifferently. The language of their songs is dependent upon the nationality of the family by whom they are brought up. Some sing in more languages than one, and such are highly valued." Making Glass Eye*. "How are artificial eyes made?" the reporter inquired of a local opti- tician. "They are first blown into the shape of a bottle. They look like miniature whisky llasks. Then the operative sep­ arate* the structure, and,'alter blowing in the center colors, the veins, and add­ ing shade to the ball, the edges on the inside are finished off, and the eye, which is nearly always of an original shape, is packed away, perhaps never to be worn. It may lie around in a store for a hundred years before a cus­ tomer is found whom it will fit or suit in every respect Very few are made of the same pattern, because there is no rule of size, Btyle, color, taste, or finish to follow. Most of the eyes are made in Germany and France. The best are made there, but a good <eye is now being made in this country." "How long do they last the wearer?" "Some people use a dozen while oth­ ers make one answer. It depends largely upon the condition of the socket in wbich it is worn. The liquid discharged from some men's eyes is of such a destroying character that it will eat into the glass in a few months, and so completely destroy the smooths sur­ face of the bowl as to make the eye un­ bearable. Some men wear an eye five years, but such instances are rare. "A lady came into my store the other day," continued the optician, "and asked to be fitted for a pair of eye­ glasses of extra quality. She was a Sister of Charity, but I observed at once that she was the possessor of a glass optic. She did not allude to the fact, neither did L She wanted some­ thing of the best made to order, and of couse I knew that anything would do to cover the dummy eye. I got out a frame, placed a splendid orystal in the loop tnat was to cover the perfect eye, but nothing in the other frame. The lady looked at me in amazement (with her good eye), but assumed an indifferent look. She thought the glass was splendid; read an extract in a newspaper, and ordered the glasses. Now, you see, I made the price consid­ erably less. I told her they were worth $12, but to her they would be" cheaper. She returned next day, got her glasses and departed. The falso eye was cov­ ered with the cheapest kind of crys­ tal."--Milwaukee Sentinel. Fessenden and Clifford. . An elderly citizen of Portland, Maine, remembers an interesting hearing in the Municipal Court in the year 1855, when Neal Dow was prosecuted for Violating the Maine Liquor law. Some Of Mr. Dow's tenants had been selling liquors, and he was prosecuted for let­ ting his buildings to them. Henry Carter was the Judge who heard the complaint. Nathan Clifford, afterward Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, appeared for the prose­ cution and William Pitt Fessenden for the defense. It wasolaimed in defense that the prosecution was malicious, and Mr. Fessendeu worried his antagonist unmercifully. The situation was the more interesting because Fessenden had just been elected to the United States Senate over Clifford. "J sup­ pose," Baid Clifford, witheriugly, after one of Fessenden's tart rejoinders--"I suppose these are Senatorial manners." "At any rate," answered Fessenden, "they are better thu Sena­ torial manners.f JL TATIOOED ROMANCE. A Yotinjj Woman Who VM Compelled to Have Change* 011 H«»r Shonldjer. "It is said that ladies often have the initial or uonoGruttH of their lovers placed upon their arms?" was sug­ gested. "Oh, frequently! They often come in their carriages and have it done. Once I put the words 'Dear Harry' on a young lady's arm." * "Do they ever come afterward and wish it erased or changed?" "Oh, often. I had a curious case once. A very pretty and stylish young lady came here in a herdio cab. She said she had left her carriage standing near the Public Garden and had taken the lierdic to avoid notice. She wanted the initial 'P^in a fancy let'er placed upon the top of her shoulder." " 'You see,' she explained, 'P stands for Paul, the--the gentleman whom I --I am to marry. 1 don't want it where it wi J show, of course; but put it just where the sho'.ildei-band will cover it when I am in full dress. Make it blue, shaded with red.' "She screamed a little when the needle made the first prick, but she soon discovered that the pain was in­ significant, and the work was soon done to her satisfaction. " 'How pleased he will be,' she said, when it was over. 'But he shan't see it until after we are married,' she added as she went out "A few months afterward a herdic stopped at the door and the same lady alighted and entered. 'You see,' she explained with a very slight blush, 'that the gentleman whose initial you put on my shoulder doesn't--doesn't come any more, and I want it changed. Do you think--do you think you could change it to a B?' " 'Oh, ye9,' said I, 'that can be done very easily.' " 'You see this gentleman's name is Bashford, and I thought you could change it easily.' "So 1 changed the P to a B and put on a few flourishes, and she left. I thought I had seen the last of her until a few months ago, she came again, and blushed in earnest " 'Well,' said I laughing, 'must I change it again? What is his name now ?' " 'Hivname is Mortimer, and oh! we are to be married next week, ami my dress and veil are all done, and I am afraid of making him angry, for he knows nothing of the others. Do you think vou could change the B to an M?' "That will be impossible,' said I, 'but I can cover the letter over with some other design, if you would like that.' " 'No, I shouldn't like that It wouldn't mean anything,' she said, looking almost ready to cry. 'Oh, I have it. I just dote on Beethoven, and you shall put on the first two measures of his sonata in A minor. Won't that be nice?' Seizing a pencil, she marked a staff and a few notes of music on a sorap of papor, and handed it to me. I sketched on her shoulder a scroll bearing tho initial B in the center, and then drew in the staff' and notes as she had indi­ cated it was quite a nice job, but she was very patient, and finally went away smiling and humming the air which I had tattooed on her shoulder." "Did you ever see her again?" "A few days later I chanced to be In the Boston and Albany depot, when a lady and gentleman passed me, going toward the train. She had the look of a bride, and as they passed me she gave me a glance and hummed the air that I had scratched upon her shoulder."-- Philadelphia Press. Sketch of Sydney Smith. Yesterday we heard of the death of Sydney Smith, which took place on Sunday, llis case had for some time been hopeless, and it was merely a question how long he could be kept alive by the remidiea applied to stop the water on the chest It is the ex­ tinction of a great luminary, such as we shall hardly see tho light of again, and who has reigned without a rival iu wit and humor for a great length of time. It is almost impossible to overrate his wit, humor, and drollery, or their effect in society. Innumerable comio sayings and jokes of his are or have been current, but their repetition gives but an imperfect idea of the flavor of the original. His appearance, voico and manner added immensely to the effect and the bursting and uproarious merriment with which he poured forth his good things never failed to com­ municate itself to his audience, who were always in fits of laughter. If there was a fault in it, it was that it was too amusing. People so entirely expected to be made to die of laugh­ ing, and he was so aware of this, that there never seemed to be any question of conversation when he wat one of the party, or at least no" more than just enough to afford Snyder pegs to hang his jokes on. This is tho misfortune of all great professonal wits, and I have very little doubt that Sidney often felt oppressed when the weight of his comioal obligations, and came on the stage like a great actor, forced to exert himself, but not always in the vein to play his part It is well known he was subject at home to frequent fits of de­ pression, but I believe in his own house in the country he could often be a very agreeable companion, on a lower and less ambitions level, for his talk could never be otherwise than seasoned with his rich vein of humor and wit, as the current, though it did not always flow with the same force, was never dry.-- Greville Memories. How the Editor Got Beal Champagne. The following, which the editor of a newspaper in a large town in France published, is well, worth reproducing: "The wine merchant who sold me last week a bottle of lemonade flavored with vitriol for a bottle ot champagne is requested to send me, within twenty- four hours, a bottle of genuine cham­ pagne, failing which his name and ad­ dress will be made public." * It is said that next day the good editor was inundated witn first-class champagne from every wine merchant in the town.--Chicago News. The Wolverine. The wolverine, glutton, is a curious beast, like a tiny bear, but the most dire and untiring enemy to the marten trapper, following his steps and eating the martens after they are caught It is almost impossible to hide anything that these robbers do not find or de­ stroy. Their strength is prodigous, and they do not hesitate to attack a wounded deer. In color the wolverine is dark brown. The hair is quite as long as that of the black bear, but of coarser staple. WE should be careful how we en­ courage luxuries ; it is but a step for­ ward from hoecake to plum pudding, but it is a mile-and-a-half by the near­ est road when wo have to go back again. Symbolism ef Flowers. In all ages and among almost every people flowers have been adopted as symbols, types, and emblems of human combination, affection, and loyalty. The reader needs scarcely to be re­ minded of the red and white roses which were the badges of the Lancas­ trian and York rivals to the English throne. But the symbolism of flowers dates back to periods far older than the time of tbe wars of the roses. The ancient nations had their emblamatie flowers. The special flower of the Hindoos, for instance, has always been the mari­ gold. The Chinese displav as their national flower the gorgeous chrysan­ themum. The Assyrians for ages proudly wore tho water-lily. Egyptians delight most of all in the heliotrope; though the pa­ pyrus leaf, used by the ancient Egypt­ ians in place of paper, may also be re­ garded in a high sense as the symbolic plant of the land. The Greeks and Romans were in the habit of distributing the flowers in their luxurious gardens among their gods and demigods, just as in yet re­ moter times the sweet basil and the moon flower were sacred to Asiatic deities. In the Roman custom, to Juno was devoted the lily, to Menus, the myrtle and the rose, to Minerva, the olive and the violet; Diana has the dittany, Ceres, the poppy, Mars, the ash, Bac­ chus, the grape-leaf, Hercules, the poplar and Jupiter, naturally the mon­ arch of the forest, the oak. So we may infer among the Romans the lily and the oak were the emblems of power; the myrtle and the roso, of love; the olive and the violet, of learn­ ing; the ash, of war, and the green- leaf, of festivity. Even the days of the week, as we use them now, are named from deities who had each his special flower. The sun (Sunday), the sunflower; the moon (Monday), the daisy; Tuesday (the god Tui's day), the violet; Wednesday (the god Woden's day), the blue monk­ shood; Thursday (the god Tlior's day), the burdock; Friday (the goddess Frea's day), the orchis and Saturday (Saturn's day), the horse tail. We also find that in our time the sa­ cred days in the calendar of the En­ glish Church have all their flower of plant emblems, the principal of which are the holly for Christmas, the palm for Palm Sunday, and the amaranth for All Saints' Day. Monarchs and the nations have often had their symbolic flowers. The this­ tle is the emblem of Scotland and the shamrock of Ireland. The fleur de lis is the badge of the royal bouse of France, and the amaranth of that,of Sweden. The rose blooms forever on the royal coat of arms of England. -*• Florist- Down East Sharpness. An old merchant relates an anecdote of two old houses on Central Wharf, Boston, both very eminent in the mer­ cantile world fifty years ago. Joseph Ballister & Co. were at 27 and James Ingersoll at 33 on that wharf. One morning the seoond named gentleman received early information that gunny bags were in demand at advanced prices. Knowing that Ballister & Co. had a large quantity on hand, he hur­ ried to their counting room, and find­ ing their clerk, Mr. Brewer, at his desk, said: "Brewer, have you any gunny bags on hand?" "Yes," replied Brewer, "we hare a lot stowed away in the upper lofts." "Can I see them ?" inquired Inger­ soll. "Yes," said Brewer, and the old mer­ chant, who was a very fat man,elimbed up the narrow stairway, puffing at ev­ ery step. He found them a nice lot. so working his way down to the counting room he inquired: "What's your price for the lot?" "They are not for sale," replied Brewer; "you said you wanted to look at them and yon have done so. Can I do anything more for you, Mr. Inger­ soll?" These old merchants were shrewd.-- Boston Budget. Wi d Horses in Montana. The wild horses of the plains and Kockyg,Mountains is pretty much a thing of the past. Nevertheless, a few isolated herds are said to be occasion­ ally found. A Montana writer says, in substance, of these isolated bands, that, with the wild horses a stallion is at tho head, and is the leader of every herd, having such full control over them that no band of cowboys are able to drive a band of horses so fast or so well as a •tallion can. All in the band are so thoroughly afraid of him they keep in •lbunch, and their speed is gaged by Sis own, he running behind with his Jt^ad low, scarcely above the ground. «ie advances quickly on the hindermost Ones, giving them to understand they must keep up. Should one turn out he follows him, much after the fashion of a shepherd dog, and runs him back. Until Ris band are out of sight in the mountains, in ravines, canons, and in­ accessible places, so that when the rider arrives at the place he last saw them he is mortified to find his own horse almost exhausted and the herd so scattered that he must give up the ohase in disguts. Cheap Boarding. "Board, $4 per week," was tbe ad­ vertisement that caused a stranger to ring the bell of a dreary Pine-street mansion. As the stranger was ushered in three dudes wearing silk hats and looking otherwise expensive swept arm in arm down the front steps. The landlady gave a glowing description of the atractions of her boarding house. "Your room-mates will be very nice young men," she declared. "What--room-mates ?" exclaimed the prospective boarder. "How many ?" "Oh !" was the reply, only those three gentlemen who went out as you came in. Don't you like their ap­ pearance?" "Whew!" whistled the stranger. "Four in a bed! That's how people have to economize to dress well, is it? Good day," and he bowed elaborately, leaving the dreary, shabby-genteel mansion forever.--Philadelphia Press. Insect Pain. Minute dissections have proven that insects, though possessed of nerves, have no well-defined organs represent­ ing the brain, the seat of concentrated feeling, where all the nervous connec­ tions meet. They have, instead, a chain of ganglia or bundles of nerve substance, from each of whic'n nei^yes branch out to contiguous parts; so that the sensations are not all carried to one grand focus of acute sensibility as with us, but form in fact separate sys­ tems, any one of whioh might" be de­ stroyed without disturbing the sensa­ tion of the others.--Scientific Ameri­ can. A COXCOMB is ugly all over with the affectations of a line gentleman.--Dr. & Johnson. ILLINOIS STATE NEWS. • • V .".I --Mayor John Hopper, of Jackaonvilla* Xl is dead. *«$ --The Presbyterians at Clinton have void . their old church-bell to the Presbyterians at Fanner City for $66. --Sheriff Gardiner, of De Witt County, ' has arrested thirty-one persons for being gaged in the charivari at Lane Station. --The Illinois Masonic^ School of j; struction met at Mount Vernon lately, wife i: attezdants from all parts of the State. /• --The city of Qnincy has voted to refund at 4J per cent. $150,000 of the $184,000 worth of 6 per cent, bonds which fall dm, July 1. --The Board ot Directors of the Fairbutjr Agricultural'Board have decided to hold their fair for 1886 from Sept 13 to 18, in- elusive. . , --The fire bells were rang at Cairo the other day, calling the citizens together to in­ stitute a search from house to house far Anne McKeon, who disappeared mysteri­ ously from school at the convent A --The typos on the Quincy Hera Id have* been on a strike. They walked out on •©•> count of a failure to receive part of their pay, and because they could get no assur­ ance that their week's wages wonld be coming. : " ;_ •••>; --One night last week the east bound Louisville and Nashville train was wrecked near Opdyke, two cars demolished, and three passengers injured, Chris. Johnson, a* laborer, being badly bruised about the faoe and head. , ^ --The body of E. Erickson, found in fha canal at Lockport, shows evidence of fool play. There was a wound in the head and the throat was cut from ear to ear. He was last seen aliVe Dec. 20, about the saloon?* and then had only $3 in his possession. --The largest business failure for several years past has just occurred at Joliet, the party being O. Fox, who has done business in Joliet since 1855. Peck Bros. & Co., of Syracuse, N. Y., secured a judgment in the courts at Chicago against Mr. Fox far $19,500.27. --At Freeport, the ease of Hugh Benn*- hoff against Solomon Fisher was decided in favor of the plaintiff. This is the third trial of the suit, which is to recover posses­ sion of a strip of land worth $10. The esse has cost the county $100 and the parties $1,50(1. • v --George Wamsley has been arrested'it Paris at the instance of his last of seven wives, Mrs. Lizzie Mooye,jw}»o accuses him of bigamy. Others of the seven wives ase laid to have preferred a similar charge against him. Wamsley is 40 years old and red-headed. He is the 'father of thirteen children. --The Piano Steel-Works were formally opened a few evenings since. There "were about 800 persons present to wit­ ness the rolling for an hour, after which the Board of Directors were presented a large steam whistle by the ladies of the city. Supper was served to all present by the ladies of the city. --A meeting was held at Centralia ie| cently, at which the incorporation paper* of a new railroad were executed. The road is the St. Louis, Belleville and Eastern, and the route taken will be to Centralia from Belleville, and thence to Moimt Ver­ non. Considerable interest is being mani­ fested. * --Mrs. Johanna Lorden, aged nearly 10ft years, and a resident of Galena for almost half a century, died at the residence qf1 her daughter, Mrs. John Galvin. The de­ ceased was a grandmother of Hon. David and ex-Mayor T. J. Sheean, of Galena. Her husband, Jeremiah Lorden," died' in Boston in 1845. » * % --T. B. Day, a persistent violator of the liquor law, has been lodged in jail at Tolono, to serve out two sentences. He had been a fugitive fer over a year, staying most of the time in Jasper County, Indiana. Returning to Tolono to see his wife, recently liberated after a long sentence for a similar offense, the officers surprised and captured him. --Mr. Winston has done a wise thing* He declines the military commission ten­ dered him by the Governor, and will go to represent the United States in far-off Persia in plain citizens' clothes, as becomes Yankee simplicity. An Illinois militia General, without military experience or command, wouldn't be a bigger Indian in Teheran tfcW he is in Chicago.--Evening Journal. --At the meeting of the State Assembly of the Knights of Labor at Decatur, about seventy-five delegates answered to their names. The vote on the resolution to abolish the district assemblies and unite all under the State Assembly was in the affirmative. All were in favor of the pres­ ent system of organization among the labor­ ing men. Some of the radical memh|||, urge the formation of a new party. --East St. Louis is rapidly becoming bankrupt. Last week the police struck, and when Judge Launty attempted to convent court the foreman of the jury said that as he had been informed by the Mayor that it would be foolish for them to serve, as they would ilot be paid, they did not propose to try any cases unless a guarantee was given that they would receive their money. The Judge was obliged to adjourn court --Considerable stir has been created at Pittsfield by the discovery that S. B. Lewis," who has taught school at Chambersburg for the last three years, had sold several forged notes to curbstone brokers of Pittsfield. Lewis came to the county six or seven yeenr ago, and has been teaching most of the time. His father, and brother live at Cald­ well, Kau.j and are respectable people. He fled the country, leaving a wife and one child at Chambereburg. ^: --The printing office of the IlUn0t$ Weekly ilettsage and the Methodist Episoo- dal Church at Mount Stirling have beat destroyed by fire. The Message printing office was one of the most complete countiy offices in the Northwest, and the outfit could not be duplicated for $2,500. The building was valued at ,$1,000. The building and contents were insured for $1,000. The Methodist Episcopal Church edifice was a huge, handsome frame structure worth abuet $3,SCO. an.1 was insured for $1,000. The fire originated in the Mesmge office, and H had so far advanced before being discovered that nothing could bo removed from the building. TKe origin of the fire is unknowa, though it is generally supposed caused by a defective fine. ' - < J •-1 • •. ;u~i: H'.J

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