McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 13 Oct 1886, p. 6

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*hV V-f rV &> #*<Te*U%>w4 ' . n ; ** • r-iw - xw*-m THlttEB iflKlSK CkTBL ^ *i >tfce! The Alplit# hwv«»n jsMg&t; diet! »lor p a!ons? yon aiura gt>*; ' by and whisper, faint and light, UM and let be t &f**aa41ctb«!, I« it not well to rest > - ! disclosed BonetfinM ftetn labor? LiveasaotheffoifrWOT I (h.m „ii Sn| in tlx iDBihiSF, lie on Nature's breast, ' Not counting hours? , •8H' ^ „ | entering with a frqtfwfc' her hrmdsi "Yon Moore! False as now I ask yo%to; She turnedwi Hot heeding aught, but on the pale, worn cheek flTo feel tM warm breath of the murmuring JUkl watch OB many a rose-flnshed, hoary l*ak UM Heaven's glory shine? well? Bweet, too, at wandering I that mflody of tinkling belles, ; r old Echo in her distance weave , Endless farewells I Wight, too, hfeth here her music, deep and strong; Qt cataracts, solemn as an ancient psalm, Whence the soul s fever, born in heart and thwwig. • ' Grows cool and calii. « Ut« tnd totb«I It will be time enough to resume the great world's ca*^ VlWtt autumn skies am troubled, winds ax* tough, And trees are bare. Dks to renew the fight, the cause rewaken. Dare all the strife, the burden and the pain. Bally the weak; the downcast, the forsaken. Lift up again. •̂1 what tbon doest then, in peace begotten, fclwll show like peace, her looks and topt» V «all, .ill, all the (Tail and faulty past forgotten, Bring good to alL >c j Till then let nothing past or future vex Tfce untrammeled soul, 'mid Nature's freedom free JRnsn thoughts that darken, questions thfctper- \ - i - z p U * " U v e a n d l e t be I 'i •*Sfce Spectator. ..<• f nur to *-v' kv-" rK h\- 1 UTILE OUTCAST. I "Only a home; I ask nothing more, Misb Burton; but I must have a home, or die. | will be maid, seamstress, anything yoo wish, for a home." Miss Burton s beautiful brown eyes had never left the speaker's face; for twenty years she had steeled her heart against all pertaining to this girl, and yet now she found it hard to withstand those lovely, pleading eyes. "If you take me, Miss Burton," con­ tinued the fad young voice, "I will serve you so gladly! 1 have battled for myself two years, ever since poor papa died, and now I could wish to die myself." "Hush, girl! No one dares to wish that. Yoo know my story, Jeannette Moore, mine, yon: father's and your mother's, and yoo cannot wonder that, although I will keep you, I expect only ingratitude." "I thank you," said Jeannette Moore, slowlv. "Perhaps some times I can prove that f am not ungrateful." Miss Burton waved her white hand, com­ manding silence; then she rang a bell, and said to the maid who answered it, "Open Hiss Florence's room, and have it ar­ ranged, for Miss Moore will occupy it henceforth." When Jeannette Burton waa sixteen (she was almost thirty-seven now), she was a vision of beauty seldom seen; those calm, powerful brown eyes and classical features made her pre-eminently glorious. They had called her "Gloria" in thgte days, bat* now it was only Miss Jeannette, or Miss Bur­ ton. The family had then consisted of Mr. Barton, his son Roy, and Gloria, besides Florence, the child of his only brother. Florence Burton was not beautiful, but she was a thousand times more attractive than stately Gloria, and Boy was madly in love with her; so much so, that Mr. Burton re­ luctantly consented to their engagement when Boy was 18, and his cousin two years younger. Gloria had been promised to Harry Moore, a handsome young artist, as aristo­ cratic as he was poor, ever since her child­ hood. One week before the time fixed for the marriage, Florence started for the village with Harry Moore, to make some trifling purchase for the bride, and never returned. The next morning word came that they bad been married by special license. The shock killed Mr. Burton, and sent Boy, the care-free Roy of old, away from the loved home of his childhood. Bat Jeannette Burton reigned calmly on at Barton Hill. Only a year after the runaway bride died, leaving a tender baby girl, whose name she asked might be Jeannette, for the girl they had wronged. Jeanie Moore was happy indeed until her father died and left her penniless; but she look up the burden bravely, and worked for Iter bread with all her might. She struggled for two years, and then, worn out and disheartened, applied to Miss Bttrton for aid. I think even then the lady would have ••fused her request but for the girl's eloquent, violet eyes, so like Florence Bur­ ton's; those she could not resist. "False!" Miss Jeannette whispered, bit­ terly, half angry with herself. "Like mother, like child." Yes, Jeanie Moore was fair and fascinat­ ing, wi'h diamond-like eyes, like the Florence of long ago; but whether die, too, were false, only time would tell. She was at least true to her word; she asked only a home, and she had gotten it. She secured pupils, and gave lessons in drawing and painting, and soon won her tiny share of fame. She became a general favorite, too, for •he had a pleasant word or a smiling glance from those wonderful violet eyes for every one. She took a deep interest in Barton Hill, where she' found so many mementoes of liar dead, reverenced mother. In the the art gallery, seldom entered 4iow, hung that mother's picture, away from the rest of the Burtons, of whose faces Boy's pleased Jeanie best. There was something in the brilliant, proud, and yet kindly brown eyes that made her pity him. He had loved her mother, and she (Jeanie always sighed here) had betrayed his love. The old wound in Jeannette Burton's heart had healed, and Harry was utterly forgotten in the deep, womanly love which, in her maturer years, she gave to Capt. Wittmore. He, a grave man of 40, loved her as a man only once loves, and his heart warmed as he read her letter, asking him to come to Burton Hill, and telling him of its new inmate, Jeanie Moore; and vet he shivered. When bo met the girl he BeeaQed nervous, , and his face paled as he looked into the bright eyes and took one little hand. .* *So you are Jeanie Moece?" he said. , r *Yes." f -;yJfeanie faltered, with flutihed cheeks and " downcast eyes, which did not escape Miss Burton's notice. "Here are some views that arrivedyester- •4ajr from Scotland, Laurence," she re­ marked. "If you will come into the war- lor you can see them in a good light." "I mean to try the picture," the girl whispered, when thev left her alone. "Roy Barton's eyes would look lovely sad, and I must try it. But why did he come here? I thought he meant to stay in France, where tie was when we knew him. • Well, it can­ not matter." But she found it did matter, when it waa too late. Capt. Wittmore watched Jeanie more ttan half the time, and talked to her, it Seemed, the other half. Miss Hurt on grew anxious. Had not Florence taken Harry from her? Was it I J°r.l^er *o win Laurence Witt- nwrer Jyo, no. Heaven was uniting to iter. 3a,\' stormy night in November, mo"th.<?f beanie's stay at Burton Jull. lhey had been sitting in the library Joauieapart from the others, painting on a toad of the Watch-dog, Hero, and Capt. Wittmore and Miss Burton talking easily, add a little confidentially, until the latter «M«alled away. ^ fEhan she returned, some fifteen minutes '""i *«e found the Captain bending over *%who had risen, bolt of her hands d in his. Teanie, you will never tell her?" he was tutying; and Miss Burton stopped. ' "No; I will be true to you," was the an­ swer, bravely given. "And she, dear, Rood lff^ B]UiiAtL will ngygf llflYiir knanJ) ^*gg^,rTlnr three figures there~llis8j©*iu>ette'•father, with a paper in his h&nd», his btSd b6wbd with grief--she herself knaaling, with her piteous face lifted to the sky, while Roy stood at a distance, calm and white, with a terrible agony in his brown eyes. This was Je.mie's idea of how they had looked on that -dreadful morning, twenty years be­ fore, and she had written, in tender, girl­ ish pity, "Gloria's Desertion" m on* corner. "You painted it?" ' "Yes," Jeanie found voice to reply. "You are false to me--to all! Now take this vile thing, and leave my house! You are to wait for nothing--go immediately! Will you stand aside, Laurence?" She seized the shivering form, led her to the door, and put her outside. Capt. Witt­ more followed her. "You are mad, Jeannette!" he exclaimed, as the door closed on poor Jeanie. "Let me explain. I »n "You will not say a word!" The brown eyes looked their defiance. "Neither will you follow her until morning. I command it, and I will see that my commands are enforced!" The morning broke clear, Jeannette Burton stood at the low window in the library, her sunken eyes turned without, where a figure toiled its way to the gate of Burton Hill. It was a man, .tall and ma­ jestic, whose eyes never left the limp, helpless figure he held. Miss Burton threw open the window as he approached, "She cannot be brought here!" cried she. He lifted a pair of dark, stern eyes to her face, and stopped over the casement with his burden, which he placed upon the sofa by the fire. Poor Jeanie was wet through, and utterly unconscious. Her lashes rested upon her white cheeks, and her long, soft hair fell like a veil half over them. "You are Jeannette Burton?" the stranger asked, abruptly. , , "lam." " I "And she is--" • i "Jeannette Moorei,*** ' . " " t "Florence Barton's daughter?" "Yes." ; "I thought so; I recognized ths picture. It is sadly defaced. Do you know what it is?" He held np Jeanie's pifcture, all wet and soiled. ,:I do. Bnt who are yon?" "I am Robert Barton, the Boy of this." 1 He pointed to the canvas. "My brother!" Miss Jeannette cried. Jeanie stirred and lifted her violet eyes. "I meant no harm, Miss Burton," she said, faintly. "His eyes were so beautiful, and I wanted to see how they would look sorrowful. So I painted it, and then I put in the others--you and Mr. Barton. Please forgive me." Miss Burton left the room and returned with Capt. Wittmore, who looked with frightened eyes at Jeanie. "Jeannette," he said, huskily, turning to her, "you must hear me now, for her sake, whether you will or not. I wanted her to keep my secret. Five years ago I was a gambler--no inoffensive player, but a des­ perate gamblar, with no higher employ­ ment. They saved me, Harry Moore and his gentle, violet-eyed child. 1 loved yon, Jeannette, and I did not want yon to know. Poor little Jeanie, she kept my secret well." "Thanks," whispered the girl, feebly, and fainted dead away. She had not been false, after all, bnt she had paid for her truth almost with her life. When at last she recovered, there waa a quiet wedding at the Hill, and "Gloria," (everybody called her that now) took her away with the Captain and herself to their own home. After a little while Jeanie went back to Burton Hill with Roy, as his wife. "Jeanie, the trae!" Roy callB her, laugh­ ingly, sometimes; and then, with a tender clasp of the slender form, he assures her that the child has atoned a thousand times for all the pain the mother caused Girls Versus Ladles. We are forced to confess an inability to draw that proper distinction in wo­ men that shall suit the world, and show the line of demarcation between girls and ladies. We presume it to be that a young woman who is obliged or who chooses to work cannot be a lady; there­ fore,' when we say, "The ladies, God bless them," we of course do not mean that portion of creation who are suffi­ ciently vulgar to work. They are neces­ sarily shut out of God's mercy and man's sympathy. We dislike very much to so fly In the face of all accepted creeds, bnt per­ sonally not holding this opinion, we feel in duty bound to express it. We think a lady may be clad in calico, aye, and cheaper; that she may rise at daylight, and toil, even in the inky, oily press­ rooms, even in the close unventilated workshops, in dirty down-town streets, and still be as pretty and proud, as good and as virtuous, as though she drew out the best years of a husband, brother, or father's life in labor, to buy the silk and jewels which she spends liberal time in flaunting on the Btreets.. Holding such an opinion, we look with deep and abiding interest npon such portion of our womanly population as is found in workshops, factories, and laboratories of the great cities. We watch them in "their toil, and follow them in imagination to their homes. What are their homes? Does thin question ever suggest itself to the em­ ployer, or does he imagine that his duty is done when lie pays them the agreed-on pittance for the labor rendered? Does the question ever come home to the thousands who are investing their money for a pass above, by sending missions to Feejee and Central Africa? itow can we, claiming to be an en­ lightened and benevolent people, claim­ ing to treat women with more defer­ ence than any other people upon the face of the earth, stand quiet and stretch out no hand to soften the paths of this better portion of our population ? Can we not do something to ameliorate the position of the working-girls? Something to give them more ease and exemption in their employments, and more comfort in their homes? They want nothing in charity; nothing to buy- tracts and provide places for prayer- meetings. They want solid, substantial comforts; they want more hours for play. They want the attention and encouragement of their employers, the sympathies of the wealthier of their sex, as certainly as they deserve the re­ spect of the whole. Failing all these, they want legislative action that shall specially protect their labor, and by this means add to the comfort of their homes. What good manor woman will it be who shall first step forward to do some practical service for the female working population of our large cities, the true ladies of our land?--Amerir can Cultivator. Colors During Life. L|fe begins with white, youth pre­ fers light bright colors with bold fig­ ures. Middle age throws off the bright colors, and is satisfied with small figures in subdued shades. The autumn of life brings plain colors, without the figures, and ends with black, at the grave -- Wade's Fibre and Fabric. THH best throw of dice--throw, them away.:^ ^ . Squirrels, UM Om Is 18 Years Old. The Connecticut cat, says a Norwich correspondent of the New York Sun, is attending mainly to routine business this year, but here and there is one that shows a trace of genius. Mr. Amos E. Cobb, pf this town, has a re­ markable young oat. It ignores mice entirely. It will have nothing but red squirrels. It goes out into the^ woods each morning and catches one red squirrel. One squirrel lasts for a whole day's meals. The hind-quarters serve for breakfast, the fore-quarters for din ner, and the cat tapers off her appetite by picking the hide and head for sup­ per. It is hard work to catah a red squirrel napping, and the cat realizes that one squirrel must go a long way, She brings all her catches to the house, and the back yard is strewn with red- squirrel skins turned wrong side out. Mr. Cobb has in his veranda a lot of wire cages, all communicating with each other, and each provided with play- wheels, and in the cages sixteen squir­ rels which he has caught in traps. The cat often sits for an hour near the cages with her eyes closed and with a very benevolent expression on her face, and accidentally she lets her paw fall inside the wire for the squirrels to play with. Fooling with that sleepy paw has nearly cost three squirrels their lives. She has not got one of the wired squirrels yet, but she has hope, and spends an hour each day before the cages. Arthur Keller, of Preston, has a cat that catches partridges. She gets about one a week. When she cannot catch a partridge, mice, birds, ground-moles, and rats are good enough for her. Now and then she takes big flying grass­ hoppers, and flies off a window-pane. It is worth the price of a ticket to a dime museum, Mr. Keller thinks, to see his cat chase a flying grasshopper. The "grasshopper starts off, flushed with hope, and with a satirical flutter and buzz that manifests its opinion of a thing on legs trying to run down a thing that has both legs and wings. The grasshopper sails away in a side­ long direction about a dozen rods and plumps down in the grass with a wiry chirp that is meant to say to the cat that the grasshopper can take that little skip not less than twenty-five or thirty times and not get tired, but rather en­ joys it. The cat, however, means busi­ ness, and, with tail erect and claws out­ spread, is at the first station almost as soon as the grasshopper has alighted. The grasshopper has to get up again and be off with an alacrity that takes its breath away, and before it has taken half a dozen flights it is a very sur­ prised and serious-looking grasshopper that blindly dashes in a zigzag way be­ fore the pursuing cat At the end of the sixth or seventh inning the cat generally nails her prey to the ground in the stubble. A fat flying grass­ hopper makes a dainty lunch for a cat. Rhode Island cats are noted for longevity. In other States cats that are not chewed up by other cats die of old age before they are 10 years old. They stay out too late at night on fences and shed-roofs at the expense of their emo­ tional natures, and their vitality is early exhausted. Bhode Island cats are less frivolous. They keep their heads cool and do not overwork themselves at night. Henry Cliff, in that State, owns a cat. that is 18 years old, and her facul­ ties are all perfect. Age has etched her whiskers' ends and the fringe of fur along her sides with peculiar de­ signs in pink, hence Mr. Cliff calls her "Pinkey." In other respects she is in a normal feline condition. Mr. Cliff takes excellent care of this cat and does not require that she shall earn her own living. She lives on the fat of his larder, and takes only one stroll around the house daily for exercise. She scorns mice and all other cheap, coarse food. A mouse might run between her feet and she would not take the trouble to step on him. All she has to do is to, sit on the veranda, close her eyes, and look wise. Mr. Cliff hopes to keep her alive until she is 20 years old. It is be­ lieved that Pinkey is the oldest cat in Bhode Island. # Women and Money. ;;ys I know that I shall excite the #iith or contempt of the devotees of the higher education of women when I say that it is not necessary for every woman to be an accomplished musician, an art- student, a thoroughly educated Girton girl; but it is necessary that she should be a woman of business. From the day when her baby fingers begin to handle pence and shillings, and her infant mind is aroused to laudable anfbition by the possession of the enormous income of three pence per week, she ought to be taught the true value and wise expendi­ ture of money, to keep accounts and balance them; to repay the minutest debt, or, still better, to avoid incurring it; to observe the just proportions of having and spending, and, above all, the golden rule for every one of us, whether our income be sixpence a week or twenty thousand a year--waste nothing. May not the growing disinclination of our young men to marriage arise partly from their dread, nay, convic­ tion--alas! too true--that so few of our young women have been thus educated, and that, so far from being a helpmeet to the man they marry, they are an ex­ pense, a hindrance, a continual burden? Without wishing to defend the selfish young bachelor, who waits till he is "in a position to marry"--which means till he has had enough of the pleasures of freedom, and finds them begin to pall --I often see with pity a young fellow who has never had occasion to think of anybody but himself, and never had done it, learning by hard experience the endless self-sacrifice demanded of a pater fanitfias--good for him, no doubt, but none the less painful. Often, when going out of London about 9 a. m., I have confronted the trains full of busy, anxious-looking men hurrying into London, and I have said to myself: "I wonder how many of these poor, hard- worked fellows have wives, or sisters, or daughters, who really help them, take the weight of life a little off their shoulders, expend their substance wisely, keep from them domestic wor­ ries, and. above all, take care of the money?" "But for my wife I should have been in the poor-house," is the se­ cret consciousness of many a man; and it is a curious fact that while many a woman makes the best of a not too esti­ mable husband, no power on earth can save a mpn who has got an unworthy, or even a foolish wife. He cannot raise her, and he himself will gradually "Love to her level day by day. What is fine within him growing course to Sym­ pathize with clay." Or even if she means well, but it is by nature or education what I may term an "incapable woman," he finds himself saddled with not only his own share of the life-burden, but hers. The more generous and tender-hearted he is, the more he is made a victim, both to her him children, until he sinks into the Winner'M tto lttiy,: Wlfc) yrotk to do, and does it through ~ love, or a combination of lally without a word of ioes it until ho drops. Men have a great deal of c$rof to answer for, but the s£UMM endurance of many mid- dle-aged^jpnilv men" to whom--often, alas! ttajtilfeph tfie wife's fault--domes­ tic life feaytiftecn made a burden rather than a UtfM^ng, ought to be chronicled by the Beioording Angel with a tear, not of oompassion, but admiration-- enough to blot out any man's youthful sin. It is toiMPevent this--to ivy and make of our girls the sort of wives that are likened Wto Lemuel's mother: "The heart of j^usband doth safely trust in her; {mi will do him good, and not evil, all the days of her life"--that I would urge their being from earliest ohildliood some knowledge of business, especially money.---Mrs. Muloch-Craik, in Harper's A Male Association. i We are, Requested to print the fol­ lowing circular, issued by the Arkan­ sas Male Furhishing Company: "Attention, joung ladies and widows: There are several associations through­ out this country and England which furnish wives, but until we began busi­ ness in this state no company has pro­ posed to furnish husbands. We have just succeeded in obtaining several hun­ dred respectable young men, who are willing to be matrimonially disposed of; so, upon receipt of 25 cents in stamps we will forward photographs of subject, together with locks of hair. Below you will find several testimonials: Arkansaw Male Furnishing Co., Gentlemen: For many years I way an old maid. I tried many remedies for procuring a sure and prominent hus­ band, but failed. By chance I heard of your institution, and I must say that the husband which you have furnished me is satisfactory. I congratulate you upon the good you are accomplishing. Yours, MRS. MARY SA,TTLETON. Mrs. Peter Fluker, of Mill Bayou, writes as follows: "I am perfectly delighted with the husband you sent me. He arrived six weeks ago and I have not regretted ap­ plying to you. He is out now, chop­ ping wood. Yesterday morning he cooked breakfast while I was doing up my hair. I would not take anything from him." The following, from Mrs. Martha Whickle, comes unsolicited: "Gentlemen: For ten years I was a widow, my husband having been killed by a wild hog. Not very long after his death, gentlemen began to pay atten­ tion to me, but somehow, I wagnot suc­ cessful. I sued one of them for breach of promise, but I only succeeded in get­ ting a cow in the decline of life, and a horse that wouldn't pull a corn-cob stopper out of a jug. Finally a friend showed me your advertisement. At first I paid no attention to it, having seen so many swindles, but thinking perhaps there might be some truth in it, I sent for full particulars and must say that I am delighted with the result. The husband which you were so kind as to forward me is somewhat younger than I am, but he is very handsome and, above all, my first husband's clothes fit him. He milks the cow, churns, and only possesses a moderate appe­ tite. I have made him change his re­ ligion to fit mine. If you so desire you may make use of these facts. If my husband should die, I expect you to furnish me another one at half price." Arkansaw Traveler. Protection of Birds. One of the chief obstacles to ̂ ffie preservation of birds is the fashionable craze among women for these feath­ ered songsters as head ornaments. This wicked fashion causes the destruc­ tion of millions of birds yearly, and the supply is fast running out. This, how­ ever, will make no difference to fashion­ able ladies, who will perhaps be all the more anxious to obtain bird ornaments when scarcity enhances their price. The threatened destruction of little birds, which are generally friends of man, as they are destroyers of his in­ sect enemies, is a matter of serious im­ port to the farmer and gardener, and in fact, to the entire country. It is sug­ gested by a lawyer that when humanity and reason fail to influence silly women,a wholesome fear of the law may prove effective. Most States have game laws which strictly prohibit, not only killing of small birds, but impose penalties of fine and imprisonment on any person having them in possession. Ladies wearing four to six birds on their hats render themselves liable to as many years' service in the State prison, 1 though this penalty may be modified at the discretion of the Judge. Each bird* worn constitutes a distinct offence. The agricultural, horticultural, and religi­ ous press has piled various arguments against this barbarous fashion, but to no avail, and it is time that more effec­ tive measures be taken. As an old man said to the rude boy he found' in his apple tree, "If neither words nor tufts of grass will bring thee down, I must even try what virtue there is in stones." His Wives. "So you have been married twice?" said a man to a friend whom he had not seen for several months. "Yes." "Of course we can talk as manv others could not, so now tell me whicn one of your wives you liked better." "No difference." "None whatever?" " "None in the least." "Like your second wife just as well as you did your first?" "Just the same." "How long after your first wife died did you wait?" "She ain't dead." "Ah, you were divorced?" "Yes." "Where is she now?" "At my house." "What, do you allow her to remain there?" ' ' ^ "Yes." "What does your wife "It is her choice." "Well, well, I never heard of such an affair. There, sir, is the foundation for a novel." "Oh, no, nothing strange about "Yes, there is." "Oh, no, for, you see, shortly after being divorced from my wife I married her again."--Arkansaw Traveler. Wanned-Over Tea. Sewing-girls and, indeed, all women who are in the habit of making for themselves a cup of tea are warned against the careless habit of leaving any tea in the teapot to be "warmed-over," or to be taken cold at an hour much later than when it was made. The tannin which tea that has been long standing contains does a great deal of mischief. A little weak tea, newly made with freshly-boiled water, is not hurtful taken once or twice a day, but strong tea or tea that has been standing is dedd^yiajuri0fi4.-r-£ta{onJgecor4 Not many ago the Boston Courier was quoted from one end of the country to the oths*. Its. humorous lyrics gave it a great reputation sud­ denly, and the piper, hitherto unheard of, went up like a rocket. At the pres­ ent time, however, we seldom find the Courier quoted; its verses are popular no longer--the rocket has fallen a stick. The experience which the Courier had does not differ from the experience which many other American papers have had during the last ten years. The craze for humorous writing lim possessed many a newspaper which led a glorious career for a few weeks and then sank into obscurity. The trouble with the Boston Courier poet seems to have been that he worked himself out, and this, we will add, seems to have been the trouble with most of the news­ paper humorists who have flourished and waned within the last decade. There is no harder task in the world than that of attempting the same class of work for a protracted period, and in the literary profession the hardest kind of^ woik one can be oalled upon to sus­ tain is humor. We have frequently remarked that nq man can sustain any kind of literary work unless he mean­ while constantly improves and replen­ ishes his mind; he must read, study, converse, see, travel--in short, he must be feeding his intellectuals all the timo upon a variety of food or his intel­ lectuals will surely be exhausted before his ambition has been satisfied. The great mistakes of young writers are two. The first is in supposing that the mind is a self-feeding machine that is capable of producing indefinitely and requiring no special 'attention at the hands of the proprietor; the second is in supposing that the mind is capable of answering at once the demands of occasion, no matter how enormous those demands may be. The brain and the stomach are twins, and they de­ mand similar treatment. The stomach demands regular refreshment and regu­ lar rest, and so does the brain. If the stomach doesn't get what it demands, it makes serious trouble, but this trouble is a mere nothing compared with the worry, the vexation, and the disap­ pointment that an impoverished and abused brain will cause a man. It would be fair, we think, to estimate that about 90 per cent of the newspaper writers in this country neglect their brains; in this estimate we do not, of course, include the large number whose possession of brains is simply an allega­ tion. The humorists, so-called, make a still sorrier showing; we will venture to say that 95 per cent of their num­ ber have petered out merely be­ cause they have failed to recognize the great truth that the intellectual . ma­ chine must be kept in running order or itVill not run. k writer should never play out; he should do good work up to the years of senility, and senility should not come to him any earlier than it comes to the blacksmith, the merchant, or the farmer. But just as the blacksmith, the merchant, and the farmer succeed in their vocations by exercising pru­ dence and enterprise, so must the writer be willing to work out his ends; he must be "laying in" stock or his supply will quickly be exhausted; he must study and progress with the world, for the world is studying and progressing, find he who thinks not makes in that judgment a fatal mistake.--Eugene Field, in Chicago News. Queer Experience of a Busslan Explorer. The first white man that the natives of Northern New Guinea ever saw was a Bussian explorer, named Dr. Maclay, who went there about seven years ago. The vessel on which he took passage reached the coast at nightfall, and he was put into a boat and landed in the dark. There being no hacks there to take him to a hotel, he camped out on the sands until morning, where the natives found him, when they came down to the beach to wash up for break­ fast. They had never seen nor even heard of a white man, supposing the black race to prevail everywhere as it did in their country, and they were more puzzled to know what to make out of him than a white man would have been to know what to make out of them, if he was engaged in the slave trade. A learned black, who had picked up a little mythology, suggested that he might be a god, who, making a mis­ step, had fallen from the sky. The gods were careless sometimes in tread­ ing about on the sky, and were liable to step through where the lath and plaster were weak. In order to test the question of his godship they shot arrows very close to him, arguing, quite naturally, that if he was a god nothing could frighten him. Some of their arrows wounded him, but he was oompelled to smile and appear not to notice it. Then they couldn't see any necessity for a god eat­ ing, and they starved him nearly to death. They finally decided that he came from the moon, and that he was a pretty good fellow anyhow, whether a god or not. He was of medical service to them, too, so they treated him pretty well after that. He re­ mained with them two years, when he returned to Bussia, and now it is stated that he will soon leave that country with 250 emigrants to start a Bussian colpny in Now Guinea.--Texas Sift­ ings. A Place of Refuge. Tom An jerry has heretofore been one of the most trifling students at the Uni­ versity of Texas, but of late he has at­ tended the lectures very regularly. One of the professors observed this change for the better, and took occasion to re­ mark to Gilhooly: "I'm very glad to see that young man, Tom Anjerry, attending the lectures regularly. He seems to have turned over a new leaf." "Turned over a new leaf be blowed," exclaimed Gilhooly; "don't you know why he attends the lectures regularly ?" To improve his mind, I suppose." "Nothing of the kindL He goes to the lecture-room because that is the only place where th« bill collectors don't hunt for him. He goes there to throw them off the soent."--Texas Sittings. ' • They Converse. Jinj--Hullo, Bob, heard the news? Tom and Nedhave had a row. Begu- lar scorcher, too. You ought to hear them tell about it. Bob--You don't say sol Had a row, eh? In other wordsj they do not speak as they pass by. Jim--Speak! Speak, you say! You just bet your boots they do! They be­ gin hammering at each other the min­ ute they meet, and then it's give and take as long as they're in hailing dis­ tance. Speak! Well, I should ejacu­ late.--Sbmerville Journal THE annual supply of ootton is nearly twelve million bales, of which this country furnishes more than one-half. An F,ugfj>h ̂ iHitllor lately in this country, whQe looking over a book of biographies of emmefit American*, re­ marked, "The little gray cabin appears to be the birthplace of all your great men," pointing to a picture of a four- room ed frame dwelling, such as may be seen in every village from Maine to Cal­ ifornia, and which is usually tenanted by the poorer class of mechanics and laborers. In such a dwelling Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Blaine, Jeremiah Black, Webster, Andrew Jackson, Haw­ thorne, Emerson, Poe, and among men of affairs, Astor, Girard, and Yander- bilt, were born. In fact, the great ma­ jority of our successful financiers, sol­ diers, jurists, or statesmen look back to the "little gray cabin," devoid of luxury or ease, as the home of their ohildhood, where their ambition and strength first had birth. The ordinary significance and moral of this fact, which is preached every day to the boy-readers of the Compan­ ion who are born in straitened cir­ cumstances, is--imitate the purpose and energy of truly successful men. If you have energy, industry, and courage,you t»9 may be useful and influential. You have the same chance as these men. Now no good, but much harm, is done by false statements, however flat­ tering. It is not true that the boy born now in the little gray cabin, without an extended education, without capital, or family, or political influence, has the same chance as the successful men of past generations. The latter entered the race with few, if any, competitors. The boy of to-day finds trained athletes arrayed against him. Astor and Girard, for instance, found out there was money to be made by dealing in peltry. Their sixpences turned into pounds as by magic. But the poor boy now who goes into the fur trade finds it a vast, long-established industry, in w^iich enormous capital is invested, and thousands of experts are employed. He must begin by carrying home packages, and how long will it be before his energy and ambition will win him the race against countless other young men who also have energy ambition, and with them capital, knowl edge, and influence? Poor lads push their way into the great cities, encouraging themselves by remembering that "Ben Franklin landed in Philadelphia with but a sixpense in his pocket." They forget that Philadelphia was then but a village, and soon after the field of the most important events of the world. Every citizen who had any ability found the stage ready for him to play the part of the hero. Franklin, with his little paper printed by hand, immediately found a hearing from the whole of the colonies, and was pushed to the front as director of public affairs. But how soon would a poor boy with a hand-printed sheet find notice now in Philadelphia, or be called to control her municipal councils? \ "There is always room on top," is a popular and true maxim. But there is a great difference in the routes to the top. Our advice to poor boys who think their place is "on top" is, keep out of the crowded roads. If you covet the phenomenal success of the Astors and the Lincolns, try for it under the same conditions that they did; in the rougher, more sparsely settled regions of the country, where competitors are few, and where a man of natural ability is soon noted. The South and West now offer these conditions, but they are hardly to be found in our cities,--» Youth's Companion. Interesting Facts About Plant*. A recent traveler in Australia dis­ covered two toad-stools, which at night gave out extremely curious light. One species was growing on the stump of a Banksin, in western Australia. When the plant was laid upon a newspaper it emitted by night a phosphorescent light which enabled persons to read the words around it, and it continued to do so for several nights, with gradually in­ creasing intensity, as the fungus dried up. The other species was detected some years afterward. The specimen measured sixteen inches in diameter, and weighed about five pounds. This plant was hung up to dry in the sitting- room, and on passing through the apartment in the dark it was observed to give out the same remarkable light. In Norway and Sweden accumulations of moss, often more than a foot thick, and half decomposed, serve to make paper and millboard as hard as wood, blocks of which, formed by the hy­ draulic press, may even be turned in the lathe and polished. This substance is said to possess the good qualities of wood without the defects, such as warp­ ing and splitting, so that it is suitable for making doors and windows. A fac­ tory has been started in Sweden for working up these deposits of a hitherto waste substance into a useful material. A paragraph was running through the papers, spme time ago, about a curious flower or plant called the artillery fern. It was said to acquire its singular name from the military and explosive fashion with which it resists the action of water upon it. "If a branch of the fern, cov­ ered with its small, red seed, be dipped in water and then held up to the light, there soon commences a strange phe­ nomenon. First one bud will explode with a sharp little crack, throwing into the air its pollen in the shape of a small cloud of yellow dust. This will be fol­ lowed by another and another, until very soon the entire fern-like branches will be seen discharging these miniature volleys, with their tiny puffs of smoke." k Relic of tho War Days. An ugly war relic unexpectedly de­ veloped in the saw-mill of the Paducah Lunrb er Company, at Paducah, Ky., not long ago. In cutting a huge cy­ press log, which was culled from a raft of timber just out of the Tennessee River, the saw grated upon some sub­ stance which threatened to demolish it before the machinery could be stopped, investigation found an eighteen-pound loaded bombshell embedded in the log, in which the sharp teeth of the saw had traced a cut a third of an inch deep. Nothing outside the log indicated where the shell had entered, probably twenty- five years ago, the bark remaining smooth and undisturbed. The letter­ ing and figuring on the leaden plug to the shell, through which the fuse past, are still as plain as ever, and show that the fuse was clipped to burst the bomb at 1,200 yards. It is probable that the historical battlefield of Shiloh furnished the projectile, as the trees throughout the Pittsburgh Landing and Shiloh fields were badly cut and broken, large pieces of shells and solid shot, grape, and canister being to this day pointed out to the visitor, embedded, and in some cases hardly visible, in the huge old trees which dot the sanguinary fields. . THE Yankee clipper Onaway recently made the trip from Pisaqua, Chili, to New York city in eighty-six days--the fastest time on record lew such a boat. I GOIhg the rounds--climbing ladder. 1 To like Limburger cheese is not a v matter of taste but of smelL u i» In 01 ^ American % Revolution the Men of the Hour were % minute men. THKBX is a new play called "The A Cattla King." Will the king be sur­ rounded by a cattle guard ? | IT IS something of a paradox, but the ! man who gets over Niagara Falls never ^ gets over it.--Texas Siftings. ':i No MAN ever yet wrote a book on rhetoric who didn't make a dozen rhetor- $ ical blunders in the course of it. | WHEN the proof-reader's away tho ^ compositors will play,--the very deuce 1 with the types.--Somerville Journal. ;1 "EVERY nation has its customs," re- '•'$ marked an old lady, placidly, when in- | formed that her sailor husband had « just been eaten by cannibals.--Texas -i S if tings. ^ "JUST take an extra pull at my cor- s! 86tsf Marie,n exclaimed Miss Dresser to her maid. "But they're so tight now s that you can dardly eat," expostulated 4 the maid. "Never mind! 'Grace before f meat,'you know." 1 VISITOR--You look very much like i your pa. Johnny--Do you think so? 'i "You take after him very much. You 1 have got his hair." "'Tain't me what i takes after pa and getB his hair: It's | ma who does that when he comes home « tight."--Texas Siftings. | "CHARLEY will soon be home again, I fresh from hia studies, won't he?" said a 1 fond Cincinnati mother to her spouse, i 'I don't think, my dear, that Charley's I studies can have the effect of making I him any fresher than he was when he | left," was the old gentleman's 3 reply.--Cincinnati Sun. | FIRST DETECTIVE--Hist, I'm on the | track of a burglar. Second Detective j ---Hush, so am L There's my man. First Detective--Say, lookee here, I that's my brother; he's all right. Come, J help me catch my man. See him there? 1 Second Detective--Confound you; that's 1 my'father.--Omaha World. 1 SHE--I am going to the beach, and I • I want to get some sort of a bathing- | costume. Most of them are so ludi- | crous, you know. Can't you suggest I something that will prevent me from I making a fright of myself? He--You I might keep beneath the surface of the % water.--Boston Transcript J SICK MAN (making his will) to lawyer --I have $10,000 insurance on my life, | a house, and $1,000 in cash. The in- | surance money and house must go to I my wife, but I hardly know what dis- | position to make of the cash. Lawyer 3 --You had better leave it to rue in trust | to sue the insurance company with.--- 1 Ex. '4 y "AND you've given Up drinking liquor, I Jack?" "Yes, my boy, I've joined the | Sons of Temperance." "But you keep a little drop in the house, don't you?" J "Not a drop. I dare not." "Why?" 'j "Because I have made a public pro- I fession of my temperance principles, | and my servant girl is acquainted with the servant girl next door. No chance J to keep a drop on the sly.^-- JBMton^ J Courier. . . . . . ',J IMPOSSIBLE. I Once there was a maid whose beauty 5 Put to shame the choicest art; Yet Bhe'tl shirk no household duty, Js And she even tad a heart. | O'er her face smiles chased each other . | ' ' Like the sunbeams in the rose-- v sji And she never let her mo'her .> , Sweep the steps or wash the clothes.. - „ j Every night the grand piano , '*'4 • Bang, responsive to her touch--: 1 And this maid of charming maimer iStfri f s Oft made bread and pies and such. \ / \ * ' She waa fair of form and feature. i : * - •; Diamonds paled beneath her glance--' ; j • Yet this handsome, dazzling creature § S Used to mend her brother's pantl. ~ P. 8.--Her address has been lost, l-i~l --Miivhant Traveler. | l JTlie Boy on the Farm. I Boys raised in the city no doubt en- | joy their surroundings. They have a "• great many-so-Called "advantages," and Jj yet, never since the world began has J the city-bred youth had any advantage | over the boy raised in the country. In (i all the professions; in every department 1 of life, the country boy has a tremend- ous advantage. There are many rea- | sons why this should be so, but the i principle reason is that the country boy | acquires and retains an individuality | that is of immense service to him in j after life. He acquires and retains an independence that is better than any % modern business training. Beyond the • ? discipline of home he has no master. ^ He falls into no routine methods. He | remains himself. His mind is left to ^ form itself, regardless of all limitations. I He is taught the value, the honesty, and f the necessity of labor, but he is not " made a slave of, and his condition is ; in every respect different from that of • the city boy who is compelled to earn his own living. If the latter is to engage ; in business, he begins by selecting j something that "society" considers re- J spectable. He starts as a cash-boy, 1 becomes a clerk, and this, in nine cases ] out of ten, is the history of his career. J He is driven and hurried; he is in terror of losing his place; and if he keeps his 1 place he loses his individuality, and a more serious loss no boy can suffer. It is a great pity that the census does not deal with this important question. |j The most successful men in Atlanta are those who were country bred--men vtho have touched that great training- j school, the farm, at some point of their | history; and Atlanta is not singular in 1 this respect. The same may be said of j every town and city in the United I States. Wherever the conspicuously | successful man is to be found, it may be I taken for granted that he is country | bred. Therefore, we advise the oountry lads | who are fretting and pining to take J heart. Their time will surely come. |j They will find their opportunity.-̂ g Atlanta Constitution. ? "Been There." fie waa walking to and fro in the dc* pot, as waiting passengers will, and his face wore an expression of peace and contentment. All of a sudden a wave of anxiety and fear swept over it, and 3 lie began searching his pockets. His | anxiety was so marked that several 3 men approached him, and aa he con- "i tinued to turn his pockets wrong-side f out one of the grouj* inquired: "Have • j you lost your wall6t?" ^ "Wallet? No! I--I changed my coat an hour ago, and I left a letter in the i pocket, and--and " ' "And by this time your wife has got-' it?" . .•-£ "Y--yes!" And every man in the group spoke up in chorus and advised him to take the one chance in a hundred--hire a 1 hack and drive back home as fast as the $ horses could gallop.--Detroit Free Press. A CERDAIN quandidy of beer dond hurt a feller pootv much. It vas der uncerdain quandidy dot blays der tuy- fel mit his conshtidootion, breambles, | and

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