OCR Text |
Show 000. Marc Antony made overtures to Nonius for its purchase, intending, it is thought, to present it to Cleopatra, but the .Senator refused to part with it, and, for fear that it would be taken from him by sheer force, sought safety in flight. Here history loses all trace of this famous pern, thore being no record o! its transferal from Nonius Iff any of his family. An Opal Worth m million. The most famous opal in hlstorv was hat which was worn In a ring by the Romrn Senator Nonius, in the days of the triumvirate. Its size scarcely equalled that of a medium-size- d hazel-nut. Yet its beauty and brilliancy rendered it a marvel among the dilet-tanti of Rome especially when it was known that the goldsmiths and "money-changers" had set its value at fl.OOO,- - SXOAYSHSEOST-KOUTE- S. PERILS OF THE ROCKY MOUN-TAIN MAIL SERVICE. Carrier Who Brare Manjr Dangers U Supplying Mining Camps Tkejr Mut Enow the Peaks, PuMeiand Canyon. The most welcome of all in the min-ing camps far up the Kocky Mountain peaks are the mail carriers. Brave, hardy fellows they are that climb the peaks on Bnowshoes, delivering the mail and many precious packages that always fill the pouch. Delivering the malls in the mountains in midwinter is a difficult and dangerous work. Some-times the carrier is swept away by a snowslide, and months roll away before the brave fellow and his pouch are found. About fifty of these mountain mail carriers lose their lives yearly on the dangerous trails in Colorado carrying the mails on snowshoes to the frontier mining camps. In Utah, Idaho, and other parts of tho West In the same manner they force their way over the lofty ranges. The carrier in the frontier of the Kocky Mountains Btraps the mail sack on his back, puts on his Norwegian snowshoes, ai'd, with a long guiding pole, starts on his weary climb over the range. Usually there is a crowd at the postofiico to wish him good luck. i lply men of known strength and cour- - can do this work, for twenty-fiv- e finds of letters, papers, and packages I'ome very heavy and burdensome m Vimbing the mountains. j These carriers know the peaks, pass- - cs and trails as well as the city carriers P do the streets nnd numbers of their dis-J- F tricts. Hut sometimes the storms are JT so severe that even the old mountain- - eer grows weak with his heavy burden f , and sinks almost exhausted in the ob- - " I genre trail. With a compass in his hand, ho carefully feels his way along the precipices and dangerous places, and often the storm Is so severe and blinding that he is compelled to find shelter under some friendly cleft or dig for himself a bod in the snow banks. Although their great overcoats and clothing may look rough, yet their underwear would pleaso the fancy of the esthetic. The most of them have silk underwear. On reaching the sum-mit of tho mountains the carrier shoulders the pole, and, placing his snowshoes close together, begins his decent. The on the trails will go down tho mountain with the swiftness of the wind, a mile a minute. But woe to the one who is inexperienced, for out slips the guiding pole, up come snow shoes, and tho unfortunate car-rier, mail sack and all, goes rolling down the mountain. Sometimes tho ice and snow are as hard and smooth as glass. The perilous trip brings him to some little mining camp nestled in the mountains. What a joyful greeting he receives! There are people there from the East, far away New England, and the sunny South. Sometimes he is delayed by the storm on the range, and already the men of the camp have been searching for him, fearing that he had been lost or swept away by the terrible snow slide. The villagers collect, and all are eager to learn the latest news and read their letters. Perchance the carrier has other points to reach. The pouch is opened and the mail poured out on the floor. The frontier postmaster picks out what belongs to his office, and the rest is put into the pouch, to be carried still further to its destination. Swan Nilsen, the Swede mail carrier Df the San Juan, was lost in a snow Blide Dec. 23, 1862, and was not found for nearly two years. His route was from Silvcrton to Ophir. Only the bravest would attempt the trip through I, storm. Nilson was warned against making tho attempt. A terrible storm was raging between Silverton and Ophir, and those who had been longest In the Rocky mountains told him he could not reach Ophir in that mountain tempest. But Nilson would not listen to their warnings, and even if it were perilous he must go. At, Otihir the miners of the cami) were waiting and longing for the ap-pearance of the faithful letter carrier. Christmas eve came, but still Swan Nilson had not been espied on the mountain trails, where"many an anx-ious eye had been turned. And thus, while those at Silverton were anxious, the miners at Ophir were becoming apprehensive at the delay. Christmas came and went, and still nothing of the mail carrier. Search-ing parties went out on the trails, but there was nothing to be seen or heard of the lost carrier. During the sum-mer tho search was continued by one or two friends, but still there was nothing learned of the fate of Swan. Another year rolled round, and during Iho summer another search was mado, and on August 13, 1885, at the bottom of a snowbank the picks and shovels of She searching party uncovered the Body of Swan Nilson, and still strapped to his back was tho old pouch with Ophir Christmas mail. The lock was rusty, and the pouch had to be cut :open. Tue wax on tho currency pack-ag- o hud rotted a hole through the jreenbacks. Some of the mail was moldy, but a part of it could be read juiteeasily. Recently I was looking aver tho old mail pouches that have been stored away in the inspector's Separtment of the Denver post office. "Here it is," said the Inspector, pulling out from near the bottom of the pi'.e the old mail pouch of Swan Nilson. A card had been tiad on the pouch; near the old rusty lock, on which was written the following: "This pouch was in a snow-slid- e on the dead carrier's back for twenty months, near Ophir." JEANETTE. The ret of the Sailors M ho JJeTer Knew Iler History. Every day there came down to the long stone wharf a smiling, fair-hair-girl of 7, followed by an old, old man. The child carried a spy-glas- s, hug-ging it in her arm as if it were a doll, and she skipped along gaily till she reached the end of the pier. Then she handed tho long glass to her com-panion, and resting her chubby little hands on the cold stone coping, looked wistfully out to sea. With the soft breeze blowing her hair about her shoulders, and her eyes fixed searchingly on the horizon she stood perfectly silent until u tiny white speck appeared in the fair distance where sea and sky seemed to mingle. "A sail, a sail!" she cried, and the old man sat down and laid the spy-glass upon his arm. Breathless and eager, the child grasped the brass tube with both hands and peered through it without speaking. After a few minutes, how-ever, she said with a sigh of dis-appointment: "Not yet, grandpa," and returning patiently to her post re-sumed the watch until another sail ap-peared. This was kept up hour after hour, and when tho sun, a golden ball, had slipped behind tho rising billows, and a soft mist rose from the sea, the child turned round, her littlo face saddened, and walked slowly away at tho old man's side. One day I spoke to an old sailor and asked about the child. "That is Jeannette," ho said, taking his short clay pipe out of his mouth. "Her father was killed eighteen months ago; tho mast of his boat fell on him, and since tho day his dead body was carried home she has never been the same. She does not think he is dead, and every afternoon her grand- - father has to bring her dowu here to watch for him." He tapped his head expressively, and, as a merry laugh sounded, a smile of tenderness softened his rugged features. I looked up and saw Jeannetto com-ing as usual, carrying tho telescope, and shipping gleefully belore the old man. "How sad, how sad!" I murmured with a sigh, but tho old Bailor shook his head; putting his pipe into his mouth hastily ho puffed out a cloud of smoke to hide the tears that had gath-ered in his eyes, and answered softly: "God is good. She will never know, and so she will never cease to hope." From the French of Le Faure. THEY SAY HE'S BRAINY. THE WOLVERINE HASTHAT REP-UTATION. Human Intelligence anil Hag-sclf- are Ki'rlally Notlreahlo In the Ani-mal Several IfiterentlliK Wolverine htories. Human intelligence and sagacity are more nearly reached by tho wolverine lhan by any other animal on the globe, and It would not be difficult to prove this. But to place it above the ele-phant and the anthropoid apes of the Did World may be too bold a step, and we may content ourselves with claim-ing for it the supremacy among ani-mals indigenous to the western hemi-sphere. 9t the almost phenomenal keenness of wit possessed by this animal we may cite a few instances not tho wild stories of irresponsible hunters, but fully authenticated. It is a common habit of the wolverino to spring a baited trap without being itself caught, although no person has ever succeeded in dotocting tho method by which this is accomplished. A trapper in tho far north, finding that the bait was stolen from a long line of traps faster than he could attend to them, resolved to en-trap the wary thief. Deadfalls and pit-tra- were of no avail. Tho wol-verine sprung t he former by methods known only to himself, and after dig-ging up tho bait from the hitler he tilled up the pits with stones and rub-bish. As a last resort the trapper set a loaded gun aimed at the bait that was fastened to a string connected with tbo trigger. Any other four-foote- d thiof would have received' in his hido tho contents of the gun. But the wolver-ine knew a "trick worth two of that." His tracks in the snow afterwards his prodigious strength; and it Is aques-tio- n which of these two faculties we may most admire. Ono has been known to lift tho end of a log more than twelve inches in diameter in order to get at a trap set in a hole in frozen ground under tho log. Another car-ried for several miles a trap weighing twelve pounds fastened to its forefoot, dragging after it a log --chain six feet long, running on throo feet, clamber-ing over fallen timber, through thick brush and up and down steep and rocky hills. Still another has been known to drng the carcass of a full-grow- n deer a hundred feet to a place of concealment. Tho wonderful fighting qualities ol the wolverine must not be passed in silence. In this line his record is un-rivaled. It is rarely that the northern wildcat, tho Canada lynx, gets away from two powerful hounds. But a wolverine has been known to whip two sik'h dogs in short order, fighting badger-lik- e on its back, and using its teeth so effectively that ono of the dogs has been disabled for life. When brought to bay, tho wolverine exhibits surprising courage; and there is every reason to believe that it is sel-dom or nover molested by largor beasts of prey. A wolf would always come off second best from an encounter with a wolverine; a bear could not hope to overtake it, while a panther, being a natural coward, would hardly care to meddlo with a champion that can boast so formidable an armory of teeth. To sum up tho striking characteris-tics of our little hero, we may claim that ho has never received the meed of praise to which ho is entitled. His strength, agility, courago, independ-ence, and, to crown all, his wonderful sagacity so closely allied to human reason, clearly placo hiin in the posi-tion we have claimed for him as the brainiest of American quadrupeds. showed that he had examined mo bait without touching it, had then gone around back of tho gun, and after cutting tho string in several places, had returned to the bait, and carried it off in triumph. He had fairly earned it, and that trapper never molested him again. Another hunter, finding tho string attached to the trigger of his trap gun cut by a wolverine, substituted a small chain for the string. The ani-mal, in attempting to cut tho chain, lired off the gun ami then carried off the bait. Becoming reckless he after-wards discharged another traD-gu- n and was slightly wounded. Enraged by the smarting pain, ho sprung upon tho gun with teeth and claws, tore the wooden stock almost to pieces and then dragged the gun half a mile away. A hunter had killed a wildcat, and, being already loaded with as much ns ho could carry, he buriod the skin deep in the snow Bnd piled the hole over with brush, leaving the carcass exposed near by. When lie returned tho next day he found the carcass gone, as he had expected, but the pile of brush looked exactly as ho had left it. Feel-ing certain that ho would find tho skin he dug down and around for several yards, but unsuccessfully. Seeing tracks of a wolverine about the spot he followed them to a littlo cave, whero he found the catskin intact. If we compare with these the record-ed exploits of other quadrupeds we shall still find tho wolverine ahead. A dog has been known to wash from his jaws the bloody evidence of a sheep-killin- g raid; to spring on a porch, to lift a window, to enter and ensconce himself cosily by the fire with an air of artless innocence. Yet no dog has ever been known to close the window behind him. If he had done so it would have been no greater evidence of sagacity than tho skill with which a wolverino fills up a pit after he has robbed it and piles tho brush above it exactly as ho found it. Reynard the fox, with all his boasted cunning, has never attained this perfection of wit. The wolverine occasionally assumes an attitude that has never been ob-served in the case of any other beast, unless it be the gorilla or chimpanzee. When wishing to scan an object care-fully or to givo a searching glanco around him, he rises to nn almost erect position and shields his eyes by plac-ing one of his paws above them. Standing in this attitude he is almost human in aspect. A detective camera could scarcely be aimed at a more striking object. The bright sunlight, especially when reflected from snow. Is doubtless trying to eyes that are fitted to see by night almost as well as ' by day. The wolverino. or carcajou, as he i3 called in the far north, is classed with the typical animals, the best known of which are the otter, the badger, the sable, the ermine, the skunk, tho weasel and tho mink. Tho wolverino is ono of the largest of tho group, being excelled in siza by tho otter only. Ho averages about thirty inches from muzzle to root of tail, which last member adds twelvo inches more to his length. Ho is low in stature, standing not raoro than eight or ten inches high, with a long head and neck and a lithe body endowed with surprising strength and agility. The fur is soft and silky, tho prevail-ing color blackish brown, the feet and head black, while a band of reddish brown runs along each side of the back from the shoulders to the tail. ' The carcajou is found fn northern Maine, in tho White Mountains of New Hampshire, sometimes in the Adiron-dack- s and more frequently in the Rocky Mountains of Washington, Idaho and Montana. It inhabits the whole north-ern belt of forest from our own bounda-ry line to the Arctic regions. He is exceedingly bloodthirsty, living for the most part on animal food freshly killed by himself. Ho will, however, help himself to any meat that is not decayed, and he displays remarkable cunning in searching for and carrying off the car-?as-of game thati hunters have killed. In making ttrase raids be calls into play not only jjiis keen wits but ! : : ! THE DEADLIEST SXAKE. IT IS THE TERRIBLE COBRA OF INDIA. A Mlmlonary's Fvperlenre With a llrare of These. Iradd NerpenU Filled Full of llullet liefore They Sueeunib. It was a hot Sunday morning in India without a cloud in tho brazen skies. We had just como home from an early morning service, writes a mis-sionary in India, and had taken our seats at tho breakfast table. At the open door of our dining room our Tolugu school teacher appeared, say-ing: "Sir, a big cobra has just boon chasing a frog through the whole length of your front veranda. He struck at it again and again as it sprang past the open doors of your sitting room, tho frog, uttering piercing shrieks (as a frog can when pursued by a serpent), sprang each time quick onough to elude its jaws, and together they rushed off tho end of the veranda, nnd the frog sprang under a box that is standing there, too near down upon the hard floor for the big cobra to get under, and so escaped." "Well," said I, "whoro is the cobra now?" "That is just what I don't know," said ho, "for while I was look-ing to see what had become of tho frog how ho had got away tho cobra disappeared among the flower pots, nnd I can not see where he has gone." "Ho must have a nolo there close by tho veranda somewhere," said I. "Will you pleaso go and watch until I come, and- - see if you can get sight of him a;rin, for he must bo killed if he lives as near the house as that." I don't go on Sunday, but I went for my pistol then, for I con-sidered it decidodly a work of necessity and nfercv to nut an end to tho danger of ourselves or our people being bitten by that deadly cobra. Soon appearing with a revolver whit I kopt for trav-eling through tho jungles at night, 1 went to hunting for tho cobra's hole. Two largo native flower pots stood about six feet from the end of tho ver-anda, with each a beautiful rose grow-ing in it, of which my wife was very fond, and beside which she almost dai-ly stood picking otT dead leaves or watering and tending tho roses. I soon discovered a hole in tho ground about as largo as my wrist, partly con- - onnlivl hv tho crass that, was frrowinff right between the two flower pots, which were far enough apart for a per-son to stand between thorn. Tho hole went down perpendicularly, growing larger as it went deeper. It took but a moment to bring a hand mirror and throw tho reflection of the bright un right down into tho hole. It revoaVd a horizontal chamber only a foot or so deep, and tho glistening scales of a cobra, coiled up at rest. Taking a piece of broken wagon tire In my left hand to stop up tho hoi with, and placing the end of it slant-ingly in the hole, I fired down Into tho hole. Not a motion was seen. I had missed. Turning the tire up edgewise I fired again. What a squirming thore was! The cobra had been wounded. He struck up viciously at the iron, which was turned down flat as soon as I had fired, to keep him from darting out at us. I turned the iron edgewise and tired again, and again. When I had unloaded the sixth barrel I let him strike his head out, and caught it against the side with the Iron tire. I had brought with me a pair of large hedge-shoar- s. With thqso I caught hold of his protruding neck, and, with a stout pull with both hands, pulled him out and gave him a flirt out into tho compound. What a scattering there was of men, women and children! My attention had been so taken up with the snake that I had not noticed what a crowd had gathered around. How they screamed and ran! for they did not know that the grip of tho shears had dislocated tho fellow's nock, and, seeing a full-size- d cobra flying out toward them, they soemod to think that he was springing at them. As I had grasped tho head of the cobra with the shears. I had given tho wagon tire to the teacher, asking him to insert tho end again instantly that I drew the cobra out, for where one is you will usually find a second. I came back and throw tho rays of tho sun in again. Yes, thero were bright cobra's scales and another cobra wriggling. Loading iny pistol again 1 repeated the firing, hoping that ho would strike his head out, so that I could catch his head also. Squirm and strike as he did, his head did not come out of tho hole until I had fired many times; but it finally camo, and I secured him also. On drawing him out and examining him closely, we found fourteen pistol ball holes through his body, and still there was fight in him. And three of the wounds would have proved fatal in time; but. ho died making a splendid fight. We laid the cobras out on the veranda and meas-ured them. Ono of them measured 6 feet 11 inches, and the other 6 feet nnd 2 inches, than which one rarely finds a cobra larger. Their hide showed that they had evidontly been living there right among the flower pots that were tended daily and within 6 feet of our voranda, and within 12 feet of my study door, for weeks or montUs. Though tho cobra is the deadlit3t Borpent known, and thousands tif persons die of their bite yearly In India, no one in our mission has cvor been harmed by ono. RED NOSES. It ti .V.moit Hopeless to Try to Reform Them A Few Hint. One of the most tantalizing trials incident to the excursion through this vale of tears is in many cases the con-templation and consciousness of one's own nose. Fires may burn and floods destroy and death gather in his victims, still there is consolation nnd hope for tho future. But there's neither recom-pense nor future for an undesirable nose. It is a torment to you, a vex-ation to those who look upon you. Tho worst of it is there's no vacation from your own nose, nor release or divorce not even in Delaware no other nose possible for you. If there aren't more jewels in tho crown which that man or woman who has borne with a bad nasal feature in this world shall wear in tho next, there's no truth in the promises for futuro reward. But since we cannot cast this mem-ber from us however much it mny otTond, since it will assert itself with more energy than clognneo, wo must make such few attempts as lie in our power to subdue It vicious impulses. Tho two worst things possible to nn evilly disposed member is "redness" and "shininess." Now, redness has two or, ono may say, three primary causes. Bud digestion, bad circulation, and, it is needless to add, too great indulgence in tho flowing bowl. Of course, of tho latter we need say littlo in tVt mint Lin ta.tv 0mrli lin it. ltlrtll rt and remembered that when a woman's nose does get roseate from wine it is rodder than a man's possibly could be. But of tho former both may depend upon one and the same causo, tight clothing. Of course, this is only men-tioned as a scientific fact, for no woman ever wears anything tight. She can always put her two hands inside her corset with perfect ease. But removing this cause, faulty di-gestion may bo improved under a careful diet or under tho advice of a physician. FINEST PALACE IN THE WORLD Young (ieorge Vanderbllt's Aim Ills Es-tate In North Carolina. It is interesting to learn that an American gentleman, for, the lack of better employment, has set himself the task of constructing the most magnifi-cent house, to bo surrounded by tho most beautiful landscape and park effects in all the world, barring no palace, mansion, castle, royal or ducal county seat whatsoever. Everyone to his taste! To plan, perchance to achieve such a triumph as this is at least as rational an undertaking as to strive to own a horse that will trot a mile in two seconds less time than Maud S., or the fastest yacht afloat, or more miles of railway than any other man living. But it is a whim that very few could afford to gratify, and our readers may be prepared to hoar that the gontleman who has taken this extensive contract is at least a Vandor-bil- t Mr. George W. Vanderbilt The site of Mr. Vanderbilt's chateau or castle lies three miles from the lit-tle station of Biltmore on the Western North Carolina railroad, two milos east of Asheville. A small manufactur-ing and industrial community has sprung up at Biltmore solely on account of the Vanderbilt chateau. It is estimated that this great coun-try seat will require ton years for com-pletion and an expenditure of 8 or 10 millions of dollars. The whole scheme is a hopeless riddle to the unsophisti-cated natives In the vicinity; but they are not disposed to quarrel with the whim or question the sanity of a man who sees fit to furnish an army of laboring men with employment for a term of years in tthis manner. When it is finished, although money cannot buy some of the historical associations and other accessories which give many of the old world piles their chief dis-tinction, it is possible that the place will indeed be so rare and fine a thing in its way as to give "the House that Vanderbilt" real artistic distinction of its own an honorable and world-wid- o fame. We cannot help regarding it as a hopeful sign when Croesus begins to feel an impulse to try to do something or make something that shall excel anything of the kind yet accomplished, if it is only a noble house set in an ideal landscape. A Lake of molten Fire. Tho following remarkable account has been culled for "Notes for the Curious" from the writings of Joaquin Miller, and have reference to the vol-cano of Manna Loa in the Sandwich Islands. f After Visiting the American consul at Honolulu we start-ed for tho volcano, and after a hard, hot climb, reached the edge of a prec-ipice overhanging a lake of molten fire 10 miles in circumference and 100 feet below us. This is called by the natives Kiliunea, or god of fire. It is ' the largest activo volcano in the world, and Is 6,000 feet above the sea lovel. This molten- - mass went dashing against the cliffs on the opposite side with a noise like the deep and mighty surges of a stormy ocean. Waves of blood-re- d fiery liquid lava hurled their billows on an iron-boun- d headland and then rushed up the face of the clift to toss their gory spray high in the air. This restless, heaving lake of fire boil-ed and bubbled, nover remaining silent for a single instant. There is an Island on one side of this lake which tho fiery waves attack unceasingly, and with relentless fury, as If bent on hurl-ing it from its base. On the other side thore was a large cavity into which this burning mass rushed with a loud roar, breaking down In Its im-petuous, headlong career the gigantic stalactites that overhung tho mouth of this cavern, and flinging up the liquid material for the formation of new ones. It is terribly grand, magnificently sub-lime; but no word can adequately de-scribe such a scene, and no power but that of Omnipotence produce it. How Knight Are ITIadc. The ceremony of conferring the or-der of knighthood at the hands of the queen is not imposing. It is not, in fact, a public ceremonial and nly those are permitted to witness it who, by their official connection with the queen's household, may attend her. The loyal subject upon whom such dis-tinguished honor may be conferred may not even invite his "best man" nor the members of his personal circle of rela-tives or friends to bo present. Arrayed in whatever uniform he may be entitled to wear or whatever dress court etiquette and the time of day make proper, if he is a civilian, the subject presents himself before his sovereign and kneels at her royal feet. Seated on the throne chair, the queen lays the shining blade of a sword across the shoulder of the exalted beneficiary, and says, using the title which, she is about to give, "arise, Sir riain Mr. Cheltenham Brown is thus by a single stroke of tier majesty's sword transformed Into Sir Knight, and he is permitted, perchance, to kiss his sovereign's finger tips in grateful ac-knowledgment of the distinguished honor. In other cases than this of a plain knighthood, and when the title carries with it a decoration, the gra-cious queen, with her own royal hands, pins the glittering and much coveted bauble upon the coat of her elevated subject. This is all the ceremony con-nected with the conferring of knight-hood, but it is a groat deal to the re-cipient. Thejr Think. THB FAKMER'S WIFE. I think that a fanner like you ought to dig- - Nify his high calling each day; But 'tis hard to sit under your own vine and fig-ure up debts that you know you can't pay. TBS FAKMKK. I think that your friendly expression is tally wise and discreet; Suppose you now run and turn oil a pun-Ki- n pie that your husband can eat. Puck. Guessed It Flint Time. A story is told of a bright Bangor lad, whose mother is prominent in society circles and was entertaining a party of lady friends a few afternoons since. He, with boylike enthusiasm, was assisting in serving refreshments. Toward the latter part of the after-noon the little follow approached his mother, who was engaged in conversa-tion with the ladios. Holding a plate of cakes aloft, he remarked in a not at all subdued tone; "Say, mamma, I guess they liked 'em pretty well, for that's all we've got left." A hearty laugh went the rounds, in which the hostess joined, while the speaker de-parted wondering what caused so much amusement. Bangor Commer. cial. Texas Mocking Bird. Says a dealer in birds: --I am sur-prised that no ono has ever thought of capturing several hundred Texas mocking birds while young and taking them to Germany. Thero they wOuW be entrusted for a year or so to the peasants of the Hartz mountains dis-trict, where the nightingale, the gold-en thrush, the linnet, the bullfinch and dozens of sweet warblers fly wild. It would not be long before the Texas mockers would be singing all their songs sweetly. Then bring them back to the United States, turn them loose in their native woods, and let them teach their fellows the songs they had learned abroad. This is every bit as good an idea as that of Bonding, at the gov-ernment expense, a corps of colored cooks to the countries of Europe to show the iHsople how to make corn bread, and thus create an additional market for our American corn." Poor Haehclors! I never knew a bachelor who did not grumble about something or other, and yet the public, especially the feminine public, have an idea that he is a care-free, happy-go-luck- enviable sort of a being, who has nothing to do but amuse himself, the question of finances being evidently an unconsidered trifle. I wish they could ' see this particular specimen, with a bad cold in his head, vainly searching for a handkerchief, or sewing a button on the top rim of his trousers with a misfit needla and a job-lo- t of thread. N. Y. Critic. Texan Ideas. Cleanliness and honesty are as mucn virtues in the journal seeking public patronage as an individual trying to steer clear of hades. The great want of the ago the long-fe-lt want, the broad, deep and unsatis-fied want is honesty, vhole sale and retail, in politics, in business, In social and religious life sixteen ounces to the pound, thirty-si-x inches to the yard, one hundred cents to the dollar, performances to every promise, and truth in every utterance. That's what's the matter. Texas Farm and Ranch. Hints for Short Sermons. Florence is a little girl who is just learning to go to church. Last Sun-day when she came home her mother asked her what she thought-o- f the sermon. "Ugh," was the Irreverent answer, ' 'me silted an' Bitted an' Bitted and got drefful tired, an1 tho p'eacher said an' said an' said an' said an' keepnd on sayin'." Washington Star. . . t , Titer Are Asked. "Why don't more girls get married?" is a problem that is just now agitating the minds of some of tho good women of this community, who are consuming whole columns of the newspapers in answering the question. Of course it would be a heartless thing to suggest as a reason that it is because they are not asked. The Front Room. There is room for everybody in this big world. Friction comes . from the fact that too many want the front room. Scranton Truth. ' Good Advice. 1 '". . In reading Bulwer gives this advice In learning what others have thought it is well to keep in practice the power of thinking for oneself. When an au-thor has added to your knowledge, pause and consider if you can add nothing to his. Hallroad Requirement. "So you want a railroad position, mused tho superintendent. "Do you think you could give an intelligent ao , count of an accident?" "Yes, sir. I am sure I could." "Then I think we have no place for you. " Hard to match. --Why don't you jet a wig, Perkins?" 'I would, but my hair is so hard t Batch." Drake's Magazine. A Demand. There is a demand for base ball players in Chicago. Reliable men w ho will not go out on strikes are wanted. ST" . it 4 . |