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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1879)
February, 1879. THE WEST SHORE. he went away ami left him puzzled at Iter Btrange speech and fierce look. Poor little prince! he did not know that in the heart of that oruel woman hii death wan already planned. But so it was. She feared that he might stand in Nero's way. His beauty and his popularity might at any timo make him a powerful rival of her son. Moreover, the circumstance of the waxen tablet, ami his graceful, pathetic song, showed her that his regard for hii cousin was an obstacle which oould be removed only by his death. For she had determined that the royal Octavia must mate only with her sou. That night the llerce empress paced the marble floor of her chamber with tho tread of a tigress, while Nero, her sou, listeiied to tho .murderous schemes that were to make his throne secure from any danger, either imaginary or real In that midnight session he took hia first lesson in crime, for before another morning ho was a murderer. In another chamber of that ltoman home, within sound of the plash of the fountain in the atrium, lay Britanicua. With one arm thrown above his head and the other rosting on tho soft ermine of the couch, his dark hair streaming over his pillow, and the soft, yollow light of tho southern moon shining on his Italian face, he looked too fair to die. Undor his pillow was the waxen tablet, and he had sunk to sleep with the namo of Octavia on hii now uiet lips. He never woke again. When tho sun rose over the Appenines it shone on a cold, dead face in the marble chambor ; shone on the stiffened form of the young Homan prince, whose valen tine had wrought hia doom. The waxen tablet had been poisoned. Many a young Homan lad has, sinco then, be stowed gift and recoived gifts at the Liiperoalia, and happy youths and maidens every year write their valentine without any thought of Britan icua, but never does the 14th of February oome round, but that I am reminded of the hapless little prince whose life went out on that festival day, in that old Palatine palace, where so many of his name held away. Jfrs. Omrgt, in Cut. Itmtor. A CAT HTOKY. Four men in India, partners in business, bought several bales of India rugs, and also some cotton bales, mat tne rau migni not destroy the ootton. thev purchased a rat They agreed that each of the four ahould own a Krticular lea of the cat; and each adorned with ads and other ornaments the leg thus appor tioned to him. The oat, by accident, injured one of it lag. The owner of that member wound around it a rag soaked in oiL The cat, going too near the hearth, set this rag on fire, and, being in great pain, rushed in among the ootton bale where she was ac customed to hunt rats. The ootton and rug thereby took lire and thev were burned up a total lot. Tha three other parties brought a suit to recover the value of the goods destroyed against tha fourth partner, who owned this particular lea of the eat. The judge etamiuod the oaes, and decided thus: "The lag that bad the oiled rag on it was hurt: the rat could not use that leg; in fact, it bald up that leg, and ran with tb other three legs. 1 he three unhurt legs, tnereiore, carrwi the Are to the ootton, and are alone culpable The injured teg i not to be blamed. The three partner who owned the three leg with which the oat ran to the ootton will pay th whole vain of the bale to tb iiartoer who was the proprietor of th injured lag. Vary I nuir. Dorm pleasantly sat down at breakfast th other morning, anil nis loving wne sain: iwi in, dot your head ache!" He replied with .Mil.. ,. ,, I .l.eoote "No: why should VOUMSV' And ab aatd back: "Well, dear, you oatne in at 3 o clock this morning, and a yoa wuuin t bang your bat on tb rack, you put lb rack .1 it. an, I uiil von'd nana every bat in th bona on it; and I thought your head might ache. 'HAT THE KNOUSI! THINK OF OUH STATU MIDI A correspondent of the London 7'uur has been in this country, and touches off our State pride in this manlier. The rivalry which prevails among all the States of tho American I'niou is osiecially keen and conspicuous in Minnesota. Kaoh State, from rugged Maine to sunny Florida, and from imperial New York to golden California, con siders that no other cue rivals or exoela it The citizens of each speak as if they had been placed by a kind I'rnvulence on the moat favored apnt of the whole earth, and they regard the stranger who doubts whether their good fortune lie wholly exceptional as a eraon who is utterly gnorant ami inexcusably prejudiced. Indeed, a now comer will ingratiate himself the most easily with tho citizeus of a particular Stat if ho can look uNin all other, for the time being, through their spectacles. His wisest oours win ne to copy mo oxampio oi tne frenchman ridiculod and stigmatized by the lata lieu. Sir Charlea Napier. That renowned soldier and occeutric man ontertaiued the conviction that all Frenchmen are hyooritca, and he illustrated this harsh and ungenerous, opinion by saying, "If a r ronuhmaii were to go to hell, ho would put on an overcoat, compliment the Devil on the fineness of the climate, and add that, if any thing, it was rather chilly." I once said some thing to a I'ennaylvanian, alike laudatory and merited, with regard to his State. He accepted the compliment a a matter of oourae, and replied, "That'aeo; Penusylvnia is best in every thing. " Traveling iu 'olorado shortly alter the late total eclipse of the sun, I remarked, in the presence of several citizens, it was bTtonate that the weather had lieen so favorable there for the purpose of observation. One of them told me, in reply, "Sir, Colorado can beat th world in eclipses, as in everything lit. I lieae instances might !' multiplied. I hey all exhibit that pride in one' State, which is a notable a characteristic of a United Stat cititen as uride in hi country. When 'apt. Ilaail lull traveled in nortn America lie bitterly conilaiuod of the pertinacity with which everyone demanded lua opinion about it, and of tha extreme annoyance which was manifested if the reply was not unreservedly complimentary. It is far leas common now thau in bygone days for a stranger to be ques tioned concerning his views of the Nepabllo a a whole, and to be expected to draw a flatter ing comparison between it and what the igno rant call the ellete monarchies oi r.uroiie. It is far more probable that he will br asked by the citizens of one Slat what he thinks of another, and then, mil. - he display a little of that French Hiliteii.aa winch Sir Charles Napier detested, he will give as macb offence as Capt. Basil Mall gave when he denied that the I'nited States wa the only land worth living in. Home .lawxijt. In the true idea ? home thore are other tios than that of property. It ia the parental bond which sweetly clasp and crowns all othsr bonds of home. Th j .y 1 1. " burst from the lixs of llinuab and of KluaUi.. aud Mary ia exultant song, is th peculiar joy and glory of woman. Antipathy to that song ia tbs fearful mark of modern degeueray.y. The true ideal is pictured iu that historic s (tie that will never lack import, aud may well he brought to mind in tins day. A lady friend oalla at the house of Cornelia, and takes pleasure in show, mg her jewels, and st length turns to Colit, saying: "Where are yor Jewels!" Cornelia retires for a moment, and relume leading her two eons, awl ayiug with true womanly dignity i "Tbs are my jewels." Taw Itomau matroa, wiser than many ia oar day, know what wa woman' bigbeet title ami hssjfceet throsss of usefulness and power. Happy tbs boss that has it growing olivs plant. CHAFF. Tiik colored brother in a Virginian church just hit the mil ou tho head whan he prayed at the nhtai, of whitji ttrolto.r'ri ufiniu. "I ..r.1 breas de lirudder to whom we ha listened to so patiently." A morrnuiH at Cornell, lecturing on the effects of the wind in some western forest, re. marked: "In traveling along the road, I aven sometimes fouud the logs hound and twisted to such an extent that a mule couldn't climb over thorn, so I went round." An honest Hibernian, trundling a Sand earl containing all his mnvahlos, was accosted by a irienil wim: "vt ell, I'atrlok, you are moving again, I see." "Faith I am," replied h. "Tim times are so hard it's a dale cheaper hiring handcart than aying rlnta." A URU boy whoa father wa rather an ini moderate drinker of the moderaU kind, one day apraiuod hia wrist, and hia mother utilized the whiaky in her husband' bottle to bathe tha little fellow's wrist with. After a while the pain began to elwlo, and the child surprised his mother by exclaiming, "Ms, has pa gut a sprain cd throat?" "Do you make any reduction to a minister'" aid a young lady in Itiohmond tha other weak to a salesman. "Always, Are you a minister' wife!" "Oh, no, I am not married,'' aaid th lady, blushing. "DaughUr, their "No." I'll" tradesman looked puzzled "I am engaged to a theological student,' said she Tb indue tion waa mail. A mi mi negro bootblack nlsasrved a neigh bor poring manly over a news paper, whereupon ho addressed him thus: "Julius, what are you looking l dsl paper for? You uan't read." "Oo away, oried the other indigtiantlyt "gueea I .an read; I 'a big enuff for del." 'TUg snuff," retorted the other scornfully, "da! ale t nuffln' A oow's big enough to oalohmiosv, btrlsbaoaa't. "
