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About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1884)
Old John. plelen WilmaniJ Ha tu either natural-born thief, or tfe hounstait man living. Ha would (teal, and be once served a Utiu In state prison. When be came out, his queer old face wu ai Inno cent ai a baby's, and be bad not the least idea wbat he bud been "Jugged" for. "Why, John," said a neighbor, "you did take the bog, didn't your "Ye-as, I took It, but the wldder and ber children waa hungry. I was hungry my elf, or 'lowed I would be toon." "But It wasn't yours." "Dont know 'bout that The cattle on thousand bills is mine.' said the Lord, an I'm one of the Lord'i children." Tbiawat hi constant excuse. Property right, and the bolstering up of property righta by U was all a net-work of subter fuge covering up humanity'! righta. Not that be argued it this way; be hardly bad sense enough to argue at all. He was a child of nature and lived as close to nature as the herds of the fluid. He worked when he could get work, and when be could not, be boarded at the "wid der'a," "The 'wldder was a powerful weakly woman." The only thing about her that seemed np to average was ber appetite. But John asserted that somehow ber "wittles didn't do her no good." Neither did me licine seem to help her. Hive tried everything that ever was advertised If ibe could raise money w buy it, or If John could steal It for ber, and yet she was weakly. The neighbors all knew Jobn would steal, but It did no good to accuse bun of it. The accusation always bad the effect of shaming the one who mads it, instead of John. No on could call bira a thief and the bouest surprise and Injured innocence of bis boinoly face and not feel rebuked. "Damn you," said a neighbor, blustering because be felt self -aw used in accusing this bumble, patient and yet manly creature, "Damn you, didn't you take a side of meat out of my smoke-bowie night afore List!" "Yaas, sur." John drawled. "Wbat did you do It fori" "The widder was out o' grub." "Why didn't you come and ask me for meat like a Christian r "A Christian, surf" "Yea, a Christian." "Alnt ye a kind o' tangled in your Ideeat Christians bed all things in common; wldder 's bed as much as any." - "But didu t you know that meat was miner . "Ain't you the Lord'sF "I bope so." "And don't be intend for us all to her gnibT "Yes; when we earn It" "I work when I can get work, and the wid der, she's one of the Lord's helpless ones. Do you 'low he'll throw off on bis helpless aud bis porer "But still you should have asked me for the meat" "Hoe here, mister, you mougbt a let me bad It, and then agin you mougbtn't I knowed the Lord bed it fur me, aud I knowed be hedu't 'pinted watchmen to keep It from wo. Ho I Just nut 'roily took it." The ninn looked Into the depths of old John's clear blue eyes, way down to where a baby soul faced bim in angelic Innocence, and he turned uixra himself In dumb wrath, hum bled aud worsted by the eucouutur, aud walked away pondering. A few days afterwards John went to him to borrow bis gun. "lie must kill some game," he said, "or they would be out of meat; a side of bacon dldu't last that family long." The man lent him the gun and a horse to ride, aud saw no mora of bim until the next evening. "What luck did you havol" the neighbor asked. "Middled," snld John, "notliln' to brag on, but I got a bit o meat such as it was." The nelghlior wondered a little why John had not brought him a piece, (knowing that he was as geuerous with his own tliiugs as with other people's.) but supposed be bad only killed a fawn aud that there was not enough of it to divide. But the fact was, John had got tired of bearing the continual anxiety about meat and bud determluod to give bis mind a rest for a few weeks; so he had killed 3-year-old beef belonging to the man of whom be borrowed the gun aud salted it way carefully. 1 ' It Is strange that the sly manner In which be took the property of others should fall to put the seal of condemnation on bis acts In bis own and bis neighbor's eyes; but It did not appear to do so. He wanted it; be knew be would be opposed if he took it oieuly; moreover, It seemed beggarly to ask. There fore be chose between existing evils and stole it . ' Pin ing the last harvest the poor old crea ture ever saw he worked like a sailor and named the best wages going. But the "wld der and young ones" were out of clothes; and never a drop of patent medicine had there beeu iu the house for months. 80 tho money melted down fast; but thechildien were well provided for and the "mantel-tree shelf" was crowded with a choice assortment of bottles and boxes Ayer's Sarsaparilla, Tutt's Tills, Samaritan Nervine, Vinegar Bitters, Llnd sey's Blood Searcher, Catarrh I'.emedy and Cougn l'astlloa. Even Rough on IUU was there, although invisible; poor old John be ' lug the kind of rat the whole business was rough on. But John bad uo Idea that this family imposed ou bim, or thai they were under any obligations to him. Aud the family were equally ignorant of tlis situation. The widow bemoaned to her neighbors the natu ral generosity that rendered it Impossible for ber to refuse bouse room to the "slifless erit 4 trr; and the elder children were Insolent to bim and guyed bim unmercifully. All but Sary J sue. 1 Sary Jano was only S years old and a cripple. She was the least mite of a child ever seta for ber age, and ha I never borne ber weight on ber dear little pale feet In all ' ber life, fchry Jane could not have been as smart as the others; at all events she bad no mors sense than to love old John. She would sit tltwe to his bead and keep the fiius off of him as n took bis noouday nap, and would even shake her tiny fist at her big, Tugb brothers when they tormented biiu in ber iireseuca. John carried the little one on hU shoulder over the neighturhood, and was delighted when Ike klud-oearted women gavs ber half worn garments and superannuated toys. Ths "wUlder" used to tell John how Sary Jane "mourned" for bim when be was gone; and Jobn would listen with such glowing ryes it seemed as if bis whole soul was ab sorbed iu the narration. "Yea," the widow would drawl out, "she won't go to bed without you; site just humps along to tbe dour, and tbar ahs sits as still as a mouse, bent for'ard, and a lurtulu' with all tier years. It's no use to tell ber you won't mine; she just jerks her shoulders, impatient like, as if aim' us to keep ilill, and tuar sits aits till tbe falls edorp." As I said bej ore, the harvest was past and the money was sjwut; and Rary Jane bad got thewUhnf ber heart She bad a pair of shot and two tiny red stockings. It did not rppt-ar to be her iuteution to wear them, though she put them on and off many times .jcb day, aud rarely suffered tbeui out of ber bands or lap, even while eating or sleeping. It was part of Join's busiuew to feed this frail, sickly creature. It s emed to bim that she never wished to rat And only did so to please mm. He cut ber food into small bits and enticed ber to take it by pretending to cry. Her bold on existence was like that of some air plant; every principle of life con tained in the coarser elements was so much death to ber. "I'm mightily afear'd of losia' hit" John often said to tbe widow. But be did not lose ber, as we shall see. One night Sary Jane sat In the open door and watched for him. It was dark In the cabin, and a dismal wind soughed mourn fully through the forest trees that grew up to the very eaves. Had she been older she might ha vs been frightened or lonely; but she was neither. She was simply intent on seeing her dear friend. It was getting very late. Sary Jane would relax ber interest and loss herself momentarily in sleep; then tbe would rescue her faculties to look out roost earnestly for a few moments longer. Pres ently she heard a rustling among the grass, and leaning forward cried eagerly, "Don! Donr "Yes, boncy," answered a faint voice. Then there was the silence of expectation; an expectation not realized; for the baby voice spoke again out of the deep bush of listening "Don I Donr And still no answer. Sobs began to tear their way from tbe long waiting baby bosom, which swelled into a touching cry, mingled with "Mammy I Mammy!" The mother woke up and tried to take the child from the door, which only Increased her screams. Then, somehow or other, she knew that John was out there and could not come in. She lit a candle, aroused the larger boys and went out to where the poor fellow was lying In ' pool of bis own blood, riddled with buckshot They got him In the house and on tbe bed. They checked tbe flow of blood from bis many wounds. He still breathed though be was partly unconscious. In tbe morning a doctor came, said there was no bope and went away. About noon John opened his eyes and looked around. Tbe widow placed Sary Jane close up where he could see ber. He put his arm around ber with difficulty; then he looked from fa o to face; many neighbors were there. He tried to speak; it was evideut he bad something to say to Deacon Wilson; but not until the heat of the day bad passed and the cool twilight had come could be muster strength. "What's your 'pinion ou tbe situation, deacon r be asked. The deacon said he hoped he would get well "No;" said John, "this lays me out But from your ttau'polnt, now, what do you 'spose my chances over there is worth! I'm not skeered, but I d like your Ideea." "Wbat is it about the the ttealln'. JohnP "HteallnT said John; "I wa'nt a ttealln'. Why, look at this f amerly ; not a bit 0' meat in the bouse. I was 'bleeged to hev it I'd a heap ruther be whore I am than in the tracks of the man that shot me heap ruther. Think I'd kill a fuller fitter for takin' the Lord's sulwtance to feed such helpless things as thisf" He pressed tbe baby closer to him. "Why, I'd be meaner than the devil not to do it H'pose I don't know I take my life in my hands when I start out after night to get grubf 'Course I know the rusk. But what do you reckon the Lord ud say to me if I neglected my duty by 'em. 'Feed my lnmbs;' them's Hit words; 'Feed my lambs.' That's all right, deacon; my ways the Lord won't go agin'; but it hurts me now to think I never waa a prayin' man, I don't know nothiu' about savin' grace and it 'pears like I mought a-loved the dear Redeemer better thau I did. I can t believe as anyonutligoiu' to bo everlastin'ly lost I believe even them pore crotures that hoards up meat in bouses and bas more flour and pertatus than they can eat and more clothes than they cau war, and more money than they can spend will her another chance after tub life aud will event'ally repent and get forgiveness. But I tell you, deacon, I waut to go to heaven direct. I want to tee the Lord. I waut Him to 'pint some one in my place to take keer of these helpless ones. I could'tdie if I knowed this little child would be left in want" "You lack savin' grace, John," said the deacon. "You must pray for forgiveness; the Lord can pardon tbe vilest sinner that ever lived, through the power of prayer." "But deacon, I ain't no sins to forgive. ain't afear'd to face the Lord; why, bless His lovin' soul, He was a man of sorrors, just like me, and he s not goin' to shet His heart agin mo, I don't need to humble myself be fore Him. Him aud nie's had a mighty close understAiidlu' for vers and yen. 'Visit the wldders in their atlllctioii,' says Uo.'aiU take keer of the orphans.' 'Feed my lambs,' set He, aud I done it." "Works without faith," says the deacon. "are barren. Saving grace comes of prayer and faith." "I ain't never prayed none," said Johu, and it's too Into now." Ho turned his face away and fell asleep. The watchers thought he would die about mliUilght, but he slept quietly aud painlessly. and in the morning took soma refreshment He lingered three days, occasionally opening his eyes and speaking to Sary Jane, who sat perched close up to bim the greater part of the time. Sue bad ber shoes aud red stock ings there with ber. Almost the last word be spoke was to call attention to ber. "She's mighty pah and peeked lookiu' " he said. "Bring me some grub and led me feed her." They brought bim some chicken cut in small bit. "Take a bite, honey," he said. She shook her head. "John'llcry ef you don't" He put his poor, bloodless hand over his eyes. Sue looked at him .w ith a show of anxiety aud opeued her mouth like a bird. But she could not twallow the food. "It chokes me sroat," she said. I ndeed, the little throat was swelling with long repressed sobs. Her pa tieut soul could bold out no longer agaiust the grief and anxiety that beset her. "Dou't cry, houry," said John; "cuddle down to pore old Johu and let's both go to sleep. Mebby wc'l wake up feeliu' better." It was late In the evening when the two fell asleep. They rested so quietly that the watchers, worn out and tired, dropped iuto easy positions and dosed. Just at the break of dav, one a neighbor went to theia The baby lay across John's arm slantingwise, and bit liand clased one of her slender ankle. The band w as ash-colored, and it w at cola as clay. It had communicated its chill and its pallor to the little leg in its grasp. "Take ber away, quick, said the widow, reaching the belside. But the neighbor did not take ber away. He turned suddenly and grasped tbe widow's bands. "Ulory to OodI" he said. "Praised be nis boly nam, for His vision execedeth the wisdom of man. Sister, they fell asleep to gether; and tbey have waked up feeling bet ter. 1 know it because they are both in heaven." Tall relate I talk. In Indiana, where hoop-poles are classed as "timber," a farmer has succeeded in raising potato stalk over nine feet high. Hs trim med off all ths side branches) aiid supported it by means of a stake. Tbey make paper barrels at Akron, Ohio. Ansllrlnms In American Literature At'aitic Monthly Ibrlieve it was Mr. Higginson who said that it )ms takeu a hundred years to eliiuiuutH the lurk from American literature; hut there are several other liuering delusions which we have un lawful! y inherited from oar English an 0 s rv. I have lately found myself dissatisfied with Italy and the Medi terranean (ea. because the skies of one and the waters of the other failed to keep up their time-honored reputation for unoquuled blueness. I do not need to explain that English writers have commented from century to century upon the contract betweon the Italian atmosphere and their own, and have celebrated the glories of the former. The color of the waves that beat against the shores of Great Britain is apt to be a dull brown ; in many places it seenii as if the London fogs were the foun tains from which the sea is replenished. But we Americans go on placidly mak ing our copy-books say over and over again that the sky is blue in Italy, at if there were not a bluer and a more brilliant one over our own heads. Soft and tender the heavens may be in Venice and above Lake Como, but there is a tenderness and a softness of clea light and of shadowed light in New England of which we should do well to sing tho beauty and the glory. Just in the same fashion we mourn over the gloominess of autumn, as, if ours were the antunin of Thompson, or of Cooper, or of anv poet who wrote of fogs, and darkness, and shortness of days, and geueral ileatu ana suaaen ness and chill despair. Here there is little dull weather until winter is fairly come, but through the Ion?, bright months of September and October, and sometimes the whole of the condemned and dreaded November, the days' not nearly such short days as in England are bright and invigorating, but we are brought up ou English books, and our delusions of this sort are, after all, rare disadvantages, that never can counterbalance the greater mercies and delights of our inherited literature. A Marreneral Failure. Philadelphia CalL "Yes, George, dear, I accept your proffered love, and will be your wife, and a pair of strong arms clasped her tightly, lovingly. "You have heard, of course," she said, from under the lapel of his coat, "that father has failed ?'' "No. I hadn't heard that," said George, weakening his grip a little. "Yes," she continued, nestling more closely to him ; "he failed last week, and-" "That puts a different phase upon matters entirely." said Georce. strug gling to break loose, but the girl held him fast and continued : "And settled with his creditors at 2 cents on the dollar, and " "Nay, dearest," interrupted George, rnssionatelv. "do not speak of such sor did matters. Let us think only of love and the happiness which the bright future has in store " But, gentle reader, let ns leave them in their youug love and perfect trust. Hunting and Fishing; Id Xorway. St Louis Globe-Democrat Norway was once an anglers' para diso, and good trout fishing is still to be had iu its remoter districts. Salmon formerly abounded iu the fjords iuto which rivers doscend, but these estunries are now closelv netted, being for the most part either leased by Brit ish anglers or trapped by the natives. The upper waters of the best rivers are barred to salmon by impasbuble dams. The last summer was unusually dry in Scandinavia, and the sport was ioor. Game of one kind or another, however, is generally to be found by tho hunts man. Wild beasts exist in the more distant regions in Considerable variety, though not in great numbers. There are plenty of ptarmigan, red grouse and black grouse, and about the lakes and fjords there are ducks, coots and herons by the thousand. Didn't Vet I lie ood of It, Honiehow, Nashville Journal.) Undo Alie was fond of 'possum. Having caught one, ho got his wife, Dinah, to cook it for him, mid re quested thnt it should be placed in tho cupboard until morning. The favor was granted, and Uncle Abe lay down before a log tire and went to sleep. His sou, Mose, coming iu late, got the 'pos sum and ate it, laid the bones down at Uncle Abe's head, smeared the old man's face and hands with the grease, and went to bed. The following morn ing Uncle Abe awoke and asked Dinah : "Whar's dut 'possum?" "In do cupbeard," which sho ex plored and found it missing. Returning, Dinah inquired: "Ale, when did you eat dnt 'possum ? Dar's de bones at your head, yer face smells of 'possum, and yer ban's are greasy." "Maybe I did eat dat 'possum, but if I did it dun mo less good dan any 'pos aum I ever et." The London Telegraph. Mr. Snla's well known renin rk that as social correspondent of The Daily Telegraph he had been paid like an ambassador and treated like a prince, may be parodied by the political leader writers on that pajier since the new and falatial ofliees have beeu built, says 'igaro. There is in this building a suite of rooms which is placed at the diiH)sal of the leader writers of the day, who nifty, bv giving notice, secure a comfortable betVroom on the premises after their journalistic labors are over, as well as hospitable entertainment the following morning. This is certainly doing tho thing exceptionally well. I'rovldenre and the Crepe. Macon Telegraph.) "Your crop seems to be considerably in the grass," said a passer-by to a negro who sat ou a fence. "Yes, sail, Gen. Green's dun got it." "Did yon over plant yourself?" "No, sab.; planted flout 'null'." "Why didn't yon plow it?" "Wife tuck sick. She does the plowin' furdis place." "What do you do?" "What dots I do? I' preaches, daft what I docs. Ef Providence comes along an' makes Je 'oman sick, I kan't help it Ise been called, I has." Tonkers Gazette: The fashionablt Sua in now writes her nick-natuu' Sioux.") PERE HYACINTHE'S WIFE. TbeHtery ef the Ysssc Tf smas Who Wept aad Despaired ef the 'u tare. Seneca County (Ohio) Letter.) The prominence attained by the re formed Catholic, Father Hyacinthe, or the Kev. Charles Loyson, who is now on a short visit to this country, will make of interest an item concerning his wife. Mrs. Loyson was Emily J . But terneld. the youngest of the six children of a worthy man who lived in Melmore, Senoca county, many years ago. When young girl her father was killed while engaged in moving the Methodist church at Melmore. Emily Butterfleld was a very pretty girl witli regular features, and long, heavy auburn hair. She was wittv, a good conversationalist, and a leader in the little society of Melmore, where she acquired a common school education. Soon after the death of her father, Dr. H. B. Martin, who was reading medicine, found her sitting on a stone near her home cryiug. He kindly inquired the cause, and she re plied : "Oh ! IU never amount to any thing." Mr. Martin comforted her by telling her she would yet traverse the wide world and see all people and countries; that she would yet stand on volcanio mountains.-- Little did he think the prophecy would come true, but she remembered it, and one day after viewing Vesuvius she wrote to the doctor, reminding him of the prophecy. In about 185 she married Mr. Mer riman, and with him went to New York citv, where two children, a boy and a girl, were born. The daughter after ward died. Mr. Merriman became dis sipated, and she left him aud went to Europe, taking her son with her for the purpose of educating him. Of her life in Europe little is known here. There she became acquainted with the strong minded Catholic priest, and on his leaving the Catholio church became his wife. She is now about 50 years of age. In a recent letter to her brother, C. W. Buttertteld, in Wisconsin, she expressed a wish to again visit her old friends in Seneca county, and declared her intention to do ao if it is possible. V'pte fan and Larks. Croffut's New York Letter. The story that Lady Mandeville has been robbed of valuable jewels causes a ripple of not unkind merriment here. The fact is, that the Mandevilles are quite poor, getting along by various makeshifts. His lordship has such ex pensive habits that his father has long since cut him off with a very small al lowance, and they came to America merely to "boom "the Vanderbilts" in New York society. Lady Mandeville is Mrs. Yanderbilt's sister-in-law. Mandeville is up to fun and larks. Lost summer the Buffalo Bill com bination gave an Iudian raiding exhibi tion at Newport before the upper ten there assembled. When the stage coach came dashing down into the ravine where the "road agents" lay in wait for it what was the astonishment of the audience to see Lord Mandeville, Isaao Bell, Jr., Kipp, and other New York swells on top of the coach yelling and tiring off their guns at the robbers 1 Mandeville doesn't stop at the Vander bilts with his wife, bnt occupies bache lor quarters np Madison avenue. I haven't seen him lately, and it is pos sible that he bus by this time joined the great B. B. combination as one of the regular performers. If his old father should happen to die, though, I sup pose he would quit the troupe where ever it might happen to be, go to Eng land, take his seat in the house of lords, and enter upon his dukedom, leaving poor Buffalo Bill iu the lurch. Why the Public Won't Bar Stock. "Investor" In Detroit Free Press.) There exists now, in New York, a regiment of millionaires, that between them own so many stocks and bonds that they could capture all the floating money in the country, and lock it up, through the sale of these stocks and bonds, if the people were only fools enough to give it to them in exchange for these securities. Once that the money was iu the hands of these men, it would be locked up, and a financial bank panio would be precipitated on the country by locking up money and by a railroad war for the purpose of buving back these securities, at half price or quarter price. This process would double or quadruple the already overgrown fortunes of these million aires. Need you wonder that the generous public decline to subscribe to such a plan to make the rich man richer and the poor man poorer? On the other hand, if the public sells stocks short, these millionaires have it in their power to put up the market on them, and to capture their margins, as happened recently. So that either way that the public- trade in Wall street buying long or selling short they are in a trap and lose their money. Kelt Railroad Bound the World. Eastern Letter.) But why confine the enterprise of railroad connection to the two Ameri can continents, when Asia and Europe may also be embraced within a colossal system of world-wide improvement ? " It is only thirty miles across Behring strait. It is 3,(KHJ miles across the Atlantic ocean. The inevitable monot ony and increasing peril of long voy ages, in ships of ever-questionable stancliness. are becoming quite insuf ferable. Were I now as young as my own children, I should expect to live to enjoy the pleasure of visiting and run ning over Europe by way of Alaska, Siberia and liussia. Thenceforth, most travelers from the United States, whether for business or pleasure, would contemplate journeying to Europe, Asia and South America, or to any oue of those grand divisions of our globe, by land. Kashmir' I'lnallac harden. Ex;hanpe.J The floating gardens at Kashmir in eastern Asia seem to be one of the wonders of the world. They cover an expanse of water alwut nine miles in circumference, and on a tnbuoil of grases and a juatic plants they grow melons and cucumln-rs, and a crop is raised of creat value. One". Meat Aaother's) PoI.ob Cincinnati fcoquirer.j r, 1... i.:t . hnnu and he dies in a nnaaes uno , . , few hours. A rattlesnake'a bite has . " .1 fatal in three hours frequently - . . on horse-flesh; yet a bog will eat and grow fat on snakes. Some years ago there was a valuable island near Mil waukee. The soil was rich, and the owner offered to give it to any one who would live there, as the snakes were so bad. A chap having a knowledge of natural history got a drove of hogs and dumped them on the island. lnug& 1 ... .1.1 l.: nnlvtlMrlosl the snakes uit tue uugs, i v7: .1. . i,rnt ao fond of snakes that they'd leave a corn-fiold to root into a snake hole, and now tne ieiiow uw a , .!,, rnr,ln on the island, and HOT waiici o . , '. has made an independent fortune, i lie island is as clear 01 suuaos " ti, nr on.i rnat bta bo th ruminating animals. Now, a bundle of laurel leaves will poison the ox, but tue goat win eat n,, o,,i irmw fat. Man and the in- VllCiu aevav sjj'" dieenons animals of Africa pay no more attention to the uite 01 tne tsetse uj than Jiui our ot to that of the cad-fly. VUW. V. w vet its bite is fatal to all European ani mals, ana tne natives con uuv aoey uu alfl where it exists. The seeds and fruit of the strychnos plant . ! l (from abeca comes sirycumuej u WiHvnnisnn to a human being or a dog; yet the horn-bills in India will eat enough in a day to kiu an army 01 peo ple. A few drops of nicotine will kill a . ... . . .1 v. . ii. cat, and tobacco is ueaiu to nee, momo and other vermin, but in Australia they have an animul called the "koala," or native bear, whioh is inordinately fond of tobacco in any form. They have been known to cnew ana swaiiow tue black Victoria strong tobacco with rel ish, and one of them ate up the whole of a foul pipe-stem, nicotine aud all. Why Parti W ent Abroad. Boston Herald. Can vou tell me why Patti refused so many years to sing in her native coun try? 1 believe lean, iier genius uuuueu here, but no one saw it. Her art de velniied here, but no one recognized it. She might have stayed here until she was 145 for all the good it wouia nave done her, but the, moment she reached the capitals of Europe and dropped from her mouth pearls of song and po etic phrases of melody, both genius and art were recoguized and welcomed. "Here," said they, "is genius. We must care for it," and that is precisely what they did, using, but not abusing, her marvelous powers, in all the great capitals of the world until she wore a diadem on her brow, her coffers were overflowing with golden shekels, and every drummer in the universe knew her to be A .No. 1 and warranted not to fade. What is that, "not to fade?" Ha! How little the uutraveled Ameri can knows about the Patti of ten and fifteen years ago! If she is beautiful to-day, she was radiant then. She has grown stouter; the lines in her face are deeper ; she is susceptible to fatigue; late suppers do not agree with her; she avoids society. In other words, she is fading. Her voice magnificent, her methods perfect with closed eyes a poet may sit and rhapsodize as she sings Boating tar, lar auove m tne very uppermost air, soaring with the birds iu their most ambitious flight but she has faded, and is not the Patti physi cally to-day she was ten years ago. She is not the Patti 'vocally she was ten years ago. She l.ont Her Handkerchief. Chicago Inter Ocean.) A laughable' incident occurred the other evening ou a south side car. A nice, modest-looking girl took her seat near the front door of the car next to a well-dre8ed middle-aged gentleman. She laid her dainty lace handkerchief in her lap to adjust her hat just as the car door was opened and a gust of wind sent the delicate lace 'kerchief into the lap of her neighbor. She hes itated about reaching for it, when the gentleman, glancing downwards, beheld something white, and being a little near-sighted, at once jumped to the conclusion that he had met with a dis aster and lost a button and his shirt needed attention. He swiftly flapped his overcoat across his lnp with his left, and with his right hand tucked the offending linen out of sight in a jiffy. Several persons who noticed the act were convulsed with laughter, and the gentleman, not dreaming of the real cause, soon after left the car. If any south side wife has this week found anv daintv lace handkerchief about her husband's clothes Blie need not be jeal ousit was only a case of mistaken identity. The -ii. XV. n moat. "Caspar's" New York Letter. This old stone, it appears, was lying around at the hospital for a long time, having been rejected as a revolutionary relio by competent judges, when some one got the notion of malting it a relic anyway, had it inserted in the building and an inscription cut in it setting forth that it was the identical stone made sacred by the boots of the father of the country when he took the oath of office as aforesaid. Is the world only fleet ing show, anyway? Is it all a fraud, a dolusion and a scare ? Was there really ever such a person as G. W., and did he ever do anything anywhere ? No won der the agnostics are increasing. Here's a big stone that has been regarded as a sacred relio for almost a generation now declared to have no more historio value than an old cobblestone, and the great nineteenth century winding up at that. t'er the Wake of "Harmony."' Argosy. The other day a friend refurnished his house from top to bottom to please his charming but slightly capricious wife. No sooner comfortably (or un comfortably) settled, than they discov ered the shape of the rooms and the gene" ul style of the house to be out of harmony with the furnitnre. This was unendurable. There was only one thing to be done. Having bought the furniture for the house, they must now build a house for the furniture. Lare and penates were warehoused, the house pulled down, and my friend and his charming wife have gone travelinp abroad for a year, while a famous architect of advanced views bnildsthem a house on a pure Dutch model to suit their upholstery. QUESTIONS. Grace S. Wells in Weekly Magnrine. Sometime, somewhere, oh, soul oppressed, Wilt tbou forget in Heaven's rest Earth's weariness, so hard to bear, Wilt thou recall no past despair No pan ' problems dark, unguessed? Or will e'en tragedies attest. Transfigured by an insight blessed, The presence of a Father's care, Sometime, somewhere? Or wilt tbou cease from bootless quest, Thy body laid on nature's breast, Her round of countless change to share, And thus oblivious, unaware, , Forget life's secret unconfessed, Sometime, somewhere! MANUFACTURE OF STEEL PENS. The Various Preeeaaee ef Annealing, Htamplug, Unrdenlng and Polish ing. Chronique Industrielle. Steel used for making pens reaches the factory in sheets about two feet long by one foot three inches wide, 0.004 inch thick. They are cut into bands of different widths, according to the dimensions of the pen required, the most usual widths being two. two and one-half, and three inches, The bands are then heated in an iron box and annealed, when they are passed on to the rolls and reduced to the desired thickness of the finished pen, thus being transformed into ribbons of great delicacy, about four feet long. The blanks are then stamped out from the ribbons by a punching machine, the tool of whioh has the form of the pen required. The blanks leave the die at the lower part of the machine, and fall into a drawer with the points already formed. They are then punched with the small hole which terminates the slit, and prevent it from extending, and afterwards raised to a cherry-red heat iu sheet iron boxes. The blanks are then curved between two dies, the concave one fixed and the convex brought down upon it by mechanism. The ens, now finished as regards their form, are hardened by being plunjed, hot, into oil, when they are as brittle as glass. After cleansing, by being placed in a revolving barrel with sawdust, they are tempered in a hollow cylinder of sheet iron, which revolves over a coke fire after the manner of a coffee roaster. The cylinder is open at one end, and while it is being turned, a workman throws in twenty-five grossof pens at a time, and watches carefully the effect of the heat on the color of the pens. When they assume a fine blue tint, he pours the pens into a large metal basin, separating them from one another, to facilitate the cooling. After this process, which requires great skill and experience, comes the polishing, which is effected in receptacles containing a mixture of soft sand and hydrochloric acid, and made to revolve. This operation lasts twenty-four hours, and gives the pens a steel grey tint. The end of the pen, between the hole and the point, is then ground with an emery wheel, revolving very rapidly. There only now remains to split the pens, which is the most important operation, being performed by a kind of shears. The lower blade is fixed, and the. upper one comes down with a rapid motion, slightly below the edge of the fixed blade. To give perfect smoothness to the slit, and at the same time make the pens bright, they are subjected to the operation of burnishing by being placed in a revolv- ing barrel almost entirely filled with boxwood sawdust. Whistler's Whims In White and Yel. low. "Ruhamah's" New York Letter. While the music-mad revel in their high art at the two temple;, the hyper asthetes of the sunflower order gather at the Wunderlich gallery, on Broad way, where Whistler exhibits some "etchings and dry points" in a room which is denominated "an arrangement in white and yellow." The vagaries of this eccentrio American have stirred the British publio from time to time, and now this weird genius fills the place left vacont bv the departure of Oscar Wilde. Coming straight from the wild woods and the west, an artistio friend led me straightway to the white and yellow sanctuary to let high art cast its soothing spell upon me. There was to be seen a bare, chilly looking room with white walls and floor, yellow base-board, and frieze and yellow dra peries at tho doorway and fireplace. A yellow divan iu tho centre, various sickly yellow jars on white tables, and a very pale boy in yollow and white livery completed the "arrangement." Every one looked pale and ghastly in the midst of so much trying light and unhealthy color, and tho pictures were such minute scraps of etchings on such exaggerated white mats that it was hard to focus the attention upon them. The whole thing was a grand burlesque on art, and the only idea one carries away was that of the glaring contrast of yol low and white, and the row of blank and puzzled faces that went the round of the room. When he had left the gal lery and walked a square in silence, a man evidently just recovered from the yellow fever, passed us, and with one glance my artistic friend turned to me and we laughed aloud on crowded Broadway at the coincident complex ion. A Cotton Caterpillar Preventive, Georgia Intelligencer. ' "Well, boss," says he, "I isn't had any caterpillars in my cotton dis year. I has learnt how to keep 'em out. "Well, how was that?" his questioner inquired fervently. "Well, yon see, boss, when dey fust comes you just catch nine of 'em and kill eight and den tell de oder to git an' tell de crowd dat dey mus move dey quarters. Deyll do it eb'ry time, boss, and you needn't to doubt it. Dat's jest de way I kep' 'em out'n my patch." Cincinnati Enquirer: People build houses by putting all the carved free stone and costly emliellishments on the front and all the cheap brick at the back. Some characters are built the same way precisely. "Did you ever think what you would do if you had the duke of Westminster's income?" Yillage pastor: "No; but I have sometimes wondered what he would do if Le had mine."