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About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 1886)
SLINGS AND ARROWS By HUGH CONWAY. Author of "Called Bark" "Ihtrk Dayt," "A Family Affair," Etc, CHAPTER A CTKIO. ti e tale which I u aLout to toll la y own: as I my If on the boro 1 hero of the He VyT Ui L pap i hy and bye, be forced to nay so much al out my own af fair that I may well begin by spur- rag a low linn to thorn of another man, a man on whose grave the gran has been growing for many a lonz year. 1IU naina wan Julian Loralno. Ilia home from the day when Dint I knew him to the day of liU death, wag Hiirstal AUx-y, a fine old house In that part of wooded Homorset- hire v bore railways bavo not yet mo, Although Mr. Loraina wns a man of wealth, and moreover, by education ami, bolinve, family fully entitled to take a hlcb social position, Uunttol Ablwy wan not bit ancestral home. Jie bad acutiirei it by simple right of purchono, having bought out an olil, Improvident, but popular county family bought It out so cotnplotuly that, if be did not literally step into ita (how, be tat in it very chairs and used 1U very t a bice. Buch a wholesale buying up of one of tholr own claw by an unknown man always annoy, perhaps frighten, county people, and Julian Loraine's nelcjilx.rs for tomo tuna lookoi at hltu askntico. lie took none of those steps by which a new comer may occasionally gam acous to the limbic count circle, lie brought no Introductions. Ilo gave no largo tuUcrlptlon to the hunt in deed, there was not much hunting in that part, lie did not, in a covert nay, let hi willingness to give grand entertainment be .known, lie simply completed the pur chase ol Hernial Abbey anil It eonumU took up bis abode in the old house, and troubled nothing about hit neighbors, which no doubt unnoyel them ull the more. Little Juliun Loralne cored for this. The truth Is ho was ono of the most unsociable men alive, and bis cyulclsni, if distribute through tlio county, would havo made omvrs)Uhlre a region In which life would liave boon unbearable, ilo wan I pen the words reluctantly nu utter disbeliever In humanity, I'erbnpi the lite which he had hitherto led brought biiu to this state of ' mind. For In a very short time his neighbors found out that bo was by no means tho un known man they thought him. People who Know ixnuion me had iiiucii to say about this Julinu Loralne. it was toon madu clear to the country side that the new mail's social claims to the right haul of fellow hip were lndliiputablo; but other things were also made clear. Loralne had led a terrible llfo the very luMtoHtof the fa-it. The wonder was that he had survivej even greater wonder tluit be was still wealthy. At one time it wai thought bo lmd run through everything, for ae had aiapoarod, andnoonosawanythlng of him for yeni'K. Hut it turned out he had only been lending a roving llfo in far conn tries. Jteicutiiig, let us hoie. No; Julian Loralne was not a nice man. Hut, nice or not, no one had any longer the Winn to Keep Mr. Jioraiiu at arm's lengtlu Had ho cured for it, bo might havo enjoyed mixing with the pick of county society. Hut he treated civility almost at be treated coidnes, witu cotnplute indilrer- nret and it soon bcamo understood that tho owner of llorstnl Alboy was a man who DO longer O trod to mix witn his kimL It was, of course, iucomprolieuKiblo that any on) should buy a lino proimrty nn 1 sutUe down to tho lire of a rtmluse; the more so as tin mini wa still in the prlmo of life, handsome and wealthy. Hut Julian Loralne wai an lncompreheuKiblo man. for one, have never been ablo to determine bis true character, 1'iibaps I have shunned Investigutlntr it. rurliniML lad 1 tried. slioul 1 have been unable to gather taut- wormy information a to bis true nature. from the fart that tal afloat concerning ins eariy mo wouiii rencu me Inst or all. ii. . i i.. 1 1 . i ... . ii ueu uo iiougnt uonatii W.ncy no was a widower with cno son, a boy of 7. 1 his lioy lio petted and iicglectisl nltcrnatolv. There were days heu the cliild was with bim from morn to eve; there were weeks in which bo, never us bim (rum Nunduv morning to Hatm-day night; there were months during which Air. Lorain) went wandering off, litwvon knows where, Uav lug the child b) the inre of servant. n hotlier at home or abrcod, ho kent un uia tuiuuiiMiiiii'uc in b luvisn. Wusterul Diauncr. Ho threw his money about in a eyuicur way, as one who carod not how It went. He expected his servants would rob bim uodouut thoy did. 1 his he considered Hut buuian ualure, and troubled nothimr about it but w oe to the man or woman who in the slightest degree neglected any'hing wuicn uisvuiuiori or wuimuemnudcdl Uig aopeadenta soon understood their master's peculiarities, and by the exercise of due care managed to keep their plait for years and years, and no doubt grow rich upou the money oe w aste i. As will toon be seen, I have related all, or tho greater part of the above, from hear, ay. The following incuieut lu Mr. Lor Bine's life 1 ran vouch for, as I heard it from his own 1Im. In the year ISM he was returning from Australia. He did not tell me what had taken bim there, but I suspect he went in esrch of health. He was in a sailing ves sel the Hlack Bwan was her name. There were other panengera men, women aud children. One night there was a crash, a horrible grinding scund, a recoil, anl the ldack tiwan quietly settled dowa to tlx bottom of the ooean. Whether the disaster was due to a coll Won or to a sunken rock was never knowa All was over in five minutes, and Julian Loraine found himself swimming for life, yet without a hope of saving it In swimming, as indeed In every manly exercise, Loraine was all but unrlvalel; but even his great strength was gone when be felt a hand on his collar and was pulled all but insensible into a small boat, which, it appeared, wa the only one that hail t a lowered, or, at any raU had succeeJed ui getting away from the wreck. The sea, fortunately, was comparatively smooth or the tiny brat could not h v.--Mitllved tiia night. When the morning 1 broke, Julian Loralne saw all tliut survived of the ship and her freight. Himself, four sailor, tbrei women and a baby lu arm I The sailors wero pulling, not from tho b pe of reaching laud, but to keep the bolt's bead to the waves. The mother, with her child clu spoil to her breas', ami the two other women, were crouching in thj stern sheet. In the boat were a dozen biscuit aud a small keg of water. With the light, all turned to Loraine for advice aud aid. lie was a man of com manding prosmoo, to whom peoplo if a lower organization would naturally turn In difilcuItiiH. He acsumcd the responsibility. Ilo told the men to step the most an l hoist wliat sail tlicy thought afe, an 1 then to stwr as clo3 to tho wind as iiossibla He a-wurel them that lund wa not fur olf. Hi only reason, be Informed ma, lor taking this course wai that ho bated tho lubor of rowing. Any hope of their lives being saved he iconic I. However, bef jra nightfall they did reach land a bare rock, I ut land. liy this tima one of tho we, nun was lying lu tho bUtom of tho boat, monning, like one in agony. Her companions of the sume sex were exchanging frightenel gluncji, The poor tiling was carried asliore, and tlw true state of affairs communicated to the men. A tent or tci ceii was, by tho aid of (lie kail and tho oar, hastily rigged up, and in an hour's time there were ten human beings, instead of nine, on thut barren rock. Hut not for long. Ik-fore the morning tlie number was the same ai when they luudul, only that tin place of one of tho women wai taken by a crying, prematurely born Infant The rough men and women did what they could for tho poor little wrotch. The woman with tho nursing baby gavo it a portion of what was rightfully tnr own child's. This, In Julian Lorulne's opinion, was tho most rau and misplaced expression of false sentiment be bad ever met witli. Toward the evening of thut day they srrarod a grave for the mother. Thoy did not fill it up at once, thinking thut by and bye tho child must be laid lu ber arm. At one time it soiuied that it mint be so. The sailors and tho women, no doubt, think ing that a gentleman is ueuror heaven than tlieiusolvei, brought tin poor little walling atom to Lot aiuc, un 1 asked bun to christen it With death so clo3 at hand to all it was not worth while muking any demur; but I can fancy the man's cynical smile a ho sprinkled water from a largo shell un the child s head, ile, Jiiimii ljiulu:, dolnj a prlesv'sdutf, and doing it for tue tleusure of other siplol However, so fur ai he know how he bap tizid the child, and thinking that a tiiiine wa inllsiK'iisublo with a kind of grim humor christens 1 bun, for it was a toy, Julian. After all no ono em dial, not even tho strungoly-born baby. Tiio next day a sail bovo lu sight. Kucli siguas us tho shi- wrecked party could make wero s ;en, an 1 men, women aud bubiei wero soo i in safety ou board a bomiward-boun 1 slii. Mot one, not oven her fellow-passengers, knew the name or anything alxmt the wo man who lull died. Her clothes, such as tho wore, bore no mark. Her husband, if on board, boil gone down in the Hlack Hwau. What wns to liecome of tho child I Loraine sottl.id this. I'orhnpi hi thought tho child had a crtaln ridiculous claim upon bim. He wa no niggard with his money. Ho told some one he would not have takon the trouble toseo about it him self to tind a comfortable home for the chllil, and to apply to him when money was wanted. Then ho went his way, and lived for yean as ho cboso. Every now and then, whon hr paymas ter wo In town, the woman whohad charge of tho cliild ventured to bring bim to soo his benefactor. Homctlniei the benelactor scowled, sometime! smile I his cynical smile and took notice of tho litth boy, who was culled by his baptismal name, Muster Julian. When tho hoy was 7 years of agi Julian Loraine sent instruction that he was to Ik? forwurtlod to Herstal Abbey, (Somer setshire. Having lieen told bv tho gool people alHmt him that the grand gentleman lie now and again saw wa his fnthor, he addressed bim by that endearing term. Julian Loruini, no doubt, stared and laughed, but bo said nothing foi b d ling thq piellution being lined. No to himself and the world the boy was Muster Juliun, only ion of Julian Loraine, of HerKtuI Abbey. What strange freak Induced tho man to present a nnmeloss child, of humblo and un known parents, to the world a his sou I shall never know. I have trisl to think it whs from Affection tow anl tho cliild from the ncssl even bis own nature felt of some thing ho could lovo and rail his own; but I cannot think so. It may have Ihh'u tiiiro cvmcliin. Ho may fonio day havo wanted to turn round an l sayi "What is blrtlil Bee, I lake thti low-born brat, bring him up a a gentleman, ami every one thinki bun born to tho station! ' It may havo been a baser motive, thut of revongo. I thall never know. Tho boy grew up. Ho passe I from tho stage of Master Julian to that of Mr. Juliun, or young Mr. Limine; yet his re puted father kept tho secret kept it until the boy was 111, nud, hkj many other boys of that ago who are only soui of rich fathers, began to give himself air. Then one milliner's evening, when tho man au.l the Uiy were sitting over their claret, Julian Loraine thought tit to relate, even more fully than I hnve given it abovit, tho story ot mo wreck and mo history of the chil 1 boru on that rock. And 1 for I was the boy to whom he told it turned deadly pale anil gusne.l for breath. 1 believe 1 hud never really level tho man whom 1 supposed to Ihj inv futh r: his was not a lovable nature. Often an I i ften 1 had reproached myself for my luck of filial affection. Hut now, as I turned my daxnl eye to his face, and saw the satirical smile with which be regarde! mo. I all but hatel him. 1 mho unsteadily. "I must go an I think all this over." I stammered out. "Certainly, go an 1 think it over." He spoke carolewly and returns! to hi clarrt, while I rushed wildly from the IXOUi. CHAPTER IL "PB HORTrIS JUL NISI BOM" It" It was not unill latent the aftirnoon of tlie next day that I could briug myself to meet again the man whom I had always be lieved to lie my father. During the time while I held myself aloof from him I passed through many stares of sorrow, but I l. Love my anger was even greater than my grief. I was but 19 years of age, but I fancy that my thoughts and Meat wore in advanea of my years. The curious, almost aolitary life which I had led for many years at Herstal Abbey no doubt conduoM to making me older than I really was. Tdl tl e time came for me to go to Oxford I saw LtUe of any one save my supposed lather, bit tutor and the servants of the bouse. Hut latterly all had changed for the bet br. I bad been two term at the univer sity. 1 bal made many friends, Lif j was Just opening tome i nw, fresh life, fml of pleasure anl excitement. 1 found mvseif fairly ropular with my fellows. 1 was wed supplied witn money. 1 was loosed upon as an oniy son, and heir to a fine property. In short, my lot seemed to La one la ten thousand. And that moment Mr. Loralne bad chosen to reveal to me the recrut of my lowly birth. To daub me from the pedeital upon which be had placed me. To show me that I bad no claim upon bim that, instead of being young Mr, Loralno, of Herstal Abbey, I was no one I I remember how, shortly before be told me the tale of the shipwreck, I had been discoursing In a somewhat arrogant, self satisfied and glib manner as to the duties incumbent on old families and landed gen try; asserting that the existence of the aristocracy wa an unmitigated blessing to the land. In fact, I was giving my sup posed father a barb-up of a speech which I Lal heard at the Union. I thought my sentiment gave him satisfaction. Ho smiled and looked amused. No doubt ho was amused, so amused that the demon of sarcaxn rose within hfm, and hurried on the revelation which bo may or may not have Intenlod should be mad a The temptation to prick the bladder inflntel by my youthful arrogance must have been ir resistible to Mr, Lorulno. From a child I bad noted this cruel trait in hi character. I hud noticed it with servants, such ac quaintances as he had, and with myself. Hie way of listening, of even leading one on to talk, and then suddenly, by a biting piece of sarcasm, crushing the unlucky speaker. It was from this and kindred actions that, even while I thought bim my father, I did not love tho man. Nor did ha love m Hal be loved me ever so little ho would have kept the secret, and spared mo my present humiliation. So, in spite of all ho bad done for me, my anger rose and burnod against Julian Loraine. I may have been wrong; but, as will be soon discovered, I wai full of faults. Per haps the very association, more or less, during twolve years with a man of Mr. Loraine's stamp must develop faults There I Let ms write no more to hi detriment. Ho worked me evil, and be worked me gooL He Is dead. As I raise my eyes from my paper and glance through my window I can almost see bis grave. In the afternoon I went In search of him. I found bim reading in the library. Ho ucddod as I entered, then returned to his book and finished the paragraph, "Well, Julian!" he said, as - signal that be was at my service. "I have bain thinking over what you told me lost night, Mr. L rain ." Ho raise 1 nis dark eyebrows ai ho hoard mo address him in this wise. Till now 1 had generally U!d the olil-fnshionod "sir"; sometimes, not often, "father." "I hate changes, Juliun," le said. "As you know, 4ho old Ian led gentry are rooted to old customs." Even at tluit moment ho could not forego bis sarcasm. My cluck flushel. "Soo how you havo clianjod lif j for mol" I said, hotly. ' r. ''Set how you hare changed life for me!" "Ahl yes; greatly, no doubt I wonder what you wotill have been nowf "Tell me what I am now." "So far as I know, a young man of W, thoroughly well eluctted, gooi-lookin;, full of church an I state principle!. Why, the roctor stopp.il nioyoiterday and assured mo you wore oue of tho fliust young fellows he ever kiuw j quite a credit to thi county." Tills banter seemed to stnb ma "Tell me, sir," I &aid, "ought I to thank you for w hut you buvo done for imV "Personally, 1 bute expressions of grati tude; but if it givoi you any satisfaction, thank ms by all means." "No; I do uot thim! you. Hud you placed me in some humblo position, suited to my birth, nud let me mnk) my wav in the world, I could havo thanked you. Hut for years to let mo be called your sou; why uid you uo it, sirr "I had some reason at the timo. I nlmoit forget it- . "Mr. Loraine, 1 have thought it all over" "So you told mo, Julian O i on." "You may luugh at mo, but- I consider that I have a great claim upon you." Ho simply raised his eyebrows, but did not deny my assertion. "You bavo kept mo In Ignorance for years," I continued, speak In; ouicklv. "You have brought nu up, and lot mo an out in ine worm under luiso o ilors. Now just ai 1 enter upon manhood you toll mo who 1 am, or rathor who 1 am uot Whv you uid tins, you alone know. You hud t n i.. ... . . oniu rensou mr u. in reiuru, i Dave a right todomiiu I something." "lMnaui! A right! Nevor mind. Go on. 1 bad expected an outburst of ran Hi. calm eue.iuragivi me. 1 cj "Yes, sir; 1 ask that I may lie allowed tn uniKii my course at uxrord. Then, when I bavo taken my degro , I will go and earu my own living as best 1 can. I ulnUL of course, now can tnyseir by some other came. Can you suggest onef ' air. limine laughed .a curious laugh. "I like fellows who deinnnl better than those wuo beg, no said. "Uo back to college by all means. As to a name, Is not Juliun Loraine goixl enough for y ou( You are per fectly welcome to use it." "Hut it U not uiluo." "Never min i; use it I choose that you shall use it so loug as you are dependent on mo, 1 aUo choose you to bo thought my son. No'' he saw mo about to speak 'i will give no reasons; per ha pi I have none. You may besuro thut it will be no hin drance to your future, being thought a rich man's son. Hcsidcs, I hnto changes. Ifow don't talk any more, Y'ou have demauded 1 have acceded. Ooaway.'1 ' Puzzled and dis-atisfLnl, I 0(t 1,;, j had fully persuade! myself that I bad a right to claim what I had claimed from bun. It was also not hard for ma to learn to think that if it was Mr. Loraino's wish that 1 sboul I still pas as his son aud bear his name, it was my duty to do to. Be. sides remember, 1 wa but a boy, and so need not be ashamed of the truth with ail my assume ! independence, the thought of proclaiming my humble anl unknown pa entage to my friends wai gall and worm wood to m To sink from thj position which I held as Mr. Loraine's son to that of do one at all was a cbango en at yr than 1 could picture to myself with equanimity. Bo 1 oniectod no more; and a Mr. Lor In. sternly forbade the subject biinjr reotvn- ed, my bfe, in spita of its clouded future, went oo in Its accustomed groove. Hare, to avoid any m isle ling, I may say that all I ever learned about my t-ue parent, age was what Mr. Loraine told me. Who and what was my ill fated mother I know no mora than 1 know for what rvson my reputed father allowed ma to b. -ought up as hit son. Toot eonuaiwd SONG BIROS. How to Stop the Wanton and Crnel '' Irurtlon of Our Native Songster. A garden without llowurs, childhood without laughter, an orchard without blossoms, a ky without color, ro8es without perfume, are tho analogues of a country without songand birds. And the United States are going straight and swift into that desert condition. Hard as wan Nature's law of tho strongest and tlie mirvivul of the fittest, tlie thrush, the blackbird, the robin, the meadow lurk, tlie linnet, the oriole, and all our feathered songsters would have held their own against natural conditions and balanced destruction with increase. Hut this beneficent poise of hostile forces has recently been ended, and fashion, cupidity and mur derous sport, separately warring on the song birds, have combined to de stroy them as completely as tho btill'alo of the plains have been destroyed. Within the observation of tens of thousands of living men the bisons were so thick as to obstruct travel in their seasons of migration on every road between the 'Mexican and British boundaries. Horace Greeley's wagon was halted for hours on tho Colorado trail to let the countless animals pass. It was impossible to travel through tho herds at right angles to tho lines of their march. Lewis and Clarke had to set a guard at night at every camp they made in the valley of the Upper Mis souri, to avoid being trampled to death by the thickly crowded animals, whose numbers compelled them to move by night ns well as by day. Yet these royal beasts are gone. They have been slaughtered for their skins by sordid hunters hired by sordid traders. They were killed off so suddenly as to cause astonishment. Not quite so quickly, but just as surely, will our song birds go. For see the forces that uro working their destruction. Chief among these is the cruel fashion among women of wear ing bonnets ornamented with tho wings or breasts of pretty birds, or tho entire skins of birds, if handsome and not too large. This fashion has led to the organized killing of all the song sters for both domestic and foreign markets. The woods and orchards of Pennsylvania and New England sup ply the milliners of Paris as well as tliciboiiiict makers of New lork. A price having been put on the dead body of every pretty bird in the North, their murder in season and out of sea son is inevitable. Wo can sneak of our knowledge of a place in Sag Har bnr at tho eastern extremity of Long Island, where dead birds of brilliant plumage are bought for cash at fixed scale rates. So comprehensive is the desire to combine profit with sport, that a very close merchant four miles from Sag Harbor, in the lull of his business, goes out with his gun to earn thirty, forty or fifty cents by shooting songsters. Theso collecting depositories for dead song birds, killed for city milliners, cxis throughout tho Northern States. In all their meadows and woods men and boys armed with shotguns sneak nnd crawl to get pay for shooting music and life out of the sweet and beautiful creatures nature gave for tho delight of the dwellers in tho country. The destruction of the feathered choir by the hunt for sport grows larger yearly. Tho ownership of guns has ceased to bo rare, and has long ceased to bo ono of tho attributes of manhood. Most young men and nearly all the boys of well-to-do parents possess them. There is no elleetive restraint on the murderous use of these weapons. Before nesting time, and during incu bation, as well as after, tho uneradi- cated Saxon impulse to kill somethinsr . i. ... .I- ... i ... . p unit iuos or runs nas mil vent. And. very unfortunately, somebody has de vised for boys' amusement a weapon more deadly among birds than a shot gun. The pea-shooter gives no sound, and can be carried in the vest pocket, but so destructive is it in the hands of a skilful child that the Legislatures lof some of the Western States wero obliged to pass laws making the sale of the thing a misdemeanor and pun ishing the possession or use of it. Its principle is the bowstring, with the power in a three-inch loon of very strong vulcanized rubber. In llridge hampton, on Long Island, Is a liberty pole ono hundred and ten feet high, surmounted by a copper gilt eagle six feet high. More than one ten-year-old child in that village lias driven small pistol balls into tho eagle with a pea shooter which could bo hidden in the hand. Two ten-vear-old lads in that tpiiet and moral hamlet confessed that with pea-shooters they had killed dur ing the season lifty robins and other birds which frequent the gardens, orchards and cemetery. Such boys ex ist all over tho United States, anil war on birds as things made to be killed. To avert this disaster, legislation and social morality ought to be promptly in voked. Hut the strongest intlueiic'e to save tlie pluniaged singers from exter mination will be village and town soci eties specially formed to protect them from molestation and slaughter. X. Y. Sun. Kindness. The world is full of kindness that never was spoken, and that was not much better than no kindness at all. The fuel in the stove makes the room warm, but there are great piles of fallen trees lying on rocks and on tops of hills where nobody can get them; these do not make anybody warm. You mio-ht freeze t.i ,i.."ii, want of fuel in plain sight of these fallen trees if you had no means of getting the wood home and making a tire of it. Just so in a family; love" is what makes tho parents and children, the brothers and sister hnm- ul if thoy take care never to say a word about it; if they keep it a profound secret as if it were a crime, thev will not be much hannier than if that- ... i i - mv v n iu not any love among them, the house will seem cool even in summer, and if you live there, you will envy the do when anj oody calls him poor fellow r tr .tt 3 - 1 - There an in PennsvlvsnU tl.irH. thousand natrons of h' longing to seven hundred and sixty, eight granges. BURMAH. What Medlievat Traveler Has to Say About the Ancient Kingdom. In Marco Polo's travels the first mention of Burmah In the mediaeval language of Europe is to be found. He calls the kingdom Mien, in Chinese fashion; and after narrating his ap proach to it by a down-hill journey of two and a half days, and a much longer passage through a wild coun try, he pauses to tell of a great battlo which bad taken place between the forces of tho "Great Kaan" of Tartary and tho King of Mien, which he do scribes so graphically that it seems probable ho gathered his account from tho lips of those who had been present at it. An army of the "Great Kaan" had approached th frontier of Iiur niah, and tho Burmese King advanced against it with sixty thousand men and two thousand elephants, having on their backs towers of timber, each of which contained from twelve to six teen warriors. Tho Tartar force wns tho weaker, and the Tartar horses were scared by tho elephants, and broke in disorder. Then Nescradin, the Tartar Captain, ordered his men to tie their horses to trees and to take their bows, in the use of which they were very ex pert. The elephants, in, their turn, could not stand the arrows, many were slain, and at last they fled with a ter rilic rush into a forest bordering tho plain of battle, destroying the wooden castles as they forced their way through tho trees. A fierce hand-to-hand liht ensued, and such was the noise of battle, says Palo, that "God might have thundered and no man would heard it." The Chinese annals, which corroborate Marco's date, men tion that stakes had been fixed in order to injure the elephants. After the defeat of the Burmese, two hundred of these animals were taken alive by the Tar tars, and the Great Khan ever after ward kept elephants as auxiliaries in war. Polo then goes on to describe those great wonders of Amien (a city which Colonel Rule thinks may be identified with Old Pagan), the towers of gold and silver erected near the tomb of a King. One was covered with gold to the thickness of a finger, and the other with silver in a like manner. These towers shone brilliantly in the sun, and to each were attached bells respectively of gold and silver, that tinkled in the wind. A doubtful ver sion is then given of a conquest, the occurrence of which is confirmed both by the Burmese and Chinese annals. The "Great Kaan," having an overplus of jugglers and gleemen about his court, sent an army of them to conquer Mien, a task they duly effected. The towers of gold and silver excited their cupidity, but their master, with the reverence of his Nation for the dead, would not suffer these monuments to bo pulled down. Tho Burmese histor ians estimate the Mongol invaders of their country on that occasion as amounting to six million of horse and twenty million of foot ! Lucovico di Varthema, most naive and entertaining of travelers, visited Burmah toward tho close of the fif teenth century, but he has not much to say about it that is not touched upon by others who followed him there. He speaks among other things, of the long and thick timber, of the plcntifulness of civet cats, and of the marvelous jewelry of the King, the rings of gold and gems about his arms and legs the rings upon his lingers, and his ears that "hung down half a plum" with the weight of their adornment. Dur ing tno next century a good many Europeans seem to havo strayed into this remote land. Burmah changed its divisions frequently at this time. First one King and then another rose to prominence and destroyed or made tributary his fellow Kings. In the consequent series of wars European partisans were engaged, notably a good many Portuguese. About the middle of tho century thero arose a great King known to fame as Bramn of Toungoo, and under him Burmah seems to have attained its greatest power, and to havo impressed all trav elers with its riches and magnificence. Brania is spoken of as exceeding the "Great Turk" in power, and as having one million live hundred thousand men at his command. During this prosper ous time, Ralph Fitch, a merchant of London reached tho country, and has recorded what ho saw there. Ho ad mired the straight streets of the capital, so protected by rows of palm trees that you might walk in the shade all day. Ho was struck, as most people were, by the honors paid to the sacred ele phants, which extended even to wash ing their feet in silver basins, and he mentions how wild elephants were captured by anointing decoys with a pecuuur soeiueu ointment, vv tien a white elephant was caught, each mer chant had to make a donation of half a ducat. Of black elephants of war the Aing nan no fewer than live thousand. In tho country were mines of rubies, sapphires andspinelles. London (Jlobe. A FINE GENTLEMAN". Inlliience of the Culinary Art Over Stcra Jul Ice. " Jedge," said an old negro who had been summoned to testify in a murdei case, "Ikain' stay heah long cr nufl ter tell whut I knows cr bout this kill in'." "But yer's got ter stay," the Judge replied. "Dis is cr case b' great 'port mice, an' widout yer do guilty man kain' bo fotch ter jestice." "But, Jedge, I kain' stay, I tells yer." "Famblv sick?" "No, sab." "Wife 'bout ter run er way an' lebe yer?" "Oh, no. sah." "Wall, den, ef none o' dese klama ties has fell on yer, I'll hafter hole yer, an' ter mako sho dat yer doan "it er way, I'll hab do constable hoi' ver in han'. It won't do ter fool wid do law o dis heah lan', an' jestice mus' be scattered 'mong de folks eben ef de heabens falls." "Well. Jedge, I mus' go, an' ef I haster tell yer I mus', dat's all. I'se gwme ter hab er 'possum fur dinner at my house, an' I f' "Whut, er 'possum? Mr. Constable, joura dis heah cou't, fur I'so gwine homo wid dis fine gennerman. Arkan taw Traveler. COMPETING WITH BAKERS. The New Industry Developed by iitrou Women, "Do you supply bread to private housesP" was asked of a Grand RiVcr avenue baker yesterday. "Certainly we do." "How do you deliver UP" "With the wagon." "But I've seen women going from house to house np in my neighborhood with bread in their arms?" "Yes, but that is another thing Wo don't hug our bread before deliver ing it," ho said with a touch of sar. casm. "Thoso women sell bread on their own hook." "They buy it from the bakers?" "No, they mako it themselves. They are mostly widows, or women whose husbands can't get work, and in that case they might just as well bo widows. You will find a great many housekcep! crs who seem to havo a natural born horror of baker's bread and won't use it at all. That this feeling exists is be yond question, and why it is I have never been ablo to tind out. Wo pay as much attention to cleanliness in niak ing our bread as any of them and more than a great many. Did you ever see home-made brown bread as nice and light, and sweet and brown, and fresh and white as baker's brcod? You never did. Show me a loaf of it and I'll give you the whole bakery. Theso people, you sec, who won't buy bread made in a bakery love home-niado bread cx clusively. If they can buy it and escape making it themselves for it re quires a skill born of long experience and many failures to make good bread why they're going to do it. The women tell them that they make it, and they buy it gladly if Jt looks nice. One of my men told me that there is an old woman who wheels a little cart and sells warm bread of her own mak ing to regular customers on the Cass farm. She makes a trip every other day." "Is there much of it doneP" "Well, it's growing, and will cut seriously into the business if it spreads much more. Small bakeries catering only to tho domestic trado already be gin to feel it in certain localities." Detroit Tribune. PETTY ROBBERY. A Word or Two About the Long 13111s of European Hotels. Every device is resorted to in Franco nnd Italy to extract the money of the guest. Prices often appear reasonable, yet littlo unexpected items bring the bill up to a respectable and sometimes exorbitant figure. At tho hotels in the south of France there is a stated prico for tho chamber, but a franc more is charged if the guest prefers to take his meals outsido the hotel. Tho price of the chamber never includes the candle nor tho "service," which appear as extra items in the bill. These bills are wonderful specimens of small financier ng, and if the guests remain two or hree weeks they sometimes cover sev ral sheets of paper. They are usually made out in francs and centimes (hun dredths of a franc), the currency of France, Italy and Spain being nearly the same, though the names differ. Tho items read somewhat as follows: Cover, 25 centimes (5 sous); soup, 60 centimes; steak, 1 franc 50 centimes; entree, 1 franc 50 centimes; butter, 40 centimes; sugar, 30 centimes, and so on ad infinitum for every meal the piest may have during the day. Where the method is carried to an ex treme hot water is often charged extra, and thourrli the srucst is exnected to pay the employes their pour boircs usually their only salary tho hotels often contrive to capture this by in cluding the porter's service in the bill. The guest is willing1 to pay the porter something, but does not care to pay twice for the same service. The hotels also make money out of tho omnibus by paying 10 cents for it and including it in tho bill at a franc whether the guest wants it or not. Sometimes even the taking of baggage up and down stairs is added to tho bill, with other unexpected items, if it is inferred from the traveler's movements that ho will never come that way again. Cor. San Francisco Chronicle. WORSHIPING MONKEYS. A Missionary Who Unit an Autllenco Com. poned l'arllally of .Monkeys. A few days ago when Rev. Dr. Cham berlain, brother of Secretary Chamber lain, of the Board of Agriculture, was visiting in this city, he told many in teresting anecdotes of his missionary life in India. Among them was tho following: Dr. Chamberlain and Mr. Scudder were on a tour of a certain portion of India, preaching at the small villages through which they passed. Thoy would attract the attention of the na tives by singing a hymn, and then would talk to them, generally using some simple theme from the Scriptures! One day when they had stopped in a large village, they had collected the people about them. In the rear was a sacred grove, the branches of the trees hanging down over the huts that stood in the background. The Scripture les son had been finished, the hymn sung, and Mr. Scudder was devoutly pray ing, when suddenly the boughs of the grove began to rustle and a troop of monkeys appeared. No one saw them except Dr. Chamberlain. Old monkeys and young, gray-whiskered and bald headed, mothers with their baby monk lings, all descended and seated them selves in a semi-circle. All paid the strictest attention to the prayer. Should any mischievous youngster begin his monkeyshines, one of the dignified old men monkeys would twist his ear until the littlo one would cease his pranks; and if one of tho babies began to snivel, a few maternal pats quieted him. Dr. Chamberlain could scarcely re strain himself at the comical sight, and it was a great relief to him when the assembly broke up. As the people arose to go, so did the monkeys, and they silently disappeared in the branches, evidently much impressed with the service. Ohio State Journal. A milk white alligator was discov ered in a pond at Escambia, Ala., lately, and also one that is parti colored. r