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About The Eugene City guard. (Eugene City, Or.) 1870-1899 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1890)
AN AMERICAN PYRAMID. t Monuuirntal MraetafS In Mriiro Kqual l III)' liopllan (,'hropa. It In i.ot necessary to leave North American toil to visit a genuine pyramid Which will compare In Alt witli tl MM of Cheops Itself. It can bo reached -"vee1 Tossing Hit' sea; In fart, a rail way will carry us almoHt to tlio banc. A branch of the Mexican and Vera Crui railway run from Apliaco to I'ueblo, and a horse railway run from I'ueblo to Cholula, alKiut i mllcx distant, where the gi eat pyramid stand. Although It la on A BMriean noil, no body known juat when Hie pyramid wan built It la very old that wo know and may bo older than that of Cheops, in Egypt. The A.tocs invaded Mexico a thoiitand yoara ago, and it wan standing then. Perhaps the Toltoes or the Omlocs had a hand In it construction, or perhapH It was there when they came. Who they were, what they were, why tboy built this huge structure all these aro questions which have been asked in vain. Certain It is that it was built by a civilized race, one skilled In engineering. The measurements of the pyramid dlf for, llumlsdt giving the sides of MM base at 1.440 Met each, and BtlMllMf made thn north side l.noo feet, and tho PHt aide I, (Mil feet, the south aldn H.'t.'J foot and the west sld 1,000 feet. Tho height la about H4 feot or moro from tbo base to the top. Avlowwhlch Humboldt gives shows thst formerly the four terraces of the pyramid were very distinctly to be seen, but now, owing to the crumbling of the harp edges of the terraces by the tt' t ion of rain and time, the pyramidal aspect Isnotao Immediately to bo discerned. But a near vMw and not very minute lamination shows at unco tho artillcial Character of the mound. A broad paved road winds up to tho top, whore In tho time of the conquest Itood an Aztec temple. This site is now ooouplod by a pretty church, built by the Spaniards. The Aztec temple wus dedi cated to thn mysterious " fair god," Quotzacoatl, of whom tradition is that bo camo from over the sea In ancient times to teach the Ar.U- the arts uf civ ilisation. There Is some ground for supposing that this mythological personage was a Christian missionary who found his way from Greenland In old times a fairly Olvillzed land to Mexico, who lived With the forefathers of the later Aztecs and taught them many arts. He was called "the god of the air;" his statue was crowned with a golden miter: he wore a gold collar, turquols ear-rings, and carried a scepter studded with gems and a shield painted with emblems of the four winds. The pyramid Is built of adobe brick, and It Is supposed that it served both as a fortified place and a site fo worship. At the top was a temple of the gisls, ami on tho terraces were dwellings, the whole making a fortilled pueblo, no doubt Impregnable to assault in the days lx'fore gunpowder was known. This pyramid and the smaller ones In tho vicinity resemble murvclously the Aasyrlan ami Chaldean temples, which Layard and other explorers huvo so minutely dcscrilH il. Cholula lias never been explored, but ilonhtlens contains rare antiquarian treasures. At the time of the conquest, in cutting off an end of the pyramid to make room for a more direct route from I'ueblo to Mexico, a vast hollow chumlicr under the structure was disclosed lo view. It was built of stone and and sus tained by beams of cypress. In It were two skeletons, some Idols ami a large nunilsr of glazed vessels. From "the lop of the pyramid can be aeon on the plain below some curious mounds, one somewhat resembling an elephant all unmistakably artificial. Showing thai this region was once a re ligious gathering ground, a sort of American M a. Cholula lias one great advantage over Cheops. The latter Is built on a tint and arid plan I'hululu Hands in the midst of uiagnillceut scenery. Perhaps thills rather a disadvantage, the pyra mid being dwarfed in appearance by the huge mountains which form a vast wall, aeparatlng the valley ol I'ueblo from the Valley of Mexico. From the top of the phyamld there is to be aeon a gissl sited hill lying up under thi' base of I'tipocatapctl It looks like a sailboat alongside of the Ureal Eastern. In other directions one sees Mallncho, the most curious of mountains, and (lie lofty, "star-shining" peak of (IrWaba. Tho entire district is beautiful, and at the same lime Impressive, and should be bettor known lo American tourists. -(Joldeu Mays. PULQUE AND MESCAL. tin U OOGSpSWOtlftlj Harmless, Hat tits MhM Hi runner Than Whisky. Pulque Is usually described in this country as sn intoxicating beverage, sometimes qualified by pulling "mildly" before "lntoxlcutlng." 1'pon analysis it will be found to contain a very small quantity of alcohol as compared w ith its other components, gluten and water. Drunkenness is by no means common in Mexico, hut 1 have seen among the lower classes, men who wen said to Isi Inebriated upon pulque. How much tbey drank, or what they took with it, or how good was the pulque they drank, would Is' iuiu taut inquiries Is fore the fact wax fully established as to the cause of their inebriation Hon one pet sou could possibly hold enough to intosMsM him, I could never understand. 1 hate heard of people being dated by tis copi ous draughts of itchy. Possibly the same result might be obtained from pulque. Vet one would hardly call vichy even a mildly intoxicating leverage. The maguey produces two very fiery intoxicants Mescal is distilled from the leaf juices, is colorless, and in taste is not unlike Holland gin. From the r.otal maguey, growing in the district of Tequila, ill the Mate of Jalisco, a liquor called tequila Is distilled. It ksm some of the properties of S'otcb whisky. Either mescal or tequila would ndmlra blymeet the requirements of tiie Indian of our Northern plains who wanted a liquor that would "make drunk come uulck," and the Intoxication produced by these two liquids is of the character suited to Ho- Northern Indian tempera meat, llut there is no reason by pulque should be made to share the reputation f these other produ -nous of the maguey. -Drake's Magazine t " Brussels Klesk. Take half a doner good aUed onions, cut them into thin rings and aosk one hoaT in sailed wster drain them and fry qulokly In hot fat broil a good beefsteak carefully am' pour Vbe onions over it; put on plenty o' butter, dredge with pepper and serve a A mountaineer preacher dowa 1 Maryland astonished a part of bis sud once by exclaiming la the midst of burst of rhetoric in one of his sermon "My friends, all the vorld showtod f toy when the rood r s of Christ's bir flashed over lb wira!" in. r MADE A HIT. How a ttompanv of MuaquttoM kaafe a Trafiulr loin a Per. "You would not thin :." sui 1 111 old actor, "Unit a little, leslive moaquiti. would break up ii performance, would you? Well, such Is the fee. You r member Ned Buckley, drVt yowl Used to 1st lending limn in ...niton tiina ter; ulso with Booth and HitrretL One nitlier wnrm night, before some sort of u holiday, Ned took a snap company out to a town In Western Massachusetts to do 'Julius ('u.-sar.' It wus DOl a sumptuous performance by any inenns, hut slill it pleased the audience. Buckley pluyed Cmsur, nod did it well. If I urn not mistaken Fred llryton was the Marc Antony. It became so but before tho performance b el fairly begun that the windows in the rear of the stage wero wldo open. It wus not long before tho stage was swarming with mosquitoes, they being utt rue tcil. no doubt, by tho strong light on the stage. Buckley had on n pair of while lights, anil lot discovered at the lust moment thut there wore several small holes In the legs. So he gol a piece of bllllurd chulk and a bid nod over the lights w hi ru thoy were burnt. "Well, the pluy ran along smoothly enough until tho limn camo for Mure Antony to bury (Vsnr and not praise lilm. Poor Julius wus lying on tho bier, und just as Mure begun tho ora tion he felt the Infernal little animals getting in their work. Buckley suld forever uftorwnrd Hint they wero edu cated. They just picked out the spot where ho hud used the chulk. He stood the agony just as long as ho could; then ho began murdering his tormentors. Several times did Julius slap his limbs, and every time he slup ped he grunted with relief. He kept slapping his limbs and grunting all through the orution, the uiidiouce shouling with laughter nil the while. The uudieneo just ubout knew the cause of tho trouble, because tiioy wore doing some slaughtering on their own hook. Buckley stood tho agony just us long us he could, then he gave An thony n tip, uml the orution wus cut remarkably short. Tho audience wus tickled Immensely, and insisted upon tho actors going before tho curtain several times. Tho mosquitoes who made Hie hit went with them. Tho performance wus u furco for tin; bal ance of the evening. Kvory time that some body began to act one of the auditors would begin to laugh and every body would join In the chorus. Boston Herald. A WIZARDS JOKE. How Hrrriosiio Oner 1'uiiii a Tim Fooled a " u ' hloaman "Talking of the Chinese play hero," suld a well-known lawyer, "I never hud more fun than I did at a ( 'bluest perfoi-munco in Sun Francisco several years ago I went there with llorr miinii, the iiiiigician. ami several Sun Francisco journalists. It wus In the Chinese quarter and the performance wus the adjourned net of a play thut had In started u month before. In the lobby wero a lot of Chinese ped dlers sidling swoettuents, oranges and other fruits. Herrmann made a dead sot at the orntige mini, a thiu-fiicod, avaricious. looking follow, who wore a queue about five feel long. Hcrrmunu bought un orange and cut it open. With an exclamation of delighted sur prise, his eyes sparkling and his face lit up with smiles, he drew u llvc-dul lur gold piece out of the pulp uml held It up so that the China man could see It. The latter' eyes bulged from their sock ets and a pained look of dis appointment crossed his expressionless face. Ilerrmuu bought three more oranges, and from each he drew a shining liver. By this time tho per splrutiou rolled In beads down the Chinaman's face, ami he looked so sick I felt sorry for him. He gathered up his stock, muttering to himself, and when Hermann wanted to buy another half iloen the Chinaman refused lo sell tlictu. " 'I'll give you one dollar for them,' said BlfflMII " The price was only ton cents, but the Chluaman wus ' tired of giving nwny gold pieces. " 'Mo no wuiiteo sulleo,' he suld shrilly. "A few minutes Inter he retired In to a corner uml w ith the air of a con spirator began lo cut up his oranges One after another they went, and his look of disappointment became darker and darker as the miiglo gold pieces fulled to appeal- It as actually tragic w hen the last one wo gone, and Herr mann gave him one dollar to prevent his committing suicide." -N. Y. Sun, Haunted homes In Chlua must be desirable places of residence. The Tleu-Tsiii Shlhpiio reports that not long ego a m ill named Yung moved Into a haunted house which nobody dared live In, be being ignorant of Its char acter. 1 hiring the tlrsl two weeks a ghost, terrible In appearance, made himself visible iu the night. Yang, be ing a young man of bravery and hav ing '.earned the professional ways ol taming devils, did not care for it. One uight, w hen be saw the spirit unusual ly rampant, and he undertook to drive it out. the devil suddenly became a ray of red light and entered into the ground Yung was greatly surprised at this, and. digging into the ground, found more than ten thousand tools of silver in tl.c daiv where the spirit had en tered. When von arc advised to "take the bull by the horns," don't That's no way to seize the animal safely, (let a nose hold or none. Oil City Derrick. There has Islely tveen porteetcd process, by a tiermsn chemist, w hereby any soft or porous wood can be made as hard as lignum vitas, and serve the same purpose. It is done by forcing oil into the pores of the soft wood, and then sub jecling it U Intense pressure. An Knltah navigator at Santander, on the north roast of Spain, hss found ha Ma waves In a prolonged and heavy gale of wind to be ii feet high and sat feet long. Other estimates of storm waves in the South Atlantic give a height of 50 feet and a length of 400 feet 1 u j auv aui iu BWStl ill BPIV i n il wiuuw xceedi 10 feet and the leatflb 1M feel. THE GREAT CHARTER. Strang Manner In M'lilch Orlflnals el tha Dees ate ll Were PmmtmA In thut amusing book, the Curiosities of Literature, D'Isrueli describes how Sir Robert Cotton found his tailor hold ing In his hand an original Magna Carta, which he wus about to cut up for measures; and tho story, whether true or not, muy make us thankful for the happy chances which have pre served some of our most valuable na tional documents. No doubt, many of the highest Interest have been de stroyed; but some, inch as Domesday Book still survive; und when we think of the perils from neglect and from active violent enmity, their survival is a matter for wonder and thankfulness. The Articles of the (ireut Charter of King John is another fortunate sur vivor; and one or two (ireut Charters themselves exist which have a fair claim t be called originals. Tho (irnnt Charter. It will be remem bered, was agreed to by King John on the IMfa of June, 116, at Kiinnymedo. It a. in truth, not an act of Parlia ment or statue, but a treaty between thn King and his subjecU, and was framed upon a series of forty-nine ar ticles drawn iii by tho Barons and pre sented to the King. There were con sequently two separate documents; one. "Tho Articles of the (Jreat Charter ol Litiortios;" and the other, "Tho Ureal ('barter " it-elf. Neither wero signed by either tho King or the Barons. Both were sealed with tho (Jreat Seal of King John; und there is some evidence that the Creat (.'barter was sealed by some of tho Barons; but tho Bnrons do not appear to have -ruled the urticles. The original urticles are in the Brit ish Museum, uml a fac-simile of them I exhibited to the public They un: written in I..' u. nn parchment ten inches uml three-quarters broad, und twenty-one Inches and a half long, including the fold for receiving the label. To the label, tho Pratt Seal ol King John is still uppondant; buL un fortunately, the whole document lUM been greatly damaged. Its history is very obscure. At an early date it wus probubly deposited at I.umbeth. nnd It apparently remained there till Ifil.V At the end of the seven teenth century It was In the possession of (iilbert Burnet. Bishop of Salisbury, and he gives, in the History of his Own Time, the following account of the man ner In which he cume by it. When the Impeachment of Archbishop Laud was brought to the bar of tbo Lords, "ho. apprehending how it would etui, sent ovor Warner, Bishop of Kochoster, with the keys of his closet und cabinet. Hint he might destroy or put out of the way all papers that Bight either hurl himself or anybody else, lie was nt that work for three hour, till, upon Laud's belli',' committed to the Black Und, a messenger went over to seal u his closet, who camo after all was re moved. Among the writings he took away, it is believed the original Mugtui Carta passed by King John in the mead MM Staines wa one. Thi wu found among Warner's papers by hi execu tor; and thut descended to hi son and executor. Colonel Lee, who gave it to me. So it is now iu civ bauds; and it came very fnlrly to me." For Ibis con veynuco of It we have nothing but con Mature. As Burnet had been allowed to search all the public records, Lord Dartmouth lllggesU that thi ebova ac count was intended to allay any auspi picion that be bad obtained M vnltiuhli A document in a less justifiable man to r Chambers' Journal. GEORGIA'S OLIVE GROVE. Tim Only One I nraleil Kaat nf Itnck) Mountain. a re porter met w. it. shndtnan. ol St. S1 .on's, on the street and greeted him .villi "how Is that olive grovoP" "O, booming," wa the reply. "I have here a twig oil of one of BJ trees which 1 brought for you to look at. What do yOU Hunk of those for UoOlfM raised!" "There are as flue as one need want to sec.'' nnswered tho reporter, as Mr. Shiulinan handed him the twig, which wus about eight inches long and con tained sixteen large, well-formed, bright-colored, half grown olives, which hod every appearnnco of having grown 'heath Italy I skies. How muny of those trees have you'" About Ihreencres, and thetrees are just loaded down with them. 1 will gather an immense crop of them this year. There arc not many people iu Georgia, comparatively speaking, who know that there is an olivo grove III the State. My grov e is the only com nierclal one cant of the llooky Mono tains. Then are only two groves m California, but the lineal they boar will compare in no way with those raised here. Mine are much larger and In t tr." "What do you do with the olive you raise?" "Pickle some of them, but make the larger portion of them into oil. I hav ( on my place now a quantity of the ol that is as nice and clear as oau he made anywhere." "How dOM Olive growing compile with cotton raising, from a pecuniary stand lHiiixt"' "You can make no comparison, then is so much more pmlit tu the olives Why, I make HO glUOM Of oil ev ery year. That readily soils on ah average of i ' a gallon, or the total amount for H, '.'"'- Thai isal'. clear protlt, loo (or I sell emmgh of the pickle lo pay ill expense- What three acres can yOU pul In cotton, and make it prodMOl a yield of fl i.'sl clear money ' . air, I fin I a market for all mv oil and pioklo.' " "- 'i-k 'i! Times. Irto g.v-, o.uij el lue Catholic cathedral in Louisville was recently out of tunc for several day. '1 lie or genial searched foi tho cause but MHU not discover it. Then the organ bu.lder was called In to KM what w.t tho matter. After a short examination he found the metallic "D" pipe out ol order. He bad the pipe, which is ten feet iu length, removed, and found that a sparrow lodged in the middle of iu The sparrow was removed and the , pipe replaced, and the organ is now m j good order. It is not known how the bird cquld have gol into the pine. AMIAULE BARBARIANS. Anacduta nf Tel. lei, tha KiiMlan Norrlltt, eel (isnar. I MallkoC From the Tsar down to the humblest mujlk, the Russians are more or less barlwrwoe. from the point of view of the rctlned West, but certainly most amlubie barbarians, so far as foreign ers ure concerned. Their hospitality knows no limits; no trouble Is too greut when it Is a question of obliging a foreign visitor; but charming as they are. you aro coustuntly being reminded of the vvildness of their real underly ing nature by the strange contrasts of delicacy and brutality, of civilization and burli'irisro. which their daily life offers. To hour the Russian talk about the unwritten contemporary historv of their social and national life is like listening to the stories of the ArbiM Nights. The true narra tive (if SkobolefT's career and death, and the trtio narrative of the circum stances of the assassination of the late Tsur. are far more thrilling und ex traordinary than print has ever told. As an example of the strange con trasts of real Russia we will cite two anecdote that were related to us by a distinguished official, whoso intention whs certainly not to throw dust in our ryes, or even to astonish us beyond measure. The conversation happened to turn upon General Lorii MeUkotT, the famous chief of the dreaded "third section." Tho F.tnncror. wo were told by our informant, hud given Lorin Mollkoff unbounded power to act against tho Nihilists, and had virtually created him vice-Kmporor, a Melikoff himself used to say. Now, Melikoff hud discovered that one of the lending Nihilist chiefs was in tho habit of fre quently visiting Count Tolstoi, the novelist, nnd one day he wont out to Tolstoi's country house. Before the uisitor had announced himself, Tolstoi recognized him, and said: "You are Loris Melikoff, chief of the third section. Do you come to see me oftlciully. or a a private 1111111? If you come oflioiully. hero aro my keys; search, open every thing. You lire free." I come not officially," replied Meli koff. "Very good," nnswered Tolstoi; Biid calling two mtijlks, he said to them, "Throw this man out of the house!" The miijik obeyed Toletol to the letter, nml LorUHellkoS hud to accept this trcu menl, for in his way Tolstoi is a mightier man oven than 'our father the T'snr." In the eyes of tin Rr.Msiun people ho i nn exceptional being, being moru than a saint, and almost a savior. Tho mention of Iiris Melikoff brought up another anecdote. Some twelve years ago the Kinperor sent for Melikoff nnd announced to him tliattlic plague wn raging iu tv 0 village ol the empire, and ordered him to dc whatever was needful With a view tt stopping its ravages, at Cm sutuo Unit giving him unlimited powers. Thereupon Loril Melikoff went tirst of all to tho Minister of Finance, in formed him that ho should perhaps re quire u great deal of money in order ti carry out the Emperor's commmids, und demanded n credit of lifty millions Ol rubles. The Minister ol Ftnenoi made a long face, but was unable to re fuse, Loris Melikoff I ll ill posted to tin villages in question, nml having ob served tho situation, ho telegraphed for twenty (lro-engim s to bo -out from tiie neighboring towns, had the pump Ohargod with petroleum, und ordered the Bremen to approach the villages by night, inundate the OOttigOO with petroleum, set them on lire and s.ivi nobody. The order was executed; tin: cottages and their few hundred inhab itants men, women, children and cat tie were burned to ashes, and tOOM two vitiligo disappeared from the map of Kiissin and from tho registers ol the empire. The measure was radical, but it slumped out the plague effectu ally. Loris Melikoff thereupon re ported to the Kinperor that his com mands hud been executed, and then uilleil on the Minister of Finance to tell him that out of the credit of lifty millions of rubles granted to him he hud spent only two I Undred rubies to buy petroleum, and that consequently his Excellency the Minister could dis poes of the balance. tu Uitli of these stories, which we have reason to believe to bo literally exact, wo It ml that curious mixture of the grandiose, of o-leiitation and of barbaric reoklossno-s which are ehar ecteristic of the RuetMn temperament. Theodore Child, 111 Harper's Mngu tlne. A Predatory Dor Outwitted. The other day a spaniel that hud 11 bad habit of stealing poultry, was seen approaching the house at n moderate trot with a large rooster in his BlOUth. The fowl seemed to be defunct, and so the spaniel evidently thought. for being somewhat weakened by the excursion, and '.he weather being warm, he laid down his prey for a moment in Order to rest. B it the rooster was alive and in full possession of all his faculties, for no sootier did he f vl himself co 'eased from the jaw of the fell boast that bad captured him than he fluttered his wings and struggled up among the branches of a convenient tree. Ihe dog was so astounded at this miracle, as it must have tovtucd to alfla, that tic lost his presence o' mind for a second or two. and in that interval his booty escaped. This talo Is porfovlly true (tad I remctulver a very similar occur ence your ago), although I limit con fess it sounds a good deal like Ihe he ginning of I'lio .Lsop s lubes. Bos. .on Post. -The hoy with a tishpole plays a dose second In 'he wi mvi with a baby wagon a a dlaturbUut element In a crow d. Mi. w uu.it c Journal. MISCELLANEOUS. -Amongst the mackerel caught off the coaal of Ireland lately was one which contained a large live toad, which, on beiug taken out. !ioppti about on dock, and sootned quite at home. At Ihe lt:l.adlphia 100 the other day a monkey lore the bote lulle off lady's Ivnn-il wrapped it arouud his Its stomach as a sash and UMB posed in Ihe most dudesque manner imagina ble for the admiration of the visitor. A DEAR DAIRY-MAID. Belf to. my pretty dairymaid ' iMncaih a green bough's shimmering shads, All dressed lo silk, She sold me milk. Did this m dark eyed dairy maid. No I'lu'n ptebUsa dairy maid? E'ei. rvdnnon was not srrsyed At. least. I doubt If he rigged out H 'e.v in ar, dazzling dairy maid. A pruud 1 . Aii dairy maid; llut 0 lbs rhvfl a lively trade I The milk she sold, O II wus cold Asberowa mien, my dairy maid I A high snd mighty dairy maid: To ask tor change I was afraid; Tho' 'twas a Ure, As I'm sllve, I gave this madd'ning dairy maid I O deep designing dairy maid I The one fantastic trlcki she played Would U at Uld Nick I Arithmetic Was "downed'' by this dear dairy maid. O dollar drawing dairy-maid! Twas tirst a tie, then, as I strayed Her way again. She froze to ten More ducats, did my dairy maid. n most unfair fair dairy maid, She took my all ' Hut why upbraid? At every Fair, Some lady there Will rob men. a s dairy maid! BoStOa C51ob. A ST0KY OF THE SEA. Sintrular and Startling Experience of a Sailor. The U.I I I'lans nr the Mutinous at rew ami Oorean rlrates Thwarted by Coolness anil llravery llrtrl liutlou with a Vengeance. In the year MSB a British steamer called the Fairfax arrived at Shanghai in distress, and upon investigation her damages were found to be so extensive that she was sold to a corporation known as "The Hidden Tea Company." It was composed of live British tea houses and it had four coasting vessels in its trade. This steamer was wanted to establish a line to the U0O-KM0 Islands, in the I'a cific nnMn but morn particularly to the island of Kiu-Siu, where tho company Intended to establish a branch bead' iUurters. The Fairfax was a side-wheeler of about (100 tons burden, and noted as beinif very fast. She was changed about a great deal in making repairs, und when 1 went aboard of her as a wheels man I found several tilings to excite my curiosity. Ths cabin had been done away with, and in its place was an olli enrs' messroom uft and a imnfortablo dining room for the men forward. The space between was used for Ic rt hs and storage. 1 noticed that a great deal of the interior wood work wascovercd with heavy sheet iron, which had been painted to resemble wood. The doors were very heavy, and were further pro tected by metal. The engine room was entirely' enclosed, and when I came to the wheelhouee I was surprised to find it 10 arranged that iron shuttert hung 0B the inside could bOoMtOd to make a little fortress of the place. Two rifles and a pair of revolvers comprised the armament, When 1 came to ask ques tions of the mate he informed me that wo were going among a lawless and des perate lot, and wore prepund for any emergency. In addition to what I had seen he showed me a six-pound field pi on the promenade deck and I score or more of rules in a loom sot apart for an armor v. The steamer made her first and second trips without adventure. The crew in each instance was composed almost en tirely 0! white men Knglish, American. Herman and French sailors, who had been picked up in Shanghai. The cook, steward and stokers were natives, an 1 on each trip we carried quite a number of native passengers. On the third tr.-p about one-half of the white crew had to he teplaced by natives, and when we left Shanghai we had sixty native pas Ongeia, I remarked on the singular fact that all were men, and the mate explained matters by saving It was a religious I ody on their way to a fatuous temple situated on the island we were bound for. They looked to me like u crafty, villainous lot, and my fellow wheelsman, who was an American named White, predicted that we should have trouble with them before the voyage was over. We hud scarcely left port before we saw to it that all our weapons were loaded, and we got "the hang" of the iron blinds so that we could shut them quickly. One of us would cer tainly I e in the whcrlhouse, no matter at what hour trouble might cume. As the steamer only had a small load Ol fn Ighti and that was ull in the bold, the party of natives were quartered on the lower dirk. The weather was wry mild and they did not need covering. The distance from Shanghai to Kiu-Siu is about two hundred and fifty miles. As we left port at six o'clool in the morn ing, and averaged twelve miles or hour untilYour the n-'xt morning, we were pretty fairly across the big bay or straits created right there by tho lay of the coast and the lis'ationof the islands. I came 00 watch at four o'elo '. It was then fairly daylight and the s; wus smooth and every thing very quiet. Mohun gave me the ooune. reported j that there was nothing new, and went utT to liirn in. He had scarcely disap peared when I rose two junks dead ahead, and five ininu; slater the lookou' en the Isivvs rcsirt sj them to Mr. lira ham, the tirst mat '. It could not have been more than two minutes after thi w hen I board a shrill cry of 1 'Murder!" followed by two pistol shots au.l a rus.'i of feet, snd 1 realinsl that trouble wa st hand. 1 rang the lieil for the engineer to ston and then shut snd secured my blinds, and I was not a moment too si ten. The wheels had scarcely ceased tti revolve when 1 heard the patter of feet outside, followed by exclamations of anger and disappointment. Then 1 used the speaking tube to warn the en gmcer, and he speedily infornieJ mi that he had made himself a dose pris oner. My iron shutters wen1 provided with portholes, snd wlen I looked down upon her bow deck 1 saw the dead boeMl of Ho MM and iskout ly ing thirst iud covered with bltssi Iron' mime roue knife wounds. Vone of the natives were in sight, but directly a fierce yell arose from '.he lower deck, followed by pistol shots, and I knew that the saffron-faced wTetches were murdering the whito men as fast as they could get lo them. They left me alone for about a quarter of aa hour. Thee about half a doten of ihcm came up and demanded my surrender. Krum their dulcet I knew them lo be Coreeaa. They sailed to me in that 'tn :-. saying they bad full possession of the steamiw. had killed all but two of the craw, aad that my life would be spared If I promised to do as they directed. I ommunicaied with the eagiiMr. found that he" was all right, and'be added that the captain and some of the crew were In the armory and prepared to bold out to the last. I then Informed the pirates that I cou'id not think of surrender, and as they began battering at the door with a capstan I v ! rorei the muiile of a revolver 11 A I 'i'oiC ie and wounded another I J f get out of range. There , . wvle breeze blow ing, and that was at our backs. The two junks wen- coming down slowly, having to make frequent tacks, and when about a mllo and a half awuy I saw that they were loaded with men. It was a put-up job between the two parties, snd all tho details were thoroughly undrstoisI. Th engineer had been blowing off steam to prevent an explosion, and I asked him to bold fB.st and give me a show to carry out a plan which had suddenly suggest ed Itself. Fortunately for us the native taker had just Bred up before they got the signal. They had murdered the :hlef, who was an Englishman, as also the oiler, who was a Herman, and had left the furnace doors shut as they rushed up on deck to join In the mur derous melee. The boilers wore there fore making steam at a lively rate. As toon as the engineer understood what I wanted he started ahead, and I took tho wheel and brought the steamer's head in line with one of the junks. We were headed about north. One of the junks was headed southeast on her tack, tho other southwest. They were, therefore, nearly broadsido on to me. We went ihead at moderate speed, as I did not want to alarm them. The natives on noard gathered in the bows and began waving cloths and hats as a warning to the junks. Tho people on tho latter must have argued that the steamer was in the hands of their rrlends, for they fired their jingals and waved their cloths in reply. I held for the junk headed to the south east, and she at once lowered her sail to wait for the steamer to come up. When within a quarter of a mile of her I rang the bell for the engineer to go ahead at full speed, and the steamer started oil like a wild locomotive. We were almost upon the junk before the people divined our object, and they had Only time to utter one Ifing-drawn shout A terror. I held the steamer for her , broadside, and she divided that junk like the two halves of an apple falling away (TOD a knife. I expected a great shock, hut there was none, tt was no mom than as If we had run down a yawl. I believe ihe held at least fifty men. A great cry went up as we passed, and when I had beaded thn steamer around not more than half a dozen of tho poor wretches were in sight, and those wero clinging to fragments of the w reck and tossing about. I gave the engineer Information jf how we had succeeded and told him I proposed to servo the other junk the same way. The natives aboard tho steamer seemed helpless and terror-stricken at first, but when they realized my plan they moved to prevent it. They rundown and ipened the furnace doors to lower the steam, and 11 gang of six or eight attacked tho wheelhouso. A second party made an attack on the engineer's room at the same moment. The second junk, seeing the fate of the first, had gone about, and was stand ing due north with all sail set. Tho wind was light, however, and we could run Ave feet to her ono. We had a large reserve of steam, and after 1 had her nose pointed for the junk I gave the gang outside a llttlo attention. They were banging at tho door and the shut tors with tho cap-tan bars, and 1 wounded two of them before they would desist. The engineer, also using a re volver, killed one and wounded two. The fellows then drew olf, beaten at every turn and dilgUlted with the job, 1 and now I was close un w ith the junk. She also held about fifty desperate look- ! ing fellows. Aware of my intentions, about twenty of them who were armed with muskets gathered aft and peppered j away at the pilot house, but the few bnlieta which hit it fell harmless. When the bow of the steamer was within a Cable length of tho stern of the junk j every native began to howl and wall, and most of them throw themselves prostrate on the decks. White cloths were held up in token of surrender, hut in answer 1 rang the bell for the en gineer to pull her v .do opon. He did 1 86 and we seemed to lift out of the water, and lie Hung : the doomed craft like a missile. Tho steamer struck her square in the stern, crashed into her for ton or twelve feet, 'ind then the junk fell apart und bocami a heap of wreck age which was cast aside from eithet low. 1 ran on for . 1 uuarter of a mile and then turned. Net a living man mi to be seen in this l ist disaster. 1 ran over to the other heap of wreckage and saw two men still hanging on, but the sharks pulled them under just as 1 rang to stop our way. The steam wasalsiut exhausted, anyhow, and the time had come for a more against tho pirates on board. Helieving that they were badly fright ened. 1 reloaded the revolvers and stepped out on deck with one in either hand. The only man in sight was the leader of the band, who stiHsl on tho Isjws looking up at me. As I stopped out he said: "Don't shoot me! We meant you no harm! We huvo thrown away our weapons!" I went down to find them cowering in the pa-sagi ways, every man's pluck completely gone, l'h" captain and site ond mate were in the armory. I let I them out, and then freed the engineer, j The four of us were the only white men 1 left alive. Me lolleetod the prisoner; in the mess room, held a short consulta tion and then proceeded to !. While I remained among them to check any new ambition, the captain took his sta tion at the forward port gangway. The engineer then led the pirates out to the captain one by one. and the latter put a ! bullet through each man's head and pitched him forward irfto the sea. It was retribution with a vengence and certain writers, who were a thousand miles from the scene and underwent Bone of iu perils have termed it "the massacre of the prisoners." I went out with the last one. Like all others who had preceded him he went humbly to his death, not even uttering a prou.-L W hen he had been disposed of we turned to and prepared the bodies of our dead for burial, cleaned the decks, and. by two of us acting as stokers, we worked the steamer up to Kiu-Siu. For a few weeks the natives kept won derfully quiet about the adventure, but It then leaked nut that about ISO lives had been lost in the attempt to capture as. Had they got possession of the eteamer. It was their intention to run hor up to the bead of the Yellow Sea, aad make use of ber in then- piratical excursions from the coast of Formosa. As none of them understood how to nav igate "the wingless devil. - as thoy called her. it U likely that she would have been blown up within an hour or two after they gut charge. Hb was In the trade und on th" same lino for the next five years, and every native craft would turn tall at the sight of her five miles away. X. Y. Sun. TELEGRAPHIC BLUNDERS. Hume of Ihe Cauaea from Which Moat ol Them Arlaa. "Get rid of Emma. at once; exposure Imminent." Such wero tho contents, startling and uncxpocfc'd, of a telegram opened by the wife of one of our city men during his absence. How many sighs and tears, how much doubt and anguish resulted, and with what dltll cully and persuasion incredulity was overcome and confidence restored, who shall MIL Suffice it that tears gave way to laughter when it was explained Hist "Kmmen was the name of a big mine In America, and tho mysterious message only a hint to sell out shares In that no torious undertaking. There was no blunder, telegraphic or otherwise, in the transmission of the above message, but It will serve ns an example of the ambiguity of the modern business telegram. Nine out of ten of the messages passing to-day between business houses are so abbreviated, so full of technical terms, as to lie an ab solutely unknown language to any one outside tho particular business con cerned. There Is no occasion whatever to con demn this practice: Indeed, the manifold advantages MOUred bj tho use of ale brevii.ti d or code telegrams, principally us regards economy and secrecy. Im measurably outweigh the disadvantages of occasional misunderstandings. It must, however, he admitted that a slight telegraphic blunder which would not if feci the sense of 11 plainly worded mes sage, might entirely obscure or alter the meaning of an abbreviated or atiiblyu ous in". The pertOn who despatched the comforting a surunce, "made ull right." could not. of course, foresee th t thut the failure of two llttlo signais would transform his message into the alarming stut ment "mad all night;" but the economist who condensed the same meaning into the single word "settled" could not loudly complain that the mes sage us delivered contained the unmean ing and wmewhal irritating word "net lied." The blunders of tho telegraph arise from more than one cause. In addition to tiiose produced by indistinct or Ulit orato writing, a very huge number ar duo to mechanical or electrical faults in the apparatus or on the line. The Morse code or alphabet, by means of which the pulsations of the electric current are read. is. as most people aro aware, com posed of dots and dashes, or rather short and lung signals, combinations of which In different orders and quantities form the letters of tho alphabet. These sig nals are liable to mutilation in three ways: Uy "failing," or the loss of a signal: by "sticking,"or the running to gether of two signals; und by "split ting. " or the breaking up of one signal into two or more. To illustrate this, let Ul take the letter "K," which is ex pressed by a dot, a dash, and a dot . I!y the accidental omission of the first or last dot, it would become either N. or A. I!y the running together of two .signals it would again, although not perfectly, become - N, or A, while the splitting up of the dash would trans form it into II - . When it is remem bered that all of these faults may be, end occasionally arc, present at the lame time, the mystery ol some MMgfaphic iilunders is explained. - Chambers' Jour nal. WbS Cigars Are Dancoroel A celebrated European specialist 'or discuses of the throat, nose and en r, as serts that tuberculosis is making alarm Ing progress among our cigur smokers. He docs not attribute this lo the used tobacco but to the manner in which et" gara are manufactured. Boiling the to bacco leaf lsa craft that requires neither strength nor intelligence, consequently in this branch of the operation il is usual to find male und female operatives who are weal; unddiseasi d, and who, in con sequence of their infirmities, are eco nomical employes. Most of these sutler from MrofuM or tuberculosis They cough, and often give the fluishlng touch to a cigar with their lips. Frunk Los lie's Weekly Why lie Coalda'l Hold Htm. Inquiring Friend Where's your hors"? Haven't seen you drive him lately. Short Puree 0, hud to let him go, couldn't hold him, you know. Inquiring Friend Indeed, why I thought ho was so gentle " Short Puree Yes, but old Isaacs had a chattel mortgage on him. Munscy's Weekly. - When a man gets married, he Is apt to think everybody should give him a present, hut how he he tea to buy pres ents for his friends when their day ,1; the altar comes round.' Atchison lilobe. Tu Keep l'p wlfh tha Dane. Time wus when a lady or goiillenmn who. alter n term or two at a danoillff scIukiI, could walM fairly well, could polka or schoUische a liitle and walk through a quadrille without a blunder, coumuorod bis or her Ml pelnhurean education complete. Not so nowadaye. No longer is the graduate "called oul" lur tiie guidance of the dancer. Tha cotillon, with tho military und ancient minuet features of the early part of the ccuturv has been revived, and new anneal are Nought out every season. Many of tliem are quite intri cate. Tlifv are known only by their iianics. No word of direction is spoken The person who desires to be up Ui llic usages of polite society asc.v cinplificil in Hie bull room. must, there- fora, be Uiey ever so graceful or expo- rieuced dancers, take a few lessons at Hie o'llset of llic sucmi season or run tiie risk of being surnnsed some even- lug; 111, may 1 call it, the meshes of a ucw cotillon, to his or her deep elm grin and inortiticatioQ and the un aiMMkable ouuovaiice of the others w iio are so unfortunate as to have liieir pleasure marred by a blunderer, for one rsou ignorant of the rlgui'cs is aawwft lo disconcert ine rcmaminj? seven il.uicers. Dauciug Master iu (jlobe-lX'tnocraL FApalr makes a despicable figure. nd descends from a mean original. 'Tis the offspring of fear, of laziness, and ini naaMaaWj it argues a defect of ipirlt and -e 1 it ,n. and oftentimes of honcs'.l v. ftalMaw -Fond Mother -"See the dvrlioe no. isitor-"Vea. indeed, the little sunning: How much be resembles his pa." -Time. A Minneapolis man claims to have UjvenW a motorwhlch will do all kinds r kitchen work. H i. otneVrrstood to ave no cousina-Boston Transcript.