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About The Columbian. (St. Helens, Columbia County, Or.) 1880-1886 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1883)
THE COLUMBIAN. Published Evxbt Friday, - . AT , ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO., OIL, , BY ' THE COLUMBIAN. Published Every Friday, AT ST. HELENS, COLMMBIA CO., OR., ' ' " ' '." j ' BY ... I E. G. ADAHS, Editor and Prcprittcr. . 0. ADAMS, Editor and Proprietor. Advertising Rates : Subscription Rates: One year, in advance : . . .?2 00 Six months, ',. " 1 Three months. " 50 ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA COUNTY,; OREGON, DECEMBER 28, 188.3. Ona cxn..n Airt 1 t.Di4lAit 9 tVl VOL. IV. Z. Each subsequent insertion.. .. 100 : - ' j . I . , MINE! In the tranced hush wueu sound sank awed to rest, Ere from her spirit's rose-red, rose sweet gate : Cam forth to him her royal word of fate, Did she sigh Ycs," and droop upon my fireast; While round our rapture, dumb, nxed, unex pressed By ihe soizil senses, did there fluctuate The plaintive surges of our mortal state, Tempering the poignant ecstasy too blest. Do I wake iutn a. 1 renin nr hava we twain. Lured hv soft, wilis. ttt snmn unconscious Dared joys f or. 1 to man ? O Light Supreme, Upon our brows transfiguring glory rain, Aiu irb Wit7 swinti l Ally Jliab ciiijctrft iwi On two who entered "Heaven before their time: The "Ma.iarre of Wyoming. The further we get from the inci dents of the Revolution the more philo sophical! v we consider them. I ho late civil war made us a more rational peo ple to judge our Revolutionary fore fathers. A committee was appointed from the descendants of the Revolutionary men of j oining, on the one hundreth anni versary of that battle, to prepare a me morial volume. Mr. Johnson, who ac companied mo riding, was one of that committee, and he crave me the memo rial book, of wliicb. 1 read a portion the same night. j There it is conceded that the British behaved very respectably and protected those who could come m. The British commander was a regular officer, named Butler, lie allowed the people after the battle to surrender, and politely asked their clergyman to act as secre tary of the com cut ion, winch he did, and this man wrote out the cartel, which was faithfully kept. The American settlers were allowed to stay upon their farms and enjoy their property on condition of not enlisting against the British government. The valley was evacuated by Butler and his command, and was not again invaded by them. All this is put down in the sober second thought of a hundred years. If you sleep on any thing a hundred years, except lobster salad, you will change j our mind. Again, the Wyoming Memorial com mittee discreetly says that the probable cause of any invasion was the intoler ance of our patriots, who began the war by driving off their inoffensive and nu merically weaker Tory neighbors. To reinstate those poor people the British line came, not unexpectedly, backed by some of the same savage Iroquois we had ustd for ahunJred years to invade and murder the French in Canada. Our patriotic forefathers knew all about the nature of their warfare, and merely re ceived some of its consequences. The memorial report asserts that not - one woman was cither killoJ ft & Uaed bjr the victors at Wyoming. lliiitn to Talkers. If the ministry were ivtter versed in e .I...T..; 41. it iiicuit ui fjt -iiiuu iiit-j biimiu un doubtedly make more converts. Writers on that art hold that the end of oratory is to persuade, aTUl that in or der to persuade one must be clearly understood. This refers to a clear enun ciation of spvecli. There is perhaps not one minister in fifty, even in cities, where they have all advantages, who speak clearly and distinctly enough to 1)3 understood by even their nearest auditors. They may speak loud enough, but the articulation being indistinct, the meaning is lost, in the sound. Aside from the' prevalent habit of "ranting," consequeut uon emotion, a .great many ministers really do not seem to understand that it is necessary to ojKn their mouths to any extent, but "chop off" their words in their great Last.? to emit the next. This rapid Bpeuking or ''telescoping words makes articulation impossible, to say nothing of the "chopping off" process, which prevents the speaker from being under stood, no matter how slow he might speak. To be heard is not alw ays to be understood, and there can be no persua sion or conviction unless the auditor understands what the minister is say ing. Adulterated Tea. Few people, Wni"i5 engaged in strengthening their nerves with a cup of tea, inia rine they are sw allowing pul verized charcoal, bone-black, clay, terra alba, pulverised soap-stone, talc, Prus sian blue, gravel, and other undesirable commodities. Such is the stuff scien tific experts employed by the New York loard of health have found in the green teas sold in that city. The best grades of bla-:k teas arrf pronounced the safest, r.nd the verdict U rendered that "none of the green teas are pure." Wild l'izn in the Xnv Hebrides. A long letter from the New Hebrides says that this is a dry season, two tons of maize per hectare (two and a half acres), but the immense number of wild pigs makes cultivation impracticable without pigs-proof fences. By one shot at night thirty at least were put to flight, passing almost between the shooter's legs, who was so dazed that lie made no second shot. The country is described as fabulously fertile, well watered and specially adapted for grow ing sugar cane. A Kick Ieposit. The finding of a great belt of phos phates in North Carolina is announced in a communication to Bradstreet's. The deposit has been traced a distance of nine miles, and an observer believes they extend a distance of thirty or forty miles on each side of the northeast branch of Cape Fear river. An Author's Way. Mr. W. D. Howells is quoted as say ing he always keeps his manuscript six or seven months ahead of the time for publication. His nervous disposition makes it impossible for him to furnish matter at short notice. ' Oleomargarine's Origin. During the seigo of Paris it became necessary to find a substitute for butter. Experiments resulted in the production of the eubstanco known as oleomargarine. "OLD HICKORY'S". FARWELL. Andrew Jackson's last Hours la the White House. How many strange, old-new stories one finds down here among these an cient iwople ! And how many curious relics of days "lefore the war, sail. In the last month of President Jack' son s - administration, -, lie called in a young artist, whom I am not permitted to name row, to do a miniature of his deceased wife on ivory. This young man was but 19, and the old soldier seems- to have taken him quite to his heart, from the letters and other things he has preserved. The last few days of Jackson's administration he kept the art.'st constantly with him and at work on the miniature. Every hour the hero of New Orleans would come and look over his shoulder in his deep concern about the progress of the work. The room occupied, which was the general's private office at the time, was the one on the right, immedi ately at the head of the main stairway, The artist now a gray, old Virginian, and eminent in quite another ' walk of life says that in these last few days the president was left quite alone. The flies that buzz about to suck the sweets of office had flown to his successor. The king is dead ; long live the king. Presi dent Jackson had nothing more to be stow, and so was left in almost en tire solitude. The general would not let the artist go away, but kept him at his side in the private office, even to the last hour, while he looked over and destroyed lus papers, As he came to the last one he glanced at it, let it fall in his hand heavily for a moment, then raised it up, tore it in two and threw it on the floor, where bits of paper already lay many inches deep. Then springing up the old man threw his two hands out, banged them down and said : "There, thank God, that is the last of it, the very last of it ; and now I am going homo to spend the re mainder of my days at my dear Hermit age." Saying this he walked across the room, took a cob pipe, rilled it and sat down, smoking a long time in silence. Ihe artist also made at tue time a miniature on ivory of J ackson, which he still has in his possession. The face is heavier, fuller, than we are accus tomed to see in steel cuts and paintings. The chin is prominent, massive, almost double; the hair is very thick, bristling. and like snow. Flowers In. Jtr.rls. I must confess the passion ror flowers is highly developed in Paris. From the flowers in the public square, whero he goes for a "breath of fresh air, to the flower pot in his little room, which he waters every night or morning, there is but a step, so to speak, and, moreover, oub may "find flower markets in all parts of the wonderful city, not to mention the elegant shops, like that which I have already named, and the hand-cart3 which ugly old women push before them in every street and avenue. The Quai aux Fleures, the Madeleine, the place de la ltepubhque and certain parts of the outer bonlevanls are so many open air markets where the flag stones and asphaltum have been car peted with verdure and enameled with roses, geraniums, camellias, dahlias, azalias and other lovely gifts of the goddess 1 lora. It was Cato, I think, who wished to make it obligatory on every Roman citizen to have a flowering plant to look after and the Parisian of to-day would seem to have adopted his principles The average Parisian, it is true, does not go beyond the fortifications, but it does not require much in order to give hini the sensation of the country, the odor of the flower and the shadow of love. A lilac bush which will soon burst into blossom and which stands in an earthen pot on his mantelpiece with two handfuls of hawthorns that he gathered himself along the ancient walls, suth.ee to realize his ideas ot a terrestrial paradise. Mirabeau said one da' when he was showing his garden to Argenteuil: "Flowers are the poetry of gardens," but I think Jules Claretie has improved on Mirabeau by calling them "the poetry of Paris." Too Sweet for Anything. A tiny very tmy pig was served at a fashionable dinner the other evening; and when he was placed on the table a howl went up from the assembled rank and fashion surrounding him. The lit tle beast stood on ln's own hoofs in the midst of a bed of Marshal Neil roses; in his rosy snout was the customary lemon, and twisted in his small tail was a blue pond lily. He was pronounced too sweet fcr anything, was duly cut up and tasted, and the health of the Chinese cook was duly drunk in champagne. A Pernetual t:iurk. A perpetual clock was started at Brussels a little over a ye r ago. An up draft is obtaiued in a tube or shaft by exposing it to the sun ; this draft turns a fan, which winds up the weight of the clock until it reaches the top, when it actuates a brake that stops the fan, but leaves it free to start again after the weight has gone down a little. At the last of June the clock was run ning perfectly, after having been in motion for nine consecutive months. Queer Oil Nprinrs. "Venezuela hns boiling oil springs, California ha3 got an oil spring that won't flow a drop of oil in the dark of the moon, and Wyoming has oil wells that are their own storage tanks, and I've see 'em all," said Capt. Jared Flower, of Venango county, in the Aster house rotunda. He has just re turned from a two years' tour of inves tigation of alleged oil fields in South America, on the Pacific coast, and in other localities. i The Hight or Conquest. i "Why do yon ma.o sacn a faco in taking that medicine V" asked a wifo of her husband. "You pour ! it down Tommy." J, "Yes, because I am stronger than Tommy. If Tommy were stronger than I, ho would doubtless pour it down mo." Heckles Ilorsemanshlp. It was early in the morning that the pilgrims were favored with an exhibition of horsemanship which is rarely seen. At one of the stations at which the train stopped . there . appeared among the mall knot of natives a veritable cow boy, mounted and fully equipped, He wore a broad-brimmed felt hat over an honest, pleasant face, deeply tanned by the sun and atmosphere, a woolen shirt and a short, gray jacket and gray trousers. Over his legs, from his hips to his knees, extended a wide piece of leather, the object of which is supposed to be to protect him from rain and brash. ' He was asked if he owned the herd of sheep grazing near, and indig nantly responded that he did not that ho was a cowboy. . . - "Let ns see vou lasso that cow." . -A "Huh! That's nothin'I The boys uld skin my head." "Then let us see you catch the train." Q Without a word the little pony was urged to the other side of the track, and, as the train started, horse and rider made a dash, going ahead of the train. Gradually as the train got un der way it gained upon its opponent until it and the horse stood "neck and neck." Then, as if to tempt the rider to his fate, cigars were held to him from the car windows. Without a moment's hesitation the little pony was headed for the road-bed, which it reached by a plunge from the higher ground. The train increased in speed, and the cow-boy, being intent on the prizes offered him, gave the rein to the pony and his attention to taking the cigars from the hands of those inside the cars. . Over washouts and . uneven ground, through cuts and over eleva tions the animal dashed, and so close to the train that the rider's feet came in contact with it. The animal was left entirely to itself, and one misstej) or a stumble would have thrown both horse and rider beneath the wheels. For fully three-quarters of a mile the race was kept up, and at the end of it the daring rider was greeted with shouts, which he acknowledged by a wave of his hat as the horse mounted the embankment. The Crash of Worlds. If ever two great worlds do meet in" this way it is possible to predict somo of the consequences. To use the tech nical language of science, "their energy of solar motion will be converted into various forms of molecular and poten tial energy;" which, translated into the vernacular, means that there will be ev olution of heat and light, while at the same time the solids present will be wholly or in part liquefied, the liquids vaporized, and . the vapors and gases rarefied and expanded. The intensity of the action will depend, of course, mainly. yy.on fcMkr"ya nnA mg'ftnaa of the colliding bodies ; but an easy calcu lation shows that if our earth were ever to meet another globe like herself, and meeting with the same velocity, heat enough would bo generated by the shock to transform them both into a huge ball of vapor ; unless, indeed, the central core of the earth is much colder and more refractory than is usuallyeup posed. At any rate, the quantity of heat developed would bo sufficient to melt, boil, and completely vaporize a mam of ice fully 700 times that of both the colliding worlds an ice planet 150, 000 miles in diameter. If, however, the impinging masses were, to begin with, mainly gaseous (as the sun seems to be) the effect might be curiously different. Heat would, of course, be generated, just as in the case of solid bodies ; but as a consequence, apparently most paradoxical, the result ing nebula might actually be cooler than either of the bodies before the en counter ; of course it would be vastly expanded in volume. Just as a gaseous mass contracting under its own gravity from loss of heat by radiation at its sur face, continually rises in temperature, so a similar mass, expanding against its own gravity from accession of heat within, may fall . in temperature, nay, must fall, if the body is composed of "perfect" gas. Of course, immediately after the collision, and before the ulti mate expansion bnlk was attained, the temperature and brilliance of the mass would be for a time vastly increased, but the final result would be as stated. Moothing the Victim. Marwood, the English hangman, used to soothe his victims by whispering words of encotiragement to them. "Come on now," he would say kindly. "I won't hurt you, and it will all be over in a minute. It will bo all right. Just leave it to me." A well known sheriff in Arkansaw is equally as kind. Some time ago he entered the cell of a man who was to be hanged the follow ing day and said: "That little affair of ours comes off to-morrow, you know, and I hope that you will be quite ready for the performance. Hold yourself pretty stiff when the cap is drawn. Then you will go down straight and won t dangle. It s very uncomfortable to dangle and you will find the still method preferable." Prison Morality. A man who was convicted of theft and sentenced to the state prison in Philadelphia the other day astonished the judge by making these pointed re marks in court : T worked three years m your state prison making shoes, and I know as much about making shoes s I do about watches. They taught me to be dishonest. My principal work was to paste leather and pasteboard to gether to make a thick sole to impose on the public. The man who had the contract was a Christian, a member of the church, and at the time I called his attention to the pasteboard business ho was foreman of the grand jury. What Ills Ilea Was. A New York merchant was speaking of a gray-haired comrado who had just married a third wifo. "1 can t under stand it," he said. "I am a widower nyself, but my idea has always been that if a man's first wife suited him, he wouldn't expect that another could fill lcr place, and if she did not suit him. no wouldn't want another to fill it." A FUNERAL ON THE CONGO. An Vn looked-For Expression or Feel Ins From an Old Afrleau ChleC Seeing their perplexity Lieut. Orban volunteered to fire off a round of twenty cartridges from his "Winches ter." The chief and people were de lighted. Could there be greater honor for the deceased than to receive his farewell salute at the hands of a white man, with his wonderful gun from Mquto the mysterious region beyond the sea the Unknown perhaps Heaven itself? (for are not "these white men sons of Heaven ?) So thought the old chief "'as he led us to see the corpse. With an earnest, pleading tone he took our hands in his anJ said t "0 you, who are going home!' and he pointed to the pale and peaceful evening sky. "You will send him back to us, will you not? You will tell him his hut is waiting for him, his wives will prepare his manioc white as cotton cloth, and there shall be Malafu in plenty and a goa't killed ? You will send him back, will you not?" This expression of feeling quite took us by surpriso. Ordinarily the African is so stolid, so thoroughly material, that one never expects from him anything like sentiment or poetic i ideas. We tried as gently as possible for he ap pealed to both of us in his distress to explain at once our utter inability to re animate this hideous corpse with the breath of life and to encourage him with vague hopes that all was not in vain, but he shook his aged, grizzled head sadly at the confession of our powerlessness face to face with death. The dead man had been placed in his grave in a sitting posture, many layers of native cloth lying under him, and ready to cover him up on the top were piles of cotton stuffs, received in trade from the far off coast, and rep resenting to these natives a con siderable amount of wealth. In the vague, half-determined notions which the jeople here have conceived as to a future existence, everything in the spirit world is supposed to bo a pale copy of things existing on the earth, so that for this . eason they put cloth, ves sels of pottery, and, in the case of chief, dead slaves into the graves, in or der that the deceased on arriving in the land of shades may not appear unpro' vided with the necessary means of mak ing a fresh start in a new life. The grave in which this man was buried had been dug in a hut, and the head of the corpso was not much more than two feet below the surface. We could not ascertain whether the hut, or rather house-for it was a substantial building of poles and thatch would be aban doned or not. I fancy not, as it is only m the case of a chief that this is done ; and the man that was dead, although rich and influential, wcs after all, only the favorite slave of the chief. What Does History Teach T It is not our intention to decry the study of history, if we really have any thing worthy of the name. v e recog nize it as one of the ornamental branches necessary to a "finished education." But what is its comparative practical value? To what real account can one young man in a million turn his knowl edge of Pompey's battles, Caesar's con quests, the triumphs of Alexander, or the brilliant victories of Napoleon, ad mitting that he is familiar with all that has ever been written concerning them ? What lessons of practical wisdom can the girl derive from studying the lives of Dido, Cleopatra, Llizabeth or Catha rine, as they are presented by the ancient or modern historian ? We do not ap prehend any danger from too much at tention being given to this branch of study by the youth of either sex,whether it is as the elder Walpolo thought, "nothing but lies," or as Macauley de fined it, "philosophy teaching by ex ample." It is a great deal more ex tolled than read, and much more com mended than studied, and it is likely so to continue. Dansers of Tobosannlng; The Louisville Commercial's reporter got an interview with the city solicitor of Toronto at the exposition. The so licitor said: "Toboganning is great sport. My friend Smith had a valuable horse that once made a mile in ten sec onds on a toboggan. The animal lost its sight, however, the frost needles having cut its eyes out of its head as it flew down hill. The horse had incau tiously strayed to a toboggan hill in the night, and had accidently stepped on one of the slippery things, and away ho went. There was a slender, long-necked boy who was the most skillful tobog ganer in western Canada; but he met with a painful accident that winter that put a stop to his favorite sport forever. As he was going down hill one afternoon he carelessly turned his face to one side, and the wind twisted his whole head square round, so that the eyes looked down the back of his neck, and, lingering for several years in a retro spective way, ho diod insane his brain was turned. A Question of Freedom. "I fought for your freedom," said a gentleman whom a negro policeman was conducting to the lock-up. "You needn't try ter fight fur yourn, cap'n, fur if yer does I'll hit yer." "Aiu't you got no respect for a man who helped to free you?" "I ain't steadyin' 'bout dat, cap'n. Ef yer had enuff sense to fight fur my free dom yer aughter hab enuff ter 'habe yerse'f airter I'se freed. Doan pull back dat wy. I'll gin yer a lick fust thing yer know dat'll ring so luud dat do liro engines will come out. Yer own freedom seems ter bodder yer much more den mine. " Went .to the Shop. The china toilet set of tho late Ado laido Neilson, every piece painted with her monogram, oiicirclcMl with wreaths of roses, 'formed for a long time the chief ornament of a bric-a-br.ie shop on tho Euo du 4 Septo-nbre, iu Paris. Arkansaw Traveler: A piuson what ain't got no miusy fur a an'mal ain't got none fur a nir.n. an' is only kep' from beathi' a man 'case he's a coward. Iloldlnc Plaster Casts. ok "Where do I get my molds and first casts ? The best of them are made . in Rome ; now and then I get a fine thing from Paris. I don't import my molds. I get the best! casts from abroad and make the molds here. The making of a good mold is a very serious matter. The figure is but twenty-two inches i high, yet the mold is composed of: seventy or eighty pieces, and each piece ' must fit with perfect accuracy. The' mold for that Venus of Melos is in more than a hundred pieeas. The mold, not' the labor expended, is what makes a' good, cast expensive, for we can make an ordinary ciist in a day. We first tie all the pieces! together and then pour in the plaster. If the mold was not in many pieces 4 how ; could we get the statue out? Jt would be like going to work to undress a man by taking hold of his head and trying to pull him out of his clothing. Here is a little cast of a pear ; it is in five parts, two for top and bottom and three for the sides. "We judge iof a good cast by the lines. Look at thjs bust of Niobe;you see that the lines caused by the mold are narrow and fine ; in a poor cast they would be coarse and heavy, because the mold had bjecome worn at its edges. And the corners must come evenly and closely together ; one piece must not fall below .th level of the others. The reason that an artist prefers a cast which has the mold marks intact is not because of the assistance the lines give in drawing the figures, but because he knows by means of them just how good the original was, and that the workman has not, in scraping off the marks, hurt the form of the figure. Common work men in plaster not only chisel off the marks carelessly, but even smooth off the surface of the cast with sand paper." The Cborrh and the Ntaxe. While ort lodox Christians in this country genei ally frown on the stage and all its belongings, it is not to be dis guised that the prejudico against actors and theatres p not as marked as it was, Bay, twenty years ago. One of the most beautiful antlj successful theatres in New York is owned by a couple of clergy men, who are also the proprietors of The Churchman, the official organ of the Episcopal denomination. The Be v. Robert Collyer, and other liberal, as well as Episcopal, clergymen openly visit the N4w York theatres and no scandal is caused thereby. In England the bishop and clergymen of the na tional church attend operas and the atres the same as other people ; but more remarkable than all, The Christian World, the leading London organ of the Nonconformists, recently contained a leading editorial, giving Mr. Henry Irving a "God speed," apropos of his departure to America. Mr. George Macdonald, ho English novelist, is a clergyman, yet he frequently appears as an amateur actor on semi-public occa sions. Tho theatre is growing in popu larity in this country. A large space is given to dramatic news in all our jour nals. It is for Christian people to say what course they shall pursue in the fu ture. It is idle to ignore the 6tage or to condemn it by wholesale. After all, why not try and moralize it and free it from objectionable associations ? Take a ood Rest. You are wearing out the vital forces faster than there is any need, arid in this way subtracting years from the sum total of your life. This rush) and worry, day after day this restless anx iety for something you have not is like pebble-stones in machinery, they jgrate and grind the life out of you. Youjhave useless burdens ; throw them off. i You have a great load of useless care ; dump it. Full in tho strings; compact J your business ; take time for thought of bet ter things. Go out into the air and let God's sun shine down upon your busy head. Stop thinking of business and profit; stop grumbling at adverse providences. You will probably never see much bet ter times in this doomed world i and your most opportune season is now; your happiest day is to-day. Calmly do your duty, and let God take care of His own world. He is still alive and is the King. Do not imagine that things will go to everlasting smash when youi dis appear from this mortal stage. Do not fancy that the curse of heaven, in the vast task of, righting up a disjointed earth, is imposed upon you. Cease to fret and fume ; cease to jump and worry early and late. The good time is j com ing, but you 'will never bring it;! God can, and will; take breath, sir; sit down and rest, and take a long breath. Then go calmly to the tasks of life, and do your work well. JYapolcon's Own Iloroseope. While Napoleon was retreating from Moscow he lost an old manuscript, which was afterward proved to be over five hundred years old. With this he had cast his own horoscope. The ques tions and answers were in his ow hand writing, and written while he was a subaltern, pf these questions and an swers only one is given here, although the majorityj of them were remarkably correct as to his after life. ! Question 8. Shall I be eminent and meet with preferment in my pursuits? Answer. (Hieroglyph of tho Pyramid) definition ; "Thou shalt meet with many obstacles, but at length thou shalt attain tho highest earthly power and honor." j Tomb of President Uneoln's Gran4 j i . John Leach, of Yarmouth, England, says The London Athenaeum, has had the inscription over the tomb of the crandfatherl of Abraham Lincoln, at Norwich, photographed for friends of the family. The inscription is a3 fol lows: I "In memory of Mr. Abraham Lincolne, of this parish, who died July 13, 1789, aged seventy-nine years ; and Hannah, his daughter, who died September 23, 1709, aged six years." I "From Thee, great uod, we spring, to Thee we tend, j Path, motive, guide, origin, and vim. PREMONITIONS OF DANGER. A ftailroad Engineer (jjves Ills J ' v ' perienee. A fortnight or so ago x was on my way to the far west, traveling on a fast through Baltimore & Ohio express. On a bright ' Sunday morning ' I awoke ' in my berth and realized that the train was star ding still. I raised. the -curtain and peeped out. The sun was well up in the heavens, and the train stood in a dense wood, away-- frora any . living creature. It did not 'move for some time, and I arose, made my tojlet, and went outside. The train stood partially on a long trestle-work or open bridge, and I could see smoke rising from the end ot the structure furthest from us. I walked out past the' locomotive and on the bridge, where I met a number of gentlemen talking - - - "What's the matter?' I inquired of one. "'Oh, a section of the bridgo has burned, replied the gentleman. " 'Lucky the engineer saw tho fire in time to save us, I remarked, gazing down into the water below, and shud dering at the thought of being piled up, in a sleeping-car, in the chasm that yawned for me. " 'But the engineer says he didn't see any fire when he stopped,' exclaimed one. " 'No, said the engineer who stood hard by, I saw no fire. I had a pre sentiment as 1 approached the bridge. Something seemed to warn me that it would not bo safe to cross the bridge, and it came upon me so strongly that I just stopped the train and got out of the cab, and I hadn't walked twenty steps before I saw that the act had saved many lives, for the whole train would have gone down that hole, al though it is but the length of two rails, The fire didn't show up much above tho ties, as it was confined mostly to the timbers below. Right there in that lit tle shed a watchman sleeps,' said the engineer, pointing to a diminutive dwelling a half dozen rods away, 'and it was his duty, and it has been for years to be out here, and to pass over the bridge just before and after us ; but somehow I felt that he was not faithful, that ho might be asleep, and I could see in my mind, as I approached the bridge,, the whole train going down to death, and could hear the cries of the dying, and st I just stopped, as I said. The watch man, sure enough, was asleep. Oh, you needn't langh, for this is not the first time presentiments have saved lives when my hand was at the throttle. No, I've been in just this position before,' said he, blushing to the tips of his fin gers, as two or three gentlemen smiled and whistled a bit. " No,' said he, 'I had a foreboding of danger stronger than this a few years ago. I was running then on a division of the Sandnsky. 'I here is a little sta tion on that road where the passenger trains seldom atop. It has a siding for freights, however, and there was nearly always a freight train side-tracked as 1 passed through on the fast express. That little place is on a long stretch of splendid track, and for years the en gineers had that as a racing ground, and I tell you some mighty good time has been made there. At the time I had this presentiment the rivalry among the engineers on that stretch of track was at its height. It was a sharp winter night that I ap proached the station, on ,the down trip. It was foggy, and a fierce wind blew. I hadn't stopped there for three months, and as I went into that good track with a dash, and approached the village at a terrible speed, I never thought of stopping. My locomotive was the fleetest on the road, and I was congratulating myself, as the fireman drew his watch, that I was making the best time on record, and was thinking to myself how I would appal the train men side-tracked as I dashed through. When a quarter of a mile from the sta tion something whispered to me to stop. I didn't want to stop, and reflecting how chagrined I would be if I would have to 6top when in the heat of a suc cessful race, I tossed my head, opened the throttle a little more, and oh, how we flew 1 Seems to me I never saw a train come so near flying, and yet she just lay as close to and smoothly on the track as could be. Quick as thought I was commanded by an inner being to stop, or it would make a run to death ; and, without effort, my hands reversed the engine and applied the air. There was no signal, no whistle nor bell sounded, and the fireman was astonished to see my frantic movements. The train lay still a few feet past tho depot, and as I jumped from my, engine I felt so embarrassed that I almost burned. I could make no explanation to the con ductor or the trainmen who came about me. I looked all over the engine. Everything was all right. I cast my eyes along the train. Nothing appeared wrong. Then I walked down the track in front of the engine. When I had gone less than a hundred feet, and be yond the rays of the headlight I ran against a box car! It stood right out in front of the engine, full on the track. The switch had been left open and the wind had skewed it out. It was loaded with carbon oil. Had I not seen it, scores of persons would have been killed and burned. Wants It "Done Brown." Flood, the California millionaire, is going to ship brownstone all the way from New York for Ins new San Fran cisco palace. This will be an innova tion in which health and comfort are to be sacrificed to style. Brick or stone houses in San Francisco are simply uninhabitable because of their coldness and dampness, but Mr. Flood believes that brown stone alone can give the solidity and dignity necessary to such a palace as lie means to build. By tho way, it should not be forgotten that Mr. Flood used to keep a saloon and attend his own bar. His tastes are, therefore, nocessarily cultured and ks Luetic. A Point In Peanuts. It is reported that attempts will be made next season to raise peanuts on land that can be irrigated. The crop was a failure in many parts of tho south this year on account of the drought. COMFORT WITH BUSINES3. The Invltinff Luxury by Whlek Cus tomers Are Attracted to ttosse Wall Street Offices. . " - New York Times."! The visitor paused on the threshold and gazed inquiringly within. The room was large and nearly square, its Vails and ceilings delicately tinted 'with various shades of green. On the floor was a velvety carpet, with hues of drab and gold, which was perfectly matched by the upholstery patterns of several ' easy chairs and two inviting sofas. The silk plush window curtains were of a slightly darker shade. Fpotr rests covered with raw silk were scat tered about, and silken screen stood near a diminutive fire-place. A mass of glowing ccals4n the brass-environed grate im parted a cheerful warmth "to "the rich " furnishings of the room. The mahog any library table was littered with newspapers, but from the disordered mass peeped a bouquet of fresh flowers, and lying on the floor underneath, jnat as it had fallen, was tho latest number of a popular magazine. Two pretty bronze ficrures ornamented the little plush-covered Jmantel, and on carved brackets here "and there were quaint statues in bisque and porcelain. Two or three oil-paintings adorned the walls, and in one corner was a mahogany book -case with several volumes behind its beveled glass dcors. The general appearance of the apart ment was that of a drawing-room in a . . . -. i . i private residence, ana a puzziea iooic came over the visitor's face as he looked about him. He had come to transact some business with a Wall street broker, and was beginning to fear that he had made a mistake in the place, when he observed that the occupants of the room wore their hats, smoked cigars, and bustled eagerly around a glass-covered apparatus which emitted a ticking sound and a long and narrow band of piper with letters and figures printed thereon. A momentary lull in the operations oi tho "ticker" enabled the visitor to put an inquiry which satisfied him that he had not made a mistake. He was in tho office of the broker he had come to seo, and tho unusual elegance of his sur roundings was simply an element of the adroit broker's enterprise. It is cus tomary with most all of the stock bro kers to fit up a room at their places of business for the accommodation of their patrons. This custom is an old one, but the degree of liberality in the fit ting up of such rooms has advanced wonderfully in a few years. Accord ing to the old-fashioned notion a dingy room, with a long table, soveral chairs, and perhaps a carpet-covered lounge, was thought to be good enough for the customers of any firm. The modern idea takes into consideration not only personal comfort but the natural human appreciation of beautiful things. There are scores of brokers' offices in the vicinity of Wall street so elegantly fitted up that they would not be out of place in Fifth avenue mansions. Some of the prosperous brokorage firms tako as much pride in the appearance of their reception-rooms as a lady does in that of her drawing-room. Mr. Henry Clews was one of the first of the Wall street - men to see the advantage of making his office attractive and luxurious. "I can t do business without customers," said he. 'and I must make my place of busi ness so bright and cheerful that they. will Iiko to come hero. Mr. Clews nas spent a great deal of money in furnishing his reception-room. It is carpeted with a light-colored body Brussels, and deco rated in bright and harmonious colors. The furniture is an assortment of tempt ing easy-chairs and sofas. Some of the chairs are upholstered and others are of elaborately woven willow. Most of them are with rockers. The walls are thickly covered with pictures selected with artistic discrimination. There are portraits and landscapes in oil, and two or three fine engravings. A large mir ror reaches from ceiling to floor on one side of the room. Numerous nlanues. images and brackets are scattered hero and there, Tho "tickers" are placed on shelves covered with olive-green vel vet. A grate fire is usually kept burn ing in this office when tho weather per mits it. A Relic or the Vikings. There is not a great deal to see in Christiana, and every stranger is taken in tho very first place to visit the Vi king sliip that was1 dug up a few years ago from the clay, in which it had lain 1,000 years, and is shown tho bones of ' the hardy old northern sea king who owned it and to whom his boat served as a mausoleum when he had died, as learned doctors declare from an inspection of what remains of him, of rheumatism. A fine craft she must have been in her time, seventy-six feet long by sixteen beam, with high raised stem and stern post and with lines that modern boat builders pronounce to be admirable One is tempted to make a polite bow to the venerable relic and say as one does to some old lady or gentleman who is proclaiming the number of her or his years : "You look very young for your ago. l or the frames and planking oi this man-of-war of the olden time look as if they might date from the eigh teenth instead of the ninth century, and the majority of her iron bolts show hardly a sign of rust. I suppose it is all right and that there is nothing of the Cardiff giant about this Viking smp, but it requires a strong faith in arcba ological discernment and in the preserv ative properties of blue clay to take in tho whole story. A Historical Door HUTU j -Slaughter Bassatt.of Lexington. Kv.. paid $5 for the front door sill of the old court house at that place when the building was torn down. It is of stone, and s prized by Bassett because Henry Clay and Aaron Burr stood upon it when the latter asked Clay to defend him, and he pledged his honor that ho was innocent of an attempt at a western conspiracy. Receiving the pledge, Clay appeared in Burr a defense, but afterward declined to speak to him when ho found out that Burr had lied. France has a resident foreign popula tion of 1,000,000. 1 I ! V 1 T:'"'