The Columbian., May 16, 1884, Image 1

THE COLUMBIAN.
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AT
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO., OR.,
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H Q. ADA1X3, Editor and Proprietor
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THE7 COLUMBIAN.
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1
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Pubusexo Byxbt Fudat,
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ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA CO., OR.,
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X. G. AT) MIS, Editor and Proprietor.
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VOL. IV.
ST. HELENS, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON, MAY 16, 1884.
NO 41.
EQUILIBRIUM.
Robert Elliott
An owl in an elm broods sad and grt
With hunger her owlets cry,
A the airy Tight of the moon grows dim
And the white morn drawethnigh.
An old gray mouse, with ber children three
In her newt, all under the dew.
Sleeps in peace at the foot of the tree,
As if sorrow she never knew.
Through the dusky light of the dawn
Two soft wings fan the grass:
A swoop a thud a beak all blood
And the hours unheeding pass.
Ami now at the foot of the tree ,
Palis a shade from the shaggy nest;
And thesini rays, cominr, pee
The owl, with ber owlets, rst.
THE FINEST CAR
a the World. Deslmed Tor a Month
American Frealdoat.
Vilunzt w .
The finest . car ever constructed has
just been built for the use of the presi
dent of the Ar entine Republic. The
whole framework of the car is of iron
ma !e of channel and eyebeams cross
blookeJ with iron tubes. Even the
platform framework is of iron instead
of wood. The whole eVerior of the
car body, both frame and panels, is
built of solid if an Domingo mahogany,
and it presents a most striking appear
ance. n the center panel is era
bla oned the coat-of-arms of the Argen
tine republic. The letter boards on
the sides contain the word "Feno Car
r.l Andino." Both platforms are in
closed at the sides with sol d niahojany
paneled door--.
The diflerent compartments of the
car are finished in mahogany, cherry
and oak, richly carved by hand. The
eilings are of oak, elaborately orna
mented -with g M bron?e and colons, in
laid -with carved panels and bronze
plagues. The deck lights a-e of em
bossed glass in pivoted sash, and
around the base is a border of Wall of
Troy in maruetrie. Pendant from the
ceiling are elaborately ornamented
double nickel -plated chandeliers.
The toor of 'the entire -car is
of t herry and maple, and is covered
with carpet of the richest Axminster of
neat Npatterns. The windows are
unusually large, with double mahogany
sash, each containing a French plate
glass 31x34 inches. They are lifted
with spring roller curtains and lambre
quins of tapestry, lined with Florentine
silk hcnr on mahogany poles. The
ends of the car and all of the bulk
heads are carved by hand, many of the
designs on the panels representing
different varieties of birds and water
fowl, being specimens of artistic skill.
The vestibule itself is grand, but the
main salon is an apartment of almost
Oriental luxury, the bulkheads, sides
and all the paneling being most elabor
ately carved and the oak ceiling inlaid
with costly carved panels and bronze
work. It contains five beveled pl.ite
mirrors, the largest being four feet
square. rI he blue tapestry curtains, in
a k; it ion to the rich lining of Floren
tine silk, are hung with silk tassels.
Next to the salon is the president's
state-room, containing a perma
nent bed, suppled with a mat
tress and mattress spring, bed
ding, b'anke'B, counterpanes and a
spread and pillow-sharui of white hand
made lace, 1 ned with cherry si.k, and
ornamented with the monogram of the
Argentine Republic in the center of
each. It is hung with Tnrcoman cur
tains aud has drawers beneath for bed
linen, personal underwear, etc. Oppo
site stands a mahogany secretary and
-arved-ba?k mahogany chairs, up
holstered in ru and plush. Adjoin
ing the stateroom is a private toilet
room, furnished in oak, with a wardrobe
with beveled mir: or-glafcs panels in its
doors.
neaaty on Exhibition.
New York Letter.
The observed of all observers at the
ln.blpa.jix vivants at the Madison Sauare
theatre on the first o?casion this enter
tainment was given in aid of the BarJ
tholdi fund was Mrs. Langtry, who
made herself conspicuous by standing
at the s'de of the house directly nn ler
the gaslight, so that the hokler of
lorgnettes that were instantly leveled
at her and kept there iu pre'eience to
the beauties on the stage had no didi
cnlty in obtaining a full view of her
famous features. Ushers approached
the Jersey Lily and asked her to take a
seat, but she persisted in standing, on
the principle of the yo ;ng uimu who
wouldn't dance, but posed in the door
way of the ball-room and "let 'em long"
for him. -
Finally Mrs. Langtry, who w.is a?
companied by a gentleman whom all
the youQg ladies in the house pro
nounced "a queer man," consented to
take a seat, but seemed uneasy aud left
after a few moments, and went and
stood at the back of the orchestra cir
cle. Why wojld she, or could she,
not sit down ? The problem w as solved
when it was discovered that the back of
her perfectly-fitting dark olive-green
cloth dress was garnished with a plum
age of innumerable small feathers. The
Lily had evidently no intention of
ruling this sensitive decoration. She
wore a s nail, round hat, and her hair
was dressed low at the nape of the neck,
but not coiled tightly braided. She
looked ' as pretty as a peaih;w the men
could not take their eyes off her, the
women gazed and envied.
Aa Une?nly I uterraptiou.
Chicago Times.
ill fcllo Uil-iai I X HUO iuviu uuu KUlt
and buzz of a special gathering up
town one day this week an inipu Tent
fellow suddenly called out: "Now,
let's all stop, catch our breaths, and
go ahead for the rest of the evening
telling nothing but truthful st r'.ea and
things." One of those present, in de
scribing it aftrard. sail: "On ac
count of this unseemly interruption the
conversation entirely stopped, a silence
fell on the company, and the party soon
diKper.ied."
V n're Fair.
"Your fare, young lady," sa'd the
stage driver, as a pretty miss stepped
from his eh:cle, andtvas abont
tripping away. "O, thank you," re
sponded the absent - minded little
beauty "I think your mustache be
comes yon real well, too." She got her
tide free.
STICKING ON THE STAMPS.
The Jat Complaint ra Dlseourajred
(tome Clerk.
Philadelphia Record, 1
"There is one of the sort of letters
that make me tired, absolutely so tired
that l can't e- en swear," remarked a
clerk at the posto.Tice in a tone of deep
disgust., as he tossed aside a pink en
velope frtyn a pile of letters on whi jh
he was cancelling the stamps. The of
fensi e missive fell on a corner of the
table among a dozen of others, which
had all, in a measure, contributed to
the clerk's "fatigae." and after he had
coneludad his task .he reached over, and
pulled the lot toward him.
"Just see here," he said continuing
his wail; "not Ot.e of these letters is
properly stamped. Look at this, down
at the bottom, and this right in the
center, with a heart d n around it,
and hang it, why here's a new racket,
the stamp stuck " on the back," and as
he rattled on he gave each of the
epistles a vicious jab with the cancel
ing stamp and then tossed it into the
mail-bag.
"Do vou run across manv of that
kindV"
To I? Well, I'm pretty gool-na-tured,
and you wouldn't hear me kick
ing if it was only once in a while ; but
they come along by dozens, and, by
Jove ! around Christmas and St. Valen
tine's day about half the extra mail is
stamped in some awkward way."
" ho do it?"
"Well, principally silly people who
are in love. I fancy most of the letters
stamped in those queer ways are love
letters or valentines or Christmas cards.
Look at this," and he fished out the
pink envelope before mentioned. It was
directed in a feminine hand to a man in
Norristown, had the stamp in the cen
ter with a conventional heart drawn
around it and smelt like a cake of hotel
toilet soap. "Now, I must 6av I don't
often get 'em that bad. If I did I'd
soon go crazy, for you don't know how
exasperating it is to have to stop and
change your regular clock-like w ork be
cause one of these things comes along
and breaks up your steady trot, as it
were."
"Perhaps there is some language of
postage stampp, and different positions.
mean dinerent sentiments, suggested
the reporter. "For instauce: (Jp in
the left corner,' 'I love ;' in the lower left
corner, 'do you love?'"
"Of course there is; and 111 tell you
just how it goes. Whenever a stamp is put
anywhere but in the upper right-hand
corner it means just this: The man,
woman or child who stamped the letter
is either a fool, or a crank, or an idiot,
or wants to be smart, or" Here
the conversation was cut off by the irate
clerk being called away.
Unforeseen and Dlnastrou.
"Uucle Bili" in Chicago Herald.
Threadbare dignity is hard to snstain.
Almost anybody of sufficient height and
girth cm easily enough be portly while
his broadcloth is new; but when the
fabric of his exterior presentab.1 ty ia
frayed at the elbows and greasy at the
collar a great deal of stamina is re
quisite or else the structure goes to
pieces more or le;s." The man whom I
stndied to this conclusion was big
headed and gray, thick and very
straight, composed and severe, and in
all aspects a millionaire except as to the
dilapidation of his apparel. He re
joined a comrale in the reading-room
of a B.oalway hotel, and I couldn't
help overhearing their conversation.
".Did you get it." asked the one w ho
ha 1 evidently waited hopefully for the
outcome of a small financial expedition.
"No, I did not, sir." was the reply of
dignified disconsolation.
"But you said he'd give you a fiver as
soon as he looked at you ?"
"Sol did say, and so I did think. But
me mission, simplv and sure as it
seemed, came into encounter with un
foreseen and disivstrous vicissitudes.
Listen, my friend."
When he said "me" for "my" I knew
that he was an actor, and it was im
mediately revealed that he had called
on a theatre manager for a loan.
" That man is deep as the sea, and he
co ers his dangerous, hidden rocks like
the rap ds of Niagara," liagio Pom
posio continued. "Look you, friend
he had digged a pit at his very door
way for me self-possession to fall into.
How? Why, sir, the entry is dark and
the floor slopes rather abruptly just as
yon come . to the sill. Hie incline
catches you unawares, and you stumble
into his presence instead of quietly
walking in. from the nomeut of
that entrance me case was hopeless.
What wonJer that I set me hat on his
desk with the rent toward him, thrust
me arm into a tear in my o vercoat in
stead of the sleeve-hole, and became an
abject beggar rather than a casual and
quite nnacoustcmed borrower? No,
comrade, I did not get $5. He offered
me 5 cents, and I look it."
Momelhlne To He Looked After.
Philrtd- Iphia P-e-.
A story which is worth the attention
of the library committee of congress,
comes from Washington. It is apropos
of Brumidi's historial allegory of the
"Goddess of Liberty Dispersing Ty
rants," which is in the top of the Cap
itol dome. The story goes that lira
midi was indiscriminate in his associa
tion with the opposite sex, to whom he
promised to return for favors received
that he would preserve their faces
where they could be seen by the nation.
He kept his word, and all the faces
of females in the allegory are portraits
of his "mashes;" the Goddess of Liberty
being an exact l'keness of his favorite
houri. Another point about the pic'ure
Is that the tyrants who are fleeing from
the wrath of Brumidi's favorite are Jeff
Davis, Robert E. Lee, Alexander H.
Stephens, 'Stonewall' Jackson, Judah
1. Benjamin and 'Bob' Toombs. As the
narrator of the story t aid : ' l ake away
the frighteue 1 expression from their
faces, and they would make good
family portraits. Just think of such a
collection in the top of the capitol
dome. Brumidi said he was going to
do it, and he did.
Pastoral Letter: There can hardly
fail to be before long s general erfort to
supp'aLt with pure but entertaining
reading the ruinous publications that
are poisoning readers of all ranks a
literature of di.orce, of seduotion, of
adultery, of moral death.
Franklin and Adams as Room-Matea
Exchange. '
Here is a funny old story, which has
jever seen print, and it is true, having
come down among the traditions of the
old families of Massachusetts, aays a
Boston letter : Some time during the
revolutionary period, or a little after,
John Adams and Benjamin Franklin
were dispatched from Philadelphia, I
believe, to this state on a public errand.
Adams had a mortal antipathy, shared
by him along with the majority of man
kind at that day, against the night air.
He belioved that if he kept hid bed
room window open even a crack at
night he would surely die. Franklin,
on the other hand, was a disbeliever in
the theory of danger in the night air,
and he had many arguments with
Adams thereon. Circumstances and
the crowded condition of many of the
taverns they stopped at on their jour
ney eastward, compelled them fre
quently to occupy the same room, and
often the same bed. Adams-always op
posed raising the winlow, aud poor
Ben nearly . suffocated and reviled
Adams on waking for his wretched
theory of the deadly effects of nature's
universal medium of breath.
One night Ben slyly raised a window
in their common chamber, but Adams,
on the alert for his friend's little games,
insisted that it should be closed at once.
Said crafty Ben : "Now, Mr. Adams,
we'll go to bed with the window up, and
I will show you why it will not be
harmful to us to permit it to stay open.
If I cannot convince you of the reason
ableness of my theory, I will myself get
up and close the window." Adams
weakly consented, and Ben began to
reason with him. Finally poor Adams
was talked to sleep, and Ben tranquilly
resigned -himself to slumber. Next
morning great was Adams' horror at
finding the window up, but not having
died during the night, and feeling no
ill effects from having breathed the night
air, he became a convert to sly Benja
min's night-air theory. The author of
a history of Am. rica during the colonial
epoch told me this anecdote as some
thing amusing, which had hitherto
escaped type.
The Mhermin Family.
"Oath" in New York Tribune.
Having been in Ohio a part of the
week I went through Senator John
Sherman's residence, now being trans
formed and enlarged. It will be his
third home construction at Mansfield
since he moved there in 1840, at the age
of, say 20. Like Gen. Sherman, he had
been an adopted son and of his cousin
at the town of Mt. Vernon, where
Columbus Delano and Gen. Morgan re
side, both equally respected by their
townsmen though of opposite parties.
John Sherman began life a rod-man on
the Muskingum Improvement and Canal
company in 1837, in the first year of
President Van Buren's construction.
His father removed to Ohio because his
deputies in the office of internal col
lector in Connecticut plundered him
and broke him up. He left eleven chil
dren and next to no property, yet ob
serve the career of that poor family!
Industry, genius, beauty, sociability and
length of days seem perennial there.
From that poor widow, several of whose
children the good neighbors and kin re
lieved her of, the mind and eye wander
to the beauty of Mrs. Gen. Miles, the
vivacity of Mrs. Donald Cameron, the
ref under - of the public debt and the
great Alaric of freedom marching to
the sea. Let those who die poor with
purely descended posterity compose
their souls!
Mrs. John Sherman, the people at
Mansfield say, has been as industrious
and attentive to the interests of her
husband as himself, and some allege
that she can draw up a law paper and
transcribe it as accurately as a lawyer,
and has often done so. She bears the
highest name for her modesty, pru
dence, strength of nature and single
ness of fidelity. Not having children
of her own she has imitated the ex
ample of those who sheltered her hus
band's brethren, and found posterity
among the children of the needy.
queen Victoria's Stingy Husband.
London Truth.!
The reluctance of the late Prince Al
bert to disburse money was only
equaled by his eagerness to obtain it.
It is not generally known that he held
the nominal post now filled by Count
Gleichen for many years, and, although
in receipt of an annual allowance of
i30,000, he regularly drew his salary
of 1,2(10 as governor of Windsor castle
dawn to the very last hour of his life.
The value of his estate has never yet
transpired, nor have the provisions of
the prince's will ever been made public.
It is not easy to undstand why Queen
Victoria should have made snch a pro
found mystery of the matter, but it is a
fact that the most stringent precautions
were taken, and have been continued to
keep everything connected with the
prince's property and its disposition a
dead secret.
When the Purpose Was Explained.
Wall Street News.
At the beginning of the oil excite
ment in Pennsylvania a very religious
old farmer who owned forty acres in the
center of the "belt" had offers 'for his
farm until he couldn't sleep nights.
They began at $4,000 and. went up to
?5;,)00t out to each and every wOuld-be
purchaser the old man steadily re
plied: "If the Lord has put coal-ile under my
farm it isn't for me to dispute His
will."
One day, however, the agent of a
syndicate cams along and asked what
figure the old man would set on his
acres.
"I've bin offered $50,000."
"Yes."
"I've bin saying as Jiow the Lord put
the ile there for some purpose of His
own."
"F.xactly."
"Well now, if vou could convince me
that one barrel in ten of the ile from
this farm would be used for people to
read their Bibles bv I reckon I'd set
my Aggers at about $00,000."
In less than three hours the farm
changed hands.
Prof. Swinjr : Man ia exhausted by
a few hours of delay, nature can wait, if
need be, a million years. God is eter
nal and can wait for man.
INDIAN SILVERSMITHS.
The Work Don hy the Navajo In
dianaThe Articles They Slake.
Washington Letter. '
In connection with the visit of the
Navajo Indians, some facts in regard to
their manufactures become of great in
terest. It has been mentioned that they
specially excel in the arts ' of making
blankets and silverware.
Mrs. Stevenson, wiie of Professor
Stevenson, of the bureau of ethnology,
has been wearing on her velvet visiting
suit large silver buttons made by them
nearly two years ago, and presented to
her. She also has some fine specimens
of their blankets. Lately has been
added to her collection their first effort
in working in silk. Mr. Keam, who has
spent so many years among the Indians,
in his last trip took. Nfef&jo man
ufacturer some colored silk thread, out
of which he has woven a very rich and
beautiful little blanket of the same pat
tern as those made in worsted saw
teeth design, very evenly done. Mr.
Keam also gave a .Navajo silversmith
eight silver dollars, and showed him a
silver mug he had asking him to imi
tate it. He did this so successfully
that Mr. Keam could scarcely tell the
new oue from the model, except that an
insect chased on the latter was omitted
in that made by the Indian, because he
said it might be an evil insect, which
would poison w hoever drauk out of the
cup.
The Navajo silversmiths, says one
who has closely studied them and theit
work, sometimes forge iron and brass
also, but work chiefly in silver. . A large
majority of these savage smiths make
only such simple articles as buttons,
rosettes and bracele's; those who make
the more elaborate articles-, -such as
powder chargers, round beads, to
bacco cases, bells and bridle orna
ments, are few. Tobacco ca-s, made
in the shape of an army canteen, are
made by only three or four -men in
the tribe, 'iheir tools and materials
are few and simple, and rude as the
results of their labor appear, it is sur
prising that they do so well with such
imperfect appliances, which usually
consist of the following articles: A
forge, a bellows, an anvil, crucible,
molds, tongs, scissors, pliers, files,
awls, cold chistls, matrix and die for
molding buttons, wooden implements
used in grinding buttons, wooden stake,
basin, charcoal tools and materials for
soldering (blow-pipe, braid of cotton
rags soaked in grease, wire and borax),
materials for polishing (sand-paper,
emery-paper, powdered sandstone,
sand ashes and solid stone) and ma
terials for whiten ng ( a native mineral
substance almogen, salt and water).
"Jn the complete shop of a ' silver
sruith,' says Dr. Washington Mat
thews, 17. S. N., from whom the above
is quoted, which was set up temporarily
in a summer lodge, or Logan, near Fort
Wingate (fraguunts of boards picked
up around the forest were used in part
in the construction of the hogan), an
old raisin. toe was made to serve as the
curb or frame of the forge A forge
built n an out-house, on Dr. Matthews'
premises by an Indian silversmith
whom he had employed to work under
his observation, was twenty-three inches
long, sixteen inches broad, five in height
to the edge of the fire-place, and the
latter, winch was bowl shaped, was
eight inches in diameter and three
inches deep. This is mentioned as the
prevailing size and shape of the forges
used by all these Aavajo smiths. It
was made of straight sticks,' laid to
form a frame or curb, plastered together
and lined with mud, the mud rising also
two inchis above the wooden frame.
Before the structure of mud was
completed the smith laid in it the
wooden nozzle of the bellows, where it
was to remain, with one end about six
inches from tae fireplace and the other
end projecting about the same distance
beyond the frame; then he btuck into
the nozzle a round piece of wood,
which leached to the fireplace, and
when the luudwrk was finished the
stick was withdrawn, leaving an unin
flammable tweer. When the structure
of mud was completed a flat rock about
four inches thick was laid on at the
head of the forge, to form a back to the
fire, and lastly the bellows was tied on
to the nozzle, which, as mentioned
above, w as built into the forge, with a
portion projecting to receive the bel
lows. This forge was constructed in
about an hour.
A bellows of the kind most commonly
used consists of a tub r bag of goat
skin, abont twelve inches in length and
about ten in diameter, tied at one end
to its nozzle and nailed at the other to
a circular disk of wood in which is the
valve. 'For an anvil they use any suit
able piece of iron they may happen to
pick up, as for instance an o'.d wedge or
a large bolt, such as the king-bolt of a
wagon. A wedge, or other large frag
ment of iron, may. be stuck in the
ground to steady it. A bolt is main
tained in position by being driven into
a log.
Awls are used to mark figures on
silver. Often a pattern is cut out of
paper which the workman lays on the
silver, tracing the outline with an awl.
Ihese tools are sometimes purchased
and sometimes made by, the Indians.
One is mentioned by an observer as
having I een seen by him made from a
broken knife which had been picked up
near Fort Wingate. Ihe blade had
been ground down to a point.
The same observer says the Navajo
silversmiths perform almost all their
labor crouching on the ground in very
constrained positions ; "yet," says the
gentleman quoted "i never saw men
who worked harder and more steadily.
They often labo ed from twelve to
fifteen hours per day, eating their meals
with dispatch and returning to their toil
the moment they had dene. They
worked by the. job, an t their prices
were such that they earned about $2
per day each.
The firht thing two, who were es
pecially observed, made was a pond r
charger in the shape of a dart. Having
cut in a: dstone rock the necessary
grooves for molds, and greased the
same, they melted two Mexican dollars
one for the bowl, or receptacle and
one for the handle and poured each
into its appropriate mold. Then each
smith went to work on a separate part:
but they helped each other when nee
essary.' Old -white residents of tho
Navajo country say that the silvr
smiths have witlii i tiff een years grea ly
improved in their art, and think that
the tctds purchased from America and
Mexican traler partly account for the
improvement.
The MuhIc In the African.
Review of Dr. Rits Book.
Our author has thrown much interest
into, the fast of musical feeling among
the (colored pe ple of America by his
learned lemarks and has not overstated
their aptitude lor song. The writer of
this: has been detained on the wharves
of Charleston, S. C, listening to the
Strang j eTect produced by the anti
phonal chorus of a divided company of
male and female stevedores as they
tramped, from one vessel to atiother,
borne down by heavy burdens on their
backs, yet cheerfully singing their re
frains as if tdavery were a thing of joy.
Then there is the musical wonder that
puzzled Auber so much the idiotic
"Blind Tom" and again, the so-called
"Black Swan" Kliabeth Greenfield
whose voice ranged from sol on the first
line in the fa (bass) clef to mi on the
third additional line above the sol
(treble) clef, thus showing a Compass
of nearly four octaves, several notes
more than the celebrated Aguiari,
known in nautical history as la Bastar
della, who. according to the limits of
her voice as no ed down by Mozart,
had an extension of octaves from
do j ou the first line below the
sol! (treble) clef to the do on the
sixth space above the same staff. It
will be observed that the compass of
la Fastardella exceeded that f Miss
Greenfield in the upper, but fell far
short in the lower register, which was
as rich, reedy and resonant as the voice
of any baritone, Badioli not excepted.
This phenomenal singer lived, and died,
in Philadelphia a few years ago. Is the
American Mozart or Beethoven to
be of African extraction ? Who knows ?
The writer of this has been called on to
decide prizes for the best compositions
by contestants of that race and they
were neither void nor without form.
'Thorn In the Flesh of Alsatta.
McMillan's Magazine.
One instance of the small annoyances
to which the French residents of Mul
house are subject is a trifling one, yet
sufficient to irritate. Eight months
after tne annexation, orders were 83nt
round to the pastors and clergy gener
ally t otter up prayers for the Em-
perorr William every Sunday. The
order was obeyed, for refusal would
have been assuredly followed by dis
missal, but the prayer is ungraciously
performed. The French pastors in
voke the blessings of Heaven on
"l'Empereur qui nous gouverne." The
pastors who perform the service i in
German pray not for "onr emperor,! as
the apparently loyal fashion in the
Faderland, but for "the emperor.", ;
Hie8ething8 are trifling grievances,
but on the other hand the Prussians
have theirs also. Not even the olicia'.s
of hi'che t rank are received into any
kind of society whatever. Mulhouse
possesses a cha' ming zoological garden,
free to subscribers only, who have to
be balloted for. Not a single Prussian
has ever I een hble to obta'n access to
this garden. 1 veu the very poorest
contrive to show their intense patriot
ism. It is the rule of the Germa 1
government to give 25 marks to any
poor woman giving birth to twins. The
wife of a French workman during my
sojourn at Mulhouse had three sons at
a birth, but though in very poor cir
cumstances refused to claim the dona
tion: "AJysons shall never be Prus
sians," she sa'd. "and that gift would
make them so."
An Outside View or Manta Cruz.
.Cor. New York Globe.
Santa Cruz looked to us like a de
serted village. It lies on the shore, at
the foot of huge volcanic hills. I under
stand that the p ak of Teneriffe is a
burning volcano. There are very many
yellow-painted houses in Santa Cru7.
Indeed, the town looks as if it has the
yellow fever, or the jaundice at least.
And when one turned his eyes upward
and locked nt the pillow flag at
the masthead, it filled the ' mind
with dismal thoughts of African
fever, disease and death, and the
bouI for a brief nu men t grew sad
very sad. Back of the city were the
rising hills that frowned down upon us,
standing in the midst of the sea like
grim, gloomy sentinels of death. ; We
see no signs of life no one on the
beach, no one in the streets, no trees on
the mountain sides or tops, no b rds,
no beasts. Vow the people manage t
live is a question. They certainly must
be imbued with the sentiment: "Man
wants but little here below, nor wants
that little long." After putting pass
engers and cargo into the lazaretto, and
taking on rum for the coast we steamed
awav. i
Another Kind of Cramp.
Rockland Courier-Gazette.
" Were you ever troubled with writer's
cramp?" asked the statesman of the
grocerynian, who was busily posting up
his books; "fingers clinch around the
pen you know, and won't seem to
let go."
"No," respondel the groceryman, re
garding the f.tatesn.an with a fixed gaze,
"but I have been cons'derably troubled
by fingers clinc hing around my raisins
and crackers and seem'ng not, to let
BO.
An! then the statesman seemed to
recolle t that he had forgotten to call
in on the w ay down and inquire after a
letter f om his wife's aunt, and as 1 e
went out the door there was a far-away
expression in the back of his coat that
the groceryman thought he nerer could
tire looking at.
Meventy Miles a May.
A o.itic in The Russian Invalid as
serts that seventy miles a day may be
continuously done by Russian cavalry
without any fear for horses or men. A
few years ago Gen. Gourko, at Warsaw,
inspected a couple of sotnias of Don
Cossacks, who had cleared 310 verstsin
three days about seventy-four miles a
day. .
Lime-Kiln Club: "I hold dat de
term 'strictly honest' has no longer any
meanin. Nobody looks fur it, and il
anybody diskivers it he wonders why
de pusson hasn't gone to de lunatio
asylum or de poo' house. "
LEARNERS OF SHORTHAND.
A Brooklyn Woman Removes One of
the Difficulties In the Way.
New York Sun. ,
A young woman in Brooklyn advertises
her willingness to read for phonographic stu
dents at 25 cents an hour. This indicates a
knowledge of the chief difficulty which con
fronts the learners of shorthand the oppor
tunity for profitable practice. The number
of those who acquire proficiency as
shorthand writers is very small com
pared with those who attempt it
and faiL Failure is dne very often
to a lack of appreciation of the amount of
practice required to secure proficiency. Per
sons are discouraged often with the learning
of shorthand because, having merely learned
the signs, tbey find themselves unable at the
first attempt, to follow a rapid speaker. The
difficulty with the beginner is that when he
attempts to follow a speaker or reader the
speech goes ou at express train speed while
the writing keeps that of a canal boat.
What is needed, therefore, is a reader who
will accommodate the speed of reading, to the
capacity of the writer. To do this with ex
actness, to keep reading fast enough for the
writer's utmost speed, and at the same time
slow enough to enable him to keep up, is a
delicate aud difficult task that haiSpften
baffled the patience of the most affectionate
reader. Iu the vain effort to assist a learner
of short band to the necessary practice, fond
mothers have been wearied, maiden aunts
exhausted, sisters worn out, little brothers
exasperated, and other relatives disgusted.
The Brooklyn young woman has, therefore,
opened a fruitful field, and one long waiting
to be cultivated. She proposes to substitute
the experienced reader, familiar with the
wants of the student, in the place of the tired,
unskillful, and perhaps unpaid relative.
Many inquiries are made by correspondents
of The Sun in regard to the best method of
learning shorthand, the best book to buy,
etc. Without making invidious distinctions
between authors, it is safe to say that - the
student is less likely to be led astray by a
well-established book than by one with a fit
ness untried. . It is wise to beware of sys
tems that promise tuition in shorthand in
marvelously short periods of time. It is a
question often asked, "How long will it take
me to learn shorthand f The reply might
well be "How long should you require to learn
to play on the piauo or the violin, or to learn
French, or to learn a trade f This is cer
tain, that a young man can generally learn
to be a good stenographer iu less time than
it is required to become . a good billiard
player, or a good poker player, or a good
checker player.
One thing must be understood by those
seeking to learn shorthand that you can re
port only what you know. The most expert
stenographer cannot report a thing he does
not understand. Yet persons who are not
only uneducated but almost illiterate sup
pose that they can write a sentence in short
band when they cannot write it in longhand.
There are so many subjects that come under
the attention of the stenogapher that, be
fore one can become proficient, it is neces
sary to acquire at least a superficial knowl
edge of many technicalities. When it comes
to the reporting of expert testimony a very
wide range of information becomes neces
sary, because the reporter may at any mo
ment be called upon to wrestle with a chem
ist, a machinist, an architect, a physician, or
a mesmerist, and, unless be knows their
lingo, he will find himself suddenly dazed
with helpless pencil, while the voluble expert
gallops off glibly into the regions of the unre
portable. A Xew Wrtnkln In (wambling.
New York World's Town Lounger."
The closing of the big gambling-houses up
town is having several rather unexpected ef
fects. The most important of these has
taken shape in the establishment of dozens of
"private poker-rooms" in the best residential
quarters. The poker club is simply a resort
for gamblers. It is run by some faro dealer
out of a regular job, who hires a parlor
floor, sets up a sideboard, fills the room with
round tables, and sends out invitations to the
"solid" patrons of the place where he last
dealt the cards. He is paid for his time
upon the "Kitty" principle; that is to
say, whenever a winning band is
better than two pair the holder
slips one chip from the pot through
a little slit in the table and it falls
Into a drawer beneath. As the keeper of the
"club" sells these chips to the players before
the game begins he is ahead on the number
of them, which be does not have to redeem at
the end of the sitting. He also makes money
on the drinks be sells from the sideboard
without any license, of course. The number
of these places in the city is simply surpris
ing. I know one street leading out of Madi
son square which contains half a dozen of
them within a block. In some of them a
quiet little game of faro can be found when
just the right party is In attendance. The
big gamblers like Ransom and Murray, don't
Uke it very much, but the scheme is a God
send to the dealers, who but for that would
be on short commons just now.
The Kdltor and the II uric I ar.
Middletown Transcript.
Once upon a time a village editor awoke
to find a burglar seaching in his chamber for
bis gold and bonds, and drawing bis trusty
pistol from beneath his pillow be took steady
aim at the nocturnal intruder's bead. Look
ing around and becoming painfully aware of
his peril the burglar pleadingly said:
"Spare me, for I have made a mistake in
the bouse. I have found nothing but an
old out-of-date railroad pass. Let me depart
in peace.''
"Not so," answered the editor, holding his
aim like a skilled marksman, "for this is a
mighty dull week for locals."
"But pause a moment and reflect," returned
the burglar, "your paper is not issued till
Friday. Your hated rival, The Weekly
Bungs tarter, will goto press to-morrow even
ing, and would have at least two columns of
my death and the coroner's inquest. It
would be fully two days ahead of you."
"True enough," said the editor with a sigh
as be lowered his pistol and replaced it under
his pillow, "you are too early in the week for
an item for me, and I, therefore, spare you.
You will find the plumber's bouse, for which
you evidently mistook this humble home, next
door but one."
A Sportsman Who Loved Ilia Doe
Burlington Free Press.
A little child, who was playing near a bon
fire, suddenly tripped and fell into the flame.
A sportsman happened to be passing, and
his Ligh bred dog jumped into the flames
and pulled the child out. The frantic mother
came swooping down from the house scream
ing: "Is he hurt! Is he hurtr '
"Dang it, yes, ma'am V exclaimed the
sportsman, who arrived at the spot just be
fore she did; "don't you see the feathering Is
all bur toff bis tailf
A Matter-of-Fact Man.
Chicago Herald.
At a revival in Louisville a short time ago
the class-leader urged those who were present
to get up and tell what the Lord had done
for them. A tall, matter-of-fact specimen
of the granger arose, and in a loud, earnest
voice said: "He ain't done nothin' forme,
and IHn about tuckered out The fact is I'm
a stranger aud need help right off."
DOWN AND AWAY.
Matthew Arnold.
Come, dear children, let us away;
Down and away below I
Now my brothers call from the bay.
Now the great winds shoreward blow,
Now tne salt tides seaward flow;
Now the wild white horses play.
Champ and chafe, and toes in the spray,
Children, dear children, let uaway 1
This way, this way I
Call her once before you go-
call once yet I
In a voice that she will know ;
Margaret 1 Margaret!
Children's voices should be dear,
(Call once more) to a mother's ear.
Children's voicei wild with pain
Surely she will come againl
Call ber once and come away,
' This way! this way!
Mother dear, we cannot stay I
The wild white horse foam and fret,
Margaret! Margaret!
AFFECTION'S ENDURANCE.
An Old Grave-IIa-ftTra Remarks om
Onr Love far the 1ad.
A writer in The New York World re
cently bad a talk with an old grave
digger, and drew from him someintereat
ing observations upon the question as
to who manifest the most grief wen
death eaters the domestics circle and
carries off the loved ones of the house
hold. He remarked :
"A mother who loses her first child
is about as sad a sight as yon would
care to see at the grave, and I am pou-
tive there is no grief to equal hers ; next
the daughter over the loss of either of
Ler parents, or the parents over tne
loss of their daughter; then the hus
band over the death of his wife,
and lastly the wife over the
death of her husband. As for
relatives anv more distant than these,
the errief is of short duration. Of
com se, there are exceptions to this rule,
but I am speaking generally. I have .
seen lovers stand by the graves of their
betrothed and weop with more earnest
ne s and show the g:ief that filled their
hearts to a much greater ei tent than did
any parent.
"A young lady pledged in marriage
to a gentleman will show the most un-
controllable sorrow, and will often
swoon at the grave, but after marriage
she is the first to get over it. I think
.a man's grief is more lasting. Let me
show you. Here is a little o-year-oJd
child's grave ; see how neat it looks and
how fresh the flowers are. They were
placed there by a poor mother; now
on this side is a husband's grave. Ou
the slab it says he was but 23 years
old. I dug that grave, and that
cros of flowers was placed there
ei the diy of the funeral, and the
wife has not been here since.
"Xow walk up this path a little wsy
and I'll show vou a wife's grave. But
wait, see that girl over near the big
walk cleaning twigs off that grave with
the woolen - cross? -.Her- mother is
buried there and has been for five years,
but every week, when the weather per
mit., she comes here to attend to it.
Now, here's the wife's grave, and that
neat little headstone and flowers were
placed there by her husband. He's a
poor brakeman on the railroad, and
she has been dead for three years, but
you drop in here any Sunday when he's
off and you'll find him here, cutting the
grass around it or doing something to
ward making it look neat, and paying
what little tribute he can to her who
must have been so dear to him."
l.Ut or Iezal Holiday.
The following list of the legal holi
days in the dinerent states will be found
to be found both interesting and in
structive :
Independence day (July 4) and
Christmas day (Dec. 25), together with
Thanksgiving day, which occurs on the
Last Thursday in November, and all the
fast days, whenever appointed, are
legal holidays in all ttates.
Ner Year's day (Jan 1), in all ststes
except Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia,
Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode
Island and South Carolina. -
Washington's birthday (Feb. 22), in
all states except Alabama, Arkan tas,
Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kan
sas ...aine, Missouri, North Carolina,
Ohio, 0.e0on, Tennessee and Texas.
Election day (generally on the Tues
day after t'ie fir.it .Monday ia Novem-
ber), in California, Maine, Missouri,"
New Jersey, New York, Oregon,
Tennessee and Texas. .
Decoration day (May SO), is in Colo
rado, Connecticut, Maine, Michi?au,
New Hanpshire, New Jersey. New
York, Tenncylvania, Rhode Island and
Vermont.
Good Friday is In Florida, Louisiana,
Minnesota and Fennsylvania.
Khrove Tuesday is in Louisiana, and
in Ihe cities of Mobile, Montgomery and
Selma, Alabama.
Memorial day (April 26) is in
Georgia.
Anniversary of the battle of New
Orleans (Jan. i?'-, Lincoln's birthday
(Feb. 12) and Fireman's anniversary
(March 4) in Louisiana.
Anniversary of Texan independence
(March 2) and of the battle of San
Jac nto (April 21) in Texas.
The oo4 Old Days.
(Ben: Perr Poore.
In these days of long beards and
other hirsute appendages, it is curious to
look back upon the clays when a
smooth-shaven countenance indii-ated
the gentleman, home forty years ago,
when Alleyne Otis, the beau of ieacon
street, returned from a protracted
European tour and appeared upon oar
fashionable promenades, his classical
upper lip was decorated with a mus
tache, the first s en ia Boston. As he
moved along the thoroughfare there
were heard sich remarks as: "Look at
the cove with ths shoe brash over his
mouth!" "Twig his royal nibs from
Paree." eta. Allevne. however, naid
- r w
but little heed to these complimentary
remarks, for he did not dislike
notoriety.
A "Dry Cyelose."
The Mobeetie (Texas) Panhandle
gives a graphio description of the re
cent "dry cyclone at that place. The
sky was without a fleck of cloud, the
wind attained a velocity of sixty miles
an hour, the sand whistled in eddies in
the air several feet deep, three or four
honses were torn to atoms and oth rs
injured more or les.