THE INDEPENDENT
HAS THE
FINEST JOB OFFICII
IS DOUGLAS COUNTY.
CARDS, BILL HEADS, LEGAL BLANKS
And other printing, Including
Large and Heavy Posters and Showy
Hand-Bills,.
Neatly snd expeditiously executed
AT PORTLAND PRICES.
' IS ISSUED
Saturday MornlnKSi
BY THE
ooufiLAS ''County publishing co.
Ob Tr..
tMx Honthi.,
Tbr Honiits
100
Tbrae are the tersu for those ptylnjr. bi adrsnee.
The Irdepkndbnt offer fine inducements to ad
vertisers. , Tenas reasonable. ...........
VOIi VHtf
ROSEBURG, OREGON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10. 1883.
NO. 31.
THE INDEPENDENT
Tl y fQ
J. allaalliK issssaO
ifiipppiiiFfT
JaJSL J , saw'
r3S:J. JA8ICULEEC
.. ..... , PaACT1CAL
WATCHMAKER, . JEWELER,
- OPTICIAN.
ALL WORjTwARRANTED,
AND
Dealer In Wfttehcs). Clicks, Jewelry,
Spectacles d Eyeglasses,
And a Fall Line of j
Cigars, Tobaccos and' Fancy Goods.
Tbe only reliable Optometer in town tor tbe
proper adjiutment of Spectacle ; always on hand.
Depot of the' Genuine Brazilian Pebble Spec
tacles and Eyeglasses. f
OFFICE First -door south of post office, Rose
bnnr. Oregon. i ,
LA1?G1?BEXIG'S
Boot and Shoe Store,
ROBEUUllG, OGN.,
On Jackson Street, oonoeito the Postoffice. Keens
on hand the largest and best assortment of
Eastern and Kan Franeiseo Foots ana
Gaiters, Slippers !
And everything; in the Boot and Shoe Line and
SEIXG CHEAP for CASH.
Boots and Shoes Made to Order Perfect
Fit Guaranteed.
I use the Best of Leather and Warrant all
my work.
XISIPAIUING Neatly Done
? On Short Notice. I keep always on hand
TOYS
AT7D NOXIOUS.
awMusIcal Instrument asd Violin Strings a Spe
cialty. I.Ol'lN LAACilCAHiBO.
DR. .M. W. DAVIS,
DENTIST,
ROSEBURG, OREGON.
OFFICE-ON JACKSOS 8TRKET.
Up StalrF, oyer 8. Harks A Co.'s New Store.
HAHOrJEY'S SALOON
Nearest to the Railroad Depot, Oakland
Jas. 3VTa, fioney, Prop'r.
The finest of wines, liquor and cigars in Dowj
las county, and the best
BILLIARD
in the Btate kept fat proper repair:
f&rUes traveling on the railroad win find tab
place very handy to nut aunng ut step
ping of the train at the Oak
land Depot. Give me aeaU.
Jab. isAiiOKEY.
a '
JOHN FRASER,
Home Made Furniture,
WILBUR,
OREGON.
Upholstery, Spring Mattrasses, Etc.,
Constantly on hand.
CIIDI1ITIIBC X have the best stock ol
rUll If I I UnH. lurniture south of Portland
And all of my own manufacture.
No two Prices to Customers
Residents of Douglas county are requested to
give me a call before purchasing elsewhere.
tsr ALL WORKWAKRANTED.-"
DEPOT HOTEL-
OAKLAND, -
OREGON.
Richard Thomas, Prop'r.
THIS HOTEL HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED
for a number oi years, and has become Tery
popnlarwith the traveling public. First-class
8LEKPINC ACCOMMODATIONS.
And the table supplied with the best the market
affords. Hotel at the depot of the Railroad.
H. G. STANTON,
Dealer in !
Staple Dry Coods I
Keeps constantly on hand a general assort
ment of,
EXTRA FINE GROCERIES,
WOOD, WILLOW AND GLASSWARF,
ALSO
Crockery and Cordage
A full stock of
SCHOOL
BOO ItS
Such as required by the Public County Schools,
All kind, of STATIONERY, TOYS and
FANCY ARTICLES,
To suit both Young and Old.
BUYS AND SELLS XEGAL' TENDERS,
furnishes Checks on Portland, and procures
Drafts on San r raneiseo.
JiFTf? HA T-a lAPPrifi f
mm mm mm m w sbbb mm mm sar
ALL KIKM OF MM QUALITY
jV JL 1. OX DER8
1 romptly attended to and Goods shipned
. witn care.
Address, Hacheney & Beno,
Portland. Oregon.
Herman Haupt. general manager of
the Northern Pacific, resigned Nov. 1st.
A Cincinnati dispatch of Nov. 1st
eavs: A frame house occupied by Bev
era! families in Cumminsville, a suburb
of this City, caught fire last night. The
occupants rushed to the street, and one
of them, an aged woman named Mary
"Welsh, discovering that her grandson, 9
Tears old. had been left in the burning
building, ran up stairs to the room where
the child was lying asleep, and fell in
sensible beside the bed npon which the
little one lay already suffocated. Before
the bodies could be recovered both were
badly charred.
LATEST NEWS SUMMARY.
BY .TKLEGBAPH TO BATS.
Four young men of Erie, Pa., were
drowned on the lake Oct. 31st.
There was a killing frost, with ice,
throughout Western Tennessee Nov. 1st.
The Earl of Cork and his son, Viscount
Dongannon, are- in this country and in
tend visiting the Pacific coast.
It is estimated by the commissioner of
pensions that 840,000,000 will be re
quired for tbe payment of pensions the
next fiscal year." ' ' -l .""'V
The lord mayor of Dublin was attack-?
ed on the streets Nov. 1st by a mob of
Orangemen; In the riot one man was
seriously injured and others slightly.
John S. Gray, ex-secretary of the har
bor commissioners iff San Francisco, was
convicted on oharge of embezzlement of
$7000. The jury was out seven minutes.
General Sherman resigned his posi
tion as commander of the army Nov. 1st,
and retires to private life. Lieutenant
General Sheridan succeeds Sherman in
command.
The amount disbursed by army pen
sion agents the last fiscal year was $59,-
906,501. The total amount of "arrears
of pensions disbursed by agents during
the year, was $79,811.
At Savannah, Ga.Nov. 1st, the Canton
warehouse and a large number of build
ings were wiped out by the fire. Twelve
lives were lost. The property destroyed
was valued at $1,000,000.
Pike's peak has been surveyed for the
narrow gauge railway from Manitou to
the summit, thirty miles, and work is to
be commenced at once. The maximum
grade is to be 300 feet to the mile.
President Yillard having offered to
take the first car gratuitously over the
Northern Pacific roa 1, the fish commis
sioners will send out 30,000 carp for dis
tribution in the northwest, from Wiscon
sin to Oregon.
Governor Cleveland, of New Tork,has
issued a proclamation, calling upon all
district attorneys within the state, and
all sheriffs and peace officers, and others
having in charge execution of the laws,
to exercise their utmost diligence in the
discovery and punishment of violations
of the bribery acts.
Lieutenant Gray don. United States
navy, who was sent out by the govern
ment te chart San Francisco harbor,with
a view of fortifying it against attack.says
that it can be rendered impregnable at a
cost of $600,000. His proposition is to
use torpedoes and dynamite boats, pro
pelled by the principle used on cable
street car roads.
A New York dispatch of Nov. 1st
Bays: A DUiiamg at JCirBt avenue ana
Nineteenth street, which the workmen
are tearing down, fell to-day while a
number of children were gathering
kindling wood. John Laws, aged 11,
and Eliza J. Barnes, aged 9, were killed,
and Louis Lacomb, aged 8 years, was
fatally injured. A carpenter named
"Mike" was severely hurt.
At Ketfer & Wiefle's tannery in Upper
Allegheny city, Pa., recently, two men
sacrificed their lives in an unsuccessful
attempt to save their fellow workmen.
The firm had been digging a well, to be
used as a vat, and Christian
Dickenson, an employe, went down to
measure the depth, when he was over
come by foul air. Ferdinand Schroeder
and Charles Sohnltz were working near
by and heard his cries, and descending
in turn were both suffocated.
At Denver, recently, an unusually im
portant case was decided by Judge Mc-
Crary. of the United States circuit court.
The United States brought suit to can
cel sixty-one patents to lands held by the
Uoiorauo uoai ana iron company auu
others in Los Animas county. The
patents were obtained through the pre
emption law between the years 1870 and
1074, and were issued from tne puoiic
land office. It was afterward found that
the patents were irregularly obtained,
and that the patentees were fictitious
persons. Testimony was introduced to
show that the register and receiver of
the land office were parties to the fraud.
Defense claimed that the deeds were
good, granting they were fraudulently
obtained. The judge held adversely,
and rendered a decision in favor of com
plainants, which cancels the title to 2560
acres of valuable lands.
A Glasgow dispatch of Nov. 3d says:
The upholstery warehouse of Wiley &
Lochhead, and buildings adjoining, were
destroyed by fire to-night. The loss by
fire is $2,000,000. Several lives were
lost. The warehouses were burned within
to a shell before the flames found a vent,
and then the enormous structure sudden
ly became an immense lake of fire. The
flames for a while reaobed out and com
pletely covered the large building occu
pied by the Herald, ana set nre to an
the large warehouses on the other side of
that strueture, both those fronting on
Buchanan street and those fronting on
Mitchell street, which run parallel. One
dead body has already been recovered
from tbe ruins, and thirteen persons
seriously injured and burned have been
taken from the burned buildings to hos
pitals. The loss of life may be large, as
many people unaccounted for are known
to have slept in the destroyed Duiiamgs.
A Danville dispatch of Nov. 3d says
In a conflict between a crowd of white
and oolored people this evening, W. Hol
land was shot in the head, and, it is sup
posed, mortally wounded. Thomas Sew
ard was shot through the body, and five
nesrroes were killed. It is supposed that
many were wounded. The beginning of
the conflict was the beating by one of tbe
citizens of a negro, who abused another
neorro. He would not apoloeize for his
apparent rudeness, and spoke roughly
about the citizens. All stores were
closed immediately and the alarm bell
sounded, and the people came out with
arms. The town sergeant came out soon
after with one of the military companies
and commanded the people, in the name
of the commonwealth, to go home, and
the streets were soon cleared. The city
is now under supervision of one of the
military companies and mounted police,
and the town sergeant, in response ta a
message of the governor offering assist
ance, if needed, telegraphed that all was
aniet abd no further tronble was appre -
' bended.
The coinage ef the United States mint
in October was $1,359,014, 1 of which
$1,050,050 were silver dollars.
Business failures throughout the
United States and Canada for the week
ending November 3d number 215.
The reduction of the public debt dur
ing October was $10,104,798: decrease
of the public debt since June 40,1883,
$39,584,470.
Recently an express from Liverpool
to London, while running at the rate of
fifty miles an hour, collided with an
empty car. Two persons were killed
and many were injured. 5 . ;
The prime minister of Spain replying j
to an address 01 the anti -slavery society.
said that the government had decided to
abolish stocks and fetters for slaves in
Cuba, and would do all possible towards,
the destruction of the patronage of slave
holders.
The Post and Tribune and the Free
Press, two morning dailies of Detroit,
announce a reduction in the price from
$10 a year to $7, and from five cents a
single copy to three cents. No reduction
is made in the size or the amount of
reading matter.
Delegate Singiser of Idaho says in the
course of four years the territory will
apply for admission into the union.
Mormonism is the great drawback there.
Its increasing strength is al
ready menacing the best interests of the
territory and harsh measures should be
employed to check them.
The steamer Holyhead came in
collision with the German ship Alham
bra, bound from Liverpool to New York,
when twenty-five miles off Holyhead.
Both vessels sank. Thirteen of the
Alhambra's crew and Holyhead's were
drowned. The remainder were picked
up and landed at Holyhead.
At London, Oct. 30th, as a passenger
train was passing through a tunnel a
heavy explosion occurred, wrecking the
two rear coaches and injuring about 40
persons. Upon investigation it was dis
covered that the accident was due to ex
plosives put on the track, and is sup
posed to be the work of Fenians.
Alexander Forbes, of San Rafael, and
of Forbes Bros., of San Francisco, died
Oct. 28, at his private residence near San
Rafael, after a short illness. Deceased
has been identified with Marin county
for 27 years, and owned a large section
of the entire county, his fortune being
estimated at from three to four millions.
A Cincinnati dispatch of October 20th.
says: j Fourteen persons in different
families, living in the western part of
the city, have been attacked with symp
toms of poisoning. One child died to
day, aod a number of others are serious
ly ill. It is thought poison was admin
istered in some way through food
bought at a grocery.
A Chicago dipatch of October 28th
says: George M. Wright and W. H.
Weed, of the United States geological
survey, returned to-day from spending
the summer in the Yellowstone park
gathering material for a' geological and
topographical map of that park. They
also had a special eye to the character
and origin of the geysers. They express
themselves surprised at the few evi
dences of recent volcanio action. They
found 500 geysers and 5000 hot springs
within the limits of the park. They have
many instantaneous photographs and a
large collection of specimens, including
petrifactions of interest for the National
museum.
The commss3ioner of the general land
office, Hon. N. C. McFarland, in his an
nual report, states that the disposed of
public laud during the year embraced
19,073,789 acres, and Indian lands 399,
235 acres, an increase over 1882 of about
five million acres. Receipts, from all
sources in connection with the disposal
of public lands were $11,088,479, and
from the sales of Indian lands $625,404.
Total. $11,713,883. Public lands were
disposed of as follows: Public sales, 273,
069 acres; private entries, 2,179,955
acres: pre-emption entries, 2,285,710
acres; mineral entries, 31,520; home
stead entries. 8.171.914: timber culture
entries, 3,110,930; entries with military
bounty land warrants, 45,414 acres; en
tries with land claim scrip, 10,508 acres.
Total number of entries and filings
posted during the year, 251,685, aggre
gating 30.000.000 acres. The increase in
the number of claims recorded in 1883
was 55,548 over the year 1882.
The general superintendent of the
railway mail service has issued the fol
lowing order: All lines east of the Mis
sissippi river will send mail for Oregon,
Washington territory, Alaska and British
Columbia via St. Paul and the Northern
Pacific railway. Division superintend
ents will issue special instructions to
lines west of the Mississippi river and
east of the Rocky mountains, so that
mail will go via the Union Pacific or
Northern Pacific railways, selecting the
line that makes the best time. Lines in
Oregon and Washington territory will
send mail for points east of the Missi
ssippi river via the Northern Pacific rail
way and St. Paul. Tne superintendent
of the eighth division of the railway mail
aervice will issue instructions to divert
at Blackfoot Junction mail for lines west
of the Mississippi river and east of the
Rocky mountains that will make better
time via the Utah Northern division of
tke Union Pacific railway.
Superintendent Thompson of the rail
way mall service nas submitted his an
nual report, from which the following
figures are obtained: Number of rail
way postoffices in 1883 was 993, an in
crease of twenty-four over 1882. The
number of miles of route for which rail
roads were paid was 109,827, an increase
of 9264 over 1882; number of miles of
railroad traveled by clerks 86,180,430.an
increase of 10,433,982; number of pieces
mail matter bandied, 3,981,586,280; in
1 AAA .
crease i,4ay,yza over preceding year,
The superintendent asks an increase of
$318,000 in the appropriation for railway
postal olerks, and $50,C00 increase for
postal cars. He recommends that the
postmaster general be authorized to pay
the widow or the guardian of minor chil
dren of railway postal clerks killed in
the tervico a sum equal to one year's sal
ary of the grade held at the time of his
death, and to grant leave of absence
with pay to clerks injured in railroad ac
cidents nntil recovery, time not exceed'
ing one year.
LOST HIS PLACE.
"I'm very sorry, Mrs. Allison, but we
can't take him back." The superintend
ent spoke kindly but firmly. "If it were
his first offense, we 'i might let it pass;
dug ne nas given -us mis iron Die too
often, and we shall now put a quieter
man in his place."
"But it was the drink, Mr. Grant
only the drink r urged the poor
woman. ' . .
"There isn't a more peaceable or kind-
hearted man in all the shop than Jimmy,
when he lets drink alone. And you will
give him credit for being a good work
man?" ;-vr '
"No better workman in the establish
ment, but the drink he can't stand any
longer. That spoileverything."
"You U give him another trial?, Say
yes, Mr. lirantr pleaded tne unhappy
wife.
But Mr. Grant said: "No, Mrs. Alli
son ; I'm very sorry, but this thing is set
tled. Your husband must get work some
where else. We can't have him here any
longer."
"Oh, Mr. Grant," cried tne wretched
woman, her voioe raising to a passionate
appeal, "just think of his poor mother!
It will break her heart.
"Ho should have thought of his poor
old mother, Mrs. Allison," returned Mr.
Grant, with a coldness in his manner
that he did not feel. "We cannot take
these things into account."
It was all in vain. Mrs. Allison could
not move the superintendent, and she
left his office weeping.
"It is a hard case, said Grant, speak
ing in a troubled voice, "uuc we can t
have Jimmy Allison in the shop any
longer. He will take his glass, and
when he gets too much, he grows quar
relsome. There's no better workman,
and no better man to be found, if he'd
leave off tippling. But for drink he'd
be our foreman to-day, instead of a cast-
off. His example is bad and we must
remove it. He leads others astray."
He'll go to ruin, I'm afraid, said the
bookkeeper.
"Perhaps not. When 1 pay him off, I
shall talk to him, kindly and seriously.
I shall do no more. ,
"What?" j j
"Give him six months' probation."
"Where and how?"
"I'm thinking -it out. Can't see it
clear, but it will come to me. Where
there s a will there s a way. His poor
old mother. That touches me. Ah, the
poor old mothers! If young men would
but think of them as they should, there
would be fewer heartaches at old age."
Mr. Grant had a harder trial still. In
her sorrow and despair old Mrs. Allison
came to the office to plead for her son.
He was very kind to her and tried to
make her see that her son'sjoss of his
place might really be the best thing that
ever happened to him.. But this was
impossible. She saw nothing but evil
in his going away.
Poor old lady! At seventy, instead of
comfort in her latest born, best beloved
and only surviving child her boy, she
yet called him fondly, tnougn ne was
eight and twenty she had heart-aching
wretchedness.
"Oh, Jimmyl My poor boy, Jimmy!"
wailed the mother, on coming back from
the office, where she had so vainly striv
en to change the superintendent's pur
pose; and putting her arms about the
stalwart man, she sobbed and moaned
piteously that he also was moved to
tears.
But there was no help for them. The
shops were closed to Jimmy Allison, and
a week afterward he left home to seek
for work in a town fifty miles away,
where he had an acquaintance in a roll
ing mill. Upon the sorrow and grief
that fell like a shadow on tbe bcarts of
his wife and mother at the moment of
parting streamed in a ray of hope.
"I ve taken my last glass, mother I
My last glass, Jenny ! And it will all
oome out right. I'll be sure to get work
in S , and then I'll send for you and
we'll be happy again." H
Mr. Grant was standing at the window
at his office looking out. ,
"There goes Jimmy Allison to the sta
tion," he said, turning to the book
keeper. "Poor fellow! I hope the les
son will bo good for him. But I'm
afraid."
While Mr. Grant was speaking, he saw
Allison stop and stand irresolute for
some moments, and then turn an 1 walk
quickly toward the office, f
"We are to have a parting word a
curse or a blessing, added Mr. Lrrant,
in a changed voice. And the office door
opened, and Jimmy Allison came in. He
did not speaa at nrst, out drew a paper
from bis pocket, which he opened and
handed to the superintendent.
uni a pledger said Mr. want m a
tone of surprise.
"Yes, sir; and what is more, l m going
to keep it," replied Allison, in a firm but
subdued voice.
"Stick to that, my man, and all will
be well," said the superintendent. "And
let me say this to you in parting: if ou
had let beer and whisky alone, you
might have had a foreman's place here
long-ago. Nothing has kept you back
but drink. For your own sake, and es
pecially for your wife's and good old
mother s sake, let it alone."
"1 11 do it. sir. xou may count on
that. Good-bye, Mr. Grant," and the
man held out his hand, his face working
with the struggle of feelings he could
not repress.
"Good-bye Jimmy," returned the su
perintendent as he took the man's hand
"Think of me as a friend, it goes nara
with me as well as with you. But you
left us no alternative. Good-bye! And
if all goes right let me hear from you
Jimmy Allison had no voice to reply.
Turning away in silence he left the of
fice.
"I don't see how you can have the
heart to do it," said the bookkeeper as
the man had
gone.
'He's taken the
? ledge, and it's my opinion he'll keep it.
7hj not give him a chance? I can't get
the poor, old, sorrowful lace ot ms
mother out of my thoughts for a moment;
it hannts me like a ghost, j
Mr. Grant did not reply and the book
keeper turned to his desk and resumed
his work. A little afterward, tne wnistie
of the con-ing train was heard; a few
minutes later, and Jimmy Allison was
borne away from home, wife and mother
on the swift wings of steam, a sadder and
wiser man.
The day had worn on drearily to the
miserable wife and mother of Allison,
the pleasant June sunshine unfelt until
the sun had reached the tops of the
western mountains, for the shadow of
great trouble rested on the little house
hold. Suddenly the wild scream of the
locomotive cut the air, and went eshoing
among the hills; and soon after the down
coming train dropped a few passengers
at the station, and then went thundering
on its impetuous course.
"Mrs. Allison," said a boy who rushed
into the room where the two women sat
in their helpless, half despair, "here is
a letter from Mr. Grant, and he says read
it right away."
The startled wife opened, with hands
that shook nervously, the folded paper
and read: "We've telegraphed Jimmy to
come back look out for him by : the
down train."
A wild cry of joy broke from the lips
of Jenny Allison; "Oh, mother, mother!
they've sent for him to come back, and
there he is now!"
Springing up and bounding through
the door half crazed with joy, she ran
through the little garden.and flung her
self, laughing and crj ing, all . at once,
into the arms of her husband.
"We've had a narrow escape, Jimmy,
my son," said old Mrs. Allison, after
they were all quieted down. "It hurt
me away down here, my son," and she
laid her hand over her breast "hurt me
more, may be.than you will ever know."
"Oh, don't say that, mother. But you
shall never be hurt again," answered
Jimmy, catching his breath with some
thing like a sob. "Never, never, never!
I've takon the pledge, you know, and
when Jimmy Allison puts his name to
anything, it's got to stand. The Alli
son'sdon't go baok on their word of
honor."
"I'll trust you, my boy," was the
mother's confident reply as the sunshine
of gladness fell over her aged face.
AH this happened inst one year ago.
And has Jimmy Allison kept true to his
pledge? More than true ; for besides
holding true to his own integrity, he has
induced a dozen other workmen to follow
his example, and is now organizing a
temperance society in the shop, where
he already holds the position of foreman.
Cat Skins Yery "Toney".
A dirty faced boy, with his trousers
held up by one suspended tied with a
string, sneaked up an alley in DeGraw
street, Brooklyn, Saturday afternoon.
In bis right hand he carried half a brick
and in his left the hickory handle of a
broom. Glancing up and down the
street, after the manner of a dime novel
Indian scout, the lad disappeared in the
alley, emerging in a few minutes with
the dead body of a large yellow cat,
which he carried in the hand that had a
moment before held the brick. Slinging
the feline across his shoulder with a
piece of twine, the boy kicked a boulder
oose from its bed m the street, and
marching up half a block to Court
street, plunged into another alley. In
ten minutes he came out swinging a little
white kitten by the tail. A cruel gash
in the soft, white head showed where the
boulder had done its deadly work. With
the expert fingers of a trained hunter,
the youth proceeded to add his prize to
the string holding his other game, and
while engaged in this work, a reporter
cut off his escape and demanded the
ad's authority for this war of extermi
nation against cats.
For a long time the young hunter sul
lenly refused to speak a word, and only
after persuasion had given place to
threats would he consent to say, dog
gedly :
"1 m going to sell em.
"Sell them? What are they used
for?"
"Dunno."
"Who buys them from you ?'
"A man," was all tbe satisfaction that
could be gathered. He positively de
clared that all he knew concerning tbe
disposition of the cats was that a man
came for them in a wagon once a week.
He said that he lived in Harlem, and in
common with a number of other boys
had been promised good pay for all the
house-cats he furnished. His practice
was tojtake the animals home, skin them
very carefully from the neck down, and
preserve the head and tne far. a or
these the man in the wagon paid at the
rate of three cents for common yellow
and black cats, four cents for large kit
(ens of the same variety, and from five to
seven cents for Maltese, spotted and the
finer breeds. The boy thought the fur
was used for muffs, but did not know.
He could not tell what disposition was
made of the kitten s heads.
"When did you go into the cat-killing
business as a regular occupation was
ventured.
"About a month or six weeks ago."
"And how many have you sold in that
time?" '
"I guess about 300. I usually gets
about three in the afternoon and five or
six at night. Nights is the bist time for
cats," he explained with the air of an ex
pert. "niKhts and Sundays."
"Do you get most of them in Brook-
lvn?"
"You see so many of the boys was a
working the same racket in New York
that game got very scarce there, especial
ly up in Harlem. 1 o me ana my part
ner heard there was lots of cats here and
so we come. The first night we killed
'leven. and we had to carry 'em home in
a basket." and the little fellow grinned
as he recalled the rich haul. He thought
there were at least fifty boys
en erased in the crusade against the fe
line race. The man employing them
was very careful j in directing how the
animals should be skinned and the skin
salted and dried on a board. A slip of
the knife usually made tbe skin worth
less and the labor of tbe nunter was
wasted. Different methods were era
ployed by different boys in catchiDg
cats, but the Brooklyn lad found a stout
broom handle and a piece of -brick the
most effective weapons. He discoursed
learnedly of the tenacity of life in the
kitten, and thought tbey remained up
all night in order to find time to live out
the nine lives with which he had been
told thev were endowed. '
A.tonr among milliners in Fourteenth
street revealed the fact that kittens'
beads were becoming more and more
popular as decorations for hats. A blue,
soft-felt hat was shown in one store,hav
ing a bow of blue velvet and satin on
the side, upon which is placed a bird
with open wings. From under the bow
peeps out the white fur of a kitten's
head. This was, however, an imported
hat. Other hats were exhibited with
cats' heads on top, on the sides, and the
staring eyes glared directly in front of
one of the most stylish bonnets shown.
A pretty saleswoman explained, as she
smoothed the soft fur of the kitten
against her softer cheek, that "the de
mand for the dear little pussies' heads is
growing every day. Three months ago,"
she continued, "we did not have ono in
the store, and now I suppose we sell
ten or twelve a day. They are furnished
by the firm 01 whom we buy our cloaks."
Among fur manufacturers there was
little hesitancy in telling of the various
uses for; cats fur. Some of the exclu
sively importing houses visited declared
that tLey handled no garments contain
ing pelts of the common house-cat.
Among the domestic fur dealers the cats'
fur was held in high commercial regard.
It was found to wear well, and while the
dealers were outspoken and admitted
without attempt at concealment that the
fur was that of the ordinary house-cat,
yet theyj did not bring that fact promi
nently forward.
"You see," said a member of one of the
largest fur firms in Broadway, "there is
no use in telling our customer that the
garment he is about to purchase ever
had any connection with a kitten or a
back-fence cat. We call it mink or otter
or something of that kind and it sells
better. Though what could be prettier
than the real cats' fur, I can't imagine,"
and the gentleman spread out a lady's
dolman bordered with soft brown and
white far.'
"We use the fur for linings only and
seldom make an entire cloak, hat or muff
of the material. It is hardly suitable for
an entire garment, though for trimmings
and linings it is unsurpassed. Where
do we get the cats? Everywhere.
I think nearly every state
in the union contributes its
quota. Ohio, however, is our great
stand-by. Her crop of oats can always
be depended on, and like her crop of of
fice holders seems to never grow less.
Last year we received some 350,000 skins
from that state. In our own factory we
used about half a million pelts, and it is
estimated that over 1,750,000 cats are
slaughtered every year for the trade."
"How about prices?"
"Oh, prices are about the same this
season as last. We pay from three to
seven cents, according to variety and
texture of the fur. We get all the skins
we can nee at those prices without diffi
culty, but I understand that in France
cat raising has become quite an industry.
However, we have not come to that yet,
and the supply here is more than equal
to the demand. You see we manufacture
our goods during only five months in
the year, so all our pelts must .beTpur
chased in that time. It does not pay to
hold them over."
He further said that no especial pro
cess was necessary in preparing the furs
for use. They were subjected to exactly
the same treatment given to more valu
able skins, and retained their color
equally well. He thought the "con
sumption of cats' fur for wear was on the
increase. fN. Y. World.
Sleepy Cream.
Not an uncommon complaint is that
cream will not produce butter sometimes
for hours, churn as much as one may.
The North British Agriculturist has the
following interesting information oh the
causes and remedy:
On examination of ths cream which,
despite our churning, steadfastly refuses
to become butter, it will be noticed that
it has apparently increased in bulk more
than the ordinary small swelling of par
tially churned cream could account for;
consequently it is evident that the fer
mentation, which is, as a matter 01 fact,
going on, is creating a sort of efferves
cence, or producing gas in the cream,
which causes the inordinate swelling re
ferred to. This is brought about by the
presence of fermentive germs in the
cream, acquired either from the imper
fectly cleansed utensils employed, or ex
istent therein from unpreventible nat
ural causes. As far as the utensils are
concerned the remedy is simple, as a
free and thorough use of clean cold and
hot water, accompanied by a sufficient
amount of "elbow" put into their appli
cation, is quite capable in every way of
eraaicauncr w aeoaymn kbu wuiuu
. 1 -1 1
ineffectual washing would allow to re
main on the sides of dairy uten
sils. The natural causes are more
difficult of being ascertained, and
can naturally not be in any way pre
vented, because the fermentivo germs
are immediately present in tbe milk
when it leaves the cow. How these
germs are acquired, or wnence tney
1 Al.
come, is to a large extent purely specu
lative; but our scientists assert, and no
doubt they have good reason for so do
ing. that there are certain plants con
earned by cows feeding on particular
pastures, which possess the faculty of
impregnating milk with the fermentive
germs productive of tbis so-called sleep
iness of cream. Furthermore, that cows
out of condition, or which may be bent
rather on the mcresae of their kind than
the bulk of their bodies and flow of
lacteal fluil, produce milk wanting
either in correct chemical composition or
fraught with abnormal constituents;
either condition results in the sleepy
cream aforesaid. r
The remedy is simple and easily ap-
nlied. In most cases a sudden dash of
hot or cold water into the churn causes
the desired transformation; but is advis
able always to have some good butter
powder of established reputation handy,
so that in the event of a ease of sleepy
cream it can be added, and the butter
formed. It will generally be found that
the first application of the powder re
suits in a very little butter forming, but
a second will lead to the production of
the light quantity. ,
A Virginia judge has laid down the
broad legal principal that an elopement
is not necessarily a felony.
Julia A. Moore, the sweet singer of
Michigan, has disposed of 4000 volumes
of her poems.
Tennyson smokes clay pipes, taking a
Iresh one every day.
Half Human, Halt Alligator,
The Jacksonville (Florida) Times
of Oct. 10th has the following: Perhaps
the greatest living curtosities now in ex
istence in this country will pass through
this city on their way to Cincinnati and
Louisville next Tuesday. About two
years ago Charles Lewis, in passing
through the state, discovered about 15
utiles below St. Augustine, a family of
white persons, consisting of John Mc
Donald, his wife and five children. Two
of the children he found to be half human
and half alligator. He at once con
tracted with the parents to give him the
management of the children, and agreed
to pay them 25 per month to take cars
of them until such time as he saw fit to
ui&b lucui away, a xcw wee a ago lur.
Lewis returned to the state for the pur
pose of taking the children north, and
on Wednesday arrived in this city to ar
range for their transportation: He will
go to St. Augustine Monday after the
children, and arrive in this city with
thtm perhaps on Tuesday morning, and
will remain here about five hours before
leaving for Louisville. Mr. Lewis did
not intend to exhibit them here, except
perhaps to a few friends and acquaint
ances. Theee children are now nine
years of age, and have never been to ex
ceed ten miles from their home, and con
sequently have never been placed on ex
nibition. Their bodies, arms and heads
from the hips up are perfectly formed.
while from the hips down they present
the identical appearance of an alligator,
having a perfectly formed tail, ab-mt
five feet in length, together with the
hind feet and legs of the 'gator. They
crawl around on their hands and feet,
converse intelligently, and seem to en
joy life very much. They live part of
the time in the water, which they enjoy
very much, using their tails while swim
miner ilio aamo a a tha allicrat.Ai f r nm- .
o -, "-o--" , f-" .
pel their bodies. They are healthy,
good looking and well developed chil
dren, and outside of their love for the
water their general mode of living is the
same as thtt of other human beings.
Magnificent Lumber Region.
The following is from the Sonoma.
Cal., Democrat:
Few people have any good idea of the
vast timber resources of Tuolumne
county. Lying on the southern bound
ary, along the Mariposa line, on the up
per waters of the souh and middle forks
of the Tuolumne river, is the finest body
of lumber timber in the world. Here,
for sixty miles, is an unbroken forest of
sugar pine, yellow pine, red and white
fir and spruce. The trees are enormous
in size, and rise -to magnificent highis,
while the growth is so dense as to plunge
tbe depths of the forest into a perpetual
gloom. The trees average from bye to
ten feet in diameter, and their freedom
m . m - 1 I
their value for lumbering purposes. "It
is nothing extraordinary to see pine and
red fir trees ten and twelve feet in diame
ter, straight as an arrow, and rising to a
hight of 150 to 200 feet. This body of
timber is easy of access, and only re
quires to be tapped by a railroad to be
turned into a vast source of wealth. As
yet, most of it is the property of the gov
ernment. . Muoh of it, however,has been
surveyed, and is now in the market.
About two years since some parties pro
jected a railroad through this region.and
prepared to grab about 50,000 acres of
this timber, but apparently the scheme
has fallen through. Their scheme was
not a legitimate enterprise, as their ob-
rf. xraa nnl v tn crat trA nrniftftk nnnflr
D " I i
wav, and tben make a big deal witn east-
trn capitalists, mow tne giant trees
stand nodding invitation to the railroad
and the saw mill. Whenever these two
agencies make their advent into this im
mense forest old Tuolumne will spring
into renewed life and prosperity. The
field lies fallow now, waiting for the
coming of enterprise and -capital.
The Unlucky Royal Family.
A whole series of unlucky accidents.
says London Truth, have lately befallen
the Austrian imperial family. Just as
the Empress Elizabeth was passing on
horseback over a small bridge in the
Styrian alps, near Murzsteg, a plank
gave way under her horse's hoot. The
animal stumbled and threw his rider
over his head. On the very same day,
at the same hour, Archduke William,
brother of the Archduke Albert, while
superintending the cavalry exercises at
the camp of Brack, was taken ill, and
fell in a dead faint off his horse; and at
the same moment the Archduchess Clo
tilda, wife of Archduke Joseph, who had
been to visit a girl's school near Buda
Pesth, having just stepped out of the
house, accompanied by the young girls,
heard a frightful noise behind her. She
turned and found that the roof of the
school room had fallen in! What inter
pretation will superstitious people place
upon these coincidences Mine would
be that the Archduchess Clotilda is luck
ier than her relations. -
NEWS JfOTES.
Henry Clews, the banker, says Van-
derbilt talks too much.
There are 300 cats on exhibition at the
Boston cat show.
A Gotham brunnette says blondes are
always selfish and affected.
The Dakota lands set apart for educa
tional purposes are valued at $82,000,
000. Seven Hartford, Conn., grocers have
been fined $6 a piece for selling bull but
ter. . . ' '
A Michigan man left $1 in his will-to
buy a rope to hang his daughter's hus
band.
Kansas has a corn crop of 200,000,000
bushels, and wants a general war in
Europe. -
Daisy hammered away at her doll's
head till she broke it open to see what it
contained. It was empty. Her motner
had carelessly told her that the heads of
of dolls and people contained the same
kind of filling. That afternoon when
her big sister was entertaining her beau
in the parlor, Daisy rushed in and as
tonished the basbrui young mau wim
the startling announcement: "I know
what yon ve got in your neaa. xt n
stuffed with air. Mamma says so."