1
THE INDEPENDENT.
IS ISSUED
SATURDAY MORNINGS,
BY THE
Douglas County Publishing Company.
THE niDEPElIDElTT
HAS THE
FINEST JOB OFFICE
IN DOUGLAS COUNTY.
CARDS, BILL HEADS, LEGAL BLANKS,
And other Printing. Including
Largs ani Hsayj Posters ail Slowy Easl-Bills,
Neatly and expeditiously executed
AT PORTLAND PRICES.
One Year - - - - - $2 50
Six Months - - - - . - 160
Three Months - - - - - 1 00
These are the terms of those paling in vnc9. The
Indepxxdkht offers fine Inducements to -d-ertben.
Tercua reasonable.
VOL. IX.
ROSEBURG, OREGON, SATURDAY, JULY 26, 1884.
NO. 16.
.ijJJj
'7'y iiu jujihii joi jyjoiivi i a
J. JASKULEI.,
PRACTICAL
Watchmater, Jeweler Ail OiticiaSj
ALL WORK WAEEANTED.
Dealer In Watches, Clocks, Jewelry,
Spectacles and Eyeglasses.
and a rvLt uni or
Cigassj Tobacco & Fancy Goods.
j..
Ttu only reliable Optonier in to we for the proper adjust
ment of Spectacles ; always on hand.
Itepst tf tilt Genuine Brazilian Febblo Spec
tacles and Eyeglaasea.
ffice First Door South of Postoffice,
ROSEBUBG. OltEOX.
LANGMBERG'S
Boot and Shoe Store
ItOSEBURtt, OBECO.V,
Jackion Street, Oppositt tks Post Offlcs,
Keeps en hand the largest and best assortment of
Eastern and Han Francisco Boots and
Shoes, Gaiters, Slippers,
And everything In the Boot and Shoe line, and
SELLS CHEAP FOR CASH.
Boots and Shoes 9Iado to Order, and
Perfect Fit Guaranteed.
I use the Best of Leather and Warran all
my work.
Sspairing Neatly Done, on Short Notice
" I keep always on hand
TOYS AND NOTIONS.
Musical Instruments and Violin Strings
a specialty.
LOUIS LAGEOERU.
DR. Sl. W. DAVIS,
m DENTIST,
BOBEBVBG, OBEOOX,
Office On Jackson Street, Up Stairs,
Over S. Marks & Co.'s New Store.
MAHONEY S SALOON,
Nearest the Bail road Depot, Oakland.
JAS. 3IAIIOXEY, ... Proprietor
The Finest Wines, Liquors and Cigars in
Douglas County, and
THE BEST BILLIARD -TABLE IN THE STATE,
KEPT IX PROPER REPAIR.
Parties traveling on the railroad will find this place
very handy to visit during the stopping of the train at
the Oakland Depot. Give me a call.
JAS. MAIIONEY.
JOHN FRASER,
Home Made Furniture,
WILBUR, OREGON.
UPHOLSTERY, SPRING' MATTRESSES, ETC,
Constantly on hand.
FURNITURE.
I have the Best
STOCK OF FURNITURE
South ef 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.
ALL WORK WARRANTED.
DEPOT HOTEL,
Oakland, Oregon.
RICHARD THOMAS, Propriator.
This Hotel has been established for a num
ber of years, and has become very pop
ular with tho traveling public.
FIRST-CLASS SLEEPING ACCOMMODATIONS
AND THE
Table auppliod with the Best the Market affierdi
Hotel at ths Depot of the Railroad.
H. C. STANTON,
DEALER IN
Staple Dry Goods,
Keeps constantly on hand a general assortment ef
Extra Fine Groceries,
WOOD, WILLOW AND GLASSWARE,
ALSO
CROCKERY AND CORDAGE,
A full stock of
SCHOOL BOOKS,
Such as required by the Publie County Schools.
AJ1 kind i of Stationery, Toy and
Fancy Artleloa,
TO SUIT BOTH TOUNO AND OLD.
Buys and Sells Legal Tenders, furnishes
Cheoks on Portland, and procures
Drafts on San Francisco.
SEEDS !
ITT TTTITTMI rtTI IHTTTI TlPfllTl flTT I T TU1V
hhh Mam Ul lnD DLol yUiUjn I .
ALL ORDERS
Promptly attended to and goods shipped
with care.
Li-
Address,
1IACIIEXY A BEXO,
Portland, Oregox.
The Granger's Conclusion.
h.SCl.'fUIT !.
A miMster v ho spoke at a grange
meeting the other day in Worcester
county, -old his audience that it takes
more brains to.preach to an audience
of farmers than to a city church, and
the horny-handed agriculturists voted
unanimously that the reverend gentle
man was admirably fitted for city
preaching....
Oliver Goldsmith's tomb in London is
in the most dilapidated condition and
utterly neglected.
TEE GOOD TIME COMING.
William Morris.
when men and maids are merry, ere
the Bunlierht leaves the earth.
Oft,
And they bless the day beloved, all too short
for all their mirth,
Some shall aue awhile and pon ier on the
: bitter days of old,
Ere the toil of strife and battle overthrew
the curse of gold;
Then 'twixt lips of loved and lover solemn
thoughts of us shall rise;
We, who ouce were fools and dreamer, then
shall be the brave and wise.
CONCERNING THE NEW CABLES.
How They Are Constructed Dura
bility and Conductive Power.
Iatcr-Ocean.
The broad principles of construction
are the same in the new cables as in the
old, though to the control of these
principles new rules are observed. The
copper c nter of the deep-sea oable is
formed of thirteen wires, twelve small
ones coiled about one that is one-tenth
of an inch thick", making the con
ductor just the sii e of an ordinary
telegraph wire. All the interstices are
rilled with a solution of gutta
percha This covering process, which
is one of the most important incidents
of cable construction, is kept a pro
found secret by the manufacturers.
This core is, .after being electrically
tested, covered with jute to form a
cushion for the protection of the gutta
percha from the outer -wires of the
cable. Next the cable is sheathed in
the finest qr.ality of sttel wire, the
wires being literally woven about it.
The cable is then covered with coating 3
of a black asphal tic composition, broad
tape be ng worked in to give it solidity,
first a coating and then a layer of tape,
until three coatings of the composition
have been, applied. This completes the
construction of -the deep-sea cable.
The shore ends are larger cables,
containing the ends of the one de
scribed made of jute and the black
composition, with an intermediate size
as the connecting link. Though a
small section of this cable may appear
hard and inle.ible, when lifted in a
long piece it seems like a thread of
silk in graceful pliableness. Though
this cable will be considerably the
most expensive ever laid, there is
reasonable assurance that it will be
for the best, not onlv in the matter of
durability, but as the electrio medium,
the conductor; being both larger and
mora perfectly protected than any oth
ers, at may be said that the breaking
strain of the wire shield has been tested
at a pressure of ninety tons to the
square inch, nd the average weight of
the cable is five tons per nautical mile.
There will be t,000 miles in this cable.
Already 2,00:J miles have bean com
pleted ready for laying, and the rest is
now being turned out at the rate of.
thirty mils a day. '
Life Has Its Compensations.
Detroit Free Pres-i.
"Are you going to help me put down
the carpets, o ohn i
S pose so; where s the tack-ham
mer?"
"It's in the barrel of dishes no, it
isn t yes, it is oh, 1 Know now: I put
it in the band-box with your new bun-
day hat."
Just liko a woman; never knows
where anything is; hat ruined, like
enough ; where's the handle of the ham
mer t
"Oh, I packed that up with, the
china set: you'll find it, dear, at the
bottom of the box."
"Now, who's going to stretch the car
pet, hey?"
".Me, de.r."
" W ell, stand there. G racious, I can't
pull a hundred pounds of dry-goods
along with the carpet. Oh, dear, 1 m
going to have a fit, 1 believe.
"1 11 make you a cup of tea, dear.
You can drink it out of jour shaving-
mug, it Ml oe lust iiKe a p:cmc.
But when she got back with the tea
John was missing.
"Poor fello?! It wai too much for
him! He s gone to get the air. He
looked pa' e.w
John tat a counter covered with eat
ables, salads, and tilings) Two fingers
of old crow and a dash of bitters to be
gin with. I'm nearly starved ! A hot
beefsteak will help me out. I tell you,
boys, moving is tough work.
Life has ire compensations. Johns
wife sits on a roll of carpet and dr nks
her tea. "Poor boy! 1 wish he could
have waited for it: it's so refreshing.
He'll be half starved by supper time! I
know he will."
Not much, little woman.
, The BUlion's Question.
Exchange.
A good story is told of the Pom an
Catholic bishop of Atlanta, Ga. He
recently addressed a large assembly of
bunday school children and wound up
by asking m a very paternal ami con
descending way, "And now, is there
a-a-n-y little boy or a-a-n-y little girl
who would like to ask me a question?
Alter a pause he repeated the question,
Is tl:ere a-a-n y little boy or a-a-n-y
little girl who would like to ask me a
question ?"
A little hri!l voice called out, "Please,
sir, vr1 y did the nngels walk up and
down . acob's ladder, when they had
wings?" "Oh, ah, yes 1 see," said the
bishop: "and now, is there a-a-n-v little
wi ur--u7""iJ"i u wuuii xiatj
i i : i i : l i. ii l.-i..
to answer little Mary's question?'
Charles' Itcade on Condensation.
Regarding the stipulation of the pub
lishers of The Youth's Companion that
his story must le short, the late
tharlts "Peade said: "After all, con
densation is a fine thing, and a story
long enough to excite an interest and
paint characters vividly, a story in
which there is no conversation, out only
dialogue, which rapidly advances the
progress of the action, is more likely to
be immortal than those more expanded
themes which are apt to betray us into
difiuseness."
Louisville Courier-Journal: Culture
in the highest and best sense is an in
dividual matter; it is an inward grace
rather than an outward expression.
Robert Griffin, of London, says the
world will not be large enough to hold
the population a thousand years from
now.
CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL.
Kassie I'ersenal Recollection Traits
of Character Amusement.
"GathV Letter. 1
The lasis of Marshall ability at the
bar was his understanding. Not highly
read, he had one of those clear under
standings which was equal to a mill
pond of book-learning. His first prac
tice was among his old companions in
arms, who felt that he was a soldier by
nature, and one ot those who loved the
fellowship of the camp better than
military or political ambition. Bagged
and di sipated, they used to come to
him for protection, and at a time when
imprisonment- for debt and cruel exe
cutions were in vogue. He not onlr
defended them, but loaned them money,
He lost some good clients by not paying
more attention to his clothing, but these
outward circumstances could not long
keep back recognition of the fact that
he was the finest arguer of a case at
the Kichmond bar, which then con
tained such men as Edmund Bandolph,
Patrick Henry and later William Yirt.
lie was not an orator, did not culti-1
vate his voice, did not labor hard, but
he had the power to penetrate to the
very center of the subject, discover the
chief point, and rally all h's forces
there. If he was defending a casa he
would turn his attention to some other
than the main point in order to let the
prosecution assemble its powers at the
wrong place. With a military eve he
saw tue strong and the Aveak positions,
and, like Kembrandt painting, he threw
all his light on the right spot. The
character of his argument was a per
spicuous, easy, onward, accumulative
reasoning statement. He had but one
gesture, to lift up his hand and bring it
down on the place before him con
stantly. He discarded fancy or pojtry
in his argument?.
Among the cases he argued was the
British debt case, tried in 171):?. The
United States now had its circuit court,
and Chief Justice Jay presided at Kich
mond. The treaty of pea e of England
provided that the creditors on either
side should meet with no lawful impedi
ment to the recovery of the full value
of all bona fide debts theretofore con
tracted. The question was whether
debts sequestrated by the Virginia
legislature during the war came under
this treaty. It is said that the countess
of Huntington heard the speeches on
this case, and said that every one of the
lawyers, if in England, would have
been given a peerage. Patrick Henry
broke his voice down in this case and
never again could speak with his old
force. iUavshall surpassed them all in
the cogency of his reasoning. At that
time he was thought to be rather lazy.
He went into the state legislature in
1782, just before he was married. His
personal influence was such in Kich
mond that, although he was constantly
in the minority, he was always elected.
His principal amusement was pitching
the quoit, which he did to the end of his
days, and could ring the meg, it is said,
at a distance of sixty feet ire iuently.
He arose early in the morning and went
to market, without a servant, and
brought back his chickens in one hand
and his market basket on the other
arm. He never took offense, and once
when a dude stopped him on the street
and asked him where there was a fel
low to take home his marketing, Mar
shall inquired where he lived, and said,
I will take it for you. After he got
home with the other man's marketing,
the dude was much distressed to find
that Mr. Marshall had been his sup
posed servant.
Overdoing It.
Talmage in Home Science.
Some of our young people have read
till they are crazed of learned
blacksmiths, who at the forge conquered
thirty languages ; and of shoemakers,
who, pounding sole-leather, got to be
philosophers; and of milliners, who,
while their customers were at the glass
trying on their spring hats, wrote a
volume of first-rate poems. The fact
is, no blacksmith ought to be troubled
with more than five languages ; and in
stead of shoemakers becoming philoso
phers, we would bike to turn our sur
plus of philosophers into shoemakers ;
and the supply of poetry is so much
greater than the demand, that we wish
milliners would stick to their business.
Extraordinary e amples of work and
endurance may do as much good. Be
cause Napoleon slept only four hours a
night, hundreds oi students have tried
the experiment; but, instead of Aus
terlitz and Saragossa, there came of it
only a sick heada:he and a botch of a
recitation.
The Indians Condone a Fault.
Cor. Globe-Democrat.
An Otoe scandal of the fir.it water
has just occurred. A s hool-girl was
recently married to a man much older
than herself, much against her wishes.
She soon after ran away with her
former youthful lover. The deserted
husband was irate and about to follow
on the warpath. A council was called,
and .many of the friends of the run
away couple sat up with him all night
attempting to allay his anger. One of
them gave him his finest moccasins and
leggin3, another a brooch, and others
still other presents, til he said "his
heart felt bett ?r; his heart was not so
bad as it had been," and he finally said
"his heart was all right now," and
they might come back, "ohe was dead."
This Otoe custom might be a sensible
one in some white communities.
The Vanderbllt ISoys.
IUinud Monthly.
The late Mr. Augustus Schell was a
very int'mate friend of old Commodore
Vanderbilt and used frequently to call
for him to go fishing. On one of these
occas'ons he heard two of the Vander
bilt bos in hot dispute, and saw the
old coinmodore trying to break it off
short, while Mrs.N anderbilt though very
am: able herself, was trying with all her
might to convince the commodore that
it was better to let them come to an
understanding by adjusting their own
difficulties. "Come away, Cornele,
don't disturb them," she sa'd. "Let
them fuss in peace."' The quaintaess
of the phrase amused Mr. Schell a
good deal. -
Philadelphia Call : All good citizens
do not push baby carriagea, but all men
who push baby carriages are god
citizens.
How a Cat Bode' 117 Miles.
The Montreal Star thus tells how a
cat rode 117 miles on the fly-wheel of
an engine: The engineer of The cjtar
.printing establishment, soon after start
ing the steam-engine on Tuesday morn
ing, noticed a white patch on the inner
surface of the drive-wheel, which' he
thought was a piece of paper caugh by
one of the spokes in its flight and
whirled round and round by the wheel.
The white patch was noticed by several
of the hands during the morning, who
accounted for it in the same way, jbut
no attention had been specially given
the matter until the engine was stopped
shortly after noon. As the wheel
stopped the engineer was surprised to
see the white spot fall to the ground
and then get up and crawl away. He
then, for the first time, became aware
that the white spot which had been
whirling on the fly-wheel was a
cat which had been clinging' to
one of the spokes of the wfcel and had
only relaxed iti hold wi.e the wheel
had come to a standstill. The; cat
seemed dazed ior a while, and was
taken into the street for freer j air.
WW at -1 -- at
Here it remained pertectiy sun lor a
considerable time, but on an attempt
being made to cover it with a paper it
ran off in a zigzag course, but appar
ently as fully alive as ever. The lower
portion oi tue ny-wneei revolves in a
trough, the sides of which fit close to
the broad tire of the wheel, and.it is
presumed that the cat, which was a
strange one, being frightened at; the
entry of the engineer, jumped int the
trough to get out of the wav, and when
the w heel was started found itself whirl
ing around on the inside of the tire.
The wheel is ten feet in diameter; and
as it revolved from 7 a. ni. to 12 :10 p.
m., and at a rate of sixty revolutions
per minute, by a tdmple calculation it
will be tound that the cat traveled a
distance of more than 117 miles, or
about '20,000 revolutions of the wheel.
A Bottle 248 Years Old.
Washington (Mo.) Observer.
Mr. L. Green, of Newport, called
at this office last Saturday morning and
exhibited to us a four-ounce bottle, the
existence of which is clearly traced
back 248 years. It cannot properly
be called a square or round bottle, as
the corners and edges hardly approach
either. Evidently the process of blow
ing glass at the time it was made was
in its mcipien -y. ine bottom was
doubtless intended to be flat, but the
orners and edges are not squarely and
smoothly turned, and in the t cen
ter of the botto n a daub of
molten glass seems to have .been
put on to stop up the hole that was left
by reason of the edges failing to Come
together and close in the center of the
bottom. The shoulders at the top of
the bottle, too, look as if they were in
tended to be blown s juare, but instead
ei tms tney awKwaidiy double in
toward the center. The neck of the
bottle is short and straight, without the
usual rim at the top. and at the bottom
of the neck it spreads out, and is ap
parently molded into the hole left at the
top of the bottle where the glass laps
over from the shoulders. Pp and down
the body of the bottle, ma sort of twist
ing shape are large but pretty uniform
rittges which appear to be on the out
side, but upon feeling the bottle they
are discovered to be but slightly in
dented on the outside, and must be
either inside or running through the in
terior of the body of the glass.
Electricity, or Imagination?
Danbury (Conn.) News.
James carley, oi tins town, a jour
hatter, recently suffered for a : week
with severe headache. Every possible
remedy was resorted to without relief.
Finally one of his shopmates informed
him that D. B. Wilkes, living in the
upper end of King street district,' could
cure it without fail. Accordingly
Carley set out to find the man who
possessed such a panacea that could re
lieve him from his untold suffering.
nr. iTT'ii i
jiir. vviijses, w nose , occupation is a
farmer, received him cordially, and at
once assured him that he could cure his
hea.la.he. He requested Carley to ac
company him to the old cider-mill,
which they entered, and Mr. Wilkes
pulled out from beneath the press a
box covered With a coal sieve, i Prom
the box he took a live black snake and
wound it around Carley'sneck. Strange
as it may seem, almost instantaneously
the pain lelt his head and has not re
turned since. Mr. Carley and his
friends vouch for his cure. Mr. Wilkes
also cures sprains and swellings in the
same way. He explains the matter on
the principles of animal lectricity,
which he supposes that the snake pos
sesses. If a cure is effected in this way
the writer thinks that the pain is fright
ened out of the patient by the horrid
application.
Germany's Great Loss.
jSt. Paul Pioneer Press.
Germany is still face to face with the
question asked by the chamber of com-
. merce at Minden a fewyearsago: "Has
the German empire been founded for
the purpose of uriving its citizens forth
into exile " Last year 200.000 persons
left the 1 ather.and; and this year it is
estimated that the number will be in
creased by at least 20,000. How long
a ermany can stand this constant dram
of her best and most productive blood
is one of the puzzling questions of the
century. So long, however, as she
maintains her present oppressive taxa
tion and military system, just so long is
the exodus bound to continue.
How lie Escaped.
lExchangf. j
The bore of singing when invited out
was nicely bridged over by a tenor at
Boston one evening not long ago. Un
der the pretense of examining some
rare paintings, the celebrated guest
wandered toward the piano, carelessly
locked the instrument and abstracted
the key unobserved. Of course,' he was
asked to sing. "Alost willingly, he re
sponded, but lo! and behold, the p'ano
was locked, and a searcn tailed, to re
cover the key. The next morning it
was found in the ante-room, and the
lady of the house is"wondering yet how
it ever got there. i
Brooklyn .agie: irrofessional pe-
destriamsm hai done no more to popu
larize healthy exercise than professional
pugilism to substitute nature's weapons
for the knife and revolver.
MRS. TOM THUMB.
II er Appearance In Society Possibly
Not Done Growing:.
New York Cor. Inter Oc an.
Speaking of widows, I came across
Mrs. Tom Thumb the other day in the
elevated railroad car. She had to make
considerable of a jump to scat herself,
and I observed her companion made no
offer of assistance. This wa in accord
with the lady's well-understood desire.
You may have happened to find out
that old men don't like to be helped
on with their overcoats, because it im
plies a decrepitude, which they dislike
to acknowledge, even to themselves.
Well, Mrs. Thumb has that sort of feel
ing with reference to any real or implied
notice of her size. She sat there in
great dignity, but with her feet dangling
far above the floor.
"She ought to carry an adjustable
foot-stool," I remarked, "or else some
thing in theway of an automatic length
ening apparatus, like thos' fishing rods
that slide out of themselve attached to
her heels."
My companion was short and femi
nine. Said she: Bless your heart, that
little creature isn't practically any
worse off than a good many of the rest
of us. Woman's rights are cruelly dis
regarded by railroad managers, if you'll
take the trouble to notice. They give
us shorties a choice between practically
standing up and not mu.-h more than
leaning against a seat ; or squarely seat
ing ourselves and letting our feet danglt
unsupported. Look at that row o)
women across the car. lhe only one
who at once rests her back fullv against
the support intended for it, and her feet
flat on the floor, is nigh as tall as you
are. All the rest are a dozen sizes toe
small for the seats. If sitting away
back properly, they only touch their
toes to the floor like a line of ballet
girls tiptoeing on the stage. Why
shouldn t a happy medium in the height
of public seats be struck i hy
shouldn't a man be made to sit on a
level a little below their knees instead
of putting the whole inconvenience of
adjustment on our less lengthened sex ?
Heally, 1 think of writing to Susan B
Anthonv about it."
The little Widow Thumb is casually
a resident of New York, and a welcome
visitor in a considerable number of
rather wealthy and fashion able families,
She is now a lady so, mature and d'gni-
fled, notwithstanding her diminutive
form, that nobody in the way of social
intercourse dares, or is much inclined.
to treat her r s a human trifle. To see
her in the midst of a round of calls is to
get the impression, at first sight, that
your eyes have f omehow sudden y be
come telescopic inversely, so exactly is
she a minature of the conventional
dames of ceremonious societv. She
dresses for an afternoon of formal visit
ing in a toilet of semi-mourning, suit
able in style for a quiet woman of 45
which age she acknowledges and or
ders from a livery stable one of those ,
coupes that, as to liveried dri er and
general appearance, are scatcely dis
tmguishable from private equipages.
Provided with a visiting list, and easily
commanding an air of well-bred bal
ance, she lacks only in stature to be
the ideal of a millionaire's wife. Of
course she attracts staring attention
"wherever she alights, but her manner of
Bilent reproof is usually effective as a
cure for impudence, and she is able to
go about with far less annoyance than
might be supposed. She is now about
three feet an i a half in height, or a foot
more than when sue w as hrst put on
exhibition by lia'num, and it was only
within a few years that she stopped
growing.
It would not surprise me, she lately
said, "if I should take to growing again
at any time. My case is cne of retarded
development, you know, an 1 I mav yet
catch up with the rest of you. The ma
jority of the dwarfs exhibited are really
children, phenomenally small, but by
no means the adult midgets that thev
are represented to be; and conse
quently, they grow out of the profes
sion. That has been the case with
many a 'freak,' as the showmen call
them."
Founding of the Smithsonian Insti
tute.
Detroit Free Press.
The Smithsonian institute received
its name from James Smithson, an Eng
lish phvsicist. James bmithson be
queathed his estate of 120,000 to his
nephew, on the condition that if there
were no children to inherit it the
amount was to go the United States,
to found at Washington, an institution
for the diffusion of knowledge. The
nephew died in 1835, and the
claim of the United States was
prosecuted at London by Hon.
Pichard Rush, who went from America
for that purpose. Through his efforts
there was deposited in the United
States mint $515,169. By an act of
congress the interest on this amount up
to Julv, 184b, was appropriated for the
erection of buildings and other inci
dental expenses. This interest reached
the sum of $242,129. The same act
provided that all future appropr ations
and expenditures should be made from
the interest and not from the principal
of the fund, lhe principal was de
clared to be lent in perpetuity to thf
United States treasury at 6 per cent,
semi-annual payments.
A New Trouble to the Eyes.
' Philadelphia Times. ,
A genuine trouble of the eye, and one
of very recent origin, is that caused by
the glare of the electric lights, lo
very sensitive retina this is intolerable,
and soma protei tion is absolutely nec
essary. xor this purpose we use
smoked glasses and the demand for
them is really surprising. In New York
thousands of grots of these are sol
every year. The linemen, who ad ust
the arcs of the; electric lights, and, o;
course, need very strong glasses, wear
oblong pieces of blue glass fastened to
gether, two for each eye, and capable
of shielding them from the terrible
brilliancy. Even with these their eyes
are very often injured.
Madison ( Yi is.) Democrat : This steal
ing the honorable names of trade and
commerce to cover gambling operations
this prostitution of holy things to false
gods; this stealing the liverv of hea
ven to serve the devil, should be
stopped.
American Speculators) Mistake.
"Rigolo" in New York Sun.
The supposition still prevailing among
a certain class of American financiers,
that the Britishers have more money
than brains, ought to be given up by
this time. Any one who reads Eu
ropean newspapers can plainly see that,
not only in ureat Britain but at all the
great centers of Europe, our financial
situation is thoroughly studied, ana
lyzed and understood, bummed up,
their views upon our stock and bond
market come to this : " The cause of the
ruinous tumble of American securities
was the over-construction, over-capitalization
and over-swindling of the rail
roads of the country for the last six or
seven years. The large dividends paid
on certain stocks (often out of borrowed,
not earned, money) constantly suggested
the building of new parallel roads. The
conse juence is that at the present mo
ment the carrying capacity of all the
railroads of the tnited States is about
five t.mes larger than the amount of
work available for them.
Por a serieB of years, ending with
1880, there had been a succession of un
precedentedly good harvests in the
t nited States, and at the same time
there were exceedingly bad harvests in
Europe. In consequence there was a
great demand for the agricultural prod
uce of the United States, and the rail
way traffics therefore were enormous.
But in 1881 there was a partial failure
of all the crops throughout the United
States, and since then the harvests have
not been good. Simultaneously tho
harvests in Europe have improved,
while India and Australia have begun
to compete with the United States in
the wheat markets of western Europe
to an extent that a little while ago was
quite impossible. The Americans had
persuaded themselves that they could
fix the price of wheat in Europe as they
chose, and speculators therefore kept
wheat and India corn back from the
market in the hope that prices in Eu
rope would thus be compelled to rise.
Prices, however, have not risen. The
principal result has been to hand over
the markets of western Europe to the
competitors of America.
The Chicago corner-makers in bread
stuffs will be pleased to learn that Vic
toria, the largest grain-growing colony
in Australia, is now in bitter competi
tion with India in the English wheat
market. What is going to be our posi
tion in this contest 'i
Fascinated by a Snake.
Buffalo Express
A Port Jervis letter says a party of
gentlemen on bunday visited a famous
snake-hole on the farm of the late W.
T. Galloway, near Montgomery, armed
with horsewhips, for the purpose of
kill ng blacksnakes, which abound in
that neighborhood. After killing as
many as they could find, they separated
tor the purpose of botanizing. Later
on one of tneir number could not be
found. Heturning to the snake-hole,
the missing one was observed standiug
m front of the hole, apparently spell
bound, nor could any amount of calling
attract his attention. On going closer,
his friends were horrified to see an im
mense blacksnake, just ready to coil
itself around him. 'lhe man was rigid,
while his eyes started from their
sockets. The snake was moving itself
in a wavy manner and slowly getting
closer to its almost entrapped victim.
The situation was at once understood
and his snakeship was dispatched, while
the man was placed in a wagon. He
says he was completely charmed, saw
beautiful colors, and experienced a per
fectly peaceful sensation which would
not permit him to go away or resist. If
his f lends had not arrived as they did
is probable he would have been
strangled to death, as these blacksnakes
will coil about a person and choke him
to death. The snake was a large one,
and measured nine feet in length.
London's Cycling Path.
i Chicago Times.
English bicyclists and tricyclists
propo e to have a cycling path of their
own all the way xrom .London to
Brighton, under a special act of parlia
ment! The track will be about forty-
five miles long, starting a few miles out
of 1 ondon, and running to Brighton,
and will be eighteen feet wide, paved
with asphalt, and of easy gradients.
It is estimated to cost an average of
7.000 per mile, or 315,000 in all.
The Brighton to London road is the
favorite one for south country cyclists,
hundreds of wheelmen going ana re-
turnir g within the day during the sea
son, it is estimated that a 5-shilling
fee would be very readily paid by 300
cyclists a day during eight months of
the year for excursion tickets from
London to Brighton and back, besides
hundreds of smaller fees for interme
diate distances.
The Cholera Germ Man.
I Chloaffo Herald.
DrJ Koch, who has just returned to
Berlin from India, where he has dis
covered the cholera germ, is deso ibed
as of medium height, very thin, with a
serious, spirituelle student's face. His
beard is brown, but his hair is becom
ing gray, and this, together with his
glasses, makes him seem to be older
than 40 years. There are those who
declare, that the discovery may make
Koch as famous as Jenner or Harvey.
i
! About Texas,
ExcbaDgft.)
Texas is a very large state, and
everything is done in a large way there,
from fencing to financiering. Last year
the assessed property valuation was
about f 500,000,000: the state debt was
a little bver f 4,000,000; the school fund
is $95,000,000. t j
1 The Talmud.
Claude MonteSore, one of the ablest
and most liberal of English Hebrews.
says that the Talmud is "witty, learned.
far-fetched, practical, poetical, harsh,
kindly, long-winded.
Mrs. Brown, in Merchant Traveler :
What is my op nion of intemperance?
It is a fire we kindle in ourselves, with
out a dollar's worth of insurance on the
premises. " -
Fichte: A man can do what he
ought to do; when he says he cannot
he will not.
Meanness is the one unforgivable sin.
BOUCICAULT ON ACTING.
The Letter R How to Walk on tho
Staffe A Few Aphorisms.
Cor. Chicago Herald.
M. Boucicault, in h's lecture on "The
Art of Acting," said there are three
essential things to be studied by an ac
torthe management of the voice,
gestures above the waist, and position
of the body from the waist downward.
Actors are apt to turn the letter F into
W. The prince of Wales, and the duke
of Edinburgh, have an unfortunate diffi
culty in pronouncing the letter; so
everybody affects the same difficulty.
There are three kinds of affectation in
speakingthe clergyman's, who in
tones, the stump orator's, who vocifer
ates, and the tragedian's, . who either
whines or growls.
As for elocution on the stage, Mr.
Boucicault had, he said,, a contempt for
it. As for gesture, it should slightly
precede the words. There is too much
gesture on the stage, especially in mo
ments when the actor meditates. Walk
ing, he e aid, was a lost art, "I'd show
you how to walk," he added, "but I
can t, I ve got the gout. However,
study the old Greek friezes, where pro
cessions are pictured. To get a perfect
walk practice carrying heavy weights
on your head. Walk as the Spaniards
and Arabs walk. Mr. Boucicault walked
like an an'cient Greek, and then imi
tated a Broadway pedestrian. He gave
a few aphorisms as follows :
Bemember that the stage is a picture,
and the proscenium arch is the frame.
Don t try the stage trick of keeping
the center of the stage in order to take
the house, as we say. In the old prints
of Shakespeare's plays the principal
character was on one side of the stage.
The cure for stage fright is to mind
your own business.
Dont play to the audience. Only
American and English actors are cap
able of observing this rule.
In going about the stage don t turn
your back to the audience if you can
help it.
Don t mind your
clothing, but study
the aesthetic side of the character you
are to assume.
Avoid burlesque as you would the
plague. Buffoonery has . displaced
comedy. It is blasphemy of art. Irv
ing and Booth can't do what Saivini
does, because they are afraid of the
dude, who would think they were go
ing too far. Once, when I saw Saivini
as Othello p'ck up Iago, shake the life
out of him, and trample on him, a dude
said to me: w Don't you think that is
going too far ?" Yes, I thought ; too
far for one whose horizon is a break
down. Egotism and vanity are natural to an
actor, and I wouldn't give a snap of my
finger for one who was not egotistical
and vain.
Collecting; Autographs.
The Hour.
We may easily ridicule, if we please
to do so, the passion for collecting auto
graphs. It is often developed to a de
gree that is abnormal ; and, like the
children s craze to amass the greatest
possible variety of buttons or of post
age stamps, it admits, it must be con- .
fessed, of vagaries and excess. The
desire often leads those who have the
autograph mania to confound just dis
tinctions, and to seek the assemblage
of a vast number of miscellaneous and
second-rate names. But the feeling on
which autograph-collection is based is,
in itself, valid, and by no means un
worthy.
There is really good reason why a
letter or signature of William Shaks
peare or John Milton, of Napoleon
Bonaparte or George Washington,
should give its possessor a well-defined
pleasure, a hint which we could not
so well imagine in the absence of such
a token of the great man so repre
sented. We seem to see in this little
remnant of him his personal quality,
and that it is made some how a little
nearer to us. It recalls for us his char
acter and attributes, and, after a man
ner, puts us in a closer communication
with him.
The signature may not be important
in itself: it may be connected with no
great event; a trivial occasion may have
called it out ; but it helps to realize for
us some part of a visible presence; and,
by a subtle law of association brings us
nearer to the great actor in the world's
history, or in the world of thought.
Articles, and even volumes, have been
written to show the relation of hand
writing to character; and whatever
error there may be in their philosophy,
we at least seem to extract through a
famous autograph some of the aroma
that belongs to a great fame.
The Vital Center.
Medical Journal
Hitherto it has puzzled eminent sur
geons to account for sudden death
caused by apparently inadequate
wounds in the heart, such as these made
by the prick, without penetration even,
of a needle. Herr Schmey, a student
of the Physiological institute, Berlin,
has, however, just discovered that when
a needle pricks a certain small spot on
the lower border of the upper third of
the septum cordis, quite instantan
eously the movements of the heart are
arrested and forever set motionless in
death. "It is now the task of an
anatomical investigation," says Prof.
Kronecker, who verified the discovery
of his pupil, Herr Schmey, and com
municated it to the Physiological society
of , Berlin, "to demonstrate with accu
racy this vital center, the existence of
which has been proved experiment
ally." v
Proof Positive.
Texas Sittings.
A small boy testified, in an Austin
justice's oourt, that the affray took
place on a Sunday.
"How ao you know it was on Sun
day?" -
"Because that day I had to go to the
side door of the saloon to get beer for
dinner."
E. W. Conant: What can be more
pathetic than the money of the poor ?
More pathetic than even their wants,
for the little they have tells still more
eloquently of the much they lack.
' The Current: Incompetent but rich
and titled, amateurs have made the
novel-writing business precarious in
England.