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About The Oregon scout. (Union, Union County, Or.) 188?-1918 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 1886)
ON THE THRESHOLD. Now once more Jo our feet Stand on tlic threMiuld sweet Of diiys Unit show the yenr in lier fair pilme. O'er bloirotn-fpnngled od Spring's flowery paths we trod And fo liavo come again to Summer time. Uy violets March displays, Ily April's primrose Mnjs, By tbc freMi frntrrnncc of May's consllpix-d ground. We rencb at lentrth Hit day Towards wbkh Mareli. April, Mav, Lead on the footsteps unto Summer bound. Through tbo door now ajar, Sweet, mvect tlic visions are Of treasure which tlie precincts do eontoln: Precincts where ro?s red Are cally garlanded O'er diu'uty realms where sllrcr lilies reign. O days of golden balm, O nights of sllcut cnlui, Right well may ye the souls of men cnthrnll. Spring tide the promise gave, Fulfillment now we have, And royal Summer Is the queen of all. J?. F. Jf. in hi. James' Gazcilt. Sandorf's Revenge. A SEQUEIj TO JUTWAS SAXnORP AM) DOCTOR AXTKKIItTT. Jy 3Tiilo.s Verne, autiioh or "jounNrsv to the ckntiui OP TUB HAimi," "Tnir TO tub moon," "ajiound the would in isioiity DAYS, '' " MICIIAEIj STItOOOIT," " TWKNTV THOUSAND I.EAOU1W UNDEIt THE BEA," KTO. , KTO. Translation copvriijhtcCl by O. II. llanna, iss CHAPTER XXm-Co.vnNiJi:i. Situatod as thoy were, there would Biiem to bo almost insurmountable difll- cultiob in carrying oil' Sarcany or getting bavu away from Sun Hu.iim's house, Force was not likely to succeed ; would Btratagem? Would to-morrow's festival in any way assist? Probably it would, and thin was tliu plan which bad been suggested by Point Pescade, and had been under the confederation of the Doctor, rierro and Luigi during; the evening. .In executing it Pescado would risk his life, but if ho could enter the moqaddom's Imunu h might succeed in managing Sava's escape. Nothing Bccmnd impossible with his courage and cleverness. It won, then, in execution of this plan that tho next day the Doctor and Pierre and Luigi wero on the watch among tho orowd on the plain of Sounrj-Ettolnto, while Pescado and Matifou were pre paring thoir parts. There was then no sign of tho noiso and excitement with which the plain would bo full beneath tho glare of innu merable torches when the evening arrived. In the compact crowd they had b'care.Oiy noticed tho Sonousists who, in their simple costumes, communicated with each other only by masonic signs. But it is desirable that we should fcnow tho Oriental, or rather African, legend of which the chief incidents wore to bo reproduced in tho feast of tho utorks, which is the "great iittr.ictiou " for tho Mohammedans. There was formerly on the African continent a raco of Djins. Undor tho name of Bou-Chobris, these Djins oc cupied n vast territory situated on tho borders of tho doner t of Hammadu, between Tripoli and tho kingdom of Fezzan. Thoy wore a powerful people, fearless and feaved. They wore unjust, perfidious, aggressive, inhuman, and no African monarch had bcou able to sup press them. Thero camo a day when tho prophet Suloyniau attemptod, not to attack, but to convert these Djins. And with this object ho cent one of his apostles to preach to them the love of good and tho lintrod of ovil. .Vain effort 1 The fero cious hrdo poized the missionary and put him to death. Tho Djins showed bo much audacity because thoir country was isolated and diflloult of access, and thoy know that no neighboring ruler would daro to vonturo thorn with his tirmios. Besides, they thought that no messenger would carry to tho prophot Suleymun tho news of what thoy had done to his upostlo. Thoy woro mis taken. Iu tho country were a great number of storks. Aa wo know, storks aro birds of good manners, of unusual intelligence, and "ubovo all things of treat common sense, for tho legend affirms that they never inhabit a coun try tho jiaine of which appears on a piece of inonoy for money is tho soureo of all wickedness aud tho great power that drawn all men to tho abyss of their ovil passions. Those storks, then, Booing tho per verse May iu which the Djins lived, mustered one day iu deliberative assem bly, ami decided to despatch one of thoir number to the prophet Suloymau, bo as to procure his just vengeance on tho missionary's assassin. And so tho prophet called tho hoopoe, his favorito courier, and ordered him to collect m the upper zones of tho African sky all tho storks On earth. This was done, and when the innumerable Hooks of theso birds were gathered Iniforo tho prophot yuloyman tho legend says they formed a cloud which put in shadow all tho land between Mor.da and Mourzouk. Then each one, taking a stone iu its beak, flow towards tho country of tho Pjius ; and from above they stoned to death tho unhappy raco whoso souls aro now imprisoned for a! eternity iu tho desert of llammada. Suoh is the fable which has given riso to tho festival of tho day. Many hundreds of storks had I wen got to gether undor huge nets stroUhod over tho Hiiifiii'o of, the plain of Soung Ettolato. And there, for tho most part standing on one leg, thoy waited for the hour of their deliverauuo, mid the chok ing of their beaks caused a Bound in the uir as if a tamliouriuo was being beaten. t tho given fcignal they would be ot a to ily oil', dropping harmbss atones 'My among tho orowd of tho faithful. JTSCADE AM) MATIKOU AT amid the cheers of tho spectators, tho uproar of tho instruments, tho reports of tho musketry, and tho light from tho torches with colored ilames. Pescado know the programmo of this festival, and it Mas from it that ho re ceived the Hiiggcstiou as to tho part ho intended to play, nnd by the aid of which ho was to obtain admission to Sidi Hnzam's house. As soon as the sun seta gun from tho fortress of Tripoli gave a signal so im patiently expected by tho peoplo on Soung-Ettolate. Tho Doctor, Pierre, and Luigi werent ilrst almost deafenod by the frightful noise "which arose on every side, and woro then nearly blindod by tho thousands of lights that sprang up all over tho plain. When tho gnu was hoard tho crowd of nomads wore still bus' at thoir evening meal. Here the roast mutton, the pilaw of fowls for thoso who Mere Turks and wished it to bo seen ; thero tho oous coussnu for tho well-to-do Arabs ; far ther oil' a simple bazinu, a sort of barley Hour boiled in oil, for tho poorer people, whoso pockets contained more maliboubs of brass than mictals of gold j nnd every where the "lagby," tho juice of tho date-palm, which, when it is'takon as an alcoholic beer, is productive as tho M'orst excesses of intoxication. A few minutes after tho gun had been j heard, men, women, children, Turks, ' Arabs, and Negroes had finished their meals. Tho instrument of the barbaric orchestras necessarily rejoiced in alarm- j ing sonority to make themselves hoard above tho human tumult. In places ' horsemen were leaping about disoharg- ing their long guns and their saddle I pistols, M-hile fireworks Mere thrown about amid an uproar it would bo im possible to describe. Hero in tho torch-light, to tho rattling of tho wooden drum, and tho intonation of a monotonous chant, a negro chief. fantastically dressed with a rattling belt of bones, his face hidden beneath a dia bolical mask, Mas exciting to the danoo some thirty blucks, grimacing in acirolo of convulsionary women who boat thorn with their hands. And then savago Aissassouiis, in the last stage of religi- oub exaltation and alcoholic intoxica tion, with froth on their faces, and eyes out of their orbits, Mere biting at wood, ciiowuig iron, gashing their skins, iiik- gling with live coals, and wrapping themselves with the long norponta which bit their hands, their cheeks their lips, and like them devoured their blood. But soon tho crowd hurried with extraordinary eagerness to tho house of Sidi Hazam, as though some new spec tacle had attracted them. Two men Mere thero ono largo, tho other small two aorobata whosoourious featfl of strength and agility amid a quadruple row of spectators wero calling fortli tho most noisy eheora that could escape from Tripolitau throats. It M as Point Pescado and Capo Mati fou. They had taken up their stand only a few pacos from Sidi nazam's house. Both on this occasion had re sumed their characters as foroign art istes. 'I heir dresses cut out of Arab materials, they Mere again iu quest of success. You have not got rusty r" Point Poscado had previously asked Capo Matifou. "No!" -Aim you win not annul: irom any thing that may amuse the imbeciles i" "Mo I Shrink!" " If even you have to chow pobbles with your teeth and swallow serpents 1" "OiHiked?" asked Capo Matifou. "No, raw," " Baw ?" "And living!" Capo Matifou nindo a grimace, but if necessary he resolved to eat a snake like a simple As.sa.ssou. The Doctor, Pierre, and Luigi min gled in the orowd of spectators, and did not lose sight ot tho two friends. No! Capo Matifou was not rusty; ho had lout nothing of his prodigious strength. At llrst the shoulders of tlvo or six robust Aral, who had risked a fall with him, were laid on the ground. Then followed the jug ding, which astonished the Araks, above all when the lUmiiiK toioheti were launched (mm IWuaile to Matifou, coming and re- ! coming in their sigxags of tire. I And th publio might well ho critical. 1 Tluiru wow tho a goodly number of the iidiuirorv of the Toimrs, thoto semi. savHrttw " whiwo agility is equal to that uf the mott formidable auuiiaUi iu thuvo Till: I'EAST OK THU STOItKS. latitudes," according to the astounding programmo oi me lamous uraeco troupe. These connoisseurs hud alreudy ap plauded the intrepid Musiapha, the Samson of thoDosert, tho "man-cannon, to whom tho Queen of England hadsont her valet begging him not to continue his performance for fear of accident But Capo Matifou was incomparable in Iub feats of strength, and feared no rivals. At last camo tho final exorcise which was to raho to tho highest pitch tho enthusiasm of the cosmopolitan crowd that surrounded tho European perform ers. Although it had done frequent duty in tho circuses of Europe, it seemed that it was still unknown to the loungers of Tripoli. And tho crowd crushed moro and moro round tho ring to look at tho acrobats who woro at work by torch light. Capo Matifou seized a polo nearly thirty feet long, and held it upright against his chebt with his two hands. At the end of this polo Point Pescade, who hud climbed up like a monkey, began to balauco himself in attitudes of astonishing audacity, and made it bend alarmingly. But Cape Matifou remained undis mayed, shifting about gradually so as to retain his equilibrium. Then, when ho was close to the wall of Sidi llazam'a house, he summoned strength enough to lift the pole at arm's length while Point Pescado assumed the attitude of a favor ite actress throwing kissos to the public. Tho crowd of Arabs mid negroes roared in transports of delight, clapped their hands aud stamped their feet. Never had Samson of tho Desert, tho intrepid Mustapltn, the lnddest of tho Touaregs, been raised to such a height! At this moment tho report of a gun echoed over tho plain from tho fortress of Tripoli. At tho signal tho hundreds of storks, suddenly delivered from tho immense nets which kept them prisoners, rose in tho air, and a iihowor of sham stones began to fall on tho plain amid a deafening concert of aerial cries, to which tho terrestrial concert gave back an equally noisy reply. This was the pnroxj'sm of tho festival. It seemed as though all the mad-houses in tho old continent had been emptied onto Souug-Ettolato 1 Hut, as if it was deaf and mute, tho moquddem's house had remained obsti nately closed during thoso hours of public rejoicing, and not one of Sidi Haznm's pcoplo had shown themselves at the gate, or on the terraces. But, strange to relate! at tho momont tho torches wero extinguished, after tho flight of tho storks, Point Pescado hud suddenly disappeared, as if he had been borne upwards to tho sky by tho faithful birds of the prophet of the Suloymau. What had become of him ? Capo Matifou did not seem at all eon corned at tho disappearance. Ho threw tho polo into tho air, caught it adroitly by tho other end, and turned it as a drum-major does his cauo. Point Pes cade's performance seemed to him to bo tho most natural thing in the world. Tho astonishment of tho spectators, was unbounded, and their enthusiasm displayed itself iu an immense hurrah, which extended far beyond tho limits of the oasi. None of them doubted but what the active acrobat had jumped oil' into space, on his way to the kingdom of the storks. What charms the multitude most? Is it not that which thoy aro uuable to explain? CnAPTEll XXIV. TTIK HOUSE QV 8101 HAZAM. It was about nine o'clock. Musketry, music, shouting all had suddenly ceased. Tho crowd had begun to dis perse ; noma went back to Tripoli, others regained the oasis of Meuohio aud the neighboring villages. Iu an hour tho plain of Soung-Ktioluto Mould lo silent and empty. Tents would be folded up, camps Mould lw raised, negroes aud Berborn wort already on the road to the dilVoront Tripolitau districts, Mhile tho Sonouists woro oft towards the Cyrenaic, and more especially towards the vilayet of Men Ohazi, to join the concentration of the Caliph's forces. The Doctor, Pierre aud Luigi woro the only peoplo that did not leave the place during the night. Heady for all that might happen since the disappear anet of Point I'twoado. onoh of tluin had eUoktm his uost of obrrvatiou at tho bnsn of the walls of Sidi Hnzim's house. Point Pescade had given a tremendous leap, as Matifou held the polo up at arm's length, nnd fallen on tho parapet of one of tho torruces at tho foot of tho minaret which commanded tho different courtyards of tho house. On that dark night no ono within or without had noticed him. Ho was not even observed from tho ski fa in tho second courtyard, and in which wero a few Kliouans, some of whom wero asleep, nnd some ou tho watch, by order of the moqaddem. Point Pescade, be it understood, had really no definite plan. Tho interior arrangement of tho houso was unknown to him, and he did not know in M-hat part tho girl was detained, if sho Mas alone or kept out of sight, or if ho had suflicient stivngth to help her escape. Hence he must act a littlo at a veuturo ; and this is whnt ho thought: "Anyhow, by force or stratagem, I must reach Sava Sandorf. If sho cannot come with mo immediately, if I cannot get her away to night, sho must bo told that Pierre Bathory is alive, that lio is hero at tiio foot of theso M'alls, that Doctor Antckirtt and his companions aro ready to help her, and that if her escape must be delayed, sho must not yield to any threats! I may of course be found out before I reach her ! But then I must take care of that." Pescade's first caro M-as to unwind a slender-knotted cord that ho had hidden under his clown's dress ; then ho tied one end of this round tho anglo of ono of the battlements, and then over tho other, so that it hung down to tho ground. This Mas onlv a measure of precaution, a good one, nevertheless, That done, Pescade, before going fur, then lay down on his stomach. In this attitude, which prudence demanded, ho waited without moving. If ho had been seen the terraco would soon bo invaded by Sidi Hazani's people, aud then ho would have to use the cord on his own account, instead of that of Sava Sandorf, as he intended. Complete silenco reigned in tho moqaddcm'H liouse. As neither Sidi Ilazam nor Sarcany, nor any of their people, had taken part iu tho feast of the storks, the door of tho zaouya had not been ooened since sunrise. After M'tiitiutr some minutes Point Pescade moved tow-ard the angle from which arose tho minaret. Tho stairway which led to the upper part of this minaret evidently ran down to the ground in tho first courtyard. Iu fact, a door opening on to tho terraco gave admission to tho stairs leading to tho rooms below. This door was shut from tho inside, not with a key, but with a bolt that it would be impossible to slip back from the outside unless a hole wero mado through the wood. This labor Point Pescado would have attempted, for ho had in his pocket a mauy-hladed knife, a precious present from the Doctor, of m Inch he could make good use. But that would boa long, and perhaps noisy, tasl. It was unnecessary. Three feet nbove the terrace a window in the form of a loophole, opened in tho minaret wall If the window was small, Point Pescado was not large. Besides, was ho not liko a cat who can elongate herself to pas3 through where thero seems to bo no passage? And so ho tried, aud after some squeezing of tho shoulders . ho found hiiiHt'lf in the minaret. "Cape Matifou could not havo done that!" he thought. Then feeling his way round, ho returned to the door, aud unbolted it, so that it remained unfastened in caso ho had to return by the samo road. to iu: continued. An Unsuccessful Failure. The habit of failing with full pockets got something in the nature of a back set not iong since in a small Texas town. The unfortunate man kept a small grocery store, lie sold out the stock for cash, put tho money in his pocket, and settled down to have a nice quiet tune oi it. ins principal creditor, a Houston merchant, having arrived in the town, called on the bankrupt. IIo Mas a well dressed gentleman, but thero M as a gritty sort of it look about him. "You say thero aro no assets," ho re- mar.ked. "Nairy dinned asset." "I think there should be some assets, and that I ought to bo a preferred cre ditor. There are no assets and all my cre ditors are deferred creditors. The only unci inn: i ve got lor my creditors is a Wiitorbury Match, and it will take six months to Mind it up. You can have it, you M aul it. I want no humbug about this. Where is the money vou got frotn the sale of the groceries r"' "It's right here iu mv pocket," said the bankrupt. " ell, ou are a eool one. "I've irot tho nionev riirht here, nnd I'm going to keep it,'1 replied the bank rupt, tupping Ins pocket. "dot it iu your pocketr ' Yos, iu greenbacks." The creditor placed his hand In Jils own pocket, and looking steadily at the bankrupt, said: "I've got my pistol in mv Docket lou't you move ami it never lails. If you don't give nie the contents of vour pocket I'll give you the contents of mine,' and before the ast in shed bank- upt could reply lie Mas looking down the muzzle ot a pKtol that seemed to us big as a Hour bnrivl. i'lie Houston man got his nionev. I'he uniortiinate baiikriiut savs that his failure whs the most complete fail ure on record, and ho feels as soro as a man who has pounded his linger with a tack hammer. Tenia SiiliiKH. Some of the dix-tora he were called to at tend the jioikst i Ulcers Injured In lie Aimreb Ut rlut la CUlesitu are endeavoring to obtain generou portions at the relief fund fur tbeui tclvo, UIU tin liljtli e fftX) mid &00 for their toivlci'i having 1hcii nrw?iitd. A chrciw can lm LUcWihoI Uy a turtiff of the ihoulder. Jltirtte HUittJanl. SNOB-SNUBBING. Worth ! said to have made this re mark to a lady who was dowdily Jrossed: "Madame. I cannot risk my reputation on you." An nnx'ous inquirer r.sks: "Whore ivould you advise me to go to learn how to play the cornet?" "To the woods, lear sir; to the deep, dark, damp, dan gerous woods." "Why are old maids so devoted to their cats?" asked a voiing coxcomb of an elderly huh: "Because, having no husband's, they take to tho most treacherous animals," was the reply. "I declare," exclaimed Brown, "I belie! 1 have forgotten all I ever knew." "Sorry to hear it," remarked Fogg. "However, you can take tin hour some day and 'learn it all over nga'n." Yaas," sa'il young Smythe, "I sup pose everything created has some use; but, 'pou me honah. it is deuced hard to believe sometimes, don't cher know?" "Yes," sho replied, looking him over critically, "it is, indeed!" 'Friend: "What on earth aro you photographing the umbrella for, dear boy?'' Amateur photographer: "You said you wanted to borrow it to go home w.th, and I'm getting something to remember it by, that's all." An American millionaire, who was looking at a level tract of land which he had just bought at an extravagant pr ce, said to the agent who had sold it to iiim, "1 do admire a rich green Hut. "So do I," significantly replied tho agent. He .slipped quietly in at the door, but catching sight of an iniiuing face over the stair-rail, said: "Sorry so late, my dear; couldn't get a car before." So the cars were full' too." said the wife; and further remarks wero unnecessary. At dinner sho had a doctor on either hand, one of them remarked that they wero well served, since they had a (luck between them. ' Yes," she broke in ker wit is of the sort that comes in llu.-dies "and 1 am between two quacks." Then silence fell. Young wife: "I am determined to learn at just what hour my husband colnes homo at night, yet, do what I will, I cannot keep awake, and ho is always careful not to make a particle of noise, is there any drug which pro duces wakefulness?"" Old Mife: "No need to buy drugs. Sprinkle the lloor w.th tacks'" An old gentleman finding a couple of his neices fencing with broomsticks, -aid: "Come, come, my dears, that kind of an accomplishment will not help you in gett.ng husbands." "1 know it, uncle," responded one of the girls, as she gave a lunge, "but it will help to keep our husbands in order when we have got 'em." She wanted to break her husband of tho habit of drinking brandy, and be gan to cook his food in a little of it. having heard that it Mould prove ell'ect ual. He did not .say anyching on the lirst day; he' showed no sign of noth ing tho change on the second day. but alter .supper on the third day he said to her. "Maria, jou don't know how vou've improved iu our cooking dur ing the last three days!" Lhtcuro ucdffer. Attention! Candidates. ' "Speaking of hoss-lbcs," said tho blacksmith as he brought his hand down upon an old pioneer with green head uid blue-tipped wings, "this isn't a fust-rate jcar for 'em not nigh as good as last. Jhe idea that thoy don t flour ish and grojy fat in tho city is all bosh. though I do reckon they bloom earlier and grow bigger in the country. Look at them! ' He mashed another which was fasten ed to the left .shoulder of a truck horso and continued: "The country bosses bring 'em in bv the dozen, and ono thosi.eof that feller will bite to lift 'em right oil' their feet. In dune I sent my sorrel out to pasture. 1 was out to seo him about the 1st of July, and he M-as all right. I went out agin the loth, and he was all run down. lie .stood in green grass a foot liMi. and I could not understand what tho trouble was until 1 hung around a bit. Then I saw it. was hoss-llies. A drove of about seventy-live of 'om tackled him while 1 was there. Tho niiiiit thoy lit down that boss started, and he run cigh times around a ten-acre lot before he let up. Then 1 went over and club bed 'cm oil'." Clubbed?" Exactly, young man. Pm tcllin r you straight that soino of them flies was as big as springchiekens, and you'd better have had a bull-dog bite you. Some of 'em actually turned on mo nnd showed light, and when I got through mashing 'em that boss was a bloody sight to see. There's a country plug oyer in tho corner. See him hump and gather. It's luxs-tlles at woik on mortal spots. Come over and exam ine. Thero wero seven big horse-flies , drawing blood from tho animal, and the blacksmith brushed 'em oil' with the remark: "They've taken a clean pinto blood out of his .system, and live bushels of oats won't put it back. It's a wonder to me that vou ncM'spapor men fool around so much with the ICiusteru ques tion, the Mexican n flair, earthquakes nnd sich, to tho utter exclusion of the hoss-llv. Where does he come from? What good is ho? Why doesn't he chuw grass or grain instead of hoss- flesh? Jest you open up on these vital questions and you 11 incrcaso your cir culation bv '-'0,000 in no time at all. Tho hoss-lly subject is ono of national importance, aud I'll voto for no candi date not pledged to keep clown the green heads." And he made a wicked pass with his sledge hammer at a fly sailing over from a grocer's horso to" one owned bv baker, m sed him by an inch, and went back to his work on a new shoe. iJctruit Fire I'rets, Tribute to u Great l'nliitur. Tin so nuigiiiHeent early autumn ann us do not hold a oundlo to th suporb Hrimuo lute wuJi s- eh SooreUrv Ihi.vHrd's liirwl muu. Arthur (!. SmI w ok. pn 1 1 ted the litem rio old City of Mexico. VhieatjQ Sews, LEGAL TENDERS. Mag-no-li-a who said she was? A too that never kicks mosqui-to. Hazel eyes sometimes witch hazels. The young ladies' tree tho gum tree. A net warmer than a shawl tho hor-net. If vou sow bird seed will you raise birds'? The bravest of birds Is tbc fly It's bound to get there or die. Tho suti shines it cannot do any else. Should have been a girl's name Thec-a-dore. The newspaper men are the nation's videttcs. it's the pill-age of war that suits the doctors best. In Ceorge Washington's day the sa loon was a groggcry. Honor is not bought, but earned, peace may be bought. Men are very lo3altothc source of the r bread and butter. Never deserted by hope tho politi cian aud the old maid. What is more dismal than the store that doesn't advertise? If you are rich enough at a thousand, don't" try for more. The rain falls this way because it can not fall any other way. When tho halter threatens, how lamblike are anarchists. Women that paint are born to blush unseen" if they blush. The sailor pilches to float. The basc ballist pitches to bat. If our work woro in a lino of pleas ure it M ould be better done. Is John Bright, English orator, tho inventor of Bright' 8 disease? Bridge-jumping is a summer com plaint; they don't havo it in winter. When the rain doesn't come, needn't blame the rain it will come when it can. The eye is tho organ of sight, except in tho potato, where it's tho organ of sprout. Tho vidette who has forgotten the countersign may got it right from tho lirst passer. Little boy (in u-swimining)-Say, mum. look not this way; hero is a sea you don't wanter see. Mr?. McLano must bo a lover of the male race, us she has ono hundred mail routes in daily practice. There is something very suggestive about coll'co-beans. Something ails the co flee. Perhaps it knows beans. ' Make hay when the sun shines." Tho hay grows when the sun shines. If it were not for sunshine there would not be much hay All London is agog over Mrs Win. lv. Vanderbilt's i 00,000 necklace. A barrel of crackers would beat it in a time of famine. Cliicmjo Ledger. QUEER DRUNKS. A dilutee lor it Prophet to Dlstlii ;:uls)i iTlniHelf. 'There seems to be something in the atmosphere that drives peoplo todrink." said a tall, slim policeman as he stop ped on tho corner of Chestnut .street and Broadway last evening, and watched a typical swell who had a frail hold on his power of locomotion trying to cro-s the street. "But it may be sometime before it is discovered just what atmos pheric cond.tion most .stimulates tho convivial tastes. It is not the extremes of heat or cold, for 1 have seen drunk ards go in shoals when tho mercury was neither shivering at 'JO degrees be low zero or taking a recess at 10I5 above. Hut whatever it is the problem can lio solved only by watching tho street, for you can never tell by the police court record, when a time of drunkenness is on the town. The po lice court has its regular attendants tho gonus tough who gets a trifle too much and sets out to paint the town but beyond theso it seldom handles a man on the plain charge of drunk. It is the 'genteel,' the 'merry-go-round, ' the 'harmless and amusing drunk' that becomes numerous by spells, and no one knows anything about it but those who aro close observers of the streets and tho public resorts. Now, a rage for stimulants has been on the drinking mou for nearly a week, and during that timo there have been moro men under the inlluonco than for four weeks be fore. Scores of young mou and not a fow who arc not young pass along Broadway every evening, silent, and al most unablo to Malic, or, if it effects them tho other way, singing or talking loud and fast, as they wear" an air of importance that thoy would not think of putting on if they had been taking ico-water straight. Thoy arc clerks, bookkeepers, business men. and some profess onal men, and they seldom be come quarrelsome or too loud. If thoy do some of their friends succeed in toning them down or elso take thorn home. "It is very easy to account for a pe riod of drunkenness during excessively hot weather, but when thoy conio on in the cool autumn I am puzzled. You see, men do not eat much in very hot weather, and they get thirsty often. When they drink it is almost always on an empty stomach, and they aro clown ish before thoy know it. They don't Mailt to go homo early, nnd they take another drink, and about 1) o'clock thoy conclude not to go homo before morn ing, and if their companions arc out tho chances aro ten to one they will not." -Vow York Herald. A Father's Advice. "Learn any trade, my son, that you may dosire, but there is ono trade that I wish you to avoid." "And what is that, father?" "Tho carpenter's trade." "The very ono I would prefer," ex olaiiucd the son. "Take my advice and give up the idoa of beluga carpontcr." Kindly toll mo father why that tnulo is objectionable." "Tho ourpontor, my son. tins moro vlow than any other man!" Rational Weekly. 1 -