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About The daily morning Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1883-1899 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1890)
V hc gattjj gtjstonam ASTORIA. OREGON: WEDNESDAY,... .JANUARY 1. 1KW. NEW YEAR'S CHIME. OLV. Toll! Toll! For the old year.slow- ly dying; Grim, gaunt, sere; On the bi2St of Time, now lying, nopes of youth ar fleeting, Ilearts with care are beating, Ho! ye warders of the bells, Tolll Toll! Tolll For Earth's enticing fashion. Toll for Strife's un holy passion, Toll for Friendship unrequited, Toll for Hope's cn- chantments blighted. Toll for Love's fond pledges broken. Toll for Want and Woe unspoken. Toll for Mourners sadly weeping, Toll for Sin's vast harvests reaping. Toll! Toll! Toll! That while tho world shall stand. Sin and Woe shall All the land. Toll! ToU! Toll! Ring! Itingl Ring! A welcome to the bright New Year! Life, Hope, Joy, On his radiant brow appear. Hearts with love are thrilling; Homes with bounty filling. Ho! yo warders of the bells, Itingl Ring! Ring! For Winter's bracing hours. Ring for birth of Spring and Flowers, Ring for Summer's fruitful treasure, Ring for Autumn's boundless measure. Ring for hands of gen'rous giving. Ring for vows of nobler living, Ring for truth of tongue or pen, Ring "I'eaco on eartji, good will toward men." Ring: Ring! Ringl That this glad year may see Earth's accomplished jubilee, Ring! Ring! Ring! 1890. In 1SD0 we shall see Events as. follows come to be: Sea serpents, as In years gone by, Will come around about July. The ice man and the plumber wflL As usual present their bilL The price of summer board will rise In August to the very skies. The gay mosquito, as of yore, Into humanit3 will bore. Likewise the festive fly, so fleet, Will agitate his nervous feet Each fisherman will fish and lie As he has done in years gone by. When comes along the verdant spring, The poet will be heard to sing. And from the garbage pile of time Will prick the ashes of a rhyme. The funny man his jokes will crack (The same old jokes, see almanac) On winter nights will lovers sit For hours and watch the firelight flit. And, when the summer comes, they still Upon the beach will coo t:d bl!L "The oldest man,'" as in years past, At intervals will breathe his last. In all trades merchants who arc wise. As usual, will advertise. In fact, these things and many more, In 1690 are in store. And yet with sorrow is it fraught; Unhappy ycarl It ends with naught 1290. Toy SIxssos. It's a 1'oor Rule, Etc. m i. - '. ' IB Mr. Finicky (savagely) This New Year's business has got to stop. I'll be hanged if I'm going to allow these fellows to be tramp ing through ray parlors all day, getting mud over everything and eating us out of house and home. Why (fumbling in his pocket) 1 Great Scott! where can that be? "Well, well Mrs. Finicky "What have you lost, dearl Mr. Finickj- Lost! Why, hang it all, my New Year's visiting list. How in thunder can I make my calls without it? Time's Softcn'mc InflacMce. Chorus of Voices (at the boarding house) v tiy. this is the same turkey we had Christ- as. Airs. Slimdiet (the landlday) Yes, it is. Yti all complained then of its being so tough. Now that it's New Year's, perhaps you'll find it more tender Wow. wow' 4rPivw -5 a &' i n ' II .3k lu ' &Mil( jfli&Ssl LA. SERENA. A SOUTII AMERICAN NEW YEAR S STORV, HY HENRY CLAY LUKENS. SQopyright, 1SS9, by American Press Association. UCH great sand waste would !)o without its oases, is a career without episodes. No such barren existence, however, has been mine. On the contrary, its past is heaped up and running over with events of greater or less im portance, which now, as my sunset approaches, grow luminous and assume shapes that aro startling in their fidelity. From the diary of n good woman's life, I havo torn two pages. One was written in a mist of Doubt; the other beneath the glorious ly radiantarch of Delight Afteryearsof un certainty, happiness has become to her a per ennial bow of promise. What these two pages reveal of truth, onty guessed at before, intensifies a memory that will abide with me until tfle grave's impene trable shadows are lifted and dispelled. . The scenes of this narrative are "on for eign station." Almost iimultaneousry I had reached my thirth-seventh year and the thirty-fifth par allel of south latitude. Tho turtle-back, pe ninsular city of Montevideo very comforta bly housed me among its one hundred thou sand inhabitants. There were, probably, that many of us at that time, although I never had a whole opportunity to verify the local census. One afternoon, as I stood at the portal of the hospitable English club, I somewhat idiotically tried to count tho peo ple going back aud forth, crossing and re crossing the Plaza Constitucion; but I soon grew weary of the monotonous tramp and arm swinging, bowing and ogling, tho car riage sweep and street car rush. So, resign edly, I faced about, went deliberately up stairs, and gossiied with some genial brother cosmojxlites who had been born before that quarter of tho world was quite ready for them. I could not sieak the every day language of my temporary fellow citizens; yet friends were plentiful, skies fair, to society charm ing, and Decemlter "s pulso beat warmly at eighty degrees or thereabouts. The previous month, and, in fact, the last week in it, found me loitering at the Brazil ian capital. There I had awaited the arrival of a steamer comrade. His mercantile en gagements detained him at Pernambuco and Bahia. Thus ho escaped a genuine howling, sail splitting pamicro, which had given me a toss and tumble idea of what a hard blow off shore usually is in the vicinity of Cabc Frio. When we were again together, I quickly detected a change in George Hamilton. He seemed preoccupied his mind far removed from cither business or pleasure. I had marked out a grand plan for sight seeing in his companj-, but he took little or no appar ent interest in tho detailed programme. Ti juca, the magnificent, failed to lure him, and Pao Assucar and lofty Corcovado shared with tho renowned Jardin Botanico and its avenuo of minis a neglect that was surpris ing. On the voyage out from New York he had talked so constantly of these freaks and wonders of tropical nature that I was now' completely nonplussed b- his indifference. During his j-outh he had spent several years in the Atlantic provinces of Brazd. His father had been one of the first and most successful railway contractors In that opu lent empire. Besides having a thorough ac quaintance with the coast cities of South America, no native spoke Portuguese or Spanish more fluently than George Hamil ton. As I had depended upon his oft re peated voluntary promise to be my guide in and around Rio, the disappointment was not hid from him. Aboard ship our likings had been mutual, Hour after hour we gazed from the steamer's deck at the marvelous luxuriance of eternal summer lands. Threading its way between tho superb clusters of islands, known to all West Indian sailors as tho Caribs, our vessel had, in succession passed the immense deltas of Orinoco and Amazon. From Braganza shoals to tho celebrated Magellan straits, every bay and headland was an open book to George Hamilton; and none of than tvero blank books. Incidentally, he had told me that ho was married, but mado no further reference to family affairs. He claimed to represent a New England manufacturing company, whose main offices were in Boston. I natu rally supposed that his wife was living at or near that city. His almost studied reticenco about domestic associations prevented mo from making even ordinary inquiries. I "was C eCVr v-- &mmmz'. i to learn more, however, and soon; but pat all from him. To describo George Hamilton in his moods, or at his worst or best, would result tho sa me. An attractive man, he easily gained and held esteem. Men and women alike wero fasci nated by his physical beauty and intellectual strength. I had been proud of his individual preference. On the third evening, after he had rejoined me, he came hurriedly into my room at the Hotel los Estrangeros. His agitation was ill concealed. Throwing himself, full length, upon a bamboo lounge, he rested his head in one hand and looked fixedly at me. This was a new phaso of his recent singular be havior. After a few moments, he sprang to his feet, and began pacing the room. Then, sud denly halting in his walk, ho excitedly said: "I am miserable! Pardon me, senor; I owe you apology aud explanation." "Neither," was my curt reply. Without seeming to notice or care for the maimer of my interjection, he centinued: "Oh, yes, Ido; for outwardly I am no longer tho man to whom j-ou freely extended an honorable, sympathetic friendship. Meeting casually, as all earth's travelers do, the pass ing acquaintance has, with me, ripened into sincere regard. You may not wholly ap preciate the bitterness of a necessity now forced upon mo or tho heartache that comes with it; but hero we part When you return to the States hunt me up. It will be pleasant to rehearse old times." "What!" I exclaimed; "do you not intend joining mo on 1113 further southern voyage P "To the River Plato cities? No! It is im possible, senor." 'In turn, pardon me," I said. "But may I ask why this alteration in your former business plans?' "Well," he responded, with some hesitancy, as he walked to a balcony window overlook ing the picturesque, starlit landscape and tho rugged mountain frowning cntranco to Itio's spacious harbor, "I expected that question, yet do not want to reply to it I knew how awkward this interview would be, but could not embark to-morrow for Lisbon and Liver pool without seeing you." "You certainly have a right to withhold confidences that until now wero unsolicited. Rcineinher, Hamilton, I was never inquisi tive about your private matters!" A CHANGE IN GEORGE HAMILTON. This was spoken coldly and with formal directness. A curious light shone in his eyes, which werc-deep set and lustrous. The gleam of a brilliant half moon rising abovo their clouds left its silvery track in tho water, and, dancing on the waves, threw Hamilton's ex pressive face into strong profile. Ho abrupt ly turned from the window, and now came and stood by the table where I sat, as it were, in judgment of actions which betrayed an upheaval of emotions no longer possible for him to control. When hespoko again it was with forced gayety. "No, I shall not tell! From strangers, per haps, you may learn my really strange story. It is a veritable drama, now being acted. Tho leading character is, T havo accidentally heard, in Montevideo. Sho and I must not face each other there. Should you be favored with tho smiles of La Serena," ho said, with a mocking laugh, "wo can in the future com pare notes. But a truce to this I I'm ashamed of my weakness. You go among the Orientals and Argentines without me. I shake your hand to-morrow and quit this port for the distant'Mersey, whence a swift North Atlan tic liner whirls me westward to home and the ceaseless buzz of trade." "At what hour do you sail, Hamilton!" "Eleven o'clock, forenoon, on tho Neva, of tho Royal mail. There sho lies, just inside Fort Yillegagnon. You will bo on board?" "Yes." "Thanks," he said, as he placed his hat with tho dignity of a cavalier. Then, stand ing for a moment at tho door of my room, he courteously relifted tho hat, extending his other hand, and resting it, caressingly, on in; shoulder. J? 0 Mm mIPJA "Bueuas uoches, caro amigo.1 LA SERENA. "Good night, Hamilton," I exclaimed, im pulsively. "To-morrow my parting words will be, 'Good voyage and good luck.' As you are speeded away, I slisll often repeat them." He stepped lightly across tho corridor, opened the wicket and passed to tho quiet street be3-ond. Next morning breakfast was dispatched with some nervousness. Fully an hour and a half before the advertised timo for sailing I stepped on board tho Neva. Passenger fol lowed passenger nimbly up the gangway; but no Hamilton appeared. I went in and out of the saloon and the minor cabins, and searched for him until the gong sounded to clear ship. On questioning the first officer as to whether my friend had actually taken passage on that steamer, he referred me to tho purser, who said that no such man or name was booked. Perplexed and chagrined at this information, I went over the Neva's port side and was briskly rowed ashore. Something told me that I had been duped and purposcry that my late mysterious companion had a reason for his conduct which was all potent to him, but which I might never know. That night, at tho hotel, when I kicked off my shoes before retiring, 1113 left foot struck a small object on tho floor by the lounge. Stooping down, I picked tip a velvet and ckisp locket Touching its spring, I saw the faco of a woman of exquisite loveliness. She was in Spauish costume. Her tender, be seeching eyes fairly glistened in tho minia ture, which was an admirable painting on ivory. Tho locket had, without doubt, been dropped by Hamilton when ho threw himself on tho lounge the evening before. I carefully placed it in my trunk, with aaiilar memen toes. "Was this La Serena? What was her his tory? WI13 should ho avoid so peerless a woman? Was sho his wife? Would I over meet herF' These self interrogations brought no solution that was satisfactory, although asked over and over again. At length I fell asleep, mumbling them in unintelligible chorus. Twelvo days afterward I was, as has al ready been written, ono of Montevideo's one hundred thousand. Tho vast, barnlike auditorium of Teatro Solis blazed with beauty, gallantry, enthu siasm and light Italian residents, proud of their countryman, vied with natives of the Banda Oriental and with many strangers, then within its gates, to cheer Tomaso Sal vini to the echo. Never had I seen or heard such tumultuous approbation. The masterly por trayal of Shakespeare's "Othello" was re ceived with outbursts of deafening applause. One of the greatest of modern tragic actors bad a new triumph. Toward tho close of tho play there was a momentary commotion in one of the boxes. Aady had fainted, tho heat inside tho thea tre being extreme. As sho was assisted by her friends to a carriage I caught a glimpso of her features. Though tho eyes were veiled in unconsciousness I recognized La Serena, There could be only ono such face. As Ham ilton had said, tho original of the locket pict ure was in Montevideo; but where was he? and what was tho unhappiness, tho secret, known alone to these two? On Christmas eve of that year, a very nu merous throng of English and Americans were assembled at the quinta of Senor M , on the Paso del Molina. I had been in Buenos Ayres, but came down the river to partici pate in this holiday festivity. Our popular host and hostess entertained a distinguished company at their elegant suburban home. Evergreens and tho rarest tropical flowers bedecked sola and corridor. Ornaments and emblems, appropriate to the season which we celebrated, wero draped with Uruguay's stripes of blue and white, intertwined with the national standards of Great Britain and the United States. Many of the guests were neighbors and old friends of Senor M , made doubly welcome by him becauso they had not waited for etiquette's special invita tion. There was music indoors and out, and open air dancing beneath nature's spangled canopy. From tree to tree, in tho grounds, and along the broad graveled promenades, ropes were stretched laden with Chinese lanterns. Again I saw La Serena. How radiantly beautiful sho was among charming womenl Her escort on this occasion was Lieut S , a brave officer attached to an English war vessel then at anchor in Montevideo roads. Ho was a high spirited Briton, yet the very personification of amiability. Knowing him well, I, of course, sought an introduction to his lovely companion, which sho most gra ciously received. Later in tho evening Se nora M placed us vis-a-vis at a card ta ble. Then, after supper, came tho desired op portunity for conversation. I basttned to improve the chance, for my curiosity was now at the highest pitch. So I quietly said: "Your husband is a good friend of mine, Mrs. Hamilton." "You know my husband I Impossiblel" she murmured. "Perhaps I misunderstood Lieut S . Are you not Mrs. George Hamflton?" "Yes." "Of Boston, MassachusettsP "No." "Yet I cannot be mistaken in. your iden tity." "I never lived In your country, sir, I as sure you I An American, who has business interests in the city which you have named, is, however, nry husband. We are separated by a gulf that is terrible to contemplate. I am schooling myself to forget him. He is not now in South America, nor will he ever return to this section of it His name I bear, for it was honorably given to me in mar riage. You say that he is a friend of yours. Forgive me, sir, but that man is the friend of no human being other than himself. He is utterly, brutally selfish I" "I said, senora, that we were acquainted. There is sometimes a distinction between that and solid friendship. We have recently parted company in Rio." At this announcement sho clinched her hands, as if in agony. Her frame visibly shook, and her passionate eagerness was so great that I feared other guests might see it But merriment ran riot; and each couple or coterie was absorbed in its own enjoyment QuickC recovering her composure, Mrs. Hamilton asked: "Are you sure that your acquaintance was my husband P "Ho called jou La Serena." "Only in derision." "No, I cannot think it His tone when speaking that name (only heard by mo once from his lips) was one of affection seemingly choked by some bitter disappointment" Then I briefly told her all that I knew of him whom 1 had so greatly liked. How, as fellow voyagers, we had first met on a steam er's deck in New York harbor; of our pleas urable social intercourse; his last evening with me; tho broken appointment on the Neva, and my suspicions as to the reason for his strange action; of my subsequently find ing tho locket, and how its portrait enabled mo to recognize her at tho Teatro Solis. "You say," she replied, "that George Ham ilton must have preceded or followed you to Montevideo F' "Such is my opinion, senora." "Why should he do that? Not for your sake, surely; nor yet for his own. With me (so cruelly deceived) ho cannot hope to be reconciled. Besides, ho is outlawed in Brazil and the River Plato republics for heavy de falcations." A light broke upon me. Tho mystery was being solved, and by an accidental friend of the family. There were two George Hamil tons, and La Serena imagined that she had married tho wrong one. It had been my friend's father's name, I knew. He had one day told me that ubout the time of his father's death, in Massachusetts, the namo had been adroitly used by a swindler in South Ameri ca, who obtained large sums of money. "You became George Hamilton's wife here, in Montevideo, senora?" was now my leading question. "No," she said, "at Paris. Though I wa3 born in Uruguay, my education wa3 com pleted abroad. I never knew George Ham ilton in this country. Just as wo wero pre paring for our home coming here, the Euro pean nowspapers began to print tho accounts of my husband's crimes. Tho knowledge that, by holy bonds, I was allied to such a man overwhelmed me. He was in Li erpool ar ranging for our passage. I had not yet left London. When I did quit the English mo AN INTRODUCTION. tropolis it was to return to tho protection of my good friends in France, There has been no word of my husband, except what you bring me, since I discarded him. At tho hotel in London I left a letter for him, telling him that ho must never dare to seek me." "Might ho not havo been innocent, se nora?" "Impossible 1 Tho evidenco was direct and convincing. Ho was described as the base son of an American contractor, who, years before, had been much esteemed in Brazil. His family history was given, and oven his person described." "There havo been cases of falsa persona tion," said L "Prove to mo that this Is one I" sho ex claimed. "Prove to mo that I've wronged my husband; prove that ho is true and hon orable as was that man, now dead, whose name ho bears; provo this, and all of this, and my woman's prayers are for you for ever I" "I may be able, senora, to do more than this." "Ob, sir, do not mock mel There come, it times, taunting specters in my dreams; but I awako to hopelessness. You have strangely interested me in yourself. Lieut S will soon bring you to visit ma Then you can return tho locket Alas, it was my wedding gift to him you still call friend I" The gay assemblage was now breaking up. On every side were heard shouts of "Good nightl" and "Merry Christmas I" Mrs. Ham ilton's carriage had been ordered, and, as I banded her into it, she said: "I am glad, senor, that we have met Something tells me joy will come from it I" Then, with "good night," sweetly spoken, she sank back on the cushions. Following her into the coach, Lieut S closed its door. His extended hand was has tily grasped and released. As the vehicle rolled away, they cried In unison, "Merry Christmas I" I responded with a hearty "adiosl" Overhead glittered the constellation of the Southern Cross. Its exceeding brightness was hailed by me as a good omen. Modesty and bravery are sterling qualities. Lieut S possessed them both. Whatever he did while on active service for Her Brit annic Majesty and the glory of bis country was in line of duty. Talking about it was not Such men can be implicitly trusted. no I told him Ia Serena's story, and my own confidence. Ho listened, without comment, until I had finished. Then ho said: "Rumor has it that I love Mrs. Hamilton, and would marry her if sho were free. In this judgment rumor wrongs me and scan dalizes a most estimable woman. I shall never have other wifo than England. She is mistress of tho seas and of my very soul. It would be a supremo happiness to dio in her defense. If rumor had said that I was an old and firm friend of Mrs. Hamilton, it would havo been tho sufficient truth. Pshaw! Rumor Is a jade. Iowo her nothing except conte-npt You are, I think, right in what you conjecture about the real George Ham ilton. To-morrow is Now Year's day. There is an officers' dinner on board the Narcissus. Wo each invite a male guest You are to bo mine. Surgeon Jocelyn has captured alivo Yankeo whom ho calls Mr. George. I may be counting too rapidly, but, as you Ameri cans say, rather guess that Jocelyn's man is also ours. Be on board early in the after noon." "I shall not fail." This conversation was at the English club. I had not seen La Serena since Christmas, but she had been never absent from my BEARS HKR STURDILY UP. thoughts. I felt now as if her sun was burst ing through a huge, dense bank of clouds. I had become almost childish in my impa tience. Tho London mail had come in. A copy of Tho Daily Telegraph, nearly five weeks' old, had been torn from its wmpper. I picked it up, and glanced here and there through its news columns. This paragraph burnt into my brain: Geofo Ilankinson, alias Hamilton, who, several years ago, committed a series of astounding for geries on a number of South American bankers, has been arrested in Birmingham. His identity has been fully established. Joyously was the birth of another year proclaimed by the chimes of Matrix, Peal after peal rose and swelled and died away in the echoes of a bustling town. Big and little, rich and poor, Montevideo's one hundred thousand wero in holiday attire. The broad harbor was a sea of color. Flags and stream ers fluttered everywhere. At 3 o'clock I joined a party at tho "mole," and was rowed out to the Narcissus. Lieut S cordially welcomed me at the gangway. Scarcely had I stepped on board when he said : "Jocelyn and his friend are in the ward room. Let us look at Mr. George at once I" "Agreed," said I, as I followed him across the deck. Before wo had gone ten paces there was a cry from the water. A pleasure boat had been capsized by a sudden flaw of wind. Help was close at hand, but there was too much of it Three persons were seen cling ing to the boat Then the waves parted, and a woman's head and arm became visible. She clutched wildly at the air and sank again. At that moment I missed Lieut S , who had been watching the scene with keenest in terest He had swung himself down tho side of the Narcissus and was swimming toward the unfortunates. But another and more powerful stroke was in advance of the in trepid Englishman. How my heart beat! Again the woman's head showed above the water's surface. I turned away my face. It was La Serena, drowning, within reach of many arms of steel. Ha! a cheer! Another, and yet another! The foremost swimmer, they say, has caught her, and bears her sturdily up. I cannot soo distinctly, for tears have welled to my eyes. Now the mist is gone. Surely I know that proud head, that smile so winning. Yes, it is George Hamilton, and La Serena receives back her life from him she gave it to in those first happy days in Paris. There wasn't a very successful New Year's banquet in the ward room of tho Narcissus, but everybody seemed satisfied. No lives had been lost There was a daring deed to be talked about by gallant men. Lieut S had a fresh laurel. The surgeon was delighted with the unabridged history of "Mr. George," and voted him tho noblest Yankee he had ever met saj'ing to mo decoreusly: "It's tho old blood, you know, and you fel lows have improved It I" I would liko to tell you about the high fes tival a week later at La Serena's house, but that scene you can picture to suit your most extravagant fancies. Great Britain surrendered the bogus George Hamilton. I gavo up the locket Rumor stopped meddling with Lieut. S , and ho is still tho true son and devoted csposa of England. C. P. Upshur, Shipping and Commission Merchant T.Tatn St. Wharf, Astoria. Oregon. SPECIALTIES : Cannery Supplies Barbour's Salmon Net Twines. NEITUNE r.r.uul Salmon Twine. U'OODKEKKY Cotton Lines and Twines SEINES and NETTING Of all Description Furnished at Factory Prices. FIRE INSURANCE Effected in First Class Companies, Representing 813.000,000 PHCEN'IX, Hartford, Conn HOME, . ..New York. 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