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About Southwest Oregon recorder. (Denmark, Curry County, Or.) 188?-18?? | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 1884)
If We Knew. If W6 knew 'what forms were fainting For the shade that we should fling, If we knew what lips were parching For the water we should bring, We would haste with eager footsteps; We would work with willing hands, Bearing cups of cooling water, Planting rows of shading palms. If we knew when friends around us Closely press to Bay "good-bye," Which among the lips that kiss us, First should nea'h the daisies lie, We would clasp our arms around them, Looking on them through our tears; Tender word of love eternal We would whisper in their ears. If we knew what lives were darkened By some thoughtless words of ours, Which had ever lain among them Like the frost among the flowers, Oh! with what sincere repen tings, With what anguish of regret, While our eyes were overflowing, We would say ' Forgive! ForgoU" If we knew. Al s, and do we Ever care to seek or know Whether bitter herbs or flowers In our neighbor's garden grow? God forgive us! lest hereafter Our hearts break to hear him say: Careless child, I never knew you; From my presence flee away. CUPID versus CUPIDITY. "You are overworked, Hartington Why do you not take a vacation ? What say you to joining me in atrip? I should be delighted to have you for a companion." So said Harold North to his friend. Guy Hartington. And the latter, af ter a short reflection, decided to act upon his friend's suggestion. And thus one pleasant spring morn ing saw the two young men leaning over the rail of an ocean steamer watch ng the arrivals. Presently, through a slight mishap, the attention of both" wa3 drawn in the same direction. J A young lady and her maid were crossing the gangway, side by side, when a puff of wind caught the hat off the head of the latter, and, after whirling it airily and dangerously just over the water, blew it upon the wharf, where it was rescued by a boy and re stored to its owner, who was lament ing the disaster. "Just look at that young lady's face!" Harold North exclaimed. "Did you ever see anything so enchanting?" Just then the young lady chanced to raise her eyes, and caught sight of the two faces leaning above her. A look of pleasure was accompanied by a charming smile as she inclined her head. Of course both "gentlemen lifted their hats, although, a moment later, they looked at each other inquir ingly. "So you know her, North? Sly f el lowr "I only wish that I did. It was you the bow was intended for. She looked straight at you." "If so, it's a case of mistaken iden tity," Guy answered. That very afternoon the friends met the young lady who had so kindled the admiration of both, face to face. She paused and held out a tiny hand. "Mr. Norris I am glad to see you! Although it is four years since we met, I knew you at once." "And I am equally charmed to meet you, although, begging your pardon, I am not that to-be-envied individual Mr. Norris,' " Guy replied. .A flush crossed the young lady's face, which, an instant later, dimpled into smiles at the ludicrous contretemps. "If I do not know her, I will before long," Guy determined, and straight way sought out the captain, whom he had noticed a few moments before in conversation with the fair unknown. And thus with no difficulty he ob tained the coveted introduction. Of course Ilarold North came In for his share in the remarkable good fortune that had befallen his friend, and was duly presented to the owner of the face, A week elapsed. One afternoon as the friends were seated together upon deck, Ilarold looked up suddenly with the query : "I say, Guy, you are in love with Miss Weston?" "In love well, that's pretty strong. I admire her exceedingly and mean to keep the acquaintance. But what is it to you, old fellow?" "A good deal. I am desperately, fathoms deep, in love with her, and I thought you might be drifting in much the same course and that it would be only honorable in me to warn you that it will be war to the knife." But if Ilarold thought to play a win ning game against his more subtle brilliant friend, he soon saw the futili ty of his hopes, for any casual observer could hardly fail to understand the lovely light that made Daisy Weston's face eloquent when in Guy's company. Another week slipped by, full of de lightful days and evenings, when be neath the starlight the romance of love made itself comprehended for the first time to Guy Hartington. Hitherto he had admired many wom en, but cared for none. And even now he was surprised at himself and a lit tle incredulous as well. At length the voyage ended, and the travellers parted, each to go their own ways Miss Weston to join an invalid uncle, who was awaiting her at an ad jacent watering place, and the two friends, of course, together. "Au revoir,Miss Weston, not adieu," Guy said, as he held her,handin a fare well clasp. "I have promised to ac company my friend to that haven of his desires home; but if I live so long as another month I shall hasten to renew the friendship that has made this voyage a never-to-be-forgotten pleasure." "I shall be very glad to see you,' Daisy's soft voice answered; but though her words were few, the expression of her uplifted lustrous eyes told him more eloquently than the longest sen tence how very welcome he would be. Tour weeks slipped by and one day Guy left his friend Ilarold who had long since accepted his fate like a man and resigned the field to his favorite rival and wended his way to the place where he expected to find Miss Wes ton. But to his intense disappoint ment she was not there. "The old gentlemen was taken sud denly ill with alarming symptoms and insisted on leaving at once for his own home, sir," the hotel keeper informed him. 4Can you tell where they have gone ?" he asked. And upon receiving a satisfactory answer to his query, then and there Guy sat down and indited a letter to Daisy in which he told her how over whelming his disappointment had been at finding her gone, and what the na ture of the errand that had brought him to see her that day had been. His answer reached him a couple of weeks later, after he had rejoined Har old in Rome. It was written upon paper whose edge was deeply bordered with black, but its contents were not sombre, and should have filled Guy with the liveliest delight. But they did not, for within the re cent fortnight events had happened that had made an entire change in the destiny of the man who read the sweet innocent avowal of reciprocated affec tion. - For one day a legal communication had come to him informing him of the death of a distant relative, who had left to him thehalf of his large for tune upon one condition that he would ask the hand in marriage of a young lady the testator's adopted niece whom such a union would make a co heiress with himself. In case the spec ified marriage should not take place the entire property was to revert to the latter. The deceased had been an entire stranger to Guy, and his surprise was great as he perused the lawyer's letter, Beyond all other qualities in Guy Har- tington's character, ambition had al ways held the foremost place. His mother had married a poor man against family's wishes, and had been cast off by them, and thus it had been only after a hard struggle with adverse circumstances that Guy had gained his present foothold upon Fortune's ladder. But what of the love that had cre ated for itself an abiding place in his heart? Should he drive it forth and sell his affections and every honorable instinct for the sake of gold ? The conflict between greed and con science is -sharp; but it is brief, and the former conquers, and a letter goes forth to Daisy that crushes for a time all the sweet hopes that have made a, garden within her breast But after a while her bright head raises itself bravely once more, and a feeling of intense thankfulness blends itself with the regret with which she thinks of the dear adopted uncle, who had been the beneficent genius of her life, and even in dying had rendered her an inestimable service. When she had spoken to him of Guy, their romantic meeting and subsequent friendship, and of his attentions and evident regard for her. she had learned with surprise that he and her adopted uncle were related. Soon after,, feeling dissolution near, and wishing to try Gjuy's disinterested ness of purpose and nobility of char acter, the old gentleman had made his eccentric will. A week later Guy starts for England to visit, for the first time, his late rela tive's home and his own prospective inheritance, and to make the acquaint ance of the young lady who already figures in his mind as the future Mrs. Guy Hartington. His destination reached, his eyes di late as they take in the extent and magnificence of his late cousin's state ly home. A pompous butler leads him tnrougn the wide tilted hall to the drawing room. A lady rises as he enters. "For once in his life Guy Harting ton's self possession deserts him, and well it may, for in the graceful form and sweet face of the beautiful girl before him, whose eyes meet his so coldly and haughtily, he recognizes Daisy Weston. See meets him calmly. It is Guy upon whose crimsoned face chagrin and embarassment sit plainly enough. His punishment for his mercenary spirit has truly been swift, and Guy is only too glad to escape as soon as he can the scornful glance of those love ly candid eyes, without the slightest attempt at extenuation or apology, which he knows would b futile. But if he expects to find a sympa thizer in his friend, Harold North, he reckons wrongly. "You say Fortune has played you a scurvy trick? I say she has served you right," he exclaims. "You threw away a prize to gain one of her glitter ing bubbles, and lo! it melted into thin air!" "Keep your moralizing," says Guy impatiently. A few days later the two part com pany. It is four years before Guy again leaves his native soil He is changed since we last saw him, both outwardly and inwardly. Through strenous exertions he has succeeded in gaining a considerable portion of that golden commodity for which he once sacrificed what he can never now regain; but his success has not brought him content, and now he seeks in change of scene and surround ings the peace of mind he cannot find at home. Once more he is in England; in Lon don, its queen city. One day in an art gallery, whither he has gone to while away the time, - he overhears the fol lowing : "Have you seen the picture every one is raving about by the American artist?" some one near him asks another. ' "No; where is it?" "There, where the crowd is. It's a portrait of his young wife. I can as sure you she is a queen of beauty and grace. Come and see it." His curiosity aroused, Guy follows before the painted semblance of the one being whose loveliness has been so indelibly impressed upon his mind and heart that no endeavor has ever sufficed to drive away its haunting memory. It is Daisy herself, purely fair and beautiful, and attired in the lace-draped satin robes of a bride. Ah, yes! some one said this was a picture of the ar tist's young wife. Who is the fortu nate man who has won what he, to his eternal regret, has lost. Stooping, Guy Hartington reads in tiny characters, upon one corner of the canvas, the name, "Ilarold North." A Yaluable Manuscript. A few days ago a gentleman was about to leave Constantinople for Lon don, having among his luggage a very valuable copy of the Koran in manu script, some 500 years old and unique, which had been in the possession of his family for over 100 years. Only recently a very large sum, reported to have been as much as 0000, had been offered for this work, and it would probably have found its way into one of the European museums had not an inquisitive custom house officer dis covered it among its proprietor's per sonal effects. To the chagrin of the latter the officials, with many devout exclamations, took possession of the treasure as state property. From the custom house, the holy book originally a gift from the Sultan Mahmoud to the mosque of St. Sophia, was for w aided to Yildiz Kiosk, where Abdu Hamid now derives the benefit of its wise teachings. Its late proprietor, notwithstanding every effort, has fail ed either to regain possession of the work or to obtain pecuniary compen sation. - What the Moon's Face Tells. The moon's face, says Professor Proctor, tells of a remote yauth a time of fiery activity, when volcanic action, even more effective (though not probably more energetic) than any which has ever taken place on this globe, upheaved the moon's crust But so soon as we consider carefully the features of the moon's surface we see that there must have been three distinct eras of vulcanian activity Look at the multitudinous craters, for example, around the metropolitan crater at Tycho. They tell us of cen tury after century of volcanic disturb ance but they tell us more. They mark a surface which varies in tex ture, and therefore in light-reflecting power in such a way as to show that the variations were produced long be fore the volcanic action began by which the craters were formed. For the variations of texture are such as to mark a series of streaks some of them 2000 or 3000 miles in length, and many miles in breadth, extending radially from Tycho. Craters lie indif ferently on these brighter streaks and on the intervening darker spaces, and some craters can be seen which lie right across a bright streak with part3 of their ring on the darker regions on both sides of the streak. This proves that the craters were formed long af ter the great streaks. When the streaked surface was formed, it must have been, tolerably smooth; for we pee tha streaks best under a full il lumination, and there is no sign of any difference of elevation between them and the darker giound all around; they are neither long ridges nor long valleys, but mere surface markings Yet must they have been formed by mighty vulcanian disturbance, such in deed, as we may be certain went on at an early stage of the moon's history to which these radiating streaks must be referred. It seems clear that, as Nasmith has Illustrated by experiment, they belong to the stage of the moon's history when her still hot and plastic crust parted with its heat more rapidly than the nucleus of the planet, and so contracting more quickly, was rent by the resistance of the internal matter, which, still .hot and molten, flowed into the rents, and spreading, formed the long, broad streaks of brighter sur face. . Idiosyncrasies of Diet. Five thousand cats are said to have been eaten in Paris during the late siege. According to the same authority, the cat is downright good eating. A young one, well-cooked, is better than hare or rabbit It tastes something like the American gray squirrel, but is even tenderer and sweeter. One thousand two hundred dogs, it is stated, were eaten in Paris during the late siege, and the flesh fetched from two to three franc3 per pound. According to Pliny, puppies were regarded as a great delicacy by the Roman gour mands. The bear supplies food to several nations of Europe, and its hams are considered excellent The flesh of the brown or black bear, which is eaten by the common people of Norway, Russia and Poland, is difficult of diges tion, and is generally salted and dried before it is used. Two bears were eaten in , Paris during the siege, and the flesh was supposed to taste like pig. The Indian tribes, of the interior of Oregon eat bears. The hedgehog is considered a princely dish in Barbary, and is eaten in Spain and Germany. It is frequently eaten by the sick among the African Arabs from the belief that the flesh is medicinal Mice and rats are eaten in Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and considered excellent morsels. The taste of rats is considered to be some thing like that of birds. The Chinese eat them, and to the Esquimaux epicures the mouse is a real bonne louche. Rats and mice were eaten in Paris during the siege. The porcupine is reckoned delicious food in America and India, and resembles sucking-pigs-The Dutch and the Hottentots are fond of it, and it is frequently brought to table at the Cape of Good Hope. The squirrel is eaten by the natives of Australia,the North American Indians, and is a favorite dish in Sweden and Norway. The flesh is tender, and is said to resemble that of a barn-door fowl. It is sometimes eaten in Eng land and the United States, and is said to make excellent pies. The flesh of the beaver is much prized by the Indians and Canadian traders, espec ially when it has been roasted in the skin after the hair has been singed off. A Humble Confession. Who is that little woman there With laughing eyes and dark-brown hair. And physiognomy so fair? , My wife. WTio's not as meek as she appears, And doesn't believe one-halt she heirs. And toward me entertains no fears? My consort. Who wakes me up on every morning, About the time the day is dawning, My protestations calmly scorning? My tootsy wootsy. Who marks my clothes with india ink. And darns my stockings quick as wink. While I sit by and smoke and think? My companion for life. Who asks me every day for money, With countenance demure and fanny, 1 And calls mo "pretty boy" and "honey"? My littla woman. Who runs this house both night and day. And over all exerts her sway; Who's boss o' this shanty, anyway? My b-tter half. HUMOROUS. To foot a bill To v-toe it The golden age Sweet sixteen. Crazy quilts originated in Bed-lam. "On the fence" Boards, of course. It is the collector who is first to find a man out A duel is the quickest kind of an encounter, because it Qnly takes two seconds. In Rome every boarding house is a palace, and it may be added that about every palace is a boarding house. The man who married a girl be cause she "struck his fancy," says she strikes him anywhere it comes handy now. A book publisher announces "In press A Pretty Girl." She is often in that predicament and the work will be continued next week. "This theory that cold contracts everything but water, which it ex pands," said one friend to another, "is nonsense. You ought to see my coal bill." Did it ever occur to you, how ashamed a pug dog must be of him self, when seen in company with a woman who is fool enough to lug him about A Chicago firm is "introducing wood en slippers into this country. The small boy is all' in a sweat for fear his mother will take it into her head to buy a pair. "Mamma, where's papa gone to?" asked a little girl one day. "He's gone to town to earn more bread and but ter for you, darling." " Oh, mamma, I wish he would sometimes earn buns P sighed the child. "Is your wife acquainted with the dead languages?" asked Ihe professor of a Newman man, "Maybe she is," was the reply, "but the language she uses is entirely too warm to have been dead very long." The ladies should always have con siderable paid them on account of their sex, and it is no more than pro per that leap year should have one ex tra day, to give the girls all the time they need to propose in. "No," said a fond mother, speaking proudly of her twenty-five-year old daughter, "Mary isn't old enough to mary yet She cries whenever anyone scold3 her, and until she becomes hardened enough to talk back vigor ously, she isn't fit for a wife." "You gave my wife the wrong medicine," exclaimed a man, entering a drug store. " I hope no harm has resulted," replied the druggist tremu lously. "Oh, no, she's all right " How do you know it was the wrong medicine ? " " Why, because it helped her immediately." A lover, young and enthusiastic, who sang and played for nearly two hours before the house of his lady-love the other evening, was electrified that is, shocked after a short pause by a cordial " Thank you," gracefully pronounced by the "other fellow," who appeared at the drawing-room window. "LEAP YEAR VICTIM. Breathes there the girl with soul so dead, Who ever to herself has hath said IH never wed? Whose changing heart hath ofttimes turned From love to flirting that hath burned In her weak head? If such there breathe, now shed a tear For her. No " marriage bells " youl hear With ringing cheer, In rapture o'er her change of life To blessedness in being a wife This fond leap-year!