j i 'i
The
Hooc
1 D
liver iiiacier
VOL. I.
HOOD RIVIilt. OREGON, SATURDAY. MAY 27, 1803.
NO. 52.
3(cod Iiver Slacicr.
rum.uiitu ivirir iatiihuat morhiho it
The Ckclcr Publishing Company.
ftl llftt HIPTIOIX I'lUCfc
On. .r ft W
U IIMIllh. , , Or
line, inmillii. K
I'ojijf , , I (..ate
THE GLACIER
BarberShop
Grant Evans, Pi opr.
rWi.ml Si., near Oak. . Hood Uir, Or.
fcliavlng ami Hull culling ueatly duua.
Satisfaction iillkll4lll.nl.
OCCIIMOTAL NKWS.
Tin1 Libel Suit Against the
I tat a Dismissed.
l'Ol.irii'A I. SCANDAL AT YIMA.
A Will Context fur the possession of
a Colored Recluse's Estate
In California.
Sun Micgo's tux l.-vy has been llxed at
85 cents on tin- PHI.
Tilt' Sun Joc Council has passed the
Sunday-t !.;; ing ordinance.
Santa Rosa voted to bond the city for
the purchase of witter work.
'I'lic Peed 1 Intel atOgdcli has closed
it doors, because the patronage did Hot
ln:ike it pay.
Tin' I "H ectors of the I'.cllinghaui liny
lllld l!i ili-ll t 'ohl III hilt Kill I loud Company
have lintde arrangements for the nalti of
the mad to the Canadian Pacilic.
1'inetor Amen of the I'nioii Pacilic
railroad writes that therotiimny in mak
ing an active i 1 1 1 1 1 ry w ith the view of
extending it h track to Astoria, Or.
'I he by-law for Vuiicoiiver, It. C, to
guarantee the interest on $-lno,0(i(i (.(
debenture bonds to ho issued by the
street railway company has heen de
feated hy 152 inajonty.
Health Inspectors visiting Chinatown
at Los Angeles found lifteeii buildings
that, in their oiuion, eaniiot he cleaned
or made healthful, and rct'cininc nded
their being razed at once.
The damming of the Mojave river at
Victor, creating an iirlilicial lake nine
miles loli;, three luileH wide and 130
feet iii depth, water siillicicnt to irrigate
1I(H),(KK) iic rex of desert land, is n project
on foot in San Itcrnardino county, Cal.
A will content has just heen coni
ineiiccd at Stockton hy a woman who
claim to lie the widow of Joseph Mc
Kiunev, the colored recluse, who recent
ly dieil in the town of Itantas, San Joa
quin county, Cal., leaving a $ 10,1 100 es
tate, The wiclow in a colored woman,
and the adverse claimants are white,
A sensation lias just come to light at
Pacilic t irove hy the absconding of E.
M. Carver, the cashier of the Hunk of
1'acillc (irove, with $10,000 of the de
positors' money. The creditors who
were duped hy the w ily cashier were
Mrs. (ioodrich of San .lose for $5,000;
William llannon, a real cHtate dealer of
Monterey; Rev. Dr. Clark, a Presbyte
riau minister of Monterey, of whoso
church the missing cashier was a devout
inemher and a nmnher of other well
known persons, of 1'acillc (irove. Be
nide these victims there is a further list
of persons who were inveigled for less
amounts.
United States Judges McKenna, Mor
row and I law ley, sitting as a Circuit
Court of Appeals at San 1'ranciseo, have
atlirmcd the judgment of the United
States District Court of Southern Cali
fornia, dismissing the lihel suit against
the Chilian steamer Jtata and releasing
the vessel and 2,000 cases of rilles she
had ahoard when seized hy the United
States Marshal in San Diego harhor two
years ago. The lihel tiled in the Data
case charged deliberates violation of Sec
tion 5.2S3 of the United States Revised
Statutes, and set forth that the Data had
been lilted out with the intent to cruise
and commit hostilities against the gov
ernment of Chili, with which the gov
ernment of the. United States was at
peace. The decision of the Circuit
Court is lengthy aiul reviews the details
of tho late Chilian revolution and over
throw of President Balmaccda. The
Court finds that the state of all'aira as
alleged in the lihel is not borne out by
tho evidence.
Tho State of Oregon baa filed its an
Bver to tins cross hill of Multnomah
county in the tax suit. Theansworadmits
several unimportant charges, and asserts
that the object of the equalization was
to maintain a uniform assessment. The
charge that assessment on mortgages in
some of the counties is lower than that
of Multnomah county, and other asser
tions to the same etleet, are denied.
The answer also denies that mortgages
wero discriminated against in favor of
other real estate in Multnomah county,
and also that only 10 per cent was added
to the assessment of mortgages in Coos,
Linn and Washington counties; 25 per
cent in Douglas, U0 per cent in Yamhill,
and 7 per cent in Marion. The answer
asks for tho dismissal of the cross bill,
and that the county he compelled to pay
$00,008.80 taxes to the State, which it
has refused to do.
CIIICAOO EXPOSITION.
One of the iiiohI, Hlriking features of
the Chicago l air is the absolute and
staring nudity of the statuary.
The charge for a room in Chicago
hotel or hoarding-house ranges from l
to (5 a day. The average price for an
average room is now 2 a day,
The Countess di Piazza, sent to Chi
cago by ( ii Marghenla to Match nver
Italy's collection of laces, is an Ameri
can, w ho liciore tier marriage wan Miss
Cora SliM'iiin.
Washington State day at the Chicago
Fair, which was to have been May 17,
lias been postponed until some time in
June, owing to the unlinisbcd condition
of (he Slati' building.
The Chii ago City Council has unani
mously passed a resolution declaring for
Sunday opening of the World's l air
grounds, ami as representatives of sjfi,
(MHI.IHMIof slock in tlio exposition criti
cised the lliiancial management which
closes the gate on one day out. of llie
uviin.
Commissioner Forsyth has presented
a communicat ion from w iue growers of
California. There have been charges
that leslitiirantkei ptrs at the fair placed
such high prices on 'alifornia wines that
no one w ill call for them, as thevean ob
tain foreign wines at almost the same
price. Californians assert that restau
rants at the grounds will not place anv
wines upon their lists unices a Ismns of
X0IH) to h.m is paid them. Califor-
liians say this would exclude their wines,
as they cannot iiOord to pay any such 1
sums. Thev propose therefore to estah-
lish a cafe at the California building, in
which all the wines of he California ex
hibitors will be lifted. New York, Ohio
and other domestic wiucmukcrs will he
given a show on the same cards. The
council of administration is asked to re
duce the usual 25 per cent, turned in to
them as their share of sales to ID per
cent, to enable w ine to be sold ut re
duced prices.
The World's Fair gates w ill be open to
the public Sillldav, and the Vexed oues-
tioii is settled. At the regular monthly
meeting of the local Directors of the
World's Fair, it was decided to open the
gates of Jackson Park to the public for
half the sum of the admittance to the
fair during the week, viz: 25 cents.
This action has nothing to do with the
opening of buildings. The latter will
remain closed as required under the laws
passed ly i ongres-, and as agreed to
when the $2,.rrtHI,tMHI was accepted from
the Fifty-second Congress. The vote by
which the resolution was adopted was
twenty-seven to seven. Under the
resolution Midway I'hiisance is also
throw n open. Edwin Walker, attorney
for the hoard, submitted an opinion,
and on the strength of the opinion the
hoard acted. Ilricllv, Walker decided
the exposition grounds altogether a
distinct and eeperate ihiiiu'. Unless the
National Commission acts vigorously
to prevent it, Jackson Park will he opcii
Sundays, the exposition buildings re
maining closed.
After much hard work the committee
investigating misunderstandings in the
bureau ot music has made a report to
the national commission. It is a most
severe arraignment of Theodore Thomas
and his methods of conducting the bu
reau of music. It gives a fearful rasping
to Chief Harpist Schelicke, w ho proposed
to a local linn of musical instrument
manufacturers that he would play their
harps for a Imnus of 1.000 a year.
Schelicke in his testimony, it appears,
admitted having made the proposition,
before the committee Thomas denied
being in any way connected with any
house engaged in selling or manufactur
ing instruments. Thomas declared that
the authority of Director- ieneral Davis
over him was mere merely nominal. The
committee concludes by the expression i
of the opinion that no piano exhibited
for awards should lie used for perform
ances; that the usefulness of Prof.
Thomas as the head of the bureau of
music of the World's Columbian Fx po
sition is so impaired in the judgment of
the committee that his services should
be further dispensed with, and recom
mends that the Director-Oeneral be in
structed to request his resignation.
FROM WASHINGTON CITY.
Andrew Douglass of Wisconsin has
been appointed Examiner of the Chip
pewa Indian lands in Minnesota, vice
Otis Staples, resigned.
Charles II. Martin of Illinois has been
appointed F.xatnincr in the Mineral Di
vision of the general land otlice, vico
Charles T. Yonder, resigned.
The Secretary of tho Navy has ap
pointed Medical Inspector Rufus Tyron
Surgeon-t ieneral of tho Navy to succeed
(ieneral John Mills Brown, retired.
Secretary Herbert has authorized tho
statement that ho will decline to extend
leaves of absence to any otlicers of t he
navy who aro engagod in private busi
ness. Officials of tho State Department at
Washington conllrm tho prediction here
tofore made that ox-Representative
Rlotint would be appointed Minister
Resident to Hawaii.
The members of the Diplomatic Corps
in Washington expect that in tho course
of a few months the Spanish govern
ment will elevate tho legation in Wash
ington to tho gradg of an embassy.
Tho President's rule regarding per
sonal applications for otlice has caused
a largo increase in tho number of callers
at the departments, and it is believed
tho Cabinent members will have to
follow tho President's course.
Supervising Architect O'Rourko of
the Treasury Department sayB it is his
determination to remove, just as soon as
it could bo done, all Republicans hold
ing positions of Superintendents of
Public Buildings, and to fill their places
Trith Democrats.
EASTERN MELANGE.
Kc ere fury llolu; Sinilh Trying
to Correct Evils.
AN AUTOMATIC VOTK JtKCORDKR.
Heavy Rulim Disclose Some Valuable
Relics oh the Historical Mas
sie Farm In Ohio.
Drought w ill cut Kansas' wheat crop
down one-half.
A postal computation gives Detroit
2h:!,0ihi population.
A "Colored Tariff-reform Club" has
been organized in Atlanta.
The Michigan legislature has indorsed
an automatic vote recorder.
The licenses for 0,000 (logs are annually
taken out in New York city.
Colli and frost has rendered necessary
much replanting of the cotton crop.
Carter Harrison has forbidden smok
ing in the Chicago Council chamber.
A innv law precludes the possibility of
an absolute divorce in Massachusetts.
The population of Johnstown, Peim.,
has increased over 0,000 since the flood
of UWJ.
The coal and coke business of Colorado
is now in the hands of four great com
panies. The Duke de Veragua is ho much
taken w ith America that he proposes to
stay indefinitely.
Milwaukie has been taking a little
census of its own, and is satisfied that
its population is 215, 010.
The Ohio legislature has again re
jected a measure looking to the grunting
of the veto sjwerto the (iovernor.
St. IOiiis banks have turned over
$2,000,01)0 in gold to the United Mates in
exchange for Treasury and bank notes,
Alabama reports an increase of O'i
percent in the acreage in cotton, 2'2
per cent in corn and 0 per cent in
wheat.
Fast year there were 3,5',!) arrests for
violations of the excise law in New
York, hut the convictions numbered
only thirty-live.
The consumption of domestic beer in
the United States last year was about
one-half a barrell per capita, or some-
thing like a barrel, barring teetotalers.!
Aivording to otiici.il report the prohi- i
lotion town of Portland in Maine uses
$70,000 worth of liquor a year for
"medicinal and mechanical purposes."
Deaths from exposed electric wires,
very frequent in New York before Mayor
(irant's crusade against the 'dangerous
aiul unsightly poles in 1S01, are now a
thing unknown.
The great tunnel which is to drain the
Valley of Mexico is nearly linished, and
will le completed in fifteen months. !
It is expected to transform Mexico into
a very healthy city.
The New Y'ork Board of Electrical
Control has condemned three-fourths of
the electric-light iron poles in that citv. 1
and ordered them replaced by wooden
poles with cast-iron bases.
American corn shipments aro moving
into Mexico as heavily as last year. It is
estimated 7,000 car loads will be shipped
into the republic before the close of the
year if the duty is not restored.
There seems to bo a fair chance for
the restoration of the death penalty in
Michigan, for the Judiciary Commit teo
of the Legislature has reported favorably
upon the bill introduced to that end.
A stone 150 feet long and 10 feet square
at the base has been quarried at Pren
tice, Wis., and it is proposed to use it as
a monument to James (r. Blaine. It is
forty-six feet longer than Cleopatra's
needle.
The Western General Agent of one of
the larger New Y'ork insurance com
panies is authority for the statement
that a number of retirements of insur
ance companies may bo expected before
many weeks.
Wall-street brokers have adopted a
new gambling device in the shape of a
phonograph which squeaks out from a
colassal tunnel quotations on mining
stocks, as many as a dozen fluctuations
being recorded'in a minute.
Secretary of tho Interior Smith is try
ing to correct tho evils that have been
constantly growing at Yellowstone Park
in tho way of monopolies and conse
quent excessive charges for everything
tho tourist is required to use.
Heavy rains near Chillicotho, Ohio,
have washed the earth away and dis
closed sonio valuable relics on the his
torical Massio farm, consisting of stone
implements, bullets, coins and silver
buttons. The gold coins aro dated 1727
and 1750.
The great dam now being built across
the Colorado river at Austin, Texas, is
built of large, rough blocks set in con
crete in tho interior faced on both sides
and on top with cut granite. It has a
total length of 1,275 foot, and a maxi
mum height of (JO feet.
The story is revived in Washington
that tho W hi to House is to be devoted
exclusively to residential purposes.
President Cleveland is said to be con
sidering tho moving of his otlice to suit
able apartments in the army, navy and
Stato Department buildings."
Southern California is the Mecca
toward which tho restless negroes of the
section about Chattanooga, Tenn., are
now turning their faces. Great excite
ment exists among them over an emi
gration scheme to tho Pacific Slope.
Tho impression amonj; the negroes ie
that all that is to be done is to go out
there with a few dollars, buy as much
land as is wanted and live like a nabob.
PURELY PERSONAL.
Mark Twain's eldest daughter, Mies
Cluia Clemens, nut yet 20, has written
an allegorical play.
Ismail Pasha, ex-Khedive of Egypt,
now ii.'!, lives in regal splendor on the
shores of the Bosphorus. His wealth is
1(25,000,000.
Alva Gage has presented to the Unita
rian Church of Charleston, H. C, a
handsome brick parish-house, costing
over J 1 1 ,000.
A son of tlie Archbishop of Canter
bury, Primate of all England, is a Cap
tain in the artillery and an enthusiast in
the art of war.
Mrs. Laura de Force Gordon, a well
known woman lawyer on the Pacific
Coast, has filed her application for the
Consulship at Honolulu.
Queen Victoria is traveling in Italy,
and in England she isn't missed, so little
does she really have to do with the gov
ernment of that country.
Dr. Haffkine, the bacteriologist who
has been investigating cholera, writes
that he has conquered the disease by an
inoculative method, which he will give
to the world.
Frederick Weyerhauser, one of the
richest of the lumber kings of Minne
sota, began work in a brewery when he
came to this country from Germany. He
worked for $1 a day.
Conigsby Disraeli, who has just come
into his inheritance at HuL'henden man
or, is described as bearing a striking re
semblance in personal appearance to his
uncle, ijrd Ueaconslield.
The ex-Empress Eugenie is said not to
put trust in French medical men. When
she fell ill of a sore throat in Paris not
long ago she telegraphed to England for
a physician to attend her.
The Trustees of Lime Theological Sem
inary have accepted the resignation of
Prof. Roberts, one of the prosecutors of
Prof, llenrv P. Smith in his trial for
heresy. The Trustees also re-elected
Prof. Smith for the ensuing year.
Dr. P.uchner. the African traveler.
broke from the highest point on Mount
Kilimandjaro, one of the highest mount
ains in Africa, a piece of rock, which he
presented to the licrman Emperor. The
Kaiser now uses a mountain summit as
a paper-weight on his writing desk.
Mine. Paul Mink is a picturesque can
didate for a seat in the Pans municipal
ity. She is the wife of the French an
archist and the mother of a child named
" Lucifer Satan Vercingetorix Mink."
Her political platform is thatof " woman,
mother, Socialist and Republican."
Pope Leo XIII. spends most of his
mornings in the Vatican gardens catch
ing birds with nets, a sport which he
practiced when Bishop of Perugia, and of
which lie is particularly fond. Hundreds
of birds are caught every morning and
distributed among the hospitals and the
poor.
BUSINESS BREVITIES.
Great Britian has more than twenty
thousand trained nurses.
There are nearly sixteen thousand
miles of railroads in Canada.
Great Britian levies a tariff on about
twenty articles of commerce.
The streams of Wisconsin yield $100,
OjO worth of pearls in a year.
There are 20,000 American publica
tions, a gain of 1,202 in a year.
The money circulation of the United
States is estimated at $1,600,000,000.
Of the 51,000 breweries estimated to
be in the world 20,000 are in Germany.
Fully 25 per cent of all the champagne
made is lost by the bursting of bottles.
It requires more than 1,000,000 sheep
to supply the mutton consumed in Lon
don. April saw three bank failures in Aus
tralia, representing liabilities of $100,
000,000. The nine rum distilleries of this conn
try put out about 1,000,000 gallons
annually.
Cleveland carpenters will bo paid 30
cents an hour for a nine-hour day, be
ginning May 1.
It is estimated that there were 19,573
papers published in this country and
Canada last year.
The domestic rice crop of the country
for the current season is estimated at
225,000,000 pounds.
According to tho "Wade's Fibre and
Fabric tho cotton acerage of 1894 will be
as short as that of 1S93.
A total destruction by fire in the
United States for eighteen years before
1802 was $1,760,944,017.
Eight hundred and thirty-eight pairs
of corsets for men were made by one
firm in England last year.
It costs $30 to decorate a room properly
with flowers for almost any entertain
ment. Philadelphia Record.
A dollar loaned for 100 years and com
pounded at 24 per cent, will amount in
that timo to 112,551,799,404.
An uptown genius has invented a slot
machine that will furnish a small brick
of ice cream. Philadelphia Record.
The roll of paper as used in the Hoe
press on which the Bulletin is soon to
be printed, is from four to six miles
long.
Alaska produced $1,000,000 in gold
last year, and California $12,000,000. The
gold product of the United States was
$33,000,000.
The hot-house peach crop has not
failed, but a man who bought enough
for a large dinner party did. Phila
delphia Record.
A company of colon d people is being
formed at Charlotte, N. C, tor the pur
pose of building a cotton factory to em
ploy only negroes.
There is still an enormous quantity of
gold in the banks and among the people
variously estimated at between $600,
000,000 and $700,000,000.
FOREIGN FLASHES.
Emigrants Leave England for
Mozambique, Africa.
THE FOREIGN TRADE OF JAPAN,
Emperor William Finds Fault With
the Bishop of Metz Herr
Iiozwadovskl Etc.
Cholera reports aro again corning from
Europe.
Sir Charles Dilke wants the British
government to get out of Egypt.
Emperor "William forbids all German
clericals to meddle in political affairs.
Steps are taking to effect a combina
tion of all trades unions in Great Brit
ain. The long drought in Austria has been
broken and the wheat ernn r.W.ul
yond all danger.
Russia has communicated to tho Pope
her intention to send a permanent Min
ister to the Vatican.
Scotland's population in the middle of
last vear wns 4 ar9 1 Of.l M1
- -I-"-, a, v.., v ujaica
and 2,102,051 females.
Heavy frosts have greatly injured the
vines in the wine districts of Austria,
Switzerland and France.
The question of ocean penny postage
has recently engaged the attention of the
Britisli House of Commons.
Adelina Patti has commissioned the
Italian composer, Emiie Pizzi, to write
a short opera for her American tour.
The late William B. Aster's personal
estate in Great Britain has been returned
with an official valuation of $1,320,000.
The British Consul at Bordeaux re
ports that last year's vintage, though
large in quantity, is of very poor quality.
Russian cotton spinners boast that
they will soon be in a position to dis
pense with American cotton altogether.
Japan's foreign trade for lS92exceeded
that of 1891 by 20,000,000 yen. The
principal increase was in the values of
silk and tea.
It has now been decided to light the
whole of the Southampton docks with
electricity, while the cranes will be
worked by hydraulic power.
Bismarck according to an interviewer
thinks that the anti-Semitic troubles
will be gradually settled bv the inter
marriage of Jews and Gentiles.
Thirty miles of underground electric
railway similar to the City and South
London line has been proposed for Ber
lin at an estimated expense of $10,000,
000. Something strange latelv affected the
fish in Hongkong waters. For many davs
they were in a state of stupor, and al
lowed themselves to be caught by hand,
making no effort to escape.
The Jerusalem and Jaffa Railroad
Company is said to have inaugurated a
real-estate movement in Jerusaiem ; to
have laid out additions and run up lands
from $1 an acre to $3,000.
The Italian Chamber of Deputies has
commenced the debate on the naval es
timates, which the commission on the
subject proposes to increase from 99,700,
000 lire to 105,000,000 lire.
A Spanish engineer proposes to build
a bridge of aluminium across the Straits
of Gibraltar. The project is being sci
entifically discussed in the current num
bers of La Naturaleza of Madrid.
The Russian government proposes to
convene a commission of Jewish rabbis
in September next to take the whole
Jewish question into consideration and
assist in bringing it to a settlement.
The five Australian banks thus far re
ported to have closed their doors have a
total of some $170,000,000 of liabilities.
This is an enormous sum for the sraali
population of that part of the world.
There have been discovered among the
treasures of the British Museum some
curious votive tablets set up in ancient
Greek medical temples by grateful pa
tients who had been cured of disease.
The admirers of Prince Bismarck, who
contributed three years ago more than
$250,000 for a monument to the great
statesman, are dissatisfied with the com
mittee having the arrangements in
charge.
The telephone has well nigh super
seded the telegraph between London and
Paris. The average time for sending and
delivery of a telegram is half an hour,
while the telephone gives instant com
munication. Herr Rozwadovski, a member of the
Austrian Reichsrath, who owns land in
Russian Poland, where he occasionally
spends some time, has been expelled
from Poland with his family by the Rus
sian authorities.
Miss Florrie Bryan, a young English
woman, has forsaken Christianity and
married tho Maharajah of Patiala in In
dia. She was received as a member of
the Sikh religious community just before
the marriage, which was celebrated ac
cording to Sikh rites.
Dr. de Boissy of Havre recently com
pleted his 100th year, and was given a
dinner by his medical brethren. In his
after-dinner speech he said that his fa
ther had attained the age of 108, and he
himself hoped to have the privilege of
laboring for humanity for some years to
come.
A statement recently published by tl
authorities of Munich gives some start
ling information as to the increased con
sumption in that city of dog flesh. So
great an appetite seems to have been de
veloped for that food that the authori
ties have thought it time to interfere for
th protection of dog owners.
WWei ami IJulmicl.
Going down town the oilier morning 1
pled just opposite a pretty little woman,
fche was enjoying an animated conversa
tion with ber neigh fair, oneof the brethren,
Who seemed to find mh equal amount of
pleasure in tho society of Inn fair friend.
Their K7 interchanges I thought were In
terrupted hy a third party, who had stopped
outside for a minute, and who proved to b
the husband of the lady What did he do?
Join In the chat? No, indeed, he pushed
his way Into the wat between the couple,
and after settling himself to his entire sat
isfaction, half turned his hack upon the
Woman and drifted in to a con vernation with
Lis friend.
Everything wa discniwed, from politics
to the latest play. Again and again the
gentleman friend attempted to include the
poor wife in the talk, hut monsieur would
have none of it. Left to tbemselvf a lit
tle later on. he fell to muling his paper and
he stared out of the window From the
weet face all life and animation had fled,
and she at, this woman who hut a little
while before had shown ho much cheerful
ness, a sal, depressed being, thought and
feeling paralyzed by the man at her side
I overheard a young woman say to her
companion upon a recent occasion: "I can
pick out in a twinkling every married
couple in this car The men read and the
women gaze into space," and she punctu
ated the remark with a hearty laugh.
A sad commentary this, but the girl was
right. I notice, however, that the women
try to keep up a semblance of interest. If
only for appearance's sake a woman will
do ao much to keep up appearances but
he seldom meets with much encourage
mentCincinnati Commercial Gazette.
Eating a Prickly Pear.
My first sad experience of the prickly
pear was gained on a visit to the market
place of Algiers. The fruit was handed to
us, politely peeled, by the Arab dealer, and
thus as we made acquaintance with its de
lightful coolness no suspicion of ita evil
qualities entered our minds.
A few days later, adding the excitement
of a little tresspassing to the more legiti
mate pleasures cf a country ramble, we
came upon a well laden group of prickly
pear bushes, and could not resist the temp
tatkn to help ourselves to some of tha
fruit. The result was woefuL
Concentrated essence of stinjrlng nettle
seemed all atouce to be is:;;lnig hands,
lips and tongue, and our skin, wherever it
had come in contact with the ill natured
fruit, was covered with a thick crop of
minute, bristly hairs, apparently growing
from it, and venomous and irritating to the
last degree.
Our silk gloves, transformed suddenly
Into miniature rohes of- Xessus, had to he
thrown away, perfectly unwearahle, and the
inadvertent use of our pocket handker
chiefs before we had fully realized the ex
tent of our misfortune caused fresh ago
nies, in which nose as well as lips partici
pated. For many a day did the retrihution
of that theft haunt us in the form of my
riads of tiny stiugs. "Home Life on an Os
trich Farm."
Mississippi Packets.
These Mississippi packets of the first and
second class are very large boats, and room
iness is the mast striking characteristic of
every part of them. They look light, frail
and inflammable, and so they are. The
upright posts that rise from the deck of
such a boat, to support the saloon deck, are
mere little sticks, and everything above
them, except the funnels. Is equally slender
and thin. These hoats are not like ours at
any point of their makeup. They would
seem to a man from the coast not to be the
handiwork of shipbuilders indeed there
has been no apparent effort to imitate the
massive beams, the peculiar "knees," the
freely distributed "brightwork" of polished
brass, the neat, solid joiner work or the
thousand and one tricks of construction
and ornament which distinguish the work
of our coast boat builders.
These river boats and I tnclude all the
packets that come upon the Mississippi
from its tributaries are more like the work
of carpenters and housebuiJders. It is as if
their model had been slowly developed
from that of a barge to that of a house
boat or barge with a roof over it then as
if a house for passengers bad been huilt on
top of the first roof, and the "Texas" and
"bureau" had followed on the second root
Julian Ralph in Harper's.
.Crocodiles In Water.
The crocodiles are thoroughly aquatic In
their habits, and their peculiar conforma
tion enables them to attack and seize their
Erey unawares. Their nostrils, which lead
y a long canal to the back part of their
throats, their eyes and their ears are placed
on the upper part of tha head, so that when
in the water they can breathe, see and hear,
while they are themselves practically in
visible. When they dive their nostrils and
ears are closed by lids or valves, and their
eyes are covered by a transparent nictitat
ing membrane. They are further furnished
with an arrangement which prevents the
water from getting down their own throats
when they are holding large animals under
the water to drown them.
The dentition of these reptiles is peculiar;
the teeth are sharp and conical, and are
hollow at the base, and each tooth serves as
the sheath of another, which will in time
replace it. The tongue for, notwithstand
ing the ancient belief, the crocodile docs
possess a tongue is fleshy and is attached
to the bottom of the mouth. And finally
the lower jaw is hinged at the very back of
the skull, thus giving the ani mal its extraor
dinary gape and also the peculiar appear
ance which caused the notion that it moved
its upper jaw. London Saturday Review.
Tbe Men Who Complain.
Men should blindly overlook any lack of
protuseness in the gratitude of women to
whom they offer their seats when they leave
the train. Last night a man conferred a
favor of this sort on a sickly looking wom
an who, holding a basket, had swayed from
a strap a few feet from him past many sta
tions. The woman was too eager to get the
seat in the crowd to thank the giver, who
had no longer need of it. The maui how
ever, did not forget what he considered his
dues, and complained to another man that
women had lost the hahit' of returning
thanks. There are certain courtesies that
are, in fact, no longer courtesies, notwith
standing a certain amount of stupid good
will that goes along with them. New York
Evening Sun.