THE CUP WHICH CHEERS.
I
•« - Amer-
Caused a Country Parson to ' kI“,"«" "*■“*”
,ra"
F„rei(ill , u,lum,
Shut up His Hymn Book
LAmerican Queen.]
and Swear.
If manv ,-ups of te. have the reverse
of a beneficial effect on the system, on
account of tlie reaction and sense of ex-
|
[Arkansaw Traveler.]
" llcl* tl,e-v
“liablv produce,
Ighile Col. Glint was in the city he was the
I . - .... EUs Mr Mulkittle that to t yet the first cup of tea offered is as in
Euf the time. In the Mulkittle house he vigorating as it is welcome, and the tea
•> the hJ Et oeveral nights very quietly, but after is as closely associated with English
“*lj laj ■ fourth night he engaged board at a cheap and American women in the minds of
rrenclimen as is coffee with the French
■tong-house.
iardi^ jJ ■Are you ready to go up to your room?” in the minds of Americans. As to the
L.I Mr. Mulkittle.
accompaniments of tea-cream and
rYes,” the conolel replied. “I reckin I can »ugar-a, recent writer boldly asks:
Ln, but 1 don’t know. Lying around town « by dou t we forswear them both? as
Lt agree with me. I am used to work, at this hour of the day they interfere far
L if I had a couple of trees to chop down I more with the digestive "organs than
I could regain some of my lost physi- < oes the tea itself; he considers
M J Lk
,,r "mJ jforee.”
■*.' natisj Ipon’tyou call preaching work?” asked it would always be as rational to add
cream and sugar to wine asto delicately
Lther Mulkittle.
This is rather going
■‘Well, it is work after a fashion, but it flavored tea.
Lt loosen up the joints like splitting rails. ahead, writer, and if we are inclined to
sacrifice our sugar we have not yet mad.
Cyou ever split rails?”
pNo, and I hope I never shall.”
up our minds to give up our cream; in
tuera
|‘I hope you do not consider yourself above deed, gentlemen who drink tea are very
Lh work ?”
free with the cream, both when help
Fit’s not that, Brother Glint. I dou’t con ing ladies and when helping themselves.
ker myself above milking a cow, but 1 do Sugar is decidedly going out of fashion
k care to engage in the exercise.”
at afternoon tea, and out of ten ladies,
MVhy did you single out a cow?”
perhaps, only three will sav yes when it
•Just happened to think of a cow, that’s is offered; but it may be this is rather
the result of fashion than fancy.
■‘Didn't somebody tell you that I milk the
The E reuch, on the contrary, take
■sat home?”
■i have never heard of anything of the sugar lavishly; they even dispense with
the use of sugar tongs, which the
■d.”
two t,w ■Then you are certain you meant no disre- Americans consider so indispensable at
htti'pimij ■ct to me when you referred to the cow ?”
the tea-table, and help themselves to
ihwk . J ■•Why, my dear sir, such an idea is pre- sugar with their fingers.
'tern, tti Kterous.’’
W e draw upon the Russians for many
1 the hrç
* tini rd ■‘Not so preposterous as you may suppose, of our customs connected with the din
■
1
know
town
people
have
a
disposition
ner
table, but have not yet taken kindly
t ptttiid
■make fun of people who live in the couu- to their idea of tea drinking; that is to
not »n Lr, and I want you to understand that if I say, substituting lemon for sugar and
Spite J
■ a country preacher 1 ain’t a slouch. I
naib.d Li preach all around any man in this cream—“fragrant peel and a hint of
hope ¿I
acid, ’ a slice of lemon no thicker nor
Bru.”
larger than half a crown. This, ac
fly mû
Li
think
you
are
over-sensitive,
Brother
pr>iw,jl
cording to authority already quoted,
■nt,
and
are
disposed
to
be
quarrelsome,
E- vbi
alter lirel ■is should be an occasion of great brotherly “neither disguises nor fluttens the aroma
“P to til ■e, and understand me when I say that I of good tea, as do the conventional ad
rtaintrtfl Lil not be instrumental in making it other- ditions, sugar and cream, but combines
‘ ptoniJ Le, Your bed is ready, and there is a lamp with and heightens it.”
The great fault
■your room. Good night.”
of using lemon consist in adding
«Witt. Lol. Glint, without replying, sought his it in excess,
whereas a very
|om. He lay on the bed and tossed awhile, slight shaving containing both peel
altimon, Id then remorse began to seize him. “I and pulp is the correct quantity for
a trial (fl Luki go down and ask his pardon,” he an ordinary cup of tea. But this
annue Led, •‘but he’s gone to bed. Hello, what’s custom has yet to take root, and with
»ri» id Lt?" and he listened. “Somebody outside us this process is but a slow one; we
Lrreling with Mulkittle. I'll go down and are not too ready to take up a new idea,
Lui the wretch.”
1 VlTAjl Lust as Mr. Mulkittle had stretched him- but once we have done so, it is remark
If on the bed, his wife, in a great fright, ex- able with what pertinacity we cling to
it. When lemon is substituted for
euralá Lin...l;
[‘There’s somebody trying to get in at the cream and sugar, slices of the prescribed
size are handed with the tea. Any one
^Lnt door. ’’
COl ■Air. Mulkittle went to the door and de- who has once tasted the Russia caravan
tea will understand the term good tea,
• thi Kindl'd. “Who’s there?”
■‘‘Me,’’ replied a voice.
but this is a luxury which only the
■'Who’s me?”
wealthy care to invest in, as it costs up
■'I don't know who you are.” replied the ward of $10 per pound. There is, of
■p." fm ■ice of a drunken man. “Must have been course, a medium in all things, and
COMM Kt mighty late with the boys if yc*’ hafter
there is a wide margin from which to
■k every feller that comes along v».. » you choose, and economy in this direction
■e.
AV
ho
do
you
reckin
you
are,
auj
way?
”
the
is soon detected. It is the province of
■1 he laughed and slapped himself.
■“If you don't go away from there I'll come the master of the house to buy the tea,
Wha ■t there and hurt you.”
and the one is far oftener celebrated for
■“You're the man I want to do business the wine he gives his guests than is the
other for the choice tea offered to hers.
■th.”
■“lam, eh?” and Mr. Mulkittle threw open
■edoor. The fellow rail away, Mr. Mul-
■tie following him to the yard gate. Just
■ the preacher re-entered the door, he was
■nfrouted by the colonel. The colonel mis-
Bok Mulkittle for a burglar, and it flashed
■ toss Mulkittk’s mind that the drunken
■dge had been a device to get him away
■om the door so that a robber could enter,
■e two men did not speak, but grappled with
■ch other. Mulkittle is not slow in a “tus-
K” and the colonel, a fact proudly recorded
cures K historians, is at home in a hand to hand
■counter. There was just light enough in
1 ■e hall for the men to see each other,
■t not enough to admit of recognition,
■,1W ■lecting his opportunity with the circum-
ar Pa ■ection of a physical scientist, Mr. Mulkittle
Em ■anted a stunning blow between the eyes of his
it«#: ■versary, but ere he could follow up the ad-
Jin-
thus gained, the colonel, violating the
Vella Lntage
■ternational treaty, struck Mulkittle below
Le belt, shutting him up like a knife. The
Lionel sprang forward to avail himself of
Be point gained, but Mulktttle straightened
other i |> with the colonel on the back of his neck.
er mi Bien followed a series of scramblings with a
lethe lew to proper adjustment. Just at this time
■rs. Mulkittle rushed into the hall with the
: my Ln<ile of a duster. She leveled a blow, she
■ ar.: Bd not know at whom, but it struck the
s in Lionel across the ankle bone.
útil, ■ “Hold on!” he yelled, “I pass. I can stand
;tht ■good deal, but w hen I get a era ?k across
Kt bone I’m done
send ■ “Great heavens!” exclaimed Mr. Mulkittle,
ihei kit you?”
ir of l“0h, no,” replied the colonel in agony,
save
Iti» ■t’s not me. It’s the feller that keeps the
rs. ■ligate.”
I “Bring a light. This is very unfortunate,
■declare.”
I “Yes,” the colonel replied “its d—d unfor-
IM Lnate. I don’t use such expressions, as a
Lie; that is, I don’t swear by note, but
vhenaman deliberately sets a trap for me,
liter speaking contemptuously of my milking
J"'-', and tiirn gets hi', wife to imp out and
Llia- k nn‘with a pole, then I shut up the
Lynin book and swear.”
I “You are entirely wrong, my dear broth-
L__”
I “Don't brother me. I’ll take you out here
Ind hn-ak you against a trei*. Lmnme get
Bte balance of my < i<»thes an 1 mieaveyoii.
I When he came down stairs again, Mrs.
■lulkittle, seeing that her husband had failed,
Attempted to effect a compromise, but he
kaved htroft. "Ne. madam, m - uf hu-band
pay be a good man, and may walk beside
■ tin- still waters he can t’md. and loll in all
lhe green ¡»astures in the neighlx>rhoiMl, but
Fhen a man instructs his wife to whack my
L ■nkle bone, I'm done. Good night,” aud he
■sought the cheap lodging-house.
I
kutting a Knaft Under IHfllculties.
I
d
1 b
Í
'»
I
I
'
[Chicago Herald.]
I The work of cutting a perpendicular shaft
pom the 3,900 level of the Mexican mine in
Mada to 2,700 level is very difficult and
Pangerous. The rock is bitterly hard and it
Poes not blast well. With all this a [»erfect
Trent of hot water is constantly pouring
sown upon the men. It is difficult to con
ceive how they can work at all in such a
place. They must go principally by the
Reuse of touch—must feel their way like blind
p
p-en. Not only is it impossible for the miners
Ito look up, but such is the force of the pour-
cascades of water that they cannot climb
¡adders without danger of being beaten
and it has been found necessary to rig a
¡«oisting apparatus by which to hoist the men
UP to their work.
___ ____ r__
r
Coni prehensive.
Need of a Better Education.
[Demorest's Monthly.]
Nearly every one who testified before
the senate commission which sat in
New York recently, as to the best
means of benefiting the laboring classes,
agrees that vital changes must be made
in our common school education. Boys
and girls mnst be trained to work as
well as to read, write and cipher.
France, Germany, and especially
Switzerland, are far ahead of the
United States in technical and art
education. Hence the immense su
periority of the foreign workmen in all
our shops and manufactories over the
native employes.
The American is naturally the most
intelligent, quick-witted, and inventive,
but he is left hopelessly in the rear
when in competition with the trained
European artisan. We must rid our
selves of the superstition that our com
mon school system is perfection. As a
matter of fact, it is wofully deficient as
compared with the industrial education
given by continental European nations
to their working classes. Apart from
our scientific schools, the Cooper
Union, and the Boston Technological
institute, no provision has been made
in the United States to do work that re
quires intelligence and artistic skill.
The President'» "lAghtnln’ Wood.”
[New York Tribune. ]
The other day a large hogshead, sent
from North Carolina by express to the
president, was delivered at the White
House. A colored domestic who took
it in charge explained that "Dat dar
bar’l is full, sail, ob lightnin’ wood, or as
ver might say, split pitch-pine kindlin s
fur de making ov fires. Hence Mr. Ar
thur hez been presidint. we liev been
a-gittin' on 'em ebbery niunf durin de
fall an’ winter. Mister Arthur liebber
goes to bed in cold wedder w idout a big
blazin’ fire in his room, wedder here or
out to Soldiers’ Home, and we as has
ter clean up and look arter de fires hez
ter take up a bundle ol> dis hyar light
nin’ wood ebbery night, so as be kin
frow it in de tire an' make er blaze, an’
sit dar an' tink while a-watchin' ob de
shallows on de wall. When lie uses de
lightnin’ wood, lie rebber uses er light,
an’ when he gets tired he jumps in de
bed an watches de Hames flicker till he
goes ter sleep. He’s mighty perticker-
ler about dis lightnin’ wood, an if de
supply gins out. dar is some fun till dar s
more put in de bin.
AT A FLEA THEATRE.
The Performance of Trained Fleas
Behind the Footlights.
Whirl, Goe. to Mhow that "The l»o-
■uevtlc Flea I* a Creature of
<- ouaiderable
lutelli-
genre.”
[Dantzig letter iu Pall Mall Gazette’
There was a fair going on outside the gates
of this most picturesque old city. Wander
ing among the booths, our curiosity was ex
cited by one which bore the following in
scription: “Pariser Floh-Theatre.” Tempted
by a man who told us the performance was
“just about to begin,” we accepted the tick
ets he
1 ~ almost
•
•
•
thrust
into our • hands,
and
crossed the threshold of the
tent. There was certainly no reason
for
_
____
____
delay,
as
some-
we
fouud
what to our embarrassment, that we consti
tuted the whole of the audience. But, as the
fauious flea theatre was about the size of an
ordinary tambourine (which instrument it
greatly resembled), we should scarcely have
had so good a view of the performance if the
spectators had been more numerous. Taking
our seats as directed about a small round
table, we looked with interest at certain card
board lx»xes which stood beside the theatre.
One of these was open, and showed a number
of tiny vehicles, carriages, bicycles, engines,
Roman chariots, all as minute as possible.
The other boxes, with lids, contained the ac
tors themselves.
The enterprising manageress, a stout lady
in a cotton dressing-gown, placed herself op
posite at the table, and prefaced the enter
tainment with a short but interesting ad
dress. “The ordinary domestic flea,” she be
gan, “is a creature of considerable intelli
gence, and capable of a high degree of intel
lectual cultivation. We have no less than
three hundred in this establishment. They
are not hungry,” she added hastily, in an
swer to some slight expression of anxiety that
doubtless portrayed itself ou our counte
nances. “I engage a man to come every day
and feed them. He bares his arm, the three
hundred are placed thereon, and they suck
until they are satisfied.” Our immediate ap
prehensions thus allayed, the lady pro
ceeded to explain that the first pro
cess in thegreat work of taming and educat
ing a flea was to fasten an invisible gold
thread around its neck, by means of which it
could be lifted at pleasure or harnessed to any
of the vehicles displayed iu the box before us.
A well-nurtured specimen will often live to
the age of 8 years: and with evident
pride she remarked, “We have several among
our troup who are already 6 years old,”
and so saying, she handed us a powerful
microscope, and gratified us by the sight of
one of these venerable fleas (magnified to the
size of a wasp), kicking and plunging vio
lently, in no wise impeded by the weight of
its golden collar.
The entertainment began with a chariot
race by fleas of various nations. The Rus
sian was attached to its native drosky, the
Siberian to a sledge. England, France and '
Germany had each their representatives, the j
former harnessed, I think, to a common Lon
don omnibus. Each competitor was supposed
to be able to draw a body of six times its
own weight. The stage was slightly tilted,
however, in order to assist the runners. I re
gret I am unable to give you the exact result {
of the race, which would doubtless be of in- |
tense interest to your sporting friends, but 1
the start
could
not altogether be !
considered satisfactory. The English steed i
went off at a steady trot, without waiting
for any one else. The German lay down to
have a nap by the way, and most of the
others bolted off the course. This being over
the lady resumed her lecture.
“It is not every flea,” we were informed,
“that is gifted with the power of saltation.
So far we had seen only, as it were, the
beasts of burden—docile insects, indeed, but
with no other special accomplishment. Now
we were to be treated to a ballet, as danced |
by some really superior artistes.” So saying I
she opened one of the cardboard boxes, and |
extracted theuce with a delicate pair of
pincers a dozen of dancing fleas, each ele
gantly attired in—or rather, I should perhaps
say, covered by—a petticoat of tissue ¡»aper,
red, blue, green, yellow—ad the colors of the
rainbow. Each dancer was announced by
name as she entered upon the scene: Meess
Elizabet. Fraulein Alina, Mamzelle Barbe,
etc.; and each and all, encouraged by the
voice of their directress, performed the most
astonishing evolutions, whirling and hopping,
skipping, leaping wildly into the air in a
way that was comical to behold. It was as
if the minutest of ballet girls had been cut in
two at the waist, the lower half performing I
minus the head and shoulders, or like a Sab- 1
battical dance of fairy lampshades be
witched.
Now and again, after some unusually pro
digious leap, an artiste would be upset. 1 hen,
beneath the gay voluminous skirt, the strug
gling insect was for a moment visible;
quickly replaced on its legs, however, by the
watchful care of its mistress. Now came act
the third, wheu the interest was supi>osed to
culminate; and with much verbal flourish of
trumpets, a female roj)e-dancer was produced,
second only in renown to the famous Blondin
himself. This young lady’s name was Eliza.
Hhe lived in a nest of cotton wool, with
one other companion, who was prob
delicate
health,
in
as she
ably
called upon to perform.
was not
Eliza not only danced on a rope, but twice
traversed an imaginary unfathomable abyss
on a nearly invisible wire suspended between
two pins. Finally to conclude the exhibi
tion the box of cotton wool w as held upside
dow’n at a distance of nearly two inches
above her head, and at the word of command,
“Jetzt, Elisa, springe!” (Now, Eliza, jump!)
the intelligent insect sprang with one bound
into its warm and cosy nest. We w-ere
charged for this entertainment the not im
moderate sum of 5 pence apiece, and as we
walked away, remembering the man who fed,
and the lady who taught the fleas, we could
not but marvel at the variety of ways in
which it is possible to earn one's livelihood iu
this our work a-day world.
Mr. Beecher"* Mnbntltate for Hell.
[Interview in Galveston News.]
“Mr. Beecher, when the dogma of a hell is
knocked iu the head, how are you to appeal to
Plantation Philosophy.
men in such a way as to lift them out of their
'Arkansaw Traveler/
”
De simplest truth is de truest truth, boots?
“Preach retribution,” answered the great
fur it am un erstood by de most people. thinker, in a very emphatic manner. “No in
Fear ain’t based on judgment. A hog telligent person believes in a literal burning
will run quicker from a brick 1 >at den he hell, but when men come to learn that their
sins will find them out and there is no chance
will from a gun.
De thoughts what rise in a man longs of escaping the punishment for w rong-doing
ter hisself, but de thoughts what be gits you have got a moral lever that will control
the violences of human nature an«l sen«l it on
frum books, 'longs ter somebody else.
through the ages of eternity in the right d>
Tourgneneff** brain weighed, it is rection ” _________________
said, 2,012 grammes, and was the
The Senate Bar-Tender.
Heaviest human brain ever weighed.
The new “caterer” (bar-tender) of the
The average weight is 1,390 grammes. United States senate is Richard Francis,
Cuvier's brain weighed l.HUO grammes. colored. He is worth $40,000, andean under
Over the door of a cabin in Montana. on
line of the Northern Pacific road, is writ
Cider is so plentiful in France this
ten with charcoal the« worth: “Only nine
piles to water and twenty miles from wood, v^ar that drivers refresh their horses
pub in the house.
God bl«» our with’pails of it in the rural districts
where it is handier than water.
THE VARIETIES OF LAUGHTER.
From the lle-lle Ltiggle to the Thou-
nhik I- Acre-4. ufTav.
[Brooklyn Eagle.]
There is the hearty laugh, the con
vulsive laugh, the he-he laugh, and the
uproarious, almost-tumble out-of-the-
chair laugh. There was the laugh of
l’linee Hal. who was said to laugh “till
his face is like a wet cloak— ill, laid up.”
There is the incipient laugh, which is
not a laugh but a smile. The late
Charles Backus, the minstrel,who,it will
be remembered, had a very large mouth,
was once having his photograph taken.
The operator told him to look pleasant,
to smile a little. The famous minstrel
gave an elaborate smile. “Oh, that
will never do!” said the photographer,
it’s too wide for the instrument.
Speaking of a western actress the re
porter wrote: “Her smile opened out
like the Yosemite valley in a May morn
ing.” When Miss Marie Wilt n, the
English actress, played Hester Graze
brook in the “Unequal Match,” her
laugh was said to be of the character
that first as it were looks out of the
eyes to see if the coast was clear, then
steals down into a prettv dimple of the
cheek and rides there in an eddy for
the while; then waltzes at the corners
of the mouth like a thing of life: then
burst« its bonds of beauty and fills the
air for a moment with a shower of
silver-tongued echoes and then steals
back to its lair in the heart to watch
again for its prey.” How different from
the kind of laugh of Prince Hoare, a
friend of Hayden, the painter. This
gentleman was a delicate, feeble-looking
man, with a timid expression of face,
and when lie laughed heartily he almost
seemed to be crying.
It runs in families sometimes to dis-
tort the countenance in laughter. Mr.
Labouchere speaks of a family who
laugh a great deal, and who always
shut their eyes when they do so. It is
funny at the dinner table, when some
thing witty is said to look around and
see tlie same distortion of every face.
There is not an eye left in the family.
A trio of sisters is spoken of who show
half an inch of pale pink gums when
they laugh. In their presence, like
Wendell Holmes, one “never dares to
be as funny as one can,” for fear of see
ing their applauding triple of gums.
A laugh is sometimes only a sneer.
Diogenes, of tub notoriety, saw a good
deal of this kind of laughter. Some one
said to him, “ Many people laugh at
you.” “ But I,” he quickly remarked,
“ am not laughed down.”
The ••Mtore” Pumpkin Pie.
[Peck's Sun.]
The store kind of pumpkin pie has
a sort of sickly second-cousin coun
tenauce, and is scarcely over an
eighth of an inch thick, with a
crust on the bottom that almost
breaks a tinner’s shears to cut it. As for
taste, that has to be imagined, as it is a
sort of go-as-you-please flavor between
tan bark and cinnamon. Then again,
100 store pies will be made out of an
ordinary 20-cent pumpkin. Each pie is
cut into eight pieces about the size of two
fingers,which sell for 5 cents. This brings
40 cents for a pie, or $40 for the pro
duct of the pumpkin. That leaves the
store-keeper $39 and 80 cents profit on
his pumpkin and as the crust is thin
with no shortening in it 80 cents ought
to cover this cost, leaving aii even $39
profit on the transaction.
A slice of mother’s pumpkin ¡ye the
size of your two hands, that’s the regu
lation cut in home-made pie, and an
inch and a half thick contains more
real pie than a dozen store pies, and
there is no danger of trouble from indi
gestion eating it.
Death front Pnswion.
Cases in which death results from
the physical excitement consequent on
mental passion are, according to The
Lancet, not uncommon. A recent in
stance has again called attention to the
matter. Unfortunately, those persons
who are prone to sudden and over
whelming outbursts of ill temper do
not, as a rule, recognize their pro
pensity or realize the perils to which it
exposes them; while the stupid idea
that such deaths as occur in passion,
and which are directly caused by it,
ought to be ascribed to “the visitation
of God,” tends to divert attention from
the common sense lesson which such
deaths should teach. It is most unwise
to allow the mind to excite the brain
and body to such extent as to endanger
life itself. We do not sufficiently ap
preciate the need and value of mental
discipline as a corrective of bad habits
and a preventive of disturbances by
which hajipiness, and life itself, are too
often jeopardized.
lii*e<*t Dr*troyer*.
[Chicago Tribune.]
Prof. C. V. Riley, in a recent address
before the American Promological so
ciety, said that if lie were asked to enu
merate the six most important sub
stances that could be used for destroy
ing insects above ground he would men
tion tobacco, soap, hellebore, arsenic,
petroleum and pyrethrum. The first
three, lie said, were well known, and
comment on their value is unnessary.
But it has only lately lieen learned that
the vapor of nicotine—that is tobacco
vapor—is not only very effectual in de
stroying insects wherever it can be con
fined, as in greenhouses, but that it is
less injurious to delicate plants than
either the smoke or the liquid.
Grave« of Wlra and Mr*. Murraft.
[Exchange.]
In secluded parts of Mount Olivet
cemetery. Washington, but far apart,
are the graves of Mary E. Surratt and
Wirz, the keeper of the Andersonville
prison pen. Wirz is buried under a tall
hickory tree, in which s piirrels chatter
and gambol. Tall, rank weeds and un
kempt grass surround the spot, and
the simple word “Wirz” on a small
block of marble at the head of the
grave is the only thing to denote his
resting place. Mrs. Surratt’s grave is
equally obscure. A' small, plain head
stone has simply the name, “Mrs. Mary
E. Surratt.”
Overdid It.
[Inter Ocean.]
An Arkansas minister prayed for rain,
and that night they got it and a Hood that
The thn* funds already collected for the set the neighborhood back ten years. A
erection of a monument to Gen. Lee in Rich vigilance committee has notified him not
mvnd now amount to about
I to do it again.
stand a wink a mile away.
AN IOWA GIRL.
The Story of Belle Clinton, the Brave
Dakota Homesteader.
A
Little Nunny-Haired Laaa* Muc-
ceaaful Kolution of One of the
Bertoli* Problem* of
Life.
[Nevada da.) Representative.]
Belle Clinton’s fame has touched two
oceans. To the people of Nevada she is
known as Hallie Hambleton—the grave, gen
tle maiden who, since she came here a little
sunny-haired lass iu the parental ark. has
glided quietly among us from the door of her
father’s pretty cottage in Linn street. The
catechism she learned in the Methodist Sun
day school, the three R’s in the old school
house, and the ologies were pursued at the
Agricultural college till broken health called
a halt. One long winter she studied this
problem of her own. Given physi
cal
unfitness for the avocations by
which Iowa young women ordinarily earn
a livelihood, how is independence to be se
cured? and in the following summer, 1880,
she set about its practical solution. An exjje-
dition, inspired by her zeal, and consisting of
herself, her mother as chaperon and commis
sary of the party, her sister May, and two
young friends of the “male persuasion,” set
out in a prairie schooner for the great north
west. Two weeks of journeying over a cir
cuitous route, brought them to the home of
her college classmate, near a station which
was ringing for the first time with tho shriek
of the locomotive. This was the nucleus of
the now booming city of Mitchell, the mart
of southeastern Dakota.
Near the residence of her friend Miss Ham
bleton selected her homestead and timber
lot. and in the land office of Davidson county
entered her claim. Afcer a week’s stay the
pioneer party returned, brown, vigorous,
and enthusiastic. The spriug took our home
steader again to Mitchell, and she supervised
the building of her shanty, the breaking
stipulated by law, and the planting of her
timber. Her cabin was supplied with such
comforts as circumstances allowed, and the
place became known to passers-by as “the
school ma’am’s claim, where the flowers
grow. ”
Just before Thanksgiving of that year she
rolled the stone against the door of her cot
and turned for winter shelter toward the old
roof-tree. At Boone, chance then led the senior
editor of The Representative, then pencil
pusher of The Boone Republican, to a seat
beside her in the railway car, and the two
friends discussed her experience as a home
steader until the train reached Nevada. The
main points of her experience were embod
ied in an editorial for the next issue of The
Republican. Eli Perkins was, at that time,
on a tour which included several towns on
the line of the Northwestern. Whether he
caught Miss Sallie’s story from her own lips
or others, found it in The Republican para
graphs, or in his own fertile imagination,
deponent sayeth not; but true it is that in
his next published letter to The Chicago
Daily Tribune was incorporated, with slight
embellishments, the outline of the pioneer
girl’s doings. It was given as a railway con
versation between himself and ‘ ‘Miss Belle
Clinton, of Nevada, the smartest girl I met
iu Iowa.” In those days young lady home
steaders were rare, and the readers of The
Tribune in this vicinity immediately referred
the alias to Miss Hambleton. Eli Perkins’
letter was copied by the press in tho east as
well as in the far west.
In December letters began to arrive ad
dressed to Belle Clinton, and they were un
hesitatingly assigned to Miss Hambleton.
They hailed from all points from Maine to
California, a single mail often bringing half
a dozen. Before winter was over the num
ber received had swelled to several hundred.
They were from old men, young men, wid
ows and maids, and with rare exceptions,
were honest inquiries for information by
persons desiring to l>ecome homesteaders.
Of course, they were honestly and faithfully
answered, and with the opening of the spring
of 1882, a considerable number of Belle Clin
ton’s corespondents became Dakota settlers;
and the influence on emigration exerted by
the press report of her enterprise is indi
cated by the fact that, on the strength of it,
one Greene county old German alone starte«!
off sixty young men; “For,” said he, “what
a girl can do, of course they can.” In rec
ognition of her service the officers of the
Milwaukee railroad readily passed her over
their line; and the second six months, short
ened by a long visit from her mother, was
spent on the claim.
Iu April last the third half year of occupa
tion was begun. The right of a brave, gentle
woman to strive honorably for independence
ha«l made her cabin a castle impregnable to
either open invader or secret foe; but destiny
no moat or fortress walls can stay. In an
editorial room in Han Francisco, a native of
the city of brotherly love, whose kindred
were still beside the Schuylkill, prepared
“copy” for The Journal of Commerce. His
home, the fireside of a friend, was one (lay
broken up bv death. Belle Clinton, the Iowa
maiden, pursuing a worthy puri>ose in a path
unbeaten by her sex, ‘had l»een named in
numberless exchanges; and, in an hour of
loneliness, he sent her a word of eucourage-
ment. The kindly message drew a courte
ous response, and—it is the old, old story—
thus started, the moving shuttle was unhin
dered until it had woven fast two lives. In
June, after Mrs. Hambleton had joined her
daughter in Belle Clinton’s rustic shanty, the
prince first beheld his princess “face to face.”
His visit to Mitchell was followed by one to
her parental home; the engagement ring
glittered on her finger, the Dakota claim was
proved up, and in the George Hambleton
cottage, in Neva«la, rejoiced a reunited house
hold. A few weeks of busy preparation fol
lowed, and then, Heptember 4, the nuptials
were celebrated.
Belle Clinton s romance is complete, and
from the marrige sacrament g«> forth Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Jarden.
l*ari*ian Artichoke*.
ABDICATED.
I
[Nora Perry, in The Manhattan.]
So I step down and you step up;
Why not—why not?
I drained the draught, Hung down the cup;
And you have got
The little place I once called mine,
Ami you will quaff
The wine I «piaffed and call it fine—
It makes me laugh.
You’ll get so weary <if the thing
Before you’re through,
The shows, the lies, the ¡»altering
Of all the crew.
I wonder if somewhere beyond
This earthly track.
When we have slipped the fleshly bond,
We sha’n’t look back
With just this kind of glad relief,
Anu laugh to find
That we have left the grind and grief
So far behind?
OAREEH OF AN OREGON PIONEER.
“Buckskin Jim” Get* Tired of Mew
York In Twenty-Four Hours.
[New York Times.]
One of the most remarkable of the 117 mem
bers of the Oregon Pioneer association, of
Portland, Oregon, who arrived in this city
from the west on Thursday night, and who are
domiciled at the Ht. Nicholas hotel, is “Buck
skin Jim,” an old western settler aud trapper
of the Leather-stocking school, who derives
his nickname from a costume which he usually
wears, made of dressed buckskin in the real
Indian style so familiar to the readers of dime
novel literature. “Buckskin Jim’s” real name
is James Hearn. ‘ He is over 70 years of age,
well-to-do in the world, and few men are bet
ter or more favorably known on the Pacific
slope. His story, as told to a reporter last
night, had best be given in his own words:
“I ran away from my home in England,”
said he, “when I was 18 years of age, and
sailed for the Pacific coast. The brig I went
in was wrecked ou the coast south of San
Francisco, and the few who were saved, in
cluding myself, fell into the hands of the In
dians, who treated us well. I staid aiming
the Indians, wandering along the coast fish
ing and hunting. At Guaymas. in Sonora, in
1839, I think, I was taken by a party of Santa
Anna's soldiers, who had orders to arrest
every white man that could be fouud. We
were marched thence to Tepee on foot, and
in double irons.
We were con-
without
the slightest pretext
in
a loathsome jail,
and suffered
greatly during the six months we spent there,
iu irons and persecuted by vermin. The
British consul said that if every one of us
would declare himself an Englishman he
would liberate us at once. One of our i>arty,
the celebrated ‘Yankee Jim,’declined at first,
ami said that nothing would induce him to
declare himself a Britisher, but he came
around and we all were liberated. Mr.
Saunders preferred a claim against the
Mexican government for damages, and he
was so sure of getting it that he paid us $300
per man ancUoff we went.
“I then took a sailing vessel to Alaska, where
I lived among the Flathead Indians. In ’48,
I caught the ‘gold fever’ aud dug for gold hi
California. Oh, I struck it rich, you bet.
Sometimes I had as much as 600 ¡M»unds
weight of gold all at once, but it never lasted
very long. I have no idea how much money
I have dug out of the earth in my time, but I
never could keep it. You’ll never see an old
forty-niner who has a cent. Since then I’ve
given up mining, and have been engaged in
real estate and stock raising in Idahpand
Washington territory. I am going abroad
next week to buy some Durham and Muley
calves, and when I get back I shall migrate
to Snake river, the wildest place in Idaho.
Do I like the city? Not much. 1 have been
here twenty-four hours and I'm sick to death
of it. There is not room enough for mo. To
morrow I am going to Bridgeport to try to
find my sister, whom I haven’t 3oen nor heard
of for fifty years. I don’t know whether
she’s alive or not, but maybe I’ll find some
nephews and nieces.”
The aged pioneer suggested that it might
be a good idea to go down Broadway to-day
in his buckskin suit, but a friend advised him
against it, on the ground that he might be
mistaken for an advertisement.
Old-Time letter Writing.
[New York Tribune.]
It is a common but unjust complaint that
cheap postage killed the art of letter writing.
In the last century the dispatch of an epistle
was an affair of some moment. Th© ex|>ense
of the post was not to be incurred without
consideration; and since it was the receiver
of the missive who had to pay for it, every
gentleman who valued his reputation was
anxious that his friends should find his cor
respondence worth the money. The knack of
composing an elegant and entertaining letter
was one of tho first accomplishments de
manded of a man of wit and culture. The
broad pages upon which he expended his
pains took the place, in some degree, which
has since been filled by the newspaper and
the magazine; every letter-writer tried
to lie
an essayist, a chronicler of
politics and business, a critic, a gossip.
Hundreds of volumes of private correspon
dence have been collected and printed in our
time, which rank with the most valuable
materials for history and the most entertain
ing illustrations of the tastes, opinions and
manners of past generations; and no incon
siderable part of them possess besides a j>osi-
tive literary quality. It is true that as soon
as we go l>ack to the fashionable era of letter
writing, to tho time of Walpole and Pojie,
we find ourselves in the midst of insincerity
and artifice; but these were characteristics of
the society of that day, and the letters would
not lie prised so highly as they are if they
were not faithful reflections of the life front
which they came.
Waste Place» in Michigan.
The burned regions of Michigan have been
vjsited by a correspondent of The Detroit
Free Press. He says: “Every half mile
brings to view, as you sail on the Au Sable,
an open space in tho forests many acres in
extent. There are thick blackened tree
trunks on the ground, protruding in all di
rections from their shroud of green under
brush. A more impressive spectacle are the
dead pine trees still standing in these open
areas, black around the roots, and reaching
as straight as a dart a hundred feet in the
the air. These are the gaunt skeletons of
what once were splendid living pines, now
killesl by tho forest fires that periodically
sweep through the Michigan woodlands dur
ing drought. Not far below the mouth of
the Au Sable, and on the other side of Sagi
naw bay, is the region where the deadly fires,
two years ago, devastate«I the woodlands,
destroying hundreds of lives and millions of
property.
[Boston Folio.]
How “the shop” will obtrude itself occa
sionally in an unconscious way! I was din
ing the other day iu company with P-----and
E----- , two well known artists, when from a
discussion of cauliflowersand “mountain oys
ters’’ a step was taken in an opposite direc
tion.
“Did you ever eat artichokee in Parisf’
asked P-----of E----- .
A heavy wagon was going by on the street
just then, and E-----could not have heard
A Parental Pun.
distinctly, as his reply was:
(Han Francisco Argonaut.]
“Oh, yes! when I was in Paris I used to
“Does a goose lay eggs?” inquired Rollo,
read all the art jokes, but I am out of the one brisk morning in breezy March. Anri
way now.”
Rollo’s father, sitting behind the stove, eat
And then there was a shout.
ing quinine with a sjioon, and trying to shake
his whole skeleton out of his pockets, ma« la
Caetn* Paper.
reply: “Yes, my son, ague slays everything.
Enterprises are
in Mexico for man It has slain your father.”
ufacturing paper and textiles out of the wild
Too Attractive.
cactus which grows so abundantly in that
country. The Denver Republican calls at
[Exchange.]
tention to the fact that the same thing might
A Brooklyn merchant made his signs and
I* done in Colorado.
windows so attractive that the garers blocked
the streets and his competitors aske-l the
The Dakota lands set afert for educational courts to haul in his attractions, and the
jiurpuMS are valued at U%<JUU,U0O.
court actually made the order.