HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1888-06-22, Page 2TIE THRF4AD OF LIFE;
OR,
SUNSHINE AND SHADE.
CHAPTER VII.
antenna IN COMMIT,.
lucky knight of the highway ; he was quite
content to be blest, while he could, with
both at once, asking no questions, for on,
tame' sake, of his own final disposition,
Marital or otherwise; towards one or the
other, bet loving the problem of his ma-
trimonial arrangements for fate, or ohanco,
widto settle in its own good fashion,
geowork and to get on, Heil be a It was jell: a. week after his arrival at
Ja
time, I don't doubt. If a manlike Whitcstrend that he wont up one morning
that were to marry our Winifred, with the early to ti a hall, Elsie and Winifred were
That lamenight, ail the Squire and Mrs, aid we could give him and the frby
we seated together on a rug under the big tree,
Writer eat by by titemsalves to wards the small could and him, he ought to o y qu ok engaged in reading one novel between them,
hence --after the girle hadunanimously stages. to be—anything you like—Lord "3=ou iniac wish Winifred eau; happy
*emanated the drawing-recti—discussing Chancellor, or Postmaster -General, or returns of the day,'" Elsie caned out gaily,
awl there enviethe affairs of e/ advovere gag ase of claras et ofrif ytasteof s happen to run in bury, for the that teem. "Lap ee herom irthdabook as Hugh a; and
*rap ttg , gthat, yourPl? them, Lee her birthday, Hugh; and Jute
, stiuden glance. Into the r looked father'at sat facerth a and di" He hasn't done much at the bar yet," on," Meysey etgiven terlovely, present NIr.
said, in a tone half -anxious, half -timid : Mrs. Meysey continued, playing her fish Winifred held out the present at arm's
"Tom, did it happen to strike you this dexterously before landing it, length for his admiration, It was a pretty
afternoor".e that thathandsome cousin of "Hasn't done much 1 0f course he hasn't little watch, in gold and enamel, with her
Miele Challoner's seemed to take a great done much 1 How the dickens could he? initials engraves onthe book on a broad
faucy to neer Winifred? " Can a man make briefs for himfelf, do you shield. "It's just a beauty ! I should love
The Squire stirred hie claret -cup idly suppose? He's given himself up, he tells one like it myself 1" Elsie cried enthusiasti-
with hie spoon. I suppose the fellow h as me, to earning a livelihood by writing for col;y. "• Did you ever see such a dear little
eyee in hila head," he answered bluntly. the papers, He had to do it. It's a pity, thing? It's keyless too, and so exquisitely
"" Nornan in his lenses could ever lock at upon my word, a clever young fellow like finished. It really makes me feel quite
otzr little Winnir, I should think, Emily, that—he understaneslthe riparian proprie• ashamed of my own poor old battered silver
sad no 1' over his ears in love with her,"" tors' question down to the. very ground— „
hlrs. eysey waited a minute or two should be compelled to turn aside from his. on Hugh took the watch and examined it care-
more in silent suspsnse before she spoke proper work at the bar to serve tables, so to fully. He noted the maker's name upon the
sgar,in; then she said once more, very net- speak—to gain his daily bread by penny a dial, and opening the back, made a mental
tatively 4 He seems a tolerably nice youeg lining. If Winifred were to take a fancy to memorandum of the number..A sudden
roan, 1 think, Tom." a young man like that, now "—The Squire thought had flashed across him at the mo -
"Oh, he's well enough, I _daresay," the paused, and eyed the light through .his glass ment. He waited only a few minutes at the
Squire admitted grudgingly. ' reflectively. Hall, and then asked the two girls if they
•4 A barrister, he says. That's a very "He's very presentable," Mrs. Moysey could walk down into the v,llage with him.
good profession,"Mrs. Meysey,went on, still went on, re -arranging her workbox, and He bad a telegram to send off, he said,
feeling her way by gradual stages. still angling cleverly for dear Tom's indig- which he had only jest that moment remem-
"Never heard so in my life before," the nation. bered. Would they mind stepping over
Squire grunted out. " There are barristers , "" He's a, man any woman might beper- with him as far, as the post -office?
and barristers. Hs gets no- briefs. Lives fectly proud of," the Squire retorted in a They eetrolled together into the sleepy
on literature, by what he tells me : next thunderous voice with firm conviction. High Street. At the office, Huge wrote and
door to living upen your wits, I call it." Mrs. Meysey followed up her advantage sent off his telegram. It was addressed to a
" Bur I mean, it's a gentleman's profes persistently for twenty minutes, insinuating well-known firm of watchmakers in Ludgate
cion, anyhow, Tom, the bar," every possible hint against Hugh, and lead- Hill. " Could you send me by tc-morrow
"Oh, the man's a gentleman, of course, if ing the Squire deeper and deeper into a evening's post, to address as below, a lady's
it comes to that—a perfect gentleman; and hopeless slough of unqualifiedcommendation, gold and enamel watch, with initials "E.
an Oxford man, and a person of culture, and At the end of that time she said quietly.: C., from H. M." engraved on shield on back,
all that sort of thing I don't deny it. He's "" Then I understand, Tom, that if Winne• but in every other respect precisely similar
a very presentable fellow, too, in his own fred and, this young Messinger take a fancy to No. 2479; just supplied to Mr. Meysey, of
way; and most intelligent: understands the to one another, you don't put 'an absolute Whitestrand Hall? If so, telegraph back
riparian proprietors' question aseasy as veto on the idea of their getting engaged, cash -price at once, and cheque for amount
anything.—Y ou can ask him to dinner do you ?" shall be sent -immediately, Reply paid.
whenever you choose,; if that's what you're " I only want Winnie to choose for her- Hugh Messinger, Filhernaaay's Rest, White•
driving at." self," .the Squire answered with prompt de- strand, Suffolk."
Mrs. Meysey called another halt for a few cieion, " Not that I suppose for a moment Before lunch-time, the reply had duly ar-
second's before she reopened fire, still more there's anything in this young fellow's talk- rived : " Watch shall be sent on receipt of
timidly thanever.,"Tom,doyouknowIrather ing a bit to her. Men will flirt, and cheque. Price twenty-five guineas." So
fancy ltereally likes our Winifred?'' she utter- girls will let 'em. Getting engaged far, good. It was a fair amount for a jour-
• mared, gasping, indeed ! You count your chickens before neyman journalist to pay for a present ;
" Of course he likes our Winifred," the the eggs are Laid. A man can't leek at a but, as Hugh; shrewdly reflected, it would
Squire repeated, with profound conviction in girl eowadays, but you women must take it kill two birds with one stone. Day after
every tone of his voice. "I should like to into your precious heads at once he wants to -morrow was Elsie's birthday. The watch
know who on earth there is that dosen't like to go straight off to church and marry her. would give Elsie pleasure ; and Hugh, to do
our Winifred 1 Nothing new in that. I However, dor my part, I'm not going to in- him justice, 'thoroughly' levee. giving ppleas-
could have told, you that myself. Go ahead terfere in the matter one way or the other. ure to anybody, .especially a pretty girl, and
with it, then.—What next, now, Emily ?" 1'd rather she'd marry the man she loves, above all Elsie. But it could also do him
"" Well, I think, Tom,. if £m not mistak- and the man wl'o loves her, whenever he no harm in the Meyseys' eyes to see that,
• en, Winifred seemed rather inclined to take turns up, than marry fifty thousand pounds journeyman journalist as he was, he was
afaney to him, too, somehow." and the best estate of, all Suffolk." earning enough to afford to throw away
Thomas Wyville Meysey laid down hie Mrs. Meysey had carried her point with twenty-five guineas on a mere present to a
glass incredulously on the small side -table. honours. "Perhaps you're right, dear," governess -cousin, There is a time for *acon-
ite didn't explode, but he hang fire fora mo- she said diplomatically, as who should yield omy, and there is a time for lavishness.
meat- " You women are always fancying to superior wisdom. It was her policy not The present moment deafly came under the
things," he said at last, with a slight frown. to appear too eager. latter category.
s" You think you're so precious quick, you " Perhaps I'm right 1" the Squire. echoed, (To BE CONTINUED.).
doe" ea reading oth%people's faces. I don't hell in complacency and half in anger. " Of
yyou oftenku eed an reading themright, course I'm right. I know I'm right, Emily.
ou read imine ecious often, I know, Why, I was readingin a bock the other day
,.1r k ia't want you to—that I `eau a. meet splendid appeal from some philoso-
to. Bali sometimes, Emily, you phic writer or other :about making fewer
ow you read what isn't in them. That's marriages in future to please Mamma, and
the way with all decipherers of heirogly more to suit the tastes of the parties con -
ethics. They see a great deal more in corned, and subserve the good of coming
things than ever was put there. You re- generations. I' think it was an article in
member that time when I met old Hillier one of the magazines. It's the right way,
down yonder ---e" I'm sure of that; and in Winifred's case I
" Yes; yes, I remember," Mrs. Meysey mean to stick to it."
admitted, checking him at the outset with So, from that day forth, if it was Hugh
an astute concession. She had cause to re- Messinger;s intention or desire tp prosecute
,member the facts, indeed,'1or the Squire his projected military operations against
reminded her of that one obvious, and pal- Winnifred Meyaey's hand and heart, he
able mistake about the young fox -cubs at found at least a benevolent neutral in the
least three times a week, the year round, on old Squire, and a secret, silent, but none
au average. "I was wrong that time ; I the less domestic ally in Mrs. Meysey. It
know 1 was, of course. You weren't in the is not often the; a penniless suitor thus en -
least annoyed with Mr. Hillier. But 1 lists the sympathies of the parental author-
think—I don't say I'm sure, observe, dear
—but I think Winifred's likely to take a f e tr who ought of t precedent to orces the
central portion the defensive forces, on
fancy to him—a s'r;ous fancy—and he to his own aide in such an aggressive enterprise.
her—what are you and 1 to do about it? " But; with Hugh Masainger, nobody ever even
As she spoke, Mrs. Meysoy looked hard noticed it as a singular exception. He was
at the lamp and then at her husband, won- so clever, so handsome, so full of promise,
dering with what sort of grace he wouldso courteous and courtly in his demeanour
ive this very revolutionary and upset- to young and old, so rich in future, hopes
g ion., Forherself—thoughmothera and ambitions, that not the Squire alone,
are hard to please—it may as well be ad- but everybody else who came in contact
matted off -hand, she hag fallen a ready with his easy smile, accepted him before -
victim at once to Hugh Messinger's charms hand as almost already a Lord Chancellor,
and brilliancy and blandishments. Such a or a Poet Laureate, or . an Archbishop of
nice young man, so handsome and gentle- Canterbury, according as he might choose
manly, so adroit in his talk, so admirable to direct his talents into this channel or
in ,,his principles, and though far from rich, that ; and failel to be surprised that the
yet, in His way, distinguised ! A better Meyseys or anybody else on Garth should
loung man,, darling Winifred was hardly accept him with effusion as a favoured
ikely to meet with. But what would dear postulant for the hand of their only daugh-
Tom think about him? she wondered. Dear ter and heiress. There are a few such un -
Tont had
n-Tonthad each very expansive not to say ivers al favorites here and there in the
utopian ideasfor Winifred—thoughtnobody world : whenever you meet one, smile with
but a Duke or a Prince of the blood half the rest, but remember that his recipe is a
good enough for her : though to be sure, simple one—Humbug.
experience would seem to suggest that Dukes Hugh stopped for, two months or more at
Mid Princes, alter all, are only human, and Whitestrand, and ,during all that time he
we originally very much better than other saw much both of Elsie and of Winifred.
people. Whatever superior moral excellence, The Meyseys introduced him with cordial
we usually. detect in the finished product pleasure to all the melancholy gaieties of the
emirs no doubt be safely set down in ultimate sleepy little peninsula. He duly attended
analysis to the exceptional pains bestowed with them the i o,nnolent garden -parties on
by society upon their ethical education. the smooth lawns of neighboring Squires :
The Squire looked into his clarotcup the monotonous picnics up the tidal stream
profoundly for a few weeds before an- of the meandering Char : the heavy dinners
steering as if he expected to find it a at every local rector's and VIcar's and resi-
rerfect Dr. Dee's divining crystal, big dent baronet's ; with alt the other dead -
with hints as to his daughter's future; alive entertainments of the dullest and
wad then he burst out abruptly with a most stick•in•the mud corner of all
simile;"I suppose we must leave the E,i laird. The London poet enliven-
sitewering of that question entirely to ed skein all, however, with nes never -fail.
Winnie.'' ing flow of languid humor, and his slow,
Mrs. Meysey did not dare to let her in• drawled -cut readiness of Pall Mall repartee.
f ernitl sigh of relief escape her throat; that It was a comfort to him, indeed, to get
would have been too compromising, and among these unspoiled and ilnsophisticated
would have alarmed clear Tom. So she children of nature ; he could palm off upon
stifled it quietly, Then. dear Tom was not them as original the last good thing of that
wholly averse, after all, to this young Mr. fellow Hatherley's from the smoking -room
1keseeinger. He, too, had fallen a victim to of the Cheyne Roe Club, or fire back upon
elite poet's wiles. That was well ; for Mrs. them, undetected. dim reminiscences of
Meysey,i with a mother's eye, had read pungent chaff overheard in brilliant 'West-
Wiadfred s heart through and through. But end drawing -teems, And then, there were
ore sliest not seem to give in to soon. A Elsie and Winifred to amuse him ; and
scfaoW of resistance runs in the gtain with Hugh, luxurious, easygoing epicurean ode
Imam He's got no money," she murmured osopher that he wae, took no trouble to de.
eaggeolively. tide in his own mind even what might be
Theequire flamed up, "Money f" he oried, his ultimate intentions towards either fair
With irat(saeite contempt, " money 1 money 1 lady, satisfied only, as he phrased it to his
Wise idea dickens says anythintr to me inner self,,to take the goods the gods pro,
thost rptoaey 1 I believe that's all on earth 'idea him for the passing moment, and to
wowtes think ablaut--.M.onev indeed 1 keep them both wall in hared together.
ook I we about money, Emily. 1 How happy. could I be with either," sings
, elm young fellow Ineera't get °apta�rt Maoheath in the oft•quoted ooup.
Inst.- Oleo 1 Wh ter for let, Were 6" other dear charmer
ay
BA .psi r ays Res s Hugh took a octal mere lenient view of his
e ;..,: p.r onul1 responsibilities thou flaw hoppygo.
Won by a .Neck—and a Bos on
, the Ear. "..
About twenty-five years ago a Yorkshire
gentleman owned a very promising two-
year-old colt. Oa the day he was to make
his debut the jockey engaged was unable to
ride. The old trainer picked out a promis-
ing stable lad who could ride the weight
and promised him five sovereigns if he won.
The saddle, bridle, whip and boy barely
turned the scales ; in fact there was not
half an ounce to spare. It being the boy's
first race in publie he felt anxious and
nervous. The result, however, confirmed
the trainer's good judgment. The boy rode
a brilliant finish and beat the favorite by a
neck. On returning to the paddock he was
congratulated by the trainer and the owner
promised him that he should do his riding
for the future. 'The boy was elated and
overjoyed at this. Catching up his saddle,
bridle and whip, he went smiling and Iatigh-
ing-into the weighing room along with the
trainer. And to their dismay he was un-
able to pull down the the scales. The old
trair,.er took in the situation at a glance
and said to the weighmaster : "Excuse me
a second." He caught hold of the boy,
kicked him round the weighing -room and.
boxed his ears soundly, saying : "Y ou young
scoundrel, you have sold the race; never
come rounA the stable again." He dumped
him again into the scales, the boy crying as
though his heart would break. The saddle,
bridle and whip was pitched on his lap, and
strange to say he pulled down the scales,
with a trifle to epare. The incident was re-
lated to the officials, and the race was saved
by the old trainer's presence of mind,
The boy beoame a celebrated jockey and
enjoyed/ the confidence of his trainer and
master for many years. There was a good
deal of discussion at the time amongst med-
ical men and others'as to how the. boy's state
of mind affected his bodily weight. The
colt won by a neck. The boy nearly lost by
an ounoe—and the trainer snatched it by a
box en the ear.
The War Scare.
LoNnov, June 11.—The fading hopes of
the warmongers now centre in Turkey as a
last resort. Russia has, like a polite tailor,
sent a note stating that she has been very
patient, that she is pressed for money her-
self, and that Turkey has not kept her pro
mise. She is earnestly requested, therefore,
to send forthwith £700,000 Turkish, repo -
outing two delinquent annual instalments
of the thirty-two million war idemnity
agreed upon by the treaty of 1879. The
Sultan not only has no money, but has a
Finance Minister who just now is accused
by the Vienna oorrespondents of amassing
£300,000 by methods which would affront
the sensitive feelings of a pawn broken If
Russia is ruthless in her demand she will
proceed to scissor off a slice of Turkey's
territory, England agreed at the Cyprus
convention to protect Turkey s Asian fron-
tier, and she must do it.
Moreover, English diplomatio circles are
not little ill at ease over Russian railway
building, and if there is to be trouble they
would prefer to have it come this year.
With a unionist majority in Parliament and
the railway through the Caucasus yet int.
complete, making the Black Sea still,a com-
mercial and strategic necessity, is perhaps
one reason why Lord Knutsford is laboring
so hard to :fix up the trouble ooneerning a
Chinese invasion of Antimafia and a British
imolai of TMbet.
NOTES ON CURRENT TOMOS.
Travellers who feel disposed to treat rail..
way officials must in future treat only with
courtesy. The penalty for giving them
liquor while on duty is a fine of $50 with im-
prisonment for a month et hard labour,
The State of Mississippi' is rejoicing be-
cause some residents of Dakota, driven away
by the blizzards, have gone south to try
farming, It is said that the fleeing farmers
all tell the same story—the blizzard has
been too much for them.
New 1 ori Tribune: The English Gov
erument never abandons its colonists when
their commercial interests are at stake. It
protects them, makes their interests its
own, and devotes all the energies and the
finesse of its diplomacy to their service,
Philadelphia having made sod havoc in.
the list of its saloons is now employed in
waging war againat vice. The mural wave
is at its h" fight, and under the pressure of
public opinion the police are having a busy
time in raiding the haunts of disorderly
oharactera.
Cls.risEzan World .a
c
Torontoo is a city con-
taining a population of 140,000,tand ye
they
have neither Sunday horse cars nor a single
Sunday newspaper, and it is reported that
in spite of the' prophecies of ill, the city.
prospering as never it prospered before. 1
hope some of that kind of leaven will be t
ported into the States..
Hochelaga, now- called Maisonneuve, will
not suffer from too much commerce if tho
Legislature of Rueben grants it the power
for which it is asking. The town asks for
authority to compel every man, of whatever
trade or profession he may be, to take out a
license, paying not more than $l00 for it,
before he can open a shop or hang mit his
shingle within the municipality.,
Buffalo, being a much more populous oity
than Toronto, has auffered to a greater de-
gree from the evils of grade railway oroas-
inga. It is stated that at least a life a day
is lost on these crossings, and it is no won-
der that the people;of Buffalo have, during
the past twelve •months, persistently and
vigorously agitated for the removal of so
great an evil.
London is not to have a free library, the
electors having voted by a large majority
against it. It is satisfactory to learn that
the oppositian to the- enterprise was based
solely upon the conditions attaching to
it. The Library Board wished the city to
buy a lot of old books and to takeposeession
of an unsuitable building, and to thin the
people, were advised not to consent.
A new•thing' in .the way of subsidies is
propoeed in Quebec. On the plea that in a
cold country like this some kind of stimulant
is necessary, and on the assumption that if
people drink good Canadian wine drunken-
ness will be decreased, a wine•n}aking• firm
is asking for a bonus from the provinces.
Of course if we bonus railway companies and
manufgcturers, why not wine producers?
Southern prejudices against the Negro
race are evidently being softened by time.
The latest evidence of this fact is found in
the appointment of fifteen Negroes to posi-
tions on the police force of Di ew Orleans.
The city council for three weeks refused to
confirm the nominatiope of thacolored men,
but finally they gave way to the pressure of
public opinion.
How Long,
If on my grave the summer grails were grow-
lug,
Or heedless winter winds across it blowing,
Through joyous June or desolate December,
klow long, sweetheart, how long would you
remember—.
How long, dear love, bow long?
For brightest eyes would open to the sum.
mer,
And sweetest smiles would greet the sweet
new outer,
And on young lips grow kisses for the tak.
When all the summer buds to bloom are
breaking—
How long, dear love, how long ?
To the dim land where sad -eyed ghosts
walk only,
Where lips are ooll, and waiting hearts
sere lonely,
I wonld not call. you from your youth's
warm blisses,
Fill up your glass and crown it with new
kisses—"
How long, dear love, how long ?
Too gay, in June, you might be to regreb
eme,
And living lips might woo you to forget me ;
But ah, sweetheart, I thick you would re.
member
When winda were weary in your life's De-
oember—
So long, dear love, so long.
Disasters are not always without redeem
ing features. The Baptist church in Char-
lottetown, P. E. I., was burned down and
it is related that " the "Roman Catholics
were among the first to offer their afflicted
fellow -citizens the use of their hall in which
to bold their services, and are not at all
backward about tendering donations of
money to the building fund." Here is a case
in which trouble has produced sympathy,
toleration and friendship.
Spontaneous combustion having brought
to ruin several buildings in the neighbbur-
hood of Fredericton, N. B., the populace
has arrived at the 'conclusion that the
spirits of departed enemies are at the bottom
of the disasters. Unfortunately punishment
for arson does not •lie in these oases, nor
were suoh punishment possible would the
Insurance companies prosecute, for it hap-
pens in every instance that an uninsured
building has been burned. The series of
calamities certainly forms an argument in
f
avow of insurance.
Siberia.
Having completed her great Southern
railway to Samarcand, Russia is now turn-
ing her attention to the North. Siberia is.
next to be opened up to trade and civiliza-
tion. We have all of us had from childhood
indefinite conceptions of this vast land as a
dreary, inhospitable region, a land of terri-
ble frost, fathomless snows, and interminable
wastes. All these features have existed in
our minds but as the background for dark
pictures of the miseries endured by wretched
exiles, doomed by a cruel despotism to all
the horrors of a living death in a region of
absolute despair. In the light of the better
knowledge now afforded by suoh writers as
Mr. Kennan, who is describing the country
in the Century Magazine, we find the truth
of someof those piotures fully c..nfirmed, but
we have at the same time revelations of a
very different character. Siberia is now
known to be a country of vast, though
practically undeveloped, resources, having
immense tracts of fertile land, regions of im-
pressive and often beautiful scenery, and, in
some parts, of already advanced civilization.
The opening up of this vast domain, a con-
tinent in itself, will be an event in the his-
tory of European civilization. Of course
with the entry of the railroad the system of
political exile must come to an end. The
Government is already taking steps for,
its abolition. The Administrative Coun-
cil of the Penitentiary Department
has recently reported in favor of
abolition of transportation to Siberia as
a judicial punishment, and in alipro•
bahility the system is doomed. As the
prisoners will henceforth bs shut up in dun-
geons at home, instead of being sent into
Siberian exile, it does not appear that they,
or the cause of humanity, will be immediate
gainers by the change. But the spirit of
change and of emancipation is manifestly•at
work, and will not cease till the whole land
has come under its influence. When politi-
cal exile has died, political imprisonment
cannot long survive.
Though thoroughbred cattle may be im-
ported free of duty into the United States -
the American Customs authorities have
levied duties upon animals sent there by
Canadians for sale at auction. Through the
intervention of Sir Charles Tupper cattle of
this kind, whether already sold or consigned
to be sold at auction, may noTO pass the fron-
tier without paying toll. Sir Charles de-
serves credit for the part he took in securing
the removal of the tax.
The Planet Mars.
is, say the least, ng inher-
entlyThere improbtoable in the suppositionnothithat
other members of the planetary system of
which our earth forms a unit, may be, like
it, abodes of intelligent life, and theatres of
scientific and industrial activity. Nor will
those who have kept track of the growth of
the science of astronomy, and especially of
the development of the marvellous powers
of the ;telescope, be wholly incredulous
as to the possibility of astronomers becom-
ing one day able to discover uninistako
able indications of the presence and
operations of such intelligent agents in
the planets nearest us. This, a European •
astronomer, al. Parrotin, by name, even
now claims to have done in the case of the
planet Mars. Those who are familiar with
the maps of this planet as outlinedby the
star explorer, showing the surface divided
into long, narrow bands, presumably alter-
nate stripe of sea and land, will at once
realize that, as an Eoglish contemporary
puts it, " a few great inter -oceanic canals
would be of immense benefit to commerce,"
and so a great convenience to the
merchants and travellers of Mars, Ac-
cording to Mr. Perrotin, straight trans-
verse lines have of late begun to make their
appearance, intersecting these parallel
bands. These lines the astronomer, with
scientific instinct, at once recognizes as
canals in prowls cf, construction. ,it seems
not a little curious, assuming that the sister
planet has, like our own, been through
long anon the abode of intelligent beings of
some order capable of wielding pick
and shovel, or whatever may do duty for
those implements in another sphere, snould
have commenced these engineering feats in
the same generation—if they count by
generation's there—as ourselves. Can it be
that the Mare folk are interested observers
of what takes place on earth, and have taken
a hint from the operations of M. de Lesseps
in Suez and Panama ? Seriously, however,
we may bo wise to hold our sceptism in
check, and await with interest the observa-
tions of other astronomers, who will no
doubt bejeager to follow up and test the clue
given by 111. Perrotin_
It has always been a source of wonder to
Canadians that mob law is so constantly re-
sorted to in the United Sbates. It appears in
comprehensible to us that in a country where
there are regularly organized courts of justice
so many lynching outrages should oocur, and
that no serious attempt should ever be made
to puniah the perpetrators. It does not re-
quire any great capacity for moral reasoning
to come to the conclusion that a number of
mete who, taking for granted the guilt of a
person suspected of crime, proceed to con-
stitute themselves jury, judges and execu-
tioners are themselves guilty of murder.
Tho boating season has been opened in
earnest, and with it have come the dangers
which beset pieasure•seekers on the water.
Last year several calamities occurred, bring.
ing sorrow into formerly happy family
circles, and it is only truth to say that some
of these resulted from i„experienco in the
apparently easily acquired arts of sailing
and rowing. The trouble in past years, and
it may be repeated this year, has been that
people who do not know how to manage a
boat are too ready to trust their lives to
one.
Tho United Stator fishery experts have
made one attempt to transplant the lobster
from the Atlantic to the Pacific toast, but
they have failed baying to the circumstance
that the crustacean has not been able to
stand the long overland journey. A second
attempt is to be made, and the Canadian
Government is About to make en experiment
in the same direction with a view to giving
the British Columbiana fresh fnstoed Of
canned lobsters. It is rather strange that
the lobster, so popular in the Etat, is not
to be found in the Paoifio; but probably
the explanation is to be found in the cir-
1
The giant of all guns is in process of con.
attraction. : Krupp's works are making a 130-
ton
30ton gun for the Italian ironclad Sardegna. It
will be 02;y feet long, with a bore of 15.7
inches. It will fire a steel shell of 1,030
pounds with an initial velocity of 2,314
pounds at 2,009 feet per second,
Ho'sert Louis Stevenson,thet'author, is de -
earthed by a fellow traveler, who journeyed
in the same oar with hint to New York as
follows; " Ile has a long, narrow face, and
wears his long brown heir parted in the mid•
dlo and combed back. Ilia black velvet coat
and vest showed plainly, and over his legs
he wore a black and whito checked shawl.
Ilia Byronic collar was soft and untidy, and
his shirt was unlaundered, but his clothes
Vent aoruflulously clean, Oh the long, thin
white fingers of his left hand he wore two
rl igs, and he kept these fingers busy, con-
ountstanoe that lobsters had oontraoted the 1 ii! valet pulling his drooping blonde mous•
absurd habit of walkbig baokwarda, tache. "
'L