HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1901-5-9, Page 61 It wale getting late. Outside the of-
tioe the noisy street had grown silent
end nest d of the eueli • of 'bus and
aggon there was now only the ehufe
fling sowed of footeteps on the Pave-
ment anti laughter in the clear, cold
he
at filtered in, through the closed
door of the dreary office to the man
crouched over hie desk.
He started up at last, shivering. As
he rOSO he loole.ecl round. It was a
large fewn-a lawyer's office. The
carpet was thick underfoot, an1 a
watrm rug was ,tretched in front of
the lire. A heavy bookshelf and a safe
occupied one Kid° a the room, and
13a every direction were chairs and
tables 5trewn with' papers, and, in a
corner, Andreae Fytton'a own desk.
He tuarneel and slowly drew down
the Ic>nee American top. It shut out
the hideous pipe ra from ibis sight, but
riot from' his. memory. Only forty-two
and hie lite wag ruined and. hopeless,
and dishonoe.r etared him in the
gee° I
There are some ro.en who become
oriminale through weakness, and An-
drew Fytton waS one. All who knew
hi,m knew him a' a kind-he,arted-al-
most foolishly kind -hearted -man.
He was ge.nerou's' to -a degree, lenient
to a fault. Hig friends honoured him,
hi family worshipped. him. Yet now
he was on the verge of bankruptcy: -
and worse
11; had begun, aS those things of-
ten begin, in a small way. A client
had failed. Andrew, Fy,tton, with his
usual kind-heartedness, did not put
in his claim, and waited for the man
to pay. It was; a big sum -something
like £600 -but Le- could afford to lose
it juet then, and probably would not
have felt the loes of it, if he had hard-
ened leig- heart and kept the rest of
his money in his own pocket.
But he did not. An old. friend came
to borrow £1,000, in order to take a
theatre and produce a play. Andgew.
Fytton could ill-affordto lend it, but
he did 50, and three months after-
wards found that every penny of it
had been hopelessly lost. His friend
disappeared, and he tried to pull
round, but he never did. For a cou-
ple of -era he struggled, then came
a chance, he thought, to make it
back, and not 'having enough of his
o\vn, he appropriated a client's money.
After that the road downhill was
easy. He took another client's to re-
place the first, and another to make
good that, and so on and on down
the ugly road that is so hard to
climb. Ile reached the bottom at last.
The time sam.e -svhea he could go no
farther, and then bro,u,ght face to
Lane with the consequences, of his sin,
he had done the only, thing left to
him to do. It required eome cour-
age, but he did it bravely. He grote
to his eliente a confession of what he
had done, giving therm a statement of
his affairs, and agreeing .to hand over
to them everything that could realize
money. To -day those letters had
reached their .destination, and to -mor-
row he would have to face the men
he had ruined 1 To -morrow there
would be no respite for him. To -night
was his last night of freedom.
Even amid 1:hie overwhelming con-
viction he could still think charitably,
of the one who had been indirectly,
responsible for fats ruin. After all,
John Gillen had not intended to rob
him of his £1,000. He had believed in
his play, and evidently he had felt the
loss keenly, for Andrew Fytton had
neither seen nor heard of him sbace.
Poor old Gillen! He Thad been his best
friend once. He turned out the gas
and walked elowly through to the out-
er office. It was g'etting dusk.
A clock itruck eight as he shut the
door, and lide started nervously. His
wife would be anxious and the children
would be g•one to bed! The chil-
dren! The thought of them made him
etend, staring wildly at the lighted
street and the moving figures under
the lamps. His children ! He had not
only ruined hie own life, but theirs
tool
He reached home at last, and stared
dazedly, as he pushed open the gate,
at the well -kept garden, and the white
steps'. •
His evife met him at the door, and
looked up anxiously into his face.
" Why, dear, how late you are," she
.topped at the sight of his haggard
eyes and put her hand suddenly on
bis shoulder. "Andrew, Andrew', what
is it ?" she cried, quickly. ,
Ile turned away a little, and hig
usual weakness prevented him telling;
her now. .
" Nothin,g-n.othing, dear," he said.
"I've been evorking Jane, and I'm tired
a -that's all, wife. I suppose the chil-
dren are in bed ?"
He sank bat° a chair. He was tired.
Ile was 0 worn out that she put
This soup and chicken in front of him
in vain. He gulped down some brandy
and then asked to see t,he childeen.
:There evaa nothi,n,g untisual in this -
The always went to look at the tWQ
curly head g 'upon the pillows when
lthey were in bed ; but the strange -
nes of 1118 face frightened his wife
to -night. She followed him up and
Stood at the door while lie went in.
She Haw him bend first over the girl,
then wee the boy ; hcb saev his face
tts he turned, and ,tshe event in quickly
towards him. ,
" Andreer, darling, len ine what is
,the mattee I"
I He bent and kiesed her in silence.
I. "Not now, not now," he Said hoa,ese-
len "I want to Igo out -to walk.
When I come back--yeS. FR tell you
evlaen I come bock." ,
Tbe coid air on hie' fax,e .,Lf' 1(11(11
him ft little at first. He evalked along
l,the broad gravel rotd. into the open
,ebyntry with sudden confider -me.
0tere rattst be Some •,,vey out, he told
,limeelf, It could riot be, true that
the einti of Ile father were Visited on
I,
children would leeve to puffer foe
him He walked on. quickly. ,
• As far aa he could see there wae
no way out of hie difficultieg. For
an hour Qr more le, walked axed, eack-
ed his brain, but just os it had fail-
ed before it felled now. If he could
have borrowed ,S,000 or 50 he Might
have struggled round in a year or
two, for hia practice was. good; but
who would lend. him 48,000 ? The one
or two rich friend' had he had tried,
but not one of them would lend. him
so DAUGV. And i'VO.,$ it likely, when it
might be p'ear e before he could give
back ?
His heart failed nix.nr as he thought.
The hopelees horror of his life and
the years 'before hima rushed back- up-
on him. Prison, dishonour, shame,
hunailiation, clegra.dation 1 His wife
would be an outcast-pennilees I His
children would bear the 'burden of
their father'e guilt 1 They would be
known as the offspring of a criminal
-branded and - handicapped at the very
outset of their /young lives! ,
Hie' Jim I Hie little May I He lifted
his haggard face to the sky. It was
Gold and etill Ivitle frost, and, one or
two stars gleamed out from the dark
blue. They aeenaed pitiless. There
Ib no help for him anywhere, and
he deeerved none. There is a. weak-
neas iS criminal, and his bad
been that weaknees. He oug,ht to have
remembered that he Could not suf-
fer alone.
Ah, if he wily could If only he
could save his ehildren from the shame
road horror. He lifted, his head and
looked round. He was in open coun-
try. The road, ran high to that point
and stretching before him (were long
fields and meadows,, with the thick
white froat upon therm, and beyond,
the bright lights of the railway.
He atarted as he looked. They shone
clear throng,h the frosty night -clear-
er and Peincilier than .the eters; he
thought. They were nearer. The
eters were far away, and Heaven -a
hoarae cry broke from him as he
bared. his hot head -Heaven wa.a very'
far away from him just then! He
)iatened. In the night nothing seem-
ed to move. He was alone with hire -
self and with. his own maddened
thoughta. took' out his: watch and
peered at ita white face in the dark-
nesS. It was nearly ten o'clock. In
O few minute S the London express
would go thundering along the rail
and across the viaduct. It was near-
ly slue, and if he ran.—
He drew himaelf up abruptly. What
was he thinking a What was he do-
ing? He was mad. He must go, back
-go back to hie wife. Once more -there
rushed to him the thought of what
the morrow would bring for the chil-
dren. He would be arrested, eent to
prison, and all their lives through they
would suffer.
But, supposing, instead, he was
found face downward on the railway
line yonder, would it not aave them?
The truth would leak out, of course.'
People would know why he had done
it, but they would forget, and after
all the great world outside would not
knew. His children would be saved
the disgrace of prison.
He plunged forward. His brain was
on fire. Hie head whirled and his un-
steady feat slipped (under him as he
plunged down the dark lane leacling
to the viaduct, At the bottom of the
hill the lane branched off, and to
reach the railway he would have to
oroes a meadow. He mounted the
stile quickly and jumped over: As he
did so -as his feet touched the grass -
he started and lifted his head to listen.
His face grew, gray. His breath' seem-
ed to stop. for through the fr-osty
night air there came, clear and dis-
tinct, the huick rumble of the come
ing train. Before he tould cross the
meadow it would be on the bridge
His hand tlutching tlie stile behind
him trembled. He leant ba.ck. The
traini came on with a rueh over the
line of rail, across the tviaduct, and
into the darknees. again. It went'past
him with a flak, and. as it vanished
he tore off hie hat. If he had been
O Minute earlier -
Thank Heaven! Thank Heaven!"
he cried. "I waS too late 1"
He stood for a moment. The sound
of the train died slowly -more slow-
ly than usual, he thought -even as
it died it seemed to grow louder again.
It arreated. hie thoughts. It startled
him --that second Sound. It se'elned to
5top the peat of hie heart4 and trem-
bling in every limb he leant heavily
against the stile. Was he mad ? Was
he dreaming? What was the meaning
of another train at that hour of the
night?
He stood, and through the darkness
he saw the eame train pass again -
over the Viaduct and into the dark-
neas-just as it had done half a min-
ute ago 1 He eetood bewildered. Could
there be two trains -two expresses
rushing up from London within thir-
ty 5eGOnd5 of each other?•Or would
there be another, and another, and
another, visible only to himself?
His brain was giving way -he must
be going read -and yet there was the
shriek of the evhistle, and then quick-
ly and purely the rumble ceased. He
looked round like. a man in a dream.
He was Paved --saved from his own
folly. This first train had prevent-
ed him from crossing the meadow.
A, hand frona, Heaven had stretched
out to lacip him -that was it. God
had vouchsafed a sign -had sent him
a vision. He bad interfered and he
was meant to noel
e oh, John -John Gilla.n," she cried.
"You
" I," Ile said eiewly. "I've come back
at 100t -at Lat. After all these yeara
I thought I should never get here,
It's hard ev,orie to be euccessful, but
I've managed it now. 13ut tell xne,
Nell, it Lend. true ? ilng
wandering -imagining things. He did -
0.'1; mean the lettere he wrote." Nel-
lie looked up a little
What true? What do you mean'i
Whet not true ?"
Gillen looked at her gravely. If she
did not know he could not tell her.
He looked at the unconecioue man on
the conch.
" Why, he's been writing letterS-
mad letters," be said. " By a curious
chanee I saw one of them this morn-
ing. only reached London yester-
day. I've come straight from New
York, and to -day I went to see a
banker kn.ow. It eeeme the oddest
thing that I sheuld have gone just
then.' While I was there he received
et curiouS letter from' Andrew. He
knew that he was a frien.d Of mine
years ago, and he handed it to me.
Ho could not underatand it. could-
n't either. I can only tell you that
it was Mad. He gwag evidently ill
when he wrote it. Yes, poor old chap 1
He mut have, been ill -deluded. Look
at him now. But don't worry about
him, Nell. I came on as soon as I could
to see evha.t was up. I caught the
London express and have been wait-
ing here for you ever eince. And if
that doctor doesn't come iin a minute,
go and hurry him up. I've got
one thing to tell you, Nell -I've made
my fortune at lat. I've got a play
in Anahrica that ie 0 huge success, and
I'vfe ceme back to. pay Andrew, the
£1,000 I own him. So that if there
is anything 1.1p—"
Noll atarted forward.
" Oh, there'ithere LS something,"
She cried. "IllOon't understand 'him.
Something the Matter. He has
been worried to death, but who -oh,
I don't know, why. ..‘He wouldn't tell
me. Toenight he came in looking -
awful. He went up and kissed the
children and then went out. Ho fright-
ened. me, and I follcnv,ed hien. I was
afraid—." •
She broke off 'with a sudden ,sob.
Gilla.n put his hand on her shoul-
der.
Well never Mind," he said. "Nev-
er mind 1 It will be all right now,
and I'll attend to This, business to-mor-
roev,."
And he 'did. He went to the office
with all the dignity of an old. hand
at the pro.feassion, although he had
never look -ed inside a law -book in his
life. Ancl the ntartled. creditors who
came up expecting to find a' fraudu-
lent bankrupt found instead a big,
square -shouldered man 'with a grey
beard who met them with one reply
to their guestions.-Mr. Fytton was
seriously ill and quite unable to at-
tend to hie bueiness. As for his in-
solvency, it was a mistake, and if any-
one doubted it, he, John Gillen, Wa.S
prepared to give them his own per-
sonal security for anything from £10
to £10,000.
The reault was that Andrew Eyt-
ton's letters of the day befere were
nattributed to hia illness. Brain fever
was responsible tor many delusions,
and poor old Fertton mut have been
deluded when he wroteethey thought.
And as far as they ever knew it was
the brain fever. John Gillen ',saved his
friend. V/hile Andrew, Eytton was
raving of hie bankruptcy and diehon-
OUT John Gillen had calmly paid £10,-
000 to hiS credit at the bank, and when
Andrew, came back to life it was to
find not the police a.avaiting him but
( S3IALL FARMING.
Tim profits' of a farm aro never -we
think this word never ia fully justi-
fied -in proportion to its eize. Small
farms are proverbially productive, and
profitable, 'while the expenses of a big
Lan m quite often outrun the income.
"A little farm. well tilled" hos been
thought by many of the m.ost thought-
ful writer a of poetry and prose, the
mot essential condition for happiness
and comfort in every way. In fa.ct
the concentration of labor for the
purpose of economy of pro,duction 15
now made the fundamental principle
of every one .of the world' e it
,-except agriculture. But it is rap-
idly coming to be proved an economi-
cal principle, that email farming, or,
. . . .
as it is termed, intensive culture of
the land, which is the, direct: opposite
of extensive culture, is alwilya econ-
omical and motet productive, ae 'com-
pared with, the working of large fa.eme
that is; of farms over fifty; acres. It,
may appear very plainly to be eo if
we look at it in thie way. A farmer
has a hundred acres of land, on which
..,•••••••
export bacon teethe that ehould be
well coneidered by farmers; who elan,
ply the live StOGlE to OUT markets'.
PriceS have ruled higher during the'
lyinter emenths', and live hoga have
been marketed as; quickly as they
'Were in co,ndition. During the past
few .weeleg, however, the tendency ef
the mdrket hae, been' downward, and
in ,rnany cages those, who have bad
etock to eliepose of have treed every
poSeible means fatten and Market
before- the threatened, deal.). in Priaos.
He claeped Lis trembling hands to-
gether and raised his eyes. Then sud-
denly blindness seemed to rush upon
him. Semething gave way with a
snap in his brain and he fell forward
in the darkness. (As he fell a figure
ran towards him and mounted the
stile. IA minute later ihe thought he
was dreaming when his wife, pillow --
6d his head on her lap. ,
« *
It was a long time before she 'was
able to move him. ',She lau,d to ,fetch
a, Policeman and. 0. stretcher from the
tovvn, and Ile hesitated to leave him
at firet. But no one was about in
the fieldS at that hour of the night,
and there wae nothing else to be
She got him home at laat, and a cou-
ple of polieeraen carried him in and
put him on the couch in the drawing -
room. She ee,nt them for a doctor,aml
then aim tiuddeoly became aware that
a figure had, rieen from a corner and
waS wa,tching her :with curious in-
terest, She looked up, At first she
thought she wa a dreaming, Then and-
d,enly the, -------1,.fiure ot ate haled,
,
a new and 'honourable life. And he
made it honourable too. When he rose
from his Sick bed there came to him a
new strength -a new, belief in the
power of right. He took the money
Gillen offered him, but he insisted on
paying. it back, pound by pound, and
never rested until he had done eo.
lo day if he ha a any eveak-ness at all it
is a certain foolishness with regard
to the London expreee. He insists u13 -
on it that he saw a vision that night -
that God meant it for a sign to him.
Perhape it was -who knows ? For the
first train he saw was unreal, and the
second was bringing to him his best
friend. -London Tit-13ite.
he spend.s so nsuch labor and uses
so much Seed and fertilizers. He con-
fines hie evork to fifty acres, and uses
as, much fertilizer or •manure on this
;and, and his products are fully equal
to those he fornierly got ,from 'twice
as much land; at the eame, time his
expenses arising out of the use of
twice as much land ane halved in s.cv-
eral respects; as interest of capital,
.
repairs. of fences, cost of harvesting,
seed, and cult.ure, and other expen-
ditures incident to the larger farm;
while by better work the products
may be easily fully equal to those of
the doubled space. !..L'hus the income
may be the, same as before, while the
coat of making it will be nearly halv-
ed. •
Labe/. ie by no aneang a measure of
profit. It is the way in which it js
expe,ndecl that raakea the profit of
it. One may work hard in digging
holee and filling 'them up again, all
to no purpose; but When a man digs
to the Seine, extent in making drains
an his land. the work has paid -to the
recent' knowledge of the writer -
twenty -five, dollare a day for every
day spent in doing the work. And in
this, remarleable instance, the value of
good work on the farm, this income
will ensure to the man every year
by the continued greater productive-
ness of the land. Iu fact the man
who did this work remarked that the
total previous value of the land drain-
ed would be paid, to him every year
in the greater productiveness of it.
So that its actual value is now equiva-
lent to, the capital eum which. would
be represented by the legal interest
on it, which is now snaking every year
over and • above what it produced be-
fore the work waa done.
Another example may lee given. in
regard to the method of culture. A
farmer -whose name. is well known
all over tlaie continent as a writer
and public upea.ker at farmers' meet -
Riegle -a feNv, b'ears ago doubled the
productive ability of his farm, by
a,dopting what is known as the soil-
ing ' method of keeping cows. He is
a noted dairyman and now is keep-
ing 189 bows on 150 acres of land, by
means of ;this method of geowing and
feeding. crops, whereas before by pas-
turing anal feeding hay and grain he
formerly fed ,only 80 cows. His profits
are now fully double the former sum,
not counting eavingg every year rep-
resented by the increase of capital,
in the form of new and enlarged build-
ings' paid for out of the income,. It
is this Imethod of practical economy
exercised tio many ways, and the
saving expense in conaparison with
the incredeed work done, that ie re'-
VOlutionizingall kinds of inclustry,and
which is mo greatly increasing the
wealth of the world. -
It ig a rule drawn from observation
of thbaking, "stu,dioua people, that the
industry of agriculture is the last to
fall into_ line in the ina,rch of im-
provement. Very conspicuously it has
not been advanced me rapidly as oth-
.
' '
A SH,A.HP LOOK OTI,T, ON THE
CLEB,K,
The cIerlr charge oft. a Yorkshire
post -office was annoyed .by the con-
duct of a ce,rtain farm -labourer who,
Ly buying, stanaPs on the very edge
of closing tim.e,. frequently put him
to the trouble of recasting his ac-
counts. '
Are you really obliged to come so
late with your lettere, my man? he
asked. one night:his stook of patience
giving out.
No, answered the labourer, Both
these were written and addressed
afore noon to -day. ;.
Then why didn't you bring, them ,to
the post straight away?
Not me, Mr. Clever, replied the lab-.
ourer, thrusting his tongue into his
cleelr. [Business is slack here in t' -
daytime, and there's nowt to stop yen'
from prisin' open and readin' every
letter which comes in ; hut at a min-
utnno 'nine, with', a knowing/ wink at
the clock, ye've nobbut a few sec-
onds to glance at t'envelopee 'and
deo", 'em into a hag afore t'inail cart
calls for "em. I wants to' keep terep-
tation from yer all I eat. •
A MARVELO.US INVENTION,
The spectacular effeet of modern
warfere will be increased immensely
by this unique innovation, ,
The illurninating tieetion based
upon Stich novel linee that it jS • a
niarvel ranking with wireless tele-
graphy, the emi,esion of the light be-
ing made in the. obtepe of waves -e
point wbieh. preventi4 the, poesibility
of premature toneaseion 'Experiments
made at Toulon have reenl Led en-
tirely aoitisfaetettly,
The roclrelt4 at present use by
the Government nOW are serviceable
at a diStance of. eight miles, o,nti ere
made merely for signalling pile/an:nee
therefore the extreor are, vale f". Of
neVit, corabi,natkm Will be under-
stood. 1
In Britiela pal libraries here
7 books for peen 100 people I
occurred. This may give the farmer
O momentary advantage, but it will
not pay Jhim in the long run. ll'or
what will be the result ? Fat hogs can
be made only into fat and soft ba-
con, and the export demand calls, and
calla imperatively, for bacon that is
lean dna, firm. 1
The farmer is the guardian of hip
own interests in a matter of this kind.
The English to,neumer is exacting in
his demands far an article that sat-
lefiee his taste, and it is manjfestly
In his interests to supply him with
what he wanta. Fat or eoft bacon is
always in bad requeet, and we can
Send f.orward with only one( result,
Viz., great injury to our bacon trade.
The favor with which Canadian baton
has lieen received in England ig suf-
fienent to encourage our farmers, to
raise stock that will Meet the require-
onenta of the maeket, even though
those requirement's appear to be ex-
acting at firet: We cannot afford to
lose,' by lack of judgment and fore -
Sight, the advantage, tha.t we have
gained in the last few, years'. Any
slight 'benefit that might come to us
through forcing etock for market, 'be-
fore a decline in prices would not in
any mea,sune oompensate for the re-
tribution that ,would follow were, our
bacon to moot with 'diefavor at the
hands of ,Huglish customers:
t,h‘e,ehi,l4retie-it cott14.1, not be true that and 5he ran forward, -.race, 120; In Sar.ony, 41'4 •
PECULIAR PRISONERS.
A. GLANCE AT BELLE ISL1
A TOURISTS IMPRESSIONS OE rHU
"ISLE OF BEAUTY."
An Icebe.eg Perms a eaagniticent View
at This Point -A Very Otrilneas Pie.
turo-Nature's Weather ractoree
Mrhenee I3elle Isle gets its uomen4
clature I do not happen to know,
asking :someone who had often done
the paasage how the name originated,
the only information'l could elicit
\vas "because it is so ugly,' vvrites
a correspondent. It is not striotly
ugly, except in Et a associations. Thesa
often are -ugly weather, ugly inise
haps, tears and death. It is a barren,'
uninhabited rock, the !haunt of the
wild duck -rugged, uncouthenbatter-
ed by a thousand etoems, struck and
pounded by iceberg, ground by field
ice, until every shapeless corner in
it a conformation should be as smooth
as the point of a needle, The It qui-'
mailX inhabit one toast and the New -
One Became So Attached te the Gaol
Tnat Ste Wished to Die There.
That ea prisoner, after being im-
mured in gaol for a term of several
yeara, should be loth to leave his cell
at the conclusion of his sentence
Would seem at first sight an almost
farcical situation, yet such occur-
rences are by no means unknown both
in British and foreig,n penitentiariee.
Not eo very long ago a negro con -
er unduetriee, although it is moving
ahead. But SOIne of the results
ed. in this improved condition are due
mostly to the cheapness of products
resulting from the improvements in
other lines of production by which
farm expenses are lessened. We know
laowever, that the tendency of the
condition of agriculture is towarda im-
provement in its own work, especial-,
ly lea rega.rd to the dairy ; but it
grows slowly and not in equal ratio
with other industries, and. this very
evidently is due to the slowness'
with which farmerg adopt improved
m.ethoda ,of culture of their land ;
sticking to the old ,wayg instead of
boldly striking out" in new ones.' ibis
w most nronam. entlY shown for one
instance in the abeence of d,raiaed
fields' which lever y Spren•g• are over-
flowed or water -soaked, when the plow
should be at work; for another, in the
generally poor condition of pastures;
and in another, in the failure. to grow
crops for feeding in the eunnmer by
which one acre unig,ht feed a cow, or
teeVen sheep or "ae many growing pigs,
Inight mention a few &late' ae
the abeence of t3ilos on dairy farms,
or on other fartne .c,vhie,11 by tho urie
of then). 11 5.1!. edd a dozer, or a ecore
01 COW4 to the preecrit stock, time
putting $200 or ",',A00 More tnoney
tlie credit of the yea v'e VcrOj'i< at the
lette1,, and tW1,Gei e totteli tlie ?nest,
Or a bUndred 1Mp r 4})t, ted fed on
increate,i,d own by clef
803-117; ft, r',111;rfi do O. 00 a deal oe
however:, flee wintere end unfor-
ateley etop theeee. The good think-
er le the rn n who Jaye up hie th 1p,1,11$
in his heavt, :15 5<)0d for frnit, when
tbe Wee:king eofne. NbOOld
'1,11)9tf)*(t ii.I111140;,re at i his i r, wbo,n
th0a ;%.01/(„D W111 brIDP; tiC4,1011
tan'el
fined in a trans-Atlantic gaol pro-
.
teeted vigorously against being dis-
(shagged from the establishment
when h.la hour of release arrived, and
had to be conveyed to the outer gates
by four stalwart wardens. He aver-
red that he had become so attached to
the gaol that he clesired to spend the
renaainder of his 'days there, and
doubtless he would have done so had
nottheauthorities decreed his re-
raoval by force.
The peculiarities of prisoners are,
indeed, many and varied. Wha,t will
be thought of a Bristol gaol -bird
who insisted on writin.g-e-religious
stories during the hours allotted to
him for instructive recreatipn-stor-
Mg which in many respects were
equal to the productions of profes-
sional authors? The convict in ques-
tion had committed well-nigh every
crime in the calendar, and the irony
of the business is, therefore, all the
more remarkable. ,
A French pris,oner at Tulon vow-
ed on entermg the penal settlement
that he would. not speak a single
word to any .hiving soul during the
ten years of his sentence, and he kept
his word .te the letter. All the
blandishments of the good-natured
officials could , not wiri a syllable
from. the silent convict, who, how-
ever. retained his pewees of speech
by conversing with himself in the
aolitade of his cell.
Another Gallic prisoner simulated
. . .
deafness in order to annoy his gaol-
ers. The man was an excellent ac-
tor, and for many naonthe he succeed-
ed in imposing upon th,e complete
st,aff of the prisom, from the gover-
nor downwards. Eventually, how-
ever, 'he "gave himself away" in an
unguarded moment, and from that
time onward,s he found it to his ad-
vantage to' “cultivate an excellent
hearing when addreesed by the offi-
cials.
foundlander$ the other,. but the for
meg migrate, inland in -the whiter td
their ice, houses and their camps. 1
,But the glory , of the heavens a(
this. p'oint beyond description ;in
Summer or in winter, and could Ina"(
agine no More beauteous `spot for d
"camp -out" than a well -screened nooli
in the "Islet 13i.u.tuty," with a plen-
tiful supplyeof bully beef and bis-
cuit, and enough fire -wood,
ploked up from the atraita, to make
O tea-urn gurgle. The whole 'environa,
of the locality teem with grandeur,.
11 is Iliere that the traveler, if luelsy
enough --though sailors abjure the ap.
plication of the phrase --witnesses tha
iceberg in all its, 'towering ,splendouri''
its dazzling brilliance, its awe -in-:
spiring proportions -changing (Under
the rays of the sun to all the colour
of the rainbow', a thousand peaks an
minaret, flecked with purple and with
gold, lighted up as if by magic toechee
of varioug ,Imee---flitting- and waver-
ing ,from cone a and peak' and but'
treses, never resting long on one
particular Point -but sparkling froth
angle to angle, from side to lop, and
top to baae, or what eeems base -
where, the waterline divides the' Seea
from the unseen, showing only What
is above, reck-oning '-nought of thi
hundred,,s, of feet below, where tin
gneat solid masa- of the berg mustaale
sv.a.yet be.
• • ‘,* • * • •
We had just finished our survey oi
the island 00a5t station, by no meana
so dreaiy as one would have expected;
when all eyes were riveted upon .an
in:nue/lee and beautiful Object. It tsvaa
A LEVIATHAN ICEBERG
isa,couree of dissolution. Its form' wag
exceptional, due to partial dieintegra-
tam, the action of the sun, and the
warm water g of the Gsalf. It was syna-.,
metrically caetellated, presenting a
striking resemblance to the outline of '•
Conway Castle. An 'enchanted: repro—
duction in ,putreat Carrara marble of
O picturesque rim, it -charmed. and
fixed the eye in ,devouring contemplae
titan. At the east end nova a clean
out square Shaft of tower, ascending'
to a height of about 150 feet, judging
by objecta with whiChi we compared it
at home.' It was surrounded with
batticmented walls, with doors' and
loopholeS, and every illusion that could,
perfect the picture,and at the base
were 'extensive fiele of purest ala.- •
baster, which constituted the land "
approach to this eextraordinary and
bewildering creation. The sun, shin-
ing as it was dying down over the "
mountainoua ridges °of Labrador, ir-
radiated, this brilliant ice ruin with
,
variegated tints, as if it were festive-
ly illuminated for our vieit, the whole
[teem:fling such' a vivid and intense
realty that it wanted only Esquiradux
soldiers,lclad in skins of denizens of
.the deep,or the land wilds, with lancea
of fishboete to boot, to make it in every
respect not a mere fantaetic Palace
a the sea, blit a structwe of abiding
solidity and. usefulness'. It glowed
and fired a$ the rays of the sun struck
it $ broken' columns or Played. on its
truncated towers -through its port-
holeS, and embraeuree, and cruMbling
entrances. Its brilliance, purify ..and
art -like lingering • conformation -its.
ur r3A003,1
41, 53(/W 0 cend1tie11 eiiir,fte In on
I,CNG-DISTANCE SWIMMING
, FISHES., '
For long-distance swinaming , the
shark may be said to hold' the record,
as he tan outstrip the swiftest ships
apparently without effprt, swim-
ming and playing around them, and
ever on the look out for prey. Any
human being falling overboard ,in
shark -frequented waters has very lit-
tle chance, of escape, so rapid is the
action of the shark, the monster of
tbe deep. The dolphin, another fast -
swimming fish -a near relative of the
whale --is credited with a speed of con-
siderably over twenty miles an 'hour,
For short distances the salmon can
outstrip every other fish, accomplish-
ing its twenty-five miles an hour with
ease. The Spanish mackerel is one of
(hi faeteet of food fishes', and cuts the
w 'iter like a yacht. Predatory fish are
genera Ily be fastest swimmers.
A PAIVIGUS MANAGER.
'
'Australia Ilea lost one of i.ts best-
letec)eart mining experta hy tile death
of Mr, iI0/111 Wesley Hall. HO and ills
twO br(ith,t,,ra wore metnbers of the
orioinal riynclioato which purchased
the fentous Alount .1‘..,,lorgan Mine, in
Que,eneland, ftorn ItS d ecoverer, 1111'.
fro's:gall. fir. Hall was appointed 1110
firgt manreger, told few() }keyingeon-
Oro1 of a, bait ersr of five head of
stalDperg 110 Ile,VO,loped, 74. tenta I, on his
vett rernent, over 2,000 men were out-
.
pi oye (1. f s yn an a ger, Of tbl.;
/nine in the hietorie yea r when Xl-
4;0,000 was paid ;in dividends, and dur-
ing the past few yearS, when about
4350,000 waS annually ed, he rind
Ibis family held noarly half the shares
alneng then),
The eaard4 ihow that the total
113 15133 for pollee: pensions. is;
noe far beloW, 000,000 in NOW, York,
and is' rapidly itwreaelug.,
light and. - ahade and. height and
breadth, and dazzling splendoure-will
never' fade from the memory of those:
Who had the happiness to feast their
ravished eyea tepen it. --
, Belle Isle is the churning veasela the
weather factory of nature it might
also be ',called. It is in this neigh-
bourhood that.
THE ARCTIC CURRENTS.
and the 'Arctic detritus, eternal in -
their, frigidity, etrike .the warmer
waters and the milder winds of the
soutli. The bergs drop helpless and,
rudderless down Baffin's 'Bay, often'
accompanied with acres of ice hum-,
mocke. The eastern Shore of Canada
is desolated by their proximity. ' A vast
tract of land, Stretching up as far as
Hudson's' l3ay, is void and waste, and
unused by civilized man, except 7 asa
hunting ground, and, by wandering
bands of lEsquimaux, who have no con-
ception of the limitless apace over
Which they roam,where Britain might
be laid down and forgotten. The Gulf
of St. Laweence is the deal hbed of
bergs and ice -fields, but the ice -death
is a long one, and vegetation cannot
be where the struggle between heat
a,nd cold take place, It has been eug-
geeted that, the eastern coast of Can-
tda, could be .protectect perennially,
from t,heee Arctic visitations if the
channel leading into the Gulf of St.
Lawrence were closed, It is at one
point only seven miles wide, ana itt
this it has been suggested that male-
factors, murderers and pena.1 servi-
tude men ishould expiate their offences
thasting the rocks of. Lahradoteand
stopping this inlet lo the Arctic cur-
rent and alt its floating visitetion.
The idea, More or less • chimerical, ina -
to direct the crouree of all the bergs
to tile Sonthward, Romping the east-
el•In coast; of Newfoundland, and go
passing into -latit,udes,where a quicker
proceas, of melting would ensue,
Maar of the prominent clergymet
of Xewf :York were former subject; .z
of Queen ;Victoria, as for instance_
Rev. Dr. Donald Sage Afacimy, Ite
Dr. Rainsford, Rev. Dr. a Parkd7ttai
Morgan OIId. aeen MacArtheets
11