The Exeter Times, 1887-9-8, Page 71ff NARROW' ECAPE.
I never told anylbody how very, very near
I WES IO death that night, just a year ago;
but ati I can now look back and calmly re.
call each thoeght, each word, each act, 1
think I wil write it down as a warning to
all who may find themeelves similarly eir-
eumstanced, hoping, with all my heart, that
the number may be few.
In the first place'my name ie FTCCIeriak
Putnam. I am, and have been for the leo t
ten amare) the foreman and bookkeeper of
the large lumbering establishment of William
-Winston & Co., and hope to be for another
decade, unless something better turns up.
Mr. Winston is the resident partner and
manager of the manufacturiug part of the
business. The other members of the firm,
of which there are two, live in the city, at
the footdef the lake, and attend to the sales
t4
of Iiiifior, which we send them by vessels.
Th. s is by far the largest share of what
the m '1 cuts, although the amount of our
sales directly from the niill, to supply the
country to the west of us, is quite latge.
Well, one cold Decernber evening, tu# as
I was preparing for home, I heard footsteps
on the creaking snow outside, and presently
the office door flew open, as though Immo
one in haste had given it a push, admitting
a tall, stout, well-dressed man, with a small
traveling -hag in one hand and a shawl
thrown over one arm.
I was alone—Tar. Winston having gone to
the house some half an hour before, looking
the safe, in which we ktpt our books and
ropers, and taking the key with him, as
Beeel,
r had already closed tile damper to the
stove, put on my overcoat, and was just in
the act of turning down the lamp—but, of
course, I waited.
"Gd evening, sir," said the man, bust-
ling up to the stove, and kicking the damper
open with his right foot. "Has Winston
gone to the house 1"
I answered that he had.
" When ? I was afraid of it."
He drew out his watch—a very fine one,
I thought.
"1 shall not have time to go hp," he
said. "The train is due in fifteen minutes."
"Is there anything I can do ?" I asked.
"1 wanted to leave some money with
Winston. I intended to stop in town a day
or two, but I have just got a despatch that
calls me 'home."
"What name, sir ?"
"Anderson, of .Andersonville." t
I knew him then,
though I had seen him
but once before. He had been one of our
best Western customers. I say had been,
for the reason that during the past year his
payments had not been so prompt. In fact,
he was considerably behind, and Winston
had that very day told me to write him and
'punch him up a little," as he expressed it.
The letter was then in the breast -pocket of
my overcoat. 0
" 'You can leave the money with me, sir,
and I will give you a receipt."
He seemed to hesitate, which nettled ;Ile
somewhat. I have never blamed anybody
akaivelver.
el T uch is my bill ?" he asked, eye-
ing me sharply.
I answered promptly, for I had struck
the balance not more than half an hour
before:
"Eleven thousand seven hundred and
ifty dollars and twenty-three cents."
"Humph 1 less than I supposed. Write
out 1 receipt for that amount."
He left the stove, and came and looked
over my shoulder whet wrete.
"It is all right, Mr. Putnam. I know
you mew. You've been with Winston a
long time. 1 can tell your signature any.
wherei
He ,
e lxdrom an inside pocket a large
blackfwallet, very round and full, and
counting out eleven different pales of bank
• notes, he told. me to run them over. It wit
a ehort and easy task, for each pile contain-
ed just ten ens hundred dollar bills.
The balenee was in fives, tens, and
twenties, and it took more time to count
them;• but M last we got it, so that both
were satisfied,
At this moment we heard the whistle for
the station. Anderson sprung for his
traveling -bag, and giving me a hasty hand-
shake, was off on the run.
I closed the door, and counted the money
again. Finding it all right, I wrapped. a
piece of newspaper around it, and slipped it
• into my overcoat pocket.
I did not feel quite easy to have so much
money about me; but as Winston's house
was at least a mile distant, I concluded to
keep it ant )morning when I could deposit
it in the bsek
I closed he damper again, drew on my
gloves, teak he office key from the nail
jQapover be , and stepped up to put
out-thelight. Ai I did so, I saw a bit of
par on the floor, which, on picking up, I
saw was the receipt I wrote for Mr. Ander-
son. He had dropped it in his hurry. I
put it in my pocket, and thought no more
about it, only that I would mail it to him.
I would have done it then, but as the last
mail for that day had gone out on the train
which took Mr. Anderson, I could do it
mat as well in the morning. Then, too, I
was in something of a hurry that night, for
I had an appointment; and I may as well
istate here that it was with a young lady,
who, I hoped, would be my wife before many
months.
I hastened to my boarding-place'ate my
supper, and then went over to Mr. Warner's
wearing the overcoat with the MOHey in it,
as I did not feel easy about leaving it in my
room. Carrie was at home, of course, as
she was expecting me, and, leaving my coat
and hat in the hall, I went into the parlor.
I do not think a repetition of our conver-
would be very interesting, so I will pass
er it, merely remarking that nothing ()e-
rred to disturb me until I arose to take
my leave.
Carrie went into the entry for my coat
and hat, that I might put them on by the
warm fire, but she came baok with only my
hat.
"Why, Fred, you certainly did not ven-
ture out on such a -night as this without an
overcoat ?" '
",No coat ?" I exclaimed, in a dazed sort
of a way, for the thought of the money,
flashing upon me so suddenly, had almost
Stunned me,
Thb next moment I tore past her like a
madman, as I was. The coat wits gone 1
Then I teas unnerved. I grasped at the!
stairrail, and caught it just in time to sup ,
fort myself. Carrie (same running out, her
ace pale with alarm,
"Oh, Fred I are you sick / Let me call
mother and the doctor! Volt are as white
as a sheet 1"
"No, no, Carrie 1" I entreated, "There
am better now,"
And I was better. I was strong, all at
once -- desperately strong. And what
brought about this change? The simple
• receipt whieh I had in my pocket. Ander-
son had nothing to show that the mot:my
had been paid; and was not my uneided
.word as good its lis?
was foolish enoitgli to believe that I
could brave it through, and / grew confid-
ent and quite easy at once.
14;
"There, Carrie, I am muoti better now
The room wao too warm, I guess. 89 Btal10
BIleak./Ilief has MAW in ited stole my coat
Well, let it go. It was an old one, and
have a better lane,"
was there nothing in the pockets ?"
asked Carrie. r
It is etrange how suepicious guilt will
make us. I really thought that Carrie sus-
pected me, and an angry reply, was on the
end of my tongue. •I suppressed it, how-
ever, and uttered a falsehood instead :
"Nothing of consequence, Carrie. A.
good pair of gloves and some other trifling
notions."
"1 am glad it is ino worse, Fred. Now,
if you will wait just a moment, 1 will get
you one of father's coats to wear home."
Thus equipped I left her.
You may guess that my slumbers that
night were not very sound, nor very refroh-
ing. I never passed a more miserable night
and in the morning my haggard looks were
the subject of remark.
"Why, Fred, you look as though you had
met a legion of ghosts last night 1" eaid Win-
ston, "What is the matter ?"
I had a bad night of it," I answered,
with a sickly smile.
"And you'll have another, if you're not
•careful. You had better keep guiet to -day.
By -the -way, did you write to Anderson ?"
I do not lt now how I managed to reply,
for the question set me to shivering from
head to feat and I was so weak that I could
scarcely sit in my chair.
1 must have aneWered in the affirmative,
however, for hesaid :
"Then we may look for something from
him to -morrow, or next day ?"
Immediately after he added :
"Why, Fred, you shiver as though you
had the ague, and you are sweating like a
butcher 1 You're sick, man! Come l jump
into nay cutter, and I'll take you home."
I was glad of the chance to get away, and
•reaching int room, I locked myself in.
Winston sent a doctor round, but I re-
fused to see him. Then Winston came
himself, but I would not open the door.
Then my landlady came, then some of my
fellow -boarders, but I turned them all
away.
Ala 1 those were terrible hours that I
passed, and the night coming on brought
me no relief. Can you not guess what I was
meditating? Coward that I was, I had at
last resolved upon self-destruction.
I commenced my preparations with the
same calmness and deliberation that I would
have used in the most common transaction.
I wrote a short explanation for Carrie, an-
other for Mr. Winston, a third for my poor
mother; and I smiled them all. In a fourth
envelope I enclosed the receipt to Mr,
Anderson.
All this accomplished, I went to my
secretary and took out the weapon of death.
It was simply a revolver, small and insig-
nificant enough in appearance, but all suffi-
cient.
Having examined the cartridges, to make
sure that there would be no failure, I sat
down before the fire, and placed the cold
muzzle to my forehead.
In another second I should have been life-
less; but just as my finger began to press
the trigger, there came a tap on my door
It startled me and hastily concealing my
weapon, 1 called out that I could admit no
one.
"Not me, Fred?"
I knew Carrie's voice, and a yearning to
lookteon her loved face got the mas of
me. Quietly slipping the tell-tale. letters,
which I had left on the table, into my poc-
ket, I opened the door. • •,
"Oh, Fred, you are real sick 1" exclaimed
Carrie, the moment the light fell on my face.
"Why did you not send for me? .Aren't
you better ?"
"Worse," I answered huskily ; "but,
Carrie—good heavens 1"
As I uttered this exclamation, I started
back, and then forward; and theia—Ibardly
know whae(for, hanging across Carrie's arm,
was my overcoat 1
Recovering from my astonishment, I
snatched it from her, and thrust my hand
into the pocket. I drew out eleven thousand
seven hundred and fifty dollars and twenty-
three cents.
You have heard about, and perhaps seen,
the singular capers of a madman, or the wild
antics of those crazed with rum or the gro-
tesque dancingof savages. Nell, judging
from what Carrie told me and from the ap-
pearance of my apartment after it was all
over, I am Hid to believe that, were it pos-
sible to concentrate the three above-men-
tioned species of demons into one, their
capering and dancing would appear tame in
comparison with mine that night.
But I cooled down after awhile, and just
in time to save Carrie's head a thump from
the chair or the washstand, which I had se-
lected as partners in my crazy waltz.
Then I asked for an explanation. It was
the simplest thing imaginable. I do not
know why I had not thought of it before.
• It was simply a blunder of Carrie's father.
He had mistaken my coat for his own, and
worn it down town, never dreaming that a
small fortune was lying idly in the pocket.
Well, I didn't b,ave the brain fever over
the affair, but I was the next door to it. I
made a clean breast of the whole thing ex-
cepting my attempt, or, rather, my resolve,
at self destruction. No one ever guessed
that part of it, and I tell it to -day for the
first time. 0
I sent Mr. Anderson his receipt, handed
over the money to M. Winston, and went
right on with my duties, a wiser and a better
man, I hope. And td.morrow, God willing,
I shall lead Carrie to the altar.
ael—soseellae—ermas---
The Sultan not a happy Man.
The Sultan of Turkey sitsin Yildiz Kiosk
and refuses to be comforted. Not that he
cares a straw about Bulgaria or about the
Anglo-Egyptian Convention. Matters of
far graver import impress his soul with an
overburdening weight. On Wednesday last
1Tafiz Bohm= Agin breathed his last and is
now in Paradise with the houris. The Agha,
although a pure-blooded negro, was the
ireatest and most inffirentia,r man in the
mpire, and had succeeded in rendering
himself inclespensable to the Sultan. He
held the office of Chief of the Eunuche, a
dignity which ranks with that of Grand Viz-
ier and entitles the bearer thereof to be ad-
dressed as "Your Highness." His official
title was "the Guardiari of the.Bacred Doors
which lead to the Abodes of Felicity." The
ladies of the harem are now squabbling to
their heart's content about his suecosor,
turning the honey of the Sultan's life into
gall and wormwood, His courtiers have,
of comae, deserted the "Caliph of the
Faithful" oin this aWkward position and
taken up an attitude of armed neutrality.
Truly, the popular German song IS correct
when it asserts that the "Sultan's life is
not a happy one."
Emperor Williath has presented to the
Pope a mitre of exquisite workmanship
adorned with brilliants, rubies, sepphiree,
and emeralds in hohoer of the Papal jubilee,
The Kaiser also wrote a letter.
A male member of a noble English family
has opened a retail business under an assum-
ed name,
HEALTH.
Geed
Cheerful companions attendants and vis-
itors—;f any are ednutted—are as neceseary,
or as appropriate, as pure air, sunlight and
pleasant surroundings. The influence of
the mind over the body is far greater than
is usually supposed, animating or ,depress-
ing, and can not well be overrated. The
long -faced gentry, with repulsive eounten-
emcee, breathing an atmosphere of condensed
acidity, constantly expecting some terrible
event, some unlooked for calamity to befall
the sicls, some awful change in the weather,
etc., have no mission in the sick room, if,
indeed, they have in any decent society.
Those who constantly look on the dark side,
predicting unfavorable changes, who de-
light m reciting the history of similar cases,
all of which terrobsate,d fatally, attended by
unusual pains and sufferings, can not but
exert a pernicious influence, seriously modi-
fying the symptoms, rendering a recovery
more and more doubtful the longer their in-
fluence is fella The boisterous and reckless,
on the one hand,and the cunning whispers,
with evil surmising, on the oth9r, should be
carefully excluded from the sick room,
particularly when the patient is delicate
and sensitive. Indeed, no intelligent and
prudent person will be either clamorous or
whisper, when the case is regarded as
doubtful. If there is whispering, the aver-
age patient will wish to know the occasion
for it, while careful listening willoften pro-
duce an undeeirable fatigue. Such slyness,
:such attempts to oonceal important truths
as it may naturally appear to the sick, will
naturally excite curiosity if not alarm, the
patient suspecting worse results than are
anticipated by the attendants. Nothing of
the kind should ever be allowed in the sick
room. Pleaeant, cheerful tones, remarks
not demanding much consideration, no
alarm, with smiling faces, cordial greetings,
countenances expressive of hope and assur-
ance—as much so as the circumstances will
possibly admit—will legitimately aid in as-
suaging the rigors of the symptoms, and miti-
gating the sufferings. Shall visitors be ad-
mitted? To exclude all will convince the
patient that the case is serioue, reacting un-
favorably. If admitted, it should be with
careful restrictions. If 1 were dangerously
sick, I should wish the company of one or
more loved friends, taking my hand in 8
theirs, with one on my brow, while I might
be permitted to listen to cheering words of
affection, not being expected to answer c
many questions nor to have the conver-
sation so continued as to produce fatigue.
Indeed the simple presence of such a friend a
with comtersation for only a few moments, au
might be suffident. To exclude all would a
convince me that my friends despairedof my a
life, making me feel keenly that I was de- "
serted in my time of need, by those who a°
should sympathize with and cheer me. u
The presence of judicious friends, I feel u
sure, will effect more good than harm.
charged with nicotine. In order to know
the extent to which the llings receive the
poisoned Air it is only necessary to remem-
ber that the area of these pneumonic glob-
ules is some 1,200 square feet,
There As a popular notion that the paper
verappiugs of cigarettes do the mischief.
Tee poor perhaps does burn the inoeth.
The wrappers of some Turkish eigerettee
are impregnated with opium, and these, of
course, do harm; but that is not the fault of
the cigarette, Tho trouble with cigarettes
is that people will emoke cigarettes at time
when they will not smoke eigare, and that
cigarette smokers thus use more tobacco
than other people, and that cigarette smok-
ers inhale tobacco and take into the lungs
air charged with nicotine.
Sun -Stroke.
When a person falls with min stroke, he
should at once be taken, to the coolest place
available, His clothing should be removed
and cold epplieetione made to his head and
over the whole body. Pieces of ice may be
packed around the head, or cold water may
be poured upon the body from the water
pot. The ice -pack to the spine and cold
enemata will also be found of advantage.
As a preventive measure there is nothing
like keeping out of the sun; but where this
is impossible, as in the case of laborers, and
'
others a device consisting of a cloth or
large handkerckief fastened to the hat.
band, will be found of advantage in shield-
ing the back of the head from the sun's
rays.
Hints.
Many housekeepers object to the open
grate fire that imparts such a cheerful air
to the sitting room on a wintry night, on
the score of dust and coal dirt. Neverthe-
less, a grate fire is one of the healthiest
means of heating a room, and, introducing
a free circulation of air, keeps the room
well ventilated. Steam heat would be ex-
cellent did it not, by its excessive dryness
frequently produce unpleasant headaches.
Much ill health may be avoided by pay-
ing attention to little things. Every man,
woman and child should be careful togo
in
well wrapped up the biter weatherim-
pending. Overshoes are an article that,
though unpleasant to wear, are indispen-
ible in cold weather. The ears and neck
hould be well protected, and heavy cloth-
ing worn next to the skin. Avoid taking
old above all things.
Dandruff is a common complaint of late,
nd one that it seems troublesome to eradi-
ate. The mixture given below has been
nown to remove the persistent trouble
when other means ha,ve failed: Take one -
all ounce of carbonate of potash, and one
unce of alcohol; add sufficient water to
ring the mixture up to eight ounces, and
se a little at 'a time, rubbing well into the
°alp until it forms a lather.
Cigarettes.
Whether or not young Mr. Knevals died
of smoking cigarettes, it is perfectly well o
known to physicians that a man may die p
from carrying that practice to an excess, p
and that excessive cigarette smoking does
do a great deal of harm. In the first place, t
people who smoke cigarettes do more smok- g
A correspondent of the Lancet says:
"A few years ago, when in China, I be-
came acquainted with. the fact of the natives
suffering facialneuralgia using
il of peppermint, which they lightly ap-
lied to the seat of pain with a camel -hair
encil. Since then, in my own practice, I
requently employthis oil as a local antes-
hetic, not only in neuralgia, but also in
out, with remarkably good results."
Ing than those who use cigars and pipes. If
O man is ,going to leave his office to run
across the street for a minute, or is walking
to the corner to take a horse cal, he will not
light a cigar; he knows it must be thrown
away immediately, and a sense of economy
testrains him. But if he is in the habit of
rolling cigarettes, he mity take a whiff at
any time, and is pretty 'sure to be always
doing it. The result is that where a non-
smokezthas the benefit of some fresh air in
the lungs whenever he is out of doors, the
cigarette smoker takes in air charged with
nicotine,
Smokers of cigars and pipes do not, as a
rule, inhale smoke, but cigarette smokers
sclo. Why this should be, it is difficult to
say, but it is an acknowledged fact that it
is so. It is thus easy to see why the results
of cigarette smoking should he so baneful.
The air in reaching the lunge and the blood
goes through the windpipe and the bron-
chial tubes. Between the windpipe and the
lungs the bronchial z ubes keep dividing into
two. This incessant subdivision reduces
them ultimately to great fineness. In the
lungs they are sea cely wider than a hair.
At the end of each bronchial tube there is
what is called a pneumonic globule. It is
in this globule that the air and blood meet!
it is here that the Mom:nen/lies "aerated,"
or oxygenized. In the case of men who in- People say that next winter different col -
hale the smoke of cigarettes, these globules, ored lacemarlor window curtains will be the
instead of receiving fresh air, receive air fashion.
Sad Effeot of .Ear Boxing.
Science publishes some valuable records
collected by Dr Samuel Sexton on the ob-
served effects of boxing the ears. Dr Sex-
ton has fifty-one cases upon his records in
Mich the ear has been injured by blows of
the open band or fist. The nature of the
injuries varied considerably. One had in-
flammation of the ear, with suspicion of ,
intracranial trouble, and a running of the
ear for twelve years following a blow upon
that organ. This patient subsequently
died of brain disease. In another case the
ear became inflamed and the hearing very
much impaired, In another case the pa-
tient was slapped by,his father upon the left ,
ear, and immediate pain and deafness en-,
sued with a bloodydischarge, from which he
was three months in recovering.
The dangers to which Dr. Sexton calls
attention are so grave that parents and all
others should choose some other method of
punishing their children than boxing the
ears. It is not improbable that, if Dr. Sex-
ton pursues his enquiries further, he will
find other cases in which brain disease has
followed this barbarous practice.
0
flousentaid
ToGtvar.R. IT's
you.
Pend hrother
MARY.
in ilousentaid
IHICHHIC VOA
CANDOR,
IT POES tY HEART 000» TO SEE YOU An TILE TART
A PRETTY :PICTURE. StrRt AND _ne's TIIE IMAGE or
/311.1' THEY Att SAY ILE:LOOKS LIKE nte
BLESS YOUR SOUL, IditkqiirtIt'S HOT HAIJE:GOOL,LOOK.,
Territorial Waters.
One of the meet interesting of the papers
read at the xecent conferenee in England of
the Association for theReform and Codificas
tion of the law of Nations, Sir Travers
TWiSS presiding, was that by Mr. George
Belen-Powell, M. P., on "The 'Amite and
Privileges of Territerial Waters," a subject
of special lute', est to Great Britain aucl the
United States at the present time, Cali% a
statement made by Mr. Sewaid to the Span-
ish Government in 1862, thet "there are
two principles universally admitted—first,
that the sea, is open to all nations; and,
secondly, that there is a portion of •the sea
adjacent to all natione over which the BOVOT.
eigHty of that nation extends to the exclu-
mon ef every other political authority," and
any other authorities to a similar effect, Mr.
Baden-Powed deduced the principle that
by internatioual law a nation. is permitted,
" for the purposes of its own security and
welfare, to hold command of portious of the
open aea which abut upon its coasts." The
great difficulty is to define the limits of
these waters. The common rule has been to
recognize the "cannon shot limit," the ac-
cepted maxim being, Finitu.t terra: dalran-
iunt ubi flnitur armor= vis. For all practi-
cal purposes this is the marine league of
three miles, which is claimed in the British
Territorial Waters Jurisdiction Act, and
agreed to by the United States, though not
by other nations. For different purposes
other distances have been at various tim s
claimed by different nations as within the
juriediction. Norway specified in one case
four miles, England six miles, under an Act
of Geo. IT., and again twelve miles under
the "Hovering Acts." The United States
in 1875 claimed -the same for revenue pur-
poses, and even as far as the Gulf Stream
for the exclusion of belligerents. Spain has
claimed a six -mile belt around Cuba. The
question of jurisdiction over bays has
caused much controversy, having at various
times formed an important issue in the
fishery disputes between Great Britain and
the United. States. Another difficulty of a
different nature is that raised by the claim
of the latter power to exclusive jurisdiction
over the Behring Sea, on the ground that it is
land -locked, although the distance between
its shores, as pointed out by Mr. Adams
in 1822, is not less than 4,000 miles.
In the discussion which followed the
reading of Mr. Baden-Powell's paper thei
Hon. David Dudley Field, of New York,
expressed his eonviction that it was abso-
lutely necessary that the views hem by the
various nations on these points should be
investigated on their merits—a work which
the Association, composed as it was of in-
dependent gentlemen of all nations, was
well ableto perform. On his motion, there-
fore, it was resolved that the chairman -of
the meeting should appoint a committee of
five to consider Mr Baden-Powell's paper
and to frame general rules for the common
regulation of the duties and privileges of
adjacent States in territorial waters.
The linnugration Problem.
What is to be the end of ,the immigration
problem? All the people in this Western
World are, in one sense, inunigrants
They or their fathers came from the othe
side of the flood. They have greatly prosper
ed. For the most part this Weetern Workl
has been a good land to them. They have
felled trees ploughedfields, built
married and been given in marriage and
generally have had a good time. Well, then,
what right had they toe:mine ? What right
had they to that land or to those trees? They
were generally poor. They were strangers.
In many cases they were little better than
beggars. They came all the same and they
were welcomed. No questions were asked;
and now, what are they or their children
doing? They are saying that they don't
want any more poor people to come. It
was all very well for themselves and their
fathers, ragged, poverty-stricken wretches
though they were. But those who are still
fleeing from the old world's poverty and ty-
ranny must now be stopped. Why? "We
don't want any more 1" And who are the
"we ?" The very persons or their children
who were glad to come, poor as church
ITARious Topics.
A young female cricketer of Notting ham -
Miss
oodGn rue;:lla e, in a ericket match of botheeXea
scored 217 agRithe bowling of four really
g
Mrs. Goff 9f Pleasant Valley, Wis., who
was elected Town Treasurer, hes just secur-
ed her office in spite of vigorous opposition
on the part of the male officeholders of the
town.fituterine, es it is caned in England, is
used, BO extensively that the dairymen have
applied to Parliament for a law compelling
its mune to be changed from, butterine to
margarine. They think Unit they can head
it off in that way.
• A big schooner laden with jos arrived at
Philadelphia on Tuesday, and was to be mie
loaded next day. As he lay at the dock
she sprung it leak, fInd the salt water rushed
in so fast that nearly all the ice was melteci
before it could be got out of the hold.
The Louden cabmen recently sent it dele-
gation to the Horne Secretary, Mr. Mat -
theme asking that the number of cab licen-
ses shall be limited. There are now fifteen .
thousand of them. The lot of a London cab
driver, while he sits in a comparatively com-
fortable seat, is hard. Mr. Matthew e prom-
ised to consider the application.
Town Clerk Whittaker of Salem has a
young Leghorn rooster that has a fine ear
for music. When Miss Whittaker seats
herself at the piano to play he hurries into
the room through the door or window, flies
upon the instrument, and, after looking at
the keys for a short time, hops upon them,
and pounds out notes that seem to fill him
with delight.
A Georgia newspaper tells of a man who,
riding through the woods near Americus,
heard a hissing and crackling over his head
and, looking up, saw a big ball of fire. It
struck a large oak tree with a loud crash
and split it open from top to bottom. The
tree took fire at the root, slowly kindling,
but burning fiercer as it increased. The
man went on his way, but returned in a few
hours, and the place where the tree stood
was marked only by a blackened, smoking
hole, where the fire had burned down into
the ground.
Pere Denizot, an old French miser, died
recently in Paris. He lived by himself in
an old. house 10 Rue de Brosses, in the
Quartier des Archives. He was the laugh-
ing stock of the neighborhood, as he wan-
dered around in rags driving hard bar-
gains with butchers for dog meat and scraps..
Apoplexy carried him.of finally. An In -
specter of police, while making up his re-
port of the death in the old man's room -
accidentally knocked over a table from
the drawer of which fell several rolls of gold,.
The officer hunted through the wretched
place, and found gold and silver amountin.
to 100;000 francs. As Pere Denizot is sup-
posed to have he heirs, all this money goes
in the state
An apparatus has been devised by means
of which, it is claimed, a breach in a vessel's
hull from a collision or other cause, may be
. I effectually closed from either the inside, or
r outside of the craft. For closing in opening
- from the outside a frame made of any appro-
priate size, andweighted so as to sink in the
water is provided To the ed es
7 • g of
mice though they were, in order to earn
bread and clothes in this new land. What
right have they to the land that they should
order off others as intruders? Right
They have no right whatever except that
they came sooner. And now they set up as
'know nothings" and tell the hunger -bitten
of to -day such as they were forty years ago—
"Come if you dare. 31 you do we shall
send you back, it may be with a buffet you
won't forget 1" Is all this fair? And yet
cart any one wonder if in this highly pro -
toted land those who live by labor should
object to the pauper workers of Europe
being the only article that is admitted duty'
free. It suits the millionaire and the menu
faeturer to have his labor cheap whil
what he makes is kept, by hostile twill
artificially dear in order that he may p18the consumers pockets under forms of law
But after all this does not look very fa
like. The workingmen of the United State
and Canada will not always be gulled b
the transparent falsehood that high tarifl
keep up wages when at the very dine a
unlimited supply of thews and sinews in th
shape of European labourers are being con-
tinually poured into the country duty free.
Those who have managed to profit by protec-
tionist lieshave gulled andgouged the toiling
masses for a good while, by posing as the
workingman's friends and protectors; but
that fraud is nearly played out, and the
cheated and over -taxed laborer begies to
waken up to the fact that he has been 'done"
by fallacies the most transparent, and by
humbug of the most impudent and selfish
description. "Keep out the cheap products
of the poverty stricken mechanics of Eu-
rope," cry the manufacturers of this new
world, " in order that labor may have its
reward in good wages." But with a wink
they at the same time import those poverty
stricken mechanics themselves, in order that
they may be able to dictate what wages
they have to pay to their " hands" and bow
much they may spend on their own palatial
mansions and on their other senseless ex-
travagances. No wonder the workers are
beginning to think of a trick worth „,two of
that.
one
side of the plate are secured wooden strips,
attached to which are cushions of rubber or
other suitable material. The fraine is lower-
ed over the apertures from the deck by ropes
secured to eyes in one edge; the pressure of
the water causes the plate to hug the hull,
so that it will prevent all or nearly all the
inflow of water to the vessel, the CUShi011/3
forming water-titaat joints between the hull
and frame; the inner surface of the plate is
provided with several bolts, to Which ropes
niay be attached, in order to secure the
platein place from the inside of the vessel.
Quden Victoria and Lipski.
• Queen Victoria is still stopping at Osborne,
with her favorite daughter Princess Bea-
trice as her companion. The Queen's eldest
daughter, the Crown Princess of Germany,
and her daughters are at Norris Castle close
by, and do not intend returning to the
Vaderland until the end of the year. much
to the joy, it is said, of the Sage of Varzin,
whom the French describe as the "astute .
barbarian." Though living in such seclusion
the Queen is quite in touch with popular .
feeling, and to her alone is due the week's
reprieve which wits recorded on'Sunday last
to Lipski the prisoner lying under sentence
of death. It raised a weight off many
minds. Mr. Henry Mathews, the present
Secretary of State for the Home Depart-
ment, who seems to have learned no -wisdom
_ from his rough experience in the Cass case,.
e had already retired to the sacred seclusion
e of his club when there came a telegram from
k I Victoria Regina commanding—and not sug-
, misting, as is the custom—the reprieve of
te 1 the man whose guilt is so open to doubt.
s Every morning since the Prince of Wales's
y I departure for the Continent there arrives at
e Osborne a letter with the German postmark
n1 directed in Alleert Edward's handwriting; •
e ' for, since his so dangerous illness at Sand-
ringham, now some seventeen years ago,
the Prince of Wales has become the most
dutiful and considerate of sons.
Any father who allows his son or daughter
to grow up ignorant ef swimming, wherever
there are at all facilities for learning the
art, is grossly negligent of hie duty to the
State, and is most unkind to his children,
There ie not a year passes in which valuable
lives are not lost from this pert of education
having beeeneglected. Even the power of
keeping afloat for a quarter of an hour
would have saved not it few. It ought to
be looked upon as a disgrace for any Cana-
dian boy not to be able to swim a mile.
The prize offered by the French Govern-
ment of $10,000 for the most valuable dis-
covery relating to the utilization of electric-
ity, is to be awarded next December. It is
for any use or application of electrieitta
tamely, ae a source of heat, of light, or of
chemical action, as a means of transmission
of mechatiical power, or of verbal communi-
cation in any form, or, finally, as a curative
agent,
Longevity of Missionars.
It is stated that the average life of mission-
aries in foreign lamb is rather more than
eighteen years. In tropical climates, initially
regarded as less favorable to health, the
average time of service varies from seventeen
and a half to twenty-three and three-quarter
years. The proportion of deaths among female
missionaries is not greater, but somewhat
less than among men; and the average of
of both compares favorablywith that of
i
ministers and their wives n this country.
A Wrinkle for the Blind.
A blind man sits in the corner of a door-
way, and when he hears the bight footstep
of a lady he takes off his hat and bows his
head, covered with the snows of seventy
Winters, saying, "Oh!madam, take pity
on a poor blind man who is deprived of the
pleasure ' of seeing you 1" That fetches
them.
Electricity has entered English sport
For the angler who wishes to let his line.
float gently with the stream, without the
trouble of watching it, a little electrical
arrangement has been devised whereby it
pull upon the line closes the circuit and
rings a bell.
Clark Smith of Fort Supply and Miss
Guseey Nason of Port Sill, 200 miles apart,
were married by telegraph on Monday. The
iriegphotrnti ts:,ythat" e v ery to ing went lovely,
and it full ceremony was given by means of
Marsline Stonley, a young ettleeti„ woman'
of Philadelphia was 00 disappeinten at Miss-,
ing a train that was to take her to a plobio
that she took it big dose of laudanum and so
killed herself.