Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1888-5-31, Page 2[N OW FiltsT PuELISHED.1 (ALL RKOHTE RESEANTD.1 dieadvantage with other girle, I waa not 'so well off or so well educated as they were -- and they seemed to look down upon me. I And iaow what can I want with girle, when 4 • I have you? My world begins and ends with my hueband," she concluded, perching her, self on the arm ot the big chair in which he By M. E. BRADDON. was reposing. AUTHOR OF "LADY AVOLEV'S SWEET, WYLLARD's WrEIRD, _TO." I hope you have a germ:at who can cook E Ern decently,'' said Valentine. Yor dear Mo th t CHAP rEa Domes= Maw. The nest for the love -birds from honey- moon land was as pretly a nest aa one could find after the new fashion of many homes under one roof. It was a third.floer fiat in a newly. erected range of mansions near the Victoria Road, Kensington, a range which had been called Wilkie Mansions, because the great painter had once lived somewhere thereabouts, in the loogaforgottea days when the villages of Kensington and Bromp. ton were separated by a wide expanse of rustic lanes and market gardens The houses were red brick, fl imboyant•Flemiah in style, miscalled Qaeen Anne. Oriel wiu- dows jutted out at every available paint, and wherever a niche and a fl iwer-pot could be inimoduoed, the niche and the pot were there. Impossible batconies of artistic iron - Work projected from every storey, sunflower minarets glittered amona the roof, and no two windows were of the same shape. The fl it had been ostensibly chosen and oaterisibly furnished by Lady B. Weld ; but she had in her graciousness invited Mrs. tgamdmem bo her volume/tor, and aira Bad. deley had been the prevailing spirit in all things. When ie was found impossible to get a, small house in a good neighbourhood at a, reasonable rent, it was Mrs, Baddeley who suggested a fl it, and dwelt upon the privilege of paying no taxes. "13tit I think one is hardly a gainer by having one's taxes included in one's rent, eatid Lady Belfield, "and the rents of these fiats seem to be extortionate." "The rents are high, but then it is so delightful to pay rent and taxes under one, and not to be obliged to puzzle one's poor uncommercial brain about highway rates, or Queen's taxes," said Leo, pleasantly. " have taken a delicious little flit in Wilkie Mansions. It is on the third . floor ; but •there is a lfft, so distance is no consequence. 'There are four rootus, and a dear little mequeezy room, lighted by a skylight opening .on the stairs, which will just hold two ser- vants. The decorations are lovely --pure Queen Ane, and the rent is only a hundred and fifty. Why should not Mr. Belfield and Helen take the corresponding flat on the ,other side of the stairs. It would be so nice for Helen and me to be living in the same ,house, .lways at hand to help each other in h , any way, and yet thoroughly independent 'of each ether," . in Lady Relfield received the suggestion 1 fa favourably. No doubt it would be good for n the sisters to be near each other. Helen , was very young to begin life alone ; and Valentine was too restless a spirit to settle al down into the stay. athome domestie hus- band, who twaddles through existence at al, his wife's apron-epring. The mother's I g ex- perience of her son had warned her that he • sticks, This is year Etpartment, don't y know, Mine is eemotly like it, over t way." Valentine's brow darkened. " yen mean to tell me that my mother chose all this trumpery ?" ho asked, rude "Lady Belfield certainly 'chose t er furnite, with a little assistance from in but I beg to assure you that there is no er as a tended to that. ou We have two Devonshire girls, sisters, the he daughtere of a tenant farmer in reduced eir. =instances, who have been obliged to go out into service. Very superior to the common run of servants," ly.• "1 hope that doesn't mean that they are he arrant duffers," grumbled Valentine, with e; his oigar between his lips. " It sounds like t a it." ug "You may be sure Lady Belfield would bit of trumpery in your rooms. Everythi ns, not have enm gaged theunless they tvere is substantial, solid --Good heave Valentine, how clumsy you are 1" exclaim Mrs. Baddeley, interrupting herself, as lacquer table, gold and vermillion, twelv legged, healthful, was whisked over by t owner's coat tails. "And you expect me to live in a room this 1; ind, like a stall at a cha,rity bazaar ejaculated Valentine. "1 thought n mother had more sense. I thought a knew me better than to waste her mon on such accursed rubbish." "But, dearest Val, everything is posi- tMely lovely," pleaded Helen, looking as if she was just going to cry, "and it is all the heignt of fashion." " Fashion !" cried her husband. Does man sit upon fashion, or eat his dinner o fashion, or keep himself warm with fashion There is not a chair iu this room I shou like to sit in, and in cold weather it will a place to shiver in rather than to live i Egad, I shall have to sit in my .A,strachan coat if I sit here at all." "A drawing room is usually considered the wife's province. Her taste is supposed to be paramount there," observed Mrs. Baddeley, with. dignity. "1 suppese that's the reason so many men live at their clubs," said Valentine. "Oh, Val, we can change all the furniture if you don't like it," exclainied Helen, pite- ously; "don't say that you'll desert me for those horrid alube." "Is the dining room—Japanese —too ?If asked her husband of Mrs. Baddeley, with ineffable disgust, completely ignoring Helen. "Von had better look at it and judge for yourself," replied Leo, with her stateliest air. "Good-bye, Helen. I thought I might have poured out your tea on your first after- noon, as you must be rather tired But I'll come and see you another time when your usband'a in a better temper." She aailed out of the room with her head the air, and Mr. Belfield made not the intese attempt to intercept her departure, or did he take any more notice of that fact ian if a fly had flown out of the window. Helen had learnt her lesson of submiseion ready. " Let us look at the dining -room, Val,' e said, sweetly. "I'vn sure that will be ice," and Valentine followed her in dogged nee. Drawing -room and dining -room were aided only by an archway and an oriental urtain Very picturesque very inconveni- nt, draughty in winter, stuffy in summer, tting the smell of the dinner into the draw - groom at all seasons. But how delightfully convenient for rowing the two rooms into one when we ave an evening party," said Helen, waxing opeful at the idea. "And when you have thrown your two oma into one, where are you to feed your eople?" asked Valentine, "Oh, one doesn't feed people of an even. g. We could give tea, and coffee and ices the lobby." 5 he drawing -room was li ht and 1 • ectil carableeailpdsyeleovu'lerir' "Prhing and let me sea if one e. of therm treasures is capable of giving me a he brandy and Emden" " With the utmost pleasure, dearest," of and Helen flew first to the electric ball, and g, then to a silver Tautalus on the sideboard, ly he ey which had been one of her wedding presents. A fresh coloured, neat -looking girl an- swered the summons. She was prettily dressed in a dark red gown, and a large muslin apron and mobcap, with a coquettish red bow at the top. The dress had an artis. tic air, and had been speeislly designed by Mrs, Baddeley. The girl, who answered to a the name of Phcebe, seemed perfectly at home in her duties ff ' Valentine drank his brandy and soda, and Id looked at his watoh. be "You don't dine till eight, of course," he said. "I think there'll be time for me to might prove a neglectful husband. She took kindly to the idea of those rooms 1 ai opposite Mrs. Belfield 's apartment. They c were bright and airy, and the topmost e boughs of the good old elms in Kensington , le Gardens could just be descried Mom the in • window. "A charming view," said Mrs. Baddeley, th who was always in love with anew abode. I h Her husband was to go back to the , h East in N.ovember, and was likely to be i away two or three years. Colonel Deverill, r° having safely:established his second daughter, P had became a nomad. His year's tenancy I of Ai orcomb would expire before the end Of the year ; and he had told his elder child in frankly that he should onlyhave Kilrush for o pecba-terre henceforvrard. th "There, my love, you will be always wel11 - come," he said, kindly. I Or "Por papa forgets that I loathe the su place," Leo told her husband. "I must ' si have my pied a-terre, and it must be in Lon- ca don ; and then there will be a home ready , an for you, Frank, when you leave the army in and look abcut you for something to do." T It was understood that Major Baddeley an was to retire from active service in a few go years, and that he was to eke out hi income go somehow. His ideas upon the subject were at shadowy. He had floating visions of turn- Far ng wine inercharit, guinea-pig, or going on ol the stage. He had a notion that a man of ro his appearance and with the true cavalry- ' ed mess manner, ought to do well at a West di End theatre. 1 te He gave a long whistle at the idea of his , wi wife setting up an establishment of her own. ' m "Won't it go into money, Leo?" he said. ' an "Not much, and it can't be helped if it ed does," she answered, coolly, "1 must live fo somewhere, and there will be no home for ;sot me with papa after he gives up Morcomb ,11 1 shall be very economical, and I mean to ' tic a a uo money by literature. I am housetops and intersecting railways tall , e dining -room was dark and ponderous, ere, too, all was oriental, but it was the ientalism of India; mysterious, uncanny, ggestive of Juggernaut or Bowanie. The deboard was Bombay black -wood, richly rved, and flourished all over with dragons d demons, surmounted with a sacred bull, bronze, copied from a famous aniique, he curtains were tawny, eplashed with red, d might have been symbolical of fire and re. The square centre carpet was darkly udy, with a surrounding of slippery floor, ained almost to ebony. Three Titanic m -chairs, covered in different tones of ive and tawny plush, nearly filled the om, and a small oval table, heavily cant- , indicated that uoly the very smallest nners would be given in that oriental mple. The fireplace glowed and glittered th brass and bloodmed tiles, the over- a,ntle was black wood, carved, and fretted, d the niches of the woodwork were reliev- by brazen and copper vessels of classic rm, bought in Naples for a few francs, and M in Regent -sweet for a few pounds. ea Ind' t d e a - ed windows and obscured the view of I earn h tf 1 f euro I ld 't b o s of people 'chimneys and signal posts. wheel." whose books sell, if I put my shoulder to the I "Not quite so bad as the drawing-roora," said Valentine, flinging himself into the "1 am sure you could, Leo. You're out most luxurious of the three chairs, and Mk - and away the cleverest woman I know, and ing out his cigar case. "If we have only I think there's nothing you could not do," !these two rooms, this will have to be my said Frank, with enthusiasm. 1 den, I suppose. Luckily, you don't mind So the rooms wore taken, and furnished smoke." in the Japanese style, Mrs. Baddeley having 1 "As if I should mind smoke when you obtained an introduction to an Oriental firm are a smoker," protested Helen with a devot- in the city, one of whose members had a son . ed look. "1 am so glad. that you like our in Major Baddeley's regiment. ' dining -room." ' It was to this Oriental warehouse that , "I didn't say I liked it; only its a little Mrs. %Adele," conducted Lady Belfield better than your jimcrack drawing -room. when the matter of furniture was first die- The whole establishment is too much tike a cussed. The Japanese style was her nas- 1 doll's -house for my taste. I would rather sion, and Lady Belfield allowed herself to have had a first floor in Russell Square. It be influenced by the sight of golctembroid- 1 would have been nearer to the clubs than ered screens and bamboo blinds, enamelled this, and we should have had plenty of room yanesandcuriouslycarved ebonycabinets; and , to breathe in." almost before she knew what she was doing, 1 "Dearest Valentine, you know nobody she had allowed her son's new home to he- lives in Russell Square. I should have been come a kind of temple, where Josseg nodded, I alone in a desert. or iteemed to nod, in every corner, and 1 The bedroom and the dressing rooms were beaded baniboo curtains rustled at evert' unobjectionable. Here Lady Belfleld's good with a parti-coloured rush matting, whioh door, and where the floors were covered ' sense had prevailed over Mrs. Baddeley's oriental yearnings. A11 was neat, simple looked delightful in summer but which 'and convenient, Helen's dressing room, in - might have a chilly effect in winter. Bete, I tended by the builder for a doubt e bedroom, however, the remedy' was easy, and Mr. ii was large enough to do duty for a boudoir. Baddeley selected half-a•doaen costly In- !Valentine's was of respectaltle dimensions, dian rugs, which were to lie about the , and afforded plenty of accommodation for rooms in a careless artistic style and trip bath and wardrobe. people up unexpectedly, To this Japanese botver Mr. Belfield and his wife CatTle on a sultr Se tembe after- noon about tea time, and Were warmly wel- comed by Mrs. Beddeley, whose dexteneus hands had filled the tomes with poppies, cornftowera end nasturtiums in clusters of vivid „ color, an had maae picturesque ar- rangements of bullrushea and palm leaves as the fire places and lobby. Everything VMS very snaall, very elegant and harenone Maus. The Master of the dainty little Ileum) was the only object that looked out of place!. Ho seemed_ ever eo an 1:dg is surroundings. "What a fine thyshop you have got for a dratving-rooni, Lem" be said, looking round him in scornful amusement, "1 hope our sticks are a little more sub,stantiat." "My- dear Volentine, these are your Th go to the club before dinner." "On our first day, Val! And it's nearly seven now." "Yes, it is rather late. I'd better go after dinner." "What, in the evening! And leave me alone—as you did in Paris," exclaimed Helen, almost crying. "Paris was an exceptional affair—an un- expected party which I was let in for. To- night I sh tit only go to look about me, and see who's in town. Besides, you need not be alone here. You have your sister." Helen's only answer was a heart -broken sigh. Yes, the spell was broken. The long honeymoon was over. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Sow to Pulverize Your Opponents, Let me tell you how I write mean letters and bitter editorials my boy. Some time, when a man has pitched into nae and "but me up rough," and I want to pulverize him, aud wear kis gory scalp at my girdle and hang his hide on my fence, I write the letter or editorial that is to do the business, write something that will drive sleep from his eyes and peace from kb soul for six , weeks. Oh, I do hold htm over a slow fire I and roast him. Gall and aquafortis drip from my blistering pen. Then, I don't 'neat the letter and I don't print the editorial. There's always plenty of time to crucify a man. The vilest criminal is entitled to a little reprieve. I put the manuscript away in a drawer. Next day I look at it. The ink is cold. 1 read it over and say :—" I don't know about this. There's a good deal of bludgeon and bowie knife journalism in that. I'll hold it over a day longer." The next day I read it again. I laugh and say "Pshaw 1" and. I can feel my cheeks getting a little hot. The fact is, I am ashanted that I ever wrote it, and hope that nobody has seen it, and I have half forgotten the article or letter that filled my soul with rage. I haven't been hurt, I haven't hurt anybody, and the world goes right along, making twenty-four hors a day as usual and I am all the happier. Try it, my boy. Put off your bitter remarks until to morrow. Then, when you try to say them deliberately, you'll find that you have forgotten them, and ten years, ah! how glad you will be that you • ! Be good-natured, my boy. Be loving and gentle with the world, and you'll be amazed to see how dearly and tenderly the worried, tried, vexed, harassed old world loves you.---EBurdette The Bottom Fell Out. A, Tully, N. Y. despath to the Times says :—Martin G. Fidler, of this place, dug the biggest well on his premises yesterday that has ever been dug in Onondaga County, and did it in less time than has been con- sumed in digging any other well near the salt district. When his men had excavated a few feet the bottom suddenly fell out of the well at a time when, fortunately, all the men were in places of safety. There was left in the bottom of the shallow well abroad hole leading into utter darkness, apparently of unfathomable depth. In a short time an exploring party was formed, ropes and wind. lasses were procured, and several daring men were lowered to the bottom. It was found that the bottomless well led into a cave, whose bottom was about 40 feet below the well. The explorers went over the cave with torches and lanterns and found it to be about a mile long. It extends directly under a lake but is entirely dry, no water what- ever having been found. A number of stone columna and some fine stalactites and stalag- mites were found, with fossil formations, and Mr. English, the geologist, who sieve- quently descended, found two very finespeci. mens of trilobite. Wm. Payne also found a number of fern formations. A party from Syracuse is to explore the cave to -day. Would Teach Him. A Paris paper telb a good story of Gener- al Pelissier, the celebrated soldier, whoae obsequies were only recently celebrated at the capital. The general was of an extreme- ly nervous and impulsive disposition, and every one who knew him was familiar with the sudden transp.orts of rage that he occa- sionally indulged in. One day, while com- mending a division of the army in Africa, he became so furious over a slight mistake that had been committed in the performance of the daily maneuvers that he struck an officer of ordinance. The officer coolly drew his revolver and alining it at the general pulled the finger. The weapon hung lire. en we ave only one bedroona " said Fifteen days imprisonment,' said Pelisser Mr, Bemem, when he had 00m/skied me in the calmest manner poesible. " That survey. "I'm very glad of that." "Why, dear," "Because we oaWt have any gir1 friend of yours to stay with us." "Von would rather we should Itquite alone," said Helen, nestling up to him, with one of her hone moon ushe f t 7 . "01 course I weuld. Ghia are always bore—want to be taken out every nig t -- expect a inan to dress tor dinner—Oan't stand smoke—regular nuisance.1" "You wouldn't be troubled by any friends of mine, Val, even if we had a spare room, We lea such a roving life with father that I never had time to get attached to any girl I I Met. Leo and I were always geed friends, / and very fond of each other. Of cotirse after , she Married I felt a little lOnely—but I never took to anVone:else. olways:64 at a will teach you I think to k in better order." Techeical education is more and more felt to be a necessity in every country that is not willing th lee hopelessly behind in the race of Manufacturing, farming and corn- , tnerce. The old fashioned vvays of doing will hot suceeed now, and those who are t content to follow in tne footsteps of their fathert . ven in Much a stand -still place as Quebec this is atrongly fait, and technical education is accordingly more and More cultivated. In 1873 thete were in the Province of Quebeo seven tech- nical sehoole with 377 pupils, In 1887 the schools had risen tie .13 and the pupils to 1181, nibs may be little, but it is signfi. cant. TLE LIKE -KILN CLUB. Wnen the meeting had opened in duo and ancient form Brother Gardner looked up ona down the aisle and said: "Dir' ar' many strange things about die yero thing ,called human. natur . Pay a bar- ber double price fur a shave to -day an' fo' weeks hence he will hey de cheek to ask fur a cash loan. "If 1 lend Pickles Smith a dollar an' he kin conveniently Pay it back he ar' grateful. If he wants hi use dat dollar fur sunthin' ole he looks upon me as an oppressor. ‘5 Chip in an' feed and clothe a poor family outer charity an' dey onoe jump to de con- clushun dat de world owes 'ern libin'. A citizen wid a thousand dollar in his pocket won't walk two natiares widout he. in' his boots blacked, A citizen wid $10 - 000 !house will .keep an ole picket fence standin' in front of it year eater year a ornament You'll fiud de chap who waute sunthin' to kee off cold in J' 11' ' un thin' to ward off do heat in July, an' de curus part of it am dat he call fur de same sort of wh'IsWkyhen a matt has slandered or lied about you, you kin an' do fergive him. ).‘ you hey slandered or lied about some else, you wouldn't fergive 'em if dey cu yor on bendod knees. " We orgy dat it makes no difference to our pocket what our naybur airns, but if we Parn dat his salary aid greater den ours, de least we kin wish hint rte three months' sickness. "De howlin' of my dog nebber disturbs me in de slightest, but let my naybur's cat ntter one yeow '00' Pm right on eand in bed an' fightin' mad. "Tokio' us from top to bottom, an' from side to side, an' we ar' poo', mean, onery lot, au' de wonder is dat de Lama didn't pit disgusted an' shet down on us long ago. Dat's one of the reasons B ;la Ingersoll might hey justly urged agin de existence of a Su- preme beina" NOTHING PERSONAL. Pickles Smith at once arose and asked an explanation. He had been poiated as a doubtful debt payer, and he wanted know by what tight. Had he ever borro a dollar of the President and refused to re it ? " You neber hey, Br adder Smith," rep the President. " You hav now an' den rowed a dollar an' b'n leetle slow in for ober, but I used your name simply in an il Motive sense. Sot down, Brudder Sm If you want a dollar dis evenin' cum to atter de meeting' has adjourned an' you s hev it," THE COMMITTEE EXPLAINED. s an ,good work he inaugurated brought to a sum meats was formed and the result was beyond aur greateet expeotations, Your e truly, Noma COTTON, RTHQITAIIE nra, MATHEW TAKE'UM, M. C. COLUMBUS WILLIAMS, Emit' Bnoww, Committee. "De twelve cents will be returned to de sender Ivied my compliments," replied the President. "Sioh sudden outbursts fall upon my heart like a July ram upon dry grass, hitt I must indulge in de hope dab no furder steps will be taken by any lodge or society. De day fur de oull'd man hasn't arrove yet, nor will it cum in my time De white mem got heah fast, an' he ain't gwine to let go of a good thing until he or' obliged NOTES ON OURRENT TOPICS, The Canadian Pacific) Railway Company have given out orders for fur thousand insight cant This uremia business. The M mtreal Chief of Police repudiates with warmth is statement that he had issued an order b wishing baby carriages loin the sidewalks, The new chief is a married man, and knows when it is unsafe to stretch his authority too far. The baby carriages eon- tinue, therefore, to own the eielewalks. The Winnipeg Assessment Commissioner's import, for 18a8, puts the total assessment at nineteen and a half millions, with three rail - lions exempt from taxation, while the city's populetion te about 25,000. For it e age, I Winnipeg is is sturdy and laree-sized iufant. Dm Pedro stein mentally and phyrsicall/ o, NOT A QUESTION. and away from hi Braziliau home, sees t e Then Rev, Penstock arose and produced a cessful issue by the passage of athill pyovid- copy of is Cleveland daily which referred to him as "Coon Penstock, of the Lime Kiln Club." Must he tamely submit to such an insult? Would the club take official action as a body to set its seal of condemnation on such language? bteadeya ''Brudder Penstock," asked the Preei dent, isn't it usual to refer to people of our cul - m to lur as coons ?" "11 may be, sah, but 1 denounce de prac- tice !" "Hey we bin hurt in any way ?" " Mebbe no, "Can't you retaliate by callin' de •white folks b'ara ? ' "Id scorn to do SO, Bah I" " Den you'd looter scorn to notice news- paper items an' raise a fuss ober 'em I'vY bin called a coon fur half a century, an' I'm alive an' kickin' yit. If any one gits any fun outer it I'ze willin' to be celled a p0110 - wog. You will now sot down an' de meetin' gweilhi °bine ecl..2sed in de usual way an' eberybody for out Bishop's Ring Around the Sun, If there is nothing new under the sun iere is at least something new around it. to For the laat two years close observera of the wed sky have noticed that the noonday sun has p 9.y been surrounded by a corona of dusky, cop- pery, or reddish light, as it has been vari- Hod lonely deacribed, the circle of most distinct ham color having a radius of about fifteen de- • grees, and enclosing a brilliant, silvery, or ate. bluish glow close around the solar disk. A similar appearance of much less intensity imthe. ;„ visible before the lattermonthslof1883, Voa- has been occasionially noticed around the hall full moon -on very clear winter nights. The most, experienced observers of sky - colors are agreed that this corona was non "tg Bezold, of Munich, who was considered the most competent meterologist to prepare a • echedule for observations on the colors of lin the sky for the recent German Arctic Expe- dition, says that, in spite of the close atten. at- tion he had previously given to the appear- nb ance of the usual whitish glow around the ed sun, he had never till recently seen the ns; dusky ring. Thollon, of Nice, who had ing made a special study of the sky around. the us sun for a series of years, declares confident - es ly tint a change occurred inNovember, 1883. ur Blockhouse of Sunderland, who has a care- ur ful record Of parhelie for twenty-five years, ng confirms this opinion. We may, therefore, d, safely accept the conclusion that the change ed of color from the blue of the open sky to the of inMnse glare of wlaitish light close around es the sun, was until lately effected without the Wil appearance of any reddish tinge in the of transitional area. ' me The new corona, to itrhich the name of Ins " I3ishop's ring" has been given after its Uy first observer, has never been a very conspic- h. mous affair, and therefore haa not attracted ne the popular attention that it deserves; but r it could easily be seen every clear day last an winter, and has repeatedly beet: noticed ill since then. et au The Secretary then read the follow ostal card: Room LAND, IND., April 28, 1888 Mr. G ardner and others of the Lime K Club: Several months ago we wroteyou earne ly beseeching you to establish a branch cl at this place, and up to date have receiv nothing from the Committee on Applicatio not even a letter. There is surely someth with that committee. If they have sent any money or anything to establish ourselv with, we have failed to get. Ever since o communication was sent, citizens of o town have been holding their breath waiti for money and instructions to go ahea until lately they are becoming discourag and leaving the village, all on account not having a club. Last week two famili moved out, which depopulated our. to one-half. Another family are talking leaving and going west to the next cro roads. Chickens are below par and 'possu and watermelons are not to be had at a price; all on account of not having a clu We must have a club. We will wait o more month on you for a reply to our fo mer epistle, and if we do not receive apology and instructions to proceed, we w organize a club of our own sans et peur 8)1,71S reproche, and will allow no colored m wearing over No. 13 boots to enter ou sanctum, which will exclude all members the Lime Kiln Club. R M, STOKES, Brother Gardner locked at the committee for an explanation, and the chairman arose and replied that there was only one colored family in the township. If that was the case, and they had no reason to doubt it, Rock Lane did not atand very much in need of a branch. Secretary was instructed to write to the Postmaster and Mayor for further para. =tars. NOT SO BASE AS THAT. The following was then read amidst pro- found silence: SELHA, ALA , May 1, 1888. DEAR SIR—Rumors of a startling nature have been circulating in this vicinity of late to the effect that a syndicate of Northern capitalists are forzning a "watermelon and possum trust" for the purpose of securing control of the entire crop of these two im portant products which are so essential the welfare and happiness of the African. An agent of the syndicate recently re marked in the hearing of the writer, tha in case the trust WM formed, several prom inent members of the Lime Kiln Club woul take a large block of the stook. Water melon and mum, even at their lowes figure, are a luxury almost beyond the pure of most of us, and any advance in pric would at once place them beyond the mean o ninety per cent, of the population. If you join in the iniquitous scherne, be- ware of the storm that will surely descend upon you from the four quarters of the land. late destruction In your hall will be bh Chinese Superstitions. of lf a fly falls into the porridge, if a mag- pie chatters -on the roof, or if two chiakens fight, it is a sign that a guest is coming. t. A demon's day is a man's night, and man's night ie a demon's day; therefore candles are lighted when offerings are made to de- mons by daylight. No one picks up a girdle found in the road through fear that some one may have been hung by it, and that the spirit may fol- low and worry the possessor. - Three is a particularly unlucky number. Three persons, therefore, never sit together at a table, and no couple marries when there are six years of difference in age, because six is twice three. If a pot of money is found a rice flour cake is put in the place of each coin taken, and spirit money is burned as an offering to any spirit that might be irritated by the removal If a single coin or other article is found it is picked up with fear; but if a pair or an even number of things be found they are ta- ken without anxiety, for odd numbers are un- lucky, while even numbers are lucky. d If one who is walking along a road has a - sudden attack of colic he procures three pa- t per bags that have held incense and burns e them on the vet where he was when he be- e gan to feel the pain, to pacify the demon of s the locality. he as a gentle zephyr compared with the bliz zard of wrath which 0,11 indignant and out- raged people will visit upon you. Beware, I say, and go no further in this matter. Yours, etc., JUNEBERRY JONES, GREAT Scow liowE, SUNRISE SmiTH, RESTFUL CoATAE, and 400 others. " I'ze Bony any friend of die club could fur is moment entertain any.hich thought of us," said Brother Gardner in reply. "So far from any representative of die club gwine into any inch Wulff, it ar' a matter to excite our inmost indignashun." Giveaclam Jones then presented the follow- ing resolution: .Resolved, Dat dis club condernna any aort of trust except dat by which a cull'd man kin git beef fur his &nudity diluter, provided he dean' git his wages Saturday night" On motion of Waydown Behee the resolu- tion was adopted by a unanimoos vote, onarnatumm nnincaan. The Seoretary then announced the follow- ing from Louisville, Ky. : Brother Gardner. DEAR SIR—You will find inclosed twelve cents, the net proceeds of an entertainment given to start your cainpaign fund for the present Presidential contest. The colored people in this section not only take A deep interest in your work of social reformation and general reforrne but Will nevet• rest con- tent until you are seated itt the Presidential chair. Prof. Anted Wiggins and Tony Lane suggested the idea of helping you in a A cock that crows before midnight fore- tells a death in a family. Spirit -money must be burned, a hoop must be put in the front door at its top, and the crowing fowl t must be given away or aold. No one would - knowingly buy a fowl that crowed before midnight, and 11 10 were sold no one would dare to use the cash received for it. When a person commits suicide by hang- ing, the beam from which the body hung is cut out from the roof and burned or thrown into the river to be carried away by the our - rent. The floor underneath the feet of the hanging corpse is also dug up and replaced by new material; thus the evil influence which would inhere in the spot is eradiceted from the house. ing for the immediate abolition of lavery in. his dominions, The influence o , iis liberal, ,,,s spirit pervades the land, and 1 'nation of freemen call him blessed, while they grieve for hint in his t filictiou, Deaths of very old people are reported in all directions, and the ages have been lout at 105 and older, but the most astonishing is that chronicled by a Vienna paper. In this case is peasant in Moravia, where it is said °twee of loogevity are not rare, attained the age of 142 years. If some one would only get hold of these patrarchs before they shuffle off this mortal coil the world might hear something to ite advantage, and if the patriarchs themselves would only die in more accessible places the pablic credulity would not be so severely taxed. The fact that petroleum existes in Mani. Oho, has been known for some time, but some particulars in connection with the dis- covery are recalled by the Winnipeg Com, merci d. An experienced man from Penn- sylvania was taken to the district, in the Riding Mountains, near, liable, Manitoba, where petroleum was suspected to be, and his investigations were followed by the an- nouncement that the oil exists in immense quantities. The Commercial adds: " Dar, ing the summer there will, no doubt, be some valuable and startling strikes of oil, and in all probability capital will be attract- ed and a new industry started in Manitoba." Steam and electricity leave little for the swift -winged pigeon to do, but this utilitarian age is not slow to find a place for everything that possesses power anti speed. The armies. of 'Europe have now their pigeon corps, and the United States Government has just de- cided to establish a pigeon service at Key West to bring the Bahamas and adjacent islands into communication with the Weather Bureau at Washington. Even the elow and saucy messenger boy can never be entirely knocked out by scientific invention, and Old Probs will get along none the worse with his pigeon assistants. There appears to be good reason forZthe demand made by the trading public that the Government should give them rart*e protec- tion against being swindled by feted bank notes. It is said there is a large number of bogus bills in circulation and there is nothing to distinguish them, except to the eye of 'elle expert, from the genuine aracle. One im- porting firm of this city on taking. a deposit to the bank the other day had sixteen dol- lars' worth of bills defaced on theoground that they were spurious. 'it hat is cotnplain- ed of is that the paper on which bank bills are printed can easily be obtained or imi- tated by forgers and that the banks give no information which would enable the public to detect or even suspect the forgeries. Ontario manufacturers have occasionally expressed a desire to be afforded an oppor- tunity of shipping goods direct to the eArma- gentine Republic, believing that in a very short time tney would be able to secure a share of the important trade now done with South America by the United States. It seems that an opportunity now offers itself. Messrs. Maguire & Co., of Quebec, announce that they intend to place a small vessel. "on the berth" for cargo for Buenos Ayres and other Argentine ports during the month of Juue provided they receive application to ship sufficient cargo to occupy one-half of the capacity of the vessel, which will be about 500 tons register. The articles which it is suggested could be most profitably shipped are wooden ware, boots and shoes, agricultural implements fencing wire, edge tools, furniture and cotton goods and drugs. An experimental shipment of goods by this route ought not to be hazardous, and might lead to the profitable cultivation of a direct trade. The English papers have no doubt at all tbat the report of Mr. Chamberlain's en- gagement to Miss Endicott is true, and the London Standard says: Miss Endicott, the lady to whom Mr. Chamberlain is shortly to be married, is the daughter of the United States Minister of War, and Mr. Chamberlain made her ac- quaintance in Washington during kb rec .n stay there, Mr. Eudicott will succeed Mr. Phelps as United states Minister in London, and is expected to arrive here in a few weeks. Mr. Chamberlain's residence at Highbury, Moor green, Birmingham, has lately been enlarged and improved. The alterations were begun for the purpose of fitting it for the better entertainment of guests. Preparations are now being made for the reception of the bride. Miss Endi- cott will be Mr. Chamberlain's third wife. Now that Mr. Matthew Arnold is dead several of the United States papers are in effect admitting the justice of kb criticism on American journalism. The New York Post, in referring to the contents of wine of the morning papers of New York of May 3rd, asks if American sooiety is deteriorat- ng. "On the date mentioned," it proceeds, "we find an eminently respectful paper, occupying a commanding position in the front rank of journalism, the following handling of minter :---Thremfourtha of a column of graphM description of John L. Sullivan in a drunken debauch, one column to the congressional matters affecting the in- terests of 60,000,000 of human ,beings, and and a half columns of detaffig:la dog of simply revolting brutali . From olume of Washington matter e ave de a lengthy reference to the Ingalls. hoes quarrel,which in point of disgrace ves to be ranked with the two other tionable items." one fight Living Lights. the v to d Under the title " Living Lights" Mr. C. 'Meer F. Holder gives a popular ac,count of phos- derma phorescent ammals and vegetables in which ate° diacusses all ossible;sid f his ue p es o s subject from luminous man to cosmic dust in its re- lation to the sun -glow, and including lumin- One paint—a modern invention now claimed to have been anticipated by the Chinese. Nature accusers the author of suffering from a " phoaphorescende mania"—a charge fair- ly supported by the extravagant Statement with whieh he kap off " Among the re- velations of modern science none have a more absorbing intereat that thoth relating to the illumination of the deep sea," He is, more- over, a genuine enthuaittet, and, like all suck, see the (Salvation of his race in his own hobby, for he gives it WI his opinion that the discovery ef the secret of phoephorea- mice, and its practical application to the Manta of mankind, vrould rerailt in revolit- tionizing present systetne ; a heatlost, inex- pensive, inextinguishable light being the peountary way. A Committee of Arrange. perfeotien of possibilities in this dketition.' Europe in Africa. History repeats itself. The soramble of the European powers for the continent Of America three or four centuries ago has had its counterpart within the last three or four yearn in the energetic scramble for Africa, and the result has been the dennination of European civilizatiOn over coneiderably more than three-fourths of the habitable portion of the Dark Continent. The arta. of continental Africa may be approximately tot down as containing 11,000,000 square miles, of which some 2,300,000 are occupied by the Sahara; SOrdeWhat keg than two and is quarter millious square inners Etre still to be ecrambled for; while about Eiix and a halfmillions in round numbers, have fallen more or less' directly under the )1nfinerme of 110 colonizing states of Europe. '