HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1888-8-16, Page 7sisommonessmaisacessloirommomisousl!!!
"ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH"
• CHAPTER IV.-- (Cmemininin.) The woods I He 1 ha! When 1 used to he
roaming through those wood, shooting,---
We bit the British shone on the 1st of Ju though not a thing cold I ever find to
ly, and cestenohor,as I have elready shown, shoot, for birde and beasts are not etioli
under the oastle of St. Leuie, at Quebec, on
the gad of ,8epeember, lege, Tone wil"""efools • ee our Eogiish emigranta--eand
"- chanced to think et you coming to spend the
sailed the lat of May, and hail a th
speedy
Pitasaged
. refit of your liven( in the woods -I used t
3 del), and
" we 11'd4rd r°111 ncl
friends, comfortably settled in de), and hold my shim, and laugh until the bush, had
woods rang again, le watt the only console -
bought a farm and meant to commente tion 1 had."
• operatioi
ns n the fall, All tide was good "Good heavens !" said 1, " us never
newia and BB he wars settled near my bro. go to the +woods."
titer's location, we cougratulated ouraelvea
that our eccentric friend had found a home You will repent if you do," continued
in the wilderrees at last, and that we should Torn. "But let me proceed on my journey.
soon see nim again. My bones were well-nigh dislocated before
On the 9th of September, the steamboat we got to D The roads for the
Malan?. TV. landed us at the then Mall last twelve miles were nothing but a succes-
sion of mudholes, covered with the most
but riding town of , on Lake On-
Mrio. , 'The night was dark and rainy the ingenious invention ever thoueht of for
boat s crowded with emigrants
and racking the limhse called corduroy bridges ;
inn •
when we arrived at the inn, we learnt that not breeches, mind you, -for I thooght
here was no room for us -not a bed to be whilst jolting up and down over them, that
t
I
had; nor was it likely, owing to the num-
should arrive at ray destioation mines
bar of strangers that had arrived for several that indispensable ooverkg, It was night
weeks, that we could obtain elle by search. when we got to Pia"' 1 was
d
ing farther. Moodie requested the use of a tired and hungry, my km disfigureand
blistered by the unremitting attentions of
sofa for me during the night; bat even that
produced a demur from the • landlord. the black flies that rose in swarms from the
Whilst I awaited the result in a passage, river. I thought to get a private room to
crowded wine strange feeee, a peer of eves wash and dress in, but Mere is no such
thing as privacy in this country. In the
glanced upon me through the throng. Was
it possible ?-could it be Tom Wilson bush, all things are in common; you cannot
•Did any other homan being ever possess
even get a bed. without having to share it
SU& eyes, or me them in such an eccentric Weth a coMplenien. A bed on the fioor in a
publio sleeping -room 1, Think of that; a
manner? In another second he had puithed
his way to ray side, whispering in my ear, Public sleeping -room le-ineui women, awl
"We met. 'twas in a crowd," • children, only divided by a paltry curtain.
"Tom Wilson, is that you?" Oh, ye gods I think of the snoring, squalling,
"Do you doubt it ? I flatter myself that grumbling, puffing ; think of the akicking,
e ; the suffocating
there is no likeness of such a handsome elbowing, and crowding
heat, the imiequitoma, with their infernal
fellow to be found in the world. It is I, I
sweare__aithmigh very little of me is left buzzing --and you will form some idea of
to swear by. The beat part of me I have the misery I endured the first night of my
bit to fatten the ifinsquitoes and black flies arrival in the bush.
in that infernal bush. But where
"But these are not half the evils with
is
Moodie?' which you have to contend. You are pes-
" There he is -trying to induce Mr, tered with nocturnal visibants far more dis-
agreeable than even the mosquitoes, and
S.-, for love or money, to let me have
it bed for the night." must put up with annoyances more disgust-
" You shall have mine" said Tom. "
ing than the crowded close room. And then,
I
can sleep upon the floor of the parlor in a to appease the cravings of hunger:fat pork
blanket, Indian fashion. It's a bargain-, is served to you three times a day. No
I'll go and settle it with the Yankee directly; wonder that the Jews eschewed the vile
animal; they were people of taste. Pork,
he's the beat fellow in the world 1 In the
meanwhile here is a litelo parlor, which is a morning noon, and night, swimming irk its
joint -stook affair betown grease! The bishop who complained
vecken some of tis young
nopefuls for the time being. Step in here, of Partridges every day should have been
and I will go for Moodie; I long to tell him condemned to three months' feeding neva
what I think of this confounded country.; pork in the busk; and he would have become
But you will find it out all in good time
an anchorite, to escape the horrid eights of
;
swine's flesh for ever spread before him. No
and rubbing his hands together with a most
wonder I am thin; have been starved--
lively and mischievous expreasion, • he
shouldered his way througia trunks, and starved upon pritters and pork, and that
boxes, and anxious fates, to cornrounioate to disgusting specimen of unleavened broad,
my husband the arrange:mane he had so Yoleept cakes in the pan.
kindly made for .
"I had such a horror of the pork diet, that
us
'
,ccept this gentleman's offer, sir, till whenever I saw the dinner in progress I fled A
to-noorrow," said Mr. 5-, "I can then to the canoe, in the hope of drowning upon
l
•
mike more comfortable arrangements for your the waters reminiscence Of the hateful ban
tamily ; but we are crowded -crowded to meet ; but even here the very fowls of the
exceas My wife and daughters are obliged air and the reptiles of the deep lifted up
to sleep in a little chamber over the stable, their voices, and shouted, .'Pork, pork,
to give our guests more room. Hard that, Pork
s
I guess, for decent people to locate over the M-- remonstrated with hifriend for
horses."
deserting the country for such minor evils as
.
These matters settled, Moodie returned these, which, after all, he said, could easily
• Rh Tom Wilson to the little parlor, in be berne•
w
hich I had already made myself at home.
" &Anyborne I" exclaimed the indignant
" Well, now, is it not.funny that I ohould , Wilson. Go and try them; and tell me
t
be the fit to welcome yoCanada !"said that. I did try to bear them with a good
rsu. 3
Dem. grace, but it would no do. I offended every
3ut what are you doing here, my -
1
dear body with my grumbling. 1 was constantly
fallow en reminded by the ladies of the house that
"'en( Shaking every day with the ague. But gentlemen should not come to this country
• I Mille' laugh in spite of my teeth to hear without they were able to put up with it
little inconvenience; that I should make as
them make such &confounded rattling; you
would. think they were all quarrelling hich good a settler as a butterfly in a beehive;
should first get out of my mouth. This that it was impossible to be nice about food
shaking mania forms one of the chief memo. and dress in the bush; that people must
tions of this new country." learn to eat what they could get, and be
"I fear," said I, retnarking how thin and content to be shal313er and dirty, like their
pale he had become, " that this climate can- neighbors in the bush, --unbil that horrid
not agree with you." ward bush became synonymous with all
"Nor I with the climate. Well, we mat was hateful and revolting .in my mind.
shall soon be quits, for, to let you into a "Ili was impossible to keep anything to
secret, I am now on 133y way to England." in,self. The children pulled my books to
" Imposaible 1" pieces to look at the pictures; and an im-
" It is true." pudent, bare -legged Irish servant girl took
"And the farm; what have yeti done my towel to 'wipe the dishes with, and my
with it ?" clothes brush to black shoes -an operation
"Sold it." which she performed with a mixture of soot
"And your outfit?" and grime. I thought I should be better oil
" Sold that too."
in. a Place of my own, BO / bought a wild
" To whom?" farm that was recommended to me, and paid
"To one who will take better care of both for it double whet it was worth. When I
than r did Ah ! such a country 1 -such peo- came to examine my estate, I found there
Ple i-- Mole rogues! It beats Australia was nrrhouse upon it, and 1 should have to
hollow; you know your customers there wait until the fall to get one put up, and a
-but here you have to find them out. few acres cleared for cultivation. I was
Such a take -in !-God forgive them! I glad to return to my old. quarter&
never could take care of money; and, one " Finding nothing to shoot in the woods I
way or other, they have cheated me out of determined to amuse myself with fishing;
all mine. I have scarcely enough left to but Mr.- could not always lend his
paymy passage home. But, to provide canoe, and there was no other to be had.
.
against the worst, I have bought a young To pass away the time, I set about making
bear, a splenlid fellow,'to make my peace one. I bought an axe, and went to the for -
with my uncle. You tenet see him; he is est to select a tree. About a mile from the
close by m the stable." lake, I found the largest pine I ever saw. I
"To -morrow we will pay a visit to Bruin; did not much like to try my maiden hand
but to -night do tell us something about your- upon it, for it was the first and tbe last I
self, and your reeidence in the bush." ever cut down. But to it 1 , went; and I
"You will know enough about the bush blessed God that it reached the ground
by-and-by. I am a bed historian," he con- without killing me in its way thither. When
tinned, stretching out his legs, and yawning I was about it, I thought I might as well
horribly, "a worse biographer. I never make the canoe big enough ; but the bulk of
Oall find words to relate facts. But g will the tree deceived me in the length of my
try what I can do ; mind, don't laugh at my vessel, and I forgot to measure the one that
blunders." belonged to Mr.-. It took me six
We promised to be serious -no easy matweeks hollowing it out, and when it was
ter while looking at and listening to Toin finished, it was as long as a sloop -of -war,
Wilson, and he gave us, at detached inter- and too unwieldy for all the oxen in the
vats, the following account of himself :-- township to draw it to the water. After all
"My troubles began at ma. We had a my labour, my combats with those wood.
fair voyage and all that; but my poor dog, demons the blackflies, sand -flies, and mus -
my beautiful Duchess 1 -that beauty in the quitoes, my boat remains a useless menu -
beast -died. I wanted to read the funeral molt of my industry. And worse than this,
service over her, but the captain interfered the fatigue I had endured, while working
-the brute I -and threatened to throw me at it late and early, brought on the ague;
into the sea along with the dead bitch, as which so disgusted me with the country
the unmannerly ruffian persisted in calling that I sold my farm and all my traps for an
my canine friend. I never spoke to him old song; purchased Bruin to bear me coin.
egain during the voyage. Nothing hen., pany on my voyage home; and the moment
pened worth relating until I got to this I am able to geo rid of this tormenting fever,
place, where I chanced to meet a friend who 1 am off." '
knew your brother, and I went up with him Argument and remonstrance wore alike in
to the Woods. Most of the wig° men •of vain, he could not be dissuaded from his
Gotham we met on the road were bound to purpose. Tom was as obstinate as his bear.
the wood'
a . so felt happy that I was, at The next morning be conducted us to the
beast, he the fashion. Air. ______ was verysteble to see Bruin. The young denizen of
kind, and spoke in raptures of the woods, 'the forest was tied to the manger, quietly
whioh formed the theme of conversation masticating a cob of Indian corn, win& he
during our journey -their beauty, their held in his paw, and looked , half human as
vaatnesa, , the comfort and independence he sat upon his haunches, regarding us with
a solemn, melancholy air. 'There was an ex -
enjoyed by those who had settled in theta .
i
and he so umpired. me with the subjeet that traordinary likeness, quite ludieroue, he
I did nothing all day but sing as we rode teveon Tom and the bear. We said nothing
along ;..- but exchanged glances. Tom read o'er
"ea ine in the woods tor me it
thougl
Yee," Mid he, " there is a strong re-
nted,' we came to the woods, and then I Mon semblance I save it when I bought hint. passed in two minutes, if there, are four or
learned to sing that same, as the Irishiritin Perhape we ain
re brothers ;" and taking in e five wiree to it pole, and in two minutes and
says on the other side of my mouth." hand the chain that held the bear, be be. twentyfieconcls:if there are only obit or to
Here succeeded a long pause, during stowed upon him sundry fraternal caressed, lines per pole. The mitaber of poles passed
whioh friend Tom seemed mightily tickled whioh the ungrateful Bruin retureed with is the number of nailer; per hour at which
With hie teminiscences, for he leaned back
inhis ehair, and, from time to time, gave
Way to loud, hollow bursts of laughter.
Two, Tom 1 are you going read ?" mid
my husband, eltaking him.
I I never wee eanc, that I know of," re- AbOut at hour a ter this, poor Tom watt was born in tunetY-eight Yeats ago. She and, elciaing his fangs upon it, allowed did that,' said the deacon wearily " you
,
Mimed he. "You know that it tuns the shaking With ague, which in a kw daye re- had in all that time never been further than bloke:elf to be lifted from the ,grouind. I stuck to it till we theUght yoked grown fast
family. But do let me have my laugh out duced bite so low that I began to think he five miles from home. When he had let go, two minute drops of to lb. Swirled to mti yOu'd never let god'
neVer would See his native shores again. He YOUIsTO.
all his Well days he epeot with Us.
bore the afilietion very philosophically, and 1
One elan my husband. was absent, having Bob White.
accompanied Mr, $.-- to inspeot a farm, Porta nnAn toonneen.
which he afterwarde purchased, and I had to
get through the long day in the beat utauner Look 1 the valleys are thick with grain
etevy an tail;
Peaohes drop in the grassy lane
By the orchard ;
Apple!) streaked with a crirmon etein,
Maek in the sunshine, warm and bright I
Hark to the quail that pipes for rain -
Bob White I Bob White 1
Augur of misohief, pipes for rain -
Bob White!
could. The local payers were eoon ex-
hausted. At that period, they poeseesed
little or no intereat for me, I was astoniehed
and diegusted the abusive manner in
whioh they were written, the freedom of the
prese being enjoyed to an extent in this pro.
vinoe unienoven en more civilized oommuni-
Men, in Canada, may call one arother
rogues and miscreants, in the most approved
Billingsgate, through. the medium of the
newspapere, which are sort of safety•valve
to let off all. the bad feelings and malignant
passione floating through the country, with.
out any dread of the horsewhip. Henoe it
is the commoneet thing in the world to hear
one editor abusing, like a pickpocket an op-
position brother; him a reptile -a
crawling thing -a calurnmator- a hiredvendor
of lies, and his paper a smut machine -a
vile corruption, as base and degraded as the
proprietor, &a. Of this description was the
paper I now held in my hand, whiola had
the impudence to style itself the Reformer -
not of morals or manners, certainly, if one
might judge by the vulgar abuse that de.
filed every page of the precious document.
I soon flung it from me, thinking it worthy
ot the fate of many a better production in
the olden times, that of being burned by the
OOMMOII hangman; but, happily, the office
of hangman has become obeolete in. Canada,
and the editors of these refined journals may
go on abusing their betters with impunity.
Books I had none, and I wished that
Tom would make his appearance, and amuse
me with his oddities; but he had suffered
BO much from the ague the day before that
when he did enter the room to lead me to
dinner, he looked like a walking corpse -
the dead among the living Iso dark, so livid,
so melanoholy, it was really painful to
look upon him.
"1 hope the ladies who frequent the or-
dinary, won't fall in love with me," said he,
grinning at himself in the miserable looking -
glass that formed the case of the Yankee
clock, and was ostentatiously displayed on
a side table ; "I look quite killing to -day.
What a comfort it is, Mrs. M-, to be
above all rivalry."
In the middle of dinner, the company
was disturbed by the entrance of a person
who had the appearance of a gentleman, but
who was evidently much flustered with
drinking. He. thrust his chair in between
two gentlemen who sat near the head ot the
table. and in a loud. voice demanded liah.
"Fish, sir ?" said the obsequious waiter,
a great favourite with all persons who fre-
quented the hotel ; "there is no fish, sir.
There was a fine minion, sir, had you come
sooner; but 'tis all eaten, sir.
"Then fetch mo something, smart 1"
1' I'll see what I can do, sir," said the
obliging Tine, hurrying out.
Tom Wilson was at the head of the table,
carving a roast pig, and was in the act of
helping a lady, when the rude fellow thrust
his fork into the pig, calling out as he did
so.
"Hold, sir I give me some of that pig 1
You have eakn among you all the fish, and
now you are going to appropriate the best
parts of the pig."
Tom raised his eyel3rows, and stared at
the stranger in his peculiar manner, then
very 000lly placed the whole of the pig on
his plate. I have heard," he said, "of
dog eating dog, but -I never before saw pig
eating pig."
" Sir ! do you mean to insult me ? ' cried
the stranger, his face crimsoning with an-
ger.
"Only to tell you, sir, that you are no
gentleman. Here, Tim,'' turning to the
waiter, "go to the stable and bring in my
bear; we will place him at the table to teach
this man how to behave himself in the pre -
mince of ladies.
A general uproar ensued; the women left
the table, while the entrance of the bear
threw the gentlemen present into convulsions
of laughter. It was too much for the human
biped; he was forced to leave the room, and
succumb to the bear.
My husband concluded his purchase of
She eared, and invited Wilson to go with. us
into the country and try if change of air
would be beneficial to him for in his then
weak state it was impossible for him to re-
turn to hngland. His funds were getting
very low, and Tom thankfully accepted the
offer. Leaving Bruin in the charge of Tim
(who delighted in the oddities of the strange
English gentleman, Tom made one of our
party to --
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
• Clarions Items From Khaitoum.
The "reliable news" from Khartoum dis
closes a terrible picture of the state of the,
raysterious city. The Sisters of °honker are
selling beans cooked in oil at the Meihdi's
front door ; Lupton Bey is the Mahdi's coi
ner ; Slain Bey is the Mahdi's footman
Neufeld is used as an experimental dummy
for the Mahdi's hangman, spending the in
terve,' in chains. These are only a few items
whioh are interesting to Europeans. Hang-
ing and morder are everyday occurrences.
He who smokes or sells tobacco, he who
trades, he who keeps his cash, he who stores
his corn is immediately done to death. So
much for the menage from Khartoum which
has, t een brought down the Nile by native
messengers. Down the Congo Mr. Ward
has mat news which confirms the rumour
that Stanley, the master of emepriaes was
marching to the relied of these miserable cap-
tives who have fallen into the hands of the
great Ogre of the Desert.
How to Estimate Speed.
Enquiry, says an exchange, is frequently
made as to how the speed of a train may be es-
timated. The traveller, eepecially, is curious
about the speed his train is making, and we
suggest three methods by which the epeecl
may be guessed with remarkable accuracy as
follows :-
1. Watch for the passage of the train by
the large white mile poste with blek afigural
'
upon them and divide 3,000 by the time in
seconds between the posts ; the result is the
epeed in miles per hour.
2. Listen attentively until the ear diatin
guishes the click,click, of the wheels as t
passes a rail joint. The number of clicks
upon one aide of the oar is the speed in miles
per hour, where the rails are thirty feet in
length, and this is the cceee generally. .
3, Count ehe number of telegraph peke
loW ahd savage growle.
" fie can't Stetter. ,He's all truth and
siocerity. A child of natute, and worthy to
be my friend; the only Canadian I ever
mean to acknowledge as such."
Men who reap on the fruitful plain
Skirting the town,
Lift their eyes to the shifting vane
As the sun goes down;
Slowly the farmer's loaded wain
Climbs the slope in the failing
Bold ie the voice that pipes for ram -
Bob White I Bob White!
Still from the hill , eide pipes for rain -
Bob White !
Lo, a burst: at the darkened pane,
Angry and loud I
Waters murmur and winds complain
To the rolling cloud;
Housed at the farm, the careless swain,
Weaving snares while the fire burns bright,
Tunes his lips to the old refrain -
Bob White I Bob White
Oh, sound of the blithe refrain -
Bob White I
OBSERVING LITTLE THINGS.
BY JOHN BURROUGHS.
I read a statement not long ago, about
the epiders' webs that cover the fields and
meadows on certain mornings in the summer,
which was not entirely exact. It is not
quite true, in the sense in which it was
uttered, that these spiders' webs are more
abundant on some mornings than on others,
and that they presage fair weather: Now
the truth is, that during the latter halt of
summer these webs are about as abundant
at one time as at anther; but they are
much more noticeable on some mornings
than on others, -a heavy dew brings them
to view. They are especially conspicuous
after a morning of fog, such as often fills
our deeper valleys for a fow hours when
fall approaches. They then look like little
napkine spread all over the meadows; I saw
fields last summer in August, when one
could step from one of these dew -napkins to
another, for leng distances. They are little
nets that catch the fog, Every thread is
strung with innumerable, fine drops, like,
tiny beads. After an hour of sunshine the
webs, apparently, are gone.
Most country people I find, think they
are due to nothing but the moisture; others
seem to think that the spiders take them in
as morning advances.. Bat they are still
there, stretched above the gram at noon and
at sunset, as abundant as they were at Ban -
rise; and are then more serviceable to the
spiders, because less visible. The flies and
other knots, if any were stirring, would
avoid them in the morning, but at midday
they do not detect them so readily,.
If these webs have any significance as
signs of the coming weather this may be the
explanation:
A heavy dew occurs under a clear cool
sky, and the night preoeding a day of ram
is usually a dewless night. Much dew, then,
means fair weather, and a copious dew dis-
closes the spider's webs. It is the dew that
is sigttifioant, and not the webs.
We all need to be on our guard againat
hasty observations and rash conclusions.
Look again and think again, before you
caake up your mind.
One day while walking in the woode, I
heard a Round which I was at once half per-
suaded to believe was the warning of a coil-
ed rattlesnake; it was a swift, buzzing rattle,
and but a few yards from me. Cautiously
approaching, I saw he head and neck of a
snake. Earlier in my life I should have
needed no further proof, and probably
aheuld have fted with the full conviction
that I had seen and heard the dreaded rat
tlesnake. But as I have grown older, I
have grown more wary about jumping to
conclusions -even where jumping serpents
are concerned. I looked again, and again,
and drew nearer the rattler at each glance.
Soon I saw that it was only a harmless black
snake shaking his tail at me. Was he try-
ing to imitate the rattlesnake? I only knew
that there he lay, with his tail swiftly vi-
brating in' contact with a dry leaf. The
leaf gave forth a loud, sharp, humming
rattle. The motive or instinct that prompted
the ene,ke to do this seemed a euggestion or
e prophecy of the threat of th • rattleanak e.
It evidently was done on account of my pre-
sence as a warning note. Since then I have
seen a smell gartersnake do the Eatrie thing.
He was found in the oat -bin. How he got
there is a mystery; but there he was, and
when I teased him with a stick he paused
and vibreted the end of his tail so rapidly
that, in contact with the oats, it gave out
a sharp buzzing ironed. He also was an in.
cipient rattliesnake Such facts were of
great interest to Darwin, as showing marked
traits of one species cropping out, casually i
or tentatively, n another.
In line with these is another observation
which I made two summers ago, and was
enabled to confirm last summer. Oar blue-
bird is no doubt a modified thrush; that is,
its ancestor in the remote past was doubt-
less ot the thrush family. One evidence of
this is the fact that the young of the blue-
bird has a speckled breast like the thrush;
and Darwin established the principle that
peculiar markings or Waite confined to the
youth of any species are an inheritance from
early progenitors. In addition to this, I
have noted in the song of the female blue-
bird -one ckf a pair that for two seasons have
built near me -a distinct note of the thrush.
Whenever I hear the voice of this bird it re-
minds me of that of a certain thrush -the
olive -backed.
But I am wandering far from my subject.
I set out to talk about spiders, to you
know that we have a. epider calld the wolf
spider, and one that well deem- k. s the name,
so fierce and savage is he ? ie is a webless
spider, that prowls about eeeking whorri he
may, devour, 1 had not seen one since boy.'
hood till the other clay, when I met one in
the path between the house and the study.
He was so largo and black, and was march-
ing along foi boldly, eustained upon his
iteht long legs, that he attracted my atten-
tion at once(poked at hirn with the toe
of my shoe, when he boldly charged me, and
tried to run up my leg. This deepened my
interest in him, and I bent down to him and
challenged him with a lead penal. At first
he tried to eficape into the grass, but being
headed off' he faced me in ah attitude of de-
fense. He reared up liken wild animal, his
forward legs in the ear, his row of minute
eyes gliatening, and hie huge &nye, with
their sharp hooke, slightly parted, ready to
mokfture were vieible where the fangs had
04ohocl the poliehed Barbee() of the pencil.
This was tlae poisen they had seorekd, and
would probably make his bite very danger-
ous, After he had discharged hie wrath
and his venom in this way, one or twice,
he grow reloctant M repeat the operation,
just as venomous snake doee, His valor
seemed to subside as hie sapply of venom
diminiehed. Finally, lie would not bite at
all, but held up his arms or legs simply on
the defensive, His fangs were two thick
'weapons, eurmounted by two mall black
hooka, probably a sixteenth of an inch long
They were very formidable in appearance.
The spider himself was an inch and a half
in length, black and velvet): ; and, with his
eivht prole-dam:4 lege all in motion, was
striking k look upon. captured him and
kept him a prisoner for a few days in a box
with a glass cover, We pht large flies fn
his one which he would not touoh while we
were present, but in the morning only
emplar ettells of flies remained. Then we
pat in waspe, and to these he seemed to
have a great antipathy. He probably
knew that they aleo had venom, and knew
how to use it. When the wasps buzzed
about seeking to escape, he would shove up
a wall of cotton (for there was cotton in the
box) between himself and them. In the
morning the wasps were always dead, but
not devoured. We also put in grasshoppers,
and their kicking much annoyed the spider,
but he would not eat them. In one respect
he showed much more wit than the insects
which we placed in his cage; they labored
incessantly to escape through the glass;
but, after two or three attempts to get out
he made up his mind that that course was
useless ; he was capable of being convinced,
while the flies and bees were not. But
when the glees was removed and he felt
himself in the open air once more, with
what haste he aompered away He fled
like e liberated wolf, indeed, and struggled
hard against recapture. When we gave
him his freedom for good and all he rushed
off into the grass and was soon lost to view.
Next in interest to the wolf -spider is the
sand -spider, which you may have observed
in the sand upon the sea -coast. They eink
deep wells into the sand, and lay in wait
for their prey at the bottom. When you
are upon the beach, notice these little holes
in the sand among the coarse, ectettered,
wild grass. Insert a straw or a twig into
one of them and then dig downward, follow-
ing this as a guide. A foot or more below
the surface you will unearth this large,
gray send -spider, and with a magnifying.
glass you can see:how fiercely his eight eyes
glare upon you. Try also to force a cricket
into one of these holeii and see how loth it
will seem to go in.
One's powers of observation may be culti-
vated by noting all these things, and the
pleasure which one gets from a walk or from
a vacation in the country is thereby. greatly
increased. Nothing is beneath notice, and
the closer we look rhe more we shall learn
about the ways and doings of Nature.
aginOgrattoorsy.oung
speakers to
It is encour
know that there never has been, and never
will be, such a thing as a "born orator."
There has never yet been an instance of an
orator becoming famous who did not apply
himself assiduously to the cultivation of his
art. Many even had to overcome great phy
deal infirmities that rendered it almost hope -
speaker.
less for them to adopt the career of a public
The best known instance le that of De-
mosthenes, who passed some months in a
subterranean cell, shaving one side of his
head BO that he could not appear in public.
He there practiced with pebbles in his mouth
to overcome a defect in his speech, and ges-
ticulated beneath a suspended sword to rid
himself of an ungraceful movement of the
ehoulder. Even then he was hissed from the
blame in his early efforts, but he persevered
-the world knows with what success.
When Robert Walpole first spoke in the
House he paused for want of words and con-
tinued only to stutter and staanmer. Cur-
ran was known at school as "stuttering Jack
Curran," and in a debating society which he
joined, as "Orator Mum." .
Every one will also readily recall Disraeli's
failure when he rose to make his maiden
speech. Cobden's first effort was also a
humiliating failure. But one should not
oonclude from these instances that every
speaker who breaks down is sure to blossom
into fame subsequently. We have been
quoting the exceptions to the general rule.
More frequently speakers' mishaps are like
that of the Earl of Rochester.
"My lords," said he, on one occasion, I
-1-I rise this time., my lords, I -I -I
divide my discourse into four branches."
Here he came to a woeful pause, and then
he added: "My lords, if ever I rise again
in this house I give you leave to cut me off
root and branch forever."
Many of the best orators have even to
their latest efforts, felt a tremor on rising
to speak. Erskine said that on his rising
to plead tor the first time he Should have
sat down in confusion had he not bit his
children tugging at his gown. The Earl
of Derby, " the Rupert of debate," always
knew when he was going. to speak well
by his nervousness on rising. This was
also a characteristic of Canning. At a din-
ner given by the Mayor of Liverpool he
was so nervous before being called on, to
speak that he had twioe to leave the room
to csollect his thoughts. This may have
been, however, owing to the comparative
novelty of his position.
1V/e,ny.an orator outside his accustomed
haunts is completely lost. Lord Eldon said
he was always somewhat nervous be speaking
at the Goldsmiths' Dinner, though he could
talk before Parliament as though he were
addreseing so many rows of cabbage plants.
Mr. Cobden, speaking of Lord John Russell,
said : "Oa the boards of the House of
Commons Johnny is one of the most subtle
and dangerous of opponents; take him off
these boands and 1 care nothing for him."
to few was it given as to O'Connell to
succeed equally with all audiences. Before
he entered the House he was declared to
be a mere " mob orator; i but in 1830 he
was returned, and in 1831 he was recog-
nized as a leader. Whether in swaying a
multitude on a hillside,. appealing to the
more educated assembly en 1"arliament, or
in persuading a jury in a Mud house+, he
Was equally at home...
Music in the Night.
Miss Clara (retired for the night) -Ethel,
wake up; there ite the sweetest musie you
ever heard in front of the house. just ex-
pected that Charley and hie friends would
Serenade int toknight 1
Mitre Ethel (excited) -0h, Clara, isn't it
lovely t Otightn't we to drop tome flowers
from the window?
Miss Clara -Oh, I think so (dropping a
bunch of roses with great ciliation). Thete,
Ethet 1
the train is travelling, • Voiee (below) -Mein Gott in Himmel, ve
seize ole. As 1 teased him vf ith the pencil, nO lif on roses.
• he tried to parry bay thrusts with his Damn )
Mre, Booth, of Washington month Ten- like a boxer, till he saw hie opportunity, "Well," said Pareort Poundtere, "/ stuck
nessee, died teaently in the log house she when he sprang fiercely upon the neocil to my text this morning atinhoee. " "'You
e
MISCELLANEOUS,
New Orleans has discovered that the in
money in the oanuMg of elorimPee and ink
developing the indwitry rapidly. It is saidl
that fixity 100,000 egos a day are pookedi
there during the season.
A hen was found confined in a cer of lo oaleer
from Tenneseee recently received at B kifteste,
Me., bovine, been two or three weeks on thee
way. The owl was alive but nearly famish-
ed. it reeonered, and is doing well.
A dentist of alleged Estrin and renntation,
a former President of a State dental asso-
ciation ,was recently sued by a New Bedforl
man for pulling the wrong tooth and a piece j
of jaw with it, and the ury gave the plain-
tiff $500 damages.
ldroGonyo, a woman over 70 'yeare lot
age, Wee left alonevvith her two little grand-
children in their home or St. Albans Bay',
Vt., the other evening. She pub the child-
ren into a flet -bottom boat and started from
shore, with nothing but a paddle with which:,
to control the cranky craft. A gale was,
blowing, the boat was driven oue into 'Oen',
bay and capsized, and grandam ther and
grandchildren were drowned.
In England there is just space enough
between the eage of the railroad station plat-
forms and the footboards of the passenger
care to let an unwary traveller fall betweenk
and be ground to pieces by the moving train.
An accident or two has happened, and an
agitation has begun in favor of reform in
the footboards or the platforms. "In Amer -
km," the reformers urge, ieench an acoidenie
could not happen. "
Persia is building a railroad from Tehe-
ran to the Caspian Sea. Instead of begin-
ning the railroad at the sea and building
inland, bringing forward the rails and other
materials on the road as it 'progresses, the
Persians have had all the rails carried on
mules across the desert to Teheran and
have begun the building there. The trans-
portation expenses are the biggest item.
almost in the cost of the road.
Miss Fambrough of Scull Shoals, Fla, , fa an
young woman of nerve and presence of mind,
The other day her father's Joisey bull at-.
tacked him, and was in a fair way to knit
him. His wife saw him fall and ran toward:
him, but the daughter, more thoughtful, first;
got the axe, and running up hit the bull euch
a tremendous whack that it stunned him, Flo
that the father had a chalice to get up, grab
the axe, and bury its head in the skull of the
brute.
A pair of sparrows and a pair of robins
sat up housekeepine in the same eltrub in a.
front yard in Canton, Me. The robins,
were first to put a brood abroad, and some
dtifi culty with a, crow resulted in the death
of the young ones and their father. The
mother robin, after mourning bitterly for
a day or two, diecovered the young spare.
rows, and immediately adopted thorn, and
was found brooding them carefully while.
the parent sparroa s brought worms and
guarded the home.
Cretonne of the cheap sort used for decor-
ating rooms, turns out to be as arsenically,,
poisonous as green wall paper. Oat of forty-.
four samples recently examined ha Londone
none were free from arsenic, three had only -
faint traces of it, twenty-one had largetracese
eleven were classed as very bad, and nine
were called " distnotly dangerous." One
specimen yklded nineteen and one-half
grains of white arsenic to the square yard,
The greens said blues were the least harm-
ful, while reda, browns, and blacks were
heavily loaded with the poison
In France the surprises of divorce increase
now that the statistics have been compiled
and published. These only extend to three
years -the first three years of the altered
law --but the remits are a little startlinge.
The first year 1,800 divorces were pronounc-
ed, the second4,000, and the third 4,500.
English experience is reversed; for wornme,
have demanded divorce mole more largelyi
than men, in the proportion of 60 to 40 per-
cent. In more than half of these -unhappy
homes there were no children. The critical
period of married life proved to be the
seoond ten years of its enjoyment, but there
were 105 couples who parted after thirty
years of married life and twenty-four after
forty years. A hundred quarrelled and
were divorced within a, year of their union.
The mercantile classes supply the greater
numbers of unhappy marriages -that is,
amongst the well-todo. They are in tho,
proportion of 800 to 500 amongst profession-
al men and men living on their incomes.
Farmers come to only 300, but labourers
and artisans to 1,800. There are, of course -
the largest proportion of divorces in the
wealthiest and busieet parts of France. In
the more rural districts married people
are happter or less venturesome.Taking
the whole of France, it was found that for
every 1,000 marriages there were four
divorces.
Boulangism does not, to outward seeming,
progress very fast in France. • It would,
however, be rash to assume that it has ex-
pended its force, or that the ridicule with
which it is assailed in Paris makes much
less serious the danger with which it threat-
ens the Republic. The doughty generab
himself seems full of hope. 'The move-
ment," he says, "becomes every day stron-
ger and more marked." "Have confidence.
you are sure of success!" As no one ex-
cepting himself, and perhaps even that
exception need not be made, seems to under-
stand very clearly what the movement is,
or in whab direction ie is setting, it is not
wonderful that the evidences of pro-
gress are less visible to other eyea than
his own. Much depends, no doubt, upon
the action of the Government As the
blunders of the former Ministry gave him
the chance to vault into his present position,
so a mistake on the part of the present not
very strong or popular one may at any mo-
ment give him another advantage, which he
would not be slow to use. Sig. Ctietelar
probably hardly exaggerates the danger of
the situation when he speaks of Boulangisra
as a " madcap policy," which el may lead to
an explosion of bombshells and dynamite on
evere, side and to a general war in Europe."
Should any turn of events lead the fickle
populace to place Boulanger for tbe moment
at the head of stain, it es doubtful if any-
thing could avert either the internal cotivule
sion or the European conflagration which
would almost surely follow.
Not Deceived.
Near the end of April lad the director
the German mint, at Berlin, brought to th ,
Emperor Frederick, in his sick ehaanbe
the first coin bearing hie image which he
been struck since his melanohely accessio
to the imperial throne. It wee the firse
from the die.
""When will the public issue of this cekinag
of mine begin 7" asked the sick Emperor.
"On the I5th of may," said the director
of the mint
"And shall I not be dead On the 15th
May said the ninperor.
The Emperor, who had bee it 'bravely
hieing death for tnonths, evidently wan
ufider no delusion as to the character of hit
illness. Yet he lived to see the eoin homed;
a Month later his brief reign had, come tO
ate kend,