HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1889-2-14, Page 2'ROUGHING IT IN THE
BUSH
1PuBiamigy BY HuBTBB, RosB & Co., TORKITo.]
ClIAPTED, XX.—(COBTINuEB).
r, His leave of absence only extended to a
fortnight. It had taken him tbree claya
come ell the way from Like Erie, where his
regiment was stationed, at Point ,Abino ; and
the same time would be consumed in his re.
turn. He could only remain with us eight
days. How 800U they fied away! How
bitter was the thought of parting with him
again! He had brought money to pay the
How surprised he was to find
their large debt more than half liquidated.
How gently did he ohido me for depriving
myself and the children of the little comfort°
he had (leagued for ue, in order to make this
sacrifice. But never was self•denial more
fully rewarded; I felt happy in having eon.
tributed in the least to pay a just debt to
kind and worthy people. You must become
poor yourself before you can fully appreciate
the good qualities of the poor—before you
can sympathize with them, and fully recog-
nize them as your brethren in the flesh.
Their benevolence to each other, exercised
amidst want and privation, as far surpasses
the munificence of the rich towards them, as
the philanthropy of Christ and his disciples
does the Christianity ot the ?resole) day.
The rich man gives from his abundance;
the poor man shares with a distressed coin•
rade his all.
One short, happy week too Boon fled &wily,
and we were once more alone. In the fall,
me, husband expected the regiment in which
he held his 001111DissiOU would be reduced,
"which would again plunge us into the same
distressing poverty. Often on a night I
revolved these things in my mind, and per
-
Vexed myself with conjectures as to what in
future was to become of us. Although he
had saved all he could from his pay, it was
impossible to pay severalhundrecls of pounds
of debt; and the steam -boat stook still con.
tinned a dead letter. To remain much lon-
ger in the woods was impossible, for the
• returns from the farm scarcely fed us; and
but for the clothing sent us by our friends
• from home, who were not aware of our real
difficulties, we should have been badly off
• indeed.
• I pondered over every plan that thought
could devise; at last, I prayed to the Al.
mighty to direct me as to what would be the
best course for us to pursue. A sweet water.
ance table over me, and soothed my spizib,
that God would provide for us, as He had
hitherto done—that a great deal of our dis-
• tress arose from want of faith. I was just
sinking into a calm sleep when the thought
seemed whispered into my soul, "Write to
the Governor; tell him candidly all you
have suffered during your sojourn in this
country; and trust to God for the rest."
At first I paid little heed to this sugges-
tion; but it became so importunate that at
• last I determined to act upon it as if it were
a message sent from heaven. I rose from
my bed, struck a light, sat down, and wrote
a letter to the Lieutenant -Governor, Sir
George Arthur, a simple statement of facts,
leaving it to his benevolence to pardon the
liberty I had taken in addressing him.
I asked rat him to continue my husband in
the militia service, in the same regiment in
which he now held the rank of captain,
which, by enabling him to pay our debts,
• would rescue us from our present misery.
• Of the political character of Sir George
Arthur ]new nothing. I addressed him as
• a man and a Christian; and I acknowledge,
with the deepest and most heartfelt grati-
• tude, the generous 'Kindness of his conduct
towards us.
Before the day dawned, my letter was
ready for the posb. The first pewit I ever
had from my husband was the writing of
that letter; and, proud and sensitive as he
was, and averse to asking the least favour of
the great, I was dreadfully afraid that the
act I had just done would be dispieasing
to him; still, I felt resolutely determined to
send it. After giving, the children their
• breakfast, I walked down and read it to my
• brother-in-law, who was not only much
pleased with its contents, but took it down
himself to the post -office.
Shortly abet I received a batter trom my
husband, informing me that the regiment
had been reduced, and that he should be
• home in time to get in the harvest. Most
anxiously I awaited a reply to my application
to the Governor; bet no reply came.
The firat week in August our dear Moodie
came honae and brought with him, to our no
small joy, J. E—, who had just returned
fromIreland. E— had been disappeint-
• ed about the money, which was subject to
litigation;• and, tired of waiting ar home
until the tedious process of the law should
terminate, he had come back to the woods,
and, before night, was reinatated in hie •old
quarters.
• His presence raade Jenny all alive; she
• dared him at once t� a trial of skill with her
in the wheat -field, which E ---prudently
declined. He did not expect to stay longer
in Canada than the fall, but, whilst he did
stay, he was to consider our house his home.
That harvest was the happiest we ever
spent in the bush. We had enough of the
common necessaries of. life. A spirit of
peace and herraony pervaded our little dwel-
ling, for the most affectionate attachment
existed amo,ng its members. We were not
troubled with servants, for the good old
• Jenny we regarded as an humble friend, and
• were freed, by that circumstance, from many
of the cares and vexations of a bush life.
Our evening eiccursions on the lake were
doubly enjeyed after the labours of the day,
and night brought us calm and healthful
repoee.
• The political Struggles that convulsed the
• country were searcely echoed in the depths
of those old primeval foreste, though the ex.
pulsion of Mackenzie from bfavy Island, and
the burning of the Caroline by Captain
Drew, had been &ousted on the farthest
borders of civilization.
. CHAPTER XXL --Tee Watreowilin.
" Dark heavy clouds were gathering in the
weet,
Wrapping the foresb ihi funeral gloom;
Onward they roli'd, and rear'd each Hasid
Like Death's murk and shadows frowning
o'er earthei tomb, .
From out the inky womb of that deep night
Burst livid flaehes of electric flame.
Whirling and circling with terrific might,
In wild -confusion on the tempest came.
Nature, awakening from her still repoae,
Shutidees respotadve to the 'whirlwind%
amok,
Feels( Sat her Mighty heart convulsive throes ;
Her groaning foredo to earth's centre
reek," S. S.
The 19th of Augusb tame, and Our bar
vest Was all safely houeecl, Busineas called
Moodie away for a few, deers to Coociurg.
;Fenny had' gone to Demmer, to visit her
frieticle, and J, had taken a grist of
tie now Wheat, whioh he eild Moodie bad
throated the day infer° to the n11. 1 was
torten:Meetly left alone with the ehildren,
aecl land a deuble portion of work to do.
During their absence it was my lot to wit.
ness the most awful storm I ever beheld, and
a vivid reoollectitoe of Ufa terrorg was per-
manently fixed upon my memory
Tee weather had been intensely hot during
the three preceding days, Although the sun
was entirely obscured by a blueish ,haze,
which seemed to render the unusual heat of
the atmosphere more oppressive. NOD a
breath of air stirred the matt forest, and the
watere of the lake assumed a leaden hue.
After passing a sleepless night, I aroee,
little after day -break, to superintend my
derneetio affairs. E-- took his break -
feet, and went off to the mill, hoping that
the rain would keep off until after his re-
turn.
" It is no joke," he said, " being upon
these lakes in a small canoe, heavily laden,
in a storm."
Before the sun rose, the heavens were
covered with hard -looking clouds, of a deep
blue and black east, fading away to white
at their edges, and in form resembling the
ong, rolling waves of a heavy sea—but with
this difference, that the clouds were ler feet.
ly motionlefis, piled in long curved lines, one
above the otker, and so remained until four
o'clock in the afternoon. The appearance
of these clouds, as the sun rose above the
horizon was the most splendid that can be
imagined, tinged up to the zenith with
every shade of saffron, gold, rose•colour,
scarlet, and crimson, fading away into the
deepest violet. Never did the storm -fiend
shake in the face of day a more gorgeous
banner; and, pressed as I was for time I
stood gazing like one entranced upon ;he
magnificent p ageant
As the day advanced, the Same blue haze
obscured the sun, which frowned redly
through his misty veil. At ten o'clock the
heat was suffocating, and I extinguished the
fire in the cooking stove, determined to
tnake our meals on bread and milk rather
than add to the oppressive heat. The
thermometer in the shade ranged from nine.
ty•six to ninety-eight degrees, and I gave
over my work and retired with the little
ones to the coolest part of the house. The
young creatures stretched themselves upon
the floor, unable to jump about or play;
theelog lay panting in the shade; the fowls
half -buried themselves in the dust, winhopen
beaks and outstretched wings. All nature
seemed to droop beneath the le:torching
heat.
Unfortunately for me, a gentleinan ar-
rived about one o'clock from Kingston, to
transact some business with my husband.
He had not tasted food since six o'olook, and
I was obliged to kindle the fire to prepare
his dinner. It was one of the hardest tasks
I ever performed; I almost fainted with the
heat, and moat inhospitably rejoiced when
his dinner was over, and I saw him depart.
Shortly after, my friend Mrs C— and
her brother called in. on their way from
Peterborough.
"How do you bear the heat ?" said Mrs.
C--. "This is one of the hottest days
never remember to have experienced in this
part of the province. I am afraid that it
will end in a hurricane, or what the' Lower
Canadians term TOratie.'
About four o'clock they rose to go. I
urged them to stay longer. "No," said
Mrs. C.— "the sooner we get home
the better. 1'hink we can reach it before
the storm brecake.
I took .Donald in my arms, and my eldest
boy by the hand, and walked with them to
the brow ot the hill, thinking that the air
would be cooler in the shade. In this I was
mistaken. The clouds OVes. our heads hung
so low, and the heat was so great, that I
was soon glad to retrace my steps.
The moment I turned round to face tho
lake, I was surprised at he change that had
taken place in the appearance of the heavens.
The clouds, that had before lain so motion-
less were now in rapid motion, hurrying
andchasing eaoh other round the horizon.
It was a strangely awful sight. Before I
felt a breath of the mighty 1318E18 that had
alxeady burst on the other side of the lake,
branches of trees, leaves, and clouds of dust
were whirled across the lake, whose waters
rose in long sharp furrows, fringed with
foam, as if moved in their depthe by some
unseen but powerful agent.
Panting with terror, I just reaohed the
door of the house as the hurricane swept up
the hill, crushing and overturning every-
thing in its course. Spell -bound, I stood at
the open door, with clasped hands, unable
to speak, rendered dumb and motionleas by
the terrible grandeur of the scene ; while
little Donald, who could not utter many
intelligible words crept to my feet, appeal-
ing to me for protection, and his rosy cheeks
paled even to marble whiteness. The hurry-
ing clouds gave to the heavens the appear-
ance of a pointed dome, round which the
lightning played in broad ribbons of fire.
The roaring of the thunder, the rushing of
the blast, the impetuous down -pouring of
the rain, and the crash of falling trees were
perfeetly deafening; and in the midst of
this uproar of the elements, old Jenny burst
in, drenched with wet, and half-dead with
fear.
"The Lord preserve us 1" she °Hee, "this
surely is the day of judgment. Fifty trees
fell across my very path, between this an'
the creek. Mrs. C— just reached her
brother's clearing a few minutes before a
great oak fell on her very path. What
thunther i—what lightning 1 Misthrees,
dee& 1—it's turned so dark, I can only jist
see yer face."
Glad
Glad enough was 1 of her presence; for
to be alone in the heart of the great forest,
in a log hut, on such a night, was not a
pleasing prospect. People gain courage by
companionship, and in order to re -assure
each other, struggle to conceal their fears.
" And where is Mr. E-2"
"1 hope not on the lake. He went early
this morning to get the wheat ground at
the mill."
" Ooh, the crathur 1 He's surely drowned.
What boat could stan' such a scrimmage as
this?"
I had my fears for poor John; but aa the
chance that he had to wait at the mill till
others were served was more than probable,
1 tried to still my apprehensions for hi;
safety. elje,"
The atone aoon patted over, ' after having
levelled several scree of wood near •the
house, and Smitten down in its progress two
gigantic pines in the clearing which, must
'twee withstood the force of a thoutianci
winters.
A few minutes after our hoesehold had
retired to rest, My first sleep was broken
by the voice of J, E — speaking to old
no
Jay in the kitcheta. He had been over-
taken by the Storm, but had run his canoe
ashore upon an island before ite full fury
burst, and tweed it over the flour; while
he had to breve the terrors of the pitilese
tempest—buffeted by the 'wind, arid drenched
with berenta of tan, I got up and made
him e cup of tea, while Jenny prepared a
raehet of beam and eggs foe his supper.
Shortly after tile, J. Bee-- bade P. final
adieu to Canada, with hie QOUSJU C. VV,—.
Re volunteered into the Bottle Greys, and
we never sew him more; but I have been
tad that he was so hiehly respected by the
of officers the regiment, that they eulesoribed
for his commisame ; that be rose to the rank
of lieutenant ; accompanied the regiment to
rndia, and was at the toakieg of Gabel; but
froan himself We neYee heard again.
The 16bh of ()ember, any third son was
hero ; and a few days after'my husband
was appointed vs yenaster to the militia
regiments in the V, District, witb the rank
and full pay of captain.
This was Sir George Arthur's doiegs. He
returned no answer to my application, but
he did not forget us.
As the time that !goodie might retain his
situation was very doubtful, he thoughb it
advisable not to remove me and the family
until he could more some permanent situ-
ation; be, so doing„ he would have a better
opportunity of saving the greater part of his
income to pay off his old debts.
This winter of 1839 was one of severe trial
to me. Hitherto I had enjoyed the blessing
of health; but both the children and znyselt
were now doomed to suffer from dangerous
attacks of illness!. All the little things had
malignanb scarlet fever, and, for several
days, I thought it would please the Al.
mighty to take from me my two Mt. e girls.
This fever is so fatal to children in Canada,
that none of my neighbours dared approack
the house. For three weeka Jenny and I
were never undreased ; our whole time was
taken up in nursing the five helpless little
creatures through the successive stages of
their alarming disease, I sent for Dr. Tay-
lor; but he did not come, and I was obliged
to trust to the mercy of God, and my own
judgment and good nursing. Though I es.
oaped the fever, mental anxiety and fatigue
brought on other illness, which, for nearly
ten weeks, rendered me perfectly helpless.
When I was again able to creep from my
sick bed the baby was seized with an illness,
which Dr. B--- pronounced mortal.
Against all hope he recovered but these
severe mortal trials rendered me weak and
nervous, and more anxious than ever to be
re -united to my husband. To add to these
troubles, my sister and her hesband sold
their farm, and removed from out neighbour-
hood. Mr ----- had returned to England,
and had obtained a situation in the Customs;
and his wife, my friend Emil'
ia was keeping
a school in the village; so thatI felt more
solitary than ever, thus deprived of so many
kind sympathizing friends.
(To BE CONTINUED.)
New Designs in Handkerchiefs.
The most beautiful corsage handkerchiefs
are shown in delicately tinted gauze em-
broidered in silk. Notable among them is
one of pale golden -tinted gauze with a border
of tiny pansy blossoms in their natural col-
ors; the blossorns are so arranged that the
petals form a scalloped edge. The center of
the handkerchief is thickly powdered with
tiny pansies with stems and leaves attached
to each blossom, and Mese are so artistically
arranged that they look as though a handful
of blossoms had been strewn over it and al-
lowed to lay as they had fallen; they are
in so many different positions thab it is a
pleasing study to note their pretty little
silken faces,
A lemon -tinted handkerchief is beautifully
decorated with sprays of pale blue forget -me -
note, with stems of two inches long and a
cluster of pale golden. olive leaves.
. Another charming design is of rich mauve
tinted violets on cream gauze. The border
of the handkerchief is formed of olive-green
violet leaves attached to slender stems about
an inch long, and so arranged that the stems'
all point toward the centre of the handker-
ehief. Bands of velvets are placed so that
the petals almost touch the steinseof the
leaves, and a small square of gauze in the
the center of the handkerchief is left plain.
Other beautiful designs noted are white
violets on black, blue, red and olive gauze;
white daisies with golden centers embroider-
ed in gold tinsel upon black and white
gauze; silver tinsel violets and daisies on old
rose tinted handkerchiefs; gold and silver
flowers on mauve, and all the fashionable
shades of red and olive.
• The prices of these dainty aceessories vary
from one dollar and a half up, according to
the fine quality of the gauze and the artistic
designs with which they are decorated.
Sunday's Election in Paris.
• Apart from the private "legitimate ex-
penses "of the rival candidates, next Sun-
day's election in Paris will be a costly event
to the public exchequer. The sum of $100,-
000 has been appropriated by the city Gov-
emmenb for all the parliamentary elections
of this year. But there is good reason to
• expect that nearly twice that sum will be
needed for this one contest. Posting placards
has already cost $30,000. Printing the bal-
lots will be a mere trifle of $1,000 or so.
But there will be many other items added to
the bill before the 560,000 registered voters
of Paris have had a chance to express their
choice between M. Jacques and General
Boulanger. The election of 1885 cost more
than $160,000; and since then Paris has not
grown smaller nor its rulers more aconctrai-
cal.--[N.Y, Tribune.
Aii Enornaons Opal.
The grandest specimen of the gem ever
discovered was unearthed in the mines of
Hungary in 1770, and purchased by the
Austrian Government. Its weight was seven-
teen ounces, and it was three and three
quarter inches in length. It rests in the
Imperial cabinet at Vienna, and is valued at
8300,000. The opal is not sold by weight,
but its value depends upon its size and the
intensity of ito lire and combination of col-
ours. An opal half an inch in diameter may
have a value of $6, and another, no larger,
but possessing brilliancy of hues, many sell
reaeily for $5, 000 or more.—[San Francisco
Chronicle.
"That never entered my head before,'
4.'marked the boy as he extracted a bug
from his ear.
Our Scotch contemporary, the " Faririing
World," in a recent issue refers to the time
when "would-be Mayors of Leicester were
placed in a gerai.oirole, each having his hat,
full of bean, placed in his lap. ABOW was
then turned 'in amongst them, and he from
whose hat the how ate first was elected
mayor." Truly, history repeats itself. An
excelleet modern parallel is found in the
hog politician who fattens on the pap of the
candidate for offioe and whose selections
are just as wise and cheinterested as those
ot the 0' porker,'
The remains of Mme. di lgureke and her
daughter were cremated at GOtita last Wed.
neriday. Mem. di Murska's Austrian htue
band and a dozen members ot the Gotha
Opera Company Were the only mourners.
The urn cenitaining the ashes of the mother
is inscribed : "Abbe ashes are all that re-
main of a niiihtingale," and the urn centain-
ing the daughter's mime is beeribedi "The
woman whose remains lie here lw faattled
and mattered much in vain.
MISOELLANEOUS,
Thontaa Hardy, the novelist, lives near
Dorchester, England. His dwelling, which
he calls "Max -gate," is a red.briok home of
hie own deeiguing. It hi about a mile distant
from the humble °Otago in which he Wes.
bore. Dorchester is presumably "Caster -
bridge." Mr, Hardy is a pleasant -looking
man, smell of etetiure, with a rounded brow
and a full head, He weare a carefully trebled
Elizabethan beard, and drawee very neatly.
The refuse) to disallow the Jesuit Act
is thus commented upon by the ' the olio
Record" :—The unreasoning and fret nar-
row-minded and the bigoted will tal and
foam and stamp and tear their hair because
the Jesuits have gained a poinb. There will
now be weeping and wailing in the tAber-
naoles of the Wilde and the lluntera, and
the chaplains of the Orange lodges will tell
their floolcs that civil and religious liberties
are in danger. The fiat has gone forth,
however. The .Jesuits are to receive back
portion at least of what is justly thane
The decision of the Ottawa authorities will,
we hope, prove a useful 'mon to these
meddling busybodies, The answerto their
petitions, put in plain language, amply
means, "Gentlemen, mind your own bun-
nees."
That ie a great scheme of the New York
inventor who proposes to set fire to the
surface of the harbor on the apProaoh of a
hostile fieet. He would underlay the har-
bor with pipes, through the open ends of
which he would, at need, squirt petroleum
from the shore. Then, lighting a match on
the slack of his trousers, be wosild set fire to
the petroleum, which would cook all the
enemy's sailors in their iron ships. A much
better plan would be to squirt through the
tubes the fumes of some drug whioh would
anaesthetise the sailors, Then American
tugs could go out and pull the ships into
harbor, where they could be sold for much
money. In this way war might be tuned
to very profitable amount.
No more licenses are to be issued to
American fishermen under the modus
vivendi. The modus vivendi was to remain
in force for two years, so as to give the
United States the opportuuity to adopt the
Fishery Treaty in the meantime. But in
the event ot the rejection of the treaty the
Government was at liberty to continue the
modus vivendi or to terminate ib. It has.
pursued the latter course. Everyone must
regret that after all the correspondence and
all the negotiations we are in the fishery
dispute at the very point from which we
started.
Before daybreak on Monday morning a
New York milkman drove up to a water.
trough "to water his horse." A broken
telegraph Wire dangled near and lay along
the street for a considerable distance. As
the horse reached the watertrough he
stepped on the wire. He was instantly
killed. The wire in its fall had crossed an
electric light wire. There it lay, a source
of sudden death to any one who touched ite
until the current was turned off at day-
break. On the same day a telephone wire,
crossed by electric light wire, set fire to The
bar newspaper office. It is time these
dangerous wires were put .underground.
Not a few United States papers are al-
ready beginning to oompare the relative pro•
portions and strengths of the German and
American navies. Long tabulated lists of
the names, tons, horse -power, armour -plat-
ing, speed, and Runs of German war -ships
appear in the columns devoted to leading
articles. War between the stolid Teuton
and the nervous Yankee would he a curious
thing indeed. But our neighbours surely
do not contemplate such an outcome of the
• Samoan difficulty. Perhaps these bellicose
artioles are for the purpose of intimidating
the wan of blood and. iron.
Pity the sorrowe of an over -supplied na
tion. The.people of the United States have
two Presidents on their hands jusb now.
One of them has been rejected by the people
and cannot remain muoh longer in his posi-
tion, but he is still legally, President, and
continues to discharge the duties that per-
tain to his high office. The other President
although the latest ohoioe of the people, is
kept out of the place by the eystem in vogue
there, which retains the most important
functionary in the State in office four months
after he has been distinctly defeated and
told to retire by the votes of the majority.
The Canadian of6.cers who took part in
the battle of Suakim are specially mentioned
by Sir Francis Grenfell in his report to the
War authorities upon the engagement. Sir
Francis says . "The 20th Hussars, under
Major Irwin, by their gallant °image on the
enemy's cavalry and spearmen, prevented
a threatened attack on the infantry brig-
ades. The half battalion of the Welsh're-
pent are seasoned soldiers, and whatever
asked them to do they did well. Their
marksmen in Gronaizah fort and the remain-
der of the half battalion on the left fired
steady section volleys, driving the dervishes
from their right position and inflicting severe
punishment upon them when in the open;
they were ably commanded by Lieutenant.
Colonel Smythe who brings to my special
notice Captain Gifiard.
The Rochester district of the Genesee Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
has passed a eumber of reeolutions condemn.
ing dancing as immoral and a violation of
the epirit of the New Testament). Their
action has naturally excited a good deal of
discussion, in which the secular press are
taking sides against the clergy. There is
much to be said no doubt both for and
againet the modern dance, but it is a very
poor argument in its advocacy to say, as a
Rochester newepaper deo, that in the dance
per se there is nothing immoral. An aot is
to be regarded witn reference to its comae-
qunenoes, and if it could be proved that claaeo-
cco:rodlreeromellipoimen
A
g led to evil the fact would be aufficient
to eu
ent informs us that there are
o.
at ,present in the County of
Lanark, one of whom registers as from Chi.
cage, who are practising a confidence game
on the farmers. Their scheme is to get
three or four fermata in a toweship to buy
ae much of a certain grade of seed wheat) at
fifteen dollenper bushel as would be suffi-
cient to sow the quantity of land the farmer
may intend devoting to wheat, agreeing to
return in the fall and to purcharm an equieve
letit aniount at the demo figtare from the crop
atieured, and to take the remainder of the
crop at $2,50 per intehel. Or the farmer
may have the option of selling any or all
the erop to his neighboesi at the price of the
original seed, namely, $15 per bushel, and
retail all the profit himself. We would
warn the fanners to be very careful in their
dealinga with thefte miserable fraude.
French politica Seem to bailie the coMpte.
hension of the wisest head fe On all the
great and burning topics of the day ere
written demo acute and sensible artioleS,
tat in vain the reader ses.rches the most
sensibly written journals for anything that
will throw a light oo what is going on ,in
France to -day. With moat natioas a shrewd
guess can be made at Bria‘t salon; 'Will be
taken in some coniplicated, Matter. But
with the Frenoh it fieeies impostable event°
hazard guess. The inter.inixture of th
Roman andathe Gaulish has resulted in;
character incomprehensible to the ordinary
Teuton or Anglo-Saxon. France is admitted
ly the disturbing planet of glirope. And
she is it clieturber because none eau tell on
what orbit she will set out next. She is
meltable aa water, and like water, let only
tile heat of faction be applied, immediately
it fes.rfel ebullition takes place, threatening
to buret all bounds and endangering all
about her. Strangely enough, Prance seems
to survive, liewever great the explosion.
Perhaps this is the strangest part of the
whole problem.
I A (Atrium kltory.
O George Nisbet, alis OBIUO.0 Digna, was ,
a born at Remen in 1836, and attended. it school
in Paris till he was thirteen. The Niebet
family then reawyed to Alexandria, and
'shortly thereafter the father, J Nisbet,
died. Madam Nisbet (one is tempted to
say Mrs. blisbet, the name looks so English)
having made the acquaintance of a Mussul-
man merohant from upcountry, married
I him; and she and her boy George went
first to Cainewith him and then to Suakin.
George attended the military school at
Cairo. His step -father, ynas much attached
to the youth, who waa theneeforth brought
up it Ivlussulman. He took his etep-father's
name, Osman Digna, and joined him in his
business ae a slave dealer in Suakim. The
yOUllg Osman Digna had the whole business
to himself when the stepfather died in 1865.
lie became the Maluli's friend and general,
Such is the tale tk,at ia being told. ennan
and the enemy of the Egyptian Govertent.
Digna is deecribecl as it tall man of aan im.
Peeing figure. He has a piercing dark 'eye,
anti his jet black beard reaches to the pit of "
his stomach. He has adopted the calm and
dignified attitude of a sheik since he be-
came recognized aanong the desert tribesmen '
as it leader. He is R 1119,11 of temperate
habits, and has only three wives, who be-
ing connected with tome of the best families
of the Soudan tribes, bang him much in.
fluence. All the other women about Osman
Digna are conoubinee and slaves. Osman
Digna has only one arm, the other having
been lost in battle. He was a fellowstn-
dent of Arabi Neils, and the latter's insur-
rection paved the way for his present
career. Such is the description that is being
given.
Prince Bismcvok is evidently exerting him-
self ro the` utmost to acquire for hie coentry
a reputation for maritime power. He is not
satisfied that Germany should be the biggest
toad in the European puddle, he seeks for
her oceanic dominion also, Else why tab
great building of war.ships, this Kiel canal,
this colenizing in both hemispheres, this
Best Africa bill in the Reichstag, this block.
ade of the Zanzibar littoral, this defiant at -
over a small group in the Antipodes?
However, he is only following the bed of
his European neighbours and rivals. They
all doubtless look with envy upon Eug-
laud's many and widely -scattered maritime
strongholds, her coaling stations, her naval
depots, her graving docks, Itiot a few
powers foresee that fubure supremaoy will
not alone depend on land forces. Russia is
carrying out a twenty -years' scheme of naval
construction, and is yearly spending hun-
dreds of thousanda of roubles on war -ships.
France is adding to her navy. Italy is
!treating one. naturally Prince 13iamarok
endeavours to obtain for Germany a firm
footing on foreign shores. .
The canal/a:Aloe (to use the term employ-
ed by French engineers) of the now over-
head telegraph, telephone, and electric light
wires is in all likelihood only a question of
time. The hideousness of the posts—already
relegated to baok streets by the growing ar-
tistic taste—the cumbersome method of sus-
pending the wires, the.destruotion caused
by storms, and above all the danger to life
—all these 'considerations will soon bring
aboutlegislation calling upon companies to
bury their wires. Especially also as not
only the increasing number of wires neces-
sary, but the increasing use to which wires
are being put, will soon accentuate all the
disadvantages already beginning to be felt.
Motive power will before very long be trans-
mitted to factories and private dwellings.
This will necessitate large wires carrying
very strong currents of electricity. The
danger to life will be enormously increased.
Even now the current en an electric light
wire is strong enough to kill a horse and
fatal accidents are not by any means infre-
quent. Neither is there any insuperable ob-
stacle to the canalization of wiree. It has
been attempted and successfully achieved in
more than one locality. -The expense is, of
course, the great difficulty ; but as the nee
of transmitted electricity increases, this wilt
diminish—or more correctly, companies will
be in it better position to overcome it.
Old -World Amerioa
It was observed by Hugh Miller that, al
though this continent is the New World in
relation to its discovery by civilized man, it
is an old world, much older than Europe, in
relation to the types of its animals and
plants. For example, the big trees of Cali-
fornia are of older stocks than any trees now
•growing in Europe. The question has been
raised if some of the races of Siberia and
Eastern Asia have not sprung from Ameri.
Call aborigines, rather' than our Indians to
have come from that quarter. •
In the case of molt a plant as the conflate
heather of 'England and Scotland, -found,
growing 'wild in Nova Scotia, it is it matter
• of outous interest to determine whether it
is.native to the ail', or has been introduced
om Europe.
• Professor Lawmen, of Halifax, decides that
the plant had its home here. To his view,
there was a time when the plant was abund-
ant in our Northern lands, and its present
rare occurrence marks a dying out of the
species on this side of the ocean. Its vigor-
ous growth in Europe is due to the circum-
stance that it is there a young plant on a
virgin soil. •
It was Buffon's idea that all the forms of
aninaal and plant life common to the two
nontinents were introduced here after the
discoveey by Europeans. The idea was
naturally suggested by the rapidity with
which this continent was peopled, and stock-
ed with all domestic animals and cultivated
plants. The teaching from Buffon's day to
a recent period has been to the same effect.
Of late the evidence has been accumulating
to prom this vievnto be nob only false, but
directly ehe reverse of what had been the
real order of succession.
Worse than Marriage.
A bachelor old and cranky,
• Was sitting alone in his room;
His toea with the gout were aching,
And his face Was o'erspread with gloom.
No little ones' sheets disturbed him,
From noises the) house was free,
In fact, from the attic to cellar
Was quiet as quiet could he. ,
No medical aid was lacking;
The servants answered his ring,
Respectfully heard his orders,
And supplied him with everything.
But atilt there was something wanting,
Something he couldn't command:
The kindly words of compassion,
The touch of it gentle hand,
And he fiaidi as his brow grew darker
And he rang for the hireling nurse,
"Well, marriage may be it failure,
But this is it Wanted sight worse."
A Centipede Soing to Sleep, .
A centipede is afraid ot a tarantula, and
when he Ihis down to tileep he always takes
the precaution to build a cactua fence about
him. A tarantilla will never crawl over
°utile ; and thus, securely hedged in his
own corral, the centipede knows he may
sleep as long as he wants to. and his enemy
can't get at him. It is laughable out on the
Mojave Desert to watch the security of these
centipedes as they lie and sleep, while their
arch enerniet, the tarantulas nose around for
hours before giving it up. But the cactus
is a sure learner. When once they become
satisfied there is a complete barrier they go
away, and cease to thirst for the gore of the
ceetipede. The latter, however, alwaya
tatted a careful look around before he remov-
ee the cactus and mama! forth.—rEx
He Couldn'tlflord. to Walk.
Barrowly—I am not fooling very well,
dootot, my head aches, and / feel all broken
up generally." Dootoe —" You don't take
exercise enotath, Yon ride down to business
instead of waking, as yotiehould,". Reeve-
ly-e." But I can't affoed to Walk, it makes
moo hengry, and beano oost money."
• Across the Russian Frontier,
George Kannan contributes to the Genewry,
an illustrated description of his trip aoross
the Russian frontier, and the following ex-
traceshows what the author and the artist
found when they reached the boundary. A
picture of suoh it scene Dal the one deecribed
here forbs the frontispiece of the number.
"We sprang out of the tarantas and saw
standing by the roadside, a equarepillar ten
or twelve feet in height, of stuccoed or
plastered brick, bearing on one side the coat
of arms of the European proyinoe of Perm,
and on the other that of the Asiatic province
of Tobolsk. It was the boundary post of
Siberia. No other spot between Ss. Peters-
burg and the Peotflo is more fell of painful
suggestions, and none has for the traveler
a more melancholy interest than the little
opening in the forest where iitands thie grief -
consecrated pillar. Here hundreds of
thousands of exiled human beings --men,
women and ohildren ; princes'nobles and
peasants—have bidden good-bye forever to ,
friends, country and home.
" No other boundary post in the world has
witnessed so much human suffering, or.been
passed by such a multitude of „ete, -broken
people. More than )70,000 exiles eve trav-
eled this road since 1887, andimorde. aantialf
a millionlaince the beginning of the peasant '
century. Ad the boundary post is situated
about half way between the last Europeau
and the first Siberian etape, it has always
been customary to allow exile parties to stop
here for rest and for a last good-bye to home
and country. The Russian peakeentea even
when a criminal, is deeply attache.' to his
native land ; and heartrending seen% have'
been witnessed around the boundary pillar
when such a pt.rty, overtaken perhaps by ,
frost and snow in the early autumn, stopped
here for a Itist farewell. - Some gave way to '
unrestrained grief; some comforted the
weeping; some knelt and pressed their faces"
to the loved soil of their native country, and
collected alittle earth to take with them,
into exile; and a few pressed their lips to
the European side of the cold brick pillar; -
as if kissing good-bye forever to all that it
symbolized.
, "At last the stern order 'Stroisar ['Form
ranker] from the under officer of the convoy
put an end to the rest end the leave-taking,
and at the word iManilir the gray -coated ,
troop of exiles and corivicta crossed theme ,
selves hastily all together, andewith a con-
fused jingling of chains and leg -fetters,
moved slowly a.way past the boundary god
into Siberia.'
The Romantic.
The romantic spirit has ever arisen ie times"
when people were discontented with the then
existing state of affairs. It primarily maid.
taste itself in its negative character, in the
spurning of what is living and 'present, and in
the attempt at blinding the eye to what is ac...
tual and in so far ungainly. There is there-
fore always a touch of unreality about the
romantic. This negative repulsion frorn the
actual and present also gives essential color
to its positive features, namely, in making
whatever comes within its pale essentially
different from what is habitually preeent itt
the living. The romanticist thus looks upon
the past because it is past and not present,
and upon the works of fancy because they
are fanciful and not real; but both must have
the power of carrying him away from the "
oppressive reality to that ,which is different
from ik
Another essentialattribute of the romantic
spirit is thedesiringattitudeof mind., Though
the romanticist looks • for the past because
it is pat, and upon the fanciful because it is
pot real, he does not look Upon them dispass-
ionately, but longingly, with the futile desire
of which he is half conscious, to make them
present and actual. And while, on the one, „
hand, disporting himself in Rousseauesque
nudity, or wrapping himself closely in the
sable cloak of Werther, he robs the present
and actualof its vitality by means of his mor-
bidly powerful imagination'on the other
hand, his Awakes have not ,diminished the
remoteness of the past and of the realms of
fantaay. Having shed over both the par -
tattler light natural to him personaly in his
fervent longings,
and having destroyed has
clearness of sightwith regard to the present,
and disturbed its just proportion, he has not
gained in the power of penetrating into the
past, which he has else robbed of its true
consistenex in emasculating • his energy
o diapasaionate retrospect ....[Harporet
Magazine. , •
•
A Shocking Death,
TOBONTO, Feb. 11.—On Wednesday night
as train ere. 6 on tbe credit Valley railway
was ,nearing the bridge at Lambton, the
driver, Phipps, saw a man la/talking along
the middle of the track with his coat collar
turned up around his ears. He sounded the
whistle, but it was too late. The man ap-
peared suddenly to have seen the refleetion
from the head -light of the engine and jamm-
ed to save himself, 'bile slipped • the train
imaged ;over him, severing both iega at the
thighs and one of his arms at the elbow.
The train was stopped and the ghastly fra.
gamuts of the poor fellow picked up and
taken to West Toronto Junction and plaited
in the baggage -room a the depot. The
corpse had, nob been identified at the time
of sending this despatch.
oiseess. —
Bettor sheep 'will grow more pounds of
wool vtlian are now obtained as the country's
averrige, and at the seine time grow a oar-
sase amproved itt the essentials to profitable
mutton production,