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Home My WebLink AboutThe Exeter Times, 1889-5-30, Page 2• S AKESP AR bIB"1 H E. NQ C .� M B: NORA LAAOHERe of upon the English earth is so dear Imam as sweet, picturesque Strat- d•upon-Avon, So rich ie it in historic interest, ao pleasing to the eye in its ancient architecture and in its surrounding luxur- iant, woodlandscenery.Besides, does it not give one such a strong Boase of reverence and affection as the place of Birth ---I will not say the place of death, far the immortal die not—and the place of rest of our glorious Shakespeare 1 Many " passionate pilgrims " from among the Shakespeare Loving Canadians are irresistibly attracted towards this Little town. Some few perhaps no study, for no one eau understamcl and erjoy Shakespeare more thoroughly than by reading the im- mortal plays there. Their beauty and sub limity are so match -enhanced by the know- ledge of the scenery and connections around them having inspired their creator. The pietureeque view of his old homestead, the school where 'he 'was educated, the little village of Shottery where he wooed and won his pretty 'bride, the few stones that mark the house where he died and the grand, old church that holds his hallowed 'boner are linked with so many strong -and valued emotions that cannot fail to lead the student into a long train ,of intellectual thoughts and noble inspirations, Even if Strad ord. on -Avon were really insignificant this alone would give a kind of sanctity to it as the plane whore Shakespeare lived. By studying Shakespeare's works in his own native country students often find a new light and meaning dawn upon the won- drouspages. Where, indeed, can they read so well of the love of Ophelia for Hamlet save under eome gnarled old willow tree upon the wild -thyme grownh banks of the poet's own river'? Or where can they appreciate "As You. Like It" so well as seated peacefully upon the shady turf " under the greenwood tree" in some pleasant grove of Charlectoe Park, with herds of fallow deer feeding around them and the sky -lark soaring high above their heads singing its hymn of praise at Heaven's gate, And strolling through the neighboring meadows can they not easily conjure out of their own fancy's realm in every modern Darby and Joan they happen to meet, a Perdita and Ftorigel, or a Touch- stone and Audrey ? By conversing with the cottagers, t.io, whom they see by the •roadsides they glean many of the curious gold Warwickshire words so frequently met with in Shakespeare's expressive language. Truly Stratford -on -Avon is the plane to study Shakespeare. But as it is scarcely ,possible for all his Canadian admirers to make a pilgrimage there, and as it was my Thome for many happy years, I will give a brief description of it. It will delight me exceedingly if my "modern quill" will enable me to parry my readers with me for a few minutes in imagination. We will enter the cosy, home -like' little town from the London road, for Stratford :stends upon the western bank of the "soft- 'flowtng Avon," upon an ancient military road constructed by the Romana. We cross the river over a handsome bridge of fourteen pointed arches, built by Sir Hugh de Clopton in Henry the Sevenths reign, From this bridge we get a fine view of the church spire and the theatre. The latter -is built in the teliz►bethan style and was erected a few years ago as fitting memorial to the " Sweet Swan of Avon " as rare Ben Jonson loved so well to style his friend. One of the widest thoroughfares to be met with in England is the street leading from this bridge and the head of it is the meeting place of five other streets. Particularly in- teresting to us pilgrims from the New World is Bridge street, for it contains the Red Horse Hostelry which we have often heard of as "Washington Irving's Hotel," and we call to mind the manifold ref- erences that gifted writer made to it in his charming "Sketch Book." Eagerly we wend our way down Sleepy - looking Henley street to pause at the an tient, half timber dwelling known as Shakes- peare house. We pull the ponderous bell hanging in thew( oden porch and'are at once Charmer with the sweet old lady custodian, who, in answer to our ring opens thedoor and in a clear well educated Warwickshire voice bids us enter. . The interior, our guide informs us, is in its original state, the same old flagstones broken and much worn upon the floor and the old oaken stair -case leading to the room, in which the poet was born remaining un touched. The window, too, in this room she tells us, is the genuine one and served as a model for the others requiring restora- tion. The faded, white -washed walls so com- pletely covered with autographs have a pe- culiar .charm for us and we immediately commence a search for famous names. Soon we discover Helen Faucit not far from the distinguished one, of W. Thackeray. We are invited by our pleasant guide to try and find the name of Sir Walter Scott upon the window frame, but at last she has to point it out to ns, so shamefully is it scrawled over by the diamond of some snobbish cox- comb. :Upon the wall by the spacious fire- place we easily discern the names of the celebrated actor and actress, Charles Kean and Madame'Vestris. Near to the door that of Alfred Tennyson, and opposite the fire place the signature a of Mark Lemon—the once famous editor ot Punch—and his friends Charles Dickens, A. Egg and Frank Stone. We follow the custodian into the museum adjoining, which we find full of valuable relics and documents. One of the most curious is the only letter addressed to Shakespeare in existence ;Shakespeare's own signet ring; his wooden school desk taken from the Free Grammar School to which, as a youth, he re aired with " shining morning face "; the pleadings of a suit in which he was engaged ; and the indentures of his purchase of the house New Place where he died. There also we see the ancient sign -board of the "Falcon" at Bidford—a town some few miles distant—where, so the story goes, the young poet and a few of his gay towns- men once engaged in a drinking bout with the tippling sons of that place. Getting worsted in the contest, Shakespeare, so says the legend, was so overcome by the nut- brown ale he had ,quaffed that on his way home he was breed to lie down for the rest of the night under the friendly shelter of a crab tree. Where, upon waking in the morning and evidently much disgusted with his frolic, ho looked around and point ing to the neighboring villages uttered the foliocting epigram "Piping Pebworth, Dancing Marston. Haunted Hiliboro, Hungry, Grafton, Dodg- ing Exhal, Papist Wixford, Beggarly Broom and Druril en Bidford." Years ago in one of :the old visitors' books I read the following lines written by Washington Irving, but whioh we now find framed upon the walls of the muee- nmi— "Of mighty Shakespeare's birth the room we see, i het where he died in vain do try, Timeless the search, tor all immortal Ile, And those who are immortalr,never die," These old hooka are moat interesting to us, for there is hardly ouo page on which io not ineoribed the name of an Amorioan. We select a few et random :—April 29th, 1853, Harriet Beecher Stowe, of Andover, Mass„ Charles Beecher, of Newark, Jersey, and C. E Felton, Prof. of Greek, Cambridge, Mass., June 26 ih, 1857. Charlotte Cushman signed her name 038. Sad, 1857. Tom Thumb's and his mother's name we find and we recognise Henry W. Beechor's, of Brook. lyn, dated Aug. 3rd, 1850; and amongst many Canadian signatures we find with pleasure that true lover of the drarnatist, R. M. Warner, of Hamilton, Sorry as we are to leave the piotureique old homestead, we, however, hastou onward to pause awhile in the quaint old fashioned Rocher Market. There we find an immedi. ate object of interesb,the beautiful, uew,grey- stonen monumental combination of drinking fountain and clock tower generously present- ed to Stratford by that great hearted Shakes- peariaupilgrim, Mr. Childs, of Philadelphia. We enjoy thoroughly the pleasant walk acmes the grassy meadow to Shot - tory,' a rustic, almost Arcadian village, a mile distant. Here the tiny brown thatched cottages nestle in email gardens fragrant with " pale primroses," and " nod- ding violets" and otheriflowecs Shakespeare loved so well to mention. Crossing a small rippling streamlet we arrive at Anne Hathaway's pietureeque home with its tnossy thatched roof, its quaint dormer window and its ancient clumsy wooden latched 'door. Curiously we enter and observe in the inner room a very old oaken settle with a high Mack to keep the wind,—or prying eyes ?—away, and known as Shakespeare's courting chair. We note the spacious chimney -corner nook where Will Shakespeare and the blooming Anne Hathaway so often must !have sat " still telling what was 'told " anti we feel interested in knowing that the present me cupier of the cottage is a descendant of the Hathaway family. Again we •enter the cosy litele town of Stratford and pausedelightediy•on the High street in front of a very ancient edifice for, happily, a few of "these old houses re- main to help us to unbury the hidden past -a splendid example this of domestic architecture, It was erected 'in 1596 and was originally an inn, " The %Greyhound," where no doubt Shakespeare often met and conversed with his friends. Its timber fram- ing is beautifully ornamented with fieur d lts, its oriel windows supported by quaint y carved brackets and even the window frame and doorways are the original ones. As we gaze eagerly at the -queer jutting out lattice windows and strange grotesque carvings our imaginations lead us into all sorts ot tithei kateideaeope-like fancies carrying us back to the Elizabethan.a.ge we have read of, We. can almost hear the clink, clink of the email kins within and the merry, roguish voice o jack Falstaff thundering forth " Hosbese' my breakfast, come'? oh 1,I could wish this tavern were my drum." ata:.' We awake from our reverie and proceed to our next plane of interest, the Town Hall Within a gabledniche of this building we find a life-sized statue of the poet presented to the corporation of Stratford by the great actor aid still greater •Shakespearian student, David Garricx, in FM. The ancient hostelry adjoining this edifice is known es "-'The Shakespeare." It contains dark oaken stair cases and floor bearing many marks of " dry antiquity.' The low celled rooms -are curious to visi- tors being filled by 'names derived from Shakespeare's plays which are placed above each door. .Here romantic people may oheose " Rode, and .ki ulieto" or " Mid - Summer Nights Dream" for their sleeping apar tment. The next near object of attraction for us is the site of New Place, where the great master of the human heart passed the last years of his life. The destruction of this house is a subject of deep: regret to English people as no authentic record is known of its appearance in 'Shakespeare's time. This estate was purchased for the town througn the kind instrumentality of the late Prof. Haliwell Phillips so, that "the very stones that prate of •his whereabouts" are now open to the public and portions of the rooms exposed to view. In the large, well kept garden of New Place stands the handsome monument lately erected by Lord Ronald Gower. Crossing the road from the garden of New Place we enter a grand old church called the Chapel off the Holy Guild, This grey building is even more ancient than the Holy Trinity and its curfew -bell, which still rings, tolled at Shakespeare's funeral. Adjoining this church weafind the Grammar School where Shakespeare as a boy daily "conned hie task" and where, no doubt he learned the "Smalle Latten and less Greeke" for which Ben Jonson gives him credit. Passing down the quaint street known as Old Town we near the .church of Holy Trinity. We feel its sweet and sacred har- mony as we enter the churchyard and walk underneath the thick grove of fragrant limes leading to the north porch. The twining aims of the trees spread out to reach each other and form.one high green arch over head. From their branches des- cends the hymn of praise of thousands of feathered songsters musically mingling with the deep caw of the rooks in the tall elms near the river, accompanied Iby the low murmuring lap, lap of the silvery Avon as it softly laves the bank of that peaceful:God's Acre, The great antiquity and marvelous beauty of the building awe us as we enter. Slowly we walk up the centre aisle to the splendid chancel, whore, against the north- ern wall we see the monumental bust of William Shakespeare, beneath which his undisturbed ashes rest in peace. Silently we approach the spot and read the inscription upon the stone covering the re- mains of this man whose infinite genius ex- hausted worlds—: Goode Frend for Jesus sake forbeare To digge the dusb encloased heare Bleste be ye man yt. spares thee stones And Duret be he yt. moves my bones." We awake from our solemn reverie with a loathsome feeling of horror and indignation at the 'wretches who merely out of a morbid curiosity would set at naught that sacred wish and disturb that peaceful resting place. Many people doubt the doggerel lines of the tombstone inscription were written by Shakespeare himself. Although from several passages in his plays, particularly in Ham- let and Romeo and Juliet, we should im- agine they were, knowing by his sentiments that he held in groat abomination,the ancient custom of meddling with and removing the bones of the dead. And we feel that in an- swer to that repulsive question, so repeatedly asked,"Shall we openShakeepeere's grave?" every Englishman can give no more fitting reply than in Shakespeare's own words—: "Did these bones cost no more than the breeding but to play at loggats with them ? Mine ache to think on'tl " To us, true pilgrirn.lovere of Shakespeare, this grand old church resembles a green oasis in the wilderness, where, during "life's fit- ful fever" we den halt for repose of the soul, Resting beneath the cool shade of the lofty tins, with tho quiet Avon flow- innat our feet} ourhearts for the mo- ment seem liftedup almost to the height of the angels. Forgetting all the workday troubles of the world in the new and noble. aspiretionssach a peaceful aeeno.00nneoted with such associations palls forth, we are strengthened to go back to our daily toil with renewed cheerfulness. To thie Mecca ever will our memory kneel wherever else our pilgrimage may lead as, and as we leave the hallowed app of we ex- claim: "This was a aloble life 1'Take him all in ail, we shall nob look upon his like again 1" 'Green Things Growing, Oh, the green things growing, the green things growing, The faint sweet smell ot the green things growing 1 I should like to live, whether I smile or grieve, Jest to watch the happy life of my green things growing. Oh, the fluttering and the ,pattering of those Oteen things growing 1 How they talk each to ouch, when none of ne are knowing ; In the wonderful white of the weird moon- light Or the dim, dreamy dawn, when the cricks are crowing. I love, I love theca spa; my green things grow- ing And I think they dove me, without false showing; For by many a tender touch they oomfortme se much, With the soft, mute comfort of green things growing. And in the rich -store of their blossomsgrow- nTen for one I take they're on me bestow - Oh, should like to see, if God's will it may be Many, many a summer of my green things growing'1 But if I enact be gathered for the angel's sowing, Sleep out of sight awhile, like green things growing, Though dust to dust return, I think 1:111 mere- ly mourn If I may change into green things growing. DINAH MULOCK GRAIL. Edison's Latest. In a secluded part of the country near Reading, Pennsylvania, experiments aresoon to be made with one of Edison's most recent inventions, known as the Edison concentra• tor, tiles iect of which is to conoontrabe the real ore .dug from a mine and get rid, by mechanical means, of all dirt and earthly matter that interferes with smelting. The machine, it is claimed, will greatly reduce the cost of smelting, and bring into use ores that cannot now be profitably worked. New York capitalists—New York capital. ists seem always ready to risk their money for Edison—have purchased eight acres of iron ore land, where the experimeute will be made. The working of the concentrator is not to be a secret, as supposed. The rook containing the ore, after passing through the crusher, and being broken to the eiza of an egg, is dumped into a large hopper. From there it drops do wn an incline w ithin a few inches of a powerful magnet. The will beso heavily charged as to draw the ore from its course into the channel, and the rock and other foreign elementscontain- ed in the ore are permitted to pass through - an other channel to the refuse pile. This is the idea. Huzley's Tribute to the Bible.. We have %Professor Huxley's own testi- mony not only that he is an agnostic, but that he is the author of the term. It is therefore especially interesting to hear what he has to say about the Bible. "'I have always been in favor," says the Professor, "of secular education, in the sense of educa- tion without theology; bub I mush confess Nat I have been no leas seriously perplexed to know by what practical measures the religious feeling, which is the essential basis of conduct, was to be kept up, in•the present utterly chaotic state of opinion on these matters, without the use of the Bible. The pagan moralists lack life and color: and even the noble stoic, 'Marcus Antoniaus, is too high and refined for an ordinary child. Take the Bible as a whole, make the .sever- est deductions which fair criticism can dic- tate, and there still remains in this old literature a vast residuum of moral beauty and grandeur. By the study of what other book would children be so much humanized? If Bible reading is not accompanied by constraint and solemnity, I do not believe there is anything in which children take more pleasure." Bodies of the Victims of the Samoan Starm SYDNEY, N. S. W., May 16.—Not more than one-third ot the bodies of the victims of the storm have been recovered. A body supposed to be that of Capt. Schoonmaker, of the Vandalia, which was found on the beach four miles from Apia, was buried on the ,German plantation near the spot where it was washed ashore, Pay- master Arms' body, which was positively identified, was washed ashore near the house of Capt. Hamilton, an American citizen of Apia. Capt. Hamilton buried the body in his yard. The body of Paymaster Roche was also found about a mile from the wreck of the Vandalia. Lieut. Sutton's body has not been recovered. It is supposed nearly all the bodies of officers and men of the German gunboat Eber are imprisoned in the wreck. How He Knew. A. D. Marsh was judge at the Democratic primary Monday. A young, smooth -faced fellow offered his vote, and Marsh asked him if he was old enough to vote." " Yes," says the fellow, " I am twenty- one." wentyone." " How do you dnow ?" " Well, I have had the seven-year itch three times," was the response. The progress of popular education in India, as shown by recent returns, is grati- fying, The ratio of the total population of school age who actually attended school in- creased from 10.7 in 1886 7 to 11.8 in 1887 8, or more than ten per cent, within the year. The number of pupils on the rolls increased during the same period from 3,343,544 to 3,460,844. This increase is divided in about o the same proportions between Hindoos, i Mohammedans, Europeans and Eurasians a and aborigines. The most noticeable feature, says The Timer' correspondent, is the sus• Mined increase among the Mohammedan pupils, distributed over every stage of edu- cation, and chiefly noticeable in the private sohoole, which wore attended by 240,472 pupils, as compared with 195,415 pupils in 1886-87. TRUE TILL D.E .T1i;, Extraordinary IIte•endtng of a Lever and Ills Sweotbeart. 8 O Robert r was it native Fa of Brun els Peron s who had emigrated to England And become connected with a large manufaotuting house in Derby as a foreign correspondent. He was young and good looking. Among the acquaintances he made in the English town was a young woman, Lille Burford. She was an actress and had bean staying at the house of some 'relatives near Darby while awaiting a new engagement en the stage. The relations between Mr. Feron and Miss Burford became intimate, and one Saturday evening nob many days ago he galled upon her and they went away to- gether on the Midland Railway. : Teat was the bast seen of them alive by bheir friends, for tate that night they were found with bullets in their heads. Each was lying on the floor of the railway oar, with blood in pools -surrounding them, and a silver-plated pistol, eke barrels, four undischarged, on the seat. Neither the man nor the woman was more than twenty years old. There was no evi- dence of their having quarrelled, and the railway officers, the coroner and all others who -saw the bodies were puzzled to know what might have been the CAUSE OF THE TRAGEDY. By degrees it was discovered, and when all the circumstances became known to the students of crime it was agreed among them that this double murder must be ranked among the more notable offences of this de. -grae which have occurred in England. 16 was on the part of each person a case of de- liberate death. If either one had been insane it was insanity' only upon the single subject of death. Bat there does not appear any evidence that either the lover or his mistress had lost reason even to this extent. Ali their actions up to the time of their being left alone in the railroad carriage were, rational and natural. Oa the Saturday evening when Feron' called to take the girl away he came in a cab. She appeared as if she had been ex• pecting him, was dressed in a pretty gown and was vivacious. The only curious thing in her behavior occurred before her' lover arrived. She had been with some one in the house and casually remarked :— "I must leave you now and go and put' on some clean clothes, for Tam going to die before the evening is over." ,. But Mies Burford said this without ex oitement, and the person who heard it thought it a joke until the next day. when the prophecy was fulfilled. Feron brought: the girl" a bunch of lilacs, and they sat and talked for a few minutes and then lefb to• gether in a cab. The driver took them to the central Station of the Midland Railway at Derby at,6.20 p. m. They appeared on the platform just as any other araent pair of lovers might have appeared, and had some refreshment in the dining -room. Feron bought two first-class tickets to Nottingham and return. When they arrived there they took a leisurely walk through the town to the Talbot Hotel, where they dined. Neither then, nor later at the railroad sta- tion, was any strange act observed in their conduct. They took the 9 20 p. in. brain from Nottingham, and seemed then in the happiest spirits. Some time later, when near '['rent Station, the platform porter, on going to collect their tickets, found them dead in their carriage. They had been alone there, so there was no witness of what had happened in the last half hour of their life. The inquest showed that the young people had been PLANNING FOR THEIR DEATH for many days. Mrs. Clara Williams, at whose house Miss Burford had stopped, testified that Formehad called there fre- quently during the fortnight preceding. Each seemed devoted to the other, Miss Burford astonished Mrs. Williams one day by manifesting intense interest in the sensa- tional novel which desoribed how a lover had poisoned his sweetheart by putting something in her coffee. The girl said :— " It would be nice to die with my lover. It would be nice to die in each other's arms.' Mrs. Williams told her not to think or talk of such things, out the girl only laughed. Sometime afterward the young woman remarked : " How funny it would be if they were to find us dead iu a railway carriage—only we should Mies the best of :. the fun.We should like to hear what they would say when they opened the door." This was so extraordinaay a statement that Mrs. Williams regarded it only as a joke. The girl was in the habit of talking flippant- ly about serious things. She orce called at- tention to to her dress open at the bosom and said :—" How nice it would be for a bullet to go in here." Mrs. Williams could remember only one conversation between !Peron and Miss Burford in whioh she heard them speak as if they had been discussing suicide. At that time the girl was sitting be- side her lover, and he said :— " I would die for you, Lille. Would you die for me ?" "Yea, I would," she replied, and kissed !him on the cheek. On the Sunday before this Miss Burford showed Mrs, Williams a pistol. She said it belonged to Feron, wha was downstairs. The two women want down to the room where he was, and Feron took the revolver and held it close to Miss Burford's face. She DID NOT TREMBLE at all, and said she was not afraid, for he knew how to use the weapon. All this testimony went to show that the young lovers had contemplated taking their lives. Leters found on Feron's body ex- plained further their action. Ooe of them was addressed to George Feron, Brussels, and read: MY DEAR GEORGE,— I write you to -day for the last time, as I am going to commit suicide this evening. 1 have had enough of life, and am :quite satisfied to die. Besides, a pretty girl is going to kill herself with me, so it will be all the better, It is useless to give you the reason of our suicide; it is sta.tient to know that she loves rue. She has the same intention to dieand we have decided to kill ourselves. This is the way' we are go- ing to kill ourselves t—We are going by rail to Nottingham, half an hour by train from Derby. We will enjoy ourselves during the evening;; then will take train, and on the way back I will point my revolver at the temple of my mistress, and 'nen shoot her; then I will kill myself by firing on my tem. plc. She has reeked me that this be dohe,,be• cause she cannot handle a revolver. Now I have only to assure you that this way is the best; there is no better way than to love an honest young girl, and to be loved by her. Ob, if I were to begin again 1 Kisses to all at home. Receive two last ones from your ouein. ROBIERT. P. 5,—You were wrong n not writing me lately ; this would have fforded me so muoh pleasure. Another was directed to Fritz Patte, Brussels. It said :— Mr DEen FRITz :—My good old fellow, I am going to be buried in the earth with., out shaking hands with you for the last time, I have had no luck, because yon knew what I had before going to Brussels. You will be the only one in Brussels who knows my secret, I have not told myfather. love aob es and she loves malso, I ahalln commit suicide to•merrow evening. I believe she will kill herself with me. I know that it is very sad to die at the age of 19 ; she is also 19 years and six months. However, I do not regret it. I will do it in a railway carriage. She has really the intention to commit suicide es well, for she cannot live without me ; she has a true love for me, However, you know what girls are ; she might be weak and feeble at the last mo. ment. Therefore, dear Fritz be very care• ful, and remember sometimes your old friend, Robert. Bisses for you, for your mother and brothers. Will you understand my letter ? It is impossible to do better just now. The coroner's jury decided that the lovers had carried oub eheir plans fully ;°that the girl was wilfully murdered by Feron, and that he had killed himself while temporarily insane. Too Much Applauding. The abuse of the practice of applauding appears to be a recognised nuisance every- where. verywhere.Mr. Phillip G. Hubert complains bitterly of interruptions to Italian opera, When the chief singers of the evening cotne, upon the stage for the first time the house breaks oub into applauseno matter what is When on at the time. the soprano is shrieking out her highest note, and the' ushers are trotting down the aisle burdened' with floral harps, ships, anchors and other, devices of the kind known as trophies, the Juliet, Lucia or Amina of ;the evening for- gets her despair long enough to receive the flowers with an expression of counterfeit' amazement and many smiles of gratitude., Another practice referred to by The London Daily News is that of calling actors before the curtain and producing the ridiculous spectacle of deadly enemies olasp'ing one another by the hand, bowing and smiling. In Canada we have also the ,people who en• core every number at a concert, doubling the length of the programme and tiring out, both performers and audience. But these are tribulations whioh good men will be palled upon to endure to the end of time. -.111110•411111.-- Capital Punishment in Minnesota. In Minnesota the law regarding capita punishment has been amended. The object which the legislators have in view is to do away with the unseemly exhibitions that cm- cur o-•cur at executions, whereby, in the Minnesota' opinion, the public taste is offended and decency outraged. Under the new law prisoners condemned to death will be kept in solitary oongnement, and will only be acceseibie to their families, lawyers and, spiritual advisers. The executions shall be as private as possible, the prisoner being. allowed to invite three persons and the sheriff six, besides the surgeon. Newspapers. will not be allowed to publish anything but the bare facts. Time will show whether or not these regulations diminish the fear of hanging, which is konwn to be a strong, deterrent with the criminal class from the commission of eerious offences. Thequestion, of providing against careless bungling in the management of executions ought to be kept quite distinct from the adoption of rules which appear to tend toward popular- izing capital punishment as a genteel and exclusive method of putting an end to a burdensome life, attended by no scandal, and conducted in the strictest privaoy. Soon all Right. Flap—"I'm in love, and the only disagree- able thing about it is that the girl is older than I." Jack—"How old are you now?" "I'm 18." "And the lady iswhat?'' "Twenty- two." "Well, make your mind easy. By the time you are 21 she'll be only 20." To Avoid Suspicion. Aspiring Poet—"i wish to leave you some verses for your inspection. I will leave also my address and stamps, so that in the pos- sibility of your not puelishing the lines you may mail the manuscript to me." Practical Editor—"You may leave the stamps if you please, hut it will save time and trouble if you will take the manus crip nd a ddress with you." A Good and a Bad Bill. "Will -you vote for my bill ?" inquired the lobbyist of the legislator. "No, sir, re- plied the latter ; "your bill is a swindle." "Why, matt, you must have the wrong bill in mind. I mean this fifty -dollar bill 1" °'Well, this appears to be a good bill," said the le- gislator, after examining it critically. "I'll vote for it, of course."—[Puck. The flat collar of our mothers and grand- mothers is now an accomplished fashionable fact. A pair of Berlin lovers, whose union was oppoeed by her parents, eloped and set, out for English soil on Heligoland to get married. When they got to Hamburg they found that no steamers were running, so they hired a sailboat. The waves were pretty high, and, before they had been at sea an hour, he excused himself to go below to Ile upon a sofa. She, left alone above deck, thought about it a while, concluded that she didn't want to get married after all, and ordered the Captain to turn back toward Hamburg. There her lover was unable to indium her to stay with him, and she went back to Berlin alone on the first train. The growth of electric lighting is some- thing wonderful. Ab the Convention of the National Electric Light Association the other day the president said that one year ago there were 4,000 plants in the United States ; these now number nearly 6,000. One year ago there wore 175,000 arc lamps in use ; there are now 219,924. One year ago there were 1,750,000 incandescent lamps in use ; at the present ,time there aro over 2.500,000-49 per cent. increase. The growth in electric railways is quite as startling. The worla is committed to an electric age. Steam and gas, which have headed civiliza- tion, are being displaced. One more quarter of a century and the probabilities are that every town, as well as city, will be illumi- nated by electric light. The nearest living relative of Gen. George Washington is Capt. George Washington Ball of Alexandria, says a Washington correspondent of the New York Sun. This gentleman is a grandnephew of the first president, and has an interesting faintly. Capt. Balls wife was Mary Randolph, a grandniece of John Rando ph of Roanoke and a cousin of President Harrison. They have three daughters—Mary Randolph, Landon, and Nannie Fairfax—and two sons, Mason Nall, Paymaster, and Randolph Ball, Surgeon U. S. N. Miss Landon Ball is the beauty of the family, and both the gentle- men in their naval uniforms make a fine ap. pearanoe, The father, Capt. George W. Ball, owns a great many heirlooms. both of the Washington and Ball families, including tables, portraits, eto. It will be remember• ed that Washington's mother was Mary Ball. 131E LIMB -KILN CLUB. t1te MOO Bon. Blackbeixy Davis Deltvers a Lecture. "1 ar' pleased to announce de facile data de Rignt Hon. Blackberry Davis, of Charlotte, No bh Caroliny, ar' wid, us to -night," , said Brother Gardner as the meeting opened in due and ancient form. "De Hon. Davis ar' known to moss' of yon as de inventor of root beer, an' de matt who filet found out dat a dog aleepin' under the bed made it onhealthy fur de pusaons above. Ho ar' op his way to de Nori Pole, an' has stopped off yore fur a day or so to wisit die club an' deliber his ad. dress. Readdress whioh he will favor us wid to -night ar' named 'De Laws of Health,' an' I trust dal he will receive your undivided at. tenshun while he speaks. Ile will now be brung in an' interduoed." HE WAS BRUNO., And he attracted mole attention as he passed up the aisle to the platform. He seem- ed to have been intended for a man severe feet high, but had somehow got sawed off alb about five. His left shoulder was lopped` pretty badly, his head had .failed to grow a crop of hair, and his right leg lingered be- hind as hie left went forward. Waydown Bebee couldn't see anything literary about the man. He looked more like some un successful candidate for the Presidency. HE BEGINS. The honorable didn't waste much time in getting down to business. He investigated the contents of the pitoher ot buttermilk. planed before him with a sigh of satisfaction, wiped off his mouth from north to south: and back again, and in a voice resonant of cow -belle and liberty he said : "My frena, what is health ? I Joan' 'spore' one single pusson in dis hall has eber giben de least thought to dat queshun- Dar' ar' two sorts of health—gooa an' bad. [Agita- tion.] Some of us hev one sort an' some de odder. As a rule, man man ar' bo'n in good health. Maur' starts him out all right, an' if anything happens to gin him de biilycue colic it's his own fault, [Suppressed groans. JI Dar ar' Bertin laws to govern society, Bich as not stealin' anybody's chickens —keepin' away from odder people's woodpiles—gwine right by a smoked ham which de butcher has keerleesly left hangin' out doahs ober night. ,[Sensation on the back seats.] If you obey dose laws you needn't be skeert an' jump ander de bed when a policeman knocks on de doah. If you dean' obey'em you must suffer the gaenseconses. "My frens," continued the orator after looking into the pitcher again, " dar" am sartin laws regardin' health. Day is Nature's laws. She holds us jiat as accountable as de police. Fur instance, if Pickles Smith invitee Samuel Shinober tut his house to dinner what does Samuel do ? He dean' eat nuffia' fur two days befo' hand, and when he sots down to dat table, groanin' wid all de luxuries which wealth kin purchase, he oalkerlates on filling right up to de brim. He eats till dey'hev to draw him away from de table. He has tronsgressed a lave of natur'. Natur says we mus' not obercrp' wd our stomachs. [Agitation.] Along spout midnight Samuel is tooken wid awful pains, and' three dootors hev hard work to save his life. [Faint cheers] "Natur' says we need 'bout eight hours sleep. Giveadam Jones goes ober to see Elder Toots, an' dey sot an' play checkers till 2 o'clock in de mawnin'. Nex' day boaf am limpin' around an' growlin' 'bout de weather an' cussin' de rich, [Agitatiepr.] Dey transgressed a law of ratur' anyar payrn' de penalty ; but in dcir ignerence dey lay it to anythin' else. Shindig Watkins hires out fur a private watchman ab a saw- mill. even o'clock comes an' he lays hirself away on a pile of lumber an' sleeps till half - past 6 de nex' mornin'. Den he gits up an' growls about die been' a billyns kentry, an' • labor bein' crushed by capital, an' goes home to tell de ole woman dat liberty am an sham an' a delusion. He transgressed a law of nater'—slept too long. [Gasps of as- tonishment.] "My dear frena," continued the orator as he gulped down the last of the buttermilk. "dar' am sartin pussons who regard de hn. man stomach as a aort o' carpetbag furnish- ed free gratis by natur. In de co's of a day dey will throw in whisky, beer, ginger ail, soda water, coffee, ice,water, meat, 'latera, sugar, vinegar, apples, berries, vegetables, an whateber else comes handy. Da sto- mach kicks, or orter, an' de owner is greatly surprised about it. [Cheere.]; It is only in de Iss' five y'ars dat de cull'd people of dim kentry hev come to realized dat dey had noses an' lungs. [Sensation.] Col. Huck- leberry Jaekson used to wonder why de smell of burnin' feathers choked him uh, but he sot it down as a monopoly of some sort. He let his three dogs sleep under his bed an' went round gnessrn' dat a rat has died under de hhuse. [Laughter.] "Dar am sartin laws of health which ar arbitrary an' ar' broken at your peril. "Doan' go to sleep wid your feet stickin up to anight breeze to cool off. " Doan' sprinkle de sheets wid ice water to cool off the bed. "Doan' git yer hair clipped off when de wind is in de norf. "Doan' let yer feet go from October to June an' den draw a hull tub of cold water an' try to git frew wid de job in one evenin'. "If you hev' bin chased by de police until you perspire dean' sit down on a bar'l in de alley an' let de breeze blow ober you to cool you off. "You mus' remember dat de air is full of bacteria and, microbes. Dar ar' varus sorts of them. An ole oa'pet on which seben young ohill'en hey bili brung up, along wid twice seben yeller dogs, will gin out mic- robes when shook. If you inhale 'em you may be took wid almost st any complaint fro . ear -ache to gwine crazy. A dead cat left alongside de front•gat°, or a load of ole pota- toes and bones left around de back doah will throw off bacteria at de rate of 2,000 pounds to de squar, inch. You may dodge 'em and oontiner yer wild career, but you may be tooken down like a flash, and not even hev time to make a will. [Shudders all along the back rows.] "My frena, you can't be too keerful to keep well. Obey de laws of Natur' an' you_ may live a hundred y'ars. Transgress 'em an' de grave yawns fur you. I feel honored by de privilege of appearin' befo' y�ii, If I hadn't nuffla' else to do I shouIesartinly move to Detroit an' jine die club. [Cheered Wid thanks fur yer Clue attenehun, an' lopin' de seed has fell on specific rile, I now bid you good-bye." A CLOSE CALL, When the honorable orator had retired Giveadam Jones offered a resolution to the effect that the Lime.K.iln Club aodept axd adopt his theories on the health question. A vote was taken, and the resolution was car- ried by a majority of one, and the motion to make it unanimous was lost in the swamp be. yond rescue. The meeting then ad journed. Tho right way to drive an os is not learn ed from a study of gee-ology. As a tale a dingle man is rarely discovered leading a double life. SI muoh for bachelor hood. . 4