HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1892-8-25, Page 6DE COI3AIN HEARD FROM..
Disgraced by a Charge of Gross Indecency
in London, 'Vet Saviors. Souls In New
Vorle—Ennelled Front raelatiment—Ilees
rases Exhorter Refuses to Face MS
ACCUSeTS, But Dodo Ms Guilt.
A New Yerk despatch says: Edward
Samuel Wesley De Colrain, exmashier in
the office of the Belfast Town Council and
exemerriber of Parliament for one of the
divisions of Belfast, is in this city, a fugitive
from justice for a crime of the infamous
Cleveland street character. Cobain first
pushed himeelf into notice by his apparent
religious fervor and his ability as a street
preacher, and this ability and apparent
fervor has enabled him to gain admission
into religious civoles here. Through the
Rev. Alexander McLean, of 335 East
17th street he has been introduoed
to numbers of good people of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and for some months he
has prayed and preached at prayer meet-
ings without his identity with the disgraced.
M. P. being discovered. On Monday night
he preached in a tent at Third avenue and
58th street, Brooklyn.
Through the Orange Society De Cobain
succeeded in getting into Belfast local poli-
tics. Then he took to street preaching,
and for years he preached every Sunday
morning from the steps of the Belfast Cus-
tom House. He gained the confidence of
those in power and was given a place in
the Town Council office. Later he was
appointed cashier. Then he began to ride
the high horse and there was no more
important man about the Town Hall, now
the City Hall, than Edward Samuel Wes-
ley De Cobain. He loved to have his list
of names in full applied to him on all
occasions.
Cobain accumlated money and gradually
became so pompous that there were ructions
in the Town Hall. One Sam Black, the
Town Clerk, would not tolerate De Co-
bain's uppishness, and the hall became too
small for both. Sam Black triumphed and
De Cobain found himself on the sidewalk
SO far as local official life was concerned.
But he had his revenge on his opponents.
He still kept on with his prayer meetings
on the Custom House steps, and aroused
the Orange workmen in their lodges, and
when, under a new franchise, Belfast be-
came entitled to four representatives in
Parliament, he was sent as a member,
where he immediately became a laughing
stock. He was despised by the Conserva-
tives, to which party he belonged, and he
spent as little time as possible in the House
of Commons. After the riots in 1886 he
appeared, a self -invited witness, before the
Royal Commission. He denounced the con-
stabulary for their conduct during the
riots and proceeded to own the court until
brought peremptorily to a halt by Judge
Day, who ordered him out of the box. On
his denunciation of the police he now seeks
to base a conspiracy against him.
The revolting charges now hanging over
him were brought against him in 1891.
From his friends in the Tory party he
learned what was about to happen, with
thd result that when the warrants for his
arrest were issued he was beyond their
reach. Although he had fled, he still re-
fused to resign his seat in Parliament, and
he also declined to come within reach of
British law and face his accusers. The
House of Commons early this year expelled
him from membership. At that time he
was in France, but since then until now
nothing was heard from him.
De Cobain still proclaims his innocence,
declares that the whole thing is a polies
conspiracy, and says that he is preparing
papers to bring about a re -opening of his
cam. The only way in which he can re -open
it is by surrendering himself to the British
authorities.
The British Consul said yesterday that
he did not believe that De Cobain's offence
was specifically mentioned among the
crimes for which offenders may be extra-
dited.
The Rev. Dr. McLean does not know
where De Cobain lives. He could not be-
lieve De Cobain guilty of the crimes laid to
his charge. Neither could Mrs. John
Smith of 49 West 47th street, to whose fam-
ily he was introduced by the Rev. Dr.
McLean. Dr. McLean thought yesterday
that De Cobain was attending a camp meet -
mg at Sing Sing.
THIS WEEK'S METEORS.
Luminous Visitors That Will Call on Fs
from the Depths Space.
Look aloft and you will see admirable
sights these nights. Mars is in view all
night. Then there are the planets Saturn
and Jupiter and the first magnitude stars
Arcturus Vega, Spica, Antares, Altair and,
late in the night, Fomalhaut and Capella.
In addition there are the regular August
meteors. On the nights of the 9th, 10th,
Ilth and 12th of August, and on those of
the llth, 12th, 13th and 14th of November,
more meteors may be seen than at any other
time of the year.
Meteors, explains a St. Louis Globe.
Democrat writer, are supposed to be the
remains of comets. At any rate, a regular
stream of these minute bodies is, in every
case where found, strung out in or very
close to the orbit of a known comet. The
August meteors' path coincides with that of
the second comet of 1862. These meteors
are found all along the trail of this comet,
and form a regular continuous stream
around the sun. This stream is elliptical,
like the orbit of the comet, and the sun is
in one focus of the orbit. The orbit of the
earth intersects that of the meteors about
the point which the earth reaches every
year around Aug. 9th. As the earth dashes
along its course it plunges into this meteor
stream of that date.
Locating, It.
Mother—Your finger may hurt, dear ;
but it isn't injured enough to put a rag
on it.
Harold—Well, put a rag on it, anyhow,
so 1 will know which finger hurts.
Lime Molly's Sarcasm.
Dear Father—We are all and happy.
The baby has grown ever so much, and has
a great deal more sense than he used to
have. Hoping the same of you I remain
your daughter, Molly.
It is said that in China the wife is very
iseldom mentioned by her husband, but
when he does mention her it is always M
Orme roundabout way. He has some name
that he calls her in his flowery language, that
takes the place of the word "wife," One
man calls his wife "my hand the clothes" ;
another "my dull companion"; another
"my thorn in the ribs"; nother describes
tier as "the mean one of the inner rooms.'
Where are fourteen hundred million dollen
in gold in circulation throughout the world,
and good authority aeserts that one million
dollars of that is lost annually by wear.
• Customer—I wish to buy a pet dog, can
you give me a pointer ? Dealet—No, I'm
out of pointers, but I've got most any other
kind.
The only safe craft in which to take a
nervous woman out rowing is a canal boat,
She oaa Wand up in that and yell without
tipping it over.
SLAVE TRADERS FIGHT.
An Aral) Insurrection Which Threateno
$erious Consequences,
THEY ATTACK A FORT,
A Brussels cable says : Despatches from
Zanzibar bring news of a thrilling diame-
ter. The Arab insurrection under Ron-
malisa has spread from Tanganyika to Stan-
ley Falls and what was merely a local
demonstrAiou has developed into a general
uprising of the Arabs of Central Afaicia
against white domination. The Araba kiave
grown desperate, owing to the evident de-
termination of the whites to suppress the
slave trade, by which the Aralss have ac-
cumulated their wealth and eatablielted their
power. They were greatly encouraged
by the disaster to the British under Capt.
Maguire last December, when Capt.
Maguire and two other Englishmen lost
their lives in a conflict with elave traders,
and the Arabs were still more strength-
ened in their hostile attitude by the snore
recent successful attack on Fort Johnston.
Full particulars show that an atts.elt on
the fort Ives made by the natives under
Arab leaders, and a seven -pounder gun
was captured. It appears that Fort
Johnston is very small, and is incon-
veniently crowded. The garrison had been
lulled into a false sense of security. Two
of the white men, with sense of the sikhs
and a seven -pounder gun, wore encaraped
just outside the fort, when they were
surprised during the night by a body of
natives, who wounded the Europeans and
succeeded in capturing the gun.
Makanjila, Kasembe and other Arab
chiefs, incensed by the stoppaue of their
remunerative traffic in slaves, entered into
communication with other .Arabs'telling
them of their success against the British,
and urging them to join in a general move-
ment to drive the whites from Central
Africa.
From the advices received at Zanzibar it
is feared that Raschid, the nephew and
successor of Tippoo Tib at Stanley Falls,
has joined in the insurrection movement
and declared his hostility to the whites,
with whom he has pretended to be on
terms of friendship. It is also understood
that Raschid has unfurled the standard of
rebellion, and called upon his followers
and other chiefs, both native ard Arab, to
join against the white men and assist in re-
storing Arab supremacy. A conflict has
taken place, and it is known for a certainty
that three whites and probably many more
were killed, and that the Arabs under Rase
chid are now in full control of the Congo at
Stanley Falls. The followers of Raschid are
armed for the most part with improved
European rifles, and Rashid has for some
time past been a large purchaser of ammu-
nition, his eagerness in this respect haven ,mma Shrivel), you can tell him that you will
aroused some suspiciois among the selutem give proof positive to him that William Harper,
medical student of St. Thomas' Hospital, and
What has become of the European real- son of Dr. Harpqr, of Bear street,. Barnstaple,
dent who represents the authority of the ppisoniedonten:ygaosi with trryIruirns%rpvriocmesded.
Congo Free State at Stanley Falls is not In°
will give you proof when he comes to ourterms.
known, but it is feared he has perished. I will write you again in a few days.—Yours
The greatest anxiety is felt for the expedi- faithfully, W. D. MURRAY.
tion underCapt. Jacques and Capt. These letters, the witness said, were all
Jonbert which were sent out to suppress written at the same time. She wrote them
at Berkhampetead. Neill was then staying
at her mother's house there. He dictated
what she was to write, but gave no
THE LONDON POISONER,
llama flabbatini and Lou Harvey Tell
Interesting Stories,
Tmow AWAY THE CAPSULES.
The New York Son's special London cable
says; Thomas Neill, alias Thomas Neill
Creme, was brought up again to -day on the
charge of having murdered Matilda Clover
by Istawohnine poisoning. Miss Laura Sab-
batini, a yeung woman showily dressed in
black, with a pink hat, testified that she re-
sided in Chapel street, Berkhampstead. In
November, last year, she was in London and
Neill was introduced to her as " Dr.
Thomas Neill Cream." He said he was a
doctor in America, but was doing nothing
in this country. He saw her frequently
after the introduction and shortly
afterward proposed tmerriage to her, and
she accepted him. The letter produced was
the one in which he made his proposal. He
went to America on January 6th, of this
year, and said he was going to see about
his father's estate. Before he went, on
January 5th, he made a will in the witness'
favor, in which he described himself "Dr.
Neil Cream." The witness understood that
he had left her all his property. The docu-
anent produced was witnessed by her
sister.
When he went away he gave her his ad-
dress, "Dr. Cream, care of Daniel Cream,
quebec, Canada." He said he would be
staying at Blanchard's Hotel while he was
away. Neill came back at the beginning of
April and she saw him immediately upon
his return. He asked her to write several
letters, the first of which was produced, and
read as follows :
LONDON, May 2, 1892.
Coroner Wyatt, St. ThomasHospital, London:
DEAR you please give the enclosed
letter to the foreman ot the coroner's jury at
the inquest on Alice Marsh and Emma Shri-
ven, and oblige, yours respectfully, WILLIAM
HENRY MURRAY.
Mr. Gill then read the following letter,
which the witness said was the first one she
wrote to the foreman of the coroner's jury
in the case of Alice Marsh and Emma
Slarivell :
DEAR SIR,—I beg to inform you that one of
the operators has positive proof that Wiliam
Harper, medical student at Si. Thomas' Hos-
pital, son of Dr. Harper, Barnstaple, is respon-
sible for the death of Alice Marsh. and Emma
Shrivell, he having poisoned these girls with
strychnine. This letter you can have on paying
my bill for services to Judge Clark, 20 Cock-
spur street. Charing Cross, to whom I will give
proof on paying my bill. Yours respectively,
W. 11. MURRAY.
The third letter was dated London, May
4th. It was addressed to "George Clarke,
Esq., Detective," and was as follows:
DEAR SIR,—If Mr. Wyatt, coroner. calls on
on in regard to the murder of AliceMarsh and
the slave traders. It is said that the insur-
gent Arabs have sworn to exterminate both
of these expeditions as a lesson to the
whites not to interfere with the traffic. It
is known that at latest account a large 4I Louise Harris," said Mr. Gill, calling
force of Arabs had gone in search of Jon- , the next witness, and there came from
bert. 1 the back of the court a girl of 25, with
The news from the seat of the insurrec- a gypsy.browned skin and a profusion of
tion is of the most meagre kind, but it is dark hair smoothly gathered up under a hat
sufficient to cause the gravest anxiety to be trimmed with scarlet flowers. She was
felt for the anti -slavery expedition men- dressed in heavy finery, with a rough, blue
tioned, and also for the Catholic and Pro- coat, trimmed with beaver. Louise Harris
testant missions at Tanganyika", and the was none other than the Imo Harvey, who,
Hodister commercial expedition to the Neill is said to have himself believed, had
Lomami River, as well as for the Becurity been poisoned. She told an interest -
of a number of Free State officials on the ring etory, illustrating how Neill
upper Congo. Many Europeans at Zanzi- might have poisoned the other girls.
bar are inclined to charge the Portuguese She said that in October last she
with having stimulated the Arab rising, and was living at Townsend road, St.
supplied arms and ammunition to the Arabs John's Wood, with a young man named
in order to drive other European nations Charles Harvey. She was known by his
Out of Central Africa. name as Imo Harvey. At the Alhambra one
The Arabs in Zanzibar do not conceal night she was spoken to by a man. That
their satisfaction with the news, as there is num she now recognized as the prisoner.
deep irritation there on aecount of inter- That night she passed with him at the
ference with the slave trade, whichinterfer- Paris Hotel in Berwick street. He told her
ence has greatly injured business both at that he was a doctor at St. Thomas'
Zanzibar and Pemba. The clove trade is in Hospital, that he had recently come from
a most depressed condition, owing to the America and he asked her to go back with
lack of slave labor, and many of the planters him to America.
see nothing but ruin confronting them. In,
s. In the morning before he left you,"said
this condition of affairs the uprising of the Mr. Gill, "did he say anything about some
slave trading Arabs has the earnest spots on your forehead?"
sympathy of the slave -owning Arabs, and it 1 " Yes ; and he said I wanted some mech.
is believed that the insurrection has ' eine. He made an appointment to see me
ramifications extending. from Zanzibar to
Angola,
A Boy's Essay on Cats.
Cats have four legs and nine lives. Why
they are five legs short I do not kno at this
time. I guess I cast find out tho when I die.
I thinks cats wood be a gould deel funnyer
if they had nine legs and five lives, don't
you? Cats have tales whitch they rap
round. theme feat when they set down se as
to hold them together. I kno a bob-taled
cat is ashamed to set down in public a tall.
I guess it is afrade its feet will skatter.
There are Tom cats and Puss cat, whitch
the Tom cat is more massive and him a more
sounding voise, in the midnight darkly
when all elts is still. Cats cry like babies
sometime, but you can loot give
them parrygorick to muiet there
nervus sistems like you cart babies.
We have a baby at one house
that I guess has drinked about four quarts
of parrygorick and every nite it cries Oust
the saim for more. I gess that baby rouet
have the parrygorick habbit. Young eats
are very frisky and they will play all day
because they don't have no sleool to go to.
I gess I would like to be a young eat till I
was growed up to be a man. ate eat milk
and mice regular and the canary for deenra
Cats are very clean animals, but 1 never
thought it was very clean to spit on theme
hands and wash their faces in the manner
in which they do. I gess 1 have wrote all
I know about cats.
P. S.—Cats has lectrisity in their ba,clui
and they can blo up their tales as big as a
fli brush when they are frosints,—Detroit
Free Press.
Girls in Business..
Tne Newark Advertiser it curious to
know why girls, who spend their time sigh-
ing for a career, do not learn their father's
business. A man died in ilia city a few
years ago, it declares, leaving a reanufrictear-
ing business that paid $6,000 a year, bat
not one of his large family of daughters was
able to conduct it, and therefore it passed
to strangers, while the family went into
comparative poverty. When a real eatate
man died in Jersey City not long agr), Nip
daughter announced her sntentien of carry-
ing on the business ; she had assisted her
invalid father in his office and had -become
so familiar with the businesstliat else is new
conducting it successfully.
Mamma—Why Leib, Maud, that in yotar
letters to Miss Tattler you write only on
one tido of the paper ? 3Matid—I thought
that was always the rule when a letter was
for publication.
A tight fit—the delirium tremens.
The hay fever crop is monidly ripening.
en the embankment, near Charing Cross
station at 7.30 o'clock the same evening."
"Did he say anything about medicine ?"
" He said he would bring me some. He
gave me £3 before he left.
"Did you see Charles Harvey that day,
the man you were living with ?"
"Yes, sir, and I told him what I have
told you now. When he spoke of giving
me medicine he frightened me and I asked
Harvey to go with me to the embankment
that night. He went with me'but I left
him and met Neill. He said he had brought
my pills and he had got them made up in
the Westminster Bridge road. 1 asked him
whether I should take the pills then or later
with wine, and he said not until I had the
wine. We went to a public house, the
Northumberland, and I saw Harvey watch-
ing us. A worna,n came in with some roses
and I said I would like some. Neill said :
"Certainly, you shall have your wish," and
he bought some and gave them to me. He
then walked back with me toward the em-
bankment ; said he could not go to the
music hall that night, as he had to be at St.
Thomas' Hospital at 9 o'clock, and he
would be kept there until 10.30. He would
meet me outside the Oxford at 11, he said,
and would take me to the same hotel as we
went to the night before."
" On the embankment did he give you
some figs ?"
"Yes, in a bag, and said I was to eat
them when I had taken the pills. He
gave me then two long pills, and said:
*Don't bite them ; swallow them as they
are.'"
" Were you afraid to take them ?" asked
Mr. Gill.
"Yea," she explained, "1 threw them
away." It was in the lonely, half-darlmess
of the embankment that this scene
took place. The man gave her the two
"long pills" in her right hand. As she
took them she put her hand behind her
and passed them into her left. Then
she put her right hand into her mouth
and pretended to •swallow them, while
she threw the capsules away with her
left hand. He, it seems, was anxious to be
quite certain that she had swallowed the
capsules, for he made her show her hands.
She showed him her right hand as she
brought it safely away from her mouth, and
then, when she had dropped the things, she
showed him her empty left. Something had
put it into the girl's head to be afraid of
those two long pine.
Loo Harveyidentified the long pills
which she received as being similar to the
capsules found in Neill's possession when he
mit arrested. The man, she added, went
away when he thought she had swallowed
the desM
The prisoner was again rex:handed.
ASTRONOMICAL POINTERS.
Prof. Young's Lucid View of the Xagni-
tude of the Bun,
OPP...*••••••••
The Inclined Axes el the Flanets—Terrille
Speed of Stars—The Curbing of a aTota-
Me Racer—Planets' Defiance of AM the
Rules of Eugine.Driving—Tast Distance
Between the Sun and the NeareSt Star—
Interesting Scientific Notes.
A SCIENTIFIC, VIEW ON THD SUN.
The sun is 1,260,000 times larger than the
earth, though it is not a large star, com-
pared with others, for Sirius is equal in
bulk to 5,000 of our suns. The solar system
travels at the rate of 154,185,000 miles the
year around the Pleiades. The sun's aver-
age distance from the earth is 91,430,000
miles; the rotation on its axis occupies
about 25,38 dap. Most persons are now
aware that this great globe is not a solid
body like our earth. It is a groat chemical
laboratory, generating and sending forth
that light, and heat, and chemical force, on
which all life, animal and vegetable, depends.
Thus, under the analyzing scrutiny of modern
science it is found to be neither solid nor
fluid, but a vast globe of glowing gas, 865,-
000 miles in diameter. The sizes of which
scientists speak are in each instance capable
of actual measurement by the refined in-
struments that are now constructed. Now
this statement as to the size of the sun -
865,000 miles across—produces but a very
indefinite impression on the mind. Prof.
Young, an eminent astronomer, presents it
olearly in something like the following : In
order that the sun's diameter may be more
easily realized, imagine the sun to be a
hollow sphere, and the earth to be placed
in the centre. This would reduce the dis-
tance to about 432,000 miles. The interior
of this shell would of course appear like a
sky to the inhabitant of the earth. It
should next be remembered that the moon
is revolving round the earth at a distance
of 240,000 miles. It will appear, then, that
there is room not only for the moon'a orbit
within the hollow sun but also for another
moon 190,000 miles beyond her ! What a
ponderous globs of glowing gas! Not much
wonder, when its vertical rays shine on the
earth in summer—for the sun is more re-
mote from the earth in summer than in
winter, when it shines on the earth more
obliquely—that it causes the inhabitants of
Canada to swelter in 90' and more.
THE CAUSE OF THE SEASONS.
The season are due to the fact that the
earth, on her path around the sun, turns on
an inclined axis. If her axis were upright
there would be no seasons. On the other
hand, if its inclination were greater than it
is, there would be a more violent and ex-
treme difference than now exists between
summer and winter. It is found that the
axis of Venus is much more inclined than
that of the earth, consequently, the seasonal
extremes must be very great. Such extremes
of heat that must exist when the sun shines
on her dense atmosphere, and such an
intense cold as must prevail on those parts
that are hidden from the sun, can scarcely
be imagined. These and other considsra-
tions which have been amply weighed by
the most recent astronomers have led to the
conclusion that at present no reasonable
ground exists for the supposition that Venus
Is an inhabited globe.
STELLAR MOVEMENTS.
The first step towards the unravelment of
the tangled web of stellar movements was
taken when Sir John Herschel established
the reality, and indicated the direction of
the sun's journey through space. The sun
and his retinue of planets are advancing to-
wards a point, situated in the constellation
of Hercules, with such velocity that in one
year a distance of 154 millions of miles is
traversed, the rate being about four miles
per second. But this speed is small when
compared with that of a number of stars
now under constant spectroscopic observa-
tion for motion in the line of sight. These
speeds are found to be varying, either to or
from our system'from two to seventy miles
per second ! But the motion of stars across
the line of sight is also being determined. A
star, numbered 1,830 in Groombridge's
catalogue is found to be rushing through
space at the terrific rate of 200 miles per
second
A DISTINGUISHED RACER.
It was during the time when Sir Isaac
Newton was brooding over his grand theory
of universal gravitation, and embodying the
same in his immortal "Principia," that the
great comet of 1680 made its appearance.
Here was an opportunity, for testing New-
ton's theory by one of the most extreme
cases that could possibly occur. The com-
paratively steady and uniform motions of
the planetary bodies were with little
difficulty brought within the control of this
wondrous law, which Newton had pro-
claimed to be universal. But here was a
stranger, dashing in upon us, from a region
outside the supposed limits of our system,
scorning to travel by any known pathway,
cutting across all orthodox and establishd
orbits, rushing like some wildphantom that
had broken loose out of the abyss of space
close up to our central sun, steering short
round in a sharp and violent curve, with a
speed of one million two hundred thousand
miles an hour at the turning point, and
then going off, not recklessly at a tangent,
cm if uncontrolled by law, but in a path
exactly similar to that of its arrival, show-
ing for the first time to the watchful
astronomer, who had now found a key to
the hitherto sealed -up mystery, that even
this lightning -winged traveller was being
guided and curbed by a definite check-
rein never before suspected. This was an
illustration of the universal application of
Newton's theory.
THE OBLONG PATH 01' THE PLANETS.
It is interesting to know that the ellipse
is the figure which the earth and all the
other bodies which revolve around the
sun are over compelled to follow. The
engine driver of a railway train always has
to slacken speed when he is going round
a sharp curve. If he did not do so his
train would be very likely to run off the
line. The engine -driver is well aware
that the conditions of pace are dependent
on the curvature of his line. The planet
finds that it, too, must pay attention to
the curves ; but the extraordinary
point is that the planet sometimes
acts exactly in the opposite way to
the engine -driver. The planet puts on
its highest pace at one of the most
critical curves in the whole journey. There
are two specially sharp curves in the planet's
path. These aro the two extremities of the
ellipee which it follows. The cautious
engine -driver would creep around these
With equal care, and no doubt the planet
gots slowlyenough about that end of the i
ellipse which s farthest from the tun.
There its pace is slower than anywhere
else ; but from that moment onwards the
planet steadily applies itself to getting up
more and more speed. As it traverses the
comparatively straight portion of the celes-
tial road the pate is ever aocelerating until
the sharp curve near the sun ii being ap,
preached ; then the velocity gets more and
more alarming, until at last, in atter de-
fiance of all rules of engine•driving, the
planet rushes round one of the worst parts
of the orbit at the highest pea:able speed,
"PHE ABYSSES BETWEEN THE STARS
There is probably no fact in astronomy
more puzzling to the ordinary mind than the
vast distances which exist between our sun
and the nearest star, and between ono star
and its neighbor. To express these dis-
tances in miles is utterly futile, as no mind
can grasp the long line of numbers whioh
such a method involves. A new unit of
distance has consequently boon adopted --
that of speed measured by time, Now the
swiftest melesureable speed is that at
which light travels -185,000 miles a second.
This would amount to about six billions of
miles a year. • The light journey of one
year, therefore, is the measure to be adopted.
Applying this measure to the nearestfixed star
—Centauri—it will take four years and four
months to span the abyss which separates
us from this sun. And yet Centauri is some
ten billions of miles nearer to as than any
other member of the sidereal system ! Is
there any physical necessity for these vast
abysses of untenanted space? Yes. Every
star is a great magnet, attracting and being
attracted by its nearest neighbor. If our
man can hold in check his farthest planet,
Neptune, as it spins around its orbit, at a
distance of 2,800 millions of miles, how
great would be the mutual attraction of our
sun and another sun of equal size, at even
that distance ! Here, then, is a partial
explanation of the necessity for such vast
star separations. But why do they not
rush towards each other under the potent
influence of such attractions, even though
such immense distances intervene? Be-
cause of the centrifugal forces which carry
them along at the rate at Which they are
now travelling.
NOTES.
Sodium is a yellowish -white metallic sub-
stance, soft like wax and lighter than
water. When ignited it produces a yellow-
ish light. It is a metal so soft that you
cut it with a knife'and so light that it will
float on water, while it tactually takes fire the
moment it isnlropped on water. Common
salt is sodium united with a poisonous gas,
a few respirations of which would be fatal.
But this metal and this noxious gas, when
united, become the salt so requisite in the
preparation of food.
Light travels 185,000 miles per second.
Taking this as a gauge, the time required
for the iourney or light from the nearest of
the stars to the earth is over three years.
SHOOTING STARS AND METEORS.
If you November stars would see,:
From 12th to lith watching be;
In August, too, stars shine through heaven,
On nights between 9 and 11.
Pierce a pin-hole in a card, and through
it you can look at the sun without incon-
venience.
Explorers have never been able, so far,
to get within less than 400 miles of the
North Pole;
The whole course and tendency of nature,
so far as science now makes out, points
backward to a beginning and forward to an
end: The present order of things seems to
be bounded, both in the past and in the
future, by terminal catastrophes, which are
veiled in clouds as yet impenetrable.—
Prof. Young.
The solar planetary system has a radius
of 3,000 millions of miles. The nearest
" fixed " star is 7,000 times farther away
than Neptune, wbich is 2,800 millions of
miles from the sun. The diameter of Nep-
tune is 36,000 miles, and it takes about 165
of our years to perform one revolution
around the sun.
Sir John Herschel, after he had studied
the heavens from both hemispheres, and
penetrated star -depths before unfathomed,
said : " We find that the last and greatest
discoveries only land us on the confines of a
wider and more wonderfully diversified
view of the universe, and have now, as we
always shall have, to acknowledge ourselves
baffled and bowed down bythe infinitewhich
surrounds us on- every side."
The sunumer Girl crop.
Visitors to the Thousand Islands always
note the fact that a large majority of the
guests at the hotels seem to be young
women. A writer in the Syracuse Standard
discourses as follows on this subject :
"Girls predominate at the Thousand
Islands, and this fact is very striking to
every tourist who sails from Clayton to
Alexandria Bay. This is especially so at
Thousand Island Park, for at that delight-
ful resort last night there were more than a
thousand persons in the vicinity of the dock,
and hardly one hundred men could be found
in the crowd. They were not all summer
girls, however, for the true summer girl
never goes out in a skiff and does the rowing
herself. If she cannot get a summer young
man to go and propel the boat she does not
go at all. There are some young ladies at
the park who seem to take delight in boat-
ing and sailing, and one Syracuse young
lady handles a sailing skiff with all the
ability of an old salt.'"
Actresses' Marriages.
Many actresses, says a society paragraph-
ist, have of late years married into aris-
tocratic families. Miss Dolly Tester, who
sang in the chorus, married the Marquis of
Ailesbury '• Lord Euston allied himself to
Miss Kate Cooke ; Miss Nellie Learner mar-
ried the Hon. Hubert Dunscombe ; French
lady, well known on the London stage,
Mrss C. Dubois, married the Hon. Wynd-
ham Stanhope ; and Mies Lillie Ernest be-
came the Lady Mansel. It seems only
yesterday since Miss Belle Bilton's name
was regularly in the music -hall bills ; she
is now, of course, Countess Clancarty.
Boston Brown Bread.
Sift together one and one-half cups of rye
,xneal (not flour) and one and one-half cups
of Indian meal. Mix with the sifted meal
one small cup of molasses, a teaspoonful of
salt and an even teaspoonful of saleratus.
Stir with hot water into a smooth batter.
Pour it into a buttered tin boiler, cover
tightly and steam three hours in an iron
kettle. Be sure the water is boiling in the
kettle before the tin boiler is set into it.
When done, uncover the boiler and set it in
the oven fifteeu minutes.
Long•Tougued Brother Bob.
"How does your father seem to regard
my coming here ?" anximisly asked Adol-
phus of little Bobby while Miss Maud was
upstairs getting ready to present herself.
He don't care nothin' about it," replied
Bobby, carelessly. "So he has no objection,
eh ? But what did he say my little man ?"
"He said if Maud had a mind to make a
fool of herself, why let her."
A Far Sighted Employer,
Office Boy—Can you let me off this after-
noon My grandmother is dead. Ifecid of
Firm—Not very well ; but you can run out
two or three times and look at the score. —
Puck.
The average residue of ashes left after the
cremation of the human body amounts to
only 8 oz.
A inan down in Georgia has built a num
ber of houses which are occupied by widows
ree of rent.
Ethel Norton, an Englieh worn:1m has
bought from Rudyard Kiiling the right to
sing his poems as ballads in Lond n MBA°
halls.
THE BASRA'S
How the Governor or Mee Ate Humble Fier
Fed Him by the British Minister.
A correspondent furnishee an account of'
the humiliation of the Governor of Fez wile
is charged with stirring up the city against
the Minister. No one more enjoyed the
humiliation of their 'Basile in the garden of
the British Mission on July 6th than did
the inhabitants of Fez, who throned the
court -yard in great numbers to eee the
avaracioua and rapacious Governor humia
bated. The Basile appeared about 7 in the
morning, as a suppliant on foot ancl unat,
tended by any of his usual suite. He sat
down in the garden of the 1Vlisson on the
ground under a pomegranate tree for three
hours in the broiling sun and awaited the
Minister's pleasure. One by one the elavem
brought up from his palace mules laden with
the heavy bags of silver pardon money, to be
distributed to the poor of Fez, as Sir,
Charles ordered, to the poor whom Bushtaa
had so often robbed and outraged during.
his years of office. As each bag of his ill-
gotten gains was thrown out and rang on
the beautiful tiled flooring of the courtyard,1
the Basha heaved a heavy sigh. At 10"
o'clock in the morning Sir Charles came out
on the terrace and motioned to the Bashre
that he might approach. This he did, and
as he approach e ci the Minister he endeavored
to shake him by the hand. Sir Charles in-
dignantly waved him back and then read
him a lecture such as it has never been my
pleasure heretofore to hear, even in our
good old Anglo-Saxon tongue. As misdeed
after misdeed was dragged out from the
capacious closets of the British Minister's
memory, the Basha's form drooped and
bent forward until, at the conclusion of the
lecture he sank forward to the ground.
His Point of View.
Women havdthe reputation of never doing
things by halves. If any man has an idea
they do, let him join one of the fair sex on
a shopping tour and his mind will be at rest
forever on the subject.
The woman on shopping bent dons her
street apparel immediately after her break-
fast, "50 as to avoid the rush," and salliee
forth.
She generally wants some trifling thing
which might be bought at some of the
smaller shops uptown.
But no, she prefers to go downtown for
her goods. She reeks not how het and
crowded the " L " cars are, for ,the joys of
shopping are ahead of her.
She has no list of what she needs—or,
rather, what she wants—for, mark you,
there is a vast difference between her wants
and needs.
It is a popular belief that man born of
woman is of few days awl full of—muscle,
but for unlimited muscle and unbridled
energy your shopping woman is vastly any
man's superior.
The man who attends the fair shopper
generally does so in a half apologetic man.
nen probably for fear some woman may
think he is shopping on his own account.
Arrived at their destination, hie energetic
companion rushes madly ahead, now pans-
ing to look at some filmy handkerchiefs—.
"were 39, now 19 "—then rattling over a
bushel of scissors piled on a counter, while
he—superior being—stalks slowly behind,
scarcely noting anything.
The shopper finally fetches up at some
farmway counter, and as the clerk steps up
to attend the man companion seats himself
on one of those abominable perforated stools
common to shops frequented by women.
"Thanks, no," he answers the inquiring
clerk, and his significant glance at his shop-
ping friend satisfies that individual.
He's not shopping.
But meanwhile the woman is.
She shops all around that stool for three-
quarters of an hour, ancl the man gets tired
and swings on his perch. Occasionally there
is a smile on the woman's face BB she glances
at her waiting escort. He smiles back in it•
sickly way.
Now she finishes and starts away, andjoy
springs up in the waiting man's heart—ad
a swear -word in his mouth, for one of . the
brass tacks in the stool on which he sat has -
snagged his coat tail.
He is mad, but the dear little woman.
is so happy with her bargains that he
-
mutters only under his breath and is glad
to be once more out in the fresh .air and,
sunlight.
The amount of the woman's purchases is -
twenty -four cents, ancl the time consumed
over two hours, but that is the way women.
shop.
Perhaps it is becanse they do not " carry'
the purse " and like to prolong the joy of
spending money—like a child with a few.
sweets. • 12 7::.1C23
Nevertheless, they never do it by halveun
—N. Y. 1?ecorder.
The Fashionable Ball.
A late caprice of society is to open the
fashionable ball with a minuet, danced by a,.
party of ladies and gentlemen clad in fancy,
costumes of Louis XV. period. The toileta •
of the ladies ate picturesque in the extreme.
Pale blue skirts are edged with a garland
of roses, and quaint, old-time tacques with
full pink sleeves are worn. The polished
floors resound with the fascinating click of
high -heeled, blue kid slippers, and pointed i
fans of flowers are great helps to the fair
coquettes. Jewels sparkle in powdered
locks, and wee black crescents of court ,
plaster call attention to a bewitching dim-
ple, full, red lips, or a pair of bright eye& .
The gentlemen wear white satin embroid—
ered waistcoats, and carry a rapier and
three -cornered hat. This dancing the:
minuet in costume is an exceedingly pretty
fancy, and is enjoyed alike by the partici.,
pants and the onlookers.
liousccieaning Uses up a man.
The man of the house took to the sofa in
the sitting -room with a newspaper directly'
after brekfctst, while his wife went on with
the housecleaning.
She carried past him, in turn, seven chairs,
three tables, a desk, four footstools, all of
the pictures, a piano -stool, a bookcase and,
the rest of the furniture. Then she lugged
in a pair of steps and a big pail of water
and began to clean.
"Maria, do you want my assistance ?" he
asked, rising and folding his newspaper.
" Not just yet, dear, said Maria.
"Well, then, I think I'll leave you," said,
he, and he started for the office.
On the way down he told three men thal.
if there was anything that wore him to the
skin and bone it was that confounded.
housecleaning. Said he : "We are in the,
midst of it now, arid I tell you I'M about
used up."
Ethel—I am almost sure that the market,
reporter boards here. Helen—Why do you,
think so? Ethel—Why, the very brat.
thing in the report is " butter growing
stronger."
Count Caprivi tips the melee at two hun-
dred and sixteen pounds, so that he is about
as heavy as was Prince Bismarck after
taking the Schweninger cure. The physi-
csd resemblance between the two men is
remarkable.
The Archbishop of Canterbury imian
thusiastie horeeback rider. He takes dila
exercise to Offset a tendency to corpulency,
and wears his ecclesiastical attire when so
engaged.