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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1899-3-30, Page 2,ne ..),4?aaaw3i,e- ft Love and Ware**. '65f A STORY. OF SLAVeRv DAYS. By MARY J. BOLMES. natneenneeeteenneenengeeneteanneeeeteeetee • CHAPTER XXL—Continiied. He said this last playtutly, using his do. nicknanati of "Stub," beeause, he saw by die dim light burning oa the table the bitter look of anguisie upon lw ro.other's face, and he would fain remove it, At the mention of the carne whith her more stalwart sons had given to her batty, the widow's chi4 quivered, and her rough hand. emoothen the thin, light hair, but she did not speak, and Isaac went an; "Then, too, I want to live till the war is over. I want to hear the joyful shouts, and see the bonfires they will kdle in the streets. There's a big box in the barn. I hid it there the morning I went away, a-nd I said when the peat% cantles we can burn that box, and mother will look out from the window, and the charcb, bells will ring, and there'll be such rejoicings, Now I 'most. know I shan't be here to see it. But, mother, you.% burn the box—you and Susan, with Eh and John—.and you'll think of me, who did what I could to bring the peace." There was a ilhokbag sound like the swallowing of a great sob, and that was all the answer the widow made; only her hands moved faster through the threads of light brown hair, and. her rigid, form sat up straighter, more rigid than ever. She was suffering the fiercest pangs she would ever know, for she was giving Isaac up. She was coming to the knowledge that he was really going from hex— that. Jimmie Carlton was right, and Isaac was not long for this world. When at last ber mind reached that point, the tensiox . of nerve gave way for a little, and her hot tears poured over the white face she kissed. so ten- derly. The moon was looking in at the low west window ere the widow went back to her own bed, and 'nen°, nestling down among his pillows, fell away to sleep, dreaming of the bonfire in the street, where the hidden box was burned, and dreaming too, of that oth- er world which lies so near this that he -could almost see the loving hands stretched. out to welcome him. After that night the widow's raouth /Mut together more firmly- than ever, and the frown between her eyse was more marked and decided, while her raanner to all save Isaac and Annie • Graham was sharper, and crisper than before. • When Bit's letter came tell- ing of her promotion and lauding Jim - rale Carleton, whose generous net was a by -word in the company, her face re- laxed a little, and she said to Annie Graham: "The Lord is good. to my •two oldest boys, but if he'd give me Isaac I wouldn't care for all the titles Ln Christendom." As the warm weather came on, Isaac did not get up any more to sit by, the open door, but lay all day on his bed, • sometimes sleeping, sometimes think- ing, and sometimes listening while Annie read to !aim from the Bible. Isaac was very fond of Annie. She had been George Graham's wife, and he evinced so much desire to have her constantly with him that at last she stayed altogether with Mrs. Sim.ms, only going occasionally to the Mather Mansion, where they missed her so much. Rose was nothing without her, and had at first opposed her going to the Widow Simms. "If help was needed," she said, "she would hire some one, for Annie must not tire herself out just as she was beginning to grow plump and beauti- ful again." But when Isaac said to her: "Please • let Mrs. Graham come; it will not be long she'll have to stay, and she is so full of hope and faith that it makes me more willing to die and to go away alone aeross the Jordan," she withdrew her opposition, and Annie was free to go and. come as she liked. It suited Annie to get away from the Mather Mansion just then, for she could not help feeling that there was a purpose in Mrs. Carleton's question- ing her a her early history, and the hailed any excuse which removed her from the scrutiny with which, since that conversation touching her early home and maiden name Mrs. Carleton had evidently regarded her. Jimmie had written to her once, inclosing the unsealea note in a letter to Rose, and Annie's cheeks had been all ablaze as she read. it, for she knew the mother's eyes were fastened upon her. It was nothing but a simple acknowledgment of sortie article Annie had made and sent to him in a box filled for all three of the soldiers, Will Mather, Tom and Jimmie. There was also mention made of Anitie's kindly mes- • sage, to the intent that she did think he was right in giving the office to Bit, and a wish expressed. • that she would write to hira. "You don't know how much good letters from home do sueh scamps as • we privates are, or how we need some- thing from the civilized world to keep we from turning heathens." Tom, too, had sent thanks to Amaie Graha-m for the needle -book made for • him, but be did not write to her, • 'Moue every letter bad in it more or , less of "Mrs. Graham," and Mrs. Carle- • ton, while saying to herself: "Both my boys have fallen under the spell," • felt her pride graduelly giving way and her heart growing warmer toward • the woman whom she missed so tooth during the weeks spent at 'settees bedside. They were not many, for when the dry days of August came on, and the grass withered by the door, and the flowers drooped for want of rain, and the surr rose each morning redder, hot- ter, than On the previous clay, the sink boy began to fail rapidly, and one tight, just as the wind was beginning • to Wove from the west, where a bank of dark friends evaa lying, he whispered to Annie: "Call mother and Susan, for I know am going now." The widow wan in the back yard putting out the barrels and tubs to oatch the rain if it eame, for the well and the cistern were nearly dry, just as her dim eyes yearn wben a few initiates after the bent over her boy, and arm the eitange corning so rapid- ly. She eduld not weep, and Susan% •men atineyed her. "'Twos like them Ittigteleeee to go into hysteric% and make a foe," she thought, with a kind of bitter seem for- her daughter- in-law, who loved Newt as a brother, and wept that he was leaving them. Perhaps the dying by detected the feeling, for he said, feebly: • "Go out, Susan and Mrs, Graham both. I want to be alone with moth- er a rainate." Then when they were alone, he said: "I am dying, mother, and 1 kuow you won't be augry what I say. I want yon to be kind to Snean, end pet her some and love her for John's sake, She is a good girl, and Mr. Carleton's good too, the one they Oall Jimmie, I mean. Don't say harsh tbings of hien because he was ones a rebel. Don't speak against him to Mrs. Grabam. Maybe she will like him sometime, and if so, beep lime mother, Instead of hindering in" Jimmie Carleton, on his lone picket- vvatca that night on the banks of the Potomac, and thinking, alas! more of a blaon-robed figure, with britida of Pale -brown hair, than of a lurking foe, little dreamed a the good. word spoken for hira by the dying boy, whose eyea tamed lovingly to Annie when the came back to him, and held his alaramy hen& "It is not dark; it is not head; 1 am not afraid, for the Saviour is with me," he kept repeating, and then he sent messages to his absent brothers—to Captain Tom Carleton, who had been so kind to him in prison, and to Jim - Elie, too, and all the boys who had been with him in battle; and then, just as the wind began to roar down the chimney, and the refreshing rain to beat against the windows, Isaaes spirit went out into the great unknown expanse beyond this life, and only the pale, emaciated body was left in the humble room, where the Lone women stood looking upon the boyish face, which seemed so young in death. The -widow •uttered no 'towed when she knew he was dead, and it was ber hand which dre-w the covering decent- ly about him, and then picked up from the floor a loose feather, which had •dropped from the worn pillow. Susan must speak to their next- door neighbors, she said, and ask them to care for the body. Then, when the men came in, she remembered at open window in the back chamber where the rain must be driving in, and stole up there on the pretence of shutting it; but she did not return till the- men were gone, and Isaac was lying on the calico -covered lounge with a look of perfect peace upon his face, and the derap night air blowing softly across his light hair. Kneeling at. his side, and laying her bard cheek •against the icy face of • her last -born, the mother gave vent to her grief in her own, peculiar way. There were no tears, or sobs; but lov- ing, tender, cooing words whispered over the boy, as if he had. been a (th- ing baby, instead oe a soldier dead. And yet the fact that it was a soldier, lying there before her, was never lost sight of, and the bitter part of the woman's nature was stirred to its very depths as she remembered what had brought her boy to this. It was the war. And. fierce were the mental denunciations against those who had stirred up the strife, while with the bitterness came pitying thoughts of the poor boys who died in the lonely hospitals, or on the battlefields; and with her cheek still resting against the pale, clammy one, a,nd her fingers threading the light hair, Gee widow vowed that all she was, aad all she had, should henceforth be given to the war. She would work for the soldiers, give to the soldiers, deny her- self food and raiment for the soldiers; aye, even die for thein, if need be, and whispering the vow into her dead boy's ear she left him there alone, just as the early summer dawn was breaking. And svhea, next morning her friends came in to see her they found her sitting by the body, and working up- on, the shirt she had a few days be- fore taken from the del society Wrath(' for some poor wretch. She should not wear mourning, she said. Site had Other uses for her mon- ey; and so the leghenn of many years date with the old faded green veil, followed Isaac Shims to the grave, and the widow's face was still and stony, as if out from solid marble. They made him a great funeral, too, though not so gieat as George Gra- ham's had been; for Isaac was not the second nor the third, nor the fourth soldier buried in Rockland's churchyard. But he was Isaac Simms —" Little Ike,"—" Stub," — whoro ev- erybody liked, and so the firemen came out to do Wm honor, and the Rockland Guards, azul the oompany of young lads -who were beginning to drill, and the boys from. the *academy, and (Lose Mather evas chief directress, and her carriage (tarried the widow, and Susan, and Annie, and herself up to the newly -made grave, where they left the boy who onoe had sawed wood for the little lady now Pseing him snob boner. The war was a great leveler of rook, bringlog together in one common cause the high and the low the rich and poor, and in no one was Ili% more Strikingly seen than in (he case of Rose )bfather, who utterly forgetful of the days when, as Rose Carleton, of Boston, she would scarcely have deign- ed to notice each aa tbe 'Widow Simms, now sought in so many ways to com- fort the stricken woman, going every day to her humble home, and onc.e coaxing her to (mend a day at the Ma- ther mansion, together with Susan, whom Rose secretly thought a little insipid and den. Susan's husband was alive, and in the full flush of prosper- ity ; so Sullen ilia not need sympathy but the widow did, and Rose got her up to the "Great !louse," as the wi- dow called it, and ordered a most el- aborate dinner, with soups and fish and roasts ard salads, prepared with oil, whien turned, the widow's sl °mann, and ices and chocolate, and Charlotte - rusts, end nuts arid fruit, and eorfee served in (Hips the size of an axiom, the widow thonght, as very red in the face and perspiring at every pare, she went through the (heedful dinner whicb lasted nearly tbree hours, and Ieft tier at its condusion, "weak es Water, and sweatite like rain' as she whispered to Annie, who folk the tired woman for it few moments into her own• room, and listened patiently to het connurnie eport tbe great dinner TTIE EXETER TIMES which had,so nearly been the death of her. Stoma on the oonteery, enjoyed it. it was leer firet glimpse of life aamoog the very wealthy, and while her moth - was wondering "how Annie eould Maud sucn doin's every day, and eepecially that lanninable eciute and still wus salut," Susan was thinking how she sliould like o live in just such style, and wondering if, when John citme home with his wages all saved, she wont not set up housekeeP- ing somewhat on the Mather "tiet.' At least she would. have , Chose little coffees after dinner; theugh she doubted Joha's willingness to sit quiet - le Until the ooffee was reached. It was a long day to the widow, and the happiest part of it was the going hoxne by the cemetery, where she stop- ped at Isaac's grave, and. bending over the turf, murmured her tender words of love and sorrow for tne boy tele) slept beneath. • There was a plan forming fnthe widow's mind,and it came out at last to Annie, who was visiting her one day. The hospitals were full to oiterflowe lug, and the cry all along the lines was for more help to care for the siek andd3ring/ and the widow Was going as nurse, either in the hospital or in tee field. She would prefer the lat- ter, she said, "for only folks with pluele could stand it there,' And Aienie encouraged her to go, and even talked of going too, bat the first suggestion of the plan brought such a storm of opposition hone Rose, that for a little time longer Annie yielded, resolving, however, that ere long the would break away and take her place where she felt that she could do more good than she was dcang in Rockland. • CHAPTER a nedV jeiouthaw lemmc aso wase0! wi n3 ago No, a tsh eeoamrimn eg' home for a few weeks was to be her escort to Washington. During the summer alnarmie had seen a good deal of hard service. He had been in no general battle, but had taken part in several skirmishes and raids, in one of whith lie received a severe flesh wound in his arm, which, together with a sprained ankle, confined lam for a -time to the hospital, and finally procured for bine a furlough of three or our weeks. Rose was delighted, and this time the Federal Flag was actually floating from the cupola of the Ma- ther mansion in honor of Jimmie's re- turn; but there was no crowd at the depot to welcome him. The custom was worn •out, and only the Mather carriage was waiting for Jimmie whose right arm was in a sling, and whose faze looked pale and thin, from Inc recent confinernent in hospital. Al- together he was very interesting m his character as a wounded soldier, Rose thought, as she made an impet- very glad to see hen—glad, too, to him home again. And Jimmie was him with her vehement joy at having nati pert ruskbisraaotthhe rim—,bnueta rhl iys setyreasn gic.1 ienygt constantly watcbing the door, • and wandering down the hale—as if in quest of some one who did not come. During the weary days he had passed in the Georgetown Hospital, Annie Graham's face had been constantly with him, and as he watohed the tall, wiry figure of the nurse, who always wore a sun -bonnet and had a pin be- tween her teeth, he kept wishing that it was Annie, and even worked himself into a passion egainet his sis- ter Rose, who, in one of her letters, had spoken of Annie's proposal to offer herself as nurse, and her violent op- position to the. plan. • " If Rose had minded her business Annie _might possibly have been in this very ward, instead of that old maid from Massaohusetts, who looks for ell the world like those awful good wom- en in Bonen, who don't wear hoops, and who distribute tracts on Sunday in the vicinity of Cornbill, Why can't a woman look decent and distribute araets, too ? Annie, in her blaok dress, with her hair done up somehow, would do more good to us poor invents than forty strong-minded females in paste- board bonnets. with an everlasting pia between their teeth." Thus Jimmie fretted about Rase, and the Massachusetts woman, who, in Spite of leer big pin and paste -board bonn.et, brought him many a nice dish of tea or bowl of soup, until the order came for him to go home, when with an alacrity which almost belied the languor and weakness he had com- plained of so bitterly, he packed his valise and started again for Rockland. This time he wore the " army blue ;" but the suit whic.h at first had been so fresh and cleaned, was soiled antj worn, and hateful to the factiaious young Mall, whe only endured it because he fancied it .might in some way cioneruend him to Annie Graham. Rose had writ- ten that she worshiped the very 'mime of a soldier, especially if he were a poor private, her sympathies being spe- cially enlisted for that class of peo- • ple. And nimmie was a poor private, and a wounded one at that, with his arm in, a sling, and a cane in his hand and his curly hair out short, and his float all wrinkled and soiled, and his knapsack on his back; and he was go- ing home to Aonie, evho surely would welcome him now, and hold his hand a moment, and poesibly dress his wound. That would be delightful; and ,fimmie's blood went tingling through his veins as he. jolt in fano/ the soft touch of Armens fingers upon his flesh, and saw her bead crowned with 1b.e pale -brown hair, bending over him. He felt a little disappointment That she was not ret the depot to meet him, while his rhagrin inereased at the tar- diness of her appearance after his ar- rival home, but die was ooming at htst, and jiminie's guide ear caught the rustle of her garments as she came down the stairs and into the room, smiling and blushing, as she took his offered hand, and begged him not to rise for her. (To 13e Continued.) THE CHEERFUL IDIOT. I bate been looking at pictures to- day, staid the artistin boarder, until ray neck is dead tired. • ltubber-tired, so to speak, said the Cheerful Idiot. • SOCIETY' DETAILS, Did yeti have a, good time at Vern Newdrishie reoeption, Eleanor / Delightful Mr. Newaasli Was thee and he told Me just how Much every. thing cost, MIGHTIER EAR THAN MEN, INSECTS ROUT WHOLE REO-IIIIENTS OF MODERN ARMIES. • Setf,e 1111111S. 20.1141 heYliNtIlie court, stew .4 Vtertiit4:::41:.11.1.111;:ii,t14:0.11filx:;:(9ZZ:Irkiall 1:110 faitare of Ole UguuUaeXpedit,1011, IV WW1 returned to Cape Too 0 jaded and disheartened lenne weeks ago, hrinns to mind the at significante of something generally regarded as nil. The troops who vere to penetrate to Ole heaet of Liganatiland started out with the hest, equipments, of the time; thee returned withoat •the loss of it man- Yet the officers united in naina- taining that until. colder weather the quest was hopeless. They stood ainnati- ed before the inroade of the tsetse fie, YIiliehes:toi redbtnilledeSnr ot thena011 eces":" inhabitanas of all but armee coun- tries are familiar in some form or 00a - at with the genus fly. lndia, Arabia, Asia Minor and the Western States 1°oldiAcanilleysuff rie s hefro arvefemr ages and (1° per - INROADS Olt"lellESE PESTS. The ignorant dweller in the town, under guise a mosquito, house fly or horse fly, is acquainted with tnem• Yet few realize that in many instances at- t3areolevsfrozazwernas of the insects have iedfata that flme.dhelbeefaorreae letha ehraa." ast etdneeattoiLgetahteo eBlitaiagaio hltleilens were the auriouncement that a certain tiny flY had been ravaging the contmen.t of America. The Hessian fly, as the entomologist has denominated the in- sect, is a very tiny bit, the female, the larger of the two, being scarcely an eighth of an inch in length. Yet, lay- ing its microsoople eggs in the young shoots and roots of barley, wheat and rye, it devastated. thousands of miles of grain fields in the 'United States and Canada. Its appearnce in Eng- land was the signal for a most system-, atio crusade in all quarters, Parliament taxing the lead in a manner so prompt thar in less than a year the fly had • disappeared. The House Committee, presided over by Mr. Charles Gray, a specialist in the line, exercised the mast stringent precautions, dressing • the fields over the four kingdoms, witla ex- pensive manures, lime, soot and salt. A hundred thousand laborers devot- ed an entire summer to the extermin- ation of insects, who, in their aggte- gate could have weighed little more than one ton. Yet millions of dollars' worth of grai,n, not only for that year, but for many to come, was severe.. Dieting the last Rueso-Turkish War a regiment of Cossack infantry, march- ing to attack an outpost near Eliza- bathpol, was suddenly enveloped by a cloud of locusts. After vainly trying every possible method of extermination from using their rifles flail fashion to volley firing, the soldier's were forced to • SCATTER IN ALL 'DIRECTIONS !a search of the edge of the enemy's eine of march. Once this was attained the regiment again formed up and pro- ceeded on its way, /eighty diverted by filtisea. unique experience, but fully con- vinced of the utter fanny of endeav- oring to combat so huge a cloud or • A short time since, a Norwegian 'sail- ing bark put into Rio jameiro for med- l:garbiieeaiedx,p, :rfiteenroeumdTehrgeocinagptataamorstephoortr: a ied that while lying almost becalmed some three days' Etail off that port the vessel had gradually drifted into ci MASS OF FLOATING SEAWEED, The characteristic features of WillOh fleemed to betoken that it had origin- ally grown upon a sea beaoh, whenee it had probably been torn away by it huge tidal 'wave or tropical storm. The moment the vessel's prow touch- ed the floating mass a huge number of half-starved flies, which in some in- explicable way had settled upon the weed, invested the ship as with it cloud and quickly settling upon the bare arms, legs and faces of the crew bit them again and again, until the poor fellows almost lost their reason. In vain they brushed down the tiny pests by i,he score; a thousand fresh assail- ants seemed to take the place of every one killed, and hi their despair, two of the poor weetehes jumped overboard and were immediately seized by sharks. The other members of the ship's com- pany held a hurried council of war, the result of whirl was that half a dozen buckets were brought on • deck. hur- riedlt- filler' with owns from the cook's galley, and piledwith darap wood. Then for six long hours, evbile the, calm lasted, the crew were forced to sraoth- er themselves with wood smoke In or- der to escape the attack of their ac- tive little assailants. The celebrated tsetse fly, •althotigh the greatest enemy of • the African pioneer, does not attack him personel- ly. It is the curious property of this deadly little insect that while its bite has ao greater effect upon man than that of the ordinary gnat, it will nev- ertheless kill off the best -conditioned horse, ox or dog, in the course of a few clays. It is a einem% fact, that, although fatal to horses and oxen the tsetee bite has absolutely no effect upon buffalo and zebra, stickling calves and (he contrnou goat. Upon horses arid oxen, however, the previa acts with a mild- ly lingering carton The eirst symp- toms do not occur until, sonic days af- ter the actual bite, when the eyes cowl nose begin to run ite though in !be throes of an influenee cold. Next the coat gets rough, the jaw swells and the anitnel • GRADUALLY 'WASTES &WAY, Its end being considerable expedited should rainy weathee set In. Onetime and still more rumen scourge et tee well known loeuse whore, ravages are by eo r000ns eraifin ed to euritinexic. Indeed, bidet, Arabia, deice Mum, awl Egypt have all Stiffer - td in turn, very touch in the Solna way that eur Yankee cousins did during the seventies, in tneir far 'Western States. In 1874 the States of Wpm - inn Dakota and elotttaini alone sa' ferrite damage to the amount 154 e50,000,- 000, but eveu this terrible devastelien was ontweighed by the raveg" °mu - minted by loeuet swarms in the defend, of Cyprue. ' Here, ante& the comparatively rettent introduetion of the system of pit traps, it really seemed as though the whole vegetation of the islaucl was doomed to extinction Happily the plegue has now been more seientineally dealt with by the destruction of THS' INSECTS' EGOS. Some 02 tons of whittle representing as many as 50,000,000,000 eggs, have heee destroyed in a, single season. Among other desert:lc-live flies may be mentioned the warble fly, tvhich lays its eggs in the hides of cows and bullocks, and, by ruining the skim spoiling the quality of the milk, and Often killing, the boor animals from blood poisoning, is estimated Lo annu- ally do between e$6,000,000 and 47,000,- 000 worth of damage le the home cat- tle trade; tiae American chinch bug, which in jubilee year alone destroy- ed 79,000,000 busbels of corn, 29,000;000 bushels 5f wheat and 19,000,000 bushels a nate in the nine Southern Slates borcleting the Missouri and Mississippi and the deadly Colorado beetle, the importation of whieh, even for mu- seum pueposes, is strictly forbidden, lest it should devastate our own lands like it has those of the state from which it takes its name. GIRLS OF PORTO RICO. Travellers who come down here are both amused and surprised at the vast amount of smoking indulged in by the native WOMell, says a letter from San Juan, Porto Rico. Those of high stand- ing socially are not addicted to the habit, but among the country women the practice is almost universal. Aud the fair ones do not confine themselves exclusively to cigarettes either. I3ig black cigars in the mouths of really very pretty young girls are a conamon sight in the country dieiricts. Cigar- ettes are really more a luxury because the paper in which they are roiled has to be bought, but the all -tobacco cigars can be raised and rolled by any one willing to take the trouble, • • Not long ago the writer, then but recently arrived, rode into the coun- try one fine day and stopped at a native shack on the military road, near Caguas", to ask for a drink of water. Four mulling women greeted him at the door. One of them As •perhaps 30 year's of age, and had it baby in, her arms. The other three were not more than 15, although they had the physical development of, our girls much older. They . were all dark of skin, but with that shining straight black hair which is so often seen in the mulatto ha whom is combined the Spanish with the negro. Having given him water, the Porto Ricans invited the stranger into their home, and then began the customary linguistic wrestling bout, in which the simplest ideas were exchanged, only af- ter the most violent mental, facial, and digital. effort. During the conversation so called by courtesy—the woman with the baby, becams so excited that she lit a cigar which lay on the table and began puffing at it furiously to calm her nerves. The visitor was also smok- ing, and although somewhat surprised at his hostess's action, he felt it to be his duty to offer cigars to the other members of the party. The three young girls accepted Eke offer with pretty little waves of the hand and just as though it was the most natur- al thing in the world. They reached for a box of matches, which, by the wan, are the most plentiful things on the island, there being three match fac- tories in successful operation—and lit up with a Most nonchalant air. They smoked with much gusto, inhaling the smoke, like the ordinctry cigarette smoker. And how they did spit I It may not be a thing to boast of, but the Porto Rican woman can spit with all • the power and precision •of the most inveterate male tobacco chewer that ever lived. It is really amazing. Sad to relate, all their skill is wastea. The spittoon is unknown, and the genius which would enable them to hit it around corners and between the rungs of chains is exhaustea in the futile drawing •of fancy figures upon the floor. So with this Caguas quartet. They were, of course, unconscious that their conduct might provoke criticistn. They had been doing thie almost since they wire lia.bies, and there was nothing indecorous to them about it. When their visitor left them they gathered in the doorway to see him off, and the last he saw of them they were still smoking and spitting and smiling. Certainly, tobacco does not seem to hurt these people. They are as healthy and as buxom a lot of girls as a man would care to meet. 'Chair spirits ate high, though their lot in this country, tvoulcl be an ti far from a happy one A. WOMAN'S inITEER GARDEN. Mrs. Fey, of Brookdale, Chicago, has the most wonderful*garden menagerie— or the smallest farm It the country. Her cottage stands on an ordinary city lot, only 25 by 125 feet. At present her menagerie consists of 1 horse, 246 ohickens, 15 hens, 1 roos- ter, 2 rabbits, 1 goat, I. kid, 25 duck- lings, 3 goslings 1 dog, 3 turkeys, 1 cahary bird, cat:1 kitten, 2 doves and 8 duinea chieks. Of tourse, the barn in which the hotee is kept is small, and the goat has to be lifted ,in and out of Ws pen, as it is it tight fit for him, The rooster, too, being ot a roving disposition, has to be tied un and event the cat mast be tethered to keep her from feeding on the young chicke. The dog i$ kept a prieotter, as he is filled with a desir5 to fight the cal, and there is not room in eirs, Foy's garden for any fights. nut it floppier healtbecr collection of fowls and 8.31! 111:38 ennnot be found, 001 a prettier, el ea n er garden • DOMINION PARLIAMENT. What the Legislators of the Cotintry are Doing al Ottawa. It AIL WAY FAlt-iflINCr'S. ofTRhatiitaitee:lusieatirdeltXr:itialasg, justMd ijeatesIt:31.1-. ed to Parliament, shows (hie on the 30th seem), 1898, there were 16,870 miles of completed railway in Canada, an inerease of 183 miles during the yeanI sridlni3ease.icida'shethiiisaitcht!uti'ia ear;i2t'a4148o1C0 1,11;cte Canadian railway- compitnies amount - 10 $941,2e7,000, an incentee $.19,- 439,800. The gross earnings were $59,- 715,100, an lacrease of $1715,661,830; worleing e.epenses, e139,137,550, an Jil- OreaSe Of $3,968,880 comPareti wiiit the P141', ious year, leaving theme. earnings §20,577,550, en increase of $3,892,940, The number of passengera carried was 18,- 440,000, an inerease of 2,272,710. Freight - traffic amounted to 28,785,900 ions, an iatficliziaisese toufn3b,?5,7 L15.14,i0bus.ns.svts.60Th,68581,12.1.m8io,braeu increase of 4,977,432. A,coident retinue saig( toaLgyvea, eat,)aessed gers were kille d Up to date the Government of Can- ada has epent,on railwity$, on nee oil •account, $123,55.1,000, •and for railevite subsidies 017,619 220, a total of $141,- 170,220. Since Confederation there has been spent in maintenance and opera- tion of Government rctilways 73,029,- 630, the revenue derived &Qin • them being $64,510,650. The net loss on -their operation has been $8,518,980. •LOSS ON GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS During the paS1 year the net loss on the operation of the Government rail- ways, lntereolonial and lerinee Edward island, was $263,400, including §70,000 tent paid for the exteasion of the I. C. It to Montreal, to wheel point it has been running since March 1st. The gives earnings were '03,313,847, an in- orease •of $252,7,72 •over the •previous year, and. the working expenses 0,- 577,248, an increase of e399,979. During he year there was also spent on the I. C. R. and cherged to capital account the sum of 252,756. CAN'AL STATISTICS. • Canal statistic.s for ths season of na- vigation of 1897 show the revenue from eons to have beenn346,758, a decrease of $3,302. The chief decrease was $6,- 432 on the Welland, due to a reduction of 10 cents a ton on tolls on certain agricultural products. The Ottawa cana1 revenue increased .$3,525, and the Rideau canal rein -nue increased $1,162, The total capital expenditure on canals has been 072,504,400; last fiscal year the expenditure Was 4!,207,249 INCREASED REPRESENTATION. -Mr. McInnes is anxious to see the representation of British Columbia/ in- creased. He aide desires the Domin- ion census to be taken in 1900, and. every ten years thereafter. r He will move to memorialize the Imperial Grovernment to grant the necessary powers to make these changes. Petitions are coming in from • tend County Councils of Ontario, asking for relief in the maintenance of poor and infirm in county gaols/ and to reduce the fees of constables. ' The Minister of Militia received a deputation representing the Town Council of Gananoque, consisiing of I Mayor Carroll and Alderman Turner, t who strongly urged. the, erection of a drill -shed in the town. The deputa- tion was accumpanied by( Messrs. Brit - too and Taylor, M.P.'s. Mr. E. F. Clarke will ask what steps have been taken fora proper Canadian mineral exhibit at the Greeter Britain Exhibition, to be held in London, Eng- land, this year. / LAW AGAINST GAMBLING. A petition, signed by influential res- idents of Montreal, was presented, set- ting forth that tbe law against gambl- ing and lotteries; and the • keeping of gaming -houses, is wholly inedequate to suppress the evil, which has develop- ed in iliant..real and the Province of Quebec, to an alarming extent, and praying that steps be taken to remedy this defect in the statute. Messrs. Wm, Christie, j. K. Osborne, and G. II. Bertram, MP., of Toronto; A. Lumsden, M.E'.P., and J. W. McRae, Ottawa; and Senator Forget, of Mont- real, are proposed incorporators ef the Canadian Inland Transportation Com- pany, which is seeking a charter from Parliament. . BAELWAYS FOR ALGOMA,. Two 'important railway se -homes in connection with the development of the Algoma mining district has been brought to Um attention of the Hon, A. G. Blair, 'Minister of Railways and Canals, by n delegation, reimposed of Messrs. Byron W. Goodsell, of Chicago; Byron G. Coryell, of Cheroning, Mani and Mr. John McKay, of. Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. They represent the Bruce Mines and Algoma Railway Company, the Worthington earl Onaping Railway Company, and the Rock Lake Mining Company, all of Algoma The rail- way company is applying to the Ontario Government Air a eharter to build a road. from Bruce Mines to Algoma, a distance of 50 miles. Beg- lish eitpitalists recently got poesession of the copper mines, and net! breparing to put in 'Itviebinery lo take out, Itirge (pante iee of eopper. The railway company want a bonus of $3,200 a mile for the first len miles of the truce Mines roan e ather nil( way acheme is bbs L of the Worthington and Onapieg y Company, Ili co rpo ra Lion is }ming sought at Toronto. Mr. H, W. Evert - den, n 11 Capttal[81, 110W reside trig near Sault Ste. Marie, and elee McKay represent tbe Nerorthington 'Company. The rOute 18 from 'Worth- ington, on the Algoma 'Ilraneh of the .P.R., north to Yerrailion valley, it distance of 6) miles. The line will be a continuation of the leranitoulin end North Shore line, The new be will run thernigh it rich xlieleel and temper distriet, end will paste near Ilte McCoixe nen, Sultana, Inez, and Trilla Belt copper mines through the tevack tow tielifp nickel /eve, fa the placer getti ininitig dietrint of 'Vermilion eel - POISONING IS A FINE ART. SILENT. AND NAND_X, AS WELL AS SAFE AND CERTAIN. 1.410 of Gelato iauIua13 On' by 'Cats ltictiaa* -. 44flullifl51i l'aiitraen il as 11 misluesi 11114 5411411ePi Porsuca Ail as /1 Pltasurc/ The gentle artnr. poieoning ueetue travel in eyeles, tae pagee of Waterer being etrewm with pertods likii tne pre- eent in which this couveniem method or disposieg of one's friends and Ce- IrLelt:s%o'e: h.c:01.1s. btei.(kio6,rnontfteduiulyrs:,pidliteiTiica. bha ample and emulation, the narrtttiou of one surcessful venture in this tires suggesting a like °purse to others un- til a number of deteelleile, followea by a summary punishment, tints as a (15 (3)113 n la (be records cif poisoning shine* forth one John Repeat, of Venice, who looked at the matter in it °cool busi- ness -like light that was almost humor- ous in a certain •grim fashion. He calmly offered the famous V ene tia a Commit of Ten a selection of poison, and declared himself ready to remove. any peeson ii bo they deemed objec, lionable. Ile calmly stated his terms, wheel for the first suoceesful ease were to be a pension of 1,501) ducats a year. The "patriotic deer" was az- oePted, and he was told to experimeot on the .Emperor Maximilian, John, who had evidently reduced polsoniug„ to a fine art, submitted afterWard a regular giadulilloatfeodtwaisi:fE to the Commie which is as.t • For the great Sultan, 500 ducats. For the King of Spain, 150 ducats, including the expenses of the journey, &c. For the Duke of Milan, 60 ducats. For the Marquis of Mantua, 60 du- cats. For the Pope, 100 ducats. Nattually Kings were a SHINING 1.11,ARK, And John, King of Castile, owed his death to wearing a pair of boots which were supposed to have been im- pregnated with poison by a Tuik, Henry VI, is said to have auccumbed through wearing poisoned gloves, and Louis XIV. a,nd Pope Clement VII . through the iumes from a. poisonous , • taper. King John is supposed to have been poisoned by matter extraeted from. a livipg toad placed, in his wassail -bowl. Poisoning has sometimes been_con- ducted on a. very large soale. June ti is kept as a public holiday every year in Malta to commemorate the escape of the people et that place from poise oning a century and a hall ago. Tur-k- ish slaves confessed to a design of Poisoning all the wells and fountains on the island, and to make the result surer each of the 'conspirators was to assassinate a Christian. One hundred and twenty-five were found guilty. Arsenic has perhaps been more fre- .quently used than other poisons, and Ithe history of criminology is full of the decisive work of this drug. Probably the most famous case of its use is that of Mine. Lafarge, who sent her hus- band a cake, which the clear man ate —and dhe hasn't eaten anything. since, unless they have food. inthe other Arsenic was also used in the famous, !Maybrick case, wherein Mr. Maybrick tell ill with a disease which baffled the skill of the physicians. • Mrs. lAtin- brick nursed her husband, but when arsenic was discovered in a bottle of - meat juice • that was being administ- ered to the sick man she was replaced by two trained nurses and was not w alloed to feed her hnsband. Ma's. May brick was seen by the servants. TO MACERA.TE FLY PAPERS oBoujatnethaios., Assettritt,ewaarssentiocbiennthseedinaesa at juice Mrs. Maybrick said •that her hus- band asked her to put a powder whieh he gave her in his food, and it wohld do hint no harm. When Mr. Maybrick died his tvife was arrested, and the present Lord Chief Justice defended her. • But sbe was found guilty of poisoning her husband and sentenced Co death, but this sentence was al-, tered to penal servitude for life. The story of •the efforts -to release this woman has interested( two contin- ents and is current history. In striking contrast to the above is the tale of Generoso Maxine who wanted to get his diploma in needieine. The judges of Ferrara„ in whom the potvee of granting such degteee WaS in ested, ordered him. to exhibit some effeeLual proofs of his capability to practice the medical art. He satisfied •them by drinking 'tile juices.; squeezed before their eyes &pin tee bodies of FOUR P0180NOUn TOADS beleete(1 by thane. In e short time he became- pale as death his limbs trem- bled rind Inc body •began to swell in a frightful and terrible manner; and all the spectators began to believe - that he would never recover from the posion Jit had etwillowed, and that hie death was certain, Suddenly, taking from a jar by bis eir1e. scene of his cele- brated "orvietano" doubtless some pre- paration of centimony, be placed a por- tion of it in his mount and ewal lowed it. Instantly the elfeet of elite won- derful inedirene WiPt0 make him ve- ject the poison he bad ittkrn, 111(1 he stood before the specta to rs i Lull enjoyment of bis health, ? Mete fl'Itte '.1 ERIINCIte WItle a troop of. Australian horse- men was one day resting idler drill, a private, running li i 0111 10111' along,sicie one et the offieees, 'light oil his cigar- ette from that. of his superior. The ofticei Look 3 he unconventional act in good part, /nit 10 did say: Harry, in the r3110.8/1 army you could not, have clone then Right you are, wo,s thr prompt te- Ply, but in the British army you would not be an offieete ' EXCLUSIVel. Mabel—I "%lama see the handsome young Mr. Rieherly, Jeri doesn't rip - peat to eare much foe society, Ethel -0, I•tion't krioW, 11,0 SeaMS to want my society about sie eveninge in: 110 week.