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The Brussels Post, 1889-7-26, Page 2THE BRUSSELS POST, JU1L 26, 1S80, al i1WaGSiml�._.—.�., 2.4" 2..s]-mt nimu frilmw ee et` elect eeiidia''v ereetkrb4 eat tinoesis ai L7d AGAsvetirl tecteetweetanwassivenuarmesemeteeeneusermasavainitteawumariewscarsouteonetakeramice HENRY NORBERFS Of The Death of Theodore Knight BX HENRY HARLAND, IN TRE "New ream Henatn," CEIAPT1fPi I, I have been eonvloted of the murder of Theodore liuight, On next elonday morn• ing I am to receive my sentence from the lips of the Judge who presided at my trial. The burden of that sentence will be oon- fiuemenb at hard later for the toren of my natural life. And though I am innocent of the crime they have ooavloted me of, I be. iteve I shall be able to eupport my punish. anent with Boma degree of indifference. I have suffered so much during the past year that my capacity for suffering enema to have become exhausted, But there is one thing that still has power to cense me pain, one thing thab I cannot bear with any Bort of equanimity—one thing the mere thought of which pita me nearly beside myoelf with despair—and that is that you should deem me guilty. The true story of the death of Theodore Knight I told upon the witness stand at eny trial ; but it was in itself eo improbable a story, and I told it with so little deter,a0 little verisimilitude, than I suppose nobody who beard lo plead the least °rodenoe in it, 1 was laboring under great excitement and nervousness, my mind was woory and eon - fused, my heart was filled with wretched- ness ; and eo by my testimony I suooeeded only in making an unlikely story seem more unlikely still, I am alone now, and in quiet : I believe that if I bend my whole mind to 10 I shall be able to tell that story over again here with such fullness and exaotneee that you cannot doubt it, provided only that you will do me the justice of reading it through. I oeunot bear to have you think me guilty. I can bear anything bub that. To have you de- spise me as utterly base and ignoble, to have you think nee guilty of the orime by whioh your happiness was destroyed—I cannot bear that. I implore you to read what I shall write to the end. As you know and was established by bhe prosecution at my trial, Knighb and I were old and intimate friends. Our friendship had begun when we were freshmen at Col- lege and it continued for five years after our graduation. We oome from College to the city together and here took rooms together. We had no secrets from each other and $night know how deeply I was in love wibh you. He was the first man to be told of our engagement end the first also to be told when that engagement was broken off, From that Meeting with you ab which you confessed to me that your heart was changed, bhab your love for me was dead, thab you, knew you never Gould love me any more, I went home half crazed with pain and poured all my sor- row oub to Knight. Ho was my confidant. He knew the whole story perfectly from the beginning to the end. After that I went abroad and remained there for three years. Then I came home. Nob then I had got over 10, bat I was sick of Europe. I had found that absence and distance from you did nob help me. I craved a sight of you, 1 longed to feel that wo were near each obher, that I was in the same city with you, and so I came home. Knight and I had not kept up a regular correspondence while I wait away. I had no heart for writing letters, and Knight, as I knew very well, had always regarded letter writing as the most irksome and disagree- able of tasks. Bub shortly before I sailed from Havre I sent him a little note warning him of my coming and so I was not enrprised to find him waiting upon the dock to greet me at my arrived. 1 was nob sur- prised, but I was greatly pleased. We had not seen each other for three years, and no two friends were ever closer or fonder than be and I, Our meeting wee of the most cordial nature, By and by he asked me this question :— "And the wound, old fellow, the wound that drove you abroad, it is quite healed by this time, 1 suppose?" Then I told him no ; bhab the wound was open still, He was silent for a little after this. Then all at once he said :—" I must tell you something before we go any further, Norbert. Ib will pain you, but it would be wrong for me to let things go any further •without telling 70 bo you." He paused, and I said, "Oh, I suppose •she's married. I have made up my mind to that." "No, the isn't married yet," he answered ; "but she is engaged." " Weil, it makes no difference to me," I said. " I have understood all along that I must expect to hear of her engagement or marriage sooner or later." For some minutes now Knight did not upeak, nor did I. At last, " You do not ask who it is that she is engaged to," ho said, "I dun'b care," Baia r, "But you must? oare. Thab le what I mueb tell you," he insisted. " Well, if you must tell me, tell me," I returned, " She is engaged to me," he raid in a very low voioe. Whet happened then was proved by the prosecution at my trial. We had a most violent genre!. I was wild with pain and aotoniehment, and I said things that were savage and unjust. He retorted hotly. The reeilb was that we separated in anger. IO was my fault entirely. He had done nothing that I could rightly blame him for, nothing dishonorable or unfair. So our long stand- tingg.friendehip Dame to an end. It was further proved at my trial that we did not meet agars until the night of the 6th of May—the night, than is, of his death. 'On the next day, the 7th of May, yon and he were to be married. Ib was proved that two or three days earlier I had written him s note saying that I felt that I had been in the :wrong in our quarrel, and that if he 'was willing I should like to see him once be- fore his wedding and sleeks hands wibh him. I said in my note that I knew, of course, we never oould be Mende again in the old way, ;but thab for the sake ofourformer friend, tsltip 1 should like to meeb him once more and take bath the bitter w orde that I had spoken ab our separation, That note wet out in evidence as an exhibib ab my trial, And the note that Knight replied by request. ing me to call upon him at hie house on bhe evening of May 6, at ten o'clock. CHAPTER II. As I have said, I told the true story of my visit with Knight on that evening, when 1 was a witness in my own behalf at my trial. Now I will try to tall it again, with ,greater preoieion and detail. I rang the door bell of hie house ab exact. ly ton o'clock, The door was opened to me 'by Knight himself, who without speaking gave me his hand and led me into the hall, Schen, after the street door woe Closed be, bind ue, he said, "Harry, I am very glad that you have oome. I thank you for offer. dug to oome.' 7®,\JHere is a strong man, Heil in all the good of mind have you wrought yourself into ? OUR SILVER .AND GOLD. things of life, and ius0eed of enjoying basin The , , ] ., , ,, "1 Deals] not help it, Theodore," said " I knew" had been quite wrong in our qu rel. I had no right to begrudge yen yo better luck. I could not feel easy in conooienoo about it. I thought ib would good for both of ue if before you married b we should meet and I should withdraw t tillage I said that day." "It le very generous of you," he ane were "My happiness would have been grave alloyed if tomorrow had conte and gone a you had remained my enemy." Afber that neither of us spoke for 00 time, Finally he said, "Come up Mai with me, to my den." I followed him np stairs to the bath roo on the top floor. lie had fitted it up in most luxurioue manner is a,library and stud There he bade me be seated, and, prodnoi u bottle of wine and glasses, be said that w must drink a cup of kindness for the sake Bulbi long sync, eVe drank together and the he oat down opposite me, and for a while w were silent, " Well, Theodore," I began at last, " there ever was a mortal whom ;mothmight reasonably envy you're the man." That was the thoughh whioh filled m mind, the feeling whioh filled my hear how enviable he was, and bow I envied him What single good gift had the gods withhel from him? Hero he woe, thirty years] of in glorious health, with abundant weal perfect independence, an innooenh soul, an to crown all, you for a wife 1 Yee, as I spoke, I saw come into his fan a look that puzzled me. Ib was very fug tivo; in a second it had passed. But it lel ma with a vague feeling of misgiving. Hi lips had parted alightly, his eyes had becom wide open and fixed, with pupils dilated his general expression had been that of mud den fright—the soared look of a man abrupt ly startled by a reminder or an intimation o impending danger. Ib foroed upon me th conjecture that Knight had in hie min some reason for anxiety, for alarm, whioh a ray words had recurred to his consciousness bringing a twinge of terror. Bub, ae I say 1b was very transitory, oroaning hie face an departing like a shadow. "Yea," lee rejoined, "I am singularly an richly blessed. But your inference isewrong I am the lamb enviable man alive. 1f i were not for one thing I should be bhe hap pied, My happiness would be unmitigat ed, absolute, But as it is—well, 1 giv you my word, you err if you envy me." "One thing," I repeated, "There's th humanity ot ib, Everybody has one thin too muoh or too little. Well, in your ca what does the one thing happen to bait' "A truth of life to which my eyes have been opened, to whioh I cannot close them any more," said he. "What truth of life,"I questioned. Knight waited a little before he spoke, gazing the while abstractedly et the wall. Then, "I doubt if you will understand me," he reburned, "It will be better for you if you don't, perhaps. Though, perhaps, in a long run, it is on the whole beet to ac- knowledge the truth. You were always very imaginative, Norberb, and therefore al- ways very sympathetic, If you were lea. eo, or if we had not been so intimate, I should not dare to mention 1b to any one SS yet—not even to Elinor. I have never mentioned it, bub I believe ib is never alto- gether absent from my thoughts." " And it is --?" 1 prompted, as he pans. ed. ' It is this. It is death. It is the fear, the constant hideotte anticipation of death." His face was ghastly as he pronounced the word. All the color had faded from it. Even the lips were whitish, and it seemed, too, all at once to have lost in substance and to have changed in etrnabure. It seemed ae though the cheeks had become sunken, the eyes hollow, The corners of the mouth were drawn down as if ha suffered physical pain. dhooked,perplexed, frightened—"Deabt?" I repeated. "The fear of death ? What do yon mean 1" " Yes, death ; the fear of death. Ib is that whioh blacken the whole sky for me and tunsmy life into a nightmare." " Bot I don't understand. Do you mean —for God's sake, do you mean that there is anything the matter with—with Elinor ?" " No, no ; nob Elinor, Not Mies Kingslake, Myself. he knowledge bhab sooner or later I have inevitably got to die, and the frightful unoerbainby when death may oome. How do I know? I0 may oome twenty years hence ; it may tomo in twenty bourn, in—in twenty minutes," He shod. welt- ingand ebrank deeper into his chairwelt- ing a glance around the room, as if he fear- ed that death in person might be lurking in one of the Corners, It was a moeb distress. ing sight—this strong, young and otherwise manly man thus overwhelmed and undone by extreme terror. "How do I know? What do I know ? All I know is bhie, that it is bound to oome some tine. Isn't that enough? Tho horrible, uncertain imminence of depth 1 Oh, ib is hideone 1 Ib turns my life into an agony, an unceasing suspense and horror. All day long, everywhere I go, it goes with mo, and at night, if I sleep, I dream of it. See 1 We are seated here in comfort?, in seouriiy. In what we tall emir. Sty, ab least. But where is there the walled real mouthy agoinst death? Not in stone walls, nor iron bars, nor suits of mail, nor chests of medicine. How do I know thab I may not be dead before this time to -mor. row f" He leaned forward, speaking with intense passion, And thab soared look was vivid in his faoe. Now be Bank back again into his chair and breathed quiok and bard, as if ex- hausted. "Good heavens, Knight," cried I, "do you mean to say that you've got heart disease 1" He laughed—dryly, untnirthfully, "Heart ;th disease 1 Hear the materialfsb 1 No, noth- ing °at sorb. I'm in perfect health. I haleerrh disease." "Well, then, for the love o semen, why do you bother about deathf Have you an enemy prowlingaroand afteryoo with a load- ed gun 1" "I don't believe I have any enemiee—no, Not now, that you and I are reoonoiled," 14We11, then, in the name of common ono, why do you bother about death 1" "Nave I got bo die some time or not? Can 1 hope for immunity from death ? Can you, can any man, assure me than I shall not be dead within a week? How, then, may I help thinking about death ? Shall'I drug myself into obliviousness?" "1 confess, Knight, I'm at a loss, You nonplus me, Do you fanoy you're an exoep. tion to the rule ? We've all gob to die eons Ono, I'm o,edibly informed. Bat those of us who pooaeso Dane brain in sound bodies-- we lone waste muoh strength worrying about death. We get our lives fractured and lot the oompaniee do the worrying. Suit.dent unto the day le the evil therebf. No, I dot 'tunderstand you, Whataiokly frame 0r- ur ny be 0r he 1. ly me re m the y ng of a if er 3' t, a d, th, d, 0 fb e 0 d d 0 g sit and being thankful for them he site tromb• U t ] rn iy Pal*0 *110s70H1 by an Amer!. ran Visitor le illy ImkeSuirerlor restrict,. A Sb. Louie reporber the other day mob Mr, frank Triplebb, the minieg export of that oley, who had just rotutned from en ex. hauetive examluation of the mineral mouth - es of the hitherto unknown dietriot to the northward of Lake Superior and the Sae- katohewan country, Mr. Triplett le a "Mile in,hie estimate of oho Saekatenewan Diu. Grid and it ie evident Ghee hie observation, in regard to the agricultural recourses of thin region were very superficial. In reply to the ling and shattering at the thought of death! And that op the eve of his wedding day 1 Tomorrow he's to bo marrled, and to•nighb ha talks of dying 1 Psbaw 1 You're mole bid, puerile and cowardly, A oeneible man never thinks of death. ' Liber Immo de nihil minuequam de merto poem,'" "That, Norherb," Knight rejoined, "Is the falsest word chat ever a great; philosopher spoke. The very contrary is true. It is the emancipated man—'liber homo'—the man of courage and soli htenmen0, 1b le he who dopa think of death. Nob bo think of death is oatrioh like, is indeed puerile and coward- goeotion whore his Iieot pllgrimageifiad taken ly, and I may say morbid, Death, the one him, Mr. Triplettaaid : "I wont first to Port inevitable and universal experience, the one Arthur, on the northern shore of Leko So. birthright in which all men share alike, the common goal to which all life !a but a i,re• green, the aonolueion, bhe solution, the fifth aot of this mystifying, inexplicable drama of life—nob think of it 1 Here is life, a Sphyax enigma, perpetually vexing the mind and the soul of the man who has a mind and a soul to vex. There is death, which holds the enigma's key. And yet you say don't think of death, banish it, blink it, forget fb. That, 1 bell you, is etnpid end superficial, puerile, cowardly and morbid, prior, about half way between the eastern and western and of the lithe. Let me tell you about one or two mines I saw there in opera- tion, About three years ago a prospector, whose name I havo forgotten, dlsoovered a urine about twentyfivo miles northwest of Port Arthur, in the Rabbit Mountain omen. try. It was en out propping on the faoe of a oliff, and was what lo called in the West "brittle silver ;" that is, a native sliver die• seminated through quartz in the form of nuggets and etreoks. This is the beat form What theory, what hypothesis, what prin- of ore known. The prospector pub in foot or oiple of life Dan you frame, except ae you five blasts and gob out bebween $42,000 and think of death ? And some ono theory and $60,000 worth of ore, He immediately sent principle of life, for daily ueo, you must a man 0, Dotrolb, who sold the mine to the frame, or else you oannob live, you omunob Alger.Hackett syndicate, The prioe named transact the business of life. Furthermore,. wait 68,000,000, but as a matter of fact,. 0000rding to your conception of death, your 6800,000 was about the price paid for 10, The aseumptfon of what death holds in store, most your whole conception of life's mean. ing, porpcse aid duty be shaped and color- ed ; fn one word your ethics, And finally, what semblance of a religion can you have, yearn old, And this is only surface ore as yet, if its cardinal dogma doss not deal with the deepest workin being only about 300 death f How unthinking is he who does feet. Tho mine is known as "The Beaver," and its one of ho richest in the world. 01Ia DADGER AND OTi1EB 0SINES, ease was made in 1887, andthe new company immediately began the development of the mine, The output lest year was $300,000neb, whioh is an enormous yield for a mine bwo nob think of death 1 You rivet your gaze on bhe surface of things and shun the deop places. You feed yourself upon outward appearances of ➢hinge and leave the inward realities untested. You consider only the transitory and forget the eternal. Bub how, if you are human, how Dan you help think- ing of death ? You have just quoted to nee the faloesb word that a great philosopher ever put his name to—" Liber home nihil minnequam de morie putat." Now, I will Dap your quotation with a better one, be- cause It is a true one—In the midst of life we are in death. How Dan you help thine- ing of death ? How do you dull your mind to that degree? Could Damoolee help think- ing of the sword? Is nob bhe sword of death impending over your head—yes, indeed, your devoted head—every hour and minute of your life, daytime and nlghbhime, where. mover yougo, from the first breath you draw In you cradle until all ab once it falls? Dare yea; I aeked awhile ago, dare you lay a wager that it will nob have fallen 'bee this time tomorrow 7 How do we know? What do we know ? Within thfe very hour your dead body may by lying ab my feat, or mine at yours. Nob think of the black hand forever raised to strike you I Not think of the grim companion who stalks "Within three or four miles of elle Bea ver le another mine known as '170 Badger,' whioh was disoovored aboub the same time and sold to the Niaholem, of Denver. Ib is probably not quite so rich as the Beaver, but tbab le not yet fully determined. So far the oompany baa just shipped enough ere to pay working expenses, bub bbey now have in eight, on the dump and ready to be stop- ed out, ore tbab will make them $200,000, There are several other mines in the imme. dints vicinity which have not yet been de- veloped, bub whioh promise fully as well. The trend of this mineral belt is nertheasb to southwest, and its extent is unknown. It has already been partially prospected and is known to be twenty-five miles actress, and no one knows bow muoh further it extends. At ahnost any point on this belt good•payfng mines oan be looated,and itis so nearr the lake shore that the great question of freight is praotioally solved and the ore o0n be shipped anywhere by water, "This ore is the richest I ever naw in all my experience, and I have seen all the big silver mines of the west. I saw more native silver up there than ever before in my life. Ibis an absolute fact that, from some of these for ever at your elbow 1 When the black mines, ore is taken so rich that 10 is im- hand may deal i0e blow at any instant; the mediately locked up in eafoa for security. Ib grim comrade ab any intent pluck your is almost pare silver. It was a perfect revs• sleeve and whisper, 'Come, you are mine I' Not think of death 1 Ohl" He bad begun, as I have nobed, by epeak- lation to roe. And it will be very hard to make bhe public believe In these discoveries now until a few enterprising, credulous ing quietly, but as he went on hie composure spirits have secured the cream of the depoe- vanished, giving plaoe to an excitement whioh its" a The C nadiana are not prospectors. toward the end had intensified into some- teney have never found a mine yet. They thing like easissy. His voice increased in stress and volume, hie eyes burned, he leaned forward and gesticulated earnestly. Now he fell bank into the depth of hie chair and closed his eyes and laid hie hand aorose his forehead, where the swollen vein showed purple against the white skin, (2.0 n0 00NT1NDED,) have the least enterprise of any people on earth, I believe. Why, within fear miles of Port Arthur, right on the road to the Beaver mine, I found an extremely rioh silver vein that cropped right out on the surface 9 inches wide. THE 00ORY OP SILVER ISLAND, " And now let me tell you something about another remerkable silver mine I saw up there. Ib is situated on a little rook Settled, known as Silver Island, which lino out in Lake Superior aboub t The wife of an Irish peasant•farmer had driven some pigs into a small town to dispose of, and, having negotiated the sale, she re• calved in payment bank -notes issued by a well-known Dublin bank ; bub, the name of the bankers not being familiar to her, doubts arose in her mind as to their stability ; so she decided to get the notes cashed at the bank in the town where she then was. Ar- riving at the bank in question, she presented them across the counter, requesting the cashier to give her gold in exchange. Thab gentleman expressed his regret at nob being able to accomodate her, saying it was not their custom to cash notes issued by other banks. The old lady was muoh put out, and explained that she bad various pnrohasee to make in the town before returning home, and was unable to get the notes changed elsewhere. The cashier still politely declin- ed. However, she would not give in. first she tried to ooax him, then stormed at him, but without the wished -for result. Sudden- ly a bright idea struck her. Would the cashier be no kind as to give her notes on his own bank in exchange ?—they might be more acceptable to the tradesmen. Seeing no other way of getting rid of hie tiresome visitor, be reluctantly consented, The old lady, seemingly quite content, turned to go. All at once elle stopped ehort, and, turning round 0o as bo face the cashier, read from the note in her hand, " I promise to pay on demand," ,Ito,, then, looking her victim full in the faoe, said, in broad Irish, "'You promise to Dash this note wban demanded, do yon?" "Yes," replied the cashier. "Then will you kindly give me gold for these notes now ?" Asphalt Pavements. An unoredited newspaper paragraph says that London Indo thab wood and asphalt pavements are too slippery, and that memadam cannot stand the heavy wear. The opinion is freely heard that London "bus nob yet solved the problem of Wen pave menta, and seems as far off from ib ae over." Landon, however, has nob tried the asphalt of Trinidad, whioh hao been used so MOMS.fullyy in Buffalo, but only the stone asphalt of Switzerland Rooheoter, deelsing the good example of a nearer metro's -lie, is fol- lowing London on the slippery road of stone asphalb, and will perhaps take the same tumble that London has taken, though Park Superintendent MoMillan thinks that the asphalt slipperiness whioh London complains of is due more to the London climate than to the ohmmeter of the pavement,—CBuffalo Courier, A Crusher Prom the Widow. Adorer—"Ob, how your words charm me 1 To think that you ehould daily discover more similarity between me and your sainted husband, May I ask stow I mumble him 1" Young widow (gravely)—'"You have all his bad habits," Yankeebroad (to Parisian jewoler)—What ie that aoarf pin worth ? Pariolan Jeweler—Five thousand frame. Yankeebroad—Jewhillikene 1 And ire been writing home to my friends that the highest thing in the world la the Eiffel tow er—tlewe ier's Weekly, wo ar three mites southeast of Porb Arthur. It is 70x07 feet in size and aboub 4 feet above water level. Ib was discovered about bwenty years ago. Tha first blase took out about $50,000 worth of native silver. It was owned fireb by the Montreal Mining Company, who took about $150,000 out of ib, and then sold it to Maj. Sibley, Col. Ward and others tor aboub $200,000. The new owners, in order to get working ground, sunk cribs and filled them in, thus ENLARGING THE ISLAND to a spade of 480x340 feet. They worked it down 1160 feet below the lake—one of the most remarkable feats of mining anal - nearing ever a000mplfehed—and took out of it $3,250,000 net, An aooident caused the abandonment of the mine. The wintr'ae supply of ooal was frozen, in tho lake and never orrfved, eo bhe mine was abandoned until spring. 13y that time it was filled with water, and so ft has remained ever since, At the time of its abandonment the roof in one of the drifts of the mine woo al - moat solid silver.. Ib was the intention of the owners to take this out by 'finking girders in the lake and building an arta fioial roof over the drift, whioh would have been a moot remarkable .and dangerous teat. The ore from this min was the strangeot I ever saw and unlike any other. It was a pink spar with Entail foliatione and stems of sliver and wao wonderfully beautiful. The common miners in thio mine oarried off bebween $150,000 and $2000u00 worth of oro in the their pockets, The fabulous rioh- 'nese of this mike ought to have abtraoted capital and investigation to the Porb Arthur dietriot, but strange to say; it did not, and until bhe chance discovery of the Beaver mine nothing more was done toward de- veloping the resouroee of the country," Did you extend your investigations be- yond the Porb Arthur district ?" aeked the reporter. "''Yes, air, and I oome now to another, strange feature of my experience in the Northwest. Acting on the ro0ommendabion of the friend whom representations had in- duced me to visit bhe country, I next went into the Saskatchewan country, and visited Lobe of the Woods. k shave always been in. formed that bhe Saskatchewan country and the valley of the Lake of the Woods was a paradise, and a wonderful grazing and au agricultural wheat•produoing country. Why, as a matter of fad, one oouldn'b raise enough grain on 100 aoree to winter a horse. But Ste mineral resources, I fully believe are among the Holiest; in thio hemisphere. There are 10,000 blends in the lake that aro known, and a good paying vein of gold may be found in every ono of them. The mineral belt embraces the whole chain of feiande, and extends to the mainland on both ,ides. A 01000 BEMAEIOA1LE GOLD MINN, "The most remarkable of the mines is the Sults Pa, ea called from tho Inland on which ib le eituaced, If it could be developed ib would be one of the greatest gold mines in the world. The vein hi 25 feet wide and will mill from $45 to 660 per ton. It tae been traced over 800 yarde in showing, and thorn ie at least 65,000,000 worth of ore in sight, Like all good things, however, this one has a drawback, and a very melons one A good many years ago the Dominion Gov. ernmenb granted a o..rtain man a perpotua timber franohleo oovorlrg the islands and theme of the lake, and as the owner of the frenchiee will not permit miners to out his timber to Darty on their operations, no one aan get a title to ouy of hie mines. The owner of the fronohise am not; himself get a title to thom, as that belongs 00 the original dleoovorors, and so the matter rests ab preeenb, A way out of the oamplioetion will certainly be found, however, and then the days of '40 will be repeated in the Saskaoohewon wilderness, A great many other veins not so largo as the Sultana bub of equal richness, have been die. covered in the same belt, I looked thio ooun• try over oarefully and am giving you only bald facts, My old partner, whom 1 have be- fore referred to, writes me now that to the south and cast of the belt covered by this Cenuok'e timber franchise le a country where the gold veins are just as strong and rioh ae the Sultana, and where title Dan easily be obtained, I firmly believe this is brae, ea I have myself verified every othet statement he has made about that ooantryr and I have perfect faith in hie judgment and veracity. I tball return thorn in a short time and see if I can nob acquire a few Sultanas," Meteors as Big as Flour Barry's. The Brltimore Sun says :—Dr. S. T. Per - kine, of Springfield, wlbneesed the fall of meteors on Wednesday night in Prince George's counby. "The night was quite dark," he mid yesterday, in deeoribing the phenomenon, "and the sudden flesh caused by the obuoting meteor was entailing. A huge glowing mass seemed to demand from the heavens at on angle of forty.five degrees, It was an irregular mass about the size of a flour barrel, and of great brilliancy—a glow. ing rod heat, The country for miles around was lit up for a few seconds, It seemed to fall aboub one mile to the south-west of Bowfa, As soon as I regained my equal• amity, for bhe wonderful sight took my breath and elicited a scream from my wife and children, I looked at my watch. It was 8.30. The aeoond meteorite fell about forty minutes later. Ib was even larger than the first and ranch brighter. As near as I could judge, it fell about two hundred yard, from the first I have seen meteorites fall before, but none so bright as thin," The people of Bowie had muoh the same story to relate. Everyone for miles around thoughh I0 had fallen but a few hundred yards [tom his farmhouse. Oapt. Edward Leonard, of the steamer Ida, reported having seen a meteor on Wednesday night as the steamer was going up the Tread Avon river to Eastern Point. During the pa0e0ge of the meteor the sky had the appearance of o solid sheet of fire, Playing' Pions Before His Majesty The Emperor of Russia, when upon a tour of inspection in the provinces, passed the night in the ample hub of a toll -taker, , Be- fore retiring he was pleased, ae head of the Chnroh, to see the old man take up the Bible and read a chapter, "Do you read often, my son?" he asked. "Yoe, your Majesty, every day." "How muoh of the Bible have you read, my eon?" "During the pub year, the Old Testament and parb of Matthew, your blajeoty," Thinking to reward him, the Czar placed 600 roubles between the loaves of the book of Mark on the following morning, unknown to the toll -keeper, whom he bade farewell. Sever- al months passed away and the Emperor returned, upon a seoond tour to the toll - taker's hub. Taking the Bible in his hands he was surprised to find the 500 roubles intaot. Again interrogating the toll -keeper as to his diligeuoe in reading, he received an affirmative answer and the statement that he had finished the chapters of Luke. "Lying, my son, is a great sin," replied his Majesty. ' al' me the Bible till I see." Opeetng One book, he pointed to the money whioh the man had not seen, "Thou hart not sought the Kingdom of God, my son. As puniebment, thou shall also lose thy earthly reward," And he plaoed the roubles in hie pocket, to dietribute afterward among the neighboring poor. Cassowary Fishing. Tha habits of the cormorant and of our native fieh•hawk are generally known. Their methods of taking fish are very muoh like those of birds of prey. But the cassowary fishes according to a method of its own. Mr. Powell wibnessed its operations on a river in the island of New Britain. I saw a oa0eowary come down to the water's edge, and stand for some minutes apparently watching the water oarefully. It than stepped into the river where it was about three feeb deep, and, partially oquatb• ing down, spread its wings out, submerging thenr, the feathers beingepread andruflied, The bird remained perfectly motionless, and kept its eyes closed, as if in sleep. It remained in this position tor fully a quart- er of an hour, when, suddenly closing Ito wings andetraightening its'feathers, it etepp- ed out on the bank. Here it shook itself seve- ral times, whereupon a quantity of small fish. ea fell out of ite wings, and from amidst its feathers, which the bird immediately pinked up and swallowed. The fishes had evidenbly misbaken the feathers for a kind ot weed that grows in the water along the banks , of the rivers in this island, and whioh very muoh resembles the feathers of the cassowary. The smaller Seta ea bide in these weeds to avoid the larger ones that prey on them. Advantages of Baldness. Smith—"I notion you are as bald as an os, Well's sinceI was aoung man."Smith—"Don't "o Smith—Dn t yqu find iba little annoying ?" Jones" Well, it's nob. without its advantages. I am a mar. ried men, you know," Hig Reason for not Goisg, " Why don't you leave and go furbher West, or South, or anywhere? You're of no amount here, and I'm ,tired of supporting you 1' exclaimed the despairing wife. " Fra Chicago husband, ias'hosatdow e gainhlese put his feet on the table and sighed heavily, but Im needed here for the oensue next year "St. Lguis is orowdln' us boo close 1" —tOhioago Tribune. It Was Funny. Mlea Gazeaway —" He's the dearest, love- liest, handsomest fellow you ever saw, and I'm going to get him or perish in the at. tempt," Aunt—" Aren't you ashamed, Margaret, to throw yourself at a man in that fashion?" Mies Gozoaway—" It's funny, auntie, you're always thinking about men, I was referring to a St. ,Bernard puppy I saw Yee. today," Many elderly and middle•a sed g women at fashionable reeorte this 8005010 are wearing round hats. Th re large and ehad'e the face, so they are 100 act appropriate an becoming ae a email, dressy bonnet, TIGERS OF THE SEA. EvLionco 01 the lluvenous Nalure Or the 'rations Sperlea (irritant—us, IU was reported the obher week that a eailor engaged In scraping the si.ioe of a troop ebip in the harbor of Sierra Leone wee drawn into the water and promptly devoured by a shark. Tbie is not an unoommon experience, and a boatman has boon bitten in the short time it took him to dip a pitcher of water while his oraft was under full sail. We aro aesared that ib is nothing uncommon for the ravenous fish to spring a foot out of the sea in order to esouro their prey, Tor miles they will follow a vessel, on the lookoub for any stray unfortunate who may tumble or be thrown overboard, and so deep do they swim under the surface that it; requires the practised eyea of the native to deteob their pre0enee. Many of the West India harbors are so haunted by the white and hammer. headed eharke -the leant amiable of the 150 different kinds known to z,ologista—that it; is dangerous to bathe even a few yards from the shore without an outlook. Yet the west African negro has been known to faoe the brute, not only with im- punity, bob even to oome off' as victor in bhe end. All bub amphibious, the ewimmer cautiously approaches his enemy, and then, just ab the moment when the greab fish burns over to seize hint—his mouth being so plac- ed that la necessary—the daring blaok plunges his knife into its white belly. The pearl divers are aleo sometimes ouooeeeful in their attacks on sharks whioh try to seize them, though, ib is needle's to add, such a mode of combat is poieible only when the monsters do not come in numbers, and under the most favorable circumstances requires a 000lnese, a dexterity, and a courage whioh are not to bo acquired exoept by long experi- ence In such perilous enoountere, As a rule, however, it is seldom thab a man who is so luckless as to drop among sharks ever ap• pears again. There is a shriek, a white 000 - look is seen under the eurfeoo and a fin above it, a reddened crest top] the next swell whioh breaks against the ahip'o aide, and the horror-stricken seamen know that their meesn:ate will be seen no more, Ib ie a woll•ase rtained feet that bhe thole, tone of sheep, pigs, dogs, and cattle wbioh have fallen or been thrown overboard have been recovered many days enbaequonb to their being swallowed ; and itis on record that in the stomach of a shark killed in bhe Indian Ocean a lady's workbox was found, while in ,another the incriminatory papers whioh had been thrown away by a hotly ohased slaver were recovered from the maw of an involuntary witness thus curiously bronghb into court on the barb of a pork. baited hook. Ruyeoh, ono of the most bruotworthy of the old naburaliote, affirms that a man in mail—homo lorioatue, he calls him—was found in the stomach of .a white shark • and ib ie recorded by Blumenbach that in one Daae a whole horse was found. Cobra and Tiger. Avenburesome colleotor was in India in search of venomous serpents for an Amster- dam house. He 000upied a hut that had bean used as a storehouse, the only entrance to ib being by a narrow lane which was close- ly fenced. This lane was aboub bwenteefive feet long, and at nighb a fire was kept burn. ing ab the lower end to warn off any intrud- ing wild beasts or serpente. The man's ham- mock was slung near the door of the hub, so that he could easily look down the lane. One night there was a heavy rain aboub mid- ofghb wbioh exbinguished the fires. Suddenly I awoke, The rain had matted, and the moon was shining so tbab its raye streamed brightly up the lane, There was a poouliar odor in the but whioh 1 recognize far too well, the nauseating smell of the cobra. One, of these deadly creatures must have crawled into bhe hnt. I meld hear it now creeping ever the dried grass on the floor, and the Bound put me into a cold sweat. But the cobra never strikes a sleeper ; if I could remain motionless I might escape. When I had turned in it was very close and oppressive. I had, therefore, thrown the blankets oub of the hammock. The oold rain had chilled the snake and be was look- ing for warmth. The blankets were on the ground and this fact prevented him from Doming into the hammock. I could not see him, but I could hear and &tent him as he twined about and finally curled down, When he had become ,quiet 1 felt that I had a chance far my life, 1 would wafb until he was asleep, and then make a sudden spring and a rush. If I waited until day- light, and the natives Dame to bhe hut, the snake would be alarmed, and would then probably strike me. I kept still for about half an hour, and was ja00 planning bo dump myself out of bhe hammock, when the moonlighb retealed a new and unexpected danger. Standing at the mouth of the lane, and looking straight in upon mo, was a tiger. I did not believe he would enter the hub. The lane wood look 1100 a trap, and he would fight shy of it. My eyes were wide open, bub I did not move a muscle. Tile tiger entered the opening and stealthi- ly oome toward me, I gave myself by for lost. The great brute was within ten feet of the door when the serpent uttered a low hiss and moved, The tiger did nob 50e the snake, He came On as a oat steals 0n its prey ; his forepaws were soon on the threshold and he was mak. ing reedy for a spring. I realized my help - lemmas. There was a brief interval, I was half dead with terror, and closed my eyes for the last act of bhe tragedy. Suddenly there was a hiss and a snarl. I opened my eyea, bewildered, to find myself unharmed. The cobra and the tiger were rolling over and over in the lane, in mortal struggle, " The village was roused by bho tiger's fear. ful roarings. T gazed in fascination ab the mane. The two deadly enemies wont from ono end of the lune to the obher and bank again. The combat had lasted nob more than fifteen minutes when both tiger and snake lay stretched oub,' dead. The cobra hal bitten the tiger in scores of planes, and the teeth and olawa of the latter bad literally torn the snake in pieces, The Meanest Man on Record. Husband (kindly)—"My dear, you have nothing deoent to wear, have you?' Wife (with alacrity) —"No, indeed, I haven't„ not a thing. I'd be ashamed to to seen any where. My very noweob party dress has been worn three tinea already." Husband—'"Yee; that's just whatI told Blifkine when he offered me two tickets for the opera for to-nighb, I knew if I took them they'd only bo wasted, so I just got ono, You won't mind if I hurry cif?" • No Angelic Longings. Little Susie H., pouring over a book in whioh angels were represented ae winged beings, suddenly remarked, with muoh vehemence; 4' Mamma, I don't want to be au angel when I die—and I needn't; need I ?" " Why Suale 1" questioned her mother, Cos I den'b want to levo oft all my pretty clothes and wear fedders like a hen,