HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe East Huron Gazette, 1892-05-19, Page 3�r�rr��aarr��
t' iitm'asg
as bens sleeted
's W orlt$'r Fair
n '. stn is
5 feet hang and
he Bei -nese Alps,
background, has
at the Fair. A
ork was recently
o collect $25,000
e Exposition a
ay schools of the
me contemplates
ibute en amount
officer and teach-
pil.
vering the west
•e agreed to carry
and private exhi-
Panarea . Passen-
eatly reduced.
hundred tons of
n have already
icing shipment at
crease of Great
appropriation to
rs will not be
t determined.
mmended to the
t. 12 of this year
y in commemora-
mbus in the new
essage that the
exican exhibit is
that a. display of
ade at the dedica-
ick, resident Com -
Fair, at London,
influential eom-
ly promoting the
Swiss section at
with gratifying
will be one of the
lay. It is consid-
zerland will yet
ommission on the
World's Fair two
ute of technology
s of the United
s.
id's Fair Commis -
lands, has cabled
angements for an
ne islands and is
n to Java. There
e exhibit will be
ndon agent of the
has forwarded to
from Mrs. M. L.
establish a gypsy
rounds of the Ex -
he Midway Plais-
ailuded to as being
in gypsy lore, and
ng. She manages
r Liverpool, Eng -
f the Iargest and
ctions in the world
relics and historic
overt' of I\merica.
adrid this year for
nd will afterward
position grounds
he buildings near -
construction being
than 6,000 work-
eresting and won -
to 5,000 visitors a
mission of 25 cents
e abolition of the
tors often number -
0,000, The work
fered with, so that
arge an admission
e of the crowd of
e time add to the
Exposition.
ous for bis ability
is devoting his time
p of lions, tigers,
he expects to bring
p consists of fifty
in one big cage.
spent a fortune on
rries have donated
the Indiana World's
ing of the stone is
Cold.
imate may be quite
cough in a child at
looked after with
is always a serious
the precursor of a
mere cold. Measles
are preceded by a,
ys safe to use means
, provided the child
rd and kept indoors.
dissolved in a tum -
a teaspoonful of this
once an hour, will
se cold of an in fent
in laying hot flan -
rated oil, over the
of hoarseness, but
should take their
oved. It is useless
kind unless the pa-
ing outdoors or in
the house, as all
s and render the sun
o take extra cold if
an ounce of preven-
a pound of cure.
ecorations Cost.
enty yeara,.ago $100
;red an extravagant
orations for a bail in
great furor forelabor-
gan,and wasinstigat-
rarct Scott, who gave
r. days to his florist,
ors to charge what he
:lion being that the
of the season must be
mitated this extrava-
elaborate examples
.lardens of Babylon,"
di given by the Mar-
a tons of cut ivy were
castellated effect to
provrsed ballroom. A
lerard Leigh gave a
rent, the flowers o:
rtly afterwards Mrs:.
ne another entertain -
$15,003 was paid to
1873, the first large
vas given in the eon -
Horticultural Society
ill given in honor of
f Wales, and ice was
u large quantities for
of crowded roams in
spends not on wuat
s large. enough " fer
'watt loo aed.1 star
4Y (1,1424;:. 4r f ?rte TIfl F'AMOTJsCANADIAN
ovT.
W hen Netta Mayne came to think it over
a-trward in her own roomy herself she
couldn't imagine what had made her silly
enough to quarrel that evening with
Ugh tr d Carnegie. She could only say, in
a penitent mood, it was always the -way Iike
that -Intl lovers. Till once they've quarrel-
ed ,, 6.004 round quarrel, and afterward
soleenly kissed and made it all up again,
things never stand on a really firm and
settled basis between them. It's a move in
the game. You must thrust in tierce before
you thrust in quarte. The Roman play -
right spoke the truth after all. A lovers'
quarrel begins a fresh chapter in the history
of n love making.
It teas a summer evening, calm and clear
and ?almy, and Netta and Ughtred had
strolled out together, not without a sus-
picion at times of hand locked in hand, on
the high chalk down that rises steep behind
Holmbury. How or why they fell out she
har,jv knew. But they had been engaged
already some months, without a single dis-
agreement, which of course, gave Netta a
right to quarrel with Ughtred by this time,
if she thought fit, and as they returned
down the hanging path through the combe
where the wild orchids grow, she used that
ripe,. at last, out of pure, unadulterated
perversity. The ways of women are wonder-
ful ; no mere man can fathom them. Some-
thing that Ughtred said gave her the chance
to make a half petulant answer. Ughtred
very naturally defended himself from the
imputation of rudeness, and Netta retorted.
At ince end of 10 minutes the trifle had
grown into as pretty a lover's quarrel as any
lady novelist could wish to describe in five
chapters.
Netta had burst into perfectly orthodox
tears, refused to be comforted in the most
approved fashion, declined to accept Ugh-
tredh. escort home, and bidden farewell to
him excitedly for ever and ever.
It was all about nothing, to be sure, and
if two older or wiser heads had only atood
by unseen to view the little comedy they
would sagely have remarked to one another,
with a shake, that before 24 hours were out
the lei; would be rushing into one another's
arms with mutual apologies and mutual
forgiveness. But Netta Mayne and Ughtred
Carnegie were still at the age when one
takes love seriously—one does before 30—
end so they turned along different paths at
the bottom of the combe, in the firm belief
that love's young dream was shattered, and
that bey two were nothing more than pass -
big acquaintances to one another.
" Good -by, Mr. Carnegie," Netta faltered
out as in obedience to her wishes, though
much against his own will, Ughtred turned
slowly and remorsefully down the footpath
to the right in the direction of the railway:
" C3 --by, Netta," Ughtred answered,
half choking. Even in that moment of part-
ing, forever or a day, he couldn't find it in
his heart to call her " Miss Mayne," who
had so long been " Netta " to him.
He waved his hand and turned along the
footpath, looking back many times to see
Netts ratting inconsolable where he had left
her on the stile that led from the combe into
the Four -acre meadow. Both paths to right
and left led back to Holmbury over the open
field, but they diverged rapidly, and crossed
the railway track by separate gates, and
500 yards from each other. A turn in the
path, fel which Ughtred lingered long hid
Netta at last from his sight. He paused
and hesitated. It was growing late, though
an hour of summer twilight still remained.
He couldn't bear to leave. Netts thus alone
in the field. She wouldn't allow him to see
her ht;= to be sure, and that being so, he
was too much of agentleman to force him-
self upon her. But he was too much of a
man, too, to let her find her way back so
entirely by herself. Unseen himself, he
must et J1 watch over her. Against her will,
he muse, still protect her. Ha would go on
to the railway and there sit by the side of
the line under cover of the hedge till Netta
crossed by the other path. Then he'd walk
quietly along the six-foot way to the gate
she had tpaesed through and follow her un-
perceived at a distance along the lane till
he saw her back to Holmbury. Whether
she wished it or not he would never leave
her.
He leeked about for a seat. One Iay
most handy. By the side of the line the
Government engineer had been at work
that day, repairiug the telegraph system._
They had taken down half a dozen molder-
ing old posts and set up new ones in their
place—`,all, clean, and shiny. One of the
old posts still lay at full length on the
ground by the gate, just as the men had
left it at the end of the day's work. At
the end where the foot -path crossed the line
was a level crossing, and there Ughtred sat
down o , the fallen post by the side, half
concealed from view by a tall clump of wil-
low herb, waiting patiently for Netta's
coming. How he listened for that light
foot -fall. His heart was full indeed, of
gall and bitterness. He loved her so deer -
and line had treated him so ill. Who
would even- have believe that Netta, his
Netta, would have thrown him over like
that for such a ridiculous trifle? Who, in-
leed ? And least of all Netta herself, sitting
clone or: the stile with her pretty face bow -
ad deep inner hands, and her poor heart
vonderirg how Ughtred, her Ughtred,
,ould so easily desert her. In such strange
vays is the feminine variety of the human
reart constructed. To be sure, she had of
tonne tier -missed him in the most peremp-
tory fashion, declaring with all the vows
rropriets g ermits to the British maiden
hat she needed no escort of any sort home,
,nd that site would ten thousand times
rather go alone than have him accompany
ler. But, of course, also, she didn't mean
t. What woman does ? She counted upon
i prompt and unconditional surrender.
Ughtred would go to the corner, as in duty
sound, and then come back to her with pro -
hese expressions of penitence for the wrong
se had hearer done, to make it all up again
the orthodox fashion. She never intend -
;d the real tragedy that was soon to follow.
She was only playing with her victim—only
trying, woman-like, her power over Ugh-
tred.
So she sat there still, and cried and cried
an, minute after minute, in an ecstacy of
misery, till the sunset began to glow deeper
ed in the western sky, and the bell to ring
the curfew in Holmbury tower. Then it
dawned . pon her slowly with a shock of sur-
prise that after all—incredible ! impossible !
Ughtred had positively taken -her at her
word and wasn't coming back at all to -night
to her.
At that the usual womanly terror seized
Ughtred—if it were only for the tramps.; a
man is such a comfort. And then there was
that dreadful dog at Milton Court to pass.
And Ughtred was gone, and all the world
was desolate.
Thinking these things in a tumult of fear
to herself, she staggered along the path,
feeling tired at heart, and positively ill
with remorse and terror. The color had
faded now out of her pretty red cheeks.
Her eyes were dim and swollen with cry-
ing. She was almost ' half glad Ughtred
couldn't see her just then, she was such a
fright •with her long spell of brooding. Even
her bright print dress and her straw hat
with the poppies in it couldn't redeem, she
felt sure, her pallor and her wretchedness.
But Ughtred was gone, and the world was
a wilderness. And he would never come
back, and the dog at Milton Court was so
vicious.
As she walked or rather groped her way,
for she couldn't see for crying, down the
path by the hedge, at every step she grew
fainter and fainter. Ughtred was gone,
and the world was a blank, and there were
tramps and does, and it was getting dark,
and she loved him so much, and mamma
would be so angry.
Turning over which thoughts with a whirl-
ing brain, for she was but a girl after all,
she reached the little swinging gate that
led to the railway, and pushed it aside with
vague numbed hands, and stood gazing va-
cantly at the long curved line in front of
her.
Suddenly a noise rose sharp in the field
behind her. It was only a colt, to be sure,
disturbed by her approach, dashing wildly
across his paddock, as is the way with
young horseflesh. But to Netta it came as
an indefinite terror magnified ten thousand
fold by her excited feelings. She made a
frenzied dash for the other side of therailway.
What it was she knew not, but it was or
might be anything, everything—mad bulls,
drunken men, footpads, vagabonds, mar-
derers.
Oh, bow could Ughtred ever have taken
her at her word, and left her, like this,
alone, and in the evening ? It was cruel,
it was wicked of him ; she hated to be dis-
loyal, and yet she felt in her heart it was
most unmanly.
As she rushed along wildly, at the top of
her speed, her little foot caught on the first
rail. Before she- knew what had happened
she had fallen with her body across the
line. Faint and terrified already with a
thousand vague alarms, the sudden shock
stunned and disabled her. Mad bull or
drunken men, they might do as they liked
now. She was bruised and shaken. She had
no thought left to rise and recover herself.
Her eyes closed hea.ily. She lost conscious-
ness
onsciousness at once. It was a terrible position.
She had fainted on the line with the force
of the situation.
As tor Ughtred, from his seat on the
telegraph post on the side of the line 500
yards further up, he saw her pause by the
gate, then dash across the road, then stum-
ble and trip, then fall heavily forward.
His heart came up into his mouth at once
at the sight. Oh, thank " heaven, he was
near. She had fallen across the line, and a
train might come along before she could
rise again. She seemed to be hurt, too. In
a frenzy of suspense he darted forward to
save her.
It tcok it but a second for him to realize
that she had fallen and was seriously hurt,
but in the course of that second, even as he
realized it all, another and more pressing
terror seized him.
Hark ! What was that ? He listened and
thrilled. Oh, — too horrible — it must
be—the railway ! He knew it. He felt
it. Along up the line on which Nettie was
lying he heard behind him—oh, unmistak-
able, unthinkable, the whirr of the express
dashing madly down behind him. Great
heavens, what could he do ? The train was
coming, the train was almost this moment
upon them. Before he could have time to
rush wildly forward and snatch Netta from
where she Iay, full in its path, a helpless
weight, it would have swept him resistless-
ly, and borne down upon her like light-
ning.
The express was coming—to crush Netta
to pieces.
In theseawful moments men don't think ;
they don't even realize what their action
means ; they simply act and act instinctive-
ly. Ughtred felt in a second, without even
consciously feeling it, so to speak, that any
attempt to reach Netta now before the de-
vouring engine had burst upon her at full
speed would be absolutely hopeless.
His one chance lay in stopping the train
somehow. How, or where or with what he
cared not. His own body would do it if
nothing else came. Only stop it, stop it.
He didn't think of it at all at that moment
as a set of carriages containing a precious
set of lives. He thought of it only as
a horrible, cruel, devouring creature rush-
ing headway on at full speed to Netta's
destruction. It was a senseless wild beast
to be combate3 at all hazards. It was a
hideous, ruthless, relentless thing, to be
choked in its mad career in no matter what
fashion. All he knew, indeed, was that
Netta—his Netta--lay helpless on the
track and that the engine, like some
madman, puffing and snorting with wild
glee and savage exsultation, was hastening
forward with tierce strides to crush and
mangle her.
At any risk he must stop it—with any-
thing—anyhow.
As he gazed aroand him, horrorstruck,
with blank inquiring stare, and with this
one fixed idea possessing his whole soul,
Ughtred's eye happened to fall upon the
dismanteled telegraph post, ou which but
one minute before he had been sitting. The
sight inspired him. _ Ha, hal a glorious
chance. He could lift it on the line. He
could lay it across the rails. He could turn
it round into place. He could upset the
train. He could place it in the way of that
murderous engine.
No sooner thought than done. With the
wild energy of despair the young man lift-
ed the small end of the ponderous post
bodily up in his arms, and twisting it on
the big base as on an earth -fast pivot,
managed by main force and With a violent
effort to lay it at last full in front of
the advancing locomotive. How he did at,
he never rightly knew himself, for the
weight of the great bulk was simply enor-
mous. But horror and love and the awful
idea that Netta's life was at stake seemed
to supply him at once -with unwontedenergy.
He lifted it in his arms as he -would have
lifted a child and, straining in every limb,
stretched it at last full across both rails, a
formidable obstacle before the approaching
engine.
Hurrah ! hurrah ! he had -succeeded now.
It would throw the train off the line, and
upon her soul. Her heart turned faint. t. Netta would be saved for Eiin.
This was. too terrible. Great ,Heavens ! To think and do all this under the spar o
what had she done ? Had she tried'Ughtred the circumstances took Ughtred something
too far, and had he really gone? Was he lees than 20 seconds. In a great crisis men
never going to return to her at all ? Had he live rapidly. It was quick as thought. And
said good-bye in earnest to her forever and at the end of it all he saw the big log laid
aver ? right across the line with infinite satisfacr
Terrifi-at the thought and weak with tion. $uch a :-splendid obstacle that. So
aI
crying, alit' rose sial struggled down the, rofiitd and heavy ! It must throw the train
narrow footpath toward the further cress- clean off the Metals -I It must produce a fine,
hag. ll:, was getting late now, and Netta by ,first-class catastrophe.
this tiny- was really -frightened. She wish- ,As bethought it, half aloud, asharp.enrve
ak'I w , Sec 110 ,1 she hadn't sent away-;blrougiit the train round the corner close to
where he stood, Great drops of sweat now
oozing clammily from every pore with his•
exertion. He looked at it languidly, with
some vague, dim sense of duty accomplished,
and a great work well done kr _t" ettOE and,
humanity. There wort' a reetnnem wenn
dent in a moment now—a splendid ae .idem,_
—a first-rate catastrophe ! a
And then, with a sudden burst of inspir-
ation, the other side of the transaction"
flashed in one electric spark upon Ughtred's
brain. Why—this—was murder ! There
were people in that train—innocent human
beings, men and women like himself, who
would next minute be wrecked and mangled
corpses, or writhing forma, on the track be-
fore him ! He was guilty of a crime—he wase
trying to produce a terrible, ghastly, loody
railway accident !
Till that second the idea had never even
so mach as occurred to him. In the first
wild rush of horror at Netta's situation he
had thought only of her. He had regarded
the engine only as a hateful, cruel, destruc-
tive living being. He had forgotten the
passengers, the stoker, the officials. He had
been conscious only of Netta and of that
awful thing, breathing flame and steam, that
was rushing on to destroy her. For another
invisible second of time Ughtred Carnegie's
soul was the theatre of a terrible and ap-
pealing struggle. What on earth was he to
do? Which of the two was he to sacrifice ?
Should it be murder or treacl:ery ? Must he
wreck the train or mangle Netta ? The sweat
stood upon his brow in great clammy drops
at that dread dilemma. It was an awful
question for any man to solve. He shrank
aghast before that deadly decision.
They were innocent, to be sure, the people
in that train. They were unknown men,"
women and children. They had the same
right to their lives as Netta herself. It was
crime, sheer crime, thus to seek to destroy
them. But still—What would y:,u have?
Netta lay there helpless on the line—his own
dear Netta. And she had parted with him
in anger but half an hour since. Could he
leave her to be destroyed by that hideous,
puffing thing? Has not any man the right
to try and save the lives he loves best, no
matter at what risk or peril to others? He
asked himself this question, too, vaguely,
instinctively, with the rapid haste of a life
.
and death struggle ; asked himself with
horror, for he "has no strength left now to
do one thing or the _ other—to remove the
obstacle from the place where he had laid
it or to warn the driver. One second alone
remained and then all would be over. On
it came, roaring, flaring, glaring, with its
great bulls eyes now peering red round the
corner—a terrible fiery dragon, resistless,
unconscious, bearing down in mad glee upon
the pole—or Netta.
Which of the two should it be—the pole
or Netta ?
And still he waited ; and still he tempor-
ized. What, what would he do? Oh,
Heaven ! be merciful. Even as the engine
swept, snorting and puffing steam, round
the corner, he doubted and temporized. He
reasoned with his own conscience in the
quick shorthand of thought. So far
It wouldn't be murder of malice prepense.
as intent was concerned he was guiltless.
When he laid that log there in the way of
the train he never believed—nay, never
even knew—it was a train with a living
freight of men and women he was trying to
imperil. He felt to it merely as a toad en-
gine unattached. He realized only Netta's
pressing danger. Was he bound now to
undo what he had innocently done—and
leave Netta to perish ? Must he take away
the post and be Necta's murderer?
It was a cruel dilemma for any man to
have to face. If he had had half an hour
to debate and decide, now, he might, per-
haps, have seen his way a little clearer.
But with that hideous thing actually -rush-
ing, red and vrrathful, on his sight—why—
he clapped his hands to his ears. It was
too much for him—too much for him.
And yet he must face it and act or remain
passive, one way or the other. With a des-
perate effort he made up his mind at last
just as the train burst upon him, and all was
over.
He made up his mind and acted accord-
inAs the engine turned the corner the
driver,looking ahead in the clear evening
light, saw something that made him start
with sudden horror and alarm. A tele-
graph pole lay stretched full length, and a
man, unknown, stood agonized by its side,
stooping down, as he thought, to catch and
move it. there was no time to stop her
now ; no time to avert the threatened ca-
tastrophe. All the driver could do in his
haste was to put the brake on hard and en-
deavor to lessen the force of the inevitable
concussion. But even as he looked and
wondered at the sight, putting on the
brake, meanwhile, with all his might and
main, he saw the man in front perform, to
his surprise, an heroic action. Rushing
full upon the line, straight before the very
lights of the advancing train, the man un-,
known lifted up the pole by main force,
and brandishing its end, as it were, wildly
in the driver'sface, hurled the hugh black
bulk, with a terrible effort; to the side of
the railway. It fell with a crash and the
man fell with it. - There was a second's
pause, while the driver's heart stood still
with terror. Then a jar—a thud—a deep
scratch into the soil. A wheel was off the
line ; they had met with an accident.
For a moment or two the driver only knew
that he was shaken up and hurt, but not se-
verely. The engine had left the track and
the 'carriages lay behind slightly shattered.
He could see how it happened. Part of the
pole in falling had rebounded on to the line.
The base of the great timber had struck the
near side wheel and sent it off the track in a
vain effort to surmount it. But the brake
had already slackened the pace and broken
the force of the shock. The possible dam-
age was very inconsiderable and they -must
look along the carriages and find out who
was hurt. And, above all things, what had
become of the man who had so nobly res-
cued them? For the very first thing the en-
gine driverhad seen of Ughtred as the train
stopped short was that the man who flung
the pole from the track before the advanc-
ing engine was knocked down by its ap-
proach, while,the train to all appearance
passed bodily over him. For good or evil,
Ughtred had made his decision at last at the
risk of his own lite. As the train dashed
on, with its living freight aboard his native
instinct of preserving life got the better of
him in spite of himself. He couldn't let
those innocent souls die by his own act—
though ifehe removed the pole and Netta
was killed he didn't know himself how he
could ever outlive it.
He prayed with all his heart that the train
might kill him.
The guard and the driver ran hastily along
the train. Nobody was hurt, though many
were shaken or badly bruised. Even
the carriages had escaped with a few small
cracks. The Holmbury smash was nothing
very serious.
, But the man with:the pole? Their preser-
ver -their
reserver.itheir friend. Where wao he all this
time? -What on earth had become of hind ?
They looked along the line. They search-
ed the track in vain. He bad disappeared
as if by magic. Not a trace could be found
of him. -
After looking long and uselessly,again and
again, the guard and the driver both gave it
up. They had seen the man distinctly—
not a doubt about that—and so had several
of the passengers as well. But no sign of
blood was to be discovered along the track -
The mysterious being who, as' they had be.
lieved, risked his own life to save theirs had
vanished as he had come, one might almost
say by a miracle.
And, indeed, as a matter of fact, when
Ughtred Carnegie fell on the track before
the advancing engine he thought for a mo-
ment it .vas all up with hien. He was glad
of that, too, for he had murdered Netta. It
would dash on now unresisted and crush his
darling to death. It was better he should
die, having murdered Netta. So he closed
his eyes tight and waited for it to kill him.
But the train passed on, jarring and scrap,
ing, partly with the action of the brake -
though partly, too, with the wheel digging
into the ground at the side ; it passed on
and over him altogether, coming, as it did
so, to a sudden standstill. As it stopped a
fierce cry rose uppermost in Ughtred's soul.
Thank Heaven, all was well. He breathed
once more easily. He had fallen on his back
across the sleepers in the middle of the
track. It was not really the train that had
knocked him down at a11, but the recoil of
the telegraph post. The engines and car-
riages had gone over him safely. He wasn't
seriously h'irt. He was only bruised and
sprained and jarred and shaken.
Rising up behind the train as it slacken-
ed, be ran hastily toward the off side, to-
ward where Netta lay unconscious on the
line in front of it. Nobody saw him run
past ; and no wonder either, for every eye
was turned toward the neat side of the ob-
struction. A person running fast by the
opposite windows was very little likely to
attract attention at such a moment. Every
step pained him, to be sure, for he was
bruised and stiff; but he ran on none the
less till he came upat last to where Netts,
lay. There he bent over her eagerly. Net-
ta raised her head, opened her eyes and
looked. In a moment the vague sense of a
terrible catastrophe averted came somehow
over her. She flung /ter arms around his
neck. «Oh, Ughtred, you've come back !"
she cried in a torrent of emotion.
" Yes, darling," Ughtred answered, his
voice half choked with tears. I've come
back to you now, for ever and ever."
He lifted her in his arms and carried her
some little way off up the left-hand path.
His heart was very full; 'Twas a terrible
moment, for as yet he hardly knew what
harm he might have done by his fatal act.
He only knew he had tried his best to undo
the wrong he had unconsciously wrought,
and if the worst came he would give himself
up now like a man to offended justice.
But the worst did not conte. Blind fate
had been inerciful. Next day the papers
were full of the accident of the Great South-
ern express ; eventually divided between
denunciation of the miscreant who placed
the obstruction in the way of the train and
admiration of the heroic, but unrecognizable
stranger who had rescued from death so
many helpless passengers at so imminent a
risk to his own life or safety. Only Ughtred
knew that the two were one and the same
person. And when Ughtred found out how
little harm had been done by the infatuated
act—an act he felt he could never possibly
explain in its true light to any other person
—he thought it wisest on the whole to lay
no claim to either the praise or the censure.
The world could never be made to under-
stand the terrible dilemma in which he was
placed—the one-sided way in which the
problem at first presented itself to him—
the deadly struggle through which be had
passed before he could make up his mind,
at the risk of Netta's life to remove the ob-
stacle. Only Netta understood ; and even
Netta herself knew no more than this,
that Ughtred had risked his own life to save
her.
A Dress of Spiders' Webs.
Mrs. White mentions as a great curiosity
the dress made from spiders' webs present-
ed to tha Queen by the Empress of Brazil in
1877. Most certainly it is, and to most Brit-
ish minds such a thing might seem incred-
ible ; but if 3 our correspondent were to visit
Fiji—which is famous for its magnificent
spiders—he might, perhaps, have less cause
for wonder. The web made by the big yel-
lowspider here is very large and strong ;
but in addition to the web proper, in which
flies, mosquitoes, etc., are caught, it spins a
cocoon of orange -colored, silky, gossamer -
like stuff. which, if taken up_in the fingers,
requires quite an effort to break. This stuff,
I can conceive, might be woven into mater-
ial for a dress. Might not the dress in
question have been composed of similar ma-
terial made by the Brazilian spiders ?
I can hardly, even now, believe that it
could have been composed of what we un-
derstand to be the ordinary spider's web. I
can quite imagine, however, that such a
material might be of some commercial value
as one frequently hears complaints at the
present day of a waut of fineness in fibers or
materials used for scientific purposes.
I may add that our cockroaches are huge,
too ; but, by a merciful dispensation of
Providence, our spiders are in proportion.
The particular enemy of the cockroach here
is not the big yellow spider above mention-
ed, but a long-legged, formidable -looking
brown spider, called the " hunting -spider."
I can not find out that this species spins any
web, bit apparently depends upon its great
activity for securing its prey. I know,
however, that it can bite pretty sharply, as
I once saw one draw blood from the finger
of a doctor friend of mine who was captur-
ing it for me. It is often to be seen hug-
ging a large, flattened, circular, cream -
colored bag, which, I take it, contains its
eggs. We never kill spiders in Fiji.
,.r
The Eu ling Passion.
A tiny tot of only three,
Sweet as the dew the rose inhales,
I gayly dance upon my knee
The while I tell her fairy tales,
Unclouded is her placid brow ;
"No care," muse I, " such lives distress!"
" Dear me," says she, " I wonder how
I'd better make my dolly's dress."
A fair young bride in queenly gowns
Comes down the grand cathedral aisle :
The mighty organ sweetly sounds,
And on her lips a saintly smile,
And in -her heart a prayer—not so,
For truthfully we must confess
She's thinking this: " I'd like to know
What folks are saying ofmydress."
A matron near the gates of death,
With weeping kindred at her side,
All fearful that each fleeting breath
Will bear her soul across the tide.
She tries to speak ! She faintly clasps
The kindly form that bends above.
.And with her dying breath sheasps :
ffl
See that my shroud is rued, love !"
If all the Scriptures say is true,
There'll be more women, ten to one.
In that sweet by-and-by, where you
And I may meet when life is done.
But all the joys designed to bless—
Bright crowns and harps with golden
strings—
Won't please the women there unless
Each has the ni est pair at wings.
The prudent sees only tbe difficulties, the
bold only the advantages, of a great enter-
prise ; the hero sees both, diminishes those,,
makes these predominate, and conquers.
LATE FOREIffN NEWS
Sinceetiie Franco Frussian war Gen:early
has spent two thousand two hundred million
dollars on her army and navy.
Reports from the State of Georgia indicate
that the watermelon acreage this year is
about 20,000. At the usual average the
total product will be about 9,000 car loads.
The stockmen of South Dakota have re-
cently imported from Tennessee a number
of Russian wolf hounds to help in the ex-
termination of wolves, which have of late
been killing numbers of calves and colts.
A company has been formedatChristiania,
Norway, to reproduce an exact model of
the old Viking boat that was discovered
some years ago in an ice floe.
--Prof. Michael Mahon of Dundas, Minn.,
has a flying machine that resembles a Chin-
ese bark. On the top and sides are two air
wheels that are used to lift and steer the
machine. It is said that the model has car-
ried two and a half times its weight.
The Osage Indians are said to Le the rich-
est community in the world. They are but
1,509 in number, but they have $8,000,000
deposited to their credit in the Treasury at
Washington, on which they draw $100,000
interest every three months, and they own
1,470,000 acres of the best land in Oklahoma.
Most of them wear blankets, despite their
wealth.
At the late election in Victoria the Labor
party made great efforts inspired by a feel-
ing of great confidence. Of the thirty-six
candidates they put up, eleven were elect-
ed, and only four of them were actual work-
ingmen.
The measles bacillus, discovered in Berlin
by Dr. Canon, varies from a three -thous-
andth to one one -thousandth of an inch in
length, and possesses characteristics said to
be "different from those of any other bacil-
lus known."
Dr. Landousy, member of the French Acad-
emy of Medicine, says that the depopula-
tion of France owes more to tuberculosis
than to aloholism, syphilis, and malthusian-
ism put together. Two thousand babies under
two years old die annually in Paris from
tuberculosis.
There is now playing in Paris a Russian
horn band each horn being capable of pro.
during a single note only: So perfect is the
training that the band produces the effect'
of one equipped with ordinary instruments,
and even running scales with tbe rapidity
and precision of a violin.
A new cure for hydrophobia has been
tried by Prof. Murri at the Pasteur Insti-
tute in Milan. Hydrophobia developed on
a man who had undergone the Pasteur
treatment, with paralysis from the waist
downward, and Prof. Murri made a subcu-
taneous injection of the virus in its "fixed
form." A complete cure followed.
The Government of the Tyrol has passed
a bill imposing heavy fines on persons who
may be caught while selling samples of the
beautiful and rare Alpine flower called edel-
weiss, which has been pulled up by the
roots on the mountains to such an extent
that there is danger of the plant becoming
extinct. The people complain that tourists
are rapidly killing out that and other Alpine
plants, and persons bent on money making
have helped on the destruction by gathering
the plants for travellers.
The burdens put upon German industry
as the result of the workmen's insurance
are heavy. In the mining industry more
than 26,000,000 of marks were paid into the
sick fund during 1890. 12,000,000 being
contributed by the masters, and the contri-
butions for 1891 are still greater. In 1891
about 6,500,000 marks were paid into the
accident insurance fund. The old' age in-
surance fund required 5,500,000 marks, the
owners being obliged to pay half. The em-
ployers, therefore, having to subscribe more
than $5,000,000 for the benefit of the work-
men, or $13 a head.
Before tbe terrible explosion of last Mon-
day night which blew up the wine shop
where Ravachol was arrested in Paris, the
proprietor and the waiter who helped to
capture the dynamiter had reaped a
golden harvest through the sudden fame
they achieved. Hundreds of people visited
the shop who had never heard of it before,
insisted that L'Herot should wait upon
them, and presented him with twenty -franc
pieces on their departure as a reward for his
"heroism." Very was making several
hundred francs a day clear profit, and it is
said that his waiter on some days received
as much as 500 francs.
The oldest newspaper in the world, of
course, is in China. It is the King Pan, is
the official journal of the empire, and was
founded in 911. Originally it was published
intermittently, but after 1361 it appeared
regularly every week. In 1804 it was con-
verted into a daily, and now issues three
editions a day and sells at about a cent a
copy. The morning sheet, printed on yellow
paper, is devoted to commercial news. It
has a circulation of about 8,000 copies.
The midday issue contains official documents
and general news, The evening edition,
printed on red paper, gives the latest in-
telligence and extracts from the two previ-
ous editions. The paper is conducted by
six literati appointed by the State.
The highest priced newspaper in the world
is the Mashonaland Herald and Zimbesian
Times, printed at Fort Salisbury in Mashona-
land. It costs a shilling a copy, is the size
of a sheet of foolscap, and is issued daily.
The printing is done by the useful hekto-
graph, the printing machine evidently not
yet having penetrated into`this interesting
region of South Africa. A recent issue an-
nounces the arrival of the telegraph at Fort
Salisbury, and this region, only two years
ago wholly occupied bq savage peoples, is
now within an hour of London. The news-
Iiapet' complains of the absence of any bank-
ing facilities,and says the community is over-
supplied with educated men who are ."just
now seeking suitable work—some work of
anv."
Senhor Marianna Carvelho, the Portu-
guese ex -Minister of Finance, had a singu-
lar adventure on Monday. A stranger call-
ed at his residence in Lisbon, desiring to see
him privately, and was ushered into his
presence. On the servant withdrawing, the
visitor suddenly drew a revolver and point-
ing it at the statesman's head demanded im-
mediate - payment of 500 milreis (about
£110). Senhor Carvalho, thinking he had
to deal with a madman, handed the stranger
part of the amount demanded, and said the
remainder would be forwarded to any place
he might appoint. The visitor consented
to this proposal, took the amount offered,
and left the house. Senlior Carvalho, at
once informed the police, and the robber was
arrested.
The wise man has his follies no less than
the fool ; but herein lies the difference-
the follies of- the fool are known to the
world, but are hidden from . himself ; the
follies of the wise are known to himself, but
are hidden from the world.
THE AEROI'ADT'S Prig -
Some of the Remarkable Thintli-ar sees
and Feels In a Balloon.
At a height of 200 feet the,. ;air, t:.tshing
past with tremendous velocity, 2rivea one the
impression of leaning out of the ear window
of a limited express, the sounds of earth die
away in a murmur, and it is then that the
balloon seems stationary, the eartJi'I1ing
away from it. -
Looking down from the height, oc1T stilt
faces appear level, mountains and alley*
are alike, and the world looks.aa iif.apread
out and flattened by a rolling pin. = Toads
and rivers resolve themselves into narrow
ribbons; forests, fields, and meadows are
clumps of green, red, and black, williggreen
as the dominant color. -At two nes earth
is lost to view, as in a fog. Presently the
balloon begins to sail, driven by an air cur-
rent. There is now no apparent motion.
The aeronaut experiences a feeling of op-
pression; the air, deprived of its vital prin.
ciple, exhausts at each inspiration; ringing
sounds are heard in the ears, and one - can,
so to speak, hear the stillness. T2ra breath
comes in quick, successive gasps, that do
not satisfy the lungs. It is like going to
cne's death.
Looking upward, the horizon is bounded
by the big black ball—the balloon—dark
against the milky opaqueness of the atmos-
phere. The airship is swaying andl swing-
ing, while the clouds, floating in a contrary
direction, produce a vague giddiness. There
is, however, no time for tremors. Seconds
seem hours, the
MIND AND MEMORY
traveling with electric flight. Coniaatures,
recollections, and retrospection flash across
the bewildered brain as one reels through
space. Suddenly the top of the balloon
comes in contact with a cloud ; there is a
slight jar, and the next instant all is envel-
oped in fog, from which the aeronaut
emerges soaked with spray. And new for
the spectacle ! Sublime, cling. Muuntaine
of iridescence, fleecy white clouds, tinged
with creamy pink, like the plumage of the
cockatoo. Swirling combinations of color,
blending and shifting as ina gigantic bubble.
Golden greens,- that melt into purple - and
bronze and crimson, with the sun direolving
and overflowing on their tops. Wonderful
tints, such as an artist never dreamed of.
To comprehend color it is necessary to have
seen the magic canvases of the clouds. The
balloon sails on and drops slowly away from
this panorama once more into the colorless
atmosphere.
With the descent, the earth ap r rs to
rise and the balloon to remain fised : and
now the operator is occupied with one idea
— speculation as to where and how he will
reach earth, for distance is incalculable and
perspective a myth. The balloon is the
sport of chance, and is liable to deposit its
passengers anywhere from the Les of a
church steeple to the bottom of a ditch.
The aeronaut takes his life in his own bands
when he ascends with the airship. Should
it take fire,
BURST IN MIDAIR,
or cool off Soo suddenly in stridinga, cold
current, the result is collapse - andnee-ester,
for there is no safety valve to the fire bal-
loon.
The aeronaut is invariably an enthusiast
until he meets with an accident, after which
discretion becomes the better part of bis
valor, and he is content to rally substitutes
for an ascension. After a few year. he is
apt to retire altogether, and 1etsve to others
the hazardous occupation. Up to a
period of six years ago there num-
bered but twenty aeronauts in this
country, and they were in great den' nd at
country fairs, settlers and soldiers reunions
and upon legal holidays, rural celebrations
being considered incomplete without the
daring balloonist, who, for the time being,
was of more importance than the President
and entire Senate, and it may be added
that no occupation is more conducive to
conceit and self• sufficiency than that of the
aeronaut. There is less profit in the busi-
ness now than formerly ; the novelty of
the ordinary balloon ascension no longer
exists for Americans. Realizing tante near-
ly every aeronaut now makes the sensation-
al parachute descent.
On reaching the desired altitude this is
effected by cutting the connecting rope.
There is a rapid fall, the resistance en the
air forcing open the parachute, which is
nothing more than a ribless umbrella, 18
feet in diameter. The operator, on cutting
looser. darts downward, as if fired from a
catapult, until within a few hundred feet
of the earth, when he is sustained v`3' the
parachute. Should this fail to operate,
death is inevitable.
Mr. Gladstone in speech.
The Evening Post published at London
thus describes Mr. Gladstone as he looked
and spoke in the debate on the Clergy
Discipline bill on Thursday evening :
" The right honorable gentleman was in
excellent voice. It is trite to say an but
for years he has not spoken with so much
resonance, with so much of that rich, fruity
tone, so peculiarly his own, as he did last
night. The sense of hearing was delightful.
His gesticulations, too, were remarkably
dramatic. He emphasized his penetet by
sweeps of the arm, lin striking the papers
on his despatch box, by swaying of the body
in a mannner that would have been a lesson
to a past master in the art of gesture. He
lived again in his youth. His back teas as
straight as that of an officer of the gnarls ;
his figure as lithe as that of a Greek athlete,
and, as his intellect heated with tz a fight,
his face glowed with radiating expression,
and his voice grew in volume, ripeness, and
charm of tone. The House filled up, and
he held all intellects as by a spell. His
vitality is marvellous.
a` If we ask what is the secret of his
wonderful voice the answer is obvious. It
is in the possession of an exceptional organ-
ism. His chest is of extraordinary depth,
even now. Though when he is •a hiking
across the floor of the House he seems bow-
ed and shrunken with age, when he is speak-
ing his chest expands and his shoulders are
squared—an actual physical transformation
takes place before one's eyes. Another
obvious explanation of the quality of his
voice is the rapidity and vividness with
which his ideas trooped into his mind clad
in instructive language. With a mind lique-
fied with ideas and a physique which had
defied age, it is no wonder, after all, that
his voice should be so finely effective. Last
night's speech was indeed a triumph, and
none cheered more heartily than the political
opponents with whom, for once, he was in
cordial agreement."
Discovery of Sapphires in Queensland.
The Government . Geologist of Queens-
land confirms the recent reports as to the
valuable discoveries of sapphires as Withers'
field, on the Central Railway line, in that
colony. He states thatthe stones are equal
to the finest gems in the mineralogical
cabinets of Europe, and believes Ghat
diamonds will also be found. Tee , sssees
have refused an offer of fentn1'=Cr tom` the
property. -
iteie
SmS
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