HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron News-Record, 1892-12-21, Page 7Ohrleienne Theatricals, A. .
Ito.wlui #10 111010 i standins theta
Dark) : herr some and debonair, •
An 'hade hint be ggone with a lofty air,
Wet leas part of the p1tU',
erolnsahe.l and n•gown traria Franco
arful•beauty ,did:oneh enhance;
think she gave: hint oneawitt, aweet glance,
that lead not in the play. s r .
He Tenably seleed her dei nate wrist,
"'Yon ateMine ad yp14 raad ppp a Iliiowe tevermissed!"
But that peas prrt oe.the play.
•
Den voice rang out like a clear -toned hell,
Mnil bLe lotttthed advances she did repel ;
Taut he kissed her atter the curtain fell,
daldthat.was net in the PlaY.
QLL'S CHRISTMAS EYE
xt.was bitter cold on the night before
„Qhrl,trime in latitude Cr 30' north, longi.
tilde• li0 , west. That lies just south of tha
soathern extremity of the. Grand Banks of
Newfoundland, and a wild, melancholy, un-
' 4asy part of the Atlantic Ocean it is at the
• hest`of ` times. But on a Christmas eve,
with th'e:wffid in the northwest, it is a home
Of desglatien. The wind was northwesterly
' on that:: particular Christmas eve, and it was
• blowing what landsmen would call' half a
gale and aaeailor a brisk breeze. But the
• gc od steamer "Astoria," from Liverpool to
Nosy 'York, made no account of a wind
which served only to increase the draft in
bef•,fire-room, and to enable the engineer to.
,.egUeeze half a.dozen in.ore revolutions per
minute but of the propeller. She was mak-
5tig a; fair nineteen and a half knots per
lbur:
When the cold spray came over the
weather -bow like a discharge of shot made
'of ice, and slashed the face of the first of
`far away up on the bridge, he only pulled
• hceia cap down more tightly over his ears,
`hanged the muffler higher around his neck,
w;;:,'snuinted at the compass -card and gritted
hiss teeth, for he realized that the mighty
machine under his feet was letting the de-
sgrees.of longitudedrop astern at a pace
whielrproiniaed the steamship a splendid
Winter record.
"If the Captain had only laid the course
'to 'the nor'rard," he muttered, "we'd 'a'
broken the record. I don't see wot he's
a•b"itggaluggin' around here for as if we was
`inthe middle o' summer, with ice on the
:banks. Keep your eyes in the bowl, you !"
The .last remark was addressed to the
man at the wheel.
I thought I seed summat w'en we riz to
•
the last sea, sir," said the man.
•. - :`!See ! Ye couldn't see your grand -
•mother's ghost on rich a night, lad. It's
blabker'n the inside o' a cuttle-fish."
'It was black, and no mistake. Little
Molly Ryan,who was among the poor steer-
^: age • passengers with her father and mother,
wondered if the ship was sailing on the
ocean or just on .darkness. Molly- ought
hot to have " been on deck, and if any sailor
had seen her she would have been quickly
•.: ekit'below. But. she was such a little
• body, and she huddled up so Closely under
the- edge of the poop that no one discovered
'her. ' Itwas so gloomy and close in the
'steerage quarters, • and so many poor wo-
ane were sick, that Molly had stolen
�aw• -while her parents were dozing, to
'!'oafle ' breath of fresh air. The cold wind
-' e•"' If to pierce through her, but shewas
s
e
8
.",`fascinated by the darkuesa; and after a time
'elle climbed up and sat on the rail, looking
atghostlyfoam a
thef m e it hurled itself
1: , against the iron side and swept , hissing
'away under the quarter. Molly was in'
freat danger; but she did not know it. She
ancied she saw away down there in the
-r. Black -and -white waters a beautiful Christ-
mas tree and loaded with silver
'toys that came and went with the foam.
.Molly hae never had a Christmas tree, but
she had heard about thein, and her fondest
hope was that some day she might
see one. She leaned far out, looking down
iutothe waters, and, of course, she could
:;not know how close the bark "Mary Ellis"
'was.
',But the Mary Ellis was altogether too
'close. She was flying swiftly along, befa'be
the wind, thundering down into the yawn-
ing hollows that flung her bows aloft again
with terrible force, and her course was
diagonally across the bows of the steamer.
'Now the skipper of the Mary Ellis was a
rough, mean man, and he was trying to save
oil;'so hie side -lights were, not burning.
But those of the steamers were, and the
watch on the bark's deck ought to have
seen them. But for some reason they did
not. • So every moment the. two ships kept
`drawing closer and closer together, and just
AO the steward happened to catch sight of
,11io11y, and called to her to get down, there
was a sudden outbreak of shouts forward.
The first officer immediately called a
Lewift order to the man at the wheel, then
Sprang to the engine -room telegraph, and
'signaled the engineer to stop.
A.few seconds later there was a jar, a
noise of rending wood, and the Astoria
Struck the Mary Ellis a glancing blow on
:
�. tea• ;"h.4
rs
COMING CLOSER AND CLOSER TOGETHER.
her port quarter, carrying away a part of
her bulwarks. At the same instant Molly
n fell off the Astoria's rail into the sea.
Man overboard !" screamed the steward,
I
reached the spot just a moment too
catch to c her.
But it takes a long time to stop a steamer
,going nearly twenty knots an hour, and by
the time that the first boat was lowered, the
Astoria was far beyond the spot where •
Molly went over.
Fortunately for Molly, when she came to
the surface half strangled, her little hands
sti+iick something hard which floated. With
the strength of despair she climbed upon it.
xt Fuss the part of the Mary Ellis's bul-
s'varks knocked off in tbe collision. Still
More fortunately for Molly, the captain
of the bark, rushing on dock and hearing
thu cry, "Man overboard," thought
tthat the words came from some one on
kiss own vessel, and ordered one of his
boats lowered away. Groping -in the black.
' i ae Odd the tumbling water evii,tlroleo#'
: Iii* bog found :lolly,,a i took her aborted
lila b1r.
"WO 1"" a claimed the oaiptafn1 •""only a
e O FYa All'
WI aka.b 1 r x so a.of "ou. .
seely lofked after",•"t m ' # ' ^, u"
,tAnd:baviag. rita(la euro that the. ballr.was
not ty,orrioual ' 144ulred, hie ratuxued to his
cabin to alee�, " ,
. "3�V'a1,11'au'some,"" ,said a fang, loan' sea'
, magi, with tt puittted beard, who looped for
all thewol'la 'tilts a Conneotiol b farmer,
"%Pot ye gain" to dew with Ter wreckage!
now, /0 got her 1" ,
"Thaw her out," fin,id !'I3attdsome;'t
as he was called, carrying 'Molly into the
galley,
The sailors fell into a genore1 •aliseession
ae to how Molly should .be ,treated, for the
pool' little thing utas quite unconscious,
and ' her clothes were freezing on
her, However,, after a while elle was
undressed, properly and gently "thawed
out," and put to bed. The stlilor ,called
Handsome mixed, a warm drink and pour-
ed it between her teeth. She gave a little
gasp; opened her eyes, and gazed around.
Oh, eho in ttored, there isn't any
Chriatmae tree after all."
And with that she fainted away 'u alit.
The sailors looked at one another in solemn
silence, till finally one said, in a deep base
voice :
"Well, if she hasn't a•'untin' for trees on
the so'therly end o' the Grand Banks I"
" Wel, that's wot s1le'41 a-lookin'
fur, au' that's wob die's a-goin' fur
to get," said Handsome, slapping one
huge fist into the other ; and then he and
the other seamen sat down under the fore-
castle lamp and conversed earnestly in
low tones, After several minutes of talk
they all arose, and Farmer toe said :
J •
"HANDSOME.,' CHRISTMAS TRE::.
"Han'soi»e, ,xeou air consid'ble peert
w'en yeou re peert. But there 's no tine
to lose. We must get to work- right
away."
While the rough sailors were at work,
little Molly passed from a state of uncon-
sciousness to one of sleep. The big seamen
took turns in watching over her. It was
not a pretty bedroom that Molly had that
night, It was dark.and dingy, and full of
weird noises and groaning timbers. A
swinging lantern threw changeful shadows
into all the corners, and showed some very
rude bunks,in which several sailors off
watch were•frying to snatch a brief rest.
Just behind those bunks against the stout
sides of the bark the seas burst in blooming
shocks, and ever •and anon there was a noise
of falling water overhead. Up and away
the bows would soar and then plunge down
again with a sickening rush into the tur-
moil of foam. But of course the sailors
thought nothing of all these things. The
forecastle was their home, and they were
long ago hardened to ite sights and
sounds. In spite of everything,.
Molly slept quiet soundly, wrapped in
a rough blanket and with a pea -jacket
spread over her shoulders, while Hand-
some and the other` sailors were at work
with a boathook, some small pieces of wood,
oakum, and green paint. Whatever it was
that they were making, it was strange
enough to look at ; but their hearts were in
' their work, and ttiey conversed earnestly
in low tones. At last it was finished and
set up in a bucket close against the bulk-
head. where the lantern shed its fitful light
full upon it.
" 'IS N'T THAT A CIITISTMAS TREE ?'
"Werry good, too," said Handsome, gaz-
ing at it ; "but it won't do unless it's got
somethin' onto it."
And then those sailor -men went rummag-
ing in their chests, and as they had been
voyagers in all parts of the globe, they
brought forth some curious toys to put upon
the wondrous Christmas tree which they
had made. Handsome contributed three
large shells from the Indian Ocean, a dried
mermaid, and a small Hindoo god which
answered very well for a dolly. Another
produced a South African dagger, Chinese
puzzle, and three brass nose -rings from a
South Pacific island. Farmer Joe brought
out a stuffed marmoset, an Indian amulet,
and a tintype likeness of himself. A fourth
sailor fished out of his chest a beautiful
India silk handkerchief and a string of
coral. Handsome gravely hung them on
the Christmas tree. When all was done,
he stepped back and studied the effect.
"Werry good, too," he said.
"Yas," said Farmer Joe ; "I guess yeou
couldn't get any such tree as that to
haeme,"
At six o'clock on Christmas morning
Molly awoke. It was still dark,
and the lantern's light was but dim.
The sailors were huddled back ,_ in
the corner farthest from their wonderful
Christmas tree, which was set where the
child's eyes were most likely to fall on it as
aeon as she eat up in her bunk. So when
Molly awoke she did sit up and stare
straight in front of her with sleepy eyes,
o'rytug to collect 'her thought* and, .make
out 'where site >i s. s rochni rhe booms
ottsolous of ;the, .tree. Ilier eyes" .opened
wider and wider. She • almost ceased to
breathe for u..few lnutltents. Then `sudden -
IT she clasped her hands together and, with
a little ceresin of delight, cried �oyotioly >1
t"•V11llyt. it 'a It Christina*? tree 1'"
The eailora nudged one another, ands
Handsome could not restrain a' cltaeltte.
'Dolly heard, and looked around at thew
A uxzled expression oame over ,her face,
and she studied het' surroundings fair ,a
minute. '
"Iaf't that a Chi'istnias tree r, she asked,'
"That'swet it is 1" cdccl I';nglieh ; ('at1'
we. a ,leo is Santa Qiduaes. ,
fr`Ph 1" exclaims4 Dolly; ;"'wliut funny,
"Santa C1aue the Highwayman",
IIs "hold! up" the Lather of the family every .Christ -
MU.
Santa Clauses 1 I always thought there'was
only one." -
"Well, aboard this 'ere bark there is
several." .
"And oh !" cried Molly, clapping her
hands and jumping out of the bunk, "what
a lot of funny things I've got for my Christ.
mas 1, 1 never got much before. But I
think I'd rather have my father and
mother, please." And then she looked as
if she were abort to cry.
"Don't go fer to cry." said Handsome,
"an' I'll sing ye a song."
"Oh, you aro a nice Santa Claus !" cried
Molly, brightening up.
"All the rest o' you Santa Clauses jine in
the chor-i-us," said Handsome, standing up
and taking a hitch at his trousers. Then
he sang ;
• Oh, the cook he 'a at the binnacle,
The captain 's in the gallery,
An' the mate he 's at the foretop,
Wi' Sally -in our alley :
An' the steward 'a on the bobetay,
' A-fishiu' hard ler sole :
The wind is up an' down the mast;
So roll, boys, roll.
"Crura -vs."
Roll, boys, roll, boys !
Never mind the weather,
No matter how the wind blows,
We'll all get there together.
Oh, the ca stain couldn't steer a ship,
Because he was a Lasear:
The cook he had to show the way
From France to Madagascar ;
The ship she couldn't carry sail,
'ieoause she had no ricgm' ;
The crew they had to live on °tants,—
'Twas werry deep ter diggin'.
Roll, boys, roll, boys ! eto.
The cook says : "Let the anchors go!"
The crew says: "We ain't got 'em."
The captain yells : "Then pack yer trunks
Well all go to the bottom."
The steward hove the lead, sirs,
'Twas three feet deep, no more ;
So every mother's son of us
Got up and walked ashore.
Moll, boys, roll, boys ! eto.
The land was full o' cannibals,
W'ich trade it interestin'.
We told 'em not to eat us, ter
Wo was sich bad digestin'.
The kin comes down to see us,
An' he spots a paper collar ;
An' he says if we '11 clear out o' Out,
He 'II give us half a dollar.
Ro11, boys, roll, boys ! eto.
So we fells an ink
rubber tree,
,
An' makes a big canoe,
Abont the shape and pattern
Of a number twenty shoe ;
The cook he draws a sextant, ..
An' the captain draws his pistol
One shoes the sun, an' one the king,
An' off we goes fer Bristol.
Roll, boys, roll, boys, eto.
•
An' new we 're sate ashore again, 1
We 'ix goin' fer to stay.
There 's grub to eat, an' grog for aa,
An' wages good to pay,
I '11 cross my legs upon a stool,
An' never be a saflor ;
I'd rather be a butcher, or a
Baker, or a tailor.
Roll, boys, roll, boys
Never mind the weather :
No matter how the wind blows.
We '11 all get there together.
At the end of the song, all the seamen
rtood up, joined hands, and danced around,
roaring out what Handsome called the
"chorius," in such tremendous voices that
the captain, who had come on dock, ran to
the forecastle hatch to see what was going
on. He dropped down ainong Ws men so
suddenly that they all paused in silence,
expecting an outbreak of anger. But the
captain slowly realized the meaning of the
scene upon which he had intruded, and
said :
"All right, lads; amuse her and take
good care of her. And when we get to
New York I'll make it my business to find
her father."
He was as good as his word, and in due•
time •Molly was placed in the hands of her
parents, , who had been mourning her as
dead. It was a joyous reunion, you maybe
sure. But all the rest of her life Molly re-
membered her strange Christmas eve at sea,
and her wonderful Christmas tree.
That Would Not Suit.
"Let's be married on Christmas, darling,"
said the impetuous young lover, after Miss
Fosdick had said yes.
"No, indeed 1" replied the far-sighted
young girl. "I'd lose one set of presents."
The Proper Greeting-
Margurito-1 hear you are to be married'
on the twenty-fifth of December?
Carolyn (with a blush)—Yes.
Margurite—Then let me wish you a
marry Christmas."
"I mustgo to the Woman's Gymnasium and learn
Boxing and Wrestling." d
"What for, dear '1"
"To get in training for the Christmas shopping."
Wilkins litemombers His Cook.
"Mary," said Mr. Wilkins to his cook,
"you have been a good and faithful servant
to me, and I intend you shall be rewarded
now that Christmas has come. You may
use the telephone for ton minutes every
Saturday afternoon during .the holidays."
and aimagasiO01F bewailing the'taurde)t eV toil
and avor'ry?andexpense, in the, ptomains and
tnakin$, or jlurobasing :gI • Christmas Preis*
arta, "Krienlias gifts we Culled thorn
when x akl'ae at boy, lit .aidla't, n,9d•doltcfi"t
Moto snitch re11nerneiit of onttltro is ,Gho
:spotting .atad•tbe situtxd thereat flat .the.
•
•
•
Raitging up .our staokings,when x was a
boy was not he hollow farce whish f t a low
15. There were fireplaoee by which stock'
lugs could be hung up. TO hang a wilco,
tion of stockings of assorted sises aroupd a
black' Arid cheerlcse register, emelling.of
sulphur from a defective heater, is a pre,
fanatical, And hanging them in trent of a-
cold and clammy steam radiator should be
pgoliibited by law, It teetls to make chil-
dren skeptical and atheistiot, In. the older
days Kris Tringle had a broad chimney to
come down, and' fireplace•es ;big as a store
)"lox to jump out of. There was a mantel,
piece like unto a sideboard, from which the
stockings depended. Sometimes, if a long
stocking wore hung in the middle, insecure-
ly held'by a pin, the draft would draw it
partly into the fireplace during the night.
Then the wliole fancily would' be aroused,
and we would. go shuffling about the house,
like so many shivering phantoms, hunting
for the fire.
The old-fashioned fireplace had more
drawbacks than the bank -log. As a rule,
the bigger tbe fireplace the colder the room.
All the heat that could be drawn from
every room in the houeo went up the big
sitting room chimney. Eternal summer
must have lingered somewhere up in that
great stack. Those old fireplaces were
splendid things in which' to roast apples.
And the soles of your bare feet. You
could hold your feet out before the glowing
fire until they curled up and warped and
crinkled with intense heat. And by the
time you got then to bed they were cold aa
blocks of marble, Your feet, that is. Not
the apples. You didn't take them to bed,
You took long strides and walked cut your
heels to keep them warm], That is, your
feet. They filled the room with a grateful
flavor when they began to sizile. Tho
apples did,
The old.fashior-ed fire -place "Was no less
romantic and interesting in the summer
time, when it was. enclosed with a light
paper screen. When a child, rompingabout
the ronin, fell up against that pictured
. screen, and wont plunging and screaming
right through the Lake of Como, those
placid waters never regained their pristine
placidity. Even when the artist of the
family restored the picture, by pasting its
shattered edges together, and coloring them
with laundry bluing, the scene of the trage-
dy was emphasized in a manner too ghastly to
contemplate. The tragedy always followed
the act of breaking through the lake. The
drowning, indeed, was looped upon as a
sort of comedy, and was highly enjoyed by
tri
the bystanders, until the Life Guard,
armed only with her slipper, rescued the
survivor.of the wreck. Then any person
under the age of fifteen, who had any tears
on hand that h t were 4tbout ripe enough to
shod, could find a ready market for the en-
tire crop as fast as the shedder could turn
hem out.
Most of the Christmas presents in those
days were designed by the manufacturers
for the hanging stocking. Anything too
big to go into a stocking had to go over to
somebody's birthday. In any family where
there was more than one child, the old re-
liable "Noah's Ark" was always looked for.
We hailed, with acclamations of astonished
recognition, Noah and Mrs. Noah, Messieurs
and Mesdames Shen], Ham and Japhet.
There. was no way of telling the men and
women apart ; they were exactly alike ; but
the elephant and giraffe you could dis-
tinguish at a glance, on account of the spots
on the giraffe. So also the dog and the
cow ; because the cow was always white
and blue, while the dog was invariably
plain blue. Within twenty-four hours after
the landing on Ararat, the baby would have
all the paint sucked off Shem, Ham and the
hired man, and the doctor would he sent
for. He told us, once a year, returning
with the breathless messenger. to keep the
candy out of the baby's reach, and let it
wean itself on the rest of the antediluvians
if it found them to its liking.
The red monkey climbing a red stick was
another regular Christmas visitor. Ho was
highly esteemed as a light luncheon by the
baby. It never seemed to affect the infant
unpleasantly, to himself that is : although
the cloudyi
symphony hon • in red n
andblue
y p 3
Fl
bout
nis innocent mouth was apt to make the be-'
holder shiver. But it made the monkey '
look sick. Then there was a soldier on a
box, with a•major•goneral'a uniform,beatinc
a drum. You tarn a crank, the general
lifted his sticks high in the air, and some- ,
thing in the box male a noise as mach like
a drum as a peal of thunder is like a pic-
colo. These things as toys were of no great
people who trade thein .didn't rash into the
paper's to tell how nuo`h it cost them, and
how tired to death it made thein, and ,how
g1ad they^ worst 00.4 was all over for an.'other year: But last year and the year be-
fore, read'snoh articles fn pprint,v • Oct did
you, Wherefore at seems to ma" that. we
hilted Kris Kringle, u all centttry
tooeoon,
We have more Curran s
it; our Chrletmas
cake Under thereign o f Santa Claus, it le
true. But we have also more flies
Robert T. Burdett() in Ladies' Homo
Journal,
THE FIRST TEARS"
He was tall and rough -looking, and
moved along the crowded streets with the
heavy, awkward gait• of a hard-working
roan. The ill-fitting ready-made clothes he
wore contrasted strangely with his intelli-
gent face, to which the stern lines of a aor-
sow born with manliness gave additional
dignity.
There was a narrow band of crape around
itis hat.
A stout old lady ran against him at the
street corner arid dropped an armful of
bundles and packages. He assisted her in
picking them up, tlAhl as he handed her the
last one, through the torn wrapping paper
whereof protruded the bead and an arm of;a
cheap doll, his ho,m,d trembled.
The red-faced woman was busy catching
her breath, and hurried on without thank-
ing him for his teouble.
Slight es the irteident was, it reminded
him that it was neat Christmas time.
The corners of his mouth began ' to
twitch.
Last year ho had bought presents, as did
thousands who were flurrying hither null,
thither like ants.
Last year he had proudlp iaid a heat gray
shawl ...on the Cbi iot. ,as imlrle, and had
pinned to it a little card whereon the ship-
ping clerk of the factory, who wrote a nice,
flourishing hand, hail written for him, "To
my good wife, Mary."
And besides this he had placed the doll
and a pair of warm mittens and a picture
book for their little girl. -
And then he thought of the two bright
tears of joy that had sparkled in his wife's
eyes when, after her first pleased surprise,
she had turned around, and laying her arms
around his neck, had called him, amid
smiles and sobs, her "dear, silly old Dick."
But Mary and the curly-haired tot that
had danced so gleefully around last year's
Christmas tree were sleeping side by side
out in the silent God's acro.
There arose before him the vision of a
gray November day, a pitifully short
funeral procession, a hurried service by the
minister over two plain coffins, and then
the awful thud, thud of the earth heaped
upon dust that had returned to dust.
A big lump rose in his threat, but his
eyes stared tearlessly before him.
A servant girl leading two children pass-
ed by him. The little ones prattled baby
talk in the high key common among chil-
dren, and loud enough for the bereaved
workman to hear.
Like the echo of an old Bong the notes fell
upon his ear, pleasing and yet so immeasur-
ably sad to him.
Ah, if he could give vent to his grief—
could weep a single tear !
Mechanically he entered one of the large
stores, and without knowing how he came
there he found himself in front of .the ver
counter where last year he had bought the
doll for his little daughter.
From those displayed he now selected the
largest and most elaborately dressed one.
He knew not, nor thought he, what to de
with it, except that he had an indistinct
idea of placing it upon the child's grave on
Christmas Day.
The clerk, a sharp, businesslike young ,
woman 'with glasses on her tip -tilted nose,
looked dubiously from the expensive pur-
chase to the poorly dressed customer, and
ventured to say . "This is six dollars. Do
you really want to buy it ?"
In answer he handed her a ten -dollar bill.
She gave the doll to a little cash girl,
who admiringly smoothed down the silken
dress and flaxen hair with affectionate ten-
derness, while the clerk made out the cash
Blip.
The man looked down upon the little one
and asked : "Say. sissy, wouldn't you like
to have a doll like that?" •
Shealooked up at him quickly with an ex-
pression that began with enthusiasm and
joy, and finished with tearful eyes and a
half -sob, for she thought he was making fun
of her.
She scampered away, and presently re-
turned with neatly wrapped parcel and
with the change.
The customer carefully placed the money
in his purse, and then, as he turned toward
the Stairway, he dumped the doll into the
arms of the astonished little girl, hurriedly
said, "Here, sissy, here's your Christmas,"
I and walked rapidly away.
When the little girl had sufficiently re-
covered from her surprise she ran after him
i and .caught him on the stairs.
She had the advantage over him in being
i two steps above him, and so put her little
arms affectionately around his neck, and
as he turned she kissed him squarely on
the mouth.
He took her face in both his hands, look.
ed for a moment straight into her blue eyes
that sparkled with delight and gratitude,
and kissed her on each cheek.
As he walked away the tears flowed from
his eves for the first time since Nary and
the baby had died.
value, but as practical and useful object
lessons they were beyond all price, on the
minus side.
It seems to me—and it isn't my fault that
the sunset is fairer and lovelier than the
sunrise—that there was something more
Christmassy abort Christmas when I was a
boy. Its pleasures were simpler, its gifts
were cheaper land heartier. At least, I
cannot remember to have read, save in
these later years, articles in family journals
Their Christmas Gifts.
"I thought it better to got yon something
useful," said Mr Dossill to his wife, "so I
have bought you a couple of good brooms
for your Christmas present."
"That was very thoughtful of you, my
dear," replied Mrs. 1)ossill. "I share your
ideas, and have '°ought you a good strong
coal -scuttle for you to carry up fuel from
the cellar in."
THE WORLD Q LAB,
RCHQXS F'RQM'Tile BUSY 1411,10, ANCA
"TH§ W9111014 9P??,
,1V'aw.k
and Illeppentnem off 8peoiAf' Ifteresc
1n the 'i'griens Elelldi Where the Mt'
.cltaillo Artisan Jlo1i1 nr'.4
Ila.'"
, Paris has tlld la1`geet sewers,
A stearal dynamo is the lutost,.
There are 110000 *Testes of plaitth .
nl
Sam:'has..s,OQO poslmiistressea,
There are,,,17,000 stylce of silly goods,.
London. -has ;fifty miles of pneuln4tin.
tubes,
Indelible ink is made from banana "juige,
1'arie has a 41 foot k inch long baro,
meter.
In New York oity dwell 800 Arinenfans.
The world ,has 33 magnetic observateries..
Smokers now have an eleotrio cigar
lighter.
• The Uniow1 aoifioRoad cost $198,778 per
mile.
Telephone receivers have pneumatic
cushions.
St. Louis street cars are.to carry the oity
mails.
Georgia taxes every cigarette seller $200
a year.
Stone bridges were built in China 2,900
years ago,
Paris gardeners use toads as insect exter-
minators.
Calcheell, N.C., has produced an 8 -pound
potato,
Mexico exported 43,750,000 pounds of
coffee last year.
In India the Government rune the opium
business.
Paris hopes to secure its water supply
from Switzerland,
A colored woman controls the ice trade
in St. John's, N.B.
One of the New York weekly papers f»
run by a woman.
Consolidation of the lead and oil interests
is contemplated.
The London sewage -tit carried 14 miles
down the Thames River:
Ten. horse plows shovel snow from NIA
(Jiaider,
Chinesehysicians prescribe eats west as
a remedy forplung disbases.
Clocks were worn as ear pendants in Ger-
many in the days. of Charles V.
A Dunkirk locomotive company conduct
a training school for mechanics.
There are 80 miles of tunnels in Great
Britain, their total cost exceeding L6,500,-
000.
A ship canal '60 miles long is to be
built to get around the falls of the Columbia
River.
The Croton aqueduct in New York sur-
passes all modern engineering efforts of this
kind.
The damage to wheat and oats in
Michigan by smut this year is estimated at
$1,000,000.
The production of distilled spirits of all
kinds in this country last year was 117,186,
114 gallons.
A New Hampshire man has invented a
machine that trims and punches belts in one
operation.
A block of marble 15 feet long, 5 feet 4
inches wide and six feet thick bas just been
quarried in California.
The engineers of San Francisco propose
to supply that city with water from Lake
Taooe, 150 miles distant.
In manufacturing occupations the aver-
age life of soap -boilers
is
the highest,
g pand
that of grindstone -makers the lowest.
Owing to the contractions of the iron of
which it is built, the Eiffel Tower is 8 inch-
es shorter in summer than in winter.
Most heavy tunnel work is done 1y ma-
chine drills, driven by compressed air,
which also serves to ventilate the works.
Jonesboro, Ga., has a resident, who, it is
reported, has only spent $8 in the past six
years for clothes. - He is said to be Worth
over $10,000.
The fleeces of ten goats and the work of
several inen for half a year are required to
make a genuine cashmere shawl a yard and
a half wide.
Of the whole length of the Suez Canal, 6G
miles are cuttings, 14 have been trade by
dredging through the lakes and eight miles
required no labor.
The celebrated high electric light mast at
Minneapolis, which is 237 feet high,is prov-
ed ineffective for lighting purposes and is
now no longer used.
Some of the English pumping engines per-
form work equaling the raising of 120,000,-
000 pounds else toot high by the consump-
tion of 100 -weight of coal. •
In a shingle trill at Gray's Harbor,Wash.,
recently, the entire works were kept ren-
ning all day on a single cedar stick, which
made 188,500 shingles.
Stenography was first used in the French
Parliament about the year 1830, and one of
the few official stenographers of that period
still surviving is M. Lagache, now a Sena-
tor of France.
In China the cobbler still goes from house
to house, announcing his approach with a
rattle, and taking up his abode with the
family while he accomplishes the necessary
making and mending.
A magnet at Wyillett's Point Long Island,
is considered the largest and. strongest in
the world. It it made of two 15 -inch Dahi-
gren guns,wonnd around with eight miles of
cable charged with electricity.
According to the international telegraph
bureau of Berne, there were dispatchedln
Europe during last year 207,595,000 tole -
grants, and in the remaining portion of the
world 85,422,000, a totaliot 206,017,000.
Tho $.1,000 presented by the German Em-
peror for the advancement of aerial naviga-
tion is to be used for the construction of a
large balloon, with which it is proposed to
make. weekly ascents during the year for
scientific observations.
Count Tolstoi purposes paying a visit to
the United States next spring. His object
is "to live with the farmers, to !study their
methods of agriculture and stock raising, to
become acquainted with the people of
America who cultivate the soil."
The largest vessel vet built on the Weir,
,
England, said to -be •e .
ing the gt. test cargo
vessel itt the world, was successfully launch-
ed last month. The vessel, which is built
of steel, is .9;5 feet long, 52 feet breadth
and 30 feet depth, has a gross register of
0400 tons, drad(veieht caa'eity of 9250 tons
on 25. feet drought, an,f gross displacement
of 13,600 tons. The engines will drive the
vessel when fully loaded a speed of 10i
kno as.
The Iariori ('"it rtenu s,
At dimer recently an old fogy had been
hurrying the comp wv with ,, ,i: c1 and un-
pleasant remarks aoon1 n;tture1 history. At
length. hi that peculiar tow! of voice in
which then rylett Linc -t1,, 5 arc tittered in
the pa:pit, the logy s,,,i : ":I:Ls an oyster
brains't "Certainly," realtc,l the haat
"for an oyster knows when to dun. up,"
0
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