The Exeter Times, 1887-5-26, Page 39N OCEAN GRAVEYARD
nX J. MACDONALD OXLEY.
-I.
It is not more than a mere dot of dry land
in un immensity of ocean apace, the restless-
ness of whose hissing surges is eo incessant
that, here might Jeremiah have stood when
he said, "there is sorrow on the sea ; it can-
not be quiet." Sorrow there is, too, right
often, and sorrow there has been ever since
Sable Island first figured, in human history.
No other island on this globe can chow so
appalling a record of shipwreck and disaster.
Now parched beneath the burning rays of
an unshaded summer RIO, now swathed in
chilling robes of mist or snow, ofttimes del-
uged
el•u ed with torrents of rain,and at all seasons
blown upon by the tireless winds Sable Is-
land, reu arkable as regards its position, its
shape, eft structure, and still more as re•
ards ea histo hassomehow -
r s ache strangely es-
caped ,
v s
I
Y
g
Y
ca d !
ie noticeof those travel, who and
Pe .,
,w
remains+to this day shrpuded in an obscurity
' no less remarkable. It does not, however,
lack for mention in history, and we might
well linger a while over the references made
to it by various writers during the past
three centuries and a half. But of these I
havewritten elsewhere, and my purpose' now
is rather to recall its untqualled record of
disaster, •the full extent of whish, indeed,
• can perhaps never be fully known.
A visit to Sable Island can be made only
under certain conditions, and these condi-
tions so unfrequently occur that it is no un-
usual thing for the passage there to be
taken in vain. It lies due east from Nova
Scotia, at a distance of abort eighty-five
miles, between the 43d and 14th degrees of
N. lat., and the 59th of W. long. To one
approaching from the north the island ap-
pears to be a succession of low sand -hills,
thinly patched with struggling vegetation,
having at the west end an elevation of some
twenty feet, then gradually rising as you go
eastward until they attain the height of
eighty feet near the East End light, be-
yond which they slope away again until
then merge into the northeast bar. Its gen-
eral shape is that of a long, narrow crescent,
measuring twenty-two miles from tip to tip,
and one mile in breadth at its best. The
time was, as will be presently shown, when
these measurements might easily have been
doubled, but now each succeeding year finds
them surely, steadily decreasing.
Perplexing as are the currents, and be.
wildering the fogs that beset the island,
they are not by any means its worst feature.
Far more fruitful of harm are the entanel-
ing shallows, which spread out so widely
that for many a mile beyond the point
where sea and sands meet and mingle there
ti
main atata n—the superintend ot s
s
Paa
z
one
dwelling, where a warm welcome always
awaits the, now -comer, be lie casual visitor
or castaway, flanked by quarters for the
staff, boat -houses, stores, and other out-
buildings, while well-filled barn -yards lend
an air of substantial comfort to the whole
picture.,
After exchanging greetings with the super-
intendent and his staff; who, delighted with
this pleasant break in the monotony of their
lives, crowd about us, eager for the latest
news, our first thought is to .climb the big be known .may be safely added. After many stations has been established, while a tele -
flag staff and view the landscape from the a storm do the waves cast up at the patrol. graph -cable to the mainland is contemplated
crow's-nest perched perilously. on high. The man's feet the evidence of soma fresh divas. in the near future. So that, if it be not al-
ascent accomplished, a wonderful panorama ter—a shattered spar, an empty hen coop, ready, Sable Island will be soon a life-sav-
lies outspread before us. From beneath our a fragment of cabin furniture, or perchance ing station, whose equipment and capabili-
feet the narrow island stretches east and a bruised and battered corpse. And then, ties cannot be excelled along the entire At -
alas t there must be added the dread work huitic coast.
done by the distant bars, from which not
even such pa.thetfc tokens as these find their A very remarkable feature of Sable Island,
way ashore. The followinbrief accouetof
a disaster that occurred inDecember 1884
will servo to convey
some idea of what i
t
means to bo wrecked on Sable Island.
The A. H. S. was a French brigantine en
route from St. Pierre to Boston with a cargo
of fish. Toward evening of December 19th
she was caught in a violent snow -storm and
hurled upon the West End bar, beginning
to break up almost immediately. She'' had
a crew of seven men on board. The ther-
mometer stood at twelve degrees below zero,
and the sufferings of the unhappy crew
were so terrible that death assumed the
guise of a welcome relief. Three were wash-
ed everboard when the boat struck, and
although the water was strewn with float-
ing debris, they made no effort to prolong
their lives. The steward, frenzied with
fright and pain, ran to his berth, seized a
razor, out hia throat from ear to ear, and
then leaped into the boiling surf. The cap-
tain, the mate, and the remaining sailor suc-
ceeded in reaching the shore on a spar ; but
they only escaped the terrors of the deep to
encounter the still more fearful terror of
being that a couple of the boat's clew, got
into whichsaved
xicated with wine had been s d
from the wreck, and conducted themselves
in such a manner as to frighten sortie of the
women and children, for which offence they
were severly punished by the superinten-
dent,
It need hardly be said that even the tre-
mendous total of one hundred and fifty-two
wrecks falls short of representing the W holo
truth. On the contrary, for every wreck
that is recorded, at least one other never to
into the hands of the FederalGovernment,
and since then hundreds of thousands of
dollars have been spent upon it. A staff of
from eighteen to twenty men is, steadily
maintained there, two life•boete built after
the most approved fashion of the Royal
National Lifeboat Institution, and a large
deapatch•boat, have bots lately added, the
men are drilled regularly in the mauage
meat of the life -boats and of the rocket ap-
paratus, and complete telephone connection
between the lighthouses and the different
west its bow -like form, holding a shallow
lagoon, some eight miles iong, in its centre,
and presenting many an effective contrast of
sanely upland and grassy meadow, bare,
bleak beach and richly flowered nook, where
fairies mibht hold their midnight
revels,
s
From the foreground, with its group of
buildings, the eyeroams over to the West
End lighthouse, whence the men are now
hurrying, pony -back, at the summons of the
flag announcing the steamer's arrival. Every
sandy peak or verdurous knoll bears some
sad tradition, Baker's Hill, Trot's Cove,
Sootohmans Head, French, Garth ns—so
many silent records of human suffering.
Then turning eastward we see the little
burying -ground, nestling in the deep, rich
grass, and consecrated to the last sleep of
many a victim to the ocean's wrath. Nine
miles farther down a telescope makes plain
the flag -staff at the foot of the lake, and five
miles beyond that the East End light, with
its attendant buildings. Herds of wild
ponies, jealously guarded by shaggy stallions,
graze upon the hillsides, black duck and
sheldrake in tempting flocks paddle about
the innumerable ponds, while sea -birds fill
the air with their harsh chatter, and whole
regiments of seals bask in snug content along
the sunny beach. Here and there the
bleaching ribs of naval skeletons protrude
half -buried from the sand, and the whole
picture is set in a silver -frosted frame of
seething surf.
II.
It does not take many hours to exhaust
and one whieh surpasses all others in inter-
est and importance in the eyes of naviga-
tors,eta awaits notice, to wit,the
startling
significant changes whiehave taken
place in its size and position since first it be-
came the subject of surveys .and of regular
observations. Mr, Macdonald, to whose
wreck chart I have already referred, has
made a very thorough study of this subject
and I am indebted to him for many of the
following facts. On the earliest charts of
the island, which were compiled from
French sources, it was laid down as being
forty miles in length and two and one-fourth
in breadth, In 1776 a special survey was
made under Admiralty instructions, and the
length found to be only thirty-one miles and
the breadth two miles, while the west end
was placed twenty-two miles farther east.
Forty-two years later a second survey was
made by Lieutenant Burton, and his report
took a mile away from the length, but left
the breadth the same. Another interval of
forty-two years passed, and the Admiralty
authorities, having had their attention called
the frost -king. They could just discern to the evident inaccuracy of their charts,
had another survey made, which resulted in
through the blinding snow a faint glimmer a still further reduction of the island's area,
from the lighthouse, three long miles away, while the west end was placed two miles
and they set out toward it. The sand was more to the eastward. Little more than
and
driven dashed e
th ethegale' thirty years have elapsed since then, and
and the grains dashed against thelaces of yet, accerding to the last dmiralty survey,
the half -frozen men like tiny hailstones. exec
the sights on Sable Island,but manylong At length the captain could hold out no uted some years ago, the total length is,
g longer, and lying down,was speedily frozen as we have already seen, only twenty-two
nights might be spent around the n- g , Y gP Y miles at beat, while the breadth has shrunk
tendent's fireside ere the stories and legends to death. A little farther on the sailor, to a single mile.
lie and his men delight in telling would be too, succumbed. Left alone in the struggle
one-half exhausted. For eery' foot of the with death, the mate, fortunately a man o Surprising, in fact almost incredible, as
island is haunted ground, and the station unusual strength, pushed desperately for- these changes may appear, they are fully
proven bythe evidence of these whose right sale of her goods at theHotel Dronet, Paris,
dwellings are rich in relics, each one having ward. Becoming too weak to stand upright, g the fatal sands, that will then far more than made it plain that she shopped industrious -
to speak is based upon personal observation. ever merit the sorrow -laden title of " An py, One hundred and fifty day and night .•
sorrowful past. The supernatural of course fashion, after six hours •of suffering such as f When seeking a site for the main tation, in Ocean Graveyard." h
o Y c emises, trimmed with Valenciennes and
other lace ; 70 petticoats in silk, muslin=.
Unoonvinoed. etc., 40 pairs of garters, 24 corsets, 200' lace
for a time his life trembling in the P handkerchiefs, 40 pantaloons de sole peluche
is not water enough to float a small sohoon- .glimpses of. the g ly t g h d hung g : ther east as within the four preceding years Many and strange are the innocent and 105 pairs of silk stockings are among
er. Thus, at the northeast end on a windy by the legends of De Ler
s heroic Friar, or balance. + P g sophistries of childhood in gaining its point. the items on the bill of sale.
day there may be seen some nine miles of , King Charles's remorseful regicideof the Another and much earlier wreck deserves nri less than four miles long had gone entire -
How quickly they learn even to distrust the
t Pale Ladywith the BloodyFinger, and a attention because of its bearing upon a pro- l} from the west end, while on the north evidence of their senses 1 A little tri who Women who are such sworn companions
roaring breakers before a depth of six fath-
oms• olein now deeply interestingseafarers the side an area equal to forty feet wide and g of the needle may sometimes wonder where
is reached, and then four miles more of score of this weird which east an eerie halo world over. It ha tied in 184e, and Sup -three miles longhad been carried awaywas addicted to a prodigal use of auger upon the deft little instruments which perform
hesvvy�cross-seas leading out to a depth of round spot. I should greatly like PPe r her oatmeal, had been put upon an allow-
fiomlen to thirteen fathoms. At the north- to set forth some of them at length, were it erintendeut Darby is our authority. A wild during a single gale. In 1320 another move, once of a reasonable number of spoonfuls. their deft stitches are made. The Analyse
west end the bar extends seaward nearly not that the authentic annals of the place gale had suddenly sprung up, and he and this time four more miler eastward, was O h h d b th says that the resent production of needles
seventeen miles, after the same fashion, be- require all the space at my disposal. his men were patrolling the beach, when
fore the ester -is really deep. So that tak- ! Since' the founding of the Huuiane Estab• they descried a large schooner running right
ing the lend i the island and its bars to-; liahment, in 1802, a wreck regi er has been down before the storm dead on to the lee
gether the sc nepreaented in stormy weather carefully kept, and on its pages may be read shore. The sea was breaking everywhere as
is magnificent and awe-inr• Tiring beyond all to -day the names of more than one hun- far as the eye could reach, and it seemed
possible powers of description, when in con- I dred' and fifty vessels that have come to impossible for any vessel to live in it for a
tinnous line for over fifty miles the raging , their undoing on these fatal sands. Once moment; yet on the schooner came, passing
waves of the sea, rolling in unchecked from entangled amid the shallows, once stranded ' breaker after breaker uninjured, the extra -
vast oceans spaces, foam out their fury upon upon the bars, and it was all over with the ordinary thing being that, although the
4be sandbanks, which seem to quake and , hapless craft, whether she were stately fri- huge waves raised their curled head almost
quiver beneath their overwhelming onset. gate, speedy steamer, clipper ship, or hum- j to the top of her mast, and the fall of any of
The conditions which have been hinted at ole fisher's boat. Mn Simon D. Macdonald, them upon her deck would have crushed her
as prerequisite to effecting a landing upon , F. G. S., of Halifax, N. S., sometime ago like an egg -shell, not one seemed permitted
Sable Island are that the day be fine and the Prepared with great skill and care a most to touch her. On the contrary, as if by a
wind securely settled in the south. The l interesting chart of Sable Island, indicating
only good landing -place is on thenorth side; so far as possible the exact locality and date
and even th re the government : steamer, of each disaster, as well as the character of
which forms t re the
connecting link between ithe vessel wrecked ; and looking at this
the island ande outside world,can come chart the island is seen to be completely en -
no closer than a mile, and must eep a vig- i circled by these grim proofs cf its destruc-
ilant lookout so that on the first sign of a sive powers. !
change in the wind she may weigh anchor A hasty` glance at some of the more re -
and make an offing without delay: cent wrecks will lend an emphasis to the story
Let us suppose that the halcyon days of told by the chart. In the years 1863 the
July have come, and that we have ohtained fine steamer Georgia ended her career on the
permission to accompany the Newfield upon' western bar, fortunately, however, without
one of her regulor supply trips. The mid- loss of life; and three years later the steam -
summer night passes quickly. Our ninety , ship Ephesus met with a like experience near
miles of open sea are soon accomplished, and the same spot, there being little or no sal -
as the morning sun climbs grandly upward vage in either cuss. At the wreck of the
from his bed among the eastern waves, his schooner Ocean Traveller, in 1870, all the
rich red rays crimson the creamy froth nine men composing her crew were lost So
that fringes all the shore. We are in luck was it with the Zephyr in 1873 ; and when
to -day, for old ocean is at peace with him-
self, and the south wind blows softly. How .
rare this is may be imagined from two en-
tries in the superintendent's journal—one,
to the effect that there had not been five
fine days in four months ; the other, that the
steamer was eight days in trying to effect a
landing. Fine though the day bete get safely.
ashore is no easy matter, for the long ocean
rollers are tumbling in upon the beach with
tireless energy, and no ordinary boat may
run their gauntlet with impunity. But
there is due. provision made for this. Hard-
ly has the steamer come to anchor when
the beach is dotted with men and horses,
one of the broad -beamed, high -stemmed
surf -boats peculiar to the island is rapidly
drawn on its wide -wheel cart to the
water's edge, and after gallantly breasting
the breakers comes swiftly towards us. Soon
it is alongside, and the crew grasp eaq•
erly at the mailbags, whose contents will'
tell them what their friends and the rest of
the world have been doing since the steam- !
er's last visit. We are to return with them:
and it will be a wise precaution to don our • 3'
waterproofs and wear our closest -fitting
caps, for there are some marine gymnastics 1
before us, which may not improbably result i ,
in our oundergoing an involuntary baptism ,
that would content the most rigid immer-
sionista ere roachingland. Seated in the stern
sheets: we look forward to the nearing surf
with an ' ietywhich even the encourage-
ment given. y sleek, shining seals bobbing
up serenely Fall about our boat, as if in
cheery welcome, does not altogether allay. '
The crew bend lustily to their oars, and the
helmsman standing high in the pointed
stern, with loud command and brawny arm
keeps the great boat true in her proper
course, let the billows buffet her never so
roughly, until, riding triumphantly upon
the back of a huge comber, she is carried far
up the beach and stranded amid a mass of
seething waters. To spring from their seats
and hold hard the boat, lest it be. swept book
by the receding wave, is the work of a mo-
ment for the dripping oarsmen, and then an ,
other foaming breaker, supplemented by a
vigorous shove from their stalwart arms,
sends their unwieidly craft up high and dry,
and the spray -splashed passengers can step
out upon terra firma.
The yielding sands do not make easy
walking, and we plod slowly sup the slight
ascent until, going through a short pass be-
tween two htftnniocks, we suddenly emerge
upon a scene so utterly different from what
has hitherto meet our gaze that we are fain
to wonder for a moment if it may not pos-
sibly be a mirage or ocular delusion of some
sort. Before its lies a broad valley, com-
pletely shut in from the sea by hills, which
rise to right and left, and wave with a
`ii' a th of vegetation that is inexpressibly
refreshing to eyes already wearied with the
monotony of sand and sea. Ranged in an Wilms 8ry Aim THEY SINGING IT IN ?
irregular' square stand the buildings of the Prof. ICi.tnshbrangska (the fia»uius pianist) : Two PLATS, 1 Motion sive;
spot has undergone. When first known this
g
5'
lake had an opening on the north side,
which was afterwards closed. A few years The United States colleges contain '18,000
later during a terrific storm, the sea forced women students.
a channel through the lake's margin, rend- A society bus been organized among Cap-
ering it a convenient harbor for small res• anew women to cultivate a taste for foreign
sets. )3ut in 1,536 a similar tempest closed cookery.
it again, at the sante time imprisoning two
American schooners that had ion in there ',Phe stylish girls of New York naturally
for shelter. Graduallyit became ver take to fencing, every pretty woman likes to
shoal from the washindown of the sur
rounding cliffs. Then, during the winter of
1881, a gale opened a gulch toward the east
end, which sc drained the lake that it shrank
to some eight miles in length, where it re -
GOSSIP ABOUT WOMEN,
have a foil.
The secret is out that Oscar Wild i a ver
s
much hen-pecked husband, Mrs. Oscar be-
Ilene
r
lieu s in home rule,and begins athome.
c r eg o
Mrs. Helen Campbell's forthcoming book,
mains. The lake margin forming the south c. Prisoners of Poverty, is a truthful ac -
shore was at one time half a mile broad and . count
ac -
fifty feet high. To -day it is mere, a nar- p t of her personal obserhations. She
Y g Y Y a practical worker among the poor of New
row ridge forming a precarious sea-wall York. Her book is mainly an account of
over which the waves break in stormy women wage-earners, their trades, and their
weather. Should this barrier be removed, jives.
the demolition of the island will proceed The Duchess of Alban has signified her
with such increased rapidity that the end return to soviets byappearing at a' recent
Y PP
g
mayiii e1 e
c,
,
be a lox � at predicted. YP
PP drawing -room. •room Truth says, however,
g ,
During storms, in addition to the action that she was a gloomy figure, anal seemed to
of waves and currents, the winds ravage the have array ed herself for a funeral. The
island's surface on their own account. Find -Queen was ablaze with diamonds,and wore
in a raw 4 ot, that is, where there is no x orders, while her royal daughter-in-law,
protectingakin of sod, the eddyingwhirls tl e Princess of Wales, ore for.
cow ou the loose sand andoarr ft ff with
P y The third wife of Johann Strauss leads the
them, so that around the stations the utmost great composer through peaceful and happy
vigilance is ever exercised to discover the peths, and altogether theirs is an ideal life.
first break in the sod, and patch it carefully tut gossip says, ire was none the,less happy
before headway bee been gained ; otherwise with her predecessors. Perhaps the dispo.
the sttbstantial buildings would Boon go tot- sition of the man may have somewhat to do
tering from their foundations. with his perpetual joy ; or he may have
To sum up the whole mattm,in a sentenoe," fallen upon rare good luck in his matrimonial
Sable Island is being submerged, and is partners,
travelling eastward at such a rate that any During the year 1886 the,higher classes
chart of it, to be accurate, would need to be for girls in Si. Petersburg were attended by
corrected every few years. It is safe to say 743 students, a considerable increase upon
the figures in former years. Ever since 1864.
it has been possible for women to obtain
University degrees in Russia, and in 1870
the ranks of medicine were open to them.
Sweden followed the example in a few
months, and was therein soon joined by
Norway.
Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett is a living
refutation of the base slander that literary
women make indifferent wives and mothers.
She was a penniless and unknown -to -fame
English girl when she married the bright
young Tennesseean, Dr. Burnett, with
whom she has passed a remarkably happy
life, They have five children, the eldest of
whom is the original of iP Little Lodi
Fauntleroy."
The death of Madame Neeanam and cne
that the latest chart obtainable by marin-
ers is some miles at least out of the way.
Since the beginning of the present century
the island has decreased in length from
forty miles to twenty-two in breadth, from
two and one-fourth to something less than
one ; in height, from two hundred feet to
eighty, while there has been a variation in
the position of the West End of not less than
twenty-five miles. With such startling
figures as these before us, it is not difficult
to forecast its future. Slowly, perhaps, yet
none the leas surely, and defying all at-
tempts and devices of the feeble man to
stay its advance, the time is coming when
thevictoriouswaves will fling theirtriumph-
ant spray high over the last vestige of
dry land, and the lights of Sable Island will
no longer send their warning gleams across
plays a leading part in these relations, and human beings rarely endure, reached the ; 1802, a well -sheltered position was chosen
nm
amen the sand -hills five miles distant f
if one be but credulous enough, they may lighthouse, at two o clock m the morning, ( g
have their faith in ghosts revisitiug the so bruised, bleeding, and frost-bitten that the west end. Yet in 1814 the superintend -
moon teat s ren t aneent was compelled to move three miles far-
specified
s e a sen given e
necessitated. Still the sea steadily advanced specified quantity, but presently asked, in Redditch, England, if not less than 50,-
as if determined n to be balked of its prey. one
" Mamma, may I have just one spoonful 000,000 per
delicate of all the operations, of sis
The two followingwinters brought with
them frequent storms which wrought fear- more .
q g " No, dear." now almost exclusively done by machinery,
ful havoc along the western shore, toppling Byand-by some one noticed that the and so is the cutting, skimming, stamping,
great sand -hills into the surf, as well as little girl was sitting sulkily before her un- eyeing, tempering, counting, heading and
altering the surface in theinterior, thousands assort -
tasted plate, and inquired, "Why don't tailing, bluing, burnishing, finishing, assort-
oved ma -
and strewn oveof tons of sand r inlandeing rried from the beachvalleys, smothering you eat your oatmeal, Kitty ?"
!inchines ford allthe a processes New ihaverbeen uc-
ve
vegetation so that hundreds ofponies died I can't , it isn't sweet enough,
g "Nonsense 1" said mamnui�. " Don't be cessfully introduced during the last twenty
for want of food. In 1833 the old station a little fuss-budget. Try a spoonful, and years or so, and the latest novelty is;the
was abandoned and new. buildings erected k
on the broadest and most sheltered portion you'll like it." his needles machines for making sewing -
of the island, where they still stand in com-
miracle, the sea became smooth ere it reach- parative safety.
ed her, and she left a shining track behind. ; The old dwelling of the superintendent
After some minutes of thrilling suspense, was then carried yet another four miles to -
she was hurled high and dry upon the ward the east, end subsequently two miles
beach, and every one of her crew rescued more, where, strange to say, it escaped the
uninjured. insatiable maw of the sea only to fall a vie -
Then came the explanation of the strange tim to the sand-landen eddies swirled
phenomenon which had so mystified Super- wickedly about it. Slowly, yet surely, a
intendent Darby. Two large casks filled mound arose, creeping up from threshold to
with fish•oil had been lashed in the fore -rig- lintel, from floor to peak, until at length the
ging, and, securely lashed beside them, two house wholly disappeared, and the surface
of the strongest sailors in the crew, with levelled out innocently above it, leaving no the desert air. takes snuff, it is asserted that balfthe clerks
long wooden ladles in hand, had been throw- mark to indicate the spot of its sepulture. A Boston gentleman was accosted by three in the department spend two-thirds of their
ing the oil high up in the air, where it was For some years Sable Island enjoyed com- waiters at a• New et ork restaurant with, time watching her graceful movements, and
caught by the wind and carried far to lee- t parative repose, and then the work of de- " Soup, sah ?" ! when she starts for the elevator there is a
ward in advance of the vessel, spreading struction began anew with a vigor that soon I Turning his spectacles upon them rather general rush in that direction on the part of
over the sea with such effect that, while it made amends for the lost time. The win- severely, the Bostonian demanded, " Is it chiefs and subordinates too.
was raging, pitching, and breaking all about ter of 1881 did tremendous damage. In' compulsory ?"
her, not a barrel of water fell upon the addition to the gradual work of erosion I " No, sah, I tink not, sah. It's mock Coughing in Church.
the Portuguese Farto went o pieces, in 1875, , Arno's deck, I believe this may with safe- great areas were removed at once. During turtle !" replied the sable trio. g g
the captain and two sailors perished, Then, , ty be claimed as one of the earliest recorded one gale seventy feet by one-fourth of a mile What is the reason that there is so much
in 1816, the American schooner Reeves found instances of the practical application of oil departed bodily. A month later thirty feet The Facts in Young Smith's Gage• coughing in church ? And that not at
a grave, not only for herself, but for every- to the troubled waters. `of the whole breadth of the island at the. certain times and seasons merely, but regu-
" But if you only knew how sour it is 1"•
said Kitty, tragically. Of the 5,000 women who hold positions in
Mamma good-naturedly took a spoonful. , the various Government departments at
" Eat it immediately, dear," she said with Washington only one is considered superla-
decision. " It tastes quite sweet enough." tively beautiful. It is said she is a niece of
Kitty obediently took up her spoon, but the United States Minister to England, and
she had one more remark to make : that she receives a salary of $900 per year.
" It may taste sweet," she said, resignedly, In person she is as tall and gaaceful as these
"but, mamma, it isn't sweet" - beautiful women need be, which very often
is a matter on which judges can't agree, and
What glad in roundness of form we are told that she is
the sculptor's ideal model. Although the
A joke sometimes wastes its sweetness on entire Ca ital does not sneeze when she
one on board ; and in 1870 nine .passengers i In order to give succor to the shipwreck. west vanished in a few hours. The winter
were carried away by the billows at the ed, and save such of their property as might' of 1882 was evenworse, and was distinguish- young Smith have his room at $5 a week, times there may be more, at others less, but
stranding of the State ot Virginia. The year not be destroyed, as well as to prevent, so ed by the destruction wrought among the and mine is no better than his." i the amount is always far greater than could
1882 was marked by the destruction of two ' far as possible, the occurrence of losses, the . buildings, including the West End light- Landlord—" I know it. Smith came to be reckoned on from the prevalence of colds
Norwegian barge, with a loss of life in each Canadian Government maintains two fine' house, a splendid structure nearly one hun- me and said that he couldn't afford to pay in the community. Sometimes it is said to
case; 1883, by the wreck of the bark Brit- . lighthouses and a fully equipped life-saving dred feet high, originally erected a whole more than five, and was so earnest about it be a Scot .,11 habit and is accounted for in
annia and the loss of thirteen lives ; and' station at Sabl • Island. The first step in mile within the grass bills, on what was that I made an exception in bis favor. Be- that connection in various ways. For in -
1884, by that of the splendid steamship Am. ' this direction was taken by the province of i thought a perfectly secure site. There was aides, his bar bill amounts to $15 a week." � stance, one rather prominent English
sterdam, when three of the passengers paid Nova Scotia as far back as 1802, voting two scarcely time to take it hurriedly to pieces , preacher, writing on the subject, says
the forfeit • This last'disaster attracted a' thousand dollars a year for the purpose. Lit- ! ere the foundation upon which it stood, Nothing Much. ! "We have a vague impression that it is
hopelessly undermined, toppled over into „Well, anything new around here ?" he the Scotch fn our own flock who keep up
asked of a tri who was jumping hoopon the coughing clamour. It is that they are
g 1 P g , the most zealous church goers, and are in
the corner. P ' their laces des ite those catarrhs and irri-
tated No, sir. I saw a woman flirting with a P
mtoted windpipes which would have kept
an across the road, and two dogs hada
mfiorrnningand
buty therbrother isn'tt a muchick oin this
to Englishmen roughnesstof manner home ? wh ch takes uo is it due simply
ir
around here nowadays." going
g 1 count of the annoyance given to the preacher
and to their neighbours in their pews? Or •
The cost all fences in the United States ' shall we say that it is inmostcases a mere
amounts to of all
$1,747,549,931, or nearlyiceequal heedless habit ? One cough seems to suggest
q another; and the preacher has to shout
to the interest-bearing debt, and about the against a sort of platoon -fire from the pews.
same as the estimated value of all the farm Another habit which sadly mars the exem-
animals, so that for every dollar invested in plary church attendant in Scotland is that
live stock another dollar is required for con- of sleeping during sermon. We very rarely
strutting protection against their ravages see an instance of this in London ; but when
upon crops. The annual repairs, together we do, we are always inclined to account
with interest on the amount invested in the for the sleepy -head as a recent importation
existing fences, amounted o nearly $200,- from the North." P
000,000, and the amount of wood needed What are the facts in Canada ? Is it only
must have been not far from five billion the Scotch section of church -goers that are
feet. , given to coughing and vigorous nose -blow -
It is said that a very ardent republican ing ? TROTH would not venture on such an
deputy, M. Raspail, who was banished from assertion. All nationalities seem pretty
France by the third Napoleon' asked the bad. And as to sleeping there does not seem
privilege to smash up the monarch's crown to be much difference. Have the miserably
with his own hands. An accident prevented ' ventilated churches nothing to do with all
his doing so ; but the hammer with which 1 this sound and slumber ? Why should it be
the bauble was broken up was presented to thought strange that places shun up all the
him, This is an amusing illustration of the , week should not be very pleasant spots for a
intense hatrid with whish Napoleon is,Sunday morning ? And then are the cough.
remembered by many of the French Repub-ers and the sleepers the only sinners ? 1s
Beaus. ( the preacher never to blame ? Is sleep
Sometime ago Bud Trainer, of Tahlequah, , sometimes not the best refuge of the weary
I. T., was shot with a 40 -calibre revolver by and sore perplexed ? Curious to not see
an officer. The ball entered Bud's head how even the most sleepy.headed straighten
above the teeth and just under the nose and i up and look positively animated when the
sinal column. Physicians who attended is a bad, bad habit,
to say. Coughing
lodged at the base of the brain, near the preacher has somethingg
p � ' obit, specially inuhurch, anti,
the wounded roan pronounced the shot fatal, I all wise people ought to strive against it.
and declared that probing for the ball would i Sleeping also is to be gravely eondemed. But
only hasten his death. Bud's mother was , ID certain cases what can people do ? The
not,, oonvineed, however,and after the spirit may be as willing its may be, but the
doctors hacl left she sent for an aged Chero• , flesh is weak, and when there is no partien•
keel inedieino tnan, who had great repute as l lar counter stimulus what then? :Even a
a conjuror. The red man made a few mys- I very dull man is rarely seen sleeping at a
terious passes over the victim's head, chant- : political meeting or it ploy. Why? Yes,
ed a weird incantation and, presto ! the ball why? " Look at that poor idiot," cried a
was found to have reached the skin on the { preacher to bis sleeping flock. " Re's an
back of Bud's neck, whore it stuck out like,example and a rebuke to you all, for he is
o small tumor. The Indian then Cub the the only one among you that iswake,"akin with his oeket•knife and the ball fell "Aye,' cried the idiot in turn, bet had I
te the floor. Trainer Is now out of bed and not een an idiot 1 would have been sleep -
flintiest well, ling too," li;idaetly,
Boarder (to landlord) — " But you let larly and as a matter of course. At some
deal of attention throughout the United tle, of course, could be done upon so small
States because of some grossly exaggerated a sum ; but in 1827 the Imperial Govern -
reports which were put in circulation as to ment came to its aid with a like annnal
the brutal treatment alleged to have amount, which is regularly paid to the pres-
been received by the unfortunate castaways ent day. Upon the confederation of the
at the hands of the staff, the simple truth Province, in 1867, the care ot the island fell
the sea.
The history of the lake, which has been
mentioned as occupying a part of the centre
of the island, furnishes equally striking evi-
dence of the vicissitudes this much -enduring
�vn rGr/% issat
u' '1 see �1! ' -
rlen{( tef! CZer sg ale
RH : f1yWr94 .
riff III 'S )1 QI iii 14
Miss I3(n-nche ; TitirY SAY THAT is Rt7T3INSTR.IN'S "Anent " THAT THOSE 1'.ta0P14iC
A;
stinarNG ; Tune I DO NOT RECOZ4NIZE
T'
el abl