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The Exeter Times, 1887-10-20, Page 3Too Late in the Bay. Not eo very many weeks ago there resided In the ancient enburbe of'Camford a some - whet narrow-minded individual oanied Joseph Gaper, The name wee not an naappropriate one for several roaeons. The yellnr?. man was much addicted to the .habit of gaping at peeple • indeed, he goner - ally went tbout ---generaliy, did I eay ? Ay, always !-with his mouth pretty wide open. Some people called him the fly -catcher, because of dila unfortunate habit. wae not by any meanan intelligent looking pereon, this Joseph Gaper ; OR the contrary, he was almet as stupid -looking an individual as one is likely to meet with in a day's march. , Fortunately, perhaps, for him, he had not the most remote notion that he was rather a pitiable object than otherwise. On the con- trary, he considered himself a very, charm, ing,,faeeinating, intelligent, and handsome p menage, " Itave but to look at a girl, and she evi.1, metaphorically, and in many iustancee not metaphorically, but in reality, throw lierself into my arms." Such was the opinion Joseph Gaper hold of himself as regarded hie influence with the gentler sex. He followed the 00CUpatiOR of florist, and lived at home with leis father, a highly re- spectable and unassurnieg old man, who had established the business in which his son now shared It was very anensing to see the self-satisfi- ed Joeeph Gaper make his way through the Camford streets, dreesed all in his best, and with the air of one wile believed the whole place belonged to him. • Poor fellow I A good many people laugh- ed in their sleeves at him, but he, in his pro- found ignorance, felt convinced one and all admired and envied him. Now, as is very natural in the spring- time of manhood, he had serious thoughts of finding out some gentle creature who would. suit his taste when he should feel inclined to "settle 'down and get married," an the saying goes. Of course he knew a good many' young ladies of his own class of life; though prob- ably, if you had dared to suggest that a shop -girl was his equal, he would have been highly indignant. However, we will un- seen°, and if we are wrong he must forgive us, that they were his equals. But he turn- ed up his nose at the mere notion of marry- ing anyone in that potution-a well.to-do tradesman's daughter was the lowest degree to which he meld dream of stooping. There happened to stand, not very far from his father's premises, a tavern, bearing the name of The Sceptre. Now The Sceptre was, without any ex- ception, the best conducted house of the kind that ever was seen. The landlord, a hearty,. genial -faced John Bull, conducted his business in the,, most exemplary manner possible. No drunkenness or rioting was permit- ted at The Sceptre. The landlady, a, delicate, lady.like looking person was universally respected. The name of the worthy couple was Bilfil. They ere -blessed with an only child -a daughter. t e period of our story She was two and twenty years of age. Now Miss Bilfil was a remarkably hand- some -looking young lady. We call her a lady advisedly, and not in the general aense of the word, which now is applied to every thing feminine in human shape under the She had been educated at excellent schools, and educated thoroughly. This and the fact of her poasessing a natural refinement of mind, emanating most probably from her gende mother, rendered her a most desiia. ble wife for any man who should have the good tortre to win her. In Lite of the respectability of The Scep- tre, the life she was compelled to lead as barmaid was not, or at any rate could not be acceptable to one possessing her tastes. • She, however, made the best of it, and as her chief delight was in rendering her par- ents happy, no one ever heard her grumble at her lot. It will easily, be understood in what high respect Miss Bilfil was held. From the poorest frequenters of the house to the wealthiest, from the humblest to the best born, she was respected and liked by them all. It was currently believed that the parents were very well to do. They deserved to be ; and doubtless they were. The natural in- ference drawn was, that Miss Bilfil, being an only child, would ene day be extremely well of and consequently, if only in a pecuniary way, she wouldprove an excellent catch. But Miss BBL was not the kind of young lady to throw herself away upon the first fool who had the impertinence to flatter her. She knew how to put a man in his right place as well as any one. Of course there were many who ogled her, and some imaginative gentlemen who be- lieved they only had to ask her to marry, and she would consent -conceited donkeys 1 Amongst those who frequented The Sceptre was the hero of our story, Joseph Gaper. Be came very often and gaped very long at pretty Miss Bilfil. Miss Bilfil was courteous and polite to- wards him, as she, was towards all who conducted themselves properly, but nothing more. . Joseph Gaper, however, held the same opinion about Miss Bilfil as he held about all the young ladies of his acquaintance, and felt convinced he had only to say, "Be mine," and she would jump down his open mouth. . He thought the matter over eeriously, "It would prove a good match. Old Bilfil has property in Caanford-a good deal of property. He's proud of his child, though ). _he don't show much affection toward her ' 0 ntwardly ; his money is sure to come to. 'her eventually. I think I might do worse a long way. She's a nice girl, educated well, speaks French, and all that sort of thing. The sort of girl I shouldn't feel ashamed of, though I have prospects, and hold myself above the generality of market -gardeners and such -like. I think I shall have to marry her ,» . • Such was the style of reasoning in which flycatcher indulged. For many evenings he appeared regtilarly at The Sceptre, and gaped for hours together at Miss Bilfil. " Did he love her ?" perhaps the reader would ask. Absurd questionhow could such a poor, nogrowmincied thing love anyone beyond himself. Going home one night, after having in- dulged in a little More alcohol than usual, Joseph said to himself with an idiotic chuckle: " I -I -nearly let myself in for it to -night, that I did. She looked so race, and I'd a good mind to secure her without further delay. She's a straight girl, Pm sure, and ii she once said ' Yes ' to e fellow, she'd never draw back, even though she met someone she liked better; but that would never be if I once asked her." With these reflections the conceited • Gaper retired to rest, little dreaming how the morrow would vary the weak current of hie porpose. It came about in this, He was introduc- ed to a rich builder'a daughtet', Whim Parente were eld Weenie of hie fittlier'e. The geotlo Joseph, thought he had " struck ile," es the Americans say, with a vengeance. What eould he do better than End out everything possible about this now acquain. tance, who probably was heiress to "heaps of gotta" " MiSS Bilfil," he said to himself, "can wait -she' o a certainty at any given mo- ment, If Mies Clarke, the butider's daugh- ter, hasn't the prospects report declareth, can very easily renew my attentions at The Sceptre. Consequently Joseph Gaper was not E!eon ao regularly at The Sceptre Tavern as usuel. He eppeered every now and again, how- ever, and gaped for an hour or so in his esual idiotic manner, and then retired. "She's all right," he nnirmured to him- self on his way home; smiles and chats as pleasant as ever" (Joseph's grammar was shaky at tines) "and will wait until I speak, aa loug as leave her a shadow of hope." Miss Clarke, the builder'e cipughter, grew really fond of Mr. Gaper. oor girl, she eyes not gifted with too much intellect, which no doubt accounts for her extraordi- nary taste. The flycatcher had captivated her somehow or other. It took him a long time to discover "bow she really stood," as he ealled it; and she being a simple kind of girl and, most fatal thing of all against a silent tongue and a wise head, in love, gave him all the inform- ation that lay in her power. This setisfiecl him, and he proposed. • On a lovely starlit night be made his ef- fer, and report has it that after he had taken this stupendous step, he did not oloee his mouth for four -and -twenty consecutive ours. Ou the day that followed this proposal he learnt, to his great consternation, that Miss Clarke's father had lost a very large amount of money in a bank -failure, and was oonsequently reduced to comparative po- verty. Now, note the course that this narrow- minded florist took. • Remember, he had plenty of money, and could well ifford to marry a women without a sixpence. He took another stroll beneath the starlit sky with Mise Clarke, and instead of sym- pathising with her itt her father's great loss, which of course meant rube to her as well as to him; he reviled her for having • misled him. "You misrepresented things to me shaineful," said Joseph, gaping more than ever with real and assumed anger, "You've treated me cruel. I wouldn't a minded if you'd spoke straight -forward; for I ain't a pauper, whatever Other folks may be." Poor Miss Clarke cried very much, and assured him she had no idea of the evil that was pending and which had so sudden- ly fallen upon her pow father. "Had no idea V' exclaimed the flycatcher scornfully "01 course not! no one never has no idea of anything which is likely to upset their apple -carts" (this was rather shoppy expression) "with them as suits them," which was the flycatcher's muddled way of endeavouring to state that people never know of anything that is not likely to snit them It was useless for poor Miss Clarke to plead, let her do so never se wisely, Joseph Gaper had made up his mind to I pick a quarrel with and get rid of her. Having reviled her for half an hour, and giving her plainly to understand that he was at an end between them, he left, and repaired to The Sceptre. "Ha he exclaimed mentally, and his mouth stood wider open than ever with ad- miration-" Ha ! that's the girl for my mo- ney." He stood gaping at Miss Bilfil, aa though he really did feel a little bit in loveofor once in his life. Probably it was a kind of reac- tion after his baseness and cruelty towarda the builder's daughter. Miss Bilfil was talking to a dark and re- markably handsome gentlemanly -looking man when the flycatcher entered. He had seen this dark personage there a good many times during the last eighteen months. He had asked who he was, and had been in- formed that he was it gentleman of excellent family, holding a good berth in a govern- ment office. Although he always made way for the florist when he came in, and never endeavoured to monopolise the conversation , with Miss Bilfil, an endeavour Joseph Ga- per always made the flycatcher was not wise enough to learn by example -indeed, he didn't like the dark man, probably for the simple reason that the dark man was a gentleman. That night, aa usual, the dark gentleman very soon retired after Joseph Gaper's ap- pearance, and left him master of the posi- tion. "Those chaps in government offices ain't much to do, I should think," said the fly- catcher, with a enter. "Have not they ?" answered Mies Bilfill handiug him his grog. "Lazy snobs as a rule," said Mr. Griller. "There are exceptions in every ruld,' re- plied Miss Bat coniplacently. Now Miss Bilfil took these two last re- marks, aimed against the man who had just retired, with such calm indifference that tt gladdened Joseph Gaper's heart beyond measure. "11 she'd cared a straw about him she'd fired up," he thought. • By thls it will be seen that„ the idea had flashed through Mr. Gaper's mind that Miss Bilfil might et least have a friendly feeling towards the gentleman in question'whose naine,by the way, wag Reginald Chambers. He had put this as a kind %f feeler, and he was rejoiced with the result. The bar chanced to be very empty, and soon Mr. Gape found himself' quite alone with Miss 13fifil. "She looks prettier than ever," he said to hiniself. "No wonder she has been proposed to scores sf times. " He didn't, however, in his wonderful self- codceit wonder how it was she had never said "Yes " to those who had asked her He was convinced in his own mind tha t he was the only person to whom she would say " Yes." "1 think," he said to 'himself as he stood gaping at her, I have tried her patience long enough, poor girl. She might get desperate in the fear I never mean to pop the question, andgo and marry some I one else. I mustn't risk finch a thing any longer." Then addressing Miss Bilidl, he said ; I've had something very particular on my mind for a loeg while." " Indeed 1" said Miss Bilfil with her plea- sant smile. "Very particular," said Mr. Gaper. "1 hope it is very pleartant Also," replied " Oh, very, very ! The very pleasantest thing 1 ever had on my mind I" cried the flycatcher. Miss 1311111 smiled, and sarveyed him with a kind of pity, which he mistook for admir- ation " Shall I tell you what it 1 ?" s id the flycatcher, whose voiee had new sunk Minot to a whispon "11 you please," answered MISO Bilfil, " ;wide tip niy mind te ask you to marry me, dearest one I Iffy 'end and 'art are yours !" He stretched out his palm ae he;spoke and bent forwards ever the ben Mie 13ilal drew back; and for 4 moment a loon of anger mimed hor face ; bet with ad- miral good swum he euppressed "You are Sliders nonsense," elle amid with a laugh. " 1 swear I'm not 1" cried 'Joseph Gaper. "Then if you are seriens, Mr, Gaper, an- swered Mi ee Bilfil with edrairable dignity, "1 must inform you that I an elreedy en. gaged, the honor of your offer has come too late in the day." An amused; penile came into her handsome Lice as she eaid the leet words, The flycateher's jaw dropped ; hi nouth stood wider open thao ever. He drank up his grog at last, and went his way a 'wiser and e sadder man, having lost the woman who could have made him happy, and been thoroughly snubbed by the one he was con- ceited enough to think was dying for him. Mies Bilfil is shortly to be married th Mr. Reginald Chambers, and may all happiness end all possible blessings attend her. A Hint to Basiness A Canadian merchant who has beenvery suocerniful and has made his pile, in his youna struggling days made a pilgrimage to New 'York in order to see the great A, T. Stewart and get a business wrinkle from him. The great man was surrounded by niany encasing obstructions which had, one way or the other, to be surmounted before the °eau& could have his interview. At lase he gained his objeot by saying he had travelled hundreds of miles in order to ask Mr, Stewart one question and that the, whole interview would not take two minutes. On being introduced the Canadian simply asked "To what do you, Mr. Stewart, attribute your great mercantile success?" and got his reply, "To thinking of my customers first and my- self second." "Thank you, that is all I want," and he went, acted upon the princi- ple and made his fortune. Stewart had the charaoter of a hard,driving man of business, but he had judgment enough to see that the old principle of the Sermon on the Mount, " Whatsoever ye would that," etc., in the only prudently selfish way in which business oan be conducted if it is to be • permanently suocessful, • and he acted upon it. Very likely he was not a Christian man. Very likely there was a good deal about him which was the reverse of attractive. But this at any rate is to be said of him, that any of his shopmen found out making two prices of his goods in order to effect a sale, or concealing a blemish in anything he had to dispose of, was always instantaneously dismissed. He would al- low none of hie customers to be able to say, "1 trusted in your young man and I was deceived. I took the goods on his word and afterwards found out my mistake." There was one price fixed and invariable, and if these wore a blemish, however small, it had to be pointed out and allowed for. This plan Stewart found to answer best. The best judge, and the worst, were in his store all served alike. He had nosstock for green -horns, and no lies for children. Now if that principle were only universally adopted and aoted upon, what a change for the better there would be in the world's work and ways 1 A cheating tradesman is the most short-sighted fool that breathe*. He gains an advantage now and then, but at what a cost 1 "Cheat me once'that's your. blame. Cheat me twice, • thit'ts mine.".° And , how quickly the eharaoter of a. sharp, unreliable man gets wind! Some- how, one scarcely knows how, the warning gets general "Take care of him." "He's scaly." "He's not on the square." And bad as the world is, when such an opinion comes to be general, there will be found to be more or leas of truth in it. Sharp 1 It's the sharpest men th tiare soonest ed Some people say that it s not possible to be honest and make a living. In that case the sooner one dies the better. Life la net worth the living on such terms. • An Absurd Bird. Kiwi -kiwi is the creature s real name, but scientific men call it apteryx, which is a Greek word meaning Iwingless, because, ,though a bird, it has no wings. That is absurd enough, but it does not satisfy the kiwi, who seems to have tried, to be as unbirdlike as possible, and, in order to be so, has gone to very ridiculous extremes. It not only has no wings, but it has no tail -not even so much as an apology for one. And, as if that were not enough, it has no feathers worthy of the name. Its quills are covered with soft down for about one-third of their length, and then are fringed with hair-like webs out to the ends, which are sharply pointed. It is only as large as a common domestic fowl, but it has much stronger and stouter legs and bigger feet. Of course you can not be surprised to learn that such a bird looks at first sight like a quadruped. It carries its head low and hobbles along in a most uncouth fashion, moving so swiftly when pursued, however, that it is very difficult to capture this ri- diculous bird. " When it sleeps in the daytitne-for natu- rally it is odd enough to choose the wrong time for sleeping -it rests its long bill on the ground, and so makes itself look like a strange sort of three-legged stool. Most other birds use their beaks or their wings or their spurs to fight with, but it would be foolish to expect any such natural proceed- ing from the kiwi; and, in fact, its plan of fighting is to kick. It is very fond of earth -worms ; and one of its ways of pro- curing them is worthy of so odd a bird. It thumps the earth with its big feet, and if there are any worms in the vicinity, up they come to discover what is the matter. It is a cousin of the ostrich, and though its plumage has no such value for us as its large relative's has, it is very highly valued by the natives of New Zealand. The kiwi has a very tough skin, which, when it is properly dressed, makes good leather. •••••••••••••••••••.....010.80..l. Only a Little Quiet Conversation. So you're tired of i•nycrazy notione. You think Fm becoming insane, do you ?" repeated Mre. Snapper. "That's what I said," said Mr. S. stolid. "Maybe you wouldn't object to having me locked up in an insane asylum either. don't suppose you woeld hesitate a minute." "I reckon, I might hesitate a minute," was the defiant rejoinder. • "You would, would you? You'd wait a minute iri hesitating, Well, I Will say to you right here, M.r. Theophilus Snepper, that you're too late. You can't get evidence tow that would satisfy any court that I am non compoe. I don't know what you might have done, though, if you'd applied when I coneented to marry you. I dare say, you might heve aucceeded." The bow neektie has had le very there day,, DZLOS G-ItHEN'4 DEATH. shot ts Beath Aller n liandenvilend Volt Met with Two oilmen, or. me 10;17, The revoltinfe murder of his wife eMi two children by Delos Green, which occurred four miles west of Seresote, FIa recently culminated Saturday afteruoou in the kill. ing of the murderer by Charles Whittaker. Green had. been colninitted and turned over to Sheriff Waisen to be carried to Manatee, Green Was a powerful man physically, being about SIX feet high ancl weighing 180 pounds. Sheriff Watson started for Manatee putting his prisoner in a wagon in charge Of Charles Whittaker'he being ou horseback, riding irnreedia.tely in the rear. The Sheriff, just before starting, had placed in the wagon the hatchet and chisel with which Green had clone his cruel work, and Watson, having observed Green turn up the cloth under which the instrumente had been placed, just 4 little before starting, and while Green's back was turned,. took them out of the wag- on and put them in his saddle bap. Both the Sheriff and Whittaker were armed with pistols, the former having a 38 -calibre Smith & Wesson And the latter having a 44 -calibre English self -cocker, which was iu his hip pocket, the stock sticking out. . As they neared ltlanatee village Wbittaker notieed that Green became more nervous in hie manner, end just about this time the horse made a kind of turn to go into the Saradote road, and Whittaker, in leaning Over to rein him back, turned his body, which threw his hip and the WO of the pistol in an exposed position toward Green, Who, as quick as thought, grasped the butt of the pistol and endeavored to turn the • muzzle toward Whittaker's person. Wbit- taker as quickly grasped the cylinder of the pistol and held on, tightly, in this way keep- ing it from reVolving as Green Was struggl- ing to pull the trigger. Sheriff Watson see- ing the struggle, rode up and covered Green with his pisV.ol, telling him he weuldkill him if he did not desist. Green then took his hand away, saying he meant no harm, and was merely testing Whittaker's courage. • The Sheriff told hintif he dared to attempt anything of the kind again he would kill linvinstantly. Green's eyes fairly blazed, and; clinching his teeth and opening his lips, he threw his body with great force ageausb Whittaker, forcing him out of the buggy, over the wheels to the ground, he falling on top. Whittaker, with much difficulty, freed himself and started to run, closely pursued by his assailant. Whittaker, finding that Green was gain - tog on him, and the Sheriff shouting to him tO shoot, turned and fired, striking Green in the middle of the stomach, but he never winced or slackened bis speed. The Sheriff at this time was •unable to fire, Whittaker being in an exact line 'with Green, but was gaining on the Murderer, and when within a few Set, being nearer to him than Whit- taker, Green tureed on the Sheriff, who at this moment fired, intending to disable the prisoner, but but the ball merely grazed his arm; again the Sheriff pulled down on him, this time right in his face, but the pistol bung' fire, and Green grabbed the muzzle. Being a powerful man any way, and with maddened determination, he sought to wrench thepistol from the Sheriff's hands, tearing the skin from the, latter's hands in his maddened efforts, at one time, the Sheriff did lose his grasp on the pistol, but again renewed it. Green in the mean, time had got the Sheriff rather under him, and held him as in a vise, the Sheriff trying to turn the pistol against Green's body so aa to shoot him, and Green doing all in his power to do the seine to the Sheriff, and at one time in the melee had dealt the Sheriff a terrible WC* actdis theefaelfwittahis handcuffs; The Sheriff shouted to Whittaker: a life and death Case; kill him." Whittaker thenran up,put his pistolagainst Green's head, just above the ear, and fired. Green relaxed has hold, opened his eyes wide, gave a shudder, and fell over dead. And so ended the life of a human Vend, who less than thirty hours before had commited a crime which for heinousness and cold and premedi- tated cruelty, as the horrid circumstances disclose is without a parallel in the annals of crime. The Savage Stage of Childhood. Like the savages of to -day, those fierce progenitors of . ours must have delighted in the torture of captured enemies. Thus dur- ing long ages, compassion was unknown, and it appears to haverbeen lately acquired by the now dominant races. Indeed, even among so highly cultivated a people as the Romans it remained almost unknown until comparalively recent times -say fifteen hundred years ago -in proof of which may be noted their heartless fondness for the bloody sports of the arena. The emotion of pity appeared late in the history of the race; and, in view of the law of our development, which carries us along the path our ancestors have trod, how can we expect our boys to be anything else but cruel? How far is it judicious to go, in try- ing to alter the natural course of a child's mental growth by imposing upon him ideas which in due course he will not share until later? This last question is inviting. but we will notgo into its solutionatpresent, content- ing ourselves with observing that because a boy shows no compunction at giving pain to a captive bird, or calmly lacerates the feel- ings of a family of squirrels, merely to give himself a few soon -neglected pets, is no rea- son for expecting him to grow up a monster of cruelity. And we will further venture to suggest that much of the immorality of boys is a necessary consequence of their de- scent, as a corollary of which follows the aphorism of my witty friend, "A good boy is diseased." ,•••••11.111411111...... Object Lesson in Economy. A Texas editorthuejubile,tes. We now sport a nice milch cow. How ,did we get her. Bought her paid $40 for her, the whole arnountbeing lOcents per day, saved since March 6,1886. On that day a friend of ours insisted on treating us to a smokegie it was ourbirtday, we refused the kndness, in. him courtetusly that we neversmoked a cigar, to which he replied that he averaged from one to three per day, at a cost of 5 cents to 20 cents each day and that he never missed the small change. We told him then that from that day on we would lay away 10 cents par day as long as we were able to do so, and see hoev much it would amount to each year. We have kept it up to date, atid as a consequence we have a fine Durham cow and calf bought with 400 10 -cent pieces. One of the ateraetions of a fair in Mc- Henery coenty, Ill., was the marriage of a volunteer couple, to whom presents valued at $200 were to be given. The couple came to the scratch and were married., in the preemies of the rettltitude, but it is eharged that they had %heady had the knot tied elsewhere, and the managers of the fair are withholding the presents pending the result of an investigation. Violent rain storm -crowded street car-, handsome lady and gentleman on platform. Gentleman (to those inside)-" Can you squeeze a lady in there ?" Chothe of Male Voicee-"Yea, certainly; two of 'em." 4,CIENTIPIO AND 138EF1J14. A finger laid upon au oar'or the gunwale of an overturned boat, or a board, or aleiteit any floating eubetance, will sustain a porton in calm water. , gest persons do not know that the MOSt effectual form it which first eid can be rendered in cases of sineetroke it the appli catiohnea.aand neck, 1 acold-alcold water, ice, &c. -to ule Cherry-stain in imita tien of old mahogany: Digest logwoed chips in vineger or acetic acid Sr twenty.four heurs or more. When ready to use twat the solution ; then dip the wood until avitable color is obtained. Pyre Stains are easily removed front the fingers by moistening the hands with a dile ute solution of almost any:acid-hydrochloric, nitric, oxalic, citric, &e. After cleansing in tide manner, the handmust be freely washed in hot water. 11 this precaution is not taken, the Estelle will reappear under the use of soap and. water. Taken in the morning, fruit is as helpful to digestion as it is refreshing. The newly awakened function finds in it an object of such light labor as will exercise without seriously taxing its energies, and the tissues of the stomach accseire at little cost a gain of nourishment which will ustain those energies in later and more serious operations. It is an excellent plan, with this object in view, to arida little bread to the fruit omen. Toclean carpets, use about three gills of oc-gali in a pailful of water ag with ,a soft scrubbing -brush rub some IR the ex -gall water on the carpet, which will raise a lather. Whim a convenient -sized portion is done, wattle the lather off with a clean linen oloth dipped in clean water. Let this water be changed frequently ; and, when all the lather hos diseppeared, rub the part with a clean dry cloth. Mixtures of mag- nesia and fallers'-earth made into a paste are used to remove grease -spots. Alloyed with a srnal percentage of silver, aluminum loses ranch of its inalleribity, but with five percent. of silver it can be worked well, and takes a more beantiful polish than the ruore pure metal, With three per cent, of silver, it is vei7sultable for philosophical instuments, being harder and whiter than the pure metal, and is not tarnished even by sulphuretted hydrogen. With small amounts of silver, it appears very suitable for scale-bearas, and is now frequently used for this purpose. The alloy containing five per cent. of silver has been suggested for coin of email denominations, as it is hard, bright, and retains its lustre in handling. All lifts in buildings should be bricked in, or the sides of the well -hole covered with metal plates, abestos sheets, or Some other noninflammable material to render them fireproof; and laws should be enacted making it compulsory on builders and property -owners to make such provision for the safety of life and property. But in buildings where no such provision is made the following device has been suggested for preventing the spread of fire by way of the lift -shaft. It is proposed to ereet a standpipe in one corner of the shaft, with branches of perforated pipe of smaller size surromiding the well at each fleor. The water can be turned into each of these perforated pipes simultaneously by pulling a lever at a point remote from the elevator, thus filling the shaft with a shower of spray, which will be likely to subdue the flame, =lees the draught is very great and thefire too f ar advanced. A Few Bear Storiea. A bear weighing 500 pounds was killed on Flint River, near Albany, Ga., by the citizens, who never saw a bear in that neighborhood before. Daniel O'Connell of SMmford, Vt., was attacked by a bear near North Adams, Mass, and was being badly worsted, when his dog interfered and he managed to escape. The dog has not been seen since. A man was going over the Rocky Moun- tains for pine logs, driving a wagon. On the top of a large rock by the side of the road was a young bear, the mother having started up the mo untain on the approach of the team. The cub not moving, the mother came bounding back to it, and giving it a nudge With her nose started up the mountain again, expecting the cub to foilow. But the little one made no move, The old bear then came bat& the second time, and taking up the oub in her paws gave him several cuffs. The cub then obeyed orders and followed the old bear in a gallop up the side of the mountain. A passenger train on a Florida railroad stopped some fifteen miles from Cedar Key to prevent a collision with some cattle, when a black bear came trotting leisurely out of the woods, climbed upon the platform of -a car, and entered the express room, where he found three strings of fish and some bacon, all of which went quickly into his maw. When the train started up the swaying of the oar shut the door. The bear soon became tired of his ride, and looked about for means of egress. Nothing appeared so vulnerable to attack as the windows in the side of the car, which were protected by iron rods about a half inch in diameter. He selected one of these, caught two or three of the iron rods with his paws, and, giving them a heg, broke and twisted them off clean. His body was then forced through the aperture and struck the ground like a rubber bell. He turned two or three somersaultsand ambled off into the woods. Photographing Whets in Motion. Instantaneous photography has just been employed by Mr. S. W. Gardner to demon- strate by optical proof the fact that the upper part of the wheel of a vehicle in mo- tion travels more quickly than its lower part. Mr. Gardner has taken an omnibus wheel en route, and in this photograph, while the lower ends of the spokes immedi- ately adjacent to the ground are not per- ceptibly unsharpened by the motion, the tops of the upper spokes show an angular motion corresponding to about 10 degrees. The photograph ale° most successfully ex- presses the fact that the wheel it represents is in rapid motion. Instantaneous photo- graphy, at the rate it is going on, will soon have no more worlds to conquer. A qtarrymen residing nearLookout Point, a high peak in the Bleck Hills country, recently found a flat stone leaning, against a large oak tree. The tree had grown around the edge of the stone showing that the position of the stone heel been tho seem for many years. On one side of the Acme were the names of seven men and this inscription: "Game to these hills in 1883, seven of tire All dead but me, Ezra, Kind. Killed by Iud. beyond the high hill. Got our gold. June, 3834. " On the other side of the stone was tide "Got all the gold we could carry. Our pons all got by the Indians. I have lot my gun and nothing to cat aticl Indians hunting—r" The last of the inscription is illegible. OCT OF ITS OHBIT• Tiae New Brunswick fteteor ag See Er The fall of the great reaper io NOW :13rmirb. wiele hart excited inech interest at the Hare yard Observatory. Ono of Prof. Pickeriondie o4fsiwt4t thea4er8Y eitte13. th‘P'the "IeraT; sl>ti4leinalvYtiogtt ome, said he, "and looked up at the sky, when immediately I saw something vvhieli 1 thought, at filet was a flash of lightning. 1looked more closely then, aud fouled that there wata 4 diffused light, }the lightning, behind cloutise. It was a yellowish -white color. "The durationwas somewhat greater time that ot a lightning flash. I came up be; and reported the matter, and found that one of the other aseistaute had just came in, when was then telling of the very samophenornenons know now that it must havelieen the Neste Brunevviek ingteor that I saw," The fail ef meteors, continued. the Professor, "ie by no means so uncommon as you might amp - pose, although, of course, we seldom UneareS ench 4 large one as that which fell Tharsdase night There hi a curious coincidence in, thee es timete of the size of that one and one Intifada the aueierit writer, Pliny, mentions as haying been found in the Thrace 000 years before. the Christi= era. The eorrespondent af A. D. 1881 says the meteor was "largm than a boxssar." The historian of D. CI. 467 states that the one he eaw "had. the size of a wagon." Since Pliny's time however, there has been a long record Of wrolites, which are mere exactly deecribed, and no museum is - So poor that it does not exhibit one or 171£1,7fS, specimens of these visitors from infant:win space. About the oldest known speciinezt int oae weiehing 200 pounds, which fell in Al- sace io 1492. 4t is still preserved la the Churcth at Ensislaeinn. The largeet masses on record were found about seventeen yews ago on the west coast of Greenland by the. - Swedish Antic Expedition. There is now in the collection of the Royal Academy ot Stockholm one cif them which weighs twenty- five tons; and the Museum of Copenhagen has another weighing tea tons. In the British Museum is one weighing five , tone, and itt the museum at St, Petersburg one of 1635 pounds. The Smithsonian Institute at Washington has a very remarkable specimen, discovered in Mexico in 1700, which, a ccoed- ing to an Indian tradition, fell 200 years he - fore that, during a shower of stones. Itw. weight is 1400 pounds. There are 100 speci- mens in Yale College Museum, one w eighieg. 615 pounds. During the present century aerolites hare been carefully studied and analyzed, amain, indeed, aside from the general outside ap- pearance, by which they are readily re- cognized bys an expert, a ohernical al:minds is the one sure test by which they can Be distinguished in doubtful cases. In many cases they are largely composed of iron, ad from one which fell in Mexico a sword-le/ads-- I was made, which was once in the possession of Gen. Otd, of the United States army:, The origin of these mysterious visitorslias , been widely discussed, but never theroragle- ly explained. Of the •arious theories there are two which attract the most belief, One is that space 1 filled with floating ;name, and that our aerolites are that portion or them that comes :within the sphere of tb.e earth's attraction. The other is that they are projected from the sun and other planet* by the inconceivably tremendous forces at work there. It is strange that in the MI ' of so many large masses, witn such tremend- ous force, there has never been any well an- thenticated case of loss of life. The chances are good, however, that one of ' them- ev2il strike a city some day." Captains of, ocean ateamers,arriyieg in Boston say they, saw the falling meteor while far out at sea. The Lady Was Probably Disappointed, Mr. A. -"By the way, have you heaedi the story about the magician Hermann r Miss R.-" No, what is it ?" Mr. A.-" Why a lady got on the street oar one day last week and found a twat nex t to Hermann, who was, taking a ride. Whom she was about to leave the car she found hex - watch missing. Suspecting some mischieT, she accused Hermann of taking ite denied the accusation, but invited the lady out to the Exposition to see him. Well,sbo 'went out there that night. Hermann in one of his tricks came down off the pint - form with a sandwich, which be handed to. the lady. And what do you suppose ware in the sandwich?' I Miss B. (deeply interested)-" The watch of course." IMs. A.-" No, a piece of ham! Ha 1 hal He 1 he 1 Have ham 1" Hunting for Bears. The Stratford Beacon explains that ta210 or twelve of the citizens of that pla�. recently explored a part of Ellice Town- ship for bear, but having with them only three kegs of lager, they saw nothing, more formidable than a mouse. The questiots is, How much liquor does it take to fin a bear? There are plenty of examples of th e quantity needed to locate snakes. And sometimes but little more has ueloosed whole menagerie. The Little Fellow Struck It. "What is it, my children," exclaimed the temperance advocate, "that ca,uses men tee ignore the ties of home, neglect their fami- lies, stay out until after midnight and get up with a bad headache in the niorning !"" know," shouted a little wide-awake in the room. " Well my little fellow, please tell the oth,,,errsolwithicastli,t, is:" A Disappointment. Bobby (to young Mr. Featherly)-I hear& Clara tell ma that she was disappointed be- muse you didn't call last Sunday night Young Featherly (in a. tremulous whisper) -I say, Bobby, did your sister say how disi- aapointed she was? llobby (thoughtfully) -I'm tryiu' to think -Yes, she said s he was agreeebly disap- pointed. - A Natural Mistake, Woman (who hes given him something to eat) -1 s'pose you fled a tramp's life a very hard one ? Stranger -Tramp, madam ? no,trampe I'm just getting home from it summer resort. Some of the anglers at Wilson have adept - el. the novel method of attaching several' baited taokles to tightly corked bottles, set- ting thein itt the water, and when the fiele begins to tow a bottle off they haul him ins Many leage pickerel aro being caught them now. The Germain Charee d'Affaires a' t Gen - stantinople has informed the Porte the fa Germany 1 satisfied with the Bulgarian r 6-- patation for the lesillt recently offered by as paper of Rustchnk t� the German Vice-Cci n- sul in that city, The ineident is th ten -dosed.