The East Huron Gazette, 1892-09-15, Page 6-e eathea
At Sea.
Tangled and torn, the -white -sea laces
Border the breastof the Indian Deep;
Lifted alatt the strong screw races
To edacken and strain in the waves whi.ch
leap.
The great sails swell; the broad bows shiver
And green and silver tbe purple sea ;
To down from the sunset a dancing river
Flows, broken gold, where the- ship goes
-free.
Ta t free! too fast t with memories laden.
I ga.ze to the northward, where lies Japan;
Ob. fair and pleasant, and -soft -voiced maiden,
You are there -too distant -Oh, Yoshi_Sant
• You are under those clouds by the storm -wind
shaken.
A thousand ri as the sea -gull flies,
As lost as if death, not time. had taken
My eyes away from your beautiful eyes.
Yet. If it were death, of friends, my fairest,
He could not rend our spirits in twain.
They came too near to be less than nearest
In the world where true hearts mingle
again.
But sad is the hour we sigh farewell in,
And, for me, whenever they name Japan.
All grace. all charm, of the land yon dwell in
Is spoke in toying "Oh, Yoshi San!"
SIR EDWIN ARNOLD.
•
THE ORS Of LIKLAVEN.
BY JOHN RUSSELL.
CHAPTER IIL -Comma SHADOWS.
Brathrig Beck falls into Brathrig Mere; and
there, under the shelter of the broad brown
Fell lies the little village of Linlaven, with
the church -tower standing forth above the
trees, and the blue lake stretching out be-
yond, filling every creek and bend of the
shore with its brimming waters.
The place is lovely in its solitude, with
the great hills girdling it round and shut-
ting it in. It might be the Happy Valley of
Rasselasa fcr the clamor and tumult of life
reach it not. It is warmed by the sunshine,
and beaten upon by storms ; but the sound
of the great word beyond comes not anigh.
Yet, alas! though these guardian hills may
beathack and keep afar off the roatifig tide
of life as it surges through the streets of
great cities and around the high places of
mankind, they cannot wholly shut it out.
Its ebb and flow make themselves felt here,
even in this the- shallowest backwater of
the ocean of humanity. Its pulsations come
and go amid these solitudes with as rhythm-
ic a beat as in the lanes of London City.
And how ? Because the human heart is
here. Which is as much as to say, that love
. • .
• • -
, • •
--timinam—sestimimah
No preceptible change weaned is -ilia
patient's ocuidition during that or the folo
lowing day, but in the early hours of the
third morning, while Lawrence and Mrs.
Dale were sitting with him, some symptoms
of a change made themselves manifest. The
strugglings of -the crazed braan within the
man were subsiding ; His ,voice had sunk
almost into silence, though there was still
a death -like pallor on hit face. By-and-by
he sank into what appeared to the sym-
•pathetic watchers to be a calm and peaceful
slumber. Was it, thought they, the blessed
sleep that trecedes a healthful awakening,
or was it the comatose tapper that should
end in death?
It was Sabbath morning, and Clara visited
the cottage on her way to church. The vil-
lage was as calm -and silent as -the great
brown hills that looked down upon it on
every side. No tinkle of hammer on anvil
came fromahe village smithy ; the six days'
rumble and whirl of shaft and pinion in the
old mill was at an end, and the big water-
wheel stood up gaunt and idle, lazily stop
ping in the morning sun. Brown leaves
lay thick along the margin of the lake, on
the smooth steely surface of which the
church and churchtower were impictured
as in a mirror. The little flower -plot in
front of the cottage wore a lifeless and de-
jected look, as if sadly conscious that its
summer glory was over and gone ; and
from -the trailing roses and creepers that
stili clung to the cottage wall, the yellow
leaves every now and agaie fell with a
faint shiver to the ground.
Clara entered, and/ was struck by the
strange stillness that filled the room, and
the slumberous quiet of the apparently
dying man. The sunlight came slantingly
in at door and window -not rich and
mellow au in the golden glow of summer,
bat with, a cold and silvery splendor
that ga:ve 'lustre but little warmth to the
chill October air. The chirp and twitter
of birds upon the housetops, or the slow
heavy footstep of a passing villager,
was all
that broke the silences; and there beneath
the eyes of, the silent watchers, the sick
man calmly slumbered on.
Alltat once the sound of the church bells
broke upon the quiet air, entering with the
sunlight the open door, and startling the
sleeper where he lay. He moved at first un-
easily, as in pain; then lay like one who
sleeps, yet seems to listen in his sleep. The
bells rang on, their clangour softened by
distance; the rich melody filling the air
and flooding the room as with the rush and
rustle of angels' wings. '
it. here, a.nd hate ; that joy is here, and No one spoke. The sleeper moved once
grief; that here are pain and passion and more, and looked up. The wild light had
despair, sin and death and the grave. died out of his eyes, and the harsh lines of
And that old man, weary and worn and his face were softened and subdued as if an
fever -stricken: what would he hear amid. angel's hand bad touched them into peace.
these solitudes in the wild October storm of It was life -not death. The battle had
yestereven ? Thought be that Nemesis, been fought, the tribulation had been en -
awful daughter of Night, knew not her -way dared, and the hand ot the Destroyer had
hither ? Saw he not the church -tower of been stayed -for a time.
Linlaven rising there amid the -trees ?-At '?hem beautiful bells !"
its feet is the, green churchyard, full of the --as the sick man who' spoke, his face
graves of men. for the moment lit up with a kind of sweet
The storm of yesternight had died away radiance. At length his eyes fell on Lawr-
upon the hills, but it had Ieft mournful ence. "Where be I?" he asked; "and
traces a its fury behind. High up on the what beautiful bells be those?"
broad Fell, many a tall pine has been shat- _ "Thou be aniong friends," Lawrence re-
tered and riven, lying now with upturned plied, "and the bells are the bells of Lin
-
roots in the w•an morning light. The old laven."
elm that yestermorn shook its withered "Ah," said the maneas if the words con-
-boughs, rustling dim dead leaves in the yelped no information to- his mind. Then
rising -sun bas -fallen across the village he lay quite still for a few.minutes, aapar-
_ street, and the children stare with rem% ently absorbed in his own thoughts ; per -
eyes of wonder at its hollow bole, knowing haps considering within -himself the possi-
not that corruption and decay had been bllities that might have occurred. And
eating into its heart for years. The great- again he spoke;
willow that hung over the- deep still pool "Happen thattonee one ha' took me up.
where Brathrig Beck falls into Brathrig 1 knowed I was out in the dark night, in
Mere, is also stricken down ; nor shall it the storm, well nigh. a dyin' of hunger and
ever again fan the air with gray leaves, and women:Lep and pain -and then I feels my -
whisper dark secrets to the summer moon, self falling and falling -and knowed that
of fair pale faces and bating hair, and mid- this were the end o' me at last. Then all
night shrieksalong the mere. of a sudden -I was far away in the old
A very little thing moves the half -stag- church at home- kneeling by mother's side,
nant waters of life in a village comMunity. and the great b'els in the tower were ring -
Had the storm of last night been the only ing out slowly and sweetly, and all the
troubler of the waters, it would doubtless church was -filled with sunshine and pleas -
this morning have been the talk and wonder ant music as I ha' seen it many and
of every one; the old folks counting how manyhi the time long ago. Mother took
far back it was since they bad had such my hand in hers as I knelt beside her,
another storm, and how much w, rse that and I could see the old look of love deep
was than this one; and the young folks down in her eyes. " Giles, my lad, say
wondering how it was that people could "Our Father." And I said it with her till
remember things so- far back: they- could we came to "Forgivens our sins" -when it
hardly remember yestetday's lessons. _all changed, qielek and sudden -like, into
But now, the finding of the stranger upon darkness. I could not lift my eyes, and a
the moor far outdid all other subjects of great pain wail at my heart, and all around
human interest. Rafe the pedlar, who bad wasnothing but darkness -darkness! Then
discovered him with that inquisitive lantern my eyes were opened. aid I saw thee be-
' of his -which wasalwaysglaring about with side me here -and them beautiful bells,
its one eye to see if it' couldn't pick up a they stilt rang on. What may it all
hahgain-Rafe was quite a hero to -day. He mean ?"
had to tell the story a dozen times in the " It means," said Lawrence, " that thou
course of the forenoon: but he managed to harbeen very ill, and ha' had a sore wrestle -
make rather a profitable business out of it. for thy life. &at ask no more at present;
The old women he found war not very com- thou will hear all when _thou he stronger."
munkative upon the subject until thethEd Clara all this while had stood a little
sampled and paid for a -tew of his wares, apart, strangely moved by what she saw
and then it was amazing what he couldeill. and heard, comparing her former irnpres-
The wild wind, the swaying and moaning:of .aions with her present. Then she moved
the trees by the Dead Water, theawful terror quietly out of the house, and took her way
he experienced in passing .the tree where to the church.
the smugglers hanged the exciseman, and " Lawrence," said Mrs. Dale to her bus-
-then, tnerovrn. all, the groa,ns and -at -range band. a part; "I ha' been thinkin' o' that
sounds he heard when at last he reached thou told me as to what the poor old man
the brow, of the Fell, and saw the corpse- said upon the Fell, and I can't believe it.
like thing lying before him! But further It were main badsof us to think ill o' him.
than that he would not go. He might say That ain't the face of a bad man' whatever
mors than his head was worth. Who knows is.
who the old man might be? No, no ; Lawr- . .
ence and -he had talked the matter over, The autumn had passed into winter and
and least said soonest mended. "But may- winter into spring, and the old man whom
he,leimnaiste, when I come round next, the Rafe the pedlar had found on Brathrig Fell
soughmayhae b4evn past, and wha ken on that stormy night last October was still
what I may tell ye, ance I can do it wi' Linlaven. Hi' did not die. His recovery
safety, andjust auto' pure triandship. Sae, was slow,but, thanks greatly to the patient
geedtdaYs 11100. nursing of Mrs. Dale, he did recover.
Upon the whole; the result -was rather "Uncle Giles.' That was- the name be
-
disappointing to the gossips ; but Rafe was known by He had never offered to
- knew he had planted a little seed eT curt, give his -full name to any one, and no one
osity and expectancy- in their minds that among those about him quite cared to ask
would keep them from forgetting him till him for it, He was excessively -fond of
licicame beak agalii. " children, and they of him,and one day a
In the course, of the Torenaiin the Doctor girl,with that innocent temerity which
deafly bent upon taking his departnre. stood pitched on the table, as if its owner
And in all probability he would have
been gone long ere now, but for - the
fact that the winter had -been a singu-
larly severe one. It was quite a month
after his being carried into Linlaven before
he was able to leave his bed, and yet an-
other month before- he was in a fit state to
travel ; by which time the winter had set
in, fierce and keen. Great falls of snow
had:taken piece, and the hills lay stretched
motionless under their white shrouds like
so many dead giants. The roads for weeks
were blocked, and it was not possible to
cross the wild Fellain any direction. Win-
ter had in fact besieged Linlaven, shutting
it up as closely as was ever beleaguered city
in time of war.
in the meantime,-hythe Vicar's orders, been nits se Well on childhood.
his name was. The man looked taken
asked him what
_ arrived at the vicarage. The patient had
.
removed to a room in a cottage near theaback for a minute: then he replied, that
:a .. Troinisedlo,see - to hiswants.;-anct-thither: he had known - in other
ma -where Lawrence Dale and his had the littlefehildreiv
----- - -- "Alia Vier and An Doctor bent their steps.
! _ Vtantee;tn Whose= mind .a_stpinge ,ourinoty
:.:._,.....bad been starred 4814fflie OR man, accou-
paniodthezn.'aneVlooked-aukinindr. at the
'-'- ' '---Vho--- IC T. '.-- -
, . pa ent--Ivas
Assigo,:7-ihndittesi'iwshe--bact,la
:-5eeibiin-; and tlieD�ctor pronounced]
4- Viircnn' *bat.' appearedt
00* lia;sfrat: ale* of, thiimoiliti*-
beeit--fouU4t:t4i
itigueand **Sul* Al411:PcSaitif-lirii*
- A
'0044' 10* Perel
e f
311,
This old man, therefore, who called him-
self Giles, was to Lawrence Dale earl his
wife, as also to the Vicar and -Clara, not only -
the object of much kindly attention but
also of some degree of interest. At first
they had simply pitied and cherished him
as a poor child of misfortune and distress,
driven by the vicissitudes of fate within
the scope of their sympathies ; but as they
knew him better, they beran at once to like
and to respect him. He was a man of few
words, manifesting his sense of gratitude in
his looks and manner rather than by any
set form of speech.
But there was one that got nearer to the
old man's heart than all the rest. This was
Lucy Norham, Clara's child. A merry
prattling thing, with all the winning ways
of a little sylph of five years, she came to
know and to understand him as if by intui-
tion, and to love him also as the very young
are often seen to love the very old. She it
was who h had the hardihood to look up
into the old man's face and to ask him his
mane. - She would transport into his cottage
-the little playthings that were dearest to
her for the time, and spend hours at the
old man's feet until her nurse appeared
to fetch her home. Sometimes, as she
sat on his knee, her fair hair falling
over her shoulders, he would stroke with
gentle hand the shining locks, and gaze
-into the deep blue of her young eyes, as
though he were about to recall in her face
some vanished image of the past. And when,
in the course of that fierce mid -winter -
when fog and frost and snow lay everywhere
and icicles hung from windows and door-
ways -disease laid its hand on the little
maid, not one of all the villagers waited for
news of her recovery with a deeper anxiety_
than did this ancient castaway who loved
her.
Moreover, as the spring returned, and the
soft west winds were once more rippling the
lake, life seemed to have grown brighter
for the old man. it was found that he pos-
sessed no slight mechanical skill in various
ways ; and in order to encourage him to set-
tle in the village,Lawrence Dale had the
top -storey of theOld Grange fitted up with
a carpeuter's bench and other requisites,
and Uncle Giles soon found his hands filed
with such work as the united wants of the
little community provided for him. Here,
therefore, the old man bestowed himself in
his workinghours, and here, when thespring
sun shone soft on the vicarage garden, scarce
a day would passin which he wasnot aware
of a pair of little feet climbing the tall stairs,
and a little voice shouting out for "Uncle
Giles." Then would he leave his tools, and
go half -way down the stairs to lift the little
Lucy in his arms, and carry her up beside
him, to watch him at his work, and to cheer
him by her happy innocence and childish
prattle.
With this improvement in the old man's
physical surroundings had come also a cor-
responding improvement in his health and
appearance. As strength returned to his
tall and naturally athletic frame, and his
step became firmer, and his face less pale and
emaciated, the neighbours were fain to ad-
mit that he did not look quite so old as they
at first had thought him. It was true his
hair was gray -even white; but we know
that time alone is not the producer of gray
hairs. There are other snows than those of
age; other frosts that whiten men's heads -
ay, and bleach men's hearts too -than those
that fall from the chill breath of passing
years.
The spring had grown into summer,
and now June was almost treading on
the skirts of May. Tbe leaf had return-
ed to the tree, and the meadows were
green with the springing grass. Down
the lanes the hawthorn was -white with
flowers, and the scent of blossoming,
orchards was sweet on the air. Amid all
this, the old man, with his recovered health
and strength might have been es happy and
contented as most of his neighbours deemed
him, but he was not. This discontent, or
rather restlessness, was not apparent to
outsiders; bat there was one whose keen
yet kindly eye did not fail to disceru it, and
that was Lawrence Dale's wife, Mdly. With
A vrotnan's fine instinct, she saw that he was
urged by the old mysterious impulse to -
arise and depart from among them.
When these fits were on him, be would
wander for hours about the distant margin
of the lake, and through sequestered lanes,
shunning, and evidently desirous of shunning
the presence ot his neighbors. He had
comeback one evening from one of those
solitary wanderings, and was seated on the
bench outside his cottage door, looking
across the shining mere to where the great
sun was glowing in the western sky. A
thrush, on the topmost twig of the leafy
elm that overhung the cottage roof,was mak-
ing all the air musical with its rich mellow
notes, only keeping silence at inter vals for t -he
reply which came back to it from that
other in the clump of leafy beeches below.
But the old man heeded not their music.
His lace wore a look of deep sadness, as he
sat there, gazing at the lake with its wavy
flow of- golden -crested ripples. Was he
thinking of the future ?-or of the past?
Thinking, it may be -who knows !-of
both : of the time, perhaps, when under the
black sails of some withering sorrow or
deed of sin, he had scoured the seas in
search of that dragon which he was never
to slay, and in the hope of returning under
tlie white sails of that victory which had
laces s -calledhim Uncle Giles. And never been his.
becailed in Lint- even, not by
so he eesle ta
but be" every one.
desire for obseuritlie
teenceeof-in7 141". . d -d not escape h
was he- "
the"Alt the same ellildtelionlyt-- a little strange, this
indeedEmue
be:
fore it • e No ne did h
talkvd reason - AinS.144e absence. There mutted?„
eTheft murder ?
who would -steal` la even to
bitVg,g*O-,---,- -idight be it (floor.
90 and smug-
Ife'44`ilt#=nrY anY er; it Wa8
Wbatcalled - the
elnoonoce,
rthe 413m le 'necessities'
smuggling.
- had wise . in.
ie,hethad,
zati be it: ammo eon.
&relied t _
eleineut , in his
not 1111; for Mrs.
tis_
;
Sho had tifter111e- re-
ro than
41/ ToP-.1ible..
nna. and evv.
At thehamoment a little band was laid
on his, causing him to start suddenly, like
a man in fear. It was only the little maid
Luey. -
" I have come- to bid you good nigint,
Uncle Giles; and Dolly have corr.e too. You
must kiss Dolly first, 'cause she's the pin-
cirpal baby." And she held a very much
battered little image of a doll up to him.
"Oh, Uncle Glee, 'she went on, 'Dolly and
I have been looking for you for hours -and
hours -and hours!" And she gazed up into
his tace with wistful eyes.
The old man only said, "Ab, my little
Lucy !" and gathered her up into his long
arms, and set her on his knee. As he kiss-
ed her a hot drop fell:upon her cheek. Just,
then he looked up and saw Milly watehlifi
him from her cottage door; so, kissing the
child once More he set her down, and went
hurriedly into his own house.
His confused, and agitatedAemeanonr
not escaped Milly's eye, hence, as -soon as
she had takenlaiey up to the vicarage, and
returned, she walked straight towards his
house,_ and entered. It was as she bed
..If expected. The went brown valise
were meditating an early departure.
" Surely, Uncle Giles,"Milly said, point-
ing to the valise, "thou be not going -.to
leave us?"
"Happen I may, missus," he answered,
to he lifted the tell-talebundle and put it
away. He went on : " I shouldn't oughtn't
to ha' been here so long. Only one thing
ha' kept me, or I ain't nowise sure if I had
been wi' thee till now."
" What is that, Giles ?"
" Well, missus, it be that bairn ci'Mrs.
Norham's-little Lucy. There's a summat
that binds that lass to me as I can't explain
nohow, not even to mysen. "
" Then why should thou go ? Ain't thou
well here, and well liked ?"
"Happen as that be so, " he replied.
weren't complainin' o' no one. But mine
ha' keen a wannerin' life ; and though I be
well pleased to stay within sound o' Lin-
laven bells, yet happen sometime I may stay
a day too long. I ain't a-wishin' to go ; but
maybe, lass, there's a summat as shall make
nue."
(TO BE CONTINUED.
MECHANICAL AND SCIENTIFIC.
Brick is to be made from chipped granite
and clay.
A patent has been issued for a lock which
can be eperated by a magnetized key.
A recent invention is a tame with a hinged
sole, for the purpose of facilitating putting
it on or off.
A chemist in Berlin claims that he has
discovered a system of reproducing natural
color in photography.
A London firm finds a windmill the most
economic means of securing the motive
power necessary to run a dynamo.
It has been found that tale same wire can
be used for telegraphing and telephoning.
The experiment was recently tried a dis•
tance of three and one-half miles.
A Chicago man has recently taken out
patent for an electric pickpocket and coat
thief detector, which apparatus is intended,
automatically, to sound an alarm bell when-
ever the wearer's personal property is inter-
fered with.
Luminous figures on street doors to render
the number of houses visible at night is the
newest patent of an electric company at Ber-
lin,Germany. .
. street car in Fitchburg :fitted with
steel ball bearings as an expirinient, has
been run for several months with out being
oiled since it was first put in service.
Blaudyte is the name given to the new
material blade of Trinidad asphalt and
waste rubber. It resists the beat of high
pressure steam and lasts well in the pres-
ence of oil and grease.
There is a rock in Mexico which fore-
tells the weather. In fair weather it
wears a neutral tint, and when it is about
to rain it turns a dingy red. Its tempera-
ture increases and it appears as if it were
being heated by an internal fire.
Photographing under water has actually
been carried out, so it is said. Experiments
were made in 1889 in the Mediterranean to
ascertain how far daylight penetrated under
the water. In very clear water, near Cor-
sica, aud eighteen miles from laud, the
limit of daylight was found by means of
photographic plates to be 1,580 feet.
England has thirty-four astronomical ob-
servatories, America eighty, Fran se seven-
teen, A.ustria tveenty-four, Italy twen ty-one,
Russia fifteen and Belgium five. Besides
these there are many private observatories
all over the world. Among the 1,160 as-
tronomers of note, now living, about one-
half have private observatories.
Brutes at Bap
In animals the faculty of amusement
awakes very early. Our four -footed friends
seem to be aware of this and make it a part
of their parental duties to amuse their
young. A ferret will play with her kittens
a cat with hers, a dog with her puppies. A
mare will play with her foal, though the
writer from whom we quote has never seen
a cow try to amuse her calf nor any birds
their young. If their mothers do not amuse
them the young ones invent games of their
own. A flock of ewes and lambs were once
observed in adjoining fields, separated by a
fence with several gaps in it. " Follow my
leader" was the game most in favour with
this flock, the biggest Iamb leading round
the field and then jumping the gap, with
all the others following in single file ; any
lamb that took the leap unusually well
would give two or three more enthusiastic
jumps out of sheer exuberant happiness
when it reached the other side.
Fawns play a sorttif cross touch from one
side to the -other, the " touch in each case
being by the nose. Little pigs are also great
at combined play, which generally takes the
form of races. Emulation seems to form
part of their amusement, for their races
seem always to have the winning of the first
place for taeir object, and are quite differ-
ent from those combined rushes for food or
causeless stampedes in which little pigs are
wont to indulge. Racing is an amusement
natural to some animals, and being soon
taught by others, becomes one of their most
exciting pastimes. Many horses, and all
racing dogs, learn to be as keen at winning
as schoolboys. Birds delight in the free arid
fanciful use of their wings. There is all the
differencepossible betwzen the flight of birds
for " business " or pleasure ; and many kinds
on fine days will soar to vast heights for
pleasure alone.
_
"DOTS ADD DASHES MON A SPOOL
The Message Over an instrument Without
Wires_or Battery.
One of the wildest, weirdest stories of the
supernatural that has ever come under the
experience of mortal man is told by R. H.
Field,- a telegraph operator at Cincinnati,
Mr. Field is a, very intelligent and con-
scientious man, and he „relates his fearful
experience with a candor and earnestness
that almost make one believe it in spite of
its extreme improba,bility.
" I have been a telegraph operator for
twenty-two years. I have told my story to
at least a hundred people, and I have never
met one yet who would believe that it was
an actual fact. - I know that it will be a
severe test on your credulity, but my ex-
perience is Gospel truth. I want you to un•
derstand that I have never, and do not now
believe in the supernatural. I have never
attended a 'spiritualistic seance in any life,
and am rather inclined to accept the phil-
osophy of Bob Ingersoll."
Mr. Field was quite reluctant about tell-
ing his story for publication, but finally
consented to do so. He is an entertaining
talket, and related the great event of his
life with an ease that showed that he had
told it before. " It was several years ago,"
he began, "when I was much younger than
I am now. I was assigned to night duty at
a little station called Evansburg, in Pen-
nsylvania, on the New York, Pennsylvania
and Ohio Railroad. I hadn't been around
the world very much, but flattered myself
that I had a good deal of mechanical genius
The office was in charge of an old fogy sort
of a fellew named Jones. The telegraph
instrument got out of adjustment, and I
knew something about repairing it. Jones
suggested that I take to my home an old-
fashioned relay box and fit it up. Glad of
the opportunity to show what I could do, I
carried the box to my boarding house one
morning and put it on a shelf in an old cup-
board and went to bed, intending co fix it
after my sleep was over. I had been in lied
but a few minutes, and had not got to sleep,
when, to my surprise and astonishment, the
armature, or what is otherwise known as the
lever on the instrument, began ticking. I
was perfectly amazed, and thought there
must be some mistake. To satisfy myself
that I had not been carried away by my
imagination, for the ticking was faint and
subdued, I got out of bed, and, with fear
and trembling, opened the cupboard door.
I took the instrument in my hand and it
cotismed to work. I put it on the table,
but the sound it made was unintelligible. I
turned the spring so that there would be
less resistance, and then, in as clear and
perfect Morse as I ever heard, the invisible
person, spirit, or whatever it was, wrote :
"'Do you get me ?'
"I was so overcome that 1 involuntarily
answered 'Yes,' without putting it on the
instrument. The unknown heard me, for
again, in the beautiful writing, it continued:
"'Thank God, at last. My name is Charles
Blake. I am an old-timer. My parents who
reside in Mount Pleasant, Ia., have lost me.
They don't know what my fate has been. I
want you to write to my father, Homer
Blake, at Mount Pleasant, Ia., and inform
him that I died at Shreveport, Tex., of yel-
low fever, on--,' I have forgotten tne date,
but it was several years prior to the date of
this communication. I was frightened to ' The man will always be remembered
death. My hair stood on end. My board- I who forgets himself for others.
Habits are soon assumed ; but when we
strive to strip them off, 'tis being flayed
alive. -[Cowper.
Are Horses Affected by Change of Climate.
Most undoubtedly horses are affected by
change of climate, even in cases where the
change may eventually do no harm, until -
they become acclimatised. Horses removed
from this country to India feel the excess
of heat just as much as their riders, and
show sigas of languor and fatigue in re-
spect of work which her ?. would not give
them the slightest trouble.When horses
are taken into high altitudes on the Andes
or in Thibet, the blood frequently starts
from the mouth, ears and nose, the rarity
of the atmosphere affecting them just as
injuriously as it does human beings who
have not been born and brectat that eleva-
tion. Horses, again, suffer if removed to
chniates either marshy or darkened by
dense forests -fresh air, dryness, and light
being essential to their well-being. Dark-
ness and damp, which some animals delight
and thrive in, are .utterly uncongenial
to horses. The neglect of this considera-
tion, frequently seen in the construction
and management of stables, says Professor
Flower, is not only unkind to the animals,
but very costly to their owners.
The gold 'plating on a wire does not
make it any stronger.
On.the 1st of January, 1890, there were
inEngland and Walea 86,000 lunatics "un-
der'. -official It is estimated
that there are about 12, 000 other lunatics
in their owns homes, so that the total num-
ber of insane people in England and Wales
was 98,COI
-ar-711estseeeeilwesnere-
WHERE THE WHEAT WENT.
The 1891 crop of wheat was by far the
largest in the history of America Th -e 1892
crop is likely to be one of the largest also,
although more than 100,000,000 bushels less
than that of 1891. It was confidently pre-
dicated by statisticians of the Kansas acct
that because of the exceedingly short erops
of rye and wheat in Europe all the surplus
of America's immense crop would !as Leaded
to prevent famine in middle Europe, and
an era of high prices would follow.
In view of the harvest of over 500,000,000
bushels this year, it is instructive to look
over last year's trade and learn where the
wheat of 1891 went and what *t brought.
The crop was placed at 611,780,0C`i hustle's -
The demand at home for food purposes took
not far from 300,000,000 bushels. The seed
sown last fall and this spring amounted tc
56,000,000 more. The exports of wheat,
and flour reduced to whe.at, were 2'24,8,31,-
03 bushels. This makes the total used and
sold for export 580,831,000 bus'aels, leaving
to go over into the current crop year 31,000,-
000 bushels. Some 20,000,000 bushels were
carried over the previous year, so that
America enters the new crop year with 50,-
000,000 bushels and the new crop.
In August, 1891, when calamity prophets
were filling the papers and magazines with
columns of figures showing that the farmers
should hold their wheat because they would
be sure to get $1.50 or $2 per bushel, No. 2
red wheat was selling in New York at about
$1.06 per bushel. In September the aver-
age price was $1.02 3-4 ; in October, $1.04-i
in November, $1.05 3-4 ; in December,
$1.05 3-8 ; in_ January, $1.02 5-8 ; in Febru-
ary, $1.C4 3-8 ; in March, 99 cents ; in
April, 96a ; in May, 90; and in Jnne, 87i
cents. The July, 1891, price was 98 -5-8
cents, and in July, 1893, it was 96 cents,
there being little difference between the two
years. But the prices from March to June
in each year shows the wide difference of
15 to 22 cents per bushel, the 1890 crop
bringing that much more. The average for
the whole year has been $1 for the 1891
crop, while the average for the 1890 crop
was $1.06 7-8.
America has another large crop for sale,
and European prospects are decidedly better
than a year ago. European nations except
Russia, always have to buy more or lest'
wheat, and it is to Western Europe that thit
continent must look for a market for on:
exportable surplus, which this year will be
not far from 200,000,000 bushels. During
the five years previous to 1891 America ex-
ported an average of about 137,000,000
bushels, but last year owing to the unusual
shortage in Europe it furnished about 225,-
000,000 bushels.
It is not likely that the whole of the sur-
plus of 200,000,000 bushels will be needed
this year, and the " visible supply " is like-
ly to be greater at the end of the current
year than for some time. Prices, therefore,
are likely to remain quite level, although
speculators may cause an occasional flurry,
lasting a day or two, but showing little in-
fluence in the long run. Where the wheat
crop of last year went, the crop of the cur-
rent year will go, and there is no unusual
demand for the American surplus, which is
likely permanently to increase prices.
ing house was two miles from the telegraph
station, and there was no telegraph wire of
any kind in that vicinity. I was a little
dubious about the communication from the
other world or from somewhere, J. will not
undertake to say. Before venturing to write
to Homer Blake, as directed, I picked up a
Western Union tariff book which I had in
my room to see if there was such a town as
Mount Pleasant, Ia. I found that there was
such a place, a fact that I did not know be-
fore, and that it was located on the Chica-
go, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. To
satisfy myself and not be taken in, 1 wrote
a letter to the Postmaster at Mount Pleas-
ant and asked him if he knew of any one
in the vicinity named Homer Blake, and to
give me what information he could, without
telling him what I wanted it for. A few
days later I received a reply, and I have his
letter somewhere aineng my effects, in which
he said tbat Homer Blake had lived in
Mount Pleasant some years before, but that
be had moved away, to what place he did
not know.- Blake, he informed me, had two
sons, one of whom, Charles, was supposed
to be dead, and the other was a grain mer-
chant in the far West."
"Did you not pursue your investigations
further ?"
"No, I did not. The truth is I was scar-
ed to death. I worked that wire for eight-
een months. Every once in a while I used
to ask Jones if he heard the noise, and he
laughed at me. He never believed my story,
although the reply from the Postmaster at
Mount Pleasant somewhat staggered him.
I was actually so afraid to take the relay
off that my hair used to stand on end, and I
never had any further communication with
the hidden force that called itself Charles
Blake. I shall never forget that experience
as long as I live. People look so iaeredul-
ous and are so apt to believe me a crank or
a spiritualist when I tell it that I never re-
late it any more unless I am asked to do
so."
What Caste Means in India.
A story just published in the Indian news -
and
that country. It appears that some time of that statesman who is now ourdened
The wise prove and the foolish confess,
by their conduct, that a life of employment
is the only life worth leading. -[Paley.
A hint as to how base ball might be play-
edat sea or on the lakes is given in the
Pall Mall Budget's notes on a trip to Nor-
way, in which a game of cricket on the
packet is thus described : The ball was
tied to about twenty yards of stout line,
Whenever it was knocked out to sea the
fielders had to haul in the line, which gen-
erally became entangled at this critical
moment, and defied the exeited efforts to
release it ere the batsman had piled up the
runs. At other times the batsman would
be lassoed by the line attached to the ball
and time had to be called to unravel him.
The news that Lord Aberdeen will iu all
probability be our next Governor-General
will be received with satisfaction. He has.
a strong liking for Canada, and during a
residence of about a year in this country
he became thoroughly popular with all
classes of the people. It was expeeted at
one time that he would be made Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, a position which,
during Mr. Gladstone's short term of office
in 1886, he filled so - that he obtained a
strong hold upon the affections of Irish-
men. The duties of a Governor-General
of Canada are mainly social and are not very
onerous, and the office has often been filled
by men whose great ability displayed after-
wards in other fields, has not been put
to the test here. They have usually been
men of genial disposition and good sense,
and for many years past ncne of them has
erred upoa the side of straining the preroga-
tive of the Crown he represents or acting
against the counsel of his responsible advis-
ers. Hence, though the people grumble a
good deal about the expense ot maintaining
Rideau Hall,there has been no ether griev-
ance which a radical reformer could use as
an argument for abolishing the office. Lord
Aberdeen, if he comes, will be heartily wel-
comed, and will be a worthy successor of
the venial gentleman who now fills the effice
papers gives some idea of what caste means
with the greater care of India.
A correspondent asks for a summary of
the game laws of Manitoba. Here it is :
"All kinds of deer, including antelope, elk,
or wapiti, moose, reindeer, or caribou, or
their fawns, cannot be shot at, Lunted, trap-
ped, taken or killed between the 1st of De-
cember and the 1st of October. The grouse
known as prairie chicken and partridges,
between the lst of December and the ist of
September. 'Woodcock, plover, snipe and
sandpipers, between the 1st of January
and the 1st of August. All kind to'
wild duck, sea duck, widaeon, teal,
wild swan and wild goose (except, the snow
goose or wavey), between the lst of May
and the Istat Septemkr. Otter fisher or
pekan, beaver, muskrat and sable between.
the 15th of May and the 1st of October.
Marten, between the 15th of April, and the
lst of November. Nor can any of the animals
and birds named be shot at, hunted,, trap-
ped, taken or killed on any Sunday. No
birds or animals, except fur -bearing ani-
mals, shall be trapped, nor shall any swiv-
el guns, batteries or night lights, he used
to killswan, geese or decks ; nor shall any
beaver or muskrat house be destroyed at
any time ; nor shall poison or poisonons bait
be exposed for any animal or bird. No
eggs of the birds mentioned may at any
time be taken or had in possession. This
act does not apply to Indians on their re-
serves. No person or corporation shall at
any time export any of the animals or birds
mentioned. Persons without a deamicile in
the province must take out a license, cot
bag $25, to kill any of the animals or id is
named ; but the minister may free,* s frac
permit to a guest of a resident r4 proy-
they will learn at no Mee."
ago, in the neighborhood of Fyzabad, a man
of the Ahir or cowherd caste was carrying
a young calf home on his shoulders, when by
some accident it slipped down and broke its
neck. The Brahmans declared him to be
an outcast and sentenced him to the severest
form of Hindu excommunication for six
months. They further told him that he
could not have committed a greater sin than
causing the death of a cow, but, taking into
consideration that he was an uneducated
man, they would deal very leniently with
him. Daring the period of excommunication
-he was ordered to lead a life of mendicancy,
and with a rope around his neck and a
piece of the calf's tail. en his shoulder he
was to perform pilgrimages to different
Hindu shrines. The members of his family
were forbidden to supply him with either
shelter or food under a penalty of under going
similar excemmunication. The Ahir recent-
ly returned to his village, but until after the
purification ceremonies he mu"t live in a
temporary grass -thatched house which has
been erected for him. A man Of one of the
lowest and most degraded castes has been
selected to purify him. A barber, after
shaving the delingtientand paring the nails
of his hands and tees, will inafie over the
hair and nails to the low-easte attendant,
*ho wiltburnthem and also set fire to the
hut. Then the Ahiris covered with cow -
dung, after -which he will take a plunge into
the River Satin and comeont purified. Even
then he will not be re -admitted into caste -
fellowship until hebas feasted fifty Brah-
Man13 and 100 of hhi brethren,
Exampleis the school of mankind, and
other.
'
71
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