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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 27, 1897)
JLRAL BAJIE, Editor and Proprietor SUBSCRIPTION BATES. One Year, cash In advance, tL25. Six Months, cash In advance 75 Cents' Entered at the North Platte (Nebraska) postoffice as a econd-class matter. TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 1897. May wheat reached one dollar in the St. Louis market Friday and thereby broke the record of six years standing". The Lincoln Journal invites answers to the question: "What influence has the late legislature had upon the welfare of the stated" The answers and there will be plenty of them will be eagerly awaited byJournal readers. The irrigated section of Lincoln county should be more densely pop ulated, and North Platte business men should organize for the pur pose of securing immigrants. Every farmer who locates on land tributary to North Platte increases the volume of business. The late fusion legislature was a brave body; it cut down the bills rendered by the country editors for printing the constitutional amend ments, and never touched the thieving" railroads. But then country editors can't issue passes, while the railroads can. The present city marshal should make a report showing the number of arrests he has made during the past year, and thereby let the peo ple know whether he is performing his duties faithfully and well. In this report he need not state the number of dogs he has killed at one dollar per head. The Tribune's bid to do the county publishing for just one-third the sum the commissioners will pay the Era, was no bluff. If the com missioners are honest in their de sire to save the tax-payers six or eight hundred dollars this year, it is not too late to reconsider the motion awarding tlie- contract to "theEra. At Tammany's annual meeting the other day for the election of sachems" the gold-bugs captured the prizes in a walk away. Bryan ism and free silver is as dead as a door nail in New York. The Tam many bosses now confess that they were for Bryan merely to go through the motions of "regularity," and now that Bryauism is dead and buried they take no further in terest in either the leader or the late Chicago platform. Journal. SPEAKER SEED TO W0SKINQM2N. There is much good sense in what Speaker Reed said to the delegation of the American Federation of Labor which called upon him Wednesday to urge legislation in the interest of labor. Mr. Reed is in full sympathy with or ganized labor. He believes that it has had results beneficial to humanity. He regards the efforts of labor organiza tions to educate public sentiment in favor of shorter hours of work 'and other ameliorating conditions as being wise and proper, but he deprecates violent methods. "A continual and constant presure within the law," said Mr. Reed, "was much more effective in securing reforms than violent methods. Violence always brought a reaction and the re forms sought were likely to be lost in the turmoil of the outbreak." This is entirely sound counsel end ought to receive the careful considera tion of every American workingman. No intelligent friend of labr can doubt that the true course in order to secure those things which are deemed to be necessary to improve tha condition of the working class is in appealing to pub lic sentiment, to the common sense of t what is just and right, rather than in seeking to force these requirements by recourse to violent methods. Lab r in this country exerts a power and influ ence greater than in any other nation In no other country has it so much re spect as it commands here. When ever labor in the United States has a reasonable vand legitimate demand to make all men are ready to give it respect ful hearing. Its right to organize for self-protection is no longer questioned It has received judicial recognition and is as well and as firmly established as any other of the acknowledged rights of the people. This has ben brought about by educating public senti ment, by intelligent appeal to the best judgment of the people, not by resort to violence, which invaribly operates to the injury of labor. Violent methods are not only costly to all con cerned, but they deprive labor of that public sympathy and respect which are essential to the success of its efforts for ameliorating hard and objectionable con ditions. American workingmen are as a. whole better off than the workingmen of any other land. Many of them, it is true, have had a severe experience during the past three or four years and a consider able, number are still unemployed. But the large majority of them are at work and earning wages that enable them to live comfortably. That there is room for im provement everybody understands. There should be work in this country for all who want work. This has been the case and will be again if we adopt a policy which will stimulate industrial activity and promote productive enter prises. In no direction can labor more wisely and advantageously exert its in fluence that in furthering the adoption of such a policy. What American work ingmen need is legislation that will cre ate a demand for their labor and when this is obtained the question of hour will not be difficult to settle. Bee. BETTING ON THE RAIN. The Queerest Gambling Game In World Is Played at Calcutta. One of the most curious forms of gambling in the world is "rain gam bling," which in the winter season of the year is a its height in -Calcutta. The principal rain gambling den is in Cotton street, Burr a bazaar. No one who has not visited the place can have any conception of the vast crowds which at every hour of the day and far into night pass in and out. The great majority are Mawaris, who are born speculators, but there are as well plenty of well to do Europeans, Eurasians, Jews, Armenians and Greeks and women too. All swarm into the small courtyard where this strange form of gambling is carried on, through a narrow entrance barely 8 feet wide. The courtyard is about 200 feet square. Thelar famed tank with a spout falling into the courtyard is the one spot where all eyes are fixed. The tank stands at the edge of a second floor roof. It is about G feet long by 4 feet wide and 9 inches deep, with the spout opening in ward, some 3 or 4 inches from the bot tom. From this it will be seen that it requires a pretty heavy downpour for at least ten minutes to cause the spout to flow. Intermittent drizzles, which partly fill this tank, do not count, as the shower to fill it must pour down un interruptedly, and then the bets are won or lost. Chances are takeu either for or against the spout running. A gray haired, wizened old man is the owner of the den, and there is another similar place across the road, only smaller. On the roof, over the fifth floor, there is a small, square watch tower, in which are stationed five or six men, whose duty is to scan the horizon closely and report on the formation of rainclouds. On these reports the odds rise or falL A bet inado and won one day is al ways paid the following morning. Everything seems to be " on the square, ' ' and indeed thero is little chance for cheating. The odds range as high as 1 to 75 on some days, even in the rainy season. Many have made a fortune in a single day. One person won over 5, 000 in tho course of a few weeks. But he worked the system on scientific meth ods. New York Herald. Senator and Soldiers. The days when senators and represent atives in congress were expected to frank letters for private soldiers, re counted by Mr. J. A. Watrousof Chicago in some army reminiscences, were dan gerous ones for congressional visits to the military camps. Mr. Watrons says that Senator Timo thy O. Howe of Wisconsin once visited tho headquarters of his friend, General Rnfus King, and was at the first oppor tunity besieged by the soldiers with packages of envelopes to be franked. Senator Howe was one of tho most good natured of men, and immediately sat down in the tent of one of the cap tains and began to frank envelopes by the hundred. General King had made special prep arations for a dinner in honor of his guest. It was to eclipse all the camp dinners that had been given for a long time. Senator Howe had been franking envelopes about half an hour when the call came for dinner. He went on writ ing, and General King came to get him. "Go on, King; I'll bo there directly," said the senator. Dinner was served. The guests had arrived. No one ate, but after awhile the colored cook was sent to tell tho sen ator that the meal was getting cold. "Oh, tell them to go ahead," said the senator, still writing madly on sol diers' envelopes. ''I'll be with them as soon as I can." He finished the pile and rose to go, but jnst then two more soldiers came in with fresh parcels, and ho seated him self again. After ho had signed them all he joined the impatient company- at a cold dinner. "I'm sorry," he said, "but it made the boys happy. They will make their friends happy with all the letters they will send in those franked envelopes, and it made me happy to do it." The Daffodil. It is now many centuries since, ac cording to Ovid, the young man Narcis sus was changed into a daffodil because of his pining away from seeing his love ly shadow in the water. But it can hardly be from sympathy with the un fortunate youth that the flower has con tinued to be so popular during all these long ages. Certain it is that it has as high a value today in the gardens of persons of taste as in the flower plot of the humblest cottager. No garden is considered to be quite complete without its little patch of daffodils. Of late years florists have given at tention to raising varieties from them, and the record of their many forms is a feature of the cataloguo of all seedsmen. Doublo ones formerly carried off the palm for popularity, but in recent times the single variety is regarded as quite as desirable. Meehau's Monthlv. Unavoidable. "That was a very queer poem on 'The Three Ages of Man' you published in your paper this morning, " said tho man who happened in. "Tho general under standing is that there are seven ages of man." "It was written 'The Seven Ages of Man,' " explained tho worried Sunday editor, "but I had to cut it down to three on account of a lack of space." Chicago Tribune. Incredulous Sam Jones. Did you hear of a funny Sam Jones episode? At one of his meetings he called on all tho men who could assert they had never spoken an unkind word to their wives to stand. Up got two. Now," he said, "all the women who never spoke an unkind word to their husbands may rise." Up got six. "Sit down," Sam cried. "Now, I want the audience to pray for these liars 1" Time and the Hour. HAPPENED IN EE0NT. PLAYERS TELL OF FUNNY EXPERI ENCES THEY HAVE HAD. Effect Upon Actors of Interruptions From the Audience Tho Man Who Sneezed. May Irwin and "The Widow Jones.' Wanted Burr Mcintosh to "Soak Him." Players are affected almost as deeply by happenings in the audience as is the audienco by happenings on the stage. Sometimes they are moved to wrath, but more frequently to laughter. Occasion ally they are frightened out of their lines. A man sat in an aisle seat, three rows from the front, at a performance of "El Capitan" the other night He was a fat man, and ho gave a sneeze suddenly a terrific sneeze. It was followed by an other that shook the plumes on tho big hats of the women around and made the lights flicker. Tho audienco suspended attention and looked at the sneezer, and the players paused just as he snorted out a third sneeze that ended in a high note such as seldom had been heard in those parts, though the Metropolitan Opera Houso is nearby. El Capitan stretched out his long arms toward tho man, rolled his big eyes heavenward and said in a sepulchral voice: "Heaven bless you, sir." This brought tho audience back to tho stage with a roar, and in a second tho performance was running on at high pressure, whilo tho fat man chuckled over the fact that for a brief space ho had been the star of the evening. A few minutes later a Sun reporter asked Mr. Hopper how he was affected by tho funny things that happen in the audi ence. After getting a grip on El Capi tan's nose and throwing down a cup of hot coffee, as he dees between acts, he answered: 'American audiences are not demon strative, and as a rule things don't hap pen in front. Of course the man who sneezed tonight couldn't help it, but ho made such a blasting success of it that it affected tho whole house and there fore the players. If an actor is playing a part where he can say something, it is the best thing to do, for it makes them all laugh and keeps them from noticing a pause." May Irwin is an actress with whom even metropolitan audiences take liber ties. "People have a habit of calling to me from the audience when they want me to sing a special song or to recite something," she said tho other evening. "One night a man in tho body of the houso called out to me to recito 'Hia watha. ' He took mo off my feet for a minute. I couldn't remember a line of it, but I called back: 'I will if you'll give mo my cue. I've forgotten how it starts. ' He gavo me the first line, and I shouted it for him. "When I was playing tho Widow Jones ono night, during the kissing sceno between Eico and myself a man shouted, 'I'd like to be in your place, Mr. Bice. I would. ' Rice and I wero both convulsed, and the audience roared. When the piece is funny, it often adds to the humorous situation for some ono in front to do something unusual. ' 'I never shall forget an- experience I had while playing the Widow in Cin cinnati, though of course it isn't art for an actor to see anything that goes on in front or to recognize anybody in the au dience, and I never do I don't think. One night, as I was saying, in the city of cinders and beer, I noticed the queer est looking old woman down in front She looked like a farmer's wife, and she kept peering up at me over her glasses. She didn't laugh once, and in all my life I never saw a human being take a play so seriously. She was with another woman who was equally serious. Final ly the old woman jumped up and, peer ing at me over her glasses and shaking her finger in my face, said, with a rasp ing, western twang: " 'Well, you don't look one bit like her.' "I was flustered, but I managed to gasp: "'Like whom?' '"Like the Widow Jones,' she an swered. "'Well, I am, ' said L " 'I don't believe a word you're say in,' said she, 'fori know'd the Widow Jones and her husban' nigh on to 20 years ago. I stood up with 'em when they was hitched, andyou don't look like her. She went off from these parts, and I heerd she was a widow and that Jones was dead, and then I heerd she was at this the-ater, and I cum to see. You ain't the "Widow Jones, audi just want to say one thing more I don't see how you dare to take other people's names and use 'em.' "With that she flounced out, but the next day when I appeared at a rehearsal she was on hand to give me another blast I explained to her how it was. She'd never seen a play before and had come 20 miles to see her old friend, the Widow Jones. There was a time when such things frightened tho life out of me, but I've learned to turn them to good account" Perhaps thero is not another man on the stage so phlegmatic as Burr Mcin tosh during unusual occurrences in front He lays his coolness all to tho training he got on the football field when ho was at Princeton. "I find more unexpected things hap pen on the stage than in the audience, " said Mr. Mcintosh. "However, tho first night we opened in 'At Piney Bidge' I got a piece of advice from the front I said to tho villain, 'You lef ' the colo nel's baby up thar, an you brung yo' own down henh. ' And his lines follow: 'You lie.' I instantly make a movement as if to strike him; but, remembering that ladies are present, my arm drops to my side. A man in front was so infuri ated with the heartless villain that he called out to me: 'Soak him, Jack! Hit him a good one for hunk, ' and then he hissed like a mad gander. " New York Sun. Delicious English Muffins. To make English muffins scald a pint of milk, and while hot add 2 ounces of butter. When lukewarm, add half a tea gpoonfnl of salt, half an ounce of com pressed yeast dissolved jn 2 tablespoon fuls of warm water, aud 3 cups of flour. Beat thoroughly and set aside for 2 hours. Bake in greased muffin rings on a hot griddle. Mrs. S. T. Roger in La dies' Home Journal. The barbers of India aro so deft and light of touch that they can shave a man without awakening him. GOLD AND SILVER PLATING. A. Process That Is Described as Simple by a Professional. Tho following is a very simple method for gold and silver plating : Take an ounce of nitrate of silver,' which is made as follows: One ounce of fine sil ver, one ounce nitrio acid, one-half ounce water. Put tho silycr into a Flor ence flask, then ponr in the acid and water. Place tho flask on the sand bath for a few moments, taking care not to apply too much heat and as soon as chemical action becomes violent remove the flask to a cooler place and allow the action to go on until it nearly slacks, when, if there is any silver still remain ing, the flask may bo placed on the bath again until the silver disappears. If tho acid employed is weak, it may be neces sary to add a little more. The red fumes formed when chemical action is going on disappear when the acid has done its work. The nitrate of silver formed during the above operation should be poured into a porcelain capsule and heated un til a pellicle appears on the surface, when it may bo set aside to crystallize. The uncrystallized liquor should be poured from the crystals into another vessel and heat applied until it has evaporated sufficiently to crystallize. Then you have nitrate of silver. Tako an ounce of nitrate of silver, dissolve in a auart of distilled rainwater. When thoroughly dissolved, throw in a few crystals of hyposulphite of soda, which will at first form a brown precipitate, but which becomes redissolved if enough hyposulphite has been added. Thero must be present a slight excess of this salt Tho solution is now complete. Tako a sponge, dip it in the solution and rub it over tho work to be plated. A solution of gold may be made in the same way and applied as described A concentrated solution of either gold or silver may bo used for work that has been worn off by applying it with a camel's hair brush and touching it with a strip of zinc. Tho writer has used this method with tho most satisfactory suc cess. The gold or silver used in making must be perfectly fine. Jewelers' Cir cular. WHAT THE YOUTH NEEDED. Tho Order Was Given by the Man Whom He Made Tired. Now and then Chicago draws a chap- nie in the great shuffle of life. The other day one arrived hero from an inland town who had a few points to spare in his trunk. He took up his residence in an aristo cratic family hotel, where he appeared religiously each night at a 7 o'clock dinner in the evening dress of a second class swell. This was all very commend able aud cleanly, and not at all extraor dinary where 80 per cent of tho men did the same thing. But the good impression awakened by the chastity of the newcomer's appear ance in the ineffable bosom and tie was obscured by his attempt to order his dinner in as much French as ho deem ed would be intelligible. The sonority of his final order for a demitasso was good for all the surrounding tables, if not for the butler's pantry. As the first week rolled on the young man grew more Frenchy, more mellow, more metropolitan in spirit, and on the occasion of his first evening at home made his way to the smoking room, ' where he arranged himself languorously and picturesquely in an easy chair. Near him was the station of a small colored buttons. "Garcoul Garcon!" called out the oriental one, but little William stood, with his heavy, scallike eyes rolled up ward and his great paws crossed sol emnly over his brass buttoned jacket, regardless and heedless of the over whelming honor being done him. "I say, there, garcon, won't you bring me all" "Some brains, William, for this chap," growled an apoplectic man on the other side of the room. Chicago Tribune. They Do Not Mind the Pennies. Experience has made the men of tho fruit stands overcautious in handling coin above the size of a 10 cent piece. The larger pieces they will test upon the pavement or sink their teeth into in a tentativo fashion. It is to be noted, however, that whenever a customer makes a penny purchase they pocket his change without scanning it almost hastily indeed. There is deep reason in this procedure. For one thing, nobody counterfeits tho cent piece ; it is too cheap. For an other thing, tho frnit dealer knows that no coin of smaller denomination is pass ing into his hands. For a third thing, and this is tho most important, there is always a chance that tho customer is deceived himself and is handing over a nickel, a dime or one of the minor gold pieces, under the impression that he is paying but a penny. If he looks satisfied aud starts to go away, he is not likely to be called back to get the change. Oc casionally some such involuntary wind fall comes the way of tho fruit man. New York Mail and Express. Got More Than He Gave. The London cab and omnibus men are noted for their smart and ofttimes humorous retorts and repartee, of which tho following is a good example: Ono afternoon a westward going om nibus picked up a lady and gentleman right out of the hands of a cabmau at Piccadilly. On pulling up, the omuibns very nearly collided with a heavy van. This was the Jehu's opportunity. "You are a nice sort of a party to have the charge of the heads of fami lies, you are I" he shouted at the omni bus driver. "Why didn't you bring your mother out to help you 'old the horses on their feet?" Like a flash came the retort : "Bring my mother out indeed while there's such faces as yours knocking about the streets! Not me! I don't want to have the old woman scared to death. She's been a good mother to me, she 'as." London Fun. Bucklen's Arnica Salve The best salve in the world for cuts bruises, sores, ulcers, salt rheum, fever sores, teter, chapped hands, chilblains corns, and all skin eruptions, and posi tively cures piles, or no pay required, It is guaranteed to give perfect satisfac tion or money refunded. Price 25 cents per box. For sale by A. F. Streitz Maccaline will cure any case of itohing piles. It has never failed. It affords instant relief, and a cure in due time. Price 25 and 50 cents. Made by Fosle Manufacturing Co. and sold by A. F. Streitz. ENGLISH LAWSUITS. Xhey Aro Expensive, and tho lawyers De mand Ills Fees and Retainers. In England there aro many fees to be paid by tho unhappy client of a lawyer that aro unknown here in America THero is a retaining fee, which is a guinea, and a half crown to the clerk, besides the brief fee, which is more im portant. Then thero is tho "refresher" of the leader and the "refreshers" of the subordinate lawyers. In England the leader's refreshment, which is duo after five hours, the brief fee being sup posed to cover only the getting up of tho case, is 10 guineas, or a little over $50, while $25 must be paid to the lesser lawyers. According to English etiquette, no counsel can leave his circuit to plead in another without a special retainer, which, in most cases, cannot bo less than 800 guineas. This is probably to discourago "poaching." A would bo client once wrote to a famous American lawyer, stating a case for his opinion aud inclosing a $20 note. The lawyer did not reply, where upon tho client wrote a second letter and received word from the lawyer that he had read the case and formed an opin ion, but somehow it stuck in his throat The client took the hint and sent a $10C note, receiving tho lawyer's opinion by the next mail. Nobody does anything for nothing, especially a lawyer. Lord Mansfield was so sensible of this that on ono occa sion, when he had attended to some legal business for himself, he took some guin eas out of his purse and put them in his waistcoat pocket to give him tho necessary stimulus. Sir Anthony Ma lono, an Irish attorney general, was so imprudent as to forget this fact and was grievously punished for it, for he was so inattentive to somo property of his that he lost $15,000 a year by it, and in the future he required his clerk to make abstract deeds of any property ho might buy and lay them before him, with a feo of 5 guineas, properly indors ed, which the clerk was to scrupulously account for, after which Sir Anthony made no more mistakes in regard to his own property. Chicago Newa HE TRICKED JAY GOULD. How Jim Flalc Checked Ont tho Uttlo Man's Bank Account. Gould kept a balauceof some $30,000 in the Tenth National bank for his per sonal account, household expenses, eta Being called west on a mission that lasted several weeks, he left his check book locked in the safe drawer, to which Fisk had a key. In the office was a clever young clerk whom Fisk had caught in the act of imitating his and Gould's signatures, the imitation of Gould's being a facsimile. Within an hour after the wizard's departure check book and clerk wero together under Fisk's supervision, and at his instiga tion more than a dozen blank checks were signed with tho namo of Jay Gould, and in tho course of a month tho $30,000 had disappeared, Fisk be ing at that time in the clutches of Josie Mansfield. On the very day of Gould's return the bank sent a notice of overdraft. The little man nearly fainted. He had sev eral fits. His excitement was intense. Ho declared that there was a conspiracy to ruin him. He hastened to the bank, and they showed him tho checks, signed by himself they did not donbt, and he raved and tore his hair. Nor could he doubt tho signature. It was genuine, even in his own eyes. A rigid investiga tion was started, which Fisk put an end to by informing Gould, with many a poke in the ribs, that ho had drawn and used the money. "Did Fisk mako good?" an innocent asked when the story was told. "Beturn the $30,000?" was the reply. "If Fisk had returned it, Wall street would have cried." New York Press. Channel Island Despotism. It is not generally known that some thing approaching a military despotism prevails in the Channel islands. 'Every male adult born in Guernsey or Jersey has to servo for a long term of years in the militia, 15 years being the period in Guernsey. In addition to this, all males of 32 years of age and under, of whatever na tionality, whojreside in that island for a year and a day continuously have to enter tho militia and serve for 15 years, or suffer fine, imprisonment or expul sion. During tho last two or three years a great number of young Englishmen have settled in Guernsey to go into tho tomato raising industry. In order to avoid the military service imposed by tho "states" as the gov ernment of Guernsey is called they make frequent trips outside their juris diction; either to England or to Jersey the last named having a government independent of the rest of the Channel islands. Loudon Letter. hc Got Ieft. "Smno time ago thp queen of Italy asked a little girl to knit her a pair of silk mittens for her birthday, giving her the money for thp material. A pair of beautifuily worked mittens arrived on the queen's birthday. Tho little girl received in return another pair.- One mitten contained lire, tho other bon bons. Queen Marguerite iuclosed a lit tle note saying, "Till me, my dear child, which you like best" The reply ran as follows: Dearest Queen Your lovely presents have made me shed many tears. Papa took tho mitten with tho money. Sly brother bad the bonbons. His Conversational Kfibrt. He did not know much about pictures, and when she spoke of a girl friend's achievements with a brush he was a little at sea. Ho said "Yes" and "No" with reasonable accuracy until she happened to say: "What I am especially disposed to praise is her coloring." "Her coloring!" he echoed with alac rity. "It's superb! You know I always did admire blonds." Washington Star. Where tho Trouble Was. "Brother, " said the minister, "you should try to be content with what you have." "I am,1' said the brother, who had been grumbling. "It is what I ain't got that I am dissatisfied about" Cincin nati Enquirer. Inevitable Conclusion. A philosopher thinks that a 5 cent cigar is as good as one costing three times as much, and keeps on improving in philosophy until he believes that be inir dead is iust as good as living.- IT PLAYED ONE TUNE. LIMITED REPERTORY OF THE ST. JOE CORNET BAND. First Piece It learned and the Solemn Occasion on Which It Waa Kendered. "Music by the Band" at tho School Ex hibition Old Timers ILook Back. Two men were at a table overlooking Michigan avenue. They wero unmistak ably from some place in the west They had tho good old time manners which aro becoming scarco in every section. They were 60 or maybe 70 years each. One of them was reading tho naws to tho other one. The ono who was reading stopped and said: "I'll bo doggoned if Sam Stone ain't dead. It says hero that he died in Topeky, Kan. You remember Sam Stone. Ho wrote that old song, 'Wait For tho Wagon and We'll All Tako a Bide.' " "Hain't thought of it 30 year, Cy," replied the old man opposite him. "Let's see, how did it go? something like this" tho old man puckered his lips and tried to whistle the air, but the sound from his mouth resembled that of a hungry wind through a keyhole. "Jim, you'ro getting wind wasted. Getting old. Fellows like you and me can't whistle. Better hum it, Jim." And Jim hummed it while Cy beat time with his fingers on the table. "I had forgot, Cy, who it was that wrote it." "Yes, it was Sam Stone. I'd 'bout forgot it myself till I see it in that morning paper. " "Sam Stone was 84, so the paper 3ay3. He died in Topeky, where he'd lived about 28 years. That was a great old song in its day. " "That and 'Pop Goes the Weasel.' " "But 'Wait For tho Wagon' was the most catching. I remember it was the first piece that the St Joe (Mo. ) cornet band learned to play. And jnst then there was a man died in St Joo who was a high roller in the Masonic lodge in the town, and a mighty popular man ho was. Of course he was buried with Masonio rite3, and the lodge committee called on the leader of the band to en gage the band's service. It was the first job tho band had, and as it was in debt for tho snare drum and the big horn hero was a chance to get even. "So the leader got a retainer, and then ho told tho committee that the band couldn't play only ono piece, and that was 'Wait For tho Wagon.' The leader said it was not built on dead march time, but by playing it low and muftling tho big drum he could mako it sound solemn. So tho band turned out at the funeral and it played ' Wait For the Wagon' all the way out to Mount Moriah cemetery. Some of the boys about town had a hard time looking sad, especially Ben Ullman, tho big butcher, who was ono of tho pallbearers. Ben was the funny man of tho town, any how. ' 'I remember Ben, Cy. " "I knowed you did. As I was saying, it was hard to keep straight faces, the band playing that tune, going out to tho grave. Coming back there was near ly a row. The high muck a muck of the lodge told the leader of tho band ho had better chango the music, and then the leader said the band couldn't play any thing else, and that he had told him so. Tho procession marched down Frederick avenue coming back and it commenced to rain, so that tho lodge it was the Zeredathah chapter, as I remember had to quicken their steps, and that put the band out" "Of course, Cy. You can't march double quick on slow music. But go on, "Well, the only thing for the band to do was to liven up the tune, and thai was what raised Old Ned. Tho newspa per came out next weeic witn a piece m it as long as your arm saying it was a disgrace, and that if tho band expected the oitizens to help pay its debts it had better learn gome music that would be appropriate at funerals, ns people were liable to die any time. Of course that made the band mad." "Of course, Cy. But what did they do?" "Stopped their papers. Then when Neely's academy gavo the school exhi bition in the Presbyterian church on the hill, the band was engaged and put in the gallery, which was in one end of the church. Tho band opened the oxer cises with 'Wait For the Wagon. ' Then the pastor of the church prayed, and the band played 'Wait For the Wagon' again. The programme consisted of es says compositions they called them then declamations and some dialogues, aud scattered along through the pro gramme was 'music by the baud, ' and every time it played 'Wait For the Wagon. ' It got to bo as good as a cir cus. I remember the leader of the band died a good many years ago, and the piece in the paper about him said he wrote 'Wait For the Wagon,' but the paper was wrong. It was Sam Stone who wrote it, him that has just died in Topeky." ' 'It all cqmes back to me now, Cy. But all I can remember is the tuno and the first two lines: 'Wait for $ho wagon, And we'll PU take a ride." -Chicago Chronicle. They Jfever Slcop. There are several species of fish, rep tiles and insects which never sleep. Among fish it is now positively known that pike, salmon and goldfish never sleep at all; also that thero aro several others of the fish family that never sleep more than a few minutes during a month. There aro dozens of species of flies which never indulge in slumber and from three to five species of serpents which the naturalists have never yet been able to catch napping. Her I'roverb. Mrs. Gnmmey Do you believe in proverbs? Mrs. Glanders Certainly. 1 believe that a bird on the hat is worth two m the bush, for example. Harper's Bazar. MECCA CATAKKfl REMEDY. For colds in the head and treatment of catarrhal troubles this preparation has afforded prompt relief; w ith its con tinued use the most stubborn cases of catarrh have yielded to its healing power. It is made from concenstrated Mecca Compound and possesses all of its soothing and healing properties and by absorbtion reaches all the inflamed parts effected by that disease. Price 50 cts. Prepared by The Fortcr Mftr. Co. Council Bluffs, Iowa. For sale by A. F. Streitz. FOR STARTING THE FIRE." The Use to Which the Fisherman Pats His Discarded Nets. In tho majority of households an old newspaper is the material most com monly used to start a fire, and the ad justment of this material is a matter of considerable art There should be enough of it to make a flame sufficient to ignito tho wood laid upon it, and it should bo put in with just the right degree of looseness so that the air will circulate through it and make it burn freely and to tho best advantage. But there are houses in which paper is never used for this purpose the homes of fishermen. Here, year in and year out, day after day, the fire is started with a chunk of discarded tarred netting, and there is nothing like it When a net gets tender, so that it is likely to burst when a body of kelp or seaweed floats against it in a tide way, or to break with a big catch of fish, it is condemned. It may bo whole and look all right, but it doesn't pay to tako any risks with it Some fishermen using a considerable number of nets may have half a ton of such netting in a year. They use it to start fires, and give away some of it Formerly they sold it for junk, and they do so now occasionally, though not so much as they did. It brings a cent a pound. This netting has been tarred again and again with fine, thin tar and it is thoroughly saturated. The net may bo G feet deep. A length of it is rolled up, ana tho roll is then flattened down. Tho flattened roll may bo 6 inches wide, and it is cut off with an ax into chunks of perhaps a foot in length, just enough to lio nicely on tho grate of a kitchen range. It is thoroughly dried before it is used. It all ignites quickly, and burns fiercely aud uniformly, with a bluish flame and rather a pleasant odor. A properly laid fire with a section of old tarred netting to start it never goes out Whoever attends to tho kitchen fire in the fisherman's house prepares it if possible, the night before and pulls a strand from the tarred netting out through the bars of the grate in front To start tho fire in the morning all that is necessary is to touch a lighted match to the end of that tarred rope yarn. Some of this tarred netting has been sold to start the fire in locomotives. Such a thing is not unheard of as tho use of cotton waste and oil for this pur pose, but a sheet of old tarred netting laid over tho grate bars beats the cotton waste out of sight Still, locomotives have multiplied and tarred netting cuts no figure as a means of starting the fire in them. It is perhaps now used for that purpose, if at all, only on roads running through or near fishing dis tricts. And, as said, it is now rarely sold. The fisherman uses it to start his own fire, and tho man who has moro than ho wants gives to his neighbor. New York Sun. A Costly Joke. A Berlin correspondent tells as true a story about a joke that resulted some what seriously for the man who invent ed it This person was incredulous about the discriminating appreciation of wines which a distinguished friend of his claimed to possess, and to test the matter invited him to dine at a ho tel whose landlord had previously been instructed to set beforo the connoisseur a bottle of excellent moselle. It was to bear no label or other marks to distin guish it from "vin ordinaire," and if questioned the landlord was to say that it cost only a small price. Tho invita tion was accepted, and the plot was carried out The guest had hardly taken a single sip from his glass, however, be foro he proved tho injustice of his host's suspicion by exclaiming over the merit of the wine. Ho summoned the land lord, and on hearing that its price was 8 marks instantly ordered 1,000 bottles of the same vintage. The order was filled, and the host, rather than reveal tho failure of his trick, paid the differ ence between the alleged and real price, which amounted to something over 4,000 marks. UngHah lawyers. In the United States tho names ap plied to lawyers are usually attorney and counselor at law. In Great Britain there aro barristers at law, who are counselors, learned in the laws, quali fied aud admitted to practice at the bar; solicitors, who are attorneys, advocates or counselors at law, who aro authorized to practice in the English court of chan cery; sergeauts at law, who are lawyers of the highest rank and answer to tho doctor of the civil law. Only after 1 0 years of practice at the bar can ono be come a sergeant Queen's counsel aro eminent lawyers, who are given by tho government that title, and from their number all the judges aro chosen. Many people walk on the very edge of danger all unconsciously. They do not wake up to the truth that the slight symp toms of weakness which they feel may, at any in stant, take a plunge into serious or fatal illness. Once the "running down " process begins it is speedy and there's no telling how it will end. To stop the loss of vitality and build up your strength and weight to the normal, Wealthy standard, there is, nothing equaj to Doctor Pierce's Qojden Medica Discovery. If vitalizes the blood and promotes a rapid production qf th Ute-giving red corpuscles. It prpmotes perfect digest tion ; enables tjie liver to filter all poispnous bilious elements, opt pf the circu lation, arrests the fprmar tion pf morbid deposits it the vital organs and builds up new and healthy tisr sues, For thirty years it has been recognized as the only perfect and radical cure for all brpncbiaj comr plaints, throat and Jung affections and diseases resulting from impoverished. blood. I was taken ill f n February. 180?. with a head ache and pain in my back," writes A- H. Caddis, Eso.. of rf. in B. I. Street. Tacoma. Wash. i called in a doctor and he came three times. H said I was bilious, but I kept getting worse. I took a couerh so that I could not siren nnlv hv beine crooned in bed. Mv lunzs hurt mr and I got so poor that I was just skin and bone. I thought I was going to die. till one day I saw the Golden Medical Discovery recommended for a couch. I tried a bottle of it and it did so much good that I tried another one. and it made me sound and well, so I can recommend it to every Doay. it saved my "lie." FOR CONSTIPATION, no remedy in the world is equal to Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets, which act nat urally and mildly, but never fail to effect complete and permanent cure. There no substitute for these "Pellets." no matter ..hat any druggist may say. They rcguHte and invigorate the Stomach. Liver aud Bowels. w