THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
f, BANDKIIS, I'ubllhr.
NEMAHA, NEBRASKA.
TOUCHING TALE OF A TENANT.
With pride tho nRont told me, as wo talked
about the flat,
Thnt children were prohibited I might
make sure of that.
Tho walls of fretful babies and tho yells
of husky boys,
The HcreatnlnK of the children that, wo
know, alanl annoys;
Tho stamping and the romping and tho
sounds of youthful strife
Would havo no placo whatever In the
lucky tenant's life.
I closed tho deal right joyfully and felt
I hnd a prize,
For I was sick of children, with their
shouts and lusty cries.
I longed for peaceful slumber when I went
to bed at night;
I longed for quiet ev'nlngs, for I felt they
wero my right;
I wished thoso calm surroundings that, as
ev'rybody knows,
Must ever bo essential to Ufa of true re
pose. I'm sitting In that quiet flat whllo writing
these few lines,
And Just across the hall I hear a poodle's
plaintive whines;
Two more Join In at Intervals, whllo from
tho yard below
A larger dog Is barking at Imaginary foe;
A parrot calls for crackers and a noisy
mockingbird
Is adding to the racket that Incessantly Is
heard.
Tho grand piano thunders out In number
there are six
And all tho airs that como from them In
dreadful discord mix,
While through It all 1 plainly hear a
novlco with a fluto
Who tortures mo persistently with shrill
and squeaky toot;
And n I can't escapo from this, no matter
now I try,
I put my hands up to my cars and petu
lantly cry:
"Oh, glvo me back tho children that I used
to swear about!
Oh, glvo me back tho romping crowd and
put tho dogs to rout!
Oh, glvo me back the babies, too, no mattei
how they wall,
And notify tho agent by to-morrow morn-
lng's mall
He'd better bar pianos when ho want!
to draw tho line,
And I prefer tho children to tho poodlt
dogs In mine."
Chicago Tost.
I A TALE OF THE
I NORTH SHORE.
3:
BY ANNIE A. PRESTON.
'mWWfMftWtfFfMtWtWWMfM?ti
"XTHAT is Hint queer little build
Y Y Ij'tf ovcr yonder in the cove?"
"Oh, that iB Tom Little-Lump'!,
fchnnty."
"Is it ncccssnry thnt n lnmp should be
kept so near the lighthouse on the
point?"
"Tom considers it ncccssnry for the
fcnfety of the fishermen nnd pleasure
parties tbnt go out from the village
yonder. Tom is a chnrncter. Would
you like to go over nnd call? 1 have
heard thnt there wns n boat wrecked
there once, nnd that n friend of Tom's
was drowned, l'erhnps ho will tell you
the story; lie tells it sometimes, but
1 linve never heard it. I have been
-told by people who know him well thnt
in order to make him tnlk you must
keep silent yourself. He is one of those
peculiar people who nre nlwnys able to
distinguish between real sympathy and
vulgar curiosity."
The tall, comely, weather-beaten mnn
knew pretty Mabel, the daughter of the
villnge pastor, and when she introduced
her aunt as one whose home was on
n rugged' hilltop fnr inland where the
pine trees near her door caught the
high winds when they whispered to
her of the sen, he invited them to rest
in his house.
"It's n rough little place," he snid,
"but 1 enn show you there some of the
trensures nnd mysteries of the sen,
and you will hold them in your memory
while your grent tree is whispering its
stories of wnves nnd tides, nnd will
help you to fancy that you are only to
lift your eyes nnd look afar in order to
see n breadth of blue water ami per
ohnnec a white sail."
The man hesitated in his tnlk, eye
ing his visitors curiously, ns if wonder
ing if he wns giving too much of himself
but the woman snid, gently:
"The sen and the mountains alike be
long to God."
"Yes," he said, "nnd it is impossible
to love the one nnd not hold the other
nlso in your heart. I love the sea, but
I love to think that the mountains are
standing firm, while the waves are in
u tumult. I always find comfort in thnt
thought, but God can quiet the troubled
sen and bring comfort to troubled
lienrts. I never used to think of it in
thnt wny. I was careless and happy
nnd palled the sen n garden of beauty,
nnd n treasure vault, and n mirror for
the henvens, nnd everything lovely nnd
benutiful of that sort.
"When I Avas a little fellow, frolick
ing with the wnves on the beach, I be
gan mnkiiig n collection of sea treas
ures, and as I grew older and had n
boat of my own, I added to it constant
ly. It wns better thnn this," nnd ho
threw open n door of an inner room and
motioned for them to enter.
As they looked nbout, their delighted
but mute appreciation touched his
heart, and his sad face lighted with
gratification. The room was like a grot
to, Its Rides being shclveB of lint, grny
lock, over which, ns well as over the
stone floor, were scattered pebbles,
bhells and seaweed. The one window
looked out seaward between two huge
rocks, nnd so artlsticnlly had the idea
been carried out that they felt them
selves to be standing on an ocean cav
ern. "No one knows of thnt fissure until I
allow them to enter this room," Bald
Tom. "Although fnmlllnr with the
bench it wjih a long time before I knew it
myself. An old Bycamore stood jtiBt in
front of the cleft, nnd nil about itwnsu
tangle of vines and berries and nil Blind
loving weeds. No one ever tried to get
ne,nr the trunk of the old tree until I
enmc nlong here nftcr my boat washed
uwhoro upset seeking for traces of her
body. I climbed up over the heap of
drift, thinking to reach the top of the
ledge, and was astonished to find the
crevice.
"The tide was coming In, nnd ns I
looked down into the caldron of the
boiling waves I snw a girl's lint with itH
drenched blue ribbons. I fished it out
after awhile, nnd found without n doubt
that it wns the hut she wore thnt after
noon. "Of course I supposed she was
drowned, and thought that her body
might have, been sucked in here nlso.
After that I haunted the place by night
and by day, 11b wildncss and dreariness
suited my mood. I fancied that the
white sprny as it dashed up between
the rocks when the grent wnves broke
there was her spirit nnd thnt no other
bent might get under the control of the
current, nnd also as a little memorial
of her beauty nnd sweetness, I told my
self, I carried those stones up the ledge
nnd built that tower and kept my lamp
burning.
"The fishermen like it, for this Is n
dangerous const, and they took to call
ing me 'Tom Little Lamp,' nnd to bring
ing me little things for my comfort.
Tl.ey thought me foolish, I suppose, but
yet they were sorry for me. The const
dwellers nre kind. No one can tell how
kind until they have lived among them.
"At length I grew to love the place
so much that I made an agreement with
the stanch old syctiniore to give me its
place. I was to cut It down and to use
every particle of it about my cabin, and
I did so; not so much as n twig has gone
to the fire or to the waves, nnd the old
tree is satisfied, nnd so run I.
"I used to sit nt this seaward win
dow nnd look out between the rocks and
wonder if anyone was as grieved at her
death as was I, nnd wish I knew about
her folks, and if they ever got the trunk
full of the rarest of my sen trensures,
fnr she admired them so much that I had
given them to her, and had helped her to
pack them. At length in memory of her
I began to make another collection the
one you sec here.
"Sometimes nftcr a hard blow, when
the furrows between the waves are so
deep that the very bottom of the sea is
plowed, tiny pink nnd white shells fit
for n lady's necklace may be found on
thnt little rough island away in the
oiling to the southwest. I wanted to go
over there, but my boat wns not lurge
enough for so long a trip; but one day
a fellow who had heard me say thnt I
knew just where to look for the dainty
things asked me to pilot a city party
he was going to tnke over on his snii
bont. 1 wns glud enough to go, but 1
didn't feel like tnlking, so I sat down in
nn out-of-the-way place on the deck,
pulled my hat over my eyes and made
as if I was asleep.
"Presently some of the young people
sat down near me and one fellow began
in n blind sort of way suggesting that
I was a fit subject for n flirtation. 'Tie's
asleep,' snid one. 'He's stupid,' said an
other, and still another added in n low
voice, thinking I could not hear:
" pii, no, dear fellow, he is fnr from
stupid, but he is daft, love-crncked or
something. They call him 'Tom Little
Lamp' beeuuse he keeps a lamp burning
iii the cove nbove the lighthouse when;
his boat wns wrecked once with his lady
love on board.'
"'Dear me, how romantic!' said ,i
voice as clear nnd hard as water drip
ping upon ice on n freezing day. 'It
reminds me of n little romance of my
own.'
" 'Oh, Mrs. Oliver.' cried one of the
young things. 'Did you ever renlly have
a romance? Excuse me, but we hnve
always been told that yours was a made
match to secure a union of estates.'
" 'And so it was, my child, and en
tirely proper and judicious, but I had
my romances, nnd my poor, dear hus
band, who only lived a month after our
wedding day, hnd his ns well, no doubt.
One summer when he took n sen voyage
for his health I cnnie with a few friends
upon this const, somewhere for n little
quiet. I do not remember the name of
the fishing villnge where we stopped,
nut it was u quaint, wild nook where
an old woman who made excellent
chowders gave us comfortable quarters
and clean beds. There was fine bathing,
nnd boats and sober boatmen, so we
stayed on.
"'I wns told that the captain of the
largest of the boats wns nn enthusias
tic collector, nnd that many of his spec
imens of shells and seaweeds would do
credit to many a metropolitan museum,
and ns dear Mr. Oliser had just nt that
time a mania for murine trensures, I
set myself nbout making friends with
this shy fellow, thnt I might in some
wny get possession of his collection.
Although at first he wns almost as sin
as n sea bird, I found that, as well as be
ing very handsome, he wns intelligent
and well educated, so that I really eu-
joyed the companionship ol the poor
fellow while enrrying out my plnn. I
would go upon the water In no boat
but his, and I don't know but thnt he
fancied I was in love with him, for nfter
n time he insisted upon presenting me
with the collection thnt he had at first
refused to sell and when he hnd helped
me to pnek it in one of my trunks, I sent
It to New York to greet Mr. Oliver on
his return, nnd he whs delighted with
it, nnd occupied himself with it until
I went back to him.
" 'I don't know but I came ns near
being In love with thnt youth ns I hnve
ever been with anyone in my life. I
stnyed on and on, even after the others
had left, taking all of my things thnt
were of any value with them, not know
ing how to get away. He taught me to
row and to swim, and I learned about
the eddies nnd currents all nlong the
const, and one day I insisted, in the
whimsical fashion I had adopted when
with him, in taking his small boat and
going out across the bar by myself.
" 'I had learned, to my dismny, thnt
he .renlly fancied himself in love with
me; so I made all my arrangements to
leave on that day, and in order to get oft
without bidding him farewell, I rowed
myself down to the railway station,
where I left the bont, pushing it into the
current, knowing it would drift back
home, for he and I had drifted up there
in the twilight n score of times. I hnd
worn n broad-brimmed shade hat over
a plain sailor, and uow I tossed it back
into the bont as n souvenir, skipped
up over the bluff, flagged the trnin nnd
was off. A week later I wns amused to
read in n daily the news of my drown
ing, nnd it seemed thnt the bont was
found bottom upwnrd nnd my lint wns
discovered somewhere nlong the beach.
My name was misspelled in the news
pnper paragraph, so it made no sensn
tion; and itmny be thnt my sentimental
captain deplores my untimely fate un
til this day.'
"During all this flippnnt recitnl T hnd
not moved n muscle, but I thought of n
grent mnny things that I might do to
punish her. I might jump overboard
nnd drown before her eyes: I might rise
up before her friends nnd denounce her
for her miserable hypocrisy nnd henrt
lessness; but although I had just heard
myself cnlled daft, I convinced myself
of my sanity by keeping quiet nnd pre
tending to snore.
" 'How dreadful in you,' laughed one.
'I shouldn't think you would dare to
repent such things,' -nld another, nnd
nftcr the rippling comments of admira
tion had run around the group, the
widow walked away. As soon as she
was out of earshot nnother series of ex
plnnntions ran around the circle:
" 'How perfectly horrid in her!'
" 'She is entirely heartless, nnd takes
pride in proclaiming the fact.'
" 'She has nine diamond engagement
rings. She never returns the ring when
she breaks with a lover, but keeps it as
n proof of friendship, she says.'
"While they were talking the sky that
had been hot with thunder all the after
noon was clouded with n sudden flurry
of wind and rain. This is a dangerous
const to anyone who does not under
stand it well-
"The mnn who wns in chnrge hnd
never before taken n pnrty across at that
point, nnd when I snw thnt he wns going
to certain destruction I showed them
that I had some life left in me by taking
charge of the craft myself.
"The lighthouse on the bluff wns of
no use to us in our emergency, but ns
the western sky grew blnck my little
lamp that I hud lighted before I left
home shone out in the midst of the gath
ered darkness like a stnr.
"There was a strong wind nnd n heavy
surf. They were nil frightened nearly
to death, but I was tilled with a wild
joy. The men obeyed my orders, and
when we landed snug nnd fnst nt my
own little wharf there I led them nil into
the shelter of my humble shnnty. I
kindled n Are. I gave them food, I
brewed them coffee, I showed them this
grotto and its collection, nnd they were
very quiet nnd grateful nsthcy warmed
and dried themselves.
"While they were eating and drink
ing 1 went away to my little room, then
changed my rig and quickly shnved off
the long beard from my face that had
been growing ever since the day I had
found my bont upset on the rocks.
"I then went out nnd, standing in tho
shadow, said: 'I will now show you
what has been for years my dearest
ti ensure. I kept it for the sake of tho
owner; for her sake I built this shanty
and hnve lived here to keep the lump
burning thnt no one should follow what
l supposed to have been her fate.'
"As I took Hint poor weather-beaten
shade b.it from its box 1 turned so the
light fell full upon my fnce. Some of them
recognized me ns the same person, nnd
the widow, who had made n fool of mo
for years, now mistook me for a ghost
and dropped fainting to the floor.
"The whole party left the beach next
day and 1 neer have seen or heard of
them since. 1 stay on here, for I no
knger seem to have n place in the world,
but I keep my light burning nnd I add
to my collection nnd I have corres
pondents among naturnlists who are in
terested in what Interests me nnd nre
glad to get my specimens nnd my notei
upon them and 1 have learned to seo
traces of the linger of God in nil lib
acts and works. Sometime it may b&
my collection will be my monument, and
have n place in the world as 1 might have
had if 1 had neer met with that benuti
ful, heartless woman." Springfield.
(Mass.) Kepublican.
MERITS OF THE MOCCASIN.
Par Superior to the Iloat nnd Shoo 61
Clvlllmtlon.
Moccisins are a torture to the "ten
derfoot," but nftcr a few days' trial the
feet harden, the tendons- learn to do
their proper work without artificial
heels, and one finds thut he can travel
farther In moccasins than in any kind
of boots or shoes. The fear of bruis
ing your feet is mostly imaginary, for
after they have enjoyed the freedom
of natural covering these hitherto blun
dering members become like hands,
that can feel their way in the dark and
avoid obstacles as though gifted with
a special senee. You can climb in moc
casins ns In nothing else; you can cross
slippery logs like a cat; you can pass
In safety along treacherous elopes
where hobnails certainly would bring
you to grief.
Moccasins mnde of deerskin nre too
thin for comfort, and sooiu wear out.
Those of moose or caribou hide nre pv.
cellent. Ordinary moccasins absorb
water like u sponge, and in slushy win
ter weather they ure almost unendura
ble. Hut a moose or caribou "shanks,"
dipped in the melted fat of the animal,
are nearly water proof. A shank is a
sort of boot made by stripping the skin
off the hind leg of a moose or caribou,
so that the hock will fit your heel. You
sew up the toe, and put a draw-string
in the top of the leg. Shanks with the
hair on are very dry and warm.
For still-hunting in the dry days of
autumn, when every leaf and' twig un
derfoot crackles at a touch, a moccasin,
noiseless as a panther's paw, is mnde
by covering the sole with moose or cari
bou hide in the thick winter coat, or
with a piece of sheepskin with the wool
on it. For traveling in regions where
thorns or prickly pear abound, the soles
must be made of parfleche (rawhide).
Good moccasins, tanned by the Indian
process, with brains nnd smoke, dry
soft when leather would become like
horn. Heing more pliable than leather,
they never chafe the feet, and as they
allow free circulation of the blood, they
nre better protection against intense
cold.
Mnny sportsmen show n surprising
Inck of judgment in selecting foot
wear. As you pass the window of n
dealer in sporting goods you will prob
ably see n pnir of big lnced boots prom
inently displnyed as n special lure.
They hnve thick soles, plentifully stud
ded with hob-nails, like mountaineers'
shoes. 1 presume thnt thousands of
pairs nre sold every year to men who
think they are getting the most service
able boots that money will buy. Now.
these clumsy things weigh 72 ounces,
wliile a pair of thick moose-hide moc
casJns weigh just 11 ounces. Do you
realize what that difference means?
Let mc illustrate. Say thnt a man in
good training can carry 40 pounds ten
miles a day without great fatigue.
Now take that load off his back and
put half of it on each foot how fai
will he go? You see the difference be
tween enrrying nnd lifting? Very
well; the big, lnced boot outweighs the
mocensm by 30is ounces. In ten miles
there nre 21.120 average paces. It fol
lows that a ten-mile tramp in those
costly loots means lifting twenty tons
more foot covering than if one wore
mocensius.
When Charles F. Lummis mnde his
trump across the continent, from Cin
cinnati to Los Angeles, covering 3,50?
miles in 143 days, "just for fun," he
wore ery light, low shoes. "Since
learning to campaign in the Apache
moccasin," he says, "I have always pre
ferred a few days of sore feet and subse
quent light-footedncss to perpetual
dragging of heavy shoes."
There is something to be snid, then,
in praise of the Indinn's handicraft
Perhaps it oven points a moral. I am
reminded of a pnssage in Mr. Warbur
ton Pike's entertaining volume on "The
Harren Ground of Northern Canada."
"Bui surely we carry this civilization
too far, and nre in danger of warping
our natural instincts by too close ob
servance of the rules thnt some mys
terious force obliges us to follow wlien
we herd together in big cities. Very
emblematical of this warping process
nre the shiny black boots into which
we squeeze our feet when we throw
away the moccasin of freedom; as they
gall and pince the unaccustomed foot,
so does the dread of our friends'
opinion gall and pinch our minds till
they become, narrow, out of shape, nnd
unable to discriminate between reality
and semblance." St. Louis Republic.
Xo More Itoiuiiiiee,
She feared to make the avowal. "Ed
ward," she faltered, when she could no
longer postpone the inevitable, "my fa
ther has fulled in business."
He shivered. "Alas!" he sighed,
"now that you have become rich 1 sup
pose our fond dream of love is at nn
end." Detroit Tribune.
The Worrier.
"Doesn't your husband worry about
the grocery bills?" asked the iiagged
looking lady.
"Law, no!" said the lady with the new
silk skirt and the rusty shoes. "We let
the grocer do all tiliat." Indinnapolis
lournnl.
To draw a measured quantity of
liquid from a receptacle a new fnucet
lir.s n double-acting valve which clones
one outlet ns soon ns the other is open,
thus preventing the pouring of the
liquid into the mensuring glass whilo
the discharge pipe Is open.
OLD PUMPS OF NEW YORK.
Only Three of (he Jlein4mlern of VII
lc Unyii LfcftStiiiiflln)r.
Of nil the old pumps that linked the
city of New York with' its village days
and afforded refreshment, especially
welcome on sultry mornings nnd after
noons, to man and beast, only three re
main. Only three out the hundred and
more the-exact tally was never kept
unci these hnve somewhat fallen from
their high and historic estate, for, by or
der of the board of health, the wells be
neath them have been filled up, and the
streams that flow now come from tho
Croton wuter mains. There is, as a mat
ter of statistics, not a single one of the
old wells that once furnished such pure
and delicious liquid in use to-day. But
the three old pumps still left bring back
the past, for they are of the precise type
and kind that existed in 1840, when 'the
Croton aqueduct first began to supply
the city's needs.
The year 1884 marked the going of the
pumps of New York. Prior to that
time only the pumps that had rotted
mrougn age ami were not repaired
wero taken down. In 1884 and 1885 the
health board begun to Investigate the
condition of u great number of the old
wells, and condemned a score or more.
With the filling in of these wells tho
pumps above them, now useless, were
taken away. Those that were left re
mained until 1892, the year of the cholera
scare, when the dangers from impure
water became so real that the health
commissioners took speedy action. Dr.
Ernst ,7. Lcdcrie, the chemist of the
board, was sent on a tour of the city,
and he analyzed the water of each ex
isting well. Prncticully all were found
to be impure, and a general order wiw
sent forth. The conditions of a great
metropolis were discovered to have
been too much for these wells, that had
come into being when the town was
merely a collection of villages. The sur
face water, running along in gutters to
the sewers, had filtered in through the
cracks, and the loose enrth between the
stones ,nnd in every case this well water
had been polluted.
There is no New Yorker to-day who
can give n complete history of all the
wells that once dotted the streets. Ma
terial for this and it would have been
nn interesting pnge of civic records
might hnve been hud a few years ago,
but the opportunity is now gone by for
ever. Only last year there died, with
out public notice, "Paddv, the Pump."
"Paddy" "Paddy" Bums was an old
Irishman who for a quarter of a century
had been employed by the department
of public works to repair the pumps of
the town. Whenever a complaint came
in, "Paddy the Pump" would be sent
oil" on the job. He hnd n couple of la
borers under his orders to do the hard
manual work. They were invariably
thick-headed fellows "Paddy" wanted
no others but the "Pump" himself was
an exceedingly intelligent though an
uneducated man.
He knew every pump of the city and
every spot where a pump had ever been.
He wns n walking mine of pump lore.
But nnd this wns his great peculiarity
he would never tell. What was neces
sary for his superiors to know could be
drawn out of him, though the process
would be attended with much difficulty,
but a general discourse, or even any
stray remarks, on the pumps of New
York he could never be induced to give.
He would shut up like a clam when such
nn attempt would be mude.
The reason of his secretiveness was
finally discovered. He believed to the
day of his death that the Croton system
would finally prove a failure, or at
least need an extensive oR-rhnuling.
Then the heydny of the pumps would
come back. Being the only man who
knew all about them he would become a
prominent official, and his place be for
ever secure. Even when the board of
health edicts came out, and pumps
passed away in the city government, his
fuith never weakened that some day
their turn would come once more. N.
Y. Tribune.
Mortality Anions Xi-prrorn.
Additional evidence ns to the larger
mortality among the negroes than
among the whites is furnished in a re
port by Dr. G. O. Coffin, the city physi
cian of Kansas City. For the year end
ed in April last the births in the city
numbered 2,131. Of these 2,231 were
white and 200 black. The deaths num
bered l,b"3, of which 1,550 were white
and 323 were black. The remnrknblo
feature of these figures is that, while
081 more white persons were born thnn
died during the year, there were 123
more denths than births among the
negroes. When it is seen thnt the negro
population is less than ten per cent, of
the whole population, these facts and
figures are rendered even more remark
able. It scarcely ever happens, Dr.
Collin says, that the deaths among the
negroes do not exceed the births for
nny month in the year, nnd he nt
tributes this excessive mortality large
ly to the prevalence of tuberculosis
among the negroes. To this disease the
mulntoes are more susceptible thnn are
the blacks, and miscegenation is re
gnrded by Dr. Collin ns one of the prime
jnuses for the wenkened vitality of the
rnee. Chicago Chronicle.
Hamilton Aide corrects the impres
sion thnt Corsica is full of bandits. Mur
der is not uncommon from lovequnrreln
or the vendetta, but n traveler may go
from one end of the island to another,
unarmed and unescorted, without fear
jf violence or pillage.
A