THE NEBRASKA ADVERTISER
W. W. HAN DICKS, l'tibllitmr.
NEMAHA, NI2IIRASKA.
'TIS BUT A SPAN.
What mnttcrH It Unit tears nntl toll nnd
oft-tltncH IniplcHR ycnrnlni:
OpprcRN ine while my ilnlly bread with
hard toll I inn cnrnltiK:
That little JohIoiihIph and lintcn like In
sects frlKhl or fret ine,
That some friends JnriUN-fnccd and fnlHo
malign iiiul then fowl me?
This life Ih lint a little span beroKKi'd with
ln and sorrow,
My houI throiiKh unspanned spaces vaHt
hIiiiII wIiib Hm way to-morrow".
Death, triicflt friend thonch number
browed, my fettered soul unchalnlm;,
Hhall bid mo rise throiiKh happy skies
abovo all eurth'H complaining',
Hhall send me like an uncaged bird anions
the starlit wonders
Abovo the- reach of earthly storms, above
their millon thtindem;
I Hhall Ijo free iih ariKelM are, no IIIh nor
vain rcpluluK.
No IlrnltatlonH less than lovu my deathless
iioul uonllnlijK
In other worldn of larger llfo I may meet
nobler erealnroH,
With centlo Kraci on every face Illumining
their featurcH,
With tinbarbed toiiKiieH which do pot stlnK
nor seek assassination,
Whero Justice, mercy, love and truth each
day receive oblation;
Where glided gondii rate but an traHh, mere
baubles lit for playing,
Where men are Judged by hearts of gold
and what their hoiiIh are xaylng.
What Hhall It matter then that here the
HlandererH and llarM
Were prone with sulphurous abuse to kln-
dlo folly'H llren;
That Home wore garb and guise of godH to
veil their hoIIIhIi Hlrudng,
That men with crooked words nnd wnyH
tho wealth of earth were winning?
My soul Hhall wing Uh way and Hlng among
the glad Immortals,
And Hweep to Hounds of heavenly harps
between tho pearly portaln.
Ho llvo thy life, O privileged houI, abovo
the reach of Horrow,
Do not from little IIIh of earth thy views
of now worlds borrow;
These, too, are dayH for endlesH prultic,
with blue HklcH bending o'er me,
To glance entranced at what flod'H pledge
Iiiih thtiH Hpread out before me;
My eye or faith Hhall pierce tho yearn, nor
be discouraged never,
TIh but a Hpan, O fel!ow-man, ero wc arc
free forever.
I. KOOAU JONICS.
' , Q
The Crime of the
$
Great Gorilla.
By 0. Randolph Lichliold.
---
-a
WK nil loved 'ouobo, not merely
for her pretty, pule face,
but because she was a (pilot, tender-hearted,
plucky little woman,
wlo found her way into all our
hearts without any o.lVorl, and then
innocently shut her eyes to tin havoc
she had wrought, truathif? us nil alike,
from tho proprietor to the lniinlilent of
the performing troupe anil tent men.
A eireiiH "crowd" is not exactly the
kind of society hi which rellnement and
lender consideration are likely to he
encouraged and developed. HutXcnuhc,
"the cpieen of wire-walkers," as she was
described in our limning hills, neer liad
uny reason to complain of the treat
ment she received from the highest to
the lowest, person connected with Ilerr
Sholllo's world-famous circus and
menagerie. No one eer tittered a
Kwear or course word or expression
within ear-shot of her, and no one ever
ventured to ehall' or joke with her. Yet
she was only a little simple girl of 17,
with only a very poor performance on
the programme, earning less than near
ly all the other artists, including my
self, who had the honor of introducing
three under-sized and very ancient ele
phants to audiences twice dully on six
days of the week'. v
Hut Zenobe was good; the worst
among us saw that and respected her for
it. Yes, the worst among us. Probably
that person was myself, so J am more
than right.
And It is Htrange that the possible
"best, certainly the steadiest and clever
est man in the "crowd," respected her
least. It was not because he was, or
thought he was, better than she, but be
cause he loved her more tlinn we did
more deeply, less tenderly, and conse
quently more Hellishly. Weworecontent
for the day with a lit tie word floating to
us on her silvery voice, nnd followed by
one of the cheering, sunny smiles from
her pale lips. Hut he Stavarta, "the
ngHe wonder of the world" would not
have been contented with her soul
could she have sacrificed it to him; no.
not with a thousand souls as honest and
ns womanly as hers would he have been
content If she had had a thousand and
one to sacrifice.
It was at 1'reston, at the Great Iron
hall, that the awful thing occurred so
suddenly and hideously that it was over
before any of tho horrified on-lookors
could realize how it began.
Tho circus performance was in full
swing. The lingo audience, which filled
every seat In the great amphitheater
(except those in the gallery, which had
been temporarily closed us unsafe),
had exhausted the attractions of the
menagerie section of the show in the
hour between opening of doors and the
commencement of the ctrcus perform
ance, ami they sut in Ih'ir fiCn.cd tiers
of faces, ashy white in the blue elec
tric light, gazing down with awe or in
terest upon the circus of sand and saw
dust ns one turn followed another.
Zcnobc's performance was evidently
awaited with great interest; she had
made u stir in the town from the start,
owing to her dating rather than her
skill, however. When t lie company had
arrived at the Iron hall on Sunday, Ilerr
Sholllo discovered, to his dismay, that,
owing to architectural shortcomings,
it was impossible to erect '.viutba's
slack-wire or her fall net satisfactorily.
Consequently he had fallen in readily
with Zenobe'H suggestion that the net
should be discarded, and that she
should substitute her tight-rope walk
ing feat for the slack-wire. And It mi
befell flint Zenobe created a huge sensa
tion In Preston by walking n 100 foot
rope 80 feet above the arena, nnd amid
the glaring, hissing arc-lamps which
hung like balls of light from the lat
tice girding of the roof walked
bravely forward and hack with only a
two-inch rope between her nnd an aw
ful death.
Zenobe was less nervous thnn any of
us about lie i- dangerous feat, and that
alone was something in her favor, For
my part I had stood each night durihg
her performance and watched her at
that dizzy height through tlie slightly
parted curtains, with my head giddy,
my heart sick, and my pulse scarce
heating. And I stood there that night,
with my three elephants' trunks
swinging about behind me as they wait
ed my word to go in; and I watched,
straining my eyes in a hopeless effort
to read a line of doubt or fear Upon
Zoilobo's pale young face.
I watched her slip her little foot into
the hoop of the hoisting rope unhesi
tatingly. I saw her pirouetting in the
aif, until she reached and stepped upon
the landing-stage. She seemed herself
that night. She knew her audience and
kept tlicin waiting just long enough for
their sensation. Then, picking up the
hnlancing-polc she slid her foot upon
the rope.
It was not much beyond mere walk
ing that t lie girl could do. The feat of
walking with a suck over her head ap
peared very sensational and went down
with the audience that night. Hut, ns
most people know, the sack-trick is :i
very tame one in reality, the sack being
a guide, rather than an obstacle to prop
er balance.
Zenobe was crossing the rope for the
third time, carrying a big Japanese
parasol, when I saw that the rope was
swaying rather peculiarly and Zenobe
commencing to walk back to the starting-stage.
At first I could notundcrstaiid
the situation. There wus nothing suf
ficiently violent in Zenobe's move
ments to so agitate the rope, and we nil
knew that she had the greatest objec
tion to walking backwards.
"What's up','" I muttered in the ring
inaster's ear.
"She's walking back because she
can't turn on the rope," he replied.
"Hut why she doesn't go on and turn on
the other stage "
At this moment a sudden fear seemed
to possess the audience; u half-stilled
murmur went round the hall, swelling
into u mighty groan. Then the audi
ence rose like an army, nnd stood spell
bound, hushed to paralyzed silence by
the dawning knowledge of the tragedy
that was being enacted.
Then I saw, and seeing, understood.
With uncertain, backward steps, Zon
obe was retreating, with her long bal
ancing pole dipping first on one side
then on the other, like a se,e-saw; and
the rope was shaking violently, not"
from her movements, but from the far
ther cud. And there, perched upon the
little, narrow landing-shelf, sat Goblo,
the great gorilla, its long, ugly hands
clenched round tho rope, which it was
shaking with all its strength.
I uttered a cry of horror. The cry
was echoed by a thousand throats as
something whirled through theair.and
Zenobc-our Zenobe lay upon hoi
back in the middle of the sawdust, ring!
It was not that 1 loved her less, tluui
all the others, but I alone of nil Kept
my head at that hideous moment. With
a sob, I turned and tied as fast as my
feet could patter to the nearest door
of the staircase that led to the chtsed
gallery. To reach this door I had to
pass through the menagerie, between
tho rows of horsc;stnlls alid the rows
of cages "And as I ran, the beasts,
seeming to catch tiie lire that burned
within me, set up their own wild cries.
Passing the leopards on niy right, f
threw a flying glance at the eno of
the great gorilla, and Mopped.
llrcuthtetiH, with the sweat of heat and
horror thick upon my neck and brow,
I stood and gazed in mute amazement
at tluv great gorilla, as he stood up in
front of ids cage and stretched his long,
muscular arms through the bars to
wards me.
In his cage! The great gorilla in his
cage, whiii "0 seconds before my own
eyes had seen him swinging from the
lattice-girding of the roof SO feet above
my head on the other side of the great
building!
What, could it mean? 1 dashed' tho
sweat frcun olV my brow as if to free
my brain from the weight of my agony.
I tried the iron cage door, and s'uw that
the bolt was shot shot-flrmh home.
Could the gorilla have done that? It was
possible. Could ho have got back to his
cage in 'JO seconds and done it V That
also was just possible. Hut was it prolv
able that the wild boast", having galuo,1
his itcedoui, would make suol violent
luuc to he a captive once nga a? No,
no!
J turned quickly to the foot of the gal
lery stairs and, with my liaml upon the
rail, I paused. Panning, I hiaidsome
onc hounding down (light after llight;
and a sudden thought struck me. Step
ping behind a huge heap of .uivas cov
erings, I waited, nolselessh panting,
nil eyes nnd cars.
1 heard someone bounding down the
Inst flight of gallery stairs. I saw the
il'ght, lithe form of a man, clad in flesli
tittt tights, spring up to the gorilla's
Cigc and ilash himself against the door.
It was Sluvarta!
"Oh, beast! Oil, sonof evil!" lie cried,
In a voice quivering with hatred and
terror. "Would that my hands were
strong enough to pluck your life from
out your hideous body! Hut wait, wait,
wait!"
lie sprang down from the cage, and,
with ii searching glance around him,
bounded away and disappeared, l.sat
down on a bale of eaiivas, pressing my
head between my hands, and tried to
think what it could mean. Hut before
1 could collect my senses a score of nieii
came rushing up, panting and white.
"Yes! Ulcus lie is!" cruel one. "I, al
ways said wo should lufvc trouble with
him, nnd Jie able to unbolt his cage!"
"Zcnobf!" I cried. "Zennbo!"
"More, dead than alive," answered
Itavello, tho lion-tamer. "Hut just
ullvt'."
"Hut can she live?"
"Shu may the doctors say she may
just live. She broke her fall by cach
ing at the trapeze nets."
"She did, thank Heaven!" broke in tho
ringmaster. "That brute!" he added,
turning wildly upon the gorilla, which
tried to snatch his hat. "That evil
minded brute shall he shot, or I'll re
sign." "And here!" "And here!" "Same
hero!" the others cried.
"Some fiendish instinct," continued
tli ringmaster, "must have put him up
to the vile crime. Had it not been for
Sturyarta's presence of mind nnd dar
ing it might have done more injury
still!"
"Stavarta!" 1 exclaimed. "And what
dfd Slavartu do?"
"He was waiting for his turn in the
gMlery, he says, when he heard the
ai'dieiice murmur. He rushed to the'
balustrade just in time to see Zenobe
frit, nnd the brute clamber along the
girders to the gallery. Without u
tb ought of his own llesh of the dan
ger oT attacking the powerful brute un
armed ho dashed forward. Hut the
gcrllla was too quick; it bounded oil",
ai:l closely followed by Stavarta, rushed
re uud the gallery, down the stairs, and
ltfipt into its cage, when Stavarta
3lammcd tho door and shot the bolt."
"Stavarta told you that'.'"
"Stavarta."
"Stavarta lies!" I cried, springing to
lry feet.
Someone jostled through the ring of
ireu around me, and a hand fell heav
ily across my face Stavarta's hand.
"1 lied, did I, you fellow?" he shout
ed.. "You always were jealous of the
leve she bore ine jealous, you dog!
And now behind my hack, you dare to
sny 1 lied!"
"You lied," I answered, without re
turning the blow, but fixing him with
my eyes. "And why you lied we soon
hhall know. Jealous of you! You know
she loved not one of us, and least of all
loved you! Now watch his face, and
listen while 1 speak.
"The very moment when 1 saw
I Zenobe fall," I continued, passionately,
"1 turned and tlevv towards the stair
case, thinking of nothing but venge
ance on the gorilla vengeance my
hands should work-. lJunning by here,
1 stopped and gazed in wildest wonder
at (ioblo safe and quiet in Ids cage."
"You lie, you lie!" cried Stavarta,
making a dash at me. Hut the men held
hi in back roiigh-haudcdly.
"The cage was bolted," I continued.
"Halted?" exclaimed some of the
men.
"Aye, bolted, and Stavarta was not
here!" .
"Take olV your hands!" shouted
Stavarta, tr.ving to free himself oft hose
who held him. "Of course, I was not
here, but running round to .tell- you
men I had the great brute safe."
"You lie again!"! cried, "for I heard
someone bounding down the stairs. 1
hid no self, nnd saw ,v on bounding down
-you, Stavarta! Yyu sprang upon the
cage and cursed the brute, and looked
around ns if expecting someone would
run up at that moment and perceive
you." ' .
"You lie, you do," he cried, fighting
with all his strength to get at me.
"Why all these lies on cither side?"
demanded Jlie ringmaster, angrily.
"Hecause lie hates nn." cried Stavar
ta,' growing black in the face with
struggling and with passion. "Hecause
he would not let me have the credit oT
!uy courage, if lie could help."
"And why do you sav heiies?" "
"Hocnuso ho knows too well;" I an
swered, angrily, "what lie wnsdpingdii
the gallery, and hoj,J it "wuvve miw a
gorilla in the gallery, when thebensj
must certainly have 4ieen securely in
his cage."
" "My soul!" Stavarta hissed, between
his tijetji, flashing at me his eyes, w lilch"
gleamed like living coal out of his gray
face. "l?et me but jet my hnnds tfpu'n
your throat, and by my soifl L'll strangle
YOU J" o
O O O
e
"Silence, Stavarta, silence!" cried the
ringmaster. Then turning to me, he
asked: "ion, like us, saw the gorilla ou
the roof. What of that?"
"Come, follow me," I said. "I think I
know."
I mounted the staircase, followed by
the rest, who compelled Stavarta to no
eonipnny us by force of numbers.
Flight nfter illglit of the winding stairs
we mounted, and at each angulur land
ing Stavarta's face grew graver, and Ids
voice of protestation more hollow.
At last wo reached the gallery floor,
and, turning sharply to the left, I led
the way to where J knew a row of six
small offices were ranged. I pushed tho
first door and it gave. The room was
empty. I tried the next door, which
also gave. That room also was empty.
The third door it was locked.
"Where is the key?" J demanded.
Hut no one knew. "
"Here is a key that'll open CO doors
like that," said one of the men. And ho
shivered the lock with a mighty kick.
"A trap, a trap!" cried Stavarta,
writhing to free himself, as we stood
and gazed upon a heap of long brown
hair skins and the mask of a large niaii
inonkey. The skins were torn, the mask
was broken; broken hnd torn in tho
frenzied haste of throwing them off.
The glove-like hands and feet of hair
were smeared with blue paint. Tho
paint upon the girder-work was new.
And in one finger of the left-hand glove
was a ring. . The ring vv'as Stavnrtu's!
Zenobe lived to walk about on
crutches and marry me.
Stavarta. died to show he was too poor
a soul to live in punishment. Tit-Kits.
ROMANCE IN FLOWERS.
I)crl Mtlmi if Xiiuu'H u nd Kmlilcm
A duelled i, .Some ItrlKlit
IMllMNIIIIlH.
There are many pretty stories con
nected with the wild flowers and their
names. Take first the little Caiiina
thistle, whose golden eye set about with
straw-colored rays is among the com
monest wild plants on every wind-swept
waste and barren down of ICngland. His
name of Caiiina is contracted from Car
olina, and there runs an ancient tradi
tion that an angel appeared to Charlemagne-
when his army was sick of
plague and pointed out to him a euro
for the scourge in the shape of tiiis
common blossom. It was used for hys
teria also, and to this day peasants in
(icriuany and France hang it up as a
weather glass, for the flowers expand in
dry weather, but shut up if moisture
threatens.
Another water lover is myosotis
Greek, inns, a mouse, and otos, an car,
from the shape of the foliage. ISvery
rivulet, every river's brink is bright
ened by his blue eje, and the little plant
has been emblem of friendship through
out liurnpc for many years. Tradition
says that two lovers loitering beside
deep waters in the old time saw mouse
ear growing upon an island in mid
stream. The girl wanted a bunch; tho
man, with more chivalry than common
sense, plunged in, and, reaching tiio
spot, plucked the fiower. Jlut ' Ids
strength failed him on the homeward
journey and he could not regain the
shore. With a last effort he flung the
flowers to the girl, cried "Forget-me-not!"
and sank to rise no more.
Nasturtium is a word the derivation
of which will occur to few who see it.
Yet there is a laugh in it that you may
recall when next you cat watercress anil
bread and butter, or see the plant shar
ing ditch or stream side with its little)
four-leaved blossoms. The word is de
rived from nnstis torsus, n convulsed
nose an effect supposed to be pro
duced on the human eater by its acrid
and pungent qualities. The famous old
remedy of spring juices, beloved by our
great-grandmothers, was concocted of
the watercress mingled with brook
lime, or scurvy grass .and Seville
oranges. St. Louis Itcpubllc.
Kiite KletilN l.iivc Loiter.
If that charming woman, the Into
Kate Field, did not marry, it was as
suredly not because she did not have
many an admirer. A Washington lady
has ii) her possession a little old bit of
yellow paper upon which is penciled a
boyish scrawl. It was preserved by
Miss Field from her little girl days.
The scrawl runs thus:
'wont yue mete inedown bye Tho
Gate aftter school Yue nowe i huv
yue."
'. On the other side of the bit of paper
Is the address, thus:
"Miss Kate Field, Ksq last Scat nex
to the Poor go in out."
It must have been like the breath of
the forgottch perfume of yesteryears
when the clever, kindly woman hap
pened upon this little old pisce of yel
lowed paper on a rainy afternoon of
rummaging. 'Washington Post.
WhnleMoiiicncNi of (Iniiien.
"Kvery autumn revives the discussion
of the therapeutic value of grapes, and
discovers anew the grape-cure enthusi
asts. It is satisfactory to know, at
ieastthat the delicious .fruit is certain
ly one0j)f the most wholesome, even
while its properties as aeure-nll may
be doubted.-. In the matter of a fruit
diet, airautliority asserts that onr men
a dity exclusively of good fruit h mort
effective than the same quantity takiru
with other foud.-u Y. Toai
HERRINGS AND SAWDUST.
tun hit It Pavement Mny Soon Ilcfttndai
front Tliete HtiliRtuiiccM In
Combination. '"
The notice of making asphalt arti
ficially from herrings uud sawdust
seems so extraordinary as to suggest,
burlesque. Nevertheless, this surpris
ing feat has been accomplished by Prof. -W.
C. Day, of Swnrthmoro college, near
Philadelphia. Specimens of the prod-
net are iiqw in possession of the geo
logical survey in Washington and. were,
shown to n Washlngtdn correspondent
by Prof. Dillcr, one of the members of
the, scientific staff of thut government
bureau. Not long ago u very curious mineral.
substance, up to that time unknown,,'
was found In .Utah, deposited in veins
which had once been ilssures in tint
rocks. These ilssures hnd been choked
up by bituminous matter gushing from
the bowels of the earth, and in this.
way the deposits of gllsonite, as it is
now called, wore formed. It is a sin
gularly pure species of asphalt, nnd la,
now being mined in a large way, the
produetion of it constituting an im
portant industry. The stuff is used for
making varnishes. For this purpose it
hi especially good, because varnishes,
made of it will not crack. Conspicuous
s'.rcnks of the, gllsonite run like strlps
ov" ribbon over hill and dale, so that they
enn be followed with the eye for miles. ,
Some of this "gum asphalt," as it isi
popularly called, was placed in the
hands of Prof. Day for analysis, nnd..
he found that its make-up was such
as to suggest an auinial origin, at least
in part. It is believed nowadays by
scientific men generally that asphalts
ordinarily are derived from vegotablu
matter. Such matter, being laid down,
in vast beds durijig the coal forming."
period, subsequently underwent chem
ical processes.
It occurred to him that nn imitation
of it might be made in the laboratory
by combining such animal and vegeta--bio
elements as seemed to be repre
sented in the gllsonite, including such
nitrogenous compounds as were easily
got from fish. So ho took, because they
happened to be most convenient, n few
f resit herrings from the market and put
them into a distilling apparatus, to
gether with a quantity of sawdust.
Then ho subjected the mixture to dis
tillation, the vapor being passed
through a red-hot iron pipe and into .
flask, in which it was condensed. The
resulting product was a. perfectly
black, brittle, crystalline substance, ex
actly like gllsonite in all respects. In
fact, neither by analysis nor in any
other way can any difference be de
tected between the two. N. Y. Journal..
Cinritcii Suits.
Percale trimmed with linen braid',
makes a most desirable costume for
country wear. Unless a woman is of
extravagant tastes she will not care
to wear an expensive gown through
the fields to bo ripped by the thorns,
and caught in the briars. This cos
tume is developed in mahogany brovvu
pique, striped diagonally with red..
The skirt is close fitting at the top,,
with gathers at the back. It is trimmed
around the foot with red braid put on
in decorative design and faced with,
striped goods of brilliant hue. Tim
waist is a loose-fitting blouse with fit
ted lining, llclow tho belt is a plain ruf
fle lined with the same goods that
faces the kirt. The sleeves arc small"'
and trimmed with the braid in dia
mond and swirling design such us that
upon the front of the blouse. A largo
hat of rough red straw is worn with,
this costume, trimmed plentifully with,
loops of red and ecru tall'ctu ribbon.
Chicago Chronicle.
A Unlquci Ffiiiturn of Knriilvul AVeok In.
Khiimih City.
Tho resident Chinese of Kansas City
have arranged to give a genuine Ori
ental Chinese parade .is a part of the
urotesquo and funny Knrnival pageant.
They have sent one of their number to
San Francisco to purchase costumes
and tho paraphernalia for this ludi
crous and strictly Chinese effort at fun
making. It Is an unwritten law among
tho Chinese that they are never to wear
a costume in public on an occasion of
this kind twice in succession. Cos
tumes must bo now each time thoy ap
pear in public.
The Kansas City Karnival Krcwo is.
assisting them financially, and they
will expend thousands of dollars on.
this ono single division of tho great
Karnival parade. Kansas City has had
some very attractive Knrnivnls of fun,
but tho forthcoming ton days' season,
of festivities will far eclipse anything
ever attempted in the history of the
bit; town at Kaw's mouth.
Doing London. , ,
Mr. Hudynrd Kipling tells a good
story of himself.- Ono day, ho says, 1.
was sitting in my study, in London,
when suddenly a gentleman appeared
at the dour unannounced, followed by
two schoolboys. "Is this Iludyard
Kipling?" Inquired tho gentleman.
"Yes," I answered.
Ho turned round.
"Hoys, this Is Uudyard Kipling." .
"And Is this where you write?" hci
continued.
"Yes," I replied.
"Hoys, this is where ho writes.""
And before hhad time to nsk them
to taken seat they were" gone, boys nnd s
all. I suppose they Jiad all literary"
London to do In that way. Tit-Hits.
Y
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