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About Plattsmouth weekly herald. (Plattsmouth, Nebraska) 1882-1892 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 10, 1891)
tie ST, ii 1 Jut all lest t a -V' ied. I list A ibiu y Ion e to and ted. lOt r7 1 I I -7k r j V I "PONGING IN BAHAMA, ft 'V METHOD OF GATHERING AND V PREPARI ft I f as Profit! of Are Chiefly PREPARING FOR MARKET. tha Work The Laborers Blacks aud Most of Them I Kara Pretty Small Pay Tha Sponges sell at a Good Price However. Consul Thomas J. McLain of the United States consulate at' Nassau, in the Bahama islands, in response to the direction of the state department, has furnished an interesting paper on the sponge trade of the Bahamas, in which tli value of the industry and the meth 1 " of catching the sponges are riven. lM he vessels employed in the trade are nail, varying from five to twenty-five ns, sloop or schooner rigged, and are It in the local shipyards. The con struction and repair of these vessels con stitute an important industry in itself. They have small cabins for sleeping pur poses. The cooking is done on deck. About 500 of these vessels are engaged in gathering sponges, yfclhe number of persons gathering fpbnges in the Bahamas, handling them j and preparing them in various stages for ' market, is from 5.000 to 6,000, all of whom, except the shipowners, brokers and shippers, are black people. Hands employed in clipping, washing, packing and preparing finally for shipment abroad get from fifty to seventy-five cents per day of ten hours. The amount earned by the men who go fishing de pends entirely on the number of sponges obtained. The owner of the vessel fits her out at hip own expense, and the profits of the voyage are divided up in shares among the owner, the master and the men. They are never hired by the month, nor do they ever get specified wages. The most that can le said is that the men make a tolerable living, and the sponge fisherman who earns over $300 a year is the exception. HOW BPONOES ARE OATIIERED. The method of gathering sponges is by means of iron hooks attached to long poles. By using a waterglass the fisher man can readily discover the sponges at 1 mai he bottom, and then by the pole and ok can bring up those he may select, iving the smaller ones untouched. me sponges adhere firmly to the bed the sea. while others are not attached ' jLUl, these latter being known as "roll I r 'jf About ten years ago an attempt waa iiiide to introduce dredges, but it was y found that their use was likely to ruin 'J the beds, because in passing over the bottom they dislodged and brought up not only the good sponges, but the young and unsalable ( ties as well, kill ing the spawn and working great mis chief. Such an outcrv was raised actainst dredging that an act was passed forbid- 1 ii. t'r When brought to the vessel the nonges are at once Ejireuu upuu mo uj iifd left exposed to the sun for several i. .1 41.. J... I. lavs, during which time the animal Inatter that covers the sponge gradually 1 - rr-i i 11.. ..I. 1 - . lea. IMS IB tt uiock, KUinuuuus nuir i iance oi a very low oruer or marine me, i m . , .. m I: e . hich, during the process the process of decay, emi emits a most objectionable odor. The vessels visit what is called the kraal once a week to land the load f.om i,ne deck. The kr-nt i on inclosed pen, fenced in by sticks of wood so as to al low a free circulation of water through it, usually built in a sheltered and shal low bay or cove, on one of the cays near by. THE CROP OF 1890. The sponges are placed in the kraal and left to be soaked and washed by the action of the water from four to six days, when they are taken out and beaten J with sticks until the decayed covering la entirely removed. Having been sub (I, jocted to this course of exposure, soak ing, beating anu wasning, tne sponges are quite clean and are taken on board the vessel, pao'd in the hold, conveyed to Nassau, aud in this condition are sold in the local market . Of the larger sponges a catch of 5,000 or or the smaller ones 7,ouu, wouia De considered a fair lot. Occasionally a cargo of from 12,000 to 15,000 large . cvonges has been brought in, but this lucctss is exceptional Tiie principal varieties gathered in the Bahi.maii are as follows: Boat, grass, glove, hardhead, reef (white and dark), velvet (abaco and cay), sheep wool, and yellow, of which the most valuable is " iheep vooL The total export in 1890 reached over IJOO.OOO pounds, valued at 306,890. The crop of that year was above the average, being really the most valuable ore in many years. Of that crop there were shipped to the United States 708,000, valued at $336,000. Bahama sponges are not considered very good, but a ready market is found for all that can be obtained, and at con stantly improving prices. There are no adicatious of any failure of the supply. -Philadelphia Ledger. An Acrobutlo Kitten. A pet kitten follows Its mistress all over the house when she is at work. Re cently 6he was in an attic chamber, the blind of the window being shut but un fastened. The playful kitten ran across the room and leaped against the blind, which opened, and the kitten disap peared, but came crawling back, having turned in the air and caught the edge of the gutter with its forepaws. It was a feat of remarkable quickness and pres ence of mind, as the little animal bad a very short time to recover from its sur prise at being launched suddenly into space. Portland (Me.) Transcript i Very True. P There is much in knowing how to see eights. The discreet and skillful person, when confronted with a variety of at tractions, will carefully select those that ire for him the liest, and then will de ) vise means to see them with the least wear and tear. But there are excitable people who" set out to see everything, tire themseU v-s out, see only half of any- thing, and ai. dissatisfied in the end. Det roit Free Press. MR. MALLORY'S WONDERFUL WELL The reach Switch Outdid luelf When It Tuld the linger to Dig There. j Mr. Austin Mallory is a fanner livicg in the northern portion of this county. Some time since he decided to have a i well dug on his premises. The services , of a water witch were called into requi- j sition, and the turn of the infallible peach tree switch located a spot where water would be struck. The well diggers set to work, but had not gono more than six feet when they encountered a stratum of rock. They went down into the solid rock ten, wenty, thirty, forty feet, and yet no in itiation that the rock was giving out. Mr. Mallory instructed hi'j men tc blast away, as ha was bent on finding water if he had to blast into tiie Chinese empire. They followed his instructions and went ten feet farther down, with no new de velopments. They were soon to be rewarded, how ever. AU the preparations tor an unusu ally heavy blast had been made, the fuso was touched off. and the men were drawn out to await results. After the susoKe of the explosion had cleared out they looked down and found that they had struck a cave. Liguts were let uown to ue sure there was no damp, and three or four entured. Some bystanders agreed to investigate the discovery. lr? were lowered with ropes through the opening down into a cavern whose darkness had never been pierced with the light of day, and whose infinite silence took up the sound of their voices and echoed and re echoed it until it died away in some rocky recess. Their suspense aa they descended into the darkness was intense, until their feet touched the floor of the cavern. Strik ing a match they proceeded to look about them. The roof of the cave was covered with pendant stones, consisting of glit tering minerals, that flashed the light in strange aud beautiful effects. At some points the stalagmite and stalactite for mations almost touched each other. At othor places in the roof were quaint, regularly Bhaped arches that gave an impression as if they had been built by human hands. Still other portions of the roof were smooth and studded with a peculiar incrustation, which glittered like diamonds, and far surpassing in beauty the star chamber in the Mam moth cave. Wandering about the explorers came upon a small river of crystal clearness, in whose waters strange looking fish dis ported themselves, and whose merry rip ples had furnished musio for centuries with no other audience than the eternal rocks. A pool of water was also found which, so far as t'-iey could sound, was bottomless. On the banks of the stream were found the wreckage of what had once undoubtedly been an Indian canoe, drifted there, doubtless, from some other water course, and preserved 60 long by the pure atmosphere of the cave. The adventurers explored the cave ir a con siderable distance in eacii direc'iiui:, but found no limit or reduction of size. Franklin (Ky.) Cor. Louisville Courier- JoumaL No Need of Ha Inn ''Lopped Ears." It seems odd that 6d many mothers see the fault of broadened ear lobes and bending tops, yet do not rais a finger to rectify this defect. Their own ean, "lop," so, they suppose, must those of their poor children. If their own ears aie put on "bia? " why grumble if those of their offspring are not straight? A woman may hide her ears may brnsh the long strands of her silken hair down from her temples aud over the tops of these useful organs; not so a man. H& barber shaves him until his head is blue, and each knob of vanity, or whatsoever weakness he may possess, shows plainly forth a lesson that the phrenological who run may read, and his ears stand anchored in uncouth, bristling boldness at each side of his denuded cranium. Now even he, a grown man, can rem edy this defect. Let him each night tie a soft, close bandage about his head and sleep in this. If it be difficult to keep it in place let him wear above the bandage a close cap, pinning the cap aud band age together on the outside with small safety pins. Cor tinned use of the band age will show good effects in a compara tively early date, and the deformity will gradually disappear. Detroit i ree Press. . What Wai lo Uii Miud. A young barrister, who was a long beaded lawyer in a too unpleasantly lit eral sense of the term, bad to deal with a country witness who had a habit of cautiously pausing before replying to a question. "Come, Mr. Baconface, what are you thinking about?" at length asked the im patient barriwter. "I've just been thinY ing," returned the countryman, "what a foine dish my bacon face and yo ir calf's head would mk together." The wigged gentleman dropped such a dangerous customer like a hot potato, and he was allowed to resume his seat amid the titter of the- court. London Tit-"iU Sflotch Ior, A Scotch minister was e,artled by the original views of a not very skillful plowman whom he had jni,t hired He noticed that the furrow wore far from straight, and said: "John, yer drills are no near straucht ava; that is no like Tummie s work" "Tatnmie" being the- person who had previously plowed the glebe. "Tammie didiia ksi his wark," ob served the man cool.'y. us he turned bis team about; "ye see, wiles the drills is crookit the sun geti in on a' sides, an 60 ye get early tatties." Youth's Com panion. Sea Water for Weak Eye. Weak eyes should be btrengthened by bathing them fivo or ten minutes at a time in fx ll .basins of sea water, which allows the hands to lave the closed eyes, the water welling over them gently with out shock. No one has any idea of the relief to overtasked eyes till they have tried this method. You might ask me for a good many things I would sooner j give you than the gallon g.ass bottle of sea water brought with pain inland for spouging the eyes. Shirley Dare. An Incident l the Kncampmeut. In every large boarding or lodging house there is the accommodating young man. He is always ready to do a service and will run his feet off for another, however disinclined to exertiou he may be on his own account He gets up in the night to call the doctor or go to the drug store; he matches silk for l.-.dies in the shops, and he is never so happy as when, at infinite cost to his time and purse, he has gratified the whim of some one whom he likes that some one beinj of the better sex. Sunday, in a rather fashionable house of the kind in this city, the landlady said: "By the way, Mr. Stillson. 1 have one nice room va cant, and if you hear of any of the Grand Army people who would like it won't you send them up? Try to get us some one nice." Of course Stillson promised. He set out for his office and every man he met had a word to say to him, for every one liked Stillson. At the windnp of each of these conversations the latter deliv ered the message of his landlady, and being popular, it was not noou before he had forty or fifty people hustling for Tenants for that room. The result was that the vicinity of the house, for a day or two, looked like the approach to Camp Sherman, and it was necessary to disconuect the bell. Detroit Free Press A Sun Spot Minimum. A spectator, viewing the sun from a distant point in space, would perceive that its brilliancy was slightly increased onc-e in about every eleven years. 1 liese accessions of light should correspond, nut with the periods of fewest spots, but with those of most- spots, because the energy of the sun's radiation is greatest during the spot maxima. At present a sun spot maximum is approaching, and swice last winter the face of the sun has frecmently exhibited startling indica tions of the tremendous disturbances now affecting the solar globe. Our imaginary observer in space would prob ably behold at the present time a very slight increase in the sun s brilliancy, and this increase may go on for three or fo ir years to come. While we. dwelling upon a globe that is bathed in the sun's rays, may be un able to perceive these variations directly, yet their effects have long been recog nized by the changes that they produce in terrestrial magnetism. It is also bighiy probable that a perceptible in fluence upon the weather is exercised by variations in solar radiation correspond ing with tho presence or absence of sun spots. O. P. Serviss in Popular Science Monthly. A Vociferous Reception. A Toung man who is stopping at a well known watering place has hud an amusing experience. At one of the neighboring hotels rw hail met a fair southerner who greatly captivated his lather susceptible fancy. His request o be allowed to call met with a gracious ssnt, uvt Uie uet day he presented hiniiv.i at the door of her mother s Bit- tinir room. "Come in, called out a strident voice as he knocked at the door. On opening it he was surprised to seo no one in the room, but from the next apart ment came an injunction in the same harsh ac ents to "sit right down in tho parlor." Wondering not a little at his recep- th ho took a chair, but his astonish ment may be imagined when ho heard his fair one summoned in the following manuer: "Mary Anne, you've got a beau!" "Mary Anne, you've got a beau!" and his equanimity was not even restored when his inamorata entered and laugh inslv ext) ained that the culprit was a huge green parrot. New York Tribune. New Tork'i First Bath Tub. "It is really astonishing," said a gen tleman to me, "how many people there are who, on a sweltering day when the thermometer is way up in the mueties, do not take a bath, although their tubs, with hot and cold water, are at their uia- posal every minute of the day. They r.re either too lazy to take a refreshing kith, or they forget all about it. People do not sufficiently appreciate the many conveniences of a modern house which we now enjoy. And it is not so many years since we had these conveniences. Last May there died in this city Mrs. Mary Mason Jones, aged eighty-rine. The year she married tl818) she built a residence at No. 123 Chambers street, New York, and that was the hist resi dence in this city to have gas and a bath tub. At no time in the history ot the world have people had so much comfort and luxury as at the present day. New York Epoch. Thought Ue Had Sea Serpent. Captain John Brooks, of Block Island, became the unwilling possessor, one day last week, while hauling in his pots, of a six foot sea serpent, subsequently pro nounced a monster sea eel. Captain Brooks was in doubt for a few moments as to the ownership of the nine foot skiff he was in at the time, and his ves sel being at least a mile distant, he was not particularly "stuck" on his compan inn. He succeeded at last, however, in killing the "animal" or "fish," which ever it was, after it had . bitten through his rubber boot and sock, grazing his leg. Hartford Times. A brown rat with a blue tail made itself visible 1n a Cincinnati court house, and an enterprising individual tried to capture it alive, with a view to its exhi bition in a museum, unfortunately he accidentally killed it; then he discovered that it was an ordinary Norway rat, which had been investigating the coa tents of a pot of blue paint. Since Brazil became a republic it has greatly increased in favor as a field for German emigrants, of w hoin 7.D-7 ha-e gone there during the first six months of the present year, as compared with 2,12 during the whole of last year, while in 1889 there were only 23. Three couples, all over seventy years of age, have been married within a few days. Sullivan county, N. Y., is the home of two of the couples, while the third lives out in Michigan B0IIEMIA IN NEW YORK. WMtRfc ACTRESSES AND THCIR AR DENT ADMIRERS MEET How Portion of the PniiiilnHiin nf t!i Metropolln I'urn, Mglit Int., Ixy Sou-brctti-. Churl' (ilrln CluliiHrn ..ml '! leglana Mk t'p the Partlr. At that li.en when staid and HIid Gothainites are either preparing lo gu tc bed or are already fast asleep there be- gins to giit'ier in two well known Broad way restaurants a bizarre company ol men and women who make it a habit tc be very wide awake o nights, when or dinary mortals are abed and asleep. These nocturnal gatherings form an odd I feature of the faster life of the big town. 1'hey are Parisian in their Bohemian . good fellowship, aud they seem to pos sess marked interest for those who find pleasure in contemplating tho varunu modes of existence that the lively mo torpolis presents to the philosophic ol server. The nocturnal bon vivants who uii;fc up the coterie are actors und actresses, men about town, clubmen, collegians and professional men, who have the fiiculty of never getting sleej y until the sun wakes up. The restaurants have become noted re torts because of the presence ol tue-e Bohemian spirits. They are prosperous, and in the character and quality of their jreatnre comforts rank in the first class. rbeir prosperity has been attributed 10 fortunate location. They are situated half a mile apart on tho west side of Broadway, amid tho group of fashionable theaters and big hotels in tho Tenderloin district, ttiat famous parallelogram of Gotham blocks which has for years been known as "the heart of the city," and which is a locality that the police siiy "never goes to sleep." Special accommodations are provided for the Bohemiau set. They recall the 'Cave of Harmony" that Thackeray tells bout. In the restaurant at the south ern end of the big Tenderloin parallelo gram this Bohemian Cave of Harmony is located ou the ground floor. When the restaurant was first established the bower was directly back of the big apartment where ordinary guests got tUir late meals. WHERE THEY MEET. It was separated from the main res taurant by un alcove decorated with lace curtains. When the coterie grew in numbers, however, a new and spacious apartment, aglow with electric lights. was added to provide comfortable ac commodation for the special patrons. It has mirrors and fine frescoes. In the second restaurant the whole second floor of the building is set aside for the Bo hemian bower. It is canicted and com fortably furnished, and the indispensa ble mirrors are there too. It is generally near midnight before the neighboring playhonses are shut up and the fun makers of the Btage are free to enjoy themselves. Pretty actresses, neat in attire, light witted and fond of late hours and Bohemian associations Baunter in in knots of twoor three. Male escorts accompany them. By 2 o'clock the coterie is at its live liest. It is a striking picture of midnight conviviality. Soubrettes and chorus girls are the bright particular stars. The actors, dressed up like fashion plates, are a sort of background to the picture. The clubmen and collegians and profes sional men are the moths enjoying the glitter. They are almost invariably young. Sometimes, however, a gay old fellow with gray hair and a jolly laugh gives the interesting spectacle of the fel low who is trying hard to be a boy and sit up with the other boys. Whether the moths are young or old, however, they seem inspired with the same ardent ambition to gain the good graces of the theatrical people. Each plunges into his pocket for money and tries to excel the others in spending it for the entertainment of the soubrettes and ononis girls, and incidentally keep ing solid with the actors and managers. They seem to imagine that this sort of thing will insure good seats at the the ater wheuever they want to go there, and that they won't have to pay for the seats at all In most instances this is a very big mistake. NOT WHAT IT CSED TO BE. The collegians are partial to the sec ond-story bower at the upper end of Broadway, Yale, Harvard and Prince ton boys go there whenever they come to town to have a good time. They boom things when they get there too. The polished cherry tables are pushed to gether, and the soubrettes and chorus girls draw up their chairs with the men. Sometimes as many as thirty gather in a single group. The collegians joke and tell college stories. The soubrettes and chorus girls take a hand in the storytell ing, at which some ot them have a gift Very often the sun rises while the throng is still there. It all looks feverish and unhealthy to the observer who has decided nutions about the hurtfulnews of late hours and. late suppers, but there can be no doubt that the revelers enjoy it and don't bother their beads about any of Ben Franklin's judicious injunctions about going early to bed and getting up with the sun. All this in marked contrast with the revelry that used to run fast and furious in the resorts that were numerous in the Tenderloin district a decade or so ago. The pale faced opium eater and the painted women of the streets do not pass, as a rule, within the portals of these Bo hemian caves. There is no boisterousness and no singing of songs. A stranger will find out in a twinkling that while all seems to look more or less jolly and free and easy, there is in reality a strict en forcement of order at all times. New York Sun. Chill's Curious Currency. The money of Chili at present is pe culiar. It consists of small tags of pasteboard, on which a man writes the value for which he is willing to redeem it putting his name on the back. It then begins to circulate, nntil it finally gets buck to the source from which it emanated. Boston Traveler Ait Yei lu a Cellar. ! A horrible ;:Tair has just been dioov ' ered at Pcg; i.i m, in Btdgium. A fauv : ily named Yniiden Eynde. consisting of : two brothers and a sister, live there on i their own estate. Six years ago there I was another brother, called Louis, who went away fmn the village to serve his time in the army, but although he was ; very nivon discharged as unlit for mili j tary rvice. the family always replied i to questions about him, saying that he ' w;:s nil a isnldier. j Lately, however, mysterious roporat were spread, and recently tho family I were aurpried by the appearance of thfi . burgomaster, accompanied by several ! other officials and it doctor. In spite of protests, they searched tho premises. and when they opened one of the cellars a horrible sight met their eyes. Cower ing in n comer, on a filthy heap of straw, w;u the lost brother, who looked more like a wild animal than a man. A continual Idiotic laugh was the only sign of life ho gave, for he was not capa ble of making any movement of his own accord. Even his head staid in what ever position it was turned by the doc tor who examined him. , Ilia unnatural family confessed that when he returned from his regiment he was slightly mad, and to save the expense of putting him into a lunatic asylum they had tied him up in tho cellar, where he had remained for six years. Tho brothers and sister were arrested, and tho imbecile was re moved to mi asylum. Uuliguaui Mes senger. Aa Man 8ei It. Tho letter fluttered into the sanctum yesterday. It was from a man to a wom an, and ho was trying to givo her, in his enthusiastic masculine way, his idea of tho girls of Nariagansett Pier and the costumes they wear. Here is what he Bays. Comment is unnecessary: "1 want to tell you that the women here are the most glorious creatures on the face of tho earth. They go swinging about in the independent, healthy man ner you never soo except at the seashore or among the mountains. Say, why are they aU-ays sick in town and ready for twenty mile tramps when they get out here? "Of course you want to know what they're wearing. They all have drosses made of flannel or something, with whito shoes, white caps, lots of ribbons and furbelows flying, and white parasols with loads of white laco bunched all over the tops. The skirts are cut bias (is that right?), and there's something round the bottom that 1 think yon women call a panel or perhaps it's a flounce. Why can't women dress like that all the time? Why don't you speak to 'ein about it." New York World. Plowed Up Seventeen Thousand Dollar. A few days ago a young farmer named Edwards, while plowing near Souther land Springs, struck sn iron pot whose top projected a half inch above tho sur face. It was apparently filled with earth, but its great weight led to all investiga tion. Under an inch of dirtHvere many doubloons of gold. The leather in which they were wrapped was rotten, but save for a greenish mold the coins were unin jured. They were all doubloons. Ed wards loaded his treasure in a wagon, drove to Sun Antonio and deposited it in bank, saying nothing of the find until his return. The amount is f 17,000. There has long been a tradition in Soutberland Springs neighborhood that Santa Anna buried treasure there on his retreat after his defeat at tho battle of San Jacinto in the war of independence, and various searchers have hunted for it The pot was originally sunk deep, but the rains of more than half a century had denuded it of Its covering. Cor, Chicago Tribune. A Curloui Ohio Family. Living near Waynesville is a family named Yeazel. who lately moved there from Clinton county. Recently the head of the family entered a hardware store at the first named place aud called for seven hoes. The clerk was astonished. whereupon tho farmer expluined that he had brought but four hoes with hira from Clinton county, and wanted seven more to keep his sons and himself busy Ue is possessed of eleven children, the mother and only daughter having six fingers on each hand, two of the boys 1 m i 1 six toes on eacn tool, anu one navmg seven toes on one foot The family cul tivates tobacco and is regarded with much curiosity by the neighbors on ac count ofthe extra supply of fingers and toes. Cincinnati Enquirer. Game Forbidden nn Sunday Only. There is a suspicion, doubtless un founded, that those whose word is law at the Desplaines camp meeting are mov ing backward in their course with re gard to the rules denying nearly all seen lar amusements to young people. The directors explain that they have no oh jection to croquet, tennis and sitting in hammocks on any day except Sunday, and the rules prohibiting these pleasures apply to that day only. To many Meth odists it will appear ominous that any rules were necessary forbidding youth ful Methodists to play games on the Sub bath. Milwaukee sentinel. Boys Taka Long Swims. Two lads, each about twelve yenrs of ge, swam across the St Lawrence be tween Levis and Quebec, yesterday, a distanco of over three-quarters of a mile, at high water; but this feat was eclipsed a few days since by two other lads named Lertie Russell, of Q-.iebec, and Duncan Anderson, of Chaud.cre, who, it is claimed, successfully swam the entire distance from Chaudiere basin to Or leans island, which must be fully nine miles. Montreal Witness. I"at Time on an Aquarycle. On the Wabash river, at Tuscola, Ills., occurred the first trial of Professor Claude Baum's aquacycle, which travels on the water with ulmost the rpeed of the bicycle ou land. A race was run on the river between the steamer Daunt less, Commodore C. V. Walls, and Pro fessor Baum's water wheel, and the lat ter showed better speed than the boat Cor. Chicago News. CAN TALK WITH the tv A San Frnai'isro Mint W to Have Mitfttrrrd the s A mysterious individual ward's gardens to whom the gift of conversing with their own laa ,'u.iga He f man who Was seen abo ' i i h :t i11 t hi.- s.;) years and ten, but as ho is always a'unt lid spaks to no one very little Im kiriwu about him. For nearly a year past t!i ; old gentleninn lias c'a'ly visited th..'. former popular resold, u posited tho en trance fee, and as quickly as his feeble strength will allow and with eagerness depicted on his seamed ami weather beaten countenance proceeds at once to the monkey cage. The monkeys recognize him and ret up a chattering and howling that would grate on a sensitive person's nerves, but the old man does not mind it a bit lie enjoys it, and beams on the quadrumamt that make every effort to reach him through the iron bars with an expression that would lead one to think that his soul was wrapped up in them. Finally, the noise subsides and tho old man gazes into a dozen comical expect ant faces pressed against the bars, wilh twenty-four pairs of bright eyes looking at him, und utters a few guttural sounds that astonish and please tho monkeys, lie perfectly imitates the sounds of mo.-.t of tliem, and all arrange themselves in a semicircle and with great seriousness listen to all he has to say. Sometimes his tone is serious, when all the monkeys put on a very abject expression and look as sorrowful as a monkey can. Then again, when tho tones are differ ent, the monkeys will dance about with every evidence of delight, and all begin to jabber at once, until the old man points his finger at one of tho largest- All remain silent while he seemingly carries on a conversation with one of the older ones, imitating all the grimaces and actions of a monkey as well as any human being oould. Sometimes tho conversation lasts un hour or more, when the little man bhV his friends adieu until the morrow. It is said by some that tho littlo man was once a sea captain, whoso crew was murdered by the natives on the coast of Brazil, und he made his escape to the forests of the interior with no com panions but the monkeys for many months, and subsisted entirely on the wild fruits and other food berries that he could gather. It is supposed that he ob tained some knowlodge of their method of communication during the months of his enforced residence in the wilderness that enables hi in to engage tho attention of the monkeys at Woodward's O.rrdens. Wheu accosted the old mau will uot reply, and his mysterious behavior is a source of much comment. San Fran cisco Examiner. A Live Package In the Dead Letter Oince. It it to be expected that an ordinary clerk, without special remuneration, shall expose himself to the dangers inci dent to tho opening of the multitudinous and mysterious packages that are left as metaphorical foundlings upon the figura tive doorstep of the postmaster general? Lest these penis be deemed imaginary, it may be appropriate to refer to seventeen snakes that arrived together on one oc casion in a parcel of the sort descrilwd, although they 'were all very much alive, especially a rattler, eight feet in length and one of tho biggest ever captured, that rattled its nine rattles and showed its fangs to the unaffected dismay of the young gentleman who undid the bundle. So great was his embarrassment tnut he fuiled at tho moment to keep accu rate count of the reptilian consignment, and three weeks later the entire office was set in a stir by the unexpected ap pearanco from beneath his desk of a three foot adder speckled in yellow und black. Owing to the fact that adders of other than the arithmetical variety are discouraged in government offices, this particular serpent is now enjoying a perennial spree in a bottle of alcohol on a shelf in the postofllce department- Washington Letter. Orliiln of an Old Fad. A practice was common about fifty years ugo of rubbing the eye in a peculiar way from the outer to the inner corner, the result being, as was supposed, to strengthen tho sight. The practice orig inated with President John Quincy Adams, who had what is called "a weeping eye," disease having caused the closing of some of the ducts, so that he was forced to wipe away tho overflowing moisture about once in every five min utes. He always wiped his eye from the outer to the inner comer, and some one. noticing this peculiar action, and know ing also thut, although he had passed hia, eightieth year, he never used spectacles, connected the two facte and started the. theory that rubbing the eye in the way. indicated prevented the changes insep arable from advancing years, r or a nine . all the old people in the country spent half their time rubbing their eyes, pus the fad soon died out, und is now scarce ly remembered, save by some old mun who saw people practicing it when he . was a boy. Interview in &t umia . Ulo be- Democrat The PUclna of an Encllh Church. Often in the furthermost end of an aisle or tianscept. recessed into the wall,, or but slightly standing out of it, brack et fashiou, may be seen the small piscina, that was used in old times when there was an altar HittA Besides these, only much more rarely, a piscina upon tl.e ground may be seen. Ti.'.1 SW. hole upon the floor at the east end of the church, south of the altar. If there were no pisciua into which to pour the water in which the chalice was rinsed, we might assume this was intended to carry it away, but in three out of four ex amples known there are pisciuiB on the walls as well. These ground piscina have been no ticed in St. Catherine's chapel, in Car lisle cathedral, and in the churches at Utterton, in Lincolnshire; Little Caster ton, Rutlandshire and Hevitigham, Nor folk. It has been suggested they may have been made to carry uway the wa ter used in the consecration of the build ing. Gentleman's Magazine.