A mountain motes.
THBFRENCH PEASANTS HEAR IT
OROANINO AND ROARING.
■altitmdM Vtoll TKU Phnnaanoi —
PufcihU Result Win Ba tba Chur
lag of tba Cotna of tba Famaaa
liar Rhoua.
MOUNTAIN If mov
ing down In the old
provence dlFtrlct at
France, aaya the
New York Journal.
In what long ago
used to be known
aa the "Land of the
Troubadours" thla
modern miracle baa
come to paaa. and
before the eyea of
Che astonished peasantry who are hur
rying to and fro to their wayside
Shrines and ancient churches a great
anas of earth la moving at a rate that
Is plainly perceptible to the eye and
with a noise that groans and roars up
and down the valley of the Gard.
It Is likely to do even more, mere
la more than a possibility that this
gigantic movement of heaped-up bowl
ders and loosely-joined together soil
Will result In changing the course of
the famous river Rhone. Already the
colliery of Grand Combe, In the little
Tillage of the same name, and the beat
Crt of a mile of the Allals railway
to been destroyed, and the dwellers
la that region have had to flee before
i the mountain’s slow and irreeistlble
advance. *
The entire movement is strange and
peculiar. One reads of the transforma
tions of the earth's surface which took
place In the geological ages, but such
an event has not been known to happen
hitherto In these times of ours. The
primal cause of this mountain’s moving
la said to be the weakening of Its bane
at grit and green marl by the continual
Infiltration of rain. The lower portions
el the enormous mass of soil and bowl
ders have given way, and the whole
Tut bulk, which has hitherto lifted Its
t head high above the valley, is gradual
ly slipping down toward the far-off sea,
threatening to choke up both the Gard
and the Gardon rivers which mingle
•ad flow down to the Rhone through
the valley along which the mountain Is
making Its way.
Many people are traveling out from
aanrby Nlmes each day to get a look
at this phenomenon. As many as 5,000
Sightseers have already visited the dis
trict, and great care has to be taken
that none of them venture on rhe
mountain Itself or In the path of the
moving mass.
Ag it moves, and the advance Is al
most perceptible as ono stands by and
watches closely, the noise Is deafening
and time and time again with a sound
like a muffled explosion the surface of
the mountain side breaks Into great
cracks and crevasses, some of which
are wide enough for a railway train to
through.
It was just such vast displacements
of earth as this that used to occur in
this region ages ago, so the scientists
say, before man made his appearance
on the earth, and It is owing to these
natural phenomena of the far-off period
that the Rhone and its smaller sister,
the Gard, stand almost unique among
the rivers of France. For these rivers
are continually shifting in their courses
and eating away at times great bites
of land in one place and building It up
In another, but all the time washing
down vast masses of earth and stone to
the delta of the Rhone, which was
called by the Romans Gallic Egypt on
account of the fertility of these enor
mous quantities of alluvial soil brought
down and deposited by the spring floods
which overspread the region to the
south of Arles. This moving mountain
of the Gard will in all probability be
eventually washed down to the Rhone
delta, for this same thing has been
happening on a smaller scale for centu
ries along the course of the Rhone and
the Gat'd.
An exceedingly curious land is all this
Lf country, curious not only because of its
picturesque inhabitants that Daudot
nan portrayed wun sucn rnunruiness,
but especially because of this little un
derstood, migratory, ever-shifting river
Rhone. In what the scientists call the
dlluvlul epoch what is now the delta
of this strange river was n great bay
y into which the blue waters of the Mt-UI
r terrenes!! poured. Now the mouth of
the Rhone makes almost a broad and
flat peninsula, stretching out Into tho
great tlllnnd sea.
This wonderful change was largely
bruugbt about by a geologic movement
of which this sliding nimimalu Is an
egccllent r nun pie The Rhone wav a
•gaull stream In those pre-Adamite days
|L - but It was ties'Ined to become a great
«ne Two colossal deluges swept down
■ from the Alp* along the course of this
■ river, and the Intranet, Its tributary,
§ carrying all before them In thrir fury
H tail bringing down huge m mm «r
| atone which the fort* of the torrent
B ground into pebble* along the over How
1 Ing banka
Much a vast ituantlty af earth and
B pin* ntusi rtnd lodgment aoutewht re.
! and It was tarried be t and the then .
t mauih of the Mamie mt!«a ant under
I the Mediterranean There It a
I bed of rubble that te stilt feet lit depth
■ and which still satata almost as It was
■ In lha beginning Uut not nit af the
mountain bowlders and anil that »iw
P^ earned down by then# tomnu In heir
hendiuug .Mis- rwwehad the tnooth id
this new great river A eeuslderebt*
I portion af them remained scatter «d
B nl»ag Irem the a<waeMia< i<> in* mm.
f forming a vast alluvial plain, the d.«
irtbuiian being helped along by a score
[of trtbutar e* of which lh» O* d wav
eaa
Though thu itrt tract of MtlllUti
muu ard MOP# the it rtf Mhene has
l~~
ms courses for Itself at various Urns*
•hanging even from season to season.
This wandering of the great river,
though It proved e trifle Inoonvenlent
to the peasantry, left nevertheless n
vest extent of fertile soil capable ot
growing any French product. Up to
the time of Louis XIV. the Rhone was 1
left pretty much to Itself, with the ex
ception of the numerous canals con
structed at the delta by the Roman*
but Louis, thinking he could Improve
upon nature, spent millions of dollara
In strengthening the banka of the river
and Ita main branches and forcing them
to remain within their course.
NIW ZEALAND TATTOOING.
The Fee* Moko la Conttdared e Salk
of IdODtltT.
Major-General Robley, who want
through the Maori campaign of 1864
1866, has Just published an Interesting
monograph on "Moko or Maori Tattoo
ing," with numerous Illustrations from
photographs and his own sketches. In
New Zealand tattooing la practiced for
various purposes. The face moko, for
example, is a mark of identity and fac
et ml lee are frequently copied on deeds
In place of signatures. It Is also a
sexual adornment to make the men
more distinguished and attractive to
women, though what was deemed an
allurement to lover* of the opposite sex
was also expected to make men more
terrible to enemies of their own. The
sFrnsf Ahloof tha MfifiH rhlftfl Wftfl
to excite fear. To paint their face* Ilka
red Indiana waa but a temporary de
vice; tattooing then came In to give
permanent dignity. To show off moko
to advantage It waa necessary to have
no hair on the face, so every Maori waa
clean shaven, which la to say that he
removn the hair with a pair of mua
■el abella—afterward, after acquaint
ance with Europeans, with a pair of
tweezers. One might have expected
that the beat examples of the art would
have been done with native Instru
ments, but according to Major-General
Robley the introduction of Iron brought
about finer work and thus it waa moat
unprosalcally influenced by Sheffield.
The actual Incision mode In the skin
waa done formerly with bone, wood or
stone instruments applied to the skin
and driven In with a small light mallet,
the pigment being applied to the In
cision as soon as made, but, of course,
every artist bad a series of Instru
ments like an engraver and very won
derful, Indeed, Is the diversity of line
and adornment which was tbua ac
complished. And here It must be said
that the characteristic New Zealand
moko, which consists of lnclelona In
tho akin, baa notbtlng In common with
the ordinary blue tattooing which
leaves the surface of the skin smooth.
The latter process was adopted only by
women, who were rarely moko-ed ex
cept for a few lines on the lips. The
pain of the Incisions was considerable
but the scars usually healed In a week
and a clever artist would be more run
after than the most distinguished por
trait painter of our day. One of the
most striking Illustrations In the book
Is the portrait of King Tawhla, the
great arlki, or chief of chlefa His
body, as well as his face, was covered
with carving, and he said that for a
fortnight, when his lips were being
done, he had to be fed most tenderly.
A Slu on tho Tandem.
"One of the greatest problems In
bicycling," said a giddy blcycllat, "la
how to kiss a girl while riding a tan
dem without upsetting. The first
time I tried it there waa the blank
est catastrophe on record. We were
splninng along at a scorching rata and
struck a shady place, where the elec
tric light was obstructed by the dense
foliage and the shadows lay heavy and
aomber. I bad made sufficient prog
ress with the damsel whom I had hon
ored with the front seat to venture up
on a delicate carees, and as we struck
the shadows I leaned forward, throw
ing my weight upon the handles and
giving my neck the necessary curve.
She was naturally somewhat startled
and dodged, giving the wheel a wrench
that was fatal. In a moment we were
Bprawling on the boulevard, and when
I gathered up her remains and my bat
tered self she was the picture of an
Intensely Irate damsel. Only a man
who can ride a bucking broncho In A
cyclone ought to tackle such a feat."
Ill* Only Hal.
Uy the side of the chief approaches
to a certain English race course one
night ruttio year* ago. when the races
were on. a email knot of folk gathered
mound a vtuersble looking gentleman
who wae with might and main denounc
ing the wickedness of the betting and
pointing out the evils attaching to a
"love o' sport.” This gentleman had
a history. Me wa« by no mean* an or
dinary street preacher, be was a
wealthy merchant, and many years
previously he had, on that very race
course, laid the foundation of hla for
tune. by backing a horse (upon the
strength of some eatra reliable Intelli
gence he had recelvedl to win «j less
than 14 ***«. It won. and from that day
iht fortunate barker bet no more Nat
aly did ke kimeelf lurs hu back upon
the turf hot he was aver doing hi*
best to Induce tuber folk to foils* hi*
eatampi# Kachans*
tbs Tesebt*
IN ad* Mo* to Mow Is M illie Meat
side prugreestng with bis suit • t**>
Met I o’ Mrs. I .a fa yell# It has bar
rc»*d does to a bicycle so* t'.sds
itcwis Me sbwulds't let tb*l *>aad lb
bis ••¥ Mrs. l.tfayette Me wouldn't
if be bad any ff*4>t Ittftle Tints I
ttoa't been Atttet
tb t'sntml Mouth An»*rW« sgs,
cc.sant.i< sb.l . fc.-elate p • a* anr
renej sf lbs rtsim
LARGEST BRANDY STILL.
Mlfml* Runt u Bit*bllikaMl
Tarnlng Oat 1S.UOO nation* Dally.
The largest brandy still In tbs world
s at EH Pinal vineyard In San Joaqnla
munty, not far from Stockton, says tbs
iaa Francisco Call. Part of It has been
>ullt about four years and the other
part was finished only a short time ago.
La Is well known, the El Pinal vineyard
las always made a specialty of brandy
ind sweet wines. It was the Intention
»f the proprietors to do this when they
went Into business, and for that reaaon
they had the largest still built that was
>ver put up. That was. as has been
itated, about four years ago, and even
then It was ahead of anything In exist
ence. It could produce more brandy In
twenty-four boura than any other atill
In the world, and it has not been sur
passed since. But even that was not
enough to supply all the alcohol needed
In their business, so another still was
built and made to work In connection
with the original one. The two are
really one still as they are used and
have about three times the capacity of
any other atill In the world. This enor
mous machine la located In a building
by itaelf and part of tbe year is kept
running day and night. It Is very com
plicated In Its workings, so that a de
scription of that part of It cannot be at
tempted here. It will be sufficient to
state that the grape juice or wine is
pumped from vats to a tank on top of
the hill. From there it simply passes
through a series of heated chambers in
th* form nf a vnn/ir nvwl rnmam nut In
the shape of brandy. It can be tested In
the different chain tiers and the change
noted. In the first chamber It Is llttls
more than warm wine, and it gradually
gets stronger and stronger until It Is
sharp to taste. From the time the wins
leaves the tank until It comes out as
grape brandy only ten minutes Is occu
pied. In the old method of distilling It
used to take about three hours. In ap
pearance the largest brandy still In ths
world Is simply a conglomeration of
tanks, pipes and hollers. The capacity
of this still Is enough to make a per
son wonder wbat becomes of all Its
products. When running full time It
can convert 16,000 gallons of wine Into
brandy In a day. This will make about
4,000 gallons every twenty-four hours,
or enough to keep about 40,000 men la
a state of Intoxication during that time.
In a month there would be enough
of brandy on hand to Intoxicate 1,700,
000 men, or about the entire populatloa
of New York. But, as It happens, very
little of this brandy Is sold as brandy.
It is used to fortify sweet wines so that
they will be in a condition to keep until
ready to send to market. The aloohol
acta as preservative of the grape Jules
the same as It would of anything els*
It keeps it from turning sour.
It Wun't ft Hroop.
At Red Creek the stage stopped for
half an hour for the passengers to gat
dinner and the driver to change horse*
As we drove up In front of the shanty
hotel from the west an army paymaster
in an ambulance drove up from ths
south. With him was a guard of six
cavalrymen, and while the paymaster
entered the Inn with us to take dinner
the soldiers ate their bacon and hard
tack In the shade of the stables. We
bed been eating for about ten minutes
when there was a sudden hurrah out
doors, followed by a dozen rifle shot*
Five men on horseback and a sixth In a
buckboard drawn by a mule dashed out
of the thicket a quarter of a mils away,
and, sweeping down on the paymaster's
rig, had transferred the safe to ths
buckboard before one of us reached ths
door. One outlaw had been killed by
the Are of the soldiers and two soldiers
had been wounded by the fire of ths
outlaws. The fellows were off at full
gallop and the score of shots fired after
them only hastened their speed. Ths
paymaster was the last one to leave ths
table, and as ho came out an excited
stage passenger called to him:
"There they go, major!’’
"Yes, I see ’em!’’ quietly replied ths
officer.
"And they’ve got your safe?"
“Yes, I expect so.”
“Great Scott, roan, but are yon going
to let ’em git away with all that
money?” shouted the half frantic pas
senger.
“All of what money?”
"Why, In the safe!”
"There Isn’t a shilling In lt!“ said
the major as he returned to the dinner
table. “One of the door binges was oat
of order and so 1 was carrying tho
mnfiHV In thin Kt. *•
Km reached down and lifted up tha
bag and opened It to ahow us flu.uOO
In erlap greenbacks, and aa ha snapped
the look be sighed and said:
“Sorry for the fellow out there and
hla gang, hut perhaps they'll have bat
tar luck neat time!"
the Hear OM ralltaw,
“What do you admire moat In my
saw dreant" aha asked of Iboaa who
wore praising It.
"Just what's In It nuw,''anewered tha
veteran beau of forty gay seasons, aa
ha blew her a klsa.
A MaoluU t*aa
"Tbia la a great bsso boll Iowa, lent
nr
“1 should any M X fellow ina'i even
gat at Ur go to bln grandfather s fun
era! without showing n dm tor's ear*
liicato Hugalu Newa
She t rail Wag.
Nell ie* you ithe the girl yowl
brother Tam ta eagagad t«f"
Amy No but Tom tth«o bar nail
ana ugh for the wh da family, au whal
aartbiy diRm-wo drum it mabat" Naw
York Weakly
Moat of the canal barges In 'be south
t/ blag lend at# worked by ataag
FOR A MONTE CARLO.
INDICATIONS ARE THAT IT WILL
VERY SOON MATERIALIZE.
P)Mi of lha Pmoolara of I»— OI«oatle
Sahara* to Ira pro a a o Oaiart blond
Vow Orroplail bp SoTOga*. Kipaetlng
She rotrooaga of Toorlata.
ROM reports that
seem to have good
foundation, It may
be said that In all
p r o b a blllty the
western coast will
soon have the most
magnificent gam
bling resort in tbe
world. The reports
are to tbe effect
that John Brad
bury, Walter 8. Moore and J. Downey
Honey have purchased from Mexico the
Island of Tlburon, and will erect It Into
an "Independent republic." The real
Intention la to make It a gambling re
sort on the style of Monte Carlo, e*
ossdlng the European resort, however,
In Its magnificence, and offering every
possible Inducement to tbe wayfarer to
"linger longer’’—If he baa money, aaya
New York Mercury.
J, H. Polk, who claims to be a rela
tive of tbe late ex-PresIdent Polk of
TenneMee, baa been In Mexico for sev
eral months as purchasing agent for
tfas syndicate of capitalists. It will be
recollected that about a year ago Mex
ico set up a claim to several small Is
lands lying off the coast of Los An
geles and Santa Barbara, stating that
(hsy were not Included In the Inventory
At the conclualon of our war with that
republic. But her claims were not well
founded.
It was surmised at (be time that this
pyndlcate bad Instigated the Mexican
officials to make this claim so that if
substantiated they could buy the Is
lands from Mexico and run them as
gambling resorts. These islands being
within two or three hours of the Cali
fornia coast, would render gambling
very convenient for tourists.
Failing in their scheme to establish
a Monts Carlo so near civilization, they
have now purchased a site in the gulf
of California, about one hundred miles
to the north of Guaymas, and about
one hundred and fifty miles south of
Yuma, Arlz., a few miles below which
town tbs Colorado river empties into
ths gulf of California.
The Island la only a few miles off the
Mexican coast, Hermosillo being the
nearest town which la reached by a
railroad. The Island Is about 125 miles
in length, by from 20 to 30 In width, and
is peopled by a wandering tribe of In
dians known as the Cevls. It Is said
that (5,000,000 was paid for the Is
land, which Is no doubt an exaggera
tion, for neither the Mexican authori
ties nor the purchasers know anything
about the Island—except that warlike
savages live there and will permit no
visitors. Mexico has sent aevaral expe
ditions, both by land and water, to
subdue these savages, but those landed
on the Island never came back to re
port.
The tribe numbers about one hun
dred, nsarly half that number being
warriors. But, being strongly fortified
and fighting with polsoned-tipped ar
rows, they could kill ten times their
number before being captured.
A few months ago a party of scien
tists from the east started out to ex
plore Tlburon Island, which Is said to
be rich in fossil remafns. They were
accompanied by a photographer. Noth
ing has been beard of the party since
they left Yuma. If they reach the Is
land and return they will be the first
Americans who ever visited the “island
of the cannibals," as Tlburon Is some
times called.
A Doubting Mood*
“You act as If you thought every
thing was wrong," said Blllyer’s wife.
"Mebbe I do,” was the reply. “I try
not to show it. But when I notice
how willin’ the mosquitoes Is to blto
an’ how backward the fish Is about
doin’ the same, I declare I can't help
thinkln' things goes a good deal by
wwhiiw* iww. if HPUIU§IUU OlAI .
Alsrnt4
Rosie—"What! You here again, Mr.
Plncoln? You geern to quite live at
Clacton.”
Mr. Plncoln--”Yes. Miss Rose; you
see, the Great Eastern railroad make*
It so easy to get here and you make It
■o difficult to get away.”
Roale ‘Oh, dear! What will the
Great Eastern railroad do when 1 go
home nest weeh?" Kun
t iAlIiMiIIi
”Dld you ever publish that article
ef yours?" "No,” Tiu afraid It got a
little beyond your depth.” "It ua<
dowbtediy did The waste banket la
tha office la sta feet high and toy aril
ties St the bottom. ' Kvhaiige
Silt
"He besets that he la a self made
maa." "Oh. pshaw! Why, you dos t
Imagine for a muMwat that be tti«l bis
feer>ls baad himself, do you ?'• -|>e
trait Tribune
W *4tbw|i
“Are tbsy ruatsmpiatlag wsdloeb"'
“I think eo lie gave her a geld brace
let with a pad be b and be sarrtag IAe
key" itetroit > •»* Preen,
f Si a•••>•! gaollsa
“The* yew look on marrtege aa only
g still twiitmi!" V«s A etiU sum
treat with privilege o* laaivlltlyA-4e
dtaaggeUs Jeurtul
| a
»LD WHISKY BBTTBR THAN NHW *
nwi on m« lu roiMBiw iSbbu m T
the Hbbbb StbIbbo.
The commonly prevailing ldaaa as to
he chemistry of whisky are evidently *
confused. The public notion has always i
Dean that crude or freshly distilled ,
whisky was Injurious, and that It rB* < ‘
julred the mellowing Influeaoe of age , 11
o make It lit for consumption. In other | '
words, new whisky was held ts be ; *
leleterlous because It contained fusel '
>11 and that the reason why old whlaky «
was more wholesome was beoauae this b
rusel oil changed In sourse of time ts b
the so-called oenanthlc ether. To put j P
It chemically, the amyl alcohol (fusel , 1
all) oxidizes slowly Into amyl ether, I ■
which Is not only thought to be Innocu- I
ous but to Improve the flavor. The t
deputy principal of the Inland revenue ' t
branch of the government laboratory I
would remove these notions at one I
sweep. Thus, In reply to a question | i
before the liquor commission on Tues- { i
day last he stated- and it was a repeat- 1 *
ed statement—that. It was a mistake to t
suppose that new spirits contained <
more fusel oil and were more unwhole- i
some than old. I i
With the former part of bis state- j
ment we will not now deal, but to the ' |
latter we distinctly demur. It cannot <
be supposed that whisky merchants ,
take tbs trouble to store their whisky 1 ,
for years unless they know It Is there- | ,
by Improved from the dietetic point of ,
view. Again, It Is well known that' ,
so convinced are the authorities of ths ,
Canadian government of the unwbole- ! (
someness of new whisky that we be- ,
llevs they have a regulation in force ,
prohibiting the sale of whisky that baa
not been stored for a certain number ;
of years. Fusel oil is admittedly Inju- j
rlous—Indeed, poisonous—-according, at
least, to the experiments of several ob
servers. In one case, for example, I
part of amyl alcohol In 600 parts of
water caused anesthesia In frogs la
twenty minutes, the heart’s action be
coming slower, the skto dark, death
occurring In about two hours, and the
cardiac pulsations grsdually ceasing.!
The common effect of fusel oil Is to
produos Intense headache, and It must
be borne in mind that In the case of
whisky the action of alcohol must be
added to that of the fusel oil. The
amount of fusel oil, we believe, In
whisky sverages about 0.2 per cent. ;
These observations hardly bear out ths ,
statements made before the commis
sion. Incidentally we may add that It
Is exceedingly satisfactory to And that
the consensus of opinion of ths wit
nesses before this commission appears
to be that there Is a deersase In drunk
snness in the metropolis, but this de
crease, It Is noteworthy, Is less among
women than among men.—From ths
Lancet.
AFLOAT IN A COCKLESHELL.
Mo Mows from Voting Norwoglooe Whs .
Sot Oat to Cross tha Orsoo.
Frank Bamuelson and Georgs Harbo,
two young Norwegians, set out from
this port on June 0 with the intention
of rowing across the Atlantic ocean.
Their objects were fame and the money
that might accrue from transient noto
riety.
Their boat measures a bit lees than
18 feet and has a beam of 6 feet. No
epar or sail of any sort was taksn, and
the two men will have to depend solely
on their oara and their own exertions
to reach Havre, the port they set out
for. They put to sea on the evening
of June 6, and were spoken thirteen
days later. They were well on thelf
voyage then, being about 300 miles
from port, and wanted nothing except
to be reported.
The boat Is provisioned for sixty days
and her crew of two said they expected
to average about fifty-four miles a day.
The route they were to follow la 3,264
miles In length. It was thslr Intention
to row steadily as long as good weathet
lasted, and to heave to and take watch
and watch about when storms came and
seas beat high. The boat went out pro*
vided with a sea anchor—a cornucopia
shaped piece of canvas attached to a
bowline to be thrown overboard when
goles arise to keep the boat’s head to
wind and wave. By means of this sea J
UUV.MVI uiv iuou cAycvi iu nuts OUl any
etorm that cornea their way.
Included In the equipment of tho
boat waa a compaaa, sextant and chart,
by which the men expected to find
their way to the coast of Franoe. They
laid tbetr route to the southward of 014
steamship lanes. In order to avoid, aa
far aa possible, the danger of oolUslon.
This may explain why only one report
of the wanderers has been received.
There Is another and a mors alnlalav
explanation of the dearth of news froca
them, and If It should come la the
shape of a report from some vassal
about a boat belug sighted bottom aide
up, tossing somewhere In mldoecaa, no
one who looked at the frail craft would
be much surprised New York Herald.
M*4as Aalto*.
Hargreaves You fellows art always
talking about my drinking whan half
the time I dun l even think of taking
n drink Fvoy Just uka It mechani
cally. shV Cincinnati Kuquirer.
t'se *r IS* t »»l«»
Bhe in* * to the gunei What Is the
umpire turf He la rooter) To show
that there Is no pleasure without Iti
alloy,- 1‘hiUdsiphta North America*, I
*“WU| Mi* ml Mis rs*«
“Well," declared Hip Vaa Wlakt* i
as he saisrod Philadelphia, "If thle
•tty ha t »nuugh to make a man )eai.
•oat"* New York World.
n* tvs
IN Jalap "lat ms ess your tango*
pl*as* Puli* at Ok, dostof, at
tongue van tell bee bad 1 fent- Nge* J
uw Trat mrigt, I
NECDOTE OF THOMAS COUTTS
ht (JdIom That W t« War* « •
Itarhma' Itraeslst.
A long while ago, when Bristol was
‘owing rich with the profits of ths
'eat India trade, of which It had
most a monopoly, a stranger took
'dglngs there, towards the close of
is year, and used to visit the coffee*
tom of thst famous old Inn, "The
ush,’’ says the Household Words.
!e would arrive about noon every
ay and calling for a 6-penny glass of
randy-and-water sit over it until he
ad carefully gone through the London
aper of the preceding evening. The
indlord of "The Bush," seeing how
nxlous he was to read the London
aper, made It understood that white
e had it "In hand" no one else was
j expect It Hat her "seedy" garments,
lean body, u confirmed stoop and s
Imlted expenditure of a dally C-pence,
rlth nothing for the waiter, clearly
bowed the newspaper reader to be s
poor gentleman" and by that title he
ras soon distinguished. On Christmas
ve honest John Weeks, the landlord,
nxlous that the decayed gentleman
hould have one good meal at least la
The Bush," delicately Intimated Is
dm that on the following day he kept
•pen table, to which he would be wel
come free of cost. Punctually at 1
•’clock the next day the stranger sp
hered at "The Hush" In his usual
leedy attire. H<- partook of the good
llnner with the apparent relish of •
nan to whom such a feast Is a novelty
ina did justice to me -stunning ate
or which far and near "Tha Bush"
v&s famous. The dinner waa con
duded. The decayed gentleman rs
nalned the last and read tha London
paper In the kitchen. When he pre
pared to leave the landlord respectfully
helped him to put on his overcoat and
it the same time slipped a guinea Into
tils band. The poor gentleman pocket
id the coin with a smile and a sigh.
He came no more to "The Bush." But
ihortly after "The Bush" Itself waa
advertised for sale, with all Its valu
able good will and appurtenances, and
poor Weeks was trembling at th*
thought of being turned out by a new
pwner, when be received a mlsstv*
from Coutts ft Co., the London bankers,
to tha effect that If he wished to ac
quire the bouse he bad occupied h*
might draw upon them for the pur
chase money. Hastening to London
to thank bis benefactors and convlnco
himself of the genuineness of the offer,
bs was introduced to Mr. Thomas
Coutts, the bead of the great banking
Arm, who proved to be no other than
the "poor gentleman." "The Bush
guinea," It Is said, was afterward worn,
mounted In a bracelet, by the Duchess
of St. Albans, the widow of Mr. Coutts.
As Island Disappears la * night.
An Island In the Missouri river broken
Into fragments and waahed away wan
the unusual spectacle Atchison, Kan.,
people witnessed yesterday morn
ing. For years an Island of 600 or 700
acres has been one of the attractions of
Atchison. It was as fertile as a gar
den, and was known all over tbs west
for the excellence of the celery, aspara
gus, sweet, potatoes, and melons It pro
duced. It had the appearance of a
veritable oasis In a desert, and iUgresn
shrubbery, generous shads tress, vel
vet lawns, and cool spring* wer* a per
petual joy. Upon this Island a shoot
ing club had a home, and the baseball
snthuslasts bad their grounds and grand
stand. Altogether it was a most pleas
ant resort. In a single night this Island
was dissolved Into fragments. The re
cent rise In the Missouri river struck
It. and to-day It la only a reminiscence.
What was Kansas loss, however, was
Missouri’s gain. With the obliteration
of the Island the current left the Mis
souri shore and struck hard against
the Kansas bluffs. The result of this
Is that the Missouri banner has been
planted a mile westward, and hundreds
of acres of rich bottom land have been
added to Its domain, while Kansas
mourns tbs loss of its green Island and
pleasant park.—Cincinnati Enquirer.
Bsfsn Hlsrlc Storking* Woro Wars.
*1 saw a little girl In striped red and
white stockings the other day," said
the woman, “and It made me think of
the time when I was a little girl my
self. There was no thought of black
Blockings then. The small lens of all
the email girls looked like sticks of
variegated candy. The child who hod
the gayest combination of strlpos waa
tho happiest, and if the color schemo
happened to be displeasing to our
youthful tastes there waa such a fool
ing of utter woo as I know I seldom
fool now that 1 am grown up."—New
York Times.
Wilt o' ike Wtas
Wilier d> -wis. he shines so bright.
And seem ter dance so gay.
You wants ter keep 'Im still In sight
An' wishes yoh had ‘Im day and night
Kohler frullck dutar-way.
But true' you mammy; doan' gib chase,
I tab's lots o’ joys Ilk# dls;
Jss’ look an' laugh an' keep yoh place:
ttf yoh comes teu nigh ant day leaves
no trace.
Day's gone, Ilk* siller-de-wts,
—Washington Krsnlag Star.
hHMtkMi k«s t« a i kSSivs'i rwtg
At a delightful birthday party that a
little maid ga»* is her friends sash
one was asked to wxts dressed as t
doll of same hind In tho Hill# prase*
session that mer-hed tu tho sound of
musts at the hsgtuuiug '•* '*•
there were rug dolls sad wng duiln
Brunnto dolls and colored dull*, those
that snuld only say loo or three word*
sad dolls that daaeod all the tune, un
til their ms. >
down A (SUtll. -I r««,
ragrsosutod * tow
Now