Nebraska Newspapers

    IN THE ODD CORNER
SOME STRANGE, QUEER ANC
CURIOUS PHASES OF LIFE.
Winter Night Hnw long WIH
too Lite Taxing Froth Air I n .
and tho Ballot Box trrow Humic In
Mid-Air.
Tho Winter Mglat.
T It* the high ft--*;I
\ Hi of night '
The iMfth Is r.idUnt
with delight.
And. fast hm weary
da> retires,
The heaven unfolds
its secret Hies.
Blight, as when lir.-t
die firmament
Around the in w
made world wan
lient.
And Infant *• -rapid*
pierced tho l>luot
Till lay.* of heaven came shining through.
And mark the heaven** retie* l«*• I glow
•hi many an try plain b« low ;
And where the streams, with tinkling
clash.
Against their frozen barriers da«h#
Like fairy lances f1e**tly rest.
The glittering ripples hurry past:
Arid floating sparkles glance afar,
Like rivals of some upper star.
And see. beyond, how sweetly still
The snowy moonlight wraps the hill,
And many on aged pine receives
The steady brightness on Its leaves,
Contrasting with those* giant forms.
Which, rifled by the winter storms.
With naked branches, broad and high,
Are darkly pulat-d on tin- sky.
From every mountain's towering head
A white and glistening robe Is spread.
As If a melted silver tide
Were gushing down Its lofty side:
The dear, rold lustre of the moon
A Is purer than the burning noon;
And day hath never known tin charm
That dwells amid this evening calm.
The Idler, on his silken bed.
May talk of nature, cold and dead;
Hut wo will gaze upon this scene .
Where some transcend ant power hath
been,
jAnd made these streams of beauty How*
In gladness on the world below,
frill nature breathes from every part
The rapture of her mighty heart.
How I.IIUK Will You I.I*«T
The diseases to which the followers
of different trades are subject must
naturally be of interest to the world
at large, seeing that it is a question
which la of the utmost importance, and
one which has to be gravely considered
by everybody In choosing his life work.
Jt is found that blacksmiths, while be
coming very strong through constant
muscular e,xer«;lse, are liable to paraly
sis of the right side from the continu
ous shock of hammering, while their
eyes become weak from the continual
glare of the fire In which they work.
Carpenters and cabinet makers are li
able to have varicose veins of 1 lie legs
through standing so much, while the
continued action of sawing and plan
ing may Induce a diseased condition of
one of the arteries of the body, that
leading from the aorta, the great vessel
which springs directly from the heart,
to the vessel which supplies the arm
and hand with blood. Bakers, through
working in a hot and flour-laden atmos
phere, and inhaling fine particles of
flour which irritates their lungs, fre
quently become consumptive; while
chimney-sweeps, who inhale so much
soot, also are subject to lung irritation
and disease. Miners who work in the
dark a great deal get weak eyes and
their lungs become black through in
haling fine particles of coal dust, which
also may produce and set up injurious
Irritation. Coopers, who are constant
ly pressing their knee against a barrel,
develop a swelling on it, while work
ers in india-rubber suffer from bad
headaches and mental depression.
Painters and lead workers get poisoned
by the lead they use, and are subject
to weakness of certain muscles, es
pecially of the wrist. This weakening
frequently produces the disease known
as “wrist drop," and, if longer con
tinued, the poison produces a curious
blue line around the margin of the
gums which 1b always looked for by
doctors among lead workers, for it is
quite diagnostic of this poison.
Taxing Fresh Air.
The authorities of the City of Bonn
would seem to be even more advanced
than the reat of the world on the sub
ject of fresh ulr, and Intend to make
the inhabitants regard It in very much
r the same Wfljf as we are at present
compelled to I iok up m wa'er- as som
thing not only to pay a big price for,
but to be very glad, indeed, to get. The
Municipal Council has recently devised
some new building regulations and
among them Is one which fixes the
.amount to be paid every year for what
It calls "the use of the columns of air
above the city street*." This air la ob
tained by the householder by merely
having a projecting window or 1st!
cony to his house. If he has a simple
balcony he must pay ttfty marks. or
about Ids. a year, for the privilege,
and for enrh balcony over It a further
sum of twenty-live marks, while If be
haa a aerie# of projecting windows the
tai <vn the quantity is about a bundret
mark a, or i!V If the stale authorities
sanction this. It hr not unlikely that the
nett thing we shall hear la that every
body will bw la xml for being allowed to
breathe In that famous Herman unl
veralty towa There are advantages
after nil. In living In Rnglaad IVar
von'a Weekly.
tk» trms tteeg Is Wt <-A»e
ha nctu# tell# the following »<>"
I r was ether eeelon at a t; rman tha*t<o
la W Mm hade a a performance of th-«
drama «f "WMIkam Tell I was o ld
by the mating-* sf the theatre that the
•tag* efforts Hi the play were extreme
ly Bna, and that I was !o « »i until
the seeoe where Tell'# splendid mark*
maO'hlp was made apparent to vee
VMMikltl that would net *niah me I
did wxhlt pwtlsntlp ee I teold until that
HON. nod I one certainty aal.eii*a-d
^———■
The scene arrived where Tell is to
‘ shoot the apple from his son's devoted
i-ead. As I gathered from the subse
quent occurrence, the apple and Tell’s
crossbow were connect' t bv an invis
llile wire, along which the arrow was
to speed to the target. At the proper
me the arrow did speed half way to
wards the apple and there stuck, to all
appearance in mid air. In vain did the
doughty Tell shake his bow to "joggle”
the arrow to its mark. The son of Tell
looked very frightened and didn't know
what was happening. The apple firm
ly fixed on hiB youthful cranium whs
bobbing about, the audience wa;
laughing, and the laugh hurst Into a
roar when one of <[ester's guards, look
ing painfully like a gentleman who
might offieiate on one of the tramcars
during the day. took in the situation,
and coming forward from his position
at tit# side of young Tell, calmly gave
the recalcitrant arrow a smart rap with
his spear, when it sped on it* v.ay and
hurled Itself in the apple on the hoy's
bead.
Send Your Mice There.
Advertisements for live mice seems
at first sight a tux on our credulity,
but they are nevertheless a fact, amt
five-pence apiece is the price (tor the
“vermin.” The demand exists in
Massachusetts, and the animals are re
quired for the working of an adver
tisement, which is selling in the
large titles of the central and
middle states like the traditional hot
cakes. This consists of ail inclined disc
v.hlch rotates rapidly when the mice
run over its surface, and by changing
the disc into the shape of a hat or
umbrella. It becomes an attractive ad
vertisement In the shop windows,
it was evloved by a shoe-dealer in
the town of Westfield, Maas,, and it*
possibilities were quickly soon by a
toy company, which, witli character
Isle energy sent agents traveling to
solicit orders, with the result that
mice are not only in great demand, lint
that their price Is decidedly on the
increase. Ex.
• jcllng on th* Orran llril.
Bicycling under the sea must cer
tainly he awarded the palm for curios
ity, If nothing else. It Is. however,
the pastime of a man who Is, and has
been for a long time, a diver, and
Is employed by the government of the
Untied States. As lie could not get
the reputation he desired on terra
llrma. he resolved to seek it where
few. if any. people would follow him—
at the bottom of the sea. He accord
ingly procured some very heavy tires
and fixed them to his machine, as he
expected the roadway made by Nep
tune was not in accordance with the
up-to-date requirements of the scorch
er. After putting on his heavily
weighted diving dress, ho gets into a
boat with his cycle, and is rowed out
a certain distance, when he drops
overboard as If he wore going for a
spin along a fashionable road, and
cycles away just as he would do on
land, accompanied only by the fishes,
U«ttH»uiinK>
A professor at the Stanford uni
versity, who was one of a party which
undertook to penetrate Into the depths
of a Tuolumne mine, for scientific
purposes, relates a startling Incident.
It may be taken as showing that when
one is In a perilous position, it is best
not. to he too inquisitive. During my
ascent, in the ordinary manner, by
means of a bucket, and with a miner
as a fellow-passenger, I perceived, as
I thought, unmistakable symptoms of
a weak place in the rope. "Do you
often change your ropes, my good
man?” 1 inquired, when about half
way from the bottom of the awfful
abyss. "We change them every three
months,” was the reassuring reply of
the man in the bucket, “and we change
this one tomorrow, if we get up sate
today, sir."
Puia Didn't Want to Vote.
While the election board of the
fourth district of the Thirty-first
ward of Pittsburg was counting the
ballots of the recent election a cat
jumped Into the large empty hall,it
Imiv anil went to aleep. The eat era*
unnoticed by the counter* and th»
work continued.
When the count wa* flntahed the
I lull lot* were thrown In and the bo*
waa locked and settled In the eotiree
of the night Aid. KtIU. while hunt
ing tor hi* cat. dlacorered th-'f rhe waa
i in the ballot ho* The election o«
j rer* were eent for. but. fearing a
violation of I he law. they reftteed to
i opeu the hot
The nett day after con *u I tat ton
with legal loonael. It waa decided that
the hot ehould be opened, and Ihle
dona The *al wee releeeed. hut
the IteHole had bean dewtruyed hy the
. *. * vudet effort* to get out a» Ite
: prieon
Kogg Well It a her own fault that
' he hoi the ehtiue ta treat her en Abe
,>ugt>t to here known that bw waa a
,i..-ei«er '* Keadaraon "Why. ahe had
n»t hnoaa him mare than a week er
laa“ Ko«« "Mat ha laid her that
lha trei time kw tried la tide a ahaat
he jumped rt«ht aa and rude tea
| nUtee' Muataa Yraaaeript
CAMPFIRE SKETCHES.'
GOOD SHORT STORIES FOR ^
THE VETERANS.
(Jworgta About to Houor (ho Memory
of tho reader of (he l.oat t'ante
ffcoo. (Jordon*® ProaoulIntent No Pool- ]
hall in the Army.
Hhlloh.
lOtpiicnt.)
KIM Ml NO lightly,
wheeling pttll.
The na allows fly
low
O'er I he field In
clouded day*.
The forent-field of
Hhlloh
Over I he field a hern j
April rain
Hulacetl (he pafehed }
one* Ptieli’hrd In i
pain.
Through the pausm
of night
That followed the Sunday fight
Around the church of Hhlloh
The church *o lone, the hyi-built on®.
That echoed to many a pat ting arouii
And natural prayer
of dying foetnen mingled there—
J’oemen ut morn, but friend* at eve—
Kamo o'* country leant their care;
(What like n bullet can undeceive?)
Hut now they He low.
While over them swallows skim
And ill Is hush'd at Hhlloh.
Honoring Jeff
The Atlanta Con&titu Ion rays the bill
making the birthday of Jeff Davis a
leial holiday went through one house
o* the Georgia Legislature "with ti
whirl." The following is the account
given by the Constitution of this ef
fort of Georgians to prove their devo
tion to the leader of the tost oause,
"The hill introduced last week by
Mr. Oliver of Burke to make the birth
day of the president of the Confederacy
a legal holiday was adversely reported
by the general Judiciary committee.
Mr. Oliver arose to disagree with the
committee's report. Then there wa<
some very decided disagreement. Mr.
Oliver spoke in the most eloquent and
pathetic terms of the great man who
<li<l so much for the South and for the
Confederacy. He begged that the mem
hers of the Georgia Legislature would
not consent to an adverse report on the
hill, hut that they would rally with
him and do this honor to the name of
the dead president. He said that oth
er Confederates had been honored, bill
that Jefferson Davis, the greatest of
them all, had never been voted an hon
or here. He pleaded earnestly for his
measure and his speech had its ef
fect. Mr. Fogarty of Richmond, chair
man of the general Judiciary commit
tee, explained Ills position. He believ
ed in honoring the great men of the
(Confederacy. The Legislature had al
ready made the birthday of that great
est hero, Bob Lee, a legal holiday, but
If the legislature chose to do honor to
another of the great Confederates he
would not object. He had no decided
opinion either way. Mr. Fogarty
thought that the Legislature could no;
do too much honor to the great, men
of the Confederate caiiHe. He was not
opposed to Mr. Oliver's bill In any de
cided wav. There was some other
talking on the measure and then the
chair put Mr. Oliver’s motion to dis
agree with the report of the commit
tee. The result points to the almost
unanimous passage of the bill. Nearly
every man In the house yelled out his
vote to disagree with the adverse re
port. One man voted against Mr
Oliver’s motion. Nearly all of the
members express themselves as being
In favor of making the birthday of
Davis a legal holiday. Mr. Oliver is
confident that his bill will pass."
<ien. (ionlon'it I'renentfment.
When presentiments come true they
are remembered and talked about.
When they do not come true—as hap
pens nine limes In ten—they are quick
ly forgotten. Before every battle
many soldiers are sure they are going
to be killed, and of course this feeling
is sometimes justified by the event. A
writer in the New York Sun has col
lected numerous examples of soldiers'
forebodings, true and false, one of the
most dramutiv* of which Is quoted be
IUW
One of the most noted Confederate
leaders non' living. Gen. John B. Gor
don, was the victim of a false pre
sentiment, while waging a hopelessly
warfare against Sheridan In the Shen
andoah valley in 1864. One night he
was suddenly ordered liy his superior
offlt er. (Jen. Jtibal Karly, to lead out
his entire command and storm a Fed
eral fort.
"f never was more indignant In iey
life." says General Gordon, “than when
I heard that order. I knew it was a
perfectly unnecessary thing to do, and
explained to General l.’arly that we
could accomplish our plan of campaign
without slaughtering my command hy
this attempt to atorm a strong posi
tion ,a position that would fall of Itaclf
when we should make the pro|>cr
movement.
"Karly took no other notice of my
explanation than to send the word that
If I did not care to execute the order
he would delegate It* execution to some
one else This teply made me hot!
with fresh Indignation, I felt it to be
an insult but aa It was my place to
•bey orders regardleaa uf consrquen es.
I issued the nereasary Ins'ruction for
a movement at daylight neat morning
"I began on my uwn account mahmg
every preparation fur death, fur | hid
a pteneat intent that I should thie urn*
j meet my end I wrote a farewell let
ter w* my wife, told her what to Jo
about my affair*. handed our my
wnteh and other personal effects ta a
friend, and then wained np and down
my quart era watting fur day to kr-O
an I my command ta muse.
"That was a autemn night for me
far I had thta Ira pieaegttmeat that
H waa my tnat atgbt ua earth I Ml
, e)m«et aa rartala of th!a as tf I had
been condemned to death, and now ran
pretty well understand how a man
feels when he is to be executed in a i
few hours. I always had in every
battle of my life a sense of the dauger
to which 1 was exposed; I never knew
what It was to forget It; but this time
I felt as I had never fell before that \
my lime hud eome and no mistake.
“Al daylight I took up my line of
march to my death, as I fully expected.
On we went, closer and closer to the
fort, until al lust we were within close
range of its guns. I wondered that
they did not open on us. and every
second I expected to see them belch
forth shot and shell, and play havoc
in our ranks.
"On we went, my eyes llxed on the
guns, until our udvauee line struck the
fort and we rushed upon Its defences,
when, to our amazement, we discov
ered that it had been evacuated. Not
a Federal was anywhere in sight, in
side or out.
"You can imagine my sense of relief
as I saw my hoys In possession of the
fort without so much as ti scratch.
And you see what present intents are
worth. I have never much believed !a
them since that night.”
No rout-HalI in the Army.
From the New York Mall and Kx
press: Colonel Cook’a order forbidding
match games of foot ball on the
grounds of the military reservation at
tached to Fort McPherson, near the
city of Atlanta, might properly he ex
tended to every army post in the conn
try. The United States army is a
small and not overly powerful body,
and it should not he exposed to need
less hardship and peril. If Its mem
bers care !o Indulge in rough sport
they are free to engage in wrestling
maleheB. "glove lights.” wlih or without
gloves, riding untamed mustangs or
long-distance foot rates with Indians
or cowboys. Those recreations, while
exhilarating enough for the average
man, are also sufficiently fatal to keep
I lir « i.litarr ip am laic m
fully up to Its normal level.
Hut the line should lie drawn at foot
ball. It isn't half so military as It Is
mob-llke, and It may properly ho left
to young gentlemen who do not wear
their country's uniform. If It must,
have its martyrs they should not lie
drawn from the men who an* on Undo
Ham’s pay-roll, and who are popularly
supposed to represent Ills dignity.
There are enough hardy young fellows
In our schools and colleges to suffer all
broken heads, disfigured faces and frac
tured limbs which a really cheerful and
enjoyable foot ball game seems to re
tptire, and to them may he safely in
trusted the undeniably prodigious duty
of upholding the reputation of their
native land in that superbly beautiful
albeit some gore-stained sport.
Tim Devotion.
From the Cleveland Plain-Dealer: A
charming anecdote Is going the rounds,
which proves the devotion of the Ger
man Kmpress to her consort. Kaiser
Wilhelm was not long ago about to
leave Berlin, and as he returned from
his daily drive he stopped at the Aus
trian Embassy to visit the ambassador
before his departure. Home Interest
ing polltlcnl event had Just occurred
and the diplomat and his august vis
itor became so engrossed in conver
sation that time sped on unnoticed.
Suddenly the Emperor started, and
glancing at his watch, exclaimed with
genuine consternation: “I am too late!
Pray connect (he telephone with the
palace; I should like at least to take
leave of my wife in that way.” His
Majesty’s wish was Instantly fulfilled
and affectionate messages were sent to
and fro from the imperial abode. When
the last words had been spoken the
Kaiser said, laughingly: 'That is all
right, we have still a few minutes left
I
IHns rHim* or
or km AM
fJJJJ
-nta wtRit rnm»t ruwor rr
noaorumit caiwi. iruu.
to continue what we were saying ' Al
most Immediately after, as tbs Kin
peror was In lbs net of tablag leave
nf bis hoal. one of the pa la re carriages
dashed up to the Kmbaaay. sad before
be and the ambassador understood
what had happened the Ktnpreaa stood
before them In n goregoua dressing
gown and with an ermlna lined cloak
(be nrst thing whlrh rants to band
hastily thrown over her shoulders
With ooe of her delightful smiles aha
apologised for her sudden aveni. say
Ing "I beg Austria-Hungary's pardon
for a,-peering in morning toilette but
I rannot |*t my husband depart wMb
sal bidding bim farewell “
»-wle^.l.nn.>..-ue,ia„mtM igggiin i,,.,,
“|»a» my b*»» been t l.'ttle
er and been bind la dumb animal* to
day*" “Tan. grsadma I let y,ar
taaary out uf the .age, sad wbea my
«at caught II. I sat Tuwaag ua bsr •*
Harlem Ufa |
FOR BOYS AM)-OIRLS.|
SOME GOOD STORIES FOR OUR
JUNIOR READERS.
Hiur l our hi t Hurl HU A fatal
Hog and H«dgar fight Hawur In j
TvpogiuphleMl Error* ThrMon'iFltl^i
l:«n—The Qaran'a fiolil wpoon.
U«t Wlvtio* of n Child.
I .K I lie* l»edge« urn
hi hlonm,
And the warm went,
wind Is blowing
Eel me leave Ihti |
atlihsI room
Kef mo go where |
flower* are grow- ,
I rig.
"Kook! my cheek 1*
thill and pule.
And my pnl*e la
very low.
Kre my Might begin*
to fail.
Take iny hand and let ti* go;
"Whs not that the robin'* nong
Piping through the • •uaement wide?
I Mhatl not In* JlHf'Mlng long
Take in* to the tneadow-olde!
"Rear me to the wlltow-hrook
K«*t me hear the merry mill
On I he orchard 1 mu*t look.
Kre my heating heart I* Mill!.
"Faint and fainter grow* my breath —
Hear me quickly down Ike lane.
Mother, dear, thin chill I* death —
I Mhatl never sp ak again!"
Htlll the hedge* are in bloom.
And the warm went wind in blowing,
HUH we *M hi alient gloom
o'er her grave the graXM Im grow leg
How lom Hurl HU Kjres.
Turn Benton wag Junt getting well
from an attack of the meaalcH. lie
wanted to get lip and play with the
other hoy*, but the doctor had Httid he
iniiHt lie rtf 1!I in u dark room for an
oiner nay nr iwo,
"Mileh he knows about bow a fellow
feels!" grumbled Tom to himself. “A
little light, won't hurt anybody, and
I’m going to read my new book If 1
can't do anything else."
Torn pushed open iho blinds and read
until Nora enme In wiili Ills supper.
Tomorrow I shall gel up and have a
good time," lie thought, "I'm not going
to lie here forever."
That, night Toni woke up with a
sharp pain In his eyes. They had never
ached so before and lie screamed for
bis mother.
Hlie bathed them In cool water but
they still burl so much that the doc
tor had to he sent. for.
"You'll know enough to obey orders
next time, won’t you, young man?'
he asked when he heard what Tom had
been doing. "You’ll have to keep those
eyes of yours bandaged for several days
yet, If you want to get rid of that
pain. U’h lucky for you, you don’t use
tobacco, or your eyes would be u great
deal worse than they are now. Have
you heard about. Hurt Carter down at
the Mills?"
"No, what Is the mutter with him?"
usked Tom.
"I’m afraid he's going to lose his eye
sight entirely,” said the doctor. "He’s
been smoking elguretts pretty steadily
and drinking beer every day and now
his eyes are paying the penalty. They
are going to take him to a city oculist
tomorrow, but I'm afraid no one cun
help him.''
"Why, his eyes used to be as strong
as anything,” said Tom. "He could
look right up at the sun when all the
rest of us had to use smoked glass,
and he says he always reads on the
cars; 1 can’t, because It makes me
dizzy."
"Well, I’m thinking he never will
again,” said the doctor. "He has
abused IiIb eyes once too often, ant
now It looks as if he were going to be
blind for the rest of his life."
Tom 1 (Miked pretty sober. "Miss
Gray told us all thcso things In the
physiology class," ho said, presently,
"but we hoys thought she was Just try
ing to scare us; maybe she wasn't,
though."
'No, indeed,” said the doctor, "she
was telling you the truth, and you’d
better be thankful you’ve (ound It out
In time. If I’d known as much at your
ago about the care of my eyes, I
shouldn't be wearing spectacles, I can
tell you. You Just tell the boys that.”
When Tom went hack to school the
physiology class was having a review
lesson on the eyes, and his hand waB
the first to come up when Miss Gray
asked who could tell sumo of the ways
in which the eyes may tie hurt:
1. It hurts the eyes to look at the
sun or auy very bright light, or to try
to see In a poor light.
2. It strains the eyes to read when
one Is lying down, or riding in the
cars or a wagon.
3. It Is bad for the eyes to use them
much when one is sick or not feellug
well.
4. Tobacco hurts the eyes, and
sometimes makes people lose their
eyesight.
5. Auy liquor which contains alco
hol may mahe (he eyes r*<l and hurt
them In other ways Hchotd Physiol
ogy Journal.
Ttpaarepbtrel lows
Typographical errors sometimes are
really the cauee of aenoue trouble and
annoyance. On other ureas toga they
are simply amusing Some years age
aa advertlaement eg a political meat■
Ing was laaerted la a Philadelphia pa j
per. The advertteemaat waa lateaded
to eaaoutoe that a eell-bmiwu leader
wuotd addreoa "the maeass" that
eveatag Owtag to the mtaplareau-al
•f a "space.” however, the public af
Philadelphia waa nftormed that the
addrewe would he delivered to
"them amm al National hail." A re
Itgtoue paper culled the Hoe pel gee
aer. which la puhitahed at Augwata,
Mill* <mee at t retted a'leal tea
through the pteah mI a pc later whu
translated two word* of its motto, so
that It read: “In the name of our Hod
we will up set our banner." Tbs
omission of a comma was the cause
of a suit for libel brought, against a
western newspaper by the Inventor
of a patent medicine. A testimonial
to the worth of Ills compound was In
serted in the paper, and read as fol
lows: "I now And myself completely
cured, afier being brought to the very
gates of death by having taken only
Av« bottles of your medicine." The
comma, which should have come after
the word "death," wae unnoticed by
the compositor.
- , .J
'III* I.loo** Petition.
Sultan Mitley Abderrahmau of Mo
rocco was very fontl of wild animals,
and hud coolness of nerve In dealing
with them. He was one day passing
Hi rough the court of the palace,
mounted on a magnificent white
charger, when a lion which he hud
been In the habll of caressing sprang
lip the side of the home, anti placed
Ills paws upon the sultan's knee. The
horse, wild with fear, snorted and
reared, and the sultan held him In
with a Arm hand. Those who saw
him, say that he was not in the least
disturbed, lie put tils hand on the
lion's head and stroked It. Then he
turned to I he chief officer of the
court mid asked: “How many pounds
of meal are given to this lion daily?"
The officer told him the quantity.
"Ia* (he lion have ten more pounds."
said his majesty, and the beast, os if
an actual petition bad been granted,
withdrew from the horse's side, and lay
down again, quite pacified. "These
animals," said the master of the horse,
“understand what Is spoken, although
ihm' have not the power of speech to
tell whnt they want." "Mashallah!"
gravely responded another.
I'll* lia«rn‘* Hold Spoon.
A curious story Is told by Isidy
Middleton of bow one of Queen Vic
toria's smallest gold spoons was lost
and found. A lady attended a stale
bull In a dress, t be,, skirt of which was
arranged In perpendicular pleats In
front, stitched across Ht Intervals, and
unknown to her, a gold teaspoon got
lodged at supper in one of these re
ceptacles, Of course there was one
spoon missing after the ball, and the
fart, caused greut perturbation to the
official In charge of the gold plate.
The next spring the lady went to a
drawing-room in the dress she had
worn at (he slate ball, and as she
bent low before Her Majesly, the
pleats expanded, ami the gold spoou
fell at the queen's feel!
K* 1*1 Dog anil l»«<lg*r Vlclit.
Badger-lighting Is a sport that does
not seem to belong to this day ami
generation of humanity to brutes, bnt
it is still very popular among the peo
ple who ure called "southsiders” by
Han Franciscans. In the early morn
ing when policemen are not vigilant
these siKirts quietly steal away to a
scantily peopled suburb und there
wager their money on the prowess of
dog or badger. The accompanying
picture Is made from a photograph
of a recent contest between a famous
bull dog called Toughey Hnd a Imdger
of more thim ordinary size und spirit.
The attendance at the entertaining
and humanizing exhibition was large.
The contest continued for twenty min
utes, with varying fortunes. Betting
was lively. The contestants were
fighting In and out of u barrel and the
view obtainable by the majority of
the spectators was not good. Most of
them could distinguish only a con
fused mass of flying white and black.
In which the bulldog was as hard to
locate as the badger. The claws of
the badger and the nails of the ter
rier could be heard scutching furious
ly up and down the sides of the bar
rel. For a moment the dog would be
seen coming out with his victim ami
ugaln he would seem to weaken and
be drawn back.
Finally those nearest shouted that
the badger was dead. His teeth were
fastened In his enemy's shoulder, but
all the life hud been shaken out of
him.
The dog’s backers had won and
they crowded around thoir favorite,
only to dimmer that be waa dying of
hi* wounds.
Unit l * I» •<• »»!«*«•.
A writer In llarp-r'a Drawer aaya
that a lawyer, having some paper* to
ba eaecuted by an old Irishwoman,
went to her houae one morning (or hei
signature. On hia arrival he requeuin'
her to algo her name her*.'* Indicating
the a pot. "Orb." aatd ah*, with a
bland amlla. "you alga It for me. far
sure, si aca I l«ei m* glaaaaa I ran t
write.'* "Well, how do you spell ytmr
neme. Mru M T“ Martha, deer." ah*
fried, “come here directly and thpeM
me aam* for the gtntirmaa. for sure
since I leal me *.eeth I ru'l •hpell «
word"*
He Vita*.
A leak, a* h ward countrymen prv
sealed himself a< the • ter he d*eh In a
rity hotel end eft#* having a ream a*
signed to him. inquirr.i el what h«n««
menle acre served Hrenhfuet rv m
seven to atavan. Iunrh*»* front eleven
in threw dinner from throe to alaht.
•upper from eight lu tuelse." reel ad
the ilarh. gllhiy l.rnkr" r|Hn
lated the rouatrvmee. u th nute'ae
*yen ’*Wheu am I a te st to an ih*.
to ee* the to eat"