HE IS GREATLY LOVED HUGH M'CURDY A PIONEER OF MICHIGAN. II* B*r*m* DUtlafnlihnl As a Muon Thirty Year* Ago—A Lawyer and a Politician of Great Ability—Age Be Cl ialoy to Tell. UGH McCURDY of Corunna, Michigan, ha* won distinc tion as a Mason, until be Is known throughout the country. In Mich igan he Is not only a leader of the Ma sonic fraternity, but Is well known as plain Hugh Mc Curdy, citizen. He ha* been more «han a Mason. He ha* been a cooper, farmer, banker, lawyer—and politician to a limited degree. For almost half a century he has been Inside Masonic ranks. He was given bis Introduction to the goat In Birmingham lodge No. «. August 5, 1850. Ten days later he was a Master Mason. From that time lie constantly clambered up the rungs of the ladder, until, in 1893, at Denver, be reached the top. He was elected mo*t eminent grand master of the grand encampment of the Knights Templar of America. Mr. McCurdy started a Masonic lodge In Corunna In 3857. Six times be wa* chosen it* mas ter. He received hi* chapter degrees in Flint, Mich., and In February, 1864, tie became a Royal Arch Mason. In 1873 he was unanimously elected grand master of the grand lodge of Michigan. Since 1865 ho has attended every meeting of the grand lodge, except in 1868, when a funeral kept hint away. A* head of the order In the state, ho laid the corner-stone of the state cap ital at Lansing, October 2, 1873. In 1875 he was grand generalissimo of the grand commandery of Michigan. Two years l3ter he was right eminent grand commander. In 1873 he had become a thirty-third degree Mason and an hon orary member of the supreme council of the A. A. S. It. Masons for the northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the United States. Mr. McCurdy had become known as one of the leaders of the country. In 1883 he was chosen grand captain-gen eral of the grand encampment of Knights Templar at San Francisco. Three years later they made him giund generalissimo at St. Louis. And then, on August 11, 1893, came his ele vation to the highest office In the gift of the Knights Templar. People have not yet forgotten the trip to Boston In 1895, In which Mr. McCurdy was escorted by Detroit Commandery, and praises of the appearance of Michigan’s Knights have not quite ceased to this day. Mr. McCurdy is 68 years old. He was born in Scotland, and came to Birmingham, Mich., when he was but 8 years olu. He was apprenticed to the cooper’s trade, but someone got him Interested In law and he became a lawyer. He bought his original law library of S. I)ow Elwood, now presi dent of the Wayne County Savings bank, who let him have It ”on tick.” Mr. McCurdy went at once to Corunna and hung out his shingle. It is still out, though his legal work Is narrowed by the Indisposition of advancing ago. In 1854 he became prosecuting attor ney of Shiawassee county, was re elect ed and at the expiration of bis term was chosen Judge of probate, though he was the only successful democrat on the ticket. His people were so well nulled with his services that In isg| they sent, him to the state senate, where his political career ended, though always since actively interested In polities as a stanch d neu ral. He support)d ltryan with great vigor. In Corunna Mr McCurdy ha* a beau tiful country seat of thirty acre*, called Wood law a It I* kept dose to nature and no despoiling hand ever I* allowed to Introduce the nicety** of art. 1k« Ntt»r Ma* • Msuoust, Mrs, iiaiab Hubert* of tbU place l.ut Week handed u* a *h.» Mother * him met which, she says, I* Iso year* old. It in used by the great great grande father ul tb. settlor editor ol the Me* •eager and ha* been handed down from generation to g«uera<,.»» aattl II gae at l»»* fallen lata uur haada. It «*i forged by hand and i« not a* neat *a th* hammer* made m recent year* by ma* tuner» hut u heart iba tnis«< H much n*#. tt# prise tt highly and while we cannot u*e tt lw making *k«e# we will carefully •ward »t and hand u down t.» t*uir« generation* India* * M< . • *. Aggie *a«*e ***»* to h*a« been the gystu of all Wta'a tr able*. DISCOVERIES IN LEAP CASTLE. Eleventh Century Stall-rasa Foil nit In an Early English Structure. From the Leeds Mercury: A Dirr correspondent writes that a series of Interesting "finds.” just discovered In the historic Leap castle, have been shown to a number of visitors. The first and most Important was an elev enth century stone spiral staircase springing from the first floor level and terminating at the summit of the great tower, 100 feet high. This relic of a remote past Is In a splendid state of preservation. The finely cut stone steps are laid with mathematical ac curacy and are large, like tho passage Itself. The O'Oarrolls, princes of Kly, whose chief stronghold this castle was, were .all big men—in fact, a race of giants—as the few relics of them ex tant attest. Hence the reason why ev erything about the castle Is large. The second “find” Is an entrance to the guardroom cut out of the rock, and which was up to the present believed to he a mass of solid masonry. Here numerous bones, coins of the reign of Edward the Confessor and other relics were found. Human bones In large quantities, Hints and spear heads were also found In tho extensive range of dungeons which have been brought to light beneath the castle, these curious prison-houses being rock-hewn, and their existence having been previously unknown to the owner of the castle and lord of the soil, Jonathan C, Dar by. This gentleman Is the descendant of the royal house of O’Carrolls of Ely, whose family have remained In uninterrupted possession of the 1/cap for many centuries. The present own er, aided by Mrs. Darby, has put Into a complete state of preservation the ancient chapel, an apartment twenty live feet square and high, which is on top of the tower, and here hus been discovered a very large and line early English window, which from Its great elevation commands a view embracing eight counties. A little below this Is a remarkable room, which none of the servants will enter after nightfall. It was tho state bedroom of one of the princesses of Ely, who was murdered six centuries ago by her lord, and tho •olid oak lioor retains the bloodstains of the royal victim. This part of the building Is reputed to be haunted, and Mr. and Mrs. Darby, who do not be lieve In ghosts, admit that they can not account for tho extraordinary noises that occasionally come from the death chamber of the murdered prin cess, and which make it nearly Impos sible for them to retain their female servants In their employment. The manifestations are reputed to take the form of shrieks, which resound and reverberate through the building amt set all the dogs In the kennels whin ing and harking. ODD ARCHITECTURE. Every village In Durmah has two or three pagodas. These are placed on a Dili where such site Is available. A remarkable and probable unique site for un edifice, sacred or otherwise. Is shown In the picture, which repre sents the pagoda near Shwegyln, In lower Durmah. The large spherical mass of rock on which the pagoda stands Is about thirty feet In diam etni' and perched on the edge of a precipitous cliff, over which It seems about to fall every moment. The pa goda itself Is of solid brick-work, about twelve foot high and surmount IWO.ODA IN Bl.RMAH. • pfl by a small gilt litep, or sacred um brella. A If arrowing •*It la strange that with the common sense ideas that are being developed in so many of our custom*," said a wom an the other day. "the custom of going to the grave should not lie given up by (he mourners at u funeral. It Is a harrowing experience. The associa tions are alt unpleasant, and the sight of the earth sround th* newly dug grave gives us the feeling that we are iui off from our friend* forever. Ke rry creak of the cords u* the robin Is lowered Is like a stab wound. The only comfort Is that w# feet that we are going a* far as |au>aihle with our dear olo» In the w.sl they have I pleasant custom of lining the grave with flower*, or. at least, with vtU'S, evergreen*, or something of that kind To see our friend* laid away In beds of flowers I* not *<> horribly slgnitt ant. ‘ New York Time*. Mew Metlonl »l I umowUsi I wSsilv A Very curious no i b | ,,f msiting underground conduit or pipe Is (spurt ed from Kr «n e. A trench t* dug. and cement M concrete placed In the but’ turn On tht* an Inflated raa»*s-euv ered rubber tube In tai l and mot* e* meat bs added until the tube Is cot ered. When the tenon ha* set th tub* Is allowed to cut lap** and t* withe raws leaving a «caerate or r* mem conduit. A EOT ARY PRISON. ] IT HASjJUST BEEN INTRODUCED IN ENGLAND. Anil I* Called the lonilria' V» Ter ror- -A Prison of flteel Wlilrli Is as : Intricate as a Mare, Defying llir ! Most Vlrloos to Ksrispe. N Ingenious plan for a steel trap prison from which It will lie Impossi ble for a prisoner to escape has re cently been pulp I Untied. In appear- : mice this proposed I new prison will be like a great rat trap, In that once Inside the prisoner cannot get out by any Irregular way, but must be re leased by the man In charge, and Is ■Iso like a squirrel-cage, Inasmuch as It is rotary. A prison of this sort Is composed of three principal parts, the building consisting of four walls and a roof, In which It Is contained, and the center revolving cylinder of cells. Kvery part of this cylinder Is made of the best Iron obtainable, and the whole Is mounted on ball-bearings In such a way that It may revolve at the will of the official In charge. Ho accurate ly Is the cylinder balanced and so well are the bearings adjusted, that It Is quite easy to move It by means of a hand crank, though In actual prac tice the power of a motor, either wa ter or electrle, Is generally used. In shape each cell exactly resembles a hollow wedge, the big end of which Is formed by a segment of the cylin der's outside shell, while the smaller end touches the cylinder's core. The roof, floor and sides of each cell are made of chilled holler iron, so hard that the finest tempered ehlsel or the keenest flle would hardly make an Im pression upon It, None of these cells has a door, though each one bus an opening for going In and out. This opening, however, cannot be used for JAMAICA’S OPPORTUNITIES. Tli* roullillltlr* of Winter Vegatabl* Growing. When I lived In the Island of Jamai ca, a British possession, 1 was greatly Impressed with the commercial possi bilities of the winter vegetable growing industry, says Collier's Weekly. Dur ing those months when winter fruit and vegetables are practically an Im possibility In the markets of our north ern and semi-northern cities, they flourish best In Jamaica — and.of course, in the other Islands of the archipelago as well. Jamaica Is about 140 miles long and from twenty to fifty miles wide; Its surface Is mountainous, with many valleys and few plains of moder ate extent. Oranges and coffee are the chief products of the mountainous parts, sugar and bananas of the lower levels and valleys. Vegetables are scarcely cultivated at all; the negro population, numbering over 700,000, Is lazy and worthless, and can not be de pended upon as laborers; they grow n few yams on their little clearings, <:nd are then content to lie In the shade of their cocoas and mangoes and let the year go by. The coffee Industry lan guishes; there Is hardly any sugar making worth talking of now going on; there Is not on the whole Island a single orange grove, recognizable as such by an American cultivator; all Jamaica oranges are practically wild, anil of numerous varieties, some poor, some of the best In the world, but all alike jumbled together for export; so that Jamuda oranges have a bad name. There Is an American company In con trol of the banana trade, and the ex port Is as large as the consumption warrants; hut no vegetables are ex ported ut all. The steady work on the plantations Is done by coolies brought under contract from India, and re garded with disfavor by the negroes. Now, If 10,000 acres only were set apart for the cultivation of vegetables during the months from December to April, and the produce placed for sale In our seaboard cities, the profits over and above all expenses and accidents would ho so enormous that I shall not state them; the balance sheet has been THE ROTARY PRISON. this purpose, except when It U exactly opposlto a corresponding opening In the entrance, and no two cells on the same tier or story may be entered at the same time. Outside the cylinder of cells, biy entirely disconnected with it. Is the *w!re cage, and this looks somewhat like a gigantic stationary squirrel cage wheel set on end. It Is made of thick steel bars, chilled to a hardness fully equal to tliat of the cylinder, but separated from the cyl inder and cells just enough to be out of reach, even should a prisoner get possession of tools for cutting his way out. Connecting with it are the cage llke entrance galleries, one for each tier, each containing u double set of | floors. When the prisoners are to be j taken out for exercise, or to enter upon thetr duties in the shops, they | ;„ust pans out singly, the cage being i ,-evolved Just far enough, as each i .oaves his cell, to bring the opening j .f the next cell Into line with the en | tranee cage, and they must enter In ! similar fashion. When the Inst pris oner has gone In, the doors of the en trance cage are locked by one move ment of the hand, while a second j movement fasten* the cage In place. I so that tt cannot be shifted The building Inclosing such a prison | nt | only a mere shell of brick or ! *tone, and the prison*** m»y be I latched In their cells at alt litnea from . tileries or bah >nles on the Inside j of the shell's walla. While this form of latl may not be adapted to great I ...nal etabllshmeiils. It possesses on | q ,uiited advantage* M !«*•• *« which | only a few prisoners ar* t*» he con* filled. It ts an Cngltsh Idea 4 it..a ox tss >»«•• \ correspondent of Ns I ui» lei is a re markable story «f a dog. whbh having, i through *• ncchgent. lost t*dh legs mu j the right-hand able, ha# learned i walk nnd tu run on Ms two remaining l«ic Knough remain* *>f th* right fore leg to sen# as *n *>»»»*U>tt»l pro**, | but when running the dog taut he* the ground only with iha two left legs \» oh them It hops rspidtr along, sa l having been a trained »he«p dog '*#• fore Ike accident, ll manage# |u bet I tin loch as II b 4 •* > fm*f 4i4 |4ic tl*ft ti m»mi l*Mfc*r, »oul4 ibfti ftftbv 44 WHO#— Trouble* | Ytb Il#vi>f4 WAS A BORN LEADER. early" days of the late THADDEUS STEVENS. (i*org« Alfrad TosnHnil (Oath> Until. Nome llrrelofor* Unwritten Hlutorjr— hlnn. *nd Uorb*u*n 1’rlor to tb« War Period. HIRTY years ago the master of Pennsylvania poli tics was In the house us now Its master Is In the seriate. Thaddeus Httveni seldom Ashed, und never Ashed south. His home In Gettys burg Is now a doc for's office and drug store on the besrt street, a well-built brick house, which the owner has courteously shown me. It Is u pity it does not hold a tablet In the wall, for, If ever there was a coincidence. It. was that Stevens’ lltt'e town should have become the battle spot of Gettysburg. I saw liuchanan In his office nt Wheatland* June 4, 18BH, writes Gath. He died of rheumatic gout at the uge of 78. He was horn one year before Ste vens, In tho same month of April. When liiichunan, in 1821, took his seat in congress as a Federalist, Stevens was an obscure lawyer at Gettysburg. He had been refused admission to the Iwr at York, the next county town east, and went over into Maryland to lie admitted by the Archers at Helalr, whence he shook the dust of York from Ills feet to settle on the site of the great battle he portended forty TIIADDEITH STKVKNS. seven years later. At Helalr, six years later, a fugitive actor settled in the woods, J. H, Booth, there to beget John Wilkes Booth, The representative of the man who udraitted Stevens to the bar was lately an Inmate of the Mary land penitentiary, Stevenson Archer. The bar at York, which passed a res olution that no man should be admit ted to the bur who while a student followed any other business, after wards luxuriated In the possession of Jerry Black and his son, Chauneey, critics of Lincoln and Stanton. At Gettysburg, Stevens, avoided, poor, with his mother's brood dependent up on him, known as the club-footed at torney, had a practice poor and unprof itable but rich In human nature for clients, till, poorest of all, a negro murderer was thrown at him to de fend. A hopeless case, but bis effort to do mercy ami not justice aston ished the boorish county, and he stepped into the best business, and be gan to manufacture iron and open railways to the l’otomac. He defend ed fugitive slaves and allied himself with the John Quincy Adams men, and when Andrew Jackson's physical pop ularity In Pennsylvania threw him hack Into the minority lie took hold of anti-Masonry as the lever to break the Southern thrall, and stood beside Sew ard at the Baltimore convention of 1831, which nominated William Wirt, of Maryland. The convention was as tonished at his eloquence. In 1N33 he went to the state legis lature from Gettysburg, and took up the championship of the newly ma le and already Imperiled public schools. IIIHlrULit'O »«» yim: Itn nu ll ir|H'ui, n» dellcd his constituency. A born lead er. he faced General Patterson, who afterwards led the first army down the valley in a struggle against troops for the legislature, and expelled, In* was elected from Gettysburg, and sat till 1841, when he moved to the rich town of Lancaster, and became the greatest Jury lawyer there, and In 1Hl.S the Whigs sent him to congress, where he opened the attack on slavery, wit » Howell Cobh In the (hair. II.- was rich, Uliwedded, f>«at less a rich mau not afraid of his property, "I honor the courageous Mouth," he cried. "All her soua are faithful to human bond age because It Is tin 1 r muse, lki you believe that the North, tame as she U, when so often trodden upon, will nev er turn? \ltd If the l»ill« lie made, he result cannot be doubtful. You will never vindicate your**!*** bv a *<-!>a rats confederacy ' Much was the video from Gettysburg In 111*1 Urn Italian, from Iws'it aster, had U» t In the cabinet aud senate when M'c v.nn withdrew from unttnn for , *tviji-seven years oil. but the leader. Iturhattau In the White thou, wav hi* ' const it us it I, they never spoke as th-y * ,tt**<*t hy. "It Is a libel on l'»nn«>Ivasda" V* rrtsd In the tu‘*st opposite spirit t,» hi* ! townsman great t»at, "to say that the I Will pair hose peace by till print tpc I i«a* t-sslans la armed tltsliryt-ut« |f | ; thought so-h was h*r char* 1st f would expatriate mine f I Wuv«M bras# the tend where I has* spent my life from early manhtsod la dev lining age i and would *r k s«< *po« untamtsd by tka coward breath of sersillty and meaner** To bsr pleasant «*>'•»• I > gvttU prefer tba t yI. hold stats vl my nativity; nay, any spot In the most barren Arctic region, amid whose pnre Iclcleg dwells manly freedom." Val landtngham told me that when he cam-* back to Washington from the South In refused the hand of Colfax and pressed to take that of Stevens. At the head of the ways and means committee he raised the revenue which beat Davis. I^e. and the other Stephens. "No truce with the rebels,” was his stern speech, "except to bury the dead.” December 2, 1861, be Introduced the bill to eman cipate the slaves, nearly a year before Lincoln acted. Ho was the greatest revolutionary leader after John Adams and the Continental Congress of 1776. , DUNS DELINQUENTS. Silent Monitor !)■« envelopes, and the amount and name are obtained In this way. The roster will j;how Just who has paid anything and who has not. It Is claimed for the system that the delinquents get tired after a while seeing the row of blanks after names and begin to pay something In order to fill up the blank spaces. It Is a sort of ever-present dunning hoard. It looks down with significant silence on every member who enters the church door. The de linquent. cannot escape Its all-seeing eye. Whether present or absent, he knows It is there, and the blank spaces seem constantly to say "Pay some thing.’’ The meeting adopted th< plan unanimously. A NEW RAPID-FIRE PISTOL. The new Mannlicher rapid-fire pistol has recently been brought to this coun try for the purpose of exhibiting it to the authorities ut Washington and seeking to have It adopted for use In the United States army. As the name of the new weapon Implies It Is not a revolver, but it can discharge live car tridges in rapid succession, five car tridges being tin ordinary load, and it can bo reloaded with that number or cartridges in much less time than it takes to load a revolver. As the empty shell is thrown out every time a car tridge Is fired the weapon Is ready to be reloaded as soon as the last of the five is discharged. The chief impor tance of the weapon, however, rests In the fact that It uses the smokeless powder cartridges, which would blow an ordinary revolver to pieces, and it thus becomes a most formidable weap on for army use. Its action is much like that of the Mannlicher rifle, which is well known to military men. The bullets fired from It have so much ini tial velocity that at a distance of twen ty feet from the pistol they go through twenty-eight sheets of Iron, each 1 1,OOOths of an inch thick. The weapon is loaded by bringing to» SHOWING METHOD OF LOADING, ii full cock, pushing forward the barrel by tho aid of the middle night, plac ing the cartridge charger In the special groove of the magazine aperture and loading the five cartridges Into tho magazine hy u single pressure of the huger, The magazine may also Ire loaded by Inserting, one after the oth er. five cartridges Into the slot and pressing them home. To extract the i irtridges It Is suitbb-ut to push the Panel forward, as b» fore, as far as pos sible; and each operation will eject one cartridge, %II f»**» i «ui4 !•»*. there Is u good old story of a gen* i oral whose death was announced in a I newstMpsr by to.#, ike a circumstance I which anuuysd I. ui very much Me tailed OH the editor and demanded that a contradict low should he inserted In j t||w neat Issue I ha* general, was j the editor’s reply. " »• dulls out of the •|uestk>n We never .«(»• .*!*• sad »e never withdraw a sUiemeat. but I letl | you what »'H 4« for yon \Wt| put yuu la the ’htrtha neat week.** as plMotrCs r*s Vru«| the many cui t.us in vent mas ta whhh ef» 'rtotty pltys the principal nls Is aceutbiasd a pen provided near the paint with a w>iawte la.eadeereat amp intended to illumine n small sp«>e on in# pager sad prevented from shining lalu the eye* «| the writer by a little rsgscuu placed Just abate IV