Folk Live on the Ice of the Winding Bogaducc,
Sheltered in Their Shanties.
Brooksvllle, Me., Correspondence: Ah
soon as Ice forms on the tortuous Bog
aduce everybody—men, women and
children, the lame and lazy, the rich
and poor—pushes a little 5x8 board
shanty onto the new Ice and goes to
catching smelts. It is the one occu
pation which everybody follows, and.
incidentally, it is the one calling which
yields more money than all the oth
ers combined.
The modern smelthouse, as it is, is
a marvel. It Is placed upon wide run
ners. which are made longer than the
house, so that the weight may be
distributed over as wide an area of
Ice as possible which proves of great
advantage early In the season wh<>n
the Ice is thin, and none but the
wealthy can afford to buy smelts. The
house, which is put on top of this sled,
Is made of thin matched boards and is
four feet high at the eaves and six
feet in the peak. In front end Is a
door. At the opposite end is a small
stove. The floor is double boarded
and sheathed to keep out the cold, ex
cept one board midway between the
ends, which is left unnailed, so it may
he lifted up to allow the lines to drop
through to the water.
In the shoal places along shore are
depressions In the mud that form
miniature ba.ys of brac kish water whpn
shoves his sled along until the hole
in the Ice Is under the loose floor
hoard of the smelthouse, and then,
halting two lines, each nrmed with
two hooka, he drops them into the
stream and sits down to await what
the tides may bring.
When smelts are bringing from 10
or 12 cents a pound in the New York
markets and the fish are running well
and biting greedily, the scene on the
frozen Bogaduce Is animated. From
Walker’s Mill to the bridge which
• losses Into the town of Penobscot the
river Is dotted with tent-like houses,
giving one the impression that a vast
army has come along and camped on
the ice. If the surfuce Is free from
snow and no wind is blowing, the
houses are ranged face to face, with
a street between, along which the
children romp and the young people
skate from daylight until long after
dark. At intervals along the main
street are clusters of houses, which
mark the place where some family has
founded a colony. Many of these con
tain no more than five or six houses,
while others have fifteen or twenty.
In the course of a few days these
knots of buildings are called Walker
vllle, or Blllingstown, or Blckfordshlre,
according to the name of the family
which lives there. When a storm or
allow their smelts to freeze In distort
ed shapes, and who dump them Into
the hold of vessels with forks and
take them to the cities as If they were
offal. The true Hrooktille smelt ha*
Its remains decently composed before
It freezes, and every fish Is packed by
headH and points, crostways In the
box, so as to make good stowage be
fore the cover Is nailed on. It Is a
local tradition timt a crooked smelt
from the Provinces I* no better than
a Yankee tomcod, and while this state
ment may not be actually true, the
man who should come here and dis
pute Its- accuracy would get himself
disliked.
Living within a mile of their work
— for the Uagaduee almost girdles
Hrookvllle the men folk In Ihe fam
ilies arise before daylight and go to
work without breakfast. As soon ax
the morning meul is eaten at home the
wife or some member of the family,
relieves the fisherman, who breaks his
fast at his own table, after which
he attends to his barn work before re
turning to the Ice. lie is relieved In
a similar manner at dinner and sup
per. Meantime, some of his family
drops in at odd spells, allowing him to
go from camp to camp and exchange
gossip. After supper great heaps of
driftwood that have floated down from
the sawmill are lighted on the Ice, and
the whole town comes out for an ev
ening party. The older people sit
around on shingle blocks In the camps
talking and laughing, while the men
fish and the women knit mittens for
• THE QUEER SETTLEMENT ON THE ICE.
the tide goes out. These spots are
marked by tall stakes before the river
freezes, the flsherfolk knowing that
when the tide recedes the minnows
and mummy chubs, which are used for
live bait, will seek out these pools
to await the coming flood. Hut cutting
holes in the broken ice near the stakes
the fishermen can run down small nets
and dip up their bait by the pailful.
Having secured his bait, the fisher
man cuts a long, narrow hole through
the ice near the channel of the stream,
wind comes up all the houses that face
the blast must be shifted hindslde be
fore to protect the occupants.
As fast as the smelts are caught they
are laid out straight upon a board and
exposed to the cold to freeze, and no
sooner are they congealed clear
through than they are nailed up in
small wooden boxes and sent to mar
ket. Brookville people take great
pride in preparing their fish for sale,
and have no patience with the New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia folk, who
the market. The young people either
go skating in pairs, gliding far up the
stream among the dark woods, or if
the ice is rough or snowy they get
up little dances in the lee of the smelt
houses, to a fiddle or an accordion.
Suspended from poles, the Chinese
lanterns cast ghastly lights upon the
gay scene, while overhead the torches
of the aurora borealis flash across the
sky, and the fixed stars look at one
another and wink with a meaning that
Is too deep for words.
IN THE BERMUDAS. ]
There I* a Plague or (at* and
Kparroei.
New York Journal: People arriv
ing in New York from Bermuda say
that the island Is overrun by eats and
sparrows. The nuisance of the plague
has even been discussed in the Colonial
legislature at Hamilton. Visitors
from ilie United Stales seeking the
lialmy climate of Bermuda are com
plaining especially of the "rat gangs"
which nightly disturb their sleep.
When the dog tax bill came up be
fore the legislature Iasi week, Dr. T. j
A. Outerbridge. one of the members of
the council, proposed an amendment. '
In doing so he said
' ' I should like to set' the bill recast
ami a heavier tax pul upon dogs, be
cause we have too matty worthless curs
In Bermuda I should also like to see
a lax put upon cats. You may laugh
tint it there Is any useless stimuli in
this world it 1* a cat. Cots may be
of use in some lountrie*. but they arc
of no use here. They do not kill rats
They do destroy oill' naliie birds
"I have not *»vu a bluebird in six
weeks, and there ought to be plenty
of them here now from America I
have not seen one this vs*r, ami be
fore long all our uatlve birds wilt be
extri minalril Iwiwceii ih< > at* and
the sparrows *'
• »<*!» IlMflltil
\\ |»* t !«• 1 tl lt)tt»ltalo (orIt)a> u( to
►nuiir ur fur*# uf ImMI ur Mh ■
thoro b humor In ikr l>»rl*ih| U ol
n'r aturjr uf an oM man aim •*>11.
n*va|ia|H>ia in lk« a«i<«ar* " II* ku
ltd>u« l from handling tb* tonaattunal
aboota I bat In oidar lu «**■ uf bla
•tub bo mm alnar* ha*o awmotbinn
■ hurt ltd* on Hand, »u tt l» All aUo*»
lh* burr I bio *Mhid* * Ul ibwi lb*
borribla wurdrr/ AH about lb* bur
rlblo nnrfdwui, or mil about •oiuotbin*
•Ion ibat la burrlbio dar aftor day
On* atoning i«at autumn bo atiwrd at
h * miwatum* pla o nbon tb# tato
H«tba*" nor* k Xifkl around Vftor
securing a bundle he scrambled to his
corner, saw half a dozen men ap
proaching, and cried out: “Here’s
your extra paper, just out, all about
the horrible—horrible—" Then he
stopped. He had forgotten to look af
the headlines and And out what hor
rible thing had happened. Hastily
turning over one of the papers, he
euught a glimpse of the account of
the Harvard-IVnnsylvania football
game. The troubled look faded from
his face, a glad light came into his
eyes, aud he continued. All about the
horrible football game.”
trrh«n In the Heart of the t tty.
The military student* at Tun*
Chou (China* are u coiixpimoun nttla
unce. They have a way of using one
of the main at reel* In I he city ax a
convenient *|»ot for practicing archery,
and we have been repeatedly obliged
lo edge up to the e»trente edge of the
footpath to avoid |MMOdhle eccentric
Itighta of arrow- Characteristically.
It never occur* to them to au-|wnd op
eration* for others' safety or conven
tetp e. and minor accident- must he
not Kite"lomoii lad was brought to
the taorpt' •! the other day who hail
been »t by an arrow Just Itelow
the eye, . • he wa» edging along the 1
highway tl< was not badly hurt, and
probably tenanted bis Injury a* Inci
dental to the ordinary risk* of travel
on eltv street- North China Merabi
t l>|Si«kl< l» *Ust.
Htanreoe wott*n tttirUst (tirti < Ml
iltra to the rate of eh ph*nt» a,oi It
l< said that the irsu la n »er betray •
• d The baht* • p'ay about the huge
f. cl of the eh pl ant* W tio Are ever
rateful lirof to hurt the little r re y
tnr>* And If ibrUger liurslrllt th»
•anacluua animal wttl *ml the <htld
gently up In kb trunk and * * ins It tip
out of hat nt t way upon hi* broad
bark
Many a ytruth a ho a-pita* • ■ k»-- •• u*
an A M I* la al *r year* glad to
settle In• h aa ike linage |* U
A COSTLY DINNER.
rirst of Ks|t«ti«U* KntsrlsIniiisuU la
N«*r York City.
Writing of the lavish expenditures
of New Yorkers, Euretta Van Vorat
recalls, in the Ladles' Home Journal, a
dinner given In 18*1 by a man of
wealth which cost $10,000, and which
astonished his most extravagant as
sociate*. as It was the most expensive
feast given up to that time. ‘Delmon
ico, the Helpful resource of both those
who know and those who do not know
how to spend their money, whs at a
loss to know how to dispose of this
then fabulous amount upon a single
tneul, There were ieventy-lwo guesta,
and they were entertaiued In the
large ballroom which in Heliiionii-o's
fourteenth street establishment has
seen so many social triumphs. The
house had lic. u Moses Uriunell's and
ever Imre the imprint of a gentleman's
ic*ideiice even when transformed into
a public place of entertainment. The
table occupied the whole length and
hi cadi h of the room, the waiters had
barely space to move about it. It was
a long, oval tabic round which a mss
sivr wreath of ehtiuislic flower* was
laid guarding a miniature lake thtrtv
feet long t he wallet, It) uo< hailOal '
contrivance, undulate I genii) , and on I
Its breast ti<>ated font living swan* a {
golden network keeping them in I
pla t "
I lltliU' I mm %•<«• 1114
Ktdhtpon kmi<ln4 mn apn t»r
lhtiv«iM«ui* ||t> l<t>ui«u "Uiiwinr, Trn
J«u built a >irl<l|h> anww ih*> IKihmIw.
l hr pl*n «l *ki>k *l* lm)R4 bt lk«
Huwiiait »« rHtk>ota wil l a-iiuugk lu
ttwlglb 4 ««* ollUtlUf* *kl h will
wtt* tM iwwn« ki I hmim Aturtp In
Mwuifanta un i tiitlo.« m tfnrtin In
lb* mi l»Mr of lb* ■itii.itH* lb* •(mu* ,
» f I t * •*!> Will i«*li 1 fu *l «i|IUM< l>» nil
Ikr »i»4« • 1*41 bln* <« it wnil 44*fiM
. Ut thi m>r|mtuwi«Hn lb* w«n»*ii uf »s.«i
gr«4i ntt^vfiu 4Hl in i>ln* butt l*« fur
|Mtb*b« *n«»h*» *-*•»* uf rHIkflra
BLUNDERING.
--
Mra. Cramer. a wealthy young wid
ow, lived In a style of simple elegance
fn a dealrable quarter of the city. Her
personal attendant, Susie Moore, was
young, pretty, and coquettish, with
half a score of lovers at her heels, so
. it Is not to be wondered at that
she was at times absentiulnded and
giddy.
Mrs. Cramer hod gone out calling,
and Husle was doing two things at
once. She was reading for the twen
tieth time a declaration of love she
had received that morning and dusting
a marble-top table that stood In the
center of the room. An omlnious
<rash which followed an unlucky whisk
of the duster caused her to drop both
the broom and the letter and exclaim:
"My goodness.” On the carpet lay
the fragments of a costly porcelain cup
a valued gift of the dear departed!
Instant dismissal was the least she
could expect In case of detection, and
how could detec tion he avoided? No
one else had access to the apartment,
and there wasn't a cat on the premises.
But Husle was a girl of resources, A
bright Idea struck her and she ran to
the back yard, snatched up a stone
twice as large as a hen's egg. and
dashed It through one of the panes
of a rear window. Then returning to
the parlor she picked up the stone and
laid It among the pieces of the broken
cup,
"But will that look right?” she ejac
ulated. "People don't throw stones
through window* for nothing, and this
being a back window, why I have It!”
Her love letter lay at her feet. It
had neither address nor signature,
though well she knew whence It came,
hatching up the missive and the mis
sile she hastily wrapped the one
around the other, securing the parcel
with a thread and placed It amid the
ruins.
Having finished her work, Susie
dosed the apartment and took good
care not to be there when her mistress
returned.
If Mrs. Cramer was vexed when she
raw her broken cup and window, she
was Indignant when she came to In
vestigate the cause.
"Who can have dared to take such a
liberty?" she exclaimed, crumpling the
paper In her hand, but she had scarcely
asked the question when a dark sus
picion took possession of her.
The damaged window not only over
looked her own hack yard but the gar
den of an adjoining proprietor, a gen
tleman passionately devoted to horti
culture, and Mrs. Cramer had occasion
ally busied herself for a few minutes
In looking out upon his labors. The
two had often exchanged glances, but
never the slightest token of recogni
"MY GOODNESS.”
lion. She had thought him a proper
man. and he had Romctlines lingered a
little longer at his work than he prob
ably would have done bad the blight
pyea of the widow been absent.
To bURpeet wan to resolve, and, in
stantly tying up the stone in the letter,
an she had found them, she walked to
the window and with all her might
burled bark the hated message beyond
the enemy's confines and at once re
treated.
The Innocent and uesuspecting l
neighbor, who chanced to be stooping
out of bight, digging weeds In the
midst of the shrubbery, startled by the
sound of what might be some meteoric
body whitting past In dangerous prox
imity to hi* head, raised himself just
in lime to mtch a glimpse of the wid
ow's receding figure.
But judge of bis surprise as hi* eyes
fell on the strange object which bad
barely mused knocking hlui down
With a trembling band he undid the
parcel and. as he read It.- contents, hi* |
heart fluttered worse thsn rbulc * had
done In the morning
The fact is he had long been In love
with the widow and had secretly
sighed for an upportunity to tail her
so. hut In receive an une«|Ui*tiial do
I ar at tot. from hei that w«. a little
more thou be had ever dared tw hope
dome fastldbuic pe*tp|r might think
tuck a proceeding iadelhai* but the
widow had evidently taken pu> on hr*
hgfbwardnes# beanie* wasnt it leap
year* Tine. h< r grammar might have
itesn better and her spelling was, tu
ay the lead it. iitfc eat. But then hr*
wa.u t partial tu literary Mir* |h»
lord !. I *) was What he* wanted and
ilia silks a a* th* picture of that.
The hole said ecimething about net hr* *
gelling t n't lurk No. he a no Mu I
forget It 4ml he did a t
4i i u'vtrtth «barp Ktijah H<ig«i*
presdoted himself al Mie fusurT
4mt gn l was s tmiited by dost*
i
"Tell jour mistress,” he said, "that
a gentleman desires to see her.”
"Please walk In,” Invited Susie.
The fair widow was prompt In mak
ing her appearance.
“Mrs. Cramer, I am Mr. Rogers—
Elijah Rogers—jrour neighbor,” said
the caller, arising and Introducing
himself, with some nervousness and a
heightened color.
The widow bowed stiffly, for In Mr.
Rogers, though better dressed and of
course better looking than she had
ever seen him In his garden, she recog
nised immediately the ruthless tres
passer who had broken her window,
smashed her china, and been guilty
of other ads against her peace and
dignity.
"I scarcely know, madam," Mr. Rog
ers began, after a painful pause, "how
to preface what I am about to say, but
the note-"
"That, Indeed, requires explana
tion!" exclaimed the widow.
"And yet I had flattered myself that
It was sufficiently explicit," returned
Mr. Rogers, somewhat disconcerted.
"Sufficiently explicit, no doubt," con
ceded Mrs. Cramer. "But the motive
M
"Do not say It was to deceive," In
terposed the caller.
"And the method chosen," cried the
widow; "perfectly unheard of-"
"Whatever others may think,” said
Mr. Rogers, “between us two It can
never be misinterpreted."
And Mr. Rogers told his love—told
It so much better than the stray note
could have done that the widow would
have wondered how much his tongue
was mightier than his pen had she
been In any mood for such compari
sons.
She and Mr. Rogers have now been
married for many years, but whether
they have even discovered how the
broken cup first broke the Ice between
them Is more than I can tell.- New
York Evening World.
THE NEXT CENSUS.
Congress will probably past* a bill at
this session to provide for taking the
next census. The primary purpose of
the government In thus counting the
people, which the constitution requires
to be done once in ten years, is to
ascertain how many representatives in
congress shall be apportioned to each
state. Until a first census could be
taken the constitution Itself specified
the number of representatives allowed
to each of the thirteen states. Vir
ginia was assigned ten members, Mas
sachusetts and Pennsylvania were al
lowed eight each, New York and Mary
land six each, and the other states
were granted representation in the
same arbitrary manner. The total
membership of the first house of rep
resentatives was sixty-five.
The apportionment based on the first
census, that of 1790, allowed one rep
resentative for every 33,000 people, as
near as the divisions could be made.
On that busis the membership of the
house became 105. By the next cen
sus, ten years later, using the same
"unit of population," the number of
representative's was inc reased to 141.
Since that time it has been neces
sary with every new c ensus to allow
a larger population to each district,
and also, with the exception of one
decade, to enlarge the membership of
the house, A part of the increase has
been caused by the admission of new
states. There are now 357 men in the
house, and each congressional district
Is made to c ontain as near 173,901 souls
by the census of 1890 as Is possible.
The forthcoming c ensus In 1900 will,
as usual, make a new apportionment
necessary. The population of the
United States, which was 62,622,250 In
1890, will be, it is estimated, from
74,000,000 to 76.000,000, not including
our new possessions.
It is not desirable to have the house
of representatives made much larger
if its efficiency as a legislative body
is to Ice maintained. Hence, that in
crease of population will probably
make necessary an enlargement of the
congressional district perhaps an in
crease to 20,000 which would be six
times the population of the original
unit of apportionment.
Knergt to Hpttre.
"I feel juat hh I hough I had been
drawn through n knothole,” declared a
Woodward avenue man of bualnnaa,
and it wan only 10 in the forenoon.
"Out late to Home party or theater?"
laughed IiIm partner. "Can't Htand
thoae thing- hh you could when u
youngater. You do two men'M work
here, and that demaiuD tegular hab
it# for the rest of the twenty-four
hour#,” reporta the Detroit Free Preaa.
"I'm a# regular aa a dock I waan't
out late at all, and haven't mikaed
going to tied before II alnce holiday
week. Hut the old gentleman la vlalt
lug me You don't know my father,
do you'* He’a one of the houeet yeo
manry of the land. Waa reared a
funnel, ami la dl*po<ed to look down
upon ulmoat every other calling a* lac
dependent for a pirlietl American cll
laen Ite'a 72. and lively aa a cricket
there |- many a voting man of So
that might well envy him ’
*|tut what haa be to do with yuui I
being need up? '
* Kverything Me g> ta up at & every I
morning and |uh*i up and down, i
whittling like a pi* •ado player and
a-kmg lino * if aloud wheie la • reailon
the family la Me gee - Into the hitch
(u hMiI heula tb> net over tor Mot
having b*»«*kt«»t ready, )olUe< with
- in the tone * of a -tutay orator there
ta u * •bailee to *l*»p after », toil I m
aoi going to have the old genttamau
latevfeie-d with altbcugb all of tta will
be going atound in g pattial Italic* at
I lung a* ba *h‘***a** to nn
Nature la the mother and habit ta
| the atapmotbar
“ Only the First Step
is Difficult.99
should be to cleanse Nature's
house from Winter's accumu
lations. Hood's Sarsaparilla
does this work easily. It is
America's Greatest Spring
Medicine. It purifies the blood,
as millons of people say.
It makes the weak strong, as nervous
men and women gladly testify. It
cures all blood diseases, as thousands
of cured voluntarily write. It is just the
medicine for you, as you will gladly say
after you have given it a fair trial.
Bad Blood-" Although past 70 years of
age I am thoroughly well. It was three
bottles of Hood's Hariuparilla that made
me so after si>eiiding over pH) In medical
attendance. My trouble was a raw sore on
my ankle.” Mas. Ixmusa Mason, Court
Street, Lowell, Mass.
Running 8oroa-“ After worrying four
month* 1 gave my children Hood's Sarsa
parilla and it cured them of running sores.
Hood's Pills cured me of dyspepsia and
constipation." Mas. Katk K. Thomas, 31
Governor Ht„ Annapolis, Md. *
Consumptive Cough-“Five years
ago I bad a consumptive cough which re
duced me to a skeleton. Was advised to
take Hood'a Sarsaparilla which I did and
recovered normal health. I have been well
ever since.” Matii.da Hsidokwatsb, Cor.
Pearl and Chestnut Hts., Jeffersonville, Ind.
_
* CUI« cur* llvsr III*, tli* non Irritating and
tl,«.Iv ratliarlli- lo t*k« with Hood'a S»r§«p«r!iJ»
A newly found letter by T. P. Ilar
nuin, one of the last he wrote, adviael
young men to learn stenography and
typewriting, and adds: "Keep your
brains free from fumes of alcohol,
your blood freed from Its talnta. Avoid
tobacco as poison It really is. Keep
yourself clean physically and morally.
(Jive your body the care you would
give to any machine of which you re
quire much good work.”
Coe’s Cough II Alsu in
la (hr oldsat sn'l licit It will break up kcoldqnlckcr
iban anything cUe. It la »l way a reliable. Try It.
Statistics In regard to the amount of
money brought to this country by Eu
ropean Immigrants show tha: the Ger
man Is the richest, with an averag«
of 52, 50, while the Englishman Ir. a
close second, with $52. The French
man has $47.25 and the Belgian $45,
while the Irishman brings but $15. the
Russian $12.50 and the Italian $1C.
Probably the Italian takes more bacs
to his native land, however, than any
of the others
Mrs. Winslow's Noothlng Sjrrop.
Fur children teething, soften* the gum*, reduce* It*
flsinuisltun, ill*/* i>»ln,cure* wind colic. ZJc » bolllo.
The Burlington route, advertising
from its office In Omaha recently, of
fered a cash prize of $100 to the per
son who would send them the best plan
for encouraging immigration to Ne
braska. Among the letters received
was the following:
“Republican City, neb., January 27,
1899. J. frances, g p: I saw youer add
In your paper asken advise of how to
settle nebraska, for my 20 years' expe
rience that the grate part of nebraska
Is old batchus and air longen for a
wife or a housekeeper and the eastern
world Is full of old mades and wldoes,
now If the railroads wood traaport
the old mades and wldoes to nebraska
free thealr woodend bee no further
truble about settlers, I tell you th
wlmen neaTr that hair.'t Ingaged air
scaris then benes teath and most of the
glrles marey when thealr 16, now If
theaa old mades and old batchus go to
keepen bouse and the men heatr that
all the wldoes healv ship to nebraska.
you felowes wood Just half to put on
extra trainee to carray the men.
Health for Ten Cents.
'ascarets make bowels and kidneys act
naturally, destroy microbes, cure headache,
billiouBuexH and const ipatiou. All druggists.
It Is hard for the preacher to keep
people from the opera In the week
when he runs as near to It as he can
on Sundays.
THE EXCELLENCE OF SYHIP OF FHiS
ia due nut only to Uie originality and
aiiuplhdty of the combination, but alao
to the care ami akiil with which it la
manufactured hy aclentiflu pruceaaea
known to the t'Ai.ironaiA Km Htarr
to. only, aud we wiah to iuipreaa u|m>u
all the ini|Mirtan«'e of purvha*ing the
true and original remedy. At the
genuine Hy rup of I'tga U manufactured
hy the t AuronaiA I'm Hvuur Oa
only, a knowledge of that fact will
aaaUt one in avokllug the worthlcm
imitation* manufactured by other par>
tlca The high alumling of the t »| |.
vonviA Klu nt lit c fo, with the medi
idi |Mid«--.iin, aud the natikfactiou
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