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1
RED CLOUD CHIEF
A. C. HOSMEIt, Proprietor.
BED CLOUD.
- NEBRASKA.
e
THE PREACHER.
" ' "preacer.BM sol! Z time;
In i D works alway.
And with a XTC tubluoe. . -
TobatUeaU'fRA.- -f -.
.OrliCcaaaotkefep
. 'AwfeKe the great XS of folks
WboC K dunce to, sleep.
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: ,- Sopsetimes V A.K rttcpwg man i
. .eittBd.7rifii.NRQ; ,.
1B.IC C tries oter piss
'HemskesjHiNlIE. ...
r Xa case'.U S A snaer SBsrt ,.
'. - HeV C Q oBtawt prsy
'HBtUteiKltsjpnrlCaesrt
"t . . Afi stops job sottl DKL .-
.'-' If ft'oja A.J preacher can ,
: Not fill the MTpewi,
-'' HlstfockNKJyouwcerinsa
. - Awroagweeaa'tXQs.
: A C T preacker kas. bo doubt,
A priacelyjal R E.
Waile soaie.To.E K Urta out.
Depend oa char I T.
1 A perfect lite he amUS A
To do us NE good,
. For other V Z can't convey
The holy A D should.
E'en whea in P C leads apart
. .A spirit UL life,
. SKPcaa'tthepoisoaeddart
. Of NV and of strife.
H. C. Dodge, in X. T. WorU.
BIG BEN.
His Cruelty to a Helpless Boy and
What Came of It.
Were we afraid of Big Bon?, -
Well, yes, to a certain' limit. There
-were five of us in a bit of cabin out in
the silver country, and Big Ben was
boss of the ranch for several reasons.
First and foremost, he was too much
. for any one of us single handed, and,
secondly he had many good points
about him. While he was overbearing
and brutal' at times, he was. the "best
miner in the party, and no bad luck
could discourage .him. ' With any one
else as boss we should have scattered
at once, for the winter was coming on
and we had been down on our luck all
the fall.
"Break up! Hunt for- luck!" sneered
Big Ben whenever any thing was said
about abandoning our claim. "Well,
you are a lot of coyotes a cussed bad
lot. You haven't got the pluck of a
tick wollc I'd like to see some of you
try to walk off and leave me in the
lurch yes, I would. Curse your eyes!
but ril'turn to and lick the hull crowd
out of your boots if I hear another
growl."
Big Ben insulted us a dozen times a
dayand on three or four occasions he
laid hands on us in a violent way, but
somehow we stuck there. As I told
you, he was a practical miner, the
hardest worker in the lot, and we
leaned on him in spite of the fact that
we hated him. We could have shot
him down in some of the quarrels, and
the verdict would have been: "Screed
him right;" but we knew that he had
a good heart down in his bosom, and
the hand which clutched knife or pistol
was always restrained.
One afternoon, while I was minding
the cabin and the other men were at
work in the tunnel or shaft, a stranger
entered. He had come up from the
Forks, three miles away. He was a
boy of sixteen or thereabouts, with a
girl's voice and shyness, and he was
hungry and in rags. It was bitter cold,
and yet his clothing was of the thinnest
kind, and he had hungered so long that
he was hardly more than a shadow. I
welcomed and fed and warmed him,
and then he told me that his name was
Charley Bland, and that he had wan
dered out there to look for his brother
James, from whom he had received no
word for two or three years. They
were orphaus, and both had been bound
to farmers in Illinois. Both had been
ill used,-and Charley had finally fol
lowed James' example in running
away. This boy had been knocking
around the silver camps for six months,
sometimes meeting friends and some
times treated like a dog, and he had
found no trace of his brother. Some
one down at the gulch it was a cruel
thing to do had told him that James
was at our camp, and he had periled
his life to come up there and see. On
that day, as I shall never forget, there
was a foot of snow on the ground, a
blizzard raging, and the thermometer
marked ten degrees below zero.
The boy was asleep when the men
returned from the shaft Big Ben was
out of sorts at the way things had been
going, and no sooner did he sec and
hear the lad than he called out:
"He can't stay here auother hour.
We don't run a pooi house, and we let
no baby-faced swindler eat our hard
earned provisions."
"I'll work. I'll work as hard as ever
I can," protested the boy with a sob in
his throat.
"There's no work for you. You've
got to move on to the camp above."
The four of us protested in chorus,
end we took such a firm stand that
deadly weapons were drawn, and
would have been used but for the ac
tion of the boy. He was terribly fright
ened over the row he had been the in
nocent cause of, and as the four of us
had our pistols leveled at Big Ben and
meant to shoot if he moved a foot the
boy opened the cabin door and glided
out into the dark and bitter night with
N the silence and swiftness of a shadow.
You are his murderer," we said to
Big Ben as we lowered our weapons,
and be growled:
"Curse him! If we took in every
straggler we should be crowded out of
Jurase and home before New Year's.
What Is it to us whethet ne lives or
dies?"
I think he felt conscience-stricken
within the hour, however., as he went
to the door and acted as if he hoped to
see the lad standing outside. The boy
had been gone half an hour before we
fully realized what his going meant,
and then two of us went out'ftith the
lantern and searched and called for
him. The snow was being whirled
knnt in a fiirinns minnir. find tli
wind was "rising to a gale, and the Sit
ter cold drove us back alter a quarter
of an hour. It was true that we had
little enough to eat, and that we were
cramped in our cabin, but the idea of
driving that "pale-faced orphan boy out
to freeze was something we could liot
get over. It was just the thing needed
to set us up in rebellion against our
Ikvm. and that nifrht we threw off the
yoke and gave ft. to Big Ben right and
left. We -had two or "three rows be
fore bedtime, and-all turned in sulky
and indignant.
Whew! But what a night that was!
The cold increased until the rocks were
split, .and the wind roared until our
cabin threatened to topple over at
every blast. At midnight Big Ben crept
carefully out of his bed and opened the
door, and then 1 almost forgave him
for his brutality. Conscience had been
at work, and his heart was touched.
He hoped to find the boy crouched on
the threshold, and I heard him sigh
and mutter to himself as he shut the
door and returned to his blankets. The
strongest man in our party, clad as we
were for the winter, could not have
stood against that blizzard halt an
hour, and I fell asleep to dream of find
ing poor Charley's frozen corpse on the
trail leading down to the Forks, and
of his big blue eyes being wide open
and staring at me in a reproachful
way.
For breakfast next morning we had
some canned meat opened a new can
from our slim store. We thawed it out,
and all ate our full shares, and were
on the point of starting out to search
for the boy wheu one of the men was
taken ill; Inside of half an hour all of
us were down with pains and cramps,
and. it was evident that we had been
poisoned by the meat. We had no
antidote of any sort, and one after
another went to -bed to suffer the
most agonizing pains and to lose con
sciousness. Big Ben was the hardest
hit of all. while I. perhaps, suffered the
least. That is, while all the others
raved and shouted and lost their senses,
I was all the time dimly conscious of
every thing going on. The blizzard
was still raging, and the thermometor
was marking a still lower degree when
the door opened and Charley walked
in. I saw him, but I was flighty, and
it seemed to me that he was dead. I
remember his looking down upon each
of us in a strange, scared way, and
starting to retreat when one of the men
shouted a louder curse.
1 was the first to come back to life,
as it were, and that was twenty-four
hours after being first taken. The
pains were gone as I opened my eyes,
but I was weak and wretched, like one
just over a terrible fever. The boy
Charley was standing before mo as I
opened my eyes, and he bent down and
whispered:
"You have all been terribly sick, and
I think one man is dead. Can you eat
something?"
I did feel a bit hungry, and I bad
no sooner signified it then he cam: to
me with a bowl of broth. As I after
ward learned, the storm had driven a
couple of hares to seek shelter at the
door, and he had secured both of them.
He did not know the cause of our sick
ness, but suspected some calamity, and
was prepared to feed us as soon as we
could eat It seemed that when Big
Ben drove him out he stumbled into
the ravine a quarter of a mile away,
and found shelter under a ledge. How
he kept from freezing to death that
night heaven only knows. Indeed,
heaven preserved him. It froze our
water pail solid when standing within
six feet of the fire, and there he was,
out in the cold in a threadbare suit.
When morning came he returned to the
cabin to make one more appeal. He
found us suffering and out of our minds,
and the fire about gone out Had it
not been for him we should have frozen
stiff as pokers, for on that day it was
thirty-one degrees below zero all day
long, and it went down almost to forty
degrees when night came on.
The boy kept up a rousing fire,
dressed his rabbits for soup, and all
day and all night long he kept forcing
strong coffee down our throats. That
doubtless helped us to pull through,
or at least four of us. The other man,
whose name was Hale, had his teeth
firmly clenched, and from the way his
features were distorted and his limbs
drawn up it was evident that ht died
in great agony. In a couple of hours I
was able to be up and assist Charley in
caring for the others, but it was far
into night before the last man could
use his tongue in a sensible manner.
It was Big Ben, and when conscious
ness returned and he saw the white
faced boy bending over hiin the great
tyrant whispered:
"Aye! The corpse of the lad has
risen up to confront and accuse me! It
was a cruel thing I did to drive him
out, and the Lord will never forgive
me for it!"
While out of danger we wereyet
weak and almost helpless, and none of
us could attend the fire or dd a bit of
cooking for nearly a week. The whole
work devolved upon the boy, and no
one could have done better. He -was
cook, nurse, doctor and protector, all
in one. He got three more hares and
a couple of birds, and I don't believe a.
spoonful otthe broth went down his
own throat.
. Well, I, for one, bad been, watching
Big Ben to see what he would do.
The first moment he was able to sit up
he called Charley and pulled the frail
little fellow down on his breast, saying:
"If you'll only forgive me I'll pray
to the Lord to do the same. I'm rough
and wicked, but to turn a lad like you
out ' doors on such a night as that
wasn't me at all. Old Satin must have
hail possession of me."
That great big fellow cried like a
child, and Charley cried with him. and
I might as well own up that we all
cried. What made it more solemn was
the fact that we had a corpse at tho
door. When it was known that Hale
was dead, none of the other four of us
could.lifts hand. How the boy got
body out of doors I never could under
stand, but get it out he did. and it was
three long months before we could give
it Christian burial.
On the morning when we cot out of
bed feeling pretty strong again. Char
ley went to bed with a fever, and be
fore noon was raving crazy. I tell yon
it was awful to hear him cry out every
few minutes in his delirium:
0, Ben. don't drive me nut Til
work. I'll work as hard as 1 can!"
Every cry went through the big fel
low like a bullet Ho nursed and
soothed the poor boy with all the ten
derness he could command, and two
or three times carried him about in his
arms as a father would his ailing babe.
There was a doctor at the Forks, and
after dinner Big Ben braved the bliz
zard and made the trip down and back.
The doctor could not be induced.to re
turn with him. owing to the cold, but
be sent some medicine. Poor Charley
was beyoud human aid. however. He
raved through the afternoon and night
and next morning was 'struck with
death. His mind came back to him at
the last and as we stood over him he
calmly said:
"I know I'm going to die, but I'm
not afraid. I'll see father and mother
in Heaven, and perhaps Brother James
is tiiere too."
While we all felt bad enough. Big
Ben was completely broken down. He
got down on his knees, and begged
Charley to forgive him. and I never
saw a man feel the bitterness of an act
as he did. .-
"Yes, I'll forgive yon." replied tho
boy, "and if you pray to God, He'll
forgive, too. Has it come night sosoou
again?"
"No, my child," answered one of
the men.
"But I can't see any of you any
more. Good-by. Let mo take your
hand, for "
And with that he breathed his last,
and there were two to rest in the snow
until spring came. Did you ever hear
of "Charley's Gulch?" Yes. of course
you have, and if you have passed that
way you have seen the boy's grave.
The head board contains only the name
cut deep by Big Ben's knife but the
story of the boy's heroism has been
told in every mining camp in Nevada,
and it has nerer been told without
bringing moisture to the eyes of all
listeners. ..V. Y. Sun.
GOLD IN CALIFORNIA.
Auriferous Deposit In tho Dead Rivers oC
tbo Western Sierras.
California will continue, as in the
past one of the chief gold-producing
countries in the world. A prolific
source of its future mineral wealth will
lc the dead rivers which abound iu the
lower western Sierras. A dead river
is a channel once occupied by a run
ning stream, but now filled and cov
ered with gravel, or earthy or rocky
matter. The dead rivers of California
became such mainly through volcanic
causes. This fact is nowhere more ap
parent than in the, eastern part of
Butte County, where merely a glance
at the topography plainly reveals a hor
izontal strata of lava in places several
hundred feet in thickness that in some
past age has spread over the country,
crushing obstructions, filling depres
sions and burying a channel system
as complete and extensive as the water
system of to-day. This great overflow
of lava came from active volcanoes,
presumbly the Lassen Buttes.
Since hydraulic mining has been de
clared illegal, more attention is being
paid to drift-gravel mining than ever
before. By drift-gravel mining is meant
the following of the subterranean chan
nel by tunnel or incline, and the ex
traction only of the gold-bearing
gravel. This mode of mining precipi
tates no perceptible debris upon the
low lying agricultural lands, and in
every case where conducted with judg
ment and discretion is proving remun
erative in the highest degree. Appear
ances indicate unwonted activity in
channel mining. The suppression of
the ruinous sj-stcm of hydraulic min
ning, witji the increaseil knowledge
which miners are acquiring of dead
rivers, together with rieh results re
cently realized from drift-gravel mines,
all combine to direct attention to this
particular branch of mining. A field
of universal promise seems to be devel
oping in Butte Country. Big Bend, the
largest riverbed mine in the world, will
start full force in the spring sufficient
tests have already been made to insure
success. The famous Magalia mine, a
few miles distant which has yielded
fabulous returns in the past, has just
emorged from several years' litigation
and is making ready to resume opera
tions. The Aurora mine, a valuable
and extensive property close to the
Magalia and on the same channel, is
about ready to start A number ot
other rich claims in the Magalia ridge
locality, which have only been awaiting
intelligent development are likely soon
to receive' attention from investors. -All
of which would seem to indicate that
channel mining in Butte County is go
ing to assume an importance hitherto
undreamed of. Sacramento Bee.
THE COLONEL'S TRIAL.
Bo Didn't Want tn Hear Miranda Talk
Hat She Wouldn't HaOu
One of the most annoying faults of
the hired "colored lady" is her persist
ent disposition to talk about the affairs
of her own family. Sometimes, despite
every attempt at discouragement she
will begin a story, of which her brother
is the hero, and keep it up until pa
tience is-gray-haired with age. Ma
rinda Napoleon, a likely colored
woman, applied to Colonel Wetheral
for a position of trust in his family.
She began to tell him of her honesty.
"That makes no difference," said the
Colonel. "I don't care whether you
are honest or not and you niay be
reasonably negligent in the discharge
of your duties, but there is one thing I
wish to impress upon your mind."
"What's dat Colonel? 'case I can do
any thing."
"I do not wish yon to take me into
your confidence and tell me about your
family. I don't want to hear a word
about your mother and father."
"I un'erstands, sah."
"I will pay you extra to keep your
mouth shut Speak when you are
spoken to. and then merely answer
questions."
"Why, sah, dis is de place dat Fse
been looking fo' all dese years. I
'spies folks dat is alius wantin' cr pus
son ter 'tain dem wid conwersation,
'caseer body gits tired. Now, dar's
rav sister Jane, she's de udder way,
an' "
"But you are not to speak of your
family."
"Dat's de piut, sah, dat's de pint
I warked last year for Misses Simson,
an' de folks kep' me cr talkin' all de
time, an muddcr she tell me not ter
pay no 'tention ter de folks."
"Never mind all that I don't wish
to hear anything of your mother. I
don't want you to mention your family
while you are in this house."
"'Cose yer doesn't, sah; an' I doesn't
blame yer tall. De las' word my brnd
der Henry said ter me 'fore I lef dis
mawnin' wus gibben mo 'vice how ter
please der white folks. Henery he's er
favorit all down in our neighborhood.
Worked for old man Dcsmtikcs three
years, 'an wouldn't er qnit den 'ccpt
de ole man died an' ernuder pusson
tuck de place. Henry's de fines' ban'
wid horses yer ever seed. D.it clay
bank boss o Mr. Anderson's, whut
wouldn't let nobody go in destable "
"Say, Marinda, you "
"It's jes' like I tell yer. Dar wan't
a bcscd soul on de place dat could do
nuthin' wid dat hoss. an' Henry "
"Listen to me. I tell you!"
"Yes. sah. What was yer 'bout to
observe?"
"I told yon that I wanted to hear
nothing about your family. I see,
though, that you are like all the others.
Go on "
"Yes, but Henry he tuk a blin'
bridle "
"Stop!"
"Didn't yer tell me ter go on?"
"Yes. I tell you to go away from
here. I don't want you."
"Whut yer 'greetcr hire me fur, den?
Ain't my s'ciety pleasin ter yer?"
"You can't keep your mouth shut
anil I don't want you. Now go."
"Why, yer's de curicst pusson I neb
ber seed. Doan' kcre ter stay heah,
'case yer's sorter common folks, no
how. I'se glad I refused yer ofler ter
hire me. Good mawnin', 6ah." Opie
Head, in Texas Sifting.
m
STORMS AND RAILS.
Dow KalaAppnars to Follow the Laying
of Railroad Tracks.
A singular theory has been promul
gated in Mexico concerning an alleged
relation between the steel rails of rail
ways and the prevalence of storms.
The northern section of the Mexican
Central road has been seriously dam
aged by washouts, and people who ob
served the phenomena express the opin
ion that the waterspouts which burst
on the track were attracted by the
rails and the telegraph wire. An elec
tric current they say, runs along the
track, which makes a convenient av
enue for storms.
This would appear to be a somewhat
fanciful conjecture, but the engineers
engaged iu building the Guadalajara
branch of the Mexican Ccutral railroad
offer testimony which gives it at least
an air of plausibility. They state that
as fast as the construction advances
rain follows, and they believe it is due
to the large quantity of steel rail on flat
cars which are carried forward as f :ist
as the work permits. The country, ac
cording to their report, is dry in ad
vance of the construction trains, and
also behind them far many miles, but
in a circle of a few miles in diameter,
having its center at the point where the
steel rails arc. the rain comes down iu
torrents.
It appears that enough importance is
attached to these theories to induce
scientific men to make them a subject i
of study. We do not, however, antici
pate any immediate practical results of
great value. With all the skill and
knowledge which the Government can
bring to bear, it has not yet succeeded
even in predicting storms with such
certainty as would be desirable, and
when it comes to producing or prevent
ing them, we shall probably have to
wait some time before the matter as
sumes the character of an exact sci
ence, Safely Valve.
Tho old Senate House of historic
renown, at Kingston, N. Y-, has been
restored and now stands as it did in
former days. The walls of the build
ing are over two hundred years old.
and were erected by Colonel Wessel
Ten Broeck in 1676. It was iu this
building that John Jay. in 1777. drew
the draft of the constltation of the
State of New York.
BEGGING EPISTLES.
Sesao of tho Queer Letters Translate Ssr
the rremlUenfs Iteaeflt.
Perhaps the most curious begging
letters to the President are those in for
eign languages. The President never
sees these in the original. They are
sent in batches of nine or ten to Henry
L. Thomas, the official translator for
the State Department Mr. Cleveland
rarely sees the whole of any of theso
letters, and seldom any part of them.
Translator Thomas runs his learned eye
over them, finds out what the request
and who the beggar is, and makes a
brief note in abstract ot each one of the
missives. These then go over to the
White House to be looked over by the
corrcspoudence clerk, and. as the re
quests are usually even more absurd
than those which come written in the
English tongue, they are never shown
to Mr. Cleveland, except, perhaps,
when a particularly funny one drops in
and the clerk or Colonel Lamont thinks
it would be enjoyed all round. The
letters from people who beg in foreign
languages average about one a day tho
year through, but oftener run up to
forty a month, then fall to twenty-five.
They come both from Europe and
America, and are most commonly writ
ten in German. Those which como
from abroad are the funniest because
the writers display not only their own
cranky notions, but the most eccentric
ideas of the war iu which the govern
ment of this country is managed. The
authors are frequently foreigners who
have had some residence in this coun
try, but also come from persons who
hare never been here, even on an im
aginary geographical trip.
One came only recently from an in
ventor in Frani-c. He wrote to inform
the President that he had discovered a
new method of faeiliating travel hv
canal. He was sure that his method
would make the United States a great
deal of money, and he w;is only wait
ing to receive the necessary funds for
his voyage over. A man in Switzer
land wrote asking for money in an im
perative way. He put his plea on the
ground that the President had once
been very kind to his mother, and th.1t
on this ground he should take particu
lar pains that her children did not suf
fer. This letter is like the majority in
two respects. It demands money and
in a considerable sum. asking 8:1.000
for the purchase of a house. It evident
ly came from a man who had lost his
wits. Translator Thomas does not like
the reading of the epistles when
they turn out to be iu a large percent
from crazy writers. Ho finds that it
has a tendency to make him melan
choly.
Of a more laughable sort are the let
ters froiu writers who imagine the
President has a minute knowledge of
the whole country and its people, like
a postmaster in a country town. Tho
man in Spain, whose letter asked Mr.
Cleveland if he knew whether his sec
ond cousin, who came to this country
nearly ten years ago. was still here is a
fair sample of its class. A German
woman in New York wrote in sober
earnest, saying that she understood
from the President's message that ho
had the disposing of a very large sur
plus of money in the Nation's Treasurj-,
and as she was poor and deserving she
thought that in all justice she should
have some. The western Germans write
queer letters. A man who signed himself
Krausskopf and dated his letter Allegan
County, Michigan, has been a persist
ent correspondent of the President ever
since he came into office. In spite of
never receiving a reply, he has written
again and again in ungrammatical
misspelled German, demanding a part
of the President's salary. He never
mentions any particular sum. but is
always holding out his hand for a share
of it A boy, evidently a Norwegian
from his name, wrote from Minnesota,
not long ago. He said that he lived by
the shore of a lake and was poor. Ho
needed to earn mouy and was trying
to do it by shooting ducks on the lake.
He had only an old gun and wished, if
it were possible, that the President
would send him a rifle.
Mr. Thomas docs not always get free
from the petitioning foreigner when he
leaves his office. It is not long since
he was besought fervently by a ("reek
then staying in the city to bring it
about in the State Department that a
fine estate in Greece, which he de
clared belonged to him. should como
into his possession, lucre was not
any evidence of his ownership beyond
his own statement, but he assured Mr.
Thomas that if the State Department
could only secure the property Mr.
Bayard should have a clear .-J,000 for
his services. After many asMirances
that nothing could be done for him. he
began to write to the Senators entreat
ing them to interfere in his behalf.
There was no satisfaction there, and ho
tried the same method ou the House,
asking this body in fact to compel Mr.
Bayard to act for him. Rebuffed again,
he turned to the Supreme Court. He
visited Chief Justice Waite. "What
did he say?' was asked of the crank as
he returned from this mission. "Ho
would not sav a word," was the de
spairing reply.
Mr. Thomas has held his present po
sition tweniy-inree years, ne is a
short thick-set man, with good-humored
face, gray beard, and gray hair
closely cropped. Cor. Chicago Tribune.
m e
"Good morning. Mr. HilL What's
tlic matter with your eye?" Mr. Hill
"O, one of those idiot editors put an e in
my name instead of an i. and I went'up
to have it out with him." Friend "Well
did vou find him in his sanctum-sanctorum?"
Mr. Hill "Yes, I did. and be
sides having aa knocked out of my
name. I had an eye knocked out of my
oerson. Bad set those editors.' De
troit tree tress.
FULL OP FUN.
He "I declare. Miss Anga'ine.
you treat me worse than your dog!""
She '"O. Mr. deMogyns. how con you
say so? I'm sure I never made the
slightest differenco between your'
Punch.
"Did it rain?" exclaimed the
Westcrn man. in the course of a
thrilling recital of border life. "Say.
it rained so hard that afternoon that
the water stood three feet ou a slant
roof." Buffalo Courier.
D-sacon Jones (to country minis
ter) '"Some of the members of tho
congregation, Mr. Goodman, complain,
that- you do not speak quite loud
enough." Country Minister "I speak
as loud as I can afford to. Deacon, at
500 a year." Epoch.
Frst Masher "Are you on to the
snap. Arthur?" Second Masher
"Looking around eagerlv "Nor
Where? What?" First "Masher
"Cold snap!" Everybody "Ha, ha!'r
Critic.
"'What do you think of my wcek
old whiskers?" he asked, proudly, as
he coaxed them gently to stay in
sight "They look like woak. old.
whiskers,' she answered, with a cruel
intonation of scorn. Detroit Free
Press. "I want your advice very much.
Cicely, dear. Would you buy a seal
or a seal plush cloak, if you were in
my place?" "Well, of course I can t
say. Seals are growi ng scarcer every
year." "But I hear that they are not
killing so many plushes this year as
usual.' Hartford Post
Physician "Patrick, don't yon
know better than to have your pig-pen
fo close to the house?" "An' phy
ghud oi not sor?" "It's unhealthy.
"Be away wid yer nonsinse. Sure tho
pig has niver been sick a day in hi
life." Omaha World.
Remember, my son." said a fond
but practical father, "that if you
would succeed in life you must begin
at the bottom and work up." "In
every thing, father?" asked the young
hopeful. "Yes. my son." "But. fa
ther, suppose I started to dig a well?"
Leap year in Washington; young
man at foot of a tree; young woman
three squares away, coming rapidly
toward him: Young man to police
man: -Can I climb this tree?" P
liceman: "You'd better take the next
one. sir; there's sixteen men already
gone up this one." Critic
"What are you doing. James?"
said a teacher to one of :i group of
urchins who was hanging by his toe
from the fence of the school-yard,
about the time that the rage for calis
thenics was permeating our country.
Only doing ecclesiastics. " replied
one of his companions, glibly. Har
per's Bazar.
TWO FAMOUS PAINTERS.
The Karly Straggles of Sir David Wilkie
nad DavIJ Robert.
It is expedient to humor "the twig"
that has an inclination the tree will
be all the better for it Pope ex
presses but a half-truth in his lines:
Tls education form the common mintl:
Jast as the twig is bent, tho tree's inclined.
for many a tree has been distorted by
inclining the twig against its bent
Rjv. David Wilkie was muc'i troub
led by the fact that David, his son.
had tried three schools, and in each of
them had shown himself indifferent to
classical knowledge. The good father
was also annoyed at tho lad's propen
sity to cover the walls, the kitchen
pavement and the uncarpeted floors of
the manse with figures of men and
beasts drawn in various attitudes.
Even in church, when he should have
listened to his father's sermon?, tho
rogue, ignoring the sacred ness of tho
kirk, would draw on the blank leaves
of his Psalm-book and Bible, portraits
of the remarkable faces in the congre
gation. S rrowfully convinced that though
the boy would not make a scholar,
much less a minister, he might make a
painter. Mr. Wilkie made application
for his admission as a pupil of the
Edinburgh Academy of Fine Art. The
secretary looked at the lad's drawings,
pronounced them worthless, and re
jected the application. Private influ
encs reversed the secretary's decision;
young Wilkie became a pupil, gained
a prize, went to London, where he be
came ":hc Raphael of domestic art,"
and as Sir David Wilkie made a name
which was honored at homo and
abroad.
One day a gentleman of culture and
taste, while walking in the suburb of
E liuburgh. stopped into a shoemaker's
cottage. He was surprised to see ou
the whitewashed wall several admira
ble representations of animals drawn
with red chalk and charcoal. On com
mending them to the shoemaker's wife,
she answered:
"Hoot! theso are bits o' drawing
o' oor D.ivie; he was secin' some wild
beasts at a show, and he's caulked
them there to let me see them.
"Indeed."- said the gentleman, "and
what do you intend to make of that
boyP"
""Deed, he'll jist need to sit doon on
the stool aside his father, and learn to
mak and mend shoon shoes."
The gentleman, thinking that cob
bling was not exactly tho employment
for a boy who could execute such
drawings, persuaded a hcuse-painter
to take Davie as an apprentice. In
dustry and geniu3 made the youth
painter of dramatic scenery; then ho
painted the Gothic ruics of Scotland.
By these pictures be obtained tho
means of making tonrs in Normandy
and Spain, from wrfiich countries ho
returned with pictures that brought
money and reputation. The shoe
maker's son was Vavid Roberts, one ef
: he most gifted of British artists. ,.
Youth' t Ccanreawa
;