!
REFINEDJEVENGE.
A Widow's Thrilling Porpotuatlon
of thoMomory of HorHuebnnd'a
Death by Delirium Tormons.
Chicago Intcr-Occan.
InthopubHo cemetery of Atchison,
Kan., about a milo southwest of tho
city limits, is a monument with a his
tory. To old residents thero who are ac
quainted with tho circumstances un
der which it was erected. Bomo ten
years ago, it lion become a familiar
object, but a stranger seldom lookB
at it without a shudder and an ex
clamation of horror. It is a dull red
cranito shaft, broad at tho baso and
tapering towards tho top. and stands
on a slope BOino fifty feet back from
tho main road. Tho image of asnako,
about as largo as a man's arm, is
twined around it from tho baso to tho
npcx. On the four sides of tho pedes
tal is engraven in largo, plain letters
this inscription:
Iticiuun IlAnnis,
Dlod February 13, 1877, of
JJKUltlUM TItEMKNK.
Aged 41 yours.
Airs. Richard Harris, widow of tho
deceased, ordered tho monument
mado aftor a desian of her own, and
placed it at her husband's qravo
about two month's after his death.
Mrs. Harris still lives in Atchison
with her son and daughter, tho form
er a youth of fifteen and tho latter a
handsome girl of eighteen. The boy
has tho blondo features and vivncious
temperament of hid father, while the
girl Inherits tho dark complexion and
taciturn disposition other mother.
Her mother, it is Baid, was nover
beautiful, although, oven now.it would
bo hard to suggest an alteration in
her features which would make them
moro nearly perfect. Thoro is some
thing about her countenance which
most people find ropcllant. Either tho
sombro history of hor lifu in Atchison
has left its imprint on her features or
she assumes a cold and haughty air
bocausosho prefers to bo let alone.
As it is, sho has fow intimate friends
and mingles very little with her neigh
bors. Bho first camo to Atchison from
Georgia in 1807 with her mother. Her
namo was Loretta Hullett, and slits
was then in her nineteenth year. Her
mother started a private boarding
house, and tho girl, who was very
Bkillful with her needle, mado good
money as a Bonnistress. After twelvo
months' residence in Atchison her
mother was taken ill with a fover and
died, and tho girl was thrown on her
own resources. Sho opened a millinery
shop, but having no capital to curry
on tho busmoss was soon obliged to
give it up. Then sho secured employ
ment in several privato families as a
seamstress tor short pei'iods,nnd final
ly went to work at tho houso of Dr.
Chalice. " Tho doctor was wealthy.
His mother-in-law, Mrs. Harris was
a widow, and her son Dick
lived with tho doctor and his wifo.
Tho Harrises, too, were possessed of
largo means. Both families had re
cently come to what iras then almost
tho frontier from tho East. Thoy
were very aristocratic and moved in
tho best society. When Lor"etta Hul
lett camo to Dr. Chalice's houso to
work as a seamstress Dick Harris was
a young man nearly twenty-six years
of age. Ho was a tall, handsome
blonde, with light brown hair and
gray eyes. Ho had spent four years
at Harvard and graduated, but ho
had devoted moro attention to ath
letics and midnight suppers during
his collego course than to his books,
and the consequence was that ho nev
er stood well in his class, and nar
rowly escaped being "plucked" when
final examination day came. ."In
Atchinson ho studied medicine in tho
ollico of his brother-in-law, Dr. Chalice.
He Beemed to have a natural apti
tude for tho profession and a tact
bordering on intuition in tho treat
.ment of diseases. Old residents relate
remarkable cures ellected by him after
physicians of long experience had pro
nounced tho cases practically hope
less. But he exhibited the sumo dis
like for medical works that he had
shown for his Greek and Latin text
books while at college, and employed
himsel! mostly in taking long horse
back rides into tho country
in tho daytime and carousing
about town with congenial spirits at
night. Notwithstanding his notori
ous habits, however, his genial dis
position, his native wit, and tho
standing of his family, made him wel
come in tho best society.
Indeed, his reputation as a very
fast young man seems rather to have
commended him to most of tho young
ladies, and his conquests among tho
fair are said to have been verynumer
ous. His engagement to first one nnd
and then another was freely talked of
as a settled met on several occasions,
but whether or not theee reports had
any foundation tho weddings never
took place, and his heart seems to have
remained in his own keepina until he
fell a victim to tho charms ot hissister's
seamstress, Loretta Hullett.
One of Dick's few literary accom
plishments was an ability to read
Spanish with considerable skill and
to speak it vith the fluency of a na
tive. When he was a youth of 17 and
full of love for a wild life on the front
ier incident to that age his father
sent him to a ranch which he owned
in Southern California and gave the
establishment into his charge.
Although his management of tho
concern was by no means so success
ful in the way'of financial results as
tho elder Harris desired Dick, by con
stant association with the men about
the pluce.all of whom were Spaniards,
became almost as proficient in their
language as if ho had never known
any other. Ho was charmed with the
smooth cadence of the tongue, and
when ho subsequently went to college
lie devoted some time and attention
to the etudy of Its grammatical con
struction. Upon his return to Atchi
son he discovered an old Spanish gun
smith named Zanthes. and used to
make almost daily visits to tho old
man's shop and spend hours in
talking to him. It was but a
short timo after tho dark-oyod Lo
retta had been employed at Dr. Chal
ico's house until ho discovered that
she, too, could talk Spanish, and his
visits to tho old gunsmith suddenly
ceased. As retictnt with him as sho
was with overy ono elso In regard to
her paat history, ho was loft in ig
norance as to how or where she had
acquired it. Ho manifested no undue
curiosity on this point, howovor, and
contented himself with tho iact that
eho could speak it fluently.
At first ho convoreed with her mere
ly as an amusement. Ho used to
spend an hour, sometimes more, in
tho sitting room where sho worked al
most every day before going bock to
tho oflico after meals, or while waiting
for them when hecamohometoo early.
This conversation lor tho most part
was mado up of ordinary small talk
about poopfo and events in the city
with which both happened to bo fa
miliar. Neither mado n ny attempt at
concealment, because neither felt that
thero was anything to conceal. Dick's
mother and tho Chalices frequently
found them chatting together, hut
paid no attention to it, and in fact
wero rather pleased that Dick seemed
to prefer this to soma other occupa
tions in which ho had been accustom
ted to find amusement and entertain
ment. It was not long, howovor, be-
foro thoso conversations began to last
two, oven three hours.
Not infrequently Dick failed to go
down to tho oflico at all in tho after
noon and spent tho timo talking to
"tho girl," as sho was designated in
the household, and watching her nim
ble fingers while sho sewed. Ho found
himself thinking of her a great deal,
although ho would hardly confess it
even to himself. Tho oflico seemed to
grow moro of a boro than ever, and
ho counted tho hours from tho time he
left tho sitting room until he was back
again. His mother noticed this and
romarked to him that ho seemed to
like to stay at homo much moro than
ho used to.
In tho evenings ho played cards with
Loretta. Ho had learned to bo quito
an expert at this whilo at college, and
Srided himself on tho accomplishment,
tut the "little Spaniard," as ho play
fully named tho girl, won at lonst as
often as ho did, if indeed she did not
liavo the odds in her favor. This, too,
won his admiration. Then ho thought
of hor nearly all the time when ho was
awako and dreamed oi her when ho
was "-sleep. An unaccountablo timid
ity seemed to come over him whenever
tho other members of tho family were
in tho room with them. In short, ho
was in lovo with her and afraid that
ho might betray himself to his mother
or his sister. Ho knew tho views of
both well enough to understand that
their anger would be something dread
ful should they discover tho real stato
of affairs.
In tho fall of 1808, late in Septem
ber or early in October, Loretta said
an aunt of hers in Georgia was Very
ill and sho should liko to go nnd seo
her. Sho left and returned about the
middle ot the November following.
A few days after sho had gone Dick
said ho wanted to pay a visit to ono
of his collego chums in Ohio, got the
necessary funds from his mother and
left. Ho returned about tho 1st of
December. Abatrt two weeks' ttJtei
his arrival his Bister came into the
sitting room one day and found Lor
etta sitting on his lap. Sho demand
ed n.i explanation. Dick got Very red
in tho face, and stammered out some
thing about "my wife."
"This is my husband," said Loretta
calmly, putting her arm around his
neck.
"Your husband?" said Miss Chnllce
contemptuously. "When wero you
married"
"When I went to seo my aunt," re
plied Loretta, with a touch of irony
m her voice.
When Dick's mother was informed
of the marriage sho was completely
prostrated. But her love for him,
deep as it was, temporarily gave way
to her indignation at the thought
that, as she expressed it, ho had
thrown himself away on a gvpsy waif,
and sho agreed with her daughter that
they should bo ordered from the houso
at once. The Doctor was hardly less
shocked than his wife and mother-in-law
at Dick's escapade, but looked at
tho matter philosophically and tried
to persuado Mrs. Harris and his wife
to accept the situation and make tho
best of it. To recognize tho erstwhile
seamstress ns a member of his family
was Humiliating, but he argued that
tho publicity which would bo given to
tho affair by turning them out would
be far worse.
But as Dick said he would go, in
any event, nnd his mother and sister
weie obdurate, tho young couple left
the elegant residence of tho Chalices
and went to live in a modest little
cottage on Cherry street. For a year
and a half after his mnrriago Dick
quit his fast companions and fast
habits and devoted himself faithfully
to the practice of his profession. .Mr.
Chalice found an oflico for him, pnid
the rent until Dick got money enough
ahead to pay it himself, gave him the
free use of his library, and helped him
in various other ways. When his first
child was born Dick appeured perfect
ly hnppy, and seemed to have no
thought or ambition outride of his
wife, his little dnushter and his home.
Gradually, howovor, he began to
fall into his evil ways again. Atchi
son society had from the first accept
ed the verdict of his mother and sis
ter, and the aristocratic circles in
which he had once moved now knew
him no more. He was always very
fond of society, nnd this treatment
preyed on him. Although ho probab
ly never directly referred to the mat
ter In his wife's presence, as it is said
he always seemed to Btnnd in awo ot
her, she understood that sho was the
cause of it, and an estrangement grew
up between them which soon develop
ed into indiflerenco on his part and
hate on hers. Dick's mother, after
the first angry impulse, felt the same
deep affection for him, and he used to
spend whole days with her at tho
Chalice house. Sometimes he brought
his two children with him, but never
his wife.
The moro Dick drank tho moro his
practice fell away, and the more busi
ness he lost the moro ho drank. Dr.
Clinllco used to expostulate with him
but to little purpose.
Ho was soon a complcto wreck.
His wife would not allow him to
come homo and supported herself and
tho two children by sewing. Dr.
Chalico furnished htm with food and
clothing, and finally, when ho was
takon sick brought him to his houso,
whero ho died ono bitter winter night,
shrieking that tho dovlls wero
carrying him away and that
his wifo was Betting them on.
Mrs. Chalice and her mother agreed
that, what property Dick had left
should be given to his widow and chil
dren. Tho widow, howover, said sho
would only accept enough to got a
monument for him she could tako
caro of herselt and the children.
When she bought and set up the
shaft with tho snake and tho inscrip
tion on it all Atchison was shocked,
nnd Dick's mother and the Chalices
wero wild with shame and indignation.
Her friends tried to persuade" her to
remove it, but bIio refused to listen to
them. There wero talk of legal pro
ceedings to havo it takon away, as be
ing a libel on tho dead, but they wero
nover instituted, and it stands there
still. For a long timo other people
wero careful to bury their dead so far
away that its horrible shadow could
not fall upon their graves, and for
many years thero was a vacant space
for several yards around it, but grad
ually thiB feeling woro away. Now
there are graves in most of tho ad
jacent lots,and ovorgrcons and willows
hide from sight tho last resting placo
of poor Dick Harris and his grim
memorial stone.
An Example to Royalty.
Adam 13 ndoau In N. Y. Mail and Express.
No sovereign of tho Old World ever
formally invites tho most important
persons of his Stato "to meet" tho rep
resentatives ot foreign' powers. The
compliment is absolutely unprece
dented abroad. A European monarch
considers the diplomatic circle a part
of his court; ho lays down laws for its
precedenco and placo among his own
subjects and somtimes among its own
members; ho bids the corps to all
groat ceremonies, as a matter of
course; hut he gives no fetes or enter
tainments in its honor, cither nt his
palace or elsewhere. Thatcourtesy is
left for individuals of lesser conse
quence to offer it they choose. But
tho American President issues invita
tions to tho Supreme Court of the
United States and to both houses of
Congress, and summons all tho officers
of tho army and navy at tho Capital
"to meet" tho foreign plenipotentia
ries, an elaborate international com
pliment such as kings havo never paid.
Tho grace of tho act and tho dignity of
the potentato who performs it are en
hanced by tho fact that tho President
is his own oxamplnr and sets a pat
tern of politeness.that royalty might
bo clad to follow.
This is not tho only instance in
which republican urbanity transcends
the ettquetto of courts. It has long
been customary for the President to
nsk the chiefs of all legations to a dip
lomatic dinner at the Executive Man
sion. Tho compliment is annual, and
was pai-!..iyIra3ident Clovc-Kiml-as It
has been paid by each of his predeces
sors for halt a century, nut tho emi
nent men of the United States at tho
English court havo ofton spent years
in England and nover sat with her
Majesty, who nevertheless announces
her dinner party in the court circular
for overy day in the year. During tho
twelve years that I passed officially
in England no American Minister din
ed with theQueen except Mr. Pierre
pont, and that was during the first
visit of Gen. Grant. Reverdy John
son, Gen. Schenck, Mr. Motley, Mr.
Welsh, all came and went nnd never
visited Windsor, except to present
their credentials or their recall. Mr.
Lowell may havo been invited after I
left tho country, but this typical Amer
ican courtier received no royal sum
mons to dinner whilo I was in Eng-
land.
Mr. and Mrs. Pierrepont were asked
to call at Balmoral when they hap
pened to ho In the Highlands, for Mrs.
Pienepont had pleated both tho
Queen and the Princess of Wales. Sho
even had a special audience for pres
entation, a circumstance almost with
out precedert for an envoy's wile; but
on nil these occasions both she nnd
tho Minister lunched with the royal
household, not with the head ot the
State.
War and Taxation.
Popular Sctonco Monthly tor January.
The factors that have been concern
ed in effecting these economic channel
nnd accompanying disturbances are
not, however, sinipld, out somewhat
numerous and complex. They, never
theless, admit, it is believed, of clear
recognition and statement. In the
first place, the results of the Franco
German war the radical changes in
tho character and construction of
war armaments sinco that period,
nnd the continual augmentation oi
permanent military forces, have en
tailed upon all the states ot Europe
since 1873 continually increasing ex
penditures and indebtedness; and in
direct taxation, by means of duties
on imports, to meet theso increasing
financial burdens, has been found to
be most in accord witli the maxim at
tributed to Colbert, that the per
fection of taxation consists in so
plucking tho goose i.e., the people
as to procure the greatest amount of
feathers with the least possible
amount of squawking.
Col. Lamont has returned to Achilla
Olivieri. a wealthy manufacturer of
Venice, an exquisitely jeweled casket,
made expressly for Mrs. Cleveland
and presented to her with tho man
ufacturerV compliments. Accompa
nying the casfcet is a courteous letter
thanking Sig. Olivieri for his kindness,
but declining to accept the gift on the
ground that Mrs. Cleveland accepts
no presents except from personal
friends.
JTTLE KATE AND I.
Wo didn't wait for nn income to
marry on, little Kato nnd I. Wo had
no rich relations to leave us legacies
or to Bend pearl necklaces, diamond or
naments, or thousnnd dollar bonds
for wedding presents. I was simply a
brakeman on tho Eastern Michigan
railway, a long nnd lonely stretch of
rails over desolate marshes, steep
mountain grades, and solitary sweeps
of prairio land; sho was the bright-eyed
waitress in ono of tho restaurants
along tho line. But when I fell from
tho platform when tho great accident
happened, you henrd of tho great ac
cident, I suppose, when there was such
a shocking loss of life it was Kate's
caro nnd nothing else that brought mo
back into the world I hnd so nearly
quitted for good and nil!
"I would have done it for anybody,
Mark!" Hnid she, when I tried to thank
her.
"Would you?" said I. "But it isn't
everybody that would have done it
for me, Kate!"
So 1 asked her to marry me, nnd sho
said yes. And I took a littlo cottago
on tho edge of the Swnmxiscott woods,
nnd furnished it ns well ns I could,
with a red carpet, cheesecloth curtains
at the windows, a real Connecticut
clock, nnd a not of walnut chairs that
I made myself, with seats of rushes,
woven in by old Billy, tho Indian, who
carried his baskets and mats around
tho country,' nnd Mrs. Perkins, tho
pnrson's wife, made us a wedding cake,
nnd so wo were married. Pretty soon
I found out that Kate Was pining a
little.
"What is it, sweetheart?" said I.
"Remember, it was a contract between
us that wo wero to nave no secrets
from each other! Areyou not perfectly
hnppy?"
"Oh, yes, yes!" cried Kate, hiding
her face on my shoulder. "But it's
my mother, Mark. She's getting old,
nnd if I could only go East to see her,
just once before tho Lord takes her
awayl"
It was then I felt tho sting of my
poverty most. If I hnd only been a
rich man to hitvo handed her out a
check, nnd said:- "Go at once!" I
think I could have been quito happy.
"JNever mind, sweet heart, said 1
stroking down her hair. "We'll lay
up a fow dollars from month to month,
and you shall go out and bco her be
fore eho dies!"
And with that little Kate was forced
to bo content. But thero was a hun
gry homesick look upon her face which
went to my heart to seo.
"If I was rich!" I kept paying to my
self. "Oh, if I was only rich!'
One stormy autumn night wo wero
belated on the rond, for the wind was
terrible, shaking tho wntury old pines
nnd oaks, as if they were uothing'iuore
than tall swamp grasses, and driving
through tho ravines with a shriek and
a howl liko a whole pack of hungry
wolves. And tho heavy rains had
raisedsho streams sq that. w weio
compelled to go carefully and slowly
over tho bridges and keep a long look
ahead for fear of accidents.
I was standing at my post, in front
of tho second passenger car, stamping
my feet on the platform to keep tneni
warm, and hoping little Kato would
not be perturbed at my long absence,
when the news agent camo chuckling
out:
"We're to stop at Stunipvillo sta
tion," said he.
"Nonsense," said I, "I know better.
This train never stops short of Wau
kenshu city, least ot all when wo are
running to make up for losst time, ns
we are to-night."
"Oh, but this is nn exceptional oc
casion," said Johnny Mills (which was
tho news ngent's name.) "Wo'ro go
ing to put an old woman off. She has
lost her ticket, bIio says. Moro likely
sho never hnd one. Goes on as though
she had her pocket picked."
"It s most a pity, isn t it, to put ono
off to-night?" said I. "Least ol all at
such a lonely placo as Stunipville sta
tion, whero there are only two houses
and a blacksmith shop."
"Yes, I know," said Mills, adjusting
tho newspapers that ho carried in a
rubber case under his nrm. "But tho
superintendent of the road has got out
a now set of instructions, nnd he's
that particular that Jones wouldn't
daro overlook acaselikethis. There's
been so many confidence games play
ed on the road lately."
"Which is tlto one?" said I, turning
to look at the end window of tho car
which was at the rear.
"Don't you see? Tho old party at
tho back of tho two fat women in the
red shawls. She's haranguing Jones
now."
"I see," said I. It was a little old
woman in a black silk poko bonnet, a
respectable cloth cloak, bordered with
ancient fur, and a long, green veil, who
was earnestly tnlkingnud gesticulating
w ith the conductor. But ho shook his
bend and passed on, and kIio sank
buck in a helpless littlo heap behind tho
green veil, and I could seo her tako a
smnll handkerchief from a small basket
nnd Tint it piteouslv to her eyes.
I'lt'a too bad, said I. "Jones
might remember that ho once hnd if
he hasn't now a mother of his own."
"And loso his plnco on the rond,"
said Mills. "No, no, old fellow.allthat
sort of thing does very well to talk
about, but it don't work in real life,"
So lie went into tho next car, and
tho signal to slack up camo presently.
I turned to Mr. Jones, tho conductor,
who just then stopped out on thoplat
form. "Is it for that old lady?" said I. Ho
answered, "Yes." Said I, "how far
did sho want to go?" "To Swamp
ecott," said ho.
"You neodn'tstop.Mr. Jonos," said
I, "I'll pay her fare."
"You!" he echoed.
"Yes, I," said I. "I'll take her to
my own houso until she can telegraph
to her friends or something. My wife
jrill bo good to her, I know, for the
sake of her own old mother out cost!"
"Just as. you please," said Mr. Jones.
"But when you've been on tho road
as long as I have, you'll find that this
sort of thing doesn't nnswer."
"I hopo I shall never bo on the rond
too long to forgot my Christian chari
ty," I answered, a littlo nettled. And
I took out my worn pocket-book and
handed over tho money.
Ve did not stop at Stunipville sta
tion after all, but put on moro steam
and rnnas fast as it was safe to drivo
our engine nnd when, a little past
midnight, we reached Swampscott,
when we weredue at 7:30,Pierro Kcno,
tho Frenchman, camo on board to re
liove me, and I helped my old lady ofi
the tram, flat basket, travelling bag
and nil.
"Am I to bo put of! after all?" said
ehc, with a Beared look around her.
"Cheer up, ma'am," said I, "Yen are
all right- Now, then look out for the
step'. Hero wo are."
Whore am I?" said tho old lady.
"At Swampscott, ma'am," said I.
"And you nro tho kind man who
pnid my fare?" said Bhe. "But my
daughter and her husband will repay
you when"
"All right, ma'am;" Fuid I. "And
now, if you'll just tako my arm, we'll
bo home in a quarter of an hour."
"But," said she, "why can't I go di
rectly to my destination?"
"It's middling Into, ma'am," said I,
"and houses don't stand shoulder to
shoulder in Swnmtwott. My nearest
neighbor is a milo and a-half away.
But never fear, ma'nni, I've a wifo that
will be clad to bid you welcome for the
Bake of her own mother."
She murmured a few words of thanks,
but she was old and weary, and the
path was rough and uneven, in the
very toth ot keen November blast
and walking wasn't an easy task.
Presently, wo came to tho little cot
tago on tho edge of the Swampscott
woods, where the light glowed warmly
through the Turkey red curtains.
"Oh, Mark, dearest, how lato you
nre?" cried Kate, making hnsto to
open the door. "Como in, quick, out
of tho wind. Supper is nil ready, and
hut who is that with von?"
In a hurried whisper I told her all.
"Did I do right, Kate?" said I.
"Right ot courso you did," said she.
"Ask her to como in at once. And I'll
put another cup and saucer on the
table."
Tenderly I assisted tho chilled and
weary old lady across tho threshold.
"Here's my wife," said I. "And
hero's a cup of smoking hot coflco and
some of Katie's own biscuits and
chicken pie! You'll bo all right when
the cold is out of your joints a bit!"
"You are very, very welcome," said
Kato brightly, ns she advanced to ini
tio our visitor's veil and loosen tho
folds of Ikt cloak. But, all of a sud
den, I heard a cry, "Mother, oh,
mother!"
"Hold on, Kate!" said I, with tho
cofTec-pot still in my hand, as I had
been lifting it from tho fire. "This is
never "
"But it is, Mark!" cried out Kato
breathlessly. "It's mother; my own
mother! Oh, help mo. dearest, quickly;
she has fainted away!"
But sho was all right again, present
ly, sitting by the tiro with her feet on
one of the warm cushions, which Kato
had knit with wooden needles, and
drinking hot codec. It was all true.
Tho unfortunate pncnger whop
pocket had been picked on the train,
and to whose rescue I had come, was
no other than my Kate's own mother,
who hnd determined to risk the perils
of a journey to the far West to see her
child once again.
And she has been with us ever since,
tho dearest old mother-in-law that
ever a man hnd, tho comfort of our
household, and tho guardian angel of
little Kato and the baby, when I am
away on my long trips.
Aiid littlo Kato declares now that
sho is "perfectly happy!" God bless
her muy she never be otherwise.
How Gun Barrels are Mado.
St. Nicholas. Tho beautiful waved
lines and curious flower liko figures that
appear upon tho surface of tho barrels
nre really tho lines of welding, showing
that two difleront kinds of metals, iron
and steel, aro intimately blended in mak
ing tho finest and strongest barrels. Tho
process of thus welding and blending
steel and iron is a very interesting one.
Flat bars, or ribbons, of steel and iron
aro alternatively arranged together and
thon twisted into a cablo.
Sevaral of tho cables aro then wolded
together, and shaped into a long flat bar
which is noxt spirally coiled around a
hollow ovlinder, called a mandrel ; after
which tho edges of theso spiral bars nro
heated and firmly welded. The spiral
coil is now put upon what is called a
welding mandrel, is again heated and
carefully hammered into tho shape
of a Run-barrel. Next comes tho
cold hammering, by which tho xores
aro securely closed. Tho last or finish
ing operation is to turn tho barrel on a
latho to exactly its Bhape and size. By
all tho twistings and weldings and ham
merings, tho metals aro so blondcd that
tho mass has somewhat tho consihten:y
and toughness of woven steol and iron.
A barrel thus made is very hard to
burst. But the finishing of tho inside of
tho barrel is an operation requiring very
great caro and skill. W lint is called a
cylinder-bored barrel is where tho boro
or hole through tho barrel is mado of
uniform sizo from end to end. A choke
boro is ono that is u littlo smaller at
the muzzle end than it is at tho breach
end. Thero aro various wava of "chok
ing" gun-barrels, but tho object of all
methods is to make tho gun throw its
shot closo together with even and regu
lar distribution and with great force,
Thero aro soveral kinds of metallic
combinations that gun-makers use, the
principal of which aro called Damascus,
Bernard and laminated steol. The
Damascus barrels aro generally con
sidered the best.
Miss Roso Elizabeth Cleveland calls
for the abolition of tho "ladles' win
dow" in post offices. She says it is
an agency of demoralization, because
it enables young ladies to carry on
correspondence that would not be tol
erated by their families if the letters
weredeliered at their homes.
Eradicating a Habit.
From Youth's Companion.
A man can, if be will, eradicate a
deep-rooted habit. For years the
Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, rend his
sermons. Ho would have continued
a "reader" had not now circum
stances ordered him, if he wished to
hold his audience, to preach not only
without a manuscript, but without
notes.
Ho uprooted the inveterate habit,
and his eloquent discourses are now
delivered without even a scrap of
paper appearing on tho pulpit-cushion.
Though carefully prepared, they
are unwritten. The change required
a remarkable mental fent.
Until he visited London, General
Grant was known ns tho shy man,
from whom no ovation had over ex
torted more than two or threo words.
When a Washington crowd congratu
lated Him on his nomination to the
presidency, ho told them he was "en
tirely unaccustomp.d to public speak
ing, and without tho desire to culti
vate tho power."
But at the great dinner-party in the
Guildhall, which welcomed him to Lon
don, the shy .silent man put appropri
ate thoughts into such felicitous lan
guage as to win tho approval of schol
ars and orators.
During his tour around the world,
his public acknowledgment of the
honors paid to him were terse, epi
grammatic, witty and wise. His inti
mate friends wero astonished at tho
transformation, and one of them, Gen.
Badeau, after hearing tho general's
speech in London, recalled a scene in
Missouii.
General Grant was travelling by
railroad, and whenever tho train
stopped, a crowd of peoplo surround
ed it, anxious to see and hear, as a
woman put it, "the man that lets tho
women do all the talking.
During ono of these halts, the gener
al's youngest son, Jesse, then a boy of
seven years.came outon theplatform.
"A Bpeech! a speech!" shouted the
crowd; but the father remained si
lent. "Papa, why don't you speak to
them!" asked the boy. Then, as his
father remained mute, Jessie cried
out, "I can make a speech, if napa
can't."
"A speech from Jesse!" shoutedtho
crowa. Thero was a hush, as the lit
tle fellow began reciting:
"The boy stood on the burning deck."
Ono hot day, when General Grant
and his family were out in tho lawn
before their house, Jesse mounted a
haystack, saying, "I'll Bhow you how
papa makes a speech." ,
All of them laughed as Jesse mado a
bow, which his father never did, and
began:
"Ladies and Gentleman, I am very
glad to see you. I thank you very
much. Good-night!"
Grant blushed, and tho others
laughed; ho did not relish the imita
tion; it was too close.
Bismarck's Narrow Escape.
London Figaro.
According to private correspondence
from Berlin, Prince Bismarck has
been considerably troubled of late by
tho effect of .the bullet wound he
received so many year3 ago from
tho revolver of a would-be assassin.
Many people have forgotten even the
circumstance that the great. German
Chancellor was so murderously
attacked by the youth Blind, but ns a
matter of face five shots were dis
charged at him, and it was simply
owing to tho sturdy way in which ho
grasped his assailant's arm that only
one of them took eflect. This bullet
glanced off one of the Chancellor's
lower rib3, and a bony excrescence
which developed in consequence still
marks tho place. As it turned out,
too, Bismarck's risk was by no means
at an end when he grappled with and
seized his assailant. A military
guard hurried up hearing the
Chancellor's shouts, and tho impulse
of the foremost of these stalwart
Prussian grenadiers on seeing a com
paratively feeble stripling being held
nnd seemingly maltreated by a pon
der ous man" with a bald head for
Bismarck's hat had fallen off was to
club his rifle and bring it down on the
latter's baro pate. Luckily for Ger
many, however, the Chancellor warded
his impending fate by shouting out,
"Hold on, I am Bismarck!" on which,
aB tho latter himself tells the Btoiy,
the soldier dropped his weapon in a
much greater fright than that of his
escaped victim.
II. l.l
Living from Hand to Mouth.
From the Cleveland Leader.
One startling fact brought out by
tho great miners' Btnko in the Schuyl
kill valley is the strictly hand-to-mouth
system of fuel distribution in
great centres of population. The
stock of coal on hand in cities near
tho mines is utterly inadequate to
supply the needs of manufactories
and other largo consumers for more
than a few weeks in advance. Of
course, nt points moro remote, es
pecially such as receive their coal
mainly by routes like the gieat lakes,
which are closed a largo part .of the
year, the accumulation of fuel is quite
extensive at certain seasons in par
ticular. Taking the country as a whole,
however, in view of the ease with
which stocks of coal may be carried
without loss or injury, the margin
protecting consumers lrom the con
sequences of a stoppage of work in
the mines is ery small.' A total ces
sation of mining in all parts of the
United States would very speedily be
followed by terriblo distress nnd busi
ness stagnation. In fact, tho world,
oven yet, comes far nearer living from
hand to mouth, in the necessaries
such as food and fuel, than we are apt
to think. Eternal industry is the
Erice of protection from cold and
unuer.
According to "The Musical Couri
er," the number of pianoa manufac
tured in this country in 1887 has
been 52,000, requiring 4,570,000
keys, as many hammers, 200,000
casters, over 12,000,000 tuning-pins,
nnd some 1,500,000 brass agranes.
U
J
k.
i