Nebraska Newspapers

    ( JOHN WHITE'S THANKsdtVlNQ.
"Thanksgiving ! for what ? "
and ho muttered a curse
"For the plainest of food
and an empty purse ;
ir a life of hard work
a jd the shabbiest clothes !
; ut it's idle to talk
of a poor man's woes I
it the rich give thanks ,
It is they who can :
.ero is nothing in life
for a laboring man. "
fa said John White
( to his good wife Jane.
{ And o'er her face
stole a look of pain. i
"Nothing , dear John !
and ho thought again ; I
OPhen glanced more kindly t
down on Jane. '
was wrong , " ho said ;
"I'd forgotten vou ;
And I've my health ,
and the baby , too.1
Itnd the baby crowed
'twas a bouncing boy- i
! And o'er Jane's face
I came a look of joy ; '
&nd she kissed her John
he went away ;
d bo said to himself
as ho worked that day ;
"I was wrong , very wrong ;
I'll not grumble again ,
t should surely bo thankful
for baby and Jano. "
READFUL indeed had
bean the accident. Thro'
the carelessness of a
switch-tender , a pas-
JBenger-troin had. jumped the track and
plunged over a high trestle-work. Twen
ty people were killed at once , and
JQt least forty injured. Among the lafc-
jter was James Saybrook. Some had
bruises and broken bones ; others were
taken up insensible , and , after lingering
a few days , died without returning to con
sciousness a merciful dispensation. The
physicians pronounced Mr. Saybrook's
jpine so seriously injured that they could
aold out but slight hope of his recovery.
Ho was a vigorous man of middle-age.
! vith a loving wife and three children ; full
3f plans for a career he meant to make
loble and usef uL His reputation was wide
ind lofty , his .personal friends numerous
ted warm ; he had a moderate fortune and
ft pleasant homo. What more could life
( Offer ? Yet here he lay , the victim of a
an's carelessness.
It seemed to his wife that , with him , all
the cared for was fading away. Her chil-
en were about her , and she clung to her
, usband for help to bear the cares'and bur-
ns-of living , till she had grown as a vine
ws weattof stem , unable to stand alone ,
prostrate if unaided. Now she was wear
ing out with the strain of suspense and
ety ; trying to keep her face calm , and
.er hands steady ; leaving the bedside only
'hen flesh and spirit could bear the stress
.0 longer , and to stay would have been
angerous to her husband , and agony unen-
Jurable to her.
So it went on , day after day. Sometimes
lewas better , or she thought so ; oftener
le was worse. The alternations of hope
ind fear tortured her , and , in watching the
kninute symptoms and trivial details , she
test all power to comprehend the case ,
f She did not see that he gained nothing ,
at no day found him stronger , but that.
ivery week he lost something and suffered
; ome new pain. But the end came , and to
er came suddenly. She was called from
er troubled sleep , to find him unconscious ,
fco see him die , speechless and unrocogniz-
Jng. As she buried her head in the pillow
t > eside her dead , she longed to be deadj too.
Sut the children called from without. Life
challenged her , even in her despair. They
inust not enter , so she rose and went out
to them. They were children they could
Hot even know what death was ; and their
questions , their want of grief , stung her
to the quick. She was not generous or
ympathetic enough to understand them ,
and for the first time she felt a fierce impa
tience of their presence , and sent them
way to the nursery. Then she was quite
alone and began to realize it.
BUSIED B HEAD IK THE PILLOW DB-
E1 E HER BEAD.
But wh'y shonJ-1 I describe the dire
engulsh ve have alsjost all of us suffered
'in some form ! iWhatlhave to do with'is
Mrs. Saybrook's life after the funeral
pageanV was over , the grave greeUj the
cL4ldren taught the sorrow by those about
them , and then comforted , out of it into
forROtfulness. But Harriet Saybrook did
not forget ; time could not comfort her.
She felt , day by day , more deeply her loss ;
she fathomed its meaning ; she knew it tote
to bo past repair In the languago'of Scrip
ture , she "refused to be comforted. "
Her children were careless , happy , and
in health they had their school and com
rades ; but she had { few friends in Salem
where her husband hod brought her a
bride.
She vas not a woman of broad nature ,
and yet sbo was intense. She had found
all she wanted or needed in her husband's
affection and society oven the children
were secondary to him in her heart ; and
though she had acquaintances in her own
social sphere , and dispensed charity as
freely as her means would allow , there
was no ono now to whom she could open
her heart , and thus find relief of "the grief
tthat speaks. "
A dreary Sunday in November had come
to an end. The twilight shadows had
fallen , and after going into tha nursery to
see the children safe in bed , she went down
into the library , to spend a solitary even
ing. The rain beat fiercely against the
windows , and , in its gusty pauses the surf
sent its thundering echo on the wings of
the wind , oven through the heart of the
town. She stood before the fire In her
somber widow's weeds , gazing absently
into the flickering flames. She was think
ing about the proclamation for Thanksgiv
ing Day , that had been road from the pulpit
that morning. And a smile , sadder than
tears crossed her lips. "Thanksgiving ! "
she murmured , "I keep Thanksgiving ! "
She sank into a chair , and lost herself hi a
gloomy reverie. .She thought of the many
times she hud kept that festival kept it
outwardly and in spirit for she was a good
woman , and had meant to bo a grateful
one , till three months agol She remem
bered her childhood. How long the years
seemed then ; how she looked forward to
the gathering of aunts and uncles and
cousins , in the old rod farmhouse ; and
what wonderful viands grandmother
always spread before them.
Then she was a girl , coming back from
school , and her brother brought his class
mate homo with him "to spend Thanks
giving. " So she had met her husband.
Her brother was dead long since ; and now
James. A low cry escaped her ; the fire
grow dull ; and she went on with her review
of the past. Then came her wedding day
on Thanksgiving Day.
After that , were not all her Thanksgiv
ings alike , full of cheer , gratitude , blessed
ness ! And now
"I shall not try to keep Thanksgiving , "
she said dreamily ; and looking up , saw her
husband sitting opposite her In his own
chair , which she had never moved from its
place by the hearth. Strangely enough ,
she felt neither surprise nor fear , nor did
she remember her loss. It seemed so nat
ural to see him there , that only a sweet
sense of peace stole over her soul. He
looked at her with tender gravity , and very
clearly and slowly repeated a favorite
quotation of his : "Thou seest we are not
all alone unhappy , " adding , "there are
other widows besides you , Hattie. "
BHB SAT DOWK BY THE FIRE.
Other widowsl What did he meant A
brand fell , blazed up , ana went out. She
started up and looked eagerly about. The
chair opposite hers was empty. The clock
on the mantel struck nine. It had marked
the half-hour , she remembered , just as the
first brands fell together. It had been a
dream , then. She shivered and came back
to reality , lighted the lamp , fed the dying
fire , and returned to her new grief. New ,
because that face had been so real , her
gladness so deep , and now it was lost once
more , with a fresh bereavement. But
though the tears fell hopelessly and fast
from her eyes , and her heart ached anew
with rebellious anguish , still his words
kept recurring to her. She had not
thought of that before. There were other
widows , no doubt others sorrowing with
her sorrow ; in kind , if not in degree. She
remembered several whom she had visited
in her charitable rounds , and was startled
to remember how she had passed their sorrows
rows by wjCbxjut any reaj sympathy. A
aense 61 companionship stole over her , as
if , suddenly wrecked on some desert shore ,
she had met with beings of her own race
after long , lonely weeks of silence and
despair.
Then the thought flashed across her that
these women must dread the recurrence of
Thanksgiving , Just as she did. Why could
she not ask them all to keep the day with'
her !
She fell asleep thinking the nutter over ,
and awoke in the morning with ashame
faced sense of some light and interest
creeping into her lif e , hitherto so sacredly
wretched. Then she remembered her dream
her husband's sad , grave face. Perhaps
she had done wrong in mourning him so de
votedly that even her children had been
set aside from their place. Possibly it
would please him better if she carried out
her plan.
When the morning's duties were fulfilled
she sat down again by the flfe not to"
dream now , but to plan for action. But
whom jtould she invite ! For she began ;
to see that Mrs. Broome , who lived in the
fourth story of a tenement house , and
earned aprecarious living , would hardly be
a fit companion at dinner for Mrs. Graves ,
whose husband had left her a largo
fortune.
A text from the Bible flashed Into-her
mind : "When thou makest a feast , call
the poor , the maimed , the lame , tht blind. "
*
With a thrill in her darkened soul , she
recognized the Master's mlL She was a
sincere- Christian , but her love and
he'r great * loss had" come between
her und duty. The question as to her
guests was settled , and , in the afternoon ,
she sot out on her errand. She selected
six poor widows , who would probably not
have feasted , bu + . fasted at their own
homos. Mrs. Saybrook felt there was a
weight off her mind , and felt also that she
bad been a happier and better woman for
the last week. The children entered Joy
fully into the idea of a Thanksgiving so
novel , and all the more that their mother
told them with trembling lips : "Papa
would like it"
THE DINNER PHOVED A OBEAT SUCCES3.
At last the festival day came. Mrs. '
Broome , in her new cap , and Mrs. Perkins ,
trying to look blandly indifferent , were the
first to arrive. Then the carriage made a
second trip , bringing lame Mrs. Hutchins ,
very meek in her alpaca gown ; Mrs. Peck ,
proudly stepping along , and Aunt Hannah
Bromfield , as "genteel" as she could make
herself in a new muslin handkerchief ,
"Widder Johnson" lived round the corner ,
so came on foot , entering with anew ear
trumpet in her hand , her face radiant.
The dinner proved a great success. The
"baby"of the house sat in his high chair by
mamma ; but the elder boy and girl waited
on the guests , and enjoyed their office.
"Them is sweet children of you'n , Mis'
Saybrook , " sighed Mrs. Broomo. "My I
if I'd had chick or child , 'twould have been
such a blessin' . "
"That's sol" chimed in Mrs. Perkins ,
"I had two on 'em , to be sure , when
Perkins was took ; but they wasn't no
comfort to speak of for they wont and had
diptheery inside of six. months , and one of
'em died right off , just as sudden.
T'other held by quite a spell , but she was
the miserablest you ever see. I couldn't
feel to keep her here a mite longer , I
wanted her to get rest and easement so. "
Mrs. Saybrook's arm stole about little
Willie and Mrs. Hutchins said very gently ;
"I expect folks each has their special
troubles. I can't but remember't when
Josiah died and left me nigh about helpless
with hip trouble and a young babe , too.
It did seem as though nobody ever had , or
could have , no affliction like mine ; but
some how I got along , and I found that
there was others quite as bad off as I was ,
and the Lord helps the lame and the
poor , " and a smile and tear together set
FfjjtlvaL"A
their bright seal to her conession of faith.
"Well ! " said Mrs. Peck , with an audible
sniff and a hard voice. "I didn't think I
was the worst off that over was when Peck
died. He was a'drinkin' man. I didn't
know nothin' of it when we was married.
He had the tremens three times , and died
on't ; and I went outa-sewm' , to keep body
and soul together. I could have taken care
of myself ef my eyes hadn't ha' give out a
spell ago. "
Mrs. Saybrook regarded her with in
finite pity.
"You don't none of ye hev jest my trial , "
said Aunt Hannah Bromfield. "Tom Brom
field was fust mate to a whalin' ship when
we were married. Myjsakesl how lively
he was. He had money , too. We was real
well off. 'Twas kinder harrowin' to hev
him up an' off for a three years' voyage
right away , and then he didn't stay home
no time when ho did come ; but I had twins
for to show him when he come back fust ,
and you never see a man so pleased. Well ,
them boys was company for me , you'd
better believe. They was always a-talkm1
about pa , an' where he went to , and what
he did , and a-tellin' about whales and har
pooners , and bed their little ships a-saili- '
in the pools. It makes me laugh no r to
think of their tricks. " And Aunt Hannah
drew her red silk handkerchief across her
eyes , not as if she were laughing.
"The fust I knowed , my boys were
eighteen years old , and they hadn't seen
their pa moro'n six times ; but he came
back then , and there they was , as likely
men as you'd see ; and he had money in the
bank , and he and John Stims they clubbed
and built a whaler o' their own , and Tom
was cap'en and John fust mate , and nothin'
would do but them boys must go along fust
voyage. Well , it'a thirty years ago. I'm
past 68 now ; but I don't like to talk on't.
The upshot is , sea and waves roarin' day
an' night , night an' day ; winds a-blowin'
and .tempest howlin' , and no more boys ,
nor husband , nor nothin' , and here I be. I
don't know so much as where their bones
do lie , nor I haven't these thirty years. "
There was a dead silence. Nobody felt
like breaking it ; but little Ray , who had
listened , with her sweet blue eyes wide
opened and her lips apart , put both her
arms around Aunt Hannah's neck , and ,
with a child's quick wisdom , gave her a re
sounding kiss.
"That done me real good , dearie , " she
said. "I kep" a school for children twenty
odd year. I do'n know but what I should
ha' died"but for them. Wasn't it work ,
now , I tell ye ; but I hain't got nothin' to
wait for now only for the sea to give 'em
up , and that's pretty fur ahead. "
The others , said nothing. Doubtless ,
they too had their sorrows , but they would
sound tame after Aunt Hannah's recital.
When dinner was over they gathered about
the drawing-room fire , and tea was served.
Soon afterward the carriage took them
away in relays , and Harriet Saybrook sat
down in the library and hid her face in her
hands.
What had she to lie thankful for ? Liv
ing , affectionate children , a long sweet
memory of love and care lavished on her
of complete happiness , an ample provision
left not only for her needs , but her com
forts. How terribly ungrateful , how un
thinking , how sinful she had been. Only
one cry could burst from her lips : "I do
thank Theel Lord , be merciful to me , a
sinner. "
And neither she nor her guests of that
occasion ever forgot her flrstbrit not her
last , "Widotfs Thanksgiving FfjjtlvaL"
A LADY TO BUILD IT.
Parker I * tha Designer ofthaQneei
Isabella Pavilion.
The ouly woman architect practicing
in Philadelphia has achieved the distinc
tion of being selected as designer of the
Queen Isabella pavilion in connection
with the world's fair at Chicago. Miss
Minerva Porker is the fortunate young
artist. She is about 83 years of age , and
was born in Chicago. She went to
Philadelphia in 1876. She made a special
study of industrial art modeling , and
she has been in active practice two
years.
MISS MINEUVA PARKER.
The young specialist comes from good
old New England stock. Her grand
father , Seth A. Doane , was a well-
known ship designer and architect in
Boston , and in 1834 he went west and
purchased property on the shore of Lake
Michigan where Chicago now stands.
Her father was n lawyer , and was killed
at the bend of his regiment while fight-
ins : bravely in the civil war.
Miss Parker lives with her mother and
brothers at Philadelphia , and althouch
young in her profession she has attained
considerable success. Home and domes
tic architecture is her specialty. The
designs for Chicago which Miss Parker
has been commissioned to draft are for
an international club-house , with a con *
gross hall , in connection with the pro
posed social headquarters for women
in the fair grounds. Mrs. John A.
Logan is one of the managers. It is to
be called the Queen Isabella pavilion
in honor of the consort of King Fer
dinand of Spain. History states that
this queen pawned her jewels to raise
funds for Columbus' journey to discover
America.
Miss Parker has only one lady rival in
her profession , and she is Mrs. Louisa
Bethune of Rochester , N. Y. , who was
highly commended for a set of school
plans exhibited at the last Paris exposi
tion. _ _ _
Bismarck's Drinking and Smoking.
"I am only allowed , " says Prince
Bismarck "to drink thrice "a day a
quarter of an hour after each meal ,
and each time not more than a half a
bottle of red , sparkling Moselle , of a
very light and dry character. Bur-
gund } ' and beer , both of which I am
extremely fond of , are strictly forbid
den to me ; so are all the strong
Rliinish and Spanish wines , and even
olaret. For some years past I have
been a total abstainer from all these
generous liquors , much to the advant
age of my health and my 'condition' in
the sporting sense of the"word. Form
erly I used to weigh over seventeen
stone. By observing this regimen I
brought myself down to under four
teen , aud without any loss of strength
indeed , with gain. My normal
weight now is 185 pounds. I aui
weighed once every day , by my
doctor's orders , and any excess of that
figure I am at once set to work to get
rid of by exercise and special regimen.
I ride a good deal as well as wnlk.
Cigar smoking I have given up alto
gether , of course under advicer It is
debilitating aud bad for the nerves. An
inveterate smoker , such as I used to
be , gets through 100,000 cigars in hi ?
life , if he reaches a fair average . age.
But he would live longer aud feel
better all the time if he did without
them. Nowadays I am restricted to a
long pipe , happily with a deep bowl ,
one after each meal , and I smoke
nothing in it but Dutch Knatter to
bacco , which is light , mild , and sooth
ing. You will see presently ; the pipe
comes in with the piut of red Mosel-
wein. It will be a whole bottle to-day ,
and you must help me out with it.
Water makes me fat , so I must nox
drink it. However , the present ar
rangements suit me very well. "
Menace of Unrestricted Immigration
Meantime the tide shows no signs oi
ebbing. Though fluctuating at inter
vals , it steadily gathers volume with
each successive decade. If it continues
to rise , what must be the lot of the
laboring classes , whose welfare is such
an object of concern ? Alas , for the
mischief that has already-been wrought !
Dark enough at best appears the future
of the American working-women , many
of whom in large cities are already
obliged it seems , to work for wages
that barely suffice to keep body and
soul together. We look upon slavery
as a thing of the past , but does not un
restricted foreign immigration mean
virtual slavery to thousands of our
countrymen and countrywomen ? As for
the character and intelligence of this
swarm of invaders , do they average
higher than our own ? It might per
haps bo some compensation if we could
think so. But just at present it is
difficult to take a sanguine view. To
be able to do so would be far from flat
tering to ouri self-esteem * The pro
portion of the undesirable element is
too great. So large an infusion of con
tract and pauper labor is not likely to
raise our standard of intelligence and
morality. The Arena.
A Russian Medical dub.
In Tiflis , Russia , a club of 125 fam
ilies just formed has hired a doctor , M.
Organiants. for $600 per year , who
agrees to visit the family regularly and
give them advice as to how tc keep
healthy , and to tend them if $ v.k , and ,
besides , to give the club occasional
short lectures upon hygiene and phys
iology. Each family pays 50 cents per
month for this service , and twenty-
tive poor families are admitted free.
Similar arrangements have fceen made
with the
HIS FIRST THOUSAND DOLLARS.
Emory Storm Believed a Toting MM
Should Spend It la Travel.
While Luther Laflin Mills was going
through some old papers the other day
ho found a very interesting document
from the pen of the lamented Emory
A. Storrs , which is reproduced below.
"I do not know exactly what called
forth these utterances from Mr. Storrs , "
said Mr. Mills , "but I apprehend that
they were in reply to some young man
who wrote the brilliant lawyer for ad
vice as to the best way of investing n
sum of money which ho hud in his pos
session. "
The manuscript is as follows :
"There are several answers to yout
question :
"One boy takes his $1,000 , spends it
either in foreign travel or iu the culti
vation aud improvement of his miud
and manners at home. At the age oi
81 , if he is consistent in this course , he
has laid the foundation for a long
career of usefulness and honor , and ,
whatever at his death his bank account
may be , he has achieved something for
the good of mankind for which the
world will always gratefully remember
him. The high spfrit , the clear head ,
the sharp intellectual discrimination
between right and wrong which travel ,
culture and education huvo given him
is a capital as much better than bank
stock as gold is better than brass. No
reverses of fortune can take it from
him. No liuaucial panics can rob him
of it. It is his and his children's for
ever.
"The other boy lays up his § 1,000 ;
he doubles it , he triples it. What of it ?
What kind of a mau is he at the age of
thirt3'-one ? The mere money-getter is
the sorriest spectacle on Go'il's green
earth. Leisure is dreadful to him. He
leaves nothing behind him but money ,
aud that his children waste. The glor" "
of this world is not in corner lots no
bank stocks. No great man whom thu
world to-day reverences is remembered
because he was rich. The stildest
spectacle on this earth is that of 1 mat
dying on his pile of greenbncks.Hjfvliu"
he caunot carry with him , w-1
legatees are counting his coin
the breath escapes from his body.
"But suppose that your saving boy
loses his stock ; suppose , as often hap
pens , through no fault of his values
are melted away. Where is he then ?
A bankrupt , hopelessly aud irretrieva
bly ruined.
"Which shall the rich man's daugh
ter marry ? I answer that the man of
cultured" mind and that broad aud
liberal spirit which travel and educa
tion give cares but little about it. If the
father desires to sell his daughter , that
it is his business and his daughter's.
She may start by marrying the com
pound-interest chap in "a palace , but
statistics show that in ninety-nine cases
out of one hundred she will wind up in
a hovel. This father of this daughter
can take his choice.
"Finally.no men recognize the worth ,
value and splendor of strong na
live business genius half so much
as educated men. Don't despise nor
underrate it. It will always help
you. It will never hurt you. Stocks
and cash and corner lots are well , but
they are not all that there is of this
world , nor nearly all. Our great men
have lived without them and died with
out them , but the world loves them
still. Croesus was very rich , but the
generations of 3,000 years have de
spised him. Socrates was wretchedly
poor , but for 2,000 years the world , ha's
loved him. "You buy and sell cattle und
are at liberty to do so because of what
he taught 2,000 years ago. " Chicago
Evening News.
Cars and locomotives.
A gentleman of this city who has
had occasion to investigate the matter
states that freight cars never were so
cheap as at present , says the Pittsburg
Chronicle. In lota of fifty or more ,
thirty-ton cars , strongly built and hav
ing all the improvements , can be had
for $450 each , and , he continued , "if
you want them handsomely painted
and varnished , with your name in gilt
letters on each side , you can get them
for $500 each. In fact , freight caif
are now so cheap that it does not re
pay to remodel old light-burden cars ,
and last year the Reading Railroad
Company made a bontire of fifty of its
old pattern cars. Locomotives are
also very cheap , a machine of the best
kind , that during the war would have
cost from $25,000 to $30,000 , can now
be built profitable for $6,000 to $7,000.
When asked as to the cause of this
cheapness of cars he said it was duo
partly to the low cost of material , but
more largely to the introduction of
labor-saving machinery. All the cars
are built to gauge , and when a big
order is received everything is gotten
out by machinery , and about the only
bund "work required is the bolting of
the different parts together.
The Prisoner Seconded the Motion.
I heard a pretty good story about a
certain ignorant Justice who does
business up in Fulton County. This
Justice was elected over an able but
very unpopular lawyer , and his first
case was that of a prisoner charged
with violating the fishery law. The
complaint and warrant were defective ,
and this the defendant's attorney took
exceptions to in a masterly argument ,
winding up by moving the prisoner's
discharge. "Is the motion seconded ? "
asked the Justice. "It is , " replied the
prisoner. "Gentlemen. " continued the
Judge , "it is regularly moved and
seconded that the prisoner be dis
charged. All those in favor of tha
motion say aye. " "Aye , " came from
the prisoner and his counsel. "Op
posed , no. " Silence followed and aftei
a short pause the scales holder said :
"The motion is carried and the prison
er is discharged , " whereupon to the
surprise and amusement of all , court
was declared adjourned. Amsterdam
Democrat.
Dangerous Freight.
A new ocean danger is pointed out
by silk importers. It appears that
dyed sponge silk , known technically in
the trade as French silk , is under cer
tain conditions exceeding prone to
combustion , and is well known among
the steamship companies as dangerous
freight
IrY
BIG ENOUGH TO VOTE.
flomnthlnr About Unlla BccU , the It *
Year-Old Girl Who Welch * 430 round * .
A veritable mountain of rollicking ,
rolling flcah to good-natured , pleasant-
faced Delia Bsclc. the largest girl in the
world. Dalla is 10 years of ngo and aha
tipa the beam 'at exactly 430 pounds.
She is the daughter of respectable but
poor parents ; her father U iv coal-minor
in the Westmoreland regions , and her
homo la at Cokevllle , that county , near
the Indiana county lino. Her parents
are both of ordinary size aud none of
her brothers or sisters show signs df ex
ceeding the average limits in points of
physical development. At the ngo of 5
years ono sister reached the weight of
pounds , but she died at that period.
it is gc
of an appetitl
SH it so fat ? "
'It u' would like to >
k ? I Will tell you ; it will
nt"take rang , tlie first place.for my
breakfast I usa , ly tnke a cup of coffee
nnd one or two pt cakes or a slice of
toast , nothing r < ire ; for dinner I eat a
'slice and a halfaaibakers' bread and a
very small piecervn aleak or some pota
toes and cabbage , j My supper consist of
about the same amount with , of course ,
an occasional change of diet. Really , to
tell you the truth a meal for an ordinary
person will last me two meals and I will
have all I want too. "
Mrs. Beck verified her daughter's
statement and added that they were
sometimes alarmed lest their child's
health should fail from a lack of proper
nourishment.
"Have you never tried to reduce your
weieht ? " asked the writer of Miss Beck.
"No , sir , I never have , " she replied.
" "Why should I ? I am happy , and
never know what it is to be ill. I ex
perience no difficulty in walking , but I
puff a little wh'en I go up-stairs. "
\Yhen Delia was 5 years of age slit
weighed 140 pounds , and she has been
gaining steadily ever since. She lias increased -
creased in weight at the rate of ono
pound per month for the last few years ,
and is still gaining. In height she is 5
feet 4 inches. She mensurea 61 inches
around the waist , 12 inches around the
neck , and 31 inches around the fleshy
part of the arm. Her feat are not long
out are abnormally broad , so that it is
impossible to procure any ordinary pair
of woman's shoes to fit her. The same
difficulty is experienced in fitting her
w'ith hose. Her mother explained that
to meet the embarrassment which this
causes she buys two pairs of hose and
makes them into one. Delta's chair is a
curious piece of furniture , especially
made for herand is a settee large enough
for two persons. Her bed is furnished
With extra supports.
' '
Compared with famous'fat'women ot
history Delia Beck outshines , or rather
out-weighs , them all when her age is
taken into account. Hannah Battersby ,
the fatteftt woman that ever lived , did TI
not acquire her enormous proportions T
until after she was 40. arid Big "Winnie , ' (
the colored heavy-weight , was 30 before 'M
she made a record. Delia and her
parents hove at last decided to accept
the offer of a local museum manager , id
and the girl will appear for the first
time in public next Week. She will con
tinue on the road and will manage her
self.
The Quean's "Under-low. "
Doubtless we have all heard a good
deal about this "under-tow "
- , as though
it were some mysterious force working
from the recesses of a treacherous
ocean to draw unwary bathers to their
doom. As a matter of fact its presence
is obviously natural , and the explana
tion of it more than simple. As each
wave rolls in and breaks upon the
beach , the volume of water which it
carries does not remain there and sink
into the sand ; it flows back again , and ,
as the succeeding wave breaks over it ,
the forms undercurrent
receding one an -
rent flowing outward of strength pro
portionate to the body of water con
tained in each breaker , and , again ,
proportionate in a great measure to
the depth of the ditch. Where this
latter is an appreciable depression , it
can be readily seen that the water of
receding waves will flow into it with
similar effect of that of water going
over a fall , and that a person standing
near is very likely to b ? drawn over
with it , and thus , if the ditch is deep I
enough , carried out of his depth.
This i& all there is to the much-talked-
of "under-tew" and the
- numerous ac
cidents laid to its account. Dujfield
Osbornc , in Scribner's.
Reward of Merit.
Great editor ( new daily paper ) Have-
you finished that double-leaded leader
on our marvelous increase of circulation
and our phenomental success ?
ABsistant Yes. sir. Just got through.
"Did you refer to "the paper as tha
most wonderful journalistic triumph
since the days of Franklin ? "
"Those were almost my very worda. "
"Good ! Quick as the edition is on
the street I'll hustle around and see if I
can borrow enough to pay your salary. "
X..Y. Weekly. - , . - , T _ .