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THE JOURNAL.-
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 1, 18S3. !
laterei at tic ?::tc:s, Cotatas, ITct., a: iccmI
cUjs ntter.
FOREIGN GOSSIP.
In the recently-taken English cen
sus returns, several men caused their
wives to be written down as the heads
of the families, and one described him
self as an idiot for having married as
he did.
The Concordia, a well-known liter
ary society of Vienna, lately passed a
resolution advocating the discontinuance
of Monday newspapers on the ground
that the work for them must be done on
Sunday.
The coal production of Germany,
according to the "Wurtemberg Gewerbe
blatt, has so enormously increased with
in the last two decades that there is rea
son to fear an exhaustion of the beds at
no very distant date.
In old time Lord Mayors of London
were required never to go more than
fere miles beyond the city gates during
their term ofoflice. Of late years, how
ever, they have been allowed to leave
England in state, attended by their offi
cers, to accept the hospitalities of foreign
municipalities.
Mistake as to identity had very un
pleasant results for Mme. Gainaud in
Paris lately. One Martin, separated
from his wife, mistook Mme. Gainaud
lor her, and when she fled for refuge
from him into a shop shot at and badly
wounded her for revolvers seem now
as common in Paris as in Leadville
and then tried to kill himself. When
the real wife appeared her resemblance
to Mme. Gainaud was astounding.
There comes from Hautosco a story
which reads like a page from Boccac
cio. It appears that some persons
near there resolved to abduct the pretty
daughter of an Italian colonist. Her
father learned of the plot, and sending
his daughter to a neighbor's house, he
attired himself in her clothes and lay
where she was accustomed to sleep.
The robbers came and carried off the
supposed damsel, with great glee, but
were much surprised when the father
gave them some hard hits and other
tokens of regard.
A committee appointed by the Brus
sels municipality to consider what meas
ures should be taken to diminish the
risk from fires has drawn up a table
showing the proportionate number of
victims to fire in fourteen great cities of
Europe during the ten years from the
1st of January, 18G9, to the 1st of Janu
ary, 1879. By far the largest number
of victims were in London, where the
proportion was 8.:? per 100,000 inhabi
tants. Next comes Cologne, with 7.1
per 100,000; then Hanover, with G.7.
The greatest immunity was enjoyed by
the people of Munich, where the pro
portion per 100,000 inhabitants only
reached 0.1,
Infractions of the Postal Laws.
Few persons are aware of the multi
tudinous duties attaching to the office of
post-ofiice agent in reality the post
office detective. Were these duties con
fined to a single office, or even a single
city, they would not be so arduous ; but
when, as in the case of the agents in this
city, they cover all trespasses upon the
law through the southern and eastern
parts of New York State and the States
of Connecticut and New Jersey, proper
attention becomes a heavy task. It is
work for day and night, and is not un
frequently followed with a want of suc
cess. Possible offenses against the post
office laws are literally without number.
The more frequent crime coming to
pubtic notice is that of the embezzlement
of letters ; but among other matters sent
to the agent for investigation arc cases
of missing or stolen registered letters,
forgery of money orders, post-office
burglaries, the use of canceled stamps,
loss of mail pouches or keys, mailing
writing in second or third-class man
matter, the detention or abandonment
of mails, investigation of the .sureties on
postmasters1 and contractors1 bonds, the
removal of post-office sites, and the es
tablishment of new post-offices. Dur
ing the past year forty-six arrests have
been made in the New York district, the
offenses being as follows : Embezzling
letters, twenty detaining letters, two";
forgery of money orders, two; using
canceled stamps, two; stealing and
rifling letters addressed to employers,
two; tampering with letters put in
boxes, two; mailing writing in third
class mail raatter, three ; mailing writ
ing in second-class mail matter, one;
removing stamps from letters and sell
ing them, one; robbing of money order
and forging of signature,one ; robbery of
registered letter, one; robbery of let
ters from post-office boxes, one; as
saulting a mail-carrier, one ; desertion
of mail, one. There were also six ar
rests for post-office burglaries, two in
Pennsylvania, where convictions were
gamed, and four in Connecticut, in
which the identification of the culprits
was incomplete.
Mr. Newcomc, who is the senior agent
in this district, was well known in the
PostK)ffice Department before his ap
pointment to this office. He was con
nected with the United States Marshal's
office for several years, and while on
this duty was instrumental in breaking
up the gang that had been robbing the
open mail wagons of Dodd's Transfer
Company. Pouch after pouch was re
ported as lost and several arrests were
made. Matt Callahan, the leader of
the gang, escaped to California, but
soon returning to New York, was ar
rested by Newcome at the St. Charles
Hotel, and afterward served out a four
year's sentence. The office museum
contains, among other articles, a heavy
cane taken from Callahan with which
lie attempted to resist arrest. Another
case in which Newcome was particu
larly successful was the following up of
the arrest of the members of a gang of
robbers in the Shawangunk Mountains,
who within a short time entered and
rifled every post-ofiice in the mountains
within a circuit of many miles. New
come was intrusted with the work at the
suggestion of Postmaster James, and
several men are still doing service for
their connection with those robberies.
When Agent Newcome first took his
present position the complaints in the
New York Post-office and branches were
very numerous. Since then many ar
rests have been made, and a wholesome
dread has reached over possible offend
ers; in fact, he has been told by one of
the Superintendents that the complaints
have not at any period during the last
ten years been so few as at present.
'But the working up of these cases,"
Mr. Newcome says, "is the easiest part
of our work. The men are directly under
our observation, and, sooner or later, if
they persist in dishonest practices, they
must come to grief The most difficult
cases intrusted to us are those origi
nating with out-of-town post-offices
with regard to ordinarv mail matter.
This was particularly the case in the
Jersey City Post-office, where at one
time the complaints of missing letters
averaged a hundred a week. The thefts
were skillfully made, and for a time the
men escaped detection, but eventually
a carrier and two clerks were arrested
and convicted, and two other clerks
were dismissed for complicity with the
accused. The Jersey City Post-office
bow ranks No. 1. An amusing case was
that resulting in the arrest of the assist
ant postmaster at Sing Sing, the par
ticulars of which were nerer published.
Upon an investigation there it was as
certained without a doubt that the thefts
were made by either the assistant or
one of the clerks, though they could not
fcsiapltiralj. traced to either oe. Both
were young men and members of the
volunteer fire department of the town.
we determined to try to reach them
through this latter connection. Officer
Blouk, attached to the post-office here,
who was assisting.mc, gained an intro
troduction to the assistant postmaster
and represented himself as a member
of the fire department in New York.
I came on the ground afterward as
another fireman and was introduced
to Blonk and the suspected man. A con
vivial evening followed, in the course of
which the Sing Sing man passed over
the saloon bar some of the marked
money that we had sent through the
Sing Sing Post-offico and lost. His ar
rest and conviction quickly followed.11
The tracing of registered letters, the
loss of which are very frequent, is, the
agent says, comparatively easy, as the
receipts from one employe to another,
and to destination, surely fix the respon
sibility for loss. A recent instance is
that of a registered letter sent from
Canada to Buffalo, and from there to
Hampden, Conn. It never reached
there. The railway mail clerks held re
ceipts up to the deliver of the pouch at
Hampden, but the letter did not reach
the post-office. Suspicion immediately
attached to the messenger between the
depot and office, and ifdid not lake long
to trace the theft to him. In connection
with this it may be well to speak of the
theft of moneyorders and their collec
tion by the forging of the requisite sig
natures. These cases are comparatively
few, and would be unknown if the pub
lic would only take proper precautions.
Letters containing these orders, and
giving every particular as to
names, etc., will somestimes fall
into wrong hands. If disposed
to be dishonest, the person hav
ing the letter has no trouble in answer
ing the questions at the monev-order
desk and obtaining the money. If these
orders were always mailed unaccom
panied by any letter there would be al
most positive assurance against loss.
The complaints of loss of letters ad
dressed to mercantile firms are usually
traced to the boys who collect the let
ters from the boxes, but the responsi
bility of the post-ofiice ceases with the
delivery of the letters in these boxes.
For the sake of placing the responsibil
ity, these complaints are nevertheless
investigated, and the arrest of boys are
of almost daily occurrence. In the ma
jority of cases, however, the employer
declines to prosecute, and as they do
not belong to the United States courts
the post-office authorities are necessarily
obliged to drop them. A great source
of trouble is the burglary of country post
offices. These are being continually
robbed by sneak-thieves and tramps all
over this district. It is very seldom that
a professional stoops to this work,
though an exception was the robbery of
the post-office at Wallingford, Conn.
There Mr. Newcome secured a set of
burglars1 tools of the finest manufact
ure. Another offense against the Post-offico
laws is the detention of mails, causing
at times troublesome investigation,
sometimes followed by arrests. The
complaints usually come from country
post-offices, where the postmaster, to
satisfy a curiosity, or gain time in busi
ness connections', has detained a letter;
but they more frequently originate
among " postmistresses and clerks.
There is usually some plausible excuse,
and the matter is dropped with a repri
mand. For writing in second or third
class mail matter there is a fine of $10.
This is of frequent occurrence, and
many a fine is collected on this account.
The "use of washed canceled stamps has
become a great business all over the
country, and there seems to be no meant
at present of putting an effectual stor
to it. Mr. Newcome recently secured
one conviction for this offense, that of t
grave-yard insurance broker at Port
Jervi?, and has another case before tho
present United States Grand Jury. The
complaints coming in daily from all
sources, the majority being referred
from the Department at Washington,
make a formidable pile, but the solution
of one case very frequently fully dis
poses of a great many others. N. Y.
Times.
The Finding of Arahi Pasha's Papers.
Mr. A. M. Broadley, Arabi's senior
counsel, writes: "The story of the
finding of Anibi Pacha's papers is as
follows: On the evening of the 22d of
October Arabi said to me : 'My life and
honor are in your hands and in the
hands of England; if you can get me
an interview with my servant Muhamed
Ibn Ahmed, I will give you all my pa-
Iiers which escaped Telel-Kebirand tho
ooting of my house at Cairo, and they
are by far the most important instru
ments for my defense.'' Sir Edward
Malet and Sir Charles Wilson gener
ously came to the rescue, and on the aft
ernoon of the following day the negro
half-caste, Muhamed lbn Ahmed, re
ceived his master's orders, in the pres
ence of Sir Charles Wilson, to treat as
brothers the English lawyers and sur
render to them the documents he had
so faithfully guarded. Arabi described
minutely the different hiding-places of
the papers in holes of the wall, behind
the backs of pictures, and in his wife's
dress; and the servant promised obe
dience. Muhamed Ibn Ahmed has
probably no other property in the world
than a blue shirt and a ragged cloth
coat to cover it, but neither terrors nor
bribes could shake his allegiance to his
fallen but beloved master. 'Give me
to-night,' he said, 'to open the recep
tacles the Pasha alludes to, and to-morrow
morning the papers are in your
hands.' I slept little that night, as I
felt how much depended on the result;
and next morning I was very early with
Arabi. From the window of the cell I
saw his son and servant arrive. I went
down to meet them. The news they
brought was not encouraging. Muhamed
Tewfik's powerful agents naU smelt a rat,
and Palace emissaries during the
night had told the wife of Arabi that on
the morrow her husband would be sur
rendered to tho tender mercies of Ab
dul Hamid at Stambul. She had fled
to a friend's house, and taken the pa
pers with her. 'Your father's honor,
and perhaps his life,' I told the son,
depend on your finding your mother. I
conjure you to lose no time. Three
hours hence it may be too late.' Mu
hamed Ibn Ahmed Arabi is a slender,
dark-complexioned youth of twenty-one,
with one eye hopelessly destroyed. He
has always been his father's darling. He
grasped my hand and said : 'I am sure I
can find her; but grant me two hours
delay, and I will join you at Shepherd's
Hotel with "the papers.' Muhamed
Ibn Ahmed Arabi and his servant dis
appeared, and I took up a post of ob
servation in the well known and cool
veranda of the great Cairo hostelry.
Hardly an hour had elapsed when a
brougham was hastily driven to the
door, and my friend Muhamed hastily
descended, and, carrying a large parcel
in his hand, rushed up the steps and in
to my room. Fives minutes later and I
was deep in the exhibits of my client
Ahmed Arabi. From a woolen cloth.
the distinctive feature of which was a
yellow ace of spades, the boy drew
forth, one after another, his father's
hidden papers. With Mr. Napier's as
sistance, 1 took them one after the other
and placed them in a case firmans,
letters from men in high places at the
Imperial Ottoman Court, decrees of the
Ulema of Egypt, covered with hundreds
of seals and signatures, records of Cabi
net Councils, and papers of every con
ceivable description. I must confess I
never shook hands with any one more
cordially than I did with the faithful Mu
hamed Ibn Ahmed. Two hours after
ward the papers were in her Majesty's
Consulate, initialed and numbered by
Sir Charles Wilson and myself. Time
will show the value of my frouvaiJ."
London Graphic
Texas Land Corners.
Wo rode out last week with a surveyor
and his assistant, who said they were
going out on the prairie, some twenty
miles, to survey a thousand acres that a
stockman wanted to enclose for a past
ure. The land had been surveyed bo
fore.but the corners had been misplaced,
or carried, off by some one, and to find
out the boundaries a new survey had to
be made. We often wondered how a
man could identify his land on a flat
frairie where there were no apparent
andinarks to guide him. In wooded
lands the corners are known by marks
cut in trees with an ax, but where
there are no permanent natural objects,
the surveyor marks a corner by driving
a small wooden stake into the ground.
This is a vory unsatisfactory arrange
ment, because the first teamster who
comes along will probably carry off the
southeast corner of the survey, and cook
his breakfast with it, or appropriate the
northwest corner, and use the ancient
landmark to whittle on as he rides
along.
In the absence of wood, a few stones
or bones are piled up, and form a cor
ner, and we have seen a cow's horn
stuck in a buffalo chip make one of the
marks of the corner of an eleven league
grant.
When corners are lost or mislaid, the
surveyor, to find the place again, has to
go back to some plainly defined starting
point, called an "established corner,"
on some other grant, and survey from
that. He often has to run a line ten
miles in length, from a known to find an
unknown point. There is one kind of
corner that a teamster has never been
known to carry off. It is made with a
spade. Teamsters may have attempted,
but have never succeeded in carrying off
a hole in the ground.
There are certain old Texans in every
locality who know, or pretend to know,
the location of most all the old Span
ish grants in the State. These old
frauds are continually appearing in the
courts as witnesses in cases where bound
aries are disputed. They can point
out and identify corners, follow mean
ders aud give the biography and pedi
gree of the original grantee of every
piece of land within a radius of a hun
dred mile3 from where they bear wit
ness. They have wonderful memories.
We knew one of them who testified to
having carried the chain in a survey
made in 1S0C. As he only claimed to
be 80 years of age at the time he gave
bis testimony, the fact that he was able
to carry a chain in 1806 goes to show
what a precocious and robust race the
early Texans were figures proving that
this man was butfour years of age when
he was engaged in the surveying feat al
luded to.
The extraordinary memory exhibited
in the matter of the identification of
corners by the old Texans is explained
by a quaint custom common in the early
days of the Republic. When a settler
received a giant of land from the Span
ish Government, he would get it sur
veyed and have the corners established.
Then, that the identity of the bounda
ries might be preserved in the family,
would take his children out periodically,
and whip them on the corners of the
land. It was no uncommon thing for a
traveler, as he journeyed across the
prairie, to see a rugged old pioneer
standing on the northeast corner of his
league and labor of land, thrashing his
eldest with a raw-hide strap, while, un
der the ministrations of his mother, a
younger son was howling on the south
west corner.
In such manner was nurtured the boy,
who has since developed into the old
veteran of to-day, so eloquent and unre
liable, As sconea long past ot joy and patn,
Come wandering o'er his used Iiruin "
Texas Sif tings.
Stories of Floating Islands.
"Speaking about paying taxes," said
a man who had perhaps been perform
ing that pleasant duty, "reminds me of
an old fellow, a sort of hermit, who
lived where I did in a small town in New
Hampshire, and if he wasn't the out-and-outest
chap for avoiding the de
mands of the State,then I'm mistaken."
"Why didn't they sell him out?"
"Because they couldn't get hold of
the property. No, it wasn't air cas
tles, and he didn't live in a balloon, but
on solid property, and every time the
tax collector came around in New
Hampshire Ezra and his property were
in Massachusetts."
"Oh, I see. He had the State line on
wheels, and shoved it about to suit."
"Not exactly, but he had his property
fixed so that he could shift it anywhere
he wanted. It is nothing more nor less
than a floating island made up of bog
and stuff, ana for a good many years it
blew about the pond, until finally the
old chap put up a hut on it, kept a cow,
chickens and ducks, and had a regular
floating farm. But one day he heard
the assessor was coming, so he cast off
the moorings that he had rigged to the
island, and before the next day the wind
had carried him over the State line that
ran through the pond into Massachu
setts, and when the collector went out
in a skiff the old bog-skipper, as they
called him, actually threatened to have
him arrested for trying to collect the
taxes of a neighbor State. He anchored
the island on the Massachusetts side
until the selectmen got after him there,
and for several years he dodged back
and forth, and didn't pay a cent on his
four acres. But finally they put up a
job on him, and two assessors, one from
each State, went out in skiffs, the island
being anchored in the middle of the
lake. The old man said he was ready
to pay, only he wanted it just right, as
he lived in both States the house was
in one State and the barn in the other.
The collectors got so mixed up trying to
straighten it that I believe they had to
take it into court. Anyway, I don't
think the old man's taxes are square
yet."
"A similar case might happen at
another place in New England," said
one of the group of listeners. "On
Lake Menomenauk there is an island
that for a long time was called the mys
terious island. It belonged to the town
of Winchendon, Mass., contained about
six acres, and was covered with trees
thirty feet or more high. Some of the
people declared they had seen the island
move years ago, but they were generally
laughed at, until one morning they
found it gone, and now it is, or was a
short time ago, over the State line in
New Hampshire, nearly three miles
from where it first stood." It was origi
nally bog held together by roots, and
the water had gradually undermined it,
until a good sharp breeze took the trees
as sails and away it went.
"Many lakes have similar islands,
even in streams affected by tide. They
are found anchored by roots, rising and
falling with the water, and swinging by
their vegetable cables. Some of the
European lakes have such islands, that
are used for pasturage, and they often
carry the island population to great dis
tances. "During the great flood in the Missis
sippi in 1874, vast floating islands were
formed in the river and carried far out
into the Gulf Stream. One that a vessel
ran into 300 miles from the delta was
over an acre in extent, and populated
with a great variety of snakes, frogs and
turtles, besides a number of land ani
mals that had sought protection there
from the rising" waters, only to
be swept out to sea. The geo
graphical distribution of life, it will be
seen, depends much upon these floating
islands a fact proved by comparing
the inhabitants of islands "milei apart.
Several years ago a large snake was
picked up off the Bermuda Islands
rMmnr W Z. UUSMOg UUU1U MIX, WHS-
ontxioubt, nan oave xnjm te Asm
mas xx ooraafaMK aosern
river in the same way, carrying seeds
and even animals far around the circuit
of the Atlantic. The same is true of
tho Ganges. Great rafts, populated
with animals from the interior, havo
been found by vessels over 200 miles
from the mout h of the river.
"Tho great mass of seaweed, oc
cupying an area of many thousand
square miles in the Atlantic, better
known as the Sargasso Sea, ia a vast
island inhabited by a fauna entirely dif
ferent from that of the surrounding
waters, and all the animals are in some
way peculiarly adapted or modified to
their surroundings. Similar tracts oc
cur in various parts of the world, often
so thick that the passage of vessels
through them is seriously impeded."
"Well, I declare," said the first
speaker, "then old Ezra's floating farm
wasn't such a very singular thing after
all ; but I reckon he made an original
use of it." N. Y. Sun.
How the Shah Treated a Painter.
Among the many who were engaged
by the Shah to go to Persia was M. Er
nesto Pelletier, a young French painter
of great promise. On his arrival in
Teheran he went straight to the palace,
and not knowing a word of the lan
guage, and consequently being unable
to explain himself, he was seized by tho
guard and thrown into prison, where ho
remained for nine months, suffering
the most awful indignities and priva
tions. One day the Prince Moskin Han, the
Grand Vizier of Persia, was consigned
to the same prison, and took an interest
in the Frenchman promising him to
intercede in his behalf should he be
liberated, which happy event, he had
reason to believe, would take place in a
few days, as it really did. A few weeics
later the artist was conducted to the
palace, when to his astonishment the
Grand Vizier addressed the Shah thus :
"Most Glorious Father of the Sun, this
is an infidel painter, who arrived this
morning only, with the rising of the sun,
from foreign parts, attracted to this
great and mighty city by the fame of
your Majesty's name, and now humbly
asks to be allowed to paint this most
wonderful of palaces, for which he asks
no compensation, the honor of having
served the illustrious Emperor of Persia
being of greater value to him than the
gold which three camels can not carry."
To which the Shah replied: "Let him
paint," and dismissed him.
A very comfortable apartment was
assigned to him, and he set to work.
In three months he completed the deco
rations of a small trick-track room,
which so pleased the Shah that he sent
for him, decorated him, and gave him a
purse of gold, and from that day his
Majesty used to sit for hours watching
him paint.
On Wednesdays the Shah used to sit
at the window of his medglis overlook
ing the palace-yard, and from there try
the prisoners below. On Wednesday he
invited the young foreigner to sit by bis
side and see how he judged his subjects,
and the horrors to which he was wit
ness can not adequately be related. A
trembling baker was in the yard between
two soldiers, charged with selling light
weight loaves of bread. A cadi made
the charge. The poor wretch made
some defense. "Kess kopeogli" (cut
the son of a dog), said the Shah, hold
ing up his right hand; and in a second
the executioner seized the man, and
there and then cut off his right hand.
The feelings of the artist can easily be
imagined, but, knowing what awaited
him if he interfered, he kept his seat in
silence. The next prisoner was a watch
man in a store of the bazar, into which
robbers had entered without his hearing
them. "Kess kopeogli," quietly said
the 'Shah again, this tune holding both
his ears; and in an instant the poor
watchman's eare were cut off. In three
hours, during which Monsieur Pelle
tier assisted at this awful day of judg
ment, two men were beheaded, one
woman and six men lost a hand each,
a muleteer who had already lost one
hand had the other cut off, and in ten
cases were the prisoners deprived of
their ears, eyes and noses. In many
cases, however, the prisoners bought
themselves off immediately after the sen
tence was pronounced, but before it
could be executed, by shouting out the
sum they are willing to pay his Majesty;
and, after a deal of bargaining between
the sovereign and the subject, the latter
went away accompanied by an official
to whom he was to pay the money, and
by a soldier who saw that he did not es
cape before paying. Mons. Pelletier
subsequently discovered that whenever
the Shah required money he used to or
der the arrest of wealthy citizens, and
the cadis had instructions to accuse
them of crimes they had never commit
ted. The Shah would then sit at the
little window of the medglis to try them,
which really meant to extort large sums
of money from them, under the threat
of cutting off their ears or hands, or,
what was still more serious, their heads.
The artist used to spend his leisure
time in painting in his apartment on his
own account. He had finished a life
size picture of the head of St. John the
Baptist being presented to Herodias'
daughter on a charger, and with which
the painter has since taken a prize. His
friend, the Grand Vizier, who took
lessons in painting from him, thinking
to do him good, told the Shah that the
young Frenchman had painted a magnifi
cent picture refecring to the religion of
the infidels, and that he prayed to be al
lowed to exhibit it to his Majesty, to
which the latter consented. On the fol
lowing day the painter took the picture
to one of the Shah's private apartments,
but the moment he saw it he told the
artist it was faulty. The latter asked
where the fault was, but for all reply the
Shah demanded how many minutes
were supposed to intervene between the
head of St. John being cut off and its
being.presented to Herodias' daughter,
to which the painter replied that ho al
lowed two minutes to pass ; when his
Majesty, walking up to the painting
and closely examining it, said" that in
that case the lips ought to be ashy-white
and wide-open, instead of being pink
and contracted; and, as the artist was
unwilling to be convinced, the Shah
clapped his hands onoe, and, upon a
slave appearing to answer the call, his
master drew his sword, and, to the dis
may of Monsieur Pelletier, with one
tremendous sweep severed his head from
his body. He then pulled ont his watch
and called the trembling painter's at
tention to the time. Exactly two min
utes after he stooped down and picked
up the bleeding head, and, walking to
the picture, he held the real head by the
side of the painted one, and said to the
Frenchman: "Monsieur, you can see
for yourself that the lips ought to be
ashy-white and wide apart, and you
will learn to believe the Shah in fu
ture;" when he tossed away the head
and calmly walked out, leaving the
Eainter more dead than alive, to take
imself and his unfortunate picture back
to his own apartment.
This shock was so severe to Monsieur
Pelletier's nerves that he became quite
hysterical, and the Shah, seeing that he
remained so for months and was unable
to do any work, conferred decorations
and titles upon him, which cost noth
ing, and, giving him just enough money
to uute mm nome, auowea mm to leave
Persia, and he now occupies a studio in
the Palais Rajal in Paris. Cor. Phila
delphia Press.
Spurgeon is sometimes raore bhml
than polite. For instance, inhisrsccM
answer to a neighbor who asked hirajto
support a certain candidate foraleojjqp
to the School Board on the noxs&wi
his belonging to the Blue BUti5n.tt
he replied : "Do you thtakX
Uto support a
The Parents' Influence.
The schools are in session in country
and town and the natural supposition
would be that every parent is earnestly
interested in the succoss of at least the
one particular school of which his chil
dren form a part. But how many par
ifcts actually possess sufficient interest
In their own school to impel them to
visit it, we will say once every sdiool
term, to see for themselves how their
children are advancing in knowledge,
what moral iutluence is surrounding
them, or to make sure that they have the
simplest requisite health conditions
warm feet, cool heads and a sufficiency
of wholesome air? How many of those
parents who fail to visit the schoolroom
excusing themselves by saying, "O, I
cua tell well enough how school is pros
pering without going there!" how
many of these take the trouble even to
uphold the teacher's influence at their
own firesides instead of aiding in its
overthrow? "You cannot mean me,"
says one; "I never meddle with school
matters one way or another." "Hyou
never "meddle," as you phrase it, the
inference is that there is a corresponding
lack of interest. If your olive plants
are of the thrifty, growing, wide-awako
kind, andare accustomed to have mamma
interest herself in their affairs, then
school affairs will not form an exception
to the rule. Nor should they! That
parent who asserts complacently, 4'I
never listen to tales about school." aud
therefore thinks she has done all that is
required of her, comes very far short of
possessing the right kind of interest in
school affairs. If children are interested
in school work, they will prattle
of this work at home as natur
ally as sparrows chirp or robins sing.
Nor should it be repressed. Tho moth
er's expressed delight at work well done,
her sorrow and regret at failure, will
often help the good work along far mora
than the parent is aware. Nor is this
less the case in matters of discipline. A
Sentle, I am so sorry you should have
e3erved it," if your child has been pun
ished, is far better for all concerned than
a tirade against the teacher, too often
prompted by that spirit of egotism that
can never see one's own blackbirds to bo
anything but white. Or if it is another
that has been punished, the mother's "I
hope, my dear, it may never be yon,"
or, "I can but think it a disgrace to ba
punished at school it seems to me good
boys and girls are not likely to be, oi
words of similar import, cannot fail to
have their influence upon the child's de
portment in school.
On the other hand, that parent who
responds to her child's enthusiastic prat
tle by a pettish, "I wish you would drop
the school room when you leave it," or
who speaks in a critical or sarcastic
manner of the teacher or workings of
the school who gives vent before her
children to expressions of disapproval or
dislike that parent, whether aware of
it or not, is demolishing as fast as possi
ble the teacher's influence and authority,
so far as her own special brood is con
cerned. Often far more trifling expres
sions on the part of the parent are suffi
cient to set pupil against teacher all
through a term of school. A knowing
glance from the father or mother to
some other member of the family, a curl
of the lip as the child's tale is told; these
are quite sufficient to give these "little
pitchers" their "cue" and aet them on
the "rebel" side.
Go into any school-room and point out
those pupils that seek continually to
evade the teacher's rules look upon her
as a tyrant rather than a helper and
friend and instead of according her that
respectful courtesy which is ner due,
treat her with contempt; and I will point
out to you, without great danger of mis
take, those firesides where the teacher's
authority, if not traduced, at least is not
upheld. It is really wonderful how blind
parents sometimes are on this point
blind not only to a sense of justice, but
to their own and their children's best
interests as well. How often the really
capable, scrupulous teacher thinks, in
her inmost soul: "H I had the children
only to manage, how easy it would be!"
If complaints come of cruelty and in
justice and neglect (as they often will,
along with the rest of the school talk),
too much weight must not be given
them, remembering that a child's reason
ing faculties are imperfectly developed,
and that impulse, even in older people,
is not greatly to be relied upon. But if
the parent feels that there is reasonable
ground for complaint, censure must not,
even then, be spoken before the child.
It can do no good; must inevitably do
harm. If complaint must be made, let
it be privately to the teacher herself, and
to none other. But in making up the
judgments, let the parent bear in mind
how many days there are when nothing
goes quite as it ought with her and her
little ones at home, when she is nervous
and out of sorts, and they are irritable
and cross, and ask herself if she never
fives a sharp word or angry blow. She
as three or four, may-be. while doubt
less the teacher of the school has twice
or thrice a score, whose various dispo
sitions she has yet but imperfectly
learned, however faithful and earnest
her efforts may have been. That teacher
must indeed be a marvel of wisdom and
patience that never errs! A School
Teacher, in Country Gentleman.
Playing Chess with a Thug;.
The announcement that a clergyman
in the north of England is about to play
a game of chess on his lawn with living
pieces supplied from the children of his
parish, recalls one of the most amusing
of the "Contes Eccentriques" of Adrien
Robert The Thugs, according to a French
writer, who wished to have it all their
own way in India, having made five at
tempts to stab, poison, and blow up the
Governor of the East India Company,
attributed their want of success to a tall
man in the shape of his gray felt hat, un
known till then in India. His passion
was chess, and it was determined by the
chief of the sect to challenge him at that
game. The stake was the Governor's
hat on one side and the surrender of the
ringleaders of the Thugs on the other.
On the plains of Barrackpore a chess
board one hundred yards square was
marked out. There were elephants for
the castles, and knights in armor and
living pawns. The Governor's men
were supplied at 25 apiece by his rival.
The game lasted all day, for all the
Siece were killed as they were taken,
ust as the Thug Queen was in danger,
having taken the white Queen, the im
perturbable Governor adjourned to lunch,
where he stayed two hours. His rival
was in anguish, for the Queen was his
own wife. On the return of the Gov
ernor the white King advanced to take
her, but the magnanimity of the En
glishman stepped in, and he took her
prisoner. This generosity so demoral
ized his opponent that in a few more
moves the game was over, the conspir
ators handed over to the mercies of John
Company, and India saved from perish
ing. Pall Mall Gazette.
A London paper states that the
mules purchased for the Egyptian cam
paign, which have been brought to En
glaud, have not turned out very profit
able property. Many of them have just
been sold at Woolwich, and, though
choice specimens of their race, they have
realized neither their value nor cost.
Indeed, they barely produced an average
of 10 a piece not a third of the
amount expended in purchasing and
transporting them from South America.
One day last summer Mr. A. Bron
on Alcott said to an acquaintance: "I
early determined in life not to be a slave
to things; not to put my life as a pledge
for fine furniture, for luxuries, for the
material surroundings. We lived
simple life, Mrs. Alcott and L and I
have never regretted it,"
All Day in a Mexican Town.
No one seems in a hurry in those
places. And why should they be? 1b
necessaries of life are few and very
cheap, and the extra dollar needed for
the Sunday cock-tight or tho weekly
game of "monte," of the men, and the
fan or comb or silver shawl-pin of the
women, easily earned, aud so the good
man is not obliged to walk fast on oft
days, when he us in town and goes
round to the "matanza," or butcher's
shop, to buy a piece of meat for dinner,
and there is not the least reason why
he should not stop for twenty minutes
on the sidewalk and talk to Juan or
Jose, whom he has encountered on the
way, or spend half an hour in at the
"tendajo" hanging over the counter
and discussing a glass of mescal and
the crops with Tomas or Telesforo.
The good wife, too, rises early, and the
day is still young by the time she
fetched water from the river and swept
the earthen floor of the one living room
and the "patio" outside, and given the
good mau his breakfast and dispatched
him to the field, aud she has ample
time to don her black head-shawl and
trot oft' to morning service, and by no
means hurries herself as she walks
home again and drops Donnas Juana
and Maria and Victoriana at their re
spective doors, stopping awhile to ex
change a few parting remarks with
each; ample time has she, too, to pre
pare the inevitable tortillas, beans and
coffee for the midday meal.
From noonday till between three and
four o'clock in the afternoon (during
which hours the inhabitants are all in
doors eating dinner aud taking the sub
sequent "siesta") is the quietest and
laziest time of all. Then, indeed, does
the little town seem like a city of the
dead. "The streets lie white, silent
and deserted in the fierce sunlight,
nothing stirring in them save a hungry
pig or two, or a dog going somewhere
on unavoidable business, his head hang
ing and his tongue out, as he hugs
cliwely to the mud wall which offers the
faintest prospect of a little shade.
Even the voice of tho irrepressible cock
gv'ts faint and weary at these hours, and
the mournful cooing of the pigeons be
comes low and intermittent.
Between threo and four o'clock the
town begins to wake up slowly. At
four, or thereabouts, comes "meri
enda," a sort of afternoon tea, consist
ing of coffee and cakes. At live the
women dress and go out visiting. At
seven the bells sound for "oracion," or
evening service; at eight comes supper,
and by nine all is as still as the grave,
except on Sunday nights, when the
band plays in the little "plaza," on
moonlight nights, when the rich notes
of the mocking bird fill the silence and
make the exiled Englishman think of
nightingales and home. Garcia (Mex.)
Cor. Detroit Free Press.
Confederate Bonds.
Another attempt is being made to get
up a boom in Confederate bonds. For
some time past Baltimore stock brokers
have been advertising for Confederate
State bonds. The movement in these
bonds started some three years ago,
and since that time the purchases have
been very large, one firm alone hand
ling about $30,000,000 of them. Balti
more has been the headquarters for
their purchase and Europe the destina
tion of the bonds, orders coming from a
large London lirm. When the excite
ment first began the bonds, which
were considered worthless, brought $1
per 1,000. The price subsequently ad
vanced and has gone up as high as $15
per SI, 000, though now they are from
$6 to $8 per 1,000 for 6, 7 and 8 per
cent, bonus. The bonds are somewhat
scarce now, though some days 100,000
will change hands and other days not
100. The dealings are altogether in
coupon bonds with the 1865 or prior
coupons on. One Baltimore dealer who
makes the Confederate bonds a specialty
has offers from the South of bonds in
lots ranging from 100,000 to 500,000.
Richmond brokers and others in the
South are purchasing them and sending
them to the London house, the head of
which is said to be a party by the name
of Moses. North Carolina war bonds
arc also being bought for $1 on the
1,000.
Since the flurry begau there has been
great
rummaging about old closets,
chests, boxes, etc., for the pieces of
paper that contained the promises to
pay of the Confederate States of Amer
ica. Some bring them into brokers'
offices already framed, having been pre
served as curiosities; others bring them
stiff with paste, having taken them from
the screens which they have lonor deco
rated, and it is even said the bonds have
at times been used for wall-paper by
fantastically inclined people. It is safe
to say the walls have needed new paper
ing since Confederate bonds began to
have a marked value. What they are
being bought for is what no fellow can
find out. Some have advanced the
theory that the purchasers entertain a
forlorn hope of their being paid some
day; but another, and perhaps equally
as rational a theory, has been put for
ward. During the late war England
did buy some Confederate securities,
and at the close of the war found them
worthless. It has been suggested that
the holders still entertain an idea of get-
ting something back. The present pur
chasers, it is said, believe the same way.
The summing up of the theory is that
the English holders look for some com
plications to arise between the two coun
tries, and hope that in its adjustment
England will be in a position to insist
on the United States indemnifying the
English holders of Confederate bonds.
Washington Special to Indianapolis
Journal.
m
A Snicide Club.
A very extraordinary story is re
ported from Pesth. Six youths, son
for the most part of respectable shop
keepers, recently formed a kind ot
club, and arranged among themselves
td put their spare money into a general
fund and to spend it from time to tim.
in social enjoyment together. Ere many
weeks elapsed, however, not only the
spare cash, but also every kreutzer
these young fellows possessed in the
world, vanished in mild dissipation,
and the members of the club strangely
determined that, as they were utterly
penniless, they would all commit sui
cide. With this object in view they ad
journed to a wood not far from the city,
taking with them a six-chambered re
volver, which was to be tho common
instrument of death. A boy of seven
teen was the first to put the decision
into practice. He deliberately fired one
ball into his neck and a second into his
breast, and then fell. Thereupon four
of the survivors lost heart and fled; but
the fifth, not deterred by the sight of the
bleeding body of his friend, picked up
the pistol and discharged it in the direc
tion of his heart. One of the foolish
youngsters was fatally wounded; but
the other, it is expected, will recover,
and, it may be hoped, will join no more
suicide clubs. St. James1 Gazette.
Lieutenant Waghorn, of her Maj
esty's service, was the pioneer of the
overland route to India, and having
demonstrated its feasibility and value,
the opening of the Suez Canal followed
in course. Waghorn died poor in 1850.
His surviving sister, to whom was ac
corded a pension of 25, in recognition
of the great services rendered to the
country by her late brother, has lately
died under distressing circumstances of
neglect and poverty.
Vennor is going to spend the sum
ner at Old Orchard Boach. Wiggins
vill spend it in oblivion. Chicago Inter-Oian
EASTWARD.
Dally Express Trains fc-r Omahn. Cnl
rsKu. Koiiwift City, St. Louis, ami all Hiut
Eunt- Through cam via IVorfct tolmlian
airaUK. Elcgaut Pullman 1'alurv Cars and
I:y couches on all through traina. and
Uiuuig rn eesi OI Missouri j.ivur.
Tlirourfi Tickets nt tho Ixiwrft Ratoa
bttrgngo -will lie checked to riptttinatinu. Any information as to rates, routes or tiino tables
will Imi ohocrfully f uruinhud upon application to any agent, or to
I. S. KUSTIS. General Ticket Agent, Omaha. Neb.
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4
X
VI f9 es pt "hftf
