Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911 | View Entire Issue (April 25, 1888)
' tenia! m ahmhu COLUMBUS, NEB., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1888. WHOLE NO. 937. VOL. XIX.-NO. 1. J v V r "T t COLUMBUS STATE BANK. COLUMBUS, NEB. Cash Capita! $75,000. DIRECTORS: LEANDER GERRARD, PreB't. GEO. W. HULST, Vice Pres't. JULICS A. REED. R. H. HENRY. J. E. TASKER, Ca-,kior. Baak or Oepoult, IMacoant ud Exchange. Cellectleaa Promptly .tiad all PelatM. ! IatereMt oit Tlae epe- Ita. 2T4 -OF- COLUMBUS, NEB. CAPITAL STOi:K, $50,000, OFFICERS: C. H. SHELDON. Pre't. W. A. MCALLISTER. Vie. Pres'. ROHERT U1IL1G, Cashier, DANIEL SCIIRAM, Aas't Cash. DIRECTORS: J. P. BECKER, 1L I. H. OEHLRICH, JONAS WELCH. CARL RE1NKE, II. M. W1NSLOW. This Hank transacts a regular Banking Busi- J ne, will allow intereot on tnno deposits, maio collections, buy or sell oxchango on United States and Enrol', nud bny and wll available bucuriticH. We shall b pleased to receive jour businesrt. We bolicit jour patronage. We guarantee sntia faction in all business intrusted in our cure. dec'iWG FOR THE CALL OX A.& M.TURNER Or . W. KIBLEB, XraTellnK Salesman. SrTbese organs are first-class in even- par ticular, and so guaranteed. SCHIFFROTH t PLITH, DEALERS IN WIND MILLS, AND PUMPS. Buckeye Mowor, combined, Self Binder, wire or twine. Pinps Repaired on short notice WOne door west of Heints'a Dnw Store. 11th street, Columbus. Neb. 17nov-tf HENRY GASS. COFFINS AND METALLIC CASES AND PIALKR IN rami tare, Chairs, Bedsteads, Bo reaus, Tables, Safes. Lounges, Jkc, Picture Frames and - Mouldings. ZW Repairing of all kinds of Uphol Btery Goods. 6-tf COLCMBDS, NEBRASKA. PATENTS Caveats and Trade Marks obtained, and aU Pat ent busings conducted for MODERATE FEES. OUK OFFICE IS OPPOSITE U. S. PATENT ' OFFICE. We hare no i-ub-agencies, aU business direct, bene we can trauxact lMtent bnlness in less tiino and at LESS COST than those remote f rom Washinitton. ... Bend model, drawing, or photo, with descrip tion. We advise if ietontble or not, free of charge. Our fee not due till patnt a secured. A book, "How to Obtain Patents," with refer ences to actual clients in your tate, count' or iown, sent free. Address -- Ppposite Patent Office, Washington, D. C COMMERCIAL M fljPii33SSBaswiMSfc'i?.s aCsa35IHJK?Ha?3JiM'vi WESTERN COTTAGE OBC-AN AT LA9T. Ah, not the flm lore, deepest but the last. (So? Whocaatellt) The tides of Youth run fact run fast; The buds upon the voun; trees shoot and swell. Reckless of frosts. Well, well! Let us not dwell, dear heart, on follies past. t For now, you know, the green and callow shoots Of early Spring Are dry and withered en the rery roots. I 1 hey were Love's first, faint, perfumed offering Taking swift win;j. Leaving a fragrant memory, but no fruits. We v. ill not scak of them with smiling scorn. They Jinve tnmle way lVr t ..o i :ch bloom and fruitage later born And loru of spirit not alone of clay, Siskin our day Glad with tho freshness of perpetual morn. ? Eternal Dear let us baliave It so, " Aud in our bliss "t : Lt dull analysis and doubting go m ' Content so Ion:j a? In a rapturous kiss ' Lik, tiiis my sweet and this Tho fulluoss of celestial joy we know. Thomas II. Muzzcy in Frank Leslie's. A FRONTIER BOHEMIAN. The sun was setting on the Maverick valley. As I walked to the door of the ranch n few parthian arrows from his de clining bow splintered themselves among the ihi!ky tops of the live oaks. There was a faint pink glow all around the hori zon that on its western threshold lingered in feathery flecks of crimson and gold. The brief twilight of Texan latitudes was already hastening through the thin files of mesqnito that stood like straggling pickets before the windows of the little cabin. A silence was falling over the hushed landscape "vast, measureless, complete." Certainly I had some excuse for the sudden loneliness that fell upon me. It was the first time in my border life that I had been left upon the trackless prairie, solitary and alone. The annual shearing was just over. But an hour before our entire "outfit" had departed for a general merry making at a distant frontier town. As I had volunteered in accepting the position of cook during the past three weeks, and for that period had labored to fill a recurrent and appalling vacuum in eighteen able bodied men, my efforts had naturally been somewhat debilitating. Amid that exuberance of society, in which solitude seems a myth, I had declined couviviality and elected repose. I was left behind as custodian of tho ranch. But as I stepped from the door for the purpose of penning the buck herd, I was beginning to regret my choice. I realized that I a "tenderfoot," with only a three mouths' residence in tho state was alone upon uu area of 50,000 acres without let or limit; that my nearest neighbor was Ave miles away, over a chartless, emerald sea. to be traversed only by aid of that shifting guide, the sun; that my only companions in this primitive wilderness were thirty-five merino bucks of contem plative anu exclusive tendencies; a shep nerd dog, which was iminaturely effusive and slobberingly demonstrative upon being addressed as "L"ss Flo," and an ebony cat that wore a mangy and somewhat dis sipated exterior under the sobriquet of "Miss Emma." A dearth of the consola tions of female society apparently inspires the native Texan to a courteous acknowl edgment of the sex of domestic pets. When, therefore, I hail driven the horned contingent of my associates into their rude brush pen, and had fastened the hurdle gate, I stood leaning against it and seriously regarding them. It did not add to the cheerfulness of my surround ings to notice that they bore an unmistak able resemblance to a company of hook nosed Jews; that their knees were sprung with the rheumatism of age; that their eyes were rheumy and inflamed, and that they appeared to be unusually afflicted that evening with snuffles and chronic ca tarrh. Besides, they were so fresh from the shears that the air of venerablenvis dom which their faces arrogated seemed to be caricatured by the rest of their odies. They were so repulsive in ap pearance that I at once dubbed the most disreputable specimen "Fagin" a bap tismal inspiration that eventually achieved popularity. Then, with that hypocrisy which characterizes man when lonely, I began to patronize my much abused dog, and even the feline antique; for both hud nccompanied me in my pas toral duties. After which I walked back to the ranch. Here I encountered another dubious object, that in my then dejected condition struck me as almost ominous. This was a pet lizard which, for the past month, had inhabited the neighboring kitchen a long, low structure with a can vas roof and which was now perched upon the doorstep. But "Tommy" was ou tho present occasion very much out of luck. Ho was not, under the most favor able circumstances, a prepossessing ob ject. He was brick red, covered with polka dots of black, and had a diabolical leer about the eye. "Tommy," however, had now unaccountably lost his tail, and was obviously so humiliated and dispir ited that he unconsciously infected and aggravated my own melancholy. I opened the door of the kitchen, Into which he immediately dived and hid his diminished lizardship from view. Enter ing the little cabin, and acting from a feeling of generous hospitality that must have struck both as phenomenal, I in vited the companionship of "Miss Flo" and "Miss Emma." Then I lighted the lamp, and drawing the solitary chair of the apartment to a convenient distance, picked up a volume of "Macaulay's Essays" (for we were fortunately blessed with an abundance of literature), and dis posed myself to read. I remember think ing, as I settled myself into a comfortable position, that I would make amends for my enforced isolation by profound literary culture, and rather pluming myself upon how much benefit I should derive from this prairie study. But I made singularly little progress that evening. I found my self entirely unable to concentrate my attention. I was oppressed by an inde finable feeling of dread that at last cul minated In a nervous sensation of being observed. I threw aside my book in dis gust, and endeavored to account for it. It was now pitch dark outside. I was Bitting at a little desk that, from the pov erty of our household furniture, was obliged to perform manifold duties. To night it was Eomewhat overburdened with frontier bric-a-brac, conspicuous among which was a large Colt's revolver and cartridge belt. I perceived that, as I sat, I was directly In line with the two win dows of the ranch one on the south, the other on the north side of the house. Partly from a feeling of caution which one acquires on the frontier, and partly from this nervousness I could not explain, I shifted my chair around against the wall until I faced the southern window. In effecting this change of position I suc ceeded in treading on Miss Emma and dis rommcxling Miss Flo, who, after looking tit me in a grieved fashion, accommodated herself to another quarter with the usual canine philosophy and circumlocution. As I tilted my chair against the door and assumed an aggressive attitude to ward the opposite window, I noticed a few drops of water upon the panes, and was then for the first time aware that it was raining. A moment after a vivid flash of lightning illuminated the darkness with out, opening up phosphorescent vistas in the mesquites with startling suddenness. Brief as was the interval for observation, it was sufficient to confirm my suspicions. Amid the loud reverberations of the thunder clap that followed, I was confi dent that I had seen a man larking in the scanty shrubbery outside. I cannot describe how much I was'dls- ."..JTj ,.. ...- -1 - T - !- yuuwricu ui iws mscuvcry. inig wuui in a wild and lawless country, where a man might be attacked and murdered without n chance of succor. I was in a lighted roour, whose unshuttered windows stared into the black night bo glaringly, that practically I was as defenseless to an enemy hid in the darkness without, as if shut in a glass case. As this thought leaped to my brain, I suddenly extin guished the light and groped for the re volver and cartridge belt, resolving to make as determined a stand as possible. Securing both, I buckled on the belt and backed against the door, In order to resist any forcible entrance. In this defiant at titude I waited, the storm continuing to rage without. A Texan thunder storm is at all times awe inspiring. I do not think I ever lived a more thrilling existence than during the brief interval I crouched in the darkness of that little cabin, which was incessantly lighted by the blue flashes that seemed to leap from window to window, and which shook tremulously under the crash of the shattering reports that followed one an other in quick succession. My excitement reached its height when, during one of these sudden illuminations, I perceived pressed against the pane and peering into the room a wild, red face, with long gray beard and disheveled hair streaming in the wind. The apparition, seen by the lurid light, was so malevolent that I think I was only prevented from firing at it by tho brief interval of the flash. When the lightning gleamed again the face was gone, nud I was certain now I could hear some one grouping his way along the side of the house, evidently supporting him self in that way against the charging gusts of wind and sharp fusillade of tho driving rain. At the same time Miss Flo became uneasy and barked loudly. "Hulloa, hero!" shouted a gruff voice. I hastily relighted the lamp and opened the door in some trepidation. There entered a tall figure, so gratuit ously limp and bedrangled with rai as to be almost grotesque; so worn with travel and with such an utter weariness of life In the eyes as to be really pathetic. Tho clothes that he wore were torn and abraded, exposing a sub-stratum of red flannel at the knee, which gave him a ludicrous suggestion of having worn him self down to the quick from the excess of his devotions. His shrunken pantaloons encroached upon the calves of his legs, and, as he was without 6tockings, this lack of intimacy with his hob nailed shoes exposed a pair of very gaunt and reluctant ankles. His beard and hair were long, straggling and unkempt, and were surmounted by an extravagant slouch hat of the frontier pattern. Running over tho scant details of my former apparition, I mentally classi fied him at once as a "border tramp." But I was lonely that evening and dis posed to be polite. I therefore offered him the only chair in the room, stretched myself upon the low bed and calmly awaited developments. "Good evening," he sold, in a rather husky but pleasant voice, as ho lapsed into the chair. Then he took off his broad hat with a swirl of spattering rain drops, wiped his forehead with a red bandana handkerchief, ruminated a few minutes, replaced his hat, and finally producing u pipe and a plug of tobacco began slowly cutting up and crumbling the latter the usual frontier preliminaries to a smoke. I watched his movements with absorb ing interest. He reminded me bo forcibly of pictures of the lamented John Brown, that I was more than ever inclined to ac cept the "singular conflicting conditions of that martyr's soul and body," as ex emplified in the popular song. "When he had finally lighted his pipe and emitted several curling rings of smoke, this odd figure vouchsafed the information that he had come across country in the hope of assisting us in shearing. I in formed him that we had just finished that day for tho season. Ho seemed to ex perience some regret at this, and for a time smoked on in silence. At length, his eyes happening to fall upon my relin quished volume, he took it up, glanced over it hastily, and laid' it down again. "You have been reading Macaulay?" he said. I assented in some surprise. "Ah!" said my strange guest; "a won derful man! a wonderful man, that same Macaulay! What a genius, what a learn ing, what a noble style he had, to be surer ' Then throwing his head back and nar rowing his wild eyes, he suddenly broke out: " 'An acre in Middlesex is worth a prin cipality in Utopia; the smallest actual good is better than the most magnificent promises of impossibilities; the wise man of the Stoics would, no doubt, bo a grander object than a steam engine. But there are steam engines. And the wise man of the Stoics is yet to be born. A philosophy which should enable a man to feel per fectly happy when in the agonies of pain may be better than a philosophy that can assuage pain. But wo know that there are remedies that will assuage pain; and we know that the ancient sages liked the toothache as little as their neighbors.' " I sat up in some amazement at this effort at memory. For the past three months, having associated with individ uals whose vocabularies hardly ventured beyond the possibilities of "right smart" and "away over yonder," I was somewhat Btartlcd, I admit. "Are you a native of this state, sir?" I asked, with great respect. "No," replied he, turning full upon me for an instant those singular eyes of his. "I am, like yourself, a northerner." "Let me offer you a better pipe," I said, pointing out to him the case cont ning my best meerschaum; "you will fin iome excellent Cavendish in that jar." He gave me a quick glance, as if appre ciative of my hospitality, but declined, saying that long habit had given him a preference for the natural leaf. "What is your college?" he suddenly asked, as I was filling a pipe preparatory to joining him. "Yale," I answered, with the pardona ble pride of all sons of that alma mater; "and yoursr" "I seldom mistake a collegian," re marked my incongruous visitor; " 'In fandum, Regina, jubes renovare dolorem.' I hail from Dartmouth." I had made the inquiry more from po liteness than any other motive, and yet, at the moment of my speaking, it dashed across me that he must be college bred. Now that I was assured of it, I felt a sin cere regret in seeing one who had enjoyed such advantages at such wretched odds with fortune. He mtas have divined what passed througn my mind, for he glanced hurriedly and half sadly, as it seemed to me over his forlorn garments, and then raising his eyes to mine, and with a gleam of humor lurking beneath his shaggy brows, said: "And pray, sir, how came a gentleman of your education and intelligence down in this God forsaken country?" I smiled, and attributed my advent to the adventurous spirit of the Nineteenth century, for want of a better reason. He took my answer in the spirit in which It was given, and appeared in a sense to be relieved by it, as if it established a bond of union between us, it struck me. But he resisted all inquiries of mine into his antecedents or past history, meeting my hints and questions with adroit evasion and skillful changes of the subject. And so, in the quiet night for the rain had now ceased, and the moon, riding high, silvered the wan landscape, and fringed the dripping foliage with flashing gems we drifted back to the topic with which we began and talked of literary themes. It has been my privilege to con verse with not a few cultured and learned men, and to enjoy the society of some of the most brilliant of modern conversa tionists; but, as I sat and listened that evening to. the words that fell from the lips of this frontier bphe.mian, it seemed to me mat my acquaintance witn tne na ture of true eloquence bad just begun. It was "like reading Homer by flashes of lightning." What a wealth of bold imagery, of keen appreciation, of sug gestive analogy, of marvelous insight was there! And what a treasure house of memory! And when -he finally lapsed into monologue, and indulging in a rhap sody upon the wonders of Milton, quoted from "Paradise Lest" by paragraph and page, I thought of Macaulay's boast that if the great poet's immortal epic should by any chance be lost to men, he might hope to reproduce it; and my admiration for the attainments of the man swept over me in one vast wave of wonder. And then, as I lay there, listening to his deep voice, which had grown singularly rich aud sonorous, as if In sympathy with the dignity of those grand periods, pondering what strange chance or force of circum stance had compelled this incongruous being to such surroundings, his form sud denly dilated, his lips parted as if in terror, his eyes became fixed on vacancy and staring, and with a sudden spring to his feet, ho stood erect and menacing. "Avaunti" he cried, gazing with & wild and frenzied stare into the empty ah. "Avaunt! and quit ray sight: Begone, I sayl Thlnk'st thou to dog my footsteps always? To hound me to the day of my death? Back! Baek! G-r-r-rhrl Take your grip from off my neck ! Avaunt !' ' He dashed his hands to his throat, clutching it wildly, and striding to the door, flung it wide open, glaring long and fiercely out into the quiet night with a frenzied and hunted expression. Then he came slowly back to the table, tottering feebly and muttering incoherently, threw himself into his chair, and, covering his haggard face with both his trembling hands, shuddered and gasped alternately. Great beads of agony stood upon his brow. I was so startled by this sudden out burst that I could only stare and sit speechless. When he first rose I was under the impression that it was to give greater force to sonio terrific denuncia tion. Not until he tore open the door did I realize that it was the hallucina tion of illness, and even then my con sternation was so great as to deprive me of all power to act or speak. The paroxysm soon passed. Meanwhile, I had poured some brandy into the cup of my pocket flask and offered it to him. He drank it with a feverish eagerness. By degrees the stimulant seemed to overcome his nervous apprehension. He sat for a long time with listless, leaden eyes. Then bo rose wearily and asked, in a humble, deprecating fashion, if there were any placo where he might sleep that night. There was something so piteous, so un utterably wretched in this appeal, coming from one whose wonderful discourse had so delighted me, that I was indescribably touched. "Surely," said I to myself, "such abilities as I have recognized this night shall not be without shelter." I instantly placed my bed at his disposal. After much remonstrance and reluctance, I, at last, got him to bed, and he laid himself down with a long, low, agonizing sigh the sigh of one to whom life is weariness and existence a burden. As I stepped to the table near which he had been sitting, I observed a small tin box, something like a tobacco box, lying in his empty chair. I picked it up me chanically. Such a singular odor rose from this box that I was tempted to open it almost unconsciously. It was half full of a grayish brown drug. I examined it curiously. Opium! I glanced toward the bed. ne was lying apparently iu a heavy sleep. I closed the lid of the box and placed it quietly beside him. Full of conjecture for the past of the unfortunate being who occupied my bed, I wrapped myself in my blanket and lay down beneath the win dow. There was no sound in the quiet night save the occasional long howl of the coyote from the hill. For a long time I lay awake, pondering over tho singular conversation of the evening and its start ling denouement. I wondered if his hallucination could be directly traced to opium, and what strange misfortune could have placed him under the thrall of the deadly drug. And then my thoughts re curred to his quotation from Macaulay, "But we know that there are remedies that will assuage pain." What was the pain or what the sorrow? Unconsciously in my long reverie I had turned toward him. He was sleeping peacefully in the wan light- The pale moon, looking over the crest of a western divide, stole through the files of sentinel mesquites in a long pencil, and rested like a ghostly arm upon his breast. I thought, "The sister of Apollo has him in her keeping," and I fell asleep. But in the morning, the hands folded upon the breast were pulseless and cold, the face was waxen and still, and, hushed in the fear ful calm of life's great mystery, the old man eloquent was dead. Howard Seely in The Argonaut. The Boomerang's Curious Flight. Some German scientists, seeking to dis cover the secret of the boomerang's curi ous flight, caused n party of Australian natives to give an exhibition of boom erang throwing at Munster. The instru ments used were of two sizes, the larger being a slender crescent about two feet long, two and a quarter inches wide and a quarter of an inch thick, made of an ex traordinary heavy Australian Iron wood. This boomerang was jerked up into tho air about 100 yards, when it flew straight away, then turned to the left and re turned in a curved line back to the thrower, whirling around constantly and whizzing unpleasantly. One badly di rected projectile foil through a spectator's hat with a cut as clean as that of a razor. A Weimar manufacturer, who has made some 11.000 toy boomerangs, believes that the mystery of shape lies in the sharper curvature in the middle, with unequal length of the two arms, which must be made of equal weight by unequal thick ness. The peculiarity of motion is due to the difference in the length of the arms, which diverges the curve of rotation from the circular. New Orleans Picayune. Testing Colored Candy. To test candy with respect to poisonous colors one needs a few ounces of alcohol, about an ounce of bleaching powder in solution (hypochloride of calcium), a little white woolen yarn and a small bottle of aqua ammonia. Sec first whether the color can be dissolved out by alcohol. If it can, immerse the woolen yarn in the solution, and should the color adhere to the yarn and dye it, the probabilities are that it is a coal tar color; if a red, it may contain arsenic. If the alcohol produces no effect apply a drop of the bleaching powder solution to the surface of the sweetmeat. If the color fades out, it is probably of vegetable origin and harm less. New York Tribune. A Questioa la Arithmetic Laura So you are really engaged to him, dear? Ho v. 40, you say, and you are 20 just twice as old as you, love. Dear me, when you aro 40 he will be 80!" Clara Good gracious! I hadn't thought of that Harper's Bazar. Syrnp of Fign Is Nature's owu true laxative. It is the most easily taken, and the m6st effective remedy known to Cleanse the System when Bilious or Costive; to dispel Head aches, Colds and Fevers; to cure Habit ual Constipation, Indigestion, Files, etc. Manufactured only by the California Fig Syrup Company, San Francisco, Cal. For sale only by Dowty & Beoher. 27-y DESOLATION. Alone I alt In gorgeous state, And view my gathered treasures rare. Which seem to mock my cruel fate My lonely lot, so bleak and bare. Within Is wealth and warmth and light. Close curtained from the whistling wind. That sweep aud swirls with reckless might. Whose breath brings death to human kind, But the cold wind of her deep scoru lias blighted all my joy of life; Within my soul no hope is bom Ko rest or peace or savage strife. And what care I for pride or fame. Since lore from out my heart is driven? All, all It but an empty name Ashes the prize for which Pre striven. Dead aahes from s deep despair, A heart burned out by passion's fire 0 God: she was so false, so fair, And blind was I with fond desire. 1 loved with love that ne'er grows old; My worship followed where she led; But weary of a tale oft told. She left met and the world is dead. Martha M. Boss In Times-Democrat. MAKE ME A SONG. Out of the silence make me a song. Beautiful, sad and soft and low; Let the loveliest music sound along vrtp And wing each note with wall of woe, Dim and drear: As hope's last tear u Out of the silence make me a hymn Whose sounds are shadows soft and dim. Out of the stillness in your heart A thousand songs are sleeping there Make me but one, thou child of art. The song of a hope in a last despair. Dark and low, A chant of woe; jE7 Out of tho stillness, tone by tone, " Soft as a snow flake, wild as a moan. 3" Out on the dark recesses flanh me a song, Brightly dark and darkly bright; - Let it sweep as a love star sweeps along The mystical shadows of the night. Sing it sweet. Where nothing is drear, or dark, or dim. And earth songs melt into heaven's hymn. Father Ryaa. SUPERSTITIONS OF ACTRESSES. Sign of the Tom Cat The Hunchback. Offenbach's Evil Eye. It is singular, in fact, to note how Parisian actresses are attracted as moths round a flame that will singe them by the belief in sigus and warnings and omens. Mme. Favart, a societaire at the Theatre Francaise, asserts that when a cat, and especially a black torn cat, comes of its own accord, with tail erect, purring round the stage, it is a good sign. Theo, who "sings so delightfully with her shoulders," as the Nestors of theatrical criticism aver, believes that it Is very un lucky to catch sight of a hunchback and not touch his hump. The pretty actress will, in fact, go out of her way and dodge one a mile to get a chance to do so, as if by accident aud without being seen. Croizette. who retired from the stage of the Comedie Francaise on a pension and married u rich banker, attributes her suc cess iu life to the fact that one day she picked up a horseshoe. Some can tat rices are also highly super stitious. Among those who belong more or less to the Paris stage I may instance Adelina Patti. Adelina Maria Clorinda Patti and indeed the whole musical tribe of the Strako!ch nud Patti brood strongly believe in the jettatore, or "evil eye." Patti will not sing where there is a cross eyed conductor, just as the blonde Sarah will not play by the side of an actor whose organ of vision is askew; and, as those who, like Patti. have been happy and successful are more liable to this fascination, the prima donna never fails to wear a bracelet or necklace of precious stones even shells and corals will do to counteract the malignant influence which darts from the eyeballs of certain envious and angry persons. She asserts that Offenbach, who possessed the evil eye, brought ill luck with him wherever he went; that he passed through the Rue Lepeletier the night the old opera house was destroyed by lire, when poor Emma Livry was burned alive in the only ballet Offenbach ever had represented at the opera, and that Mme. Berthelier died while playing in tho "Vie Parisienne," for which he wrote the score. I have also been told that Paola Marie, of the Opera Comique, and her sister Galli Marie, both wear amulet rings to avert the snake like fascination which is currently attributed to Count Gabrielli, the well known boulevarUer. Zulma Bouffar once told me that she never would think of washing her hands as it often happens behind the scenes to many of tho music hall singers in the water used by another person, not that she considered the act as so very unclean, but rather because she knew that the parties were bound to quarrel soon after, unless one of the two spat in the basin I And I may add parenthetically that I once saw a dnncing girl, whose veracity was questioned by another member of the talent, suddenly draw back with some show of indignation, spit on the ground, stamp the boards with her foot, and raise her right hand, saying, "I swear it!" Paris Cor. Inter Ocean. A QUEER INCENDIARY SCHEME. lialng Mouse, a Piece of Cheese aad Some Matches to Start s Fire. "I have a plan that will help its out. It Is a last resort, and desperate, I know, but it Is safe." The speaker was a well dressed, fine looking man, apparently not older than SO. His cold, gray eyes, aquiline and rather prominent nose and heavy chin were the unmistakable indices of a calcu lating, bold and resolute character. He spoke to a man of at least 60 years, neat in appearance, but whose face betrayed anxiety and discouragement. The words were spoken in a down town Broadway restaurant, near midnight, as the men described took seaW at a table toward the rear of the room, in front of a mirror in which a reporter saw them. The newspaper man had lunched and was reading a novel. A partition concealed him from the strangers' vision. "Well, what is it?" asked the older man, after drinks had been set before them. "It is, as I said, a desperate scheme, but it will put us ou our feet again. I do not see any other way for us to avoid a failure from which we cannot recover." "What is the plan?" "There is an insurance of $14,000 on the stock and building." The speaker paused, but his companion did not speak. They eyed each other in tently and the younger man continued in a subdued voice: "We have stood by each other in hard times before this. You have paid for in surance policies for many years. If the store should happen to burn and there were no evidences the fire was not acci dental, we would not have much difficulty in getting the $14,000, and we could start out anew in splendid shape. But acci dental fires do not come when they ought, and" "I will not consent to any such thing as you are driving at" 'But think of it. You are on the verge of ruin. Yon need not do a thing to incur risk. Your part will be to keep silent, and not to interfere. Intrust the business wholly to me. On a certain night a small box would be placed in the cellar among the oils and paint stuffs, and where it would not be seen. You might be out of town. You would be summoned home to find the store in ashes or badly damaged. We could then meet our notes and have fair sailing." "If the attempt should be detected we would be disgraced, even if we escaped state firison.. I would rather assign than try your scneme. "Put confidence in me," persuasively urged the younger man, "and you will be in no peril and you will not regret your trust." "What would be in the box?" "A mouse, a piece of cheese stuck nearly full of matches, the heads appear ing, and some oil soaked combustibles. The mouse will not be able to gnaw out, and, getting hungry, will attack the cheese and ignite a match. The box will quickly be on fire and the flames will Bpread like a flash, and before tho burn ing is discovered the box will have been consumed. Then there will be no evi dence. The Are would get such a start the store would be very likely to go. It would undoubtedly burn the night the box was hidden." "A novel Idea," said the older man, evidently relenting, yet looking very grave; "we'll think it over well before we take such a step." "It's perfectly safe, I tell you," rejoined the schemer. "You stay in New York a few days and 1st me go back and do the job. Then you will be s&f c i .ess sus picion. I would not have mentioned it to you if I had not feared you might dis cover the box and give the thing away." After a few minutes of silence the men drained their glasses and left tho place. New York Press. RUNNERS FOR STEAMSHIPS. Cellaring People tor m SaaU ComsalMle. How Passengers Are Picked. Back and forth before the offices of the big transatlantic steamship lines fronting on Bowling green and In that vicinity may, on almost any day, be observed cer tain men pacing the pavements with a hungry look in their eyes, eagerly scan ning the face of every person who ap proaches. If that person happens to in spire in the minds of these watchers, from the fact of his looking at the office signs, from his appearance pronouncing him to be a stranger, or from any other outward indication, any remote hint that he might be desirous of purchasing a passage across the ocean, he is at once approached with offers to assist him in his search. The name of the port to which he wants to go being elicited, the "runners" will at once compete with each other for the honor of introducing him to the agent from whom he can obtain "the best and cheapest pas sage." Tho man is at once dragged off, perplexed, but somewhat tempted by tho offer of a cheaper fare than that which he had been led to expect, to the steamship office where the "runner" who has him in charge can obtain the largest commission upon the purchase of his ticket. "There isn't half as much money in this business now that there was a few years ago," said a veteran runner recently. "We used to get 8 commission on each ticket across. Now the rates are down to almost nothing, and the companies will ullow us only from $3 to $5. Then when severul fellows get around a man, of course the one who will offer the passen ger the most reduction off his ticket gets him, but that reduction, of course, has to come out of our commission." "Do you depend entirely upon chance iu the passengers you catch?" "Not altogether. Some of us who have made a business of the thing have agents of our own in other cities and out west, who advise us when a party is coming to New York to go across. Then we muke it a point to meet the passengers and ar range with them to buy their tickets." "How do you tell by the look of a man whether he may prove a customer?" "It's easy enough," said the veteran, "to spot a stranger, and easier still to tell whether he is German, Swedish or Irish. Then if you can speak to him in his own language the probability is that yon are all right. If not, it's easy enough to back out. Sometimes I've spoken to a man entirely on 'spec,' and struck a first class passenger. Of course, the higher grade passenger you get, the more commission there is off his ticket for you." A former runner, who is now engaged in other business, was asked if the steam ship companies gave special commissions to favored men. "Oh, no," said he, "any steamship com pany will give you a commission if you take them a passenger, it makes hardly any difference who yon are. I sometimes earn a few dollars that way yet, and fre quently oblige a friend by obtaining a ticket for him at the discount of my com mission. Last summer when I made a trip across myself, I got another friend to buy my ticket and saved $3 on it." Another ex-runner said that there were very few men who made a permanent business of picking up passengers now. Like himself, a good many were on tho lookout for commissions when travel was brisk, as in the summer season, or when they hadn't anything else to do. Bnt tho commissions were small now, the com petition was keen, and those who had made a business of it had mostly suc ceeded in establishing little offices of their own. New York Commercial Advertiser. A BICYCLIST IN BENARES. Idols and Temples, Mosques end Bathing Ghats Gods of the Heathen. At length I reach Benares, wheeling down the luxuriant Ganges valley. Of all the cities of the east, Benares is per haps the most interesting at the present day to the European tourist. Its 1,400 shivalas, or idol temples, and 280 mosques; its wonderful bathing ghats, swarming with pilgrims washing away their sins, the burning bodies, the sacred Ganges, the hideous idols at every corner of the Btreets and its strange idolatrous popula tion, make up a scene that awakens one to a keen appreciation of its novelty. One realizes fully that here the idolatry, the "bowing down before images" that in our Sunday school days used to seem so unut terably wicked and perverse, bo monstrous and so far, far away, is a tangible fact. To keep up their outward appearance ou a par with tho holiness of their city, men streak their faces and women mark the the parting in their hair with red. Sacred bulls are allowed to roam the streets at will, and the chief business of a large pro portion of the population seems to be the keeping of religions observances and pay ing devotion to the multitudinous Idols scattered about the city. Everywhere, in niches of the walls, under trees, on pedestals at frequent cor ners are idols, hideously ugly; red idols, idols with silver faces and stone bodies, fcomo with months from ear to ear, big idols, little idols, the worst omnium gath erum Imaginable. Sati, nothing visible but her curious face, beams over a black Mother Hubbard sort of a gown that con ceals whatever she may possess In the way of a body; Jagaddatri. the Mother of the World, with four arms, seated on a lion; Brahma, with five eyes and four mouths curiously made to supply quad ruple faces; Eamadeva, the handsome little God of Love (the nindoo Cupid), whom the cruel Siva once slew with a beam from his third eye all these and multitudinous others greet the curious sightseer whichever way one turns. Han uman, too, is not forgotten, the great Monkey King who aided Rama in his ex pedition to Ceylon; outside the city proper is the monkey temple, where thousands of the sacred anthropoids do congregate and consider themselves at home. Then there is the fakirs' temple, the most beautifully carved shivala in Ben ares; here priests distribute handful of soaked gram to all mendicants who pre sent themselves. The gram is supplied by wealthy Hindoos, and both priests and patrons consider it a great Bin to allow a religious mendicant to go away from the temple empty handed. Thomas Stevens la Outing. Aa Incident of the War. There's no more earnest Democrat in New York than Gen. Averill, the dashing trooper who raided up tho valley with Sheridan and endeared himself to two generations of Virginians by the home steads ho saved from the torch. As ho swing3 down Broadway to his office on a frosty morning, ho is a soldier every inch of him, barring gray hairs. Gen. Averill was introduced to a young man named Rudd a day or two ago, and it reminded him of a curious incident in his military career. He was at West Point with a Jack Rudd, who afterward became a major in the Confederate army. On a raid Into West Virginia some cavalrymen were about to pillage a farm which proved to be no other than Jack Rudd's. It was a tight llttlo patch of arable land right under the mountains. As soon as Averill heard tho name of his old classmate ho set a guard over the place, and not a straw was touched. That was in August, '63. Just a year afterward, at a noted mountain pass called Callahan's, just twelve miles from the Whito Sulphur springs, a Confederate prisoner to- brought i-tn Rep Arcrill's headquarters, which wero in the ambu lance, where ho slept and read dispatches. Captor and captive looked long and hard at each other, and knew each other onco more as "Rudd" and "Averill." And. afterward, when a friendly nip had thawed oui twelve years of absence and Averill had told Rudd how ho saved his farm from being pillaged, Rudd exclaimed: "M , man! why, I enmo within anaco of shooting you dead! I was in nmbush ou tlif nicuiitain side, and drew a bead on the officer who rode Into my front gate, ar I thought, to fire the house. I soon saw his kindly intentions though, nnd am now doubly thankful for what we both es caped." New York Sun. House Balldlng In Earthquake Countries. In choosing a site for a house in an earthquake country, find out by the ex perience of others the localities which nro least disturbed, and build there. Some times these localities will bo upon hills, and at other times in valleys and on the plains. A wide open plain is less likely to be disturbed than a position on a hill, especially on the edge of a hill. Avoid building on loose materials which rest on hard strata beneath. Place foundations on the hard rock and leavo n pit or trench all round them up to the surface of the ground. If earthquakes in a region come always from one direction, build the housoso that tho blank walls are parallel to thi3 direc tion, and so that the walls with many openings in them as windows and doors are at right angles to such direction. Small structures enn be supported on nests of spherical balls laid between two flat iron plates. Such houses are much less shaken than the ordinary kind. It Is advisable that brick chimneys to wooden houses should bo built so tiiat the chim ney is not bound closely to the wooden structure, but is detached from it in such a way as to allow it to have itsown period of vibration without interfering with that of tho house. Edward S. Holden In Over turn! Monthly. The Demand for Rubbers. There has been a wonderful increase of late years in the demand for rubbers, and they have almost supplanted the heavy overshoe so popular a few seasons ago. Lately the sules of rubbers have almost doubled, and the demand has at times been almost equal to tho supply. The light rubber serves the purpose of warmth and keeps the water out, and is, there fore, of double advantage nnd safer than the heavy overshoe, as one Is less liablo to colds if by some mischance he ohould for get to put them on. There is a peculiarity about the styles worn. Elderly people wish a heavy, full rubber, and want them large, bo that they can easily be put on and taken off. The middle aged person wants a full rubber, but as light as possi ble and a perfect fit. The young man or miss wants a tip that Is a half rubber, just covering tho heel and part of the toe, exposing most of the shoe. They must fit like a glove, too. To ono who has had ex perience in this line of business it is cosy to "size up" a customer, and one who un derstands tho trade rarely loses mucli time in selling a pair of rubbers. Dealer in Globe-Democrat. Tho Italian Way. "As I sat by tho window the other afternoon," said a sick man, "and looked at tho pcoplo as they trudged along in the elect and tnow, it occurred to me that a sprained ankle, as well as the musquito, had its uses. At all events, I experienced a feeling of satisfaction that I, at least, could sit comfortably at homo and hng the fire. Suddenly I was startled by hearing shrill voices speaking in a foreign language, and glancing up saw two Italians of the male sex hastening toward each other. They met, embraced and kissed each other on the lips with a smack that sounded like a pistol Bhot. This is the Italian way of doing after a Ions; absence between friends, I learned, and it may be all very nice In Italy, but my feelings can be expressed just as well by agoo:I, old fashioned Saxon hand shake." Philadelphia Call. The Brain of a Mnrdrrer. A professional murderer was lately exe cuted in Moravia, and his brain was dis sected aud closely examined by Professor Moriz Benedict. The convolutions of the brain are, says the professor, closely re sembling those found in beasts of prey another proof of the theory that retro gression Is as possible as progress with mankind. Chicago News. "Holy smoke!" exclaimed a deacon, when his wife told him the Pilgrim church was on fire. Paragraphex. The First Syrnntcms Of all Lung diseases are much the -amp feveririhuess, losa of nppctit-, sor throat, pains in :Ii rhe.it ami i,.s-k, lirftiliiclio, ct:. In a few dny.-i you inay be we'll, or, on t It- other liaii'l. ; on may b down witii Pneiuuoni or gallnpin;: CoiMimiptiou." Htm no risk, but Wj;in immediately to take Ayer's Cherry Pectoral. Seeral e:tr ao, Jnruis niroimnl. of Darien, Conn., wan sfevtre!y ii!. Tliu doctors Maid be wit in Consumption, and that thiy could do nothing for him. but advised him, a lt re,ort, to try Ayer's Cherry Pectoral. After Inking this medicine, two or threo mouths, lie was pronouueed a well man. JIi- health remains good to the present day. J. S. Bradley, Maiden. Mass., writes : " Three winters ago I took a severe cold, which rapidly developed into Bronchitis and Consumption." I was so weak that I could not sit up, was much eiiiiiriatod, and coughed incessantly. I i-oiisutted several doctors, but they wcrt power less, and all agreed that I wan in Con sumption. At last, a friend brought me a bottle of Ayer's Cherry Pectoral. From the first do":. I found reliof. Two bottles cured me, and my health has since been perfect." Ayer's Cherry Pectoral, VBJtfXtLZD B7 Dr. J. C. Ayer & Co., Lowell, Mass. Sold by all Druggist. Pries 81 ; six bottl, i THE FIRST National Bank! OT COLU9IBUS. If -HAS AN- Authorized Capital of $250,000, A Surplus Fund of - $20,000, And the largest Paid la Cash Capital of any bank in this part of the State. EsT Deposits received and interest paid oa time deposits. SSDralts on the princ iral cities in tiis conn try and Europe bought and sold. jy Collections and all other business given prompt and careful attention. STOCXnOLSKBS. A. ANDERSON, Pres't. J. H. GALLEY. Vice Pres't. O.T.ROEN. Cashier. G. ANDERSON. P. ANDERSON. JACOUGHEISEN, HENRY RAGATi JOHN J. SULLIVAN. W. A. MCALLISTER. Apr2S-'6tf gusiness (fenrds. W j a. McAllister, ATTORNEY A NOTARY PUBLIC. Office np-Mairs in nenry's building, corner of Olivo and 11th streets. anglO-JJiy W.5 Jl. COKIVfCl.lUN, LAW AND COLLECTION OFFICE. Upstairs Ernst bniltling, 11th street. OUbLsLIVAX Sc KKEDER, ATTORNEYS AT LAW, Office over First National Bank, Columbus, Nebraska. 80-tf c. . EVAIVM, in. D., PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON. S3yOffico and rooms, Gluck building, 11th street. Telephone communication. 4-y T HI. niCFARLAnD, ATTORNEY f NOTARY PUBLIC. S3f CMKce over First National Bank, Colum bus, Nebraska. COUNTY SURVEYOR. ETTBrties desirinjt MmoyinK done can ad uresa mo nt Columbus, Neb., or call at my offic m Court House. 5niHbo-y T J.t'RAMKK, CO. SUFI'. PUBLIC SCHOOLS. I will be in my offico in the Court House, the third batnnlayof each month for the examina tion of applicants for ttacbirs' certificates, and for th transaction of other ecliool buuiness. 18jan58 WALGRAF BROS., DRAY and EXPRESSMEN. Licht and heavy hauling. Goods handled with care. Headquarters at J. P. Becker &. Co.' oilice. Telephone. S3 and lit. 30marS7y DR. J. CIIAK. Wlf.t.l. (.Deiitscher Arzt.) PHYSICIAN and SURGEON, Columbus. Neb. EYE DISEASES A SPECIALTY. Office: Telephone: Eleventh Street. Office No. W: Keidence No.B7. KmarST JOHN G. HIGGINS. C. J. GAIiLOW, Collection Attorney. HIGGINS & GARLOW, ATT0RiEYS-AT-LAV, Specialty made of Collections by C. J. Gurlow. 34-m R. C. BOYD. SIANUFACTCBZn OF Tin and Sheet-Iron Ware ! Job-Work, Hoofing and Gutter ing a Specialty. fcjfr""Shop on 13th street, Krause Bro.'s old stand. S2.tf GRASS SEEDS ! Clover, Timothy, Red Top, Millet, Hungarian and Blue Grass Seed, -AT- HERHIH OEHLRICH t BRO'S. feb'iiJm rrnSA WONDERS exit in Uthousands of forms, but are sur II JKpee! b? the marvels of invention. I TiioHe who are in need of profitablo work that can done while living at home ehonld at once send their address to Hallett k Co., Portland, Maine, and receivo free, full in formation how either sex, of all ages, can earn from $5 to $25 per day and upwards wherever they live. 1 ou are started free. Capital not re quired. Some have made over 0 In a single day at this work. All succeed. 87dec28y $500 Reward ! Wo will pay the above reward for any case of liver complaint, dyspepsia, sick headache, indi gestion, constipation or costiveness we cannot cure with West s Vegetable Liver Pills, when the direction, aro strictly complied with. They are purely vegetable, anii never fail to give satisfac tion. Large boxes containing 30 sugar coated pills, 2Tc. For sale by nil druggists. Beware of counterfeits and immitntions. The genuine manufactured only by JOHN C. WEST A CO., S6'J W. Madison St., Chicago, 111. dec7'87y INVENTION has revolutionized the world during the last half century. Not least among the wonders of inventive progress is a method am system of work that can ie performed -all over the country without separating the workers from their homes. Pay liberal; any one can do the work; either sex. young or old: no special ability required. Capital not needed; you are started free. Cut this out and return to us and we will send you free, something of gTeat value and im portance to you, that will start yon in business. which wiUbring jou in more money right away. man anrining eise in tne worm. ur free. Address True & Co.. Augusta, Me. dec23 IIeWpap1R; A book of 100 nagea, The best book for aa RTO!HSredboaro?heS Itcontnins) lists ot newsnaneis and estimate of tbecewtof advertising. The advertiser who wants to spend one dollar. Amis Jq ft the in- . formation ho requires, while forbim who wtu I Invest one hundred thousand dollars la ad- 1 vArtfafn". n srhemA Inrltantrd which Will meet his every requirement, or can b surfs to do to by $tigh t chances easily arrived at by eor' respondenee. 149 editions have been Issued. Sent, post-paid, to any address for 10 oents. Mvan write ic ,i.u. f. KuniuJi t ! NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING BUaXAtT. aoanjutaguFrinUna-HoaseS.), NswTorJs. Lvvw