Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1890, Page 9

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. D. C.. SATURDAY. : SEPTEMBER 13, 1890—SIXTEEN -PAGES. IN OLD LONDON TOWN A Quaint Old Spot in Maryland and Its Memories. STORY OF AN OLD CHURCH. jow, Where One Washing= amp “ecting—Hie- toric Names on Grave Stones. —_—_—— Correspond: of Tar EvEstyo Stan. ae Sovra Rrver, Mp., Sept. L IGH up on the southern bank of South river, near its junction with Chesapeake bay, stands an ideal old farm house. More than a century has passed over its time-staincd walls since first they rose above the grassy hil! overlooking the river and bay. Long, tow, with shingle roof and old- fashioned dormer windows and broad porches with branches at each side, it looks as if it had stepped bodily from some century-old picture, painted when this part of old Maryland was known as “London Town.” A vory pleasant place, too, is its interior. The ceilings are 30 low in some of the rooms that you may touch them with your hands, and they slope down rather steeply under the eaves, forming the quaintest and coziest little cham- bers—with narrow embrasures—mere slits in the walls—where you can creep into the re- ceases of the dormer windows and look out into the thick clustering foliage of the giant cherry tree at the door of the farm house, which taps With its light fingers at the window to waken you eariy and stretches its great arms above ‘and around the dwelling as if protecting it from wind and storm. Trf!y this isa pleasant spot in which to pass a quiet week when summer it drives one from the town and when one 18 weary of the bustle and excitement of fash- ionable resorts and sighs Semstonaiioncctontyctses Having Inteiy boon possessed by such a long- ing myself I began to look around for the “lodge,” waiving the qnestion of the “wilder- ness,” and I finally decided to try Maryland, ‘Thus it happened that, after various trials and tribulations, I found myself snugly d led in the old farm house on thg banks of South Fiver. THE OLD FARM HOUSE. Fruit was, as we all know, a failure this year, and we had to skirmish in a rather lively man- ner to get any; but by dint of raids upon our own and neighboring orchards we managed to secure arcasonable supply. ‘Then there was the river. with the neatest and swiftest of row- boats and sailboats. and we fished and crabbed to our hearts’ content—gaining thereby in short time a finc makogany color, which though good enough as colors go is not the most becoming of hues. A CAMP MEETING SCFNE. Then were the drives about the picturesque hills and dales of old Anne Arundel county, which afforded excellent amusement and health- aving exercise. Three miles from our country ome (called ‘Terrace Farm”) a flourishing “colored” camp meeting was in full blast, and of course came in for its full share of our at- tention. One lovely moonlight night we set forth in the light wagon—a merry party well armed with coppers and nickels for the collec- tion box or “hai,” which is sure to be passed around among the audience time and again Until the managers have obtained @ certain fixed sum, and the white visitors are never neglected in its numerous perambalations. ‘Tae flaring torches which hit up the camp soon ame mto view and our road was thron with many couples and groups of dusky elers, all bound for the same goal. At the stands at the gate we supplied ourselves with peanuts and peppermint candy, and thus pro- visioned sought a good position to see aud hear. “Br'er Joo Henry" was to preach, and his subject was: “We are workers with the Lord.” Most cloquently did Brother Henry discourse upon these words and their meaning. Begin- ning soft and low (so softly, indeed, that we could barely catch his words) his voice soon gained in force and volume until it rang and thundered through the leafy aisles, and whole his ody seemed to swell and expand with thoughts which impelled his willing His whisper roso to a shout; his long waround the pulpit faster and faster; rolied wildly, and as the great big words thundered forth with impressive grand- eur his audience expressed gudibly their hearty approval and entire couf€ntment with the preacher's exposition. e are workers in the vineyard of de Lawd!” said Brother Henry. “We are work- ers wid de Lawd; an’ de Lawd pa ood wages and pay a feeling hese run- ments on his sermona are things of course, goes on without a pause. ) “He pays in golden streets to walk in, in golden harps to piay and in necty an’ ambiosia toeat! (Yes, walk in de g udeedy! Cum on, sar!) We will en streets (Um-m-m! Um-m-m!); we'll play ou de golden harps, (Bless de Lawd): We'll cat de necty an’ ambiosia ( Yes, indeedy!); if we'll only work forde Lawd an’ wid de Lawd. (Praise de Lawd, honey!) on de yearth. bat my head isin heaven (Um- m-m-m!)an'I see allde planets an’ stars a circumamuratin’ aroun’ dis globe! I tell you, breferen’, de Lawd 'speets us to work for him if We spects to git our pay. ( Hallelujah!)” And so on and so on, When the sermon was finished the hat was passed in order that brother fienry might get his pay, and when this satisfactory result had been attained the My heels is wrayer mecting began. All was dead silence jor ashort tiie; then from somewhere near the pulpit began a moasure: which soon swelled into loud acclaim, and the penitents writhed and rolied and prayed in shrill accen wd” for divine help to «come to de 26 singing grew louder and more the dusky. swaying singers moved more rapidly and wildly, and at length some happy soul is moved to shout, and “the fun” begins. But, alas! by this time we were compelled to tear ourselves away; for even the strange and weird excitement of Pp meeting must not keep us out after midnight. So, away speed the wiiling horses along the moon-lit w: he noise in the camp fcliowing us for miles, until at length only the oricheto ebirp breaks the Stillness as we pass. Ob! those moonlight drives and moonlight Sails upon the river! ALL HALLOws’ CHURCH. On the road from camp meeting (if you take the longest way) stands an old brick church— over two hundred years old—ealled “All Hal- lows.” It is @ quaint old structure, covered with ivy and almost hidden from the road by thickly clustering trees. Under the solemn shadow of these trees sleep “the rude fore- fathers” of the ancient settlement called “London Town.” Here, as far back as 1670, were buried many whose family namos have since become famous, through their descend- ants, in field and forum. Prominent among them I found such names as McPherson. Car- roll and Sprigg. The inscriptions on the head- sisbe are. still plain—more so, in- deed, than those of later date. Secluded. hid- den, almost forgotten, these hardy pioneers of civilization im fair Maryland rest in under the shadow of the gray old walls of “All Hallows.” mout ly interesting { the site of the old Indian ing posnie 3 about three miles trom London Town. Here repose the bodies of the natives whose hunting grounds were the Sooty Inepen Chass theres hae eek Cy heads aad other relics ar are still found here, but of the braves themselves nothing speaks but the gently swelling, almost obliterated mounds, grassy and flower-grown, which mark the place of their long repose. Days full of healthful enjoyment, nights still and sleepy, pass quickly away in this quiet nook of old London Town, and only too soon came my time for departure. But the lovely country lanes, the shining river and the hos- pitable inhabitants will linger pleasantly in my memory for many a day. RSB DEATH IS THE VALLEY’S NAME, A Cheerfal Little Desert Out in Southern California. xormixo cAN LIVE THERE AND NOT EVEN BIRDS FLY ABOVE IT—ITS SURFACE STREWN WITH DRIED MUMMIES OF MEN AND ANIMALS—WATER AND DEADLY HEAT. N all the ghastly region of desert that stretches from the Nasatch mountains to the Sierra Nevada the most horrible spot is that known [ as Death valley, in attempt- ‘{ ing to cross which—though = it is only about 15 miles broad—so many unfortunato people have lost their lives, said an officer of the, geological survey to writer for Tar Stan. . “Having myself been across it, Iam able to testify to its horrors. Imagine a narrow strip of arid plam shut in between two mighty walls of mountain, the peaks stretching up 10,000 feet into the burning sky. So precipitous are these rocky barriers that ins journey of 14 miles you pass froman eminence of 2 miles above sea level to the plain 175 fect below the ocean tide mark. When I visited Death valley a fow ycars ago my party went through a pass on the west side and stopped for the night at a spring about 5,000 feet above tho sea. The next morning we descended, our faces fanned by a cool breeze from the east. Before we got to the bottom that same breeze had become stifling hot. One thing worth mentioning as to the view in the valley was the grayish haze that commonly hangs over the landscape there, giving a misty look to the opposite mountain peaks and lending to everything a weird and sterious aspect. “One look at the landscape of Death valley is enough to convince you of the appropriate- ness of the name. There is vegetation, it is true, but even it docs not seem to be really and truly alive. It is mainly composed of cacti, which enjoy only a sort of sublife in the plant way anyhow. Whatever else there is of a yoge- table nature is extremely thorny and spiny, with leaves not green, but of the grayish hue of ashes. The ground isa dead level of cream- colored saltcrust and black lava, Through the crust of erhaps an itch in thickness, the hoofs of your horse break at every step. And the heat! It is unspeakable and intoler- able. There is a breeze, but such a breeze! Instead of being cool it is scorching hot—so that it actually blisters your face. The sun, which pours its rays into the valiey with never a cloud to interrupt them trom ono year's end to another, is blazing overhead, and the black lava, extraordinar: for its power to absorb heat, gives it forth again to raise the tempera- ture afew degroes higher. My thermometer inside my saddle bag, when I crossed the val- ley, went up to 130 degrees and then burst. ADSENCE OF WATER. “There is something unearthly about the whole appearance of things in the valley—the two ranges of gigantic peaks that hem it in between them looking like the backbones of a couple of monstrous beasts, and the gray haze rendering everything indistinct to the view. But it is the absence of water that is tho supreme horror of this natural furnace. So intensely dry 1s the air-—scientific observation has de ed it much drier than that of the Sahara—that the moisture of the body evap- orates with astonishing rapidity. This means that you have to drink more water; in fact. one needs two gallons a day instead of the three pints one ordinarily consumes, and still one is thirsty all the time. If you did nothing but sit down and drink water all the time you would stili suffer from thirst. As it is, consuming two gallons daily, your blood becomes thick- ened and your features grow thin and peaked. Obviously, in crossing the valley, one cannot very wellcarry with him more than enough for one day's supply of water. ‘The only way to do into harry across and reach the other side before one succumbs for want of drink. There are springs at the heads of some of the gorges of the mountains on cither side, If you know precisely in which of the gorges these springs are to be found, it is well enough, but if youare not certain on this point, you are hkely to become so exhausted, after traveling up to the heuds of one or two gorges iy, a8 to find nothing better to do than to lie down and die, what, according to tho testimony of those who have had experience, must be the most horrible of deaths. In the year I crossed Death valley two guides lost their lives there. One of them was with my surveying expedition. ‘The water gave out and finally—the party was not tho one I was with—it was agreed not to go any farther. So the party went back to the spring it had left that morning, while the guide obstinately pushed ahead, sure that he would find water, Evidently he was mistaken, for his corpse, not decomposed but dried up to a mummy, was subsequently found. “We got across the valley all right, though we drank up our supply of water during the morning, not getting any more until the next morning, when we were fortunate enough to find it on the other side. The sign of water, so eagerly looked for in that region, is green. Wherever there is water plants that have green leaves spring up in the midst of the gray desert vege- tation, Of course we iffered considerably. In Death valley thirty-six hours without water means death. We spent one night in the valley. The temperature at midnight was 117 degrees, and I never saw anything so weird as the aspect of the desert in the moonlight, of a curious sort that stand upright look- for all the world like dead men in curious postures about us, SUNBURNT ROCKS, “A suggestive feature of the Death valley landscape is the color of the mountain rocks, which are actually sunburnt to an iron-brown hue. Chip off a little flake and you find the stone of its natural lighter hue underneath. Streams flow from the mountain springs down toward the valley, but never reach it because the heat dries them up on the way. Once ina long while there will be a great storm to the southward. and a@ river a mile in width will flow into the valley. Does it flow out again at the other end? Not much. It is dried up and lost before it gets that far. In Death val- ley everything dies. Here and there over its plain of black lava and salt are scattered the remains of parties which have attempted to cross it. Their bodies, men and animals, lie there dried and preserved as mummies for agestocome. It was during the mining fever in that neighborhood, from 1872 to 1878, that most people were lost trying to pass over this Vailey of Death, having no knowledge of the location of the springs, ‘There are some springs at the south end of the valley which are deep pools, and in them certain kinds of fish are found unknown elsewhere in world. The naturalist with our expedition caught some of them and preserved them for classification. “Seventy miles south of Death valley is the so-called Devil's Playground—a horrible desert across which a wind like a furnace biast con- tinually blows, the black lava and hot sand of its great plain ‘ting back the sun's heat so that the whole landscape is tremulous to the ey Southeast of Death valley 100 miles is id mountain,’ on the side of which my thermometer has registered 140 degrves in the shade, On the east side the precipitous rocks are much brokon up,and the san shining on their white pomts aud angles makes the imoun- tain look from a distance as if whole conven- tions of ghosts were assembled upon it. The Indians believe, on this account, that the mountain is the abode of their dead warriors, Hence its name.” ae Tue Perrectiox or Ratuwar Taaver is ex- emplified inthe Royal Blue line trains now running between Washington, Baltimore, Phila- deipbia and New York via Baltimore and Ohio railroad. Each car in every train is vestibuled, including baggage cars, day coaches, parlor cars and sleepers, All are heated by steam and lighted by Pintsch gas. The anti-telescop- ing device is attached to every car, Around the ordinary traveler, riding in the day coach, is therefore thrown the same- degree of safety as guards the more exclusive passenger occu- pring the parlor or sleeping cars. The com- forts of the coach passenger are further pro- vided for through the separate lavatories for gentlemen and ladies in each car. A separate: smoking compartment in each car is ulso a new feature that will commend itself to the lovers of the weed. e —_-—__ The other day a couple of little came Li a gear —- —s 2 One them undertook the other and ed: “Doctor, thin is my sister, She is ht, fail, t physician: “Bo as plai too young to know her left arm from her somamma washed both of them.— Toronto Saye an cminen’ uncover their GALATEA OUTDONE. A Vision of Animated Canvas and Marble at: the Corcoran Gallery. BONAPARTE TAKES A WALK. a He Chats With Charlotte Corday and Hasa Round With J. Cevar—Charge of Detaliic’s “Passing Regiment”— ‘The Vestal Virgin and the Sieve Trick. — ‘Written for Tax Evewme Stan, NE DAY not long ago I went into the Corcoran Art Gallery to rest. It wasa “pay day,” but as I happened to be ersonally acquainted with the janitor I “tipped bim a wink” at the door and walked in just like an artist or a preacher (artists and preachers don’t pay). Consequent upon its being a “pay day” there were very few visitors at the gallery, and as the other visitors were in other parts of the building and the floor walker was asleep in his chair at the door, I may say that I had the main gallery of paint- ings to myself, While deeply absorbed in a study of Charles Louis Muller’s beautiful paint- ing of Charlotte Corday, and Weighing in my mind the relative vafue of the arguments ad- vanced by the different authorities as to whether Charlotte wore a plain white or a striped dress whea she went on the expedition looking to the ventilation of the gentle Marat's spleen, the soothing effect of the hot air at- mosphere of the gallery overcame my drooping eyelids and I dozed off into a gentle and swoct sleep. How long I slept I know not, when my attention was attracted by the sound of a human voice. At first thought some newspaper man was inter- viewing Pope Julius II or the man at the door had a nightmare, put on looking around I found that I was apparently alone. Just then I heard the dulcet tones of a female voice and turning quickly saw, much to my astonishment and alarm, that-Corday had changed her posi- tion in frame and was conversing with Napo- leon I, who had come up from his position on the first floor to pay a visit to his fair country- woman, NAPOLEON I VISITS CHARLOTTE CORDAY. Wondering what Charlotte might have to say to the emperor I listened. She was flatter- ing him and seemed to be succeeding better than did Mme. De Stael. ‘Yes, sire,” she said, “if you had appeared on the scenes a little sooner I would not have had to hurt poor dear Mr. Marat, for when you came you attended to everything and the people really had nothing to do with affairs,” “You are right, my dear,” answered the great man. ‘I could have gotten Marat killed in manner that would have been highly honorab! to himself. Marat lacked one quality essential toa great leader. He did not know how to Persunde poople that it was to thetr honor and interest to be killed. I possessed that faculty in a marked degree. Thousands of men marched to death at my command and es- teemed it an honor so to die.” JULIUS CASAR AND BONAPARTE HAVE A BOUT. “Oh, dry up!” exclaimed Gerome’s dead Cmsar, who had apparently come suddenly to lite again, “You never were half the man you cracked yourself up to be. You never crossed the Rubicon. You never licked Britain. You did get a few thousands of Frenchmen killed and steal q lot of pictures and statues from Italy, but if'I had been there you wouldn't have done it, and neither would you have pulled the pope's nose. Why. during one little trip up iato Gaul I killed as many Frenchmen as ou had killed in all of your wars,” oleon did not seem ll abashed at the sneering tone of his infinitely great-uncle, but turned and spoke to him in a very conciliatory tone. “Why, my dear uncle,” he said, “I am truly delighted to find you here and sufficiently recovered from Brutus’ gentlo thrusts to be able to converse with vOur kinsman, I have often wondered since my little experience with the Muscovite canines what you would have done had you been in my place. “Why, you incomprehensible conglomeration of pomposity and insignificance,” growled imperial cesar, ‘do yon suppose I would ever have attempted to spend a winter in Rus- sia, when I left Britain once before I had thor- oughly conquered it simply because oven its mild climate was too cold for my soldiers? No, sir, I would never have been in your place. Your case but proves the old adage, ‘Put a beg- war on horseback id he'll ride to the devil.’”” “Old Nap” began to get “riled” and I could see the red V in his forehead rapidl, turning purple. ‘You antiquated fossil,” he shouted, “you never even got to be a king, while I was emperor of the French, 1 made my little son king of the Rome you bluster so much about, You had bribed a Roman senat: of your own making to elect you king outside of Italy, but thar} friend, Brutus, euchered you, That's the ‘ind of men you associated ‘with—assassins! You follow poor, feeble Cato into Africa and scare him into suicide and you did bave fan with Cleopatra, and treat her sister, Arsinoe, badly because she was not so good looking, but you never did anything truly great, While I cultivated and encouraged iiteraturs and the arts and sciences, you burned the Alexandria library. That's the kind of a barbarian you are, and still you set yourself up as a greater man than I. Fudge!” OLD HICKORY PUTS IN BIS OAR, “Gentlemen.” I heard shouted from the west end of the hall, in the stentorian tones of Andrew Jackson, “if I may be allowed to word here I will state that I do not be- ither of you was as great a man as I. Neither of you could have defended New Orleans as I did, and I am of the opinion that it would have fatigued either of re very much to have had to carry my old hickory cane.” Isaw that there was going to be trouble, and, fearing that some of the valuable propert; of the Corcoran Gallery would be injured. an not caring to be mixed up in it, I turned from the men to the gentler sex. CORDAY HAD TURNED TO THE VESTAL TUCCIA and they were engaged in very animated con- versation. ‘Where did you get that beautiful dress,” asked Charlotte. ‘“Lhe mother superior gave it to me,” an- swered the vestal, “One day it was my turn to look after the sacred fire, and, after I had piled on alot of coke, I poured some coal oil on it and it flared up so suddenly that my old dress caught fire, The other girls dipped me into the Tiber and put it out, and the mother superior was so struck with my piety and de- votiou to duty that she gave me this new dress, Don't you think it's awfully stunning?” “Yes,” said Charlotte; “I wish I had had one like it to be executed in. I had been here in prison so long that Ihado’t a thing that was decent to wear, and I hated to appear before the public on my farewell tour in this old striped dress, but the kind-hearted executioner removed the covering from my neck and shoulders and my ‘beauty unadorned’ dis- tracted the attention of the dear people from my dilapidated wearing apparel, TUE SIEVE TRICK. “By the way,” Charlotte continued, “how about the story of the sieve? Is ita true bill?” “Til tell you about that,” answered the vestal, “but you mustn't giv. away. Mum's the word, you know, asthe messenger boys say when they bring us notes at the temple. You see. I had been accused of being naughty and had to do something startling to prove my in- nocence, x0 I thought of the scheme of tho sieve. The water.of the Tiber 1s very slimy und the sieve I used was afine one. I went out alone and filled the sieve several times, and each time I filled it ES Tasee erat bet hee haseeed of flirting Healt and "plaped ookoy" that nigey. anal he jookey* 6 Sock tb Spee tewn ousd tare ma tens Jo pokey ice cream. He's awfully jolly and stuck on me, gre him at the roller coaster a y, fe Paming Bectatnt” Jungel the canven and cl floor to attack Cmesar at the well-known command. ‘THE EJECTMENT. . Iwas aroused bys heavy hand laid on my shoulder and « rude shake, and the gen- tleman who acts as master of ceremonics when tired pilgrims go in the gallery eye me that it “no that my friend the janitor refused to shake ds with me, and told me that he would not have admitted me if he had kuown I was drunk. The gentleman who had escorted me down the stairs was preparing to make mv exit more emphatic than graceful, when the curatot, who is an urbane and kindly gentleman, came out of his office and said: “Handle him gently, boys, he may bo somebody's darling.” CITY AND COUNTRY PEUPLE. A Bright “Farmer’s Wife” Reads the Smart Reporters a Lesson. To the Editor of Tar Evenrxo Stan: Epxor, Mp., Sept. 11. The Agricultural Socioty of Montgomery county has arrived, apparently, at that stage in ite career when the special artist has ap- peared upon the scene of the fair grounds in Rockville, and your issue of Saturday last de- voted considerable space to depicting us coun- try people with pen and pencil. Now wo re- gard the Washington Stan with respect and affection asa valued member of our family, and conscquently are too much interested not to take it little to task when we think it meni- festly in fault, ‘The very corner stone of our republic rests upon the broad fundamental principle that all trades and professions are equal, but for gener- ations the farmer has been under a ban of sarcasm, and we are puzzling once more over the old conundrum, why, oh, why does tho average reporter treat all tillers of the soil with such scant deference? If we find ourselves in the city we do not select the homeliest cake woman and the sbabbiest car driver and say~‘yes, these are citizens, types of all the rest’— yet this is ex- actly the way we are regarded by the brother- hood of the quill, Are our manners always awkward, our attire always antiquated and un- becoming, our sentences always bristling with obsolete phrases and mispronounced words, or does the reporter frequently mistake the hired man for the proprietor and the wash- woman for his wife? ‘That the crowd, numbering six or seven thousand, scattered over our beautiful, natural amphitheater contained quaint, ignorant and oseibly vicious people by the score we do not joubt, but there were ten times as many present whose appearance denoted a far higher grade of edueation and refinement. Burns wished that the power ‘to seo ourselves as ithers sce ws” might be bestowed upon humanity, but if these same “ithers” view uscritically at all times, and too often with open contempt, we may well pause and ask ourselves whethor it is worth while to be cmbarrassed or distressed by the scrutiny of eyes afflicted with a chronic, moral strabismus, THE CITY GIRL AND THE COUNTRY GIRL. ‘The country girl is supposed to show dense stupidity if she mistake faille for mulls or gros- grain for brocade, but her cit y cousin is in nowise abashed by never being able to distin- guish wheat or oats from rye at any stage of their growth, and not always, after they are threshed, She would deem it useless to tax the powers of her mind to the extent of know- ing a Baltimore oriole froma woodpecker, or a robin from acat bird, forgetting that while fabrics are sure to get out of date, grain and birds will always be in fashion. The young man trom the rural district may not recognize at asingle glance the vast and important difference between a Victoria and a landau, or a dog cart and an village cart, but there are ten chances to one that he could tuke a horse from either vehicle without unfasten- ing every buckle in the harness, and feed the tired animal without foundering it, which may be quite beyond the ability of his disdainful city companion, * It is as well perhaps to ré- member sometimes that even immaculate attire and gold-washed jewelry may not invariably be the badges of real intelligence, We confess to an ill-natured delight when we secure a good piece of evidence on tho other side, and with your permission will give a few instauces drawn from life. Your reporter seems to have been infinitely amused by the incident of the “two” mouths “with but a single” plate, *‘two” spoons that ‘eat as one.” Now, we do not assert that this may not havo occurred at Rockville, in fact from the number of times the anecdote has appeared in print during the last twenty years, some frugal Montgomery husbandman may thus have learned that such economy was possible, Never- theless we do not believe that this parsimony of food is at all common in the country; the farmers are apt to be a little too lavish in pro- viding for the inner man, But this we do know: One of our neighbors, with a commend- able desire to return five or six visits of ten days’ duration each that a city friend had paid him, spent a day and night under tho roof tree of his frequent guest, who was the happy possessor of at least a hundred thousand dollars. After tea a waiter of apples was brought in and placed before the host, who proceeded to pare and quarter some of ‘them efore they were handed, remarking that they always served ae in that way! Still, al- though we know this to bea fact, we are far from believing that there are not many house- holds in every city where fruit is offered whole to “the creep within the gates,” even though he hail from the country. A city man who happened to be driving a few minutes behind a daily stage, alighted at our entrance, picked up our paper and carried it a mile to a store saying,that he supposed the mail currier had dropped it! If we ever hap- pen to pass his door just as the postman is leaving, we will try to return the favor by bestowing /us paper upon the corner grocet Within the past year we met a young lady who was nearly or quite ready to enter college. The higher algebra, geometry and trigonom- etry were hers, as also French, Latin nnd Greek; but she was not well educated after all, since she thought it was necessary to pare potatoes before planting them! ¥ We are constan‘ly informed in various ways of tle intensely verdant hue which our sojourn among the stones. instead of on them, is sup- posed to impart, but we are convinced. that there is more than one kind of verdancy in the world and that thero is no “corner” in it pecu- liarly ours, ~ Now, Mr. Eaitor, we could still cite other cases in point, but wiil forbear, and “In spite of all temptation ‘0 belong to another vocation" Remain A Fanwen’s Wire. aco nls Willing to Assist Her. From the Pittsburg Dispatch. ‘Mornin’, medam! Want any combs, brushes, hair pins, table cloths, towels, lead pencils tooth brushes or chewing gum?” The peddier put his hat on the floor,and opened his pack as he asked the question. “No, sir,” said the woman, sharply, and I don’t want any dime novels, nor chalk eggs, nor 5-cent culico, nor tooth powder, nor pigs- in-clover puzzles, nor Jamp wicks, nor eye salve, nor corn plasters, nor liquid blue.” “Just so. And I suppose it’s no uso to ask whether you'd like to look ata of wrin- kle fillin’ for old complexions?” “Not a bit, sir, and I know you haven't got any books on good manners, or you'd read em yourself occasionally.” “None of the people Teall on would appre- ciate 'em, madam. And now ro think you have no use for the celebrated invisible ear trumpet that you can fasten in ‘your kitchen window and hear everything teow ‘meighbors say, or the famous jeod-ranee kitchen telescope that will bring every ‘ik yard within hali a mile of your house so close to you that you can almost smell the Pipes the men are smokin’, on the ll be goin’.” !" exclaimed the woman of the house. “I don’t know but I would tike to buy those two articles, if they. don't cost too much, ht, madam,” rejoined thi idler, uy bay bs "em to sell ‘steer him reund this way. Hornin’ madam.” He picked up his hat; put it on his head side- wise, and went down the steps whistling “Lit- tle Annie cans” leaving @ large crooked- nosed, raw-boned woman on the porch gasping im inarticulate rage, outof} SECRETARY TRACY AT A LOSS. Private Giles Keeps Secret the Place Where He Got His Liquor. This village, quiet and far removed from the world of noise and bustle, says an Owego special to the New York Tribune, was formerly the home of Secretary Tracy and there is hardly a man, woman or child nere who does not know the Secretary. It was here that he began his Practice of law and distinguished himself be- fore sage justices of the peace and in the county courts. There is hardly an old-time country lawyer in the neighborhood who cannot tell tories of cow-and-pig cases in which “the gon- eral,” ashe is familiarly called, won viliage fame as counsel. His argument and summing up in these cases were as careful as if the well- being of a great corporation depended upon the result and many s hard-working farmer and village shopkeeper have reason to bo glad of having engaged “the general.” There was an occasion, however, upon which Mr. Tracy's argumentative faculties completely deserted him and left him entirely at a loss. Early in the war Lawyer Tracy became Col. ‘Tracy and went to the front‘with the one hun- dred and niuth New York volunteers, a regi- ment which he had organized. The regiment rejoiced in a private, “Bri” Giles by name, who was recruited at Owego and who gave Col. Tracy more trouble than the enemy. It was not that “Bri” Giles loved his country less, but that he loved his whisky more. He would get drunk at the most inopportune times, and whenever drunk he was utterly unmanage- Tracy cut off all of th which “Bri” probably got hi still “Bri” got it and often got a “stili.”” Long confinement in the guard house seemed to have no effect upon the incorrigible private, and he invariably celobrated his release py» hearty drunk. Until discovered by Col. Tracy he would carry the barrel of his musket plugged upand fuil to the muzzle of his cherished liquor. When Col. Tracy put a stop to the use of this ingenious flask, by decreeing that “Bri” should be a soldier without a gun,““Bri” bought boots bigger than his feet would fill, and upon a march used the unoccupied space in them for “tangle-foot” (literally true). At last Col. Tracy became thoroughly dis- gusted, and resolved at all cost to discover where Giles got bis liquor. After “Bri” had becn drunk for an unusuaily long time the colone! sent for , and although the man was stil! far from sober he was able to stand alone and to talk plainly enough to be under- stood, The conversation that ensued was the following: Col, Tracy—Gilea, jes—Yesh (hic) shur (hic), . Tracy—I understand you have been upon another regular drunk. Giles—Enny (hic) body (hic) told ye that, Frank, (hic) told the truth. (When drunk he invariably called Col. ‘Tracy ““Frank.") Col. Tracy—Now, Giles, I'll make @ proposi- to you. Ifyou will tell where you get the whisky, I'll iet you off; otherwise I am going to ptnish you so severely that you will never for- get it. Giles—Goin’ to (hic) punish me? Col. Tracy—That’s what I'm going to do if you don’t tell, Giles—She here, Frank (approaching and becoming confidential) if ennybody (hic) asks you where “Bri” Giles gets his (hic) whishkey you shay—no! (hic) you shay you won't tell ‘im (hic), You shay you don’t know (hic). Ye jush tell ‘im ye don'tknow, and by —! (hic) Fran, that'll (hic) be the truth, * ‘The present head of the Ni was completely staggered, and “Bri punished severely, Giles is still living, ona little farm near Owego, and drives in fre- ently to get his dearly beloved jug filled to the neck. fle has done it over eines the war and, drunk or sober, he swears by Secretary ‘Tracy and votes for him for President at every election. PERTAL ea \G TO THE TABLE. Some Pretty Decorations Described— Guésts Fed at a Guinea a Head. From the Chicago Post. The feature of the Stanley wodding breakfast was crystalized edible roses, gardenies and orange flowers arranged in sprays along the table. Here, however, is something prettier and more suitable: Plant date stones in small flower pots filled with rich, peaty soil and sand; water well and keep warm and they grow into pretty table palms, with long piunate leaves, Some English noblemen—the Duke of Suth- erland for onc—bave cont with their chefs to provide for every guest at 80 much a head, Aguinea a head ‘is considered fair terms. Dinners are not such serious affairs nowadays as they used to be. About half the number of dishes are prepared for a dinner now that used to be. ‘The people don't stay at the tablo now long enough to digest a good dinner. It was all quick, quick, said monsieur. In the season some of the French chefs find it pays very well to go out working by the job. They get about five guineas for doing a dinnez. ‘Chis often takes two days to get through. Sets of peach knives, with curved, keen- pointed, gold-plated blades and handles of Hungarian porcelain are the last coquetry of the dinner table. Exquisite dessert bowls and flagons appear inthe amber glass, cased in gold filigree, set with sparks of jeweled glass, if not real small stones. The choicest dinners, however, for summer aro set out with white, satiny linen andubundance of crystal in pierced silver setting and only faintly tinged flowers and ferns are allowed ‘in the white, icy glitter. The plush dinner scarfs and colored satin underlays are left to hotel and restaurant din- ners. A plush mat is out of taste. About our eating we want nothing that will not wash and come out purity: itself. Besides plush and satin are “smelly” and recal] the roast duck and celery sauce too tong. Linen damask, cut work and drawn borders are the only fabrics allowable near a dinner tuble and these are elegant enough in ali conscience. ‘The flowers are best of the scentless sort or with subdued perfume. Sweet peas are too much with stewed chicken and mushrooms. Sccntless gar- den pinks, corn flowers and black scabious do not force their odor upon you. Spider lilies, clematis (white and purple), late spinas are sate table flowers, arranged with ferns and ciperns in loose feathery sprays as high and lightly as possible. Seeding and quaking grasses are very grace- ful among the flowers, which should be starr: and single or much ruffled and silky rea f The big hybrid perpetual roses are too much for graceful decoration. They look fitter for the salad bowl, Between the outer vases ar- range oblong dishes of dessert fruits, the smaller the better, as the Alpine strawberries, which are in supply till November if any one tikes the troute. to grow them, a saucer of which will perfume aroom. But’ no crystal- ized fruit in summer, please. - sone ——— Winning a Wife in Arkansas, From the Chicago Herald. ‘The sun had just broken over the tops of the Ozarks one warm morning in July’ The mist that always settles thickly over these half mountains with the nightfall was going to pieces and disappearing as the sun rose higher, leaving the green and dense verdure heavy and wet with the dew. Ina cozy nook on a | overhanging tho wild little stream that dashes down from a soning wing a a eo was seated, oarnes! ing & jewsharp. He twanged ny circa Pingtal with his ‘tiumb, keeping time by splashing one of his bare feet in the clear water below. After ten minutes, during which time the sun had got high enough to shine straight in his eyes. he took the harp from his mouth and, wiping it on the leg of his trousers. exclaimed: » “Thar! Ef thet don’ settl’er, whut will?” Before he had spoken another word a stranger steppod from bebind a big tree and sed him: ad “That was the best tune I ever heard played on one of those instruments,” ‘The mountaineer looked at the stranger a drawing himself up in a in’ time kem she Fer'loss Tkin play ther jows a eee an’ I wuz thinkin’ DECAYED NOBILITY. Representatives of Noble Houses En- gaged in Humble Occupations, From the Sar. Francisco Chronicle, America has had its German and French counts and barons as conductors of street cars, and has been humbly served by them in restau- rants, but these have been sporadic cases. Europe is full of impoverished nobility, de- scendants of heroes of the crasades and of medieval wars, who were in their time the rulers of petty kingdoms and the companions of great monarcha. Many of these, those of France and Italy in particular, are making desperate efforts to regild their tarnished coronets with the gold of American heiresses, A French writer has, after carefal research, made a list, which is necessarily partial, of the representatives of somo of the noblest fam- ilies of his country who are now in the hum- ble, not to say humblest, walks of life. He has found two descendants of Sully, the famous minister of Henry IV, working as masons’ as- mstants or apprentices, A gonaine Babon- Bourdaisiere, descendant of a great family of the middle ages, makes'a pitiable living by means of the wash tub. A Count de la Marche, whose ancestors intermarried with kings, is a house painter. A Hauteroche, great grand- son of the chivalrous leader at the battle of Ponteroy, who politely said to the English. “Gen- tlemen, fire first!” is a simple gendarme at Gramat, a French provincial town. A St. Megrin, descendant pf ‘the favorite of Henry IIL, kero of well- a known play of" Alexander the Damas younger, exercises the calling of a D’aris conch- | trothal. man. The blood of De Grailly de Foix, a famous military commander of the fourteenth century, flows in the veins of a chorns singer at the Grand Opera. Gaston de Foix. the most celebrated of the family, which wus of S lied Phebus on’ account of his de locks and his remarkable beauty. He was devoted to the chase and had a pack of 1,600 dogs. A prominent miller bears the ttle of Baron do Rosgrand. and a descendant of the De Retz family, one of whom was the great cardinal, the bete noir of Anne of Austria dur- ing the times of the Fronde, digs graves and plays the fiddle for rustic dances in the depart- ment of Finisterre. The line of the De Crequys,a family of Picardy in the north of France, is said to date back to the year 857, The present St, Crequy is a day laborer in his native province. ‘Ihe preset % Paul counts among his ancestors counselors, cardinals. prelates and confidential advisers of kings of different epochs. He con- tents himself with a small salary paid by a gas company. A Marquis de Follinge is an omi bus conductor, whose tarnished uniform does not indicate his rank. A Beaumanoir is an humble employe of the customs at Guerande. A De Montlers and a D'Aube in the same manner. All these very ancient. One of the Beaumanoirs wi companion in arms of the celebrated Breton warrior Du Gueschn, It is related of him that, being wounded and suffering from thirst on the field of battie. he asked for water. Some ons near him brutally replied: “Drink your blood; it will refresh you.” A Marquis de Torce: Etallond is an inn keeper at Carnac and a Countess Aimee de Dieusse- Bremont, one of those annoying persons called ouvresues, is atthis moment at the Chatelet Theater. ‘No occupation could be more insig- nificant unless it be that of seller of mouse traps, in which is engaged a Count of St. John. Of the tamilies just mentioned the Bremonts were in the service of Charles VIII with Sai tonge. The De Tareys were allied to the fam- ily of Colberts, rendered celebrated by the great minister of Louis XIV of that name. Descendants of kings figure in the list. A law suit in Paris a few yeurs ago brought to L.ght a real Bourbon who was selling vegetable: from a handcart. A descendant of the Val kings is a letter carrier im a provincial town, Not loug ago a Paris court sentenced to prison two representatives of the old noblesse who lived by pretended subscriptions to charitable objects. About the same time a Frenchman who had married an American girl and cor- responded with American newspapers was con- demned for wearing the false title of baron. Paris is full of poor noblemen who live by their wits, and false titles there aro as plenty as blackberries, All of which should be a warn- ing to American mammas on the lookout for aristocratic marriages for their daughtors, coe HOME MATTERS. Seasonable Suggestions and Every-Day Hints to Practic: jousekeepers. Tex Eaos make one pound. Haxps May Be Kerr Smoot in cold weather by avoiding the use of warm water. Wash them with cold water and soap. Tap Cay Eastry Be Rewovep from clothing by immediately rubbing it well with clean lard and thea washing out with warm water and soap. Yettow Srarys, left by sewing-mwachine oil on white, may be removed by rubbing the spot with a cloth wet with ammonia before washing with soap, To Make Goop Mucirace without using gum arabic, take two parts of dextrine, five rts of water and one part of acetic acid, ge by heating and add ono part of alco- 0) Oxe or THe Best Turxos to cleanse the scalp thoroughly is to dissolve one-half tea- spoonful of borax in a quarto water and ap- ply it, rubbing it in well. Rinse thoroughly in clear water, To Cixan Manere mix whiting with com- mon soap till thick as paste. Spread it on the marble and leave it for a couple of days. When the paste is cleaned off the stains will also be removed. A Canret, Espectatty a Dane Ose. often looks dusty directly after sweeping. Wring a sponge almost dry out of water and wipe off the dust from the carpet. It will brighten it quite effectively. Lonszer 1s Nick Frrep like any other kind of fish. Take regular slices of the solid por- tion and fry in hot butter or fat from slices of salt pork, which seasons it and gives it a dif- ferent taste from any of the other modes of cooking. Save Sratz Preces or Baran, and when an easy day comes dry them thoroughly in an “open oven, and with a rolling pin crush as fine as dust. These, then, will always be at hand for preparing oysters, cutlets, croquettes, &c. Pueasast Raixy Day Work for the older children is to be found in the making of a scrap book of the portraits of noted men and women, the portraits to be obtained from pub- lishers’ catalogues, magazines, newspapers and other available sources, Canpace 1x Batren.—Take a cold boiled cabbage that is pretty firm. Cut it into small squares, lay them in a pie dish, sprinkling them with pepper and salt and a dash of vine- gar. Make a very light baking batter and pour it over the cabi Bake in a very quick oven. Eat while hot, Paxxep Oxsters prepared thus are excel- lent: Drain the oysters and wipe them dry, In a shallow drippmg pan melta large lump of butter, without allowing itto brown. Throw in the oysters and shake and stir them con- stantly until they are sufficiently cooked, then jay them on slices of toast arranged before- hand ina dish. It is bestto do time and send them to the table in relays, so the toast may not become sodden, Sweet Cucumper Pickte.—Direct from the vine. Drop the cucumbers in vinegar, let them remain there a day or two, then take as hy ickles in a in kettle, as they are Tarn dark in and to canker in brass. Cu- i i Fl ff F ERg ks if fi I [ i 2 ; i é E i He Hi “ ‘f Fy f it Hi id é H unl ante THE WEDDING RING. its History Runs Back to the Begin. ming of Recorded Time. From the Detroit Free Proms. It is an incontrovertible faet that every woman fecls a certain interest in the subject of wedding rings. And, indeed, it is natural enough that this should beso. Type and sym- bol beyond aught else of the most important crisis in m woman's life, the wedding ring must necessarily be fraught with fascination for wife and maid. for old and young alike. Hence it is likely that some matter of enter- tainment may be found in the study of ite his- tory and associations Evers one knows that rings were worn in old Bible days, though what part they originally played in the nuptial cercmony is not so clear. But at any rate they form an important portion of the wedding service among the modern Jews, the regulations in force among them om thie hoad being very strict. The ring must in every case be examined and certified by the officide- ing rabbi of the synagogue, to make sure that itis of the prescribed value, and the simple operation of placing it upon the finger is e¢ binding that this alone, apart from any other Portion of the ceremony, is considered to com stitute a legal marriage, In point of fact, however, it je mot from the Jews but from the Romans that the nations of modern Europe derive their wedding ring. Among the ancient masters of the world rings were commouly used as part of the rite of be- Butit is worth while to notice that there was one special difference betweon the ancient and modern use of rings in this respect. In their original employment they were really not wedding but betrothal rings. that i, they Were given and taken as the public expression of a man’s promive toa woman that he would marry her. Asa learnod has told usin regard to the early Italians, “a man who Wished to pledge his faith to a woman placed pon her finger, which is at the present preserved for the benediction of mar- Two points are to be remembered—that im old days there were two distinct ceremonies— the betrothal and the actual wedding—both of which were equally essential to the full solem- nization of a marriage; and, also, that the ring was originally used not for the second cere- y, but for the first. Such was the custom the pagan era, and #0 it remaii throughout the early centuries of Christianity. Marriage even then, and for a considerable period afterward, was regarded in the light of “civil contract only and was entered into be- fore a magistrate, while the ring iteclf was used as the symbol of promise in the prelim- inary rite of betrothal, Gradually, these two ceremonies became merged into one by the loss on the part of the betrothal of its first formal character. For some time after this, and in consequence of it, there was no small uncertainty in the use of the ring, which was not infrequently left out of the business altogether. But after a while it reasserted its importance and once more came into general use. Moreover, it now began for the first time to limit iteclf habitually to the single hoop of plain gold—a form which has become inseparably connected with all our modern notions of what the wedding ring should be. It will thus be seen—to the surprise, doubt less, of not a few of readcrs——that the wedding ring is not a Christian institut rather one which we bi with so much else in our from classical antiquity. e to mention a curious point in connection with its common employment. In pagan Kome the betrothal ring was worn on the third finger (the one next to the hittic finger) of the left hand. as itis today. This position is said to have been chosen from the belief —unfounded, of course—that there was a vein or nerve run- ning directly from that finger to the heart, a belief which was accepted, not alone by the ignorant masses, but also by the learned men— the doctors and philosophers of the time. But in early Christian days a good deal of confusion seems to have prevailed upon the matter, as @ result of which the ring was often placed and worn upon the woman's right hand. In the old Salisbury Manual is found «pecific reference to this fact in a very singular passage, which throws some interesting light on the subject of the wedding ceremony in general. From this we learn that the bridegroom was to re- ceive the ring from the priest, who had blessed it (and this blessing, it may be remarked, is still hinted at im tho marriage service of the English Episcopal church), and then holding the right hand of the bride m his own left hand, he was to recite the words, “With this ring I thee wed.” Then he was to place the ring on the mght hand thumb, saying, “In the name of the Father;” then on the first finger with the words, “and of the Son;” then on the second finger, adding, “and Holy Ghost,” and finally, with the closing “Amen” on the third finger, where it was to remain, But in course of time uniformil was established in favor ot the left hard, am there is no longer room for question con- cerning this important point. Of course, no one acquainted with the marriage service of the English Episcopal cburch needs to be told that it is absolutely necessary, according to the rites of that church, that « ring should be em- ployed. But beyond the simple ordinance tha’ & ring there must be the church makes no spe- cific conditions, so that, curious as it may ap- ring of any size or weight, mat or will serve the purpose perfectly well. t is naturally enough not often that one has to any departure from recognized cus- egard, but such departures do from time to time occur. A story is told of two aupers ‘who came to church and reqnested to Po csarriod with tho charch key. as the chial authorities had not furnished them with @ ring.” The clerk, it is said, not unnaturally fele *wome delicacy” about tiris and finally found another way out of the difficulty. He fetched an old curteir ring from his own house and with this extraordinary article the loving couple were duly united in the bonds of holy matrimony. But, though this particular clerk saw fit to hesitate, the church key has been employed, and that more than once, in place of the ring during the last hundred years, Even the Duke of Hamilton *‘was married at May Fair with a bed curtain ring.” Nor doos this by auy means exhaust the list of eccentrio makeshifts, To give my one other instance, it is a matter of history that a lady was once married with a ring of leather cut transversely from the finger of the bridegroom's glove, Thus the plain gold hoop now sanctioned by long usage, and surrounded as it is by untold associations, is by no means 80 essential to the marriage ordinuuce as most people suppose, Indeed, it is only during more recent yearé that it has been accepted as the only proper form of wedding ring, for in former days rings used for marriage were frequently chased or set with stones or inscribed on the inside or outside with names, “ped wk ero g nught give a long list of these mottoes or as they were calied, but it would hardly be found interesting or instructive, for they were not as a rule distinguished by great poetio i od abit) thought. The following. picked ut slmost at random, will do very woll as samples: “Our contract Was heaven's act® aurea “as x wear oving wite® “God unite - Our hearts aright,” phi has no end Our loves be #0 No ‘kuow."” And then, ofa more purely personal char acter, such ob this: Fats pommitno act of The above are neither better nor —e the average of the innumerable mottocs common use; but others were sometimes em- ployed which, if more in their concep- tion, were also of a less innocent character. The old poet Herrick, whose verses are often comely poet ‘which, ‘of course contens ine -ohvenl tee ivuee good ia matte and form to be passed over here: Sand as thie round i — @— — “Gs'Pure as gold forever!™ it the Jike al obo creases ames Nowadays it may indeed be said that its adven- we Bf ey See as phesying that 00 ws heart beat 16 aloe keep its hold — Oe = FF bol bf faith and sscrifice and love. The Invitation Was Actepted. ‘From the Atchison Globe. ‘Whenever a certain Atchison man buys a big watermelon or catches a big string of fish he invites every one he meets on the strect te panty temeg mpremye tg el he invited Toten eee to eatin the house, has been 80 spoon to hatsinos, ‘