Evening Star Newspaper, March 21, 1891, Page 8

os a __ eee THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. SATUR TALE OF A CATS GHOST Strange Adventure Which Befel the Tenants of a G Street House. A PHANTOM ON THE STAIRS. Surprising Occurrences Which Oceasioned an Amiabie Family Discomfort—A Novelty in the Way of « Four-Legged Spook—Why It Was That It Walked. E HAVE MOVED away from street, said a Washington girl the other day to a young qneintance who writes for Twe Sran. “Other people might have en- ‘Sdured such annoyance as we suffered with more patience, bnt we fond it altogether too trving on our nerves. We took the house immediately upon our ar- rival in Washington last December. N. was said to us about anything disa connected with it and so no preliminary appre- hensions on our part prepared our minds for what subsequently occurred. Wasgiven no suggestion in advance of the sort that affords encouragement to hallucination: Besides, the happenings were witnessed not merely by one or two persons, but by the entire household, including my father, myself. my mother, my brother. and ever. the servants. “It must have been about one week after we moved in that we first took notice of anything Unusual, and then it did not occur to having any significance out of the ordinary. ‘was going up stairs after ‘linner to dress for the theater when I stumble) over something about midway on the first flight and fell upon one knee, hurting myself so that I cried out. At the same moment I heard a faint ‘miauow' and reeived that I must have stepped upon a cat. Now, that was especially aggravating. because all of us, with the exception of my mother, have a perfect horror of cats. M¥ father has | entertained for the animal an instinc- tive antipathy so strong that, according to his strict crders, no cat isever admitted to the | 4" house. | TT WAS THE car. was so lamed by the accident that I gare ‘Up going to the play. Inquiries were made as to how the cat got in, but the servants de- clared that they had seen no eat enter the house or go out of it. Itseemed queer, but within a day or two the oceurrence was forgotten and nothing iaore was thonght of it for the time being. About a fortnight had elapsed when it ‘was suddenly recalled to mind. ‘My father was coming down stairs from study at 10:30 in the evening for the pu Of tocking up the house before going ‘to bed. when, a few steps below the first landing, he beard close behind him a distinct whisper. Not only did the whisper appear unmistakably a | whisper. but as the whisper of a man in anger. | He turned. startled. and, in doing so, put his | foot upon something soft and yielding. The | something. which he did not have time to see Uttered a ‘miauow.” while he was tripped up by it so as to barely escape a serious fall by grasp. | ing the stair rail. “I don't think I ever saw papa qnite soangry ashe was on that oceasiot.. He swore dread fully, demanding to know how it w: bad for the second time been allowed to get ! into his house, against his explicit orders. Also, | he was convinced that he had heard 2 man's Whinper on the stairs und that there was some one in the house. So every one was summoned to take part in a search, which extended from attic to cellar. ‘Ihis proving fruitless, my father came to the conclusion that the whisper had been an illusion. and accordingly turned Bie attention to berating the domestics on the | score of the cat. He declared that they should both be at once discharged if the beast ob- tained admittance again. “That excitement had had time to subside, #0 that the recollection of the mysterious pussy only lingered in our minds as an occasional | subject for joke, when one day the upstairs | irl—an excellent servant whom we had Brought with us to Washington ‘came’ to my | mother almost in hysterics, with « dust pan in | ene hand and a broom in the other, and de- | elared that she must give warning at once, in- | samuch as it was impossible for her to remain in hotiz thai was bewitched. Mamma did what | she conld to soothe her. and at length suc- ceded in obtaining from her a somewhat inar- ticulate and disjointed «tory. The points of it, however, were clearly enough stated. THE HOUSE WAS BEWITCHE: “Tt seems, according to the young woman's ‘secount, that she was sweeping down the stairs—it was about 10 o'clock in the morning | and there was plenty of daylight—when some- | thing she did not see got in the way of her broom. She looked to find out what it was, and, perceiving nothir | stronger sweep. To her astonishment her | broom was again impeded. though the viewless | ‘obstacle appeared to remove itself at once with that a eat | gentleman of her ac-| thing | eable | Therefore there | | wished to marry a | liked the man intensely, | rele. | his temper entirely, followed after her to ha gree, overcame our fears. None of us had ever come into contact with anything that savored of the supernatural before and the sen- rion was a novelty. ‘All this had passed within two minutes at the most. Again we listened and the whi on the stairs seemed louder than before. y were clearly two voices—a man’s angry tones and the pleading accents of a woman. You cannot ly imagine how fearsome a thing it was to hear all this going on up the very flight of steps we stood at the bottom of and yet to see nobody—absolutely nobody. All at once there was audible a subdued exclamation, ‘miauow’ of a cat and then what sounded like the fail of something heavy on the stairs themn- | selves. | "We looked at one another, appalled. Mamma’s face had tarned white as a sheet and pa and Tom half carried her into the draw- ing room, where she was brought around with smelling ‘salts. I nearly fainted myself and even Tom looked a little pale about the gills, as he himself would have expressed it. As quickly as she felt herself again my mother declared that she would on no account sleep in the house another night. I was very much of the same mind myself, and the upshot of it wax that we woke ep tome | friends of ours across the street und became their guests until morning, while my brother and father, disdaining to exhibit such coward- ice, remained at home. We moved out the fol- lowing day and rented a dwelling on New Hampshire avenue, which, though somewhat | less commodions, has the great advantage that | it contains no resident ghosts. THE AGENT KNEW TUE MOUSE WAS HAUNTED. | “When papa went to give up his keys to the | house in G street the real estate agent said that | he would not require the customary month's Tent as an equivalent of warning. He regretted | to learn that my father had suffered annoyance ihe felt that he owed an apology. Previous | tenante had left the house for like reasons, ing that it was haunted, | mentioned the matter my father. This wax | Sery definite and had ‘supposed. it to be pure | Motiseuse. ‘The house in qnestion was thirty years old, but in excelient repair. Up to within four yearv it had been owned by an old gentle- man of eccentric and eremite habits, after whose death it had hands, to be sold again shortly for subsequent oceupaney by severel successive tenants, | Would my father be kind enough to state in detail precixely what he had observed that was out of the ordinary during the term of his own father complied, giving fally all the “which I have here related. Aw the -¥ progreswed the real estate agent's face be- came more and more grave. Before it had come i he was striding upand down the room nervously. At its conclasion he sat downagain and spoke with much earnestness. THE AGENT'S STORY. ‘You will understand.’ he «nid, ‘why your words have occasioned me such agitation when I shall have mentioned to you a few facts which were communicated to me by my father, since dead. I will be brief. ‘Twenty-five years ago the eccentric old gentleman of whom I spoke, at that time somewhat passed middle life and well known in Washington society. lived in that G street house and entertained » good deal. He had one remarkably pretty danghter. She ung lawyer of very mod- erate means, who hear of the match. The party be had chosen for her was a rich friend of his own, not very youthful, whom he brought home constantly and encouraged to consider himself ami de la maison, This did not please the girl, who dis- nd_there were quar- As for marrying im, she declared point blank that she would not. One evening this favored person had come to spend the night and, at about 11 o'clock, had retired ‘to his room, _ leaving his host and the host's laughter in’ the parlor down stairs. Between the two latter a colloquy ensued upon the old subject of dispute. ‘Ihe father was exasperated to the point of usin, violent language and threats, so that at leng the young lady bade him good night suddenly, left the parlor and started up the stairs to bed. Unfortunately, the old gentleman, who had lost his say out, and even pursued her up the steps, cansing her to halt and listen to his remarks, which were uttered in angry whispers in order that they might not be overheard by his guest. She replied in the same tone, with appeals to im to desixt, but her tinal word so exasperated her father that he either struck or pushed her with some violence. Whichever it was, she lost her balance and stepped with all her weight upon her pet cat, which was following her. It gave a yell and she fell down the stairs. When she was picked up it was found that her neck was broken. The cat waé so injured that it died ‘All this was learned in detail from the testimony of the cook. She had been enter- taining company in the kitchen and was trying to sneak npstairs without being observed by the master, who discountenanced late hours. Waiting behind the dining room door for a good opportunity she overheard the quarrel and witnessed what ensued. The old gentle- man escaped a trial because of his clear nc- counting for the occurrence as an accident, the uncontested fact of the cat's instrumentality and the notoriety of the cook as a liar. How- ever, you and I inay be inclined to think that in this instance she told the truth. You will g. gave another and a | Comprebend my interest im the case when I! tell you that the young lawyer who loved the murdered girl was my own father.’ ” ———_— & ‘spit’ and ‘miauow’ very audible. It was the eat again and yet no cat at all. | “The girl, upon being further questioned. | stuck to this story in its every detail. and in | truth we all were inuch amazed when we heard | it. owing to ite remarkable correspondence to | the experiences of my father and myself. As to the honesty and sincerity of her narrative We were perfectly convinced, though it occurred | to usthat her fancy might have been stimn- lated by her knowledge of the previous hap- | mings in which a cat that was heard and felt | at not seen had apparently been concerned. | Probably we should have made np our minds | that the whoie affair was the reeult of imagina- ion mistakenly exercixed—my own illusion | suggesting papa’s and both stories influencing | the mind of the maid servant-had it not been that thirty-six hours later something happened whieh brought the whole matter suddenly to a €risis. “I think I may say that in our family we are | very far from being superstitious people. e! of us have ever indulged any belief in spooks or spiritual phenomena of any sort. If it had | been otherwise we should doubtless have got | eurselvet pretty thoroughly frightened over | small events Ihave described. As it wax We were disposed to refer them to natural ng which we anmsed ourselves | with speculating. The upstai ri's adventure occurred on the morning of | Yednesday before last. On the evening of ‘Thursday we were all in the front drawing room down stairs, my mother engaged with het | knitting, while my father, my brother and I| read. It was rather later ‘than we were accus tomed to ait up, it being about 11:15, as I hap- | pen to know, because I had looked at the clock | ‘and had made ap my mind th: to finish my chapter by half after the hour. I was on the point of breaking the silence of the | room by addressing a remark to that effect to aa when. upon looking up, I sw him cea finger on his lips and assume the atti- Sade of one listening. A SOUND OF WHISPERING. “Whereupon, I listened also, and presently I! distinguished what be heard —a faint sound of whispering: which seemed to come from the hallway or the stairs. Then my mother | dropped her knitting. and, looking rather sur- | prised, tarned to papa point of utteran, My bro erected his ears also. but we ali refru speaking. in obedience to my fat “An we lintene: the and again Joubt that it all of us together, ued, now louder There was no entry Papa rose quietly from asile the Century Magazine peen reading. and, motioning to Us not to more, tiptord without ‘noise to the door of the rovm. He «tood on the threshold for « minute, and then stepped softly outside until he reached the foot « he remained for a brief space in view. from where we sat. Presently he turned, and, with bie finger to his iips, beckoned us to join him. We obeyed noiselessly. intensely curious to know what the mystery could be “A moment later we four stood together at the foot of the stairs. beneath the hall lamp, Papa with one ba: the newel post and the r his shoulders upward toward the landing above. The whispering came from that direction, and it was #0 loud pow sud again that the words were almont dis. Mingishable. A gasiight half turued up burned pon the landing mentioned, which was only a turning between the flights, and we could see that there was nu one there. "My father, appar- ently actuated by a sadden impulse, started uy the steps, pausing occasionally to listen, unt he got nearly to the top, then he came down ‘again with more expedition than was habitual with him, I thought. He looked nervous. We of the stairs, where 1 PASSED THE WHISPERERS ON THE sTaIRa!” “Then we knew that he. like us, had heard two voices in the whispers—one that of a man and the other » woman's. “By that time we were all vi Faised our eyebrows :aterrugatorily, and be re- last gravely: — decidedly ery frightened, but we felt comparatively safe in| sumbers, aud our curiosity, in # certain de-j would beable |, A PUZZLER. How Can It Be Done? From the Cincinnati Enquirer. The object of this puzzle in to trace the de- mas above without taking the pencil off the sheet, withont crossing and without retracing a line. ERASE. eee DEAD FRO: FRIGHT. A Sober Quaker’s Litt Joke and Its Disas- trous Result. ne Philadel phie Press. There is a white-haired old Friend living in Chester county whose face wears an expression ot deep sorrow that years have the first simile to see on his broad, furrowed face. He is a wonderfully benevo- lent and kind!y old Quaker, especially to the colored people, who come to him from miles around for connsel and assistance. There isa shadow on the old man’s life, of which few of his friends have any idea. It was a the war times. His home had been a station on the “underground railway,” and to his home one bleak might came a bright- eyed, ebony-skinned little runaway of about fourteen years. He was such x quick-witted, chipper little chap that the kind-hearted Quaker concluded to keep him to run errands and do chores abont the farm, expecially ax he pleaded so hard to be allowed to stay. Tt was not long, however, before he developed into the most in- igibly mischievous little “darky” that ever came out of slavery. Vieadings, lectures and scold had no mere effect ‘on nim than the whistling of the wind through the trees. A good birch switch would hold him in check for an hour or two, but his reformation would disappear with the sting. One day the Quaker went ona railway Ey and took the little colored lad with im. On the road was a long tunnel and before they reached it it occurred to the Friend that its terrors might be utilized in bringing about «reformation in the black bundle of mischief beside him, So he said: | “Cesar, I have tried to befriend thee and you give me only disobedience and trouble in return. Ingratitude isa black sin and now I | fear thee must answer for it.” | dust before they reached the tunnel he rose | and said gravely: “Cassar, I leave thee to thy | punishment.” ‘The train dashed into the blackness of the tunnel with n shriek from the locomotive like a triumphant fiend, and when it emerged into ‘the light Cesar was lying in a heap on the floor between the seats. ‘They picked bisa up tenderly. The mischievous little darky was dead. ——_o—__—. Oh, gas may escape wud gus may burst, ‘Aud vanish ia noise and dame, But the meter’s hand, in ite quiet way, Goes traveling onward day by day, And gets there just the same. followed immediately by the startling ‘spit’ and | and yet he had not | use he himself had understood nothing | passed by sale into other | ved her, but he would not | seems graven there. | | Friends who have known him for twenty-five DAY, MARCH 21, 1891 -SIXT . ©, ON THE OCEAN'S FLOOR fis" Oh ee EE feos deep than Wat of fhe Pacite: Upon retnds Mysteries of Depths Unfathomed Until by Recent Soundings. ing the Cape of Good Hope you are in a posi- tion to make a bee line for New York. Iti a long journey, however. The conditions are not stich as are most favorable to pleasant trav- cling. You find yourself about three miles deep. surrounded ‘by the same cold and silent — blackness. The desolation is profound, an WHAT THE BOTTOM IS LIKE’ YOU ARE NOT ALONE, A Journey’ Under the Sea From San Fran-| nor have you ever been since you began your cisco to New York—A World Viewed From | walk upon the ocean floor. These tremendous Beneath the Waters—Frightful Fishes That ac cine 4 hoe shoe on a are multitudes of fishes more ferocious than any Haunt the Occan Abyaces—Deop Sep Mount- | 13.1: are known to shallow watere—all of thet ains and Valleys, carnivorous because there is nothing vege- table for them to eat, and they must prey aoe et upon one another. Most of them have huge come ling eyes, with which they ‘Wellton for The Evening Star. Sal gene $4 vos, layiig Ao fear, tuctacan ae NLY A FEW YEARS | they have never seen man before. Their eyes ago the bottoms of the | are so big in order that they may catch every r 1d | possible ray of light. psa Seqaibaigadb antsy abyases there is nolight whatever that is of day. bursts grap egranl mn, inasmuch aw it is necessary the other. Among the most extra the creatures is a fierce shark whic an cel somewhat in shape. All of ( exception are black as ink. Thi pulpy, even their skeletons being soft, great pressure of the water rendering them compact, although when broaght to the surface with the dredge they are apt to burst and fly to pieces immediately. lycing relieved of the compression to which the ACCOMPANIED BY 1 rdinary of les r bodies are pursne their prey, these pre- ses beneath their waters | datory monsters carry remained unfathomed. | — PHOSPHORESCENT TORCHES ON THEIR READS, Such soundings as were | with which nature has provided them. Some attempted were made | of them do, that is, while others have luminous with ropes and ernde | spote upon their sides. | These lights verve hem not only for oes of vision, but -angrieuenerye oray | alvo at bait wherewith to attract, victims from the shallows “n0| tome notion is had of the astonishing vo. bottom” wasthe record | racity of snch fishes of the nethermost <.upon the charts. It bey when it is ee hooage cer- é : i In species can swallow other fishes ten or Ss Temained foe the inge-| Oren waive times ae big’ ca eat te nuity of this genera- | gintton literally climbing over and around the tion of mankind to map out the decps, with their mountains, val- leys and even streams. The mighty caves of | ocean have been to some extent surveyed, and | the very creatures that dwell in them have be- come newly familiar to science. HOW OUR TERRITORY MIGHT LE ENLARGED. | If the ocean waters should be affected by a miraculously low tide, so as to sink by as much as the height of the Washington monument, an astonishing alteration would be male in the ocean, you find yourself surrounded and ac- taceans, some of b vivid orange yellow. then you may behold ina shadowy way vast and formless things of gigantic size, which, for all you know, may be survivors of races antedi- luvian long since supposed to be extinet. NEARING THE AMERICAN COAST. On your way over the bed of the Atlantic to New York you may turn aside, perhaps. to look into one of the deepest sea holes that can be found in the world, immediately north of Porto 1 others of now and ghtest scarlet the edge of the continent at ail, but that this win the distan edge ix away ont to the castward, so that if it | formed the coast, this country would be en ! bigger to make room for four or five new States. On the Pacific side it is quite other- | wise. There the continent's edge is marked pretty closely by the shore line, and precipitous is it that enormous depths are found close to land all along that coast, great submarine valleys lying along the very margin of terra firma. 4x BUGINARY WALK OS THE octax's Loon, | Bico, where the ovcan door taken a nudes ip iat ke a walk over the floor of | into a gulf more than five miles below. what i 2 gob npredibarep ba x now the surface of the water. It ix extraordin- the ocean perhaps it would be as much fan as | ‘88 Jeary how those West Indian Islands | any other plan to set out from San Francisco | rise precipitously from the depths up- for a view of the Pacific's bed. For the first | lifting their mountains miles high out of the twenty-nine miles of the jouri westward vou will proceed over a level pi sea. South of Cuba, in the Carribbean sea, ix eau formed of a hole much bigger than the oue north of | hill is likely to be difficult, inasmuch ax yon must climb from a greater relative altitude, wud | by a much steeper incline than that by which | the traveler passes from the summit of the Sierra Nevada range to the valiey of California | below at Sacramento. As you go down you will experience a cold that become: steadily more intense. and the pressure of water from above, which makes the cold, grasps you with such a mightly grip that your body would be crushed toa jelly in its fluid embrace, were you not Reet by armor of immense resisting power. Without such an equipment, as well asa store of air and @ powerful light, there is no ase in your attempting to explore the ocean's abysnes, AS INTERMINABLE PLAIN. Atthe foot of the great declivity you will find a seemingly interminable plain, like a prairie. It is the beginning of the floor of the | Pacific, which is for the most part xo wonder- | fully level that you could drive over it with the | utmost comfort in a light carriage, were the water all taken away. As you proceed west- Charleston, which are the peaks of mighty hills rising abruptly ont of the midst of th great flat ocean plain. Upon reaching the edge of the North American continent, about 130 miles southeast of New York city steep climb from the three-mile deptl:, y yourself in the shallows, following the 4 tremendous gorge 600 feet deep which the Hudson river has eut out in making its way to the ocean beyond. All you have to do is to pursue this until vou find yourself at the foot of Man- hattan Island, where you will doubtless con- sider ita relief to get jon dry land again and seek the nearest first-clis hotel ———+ee. HOME MATTERS, find ne of Seasonable Suggestions and Everyday Hints to Practical Housewt level mea surement. Rvs Savces Savore with the back of the spoon, not with the tip. ocean is three miles and a half above you: | ening sauces, instead of adding atterwar ls. ee rhs gems ion og ip ae fist | Cor a De Panixs Faow Tousies to take pacific platean. You travel over it for another Wied Wak Siecalae 500 miles, when yon ‘come ‘upon. a. gigantic | Of tte woody flbre bu: merely acrape parmips mountain which towers up from the ocean | “4 carrots. ; floor to the height of three miles. Itsexist.| To Restore Staoxa Hast to its original fresh- ence has only been ascertained by soundings, | ness, slice and souk over night in imilk, either | because half a mile of sea water flows over it.” | sweet or wou | EER Saar Waes Wirixa Up rar Froor before putting Beyond the mountain is the plain again. It | the carpet down, sprinkle it all over with walt ina dead level of shelly ooze, such as covers | While Vamp: this will greatly prevent moths. pretty much all of the occan floor. The | .W##Re 4 Wine Sroox is Usko, an egg beater misture, sometimes greenish and sometimes | Of "ie Jonps may be wabstitated, and lacking brownish, is partly detritus washed by rivera : . cee - from the land and partly shells of almost | PRescH Cooks Powoen Parstey by chopping microscopic animals called *foraminifera,” | it and then twisting it in a towel h leaves which fall upon the bottom ina gentle and | it dry; it is then used for sprinkling over dishes continuous rain. All the chalk beds in the | 48 @ garnish. world are formed of auch she Is Praca sino canned goods it is a safe rate stones of which the igypt were | to.abserve wiecher the head of th= bailt are composed almost wholly of them. | taye, a bulging appesra ere inacertain monotony about the aspect | Gecomporition, nis con= ce being indicative of See ee cen ere | wade Wiss Hath tn ANS te uitende enh the absolute "silence which reigns. “Vright. | clear off three timesa day may save. the m- fal storm may be raging on the sur-| selves many steps by using a basket to carry face, but here, three miles ani a half beneath, | things back and forth between the table and all is till ax death and not even the 1m a wavelet reaches the ear. Eve you | close your lantern, is the darkness of absolute black—a liquid darkness that 1aakes itself felt by a pressure of two tons to the square inch. the pantry or cellar. To Keer Fiove from spoiling, it should be thoroughly dried and stored in’ bags, not in barrels. It is said that the exclusion of air is f apt to render flour somewhat damp, and does je water is xo cold ws to be very | APs to rem " . : ¥ | not y good dough as when the flour. re- little above freezing point. On every | maine perfectly de side spreads a desert of __ intermina- ‘ Sorr Warer ts Betrrn Tuan Harp vor Bort- tno vegetables, as the hard water toughens them. When cooking always keep the kettie boiling, then if meat, vegetables or anything you may be boiling needs more water you can add it without stopping the boiling process, Wuex Meat 1s to Be Bowen be sure and put it into boiling water to start with, us tha: closes the pores instantly and keeps the rich - ness in the meat. When boiling it for soup or bouilion put it into cold water and brir, boiling heat as slowly as possible, for e the object is to extract the strength and richness from the meat, instead of keeping it in. Paime Warat Frove Saovtp Have the following characteristics: When handled, none should adhere to the fingers: if a handful be squeezed, it shoult not sift through the fingers, but shonld clog together, forming a lite ball, which will show the fine lines of the palin for some time after release: if a little ball of flour be dropped ona table it) should even then preserve its form and continnity, at least in large measure. Do Not Usk a Tantzcuorn a Waore Wer, or a napkin after its freshness ia gone. Soiled table linen will xpoil the daintiest dishes. Scores of honsekcepers, with plenty of money for all household expenses, are absolutely atingy 1m regard to the use of table- joths. Think of «a wife not denying her ‘amily any delicacy of the season and sending many superduous articles each week to the laundry, yet compelling her family to. sit around a woiled tablecloth five or six days of the week, and providing only one or two nay kins for seven days. It seems incredible. Evenin small families the cloth should be changed two or three times in a week, and the ble extent, frightful in its desolation, with not a blade or sprout of any sort-—nothing. in fact, | but the shelly ooze into which your foot sinks | somewhat as you tread. Perchance there are a few sea lilies in your path, but you know that they are animals and not of the vegetable na- ure which they feebly counterfeit. AMONG THE DEEP SEA MOUNTAIXR, You might follow the same dead level, now and then coming across an ixolnted elevation, all the way across to Asia, 10,000 miles further, if you liked. Instead you go southwest a thousand miles until you’ come to a group of tremendoas volcan Tising precipitously from the bottom, whose tops are. called the Sandwich Islands. Thence 3,000 miles directly, south and you find” yourself ‘a portion of the ocean plain that is comparatively mountainous. Many of the | hilisare tail enough to project out of the water, thus making islands large and small. You are exploring the subcellar of Polynesia, #0 to speak. and you find, as you travel west- ward past the Society, ‘Navigator, Friendly, | Fiji and other groups, that the floor you are walking on still preserves ite depth and even- nest, save where in spots vast shoals have been uplifted. of voleanie and coralline formation, bearing such groups as these in the shape of sugar loaf elevations high enough to supply habitations for mpan and incidental material tor missionary enterprise. It is believed by geologists that once upon a time there were many more islands in the Southern Pacific than | there are now, and that they have disappeared owing to volcanic agency. ‘Teal estate in that portion of the world would not appear to be eld ou the most secure terms: it is always go- |ing down or coming up, a mountain one day being @hole in the ground the next, or vice versa. It was ouly half a dozen years ago that i i i i napkins once every day or two at least, Table ine, with 1 tween Java and Sumatra. mgth wise, with the edges even, TO CHINA AND JAPAN. You go no further south, because below the fortieth parallel of latitude thereare no islands | worth mentioning, and the ocean floor is nothing but a level and uninteresting plain. ‘The water shoaling steadily toward the pole On Fifth Avenue. there isa like toward the north pole, so that the big icebergs in the arctic and — antarctic are apt to be found aground. Passing northward along the deep valley which hugs the eastern shore of Aust fringed with the most wou- derfu! coral reefs in the world, you keep on up by the coast of China until you reach the poini Pieper sty — peat where is y deep sea abyss known of never been sounded. The last attempt: red five andahalf miles and no bottom, use the apparatus broke. Other soundings have becn made successfully, however, on the east of Japan, and it is known that ‘along the const of those islands and close in shore runs the deepest chasm in all the Pacitic ocean, and & It is true that in these | one swallowed, first with one jawand then with | n without | the | nu a companied by inky monsters, all eyes and Jaws, shape of the North American continent, the | while around and abont on’ every side | line of the Atlantic's breaker receding #o far | pase silently the unending torchlight pro: that New York city would find itself more than | Cedions of the deep. “the only chlor 100 miles from the sea, as would Boston like-| that relieves the graye monotony of the Wise ond Savannah, Ga. It would be discovered | bottom being supplied. b like erns- | thatthe present shore of the Atlantic is not fier a pretty | A Teaspoovrct. oF Sant or spices must be a | rd, though the slope’ is so smooth a Odiowe! Bons and ‘gradual that you do not “notice it, — ee ee the bottom descends ‘at a slight incline until, | Mere is so mach sugar in onion jaice. at 500 miles from the land, the surface of the | Mix Perpes x Wirn Prova used for thick- it to | | paid to Frahce was 11,250,000, in 6 per cent | Pre- THE FRENCH CLAIMS. Story of Their Justice and the Wrong of the Long Delay. THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. Napoleon Preferred the United States Should Have the Territory Rather Than England— ‘The Cheapest Lot of Land Ever Purchased— ‘The Ultimate Destiny of the Island of Cuba. We ARE SURE THE WHOLE AMERI- can people will rejoice that at last Con- gress has done something to redeem the faith | of the government toward the claimants pro- vided for in the French spoliation bill. How few know the origin and the consequent justice of that long-delayed measure of relief—no re- lief, it is true, to the original claimants, many of whom died in want while waiting the tardy justice of “the moxt scoundrelly government on earth,” as Mr. Sumner denounced it, while these very claimants were pleading for justice and their rights, of which he was an ardent ad- | vocate. The money to pay these claims was retained from the French go@rnment out of the price agreed upon for the pirchase of | Louisiana. Let me tell the whole story as it is | found in the public records both of France and our own country. In 1808 Mr. Jefferson sent Mr. Monroe to France, asa special envoy, to treat for the settlement of the questions | then pending between the two governments, | |The utmost the administration expected ‘to | acquire from France, who was soon to become | the owner of Louiniana and Florida, was a re- | moval of the commercial disability which the | western section of the Union was subjected to ¥ obstructed its progress its prosperity. To obtain the tie left bank of the Mississippi to | | its mouth by the purchase of Louisiana was the | object of Mr. Monroe's imission to. France. | Before Mr. Monroc reached France the clouds | of war were hanging over Europe. The treaty | of Amiens, which promised a long peace. was Jonly a truce. Joseph Bonaparte and Lord | | Cornwallis were the representatives of their | respective governments, but their negotiations failed to secure the peace they promised. This | | threatened conflict Bonaparte felt would enable | England, whose naval power was superior to | {any nation in the world, to take from him | | Louisiana and Florida. He had only held them | @ few days, when he determined to place them | where England would be deprived of the pr tige it would give her to wrest these import- ant possessions from France. | BONAPARTE’S DIPLOMACY. | Mr. Blaine relates most graphically in his | | “Thirty Years in Congress” how Bonaparte by | adash of diplomacy, as quick and brilliant as | his tactics oy the ficid of battle, placed Louisi- ana beyond the reach of British power. Mr. Blaine 'says: “On Enster Sunday, April 10, 1503, he called two of his most trusted advisers, and in tones of vehemence and passion said: ‘I know A “ he full value of Lonisiana and havebeen desiroas detritus, which the river water has cast out | Porto Rico, which forms an elongated valley | the full h . | through the Golden Gate fora thousand cen-| nenrly six and @ half miles deep. This is be- | Of Tepairing the fuulteof the French negotiators turies. Tie depth of the sea for that dis-| lieved to be the deep: at all: ie eee eT pl pagal yt bat apo tance is only about 200 feet, but at the end of it | valleys of the — oce: Among other | * Pi uke co atcha rere oie | the bottom drops suddenly to two and a half | snrprising things you would come across | © clarg gramme pelt ogttdind | miles. To get to the foot of this tremendous | the Bermudas, may be. 900 miles due east from eka’ ine in the ¢ | Mexico. The conquest of Loui would be easy. * * * Ihave not a,moment to loose in putting it out of their reach. * * * ‘The English shall not have the Mississippi. which | they covet.” The discussion went far into the \night. The two members differed widely on | the advice which they gave the first consul. | |One was in favor of holding Lonisi- ana at all hazarde, The other urged | ite prudent cession rather than its inevitable loss by war. * * * At daylight | the minister who had advised this cession was | summoned by Bonaparte to read dispatches from London that moment arrived, which cer- | tainly shadowed war, as the English were mak- | | ing military and naval preparations with extra- |ordinary rapidity. After reading the dis- patches the first consul said: —‘Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in seaso1 will renounce Louisiana. It ix not only | Orleans I will cede: it is the whole colony | outany reservation. 1 know the value of what £ {abandon [renounce it with the greatest re- To attempt obstinately to retain it would ly. I direct you to negotiats the affair | gret, envoy of the United States. Do not | | Wai the arrival of Mr. Monroe. Have an inter- | | viow with Mr. Livingston. * * * But T re- | | quire a great deal of money for this war. * * * |1 will be moderate. T want fifty millions for Louisiana. The minister who had op-| | posed the sale interposed, in a subsequent in- | | terview, some observations upon what the | mans call souls, ax to whether they could be the subject of contract of sale. Bonaparte | replied, with undixguised sarcasm: ‘You are giving ine the theory of the law of nature, but | require money to make war on the richest nation in the world. Send your maxims to London. Tamsure they willbe greatly ad mired there.’ ‘The first consul siibsequent added: ‘Perhaps itwill be objected tot Americans that they will be found tuo powerful for Europe in two or three centuries: but my | foresight does not embrace such remote fears. | Besides, we may hereafter expect revolutions among the members of the Union. cone federation, which is perpetual, only lasts one of the contracting parties finds it to his terest to break them. ” Mk. MONROE TOOK THE RESPONeIDILIT:. | ‘Two days after this conversation Mr. Monroe | opportunely arrived and on the 30th of April | the treaty ceding Louisiana ww the United States | Monroe and } 10 iegotinte Tor so | bat the f fully possessed of Mr. Jefferson's views axstired that hix instructions would have ample if the condition of France had been seen when be sailed from Ainer cation with Washington was impossible. Un- | der the inost favorable circumstances un an- swer could not be expected in tess than three months, and by that time the British would probably hold the mouth of the sippi and the nt George be ¥ over New Orleans. Mersrs, Monroe and ingston realized that hesitation would be ey boldly took the responsibility of p chasing a territory of unknown but, prodi- gions extent and of pledging the eredit” of the | government forasnm which, rated by the abilit, | to pay, was larger than asimilar pledge of today | of =500,000,000. Theamount agreed upon to be | in- | Liv | bonds, the interest of which was payable in | London, Amsterdam and Paris, the priacipal | at the ‘treasury in Washington, in sams. of | $3,000.00 a year, beginning fifteen years after | the bonds were issued. Ihe balance of the | amount agreed upon, something over $3,000,- | 000, was to be cmployed in paying the elain- | ants against France, and for y | been clamoring ali these years. ‘Thus the total cost of Louisiana was ” 80,000,000 francs or 15,000,000. JEFFERSON ABUSED FOR THE PURCHASE. Mr. Blaine, in speaking of this acquisition of territory, says: “It seems hardly creditable that the acquisition of Louisiana by Jefferson was denounced with a bitterness surpassing the partisan rancor with which later genera- tions have been familiar. No ubuse was too | malignant, no epithet too coarse, no impreea- tion too savage to be employed by the assail- auts of the great and philosophic statesman who laid #0 broad and deep the foundations of his country’s greatness.” “And again he sa; in his admirable work: “The President of a feeble republic, contending for a prize which was held by the greatest military power in Europe, and whose nm wis coveted by the greatest naval power in the world—Mr. j Jefferson—-through his chosen and trusted agents, #0 conducted his important nego! tions that the ambition of\the United States successfully interposed between the neces- F sities of the one and the designs of th other. * * © The President ‘made. the largest conquest ever pencefulty uchieved, and at a cost so small that the total sum expended for the entire territory does not’ equal the revenue which ince been collected on ite soil in 0 month in time great pul “a countr; thus scquired forms today the. states of fone, Arkangas, Missoi and Minnesota, west of the rado north of the Arka | one dollar of which was repaid. | ment ull |, | draw |founder: but apprehend so many hazards as had wrested from the British and Indians, and CROCODILES for years blood aud treasure were expended in reclaiming and holdi from the aborigines and their allies, the British. The French had relinquished it as carly as 1763, but the British held to their poxsession’ with their usual tence. During the ad- ministration of Gen. Washington he recom- mended that be raised to defend that sparsely settled country, but the opposition to ‘ashington in the First Congress was carried td the ext ended, and for years the Indians—backed, ax it was charged, by the British—kept up con: tinual warfare, and to Washington's repeated recommendations for relief to the suffering in that far distant land np attention was paid, and it was even proposed to relinquish all territory beyond the Ohio river, making that the boundary of our western Rosess'ons, and only the persistent efforts of Vashington, Jefferson and others of that clase of statesmen saved that vast empire to the United States. At a meeting of the commis- sioners to adjust the terms of peace in London, at the conclusion of the war of the revolution, the British representative suggested the relin- quishment of the Northwestern Terri ranklin was favorable to the demand, Adams refased to discuss it even, and seid he would withdraw from the conference if it was urged. That vast territory, old Virginia, after establishing her right to every acre of it, sarren- dered it to the general gover nd from it came Indiana, Llinois, Mic , Ohio, The same story of ingratitude and negie those whose valor added all this vast domani to the United States fills the pages of history. The first governor appointed by Washington of the Northwest Territory, and upon whotn devolved ite defense, was Gen. Arthur St. Clair. Supp! ing the needed arms and transportation for his troops from his private credit, the refusal or neglect of Congress to appropriate the m: to meet these demands upon him wrecked his fortune and left him in pe the state of Pennsylvania inade him some recompense by voting lim an ani time to save him from the ‘This is only {many acts of cruel tice meted ont to the heroes of the rev How many of ther in want, Anoti was that of Maj. Josep who is remembered by r older citi asa resident here, who «pent his fortune in purchasing supplies for ase army of the west under Gen, Harrison, when, 28 quartermaster general, be carried sapplies through the trackless forest to their telief, not He, too, died in Baltimore of wounds received in the revo tionary war, if not in wan! far removed from y stances. Iwasled to this discus- sion of what is «0 well known—the neglect which has been the fate of so many of tho heroes whose names fill so conspicuous a place | in the history of our country—while the re- cently closed century of our country's great- ness and progress is being extolled, the reverse of the picture is one which exhibite Ler dis- honor. ONE OF THE EARLY ADVOCATES OF THE CLAIM. One of the largeat owners or agents fo: the French spoliation claims who resided here so many years engaged in the prosecution of them was the late Jamex H. Causten, whose residence and office was on F street, adjoining and form- | ing « partof the Corcoran building. Mr. Caus- ten came here in 1829 and inserted in the Na- igencer an ad mnouncement that “he bad moved from Baltimore ” remained ‘The a unchanged, reading ‘me of refusing the aid recom- | AND ALLIGATORS, that boundless realm | What Science Knows About Them—Some Popular Misconceptions Exploded. F ALL THE MANY kinds of crocodiles,” mid 2 scientist con- nected with the Smith- sonian Institution to a Stan reporter, “there P are onlytwo really dan- Rerous man-eating vari- | eties—both of them be- | longing to Asia, over | which continent they | are widely distributed. | They are brackixh water snurians, inhabiting the | rivers near the sea, and they sometimes grow to be as much as eighteen fect in length. One reason why they are so dangerous is that they are given to hiding, never doing more than to poke a-nose and an eye above water, so thet one might live for some time alongside a pool infested with them and yet not suspect their presence. The worst of all crocodiles are of the kind known to science as the ‘Porosus’ from the remarkable roughness of their heads, A CONVENIENCE OF NATURE. | whole it plants the tidbit in the mud and | tixement containing | the sand or mud by the side of river or lagoon, recently re- | where they are usuaily tise; | the heat ‘of the san. same, np to the time of his death, which | ocenrred somewhere about 1358-9. casion when the Frenck spoliation bill was be- ing discussed in Congress Mr. Gales wrote a long editorial for the National Intelligencer the justice of the claim and urging its passage, and'a few days after he received a letter from some insuratice companies of Philadelphia in- closing a check for 1,500. Godsend, but to my utter amazement Mr. Gales returned it, his reason being that as the article Was written as his own views on the matter he could not take ment it was matter of very serious conjecture with Major Donoho and myself where the paper | 4nd devour them when he can. ‘On one oc- | | | | pay for it, At that very mo- | safet; | vemence. of “Speaking of the way the crocodile har ary, from which | qoating with only an eye and # nose above the surface reminds me of a wonderful provision which nature has made for the animal's con- In seizing a duck, for instance, and swallowing it, the creature would be choked by the water were it not for the fact that its palate so acts as to form a plug for the windpipe, and thus keeps the fluid ont while the morsel passes down the alimentary canal. Some other peculiarities of structure the great lizard has--amdng them a heart with four chambers to it. The lower jaw is so arranged mechanically, being attached to a process ex- tending backward hon the skull, as to give it an extraordinary gape, like that of a snake. Herodotus, who was no anatomist, was led on this account to assert that ‘the poop un- like all other animals, ‘opens its upper jaw,” as wells its lower ‘one. The teeth. replace themselves in a curious way, #0 that when one is lost another grows up in the same socket. TEETH TO TEAR WITH. * “You often read about « crocodile’s biting « man in half or chewing bis leg off; but that ix not the way in which the beast operates. Ite teeth are made for seizing prey and not for cutting Yt. Consequently, when it gets hold of a man or any other animal too big to swallow leaves it there until it has become sufficiently ——— te tear apart. The female lays mtwenty to sixty in number and —in holes made in each one inclosed in a shell iy left to be hatched by It ix the habit of the alligator, however—a sort of crocodils exclu- Written for The Fvening Star FOR EASTER BRIDES, Becoming Redfern Costumes Suitable fer a Spring Wedding. The coming Easter 1# likely to see an onusual number of weddings, for Ame: are beginning to follow the example of their cousins across the water and mate nt the sume Happy is the if there * time as the birds It ix said, bride that the sun shines on, ny truth in the old saying, E certainly more likely to be happ: who marry in cold winter The fashionable mo-listes are hard at work now making the various costumes that are to lend their charms to enhance those of the blushing brides. One pretty dress Redfern is making te a bride's gown of white Irish poplin, elaborately embroidered down the front of the skirt with « Tunning design in mived white silk and silver cords. The skirts of the three-quarter bodice d the collar and vest are also embroidered :n ad tle sleeves and spencer are of white sively belonging to America—to make » hil- lock, which it hollows out and fills with leaves and other decaying vegetable matter, wherei by the heat generated in the decomposing mass, the eggs are incubated. THE BABY CROCODILES, “On quitting the eggs the infant crocodiles me it seemed @ are led to the water by the mother, who feeds them with food which she herself disgorges and otherwise shows great solicitude for their The male takes no part in rearing the young, but is said, on the contrary, to attack Finhes and was to come from for the next day's issue of turtles are also very fond of young crocodiles. the Inteliigen-er, and we consequentiy failed to | and even by human beings the eggs, in regions accept Mr. ¢ a les’ view of the matte A few pamphlet edition of the editorial. THE ULTIMATE FATE OF CUBA. The acquisition of territory has always been popular in this country. ‘The desire arose bee fore we had th ward us 5 nexation has b political issue in more than one preside contest. It has occupied the floor of Congress and evoked the most ani- mated and bitter debates, but the ery of “mun- ites: destiny” was the war ery which con quered. How often has the subject of the pur chase of Cuba beer before the country for diw cussion, and it has not ouly occupied the minds of the statesmen of but those of Europe. Its ultimate posession by the antly almost supreme control of Cuba to the United States for 23,00 Wi such a bargain was refus: emains to | be told. ‘The ultimate — destin Cuba is discussed with great frecdom in Europe and not long sine ew York journal pub- with Gen. Ig on the question, which was at that tit interest in Europe. Thew did not hesitate to express his vie mate state of Constant a «i Cub Ign -y for the health of civilization that of Constanti- inga very Gen. Ign ft United ste “uba. places.” he | said, “ure lazor es from which every few years issue epidemics, destroying lives of tar more value than the entire population of those ed places. For centuries the Golden it out black death, the plague, the ers, to destroy mil- ties and” bring nunities. No oasible | = Horn has sweating s! ions o¢ lives, to depop financial rain to prosperous cor ton of this state of ith his hered of disease. pICTIONS AS TO WASH Referring to some publications made by the Smithsonian Institution, I came across these | tracts from travels by Lient. Harriott and ‘Travels Through North America,” by Isaac | 1d, published in 1 The first of these Respecting the intended city on) I question mach whether there STON. eve a sutticient number of houses built to entitle it to the name of » great city. Reck- | oning up all the houses I’ could see or hear of as belonging to the new city of Wash- ington they did not amount to eighty. Having seen and examined everything and. gained all | the information 1 could concerning this so | much talked of ci down between the | sident the following in my minute book ax my opinion, viz.: Should the public buildings be completed and enterprising individuals risk considerably 2 building houses states continue undisturbed; should Congress | assemble for a number of years until the 1 tional banks and other public offices necessa » moneyed interest to it, the cit; Washington ii ‘the course of century traction to mercantile icient to make a beautiful deserving the name of its to be unwilling to venture any part of my property in the undertakin Mr. Weld says of Washington: “Were the houses that Lave been built situated in one place, altogether they would make a very re- spectable appearance, but scattered abottt as they are a spectator can scarcely perceive any- thing like a town, . Excepting the streets and avenues and a small part of the ground adj. ing the public buildings the whole place is co" ered with trees. ‘To be unter the necessity of going through a deep wood for one or two mallee, parbape, in order to see a next door nei rand in the same city, is a curious rat I ree novel heen po — S who are opposed to the building of the city of Washihgton maintain it can never become a town of any importance, and that all such as think to the contrary have been led autray by the representations of a few enthu- persons.” * * * Notwith: the condition of the city of Washington at the be- tiged hopes of its future: grestnest and sas jl Greatness, and says: “That at a future day, if the affairs of United States go on as dor the cities of the whole world. ‘The volumes comprised a Mr, Smitheon and United Stutes seems to b lei fact, but | judging from the stat ited to the | Hon. John Bigelow we n oppe y, | for. Mr. Bigelow says, when Gen. Prim was i | tame and took | mummies have | fixes th y habite rules | at@ of vers goo ivury —and the negroes of the | ‘apitol ered | emitti . apgemerong | crocodiles twenty feet in length or more were | common in the region of the Potomac, and it | would have been dangerous then to bathe in should the anion of the | ue Waters hereabout. where they are found, notwithstanding their ys thereafter we received an order for alarge | musky flavor, are much prized as a comestible, being nearly as iarge as aw “Of course every one has heard, what is quite true, of the bird—a small black-headed tide of emigration flowing to- | plover—which is welcomed by the crocodile aa ‘The question of an- | ® guest who will rid its mouth of leeches by walking in and pecking them out. Humbolilt, the great naturalist, speake of having fre: ently seen the huge reptiles Iving basking in the sunshine “with open jawn, motionless. ther uncouth bodies covered with birds. Even the flesh of crocodiles is often eaten as food, though European epicures have declared that it has a combined flavor of rotten fish and musk. A DIVINITY OF THE NILE. “The crocodile of the Nile was regarded by the ancient Egyptions as a divinity. At Memphis and other cities temples were raised in its honor, where live crocodiles were kept, and the sacred reptiles were reared with the grentest care, fed luxuriously and adorned with costly trinkets. They were perfec rt ir the religious oe and other ceremonies performbd in their honor, When dead ir bodies were embalmed, and extensive catacom! filled with such reptilian peer: discovered at Maabdeh. CAPTURING THE CROCODILE “Where the dangerous crocodiles abound the natives have a very effective method of taking them, fastening upon the end of a strong rope a piece of wool sharply pointed at both ends, with meat bai: wrapped around it. The reptile, when the bait ix thrown into the water. swal- lows it whole: a strong jerk by the fisherman wooden contrivance crosswis? in the throat or stomac! i it only remainsto pull | the beast to shore and dispatch him with a bul- let in the eye or a knife thrust behind the fore ng care to keep clear of the swing ot idable tail meanwhile. Crocodile lea ig valuable- likewise the creatare’s teeth, which | ‘sissippi are said to be extremely fond of the flesh of the alligator’s tail. ANCIENT AND MODERN. Hl “During the period when the crocodile was worshiped by Cleopatra's loyal subjects aa a god the inhabitants of some of the Egyptian | cities, such as Apollinopolis, believed quite the contrary, and were of the opinion that the beast was an incarnation of the devil himself. They use? to go upon annual hunts for the creatures, slaying them by thousands and offer ing them as sacrifices. ‘In Florida there are two varieties of crocodiles as well as five varie- ties of alligators It is said that in Louisiana and Florida the alligator is the inmate of man¥ lonely swamp dwellings and is sometimes used for the purposes of a watch dog, frequently a sort of barking sound. Ages ago erates The dresses for the four pretty maide who Will support the fair bride are also of Redfern design, and are of old bine Lachmi cashmere braided and trimmed with white and blue cords The front of the bodice and pamers are of soft blue bengaline, spotted with white. The ver becoming hat ix of white silk with» pleated front and a finish at the back of blue ostrich feathers. says a writer in the New York Time Doxes in safe-deposit vaults ‘The ernment bonds, mortenges, jewelry, ware and cash under lock and key. At the up-town safe-deposit vaults women # most frequent visitors, and their visits are often marked by some amusing instances uf absent-mindedness. Jobn K. Van Wormer, the manager of the Lincoln Safe Deposit Company, remarked the other day that occasionally he would iusve « Inge and varied accumulation of articles left in the vaults @nintentionally by women clients While the worae are very careful of their val uables and seldom forget to lock their they frequently go away leaving « he chief, an umbrella, a «mall parcel, and Kon ashelf or a chair are always called for, however, ‘ormer. “They may remai put they are anvariably rest: keep gov ome such times a purse J thi Van swid Mr. ‘One afternoon a woman left a package of let- tere, in dainty envelopes, all ready for mailing. in one of the vault compartments. Ax she did not return for them before the close of busines: hours they were slipped intoone of Uncle detter boxes. ‘The next THE ARCHBISHOP AND THE DRUMMER. story has been wandering about for a genera: tion, but the rea! incident is not by any means well known. It was in the old days when travel- | ing by stage coach was more common than it is at present that the then archbishop of Paris, Monsigneur Affre, voyaging toa near-by parish, took place in a diligence im company with a number of gentlemen of different social stations. Among the group was a young drammer for a business house who, like his sueressors of @ later era, was ever on the look- bbox in the Mercantile Rafe Deposit Company in the Equitable build ing went there one day with her pet Skve. The refused to remain alone in the carr she took it with her into the vaults, the little enimal became so frisky that it to the leg of « chair and proceeded over some papers in her treasure box. ‘id sie become in the papers that forgot about the dog, which meanwhile ga and fell into doze under the chair t which he was attached The woman went away and the dog unnoticed. When closing up time came, ho ever, the watchman found the sleeping Skye, EyES Hi : 3 fH not knowing to whom it belonged, gave i Of the assistant janitors of the butlding It was take care of over night. placed in quarters and fed, was taken back into the vault same chair under which it had been found not remain one Sang, Oe sen wd urrying into the vault bright ensty ‘Of ber pet. With tearful sympathy hurried home with it and fed it almost to impression that it had suffered the night. — - Young America is Practical. the Lewiston Journal ‘A Lewiston father took his bright-eyed boy of ten years to vee the shell modnds et Damar- iscotta a few days ago and endeavored to im- ine heap in this one place instead of leaving ‘them around loose.” “Pa,” said the auditor, after s few moments’ “1 guess I know why they “Because 1 guess the Indians went bare- footed and were afraid the shelis would cut their toes if they left ‘em scattered over the