Evening Star Newspaper, December 18, 1897, Page 25

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1897-26 PAGES. 25 —_+__—_. Terrors of a Desert Storm in Central Asia. ed EXPERIENCE OF A RECENT TRAVELER —— Thirst Adds to the Suffering From the Stinging Blasts. pe OCEAN OF YELLOW SAND Sir Clements Markham largely presided over a uttended meeting of the Royal Geo- graphical Seciety held on Monday in the theater of the University of London. A paper was reed by Dr. Sven Hedin on “Four Years in Ce ing is the lecturer’ the ‘Takla-Mckan Thibet: m-beg went akead, compass in hand, had erders to keep watch to the east, where Khotan-Darya should be at the near- est. in crooks and curves to avoid the mest difficult sand passes. ‘The desert was like a coaguiated ocean with giant wav Every ,morning the same dreary landscape presented itself to their View. It was devoid of every trace of lif. not even a fly was heard humming m the air, and no faded, wind-driven leaf broke Asia.” The foll yunt of a storm in desert on the way to went the dese 6 the two first camels were 1 and with them their empty ci observing great economy the water suj might still last for two days, and they hoped at any mo- © the sand decrease and to find ut this was a treacherous hope, and could they have imegined what to happen it would have ocen a thousand times better to return to the small lakes. Digging for Water. The same evening they found a plane spot of dry clay soil between two dunes, and here, with desperate exertions, they dug a well ‘The men stripped and dug by turns. At a depth of three feet the sand got wet and their disposition gay in cor : All the animals, even the hens, d impatiently round the well, which sank deeyer and deeper and had to be ut up. At tne depth of ten feet the sand again became dry, and the hope was aban- nidst general gloom. The camels allowed to eat their own pack uffed with hay and they saw two geese making to nd this excited their hopes. He now always trav “don foot, in order to Keep as straight orsible to the east. The did not c wherever he looked the: © only whol s of chains of dunes in which they s and felt as if being sucked down. economized the water to the very utmost, and the animals | did not get a smgle drop more. But in the evening thick rain clouds began rising above the western horizon; the tent canvas s at once turned out, and all of them t prepared to stick each one to his cor- ner of t nvas in order to gather the ater expected. But, alas! even that he sherous; the clouds went not touch them. Dur- tr to southeast and di they were envelop m is that it darkened They had to keep together in the track got at once sed or, a nd had one of them mi would have been irret ‘¥ saw nothing but the near- through that darkness; they keard no shouts, only a strong whistling, rustling -rced their ears when mil- Hards ¢ ains rushed about. I haps it re strange Noises t tempted the of Marco Polo to think of drums ard squadrons of cavalry, of which he spoke in his acccunts of the hor- rors of the Gobi desert Extreme Thirst. A third camel got behind on a dune, and was immediately and forever lost from their view. In the evening all provisions, elothes and boxes, ete., that could possibly be spared were picked out. On the 2h they had still three and a half pints of ‘water, but it was stolen the following morning. The camels were fed for the last time: they were given the whole remnant of butter. Now it drew speedily to a close. On May 1 they suffered terrfbly from thirst. the men drank the stale sesame of oils of the camel, and he himself a gla: of nese brandy, which otherwise was used for their cooking apparatus. This paralyzed his strength: he crawled along far behind the caravan in glowing sunshine. The ring from the bells diei away, he fol- lowed the track of the others, and when fhe at last reached them he found the men were lying headlong on the ground; two of them went and invoked Allah. Even the camels had. deadly tired, lain down with their heads stretched out. They had scarcely strength enough to fix up the ten they undressed, crept In heneath the shad: and lay there the whole day. Not a sing! found was heard. only the heavy breathing of the camels interri pted the silence. Muhamed Shah was delirious the same evening. and they never heard of him and the desert man again. At sunset he felt compietely restored, and with Islam, Kasim and the five camels, he quitted the horrid camp. where everything was left in the tent except notes, instru- Tents. money and some other necessaries. In order to save his strength he rode on one of the remainirg camels, but it soon Brew nitch dark and they could not see how they went, so repeatedly were they stopped by the crests of the dunes. He, therefore. lit a lamp and went on foot to find out the be: age. At midnight they had only adva two and a half miles, one of the ning camels had been abandoned, m was all but A Last Effort. t he saw the end coming near, he m a: termined to leave everything, took K ‘with him, and hastened fn an easterly dire tion, having encou: 1 Islam and ad im to follow th wcks as soon as he could. In complete darkne: they thus arated from the wreckage of their the lamp left burning at side, but its light was soon » dunes’ crests. for digging wells. and a bit of co- ‘These miserable provisions r, of very little use to them, the desert the throat and all its mbrances soon got dry like the me impossible to ensation of hunger appeared entirely by the side of thirst. They marched the whole night, but with ir Mucous me external skin. and It bee Innumerahle stops. At 11 o'clock on May 2 it was already so hot that everything turned black before their eyes, and the had to lie down and stop the whole 4d: "They stripped themselves quite naked, dug down in the cold sand and in it bedded themselves and put the spade with the hes to shade their heads. After a short rest the wled again further through this fine yellow sand, which peared to them endless. Suddenly Kasim Stopped short, on the morning of May 3, le? Dr. Hedin’s shoulder. He point- and pu 5 toward Hedin the east. Dr. ked, but could> not di unusual. But i hawk, had se heir hope for . upon which ale vation now became concentra its roots ought to s far as to the ground Ww y at last reached the thing they did was to th 4 a Httle while, che ke juley kaves of the : the olive leaf that told them was an end to this ocean of 4 they were greatly distressed, having come upon a new belt of high Btertle sand. They again rested under the Bhade of a tamarisk during the hot hours. ‘When, at 7 o'clock, he dressed himself and exhoried Kasim to come on, he only gave, 4n a hissing voice, the answer that he was unable. After awhile Kasim came after him, stayxering. At last their hopes were renewed, they Giscerned «a dark line on the horizon, it ‘Was the forest at Khotan-Darya. They ww entered under Its shady roof, auticipat- Ine that the river was not far off; but they Were unable to go further in the heat of the burning sun, so threw themselves down wader a verdant poplar. At 7 o’clock In the On May a4 | j evening he took the handle of the spade, using it as a staff, and crossed the wood creeping on hands and knees long dis- tances. Kasim did not budge, but lay on his back staring with wide-open eyes and mouth, and did net answer when he asked |him to come with him. All at once the | forest came to an end, and a plain was spread out before his eyes, lit by the pale He immediately under- was the river bed of the Khotan-Darya, but it was dry and waiting for the summer floods from the mountains. However, he did not for one moment be- lieve he was destined to perish in this very 1 | light of the moon. it stood tnat river bed. He, therefore, crossed and reached, with great difficulty, the right bank, the dark forests of which were dim- ly discernibie in the darkness. He had re- quired five hours to walk less than two very moment a duck soared over his head; he heard a splash, and found himself on the edge of a little pool of fresh, clear water, which remained in the deeper channel, where the current had the last time been running. After he had drunk he filled his boots to the top and carried them back to Kasim, who thus in the last moment was saved. + +-__—_. VETERAN AMONG BRIDGES. Its Peculiarities of Construction Make It a Great Curtosity. From Lloyd's Newspaper. The triangular bridge at Croyland; in Lincolnshire, is probably not only the most ancient bridge in England, but, on account of its peculiar construction, one of the greatest curiosities in Europe. It is buiit in ihe middle of the town at the confluence of the Welland and the Nene. The plan of the bridge is formed by three squares and an equilateral triangle, about which they are placed. It has three fronts, three thoroughfares over and three under it. There are the same number of abutments at equal distances, from which rise three half arches, each composed of three ribs meeting in the center at the top. Seen from any point of view a point- ed arch appears -in front. Antiquaries—often fanciful writers—have suggested that the piece of masonry was built as an emblem of the Holy Trinity; for, though the bridge possesses three arches, it yet properly has but one groin- ed arch. More matter-of-fact archaeolog- ical authors hold the structure to have been designed as a starting place for meas- uring ecclesiastical boundaries, with the additional utility of forming a support for a market cross. An exceptiorally interesting feature of the bridge is a much-weather-worn effisy, onally said .o be a representation of King Ethelbald. The rudeness of the de- sign, the uncouthness of the headdress and €rapery, lead to the conclusion of the effi- gy being a genuine Saxon sculpture. Plac- ed in a sitting posture at the end of the southwest wall, the figure is embellished with a crown. in One of Eldred’s charters the triangular bridge at Croyland was mentioned, but that now existing is sup- posed to be, from its style of architectur of the time cf Edward [. The statue mu! | be of much greater antiquity. Croyland, ten miles south of Spalding and eight and a half rerth of Peterborough, should | greatly interest artists and lovers of an- tique associations. ns Battles of Bees. From the Londen Mail. In battle the movements of bees are so rapid thet it Is difficult to follow them throngh all their evolutions, but the plan of battle seems to be very simple. Two bees from the hive are sent to kill one intruder, and the latter always tries to force an entrance, even at the risk of its life. Once inside, it makes room for others of its companions te enter, and then, gathering up its abdomen in as small a spece as possible, it assumes the defens Two of the hive bees pounce upon it, and, seizing it fiercely, they seek to find a vul- nerable point between the rings of its body to sting it to death. The attacking bee Just as determinedly struggles to cover every unprotected spot. If sufficient time can be gained and the attacking swarm is large enough to force an entrance, the badly mauled bees that have not been stung to death will suddenly assume the offensive and pursue the tactics of their enem Should the battle go against the attacking body, the balance of the swarm flies away to seek safety, and the dead carcasses of their companions are thrown contemptuously out of the hive. But in the event of an opposite termination of the struggle the poor inhabitants are slaugh- tered. When their fate has been practi- cally decided, many of them turn traitors to their cause, and in order to save their own lives they join the forces of the at- tacking party and display great vigor in killing their former companio! But there is honest patriotism even among bees. In every hive there are some who fight to the last and prolong the struggle. Norway's Quaint Vehicles. From the Montreal Star. As every tourist is aware, a cariole is a most comfortable little car on two wheels for one passenger. The seat is shaped like a shell and nicely padded, and the traveler goes along with his feet resting in fixed stirrups at the side, unless he likes to tuck them up in front of him, or dispose of them elsewhere on the framework of the carriage. The driver sits behind on a box, used for stowing away small packages in- side and for taking quite a lot outside. A stolkjaerre is intended for two persons and a driver. It is a rough cart, and again the driver sits behind. Very often these drivers are tiny lads. You may get one of about eight in some places when the men are busy at the harvest, and it is Wsual, when two conveyances are required by the same party, to expect one of the travelers to drive the second conveyance. As the little yellow ponies know the routes inch for inch, and as it is the cus- tom when numbers of conveyances are go- ing the same way for them to form a very long procession, there {s not much need for a crack whip. A trille is rarely seen. It carries four persons and is more or less like a small English barouche. The way in which the driver manages to stow his per- son aw in a luggage crowded vehicle 1s one of the wonders of Norw samen Ambassadors’ Salaries. Frem Tit-Bits. It is announced that Dr. Leyds is to re- ceive £17,000 a year as representative of {the Transvaal in Europe. This salary is greatly in excess of the amount which Great Britain deems sufficient for any one of her representatives in foreign countries. Our most highly-paid ambassador is the British representative In Paris, though he es little more than half the sum Dr. ds is to draw—a beggarly £9,000. sri ain’s ambassadors to Germany, Austria- Hungary and Turkey receive £8,000 a year each. The representative in St. Petersburg has the next largest salary, £7,800; while £80 less is considered enough for the Brit- ish ambassador who takes up his residence in the Eternal City. For some reason, known only to the diplomatic mind, our representative in Washington is much worse off, receiving but £6,500 a year, though he has probably to work far harder for his country. The ambassador te Spain receives £5.50, while the representatives in China and Persia draw £500 each les: The heads of the legations in Japan, Brazil and Egypt each receive £4,000; but Lord Cromer has beside £1,000 as a “personal al- lowanc The British agent at Pretoria, who is paid by the colonial office, receives only £2,000 a year. +e+— An Mlegible Letter. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Mr. Thomas Bailey Aldrich once received a letter from his friend, Prof. E. S. Morse, and, finding the handwriting absolutely il- legible, he sent the following reply: “My Dear Mr. Morse: It was very pieasant to | receive a Ietter from you the other day. Perhaps I should have found it pleasanter if I had been able to decipher it. I don't think I mastered anything beyond the date, which I knew, and the signature, which I guessed at. There fs a singular and per- petual charm in a letter of yours—it never srows old, it never loses its novelty. One fan say to one’s self every morning: ‘Here’s a letter of Morse’s; I haven't read I think I shall take another shy at it and meybe I'll be able, in the course of a few years to make out what he means by those t's that look like w’s and those !’s that haven't any eyebrows.’ Other let- ters are read and thrown away and forgot- ten, but yours are kept forever—unread. One of them will last a reasonable man a lifetime. Admirtngly yours, Thomas Bailey Aldrich.” A CASCADE OF CATTLE A Memorable Stampede in a Herd of Many Thousands, The Wild Frenzy of 15,000 Cattle, of | Which One-Fifth Planged to, Their Death. From the St. Louls Globe-Democrat. One of the most desperate stampedes of cattle ever witnessed by a Texas cowboy, says Rev. J. B. Cranfill of Waco, Texas, occurred in 1876 on the prairie in the center of which now stands the town of McGregor. Fifteen thousand cattle and twenty-five cowboys participated in the exciting event. Mr. Cranfill was not a participant, but he tells the story, as he got it from an eye- witness, in the Independent. Late in the afternoon of July 4 there had been a lively thunder storm, that made the cattle nervous. At 10 o'clock at night, how- ever, they seemed to be sleeping profound- ly. Then the narrative proceeds as follows: “The stars were all shining, and there was no cause at all for the arousing of the herd. They appeared to get up all at once, with a single purpose, and the roar that was heard seemed to come from a single throat. The Wilson brothers and thelr cow- boys, who were sleeping in their camp, rushed to their ponies, who were grazing with the saddles and bridles on, and, as fast as the bits could be replaced in their mouths, they mounted and galloped to the flanks of the now disappearing mass, head- ed in the direction of the Brazos river.” The usual course on such occasions is ‘o get in front of the herd—a risky piece of work—and start it to running in a circle. This attempt was made in this case: “Some cattle can outrun others, and in this case there was a bunch of about fifty fully twenty yards in advance, and toward this leading group the two rescuers rode. Of the leading group, also, some were fast- er than others, and this group ran in a diamond shape, with two immense steers leading all. When Mr. Wilson and his companion rsached the two leading steers they began shocting their revolvers close to them, and in that way the bunch was made to oblique, and a3 the leading bunch of cattle obliqued the main stampede obliqued, and the first step in ‘milling’ had been taken. By this time the cattle were getting tired. Nearly five miles had been covered, and the breath of the leaders was coming short and painfully, but they were rushing on because the front cattle at this time knew as a matter of fact their_only safety was in keeping up the run. Those behind were coming, and they were in the majority, and the leaders were compelled to run. “There was real danger for the for- ward members of the stampede. “In the invoice of articles contained in the regulation ‘outfit’ there is always some kind of stimulants, and but for the stimu- lants contained in Mr. Wilson’s outfit, it is possible that the stampede would have been halted without disaster. He had a Mexican along, one of the best cowboys in the south- west. This Mexican end his horse always reminded those who saw him ride of the fabled Centaur. He rode far forward and bent over, so that he and his horse ap- peared to be one animal. No horse, how- ever rugged, ‘wild and woolly,’ had ever been able to unseat him. This Aztec had been to the little brandy runlet too often, and had filled and emptied his tin cup with surreptitious intoxicants, so that his usual e lent judgment went awry. When he succeeded in getting mounted, after having fumbled with his bridie a good deal, he was far in the rear, and the stampede had gone past him, so that when he overtook the rear end he pa-sed to the front on the other nd rode on the wrong flank. When ched the head of the herd he was just in time to defeat the maneuver then under execution of bending the moving mass from a straight line to a semi-circle. Revolver in hand, disregarding the other men, he began shooting in the faces of the wild steers, and the effect of this was to straighten the run and bring the advance straight toward a precipice. This precipice was a wash in the prairie, forming a deep ravine fully thirty yards wide, and in a shorter time than it takes to tell of this centretempts, the head of the column was pouring over, a horrible cascade of beef, plunging madly into destruction, while flee- ing from an imaginary danger. “When Mr. Wilson and his lieutenants saw that it was impossible to save their cattle they saved themselves by dexterously turn- ing at right angles at full speed and riding out of the way. They next returned to the flank and held a council of war. A few seconds decided them, and all hands com- menced shooting into the herd, the object now being to build a breastwork of car- casses and save the rear end from the de- struction that had overtaken the front. The gulley was nearly full of cattle by this time. ‘They were snorting and bellowing, crash- ing and tearing, and still heaping up, and when the firing began the wounded ones tumbled over on the others, and in a short time the gulley, like the sunken road at Waterloo, was bridged by carcasses. The herd surged up in billows, like an ocean, and bent now, because it could not do other- wise. The semi-circle was formed, and Wilson and his men crossed the gulley be- low and rode around the opposite side and recrossed, and in a short time they had the cattle halted, forming an incomplete letter O, and there they stood, blowing, hellowing, shivering. All hands’ remained on watch all right, and in the morning, when a count was made, it was ascertained that 2,700 head were missing. There were afterward 2,700 pairs of horns taken from that gulley. It was called Stampede Gul- ley for many years afterward, and perhaps will always, with some people, be remem- bered by that name.” —___+eo—_____ KLONDIKE NECESSITIES, A Few Polite Accouterments to Take Along With You. From the Yellow Book. I am amazed at the popular ignorance concerning a proper outfit for the Klondike. I have before me several newspaper lists of articles necessary for the outfit. The long- est contains only three hundred and forty- seven items. How ridiculously inadequate! Now, I flatter myself that I know some- thing about the matter. I have been hunt- ing for gold all my life, although I have seldom obtained anything better than silver and dirty bank bills. Moreover, I was a miner for a number of years. I can men- tion a number of things that should be add- ed to those lists, and which are just as useful as half the articles now on them. In the first place, take along your full- dress suit. Gold hunting is adventure pure and simple, and almost every adventurer I have seen wears a full-dress suit. In fact, often he possesses no other. Cigar- ettes should be added to go with the dress suit; also patent leathers and monocle. The latter is also useful while actually looking for the gold. None of the lists mention whisky. Take lots of it. It is weary work waiting for the gold to turn up, and you want to pass away the time as happily as_ possible. There is no danger attending its use, for as soon as you find gold you can take the gold cure. ‘Take along at least twenty pounds of axle grease to rub on the runners of your sled. It will make the sled slip over the snow easily. Moreover, you can eat it if your grub runs short. Every list I have seen contains a cook- ing stove. Remember that you cannot cook over a camp fire. For the same rea- son you should take along a large base- burner heating stove. A camp fire wouldn’t keep you warm. In the days of "49 every miner camp was supplied with steam or furnace heat. However, you can't expect to live as luxuriously as they did. Take along plenty of canned goods. A rich and varied menu is essential. Don't forget a good cook book. There is not a cowboy’s camp or miner’s cabin in all the west that is not supplied with one of these aids to civilization. Take along plenty of linen, as there are few laundries en route, and don't forget ycur nighty. You have got to sleep there just as you would anywhere else. A bath robe is alsoan aid to modesty if you intend to bathe during your sojourn in Alaska. You will soon discover that there are some that bathe, but there are others. Take along plenty of cards and games. Progressive euchre parties are all the rage in Dawson City. Likewise take a goed library, an en- cyclopaedia and an unabridged dictionary. Don't forget your silk hat. Take along plenty of starch for your linen. In the days of the Argonauts men suffered keenly because of a lack of cleans- ing material. One of the saddest songs of the old days, at which every forty-niner used to weep, began as follow: “Good-bye, old standing collar, With all your pride and starch. T’'ye worn you from September Till the seventeenth of March.’ Also, don’t forget to take along a small sack of flour and a few pounds of bacon, - RANDOM VERSE. it fiz Written for The Bpening Star, Welcome. Love keeps the“ door ‘with willing hand To open at thy;light command. ‘The woody ways are bare and No more the Yobints mellow thi chill, rill Nor lavish sunimer fills the land. The barren treéé all darkened stand And moan thei#'woeS, a cheerless band. Night shadows gather ‘round him, still Love “keep$ the door. ‘Time runs to years th shifting sand, Yet these fast graying embers, fanned By hope’s dear Come thou from o’er the sunset wings the darkness fill, nil, Late homing from the ehadow land! Love keeps the door. —WILL H. CHANDLEE, ‘Why and Wherefore, Ella Wheeler Wilcox in Form. I know rot whence I came, I know not whither I go, But the fact stands clear ‘That 1 am here - In this world of pleasure and And ont of the mist and murk Another truth shines plain— It is in my power Each day and hour To add to its joy or its pain. I know that the earth exiats, It is none of my business why. I cannot find ott What it’s all about— I would but waste time to try. My life is a brief, brief thing, I am here for a little spac And while I stay I would like, if I may, To brighten and better the placq ‘The trouble, ¥ think, with us all Is the lack of a high conceit; If each man thought He was sent to the spot To make it a bit more sweet, “How soon we could gladden the world, How easily right all wrong, It nobody shirked And each one worked ‘To help his fellows along. Cease wondering why you came; Stop looking for faults acd flawsy Rise up today In your pride and say: “I am part of the first great However full the werld, There Is room for an earnest It had need of me Or 1 would not be— I em here to strengthen the cause, plan,’ Unforgivable. From the London Figaro. They Icved each other well, they swora And so to wed they wildly hoped; Wherefore it wasn't long before ‘They laughed at locksmiths and eloped. Her pa forgave, as papas do; Her mamma, too, forgave snd blesseds His ma and pa forgave them, too, And brothers, slsters—all the And only two could not forgive; They'vi rest, uot forgiven to this day, And won't as long as e’er they ive— ‘They can't forgive themselves, they say. ————+ e+ ____. Cain’s Wife. Where did he get her? Had she a-wixter? Had she a mother? ¥ Adamle— Born before hfstory— her identity Maid of Phoenicia, Exyyty Ambia, nda, it-kisked Snabla? was ber father? Was he a, piking Cruising about Justi t his liking; Out of the Wihenceness Over the water, Into the Where Bripging @is daughter’ Native sf erm Lured “ity the Of the gird Blondé or brunette? founded 6f slender? Fiery or. fritid? Haugity ep tender? Why are gr, grace akywwn Where’and Gain’ What’ wak‘her name? Ted mer ye sexes, den, ms, Who was ber brother? mystery? 2 Eden? her? «His Wants. 8. TO. Frank Stanton In the Atlanta Constitution, 1 want two drums When Christmag comes; Gut I don't want. slates fer dot in’ sums!) An’ a wagon load of sugar plums! An’ a big foot ball, an’ a top that hums, (But never a slate’fer doin’ sums!) Oh, I just want lots when Christmas comes, ———+-+—___. “The Changing Year.” From the Pittsburg ‘Telegraph. ‘The biker's melancholy days Have come around at last, And now he jogs along the streets Where oft he swiftly parsed. He'd like to “bump 1t"Jal And sadly he complains When nature on the earth lets Her chilling blasts and rains. Far out upon the country roads, ‘Where he was wont to spin, ‘all the year, loose ‘The mud is waiting for a chance To take the biker in, And though a stiffening freeze It cannot end the woe, For when the mud fs hardened ‘There'll be a fall of snow. will come, up ‘The wheel is in the attic stored, Where mice can chew the tire; Upon the biking sult the moths ow feast to their desire. ‘The jaunty cap is on a peg, Accumulating dust; The stockings with deceptive pads In secret place are thrus But while with faces showing gloom The bikers make lament, Another class of mortals find A time of sweet content; For now pedestrians can walk About the streets at will, And ‘‘scorchers"’ do not dash along: ‘To injure or to kill. But melancholy days will go, And biking days will com And then again on every sid ‘The whirring wheels will hum, ‘The biking youth and biking girl Will flirt for all they’re worth, And every “‘scorcher’” in the land Will think he owns the earth, ———---20e Cards. From Columbla Verse, 1892-1807. They played at cardg on the yellow When the fields and the trees were greeny She thought that the trump was in her hand, He thought that he held the queen. But winter has come and they both have strayed | He prepared a remedy called “Primum Ens Away from the throbbing wave— He finds 'twas only the deuce she played, She finds that he played the knave. The Quiet House. oe-—- Mrs. M. E. Jubu in Montreal Witness, Ob, mothers, worn and With cares that never With never time for pleasu: ry With days that Have no peaces With little hinds to hinder, ‘And feeble pteps)tp guard, With tasks that le, unfinished, Deem not yotir lof ‘too hard. 1 know (8 house where playthin Are hidden ost ofpsight; No sound of childish footsteps Is heard fro} No tiny handy ‘That pull things awry; No baby hurts to pity ‘As the quiet dasa.go by. And she, the ¥ay-ey What ‘would e jee today To feel zi AK? nappy ‘abe, 3 if she, Goud ai ay way? till night; 0 Hitter, mother— our ‘cares und burdens, : inet vith plasthings, wi n 'tound her Tee! it The Rpadside Acolian. Layton Brewer in ‘the Gtiterlon. ‘When winds stream over the ragged knoll ‘The highway lies along The wires stringing from Give tongue to a voice of le to pole song. A-glint with berms of the morning sun, ‘They carry a blitheful air, Humming a burden that seems Bea news is the word we bi 18 jo: one: “ news we bear.” The; ile the heavens smile boy ‘To hear the measure they gaily a dine of lo to ear; swing and away at the breeze’s will, re thrill; THOSE WHO WIN PRIZES How Sudden Wealth is Received by the Poor. Some Drop Work and Take It Easy; Others Go on as if Nothing Had Happened. From Tit-Bits. ‘The announcement to the prize-winner of his good fortune apparently affects differ- ent people in different ways, but to those classes to whom 100,000 francs (£4,000) means immunity from all necessity to work there is a wonderful unanimity in the way they immediately put away any temptation to further toil. A small Parisian pork butcher who had the good fortune to gain the big prize some littie time ago in a state lottery is a case in point. On recefving the news he di- vested himself of his apron, laid down his knife and immediately wrote out a notice to the effect that he was ready and willing to give his wares to his neighbors until the stock was exhausted. Needless to say, he did a roaring trade until his career of pcrk butchering was speedily brought to a close by. an appreciative public, A journeyman mason who was the lucky winner last April of a group molded in solid gold worth 100,000 francs, or, deducting 10 per cent to the supplier of the prize as compensation for not selling the object, 90,000 francs (£3,600) in cash, dropped the work he was engaged upon and returned to his house with the intention of not tak- ing it up again. He evidently thought as he was seventy years of age that he had Letter waste no time in taking a much- desired rest. The man was especially lucky, because a dozen of the biggest prizes had already been decided when the drawers discovered that the zero was missing in one of the re- volving urns, which admission, to the bitter disappointment of those present who pos- sessed the lucky numbers drawn, neces- sitated a fresh draw, with the aforemen- tiored result. As the old man only in- vested tenpence, he had every reason to be satisfied with the return. On some occasions big lottery prizes bring anything but happiness to their winners. Scme time ago a laborer who won £10,000 in this manner took the money in the shape of 12,000 twenty-franc pieces to his modest apartment and used his fortune as a pla thing, carrying out in bullion the strange architectural designs suggested by a weak brain. As he never left his wealth and had no one to attend to him, it was not long before his reason entirely de parted, ard he was borne olf to the lunatic asy- um. In violent contradistinction to those win- ners who die of joy, or more probably from the shock to their nervous system, was a certain phlegmatic publican of Clichy, a suburb of Paris.who,on being informed that he was the richer by £20,000, merely allowed a half-stifled “Ah!” to escape his lips. and then calmly continued to carry out the erders of his rons as he was wont to do. It Is very strange how the fates have befriended tne poor in some of the big draws that have taken place recently. At Brussels the biggest prizes of £4,000 each in three of the exhibition lotte have fallen into the hands of a m: Bla blower, and in those of two brot ‘Ss ers) and a sister (a nurse), who held equal shares in the winning ticket, while an £800 prize s won by a blind tobacco merchant, who had seven children to sup- pert. The big prize of the Panama lottery, amounting to £20,600, was won by a poor widow named Boisscere, who, with her four children, hawked vegetables in the streets of Marseilles for her livelihood, and quite yecently half miliion franes were von by some peopie in humble circum- stances in a rather remarkable manner. A husband and wife named Roth, having bovght two exhibition -bonds in Paris, de. cided in the kindness of their hearts to pre- sent the brother of the latter with one of them. “It will bring us luck," said th The brother, much touched with the gif: said, “If I win tshall share the prize with you.” ‘The prognostication ot the worthy Roths came true; the winning number was that held by the brother, who received £10,000 for his share, the other moiety going to the donors of the bond. To the mathematically inclined we com- mend the problem: What is the proportion of those disappointed to those who win 20,000 in lotteries, when the profit to the premoters and the expenses of the lottery are taken into consideration? ANCIE! 'T REMEDIES. Alchemy and Superstition Proposed Some Ridiculous Compounds. From the London Spectator. It is strange to notice the great belief which the ancients appeared to have in the xestorative properties of human blood. So, | for epilepsy, diseases of the brain, and even for spleen, human blood was much recom- mended. “In the month of May take a considerable quantity of healthy young men’s blood.” The blood was distilled twice and dried in the sun. One wonders what the “healthy young men” had to say on this subject of blood-letting, especially as “a considerable quantity” was taken. In olden times no one need remain wrinkled. All that was necessary was to “smear the face with a mixture of water and the \| Pounded root of wild cucumber.” If any ore was afflicted with freckles it was his own fault; the remedy was simple if scarcely pleasant; he must “rub a bull's gall on the face.” To us who are apt to be irritated by dust or smoke in the eye while on the railway the following prescription should be valuable: “Chant the psalm ‘Qu! habitat’ thrice over water, with which then dcuche the eye.” A certain remedy for curing an inebriate was to give him as many eggs of the screech owl boiled hard as he could possibly eat, when he would ever after be a total abstainer. This is surely worthy the attention of the temper- ance societies. The search for “the philoso- pher’s stone” Seems to have been nc mere craze of the unlettered. Men of unim- Keachable ability and great learning wasted the greater part of their lives on this quest. Some supposed mercury to be the chicf transmuting force; others thought that by sulphur the bodies of metals could be turn- ed into “the most fine pure gold and silver.” Though Bacon was a firm believer in the elixir vitae, Paracelsus was the most dili- gent inquirer after this wondrous liquid. Melissae,"" which was made of pure car- benate of potash and the fresh leaves of the melissa plant, on which was poured pure alcohol. Generally, however, the idea seems to have been that the elixir of life was composed of the four elements blended tcgether. +o+—____. LONDON SMOKE. Evelyn Complained of the Nuisance Over 250 Years Ago. Ficm the London Telegraph. According to one of those early chroni- clers who recorded his impressions upon parchment, “this island is noted chiefly for the beautv of the women and the preva- lence of fogs.’’ Hundreds of years have elapsed since the remains of this worthy were cremated and laid to rest outside the walls of Rome, but, according to many au- thorities, the description is as true today as when it was first written. M. Zola, whose keen power of observation no man will question, is reported to have used language very similar to that of the pagan writer when he referred to the ladies of London as “tres belles’ and the fogs as simply “epouvantables!’ From the commencemertt of our history until the present time fog has been a topic of perennial interest to Britishers in general and to the inhabi- tants of London in particul&r. In the time of Charles II fog became so frightful a nuisance, we are told, that one Evelyn wrote a pampalet inveighing against the absurd policy of allowing brewers, dyers, soap boilers and lime burners to pursue their noisome labors “‘among the dwelling houses of the city and suburbs.” He com- plained that the gardens around London would no longer bear any fruit, and cited -|many instances cf orchards, as, for ex- ample, Lord Bridgewater's, in Barbican, and the Marquis of Hertford’s, in the Strand, that had produced good crops in Bt the year in which Newcastie-on-Tyne was because only a very Hmited quantity of coal was then brought into Lendon. “It is this horrid smoke,” wrote Evelyn, “which obscures our churches and makes our palaces look old, which fouls our Evelyn and M. Zola, appears to be that the first gentleman referred mereiy to the or- dinary fog, which, as every schoolboy knows, consists principally of water par- ticles, Whereas the others dealt obviously with that injurious compound known as a “London _particula The scientific de- scription of the “London particular” would probably be: Fog plus certain products of combustion, and injurious for two reasons. First, on account of the tarry products present, which envelop the drops of mois- ture and thus obstruct evaporation, hence the dryness of a London fog; second, be- cause the amount of carbonic acid in the air is largely increased during its preva- lence owing to the smoky vapor preventing its diffusion. ——__+0+______ THE SKATING CARNIVAL. An Interestmg Feature of Winter Life in Holland. George Wharton Edwards in Harper's Weekly. In Holland a winter seldom passes with- out good skating, which being not only a pastime with the Dutch, but a serious and ordinary mode of travel, the ice on jhe ls and “grachts” is kept in good con- Gition, and it is common to. see a small army of sweeping peasants putting the ice in erder for the day. There is a skating club in every town in Holland, and all these clubs belong to the Dutch Skating Associa- tion. The largest clubs are probably the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Ice Clubs, and in the season many excursions are made by these associations to the surrounding towns —for example, from Amsterdam to Ley: via Vogelenzang and Haarlem; from sterdam to Monnikendam, Edam, Hoorn, Enkhuyzen, Alkmaar, and even across the Zuyder Zee, when it will bear, to Marken, and even Urk. The way the whole country is moated by canals, with huge windmilis cveflooking the ice like leviathan imple- ments of ordnance, is calculated to appeal to the lover of the picturesque. Then there are the graceful light sleighs, propelled by skillful skaters,and containing red-cheeked, bright-eyed peasant girls in immense lace caps and dangling temple ornaments, flying over the ice at a great speed. On the Maas, a few miles east of Rotterdam, lies a fa mous skating resort known as Stikkerveer, and brought into notoriety in recent years by the international skating contests which are held there. Any one fond of that most exhilarating form of exercise can hardly find a more interesting experience than is to be had during a winter trip to Holland. In the season the boat leaves the Rhine tion pier for a sail up the Maas. The steamer ploughs her way through the float- ing ice, and at length leaves you at a high pier on a huge dike which Separates the river from the low-lying country. A short walk brings you to a large inclosed ex- Ppanse of ice, obtained by artificially flood- ing a large ‘area. Here a huge horseshoe course is marked out for the racer: And on either side of this stretches the free por- tion, for the onlookers and those who wish to practise the exhilarating art. Fashion is beginning to drive out the picturesque costumes of the peasants, who are be ing ashamed of their distinctive dres year by year there is to be seen le a less of the lovely, quaint and sometimes bizarre he and the queer coats and breeches of the men and boys. There is little fancy skating to be seen, The great length of the runners of the Dutch skates, and the way in which they turn back in huge curve F effectual checks upon all tigur ing in- volving sudden or short turns. An atlempt to do the outside edge backward would in- Vite disaster. The Dutchman can go quick- er over long stretches upon his skates than the Englishman, because of his extra long runners. It is charming sight to the long string of skaters sailing along with a swing that reminds one of the flight and dip of the swallows. i use a sort of 1, with which, y clever dling, they can make headway close up in wind. The most usual figure seen is what is styled the Dutch roll, in which long lines of skaters throw themselv curvy cred ‘There is much shouting and boi and some of the byplay is rot in the best taste, but on the whole the scene is most interesting and entirely unique. pre ig ws AN OLD CATERER ON TERRAPIN. ction is in Eating It Yourself. From tbe Philadelphia Times, ‘T, a famous colored caterer , dead long ago, furnished the following formula for preparing and sery- ing terrapin. It was published in a gas- tronomic journal at the time when he was ‘on earth. “You can’t enjoy terrapin unless the day is nippin’. Temperature and terrapin go hand in hand. Now, as to your terra- pin. Bless you! there is all the difference in the world in them. The more northerly is the terrapin found the better. You eat a Florida terrapin—you needn't despise it, for terrapin is terrapin everywhere—but you get a Chesapeake one or a Delaware bay one, or, better still, a Long Island one, and there is just the difference between $10 a dozen and $36. Warm water kinder Washes the delicate flavor out of them. Don’t you let Mr. Bergh know it, but your terrapin must be boiled alive. Have a good big pot, with a hot fire under it, so that he shen’t languish, and when it has got on a full head of steam pop him in. What I am going to give is a receipt for a single one. If you are awfully rich and go tn for a gross of terrapin, just use your multipli- cation table. Just as soon as he caves in watch him and try his flippers. When they part when you pry them with your finger nail, he is good. Open him nicely with a knife. Biling of him dislocates the snuff box. Pick out every scrap of his meat. There ain't overmuch of it, more's the pity. The most is in the jints of the legs and side lockers, but if you want to commit murder, just you smash his gall, and then your terrapin is gone forever. Watch closely for eggs and handle them gingerly. Now, having got him or her all into shape, put the meat aside. Take three fresh eggs— you must have them fresh. Bile ‘em hard and mash ’em smooth. Add to that a ta- blespoonful of sifted flour, three table- spoons of cream, salt and pepper (red pep- per to a terrapin is just depravity), and two wineglasses of sherry wine—wine as costs $2.50 a bottle ain't a bit too good. There never was a gotega in all Portugal that wouldn’t think itself homored to have itself mixed up with a terrapin. Now you want quite a quarter of a pound of the very best fresh butter, and put that In a porcelain-covered pan and melt it first— musn’t be browned. When it’s come to be oily, put in your terrapin, yolks of egg, wine and all. Let it simmer gently. Biling up two or three times does the business. What you are after is to make it blend. There ain’t nothing that must be too point- ed in terrapin stew. It wants to be a quiet thing, a suave thing, just pervaded with a most beautiful and natural terrapin aroma. You must serve it to the people that eats it on a hot plate, but the real thing is to have it on a chafing dish, and though a man oughtener be selfish, there is a kind of divine satisfaction in eating it all your- self.” ——————— A Herole Rescue. From the St. Paul Pioncer Press. Capt. William Becker of the schooner Redington, now loading lumber at the Scott & Holsten saw mill in the port of Duluth, is voted a hero by the men that saw him at great risk to his own life save William Barnes, a lumber shover, from death by drowning. The slip at the lumber yard of the Scott & Holsten company was filled with broken ice when the schooner Reding- ton arrived to begin loading a cargo of lumber. On the lumber piles were the men that were to shove the lumber on board. Barnes was among them. He is a heavy man, weighing 250 pounds, and, venturing too near the edge of the lumber pile, a board slipped, or tipped, and he was pre- cipitated down something like twenty-five feet into the icy waters of the slip. Barnes struck on one side, but immediately came to the surface and clutched in vain at the floating ice cakes for support. By the great- est effort he succeedéd in keeping his head above water for a few moments. Capt. Becker had his overcoat on and without a moment's hesitation, ‘And without removing his overcoat, leaped down twenty feet be- tween the icy walls of the boat and the face of the lumber pile. The daring man struck a projecting timber and was turned over. He alighted on his back, but was uninjured, and immediately took posses- sion of the gigantic form of the drowning lumber shover. The latter was absolutely helpless by this time, and had assistance a few seconds later it would have been too late. With a few powerful strokes -the. life saver reached a in the face of the dock and assisted to get the clothes and corrupts the waters.” The main }Jatter’s arms around it, where they almost .| difference between the observations of our Dagan friend and those of the later writers, PaaS 3 immediately froze stiff to the wood. ‘They Were; of. course, promptly rescued. ITHE KING OF BIRDS Wonderful Sight and Age of the American Eagle, i SAVAGE WAYS OF THE OLD ONES Their Habits, Haunts and Subsiste ence in the Mountain Country. =e es THEY REAR YOUNG ——__ + -— HOW Nashville, Tenn., Letter in New York Post. The mountain solitudes and fastnesses of Tennessee, which have figured so often of late In the stories and novels of John Fox, Charles Egbert Craddock and others, have, among other respect-inspiring natives, many specimens of the American national bird, the bald-headed eagle, which make its eyrie among the lofty and ragged clefts and crags and pinnacles of the ranges. It is found on the Stone mountain, the great €, 6.296 feet high; on the Rald at 5,550 and the Great Smeky range, which rises 6.630 feet; on the Bullhead, and in many other lofty places. For these splendid birds there is a never- failing demand, and as a result there many mountaineers who have become e: pert catchers of these mountain prizes, an who often reap rich rewards in return for perilous risks and daring adventures. Young eagles bring from $40 to $80, and oceasionelly $100, while eagles that are of seme age and of great size cost as much as $300, these being rarely captured, how. ever. Eagles which are killed in ihe a tempt to capture them are valuable to taxidermists, who always find an easy mar- ket for these great stuffed birds. Their feathers, especially those of wing and tail, are likewise sold for good prices. Their Nests. The eagle either builds its nest upon the top of a mighty tree growing far up on the mountain, among myriads of twining vines and the thickest and most inaccessible bushes or shrubs, or on the summit of a high rock. It is always a large one, strong- ly and comfortably built, 1: branches being laid togeth and bound with twining vine: cious inside is covered with €s, So minutely woven together wind can penetrate. In this that abo mother bird lays two ergs, which are great no the curiosities. The long end of the down to a point, while its brownish red, with many upon it. The young birds are ee tapers a dirt or dots and spots driven in from the nest by their savage parents to se atch for themselves as soon as they are ple to fly, and no training whatever is given them by the old bird. That is left to their instinct. which hunger and nec sity develop. There is no going back to the old home for the young eagle, for the mother bird at tears up every vestige of the nest where they have thriven sinc birth, and while they emit plaintive shrieks, darts at them and pushes them off the crags or rocks, and as they must take to their wings or fall, th.s is how they learn to fly at once. Their Great Age. It takes three years for a young eagle to gain its full and complete plumage and for the development of its strength. Once full grown, provided he does not mi ith a violent death, an eagle should have between S90 and 160 years, Up in the mountains the eagle finds it as hard to gain subsistence as do the feathered srumblers of the plains below. The pre- cariousness of his existence and the wild manner in which food is gathered scem to give the bird greater ferocity the older it grows. The mong the moun- tains and in pairs, their young never follow but doing the t they can by themselve The stern, unsoctal ty- ing with the manifests itself atment of their y of the older birds, casting out of the eaglets, in later years in their tr mates. If the male bird be the stronger, most of the prey belongs to him, and he allows the female to eat but a paltry share between fierce thrusts of his beak. If the female is the stronger (and she gencrally is), the male bird cowers and wi under many a flerce blow from his unfeeling wife, no matter how smail the morsel he is striving to get. But when danger threatens, no hu- man pair battle so formid for theme selves and each other as do two eagles. Monogamo It 1s a noteworthy fact that each male has but one mate during his lifetime. If the female is killed or captured, the surviv- ing male becomes an eagle hermit and fiercer than ever. Eagles are often seen near their nests to- gether, but when the sun is shining they frequently take their majestic flight straight toward it, until they disappear from sight. Sitting upon the mountainside their vision is so keen that they can see far down in the valley a sheep or young goat, a big turkey or rooster, a small pig, a rabbit, or partridge, and almost instan- taneously they descend upon their victim. Often, when a large calf or goat is to be attacked and carried off, four or six of the great birds will unite and remove the carcass to a safe spot, when they will im- mediately begin to fight it out to see which of them is entitled to the choicest bits, and it is truly a survival of the fittest in such combats as thi But an eagle is always confident of his strength, and rarely over- reaches himself in such conflicts or in his desire for prey. Swooping in Pati When lingering by the mountain rivera, watching for ducks or geese, or even fish, a pair of eagles will display their natural shrewdness. They swoop from opposite di- rections upon the fowl,which tries to ¢ by diving, and could outwit one eagle; suddenly as the bird comes to the surface of the water the second eagle seizes him. With its wonderful power of sight, cover- ing a radius of miles, the eagle combines a swiftness of flight equally marvelous. In a single night and day a full-grown eagle ean fly 1,000 miles. Oftentimes the visitot in the Tennessee mountains can just set bim like a little speck in the sky, moving restlessly and rapidly in majestic circles about the crest of a far-away peak. The sightseers and mountaineers who love to watch cagles always choose the break of dawn or a calm sunset. Then they are to te seen wheeling in circles and gliding about in horizontal sweeps, just before starting out on a day’s hunt, or settling for the night ian A Carious Fren From the New York Tribune. Owing to the existence of a peculiar law in Frarce, which exacts that “any person named or referred to in any periodical pub- lication shall have the right to reply in the next number in the same place and in the same type, providing the reply does not extend to more than twice the length of the offending article,” one of the forth- coming numbers of the “Revue des Deux Mondes,” the most important and influen- tial monthly reviews in France, will con- tain an article ef unusual length, and couched in extravagant language, which will appear in its pages in spite of the op- Position of the editor. It will bear the sig- nature of a dramatic author, who, in- furiated by the nature of the criticism pase- ed by the “Revue” on one of his plays, has invoked his rights under Artiele 13 of the press laws, rights which were in vain con- tested by the editor. Letter Seven Y¥. on the Road. From the Belfast (Me.) Republican. November 27 Richard B. Stover of Bucks- port received through the mail a letter which he mailed March 9, 1890, to his fath- er, Capt. J. G. Stover, now some time de- jel Barnes, which was due at Victoria, B. C. The letter was in care of the consul. The Barnes had sailed arrival of the letter, and Law.