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The Banner-Democrat. (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, October 28, 1893, Image 1


Persistent link: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88064237/1893-10-28/ed-1/seq-1/

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Was rJausod by the Lies of a
aeaoaly Janitor.
"I tell you, boys," I said, "if I was
not a tarried man, I should go to the
races on Monday and put all I'm worth
on Bazzle Dazzle."
"Why don't you?" asked Tom Mur
S "Why?" said L "Oh, I'm a married
man, and my wife has a horror of the
races. I've promised her to keep away
romtam. A promise is a promise."
A"nd good enough you've made it,
dr," said our old porter. honest Jim
we called him. "Many a man has gone
down to ruin and degradation on ac.
count of them races. The lady Is wise.
;She is wise. I'm telling you what I
mana Obey the lady, and you'll never
see yourself in difficulties."
Hones' Jim was fond of giving ad
vice, and he broke up our chat with
these words. Murphy and Wiggins
went away to get a glass of beer before
th~y parted, and I took the train home.
LA brooding storm broke just as I
reached tay cottage, and glad enough
was I t escape it. We had supper to
getldt,; and went into the parlor as
usyaL What a night it was, to be surel
,A wild night, a.bittcr night, a night
when tylre seemed to be strange voices
in the wind, and those within the house
were likely to fancy knocks upon their
doors and unbar and unbolt them and
cry: "Who is there?" when it was only
the blast 'that had caused them to rat
tle. Yet it was on this night that my
wife, my little, delicate, beautiful wife
Fleda arose from the fireside and tell
ing me that she would return shortly,
left the room.
* To leave thg room was nothing, but
when I heard her leave the house I
emld scarcely believe my senses. She,
who was so timid-she who-- Why,
so, it could not be. I went about the
house calling her. I grew alarmed, and,
faering to find her lying in a swoon
somewhere, carries the lamp low and
looked in the garret, the cellar, the lit
tile ktaehen where cooking was done in
5 -er-everywhere, in fact.
I(he was gone, and so was the cloak,
that usually hung in a certain place,
and a hood she wore about the grounds
4h cold days. What could have taken
hen out? Had she heard our pony
Afdgeting inhas stall or the peep of some
stray chicken? Was she anxions about
the dayold calf? We had all these
rural belongings in the small boundary
aour little summer-home.
SIf so, why did she not mention it to
ree? It was, no doubt. that cold of
mine, which I had made too much fuss
-about She went herself rather than
'-to expose me. I tossed on my water
iproof eot, pulled an old hat over my
ears and went out upon the porch.
T¶e lantern was gone.
"Fledal" I cried, lifting my voice,
"'Fleda I say! Where are you, Fleds?"
I heard no sound, but shortly, far
alolg the road. I spied a yellow blur
wajjag near the ground, and knew,
", whib I had watched it for some time,
, that it was a lantern carried by some
one to light her steps along the irrega.
lar, foot-path. I say "her," because
ph# I could see the drapery of a
woen's dress. It was my wife, re
turalng, home. I was certain of that
now, and I called to her at once:
" Fleda, why on earth are you strag
gling about in the storm? Why didn't
you send me to do what you wanted
duenae The wind is strong enough to
carry you over the hills. I've been wild
about you."
"I did not know the wind was so
strong." r
SAnd I asked no more questions. My
- astety tfo tpda swallowed up every
eAther thought. However, she was per
feetly well net day, though euriously
depressed and bastracted.
I have npt yet intrd"ed myself. I
am Henry Cawrrigton. My business
was that of cashier with the Dayton
9rothers. My wIfLt I lived simply
in a tiny ot-of-towlttage in sum
,ss~ a tinier at lW'snter. I had
- Isever been extsrgat, and my only
great folly ha~&"beea to risk a certain
sum of money, left se a legacy, at
the races. I backed the favorite and
lost every dda4r. Fleda was very
much distremsed when i told her the
"lNot at the loss of~%he money,
lIemy," she said, "but thatyou should
risk it at the races. My unoe once em
ployed a yonag man who became d
honest and was Anally arrested because
f going to the races and bettingr and
ll that Pray, pray, be careful."
The week pe.ed quietly. Pay night
gamie  It often happensthat the
ee night is stormy for several suc
osuedlag weeks." This night, however,
s at as bad -as the one on whkich my
auy opens. However, it was much
moret' omfosate indoors than oat.
ha yes, j~,ust as I was in tb midle of
.,-rggaph I was Iu edingr toabe from
th ev esing paper, I looked ap and asw
'hat shebad left It Againathe yellow
ligt ot the lantern told me of her
taSrn. he was mot oaut of breath tis
tha bUt shewas pale snd trembled
elittletfhe shook her headwhen I
i~l~sr~dke wheree as had be and said:
"·eua ue* Ty bo u s Lt6"U
"*ouaditsotd kastl wab reading
Iater sOsing" sast L
cent piece and two pehnies-which told
me that she had dropped a portion of
some money that she had taken with
a her. All this made me very unhappy.
I detested mysteries, and it was evi
dent that one of the seot which I had
a always thought itthatural when intro
e duced into the pages of novels had
h arisen In my quiet little home.
I remembered that I had met my wife
by chance; that our introduction was
brought about by a chance acquaint
d ance, who really knew nothing of
e either of us; that she was alone in the
y world, without any living relative, or
claimed to be so; a teacher of music,
, with few pupils, making a hard struggle
a for life. Very possibly a disreputable
e father or brother had turned up, to
whom she was obliged to give assist
ance, and whom she did not wish me to
I know. It was a pity, but I would have
r kO more of this. I would get at the
truth and help her if I could. Then a
1- terrible thought occurred to me. What
h if it should prove that she had married
s early in life; that a worthless husband
e had returned, and that she was trying
to get rid of him? In that case what a
I goose I would be to meddle and force
h upon myself a terrible knowledge which
I might avoid.
a It was cowardly, perhaps, but I loved
,I Fleda so dearly that I had rather be
it deceived in such a way-I never doubt
s ed her utter truth for one moment
a than to be undeceived to my misery.
r And, hoping against hope, I permitted
d two more weeks to pass by without do
ing anything whatever. Then came an
hour when graver doubts possessed me.
My wife had sold the diamond ear
rings which my sister had given her
L- upon her wedding day. I came by this
knowledge while examining her desk
for letters, and I believed that she in
tended to give the money thus raised to
the mysterious person who had the
power to call her from her fireside when
he pleased.
e The night en which I followed her
was as beautiful as night could be. The
air wa~ warm and full of the breath of
d flowers. My wife wore a white dress
and a pretty hat with daisies around
the brim. She had told me a deliberate
falsehood, asking me to stay at home
to receive a friend who might call
while she went to the dressmaker's
A wild hope that she had only been
to this dressmaker before, and that the
e jewels were sold to pay some extrava
t g nt bill filled my heart, but it van
t ished as I followed her, and saw her
leave the road after going a few paces,
and take a by-path which ran backs
into our own orchard. It was a small
{ place full of old apple trees The moon
light failed to fill it, but I saw amidst
the shadows of the foliage the darker
° shadow of a man's 4guae.
"Ye've kept me waiting," he whis
L "I could not help it," my wife re
The man gave a low growl
"Ye've got the money?" he said.
r "For your own intherest you've got
the money, the five hundred dollars"
* Where had I heard that voice before?
"M°o,"my wife faltered, "notso much;
e the jeweler would only give me three'
hundred, but I have that."
e "Ye must raise the other two,"
a growled the man. "Oh, you'll do it, it
won't be a great dale to pay to save
them we know of from twenty years in
jail. Prodhuce it and tell me whin, or,
F afther all, I'll tell the truth; it's my
duty anyway."
d "Oh, good Heaven! I've given you all
I havel" cried my poor wife. "I can get
d no more."
Sheseemed almost to faint. What
0 ever this mystery might be, it was my
duty to defend her.
Y I strode out of the shadow, and, with
7 out warning, stood before them.
r "Fleds," I cried, "what does thiu
y mean? Whom are you talking to? I
must know! I will knowl Do you fancy
I have been blind toyour meetings with
Sthis seoundrel?"
)"Oh, don't speak so, dearest!" she
7 cried. "Don't anger him. Go away.
I You don't know your danger."
" 'Danger' " I cried, clutching the
Scollar of the man, who strove to rush
a past me. "Come; let me see whom I
t have here."
a I dragged him into the light, and
y saw our porter, Honest Jim, and no
"Jim, by all that is comical!" I said.
S"Andwhat is he to you, wife?"
a 'Oh. don'tl Don't!" cried Fleds. "He
- knows all He knows all!"'
S"Fledas," said I, "whatever he may
a know about you, have no fear. You
d are my wife. I love you. Nothing cn
alter that."
t h, it isn't I, Hlenryl It is youl He
' knows all about Razzle Dasle, and
Swhat you did to get the money to bet on
r him. It was such a temptation, I know,
y my poor husbandl And he swore he
h would not betray you if I gave hisi ive
, hundred dollars. But I have not been
able toraise it I will, though, Spare
rr husband, and I willl Yest Oh, I
S earn it, somehwl" crietd sFleda,
"Whatponfounded blaekmailing trick
Sis this?" said I, shaking BHlonest Jim
S"PI'ase, let me gol" groesed Jim.
• "You put it into U head with pour
talk of your mimus tE.s pe'd go
1:wrong. I was up before height
I of the storrHa, and sbe metme aad
ou aesy tgk lU. An' I tr ied Ii t.
a bans' theiavl -at into yhbqe.
Rwe'n the Imor beSk. Don't easte
a mei ! Berieiathsmom sek.
-t "W*hatdi ash h sl1 po, yes rssay
r. ebiat4" lashed Pq4#
Cbss V~~ll ~~) ~·p
hootiand's National Costume Partially
Derived from the Ancients.
In spite of claymores and royal edicts
the Scottish kilt and clan tartan still
remains the costume of particular sec
tions of the Highland country. The
present form of the kilt' dates back no
farther than John Lord, of Claver
house, who caused the Highlanders to
form the huge plaids (which they
wound round their bodies in a
picturesque fashion, as the natives of
India do to this day) into the most
commodious kilt, with plaid for chest,
back and shoulders. It seems beyond
doubt that the original costume of the
Highlanders was of the above primi
tive description. Whoever invented
the kilt preserved the picturesque
appearance, while gaining decidedly
in convenience. The fashion of
"kilting," i. e., forming a textile
fabric in a number of close, fiat
plaits, dates back in the dim past,
for in many sculptures of the ancient
people of the east and of Egypt we find
evidence that the plaiting of linen and
woolen fabrics was recognized by the
modistes and tailors of thousands of
years ago; but the short, many-plaited
kilt of Scotland was a spontaneous
modification of a really national cos
tume. For lads and boys few costumes
are at once so picturesque and yet so
manly as the short kilt, with jacket,
sporran, skein dhue and feathered cap.
The plaid, with which both men and
women of the Highlands clothed them
selves, was from time immemorial
woven with native-dyed wool into curi
ous patterns of colored lines, forming
various squares, so that the tartan
is a genuine outcome of the primitive
instincts of tribal pride, which dates
to the dimmest past. No doubt
the difference of clan tartans
was originally due to geographic
al and local circumstances; for
the women who spun the wool
from the native flocks dyed it
with natural dye stuffs of the neigh
borhood-the berries and bark of trees
growing wild on the mountain sides.
And to this fact, no doubt, was due the
peculiarity that a Campbell should ap
pear in green and black with a yellow
line, and a Frazer in bright red with
green, gray and white lines.
The advantages of this outward dif
ference in the tribal appearance must
have early become apparent,and means
would naturally have been adopted to
enhance the peculiar differences of
clan tartans, so as to give a manifestly
dissimilar appearance to men of each
clan. This design, thanks to the deft
fingers and clever brains of the women
folk, was so successfully achieved that
soon each clansman was transformdl
into a walking emblem of discord
should he venture beyond the borders
ot his own tribal domain. Hence
fairs and other functions, where
men of different localities met
and mingled, soon became more
or less gory battlefields, for each map
regarded an opposing tartan in the
same light as a savage bull looks upon
a red Crag. The wearer of the green
and red striped tartan was seized with
a wild desire to make a hole through
the blue and yellow striped plaid, to
the manifest discomfort of its wearer.
It became so popular a pastime this
slashing of opposing tartans with clay
mores and skein dhnes that at last a
paternal government, sending forth its
edicts from St. James palace, made it
a penal offense to wear tartans in
the Highlands of Scotland.
It was not long obeyed. And re
sumption of the custom brought more
pronounced coloring and more numer
ous variations. Some of the tartans
seem to have been specially designed
to set the heather on fire. Such is that
all the Macduffs (to which clan the
Princess Victoria of Wales has been
I united by marriage with the duke of
r Fife), which is red with far apart bars
i of black and green. The Macfes' tar
tan ia also bright red, with broad,
s very far apart bands of green and
small lines of white, the Macgregora
having another alarming combination
of the kind. The Macleod tartan is a
Smost trying arrangement of bright yel
I low with broad tight black thread
band, forming black spots where they
I cross, and thin red lines; while quite
Sas bad is the light yellow and bright
ed of the Macmillans, and the eccen
tric comphication of white, blue, black
and red of the Ogilvies.
I ome of the tartans are reserved for
the chief of the clan and his heir, or,
r at all events, his family alone. Chiefs
Sof the Highland clans sport twoeaglea'
Sfeathers in their elpe and their sons a
single eagle's feather. The armorial
,or created brooch on the shoulders was
not only used to fasten the plaid, but
to hold the clan badge, a sprig of some
native shrub, such as the wild thyme
and holly of the Drammonds, the broom
of the Forbes and MacKays, the wild
myrtle and club moss of the Csmpbells,
Ivy of the Gardens and juniper of the
Macleoda-London Queen.
It Is a Cheap ad 1lesammt Way et spead
Img Yor entasees
A vynang woman brown as a berry
rand with Sash as irm as a proverbial
roekt, ename s4. the offBee the other
mornPir with her a-ms loaded with
I wild Sowers pad her whole being red
flent of play woods sand srany dells
After the emmAl nateeang, of temi
* aleetlngethesvsitrleaned back
the ey halira, sea, with genuine pity
ih hew br a eyes, eulaedmed: "Yos
vbr 7a r hear1 do pity yeo, ocoped
m awep these ybe days in sa asH
S rwe~. l  ls ea was
seas"w.s  ed by n ap
a eped neet I .smm e -ag
In boarding houses, sowe hit upon this
plan, and it doesn't cost nearly as
much and we get ten times more fun
out of it. We don't have a truly tent,
but have hired an old cabin with four
rooms that we have fitted up with cots
and a few rugs, and our decorations
consist of grasses and colored adver.
tisements. We live outdoors, for we
own our own boats and have ham
mocks and easy canvas chairs that
we can move about from place to
place at our own sweet will. In
the morning we take a dip in the
lake and in the evening we float
about on its sarface, our boat lit up
with lanterns Ind our banjos and gui
tars tuned up in fine style, and we sing
and laugh until the katy-dids and the
bullfrogs wake the echoes of the night,
when we turn in and sleep until morn
ing without turning over. Our clothes
don't cost us sixpence, for we live in
serges and blouse waists, and when
next winter comes we will be in pocket
and in health, to say nothing of having
had a glorious time."
When the door closed after this hn
man brownie we took up the pen, and
as with every stroke we inhaled the
fragrance from the souvenir of the
woods which she had left behind her
we determined to let other women
know how one had solved the problem
of a delightful summer outing at a
very trifling expenditure.-Philadel
phia Times.
Hai Methods of lad Grabblang Wore
Unique if Not Commendable.
"There are devices practiced in the
far west," observed an Omaha man
recently, '.'for making money; devices
that appeal to the enterprising and in
genious citizen, and that are, by a long
way, more ingenious than commenda
"Every now and then." he went on,
"a shrewd easterner sees an unlooked
for opportunity to get ahead in the
west. He generally intends to remain
just long enough to get a big bank ac
count and then to return home and
spend his money. Oftener than not,
he does not return, and the west, par
ticularly the 'new west,' is recruited
with just such eastern adventurers.
"There is a man living on a claim
near the frontier town of Heclas, Wyo.,
whose career so far has been pre
eminently successfuL
"Less than a year ago he took out a
land claim for six hundred acres. He
had his eye upon the land adjoining his
own, where an old frontiersman lived
alone with his daughter.
"The shrewd easterner gained the
favor of the old man by winning his
way into the daughter's affections and
afterward marrying her.
"He then put his father-in-law into
the wa of stealing sheep that had
wandered from neighboring ranches,
claiming that they were communistlJ
property. Both were arrested, as the
'business' man knew and intended they
should be. The latter then turned
state's evidence and'was set free.
"That was part of his well-formu
lated scheme. While his father-in-law
was serving out his sentence in prison
the easterner jumped the old man's
claim, hired an unscrupulous neighbor
to run away with his wife and ob
tained a divorce on the ground of de
"He now smokes the pipe of peace at
he surveys his broad acres and con'
gratulates himself upon his shrewd,
ness. He will probably return east
some day. No doubt he'll pose as a1
western cattle king or something of
the sort when he does."-N. Y. Herald.
Two Backward Swalas Who Were Forced
to Pop.
This is about two girls who lived in
a western mining town, and who might
have been married to the choicest
young men of the town if they hadn't
each fallen in love with one of the
weakest. The boys were friends,
named respectively Smith and Curtiss,
and they were so slow to "pop" the im
portant question, even while desper
ately in love, that the girls concluded
to bring them to time.
"Just the way men do," said Sally
Hanks, "take a six-shooter and ask
them their intentions. There won't be
any need of loading the shootere-
they'll be so scared they'll drop the
minute they see them."
The young men were partners in
business, and Sally Hanks and her
friend Ethel Barber called together at
their office. carrying the weapons con
cealed in their hand-bags.
Ethel trembled so she could hardly
stand, but her friend Sally was nerved
right up to business.
"We're just tired of shilly-shally
ing," she said sternly; "if you don't
know your own minds, we'll help you
to find out, and we won't stand any
I more foolin', for there's others wait
in'," and she took out her six-shooter,
Iand held it under the nose of Byron
Smith, who nearly fainted.
"'I'm your huckleberry," he gasped,
and dropped on his knees.
CUtierts took the weapon in a ginger
ly fashion out of Ethel's hands and
asked her to be Mrs. Curtiss at the
earliest possible date.
But Sally kept hers, and they do say
that it has Agurd in their domes tic
history c oeaslons sinace then, but I
can rvach for its never having been
Onee when Byrop Smith refaed to
set sosne breed his wife had made sad
threw it oa the Sor, Sally had w
course to her sx-ehoot. Poelating t
st him, she slt teratnys
"Plk eptbst bsed"
HaealtO th e last ermb, a4 hm
ila L-Nirai" riwe. ies.i
Sf~loo a hglpain baa ta, a frea','
. 191eDshsleSS,"·?p~ibihknse#
~tnby.$~; ';ftkf~i
A Versatile tager mad a Good Mlmic, Whie
Think He Outclasses the Violina.
The most constant of our feathered
summer boarders is the catbird. He
comes to us e~ry in April and begins I
singing as sod as he has chosen his 1
summer apartment. This year he and 1
his quiet little wife selected their home !
in the midst of the English ivy that !
covers an old acacia a few feet from I
my chamber window-a pleasant I
choice for all parties concerned. I
After a few days, spent principally I
in the branches of a neighboringcherry I
tree-for our friends have but scanty
notions regarding the difference be- I
tween mine and thine, and at cherry 1
time cast even these few dim ideas to I
the wind-another egg is laid beside 1
its brother, and so it goes on until there
are four small bluish eggs safely hid- i
den under the ivy leaves awaiting the I
warm pressure of the mother's breast.
Then Mme. Catbird's sport is over. 4
It seems to me the catbird has never 1
been sufficiently praised. This is
probably partly his own fault, and due I
to a particularly harsh note which he 1
utters when startled of angry-a grat- i
ing "miau," much like the .mewing of I
a cat with a case of chronic catarrh-- I
and from this discordant cry the sweet' I
singer has earned his name. But this
is only his war cry or note of warning,
uttered to bid his mate be wary of 1
some enemy prowling near. The dan- 1
ger past his real song begins, and a
splendid one it is, for he belongs to the
family of thrushes and has their gift I
of mimicry. There iana little Italian
in our home, a wonderful little body,
who, being forever busy, is constantly
in demand, and many times a day the
cry is raised for her: "Cherubinal
Cherubina!" Our friend in the ivy has 1
heard our call; it pleased him not a
little. Perhaps thee. was something I
about the soft, medical inflection I
of the Italian name that reminded him I
of the blue skies and tropical vegeta
tion of the southern land in which he
spends half the year, so he set himself
to master its intricacies, and, lo! one
morning the whistle came clear and 1
pure "Cherubina - Cherubina," with
the true Latin inflection on the penal.
timate. So it is with everything. He
is eager to learn new songs and strag
gles manfully to master the pipings of
all his feathered neighbors. To do
him justice, he succeeds remarkably
well: in fact there is but one call that
escapes him altogether-the whistle of
the quail. He can not say "Bob
The other day he discovered a new
field for his labors when from within
the house rose the high, pure notes of
the violin. He stopped singing at once,
cocked his head, and listened eagerly.
Clearly this was a new experience
to him, and it was evident that he
could not understand how any bird
could sing so long without stopping to
take breath. He himself prefers to
whistle a few bars, stop and look about1
a bit while he trims his feathers, and
then begin again. But this audacious
and long-winded creature kept on with
trills, scales, and arpeggios following
each other in quick succession, with
never a breathing space between. At
last the gentleman in gray quite lost
patience. Was he a professional singer,
to be rivaled thus? So he dashed ruth
lessly into the performance, turning
the solo into a most remarkable duet,
and although he doubtless violated
every known and many unknown rules
of harmony the result was decidedly
pleasing. Then suddenly the unknown
songster within the doors closed with
a flourish. "Ha, ha!" said our gray
friend, "I thought I should tire you out
eventually." And with a last trium
phant note he flew away torecounthis
exciting experience to his mate.-Kate
Field's Washington.
What a Guest Had to 8ay About Her Ean
A lady returned from a long and
pleasant visit wrote to one of her late
Sentertainers: "Each of you singly has
some special charm. United you are
Another lady returning from a visit
to another family remarked to an inti
' mate friend who knew all the members
and circumstances of the latter family:
"Each one of the Blanks, taken sepa
rately, has good and even charming
qualities, but taken together they are
dreadful. I shall never visit there
The difference between the two fam
ilies lay in the fact that, whereas the
members of the first all worked united
]y to-make their guest's visit a pleasant
one, those ofat the other worked for the
same end conflietingly.
In the first family (we will call them
the Harmonies for convenience) there
were nine individuals, of three genera
tions, comprising a grandmother, her
,widowed daughter, with her son, about
sixteen years old, and daughter of four
teen, a bschelorson of the old lady and
a married daughter with her young
child and husband, asad the last men
tioned niece, a youJa lady of about
eighteen years.
Here, one might imagine, were some
of the elements of the 8bsord ready to
hand. A mother-In-law, a sao-ia-la,
a aisater-In-law, a brotherIn-law
cousins, unele, ants, and aunts and
ousins byeonuerta only! Lese diverse
elements than thes have been Isomand
troublesome ins other eases But this
family very eleasrly fnd out that
harmony was by no eeas moaotony.
If a false note were at any time skdtk,
al were by oomme.:t logh tstS.
consent agred that ItP hnse ne tS
*±minai~3aew the se i i thr
the others, aqd all were uas a ttheig
efetartnwibgr - the be est
the rest manbr e peeminMerud tb e
tanbb w a tar this sesulbb
Ishree* w T
asos. ae
A Funetonmary Who acIellittes the Me".
meut of rea4 Trae.
The sais is a runner who 'keeps in
front of a carriage and warns common
people out of the way, and who beats
them, with a stick if they do not hurry
up about it. He is a relic of the days
when the traffic in all of .the streets
was so congested that he was an ab
solute necessity; now he makes it poe0
sible for a carriage to move forward at
a trot, which ,without his aid it could
not do. It is obvious that to do this he
must run swiftly. Most men when
they run ,bend their bodies forward
and keep their months closed in order
to save their wind. The saeis
runs with his shoulders thrown
back and trumpeting like an
enraged elejiant. He holds his
long wand altis side like a musket,
and not trailing in his hand like a
walking-stick, and he wears a soft shirt
of white stuff, and a sleeveless coat
buried in gold lace. His breeches are
white, and asvoluminous as a woman's
skirts; they fall to a few inches above
his knee; the rest of his leg is bare,
and rigid with muscle. On his head he
has a fez with a long black tassel, and
magnificent silk scarf of many colors
is bound tightly around his waist. He
is a perfect ideal of color and move
ment, and as.)e runs he bellows like a
bull, or roars as you have heard a lion
roar at feeding-time in a menagerie.
It is not a human cry at all, anil you
never hear it, even to the last day you
stay in Cairo, without a start, as though
it were a cry of "help" at night, or the
quick-clanging bell of a fire-engine.
There is nothing else in Cairo
which is so satisfying. There
are sometimes two of them run
ning ,abreast, dressed exactly alike,
and with the upper part of their bodies
as rigid as the wand pressed against
their side, and with the ends of their
scarf and the long tassel streaming out
behind. As they yell and bellow, don
keys and carriages and people scramble
out of their way until the carriage they
precede has rolled rapidly by. Only
princesses of the royal harem, and con
suls-general, and the heads of the army
of occupation and the Egyptian army
are permitted two sals; other people
may have one. They appealed to me
as much more autocratic appendages
than a troop of lifeguards. The raste
qnaire who first introduces them in
Paris will make his name known in a
day, and a lord mayor's show or a box
seat on a four-in-hand will be a modest
and middle-class distinction in compas
ison.-Harper's Weekly.
Opantoas of Busn.sms -We I Reaert to
IHis Commercial Value.
Reports have come from around Que
bec of a business enterprise for the
catching of the porpoise. In a section
of the gulf where they are very plenti
ful colossal nets are to be spread for
their capture.
The porpoise has often been eanght
before. Capitalists have coraled him
in quantities while deporting himself
near Wilmington, Del., for instance.
But to these same capitalists he has
ever proved much of a white elephant.
Commercially he has been unsuccess
ful, and it is pleasing to note that he is
so far appreciated to-day that a band
of moneyed men are again to push him
forward. It is a difficult thing to find
a porpoise man in New York city. In
the business world the porpoise is out.
But a fish-oil man thus speaks of hjn:
The catching of the porpoise is some
thing that has never paid. When dead
he is useful in certain ways, but never
sufficientl so. Under his skin is a
layer t-the blubber-which is
made Aj n ordinary fish oil, such as
menhaden, selling at twenty-five cents
a gallon. The only really valuable oil
about him is within the jawlpne. That
oil is very fine. It sells at from three
to four dollars a gallon and when care
fully refined very much higher. But,
of course, per porpoise, there is a very
small quantity of that. Of the ordinary
oil about ten porpoises are needed for
a barrelful. It is used for the same
purposes that other fish oils are--lubri
cating, the curing of leather and the
~lightting of mines. But, he concluded,
tlhe amount of porpoise oil actually
used is so small that we oil men never
take it into consideration at all.
The porpoise's hide is regularly
tanned for boot and shoe use. It is too
wet and oily a leather to become a
material for bags, pocketbooks and
the like. Cut into strips for shoe
strings it has met with some favor. But
otherwise it is not wanted. Recently
a man in the swamp, who used to be in
the porpoise business, said.
"Don't talk porpoise tomes.ir; there
is nothing in them nowadays. Years
ago we thought there was going to be,
but no. In my stock now I have sev
eral thousand porpoise hides thatI
would be glad to sell, but nobody
wants them. If this new company a
going to capture them by net it will
have a job on its hands. For the poc
poise is a wriggler and the porpoise is
very strong, and the net will have to
be of the heaviest wire and tightly
woven together."
The porpoise here referred to is just
Sthe plain ordinary po.poise such as one
may msee not far from New York and
even at times in New York bay itself.
SThsere is another kind of porpole
known as the "white whale," -rom
Stwelve to foirteen feet uag, of a cs -
imsie whiteanss rom tip ot tail to
head. But he Is, striatly speaking, as
aretl perpou ad sldem it ever gets
s, o r south a the gulf of St. Law
rsne. The -dnakry speelso i but
half the slmgth, ean sees has, at tbe
-*..a .t. ithe 4 .4i a I#
b~esr C'r/rthe uli Ii 4iqitIWi A4
-As soon as a thing is fashionable
It somehow becomes comfortable.
Milwaukee Journal
-Half the world is ignorant of how
the other half lives. This is true, but
it is no fault of the so-called sdciety
-It is a strange meteorological faot
that the sun never shines so hot on a
base ball ground as on the harvest
field.-Quincy Journal
-"Mr. Editor, I am told you called
me a swindler in a recent issue of your
paper!" "No, sir, we only print the
very latest news."-Fliegende Blatter.
-A man never looks "so helpless and
insigniflcant as when standing around
a dry-goods store waiting for his wife
to get through trading.-Lowell Con-
-When a man moves out to Cali
fornia he always shows just as much
pride in the climate as if he were re
sponsible for it himself.-Somerville
-It is very hard to explain the at.
tractions of country life to a city man
who has just investigated the voltage
of a black-faced humble-bee. - Balti
more American.
--She-"What strange weather we
are having this summer." He-"Yes,
but if you remember, the summer of
'50 was just such anothes." She--"Sir"
-Pearson's Weekly.
-Mrs Jones-"Is your wife at home,
Mr. Wilbur?" Wilbur-"Not certain,
but if you'll hold that sereen door open
half a minute you'll hear from her."
eveland Plain Dealer.
-"Did you ever have your pieture in
a itvspaper?" "Yes, once. But as
the compositor misspelledmy name un
der it no one has ever yet learned of
the fact."--Washington Star.
-Mr. Totterly-"Could you marry a
very old man with a good deal of
money, if he told you frankly how old
he was and how much he was worth?"
Miss Timely-"How much is he worth?"
-De man dat believes that dere's
only one road to Hebben, desk bred
dtrn, an' dat dat one is de one he's a
walkin' on, is the kind ob a Christian
dat makes de debbel jump for joy.
Rev. Plink Plunk.
-"Madam," said the tramp. "I as
sure you I'm hungry enough to eat s
raw dog." "Very well," she replied,'
you may eat mine. I'll call him." And
she did, but the tramp didn't take the
meal he hadsuggested.-Drake's Maga
-A Case of 8ympathy.--Witherby
"You haven't seen my new boy, have
you? They say he takes after his
father." Plankington-"If he takes
the same thing his father takes Pm
sorry for him, old man." - Detroit
Free Press.
-Mamma-"If you eat any more of
that pudding, Tommy, you'll wse the
bogie-man to-night." Tommy (after a
moment's thought)-"Well, give me
some more. I might as well settle my
mind about the truth of thatstory oane
for all."-Tit-Bits.
-Miss Twitt"er-"Brunettse have
come in style again. I amghd that
my dark locks are once sioa
ble!" Mr. Guy Leae-"Y y grand'
mother always used to msay: "Keep a
thing forty years and it is sure to come
back in style again."-Arksasw Trav
-"When I marry I shall try to bq
sure of one thing, and that il that I
have a woman of sense." "You meam
a woman of prudence and forethought,
with fine perceptions and a knowledge
of human nature?" "Yes, that's it ex=
aetly." "But they are just the ones
that never marry."-Funny Folks
A Iaterestoag 5e4 nemer T'hat sspme
It is amusing to see how thoroughly
a Frenchwoman is a natural match*
maker, and how she supposes that the
search for a "bon parti" must ever be
uppermost in the mind of a properly
regulated young woman. At a dinner
in Paris, given by a hostess noted for
tact and elaborate entertainments, thb
pretty woman, convoying a tUll, awk
ward youth, fluttered up to an Ameri
san girl, saying: "Allow me to pre
sent Monsieur N., jLis X.; he is to
have the pleasure of taking you out to
dinner"-- adding in a quick little
"aside" behind her fan, "He is worth
ten million fancs, my dear. At the
table Miss X. discovered hereseort tobs
decidedly uninteresting, while her oth
en neighbor, Monasiear T., proved to be
most amusing, though a middle-aged.
plain little man. To him she devoted
herself throughout the dinner, continu.
ing the conversation afterward in the
drawing-room, where the negleeted
Craesas promptly deserted her.
A short time after, when making hem
dinner call, the American girl remsrk
ed to her ,hostess that- she had found
Monsieur T. such a clever man.
"O, yes, quite a clever little man; bet
Swhat did you think of Monsieur N?" in
Squired madame.
"He was rather yaoung, and there
Sdidn't seem to be anything particular
p ly interesting about him," replied,Mims
SX., hoping to exceus her evident neg
lect her eseort at the dinner.
S"A J," exelaimed her haostes,
Ssure when I saw how little he htate
ested you that you did not hear mee)
Syou that he was worth ten lilioa
f tranes"-Chlcago Tribane.
i Somne celebrated man, wis saw alit'
Stie delre tha others, aosi·: "Thel
eear of lookinrg ike a tbi hoe pe.
vmted may amena t a hmw"

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