1881-02-17; Saline Observer

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3k, Michigan,
If the osis gesxiiss ■.
5HERS,
Plain Engines
fee-Powers. _^
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htinuovsanSsutxessfuliusi..
krithant clianea ol naitifv:.
J SEPARATORS and-"
pes sndPlain .Engines
feafcre* and improvements
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H." Brase-Powera.
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[EPARD & CO.
Creek, Michigan.
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ALINE
^.IiK BARON ■& NISSLY, Proprietors.
SALINE, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN, FEBEUARY 17, 1881.
VOL. I.-NO. 14.
/
Important Intelligence from All Parts,
Congress.
The credentials of Philetus Sawyer, of Wisconsin, and Arthur P. Gorman, of Maryland,
were presented in the Senate on the 8th. Mr.
Bruce, from the Committee on Education and
Laoor, reported adversely-the joint resolution
to provide for the enforcement of the Eight-
Hour law, and its consideration was indefinitely postponed. Miv Blair introduced a joint
resolution proposing a Constitutional amendment prohibitin.ar, after the year 1900, the
manufacture aud sale anywhere within the
Lni£ed,htates.of distilled alcohol and intoxicating liquors, or any intoxicating liquors
m*xed;ojvaaulteiated with ardent spirits, or
any poison whatever, except for medical,
mechanical, chemical, or scientific purposes; also prohibiting the exportation
and importation of such liquors, and
their transportation through any part of the
United States, except for medical and scientific uses, etc. The resolutions from the
House announcing- the death of Evarts AV.
3?arr were considered and concurred in. The
Pension Appropriation bill was further discussed and amended TheKiver and Harbor
aifd*th'e "Legislative, Executive and Judicial
Appropriation bills were reported in the
House and referred to the Committee of the
Whole. Mr. Brig.ss offered the customary
resolutions relative to the death of Mr. Farr,
of Xew Hampshire, and eulojries were delivered by Messrs. Brings, Hall, Kav, Bland, Bowman, TTpdesraff (Ohio), Shelleribarger, Blake
and Sherwin^   .
Ix the Senate on the 9th a resolution, submitted DyJVlK.AVailace, was adopted, calling
on the President,' if not incompatible with tne
public interest, for the correspondence recently passed between Spain and the United
States in regard to the agreement of Eebruary
12,1S71, and more particularly with reference
to the question of naturalization "by the
T"nited States of natives of Spain. Mr. AVln-
donf. Introduced a bill authorizinsr the Mexican IfationalBailway Company to construct a
bridg-e to the center of the Rio Grande River,
orito the boundary line between Mexico and
the United States. The Pension Appropriation bill was passed. After returning from
the joint session held for the counting of the
Electoral votes a preamble and resolution
weie adopted reciting the result and declaring
that the two houses were of oninion that the
COnstftutibh and laws hadbeen.duly executed,
and that no'further declaration of the facts set
forth was necessary—The Legislative, Executive and Judicial Appropriation bill was
passed in the House, and the Agricultural Appropriation bill was: reported back from committee and referred to the Committee of the
AVhole.   ' -
The bill appropriating §205,000 for thepur-
cfiase of ground for and, the erection thereon
or a hall Of deposit for Government records
was passed in the Senate on the 10 th. Pursuant to a resolution offered by Mr. Pendleton
and adopted, Messrs. Pendleton. Anthony and
Bayard were constituted a committee to
make arrangements for the inauguration
of the President-elect on the 4th of
March next. The Postal Appropriation bill
was consideredj 'and several amendments
were agreed' to. The Legislative Appropriation bill was received and referred. Mr. Blair
introduced a bill providing for a temporary
increase of facilities for examination and adjudication of pension claims. A few private
Pension bills were passed A number of private bills were disposed of in the House. Mr.
Murch offered a resolution, which was
adopted, reciting the allegations that persons
connected with the Tv'ashington Gas-light
Company were using the opportunities
arising * out of thsir connection with
Congie'S to influence members in
matters pertaining to lighting the
dtyaad public buildings, and directing the
Company to furnish a list of all stockholders
and information in regard to dividends, the
•athotfnt'of cash on hand, etc. The River and
Harbor Appropriation bill was taken up and
debated in Committee ol* the Whole, and Mr.
Reagan moved that the committee rise and
Teport thebill to the House. Mr. Cox raised a
point of order and demanded a reading of the
'.'ill for amendments, and the Chair ruled that,
the reading beinq-demanded, the motion could
not be entertained. An apoeal being taken,
the Chair was sustained—152 to (5.
Ix the Senate on the llth Mr. Hoar introduced a resolution, which was laid over, in-
structingthe Judiciary Committee to consider
and report whether the assembling at the seat
of Government of large bodies of organized
and^arnted troops, not under command of officers of the United St:;tes or other National
aiSthoiiiy, be not likely to prove infuture dangerous in ' practice; and whether any legislation or op'Uton by Congress on the
subject be desirable. Mr. Wallace was
awardrd the floor upon his Constitutional
Amendments for tho D strict system and
popular vote by the plurality rule in Presidential elections, and ?poke for an hour upon the
defects which he claimed to be inherent in the
present system. The Post-office Appropriation
bill was further considered—The session of
the House was mainly devoted to the consideration of private bills. About two dozen Pension bills were passed, as was also a biii making Indianapolis vs. port of delivery.
'. Is the Senate on the 13th Mr. Conkling pre"-
se«ted the credentials of Thomas C." Piatt,.
Senator-elect from New York, to succeed Mr.
• Kernan, and the Ariee-Presideat presented the
credentials of Thomas P. Bayard, Senator-elect
from Belaware, to succeed himself. Mr. Morgan, on behalf of the Committee to Consider
the State of the Law Relative to the Election
of President and Vice-President, stated that,
though...anxious to bring forward some
prpposifidn in reference to t'ns important subrect, the committee thought it
" would be'-m vaiii to do so at this stage of
the se-sion, and would therefore abandon the
pending measure before them. On motion of
Mr. Davis fill.), the Senate bill to amend section <m of the Revised Statutes, so as to extend its provisions to all officers of theUnited
States in the performance of official acts in
which the United States is a party or has an
interest, was taken up and passed. The Post-
office Appropriation Dill was taken up, and,
after some discussion, the discovery was made
that no quorum was present....In the House
the bill reported bv the Interoceanic Canal
Committee' in aid of the Tehuantepee
Sbip-Kailroa-'l Canal (Eada' ' scheme) gave
ris<*v. to, a noisy and disorderly struggle over the CiUestion wh iher the report
had: been' authorized: finally, on motion of
Mr-' Cox, the whole subject was laid on the
table bv arr almost unanimous viva-voce vote.
ThcvbiH regulating the importation of the raw
material ns<*d in the construction or repair of
vessels engage"d in foreign trade, including the
Wtrftfte befween Atlantic and Pacific ports of
the United States, or built on foreign account,
was amended and passed. The River and
Harbor Appropriation b 11 was further considered in Committee of the AVhole.
I>omestie.
It was stated on the 9th that the tursuifc of
Sitting Bull had bsen  abandoned,   and that
...Major Ilges would retu-n to Fort Bulord aft-
%  securing  a few   hostile   Sioux who were
Tsscteted in the Yanktonais village.
.4* "a'party of ten  cow-boys in New  Mexico
'♦recently routed a hand of thirty-five Indians,
arid left six of them dead on the field.
Eveky bulding at Pass Mancliac, La., was
swept away duri-12: a recent storm, but no
lives were lost.
Tub Treasury Department has recently
credited to the conscieuce Jund S500 alleged
to have come from a dying woman who stole
the amount twenty-seven, years ago.
The official fi.uresgive Pennsylvania a population pf'4,28%785, of which 85,&30 (ire colored, Ifaies, a!iv6 63-5j females,^ 2,146,151-
The native population is 3:6915,253, and the
foretoh-Bofn population .557,533. :
P. *A. Collins, Pres dent of the American
branches of the Irish Land League, has issued an appeal to the American people and
the Irish in America "or practical ad.
The Post-office Department lias recently
made the following estimate of the total
amount of mail-ma'.ter passing through the
mails during the year 188):. JSumber of letters, 512,931,224; postal-cards, 163,048,913;
newspapers, 499,706,132; pieces of all classes,
1,605,503,592.
Tub builders of Cincinnati have been uotl-
g^ed thirty a. general strike of the trades con-
m,\ "ixfk&fy Mth; building operations   will   take
""place on the 1st of April.
The Southern Oil Works at Memphis were
destroved by fire on the morning of the 10th.
Loss about $200,000.
JSefewSf-was* received on the 10th that Major
Ilges had secured about 100 hostile Sioux in
the Yanktonais village, placed the Chief Lit
tle Assiniboine in irons, and taken his line
of march to Fort Buf ord.
At a conference at the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Philadelphia
on the 9th, in which Jay Gould, General
Thomas T. Eckert and D. H. Bates, representing the consolidated Telegraph Companies, and officers of the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, with counsel, participated, it was
decided to suspend all operations in telegraphic litigation for the present. This action was intended to hold legal proceedings
in abeyance uutil new terms could be agreed
upon.
A passenger train on the North Pennsylvania Railroad collided with a freight train
at Rock Hill Station on thev JOth. Two men
were killed, four others fatally* and five badly injured. The flag station was demolished,
and the telegraph operator seriously,' if not
fatally, hurt. The misconstruction of a telegram caused the disaster.
Minnie Lee, the little girl in New York
who was attacked with hydrophobia, died on
thelOth.
the value of the petroleum exported from
this country last-year was §34,505,645, against
137,235,467 the year before.
An immense and enthusiastic meeting was
held in Faneuil Hall, Boston, on the night of
the llth, to express sympathy for Ireland.
Mayor Prince presided, and. AVendell Phillips
and General Butler were among the speakers.
Governor Long, ex-Governor Rice and others
sent letters sympathizing with the object of
the meeting.
It was announced from New York on the
llth that the current of coin had turned away
from our shores. The steamer Rheim would
take to Hamburg §100,000 in Mexican silver,
and the City of Berlin had §50,000 in American specie among her freight.
The Michigan, Avenue Baptist Church in
Chicago was destined by fire on the night of
the 12th.   Loss about §S0,000.
Six laborers were burned to death by a
rece.nt explosion in the Belmont "miine, near
Helena, Montana.
The number of immigrants arriving in the
United States during the month of January
was 15,224. During the seven months ended
January 31 the number was: From Germany,
77,4t)7; Canada, 74,839; England and Wales,
3lj292; Ireland, 29,235; Scotland, 7,5S6;
China, 3,213; all other countries, 63,345.
During the week ended on the 12th 120,495
standard silver dollars were put in circulation,
against 136,997 daring the corresponding
week of 1830.   ~
A volcano has been discovered in the Allegheny Mountains, in Fayette County, Arir-
ginia. Steam rises in considerable volume,,
and stones thrown in were heard plunging
down the abyss for several seconds. Hundreds of people have visited the scene.
The extraordinary weather of the current
season culminated on the 12th in one of the
most furious snow-storms ever known
throughout the Western States, and in heavy
rains, consequent floods and extensive damage in the Eastern States. The rains in the
East, following the partial thaw, caused the
rivers to swell, and all the principal cities
along the Potomac, the Pennsylvania Rivers
and other streams had their streets
turned into temporary canals. The extraordinary sight was witnessed in
Washington City of tow-boats employed in transferring passengers along
Pennsylvania avenue. At Toledo, O., the
water in the streets was five feet high on the
night of the 12th, and was then rising. Boats,
barges and schooners Avere caught in the ice
eorges, and many of thein were sunk.
Bridges on country roads and rail road bridges
have been swept away by thousands throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and New
Jersey. On the 13th the floods in the streets
of Washington and Toledo had partially
subsided, and travel was partially
resumed. Deadwood reported three feet of
snow and a blinding storm. On the Burlington Road in Towa the snow was as high as the
car-to;s in places. An iron span, two hundred feet long and weighing four hundred
tons, belonging to the Pennsylvania Railway
bridge at Toledo, was thrown by the ice directly into the channel of the Maumee River.
The Dutch colonists in Iowa and Michigan
are attaching their signatures to a memorial
to the President, requesting that the United
States tender its services as a mediator between Great Britain.and the Boers in South
Africa.
About three years ago George M. Roush, a
wealthy stock-raiser living near Bloomington,
III.. died of what was supposed to have been
heart-disease. On the 13th a statement
reached the Chicago Times that Peter, the
second son of deceased, died recently in
Northern Iowa, after making the confession
that he murdcrel his father by putting
poison in a glass of  water  standing at his
bedside.
; It was stated on the 13rh that all branches
of.labor in the mills at Fall River, Mass.,*
had voted to strike, the date to be kept secret.
The button shop of the ScoviUe Manufacturing Company at .Waterbury, Conn., was
burned on the 13th. The estimated joss is
§200,000, and 200 operatives are thrown out of
employment. _
0   Personal and Political.
Coxgress assembled in joint convention on
the 9th, in the hall of the House, to witness
the counting of the Electoral votes. The
tellers reported the whole number of Electoral votes to be 389, of which Garfield and Arthur received 214, and Hancock and English
(including the vote of Georgia), 155; without
the vote of Georgia the latter would have 144
votes. It was then officially declared that, in
any event, Garfield and Arthur had been duly-
elected President and Yice-President of the
United States..
The twenty-first unsuccessful ballot for
United Stales Senator was taken in the Pennsylvania Legislature on the 9th. Oliver received 79; AVallace, 72; Grow, 53; AVolfe, 12;
scattering, 16. Mr. Oliver subsequently formally withdrew from the contest. The Grow
men held a caucus and decided by a two-
thirds vote to support Thomas M. Bayne, and
about forty Oliver men resolved to vote for
James A. Beaver.
The lower house of the Ohio Legislature
has defeated the b 11 to provide for local option in the sale of liquor.
A bill has been introduced in the New
York Assembly prohibiting the sale of oleomargarine and adulterated cheese.
A concurrent resolution has passed both
houses of the Nevada Legislature condoling
with the Irish sufferers.
The Governor of Idaho on the 10th sent
to the Legislature a second message urging
immediate and stringent measures to extirpate polygamy in the Territory.
The remains of Thomas Carlyle were interred at Ecclesfcchan, Scotland, on the 10th,
in the presence of a large concourse of people.
After an imprisonment of a year in tlie
guard-house at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.,
Chief Douglass, the leading spirit in the
Meeker massacre, was recently released, and
started on his way to Fort Garland, wheiice
he would be escorted into his old hunting-
grounds. He was in charge of Captain Leife
and two. soldiers.
The  United  States  Senate on  the llth
confirmed the nomination of ex-Governor
John T. Hartranft for Collector of Customs
at Philadelphia.
The Indiana State Senate on the llth
passed a bill to re-submit the Constitutional
amendments to the people on the 4tb. of
April next.
At Atlanta, Ga., on the 10th Judge Woods
rendered an important decision in favor of
the Railroad Commission, deciding that the
Legislature has the right to create such a
Commission, and that said body has power to
regulate freight and passenger rates.
Peter Cooper's nin.etieth birthday was
celebrated in New York City on the 12th. A
special commemoration took place in the
large hall of Cooper Union, which was
crowded in every part. After an address by
Prof. Raymond, a letter was "read from Mr.
Cooper to the. Trustees of the Union, in
which he asked them to accept his
check for §10,000 to be added to the §10,000
Golden-Weddng fund established by him
seventeen years ago, the interest of which
had been annually given to institutions for
aiding poor children. Mr. Cooper also
presented his check for §30,000, together with
receipts in full for §70,000. expended the pas.t
year on the building.
On the 13th General Hermann Uhl, for
twenty years business manager of the New
York Stoats-Zeitung, while cleaning his revolver accidentally shot himself in the breast,
receiving injuries from which he died a half
hour later.
The marriacre of the Baroness Burdett
CoUtts and William L. Ashmead Bartlett
took place at Christ's Church, London, on
the 12th, in presence of only relatives and
intimate!riends. In accordance with the will
•of the Dnchess of St. Albans, Mr. Bartlett
assumed the name of Burdett-Coutts before
his own legal cognomen. The bride is sixty-
seven and the groom about thirty years of
age.   * _
Foreign.
An Athens dispatch of the 10th says Greece
will accept nothing less than the terms of the
treaty of Berlin. A decree summoning the
National Guard had been published.
Dillon, speaking in Manchester, Eng.,
on the 9th, said that if tbe English did not
quickly change their temper toward the
Irish, they ("the Irish) would indeed be dogs
and slaves if they did not long for the day
when they could join the United States.
Parnell, he said, within a month would stand
in Congress at Washington an honored and
welcomed spokesman of their wrongs.
During the recent floods in the Spanish
province of Seville 18,000 cattle perished,
It was reported from London on the llth
that the recent engagement of the British
troops with the Boers in South Africa, instead of resulting in British victory, in reality ended in British defeat The British
Commander was forced to withdraw under
cover of darkness, leaving his wounded on
the field.
It was stated on the llth that there was
good reason to believe that Jay Gould had
secured control of the Montreal Telegraph
Company.
A London dispatch of the llth gives a
rumor of the discovery of a plot to blow up
Windsor Castle, and states that Queen Victoria
had delayed her return from Osborne.
Universal suffrage has been demanded by
a convention held in Rome on the 12th. Garibaldi is in full sympathy with the movement,
and was chosen President.
A St. Petersburg dispatch of the 12th announces that since the late victory over the
Turcomans the hostile armies had returned
to their homes, and a provisional Government had been established.
An anti-Coercion meeting was held in London on the 13th. Addresses were delivered
from three stands by Home-Rule leaders. At
the close of the oratory the crowd marched
past the chief club-houses cheering for Davitt
and groaning for Forster.
During the week ended on the 12th thirteen Socialists underwent trial at Vienna.
One was convicted of hish treason and sentenced to four years' imprisonment, another
to six months' confinement, and eleven'were
acquitted.
LATER NEWS.
An alarming increase in the number of
small-pox cases was reported in Brooklyu, N.
Y., on the 14th.
The Pennsylvania Legislature on the 14th
took the twenty-seventh ballot for United
States Senator, resulting iu no choice. The
vote was: Bayne, 33; Wallace, 27; Beaver,
27; sca'tering, 2.
Conguessman Fehnando Wood, of New
York, died at Hot Spr.ugs, Ark., on the night
of the 13th'. His health had been failing for
some time, aud he went to the Arkansas resort two or three weeks before his death, in
the hope of finding relief. He was sixty-nine
years of age.
General Grant and other parties associated with him have organized in New
York the Un.ted States National Bank and
will commence business on March 1. H.
Victor Ncwccmb Mas elected President.
D. R. Jones, Secretary of the Coal-miners'
Association, lately ou trial at Greensburg,
Pa , for conspiracy in inducing laborers to
strike, has been found guilty.
In the contest on the Thames on the 14th
forthe championship of England and £1,000,
Haulan defeated Laycock by four lengths.
The Treasurer of the Irish Land League
cabled from Paris on the 14th that Parnell
would return to his seat in Parliament to
fight the Coercion bill, and thence proceed to
Ireland to keep alive the agitation. A Dublin dispatch of the same date aunounces that
the League would invest £70,000 in the United
States.
A pew days ago a tornado swept through
the pine woods of North Carolina and crushed
a rude hut occupied by turpentine-makers,
killing ten of them and seriously wounding
three Others.
Small-pox has made its appearance in the
New Jersey State Normal School, and the
institution has been closed.
During the 13th and 14th over 75,000 valentines were dropped into lamp-post boxes in
Chicago.
Bismarck has, atrjthe request of Great
Britain, consented to take a leading part in
the negotiations at Constantinople on the
Greek controversy.
It is staled that the new Spanish Ministry
intends to push negotiations with the United
States for a treaty of commerce.
The Postal Appropriation bill was passed,
with amendments, in the United States Sen^
ate on the 14th. A large number of petitions
were presented for a Constitutional amendment to prohibit the manufacture and sale of
alcoholic beverages. A number of bills were
reported from committees. A message was
received from the House announcing the
death of Representative Wood, and, as a
mark of respect for the memory of
deceased, the Senate adjourned. Among
the bills introduced in the House was. one
fixing the first Monday in November as the
time for the assembling of Congress, and one
to admit articles intended for the International Exhibition of 1S83 free of duty. The
death of Fernando Wood was announced, and
a committee was appointed to superinteno
the funeral ceremonies.
THE LITTLE COJSTQUJISRO'R.
«'Twas midnight; not a sound was heard;
Within the"—" Papa! won't 'ou 00k
An' see my pooty 'ittle house?
I wis' 'ou wouldn't wead "ou book"—
" Within the palace, where the king
Upon his couch m anguish lay"—
" Papa! Pa-pa! I wis' 'ou'd turn
An' have a 'ittle tonty play"—
M No gentle hand Avas there to bring
The cooling draught, or bathe h!s brow:
His courtiers and his pages gone"—
"Turn, papa, turn; I want 'ou now"—
Down goes the book with needless force,
And, with expression far from mild,
With sullen air, and clouded brow,
I seat myself beside the child.
Her little, trusting eyes of blue
With mute surprise gazed in my face,
As if, in its expression, stern,
Reproof and "censure she could trace.
Anon her little bosom heaves,
Her rosy lips begin to curl;
And with a quiv'ring chin, she sobs:
" Papa don't 'uv his 'ittle dirl!"
King, palace, book—all are forgot,
My arms 'round my darling thrown—
The thunder cloud has burst, and lo!
Tears fall aud mingle with her own.
#       —Charles Follen Adams.
AUNT 'CIRDA'S RANCH.
There was plenty of game in the neighborhood of Aunt 'Ciuda's Ranch, as we had been
told; but our informant had neglected to state
that it was also one of the dreariest places on
earth. Far as the eye could reach in every direction lay onlyprairie, prairie, prairie—treeless and flat, with short, trivial grass, and
over the face of it all, that indescribable,
tawny blur, peculiar to the outlying Kansas
plains the little level river in front of the
ranch had no banks, and flowed sluggishly:
the-ranch itself was a four-roomed cabin of
melancholy adobe, flanked by a stone corral in
which were awkward racks and troughs for
horses.
The interest and excitement of our chases
after antelopes, jack-rabbits and occasionally
a wandering bull'alo, served to kill time for us
during the day, but. when, evening came, and
we returned to the ranch, tired out and thinking of home, the sense of exile became almost
painful. The fact that the ranch was a stage
station, where a brief halt was made for supper, alone redeemed it from utter desolation,
for this gave us our sole glimpses of the distant world, in the faces and conversation of
the passengers, with now aud then a stray
newspaper. We used to stand watching the
slow and gorgeous sunsets with a pretty pretense of admiration, when in reality, our
thoughts were bent upon catching sight of
the first curl of dust that should denote the
approaching- stage. The passengers were not
always either attractive Or communicative but
all the same we hailed them warmly; and when
they left the horizon seemed swiftly to widen,
and the stars to creep farther upward in the
high, inhospitable sky.
It was at such empty times that Ave turned
forlornly to our associates of the ranch—to
the landlady, Aunt 'Cinda McMillan and the
swarthy Mexican and hiswife, who were in her
service. The resource was an unprofitable one at
first, but gradually we found Aunt 'Cinda to
be a character worth knowing, aud you may
be sure we left no artifice untried to win from
her all she had to tell. She was robust, strong-
featured ®nd about forty-five 3rears old; there
were streaks of gray in her heavy black hair,
a few wrinkles in her cheeks; her eyes had an
alert and seeking look, such as you see in the
eyes of persons who live much alone. Sometimes, when she grew animated, and a fleeting
smile came to her aid, we could believe that in
her girlish days she had lacked but little—say
merely a change of mouth—to make her pretty. But it was her .story, and not herself, that
mainly held our attention and encouraged our
inquiries; indeed, she usually appeared, when
recounting the strangeincidents of her history
to be talking of some one else, so free from
vanity was she and so candid.
She had been reared, Ave learned, in the
Boone's Lick country, in Missouri, and there
had Aaron McMillan known and Avooed her.
The memory of her courtship Avas very vivid to
her and shedAvelt upon it, with lingering fondness. " Aaron Avasn't the purtiest man in the
Avorld, by long odds," she would say; "he Avas
light-complected and had sandy beard and
freckles; but he Avas jest as good as ever they
make'em. I disreinember how 'twas that he
fust begun keepin' company Avith me. Ther'
Avas likelier gals than me in the settlement;
Lucy Walker, for one, that sung alto and
played onto the melodeon; and Samauthy Pettis, that had money in her own right an' sech
little taperiu' feet, an' she liked to show 'em,
too. But Aaron and me, Ave both
tuk a shine t' each other, an' he didn't
'pear 's if he keered a button for
any o' the balance of 'em. "Cindy,' he
used to say, 'some gals is purty an' high-step-
pin', an' some is handy about Da-kin' an' Aveav-
in' an' sech, an' some is peart iu 1'arnin';
but it's the average as counts, 'Cindy.' -I'll
never forgit that, not if I live a thousan' years.
'It's the average as counts'. I can a'most
hear him sayin' that now. He used to come
to see me eA*ery other Sunday, rain or shine,
an' Avhen the' was a moon, he'd take me to
meetin', over to the Chapel, four mile away.
The Campbellites an' Methodis' used to have
union meetin's there, an' revivals, an' shout-
in'. Aaron's folks Avas Campbellites, an' he
leant that tvay, an mine Avas Baptis'. But we
didn't never argy about religion. Bless A'ou,
•no."
Then she avouM detail to us, bit by bit, the
current of their closer talks together, as they
rode homeward from church, or sat upon the
Sorch behiud the morning-glories. It could
ardly be calcd love-making, Aunt 'Cinda
herself termed it "sparkin'," and even that
sounded too hectic for an intercourse that had
in it apparent!}- so little of passion—so small a
chance of heart-break. But perhaps beneath
that calm surface, beyond grasp of expression,
had throbbed a Avealth of reverent and tender
preference that tvas Avorth anything else in
life—these simple, undemonstrative natures
bq frequently shame the best of love's examples with their unguessed and quiet power.
Certainly this humblewoman, nolorigeryoung,
and living over again that far-off dream, still
kept her faith and made a royal comfort of it.
And jet, so far as Ave could ascertain, her
matter-of-fact Aaron had bu- once in all their
courtship ventured to kiss her. "I'll never
forgit it, not to my dyin' day," she said. "It
Avas of a Sunday night, the last Sunday in
September, out by tlie gate, as he Avas goin'
aAvay. W'd been a-talkin' of things as furrin
as couldbe to sparkin'; an' all of a sudden, like's
if he'd been possessed, he put his face close
up to mine, and—I declare to gracious, I
couldn't 'a' been tvorse su'prised if he'd
'a' hit me. ' Land sakes, Aaron!' I screamed.
An' the next minute I snickered right out. 1
couldn't help it for seein' Iioav flustered he
Avas, and kind o' oudecided. .1 vow, I b'lieA'e
he thought he'd miffed me. But he hadn't.
Lordy,*lordy, it comes back to me jest like
'twas only yisterday."
Then she dropped her head, and her fingers
tAvitched at her apron, as she added, in a deprecating tone •
"You'uns'll think I'm soft, I expect; but
I can't help it. I can't forget some things."
The tears in her eyes said as much, and more.
They Avere married in tiniej Ave came to
knoAV, and Avent to Housekeeping; but they
were poor; they had to rent land; bad luck
followed their planting, and finally, Aaron determined to go tvest Avith the Santa Fe
freighters, many of Avhom, once as poor as
himself, had been knoAvn to retu n from that
mysterious regipn with money enough to buy
well-improved'farms in the Boone'sLickcountry. "Ididn't cross him about it," said Aunt
'Cinda, "he Avas allers dreadful sot in his
ways, an' couldn't be coaxed agin the grain.
That Avas his weak Spot; everybody has'one,
youknoiv. It tvas a'most too much "for me to
see him start off on sech a journey, butl made
myself think it Avould turn out for the best;
an' I knowed he'd comeback."
Two years passed, however, and lie did not
return, nor did she hear aught from him, ex*
cept that he had duly reached Santa Fe. A
third year, almost, dragged aAvay Avithout
sight or tidings of him; and then- she resolved
to moAre out into Kansas, along the route he
had taken—"so'stobe nigher to him," she
told us, "an' meet hint as he come home."
And so she had been pushing on from place
to place, through hardship and danger, hy
the great trail across the plains, until
uow she could sec, on a clear day the outlines of the" miuutaius that she kneiv he
must pass over ou bis way eastward.   She
had supported herself by cooking and washing
for the freighters, and caring for the sick avIio
fell in her Avay, and at length had contrived,
after years of " scrimpin' an' dickerin'," as
she described it, to secure this isolated ranch,
where she dispensed hot meals at a dollar each
including soda biscuits and the accompaniment of a real table-cloth. And here she
Avaited, watchful and patient, for the truant
husband. "He's sure to come," she Avould
say, "and I can't miss him; 'twouldn't
su'prise me to have him drop in any day." She
scanned the faces of the alighting "passengers
from the stage every evening Avith habitual
eagerness, and yet a trifle timidly, as if doubtful about the kind of reception he Avould give
her; indeed she said once: " I dunno but it'll
rile 'im to meet up Avith me so suddent atvay
out here, an' him a thinkin' I'm in Missouri; may be I hadn't orter 'a' come." Every
day some special dish Avas cooked as he had
beenA\*ontto prefer it; the best bed, in a
room by itself, tvas kept always vacant for
him; regularly each afternoon, she Avould unloose her abundant hair and gather it into a
long, thick braid, after the obsolete fashion
of lier girlhood, and tie it with a scrap of ribbon—because "Aaron liked it better that
Avay."
The fact that she had received but one letter
from him in all the long years did not seem so
unaccountable after she informed us that,
OAving to the early neglect, he Avas "onhandy
tvitli apen," and generally had hiswriting done
by proxy. In strict truth he probably could
not Avrite a Avord. •' But he knows Aggers jest as nat'ral as kin be," she hastened
to plead for him, " au' I never see 1 the steer
or hog 'at he couldn't guess the heft of
nigh onto a few pound; an' nobody
could ever beat 'im acipherin' out
corn in the crib.". She refused, also, to
confess a moment's uneasiness as to his personal safety; both his absence and his silence
failed to disconcert her. " He kin take keer
of hisself anywheres," she declared, Avith evident pride, "an' if he's done got hurt or made
way with, I'd have some Avarnin' of it, in a
dream or somethin'. But I aint had's much
as a sign in the coffee-groun's to make me
af eard. Of course he'll come back. What in
the Avorld Avould he stay atvay fori"
It Avas idle to dispute such trust, even silently. Not only that, it Avas impossible to avoid
.sharing it, and soon it became as much our
habit as it was hers, to look from day to day
for the coming of the absent husband. So
minutely did she talk of him that Ave believed
tve should recognize him at sight; in fact, Ave
felt so sure of this, and expectation came to
be so fidgety Avith us, that often, Avhen the
weather Avas fair, Ave Avould stroll out for miles
on our ponies to meet the stage and get an
earlier glance at the occupauts, hoping thus
to .spy Aaron, aud gallop back to Aunt |Cihd'a
with the good news of his approach. Such was
our thought, our. talk, as Ave cantered leisurely along the trail one quiet evening, aud,
rounding a curve, caule meeting a" single
queer, covered. Avagon, drawn by oxen, and
creaking piteously. Inside the A-ehicle lay a
man, Avith pallid face and long, straggling
Avhiskers, who raised himself on his elbow to
salute us, and then sank down again with an
expression of pain; near his side slept a baby;
the tvife and mother sat in front, on a tilting
seat, guiding "the critters" Avitha tvell-worn
Mexican goad. It Avas a noA'el sight, and pro-
A'oked at once both curiosity and sympathy.
We forgot about the stage, Ave forgot about
Aaron; andAvhe.n the bahy awoke presently,
and put its tiny fists ;iio its cheeks and gazed at
us in slry, debating Avonder—as if trying to
identify us with something seen in its Just-
Aranished dream—nre almost ceased to realize
the great, far-stretching and empty periphery
of desert, a child Avas such a godsend there.
" Yes," said the Avoman, as Aye Avheeled
about and rode beside the Avagon, with our
ponies reined into suit the slow gait of the
oxen, " Yes, I think she's a t iler'le nice baby,
myself. We call her Cutie, but her name's Adeline, same's mine. Hs named her"—indicating the pale and silent father, Avhose thin
fingers clutched the child's frock protectingly.
"Has your husband been sick long?"
" More'n a month," the man answered.
" But I'm pickln' up now. I aint nigh so
porely as I was back in the valley. If I could
only get shet o' these rheumatiz I'd be all
right. It's the rheumatiz more'n anything
else."
"It's the mount'n fever," remarked the
woman, in a kindly tvhisper; and then, speaking aloud and cheerily, " Yes.he's doin' splendid iioav," she continued, "an' don't need
nothin' but to keep quiet, less it mought be
Avild cherry bitters, if Ave had'em. W'y, tAVO
Aveeks ago he was jest plain skin and bones.
His oWn mother AArouldn't 'a' knowed him."
" I seed my shadder on the grass one day,"
the man called out, Avith a grim chuckle, "an'
it skeert me."
He did not speak-again, except in an undertone to the restless child, during the hour or
more that Ave plodded along together; but the
Avoman Avas talkative, and Ave gleaned from
her, by easy degrees, that they had been living
in New Mexico, and Ave re now on their Avay
back " to God's country," east of the plains,
" everlastin'Iy put out," as she expressed it,
" with the greasers an' their lazy, trinin',
good-for-notnin' ways-" She had lost one
husband there, "shot by the sneakin' Apaches,"
and married another, anc there Cutie had
been born; and they milked goats there and
tied pigs to stakes; had no society and no rain;
and so on and so on. " It's jesttoo ornery to
talkabout," she exclaimed, and then tvent ou
talking about it faster than ever, aud only our
arrival at the ranch cut short her fluent and
sneering disclosures.
At sight of us, Aunt 'Cinda came hurrying
forward. "For pity's sake!" she.said, "and
Waited to be told .what it all meant. We repeated briefly what facts Ave had gathered
concerning the travelers, not omitting the
baby, and laying some stress on the man's illness.
"A sick man?" anstvered Aunt 'Cinda.
"Fetch him right in. An'the baby, too, an'
the Avoman—all of 'em," she insisted, and
turned to lead the Avay, murmuring to herself, in a pleased manner, " Goodness gracious, a baby!"
The sick man rose tvith a sudden effort, and
sat upright. The dusk had thickened and the
stars tvere coming out, and the p'ath to the
door of the caliin, along Avhich he cast a
3rearning look, Avas beginning to lose itself in
the proximate and dusty sage-brush. "I guess
I'd better stay in the wagon," he observed;
" i he'll be too many of us." And then, glancing skyward, '■ It's a-goin' to be a purty
night," he added, and dropped back upon his
pallet.
Aunt 'Cinda hesitated, listened, faced about,
and sloAvly returned. The mother had just
climbed dotvn from her uncertain seat, and
Avas holding the baby iu her arms Avhile she
clumsily adjusted her skirts. With a soliciting gesture, but Avithout speaking, Aunt 'Cinda took the child, and, stepping aside, turned
its little surprised face to the stars and gazed
Upon it fixedlv—Avishing it were hers, Ave imagined. "You cuunin' little darlin'," she
said, directly, and handed It back in the same
peculiar, impulsive manner. Then she moved
forward a few short paces, and stood, Avith
bowed head, very close to the Avagon. The
sick man must have heard her, for immediately, almost, he Avas sitting up again, leaning
out OA'er the Avagon-side. Her face, as she
lifted it, touchedlii*; there Avas a fluttering
instant's pause; she grasped his hand.
" If you aint Aaron McMillan, you're his
ghosti"
We hastened to them. She had an arm
about his neck, now, and his head was upon
her shoulder. In the starlight she looked to
be sleeping4.
" Don't you know me, Aaron?" she said, fervently ; " oh, don't you know me?"
The man opened his eyes Avith a curious
start, and regarded her a minute like one
amazed:
" They told me—you Avas dead—'Cindy."
He spok'. slotvly, in a choked and Avavering
tone, and made a motion as if to lie doivn
again.
" But I aint dead Aaron," urged Aunt
'Cinda, tightening her hold upon him, and
stroking his temples: "I aint dead, don't you
see? I'm right here by you, an' a-holdin' your
hau'. I come away out here to meet you,
Aaron. Aiut you glad to see me? It's been
so long. Don't be mad at me, Aaron, don't.
I couldn't stan' it to stay there, AVher' ev'ry
step I took I got louesomcr and lonesomer,
an' it 'peared to me's if you got f urder and
furderoff. But I knowed 3'ou'd comeback:
and sometimes Aaron, sometimes "
" Stop,'Cindy, stop!" he interposed, with
startling abruptness. " You don't know tvhat
a fix I'm in."
But she did know—had Ave not told her,
could she not see?—that he was very ill, and
Aveak an.l nervous; and he seemed to guess '
her thought, for in the next breath ne said,
"I don't mean the sickness;" and then, pointing a finger in the direction of the mother and
child, he added: " That's my baby, yender
'Cindy."
He waited for her to reply; he looked up into
her face imploringly, but she said notaAvord.
Surely she had heard him; did she not understand? He waited a moment longer. Then
he glanced again at her face, again pointed to
the mo her and child, and suddenly, Avith woebegone but blunt and cruel force, exclaimed:
" 'Cindy, I—I've—got another wife!.", -   '
She did not scream, poor Avoman, nor faint
nor stir. The voice of the child broke the stillness, at length, Avith a quick, impatient call,
like the chirp of a hungry bird. And then
Aunt 'Cindy carefully released her arm from
about his neck and turned her head away, and
hid her face Avith her hands and sobbed:"
" O, Aaron, Aaron, Aaron!"
The sight was not-one for strange or accidental eyes and we retired, my compan-on and
I, to a respectful distance. "What more Avas
said Ave could not knoAV, but they cohArersed
there to ;e her for several minutes, the three
of them—not angrily nor loudly but veiyear-
nesr.ly—and]two or three times Ave detected the
shrill voice of the chill's mother above the
others, as if in speeitl entre ity. Our hearts
involuntarily Avent out to Aunt 'Cinda, and
yet ihere was the shrinking.mo ther Avithher
babe, an 1 there v. as the sorely beset and helpless Aaron, also. Thesars glittered sharply
but coldly; the advancing night mide the
landscape sinister and spectral. We did not
notice the sick man get out of the wagon, hut
pres ntly he eame moving toAvar-l us. On either"
side of him tvaiked one of the women, supporting him—and Aunt 'C^nda carried the
child. It Avas a group that Millet Avould have
liked tljpaint; it seemed a Wended part
of the grotesque and fluctuating shadows. Their talk had ceased. Their
thoughts tve could not catch, of course. But
as they dretv nigh us, they halted; and in an
anxious, coaxing tone, Aaron said: " Remember, though, tliat one or t'other of you must
go on with me to-morrow." The tvomen gave
their assent, Ave inferred, for he added, as if in
answer, "That's bracin'." Then they resumed their way, in silence again, and slowly;
and looking after them, we saw them reach
the cabin and enter at the open door—just as
the stage came rattling up, an hour late,
croivded Avith passengers.
The supper Avas delayed that Bight, but its
quality made ample amends. We had never
before seen Aunt 'Cinda's table so invitingly
spread, particularly as to canned fruits and
unsuspected tumblers of jelly and preserves;
and there Avas buttered toast,rtoo, and lumps
of old-time loaf sugar for the coffee. One
guest said the feast was good enough for a
Avedding—at Avhich Aunt 'Cinda colored, and
sighed forlornly, and they all laughed. Ah,
they did not guess how that suggestive word
Avounded her! But Aaron Avas not to be seen,
nor the Avoman tvith the baby; they had eaten
by themselves, before j^e were called, as was
proper, ana were Avaitmg for Aunt 'Cinda in
"the extry room," as she had named it, the
room so long sacredly kept for Aaron's coming.
And so the merriment around the table Avent
on unchecked. The guests Avere blameless, to
be sure; nevertheless, their jokes and laughter were exasperating; their very presence
had the effect of an intrusion. We felt a supreme relief, I know, Avhen it Avas over at last,
aud the stage had departed, and the -secret.
Avas safe; and then we ventured to inquire
after the sick man, and to tender our services
should he need or desire them.
" He's Aveaker'n he lets on,"" Aunt 'Cinda
informed us, " an' he don't 'pear to nave no
appetite. I felt so sorry for him, a-tryin' so
hard to eat Avhen he couldn't- It was sech a
nice supper, he said. I could 'a' cried to see
him a-lookin' so Avishin' at them pickled tama-
tuses—like I used to make 'em back yender.
He is Aaron, you know;" and she turned from
us, rather abruptly, Ave thought, and left the
room.
We lit our pipes, and sauntered out to look
after our ponies. It had groAvn much darker.
We could not see the shallotv, cravrling river.
The Avagon still stood by the road-side, the
loosed coA'er flapping- like some great fateful
Aving; the oxen Avere grazing contentedly a
few rods aAvay. From the far-off mystery of
space and vagueness, came an echo of a coyote's
spiteful challenge. The daily yellc-AV of the
stone corral Avas subdued to the tone of ancient and crumbling ruins; for a moment, we
felt as If Ave ought to find moss and vine?
there. Our ponies lay reclined upon the trodden feeding-ground, and did not so much as
prick up an ear when Ave talked to" them and
patted them, Avith accustomed familiarity In
Arain Ave tried to chat of pleasant things, of
other scenes. The solitude Avould not be disturbed; and somehoAV the smoke from our
pipes, instead of floating upward, was wafted
back into our faces, and confused our sight. •
When we returned to the cabin, finally, Ave
Avere surprised, though *not displeased, to
learn that Aaron AA-as to share our sleeping-
room. The\j had kindled a blaze for him in
the big fire-place, and made him a generous
couch of blankets, clean and tvhite tvith astonishing sheets and pillotv-slips, that Avere
full of deep creases, and must have
been a long time folded. That bed
looked more like home than anything we
had seen for months, albeit there Avas no bedstead. He eAridently felt out of place and embarrassed in it: he Avould have rested better
Ave fancied, had they given him less of softness
and daintiness and brought him his frontiersman's saddle'Avith a sheep-skin top for a pillow; a droll hint of the kind came OATer his
face, and gave it a doAA'iicast. expression. We
aimed to avoid conversation Avith him, knoAv-
inghoAv fatigued, unstrung and in need of
sleep he Avas; but he talked in spite of us, and
regardless Avhether we responded or not. Indeed, he seemed morbidly resolute to tell us of
himself and his affairs—hot as one reaching
ont for pity, but rather as one offering an explanation.   We could not but listen.
" I Avas a fool," he said, frankly, " but I
meant right, an' Avhat a man means ort 'o be
sot down for him. It Avasn't my fault 'at I
didn't git along down ther' among the greasers. Luck Avas ag'in me from the very jump.
Sometimes I axed myself if "maybe it wasn't
a jedgment onto me; an' may be it tvas—may
be it Avas. I Avas crazed to git rich you understand. " And he paused to indulge "a mocking
smile.
"But I meant all the time to go back," he
continued, "only I Avanted to git ahead first.
It Avould 'a' groun' me in an inch o' my life
to 'a' had 'em a-naggin' me all over Boone's
Lick about comin' home dead broke after all my
fine talk about gittin' rich. So I jist hel' on,
an' kep' a-sayin' to myself, ' Ole man, PI4V
your han' out, trumps or no trumps.' Did!
think much about 'Cindy? Well, I rather cal-
kilate my head was full of her. That Avas the
pizeuest part of it." He hesitated a moment,
reflectively, and then, " She don't know hoAv
much I hankered for her," he said, under his
breath.
"I'll neArer git done des;isin' myself,
though," he resumed, "for notsendin' letters
to her. But I Avasn't a-do:n' a bit 0' good an'
I thought what Avas the use o' AvOiry;n' her?
I'd orter 'a' sent a letter anyhow; i;
Avould 'a' been money in my pocket I was
a-recko >in' I mought stars back any day,
a'most. An' I did go back jestas sooi 5s ever
I got heeled. It Avas a wood contract, out to
the fort., 'at sot me up; it fetehel me a round
thousan' dol'ars. I didn't stop to send no letter nor nothin' to 'Cindy then. I jestnat'ra ly
got up and got. A eimp.my o' caA'alrv tvas
goin'across to Fort Smith—on t'other trail,
\ou understand—an' I went Avith 'em an'
saved a week byit. An' when I struck Boone's
Lick w'lar' Avas 'Cindv? Sot out for Kans s
live year' ago thatharvesf, they told me, 'low-
in' to comd backafore cold Aveather—an' she'd
heA'er been heern tell of scnec."
He «ent on to relate, tvith moving a'tless-
ness, ho»v he sea died for her all oATer the
settled portions of Kansas and through the
border counties of Missouri, making inquiry
at every house he passed, oi every person he
mat, Avithout once reaching the faintest clue
to her Avherea!,out3. " I ivas clean bea%" he
declare!. " I couldn't make it out. It was
like 's if I was lost on the prairie of a dark
night in the suoav. She must be dead they
said" This la^ sentence Avas uttered in a
solemn, t. emulous tone, as if, after all, he
st'-ll half believed she Avas in her graA'e-
It did not take him long to tell the rest: Iioav
he returned to NeAV Mexico—" out 0' conceit
with ev'rything," as lie phrased it—and married a second Avife, and lost most of his money
hi sheep, and had the baby born to him, aud
tried farming a bit, aud herded cattle "along
'ith the greasers," and fell into a lingering
illness, and at last resolved to gather his few
remaining effects together and go back to
Missouri again:   ' One or t'other of 'em will
go on with me in the mOrnin'," ne said, in au
absent and Aveary way, and then was silent.
We remained sitting by his bedside fully an
hour; Ave feared he might awake and feel hurt-
at not finding some one to talk to.   But he'
slept on so quietly and restfullythat it seemed
useless to Avait any longer, and we retired.-
Our bunk was but across the room from his
and Ave could easily hear if he called, Ave said   .
to ourselves, and we Avould he up very early.   "
It Avas then ten o'clock. The fire had dAvindled
to a handful of waning coals.   We tucked our
blankets elosely about us and dreamed -of
home.
All at once—it might have "been but a minute afterward, for "all Ave kneAv; In reality it
Avas almost daylight—Ave Avere aroused by
shuffling feet and an intense whispering. We
leaped out of bed, Avith revolvers draAvn and
coeked. A single glance revealed the situation. There Avere the two tvomen bending
over Aaron with a bottle and spoons, and a
cup of Avater, and a camphorized handkerchief; and he Avas moaniiig and tossing
Avith agony. He had grown desperately Avorse
during the night and his complaining had not
disturbed us. But Aunt 'Cinda had heard
him, in the next room; perhapsshe was awake
and listening. She looked up, Avhite and ap-.
pealinEf, before Ave could speak; we understood
only too Avell Avhat she thought. Adeline
chafed the poor fellow's chill hand vigorously
and did not heed us.
After a time, Avith such scant relief as we
could give him, he became quiet (except for
his heavy and labored breathing), and tve
watched him keenly, hoping he Avuuld sleep
again. Bur. shortly he Avas convulsed Avith recurring pain and called for water. Aunt
'Ciuda put the cup to his mouth. His eyes
met hers and he said to her, in a strange, relinquishing voice:
" They told me you was dead, 'Cindy."
Then his cramped limbs relaxed and he lay
still, and we thought he breathed with less
diffieuby. When he moved again, presently,
it Avas to put his hand in doubtful groping.
"Poor Adeline!" he said. We dreAV nearer,
on our knees, like persons at prayer. His
quivering lips shaped a few words more:
" Be good," Ave heard him Aveakly mutter,
" be srood—to the bahy."
The room became momentarily lighter; the .
last of the shadoAvs that had lurked all night
in the corners vanished one by one;   crimson
flush slowly overspread the window.   The-sun
was rising.
He had gone on—alone—in the morning.—   •
Henry King, in Scrfaier's MoniMy. r
—. ■ « •
A Missing Railroad.       -      .
When Cheyenne was at the zenith of
its glory, a sign of "General offices of
the Cheyenne, Pacific Slope & Sandwich
Islands Railroad" was hung out with-'  '
out creating the least surprise.   If one .
person had asked another where.the
depot of said railroad was, there might, I
have heen some hesitation about answering, hut it was some time after the sign
was out before any special inquiries be-   .
gan to be made.   Then an Eastern man
walked in one day, carpet-bag in hand,
and said:
"I suppose you connect at San Francisco with the regular steamers?''
"■ Well, yes; I suppose we shall," was
the hesitating^ reply.
"Shall?    Isn't  your  road through    .
yet?"
" Well, not quite."
"Do you take in Salt Lake?"
"Salt Lake? Yes; 1 think we do."   •
"How much for a ticket?"
"Well, I can't say exactly, as we
have none on sale just yet."
" Can't I get one at the depot?"
"Well, I'think not; we haven't any
depot yet."
' 'Can I pay on the train?''
"Well, you see, we have no trains
yet."
"I suppose I can walk on the track?"   .
persisted the stranger.
" Well, I should have no objection if
we had a track."
"So depot, no tickets, no trains, no
tracks! What sort of a railroad have
you got anyhow?" '■"-'"
"Well, you see, it's only on paper ;
thus fai', but as soon as we can sell
$8,000,000 worth of stock we shall be- *
gin grading and rush business right
aloflg. If you happen to be along when
we get to going we will put you through,
as low as any other responsible route." ,
The stranger stuck his hands into his
pockets,  stared hard,  whistled softly
and then walked out on tip-toe without
another word.—Wall Street Daily News.-
 ■ « ■ ■—■—
Industrial Secrets.
A century ago, what a man discov- *
ered in the arts he concealed.   Workmen were put upon an oath never to re-. "
veal the process used by their employ- \
ers.   Doors were kept closed, artisans^
going out were searched, visitors vigor- %
pusly   excluded from  admission   and
false operations blinded the workmen J
themselves.    The mysteries of every *
craft Were hedged in by thick-set fences
of empirical pretensions and judicial
affirmation.   The royal manufactories
of porcelain, for example, were carried
on in Europe with a spirit of jealous
exclusiveness.   His Majesty of Saxony
was especially circumspect.   Not content with the oath of secrecy imposed
upon his workpeople,  he  would not
abate his kingly suspicion in favor of a
brother  monarch.   [Neither   king nor
idng's delegate might enter the tabooed
walls of Meissen.
What is erroneously called the Dresden porcelain—that exquisite pottery
of which the world has never seen its
like—was produced for 200 years by a -,
process so secret, that neither the brib-s 1
ery of princess nor the garrulity of the
operatives revealed it. Other discoveries have been less successfully guarded fortunately for the world. The
manufacture of tinware in England
originated in a stolen secret.
Eew readers need be informed that
tinware.is simply thin iron plated with
tin by being dipped into the molten*
metal. In theory, it is an easy matter •
to clean the surface of iron, dip it into
a bath of boiling tin, remove it enveloped with a silvery metal to a place
for cooling. In practice, hoAvever, the
process is one of the most difficult in"
the arts. Itwas discovered in Holland,
and guarded from publicity with the
utmost vigilance for more than half a
century. England tried in vain to discover the secret, until James Sherman,
■a Cornish miner, insinuated himself
master of the secret, and brought it
home. The secret of manufacturing
case steel Was also stealthily obtained,
and is now Avithin the reach of all artisans.— Trade List. ,      .     ■
—A compositor of the Binghamton
(NV Y.) Republican who was handed a
paragraph which read "The lumbermen
in this vicinity are busy skidding their
logs, preparatory, to hauling to the
mills," set it up to read: "The. humbler
men in this vicinity are busy skinning
their dogs, preparatory to hauling tp
their meals." ,.
 » » »       ——-
—The estimates ior the Chicago
schools ior 1881 call for $1', 138,904.25*
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