The St. Landry Clarion.€¦ · And gild my darkness As I run. Bloom, sweetly bloom, c Ye flowers...

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The St. Landry Clarion. "HERE SHALL THE PRESS THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS MAINTAIN, UNAWED BY INFLUENCE AND U 1NBRIBED BY GAIN." VOL. VI.-NO. 5. OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 1895. ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR. YESTERDAY. V Why should ye troop About my way, Ohl pallid ghosts t O0 yesterday? Why wake me From my fitful sleep, To think of sorrows Past, though deep Shine, brightly shine, a Fair morning sun, a And gild my darkness As I run. Bloom, sweetly bloom, c Ye flowers of May, Above the graves Of yesterday. We williot waste Life's precious time. In chanting sorrow's t Mournful rhyme; But, as we watch, And as we pray, We'll heed the lesson Of to-dasy ... MiAL A. Kidder, in N. Y. Weekly. APICKANINNY PREACHER Wonderful Doings of a Little Negro Girl Evangelist. A South Carolina Squire's Story of the Child Who Is Preaching t&eGospel with Such Power to and i Sand Whlte About a dozen prominent members of the southern colony in New York met in the lobby of a down-town hotel the other evening to talk over old times with a genuine old South Caro- lina "squire," who is spending a few days in the city, says the New York Sun. This gentleman of the old school acquired the title of squire in the old days, when it was a little above that of "judge," and far above that of "colonel," as a mark of popularity and dignity, and he wears it gracefully still "Squire, suppose we all take some- thing," suggested the big colonel from Kentucky. "I can't do it, boys," responded the squire, and a far-away look came into hiskindly eyes. "You see, I've stopped." "Wh-e-w,' whistled the colonel, with a long-drawn-out sound like a fall wind. "I can hardly believe you." And every man in the party looked as if he was thinkingthe same thing, but none made any comment. "How did such a misfortune come upon you?" finally ventured a Virgin- ian, after the -first great wave of sur- prise had subsided, for they all knew that for nearly forty years the squire had taken his toddy three times daily after meals to aid his digestion. "Well, boys, it was this way," he said. "The little nigger girl preacher converted me, and I've dropped a good many of my old ways, such as cussin', swearin', and drinkin'. I reckon you maybe all read that little editorial about her in the Sunday's Sun suggest- ing that she should come to New York and preach in Madison Square garden. Well, all I've got to say is, if she comes you must all go to hear her, and if her sermon don't touch your hearts more than all the Parkhurstian bombs and Talmagic Roman candles that you've listened to since you moved to this dis- trict, then I'11 go back to my wicked ways," "Who'd ever have thought that what a durned little pickaninny had to say ( would" influence a man of your com- mon sense, squire?" spoke up the old- est man in the crowd, testily. "I wouldn't have believed it of you. What manner of child is she, anyway, and where did she come from?" "I don't know a great deal about her past history, which is a very short one, as she is only nine years .old," com- mencedc the squire, as he took a long draw at a corn-cob pipe, "but she was born near Washington, somewhere in Virginia, I think, in the fall of 'f5. Her daddy was a preacher, and died three or four years ago. This child, whose --- full name is Claretta Nora Avery, has always eagerly attended religious serv- ses and taken a great interest in the rpiritual welfare:of hen people. She: says that the love of God entered he' heart when she was a year and a half old, and has never left it, but of course you all won't believe that, for no genuuie darky has any idea of time. I d been hearing and reading a good deal about her, and not believing much, and when business carried me to a small town in the lower part of the state, where she waaiholding a meet- ing, I decided to go around to the church to hear her. Itwas quite late, and 1 got there just in time to catch the last sentence of her sermon. "I'm going to stay in the field here until I die, and when death comes, some time, 'way over yonder, where my Jesus ls, I'll live there too, singing always that new song with Him in glory.' "Her voiie had a mournful ringin it, and the little creature made a mast rpathetle picture as her head bobbed up tfrom behind the pulpit and her great eyes roved over the congregation in an appealing way. She looked about her wearily and sadly for a moment, but soon a radiant light fell upon her face, for her sermon had struck home, and she knew it; the entire congregation began to sing, #nd the queer part of it all was, they began to sing the same thing. Soon some began to chant, while others cried aloud, moaning and bewailing their sins. You talk about your paid choirs. There isn't enough money in New York to buy such music as I heard that night. The voiroes were rich and full and sweet, and a minor chord that touched one's very soul was the predominating "5e1rrons and music have a -most electrifying effect upon a colored cpn- gregation, and this one was soon wrought up to the highest pitch of ,religious excitement. Some of the Smo'ners prostrated themselves on their acs,. beating the bare floor with their hands until they were worn out, when they wo'ld lie in what is termed a trance. Others crawled on their knees to the pulpit. Manpy of them sat in the l.ds of this up oar and appeared 'etth r to see nqr heQr, so intent were th aey ,t working out their own salva- tf m. In the meantime the old saes, who were sure of Heaven, kept on singing to keep things going. The Leader that night was a regular old- time, befo'-the-war mammy, and good- ness fairly beamed from her counte- nance. " '1 bin a II-ar so long, so long- So long, so long; I bin a li-sr so long,' she chanted in a weird, pathetic voice, and every person in the congregation who was able to lift his or her voice chanted the refrain at the end of every three lines: ''Gin me a little time ter pray.' "Every one was in motion. Some swayed their bodies backward and for- ward, some shuffled their feet in time to the music, and the very happy ones clapped their hands and shouted: 'Glory, my Lawdl' This kept up for hours Several prostrate forms were carried out, and a number were left in the church, where they lay until next day. When I got tired and went away that night the little preacher, utterly worn out, had curled herself up in a splint-bottom chair, and was enjoying the sleep of innocent childhood. I could hardly sleep that night for think- ing about that meeting. I tell you, boys, I was impressed." "I always thought you were above such superstition, squire," remarked some one, as the squire stopped to refill his pipe. "Well, anyway, 1 went back the next night," resumed the squire, "and for the first time got a good view of the little preacher. She is a perfect child in looks and ways. Her complexion is about the color of an old mustard ground ginger cake, her teeth white and even, the whites of her large, mournful eyes prominent, and she doesn't weigh more than sixty or seven- ty pounds There were a lot of white people in the congregation, but she took no notice of them. Curiosity prompted me to go to listen to her, but interest held me there. She spoke right opt in the mqst earnest way, as if her only thought was preaching the GospeL Her delivery and gestures were easy, and, in fact, what she said and the way she said it beat nine- tenths of the preachers-especially these evangelists-white or black. "She opened service with avery good prayer, and read, or rather recited, a chapter from the Bible, which did not bear on the seemon in the least. Her one thought seems to be to prepare for the Great Beyond, which she desig- nates as 'way over yonder.' She talks about the hereafter in a most pathette way, and 1 remember on that particu- lar night her text was: 'Business in Heaven.' "'I'11 meet you there, sinner,' she |f said, 'for I got business with Capt. y4 Jesus. I must 'tend to it. I must go a, where partin' is no mo'. I got to put , on a long white robe, a starry crown, silver slippers, and sit at my Master's e feet. I'll meet you ov6r yonder, way a3 over yonder, for we all got to cross c Jordan stream dry shod and go over h yonder. I'll meet you there, sad- t hearted mothers. I'll meet you there, ti wicked fathers. I'm going to get In- t side those pearly gates. Are you? Are q you? Sinner, you must get right, Learn it now. Now is the time. Way a over yonder may be too late-for- you,' b and so on. Night after night I went, and each time she had a new sermon, A each one containing a sad strain. "She made a pathetic figure,,always n clad in deepest black 'without the slightest touch of color, that children love so well, or the faintest suggestion of an ornament. When occasion de- manded she rebuked thoughtless per- sons for bad behavior in a few clear- cut, kind sentences, and went right on with her sermon. If the Gospel grind- ers would only learn that it isn't these staggering truths, which cannot )e - grasped by the average mind, but a doctrine of simple, earnest faith that t arouses people to .better living. But t they never will, Now it was the sin- cerity of the little nigger, and the earnestness of her followers, that im- pressed me, and, while I can't say that she converted me, she certainly set me to thinking, and : Iconciuded to leave off doing certain things. "I wanted to give her something, and couldn't make up my mind what to buy her. She reads poorly, and can scarcely write at all, but somehow she didn't seem like a child that would care for toys. Finally, in a sort of desperation, I settled on a la•gewax doll with highly colored cheeks aad a mass of yellow hair., If. your could have seen her antics o• delight when she found that it was all her own. She clasped it to her as if she would never let it go, and then she told me that she used always to-preach sermons to her dolls, and that the people who over- heard her persuaded her to preach to people, which was the very thing she had always longed to do. "Everybody agrees that she is a won- der, and I tell you she is. Many white t people think her inspired, and the blacks believe that she is sent directly t from God as a warning, and - that the j judgment day is coming soon. I don't know, because I've never thought a I great deal about such things. But I do think she is entirely different from I any little child that I've ever seen, and i I shall never, never forget her, with t her solemn ways and her unceasing Swarinings about what we must do and must not do 'if we want to meet each I other when we get home, way over t yonder."'" 5 There was a great shuffling of feet, I coughing and clearing of throats a among the squire's visitors as he eon- , cluded, and the blustering gentleman a from Kentucky began to denounce the g exci*e law in loud tones. But the squire looked at th rr ge ofsmoke as, Slhe'blew them upward fr~m his cSirn- b- cob pipe, and liad little to say the rest, a. of the evening. - - e -Condemn noman fLt not thinking r as you think. Let everyone enjoy the r full and free liberty of thinking for n himself. Let every man use his own a judgment, since every man must give' s an account of himself to God. If you e cannot persuade a man into the truth, d never attempt to force him into it .If a love will not compel him to come, lave e- him to G.od, th. jde of a-l.-J. hn s, Westev. OUR POOR ROADS. America Behind in Ber Methods of Im- provement. Some .time ago, in speaking of the widening use of electric cars, we pointed out that in the cities they have n largely supplanted the horse as an n agent of transportation. It may be 'a well to say a word now concerning the state of. our country highways, on which as yet the horse has no rival, 1 except, perhaps, the bicycle. The growth of our railways, steam and bh electric, is no excuse for the neglect of bh our common roads. If anyone doubts that we have neg- lected them most culpably, let him look into the volume of consular re- L ports on foreign streets and high- ways, issued in 1891 by the govern- t ment at Washington. From these re- ports it appears that no other country in Christendom, with the possible ex- ception of Russia, has been so neghl- gent, In France, for instance, the high- ways approach perfection-a fact to which the prosperity of the French peasantry is generally attributed. The first Napoleon, in the intervals of his many wars, laid the foundations of the system. Napoleon III. completed t it. The result is a network of admir- able roads stretching out over the whole country, under the constant in- spection and care of specially trained I engineers. Germany- is not far behind. Great Britain learned her lesson a century a ago from the celebrated Mr. Macadam, and has never forgotten it. The coun- tries of southern Europe have profited richly by their legacy from the Ro- mans, the great road buil'ders of an- tiquity. Hardly anywhere on the con- tinent, in fact, would the mud and rats of our American roads be tolerated. Our backwardness may be attributed to the newness of the country and the rapidity with which it has been set- tled; but a more abiding cause is found in the nature of our constitution, and in the strong instinct of local self-gov- ernment among our people. Since the I abandonment of the Cumberland road in 1838, the national government has done practically nothing. The states have for the most part confined them- selves to general and merely permis- sive legislation on the subject. Every- where the highways have been left to the local authorities, I The result has been the wildest diver- s sity of plan and methods. In some seo- tions the work is done mainly by con- I victs. In others, any citizen is liable to be called out to work on the roads for a certain number of days in the year. In certain counties of Virginia, and elsewhere, the toll system is still prevalent. The practical advantages of a more tb centralized system, like that of France, are manifest. Frequently towns and ia counties through which important fi highways pass are too poor to maid- a tain them properly. Important ques- q tions of routes, topography and ma- a terials constantly arising, which re- i quire investigation on a wide scale. b Scientific training is needed to fit at man for the difficult work of road- b building, and this is certainly not com- n mon among town and county officers. t An authority on the subject declares t that the present haphazard system has a not produced fifty competent high- way engineers throughout the United States. It has been demonstrated by( actual . tests that the force required to draw a ton on a muddy earth road iscsufficient to draw four tons on a hard macada- mized road. When we remember that nearly all agriculturalproducts, not to speak of other commodities, must be hauled at least two or three miles in wagons before the railroads can touch them, it is apparent what an advan- tage the European has over the Amer- ican farmer in this respect. Multiply by three or four the cost of hauling to the stations the total of the crops which the railroads handle every year, and you have a rough estimate of the annual saving to the farmers alone which would result from a system of properly constructed highways. In the long run other classes would derive al- most an equal benefit from the change. Even if we concede that the aban- doning of road-building by the nation- al government is final, there seems to be no reason why the states should follow the example. Some of the older states have recently awakened to the importance of the subject. Certainly it is hard to find a better investment for the public money than the better- ment of the common roada.-Youth's Companion. Bustle Physiology. Old Farmer Reed was driving some of the boarders over the beautiful New Hampshire hills, where the winding roads are either uphill or downhill, and a level space is not found in many miles. As he urged the strong, wiry horses up one of the steep ascents, 'he worked out the following line of argument: "Neaw, I s'pose you city folks think it kinder tough to make the critters pull up these bills, but 'taint so mean as you think. It's a big sight meaner to rnnt 'em downhill, and I'll tell yer why. Now, when a hoes runs uphill, his vitals presses on his in- nards, but when you run him down- hill, his innards presses on his vitals. An' that's a sight wuss, now ain't it?. -Youth's Companion. Women Shoplifters According to a French writer, no fewer than four thousand women are, daught every yega stealing` during their shopping expeditions. The num- ber of titled ladies seized with this strange malady is, he tells us, almost incredible. Among the most recent culprits were a Russian princess, a French countess,,• an English lady of title and the daughter of a reigning sovereign. As a rule, these more die- tinguished offendersare let off on pay- |ment of a round sum for the relief of the poor, which," when the shoplifter is -known to be rich, sometimes rises 1 to as much as ten thousand frsnoc (feimi hgIo d pmii4 s er)a.- ' 'ROTEOTED BY MOSQUITOES. Sold in a South American River That Ca-T not Be Mined. Gold in plenty may be found in the sands of the Volador river, a stream of noderate volume that falls fromn the n snow line of the Sterra de Santa Martsa : in South America, but though the low- u land region and the river bed where the precious metal abounds in fabu- t lous quantities 'are easily accessible, f the mosquitoes are so thick and ter- v rible there that all attempts to rifle the sands of their gold have so far t tailed. Elisee Reclus, the celebrated French geographer, was the first to explore the plain about the Volador's mouth. He had thought of establishing an agricultural colony ip the fertile low- Lands, but found the plague of insect. I so unbearable that he was forced to beat a retreat and abandon his proj- ect. He was the discoverer of this won- serful stream, whose waters sweep over sands which are literally golden. He told the news to the French vice Lonsul at Rio Hacha, and this official I obtained the concession of this Eldo- rado. The dangers he was to en- counter he knew perfectly well He took with him when he set out an in- geniously constructed gauze tent of large dimensions. For two days he tried to live under its shelter and watch the operations of his workmen, who toiled in the t stifling heat, clothed in thick gar- ments, and protected by heavy boots, gloves and veils. At the end of the second day, however, both employer and employes gave up the struggle 'nd retreated. The next to try to wring fortune "rom these auriferous sands was an Italian, who obtained permission from the vice consuL The Italian laughed d at the idea of mosquitoes driving any- e one away from a place where gold Sould be picked up almost by the hand- d ful. He started out with a party of d six, who shared with him his belief, - and so they took along no special pro- * tection against the insects. They en- d lured for less than half an hour the ( awful torture, and then left. They as found their way back to Rio Hacha with difficulty, for the eyes of five were so badly swollen that they were blind. F- Yet there are human beings who can o venture with impunity into this gold mine whose guardian demons are mos- r- quitoes, and these are some of the sav- 0- age natives of the mountains from a- whose rocky steeps the river falls. Ie These savages, who are mosquito Is proof, are rendered so by their bodies 1e being covered with the scales of lep- a, rosy. Strange to say, the mosquitoes ill will not touch them. EButneither gold nor the fascination of civilization will re tempt them to labor. e, It is an old and-true saying that one id might as well try to get along without at furs in the Arctic regions as without i- mosquito nets in the tropics. Mos- s~ quito nets seem to have been of little a- avail, however, in the instances re- :e- Lated. The insects are said to have been most unusually venomous and a they come in such myraids that they A- have the appearance of a mist hanging m- over the waters of the river. The in- rs. tense pain and action of the poison on es the system speedily drive the strbngest -. ,..A -_Pc•-•-nn"' Weekly. FAMOUS MUFFLERS. they Were Provided for the London Cabby by an English Peeress. Among the many philanthropies of the late Lady Charlotte Schrieber, of Eng- land, was the providing of comforters or mufflers for cabmen. Her interest in the London "cabby" was unflagging, and she secured several important ben- efits for him, but her comforters have come to be traditional. They were al- ways of scarlet wool and were knit of uniform size and style. The Queen re- cently printed the directions for their making, which were sent by Lady Charlotte's daughter: Double fleecy wool Cast on twenty- I four stitches on needles No. 4 on the bell gauge. Knit one plain row-first row. Knit two, slip one, putting the wool forward as if to purl, knft one, slip one, knit one, etc., until you come to the last two, which must always be slipped, as the first two of every row must always be knitted--second row. Knit the first stitch in the usual way; the second and other knitted stitches are to be knitted with the wool twice around the needle; these stitches in the following rows are just -to be slipped off and not made into two stitches; the only reason for twisting twice is that the stitches may be longer. You continue this until you have knitted a piece two yards long. Then you do one row the same as the first row, without putting the wool twice around the needle, and then cast Soff. A fringe should be put at each end. This is double knitting, and care r should be taken not to join it in any way, particularly by slipping in the f plain instead of the purl way. These warm neck and shoulder cov- erings were supplied by the score to b the fraternity of hansom and four- ; wheeler drivers, the kind-hearted peer- i ess keeping her stock always equal to a the often serious demands upon it. -N. Y. Times. Shot the eer in Sel-Defense. The defense of the man who-was caught killing a neighbor's sheep, that he acted in self-defense, fearing that the animal would bite him, is re- called occasionally- by some of the stories invented to evade our Maine game laws. From them we are led to g believe that deer are naturally fero- cious to a degree, with largely carniv- ! oreas instinets Two Parkhurst young t seed are reported not long ago to have Lt been "attacked'. by a large male deer. a By that singular "good luck" that f eemns,in some mysterious way, to be- Sfriend the people who meet with such eneounters "one. of the boys happened to have a loaded Wlnchester rife, and Sthe .. other a large btcher knife.' n' Whkat rare good fortune! Ater all, it 'not suritistaig to learn that "the Sdear got the worst of i."-Augustp UNGAINLY ARMOR. T That Which Is Worn by the Players of Si Football As baseball goes out football comes in. It is an interesting game, and an- t1 nually attracts increasing crowds of i1 spectators, but it can never be so pop- l ular as baseball fpr several reasons. ti The football season is very short, Ii two months as the best, as before Oc- n tober the weather is too warm for such o violent exertion, and after the close of e November, although not too cold for f playing, the weather is too frigid to a permit any but the most ardent enthu- siast to sit for two or three hours t watching the sport. For another reason, football is the c most violent exercise known under the I name of sport, and it would be abso- I lutely impossible for a team to playday I after day like a professional club plays baseball. Then again, it is dangerous sport. It is all-very wel te"saystJ it it makes a boy manly, or to taunt pru- dent boys with being cowardly, be- cause they shrink from the rough-and- tumble encounter, but no amount of public praise can make amends for a cracked head, dislocated collar-bone, I broken leg or even a fractured rib. So it is no wonder that the vast majority of boys and young men-even col- legians - content themselves with looking on and cheering their side to victory. That football is a rough and dan- gerous pastime is recognized by the numerous devices which have from time to time been brought into use to soften if not prevent the injuries which r the football player has come to regard as a matter of course. Nowadays" the player i almost en- eased in armor. First came the rubber mouthpiece, which gives the player something to bite and clench his teeth d upon to save his tongue and -the break- r- ing of his teeth by the shock of being d suddenly downed. I- Next a nose mask was worn-a stout f rubber cover for the nasal appendage, [, held in place by a strap around the . forehead. Then came the padded . guards for the ears, which seemed to e suffer a good deal in the rushes. Final- y ly the mouthpiece, nose guard and ear a guards were combined into a piece e called a head harness. QL uilted canvas knickerbockers pro- a tect the thighs and a quilted canvas Ld jacket encases the body, while the shins s. are protected by a combination of can- - vas and whalebone. m For the protection of the abdomen an ingenious arrangement of wire, cot- to ton and chamois skin fills 1111a long-felt as want. Of minor protectors there may . be mentioned elastic caps and support- as ers for shoulders, elbows, forearms, Id kneecaps, ankles and wrists. 11 A team equipped with these contriv- ances is a laughter-provoking sight, se and suggests that a game which needs at all these precautions seems to require ut considerable modification of its rules Is- As played now it is more dangerous i-. than nrize fohting. -Even with all these protectors every game of football is productive of a score of injuries, the majority trifling, of course, but enough are serious to I give rise to the apprehension that any minute may produce a fatality. Surely there' must be some way of making football an interesting and ex- citing game, and yet leave it compara- tively harmless. Until this is done it can never be really popular, and will be confined to colleges where transient fame is regarded as far superior to the danger of a broken neck.-Golden Days. AFRICAN. PALM OIL. An Important Articee of Commerce in England. The palm' oil which is the staple prodnct of the Lower Niger, as of the west coast generally, is obtained from a wild palm. The natives use it both for cooking, for burning and for smear- ing their bodies with. It is to them, indeed, ,a great deal more than ghee is to the Hindu. The fruit of the tree grgWs in large prickly clusters, and its skln is of a bright red or orange color, turning to yellow when ripe. The pulp is rather bitter' in taste and is reddish.white in color. With the fruit is a stone or kernel about the size of a libert. The natives, gathering the fruit when ripe, bruise it gently in a, wooden mortar, and then boil it in water in large caldrons; while simmer- big, it is stirred with a stick, to sepa- rate the puilp from the kernels, which sink to the bottom and are reserved for other uses. The oil which floats on the: suirace of the water as the boiling r proceeds, is skimmed off and placed in earthenware vessels. The Niger affords two kinds of palm oil. The one is of the consistency of butter, and is called "hard" oil, and for this the only market is England. t he other is liquid and is called "soft 11i," and for this the highest frice is obtained in all the European markets There is hardly any difference in the e quality, but only in the method' of preparation. The buying price on the river ranges from five pounds to six a pounds ten shillings per -cask of two hundred gallons, and it is .calclated that'"about eight thou- sand tons are ;as~iaily exported from, the Niger to Europe, where it is employed in making can- dles, soap, railway grease, etc. Both the trading and the transport to the `'factories" is carried chiefly by wom- en, after the manner of the noble Sav- Sage; and the strings of females, each with a pot of palm oil on her head and a baby on her back, are among the e sveryday sights of the country. At the factories the oil is. carefully meis- o ered.by the agents, and is paid for in Ssalt or ctton cloth.. Then it is casked iand stored in the station, waiting for transport down the river, to be put on r board the ocean steamersat Akassa.- SChrambers .JournaL - -That Terrible..Oy. Awful Child- Mh +amma. said you were pretty old." Visdtor- "Well?" Awful Child - is"You're old, but not pretty."•-Detro• t . -Ott o IL of Germany was The ERo on ascount of the color of his hair sad W*it 9 ea of ahisoosapletiai. THE REPUBLICAN PROGRAMME. scheme of the P•romeettosts for sa lsin I the Reveawua The Washington correspondent of the Chicago Tribune is authority for d the announcement that the.republican o: leaders have practically agreed upon n their financial programme for the com- ti ing session of congress. "The idea of ti more revenue through a revenue tariff o on wool, with the Allison notes for t] emergencies, will be the republican financial scheme," says this corre- g spondent. I Whether he has learned this directly I from the republicans or by making a, t survey of the situation on bis own aco. count, very lijkely he is right. The c republican leaders maiy not have come d to a distinct understanding yet, ,but logically they cannot vote to increase 1 the revenue without at the same time e voting to protect somebody. Just now the, w pl.giowers are the moSt.aisn- orous of all the late republican pro- teges, and. naturally their demands will be the first considered. Other producers of raw materials, such as coal and iron, ore, are still protected to some extent, and there will be a cer- tain degree of plausibility in the claim t that the farmers who grow wool are as much entitled to protection as the cap italists who are concerned in the pro- 1 duction of other raw materials. But the republicans cannot well vote to increase the duties on wool without at the same time voting to in- crease the duties .on woolen goods. The woolen manufacturers must have more protection if the price of their raw material is to be increased by pro- tective duties. The republicans al- ways have legislated upon this prin- ciple and they always must adhere to it, not only for the sake of consistency, but also in order to retain the support of their most valuable allies, the manu- facturers. When they increase the duties on manufactures of wool in order to com- pensate for the duties imposed on the raw material they will admit that the effect of a duty, or, at least, the in- tended effect, is to raise the price of the article on which it is laid. They admit that a duty on wool is intended to raise the price of wooL They must, then, admit that an increase in the duties on woolen goods is intended to increase the price of those goods. . Otherwise raising those duties would not compensate at all for the duties laid on woo. Are the republicans pre- I pared to admit that th~ey wish to in- crease the prices of all woolen goods? ] What do they think consumers will have to say to that? They must make | the admission, and the democrats are Swilling that they should. As for the "Allison notes," it will'be v necessary to issue securities of some kind if the government needs thirty s million dollars more revenue, as the re republicans claim, and if no moe rev- A enue is to be provided except from wool No duties which the republic- ans will dare propose dia wool and woolens would provide more than half that sum. It is estimated that this republican programme has been agreed upon on o the assumption that ,the administra- tion will not take the responsibility of recommending any plan for raising mOre revease. "The administration." we are told, 'would like the revenue without the responsibility." If the re- publican programme is wholly contin- gent upon this assumption we may rest assured that it will never be- entered upon. President Oleveland has never yet hesitated to recommend any mes- ure that he deemed necessary or of great importance and there is no rea son to think that he is going to show the political white feather at this late day. If he thinks there is a real need for more revenue he will not hesitate to say so or to let Oongress Ikow that what he wants is revenue and enough of it, and not tariff protectioi for the Ohio shepherdas itF ybody else.--Chi- cago COhritonicle. WHEAT VEPORT$. Imprwssw Conaitions Uner th Wil sos Law. A high taifk contemporary claims that Europe bought more 'high-priced wheat from us untler the McKinleyi law than low-priced wheat under the , Wilson law." Yes it did in 1,89 because tof ap shortages that year and the yearse fore in Europe. Crop daiinagee ware so Sgreat that some of the European c•un- S.tries upended their duties on grain i and otherwise. favored by legislation Ithe import of 'Amerlcan wheat. Ba•t Mceinieyism couldn't help odtrfar ers after that. Not' Only did our wheat t exports fill off in 1893 over •orty mr - i lion bushels, but the price per bashel I fell twenty per en-t. Instead of recovering theolost d groiid t in the next year of MeKinleylsm, s 'wheat`oontinued to fall in price. ot until the Wilson bil had taken effect was any improvement perceptible. f Theaverage export price of 1o 4* red wheat has been higher this year than at any time snce Europe's crop short- I age in i89. The laerag••e for the year s has also been higher than during the corresponding period of last year E- & der the McKinlse.bill. When we compare quantities we find L- that up to the 1st of August abo•t h two million three hundred thousand e bushels more were exported thai dur-' i- uig the corresponding period Of last r- year. Our crop shortage this year In h winter wheat out down expqrts consd- d ably until the spring wheat crop was e harvested, but sincethe middle of LSp- At tember they have ezxeeded lsat ye'd'- = exports.' We are ahead now .of 184• i and are likely- to, make gains every d week for uentral medtlIsdrer the year r 1893 as well as last year. Wheat is ,n higher now tha t was ayear , ago aud -as high ais it was tflOctober, 18, l There is ths, diwirenie, hdwever While the teidenofno the market two years ago wae downward it ih ow iup- ward.--fLt. Louis Repblb . it :_ -. e ivreomp1 s•arso . during the spaia ySr ad the osre toims 4 oewf insp l it e th-rs'e nwo ofa ianyoe who. s is ts e~ si .. = -jhei CputiJw'Sa NOT SO RUIN• OUS. ballacious kedIetto• Jat epubli .n garding the Iron Trade. The prediction of the ruin of our in- dustries that was to follo the passage of the Wilson bill are still fresh in the minds of the people. Even their au- thors have not forgotten them, though they are praying for some "sweet oblivious antidote" that will remove them flm the memory of others The iron trade has long been re- garded as a sort of barometer indicat- ing the state of general business. It' furnishes the implements of produo- tion to such an extent that it must be 4 rtuallyaiffeeted by ettthe an inqrease or decrease of activity in productive in- dustries. The statistics of the busth ness are carefully collected and pub- lished, the irion Age beind Wa g aluthbriy authority. On March 1, 1892; the Iron Age re- ported the weekly production •of Ameridan furnaces to be 194,903 tons, of iron. This Was the largest produc- tion. ever attained up to that date. It was high-water mark under the-Moe Kinley bill or any previous tariff bill. It was never equaled in any subse- quent week before the repeal of the McKinley act. On August 1, 1894, the beginning of the last month of the life of the "bill of abomination," the weekly produo- tion of the furnaces was l15,113 tons. On August 28 the new tariff bill be- came a law. On September 1, 1894, the weekly capacity of the furnaces had risen to 151,118 tons. A year later, on September 1, 1895, the weekly output had risen to 194,029. This is not a large increase over the greatest previous product n, but it is an increase. It is a- neo gh-water mark, established under a tariff law which, however imperfect from' the -ltandpoint 'of tar iff -eform, . was con- demned everywhere , in, protection circles as a free trade measure and as certain to ruin our industries. Against these reckless and unfounded predic- tions, which we denounced at the time they were made, we have the satisfac- i tion of setting the testimhnony of a pro- r tection author that the "barometer bf i trade" now registers a higher dgure than it ever did- before-.-Louisville SCourier-Journal. SADtDENED BY PRUttIrtn nV.. Repubile•aM Distressed 1 y Improved us•- ness Conditions. T' he improvement n the fpan•es of the country: and in the general eondi-. tion of business has disclosed the ex- istence of a painful state of mind among the editors of certain republic- an papers. The announcements-that the receipts of the treasury for the month will exceed the disbursements causes them deep distress. ,The esti- mate that the continuous deficit of the past two years will hereafter be re- placed by a steadily increasing sur- plus is received by them with every indication of genuine sorrow. They try not to believe it. They even go ; so far as to argg e that it must be a mistake. They ac- cuse the treasury department of with- ,holding payments, of starving the government service. of juggling with the. transactlon.of public, business,; of seeking to force a balance for the phit- pose of influencing the electiois. What kind of Americans are thee : whose hearts are saddened at the evi* denoes of their country's prosperity? : What kind of patriotism i• it'whic h carries partisanship to such en en- -treme? Above all, :where •is~the iatel- ligence in acting the part.•of .•ame calamity howler- ea country in• w.ite . prosperity is inevitablet?-N. Y. Worid.:: POINTED, PARAGRAPH1 . In the languaisge o the y$etiS men the McKinley boom .hows signs of-bnekling--,Chicgo oi I :-r. Reedt sn't been eonsalt imkthe proposed withdrawal of Rasl* son n "avor of McKinley-1it. P!au Gloms. .If this tide of prosperity heepue - i risingwhstwill oar repuibli• anf•piu : ethave to talk cot in tnt onsigof r 1689-Philadelphia Record. lateit rett*nt Tro the st'loue Sbenibhare to the efect that Gen. i' ri,: f , ts htill- on thile dodooi t. tha mgreat p.ergeney." U -r sa ape a id -eThe repebl. i+a couild SibCta l a good deal motre •sestraee of i, beauties tof re-.-to t. Y.KI3W1 ; Swere ; ot .sauh a... eembrs -tg •+ . Indianiposr News. t -A f6w republieanam ettrib~ a return of p peity to th repub li4$a cog*t ds that has tn't eytet Nt( ` ,o t- der the ihatic srylre asete tcrowde. 1 rAndersooa (bn4.) Dem•6 ; rat, -. -=Now that Tom Reed has had d engine company in SntOcky inam " after him, it isatie for S %t. Herrisoi It and Maj. McKinley ,to. ddo dtcm nftJ a noticeable quick.- Boston Globe. ,• . th-Mr. lHarrison w•shes it cdsti ;et'' understood that while the-i not and will not be scsandidate for the prMI- orBeney, he must not be undehDa r recommending either M•r. -McKinle?.;. SBrcr Reed.-N. Y. JournalL -With .he new tariff law .pro• A fag euticent reivetonue, itlooks asif ;tbe sietr exepublican congress will 'notbe " Stroubled with the question tbhat seemed Sto worry Senator Shermnan the. other i day about the ireliet of the Uniutes States treasnry.-Otibia Q Y)O- server. , -- The south' is iu ;lover: Cottfra and tobacco arebringlng higher pisl:ees Sthan for yarse. Correspondingly ie demand for free coinage is abating. it.; will get so low aftet awhile thator Reed and Napoleanr McKinley mstay bei able to"muaste? courage to-tell how d they standE- PittabargRtPdst -- The riepubiicaiationiiSt comit- . teeiasahy forty thousand dollars and wil ra locate the convention in the oily ,thiat Ssubecribes the amisount That scheme failing, possibly Andrewa Carnesgie or souse othler manaufarturer whoa bat- e made millions out of the protection at policy of the repubican party and is as pltmnig to tanke mo- n the evesnt of if the return of M Cinleyis might be a. linduced to pu? it u shaM. Q5t Stea f;t~~

Transcript of The St. Landry Clarion.€¦ · And gild my darkness As I run. Bloom, sweetly bloom, c Ye flowers...

Page 1: The St. Landry Clarion.€¦ · And gild my darkness As I run. Bloom, sweetly bloom, c Ye flowers of May, Above the graves Of yesterday. We williot waste Life's precious time. In

The St. Landry Clarion."HERE SHALL THE PRESS THE PEOPLE'S RIGHTS MAINTAIN, UNAWED BY INFLUENCE AND U 1NBRIBED BY GAIN."

VOL. VI.-NO. 5. OPELOUSAS, LOUISIANA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 1895. ONE DOLLAR PER YEAR.

YESTERDAY. VWhy should ye troop

About my way,Ohl pallid ghosts tO0 yesterday?

Why wake meFrom my fitful sleep,

To think of sorrowsPast, though deep

Shine, brightly shine, aFair morning sun, a

And gild my darknessAs I run.

Bloom, sweetly bloom, cYe flowers of May,

Above the gravesOf yesterday.

We williot wasteLife's precious time.

In chanting sorrow's tMournful rhyme;

But, as we watch,And as we pray,

We'll heed the lessonOf to-dasy

...MiAL A. Kidder, in N. Y. Weekly.

APICKANINNY PREACHER

Wonderful Doings of a Little

Negro Girl Evangelist.

A South Carolina Squire's Story of theChild Who Is Preaching t&eGospel

with Such Power to and i

Sand Whlte

About a dozen prominent membersof the southern colony in New Yorkmet in the lobby of a down-town hotelthe other evening to talk over oldtimes with a genuine old South Caro-lina "squire," who is spending a fewdays in the city, says the New YorkSun. This gentleman of the old schoolacquired the title of squire in the old

days, when it was a little above thatof "judge," and far above that of"colonel," as a mark of popularity anddignity, and he wears it gracefullystill

"Squire, suppose we all take some-thing," suggested the big colonel fromKentucky.

"I can't do it, boys," responded thesquire, and a far-away look came intohiskindly eyes. "You see, I've stopped."

"Wh-e-w,' whistled the colonel, witha long-drawn-out sound like a fall

wind. "I can hardly believe you." And

every man in the party looked as if hewas thinkingthe same thing, but nonemade any comment.

"How did such a misfortune comeupon you?" finally ventured a Virgin-ian, after the -first great wave of sur-prise had subsided, for they all knewthat for nearly forty years the squirehad taken his toddy three times dailyafter meals to aid his digestion.

"Well, boys, it was this way," hesaid. "The little nigger girl preacherconverted me, and I've dropped a goodmany of my old ways, such as cussin',swearin', and drinkin'. I reckon youmaybe all read that little editorialabout her in the Sunday's Sun suggest-ing that she should come to New York

and preach in Madison Square garden.Well, all I've got to say is, if she comes

you must all go to hear her, and if hersermon don't touch your hearts morethan all the Parkhurstian bombs andTalmagic Roman candles that you'velistened to since you moved to this dis-trict, then I'11 go back to my wickedways,"

"Who'd ever have thought that whata durned little pickaninny had to say

( would" influence a man of your com-mon sense, squire?" spoke up the old-est man in the crowd, testily. "Iwouldn't have believed it of you. Whatmanner of child is she, anyway, andwhere did she come from?"

"I don't know a great deal about herpast history, which is a very short one,as she is only nine years .old," com-mencedc the squire, as he took a longdraw at a corn-cob pipe, "but she wasborn near Washington, somewhere inVirginia, I think, in the fall of 'f5. Herdaddy was a preacher, and died threeor four years ago. This child, whose

--- full name is Claretta Nora Avery, hasalways eagerly attended religious serv-ses and taken a great interest in therpiritual welfare:of hen people. She:says that the love of God entered he'heart when she was a year and a halfold, and has never left it, but of courseyou all won't believe that, for no

genuuie darky has any idea of time.I d been hearing and reading a gooddeal about her, and not believing much,and when business carried me to asmall town in the lower part of thestate, where she waaiholding a meet-

ing, I decided to go around to thechurch to hear her. Itwas quite late,and 1 got there just in time to catchthe last sentence of her sermon.

"I'm going to stay in the field hereuntil I die, and when death comes,some time, 'way over yonder, where

my Jesus ls, I'll live there too, singingalways that new song with Him in

glory.'"Her voiie had a mournful ringin it,

and the little creature made a mastrpathetle picture as her head bobbed uptfrom behind the pulpit and her great

eyes roved over the congregation in anappealing way. She looked about herwearily and sadly for a moment, butsoon a radiant light fell upon her face,for her sermon had struck home, andshe knew it; the entire congregationbegan to sing, #nd the queer part of itall was, they began to sing the samething. Soon some began to chant,while others cried aloud, moaning andbewailing their sins. You talk aboutyour paid choirs. There isn't enoughmoney in New York to buy suchmusic as I heard that night. Thevoiroes were rich and full and sweet,and a minor chord that touched one's

very soul was the predominating

"5e1rrons and music have a -mostelectrifying effect upon a colored cpn-gregation, and this one was soonwrought up to the highest pitch of

,religious excitement. Some of theSmo'ners prostrated themselves on their

acs,. beating the bare floor with theirhands until they were worn out, whenthey wo'ld lie in what is termed atrance. Others crawled on their kneesto the pulpit. Manpy of them sat in thel.ds of this up oar and appeared

'etth r to see nqr heQr, so intent wereth aey ,t working out their own salva-tf m. In the meantime the old saes,

who were sure of Heaven, kept onsinging to keep things going. TheLeader that night was a regular old-time, befo'-the-war mammy, and good-ness fairly beamed from her counte-nance.

" '1 bin a II-ar so long, so long-So long, so long;

I bin a li-sr so long,'she chanted in a weird, pathetic voice,and every person in the congregationwho was able to lift his or her voicechanted the refrain at the end of everythree lines:

''Gin me a little time ter pray.'"Every one was in motion. Some

swayed their bodies backward and for-ward, some shuffled their feet in timeto the music, and the very happy onesclapped their hands and shouted:'Glory, my Lawdl' This kept up forhours Several prostrate forms werecarried out, and a number were left inthe church, where they lay until nextday. When I got tired and went awaythat night the little preacher, utterlyworn out, had curled herself up in asplint-bottom chair, and was enjoyingthe sleep of innocent childhood. Icould hardly sleep that night for think-ing about that meeting. I tell you,boys, I was impressed."

"I always thought you were abovesuch superstition, squire," remarkedsome one, as the squire stopped to refillhis pipe.

"Well, anyway, 1 went back the nextnight," resumed the squire, "and forthe first time got a good view of thelittle preacher. She is a perfect childin looks and ways. Her complexion isabout the color of an old mustardground ginger cake, her teeth whiteand even, the whites of her large,mournful eyes prominent, and shedoesn't weigh more than sixty or seven-ty pounds There were a lot of whitepeople in the congregation, but shetook no notice of them. Curiosityprompted me to go to listen to her, butinterest held me there. She spokeright opt in the mqst earnest way, asif her only thought was preaching theGospeL Her delivery and gestureswere easy, and, in fact, what she saidand the way she said it beat nine-tenths of the preachers-especiallythese evangelists-white or black.

"She opened service with avery goodprayer, and read, or rather recited, achapter from the Bible, which did notbear on the seemon in the least. Herone thought seems to be to prepare forthe Great Beyond, which she desig-nates as 'way over yonder.' She talksabout the hereafter in a most pathetteway, and 1 remember on that particu-lar night her text was: 'Business inHeaven.'

"'I'11 meet you there, sinner,' she |fsaid, 'for I got business with Capt. y4Jesus. I must 'tend to it. I must go a,where partin' is no mo'. I got to put ,on a long white robe, a starry crown,silver slippers, and sit at my Master's efeet. I'll meet you ov6r yonder, way a3over yonder, for we all got to cross cJordan stream dry shod and go over h

yonder. I'll meet you there, sad- thearted mothers. I'll meet you there, tiwicked fathers. I'm going to get In- tside those pearly gates. Are you? Are q

you? Sinner, you must get right,Learn it now. Now is the time. Way aover yonder may be too late-for- you,' band so on. Night after night I went,and each time she had a new sermon, Aeach one containing a sad strain.

"She made a pathetic figure,,always nclad in deepest black 'without theslightest touch of color, that childrenlove so well, or the faintest suggestionof an ornament. When occasion de-manded she rebuked thoughtless per-sons for bad behavior in a few clear-cut, kind sentences, and went right onwith her sermon. If the Gospel grind-ers would only learn that it isn't thesestaggering truths, which cannot )e -grasped by the average mind, but adoctrine of simple, earnest faith that tarouses people to .better living. But tthey never will, Now it was the sin-cerity of the little nigger, and theearnestness of her followers, that im-pressed me, and, while I can't say thatshe converted me, she certainly set meto thinking, and : Iconciuded to leaveoff doing certain things.

"I wanted to give her something, andcouldn't make up my mind what tobuy her. She reads poorly, and canscarcely write at all, but somehowshe didn't seem like a child that wouldcare for toys. Finally, in a sort of

desperation, I settled on a la•gewaxdoll with highly colored cheeks aad amass of yellow hair., If. your couldhave seen her antics o• delight whenshe found that it was all her own. She

clasped it to her as if she would neverlet it go, and then she told me that sheused always to-preach sermons to herdolls, and that the people who over-heard her persuaded her to preach to

people, which was the very thing shehad always longed to do.

"Everybody agrees that she is a won-der, and I tell you she is. Many whitet people think her inspired, and theblacks believe that she is sent directlyt from God as a warning, and -that thej judgment day is coming soon. I don't

know, because I've never thought aI great deal about such things. But I

do think she is entirely different fromI any little child that I've ever seen, and

i I shall never, never forget her, witht her solemn ways and her unceasing

Swarinings about what we must do andmust not do 'if we want to meet eachI other when we get home, way overt yonder."'"

5 There was a great shuffling of feet,I coughing and clearing of throatsa among the squire's visitors as he eon-, cluded, and the blustering gentleman

a from Kentucky began to denounce theg exci*e law in loud tones. But thesquire looked at th rr ge ofsmoke as,Slhe'blew them upward fr~m his cSirn-

b- cob pipe, and liad little to say the rest,a. of the evening. - -

e -Condemn noman fLt not thinkingr as you think. Let everyone enjoy ther full and free liberty of thinking forn himself. Let every man use his owna judgment, since every man must give'

s an account of himself to God. If youe cannot persuade a man into the truth,

d never attempt to force him into it .Ifa love will not compel him to come, lave

e- him to G.od, th. jde of a-l.-J. hns, Westev.

OUR POOR ROADS.

America Behind in Ber Methods of Im-provement.

Some .time ago, in speaking of thewidening use of electric cars, we

pointed out that in the cities they have n

largely supplanted the horse as an n

agent of transportation. It may be 'a

well to say a word now concerning thestate of. our country highways, onwhich as yet the horse has no rival, 1except, perhaps, the bicycle. Thegrowth of our railways, steam and bhelectric, is no excuse for the neglect of bhour common roads.

If anyone doubts that we have neg-lected them most culpably, let himlook into the volume of consular re- L

ports on foreign streets and high-ways, issued in 1891 by the govern- tment at Washington. From these re-

ports it appears that no other countryin Christendom, with the possible ex-ception of Russia, has been so neghl- gent,

In France, for instance, the high-

ways approach perfection-a fact towhich the prosperity of the Frenchpeasantry is generally attributed.The first Napoleon, in the intervals ofhis many wars, laid the foundations ofthe system. Napoleon III. completed tit. The result is a network of admir-able roads stretching out over thewhole country, under the constant in-

spection and care of specially trained Iengineers.

Germany- is not far behind. GreatBritain learned her lesson a century aago from the celebrated Mr. Macadam,and has never forgotten it. The coun-tries of southern Europe have profitedrichly by their legacy from the Ro-

mans, the great road buil'ders of an-

tiquity. Hardly anywhere on the con-tinent, in fact, would the mud and rats

of our American roads be tolerated.Our backwardness may be attributed

to the newness of the country and the

rapidity with which it has been set-tled; but a more abiding cause is foundin the nature of our constitution, andin the strong instinct of local self-gov-ernment among our people. Since the Iabandonment of the Cumberland roadin 1838, the national government hasdone practically nothing. The stateshave for the most part confined them-selves to general and merely permis-sive legislation on the subject. Every-where the highways have been left to

the local authorities,I The result has been the wildest diver-

s sity of plan and methods. In some seo-tions the work is done mainly by con-I victs. In others, any citizen is liable

to be called out to work on the roadsfor a certain number of days in the

year. In certain counties of Virginia,and elsewhere, the toll system is still

prevalent.The practical advantages of a more tb

centralized system, like that of France,are manifest. Frequently towns and ia

counties through which important fi

highways pass are too poor to maid- a

tain them properly. Important ques- q

tions of routes, topography and ma- aterials constantly arising, which re- i

quire investigation on a wide scale. b

Scientific training is needed to fit atman for the difficult work of road- b

building, and this is certainly not com- n

mon among town and county officers. tAn authority on the subject declares t

that the present haphazard system has a

not produced fifty competent high-

way engineers throughout the UnitedStates.

It has been demonstrated by( actual .tests that the force required to draw a

ton on a muddy earth road iscsufficientto draw four tons on a hard macada-mized road. When we remember thatnearly all agriculturalproducts, not to

speak of other commodities, must behauled at least two or three miles inwagons before the railroads can touchthem, it is apparent what an advan-

tage the European has over the Amer-ican farmer in this respect.

Multiply by three or four the cost ofhauling to the stations the total of the

crops which the railroads handle every

year, and you have a rough estimate of

the annual saving to the farmers alone

which would result from a system of

properly constructed highways. In the

long run other classes would derive al-

most an equal benefit from the change.Even if we concede that the aban-

doning of road-building by the nation-

al government is final, there seems to

be no reason why the states shouldfollow the example. Some of the older

states have recently awakened to the

importance of the subject. Certainlyit is hard to find a better investmentfor the public money than the better-ment of the common roada.-Youth'sCompanion.

Bustle Physiology.Old Farmer Reed was driving some

of the boarders over the beautiful New

Hampshire hills, where the windingroads are either uphill or downhill, anda level space is not found in manymiles. As he urged the strong, wiryhorses up one of the steep ascents,'he worked out the following line of

argument: "Neaw, I s'pose you cityfolks think it kinder tough to makethe critters pull up these bills, but'taint so mean as you think. It's a big

sight meaner to rnnt 'em downhill, andI'll tell yer why. Now, when a hoesruns uphill, his vitals presses on his in-nards, but when you run him down-

hill, his innards presses on his vitals.An' that's a sight wuss, now ain't it?.-Youth's Companion.

Women Shoplifters

According to a French writer, nofewer than four thousand women are,daught every yega stealing` duringtheir shopping expeditions. The num-ber of titled ladies seized with thisstrange malady is, he tells us, almostincredible. Among the most recent

culprits were a Russian princess, aFrench countess,,• an English lady oftitle and the daughter of a reigningsovereign. As a rule, these more die-

tinguished offendersare let off on pay-|ment of a round sum for the relief of

the poor, which," when the shoplifteris -known to be rich, sometimes rises1 to as much as ten thousand frsnoc(feimi hgIo d pmii4 s er)a.- '

'ROTEOTED BY MOSQUITOES.

Sold in a South American River That Ca-Tnot Be Mined.

Gold in plenty may be found in thesands of the Volador river, a stream ofnoderate volume that falls fromn the nsnow line of the Sterra de Santa Martsa :in South America, but though the low- u

land region and the river bed wherethe precious metal abounds in fabu- tlous quantities 'are easily accessible, fthe mosquitoes are so thick and ter- vrible there that all attempts to riflethe sands of their gold have so far ttailed.

Elisee Reclus, the celebrated Frenchgeographer, was the first to explorethe plain about the Volador's mouth.He had thought of establishing anagricultural colony ip the fertile low-Lands, but found the plague of insect. Iso unbearable that he was forced tobeat a retreat and abandon his proj-ect.

He was the discoverer of this won-serful stream, whose waters sweepover sands which are literally golden.He told the news to the French viceLonsul at Rio Hacha, and this official Iobtained the concession of this Eldo-rado. The dangers he was to en-counter he knew perfectly well Hetook with him when he set out an in-

geniously constructed gauze tent oflarge dimensions.

For two days he tried to live underits shelter and watch the operationsof his workmen, who toiled in thet stifling heat, clothed in thick gar-ments, and protected by heavy boots,gloves and veils. At the end of thesecond day, however, both employerand employes gave up the struggle'nd retreated.

The next to try to wring fortune"rom these auriferous sands was an

Italian, who obtained permission fromthe vice consuL The Italian laughed

d at the idea of mosquitoes driving any-e one away from a place where gold

Sould be picked up almost by the hand-d ful. He started out with a party of

d six, who shared with him his belief,- and so they took along no special pro-

* tection against the insects. They en-d lured for less than half an hour the( awful torture, and then left. Theyas found their way back to Rio Hacha

with difficulty, for the eyes of five wereso badly swollen that they were blind.

F- Yet there are human beings who cano venture with impunity into this gold

mine whose guardian demons are mos-r- quitoes, and these are some of the sav-

0- age natives of the mountains froma- whose rocky steeps the river falls.Ie These savages, who are mosquitoIs proof, are rendered so by their bodies1e being covered with the scales of lep-a, rosy. Strange to say, the mosquitoesill will not touch them. EButneither gold

nor the fascination of civilization willre tempt them to labor.

e, It is an old and-true saying that oneid might as well try to get along withoutat furs in the Arctic regions as without

i- mosquito nets in the tropics. Mos-

s~ quito nets seem to have been of littlea- avail, however, in the instances re-:e- Lated. The insects are said to have

been most unusually venomous anda they come in such myraids that theyA- have the appearance of a mist hangingm- over the waters of the river. The in-rs. tense pain and action of the poison on

es the system speedily drive the strbngest-. ,..A -_Pc•-•-nn"' Weekly.

FAMOUS MUFFLERS.

they Were Provided for the London

Cabby by an English Peeress.

Among the many philanthropies of thelate Lady Charlotte Schrieber, of Eng-land, was the providing of comfortersor mufflers for cabmen. Her interest inthe London "cabby" was unflagging,and she secured several important ben-efits for him, but her comforters havecome to be traditional. They were al-ways of scarlet wool and were knit ofuniform size and style. The Queen re-cently printed the directions for theirmaking, which were sent by LadyCharlotte's daughter:

Double fleecy wool Cast on twenty- Ifour stitches on needles No. 4 on thebell gauge. Knit one plain row-firstrow. Knit two, slip one, putting thewool forward as if to purl, knft one,slip one, knit one, etc., until you cometo the last two, which must always beslipped, as the first two of every rowmust always be knitted--second row.Knit the first stitch in the usual way;the second and other knitted stitchesare to be knitted with the wool twicearound the needle; these stitches inthe following rows are just -to beslipped off and not made into twostitches; the only reason for twistingtwice is that the stitches may belonger. You continue this until youhave knitted a piece two yards long.Then you do one row the same as thefirst row, without putting the wooltwice around the needle, and then castSoff. A fringe should be put at eachend. This is double knitting, and carer should be taken not to join it in anyway, particularly by slipping in thef plain instead of the purl way.

These warm neck and shoulder cov-erings were supplied by the score tob the fraternity of hansom and four-; wheeler drivers, the kind-hearted peer-

i ess keeping her stock always equal toa the often serious demands upon it. -N.Y. Times.

Shot the eer in Sel-Defense.The defense of the man who-was

caught killing a neighbor's sheep,that he acted in self-defense, fearingthat the animal would bite him, is re-called occasionally- by some of thestories invented to evade our Mainegame laws. From them we are led tog believe that deer are naturally fero-cious to a degree, with largely carniv-! oreas instinets Two Parkhurst youngt seed are reported not long ago to have

Lt been "attacked'. by a large male deer.a By that singular "good luck" thatf eemns,in some mysterious way, to be-Sfriend the people who meet with such

eneounters "one. of the boys happenedto have a loaded Wlnchester rife, and

Sthe .. other a large btcher knife.'n' Whkat rare good fortune! Ater all, it

'not suritistaig to learn that "theSdear got the worst of i."-Augustp

UNGAINLY ARMOR. T

That Which Is Worn by the Players of SiFootball

As baseball goes out football comesin. It is an interesting game, and an- t1nually attracts increasing crowds of i1spectators, but it can never be so pop- lular as baseball fpr several reasons. ti

The football season is very short, Iitwo months as the best, as before Oc- ntober the weather is too warm for such oviolent exertion, and after the close of eNovember, although not too cold for f

playing, the weather is too frigid to apermit any but the most ardent enthu-siast to sit for two or three hours twatching the sport.

For another reason, football is the cmost violent exercise known under the I

name of sport, and it would be abso- Ilutely impossible for a team to playday Iafter day like a professional club playsbaseball. Then again, it is dangeroussport. It is all-very wel te"saystJ it itmakes a boy manly, or to taunt pru-dent boys with being cowardly, be-cause they shrink from the rough-and-tumble encounter, but no amount of

public praise can make amends for acracked head, dislocated collar-bone, Ibroken leg or even a fractured rib. Soit is no wonder that the vast majorityof boys and young men-even col-legians - content themselves withlooking on and cheering their side tovictory.

That football is a rough and dan-gerous pastime is recognized by the

numerous devices which have fromtime to time been brought into use tosoften if not prevent the injuries whichr the football player has come to regardas a matter of course.

Nowadays" the player i almost en-eased in armor. First came the rubbermouthpiece, which gives the playersomething to bite and clench his teethd upon to save his tongue and -the break-r- ing of his teeth by the shock of beingd suddenly downed.I- Next a nose mask was worn-a stout

f rubber cover for the nasal appendage,[, held in place by a strap around the

. forehead. Then came the padded.guards for the ears, which seemed to

e suffer a good deal in the rushes. Final-

y ly the mouthpiece, nose guard and ear

a guards were combined into a piecee called a head harness.

QL uilted canvas knickerbockers pro-

a tect the thighs and a quilted canvas

Ld jacket encases the body, while the shinss. are protected by a combination of can-- vas and whalebone.m For the protection of the abdomen

an ingenious arrangement of wire, cot-

to ton and chamois skin fills 1111a long-felt

as want. Of minor protectors there may.be mentioned elastic caps and support-

as ers for shoulders, elbows, forearms,Id kneecaps, ankles and wrists.

11 A team equipped with these contriv-ances is a laughter-provoking sight,

se and suggests that a game which needs

at all these precautions seems to requireut considerable modification of its rulesIs- As played now it is more dangerousi-. than nrize fohting.

-Even with all these protectors every

game of football is productive of a

score of injuries, the majority trifling,of course, but enough are serious to I

give rise to the apprehension that anyminute may produce a fatality.

Surely there' must be some way ofmaking football an interesting and ex-citing game, and yet leave it compara-tively harmless. Until this is done itcan never be really popular, and willbe confined to colleges where transientfame is regarded as far superior to the

danger of a broken neck.-Golden Days.

AFRICAN. PALM OIL.

An Important Articee of Commerce inEngland.

The palm' oil which is the stapleprodnct of the Lower Niger, as of thewest coast generally, is obtained froma wild palm. The natives use it bothfor cooking, for burning and for smear-

ing their bodies with. It is to them,indeed, ,a great deal more than ghee

is to the Hindu. The fruit of the tree

grgWs in large prickly clusters, and its

skln is of a bright red or orange color,turning to yellow when ripe. Thepulp

• is rather bitter' in taste and isreddish.white in color. With the fruitis a stone or kernel about the size of a

libert. The natives, gathering thefruit when ripe, bruise it gently in a,wooden mortar, and then boil it inwater in large caldrons; while simmer-big, it is stirred with a stick, to sepa-rate the puilp from the kernels, whichsink to the bottom and are reservedfor other uses. The oil which floats onthe: suirace of the water as the boilingr proceeds, is skimmed off and placed inearthenware vessels.

The Niger affords two kinds of palmoil. The one is of the consistency ofbutter, and is called "hard" oil, andfor this the only market is England.

t he other is liquid and is called "soft

11i," and for this the highest frice isobtained in all the European marketsThere is hardly any difference in the

e quality, but only in the method' of

preparation. The buying price on theriver ranges from five pounds to six

a pounds ten shillings per -cask of

two hundred gallons, and it is.calclated that'"about eight thou-sand tons are ;as~iaily exportedfrom, the Niger to Europe, whereit is employed in making can-

dles, soap, railway grease, etc. Boththe trading and the transport to the`'factories" is carried chiefly by wom-en, after the manner of the noble Sav-

Sage; and the strings of females, eachwith a pot of palm oil on her head anda baby on her back, are among thee sveryday sights of the country. Atthe factories the oil is. carefully meis-o ered.by the agents, and is paid for inSsalt or ctton cloth.. Then it is casked

iand stored in the station, waiting fortransport down the river, to be put onr board the ocean steamersat Akassa.-SChrambers .JournaL

--That Terrible..Oy. Awful Child-Mh +amma. said you were pretty old."

Visdtor- "Well?" Awful Child -is"You're old, but not pretty."•-Detro• t

.-Ott o IL of Germany was The ERoon ascount of the color of his hair sad

W*it 9 ea of ahisoosapletiai.

THE REPUBLICAN PROGRAMME.

scheme of the P•romeettosts for sa lsin I

the Reveawua

The Washington correspondent of

the Chicago Tribune is authority for dthe announcement that the.republican o:leaders have practically agreed upon ntheir financial programme for the com- ti

ing session of congress. "The idea of timore revenue through a revenue tariff o

on wool, with the Allison notes for t]

emergencies, will be the republicanfinancial scheme," says this corre- gspondent. I

Whether he has learned this directly Ifrom the republicans or by making a, tsurvey of the situation on bis own aco.count, very lijkely he is right. The c

republican leaders maiy not have come dto a distinct understanding yet, ,butlogically they cannot vote to increase 1the revenue without at the same time evoting to protect somebody. Just nowthe, w pl.giowers are the moSt.aisn-orous of all the late republican pro-teges, and. naturally their demandswill be the first considered. Other

producers of raw materials, such ascoal and iron, ore, are still protected tosome extent, and there will be a cer-tain degree of plausibility in the claim t

that the farmers who grow wool are asmuch entitled to protection as the capitalists who are concerned in the pro- 1duction of other raw materials.

But the republicans cannot wellvote to increase the duties on woolwithout at the same time voting to in-

crease the duties .on woolen goods.The woolen manufacturers must havemore protection if the price of theirraw material is to be increased by pro-tective duties. The republicans al-

ways have legislated upon this prin-

ciple and they always must adhere toit, not only for the sake of consistency,but also in order to retain the supportof their most valuable allies, the manu-facturers.

When they increase the duties on

manufactures of wool in order to com-pensate for the duties imposed on theraw material they will admit that theeffect of a duty, or, at least, the in-

tended effect, is to raise the price ofthe article on which it is laid. They

admit that a duty on wool is intendedto raise the price of wooL They must,

then, admit that an increase in theduties on woolen goods is intended toincrease the price of those goods..Otherwise raising those duties wouldnot compensate at all for the dutieslaid on woo. Are the republicans pre-I pared to admit that th~ey wish to in-crease the prices of all woolen goods?] What do they think consumers willhave to say to that? They must make

| the admission, and the democrats areSwilling that they should.

As for the "Allison notes," it will'bev necessary to issue securities of somekind if the government needs thirty

s million dollars more revenue, as the

re republicans claim, and if no moe rev-

A enue is to be provided except fromwool No duties which the republic-ans will dare propose dia wool andwoolens would provide more than halfthat sum.

It is estimated that this republicanprogramme has been agreed upon on othe assumption that ,the administra-tion will not take the responsibility ofrecommending any plan for raisingmOre revease. "The administration."we are told, 'would like the revenuewithout the responsibility." If the re-publican programme is wholly contin-

gent upon this assumption we may restassured that it will never be- enteredupon. President Oleveland has never

yet hesitated to recommend any mes-ure that he deemed necessary or ofgreat importance and there is no reason to think that he is going to show

the political white feather at this lateday. If he thinks there is a real needfor more revenue he will not hesitateto say so or to let Oongress Ikow thatwhat he wants is revenue and enoughof it, and not tariff protectioi for theOhio shepherdas itF ybody else.--Chi-cago COhritonicle.

WHEAT VEPORT$.

Imprwssw Conaitions Uner th Wil sosLaw.

A high taifk contemporary claimsthat Europe bought more 'high-pricedwheat from us untler the McKinleyilaw than low-priced wheat under the

, Wilson law."Yes it did in 1,89 because tof ap

shortages that year and the yearsefore in Europe. Crop daiinagee ware so

Sgreat that some of the European c•un-S.tries upended their duties on grain

i and otherwise. favored by legislationIthe import of 'Amerlcan wheat. Ba•t

Mceinieyism couldn't help odtrfar ersafter that. Not' Only did our wheatt exports fill off in 1893 over •orty mr -i lion bushels, but the price per bashelI fell twenty per en-t.

Instead of recovering theolost d groiidt in the next year of MeKinleylsm,s 'wheat`oontinued to fall in price. otuntil the Wilson bil had taken effectwas any improvement perceptible.f Theaverage export price of 1o 4* redwheat has been higher this year thanat any time snce Europe's crop short-

I age in i89. The laerag••e for the years has also been higher than during thecorresponding period of last year E-& der the McKinlse.bill.

When we compare quantities we findL- that up to the 1st of August abo•t

h two million three hundred thousande bushels more were exported thai dur-'i- uig the corresponding period Of last

r- year. Our crop shortage this year Inh winter wheat out down expqrts consd-d ably until the spring wheat crop was

e harvested, but sincethe middle of LSp-At tember they have ezxeeded lsat ye'd'-

= exports.' We are ahead now .of 184•i and are likely- to, make gains everyd week for uentral medtlIsdrer the yearr 1893 as well as last year. Wheat is,n higher now tha t was ayear , ago aud

-as high ais it was tflOctober, 18, lThere is ths, diwirenie, hdwever

While the teidenofno the market twoyears ago wae downward it ih ow iup-ward.--fLt. Louis Repblb .

it :_ -.e ivreomp1 • s•arso .during the spaia ySr ad the osre toims

4 oewf insp l it e th-rs'e nwo ofa

ianyoe who. s is ts e~ si ..= -jhei CputiJw'Sa

NOT SO RUIN• OUS.ballacious kedIetto• Jat epubli .n

garding the Iron Trade.

The prediction of the ruin of our in-dustries that was to follo the passageof the Wilson bill are still fresh in the

minds of the people. Even their au-

thors have not forgotten them, thoughthey are praying for some "sweetoblivious antidote" that will remove

them flm the memory of othersThe iron trade has long been re-

garded as a sort of barometer indicat-

ing the state of general business. It'

furnishes the implements of produo-tion to such an extent that it must be

4 rtuallyaiffeeted by ettthe an inqreaseor decrease of activity in productive in-dustries. The statistics of the busth

ness are carefully collected and pub-lished, the irion Age beind Wa g aluthbriyauthority.

On March 1, 1892; the Iron Age re-

ported the weekly production •ofAmeridan furnaces to be 194,903 tons,of iron. This Was the largest produc-tion. ever attained up to that date. Itwas high-water mark under the-MoeKinley bill or any previous tariff bill.

It was never equaled in any subse-

quent week before the repeal of the

McKinley act.On August 1, 1894, the beginning of

the last month of the life of the "bill

of abomination," the weekly produo-

tion of the furnaces was l15,113 tons.On August 28 the new tariff bill be-came a law. On September 1, 1894, theweekly capacity of the furnaces had

risen to 151,118 tons. A year later, on

September 1, 1895, the weekly outputhad risen to 194,029.

This is not a large increase over the

greatest previous product n, but it is

an increase. It is a- neo gh-watermark, established under a tariff lawwhich, however imperfect from' the

-ltandpoint 'of tar iff -eform, .was con-

demned everywhere , in, protectioncircles as a free trade measure and as

certain to ruin our industries. Againstthese reckless and unfounded predic-

tions, which we denounced at the time

they were made, we have the satisfac-i

tion of setting the testimhnony

of a pro-

r tection author that the "barometer bfi trade" now registers a higher dgure

than it ever did- before-.-LouisvilleSCourier-Journal.

SADtDENED BY PRUttIrtn nV..

Repubile•aM Distressed 1

y Improved us•-ness Conditions.

T' he improvement n the fpan•es of

the country: and in the general eondi-.

tion of business has disclosed the ex-istence of a painful state of mind

among the editors of certain republic-an papers. The announcements-thatthe receipts of the treasury for themonth will exceed the disbursementscauses them deep distress. ,The esti-mate that the continuous deficit of the

past two years will hereafter be re-placed by a steadily increasing sur-

plus is received by them with everyindication of genuine sorrow. They

try not to believe it.They even go ; so far as to argg e

that it must be a mistake. They ac-cuse the treasury department of with-

,holding payments, of starving thegovernment service. of juggling withthe. transactlon.of public, business,; ofseeking to force a balance for the phit-pose of influencing the electiois.

What kind of Americans are thee :whose hearts are saddened at the evi*denoes of their country's prosperity? :What kind of patriotism i• it'whic

h

carries partisanship to such en en--treme? Above all, :where •is~the iatel-ligence in acting the part.•of .•amecalamity howler- ea country in• w.ite .

prosperity is inevitablet?-N. Y. Worid.::

POINTED, PARAGRAPH1 .

In the languaisge o the y$etiSmen the McKinley boom .hows signsof-bnekling--,Chicgo oi

I :-r. Reedt sn't been eonsaltimkthe proposed withdrawal of Rasl*son n "avor of McKinley-1it. P!auGloms.

.If this tide of prosperity heepue -i risingwhstwill oar repuibli• anf•piu :

ethave to talk cot in tnt onsigofr 1689-Philadelphia Record.

lateit rett*nt Tro the st'loueSbenibhare to the efect that Gen. i'

ri,: f , ts htill- on thile dodooi t. tha

mgreat p.ergeney." U -r sa ape a id

-eThe repebl. i+a couild SibCta la good deal motre •sestraee of i, •beauties tof re-.-to t. Y.KI3W1 ;Swere ; ot .sauh a... eembrs -tg •+ .Indianiposr News.t -A f6w republieanam ettrib~a return of p peity to th repub li4$acog*t ds that has tn't eytet Nt( ` ,ot- der the ihatic srylre asete tcrowde.

1 rAndersooa (bn4.) Dem•6 ; rat, -.

-=Now that Tom Reed has had •d engine company in SntOcky inam" after him, it isatie for S %t. HerrisoiIt and Maj. McKinley ,to. ddo dtcm nftJa noticeable quick.- Boston Globe. ,• .

th-Mr. lHarrison w•shes it cdsti ;et''understood that while the-i not andwill not be scsandidate for the prMI-orBeney, he must not be undehDa

r recommending either M•r. -McKinle?.;.SBrcr Reed.-N. Y. JournalL

-With .he new tariff law .pro•A fag euticent reivetonue, itlooks asif ;tbe

sietr exepublican congress will 'notbe "Stroubled with the question tbhat seemedSto worry Senator Shermnan the. other

i day about the ireliet of the UniutesStates treasnry.-Otibia Q Y)O-server. ,

-- The south' is iu ;lover: Cottfraand tobacco arebringlng higher pisl:eesSthan for yarse. Correspondingly iedemand for free coinage is abating. it.;will get so low aftet awhile thatorReed and Napoleanr McKinley mstay beiable to"muaste? courage to-tell how

d they standE- PittabargRtPdst-- The riepubiicaiationiiSt comit-

.teeiasahy forty thousand dollars and wilra locate the convention in the oily ,thiat

Ssubecribes the amisount That schemefailing, possibly Andrewa Carnesgie orsouse othler manaufarturer whoa bat-

e made millions out of the protectionat policy of the repubican party and isas pltmnig to tanke mo- n the evesnt ofif the return of M Cinleyis might be

a. linduced to pu? it u shaM. Q5tStea f;t~~