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,J‘ .o THE BIRDING GHOST. the Crew of a Vessel Desert Because «the Hysteria“ lusts. “To had been in Cape Town four days, completing our loading for Liverpool, after having been up the African coast as far as Zanzibar and return. when an Irishwoman came aboard and asked for e a home. Our craft was the Eu lish bark Fanny Lee, carrying a crew of fourteen men, and a woman comfortable,hadwe picked her 05' a wreck in midoeean, the bark carried no passengers and had no accommodations for them. The woman gave her name as Molly McDavis. She was a single woman 24 years old, and had made the voyage to the Ca in an emigrant ship to join and marry a over. Like many another female she was disappointed. Pat had skip d the country when she arrived. She had on at work for several months, but could not pay her way home. Indeed,_she did not ropose to. She was what might be calle “a strapping young woman," being as tall as any sailor aboard and weighing about 150 pounds, She offered to go as cook, but as there Was no vacancy she asked to be taken as a common sailor and allowed to work her passage home. We felt a bit sorry for Miss McDavis, but we couldn’t take her in any position. She was disappointed, but she had no tears to shed. On the contrary, she went away with a very determined look on her face, and an Irishman among the crew offered to bet his sou’wester against a plug of tobacco that she'd see Liverpool as soon as we did. It was ten days from the time she came aboard before we left the Cape. I saw her aboard three or four times in the week, and once or twice she had other confabs with the Captain. As we weighed anchor and stood out for our oiling Molly McDavis was the last person in Cape Town to be suspect- ed of bringing ill luck to our bark. We had fine weather and favorable winds and were well up with Cape Frio when the men came to me in a body during THE MORNING \VATCH to make a complaint. They were headed by the carpenter, who declared that for the past two nights the watches below had been disturbed by strange noises and could not sleep. The bark had the old-fashioned fo’castle instead of the deck house, and the noises had seemed to come from behind the bulkhead dividing the fo’castle from the hold. \Vhile any sailing craft carrying a. miscellaneous cargo is always full of strange, queer noises, caused by friction and strain- ing, there is always at least one man in the crew ready to shake his head and make mystery over something easily explained away. I listened to the complaint, proni~ ised to look into it, and then dropped the matter out of my mind. On the night of that day I came on watch at midnight. I found my men on deck, and the second mates watch just relieved, hung about the scuttle instead of turning in. De- manding to know thereasou of this singular action, I was told that the queer noises referred to had been heard again and again, and the crew were as good as upset over them. Had the “ old man ” been on deck. he would have seized a belaying pin and driven the watch below and cracked three or four heads, He had no patience with sailors’ weaknesses. I was tempted to give them a bit of my mind, but all were .so serious and earnest that it seemed only reasonable to investigate. I went into the fo’castle and spent fifteen minutes listening for sounds. The bark had all plain sail on and was heeled to port, and for the first ten minutes I heard only the sounds of boxes and bales rubbing together. Then, of a sudden, I heard a voice sin mg. It was a faint, far-away voice, and I had to listen closely, but it certainlp was a human voice. It was impossible to costs it. It seemed to come from above as much as in any other direction, and I went on deck thinking some of the hands might be playing a joke. “ It will be anything but a joke for the man who’s playing this if I can catch him at it,” I said as I gained the deck and found both watches grouped around the hatch and waiting for me. “ Mr. Morwin, did you hear ought down below 2” asked the carpenter, speaking for all. “ Not down there, but I heard someone singing up here.” “ No, sir ! I pledge you my word and that of every man here that not a man of us uttered a whisper. It was singing you heard, sir? " “ Yes." “ And that’s what the men complain of, sirâ€"singing most of the time, but now and then” something like praying and calling out. “ “'cll, siiiginz and praying won’t hurt any of you, even if it’s that. It’s in the cargo, however. \Ve’ve got three or four old pianos aboard going to England to be fixed up, and it’s the boxes rubbing together which makes the singin sound. It‘s free music, and you ought to c glad of it. Go bplow the watch, and let's hear no more of t iis. ” The men hung back for a moment and then followed one another down into their sleeping quarters. I was honest in what 1 had said. As soon as I remembered the pianos I was sure that THE SINGING came from them. It no doubt looked rea- sonable to the sailors, as nothing more was heard from them that night. I was ofir at 4 and on again M 8 next morning. The breeze had died out and we were on an even keel and not making over two miles an hour. It had come 0 o'clock. The Captain was over- hauling some papers in the cabin, the men were all at work on jobs, and I was pacing the quarter and keeping an eye on a bit of NOISE sail showing to windward of us when a had occurredâ€"the discovery of a spook in shout of terror ran through the ship. A hand named into the forepeak alter something wanted on deck, and it was he who called out as he tumbled up and seemed for a moment to con- template going overboard. The yell brought the Captain on deck, and then the story of the strange noises came out. He was fur- ious. llurns declared that a human voice had called to him while he was below, and the rest of the crew stood by him with re- gard to the singing and praying but the “ old man" was mad enough to kill some one. He drove them forward and then fol~ lowed them n and cursed and berated them in Kristo fashion, and ended up by threateningto put any man in irons for the rest of the voyage who let it be known that be heard the singing again. Asihe days an: nightsde andour Cap. tain heard nothing further from the men he began 31 boast of how he lard dissolved the mystery and put J ack’s superstitions to flight. The second mate and I knew bet- ter, however. The queer noises continued, and the men had become so rattled that the watch below smoked their pipes and kept very wide awake. The discipline of the ship was being upset by a mystery, and I am free to confess that it was a mystery which also bothered me. On two other oc- casions I had entered the fo‘cutle and plain- ly heard the uncanny sounds, but was not able to locate them to my satisfaction. I was pretty sure, however, that they came from the forehold, and one afternoon I told the whole story to the Captain and suggest- ed that the forward hatch be removed and an investigation made. He flew mad at once, and began berating me for an old wom- an and a graveyard sailor, and then he went forward among the men and told them he'd run the bark ashore and be hanged to her before he'd pull off a hatch cover. He thought that settled it, but he was mistak- en. It was the Captain’s watchâ€"always held by the second mateâ€"from midnight to 4 o’clock next morning. It had become almost a dead calm when I left the deck. Every man of the second mate’s watch was up be. fore him, and I noticed that none of mine went below. What happened half an hour after I had turned in gave the Captain THE GREATEST SURPRISE of his life. Mr. Groat, the second mate, was pacing the quarter when he was suddenly seized, gagged, and bound. and a voice, which he recognized as the carpenter’s, cautioned him to be quiet or he’d go over- board. All sailors are light sleepers, but officers especially so, and why it was that neither the Captain nor I woke up during the events occurringon deck has always been a matter of surprise. The men brought the bark to the wind, got tackles aloft, and hove out the longboat, and we slept right alon without hearings. sound. They filled two reakers of water, took such provisions as the cook, who was in with them, could lay hands on, and by 1 o’clock they were away. The steward was the only one left behind with the officers. After the men left, Mr. Grant made efforts to free himself, but without avail. He could not even roll along the deck, as he had been lashed to a ring bolt. At half past 3 o’clock the Cap tain awoke and went on deck, and when the whole affair became plain to him be nearly fell down in a fit. Our position was of St. Paul de Lcondo, fairly in the pathway of traffic, but we realized that we might knock about for a month without sighting a sail. Nothing could be seen of the longboat from aloft when daylight came, and the first thing we did was to reduce suil, so that We might possibly manage the bark in case of heavy weather. The breeze freshened with the sun, and as it was fair for the coast, which was about 600 miles away, Mr. Grout and I supposed, of course, the Captain would at- tempt to work her in. He had different ideas, however. He was very quiet and humble over the first shock. loose and did swearing enough to last ten shipmasters on ten long voyages. He de- clared he’d navigate the bark to Liverpool if it took five years to make the voyage and if he never got an hour’s sleep. lVe had just got her on her cOurse, and the old‘ man himself was at the wheel and still swearing, when a strange figure emerg- ed from the fo‘castle and came aft as far as the main~mast. It was the figure of a wom- an, but her face was so white and pinched, her eyes so large and classy, and she reeled about in such a manner that I, who was nearest to her, was ten seconds in making sure she was even a human being. The minute I caught sight of HER I‘ARCIIED LIPS I ran to the scuttle butt and got her a pana kin of water. It was only adrop to her, and she had swallowed fully two quarts before I choked her ofl“. Then I signaled the steward, who was now acting \as cook, and he brought her a big hunk of meat ands. couple of biscuit. She ate like a wolf, and it was ii good half hour before she spoke a word. . hen it was to say : “ Ah ! me bye, but Molly McDavis begins to feel like her old self once more i” It was the Irish woman we had refused to take aboard at Cape Town, and after thirst and hunger had been satisfied she told us her story. The last time she came aboard the men were at supper and the cargo nearly stowed. She had her plans all ma 6, and she slipped down the afterhatcb without being seen. She made her way over the cargo to the fo’castle bulkhead, and there took up quarters among the bales of dried cowskins we had stored there. She had brought with her four quarts of water and two loaves of bread, intending to let her presence be known before she suf- fered from hunger and thirst. She was dreadful sick when we got to sea and her groans and prayers and laments were heard in thc fo’castlc. When she got better she sang to keep herself company. She made the bread and Water last her a week. Then she tried to attract attention by rapping on the bulkhead, but the frightened sailors paid no attention. She had a pocketknife with her, and on the afternoon of the night they abandoned the ship she cut the bands of four bales of skins and moved them away, and then attacked the bulkhead. She was all night cutting through the stout planks, and when she appeared on deck she had been forty hours without food or water. 1 expected the Captain would give the stowuway woman a blessing. After she had finished her story, he did start in to, but she could utter five words to his one, and she soon tired him out. He sent her to the galley to act as cork, and I don’t think he was as much put out as he pretended to be. Thus far, as you have seen, three VERY CURIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES the fo‘castle, the flight of the crew, and the homas Burns had been‘. appearance of Miss McDavis. There was to be a fourth curious circumstance. 0n the second day of our shorthandedness we had half a gale and a tumbling sea all day and far into night. W'e were under very short sail, but the bark sailed along at a good rate of speed. The captain meant to keep our course and speak the first sail we met and ask for two or three men and touch at Sierre Leone. At sunrise of the third day I went aloft to sweep the sea, and the very first object to catch my eye was our longboat. She was to the eastward and windward of us and bearing down across our course. She wasn‘t over three miles away, and with my glass I could identifiy every man. Upon reporting the boat to the Captain he swore by the big iron spoon that he'd not take a man abroad, but when the boat had come within hail he changed his mind, and her crew were soon tumbling over the rail Then he ]et shower of hot ashes among intending to make the coast, but hadfor- gotten to take a compass, and been sailing almost at random. The “ host " was there to welcome them on , and when they got her story and realized how idiotic had been their action, no set of men were ever more disgusted with themselves or more anxious to atone for their doings. Molly McDavis was landed. in Liverpool, and when we made up a purse for her that she might have time to turn around I believe the Captain put in as much as all the rest of us, though he waved her ashore and called after her that he'd have the law on her if she wasn’t out of Liverpool in an hour. APPALLIRG OALAMITY. An Island ‘Vlth12,000 Inhabitants Suppos- ed to Have Disappeared. The world knew little of the terrible ca- lamities that now and then befell the help less natives of the Malayan Arehipelauo until Prof. A. R. \Vallace wrote so 'grap - ically of the tremendous volanic outbursts that overwhelm thousands of people and turn large parts of beautiful islands into wastes of lava. A fresh calamity is now reported to have overtaken Great Saugir, the largest island in the little Sangir group between Celebes and the Philippines. It is thought that most of its inhabitants, about 12,000 in number, have been killed. Probably no volcano except Mount {Etna has ever numbered more victims of its fur- mass and several prayers. ODDS AND BED}. Corea makes paper clothes. Flour is made of shavings. i A tissue paper trust is new. There are 25,000 homeopathic physicians. Uncle Sam has 300,000 commmercial drummers. Chicago makes 100,000 musical instru- ments a year. Kansas has four cities in which the vote of the women is larger than that of the men. The telephone line over Pike’s Peak is said to be eclipsed in latitude by a line that crosses the Andes on the Transacdean rail- road at an elevation of about 16,500 feet above the sea level. A novel scientific device is intended to aid those who are partially deaf. It consists of a small rubber disk fixed upon a rubber spring, which is inserted in the ear, and it is so shaped that it will focus the waves of sound upon the drum of the car. It is said that by the aid of this device many who are nearly deaf are able to hear as well as by the cumbersome ear trumpet. A curious book in which the text is neither written nor printed, but woven, has lately been published at Lyons. It is made of silk, and was published in twenty-five parts. Each part consists of two leaves, so that the entire volume contains only fifty .leaves, inscribed with the service of the Both the letter ions outbursts than Aboe, whose superb and the border are in black on a white pyramid makes Great Sangir visible for background. many miles at sea. Its name signifies the Cinder, and mariners know this giant de- stroyer well, for it is one of the most prom- inent landmarks on the western edge of TRADE AND INDUSTRY. In GreatBritain 6,000 women work around the Pacific. In 1711 thousands of the natives mines. n were buried in a day under the showers (.1 hot ashes that poured from its crater. Some Western sailors of that time saw the ca- lamity at a. distance, and the story of the awful scene witnessed by the native sur- vivors was handed down from father to son, and is still rehearsed to the few white vis- itors. In 1812 rivers of lava flowed down the mountain sides, spreading over all the sur- rounding country, and destroying some thousands of acres of cocoa palms. which form the riches of the island. In 1856 the natives witnessed another awful outburst, when not only lava and ashes but also boil- ing water poured over the surrounding re- gions and 2,800 people perished in the cata- clysm. It is reported, in the brief story of this latest calamity, that the coast waters of Sungir are covered with half-burned wreck- age, charred and broken sides of huts, and human bodies. This seems'tdbe a very re- markable statement, but it is easily explain- ed. Not more than half of the inhabitants of Great Sangir live upon the land. Thou- sands of them build their huts on piles over the water along the island’s edge. A thatched roofs would soon reduce all native habitations to ruins and scatter the debris over the sea. Usually a number of families live together under the same roof. There is another kind of ruins on Great Sangir whith not even the outpourings of Mount Aboe have as yet effaced. These are the crumbling “8.118 of churches that Roman Catholic missionaries built there in the sixteenth century, when, in their proselyting zeal, they baptized by force all the natives of this and neighboring islands. At the hand both of nature and of man these simple savages have certainly had some awful and some curious experiences. An Amateur Bull-Fight. Chappes, a little village near Clermont- Ferrand, France,was the scene of something very like an amateur bull-fight, which left nothing to be desired in the way of excitc~ ment. M. Mazuel, a former, was leading a cow to the local fair, when the animal sud- denly broke loose and started off to rush through the street at the top of its speed. The first victim was an old man of 70, whom the cow hurled violently into a ditch. The infuriated beast next attacked an elderly woman, and pitched her a distance of 15 feet. After upsetting several peasants, and injuring them more or less severely, the cow tore into the village of Clinbreloche, where it stopped suddenly in front of two gendarmes, named Clavelier and Pommey- rol, who placed themselves in its way. After eyeing- them for a few seconds, the cow made a. rush at Clavelier,who fortunate- ly stepped aside, and hid behind a. tree. The cow then made a. dash at the other gendarme, who discharged his revolver hitting the animal in the forehead. The wound merely caused the cow ‘to be more enraged, and it made a second dash at Clavelier, who fled across a field, closely followed by the beast, at which Pommey- rol fired repeated shots. Nine bullets took effect, but only rendered the cow absolute- ly mad. It attacked each of the men in turn, until at last l’ommeyrol, who had been fortunate enough to obtain a gun loaded The owner of the dangerous beast will be prosecuted for with ball, shot it dead. carelessness. There are more women bookkeepers than men in F rancc. The union contract has been signed by 110 boss bakers of Chicago. Twenty million acres of the land of the United States are held by Englishmen. It is stated that about 58,000 women be- long to the trades unions of England. San Antonio Truth says that there are 20,000 people in destitute circumstances in Texas. ' About 18,000 men are employed in navi- gating 1,ll4 steamers and 6,339 barges on i the Mississippi and tributaries, and they earn an average of $350 per annum. A- co-operative home for young women [students has been started in Boston, with accommodations for about 150, prices rang- ing from $1.50 to $3.50 per week. Germany has a. number of establishments engaged in the manufacture of flan- nel and similar textiles from pine leaves. When spun and woven this material resem- bles hemp. Jordon, Marsh & Co., of Boston, have opened a gymnasium at the top of their store building for the women in their em- ploy. There are fifteen hundred. Instruc- tions are given daily between 5 and 6 o’clock. A Oat Left a Legacy. Cats, as a general rule, are not set much store by, even when their position in life is that of a household out. There is, however at the present moment, and owing to certain odd circumstances, a. cat in the French capital which has become, so to say, a. public character, in the sense that the Municipal Council of Paris has had its at- tention turned to it. \Vhetber it be a fine specimen of the feline race or a merely common-place puss is not stated; but evi- dently the animal had it strong hold on the affection of its lately deceased mistress. The lady made a will, bequeathing to the muni- cipality a certain sum to be applied to the educational wants of the poor children of her district, on condition that the cat she left behind her was as well cared for, for the remainder of its days, as any Christian could wish to be. The animal, the tests- trix stipulates, is to be placed out to board with an elderly person of undisputed re- spectability, who will undertake to look after it and to see to all its comforts. In order that the dear creature shall not suffer from any alteration in the diet to which it has been accustomed for years, its late miso tress states that its three rcpasts per day are to consist respectively of lights in the morning, of liver at noon, and of a piece of calf’s heart in the evening. Distinctly this is a cat whose lot in life might exc1te the envy of many a forlorn, abandoned child. When Forks Came In- ' It was about the year 1600, and in the reign of James I., when forks were first in- troduced into England. This “ piece of refinement,” we are told, was derived from the Italians. In a curious libok of travels, published in the year 1611, the writer says: “ I observed a custom in all those Italian cities and towns through which I passed that is not used in any other country that I saw in my travels. Neither do I think that any other nation in Christendom doth use it, but only in Italy. The Italians and also most strangers that are commorunt in Italy, do alwaies at their meales use a little forke, when they cut their meate. For T P . N while with their knife, which they hold in he rencn aVy‘ one hand, they cut the meate out of the dish, The French Chamber of Deputies on M'onâ€" they fasten their forkes, which they holdin day, after adopting the credit of 200,000 fr l the other hand, upon the same dish. This for Colonial Missions, resumed the debate forms of feeding is generally in use in all on the supplementary credits for which M. Italy, their forks being for the most part Cavaignac, the Minister of Marine, has made of yron, or steel, and some of silver, naked in order to brin the navy up to the but those are used only by gentlemen." the desired standard. fil. Brisson complain- Before the revolution in France it was cus- ed that the Budget of Marine was always tomary, when a gentleman had been invited increasing, while the defensive forces of the out to dinner to semi his servant in advance navy diminished. Passing on to acriticism with his knife, fork, and spoon. If he had in detail, be condemned the defective or- no servant he carried them with him in his ganization of the Admirality, and said that pocket. Some of the peasantry in certain under existing circumstances a mobilization parts of Germany and Switzerland today in case of war would be attended with carry acase in their pockets, containing a difficulty. M. Brisson further declared knife, fork and spoon. that, although the money had been voted for the purpose, the ships were not yet armed with quick«firing guns. M. Cava- iguac ieplied. He said that the supple- mentary- credits were necessary in order that the naval programme adopted by the Chamber might be carried out. He urged thata strict ursuance of that pro ramme would have t e effect of nearly douh ing the strength of the first line, and in particular, the number of swift cruisers would be in- creased. If the Chamber wanted the marine time defences of the country to be brought up to the level of the land forces, it would have to pass a naval budget of 950,000,000 to 300,000,000 francs. The general debate then closed, and several votes livers agreed upon. Extraordinary Burglary. In reports dealing with crime in our Australian colonies, mention is made of an extraordinary burglary recently perpe- trated at an office in Sydney. The cmployes, comingto work one morning, found that the door of the strong room had been burst open. Aholc had evidently been drilled through the iron door, and a charge of dynamite inserted and exploded. The outer door of the room was torn off the hinges, and the glass of the window shat- tercd, while the steel and iron of the door was twisted into a variety of shapes. After all their trouble, the burglars only obtained $2.80. “d glad to get aboard. They had gone ofl‘ 0N5 CIGARETTE STUB. Rain or a Vast Grazing Ground and Stars vatlen of Thousands or animals. A number of hunters in the Gros Virus ran , \l’yo, one day in August, 1889, were smo ing as they rods along. One carelsulu cast his cigarette stub on the grass beside the trail. Usually it would have died there and no harm come from it, but a breeze was blowing that fanned it till a dry blade of grass flamed up. The hunters had just sed around a bend and did not see the ame. An hour later a fire that threaten- ed all the grass south of the Gros Venue river was ing and the few settlers there were riding rom ranches even thirty miles away to save the range their cattle needed. One man followed and brou ht back the hunters and for the rest of t e day more than a score of men with horses draggin bundles of green brush galloped up an down to confine the flames to the can one and mountains east of the valley. hey succeeded, and the ranchers worn out rode home to rest. Some hundreds of square miles of mountain sides and the bottom lands in the canyons were burned over. Later came winter and the deep snow common to that country. With the snow came herds of elk from the mountain tops to feed in the thickets along the brooks be- tween the mountains. It was their regular practice, and they had alwayslived there in sees the winter through, for the settlers. illed only what were needed for food. But this winter, instead of nourishing grasses and twigs, the Chautauquan says, the un- fortunate animals found only charred stubs and blackened scds. Goaded by their hunger they came out on the plains and about the ranches of the settlers. At first they fled at the sight of a. man, but by Janu- ary cured nothing for one. They mingled with the cattle; they leaped over fences built high to exclude them ; they attacked the haystacks in spite of armed men stand- ing there on guard. They died of starvation by the thousand, and one who drives up the valley sees hundreds of whitened antlers where the elk fell on the plains and thou- sands of dead and blackened tree trunks on the mountain side. â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-.â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"’ How the Bishop Conquered. Prejudice of color is harder to overcome than any. Even servants of the Savior who gave His life a ransom for all have needed to be tau ht that the black man is a brother. ishop Mcllvainc, of Ohio, was once taking Sunday duty at Gambia. At the time the place was in a ferment, and the question agitating the community was whether a colored divinity student should receive holy communion in company with his fellow collegians. The chaplain of the school had allowed a barrier to be set up. The white population was received at the communion rails first. Then the black had to present himself alone and feeling keenly the arbitrary division. Bishop McIlvaine was grieved at the Weakness of a faith that could observe such an unjust rule. But he did not make a noisy protest that might have been futile. His wish was to show a better way, and illustrate his creed by an act that could not be misinterpreted and would not soon be forgotten. A substitute had to preach for him on the Sunday morn- ing. \Vhen the time came for the admin- istration of holy communion, the bishop was not with the clergy He waited, and soon he was seen kneelino‘ at the chancel with thccolorcd studentby Ins side. Heearn- ed the poor fellow’s warm and lasting grati- tude, he broke down a tradition dishonor-u ing to his Master, and, best ofall, he proved ‘ that Christian love for the heathen and the stranger is a reality and note. sham. Saving the Youth. The course of the water supply of a great city is watched with the utmost diligence to see that it is kept pure, for the introduc- tion of poisonous matter at the fountain head means the carrying of death and dc- struction to every household. Childhood is the source whence comes our manhood and womanhood, and if youth is corrupted and poisoned the terrible results are carried into the very bosom of society. We have long had something like an ade- quate idea of the importance of surrounding those of our children who are borninto homes of purity and refinement with the best influ- ences that church and school and society and literature afford. But we have not been equally solicitous to reach and rescue those children who are born into an atmosphere of vice, impurity and crime. We have known, most of us, in ii. general way that there are bad children, and that places of reform have been provided for the incorrigi- bles ; beyond this we have not greatly m- terested ourselves in the study of the great- problem which juvenile delinquency presents to the mind that is thoroughly aroused to the interests of humanity. There is no reason wh the task of reaching a right solution an of putting into active operation the best plans of reform should be left to the few who are especially interested in philanthro- py. There is every reason why all men and women of principle and intelligence should be concerned for the character of the rising generation. The highest interests of society are involved. Religion, patriotism, philanthropy and all other good causes plead for the prevention of juvenile delinquency. __â€"â€"â€"°â€"â€"â€"â€"- Natural Barometers. There are many natural barometers,which, in a general way, are just as reliable as the best ancroid instrument that ever came {rain the factory. A plug of tobacco, by its moisture and softness, will indicate the ap- proach of a storm ; a loose window cord will tighten up just before rain, and apair of loves, ordinarily tight on the hands, will come almost baggy on the approach of bad weather. .â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"-â€"‘â€"â€"-â€"-â€"â€"â€"â€" Fame is a vapor ; popularity an acci- dent ; riches take wings ; the only certainty is oblivion. -[Horncc Greeley. While the farmer is in town working his jaw in politics, the weeds are getting in their work just the same. The careful reader of a few good news‘ papcrs can learn more in a year than most scholars do in their great librarianâ€"(F. B. Sanborn. Acompany engaged in the manufacture of explosives in New York has for sale new small bombs about the size of sausages, with which it is alleged the farmer can bring down small showers of rain whcnavo' he sees clouds over his land.