ile nctegr aan ie AO a hold, and replaced the smiles of joy with the tears of “strangely made. sight-seeing of travel turns out a disappointment. i many a home with a gloom that is simply weary ap- za THE NEW YORK WEEKLY. #3 VOL. 42—No. 37, NEW YORK, JULY 16, 1887. Terms to Mail Subscribers: (POSTAGE FREE.) 3 months - - 75c.|2 copies - + -« - « 4months - - - $1.00} 4 copies - +--+ «+ lyear ----- - 3.00|8 copies --- =; - $5.00 10.00 20.00 Remit by express money order, draft, P. O. order, or registered letter. e employ no traveling agents. All letters shonld be addressed to STREET & SMITH, 29 & 31 Rose St., N. Y. AN EVENTFUL LOCAL STORY. P. O. Box 2734. One of our most popular contributors has just writ- ten for the NEW YORK WEEKLY a story of exciting and sustained interest, entitled TORN FROM HOME: OR The Child-Stealers of New Haven, By BURKE BRENTFORD, Author of ‘“‘Florence Falkland,”’ ‘The Steel Cas- ket,” etc. The main incidents of this admirably constructed story are based upon a well remembered local event which brought the keenest sorrow to a happy house- despair. (The action is spirited and novel, and portrayed with such graphic force and earnestness that the reader’s sympathy and interest are at once enlisted, and he hurries from scene to scene with avidity, utterly captivated by the dramatic vividness of the numer- ous thrilling events. “TORN FROM HOME” will be begun neat week. “TM GOOD FOR IT.” BY HARKLEY HARKER. “Never felt better in my life. I need no rest.” “Your eyes, your cheeks, your bent back, your sigh | when you sit down to rest, all belie your words, fath- er,” said the son to the old merchant. “T tell you I’m good for it, my boy!” cried the white-haired gentleman, slapping his broad chest with energy. The son, however, would not take no for an answer. He insisted on his father taking a vacation. He sent the head of the house off to the country three weeks ago. Four days since I drovein to the farm where the aged merchant was resting, to ask after the fun he found in playing a while. To my astonishment, I found him sick abed. The simple fact was that he did not realize his fatigue, did not appreciate the overdraught on his own nervous forces, till he stopped. Then all the misery of his sin against na- ture came on him at once. He found that he was simply ‘‘good for nothing at all,’ as he expressed it to me, reaching out his hand from his bed. The story of an over-stimulated nerve is as old as the hills; yet how slow we are to heed it. We are There is, as everybody knows, a latent strength in every human body. In ease of fire, of fright, who has not performed prodigious feats of strength? The whole system seems to rally for a marvelous output of power, just for the instant, to be followed, as we all know, by correlated ex- haustion. Now asimilar stimulus is administered by an ex- acting office, store, or shop. It dfffers from the stim- ulus of a fire only in being constant rather than sud- den; but it is the identical draught on that mystery, latent energy. One does not realize the expense, for the time being, of the busy days too long taxing him. There is an excitation, a thrill of quasi pleasure, a complete engrossment of the mind’s attentive power, so that fatigue is not felt. It is as dangerous as any other intoxication—one is beside himself. : The boast that ‘‘one never felt better,” ‘one is good for it,” is a silly conceit, unless reason is behind it. A man of good sense ought to know better than to “go by his feelings” solely in matters of work. He ought to consulf memory. How long is it since he has given himself a thorough rest? How many weeks or months has gone in which he has been stimulating his nerve? How much does his reason teach him he can endure? How much ought a man to be called on to do without rest? These are the sober, consci- entious questions one should ask himself. Feelings are fools, especially in these exacting days.» Why does a man not use his brains about his body as much as about his bank account? Let him be sure he will have to, in the end. When the rest day is at length taken, to please one’s friends, perhaps, and reluctantly, many of us have been astonished to find how tired we really were, and knew it not. A drowsy sensation creeps over us—sleep, sleep, seems the one thing that we want to do. The head is confused or dull. The body aches in unexpected places; the muscles of the back groan; one is stiff and indolent. Even to take hold of play, with relish, isa task; it is pleasanter to be excused from the excursion party and pass the time in in- sipid idleness. The landscape has no charm. There is nothing that seems enjoyable except listless in- dolence. Quite often the promised appetite for food does not present itself. The expected delight in Not unfrequently some morbid tendency now de- Velops itself into actual disease, and one is really down sick. The reason of this later calamity up- springing is undoubtedly that the regressive force of the will being removed, the decay p: SS called dis- ease is without‘a master, and asserts its own mas- tery. This result would have inevitably ensued in time ; with this difference, that it would have come with a shock in some busy office day; the will power would have relaxed its supremacy with a snap, as when an over-taut hawser parts. For my own part, though I am not an apostle of thenew “Christian Sci- ence Healing,” so much in vogue of late in Boston, I yet do think I need to assert my will with continuing force during the early days of vacation, that I may not be caught by the disease I bear about me while relaxing labor. I never dropped business yet, and went off to play, that some mean malady did not attempt to catch me off guard. The signs of exhausted nerve force vary so much in different persons that it is impossible to give un- varying instructions of detection. We should dis- trust the quacks who advertise their alarms to sell a nostrum. Yet I think any man may wisely take warning when his sleep fails to refresh him. Not all men need equal hours of sleep. But all need the re- building of sleep. If one is petulant and irritable, despondent, or lack- ing in his usual bold, calm willingness to meet the day’s dangers, it is a bad sign. Tf one has a dizzy sensation upon exertion of the mind; if faintness ensues on sudden alarm or effort, the nerve forces are not equal to their task, either in brain, or heart, or stomach, or all three; exhaustion is at hand. 7 If work is now invariably drudgery, with no inter- vals of delightin it, one had better be warned; we were not made to work thus. If the affection of loved ones is no longer a refresh- ment, but a fear lest some danger is overhanging them, the nerves are at fault, and not the good God who gave us these loved ones. Heayen meant home to be a joy; though many other causes may turn home into sadness; overwork undoubtedly shadows prehension. , How foolish is any man, unless he must, for duty’s sake, like the ever-honored martyrs, push this won- derful machine, the united body and soul, beyond its proper resting-point. And I leave you this affection~ ate reminder: you can never know how tired you really are till you stop torest. If you will not do that, do not wonder if the crash of ruin comes, as the thief in the night. ADVICE T0 THE OLD WOMAN, BY KATE THORN. Advice has been given freely to all classes by the morally disposed writers of the day, but so far as we know, the old woman has been left out in the cold. You can see her almost any day, but it is doubt- fulif you feel any interest in her. She sells apples and peanuts on the streets, and she walks slowly along on the sidewalk with her black bonnet on, and her shawl folded closely over her shoulders; and you see her at afternoon prayer-meetings, and she is found in almost every well-regulated family circle. Most likely she is wrinkled and puckered, and wears very white, fresh-looking store teeth; and perhaps she has a sour temper, and finds fault with everything; and perhaps she is sweet, and peace- ful, and a blessing to the house where she lives. But let her be found where she may, we want to give her some advice, so that she may not be slighted. She doesn’t need to make a slave of herself for her grandchildren. If she has brought up one family, she has done her part in life, and it is no harder for her daughter to see after her children, than it was for her to see after hers. No; wedo not believe in old people waiting on young people. Let the old wo- nan rest on the laurels she has already won. It is not prudent for her to flirt with the gallant grandpas who come to make calls. It sets a bad ex- ample before the juveniles. She doesn’t need much jewelry. Itisn’t becoming after a woman is sixty years of age. She doesn’t re- quire black and white calico dresses. Black calico is simply “horrid!” It is not good for her to stay outlate at night. It takes away the bloom from one’s cheeks. She had better not try roller-skating or tricycles, unless she is sure of her joints. She had better not wear low-necked dresses. She ought to be steady-minded enough to refrain from giggling, and take kindly to patch-work. Patch-work i: aor eminently fitting and proper for old adies. She ought to have some old china and silver, so that her young relatives will treat her well for the sake of inheriting it. Let her study not to tell the same story more than once a week to the same audience. She needs two sets of spectacles—one to see things with and the other not to see things with when she does not want to; and there are lots of things in every family that it is better not to see. She will be expected to know how to make poul- tices and porridge, but she must not meddle with the cakes and custards. That will be out of her line entirely. She had better not have any chronic ailments, such as rheumatism, and dyspepsia, and sick headaches. It will be apt to disturb the family harmony if she nurses any of these things. , An old woman is expected to form apart of the background of the picture. Young America comes to the frontin these days. Old heads are found set on young shoulders. There is no objection to the old woman having a pension, if she distributes it wisely among the chil- dren and grandchildren ; but she had better not buy candy and raisins for herself with it, for they are a bad for old people. They are all right for young folks. A pension conduces to long life, and the family will all be devout mourners when the old woman who draws the pension dies. Of this she may feel perfectly certain. And our last word of advice, given in good faith, is: “Old woman, if you have any property of your own, hold it in your own right just as long as you live. If you don't you will be sorry.” a Humor and Philosophy. BY GEORGE RUSSELL JACKSON. A Fish Story. A manly youth and maiden fair, One pleasant summer day, Sat by a streamlet fishing where The maples’ shadows lay. Her looks upon her line were fixed, The slightest bite to note, But his kept wandering betwixt The maiden and his float. He gazed on her, ’twas plain to see, With an admiring eye; For fishing little thought had he With such a charmer by; And she seemed of his looks aware, Though on her sport intent, For in her face, so fresh and fair, The blushes came and went. “JT think my bait is gone,” she said, And upward jerked her fioat ; The hook flew in—just missed his head— And caught him by the coat. The pole upon the bank she threw, With terror in her look, And to his side she swittly flew To free him from the hook. Her trembling hands in his he took, The fingers soft he pressed, And whispering, ‘“Never mind the hook,” He drew her to his breast. “My darling Bess,” he said, “you know That I’m in love with you— Do you love me?’ She murmured low, “Oh, yes, dear Jack, [ do!” * * * * * * * When home returned the maiden fair, Her ma, with smiling mien, Said, “Oh! you’re back, I see, and where, You truant, have you been?’ “Oh! yes,” replied the smiling Bess, “Dear mother, ve got back; And I’m a truant, I confess, : For I’ve been ‘hooking Jack.’ ” A Strong Proof of Affection. ‘And you are sure you love me, Angelina?” said Edwin, as he bent tenderly over the beautiful girl; ‘Jove me with that unselfish affection the manly heart craves from the object of its devotion—you are sure that you do?” “Oh, dearest Edwin,’ exclaimed Angelina, burst- ing into a shower of reproachful tears, “how can you doubt me? Do I not furnish you with a proof of the strength of my affection every day ?”’ “Every day ?’ “Certainly. I am taking lessons in cookery, and I never ask you to eat a piece of my cake.” “Matchless girl!” exclaimed Edwin, as he clapsed the peerless maiden to his bosom, “I am indeed blessed in possessing the love of such a treasure.” Rural Joys and Sorrows. How pleasant ’tis to roam the fields On bright and balmy days, When every flower its fragrance yields, And song-birds tune their lays, When nature over groves and leas Her summer wealth has flung— But not if by the bumble-bees You happen to get stung. How sweet to wander through the wood, Where nature builds her bowers, Or ’neath the trees in pensive mood To dream away the hours, There in the foliaceous shade One may life’s sweets enjoy— But not when troops of ants invade Your trousers legs, my boy. Overrated, BAILEY—I was introduced to the ‘funny man’ of the Porkville Clarion last evening.’ DAILEY—‘“‘Indeed! What did he say ?” B.—‘Nothing. Only, ‘I’m happy to meet you.’ ” D.—*‘Didn’t say anything funny?” B.— ‘Not a word; but I guess the man who intro- duced us expected him to, for he seemed quite disap- pointed when the humorist turned to talk to aslady who spoke to him, without convulsing the company with a side-splitter. Why, he talked just the same as you or I ’ud do.” D.—‘‘Well, I swan! D’ye know, Bailey, I think there’s some of these funny men vastly overrated.” Never Mentions ’Em. The man who country board doth advertise, Together with attractions various, ‘ Says nothing of hard beds, musquitoes, flies, And troops of cimex lectularius, It Is Curious. It is one of the curious things in this world of ours that the man, presented with a testimonial of esteem by his friends, who is ‘‘so overwhelmed by surprise at the unexpectedness of the event, and so Overcome by the flattering mark of confidence and respect that he cannot find words to express his deep sense of gratitude,” ete., not only makes an excellent speech, but has the manuscript of it in his pocket to hand to the reporters. Happy Men. The editor labors on year after year, But the coalman and also the plumber, Who piled up the shekels when winter was here, Can go out of town for the summer, Goes to His “Uncle.” Seeing that others are poorer than ourselves is said to lessen the misery of poverty. This will ex- plain why the man who finds himself broke begins to look for a broker. Stirring Times. When the sun in the east upward climbs, And the boarders from slumber are waking, In the kitchen they have stirring times, If it’s mush for the breakfast they’re making. When He Blows. _A Seotchman is not in the habit of boasting about himself except his glass of toddy is too hot; then he is apt to blow his horn. What They Call Her. When a woman’s hat shows a profusion of flowers Towering up story on story, She’s always referred to in these days of ours As ‘a movable conservatory.” It was Captain Marryatt who said there was one language for the pulpit and another for the quarter- deck, and that the government of a ship could not be carried on without swearing. We do not see that there is any need of any person swearing either on shipboard or on shore, excepting, of course, the man who uses a stylographic pen. “Who was the first tyrant ?’ demands an exchange. Well, Adam was the first married man, and he could probably tell, if he was living. English, “as she is spoke” and written, sometimes presents curious contradictions. For instance, a notable person is usually very able. Are floricultural reports caused by the pistils of the flowers, we wonder? “Faint heart never won fair lady,” but the faint art, as sometimes practiced by fair ladies, usually wins the sympathies of men. CITY CHARACTERS. BY ELLIS LAWRENCE, No. 23.—THE RINGER-IN. All countrymen who visit a drinking-place know who hangs about so suggestively that it is impos- sible to drink without inviting him up to the bar.’ not confine their efforts to bar-rooms. courtesy, there are they, ready to receive it. around the world, there are fellows who know how to “ring themselves in” and get a great deal for nothing. The scent of these fellows for persons who are courteous, generous, or hospitable, is simply mar- ture so far behind that they never can hope to eatch up. _ The manywho rings in for drinks at a country tavern is generally a shabby-looking sot; in the city, however, where ringing-in is a science requiring high mental and other qualities, the ringer-in is generally # person of good appearance, manners, and education. In justice it must be said that sometimes heis aman who is temporarily living on his friends because he has no other means of living; usually, however, he is too proud or too lazy to work for the good things he craves, so he, in some way, extracts theme out of other people. Sometinies he happens to be a fellow who is in- dustrious enough, and with money of his own, but has political or social aspirations above his deserts; generally, however, it is only the good things which money can buy that the ringer-in is after. You ean searcely be in New York a day without having a member of this class fasten upon you; per- haps he will be introduced by one of your own friends, that being part of the ‘‘ringing-in” process, for the fellow will insinuate himself so skillfully into agroup that any one knowing him cannot help in- troducing him. You may be surprised, an hour or two later, to meet him just as you are entering a restaurant, but he isn’t surprised in the least; it is just what he meant should happen. Neither is he surprised when | you invite him to lunch with you, for that is just what he met you for. If your own friends invite you to a club, or a din- ner-party, or a reception, or a trip to Coney Island, you are quite likely to find the ringer-in as one of the party. Nobody meant to invite him, but somebody did it all the same—they couldn’t help it—he “rang in’ on them so skillfully. He does not feel that he is at all in the way; he does his full share of the eat- ing and drinking, but you never see him pay a cent toward the expenses. You will find him at evening parties wherever you go. Why ladies invite himis more than they them- selves can tell, for in the honest freedom of the fam- ly circle they freely allude to him as a ‘‘sponge” and a “dead-beat.” But he ‘rang in,” ‘‘talked around them” so skillfully and to the point, that they had to invite him. It must be admitted to some people the ringer-in is worth all he costs, for he generally does all in his power to make himself agreeable, and succeeds pretty well, and there are people who haven't any too many of such acquaintances to “liven up” their companies. Uusually, though, the room of the ringer-in is more desirable than his company, a fact which he often knows as wellas any oneelse. If the knowl- edge disturbs his mind_at all, no sign of it is discern- ible in his face. People say to his victims: ‘I wouldn’t stand it if I were you.’ Then they go and stand exactly the same sort of imposition from somebody else. The truth is, it is very hard to ‘freeze out’ the ringer-in, for he can give his whole mind to his busi- ness; and the man of whom that can be said is always too smart for those who have many different things to think of. « 5 Ihave known an extremely exclusive dinner or party to be gotten up, all the guests being agreed upon beforehand, and a man obnoxious to the whole crowd give so much judicious advice about one point or other that in the end he was invited. Politicians are smart and blunt endugh to turn a eold shoulder to almost anybody, but Ihave seena good-for-nothing but brilliant fellow ring in ona sroup of them so skillfully that they actually gave him an office to get rid of him—which meant that he stuck to them for life. I have seen a dinner arranged for millionaires by other millionaires, the hosts being men with whom no business or political magnates would dare to trifle. But the ringer-in had no scruple or fears, and he became one of the illustrious company. I have even seen the ringer-in attempt to force himself into a very select party that was to receive a President-elect of the United States, and the scamp succeeded so well that the man for whom the White House was waiting could with difficulty be prevent- ed trom thinking him somebody of importance. Ladies suffer most by the ringer-in, because to let him in to society at all is to be obliged to endure him forever after. It should be whispered, however, that the fair sex itself has its ringer-in, and they are a great deal worse than men, because they cannot be treated rudely. ; The male nuisance of this species has to work skill- fully for such favors as he receives, but the feminine ringer-in knows how to ask distinctly for what she wants, and to be so ugly and yicious when disap- pointed that people are apt to think twice before re- fusing her. The social circle in which there are not women who “‘cheeked” their way into it is hard to find. Once in, these women cannot be pushed out again by any number of cold shoulders or icy looks. Worse yet, it is hard to find such a circle where the ringer-in does not endeavor to manage things to suit herself, and she does not'entirely fail either But one does not need to look among the wealthy and fashionable for the ringer-in. He (or she) will be found where&er there is any one who has anything which is coveted by some one too lazy to earnit. In the poorest tenement-houses, and even among the tramps, the science of ringing-in is being worked for allitis worth. Outin the country such impudence would not be endured; neither would it be attempt- ed; for where everybody knows everybody, there is not so much encouragement for any one whose only protection is that other people are ignorant about him until too late to protect themselves. A NARROW ESCAPE. From the Unpublished MSS. of a Detective. BY HELEN CORWIN PIERCE. During the fall of 18s—, I was sent to Helmsford, a small county town remote from the metropolis, to look into a somewhat mixed up case of arson which occurred there under peculiarly aggravated and distressing circumstances, and resulting in the death, or more likely deliberate murder, of three persons. These were John Ferryman, a likely young fellow, his wife, whom he had lately married, and a young woman employed by the couple as a servant. They lived quite in the suburbs of the town, and had no very near neighbors. The nearest, a Mr. Dawson, had been in to see the young couple that very evening, and the young woman, who was em- ployed by Mrs. Ferryman, was his daughter. Mr. Dawson, after some chat, went away about nine o’clock, and had barely had time to reach home and get to bed, when his wife called to him that Ferryman’s house was on fire. The building being light, and of wood, the flames had made too much headway to be arrested before assistance arrived at the spot. The wonder was that not asoulhad escaped from the burning building. As the flames lighted, owing to the peculiar structure of the building, they were enabled to see every part of it, and to discover the location of the three who had occupied it. Mr. Ferryman was in a sort of outshed attached to the building, and in which was a cistern of water, which he might have been seeking to put out, the fire. The wife was in bed, lying upon her left side, as though quietly sleeping. The young woman em- ployed as servant had left her bed, and fallen down by the door. The suspicious part of the business was that the man did not lie as a man would have been likely to fall who had been stifled by smoke, or strangled by hot air. He lay upon his face, his arms stretched up over his head, and his feet upon the step which led from the main buildinginto the shed. He seemed, too, to have not yet undressed for the night. The door of the young woman’s apartment was open, that of Mrs. Ferryman’s shut, and the room in which the latter lay was the last to be at- tacked by the flames. The fire was supposed at first to be purely accidental, and inquiry would probably have stopped at that, but for Mr. Dawson, father of the young woman, who he believed had been mur- dered out of revenge by a former lover, whom she had cast off because of his dissolute habits. This lover, one Jerry Laws, had, meanwhile, sud- denly disappeared from the vicinity, and Dawson made such a stir in the matter that I was finally sent down to see what there was in it. Without letting my errand be known—secrecy be: ing allimportant in these cases—I managed to get at the circumstances pretty accurately, and then thinking myself justified in doing so, set out to find young Laws, who, as near as I could learn, had not been seen since the day before the fire. From something I had learned in the course of my investigations T thought the young fellow had got America in his head, and the nearest point to take ship being Plymouth, I went there to look for him, | though the chances were that if such were his inten- | tions he had got off by this time. | that emigrant ships did not sail every day, and trust- | ing the luck which had served me hitherto, I went |to Plymouth, and sure enough, no ships of the de- ; scription IT was after had sailed for some time, but | one was going to leave the next day but one. by sight, and generally to their own cost, the fellow | |. : | him the moment I put eyes upon him from the ac- | curacy of the description I had got. |; no doubt it was he, and a little artful questioning Great cities are full of such fellows, but they do | However, I knew IT was not long in coming upon my man, and I knew At least I had proved me correct in my surmise. He was a low, square built young fellow, with ki : Pan : _ | heavy black hair and eyebrows, and a broad scar Wherever anything is likely to be given away in | It does “cn ; | and a half savage way he had of bluffing off whoever not matter whether it is only a cigarette, or a hun-| ayproached him F : ; oe dred-dollar dinner, a carriage ride, or a yachting trip | over the left eye, and cutting through the black brow; not a bad looking youngster, but for his moody face approached him. JI had my orders to arrest him, and so [ walked right into the tap room where he was, and clapped my hand on his shoulder without speak- ing. Now, in all my experience—and I’ve had some—I | never knew a guilty man take a grip like that without s I s | jumping as though the old fellow himself had come. velous; it leaves the historic bloodhound and yul- | Laws looked up, scowling like a savage, but he didn’t look scared any—nota nerve quivered that Icould see. “lve come to take you for that little affair at Helms- ford,” said I, quiet like. “Ah, you have, eh?’ he replied, with rough sar- easin, and looking so as if he’d a mind to knock me over that I called to a couple of fellows who stood across the room staring at us, telling them who I was and desiring their assistance in the queen’s name, to arrest Jerry Laws for arson and murder. At that Laws jerked away from me, but, instead of running, he says: “Murder? What the dead now ?”’ “eee Dawson's dead; that’s who,” said I, sharp- ike. ’ He dropped as if ’d shot him back into his chair, and struck the table with his clenched fist, a blow that like to have shivered it. ‘You lie!” he shouted. ‘I saw Molly myself, not a week ago.” “Tt’s likely you did,,’ said I, ‘rather too much, toe, for her good, poor girl. So come along.” He quieted down after that, and made little resist- ance, and I took him off to Helmsford by the next train. He was arough one, but IT had my doubts about his being the guilty man after all. He was sulky and grim the first part of the way, but after a while he questioned me about the young woman, Molly Dawson, and before we got off the train, he was cry- ing like a child. “T’m a bad fellow,” he said, getting communicative, “and was mad enough at Molly for turning me off, but I’d have taken my own life sooner than have hurt a hair of her head.” I believed he would, but the thing was to prove that he had not. At the examination before the justice, appearances were very much against the prisoner. By his own account, he quarreled with Molly Dawson the day he went away, and he had gone off in the night without speaking to anybody. As he had gone alone, and en- countered in the course of the journey no oneheknew, he could not prove an alibi, and matters were like to go hard with him. In my own opinion he was inno- cent, but it was merely an opinion without a shadow of proof to sustain it. I went carefully over all the ground again and again, without bringing out anything new. The father of Ferryman, the young man supposed to have do you mean? Who’s | been murdered, was living in Helmsford, but I had never met him, owing to a severe illness which had overtaken him about the time of his son’s death. Soon after the examination of young Laws, he sent for me, my vocation having by that time transpired. I found the elder Ferryman to be a very simple minded, considerably aged gentleman, whom the shock of his son’s dreadful death had affected pain- fully. He had no object in sending for me, I learned. except for a chat, but he proved very garrulous, and T encouraged him to talk, hoping that he might drop some link about his son’s affairs or acquaintances worth following up. Sure enough, in the course of the talk he wondered if young Laws knew anything about a sumof money he had paid to his son the morning before his death. Money? I fairly jumped out of my chair. Why had I not heard of that before ? The old gentleman seemed frightened, and said he thought matters were likely to go hard enough with young Laws any way, and so he had kept still about the money. “Was anybody else present when he paid the money ?”’ I asked. He pondered a little, shook his head, and then brightened. Yes, now he thought of it, there was a man there—a pack-peddler waiting for the women folks to trade with him. He believed he sat there the while he talked with his son about the money, and till after he had.paid it over to him. It was a hundred and some odd pounds. I had sat down again, but I sat on thorus. I was so eager to follow up the new clew. What a blunder-head I had been not to question this gentlemen before. The week before I came to Helmsford, and about the time of the tragical occurrence there, I had been on business to a part of the country that I remember- ed now wasnot very remote from my present quarters. Now that Mr. Ferryman spoke of a pack-peddler, I remembered distinctly meeting one upon the coach from Surrey to Southgate, and wondering at one of his sort traveling by stage. A little more question- ing convinced me that the peddler was the man, and that afternoon I set off for Southgate. I had little difficulty in tracking my man. A pack- peddler traveling by coach was like a beggar on horseback—everybody had noticed him. He had been too greedy to throw away his pack, and had felt too rich with a hundred pounds in his pocket to travel in the old way. I came up with him about forty miles beyond Southgate, at a small inn where he was staying. He jumped as though a small ‘can- non had gone off under him when I touched him on the shoulder in my peculiar fashion, and owned up in pretty short order when he saw how little use it was to keep shy.. He wasn’t old in the business either; it was the first time he had ever killed any- body, and he had been so wretched since that it seemed really a relief to him to be taken. It is needless to say that young Laws was promptly liberated upon the peddler’s confession, and that the peddler paid the extreme penalty of the law for his crimes. Laws was so affected by his narrow escape from so sad a fate, that he reformed his ways, and became a most exemplary citizen. Correspondence. GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CONTRIBUTORS, t= Communications addressed to this department will not be noticed unless the names of responsible parties are signed to them as evidence of the good faith of the writers. W. E. C., Bellows Falls, Vt.—ist. Sounds are propagated to great distances and with remarkable distinctness over a surface of water, or ice, or frozen snow. In the account of Parry’s third polar expedition it is stated that two persons could hold a conversation across the harbor of Port Borsen a distance of about a mile and a quarter. In- stances are also recorded of sounds propagated to almost incredible distances over land. For instance it is related that guns fired at Carlscroom were heard across the southern extremity of Sweden, as far as Denmark, a dis- tance of 120 miles. Dr. Hearn,a Swedish physician, re- lates that he heard guns fired at Stockholm, at the dis- tance of 180 English miles. The cannonade of a sea fight between the English and Dutch in 1672 was heard across England as far as Shrewsbury, and even Wales, a dis- tance of upward of 200 miles from the scene of action. A blow struck by a hammer on a bell under water has been heard nine miles away. Of course the foregoing are ex- traordinay instances of the propagation of sound, but the average distances at which different sounds are audible are stated\to be as follows: A full human voice speaking in the calm open air, 460 feet; a powerful human voice, with the wind, three miles; report of a musket, three miles; a drum, two miles; music of a strong brass band, three miles ; very heavy cannonading, ninety miles. 2d. The fuchsia bears the name of Leonard von Fuchs, or Fuchsius, a German Botanist. Saml. J. B., Staten Island.—Codfish are dressed and salted away in the hold of the fishing vessel. The dress- ing, as described, is done very fast. A-man called the “throater” cuts the fish’s throat and rips it open, and passes it to the “header,” who cuts off the head and takes out the entrails. The “splitter” then splits it wide open and takes out a part of the backbone, and the “salter” piles the fish up and salts it. When the vessel arrives home the fish are taken out of the hold, washed, and dried on platforms or under sheds on the shore. The sun and wind soon dry them. In cleaning codfish, the livers and the sounds and tongues are saved. The livers are put into oak tanks and pressed to get out the oil, which, as is well known, is much used as a medicine for consumption, scrofula, and other maladies. The tongues of the fish and the sounds, or air bladders, are salted in barrels. .Isinglass is sometimes made from the sounds. The prin- cipal cod fishery is on the Grand Bank of Newfoundland. The United States vessels fish mostly with trawls and hand lines. Frances W., Burlington, N. J.—ist. The rose bug is about seven-twentieth of an inch long, buff yellow above and white below, with a slender body, tapering before and, behind, entirely covered with very short, ashy yei- low down, the legs slender, yellow or pale red, with the joints of the feet very long and tipped with black. This pest was unknown in Northern New England until with- in sixty years. Its annual appearance coincides with the blossoming of the rose, whence the common name. It attacks also grape vines, young apples, and other fruits, garden vegetables, corn, forest trees, and even grass, de- vouring flowers, leaves, and fruit. 2d. Rose bugs arrive in swarms unexpectedly, and disappear as suddenly. They emerge from the ground about the second week in June, and remain thirty or forty days, when the males die, and the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, and return to the surface to perish. 3d. They are destroyed by_ crushing, scalding, and burning, after being shaken daily from the infested plants. P. J. I., Amsterdam, Ohio.—ist. A “margin” is a cash deposit made by acustomer with his broker, to insure him against loss in carrying stock bought for him until he orders it sold. The margins generally required are ten per cent. of the value of the stocks, but they some- times exceed this. Incase of a decline in the market, margins must be kept good by depositing an additional amount, equal at least to the decline, otherwise the cus- tomer will be sold out, and lose the margin first deposited. Brokers operating with margins usually furnish the cap- ital required for the actual purchase of the stocks. They charge brokerage for buying and selling and legal inter- est on the cost of the stocks, and credit deposits, sales, and cash dividends with legal interest. Cc. T. G., Albany, N. Y.—ist. Our voices can be heard at a greater distance when we speak through a tube, be- cause the vibrations are confined to the air within the tube, and are not interfered with by other vibrations or movements in the air; the tube itself is also a good con- ductor of sound. 2d. The hearing of deaf persons is as- sisted by ear-trumpets because they collect the vibra- tions of the ear intoa focus, and make the sounds pro- duced thereby more intense. 3d. All sounds, whether strong or weak, high or low, musical or discordant, travel with the same velocity. 4th. Boiled water tastes flat and insipid because the carbonic acid has been driven off by boiling. McD., Brooklyn, N. Y.—ist. A woman was hanged in England on Oct. 11, 1870, for willful murder.of a child in- trusted to her care. She had been in the baby farming business four years, and confessed to having received some forty children. She also confessed that five other children in her keeping had died, 2d. She was hanged in less than one month after her conviction. 3d. The execu- tion of Michael Barrett, for being concerned in the plot to blow up Clerkenwell Prison on Dec. 13, 1867, took place on May 26, 1868, at Newgate, London, and was the last public execution in England. The first private execu- tion was that of Mackay for murder. Date, Sept. 8, 1868. S. S. B., New Orleans.—ist. The United States Army on June 30, 1886, consisted of 2,102 officers and 23,946 en- listed men. 2d. The pay of private soldiers runs from $156 ($13 a month and rations), for the first two years, to $21 a month and rations, after twenty years’ service. 3d, The maximum military force alowed under existing laws is 2,155 commissioned officers and 25,000 enlisted men. 4th. The pay of cadets at the United States Military Academy, West Point, is $540 per annum. Mellville Hastings, Saratoga, N. Y.—Rev. Byron Sun- derland, who officiated at the marriage of President Cleveland at the White House on June 2, 1886, was born at Shoreham, Vermont, on Novy. 22, 1819. His first pas- torate was at Batavia, N. Y., where he was ordained a minister of the Presbyterian Church in 1843, Eight years afterward he was called to Syracuse, and subsequently to Washington, D.C. He was Chaplain of the United States Senate for six years. Marmaduke, Sylvan Dell, Ky.—The papier mache to which you refer is probably the kind made of paper pulp, whiting, and glue, and is called stone paper. Itis used instead of plaster of Paris for making ornaments and cor- nices for rooms. Such ornaments are stronger and lighter than those made of plaster, and can be easily screwed on to walls and ceilings. A. D. S., Rew, Pa.—ist. The present royal family of England and the ducal line of Brunswick in Germany trace their descent toa Guelphic princess, Kunigunde, whose son, Guelph IV., Duke of Bavaria, inherited the estates of all the Guelphs. 2d. The fnll name of Marquis de Lafayette, or La Fayette, was Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier. C. P. P., Brooks, Iowa.—ist. Manufacturing is carried on to some extent in Rome, Italy. The principal manu-- factures are woolens, silks, velvets, hats, gloves, stock- ings, leather, glue, glass bottles, liqueurs, pomade, arti- ficial flowers, mosaics, jewelry, and articles connected with the fine arts. 2d. Ths population of Rome in 1881 was 300,467. M. L.C. L., Long Island.—Various insects on plants may be got rid of by making a liquid of quassia chips, three and a half ounces; larkspur seed, five drams. Boil these together in seven pints of water until the decoction is reduced to five pints. When the liquid is cooled itis to be strained, and used with a watering pot or syringe. M. P. C., Olean, N. Y.—Kissingen is a watering-place of Bavaria. Some of the mineral springs are chiefly used for bathing. The Ragoczy, Max, and Theresa are drink- ing waters, which are exported to a considerable extent. Visitors to the Kissingen springs are numerous, in one year numbering over ten thousand. Willie W., Brooklyn, N. Y.—list. H. E. Dixey played “Adonis” at the Bijou Opera House, this city, for the 500th consecutive time, on Jan. 7, 1886; the longest run on record in this country. 2d. The comic opera of ‘‘Erminie” was sung for the first time in this country at the Casino, this city, on May 10, 1886. Rosa Brown, Portsmouth, Ohio.—Corpus Christi is kept on the next Thursday after Trinity Sunday, which is the next Sunday after Whit Sunday, the latter being the seventh Sunday after Easter, which in 1824 fell on April 18. B. L. S., Cincinnati, Ohio.—Balloons were used with a good deal of success during the siege of Paris, September and October, 1870, for carrying mail matter outside of the city, and for escapes by individuals, Carlos, Boston, Mass.—The Marquis of Lansdowne, Governor-General of Canada, landed in Quebec and took the oath of office on Oct, 28, 1883. X. Y. Z., Bloomington, Ind.—Write to Leonard D. Sale, Librarian of the Patent Office, Interior Department, Washington, D.C. N. R. D., Peoria, Ill.—ist. The story named is not in pook-form. 2d. Perhaps soon. 3d. Junel, 1859, came on Wednesday. Rufus L. M., Richmond, Va.—The United States Minis- ter to Sweden and Norway is Rufus Magee. Residence, Stockholm. Charles P., Cleveland, Ohio.—We will send you a coin and stamp book containing all the information desired for 25 cents. Marietta.—As expressive of the meaning intended both sentences are correct. F. H. D., Auburn, Neb.—No form that is now in use. Mrs. J. R., Newburgh, N. Y.—No. The following MSS. are respectfully declined: “No Cause for Offense ;’’ “Under the Pines;” “A Ragged Ur- chin ;” ‘Chips ;” “Two Sides of It;” “Her Answer.”