282 



TUE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



September 



A Romance 'of the Wire, 



"There's lurk iu matriiuouy as im 

 everything else," mused au , old De- 

 troiter who, in his early days, was a 

 telegraph operator. "For nearly 30 

 years njy wife and 1 have lived happily 

 together. We have had our little domes- 

 tic squalls, like other people, but I can 

 Bay that we have sailed on smooth wa- 

 ters with fair winds. 



"She used to be a telegraph operator 

 too. I went to substitute for a friend of 

 mine on the line to give him a brief va- 

 cation. He told me that he had been 

 carrying on a flirtation with a woman 

 operator with whom he was very favor- 

 Hbly impressed. She only knew him by 

 bis office call, and he requested that I 

 carry on the incipient courtship so that 

 be could take it up on his return. The 

 girl would be none the wiser, and his 

 suit would be that much further along. 

 Being young and romantic, I assented 

 as a matter of course. 



"From the first messiige I concluded 

 that the wooing had reached a very in- 

 teresting stage and entered right into 

 the spirit of the affair. Not being trou- 

 bled by any of my friend's embarrass- 

 ment, for he was in love, I talked to her 

 like a bold and ardent swain. She evi- 

 dently liked this, and I was on tbe 

 verge of engaging my friend when I re- 

 ceived word trom him that he had met 

 bis fate at home; that he was going 

 into her father's store, and that I must 

 close up his telegraphic courtship as 

 gently as I could. 



"At first I was mad enough to hunt 

 bim up and thrash him. Then I sud- 

 denly discovered that I was mightily 

 pleased. She only knew him by the 

 office call, and now the call was mine. 

 Just as soon as there was an opening I 

 proposed, and back came an acceptance. 

 I've never told her, but between me and 

 you she's worth a carload of his wife." 

 •—Detroit Free Press. 



Killine an Elephant. 



It took three hours to kill a vicious 

 elephant in the vicinity of Liverpool, 

 and in assisting to bring about this re- 

 Btjlt a medical gentleman almost suc- 

 ceeded in compassing his own destruc 

 tion. Charles II was the name of the 

 elephant. Two Liverpool physiciaqs 

 were appointed executioners. They fed 

 tlie beast on acnnitR rnnnealed in c.^rmto 



and arsenic sprinkled on buns, which it 

 swallowed pleasantly and asked for 

 more. Then one medical gentleman con- 

 ceived the idea of loading a syringe 

 with prussic acid, inducing the ele- 

 phant to open its mouth and squirting 

 the poison down its throat. Charles II 

 considered this great sport, but the doc- 

 tor who was operating the syringe, by 

 reason of his interest iu the experiment, 

 momentarily forgot the deadly proper- 

 ties of prussic acid, inhaled the fumes 

 and fell unconscious. The other physi- 

 cian 'saved his colleague's life with 

 great difficulty, the elephant looking on 

 with deep sympathy. However, after 

 Charles II had taken enough poison to 

 kill 2,000 men, according to the doctors, 

 and three hours had passed since the first 

 dose he suduenly toppled over and ex- 

 pired quietly. Like the other Charles 

 II, he had If en an unconscionable time 

 dying. — tan Francisco Argonaut. 



When Umbrellas Were First Used. 



Umbrellas are of great antiquity. 

 Among the Greeks they were a mark of 

 elevated rank,- and one is seen on a 

 Hamilton vn.'^e iu the hands of a prin- 

 cess. We find the umbrella figured up- 

 on the ruins of Persepoiis, and the Ro- 

 mans carried it at the theater to keep 

 off the sun. Yet Goryate, the traveler, 

 in 1611, notices the umbrellas of Italy 

 as rarities. These and other umbrellas 

 are only described for keeping off the 

 sun, which mav be explained by the 

 comparative scarcity of rain in the 

 above countries. The frequency of rain 

 in other lands led to their being used 

 for a very different purpose. Jonas 

 Hanway is described to have been the 

 first to walk tbe streets of London with 

 an umbrella over his head, which he 

 had probably used in his travels in the 

 east. And in 1778 one John Macdon- 

 ald, a footman, was ridiculed for carry- 

 ing iu the streets an umbrella which he 

 bad brought from Spain. However, as 

 be tells us, he persisted for three 

 months in carrying bis umbrella, till 

 people took no further notice of the 

 novelty — Harpers Round Table. 



Fifty Allies to Market. 



It is not an uncommon thing in 

 France to see a farmer 40 or 50 miles 

 from home ii( wet ^^eather with a load. 

 If he sees a trdsnect of a three davs' 



