August 21, 1X75. 
515 
SMALL SHOT. 
Miss Helen Page caught a four pound brook- trout in Big Wolf 
Pond in the Adiroudacks, one day last week. 
A LARGE number of catfish ar^caught daily in the waters of Lake 
CbamplaiiL They weighed from ten to thirty pounds each. 
Frederick Kramer, of Baltimore, Md., has added his leaf to the 
national wreath by taking first prize at the international shoot in 
Stuttgardt* Germany. 
The Chesapeake is celebrated for its large rock fish. One was 
taken lately near Cambridge, Md., in a net. weighing one hundred 
and twenty pounds. 
A pew days ago Hartford, Conn., could brag of a clam in a fieh- 
caugbt dealer's ^store, w’hich, in some unexplained way, had a big 
rat Dy the hind legs, and held him fast, in spite of all his efforts. 
The Minnow Shad placed in Fox River, Wis., above Appleton, a 
year ago last spring, are being caught at Meuasha and other points 
about Little Lake Butts des Moris, many of them weighing three 
pounds. 
An explosion of condemneil metallic ammunition occurred in 
the Bridesbnry arsenal, at Frankford. Pa., Saturday, One young 
man was killed, and of the twenty-two who were injured, at |least 
four will d’e. 
D. L. Sloan, of the Groome Guards, has been awarded the pre- 
mium for doing the beat shooting at the rifle match on the 5th iust., 
at Locust Point. Md. The prize is a remission of dues for six 
months and leave of absence for that period. 
A PARTY of boys who were walking beside the river at Bloom- 
field, Conn., the other day, saw a kingllsher struggling in the stream, 
and on wtiding out to it, found that it had dived upon a fresh-water 
clam, which had quietly closed its shell and captured it, holding the 
bird so finnly that the shell hud to be smashed to free it. 
At Atlanta, Ga., last autumn, a negro bnilt a coop six feet by 
seven, into which he put a dozen partridges, the ground being first 
covered by grass. During the winter they thrived, in the spring they 
mated, laid eggs, and hatched out several broods of young, and the 
negro now has about sixty young partridges all doing well. They 
are tame, healthy, and seem to be contented. 
Mr. C-p.sar Randall, of Norwich, N. Y., has a novelty in the line 
of hens’ eggs. It consiits of three distinct eggs, without shells, but 
attached to each other by a membranous ligament, a la Siamese 
twins. Two seem to coniain only the albumen, or whita of the egg, 
while the centre one contains the yolk. Each of them are about the 
size of an ordinary egg. A large sized egg with perfect shell, and 
tijese ttiplet eggs were all laid on the same day. 
The Connecticut Fish Commissioners will not undertake any shad 
haicning operations this season. The appropriation of $5,000 made 
by the Legi^latn^e will be used for the artificial propagation of other 
kinds of fish for Connecticut rivers and lakes. The 400,000 shad eggs 
shipped from Holyoke to Germany on the 17th nit., in return for a 
present of salmon eggs from the German authorities, died on the 
voyage, and nothing further can be done until next year. 
Gen. O. a. Evans, of Augusta, Ga., at the battle of Mono- 
cacy, Md., while leading his brigade in battle, was struck in the left 
side by a minie ball. The ball passed through his arm, and thence 
through his body, lu plowing through his coat-pocket it tore 
through a paper of pins, burying some of them in his flesh. For the 
past few' months he ba.s been troubled w ifh a pain about a foot and a 
half from the wound. A week or tw’o since, a bump, about as large 
as a pigeon egg, was raised on the spot where the pain was most 
severe. A few days ago, three or four pins worked out of this bump 
and it disappeared at once. 
It comes hard to have to say anything disparaging of that intelli- 
gent and nsiially well-behaved animal, the elephant: bnt people 
can't always be closing their ears to the truth through fear of injur- 
ing the great moral shows. In South Africa there are trees that bear 
intoxicating fruit, and every year the elephants go there and cat it, 
and get so drunk and riotous that their human friends in this coun- 
try w(»nld be anhamed of ihcm. It may be said that the South Afri- 
can Temperance Society ought to have gone and cut dow’ii the trees 
long ago, bnt this doesn’t excuse the elephants . — Louiftville Covtier- 
Joari}^. 
Death or the Last of the Baby Quartet.— Katie, the last siir- 
vivor of the quartet of Hahn babies, who were born on the 16th of 
February last, in Baltimore, died on Friday afternoon at four o'clock 
of whooping cough, aged ju.st live months. Her sisters, Mary, 
Jennie and Sarah, died of catarrh when about one month old. After 
the death of those three, the remaining one, Katie, grew’ finely, and 
her parents had hoped that she would be raised. The Hahn quartet 
were the sensation during their short existence, and interest in their 
welfare was manifested in different sections of the country. 
A distressing ease of accidental shooting occurred 28.Taly, at 
Janesville, Wis, Mr. Win. B. Baines, the victim, lives on the Wil- 
lard farm, and has a son who is fond of hunting. Yesterday he was 
out all day, when he was wanted by his father. He returned in the 
evening, and the father, enraged, told him that if he ever went hunt- 
ing again be would break the gun over the fence, and, seizing the 
gun, began drawing it over the fence, the muzzle being turned toward 
him. The cock I'angbt on the fence, discharging the piece, and the 
entire charge entered bis thigh just below the groin. The injury 
will possibly prove fatal. 
Squirrels do eat. that's a fact. The Stock ton InAiependent tells of a 
fanner who is almost chawed up by the furry pi'sts. He shot one of t he 
most active of the army of trunsportation, whose jaws were distend- 
ed with pluuder, and from his mouih was taken a small handful of 
choice, plump wheat. Kallenbach bad the curiosity to count the 
grains, and found they numbered 6C2 and weighed a few grains over 
one ounce. An able-bodied squirrel, that will attend strictly to 
business, will steal a pouud of wheat per day. With his relatives, 
he would get away with a ton, worth to-day $42. 
An amusing trial took place in Quincy, III., last week. A man 
named Murphy found a nest containing six young mocking-birds, 
which he took home with him. Five of them having died, he took 
the sixth back to the nest in hopes the old birds would feed it. Soon 
afterward it became strong enough to fly, and flew into a blacksmith 
shop belonging to a man named Scribner, w ho picked the bird up 
and retained it in his possession. Murphy, learning where the bird 
was, at once got out a writ of replevin, so the bird was brought into 
court, where it attracted considerable attention. A verdict for Scrib- 
ner was tlnnlly given. The bird was valued at about one dollar, and 
the costs have already reached twenty times that amount. 
A Dog Saves Two Humans.— Three sinall lioys were paddling 
about up^)n the North River, when suddenly their skiff was run down 
by a tug. Tw o of the youngsters saved their lives by clinging to 
the wreck, but the third, unable to swim and borne off by a 
nishing ebb tide, w’as on the point of drowning, when a Newfound- 
land dog leaped from one of the canal boats, and swam to his rescue. 
He arrived in time to seize him by the collar of liis coat, and held 
his head above the water until a boat from the shore took him on 
board. In the meantime a man had also leaped overboard to rescue 
the boy, and he in luni was in danger of drowning, when the dog 
sw'am to his rescue, and saved him. Had that dog been muzzled 
Educated Apes.— In the Malayan Peninsula large apes of nat- 
urally intelligent breeds are employed by their masters much in the 
same way that human slaves are made, use of in .some parts of Af- 
rica. The cocoanut palm is valuable for its frnit, but this is very 
difticnlt to iirocnre; so the landlord of a tope of palm trees trains 
h's apes to climb the trees and judiciously pick the ripest nuts for 
him. The apes seem to delight in the work. The apes thus em- 
ployed in the neighborhood of Singapore and Penang are bred in 
Atcheen, and the ow’ners itinerate and hire them out. They go up 
the trees with a line attached, and obey the command of their mas- 
ters, choosing the iiroper fruit. They twist the nut round and round 
till it falls dowu from its stalk, when the feat is hailed on the part 
of the apes by jumps and chuckles of evident satisfaction. 
The Reading (Pa.) Euf/le gives an account of some rattlesnake 
hunters who search for these reptiles in the Blue Mountains. The 
hunters go in pairs alw ays; so that If one is bitten the other can 
come to his rescue. Their boots are very thick and heavy, and the 
soles are covered with rubber, so that they can move noiselessly and 
with safety across slippery and rocky jdaces. At noon is the best 
time to catch snakes, for then is the time that they stretch them 
selves across the rocks to sun themselves, A raitlesnake very rarely 
closes its eyes, and its power of scenting is very great. It moves 
very slow'ly, and bites only when provoked. The men carry iron 
hooks with a prong at the end. Other.s have an Iron with a curve at 
the end of it, which they press down over the snake's head on the 
rock. They take a pair of wtjoden pincers, nip the reptile in the 
jaws, holding tlicm very tight, and thus raise them and put them 
into a box with a wire screen over the top of it. Thatistheway 
the snakes are captured alive. The men kill them for pleasure, and 
the skins are preserved as trophies, just as the Indians valne the 
scalps of their victims. 
Sagacity op the Partidge.— Instances of the sagacity of the 
partridge, woodcock and other birds, have often been related. But 
the most singular illustration of the deception practiced by the first 
of those wily species to protect their yoniii; is given by Mr. Hcn- 
shaw, of the Goveniment Survey west, of the one hundredth merid- 
ian. While riding through pine w oods, a brood of partndge.s, con- 
taining the mother and eight or ten young of about a week old, was 
come upon so suddenly that the feet of the foremost mule almo.st 
trod on them. The young rose, flew a few yards, and, droiiping 
clown, were in an instant hid in tiie underbntsh. The mother uiean- 
w'hile began some very peculiar tactics. Rising up, she fell back 
again to the ground as if perfectly helpless, and imitated the actions 
of a wounded bird so succes-fully that for a moment it was thought 
she had really been trodden n])ou. Several of the men, completely 
deceived, attempted to catch her, bnt she tlnttered away, keeping 
just out of reach of their hands until they had been enticed ten or 
twelve yards off, when she rose and went off like a bullet. Her tac- 
tics had successfully covered the retreat of her young. 
A New Scare.— Two native gardeners and a little boy having been 
suddenly seized with alarming spasms, accompanied by foaming at 
the mouth, after eating a quantity of peaches, the Englishman to 
whom the peacli orchard belonged forthwith proceeded to analyze 
the fruit. To his horror, the juice was found to contain a consider- 
able portion of poisonous virus, a discovery which naturally led to 
a close examination of the tree from which the fruit had been gath- 
ered. After inspecting the leaves, the branches, even the bark, with 
no scientific results, one of the examining party suggested that the 
roots should be uncovered. This being done, the origin of the 
poison at once came to light. Being anxious to enrich the soil of 
the orchard, the gardeners had buried dead dogs under many of the 
trees, including the one on which the deadly peaches had grown. 
Under its roots lay the carcass of a defunct pariah, proved by ap- 
pearances to liave died of hydrophobia. After this discovery there 
could be no doubt about the source from w’hich the fruit derived its 
poisonous qualities. The virus of hydrophobia had first, impreg- 
nated the soil, next the sap of the tree, and subsequently trans 
mitted itself to the fruit. Yet the poison appears to have lost some 
of its powers in transit, since it is related that the three patients 
“ W’. ro successfully treated and all recovered.”- 
A Police Dog. — The Pittsburgh Telegraph says : •* He is a com- 
mon-looking, medium-sized, jet-black dog. Mitchell came in pos- 
sesskm of him one bleak winter night last season when the dog was 
shivering on the street in a starving condition. He was taken home 
and provided for, and ever since he has jiroved a valuable addition 
to the police force by assisting the ofiicer in the discharge of his 
duties. He follow's the officer unceasinglv on all his rounds, and 
when aroiher officer raps for assistance, ihe dog makes haste with 
all speed to the spot and commences to bark. Should any of the 
officers have occasion to give chase after any one, the dog marks 
out the man, and catching him by the pantaloons, detains him by 
worrying until the arrival of the officers. K short time since the 
officers succeeded in capturing a prisoner that, without the assist- 
ance of the dog, would have escaped. The dog cun discern intoxi- 
cated persons from others, and should he meet with such a case on 
his perambnlatioDs, he keeps up a how l until an officer arrives. The 
police always make it a point to go to the spot where the dog in 
barking, and they are never fool^'d. The most singular feature of 
the dog’s life is that he will not accompany Officer Mitchell m day- 
light when dressed in citizens' clothes. He sleeps in daytime, and 
is always on duty at night with the officer, who prizes him highly.” 
Dk'K, in his Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts, gives the follow- 
ing: The best way for preparing such cloth is by the process adopted 
for the tunics of the French soldiers during the Crimean war. It is 
as follows: Take 2X pounds alum, and dissolve in ten gallons boil- 
ing water; then in a sepaiate vessel dissolve the same quantity sugar 
of lead in ten gallons of water, and mix the two solutions. The 
cloth is now well handled in this liquid, until every part of if is pen- 
etrated: then it is squeezed and dried in the air, or in a warm apart- 
ment, then washed in cold water and dried again, when it is fit for 
use. If necessary the cloth may be dipped in the liquid and dried 
twice before being washed. The liquor appears curdled when the 
alum and lead solutions are mixed together. This is the result of 
double decomposition, the sulphate of lead, which is an Insoluble 
salt, being formed. The sulphate of lead is taken up in the pores of 
the cloth, and it is nnaffected by rains or moisture, and yet it does not 
render the cloth air-tight. Such cloth is also partially non-inflammable. 
A solution of alum itself will render the clotb, prepared as described, 
partially waterproof, but it is not so good as the sulphate ef lead. 
Such cloth— cotton or woolen — sheds rain like the feathers on the 
back of u duck. 
Elsewhere w’e had a terrible case of hydrophobia from eating 
peaches, the tree having been top-dressed with defunct caoioe. Luck- 
ily the report came from Lucknow, more famous for “ Dinua ye 
hear the slogan?” than for peaches. But now we give our readers 
something about chicken pie and here, close by, in Connecticut. The 
; pie was layered with slices of the wooden hams for which the State is 
renowned. Mr. T. S. Gold, Secretary of the Coonecticut Board of 
Agriculture, writes to the Hartford Titnet^ as follows: In your issue 
of the 14th you report from a vV'estern paper a case of poisoning 
from eating chicken pie, the eating of potato bugs by the chickens 
being given as the cause. Some ten years since a picnic party iu 
this neighborhood were terribly sickened from eating a cold chicken 
pie. There were no holes cut iu the cover, and soon after numerous 
instances were found of persons being sickened from eating cold 
chicken pie, which had not been made with holes in the cover, or 
had not been cut when warm. I do nut know that the lack of boles 
is of any account, but the dangerous character of cold chicken pie 
that has not been cut when warm is well established. The potato 
bng ill chicken pie or salad ouglit to be looked at square in the face. 
A Frightful Plunge.— Thursday morning the river drivers were 
cracking their jokes and stirring uji the logs at the head of West 
Pitch. A jam had gathered at the very verge of this grand waterfall, 
George A. Newman, of Bradley below Bangor, stood on the lower 
log of the jam. He is a veteran Penobscot log-roller, and this i.s bis 
third season on onr river. George got his cant dog under the log, 
and immediately it rolled. Another rivennan leaped off. but New- 
man's iron-shod boots were dull and he slipped, and in he went. 
He caught hold of his companion's cant-dog, bnt bis hand slipped, 
and oil Newman darted down into the Pilch. He swam off the big 
curl, and quick us lightning plunged down the awful abyss. His 
friends never expected to see him more, but in a twinkling he was 
seen emerging from tlie foam at the f<K)t of the falls, and bravely 
striking out for the island. The shore of the river at this poiut is 
now lined lined with logs, and a rapid current flows there. Newman 
saw tliat it would not be safe for him to tr>' to effect a landing at this 
point, so he coolly swam for the island, dLsCant pi'riiaps 50 or 70 rods 
from the falls. He reached the land safely, when he was at once 
taken to the mainland. His hips, knees, arms and back were some- 
what bruised. He was taken to the Auburn House and placed in 
bed, when his fellows gathered around him delighted to find him 
crank and loquacious. Said he; “I wasn’t badly scared. When I 
fell in 1 struck right out and kept my head above water. I wa-j c ilm 
in there as could be. I pawed a little, though." Thought I should 
have to give you up. George, when I saw yon go down iliere,” said 
one of his comrades. “I didn't ihink anything of that kind,” said 
Newman, " but it did seem a long time, though. Seems as if I went 
one hundred feet into that deep hole before I struck. But I kept 
kicking, and when those big ’ biles' comes, I jest kept on to]) of them 
to come np on. I tried to kick my boots off, but couldn't. I tell 
you. boys, 'twas peculiar machinery to go through, but I'll go to 
work to*morrow. 1 wa'n’t sharp at all, or I shouldn't have slipped. 
But I don’t want to try it over again. I tell you, ’Lish.” The doctor 
reported no bones broken. Several bad bruises were discovered by 
the patient, who signalized the discovery by using strong expletives. 
He continued: “I held my breath, 'Lish, from the time I took the 
plunge until I got to the bottom. I thonght ‘twas an hour, hut I 
didn't take a bit of water.” “Don't believe anything else could go 
over there and live,” said one of the men. “Don't say I ain't tough 
any more,” said Newman; “ but didn't I take good care of my head, 
though! I always did, you know!” Some one of the crowd outside 
asked: “Is he dead?” “No,” said ilie river driver, “only a little 
di.scouraged.” The Indian legends say that a large party of Indians 
was once decoyed into the rapids above tlie falls and iierished in 
We-t Pitch. However that may be, we doubt if any man ever passes 
; through what George Newman passed on the morning of .Inly 8, to 
conie out with the breath of life in him . — Paisley Adrocate. 
A SNAKE Story is going the rounds how a poor woman 
rushed out of a kitchen hearing one of her children cry 
outside. A rattlesnake under the kitehen had just bit- 
ten two children who had been innocently toying with 
the reptile, and when the unhappy mother rushed back 
to get a gun to kill the monster, she found the infant 
had tumbled into a tub of boiling water. AVe believe 
in tre.ating rattlesnakes with respect, so for tlie public 
good will not discredit the moral of playing with rep- 
tiles, but the full story, baby and all, is familiar to 
newspaper readers. 
Three lialibut were caught [ofl’ Scituate, Mass., last 
week, weighing respectively 52, 94 and 1724 pounds. 
The latter has perhaps never been exceeded. 
A BENCH show will b& held in connection with the 
New England Fair at Manchester, N. H., on Sept. 7. 
Tills is sound. AVe are glad to see a show under such 
auspices. Mr. AV. Riddle, of Manchester, N. H., will 
answer all inquiries about entries. 
