DEFECTIVE GOVERNMENT _— There Is an Absence of Uniform- ity in Our State Laws. Wide Differences and Conflicts Between the Codes of the Various States— Some Points on Which They Differ. a. —._—..— One of the most serious defects in our mode of government is the absence of a uniform system of laws. The laws of the United States are, of course, su- preme in every state, but the subjects with which they deal are strictly ‘ limited by the federal constitution, and everything which lies ouside 1s Within the jurisdiction of the several states. Acts permitted by local laws or toler- ated by lecal sentiment may be of such a character as seriously to complicate the relations of the United States with other governments, and yet may be wholly beyond the control of the gen- eral government. The attack upon Italians in New Orleans in 1891 and, many anti-Chinese riots in western states are instances in point, says the Youth’s Companion. Each of the forty-four states has its own code of laws, to which at every session of its legislature large additions 'are made. There are Wide differences and conflicts among the laws. Business practices which are permissible in some states are forbidden in others. Offenses which are visited with heavy penalties in one state are not punished :at all in another state adjoining; and sometimes a house which happens to be crossed by a state line is in request, because certain acts which would be illegal at one end of it are legal at the "other. ' ‘ Marriage and divorce laws vary widely. Marriage relations forbidden inone state” may be entered into under the more lax laws of another, and the parties to them may resume their resi- dence in the state from which they came. A husband may desert his wife, and.aftcr living a short time in another state procure a divorce, and sometimes it is possible to conceal knowledge of the proceedings from her until the de- cree of divorce has been granted. There are no means of~ reconciling these conflicting and contradictory pro- visions of law except by agreement among the states. An attempt has been made in this direction through the appointment by the several states of commissioners who meet in annual con- ference to consider measures for pro- mot-ing uniform laws. New York took the initiative in 1890, and other states hails. followed its example. Probably thirty states will be represented at the conference in Saratoga this month. The conference has no powers be- yond discussion and recommendation. It recommends no law until it has been approved with absolute unanimity at two meetings. Business forms were first considered. A uniform law for the acknowledgment and execution of deeds was adopted; then one prescrib- ing the form of a seal; then statutes as to wills and their probate. Legislation as to the weights of the bushel or barrel was next considered. There are now variations which pro- mote confusion and fraud; for example, a bushel of oats is thirty pounds in N ew Jersey and thirty-two pounds in New York. The conference has recom- mended the abolition of days of grace; proposed a code concerning bills, notes and checks; and considered other ques- tibns of business law. ... All the states appointing commission- ' ers expressly directed them to deal with marriage and divorce. Touching the first, the conference has recommended that some ceremony, or formality, or written evidence, signed by both parents and attested by one or more witnesses, be required in all marriages; and that stringent provision be made for their immediate record, however solemnized or entered into. Regarding divorce, it was hopeless to seek agreement concerning causes and methods, but the conference recom- mended that no divorce be granted un- less the defendant is domiciled or has been domiciled within the state where the action is brought, or has been per- sonally served with process within the state. This would put an end to the stealthy procuring of divorces in other- states than that in which the parties reside. Few as have been the recommenda- tions of the conference, those that have been adopted by state legislatures have been fewer. The work of securing uni- formity in state laws must be slow and difficult, and partial at the best; but as the reasonableness of it comes to be understood, the commissioners will be reinforced by a strong public sentiment. Vanished New Hampshire Forests. , In New Hampshire, originally, two great belts of white pine occupied the valleys of the Merrimac and Connecti- cut which contained some of the finest timber in New England. This mag- nificent forest has long since disap- peared, a few scattered remnants only remaining. Specimens have been known which were more than two hundred feet high and six or eight feet in diameter. As the white pine seeds very freely, the site of the ancient for- est is indicated by many tracts of vig- orous saplings, which in thirty years are available to cut for pail and fish barrel staves, box boards and even for smallbuilding timber. Springing up, as it does, on so many worn out and abandoned farms, it has made industry ‘and wealth possible to many parts of the state which otherwise would have been wholly deserted. It is estimated that southern New Hampshire contrib- utes at least twenty-five million feet of dimension timber each year for small frames for houses and barns, in that sectidn, thus displacing that much spruce framing timber. Ancient Cartoons. The ancients enjoyed cartoons just as we do, and poked satirical fun at each other by pictures. The walls of Pompeii when dug up were covered in many cases with chalk. cartoons of local happenings and with scenes from comic plays.” ‘ congenial. THE SEA LION TOLD. « Discovered Fine Fishing in a Lake and Went Back After His Friends. .Once tupon a time Lake Merced stood‘ high in the estimation of city anglers, says the San Francisco Bulle- tin. It was accessible and didn’t re- quire much influence to cast a line into its waters. Big fish lingered among the weedy depths and browsed along the sandy shores on the western end. Cornelius Stagg then kept a road house opposite the old. race track and there was a good dinner for the belated angler under his roof and a good bed and a bottle fragrant and refreshing claret. .Scott Tidball, the artist, John Adams and dozens of worthy fishermen since departed have swung their rods over the ripples of Merced and com- pared notes around the blazing fire at night and were, perhaps, as boastful and mendacious as the anglers of the generation that succeeded them. The trout era passed away and was followed ’by antepoch of carp. Those mud4grubbers fattened on the border- ing grasses "and led a life of undis—_ turbed and signominious ‘indolence. Nobody wanted them at any price and the barnacles grew up on the elders of the gang from simple and’unbroken laziness. Then another change took place and the fish commissioners an- nounced that they were going to put muskallonge in the lake. A month or so afterward they did and it was sup- posed the reign of the carp was over and that those ferocious fresh water sharks would completely exterminate them. . i , A sagacious sea lion felt recently that there must be something worth seeing beyond the neighborhood of the Cliff house and Sutro heights. So he made a journey to Lake Merced and found the water and the surroundings IIc tasted the carp and ap- proved of their flavor, and, being a genial and generous lion, he returned to the seal rocks and told his chums where he had been and what he had seen. An excursion party consisting of a select number of gentlemen and lady marine lions was at once organ- ized, and on a fine moonlight night the band started for Merced. Everything was just as the pioneer had represent- ed, and a brilliant season of feeding and general enjoyment was inau- gurated. About this time the Spring Valley company drew a net across the lake to see how the muskallonge were getting on. The sea lions, now permanent residents of the lake, laughed heartily at the experiment. and waved their flappers to the fishermen to encourage them to keep on with their nets and let them know how many muskallongc were left. For the muskallonge had got to the last dozen or so of carp when the sea lions came in. and the sea lions had done up the muskallonge when the experimental nets were cast. Nothing but a few catfish and stickleback now remain in Lake Merced. The sea iions are still there, but unless some more stocking is done, and pretty soon at that, they will return to the Seal rocks. A WORTHY RAZOR. The Barber Took Pride in It Because of . Its History. , “A good razor? Well, I should say so!” said a barber to a Pittsburgh Dis— patch reporter. . “That's a historic blade I‘m using on your face.. There’s a story in that piece of steel which 'is as interesting as it is remarkable, and I value it more than anything I have. You see, during the war I was at Win- chester, Va, apprenticed to a black- smith. I was only a young bit of a fellow, but had the highest regard for. excellence in anything. As a boy I used to play around the door of the old shop, watching the, smithy shoe the horses. There was one tool which al- ways had the greatest attraction for us youngsters and filled us with wonder. We had been taught that the best quality of steel would always pick up pieces of iron and steel by magnetism. There was a particular file which the old smithy prized very highly, which to us boys seemed to be the very best piece of steel in the world. The man— ner in which” it would pick up the horseshoe nails and bits of steel left no doubt in our minds on this point. Dur- ing the war my boss had a good deal of shoeing to do for the army, and several times Gen. Phil Sheridan had his horse shod there. The old smithy was a great admirer of the general, so he brought out the much-prized file to finish up the work. “Someu‘yéars later I left the black- smith shop to become a barber, and shortly after learning my trade I de- cided to go to Washington. Just before going I stole this file, determining to have the best piece of steel in the world—for my ideas never changed on the subject—to start in my business, I had the file made into a razor, and whether the magnetic quality of the steel had anything to do with it I can- not say, but I do know that I have al- ways been able to shave beards with this razor that would do everything'but turn the edge of an ordinary blade. “I started in a shop in \Vashington, and some years after who should I find in my chair but Gen. Sheridan. I was somewhat rattled, as the boys say, at having so great a man so near me, especially a man whom I had always honored so much, but by degrees my . nervousness left me, and I began to shave him. Suddenly I remembered about the razor I held in my hand. It was the same steel that had shaped his . horse’s hoofs many years befOre down in Winchester. the steel and it seemed to interest him very much. That’s why I prize the ra or.” ‘ ' Hens Hatching Fish in China. Fish hatching in China is sometimes conducted with the aid of a hen. The spawn sis collected from the water’s edge, and placed in an empty eggshell. The egg is then sealed with wax and placed under a sitting hen. After some days the egg is carefully broken and the spawn emptied into water well warmed by the sun. Thereflthe little fish are nursed until they are strong enough to be turned into a lake or stream. ' l I told him the story of ‘ TH-IE PERSIAN HORSE. An Animal mm In Very Fond of Being (f. ' Potted. Persian horses are to be admired and . liked. Their beauty is asburce of con- stant enjoyment, and they are almOsL invariably gentle and docile. ‘It, i; in vain to form any resolution itg;-lLlSl. making a pet of any one of LIICln,‘.'.‘l‘l‘L'CS Mrs. Bishop in "Journeys in Persia.” My new acquisition, l3<z>y, insists on be— ing potted, and his enticing ways are irresistible. lie is always tethered in front of my tent with a rope long enough to give him considerable liberty, and he took advantage of it the very first day to come into the'tent and make it apparent that he wanted me to divrdc a lemon with him. Grapes were his pre- ference; then came cucumbers, bread and biscuits. Finally he drank milk out of a soup plate. He comes up to me‘ and puts down his head to have his .1}. ears rubbed, and if I do not attend to . him at once, or if I cease attending to him, he gives me a gentle but admoni- tory thump. I dine outside the tent, and he is tied to my chair and 'Waits with wonderful patience for the odds and ends, only occasionally rubbing his nose against my face to remind he is there. A friendly snuffle is the only. sound he makes. He does not know how to fight," or that teeth and heels are for any other uses than eating and and walking. He is really the gentlest and most docile of his race. ' The point at which he draws the line is being led. Then he draws back, and a muliSh look comes into his sweet ”eyes. But he follows like a dog, and when I walk he is always with me. 'He comes “when I call him, stops when I do, accom- panies me when I leave the road in search of flowers, and usually puts his head on my shoulder or under my arm. To him I am an embodiment of melons, cucumbers, grapes, peaches, biscuits and sugar, with a good deal of petting and ear-rubbing thrown in. A CLOSE TRADE. An Instance of “Nearncss” That Is Hard to Beat. The close-fisted and the absent-mind— ed serve a similar use—they amuse their neighbors. The New York Sun quotes a man from the rural districts as telling a story'of’a Mr. Putterby, an old-timestownsman of his, whose repu- tation for "newness” was evidently well deserved. Locally he was thought to be almost a prodigy in this respect, but no story of this kind, isso good but that another can be found to beat it. One of the coins current in‘those days was the old Spanish silver-piece, which pasSed for twelve and a half cents, and was variously called “nine- pence,” “York shilling” and “bit.” It was the existence of this coin that en- abled Mr. Putterby to achieve his crowning triumph in the way of a close trade. ' ' '4 -= ' A farm-boy came along one day with a load of pumpkins, which he was’pedé dling about the village at 'a‘r‘c‘ent apiece. )Ir. Putterby looked at' them, conclud~ :l to buy, but wanted oiily half a punpkin." " ’5 "But a whole one is only a' cent,” said the boy. “How are you going to pay me for half a one?” " ’ “Easiest thing in the world,” said Mr. Putterby‘.‘ The pumpkin was cut, he took one— half under his arm, and handed the boy a shilling. “N ow give me the twelve cents change,” he ‘said; and taking the twelve coppers from the astonished boy, .he' walked away with his pur- chase. The Dominic’s Blunder. An English clergyman, who was sud- denly called on to preach to a congre- gation of college students was unable to speak without notes, and had only one, written sermon with him, which was on the duties of the married state. The topic was hardly one that he would have chosen for the occasion, but ‘he hoped that it would pass muster as be- ing appropriate by anticipation. ‘But, unfortunately, he did not read the ser- mon over, and so, before he knew it, he had uttered this appeal: “And, now, a word to you who are mothers ” ‘ ‘P. H. DWYER. now BE SIDE-mom. . ALTERATION SALE sun. on. CUSTOMERS ALL SATISFIED. . SALES LAIIIiE. venous-"A success. Here are a few reasilns: HARNESS OILS. 34c quart Were 75c. [99 pint were 450. . Labels a little worn, turn, etc. Oils are A No. , I though. btandard goods. IIIISTEIIS. 98c were $1.50. 144: were $1.25. 59c were $1.00. 38c were 75c. Equally useful for house, car- iiage. stone or barn. Always usaful. Never so cheap. I still drum upon those $9.98 liar- IIBSSOS- cvery cent. Also five drummers samples; single harness. “vi“ gv at $1.98- .M ads to sell at double. They are a ban-gum, arl new. Have , been carelessly Landlcd. ‘ P. H, DWYER, Cor. Knight, and ,Wall Sts., 'NOBWALK. CONN. \ PLYMOUTH ROCK I'cE. , ttores and Families Supplied. - Lowest Rates. ' They're Worth it, l ' .. , ‘ ‘. a '. . - ,BUSY, B‘CTSY, ALWAYS strait.“ E BOSTON , TORE, _ 'NORWALK; , ; ' ' New York Office. 442 Broad-Way. power of the almighty dollar. . We have I The Crash Has Come! Another Proof (if any was necessary) that Our SMALL mom, SMALL EXPENSE AND cnsH‘ BUSINESS Are the Great Safeguards of the People. nun BOLD STROKE! IN OUR BIG CLOAK ROOM _ As large as it is, wevwant it filled every day this week viiith customers, and we shall make prices to do so. 10, Dozen Wrappers = . " . Losses suffered by ‘manufaolurers,'imporl- I ers and iobbers have knocked lhe bollom oul of prices, have given the big profit idea a paralytioshook, and have illuslraledlh'e In sheltering prices will please and he a profit to our Palrons. _—__../ Let us figure the cost : 8 yards Print at Go, - 48c .. Buttons, - - 5c Thread, - - I - 4c - . Makmg, _ - ~ - 300—870. We shall sell one to a customer at 59¢, Otherspt 15c, 98c, sl.25, L49, L98, 2.25, 2.15 and 2.98. ’ corsets 8' dozen Dollar Corsets, large size only, 50c each. ,_ ‘ Shirt WEIIS'LSM We have now 200 dozen Shirt ‘Waists, and can suit any one that wants 19. Waist. Prices 39c to $3.50. Separate Skirts u. The sale on our Skirts has been wonderful. This week we offer 100 Figured Mohair Skirts, lined and I interlined, regular price-$4.50, at $2.25. Others at $2.49, $3.15, $4.50 to $0.00. - 'HE BUSlIlN SHIRE. Cor. Main and aII 3.3." 1+. POINTER ____..< ' p ‘ Is your plate glass or safe insured? If not, call on me and . . . j I will write you a. policy in the Mutual Plate Glass and Safe Insur' 1~ ance Company. Glass will break and burglars use dynamite. I ~ ' ‘ f F“ ' You should be insured. A policy in the Reliance 01 Philadelphia; ' _. Phoenix of' Hartford; Scotland Union of Scotland; New Hampshire of Manchester; Rochester German of Rochester;~:~.United States and Pacific of New York; Security of New Hampshire or Granite State 01 Ports mouth will protect you against the fire fiend. w- H. Burnenon, Real Estate and General Insurance, Benin 1, damn-n11: 3011.1311va LOANS NEGOTIATEDK AND INVESTMENTS MADE.._ ”CORRESPONDENCE SOL/CITED
Norwalk Chronicler