The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1863-11-14


believe any words uttered by those Ips
could be words of earnestness. The buff
foon found on that humble seemstress's
breast harbor where the worlds laughter
had no echo, where Harlequin's garish rags
were never Haunted, where the Merry An.
drew was deemed a man, an object of love.
not a butt of laughter. Since he left his
mothers lap he had known no such happi-
ness. One night, when he went home after
1 the performance had ended he found the
girl sick of fever. She grew worse dur
/ ing the night, and when the doctor saw her
next morning he declared she had the ty-
/ plus fever. You know with what giant
strides that disease bears its victim to the
/ chamber of death. The poor thing grew
unconscious, and despite all that medical
science could do she died. The unhappy
buffoon never quilted her couch except for
the play house, where, by his drollery, he
was expected to set on the audience to roar.
He never played more ludicrously. A COM
mon psychological phenomenon! The soul
seems to ieer at its grief, to jibe its anguish
by more successful merry making, when it
is most gorrowful. While the poor girl Law
a corpse in the private hospital where he
had carried her to secure better attendance
the cold grave, the bodybuilding cut his
capers and made his merry grimaces upon
the stage, for a successful piece was run
ming, and its lucrative course could not be
arrested; besides, what was the buffoon to
the poor girl? Neither church nor State
recognized the relation he bore to her. So
he PLAYED while his heart was breaking; so
be giggled to stitle his sobs But when he
I, ! = :
unpaok every article which had belonged to
the poor girl; all had their little story Of
bYgone incidents for his ear; he would kiss
them a thousand times and battle them in
his tears; these things he would do instead
of sleeping, and the day would come to find
him kneeling before these mementoes of
happy hours which were to return no more
His nerves grew tangled and soon his mind
was overthrown. Another incident, may
be, FASTENED this sad conclusion One
evening, s&&crtlv before the girl fell sick,
Lassagne played at cards in the Cafe des
Varieties between the pieces in which he
was to appear. His play was challenged.
He demonstrated its perfect fairness to the
satisfaction of every gentlemen present;
but his enemies (the actor in vogue has
legions Of them, every envous impOtent ac-
tor hates him), caught hold of it, and as
long as poor Lassagne continued in posses
sion of his reason they would scribble with
charcoal on the walls of every house and
column on the Bouleva1de in the vicinity of
the theater, "Lassagne is cheat" This
inexpressibly irritated Lassagne, and per-
hans wore into his mind. His madness
was for some time inofensive, and at this
stage of his his disease his great delight was
to FIJI his pocket with sous and ride about
in omnibuses. He would always manage
to take seat near the conductor and make
himlf very busy in aiding the conductor
return change. AS the change would pass
through his hands he would slip several
sous into it, whereby passengers frequently
received in change several sous more than
they handed to the conductor, so that they
got their omnibus ride gratis and something
in the way of premium. Lassagne would
sit and watch the recipient of this extraor-
binary change count and count over the
money time and again, and at last slip it
into his pocket, his lips puckering with
satisfaction at seeing the omnibus conductor
cheat himself to the formers advantage.
This would delight Lassagne; he would rub
his hands and chucke over it. He declared
that for months he had daily made this ex-
pertinent on human honesty many hundred
times, and had never upon a single occasion
seen any one return the money or make an
effort to do so. think you may discover
in this freak of an insane misanthrope the
OBJECT of the libelous charcoal scribbling on
the walls to which [ alluded Just now. l
trace the working of the mind; Lassagne is
a cheat, eh? He is not half so great q
cheat as these ladies and gentlemen, priests
and soldiers, who allow the omnibus con-
ductor to cheat himself and profit by the
cheat. although it is only a few sous.
To what depth of depravity would they not
sink for gold? In course of time the poor
fellow went raving mad, and it became nee
essary to place him under restraint. The
physicians apparently cured him, and he
returned sgain to the stage; but a relapse
soon supervened, and he was carried back
to the mad house, where he fast sunk in
health a few days ago he died. He was
one of the best bufoons ever seen on the
French stage-so think play -goers who
were familiar with Odry and Brunei.
BIRDS AS DEsTRoYERs OF INsECTs.-A
distinguished naturalist, NJ. Florent Pre-
vost, conceived the idea that it would be a
matter of great interest to collect at differ
ent periods of the year. the stomach OF
every description of bird he was able to
procure, to examine and preserve its con-
tents This collection, commenced thirty
five years since, has now reached coDsid-
cradle size. The stomachs, opened and
dried, together with their contents, are fixed
on a cardboard. upon which are inscribed,
/ besides the name of the species of bird, the
+ indication of the locality and date of its
death, together with the names Of the ami
mails or plants which has been recognized