The Columbus journal., 1883-11-14
A Husbands Fiandish Joke.

He came home with % serious face.
She, who Vas all love and smiles. saw
in an instant that something was the
matter. He turned his face away when
she attempted to plant the warm kiss Of
greeting or his lips. Her soul sank
within her. 1t was tie first time that
he mad repulsed her. GEORGE she
said eagerly, tell me what it is. Has
your love grown cold? Treat me
frankly. 1t is better to know the truth
than to be kept in suspense He kept
his head avertcd a minute. his lip
trembled. then he said: 80, heavens!
Florence. how can you wear that mask
of deceit when l know all''
"AllT' she repeated, as her face grew
white. "All WHAT"
''Spare me the sad recital" he con-
tinued. There are some things that
are better left unsaid."
II will not spare you. l insist upon
knowing what it is you mean. feline,
and at once. Some perjured villain has
abused your mind"
'Alas, no!' he said. 81 was an eye
witness of it all. Do not add deceit to
your other crimes. l was there and
saw it."
"Saw what?" she cried. ..Wha have
you seen? Are YOU mad?"
"Calm yourself, madame. | saw
you-you. the wife of my bosom-when
you did not think my eye was on you.
You were on Broadway, mingling with
the giddy throng. He was hurrying on.
You beckoned to him. You made tele-
graphic signs until you attracted his
attention.
'Mercifnl powers ~ she gasped.
"YOu see know ALL he continued.
''You did this or the public street. AT
first he would have gone on and disre-
garded You. but you were importunate.
You caught his eye, you be .koned. He
smiled, and you went down the thor
%oughfare together
"'Tis false. as false AS"
"Madame. it is too true; l tell you IL saw
1t. Let Us have no nonsense about it,
Then she sank upon the sofa. Again
he turned his manly head to hide his
emotion. The diamond tears began to
come through her fingers. Helplessness,
indignation and shame We're struggling
together in her soul.
Suddenly she looked up. "Perhaps,
OLA Ncu u t~it IN W ~ =.
Certainly" replied the brute. 'He
wa the driver of a Madison Avenue
omnibus Then he went suddenly out
of the door as if fearful that one of
the statues would fly after him. And
she dried her tears and said somebody
was q fool.
She was right, only she got the per-
SON wrongly. Y. World.
The Convict Camps In Alabama.
The condition and treatment of the
convicts employed in the phosphate
mines and updA the railroads in this
State, bad as they are, do no: compare
in brutality with the record that has
been made by Alabama. In that State
%cOnvicts are employedi in the coal mines,
Ger which has just been published shows
that during the past six months the
death rate among these unfortunate
people has been most appalling. In
of the mines the death rate during six
months and a half reached S7.j per
1000. All of the convictS who died in
this mine. Were coiored. In another
mine the death rate was even greater,
reaching. it is said, 15Oper 1000 for five
months. which is equivalent to $50 per
1000 per annum. THAT is to say"
the Health Officer remarks, IF the same
death rate was kept up they would all
die in less than three years" In striking
contrast with this dreadful mortality of
~cOnvicts in the coal mines is the fact
that during the present year, among a
total of 246 ~convicts engaged in other
labOrs, mostly farming, 237 of them col
ored and nine white, there have been no
deaths at all.
The reasons alleged for the death
rate among the cOnvicts employed in
the coal mines is that their quarters are
imperfectly ventilated and very much
O~vercrowded; that their clothing and
bedding are extremely filthy; that the
for ablutiOn are inadequate. and
that the cooking arrangements are de-
icient. A large number of the convicts
are physically unable to work in the
mines. The excessive death rate
among the cOlored convicts is said TO
result from their greater liability to
pulmonary diseases. and because of
their greater dependency and demorali-
zatiOn. They are kept at work when
in an enfeebled and sickly condition,
and owing to the imperfect ventilation
of the mines they are obliged to breathe
unwhOlesome gases, which completely
undermine the constitution and are
sure to result in the contraction of dis
eases from which there is no ecovery
In other words, the coal mines are
slaughter-pens into which the convicts
are driven and from which they do not
escape, except when death speedily
comes to give them relief. 1t is said
that certain improvements are being
made in the discipline of coal-mining
camps which will insure the better
treatment of the convicts; but whatever
these improvements may be and what
ever good results they may secure,
there a be no justification for the
criminal neglect of the past.
The system of hiring out convicts is
4 blot upon the civilization of the South,
whether the prisoners are penned up in
a coal mine or employed i'm digging
phosphate rock. or in building railroads.
1t is cruel. inhuman and %murderOus. 1t
should be abolished, and the sooner the
better. Charleston Is. CO. News.
Sweet Sixteen and Sixty.
About six months ago, says the Vic