Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1885-02-27
ISLAND POND VERMONT FRIDAY FEBRUA o. 1885,

! lluhtCI hHONo llAdb puma lS u IO1dl ulsI
and the puma is nothing but big cat
In fact, all these animals are good eat
| ing.
"And speaking of tough things re
minds me of a dinner we had in Troy
some years ago. belonged to the Epi
curean club there, and we had a man fol-
cook that was king of his art, and had
orders to put on every new dish he could
get. So this might've met every Satur.
! day we had some guests. One was from
the Beefsteak club, of London, and
when we sat down they brought in
| platter with a steak on it about three
feet long and two wide, and about an
inch and three quarters thick. And the
odor! Ye gods aud little fishes, but IT
was rapturousl Tom Haddon was carver,
and after trying it he sent out
for a knife that looked like q
razor, and at last got it cut up. And
that was the last of it. There wasn't a
knife or pair of jaws there that could
cut into it, and there we were, like tbs
fellow bound to the rock, surrounded by
water, but dying of thirst. tried il,
but the piece bounded from one jaw to
/ llht u luDDCl Odli, 81 llldG Sdf0
it up, but the flavor was sublime-in
fact, it was all flavor. At last we
called in Joe, the cook, and asked him
what it was. And what do you think2"
/ gave it up. "Well, it was rhinoceros.
1t seems that some circus was going over
tine bridge and the rhinoceros had fallen
through and broken his leg, and so they
had to shoot it, and so Joe got the steak.
1t was good, but tough. We despise
horse meat; but look at Paris. The
poorer people are glad to get it, but here
our poor class are only satisfied with the
very best. And so it goes. Come and
see me next week, Monday" concluded
my friend, land you shall taste some of
the famous blind fish of the Mammoth
cave and some of the blind catfish from
the underground Conestoga."
The Last Day Of the Year 1000.
1t was believed in the middle ages that
| the world would come to an end at the
expiration of. one thousand years of the
Christian era. This expectation in Chris
tian countries was universal. The year
1000 was a period of suspense. terror and
awe. u6 ulSlOIlCS VI IlIS udIh
give vivid accounts and incidents of the
state of the people under the influence of
this awful apprehension. A writer in
Sunday at Home reproduces the picture
with much distinctness, and relates an
incident of the manner that the hours
were numbered on the supposed final
night of the year, which migh aptly sug-
gest dramatic subject for a poet:
When the last day of the year 900
dawned the madness had attained its
height All work of whatever kind was
suspended. The market places were de-
serted The shops were shut. The
tables were not spread for meals; the
very household fires remained unlighted.
Men when they met in the streets scarcely
saw or spoke to one another. Their ewes
had wild stare in them, as though they
expected every moment some terrible
manifestation to take place.
Silence prevailed everywhere, except
in the churches, which were already
thronged with eager devotees, who pros.
trated themselves before the shrines of
their favorite saints, imploring their pro-
lection during the fearful scenes which
they supposed were about to be dis,
played.
As the day wore on, the number of
those who sought admission grew
greater and greater, until every corner
of the sacred ediices, large as these
were, was dersely crowded, and it be-
came impossible to find room for more.
But the multitude outside still strove
and clamored for admission, filing the
porches and doorways, and climbing up
the buttresses to find a refuge on the
roofs which they could not obtain in
side.
A strange and solemn commentary on
the text which binds men to watch be-
cause "they know not whether the mas
ter of the hoLse will come at even,
or at midnight, or at the ck-crowing,
or in the morning." was presented by
the multitudes which filled the churches
that night.
Watch in very truth they did. Not
an eye was closed throughout that
heightened virgil; not knee but was
bent in humblest supplication; not a
voice but joined the penitential chant,
or put up fervent entreaty for help and
protection.
There were no clocks in those days,
but the fight of the hours was marked
by great waxen tapers with metal balls
attached at intervals to them. These
fell, one after another, as the flame
reached the strings by which they were
secured, into a brazen basin beneath,
At the recurrence of each of these
warning sounds the awe of the vast
assembly seemed to deepen and inten-
sify, as each in terrible suspense sup
posed that between him and the out.
burst of divine wrath only the briefest
interval now remained.
} At last the night, long as it was, be-
gan to draw to an end The chill
} which precedes daylight pervaded the
air, and in the eastern sky the first pale
CLEAN of morning began to show itself
} The light grew stronger in the heavens,
and the flame of the candles paled be.
fore it, and at last the rays of the rising
} sun streamed through windows
, on the white and anxious faces Of
the watchers. The night had passed
away. A new day, a new year, a new
century, had begun. The text that says
that no man knoweth the day nor the
hour" had new meaning.
Mans Tongue and WOman's.