The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-04-06
THE MYSTERIES OF A DAY.
CURIOUS THINtIs THAT ARE yvOR-
THY OF MENTION IN THE PAPERS.
Which Dicd First IA MIischIevous Sow
Tho Great Navies-A Sharp Subscriber
Did Not ~Escape-The Inland Seas, Etc.

POLICEMAN BURKE, Of New London.
while'pacing his beat very carly on the
morning. OF. the 4th, saw in the darkness
two slowly and dimly burning lights in
front of a doorway. Tina. these lights
were part of an internal machine, which
they only wanted time to SGT off, was at
one the profound conviction of Police
man Burke. But he was equal to the
emergency. Getting a long pole, he
managed to lift the machine from the
doorway, carry it to the town watering
trough, and plunge it into the water.
The lights went out with a faint hiss,
and then, after the machine had we'll
soaked, the faithful officer carried it to
the police station and laid it on the ser
geant's desk. There it stood, with the
water dripping from the charred ends
of two sticks of incense, which had been
stuck into a large sweet potato, which
served the double purpose of incense
and bouquet holder, a bunch of immor-
tcllcs being stuck into the potato be-
tween the sticks. The Internal machine
was but the offering of a devout Chi
ncse, who had periodically placed it on
, his laundry stpop in honor of the New
Years Day of the Celestial Empire.
THE mysterious murder of James L..
Wilson and his wife Clarissa, at Win
netka, ILL.,, in February, 1884, was
brought before the public again by a
bill filed in the Superior Court, by Will
liam Fl. Talbot, of Boston, Mass, who
is Mrs. Wilson's nephew. The papers
ask for the partition, or sale of the per
sonal estate of Mrs. Wilson, together
with certain town lots in Fremont,
Tazewcll county, ILL.,, and all her real
estate in Dighton, Bristol county, Mass.
Mrs. Wilson had devised her property
to her husband, but it is claimed that
there is no existing evidence proving
that James l.. Wilson survived his wife,
so as to take under her will. For this
reason it is claimed that the requests
and legacy lapsed, and that the prop
erty devised and bcqueathcd to husband
descended to the heir-at-law of the tes-
tatrix, just as if no will had been made
by her. James l.. Wilson's will de-
viscd his property to several members
of his family. An attempt will now be.
made to ascertain whether Mr.. Wilson
died at the same time or subsequent to
his wife's demise.
n. NAuDIN expresses the opinion con-
corning the proposed Algerian inland
sea, that to fill with water the shallow
basins of that region would be cquiva-
lent to reproducing in Algeria all the
evil features of q series of ma~shes-an
opinion held also by many eminent men
OF science. The deepest would, it is
admitted, not exceed eighty feet in
depth, and the whole coast line would
be go shallow as to be but little else
than a marshy bank, which, under the
influence of a tropical sun for eight
months of the year, would, doubtless,
become a focus which would develop
and distribute all the evils of malaria.
An examination of. the region, between
Biskra and the Gulf of Gabes, by COM
potent engineers, shows that the pro-
ject, if carried out according to the
plan contemplated, would necessitate
the removal of 30, 00O, 900 cubic metres
of sand.
last fall Peter A. Wcast, of Streator,
Ills shot and killed Thomas b. Parks, a
wealthy merchant, because of the init
macy between Parks and Mrs. Weast.
He was sentenced to three years con-
fnement in the State prison. Last
week his little siX-ycar-old girl died,
and Gov. Oglcsby granted Wcast per
mission to attend her funeral. Accord
ing to the local newspaper fully 1900
persons assembled at the hotel to meet
him, He received a vcritable' ovation,
over 600 people, among whom were the
Mayor, city officials, prominent mer-
chants and prominent ladies, visiting
him and shaking hands with him in his
room. The church where the funeral
was preached, n of the largest in the
clty, was filled to OVERLOOKING, several
hundred waiting outside in the bitter
cold until the services were over, and
then following the remains to the GENE
terry.
ANDREW CARNEGIE, the Pittsburgh
muiti-millionairc, began his career as q
messenger boy in the office of the. late
Col. Thomas A. Scott, and afterward be-
came. an operator in the telegraph de-
partment Of the Pennsylvania railroad.
He was an expert sound reader, and one
day when on a locomotive near the tele-
graph, office at Altoona he heard the
news come that a train had split in two
on q sharp grade a few miles away, and
that part of the train was coming along
like ,ightning. Carnegie told the en-
glneef Of a passenger train which was
waiting on. the track which the fugitive
train would pass over. There was just
lime enough TO switch off the passenger
train before the runaway came rafting
on. y
YouR Connecticut man is usually
sharp at a bargain when he gives his
mind to It. A Waterbury weekly news
paper made anTnvariable rule to charge
u cash down for q years subscription,
n $1.25 when the subscriber was in
arrears. One subscriber was three
weeks behind when he went to renew
his subscription the other day. He
oneIed his dollar. and was told that