Omaha daily bee., 1888-04-29

Both were apparently dead. He dashed
water in his wife's face, and she slowly
recovered. Frey then succeeded in
restoring the baby. His wifes shoes
were lying side by side under the table.
When he lifted his wife from the floor
he found a round hole burned in her
dress between the shoulders. He
stripped the dress off aud discovered a
red spot on the flesh, from which two
red streaks led, one to the right hip and
down the side of the right leg TO the
toes. The other streak led in the same
way to and down the left leg to the
toes.
AS soon rs Mrs. Frey was able TO
speak she told her husband she had
been sitting IN one corner of the kitchen
holding the baby, when she suddenly
felt a great shock, and that was all she
remembered. She had her shoes on at
the time. The electric fluid which
Frey had seen had evidently struck
Mrs. Frey after it entered the house at
the corner, separated, and passed down
each side OF the body, tearing off her
shoes, and leaving the marks Of the
passage as described. No marks were
found on the baby, which was hurled
across the room.
In looking for further traces Of the
electric current, Frey found it had
passed through the floor into the cellar,
where it had burned the iron hoops of a
vinegar Darrell and made a hole in the
bottoms three milk cans.
After Orchids.
Every portion of the tropics is now
being searched b. orchid hunters sent
out by the London importers who have
grown rich in the business of obtaining
rare specimens. One dealer has sixteen
an1lnat1a, - .nsD,,n ~.-t, r. -.
South America, Africa, Asia and the
islands in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Their salaries and expenses amount to
over 100000 per year.. In their travels
and explorations they employ many
natives. One OF our consuls
in Venezuela reports that
the orchid trade is rendering
the country prosperous. A poor man
will often obtain more for al orchid
root procured from n swamp or the
branch of a tree than he received for
hard labor during a dozen years.
Collecting orchids is attended bv
many dangers and great loss of property.
Several collectors in the jungle of India
have been devoured by tigers, bitten by
venomous serpents or drowned in Dogs.
Quite a number have been overturned
while in canoes, and il is presumed that
several have been roasted and Gated by
the cannibals OF Polynesia. Many val
liable specimens are lost on account OF
lack of facilities for transportation. One
London dealer lately received a tele-
gram from Port Said informing him
that $4,000 orchid roots had been
killed by exposure TO the sun
on the Red sea or by being
knocked about during a storm. A
collector on one of the Philippine
Islands got together 10000 specimens,
which he spread out on the bench to
dry, but an unusually high tidal wave
swept them all into the sea. Another
collector in Peru had his roots in sacks
on the backs of mules, which were con-
tiscated by a party of soldiers, who de-
clared they had immediate need of the
animals. The soldiers laughed about
the orchids having any value.
Some things a be said in favor OF
the orchid mania. tits harmless. So
far from injuring the poor in any coun-
try, IL benefits them. 1t furnishes en-
ployment for many people. IL
ages the study Of botany which is the
most neglected Of all the natural scien-
ces. What is of more usequenee TO
the world, il is the means OF causing
many, oltlandish countries to he az
plored.