Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-04-13
OLD WORLD ECHOES.
SLAVES OF THE SHOVEL AND THE
MOOSE.
A New Notwithstanding SCORPIONS
Coal and Candy = Literature
on Wheels-Etc.
written for the REooRD-uslos.

As the beleaguered Captain Boycott
gave his name to a word which promises to
become permanently imbedded in the struc.
ture of the English language, similar
honor will probably fall to the share of the
late Richard Pigott. Pigotry will as GER
tainly be handled by the future lexicogra.
pher, as boycotting is by his precursor Of
to-day. Of these two words the newer
will never enjoy anything like the popular
ity of the older, but for all that the immor.
tally of pigotry is assured and the use Of
the word foreshadowed in all cases which
rest on forgery and hypothetical
evidence to prove their genuineness.
For terse, handy definition of pieotry.
the photographer will be put to some
straits, for il is evident that while the new
word is allied to forgery, 1t is no syno-
nyn for that crime, and can only be used
In comparatively narrow sense. The
legal class will no doubt make an effort to
affiliate the word to their profession, but
in this they will be unsuccessful, the pub
lie being fully aware of its lay origin, and
therefore of their right to employ it. An
Infinitely less valuable possession than the
handy boycotting, pigotry will at no time
ENJOY an equal amount OF popularity,
though that it will live current in the
English tongue centuries after the memory
of its sponsor has been forgotten seems GER
tain.
British philanthrephy takes strange
turns, among which may be included
its conservation of the remnant of the
tribe of Thugs. Famine and the for
fixture of life they have had to paw
for the lives they have taken, have SO re-
duced the numbers of this famous tribe
that there are less than 100 of them left.
The last of their race are walled up in a
jail at Jubbulpore, where, though kindly
treated, communication with the outside
world is forbidden them. Carpet-weaving
and tent-making occupy their time, indus
tries in which they are so proficient that
the sale of their produce supports the
whole community, and pays the salaries of
its guardians. The patriarch of the tribe
is venerable bed-ridden saint" whose
81 strangulations cause him to be
looked up to with much reverence by the
junior members of the fraternity. Cut off in
the midst of career of "piety," this
hoary old stranger is said to cherish deep
resentment against the Indian Govern
ment for anticipating his century of vic
Tins. For this reason the closing years of
the saints life are tinged with gentle mel
ancholy, which, had the British allowed
him to complete his round hundred of
murders, would have been replaced by the
feeling of satisfaction consequent on the
completion of hecatomb. Of this num-
Der, the lack of three to make I'D
the quantum, is an obligation
on the saints mind that he will never be
allowed an opportunity for requiting. Be-
sides the patriarch, there are many women
and baby Thugs interned in this strong
hold, all of them worshipers of Bowanee,
and were facilities afforded them, equally
as devoted to her CHASTITY work as the
" saint" before mentioned.
1t is pleasant to have scientific corrobo-
ration of facts which scepticism has rele-
gated to the limbo of fables. For this rea-
son lovers of the marvellous will hail with
satisfaction verifcation given in La Ma
ture of the oft-repeated and oft-cavilled
against assertion anent the suicide of
scorpions. Recent experiments made
with these insects have established, beyond
question, the fact that when surrounded by
circle of fire, they will, as soon as the
heat becomes uncomfortable, retire into
the middle of the ring and by suicide fore
stall the more painful death of being
roasted alive. Considering the two hun.
bred odd years in which this assertion has
been disputed, it is very singular that only
hos haa,, H.,
ment. As far back as Dr. Johnson's day.
the question of whether scorpions sur
rounded by fire would sting themselves to
death was fayorite one for discussion,
and was esteemed by the sage of Bolt Court
as profitable matter for debate as the i'm
puted prevalence of second sight among
the Scotch. For the fame of the philoso-
pher it would have been better had he
adopted the same attitude of willing to
believe" in the case of the scorpions sui
eide that he assumed towards the phe-
nomenon of second sight. In the former
case johnson has been proved to be alto
gether wrong, his scepticism towards this
fact being the more remarkable, consider
ing his whole-souled belief in the royal
touch, and his qualified Endorsement of the
miracle of second sight.
The practice of going into the city" for
wife, once favorite one among the
junior members of the British peerage, has
yielded place to the more fertile expedient
of marrying into the republic" OF the
former class of alliances history preserves
some remarkable examples, of which the
Hamilton-Beckford match is, perhaps, the
best known. Anglo-American alliances,
however, bid fair to eclipse, in consequence,
any of those unions of birth with pelf,
which have left their mark on remote
generations. The recently celebrated mar
riage of the Duke Of Newcastle with Miss
Candy, may be looked on as a typical one.
1t was celebrated with unusual pomp by a
Bishop of the Church of England, on
whom the good looks of the bride pro-
duced such strong impression that his
lordship was provoked to deliver most
interesting and earnest address, in the
course of which he compared the Young
bride to "a flower or the blossom of a
tree" That his grace meant well nobody
will doubt, at the same time if any COM
parison was necessary for topping off the
occasion why did not DR.. King have re-
course to the more germane one of cara
mel, between which sweetmeat and the
brides surname there is an obvious con-
nection? Perhaps the accompanying cpl
gram will serve to bring out my meaning
better than l can express it in prose:
To compare ratifias with lilies or trees
Is n process most crude and unhandy
As well liken jam to corn'd beet or cold ham,
As collate with rosebush, arch candy.
If the sight OF this bride at young NEWCASTLE
side
Impelled you with image to handy,
Why thus 90 djields when the brides name will
yield
Most appropriate metaphor, Candy.
The lines of travellers in England, at
least royal travellers, fall in pleasant places.
OF the many equipages furnished by fawn-
ing railway companies for the transit of
the heir apparent, the coach maintained
for the use OF the Prince of Wales by the
South Eastern Company takes the palm.
Fitted with every luxury, one of its numer-
Gus compartments forms study and libra
ry, where g he who runs may read.D This
library is reported to be stocked with sew
eral hundred volumes, all of them bound
in Russia and emblazoned with the arms
of England. As the South Eastern, from
its connection with Dover, is the system
most patronized by bis Royal Highness, this
extra solicitude for his comfort has some
thing besides servility to recommend it.
Mention Of this library will set many
e,1aa,,taf,,.r ~, tho cba or a. H.