The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-06-07
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.

who feeds rat In his cell and finally
| makes a friend of II evidently refers to
an account In the celebrated auto
biography t"Merkwurdige Lebensge-
schichte') OF the German adventurer
Friedrich, Freihsrr Won der Trencl
Trenck, who either because OF an al
| legged amour with Frederick the Greats
| sister Analie or because OF his correspon-
| dence--innoccnt per se-with his noto-
rious cousin. the Austrian pandour chief
/ Franz Freiierr Won der Trenck u7ll-
| 49,, was kept in severe and cruel con-
fnement in the ''Sternschanze" tstar
forD at Magdeburg. Prussia. from July
II. 1854. to December "a. 1868, writes:
| ~ had two years before Il. e.. in 1871
| SO tanned n mouse that ID would play
| round me and eat from my mouth II also
| In course OF time. learned to perform vari-
| Gus little tricks. which helped to divert
me In my solitude. One night 1t was more
than usually merry II capered about on
! a trencher, and as I spoke to II the
| mingled noises attracted the attention Of
the sentinels, who made a report to the
officers Of the guard they heard also
and in consequence sent Information to
| the commanding officer that something
| extraordinary was going on In my dun
geon. At daybreak my doors resounded
and the town major, locksmith and n
| mason entered but finding everything
| in order they asked me the cause OF the
| noise they had heard last night I mem
toned the mouse. whstled and II came
| and Jumped on my shoulder. Incredible as
II may seem, orders we're Immediately
given that I should be deprived of its
company. earnestly entreated they
should at least spare its life and the
| officer on guard gave me his word ~
honor that he would present II to a lady
who would treat It with the utmost ten
l -. - IL ia
| afterward turned IL loose In the guard
room: but Il was tame to me alone and
as n result soon disappeared and hid in
a hole. At the usual hour OF inspection OF
my prison, when the officers were Just
going away. the poor little animal darted
In. climbed up my legs, seated Itself on
my shoulder and played n thousand tricks
again. may here remark that II had been
taken away blindfolded, l. e.. In n hand
kerchief, and that the guardroom vas A
hundred PAGES from my dungeon. How
then, did u ind its master? Did 1t know.
or did II wait for the round OF inspection
Had IL observed that the doors We're
opened every day? Every one was aston
ished and wished to have It. but the major
carried IL away and gave II to his wife,
who had a light cage made for IT, But II
pinned. refused to eat and after few days
was found dead" A. II.
never read the legend OF the prisoner
and his mouse. but 1t may interest you
and J. c. s. to know that the thing ac-
tuaily happened in our own times. Alexan-
der II. Stephens. the Vice-Presldent OF
the Confederacy, was imprisoned in For,
Warren after the war. The prison diary
he kept Is one OF the most moving things
| In literature. Stephens suffered so bitterly
that In five months his hair changed from
chestnut 10 snow white. His recital OF his
sufferings is all the more touching be-
cause OF the simple and uncompla lining
way In which II was written. and the
contrast with the position he had held. II
must be remembered, too, that his death
by hanging was by no means unlikely al
that time.
In this journal the lonely prisoner tells
how he named the mouse. which. wher
his eyes were first gladdened by IL. had
been feeding on crumbs that fell from my
dinner when the plates were removed &c
the window sill. The poor creature seemed
terribly frightened and made escape with
the greatest despatch. but he need not;
would not have hurt him; I would have
petted him. I must tame this mouse IL
| can"
From day to day ne records his prog
| ress with the mouse. Saw nothing OF my
} mouse to-day. II he is about he KEEP,
close, though noticed that n piece OF
potato which placed on the floor fol
him, should he seek food while I was
asleep, was gone when got up. Whether
Geary 1.-THE soldier who was detailed e
guard himl or the mouse removed II
do not know. ! will bait my mouse again
UNLESS the little mouse Is eying ms
from his hole I have no other companion
I think he Is about somewhere he may
not be alone"
CHARLES WILLIS THOMPSON.
l
What was the Millerite day set for the
destruction OF the world? THEoLoGIAN
Good old Father Miller plunged into
the mathematics OF Daniel without loga.
rithms and emerged with a most intricate
compution Of the seventy weeks and the
, $500 days functioned by the third Voc
and integrated by the seventh trumpet
As early as 1881 he announced that ths
day Of wrath would dissolve the ages
with cinder in the year beginning Marcel
2l, 1s43. His decomposition OF the ele'
!, ments showed him that he was a yea,
out through an error in passing from the
. Hebrew to the Gregorian calendar
Thereupon he became more positive; the
tenth day of the seventh month" was sci
for the night of october "a. 1874. Or
the Iateful thursday the IaltnIu pre-
r pared to ascend. There were many such
for the country was In the climax of one
of the secular psychoses which are now
coming into recognition as factors OF
history. The ascension robes were a later
fabrication to add a picturesque touch tC
story which was far too pathetic t.
need trimmings. On the day after thu
failure to wind up the world THE sun
made this editorial comment:
The day or days predicted by thu
Miiierites for the end OF the world hav
ing passed by without any revolution and
In the midst Of serene weather and O
bright sun. we presume we shall hear nc
more Of the delusion: and strong meas
ures We trust will be taken to proven,
hereafter a recurrence Of the same scenes
which have brought with them n train OF
deplorable Enthusiastically. madness
poverty and death"
Was the smigrant ship Maasdan
burned at sea In or about 1889?
p. NJ. l..
The IRE was In midatlantic. October a.
1854. 1t was caused by an explosion in the
oil room when the engineering force
lae laal .,it paLa IA