AMERICAN ALOE.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 358, 19 March 1903, Page 3

AMERICAN ALOE.

MsWf? Otes of the Century Plant of

ftw*9««« KwxSeaHß wltk Vm&O, Ds-trnto, «6»«fclagr, Medicine, S»»p, We««ftee, ■«•.-«•«• o€ Me &*~ •ulftavHles. The century plant, which grows wild in the desert soil of our southwestern states and territories, is not the delicate thing; so carefully tended in the northern conservatory, but a growth of splendid proportions and one of the most useful in the vegetable kingdom. In its native state it. matures in eight or ten years, but when it is cultivated as an exotic the blooming is delayed indefinitely. Thin gives rise to the belief that it takes it 100 years to reach perfection. It is also called the American aloe, Agave Americana, maguey and meacal plant. It was incorrectly classed by some of the early botanists with the aloe, and Linnae\is first called It agave from a Greek word meaning something grand and admirable. It is '.he oldest known of about 100 species of the genus agave, all natives of our continent* says t&e Detroit Free Press. Maguey is the name moat applied to it in South America, and in Mexico, where it is called the mescal, 'nrge tracts of land are devoted to its propagation. Being a desert plant it requires little care and the soil could hardly be put to a more profitable use. It supplies the people food, drink, clothing, shelter, medicine, soap, needles, thread and t; any other things. Its thick, pulpy, spine-tipped leaves grow to the length of five or six feet, and without n stem. They are cut in slices and fed to the cattle or" roasted by the Mexicans for their own eating. From the fibers the Aztecs made a paper on which they did their famous picture writing, while from the same source we get pita flax, ropes and hammocks. Its roots furnish a soap "ailed amole; from the center of the lower stalk is obtained a substitute lor the hone, or razor strop; its spongy portion is used in place of ,:ork and the dried flower stems make a rain-proof thatching. Certain people believe the juice to be an intidbte for rattlesnake poison. The pines arc used as needles, while it \> : aid the Aztecs introduced thefr cruel points into the skin as a mode of punishment. Year after year the plant stores away its juices for the support of its flowers. When it is ready for the final effort of its life there rises from 'lie center of the great cluster of 'eaves a long shaft which divides and subdivides, near the top, into numerous flower branches until it resembles a huge candelabrum. The rapidity with which this plant grows is hardly credible. It increases several inches in a day; and when it reaches a height of about 40 feet and bears 4,000 perfectly-formed blossoms of creamy white, it is truly one of nature's marvels. At whatever period this occurs ft is not repeated. After the petals fall <uid the great seed pods drop their contents on the sand the long leaves droop and the plant withers to the ground. The roots may live to send up new sprouts, but the old plant has had its daj\ The Agava Americana ts perhaps best known to the outside world by •he liquors that are made from its iuices. When the first signs of the flower stalk appear, the delicate shoot is plucked and its base scooped lit, leaving a hollow place in which the sweet sap collects. A large plant will yield several quarts a day, osupward of 200 gallons during a season. The juice is diluted with wa» rer, then allowed to ferment for several days, when it somewhat resem-* hies buttermilk in color and flavor. This is pulque, the national beverage of the Mexicans, and from It Is eHe> tilled the famous mexeel. Large, numbers of the century plant are cut yearly from the hill* sides of southern A/iaona, to be eon* verted into this drink in the Mexican distilleries just across the bo*> der. In" spite of the line riders, it is smuggled back into our country and sold. Unlike pulque, mezcal is a clear, white, fiery liquor, and in this state it is not scorned by the white men. It has been well described as "a ter* rtfe wtriekv which drives those who CMMI H fa? £jeer madiif"." " */afn Precaution, """* 4 "With the idea ot naming my boys M said a white-haired man, "«o that there could be no nicknames—which I have always detested—in the family, we called the first Edmund, the second Edward, the third Ed ff ar, the ourth Edwin, the fifth.JSdsonhH the sixth t-.„jft,«j««* "That Wwij served your purpose, didn't it?" asked one of the listeners. "Not at all," rejoined the patriarch, rather shamefacedly. "Beginning with the eldest, they were known as Eddie, Chuck, Bim, Snorkey, Muggins and Pete, and every mother's son of them answered proudly to hie nickname." —Youth's Companion. I/»areate Nonsense. Tennyson is said to have been fond of foolish fun, that ever delightful sort of fun which is not wit but nonsense. One day, at Burlington house, he asked the guests a conundrum which tic had just majln "Who are t&s greatest women in .he world?" The answer fJas: "Miss Ouri, *&e Misses Ippi and Sara 3©asa."—Youjfifo Companion.

Ortv&ff tttadency of CortoJa See. float Toward Mob Saw, Suvsrtclaa* u<! X>ls«aa«av*<esr »"«•» ' <wre* «? ttte Lewlaii««ii»-Wan«* Aatm VtoanS Amtfiiiw <»• He* Srmvatbtattiww | Although tine lynching habit has ceased to be a strictly sectional phenomenon, it is interesting to find in a southern paper, the Macon (G&-) Telegraph, the best summary we have seen of the frightening progress of this social disease, says Century. The Telegraph shows, by cited examples, the growing boldness of the lynchers. These affairs used to be, conventionally at least, somewhat secret. Now, what do we find but that, first, as in Colorado, women are present as spectators; second, ae in Leavenworth, Kan., not only women, but school children, and in the latter case the barbarity proceeds, without interruption, within the limits of a large city'; third, as in Terre Haute, Ind., a photograph is taken of the pleasing scene, and reproduced in the newspapers; these particular burners of living men, iuetead of trying to hide their identity, "stand boldly out," and one of them, perceiving the photographer, "even removed his hat, ae if anxious lor notoriety;" fourth, as in Corsicana, Tex., it is a "county event in which every resident who could took part"—verbal invitations were sent out in all directions—"store and -farm work were stopped, and people poured into town by hundreds. They came in all sorts of vehicles, from an ox-cart to the special train of seven cars, all crowded, that was run from Ennis." The Macon Telegraph observes that "from all this it is but a step to a legitimate nubile spectacle in a great amphitheater, with handsome private boxes Oar the wealthy, and tickets advertised a week in Advance." But how long ago was it that Americans were advancing, as a justification of our procedure in relieving Cuba of Spanish rule, the demoralization of the Spanish people as proved by their fondness for bull-flghts? What, then, is indicated in American y this new and popular stimc—roasting alive With the accompanying scramble for "Mlics?" One of the most surprising and discouraging features of the lynching has been the absence from the newspaper records, until lately,' of unfaltering opposition tp lawlessness oh the part of those sworn officer's of the law immediately responsible for tfce safe-keeping of criminals; nor have we heard of effectively heroic Iffttcrference on the part of humane and law-abiding spectators —men or women determined that horrible and demoralising violence shall not be done, and' that their community and country shall not be disgraced in the ayes of the civilised world. tt has oocurred to us, indeed, that perhaps it was time for the press to get out specific advertisements for heroes and martyrs on the line of opposMstt to the scandalous epidemic of American lynchings, when 10l the advertisements, the heroes begin to make their appearance. Doubtless the heroes will increase in number, and perhaps there may yet bo martyrs likewise, though, as a fact, we ought to be able to get along without the martyrs, as they would be a new advertisement of our degradation. Early in June at least two cases were announced where lynching* were averted by the heroic courage of Officials. The name of Joseph Merrill, sheriff of Carroll county, Ga., and that of Sheriff Beloat, of Princeton, Ind., are to be written large on the roll of civic fame. Their deeds shine brightly in a dark moment in the history of American civilization. Their conduct is sure to be imitated. The power of one fearless man over a erowd is unlimited. There is a scene in "Huckleberry Finn" which shows this vividly, and Mark Twain, in telling how CoL flherburn stopped a lynching—the lynching of the colonel himself, by the way—was not inventing, but describing an oeourreaoe in hie own town and time. One of Vesuvius' Borneo. During an explosion in the crater. of Mount Vesuvius on May 9,1000, one of the volcanic bombs hurfwd sky ward, A»d the largest one observed attained an elovation of a third of a mile, and then fell back upon the mountain. As it now lieo, it« height exceeds that of a man standing beside it, und.lU estimated weight is 30 tone. Mr. Manteucci. the geologist, says that the energy of the explosion of Btoam that threw thio huge projectile must have equaled about 600,000horee power. When the masses of partially fluid lava from which such bombs are formed rise in the air thoy rotate, and are thus caused to assume a more or less globular shape,— Youth's Companion. Saved fer Hie V«Mne»e. One of the conscripts appearing r«* cently before the Nlmee (Belgium) board of military examiners was diequalified on account of his extraordl* nary ugliness, which one of the officers held would make his comrades laugh and thus be subversive of discipline. His ugliness exonerate* him from three years' service with the Aa§. -4f. Y. Sun. LsmS StatSsae <n Sweden. In Sweden the traveler may learn at which railway stations meals are served by huge signs, bearing a crossed knife and fork, which are post* ed along the road on each side of the* Otonping place.—X.Y.Sufc.