Ready for the Golden Shore.
William Reid, a negro, who has lived in Red Bank, N. J., since he was mustered out of the Union army in 1865, celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday and vouchsafed the information that he had made preparations for a pleasant funeral.
He told his friends he dug his own grave in Whiteridge Cemetery, South Eatontown, four years ago, and that a slab now covers the space which he some day expects to fill.
During his spare moments he has constructed his own coffin, and this is stored with Reid’s favorite undertaker. Reid told his friends that while he was ready for the golden shore, he didn’t care how long the storage charges continued.
Unique Fire Tower in Forest.
Harry Childers, of La Pine, Ore., has been appointed fire guard by the forest service for the Rosland ranger station. The lookout at this station is one of the most unique in the State, being a 250-foot tower built on a big yellow pine. The trunk of the tree is divided about twenty feet from the ground and forms two parallel supports for the tower up to a height of nearly 200 feet. The lookout’s station in the top of the tower sways from two to ten feet in the wind.
Forty-one Years Postmaster.
John K. Gaither, for forty-one years postmaster at La Center, Wash., a few miles northeast of Ridgefield, will retire from the service as soon as Patrick M. Kane, recently appointed, can file his bond and get his commission.
Mr. Gaither, who is seventy-six years old, came west from Indiana in the year of 1873, and the following year was appointed postmaster. When he took over the La Center post office, there were only four patrons who subscribed for newspapers. Mr. Gaither is hale and hearty and active in several societies.