'3 ,1 HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr, Editoh and Published ELK COUNT Y THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Two DoLt.vr.3 TEH Akstjm. VOL. I. RID G WAY, PA., THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1871. NO. 10. fist TUB RETURN OF TilK BIRDS. I hear, from ninny a little throat, A warble interrupted long ; I hear the robin's flute-like note, The bluebird's slenderer song. brown meadows and tho russet hill, Not yet tho haunt of grazing herds, And thickets by the glimmering rill Arc all alive with birds. O, Choir of Spring, why come so soon ? On leafless grove, and hcrblcss lawn ? Wnrra He the yellow beams of noon; Yet winter is not gone. For frost shall sheet tho pools again ; Again the blustering East shall blow; Whirl a white tempest throngh the glen, And load the pines with snow. Stay, for a tint of green shall creep Soon o'er the orchard's grassy floor, And from Us bed the crocus peep Betide the housewife's door. WHAT IS WOMAN WITHOUT I KINO LINE? Aunt Jerusha the heroine of this " o'er true tale " was a fatalist, for she firmly believed herself predestined to unhappiness from the cradle. But on the 17th day of July, A. D. 1S04 (she nau gooa cause never to iorget this par ticular date), a transient gleam of hap. piuess nevertheless illuminated her dreary existence. The fact is, she had just completed her toilette for an early tea-party in the small New England town which was her home, and now stood before the mirror to review what she had done, and, verily, she saw that " it was well done." Her dress of heavy Bilk fell in graceful folds over her voluminous crinoline j her long, lean body was enclosed without a wrinkle at tha waist ; the curls of a wonderfully constructed waterfall descended with " artless artlessness " over her neck ; costly old lace shaded her throat and wrists; a laced pocket-handkerchief, daintily held in the middle by the thumb and forefinger of her gloved hand, dis played its embroidered corners to the fullest advantage, and the scent of its musk rivalled the perfume of the poma tum in nor hair. Add to these embel. lishments earrings, brooch, and brace lets, all set with diamonds, a massive gold chain and who could have looked more resplendent than Aunt Jerusha, or, to give her full name, Mrs. Jerusha "Wiggins, tho relict of Mr. Obediah Wig ging, a wealthy ship-chandler, who had died of apoplexy during the first year of his wedded life '( And yet, the crowning glory of the toilette, an old-fashioned gold watch, also sot with diamonds a marriage gift ui uie iaie uueuuin was wanting. Something had gone amiss with its works, and the watch had been sent to be mended. The watchmaker had been expressly enjoined to use dispatch ; but, though several days had elapsed since, the article had not been returned. Aunt Jerusha, who would quite as soon have thought of attending a party without her waterfall as without her much-prized watch, had a few minutes bolore ordered Tabitha, her bosom servant-maid, to go after it, with the injunction not to re turn without it, whether repaired or not. Left to herself, Aunt Jerusha sat down and gavo the ruins to sombre thoughts. What had become of the exultant feel ings which had only a few moments be fore swelled her bosom ? She could not forget that she was born to unhappiness 1 It now appeared to her inconceivable that she, whom a cruel fate had doomed from the cradle, should have permitted herself to be glad of anything ; for to this day's party she had actualy looked forward with something akin to pleas ure. In a Succession of gloomy pictures, her life passed in review before her mind's eye. As a child she saw herself scolded by her teachers, because her po etical soul, which loved to roam in fairy land, obstinately rufused to master the dry details of the catechism and the multiplication table. As a young maiden she saw herself the very reverse of what she had fondly dreamed of becoming a tall, rather angular girl, so tall that she could easily look over the heads of the tallest unmarried men in her own set. She remembered her brief married life. Alas! this union had certainly not been concluded in the place where all matches ought to be made, nor with the slightest regard to tho fitness of things ; for the only mortal rash enough to 'woo the tall Jerusha was the dwarnib, broad shouldered Obediah. Single all her days, however, she would not, could not, consent to remain ; so she made a virtue of necessity, took Ilobson's choice," and bestowed her hand and handsome fortune upon him, her only eligible suitor. Her heart, she felt beforehand, would have to be unappreciated and un mated to the last. She folded her bands, and gazed with a wistful expression on her face out of the open window on the deserted street basking below in the hot July sun. All the blinds of the opposite houses were closed ; not a step, not a sound, broke the brooding silence of the scene. "It is the picture of my life," she murmured to herself, " sad and lonely." But a small, reproachful voice within her whispered " It is your own fault that you are lonely." And again, in her inind's eye, she saw a form, though this time it was the form of a man. His delicate, slender frame was encased in a fashionable eoat; neat was the bow under his Byronio shirt-collar j brightly shone his Lilliputian boots and silk hat ; graceful was every movement of the small, lithe figure ; but its most attract ive feature was a pair of sparkling blue eyes, from which shone out a heart big enough to take in the whole of Aunt Jerusha with all her excellencies and charms. To be candid, our little man, whose name was Peleg Brent or as his friends flippantly called him, Littha Peleg " had already performed tnat wonderful . feat while still an humble clerk behind ythe counter of Jerusha'a father, a highly respected and prosperous grocer. Alter iuo u au marnea, no auu oouviuuou vu tarry her in his heart of hearts ; and vhen an unexpected legacy enabled him to set up as a gentleman of leisure, he became an avowed aspirant for the hand of his early love, who had in the mean time become a widow. And, what is still more to the purpose, Aunt Jerusha herself came by degrees to acknowledge tnat thoy were kindred spirits and sym pathetic souls. But at this stage, Jcrusha's malignant star again interfered. She had, it is true, found a " spirit-mate," but why was he so very diminutive ? This was a diiliculty which bUo could not Ret over I Had heaven really destined them for each other here below, it would most as suredly have made him of a more corre sponding stature six feet something, insteod of five feet and two inches. She recoiled from the idea of contracting once more a marriage which bad not been predestined in heaven, and as often as poor Peleg pressed his suit a subject to which he returned with a pertinacity rare in these degenerate days she al ways declined committing herself, with the stereotyped formula : " No, Peleg, it , can't be the will of heaven, or we should have been better matched in the flesh." Aunt Jerusha had for the ten thous andth time arrived again at this sad conclusion, when Tabitha returned with the watch, whose diamonds sparkled just as brightly as ever, although the careless watchmaker had not repaired its works. Somewhat cheered by the sight of her treasure, Aunt Jerusha now took her de parture, but not without hrst having strictly adnfonished her maid on no ac count whatever to leave the premises. But, as might have been expected, no sooner had Jerusha's stately form turned the corner of the street, than Tabitha ran down the front steps and dived into the basement next door, for a cosy chat with a fellow servant. - While Tabitha was gossipping with her crony in the basement of the adjoin ing house, and Aunt Jerusha was en gaged in the same congenial occupation in a higher social sphere, the hours rap idly winged their flight. The afternoon had thus nearly passed away, when two strangers of suspicious appearance ap proached the deBerted dwelling. Mount ing the front steps, one of them pulled the bell, once, twice, three times. No one responding to the summons, they tried the door, pushed it open, entered the hall, peeped into the parlors, ascended the stairs to the upper story, all without finding a living bouI about the premises. They searched the entire house, and speedily ascertained that they were its sole occupants. Then the fellows chuckled, looked at each other with a kind of savage joy, and eagerly proceeded to examine the contents of the different closets and drawers. There was much in them they appeared, to like silver-ware, linen, jew elry all but the money which they had evidently expected to find, but which did not turn up. Suddenly voices and steps resounded below. The ruffians, who happened at that moment to be in Aunt Jerusha's bed-room, stood for a single moment un decided; then they nodded to each other, chuckled again, grasped their cudgels, and crept under the bed. iroor Aunt Jerusna ! it may De quite romantic to have been predestined to unhappiness from the cradle, but it is decidedly unpleasant 1 It was rather late when Aunt Jerusha returned from the tea-party. Tabitha, warned in time, had managed to reach the house first, and met her mistress with the most serene composure. The usual cross-examination as to the man ner in which she had employed the long afternoon, and for which the girl was fully prepared, was, however, omitted on the present occasion. Aunt Jerusha felt too tired to play the role of an in quisitor tired from sheer mental ex haustion, for it is no trifle to hold one's own at an early female tea in a New England town. She proceeded, there fore, almost immediately up-stairs, to her own bed-room, and, feeling depressed iu spirits, she signified to her maid that she would dispense with her services and undress herself. While slowly di vesting herself of her clothes, article af ter article, the sense that all was vanity and vexation of spirit completely over powered her. How pleased sho had been with herself only a few hours ago I Now she stood again before the same mirror, stripptd of all her fine feathers. Her stately swelling outlines had disappear ed, and instead of them the folds of her white night-dress descended trom the neck to the feet in one unbroken straight line. She looked at least ten years older than the Jerusha whose form the mirror had reflected early in the afternoon. But Aunt Jerusha was a woman of strong mind, and possessd a truly great soul. She never once turned her eyes from the unflattering picture which confronted her ; but, sadly shaking her head, she cast an appealing glance up ward, and plaintively uttered the fol lowing memorable remark : " uracious Heaven i w hat is woman without crinoline !" Unsuspecting Aunt Jerushil she lit tle dreamed that these words might easily have been her last on earth, for she immediately lay down, and a heavy breathing our gallantry will not per mit us to call it snoring soon indicated that the day's heat and burden had been too much for her strength. Alas ! Alas I " owitt-tooted, says the poet, " is the approach of woe." On the present occasion, however, the woe came slowly creeping from under the bed, in the shape of the two ill-looking stran gers. Carefully rising to their feet, they looked about and approached the table, on which was deposited the jewel ry taken oil' by its owner on retiring for the night. Their bands were already stretched out to erasp the alluring prize, when one of the loose boards in the floor creaked under foot. Aunt Jerusha half rose from her pillow, but in an instant one of the men was by the bed, firmly clutching her throat, while the other flourished his formidable cudgel with so menacing an air over her head that she fell back paralyzed with fright. Her hands and feet were quickly tied, a gag was forced into her mouth, ana in this helpless, pitiful condition she was left to witness the disappearance of her jewelry in the capacious pockets of the ruffians. They next proceeded to open her bureau by force, emptied its cash-box, and fin ally filled a large basket with the linen, silver-ware, and other articles previous ly selected with, this view. When these things had been accomplished, one of the men returned to the be,d. " Where is the other mbney ?" ho de manded, with a ferocious air which froze the blood in Aunt Jerusha's veins. As the gag in her mouth made an an swer to this question a physical impos sibility, tho terrible cudgel was once raised in a threatening manner. The unfortunate woman had already closed her eyes with a mental prayer recommending her soul to Him that fave it. Then the other ruffian seized is comrade's arm. " Let her alone 1" said ho. " We have no time to waste on her. It may even now be too late for the early train." With a growl and a deep curse, the fellow suffered himself to be led away. Aunt Jerusha's eyes mechanically fol lowed the pair as they passed close to the window on their way to the cham ber door ; but though it was a clear, bright summer's night, Ehe failed to dis tinguished their features. The lower Eart of their faces was concealed by a ristly beard, while forehead and nose were shaded by slouched hats so com pletely that there Beemed no possibility of identifying the Bcoundrels hereafter, even if she were lucky enough to meet them face to face. Could it really be that the wicked were to triumph and crime go unwhip ped by justice? Would not Tabitha awake and give the alarm, or the watch man on the beat come to the relief of those whose lives and property were in trusted to his vigilance and protection ? But intensely as Aunt Jerusha listened, nothing was heard Bave the faint creak ing of the front door, and then the sound of footfalls as the ruffians rapidly passed down the sidewalk. All was quiet at last, and then waned slowly away the most painful night in Aunt Jerusha's whole life. She now for the first fully realized the intense horror and disgust of having been in the power of such monsters. Prom every corner in the room she imagined that she saw eyes fiercely glaring at her as Bhe lay help lessly bound and gagged, and her heart almost ceased beating whenever a mouse glided across the floor or an owl hooted in the adjoining woods. The stinging pains in her tied limbs, and tho horrible gag which almost choked her, added thus excruciating bodily to mental suf fering. Whilo undergoing torturo which be gan at last to appear so intense and ag onizing that she repeatedly implored death to end them, matters outsdie went on as usual. The clocks of the town continued to strike the hours. Writh every new round tho watchman's club Btruck tho customary blow on the pave ment. The early dawn of a summer morning tinged the sky with a roseate hue ; the first faint twitter of the birds was heard ; at the corner of the street tho baker took down his shutters. At last the tramp of heavy-soled shoes an nounced that Tabitha was up and stir ring. First she set to sweeping the front steps and sidewalk, no doubt flirt ing as usual with the good-looking milk man who supplied tho family over the way, giving no thought to her wretched mistress. " Is there any one iu this wide, wide world who thinks of mo at all r" Aunt Jerusha mentally asked herself; and now, when it was perhaps too late, sho understood for tho first time in her life the full significance of the Scriptural phrase " It is not good for man to live alone." But the longed-for hour of release came at last. Curious to ascertain what could have caused her methodical mis tress to violate all established prece dent by oversleeping so long her us ual time, Tabitha stole quietly up-stairs and peeped through tho open door into Aunt Jerusha's bed-room. There she lay, the poor martyr, with her preter-naturally-distended glassy eyes steadily fixed ou the entrance, and tho gag in her mouth ! , For a second, Tabitha stood as if she had been turned, like Lot's wife, into a pillar of salt. Then, uttering a piercing shriek, she flew down stairs aud out into the street with the cry of " Help 1 help ! murder I thieves I" Accident (or was it Providence 'r ) would so have it that Peleg Brent hap pened ut that very time to pass down tho street. Need we say that he imme diately hastened to the rescue, and was the hrst to enter the sufferer s room r What happiness, what joy, to find that the adored of his youth and the hope of his maturer years still lived 1 What ec stasy to think that it should have been reserved for him to free her numbed limbs, to whisper words of sympathy and cheer into her ear, and to carry the first draught of cooling water to her parched lips ! We drop here the curtain for a few minutes, leaving the pair to their feel ings, until the arrival of the neighbors interrupted their tete-a-tete. There, then, she lay, the poor martyr, chastely covered with the bed-clothes up to the tip of her chin, giving detailed accounts of the preceding night's expe riences to successive detachments of wondering neighbors and friends. The exclamations of the auditors, the lament ations of Tabitha, the running com mentaries of Peleg, were quite melodra- matio in their way. But the most har rowing feature in the drama was the despairing expression with which Aunt Jerusha persisted in reiterating the words : " I would resign mysolf to the loss of all, if I had only saved my pre cious watch 1" , The heart of Peleg fairly bled, and he registered a solemn vow. Availing him self of a temporary lull in the prevail ing Babel of tongues, he approached closely to his friend's bedside, and grave- 1 . . r r; : , t i v ly Baiu: ".airs. mggius(: jerusna I i pledge you the word of a man who has all his life been true to you, that I shall never rest until the treasure which you mourn so much is restored.'' Aunt Jerusha felt in her inmost heart that the crisis bad arrived when she would have to surrender. She hold out her hand to the faithful friend and looked at him with eyes so overflowing with affection that Peleg's pulse roso to a fever-heat. M I accept your pledge, Peleg," she replied, solemnly, yet so softly that he alone heard her words. " I will regard your success in this mat ter as the will of Providence. That is, all my former scruples shall vanish if you recover my watch. Yon take my meaning V" " I do," rejoined the littlo man, in an equally solemn but subdued tone ; and, almost beside himself with joy, he raised the blushing Jerusha's hand respectfully to his lips. As half the gossips of the neighbor hood witnessed this innocent act of gal lantry, we can see no reason to conceal it from the reader. It becomes now the author's sad duty to relate how our heroine continued further to be persecuted by her malign star, and especially how the scandal loving neighbors misconstrued the re spectful salute imprinted on her hand by the devoted Peleg. It would, no doubt, bo far more pleasant were we able to recover the lost watch at once,, and follow these two loving hearts to the altar, and the end of the story ; but, unfortunately, in this case again, the old adage that the " course of true love never does run smooth," was destined to be verified, and this will perhaps seem all the less strange when we remember that Aunt Jerusha was born to unhap piness. What mortal man could do under these perplexing circumstances, littlo Peleg Brent most certainly did. With out stopping to take breakfast, ho start ed for the nearest railroad depot ; for tho reader will recollect that the ruffians had alluded to tho early train. He tel egraphed in every direction ; Bent full descriptions of the stolen articles, and especially of tho watch, to the police au thorities ; offered large rewards ; and had the story published, not only in the local papers, but in all the larger city dailies of the country. All this trouble and expense seemed, however, thrown away. A large number of suspicious looking individuals, with bristly beards, slouched hats and shabby clothes, were discovered and arrested, but to none of them could be brought home the theft of the treasure on whose discovery de pended the happiness of two loving souls. It will thus be readily seen that it still remained an open question whether or not heaven had really predestined Aunt Jerusha and littlo Peleg for one another. " Perhaps this question may never be solved on earth 1" Aunt Jerusha often said to herself with a sigh. Fortunately she possessed an elastic nature, and then Peleg, who never ceased to hope that all would be right yet, was always at hand to console his friend when dis posed to despond. This consolation and support had now become doubly necessary to her, for while suffering all tho tortures of sus pense, her position had in other respects grown very embarrassing and delicate. The fact is nor can we, in spite of our partiality for Aunt Jerusha, deny it she had been guilty of a very grave in discretion : that is, she had actually ad mitted Peleg Brent into her house as a lodger. Tho arrangement had been brought about in a perfectly natural manner. When Peleg reported the ill success of his efforts to trace tho robbers, Aunt Je rusha was still so filled with terror at the recollection of the events which that terrible night had brought with it, that she was hardly iu her right mind. " The ruffians are sure to return," she repeated again and again, with tears, and then I shall be murdered !" Tho mere thought of living through such another night was more than she could bear, and sho constantly appealed to Pe leg to protect her, adding, "You are the only person on whose devotion I can re ly." Peleg had thereupon proposed to ask old James, a superannuated constable, to take up his quarters in the basement story. But old James happened to wear a bristly beard, and this sufficed to dis qualify him for the position in Aunt Je rusha's present nervous state. Finally, after several fruitless consultations, the difficulty was settled. When the sun went down, Peleg himself moved, bag and baggage, into the back parlor. Our pen falters to describe the sensa tion to which this event gave rise in the town how Aunt Jerusha's friends and neighbors put their heads together, snickered, and talked scandal. " Little Peleg," said one, has hired himself out as dwarf to tall Jerusha.' " No," replied another, " it is as page, to stand sentinel over the bed with a six-shooter." ' Not so," put in a third, " Jerusha has adopted him, and that is the reason he kissed her hand the other day." The scandal-mongers might perhaps have wagged their wicked tongues with out doing serious harm, but for some dear souls who made it their special business to repeat all these malicious re marks to Jerusha. Though they were pricks of the pin, they nevertheless were mighty to gall, and became at last so frequent as to be unbearable, and to in duce their victim to withdraw more and more from the ill-natured world. Nor was this, under existing circumstances, a great sacrifice. Her diamonds, which hud once made Aunt Jerusha's position in society so enviable and distinguished, were gone. So even when the evenings grew longer, and hardly a week passed without bringing some invitation, she resolutely stayed at home. Nor was she now any longer so lonely there. When the clock ou tha mantelpiece struck eight, came a gentle knock at the door of her sitting-room up-stairs, and then entered the faithful Peleg. The two took tea together, after which the lady sewed or embroidered, whiU the gentle man smoked a cigar and chatted. When Jerusha was more than unusually low in spirits, Peleg would read aloud from some entertaining work. In this wise ' the winter went by. Spring came ; but this perennial bearer of joy appeared to bring Aunt Jerusha nothing save " withered leaves and withored hopes." Even Peleg's society appeared to lose its wonted effect, and his reading its interest. Her eye grew dimmer and dimmer, her walk more listless, and even her once so upright form seemed to bend undor the burden of her grief Whether it was tho lost watch for which she pined away, or a yearning for the rosy chains of Hymen, will probably have to remain forever hidden from human ken j for who is capa ble of fathoming the depths of a woman's heart? Poor Peleg was fairly at his wits' ends. He vainly taxed his ingenuity to discov er some means to dissipate his friend's melancholy. The weather was still too cold for a visit to the Springs. At last a happy thqught inspired him. He pretended that urgent business de manded his presence in New York, and proposed to Aunt Jerusha to accompany him. There wero a thousand things worth seeing in the huge metropolis. She would be able he cunningly urged to shop to her heart's desire, and thus find a rare opportunity to put her great gift at making good bargains to practi cal and profitable use. At any rate, the trip would cheer her up 1 After a few scruples and some persua sion, she consented to the plan. To avoid, however, all additional scandal, sho decided to take Tabitha with her, who received the news with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. The main objection to the journey hav ing thus been happily removed, the pre- Earations for it immediately began ; the oubo was put in order, and confided to the charge of James, the private consta ble. The trio set out in the best of spirits, and arrived in due time, safo and sound, in the great city, trunks, travelling-bags, bandboxes and all. It was a bright sunny April day, when Aunt Jerusha, escorted by her friend and protector, ventured to plunge into the human tido which surges up and down Broadway. She looked very grand and stately in her now bonnet, the mas terpiece of a fashionable milliner on Fifteenth street, which sho wore with the air of a queen. In perfect keeping with the bonnet were her costly cash mere Bhawl and ample silk dress, which was advantageously displayed over a voluminous crinoline. Whether it was the change of air, or the whisper of a secret premonition which already began to exert a magical influence, she certain ly looked with a long unknown love of life upon the stirring scene before her. Her interest was keenly excited in all she saw and all that surrounded her. She would have liked to purchase some thing in almost every other store ; but this being impossible, she contented her self with simply stopping- to ask the prices. At the corner of Canal and Broadway, a broken-down omnibus obstructed the crossing, and compelled our friends to stop. Whilo thus brought to a stand still, and whilo little Peleg Brent en deavored with more zeal than success to prevent her being jostled by the con stantly increasing crowd, two rough looking fellows elbowed their way close up to Jerusha. Their clothes were rag ged and dirty, a bristly beard covered tho lower part of their faces, and fore head and eyes were obscured by slouched hats. Suddenly they paused. Pointing to the tall lady in rustling silk before them, one of the men punched his com rade in the side, and muttered with a hideous chuckle : " What is woman without crinoline ?" Aunt Jerusha shook like a leaf. Turn ing round with a ghastly face to look at the speaker, a faint moan, and the words " the men who took my watch !" es caped her lips. Faint as the voice was in which these words wero uttered, Peleg nevertheless caught tbem up, and in an instant he clung to the men, shouting at the top of his shrill voice for tho police I It was not of the slightest use that the surprised ruffians struck out frantically right and left. Assistance came from all sides. The follows were quickly secured and marched off to the nearest police station. Equally useless proved all their protests and denials for, miraculous as it may appear, the diamond watch was actually found on the person of one of the ruffians, carefully sewed up iu his ragged vest. Little remains to be said. The old doubts about tho will of heaven were now completely laid at rest. Aunt Je rusha and Peleg, accompanied by the faithful Tabitha, returned home, and a few days afterwards tho blessing of the church made the twain one fiesh and blood. As for ourselves, we trust the gentle reader will profit by this instruc tive story, and never join those who de ride that wonderful institution, the Crinoline ; for its mission is not only to serve beauty but to punish wickedness and to unite loving hearts. An improved process for making il luminating gas from tar is announced. To prepare the material for this purpose the acid tar is placed in a suitable vessel and boiled up with open steam. The condensed water from the steam com bines with the acid and sinks to the bottom, and is drawn off. The alkaline tar is then run in, and the whole of the tars again boiled up. In this way any acid that may be present is neutralized, and leaves the tars in a purified state, floating on the surface of the solution of Baits, alkali, and other matter The alkali may bo recovered by evaporation. The purified tar can now be used for gas-making, by mixing it with small coal or by running it into the retorts after the charge of coal has been intro duced, though this last method is ob jectionable on account of its liability to choke up the running-in pipe with car bonaceous matter. A lecturer on the " moral sentiments" in Philadelphia remarked that the "dear est ship in the world was friendship," whereupon a young man rose from among the congregation, and stated that he knew another a dearer ship still and that was courtship. The young man had once been a defendant in a claim for breach of promise of marriage. Brain Weight. An eminent German Professor once assumed that, as a certain size and mass of brain is essential for the exercise of the mental faculties, therefore all the human race must be furnished with an equal amount of brains. This truly Teutonic theory has since, however, been effectually dissipated. An elaborate paper was read, not very long ogo, be fore the Royal Society, in which tho ex isting evidence as to the weight of brain among different nations was analyzed. The average brain-weight for the Eng glish is stated to be 47.50 ounces ; for the French, 44.58 ; for the Germans, 42.63 ; but there are discrepancies in the results of different observers, some giv ing a greater average than this to the Germans. The Italians, Lapps, Swedes, Frisans, and Dutch, come into the same category with the English. Among the Asiatio races, the "Vedahs of Ceylon and the Hindoos give a mean of over 42.11 ounces. The skulls of Mussulmans af ford a slightly increased average of brain-weight over those of the Hindoos. Two skulls of male Khonds one of the unquestioned aboriginal races of India show a brain weight of only 37.87 ounces. The general average of the Asiatio table shows a diminution of more than two ounces when compared with the Europeans. The general mean of African races is less than that of European races, although there are great differences ; the Caffre rising high, and the Bushman Binking low, in the scale. The average of the whole of the aborigi nal American races reaches 44.73 ounces, which is 2.14 ounces less than that of the European races. The Australian races show a brain-weight one-ninth less than that of the general average of Europeans. The Malays and others of the Oceanic races, who migrated boldly, for commercial purposes, over the North and South Pacific Ocean, and occupy the islands, show a tolerably high aver age of brain-weight ; and, on arriving at this section, we return in some meas ure to the large brain-weight of Euro peans. Once a Week. An Unpleasant Picture. The New York correspondent of the Boston Courier writes : There are hundreds, if not thousands, of well-to-do families in this city who are complete strangers to " home " and all that the word signifies. It is by these families that many fashionable boarding-houses and a certain class of quiet and somewhat aristocratic hotels are supported. They pay more for board and the extras which people liv ing in this way always need than com fortable house-keeping would cost, and, of course, they are are deprived of many pleasures and comforts genuine home life affords. It is not uncommon for a small family to pay a hundred dollars a week in a hotel or first-class boarding house, and some pay as much as a hun dred and fifty dollars all the year round. Husbands do not generally like this life, but in most cases the wives prefer it bo cause it relieves them of home responsi bilities and gives them plenty of time to gad about among acquaintances, and see every new thing in dry goods. When bad weather prevents their going out they kill time by reading novels and story papers, or gossiping with dear friends," whom they have known per haps a week. The number of women who pass their lives in this way in New York is increasing every day. Almost in every case they are the wives of men who are engaged down town all day, and, of course, having opportunities for flirtation, they frequently go too far in that direction, and involve themselves and husbands in hot water and many scandals. There is no need of our going to Paris to find plenty of fashionable families without homes. A Touching and Romantic Incident. A recent sketch of the loves of the great lawyers contains this touching in cident in the life of William Wirt : In his younger days he was a victim to that passion for intoxicating drinks which has been the bane of so many dis tinguished in the legal profession. Affi anced to a beautiful and accomplished young woman, he had made and broken repeated pledges of amendment, and she, after patiently and kindly enduring his disgraceful habit, had at length dis missed bim, deeming him incorrigiblo. Their next meeting, after his dismissal, was in a public street in the city of Richmond. William Wirt lay drunk and asleep on the sidewalk, on a hot summer day, the rays of the sun pour ing down on his uncovered head, and tho flies crawling over his swollen fea tures. As the young lady approached in her walk, her attention was attracted by the spectacle, strange to her eyes, but, alas ! so common to others who knew the victim, as to attract little re mark. She did not at first recognize the sleeper, and was about to hasten on, when she was led by one of thoBe impul ses which form the turning points in human lives, to scrutinize his features. What was her emotion when she recog nized in him her discarded lover 1 She drew forth her handkerchief and care fully spread it over his face, and hurried away. When Wirt came to himself, he found the handkerchief, and in one cor ner the initials of the beloved name. With a heart almost breaking with grief and remorse, he made a new vow of re formation. He kept that vow and he married the owner of the handkerchief. The affections of the lower animals are sometimes as wayward and inex plicable as those of the men and women who assume to be their betters. The story is told in a Michigan paper of a romantio attachment which sprung up between a goose and colt, a fitting type of the romantio attachments which sometimes spring up in a higher sphere of life. Everywhere that pony went the goose was sure to go, and when pony lay down the goose snuggled close up to his side. The two would fight for each other on the slightest provocation, eat from the same trough, and in every pos sible way express their mutual devotion. Such ill-assorted matches ought not to be encouraged in Michigan. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. Sir Edward Thornton's salary at Washington is as large as the Presi dent's. Maples large enough to make three ten-feet rails each, with 4,000 trees to the acre, have been raised from the Boed . in seven years in Monroe county, Iowa. The good-natured San Francisco sher iff takes the jury to the theatre at night, when its members are not permitted to go home. . A very small island iu Ossipeo River constitutes a part of four towns, three counties, and the two States of Maine and New Hampshire. Three yeors ago twenty-seven women destroyed a saloon in a small town of Iowa, and the other day sixteen of them held a reunion in commemoration of the event. There are no medicines left in Paris. Drugs of the rarer sort have almost en tirely disappeared, and the supply of even the commoner articles is wholly in adequate to the demand. They talk of placing .the Queen of Denmark, the most economical of female sovereigns, on the throne of fashion, in plb.ee of the Empress Eugenie, the most extravagant one. At an election in Quincy, 111., the other day, the prisoners in the county jail were taken to the polls by the Sheriff, and upon his demand per mitted to vote. The affair has created intense excitement. A philosopher hath said : He who is passionate and hasty is generally honest. It is your cold, dissembling hypocrite of whom you should beware. There's no deception in a bull-dog. It is only the cur that sneaks up and bites you when your back is turned. A journalist with a statistical turn has found out that the London newspapers have contained in the last three years not less than 178 obituaries of Dr. Liv ingston, the African explorer, any of which, he adds, is good enough for a man really dead. In Missouri a husband has sued an other man for $20,000 damages "for wickedly contriving and wrongfully de priving him of the comfort of the society of his wife, and alienating her affections for the space of 623 days." This makes the value of tho wife s society a little over $32 per day. A fine mirage was Been from Rochester on the 16th of this month. Lake On tario, and the mountains, hills, valleys, and rivers of Canada were seen clearly reflected in the sky. The coast was seen over a length of about fifty miles, and so clearly that the forests could be readily distinguished, as could also Rica Lake and Belvidere. Wisconsin is looming up now as the great iron-producing State of the Union. Four ranges of hills, each twenty miles long, running parallel to the Menomonee River, havo been found to contain im mense quantities of almost solid iron, and are estimated to contain ten times more of that metal than all the Lake Superior ranges combined. The recent explorations in Jerusalem have excited great interest among the fraternity of Free Masons throughout the world, on account of the discovery of what are believed to be " Masons' marks" on a considerable number of the immense foundation stones recently uncovered under the debris of one of the ancient temples of that city. Tippoo Saib, the huge elephant be longing to Van Amburg & Co.'s Me nagerie, died of disease of the heart at Connersville, Ind., a few days ago. He was about sixty years old, and was im ported to this country from Asia about . thirty years ago. He measured about ten feet in height, and weighed about ten thousand pounds. His value was estimated at $13,000. Readers, according to Coleridge, are divided into four classes : those who al low their reading, like the sand in the hour-glass, to run in and out without leaving a vestige behind ; those who, like the sponge, imbibe everything, and return it a little dirtier than before; those who, like a jelly-bag, allow all that is pure to pass away, and retain only the refuso ; and those who, like slaves in the Golconda diamond mines, cast away all that is worthless, and preserve only the pure gem. One of the latest California crops is tarantulas. They are raised in Cala veras county, and sold, with their won derful cells, to Eastern tourists at curi osities. The cells are from three to eighteen inches deep, with a water-proof lining, coated over with a substance looking like chamois skin, but as fine as velvet, with a door . or lid which they close after them when they go in. When rearing their young they latch it, bolt it, and then seal it perfectly water-tight. They increase about one hundred and fifty fold annually. Quite a sensation was created a week or two ago, in the quiet town of Jeffer son, Me., by the arrival of Mr. David Lane, formerly of Jefferson, who enlisted in one of the Maine regiments in 1862. He served until 1864, and was then re ported killed in the battle of Chapin's Farm, but it appears from his account that he was taken prisoner, and has since been living in North Carolina. Supposing him dead, his wife applied for a pension, which was granted, and iu the fall of 1870 she was married to cne John Cunningham, with whom she is now living, Fifteen years ago a young lady of Cincinnati, while visiting a friend in New York, left her finger rings upon her washstand, and not hearing from her friend relative thereto, inferred that the chambermaid had appropriated them. Last week the Cincinnati lady received a letter from an old ' bachelor uncle, enclosing a letter fifteen years old, written by her New York friend, containing the missing rings. ' Tha let ter bad been entrusted to the uncle, and he had put it in bis pocket, and from that receptacle it passed into a mass of old papers, waera it had slept quietly ever since'. '
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers