i -a - - ....... i
.iL'U. '
HENRY A. PARSONS, Ja , Editor axd Publisher '
ifiT COVNTY-TIIE .RETURLICAN PARTY.
Two Dollars pbr Annum.-
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THUltSDAY, JUNE 1, 1871.
NO. U.
.i-Hi'Jt- t ,- yi,II;,v ( ')
mm
TUB IlOBIlt.
- - BT JOIIK O. WniTTlBB.
My f Id Welsh neighbor over the way
Crept slowly out In the sun of spring,
Pushed from her ears the locks of gray,
And listened to hear tho robin slug.
Her grandson, playing nt marbles, stopped,
Ana cruel m sport, as boys win oe,
Tossed a stone at the bird, who hopped
From bougli to bough in the apple-tree.
" Nay," said the grandmother j " have you not
ncara,
My poor, bad boy, of the fiery pit,
And how, drop by drop, this merciful bird
Carries the water that quenches It P
" Ho brltiRs cool dow in his little bill,
And lets it fall on the souls of sin :
You can see tho mark on his red breast still
ui llres tliat scorch as ho drops it In.
"Jly poor Bron rhuddynl my breast-burned
uira,
Bulging so sweetly from limb to limb,
Very dear to the heart of our Lord
Is ho who pities the lost like Him I"
" Amen !" I said to tho beautiful myth ;
" 8inr, bird of God, In my heart as well,
Each good thought is a drop wherewith
To cool aud lessen the tires of bell.
"Prayers of love like rain-drops fall,
Tears of pity arc cooling dew,
And dear to the heart of our Lord are all
Who sutler like Him in the good they do !"
X OLD GAME,
" Button I button ! who's got tho but
ton '"
These words fell in hurried accents of
vexation from the cherry-ripe lips of
iUiss iiucy are, ana were accompanied
oy a tairy-like avalanche ot fascinating
screams. She was just about to step
aboard the cars when she discovered her
loss. '
" Oh dear ! It was on when I started.
What can have become of itr1 I can
never match it in this world
And she cast a look of consternation
at the vacant place on her sacque, where
mere should nave been a large ngate
button.
" Why don't you look around for it '("
sue demanded ot her handsome cousin,
Gerald Wentworth, who was to see her
safely started on her journey.
- He elevated his eyebrows at her impe-
rious tone, and scanned the ground at
tneir teet.
" What are vou looking at, Tom Shel-
ly ? You'd better go back to your greasy
machine-shop, unless you can find my
Dutton I
Tom Shelly lifted his hat, bowed low
to conceal a shade of pain that passed
across ins tace, and walked away. He
had come to take a last look at the des
potic little beauty before Bhe passed
from his vision, perhaps forever. She
was the incarnation to him of all that
was bright, winning, sprightly, and lov
able ; and after she was gone he would
muse and dream about her, when she,
perhaps, would bestow only an occa
sional, transient thought on him as an
atom among her home reminiscences.
Just then the warning whistle sound-
ed, and Miss Ware was compelled, sorely
against her will, to submit to her loss,
and proceed on her journey,
She waved her handkerchief, Gerald
Wentworth waved his hat, and then the
latter overtook Tom Shelly,
" She's a high-toned little piece, Shel
ly, he said,
Who V Oh yes ! Miss Ware. She is
to be gone for a long time, I believe
" All winter.
Tom sighed. He looked at his rusty
clothes, and contrasted them with the
elegant suit of his companion.
" She's pretty proud, isn't she i"
" Proud as Lucifer's sister if he had
one," laughed Wentworth. " Though I
don't know as I ought to say that,
think a good deal oi her myself."
"You do 'r"
" Yes she's my cousin, you know."
" She is very beautiful."
" And she knows it too."
Tom was silent. He did not feel ca
pable of maintaining his careless tone ;
so he looked straight ahead, and plant
ed nis neols on the pavement with vigor
as he stepped
" They say you'ro the best man in
Dunning's machine-shop, Shelly. How's
thati"'
" Curse the machine-shop and its
grease and dirt I" exclaimed Shelly. " I
wish I'd chosen some more genteel busi
ness.
" Well, it isn't as neat us it might b
to be sure. But still, when you get up
to the top, it b all right. Look at Dun
ning how he stands in the community,
lie began by kindling the tires, you
know,
Here the two turned oil in different
directions. Their brief conversation
passed from Wentworth's mind immedi
ately; but Tom remembered it, dwell
ing and lingering on each word, and
turning it over and over in his mind.
There was no torture so delightful to
him as to hear Lucy Ware talked about,
and to meditate on whatever concerned
her in near or remote degree. He
watched by stealth her smiles, and was
angry with ull the world because he
could not resist the infatuation. For he
ought to have dismissed her from his
thoughts with contempt after she re
fused one night to go to a concert with
him because he did not dress well
enough. He was wounded and cut ; but
the circumstance did not bring common
sense to his head. He sulked, and toiled,
and hoped with a miserable, doubting
hope, and pocketed his fifteen dollars a
week, and was still an abject slave.
Miss Ware was going to New York to
spend the winter with a wealthy aunt,
and now he had her last words to think
of a command to go back to his greasy
machine-shop I
When he loft the shop that night it
was to walk home with slow steps and a
thoughtful face. Ruminations in which
there were gleams of sense, energy, and
purpose ran through his head.
He found supper waiting, and sat
down opposite his mother with an ab
sent, preoccupied look.
" Are you tired, Tom V
" No, not particularly."
" I thought you looked so."
" Dunning began at tho bottom, didn't
he, mother 1 And why can't I work up
to where he stands now 'i Yes, Went-
wortti was right ; I'll do it r
"Do what, Tom?"
" Oh, nothing only I'm not going to
stand at the lathe all my life 1 can tell
you that."
"Why, what's' the matter, Tom '
Aren t you doing very well now r' .
" No. I'm nothing but a creasy, be.
grimed laborer. But I'll make my mark
yet, or give up the ghost."
" Mercy I don't talk so. I thought you
were very wen satisfied."
" Satisfied I" contemptuously,
"It is wrong to murmur against one's
lot. We ought to be thankful"
" Don't mention the word ' thankful '
to me! Pardon me, mother, I don't
mean to speak unkindly; but well,
there's going to be a change ; that's all."
"You don't mean that vou ara coin or
10 leave, air. uuuning r
, r , - D O
" i o, no.
" Wrhatwas it about Mr. Went worth fr"
"Oh, I met him to-day" Tom blushed
"and he reminded me of how Dun
ning began as a chore-boy, and of the
way he stands now. And 1 thought,
why can't one do it as well as another '
Why can't I do it'r"
lorn looked at his mother in a defiant,
argumentative way.
' I'm sure I don't know," she replied.
slightly nonplussed. "But you should
not deceive yourself by building air-cas-tles."
" I'll tako care of that. But I've cot
an idea that I mean to work out. It may
amount to nothing."
" What is it, Tom?'
"I can't tell you now. You know
that brains sometimes make more money
than hands. If I could only iuvent
something."
Mrs. Shelly shook her head doubtful
ly. "Inventors are generally hair
brained creatures."
" Not by a good deal ! You ouerht to
be ashamed to slander them. Think of
what they have done for the world."
Tom left the table with his meal but
half finished, and threw himself down
on the couch. Putting his hand in his
pocket it came in contact with some
thing that sent a crimson flood to his
face. He rose hastily and went up to
bis room. He lit a lamp, and smiled in
exultation ns he laid a small object on
the table. It was Miss Lucy Ware's
missing button. Yes, Tom had seen it
when it dropped, picked it up, and re
solved to keep it us a remembrancer ot
the tantalizing siren who had so be
witched him. Some time, perhaps, he
would return it. Ho chuckled as he
thought of her discomfiture, and her
blissful ignorance of who was the pos
sessor of the lost trinket. Then the fool
ish fellow gazed at it long and earncstlv
finally placing it in an inside pocket of
nis vest.
tie went to a sneit on which was
ranged a choice collection of scientific
works, took one down, and commenced
reading. But his thoughts refusing to
concentrate themselves on the subject of
tne cook, no nnauy nung it aside and
went down stairs, lie astonished his
mother for the rest of the evening by
being unusually gay and vivacious. Ho
perpetrated fearful jokes, and both
laughed until the tears ran down their
cheeks, thus insuring a good night's
re6t.
But a change was coming. The next
day Tom bought pencils, compasses, and
drafting paper, and in the evening shut
muiseii up m nis room, xnis was re
peated the next evening, and the nex,
and at the end of a week his mother
learned to look no more for the pleasant
nours tney had been wont to spend to
gether after tea. Tom grew pale, and
his faco assumed a thoughtful, resolute
look. And soon he drew half of his two
hundred dollars from the bank and fitted
up a littlo workshop in a back chamber.
Here the sound of filing and hammering
was heard late into the hours of almost
every evening, lorn was working out
his idea, whatever it was ; and it was
plainly no child's play with him, but a
game in which he had staked his all
battle for lite or death. His earnest
face told this, always soberly meditative
now, and scarcely ever relaxing into a
smile. His mother noticed this : Mr,
Dunning noticed it : his friends noticed
it ; but he discharged all his daily duties
witn rigid ndeiity, and gave short an
swers to expressions of concern. And
thus the winter passed.
Une August day Mr. Dunning said
" Shelly, you are entitled to a vacation.
and you look as though you needed it
Go oft for a couple of weeks. Your pay
buuu go on tue same.
, 1L . (I -
" 1 don t want it now, sir. I m all
right."
" Ah, but I m afraid you are not all
rignt. xou are pale und thin
" 1 would prefer to work on for the
present," persisted Tom. " I may want
a vacation oetore long, i ll ask lor it
when I do."
" All right. Don't be afraid to men
tion it. Only don't wuit till the bu?y
season.
For tho next three weeks Tom stuck
later than ever to his little workshop
evenings, and often toiled there until
the wee, small hours were tolled out bv
the lonely, solemn town clock.
At the end ot that time be went to
Mr. Dunning with bright, almost happy
looking eyes. Yet he had a jaded, ex
hausted air.
" Now, Bir, I want my vacation."
Whew I" said Mr. Dunning. " We've
just got in some big orders, you know."
" i can t help it, sir. i muse nave a
week."
"You mustf
" I'm sorry, sir : but rather than not
have it I'd throw up my place."
" Wny, what s the row, isiieiiy t Any
thing going wrong t"
"JNo, sir. 1 nope you will paraon my
persistence, but can I go for a week '''
"Well, yes," said Mr. Dunning, re
flectively, " I suppose . so. . You ought
to have taken it in the summer, though.
-uut since you ask for only a week, you
shall have it."
That night Tom packed something
very carefully in a small box. bade his
mother good-by, and started for Washington.
"Upon my word, Shelly, I did not
know there was so much in you '("
' Tom Shelly and Mr. Dunning were
closeted together in the letter's private
office, with some papers spread out be
fore them, and a small brass model of a
machine standing on the desk. '
" Well, sir, since you approve of it,
and think it likely to nuswer its pur
pose, suppose we talk business."
" Business ?"
" Yes. You have capital, and I have
the patent. There's money in the ma
chine, bat it will take money to bring it
out." .
" Very true."
" Well, your capital invested in these
works is one hundred thousand dollars.
I'll put in my invention at tifl y thousand,
and own one-third of the 'establish
ment." " Ha I I should think you might 1"
" Or, if you like, I will travel two
months, and see how the thing is likely
to take before we make any agreement."
"Uon t you think you ve got your
ideas up rather high on the matter f"
"Perhaps I have," answered Tom,
coolly ; " but I don't propose to go beg
ging, and let others grow rich out of
what I ought to have."
"Such things are all experiments
great risks."
" I know, sir ; but you Bee what it is,
and the need it supplies, an 4 it is for
you to say whether you will run tho
risk ot taking hold of it."
Mr. Dunning paused and reflected.
" I will look the matter over," he said at
length, "and you may come here to
morrow evening."
This was as satisfactory as Tom could
have expected, and so he withdrew.
When he went home he asked his
mother (to whom he had confided naught
of his plans) how she would like to live
in Judge Graham's house on Main
street.
" The judge is going to Europe, and
wants to sell."
" What is that to us, Tom '( We can't
buy his house."
" ell, we may be able to some time.
" Some time I What a wny you have
of looking ahead, Tom !"
" It s better to look ahead than be
hind, I think."
Tom went up stairs, threw himself
back in a chair, and took Lucy Ware's
button out. He fingered the memento
over and over, gazed on it and finally
pressed it to his lips stealthily, as if he
feared some one might be looking. Then
he wondered what Mr. Dunning's de
cision would be, and revolved in his
mind all the contingencies of success or
failure. He slept but little that night,
for his whole future hung on the inter
view of twenty-four lioura hence.
New-Year's night 1 A silver wedding!
Mr. Dunning's mansion was thrown
open and thronged with his friends. It
was no stately affair. The children were
there as well as the old folks, and the
house was aglow with merriment and
good cheer.
There were beautiful presents, smiling
congratulations, aud shaking of hands ;
bright-eyed girls, with dazzling dresses
and shiuing white shoulders; dignified
matrons in stately silks and diamonds ;
benignant fathers in glosey broadcloths
and sober kids ; elegant young men in
swallow-tails and white vests ; scream
ing children, with wild, delighted coun
tenances ; and the buzz and rustle and
din and clatter of a crowd that had dis
missed dull care for the nonce, and was
bent on making a night of it.
xom oneny was tnere, and bo was
Lucy Ware. The former was surrounded
by friends and new acquaintances eager
to congratulate him on a recent impor
tant event namely, his admission as
partner with Mr. Dunning.
Dunning & Shelly has a very re
spectable sound,'' said one.
" Accept my congratulations on your
good fortune," said another.
" Well, Tom, your luck has come at
last."
"You deserve your luck every bit of
it," were the words of an old friend.
Tom received all this with due
grace and modesty. A few ventur
ed to sound him, to test his intelligence,
out wero speedly satisfied on that score.
He was a thoughtful reader, and pos
sessed a little stock of books that many
of those around him would have done
well to subsituto for the unwholesome
sweetmeats with which they were wont
to regalo their minds.
In the mean time Tom is soliloaui-zin?
mentally. He is growing restive, and
longs to speak to Lucy Ware. But he
wonders how she will receive him
whether his good fortune will make him
more attractive to her. And if it does.
and if certain hopes he has cherished are
fulfilled, will it bo he that wins, or some
thing else ? Will it be a cash match or
a love match ? Or won't it be any match
at all, and U suoh speculation idle V
They were perplexing questions, and
Tom found himBelf unable to consider
them with that coolness of judgment he
had resolved with himself to bring to
bear on the matter.
At lust Tom approached her. and as he
drew near felt a choking thrill. She
was just as beautiful as ever, and Grave
him a glance out of her liquid black
eyes, that rippled up from under the
long lashes like a flood of sunlight. '
But in spite of the wild canter into
which his blood was fired, he bade her
good-evening, touched her gloved palm.
and uttered some commonplace remark
with very praiseworthy nonchlance.
J ust then a set was forming to dance.
and one couple was wanting. Of oourso
Tom asked Miss Ware for the honor.
etc-., and the two marched on the floor.
"You will allow me to express my
pleasure at your advancement, will you
not 'f" she asked, in a tone in which there
was just a shade of tremulousness.
" Oh, certainly, if you take enough
interest iu me to feel any pleasure at
It. . , , ,. .,.
" Why, of course I do. I always feel
interested in those deserving success."
Her tone was charmingly frank now.
" Ub. that's it. -is it ( ' said Tom. a lit.
tie disappointed. The sparkle in Miss
ware's eyes dilated a little.
" well, i got it by hard work," be said.
"I went back to my greasy machiuo
shop that time, as you bid me."
" What do you mean V"
"Have you forgotten about it? It
was when you went to New York to
visit your aunt. ' You lost your "button
at the depot, you know, and told me to
go back to my greasy machine-shop if
I couldn't find it."
Miss Ware blushed scarlet. "Oh,
do not speak of that It waB very rude
in mo. ' I supposed you had forgotten it.
I was only in fun."
" But I wasn't." Tom's tone was
rather stern, and Lucy looked up quick
ly. " I made a vow then."
" Oh dear I I hope I wasn't the means
of your making a vow'r"'
" Do you V And suppose you were
what then ? Is there any thing so very
alarming about making avow '"
" I don't know. They are so seldom
kept."
" Ah, but this one is partially fulfilled
already, and will be entirely some time.
That is, only one thing can prevent it."
iviiss Liucy did not ask what that
one thing was, but grew reserved, and
during the rest of the quadrille did not
look into Tom's face with her embarrass
ed freedom. Tho conversation had bean
carried on disjointly during the pauses
iu the dancing. When the last figure
wsb nnisneu ansa w are saia :
" Oh dear, I am so tired of dancing !
Xiet us wane in toe otner room, and see
what tho children are doing.
Her hand still resting on Tom's arm,
aud they made their way into another
apartment, where a merry throng of
boys and girls were partaking of the
pleasures of that old exciting game,
" Button I button 1 who's got tho but
ton i"'
" That's a good old game," said Lucy,
glancing at the children.
" Button I button I who's got the but
ton '(" came in ringing tones from one of
the players.
" I've got it I" exclaimed Tom.
" No, sir ; I've got it myself I" shouted
a merry, blue-eyed girl, betrayed into
the letting out of her secret.
A little scene of confusion followed,
and then the game went on.
Lucy Ware had looked up at Tom in
surprise. " hat made you say that
she asked.
" Because it is true," ha answered,
looking at her with a mischievous twitch
ot the eye.
Miss Lucy looked puzzled.
" Do you want to see it "r"
" Yes," she answered, with a doubtful
look.
He reached in his pocket and held
something out in his hand.
" Why," she exclaimed, iu amazement,
" that's mine I Where did you get it?
It's tho one I lost." .
"I know it." '
She blushed vividly, and was utterly
mystified.
" Please explain," she said.
" Oh, there's not much to explain. I
picked it up when you lost it at that
time.''
"And why did you not give it to
me '("
" I preferred to keep it. I took it to
my greasy machino-shop."
" Please don't ':'
Tom laughed, and grew immediately
serious again. Htt had to screw his
courage up to the sticking point to ut
ter tuo next words.
" I kept it because I loved you I" he
whispered.
" Oh !" Aud Miss Lucy hid her face
in her hands, while her heart beat vio
lently.
" And I haven t got ovr it yet !" he
said, Doidiy.
This was a very audacious remark,
and lorn bad to take breath after it,
Miss V are also breathed audibly. But
she did not spurn him with indignation
no, far from it. Tom finally said, in a
voice a trifle unsteady :
" I made a vow that morning, part of
wnicu was to worK my way out ot that
greasy machine-shop. I've done that.
Tho noxt was to keep the button until
its owner cared enough for it to to
repay to that is, to give herself to me
as a condition of its restoration."
Miss Ware looked into his face with
swimming eyes, yet out of the depths
of which Btill weiled up a fountain of
irrepressible roguery.
" But my Bacque has gone out of fash
ion now, and the button will ba of no
use to me," she said.
Tom looked at her earnestly.'
" And, besides, I think you ought to
be willing to give more than a button
for what you ask."
Tom flushed a little at this, but sud
denly seized hc-r hand and exclaimed
with energy : . . ;
" I can give the whole love of an un
divided heart a life-long devotion a
love as unchanging and untiring as the
sun that shines I Will that do '("
" I don't know but it will," came in
a faint murmur.
And so the old, old game was played,
and who shall say that hearts did not
win ?
Pkopaoatiox of Pike. We learn
from the Rochester Union that Mr. Seth
Green has lately been engaged in propa
gating pike, and with considerable suc
cess, lie has demonstrated that pike
may be cultivated, and will no doubt
soon be ablo to do it as successfully as
with Bhad, trout and white fish. The
yellow pike is one of the very best fishes
found in our lakes, bays and rivers, of
ten reaching the ' weight of twelve
pounds. Its yield of ova is immense
a single fish producing sometimes one
million eggs. Great results may be ex
pected to follow the propagation of the
pike. The large white-tuiled mullet
and the " red sides" are receiving the
attention of Mr. Green, but he has not
procoeded far enough with his experi
ments to enable him to announce any
thing positively.
In a faiflous horse case in Binghamton,
N. Y.. the attorney asked a veterinary
surgeon, " Have you ever made any ex
aminations in the abdominal region 'f"
To which the witness replied, No ; all
of my examinations have been made in
Broome county,"
Presents For Young Ladles.
There was a good deal of wisdom in
the now obsolete notion that young la
dies should be chary in receiving gifts
from gentlemen who are " friends only,"
and that they should be still more chary
of making presonts to gentlemeu.
I heard a young fellow say the other
day, out of the depths of his vexation :
" I think I'll cut the girls entirely, if
they don't stop making mo so many
trifling presents. You know they're
always at it. A fellow can't be intro
duced to a girl and make himself agree
able to her, but what, after seeing her
two or three times, comes the inevitable
fancy necktie, or smoking cap, or hand
kerchief with your initials embroidered
on it. All very nice and very good of
them, I'm sure. But it gets to be a bore
after a time, because it places you under
so many obligations to so many differ
ent girls. The young lady who em
broidered you a pair of slippers thinks
you an ungrateful wretch if you take
the young lady who worked you a note
case cover out to drivo, and the one that
worked the note-case cover thinks that
she is horribly treated if you ask the one
that embroidered the slippers to go to a
concert with you. And so you catch it
all around, and you have to bo a better
diplomatist than Uismarck it you can
manage this sort of thing and not get
into a scrape or several Bcrapes.
" What's a fellow to do about it ?
That's what I want to know. One dislikes
immensely to be put under any obligation
in this way. But what man would
dare to refuse to take a present of this
sort from a young lady atter she has ta
ken the trouble to make it for him V Most
ot us would rather they wouldn't do it ;
but, if they will do, how can you help
iff"
I think I hear Minnie, who wears her
hair a la Pompadour ; and Nettie, who
lets hers flow in crinkled masses of light
brown over her shoulders; and Josie,
who is an angel in light blue ; and Ella
of the roso-leaf complexion all uniting
their somewhat high Anifricnn voices in
a chorus of " Conceited ! What a wretch !
Just like those horrid men, you know!
Don't let's evpr give them anything
again. Never! Never! No, we will
not !"
It would be a great deal better if you
wouldn't, young ladies ; or, at least, if
you'd wait till you are asked. But I
know j'ou don't moan to keep your word,
and you know it, too. Like a good
many of your sweet little promises,
made on tho impulse of the moment, I
fear this particular one is made to be
broken.
You call these young men who re
ceive some delicato trirlo from your fair
fingers and then swagger off to boast of
it and to mako mysterious allusions to
such and such a girl who is " sweet on
them " " conceited." But whose fault
is it that they are conceited Y Nobody's
but yours 1 and the way half a dozen of
you will make idiots ot yourselves about
one young iunn is a wonder to see. You
nearly pull him to pieces in the contest.
How you angle for invitations to the
theatre ! How you give gentle hints as
to your wishes in this direction or that
direction I Aud do you suppose he can
not see what is going on all the time 'i
You put him up as a premium among
yourselves, aud then you are surprised
and angry that he begins to value him
self accordingly. Conceited'' Yes, of
course he is ! The wonder would be if
ho wasn t ; and it serves you just right
for spoiling him bo. It is a great pity
that you don't lavish some of this spon
taneous petting on your own brothers.
You can make your homes so attractive
to other girl's brothers ; but the lights
are not turned on, and the new music
practiced and the becoming dresses don
ned for your own ! Else, perhaps, we
might have a more home-loving set of
young men among us.
You say if a young man don't want
what you propose to give him, let him
refuse it. I should like to Bee one of
them daie to do that. As one young
gentleman remarked a little while since :
" What man would dare to refuse to
take from a lady a present that she has
been at the trouble to make him ? It
would be tho blackest ingratitude and the
greatest discourtesy.' And no man will
be found to pioneer the way. On the
contrary, they will continue to submit
to be hypocritical, to grumble and to
' swell ' on tho strength of these enforced
presents, and get called conceited for
so doing."
Angelina gives Edwin an embroidered
pen-wiper, and liidwm mutters " con
founded bore," behind his moustache,
remembering that he has plenty of pen
wipers kicking about at home presents
from other admiring young ladies. But
outwardly Edwin is as grateful as if his
sole hope of existence hung upon that
new pen-wiper ; and Angelina forthwith
begins to design a cigar case for some
other hopeful youth. And I know that
Angelina will be one of the first to ex
claim " Cruel I troacherous ! ungrate
ful !" Daar Angelina, there ought to be
a magio echo which should reply to you,
" Unmaidenly ! scheming I calculating!"
For you know very well that you
commonly give in small measure that
you may receive in greater measure.
You want to put Edwin und Tom and
Dick and Harry under those very obli
gations to you of which they so loudly
complain. The cigar cases und worked
handkerchiefs and cravat bows are so
many spells to biud men in your train
so many lures to get cavaliers for par
ties and concerts. You understand well
enough the weight of the maxim, " One
good turn deserves another ; and that
you may have a good turn done vou.
you take the initiative in the matter.
Indeed, you are altogether too fond of
taking the initiative ; and in so doing
you cheapen yourself immensely. It is
a peculiarity of woman nature to scorn
the fruit that is ready to fall into its
mouth, and to prize most that which it
has to climb for. So with men in re
gard to women. You will be taken at
your own valuation, neither higher nor
lower than that, and if you show your
self so fatally ready to full into the arms
of any chance-passer, no man will care
to hold out his arms for you in good
earnest, though he may be content to
amuse himself with you now and then
, i i i 1 1 , . , '
wuen ne uas a una naii-nour on nis
hand. Howard Glykdox.
Snakes and Frcgs In Ireland.
In a recent note on St. Patrick's dav
we adverted to the well-known tradition
among the Irish peasants that serpents
cannot exist in Ireland. A correspond
ent, howevpr, informs us of tho unfortu
nate fact that not only do serpents and
frogs manage to exist in Ireland, but,
worse still, that they absolutely swarm.
the latter especially, in the country dia
tricts notably in the county of Dublin
and the liueen s county. It is common
ly supposed that if any adventurous
spirit tock the trouble to introduce
few of the reptiles, lie would find it la-
bor lost. But as the snakes are there.
and old authorities maintain that Ire
land was free from them until compara
tively recent times, the fact remains that
somcboily must have imported them. One
account gives it out that they were first
propagated from spawn, introduced as
an experiment, in 1G90, bv a Fellow of
Trinity College, Dublin ; another, that a
gentleman imported a number of vipers
from England into Wexford, about the
year 1797, but that they died immedi
ately utter, in the Bummer of 1831,
however, a gentleman, by way of exper
iment, brought a few pairs of the com
mon snake from Scotland, and placed
them in a plantation at Milecross, near
JNewtonards; and the readiness with
which they multiplied was more alarm
ing than pleasant The late Marquis of
vv d, well known in his day tor his
strange freaks, is said to have tried the
same experiment on his own estates, but
with no success. May not, after all, the
idea of St. Patrick's prohibition of snakes
in the Emerald Isle be traced to the as
sociation of the serpent with the Evil
Une, and to the success which his rever
ence had in reforming the vices of his
barbarian disciples? Once a Wetl:
Bird Migrations.
It seems inexplicable how many birds
find their way back to exactly the same
haunts of the previous year, and this is
more extraordinary when wo consider
the distance between their whiter and
summer retreats. I have often wondered
how tiny warblers find their wav from
Northern Europe to Central Africa, and
at tne very short time spent by certain
birds on their iournev. The cuckoo an-
pears in England just as soon as we find
it in Southern Italy. It has seemed to
me that bird migrations may be per-
iorinea in tne iouowing ways: Buch
uirus us puBn lurtnest inland at one
point do not do so at the other. For
example, the swallows and insectiverous
birds that frequent Northern Europe
may content themselves with the cli
mate of Algeria and Lower Earvnt.
while the rest from Italy and Southern
Europe push to equatorial latitudes, and
vice verm. A great many warblers from
Northern Europe spend their winter in
the South and in the islands of thn
Mediterranean, whilo the majority go
still further southward. But why should
individuals of the same species remain
in cold climates when others migrate to
uibubi; craves tne severest winters in
Britain, while the robins of Southern
Europe migrate to Africa, and the same
may be said of the song-thrush and
blackbird; and I ascertained that the
i l. i . : .
same birds as met with in the South ara
relatively smaller than their Northern
compeers. The power to resist very low
temperatures is somewhat strange. I
have noticed the pied-wagtail, as well as
the bee-eater and chiff-chaff, become fee
ble when the thermometer stood eight
or nine degrees above freezing. What a
contrast to the pigmy golden crests and
titmice of northern regions, where we
find them lively and moving about at a
temperature or twenty-four degrees to
thirty degrees below zero Fahrenheit !
Kotei of a Naturalht in the Nile Valley
and Malta.
Photography without Light.
A new process, called hcliotype, by
which photographs can be printed inde
pendently of light, and in a permanent
style, is attracting attention, "it may be
thus briefly described : The photograph
is taken on a sheet of gelatine; this
Bhoet is fastened down upon a plate of
metal, and after a little preparation, in
which sponge and wator play a part.
can be printed from as if it wero an en
graved block. Ordinary printing ink,
luid on with a roller, is us.ed ; and the
sheet is printed in an ordinary printing
press, and with a remarkable preserva
tion of the lights and half-tones. Oil
paintings, engravings, chalk drawings,
and anything, living or dead, that can
be photographed, may, by this process,
be reproduced and multiplied in a per
manent form ; and when a sufficient
number of impressions has been taken,
the sheet of gelatine can be lifted from
the plate, and laid aside for future use.
This is obviously a very important addi
tion to the resources of art ; from 300 to
400 impressions can be taken in a day,
quite independently of weather; and, if
required, the picture can be printed
along with type in the pages of a book.
Specimens were exhibited at the con
versazione given by the President of the
Royal bocioty at Burlington House, in
cluding chalk drawings by the old Ital
ian masters, landscapes, buildings, en
gravings, sea pieces, maps, and a num
ber of shattered and wounded bones
from tho recent battle-fields in France,
intended to illustrate a work on surgery.
All these specimens were reproduced
with such drill that, in many cases, it
would have been difficult to distinguish
them from the originals. All the Year
Round.
A ourious and beautiful effect was nrn-
duced by one of the ice-makiner ma
chines built lately in Philadelphia. This
nw wu u uiauuiuctureu ice, in toe
centre of which, completely inolosed by
the translucent material, was a bomif
of fresh flowers. Every leaf and flower
was perfectly visible, while the brillian
cy of the colors was enhanced by the re.
fraction through the ioe.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
The color of tho wind was discovered :
by the man who went out and found it '
biue. ,. ,.,
Terre Haute has just been tho scene of
the wedding of a young lady of 29 to
her fourth husband. r
About 100 passports a day are issued
from the State Department for Ameri
cans going to Europe. -
The daily paper printed at Wild Cat,
Arkansas, is very appropriately named
the Evening Caterwaul. ,
The young lady singer who thought
she could make her voioe dearer by
straining it, made a great mistake. , ,,, ,
It has been ascertained that out of
fifteen hundred salmon eggs in the ordin-
ary course of nature only one produces a
mature salmon. If all the eggs laid were
to produce salmon, the ocean in half a '
century would be a moving mass of sal
mon. The fastest trains on sf merican rail
ways are slow in comparison with those
of England. A London paper says that
an express train on the Bristol and
Exeter and Great Western Baiiway now
runs from Exeter to Paddington, a dis
tance of 194 miles, in four hours and a,
quarter, including stoppages of fifteen
minutes. On other roads trains run
with almost equal speed. , ,
It cost San Francisco five thousand
three hundred dollars to try Mis. Fair;
it cost Mrs. Fair twelve thousand dol
lars, including five thousand dollars to
her senior counsel, to be tried, and it
cost one of the papers fourteen hundred .
and thirty-five dollars to phonographic
ally report and print the trial. Mrs.
Fair is such an expensive female that
the community can afford to keep but
few of hef.
So profuse is the native production of
strawberries, on what is called the Pem
bina Mountain, in Minnesota where
the plant takes the upright form in the
very pride of its exuberant fruitf ulness,
as if it disdained to creep along the
earth with its scarlet crown of glory
that the cart-wheels crush the berries as
they revolve, and will become red with
this wild vintage of the plains, leaving
long crimson trails behind them.
A disciple of Izaak Walton, who has
been trying the trout brooks in New
Hampshire, found that the extreme
drouth of last summer has almost ex
terminated these beautiful fish. In,
brooks which formerly gave twenty to
forty as the result of an hour's fishing,
a half day's labor produces but one or
two. He suggests that fishers should
hold back for a year or two, and that
associations be formed to restock the
brooks. . r -
A New Orleans letter to the St. Louis
Republican says : " There are more cattle
going North via Missouri from Texas
than at any previous year. I learn from
drovers that at least a half million head
will come from Missouri, Kansas, and
Nebraska. The grazing stock, many of
them, go to the latter place, where they
will feed until the frosty weather this
fall destroys the grass. There are not ' '
many ox all this stock nt at present tor
good beef.
The use of iron tanks of large dimen
sions for transporting petroleum from
the oil wells to great distances was justly
looked upon as one of the greatest im
provements in the business, on account
of the saving of expense in the way of
casks, and the avoidance of danger in
consequence of leakage. An ingenious
firm in Cincinnati, Messrs. A. Gunnison
& Co., have introduced this same feature
into the transportation of lard-oil, and
especially of whale-oil ; and it is more
than probable that in a very short time
the cargoes of the whalers in the Pacific
will be shiped at San Francisoo in such
tanks, and brought across the country to
the East.
Massachusetts has a monopoly of tho
manufacture of palm-leaf hats in this
country. The raw material is imported,
from Cuba in bunches of leaves from
four to five feet long. These pass into
the hands of manufacturers at Amherst,
Palmer, Barre, and Fitchburg, by whom
they are bleached and split. The weav
ing is principally done by women and
children, and in hundreds of country
farm-houses the inmates can be found
busily at work at hat making. The pay
is not large, but the work is simple and
easy. The waste resulting from tho
splitting was until lately regarded as
entirely useless, but is now sold to paper
mills and used in the manufacture of
coarse paper.
Those who are compelled to " hurry
up their cakes " may find the following
variety, prepared for various callings
convenient to select from : The best
cake for prize-fighters, pound cake ; tho
most suitable for carpenters, plane cake ;
the most relished by loafers, sponge
cake ; the most palatable to boatmen,
current cake ; the most acceptable to
hangmen, drop cake ; the best for farm
ers, seed cake ; the kind indulged in by
surgeons, cup cake ; the kind most used
by topers, corn cake ; the most healthy
for plumbers, plum cake ; the debtor's
cake, short cake ; the gardener's cake,
the hoe cake ; the one for summer use,
the cake of ice ; the one for discount.
an oat cake ; a cake not enjoyed by any
one, stomach-ache.
American merchants have a reputa
tion for sagacity and ' aouteness, but
there are few of them that can surpass,
in that respect, the gentleman of whom
a good story is told in the English pa-
era. at is a mercnant in London, and
utely found that a rival establishment
was using his brains for iU own benefit,
and at the same time forestalling him in
the market by obtaining copies ot Lis
telegraphio orders from an operator, by
bribery. He at once wrote privately to
his agents always to act exactly contra.
ry to orders, and then went to work ex
ercising his brains at once for Lis own
benefit and the injury of .the wrong-doer.
He not only got the full benefit of
hia own foresight and tact, but was ob
taining a poetical revenge upon Lis ri
val, and in three months had him i. v.
Court of Bankruptcy, while Lis own
concern went on prosperously.