The Elk County advocate. (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, June 26, 1873, Image 1

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    HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPKRANDTJM. " Two Dollars per Annum.
VQL 111 HIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1873. yo- 17
Truthful James to tlie Editor.
(Ykeka, 1873.)
Which it is not m style
To produce needless pain
l'.y t (dements that ile
Or that po 'gin (he grain,
Cut here's Captain Jack still a liviu', and Nye
lias lis tkcli) on his brain !
On that Caucasian head
There is no crown of hair,
It is gone, it has fled!
And Fchoprz "'v here?"
And I aslts, " Ih this Nation a White Mau'B. and
is generally tilings on the square t"
8he was known in the camp
" As " Xye's other siniaw,"
..'. : And folks of that stamp
Hez no rights in the Law,
Hut is treacherous, sinful and slimy, as Nye
might Lev' well known before.
Hut she Mid that she knew
Where the Injins was hi,
And the statement was true,
For it seemed that she did ;
Since she led. William where he was covered by
Seventeen Modocs. and slid !
Then they reached for his hair j
Bat Nye sez, " By the Law
Of Nations, forbear no more :
And I looks to be treated, you hear me ? as a
pris'ner, a pris'ner of war!"
But Captain Jack rose
And he sez " It's too thiu.
Such statements as those
It's too late to begin.
There's a Modoc indictment agin you, 0 Tale
face, and you're goiu' in !
" You stole Schonchiu's squaw
In tho year sixty-two ;
It was in 'Sixty-Four
That Long Jack vou went through,
And you burned Nasty Jim's raucheria and his
wives and his pappooscs too.
" This gun in my hand
Was sold me by you
'Gainst the lan- of the land,
And I grieves it is true!"
Aud ho buiicd his face in his blanket aud wept
as he hid it from view.
" Hut yon're tried aud condemned
And Fkelping's your doom,"
And he paused and he hemmed
But why this resume ?
lie was skelped 'gainst tLo custom of Nations,
. and cut off like a rose in its bloom.
Ho I ahks without guile,
And I trusts not iu vain,
If this is the stylo
That is going to obtain
If here's Captain Jack still a livin', and Nye
w ith no skelp on his brain ?
BnET Haute.
MOONLIGHTING) CATTLE.
It was a dry season word of feuronly
known in its true meaning to an Aus
tralian squatter. The sun hnd licked
' up the few remaining spots of muddy
water, scorched the grass, nnd turned
everything but the bare earth to a son
of rusty blue. The plains, filled with
great cracks and holes, and destitute ol
a vestige of any green thing, had bee:
scraped and trodden by the starviuc
sheep till they looked' like frebli-duf
flower-beds, and the thunder-stornn
which mocked us on the- horizon every
night, were only too sure signs that this
sort of thing might last for mouths yet.
Whit with the shepherds giving up
their flocks iu despair, or, wor.se still,
losing them for want of energy to walk
round them, I had had a hard time ol
it ; night alter night outriding onetired
horse al ter nnother, shifting sheep sta
tions, sinking holes in the river-bed.
trying to keep some life in the wretched
stock that staggered and tottered along
across the dusty plain, followed bysome
crunky, dejected shepherd, whose whole
soul was bent on the calculation of how
soon his time would lie up, anil himsell
at liberty to go nnd drink his cheque at
the public-house in the township two
hundred miles off.
The wild cattle, brutes that had nearly
lived long enough to havo forgotten the
hot iron on their sidos.and that laughed
to seoru nil attempts to head them to
the yard, hud long been a nuisance on
the run. They had by long impunity
so increased that the scrubs f.rounii
Mount Breakneck were full of them,
and their numbers were always beiiif."
recruited by stragglers from the quiet
cattle of the place, which, in these dry
times, often wandered a dozen mile's
from their own camps to look for better
pasture, or followed the beds of the
dried-tip creeks, scraping up the sand in
the faint hope of coming on the water,
which, even in the worst seasons, is
generally found running below.
It was just Christmas time, and in
consequence steaming hot. The ther
mometer registered 100 in the verandah
of the " Cooorn Humpy," or squatter's
house, which, built of weather-boards
and raised from the ground on piles,
was, except perhaps the huge wood-shed
lower down the creek, the coolest place
for many miles. We that is, the cattle
overseer and myself in our little bach
elors' quarters, had been trying, in defi
ance of flies, mosquitoes, and the taran
tula spiders that disported themselves
on the rafters, to sleep all day, and to
fancy that we were enjoying our Christ
mas; and, in default of anything else,
had been brewing large jorums of lime
juice and water, to drink the healths of
divers people who were at that moment
snoring peacefully beneath the bed
clothes under the influence of Christ
mas cheer at home, while big coal fires
glowed in their bedrooms, and the land
scape was cold and white under its load
of snow.
Jack, after moralizing on his haul
fate, aud describing the dances that his
people always had on Christmas eve,
was suddenly brought back to a practi
cal sense f the duties of this life by the
black bullock-driver putting his hpad
in at the window and saying, " Hi !
plenty me been see uui cattle ! big fel
low mob ! that been come down along o'
water this side little fellow myall scrub.
I believe me and you go look out that
fellow."
Now the gentleman who condescended
to take our fat cattle at four pounds
per head, and who retailed them to
the good people of Sydney at fourpence
per pound, had been grumbling fear
fully about their quality, lately, and
had even threatened to transfer his
custom to our next neighbor, between
whom and ns there was war and much
ehafT, so that a chance of getting a
really prime lot for Christmas was not
to be despised. Aud if, after we hnd
got them, they were found to be too
wild to drive to market, thnt was the
butcher's lookout nny, might even put
a pound or two into some of the very
empty pockets of my mates and myself,
for seeing them sife over the range
which was the particular bane of all
drovers, with its precipitous track, and
the prickly scrub which ran right into
the road. At lenst it was something to
relieve the eternal monotony of .count
ing two flocks of sheep, morning and
evening, and we were equal 4 to the
occasion.
Springing off the bed and putting a
spur on the right boot, while my mate
put the other on his left an ingenious
and wholly Australian way of dividing
our forces and rolling up the sleeves
of our, to say the truth, not very -clean
lean flannel shirts, we dispatched
Quondong, our black friend, for the
working horses, nni making the court
yard re-echo to the sound of our stock
whips, gave the signnlforthe s(ock-men
to turn out, put their blankets on their
saddles, and, with many growls and
much lighting of pipes, syvagger down
to pick out something thnt had still
a little flesh on its bones, to carry them
to the camp we proposed making that
ight at Hungry Jack's Gully, some
eight or ten miles away.
The only water-hole accessible to the
wild cattle was separated from the
scrub by a mile of level plain, cut and
gashed by the sun's heat into a thousand
holes and fissures ; and the cattle, as
soon ns darkness concealed their move
ments, used to steal across this, follow
ing stealthily in one another's wake,
tike Indians on the war-path ; and,
having drank enough to last them till
next night, would scamper back again
icross the plain till they gained the
friendly helter of the scrub; and these
sorties into an enemy's country must
it least have had the charm of excite
ment in them, as the least sound, such
as the distant gallop of a mob of wild
horses, or a 'possum scuttling npn tree,
-vas quite sufficient to entail a headlong
sauve qui prut of about a mile at racing
uace. The only thing to be done with
these brutes, whore every faculty was
sharpened by thirst and aided by the
lunutural stillness of the bush, was -to
.jet a lot of, say a hundred, quiet cattle
md post them inside the scruVt down
wind, aud do our best to drive the wild
mesin to them, aud then trust to luck
.mil good horsemanship to keep them.
And so, in about nu hour from the
first alarm, we found ourselves well on
to the plains, driving our wretched
"toadies," as they ore cnlled, before
ns by tho last rays of a red lurid sun,
which threatened to sink -suddenly be
hind Southern Cross or any other
friendly stars, to show ns the way to
where our little bush-yard of strong
saplings lay, far up in a secluded glen,
is our base of operations.
Every man mounted on a stout little
horse of about fifteen hands, in a big
ring sualhV, blanket strapped across the
-addle, quart pot and hobbles hanging
uehiud, aud short pipe in mouth, we
ode along, keeping close to our rather
refractory charge.
Crawling through the belt of myall,
whose drooping branches fringed the
Hcurb, and carefully threading the tall
pines that lay behind guided always
by the black fellow, whose eyes seemed
inly to begiu to bo in their'element as
:iie darkness drew in, and who was
mounted on an old white horse, cele
brated in ail thut country-side for his
high qualities in scrub-riding we at
List reached our little sapling yard, and
throwing down the rails put ourcoaches
inside ; and after watching their at
tempts to knock it down or jump over
'ill they found it wai hopeless, we lit
t fire behind, and putting on the quart
;ots in the ready blaze of small sticks
iml bark, made our frugal supper of
tea, damper, and very salt beef.
There were eight of us, all told ; my
mate Jack B , the overseer; two
stock-men, great authorities on all mat
ters of bush life ; three of those non
descript, straight-haired, slab-sided
lads who seem to have been born in
moleskin breeches and cabbage-tree
h its, and who unite tho most reckless
(outage on horseback with a calmness
if philosophy, nnd a grim humor, only
to be found in the backwoods of Ameri
ca or tho Australian bush ; your hum
ble servant myself, and last, but by no
means least, Quondong, the black
tracker, a half-civilized darkey, whose
whole life was spent iu seeing things
utterly invisible- to a white man, the
faintest trace of any living beast being
to Vim an open book to be read at u
gallop. We drew lots with pieces of
stick as to who should keep awake,
walk rouud the yard occasionally, and
wake the rest of the party when the
moon rose. Close at hand two 'possums
iiept up a wordy warfare, jumping from
branch to branch, and spitting and
chattering like two cats ; every now
md then the faint cry of the " More
i)trk,"the Australian night cnckoo.caine
softly out of the intensely black scrub
behind me ; while far away in front,
through a gnp in the pine trees, I could
see Mulally Plain stretching into the
distance.
Having secured and saddled up our
horses as quietly as possible, we threw
aside the slip-rails of our yard, and let
the coaches draw out, led and kept
back by Quondong, and went silently
down a mile or two to where the myall
again began to fringe the edge of the
plain. Here we stationed our two boys
m as open a place as we could find, be
hind a thick, patch of prickly "mulga,"
and leaviug the cattle in their charge,
followed each other silently along the
outer edge of the scrub, the trees still
keeping us in shadow of the moon's
slanting rays.
Presently we came to oneof the beaten
tracks used by the wild cattle on their
midnight expeditions to the water, and
Quondong, jumping down and carefully
examining the recent hoof-marks, in
formed us that a mob had only just
gone down, amongst which several
large tracks showed the presence of the
much desired fat bullocks.
Silence was now the word ; our hobble-chains
were tightly secured, so that
they should not rattle j and even our
pipes were put out, so thnt the cattle,
whoso noses get ns keen ns red-doer's,
should suspect nothing till we hod time
to see them first, and form our plans
for surrounding them.
Suddenly a halt, and a few hurried
words from old Jack, ond we found our
selves within a couple of hundred yards
of a mob, that hnd already heard us,
and were now all together in a close
ring with their heads up, waiting for
the boldest to begin his dash to the
scrub.
Now was our time. Sitting close to
our saddles, and cramming our hats
on our heads, we darted at them in
single file, and, ringing them up as
close as we could jam them together,
set them galloping in a circle, contrary
to our own, till the poor brutes were so
confused that they did not know in
which wny the scrub lay. Eery now
and then one would charge headlong
out of the dense mass, but by the time
he had made up his mind which horse
man to attack, another would have ta
ken his plnce, the superior speed of our
horses enabling ns to keep the pace up
in a much larger circle than the cattle
could manage ; and yet we almost
brushed their horns in our mad gallop,
and still kept circling on in the half
light, looking neither to tho right nor
left, but only intent on keeping our
circle unbroken.
I knoyv many exciting things in life
the first start from a cover, with a good
fox running straight, and a jealous field
all riding for a start the last few yards
of a long and weary stalk to a royal
stag, when your hand trembles, and a
hot and cold perspiration breaks out
all over you alternately the finish of a
well-rowed boat-race ; but I can confi
dently recommend to any oue who has
never tried it, the excitement that
springs from a knowledge that the
slightest mistake f your horse would
bring an infnriated mob of cattle over
yonr devoted head, while you still keep
galloping madly after a 'flying figure
whose hat, blown back olF his head,
flaps and flaps in front of you, with his
head down, aud himself sticking to the
saddle like wax, his little horse scatter
ing the black earth behind him ; and
by your side a moving panorama of
snorting heads aud flashing eyes, with
a rattle of the long horns that would
instantly be down upon you if yon al
lowed them a momeut's breathing time.
But this cannot last ; the place is too
good, and Jack's wary eye has already
shown him that the cattle, for the pres
ent at all events, are his own. With a
dexterous sweep he puts himself at the
head of the mob, and, without once
stopping to form line, we seem to fall
by instinct into our places, and by the
light of the moon, now rising iu all its
glory, thunder across the phiiu towards
the coaches, looking like an army of
phantoms, as no one speaks, and no
sound is heard but t'-e steady gallop of
our game little horses, and "the heavy
laboring breath of our captives, that
iind the pace a little too hot for them.
But they have not time to stop. Before
we can realise it we are upon the tame
cattle, which have been silently brought
as uenr to us as possible by the boys in
charge, and, shifting round the other
side, we await tho charge of the new
comers, that often try to force their way
straight through the little herd, anil
break awny on the other side ; but here
the coaches themselves come to our ns
sistasee. Uneasy at being off their own
camp, and thoroughly out of temper
with the whole thing, they meet the
charge of the strangers gallantly, and,
with hoarse grumblings, close" round
them, till, what with the ranfuziou of
their idpns, nnd their curiosity as to
what has brought all these other beasts
on their domain, they give it up as a
bad job, and in half an hour's time are
a milo or two from their own haunts,
and ready themselves to act as coaches
for fresh victims.
And now, having recovered our equa
nimity, we scrutinize our captives, and
find ten fat bullocks among them old
rascals that have lived, with impunity
through a life longer than is appointed
to bullock, and whose hides bear a big
"A. T.," the brand ef tho previous own
er. I think I need not describe all the
expeditions we made that night how
"Scrub Bill" and his mate Tommy both
got falls in the treacherous melon-holes,
and how, my gwth breakiug suddenly,
I found myself sitting disconsolately on
tho plaiu, with a good pigskin saddle
between mv legs, and the tail of old
"Schemer, that had carried me so well,
vanishing in the darkness, to the sound
of many trampling hoofs. Every raid
we made into the n smy's country was
successful, and we found ourselves
musters of some seventy or eighty
beasts, which we had now to steer to
the station.
Cattle-driving has a peculiar charm.
Tho old moss-troopers, wh used to
scour the border-country for cattle, as
they pricked along with their spears a
good fat lot, belonging to some North
umbrian farmer, must have felt much
the same as yve did, warily watching our
hard-won charge ; although wo indeed
had stock-whips instead of spears, a
decided advantage in cattle-driving,
for it would take a good long spear
to get within reach of an Australian
scrubber.
All round us were troops of wild
mares and foals, in much the same state
as the cattle, in companies of twenty or
thirty together, each constituting the
harem of some old horse, that would
allow them to approach within two hun
dred yards of us, and then dancing in
between, with his long mane and tail
flying in the wind, would rouud them
up and drive them before him like a
flock of sheep, stopping every now and
then to trot a little nearer to ns, and
snort, nnd strike the ground in defiance
of our steeds.
And now away in the distance we see
the dim shadowy line of the head-station
creek-trees, raised by the mirage
above the tins of the true horizon, and
looking like a faint cloud hangiug iu
mid-air. Lower and lower it drops as
we approach, till it joius the earth, and
the huge zino roof of the wood-shod be
gins to glitter in the rays of the sun.
In another half-hour the massive rails
of the stock-yard, closing behind our
charge, give us good security for their
safe keeping ; aud breakfast, with its
hot tea and fried steaks, makes up
for our frugal supper of the night be
fore. There I it looks simple enough on
aper, but let me tell yott that if you
lave a tolerable sent on a horse, have
as many spare nei'ks as other people,
nnd want td combine amusement with
profit, there are worse wnys of spending
a night than "moonlighting cattle."
Hogs' Intelligence.
Hogs often show great intelligence
nnd aptitude to lenrn. A forester had
a Chinesci pig, which followed him like
a d'.g, came at call, ran up and down
stairs and from room to room. It
lenrned to bow, and performed several
tricks. It was very expert in hunting
mushrooms ; and, when told to keep
watch, it Would remain pt its post until
called away. When iti owner said,
"I'm going to kill yon," it would lay
down on its back and stretch out its
legs.
It is said that when Louis XI. was
sick, every means was taken to divert
the sadness f-f his mind, but, do what
they would he could not be made to
laugh ; at length a nobleman thought
of teaching a pig to dance, and briug it
before his majesty.
It was not long before n pig could hop
nbout very well at the sound of a bng
pipe, they then dressed it with coat,
pantaloons, hat, sword, &c. ; ih short,
nil that the court gentlemen of the
times were accustomed to wear, and in
troduced it into the presence of the
king. The animal bowed, danced, nn A
followed nil orders in the most artistic
manner, until, getting tired, it became
so awkward that the king roared with
laughter, to the delight of his courtiers.
An English gentleman carefully traiu
ed a hog for hunting. "Slud," for so the
hog was called, was very fond of the
chase, and was ever on the alei t wheu
the huntsmen were preparing to start ;
but the dogs could not endure its com
pany, and their owner yvas never able to
make use of both at the same time.
" S'nd " could scent a bird from a great
distance, and would dig in the ground
to show where it had been. Wh.u the
bird hopped it followed like a dog.
Hogs havo been trained for draught.
A countryman was in ths habit of riding
to St. Alban's market iu a small cart
drawn by four hogs; another country
man won a wager on a bet that his hog
could carry him on his back four miles
in oho hour. These facts are cited to
shoyv that the hog is a more intelligent
nnimul than yve give him credit for.
However, every kind-hearted person
will disapprove of teaching dumb crea
tures to perform t.ticks..
.Music Among the Indians.
It can hardly be regarded as surpris
ing, writes a humorist, that yve have
Indian wars, when we reflect how persis
tently the pale face deludes the untu
tored savage. There yvas Slimmer.
Slimmer was a peddler. On his wnv to
the Pacific coast, he stopped over night
in a village belonging to the Shoshone
Indians. Slimmer amused his enter
tainers in the evening by playing
"Kathleen Mavourneen " upon nn ac
eordeon. Wheu he had squeezed out
the tune three or four hundred times,
the Shoshone chief told Slimmer he
yvonld give anything to possess such au
instrument as that. Then a happy
thought struck S immer. He had six
hundred pairs of bellows, whic'i ho was
taking out to a settlement in Oregon,
and, yvithout a qualm of conscience, he
disposed of them on the spot to the
chief ut two hundred and fifty per cent,
advance on the cost. That morning
Slimmer left. For the next two days
the chief remained at home, working
one pair of bellows after another in a
vain endeavor to evolve "Kathleen
Mavourneen " from the nozzles ; and,
yvLen he had strained himself until he
burst three or four blood-vessels, his
wives took a baud. T.en all tho mem
bers of the tribe tried ; and tho medi
cine man seized one pair and fled to the
woods, aud howled over it and screech
ed, aud sat on a fence and worked the
handles up and down until he fainted,
and not a solitary note of " Kathleen
Mavourneen " disturbed the impressive
solitude of that vast wilderness. Aud
they caught a white mini nnd drove a
stake through him, aud built a bonfire
on his bosom, nnd made hiui try ; nnd
he even failed to organize a concert
upon the Mavourneen basis. And now,
whenever you meet a Shoshone Indian
anywhere, he always asks if you know
a man named Slimmer. They are look
ing for Slimmer. They vVunt hiin.
They want to lead him out to some
retired spot nnd remove his cuticle, and
chip him off little by little until they
work down to his skeleton.
Sailor Suits.
Sailor toggery is more popular than
ever both for boys aud girls, and if we
may credita fashion journal, is to be still
more fo this summer. Girls of three
years old and upward wear pique dresses
made with a sailor blouse and one gored
skirt, trimmed with bands, collar, cuffs,
pockets, and sash of blue Chambery.
These cost 80. Pale buff linen sailor
dresses, with brown, white, or Hue ac
cessories, cost 85. The navy blue flan
nel suits for the sea-shore, traveling,
and for cool mornings in the country,
are trimmed with white braid, one wid
and two narrow rows, and cost from $6
upward. Pule blue and white cashmere
trimmings are also used on these dress
es. Boys not yet in trowsers wear
pique, linen, and flunnel suits made
with sailor blouses and kilt skirts.
Price 5.50 for pique dresses slightly
braided.
The sailor jacket of white loosely
woven cloth, with stripe or polka dot of
color, is the favorite wrap. It is double
breasted, with revers ; the back is close
fitting and slashed. The revers is faced
with black, blue, or brown silk to match
the figure in the cloth, aud the band
around the sacque is of the same silk.
Price $10 for sizes large enough for
girls from four to seven years old. Deep
navy blue cloth sacques with white
piping and silvered buttons are sold for
girls from nine to fourteen years of oge:
Price $12.50.
The Boston Transcript says that per
sons who send poetry to the newsp ipers
should always retain copies. If most
of them would retain the originals per
haps it would be just as well.
Settling a Delist;
The Comto do B , a colonel In
the line, distinguished for his gallantry
in the field, as well as for the length, of
his service, was ordered to Martinique
with his regiment in the ?enr 170 . At
that period the rage for dueling was
everywhere prevalent, but in no plnce
more so than in the West India Islands,
where the civilinn and the military man
alike endeavored to establish his repu
tation by the questionable test of " an
nflair." Among the officers quartered
in tho garrison of St. Pierre was one, a
Captain G , whose delight consisted
in fighting or fomenting duels, and who
measured every man's chnracter by the
number he had fought. He was a man
of brusque manners and arrogant bear
ing, but of nudoubted, though misap
plied, courage.
It happened one dny that eonversing
with Comte de B , tho subject of
dueling came on the tapis, when the
colonel observed, that although he hnd
seen much nnd various service, it had
never been his chance to be engaged in
a single affair. The words appeared to
net like wildfire on the mind of his in
flammable companion. " What I" he
exclaimed " Whnt I you never had a
cause for quarrel ?" " Never !" replied
the colonel, calmly. " Eh bien done,"
cried Captain O - , " voila line I" ond
raising his hand, while his eyesglenmed
with ferocious pleasure, he struck M. de
B a violent blow on the cheek. The
latter eyed him for a moment, nor at
tempted to return the blow, then point
ing significantly to his sword, he left
the spot.
The consequence was inevitable the
preliminaries were arranged, and the
same evening the parties met. It was
decided to light with small swords in
deed, dueling yvith pistoli yvas rarely
if ever practiced in the French service.
Tho Comto do B came on the
ground, wearing upon his cheek a patch
of black taffeta, us if to conceal the
place where ho had received the injuri
ous blow. They yvere both expert
swordsmen, but tho colonel, though no
duelist, was u perfect master of his
weapon. His antagonist was soon at his
mercy, but he contented himself with
inflicting a severe wound in his sword
arm, and having disabled him for the
time, he took out a pair of scissors, and.
clipping off a corner of the patch, very
coolly observed, ".C'est un pen mieux!"
(It is a little better). As soon us Cap
tain O recovered from his wound,
he received a second message from M.
de B nnd a second meeting was the
consequence. Again they met, and
again ; on every occasion the colonel
wounded his adversary and clipped off
a corner from the taffeta on his cheek,
accompanying the act with the same ob
servation. For the fifth time the Comte
de B invited his1 enemy to the field,
and, yvith a stern de?rmination equal
to the perseverance which dogged him,
Captain O obeyed the summons.
Their swords crossed again, but the
colonel's aspect was changed. After a
few passes he saw his advantage, availed
himself of i in a moment, and iu the
next his sword had pierced Captain
Ci 's heart, who fell dead to the
ground. The colonel sheathed his
weapon, turned round to his friei.d, and
pulled off the remainder of the patch.
Then, glancing nt the dead body at his
feet, lie quietly observed, " Now it is
cured."
Tho War in Java,
By advices from Java, via China and
Japan, further details of the war in Java
are at baud. On tho 8:h of April the
Dutch troops, to tho number of about
MHO, made another attack on tho mud
fort, while tho ships threw shells into
it ; but after bravely standing tire about
twenty minutes, the Dutch were again
obliged lo retire. The Dutch loss in
the day's action yvas said to be two offi
cers and seven men killed and eighty
wounded ; tho Achiueeso loss was be
lieved to havo been very great. On the
10th the Dutch troops, to the number
of about 1,500, marched upon the fort
to storm it, and, after manoeuvring for
a while, they made n rush into it and
found it deserted. Wheu the Achineese
left, or where they went, was not known.
Tim Dutch flag yvas hoisted and a guard
'eft, and tho force returned to their
encampment. The fort contained twelve
large guns, and it was to be blown up.
The troops then commenced their march
through, the junglu, fighting their way.
On the same day (the loth) they storm
ed and captured a small fortress, and
aWo a church, which was stoutly delend
ed, and then pushed on toward the Sal
tan's palace, which was strongly fortifi
ed, indeed the strongest place in Acheen.
On the loth, the Dutch loss was nine
killed aud thirty wounded. Capt. Eu
gelvuart, of the Cochorn, also died that
day of sun-stroke. On the morning of
the 14th, the attack on the Sultun'scastle
was made. The conflict was very severe,
aud the Dutch succeeded iu taking a
portion of it, only standing ground,
but iu this action their General was
killed, being shot through tho breast.
This calamity seriously affected the
spirits of the Dutch Army, who hnd
great confidence in him. It yvas report
ed that the Achineese force under arms
in and around the castle attacked num
bered 10,000, and that the total force of
the Achineese is not less than 40,000
fighting men. Many of the Dutch iu
the expedition had, it yvas said, begun
to despair of its success.
Pkopaoation of Sound. The quality
of sound, rather tliau its volume, reu
ders it distinct to the ear. A locust
may be heard one-sixteenth of a mile ;
a wren, weighing half an ounce aud a
middling-sized man would be as heavy as
four thousaud of them could bo heard
about as far. But if the voice of either
bore a proportion to the mass of matter
employed in its production, a man could
lie heard one thousaud miles, favored
by a brisk wind. A vessel at sea a few
years since, when one hundred aud
sixty miles from land, heard distinctly
the thrilling musie of a band playing
onshore, i here must have been a pe
ouliar condition of the atmosphere at
the time, yvhue the broad surface of the
sails were equivalent to the greut ex
ternal ear to arrest and converge the
aerial undulations.
The house in Murfreesboro, Tenn., in
which President Polk was married is
now used as a stable.
Catching Shad with Fly.
t7nt.il verv recently it has been the
currently received belief thatshad could
not be caught with JiooK and line, ami
their application to shad fishing wns
looked upon ns impossible. It lifrn been
proved, however, that tney can tie tnKcn
with hooh nnd linn if the right bait is
used, nnd hnniliedij have so been takeu
at Holyoke, Mass. CollcWting the dis
coverer of the practicability of catching
shad with hook and line, there is some
doubt, but the Springfield Union is in
clined to awnfd the discovery to Thos.
Chalmers, a Scotchman, Discovering
that shad taken contained In theirmaws
large numbers of a peculiar kind of mil
ler, he mnde a "fly" closely resembling
it, and after repeated experiments suc
ceeded. Keeping his seciet he took
more than eleven huildred shad during
1871. The secret finally leaked out, the
Holyoke people fished extensively )nt
year and yvere remarkably successful.
Tho Common practice is to use a large
trout hook, to which the "fly" made
of feathers is attached, in the mnnner
familiar to all sportsmen. The line
should be about 300 feet long, the two
feet next the hook being of fine wire or
c itgut. If yvire is used, or if the line
is heavy, a flontshould be attached. The
sportsman, if he bo at nolyoke, stands
ou the bridge, nnd throwing his line
out, lets it float along down the river.
Presently a Blind sees it, nnd jumps for
the counterfeit miller with all the avid
ity of a trout, but on finding that he has
cnnglit a Tartnr, dashes ff like light
ning. There is no use iu stopping him
now, but give hiin all the line he wants,
and he will soon swallow the hook and
tire out. When, the fishing began the
imnatient sportsmen yvere wont to haul
in ns soon as the shad hnd bitten, but
in every instance the fish's tender gills
gave way, and the shad went, back into
the river with a flounce. But after n
shad has been " played " for a minute
or so, ho can be drawn in yvithout diffi
culty. Drunkenness Among the Hindoos.
A correspondentof the London Times
writes that the spread of habits of drink
ing among the educated natives has
alarmed the orthodox and the reforming
parties of Hindoos alike. Temperance
societies and memorials to the Bengal,
Bombav. and Supreme Governments
show the earnestness of the respectable
natives of Bengal and Bombay. The
liquor duties, except beer and light
wine, which do no harm, would bear u
considerable increase, but Government
has not taken advantage of this budget
to make any change. The Bengal Leg
islature has just passed an Act to bring
the cultivation and preparation of intox
icating drugs, as yvell as the sale, under
the Board of Revenue, and to enable it
to make more stringent rules nnd li
censes. But in a country like this, ab
stemious by creed and climate, the na
tives call for something like a permis
sive bill, and in the rural districts, at
lea-st, there can be no such objections
to that here as are raised in the West.
Brandy kills off the rich absentee Hin
doo Zemindars iu Calcutta at a rate
which the native papers lament, while
the Mussulmans seem to prefer opium
and other drugs.
Is She in Your Vicinity I
She must be on her travels some
where, and will call on you for a con
sideration. We refer to the woman who
sells the recipe for moles ou your face
md corns and minions on your lect.
She is so lady-like, so sensible, so un-
btrusive. She only sells as a favor to
yon. lint ladies liked to no so sensioie
a lady a favor, as well as themselves, so
they bought it. It was only a dollar n
bottle, and fifty cents more if you took
two. The mole aud corn yvonld disap-
ear in two weeks. Has ony one seen
that estimable woman ? For the ladies
think there must be a mistake in the
mode of the liquid application. Tin y
would like to ask her a question about
it. If she is ou her travels iu your vi
cinity with her mole and corn recipe,
you will usk her. She was to be in this
place again in nve montns, says a local
oancr. but we doubt if she comes so
soon. She is too sensible. Oue of the
most amiable swindlers about is thut
well-mannered woman who sells her lit
tle bottles at only a dollar, and twelve
shillings if you take two.
Fecundity of Fishes.
It is said that probably about 00,000,-
000 or 70,000,000 codfish are takeu from
the si a aunu.dly nrouud the shores ol
Newfoundland, liut even that quantity
seems small when we consider that the
cod y ields something like 3,500,000 eggs
each season, and that even e.uuu.uuu
have been found in the roe of a siuglt
cod! Other fish, though not equalling
the cod. are wonderfully productive. A
herring six or seven ounces in yveight
is provided yvith about 30,000 ova. Alter
making nil reasonable allowances for
the destruction of eggs aud of the young,
it has been calculated that iu three
years a single pair of herrings would
produce 151.000,000. Butl'ou said thai
if a pair of herrings were left to breed
and multiply undisturbed for a period
of twenty years, they would yield a fish
bulk equal to the globo ou which yve
live. The cod far surpasses the herring
in fecundity. Were it not thut vast
uumbers of the eggs are destroyed, fish
would so multiply as to fill the waters
completely. Acicnttjic A mcrican.
Origin of " L'liaiking Ilie Hat."
The origin of "chalking the hat'
was due to Admiral lteeside, in the
days w'jen Crongressmeu went lumber
ing over distant States in stage coaches.
At the a nual adjournment of Ci nm ss.
Admiral Reeside yvonld usk his friends
of both houses over his stage lines uf
tor the following fashion: "Mr. C, I
suppose you are going back to Lexing'
ton? I will pass you through on my
coaches." "All right : but how will
your agents along the route know this
fact?" "Just give me your hat."
Upon the tile being passed over, this
Napoleon of the stage, taking a piece
of chalk from his pocket, would dash
off in brilliant white upon the black
ground a peculiar hieroglyphic impos
sib!e to counterfeit, and Laud it back
to the owner with the remark: "Just
show that to my agents along the
route."
Fnsts nnd Fancies.
The estimated cost f Chicago's new
Grand Pacific Hotel wns one 'n,l,'on
dollars. The actual cost was $1,000,
857.94. The Granada revolt is ended. After
five hourB' fighting the enrbineers laid
down their arms and surrendered to the
citizens.
A thrifty sheriff in Indiann, when ho
has an idle jury on his hands, sets them
to work mowing the grass around the
conrt-house.
The Indian editors ore about making
an excursion to Wyandotte Cave, nnd
have invited the Press of Louisville,
Kv., to join them.
The St. Albans (Vt.) Messenger
thinks "sky blue is a pretty color for
ceilings, but. not so tasty for couutry
milk at eight cents n quart."
A Peoria man has a nice looking li
brary, all mnde up of Patent Office re
ports, with the backsnently labeled with
tho ames of great authors and their
works.
A Kansas paper asks its renders yvhy
they will pay five cents n half-pint for
pen'-nuts, when they can mike lots of
money by raising them at fifty cents a
bushel.
A Portsmouth mnn contracted tj
build a barn for a specified sum nnd nil
the cider he could drink. It took him
five months to build the bnru, and he
drnuk four barrels of cider.
The topers of Salem, Tnd., were con
siderable riled to see their names con
spicuously posted ill every saloon, with
orders from the town officers forbidding
any one to sell them liquor.
Mr. Trnesdell snys be never made n
otnv livi.lrre tli nn that which collapsed
at Dixon, 111., nnd sent so many people
to their death. This nemg i ne case, ni
1 better go out of tho business ut
onco.
Beforp flowering, the beet contains
from eight to ten per cent, of sugn ;
in nronortion as the peed forms the
sugar disnppenrs, so much so that, when
the seed is ripe, there is no trace of su
gar in the beet.
A mnn who had his new hat exchnnged
for an old one in a barber s shop adver
tises, thnt unless it is returned he will
forward to the wife ot tne person v no
took it the letter found concealed iu
the lining of the old one.
A poor widow, now living in tho
southern part of Delaware, lins hail
plevpn children, seven of whom were
terribly nfllicb d, being denf nnd dumb,
nnd most of them, in addition, .lmost
as weak in mind as idiots.
The farmers of Carroll county. Town,
passed the following pithy resolution
the other day : " Resolved, that the in
crease of Congressional salaries in these
linrd times is an uiiernal outrage ipon
the working people of the country."
A father in Massachusetts, who greyv
mnatient the other evening, nt the pro-
oiiced st.iv of nn ardent admirer of his
l.iuchter. "entered the room nnd invited
the voung mnn to remain to breakfast.
The' young man declined the invitation.
A California paper insists that 800,
old. is a liberal allowance for the ex
penses of a trip from the East, to Cali
fornia, and says that it " includes tl o
cost of transportation to and stay ut
everv one of our great scenic attrac
tions." A Western Methodist hns been col
lecting tobneco stitistios among his
brethren, lie found that eignr. leaning
members in a certain place paid iu ono
year 195 for tobacco nnd ? 5J lr tno
upport of their pastor, nnd were too
poor to take a religious paper.
It is said that when a man is perfectly
helpless from intoxication, ice water
poured down tlie spinal commit uiui
back will give such a shock to the ner
vous system ns to perfectly overpower
his intoxication. Tho ellect will he
that in two minutes time lie will be en
abled to walk ns welliis he ever could.
Ohio newspapers and periodicals
number 411, with an average circula
tion of from 500 to 0,118, nnd nn n-igre-srnte
animal circulation of 03,592,418. or
35 for eac' inhabitant. There are 6Ut
weeklies, 53 monthlies, 2o dailies, 10
semi-montlilies, 9 tri-weekhes, 5 semi
weeklies, 2 bi-monthlies, and 1 quar
terly. Of the Connecticut State Senators, 4
ire farmers. 5 manufacturers, 4 lawyers.
4 mu-chuuts, 1 butcher, 1 auctioneer, 1
. . .. il... nit
surveyor, ana l carpenter, ui me ts.
members of tho House, 1 lo are iarmers,
13 are l.wyers, 5 clergymen, 21 mer
chants, 6 physicians, aud the rest are
divided up among various callings and
pursuits.
Gen. Meaeham thinks Capt. Jack tho
best of tne Modocs after all. He says
he yvas the first and most persistent ad
vocate of peace, but whenever he talked
iu its favor some of the tribe would
throw a shawl over his shoulders or put
a woman's bonnet on his head, signify
ing that he was a coward ; and to their
taunts and jeers he ut last yielded.
Even burglars ore sometimes handy
to have arouud, This yvas the case the
other day at the jail ut Springfield,
when it. was found impossible to open a
locked dour. Locksmiths yvere sent for,
nnd worked hours yvithout success upon
it, and finally the sheriff called an old
burglar, who was in custody, to try his
hand at it. He opened it in a few
uiomentp.
A reporter for a Western paper, speak
ing of a certain fair creature, remarked
that "the profusion and color of her
hair would lead one to look upon it. as
though it was spun by the nimble fin
gers of the easy hours, us they glided
through the bright June days, whose
many sunny rays of light had been
caught in the meshes, and were con
tented to go no further." This is bet
ter than saying the girl's hair wus red.
It was the old fahion and not a
good fashion, either foe Congressmen
to give West Point cadet ships to the
sons of their most influential constitu
ents. In view of what we have hither'
said about political corruption, it
pleusunt to record that out of the 1
appointees now being examined for a
mission to West Point, fifty-two wer
chosen by competitive examination
The poor lad thus has as good a chonci
as the rich oue.