The Elk County advocate. (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, January 22, 1874, Image 1

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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL.111. ' IlIDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THU11SDAY, JANUARY 22, "1874. NO. 47.
Tho Sufi and tho Hart J p.
" Tho flying of the arrow
In the air (
The shifting of tl o shuttle
In tho loom ;
The sinking of the water
In the sand
The passing from the cranio
To the tomb j
Toll mo, Sufl, tell me. is it all ?
" What the bow that shootH us
Into life ?
Where the loom that throws lis
To and fro ?
Whose the hand Hint spills ub
Into death ?
What in the malting mars ns
Here below ?
0 tell nio, toll me, Hull, what it is '.
" I see the arrow tlyii'K,
Not what sends it ;
The bo it that shoots it hither,
And who bends it ;
1 see tho shuttle shifting,
X.t what throws it ;
The weaver who begun it,
And will close it !
I see the water sinking,
Not what spilis it ;
The emptied pitcher filling,
And w ho fills it ;
But where the arrow flieth,
And what the loom is weaving,
And whore tho water sinkoth
I do not see at all.
What in tho cradle lioth,
And what is it that thinketb,
And what it iB that dicth
The living and tho leaving
I do not know it all.
TeiliBps it is not, Hadje ;
Ferhaps it docs but seem
The shadow of a vanished cloud
On a troubled stream ;
What some Tower remembers tho phantom of
its Dream."
A DAY'S INCIDENTS.
by. a lady.
August 7, 183--: Past 10 p. m.
I utu very weary, but I must write
out tlufcincidents of this day while fresh
upon ltty memory. What a pleasant
ouo, wlSt a memorable tiny it has been
to me 1 4'he boys deserved it well ; how
beautifully they ncquitted themselves
at the examination of tho Grammar
School, anil how admirably they spoke
in the evening. Fred so calm, self
possessed and gentlemanly ; Charley so
bright and bunyant so full of fun ;
how his ejes sparkled and told the hu
mor in his speech long before he pro
nounced the words !
But let mo begin nt the beginning.
We rose at the break of day. Honney
nnd I washed and dresst'd them nicely.
Everything, even to the little linen
gloves that Charley hates so much, was
complete. Then we sent them to break
fast while I made my toilet.
I had just finished my cup of coffee
when the omnibus came for us, and we
left the cottage as quiet as if no one had
risen ; for every member of the house
hold would slumber long after we came
away except Honney. She, I believe,
never sleejis ; always ready, always
prompt bless you, Honney !
We reached the cars in ample tiaio ;
quite sufficient to enable Charley to get
the genealogy of a fine brown pup a
pleasai-looking farmer was taking
along with him. Theman was so pleased
with the little fellow that they chat
ted away the whole distance to Newark,
nnd it was quite pathetic to see the
farewell between them. We soon found
ourselves at the hotel in New York.
There we found friends. They wel
comed me to the city once more ; ad
mired my boys greatly. Wasn't I hap
py ? Iiut, poor rustic that I am, I could
not enjoy their conversation, the noise
was so great, the confusion so intolera
ble. Who would believe one could be
come so truly uncitified iu eighteen
short months t
I absolutely trembled when I found
myself once more in Broadway, but I
noon got into the vortex, and whirled
cn like the rest. Such shopping ! That
Charley ! how he bobbed in ami bobbed
out stopping now at this window
then in the middle of the pavement to
admire " a noble span of horses " then
to be jostled, pushed here, then there,
while they laughed till they cried at a
monkey which on organ-grinder was
carrying fcbout ! And 1, as bad as they,
was equally amused at the cunning
creature, till on looking up, I saw two
gentlemen apparently enjoying our ver
dancy as much as we did the wonderful
tricks of the monkey. At last we tore
ourselves away. Poor rustics, we do
not see a monkey every day 1
Who should I see coming out of the
Btoro but Mrs. W , as usual, charm
ingly dressed. She looked me full in
the face, and her eyes fell, while I was
on the point of rushing up to her with
open arms. Simpleton that I am, to
forget we have lost so much money in
these commercial boulcverscments as to
be obliged to retire to tho country to
economize. Besides, how could she
speak to mo at that time of day in
Broadway ? me, little rustic, in my
black silk dress, plain bonnet, and sim
ple black scarf. To be sure, I had neat
gloves and boots on : more than she
had with all her finery. Ske never was
complete in the fullest dress ; always
something wanting. Fool that I was,
to feel such a heartache because I was
not remembered by a fashionable
woman. How could I expect her to re
member that my house had been open
to her at all hours ; how she had walked
in and out, drinking and eating, and
using my carriage as if it had been her
own. To be sura, she wrote me a long
note after we went to the country to
ask how large a house wo had ; what
sort of company, rides, walks, and all
that. But when I answered that our
house was a cottage, pleasant and
v roomy, but with no spare bedrooms ;
t&st I had too much to do at home to be
able to judge of the society about me ;
that I was busy preparing my hennery, I
never heard from her again. Heigh-ho,
it is sad to be forgotten thus ! One's
vanity is not gratified at finding we were
valued for our money and clothes. Thus
I moralized as we w ent np Broadway.
We were going to a toy-shop. Who
should be there but Mrs. C . She
was busy selecting some fancy article.
I had just received one lesson, nnd I
am a very npt scholar. So she looked
at me as 'if she had never Been me be
fore in all her life ; and I looked ns
calmly nt her. Could sho have for
gotten that dreary night when her sav
age, drunken husband turned her into
the street, nud she took refnge wiih me;
and how 1 wept for her mortification,
and took her down to the boat at early
dawn, loaning her money to get off to
her friends at Philadelphia, before the
Uppertendom could get hold of the
circumstance ? As we anticipated, we
mystified them nil until a peace was
patched up. Well, perhaps she does
right not to remember such disagreeable
contretemps; but I could never have
overlooked such acts of kindness.
Happy those who enn wipe off their
memories as a schoolboy docs his slate I
I wonder if their consciences aro as
tractable!
She was looking at a box of games
the very thing we had come after, and
the last one in the store. However, I
said nothing, while Charley selected his
marbles those many-colored alleys ;
Fred took a top, and his share of "these
beauties ;" and I chose a light carriage
whip which I shall want for use when
wo drive into town. Charley "could
carry it finely," he said. Then we must
get a small china tea set for Dolly's
" tea fights," the commission from the
little girls. All this while Mrs. C
lingered over the box, but in truth
watching me. At last sho said in her
deprecating tone of voice
" Oh, Mr. Boufanti, yon ask too
much for this box, I positively cannot
take it ;" and she pushed the box away.
"I'll take it, if you please, Mr. Bon
fanti," said I, laying the full price
down.
ne wrapped it up, and ns we left the
store Fred whispered, " Oh, mamma,
how very angry that lady looked I"
It seemed that I was doomed to bo
"cut'' on all sides this day. Rose Y
passed by just as we left the store ; but
her vail required fixing when she saw
me. I do not wonder nt that, for her
father caused my husband to lose ten
thousand dollars. He failed ; so did
we. He etill lives in great style in his
up-town house, and we in a cottage in
the country, having given up everything
to pay our debts. I wonder how she
would net if I reminded her that she
never paid me the advance I made to
enable her to settle her bill nt Newport
summer before last. I'll write to her
to-morrow just for the fun of the thing.
Goldsmith says, " If you can con
fess your poverty tho severity of the
sting is partly removed," I'll try the
prescription. I was rich then, and had
money to loan ; now it is supposed, and
rightly too, that tnere is nothing more
to be got out of us. "N'importc," said
I ; money never gave me hnppiness.
Adversity, like the venomous tond, has
a jewel in her head," and I have learned
many excellent lessons by its light, for
which I am very thankful, so I will not
look ngain at any one as I walk this
day, and I shall prevent them from com
promising themselves.
Wo then went into a book-store,
bought the "Arabian Nights," and a
book of fairy tales for the long winter
evenings ; then to the dry goods store
for tapes, needles, cotton, etc. See Ex
pense Book. We then returned to tho
hotel and lunched. How could we leave
tho cily without going down to the Bat
tery ?"
Loug we walked, and looked, nud
took in the benutiful scene for memory
to paint ; at least for me, for many a
day when probably I may be making
bread or feeding chickens. Well, sup
pose it does intrude, what then ? It
would be more beautiful from the con
trast to the employment. What a fool
I nm to think so repiningly of matters
and tilings. When I lived in the city I
thought it vulgar to be seen on the Bat
tery ; nnd now, because my eyes are
open to the exquisite charms of nature,
I hate to confess to myself that I am
wiser and happier for it. Heigh-ho! we
are strangely made.
We walked down leisurely to the
boat for Jersey City. What a number
of bundles we had, to be sure. I never
could have believed it till they were
collected ; but by filling my pocket,
the boys' pockets and their hats, and
dividing the parcels between u, we
got along nicely. I really would have
pardoned any of the upper ten for not
acknowledging me as we went down to
the boat. I looked very liko a " hewer
of wood and a drawer of water " with
my arms full but they were all paid
for ; that wis something.
Early as it was, the boat was nearly
full. However, we got seats. At the
end of the bench nearest to Charley sat
a very fine-looking really handsome
gentleman, reading a newspaper. I
thought I had time to take a peep at
Jane's letter. If I had had it on tho
Battery, what a nice place It would
have been to have read about the
Tulleries and Paris ; but I received it
after our return to the hotel. I thought,
"Now I'll just take a peep." It was
fivo minutes to the starting-time. I
had reached the bottom of the page.
She was telling me of the annoyances
sho had with the crabbed old man, her
husband. "That's for marrying for
money."
. I looked up, and Master Charley was
off. "Fred, where's your brother?"
said I. How could Fred know ? He
was deep in one of the " Nights " he
was far away in Araby the Blest.
' Now," said I, " you must mind the
bundles while I go and hunt him up."
After pushing and "please ma'am-ing,"
and " thank you, siring " through the
crowd, I found the chap perched up on
somebody's carriage that was going
over in the boat, and trying the
efficiency of the new carriage-whip. I
coaxed him down, and got him safely
back, and placed myself between him
and Fred, and resumed my letter. Jane
gets the value of the postage in writing,
if nothing else.
Jane was telling me in the letter of a
cruel piece of scandal about a poor
girl, and begging me to contradict it.
Ah, Jane, those days are gone when a
lie, if I could condescend to tell one,
was as holy as truth; but now holy
truth would have to be substantiated
by the money-bag. A man's veraoity
is in ratio to the money he has in bank.
When I got to the bottom ef the page,
Charley was off whip and all.
" Fred," said I, " do give np your
book, nnd attend to these bundles,
while I hunt up that tiresome brother
ngain."
By this time we were half across tho
riyer. There h was, cracking the whip
ond " gee-ing " at the horses. I had a
stout battle to get him off, and if it had
not been for fear ef losing the bundle
of mixed candy we were carrying home,
he would have remained in spite of me.
Master Charley becomes a sort of a
tyrant under such circumstances, par
ticularly when a horse is concerned.
However, we got back to our seats.
"Now, Charley," said I, "if you
leave me ngnin I shall not bring you to
the city for many months. Keep still,
that's a dear child. Suppose I should
have to hunt you up when we get
ashore, wo shall lose the cars, nnd how
frightened they will be about us at
home."
" Oh, do let me go back and see tho
horses again ! I'll wnit for you there,"
he pleaded.
" You could not wait for mo ; the
crowd would probably push you over
board, my child. Now be a good
boy 1"
The fine-looking gentleman was fold
ing up his newspaper.
" Madam," he said, " if yon will al
low me, I'll take charge of our little
friend to see the horses, nnd I will meet
you as you leave tho boat. I'll take
care of him."
Before I could answer, Chnrlcy had
him by the hand, and I saw them push
ing through the crowd, as if they had
known each other all their lives. On
stepping ashore they were waiting for
us.
" Thank you, sir," said I, " for your
great kindness. Now, Charley, tako
your parcels, and let us get into tho
cars.
" Permit me," he snid ; I can relieve
you of a few of them."
And he calmly took two of the larg
est, and walked on before us. We fol
lowed. " Well," thought I, "if you are
so polite, it will, indeed, assist me ;" so
we got into the cars.
"Madam," he said, "have you bought
your tickets ?"
" I always buy the tickets 1" answered
Charley. " Come, mamma, come 1"
"No, no," he replied; "you and I
will go, then, and get the tickets."
I watched them to the ticket-office.
How many bows he received many
gentlemen shaking him by the hand so
respectfully Who could he be? They
returned slowly. Two boys were finish
ing a game of marbles. Charley could
not pass them without trying one of his
bright "alleys." So there he stood,
looking down tipon the three boys, as
deeply concerned in the game as they
were, his thumbs in his armholes. What
a very noble-looking man he is 1
" All aboard 1" and they entered the
cars.
" Who beat ?" asked Fred.
"I did," said Charley; "but I gave
the boy a green alley ; he asked me for
it."
I had kept two seats, for we were
not very crowded. He gave me the
tickets.
" Thank you, sir !" I exclaimed. " I
scarcely know how to express to you
my gratitude for your kind assistance."
" None is necessary," he answered.
" It is quite refreshing to have such a
bright, manly little companion as this.
How old is he ?"
" He will soon bo seven," I replied.
" He is a noble little fellow !" he
said. " It is a long while since I have
watched a game of marbles with so
much interest. We do, indeed, put
away childish things as we grow old."
" Just so," said I. "What a blessing
it wuold be to us if, when we reached
our second childhood, we could carry
the zest for its pleasure along with its
helplessness."
1 could not avoid looking at a very
old man whom a grandchild, apparent
ly, was trying to amuse just in front of
us.
" How hard the lesson is to learn to
know how to grow old wisely and grace
fully," he said, and seemed to muse
for a few moments. " You have your
boys at school somewhere out here,
have you not ? Charley tells me he got
his trip to the city to-day because he
had learned his speech so well.'
" Yes, sir," I replied ; " they are at
Grammar school. It is an excellent
one, being kept by a well-educated and
able man from Edinburgh. Happy
for me he is a Scotchman, or I fear I
should be separated from my boys, my
husband seems so desirous of sending
them abroad."
" Why should you object to that ?" he
asked.
" I navo my own ideas about educa
tion," said I ; "I think it is as much
obtained at tho domestic; fireside as in
the school-room ; there is nothing like
the memcry of homo influences for a
man."
We continued the topic for a short
time Charley, in the meanwhile, was
emptying his pocket into my lap.
" Mamma," he said, " do yon believe
I have only one penny left !
"How many had you, Chnrlcy?"
asked the gentleman.
"I had fifty-nine, sir."
" How did you get them ?" he asked.
"I worked for them," answered
Charley, " hoeing potatoes and pulling
up weeds. Mamma pays us six cents
an hour ; but I never could work very
long ; and then, you know, we must
have luncheon, and I spend most of my
pennies for cake 1"
" Stop, Charley,' said Fred, " you
meant to say molasses candy. We take
cake always from home."
"That's right, my son," said the
stranger, " be ever exact and particular
in all your statements. Love truth
next to your mother."
"Mamma says," answered Charley,
" we must love it before father and
mother and all."
" She is right," he said, "You should
love her the more for her teaehing you
such an exoellent lesson. Now, what
are you going to do with that one penny,
Charley?"
" Spend it as soon as I get a chance,"
replied Charley.
How he laughed ! After a few moments
he said :
" Suppose I tell you what I did with
a penny once, how long I kept it, and
what it did for me. Shall I tell you ?"
" Oh, do !" cried both boys. " We
do love tales so much. Mamma tells us
one every evening."
" Mamma must have a fertilo brain,
I'm thinking, to find sufficient novelty
to nmuso the minds of two such active
fellows ns you are," he replied.
"Oh I" said Charley, "she tells us
she has ft wind-mill in her head, nnd
can grind a new one every time wo want
one."
Then he laughed merrily. " But let
me go on with my story," said he. " I
wns very small then younger than you
are, Charley. I was on my way to
school one morning when I had to pass
a field in which a rich farmer who
owned it was trying to catch a horse. I
stood looking over the fence, nnd laugh
ing at the tricks of the horse.
" Boy,' said he, 'if yoa will catch
thnt horse I'll pay you.'
" So I put my books down nnd went
to work. Bound I ran, down there, np
here, shook the corn, crept up softly,
.went behind, then before, chased him
into a corner, and the old man and I
were then sure we had him ; but nwny
he went over the fence, and 1 after him.
About a mile from where we started two
men caught him for me, lent me a
halter, and I rode him home. By this
time the morning was gone and I had
not been to school.
" ' Come bacit,' said the farmer, 'and
I'll pay you in the afternoon.'
" I went on to school. The master
asked where I had been playing
hookey, nnd I told him about tho horse.
Then didn't I ' catch it,' Do you ever
catch it,' Charley?"
" I guess I do 1 answered Charley ;
"but Fred don't often."
"Well, I caught it. 'But never mind,'
snid I to myself, ' I shall have some
money to buy a book. I wanted it very
much. I loved books as much as Fred
does. So I dried my eyes. We carried
our dinners to school, my brother nnd
I ; but I had no appetite after I ' caught
it.' "
" Oh 1" said Charley, with snch an
air, " I don't mind it so much as that."
The gentleman positively shouted, he
was so much amused.
"Well," he continued, wiping his
eyes, " the school was out, and we all
went our different paths home. My
brother went with me to the old farm
er's ; and what do you think he gave
me? Mind you, I had run all the
morning till I was almost sick, and had
' caught it ' besides, Charley ; and ho
.gave me how much, Fred ?"
"A shilling an hour," answered
Fred, in his business way.
"Five dollars," said Charley.
" He gave me one penny, with a hole
in it!"
" Oh, the mean old scamp! Didn't
you slap it into his face ?" asked Char
ley. " No, indeed ; pennies were not so
very plentiful in my youthful days as
to allow that. I tooklt home nnd put
it away carefully. How long do you
suppose I was getting pennies together
to buy that book ?"
" About a month," said Charley. "I
could mako two dollars a month if
mamma did not count so strictly ; but
she will have the whole hour.
" Certainly," he answered ; she is
right to keep to her bargain. I was
just ten years saving up penny after
penny before I could get my book. But
I got it at last, and you don't know how
much I valued it ; much more than if I
had exercised less self-discipline.
Many a time I would count my pennies
and say, ' I never shall have enough to
buy my book. I might as well spend
this now ;' but my good angel would
say 'No!' and I would withstand the
temptation, and so add soon another
penny. What book do you suppose it
was ?"
" A bible," said Fred.
" No. There were always plenty of
bibles iu our house, thank God!"
" Robinson Crusoe," said Charley.
" No," he answered, "I never had a
chance of reading Nobinson Crusoe till
my son and I read it together. Books
were very scarce when I was young. It
was a Horace. Do you know who
Horace was ?"
"Yes, sir,' said Fred. He was a
poet, protected by Augustus ; he had
for friends Mrecenas, Tibullus, Yirgil
and others. He was a great man. His
satires are the best of his works."
" Well done, my little man," nn
sweied the gentleman.
" Pshaw," said Charley, " he did not
learn that at school. Mamma teaches
him all such things. That ain't book
learning 1"
now the gentleman laughed.
" Madam," he said, " I congratulate
you upon the great probability of your
pre-eminent success in making two
good men. Why should our men not
be great and good with such mothers ?
Borne could not boast of such women
as ours ; a few isolated acts do indeed
show somo bright characters. Ono
thing we know ; when her decline be
gan, tho fiast exhibition of it to the
world was in the loss of dignity in her
women. But we we must be a great
nation with such women as we have
even now in this our youth. My mo
ther was a great and a good woman.
Continue, madam, and reap your re
ward." "I accept your compliment," said I,
" for the rest of my sex ; but for my
self, I feel that I cannot yet deserve it,
for my experience is young ; but as 1
advance I shall grow wiser."
A l. , DVD1UGU no i pcaaiuJ IU
himself), " my mother was not highly
eaucateu, Dut sne had strong excellent
sense she was a good woman.",
" Looking at you," I answered, " I
should think she was something of a
Madame Mere."
" You have hit it. And fche loved
pennies as well as the lady you men
tion, because she had early been taught
their value by experience. But she
cannot boast of a Bonaparte for a son
except iu the lovo I bear for her as
great as was his for Madame Letitia."
" Perhaps not. But she has a Chris
tian and a good man, I am sure, for a
son," said I ; " and tkat is better than
all the glory and renown."
" Oh," suid Charley, " I've been go
ing several times to ask your name."
"Why, Charley I" exclaimed Fred.
" How very rude i" ,
" True, he answered, " bmt very
honest. My name is my name is
Tom Thumb."
More likely," said Charley, "Jack
the Giant Killer. I shall call you
Jack."
" Do," he replied, and laughed most
heartily. " I like the name of Jack it
is so innocent."
And thus we chatted away till nt last
we reached our station. John with the
carriage was waiting for us. I delivered
to him all our numerous parcels, nnd
then turned to our kind gentleman,
saying :
"You must not allow me to depart
without knowing to whom I owe so
much pleasure for such a very pleas
ant ride, nnd such great kindness as
you have shown me." I then gave him
my card. " We reside," I continued,
"on the room above, in a neat, roomy
and comfortable cottngo ; and if at any
time you are passing this way, I need
not say I should be so very happy to
offer you some little civility all we
have in our power in return for your
exceeding kindness to ns. Fred nnd
Charley, you will thank this kind gen
tleman, I am sure."
" That we will !" they cried. "Thank
yon, sir 1 thank you, sir I"
And Charley stepped up and touched
his rosy lips to his hand. He looked
around, and placing it on tho boy's
head, said:
" Heaven bless you, my boy ! Love
your mother I Madam, you are very
kind. I am a bettor and happier man
for this little episode in my life. It has
done me good. Here is my card ; and
if nt a future day I can serve you, or
either of your boys, call freely upon
me. This afternoon's ride will not be
forgotten, I assure you."
He assisted me into the carriage ; the
boys were there before me. I looked
out as we started ; he smiled and kissed
his hand. I turned up the card and
there I read
Daniel Webster.
A Handy Dream.
Our readers.says the Evansville (Ind.)
Journal, will remember the case of the
recovery of a watch and tho arrrst of
the thief, who stole it from a Union
township farmer some months ago,
through a dream of the farmer's wife.
Strange as the case appears a lady who
lives in Warwick county, near the Spen
cer county line, on the Evansvillo and
Kockport stage road, has more than
matched it by a dream through which
she defeated a thief in an attempt to
rob her house. Several weeks ngo tho
lady, who has numerous relatives in
this city and Bockport, dreamed that a
man came to the house and sought
lodging ; that he was taken in and put
up-stairs to sleep, but before he went
up stripped off his shoes and put them
outside the door ; during tho night he
came down stairs, robbed the house of
all its valuables, and left. The inci
dents of the dream were so vivid that
the lady was awakened, awoke her hus
band, and told him the dream, but ho
only laughed and returned to sleep.
This singular dream was repeated twice
during the same night, and each time
she awoke her husband and was laughed
at. After several days the lady thought
perhaps she deserved to be laughed at,
and in a couple of weeks forgot all
about her dream. One evening after
the husband had been to town and re
ceived a considerable sum of money a
man came to the house opplying for
lodging, was received, and after a good
supper was shown a room, without a
thought of the dream recurring to the
lady until she was startled by discover
ing tho shoes of the stranger in exactly
the position she had seen the shoes in
her dream, and then she remembered
that he was in almost every particular
the man of the dream. Again she sought
her husband, and reckless of his deri
sive laughter, told him her fears. This
time she was not laughed at. The hus
band mounted guard, and at a late hour
the strange mau came creeping down
stairs, fulfilling the dream in his man
ner, and with a dark lantern in his baud,
was making an examination of the lower
rooms. One of the first things he saw
was the husband with a gun iu his hand,
and the first thing he heard was a de
mand to " git." His prompt obedience
spoiled the perfect fulfillment of tho
dream, but it elevated the wife to a
place in her husband's estimation even
higher than that she had previously oc
cupied, and it is pretty certain that she
will never bo laughed at for another
dream.
An Earnest raster.
" Burleigh," speaking of the personal
and pecuniary attractiveness of the pas
torship of .the Madison Square Presby
terian Church, says of Dr. Duryea, who
has declined the call : " He is greatly
attached to his people, and considers
his enterprise a sort of experiment that
he is quite unwilling to abandon. His
Brooklyn church is not rich. Still he
has a salary of 87,000. He is a pastor
of all work. He conducts the music,
often leaves the pulpit to play the or
gan, and has really been the chief en
gineer of his sooiety from the start. To
leave it will greatly endanger its pros-
Eerity. But he is not rich ; large as
is salary is, it does not support him,
and a call to the foremost church of
New York is not only honorable, but
very seductive."
A Pleasant Game.
One of the barbaric games handed
down to the Romans from time imme
morial has just been forbidden by the
authorities. It was too provocative of
an appeal to the knife. The game was
called Fassatella. The party chose a
King and entered a wine-shop. Jacu
man was obliged to call and pay for a
certain quantity of wine, but no one
might drink without permission of the
King. II lie Happened to be a tvranni
eal fellow, or had a secret grudge
against ene of the party, he would ret
ona or more of them furious, especially
us me resi exuited always in the dis
comfiture of their less lortuaate com.
panions. Most of the serious quarrels
at tho wine-cellars were traced to this
game, but hosts and customers are
alike indignant at its suppression,
Complimentary. He " Don't you
think, now, these are vewydweawy par
ties, where the only parties one meets
are parties one never knows ?" She
" Not more dweawy than other nawties.
where the only ones one knows are no
ones.
Giants.
Tho body of Orestes, according to tie
Greeks, was eleven feet and a half ; the
giant Galbara, brought from Arabia to
liome under Claudius Crcsar, was near
ten feet : and tho bones of Secondilla
and Pufio, keepers of the gardens of
Sallnst, were but six inches shorter.
Funnam, a Scotchman, who lived in
tho time of Eugene the Second, King
of Scotland, measured eleven feet and a
half; and Jacob le Mcire, iu his voy
age to the Straits of Magellan, reports
that on the 17th of December, 1G15,
they found at Port Desire several
graves covered with stones ; and hav
ing the curiosity to remove the stones,
they discovered human skeletons of ten
and eleven feet long.
The Chevalier Scory in his voyage to
tho peak of Xeneriffe, says that they
found in one of the sepulchral caverns
of that mountain, the head of a Gaun-
t he, which had eighty teeth, and that
tho body was not less than ntteen teet
The giant l erragus, slam by Urianuo,
nephew of Charlemagne, was eighteen
feet high.
ltoland, a celebrated anatomist, who
wrote iu 1G11, Bays that, some years
before, there was to be seen in the
suburbs of St. Germain, tho tomb of
the giant Isoret, who was twenty feet
high.
In llouen, m lu09, in digging in the
ditches near the Dominicans, they
found a stone tomb containing a skele
ton, whose skull held a bushel of corn,
and whose shin bone reached up to tho
girdle of tho tallest man there, being
about four feet long, and consequently
the body must have been seventeen or
eighteen feet high. Upon the tomb
was a plate of copper, whereon was en
graved, "In this tomb lies tne nobie
and puissant lord, tho Chevalier Eicon
de Yallemont, and his bones." Plate
rus, a famous physician, declares that
he saw at .Lucerne the true human
bones of a subject which must have
been at least nineteen feet high.
Valence in Dauphine boasts of pos
sessing the bones of the giant Bucart,
tyrant of the Vivarais, who was slain
by an arrow by the Count de Cabillon,
his vassal. The Dominicans had a
part of the shin-bone, with the articula
tion of the knee, nnd his figure painted
in fresco, with an inscription showing
thnt this giant was twenty-two feet and
a half high, and that his bones were
found in 1705 near the bauks of the
Morderi, a little river at the foot of the
mouatain of Crussolupon which, tradi
tion says, the giant dwelt.
January 11, 1G13. some masons dig
ging near the ruins of a castlo in
Dauphine, in a field which by tradition
had long been called tho Giant's Field,
at the depth of eighteen feet discovered
a brick tomb thirty feet long, twelve
feet wide, and eight feet high, on
which was a gray stone, with the words
Thentobochus Bex cut thereon. When
the tomb was opened they found a
human skeleton entire twenty-five feet
and a half long, ten feet wide across the
shoulders, and five feet deep from tie
breast-bone to the back. His teeth
were about the size each of an ox's
foot, and his shin-bone measured four
feet.
Near Mezarino. in Sicily, in 1510,
was found a giant thirty feet high ; his
head was the size of a hogshead, and
each of his teeth weighed five ouncps.
Near Palermo, in the valley of Maz-
ara, in Sicily, a skeleton of a giant
thirty feet loug was found in the year
1518, and another of thirty-three feet
high in 1550 ; and many curious per
sons have preserved several of these
gigantio bones.
The Athenians found near their city
two famous skeletons, ono of thirty-
four and the other of thirty-six feet
high.
At lotu, in Bohemia, in 7o8, was
found a skeleton, the head of which
could scarce be encompassed by tho
arms of two men together, and whose
legs, which they still keep in the caetlo
of that city, were twenty-six feet long.
The skull of the giant found in Mace
donia, September, 1(591, held 210
pounds of corn.
The celebrated Sir Hans Sloane, who
treated this matter very learnedly, does
not doubt these facts, but thinks the
bones were those of elephants, whales,
or other enormous animals.
Elephants' bones may be shown for
those of giants, but they never can lm
pose on connoisseurs.
Whales, which by their immenso bulk
aro more proper to be substituted for
the largest giants, have neither arms or
legs ; and the head of that animal has
not the least resemblance to that of a
nn. If it be true, that a great num.
berof the gigantio bones which wo have
mentioned nave keen seen by anato
mists, and have by them been reputed
real human bones, tne existence of
giants is proved.
The Corn and Potato Crop.
The Xational Crop Reporter pub
lishes a final summary of the corn and
potato crops of laid, iu Illinois, In
diana. Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin, Min
nesota. Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee,
compared with the crop of 1872. Tho
i i,..l.l : 4i. csii-
1UDS 111 UUDUC1D Ul W1U 111 blieatS QlttlCB
is in round numbers as follows:
Illinois 114.200,000
Iudiana 12.000,000
Iowa 30.800,000
Kansas 14.500,000
Minnesota 1.600,000
Missouri 20,600.000
Ohio 20,000,000
Wisconsin 1,600,000
Tennessee 0.600,000
Total 241,200,000
The aggregate yield for 1873 in the
States named is 514,000,000 bushels
ncrdinst 756.000.000 in 1872.
The potato crop in the States named
shows a loss in rouna numoers in dusu
els as. follows:
Illinois 6,000.000
Iowa 4.000,000
Kinxas 2,300,000
Minnesota ,000
Misiouri . l,400,00o
Ohio 1,400,000
Wisconsin 1.100,000
Indian l,30O,0U0
A total of 18,100,000
Tha Dororecata cron in these States
was, for 1872, 47,000,000 bushels, and
for 10Y3, 23,UUU,WU DUBUeiB.
The Steamer Vlrglnlus,
Menage of President Grant to the t'ntted
State Congress.
Washington. January 6. The Presi
dent to-day sent the following message
to the Senate and House of Represen
tatives: In my annual message of December
last I gave reason to expect that when
the full and accurate text of the corres
pondence relative to the Bteamer Vir
ginius, which had been telegraphed in
cipher, should be received, the papers
concerning the capture of the vessel,
the execution of a part of its passengers
nnd crew, and the restoration of the
ship and the survivors would be trans
mitted to Congress in compliance with
the expectations then held out. I now
transmit the papers and correspondence
on that subject.
Un the twenty-sixth day of Septem
ber, 1870, the Virginius was registered
in tne Custom-house at JNew lork as the
property of a citizen of the United
States, he having first made oath ns re
quired by law that he was the true nnd
only owner of the said vessel, and that
there was no subject or citizen of any
foreign prince or state, directly or iadi
rectly, by way of trust, confidence, or
otherwise, interested therein. Having
complied with the requisites of the
statute in that behalf, she cleared in
the usual way for the port of Curacoa,
and ou or about the fourth day of Octo
ber, 1870, sailed for that port. It is
not disputed that she made the voyage
according to her clearance, nor that
from that day to this she has not re
turned within the territorial jurisdic
tion of tho United States. It is also
understood that she preserved her
American papers, and that when within
foreign ports sho made the practice of
putting forth claim to American nation
ality, which was recognized by the
authorities at such ports.
When, therefore, sue lelt tne port of
KiuSston in October laBt under the flag
of the United States, she would appear
to have had, as against all powers ex
cept the United States, the right to fly
that flag and to claim its protection as
enjoyed by all regularly documented
vessels, registered as part of our com
mercial marine. No state of war ex
isted conferring upon a maritime power
the right to molest and detain upon the
high seas a documented vessel, and it
cannot be pretended that the Virginius
had placed herself without the pale of
all law by acts of piracy against the
human race. If. her papers were irreg
ular or fraudulent the offense was ono
against the laws of tho United States,
justifiable only in their tribunals.
When, tlierelore, it became known that
tho Virginius had been captured on the
high seas by a Spanish man-of-war, that
tho American flag had been hauled
down by the captors, that tho vessel
had been carried to a Spanish port, and
that Spanish tribunals were taking
jurisdiction over the persons of those
found on her and exercising that -juris
diction upon American citizens, not
only in violatian of internatioual law
but in contravention of the provisions
of the treaty of 1795, I directed a de
mand to be made upon Spain for the
restoration of the vessel and for the re
turn of the survivors to the protection
of the United States, for a salute to the
Bag, and for the punishment of the
offending parties.
The principles upon which these de
mands rested could not be seriously
questioned ; but it was suggested by the
Spanish Government that there were
grave doubts whether the Virginius was
entitled to the character given her by
her papers, and that therefore it might
be proper for the United States after
the surrender of the vessel and the sur
vivors to dispense with the salute to the
flag, should such facts bo established to
their satisfaction. This seemed to bo
reasonable and just. I therefore as
sented to it, on the assurance that Spaiu
would then declare that no insult to the
flag of the United States had been in
tended. I also authorized an agree
ment to be made that should it be shown
to the satisfaction of this Government
that the Virginius was improperly bear
ing the flag proceedings should be in
stituted in our courts for tho punish
ment of the ollense committed against
the United States. On her part, Spain
undertook to proceed against those who
had offended the sovereignty of the
United States or who had violated their
treaty rights. The surrendering of the
vessel and the survivors to the jurisdic
tion of the tribunals of the United
States was an admission of the princi
ples upon which our demand has been
founded. 1 therefore had no hesitation
in agreeing to the arrangements finally
made between the two governments.
an arrangement which was moderate
and just, and calculated to cement the
good relations which have so long ex
isted between Spain and the United
States.
Under this agreement the Virginius,
with the American flag flying, was de
livered to the Navy of the United States
at lsahia Honda, in the island of Cuba,
on the 16th ult.
She was in an unseaworthy condition
in the passage to New York. She en
countered one of the most tempestuous
of our winter storms. At the risk of
their lives the officers and crew placed
in charge of her attempted to keep her
afloat. Their efforts were unavailing
and she sunk off Cape Fear. The pris
oners who survived the massacres were
surrendered at Santiago de Cuba on the
18th ult., and reached the port of New
York in safety. The evidenco sub
mitted on the part of Spaiu to establish
the fact that the Virginius at the time
of her capture was improperly bearing
the flag of the United States is trans
mitted herewith, together with the
opinion of the Attorney-General thereon
and a copy of the note of the Spanish
Minister, expressing on behalf of his
Government a disclaimer of any intent
of indignity to the flag of the United
States.
(Signed) U. S. Grant.
A little daughter of E. P. Terhuue
died in Newark in consequence of hav
ing had her nervous system shocked a
year ago by a fright. While rambling
through the woods at the country resi
dence of her father, a little friend
jumped suddenly, upon her from a
clump of bushes and frightened her so
badly that she never recovered from it.
r