1 1 HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. . .',.;. ., .NIL PESPEBAKDTJM. ' .' " '. ' ' Two Dollars per Annum. . YOL. IV. IlIDOWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1874. NO. 8. Night. O night I most beautiful, most rare I Thou glv'st the hoaveus their hollnr-thue Anil through tho azure fields of air Brings 't down the aznro dew! Tor thon, with breathless lips apart. Pid'Bt stand iu that dim ago o far, Aud hold upon that trembling heart SlessinVs horald star! For this I love thy hallowed roign ! For more than thrice blosncd thou art ! Thou gainst the unbeliever's brain By entering at bis heart. THE DOUBLE ESCAPE. In the fall of tho ye ar 1812, Borne three or four months after the declara tion of war, a fleet of eight or ten smnll crnft was fitted out of Salem, by Wil liam Paul and others, intended for the Philadelphia flour trade. Among them was the schooner Fox, a little fore-and-nfter of about fifty tons. Samuel Hodg don, master Ooorge Henssler, raate an oM and experienced pilot, by the name of Eklridge, and the boy Bill, from whom, by the way, we deiive these particulars, formed her comple ment of men. Our little Fox was in ballast save in her hold snugly stowed against the bulkheads, for those were not ptrietly tempernnce times, was a barrel of American gin. Thus appoint ed the Fox topped her boom and was off, with a fair wind and agood promise of success, for a lato arrival stated that no cruisers were to bo seen in the bay. On the fourth morning they found themselves off Great Egg Harbor and, much to their chagrin, in the close neighborhood of a strange sloop-of-war. Running nway was ont of the question and in answer to one or two rather pressing invitations, by a messenger not over particular in regard to forms and ceremonies, tho Fox hauled her wind aud stood for her uuwelaome neighbor. " Nabbed, by Jupiter 1" said the old pilot, squirting a small cataract of to bacco juice to leeward, as he saw a boat put off from the sloop-of-war filled with men. In a few moments Capt. Hodgdon had the pleasure of being told that he was a prize to his Britannic Mijesty's sloop-of-war Prometheus, of seveteen guns, and that tho ompany of himself and mate was particularly requested on board. With as good a grace as could be mustered tho requisition was com plied with, and tho captain and mate repaired on board. With the consent of the commander tho captain and mate were permitted to go on board their own vessel for the , night, which was in charge of a middy ' nnd nine men. During the night tho two vessels were to lay off and on in the harbor, close iu company, although with such a force on board the schooner of -lourse not the least suspicion was entertained of an attempt to recap turo. Not relishing, however, the idea of making so unprofitable a voyage nor of seeing their.little craft burned and themselves prisoners if it were not, Henssler, the mate, and the boy Bill laid their heads together to retake the schooner. Bather a formidable under taking, it must bo confessed, with ten armed muu on board and the guns of the sloop-of-war, like sleeping thunder, frowning upon them. Undeterred by the almost hopelessness of their task, Henssler and the boy arranged the plot, giving the captain and the pilot u hint of their intentions, which they readily acquiesced in. Tho night set in and our determined fellows set about tho accomplishment of their work. At this time the two vessels, having made considerable off ing, were lying to the sloop-of-war under reefed topsails, and the schooner immediately under her guns, with her helm lashed a-lee, her foro and mainsail trimmed close aft, and her jib hauled to windward. About 8 o'clock Hens sler and tho pilot turned in, while the" captain aud middy sat chatting together in tho cabin over n dim light the boy Bill in the meantime being on deck with the sloop-of-war's men, who wera lounging around the windlass, cracking jokes, telling long yarns, listening ap parently with the greatest interest to the stories of old salts. " I say," said one of them, as ho woundup his yarn, "you have been sitting there chuckling this half hour bad manuers to you can't you do something toward helping out the even ing's entertainment ?" " What can I do ?" was Bill's laugh ing reply. "Have you a ping of tobacco about you, youngster? I have been on short ullowance of tarred rope for two months." " I have no tobacco," said Bill ; " if I could get at the skipper's chest, I might smuggle a bite for you. But I tell you what," he added, lowering his voice, "there'o a barrel of gin on board, aud if you'd like to whet your whistle!', I guess I can hook a drop. The old man won't mind it, seeing he is"goiug to get clear to-morrow. Will that do?" Of course this proposition received the eager asueut of all hands. A bucket and dipper were soon found, the hatches silently removed, and Bill crept slyly down the hold after the coveted liquor, the men in the meantime raising their voices in conversation in order to drown any noise that Bill might make m se curing the prize. After a while he ap peared with the bucket full of gin, and a hearty swig was taken all around. It may be supposed that such a good op portunity was not permitted to pass un improved, and the "main brace" was "spliced" pretty often. After a while the bucket being dry, more than one hint was given that a fresh nip would not be disagreablo. Bill demurred at first ; but by repeated urging at last reluctantly consented to bring on another bucket. It was brought, emptied and replenished again. In fact Bill plied them bo brisk ly with liquor that, though not pver strong, before long they were all in a comfortable state of somnolency. Having assured himself that there was no danger to be apprehended from his late boon companions, Bill ciept aft and giving a preconcerted signal, Henssler left bis berth and sauntered on deck, with only a part of his 'dress on for fear of exciting the suspicion of the middy, who sat hall dozing over some newspapers which the captain had furnished mm. The first object of the mate and tho young conspirator was to secure the arms of the sleepers, by which time the pilot ulso came on deck". With his assistance the men were bound and bundled down the foro peak. This accomplished, the captain, who had ft hint of the progress of affairs, immediately addressed tlio astonished middy at tho same time very coolly taking a brace of pistols from the capa cious pocket of his pea-iacket and cock ing them saying he " hoped he would make himself as comfortable as he could, for bo was his prisoner 1" nt the same time begging to be excused if he left him for the present to his own medi tations, as duty called him on deck. We cannot stop to describe the wonder of our middy at this unexpected speech. Suffico it that, seeing how affairs had turned, he submitted as philosophically as ho could, while the captain went on deck, fastening his safe prize-master below. It was now getting toward midnight. So far everything had succeeded well ; but the worst was yet to come. How to get away from the sloop-of-war was their next study. The schooner, as we have said, was lying in close proximity to her guns, and if she attempted to es cape one broadside would blow her to atoms. Their first endeavor was to in crease the distance between tho two ves sels. This they did by the pilot's cau tiously assuming the helm, and taking advantage of every favorablo circum stance, by yawing aud filling, so that by degrees the distance was insensibly increased. Edging along in this way until he found he had got in the neigh borhood of tho shoals off Cape May the others in the meantime having secretly got everything ready for a start they suddenly made sail and run for the shoals. They had scarcely filled away when crack ! came a gun from the sloop-of-war. " Blaze awny, my good fellows," said tho skipper, exultiugly ; " it may re quire good eye-sight to hit the little Fox this distance iu the night." And blaze away they did, though every shot went high or fell short, and not 'the least damage iu hull, spar or rigging was sustained. Meanwhile, in au incredible short space of time, the sloop-of-war had packed on all sail aud was blowing di rectly in the wake of the ruuaway. The only chance for our Yankee wasto creep iu among the shoals, where her pur suer could not, from her draught, follow her. This she did, having a good start and being a good sailer, until the sloop-of-war thought it prudent to haul oil', finding she could neither cripple nor overhaul her. Tho Fox still continued her course, running for the Rip-Raps, inside of which is a passage way, while the Pro metheus bore up with the intention of running round the shoals and heading her off. But as the Fox had a straight cut, while her pursuer had a round about passage, the former got the Etart of her and succeeded in getting safely into the Delaware. At Newcastle was a depot of gunboats, stationed there to guard the mouth of the river. Run uing into this place, our Yankees deliv ered up their chop-fallen prisoners, and then proceeded ou to Philadelphia, not a littlo proud of their daring achieve ments. Having taken in a full cargo of flour at Philadelphia, where they remained about three weeks, our Yankee friends started for Salem.- They waited for a very dark night ere they left the Dela ware, in the hope of escaping the enemy, who were prowling about tho capos'watching tho mouth of the river as a cat watches a rat hole, ready to pounce upon the first that attempted egress. ' Taking advantage of an unusually dark evening, and having a pretty stiff breeze, they started. The schooner was a good sailer', in excellent trim, and they cracked on to her. Toward morn ing, having haa a nne night s run, tne skipper turnod in, congratulating him self that, at any rate, he had slipped by one dangerous point. Not a little anxiety was . felt by all on board to avoid the enemy, and more particularly the sloop-of-war, for they well knew if they bhould fall again into their clutches it would go card with them. They knew no mercy would be shown them. Scarcely had the day dawned when the watch sang out, lustily, " Sail, hoi" And V sail ho !" it was, true enough, for as the light increased they found them selves close ahead of two large vessels standing under "easy sail on- their weather beam.: ; ' " "It is all over with us," said the pilot despondingly, as l e east his eyes toward their neighbors, "and here comes our death warrant," he added, as the flash of a gun was seen issuing from a bdwport of the nearest and largest of the vessels, while its heavy report came booming dver the water. ' "That means heave tol" said the mate "Skipper ahoy 1 You're wanted on deck," he shouted down the com panion way, arousing the captain from a very agreeable dream of sailing safely into the harbor of Salem. The schooner, notwithstanding the hint that had been given, still continued on her course as though unmindful of the presence of her war-like neighbors, when another flash of her guns and a ball came dancing along, striking the water directly under the bowsprit of tho schooner and scattering the spray in all directions. "Ay, oy 1 don't be in such a blessed hurry" growled the old pilot "the world wan't made in a day 1 ' " Hard-a-lee 1" shouted the eaptain, who had now couie'on deck "It's no use, pilot, the fates" are against us;"YTe must run under the big fellow's quar ter." " I say, Bill," exclaimed the old man as he brought the schooner up in the wind, " We shall be put on short allowance soon, and we must make the most of it while we can." However, those were old-fashioned times, when a glass of bitters wa3 rolled as a sweet morsel over the tongue. "Schooner ahoy 1" shouted a gruff voice from the gangway of the larger vessel, which proved to be the frigate, " Your name and cargo ?" " The Fox of Salem, with flour," was the reply. "Ay, ay," was tho response, followed in a few moments by nn order to drop alongside of her consort, which was a short distance to leeward, and discharge part of her cargo, reserving the balance for the frigate. The feelings of our Yankee skipper may be better imagined than described when, on obeying the order, he found himself fastened to his old captor, the Prometheus. Cnrses not' a iew were showered upon him for the Yankee trick he had played them. " We've got you now, my fine follows, safe enough," said one of the officers super intending the tacklo by which the flour was discharged. " You'll have to take it, my boys," said another. " Despite its cunning and doubling, we have un earthed the Fox this time," added a third ; and so the remarks ran on as they proceeded to transfer the flour from the schooner to the sloop-of-war. Before doing this, however, six ham mocks with their bedding were flung over the schooner's side as fenders to prevent chafing. Our Yankees listened to the taunting remarks of their captors in silence, ami doggedly assisted in breaking bulk, save now and then the old pilot grum bled out his spleen iu anything but tho choicest language, as he cast rather a wolfy glance at the mass of heads that peered down upon them from the rail ing of their enemy. About thirty barrels had been trans ferred when the frigate, which was now at the leeward, suddenly threw out a signal to the Prometheus to follow her in chase of a strange pail, apparently a large vessel which had just appeared in sight. Not stopping to take in the hammocks, and determined not to lose their present prize o second time, they seized the schooner's cable around the foremast, and, taking it on board the sloop-of-war, made it fast. They then ordered our t-kipper to make sail, threating if he attempted to escape to sink him on the instant. The Prome-J theus soon started in chase, with the Fox iu tow. The wir-d blew pretty fresh, and tho schooner dashed along at a merry rate in the wake of her epptor, her speed being such as to cause but little hindrance to the sloop, It was past noon when the chase com menced, aud for two or three hours the Prometheus and her prize slipped along in fine style, when, thinking that now or neverwas the time to effect an escape, Henssler, after consulting with the cap tain, crept along on his hands and knees with a hatchet, and succeeded in sever ing nearly all the strands of the cable which served as a tow line, taking the precaution, however, to leave the out ends as though the cable had parted. In a short time afterward the pilot managod, by yawing the schooner, to bring a pretty hard strain upon the cable, and they had the satisfaction of seeing it snap like a thread. The schooner after this continued on her course as though she did not mean to attempt to give her captor the slip but somehow or other her helmsman steered so widely that the sloop-of-war began fast to forge ahead of her. Thus the captor and her prize stood on the same track until the sun began to got low, by which time tho former, by her superior sailing, had run herselt nearly hull down. " Nearly time to 'bout ship, skipper?" said tho pilot, inquiringly. " It will take longer legs than that craft has got to overtake us now, I n thinking. " Beady about !" said the captain, and in a moment the little Fox was on an other tack, once more running from the enemy. As the night fell the wind increased. and before night a heavy gale was raging. The fugitives held on their way as long as they could, until it was absolutely penlons to run any longer, when they were obliged to lay to. The wind blew furiously, and there was a bad sea running, but the Fox was a no ble sea boat and she rode it out bravely To prevent her making so much lee drift, a " drag " was thrown over, which checked her from falling off consider ably. The gale continued unabated through the night, but so anxious were our Yankee crew to keep clear of their late captor, they thought little ot the storm. When the morning broke so that ob jects could be discerned at any dis tance, what should greet the sight of the wearied watchers but the self-same cruiser, still moving like a phantom ship around them. The vessel to which she and the frigate gave chase proved probably to be one of their cruisers. and she had put back, following in tho track of the Fox like a hound on the scent. The gale, however, brought her to bay, and when she was discovered she was lying to under the snuggest sail, about two miles to leeward. For tunately for our Yankee, the gale still continued, and the sloop of war made so much lee-way that by noon, to the great joy of those on board the schoon er, she had drifted out of sight. The weather moderating soon after, tho skipper thought it best to cut sticks and make tracks, which he immediately uiu. Makinsr the best of his wav alone- bv sundown he found himself on Montauk Point, intending to run into New Lon don. Thinking it best, however, after so many narrow escapes, to see if he had a clear way before him, Bill was sent to the masthead to reconnoiter, Shinning up the back-stay, hand over fist, Bill had no sooner arrived at a point where he could have a full view, then he bawled out " Sail, ho 1 sail, ho 1" " Where away ?" " In the sound," shouted Bill. " By George, there s a whole fleet of them. True enough, there they were, a whole squad of the enemy. " We must run for Newport," said the skipper ; " are you acquainted along here, Mr. Eldridoe f " Never was here in my life, skipper, but we will try and feel our way along. We've got a good departure, and when we get hold of Point Judith light we shall manage well enough, if the wind holds, I dare say," The night shut in pitch dark a cir cumstance which, though at first deem ed unfavorable, proved in the end their salvation perhaps. . The wind had now become rather light ; bat in due time Point Judith light waB made, which having passed some distance, they dropped their mud hook just off the town of South Kingston, not a littlo rejoiced at their safety. Secure, however, as tney deemed themselves, their perils were not quite over : for about daylight next morning a boat came alongside, and a young man who was iu it hailed the pilot, who happened to be on deck alone. " How did you get nere, or ratner why are you here ? This is no place for yon, sir." "How did we get here, youngster? We didn't grow here that's certain but what it is it to you why we came and how we got here ?" said tho old man gruffly. " von i get wratuy, oia leiiow my only object is to serve you. Do you know you're in a bad neighborhood ?" "In a bad neighborhoo ', say you, sir?" said the skipper, who had now come on deck, attracted by the strange voice. "Yes, sir, the young man replied An armed schooner, the Liverpool Packet of Halifax, is at anchor just under the light. Lucky for you, sir, it was so dark. She has been hovering around here this long time, taking everything that comes along. I won der how you kept out of her clutches." " This is not safe anchorage then ?" "If you know when you are well off. skipper, you will not remain here long, but top your boom for Providence." " Why not Newport ? " You are not safe there.. A number of vessels have been cut out of Newport harbor lately. Yon can't be off too soon, skipper, and if you wish for any assistance I will help you to get under wav." The young man's information and offer of aid were gratefully received. All hands that is, Hill and the mate were called, the anchor hove, the short sails hoisted, and in a short time, with a fair, fresh breeze, and under a full press of sail, the little Fox, carrying a bone iu her mouth, was on her way to Providence. She entered the havbor in grand style, with her colors flying and her six hammocks slung over her side, trophies of her " gallant deeds." Here the ves sel and cargo were sold ; aud a noble voyage sho made of it, notwithstanding the loss of the thirty barrels of flour. Out of the fleet that sailed with her only two of hers escaped, the rest being takfin and destroyed. The crew of the Fox returned by land. Bill, as big as Cuffee, with six dollars prize money his share of the spoils taken, as he said, with ten prisoners, fram His Britannic Majesty's sloop-of-war Prometheus, 17 guns, oil Long island, by the schooner Fox, of Salem, armed with one barrel of gin and four men, for there was no more of the boy to Billy after that ad venture. Xovel Remedy for Hysteria. Dr. Brown-Scquard says: The daugh ter of a friend of mine was attacked with a fit of hysteria every morning. I succeeded for a time in breaking up the fit by the use of violent means for half an hour betore the paroxysm was due. But after a time the means I used com pletely failed. My friend then went to see a gymnast in I'ans named Triat, who was far more daring than I am, and was in the habit of treating hysteria in a very bold and unique way. He used to take his patients, as he did this lady, up a ladder after having bandaged their eyes so that they could seo noth ing. After they had ascended to the height of about twenty feet, he made then walk very carefully on a plank that was about seven or eight inches in width. He, of course, was a gymnast, and accustomed to w Vk there, so that he could easily lead the person forward. When the young lady had reached the middle of the plank, which was pretty long for it was a large gymnasium he said to his patient, " Now you are perfectly safe, and there is no possibility of your lit coming on again. no haa previ ously assured her that this means was infallible ; had referred to hundreds of previous cases, and exaggerated his success in order to act on the mind of the patient. " Now," said he, " after I have left you you will not try to lift up the piece of cotton-wool that is fixed on your eyes until ono minute has elapsed." Ho started away and left the patient there in great danger, as yon may imagine, of falling. After a minute had passed the patient removed the bandage and opened her eyes. J ortunateiy for Mr. Triat no accident has ever occurred there. How many patients he cured that way I don't know ; but I know the daughter of my friend was certainly curea. i A Feather's Weight. They suffer in Cedar Rapids, even, it appears. Here is a wail of indigna tion : " The man who can sit patiently in the opera house and be satisfied with the view of the stage he gets through a three-story feather in a tall girl's hat is nt to be transported to a better world than this. But even such a man loses some of his patience when a regulation dry goods clerk,with his hair parted by a civil engineer, sits beside the girl and engages in conversation with her. Then the feather waves gracefully before his eyes as she bends her head to listen to his remarks on the weather, and a con fused blending of feather, high hat. back hair, and the actors on the stage drives the observer to distraction, Those long white feathers are very nice indeed ; in fact they are fine ; but we earnestly assert that they ought not to take the place of a drop curtain in the operu house. Aftes Many Years. Fourteen years ago the sou of a farmer at JNewton at, Cyres, near Exeter, assaulted a police man and absconded Jae was nned bi the magistrates in his absence, the al ternative being seven days' imprison ment. Four years ago he came to at tend his mother's funeral, and an at tempt was then made to arrest him. but he eluded the police. Last week his father died, and the man again came to attend his funeral. This time the police made sure of their prisoner by arresting him in the churchyard, and ua ia uuw iiuuerguiug ius imprisonment. How They Kill Cattle In Texas. The ordinary plan of drawing the steer down to the block, and striking him on the head with an axe, is too slow for the wholesale butchery carried on here. About one dozen head are driven into a small pen, just sufficiently large to hold that number closely pack ed, and a gate forced to behind them. This bed has an open slat platform across the top of it, upon which two men are stationed with poles with sharp pointed knives fixed on the end of them. With a rapidity acquired by long practice, they plunge their spears into the necks of the affrighted and struggling animals, cutting the jugular vein, and each successively falls as if struck down with an axe. The blood spruts outlin streams as if from a dozen fountains, nnd in less than a minute the whole pen full are down quivering in the throes of death, and covered with blood. The door of the pen leading into the rendering room is then thrown open, the animals drawn out in suc ceseion, a knife rapidly splits the skin around the neck and down the stomach. A rope is attached to the upper part of the hide by a clamp, to the other end of which is a mule, which leisurely walks off down the yard carrying the skin of the animal with him, and leav ing the carcass still quivering with ani mal life. A tackle hoists the body up to a level with the mouth of ono of the immense caldrons, and in less time than wo have taken to desoribe the process, it is in the seething and boil ing mass. There are four or five of these caldrons, each large enough to hold a dozen beeves, and they are kept constantly going during the killing season. The tallow is drawn oil into large hogsheads, and the remains of these great soup kettles are carted out ou to what is called the "hash pile," consisting of bones, horns, and tho animal matter from which all the fatty substance has been extracted. Burled Treasure. There is a legend that Oibbs, the pirate, buried certain treasure in tho immediate vicinity of Newport, R. I., and the point on the west shore of Uod dington's Covo was the spot usually se- cted as the locality of this concealed store of wealth. Search has frequently bi?en made near the shore for some evi dence of its locality, and a couple of gentlemen discovered an inscription upon a stoiie near the Cove, which was supposed to afford a key to the secret. The stone bearing the inscription is a large one, weighing many tons, and tho letters are partially obliterated by time, but yet quite distinct. Any one may see them on the extreme rock of the point. A party of Georgians, hearing of this remarkable discovery, and tho legend of which it is the supposed key, sought out the spot, and a gentleman of tho party pried up a heavy detached piece of the same rock which appeared loose, when a lady of tho party discovered im bedded in the mud which forms its bed a piece of gold, a coin of the value. perhaps, of ten dollars, the date of which sho has not yet been able to ascertain with certainty. A further search revealed nothing more. Query: Was the coin a portion of the Gibbs treasure, and, if so, where is the rest of it? Experimenting. In a Cincinnati hospital a woman's skull was so much eaten away, by a can cer that the brain was exposed. Her death being inevitably near, the attend ing surgeon thought it no harm to ex periment upon her in the interest of medical science, ne introduced steel needles, and applied a weak current of electricity. The patient, although conscious, did not feel the punctures of the needles in the brain, but experi enced tingling pain in tho hands and orms. When the surgeon reported his experiments to the local Academy of Medicine there was some criticism of his conduct, as he admitted that the woman's death might have been hastened by it. His defense was that she could not possibly have recovered, and the value of the experiments was very great. A Virginia Mound. Speaking of the great mound near Moundsville, West Virginia, a corre spondent says that the people of the neighborhood have made up their minds that the earth for the structure was taken from a basin which lies near the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. A tunnel has been run to the centre of the mound, arched -with brick at the en trance, aud a shaft sunk to. the bottom connecting with the tunnel. In sinking the shaft a large skeleton and some rel ics were discovered in a tomb. It is believed by the owner that the whole mass of the mound is composed of ashes, and some of the material is to be tested to ascertain : its value as a fer tilizer. The Emperor's Heart ' When Napoleon the Great died at St. Helena, an English physician took charge of his heart, depositing it in a silver basin filled with water. Two tapers burned near it, but the custodian felt nervously anxious while watching it through the night, and did not sleep. In the silence of midnight he heard a rustling sound, then a plunge into the water, and rebound on the floor all oc curring with the quickness of thought. He sprang from his bed to see an enor mous rat dragging the precious relio to his hole I A moment more and the heart which had been too vast in its ambition to be satisfied with the sover eignty pf continental Europe, would have been more degraded than the dust of imperial Ctesar. S-a-v-e-d ! During the burning' of a dwelling in Indianapolis, and while the house was literally enveloped in smoke and flame, Johnny Grey imagined he heard the cry of a child within, and with the exclamation, "My God, some one is burning up I" pulled down his cap and rushed in but soon reappear ed bearing in his arms a young goat, The cry of a kid is not nnliie a young child's hence the mistake, It was a brave act, nevertheless. ' A TRUE STORY. A Brave Miner who Snved the Live, of a Dozen Men. Two or three weeks ago, says the New ork Tribune, an accident did not occur near Soranton, Penn. ; the news papers missed a sensational horror ; nnd a dozen men, instead of being hurled into eternity without haying time to breathe a prayer, walked quietly home to their dinners, quite unconsci ous that Death had had them by the throats. It might, after all, bo worth our while to look into tho cause of the loss of this tragedy to tho world ; wo Bhould have been keen enough to un earth the guilty party if it had occur red. The facts are briefly theso : In the largest anthracite coal mine in the State, the caro of the engine by which the cars for passengers are lowered and hoisted is placed in the hands of a Scotch-Irishman, an ordi nary fellow enough. The cable, neces sarily of great weight and thickness, passes through the roof of a slightly built shed under which he stands. One morning, as the mau stood smoking liia pipe, his hanil upon the lever, his mind very probably busy with his dinner, and assuredly not wrought up to any heroic rapture of resolve, the ascending car (loaded with coal) at one end of the cable broke, and fill crashing into tho dark shaft, to bo shattered into a thousand fragments. He knew that in tho next minute tho cable, released from the strain, would fly buck and fall with crushiug weight on the rickety beams and boards of the roof. Death was absolutely certain if ho did not escape from the shed. But if ho took his hand from the lever, the descending car, f nil of men, must fall one or two hundred feet. He had but one instant to fuce his death and theirs, nnd to choose between them. There was a boy in the back of the shed ; the man mo tioned to him with his head to go ont. Then he tightened his hold on the lever. The loosened cable struck and caught somewhere below against the side of the shaft. Surely God meant it should so strike ! It was the delay of but a breath of time ; but it was enough. The car grated with a jar against the ground far below ; its oc cupants stepped leisurely out, while the man who had saved them above threw himself from under the shed, just as its roof, beams, pulley, and all crashed down on the spot where he had been standing. We do not know the man's name, and should scarcely need to publish it if we did. Fame or reward jar somehow against tho deed itself. There is a wholesome tonio for all of us in the certainty which is forced upon us now and then, of the unknown, unmeasured resources of courage nnd heroism and unflinching integrity to duty which we possess among what we choose to cau tho mass of the people. It is, after all, only when a man reaches the certain ties of middle ago that he is not sur prised every new day by the knowledge of how admirable a crew has been put into the world for it3 loug voyage ; how manv of the women are gracious and finely natured ; how many men respond promptly to the call of honesty or duty or even self-sacrifice because it is the simple and natural thing for them to do so. We will congratulate ourselves, then. not that this class can boast one such brave fellow as this Scotch-Irish engi neer. but that, like King Harry over Percy's grave, we believe that it " has a thousand such as he." A New Field for Women. Woman, says the Pall Mall Gazette, is competing with the same zeal and energy -as ever in the field of labor hitherto monopolized by absurd and presumptuous man. A young lady aged only hlteen years, was committed lor trial at Cardiff on charge of burglary. The fair burglar, if, indeed, such she is proved to be, is alleged to have en tered a house by means of the kitchen window, and abstracted from the dwell ing money amounting to oo, and a gold watch and chain. The most desperate ruffian with blackened face and pistol in hand could not have performed the work with greater skill and audacity, but the womanly nature of the prisoner unfortunately led her the next morning to "make some extensive purchases of clothing," and this led to her apprehen sion. Women should remember that burglars, as a rule, are not vain; it is not their habit to waste the results of their industry upon attire. A "dressy" burglar would inspire no confidence among his pals, and would never suc ceed in a profession which demands from those who adopt it not only cour age but discretion. In the meantime, we may, perhaps, venture to point out to woman that it is hardly fair on man that she should add housebreaking to the list of occupations she proposes to undertake. No man witn any sense oi what is due to woman would like to level a revolver at her head, even to protect his life or property, still less to disoharge the deadly weapon at her. He could only, even if the worst came to the worst, humbly but earnestly re quest her to retire, and, offering her his arm, escort her to the door. Even this would cause him a severe pang, so sensitive is his foolish heart. A Wild Race, On the island of Borneo has been found a certain raoe of wild creatures, of which kindred varieties have been discovered in the Phillipine Islands, in Terra del 1 uego and in Bonth America, They walk unusually, almost erect, on two legs, and in that attitude measure about four feet in height, iney con struct no habitations, form no families, scarcely associate together, sleep in caves and trees, feed on snakes and vermin, on ants, eggs and on one an other. Thev cannot be tamed or forced to any labor, and are hunted aud shot - . , . . i i t ; 1 1 among the trees u&e iue great juhuh, of which thev are a stunted copy. When captured alive, one finds with surprise that their uncouth jabbering sounds are like articulate language. They turn up a human face to look at their captors, and females show in stincts of modesty; in fine, those wretched beings are men and women. Items of Interest, Three newspapers in Iowa are edited by ladies. Fifty cents a day is the pay of a laborer in Quebec. Cleveland is now supplied with water from the tunnel under the lake. California has added to the States in whioh local option laws prevail. Tho boys are thinking of forming a National Association of marble-players. Removo wax from the ear by tepid water ; never put a hard instrument in to the ear. It is reported that Brigham Young has S7,000,000 stowed away in the Bank of England. A substitute for the whites of eggs, as employed by various manufacturers, has been invented in Europe. How doth the littlo busy politician Improve each shining hour, To scatter hayseed iu his hair And dust his coat with flour. A butter factory, which, according to a local paper, " will pump four hundred cows," is about to be established in Iowa. There is a prejudice in human kind ngaiust large ears. As the poet says : "Man wants but littlo ear below, nor wants that little long." Nine-tenths of tho women be lieve that if one hears a dog howl nt midnight for three successive nights that there is to be a death iu the fami- Iron fortifications are to be used for the defense of Germau strongholds, the experiments made during the past six years having proved tljem to be almost impregnable. An Ohio church prohibits admission to tobacco-chewers ; and a notice is con spicuously posted in it that every man who chews, whether he chewses or not, must take his leaf. Jones I wish somebody would leave you, Will, to me in tne shape oi nan a million. Will x guess peopio nave left enough of me already to you, Jones, in the shape of Bills. Telegraphing is a game that prairie chickens do not understand, and in con sequence many of them nro killed by coming in contact with wires in their flight in large flocks. Hereafter no portrait is to bo placed upon any ot tne Donas, securities, notes, fractional or postal currency of the United States, wnilo tho original ot such portrait is living. Some fellow, with no respect for the dignity of butter, remarks of the lady who models busts in that article of food, that her talents would havo re flected credit upon Greece. A French statute decrees that any person animadverted on in a newspaper may claim for his printed self-defense twice as much space as was occupied by the article to which he takes excep tion. A Texas gentleman four years ago bought a sow and four pigs for five dol lars, branded them and turned them loose. He now enjoys the proud dis tinction of being the " Hog King" of Texas. A saloon keeper in Des Moues, Iowa, has put up a .sign in his establishment for the benefit of crusaders : And thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet and not into somebody else's rum shop. The production of coal on tho Pacific coast is rapidly increasing. Tho Mount Diable Mines have averaged 175,000 tons a year for two years past, and the lowest 'prices are $G. 25 for line and 8. 25 for coarse. Passengers to the Pacific by rail breakfast in Sierras with twenty feet of snow around them; four hours later they find wheat four inches high, and the next day see pear and peach trees in blossom. Sixteen years ago Tom Kenyon went to Kansas City without a cent, and tho other day he signed a check for $1G,000. He signed with another man's name, and his supply of freedom's air has been abbreviated. The Albany Arawt. in a local article on the "Corniug farm" says Erastus Corning, Jr., Esq., has refused $10,- 000 for the trotting horse ueoige x ai mer. He is a better horse to-day than ever before, but it is not probable he will ever trot in publio again. The boundary dispute between lr- ginia and Maryland runs back to 1003. It involves tho possession of the Po tomac, with its riparian rights, and of about 350 square miles of land, part of which is now immensely valuable on ac count of the oyster harvest. There is an old story that St. Peter, when he revisited earth, was obliged, among the multitudinous changes on every hand, to have a guide through most of Europe, bnt on entering Spain he dismissed him ; " for here," said the Saint, " everything is just as I left it." There is a farmer in Flushing who owns a Kentucky -bred mule that has, within the last thirty days, kicked in seventeen barn-doors, unroofed a dozen chicken-coops, and trampled the life out of four of his favorite pigs. He calls it, says the Brooklyn Argus, Ben Butler. In his " Notes on Virginia," Thomas Jefferson sneered at these reports, say ing : " It is claimed that there was a prior declaration of independence in North Carolina, a statement having about as much foundation as the re port that a volcano exists in the moun tains of the same State." The San Francisoo Bulletin thinks the loss in the death of cattle in that country since fall has been over $1,000, 000. The feed has been very scarco, and consequently the cattle were in no condition to. meet the long storms. Shelter is out of the question. Some individuals own 50,000. Of course they cannot be fed. While the women were praying on the sidewalk in front of a saloon in New Albany, Ky., reoently, a fight was inaugurated between some men close at hand, and though, oaths and ribal dry were thicker than blows, one wo man didn't finish her prayer till the fight was ended ; but the rest were pale and terror-stricken.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers