c. 7
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t. '
J y
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
, . - . '" 1 " ' 1
VOL. IV. RIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1874. . NO. 20.
V
Forewell
Farewell to the liorao where in youth's giddy
honr
I revoll'd and laughed 'neath it's Ivy-topp'd
roof; '
Where I grew in life's dawn, like a bright,
nmiling flower,"
And thought rot of trouble, and knew not of
reproof.
O ! swot were the dreams then that came to
my pillow,
When I rested at night In my ioft tiny bed ;
But now changed are those dreams ts a trou-ble-toss'd
billow,
And painful the visions that, flit thro' my
head.
v Farewell to that hearth, where my dear mother
N taught me
To pray to that Being, who gnardoth the
weak,
Where triHing presents my friondB of ton
brought me,
And whisper'd the path that was proper to
seek i
No more shall I gaze on their sweet, beaming
faces,
Tliat smil'd on the laughing and venturesome
boy,
No more sliill I feel their heart-warm'd em
braces, That ma le me each meeting so doirly enjoy.
Farewell to the room where the nun's early
rising,
Oft I gazed on with pleasure and youthful
deirght,
To tho stream's dashing waters, to me then
surprising,
A tear for thee starts as thy beauties 1 write ;
The old crumblod bower where oft in my gam
bols, I climb'd on each gable decaying with years,
No more shall I see theo, nor talk of those
rambles
That have flll'd my fond mother with doubl
ings and fears.
Farewell! 0, farewell, no more shull I view
thoe,
Dear scenes of my childhood, 1 bid thee
adieu,
E'en friends are all fled, who once, glndly knew
mo,
Alas ! that their friendship should prove so
untrue.
Farewell ! ne'er again shall I gazo on thy
towers, "
Thon home of my fathers, art gone to
decay ;
No more shall I taste of those sweet, happy
hours
Fve spout 'neath thy roof 'mid tho festive
and gay.
THE BOARD FENCE.
" Shoo, shoo, get home, you plaguy
critters I" cried Air. Babcock, waving
his arms as he chased a dozen sheep
aud lambs through a gap in tho fence.
It was a wooden fence, and when he
had succeeded in driving the animals
tho other side of it, he lifted it from its
reeliuing position, and propped it up
with states. This wns an operation he
had fouud himself obliged to repeat
many times in the course of the season,
aud not only of that season, but of sev
eral previous seasons.
Yet Mr. Babcock was neither slnck
nor thriftless ; iu fact, he rather prided
himself on the orderly appearance of
his farm, and not without reason. How
then shall we account for his negli
gence in this particular instance?
The truth was that this fence formed
the boundary line between his estate
and that of Mr. Small ; and three gen
erations of inen who owned these es-
had been unable to decide to
it belonged to rebuild and keep
it iuOeP'ur. If tho owners had chanced
to Le cn of peaceable dispositions,
they hadNmpromised the matter and
avoided a juarrol ; but if, on the con
trary, theyl belonged to that much
larger class Ifho would sooner sacrifice
their own eonifort and convenience
than their so-called rights, this fence
had been a source of unending bicker
ings and strife.
And of this class were the present
owners. Again and again they had
consulted tueir respective lawyers on
the subject, and dragged from their
hiding-plaoos musty old deeds and re
cords, but always with the same result.
. "I say it belongs to you to keep it iu
repair ; that's as plain as a pike-staff,"
Mr. Babcock would say.
" And I suy it belongs to yon, any
fool might see that," Mr. Small would
reply, and then high words would fol
io w, and they would part in anger,
more determined and obstinate than
before. The lawyer's fees and the loss
by damages from each others' cattle
had already amounted to a sum suffl-
' cient to have built a fence round their
: entire estates, but what was that com
pared to the satisfaction of having their
own way ?
There was not wanting in the neigh-
borhood peace-makers who would gladly
' have settled the affair by arbitration ;
but to this neither of the belligerents
would listen for a moment.
At last, one day, Miss Letitia Gill, a
' woman much respected in the village,
' and of some weight as a land-owner and
tax-payer, sent for Mr. Babcock to come
and see her on business ; a summons
which he made haste to obey, as how
could l e do otherwise where a lady
wns concerned.
Miss Letitia sat at her window sew
ing up a seam, but she dropped her
work and took off her spectacles when
Mr. Babcock made his appearance.
f " So you got my message ; thank you
for coming, I'm sure. Sit down, do. I
suppose my man Isaao told you I
wanted to consult you on a matter of
business, a matter of equity, I may
say. i It can't be expected that we
women folks should be the best judges
about such thiugs, you know ; there's
Isaac, to be sure, but then he lives on
the place, and maybe he wouldn't be
exactly impartial in his judgment about
our anairs.
" Jes' so," said Mr. Baboock.
" Well, the state of the case is this :
When Isaao came up from the long
meadow to dinner, they're mowing the
meadow to-day, and u uncommonly
good yield there is, when he came up
to dinner, he found that certain stray
oo ws had broken into the vegetable
gardmt."
He did, bey f"
u "Yoa etutmaj tat riot they made,
I declare, Isaao w almost ready to use
profane language. I'm not sure that he
didn't say deuce,' and I'm not certain
he did say 'darn;' and after all, I
couldn't feel to reproach him very
severely, for the pains h has taken
with that garden is somethingamazing;
working in it, Mr. Babcock, early and
late, weeding and digging, and water
ing, and now to see it all torn and
trampled so that you wouldn't know
which was beets and which was cuoum
bers, it's enough to lpuse anybody's
temper.
"It is so," said mr. Babcock.
" And that isn't all, for by the looks
of things they must have been rampag
ing a full hour in the orchard and
clover-field before they had got into the
garden. Just you come and see ;" and
putting on her sun-bonnet, Miss Letitia
showed Mr. Baboock over the damaged
precinct.
"You don't happen to know those
animals did the mischief?" said Mr.
Babcock.
Well, I didn't observe them in par
ticular, myself, but Isaao said there was
one with a particular white mark ;
something like a cross, on her haunch."
"Why, that's S mail's old Brindle,"
cried Mr. Baboock. "I know the mark
as well as I know the tose on my face.
She had balls on her horns, didn't she?"
" Yes, so Isaao Sfiid."
" And a kind of hump on her bach ?"
"A perfect dromedary," said Miss
Letitia. " I noticed that myself."
" They were Small's cows, no doubt
about it at all," said Mr. Babcock, rub
bing his hands. " No sheep with them ;
hey?"
" Well, now I think of it, there were
sheep, they ran away as soon as they
saw Isaac. Yes, c rtainly there were
sheep," said Miss Ljtitia.
" I knew it, they always go with the
cows ; and what yon wish of me "
"Is to fix the damages," said Miss
Letitia, "As I said before, women
folks are no judges about such mat
ters." Mr. Babcock meditated a moment,
and then said,
" Well, I wouldn't take a cent less
than seventy-five dollars, if I were you,
not a cent."
" Seventy-five dollars ! Isn't that a
good deal, Mr. Babcock ? You know I
don't wish to be hard on the poor man,
all I want is a fair compensation for the
mischief done."
"Seventy-five dollars is fair, ma'am,
in fact, I may say it's low ; I wouldn't
have a herd of cattle and she p tramp
ing through my premises in that way
for a hundred."
" There's one thing I forgot to state,
the orchard gate was open or they
couldn't have got in ; that may mane a
difference."
"Not a bit, not a bit. You'd a
right to have your gate open, but
Small's cows had no right to run Iooho.
I hope Isaao drove 'era all to the pound,
didn't ho ?"
"I heard him say he'd shut 'em up
somewhere, and didn't mean to let 'em
out till tho owner calls for 'em. But,
Mr. Babcock, what if he should refuse
to pay the damages ? I should hate to
go to law about it."
" He won't refuse ; if he does, keep
the critters till ho will pay. As to law,
I guess he's had about enough of that."
" I'm sure I thank you for your ad
vice," said Miss Letitia, " and I mean
to act upon it to the very letter."
Aud Mr. Babcock took his leave with
a very happy expression of counte
nance. Scarcely was he out of sight when
Mies Letitia sent a- summoiiB for Mr.
Small, which he obeyed as promptly as
his neighbor had done.
She made to him precisely the same
statement fIio hud made to Mr. Bab
cock, showed him the injured property,
and asked him to fix damages.
It was remarkable that before ho did
this, he should ask the same question
Mr. Babcock had askod, namely,
whether she had any suspicion to whom
the animals belonged.
" Well, one of them I observed had a
terribly crooked horn."
" Precisely it's Babeock's heifer. I
should know her among a thousand.
She was black and white, wasn't she ?"
" Well, now I think of it, she was ;
one seldom sees so clear a black and
white on a cow."
" To be sure, they're Babcock's ani
mals fast enough. Well, let roe see
what you want is just about a fair esti
mate, I suppose ? '
" Certainly."
" Well, I should nay ninety dollars
was as low as ho ought to bo allowed to
get off with."
" O, but I fear that will seem as if I
meant to tuke advantage. Suppose we
call it say seventy-five ?"
" Just as you please, of course ; but
haugod if I'd let him off for less than a
hundred, if 'twas my case."
' And if he refuses to pay ?"
" Why, keep his animals till becomes
round, that's all."
" But there's one thing T. neglected to
mention: our gate was standing open ;
that may alter the case."
"Not at all, there's no law against
your keeping your gate open ; there is
against stray animals."
" Very well, thank you for your ad
vioe," said Miss Letitia; and Mr. Small
departed with as smiling a countenance
as Mr. Babcock had worn.
But at milking time that night he
made a strange discovery old Brindle
was missing I
At about the same hour Mr. Babcock
made a similar disoovery the black
and white heifer was nowhere to be
found !
A horrible suspicion seized them
both, a suspicion which they would
not have made known to each other for
the world.
They waited till it was dark, and then
Mr. Babcock stole round to Miss
Letitia's, and meekly asked leave to
look at the animals which had commit
ted the trespass. He would have done
it without -asking leave, only that
thrifty Miss Letitia always locked her
barn doors at night.
While he stood looking over into the
pen where the cows were oonftned, and
trying to negotiate with Miss Letitia
for the release of the heifer, along came
Mr. Small, iu quest of Brindle. The
two men stared at each other for an
instant in blank dismay, and then hung
their heads in confusion.
It was Useless to assert that the dam
ages were too high, for had they not
fixed them themselves ? It was useless
to plead that Miss Letitia was in A
manner responsible for what had hap
pened, on account of the open gato, for
had they not assured her that circum
stance did not affect the caso ? It was
nseless to say that she had no right to
keep the cows in custodv, for had they
not counseled her to do so? As to
going to law about it, would they not
thus become the sport of the whole
town?
" 1 He that diggeth a pit, he himself
shall fall into it,' " said Miss Letitia,
who read what was passing in their
minds as well as if they had spoken, for
the light of Isaac's lantern fell full on
their faces. "However, I don't wish
to be hard upon you, and on one con
dition I will free the cows and forgive
yon the debt."
" What is that ?" Both looked the
question, but did not ask it.
" The condition is that you promise
to put a good new fence in place of the
old one that separates your estates,
dividing the costs between you, and
that henceforth you will live peaoeable
together as far as in you lies. Do you
promise?"
"Yes," muttered both, in a voice
scarcely audible.
" Shake hands upon it, then," said
Miss Letitia.
They did" so.
" Now let the cows out, Isaao ; it's
time they were milked," said she. And
the two men went away driving their
animals before them, with a shame
faced air greatly in contrast to the look
of triumph with which they had last
quitted her presence.
The fence was built, and the strife
ceased when the cause was removed.
but it was long before Miss Letitia's
part of the affair came to the public ear;
for she herself maintained a strict si
lence concerning it, and enjoined the
same upon her man-servant Isaao.
Youth's Companion.
Pulpit Pranks. .
We are sometimes amused that will
be better than to say anything severe
at the posture of some preachers. They
seem not to know what to do with their
legs. They were, doubtless, made to
stand on, to give the body a firm and
commanding bearing, and impressive
dignity. They stand on one leg and
crook the other round it like a cork
screw, and keep up a perpetual twist
ing as if they were winding themselves
up. Then they shift and wind up the
other side, and it seems all the time as
if what they were saying was worked
below. Of course such on unnatural
and ungraceful posture as this de
tracts very much from the effect of their
preaching, because it excites your sym
path or something else unpleasant, for
they seem to be in pain all the time.
In this position every gesture is awk
ward, for the hands are needed to tup
port the body. Then what a part the
pocket-handkerchief plays with some
preachers. One spreads it lengthwise
in the Bible as if it were accessory or a
help to his sermon. He makes it a kind
of Elisha's mantle with which to divide
the waters, to make a passage for his
ardent spirit, and he seems to rely on it
for that purpose. Another rolls it up
as a compact argument, and gripes it
and looks at it and talks to it, as much
as to say, "Now I've got you." An
other makes it into a ball, and seem
ingly hurls it at some stronghold he is
bent on demolishing ; and still another
makes a ram's horn of it, not the " little
horn " which Professor Stearns so learn
edly describes, but such as Joshua used
against Jericho, only he puts it to his
nose when he blows the demolishing
blast. We cannot explain it, but there
are some things done by Bmall men
that would excite mirthfulness, which
in a large man would produce no such
effect. And we do not wonder, when a
a very sm all man rose to preach as a
candidate in a certain place, whose
head could scarcely be seen above the
pulpit, and gave out his text, " It is I,
be not afraid," that the whole congre
gation 'were moved to laughter.
A Thrilling Situation.
The following story, which is given
as a fact, can hardly be surpassed even
by the imaginary situations that mark
many specimens of the modern drama :
Near the city of Detroit, a man by the
name of McArthur was crossing the
railroad track in the night time, when
his foot caught fast in a "frog," and
his efforts to extricate it were of no
avail. His boot fitted so closely that
he could not draw his foot out, and at
length he could hardly move his leg
from pain. He found that he must
either be run over by the next train or
make known his situation. He shouted
himself hoarse, but no one came. After
having been prisoner for upward of an
hour he heard the whistle. He had a
match-box in his pocket, papers in his
bundle, and the idea came to him to
signal the train. Tearing the paper off
his bundle, and getting at some letters,
be rolled them into a heap, and for fear
that the flames would die out too sud
denly he added his clothes. The bun
dle was then made fast to the end of his
walking stick, and he waited until the
headlight of the locomotive should ap
pear. It finally greeted his vision and
he struck his match, but a gust of wind
blew it out. Another match was struck,
and in an instant he waved bis signal
back and forth, and just when he
thought death was certain be heard the
whistle for brakes. He was saved, but
the engine had only thirty feet more to
go to crush him.
In Prison.
YouMg Walworth, who is now in the
Auburn prison, is of no use to the con
tractors. He has developed epileptio
symptoms and is employed in the hos
pital to wait on patients. Inger6oll, the
Tammany Ring swindler, has from the
first been a well-behaved, tractable and
willing prisoner. He is employed in a
shop wheie rush horse collars are made.
At first he was assigned the ordinary
tasks, but the contractor soon found
that be was more valuable as an over
seer or general clerk, and he now fills
that position in the shop, though be is
required to maroh and eat with bis
gang, and occupies a cell at sight the
suae at all prisoners,
In a Gambling Pen.
The San Franclsflo Bulletin relates
th following :
" The demolition of the Mead House,
at the corner of Montgomery and Pine
streets, has developed some facts of
startling interest. The Mead House was
a rendezvous for the gamblir.g frater
nity from early in 1865 to December,
1871, when the police raided upon it
and disturbed operations. Until this
raid the game of faro was conducted in
the building in a quiet and . orderly
manner and with profit, the net earn
ings reaching $65,000 for a single year.
This was in reality a workingman's
bank. Here the working classes de
posited large sums of money and were
not troubled with bank books. A few
days ago, while the workmen were tak
ing down the walls a number of sus
picions characters were observed hang
ing about the spot and watching the
proceedings with great interest. While
knocking away the wall of one of tho
lower rooms the workmen were some
what puzzled by the manner of the
strangers. Three of them suddenly
walked up to the spot and watched
every blow of the ax with the keenest
scrutiny. Suddenly a gap was made in
the wall, and the next blow of the ax
caused a peculiar sound as if a musical
instrument had been struck. On ex
amination it was discovered that three
wires were running up through the wall
from floor to ceiling. In a few minutes
no less than half a dozen were about the
place examining the wire, thethree
strangers looking at each other signifi
cantly. An investigation of the walls
of the whole house was now commenced,
and the revelations were' indeed, of the
most startling character. In one of the
rooms on the upper floor was an ar
rangement which enabled a player to
know exactly what his opponent held.
Directly over the table in the centre of
the room was a small hole in the ceiling,
through which the confederate watched
the game. Wires ran along the ceiling
to the floor, and terminated in levers
beneath the carpet, upon which the
cheating gambler placed bis foot; as
these wires were pulled, the number of
taps telegraphed the course of action to
pursue. The faro room was the most
ingonionsly contrived thing in tho
house. In the first place, wires ran froi
the door so that a signal was given
when it opened, and in an instant every
thing was in rendmess. tor the drop.
This was accomplished by two levers
and a space beneath let into the floor.
In a second the gamblers withdrew from
the table, each man of course grabbing
his checks and money, and by a motion
ofthe levers the yawning floor opened,
and down went the whole. ' lav out.'
The carpet was then drawn over the
spot, and when the officers hove in
sight there was nothing in the shape of
gamblers' implements to be seen. In
the house there were taken out no less
than 150 wires and several contrivances
for suddenly hiding gambling imple
mcnts. After the discovery an endeavor
was made by the three strangers to hush
the matter up, but the affair had become
noised abroad, and already a good many
f tranpers were about the place, drawn
thither by curiosity. The developments
are creating some stir with the gambling
fraternity, but the leading sports of the
city denied all knowledge of .the exist
ence of the peculiar arrangements by
which the unwary were fleeced.
Plucky Girls,
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Decovey, of
Akron, O., being absent from home,
their two elder daughters, Gertrude,
sixteen, and Eva, fourteen years of age,
keep their house and have the care of
three young children. On Tuesday
night, or rather Wednesday morning
about one o'clock, Gertrude was
awakened by a noise outside the house,
and, on going to the window, dis
covered a man working at the blinds of
the bedroom below, occupied by Eva and
the youngest child. On finding that he
was discovered the fellow sprang from
the window and partially concealed him
self behind some objects a few feet dis
tant from the house. Gertrude several
times called to him that, if he did not
want to get shot, he had better " clear
out," but be maintained bis position.
By this time Eva had become awakened,
and, seizing a loaded revolver, in the
use of which she had bad some practice,
rushed up stairs. Gertrude again
called upon the rascal to leave if he
didn't want to get shot, and as he did
not stir, she pointed out his where
abouts to Eva, who held the pistol in
the direction indicated and blazed
away. The fellow fell forward on
his hands and knees, and then raising
himself, apparently with great diffi
culty, mlde off into an adjoining field.
After daylight the girls made a recon
noisance of the premises and the ad
loing field, and not only the tracks of
the wounded fugitive were plainly
traced, but one place was found where
he bad evidently lain down and rolled
upon the grass as if in great agony.
Blue Sky and Whte Clouds.
The ethereal blue color of the sky is
due to minute particles of matter which
float in the air. Were these particles
removed the appearance of the sky
would be dead black. It is a fact in
optics that exceedingly fine particles of
matter disperse or scatter the blue rays
of light, coarser portions scatter red
rays, still ooarser portions scatter all
the rays, making white light. An
atmosphere is full of acqneous vapor,
the particles of whioh diffuse white
light in all directions. When these
particles are enlarged they become
visible in the form of clouds. The
vapor particles of the white clouds are
supposed to be finer and lighter than
those of the dark clouds. That the dif
fusion of light in our atmosphere, the
blue coloring of the sky and the colors
of the clouds, are due to the presence
of matter floating in the air, Las been
conclusively proven by Tyndall. On
passing a beam of sunlight through a
glass tube the beam is rendered bril
liantly visible by the reflection of light
from the dust partioles floating in the
air contained in the tube. But on re
moving the dust particles, which is
done by filtering the air by cotton wool,
or causing the air to pass over a flame,
the beam of light is bo longer visible
ia the tube.
Ben Spinner's Yaeatlon,
If there is a thing which at first t
thought I would be glad of and am
now dreadful sorry for, it is because
school is out for keeps till the next
term. It is most unusually the way
that when sohool don't keep there is
plenty of work studied up for me to
have to do. That's the way it fits me
every time. It's my kind of bad luck
to be raised to have industrious ways.
Mv father is everlastingly telling me
that idleness is the parents of vice or
some of that sort of disagreeable Eng
lish language that I don't want to hear,
and that J. must keep busy at worK
at something and not gad about
with other indolent boys and race the
streets from morning till night per
petual. Last vaoation they put me into
the garden, wneie, tuey said, l could
obtain some habits which would do me
some good when I became grown up
into a useful citizen. Well, to have to
be a useful citizen is all very fine silk,
but if I could only have my own way
only just once I would rather sell pea
nuts on the railroad. But they have
got me in the same hardships which I
was into last summer, only it is rougher
because there is more of it. If they
think it's proper for me to have to bug
the potatoes, and weed the onions, and
thin out the roobarb, and raise up a lot
of garden trash for to go to seed and
waste, why, then, I suppose its all right
if I could only seo it, but when a boy
has studied diligently all winter I don't
think it's exao'ly the fair thing to keep
him too tenacious at work in vacation.
Anyhow, that's my opinion, which I
throw in. There ain't a very gr9at deal
of real pleasure in digging potatoes
where the bugs is about a barrel full to
the acre, and when a boy has to bend
his back down to try to pull up weeds
which grow clean through and clinch on
the other side, it's a kind of miserable
occupation which I would like to get
half a good chance for to .slip out of.
To have to wade into the garden early
in the morning when the dew is on in
your bare feet, and get smart weed up
your trousers leg, is a worse thing than
the Erie Sipilis and the fever and ague;
but when you have to do it there is no
use for to try to shirk out. I went back
on the job once, but I never went back
on it twice, because once was enough.
I was roped in and coaxed by some
boys to go off on the commons to play
ball for a whole day. Late in the even
ing, when I came in home the back way,
and desperate hungry, the governor
gave me an abundance of stars and
Btripes, which I have got them yet, and
could show 'em if I was only in a swim
ming. I found out thai it is a bad
habit for a boy to get into, to leave his
work without permission, and it's the
best way always for to obey .orders if it
almost breaks your back. But I have
got awful sick of this vacation business,
and if I can find a school next year
which will keep in the year round, it's
the one that I want to go to. That's'
what kind of a boy I am.
Interest on Friendship.
In 1850 a young man named Osborn,
who had recently arrived at the mines
from the East, penniless and friendless,
was taken sick. He told his condition
to a fellow adventurer named Hitch
cock, who was a little better off, and
the lattei promised to " see him
through." The promise was kept, and
when, after two months of illness, Osr
born arose from his bed, his friend
handed him $250 to bear his expenses
and to procure tools, saying to him,
' If ever you get able you can pay me
back, but do not worry yourself and in
jure your health in trying to make the
money too quick." One year and a
half from that time Osborn sent Hitch
cock $1,250, with the following note :
" I'll pay interest on friendship." His
labors proved remunerative, and by
1873 he was worth $350,000. While in
San Francisco he met and recognized
his old friend. When they parted,
after several days' companionship,
Osborn gave Hitchcock a sealed pack
age, with the injunction that it was not
to be opened until he was on the cars.
There HitchcocK found that it con
tained a deed for one-sixth of a. rich
silver mine, with a small note contain
ing the words: "interest on friend
hip. Hitchcock has sold his interest
for $80,000.
Waterspouts,
When a whirlwind occurs out at sea,
it agitates the waters contained within
its diameter to such a degree as ire
quently to cause a oolumn of spray to
rise in the air. If the sky is cloudy,
the upper strata of the whirlwind acts
upon the lower clouds in the sameman
ner in which the lower strata acts upon
the surface of the water, and thus
causes a column of vapor to descend
immediately above the sscending one,
These two columns will, if the whirling
motion of the air continues for any
considerable period, become length
ened by the pressure of the atmos
phere, and will ultimately join to.
gether. What are termed waterspouts
in island districts are quite a distinct
phenomena. They are simply very
heavy showers of rain confined within
narrow limits. These showers may or
mav not be accompanied with a whirl
wind motion of the atmosphere, but
will, of course, come nearer our idea
of what a waterspout may be when it is
so accompanied.
Scolding.
Scolding is a habit very easily
formed. It is astonishing bow soon
one who indulges in it at all becomes
addicted to it, and confirmed in it. It
is an unreasonable habit. Persons who
onoe get in the way of scolding always
find something to scold about. If there
were nothing else, they would fall t
sodding, at the mere absence of any
thing to scold at. It is an extremely
disagreeable habit. The constant
rumbling of distant thunder, cater
wauling, or a hand-organ under one's
window, would be less unpleasant,
The habit is contagious. Once intro
duced into a family, it is pretty certain
in a short time, to aneot all the mem'
bers. If one of them begins finding
fault about something or nothing, the
others are ept very soon to take it up
and very unnecessary bealsra n
created,
Keeping Smoked bleats In Summer.
"There are various plans and devices
for keeping smoked meats for summer
use from the attacks of flies and beetles
which infect hams, smoked beef, cti. , if
left where they may have access to them.
Among the more common is wrapping
each piece separately in strong brown
paper and then packing in barrels filled
in, about the packages, with ashes or
other absorbent material.
Another plan is to plaoe the pieces in
sacks well surrounded with cut hay, or
in tight barrels, with out bay or straw
closely pressed around the pieces. By
this latter plan, however, the meat is
apt to mold. To prevent this, it should
not be entirely excluded from tne air,
and where air and light can enter in
sects are apt to follow. A better plan
when the trouble and expense is not
grudged is to wrap each piece separate
ly in paper and inolose in sacks cn to
fit. Sew them up and dip in thick
lime-wash, and hang in an airy but cool
place. Some, indeed, claim that meat
moy be kept perfectly and indefinitely
by simply rubbing the surface with
pepper before smoking, but i t is almost
no protection at all.
The best, and in the end cheapest,
way to preserve meat is to have a smoke
house built in such a manner that,
while it is tight and dark, it shall at
the same time, be well ventilated. All
that is necessary to secure this is a
chimney on top protected by blinds so
that the rays of light cannot enter,
while at the bottom is a tube connect
ed with the outer air. In such a smoke-
i , l - 1 , i ' i 1 -
iiuuse you uiiiy Keep uieub luueuuiteijf
by occasionally causing a smoke during
summer. If the meat has been proper-
ly cured, it will keep sweet. If the in-
sects cannot get access to the place
where it is kont. thev cannot lav their
eeff. therein and consequently there
cannon De euuer snippers or Deenes or
I . 1 1 1 " , l 1 I
their larvae.
The smoke-house may be used for a
variety of purposes when not filled with
meat. The first four feetBhould always
be built of brick, both as a protection
asainst fire and as affording a most con
venient receptacle for ashes, in all dis
tricts wnere wood is burned lor fuel.
If our readers have no permanent
smoke-house yet build in which'to keep
their meat, we advise them to built one
without delay. Where farmers depend
so much, as they "necessarily must in
the country in summer, on preserved
meats, they should have a proper place
to Keep it safe from insect enemies.
A Chicago Hotel,
The following is a translation of an
.-t:i . t.i: n.v.ii. -;n
convey an idea of the German estimates
of the cominK American hotel : "The
latest American progress in building
will be the 'mammoth hotel,' soon to be
erected in Chicago. This enormous
hotel is to have a frontage of three Eng
lish miles long, and a depth of six
miles ; the height of seventy-seven
stories will measure 3,480 feet from the
ground floor to the roof. The hotel
will have no stairsbut COO balloons
will always be ready to take visitors up
to their rooms. No ioom-waitera are to
be employed, but visitors will be served
by a newly patented automatic, put up
in every bedroom, who will do all shav
ing, shampooing, etc, to the guests by
a very simple and ingenious mechanism,
Supposing the guest requires hot wa
ter, the automatio will be able to call
down stairs : 'A bucket of water up to
room number one million three thou
sand one hundred and seven,' and the
water will be up in seven seconds by a
patented elevator. Half an hour be
fore table d'hote, instead of the ringing
of bells, a gun (24 pounder) will be
fired on each floor to call the guests to
get ready for their meals. The tables
in the dining-rooms will measure
four miles each, attendance to be
performed by twelve waiters on
horseback on either side of the
table. Music during table d'hote
will be played gratis by eight bauds
of seventy-hve men each, i or the con
venience of visitors a railroad will be
built on each floor as well as telegraph
offices. The price for one bedroom will
be from $1 to $10. The cost of this
building is estimated to be $680,000,000.
The billiard room will contain 900
American, 99 French, and 1 English
table, and, most of the visitors expect
ed to be Americans, the billiard room
will be fitted out with a ppittoou of 100
feet in circumference,
A Strong Witness.
Some years ago a law suit occurred
out West, growing out of the destruc
tion of a quantity of growing corn, be
lonKinsr to a Mr. Wilson, by hogs
owned by a Mr. Brown. The latter
owned eight hogs, and Wilson declared
that they were all in his Meld, and that,
consequently, tne navoo was immense,
iSrown protested that ne didn i Deiieve
any of bis bogs were in Wilson's field,
but if any at all, certainly not more
than one or two, end therefore the
damages could not have been so great
as represented.
Wilson had a witness on his side
named Jerry Parker, not a ' very bright
l... . . 1,:
young man, but noted lor having a
wonderful imagination, tie came in
late, and had not a very distinct idea
as to bow the case stood, but he had a
very vague notion that it was for Wil
son's interest to make the number of
nogs appear as large as possible.
When he took the witness-stand he
was questioned by Wilson's lawyer, who
asked :
Jerry, did you see the bogs in Mr.
Wilson s corn-field, on the day in
question ?"
" Yes. sir : I did." replied Jerry.
"Do you know exactly bow many
there were ?
"No, I didn't count 'em: but I'll
take mv oath there warn't less than
thirtv I"
The consternation of Wilson and his
luwyer, at this unexpected reply, may
be imagined ; and it was not lessene
when Brown's lawyer arose and said
" Your honor, as my client has only
eight hogs, it is very evident that those
which destroyed JUr. Wilson e oora be
longed to some one else, and I ask
judgment for the defendant"
The court granted this request, and
poor Wilson, by having too strong a
witness, ion we ease.
Items of Interest.
Fee simple Giving a waiter ten cents
and expecting to have a good dinner. ,
The elephant is said to be dying out.
Perhops that's the reason why so many
insist on seeing him on every occasion,
The Cincinnati Gazette is curious to
know what the brewers of that oity do
with the tobacoo stems they purchase.
Tha finhan nlanters arfl arriving at
the conclusion that growing pineapples
and bananas for the American market
pays better than tobacco and coffee.
A Californian who ties one end of a
rope around his waist and lassoes a cow
with the other oan generally ten, at mo
end of the first half mile, whether he's
got the cow or the cow's got him.
No recommendation. Gushing Par
ty "There's a view now I Magnificent I
Surely you'll admit that deserves
praise I" rractical aen-maoe man.
" Well, I don't know. It has made no
effort to deserve it didn't moke itself 1"
A teacher, who. in a fit of vexation,
called her pupils a set of young adders,
upon being reproved for her language,
apologized by saying that she was
speaking to those just commencing
their arithmetic.
The Chicago Times thinks the base
ball club of that city can best serve
Chicago by quitting their perambula
tions about the country, and taking
positions as hod-carriers.
The number of pilgrims who visited
the tomb of Mahomet at Mecca this
year is said to nave Deen ou.uuu, aim
owincr to the precautions adopted by
uwh vv r. -- y
the Egyptian Government, their health
lias been unusuauy goou.
According to a local journal, the
rattlesnakes in the knobs of Lincoln
mintir Kt.. have formed a " corner
in water, and the smpplv of some famr
. . . M m, 11 i 1 Isl A
lies is cut on. xney gainer iu nugc
numbers around the springs, and suffer
no one to approach.
The famous, and at the time popular,
hotel, tke Danforth House, Pithole
City, Pa., which cost $28,000, was sold
a few days ago for a $10 note ; and the
. . . Aft rtrtrt 1 1. i.
furniture, which cost J&d.uw, orougus
less than $90. Six months after the
city was founded it had seventy-four
hotels and boarding. bouses, and fifteen
thousand inhabitants. Now only nine
families remain.
Years ago an old man and his daugh
ter Diana started to cross a marsh in
Lake Charles parish, Louisiana. They
were never afterward heard from. A
short timo since a hunter's dogs started .
a wild animal in the marsh, and the
huntsman was about to shoot, when he
saw that it was a girl, nude and wild.
He reported his discovery was told the
?T 01 wiana, anu
aoting on the idea
will endeavor
to
get a glimpse of ber
again.
Au Sable Chasm.
The followintr stories connected with'
the glen are well authenticated : Until
a few years ago a bridge spanned the
Chasm at the point where it is narrow
est. This bridge was suffered to decay,
and was finally disused. There re
mained of it at last only a single
squared girder. Over this a mad-cap
boy would sometimes venture, ior a
freak, but none was known to cross by
it except such as were possessed of the
insanity of youth. One dark night a
clergyman on horseback approached it.
He had been absent aoroaa ior several
years. When he had been familiar
with this section of country, the Au
Sable Bridge was the usual avenue of
approach to his home. He knew noth
ing of its subsequent ruin. Upon
drawing near it in the darkness he con
fidently spurred his norse onwaru.
When the horse's hoofs struck the sin
gle beam which remained of the bridge,
the rider sought to penetrate tne aam
ness, but could not. Dropping the
reins upon the neck of his brave Bteed,
he abandoned bis thoughts to reverie.
He was passing over tbe wild gorge of
the Au Sable, with which he had been
acquainted in youth and early man
hood, and where he had indulged in
many a perilous adventure, long oeiore
the Chasm had been prepared by art
for the easy access of the timorous visi
tor. How many changes he might find
upon bis return old faces buried, old
landmarks removed, old nouses laueu
into decay. Before he had concluded
this waking dream the hoofs of his
trusty animal no longer echoed upon
the bridge, out strucK tne sonu
ground upon the other side. He was
safely over, without an intimation that
he had risked the smallest danger.
Not until he had reached his home,
and was told by what route he ha4
come, did he learn of bis tremendous
peril. The next morning, when he
reviewed, by the light of day, the
threadlike pathway over which he had
gone, his Knees smote togetner, and ne
uttered a prayer of thanksgiving for
deliverance from a horrible death.
A good-for-nothing character in the
neighborhood was once caught in the
act of theft, near the bridge just de
scribed, in tbe days when it was the
usual avenue of travel. It having been
playfully suggested by some one
f.J i. v... :. .1 u
that
his morals miKht be improved by sus
pending him by the heels lor a brief
season from the bridge over Au Sable
Chasm, the punishment was instantly
inflicted. The cure proved effectual,
but the thief's morals were reformed at
the expense of bis intellect, for be be
came a confirmed, though inoffensive
idiot.
Human Testimony,
Within a few months, says the Boston
Traveler, a paper purporting to be a
mortgage of personal property was
handed a prominent legal gentleman on
the witness stand in the Supreme
Court, and be, under oath, stated that
be saw tbe person sign the paper, and
that his name was attached as witness
in bis handwriting. He was closely
pressed by the opposing counsel to
carefully examine and see if be did see
tbe person sign it, and Bpeoially if his
(the witness's) name was written there-.
on by himself. He examined and re
plied to both in the affirmative. It
afterwards appeared, in uncontradicted
evidence, that the paper submitted was
a oopv of tbe original mortgage fur
Bilked by the City Clerk,