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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. IV. 1UDGAVAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUllSDAY, OCTOBEH 1, 1874. ' NO. 31.
Too Old for Kisses.
Sty uncle Thilip, hale old man,
II n children by the dozen ;
Tom. Ned, and Jack, and Kate and Ann
How many call me "couein ? "
Oood boys and t?irle, the beet was Bess :
I bore her on my (boulder ;
A Jittlo bud of loveliness
That never should grow oldorl
Her yes had such a pleading way,
Thoy seouied to say, " Don't strike me ;"
Then, growing bol-.l, another day,
" I mean to make you like mo."
I liked my tousin, early, lale,
Who liked not little misses :
fhe need to meet me at the gate,
Jut olu enough for kisses I
This was, I think, three years ago
.Before I went to college :
I learned one thing there how to row,
A houlthy sort of knowledge.
When I was plucked (we won the race),
A'id all was at an end there,
I. t'uought of Uncle I'bilip's plaoe,
And every country friend there.
My cousin met me at the gate ;
E-he looked five, ten yearB older
A tn'l young woman, still, sedate,
With manners coyer, colder.
She fcavo her hand with stately prido,
. ." Why, what a greeting this is !
1'ou uaod to kit's mo." She roplied,
" I am too old for kisses."
I lovwS, I love my coutin Boss :
fcilifc'B always in my mind now ;
A toll-blown bud of loveliness
The roso of womankind now 1
She must have suitors ; old and young
Must bw their heads before her ;
' Vows must bo made and songs be sung
By many a mad adorer 1
But I must win hor : she must give
To mo her youth and beauty ;
And I to love her while I live
Will bo my happy duty j
For she will love me soon er late,
And be my bliss of blisses,
Will come to eet me at the gato,
Nor bo to'o old for kiseos !
MY DOG " SAP."
Lie down, lie down, sir I"
M Ob, never mind him, Frank, lie
ron't hurt you ; go right in,"
"Oh, yes," said I, "it is all well
enough for you to say 'never mind
him,' but, by George, he looks as if
ho would bear a great deal of minding.
" Nont-ense," said Alick, laughing;
"I tell you the dog will not touch you;
but, if you will not believe me, wait a
monieiit and I will go along with you."
I certainly was afraid to go into the
room alone, and I think you, my read
ier, would have thought discretion the
Jbetter part had you been in my place.
Alick was talking with his agent as I
came to the hall door, and had walked
toward his library to wait his leisure ;
but when I opened the door a large
black dog that had evidently been lying
on the floor started to his feet with a
growl, and exhibited a row of teeth
that would have mado a good stock in
irade for a first-class dentist. He was
.a -villainous-looking brute, and I de
clined trusting myself to his mercy, as
I have told above.
Alick finished his business ; then
took mo by the arm and led me into
the room the dog slowly dropping on
his huunches when he saw his master,
and I paid no more attention to him
until i hud finished the business I had
in hand.
What in the world do yen want with
such a vicious dog ?" I inquired, as I
lit the cigar my friend gave me.
" I don't think much of your judg
ment if you call him a vicious-looking
dog," was the answer.
' What breed is he ?"
"He's a cross of several breeds."
" Yes, I should think from the way
he showed me his teeth that he was all
cross.' "
"Come, come, Frank, you must not
run down old 'Nap.' He has been too
good a friend for me to listen to any
thing but praises of him."
" What did he ever do that was par
ticular! f friendly ?" I inquired.
"Nap? I'll tell you what he did;
lie saved me iifty thousand dollars dur
ing war-times."
I was about to give an unbelieving
chuckle, but a glance of Alick's face
told me that he was in earnest, so I beg
ged fur the story.
" It was about the middle of the
war," said Alick, "when I was treasur
er of the Grafton Drilling Company.
Our oflice safe was as unsafe as a pine
box would have been, and I disliked to
leave a dollar in it. There were several
burglaries about the place and all of
them were skilfully planned and exe
cuted, " One night our office was visited,
the safe pried open with wedges, and
the contents carried off. The burglars
found but a few hundred dollars, but
the worst feature of it was that they
had hit upon a night when there ought
to have been a large amount of money
there. We had received a large cash
payment the day before, but instead of
trusting it to our old safe I had taken
it home with me.
" Wo wondered if the burglars had
any knowledge of this payment. If
they hud, then they must have extraor
dinary means of training intelligence.
and would know whenever we received
anv large amounts again, and would
they not come at once to my house,
now that they had seen I did not trust
the safe? The question was a very
perplexing one, and I had an angry de
bate over it with some of our direotors.
I was in favor of gotting a reliable safe
and employing a night-watchman, but
I was out-voted.
"Old Evans, indeed, went bo far as
to say that, as lightning never struck
twice in the same plaoe, neither did
burfrlars visit old safes the second time.
And he was inclined to think ourmoney
would be safer if left in the oflice than
if carried to niv residence. And be
talked so many of the others into his
way of thinking that a resolution was
passed declaring it against their wishes
to have any of the company's funds
kept anywhere except in the office safe I
Of course, the effect of this was
that if I carried the money home and
1 , I l i li i:
iudii ik, wo luos wuuiu iuii on mo mui
vidually, and not upon the company.
"I was angry enough to have re
signed my placo, but my interest in the
concern was too large to be trifled with,
though I determined there would be a
change iu that boiird of directors an
other year.
" About a week after this our secre
tary returned from BoRton on the tven
ing traiu and brought with him fifty
thousand dollars, and all in greenbacks,
the proceeds of our monthly bills re
ceivable, ne brought the money in
bills because the day following was our
pay-day.
" I was in a most perplexing state of
mind when he handed me that money.
I knew tho office safe was no protection
whatever, and yet if I carried the money
home with me I was assuming a great,
responsibility. Without saying a word
to any one I determined to keep the
money with me. I found an old dinner-basket
iu the office and I carried it
home in that.
"You may be assured that I did not
feel very comfortable that evening. I
thought of every nook and corner in
the house, and wondered whore would
be the safest. At last I determined
upon dividing it, leaving half here and
the rest in my own room. I had not
mentioned the matter at home,not even
to my ;ite. but plead a headache when
reminded of my preoccupied air.
" x came in hero ana piacea twenty-
five thousand dollars in that ottoman
at your feet. See 1 the top is on
hinges, and is fastened by this hook on
tho side. This ottoman I pushed near
' Nap.' The balance I carried to my
own room and put it in the stove.think
ing that would be the last place where
any one would look for it. I went to
bed, but it was nearly midnight before
I fell asleep.
"I was awakened to find a man's
baud on my mouth, and to be informed
that he did not intend to harm me if I
kept quiet. My hands were then tied
behind me, a towel fastened in my
mouth, and the muzzle of a pistol placed
against my head. Another man was
treating my wile in a similar manner.
They had a dark-lantern and wore
masks.
"After securing us they began to
searoh tho oom. First my clothes,
then tho bureau drawers, under the bed
everywhere but where the money was.
I began to think I had outwitted them,
when one said to the other 'How's
that stove?' Another minute and they
were pulling out the money.
"Imagine my feelings if you can.
Even if they left with this amount it
was no small sum to lose. I could al
most have cried right then and there.
One ran over the amount and said
to the other, Only half here.' My
heart grew colder thun before. They
went to the eswy-chair and cut open the
stuffed seat ; they picked up the otto
man, examined it, and went out of the
room.
I was trying to get up when one
dame back the other had the money ;
he pushed me back into the bed, saying
I had better be quiet. I heard the
other man walk down stairs and I knew
my money was gone. They evidently
knew how much money I had, and froia
tiie way tuoy had ripped open chairs
and cushions in my room, they would
not be long searching for that which
was down stans.
" The fellow must have come straight
to this door. I heard him turn the
latch, and then a roost unearthly
bcreaml I knew that 'Nap was doing
his duty. Iu a flash I jumped to the
tioor, and in doing so gave a wrench to
the band about my wrists that broke it,
and then before the man on guard
could fire, I caught his revolver. He
made a stroke at me, I dodged it,
caught him by the lesrs and threw him.
As he fell he gave up his hold on the
revolver.
' I cared nothing for him, I wanted
the man who had the money : so I dash
ed down the stairs, only to see him go
ing out tho hall door. I fired, but
missed him ; 1 nred again and heard a
cry of pain ; I fired once more and
broke his ankle and down he dropped.
The other man jumped out of the win
dow and escaped.
" Of course I secure! my man, re
covered my money, and old Evans had
to admit that ho had been wrong lor
the robbers had first gone to tho office,
and came to my house only when they
found the Bafe empty. Another revela
lution that the morning brought was a
confession from my prisoner that our
book-keeper was one of their gang and
posted them about our affairs. The
book-keeper did not come to work that
morning, nor have we ever seen him
since."
And the dog ?" I asked.
"Yes, the dog had all the credit.
You see, the thief supposed by the si
ence that there was no dog about the
premises, and he thought he was done
for when ho opened the door and ' Nap '
sprang at him."
" But," said I, " he was frightened
rather easily ; these fellows usually do
not care much for a dog."
" I guess he never saw quite such a
dog as 'Nap' was that night," said
Alick, laughing. "I had mbbed his
eyes and mouth with phosphorus, and
put on the strong spring. I don't
blame the fellow for imagining the evil
one was before him."
" 'Phosphorus ' and 'strong spring !' "
I exclaimed; "what are you talking
about ?"
" His eyes are glass, you know."
"Glass I Have you been drinking,
or have I ?"
" Why, old fellow, don't you see that
Nap' is a fraud ?"
I jumped to the dog, and sure enough
I had been badly sold the dog was
India-rubber ! Alick laughed loud
and long at my sheepish face.
" Is the story as true as the dog ?" I
asked.
" Oh, the story is true as preaching.
I bought ' Nap' when I was in Paris. I
have springs fixed on the door and in
the floor, so that when the door is
opened the dog stands up, and when
he is up there is an arrangement in his
throat that makes the growl you heard.
By putting on that upper lever he is
made to iumo as high as a man's head,
and that jump was what frightened the
burglars."
I sympathize with that burglar, and
I hope he did aot lose caste among his
professional brethren, for certainly the
doff was a yiliainous-lookiug brute as
well as a most unmitigated swindle.
A Trick of the Zouaves.
We commend tho following authentic
story to the attention of tho innumera
ble admirers of the French Zouaves,
who have won such a conspicuous place
in military history. The Arabs of the
Beni-Snassen tribe are great amateurs
of gunpowder, and never neglect an op
portunity of prowliiig about the French
camp, and offering the soldiers large
Bums of money for the coveted article.
They pretend to bo Arabs of the neigh
borhood, friendly to the French, and
say they want powder for hunting.
One day it was discovered that the
zouaves had been selling their powder.
To paint the fury of the officer in oom
maud of the Arab bureau is an impos
sible thing, but ho resolved to discover
the culprits and punish them severely.
An Arab in the service of the bureau
went iu a mysterious way in quest of
powder. An old zouave brought him
four cartridges, and asked him twenty
francs for them. The bargain was
struck, but the spy instantly disclosed
his official character, and brought the
cartridge vender before the comman
der. " Is it you then," cried the officer,
" coward and knave, who would have
your comrades assassinated by the
Benni-Snassens ?"
"Yes, commandant, I did it."
" You have committed a base action."
" I admit it commandant ; but with
this same powder that I sold, I am
going to blow my brains out ; that will
save the trouble of a court-martial, and
the zouaves will not be dishonored by a
public sentence."
With these words the zouave took a
cartridge, loaded a pistol with it, drop
ped a round bull in the barrel, and with
superb coolness, put the muzzle to his
head and pulled the trigger. The wea
pon missed fire, and the zouave burst
into a hoarse laugh.
"The Judge has acquitted me,"
he said.
" How so ?" said the commandant.
" Why, you see, commandant, that
the powder I sell to the Benni-Snas-sens
is only ground charcoal ; the balls
are made of clay, the whole done up in
genuine cartridges. You have just
seen a proof of it."
It was true. Tho zouave had cheated
his customer, and he added with an air
of triumph :
" The first t'nio the Benni-Snasseus
come into action, all their pieces will
miss fire, and you will gain the battle."
" Then you have sold a good deal of
powder?"
" Rather "and the zouave exhibited
a formidable pipe, set with solid gold.
Though the Arabs may be pretty
sharp fellows, they are no match in
cunning for the zouaves.
In a Western Court,
" This 'ere case is a sad one," re
marked Bijah, as he brought out Cath
erine Judy, a woman of fifty.
It was disturbing the peace. The
officer says he won't swear that he
smelled whisky, but he is willing to
deed his house and lot to any one if he
can't say that tho echoes of her gentle
voice reached him as he was leaning on
a hitching post five blocks away. She
was mad, ugly and stubborn, and she
made awful threats against his life.
She had, however, partly compensated
for them by weeping all night long.and
by oft repeated promises that her fu
ture life should be as full of sobriety
as a sunflowar is full of seeds.
" I hope so, Catherine I hope so,"
replied his Honor, as she mado the
same promise to him. " You are aged
aud gray, Mrs. Judy. You are rapidly
traveling toward that last receptacle of
the human form, aud it won't be long
before the sod closes over you for
ever." " I believe the same," she answered,
trying to shed a tear.
1 believe you want to do good," he
continued. " I believe so because you
have said so fifteen or twenty times at
this bar. You have promised and
promised, and coaxed and begged., and
my heart has every time been touch'
ed."
"That's nice," she said, smiling
lovingly at Bijah.
" I waut to let you off this morn
ing." he went on. " I am certain that
you would never get drunk again, and
that 1 should never behold you at tins
bar as a prisoner. But I can't do it.
The people of the great State of Michi
gan are at my back ; they demand that
you bo sent up for two months. It's
an awful thing to see a woman fifty
years old going to the House of Cor
rection, but I can't help it, I am only a
middleman, and I must obey the law."
" Couldn't make it half an hour," she
asked, anxiously.
" Couldn't be less than sixty dayft,"
he answered, and she went back and rat
down on the stove hearth, and skid
she wouM be dead ere the rosy hues of
sunset had commenced to gild the west
ern skies.
"ew England Independence.
Burleigh writes to the Boston Jour
nal : " In New York the restaurant
keeper greets you with his coat off,
sleeves rolled up, face red, and a breath
indicative of lager. In New England,
your caterer is probably a man sub
stance. He is willing to accommodate
you. ne reads the paper while the
coffee is boiling. The Atlantic Month
ly lays on the book-Bhelf,and he can tell
yoa all about the subjects discussed at
the last scientifio convention. The'
young woman who hands you your
coflae is his daughter. She took the
medal in algebra, and has been two
quarters at the academy. It would be
just as well if her tongue was not quite
eo sharp, but then she is as good as
anybody, and only waits on you for
your accommodation. I have been
amazed to see a New Yorker give his
order. He has been waited on in New
York by girls German, Irish, French,
and Italian : but this is his first ex
perience with a Yankee girl. -She hands
the guest a bill-of-f are, and waits like a
school-teacher who has given a dull boy
a hard problem. ' Can I have some
hard boiled eggs?' 'I presume you
can.' 'Have you buttered toast?' 'I
believe it is on the bill-of-f are.' ' Can
you get me a class of milk ?' ' I can.
In this matter-of-fact way the colloquy
proceeded, to the utter astonishment of
the man of Gotham.
Perils of Office Seeking,
The Hon. Albert G. Brown, of Mis
sissippi, recently wrote a letter to a
young lady friend, wherein he laments
that he ever made a political speech or
held an office. Ex-Governor Brown
was for thirty-three years, previous to
1805, continually in high official and
political station; and would therefore
seem to have hail as extensive and fa
vorable an experience as any of his con
temporaries and associates. We quote
as follows :
True, as you say.I held many offices.
Indeed, I may say that I never knew
defeat in any of my aspirations. And
it is just because j had success which
people call wonderful, that I feol com
petent to administer a word of " cau
tion" to the young men of this genera
tion. My young friend, do not bo de
ceived by tho glitter of office, I am now
past my three-score yearn, nud am fast
traveling into the ten. I have hold al
most every office in the gift of tho peo
ple, and I can truly say with the
preacher, " it is all vanity and vexation
of spirit."
Looking back over a long, and I hope
not nnsucessfui life, I can say, with a
clear conscience, my greatest regret is
that I ever made a political speech or
held an oflice.
There is a fascination in office which
beguiles men, but be assured my young
friend, it is the fascination of a serpent;
or to change the figure, it is the itnis
pit hub which coaxes you on to inevitable
rniu.
I speak of that which I do know. If
my young friends will be governed by
my advice, I have this to say, after all
my successes as a publio man, now,
when my head is blossoming for the
grave, I feel that it would have been
better for me if I had followed the
occupation of my father, and been a
farmer.
The mechanical arts are all honora
ble. To bo a blacksmith, a carpenter
or an artizan of any sort is no discredit
to any man. Better than to be a jack-
leg lawyer, a quack doctor, a counter-
hopper, or worse still, a wretched seek
er after oflice.
Of all pursuits in life that of a farmer
is the most respectable. It may have
its trials and its disappointments so do
all others. The mechanic may lose
the wages of his labor, the professional
man his fees ; the editor may weep
over delinquent subscribers, but the
honest, industrious farmer is morally
certain ot a lair ret am lor his labor.
True, "Paul may plant and Appollos
water, but God must give the increase."
But where is the faithful cultivator of
tho soil, God's heritage to man, who
ever yet suffered for bread ? '
Allow me again to " caution " my
young friends against the beguiling in
fluence of office, aud to adviso them
most earnestly to stick to mother earth.
A Touching Incident.
The Chicago Times, has the follow
ing : A little incident like the follow
ing will tend more toward bringing
about a healthy feeling of kindness be
tween the North and the South than all
the formal reconciliations that officious
and ingenious minds can devise. A
New York lady, noticing that Major
Jones, of Montgomery, Ala., in pro
nouncing an oration over the Confed
erate dead, had none but kindly words
for those who fell on the other side,
and expressed himself eloquently aud
feelingly in favor of reconciliation,
commissioned a jewelry Arm to send
him a silver cup, suitably engraved, as
expressive of her appreciation of the
sentiments he expressed and the regard
for him which they gave rise to. Her
uaine was withheld, at her desire, but
her letter to the jeweller was forwarded
with the testimonial. In it she said,
" The war widowed me and took away
my two sons. For a long time I felt as
if 1 could never forgive those who slew
the defenders of the ' Stars aud Stripes,'
but when I think of the war-widowed
mothers of the South, and see such lan
guage as this, it makes me tenderer
and jnster to the South. I feel that
men like this Major Jones must be no
ble and true in heart, and fought and
died because they thought it was right.
I want them to feel that such senti
ments echo in the Northern heart, and
in truth ' tend to draw the whole coun
try together for its sealing.' " The
cup, as received by the major, was in
scribed as follows :
To
MAJOR THOMAS G. JONES,
The Orator on Confederate Memo
rial Day,
April, 1874;
from
A Northern woman, widowed and bereft
of her two sons by the War,
As a token of her appreciation of the
Soldierly words, spoken in kindness of
The jsorthern .Dead.
The Gardener's Lesson,
Two gardeners had their crops of peas
killed by the frost. One of them was
very impatient under the loss, and fret'
ted about it very much. The other
went patiently to work at once to plant
a new crop. After a while the im
patient, fretting man went to his neigh
bor. To his surprise he found another
crop of peas growing finely. He asked
how it could be.
" These are what I sowed while you
were fretting," said his neighbor.
" But don't you ever fret ?" he asked
" Yes, I do, but I put it off till I have
repaireu me miucmei iuuii una ueeii
done."
" Why then you have no need to fret
at all."
" True," said the friend, " and that's
the reason 1 put it off." .
Honest at Last,
A countrywoman went into a store on
Hanover street, Boston, the other day,
and putting, four dollars on the conn'
ter, remarked to a cierk : There
fourteen years ago, 'twill be fifteen this
fall, I bought something next door and
gave them a dollar bill, but they
couldn't give me the change ; so they
sent a boy into the next shop, and he
brought me back the change for five
dollars instead of one dollar. I took it
but 'taint no use, I ain't agoing to keep
it any longer ; so there it is, all back
again." And before the astonished
clerk had time to make any inquiries
she was gone.
What He Wauled.
Stephen Decatur was most emphati
cally a "sailor's mau." When, on ship
board, we would say of an officer that
the sailors respect and love him, we
say he is a "sailor's man." Decatur
i i , i.
was every inoii a Bailor, anu every iueu
a hero. He inspired his men witn a
love that was devotion, and came near
being adoration, in one ot Ueoatur s
actions before Tripoli, while engaged
in a hand to Land oonnici wun a pow
erful gun-boat captain, he was attacked
from behind by one of the Turks, and
would have been cut down, had not an
old sailor named James, who had al
ready been soverely wounded in the
right arm, rushed in and reoeived the
Mow of the Turk's sabre upon his head.
Being so near to the striker, the blow
did not penetrate the skull, and the
honest fellow survived. When James
had recovered from his wounds, and
was able to come on deck, Decatur
called him aft, and having, in the pres
ence of the crew, expressed the deepest
gratitude for his heroic devotion, bade
Inni say wnat reward he wouia nave.
The old salt hitched np his trowsers,
and knew not what to say. His mess
mates gathered around him, and whis
pered to him that now was his chance.
One advised him te ask for a boat
swain's rale ; another for double pay ;
another for a double allowance of grog ;
and so on. But James elbowed them
aside, and said he wanted none of their
counsel. He would not lose entirely
the privilege of being tho commodore's
creditor to tho amount of his gratitude.
Still ho would not venture a request.
And he informed his commander, after
much deliberation, that he would like
to be excused from holy Btoning and
scrubbing deck. The whimsical re
quest was cheerfully granted, and from
that time forward, when all hands were
wined to "scrub deck." James perched
himself clear of the sand and water, and
looked on in dignified ease and com
fort. He sailed with Decatur while
they both lived, and upon the untimely
death of his patron a goodly pension
was granted him by the (Government,
and he was allowed to retire upsn his
laurels.
The Bandit and the Ked Boots.
The chief of a very desperate gang
of banditti who had amassed consider
able wealth was taken by a soldier and
conducted to the governor of the
province of Ekalerinoslaf. Great re
ward had been offered for the person
of this man, and it was supposed that
he would, of course, bo immediately
knouted. To the astonishment of the
soldier who had been the means of his
apprehension, a few days only had
elapsed when he received a visit from
the robber. He had been able to bribe
the governor sufficiently to procure his
release, in consequence whereof he had
been liberated from connnement. lou
have caught me," said he, addressing
tho soldier, "this time ; but before you
set out on another expedition in search
of me, I will accommodate yon with a
pair of red boots for the journey.
Boots made of red leather are common
ly worn in the Ukraine ; but to give a
man a pair of red boots, according to
the saying of the Tartars, is to out the
skin round the upper part oi nis legs,
and then cause it to be torn off by the
feet. This species of torture the ban
ditti are said to practice, as an act of
revenge ; in the same manner the
American Indians scalp the neaas oi
their enemies. With this terrible
tbreat he made his escape, and no fur
ther inquiry was made after him on the
part of the police. The undaunted
soldier finding the little confidence that
could be placed in the commander, de-
. i . i i 1 1 . j i i : . r
rerminea to iuko mo uuuuuuiniuuu ui
justice into his own hands, and once
more ventured in pursuit ot the robber,
whose flight had spread terror through
the country. After an undertaking full
of daneer. he found him in one of the
little subterranean huts in the midst of
the Steppes. Entering the place with
pistols iu hand, lou promised me,
said he, " a pair of red boots ; I am
come to be measured for them." With
these words he discharged one of his
pistols, and killing the robber on the
spot, returned to his quarters.
Hard for Ihe Farmer.
Two Kansas farmers, guileless of city
ways, arrived at (Jhicago loaded witn
money, and were speedily enticed into
Rambling house, where they were
fleeced. They had the gamblers arrested
and fined. But tiie gay " knights oi
the card" appealed from the judgment,
and the farmers were required to lur
nisli bail as witnesses. They, having
no friends in town, of course could not
secure the proper bail, and were there
fore sent to jail, where they were kept
two weeks. When they emerged, they
wtre informed that the man whose pun
ishnientthey wished to secure "was said
to have left Chicago," and that the loss
of their money, their two weeks inv
prisonment. and their chagrin, were
looked upon as good jokes by the city
authorities. The gambler had taken
advantage of his acquaintance with a
"professional bailer to place inmseii
beyond the reacu oi tne reiuotant jus
tice of the Chicago city authorities,
aud, whfle the Kansas farmers were
sweltering in jail, was probably haunt
ing Ills accustomeu curuer iu now mn.
A Mild Mau and Terrible Inventor.
The Indianapolis correspondent of
the Cincinnati Commercial writes as
follows : "In appearance, Dr. Gatling
would be taken for a Prussian offioer.
He has unusual precision of gait and
manner, ioined to strong indications of
keen perceptive powers. The eyes are
particularly line, and there is a pleas
ing show of humor and kindness in the
lines about his mouth. He is in the
prime of life, and there is no sign of
his inventive genius being on the wane.
As much as twenty -five years ago he
invented a method of applying com
pressed air as a motive-power to ma
chinery. His applications for a patent
were defeated on the grounds that it
was a discovery, not an invention. Now
th Gatling gun is reoognized as the
greatest invention of the age, and what
i of more account to the inventor, gen
erally adopted, the Doctor can turn his
attention to tne moiive-powr wi com
pressed am
The Coming Horse.
The New York correspondent of the
Boston Journal writes : " We have
here a banker who in a quiet way has
been gathering for some time the
speediest horses of tho country. He
has a quiet stable out of the city, about
an hour's ride. away. Here he has a
track, and without observation ho is
recording some marvellous speed. Ho
says nothing about Mb stud on the
street, and will not be questioned. No
one can get access to his horses without
a written permission from himself, and
that is rarely given. Atno.ig his treas
ures is a brother of Dexter, a gamey,
speedy horse, of which marvellous
things are told. This out-of-the-way
Btuble is just now the centre of a good
deal of interest. Among horsemen it
has been known for a long while that a
Methodist minister owned a colt of
which marvellous things were told.
The animal was black as a raven and
bore the name of Blackwood. The
value of the horse, in the estimation of
the owner, may be seen by the pleasant
little price that was put upon him.
The horsemen on the street laughed
that a plain Methodist parBon, in tho
wilds of Kentucky, offered his animal
for $60,000 1 The banker alluded to
heard so much of this colt that he took
a trip down to Kentucky to look at him.
He saw him move. He describes him
a. a marvel. His nostrils become red
a3 fire ; his eyes dilate, and he seems
transformed. The captivated New
Yorker offered $30,000 for the colt. The
owner received the proposal with dis
dain. He did not even reply ; ordered
tho horse back into the stable, and
went into his house. Another visit was
made, and the horse changed owners,
$50,000, it is said, being the price."
Japanese Tea Cultivation.
Tea culture is very simple. First the
seed is deposited in hollows four or five
inches deep and eighteen inches wide,
made in the ground at intervals of four
or five feet ; then the earth is sprinkled
lightly over the seed. The sowing is
usually done in November or Decem
ber, and after the spring rains have
fallen the plants rise in clusters from
each seed-bed. Manure is occasionally
applied to them, but aside from this
they require little care except to be
kept free Irom weeds. The hrst crop
of leaves is not yielded till three years
after tho planting. They are then
transported in order to give each plant
more space for growth, and are plaoed
in rows six or eight inches apart. Some
times the bushes are kept low by prun-
mg and to prevent their spreading and
overgrowing each other. After seven
or ten years they are cut down, so that
the young and tender shoots below may
have a chance to grow. The critical
season in tea-culture is when the leaves
have to be picked, the time for which,
in two or three pluckiugs between March
and August, varies in different dis
tricts and with different plants. The
picking is generally done by women,
children, and old men working in gangs
of ten or twelve each, hired for the har
vest, and paid according to the amount
of tea picked. With hard work forty
pounds per day may be gathered, which
quantity will yield ten pounds of tea
when dried. H irst, the leaves are placed
in broad sunlight ; they are then brown
ed and roasted over a furnace.
Locust in China.
In China, where locusts are wont to
ravage the country, the authorities,
whether civil or military, are held re
sponsible for the stamping out of these
insects as soon as their appearance has
been reported. They are required to
summon a large body of men, and at
once surround and destroy the locusts;
the expenses of the maintenance of the
men and compensation for the crops
trodden down during the chase being
supplied by the Provincial Treasury
Should the local authorities suoceed in
stamping out the locusts within a lim
ited time their services are favorably
reported to the Emperor ; but should
they fail, and the locusts spread aud do
damage, they are liable to be deprived
of their posts, arrested, and handed
over to tho proper board for punish
ment. A certain sum per bushel is
paid to the peasants bringing in un
winged locusts, and half that sum when
the locusts are able to fly, while com
peusation is given for crops trodden
down in the chase. The locusts are
swept with besoms into trenches dug
at the sides of the corn field, in which
a vigorous fire is kept up. The best
time to capture locusts is when they
are feeding at dawn of day, when their
bodies being heavy with dew and their
wings wet, they are unable to jump
or fly.
How the Carlists Get War Material.
A letter in the London Times gives
some curious information as to the
mode in which war material is smug
gled into Spain by the Carlists. By
far the greater portion of arms that
enter Spain bp the seacoast proceed
from Bordeaux, concealed in wine bar
rels, or from Nantes, hidden among
sardine boxes, and consigned to mer
ohants dealing in wine and sardines at
Bavonue. at. Jean de Ijux, .Passages
and San Sebastian. The largest con
siguments are enected by land, and are
received by merchants and private per
sons. The writer has seen thousands
of cartridges arrive at a hotel packed
up as Swiss cheese, boxes of rifle bar
rels labelled macaroni, hollow iron pn
lars, stuffed with bayonets, and last,
but not least, bales of dry ood, con
taining considerably more steel than
fish.
A Cancer Cure.
And now another cancer cure is her
aided. A Bavarian physician, observ
ing that oancer patients on drinking the
mineral waters of the Tyrol, became
much worse, maue an examination and
found that the mountains whenoe the
streams flowed were principally com
posed of gneiss, and minute particles
of that rock were also found in the wa
ter. On the lnmeopathio principle,
that like cures like, he trim the ex
periment of triturating gneh s. and ap
plied it as a dressing, tne results ueing
eminently satisfactory, as of his patients
some seven or eight have completely
recovered, while all the others have im
proved noticeably.
A LETTER FROM BAZAISE.
He tell Why lie EKcaped His Hope or
the Future.
Marshal Bazsine, the French General
whose escape from imprisonment has
caused something of a sensation, has
written a letter to the New York Her
ald, in which he speaks of the kindness
and sympathy ho has experienced at
the hands of American travelers in
Europe, who have gone out of their
way to meet and express their kindly
feelings. The Marshal says in his let
ter : I should not even have attempted
to escape from prison had my former
comrade seen tit to lessen the severities
of my captivity. During my trial I
should have employed the same wea
pons that MacMahon used against
me. I shonld have shown in my do
fence how MacMahon had been beaten,
and had evacuated Alsace without en
deavoring to defend the Vosges, with
out resisting the march of the enemy,
without utilizing tho railroads, leaving
my right uncovered and turned, not
withstanding the order he had received
not to repass before Nancy. I should
have shown his ignorance of the nu
merical Btrength and the movements of
the enemy ; his presumption in accept
ing, battle blindfolded ; his impudence
in risking the reputation of the old Af
rican troops which he commanded in
one battle. I could have shown clearly
how, in forgetting the first duties of a
general in order to play the part of a
fighting soldier, he must be regarded
as one of the first authors of our dis
asters. The loss of Alsace has been imputed
to me, but the truth is that Alsace was
lost after Keichschoppen. Even after
the disaster, and after the precipitate
retreat of the army, Metz could have
been saved when Thiers, who alone re
tained his common sense, came to pro
pose peace ; but tho struggle was con
tinued in order that the dictatorship
might be retained and the organization
of a definite government prevented.
The enemy could never have been
crushed with raw levies without disci
pline or ardor ; defeat followed defeat,
and when nothing remained we were
completely in the power of Germany.
The pretended motive was to save tho
national honor, but the Army of the
Rhine had saved it before the dema
gogues thought of doing so. In one
day it had inflicted more loss on the
Germans than did all the force of Paris
in four months.
MacMahon and I have been unfortu
nate, but never ridiculous. No Ger
man ever laughed while fighting me.
Such sights as were seen at Paris and
at Tours could only compromise the
national honor. For myself, I am an
old soldior, and do not understand poli
tics. I make war, not speeches, and
do not allow myself to be frightened by
big words.
Jules Fa vre flattered me; uamoetta
called me a traitor ; but that did not
move mo.
As regards Mexico, the Emperor had
to choose between evaouation and a
war with the United States. To avoid
a conflict he gave the order to return ;
but Maximilian was unwilling either to
teturn to Austria or to abdicate, al-
rhough he well understood that Napo
leon could not sustain a struggle with
the United States. Maximilian, in
spite of wise counsels, preferred to
seek an honorable death. That is tho
truth, and that is the extent of each
one's responsibility. For my consola
tion the thought remains that even
Washington did not escape injustice
and that Lafayette passed through
ordeals more terrible than mine.
I am far from being rich ; but, be
sides my liberty, there still remain to
me immeasurable treasures. For com
panions I have an American lady who
gives me the strongest proofs of devo
tion ; I have children 1 adore, a brother
and some friends who have remained
faithful. My position is not hopeless ;
if need should be I would follow tho
example of the conquered Richmond
and take refuge in labor. Simple sol
dier, I carried a musket ; labor does
not dishonor. L do not look on my
military career as ended; I enjoy
health and bodily vigor. Some duties
remain to be fulfilled, and I shall fulfil
them when the time comes ; 1 hope tor
tuue will grant me a last smile, as she
oft in does to old soldiers.
Thoughts from the Talmud.
Ths thought of the sin is worse than
the sin. The older the wise mau gets
the wiser he grows ; tho fool, whon
he ages, becomes but an old fool. He
who studies for a good purposo, to him
his study becomes a blessing ; to him
who does not, it grows into a poison.
A bad wife is like a hail-storm. Do
not' dwell too long on your friend's
praises ; you will end in saying things
against him. Do muoh or little, so that
you do it for a good purpose. Refined
music is liked by refined people;
weavers do not much care for it. Three
cry out, but get no pity, viz : He who
lends out his money without witness,
the henpecked husband, and he who
cannot get in one place and does not
try another. Even the common talk of
the wise should be ponaerea over, une
- goose generally follows another.
iSad
servants first ask only when they have
committed a blunder. The load is laid
upon the camel according to its strength.
XI a word is worth a pound, snence is
worth two. A pig is the richest animal,
everything is a pieoe of good to him.
Whoever does too much does too little.
The greater a man, the greater his
passions. He who presses the hour,
the hour will press him. May our fu
ture reward be like that oi mm wno re
mains silent under a false imputation.
One peppercorn is better than a hun
dred gourds. A learned man wnose
deeds are evil is like a man who has a
door and no house. He who prays for
his neighbor will be heard first for him
self. He who marries his daughter to
an uneducated man throws her before
a wild beast. He who throws out sus
picious should at once be suspected
himself. Three keep good fellowship
strangers, slaves, and ravens. A
fool always rushes to the fore. Do not
ory out before the calamity has really
happened. If a man says something
strange, beware to mock at it wantonly.
Passion is at first like a .thin reed ; by
and by it becomes like cable.