III
, , , I I I ! . -1 I I
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. IV. EIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1874. NO. 36.
I
An t Sad are They.
Ah ! gad are they who know not love,
But, far from passion's tears and smiles,
Drift down a moonless tea, beyond
The silvery coasts of fairy isles.
And sadder they whose longing lips
KIbs empty air, and never touch
The dear warm mouth of those they love
Waiting, wasting, suffering much.
But clear as amber, fine as mush,
Is life to those who, pilgrim-wiso,
Move hand in baud from dawn to dusk,
Each morning nearer Faradise.
Oh, not for them shall angels pray
Thoy stand in everlasting light ;
They walk in Allah's smile by day,
And nentlo in his heart by night.
THE FALLING OF THE MILL.
It wa8 the 10th day of January, 1860.
On that day, while the machinery of
the Pemberton mill, of Lawrence,
Mass., was in motion, the main build
ing fell, without warning, and a con
flagration soon after broke out in the
ruins. Of 700 persons in the building
at the time, seventy-seven were killed,
and one hundred and thirty-four in
jured, of whom fourteen subsequently
died. The causa of the disaster was
the faulty construction of the iron pil
lars Which supported the floor timbers,
and' the lack of adhesive power in the
mortar.
Miss Elizabeth Stnart Phelps gave a
thrilling and vivid description of the
disaster in a story entitled " The Tenth
of January," extracts from which will
be found of deep interest in this con
nection. The silent city steeped and bathed
itseH in rose tints ; the river ran red
and the snow crimsoued on the distant
New Hampshire hills. Pemberton,
mute and cold, frowned across the disk
of the climbing sun and dipped, &3
she had seen it dip before, ia" blood.
The day broke softly, the snow melted,
and tho wind blow warm from the
river.
Sene was a little dizzy ihis morning
the constant palpitation of the floors
always made her dizzy, after a wakeful
night and so her colored threads
danced out of place and troubled her.
Del Ivory, working beside her said :
How the mill shakes 1 What's going
on ?"
" It's the new machinery they're
h'isting in," observed the overseer,
carelessly. " Great improvement, feut
Tory, very heavy ; they calc'lute on get
ting it all into place to-day."
The wind began at last to grow chilly
up the staircase and in at the cracks ;
tho melted drifts out under the walla
to harden ; the snn dipped above the
dam; the mill dimmed slowly; shadows
crept down between the frames.
"It's time for lights," said Meg
Match, and sworo a little at her spools.
"Del," said Sene, " I think to-morrow"
She stopped. Something strange
happened, to her frame ; it jarred, buz
zed, snapped, the threads untwisted
and flew out of place.
" Curious !" she said, and looked up.
Looked up to see her overseer turn
wildly, clap his hands to his head, and
fall ; to her.r a shriek from Del that
froze her bUod ; to see the solid coil
ing gape above her ; to see the walk
and windows stagger ; to seo iron pil
lars reel ; and vast machinery throw
up its giant arms, and a tangle cf hu
man faces blanch and writhe 1 She
sprang as the floor sunk. As pillar
alter pillar gave way, sue bounded up
an incline plane, with the gulf yawn
ing Rfter her. It gained upon her ; be
yond were the stairs and an open door;
she threw out her arms and struggled
on with hands and knees, tripped in
the gearing, end saw, as she fell, a
square oaken beam above her yield and
crash ; it was of n fresh, red color ; she
dimly wondered why ; as she felt her
hands slip, her knees slide, support,
time, aud reason go utterly out.
At ten minutes before five, on Tues
day, the tenth of January, the Pember
ton mill, ail hands being at the time on
duty, fell to tho ground.
Uo tho record fliishei over the tele
graph, wires, sprang into large type in
the newspapers, passed from lip to lip,
a nine-days' wonder, gave place to the
successful candidate and tho muttering
South, and was forgotten.
Who shall say what it was to ti e 750
souls who were buried in the ruins ?
What to the eighty-eight who died that
death of exquisite agony ? What to the
wrecks of men nud women who endure
even to this day a liio that ia worse than
death ? What to the architect and en
gineer who, when tho fatal pillars were
first delivered to them for inspection,
had found one broken under their eyes,
yet reoeipted the contract and built with
them a mill whose thin walls and wide,
unsupported stretohes could never keep
their place unaided ? One that we love
may go to the battle-ground, and we
are ready for tho worst ; we have said
our good-bye ; onr hearta wait and
pray ; it is his life, not his death, whioh
is the surprise. But that he should go
out to his safe, daily commonplace oc
cupation, unnoticed and uncaressed,
scolded a little, perhaps, because ha
leaves the door open and tells us how
cross we are this morning, and Ihey
bring him up the stops, by-and-bye, a
mangled mass of death and horror
that is hard.
Sene's father heard, at twenty min
utes of five, what he thought to be the
rumble of au earthquake under his
very feet, and stood with bated breath
waiting foi the crash. As nothing fur
ther appeared to happen he took his
stick and limped out into the street.
A orowd of men with white lips were
counting the mills. Pacific, Atlantic,
Washington Pemberton. Where was
Pemberton? Where Pemberton had
blazed with its lamps last night, and
hammed with its iron lips this noon, a
cloud of dust, black, silent, horrible,
puffed a hundred feet into the air.
Asenath opened her eyes after a time.
Beautiful green and purple lights had
been daneing about her, but she had
bad no thoughts. It occurred to her
now that she had been struck on the
bead. The church olooks were striking
eight. A bonfire, which bad been built
at distanoe to light the citizens in tho
work of rescue, cast a little gleam in
through the debris across her two
hands, whioh lay clasped at her side.
One of her fingers she saw was gone ;
it was the finger which held Dick's lit
tle engagement ring. The red beam
lay across her forhead, and drops drip
ped from it upon her eyes. Her feet,
still tangled in the gearing whioh had
tripped upon her, were buried beneath
a pile of bricks. A broad pieoe ef floor
ing that had fallen slantwise roofed her
in, and saved her from the mass of iron
work overhead, which would have
crushed the breath out of Hercules.
Fragments of looms, shafts, and pillars
were in heaps about. Some one whom
she could not see was dying just be
hind her. A little girl who worked it
her room a mere child was crying,
between her groans, for her mother.
Del Ivory sat in a little open space,
cushioned about with reels of cotton ;
she had a shallow gash upon her cheek ;
she was wringing her hands. They
were at work from the outside, sawing
entrances through the labyrinth of
planks. A dead woman lay cloBe by,
and Sene saw them draw her out. One
f the pretty Irish girls was crushed
quite out of sight ; only one hand was
free, she moved it feebly. They could
hear her calling for Jimmy Mahoney,
Jimmy Mahoney ; and would they be
sure and give him back the handker
chief ? Poor Jimmy Mahoney I Ey-and-bye
she called no more, and in a
little while the hand was still. The
other side of the slanting flooring some
one prayed aloud. She had a little baby
at home. She was asking God to take
care of it for her. " For Christ's sake,"
she said. Sene listened long for the
amen, but it was never spoken. Be
yond they dug a man out from under a
dead body unhurt He crawled to his
feet, and broke into furious blasphemies.
"
Del cried presently that they were
cutting them out. The glare of the
bonfire Btruck through an opening ;
saws and axes flashed ; voices grew dis
tinct. The opening broadened, bright
ened ; the sweet night wind blew in ;
the safe night sky shone through.
Sene's heart leaped within her. Out in
the wind and under the sky she should
stand again after all. Sho worked her
head from under the beam and raised
herself upon her elbow. At that mo
ment she heard a cry
"Fire! fire 1 God Almighty help
them ! The ruins are on fire I"
A man working over tho debris from
the outside had taken the notion, it
being rather dark just then, to carry a
lantern with him. " For God's sake,"
a voice cried from the crowd, " don't
ctay there with that light." But while
his voice yet sounded, it was the
dreadful fate of the man with the lan
tern to let it fall and it broke on the
ruined mass. That was nine o'clock.
What there was to be seen from then
till morning could never be told or for
gotten. A network, twenty feet high, of rods
and girders, of beams, pillare, stair
ways, rooting, ceiling, walling, wrecks
of looms, shafts, twisters, pulleys, bob
bins, mules, locked and intertwined ;
wrecks of human creatures wedged in ;
a faoo that yon know turned up at you
from some pit, which twenty-four
hours' hewing could not open ; a voice
that you knew crying aftor you from
God knows where ; a mass of long, fair
hair visible here, a foot there, three
fingers of a hand over there ; the snow
bright red under foot ; charred limbs
and helpless trunks tossed about ;
strong men carrying covered things by
ycu, at sight of which other strongmen
have fainted ; the little yellow jet that
liured up ana died in smoke, and flared
again, leaped out, licked tho cotton
bales, tasted the oiled machinery,
crunched the netted wood, danced on
tho heaped-up stone, threw its cruel
arms high into the night, roared for
joy at helpless firemen, and swallowed
wreck, death and life together out of
your sight that thing stands alone in
the gallery of tragedy.
The child, who had called for her
mother, began to sob out that she was
afraid to die alone. " Come bore,
Molly," said Sene, " can you crawl
around?" Molly crawled around.
" Put your head in my lap and your
arms about my waist, and I will put my
hands in yours so, there I I guess
that's better, isn't it ?"
But they had not given them up yet.
In the still nnburned rubbish, at the
right, some one had wrenched an open
ing within a foot of Sene's face. They
clawed at the solid iron pintles like
savage things. A fireman fainted in
the smoke. " Give it up 1" cried the
crowd from behind. " It can't be done !
Fall back 1" then hushed, awe-struck.
An old man was crawling along on his
hands and knees over the heated bricks.
He was a very old man. His gray hairs
blew about in the wind.
" I want my little gal 1" he said.
"Can't anybody tell mo where to find
my little gal?"
A rough fellow pointed in perfect si
lence through the smoke.
"I'll have her oat yet. I am an old
man, but I can help. She's my little
gal, ye see. Hand me that there dip
per of water ; it'll keep ber from chok
ing, maybe. Now, keep cheery, Sene.
Your old f ather'll get ye out. Keep up
a good heart, child. That's it."
" It's no use, father. Don't feel bafl,
father. I don't mind it very much."
He hacked at the timber ; he tried to
laugh ; he bewildered himself with bis
cheerful words.
"No more ye needn't, 'Senath; for
it'll be over in a minute. Don't be
downcast yet. We'll have ye safe at
home before ye know it. Drink a lit
tle more water ; do now. They'll get
at ye-now, sure I"
Bat out above the crackle and the
roar a woman's voioe rang out like a
bell :
" We're going home to die no more."
A child's notes quivered in the chorus.
From sealed and unseen graves, white,
young lips swelled the glad refrain
" We're going, going home."
The crawling smoke turned yellow,
turned red, voice after voice broke and
bushed utterly. One only sang on
like silver. It flung dellanoe down at
death. It chimed into the lurid sky
without a tremor. For One stood be
side ber in the furnace, and bis form
was like unto the form of the Son of
God. Their eyes met. Why should
not Asenath sing ?
" 'Senath 1" cried the old man, out
upou the burning bricks ; he was now
scorched from his gray hairs to his
patched boots. The answer canio tri
umphantly :
" To die no more, no more,-no more !"
" Seno, little Hone !"
Some one pulled him back.
The Founder of Harrisburg, Ta.
The founder of the city of Harris
burg, Pa. , was John Harris. His houso,
still standing, was tho first stone build
ing erected in Harrisburg. One un
happy day a tribe of predatory Indians
passed down the river on a piratical
expedition, and on their return stopped
at the Harris house. Most of thorn
were intoxicated, and they demanded
more liquor from Harris, which he re
fused to give. Bearing him a grudge
as tho ally of a tribe hostile to them,
they bound him to a mulberry-tree, and
threatened to burn him alive. Dry
fagots were gathered and heaped around
the stake, and one of the savages ap
proached with a lighted torch. Sud
denly there was a whoop, a rustling iu
the bush, and a friendly tribe sprang
upon the scene, headed by a negro
slave named Hercules. The savages
fled, and Harris was resoued from his
perilous position. The incident had a
profound effect on his mind, ond there
after he measured his actions by their
piety. The faithful slave Hercules
saved his master's life a second time,
and proved his attachment to the family
again and again.
Harris still prospered and made a
clearing, and established a trading-station
near the mouth of the Juniata.
At his death, in December, 1748, he
owned about nine hundred acres of
land adjacent to and on the ground of
the present site of Harrisburg, two
hundred acres on tho opposite shore,
and about eight hundred acres at tho
mouth of tho Conodogninet creek. Tho
anecdotes related of his wifo have a
very romnntio flavor, and some ready
story-writer may profit by the two we
transcribe here.
The few neighbors already called the
Harris house the " Mansion," although
it was of the most unpretentious char
acter. The mansion-house then was
surrounded by a stockade, as security
against marauding Indians. One night
au English military officer was invited
to stay with the family, and, in enter
ing the house, bo left the gate of the
stockade unfastened. While he was at
supper with his host, an Indian stole
through the gate of the stockade, and
thrust a rifle through one of the port
holes of the house. The night was
damp, and the riflo missed fire. Be
fore the savage had time to aim with
another weapon, Mrs. Harris blew out
the candle, and so put the room and
the company in darkness.
We have a suspicion that we have al
ready seen the incident that remains to
be told embodied in a thrilling sensa
tional sketch, but here it is, at all
events, vouched for by the oldest
records of Harrisburg, whence we de
rive it. Mrs. Harris had an Irish girl
in her employ, whom she sent into the
store-room with a lighted candle. The
girl reappeared without the candle, and,
when questioned, said she had left it
standing in a barrel of flax-seed. The
sequel to the story you who read story
papers habitually may guess. The bar
rel contained gunpowder, not flax-seed,
which had been negligently left uncov
ered. Mrs. Harris arose from ber
work-table without a word, and wont
into the store-room. She carefully
lifted the candle from the powder, blew
it out, calmly reproved the servant,
and then resumed her work,
Hints for the Household.
New earthenware should, before be
ing used, be soaked in cold water for
twenty-four hours ; this will render it
less liable to crack, as well as enabling
it to be made thoroughly clean.
For washing article? which are not
greasy, such as tea things, etc., every
housekeeper should be provided with
a good-sized wooden bowl, for by con
tact with this they will be less liable
to be chipped and broken than when an
earthen basin is used. Still further to
avoid the danger of breakage, one
article only should be put in at a time.
A small cloth should be kept with
which to cleanse them while in the
water, for merely rinsing them and then
wiping them on the tea-cloth will not
insure cleanliness.
For washing the inside of jugs, a
miniature mop, with a handle a foot
long, like those sold for cleaning the
chimneys of lamps, is indispensable.
A little soda should sometimes be
used for washing jugs, and if the same
is occasionally used for washing tea
things, it will make them look much
cleaner and brighter.
Soda should, however, never be used
except in small quantities, nor should
it be constantly employed, as it has a
tendency to injure the glaze. Soap or
potash has not this injurious effoct, but
neither cleanses so thoroughly as soda.
For tea-cloths linen must be used, as
cotton fabrics are not sufficiently ab
sorbent to dry the earthenware. For
washing greasy earthenware, two tubs
of suitable size should be provided ;
one, in which to wash tkem, must con
tain hot water, with a little soda, or, for
the reasons stated above, potash or
wood ashes ; and the other, in which to
rinse them immediately after they are
washed, must be tilled with olean cold
water.
What Hk Meant. A writer in the
St. Paul Press tells a new story of Hor
ace Greeley. Horace wrote a note to a
brother editor in New York whose
writing was equally illegible with bis
own. The reoipient of tho note, not
being able to read it, sent it back by
the same messenger to Mr. Greeley for
elucidation. Supposing it to be the
answer of bis own note, Mr. Greeley
looked over it but likewise was unable
to read it, and said to the boy : " Go
take it back. What does the infernal
fool mean ?" " Yes, sir," said the boy
" that is just what he says."
A man is at the bottom of indolence
when be is too lazy to labor under a
mistake.
HYJIEX AXI) MORS.
Young Lady Wedded and Widowed
on the Same Day.
Between three and four years ago
Miss Emma Hulsizer, then a girl of
about sixteen years of age, went to De
troit to perfect herself in painting and
music, for both of which arts she
evinced decided talent. She is the
fourth daughter of William Hulsizer,
of Rochester, Oaaland county, Mioh.,
a gentleman as noted for his liberality
and hospitality as he is for bis social
and political influence.
While in the city Miss Hulsizer met
many persons who became ber warm
and personal friends. After several
months of intense application to her
studies she was sent to the Convent of
Villa Maria, in Montreal, where she
romained for two years as a pupil, dis
tinguished alike for talents and atten
tion to her studies, and where she
graduated this summer with great
honor, after whioh she returned to her
home. During one of her vacations
she visited a friend, Miss Moyes, of
New York, and was introduced to Dr.
S. E. Moyes, the brother of her hostess.
The result was an acquaintance which
culminated in a betrothal, with the con
sent and approbation of the relatives of
both of the parties most interested,
and it wus decided that tho weddiog
should tako place as soon after Miss
Emma's graduation as possible. Ac
cordingly this entire summer has seen
active preparations in progress for the
event, and au elegant trousseau has
been prepared for the bride elect, noth
ing which could contribute either to
her comfort or adornment having been
omitted, and everything being chosen
with a view of the bridal tour to Eu
ropo, whioh was expected to consume
at least a year.
The wedding was to have taken place
and cards of invitation were issued in
time to permit friends from all parts of
the country to be present at the home
stead on that occasion ; the prepara
tions were of "the most perfect and
elaborate description, and it was in
tended that the happy event should
eclipse auy thing of the kind ever known
in that part of the State. Friends were
procuring their presents, and itseemed
as though a mere auspicious beginning
of a life of married happiness would
be impossible ; but fate decreed a sad
reversal of the picture, and that the
cup of joy should be replaced by the'
chalice of sorrow. At a late hour a
telegram was received announcing the
sudden and dangerous illnesa of the
groom and calling for the immediate
presence of his intended bride. Wild
with anxiety, yet hoping against hope,
Miss Emma complied with the request,
and immediately started for Buffalo,
where she found ber worst fears were
confirmed, a council of physicians hav
ing pronounced the patient ns beyond
p.ll hope of recovery.
The meeting between the almost
dying man and bis heartbroken be
throthed was too sacred to be made the
subject of a newspaper paragraph ; but
the sequel is one which so nearly re
sembles romance as to be almost in
credible. Tho groom expectant insisted that
before bis death he should be united
with the woman of bis choice, and, ac
cordingly, a clergyman having been
summoned, that most solemn of all
rites, a death-bed marriage, was cele
brated. The scene as described by one
of those present was never t be for
gotten. The groom, supported in the
arms of his devoted mother, feebly re
sponded to the questions of the offi
ciating minister ; the bride, kneeling
beside the bedside, with trne womanly
heroism repressed the anguish with
which her heart was rent ; an only sis
ter watched with agony by ber brother,
and a few fond friends knelt iu silent
grief as the words were said which
made one of those two so soon to be
parted by the hand of death.
The doctor bequeathed hi3 wife as a
sacred legacy to his mother and sister,
with whom sho will henceforth reside,
and to whom she is now bound by ties
of love. He survived until one o'clock
on the morning of the fourth day, when
he sank into a quiet slumber.frora which
be never awoke.
Dr. Moyes was a wealthy man, and it
is said he has left his bride a handsome
fortune.
His Official Crook,
Sheep are nn important f-.tock with
English farmers, says the Danbury
man. The English people are fond of
mutton as an artiole of food, and have
it quite steadily. When they tire of
mutton they bavo lamb. Beef they
never neglect. They are the most do
cile and uncomplaining of peop'ewhen
beef is around. Their sheep are the
best in the world, I beliave. Yon have
seen pictures of shepherds with the
proverbial crook in their hands. I didn't
think a party could be a shepherd with
out this crook, any more than a man
could be the lead r of an orchestra
without a pair of pants. I was glad
that the first man whom I saw 1 ending
sheep carried one of these crooks. I
didn't know what a i rook was for, bnt
always believed it was a badge of the
occupation, whose origin I could not
fathom, handed down from century to
century since the time when sheep were
invented. Imagine my genuine disgust
when I saw this shepherd use the sacred
crook to capture the straying animals
by catching bold of one of their bind
legs and tripping them up. The awful
truth came upon me like a flash, and I
sat down heavily, a broken-hearted
man, I had thought it a beautiful em
blem, and it proves to be a hind-leg
snatoher.
The Wealth.
That the wealth of the United States
is passing into the bands of a few is a
very common belief. In bis address
before the Maryland Agricultural and
Meohanical Association, Senator Thur
man cites statistics to the contrary.
The increase of farms is greater than
that of population, and the increase of
small farms is considerably greater
than that of large ones. These are im-
Eortant facts, and go far to justify his
opes for the future prosperity of the
country.
Russian Loto.
Nicopolis is a small town in the south
east of Russia, where tho Caucasian
blood mixes with the Russian, and pro
duces very many remarkable specimens
of female beauty.
Among the most beautiful -of the
tho beauties of Nicopolis was Ulyana,
only daughter of a wealthy land-owner.
Her father was in the habit, every year
at harvest-time, to add to his force by
engaging "people from Russia,'' as they
say, meaning people from the interior,
who at this season of the year seek re
munerative labor in the more cultivated
and wealthier district of the south.
One of these people, Filvatieff, a
handsome, stalwart young follow, at
tracted special attention. He seemed
completely -diieent-with regard to
gains, and was always in the best of
spirits. Ulyana soon became a willing
listener when be was praised, and Filya
tieff, who was not insensible to the
charms of female beauty, soon evinced
a marked partiality for her society. It
was not long ere their liking for each
other ripened into an affair of the heart,
and became the subject of general re
mark. Nor did the young people at
tempt to conceal what they felt for each
other, and Filyatieff went boldly to the
father of his lady-love and asked for his
blessing. But the farmer peremptorily
relused ; he was not going to give bis
daughter to a strolling laborer, he said.
All Ulyaua's tears and entreaties were
of no avail ; her father was inflexible,
and, in order to" put other things into
her head," he compelled ber to a be
trothal with a wealthy townsman. The
betrothal was celebrated with great
pomp. All were merry but Ulyana ;
her thoughts were with Filyatieff, who
gave her good cause of uneasiness. He
had ceased to work, and now spent his
time in either one pot-bouse or another.
He drank to assuage bis grief ; but not
long. He soon took an aversion to
schnapps a rare thing for a Russian to
do and then drink did not lessen his
grief. He therefore forswore the pot
house, and determined to go far away,
where, concealed and forgotten, he
could end his unhappy life. In this
romantic frame of mind he bethought
himself of Siberia, aud determined to
take the necessary steps to get there as
soon as possible. With this object in
view, be, one evening soon after dark,
went to the principal bazaar of the
town and tried one door after another
until he found one he could force. He
entered tho well-filled shop, took what
money be found in the till, and looked
about to see if no one came. Then he
made a bundle of some of the goods,
and again looked about to see if no one
came to arrest the burglar. As he was
still unobserved, he made a bright light
iu the shop. This was soon seen, and
people came and seized the supposed
robber. On his trial, he simply declared
that owing to his disappointment in
love, he wanted to be sent to Siberia ;
that this, and this only, was his object
iu breaking into the shop. The jurors
were unanimous in rendering a verdict
of acquittal, which was recoived by loud
acclamations on the part of the specta
tors. The farmer was now compelled to
relent. He broke off the engagement
of his daughter with the wealthy neigh
bor, 'and consented to ber union with
the romantic- Filyatieff.
Newspaper Lite.
Some gloomy people look with ap
prehension upon the prospects of a new
paper, says the New York Herald, and
we hear dreary vaticinations as to the
fate of a new one. Mr. Hudson, in bis
admirable " History of Journalism,"
prints the names of some hundreds of
newspapers that have lived and died
and gone to rest in a silent paper mill.
And we confess that, as president of a
savings bank or a trust company, we
should prefer some other investment
than newspaper stock ; or, to be more
clear in meaning, stock in a new news
paper. Bat all the same, we believe in
new journals. We should like to see
two hundred daily morning papers in
this metropolis. Think what a good
time publio opinion would have under
going the process of education from
t vo hundred teachers 1 In fact, we do
not see in our progress of invention
why every large firm, every dealer in
patent medicines, every politician and
opera manager should not have his own
newspaper. It i3 a great discipline to
a man to be compelled to sit down and
coldly put bis thoughts into print.
Then he oan always do himself justice.
Nothing, as all men know, is more easy
than to edit a newspaper, journalism
being the profession to which every
American is born. So that, so far from
there being no room for the new paper,
there is room for a hundred journals
like it.
The Temperature of the Snn,
The latest investigation on the tem
perature of the sun by Father Secchi
has been rece&tly published, and be
concludes that the lowest limit of this
temperature must be about 133,000 deg.
Centigrade. This determination he ar
rived at by a comparison of their solar
radiation and that of the electrio light
Ho has employed the same apparatus,
namely, the thermo-heliometer, de
scribed in bis well-known work on the
sun. The temperature produced by
solar radiation was observed at Borne
about noon on several days in July, and
was determined to be 36 times that of
the carbon points of bis electrio light,
Both Secchi and Him agree that the
temperature of solar radiation may de
pend either solely on the superficial
stratum of the sun or on a considerable
thiokness of its substance, acoording as
this latter is opaque or transparent,
Him concludes that if the transparence
were nearly perfect, tho solar tempera'
ture might well be only a few thousand
degrees ; but various phenomena,
among them the observations of Prof,
Langley of Pittsburgh on the crossing
of the currents of the photosphere, show
that the solar surfaoe is essentially
opaque, and certainly at the best is net
completely transparent. The very high
temperature of 130,000 deg. to 170,000
deg. above Riven, is. therefore, not in'
admissible, but must be looked upon
as at least giving a lower limit to the
true value of the temperature of the
ton.
Blessing the Sea.
A correspondent of the London
Daily Telegraph thus describes tho
curious ceremony of "Blessing the
Sea," at Ostend, Belgium :
" Ostend, an excellent batning place,
and in other respects also a pleasant
vacation resort, is now beginning to fill
with visitors, mostly German and Eng
lish; and the Kursaal on the Diguo
was crowded with a well-dressed oom-
Eany as the hour of one o'clock, which
ad been fixed for the ceremony of
blessing the sea, drew near. Another
altar, much more imposing than either
of those in the Place d' Amies, had been
erected on tho most conspicuous point
of the Digue ; and hither canio a pro
cession of great length, led by a long
array of little girls iu white muslin
dresses and veils, who strewed the
ground with flowers. Then came the
choristers, with an instrumental band ;
and then many baDner-carriers, it be
ing observable that all the inscriptions
were in Flemish, as being addressed
to the humblest and the least educated
part of the crowd, who constituted a
large majority. Under a canopy, be
fore which censers were swung, walked
an aged and venerable-looking priest,
in vestments of gold, bearing the Host.
I found on inquiry that he was not a
bishop or dignity of his church ; and I
was, moreover, informed that no such
ecclesiastical authority is given to thi3
festival as would be implied in the per
sonal attendance of a prelate from
Bruges, or from any adjacent dioceso,
for Ostend is not yet a bishopric Still,
the benediction of the sea was per
formed in a manner as solemn as if a
cardinal had presided ; though there
was a good deal of chatting on the out
skirts of the throng, and the company
seated in the balconies of the Kursaal
were bv no means so solemn and de
vout as the poorer people in the crowd
near the altar. A salvo of artillery was
fired from the other end of the Digue
when the benediction had been accom
plished ; and then the procession took
its way back again into the town,
through all the sports and junketings,
which were snspended as it passed, but
only for a few brief moments. The
band of the Civio Guard' played secular
tunes as it followed the priestly re
tinue : very secular tunes indeed were
some of them ; but the bell of the
priest went tinkling on ell the same,
and even as that holy sound mingled
with the music of opera bouffe, so did
the incense from the censors blend
with odors less acceptable. I had no
ticed, during the service on the Digue,
many prostrations by women and little
children, and a few even by men ; but
the passing of theproceBsion through the
town was yet more productive of popu
lar excitement. People rushed from
the beer-shops, iu which, as I
have said, devotional tapers were
lighted, and actually threw themselves
down as an imago was carried by. At
tho windows above women clasped their
hands and wept. What was the senti
ment, what the moving cause, I could
not for the life of me guess. But it was
there, beyond a question ; and hence
forth, when I am in any mood to specu
late on psychological mysteries, I shall
always remember that crowd at Ostend,
aud the benediction of tho sea.
A Warm Locality.
Tho Virginia City (Nev.) Enterprise
tells a round of marvelous stories, and
its last production is as follows : " We
are informed that the reason why there
are no shade trees about the hotel at
the Genoa Hot Springs, and why none
can be grown there, is that the ground
is too hot for them. It is said that upon
digging through the thin Burface soil, a
sub-otratum of hard earth called a
hard-pan is found. This is two or
three feet in thickness, and upon dig
ging through it almost anywhere in the
neighborhood, boiling hot water is en
countered. On account of this subter
ranean lake of hot water, trees of no
kind can be made to grow in the neigh
borhood. Soil enough for the nourish
ment of the trees cannot be collected
upon the surface, and the moment their
roots pass through the substratum they
are in hot water and are cooked. By
sinking an artesian well in this place,
there could doubtless be obtained a nne
fountain of hot water, bat if it were de
sired to surround this fountain with
trees, it would be neoessary to have
them made of cast-iron."
Marriages of Blood Relations,
Statistics presented to the French
Academy show that the marriages of
blood relations form about two per cent,
of all the marriages in France, and that
the deaf and dumb offspring at birth,
of consanguineous marriages are, in
proportion to- the deaf and dumb bom
in ordinary wedlock, at Lyons, full
twenty-hve per cent. ; at least twenty-
hve per cent, in Paris, and thirty per
cent, in Bordeaux the proportion of
the deaf and dumb, by birth, increas
ing with the degree of blood relation
ship. The data obtained snow mat, it
the danger of having a deaf and dumb
child in ordinary marriage, represented
by figures, is one, there will be eighteen
in marriages between first cousins,
thirty-seven between uncles and nieces,
and seventy in marriages botween
nephews and aunts. It appears, too,
that the most healthy parents, if related
in blood, may have deaf and dumb
children.
How They Shoot at Creedmoor.
The regulations of these matohes ex
clude all firing from a " rest;" but this
means an artificial rest. The marks
man. however, may choose any posi
tion or posture cf the body ; be may
lie flat, face downward, or on his back,
faoe upward, or take any reoumbent
position, or go down on bis knees or
stand erect. He may braoe his body in
any way by the use of bis arms and
legs, and may use either lor " a rest"
it he can get it into satisfactory posi
tion. All the marksmen in the reoent
match on both sides chose the " recum
bent " position, some lying face down'
wards, using their knees and elbows to
braoe themselves in position ; some
lying on their backs, using their knees
and feet as rests, and some incline
slightly to one side, yet still on their
Daoju,
The Troubles of Wan Lcc.
Mr. William Lee, of the Ontaria
street laundry, has not left Cleveland,
although be has not appeared of late in
the newspapers. The fact is that Mr.
Lee has devoted himself striotly to
business during the last six or eight
months, and has thereby amassed a
small amount of cash, which is des
tined to be expended in carrying him
again to his native land, over the salt,
salt sea. Bnt before leaving, it is sim
ply an act of justice to state that Mr.
Lse has attempted faithfully to submit
to the heathenism of this benighted
country, and if he does not carry away
a fair impress of hospitality or feeling
of lovo toward Brother Jonathan, the
fault has not been his, but that of tho
angnlar brother on whoso bosom ho at
tempted to lean. But it will be simply
an act of justice to friend Wau to allow
lam to explain his own feelings, as he
did in conversing with a Lender re
porter. He unburdened himself as fol
lows :
" Me no likco Melican man. Tilelicau
man comee in my laundry, Kpittee on
floor, chew, chew. Bringee shiriee,
say, 'Thust, Wau Lee?' Wau Lee
say, ' No thust ; thust dead.' Melican
man say, 'Rat eater, I pnnohee.'
Punchee Wau Lee's head, pull his pig
tail. Wan Lee iuns chop chop head
to fleece officer. Fleece officer say,
Cheap John one, two, three
bounce.' Shakee mo pig tail and sny,
' Climb.' Wau Lee olimbs comeo
home. Melican man steal shirt, and be
climb too."
Wau Lee attempted to go to Sunday
school, and his story is as follows :
" Me go on Sundlay day to Joss
bouse. Me takee settee and Melican
man's boyee come along. Boyeo say,
' Here's China.' More boyee come.
Pull pig tail and say, ' Bully foi Chi
nee man.' Me get mad and swear.
Fleece officer comee long, takee me to
station. Payee fivee doliee and ixty
cents ; go home to wash, wash.
" Me then go on street car. Melican
woman looks at me and laughee loud.
One speakee low, Him nig.' Ouo
speakee low, too, and say, 'Him rat
eater.' Me gettee mad and say, " Me
Chinaman me washee-washee. Me no
nig. No nig. Me no rat eater. Big
lie.' Melican woman scream. Conduc
tor run in. Him say, Who's up ?'
Melioan woman say, 'Dirty China
'suited me.' Conductor ho takes my
stampees, and be say, Get.' Wau Lee
gets, fall on the ground, and breakee
nose ; officer cemes up. He says,
' Dlunk again, Chineel.' Me say, No
dlunk.' He say, 'Too thin. Takee
me by collar and takee me to station.
Judge say, ' Here again, Chinee ?' Me
go out, pay ten dollee and fifty cents.
Me go home madee red hot madoe,
swear, bleak dishes, shave off pig tail,
buy plug bat, shut ;up laundry, and go
to China.'
And this was Waa Lee's first deter
mination, but since theu he has recon
sidered it, gone back to his trade, and
still washes and irons as of old.
A Boy's Composition.
THE BAT,
The rat should ot to toiler cats iu
books, wich ain't so in cellers. The
rat eats chees wen he can git somo that's
good, but dutch nocks him. There
was a man bated a steel trap with dutch
chees, and pretty soon be began to fino
ded rats evry mornin . At tne enu oi a
weak there was ded rats evry were, but
the trap bad never been sprang. Then
be found out the rats was starved
cause thev had worn their teetns oil
nawin' the trap, and couldn't take their
meols. They thought the trap was the
bate and the dutch was tho trap.
You know who told me that uoout the
dutch. Wen he comes to see my sister
he asks me how I'm gettin' on with my
composition, and then he tels me things
wich I may put in it, and my sister she
says shaw wat a fib, and I mussent
bleeve a werd be says, and looks in his
eyes with ber'n, but he ain't a bit
f .1 TT-' ova liloilr Vint Vii'd'n ill
gray, and so is rats.
Rats is long tails, and if you berry a
ded un with bis tail a-stickin' out it
would be a vine. Rats is killed by
tarriers, wich is put into a pit were the
rats has been cetthed and let out. If
it wasn't for these tarrier3 there would
be too manv rats for any body to live.
The black-and-tan is finest to look at,
but the rats licks em like smoke.
I asked mv father if femt3 was good
for rats, and be says yes, that's wat
they lives on wen they can't git vegil
tibles; but he was readiu' the news
paper, and mother she says wen a man
is readin' a newspapar they never knows
nothin'. My uncle Ned he spoke up
and said that was the best fraim of mino
to read the papers. Newspapers toro
up little makes a good nessed for rats,
and the pufs wich wimmen puts in their
hare is called rats too, but not the
bitin' kind.
Bishop Hatto was a by rats, evry
little tiny bit up, and serve him mity
well right too ; but they don t now
'cause their is more' bishops than there
is rats.
Rats is row-dentt, and rat-eetchers is
row-dentists, my sister's young man S9s.
The French Bastile.
The power wielded by Louis XIV..
of France, was of the most despotio
character. When the king wished to
imprison any one be wrote as follows :
"it is ordered that shall be ar
rested and taken to the bastile. His
majesty instructs the governor to re
tain the person in custody until further
orders." The king signed the docu
ment, which was indorsed by any min
ister, and the arrest took place. Some
slight difference was made as to the
machinery of the arrest, according to
the rank of the prisoner. If it was a
person of noble birth, a file of mous
quetaires did the business ; if it was a
person of low degree who was to be in
carcerated, the sergeants or archers
hurried him off without ceremony. The
prisoner was ordinarily hustled into a
carriage, and on arriving at the first
gate of the bastile a sentinel challenged
the equipage, and, on receiving the
answer, "By the king's order," the
portcullis was opened, the prisoner
passed in, and was then often lost sight
of forever.