HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. V. HIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, FA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 1875. NO. 20.
V
The Shore and llio Soft.
EBB TIDE.
Old, old,
CentnrloB old,
How old h lovo ib, who can say ?
It in an ancient day
Since thou and I wert wed.
Tho oi-bod bky bent down,
A fiury, scornful crown,
Not craven pale an now,
Livo-rod to bind thy brow,
Crusted rod and lonely
Only
To corouut thy hoad.
Thou and I,
Beneath Hits eye,
Existed solitary, grand.
O only lif e I the life of sea and land 1
All pnny heritage
Of puny love and loss,
Came mimio after us ;
Our mighty wedlock meant
More than their supplement.
Ere these, we perfect were,
And are,
In pain and privilege.
My own true-hearted !
Since first He parted
Thoe from mo,
lioliold and ueo
How dreary, mute,
Bound band aud foot,
titretctied, starved, I lie !
I hear thee stopping by,
And weep to see
Thee yearn to me.
Bound by an awful Will
Forever and forever thou dost move
An awful erranoVou.
O lovo !
Steal up and Hay- is there below, above ;
In luight or depth, or choice or unison,
Of woes a woo iilie mine,
To lie w noar to thine,
Ami yet forovor and forever to lie still?
ElizaWlh Stuart Phxlp.
THE MYSTEItY AT THE FARM.
Ono morning Undo Vonmn said to
his nephew (ioolVry : " You have been
studying too hard, my boy. You must
go into tlm country for a few weeks aud
recuperate."
A few days after this Undo Voinon re
ceived a letter in a cramped and Btrag
glhig hand from Abraham Knolls, say
ing that ho would rcceivo tho boy at his
farmhouse and take good care of him.
Moon after Geoffry was on his way up
tho lludHon, landed at a long wharf,
Hanked by a wooden building, a villago
on tho hill beyond, a group of idlers in
muddy boots, watching the steamboat
disgorge her cargo. Iu the foreground
stood nu old man carrying a whip, and
peering about with keen eyes beneath
bushy brows. OooftVy Vernon heard
this remark :
"So you'vo took to summer board
ers, heyf" from a clerk.
" Why, yes; my old woman thinks
she'd like to try 'em a spell," replied the
old man, rubbing his horny palms to
gether. Then Geoffry kuew by intuition that
ho was no other than Mr. Abraham
Knolls, and a vague sense of homesick
ness stole over him.
They were soon on their way to the
farmhouse, and the village and lake were
left far behind. The way becamomore
lonely aud wild ; they had crossed a
bridge, and the horses paused, as if from
habit, at a spring brimming into a
trough. A man emerged from the
thicket, looking down the valley, and
whistled a peculiar clear note. Then he
approached the wagon. The horses
pricked their ears ; tho yellow dog slunk
beneath the vehicle apprehensively. Mr.
Knolls was evidently disconcerted by
this addition to tho party.
"You hack, Matthew ? I s'poso there
ain't no use in askin' where you've been
last."
" Wandering up aud down tho earth,
daddy," was the growling response
" This is my only son, Mr. Matthow
KiioIIh," continued tho old man, turning
to ( teiifl'ry.
The lat ter stared at tho iutruder, autl
decided that the son was a rough, surly
person, with tho bushiest beard and
funniest hair ho had over seen, nor was
his appearance improved by a cant iu
one eye. This scrutiny seemed displeas
ing to tho object, who, scowling nt
Geoffry, inquired, abruptly :
" What are you doin' with him?"
" A young gentleman from York,
Matthew. Your mother wants to take
summer boarders. Tho winter's been
uncommonly hard on us hero," said tho
old man, in a wheedling, deprecating
tone.
Through tho gleaming tho farmhouse
lights appeared, shedding a dim ray
among tho black trees. A matron stood
in tho door, a large woman with a
querulous smile, and behind her a
slender girl, pale as a lily, witli golden
hair, blue eyes that dilated as her
brother Matthew emerged to view, aud a
small, obstinate mouth. Homesickness
pursued OeoH'ry from the close sitting
room, when supper was spread, to tho
parlor, a stilt" and angular apartment
smelling of vimiish and dried leaves. In
the chamber abovo the parlor, which
was assigned him, low, plain, and clean,
our traveler gazed dismally at the lamp
on tho table, aud then out the window
on tho almost palpable darkness of night,
where tho stillness was rendered only the
more lonely by the hooting of an owl or
the trilling note of some insect.
"I am afraid it will prove an awful
bore," soliloquized Geoffry, with a
yawn. The door had a lock but no key.
Ho extinguished the lamp, and sank into
depths of a feather bed, which almost
suffocated him by its luxuriouBiiess.
Sleep succeeded, deep and dreamless.
He awoke with a start, his heart throb
bing wildly. Hark I Was it the very
silence, an oppressive influence, which
had awakened himf He lay still and
listened. The hooting of an owl was
ugaiu audible ; the curtain of the win
dow flapped in the breeze. That was
all. No ; some object was moving
slowly in the small room. For the first
time in his life, fear, in a mysterious
form, smote him, and the exclamation
framed by his lips died away unuttered.
Tho shape approached, bent over and
touched him. Geoffry held his breath,
Was it ghost or robber? Like a gleam
of light the remembrance of Mr.
Matthew Knolls and the yellow dog
slinking urdcr the wagon came to his
mind. The shape moved away again
softly, and it seemed to Geoffry that the
door was locked from the outside. Yes,
ho was a prisoner. After that the silent
house became permeated with sound ; a
muffled reverberation, like the swinging
of a massive portal, shook the walls.
Sunshine chased away every siuister
shadow. In the sparkling, dewy fresh
ness of the morning the farmhouse was
a commonplace dwelling enough, sur
rounded by green meadows, dilapidated
barns, cackling fowls, and browsing cat
tle Even the morning brightness could
not conceal traoos of poverty, however,
in tho running to waste of impoverished
land. Geoffry's door opened readily.
He laughed at his fears, and when Mrs.
Knolls inquired how he had slept, made
a careless response. He wa ashamed
of his cowardice. Tho girl Milly sorved
him at table, whilo her mother talked
aimlessly, in a rambling fashion, of the
fresh butter, weather, and scenery.
Milly's face, of pearly whiteness, wore
a repressed expression, aud there were
shadows beneath the cyos. A curious
girl, Geoffry reasoned, going about like
an old woman, or a machino woundup
by stem duty to a task.
Lilac bushes shielded an opon collar
door outside. Geoffry, smoking a cigar
ette, plucked a spray, dropped it, and
ran down tho stops to recover tho
flowers. Mr. Matthew Knolls was drag
ging a bag across tho cellar floor. Milly
touched Geoffry on tho arm.
" Would you liko to go over tho
farm ?"
Geoffry retained two vivid irapiessions
of that day. The girl Milly, in a straw
hat bound about with grasses, resem
ble I Ophelia ; yellow hair escaped iu
tresses on her neck, and tho blue eyes
woro a startled, troubled expression.
She walked along quietly, petting tho
cattle, and followed by the chickens.
When they reached the brook a crimson
flush swept over her face as a cheerful
voice said :
"Good-morning, Milly."
The speaker, a handsome young man,
in n red shirt, with a scythe over his
shoulder, had so much the aspoct of an
eager lover that Geoffry moved up the
hill slowly. He was surprised to soe
Milly place her hands over her ears, as
if refusing to listen, aud run after him.
Geoffry observed her closely. Milly's
inherent honesty and goodness wero
legibly written ou the transparent fair
ness of her face.
" Your brother is not a farmer; his
hands are too white. What ia he?" de
manded Geoffry, abruptly.
" He is mother's only son,' bIio re
plied, simply.
"Look here; 1 don't believe in ghoBts,
you know, but somebody came into my
room last night, and then locked the
door outside."
Milly plucked the daisies a moment iu
silence. " Go away," she said, sudden
ly. " We did not expect him back when
wo advertised.
This was tho first impression. The
second was even more startling. Geoffry
spent the afternoon following the brook
above the house with a lishiug rod.
Watching the sunshine glance through
the quivering leaves overhead, and the
brown water swirl about rocks, where
tiny plants dipped their blossoms iu the
spray, Geoffry wandered on until he dis
covered a man on the opposito bank.
The man, wearing a velveteen coat, sat
with his back to the observer, reading a
nowspaper. Geoffry was about to hail
him, when the stranger laid aside the
newspaper, and consulted a clirouonieter
of rod gold, with an azure shield on the
cover. Geoffry beheld his grandfather's
watch ! He was so entirely overcome
by this discovery that his wits forsook
him. The watch stolen, forever lost
down on the sea-board, worn boldly up
here ? The man had moved away.
Geoffry crossed the brook just in time
to see him enter the farmhouse. What
was to be done? He spent nn hour,
(lushed, excited and bewildered, recall
ing every possible aid of similar expe
rience. Should he boldly claim the ar
ticle ? Who would ta-ko his part if he
did ? Milly and tho mother were easily
cowed by the boh. This son was evi
dently a bad man, possibly in league
with robbers. Geoffry returned to the
farm. The fowls were going to roost;
tho cows wpro being milked. It must
bo a nightmare.
Ho went to his room and threw him
self on the bod. Ho could not face
thoso peoplo until ho had decided what
to do. He declined supper on the
score of headache. Mrs. Knolls made
him sip ten, aud left him for tho night.
At eleven o'clock he rose, imbued with
a sense of dangerous adventure. Ho
would recover tho watch and go awoy.
Cautiously he mado a barricade before
the door of tho table and two chairs,
thou taking his hat aud poeketbook,
opened tho window and slid to tho
ground. Milly was speaking in tho
kitchen.
"I shall not desert mother, and I
will never marry John Townley. He's
an honest man, and wo are not lit for
him."
"It's hard to be so poor," interposed
tho voice of Abraham Knolls. " Mat
thew's chose his own ways, Milly."
" If tho city chap's abo l, it's safo to
turn the key on him," growled Mat
thew. Tho yellow dog sniffed at Geoffry, who
patted the animal reassuringly. At the
same moment a figure approached,
raised the collar door, and descended
tho steps. Geoffry followed recklessly,
feeling sure that this was the man in the
velveteen coat. The cellar was moldy
and dark ; the man groped among the
barrels, and struck a match as he reach
ed a door at the eud. Curiosity held
Geoffry spellbouud. The rays of a lan
tern fell on the inner cellar, where silks,
laces, aud furs wero heaped iu confu
sion. The seals of the great watch dan
gled from the miscreant's pocket. Geof
fry's eyes flashed. The lad sprang for
ward, dashed aside tho lan torn, and
wrenched away the watch. Pure tem
per lent him requisite courage for the
bold deed. As he rushed up tho steps
again a shrill whistle sounded in the col
lar, followed by a responsive movemont
in the house.
He ran along the road, climbed the
first hill, and paused to look back. A
light was visible, flitting from window
to window ; a faint sound indicated the
crash of forcing his bedroom door, then
the lamp was stationary iu his window.
Heavens I if ho were there facing
Matthew Knolls and bis confederate
after learning their secret 1 A second
lantern twinkled in the barn ; somebody
was saddling a horse for pursuit.
Geoffry fled, all the knights of romance
of whom he had read trooping about
him. He was alone in the night. If
once Matthew Knolls overtook him,
Uncle Geoffry would never know. A sob
rose in his throat ; he was in the clutch
of brutal men afraid of his revelations.
The sound of horse-hoofs struck sharply
on his ear ; he glanced wistfully toward
the nearest house. Should he rouse the
inmates ? Instead, he ran on, lading in
a thicket as tho horseman galloped up,
and a doctor's gig passed.
"Iam looking for a lad sent to us,"
said Matthew. " Ho's flighty sometimes,
and his friends want it kept quiet. If
you see him, pick him up, doctor."
"Dear me I" said tho doctor, and
drove away.
Geoffry's heart stood still. The rider
went ou slowly and cautiously, thus
checking advance. Would Matthew
Knolls ride between him and tho lako
until daylight, when ho could bo recog
nized ? If ho was pronounced crazy in
advance, tho other would surely claim
him. Sevon miles becomes a pilgrimage
when ono is on foot and tracked by a
mounted man. Geoffry know that he
must make the distance before dawn.
He bccauio an elusive pursuer, walking
on when tho horse's steps were distant,
and yet this measure required great
alertness, for the rider paused to listou,
aud occasionally dismounted to examine
tho ground.
Oh, the darkness, the frightful loneli
ness, tho danger lurking everywhere I
A misstep might hurl him into the ravine
below ; a fall reveal his proximity to tho
enemy. Once Matthew wheeled about
suddenly, and waded his horse in the
rivulet to drink. Geoffry clung to the
plunk of tho bridge, thus outflanked,
within roach of his whip.
Dawu, cold, palo, yet deepening, with
tho village and lako closo at hand. A
tavern on tho edgo of tho wood lured
the ridor ; the keeper, just them, accost
ed him. Five minutes for liquor, Mr.
Matthow Knolls, while a lad ran down
tho hill waving his hat to tho steamboat
already in motion, aud sprang ou board
with the withdrawn plank.
Uncle Geoffry, sipping his coffeo, was
astonished by tho advent of his nephew,
who produced the watch.
" I found it I" Then followed excitod
explanations.
The two Veruons, accompanied by a
detective, returned to tho Knolls farm
house. " There is a cool thief, with a cast in
one eye, who comes from those parts,"
said the oflicer. "He's a mendicant
failor, a burglar, and a pickpocket in
town. I didn't know ho smuggled and
robbed on the border, though."
" That is Mr. Matthew Knolls, and he
must wear false whiskers," said Geoffry.
At the farm all was peace. The cellars
contained cider and vegetables ; tho son
had vanished ; the old peoplo were ner
vous and dejected. Milly had gone to
her aunt's until tho wedding. Yes, she
was to marry Johu Townley after all.
"You must have been dreaming,"
said Uncle Geoffry.
Geoffry tho younger held up tho
watch iu dignified protest. "I did not
dream this back, sir."
"Well, you have earned it."
In after years when illuess attacked a
sensitive organization it came to Geoffry
Vernon in tho delirium of fear, when
Matthew Knolls, desperado, was pur
suing him through the awful darkness,
with solemn hills above and the rush of
waters far below, and sometimes, across
this darkness, gleamed a girl's face, like
Ophelia's, yellow hair drooping on neck,
and blue eyes forever terror-haunted.
A President Not Generally Known.
A Michigan paper tells tho following
story : A Front street saloon keeper is
a great historical scholar, aud will argue
for hours ou issues, events and men of
past celebrity. Old Preston was aware
of this, and he dropped into tho place
one warm day and said: "By cracky,
Jim, but this is warm 1 I haven't been
so warm since old Gen. Cass was Presi
dent of tho United States." " What !"
said Jim, " Gen. Cass never was Presi
dent of the United Statos." "Why,
yes ho was," replied Preston, with well
feigned astonishment. " I'll bet you
tho drinks for the houso ho wasn't," said
tho excited proprietor. "Done," an
swered tho old man, and ho drew forth
his poeketbook, unfolded a page of tho
Vongrotaional Globe of 1818-9, and pro
ceeded to read that President Taylor,
having died on Saturday, and Vice
President Fillmoro not being at Wash
ington, tho president of tho Sonato,
General Cass, bccauio President of the
United States until tho following Mon
day, ponding Fillmore's inauguration.
Whcii the old man had finished reading,
ho looked around aud said: " Como
up, boys. Must excuse ignorance, you
know." Then ho rambled out, whilo
Jim rammed tho bottles back on tho
shelf, soused the tumblers in tho rinse,
and, as he wiped up tho counter, re
marked: "I have seen a good many
menu men iu my time, but for a first
cl ss fraud old Preston can tuko tho
money."
Even with the. Judge.
' Ex-Judgo Morris was lately engaged
iu au important suit iu a cortaiu town in
the State of New York, and it became
his duty to cross-examine a witness who
was au honest old farmer and not very
woll accustomed to tho business. Tho
witness auswered by saying " I guess
so" and "I think so," which nettlod the
judge somewhat, and he frequently said
to tho witness : "I don t want to Know
what you guess or what you think about
it, I want what you know." Well, after
a somewhat lengthy examination, Judge
Morris settled back in his chair and
said : " Well, I guess that is all," when
the witness looked at him a moment, aud,
without leaving tlio chair, said : Mr,
Morris, I don t want what you guess
about this ; I waut to know if you are
through with me?" Tho whole court
applauded, and none more than Judge
Moms.
Ex Presidents. Andrew Johuson is
tho third President of the United Statos
whose remains aro in Tennessee, and
there is a project to bury him with the
ethers: iu Nashville and erect a grand
monument ; but his family prefer a
simpler grave m Just Tennessee.
ALL ABOUT BEEF.
How It In Cut rp-.The llest I'lorrn-.A Few
Hint.
The New York Hun has boon inter
viewing the cattle men and seenressome
valuable hints about beef. "Yes, sir,
your surmise is correct, " said one butch
er. "Beef eating is decidedly a phase
of American extravagance. Even the
working classes must have their porter
houso or sirloin steaks or their rib pieces
for roasting. Yes, sir, in this particular
they live beyond their means, as well as
in many other things. It doesn't attract
so much attention as the habit of buying
expensive furniture, for that you see
afterward in tho auction rooms. Now,
you can buy a chuck steak good enough
for anybody for twelve cents a pound,
or tho round for from fifteon to eighteen
cents, whilo you pay twenty-fivo cents a
pound for sirloin aud thirty cents for
porterhouso steak. "
" How niucli pnmo boci is thcro in on
animal ?"
" There's fromseveuty to one hundred
pounds in an animal giving seven hun
dred weight of beet. All tlio rest is tho
coarser meat. "
i" What is the rosult on prices?"
" Whv. the natural result, of course.
There is a greater difference in price be
tween prime beef and coarse greater
than there is any whore clso. In other
places they make but throe or four cents
difference. Wo sell prime boof at whole
sale for eighteen cents ; the coarse moat
of a good animal can bo bought for
nine, and sometimes there's a greater
difference than that. Now tho coarse
meat of a good animal is a great deal
bettor than the prime meat of a poor
one. That's the reason I say poor people
don't know how to live.
' The chuck, sir, said another butcher.
" is the foro quarter of a boof with the
ribs cut out. The fore ribs aro sold with
tho rest of tho prime boof, and at the
same price. The animal is divided this
way : They take the hind quarter and
cut out the loin. That brings from six
teen to seventeon cents at wholesale.
Tho ribs are next highest. They bring
about fifteen cents for roasting. The
round sells at about ten cents. Tho
chuck out of a good bullock brings about
seven cents a pound. These are whole
sale prices. For inferior cattle ribs and
hind quarters bring about twelve and a
Lalf cents ; the chucks about six cents."
The receipts at the abattoir yards are
about 5,000 head of cattle a week, which
are mostly slaughtered for use in New
York. This is an average of about six
hundred pounds of beof to the animal.
One of the leading retail firms in the
beef trado in Washington market subse
quently confirmed the opinion of the
wholesale men. A light, active man, in
light Dundrearys and an excitable frame
jt mind, tv its unerivit.p.r.K"gj 4lo Ailing
of orders, while the son of another
member of the Arm acted as entry clerk.
" Jim, did you send those snort loins
to the Mountain Houso this morning ?"
had just been auswered in the affirma
tive as tho active man's attention was
drawn off to the ice-house for a moment,
and that of the entry clerk was attracted
to the subiect of this article. Ho said :
"Our trade is principally shipping,
but isn't as brisk as it should be. Yes,
sir ; the sale for coarse meat is very slow.
Tho only thing there is any ready salo
for is the prime part of tho carcass. As
we buy the whole animal, we have to
dispose of the whole of it, though we get
for loins, a good cut, first quality,
twenty-two cents ; short loins (for porter
house steaks) bring Irom twenty-nve to
twenty-seven cents. The sides are
worth twelve cents ; the hips, eighteen
cents. Ribs run from eighteen to
twenty-two cents, according to who use
them. We sell to a number of hotels.
For example, there is a piece with tho
ends of the ribs cut off, aud they are
utterly useless, that is for a hotel, and
the man that wants that piece has to pay
for the loss of those ends. Rumps are
worth from twelve to thirteen cents.
Rouud stakes out off them are worth
fifteen cents if they are cut right through,
and twenty cents if they are cut from
the tender side of the rump, The chuck
is sold for from eight to nino conts, in
pieces weighing from fifty to seventy-
live pounds, but it is very Hard to sell.
Strange Events at a Funeral.
A "burial scandal " is reported from
Carcassonne, says a London paper, tho
character of which was strange as its
soquel was deplorable. A funeral pro
cession was on its way through tho
churchyard, when tho officiating priest
observed to tho president ol a local ben-
eht society to which tho clecoasod be
longed that the bearers walked too slow
ly, adding that if the body did notroach
tho grave as soon as ho did ho should
lust pronounce tlio absolution ana go.
Accordingly, having distanced tho body
by some paces, he gave tne absolution,
sprinkled tho empty grave with holy
water, and withdrew just as the bearers
came up. He then took oil his vest
ments, and returned to confront tho
mourners. A sharp altercation ensued,
and, being asked why ho had taken oil'
his sacerdotal ornaments, lie soul it was
iu order to bo able to answer all comers,
and that he was not a priest at that mo
ment. On this a member of the benefit
society angrily assured his unsympa
thetic pastor that he should hear of this
again, and immediately- len aown dead,
Ex-Fresldents of tho United States.
Ex-Presidents of tho Uuitod States
are, in this generation, not remarkable
for length of years. Except Fillmore
and Buchanan, no ono of our Presidents
for thirty years has reached tho allotted
three seoro and ten. Beforo Polk, aud
after Washington, not one except Ham
son, who died oged sixty-eight, left tho
world at less then seventy-three, Mon
roo. The series is noteworthy. Wash
ington died at sixty-seven ; but Johu
Adams lived to ninety-one, Jefferson to
eighty-three. Madison to eighty-live,
Monroe to seventy-three, Johu Quincy
Adams to eighty-oue, Jackson to seventy
eight, and Van Buron to eighty. At
this point, a singular change occurs,
Polk died at fifty-four, Taylor at sixty,
Fillmore at seventy. Pierce at sixty-five,
Buchanan at seventy-seven, Lincoln at
fifty-six, and Johuson now passes away at
seventy. Tho first ten of our Presidents
averaged seveuty-sevcu and eight-tenths
years of life. Tho next seveii averaged
sixty-lour and seven-tenths years.
AMONG THE SEMINOLES.
KrliKloits FpnM- A (Sencrnl 1'lennlnft
I'p for tlio Year.
A correspondent who has been among
the Seminole Indians in Florida gives us
this description of the only religious
ceremony of the tribe :
The ceremony is undoubtedly one of
purification a propitiatory offering to
the Great Spirit. Every year at the
ripening of the harvest they gather all the
people of their tribes, and hold a grand
pow-wow, lasting several days.
They burn and destroy all the filth
and useless utensils of cooking, etc., and
burn all condemned old clothes, purify
themselves by sweating and washiug ;
after which thoy elect chiefs, and trans
act such business as needs attention.
As. my guide was at their feast last
year, lot him relate tho story as ho told
it to mo that night, by tho smouldering
camp fire, with listening Indians :
" JLwas about tho lirst of July : and
mo and Alock thought we'd go out and
kind of colobrato tho 1 ourth among tho
Indians, sccing's we'd been invited.
Well, wo got out here ; 'twas tho same
trail we took tho othor day, but tho flats
was full of water, and 'twas just awful
getting hero.
" Tho Injuns give us a shanty, and we
turnod looso our horses, and tho next
day tho performance commeuceiL You
Beo that cleared place there, about a
hundred feet across ? Well, that was all
smooth, aud was used to dauoo on, about
that polo iu the center, which was all
hung with leaves and ono tiling and an
other. "This house here, to one side, was a
sort of sweat-house, and they had it
stopped up tight, and a big kettle of wa
ter two or three ot them in one end.
Tho women, they wont rouud and
collected all tho old stuff aud made a big
heap of it, aud then set it afire. Then
thoy went out aud got some kiud of a
root and mado a strong drink, and that
physicked them, you bet.
" I his took about all day.
"Next day they cot together on that
level place, aud danced about the pole.
They didn't liko it because we was there,
and some of tho Big Cypress fellows
threatened to kill us, but Alock had
brought out a keg of real good whisky,
and the promise ot that, when they was
through, made everything all right.
"The women had them turtle-shells
strapped around their ankles, and they'd
clap 'em together and make a noise you
could hear a milo. First they'd dance
kind of slow, then gradually quicken
their steps till they would fairly wake
tilings, and sing and howl fit to wake the
dead. All these two days they hadn't
had nothing to eat, and wouldn't give us
anything, and, if we hadn't brought
something, we should have starved.
"Every once in a whilo one of the
chiois would get up iuj uniu u uui,,
and then divo into the sweat-house,
where they had got up steam by chuck
ing red hot rocks into them kettles of
water. There ho would stay till nigh
about dead for the house was all full of
steam and then he'd rush out and jump
into that pond, there, stark naked, and
yelling like sixty !
All tins time tho old doctor seemed
to bo the master of ceremonies, aud he
was a-mumbling over big words, hard
enough to choke a white man, and pre
tended he was conversing with the Great
Spirit. Toward night of tho second day
they seemed to think they'd got things
clean enough, with their sweating, and
physicking, and dancing, and all tho
girls went off aud got corn, and melons,
and pertaters, and they had a reg'lar
feast, and they eat and eat, till every
body had enough to make up for a two
mouths last.
"This is all tho ceremony those heath
en have, and thoy don't care no more for
religion than a car. It they are good
when they are on this earth, they will go
to a laud of plenty where things is cheap
and whisky and game is plenty. If they
don t bo good here they will go to the
land of the bad spirit, who is half starv
ed, and has no bears' oil or whisky.
After tho ceremonies was all over, they
elected old Tustenuggu chief, instead ot
old Tiger Tail, who has been chief so
long, and that camo near making a fight;
but it was proved that Tustenuggu was
descended Irom old Micanopy, aud had
ought to havo been chief long ago.
Queen Victoria's Babies.
In Loudon, a long time ago, I used to
know tho nurse of tho queen's babies
an excellent, good person, cleau aud fat
and rosy and loving. It might occur to
tho uninitiated that this person perhaps
was a gentlewoman, aud that tho queen's
babies had real ladies as nurses. But it
was not so. This royal nurse was but
another Teggotty, as humblo in station
as tho good woman who was selected to
care for tho sacred welfare of tho heir of
Dombey. Ono day wo congratulated
her on tho excellence of her place.
That it is, indeed, ma am, a good
place," replied tho woman, warmly; "too
good for tho likes of mo ; and yet," said
she, her motherly bosom swelling and
warm tears gushuig to her honest eyes,
" it has one great trial 1 am not hallow
ed to kiss the children. Being royal
'iKhnesses and mo au 'ireling, I am not
hallowed ; and w'eu you lovo a baby,
not to bo able to kiss 'iin is 'ard ; but"
and here sho brightened up considerably
" I don't mind telling you, ma.ain, for I
don't think it will go any further, though
hordors is borders, they can't prevent
me from a-kissing of his little toes,
(lad to See Her.
About twenty years ago a negro woman
was sold from Baltimore to parties " way
down South, her father and mother ro-
maiuincr on the estato from which she
was sold, and where they still reside,
During the war the old folks lost all
trace of the girl and had given her up
for lout until within a few years, when
they heard from her in New Orleans,
few weeks ago they had a letter from her
promising soon to visit them, and from
that time the old couple went to the
wharf every timo a boat arrived expect
ing to moet her, and showing keen dis
appointment on finding that she. had not
yet como. At last, however, they wero
rewarded for their watching as a buxom
comely mulatto waved a handkerchief at
them from an approaching boat. Tho
old woman shouted, executed a half fan
duueo. nkinned around conorallv. whilo
tho old man stood on his head, aud tho
hour of jubilee seemed to havo come,
Tho Spanish Miner.
A reviewer, speaking of Hugh James
Rose's "Untrodden Spain and the
Black Country," says : Decidedly the
most characteristio part of Mr. Rose's
book is his account of " tho black
country," or mining districts, of which
he had considerable experience. The
Spanish miner is as rough and reckless
as those of his calling generally, but he
has many of the most sterling qualities
of his country people, with more than
ordinary Spanish light-heartednoss. Ho
works exceedingly hard, but he lives
tolerably well, although but poorly paid,
according to English ideas. Mr. Rose
gives a vivid account of his day's occu
pation, from the start at early morning,
when he breaks his fast on cakos, cof
feo, and aguardionto bought at tho stalls
set out along his road, to tho more solid
supper with his family of au cvoning,
when ho relaxes after his labor with
music and merriment. Ho is fond of
song, and improvises freely as ho goes
along to his work, choosing tho subject
of his monotonous refrain from any
casual incident that may strike him. Like
all Spaniards ho insists on religiously
celebrating any number of festas, al
though his manner of making holiday
is apt to degonorato into debauch. I1 or
the morality of the mining districts is
as low as may bo, and the certainty that
their lives will be short seems to induce
the miners to niako the most of them in
their own way. Their work is often dan
gerous, for tho native mine owners pay
little attention to the internal economy
of the mines, aud the strongest consti
tutions succumb to tho unwholesome at
mostphere tho miners inhale. . The
uucksilver mines ot Al mucin are, of
course, the most deadly. In these the
salivation is excessive, and it is said to
bo almost as bad among the copper veins
of Rio Tinto. In the lead mines, strange
to say, tho action of the mineral is more
gradual ; but pulmonary consumption,
fever, and "lead colic" aro the most
fatal complaints. The miner seldom
lives to a greater age than thirty-four,
aud it is a common saying with tho girls
iu tho neighbdrhood : "It is hard to
marry a miner, for he must leavo us so
soon. That proper sanitary precau
tions might do much to prevent this
mortality, is proved by the experience
of foreign companies. But in Spain, as
everywhere else, the workmen object to
restraint and regimen, although death
and painful diseases aro the penalties of
leglcctmg them ; and the native mine
proprietors, with the national indiffer
ence, leave their people to do as they
please. Although the miner takes his
copa of strong liquor after his coffee, or
corrects with occasional stimulants the
foulness of the atmosphere he breathes,
as a rulo ho is not addicted to drunken
ness. Ho is content with poor with
poor waa:ea. and is cheerful ou coarse
laro ; and it He must be called supersti
tious rather than religious, at loast ho
makes life endurable by cultivating a
cheerful fatalism. Theso men of the
black country '' are naturally among
the roughest aud least educated classes
of tho population, yet Mr. Rose pro
nounces them to bo " nature's gentle
men." He says, talking of the miner :
1 He could not say or do a rudo thing.
To walk with the stranger ; to relieve
him of any load he may bo carrying un
der a burning sun ; to offer you and the
offer is meant--a share of his simple
meal, if you chanco to come upon him
when dining, is simply his habit."
A Good Guardian.
A few years previous to tho great firo
in Boston a man in the grocery business
there was appointed guardian of three
orphan girls, whose father had left for
their support a tenement houso in ono ot
tho corners of the courts leading out of
Pearl street. When ho got control of
the property the houso was uuinsured,
its value small, and income trifling. He
had it insured, and made some improve
ments that -increased tho income. Soon
the fire camo, and consumed it with the
other buildings in that vicinity. He
got the insurance monoy after a little
delay, invested tho money where it
rapidly increasod, and tho land being
wanted for business purposes, ho sold it
for two or thrco dollars more a foot thau
other land brought alongsido of it. The
proceeds of this salo he also invested,
and when, a little while ago, he made
settlement with the probate court, it
was found that tho value of the legaey
left to tho children, now of age, had
more than quadrupled. Tho judge com
plimontod him for his good manage
ment, and said ho richly earned the per
centage which the law allows in such
cases. The gentleman thanked tho
court, but said he worked for a reward
greater than any human law could allow,
and declined to accept any compensa
tion. The young ladies, iu apprecia
tion of tho generous conduct of their
guardian, havo presented him with a
valuable watch, chain, and lock-seal.
Too Good for That.
Some years ago there was a discussion
among some returning Calif ornians on a
steamer, which had just touched at Aca-
putco, concerning the moral character
and generul merits of a California
refugee whom they had fallen in with
in that torrid little port. One of the
party was quite enthusiastic over the
refugee as "one of tho best fellows he
ever knew," to which another replied
that he was a murderer aud au assassin
who fled the State to escape tho gallows,
This tho refugeo's friend denied; said
he "wasn't no a'sassiu nor uothin' of
the kiud." "But," said the other,
" don't you remember his shooting
barkeeper up to Marysville ? "Yes."
"And his stabbing a man in tho back at
Dutch Flat?" "l'os." "And his kill
ing a faro dealer at " " Oh, yes, I
know about all them things. He's killed
folks, of course. I know he kills, but
you never can make mo believe he
'sassiuates." Shades upon shades of
meaning, you eo. Subtle distiuctions
between killing folks, which any good
fellow was liable to do, and " 'sassinat
ing," which would have been uugentlo
mauly and disreputable. That man was
well up iu tho refinements of tho lan
guage. Ho know where to draw tho line
ami just what shading to givo it to svo
his friend to society and to his own ap
preciative bosom. Ho might kill, but
sassiuato ? never. Ho was too good a
fellow for that.
Items of Interest
Married ieople will have no difficulty
in getting along well if they always keep
two bears in tho house bear and for
bear. ' i
Cleanliness, in all the surroundings of
a family mansion, pays richly in many
ways, in good health, moral clovation,
personal comfort, and dollars and cents
besides.
. Ono of tho saddest things about hu
man nature is, that a man may guido
others in tho path of life, without walk
ing in it himself ; that ho may bo a
pilot, and yet a castaway.
It has boon estimated that ono plant
of tho red poppy bears 50,000 seede ;
one sow-thistle, 19,000 ; ono corn-cockle,
2,500; tho charlock, 4,500 ; groundsel,
0,1300 ; and the black mustard, 1,500.
' Burning incenso, Mr. Brown?" said
Mrs. Farrintosh, as sho passed Bro wn in
tho act of lighting his post-prandial
cigar. " No, ma'am," said tho practical
Itrown, "I nm burning twenty cents."
A gentleman in Kingston, N. T., haa
cured his lion of a mania for hatching.
Stones, clubs, basins of water wero in
vain ; but when firecrackers exploded
u nder her she concluded to como off.
Two hundred thousand Americans,
not ono iu- fivo hundred of whom ever
saw prairies, mountains, cauyous, falls
or other Western sights, aro over in
Europe hoofing it around through heat
and dust.
During a recent tornado in Minnesota
two sheep were carried fully a mile by
tho wind, and finally landed iu a tree
top, whore they wero found pinned to
gether by a board that had been driven
through their bodies.
The Maine Fanner suggests that
farmers, by building on adjoining cor
ners of their farms, might organize little
"farmer villages" which would givo
them tho advantage of society aud make
meir cuiuiren niucn more contonted
with farm life.
A Jefferson (Me.) farmer had a cow
and a calf struck by lightning during a
thunder shower, and, supposing them
dead, they were dragged off into a pasture.
In the morning, having occasion to visit
the pasture, he found both cow and calf
as lively as if no thunder shower had oc
curred the night before.
Shortly after ex-President Johnson's
trial he said to a lriend who was con
gratulating him on his narrow oseapo :
" Yes, and when I die I want to bo
buried quietly, and hope tho same
wretched set of scribblers who havo just
been writing me down on impeachment
won 'the allowed to write up tho funeral.'
In no country in the world is there so
large a consumption of animal food as
in the United States. The average to
each person, as derived from statistics
of moat consumption in tho leadintr
-rnrien from half a pound to a
pound per day ; while in common uu
Europe tho average consumption of
meat per head is only from two to thrco
ounces per day.
Men havo often been puzzled to ex
plain, even to themselves, why they
liked tobacco smoke, lint the scientists
have found out just what it is, and it is
no wonder wo liko it. Tobacco smoko
is, they say, a mixture of eyanhydric,
snlphnrated hydrogen, formic, acetic,
propionic, butyric, valerianic and car
bolic acids, half a dozen kinds of alka
loids and creosote.
A girl has recently gone through a
remarkable attack of catalepsy at a pub
lic Hospital in i'aris. She tell into a
lethargy, and her respiration became al
most imperceptible, but her color and
pulse were natural. Soou afterward her
muscles became hard and stiff, and dur
ing six days she lay rigid, taking no
rood, and being wnoiiy unconscious.
Her recovery was slow, and attended by
relapses into a cataleptic condition.
Postage la the United States.
In 1792 tho first postage act was passed
m the United States. Every separate
sheet of paper, large or small, without
reference to weight, was considered a let
ter, aud two or three small pieces
in ono envelope paid double or triplo
postage. The lowest rate was six cents
to places within thirty miles, eight cents
to places within sixty miles, ten conts to
places within one hundred miles, and so
on up to places within four hundred and
fifty miles, tho poBtago then bi ing
twenty-livo cents. In 1799 a now law
was passed changing tho rales. Tho
lowest rate was eight cents, and tho low
est distanco forty miles. In 1810 tho
minimum rates wero again reduced . to
six cents, and the distance to thirty miles,
only fivo rates being established.
Eighteen and one-half cents carried let
ters four hundred miles, and for a longer
distance twenty-live conts was charged.
These rates continued until 1815, when
the first material reduction took place.
Fivo cents becamo the postage for let
tors carried a distance of less than three
hundred miles, and ten cents for a
greater distance At the same timo tho
drop letter system was introduced, tho
postage on such being fixed at two cents.
In 1815 the half-ounce weight was made
the standard instead of tho number of
sheets. In 1851 the single rate was made
three cents for all distances under 3,000
miles, and six cents for greater distances,
if prepaid, this being the first induce
ment held out to prepay postage. Un
paid letters were charged five and ten
cents, according to distance. In 1855
prepayment was required, the rate as to
distance remaining the same. In 1803
tho present rate of three cents, prepaid,
for all distances, was established.
A Funny Trial.
An amusing trial took placs in Quiuey,
III., last week. A man named Murphy
found a nest containing six young mock
ing birds, which he took home with him.
Five of them having died, he took tho
sixth back to the nest, in hopes tho old
birds would feed it. Soon afterward it
became strong enough to fly, and flew
into a blacksmith shop belonging to a
man named Schribor, who picked tho
bird up and retained it in his possession.
Murphy, heaving whore the bird was, at
once got out a writ of replevin, so tho
bird was brought into court, horo it
attracted considerable attention. A ver
dict for Schriber was finally given. Tho
bird is valued at about ono dollar, and
the costs have already reached twenty
times that anion lit,