6)
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
VOL. V.
KIDGrWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JANUAIIY 20, 1870.
NO. 48.
J
Finding the Sunect
Oh, the beautiful home of the sunset,
Hung out on the western sky,
Where the days lay down their brightness, -
And bathing in splendor, die 1
Bweet friends in the home of our childhood,
The gentle and loving ones, stand
Gazing out as we enter life's wildwood
In search of the sunset land. .
Full soon do the meadows grow broader,
And ronghor the path where we stray,
Less frequent the cool, gushing fountains,
And the sunset seems further away.
And the friends who have journeyed with us
We lay with the moldering dead
They have reached the bright sunset before us,
And lonely the pathway we tread.
But the floods of molten glory
Which beam from the sunset laid
Fill our hearts with a restless longing
On those beautiful shores to stand.
Our locks, once sunny and golden,
Are white as the drifting Bnow ;
Our eyes have grown dim with their gazing,
And our footsteps are feeble and slow.
As we near the eternal splendor
We pause at a swelling stream ;
We must cross it ere reaching the hilltops
Which glow in the sunset's beam.
So, closing our eyes for a momeut
In the sun's last dazzling ray,
We awake whore glory dwelletb,
In a land of perpetual day.
THE LOST P0CKETB00K.
Tho scene was in New York. It was
a cheerless afternoon. A biting wind
lrove the snow before it like a blinding
mist, and the clouds bung so low as to
almost touch the roofs of the houses.
" How desolate it is," Mrs. Halpine
sighed, glancing out from her attic
window on tho gloomy prospect below,
ns she smoothed and folded the garment
f.ho had just completed ; "and the cold's
ruuwr. x aon t like to send you out,
Louise, but there's not a bit of coal, and
Willie must have that medicine, I'd go
mysolf, but "
" Ob, mother, no ! let me go I don't
mind if it is cold. I'll hurry back ;"
and tho little girl sprang up from her
low seat beside tho child's cradle and
began to fasten on her faded cloak and
hood.
" Weil, I suppose you must," the
mother continued, as sho wrapped up
tho delicately t-rabroidered garment.
"You know the place? Mr Rawdou's,
on Tenth street that brown stone
house.
" Yes, yes, mother ! I know."
" Well, dear, run Taut ami keep your
self warm, and say to Mrs. Rawdou that
I'd have finished tho work before if
Willie hadn't been so ill. Three dollars
sho owes me. Yon can call at the baker's
ana g.t a loaf or two.
The child took tho bundle and vanish
ed out of sight down the dreary flight
of steps, whilo tho mother turned back
to the cradle where the. sick child lay. He
held up his httlo bauds and moaned
pitoously : "(uvo me some tea, mamma,
I'm so thirsty."
" Yes, darling, as soon Louise comes
back.
Her eyes filled with tears as she raised
tho little fellow to her bosom, clasping
l 1 1 A 1 I ' .V
mm cioaeiy to iteep iiim warm, lor mere
was no fire iu the stove and the desolate
attic room was very comfortless. Yet
thera had been a day when this same
' pale-faced, meek-eyed woman sat in a
luxurious chamber, with every comfort
that heart could wish within her reach;
and a doting husband's strong arms of
love to encircle and protect her. But
her husband was dead, Jyiag, unknown,
on some distant battlefield in the
South; and her riches had made them
selves wings and flown away. Forlorn
and friendless, sick at heart, and weary
from incessant toil, she sat, with her
wailing child upon her lap, gazing ont
with hopeless, tearful eyes upon the
dismal scene beneath her attio window.
In the meantime, little Louise made
her way through narrow by-streets and
squalid alloys into tho most populous
and fashionable part of New Yovk. The
biting wind still continued to blow with
a dreary, saddening wail, drifting the
leaden clouds and the mist-like snow.
But she walked on bravely, and reached
at last Mrs. Rawdon's. A dazzling glow'
of light poured from all the lofty win
dows, and sounds of tnusie and merry
making floated out upon the frosty air,
Mrs. Rawdon was giving a grand party
in honor of her eldest daughter's birth-
; night. Louise crept tip tho marble
steps and pulled the bell. A footman
in livery answered her timid summons.
"Caul see Mrs. llawdon, please?"
she asked.
" See Mrs. Rawdon, indeed I and she
in tho parlor in the very middle of the
company t Of course you can't. "
He was cloning the door, but Louise
caught at his sleeve and cried, implor
ingly :
"Oh, please, pleaso wait! Here's
the work she wanted ; Miss Violet's
frock, you know. Mother promised it
by to-night; do let me take it to her."
The man hesitated a moment, and
' then turned back.
' Miss Violet's frock," he said; " she
wanted it, I know, I heard her scolding
because it didn't come home. Maybe
she'll see yon. I'll try, anyhow. Come
in here and wait"
Louise followod him through the
arched hall and past the glittering par
lors into a kind of ante-room adjoining
the supper apartment. Here, motion
ing her to a seat, he went in search of
his mistress. But it was a full half hour
before Mrs. Rawdon could disengage
herself from her guests," and poor little
Louise, tired out with waiting, and be
numbed with cold, was just on the
point of bursting into tears, when the
lady swept into the room.
" This is a pretty business, now, isn't
it?" she began, as she received and un
folded the bundle that Louise proffered
her. "I thought you promised to bring
this yesterday ?"
" Yes, ma'am ; but my brother Willie
was so ill that mother couldn't sew."
" Oh. ves 1 that s always the way
you've some exouse ready; but I shan't
use you again, you may-aepena on it.
Here's Violet been crying for au hour,
and refusing to come down because she
was so disappointed about tier dress.
John, ring the bell for Jana to take it
up to her. - I must go back to the parlor
now."
She was sweeping out again, her satin
robes rustling after; but Louise sprang
up, with a piteous cry.
" Oh, ma'am I little brother's bo ill,
and must have his mediciue; please let
me have the money 1"
"I can't to-night I'm entirely out of
change, Xou can call the day after to
morrow." But Louise was not to be repulsed.
She caught the lady's hand in both of
her little, frozen nalms. One of the
rings that adorned Mrs. Rawdon's Boft
linger s would have procured all the
comforts her mother and little Willie so
sorely needed. Some such thought
flashed through the child s mind as she
made the appeal.
" Oh, madam !" she said, her blue eyes
full of imploring treaty, " you are rich
and happy, and have all you want ; but
my poor mother has nothing, and my
little brother will die without medicine I
Do let me have the money I"
Mrs. Rawdon shook her head impa
tiently. " I tell you I've no change. You must
call again. John, show her to the door!
The footman obeyed, and Louise soon
lound nerseit upon the marblo steps,
while the lofty door closed in her very
face with a heartless slam.
The wind howled more dismally than
ever, and the keen, stinging sleet fell
like a shower of shot. Louise descended
the steps and crossed over to the op
posite pavement with a dull, aching pain
at her heart, that almost took away her
breath. How could she go back to her
desolate home and tell her poor mother
that sne Had tailed to collect her hard
earned wages ; tell her that they were
not able to buy even so much as a soli
tary loal i
Just then somethinsr beneath her foot.
soft and slippery, almost threw her to
the pavement, .booking down, she saw
a pocketbook. She caught it up with a
suppressed cry, and, thrusting it into
her bosom, darted off at the speed of an
antelope. At last, out of breath and
half beside herself with excitement, she
paused beneath a lamppost, and after
glancing stealthily around her, drew the
treasure trom her bosom. It was large.
thick and heavy. Her fingers trembled
as she unclasped it; and when she
caught sight of the bank-notes it con
tained, she uttered a wild cry of delight.
and darted off again like something in-
saue. Mother and Willie should have
all they needed now !
Just beyond the baker's shop, to
wards wnicn sue bent her steps, a sol
dier met her.
"Little girl," he said, arresting her
flying steps, " did you find a pocket
book as you came along ?"
Louise paused a single instant, her
heart fluttering like a frightened bird;
then, as a thought of her mothor and
Willie flashed through her mind she an
swered: " No, sir.
"Well.it is gone, I suppose," and
tho soldier passed on, while Louise hur
ried away in the opposite direction.
By the time she reached the baker's
sho was in a tremor from head to foot,
and her cheeks seemed on fire; but she
drew the pocketbook from its hiding
place, and standing outside the door un
clasped it and took out a note. The
shop was crowded with customers, and
she had to wait for her turn before she
could obtain what she wanted. Her eyes
wandered wistfully round the tempting
shelves. She would buy ever so many
loaves, and even that frosted cake.
They would have coals and meat, too.
Why not? The pocketbook was hers;
she had found it. Still her hands trem
bled, and her cheeks burned.
She glanced down at the note she
held, and saw, with a start or horror,
that it wa3 for fifty dollars. What had
she done? Robbed that man of his
mouey, and he a soldier. Her father
had been a soldier t With a sharp cry,
clutching the pocketbook in one hand
and the bill in the other, she darted
from the shop and down the snowy
street.
Just a square or two beyond the glit
tering mansion of Mrs. Rawdon she,
overtook the soldier. He was walking
slowly, glancing from one side of the
icy pavement to the other with an anx
ious, despairing look on his face.
Louise was at his side iu an instant.
"Oh, sir!" panting for breath, her
hood thrown back, her blue eyes wild
and startled, and her bright hair blown
all about her flushed face, "I did find-j
your pocketbook hero it is. I took
this note out, but I couldn't spend it
Mother's almost starved, and little Willi
will die without his mediciue; but e
can't steal I can't ! Take it back !"
The soldier took tho money from the
half -frozen little hands that held it up
to him; then lifting the child in his
arms, he smoothed back her tangled
locks, and looked down iuto her pale,
tear-stained little face with eager, star
tled eyes. His swarthy cheek grew
pale and his bearded lips began to
tremble.
"Louise, Louise I" he said, his voice
full of thrilling tenderness; "poor lit
tle darling, don't you know me ?"
The child looked up, and then her
cry of wild delight rang out clear and
joyous.
" Oh, papa, papa ! we thought you
were dead ! but you've come back to us
again."
" Yes, darling !" his broad chest
heaving with suppressed eagerness.
" Where's your mother ? Take me to
her I"
Louise sprang from his arms, and
shot off bike an arrow down the brilliant
street, through the sqnalid alleys, and
narrow by-lanes; and the eoldier fol
lowed her.
Mrs. Halpine sat in her comfortless
attio hushing her sick child upon her
lap.
" Mamma, mamma t I am so hungry;
please give me something to eat !" the
little fellow moaned, claspiag his hot
arms about hern eck.
But there was no bread, and Louise
did not come.
"Wait a moment, darling just a mo
ment longer."
And the patient little one waited ; and
the cold, gray shadows settled down
darker and darker ; and the poor mother
olasped the child closer to her bosom,
dreaming of days gone by, and of the
dear husband who had gone to his last,
long home, with no tender hand to close
his eyes.
The shadows grew heavier and darker ;
tne wind moaned dismally, and the snow
and sleet tinklod sharply against the
windows.
"Oh, mammal please make a fire,
I'm so cold, and the dark makes me
afraid I
"Wait a littlo bit longer, darling I
Louise will come soon."
At last there was a noise below, a
bounding, joyous step up the stairs, and
Louise burst into the room, her face all
glowing and radiant.
"Oh, mother, mother!" she cried,
"father's not dead I He's alive he's
come back to us again !"
' The soldier's wife rose to her feet.
grasping at the bedpqst for support ; as
she did so strong arms clasped her to a
warm and loving bosom.
Louise crept np to her father's feet,
her blue eyes swimming with tears.
" Oh, father ! what if I had kept it?"
she asked.
"Then, dear, you would not have
found me. Always remember that
wrong wins its punishment, and right
its reward."
Pet Names.
Tom Hood said that a nickname was
a concentrated oalumny ; but Hood
wrote in an aristocratic atmospheie,
where people stand on their dignity to
an extent scarcely comprehensible in the
United States. In London a merchant
goes on 'change in a stovepipe hat, and
if he should venture to depart from
that formality and appear some after
noon in the debauchee freedom of a
" wide-awake " his paper would be re
fused before the day was over; whilo if
he should, in a moment of hilarity,
greet his business partner with " Good
day, old Beeswax," there would be a
notice of dissolution in the Gazette
within forty-eight hours. How different
all this is with us, adds the New York
Herald, scarcely needs to be told; but a
most characteristic point of tho differ
ence of life under democratic influences
is seen in the very different appreciation
in which nicknames are held with us,
Scarcely any man goes far without one,
and no one resents the infliction, be
cause if there is just the sliadow of
spite in the name the folly and bad
temper of exhibiting irritation would
expose any man to general laughter; but
because, also, the thing is commonly
done without animus in a spirit of rol
licking, easy jollity .and pretended fa
miliarity. Very often, indeed, the
nickname becomes more than a j )ke
more than even a good-natured joke. It
becomes the starting point of new and
more intimate relations between the sub
ject of the name and a wide circle of
friends; or, in the case of a public man,
between him and the public. How
much did " Old Hickory " do in this
way for General Jackson, or "Tippe
canoe and Tyler too " for a famous
Presidential ticket. How much of
sturdy pride and simple minded admira
tion did tne nation concentrate m " Old
Rough and Ready ;" and what a tender
place in the memory is yet touched by
A Curious IComauce.
Norfolk street, Strand, savs the Lon
don Court Journal, has a curious com
memorative monument. An observant
spectator will notice that the first floor
windows of a large house at the corner
of Howard street present a peculiar ap
pearanc . The shutters are up, and
they ore covered thickly with dust,
while through the chinks can be seen
tho blinds, also thick with dust, and
nioldering away with age. These shut
ters aud blinds have beeu in exactly the
same position, untouched, for about
fifty years. During that time no human
foot, it is believed, has entered that
room. And the reason is this: Fifty
years ago a certain nobleman was eu
gaged to be married, the day was fixed,
the wedding morning arrived, the break
fast was laid out in that spacious and
handsome room, the bridegroom was
ready to proceed to church, when it was
discovered that the bride was missing; a
note in her handwriting was found ad
dressed to the bridegroom briefly in
forming him that she had eloped with
his " best man," a gay aud gallant cap
tain of dragoons. The jilted bridegroom
did not say much; but he went alone to
the room in which the wedding break
last was laid out, with his own hands
put up tho shutters and drew the blinds,
locked the door, and took the key. He
gave orders that the doors should be
nailed up and barred with padlocked
bars, and that no one should enter the
room again. When the house was let it
was stipulated that the room in question
suould remain untouched, and the sum
of $200 per annum was paid to the ten
ant to compensate him for tho depriva
tion of the use of the room. The noble
man has been dead some years, but it is
beb'eved the room has never been enter
ed since he closed it, and there are the
"wedding meats moldering silently
away, and the ornaments crumbling into
dust in tne luneral gloom.
A Western Tornado.
In traversing the Western States it is
not unusual to come across the track of
a tornado. If it be in a timbered dis
trict the trees will be seen all down,
their tops turned in the same direction,
the roots torn up from the ground, each
carrying a high, circular mass of the
surface earth which adheres to their net
work of fibers. This belt of prostrated
timber is sometimes only a few hundred
yards in width, the hurricane seeming to
have shot through it like a bolt, leaving
the trees on each side standing and un
touched. Sometimes the line or column
of destruction is much wider, but in
most cases with a well-defined bound
ary, outside of which nature remains
calm and unscathed. Woe to the way
farer who chances to be caught in a
" herrikin " when it passes in its Cyclo
pean strength.
The effects of such storms are often
of the most eocentrio kind. There is a
well authenticated instance of a barn
door fowl, a "rooster," having been
stripped bare of bis feathers, standing
tail towards the tempest when it struck
him ohanticleer escaping without any
further damage.
IX THE GEOGRAPHICAL WORLD.
The Important Plucovcrles of lS73..-Afrlra
nml the Open Polar Hen.
The year 1875 will evor be a memor
able date in the history of geographical
discovery. Within the twelvemonth two
of the most important questions of Afri
can geography have been settled ; and
in the far north the demonstration of an
open water way between Europe and the
countries drained by the great Siberian
rivers is perhnps the most important ad
dition to geographical soience that could
be made in polar regions.- Certainly
tnare remains lor no luture year so many
nrstrate problems to solve.
The source of the Nile ! For twenty
centuries it has been the goal of the ex-
Elorcr's ambition. The boldest spirits
ave essayed its discovery, only to be
turned back by insuperable obstacles.
Its conquest waited lor the plucky en
ergy and resistless push of Stanley.
Starting from Zanzibar iu November.
1874, with three hundred soldiers and
carriers, an important part of whose lug,
gage was the open boat Lady Alice, in
sections, Stanley had before him seven
hundred miles of unknown country
part forest and part desert much of it
swarming with hostile savages. By dint
of resolute marching and fighting, he
accomplished in a hundred days what in
he usual course of African travel would
have taken as many weeks, though at
tho cost of hall his command; and on
February twenty-seventh he caught his
first glimpse of the great lake with which
his name must hereafter be inseparably
associated.
Speke and Baker hod traced the Nile
to the Victoria Niyanza. What was the
compass of that great freshwater sea,
and whence came its supplies ? . Thanks
to the Lady Alice, which was Boon set up
and afloat, these questions had not long
to wait for solution. Within the next
sixty days, its shores and numerous
islands had been mapped, and its tribu
taries noted. Of the ten considerable
streams which feed the Niyanza, the
largest and most important proved to be
the Shimceyn, in all probability the ulti
mate source of the Nile." The details of
the discoveries thus auspiciously begun
we shall not consider here, nor the im
portance of the region now for the first
time opened np to geography. It is
enough to note that, through Stanley's
daring energy and genius for command,
tLe question which, more than any other,
Has vexed geographers and challenged
explorers for two thousand years has
been substantially settled.'
' In the meantime Cameron has taken
up the unfinished work of Livingstone,
and spurred on no doubt by a deter
mination not to be forestalled . by, his
Yankee rival, as he was in the search for
Livingston he has overcome the obsta
cles that ,baffled- tho veteran explorer,
and accomplished perhaps the longest
journey ever made -by any adventurer in
that benighted continent. And its re
sults are as brilliant as the passage was
heroic. No other explorer ever crossed
the continent so near the equator; and
none save Stanley ever achieved so much
in so little time. His path lay through
the most difficult and dangerous part of
Africa, from Tanganyika to the mouth
of the Congo; and when the story of the
passage is mude known, it will, nay, it
must, present some of the most stirring
chapters of dashing adventure in the
history of African exploration.
Una thing is certain : The theory of
Livingstone has been disproved; and not
tho Nile, but the Congo, receives the
drainage of the great interior basin of
the continent. And Africa hides no
other secrets to compare with the two
which Stanley and Cameron have, with
in the same few months, manfully wrest
ed from her jealous keeping.
Less significant geographically, but
of far greater promise commercially, is
Professor Nordenskjold's discovery of
an open passage by sea between Europe
and northern Asia. The tract of country
thus brought into commercial communi
cation with the rest of tho world is a
vast aud largely fertile region, much of
it splendidly timbered, traversed by
navigable rivers, and only waiting for a
suitable outlet for its productions, to
become densely peopled. According to
Professor Baers the valleys of tho Obi
Ivtsch aud the Yenisei exceed in extent
the combined areas watered by the Don,
Dnieper, Dniester, Nile, Po, Rhone,
Ebro, aud all the other rivers flowing
into the Black sea, the Mediterranean,
and the sea of Marmora. The entire
region made directly accessible to com
merce is estimated by Dr. Petrmann to
embrace an area one-fourth greater than
all non-Russian Europe.
The attainment of the pole would give
greater renown" to the explorer who
should succeed in reaching it; but the
consequences to humanity would be in
significant compared with those quite
certain to flow from this much needed
waterway to the heart of Asia. Scien
tific American.,
" Lovey."
" Lovey, will you ploase let me have
ouo dollar?" inquired an affectionate
Chicago wife of her husband.
"Where's all that I gave you yester
day?" said "Lovey," bluntly.
"Why I've been down town to-day,
and"
"And spent all, of course," interrupt
ed the husband, "and now I'd like to
know what you want of. more?"
" I I didn't have quite enough," fal
tered the gentle wife, " to to buy for
you the New Year's present I wanted
b."
Then, had you been there, you would
have seen the 'shamedest-looking hus
band in northern Illinois, when
" Lovey " handed over that dollar."
Treat the Child Reasonably.
A child has a right to ask questions
and to be fairly answered ; not to be
snubbed as if he were guilty of an im
pertinence, nor ignored as though his
desire for information were of no conse
quenoe, nor misled as if it did not sig
nify whether true or false impressions
were made npon his mind. He has a
right to be taught everything which he
desires to learn, and to be made certain,
wheL asked for information is withheld,
that it is only deferred till he is older
and better prepared to receive it. An
swering a child's question is sowing the
seeds of its future character. J
The Battle of "ew Orleans.
The Picayune, in a sketch of the bat
tlo of New Orleans, says: On May 81,
1814, Gen. Jackson was appointed a
major general, and became the recog
nized chief of the military forces ol tho
United States in the Southwest. At that
time Florida, although a Spanish pro
vince, was occupied by the English, who
used it as their own. organizing expedi
tions at Pensacola against the United
States and in aid of the Indians. The
Spaniards, for their part, lacked both
the power and the inclination to offer
any effectual opposition to that violation
of neutral territory.
When Gen. Jackson arrived at Mobile
he entered into an unavailing correspon
dence with the Spanish authorities. The
English commander continued his prepa
rations at Pensacola for an attack upon
Mobile, and the American general re
solved to retaliate, if possible, by the
capture of that post. His re-enforcements,
however, failing to reach him in
time, he was obliged first to sustain the
attack of the enemy. Tho British fleet
assailed Fort Bowyer, on Mobile point,
Sept. 15, aided by a combined force of
Indians and marines, but was repulsed
with a loss of one ship and soventy-two
men. Gon. Coffee at length arriving
with the long expected troops, Gen.
Jackson, at the head of 3,000 men,
moved against Pensacola, and captured
it Nov. 6, 1814. On Nov. 11 he was
again in Mobile, where he remained un
til the twenty-second, expecting a re
newed attack. In the meantime he dis-
Satched the greater part of his force to
Tew Orleans, which city he made his
own headquarters, Dec. 2, 1814. So
poor was the state of our defenses that
had the enemy moved with celerity noth
ing could have prevented the city from
falling into his hands. On the sixteenth
of December they effected a landing and
marched to within nine miles of New
Orleans seven days later. Gen. Jackson
did not learn of their -arrival until two
p. m. of the same day, December 23d.
With that quick prescience characteris
tic of all great commanders, he deter
mined to take the initiative. Assem
bling a forco numbering to only 2,131,
of whom only 1,800 were actually en
gaged, he moved to the attack, support
ed by the United States schooner Caro
lina. A very hot fight ensued, which
would have been decisively in favor of
tho Americans had not heavy re-enforcements
reached the British during tho
night. As it was, the British were ren
dered so cautious and slow in their
movements that Gen. Jaokson found
time to construct his line of defense and
make other necessary preparations, so
that when the battle was fought it was
decisively in favor of the Americans.
' Coloring a Black Silk Dress.
After constant use'for months, or may
be a year, the mos carefully kept black
dress will begin to show the effects of
use, in a certain rustiness of hue and
general dinginess of aspect, if in no
place actually rubbed or worn. Now is
the time to expend a little skill and in
genuity in its renovation, when the
economist may be rewarded by coming
out iu an old dress made new, sure of
eliciting the admiration of at least all
those who are in the secret. For the
undertaking provide yourself with ten
cents' worth of soap bark, procurable at
any herb store, and boil it m one quart
of water. Let it steep a while, and then
strain it into a basin for use. If the job
is to be a perfect and thorough one. take
the body and sleeves apart and to pieces;
rip off the trimming from skirt and over
skirt. Brush off all loose dust first, aud
then, with a sponge dipped in the soap
bark decoction, wipe over each piece
thoroughly, folding up as you proceed.
Have ready a ladies' skirt board for
pressing, and well heated irons. Smooth
every piece on tho wrong side, including
even silk trimmings; and when you have
once more put it together you will bo
amazed to see the results of the simple
process. One advantage of taking the
whole dress apart is that, by putting the
trimming on in somo style a httlo differ
ent from what it was at first, the attrac
tion of novelty is added to make the
effect more pleasing. If one has not
time, however, to go through the whole
Eroeess, a dress may be greatly improved
y being wiped over with this mixture,
aud pressed on the wrong side while
damp indeed, for a time, it will look
quite as good as new. The process may
be repeated from time to time as shall
seem advisable I have seen a cashmere,
which had been rn two whole winters,
taken apart and treated in this way, and
the closest observer would have suppos
ed tne dress to nave been put on for the
first time, such was its soft, fresh look,
aud the vividness of its black. Grena
dine may be submitted to the same sort
of cleaning with fine results.
A Good Hotel.
One day, several years ago. one of
those old hard-tack i who grow fat on
whisky entered a Detroit hotel, the Free
fresH says, and after a dance around
the office made for the clerk and said:
" I want some whisky some regular
old heart-burn."
The bar was down stairs, but under
the counter was a bottle of the worst
liquor ever made, found in one of the
rooms a year or two before. The clerk
handed this up without a word, and the
stranger ' pulled the cork and "let'er
gurgle " for nearly a minute. When he
set the bottle down his eyes were full
of tears, and there was a raw streak
clear down to his boots. He coughed,
and wheezed, and gasped, and finally
said :
" Y-young m-man, I like this hotel."
" Yes, it is a good hotel," answered
the clerk.
" I like it because a feller can git any
thing he calls for," continued the man,
as he coughed himself into a seat.
An Old Custom,
It was at one time the custom for the
doctors to charge for the medicines they
prescribed, not for their visits, and
hence it was for their interest to give
large and frequent doses. A London
physician, not a hundred years ago, pre
scribed six different draughts to be
taken daily by his patient, and these
were to be repeated so often, that dur
ing the twenty-four hours the poor in
valid received no fewer than a hundred
doses of physio,
ROSSI AS A DUELIST.
Flchtlns In tlie Dnrk with Clfarette to
tJntde the Aim.
In Adrian Mark's biography of Rossi,
the following interesting story in the
early Italian life of the great actor is re
hearsed : It was at Cassale, during a
farewell representation. Gentlemen and
ladies pi tho court society filled the
boxes and chattered so loudly as to in
terfere with the representation. Rossi,
who was playing "Hamlet," came to a
full stop in the middle of a sentence,
and, turning toward a front box from
which the greatest noise came, he bow
ed and said, tranquilly : "I i hall hush
as long as yon do not hush." The pub
lic applauded, the interruption ceased
and the play went on, but afterwards
Rossi was met at the door by one of tho
young gentlemen, who folt called npon
to ask for satisfaction. Rossi made a
long face, for he was expocted on the
morrow at Milan, and his engagement
was a serious ono. Tho bills were up,
tho theater was hired and every placo
let beforehand, and it was as much as
his fortune was worth to disappoint his
manager. So he explained his situation
to his bloodthirsty adversary, and beg
ged that, in order to get through with
their littlo affair as speedily as possible,
they should go to his (Rossi's) rooms
at the hotel and quietly shoot at ouo
another there. The proposition having
been acceded to, they went to Rossi's
rooms and had just placed themselves
at either end of the alon in order to
exchange three shots, when the inn
keeper, over-anxious as to his guest's
health and hours, knocked at tho door
(which he found locked) and asked in
an auxious voice if monsieur was ill,
as his light burned so unusually late.
" No," replied Rossi, "lam going to
bed ; thanks ; good night I"
"You are deceiving me," persisted
his anxious keeper, perhaps enlightened
as to the scene in tho theater. You are
certainly ill."
" Go to bed," replied Rossi, " I am
putting out my light " aud in a lower
tone he added to his antagonist : " This
is the only way out of it, blow out the
caudles."
" What ! are we to fight with pistols
in the dark?"
"Not quite; we will each smoke a
cigarette, and that will servo to guide
our aim.
"All right."
And so the famous duel was fought,
iu which Rossi again had the good luck
to wouud his ndversary sightly; but
tho poor actor's troubles were not at an
end. The report of the pistol aroused
tho whole neighborhood, and whilst the
wounded man was being taken caro of
Rossi was led off to the justice of the
peace, where, with his eyes anxiously
fixed on his watch, he listened to the
judge, who told him, at length, that he
deserved five years of prison, if not of
hard labor, and as seven o'clock struck
(he was to leave for Milan by the eisht
o'clock train) Rossi groaned aloud.
Aow, said tho judge, suddenly
changing his voioc, " the law has said
all it has to say, and the friend may
speaK. i was at tue theater last night.
You were quite right to punish that
raqum. 1 know you aro expected m
Lombard. Accept this ring as the ex
pression of my admiration, and off with
you ;
Carrying System too Far.
As au illustration of systems carried
too far Barnum tells a story of tho origi
nal proprietors of the Astor House,
New York. One of these believed thor
oughly in system, and when his system
was interfered with became utterly up
set. On one occasion ouo of the wait
ers was taken ill so as to be unable tj
attend to his duties, aud this distressing
circumstance occurred just half an hour
before dinner time. The systematic
proprietor came to his colleague in great
distress, and, wringing his hands, ex
claimed that it would be impossible to
serve dinner that day, that a waiter was
disabled and that tho system was all
broken. His colleague suggested that
Pat, the " boots," should take the sick
waiter's place. This was au excellent
ilan, ami fat was called up and asked if
ie knew how to serve at the table. Pat
aunouueed that he did, aud that there
was no need to tell him a thing about
his now duties. So having been duly
washed and combed and aproned. Pat
came to tho table to wait and there met
the systematio proprietor, who had come
simply to tell him to "observe system
in his new duties. Pat answered.
"never fear but he would mind the
system," and went to bring soup for
two of tho guests. He placed tho soup
before them and stood respectfully be
hind their chairs until thf y should have
finished. One guest proceeded to eat
his soup; the other pushed his plate
away, saying that he wcnld have fish.
Pat stood stiff and silent, and the guest
repeating his order for fish a second
time, tho new waiter leaned over and
said : " Yez'll get no fish till yez ate the
soup; mat s the system. "And that,
said Barnum, " was carrying system too
far."
United States Electoral Tote.
A statement is going the rounds of the
press that tho next electoral college
including the new State of Colorado
will comprise 370 members. Without
the new State the number was 3f6, with
it the number should be 369, as follows:
1. New York 85 21. Texas 8
2. Pennsylvania... 2!) 22. Bouth Carolina. 7
8. Ohio 22 23. Maine 7
4. Illinois 21 24. Connecticut 6
6. Indiana 1525. Arkansas (i
8. Missouri 15 26. California 6
7. Massachusetts... 13 27. Vermont 5
I. Kentucky 12 28. New Hampshire 5
I. Tennessee...... ..12 29. Kanaaa 5
10. Virginia 11 80. West Virginia. . 5
11. Georgia 1181. Minnesota 5
12. Michigan 11 32. Rhode Island.. 4
13..Iowa 1131 Florida 4
14. North Carolina. 10 84. Delaware 3
15. Alabama 1035. Nebraska 3
16. Wisconsin 10 36. Oregon 8
17. ' New Jersey 9 37. Nevada 3
18. Maryland 8 38. Colorada 3
19. Louisiana 8
29. Mireisaippi 8 Total 369
Professor Mosler, of Germany,' is now
successfully treating phthisio, or pul
monarr consumption, by making an in
cision through the wall of the chest, and
drawing off the pus with a syringe, and
afterward washing out the ulcers with
weak car bono acid.
Items of Interest.
Illinois has a uniformed and equip
ped militia force of 3,156 men.
In New England they run paper mills
from the Sabbath midnight to the Satur
day midnight.
The Temperance Alliance thinks the
spirit of '70 is all the intoxicating bever
age that should be allowed at the Cen
tennial. "Mrs. Hon. Congressman" is the
modest and tasteful way the wives of
some of the Washington "members"
print their cards.
The Gorman immigration amounted to
27,541 at the port of Now York during
1875, being a falling off of 15,745 in
comparison with 1874.
" Oh, we don't mind the fourth story,"
said a Congressman's wife in choosing
Washington lodgings tho other day;
" we can go up and down in tho venti
lator." A huge petrifaction, formed almost
entirely of serpents in various positions,
but making a solid mass, has been found
near the line of the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad.
A criminal on his way to tho gallows,
recently, remarked : " If I had received
one-half of the kindness, earlier in life,
which I have reoeived here, I would not
have been here."
The Duke of Cambridge, in the course
of a speech the other day, said that the
cost of the eighty-one ton gun would bo
about 15,000, aud every shot fired from
it would cost 25.
German lawyers claim that if Thomas
had survived his attempt at suicide ho
could only have been lightly punished
under existing laws, though he caused
the death of 128 persons.
Ex-Governor Clifford, who died at
New Bodford, was president of tho
Boston and Providence railway, and
about a month before his death had his
own salary reduced as an example of
economy.
' I'll be down again in a few days and
bring you father's name and address,"
was the thoughtful remark of a youth
the other day, when he dropped in at a
marble worker's to select a gravestone
for his paternal relative.
The increase during the last five years
of letters and postal cards iu Canada
amounts to sixty per cent., the increase
in the number of post-offices to twenty
five per cent., and of the post-oflice
revenue to forty-six per cent.
At Crescent, New York, there live two
twins by the name of Lansing, now in
their seventy-fourth year, ono of whom
was born one year and one tho next.
The former came lato on New Year's qve
aud the other early New Year's .morn
ing. There ia a musical prodigy among tho
coal miners near Massillo, Ohio. Ho
is a boy of seventeen aud seems devoid
of intelligence, except in musical mat
ters. Brought up in tho mines, without
traiuing of any kind, ho has nevertheless
remarkable powers for mastering music,
and readily learns and plays difficult air
without missing a note.
Mr. Lincoln used to tell a story of n
Winchester Confederate, who was r;
overjoyed at receiving his pardon that
he exclaimed: " Thank yon, Mr. Presi
dent ! Thank you ! Now I'm pardoned
I s'pose I'm as good a Union man as any
of yon emphatically one of you again.
But didn't Stonewall Jackson give ns
thunder in the valley ?"
M, Quad's Currency.
A Boston merchant says that if every -bo:ly
will let business alone business will
revive. Now mind your business and
see.
It has been ascertained that a hen may
livo to be twenty-eight years old, but of
course much depends on whether tho
coop is accessible by night.
Dio Lewis recommends people to
raise their arms when they fall into deep
water. It's far easier to put your bauds
in your pockets and raise a yell.
Danbury Hew s : You will notice that
when a boy steps on a Canada thistle, or
sticks a splinter into his foot, it's in
variably a few seconds before school.
" I want you either to hit me or fctop
making such a blamed racket," said a
thief at whom a Detroit policeman was
shooting. Even a thief has a right to
pnblio peace.
A prisoner at the Detroit house of
correction, when handed a piece of bar
soap, burst into tears and said: "I
never could eat soap, no how ; it always
gives me the heartburn I"
If your wife says anything about greeu
wood your reply should be : "One hun
dred years ago a young republic strug
gled into life," and so on. If you are
well posted you can out talk her.
He hadn't but thirteen dressing
gowns, and when he found another in
his stocking on Christmas morning ho
was real glad, and he kissed his wife and
praised her for her thoughtfulness.
A Toast That Weut Untasted.
Even the worst of mft would shrink
from tempting a fellow being to his ruin,
if the consequences involved themselves
also; and few would risk it if met at the
moment by the luu knowledge of what
they were doing. A young man in Vir
ginia had beeu sadly intemperate. He
was a man of great talents, fascination
and power, but he had a passion for
brandy which nothing could control.
Often in his walks a friend remonstrated
with him, but in vain; as often in turn
would he urge his friend to take the
social glass in vain. On oe occasion the
latter agreed to yield to him; and, as
they walked up to the bar together, the
barkeeper said :
" Gentlemen, what will you have?"
" Wine, sir," was the reply.
The glasses were filled, and the friends
stood ready to pledge each other in re
newed and constant friendship, when
he paused and said to his intemperate
friend:
" Now, if I drink this glass and be
come a drunkard, will you take the re
sponsibility ?"
The drunkard looked at him with
severity and said:
-'Set down that glass 1"
It was set down, and the two walked
away without saying a word,