V i m ' " '' " " " ' "' " " 111 1 SS i I I I I l. .W II II I I I II. I I I I I ... I I I I ., ! ! I. I I I ! ' ' I ,, , . I I I I I - II 111. I Ml II , HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. Nllj DESPERANDTJM. Two Dollars per Annum. YOL.VIII. BIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THUBSDAY, MAY 16, 1878. NO. 13. '" " ' I '- a ... .,. , , '- i ' 11 . V The Unknown Iiand. Barest thon now, 0 Soul, ' ' " Walk oat with mo toward the Unknown Beglon, Where neither gronnd It for th feet, nor any i path to follow ? v.No map there, mr guide, Kor roloe sounding, nor tonch of human hand, Nor face with blooming flesh, nor lips, nor eyes, are In that land. I know not, O Sonl, Kor dost thon all la blank before ni; All waits, undreamed of, in that region that inaccessible land. Till when the ties loosen, '.. All bnt the eternal, Time and Space, Nor darkness, gravitation, sense.nor any bound bound us. Then we burst forth we float, In Time and Space, O Sonl prepared for them; Equal, eqtiipt at last (0 Joy I O fruit of all!) them to fulfill, O Soul! WU Whitman. OVJBH THE FENCE. fin,-- Oivt It was a shabby old mansion in . shabby old thoroughfare, which had been a fashionable street in its day, bnt was anything else now. Urocery shops and junk shops bad invaded it. The eqnnre, white-painted, green-blinded dwel tin us. with railed roofs and mlaster- . ed front doors, through which decorous ' worthies in ruffles and bob-wigs had onco gone in and out, shorn of their .' prestige now. and divested of shining knobs nnd knockers, were turned into tenement -houses of the poorer sort. Only tlio magnificent doable row of elms, which had been the glory of the . street in its prime, remained intact to deck its decadence. Thct owering splen dor of their arreen masses rustled in the . salt air now as then, but a mournfulness mingled with the rustle Perhaps who - knows ? the elms were sorry for the deserted old street. It is not easy ' . Always to fathom what lies at the heart 01 things', trees or men. The shabby old mansion had belonged to General Wesson, a Revolutionary hero, less conspicuous in History than in the affections of his townsfolk, who to do him honor Lad called the street by his name v osson street. Jiis residence, once the finest in the neighborhood, had ptill this advantage over its dilapidated compeers, that it retained its old-time garden, a lorge square in closure laid out in formal box-edged beds and walks. : This garden had the odd appearance of having sunk slightly during some convulsion of nature, for its surface lay . some five feet below the level of the street, which had been "filled in." It was walled on three sides. Peeping over the low fence which topped the wall, a passer-by could look down into the very heart of gooseberry biifhes and peony clumps. The wall itself was a tangle of honeysuckle, ivy, and brier roses, and altogether the garden had a sweetness still, though its paths hod run to weeds, and lines of wet linen flapped over the . rose circle which had been the pride of Madame Wesson's heart almost a hun dred years ago. So long past, so forgotten, were the traditional dignities of the old house, so poor and decayed was its present seem ing, that people experienced a shock of surprise almost indignation when told that the Moravian Society had bought the property for a chapel and parson age. "What! that old thing?" they cried. But the thrifty Moravians went their way without minding much what peo ple said. They had little money to ex pend, and a righteous horror o'f debt. The old place was cheap; they could make it do, they thought. So a little Army of work-people deployed upon the - premises, and presently all was changed. The grouad-floor, divested of partitions, became a large plain meeting-room. The second floor was reserved for tho pastor's dwelling. There - was much scrubbing and whitewashing, new paint and plaster; blinds were rehung, a tot tering chimney rebricked, the fences mended. Lost of all arrived a oart-load of benches, another of furniture, and Pastor Lubke and his family. The neighbors, watching, saw them go in: first the grave old pastor leading a little boy, then a long file of girls of graduated heights, all clad in black, worn, it was whispered, in memory of their mother, who had died a few months before. The beds, chairs and tables seemed scanty plenishing for so many, and lookers-on wondered bow they managed; bnt no body found out, for the Lubkes were quiet and reserved, saying little or noth ing of their affairs, but simplv taking things as they were, and settling into the new home without discussion or words. - All these things to watch did serious ly incline Mr. Erasmus Stockton a young man who, for his misfortune, had little to do then except look out of win dow. His lodging next door command ed a view of the long sonth side of the "Wesson house," us tho neighbors still called it, and of the whole garden, and having, as I said, little to do except look out of window, while waiting the report of the Patent-office on his " improved air biake," be naturally looked out a great deal. Idleness is the root of curi osity as well as of mischief. It is aston ishing how persistently he watched the Lubkes and their doingsf and how much entertainment he found in doing so, all the time persuading himself that he was studying- "Chitty on Special Pleas," which lively work he held in his hand, to be sure, but ever the top of which his eyes were forever straying to note the comings and going next door. "Heavens I what a lot of girls !" was his first reflection as he saw the sable elad procession file up the walk. "And how much alike they ere I" was his sec ond. They were strangely alike. The four elder all seemed of the same age. They were of the same slender build, with clouds of flaxen hair flying over their shoulders, the same pale blue eyes, the same colorless skins. For a long time Erasmus could fix on no point of difference by which to distinguish them, but after a while he learned to classify the four as "Sister," "The Twins," d "Hilda." The twins were always together, inseparable aa Castor and Pollux. " Sister " was the central tar of the little ones. They were for ever clinging to her skirts and follow ing to help ox binder in her many house hold tasks, from washing windows and hanging out clothes to sweeping the door-steps in the early morning. Hour after hour Erasmus heard the hum of her wheel. He had seen it carried in with the other things a genuine old' fashioned spinning - wheel, which an antiquarian might have coveted for its ?uaintnes8, but which " Sister " valued or its nse. It was she Jio took the lead in reforming the garden, where disorder aud neglect were giving place to thrift and neatness, groundsel and pnrsley to peas ana Deets, ana wnere pot-herbs, pinks, and multitudinous cabbages jos tied each other in true German fashion. "Sister" took the lead, bnt every one neipea. .even tne little ones could weed and dibble holes for the insertion of infant roots, and in the cool of thn Aav the sedate old pastor himself would descend from his study, knife in hand, to prune, not in the most skillful man ner, the fruit trees whose best days had gone by with the best days of the old house round which they grew. Hilda was the prettiest of the sister hood. Her blue eyes had the advantage of a fringe of long golden lashes; her hair waived naturally through all its pale length; there was a tinge of color in her fairness which deepened at times into lovely pink. People in general might not nave called ner very pretty, but Erasmus learned to think her so and in fact a girl must be plain indeed not to look pretty in the picturesque frame work of an old garden, ivy-hung and bosky, with glints of sunshine and dusks of shadow. Erasmus watched her flit in and out and to and fro, her veil of flaxen hair blown by the wind, her pliant figure in its plain black frock looking slender as a fairy's, and presently, to his surprise, he found himself in love with Hilda. He had not meant it, but how could it be helped ? A young man's fancy is easily caught, and most easily of all when, as in this case, he is lying on his oars lor a while, and tins not much to do. Had Hilda noticed him ? He could not tell. She had never given a look, so far as he could detect, nor had her sis- tei s. iJut a good deal can be seen with out looking, and it is so little in the ronrse of human nature that seven girls with fourteen eyes between them, should not see a young man who sits at a win dow and cozes out at them all day, with only a fence between, that I am inclined to think they did Meanwhile, though he knew their names end was familiar with their habits, Erasmus had. never exchanged a word with his new -neighbors. It was not from want of inclination ; but he was a modest fellow, and truly he did not know how to begin. Pastor Lubke was a " strict " father. " Be sober, be vig' ilant," wns his motto. He had no synv pathy with the , frivolities of youth. among which frivolities, it was rumored, young men were conspicuously included Erasmus studied his stern, placid faee from behind the blind, and saw nothing to encourage him there. And so, while thus his "hopes belied his fears, his fears his hopes belied," the days went on. He made no progress, and might have made none for a much longer time. hod not Fate taken pity and sent her messenger to assist matters. That mes senger was a monkey ! The monkey appertained to a hand- organ, and the man who ground tne organ and the monkey also, it is to be feared sent bun in te levy the custom ary black-man on tne Jjudko sisters, who, Bitting on the door-step, in the pear-tree shade, were knitting stockings of the blue yarn spun by "Sister's" wheel. The sudden apparition of the diminutive messenger, in his red coat and cocked hat, startled the simple familv. whose lives heretofore had in cluded few monkeys. They jumped up, screamed ; Hilda dropped lier thimble ; Bena and Naunul clung to each other ; even "Sister" lost her presence of mind for a moment. The monkey, em boldened by their evident fear, danced, chattered, and, suddenly pouncing upon Hilda's thimble, ran across the garden with it in his paws. Hilda pursued, but tho monkey ran fastest, and. scaling the wall with great agility, wonld have got off with his prize, had not Erasmus, who had realized the situation and hurried to the rescue, caught him as he reached the top and held him tight. What shall 1 do with him ? he asked. grasping the scratching, biting prisoner firmly. Don t hurt him I oh, don t hurt him I" said Hilda. " It's only my thim ble. If you could get that away from him. He stole it, so I ran after him." " Here it is," said Erasmus, handing her the thimble, he dismissed the mon key, with an unseen kick, to its owner. "Oh, thank you I" replied Hilda, shyly. She walked away as soon as she said it, and did not look to see whether Erasmus went or staid, but all the same he felt a joyful sense that the ice was broken. And so it wa; for common gratitude compelled Hilda into recognition after that, and forced her to bow in return for the low bend and the raised hat with which Erasmus met her. " Even father wonld say I must," was her secret reflec tion. Common politeness made her linger to exchange a few civil words when this obliging neighbor leaned over the fence to admire the garden or tbe sunset. Gradually, as her shyness wore away, these lingerings grew longer. Now and again she ventured to raise her eyes, and Erasmus met their full blue gaze. These fragmentary inter iews held food for thought for long hours. Every moment, every syllable, was dwelt upon and dreamed over. Lit tle as had been said, it seemed that they had said much ; and there was always tbe delightful uncertainty at what mo ment she might drift that side of the garden again, might glance upward, might speak. Time seemed made up of Hilda; nothing else was worth consider ing; and yet the sum of these import ant conversations, had all his words and all her words been written down, could easily have been condensed on half a sheet of note-paper. Of such stuff are lovers made! Sundays became noteworthy days just then to Erasmus. He had fallen into careless habits about church-going, bnt now morning and afternoon and eveniag found him in devout attendance at the Moravian chapel, where, armed with a ponderous hymn-book, he sat and studi ed the back of Hilda's hat and shawl Hilda who never turned her head. His eat, bad h known, occupied, the pro cise spot whi 'e, in days gone by, Madam Wesson had been wont to sit for long hours every evening, and play " Patt enoe " with her general. Dear me ! what energies of patience it required for Erasmus to keep still, while Pastor Lubke slowly plodded through his fourthlies and fifthlies, his predicates and deductions, and Hilda never turned her head I But a lover will endure much. No trace of his inward impatience was suffered to mar his outward quietude, and he won golden opinions from the old ladies of the congregation, who pro nounced him a most sober and godly young man. Erasmus hoped that the echo 'of this flattering opinion might reach Hilda's father and soften his heart; but such did not seem the case. Even when he sought out the pastor to con sult him on a disputed point of theology, it did no apparent good. Papa Lubke listened, replied, confuted him on all sides, and dismissed him grimly and tri umphantly, his cause not advanced one inch. All his little ingratiating ways seemed thrown away. The pastor, wise as the serpent, however harmless he might be, refused to be ingratiated, and Erasmus felt himself foiled. Grown desperate at last, he ventured on a bold step. " I wish I could make your sisters' acquaintance," he said to Hilda over the fence. " Do you think I might call up on them some evening?" " Oh no ! please don't," responded Hilda, frankly. Then coloring deeply, she added: " Don t think me rude, you are very kind to wish to come, but my father would not like it. He does not want us to make acquaintance with strangers, we never visit any where, and nobody ever visits us." " But that is dreadful," broke in Eras mus. " Why shouldn't you know peo ple ? You ought to know people, and they ought to know you. You're too sweet all of yon, I mean, to be cooped in so. It's outrageous ! It's cruel ! It's doing the world an injustice I I never heard of such a thing 1" "Oh, don't talk like that, please don't," cried Hilda. "And I must say good-night indeed 1 must; and away she ran. Erasmus watched her go with rage in his heart. " I declare," he groaned, " she's like a girl in a fairy tale, held faBt by some old witch so that no one can get at her.' He went to bed that night quite down' hearted. Bat next day, his courage re stored, he again attacked Hilda, as she accidentally strayed' in the twilight to ward the spot where he stood leaning over the fence. "I say, Miss Hilda," audaciously, " I've been thinking over what yon said last night, and I'm certain you must be mistaken. About your father, X mean He's too wise a man I'm sure he is to wont to shut you all up forever, and keep you from making friends. Why. how could you do anything if he did get married, for instance! "Oh!" cried Hilda, with a vivid blush, "we don't think about that. And father does feel just as I told you." Hut please why not think about that? It s exactly what 1 want you to think about. It's what 1 am thinking about all tne time, shall 1 tell you wuy i may x leii you, ruiua t Hut Hilda bad fled, in obedience to a call from some upper window, and Erasmus smote the fence wrathfuliy with his fist. " Confound it !" he muttered. " What chance has a fellow who has to make love five feet off ? I never can get near enough to be heard, on account of this old fence. I'll be hanged if I stand it any longer !" And he strode into the house. Next day brought exciting news. His patent had been granted, and a manu facturing firm in New York, with whom he had been in treaty pending this re' suit, wrote to offer a handsome sum for the control of it. But what were air brakes, "royalties," and ten per cents to liim just then, with Hilda evidently avoiding him ? She had not once come to that side of the garden during the day. He felt melancholy in spite of the realization of his hopes, and in melan choly mood strolled out to his customary walk alongside the boundary fence, though with little hopes of seeing Hilda, for twilight had fallen, and she was rarely in the garden at so late an hour. Perplexed and unhappy, he lingered and leaned, and presently, to his sur prise .a little sound, half sigh, half sob, struck his ear. He bent over: a dim. crouching figure met his eyes. It was Hilda, crying quietlv, while pretending to stake down a straggling verbena in the flower bed below. ' ' Miss Hilda 1" exclaimed Erasmus, in amaze. " This is too good fortune I I have so much to tell you I" "Oh, you mustn t L miiBtn t we mnstn't talk any more," replied Hilda. lifting a tear-stained face. "It isn't right. It will never do." " who says so r with surprise. 'Sister. She Bays people will call me light-minded and improper, and father will be angry and oh, indeed. I mustn't" Lisrht-minded I Improper ! JuBt let me catch them !" thundered Erasmus far as one can be said to thunder with voice lowered almost to a whisper. Now listen to me, dear dearest Hilda, I have great news to tell. My patent is granted, my fortune as good as made. Day after to-morrow I must go away. A sob from below. "Are vou sorry to have me go? Dearest Hilda, are you sorry ? If you are. even the least tiny bit. let me have the comfort of hearing yon say so. Don't you know that I love you, my darling. I loved you from the first moment, I think from the very day that you all came to this old house. Could you care for me, dearest ? Will you be my wife?" " Perhaps I could care," faltered Hilda. " But my father doesn't " " Now why should we talk of your father ?" broke in the impetuous lover from overhead. " If I love you, and you like me, all the fathers in the world sha'n't stand between us. My way is all clear now, dear Hilda. I can make you oomfortable, and oh ! won't I try to make you happy t Just aay Yes, and the rest is easy. Only one word, dear love!" . " It might be easy to say yes,' per haps" began Hilda. But an austere yoioe interrupted her : "My daughter, what are yon doing here at this hour, and with whom are yon conversing ?" asked Pastor Lnbke. There he stood behind her, a dim and appalling shape. Hilda shivered her voice failed. Erasmus, his courage rising with the occasion, answered in her stead : "She was speaking to me, sir or rather it was 1 wno was speaking to her. I was telling Miss Hilda what I should have come this very evening to tell you, sir. if this opportunity had not arisen that I have news which makes it needful for me to go away, and that I cannot go without saying that I love her, and want her to be my wife, n she will." His voice faltered and broke. "And pray, sir, who are you!" asked tho pastor, grimly. " My name is Erasmus Stockton. My 11 T 1 "1 1 1 j . - lamer was uuuge oiocKion, 01 jjanbur all my connections are respectable,' repuea Erasmus, succinctly. " i can refer yon to people whom you know for my character and prospects. I have a little money now, and Smith k Petrie, of New York, have offered $10,000 for an air brake of my invention, which is iust 111 -a- v patented, j. can anora to keep a wife, Mr. Lubke." " And pray where have you learned to take so great an interest in my daughter iiiiuar - "Over this fenoe." answered Eras mus, stoutly. Pastor Lubke gave a grim uiiue laugn, " Such things are not to be settled in a minute, my young friend." he said. " Ybuth is always in a hurry. Hilda, you had better go in. If you will follow me to my study. JUr. ahem I Stockton, we will tolk farther of this matter." "Follow" by way of the gate, was what the good pastor meant; and he was by no means prepared for what happened, namely, his young friend's vaulting the fence like an acrobat, and gaining the garden at a single bound. "Hurrah, darling !" he whispered to Hilda as the pastor led the way through the garden. " The fence is climbed. I always vowed that I would get over some day or other, and I have." And so it proved. There were some hitches, some delays. Erasmus was not allowed to marry Hilda next w ek, as was his first wild proposition, or even next month. " Sister's" wheel buzzed like a great . bumble-bee all summer long, and busy fingers toiled over the wedding outfit through winter days and spring days, oetore Hilda was pro nounced by her family "ready" to be gin her new life. A year's engagement even seemed a disgracefully short one to " Sister." Had not their own mother been betrothed for seven years before she married papa ? But at lost, spite of de lays and scruple?, the long waiting ended, and Erasmus bore away his bride. He scandalized his sisters-in-law greatly by proposing to carry her over me fencu, as tne road by which he himself had come in, but this was over ruled, and they departed prosaically in a nacK, like other Drides and grooms, And so we leave our little pair, as like' ly, for all I can see. to " live happy ever after" as any prince and princess of fairy tale. For fairy tales, however fan ciful, must strike their roots always in a solid basis of every-day contentment, and, given the contentment, one can easily dispense with the fairies. Har pers Bazar. A Man-Eating Stallion. The Hambletonian stallion Risint?. ham. owned by Dr. James A. Schultz. of Middletown, N. Y., was shot and killed one night recently, he being cou sidered unsafe to keep. Dr. Shultz says the horse was insane beyond a aouDt. He was twenty-one years old, and for nineteen years has been a con firmed man-eater. More than twenty i i . ... . Keepers uave Deen crippiea Dy him, and l.e has killed three persons outright. No professional horse-trainer could Bub due him, and all the systems of horse training and breaking have been tried in vain. He was a thorough-bred, old Hambletonian being bis sire, and his dam being a mare of fine blood. He had been in harness but once in four teen years, and that was recently, when Dr. Schultz had him hitched up, it re quiring several men to do it. The doctor then attempted to drive Bisincr- ham, but the horse became so furious and unmanageable that he was allowed to go at onoe to his stall, where he has remained ever since. The sum of $7,000 was once offered for him, and re fused by his owner, in hope that he might be enred. The last feat Rising ham performed was to bite the rie-ht cheek of a negro keeper entirely off, the unfortunate groom's three immediate predecessors having lost respectively an ear, three fingers, and a thumb, and the muscles of the right forearm. Five shots were fired in the forehead of Risingham ss he stood in his stall. They seemed to have no effect upon him, except to increase his attempts to get at the bystanders, and to add to the ferocity of his kicking and jumping. By strategy Dr. Schultz managed to sever his jugular vein, and he bled to death, dying as he had lived, exhibit ing all the fierceness of a most vioious nature. His last effort was an attempt to seize his owner's arm in his teeth. Dr. Schultz intends to dissect the re mains of the stallion, and have the skeleton articulated and set no in his office. ' Why He Never Wore a Collar. It Was A filial: nViKPrvp.il Vtv manv Vi o f GoVemnr Rriircra for SATAral vadm Iia- -w - ' - J " " fore his death never wore a collar. when he was the honored chief magis trate of Massachusetts, he appeared at his levees and nn all nnhlin wuiainn without a collar. There were compara tively iew wno Knew the reaton or this. But the secret is more interesting and anccestivn. TTo iq,1 & naioliKn whnm he very highly esteemed, who bad fallen iuhj we naoit oi using intoxicating liquor. He was already the slave of aDDetite. Clnvamnr Tirieom mmnnatyot. ed with him. The man replied, " I will never drink again, if you will never attain wear a nnllsr" " ktrraaA iA the governor. Tne man gave up the uuuxicaung oup, ana ine governor laid aside his collar. He never wore it again, but he savnl Vii'o nnichrmr- Who avaM. criticisms, to which this seeming lack of "wuuoa to nis areas ana personal ap paaranoe ezpoeed him never moved him from his ufQM.CMaffo Standard. FARM, GARDEN AND HOUSEHOLD. Veterinary Adlvee. " A cow vomits all hay and coarse fodder almost as soon as eaten, while meal, bran, and other finely divided materials are retained. Has suffered for six months, bloats and belches, and steadily loses flesh. A neighbor lost a cow, similarly affected, a year ago." This may depend on any disease of the gullet or first two stomachs, or it may be the result of deposit of tuberole in the lymphatic glands around the gul let as it passes through the chest. We have seen such symptoms from thicken ing and unhealthy growths on the liv ing membranes of the gullet near the lower end, and one instance has been reported to us in which interstices of the diseased mass were occupied by minute worms. If any such should be found in this oase I will thank you fof specimens of the same in aloohol, as we have no description of a worm of this kind in the ox. From whatever cause originating, a disease of this kind and of six months' standing, is not likely to prove curable. The following may be tried : Trisnitrate of bismuth one ounce, red oxide of iron one ounce, ground gentian two ounces carbolic acid one ounce ; mix, divide into eight powders ; give one daily in food. " A horse has a swelling beneath the throat What shall be done ?" It is not likely to harm the horse for work, unless it increases to the size of the fist or over, and presses on the nerves of the larynx and lungs. A free use of tincture of iodine, painted over the tumor every other day will often lead to its steady decline. Above all the horse should be kept in the most vigorous health and condition, and should be restricted to pure rain-water. If the horse is allowed to run down in condition in connection with nnsuitible feeding or air, with overwork or dis ease, the goiter will almost certainly un dergo an increase forthwith. "A horse suffers from neglected grease which dried up under the use of a stringent, but breaks out at intervals in spite of the greatest care." In washing the heels do not use cold water or soap of any kind, and always dry carefully. When standing in the stable apply the following : Oxide of zinc, one drachm, cape aloes, half drachm, glycerine one ounce. When taken out, dry this off and dust on a lit tle finely powdered calomel. "A five-year old horse has clouding of the eyes and watery discharge after very hard drawing." This horse will probably continue to suffer under such exciting causes until he goes blind. Such attacks are usually due to a constitutional predisposition and will reappear under every condition which temporarily impairs the health and vigor. After another year, how ever, when he shall have completed his teething, he will be less liable to such attacks than before, and if blindness can be warded off until then, he may escape. Meanwhile, keep at steady but moderate work so as to maintain vigorous health and condition, feed well, avoiding heat ing agents like corn, secure pure, dry air, indoors and out, and correct every existing cause of ill-health. The horse may take the following : Powdered calumbia, one ounce, powdered colchi- cum, four drachms, powdered coriander seeds, two ounces ; mix and divide into eight powders ; give one daily in the lood. frojetsor James haw. Farm Notes. An agricultural exchange says: There are a thousand little leaks about the management of an ordinary farm. that if not closely attended to will surely bring the most hard-working farmer to ruin and bankruptcy. Nine tenths of sinking farmers can attribute their pres ent distress to no other cause than lack of close attention to small details of the farm; a closer supervision of machinery and tools, tbe stock and their feed, a place for everything and everything in its place. To drain a depression in a field where a clayey or hard-pan subsoil prevents the sinking of rain-water, and the lay of the land is unfavorable for ordinary methods of drainage, first dig a hole as for a well, through the impervious strat um at the bottom hollow, fill it up to the brim with refuse stones, remove the excavated earth bo as to allow the sur face water free access to the nit. and standing water will never injure the grass or grain crop in that part of the field. Exchange. A cheap wash for barns and fences is thus given by Mr. C. Bvrne. of Friends. ville, Pa., in a letter to the Elniira Far mer s Club: " We have used cement and skimmed milk and think it better than lime. It is a light drab color, It costs bnt little fifty cents' worth will paint a large barn. We put two quarts of ce ment into a six-quart pail : add two quarts of skimmed milk; mix well and it is ready for use. Stir occasionally while applying it. We paint one or two boards at a time, beginning at the top. The cement is the kind used in building cisterns." In an old agricultural paper, of forty- seven years ago, we learn that it is a good plan to put a piece of chalk in the pen with the young calves. They will lick it and thus correct the acidity of their stomachs and assist digestion and prevent dyspepsia, which often leads to scours. There is no doubt but that this is a most excellent practice. Prepared chalk is often prescribed by doctors as a remedy for heart-burn, which is a symptom of dyspepsia, and for diarrhea. The crude chalk (carbonate of lime) is, unquestionably , a good preventive and remedy for similar disorders in stock. The prepared chalk is the crude with al the gritty particles worked out. Jtura Neva Yorker. " A good sdvertisement in a newspar per pays no fare on railroads; costs noth log for hotel bills; gives away no boxes of cigars to customers, or merino dresses to customers' wives; drinks no whisky under the head of traveling expenses, but goes at once and all the time about its business free of expense." All of which is true, albeit it it a little rough on the commercial traveler. Practical Printer. The number of hogs packed ia the West last winter was 6,608,000, a gain of 1,404,000 ever the j?revious year. Coral. Coral-fishing yields an ample return when properly carried on, coral being always much sought after for the toilet, and commanding a high price. It has required twenty centuries of inoossant groping in the dark to unveil its myste rious nature. It is a branched polypus trunk, of a beautiful rod color, which is as hard as the most compact rocks, and, like them, oapable of taking a fine polish. When it is withdrawn from the sea, of which it only inhabits the great depths,, it is, owing to the arrangement of its branch es, precisely like a bnsh in miniature, and a section of its stem presents con centric layers analogous to those of cer tain trees. Its branches are covered with a soft rose-colored bark, and dis play here and there small holes, in each of which resides one of their builders. These are bo many polypi, whioh, when they expand, wear all the appearance of pretty little flowers of a beautiful white color, with eight divisions epread out like rays, and the borders of which are ornamented with a fringe of oiliie. It was this deceitful appearance which made naturalists waver so about the nature of coral. Its extreme hardness, and the beautiful polish it takes, led some observers to look upon it as a simple mineral. But the idea which seemed to predominate over all others was that of coral being only a sub-marine shrub. This was the opinion of Pliny and Dioscorides; and these two great scholars, seeing it was so hard and compact, added that the shrub only made its appearance in this indurated form, because it became suddenly petri fied when brought into contact with the air, as it issued from the waves. The sagacious traveler Tournefort also took it to be a plant, and even had it en graved under this heading in one of the plates of his magnificent work. In the eighteenth century Count Marsigli an nounced to the BOientifio world that he had discovered the flowers of the coral, and that consequently its vegetable na ture could no longer be called in ques tion. By placing branches of this poly poid in sea water, immediately after they had been fished up, the Italian natuiolist saw the kind of buds which cover their surface, open like so many eight-petaled rowers, formed ot elegant white and starred corollas, outlined upon the reddish bark of the stems. Marsigli doubted no longer; these were the flowers of the paradoxical shrub; he had solved the problem left unsettled by Tournefort. In his joy, when an nouncing his discovery to the assembled Academy of Sciences, to whom he had forwarded his spec mens, he wrote to the president, " I send you some branches of coral covered with white flowers. This discovery has made me pass for almost a sorcerer in the conn try ; no person, not even fishermen, having seen anything similar. Johnny's Essay on the Ant Eater. Ant eaters ketches em with their tongs, wich is long like a werm, and gum on it, same as hop todes tungs. The eater it finds a place whero the ants is to work, and lies down, and pays out its tung, and shots up its eyes. Then a ant comes there, and takes a look, and says to the other ants: "This duffer has over et hisself, and gone to sleep without finishing his last werm, lets take wot is left for our own self a." Bnt when they have all got hold they stick fast, and the eater it opens one ey, like say in: " Ime reddy if you are," and then it touches a spring, and the tung is drawed in quick, and them ants is as tonish. And now III tell you a story wich aint true, jest for a change. There was a ant eater wich had lain out his tung that way, and a ant come np and said: "Hello ! wot'sthis?" The eater was so hungry he cudent wait so he said: "Why don t you see? That is a nice red werm." But he had to pnl in his tung for to say it, and then the ant said: "I was jest a looking for a worm like that, and if you hudent grabed it so quick I would have took it my own self." The eater see he had made a mistake, so he said: "I know where there is a other wortf, same kind. You follower me and He sho you." So the eater went of a little way with his back to the ant, and laid out his tnng agin, and wen the ant had cum the eater winked its i, like saying: " Do be carefle, or you wil friten the werm, an he might git away, cos you Bee I only got him by the tail." Wen the ant had looked it said: " You can't fool me smarty; that's the same old werm wich you have had in yonr mowth. Ime hungry, but I dont want no boddys second hand vittles." And the eater it dident dare to say twasent so, cos it wud have to put in its tung agin to say it; but after the ant had went away mad then it said "Its mity hard to be silent under a unjust suspi cion, wen natur has give me so much tongue for to deny it. TheArgonaut. Hang Lung at Base Ball. The base ball mania Vina at. lnuf ronoliorl Chinatown, says the Virginia City (Nev.) unromcie, miu me .mongolians have a regularly eanirjned nin. TIipv nmn. tice with three men at the bat nnd nine fielders, each batsman remaining in as loner as he can and tukiiiir liia nlai in the field when put out While they ad here as closely as possible tJ the rules of the American game, their manner of playing it slightly differs. They want the ball pitched straight overhead in- oieim oi to ine ngut Bide, and they strike much as if they were chopping Wood. After thT bit: ttiov mn tlu n. verse way of the diamond!, making for ma mira uuse nrei. in catching they are very expert, and rarely missed a ball that was knocked in thaair. Tn aavoral instances it was knocked from one hand to another and caught. In batting they were very weak, but in throwing they average better than thn of the Oomstock . The reporter watched ine game lor an hour, and did not note a sinele overthrow. TIia irntna rlati Ita decline from the year 1442, when at one oi me- Dig matches a lady of tbe royal household was hit in the neck with a ball and killed. When Hnnv Tinnv ni told that the game was considered an American institution, he laughed loudly and intimated that it was hard to find anything th Americans didn't claim. Items of Interest The tired shoemaker waxes weary. When Time is no mower he will lay away his scythe. If I were in the Bun and you were on of it, what would the son become ? Sin It is a great deal easeir in these days to borrow trouble than to borrow money. Clock- work has been successfully ap plied as a motor to sewing machines by a mechanician of Vienna. Certainly, the state of matrimony is one of the United States. To obtain divorce is to secede from the Union. Who Is It with fnneral tread Cornea slowly home and goes to bed, And utters what ii best unsaid ? Tia he who's fished since rose the sun, Subsisting on a single bun, And after all's canght ftary one. Some signs of taverns in London are curious, viz. : "Goat and Compasses," "Salmon and Compasses," "Anchor and Bodices." "Bull and Month," "Green Man and Still," "Pig and Whistle," "Who'd a Thought It?" "The Splendid Shilling," etc A silver wedding party was given here recently by a prominent official at which the gifts were exhibited. The gifts were divided into two classes, and a card at tached to one class conveyed this infor mation: "These are all solid Bilver." Washington Letter. The salaries of some of our railway presidents are stated to be as follows: Col. T. A. Soott. Pennsylvania. 824.000; Mr. Isaao Hinkly, Philadelphia, Wil- mmcrton and Baltimore. 8Z4.UUU: Mr. F. B. Oowen, Philadelphia and Beading, $30,000, and Mr. Hugh J. Jewitt, Erie, $40,000. A female tramp was arrested reoently at Manchester, Vt, and in one of her pockets were found a three-quart bottle, a pint dipper, three spoons, a knife, a beer bottle, a razor, packages of tea. coffee, salt and sugar.alot of bread, soap, wire and articles of wardrobe nearly half a bushel in all. THE SANCTUM INVADED. The parlor and tbe chamber floor were cleaned a week aeo. The carpets shook, and windows washed, as all the neighbors know; But still tbe sanctum bad escaped the table pile 1 with books, Pens, ink, and paper, all abont, peace in Its very looks Till fell the women on them all, as falls the plagne on men, And tnen they vanished all away books, papers, ink and pen. And now when comes the master home, aa come he must of nichts. To find a 1 things are "tet to wrongs" that they have "set to rights, When the sound of driving tacks is heard, though the house is lar irom sun, And the carpet woman on the stairs that harb inger of ill He looks for papers, books, or bills that all were there before, An.l sighs to find them on the desk or in the drawer no more. And then he grimly thinks of her who set this fuss afloat, And wishes she were out at sea in a very leaky boat; He meets her at the parlor door, with hair and cap awry, With sleeves tucked np and broom in hand, defiance iu her eye; He feels quite smalli and knows full well there s nothing to be said, So holds bis tongue, and drinks his tea, and sneaks away to bed. A Russian Girl's Revenge. The recent dismissal by the Emperor of Russia of his sanguinary Chief of Police Trepoff recalls the wounds he received last winter from the pistol of the young girl, Vera Zasoulitch, who was triumphantly acquitted after a trial amid franlio applause in the court. Last June Trepoff visited tho prison for political prisoners in St. Petersburg, and inspected the inmates, who, accord ing to the rules, walked about the court yard without speaking to each other. Finally, he observed two men in con versation, and shouted to the prison director, who tremblingly followed him: "Why do these men enjoy an immun ity!'' "Seigneur," said one of them, named' Bogoliouboff, "we," "Hold your tongue," was the reply. "Director, place this man in a dungeon," Bogo liouboff remained immovable, with his hat upon his head. Trepoff lifted his stick to knock it off, but his victim snatched it from his hand, and threw it away. "I do not take off my hat to tyrants," eaid he. At this moment two jailers seized him, laid him npon a bench, took off his garments, tied him, and administered, by order of Trepoff and under his eyes, fifty blows with the knout, which left the unfortunate man mutilated, inanimate, and streaming with blood. Six months afterwajd a young girl called at Trepoffs office with a petition for Bogoliouboffs release. "In twenty years," said Trepoff, with a sardonic- smile, motioning his attendant to admit another visitor. At this mo ment the girl fired two balls into his breast, and with flashing eyes, held the revolver smoking in her hand, crying: "lam Vera Zasoulitch. the betrothed of Bogoliouboff, whom you would have assassinated. I revenge him I" Effect of Hard Water npon Animals. Horses have an instinctive love for soft water, and refuse haid water if they can possibly get the former. Hard water produces a rough and staring coat on horses, and readers them liable to gripes. Pigeons also refuse hard water if they can obtain access to soft Cleg horn states that hard water in Minorca causes diseases in the system of certain animals, esneciallv of sheet). So much are race horses influenced by tbe quality of the water, that it is not unfrequent to carry a supply of soft water to the locality in which the race is to take place, lest there being only hard water, the horses should lose condition. Mr. Youatt, in his book called The Horse," remarking on the desirableness o' toft water for the horses, says, " Instinct or experience Las made the horse himself conscious of this, for he will never drink hard water if he has access to soft ; he will leave the most transparent waUr of me weu for a river, althoagh the water maybe turbid, and even for the uuj dicst pool." And again in ax other place he Bays, " Hard water drawn fresh from the well will assuredly make the coat of a horse unaccustomed to it store, and will not nnfrequently gripe or further Injure him." . X
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers