rS
i J
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher. NlLDESPERANDUM. Two Dollars por Annum.
VOL. VIII. MDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, TA., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBEK 5, 1878. NO. 29.
1 ! i 1 " ...... .... ;
To-Day.
Creeds Uve and die faith follow! f kith,
Deed prove bnt mockeries of the will (
And dreams that were to-morrow'i are
To-morrow's still.
Subtly, in all our good the thread
Of ill U wrought ; our fairest fair '
Is dragged to earth in being oars,
And traileth there I
Light follows light, and each grows dim I
The present will be as the past
Ware breaks on ware, and eaoh is strong
As eseh is last I
Life leans on faith, and pressed hard I
Faith cries to God, and only stands
When, hearing life upon our breast,
. Bhe olasps God's bands.
The distant bills are darkness bat
The morrow brings the morrow's light t
This mach is ours to-day to do
The present right.
This mnoh is oars, and things beyond
In love's own wisdom hidden lie !
Bat this lies close at hand to do
His will, and die.
MISS ASHBELL.
Consternation was depicted on the
faces of the family group assembled to
bear it, when l finished reading the let
ter l had inst received from aunt
The Br roup consisted of myself Mary.
eldest daughter of the house and hearth
brown, dxrk-eyed, tall, and eighteen;
.Helen, not quite as Drown, nazu-eyt d,
almost as tall, and sixteen; Will, brown
er, darker-eyed, a bead shorter, and ten;
and (Jarrol, towering above us all, blue
eyed, fair-haired, golden-mustached, and
twenty-one,
Aunt was. in fact, our great-aunt, sis
ter of our father's mother, but the only
aunt, gret or little, that we had ever
known. We had met her but two or
three times during our lives, as she lived
in far-awny Illinois, and was too much
occupied with prams and herds to think
pf frequent visiting, and we well, we
were too poorly provided with gold and
silver to be able to take long and ex
pensive journeys. Bo what little visiting
there had been had been on our aunt's
side, with one exception, and then I was
the visitor. It was when I was about
fifteen this Mwrt but memorable visit
took place. Yielding to aunt's repeated
solicitations i was her namesake I
atarted from home with the intention ol
spending the uniumer months on the
Illinois farm. I arrived there safely,
was welcomed heartily, and eutertaineo
right royally; but before a week had
passed away I had crown so tired of the
seeming boundlessness of every thing,
and longed so for the little cottage and
Lilliputian garden where grew my three
rose-bushes one red, one white, and one
a creamy yellow that aunt, seeing the
longing in my eyes, said, "Child, you
must go back," and back I came long
before I was expected, but my dear
father and mother assured me not a
moment too soon.
We children had always heard twice a
year irom aunt once collectively at
OhristmaB, and once respectively on our
birthdays and each time the kindly
note which exhorted us to "be good,
industrious, and self-reliant," inclosed a
f check largor or smaller, according to
aunt's gains the preceding year. These
notes we had been taught to answer with
many wishes for the old lady's welfare,
and thanks for her kindnesses, and hopes
for a speedy meeting: in short, in a
manner befitting the only nieces and
nephews of the Carmodv family when
replying to the friendly epistles of their
only aunt, to say nothing of that aunt
V At lil!. .i - .. .
being the wealthiest and most influential
member of that family.
A few dayB before our father died he
called us together, and said: "Mv chil
dren, it isn't at all likely to occur, but
ii ever aunt snouid asK a lavor of you,
grant it, at no matter what inconven
ience. She has been my best and dear
est mend.
Poor father! I suspect aunt had
often helped him out of pecuniary
difficulties. He was an unpractical,
dreamy sort of man, fond of birds and
poetry and flowers, and didn't succeed
ery well in life. But, in spite of his
areaminess and his want of worldly tact,
and his being so totally unlike her in
most ways, he was a great favorite of
aunts, and when we telegraphed his
serious illness to her she left her vast
possessions without a captain at a mo
ment s notice, and hastened to his side.
making her appearance in a bonnet that
immediately suggested the praines, it
was so unlimited as to size and so bare
of ornament, and whioh grotesquely
obtruded itself into the remembrance of
that sad time forever after.
Since fathers death things hadn't
been very bright with ns. In fact, they
hadn't been bright at all.
We found there was a good deal of
money owing, and what remained of the
two hundred dollars aunt gave us on the
day of the funeral she bade us " good
bye" the instant the ceremonies were
over after eur very cheap mourning
was paid for, went to the butcher,
grocer and shoemaker.
We were all willing to do, and all did,
whatever we could toward supporting
the household; bnt, dear I dear I talk
about weeds. I never saw anything
grow like bills.
Uarrol, who had an artistio turn of
mind, struggled with it, and I, who had
a dressmaking turn of mind, struffcled
i with that, and Helen struggled with her
r books, hoping to become a teacher in
tune, and little Will struggled with
somebody else's books, for he went into
a publishing house as errand-boy-poor
' i ' n. i
Besides the strufrtrlea. w hA mnfl,.
Besides the struggles, we had mother
on our minds. A few weeks after we
lost our father we lost our baby sister.
A beautiful child she was, as bright as a
diamond and as fair as a pearl, and the
pride and darling of us all. Already
sinking beneath the blow of her hus
band's death, when her little daughter
died, too, my mother's heart was almost
broken. From being a sunshiny, en
ergetic, busy woman, she became listless
and apathetic, sitting in her room day
after day gazing npon the pictures of
the loved ones, or rocking back and
forth, her hands clasped before her
looking with dry eyes upon vacancy. '
0 that (he could, be made ( weep J
that she could be roused from this
dreadful speechless gloom into whioh
she had fallen I" was our continual
prayer, for the terrible thought came to
us often that we should lose our mother
in a much worse way than we had our
father and sisterthat her brain would
at last give way beneath its weight of
neavy, despairing thought.
Wall 41-tA aAriAMnnk 1am anAnfllt a
and mother had had one of her very bad
spells t and a lady customer had just
been in and abused me yes, abused
I can nse no other word ; women do fly
in such temper at their dress maker
about the fit of her dress, declaring it to
be " utterly ruined," when it only want
ed taainR ur a little on one nhnnl.ior r,A
letting down an inoh or so in front ; and
Ttf:it. i. i . -. . .
'"" rigus Km was almost disabled
from a heavy load of books he had
ned a long distance the day before (how
men can have the heart to give a man's
burden to a child I can't see) when
aunt's letter fell like a bomb-shell into
our very nearly disheartened little camp,
ukar .routs. A mend of mine
an Inglishman (aunt s language was
correct enough, but at times her spelling
was somewhat peculiar) " who came
here purporting to start in business,
took the fever, lingered a few months,
and died, leaving, heaven knows why,
his only child, a daughter, who will
eventually be a not -to-be-sniffed -at
airess, to my care. Having been deli
cately reared in the midst of devotion
and tenderness, this place, only suited
to bold, strong natures, is a little too
ruff for her. So she desires at least I
desire for her a home in the North,
and I wish that home to be with yon.
My niece Mary, who inherits the
disposition of her father to a great de
greeand he would have gone out of his
way any day to give even a dum brute
pleasure will, I am sure, be kind to
lier. Carrol will love her for her beau
ty, if for nothing else, and the rest of
you will, love her because she is most
lovable. Her maid will accompany her.
At present her affairs are in a tan
gle, but I hope to unravel them in the
course of a few months, and then you will
oe recompensed lor whatever extra ex
pense she may cause you. I would in
rloso a check at present writing, but all
my funds ore invested in a speculation
from which I except to reap much pro
lit. Do the best you can until you hear
from me again, when I will farther tin.
fold my plans in regard to Miss Ashbell,
who, oy-uie-Dye, starts to-morrow.
Aunt.
No wonder consternation and dismay
were depicted on every countenance
when I ceased reading this letter. No
wonder we looked gasninelv at each
uther. What in the world were we to
lo with this fine youne ladv in our hnm.
blehomef
What could aunt be thinkinc nhnnt. I
True, she didn't know exactlv how noor
we were, for we'd been too proud to ao-
anowieage our extreme poverty in our
few and far-between letters. On the
contrary, I am afraid we had led her to
oeueve that we were in quite a nourish'
ing oondition. Bnt for all that aha
ought to have known that we were not
flourishing enough to support a delicate
and beautiful girL used to lnxurv. ten
derness, and devotion, for even a few
months. Was ever any thing so mala
propos and vexations 7 Of course Miss
Ashbell would look with scorn on our
seven roomed dwelling, with a back gar
den twenty-five by twenty-five, and a
court-yard ten by ten. And suppose-
as aunt, wnn a short-sightedness very
unusual to her. complacently remarknd
Carrol should fall in love with her ?
The proud English girl would no doubt
regard him as a fortune-hunter, and in
vidiously compare hia frank, impulsive,
rttt?er brusque manners with the repose
and "awful' dignity of the languid
swells of her own land.
And somebody else michtbe at,t.fvi
toward her men are so susceptible to
woman b Beauty somebodv who nnw
thought my brown face the sweetest in
the world. The very thorn? lit maAn m
i, l. -i 1 - J
And the maidr Even if we onld
make arrangements to accommodate her
and it seemed utterly impossible for
us to do so Betty, our faithful servant
for the last fifteen years, would look
upon her in the light of an interloper.
and treat her as such. Betty bad been
used to being "monarch of all she nr.
veyed." Even in house-cleaning times
those times that try men's souls and
women's soles she scorned the idea of
an assistant.
'No. ma am. Ill have no s trance
pokin' ronn' me. When I'm not able to
do the work of thishouse alone, I'll go.'
And mother dear, shrinkinsr. erief.
stricken mother how would she bear
the advent of this dainty Miss Ashbell ?
But we could do nothing to avert the
impending misfortune. Even if we had
thought of disobeying our father's last
command, and refusing aunt the favor
she had not asked, but, in her usual
decisive way, taken for granted, the
young lady was on her way, and would
oe nere in a day or two.
The news must be immediately broken
to mother and Bettv. I. bain? thr,
housekeeper, undertook to face the lat
ter, i must oonfess I did t with fear
and trembling. She heard me mimlv.
never ceasing to pare the potatoes she
ueiu iu uer lap, ana wnen I had ended,
looked up with a sharp nod of her hmA
and said, slowly and emnhatinli.
- . -
"Betty'll have to no now. nr fih
can't stand no fine young ladies and sag-
thin." """es-maids about for no-
Helen went to mother. Tint tlA arm.
auuut uer neca, and with a kiss and
smile told her of the expeoted visitor
adding, with an assumption of gayetv'
"She sha'n't come near you at all, mai.'
- it j t. " . ' . m
ma dear, if you don't want her; bnt vnn
know aunt has been so kind to as, and
father loved her so dearly, it would be
impossible to refuse the first favor she
ever asked of ns."
Mother said never a word, but began
brushing the hair baok from her tem
ples with both hands in a nervous way
she had when anything grieved or an
noyed her.
And then we began preparing for Miss
Ashbell. Will's room was to be given
up to her, and Will (Carrol's room was
scarcely large enough for himself and
his art traps, as he called them) was to
be stowed away in the loft a proceed
ing which he yiewed with immense dif
satisfaction. I'll smother up there in
hot weather," he said, with a wry face.
"Oh, I wish there wasn't any Miss
Ashbell I Why don't she go to
hotel ?" B
" Why don't shn tmhtwA T.
I Raid we began to prepare for her,
but for lack of the before-mentioned sil
ver and gold, our preparations were of
the simplest kind. Carrol made and put
up two pretty bracKets, and hung, with
a sigh for he hated to part with them
tde few pictures he possessed on the
walls. I looped back the white curtains
(rreshly washed and ironed, with much
grumbling, by Betty) with new blue
ribbons, and I covered the trunk otto
man with bright chintz, and with Helen's
help made a new mat to place before
the bureau, and we turned an old table
cloth into napkins, and bought a new
napkin-ring and two or three cut-glass
goblets and a lovely china cup and sauo
er, and when all was done, waited with
anxious hearts for our unwelcome guest.
Mother had shut herself up in her
room early in the morning of the day
we expected her, and had remained
there; and the rest of us were all as un
comfortable as poor, proud, shy, sensi
tive people could be at the 'bought of a
Perfect stramrnr'a inirreaa into tha vnra
heart of their home, and wishing audibly
and inaudibly that Miss Ashbell's father
had never brought her from England,
when, as the sun set in the west, and a
cool summer breeze, fragrant with the
breath of the roses, lifted the curtains of
our cozy bay-window, a carriage stopped
nil uur uuur,
"She's come, and I'm cone." Aid
Will, flinging down his book and rush
ing out into the garden.
Carrol rose from his chair, ran his
fingers through his golden hair, and"
glanced in the mirror at his new blue
silk neck-tie. Helen sank back nn t.h
lounge with a sort of groan ; and I opened
the parlor door as Betty went muttering
tnrougn me entry in answer to the bell,
1 t t j r n v
--.is it jurs. uarmoavsy" asked a
pleasant voice, with yea, it was a slight
uroKuo. ered
Yes," answ menBetty, shortly. And
in another mo t a round-cheeked,
unmistakable red-haired, sood-natnred.
looking young girl in a plain traveling
dress stood before me.
" Good gracious I is this thebeantv ?"
thought I; and Carrol fell back a step
or two.
Are you Miss Carmody ?" she asked.
I am." I replied, holdinor out mv
hand ; " and let me welcome you ;" when,
turning from me, she gently pulled for
ward into the room the loveliest little
child I had ever beheld in my life, with
large soul-lit brown eyes, and sunny
hair the exact color of our lost darling's.
ifr,i.: iLi..ii - . . . . .
xuw is iuiBB a.Buoeii, said me mata;
and I am to stay or sro back oh von sen
fit."
I looked at Carrol. He indulged in a
long nnder-tho-breath whistle.
Helen buried her face in the sofa
I The child came forward, and holding
out her little hand, said, with a pretty
drawl, " I am to love you, and you are
to love me. Aunt said so."
I went down on my knees on one side
of her and Helen went down on her
knees on the other, and we kissed her
till her dimpled cheeks glowed again
(you see the house had been so lonely
without our little sister, while Carrol
looked on with astonishment, admiration
and tenderness blended in his'handsome
face, and Will stole in with the only bud
from my preoious tea-rose, the stem
carefully stripped of its thorns, and put
it in her hand.
"'Iliank you, boy," she said. "I
will have you for a brother; and you
too," looking with a bright smile up into
Carrol's face. " There is an angel home,
in a big picture, with hair and eyes like
yours.
Carrol caught her up in his arms, and
away with her to mother's room. And
there she had no sooner said, " my papa
and mamma are both in heaven, than
mother burst out in a blessed fit of
weeping that left a rainbow behind it
And from that hour the weight began to
oe nii-ea irom ner Drain, and soon 1 had
to resign my position as housekeeper,
for we bad our mother back again as she
nsed to. be of old a little quieter in her
ways, perhaps, but just as sweet, as
ainu, as unseiusn as ever.
And Carrol's picture of "Miss Ash
bell" gained him a place on the walls of
tue Academy that autumn: and Will.
wno entered college last week, never
ran away from her again, but has ever
since been giving her roses freed from
thorns, as he did the first night she came
among us, bringing light and happiness
God bless her 1 to our aorrow-
clouded house.
And I often think, lookincr at the two
young heads (there is only four years'
difference in their ages) bending over
the same book, that some day Will will
tell her the old, old story, and she will
i ii i, -
uear it wicn a smue.
x snouuin t wonuer- ii you were
right, Brownie," says my husband how
i laugh when 1 think of my lealous fears
about him once on a timet " you almost
always are."
And aunt s speculation turned out
splendidly (she is still living, a hale old
woman of seventy-five), and she insisted
upon our accepting what she called
father's share, and that share was no
inconsiderable one.
And the seven-roomed house has
grown to a twelve-roomed one Betty,
by-the-bye. has allowed her daughter
to assist in the house-work and the
twenty-five by twenty-five garden to a
hundred by a hundred, my corner just
fille d with rose-bushes.
And everything has prospered with
ns, and no lengthening shadows have
fallen upon our paths, since the rosy
June afternoon we so unwillingly opened
the door to let in the darling who loved
ns, as we loved her, at first sight sweet
brown-eyed, golden-haired Miss Ash
bell! Harper' Weekly.
" People who go into business by the
side of men who have a large business
built np by constant advertising, and
never advertise a dollar, but depend
upon the drippings from the neighbor
ing sanctuary, are like boys who go out
to a pigeon shoot, and try to get enough
birds for a mess from those that get
away from the regular sportsmen. Such
is life, and the pot hunters Wt go
magq,-rrjdilwaukfs Sun,
TIMELY TOPICS.
TJnion College has given Edison, the
inventor, the degree of doctor oi i-hil
osopby.
Jesse Pomeroy recently made a saw
from some article in his cell and nearly
out his way out of prison before he was
discovered.
A recent number 'of the Jtepubliaun
Prancalne gives au aooount of the great
publishing house of iiaonette & Uo.
According to the writer the firm has the
largest bookselling business in the
world, turns over some 16.000.000
francs, publishes a book a day, employs
o.uuu persons, and exports yeany mo,
uuu packages. ,
A new cannon has been made at the
Erupp works in Germany' of enormous
dimensions. A ball of this cannon
pierces the thickest armor plates of ves
sels at a distance of eight miles, Two
shots at a range of 6.000 feet are sun.
posed to be enough to dismantle and
sink the most powerful ship. Each ball
costs one hundred and fifty dollars.
A little boy of John Slaugherty's, a
saioon keeper at BteuDenvuie, Ohio,
WM nlavinrr in hia f af)iai'a Vtov anw
" '"J "0 siaiwu w 1UU1U
when he happened to jostle against a
barrel containing two or three gallons
of whiskey, a frightful explosion fol
lowed, the barrel being blown into frag
ments, killing the boy instantly. The
barrel stood beside a window throneh
which the sun shone very warmly, and
it ib supposed tnis generated gas sum
cient to produoe the result stated.
When Admiral Hay landed in Cvnms
he sent fifty marines on to Larnaca, the
capital of the island, and as the weather
was extremely hot, gave them mules to
ride on, thus organizing a veritable
corps of horse, or rather mule, marines,
xne muies sunereo irom the heat as
much as their riders, and after brief
and solemn deliberation determined to
kick their unskillful riders cff. There
was a sudden and unanimous elevation
of heels, and fifty marines lay prostrate
in tne aunt. ims was comical enough,
but the story has a serious end. The
mules ran away, and ten of the marines.
compelled to walk, were sunstruck.
The Journal des Debate recently has
given statistics respecting the number
oi horses possessed by different coun
tries. Throughout the whole of the
Turkish dominions there are estimated
to be only 1.000.000 horses, while the
ttussian provinces are credited with the
possession of no fewer than 21,670,000.
Austro-Hungary has about 8,500,000,
and Germany 8,362,000. , France, which
had considerably more than 8.000.
000 a few year" ago, ha y.ow rather less
than that number, and England stands
only fourth on the list, with 2,255,000,
The United States has a total of 9.600.-
000; Canada, 2,400,000; the Argentine
Kepumic. 4,uw..uuu: and urueuav. 1.
600,000.
How Birds Fly.
Tou will find, if you carefully exam.
ine a bird's wing, that all the bones and
muscles are placed along the front edge,
which is thus made very stiff and strone.
The quill feathers are fastened in such a
way that they point backward, so that
the hind edge of the wing is not stiff
like the front edge, but is flexible and
bends ot the least touch. As the air is
not a solid, but a gas, it has a tendenoy
to Blide out from under the wines when
this is driven downward, and. of course.
it will do this at the point where it can
escape most easily. Since the front
edge of the wing is stiff and strong, it
retains its hollow shape, and prevents
the air from sliding out in this direction,
but the pressure of the air is enough to
bend up the thin, flexible ends of the
feathers at the hinder border of the
wing, so the air makes its escape there,
and slides out backward and upward.
The weight of the bird is all the time
pulling it down toward the earth; so, at
the same time that the air slides out
upward and backward past the bent
edge ot the wing, the wing itself, and
with it the bird, slides forward and
downward off from the confined air. It
is really its weight which causes it to do
this, so that the statement that a bird
nies by its own weight is strictly true,
This is true, also, of insects and bats.
they all have wings with stiff front
edges which bend and allow the air to
pass out, so that flying is nothing but
sliding down a hill made of air. A bird
rises by flapping its wings, and it flies
uy iaiimg oacK toward the earth and
sliding forward at the same time. At
the end of each stroke of its wings it
has raised itself enough to make up for
the distance it has fallen since the last
stroke, and accordingly it stays at the
same height and moves forward in a
seemingly straight line. But if you
watch the flight of those birds which flap
their wings slowly, such as the wood
pecker, you can see them rise and fall,
and will have no trouble in seeing that
their path is not really a straight line,
but is made up of curves; although most
birds flap their wings so rapidly that
they have no time to fall through a
space great enough to be seen. Birds
also make use of the wind to aid them in
flight, and by holding their wings in
clined like a kite, so that the wind shall
slide out under them, they can sail great
distances without flapping their wings at
all. They are supported, as a parer kite
is, by the wind, whioh is continually
pushing against their wings, and sliding
out backward and downward, thus lift
ing or holding up the bird, and at the
same time driving it forward. The birds
are not compelled to face the wind while
they are sailing, but bv ehanrin th
position of the wings a little they can go
in whatever direction they wish, much
as a boy changes his direotion in skating
by leaning a little to one side or t.hn
other. Some birds are verv skillful k
this kind of sailinc and can even ra.
main stationary in the air for some min
utes when there is a strong wind; and
they do this without flapping their
wings at all. It is a difficult thing to do,
and no birds except the most skillful
flyers can manage it. Some hawks can
do it, and gulls and terns may often be
seen practicing it vhnn a c&la of -win A i
blowing, and they seem to take great
delight in their power, of flight
Jftoholat, ' ' '
Where Mosquitoes were Thick.
The captain of a steamboat cave a St.
Louis reporter the following information
concerning mosquitoes on the upper
Missouri: " Well, sir, we saw poor cat
tie rush down into the water and wade
in until everything was covered but
their heads, and then the pests would
light on their heads in swarms, and bite
their noses, and every place they could
settle on, until the poor things bellowed
in their agony, and closed their eyes and
tossed their heads, ii they were human
they would oommit suioide. As it is they
are driven mad. Poor things, they are
nothing but skin and boner; mere skele
tons, clothed in swollen and ulcerated
skins. Some of the boys killed a few of
them, bnt they were not fit to bring on
board, Bame way with all the animals.
Antelope and deer were reduced to both
ing but skeletons by the vampires. If
you held your hand out for a quarter of
a minute, it would be covered so thick
with mosquitoes that it would look like
you had a glove otu The suffering of
the men was awful. I'll tell you how
we were able to get through. I took
down my stove-pipes and kept smoky
fires burning all the time, I had to have
two small hand-furnaces making smoke
in the pilot-house all the time, so that
the pilots could work. The men were
all broke up. Every limb was swelled
up, and you oould not have recognised
the features of your own brother. The
smoke was the only protection, And it
was pretty near as bad as the mosqui
toes. The eyes of all the men were blood
shot. Life was misery.
"The mosquito latitude begins about
seventy-five miles below Bismarck, and is
good for seventy-five above that point.
There never was a season like this one
before. For the first time in many
years they had up there what yon would
call an open winter. There was no ice
or snow. At Fort Benton, and just
look at your map and you will find it
about forty-seven degrees latitude, and
that's pretty far north, they didn't put up
a ton of ice. About the first of March
the rainy season set in. There has not
been twelve good days since. I will
venture to say, and mind you I know all
about that country, more rain has fallen
in that latitude this year than in the fif
teen years previous. Vegetation is rank
and tropical in its luxuriance. Weeds
of unusually ordinary growth are higher
than a man s head, and from the water
mosquitoes are bread by the million. If
you publish what I have been telling
you about the pests, some people will
laugh and call it exaggeration. Young
man I couldn't begin to give yon an idea
of their numbers. They fly in clouds.
They obstruct the light of the sun. They
are ravenous. They are as bad in the
day as in the night. They drive a man
almost crazy. Just think of preferring
to sit in a blinding and stifling smoke
rather than venture outside where the
mosquitoes would get at them. Bather
would I promenade twentv honra a dav
through the yellow fever district of New
urieans than go through the experience
with mosquitoes that I had this summer.
It is awful. I can give you no idea of
the nuisance, the torture." And the
captain aimed a vicious blow at a sleepy
ny and walked vigorously around to
shake off the memory of this npper Mis
souri mosquito misery,
Consumption of Timber.
In pleading for the protection and
perpetuation of forests, Tfie Lumber
man's Gazette gives some interesting
particulars of the amount of timber con
sumed every year in this country. "We
have now," it says, "about 90.000 miles
of railroad ; the annual consumption for
ties or sleepers alone is 40,000,000, or
thirty years' growth of 76.000 acres, To
fence these roads would require at least
idu.uuo miles of fence, whioh would cost
845,000,000 to build, and take at least
$15,000,000 annually to keep in repair.
We have 75,000 miles of wire, which re
quires in its putting up 800,000 trees.
while the annual repairs must take
300,000 more. The little, insignificant
luoifer match consumes annually in its
manufacture 800,000 cubic feet of the
nnest.pine. The bricks that are annu
ally baked require 2,000,000 cords of
wood, which would sweep the timber
clean from 60,000 acres. Shoe-pegs are
quite as important an article as matches
or bricks, and to make the required an
nual supply consumes 100,000 cords of
fine timber, while the manufacture of
lasts and boot-trees make 500,000 cords
of marble, beech and birch, and about
the same amount is reauired for plane-
stocks and the handles of tools. The
packing-boxes made in the United
States in 1874 amounted to $12,000,000,
wane me timber manufactured into ag
ricultural implements, wagons, etc., is
more than 8100.000.000. The farm nn,l
rural fences of the country consume an
immense amount of lumber and timber
annually, but as we grow older as a na
tion, this consumption may, and prob
ably will, be reduced by the more gen
eral use of live fences or hedges. Our
consumption of timber is not only daily
on the increase, but our exportation of
timber is also rapidly increasing. Our
staves go by the million to France an
nually; walnut, oak, maple and pine to
England, and spars and docking timber
to China and Japan."
Canning Bees,
In Jndsre Horaca .Tnnna' oar A an nn
- J Q-MMVU,
the Summit, there in a nrnfnuinn nt tho
flowers commonly called snap-dragons.
These flowers are closed, having a mouth,
tongue and palate. The mouth is tight
ly closed, but on pressing the flower it
opens, and the reason for the flower
being named "snap-dragon" becomes
apparent. Knmnmna hnmhlA.ViAAo OTm't.
this garden and sip honey from the
uuwers, uuu it is Baia to Do Doth amus
ing and wonderful to see how they man
aire the snan-dracnnH. Th Ami i;l,
on the top of the flower, and bracing
vuvwacAvoa nnu men uiuu leen, pull US
mouth Onen with thnir fnra facf ,,nil
there is space for the insertion of their
iicbuh, una tne neaa once in, they
squeeze the rest of the body in without
much difficnltv. Th fl OH7A11 I naoa jinn
them, and they remain inside until they
have gathered what honey they want,
and then thev nnsh ih Alt V7w nnr rim
exit being much easier of aocomplish-
iucu wan was toe entrance. Bees and
mules know as mnoh
. - ovuiouuirB
that IB. BOmA Tin An AMBti Af.
On the Way to the Black Hills.
A correspondent of the Rochester
Evening Express, en route for the
Black Hills, thus describes the sights
and scenes by the way: The huge trains
orawn dv oatue or mules, the rough
looks and dress of the " bull whackers."
or " mule-punohers," as the drivers are
called, are strange to ns, but evidently
common nere, jte that as it may, the
sight is novel to us, and we gaze with
wonder at the immense wagons, capable
bf carrying 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of
freight, and drawn by sixteen to twenty
head of cattle or mules. Often as many
as twenty to tnirty oi tnese wagons oom
pose a single train, and in the aggregate
carry a large amount of freight. The
drivers we find to be made np from all
nationalities, Mexicans, Irish, negroes,
all associating together in one common
family, under One master, and fed by
one cook. "All aboard!" shouts the
burly driver, as the Concord drives up
to the door of the hotel, to take ns to
the Hills, 800 miles to the north of us.
In spite of the haste we all show to get
the best oeat, the driver seems to grow
impatient at the delay, and is Anxious to
get away for his early drive. His every
feature, action and expression denote the
Western man, and you need not fear for
your safety while in his care. The broad
brimmed sombrero shading his sunburnt
features, his coarse clothing, and his im
mense top-boots, all prove the roughness
of his duties, while the " navy " and the
" Bowie " in his belt tell their own story.
At last all are snugly stowed away in
side, or mayhaps preferring more air, on
the "upper deck," where true, fresh,
prairie Lreezes give us a happier and
more comfortable feeling. A heavy load
is ours, yet the four well-trained horses
hardly feel our weight, but speed along,
happy in the prospect of a pood " meal"
ahead.
The magnificence of the pasturage.
the frequency of running streams, near
each of which the inevitable "ranchman"
has "located" himself, already having
his cosy house in order, and tons upon
tons of hay ready for use; the excellent
condition of the roads a strange thing
for a new country all these surprise
us, and cause wonder why this broad
expanse of land has so long been left to
itself. We are told that we are now in
the center of the great winter grazing
regions; that the prairie grass cures in
summer, and the winter is, for feed,
equal to grain Here we paps through
the lovely and picturesque Greenwood
Canyon, where a quiet stream is shel
tered by bluffs, and, soon after, by a
very fine and substantial truss-bridge
crossing the North Platte river, we have
a nne view of the chimney and court
house rocks, whose prominent appear
ance always command attention. About
I'M miles out we pass the old Bed Cloud
Agency.
Soon after leaving here we get a sight
of the Hills, more than 100 miles away,
and truly black and somber they appear
to us, the immense peaks looming to
ward the sky. In rapid successiou we
pass French, Spring Rapid. Box Elder.
Boulder, Elk, Bear and Whitewood
creeks, each some ten to twelve miles
from its neighbor, and each the sole
occupant of its own bright green valley.
The general beauty of landscape, the
broad, expansive and grass-covered
prairies, the deep and weird canyons,
the refreshing streams, the bright-look
ing evergreen piues, and more amusing
than all, the little prairie dogs all
serve to relieve the tedium of our jour
ney and make us less weary of our long
ride.
Destroying Yellow Fever,
It is well known that the crerms of yel
low fever are destroyed by frost. Act
ing on this hint, Dr. Rushrod W. James
suggests, in the Philadelphia Ledger,
fighting the scouige with machines for
producing artificial cold. He says: "Let
every quarantine station have a ward or
room capable of holding several patients.
more or less, as the exigencies may de-
iuana. so arranged tuat ventilation can
be maintained exclusively through ven
tilators and by means of small ante
rooms with spring-closing doors, and
then have no mode of entrance or exit
to the ward except through the ante
room. The ante-room should be kept
at the same low temperature, or even
lower than that in the ward, so that the
temperature in the latter may not be
raised by the opening and closing Of the
doors by the attendants, nor any of the
disease-producing germs escape before
they are thoroughly subjected to the
low temperature and detttroyed. The
ward and ante-room must be kept at a
temperature not higher than twenty-five
degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the patients
comfortable by a sufficient amount of
bed-clothing; and everything that goes
from the room, such as clothing, excre
tions, all emanations, etc., must be ex
posed a sufficient length of time to the
cold. This will kill the poisonous germs,
or reproducing cause, and prevent, as
far as the cases under treatment are con
cerned, any risk of the disease spreading.
If patients cannot bear so touch cold
during treatment, an adjoining warmer
room can be made, with no mode of
access or ventilation except through the
cold room, and everything going out of
the warmer room must be allowed to re
main a sufficient length of time to get
rid of the contagion. If no attendant
occupies the ante-room the degree of
cold can be kept near zero, in order the
more quickly to destroy all the disease
producing agencies."
The correspondent of a San Francisco
paper claims to have discovered a new
lake. It is larger than Great Salt Lake
and more beautiful than Lake Tahoe. It
is in Nevada, and is called Pyramid
Lake, from the pyramidal masses of
marl and limestone whioh abound in it.
Most of them are worn into fanciful
shapes by the water, and the highest,
Fremont's, less than 500 feet, has a boil
ing spring issuing from it fifteen feet
below the surface. There is an island in
the lake 600 feet high and 1,200 acres in
extent, inhabited by rattle snakes and
goats, who live on the alfilaree and the
bunches of grass in the crevices, for the
island is simply a mass of rook. The
lake has no outlet, and its bottom has
never been reached by sounding. The
water is very clear and slightly brackish,
and evaporates about as fast as it flows
in. There are innumerable trout in it.
The shores are bleak and barren,
Items of Interest.
The toper is now spoken of as the chap
with a glass sigh.
Why is an idea like a pig f Because
yon must catch it before you can pen it.
Why is a lady's foot like a locomo
tive t Because it usually goes ahead of
a train.
Why is a stick of candy like a horse?
Because the more yon lick it the faster
it goes.
Chicago possesses a precocious female
orator in Miss Bowe, aged thirteen, and
the hardened sinner of the Burlington
Hawkey e speaks of her as another Sissy
Bowe.
In France architects and contractors
are legally held responsible for a period
of ten years after the completion of a
struoture for total or partial loss occa
sioned by defective plans or work.
An exchange wants to know whether
insects can talk. Can't say as to that,
but yon oan bet your last shekel some
of them can occasionally inspire the
very liveliest kind of conversation in
others.
" I wonder where the clouds are go
ing, " sighed Flora, pensively, as she
pointed with a delicate finger to the
heavy masses floating in the sky. " I
think they are going to thunder," said
her brother.
This is said to be a good recipe for
staining wood : For black walnut stain,
simply use sulphatum varnish, thinned
with spirits of turpentine, and apply
with a brush. It can be made light or
dark as desired.
ON SEEING A MULE KICK A MAN THROUGH
THE ROOF OF A SHED.
Oh. mule I
What strong and complicate machinery !
What sudden and precipitate extremes!
Man's judgment and his vision must be keen
or ne
Will hesitate to rouse thee from thy dreams,
A rngged school
Trained thy great qwvlripept extensor
To bnst a keg of nails, kick down a fence, or
Lift a man, oh male I
Bay. mule.
Thou was't not alnays thus insoluble,
inserjsate to a kindly touch or word I
Not always have thy aocents, loud and voluble,
Alans fearful Heart with dreadful terror
stirred.
Has your harsh rule
Always impelled him, with emotions fleet
To fl; the fondling of thy later feet ?
Bay, gentle mnle ?
Sneak, mule:
Why didst thou, with intense vitality
rait tnrough the mngeiees root oi yonaer
shed
A man; an earth born child of immortality,
Uecauee be passed tnee with incautious tread r
He was no fool,
That base born, soulless mules should kick
him,
No'
He was a scholar; an A. M., a Ph. D. : a D.
OKI!
Whoa, mnle ! ! t
Burlington Eawkeye.
The Feminine World.
One of the Eastern churches claims
that a wealthy lady of their congregation
saves them $10,000 a year by the exam
ple she sets her sisters in the simplicity
and plainness of her dress.
One of our best writers says: "That
education makes women less pedantic
and more lovable."
One of the printed rules in a female
seminary is that none of the pupils
shall eat slate pencils, chalk, soap
stone or coal,
In the United States there are over
one thousand femaleB practicing as doc
ors, dentists, lawyers and preachers.
Many women have ruined their health,
and some have become insane by the
habit of eating arsenio to clear and
whiten their complexions. Still, the
list of arsenic victims does not diminish.
A London merchant says that the
American women are the most capricious
and extravagant women in the world
particularly iu the matter of hosiery.
Their latest caprice is open-work lace
hose lace from the top to the toe to
be worn with a colored ailk stocking
underneath.
Queen Victoria has her carriage seat
arranged in such a manner that the
motion of the vehicle sets it rocking.
She can now bow to the populace with
out wearing out the vertebra) of her
neck by the incessant motion.
Seventy-five hundred dollars is a
higher price than the majority of ua
pay for a dress, but is the actual price
paid for the wedding dress of a lady of
nobility.
Vassar girls aie not allowed to keep
parrots and dogs, but are permitted to
keep 500 pianos continually going; so
they are not deprived of their privileges.
It is useless for physicians to argue
against short-sleeved dresses. The Con
stitution of the United States says that
' the right to bear arms shall not be in
terfered with,"
Lady clerks in the different depart
ments at Washington have been released
from the political law which used to tax
them a percentage on their salary to
help defray the expenses of political
campaigns.
A woman of rare presence of mind
was overtaken by a train on a high
trestlework, near Marietta, O., recently,
and dropped between the ties, holding
herself suspended by her arms until the
train passed over, when she climbed
back again, and all without a scream.
The acknowledged belle of Europe is
an American lady from New Jersey.
Camels hair shawls are made from the
wool of the Cashmere goat, and not
from camels hair, as many have sup
posed. A number of the leading ladies of
Chicago are meditating a plan for the
founding of a home for inebriate women,
similar to the Washingtoniau Home in
that city.
The zither, already fashionable in
England, promises to become the rage
now that the Princess of Wales has be
gun to take lessons on it.
The sweet girl graduate has been
heard from. Having laid to rest her
bouquets and bolted up her graduating
ribbon, she now wears the royal purple
and tastes the sweets of life she s put
ting up blackberry jam.
Virginia City, Nev., gave its prettiest
girl a tea-set costing $65.
Women are usurping men's rights in
Colorado. They have organized them
selves into gangs and are stealing horses.
Eating cloves is injurious, as a Ver
mont girl discovered after she had lost
her health and forty pounds in flesh,
V