1 HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher NIL DESPERANDUM. Two Dollars per Annum. VOL. VIII. KIDGWAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1879 NO. 46. ffllli win fit : I t . ' Hare Hope. Thero never m valley without a faded Bower, There never was a heaven without lome little clou. The face of day may flash with light in any morning hour, But evening soon she 11 come with her shadow woven shroud. There never was a river without its mist of gray. There never was a forest without its fallen leaf And Joy may walk betide us down the windings " of our w ay When lo t there sounds a footstep, and we meet the faoe of grief. Theie never was a seashore without its drifting wreck, There never was an ocean without Its moan Ing wave ; And the golden beams of glory the summer sky that fleck Shine where dead Btars are sleeping in their azure-mantled grave. There never was a streamlet, however V clear, ' Without a shaduw resting in the rlppTes of its tide. Hope's brightest robes are bordered with the sa?le fringe of fear And she lures bnt abysses girt her path on either side. The shadow of the mountain falls athwart the lowly plain, And the shadow of the cloudlet hangs above the mountain's bead And the highest hearts rnd lowest wear the shadow of some pain, And the smile is scarcely flitted ere the an gnish tear is Bhed. For no (yes have there been everwithont a Weary tear, And thoHO lipJ c::ir.ot be human which never heaved z l:,h ; For without tbe dreary winter there has never been a J ear ; And tbe tempests hide their terrors In the calmest summer tky. So dreary life is passing and we move amid its maze, And we grope along together, half in dark ness, half in light ; Ant our hearts are often burdened by tbe mysteries of our wars. Which are norer all in shadow and never wholly bright. And onr dim eyes a k a beacon, and our wean feet a guide, Aad oar hearts of all life's mysteries seel the m -aning aad the key ; And a tro-s gleams o'er our pathway, on it hangs the Crucified, And He answers all our yearnings by thi whisper: " Follow Ma" ENSIGN R ANSON. Many years bnck, a young nan cam out of a little house at tbe eastern cue of a town by tbe sea. There was plenty of life anil payety at the other end oi tbe town, which was enlivened by one or two barracks, a fort and a ouBtle. But the eastern end was very poor, arid would have been quite lonely but foi the fishermen and their boats. The house from which the young man came was beyond even this homely bustle, and was little more than a wooden hnt, t.nrml to defend it from wind and weather. But the young man who came out was in the frill drees of a military officer, though that was screened from a first view by the loijg gray cloak that the wild March wind made so necessary. He was qniw young, and his face was finely cut, aud would have been pleas ant but for a look of stern and painful Borrow, not unmixed with bitterters. which seemed strangely incongruous with his years and his dress. lie waK-ed on quite through t! e town. Wherever the houses broke apart one caught glimpses of a wild, flat country, dotted here and there with weird trees in Indian file; and the youth looked wistfully toward these desert fields, as if ho would fain have struck away across them instead of going on, aa he did, toward the grim old fort. Yet there, it was clear, festivity was going forward; and friendly voices greeted him as he passed tbe gray old portal. And then, over his (tern, sad faoe he dropped a mask of gayety, and, though he relapsed into silence at times, he was as polite and conversable as the best of them. There was preparation for a dinner party in the fine, stiff, old hall, with its rows of military portraits, end its dingy, blood-stained banners. The castle, tbe barracks, and the fort itself, had eagerly furnished guests to welcome the visitor of tin day, a grand old gen eral recently returned from honorable victories in the south of Europe. After dinner, when ceremony was fairly thawed, the good old general, iu the kindliness aud pride of his heart, displayed a little box, which bar! been given to him by some grandee of Spain. I think it must have been too small for a snuff-box, and . was probably ono of those tinv trifles in which fashionable folk used" to oarry comfits and lozenges. At any rate, this box was set with dia monds and colored gems of rare value, and it passed from hand to hand, flash ing brightly in the lamplight, while the old warrior told dreid stories of his campaigns and of the daring and honor of his men. But suddenly, at the end of a story bo thrilling that all heads had been crammed toward him, while the mili tary servants had thronged the door in rapt attention, the simple question was asked Where is the general's jeweled box?" Nobody knew everybody said that he had silently passed it on to his fellow. The general rummaged his own pock .eta, lest it had found its way back to him and lie bad Lalf.cocFcious.ly put it away. No, it was not there, and the brave old fighting face looked a little blank, aud he murmured an exonse about " how its los would vex Ladv "Elizabeth." ; " But it cannot be lost, general," said the .officer in command of the fort. " In this room it was a few minutes ago. and in this room it must be still. No gentleman, to his knowledge, has it in his possession. Let the servants at the door come in ; though, to the best of my belief, not one of them has approached the table since the box was brought out, Let the door be made fast, and let our search be tborongb." The candles were brandished to and fro, under the tables, under the chairs. round the table drapery. But from no point flashed out the brilliant beauty of sue i e dox. " Still it must be here," insisted the commandant, "and surely no gentle man will think his honor infringed if each in turn is asked to empty the con tents of his pockets upon the table. I myself will be the first to do so. And the servants shall be the last." Nobody could be expected to demnr at so simple and sensible a proposal, backed as it was by the honest old of ficer instantly rattling out some crown pieces, and a tobacco pouch, half-pence. and an old pipe. One after another, the gentlemen on either side of the table followed his example, while sharp but not unfriendly eyes took eager note of strange pieces of personal property, and oi dainty three-cornered notes, which might serve iu the future as material for badinage and quizzing. But one drew back when the com mandant made his proposal. That young man who had walked in from the eastern end of the town dropped sud denly into his seat, whence he tad risen in the first eagerness of the search. He passed his hand once or twice nervously through his hair, leaving it wild and straggling. And then he watched blankly, as the fruitless search drew nearer and nearer to himself. Within five minutes later, one or two of the of fices were whispering to each other that any simpleton mi( hi have seen he did not expect it could, be found. His turn was the very last "Ensign R-inson," said the commandant, steadily. Ensign Rjnson was certainly the first who required to be call upon by name. The 'youth arose, and. though the rest of his face was a deadly whiteness, there was a spot of burninar red on each cheek. " I don't think anv gentleman should be asked to do this," he said. " I will give my word of honor than the box is not upon my persoi I did not even keep it iu my hands for a moment: I merely tof.k :t and passed it on. "Too hiuh-niinded even to look a! such gewgaws," sneered a spiteful old major nnoer his breath. What men hich iu the service an i old enough to be his father have already done, Ens:U Rag son may safely do hIso," Riiid the commandant, with a se verity which was not unkindly, foi young Raiison looked such a boy among the crowil of men, mostly stout one middle-aged : and the very suspicion suddenly lowering over him made the old officer think of his own lads, grow ing up aud not quite sure to do woll for themt-elvf s nfter all. " I would never have asked it for the sake of ruy box," observed the general, leaning back in his cbair, and inwardly wondering what Lady Elizabeth woulu cay of his carelessness. "Dutv.ewsk it for the sake of our honor, general," raid the commandant. testily. "And we do not seem to have asked it needlessly," whispered the epitefu1 major. ' I will not do this thing I" cried the young ensign, passionately; and he looked wildly round the group as if he sought for one face that would compre- ueud and compassionate bis misery. The face which looked the kindest was that of the old general himself, partly be cause it was not his hospitality that wa outraged, partly because his genial na ture was terribly shocked at finding anything of his the cause of 6ucu a wretched act of dishonor. " If the general will come with me to the anteroom," said the young man, " 1 will convince him that I have barely touched his box. But this public ex posure I will not submit to; our consent was not asked, and " " Certainly not I" " Out upon you P " General, yon must not thick of in dulging his insolent request," were the only sentences audible iu the goneral hubbub that arose on every side. But the general rose. "Gentlemen," he said, quietly, " Ihave never yet re futed to listen to ail enemy's petition If you can satisfy me, sir, perhaps your comrades will take my word for you." There was a murmur of very reluctant acquiescence, as the ensign bowed and waited respectfully to follow the general to the ante-chamber. They had not dis appeared behind the heavy curtains be fore All sorts of surmises were whispered round the table, guesses and hints c ild and so sinister as to do credit neither to the heads nor the hearts which originated them. The general and the ensign stayed a longer time iu the anteroom thau would have sufficed to search the ensign's pockets twice and thrice over. Not a sound could be heard. If any conversation was going forward, it must have been in a very low voice. The two gentlemen were away for nearly half an hour. All the military servants had been subjeoted to the commandont's rigid scrutiny, and then dismissed. It might be as well that none but the " gentlemen of the regiment " should know exactly what the end was. The delay grew first awkward and then awful. Even the whimpers and rumors flagged into an in tent and excited watching. At last the general and the ensign came out. The ensign's faoe was still very pale; what flush remained upon it had now mounted to the eyes. The old general was blowing his nose, "Ensign Hanson has thoroughly sat isfied me," he said, in his most gentle voice. " Never mind my box. It has vanished by one of those mysterious ac cidents whioh will happen sometimes. It will be found some day. And now, gentlemen, per hips as we have been thus broken up we shall not settle down again very comfortably to-night. I hrpe we shall see you all at the castle before Lady Elizabeth and I leave for London." General," said the commandant, drawing him a little on one side, " may I say that J sincerely trust your great generosity has not led 70a to" "Sir," cried the old general, "can you imagine that any mistaken idea of kindness would cause me to make you a companion of thieves 7 Uentlemen. he went on, seeing that the company were not unaware 01 tnis little by-play, " I pled CO von mv word that I am Mat. isfied of Ensign Hanson's honor; and whoever dares to donbt him makes me to be his accomplice." And the old general seized the young ensign's arm aud marched with him from the banqneting-room, while every one sac uumbiounded, till tbe spiteful major remarked that wonders would never cease. There was nothing more to be said, It was discovered that Ensign Bauson was not only invited to the castle with the other officers, but was also asked there by himself, and actually waB be lieved to have taken tea with the gener al and Lady Elizabeth in their deepest retirement, tor the general's sake, lather than his own, his brother officers continued on courteous terms with him; and be bad alwas been so sny, and Jaeld himself so aloof, that perhaps he did not discover there was but little cordi ality in their courtesy. And presently he exchanged into another regiment, whioh went on foreign service. ' He was away for several years, and in the fortunes of war he got rapidly pro moted, so that when he returned home, though he was still young, he was no longer a poor nobody. When he landed in his own country he found a letter awaiting him, written by one who had sat near him at that memorable dinner party, and who was now residing in the old castle where the general and Lady Elizabeth had then been guests. This letter pressed him, in the warmest t?rms, to spend some of his earliest dnys in England at this very castle, and so give many old friends who were in the neighborhood an opportunity of meeting and congratulating him. En sign Ran son, now Colonel Ranson, smiled a little strangely when he read this invitation, but he wrote a very po lite reply and accepted it. Once more be sat in the stately old banqueting -room of the fort. This time he had not walked in from the bleak east end of the town, but had been driv en from the castle in the chariot of the castle's owner. But, as he took his seat in the chair of honor, he noticed that every face at the table was, in all s changes, familiar to him. All of the guests at the former dinner were not there. Many of those, indeed, he well knew, were sleeping on battlefields far away. But nobody was at this dinner wno nad not been at the other one. Once more the dishes were removed and the servants withdrawn. The guest of this evening was no wonderful story teller, like the good old general, who had now passed to his rest. Colonel Ranson was ns taciturn as Eusien Hanson had been shy, and he- even let the conversation flag and never seemed to notice it. "Colonel," said the eldest gentleman of the party, speaking with visible effort, and giving a slight congn, to vail his embarrassment; "colonel, I think we all remember another time when we dined together here." " Certainly : I remember it." answer ed the colonel, lifting his grav eves with a cool light in them. Uolonel, we fancy vou think some of us did you ill justioethen. At least a lady says you felt so Lady Elizabeth, the good old general's widow. If what. we are going to do is any way painful to you, 1 hope you will paidon us, for we are only following her counsel. Colonel, there was a box lost that evening. Hero it is." Yes, there it was. gleaming onoemore in the light which danced gayly upon it. The colonel looked at it calmly, and asked : " Where was it found ?" His composure was exceedingly dis conceiting. Another gentleman, feel ing that the first had done his part, now took up the parable. It was found in the verv chair on which you are now seated, colonel," he said, " You will remember that the general sat there on that night. It must have found its way back to the general's own hand, and in the interest and excitement of his story-telling he must have intended to slip it back into his pooket.-which, if you recollect, was the first place where he sought it. In stead of that, it evidently escaped the proper orifice and dropped into the cov ering of the chair; that covering was very thick aud heavy, and hung in lap pets about his legs. Part of it was un sewn, and this box dropped between tho damask and the lining and remained there, safely and unseen, till the chair was recovered last year." "Uentlemen, said the colonel, with his accustomed calmness, though his lip trembled a litths, " I cannot wonder if some of you thought my conduct sus picious. 1 thank you heartily for show ing me your brotherly delight that those suspicions were unfounded." At the bottom 01 tne tabic f nt the spiteful old major (he was on Lslf-pay now, and more spiteful than evtr), aiid he thought within himself that there was no knowing whether Ensign Ran son bad not taken some subsequent op portunity of getting rid 01 his danger ous booty iuto the hole in the damask, and that the mystery could not be oalled cleared up, unless the colonel had ex plained why be bad demurred to tne search. Aud this spiteful old major would have said as much to- bis next neighbor, if he himself had not been so terribly deaf that be could not regulate f : u !,.! niS OWU voice uobwcvu tuuuiu uliui whisper and a mighty shout. The colonel sat in silence ior some minutes. Then he recalled himself with a start, and, drawing something from his own pocket, said quietly : "Gentlemen, I, too, have something to show you." All pressed forward as he carefully unfolded the soft paper paoket and laid something on the table. What was it t What conld it be It was the bleached skeleton of a chicken's wing. "Gentlemen," he said, in that same quiet voice, which no longer sounded cold and stern, but rather full of strength and sweetness, " when I was hero bo fore, I was a poor, fetherless hid. own ing nothing jn the world but my poor little pittacke of pay. 1 fear I was an eyesore to kome of you. I thin yon felt that my appearance did not do justice to the dignity of our regiment. I believe I often looked rather shabby, but really I could not help it. " I ha4-only one relation in the world, and that was my mother's siBter. After my mother died she had been as a mother to me, but when our home was finally broken up, there was nothing for lit but she must be a governess in a stranger s bouse. And she did her work courageously and cheerfully enough, till her health failed, and nobody wanted the service of a sick woman, " She had always been good to me, and we two had only each other in the world. I could not help her as she ought to have been helped, but my pay would ,at least provide her such a home and such a maintenance as a poor work ingman can give to a poor working woman. " I took my aunt to lodge with the wife of the miller's man, in the little black cottage beside tho mill. She was a very kind, cleanly woman, though rough and plain in her ways; and my Eoor annt used to call herself very appy there. But she could not eat the simple food my scanty means conld pro cure. Aud the good landlady used to break my heart by suggesting that her appetite might be tempted by chickens or game, or such other luxuries beyond my utmost reach. " All the day of that memorable dinner-party my aunt had been very feeble and failing. When 1 left her I really wondered whether she would be alive when I saw her again. My soul revolted at the sight of dainties which were no good to me, and whioh I could not con vey to her who seemed dying for want of them. Suddenly a bright idea seized me. 1 took a letter from my pocket and spread it on my napkin, and then, by an adroit movement, transferred the wing of a chicken from my plate to the paper, and thence smuggled it to my pocket." Tbe listening guests began to look at each other with enlightened eyes. The spiteful old major felt that very full explanation was being given and he was glad he was deaf, that he need not hear it. " Gentlemen, you can all imagine my feelings when such unlooked-for cir cumstances threatened to expose my poor little plan. Gentlemen, there are some of you who were, like myself, young then; whom it would have been as hard to meet, after snch a discovery, as it would have been had I really stolen the jewels." " Heaven forgive us, Ranson; but I can't say you are wrong," said one brave gentleman, who had been a fash ionable dandy in those days, but who had a wife and six children now. " Gentlemen, I did not fear the old man honored and enriohed by a grateful country. The men who have fought tbe best battles of life nave ever a piti ful respect for tbe poor and friendless. To him I could lay bare my poor little secret. But my place then was among the young the young, who, having never conquered, nlwavs despised the defeated the vain, giddy youths, ex travagant with their fathers' money, and " Oh, come, Ranson," cried one offi cer, " it is your turn now, with a ven geance. Flease to remember that to-' night we are the abject and defeated and be merciful." The colonel laughed. And they could not tell whether it was with good faith or subtle irony that he rejoined, " You are right," and then went on: Iu that lit tle room, vonder. I told my sad story to that good great man who is gone. And I folded up my queer treasure again, for I could not leave it behind to bear witness ; and. besides, having paid such a terrible price for it, I did not see why my aunt should not have it. And she ate it for her supper that very night ; and next morning, almost as soon as it was light, there was the general hammering at the cottage door, with a basket of fowls and fruit carried in his own hand. And, then and there, 1 took this little chicken bone, and vowed that I would keep it till the snuff-box was found, and I my self was such a man among such men that none would smile at my poverty, or even despise my weakness." A Stone in a Horse's Jaw. For a long time a lamp has been ob- eervable in the side of the jaw of a horse belonging to Superintendent Osbiston, of the Gould and Curry and Best and Belcher mines. Yesterday a veterinary surgeon made an incision, and to his astonishment brought to light a bard and smooth? stone, about-. twT Inches long and one inoh in diameter. The stone was of a-;yllowis4i slj4e color, and apparently as hard as marble. In order to muke sure as to the nature of the stone, Mr. Osbiston took it to- a- ewelry store and bad it sawed m two engthwise. When it was cut there was seen in its center what had once un doubtedly been a grain of barley, half of which was visible in each piece of the stone, the grain looking as though pet rified. Arouud. this nucleus the stone bad formed in regular layers or growths, the rings of which were distinctly to be traced. The material of which the stone was formed appeared to be the same pb is found m the morustrations on the tubes of boilers. It is thought that the grain of barley pierced the skin of the horse's mouth and imbedded it self in the flesh ; and that the saliva then deposited upon it limy matter. The stone is as hard as marble, and the annular markings are very distinct. vtrgmia vuu (JMev.) Enterprise. The artioles made of paper at the late Berlin exposition comprise the roof, ceiling, cornice and interior walls of a house, the exterior walls of which were of pine wood; bnt all the furniture, blinds, curtains, chandeliers, carpeting, ornamental doors, mantel and table or naments were or paper, including a stove made of asbestos paper, in whioh afire was burning cheerfully. There were also exhibited wash basins, water cans, a full-ngged ship, lanterns, bats. shirts, full suits of clothes and under clothes, straps, handkerchiefs, napkins bath tubs, buckets, bronzes, flowers' urns, jewelry, belting and animals, both for ornament and for toys. FOR THE FAIR SEX. The Qaeea ol the Fairies. The late duchess of Gordon, says an English paper, taking an airing alone in her carriage, in a remote part of the Scottish highlands, observed at some distance from the road a neat cottage surrounded by a garden. Her grace pulled the check-string, and asked the servants to go round with. the carriage to where she desired them to stop, while she crossed the moor to pay the cottage a visit. The duohess happened to wear a pelisse trimmed with gold lace, and her hat was ornamented with golden spangles. A girl about twelve years old, the only person in the cottage, was spinning at the wheel and singing a merry strain, As soon as her eyes caught the figure of the duohess ap proaching, the green dress, the shining appearance of the hat, on which the sun shone, the singularity of such a visitant in so lonely a situation, all so worked on the imagination of the little girl that she verily believed the queen of the fairies had come to reveal to her some fearful mystery of fate. In great terror She escaped to a baok cloBet, where, through a small aperture, she could tee without being seen. The supposed fairy queen entered, surveyed the apart ment with a curious eye, and then see ing the wheel, bethought herself of try ing to spin. She gave the wheel several turns, but could not make a tolerable thread, though she twisted up all the carded wool she could find. As some compensation for any injury her awk wardness might have occasioned, her grace tied a crown piece in a handker chief that lay upon the table, fixed it to a spoke of the wheel, and departed. The girl conld not summon courage to venture from her hiding-place before her father and sister came in, nor till some time after could they extract from her an explanation of the extraordinary state of perturbation in whioh they found her. Their surprise was scarcely less than hers when they were informed that somebody, who could be no other than the queen of tho fairies, for she was all in green and gold, and shining bright as the sun, had come into the house, ond seeing nobody there, had fallen to be witching the wheel, which, as sure as fiiries were fairies, would never go again. "And see," continued the young en thusiast, pointing to the handkerchief tied to the spoke, "something which she had left." The father untied the handkerchief, aud the sight of the sterling piece of coin which it contained soon dispelled from his mind all suspicion as to the terrestrial attributes of the lady who had been honoring his cottage with a visit. The women of the cottage, however, were of a very different opinion. . With them tho lady could be no other than the fairy queen, who must doubtless have come to tell poor Isabel her for tune ; the spoiled thread was a sign that the first days of their life would be marked with disappointment and sorrow, and the crown piece tied in a handkei chief to the spoke of the wheel be tokened that she would in the end ar rive by honest industry to wealth and com foi t. Harmless delusion I It lasted but for a day. - Sunday came, and the appearance of the queen of the fairies, in the same dress at church v.s the duchess of the manor, convinced even Isabel that bhe had been deceived. ews and Notes for Women. San Francisco has a female painter named Strong, who sells portraits of a dog for $250. The original "Grecian bend" oame from Japan, and is found in many of their pictures. An overdressed women is offensive to good taste, no matter how costly the material she wears. Sets of coffee and teaspoons are now made up of odd pieces, no two articles being the same in pattern. Dinner cards, molded into the shape of plates and oval platters, and painted with graceful water color designs, are a Boston notion. It is more than hinted that the com ing spring bonnet will be too elegant for anything. Expectation is already on tiptoe. Gabriello dresses for little girls are finished with a kilt plaiting around the lower edge, with a sash covering the top of it. American flannel underwear is now made so well that it can hardly be dis tinguished from that which id imported. A German writer defines women as being something between a flower and an angel. A New York lady has invented and patented a device for raising, taming over and moving hospital patients and ottftsrTck people in bed. Mrs. Barton, the wifo of the English traveler, will publish ou account of her journey with her husband through India aud Egypt. Tbyra, of Denmark, is an extremely pretty and accomplished young lady of twenty five. She has a beantifully shoptd face, large, gentle eyes, and a very sweet expression. The duke of Cnmbeiland, her future husband, is in his thirty-fourth year, and has a plump, good-natured counteuance of the Ger man type. The Princess Emm, of Waldeok, who is about to marry the old king of Holland, is a graceful, warm hearted little person, with bright eyes and a piquant face. "Eugenia, Eugenia, will you still in sist on wearing the hair of another woman npon your head ?" Alphonse, Alphonse, do you still insist npon wear ing the skin of another calf npon your A young man from the country was in town and entered a photograph gallery to have his pioture taken. After seating him, the operator told him to assume a pleasant expression. " Think of some thing cheerful," he paid ; " think of your girl." A terrible scowl took possession of the young man's face, and jumping up, he exolaimed : " Think of the deuce I She went home with another fellow last night, and she can !;o to thunder, for me 1" He evidently hought of her, bnt tbe pleased expres sion was not forthcoming, -NQrriatown Herald. '"V" " TIMELY TOPICS. The world's production of gold is one third lesi than in 1850. In the United States alone, in 1877, 100 deaths per week were reported from accidents by kerosene. From the rather imperfect statistics at hand, it is estimated that tho total amount of honey produced in the United States is not less than 35.000,000 pounds for the year 1878. In 1870 the returns gave 14,702,851, and 631,129 of bees wax. Luis Cardena, an artist of Quito, South America, has sent to the de partment of state at Washington a full-length portrait of General Wash ington. It is considered an excellent likeness, and will be framed and hung in the white house. At a recent fashionable wedding in London tbe bridegroom requested the bride to order her own jewels. This she did; and bills have now come in to the trusting bridegroom amounting to over $500,000. He is unable to pay, aud the jewole'i deoline to take back their wares. The Sural New Yorker says: "An intending purchaser should have the horse brought out before him, and watch the animal as he stands at rest. If the owner is continually starting the horse into motion, and urging him to " Bhow off," something may be suspect ed, because it is when the horse is at perfect rest that his weak points are divulged.. If the horse be sound, he will stand right square on his limbs, without moving 'any of them, the feet being flat upon the ground, and all his legs plumb and naturally posed; if one leg be thrown forward, with the toe pointing to the ground, and the heel raised, or if the foot be lifted from the ground, and the weight taken from it, disease or tenderness may be sus pected." China has a governor-general by name Li Hang Chang. He is at the head of the progressive party in that country, whose great aim is to avoid tho course pursued by tbe Japanese in leaning so much upon Europeans, and to develop China by Chinamen. With this view a variety of great undertakings are in contemplation a steam navigation com pany, extensive mining operations, . the gradual introduction of railroads and telegraphs, and a postal system on the ordinary model. With a view to at tracting investors, the competitive sys tem of selecting employees, which for some 2,000 years has been rigidly ad hered to, is to be at once laid aside, and any contributor to the stock of certain of the new schemes will have the right of nominating a clerk. No attempt at improving the postal communication with the capital is immediately contem plated, but during the summer, cor respondence between Pekin and Tient sin is to be carried on daily by donkey or horse mail, ond in winter by a route whioh at best involves ten days. Habits of Birds. At a recent meeting of the Maryland academy of sciences, Mr. Otto Lugger read a paper on birds, bused upon his own per sou al observations. Most birds, be said, take bnt two meals a day early iu the morning and about dark; birds of prey rarely more than one a day. Three hours out of the twenty-four seem sufficient rest in sleep for siuging birds. They are sensibly affected by atmo spherio conditions, singing less, and less jubilantly during cloudy, wet weather. Male birds usually mate with one female and remain faithful to her, guarding her while she builds the nest for the coming brood, and feeding her while she is incubating the eggs, or taking her place while she flies off in search of food. Birds have little dis crimination as to what kinds of eggs are placed nnder them iu the neBt to incu bate, and will try to hatch acorns or unts if placed in the nest instead of eggs. A temperature of eighty-six degrees Fahrenheit for twenty-one days is required to hatch most birds' eggs. The young are not assisted by their parents to leave the egg, but when each one has broken its way out the parent carefully removes the pieces of broken egg from the nest. The young generally emerge from the larger eud of the egg, and, before coming out, can be heard at work breaking their way. They are born hungry, open their mouths for food as soon as born, and are great eat ers. Their eyes opei in from five to ten days. When the yonng bird is old enough to forage for itself, it is cruelly driven away by the parent birds. Many birds are much troubled by skin and feather parasites, on their heads and wings. i ; The Empire Slate's Population. A New York paper says: It will, we imagine, surprise most New Yorkers to learn that, according to the last census of this State, 12,659 families are now liviDg in log cabins. Of other dwellings, 698,031 are built of wood, 98,290 of brick, and 18,718 of stone. More than one-half of all these cost less than $2,000 spieoe; more than one-third less than $1,000, and 7,164 less than $50 each, showing that any extravagance whioh interior New Yorkers may have is not of an architectural order. In the county or oity of New York, nouses, as may be supposed, have much more value than in the country, 56,010 having cost $5,000 and upward, mainly upward. In deed, the dwellings of the metropolis alone have cost about as much as the dwellings in all the rest of the State. Of 1,637,727 productive New Yorkers, 851,628 are farmers or farm hands. Of the workingwomon of the State, one half, or 187,416 of them, are house servants. Over 160,000 men earn their bread as day laborers. There are 60, 103 clerks, 40,406 tailors and seam stresses, and 83,476 milliners and dress makers. Celibacy seems to be in favor with New Yorkers. There are 2,673,813 unmarried, ,to 1,776,018 married. Widows and widowers number 248,778, and divoroed people 1,349. During the last censusyear, in only one family out of forty-five families was there a wed ding. - w. . . Items of Interest. The best illustrate! paper Green back. Sunbeams should be used in build ing a lighthouse. Offal to contemplate Tho contents of the garbage cart. The upshot of the matter was that he fired his pistol in the air. The first temperance society in this country was organized in 1808. A man feels the need of a good char acter most after he has lost one. Eight tons of paper are used daily in the manufacture of paper collars. There is no good reason why it should be so, but doll babies are always girls. It takes one-third of Russia's revenue to pay the interest on her national debt. Always build a pigsty with great de liberation, and in the sow-west corner of your lot. Within twenty-four houre after Paa sanate's attempt on King Humbert's life, the Italian king had reoeived 4, COO dispatches of congratulatiou on his es cape, and Signor Cairoli 2,500. A clergyman in Rockland, 111., has found that even a paralytic stroke has its compensations. Though disabled by it, the shock unstopped bis ears and opened his eyes, for before he was both deaf and blind. An exchange gives a recipe for making a Russian name. It is as follows : Take three alphabets and shake them up in a hat ; throw on a table, like dice ; pick out those that fall light side up, stick them in a line, and add either the " itch " or " koff," and you have a gen nine, full-fledged Russian general's name. The drunkenness of Edgar Allen Poe was recently nnder discussion by a Richmond temperanoe society. A speak er dwelt on the poet's disgraceful death. Dr. Mason, who attended him in his last illness, replied : ' He died like a gentleman. For days before his death he utterly refused stimulants of all kinds to allay his nervous excitement,, and died a sober man, truly penitent for his past career." When Leitch ' Ritchie was traveling in Ireland, he passed a man who was a painful spectacle of pallor, pqualor ond raggedness. His heart smote him, and he turned back. " If you nre in want," said Ritchie, with some degree of peev ishness, " why don't you beg ?" "Sure it's begging I am, yer honor," "You didn't say a word." " Ov coorse not, yer honor; but see how tho skin is speakin' through the holes of me trous ers ! and the bones cryin' cut through me skin 1 Look at mo sunken cheeks, and the famine that's starin in me eyes I Man alive I isn't it beggin' I am with a hundred tongues ?" THE OTHER SIDE. " Two sides there are to ev6ry tale," And every proverb, too j And I have sought to here present Home truths in aspects new. ' The tarly bird will catch the worm," We in our youths were taught ; But while the lute worm sleeps in peare, The early worm is caught. "The rolling stone collects no moes," Another fact that s hurled At many a youth who feels inclined To roam about tbe world ; But there's one truth that seems to be Hid from our elders' eyes : The stone that changes not its placo Can never hope to rise. "A quail that's caught," I've hesrd it said, " Is worth two phoapanU frte." But Just rt fleet, the captured one Will sooner eaten be. " Rccure tbe pence," the sages say, ' The pounds will besecure; But if jou have the dollars safe, The dimes w 11 be, I'm sure. 'Tis well to look he.furo you strive To pieroethe eilKen shield, If what is on tbe other side Will just as quickly yield. Just so 'tis well to see, ere yon Disseminate your lore, If those whom you would strive to teach Were cot as learned before. Every Man His Own Locomotive. The newspaper carrier who serves papers to the attendants in the perma nent exhibition building goes his rounds at the rate of twelve miles on hour. Ho travels on machines not unlike roller skates, which are called podomoters, according to the inventor, Mr. J. H. Hobbs, an architect ou Walnut tstreet, above Fifth. The day is uot far distant when the whole city will be on wheels, when pedestrians will le skimming through the streets at the rato of ten miles an hour without any more efiort than is now put forth iu perambulating half that distance. The pedomotor con sists of four tough, light wooden wheels, supplied with an outer rim of tongli India rubber. These wheels are secured to a frame the shape of the foot, which is strapped to the pedal extremities in the usual manner. Unlike roller skates, the wheels of these little vehicles are not under, but are placed on er.ch side of the foot, thus giving the wearer a good as well as a solid footing. The rear wheels aro three inches in diameter, while those in front are but two and half inches. This gives the foot a slight incline, and when iu motiou has much to do iu im pelling the pedestrian forward. Extend ing from the toe, with a blight curl to ward the ground, i a piece 1 1 rasting termed the pusher, wbkh is simply used in mounting the elevation or steep in cline. From tho center of the heel a small brass wheel extends backward, serving as a guide as well as a brake. The whole scarcely turns the scale at a pound weight. In using them no more effort is required thau in ordinary walk ing. The wearer steps with his regular stride, and is amazed to find himself skimming over he ground eo rapidly with so little muscular effort. Mr. Hobbs explains the mysteiy of the rapid movement as follows: A man whose stride is thirty, two inches will traverse forty eight inches, or one-half further, with the pedomotor. This is because the body is in constant motion. For instance, says he, the traveler starts, and while he raises one foot to step he continues rapidly onward nntil the foot is set down and the other raised to make another step. This gives him me re momentum, and away he goes over two miles in the fame time it would take iiim to accom plish a mile with the feet. No tffort of the body is required for their nse, as in Bkates. The traveler sim ly plants one foot before the other and finds himself whireing along at a lively rahs Phila delphia Record, to some of
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers