. . : 7 - : V ' ; - 1
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher.
NIL DESPERANDUM.
Two Dollars per Annum.
i
VOL. X.
RID G WAY, ELK COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1880.
NO 27.
Amid the Grasses.
Come! live in innocence again,
Sweet soul ot mine;
And weave once more the tender daisy-chain.
And ringlets ot the dandelion fine!
Come, sing and oroon and chant,
Here lurks no aching want
Of past or present;
Hero honoy.bind is lound,
And creeping o'er the ground
Mellow sunbeams pleasant!
Come! live in tender joys and sweet embraces
Of bird-notes dropping hither,
All in the golden autumn weather,
All in the grasses and gray lenves togethor,
And see how eyes shine out trom (air young
Ifioos
In gentians bluo, that catch the thistle's
leather;
Come, breaths and live!
For here grow sweet all gracious things to
give.
Here nodioth fino
My Lady Columbine;
Jacket and Breeches, some do call her.
Oh, naughty name! She is my Lady Colum
bine! May no ill frost or plucking hand bclall her!
Oh, hither come and hide!
Here in the grasses nestle, nestle deep with
me!
Here with my bountoous love and me
abide !
Sweet nature, queen ol all green things that
be!
For over all
Some high spirit mystical,
With vaporous lormand goldon-droopinghair,
Breathes through the drowsy skies
The mellow-tinted India-summer air
And oiluia ar.criilce!
Ah ! what's so sweet
As the tripping, twinkling Jcot
Ot tho biojklct 'ncath the willows?
And what, ah! what's so fair
As tho summer air,
And the lark high up in its fleecy billows?
And hore iu the meadow-laud lur below
We can listen r.nd catch the streamlet's flow,
And hear tho lark till he's out ol sight
In the breezy blue above tho hill,
And watch the sunbeams drop and All
Each little flower-cup with delight;
For here the shadows are solt and still
Hist! be hushed as a startled mole
Curled in its cuulle; lor over the knoll
I see the solt brown twitching ear
Ol the shy gray rabbit peeping!
He thinks that we are sleeping
Mature anil L! Ha, ha!
J. And soon more near
Ho'll crouch his lorm and crop the hill-side
tender j
And if tho winds blow by,
He knows them, knows them just as well as I,
No. lears their shrill pipes slender.
Hear how alolt tho old crows caw!
Ca! ca!
Wicked block cros that fill their maw
With pretty field-lures. What a shame!
Here's one that built his nest close by,
Last summer, and the grasses lie
Trampled by the path he came.
See! here deep down nro mosses and sweet
ferns,
And meadoK-flre that burns:
Love s torch, they call it ratntr,
Or CupiJ s cup, il maidens pluck and
uihcr.
litre s Jiiilim)-;i po, tho luiries smoke
f hey light il by tho uieiidow-rire
And hero s t.,m magic ring they broke
When dareiir to their cricket choir.
And he- e are spicy mints,
And club-head lichens full ol'heakish dints
Of toothsome elves, and prints
01 winding pathways thro' the reedy
grasses,
Where, burryihg wild, the emmet's army
passes ;
Here dainty roads,
Whero, shining solt, the velvet-coated
toads,
Crushing the herbage, pant when rain is over,
Hopping to nu ct their loves iu musky clover;
And here the field-mouse conies,
Stealing sweet nature's crumbs
Seeds that she plants lor mice and birds un
heeded ;
Far trom the cark ot men
She stores her wealth ot grain
Way-side lanns by walls, brier-grown and
over-weeded.
Here, hore I watch them come
The wild Vice with his drum;
The tilting dragou-Hy with azure wing;
The painted moths; and lo!
AVith his sharp, wiry bow,
The elbowed grasshopper, with sudden spring
Setting the thickets brown in wild commotion;
Wliilo lluiteting down like shells through
some blue ocean,
In undulations lhythmically slow,
Through the hluc-misted air ol autumn lucid
I'urplo as Tynan tides, and interluscd
With incense odors of ull Bwcet shrubs
bruised
The splendid wide-winged maple leaflets
mellow!
Here still are buttercups, so silvery yellow;
And here sweet winter-green, with berries red.
And he io from nud ling head
The leathery dandelion soweth wide
Her venturous parachutes how light
They mount the breeze, and vanish trom the
sight!
And hoie low-couched abide,
And creeping soltly slide
Arbutus tendrils through the rustling grass,
Waiting for snows to pass,
To breathe once more the verdure of the
spring.
And here on wing
Come the sharp sparrows, and late robins sing
Their larewells. So, laiewe 1'
The light dull pass
From sky and vale und mountain
As from some spent and golden-watered
fountain.
So, larewell!
While through the meadow-grass
Cricket and restless midge and night-wings
rally
Their loi ces far and near,
And All the ear
With panlings ol soil plumes and rustlings
clear,
And music shrill aud high, through the lon
dushy valley.
W. M. Bi iiigs, in Harjier'i Magazine
Story of a Skeleton Skirt.
I was in the civil service at Rich
mond. Enough that I was there and
on honest business. That business done,
I prepared to return home. And there
by hangs this tale, and, as it proved,
the fate of the Confederacy.
For, of course, I wanted to take
presents home to my family. Very little
question was them what these presents
should be for I had no boys" or
brothers. The women of the Confed
eracy had one want which overtopped
all others. 'Vhey could make coffee out
of beans ; p.V.a they had from Columbus ;
straw hats they braided quite well with
their own fair hones; snuff we could
get better than you cot Id in the old
concern." Wu had no hoopskirts
skeletons, weused to call them. No in
genuity had made i hem. No bounties
Lad forced them. The Bat. the Grey
hound, the Deer, the Flora, the J. C.
Cobb, tho Varuna and the Fore-and-Aft
ail took in cargoes of them for us in
England. Cut tho Bat and the Deerand
the Flora were seized by the blockade n,
the J. (J. Cobb diuk at sea, tho Fore-
and-Aft and the Greyhound were set fire
to by their own crews, and Varuna was
never heard of. Then the State of
Arkansas offered sixteen townships of
swamp land to the first manufacturer
who would exhibit five gross of the
home-manufactured article. But none
ever competed. The first attempts, in deed,
were put to an end when Schofield
crossed the Blue Lick and destroyed the
dam on the Yellow branch, which that
brute of a Grierson said there was
never anything of it but the outside.
Of course, then, I put in the bottom
of my new large trunk in New York,
not a "duplex elliptic," for none were
then made, but a " Belmonte " of thirty
springs, for my.wife. I bought for her
mora-common wear a good " Belle-Fon-taine."
For Sarah and Susie each I got
two " Dumb-belles." For Aunt Eunice
and Aunt Clara, maiden sisters of my
wife, who lived with us after Winchester
fell the fourth time, I got the Scotch
Harebell," two of each. For my own
mother I got one " Belle of the Prairies"
and one " Invisible Combination Gos
samer." I did not forget good old
Mamma Chloo and Mamma Jane. For
them I pot substantial cages without
names. With these tied in the shape
of figure eights in the bottom of my
trunk, as I said, 1 put in an assorted
cargo of dry goods above, and, favored
by a pass, and Major Mulford's courtesy
on Hie flas-of-lruce boat, I arrived
safely at llichmond before the autumn
closed.
I was received at home with rapture.
But when, the next morning I opened
my stores, this became rapture doubly
enraptured. Words cannot tell the
silent delight with which old and
young, black and white, surveyed those
fairy-like structures, yet unbroken and
unmended.
Perennial summer reigned that
autumn day in that reunited family.
It n inncd the next day, and the next.
It would have reigned till now if the
Belmontes and the other things had
listed ns long as the advertisements
doclared.
I w.t3 up in the cedar closet one day
looking for an old parade cap of mine,
which, I thought, though it was my
thiid best, might look better than my
second best, which I had worn ever
since my best was lost at Seven Pines.
I say I was standing on the lower shelf
ol tho cedar closet, when, as I stepped
alonj in the darkness, my right foot
caught in a bit of wire, my left did not
give way in time, and 1 felt with a
small wooden hat box in my hand full
on the floor. The corner of the hat box
struck me just below the second frontal
Binus, and I fainted away.
When I came to myself I was in the
blue chamber: I had vinegar on a brown
paper on my forehead ; the room was
dark, and I found mother sitting by me,
g'.ad enough indeed to hear my voice
aud to know that I knew her. It was
sometime before I fully understood
what had happened. Then she brought
me a cup of tea, and I, quite refreshed,
said I must go to my office.
" Office, my child !" said she, " Your
leg is brol'.cn above the ankle; you will
not move these six weeks. Where do
you suppose you are?"
Till then I had no notion that it was
five minutes since I went into the closet.
When she told me the time five in the
afternoon I groaned in the lowest
deptiis. For in my breast pocket in
that innocent coat, which I could now
see h ing on the window-sill, were the
duplicate dispatches to Mr. Maso". for
which, late tho night before, I f'ad got
the secretary's signature. Tiijy were
to go at ten that morning co Wilming
ton, by the navy department's special
messenger. I had taken them to insure
care and certainty. I had worked on
them till midnight, and they had not
been signed till near one o'clock!
Heavens an 1 earth, and there it was
five o'clock! The man must be halfway
to Wilmington by this time. I sent the
doctor for Lef arge, my clerk. Lefarge
did his prettiest in rushing to the tele
graph. But no! A freshet on the
Chowan river, or a raid by Foster, or
something, or nothing, has smashed
the telegraph wire for that night. And
before that dispatch ever reached Wil
mington the navy agent was in the offing
in the Sea Maid.
"But perhaps the duplicate got
through P" No, breathless reader, the
duplicate did not get through. The du
plicate was taken by Faucon in the Ino.
1 saw it last week in Dr. Lieber's hands
in Washington. Well, all I know is
that if the duplicate had got through
the Confederate government would
have had in March a chance at 83,211
muskets, which, as it was, never left
Belgium. So much for my treading
into that blessed piece of wire on the
shelf of the. cedar ck3et upstairs.
" What was tho bit of wireP"
Well, it was not telegraph wire. If it
had been it would have broken when it
was not wanted to. Don't you know
what it was? Go up in your own cedar
closets and step about in the dark, and
see what brings up about your ankles.
Julia, poor child, cried her eyes out
about it. When I got well enough to
get up, and as soon as I could talk and
plan with her, she brought down seven
of these old things Belmontes, simplex
elliptics and horrors without a name
and she made a pile of them in the bed
room, and she asked me in the most
penitent way what she should do with
them.
" You can't burn them," she said,
fire won't touch them. If you bury
them in the garden they come up at the
second raking. If you give them to the
servants they say, ' Thank-e, missus,'
and throw them in the back passage. If
you give them to the poor, they throw
them into the street in front, and do not
say ' Thank-e.' Sarah sent seventeen
over to the sword factory, and the fore
man swore at the . boy, and told him he
would flog him within an inch of his
life if he brought any more of his sauce
there; and so and so," sobbed the poor
child, "I just rolled up the wretched
things and put them in the cedar closet,
hoping, you know, that some day the
government would want something, and
would advertise for them. You kaow
what a good thing I made out of the
bottle corks."
In fact she had sold our bottle corks
for $4,216 of the first issue. We after
ward bought two umbrellas and a cork
screw with the money.
Well, I did not scold Julia. It was
certainly no fault of hers that I was
walking on the lower shelf of her cedar
closet. I told her to make a parcel of
the things, and the first time we went
to ride 1 hove the wtioie shapeless heap
into the river.
But let no man think, or no woman,
that this was the end of the troubles.
As-1 look back on that winter, and on
the spring of 18(15, it seems to me onlv
the begimiiug. I got out oil crutches at
last; I had the office transferred to my
house, so that Lafarge and Hepburn
could work there at night and commu
nicate with me when I could not go out;
but mornings I hobbled up to the de
partment, and sat with the chief, and
took hia orders. Ah, met shall I soon
forget that damp winter morning, when
we all had such hope at the office P One
or two of the army fellows looked in at
the window as they ran past, and we
knew that they felt well ; and, though I
would not ask old Wick as we nick
named the chief what was in the wind,
I knew the time had come, and that the
lion meant to break the net this time. I
made an excuse to go home earlier than
usual; rode down to the house in the
major's ambulance, I remember, and
hopped in to surprise Julia with the
good news, only to find that the whole
house was in quiet uproar, which shows
that something bad has happened of a
sudden.
" What is it, ChloeP" said I, as the
old wench rushed by me with a bucket
of water.
" Poor Mr. George, I 'fraid he's dead,
sah."
And there he leally was, dear, hand
some, bright George Schaff the delight
of all the nicest girls of Richmond; he
lay there on Aunt Eunice's bed on the
grourd floor, where they had brought
him in. He was not dead, and he did
not die. He is making cotton in Texas
now. But he looked mighty near like
it then. The deep cut in his head was
the worst I had ever seen, and the blow
confused everything. When McGregor
got round be said it was not hopeless ;
but we were turned out of the room,
and, with one thing and another, he got
the boy out ol the swoon, and it proved
his head was not broken.
No, but poor George swears to this
day it was better it had been, if il could
only have been broken in the right way,
and on the right field. For that even
ing we heard that everything had gone
wrong in the surprise. There we had
been waiting for one of those early fogs,
and at last the fog had come. AndJu
bal Early had tha morning pushed out
every man he had that could stand, and
they lay hid for three mortal hour?,
within I don't know how near the
picket line at Fort Powhatan, only
waiting for the shot which John
Streight's party was to fire at Wilson's
whart, as soon as somebody on our left
center advanced in force on the enemy's
nne iiDove xursey lsiana, stretching
across to Nansemond. I am not in the
war department, and I forget whether
he was to advance en barbette or by
echelon of infantry. But he was to ad
vance somehow, and he knew how ; and
when he advanced, as you see, that
other man lower down was to rush iu,
and as soon as Early heard him he was
to surprise Powhatan, you see; and
then, it you have understood me. Grant
and Butler and tho whole rig of them
wouia uave Deen cut ou trom tuelr sup
plies, would have had to fiaht a battle
for which they were not prepared, with
their right made into a new left, and
their old left unexpectedly advanced at
at oblique angle from their center; and
would not that have been the end of
themP
Well, that never happened. And the
reason it never happened was that poor
George Schaff, with the last fatal order
for this man, whose name I forgot (ttie
same who was afterward killed the day
before at High Bridge), undertook to
save time by cutting across behind my
house, from Franklin to Green streets.
iou Know now much time he saved;
they waited all day for that order.
George told me afterward that the last
thing he remembered was kissing his
hand to Julia, who sat at her bedroom
window. He said he thought she m'ght
be the last woman he ever saw this Rid
of heaven. Just after that, it must have
been, his horse that white Meawn r
colt old Williams bred went over like
a log, and poor George was pitched
fifteen feet headforemost against a stake
there was in that lot. Julia saw the
whole. She rushed out with nil th
women, and had just brought him iu
when I got home. And that was the
reason that the gi-3at promised combin
ation of December, 1161, never came oil'
at all.
I walked out in the lot. after Mc
Gregor turned me out of the chamber,
to see what they had done with the
horse. There he lay, as dead as old
Messenger himself. His neck was
broken. And. do vou think. I looker! to
see what had tripped him. I supposed
it was one of tho boys' bandy holes. It
was no such thing. The poor wretch
had tangled his hind les in one of
those hoop-wires that Chloe had thrown
out when I gave her new ones. Though
I did not know it then, those fatal straps
of ruby steel had broken the neck that
day oi itonert Lee a army.
That time I made a row about it. I
felt too badly to go into a passion. But,
before the women went to bed they
were all in the sitting-room together I
talked to them like a father. I did not
swear. I had got over that for a while,
in that six weeks on my back. But I
did say the old wires were nuisances,
and that the house and premises must
be got rid of them. The aunts laughed
though I was so serious and tipped
a wink to the girls. The girls wanted
to laugh, but were afraid to. And then
it came out the aunts had sold their old
hoops, tied as ' tight as they could tie
them, in a great mass of rags. They
had made a fortune by the sale I am
sorry to say it was in other rags, but the
rags they got were new instead of old
it was a real Aladdin bargain. The
ragman had been in a hurry and did not
know what made the things so heavy.
I frowned at the swindle, but they said
all was fair with a peddler and I own
I was glad the things were well out of
Richmond. But when I Baid I thought
it was a mean trick, Lizzie and Sarah
looked demure, and asked what I would
have them to do with the old thines
Did I expect them to walk down to the
bridge themselves with great parcels to
throw into the river, as I had done by
Julia'sP Of course it ended, as such
things always do, by my taking the
work on my own shoulders. I told
the oi to tie ud all thev had in as small a
parcel as they could and bring them to
me.
Accordingly the next dav I found a
handsome brown-paper parcel not so
large, considering, and strangely square,
considering which the minxes had put
together ana laid on my otuce table.
They had a great frolio over it. They
had not spared red tape nor red wax.
Very official it looked, indeed, and on
the left hand corner, in Sarah's boldest
and most contorted band, was written
"secret service." We had a great laush
over their success. And, indeed, I
should havo taken it with me the next
time I went down to Tredegar, but that
, I happened to dine one evening with
young Norton, of our gallant little navy,
and a very curious thing he told us.
we were taming about the disap
pointment of the combined land attack.
I did not tell what upset poor Schaff's
horse ; indeed I do not think those navy
men knew the details of the disappoint
ment. O'Brien had told me in confi
dence, what I have written probably for
the first time now. But we were speak
irg in a general way of the disappoint
ment. jNorton uniBuea nis cigar rattier
thoughtfully and then Baid :
" Well, fellows, it is not worth while
to put it in the newspapers, but what do
you suppose upsetwour grand naval at
tack the day the tfkee gunboats skit
tled down the riveso handsomely P"
' Whv." said Allen, who ia Nnrtrm'H
best beloved friend, "thev sav that vou
ran away from thera as fast as they did
from you."
"Do tneyr" sat.t Jiorton, grimly.
" If you say that I'll break your head for
you. Seriously, men," continued he,
" that was an extraordinary thing. You
know I was oa the ram. But why she
stopped when she stopped I knew as
little as this wineglass does; and Cal
lender himself knew no more than 1.
We had not been hit. We were all
right as a trivet for all we knew, when,
skree! she began blowing off steam, and
we stopped dead and began to drift
down under those batteries. Callender
had to telegraph to the little Mosquito,
or whatever Walter called his boat, and
the spunky little thing ran down and got
us out of the scrape. Walter did right
well ; if he had had a monitor under him
he could not have done better. Of
course we all rushed to the engine
room. What were they a", thereP All
they knew was that they could get no
water into her boiler.
' Now, follows, this is the end of the
story. As soon as the boilers cooled
off, they worked all night on those sup-
ly pumps. May i oe hanged it tliey
ad not sucked in, somehow, a lona
string of yarn and cloth, and, if you
will believe me, a wire of some woman's
crinoline. And that French folly of a
sham empress cut short that day the
victory of the Confederate navy, and
old Davi3 himself can't tell when we
shall have a chance again."
The Diamond Fraud.
A New York correspondent of the
Troy Times writes : A view of metro
politan Hie, as atlorded by the advertis
ing columns, will give one a glimpse of
many strange features, some of which
are worthy of af.ention. Tho diamond
fraud for instance. This is still exten
sively advertised, and no doubt occa
sional hits are made, the bait beingf ound
in such notices as these :
A la ly must have $.280, and to raise said
amount will part with her diamonds, cost
$'400. I'leaso to call at once and inquire lor
advertiser at 150 East Thirty-third street.
A lady, whose diamonds and jowelry are in
pawn, is unubli to redcfcni them; will sell
tickets at sacrifice. Address Mrs. Ilivlia
Uptown olllce.
A lady having her valuable jewels in pawn
woma ijko some nonorauie eeutleman to te-
deom and hold lor a short time. Sirs. Sinclair.
A lady having in pawn valuable diamonds
and Jewelry, unable to redcom them, will sell
tickets. Mrs. l'aloott. Uptown olllce.
A lady having in pledge gold hunting watch
clnii a and diamond ring would like to dispose
ot tickets. Adlress Mrs. Lyman.
It need hardly be said that "tho ladv"
mentioned is merely the tool in the
hands of professed sharpers. The best
illustration of the method wa3 afforded
by the manner in which two Washing
ton market hucksters were fleeced.
They had a snug amount of surplus
funds and wished to mak a temporary
investment. Having noticed an adver
tisement of the above-mentioned charac
ter, they opened a correspondence and
were met by a "lady," wlio told a wo
ful tale. The diamonds were worth
$20,000, and had come from some royal
house. Could 5,000 be advanced it
would be only one-quarter their value.
and tho money could be raised on them
at any time. A diamond broker (so
called) then appeared, who solemnly
averred that Simpson the pawnbroker
would advance $10,0.10 on the jewels.
but his terms ("twenty-four per cent, per
annum; were too tiigu. ino lady ottered
to pay ten per cent., returnable on call.
lucre is no sliarper class 01 men tnan
Washington market hucksters, but
when taken off their usual traok they
are as weak as childhood. These men
fell readily into the snare, and advanced
3,uuu on wnat proved to be a mere
fraud. This revelation was made at the
police office where tho swindlers were
arraigned, but the cuarge failed for lack
of testimony, and the hucksters became
merely the object of ridicule. Not long
afterward a kind-hearted clergymen.
known as Father Zucker, fell into tho
same trap. He had some money, and
the moving appeal of a lady in distress
touched his Heart, iie responded to
the advertisement, was charmed and
affected by the tale of misfortune, and
advanced nearly a thousand dollars on
some paste diamonds which could be
bought for a trine.
Washington's Table.
A visitor to Governor's Island, in New
York harbor, says : As the writer looked
at the stand upon which his hand rested
he observed a quaint old table with
carved, crooKeu lees. i.ne tOD was
. -1 j m 1
square, except mat tuc sides were cut in
tor several incnes, iormmga neat curve,
so as to permit four men sitting around
it to 00 so wtcu greater comiort. It was
coverrd witu red cloth. Jiach corner,
however, was bare, to rest cards upon
for it was evidently a card table. In
front of each player there was an oval
shaoed hollow, or bowl, for holding
coins. This table had evidently been
used for poker playing, and the attend
ant was asked wnose table it was.
"It was the property of General
Washington," he said, "and was pre
sented by him to Judge Berrian, of Rocky
Hill, New Jersey, where the general
olten used it, we are informed, while on
visits during 1780 to I8J."
On this table appeared the name oi
Washington, each letter, representing a
neat scene from the life of the first Pres
ident. Upon the " V " appeared the
Home ol Washington at mount Vernon:
a likeness of Latayette in a standing at
tltUde was on me letter a . s ren-
resented Washington's headquarters at
INewburg; "n "me meeting of Wash
ineton and Lafayette ; "I" Washi
at Trenton ; " W ' his headquarters at
Arenton; " u ttie capitot at Washing-
wvu 1 s-w -.VMUIUbUl
completed, as it was at one tim m.
pected it would be ; " O " a battle scene,
and "N" the tomb at Mount Vernon.
All was executed with a pen, by Lieu
tenant J. Edward Blake, who wag
killed during the Mexican war.
TIMELY TOPICS.
A visit was paid to the house of com
mons recently by two giants, Cbanz, a
Chinese, eight and one-half feet in
height, and Von Brustad, a Norwegian,
eight feet four inches in height. They
were accompanied by Chee Mah, a
Chinese dwarf, about two feet in height.
The three distinguished strangera were
shown into the speaker's gallery, where
they remained for a while listening to
the debate.
The railroad between Vera Cruz and
the city of Mexico is said to be a marvel
of engineering. It ascends 7,600 feet,
4,700 in twenty-five miles. It passes
from hot to temperate, and from the
latter to the cold country. It spans
ravine?, scales precipices and plunges
through the bowels of mountains below ;
then up into the clouds again. To con
struct this line took thirty-six years,
forty presidents and one emperor.
Some of the French journals give very
flattering accounts of the progress of the
preliminary work on the tunnel which
is to connect Fran-e and England. It ia
stated that the shaft is sunk to the
stratum in which the tunnel is to be cut,
and that those engaged in the work are
about to sink another shaft, and to
lower the machinery for boring under
the channel. The work on the tunnel
is expected to be finished in two or
three years.
Bret Harte says : I never see here "in
Europe a woman toiling in the hot
fields, or a peasant working to reclaim
and fertilize a few yards of srerile moun
tain side, that 1 do not come home to
my room and abase myselt before the
tittle American nag mat Jiangs above
my head, and thank heaven that I live
in a republic where there are men
enough to piow and hoe and reap, and
which has room enough oa level ground
for all itj people.
The manufacture of bottle 'corks is a
considerable source of wealth in France.
The annual production amounts to
1,83.000.000. valued at about S3.100.0CO.
The value of the raw material is about
$600,000. The French government has
formed many plantations of the cork
oak in Algiers. Parts of the United
States are well adapted for the success
ful cultivation of the cork oak.
On the other side of Jordan is the
town of Salt, ascertained to be the an
cient Ramoth Gilead, containing a pop
ulation of about 8,000 nominal Chris
tians and Mohammedans. There are up
ward of 1.80O vineyards in this town
and neighborhood, and also large fields
ot corn land. It is a singular tact, as
credibly reported, that these people
know nothing of intoxicating drinks,
and make their grapes into raisins,
honey and a kind of sweetmeat called
mnban.
The American consul at Ganeva says
American beef and livestock have pene
trated as far as that region and the value
of choice cattle raised in large numbers
in Switzerland for Paris and the French
markets has been sensibly diminished
by the importation from America. Pre
servpd meals and fruits lrom the United
States are so well established and ad
vertised that they may be left to take
care ot themselves; but butter and
cheese could bo sold in much larser
quantities in central and southern Ea
rope and a profitable market for a more
nutritious brand of American flour
could be found.
Pins and a Woman's Dress.
Oar wife wants a new dre3s. After
two or three or a half dozen stores
have been ransacked for the goods tiie
dressmaker is sougut out. Hie matter
of measurement is tedious, and then the
matter of httin5i3 one of numerous and
repeated trials. Finally the dress is
nnisbed and sent liome. TUen it is
sent back to be taken in here and let
out there, and at last, after tho customer
has been htted more times for that one
dres? than her husband has been
measured in three or four vears, the
dress comes home lor the last time and
is pronounced by the wearer, her friends
and the dressmaker as a beautiful and
perfect fit, and it is finished.
lieautilul it certainly is, tar more
beautiful than anything her husband
ever wears. Colors, and materials.
stylo, blending shades and contrasting
bits of colors, are all in the perfection
of good taste. No man can improve
upon that. But. it isn't finished. When
it is completed as far as the skill of the
dressmaker can finish lt.and it is cut 011
it has to bo pinued somewhere ; some
times 111 two or tnree, otten in a na'.t-
dozen places. Leave out the pin and
the dress is all awry somewhere. On
all this broad continent there is not one
American woman who can dress so as to
make any kind ot an appearance in
society without pins.
Now, suppose our tailor should send
our suit home and on puling on the coat
we had to pin it in the neck? Or sup
pose there was no suspender-button att,
and we had to use pins there? Sup
pose he made our shirts so that we
would have to pin on the collar, how
long would a shirt or uch a suit of
clothes stay in the house? Who would
be responsible for the language used by
the man who had to pin his coat?
No tailor would care to so tempt the
wrath of an independent man. But
women alas I she patiently pins on the
dress that she paid some $30 or $40 to
make, and don't think anything about
il. We will not pursue this painful
subject. Let the women of America
think it up and think about it and learn,
in the noble independence of women
hood, to make their clothes before they
put them on. Burlington Uawkcyt,
Words of Wisdom.
There is nothing so sad as happiness
if uio BiguL 01 tue unnappy.
There is a past which is gone forever.
But there is a future which is still our
own.
A Christian is like a locomotive. A
firo must be kindied in the heart of it
Deiore it will go.
The gnarled and twisted oak ha s Its
counterpart in the narrowed and stunted
ID.1HO..
' The human mind In lit-n An InpririafA
on horseback prop itou one side and it
ia.ua on tue otuer.
What would be the state of the high-
ways of life if we did not driyt) our
tbought-sprinklers through them, with
vaivo uji?b, spiyeumes.
MURDER OF MME. SKOBELEFF.
Atrocious Inirrnflt urte nml Treachery
of a Yoiind ltumlan Officer.
The London Telegravh gives the fol
lowing details of the atrocious murder
of Mme. Skobeleff, mother of the dis
tinguished Russian general: Mme.
Skobeleff, during her two months' Btay
at Bulgaria, had devoted her time,
money nnd energies to the development
of benevolent institutions in different
parts of the principality, and had made
numerous excursions with that object,
refusing the escort of gendarmerie of
fered to her by the local authorities, on
the ground that she was too well known
throughout the country to run any risk
of molestation. During these expedi
tions she was only acccmpanied by a
young female attendant, by a faithful
and intelligent Russian man-servant
named Ivanoff, and by Captain Uzatis,
formerly her son's personal aide-decamp,
who had earned great distinction
by his splendid gallantry during the
late war, and whom she was accus
tomed to address as "her son." To
this young officer she had upon several
occasions presented considerable sums
of money for the purpose of enabling
one of his brother, a civil engineer, to
erect a mill in Demendere, a village
near Philippopolis, but had recently re
fused an application on his part for a
further gift, holding out, however, hopes
that she might grant the asked-for
subsidy at some future period.
Mme. H ccbelett Had Set tier neartupon
establishing a model farm in East Rou-
melia, and started by carriage from
Philippopolis for Tchirnan. witli tne ob
ject ol purchasing apieceof land suit
able to tne luinllment ot nor project,
taking with her 25,000 rubles, which
Captain Uzatis assisted her to pack up
in a valise. The money was destined to
pay for her purchase. To avoid the in
tolerable heat of the summer sun, she
commenced her journey at nine o'clock
r. m , accompanied by her usual attend
ants, with the exception of Uzatis, who
excused himself, alleging indisposition
and the necessity of remaining with his
brother, who was also on the eve of de
parture from Philippopolis. For about
Halt an hour s drive, alter quitting tue
town, Mme. Skobelefrs carriage was
closely followed by a vehicle containing
Mme. omoiekoit, ttie directress ot tne
Philippopolis hospital, and a Russian
officer named Petroff; but the two car
riages separated at Kemer, close to a
stone bridgo over the Maritza, on the
road to Adrianople. Mme. Skobeleff's
carriage had proceeded a lew hundred
yards further, when Ivanhoff', who was
seated on the box by thecoachman.espied
Captain Uzatis a little distance oli by
the roadside, and, turning round toward
his mistress, wtio, in ttie meantime bad
lailen into a doze, awoke lier with the
announcement that the captain was ap
proaching the carriage on loot. The old
lady ordered the coichman to stop, and,
leaning outot the window, wascxpress-
ina her thanks to Uzatis for the trouble
ho had taken t o wish her goodspeed on
her journey, when he suddenly drew his
hand-jar and cut Ivanoff down. At the
same moment four armed men made
their appearance and fell upon the at
tendants with their yataghans. While
they were slaughtering the Bulgarian
driver and Mme. Skobeleff's maid-
upon the former of whom they inflicted
lourteen wounds, and upon the latter
four terrific slashes, each of which was
sufficient to cause death Uzatis elelib-
erately butchered his aged benefactress,
despite her piteous appeals tor mercy
and despairing offers of all her money
and valuables if only he would spare her
lite, lie lurusttns broad-Diaded cimeter
completely through her body, killing
her on the spot, and then proceeded to
plunder the corpse, white his accom
pliues broke open the trunks and rifled
them of their valuable contents. Mean
while, Ivanoff' lny still, feigning death.
He had received eight severe wounds,
but, when the murderers made off with
their booty, he contrived to crawl away,
and, alter incredible exertions, during
which he lost so much blood
that he repeatedly fainted, reached
the Russian consulate at Philippopalis
about midnight, when he related the
horrors of which lie had b'3en a witness
A detachment of cavalry was at onco
dispatched to Demendere. whither
Uzatis had betaken himself, having pre
viously returned to rliuippopolis lor
the purpose ol changing his clothes and
concealing hia weapons. He and one of
his fellow-assassins were in the mill
belonging lo his brother when he per
ceiveel the militia squadron approach
ing. Forthwith they took hurse and
walloped off toward the Turkish fron
tier, but found the high road occupied
by a section of infantry, the officer com
maudiug which summoned them to
surrender. Dismounting they fled up a
hillside and took reluge in a narrow
glen, where thev defended themselves
for some minutes with their revolvers
against the soldiers pursuing them
Presently, however, seeing himself sur
rounded on every side, Uzatis put the
muzzle of his piste i in his mouth and
blew out his brain . liis companion
was captured alive, as were later on tue
other three rutuana who snared in 111.
atrocious enterprise, lho valise con
t
aining the stolen money has not as yet
J. J 1 1 .1 Ol U I iy
been discovered. Madam Skobelt-ff's
body, embalmed by order of the Rus
sian consul-general, was conveyed to
ot. Petersburg via uonstantinopie and
Odessa.
United in Death.
An aged husband and his old wife
went hand in hand to tho gate of death
This touching incident is narrated by
theOskaloosa Herald: Mr. and Mrs.
Dickson, for convenience in attendance
durins their illness, were placed in sep
arate bedrooms. J. he heads ot the beds
were placed asainst a thin partition.
which having an open door, permitted
the old people to converse, though not
able to see each other.
The night before the husband died
his wife heard him groaning and was
very anxious to be with him, but was
unable to rise. Soon she was informed
that he waa dying, and in order to be
near him the beds weie moved so as to
bring them parallel with the partition,
the heads opposite tue door.
This done, the fond wife reached out
her hand, grasped her husband by the
hand,-and held it during his last mo
ments. Thus death found them, as
fifty-one eara before the marriage cere-
1 1 1 : 1, .1
mony leit mem, juiuuu unuu 111 uauu.
It was a simple aud affectionate token
oi the love of a long life, and the day
following the wife, too, tolded her arms
in the sleep of death.
William M. Evarts' professional in
come is estimated at from $75,000 to
$100,000 a year.
What I Lore.
I love the plowman's whistle,
The reaper's cheerful song,
The drover's olt-repeated shout,
Spurring hiB stock along;
The bustle ol the market man,
As he hies him to the town,
The hallo lrom the tree-top
As the ripening trait comes down;
Tho busy sound of the threshers,
As they clean the ripened grain;
Tho husker's joke and eatoh of glee
'Neath the moonlight on the plain;
The kind voice ol the drayman,
The shepherd's gentle call
These sounds oi pleasant industry,
I love I love them all.
Yonlh't Companion.
ITEMS OF INTEREST.
A shooer thing A woman chasing a
hen.
Men of letters Postal clerks and
sign painters. Marathon Independent.
Farmers have learned that it takes the
best of soil to raise a mortgage.
It requires eighteen barrels of ice
water daily to supply the fountain in
the New York postolliee.
About one hundred thousand watche
are sold every month in this glorious
country ot hours. js cw 10m jxewa.
Mr. Bereh is coins to give his atten
tion to the bull and bear fight in Wall
street. He pays much cruelty is practiced
there. Puck.
Artificial egg hatching is a fashionable
garden amusement in London. The
eggs nro hatched in nests of hay and
STietland wool, heated by hothouse
pipes.
The total number of seals taken on
the west coast of Vancouver island,
Washineton Territory, during this sea
son, was over 20,000, of which the value
would bo $180,000.
The St. Paul and Pacific elevator at
Minneapolis has been seriously damaged
by a peculiar worm that perforates the
boards and lets tho wheat down as if
running through a sieve.
The fact that a quarter of beef can
not be kept for a few hours in warm
weather without spoiling is considered
by the London Tinu s to be a reproach
to science, there being known no easily
applicable way of preventing it.
There is on exhibition at Oakland,
Cul., a sea serpent or shark-fighter. It
has a head a little larger than a cat's,
and its mouth is armed with strong,
glittering teeth. The body is about six
feet long, and tap ers to a point an inch
in diameter. J twas caught outside 01
the Heads.
A folding-chair factory in Newburg,
N. Y., is a monument to the pluck and
sagacity of its owner, who, though he
is totally nana, and uas Deen ior many
years, and had nothing to start on, has
built up an establishment which now
cmplojs fifty hands and sends goods to
all parts of the country.
The floatine store on Tillamook bay,
Oregon, is a novelty as well as a con
venience. It consists of a boat about
sixty by twenty, with a cabin the entire
size, well filled with a stock of grocer
ies. In this they sail around the nay,
putting in at the settlements, and fur
nishing the people with what they want
in the way ol groceries. .
In the villazo of Guta-Zabolotsk, o
the Volinsk province, Russia, a number
of bojs were bathing in a liver, when a
she wolf suddenly sprang on one of
them and disappeared with him in the
woods. Alarmed by outcries of the
boys some peasants hastened up and
made a thorough search in the woods,
but eliscovered only the clean-picked
bones of tho little victim.
The First Stars and Stripes.
Not long since a correspondent ot the
New York Mail gave an intfresting
account of the history of the United
Suites flag, in which account it was
st ated that the first stars and stripes ever
flung to the breeze were unfurled in tho
battle ot Saratoga. September a, 17 a.
This is a mistake that needs correcting.
The honor of unfurling the first star-
spansled banner belongs to the garrison
of FJrt Stan wix, the site of which fort
is now the site of Rome, irom Pom
roy Jones' "Annals of Oneida County "
we glean that at tho beginning ot the
siege ot ort stanwix, August s, iu.
Colonel Gansevoort's garrison was with
out a Hag. Military pride, indeed every
sense of propriety, would not allow
them to dispense with an appendaire 00
proper to a beieagured lortress. .neces
sity being the mother of invention,
shirts were cut up to form the white
stripes, bits of scarlet cloth were joined
for the red and tue blue ground for the
stars was composed of a camlet cloak
lurnished by Uartam Aorauam owari
wiut.of Poughkeepsie, an officer of the
garrison. This sa.ne camlet cloak was
taken from a detachment of the British
at Peekskill bv Colonel Marinus Willett,
in the spring of 1770, he being then in
1 A i . 1 . 'i,:J V.i ... V . ii- Ir fit rim
UU111LUUUU Ul LUC 1UIIU lien a. v.. ii i .
ment, to which Captain Swartwout be
longed. There is glory in the flag ot our
Union, and the honor of first unfurling
it to the brezi belongs to the gallant
garrison of Fort Stanwix. which tought
under that Has on the sixtli of August,
1777, a day the events of which con
tributed more to the independence of the
United States than is generally under
stood. Jtonie (AT. .) Sentinel.
Scientific Hunting
A man who belonged to a village riflo
team was recently out on the plains of
Wvomins Territjrv looking for game.
Finally the party sighted an elk at 700
yards and prepared to shoot him. He
was a noble buck, ino memoer oi tue
rifle team put a blanket down among
the sage brush and artistically placer!
himself upon his back, with his left
arm like a figure 2, supporting his neck,
and liia right arm like a figure 7, sup
porting the aft end of the rifie. The
measure of the wind waa taken, and
the sights were scientifically adjusted
while the expert made a figure 8 with
his leva and rested the rifle's bow be
tween the toes of his shoes. The meas
ure oi his forefinger was now taken by
a patent machine, and the trigger waa
hied on slightly on the near side in
order to be adjusted to the weight of the
finger. Two men were then sent out to
put flags each aide of the elk to show
the bounds outside which the rifle team
ster waa not to tire; but tho elk thought
it had waited long enoucb. and r&u
away.