iff ft! fil 0HlS'SSR.' MMtfi B. F. SCHWEIEE, THE COITSTITTmOS-THE THflOl-AlID THE EHTOECEHETT OF THE LAWS. Editor and Proprietor. VOL. XXXII. MIFFLIKTOWX, JUNIATA COUNTY, PENNA., WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 187S. NO. 8. LITTLE KISS SN0WFLAX8. L ttle Miss SmwtUie came to town. All draoaod up in her braud Dew gown. And n jbody looked so fresh and (air An little Mias Snowflake, 1 do declare ! Oat of a fleecy e'oud she stepped, V here all the rest of her family kept As close together as beea can swarm. In readiness (or a big snowstorm. Eat little Mies Snowflake cooldnt wait. And sue wanted t come in a greater state, For she tuought that her beauty would neTer be known If she came in a crowd so she came alone. All alone from t'.ie great blue sky Where cloudy Teasels went ecudd ng by, With sails all set, on their w.y to meet The larger ship of the snowy fleet. She was Terr tired but ahe couldn't stop On tall church spires or chimney top; All the way from her bright abode Down to the dust of a country road ! There she rested, all out of breath. And there she epeedily met her death. And nobody could exactly tell The spot where little Hiss Snowflake felL The Ghost Robber. On a fine evening in the spring of 830, a stranger, mounted on a noble looking horse, passed slowly over the snow-white limestone road leading through the Black Forest. Just as the gun was going to rest for the day, when the gloomy shadows were beginning to stalk, he drew rein, as he said : "This must be near the spot, surely. I'll stop here, anyhow, for a while, and see what I can learn." He thereupon dismounted and entered the parlor of the inn, where he sat down beside a small table. "How can I serve you, meinheer?" said the lanuloru. "See to my horse outside," replied the guest carelessly, but at the same time eyeing the landlord from head to foot ; "and let me have some wine Rhine will do." The landlord was turning to with draw from the stranger's presence, when he stopped and said : "Which way, uieiuheer, do you travel !"' "To Xanstadt," replied the guest. "You will rest here to-night, 1 sup pose," continued the landlord. "I will stay here for two or three hours, but I must then le off, so as to reach my destination there in the morn ing. I am going to purchase lumber for the market." "And 3-011 have considerable money with you, no doubt?" asked the land lord innocently. "Yes, considerable," replied the guest, sipping at his wine, disinterest edly. . "Then, if you'll take my advice," said the landlord, "you'll stay here till morning." "Why?" replied the stranger, look ing up curiously. "Because?" whispered the landlord, looking around as if he were disclosing a great secret, aud was afraid of being heard bv somebody else, "every man that passed over the road between this and Xanstadt at midnight, for the last ten years, has been robbed or murdered under very singular circumstances, "What were the circumstances?" asked the stranger, putting down his glass empty, and preparing to fill it again. "Whv vou see," the landlord went on, w hile he approached his guest's table and took a seat, "I have spoken with several who have been robbed; all I could learn from them is that they remember meeting in the lonesome part of the wood, something that looked white and ghastly, and that frightened their horses so hat they either ran awav or threw their riders; they felt a choking sensation and a sort of smoth triug, and finally died, as they thought, but awoke in an hour or so to find them selves lying by the roadside, robbed of everything. "Indeed," ejaculated the stranger, looking abstractedly at the rafters In the ceiling, as though he was more in tent upon counting them than he was interested in the landlord's story. The innkeeper looked at him inaston ishment. Such perfect coolness he had not w ituessed for a long time. "You will remain then ?" suggested the landlord, after waiting some time for his guest to speak. "I?" cried the stranger, starting from his fit of abstraction, as thougl: he was not sure that he was the person addressed. "Oh, most certainly not; I'm going straight ahead, ghost or no ghost, to-night." Half an hour later, the stranger and a guide, called Wilhelm, were out on the road, going at a pretty round pace toward Xanstadt. During a flash of lightning the stranger observed that his guide looked very uneasy about something, and was slackening his horse's pace as though he intended to drop behind. "Lead on," cried the stranger, "don't be afraid." "I'm afraid I cannot," replied the person addressed, continuing to hold his horse in until he was now at least a lensth behind his companion. "My horse is cowardly and unmanageable in a thunderstorm. If you will go on though, I think I can make him follow close enough to point out the road. The stranger pulled up instantly. A strange light gleamed in his eyes, while his hand sought his breast pocket, from which he drew something. The guide saw the" movement and stopped also. "Guides shoul lead, not follow," said the stranger, quietly, but with a firm ness which seemed to be exceedingly unpleasant to the person addressed "But," faltered the guide, "my horse won't go." "Won't he?" queried the stranger. with mock simplicity. The guide heard a sharp click, and saw something gleam in his compan ion'! right hand. lie seemed to under stand peefectly, for he immediately drove his spurs into his horse's flanks, and shot ahead of his companion with out another word. He no sooner reached his old position, however, than the stranger saw him give a sharp turn to the right and then disappear, as though he had vanished through the foliage of the trees that skirted the road. He heard the clatter of his horse as he galloped off. Without waiting an other instant, be touched his horse lightly with the reins, gave him a prick with the rowels, and off the noble animal started like the wind in the wake of the flying guide. The stranger's horse being much superior to the other's, the race was a short one, and terminated by the guide being thrown nearly from his saddle by a heavy hand which was laid upon his bridle, stopping him. He turned in his seat, beheld the stranger's face, dark and frowning, and trembled violently as he felt the smooth, cold barrel of a pistol pressed against his cheek. 'This cursed beast almost ran away with me," cried the guide, composing himself as well as he could under the circumstances. Yes, I know." said his companion dryly, "but mark my word, young man, if your horse plays such tricks again, he'll be the means of seriously injuring his master's health." They both turned and cantered back to the road. When they reached it again, and turned the heads of their animals in the right direction, the stranger said to his guide, in a tone which must have convinced his hearer as to his earnestness : 'Xow. friend Wilheim, 1 hope we understand each other for the rest of the journey. You are to continue on ahead of me, in the right road, with out swerving either to the right or left. If I see you do anything suspicious, I will drive a brace of bullets through you w ithout a word of notice. Xow push on." The guide had started as directed, but it was evident from his muttering that he was alarmed at something be sides the action of his follower. In the meantime the thunder had in creased its violence, and the flashes of lightning had become more frequent aud more blinding. For awhile the two horsemen rode on in silence, the guide keeping up his directions to the letter, while his fol lower w atched his every movement as a cat would a mouse. Suddenly the guide stopped and looked behind him. Again he heard the click of the stranger's pistol and saw his uplifted arm. 'Have mercy, meinheer," ho groaned, "I dare not go on." I give you three seconds to go on," replied the stranger, sternly. "One!" "lu Heaven's name, spare," implored the guide, almost overpowered with fear, "look before me in the road, and you will not blame me." The stranger looked. At first he saw something white standing motion less in the ceuter of the road, but pres ently a flash of lightning lit up the scene, and he saw that the white figure was indeed ghastly and frightful enough looking to chill the blood iu the veins of even the bravest man. If his blood chilled for a moment, there fore, it was not through any fear that he felt for his ghostly interpreter, for the next instant he set his teeth hard, while he whispered between them just loud enough to be heard by his terror- stricken guide : "Be it man or devil ! ride it down I'll follow. Two!" With a cry of despair upou his lijs the guide urged his horse forward at the top of his speed, quickly followed by the stranger, who held his pistol ready in his hand. . . In another instant the guide would have swept past the dreadful spot, but at that instant the report of a pistol rang through the dark forest, and the stranger heard a horse gallop off through the woods riderless. Finding himself alone, the stranger raised his pistol, took deliberate aim at the ghostly murderer, and pressed his finger upon the trigger. The apparition approached quickly, bnt in no hostile attitude. The stranger stayed his hand. At length the ghost addressed him in a voice that was any thing but sepulchral : "Here, Wilhelm, ye move out of your perch this minute and give me a helping hand. I've hit the game while on the wing, haven't I?" The stranger was nonplussed for a moment, but recovering himself, he grumbled something unintelligible aud leaped to the ground. One word to his horse and the brave animal stood per fectly still. By the snow-white trap pings on the w ould-be ghost he was next enabled to group his way in the dark toward that individual, whom he found bending over a black mass, about the size of a man, on the road. As the tiger pounces upon bis prey, the stranger leaped upon the stooping figure before him, and bore it to the ground. "I arrest you in the King's name, cried the straneer. erasping his prisoner by the throat and holding him tieht. "Stir hand or foot until I have you properly secured, and I'll send vour soul to eternity." This was such an unexpected turn of affairs that the would-be ghost coul' hardly believe his own senses, and was handcuffed and stripped of his dagger and pistol before he found time to sneak. "Are you not my Wilhelm " he frasned. "Xo, landlord," replied the individ ual addressed, "I am not. But I am an officer of the King, at your service, on special duty, to do what I have to night accomplished. Your precious son Wilhelm, whom you thought was leading an innocent sheep totheslaugh ter, lies In the road, killed by his father's hand." Two week's later, at Bruchsale Prisor, in Baden, the, landlord of the sign of the Deer and the Ghost of the Kobber of the Black Forest, who was the same identical person, having been proven guilty of numerous fiendish murders and artfully contrived robberies, com mitted at different times in the Black Forest, paid the penalty of his crimes by letting fall his head from the ex ecutioner's ax, since when traveling through Schwartzwald has not been so perilous to life and purse, nor has there been seen any Ghostly Knight of the Road in that section of the world. The London Vast Has. There he goes ! A dusky gloom hangs over the roofs of great London City; a similar gloom fills my room and seems to have touched all the furniture with smoky age, and aa I look down from the window into the gloomy street, I see him coming along slowly, and crying in a voice like a plea for help in afflic tion: "Dust-oh! dust-oh! dust-oh! dust-oh." When the London fog is gray we can not see him very far off, for he, too, is gray from head to foot with ash dust, and as he approaches us he come's out of the mist like a phantom, though in reality he is a substantial, square-built, deep-chested fellow, shod with enor mous Blucher shoes (the soles of which are bright with nails,) aud clad in a loose blouse, and trousers that are tied up about the knees. The blouse is open at the chest, and is lifted to the waist by his big, brown hands, which are tucked iu bis trouser pockets, and his head is covered by the kind of bat that sailors call a sou'wester. H is only orna ment is a pair of earrings; and with his head thrown back he saunters along the street by the side of his cart, repeating in measured tones his cry,"Dust-oh-oh ! dust-oh !" Xow and then he stops at a house. and his mate he has a mate who la as much like him as pea is like pea de- scends in the cellar, bringing forth the ashes aud refuse that have accumulated In 24 hours, aud when the cart, which is a square, box like affair, is filled he starts for home with his load. What a queer borne it is ! It Is on the outskirts of the city, far away from the finer streets and buildings. A large space of ground is as gray and dusty as an Africau or Western desert, and is broken by mounds of ashes, some of which are only a few feet high, while others are almost as high as houses quite as high, in fact, as the dismal little shanties on the edge of tbereser ration in which the dust man and his fellows live. Other carts and other dust men are constantly coming and going, dumping one load and then re turning to the city for another, and as soon as a load is dumped it is attacked by a crowd of nien, women and children who with shovels, rakes and hooks, turn it over and over, aud raise stifling clouds of dust. The reader may think that the collec tions made by the dust man are valueless but such is not the case. There are more than 300,000 inhabited houses in London consuming more than 3,500,000 tons of coal a year, and be sides the ashes of this great quantity of fuel, the dust man gathers the other refuse of the house. He la employed by a contractor, who agrees with the corporation to remove the ashes, etc., out of the city, and the contractor divides every load into six parts, as follows: Soil, or fine dust, which is sold to brick makers for making bricks and to farmers for manure; brine ,or cinders sold to brick makers for burning bricks rags, bones and old metals, sold to mar ine store dealers; old tin and iron vessels sold to trunk makers for clamps; bricks, oyster and other shells, soil for foundations and road building; and old boots and shoes, sold to manufacturers of Prussian blue. Sometimes much more valuable things than these are found, and the reader may remember the romance that Charles Dickens made out of a London dust man " Our Mutua1 Friend." Origin of Lynch Law In Campbell county, Va., on the Roanoke River (then called Staunton River), during the Revolutionary War, when there were some Tories of obnox ious character still remaining in the country not reachable by any statutory law, Col. Charles Lynch, supported by Capt. Robert Adams, his brother-in-law, both farming on adjoining planta tions, and Calloway, determin ing to rid the country of such danger ous enemies, seized on different occa sions three of the worst men, tied them to a tree and flogged them so severely as to prompt an unceremonious depart ure from the State, as they were order ed. This sort of procedure on the part of Lynch and his friends, proving so ac ceptable in Campbell county, was quick ly followed in other counties, where loyalty to King George sometimes pro voked summary punishment, and it was called "Lynch law," and has been to this day. The snatch of an old song of fhe time is still repeated in that neighborhood : "Hnah for rapt. Bib. CoL Lynch and Calloway: Kevt-r let a Tory res'- uu ne cnes out -1.1 uercy : John Lynch, the brother of Charles Lynch, was the founder of Lynchburg ; oulv a few of their descendants are now living none in Virginia bearing the family name, so far as Is known, the last of the males, Charles nenry Lynch, and his brother, John Pleasant, having died in Campbell county since the war of secession; their sister, Mrs. Dearing, and her daughter, Mrs. Faunt Le Roy, now occupy the old homestead, where still remaius the stump of the walnut tree to which three tories were tied and whipped life was never taken. Webster, in bis unabridged Diction ary, says of "Lynch law" that it was the "practice of punishing men for crimes or offenses by private, unauthor ized persons, without a legal trial. The term is said to be derived from a Vir ginia farmer named Lynch who thus 00k the law into his own hands." The Rhode island General Assem bly has under consideration the erec tion of a new State House at Provi dence. Auction sale of Coffins. Auctioneer D.xon, of Milwaukee, was a happy mortal when an under taker's stock was sold on execution and he was engaged as auctioneer. The stock was large, but his wealth of resources was larger, and the long faced, solemn-limned countenances of the handlers of coffins and palls were soon as radiant with smiles as a five-year-old in his first pair of boots. "How much am I bid for these name plates? Can be sold for double the price to serve as insignia of office J And these silvered nail-heads could be converted into buttons. How much am I bid for the lot?" "Xow here's a fine rosewood case, medallion cover, swell top, ample enough for any man or woman in the county. An ornament to any one's store, gentlemen, aud when you die you will find that a plain pine case will cost you more!" "Why I went to look one out for my self last week and was asked $130 for one just like that." "I'll sell you one for $40," cried an undertaker." "Yes, $140; I knew that you couldn't sell one for less than that. Xow, how any one can stand here with a tew flimsy greenbacks in his pocket and pass the opportunity to provide for him self and f Jinily, is more than I can com -prebend." An hour's talk in this vein ended In "gone to Mr. Zander for $6." A fine black cloth casket with silver moldings was knocked do wn to the same biJder for (16. Tne silent agents of the city of the dead were as vociferous as a crowd at a mock-auction, and Dix-m secured fair prices. The creditors were joyful that they were so we!l rid of the lot. Twas old stock, surely, but the purchasers deemed it the best of merchandise. They would never be bored for donations to fairs, since no ouc could be persuaded to pur chase a ticket, no matter how attractive the post-mortem furniture may be. The cut aud fit of the overcoat wonld never be criticized by the wearers, and there were other features that commended themselves to the sad-eyed' buyers. Camp Life of RumUb Ami 7 Officers. The life of the Kua.an officer, as 1 ave been able to observe here, away from the glitter of parades and the ex citement of battles is occupied chiefly by routine duty, tea drinking, smoking and card and billiard playing, propor tionately In the order named. The duty seems bard and tedious, but to some Americans it would seem iiarder to drink five or six large tumblers of tea three or four times a day. The "dentchlks" (officials) do nothing but attend to the making of tea and their masters' pipes all day. Every t.me the officer returns to bis quarters tea must be prepared and the long-stemmed pipes ready to light, not only for himself, but for any number of guests he may bring with him. The tobacco used is always cf Turk'sh brands, or at least sold as such. The Ukraine is a tobacco- producing province, but the leaf cannot be enjoyed by anybody be side the Ukraine people, with their horse-constitutions. It would be the height of imprudence for anybody with weak Iung3 to ride in a smoking car iu this region, even for half a day, for fear of suffocation, and a corpse exposed to the action of the smoke of Ukraine tobacco would be converted into a mummy iu twenty-four hours. A Clerical Caster. The minister iu question was of the Presbyterian variety, and presided over a Nashville congregation. On second thoughts, it is perhaps better to have him reside at Knoxville, the latter being a more remote and quiet town. His name was Hancock, but In order to spare his feelings, his name shall not be men tioned here, and he shall be vaguely de scribed as a Tennessee minister. Thus courtesy and strict veracity can be com bined, and it has often been suggested that in the treatment of quite a large class of subjects this combination might be advantageously introduced Into jour nalism. Closely connected with the minister was a combined elder and grocer. That is to say he sold groceries six days in the week and acted as elder on Sunday. There are those who would prefer to say that he groced and elde 1 on week days and Sundays respectively, but they would thereby furnish a conspicu ous rxample of the folly of treating the English language as though it were a regular and well-disciplined tongue, instead of a mob of words ruled by prejudice instead of law. One would naturally suppose that if a buyer is one ho buys and a preacher one who preach s, a grocer would be one who groces and an elder one who elds, but the supposition would be erroneous, This shows the folly of attempting to impose grammatical pipe-clay upon the free corps of the English vocabulary. But to resume. The Tennessee elder was a thrifty man and a liberal one. To be at once liberal and economical was the study of his life, aud by a happy expedient of combining his sugar with sand and his tea with sawdust, he was able to give his customers liberal measure and to make a handsome profit. On Christmas day the annual donation party took place, and the elder deter mined to give his pastor a handsome present. Xot icing an advertisement in a Chicago paper which offered magnlfl cent silver-plated casters for one dollar each, he bought a caster, for the pur pose of presenting it to the minister as a feeble token of his friendship and ad miration. He knew that the minister would be tempted to measure his elder's friendship by the value of his gilt, and he therefore felt that by affixing to the caster a tag marked $14 he would add to the good man's pleasure without directly incurring the guilt of lying. Accordingly, he prepared the delusive tag, and, sending the caster to the parsonage, felt that he had been un precedentedly liberal and successfully economical. Xow, it had happened that eighteen other members of the minister's congre- gatlon had also seen the Chicago adver tisement, and had presented their pastor with magnificent silver-plated casters though without tags, When, therefore, among the dazzling array of nineteen distinct casters the elder's gift flaunted its insignificant legend, the eighteen other givers felt indignant. Had they been wise In their generation, they would have kept quiet, and received credit for having expended fourteen dollars each for every caster; but they were strictly honest people, and they disliked the elder, whose sugar, they Insisted, coutained more sand than the Interior of the average Tennesseau really requited. They therefore lost no time in acquaiu'.ing the pastor with the elder's little game if that expression can without impropriety be used in con nection with an elder. The astute min ister received the Information with a sweet, sad smile, but forbore to express any opinion upon the subject beyond suggesting that some one might have cheated tne elder by selling him a caster for an extravagant price. This took place on Christmas evening, and at about 3 o'clock the next after noon the minister, carrying a small package, entered the elder' grocery. Upward of a dozen leading citizens were at that precise moment engaged in spitting on die grocery stove aud ex changing other social amenities. In their presence the good pastor thanked the elder for his noble gift, aud ex plained that while there were few things in this world that gave him more real comfort than a caster, be could not but fej that, with a world full of suffering all around him, a conscientious man ought not to own more than eighteen casters. He had, therefore, as he went on to say, brought back the elder's nineteenth caster, and desired to exchange it for $10 worth ef groceries. This would be equivalent to placing at least $4 in the ha.ids of the elder, be sides the usual profit upon the $10 worth of groceries. As to the precise nature ot the groceries, he would not presume to dictate, but would simply suggest that eggs and hams would bring joy to bis humble parsonage. In the presence of the dozen leading citizens the elder could not refuse so reasonable a request. He received the caster iu silence, and ordered his boy to put up $10 worth of hams and fresh eggs. The pastor thanked him, and after urging him to call at the parson age, aud hiutiug that possibly he might be willing to sell him twoor three more casters at the same rate, took his de parture. That night the elder kicked the family cat completely through the window, administered a severe course of apple-tree switch to his two boys, on the ground that they had surreptitious y visited the circus in July, 1873, and iu several other ways led his wife to sup pose that he had received news of the failure of some missionary enterprise. or was burdened with the fear that heresy was making progress in the Presbyterian Church. Ureanis. A great deal of superstition prevails. even at the present day, in connection with dreams, and we cauuothope to re move it until a scientific explanation is forthcoming. Whole volumes might be written descriptive of the phenomena of dreaming, and the facts would be so varied and of so contradictory a charac ter that we should be no nearer a con clusion. The accepted hypothesis is that sleep is simply a condition of unconscious ness iu which there are zones of oblivi ousness ranging from simple drowsi ness to complete abstraction. There is no proof that dreams occur during sound sleep, but, 011 thecontrary, there are many reasons for concluding that they begin in the state of slight slum ber, when some of the faculties are, it may be, in full work. At the same time, there are many indications dream ing is not impossible in the soundest sleep; but possibly the most startling phenomenon is the fact that dreams are generally retrospective. " The popular explanation of a dream is that the sleeer has been roused to a state of semi-consciousness by some ex ternal impression, such as a noise. Thus one may experience a vivid conception of a series of events leading up to the report of a pistol, and yet, so far as we know, the report of the pistol may be the last link of the chain the exciting cause of the dream. If this be so, we are compelled to believe that dreams are either retrospective or instantaneous ; we must assume that the "sleeper" has apprehended scenes antecedent to the report of the pistol, which, indeed, forms the last link in a con netted chain of events, or we must conclude that the dream has passed through the mind as a picture or panorama before the eyes at the same time as the report aroused he dreamer. It is probably unusual for all the per ceptive faculties to lie dormant at the same time, and there is little doubt that the majority of dreams that haunt our semi conscious moments are produced by external causes. The sent-ory nerves, for instance, are generally re sponsive to excitations from without, aud the pictures viewed by the mind, as it were in a flash, may have been es tablished in moments of consciousness The study of the phenomena, how ever, shows that dreams are based eith er on thoughts that have occurred in moments of conscousuess, arranged, it may be, in a very unexpected manner, or are the products of a morbid mental or nervous state, and in the latter case are symptoms which should not be neg lected by the physician. Dreams, of course, sometimes "come true," and in those cases it is very difficult to shake the belief of the subject; but it is obvi ous that if a man dreams frequently, and sees in a mental vision those scenes he has previously depicted when awake, some of them will in all probability, occur. It would, therefore, be absurd to be alarmed, or regard with supersti tious dread the possible occurrence of events that may never happen, or that may have been clearly foreseen In mo ments of consciousness. Liks Cores Like. The late Alexandre Grallhe, whose rem airs were brought to New Orleans from Europe on the steamship Xurem berg, had a singular and rather unplea sant experience on the field of honor in bis younger days. Like all adventu rous young Frenchmen, forty years ago he could not avoid involvement in some of those numerous personal affairs which were then so frequent between Frenchmen and fiery young Creoles. With two very promluent and gallant gentlemen of the latter race, Mr. Grailhe became engaged in controver sies which led to meetings ou the field of honor. In the first instance the duel was fought with swords, and the unfor tunate Frenchman was run through the body, and not only suffered greatly from his wound, but exhibited for year afterward the effect of the injury in a certain inclination of his body, which was not natural, owing to an internal abscess resulting from the wound. Some time after he engaged in his second rencontre, in which he received the bullet of his adversary right through the body. Strange to say, the. beneficent missile passed through the former wound, opening the abscess which threatened the estimable gentleman's life, and by inflicting a new, severe and painful wound, not only cured him, but had the effect of straightening his person to a rigid and exact perpendicularity, so that his car riage appeared unnaturally stiff and haughty. Quite a similar experience of the ef fects of wounds is related by Dr. Guth rie in his celebrated work on gunshot wounds, of that distinguished British chieftain who received his death wound on the plains of Chalmette in the memo rable battle of the 8th of January, 1315. We refer to Lieutenant-General Sir Ed ward Packenham. In the attack by the British at the close of the last cen tury on the French fortifications on the island of Martinique, Colonel Packen ham, who led the storming party, re ceived a musket ball which passed through his neck. He recovered from the wound, but was for some years afterwards very marked by It, bearing bis head with a strong Inclination to one side of his body. Seven or eight years subsequently Packenham was the second uiau to as cend the ladders which had been estab lished against the walls os Badajos, in Spain, in the brilliant assault of the British on that fortified town, and was again shot in the neck, the ball entering on the opposite side to that of his old wound, and passed apparently through the same track. On recovering, bis neck was brought into its original erect and natural position. A ltiiflecToom's Insanity. Christmas Eve iu the village of Xew Hartford, X. Y., was a merrier day than the holiday season usually brings to that community. The festivity inci dent to the season was heightened by the wedding, on that night, of Alton Washburn and Lixie Cheney. The ceremony was ierformed at the resi dence of the bride's father, Mr. Jona than Cheney, and the nuptial knot was tied by Rev. G. E. Farr. It was a hap py wedding. Washburn and his bride are both well known ; both are well connected; both are members of the Baptist Church at Xew Hartford, and the sun that brightened Christmas Day shone on no happier couple than this. Young Washburn, who is about 22 years of age, was working in the manu factory of Hcutlcy & Babcock, at Wash- ugton Mills. He was given a brief va cation, and on the Friday following his wedding day, went to Xew York and made several purchases with the idea of going to housekeeping. He returned to his father-iu-law's house, and early n the evening left the family circle with the remark : "I guess I'll go down to the village." At this time a prayer-meeting was being held in the Baptist church, and to this edifice youu Washburn made his way. Meeting his friend Mr. Wm. Ireland outside the door, he inquired three times in succession for Mr. Thos. Cloyes, Mr. A. H. Allabeu, and Dr. Griswold. The Doctor was first to ap pear, and he was startled to hear Wash burn say : "Doctor, I have been poisoned : The physician made a hasty exami nation of the young man, and, finding no symptoms of poisoning about him, said : "Alton, is this a joke?" "Great heavens, no, Doctor; I have been poisoned. Give me some medi cine, quick!" " here were you poisoned r "Down to the Cheneys." "What kind of poison was it?" "I don't know, but they put it on my bread and butter." Dr. Griswold, seeing that Washbnrn seemed to believe that an attempt had been made to end his life, told him he must be nervous, and wanted to give him advice and a prescription, but the young man would take neither, and leaving in a terrible rage, he ran to the hotel, and there astonished the loungers by the assertion that he had been poi soned. "Send for Dr. Griswold, suggested a bystander. "Xo.no, no!" shouted the bride groom. "Oriswoia Das Deen Dnoeu not to give me any medicine. I waut to go to Utica tight off. The doctors there are honest ; be quick or I shall die." By this time Washburn had become almost frantic. As soon as possible a carriage and driver were placed at his disposal, and the team dashed down the road leading to the city, and finally halted in front of the office and rest dence of Dr. Spear, cornor of Genesee and Blandina streets. "Doctor," shouted Wshburn, as he rushed into the office, "I've been poi soned. Give me an antidote right off if yon want me to live !" Dr. Spear felt the pulse of bis patient, looked at his tongue, came to the con clusion that his visitor had been made the victim of a hoax, and so told him. The young man was in great mental agony, and after satisfying himself that this was not a case of poisoning, the Doctor advised Washburn to rest awhile on the lounge, lie also endeavored to compose the patient by administering a light dose of medicine, and in a short time Washburn left, declaring that he felt better. Reaching the street he soon became sejiaratcd from the driver who brought him from Xew Hartford, and later in the night was arrested and taken to the Police Station. The officer who took him into custody naturally thought he was drunk, but the poor fellow, whose incoherent talk attracted the attention of the officer, was by this timesufferiug from clearly devcIojH'd insanity. Meanwhile, the young wife waited anxiously for the husband's return. At 10 o'clock she dispatched her father to the village to find Alton, but after a weary search he returned without him. Early in the morning the search for Alton Washburn was continued, but it was not until 11 o'clock that tidings came of the absent one. A friend from Utica brought the Intelligence that young Washburn had slept in the Po lice station, and been removed thence to the City Hospital. Accompanied by her father, the wife hurried to the buil ding, on Mohawk street, to find that her husband had lost his reason. There were occasional signs of sanity, and the poor fellow at intervals seemed to be rejoiced that his wife had sought him out, but most of the time he would sit with his eyes fixed on the floor, mut tering slowly and shaking his head with many a solemn gesture. He was at once removed to Mr. Che ney's residence at Xew Hartford, and here, for five days and nights the af fectionate wife and kind neighbors con tinued their ministrations to the un happy man. His periods of insanity lecame more and more frequent. Dr. Griswo'd was almost constant in his at tendance, but the symptoms became so alarming that Messrs. Jackson, Jones, and Auld were called in to prevent the lunatic from doing injury to himself and others. His raving overone night's experience in the Station-house is de scribed as pathetic. He would sit for hours repeating: "They cut my body open and put clock-work insideof me the Policedid ; they put clock-work inside of me." Xew Year's Eve was the last night that the poor fellow spent outside of the asylum. It is doubtful whether any of the gentlemen who were with him that night will ever forget its hor rors. Washburn imagined one of his watchers to be the Devil, and insisted that Satan should be killed on the spot. At one time he made a savage demon stration on another friend, striking him a severe blow on the back of the neck. At length, after a desperate struggle. the madman was thrown to the floor 1 pinioned. He is a man of splendid physique, tall, strong, and weighing 100 pounds. Realizing the importance of securing him against any furthe out breaks, Mr. Cheney ami his friends took Washburn direct to the asylum. lladg-erina; Beecher. Henry Ward Beecher entered the train at the Boston depot the night of his lecture, in high good humor. He had had a rousing house the night be fore, and felt on good terms w ith him self and all the world. Under his heavy cloak he carried a box of grapes, and iu his hand a bunch of the morning aud illustrated papers. The passengers on either side of him made room, and after a careful in sec tion of the car, he seated himself by the side of an old gray-bearded Massachu setts farmer, throwing his cloak and papers on the seat before him, and at tacking the grapes with gusto. "Here," he said, at length, dividing the grapes and putting half of them on the farmer's lap. I want you to help me with these." "Thanks, Mr. Beecher," said the other. 'Oh, you know me, eh?" 'Certainly." replied the other, with an air of patronage ; "my brother paid $100 for a pew in your church, sir." "Well, that wasn't much," said the pastor, amused. "It wor' a heap o' money in them days, Mr. Beecher. Folks couldn't get $"00 a night for lecturing then." "And they can't now." "I thought them was your terms." "Did you?" "Yes.'ain't they?" "Xo!" A pause here ensued, both old gej- tlemen munching their grapes. "I see the pew rents in your church are considerably lowered. Mr. Beecher, said the farmer. "Yes." "That's kind o' bad !" "Xot at all. It will, and it has already done so, helped people who could not afford before to attend regularly and comfortably to procure permanent seats. Beside, what's the use of always Pause. "Mr. Beecher, you're getting pretty old, eh?" Sixtv-three. sir. sixtv-three, T re plied the dominie in a hearty voice "And twenty years of rood work left in me yet." "Well, I'm only fifty-nine." "But see, you have got no hair on the top of your head," said Mr. Beecher, merrily removing his hat. "I.ook at me four years older, aud look at that head of hair!" This answer, together with Mr. Beecher's manner and the amused atten tion of the other passengers, silenced the farmer, and the rest of the journey was performed in silence. There is at the core of all men'some- thing which the whole world of science and art is inadequate to fill. And this p-jrt of man is no mere adjunct of his nature, but his most permanently high est self. What this inmost personality craves Is sympathy with something like itself, yet high above it a will consub stantial with our better will, yet trans cending, supporting. General Cortina. The great American public have heard much and at frequent intervals of Cortina, the terror of the Rio Grande border, the reputed author of numerous murders and the champion cattle thief of America. An account of bis varied fortunes may, therefore, prove in teresting. An euterprising newspaper reporter in X'ew Orleans pretend to have recently seen aud interviewed the great robber chief in that city, repre senting him to be on his way to Texas. The story was published in one of the Xew Orleans papers, but the truth is that Cortina was at that time and is still lingering in the prison of Santiago Tialtelolco, iu the city of Mexico, aud the Cortina palmed off upon a cred ulous public in Xew Orleans was a spurious one. A Mexican reporter, however, gives the following account of a recent visit to Cortina : To the prison aformentioned, I drove through clouds of dust, and after half an hour's ride alighted before the main entrance. The building from the outside looks like an old Spanish convent, and is now used as a prison for political offenders, Cortiua's whoesale murders and cattle thefts apparently being considered by the authorities as offences of a political nature. "So you want to shake hands with old Cortina!" exclaimed the military officer in charge of the prison, adding that I could ouly do so by special per mission of the superior authority. When I had explained to him, however, how anxious the American public, and especially the people of Texas, were to have the latest authentic news as re gards the whereabouts and the well be ing of their old friend Cortina, he yielded to my appeal aud finally con sented that I should hold a short inter view with the interesting old gentle man in the presence of one of the officers. The latter, a young lieuten ant, took me in tow, and, leading the way through long corridors, well guarded by fixed bayonets, he finally showed me into a large apartment where Cortina stood at the barred win dows, surroun led by some friends. The general received me cordially. He did not look at all ferocious. Dressed in neat broadcloth, aud with a new black slouched hat on his head, he looked like a lately prosperous merchant now under a cloud. He appeared to suffer from the con finement, although his room was large, airy and furnished with more cutnforts than one expects to see in a prison. His dark face is set off by a lengthy beard, in which the gray predominates over the black. He looks to be over sixty, although he informed me that he was only fifty-four. A man of medium height and slender build, he appears to the casual observer like a respectable old gentleman; but catching, now and then, a glance from these small, sharp, snappy, restless eyes, one is apt to feel less comfortable iu his presence. His curved upper lip, too, though covered with a closely cut mustache and over shadowed by a long, flat nose, is indi cative of anything but mildness and fair dealing. I expressed my delight fit seeing so famous a man as the general, who had been, no doubt, so basely slandered. 'Yes. 'slander' is the word," replied the general. He was accused of all sorts of crimes, but his accusers had failed to specify time, or place, or cir cumstances in support of their accusa tions. Bad men had, under his name, commited crimes which were now laid at his door. Old charges were raked up against him, dating back to as re mote a jieriod as 1S4S, when he was acting as a military commander in the line of dutv. It was absurd to bring up now what happened 90 long ago. He thought he would be set at liberty in a short time. Of course he wxs as com fortable as he could be under the cir cumstances, but he would prefer to walk about the streets. I inquired whether he intended to go back to Texas and whether he knew that his friends there had put a large price upon his head. Well, he did not think he would go to Texas. He had no business inter ests there now. as for the price upon his head he did not care that much (snapping his fingers) for it. He had a great many enemies, but he had also some good friends in Texas who knew he had been lied about, ami he charged me to tell the truth about him. A Tree With a UitorJ. When the lot at the corner of Elm and Orange streets, Xew Haven, for merly the property of Charles Atwater, was purchased by Mr. Joseph Parker, a large Elm tree which had been stand ing on it was cut down. This old Elm was an old landmark, having been planted by Rev. Joseph Xoycs, who succeeded, In 1710, Rev. James Pier- pont, as pastor of the Centre Church, and continued to be pastor for forty two vears. He died in KGI. He lived in a large two story house standing on the side of Elm street and where Orange street now passes that street not ex isting then. The house was known as the Governor Eaton House. At each front corner of his yard he planted an elm, and the one just cut down was the one planted at the east front corner. The only direct descendants of the Rev. Joseph Xoyes, now living in Xew Haven county, are Joseph Fish Xoyes, of Wallingford ; Samuel and Benjamin Xoyes, of X'ew Haven, and some members of the Darling family living in Woodbridge, descendents of Xoyes Darling, of Xew Haven. When Mr. Benjamin Xojes heard that the tree had been cut down he bought its trunk, and will have it sawed up and made into memorial furniture for distribu tion. He intends to give a chair to Yale college, one to Presideut Porter, one t" Rev. Porter, and one or two to private citizens. The trunk, to the branches, measured twenty-two feet in length, its girth was eighteen feet, and its weight 5,000 pounds. It was per fectly sound and will make 1,000 feet of lumber. The tree was one of th finest in the city.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers