BV GEO. W. BOWMAX.
NEW SERIES.
Sclcrt sJottrn.
A in null l\ THE AIR*
Once wandering throu/h the 'and of dreams,
111 search of something new,
A chutch—'twa* on a Sabbath morn—
My curious notice drew;
And thinking 1 should see the mode
Of Christian worship there,
I entered just in time to hear
The closing hymn and prayer.
And when the hymn was given out,
With what astonished face
I watched a lady da.! in sdk
Bend forward l'rom tier place.
To share her book with one whose robes
So scanty were and mean,
No maiden formed of earthly mould
To greet her would be seen.
And yet 1 saw not that the deed
Lessened a single grace.
But rather that a sweeter look
Beamed on the maiden's lace,
And while 1 pondered in mv mind,
How such a thing could he,
The whole assembly joined to sing
Some time-worn melody.
And yet the mu-ic of that choir
Right pleasant \va> to hear,
Though nothing m the strain 1 found
To please a critic's ear;
But childhood joined its ringing tones
With tho-e of laitermg age,
And rich, and poor, and old, and young
In that blest work eugage.
And here r.o fashionable airs,
The tedium to beguile,
Are set to solemn hymns of praise,
And ungin open style.
And well, thought I, the church of Clod
'This mockery might spare,
i ceased—and every head was bowed
in reverential prayer.
And all in spirit seemed to join,
Nor could I well forbear,
For Christ and not the minister,
Was most apparent there.
,lts wortls of charity ai d love
Did the whole world embrr. *e,
Unfettered by the love ol sect.
That modern Christian giace.
And little did I care to know
If Old the School, or New,
From whence the soul of such a man
it- rich instruction drew,
lbs teacher notie could well mistake,
One only can impart
Lessons ol wisdom that can guide
A sinful human heart.
Too soon that fervent piayer was o'er,
The benediction a?k"d,
And sldwly down the spacious aisles
The congregation passed.
Slowly, as one might turn his back
Upon the gates of heaven,
Alter a taste of angel's food
Unto his soul was given.
And now kind greetings were exchanged,
With many a friendly word,
And Christians met, as Christians should,
Who served one common Lord.
One heart, one mind, one earnest will
Seemed to inspire the whole,
A- friend with freedom told
The welfare of his soul.
Strange though it seem, no single word
These curious tolks did say,
Ol "politics," of ri.e in stocks,
Or gossip of the day.
Not only did they "shut up shop,"
And lock the office door,
ihey turned the key on worldly thought,
Till holy time was o'er.
I he sermon, while a group discussed,
1 listened in amaze,
And marveled at the words they used,
When speaking in its praise.
1 ney did not call it "great" or "deep,"
"Ingenious," "witty," "smart,"
Or "thank their stars they had a man
Alter the people's heart."
But whispered low, with moistened eyes,
"How precious was the word;
How lull of hope the promises
1 heir strengthened souls had heard;"
And murmured blessings on bis head,
ho, laboring by their side,
In all simplicity and truth,
Preached Chust the crucified.
I heard, and could not silence keep,
"Ihrice happy souls!" 1 cried,
"Am lin heaven ?" With sudden start
My eyes I opened wide—
hooked round a moment in amaze—
Saw my mistake with pain,
And never since have dared to take
A nap in church again.
TUB FUfiBE AT BAGDAD, I\ IS3f.
A [ass over a variety of adventures following
h.e events to which the preceding pases refer,
J" revisit,on the next year, the City of Bagdad.
! I'higue still raged there; and what a change
•ad that brief pernxl brought about! After I
•-'< quitted the city on the former occasion, the
gradually subsided, but left many stag
t P°°Ks the nuisance of which combining
'•••I Hie effluvia arising fiont the bodies cast in
ljf tou " ditch, produced a fever, almost as
in its effects, when the hot weather set
1 an the plague had ceased, as the latter dis
itself.
I aftl 'ne succeeded; but still the vials of wrath
3d not been all emptied on this devoted city.
dan's army on the northern frontier had
r Mca :, dy watching the progress of the disor
-1 t-ii't? 111 ' S ! lor ''3 r a fterit had ceased, they inves
t,,'.* ci 'y* I' or some time the Mamelukes
rUM" it, and then they were com
n 7 . sta "wation to surrender. They were
' s aughlered, and the city given up to pillage,
th/**?' an * vv .°"t birds °f the tow n was now
r n, ' ns > anf t from complicated disas
-IjSSo yi P u 'ation had dwindled from 150,000
I made my way in comparative solitude, driv
ing tuy horse beiore me, for he was too much ex
hausted for me to remount and ride. 1 had no
money, and could not, moreover, find fodder to
sustain him; so 1 was reluctantly compelled to
part with him for five dollars to a Bedo.vin.—
Wry much did I regret the necessity of parting
with an animal which had carried me marly
3,000 miles.
Of the scanty population 500 continued to
die daily. The residency was still held there;
hut a strict quarantine forbade my gaining ad
mittance there, and I put tip for the night in a
stable near it. An old gardener was the only
person I met there, and he was bemoaning his
father and two sons. 1 was not aware of tins
second visit of the plague; but, having got into
the city, and having no friends, i could not a
i gain quit it. 1 therefore took up my lodging in
an old Khan, when; J lived economically n tir
ed, as my income compelled rne to do.
When all symptoms of the/aging pestilence
had disappeared, and the waters of the river,
which made a second visit to the citv, had a
gam subsided to their former level, I quitted
my dwelling to seek, as i strolled forth amidst
the now desolate city, such of mv friends as
pestilence and the (hood had spared. Alas ! how
small the number to receive mv greeting! Whole
streets were depopulated bv tire one calamity,
ami overthrown by the other. I entered several
of the dwellings which yet remained standing.
\Y hat varied, what hideous seem s presented
themselves to me 1 in some, the reputed
wealth ol tiieir former possessors liati attracted
j the robber hordes to which I have beiore alluded,
and ali of value had been carried off. Several
struggles had taken place, between the invaders
and tiie possessors, for that which perhaps iu
hut a few brief hours would probably he less
than dross to either.
Just within the entrance hall of a Georgian
merchant, with whom I was acquainted, there
lay the bodies of a slave and one of these rob
bers. In the left hand of the latter was a rich
kalian. The slave, in intercepting his progress,
had been shot through the body, but had after
wards, it would app-ar, retained sufficient ener
gy to plunge his dagger into the heart of his
opponent. They had IKJIII fallen together, and
must have expired at nearly the same time, for
they lay side by side—the countenance of the
, robber turned upwards and hideously distorted,
that of the slave placid and mild, although his
right hand still retained its hold of the home
j stricken dagger.
I traversed my way through those apartments
that had escaped the spoiler. I wound through
halls and along passages which had formerly
resounded with the busy din of human voices
and human feet. Now how changed the scene!
No sounds follow the ear hut the a I infos t noise
less echo of my steps. Silent now and deserted
Was that banquet hall; more melancholy sti!!
t!m reflection that it was not again doomed to
be filled by those guests who had taken their
departure but yesterday night, to return with
renewed zeal on the morrow. They had retir
ed to partake their last repose.
The bright and brilliant hue of costly divans
was runl dimmed by the accumulated dust of
months. A few chebnuques, their iiowis par
tially filled, were reclining against the cush
j ions; beside them were left th- half-finished
coffee-cups, with their filagree covering of gold;
and the fancy could not but picture the host,
on the first symptom of the malady, rising sud
denly and staggering to his couch, from whence
death alone was - again to summon him.
There was an Armenian merchant with whom
I was acquainted, who had the good fortune Jo
possess a daughter, the most lovely being i had
ever cast eyes upon. She was rather above
than below the middle height; but her form was
of such exquisite proportion, that her superior;
height was not perceived till she stood by the
side of of hers. Her hands and feet were ex
tremely small; her neck long and tapering.—
When intelligence of the plague first reached
| Bagdad,l had seen her stand over her younger
sis'er, to whom she was passionately attached,
1 and with arms folded over her breast, her eyes
cast upwards, and flashing through their vet
darkened fringes, as she fervently invoked hea
ven's blessing and protection on her: and then j
thought I hail never beheld a countenance more
truly or justly entitled to be called heavenly.
Some months had elapsed after our first ac
quaintance. before I was made aware that Mir
iam was but waiting the return of a young coun
tryman from Aloppo, to be united to him; and
preparations were in progress for that event,
I when plague for the present put a stop to all.—
The family established a quarantine; and J had
since heard no more of them.
The gate, as I now approached the house,
was closed : I struck my staff'against it several
times without attracting attention, and, with a
conclusion that its inmates had shared the fate
ot but too many others, 1 was turning away
with a sigh, when the wicket opened slowly,
and the feeble voice of the old merchant bade
me enter. I grasped him by the hand : he
spoke not ; but, beckoning me to follow him,
slowly tottered up the stairs. I looked around
—he w as alone.
"Your daughter Miriam ?" said T, in a fal
tering voice. The spell was broken—the old
man threw himself on a chair and gave vent to
a flood of tears; as these chased each other
down his venerable beard, he sobbed so piteous
ly, that 1 was fearful it would put an end at
; once to him and bis sorrow. What a mockery
it would have been to have offered words in
consolation ! I remained gazing on him 1n si
lence. To my great relief, he at length calm
ed himself in a measure, and in broken st-n
--tences conjured me to forgive a father's weak
ness.
"You," said he, "O Frank, are the first per
son I have seen, except those who for months
were immured within these baleful walls.—
But I am unequal to the task of talking: now."
He clapped his hands, and a slave appeared,
who seemed scarcely less astonished at my pre
sence than was his master. The o'd man sent
him for pipes and coffee ; and, after we had a
gain seated ourselves, I gained from him tile
particulars of the following affecting incident :
"For three weeks," said he, "by adopting
the most rigid precautions, we succeeded in
shutting out the pestilence, although the neigh
borhood around resounded with the groans and
shrieks ofthose who were suffering thumsel ves,
or wept the fate of others. One morning, how
ever, 1 went into Alumina's (the sister of .Mi
riam) room, and found that some animal had
reposed the previous evening on her bed. Ful
ly aware that it was but too often that disease
is by such means communicated, I nevertheless
said nothing. Some days elapsed, and already
had I cherished hopes that my fears were
groundless, when one morning too fully con
vinced in" that the poor child was infected.
She complained of a cold shivering, which was,
as she retired to her pallet, followed hv a burn
ing heal, and intense pain about the pit of the
stomach, while dimness and lustre were strange
ly combined in her full but fixed eve.
"The malady could not for an instant he con
cealed from the anxious eve-of Miriam ; and,
despite the prayers and entreaties of her father
an i friends, the heavenly girl tore herself from
their arms, and rushed to the chamber of her
beloved sister. There, by the side of the poor
little sufb rer, sat Miriam, watching her every
look—now moistening her parched lip?, bath
ing her pallid but burning brow, dressing the
loathsome ulcers, or quietly striving to soothe
the ravings of delirium. She neither ale, drank,
nor slept ; she breathed tie* same breath with
her, and lived but for her sister ; and when, al
ter five days and five nights of intense watch
ing, the pure and gentle spirit of the sufferer
fled, Miriam uttered no shriek—manifested no
outward emotion ; but slowlv and calmly per
formed the last sad offices. Rising then, from
Iter solitary task, she gazed on those wan and
pallid features she was about to behold for the
last time, threw her whole snnl into a glance,
and waving aside those who at the door of the
apartment had in much wonder watched her
every acti >n, she quitted the room. Entering
her own chamber, she threw herself on the
couch and buried her fare' in the pillow ; but
there followed no soli? or tears only at first a
gentle shivering, and then violent convulsions.
Jt was now her lover's turn to display his self
devotion. His voice, it was evident, soothed
her ; and, after remaining some hours by her
side, he was happy to perceive that first a drow
siness, and then a happy insensibility stole over
her. Exhausted by long watching, she slept
soundly, and awoke with the usual fever, but
in perfect possession of her senses. Her lover
held her hands within his own ; looking at him
fixedly and tenderly : 'Leave me, my beloved,'
said she, <ere yet it he too late ; for already I
feel the burning poison traversing my veins—
no human aid can avail me; but fly, thou dear
est, farewell! '
"But let me not dwell on the details of a dis
order the most terrible to which poor human
nature is subjected : its torments of pains, thirst
and heat—its coldness, vomiting, and utter pros
tration of spirits—its pestilential ulcers. Suf
fice it that, where she 'had walked in heautv
like the night of cloudless climes and starrv
skies,' there now she lav prostrate, her body
covered with spots black and livid.
"For rnnnv hours she had been totally insen
sible to all that was passing ; and all around,
save her lover, had despaired of her recovery.
'Let us trust in God,' said he: and his piety
was rewarded. One morning, ns he had press
ed her forehead, lie fell a slight moisture—a
quick perspiration followed—the crisis of the
disorder was passed—her reason returned, anil
in a few days she was perfectly restored to
health."
The pair were united before I quitted Bag
dad, and very many pleasant hours did I spend
in their society.— Mr. Wt listed.
l'rom the Kiu*a< llrrald of I'rreUom. Oct. 21.
SETTLE IN KANSAS.
Five hundred thousand settlers can be accom
modated with the best lands in the world by lo
cating immediately i:i this Territory. The soil
is of the richest character, varying from eigh
teen inches to five feet in depth: the climate is
salubrious, the thermometer rarely or never ris
ing above 105 degrees in the shade. In Fenn
svlvania, where we resided during the last sum
mer, it stood for days in succession at 106 (leg.
from ten o'olock in the forenoon to three in the
afternoon. The winters are comparatively
mill with lis, though subject to frequent
changes, on account ol the high attitude of the
country. Tire productions of Missouri, Ken
tucky and Ohio grow here in abundance. Ap
ples, peaches and pears seem well adapted to
the soil. Mr. Walker, the intelligent provisional
Governor of the Wyandot Indians, and former
ly ofthe northern Ohio, says he raises annually
tfie most luscious peiurhes he ever saw. Mel
ons grow of mammoth proportions.
The agriculturist wh > seeks a new home in
the West should not stop to make a location
until he has visted this Territory. The organi
zed emigration of th* world i< now turned to
wards it,and it,possesses advantages on this ac
count which are not offered by any Western
State.
In December last, the Superintendent of In
dian affairs for the Indian territory, in his an
nual report said, in substance, "Aside from the
government agents' troops and missionaries,
there are not at this time, three white inhabi
tants in all that region lying west of the Mis
souri, and embraced in the limits of Kansas and
Nebraska." But ten months have passed since
then, and now, instead of a population enumer
ated by a monosyllable, there are many thous
ands settled all over the country, and hundreds
are pouring in daily, selecting and staking out
farms, which they propose locating with their
families.
We confidently predict that in less than a
year from this time, we shall number fully
100,000 souls. The times indicate it. In all
the northern Stales: indeed, in nearly every
Freedom of Thought and Opinion.
BEDFORD, PA. FRIDAY MORNING, DEC. 1, 1854.
country, there are movements Kansas-ward, and
frequently the numbers are so great as to deter
iorate the value of property, particularly real
estate. And why not 1 Lands in many [tarts
of the north, not favorably located for a market,
or peculiarly productive, command from thirty
to fifty and seventy-five dollars per acre.
Here the government price is but one dollar
and twenty-live cents, and the titles are from
the government, hence no question as to their
validity.
The cost of turning over the prairies ranges
from two to three dollars per acre. The first
crop—usually of corn—will_pa v the expenses
of culture; then the farmer with his hundred
mres of the richest land in the world, perfectly
subdued, and capable of raising anv species of
vegetation, finds it costing but from three- hun
dred and severity-five to four hundred dollars'.
It is in a condition v.hich twenty years of hard
labor in a timbered country cannot make if; and
he finds himself enabled to produce a luxuriant
crop of vegetation with nearly one third the
labor required on "Aim/pm" soil of most of the
northern and middle States.
It is true mna v of the conveniences of a tim
bered country are wanting here; hut these can
all be supplied by the hand of labor. "But,"
says the enquirer, "what will be done for
fences ? You have no timber, or not sufficient,
to be used for fencing purposes, and it appears
to me impossible to get along in such a coun
try." In some of the western States they have !
got along very well without timber, a;ul here,
in Kansas, wi expect to get afnng still better, j
The Osage Orrnge, is used for hedges, grows in j
three'years and produces a natural fence capa
ble of turning aside the largest animals. The
severity of (lie winter in more northern latitudes ;
makes this useless to the prairie farmers of lowa
and Wisconsin; hut here it will increase in value j
from year to year, and is worth more than a
dozen rati fences, which cost such an immense a
rsount of labor to erect.
, It is objected that our market is too far re
moved. To those who are uot at all acquainted
with our position in the Republic, the objection
is insurpassable; but to those w ho have observed
that we have an excellent water communica
tion u it h a!! parts of the world; and in two years,
at the furthest, we shall be handed with iron,
and a railroad connecting ns with Boston and
New York, along which the steam horse will
be propelled at the rate of from thirty to fortv
inih san hour, the objection is worthless. The
whole valley of the Mississippi will Finnish us
a market, as will the government trains which
cross the plains to New Mexico and Rock
-Y luntains to I'tah, California, Origan and
YF.usiiingt n Territory. Besides this, we ex
pect a large home market; for mechanics have
already commenced pouring in by thousands,
and the numerous article's which are imported
into other States w ill lie manufactured among
us. Agricultural implements of every species,
which are usually made in the eastern States,
will be constructed in the Kansas Valley. We
are already talking of our commercial city,
which we claim is to rival the growth of any
western town. Chicago, with its population of
70,000 in twentv-two years, will find her
growth less rapid than the great City of the
Plains, which is t > he the half-wav house be
tween the Atlantic and Pacific and the com
mercial emporium of North America.
The Pacific Railway w ill be completed tinr
ingthe next ten years. It must necessarily pass
along the southern hank of the Kansas ami up
one of its principal tributaries to the south pass
in the Rocky Mountains. While this road is
being constructed the surplus products of the
farms which fancy sees already covered with
"bending grain and golden-rinded fruit," will
be needed to supply the w ants of its laborers,
and money will be required in return to meet
the incidental w ants of the Kansas farmer.
Again we snv, send on the five hundred
thousand farmers, mechaucis and artizans, and
we will pledge them the mot beautiful farms,
and the richest country, in all the bounties of
nature, which the sun of heaven ever shone up
on.
GREAT RAILROAD SPEED.
Three Hundred .Miles jicr Hour.
A paper was lately read hv Judge Meigs,
before the American Institute Farmer's Club, at
New York, upon the subject of rapid railroad
travelling, in which he said :
"I have, with others, admired the progress
made in velocity on railroads up to even one
hundred miles tin hour on straight raits , which
has been done in England. But I entertain
views of railroad velocity far beyond any yet
ventured to he expressed. The Emperor of
Russia has taken the first great step towards
what I deem the ultimatum of railroad travel.
"Instead of cutting a narrow alley through
the country, or going around everything in the
w ay of a straight line—he has cut a broad way
five hundred miles, from St. Petersburg to Mos
cow— he has made it all the way two hundred
feet w ide, so that the engineer sees everything
that conies on the road !
"Such is part of the future : the railroad from
point to point a mathematical line: the rails ten
times stronger than any now used : the locomo
tives on wheels of far greater diarnameter, say
twelve or fifteen feet ; the gague of a relative
breadth ; the signals and times perfectly settled ;
the road, walled on both sides, during the tran
sit of trains having the gates of the walls all
closed. Then instead of one hundred miles an
hour! we shall more safely travel three hun
dred miles an hour ! I will not pretend to say
more —one hundred seems last enough : so did
twenty, a few years ago : and now, on very
straight rails or some straight runs, we do
travel sixty miles an hour in this State, and in
England, one hundred miles have been accom
plished.
"Mathematical precision and time will solve
this problem—a passage from New Aork to
San Francisco in ten hours I"
jWe have no doubt ol one hundred miles per
hour being perfectly practicable railroad speed,
by the building of such railroads as those descri
; bed by the Judge, and this opinion we expressed
j in the columns of the scientific American some
years ago. But three hundred miles per hour
i inclines us to the fogy side of the question.—
i This speed would require a piston velocity 33,-
| 000 feet per minute, of eighteen-inch stroke,
if the driving wheels were twenty-four feet in
circumference, (nearly eight feet in diameter—
whoppers) they would have to make 1100 rev
olutions per minute. As the wheels cannot
turn around without steam, thp query with us
is, the means of raising the steam necessary to
! perform this fi at, as the boiler would have to
evaporate about a tun of water per minute—stx
!y in an hour. So far as it related to the final
velocity of steam in a vacuum, the speed of
three hundred miles p-r hour could be obtain
ed, nut how can such a quantity of steam be
evaporated in a locomotive boiler, in this space
of time? Judge Maig's may perhaps be able
to answer us. With respect to the velocity of
bodies, our ideas are bounded by what lias been
performed before our eyes—the flight of the
swallow, the pigeon, the eagle ; and when we
look to the heavenly bodies ar.d calculate the
awful velocity with which they are unceasing
ly wheeled through space, the mind is struck
with solemn awe at the mighty power of the
great Creator, who has made huge Jupiter to re
volve once on his axis in ten hours, and through
s[ ace at the rate of 4685 miles per hour, or
fifteen times the velocity of a locomotive, run
ning at the rate of three hundred miles an hour.
—Scientific Jimtrican.
Distrrssiug Suicide.
WASHINGTON, NOV. 13. —Mr. Charles W.
Stewart, long know n as the assistant doorkeep
er of the J Fuse of Representatives, was found
la<t evening dead in the Speaker's room, lie
having committed suicide by taking strychnine.
Mr. S. was in anJ about his residence, on Mis
souri avenue, during the forenoon, apparently
in good health and spirits. Between one and
two o'clock he left and walked towards the
capital. Cn his way he was met by a friend,
who inquired after his health and that of his
family, to all of which Mr. S. returned satisfac
tory replies. It appears that on his applica
tion at the apothecary store of Dr. Schwartz
for strychnine, he was refused, (although he a
verred it was to kill rat?,) the clerk stating that
lie could not have it unless prescribed by a phy
sician. They, however, furnished him with a
drug lor the purpose lie stated. The endorse
ment on paper found in the spittoon near
where his hotly was found, leaves no doubt that
lie obtained the fatal dose from another apoth
ecary shop, and that it was strychnine.
Mr. Stewart had also procured from Dr.
Gardner, on Capitol Hill, a phial of laudanum.
It further appears that thus provided with the
means of self-destruction, he proceeded to the
Speaker's room in the House of Representa
tives, deliberately placed a cushion on the set
tee, wrote a memorandum stating the amount
ol some debts due him, and ending "mv love to
my family for the iast time"—and then (pro
bably) in a glass of champagne—he look the
horrible draught, laid himself down, and was
soon an inhabitant of eternity. A single blood
stain on his face was the only evidence of con
vulsions. An inquest was held which render
ed a verdict according to the above statement.
It is said that $l3B were found upon his per
son.
An interesting wife and six small children,
as well as otlvr relatives and friends, mourn
over this shocking occurrence. The heart
rending cries of the former last night and this
morning were sufficient to melt a heart of ada
mant. What induced this young man to self
destruction, surrounded ns he was by comforta
ble circumstances, and daily charmed by the
sweet voice of such a wife and such lovely
children, must remain a mystery.
Healthy U'uiarii and Early Marriages.
The following remarks, by Dr. C. M. Fitch,
in a lecture a few evenings since, contain some
very useful truths and suggestions. Speaking
of the hereditary causes of consumption, the
Doctor remarked :
"I believe it to be utterly impossible to
find a perfectly healthy child born of delicate,
sickly parents. The unsound constitution of
the parent is usually transmitted with increas
ed intensify to the offspring, arid no character
of morbid pre-disposition is more surely and
more unfailingly transmitted tban a pre-disjio
siton to pulmonary consumption. When we
consider the influence that the mother's health
must i-xeit on the health of her children, it is
strange that so little attention should be paid to
the physical education of girls. Whv from the
hour of Iter birth is a female child to be sub
jected to one eternal imprisonment? Why is
she to be cooped up within doors, confined to
patch work and nursing her doll, and taught
to consider it quite unladylike, to move faster
than the dignified gate of some animated dowa
ger. Turn your girls out of doors, let them
play at ball and trindle the hoop, and laugh and
shout as much as they please, th y will be finer
ladies fur it at thirty, even if not quite so grace
ful at fifteen. By the laws of Lyrurgus, tin
wise and immortal law-giver ol the Spartan
Republic, the most especial attention was paid
the physical education of women, arid no deli
cate, sickly women on account were not al
lowed to marry. Supposing a provision like
this was carried into effect here! What an
army of unmarried ladies w*> should very soon
see !
If a young man wants to c hoose a wife, let
him invite the lady he has in view, to take a
walk, a very long one, and when he comes
back, if he find? his companion obliged to ;H> to
bed with a headache, let him look somewhere
else for a wife, unless he is fond of paving Doc
tor's bills."
Speaki:i<: of ea. ly marriages, the 1) t (or re
marked :
TERMS, §2 ITK YEAR.
VOL XXIIJ, NO. 10*.
"Til this country very few ladies are fit eith
er physically or mentally t<> become mothers
before they reach the age of twenty-one, twen
ty-tuo, or twenty-three, but so precocious are
our young ladies, that if they happen to pass
twenty without having made definite arrange
ments, they begin to couskfer themselves old
maids, and before a school girl is fairly out of
short dresses and pantaletts, she is looking up
a beau."
Among the ancient Germans, than whom a
finer race of men, physically, perhaps nev<*r
existed, it was <itath for arty woman to marry
before she was twenty, and were this law to be
enacted and rigorously ejsfr>?<??ri among us, the
amount of suffering, the actual amount of hu
man life that would be saved thereby, is past
all computation.
AN ECCENTRIC WILL.— Mr. Railingr, of New
Hampshire, England, was among the victims of
the last railroad accident, lift wren Brigton and
London. His heirs, after having paid hirn the
customary funeral honors, did w hat all heirs do
in similar cases, opened the will of the deceas
ed to ascertain what share each was to have in
his posthumous liberalities. As lie had never
given a penny to either of his relatives, during
his lifetime, they expected to be the richer now
that he was no more. One may imagine the
surprise caused by the first line of the w ill :
"This is my testament, I give and beqneaur
all my goods, present or future, moveable or im
moveable, in England or on the continent, to
that railroad com] any on whose road I have the
happiness to meet with death—that blessed de
liverance from my terrestrial prison."
Further on, the testator gives his reasons lor
his bequest. The idea had taken firm posses
sion of his mind that he was destined to die a
violent death, and the most desirable one in his
view was that caused by the explosion of a lo
comotive. He traveled, therefore, constantly
on the railroads in England, Belgium and
France. There was not a station where he was
not known. All the conductors were familiar
with his peculiar costume. He had narrowly
escaped death several times. Once, he was
shut up in a car under water : another time he
was in the next car to the one that was shatter
ed, and he described with the greatest enthusi
asm those terrible accidents, when he saw death
so mar without being able to obtain it. Disap
pointed in Europe, he went to the United States.
He made frequent excursions on the Ohio, the
Mississippi, the Ontario, and the Niagara; but,
notwithstanding their frequent explosions, he re
turned with aw hole skin. He was destined
to be crushed under a car o| the mother coun
try. It is said that the relatives w ill attempt
to break the will, on the ground of insanity,
hut it is probable that the railroad will win the
suit in spite of the proverb that the murderer
never inherits from the victim.
MURDER JX DAUTIMORE.—The Baltimore Sun
notices a very shocking murder of a Mrs. No
ble, residing about five miles and a half from
Baltimore, near the Philadelphia road :
Since last Sunday, a Mrs. Xoble residing in
the above vicinity, on a little farm, with her
husband and three children, was missing, and
the children becoming somewhat alarmed at the
absence of their mother, acquainted the neigh
bors of the fact, when Justice Lewis Franklin
berger was informed of the case. Me immedi
ately set to work for the purpose of discovering
the missing woman. The body of the woman
mutilated in a most horrible manner, was dis
covered in a largf tub, upon which had been
placed a large stone, and across the top a plank.
A large number of persons were in search of
the murderer, who, it is alleged, is the husband
of the unfortunate woman. His name is Fred
erick Xoble, and when last seen was walking
along the road conducting to Baltimore, having
a pack bundle on his back.
ATROCITIES; IN MEXICO.—The MEXICAN pa
pers speak of the atriAjties committed by the
Indians:
"Tiie most horrible of the unnumbered atro
cities of the jndinas lately are one in •
they made a hole beneath the chin of a, f
man, through which they passed a coi# v cSiJftugir
it through the mouth, so banning him up by his
chin to a tree, and making him a target tor their
arrow s I Another, in which the wretches cut
some pieces of flesh from the haunches o! a poor
infant, roasting them and <ating them, while
the agonized little creature still lived. And
another, in which they devoured the greater
part of a human body.
"Roberies are getting very rife in the city of
Mexico. A man was lately assaulted and rob
bed at 6 o'clock in the evening by a band of
eleven, in Corpus Christi street, and who sud
denly sprung out upon him from Lopez al
ley. Three of these robbers w ere mounted.—
There had nevertheless, been many robbers ex
ecuted during a fortnight, over which our news
extends."
MIRACULOUS ESCAFK OF A RAILROAD TRAIN.
A few days ago, when a train on the New
York and Erie Railroad was hailed by two or
three n:en, the engineer, supposing them to
be intoxicated, paid no attention to' them and
('ashed on at full speed. When Hearing the
bridge, however, he discovered that all did not
appear right, and immediately reversed the en
gine and put on the breaks, and succeeded in
stopping the train just as the lore wheels of the
locomotive run on the bridge. The brideg gave
wav under the locomotive and fell about three
feet, and caught upon some timbers, which sus
tained the weight until the locomotive was
lifted and backed off. One minute more, and the
whole train must have been precipitated a dis
tance of some sixty feet, into a rocky ravine.
About two hundred passengers were on the
train. The bridge was being repaired, and was
supported bv temporary props, which could not
possibly have born up under the train. It was
truly a wonderful escape.