THE BROKEN HOME.
-TBI'TH STKASOKR THIS riCTIOS."
lii San Francisco, on the north side of
Folsoui street, overlooking Mission Bay,
stands a palatial residence.
The interior ol this house is even more
beautiful than its exterior, every apartment
biting in its way a gem of magnificence and
refinement.
The library especially realizes the most
perfect ideal of an elegant and cultured
home.
And yet. at the moment we look in upon
him—one August afternoon, as he occupied
his libra, y—the proprietor of all this wealth
appeared of all men the most miserable.
lie was Mr. Morton Preble, for many
years a leading banker of San Francisco.
It was in vain that the broad bay window
at the south end of the room had been
opened, giving ingress to the sunshine and
the fragrance of rare flowers —in vain that
the walls were lined with richly carved
book cases and paintings—in vain that
soft couches and luxurious chairs had
been gathered around him.
He was wretched.
He lay on sofa, in the depths of the
great bay-window, the wreck of a once
powerful man. His figure was thin
and guant; his face white as marble ;
his eyes having an expression of wo
ful apprehension, of harrowing anxie
ty, of dreadful expectancy.
' It was evident at a glance that no
merely physical ailment had made him
what he was.
By what withering secret, by what
destroying affliction, had he been thus
agonized? thus haunted? thus hunted?
he so noble and good! he so wealthy
and distinguished!
As he moved restlessly upon his lux
urious cushions the pretty clock on the
mantel-piece struck five, every stroke
seeming to foil like a hammer upon
the heart of the nervous invalid. He
irousod himself, struggling feebly to a |
sitting posture.
"Oh, will this fatal day never, never j
pass?" he murmured; "nor bring us
relief?"
Noticing with a nervous start that he i
was aloue, lie touched a bell upon a ,
upon a table before him, and called:
"Helen, Helen! where are you?"
Before the echoes of his voice had j
died out a step was heard, and his wife
entered his presence.
"I left you only for a moment, Mor
ton," she said, advancing to the bank
er's side. "You were dozing, I think.
I wished to send for the doctor!"
Shewasa beautiful woman of scmesix
and thirty years, graceful, with broad
white brows, and loving eyes, in which
the brightness and sweetness of a sun
shiny nature were still perceptible, un
der a grief and anxiety no less poig
nant than that evinced by her hus
band.
"The doctor!" he echoed, half re
proachfully. *
"Yes, dear," she said, in a calm and
cheerful voice, as she drew a chair to
the side of the sofa, and sat down, stro
king the corrugated forehead of thein
valid with a magnetic touch. "He
will he here immediately. Your last
nervous crisis alarmed me. You may
become seriously ill!"
Mr. Preble bestowed an affectionate
look upon his wife, but said despond
ently:
"The doctor ! He cannot 'minister
to a mind diseased! Oh, it these long
hours would only pass ! If I only
knew what the day has yet in store for
us!"
"Look up, Morton!" enjoined Mrs.
Preble with a reverently trustful glance
upward through the open window at
the blue sky, and as if looking beyond
the azure clouds therein. "Let us ap
peal from the injustice and wickedness
of earth to the goodness and mercy of
Heaven!"
The banker gave a low, sobbing
sigh.
"I cannot lookup, Helen," he ans
wered, with a passionate tremor in his
voice—"only down, down at the grave
that is opening before me!"
Mrs. Preble continued to stroke his
forehead softly, while she lifted her
pale face to the sunlight streaming in
to the apartment.
'Look up, Morton—always look up!'
she again enjoined upon the invalid.
"During all these fourteen years of ag
ony, I have not once doublet! either
the goodness or the justice of Heaven.
'Blessed are they that mourn ; for they
shall be comforted.' I believe that we
shall yet rejoice more keenly than we
have mourned, and that we shall come
to a glorious day of joy beyond all this
Jong night of sorrow !"
The lace of the invalid lighted up
with an answering glow, and he mur
mured :
"Glorious faith ! My wife, you are
indeed a blessed comforter ! Perhaps,
after all, you are right!"
A knock resounded on a side-door at
this juncture, and the next moment
Dr. Hutton, the family physician, for
whom Mrs. Preble had sent, entered
the room.
He was an old man, portly in figure,
with white hair and heard, but with a
fresh and ruddy complexion, a pair of
shrewd blue eyes, and with an exuber
ant boyishness of manner that sat well
upon him. He had a kind heart and
a clear head. He approached the sofa,
after greeting the husband and wife,
and lifted the thin restless hand of the
invalid, feeling his pulse.
"Quite a high fever," he said, after
a brief pause. "Worrying again, eh,
Mr. Preble? You are wearing your
self out. Medicine will do you no
good so long as your mind is in its
present condition. J must give you an
opiate—"
"Not now, doctor," interposed the
banker. "I cannot —must not —sleep
to-day ! I need to be broad awake now.
for I cannot tell at any moment what
the next will bring forth. lam look
ing for the culmination of all my years
of anguish—for the crowning agony of
the whole. Perhaps even now— Ah,
what was that ?"
He started up wildly, and then, as
the MTttnd that had disturbed him was
uot .novated, ho sank back again on
his cushions, pallid and panting.
The doctor looked at Mrs. Preble
with an anxious, questioning glance.
"It is the anniversary," she replied
to his unspoken inquiry—"the anni
versary of our loss."
"Ah. yes," said the doctor. "I re
member."
"Yes, it is another of those terrible
days," cried the banker, in a hollow
whisper. "Hit down, doctor, and I
will tell you the whole story, lean
think of nothing else to-day, and am
almost wild with apprehension and
anxiety. Sit down."
Dr. Hutton drew up a chair and
seated himself, his face expressing the
double solicitude of a friend and phy
sician.
"You knew us fourteen years ago,
doctor," said Mr. Preble. "We lived
where we do now, in a cottage on the
site of this great mansion. There were
but three at us—Helen and I, and our
three-year old Jessie. And it was
fourteen years ago to-day that our lit
tle Jessie was stolen front us."
"I remember it," said the doctor
softly. "Yet might she not have been
lost. Mr. Preble? She went out to
play iu the garden, if I remember
rightly, and was never seen by you a
gain She might have strayed away—"
"So we thought for a whole year,
doctor," interrupted the banker. "We
never dreamed that she hail been sto
len. We searched everywhere for her,
and ofl'ered immense rewards for her
recovery. I employed detectives, but
pll to no purpose. When our little
Jessie ran down the steps into the flow
er garden," and he pointed to the
front of the house, "as if the earth had
opened and swallowed her up, we nev
er saw her again."
"She must have fount! the gate open,
and wandered out," suggested Dr.
Hutton. "She might have strolled
down to the waters and been drown
ed."
The banker fixed his burning eyes
upon the physician's face and whis
pered :
"I said we never saw the poor child
again. I did not say we never heard
of her. She was lost on the 9th of Au
gust, 1854. For a year we thought her
dead. But on the anniversary of our
loss we received a written message con
cerning her."
"A message!" cried Dr. Hutton,
starting.
"Amere scrawl—a single line in a
hand evidently disguised," said the
banker, "Here it is."
He produced a dingy scrap of paper
from a drawer in the table, and held it
up to the view of the physician, who
read as follows:
AUGUST 9, 1855. Jessie, ha, ha ! Jes
sie."
Dr. Iluttou looked, with a puzzled
air, from the scrap of paper, which he
turned over and over, to the counte
nance of the banker.
"I can make nothing of this," he de
clared. "It is merely a date, with
the name of your lost daughter. II
tells me nothing."
"Nor did it us, at first," said Mr.
Preble. "Then that name aud that
date, with demon laugh connecting
them, set us to thinking. A whole
year we agonized over the dreadful
problem, and then we received anoth
er message, which you shall see."
He thrust a second slip of paper, i
dentical iu shape and appearance with
the first, before the gaze of Dr. Hut
ton, who read it aloud :
"AUGUST 9, 1856, Your Jessie still
lives."
The physician started, as if electri
fied.
"Ah! this is something definite —
something decisive," he muttered. "It
convinced you that your daughter was
stili living."
"Yes, doctor," said Mr. Preble, "and
every anniversary of that day has
brought us some message. The dis
appearance of the child,' mysterious as
it is, does notseetn to me half so strange
as that the vallain who took her away
could contrive to communicate with us
every year since, and always on a par
ticular day—theanuiversary of that on
which she was stoleu—without our be
ing able to discover who he is. And
a still greater wonder to me is what
can be his motive. It seems incredible.
If it was stated in a novel many peo
ple would not believe it. But
'truth is stanger than fiction.' "
Mrs. Preble drew from her husband's
breast-pocket his note-book, opened it
to the proper page, and presented it to
the physician.
Dr. Hutton adjusted his spectacles,
glanced over the page, and then slow
ly read the group of entries aloud.—
The entry the first year is as follows:
"AUGUST 9. 1855. Jessie, ha, ha ! Jes
sie /"
And the next year it is—
"AUGUST 9, 1856. Your Jessie still
lives.'"
And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1857. She is in good
hands
And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1858. She is well as ev
er !"
And the next—
"AUGUST 9,1859. I saw her yester
day
And the next—
"AUGUST 9,1860. She's growing rap
idly ."'
And the next —
"AUGUST 9,1861. She continues to do
icell /
And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1862. 7 're seen her a
oain /"
And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1863. She's becoming a
woman."
; And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1864. Your child is IJiir-
I teen !"
; And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1865. She's lovlier than
ever!"
And the next—
"AUGUST 9, 1866. She's really char
ming !"
Anil last year it is—
"AUGUST 9, 1867. My reward is at
hflnd /"
And what shall we get to-day ?
The physician looked up and fixed
his thoughtful gaze upon the bereaved
husband and wife.
"How did these messages come to
you ?" he demanded.
"Invariably by post," replied Mr.
Preble. "Usually to the house, but
sometimes to the office!"
"And you have never seen their au
thor ?"
"Never 1"
"The last oi them is dated, I see a
year ago to-day!"
"Yes, yes," faltered the banker, "and
the time" has come for another mes
sage. This is the 9th of August, 1868!"
"I see," said Dr. Hutton. "And this
is the secret of your terrible excite
ment. You are expecting to re< eive to
day another of these strange messages!"
Their was a brief silence. Mrs. Pre
ble's hand fluttered in its task, and her
face grew very pale. The banker
breathed gaspingly. The physician re
garded them both in friendly sympa
thy.
"We shall hear of her again to-day,"
said Mr. Preble; and what will the
message be ?"
The mother averted her face. Her
brave heart faltered as that question
echoed in her soul.
"The writer of these letters is un
questionably the abductor of your
child !" said Dr. Hutton. "Have you
any suspicion as to his identity?"
"Not the slightest," said Mr. Preble.
"We have puzzled over the problem
for many years, but we cannot guess
who he is."
"Think, ' said the doctor. "Have
you no enemy ? I do not mean peo
ple with whom you are not friendly—
every stirring man has plenty of these
—but a downright enemy Is there
no man whom you knew iu the East
who bated you ? No one against
whom you were called upon to testify
—no one whom you possibly injured ?"
The banker shook his head. He had
asked hitnseif all these questions re
peatedly.
"I have no such enemy, doctor," he
answered with sincerity of voice
and manner.
"And Mrs. Preble?" sug ed the
doctor, turning to her. "I. you no
rejected suitor who might be revenge
ful enough to desolate your home?"
"No," said the lady. "I was mar
ried early. Morton was my first lov
er !"
"This is strange—very strange!"
muttered the doctor. "You are not
conscious of having an enemy in the
world, and yet you have an enemy—
a hidden foe—a fiend in human form—
who is working out against you a fear
ful hatred! And you have not the
slightest suspicion as to whom he is?"
"Not the slightest," declared the
banker.
"Not the slightest!" echoed Mrs.
Preble. My husband had a step-broth
er who might have been eapableof this
infamy—but he is dead !"
"The handwriting is not familiar?"
"No. It is merely a rude scrawl, as
you see," said the banker. "It sug
©lie 33t , afwti Betotbrtt* p<®G
gests nothing—except that it is evi
dently disguised!"
Again there was a profound silence.
"Our child would beseventeen years
old now," at length murmured Mrs.
Preble, her voice trembling. "She
is on the threshold of womanhood.
No doubt, during all these years, she
has yearned for us, wherever she may
be, as we have yearned for her 1"
"But where is she?" asked the phy
sician—and now his voice was broken
by his deep sympathy with the ago
nized parents. "Where can she be?"
"Heaven only knows," answeredthe
mother. "Perhaps in San Francisco —
Ierhaps in some rude hut in the inte
rior, with some obscure farmer, and
under a name that is not hers! I think
her abductor would have carried her
to some lonely region of the interior,
among the valleys and mountains.
Yet I never see a young girl in the
streets without turning to look at her.
I never hear a girlish voice without
listening eagerly, half fancying that it
mav prove the voice of my lost Jes
sie f"
"Oh, pitying heaven !" sighed Dr.
Hutton, dashing a flood of tears from
his eyes. "Will this long agony nev
er be over?"
"We hope so, and even believe so"
answered Mrs. Preble, with the firm
ness of an unfaltering trust in God's
mercy. "The last message we receiv
ed from our enemy seems to point to
some kind of a change."
"True," assented Dr. Hutton, look
ing at the message in question. "It is
unlike the others. It says that his
'reward is at hand.' He means either
that he intends to marry your daugh
ter, or that he intends to demand
money of you for bringing her back—
or both."
"We shall soon know," said Mrs.
Preble, with forced calmness. "To
day we shall have another message,
no doubt. What will it be?"
The banker turned restlessly on his
sofa, and his face grew paler.
"Whatever it is, let it come!" he
murmured. "Anything can be borne
better than this awful suspense. Let
it come!"
As if his impatient words had pre
cipitated a crisis, a step was heard on
the walk at this moment, and a ring
at the front door followed.
"Another message!" breathed the
banker.
A servant soon entered, bearing a
letter, which he extended to Mr. Preb
le, saying :
"The bearer is in the hall."
With an eager gaze, the banker
glanced at the superscription of the
missive.
"It is from him /"
He tore the envelope open.
It contained a slip of paper, of well
known shape and appearance, upon
which was scrawled a single line, in an
equally well-known hand writing,
which the banker exhibited to his wife
and the physician.
This line was as follows :
"AUGUST It, 1868. At six I will
caUl"
A shock of wonder and horror shook
the three simultaneously.
"Will call!" cried Mr. Preble, s.art
ing to his feet, and glaring wildly a
round.
"Is coming here?" cried Mrs. Preb
le, also arising.
"It seems so," said Dr. Hutton, his
eyes again reverting to the message.
"He will be here at six o'clock, and
see ! it is six already !"
Even as he spoke, the clock on the
mantel-piece commenced striking the
appointed hour, and at that instant
heavy footsteps resounded in the hall,
approaching the library.
"It is he !" cried the doctor, also ri
sing.
As the last stroke of fthe hour re
sounded, the door leading from the
hall again opened.
One long and horrified glance cast
the banker and his wife in that direc
tion, and then she fell heavily to the
floor.
Her senses had left her. The above
we publish as a specimen chapter; but
the continuation of this story will be
found only in the N. Y. Ledger. Ask
for the number dated December 4th,
which can be had at any news office
or bookstore. If you are not within
reach of a news office, you can have
the Ledger mailed to you for one year
by sending three dollars to Robert
Bonner, publisher. 182 William street,
New York. The Ledger pays more
for original contributions than any
other periodical in the world. It will
publish none but the very, very best.
Its moral tone is the purest, and its
circulation the largest. Every body
who takes it is happier for having it.
Leon Lewis, Mrs. Harriet Lewis, Mrs.
Southworth, Mr. C'obb, Professor Peck,
Mary Kyle Dallas, Fanny Fern and
Miss Dupoy will write only for the
Ledger hereafter.
Mr. Bonner, like other leading pub
lishers, might issue three or five papers
and magazines; but he prefers to con
centrate all his energies upon one, and
in that way to make it the best. One
Dexter is worth more than three or
five ordinary horses.
One science only can one genius flt,
So vast is art, so narrow human wit.
The December "Riverside," in clos
ing the volume, brings forward some
of its old and favorite contributors.
Mr. Herrick givos the frontispiece.
"Wood Hauling," a picturesque scene
familiar to country eyes; Hans Ander
sen tell* a Danish story ; the Editor
completes his account of book-making
by a description of binding, illustrated
by eight sketches, and also tells a
Christmas story. Miss Thomas has a
thrilling account of some children who
once were caught on a Mississippi floe
of ice. The "Yo-Semite Fall" has a
picture, and Mother Goose has four
pretty vignettes. Hunting in South
Africa is described by an old hunter ;
Sophie May, of Prudy fame, tells of
her "Higgins fright;" and an anony
mous writer describes old-fashioned
times in New England. Darley, the
artist, illustrates some scenes from
Scott ( and Harry Bolingbroke de
scribes a mimic encounter in a duck
pond. Finally a "Christmas Carol"
from the French, with an English
translation, holds the last page; so
that music is heard as Volume 111
disappears, and all young eyes are
turned to Volume IV., of which an
ample programme is given. Publish
ed by Hurd anil Houghton, New
York. Subscription, #2.50.
THE NURSERY, for December, has
been recei veil and is just such a num
ber as will make all its little readers
joyous and happy. This is the
number of the present year. The pub
lishers have some capital Christmas
pieces on hand which they will pub
lish in the January number. Now i?
the time for parents to subscribe for
The Nurtsury , and give it to their chil
dren as a Christmas present. Prieeonly
$1.50 a year. Address John L. Shory,
10 Washington street, Boston, Mass.
Permission has been given by the
King of Netherlands to William Cor
nell Jewett for the landing in Holland
i #f an ocean cable from New York.
Thursday Mornlngr. Tovrmbrr .i, !*
IIAItII TIMED.
Not since the greatfinancial "panic"
of 1857, have the people of the United
States experienced such "tightness in
the money market" as that which now
locks the wheels of business, closes
banks and puts the times out of join
generally. There is this difference,
however, between 1857 and 1861): the
monetary stress of the former year was
owing to a "panic," a "crisis," a loss of
confidence in banks of issue; that of
the present year was produced by no
such cause, but is the direct result of
thetinancial policy of the Government.
There has been no "panic," no "crisis;"
but there have been and arc government
bonds in which more than a thousand
millions of dollars of the capital of this
country lie buried out of reach of the
people and unemployed in any sort of
business. Much the greater portion of
these bonds is held by wealthy persons,
whose incomes from the gold interest
which the bonds bear are quite large.
The capital invested in bonds, also, es
capes taxation, which fact aids in keep
ing it thus invested and dead to the
uses of business.
Whilst the immense sum locked up
in Government bonds, cannot be touch
ed by those in financial distress, the
policy at Washington has been, and is,
to contract the currency. An inflated
circulating medium is not to be advo
cated on general principles. But our
country is, at present, financially in an
exceptional condition. We pay "war
prices" for almost every thing except
wheat, which the farmers have been
hoarding because they could not get
"war prices" for it. Whilst we pay
these high prices, there is less money
in circulaMon than at any period since
1801'. Now, considering this state of af
fairs, the Secretary of the Treasury, in
stead of contracting, should have pur
sued the policy of expanding the cur
rency. The people want more money.
The needs of business require it. As
the Federal Government makes our
money it should have manufactured
some for the relief of its distressed sub
jects. On the other hand it has taken
much of it from them and contrives to
do so from day to day.
What, then, is the remedy? Money
cannot be had except at ruinous dis
counts, consequently banks break and
business languishes. Let Congress au
thorize the Secretary of the Treasury to
redeem three hundred millions of the five
twenty bonds by issuing to their holders
three hundred millions in greenbacks.
The volume of the circulating medium
will thus be swelled three hundred mil
lions of dollars, that amount of the
public debt will be converted into mon
ey in the hands of the people, confi
dence will be restored, business will
flourish, and we shall soon have flush
times again. What says the Honorable
John Cessna to this proposition? His
course on the financial question, during
the coming session of Congress, will be
closely watched. To sustain Boutweii's
policy of contraction, is to say to the
farmer, your wheat is not worth more
than one dollar per bushel, to the me
chanic. the price of your wares must
must be reduced a hundred per cent.,
to the laborer, your wages must come
down to fifty cents per day. Let the
people look to Congress.
THE Tennessee legislature has reject
ed the Fifteenth Amendment. One
year ago this State lay prostrate under
the domination of those radical fiends,
Brownlow, Stokes and Maynard.—
Robbery, arson and murder prevailed
from one end of the commonwealth
to the other. A few months ago that
bloody and hateful dynasty was over
thrown, Tho oppressed people of
Tennessee were liberated. Now peace
and order reign In the community and
as the government of the State is be
ing re-civilized the Fifteenth Amend
ment is kicked among the rubbish of
the Brownlow despotism. Hurrah for
the redeemed and regenerated home
of Andrew Johnson ! "The old flag's
back in Tennessee J"
ONE RAMSEY, Senator from the
State of Minnesota, has just received
fifteen thousand dollars, which the
Post-office Departrneht stole from the
people, to go to France, ostensibly to
negotiate some postal treaty, but real
ly to enjoy a trip to Europe, at the ex
pense of the taxpayers. The people
of the United States should demand
the recall of Washburne, if that lumin
ary is so thoroughly imbecile that he
cannot attend to a little matter of that
kind, especially as he has done noth
ing else.
HOWEVER people may have laughed
at the charge so often prefered against
Ben. Butler, as a spoon-thief the fact
is coming directly home to him in a
specific and tangible shape. An order
for his arrest has been granted by
Judge Jones, of the Supreme Court
of N. Y., at the suit of a party now
residing in Florida; and the charge if?,
*teiling spoons.
WAS there ever ANY people on the
face of the earth more gullible than this
Yankee nation ? From the time when
the great prophet Seward was wont to
make his vaticinations of the ending of
the war in sixty days, until the present
hour, we have been victimized by a
succession of humbugs which would
have knocked credulity out of a nation
of jackasses. The war was to bo waged
for the Union, the suffrage quest ion was
not to be decided without a reference to
the people, the Fourteenth Amend
ment was to be the end of the negro
question, the National Debt was a na
tional blessing, etc., etc. And now the
Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Bout
well, issues a proclamation monthly,
setting forth the diminution of the
great National Blessing, for which his
partisans greet him with hallelujahs of
praise! We never did believe in the
doctrine of a national debt being a na
tional blessing, and, therefore, would
gladly record the fact of the decrease of
the public indebtedness, if it were a
fact. But we cannot endorse what we
know to bea falsehood. The statement
that the public debt has been reduced
within the last twelve months is a lie
so stupendous that it ought to shock
even the stupidest adherent of Bout
well into an awakening from his blind
confidence in that prince of financial
humbugs. A few words will suffice to
unveil the shameful deceit. During
Mr. McCulloch'sadministration of the
Treasury, the monthly statements of
the public debt embraced the sixty mill
ions of the Pacific Railroad Bonds,
which are at this day a part of that
debt. Mr. Iloutwell drops these sixty
millions out of his statements and claims
that he has reduced the debt to that a
mount! Occasionally a few millions of
Government bonds are purchased by
Mr. Boutwell. These are deposited in
the vaults of the Treasury and counted
as assets and also as part of the debt re
deemed, in the monthly statements!
They are not destroyed or canceled, as
they should be, if they are really re
deemed. Why not? Because they are
to here-issued, in a little while, when
they will again become a part of the
public debt! Glorious system of finan
cial legerdemain! Now you see it, and
now you don't see it! Vive la humbug !
It is said that "our Congressman" is
bored nigh unto death by applicants
for Marshals to take the census. Cen
sus-taking is the stepping stone to
greatness, for did not Geary once act in
that capacity for four townships in
Westmoreland county?
Official returns from the State of New
York fix the majority of Nelson, the
Democratic candidate for Secretary of
State, at 20,50t>. This is sufficient for all
practical purposes ; as it carries with it
a handsome working majority in both
branches of the Legislature, we think
that the Democracy of the Empire
every reason to congratulate
itself and to be congratulated upon this
great triumph.
SWORN IN. — Wm. Keyser, Esq., the
newly elected Sheriff, was sworn into
office on Saturday last. Mr. Keyser
is an active, intelligent and upright
man, and cannot fail to make a first
rate officer. Mr. John A. Cessna has
been appointed deputy. Mr. Steck
man, the retiring Sheriff, and his dep
uty, Mr. Iluzzard, are held in high es
teem by the business community for
their correetne&s and promptness in
the discharge of their official duties.
We direct attention to the card of
our young friend, Alex. King, Jr.,
published in another column. Mr\
King hasdevoted years to the study of
the law and will no doubt make his
mark in the profession. We assure
the public that all business|intrusted to
him will receive prompt attention.
Success to Aleck !
AN assessor of South Carolina went
lately into a settlement of colored peo
ple in Abbeville, in order to assess
their taxation. He made a valuation
of everything they posessed, and was
so particular that heconsumed a wholo
day at it. He found that the whole
taxation that could be raised for the
State out of the settleinentuf collected,
would only araout to seventy-five
cents!
THE LADVS FHI END FOR DECEM
BER. —The Christmas number of this
attractive monthly has two uncom
nionly beautiful steel engravings—com
panion pictures, "The Departure" and
"The Return," More beautiful en
gravings than these are seldom seen in
a magazine. ft has also a gay and
stylish plate of Colored Fashions, and
a Christmas title-page, showing vari
ous modes of celebrating the day.
The illustrations of Caps, Bonnets and
Coiffures are tasteful, and so are the
captivating Costumes for Little Girls.
Music —"The Angels are Waiting for
Me," Amanda M. Douglas concludes
her excellent story, "The Prize of Two
Men's Lives and Mrs. Wood reveals
the well-kept secret of her novel of
"Roland Yorke," which ends in the
most satisfactory manner. There is a
tine story from Mrs. Mouitou, and an
other from Nora Perry, and a sweet
poem from Florence Percy, with the
usual literary matter. The recipes are
good, practical directions, such a* la
dies want for the holidays. The pub
lishers offer great inducements to new
subscribers, and we recommend our
readers to inclose ten cents for a sam
ple copy, to Deacon & Peterson, 31U
Walnut Street, Philadelphia. Price
$2.50 a year (which also includes a
large steel engraving.) Four copies,
SG. Five copies (and one gratis), SB.
"The Lady's Friend" and "The Sat
urday Evening Post" (and one engrav
ing), S4.(X).
NEWS ITKMff.
lii some parts of lowa tlie farmers
| are feeding wheat to their horses, it
! being cheaper than oats.
Snow fell on Monday last to the
I depth of twelve inches in the north
ern portion of Vermont.
Hundreds of cords of woorfarebeing
I burnt along the l,eligh canal, in or
j der to get it out of the way.
The mining stocks of California have
I depreciated in value within the last
nine months not less than $5.000,000.
Two men were killed in a New Or
j leans candy factory last week, by the
I accidental explosion of torpedoes.
It is said that Mrs. General Custar
goes with her husband on Indian cam
! paigns, and is a good shot with the ri
de.
There are twenty-three suits for di
vorce before the Supreme Court at
Portland, Me., and nineteen of the pe
titioners are wives.
Beecher wants John Chinaman to
vote, "pig-tail and all." The Boston
Post thinks this is a queue-rious way
I of expressing it.
Portion of the Central Railroad
track, on the Niagria Falls branch, was
! torn up up the gale which visited the
! Canadian frontier on Wednesday night
; last.
It costs S3O a day for a first-class par
lor and bedroom at the new Grand
Hotel, in New York, provided you
don't eat anything.
The names of the common drunk
ards are posted up inGaleshurg, Mich.,
and saloons forbidden to furnish them
liquor.
An unmarried woman at Virden,
111., owns seven hundred acres of ex
cellent land, which she paid for by
teaching school.
Another case of whiskyeide. Pat
; Keenan was found dead by the road
; side near Racine, Mich., with his
! whisky bottle beside him.
Three sailors belonging to the Uni
ted States steamer Lincoln, were
| drowned at St. Paul, Iceland, by the
upsetting of a boat.
It is estimated that the total produc
tion of grain in the United States for the
| current year will amount to fourteen
! hundred millions of bushels.
The experiment of another negro
postmaster is being tried at Manches
ter, Va., near Richmond. Cunning
ham is the man's plantation name.
The Oshkosh (Mich.) Northwestern
says that crews are being hired for
the winter in the pineries, wages ran
i ging from $25 to S3O and $35.
The miners of Luzerne county have
| prepared a bill for presentation to the
j next Legislature providing for the
■ proper ventilation of the coal mines.
A smart man at Cedar Falls, lowa,
| gives notice that he has used about
two pounds of powder lately, and that
some of it may be in the wood pile.
On the Mississippi River, the steam
er which makes the fastest trip is enti
' tied to wear the antlers of a deer upon
| its pilot-house as a token of suprema
| t-y.
Mr. John Gordon was brutally mur
dered near Whartou, Wharton county
Texas, on the 28th, by two negroes,
and his body burned to conceal the
; crime.
Massachusetts can't have anything to
herself. The Marquis of Bute had a
| butler who committed suicide because
he thought somebody else had stolen
the spoons.
Some of the insurance men in Bos
ton wished to give every fireman in
the city a turkey for his Thanksgiving
dinner but they wanted other people
to pay for them.
According to late advices, everything
"in Alaska is as pleasant as could he ex
pected. The military are well, the
Indians peaceable, the weather mild
and the fisheries prosperous.
Green Miller, an old negro living in
Harrodsburg, fell down and died in
stantlyon Tuesday last, during a vio
lent quarrel with his sou-in-law. Pas
sion struck the old man dead.
The death of Gen. Wool leaves Ma
jor Mordecia Myers, of Schenectaty,
N. Y., the only survivor of the cele
brated Bth regiment of ISI2. Major
Myers is aged about 90 years.
A prisoner confined in the Hampton
Jail, Va., set fire to the building on
Wednesday night of last week, think
ing thereby to liberate himself, but in
stead nearly got burned to death.
Hon. Robert J. Walker devoted the
last days of his life, it is said, to the
preparation of a statistical article show
ing that New York, in time, will sur
pass London as a commercial centre,
Peter G. Drost, of Aillborough
township, Somerset county, N. J ,
gathered ninety-seven bushels of ap
ples from two trees this fall—from one
tree fifty bushels, and the other forty
seven.
The Spanish General Valmaseda has
ordered that his salary he divided a
mong the poor in Santiago, Cuba.—
The misery there, caused by cholera
and small-pox, is reported on the in
crease,
The managers of the Pacific Railroad
are preparing fuel and provision cars
to run with every train during the
winter, so that in case the train gets
snowed in the passengers will not
freeze or starve to death.
Elliot the colored lawyer of Colum
bia, S. C., eowhided a white attachee
of the State government for writing
an insulting note to his wife the other
day. The flagellation is said to have
been thorough.
The managers of the Pacific Rail
road are preparing fuel and provision
cars to run with every train during
the winter, so that in the case a train
gets snowed in the passengers will not
freeze or starve to death.
A little girl in Peoria, 111., attempted
suicide the other day. She assigned as
a reason that her father had disowned
her because she had preferred to work
in a hotel kitchen to attending school
where her playmates made fun of her
sore eyes.
A young man and his sweetheart,
returning from a prayer-meeting j,,
Forest city, Meeker county, Minn., the
other night, encountered three hears.
Nothing daunted they picked upa club
apiece, and soon succeeded in dispatch
ing the unwelcome intruders.
A bill is to he introduced at tin next
session of Congress, by Hon. Leonard
Meyers, of Pennsylvania, changing the
present system of collecting the tax
on distilled spirits, and levying it en
tirely upon the capacity of the distil
lery.
The raw fur trade in Michigan
mount to nearly $1,000,000 annually,
the greater portion of which L done in
Detroit. The principal skins taken
are mink, marten, lynx, bear, leaver,
otter, red, gey, silver and cross fox,
musk rat, wild cat, raccoon and wolf.
The Cuban insurgents continued lo
burn plantations without mercy. In
the neighborhood of Santiago two
hundred and eighty insurgents
have recently been killed. Re Rodas
has pardoned over two hundred pris
oners, many of whom were political.
A petition influentiallv signed is on
its way from Victoria, to President
Grant, praying the annexation of Brit
ish Columbia to the United States.
Queen Victoria will receive a petition
of similar import, 'i he Columbians
feel keenly their insulation and help
lessness.
It is stated thai the Postmaster Gen
eral will soon issue an order prohibit
ing the carriage through the mails of
circulars gotten up by swindling firms
for the purpose of defrauding the pub
lic. Some twenty of these firms arc
on the place list of government detect
ives. Some interference of this kind
is greatly needed.
A young lady became guardian of her
lover at Davenport, lowa, the other
day, in order that she might marry
him, he being a minor and without
parents, while she was eighteen. Af
ter the necessary legal proceedings,
she gave her consent that her ward
should niarrj herself. It was an idea of
her own. Western girls are equal to
any emergency.
The pesky Indians are at their in
fernal work again in nearly all the
Territories. The latest outrage occur
red iu Wyoming, where, as Governor
Campbell informs the Administration,
a body of sixty Indians, led by a white
man, murdered two soldiers, and then
made their escape. Cannot these easi
ly persuaded red-skinned scamps be
placed beyond the reach of white men
and bad whisky? Were it possible to
locate them where they would be free
from the bad advice of wicked whites
and the evil effects of detestable whis
ky, there would be a probability of
their becoming somewhat tractable;
but, unless this is done, there appears
to be no remedy for the existing evil
but to rid the country entirely of them,
either by extermination or transporta
tion to some cliine beyond the leach of
civilization and whisky.
TEX Yoi th's Companion.—Thß i
one of the most promising and reada
ble youth's publication with which we
are acquainted. It is issued from Bos
ton, is most judiciously conducted, and
has among its contributors such writ
ers as Mrs. Stowe, Rev. Mr. Hale, E
iizaheth Stuart Phelps, and many oth
ers equally acceptable to the young
people. Its announcements for 1870
are more than ordinarially attractive.
SPECIAL NOTICES.
NEW STYLES FALL AND WINTER CLOTH
ING. Nowin stock a fine assortment of
MEN S YOUTHS'AND BOYS' READY MADE
GARMENTS, to which large daily additions
are being made.
SUPERIOR IN STYLE, FIT, AND WORK
MANSHIP to any other stock ot Ready-Made
Goods in Philadelphia
—Also a choice selection of
NEW FALL AND WINTER GOODS IN THE
PIECE, which will be made up to order m the
BEST AND FINEST MANNER for th se
who prefer
ALL PRICES GUARANTEED LOWER
THAN THE LOWEST ELSEWHERE. AND
FULL SAT ISF ACT ON GUARANTEED
EVERY PURCHASER IN ALL CASES OR
THE SALE CANCELLED AND MONEY RE
FUNDED.
Samples of materia! sent by mail when desir
ed, for Garments either Ready-Made or made to
order.
Half WAY between I BENNETT A CO.,
Fifth aiul J- TOWER HALL.
SixtkStrerts, ) 518 MARKET ST..
PHILADELPHIA
octlfi'6Sy 1.
To CONSUMPTIVES. —The Advertis
er. having been restored to health in a few weeks,
by a very simple remedy, after having suffered
several years with a severe lung affection, and that
dread disease, Consumption, is anxious to make
known to his fellow-sufferers the means of cure.
To all who desire it, he will send a copy of the
prescription used (free oi charge,) with the direc
tions for preparing aud using tho same, which
they will find a sure cure for Consumption, Asth
ma. Bronchitis, etc. The object of the advertiser
in sending the Prescription is to benefit the af
flicted. and spread information which he conceives
to be invaluable; and he hopes every sufferer will
try bis remedy, as it will eost them nothing, and
may prove a blessing.
Parties wishing the prescription, will pleasead
dress REV EDWARD A. WILSON,
Williamsburg, Kings County. New York
MAYUYL
ERRORS OF YOUTH. —A gentleman l
who suffered for years from Nervous Debility
Premature Doiay. and all the effects of youthfu;
indiscretion, will, for the sakeofsufferinghuuiau
ity, send free to all who need it, the receipt and
directions for making the simple remedy hy which
he was cured. Sufferers wishing to profit by the
advertiser'soxperionee, can do so by addre--" -
in perfect confidence, JOHN B. OQDEN.
No. 42 Cedar street. New York.
mayl4yl
4 COUQII, COLD OR SORE
THROAT Requirers immediate attention,
I BROWN'S J curable Lung Disease
- BRONCHIAL > BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES
( TROCHES. \ will most invariably give instant
" relief. For Bronchitis, Asthm i.
Catarrh, Consnwjnivo and Throat Diitasf*.
they have a soothing effect.
SINGERS and PUBLIC SPEAKERS use them
to elear and strengthen the voice.
Owing to the good reputation and popularity of
the Troches, many worthless and cheap imitations
are offered, which are good for nothing. Be sure
to OBTAIN the true
BROWN'S BRONCHIAL TROCHES. Sold Ev
erywhere. novl l'fipnift
rpilK BEST PLACE TO BUY
1 choice brands of chewing Tobaccos and Ci
gars, at wholesale or retail, is at Oster's. Good
natural leaf Tobaccos at 76 cents. Try our 5 cent.
Yara and H&vanna cigars—they cant be beat,
unlßmJ