m. iii iii i i i i b A McPlKE Editor and Publisher. HE IS A FKEMAX WHOM TDK TRUTH MARKS FKKK, AND ALL ARE SLAVES B ESI UK.' Terms, S2 per year. In advance.' VOLUME IX. EBENSBURG, PA., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1875. NUMBER 48. nVS! IT PAYS!! f..i.iri-r.Mfrrhnl. ...hMH nn nil Hit lm. toKper " onf tni n . -n..ur!Ieg uiscuasion w'tT HE M'lEMIFIC AM ERIC liMfj Ally Ail 1 he last J that the onlT uyoirwr F" . h . , the Intled Ste, de. . ..n i CI I 1H - Yorrfr:"r,.rttnir9. laTentions and H!,,,,,!!l7nVK'Art and Solent. k"'t Illustrated and It 0 ti.tbi latest and interest mi rCnin t" the Industrial. echan f the World; I.e- ir.l . . I KnitravintfS, of New L',,iement. New Pruf. an.l ' . i...4Trtf?0I an '" .m i,l - l-.r,il TV..ta , bv Practical t ,.u ..r u .V.n o- atvl Science abroad. ATlVl M N has been the ,f. '.' . ...l .,l,l,-.iti..ns for the Past w.t if"' ' ' l!u?trite.t p per devoted " fflumrs. t'hemistry. New In f?,r'an.l Industrial ITogreM, pub. l iU'pttar- well worth ten time- If -11 -L.-n!',.n Dfi.-e. Ann ot mo cnup mil . . .ire mT t': i'.ui the cost of sntiserip- i,' ,;,geanl ih'Hl. Anew volume coiu- Jln:l" 1'. . c w;'um'irsntin 3 'aes an.l Sever ,;,!. KNttvi.iS. Thouan. of vol-'nn-wrvea l"r l.in.lln an-l reference, j. rill Trir mini. lnclu.iin Mi?taie. ;.. C ui' Special circulars gvinx Club frf Single cpies maile.l on receipt MtT t h d ot a I News Dealers. TIH-AHfcK. essra. .Mis a jt. .re S'j)iCitor nf Ameri. au anl Koreijrn Pat jci li.iv the larai'St etihlihment In the ;. H"tt than fitly thuusand ai'lloatlons frniiiiJf t.T patents throtiKh their aieney. ..! are ul'taii eil i,D the test term. IV!olel '. Inrfntioni an'l Skt.-lie examined and .t '.rrt. A (fecial notice is made In the rc A I kbi. as of all Inventions Patented t t':' Afncy. with ttn name and rest - .1 t!ie Ptent-. Patents are often aold in Tilinie. lu ocr"ns attnwted to the ioven y "adi D' :ic. N.-n l for Pamphlet, eoniam iitrfr'PnsforoHainlnn Patents. A Lxmnd if Mi; n the Fnlei-I I a. I rnnin tke I. .,miI 112 Knirrn ln of tne i m-,vtmtnt. Prle "23 rrntn. " fur the Piper, or concerning Patents, Ililii,:i7 fnrk km. .fw lork. b Cur. F k Ttti bis., Washington, HE WEEKLY SUN. ;iN EWYORK. IS76. uv.tta bunJreJ and sevetitr-sis is the Ctn- it is ai-" the r ar tn whtoh nn wH indent K pn- ntnti vti. the Bret l iD(r. will he in pt.wpr at Wa-shiiurton, tiMrnf the tare;itr. third tl-ctin of a -t ,f the rnitet States. All of thfsc I 'irf cure tn te of itreaf interest and Im-lia.-. p-uwully the two latlnr: and all of u i-.ri oiiiiif 1,-oiiiit'vio.i witn tni.i win ' 'i nd tresbiy reported and cxtiouuded ir i s. ujfi-ii'i.m il..ue of HLTrpTtatirca. I ': t:! line of ino'iir.- otimoitI veur. nim "t""- teni an.l diliirently trivesti :ercrruDtion an I milet. of (Jhvnt'iI hi.'4tiMi: nu w.ll. it i4 to he huue.1. lv !' '') fir a Heir anil lillir ti.tfl.i.1 in Itit. ni. hit,,rr. of all thia 'l'nr Si-w will ' f f te ati'l H.-eiirate aooiintH. fur- n i t j nil li ru'.inurillj "Jjtl'.i upn th... a!.or!ilnif topic". If ll.i.l t . .1 . " . . . r - ....... ii. i i t n-iNii-mi.il election, w.tn iimu in. r. r it, win he memorable as - '""l iiMirattoii ir a tnir.l f "rnn. pinn.ler, and still more an ,rI vnn h li: !..., 1.... ... . L. i, uii:i.rtuimmci.l llirianjr eiertiiisMrmt candidate, t'on "l 'he .ihj-cn. those who rea.d Thi i. hv ti, . . .... ... , . ,, l nl"i means oi ueuiif "'"ellinrormed. " ""'.iIl.TSm Ki..h k... i i... . ' ' "iinn ..nni in. lieu r VI r ' ninf nrre:irhtr 1 1.. ...... ...i i i. -?. ;";- d Territi.rJ. and we '.ner.arb:w,.e their nuicbers ' - ll Wi IWitiiinoo L- . . i . J,:"''"'-1- lnM-d !"" unitupor- ! t. .,.,'. "r" moiiieni; n i ai rr,.rt vl ln tl'ur' nteri-stlutr I. 'lanner. :n t.l m..i. thi. tTi r t C- .k wt'.JI";r"pi,,'rr 'n ,!lP world, and we f m' e'"!""n!' '"'"ire ,.-im ''"rn:inc I'l'ellikfein-e arid fM. r ,. " '".r W",f'h w'' Bre nl "tr,Hr,; ' ",,r "Ml"r flit toil. The s-tt Wm, ll'"-'L! especially is one of Its ''wT.rt ' .lhe ''"'''"n are also 7rynw'nt'',IUm,,8: a"d " re '"''s-ht'pau'ea with flfty-lx ru "- a yesr. postaire I T. no lit p 'l"""'? rejwys the cost of X,.n, d w "" irom mis -U,;Vsi p""t'isters. or any one. '"'''.t ju.r l,r ,,H,re newspaper -"tvrn r",,!tn,n.-ivea all thf news Tor -,"hr"ri'fon- ,M',""? Pr- 'IZ' We have no trav- me, cc. .e York PTICE All persons knosvinjr l taws ? . " r ,h' date will ;,akw..1.i'.lbSHINKtI'- Hrktt rtej " ' 'Wh onI'' tb rlXiSTR ATOR-s vnTmr lHrr, l..',wn on eatate of 1' PyBiit.M'r,"ns 'ndPbled to said I, vinr rl. ' 1 ne "iHile forthwith. r?lre..c.'"".n or demands aa-ainat I "Jl-1 f.'.rZ.''; to '''-nt thetu pro rJllirsV " BITE, Admtnlatrator. iii, to th. 7,r"ufn. deceased, ""1 tfeU, '"''1'iuested to make t -h.1 ''''ar ,n; ,i 1 . lM to make ' Almlnlstrator. XOTIPP Uv v -""ister ti..w UI Ja- m .t.?,P-t0 om all psra,n C hriB;";;,"',"Hl to make pay. I n ""), ..5'Uoi or demand, will f "HII,Ti-r,,J',',l"T- l"0' 1 lST57-i, 1 fta. Ml Ml I lu-ranna v.f .i? uisir N-fi... oy paying a wii00001" remain ntr un. ...lainfl hXl of eirrry lmily to In. r"YS !S'h new,p.ner that If In- . ........ a taste lor invest ijrai ion. "? . u ,ritm.-n Kmi'Ii'vers. in all the vari ', '1 allele repertory ol New In tf.1.fri,n ....ntainlns a weekly i. V trei.r'.irress of the Industrial uil;,l but al.o of all New Ilia. . . ..tie .iWll rvu.n fc ., r,rUfr Mechanle. Engineers. In. ri ivr.eof ail Pp.rti..n. will fin.l the rI .L.,i.n n-tl tothciu. Itshould rw na '- - . . . Ma,nn .nC. TV.LAxn, .Wd. l Frotn the Catliolic Record for December. ' A C IIRISTM AH IITM!f. Welcome to Thee, heav'nly 3tranger, Glailsome shall Thy advent lie ; Th Thy hirtli-place was a manger, Natitre mw her Gol in Thee : AVhilst Thy lowly home was wanting All that earthly joyn coitltl liring. Seraphs hymn of joy were cbatiiiting. Unto Thee, earth's new-born King. In Thy arable birth-place lowly, Angels waited Thy behest; , Whilst Thy mother, maiden holy, ClawpM Thee to hor potlest breast ; ' Shepherds who their flot ks were tending ln Bet hlehem's lonely plains by uight; Saw the lieav'nly host descending. Filled with woud'ring, strange delight ; They their flocks: left unprotected, Wand'ring o'er the plains afAr, Through devfona ways to Thee directed. Hy Thy radient natal star. Wiae men, too, with presents laden, Jewels rare, and perfume aweet. From lands afar rich roliea array'd in, Came to worship at Thy feet. And fn adoration kneeling On Thy happy natal day. We like them :o Thee appealing . "Turn not Thy sweet fat e away ; God and Oinl-Iike, condescending. An on the day that saw Thy birth, Mercy, (with Thy justice blending). Show unto uk, sous of Earth !" Lighten Thou the load of sorrow. Ease of pain the piercing smart ; Iet n.s hope and comfort, borrow From the lore that- fills Tliy Heart, Men's tierce passions ali assuaging. O'er the earth let discord cease; The "Iwtter part" let man engnge in. Guided by the hand of peace. OLD MOXKY-llAGS. A CHRISTMAS STOUT. Roger Flint was a hard man hard as steel. "This is the way it stands, Mr. Beggs," he was saying one day to a man in his of fice, "a poor man is no man at all, and a rich one is a fool if he spends what he has. My motto is, get money. Get it honestly, if you can. If not get it, and keep it." "And ye got it," quavered Mr. Beggs, with a'raeauing twinkle in his watery eyes. "Ye got it and kept it, Mr. Flint. Oil, your' re a sharp one aieg'lar kuife-edger, you are." "In my younger time," continued Mr. Flint, with a Laid smile at lhe other's compliments, "I had some wild notions about generosity. But I soon got over that folly. I lost money by it. If people will bo poor, let them go to the almshouses. If they are too proud to do that, let them starve and get out of the way. Charity ! Humbug ! Why should I be' robbed for the sake of a set of lazy rascals who are never satisfied?" Mr. Beggs expressed his entire approval of these sentiments by a series of inarticu late croaks. Now, there's a fellow," continued Flint, pointing at the shabby clerk, "whom I took out of a charity institution when a boy. I fed him, clothed him, and taught him a good business. But was he grate ful? Not he! He complained of hard work, and had vague ideas on the subject of pocket money. But I have crushed all that nonsense out of him. llaveu't I, Jacob?" "Eh," said the shabby clerk, starting at the sound of his harsh voice, but not turn ing his head, "Oh, yes, lie has crnxhed me I Oh, certainly !" His depressed man ner and careworn face sufficiently attested the truth of his words. "Now," said Flint, turning suddenly upon his friend, and nearly upsetting him with the shock, "what did you come here for to-night? Not to be sociable. Not you. You are up to some game, Simon Beggs : I see it in your face. Perhaps. I know what it is already. But out with it, anyway.' "What a known. 'un you are !" croak ed Beggs, rubbing his lean hands togeth er. "What an up-and-down sticker 1" Beggs shifted uneasily in bis chair, and seemed very uncomfortable. "1 ourdaugh ter is a very fine gal," be quavered ; "an uncommon flue gal. She ought to have a good husband, one as would be very lovio' and kind to ber." "Like yourself, for instance," returned 3Ir. Flint, with an irouic smile. "Well, go on. "Suppose," continued Beggs, more easi ly than ever, "suppose, for geym.ent's sake, I was to want ber for my wife, what little sum would you feel disposed to give her?" The smile left Mr. Flint's face, and a grim frowu succeeded it. "Not one cent, sir ! not one cent 1" he answered, sharply. "Take her as she is or let her alone. I'm in no hurry to part with ber. She earns her own living and more, and is a good daughter to me be sides." Mr. Beggs shrank into his shrunken self at the other's vehemence, rubbed his bead feebly, and groaned. Then, if such a dingy old scarecrow could be said to do so, he brightened up and croaked : "Oh, she earns her own livin, do she? And more I Not as I would expect her to do that after we was married. Oh, not And more! See here, Mr. Flint, I'll take her if she's williuV Mr. Flint's face expressed considerable satisfaction as he answered : "She will be willing. She will do whatever I think is best for her. Jacob, go call Jessie." The clerk, who had been rattling the papers on his desk in a strange, nervous way, got hastily off his stool and left the i room. I Presently he returned with a pretty, mild-eyed young girl, who came and seat ed herself silently at her father's sjde. If ever features of stone made a miserable attempt to look kind, Roger Flint's did then. And when he spoke, there was something very like tenderness iu his grat ing voice, absolutely. - r "Jessie," he said, ''have you ever tho't of marrying?" "If I have, father," answered she, with a slight blush, ' "the thought has been so speedily banished by it determination never to leave you, that it could hardly be called a thought at all." "A girl's whim, and of no weight in the plans I have formed for your benefit. All your life I have kept before your eyes the value of money and the utter wortbless ncss of everything else without it. There fore, in choosing a husband for you, I have cast aside all romantic and impracti cable considerations, and secured for you money 1' - The girl's face had grown as white as death, and she sat staring at him with wide open, frightened eyes. "Simou Beggs," continued her father, his voice growing dryer and harsher as he proceeded, "is no very handsome object to look at, I admit ; but he is rich and a driveling old dotard, and the woman that marries him can easily control both him and his money, if she will." Beggs grinned and chuckled as if he had listened to the most glowing panegyric possible. The girl made no reply. Once while he spoke, she turned her eyes toward the clerk at hisdwsk and then was motion less. "Come," said Flint, with a grim attempt at jocularity, "he has but half a dozen yeais in him at best, and then a rich young widow, eh, Jessie?" "I would rather die, as my mother did a thousand, thousand times rather!" said Jessie, in a low, choked voice, putting both trembling hands upon his at in. "Nonsense!" retorted her father hat sh ly, shaking her off. "Once married, you will laugh at this folly, and thank me for disregarding it. Now go up stairs and dry your eyes, for the matter is settled, I tell you." She arose, and looked fixedly at him a moment. Then, seeing the iron determi nation in his face, she turned, and with a low sob left the room. When she was gone, the clerk, who had beeti standing near bis desk with eleuched hands and flushed countenance, hastily resumed his stool and worked away harder than ever. "Don't seem 'ticklatly 'tached to me, do she?" groaned Beggs. The impatient reply upon Mr. Flint's lips was interrupted by the opening of the office door and the entrance of a young lady, muffled and furred against the weath er. What a bright little creature she was! What eyes ! no sharp and sly as a bird's now soft and gentle as it is possible for woman's eyes to be. What a firm little figure, carried with an air of dignity that means jnst nothing at all! What cutis! What lips ! Gracious! "How do you do, Mr. Jacobs?" she said, addressing the clerk first of all, and then bowing to Mr. Flint. "And this is your friend ?" she centinued, looking straight into Mr. Beggs' face, as he wrig gled to his feet to be introduced. "I can't say that I am happy to know htm. Any relation to the Crow family? No, indeed ! A very strong resemblance, then. Is Jes sie up stairs, Mr. Flint? I will go tip and see her, if you please." And with a laugh and a shake of the dark curls, she was out of the room leaving Mr. Beggs breath less and crest-fallen. "I don't like Mrs. Heyward, if that's her name," he mumbled, trying to recov er his composure. But she had so startled and shaken him that presently he sham bled off home. When the door rattled behind him, the clerk got down from his stool and ap proached his master with a bit of paper in bis hand. "Will you write down the value of a soul ?" he said, raising his eyes. "The value of a soul ! How should I know the value of a soul ?" "Oh, don't you?" returned the clerk, still with his eyes doggedly cast down. "I thought you roust, because you sold one jnst now your daughter's." Flint started forward as if he would have struck him ; bnt he restrained himself, and died, in a threatening voice : "Jacob Stirling, if -a are a fool, don't make it so plain, or you will get iuto trouble. Now, go to bed, you beggar 1 Be off, d'ye hear ?" Jacob made no reply, but went slowly away, looking more careworn and de pressed than ever. And Mr. Flint, stand ing before the Are, with an expression of doubt atiJ satisfaction, strangely mixed, upon his featnres, fell into a reverie. A week rolled on, and one morning Roger Flint enteied his office, and in tones which he vainly endeavored to render as harsh and stem as usual, said : "Jacob, have you seen Jessie this morn ing?" Jacob answered : "No." "Then," exclaimed Flint, suddenly breaking down, "she has left us for what ? Jacob 1 Jacob I See, here is a note which she left upon my table ! Read it." With a shaking baud, Jacob took it and cead : "My dear, dear father doubly dear to me now that I have left you try, oh, try to believe thai I am not so sinful as I seem ! Try to think that I strove hard ' indeed I did to obey your wishes, but had hoe strength to do it. Ob, my dearest! now that by my own weakness and wickedness I have set a gulf between us, perhaps never to be crossed, I beg and pray you to shake off that fearful love of gain which has made us all so wretched, and be your own good, . gentle self again. Be kinder to Jacob poor Jacob ! for I loved him, father J and forgive, oh, forgive your child !" J The two men stood staring at each other, ' with a fearful thought burning in their eyes, for a long, breathless moment. Then, as if he had dashed it aside with bis clench- ed hand, the depressed, shrinking air was gone from Jacob ; all that was manly and : noble fn him came uppermost in his strong sorrow, and he, whose patint drudge be 1 had always been, coweied before his dilat- i ing eye. I "Wretch !" he shouted, "see what your j accursed money has done for you. You j would have your daughter's life a hell for j it ! You would have given her, bdy and soul, to a thing a thousand times more de- graded than a beast for it ! You have held I it up to her daily as au idol to be worshiped before Heaven ! Are you satisfied?" "I meant it for ber good indeed I did," groaned Flint. "Oh, man, man 1 what are you now ? Old, alone in the world, standing in your grave, hated and despised by all of your kind ! Now, go to your money and seek consolation in it if you can. Prostrate yourself before it : will it bring her back to you, or to mo, who loved her footprints on that dirty floor more than yon loved her soul? Pray to it, weep to it: will it make ber what she was? Ob, poor, misled, ill used gill !" S crying out as if his heart were broken, he sank into a chair and burst into tears. For a long while the old man stood silent, with a bewildered look In his face ; then he started towaid the door, bareheaded as he was. 'Where are you going ?" asked Jacob, detaining him. "I am going to find my child," he said, brokenly. "I am going to biing her back, and try, through all the years of my worth less life, to atone for tho wrong I have done her. Jacob, will you eo with me?" For many days after this people won dered at. two stiange figures whom they encountered iu the streets a haggard, white-haired old man, supported by a younger one, who wandered hither and thither, on broad thoroughfares and in nar row byways, peering with eager eyes into the faces of all they met. But no trace of her they sought so anxiously was found. Night after night they placed a light iu the office window, vaguely hoping that she might see its glimmer, and, feeling the longing it expressed, return to them. But she never came. Avarice, in Roger Flint, had so sapped and mined his nobler feelings, that when it was torn out of him, at one fierce clutch, it left him weaker than a child to bear his trouble. Worn with fatigue, heartsick with fruitless expectation, he broke down completely, and took his bed with no wish to rise again. And Jacob Stirling, more manly in bis patient sorrow than he had ever been before, sat by and tended him. "Jacob,"' be said, one afternoon, a few weeks after bis daughter's disappearance, "Jacob, I dreamt last night that our poor girl had come back to us, and I was weep ing bitterly to think of all the wrong and sorrow I had brought upon ber young life. And I thought that she put her arm about my neck and whispered: 'All a dream, dear father ; be comforted, for it was all a dream.' Jacob," he said, suddenly inter rupting himself, ' I wish I could see her before I die." Jacob made no answer. "If she ever returns to you when I am gone," he continued, with a sigh, "take her in, shelter her tenderly from the world, keep her from her own thoughts, and be a I brother to ber. God knows she will need it ! Tell her that her father loved her, iu spite of his sin and folly. Tell her that be never blamed ber, but himself, and that his only wish was that he might see her. to ask her pardon, before he died. Will you, Jacob?" "1 will," answered Jacob, in a low voice. Then, arising and going into the office, be sat himself down at bis old desk and rested his head on his arms, in gloomy thought, lie had been so but a moment, when the door opened and Mrs. Heyward entered, and "though the day was dark, a sunbeam seemed to have entered, too. The smile left her lips as she saw the haggard face he turned toward her. "What is it, Mr. Jacob? Are you not well?" "Yes" he answered, indifferently, "I am well." '. "And Jessie?" she inquired, with a singular look. "She has left us" be cried, brofcenly. "Don't ask me more." There were tears in the little woman's eyes and yet she was laughing, too. "That wretched old father of hers" A rl. m mA mA, " ha int.Ai-riinf.Ml "kinder and better in every way, but fail- ' ing rapidly under the shock. "Failing V eohoed the lady, turning ; very pale and trembling very much. Tueu without another word she turned and ran out of the room. Night had fallen again,' and the old man was lying on his sofa in the little back room, with Jacob sitting silently near him, when the door opened, and three persons came in. They were Mrs. Heyward, a tall young man, aud a female figure, close ly veiled. 'Mr. Flint," began the lady, sharply, "you are not the mean, covetous, hard old man you were, are you ?" "No," answered Flint, humbly. "And you would be kinder -to yonr daughter if you had her back again, would you?" "Yes. But, God forgive me, it is too late to talk of that !" "Then, there !" she cried, choking and gasping in her emotion ; 'Take her." And, with a loud cry, the veiled figure felT at the old mau's side and took his head to her breast. "My child," he cried, weeping bitterly, "my little child !" "A dream, dear father," sobbed the girl ; "all a terrible dream, it seems. For give me for leaving you." "Tell him," said the tall young man, laconically. "Listen, you bad old creature," said Mrs. Heyward, twisting ber dear little face into all sorts of shapes to keep from cry ing, too. "One uight, I came here and found your daughter nearly distracted be cause you were bent on marrying her to that hideous old crow friend of yours. When I knew that it was for his money, I was sure that you would never soften to any entreaty she could make. I was mad, I raved and stormed awful, and then went home and told my old boy all about it." Her old boy, otheiwise the tall young man, nodded admiringly. "I askod him if nothing could be done to save her from the misery which you were driving her. 'Let her elope,' said he, in his dear stupid way ; 'let her leave the old tascnl, and if he loves his child, as most men, however hardened, do, he will relent. And so we planned between us how it should be doue. I ieisuade her to meet him, unknown to you, and at last he consented. My husband," laying her hand proudly on his arm, "whom you have never seen, was the man she ran away with, and our borne was her asylum. She pined for the father who was not deserving of her love ; she pined for the home that had never been a happy one, and and" here the little creature sobbed and laughed together "we have brought her back to yon, this bright and merry Christmas day, and never, never wrong her so again." When she had finished, Roger Flint slowly arose and, deliberately turning about, pummeled his pillows until he was out of breath. "There," he said, beaming all over, "lies old Roger Flint, that schem ing old miser, dead as a door nail. And here," tspping himself, "is the new Roger Flint, who, with - God's help, will bo a kinder aud a lietter man." Then how he laughed ! such laughs as hadn't come out ot that dry throat iu years. How he hug ged them all, aye, eveu the tall young man hi n. self! How he made a perfect, jolly dervish of himself about the room 1 "Jacob," he said, stopping suddenly, "I owe you a great debt, accumulated iu long years of harshness and cruelty, I'm going to pay that debt, Jacob, every penny of iu And here" leading forward his blushing daughter "is the first installment." Then turning to the others, he continued : "I have worn spectacles, made of the lowest passions of my heart, all my life. They have blinded me to all the good aud gentle things of which this world is full. But they are gone, broken, cast aside forever, and oh ! my friends, I am a happy old man." So had sorrow the power to resurrect those nobler things, buried under m.iuy misspent years, and make them live again. So had sorrow the power to lay the first broad stone of a clear wide road to heaven. Jioah Sunday Timet. How to Choose Christmas Gifts. A writer says apropos of choosing Christ mas presents : The usual practice iu choos ing Christmas gifts is to start out with a full orlniounaie and come home with it empty, having scoured a dozen book, print and curiosity shops to "Dud enough pretty things to go round." The gift sent to one friend might have been offered with equal r ie'y to a hundred others. Now b..Jy (woith remembering at all ou Christmas Day) has a fancy, or whim, or association, which a trifle will recall and gratify. Now that we have so little money, let us set our brains to work to remember these whims or hobbies and to find the suggestive trifles and our word for it, we will startle our friends with a more real pleasure than if we had sent them the costliest unmeaning gift. There must be a nice discrimination, too, in as sorting these trifles. There are certain folks whom we know to be sorely in need of articles for the wardrobe, and to whom we must, therefore, give utterly useless follies because they know that we know it ; and there are other and better folk in like condition who will receive a collar or a pair of gloves with as hearty and sincere feeling as though the offering were a strain of Christmas music. There is one cousin whose gift must smell of tb shops and the dollars paid for it, and another who if we send her our worn conv of Geonre Herbert. or the little broken vase which has stood ' for years on the little study table, would receive tbem with wet eyes and find them . fragrant with old memories. 0.l KAM A ( ItAlS. Old Santa Claus sat alone in his den. With his leg crossed over his knee. While a comical looked peeped out at his eyes; For a tunny old fellow was he. His qneer little cap was tumbled and torn, And bis wig it was all awry; And he sat and mused thf whole day long, While the hours went flying by. He had been as busy as busy could be. In filling his bag with toys; He had gal tiered his nuts and baked his pies, To give to til- girls and lioys. There were dolls for the girls and whip for the boys. With wheeltmrrnws. horses and drays. And bureaus and trunks for the dolly' new clothes. All these in his pack be displaj s. Of candies, too, both twisted and striped, He had furnished a plentiful store, While raisins and tigs, and prunes aud grapes. Hung up on a peg by the door. "I am almost ready," quoth he, quoth he, "And Christmas is almost here; But one thing inure I must write them a book, And give to each one this year." So he clapped his specs ou his puffy nose. And, seizing the stump of a ten, He wrote more lines in one little hour Than you ever could read in ten. He told them stories, all pretty and new. And wrote them all out iu rhyme; Then packed llieiu away with his box of toys, To distribute one at a time. And Christmas eve, when all were In lied, High flown the chimney he flew; And stretching the stocking leg at the top, He clapped in a liook for you. A. CHRISTMAS LEG EX D. It was Christmas eve. Tho night was very dark and the snow falling fast as Herman, the charcoal burner, drew his cloak tighter around him, and the wind whistled fiercely through the trees of the Black Forest. He had been to carry a load to a castle near, and was now hasten- ug home to his little hut. Although he worked very haul, he was poor, gaining barely onotigh for the wants of his wife and his four little children. He was think ing of them, w hen he heard a, faint wail ing. Guided by the sound, he groped about and found a little child, scantily cl t lied, shivering aud sobbing by itself in the snow. "Why, little one, have they left thee here all alone to face this cruel blast ?" , The child answered nothing, but looked piteously up in the charcoal burner's face. "Well, I cannot leave Iheo tit-re. Thou would'st be dead before the morning." So saying, Hermann laiscd it in his arms, wrapping it in his cloak and warm ing its little cold hands iu his bosom. When he arrived at his hut, be put down the child and taped at the door, which was immediately thrown open, and the children rushed to meet him. "Here, wife, is a gnest to our Christmas Eve supper," said he, leading in the little one, who held timidly to his finger w ith its tiny hand. "And welcome he is," said the wife. "Now let him come and warm himself by the fire." The children all pressed round to wel come and gaze at the little new-comer. They showed him their pretty fir-tree, decorated with bright, colored lamps in honor of Christmas Eve, which the good mother had endcaveied to make a fete for the children. Then they sat down to supper, etch child contributing of its poitiou for the guest, looking with admiration at its clear, blue eyes aud golden hair, which shone so as to shed a brighter light in the little room ; and as they gazod, it grew into a sort of halo round his head, and bis eyes beamed with a heavenly lustre. Soon two white wings apeared larger and larger, and then the beautiful vision vanished, spreading out bis hands as in benediction over them. it j.- -r r it .it. Herman and his wife fell on their knees, exclaiming, in awe-struck voices, "The holy Christ-child !' and then embraced their wondering children in joy and thank'- f i ., . ,. , , .... fulness that they had entertained the Heavenly Guest. The next morning, as Herman passed by the place where he had found the fair ! J""e 'lecitfcing tti voice; and the wo child, he saw a cluster of lovely white ilecidi flowers, with dark green leaves looking as lican. But most of the gills (dash their though the snow itself had blossomed. frizzes and cutis) make their minus up, Herman plucked some, and carried them fJ'-dfe eaily in life, to t:.ke any one who'll reverently home to his w ife and children, who treasured the fair blossoms and tend ed them carefully in I en, en. biance of that wonderful Christ inns Eve, calling them Chrysanthemums; and every year, as the time came round, they put aside a portion of their feast and gave it to some poor lit- tie child, according to the words of the Christ: "Inasmuch as ye . , have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it nuto me." Florence Scan- nail, in Si. Nicholas. When the Earl of Biadford was brought before Chancellor Lough borough to be ex amined upon application for a statue of lu nacy against him, the chancellor asked him: How many legs has a sheep ?" "Does your Lordship mean a live or dead sheep?" answered Earl Bradford. ra. "Is it not the same thing?" said the Chancellor. f TT1V I lAI'fl " tOld UfSffM-H dnA In much difference A living sheep may have . . . . . four legs; a dead sheep has only two. There are but two legs of mutton : the two i u .. viw lore tacs aie snoumetes. ' TIIC OLD CONSTITUTION. A corresxndent writes from Annap. oils. Mi., thus) amusingly: "A full length figure of Gen. Jackson has been received, and ist U day beiivg era-ted on a suitable pedestal in "th grounds of the Naval Academy. If any one thinks that Andrew Jackson should not have a place in the naval school, he will l e enlightened hy1 the follow ing bit of naval history : During J aek i son's first term, the famous frigate Constitution was undergoing evten i sive repairs at the Charlestowu Nuvy . yard, under the suiervisku of -Com- modore Jesse O. Ulliot. This thor j ough-going Democrat caused the old I fiddle-shaped rrow of the historic ship to be taken down, and a wooden ! model of the conqueror of Pakenham j to be raised in Its place. At this sao ; rilege the old Whigs of Boston grew indignant, and the figure was hardly L comfortably settled in its niche, be i fore- an intrepid marine scaled the heights of the Constitution and cut the j President's head off. The indignant I Elliot stuck it on again, and set a ! guard to watch it, but the same wily executioner eluded the watch ona dark night, and the headless trunk met the eyes of the confounded Com modore on his rounds the next : morn ing. A second time the head wa re covered by tfce indefatigable Elliot, and rumor hath it that the President sent him to sea iu command of the Mediterranean squadron, to save his own head and reward the unquench able zeal of his admirer. Even Jack son, however, couli hardly pat him on the back, when the party zeal of this same officer led him to fill his gun- j deck with jackasses on his homeward voyage, aud to set on foot and to sub scribe to a testimonial service of plate to be presented, not to the President, but to Commodore Elliot. A court- martial sentenced him to four years suspension from duty, but it appears that all the jackasses in America must have been convinced of his unselfish wish to improve their breed, and signed a petition in his behalf; for we find that he was restored to duty be fore the expiration of his term of sentence. The ngrure-head was, how ever, suffered to rest in peace, and seems to have followed, unmolested, all the subsequent fortunes of the an cient ship, until its arrival at Phila delphia, where it is now being set in order for the coming Exposition. As it would be manifestly inappropriate, with all deference toiLe coe trary opin ion of the eccentric Commodore, to as sociate Andrew Jackson with timbers I that speak more audibly than the oak of Dodona, of Hull and Cain- bridge, of Chauueey and Stewart, of Decatur and Somers, the figure of the President has been removed, and sent, at the request of the Superin tendent of the Naval Academy, to Annapolis. The figure is bareheaded, and wears a dress suit of the time, over which an ample cloak falls, gath ered at the throat with the usual cord. A roll of manuscript is held in the right hand, and the left is buried in the breast of his brass-buttoned and voluminous waist-coat. The likeness which the features bear to the orig inal is not bad, and tho hair, at any rate, stands up w ith perfect arckarolo gical accuracy." A maiden once said, "I'll uot mate with a man who has not foituiiu gteal." bo she pouted and waited, ti.d scorned to bs maud. She's a maiden et age, 4J. Jetc ork Commercial Anrertiter. A mai den once thought, I cannot be bought I'll many a man who is ooor." but tha man be drank beer, died di ivini: a "keer " j Kl,d twelve orphans went nt from her i door. ' l is I e;ter to wail and be aged 43 J than tti marry the aveiagenmn;. in there's i trllbe f,. ihv mwii,M1 Vlio'll wed the veiy first pel sou she can. Louimcille Courier-Journal. A tuaidoii once cried, '""V"' .lia,v' bt tide, I'll many a man I who is Wise, but, his wise Views abseiled ' IlC .niWd iU(X tll'U.d . ,h.l snii of the prize, ican. ,aj. was the , case; 'twas an aw ful d.sgmcc," said th lei himself lie "done;" the point is, tu some one's wife. And the M.-r silly chaps who are caiiylit in their traps will hud out, wheii it is loo late, that a girl who was charming can be an aiat niingly tei rible ill tempered mate. Only I his much is rert'aiu once back of lhe cm lam. (he Minim ..an who marries will find that the ft-ilow who weds will deseive all he gets -atid get all ? d',se,v'! '' its kind Inttr-Oecan. c i"aiucns an swear t their mir. ,.,ni i.i, i,.,;.. ,, .n . , ' J . . . wed any scstro of a li-el : esiieeiallv nn. v it.iii, i in-1 ji in- uiesr h mev w ho at women pokes fun. and rhymes in prose num. so tn.tt no one would kuow it. Phila. Times. Yestewtiav f tie noon a ''icksbnrg boy, says the Herald, entered the sh,p where his father works and excitedly announced 'Oh ! pa ! ma's awful sick!"' "What's the nvitiei ?" asked the father "Oh, sheV awrnl w! ife, mid she'8 nhakl ing all over, and there's lots of women in j there, nn.l tliov w-i - : . . "Can she talk jet ?" inquired the j er as he rolled do'wu Ll cetes. e !" fath- t - v.ii .-ii a . a . i . , . eoii.ffhomsr .."i r mow, then, going home I said the relieved man. a r- , GitorND noo don't see his shadow Ion r when worked iuto tauae.