Flower or Weed!
A foolish hope cim up in my heart,
fp, like a weed on a summer day.
Took root and sent out ita fresh young !e*\ oe-
And 1 oould not aay it nay.
I watched it spreading and growing strong,
I saw oue fair little tuid, at last.
And the tear* came into my eye* I know.
And I know that my heart heat faat.
I longed so to eee one bkwaom blow,
Or little bad all open wide.
But something happened or the froet erept in,
And all iu a night it died'
Empty and lonely I feel my heart.
Hie winter time, it has come indeed!
For 1 know not yet if it were a flower—
Or on'y an idle weed!
Moving Day.
I hope von are sati.fled now. Mann;
1 hope you are pleased to-uiglit:
We've got all lhe furniture lu. Marm.
And every thing eeeme to he right.
There * a knob, though, off your bureau.
But the cabinet-maker i* near:
If you will insist upon moving,
I wiah you would pay for it, dear!
Of course we can't have any supper—
The dishes are alt packed away .
Beside*, the stove prate is broken ;
There are *andiehea. though, as yon say
You ought to have mm iu your basket
No. thank you. not any for mo
When you are a little more settled.
I thiuk IT! go out and get tea 1
The silver is safe in the closet.
Except that the cream-jug is gone.
If taking on, Marm. would restore it,
I'd williugly let you take on;
Bat it won't: 1 must buy yon another—
IM see it's a cheaper oue, 100.
Your portrait is safe a* you see. Marm -
Or was. til! tbe stove-pipe weut through!
Bet the children down aay where. Bridge;
An armful like that tvn't light;
But them to bed if they're sleepy.
But don't lake their shoos off to-night:
Whatever ro un you go into.
Nothing but tacks will yuc meet;
Every tack on its head is standing,
To run into their dear Utile feet.
You'd better take care of your poodle.
And put him to sleep in your muff:
If he happens to tread on a lack. Harm
They say that one tack is enough—
Look out at once for the children.
For the days are uncommonly hot:
Ton may like to have the dog bite you,
I frankly confess I would not!
Were there ever such fools as we, Marm ?
We were w ell enough off last year;
You liked the house when I hired it—
'• It is just what I wanted, dear!**
I bought new carpets and oil-clothe -
What didn't I buy you. pray ?
Bui nothing would satisfy you, Marm,
But moving again to-day J
Have you been over the house. Marm ?
I have—and what did I see ?
There are Croton-buge in the kitchen.
And a very industrious flea!
Why. the mice walk out of their bcles, Marm
They are taking it mighty cool:
1 think I know what they're thinking—
- Here's certainly one more fool! *
Bridget, make up the bed for your mistress,
And nobody sit up for me:
I m going around to my club, Marm.
For acmethmg stronger than tea!
I've but one thing more to say, Marm,
In view of you and tha day—
She was born on the First of April
Who invented the First of May 1
LOVE WOX HIM.
Cyrus Ferriston and his mother were
all that remained of tne family. They
lived together in a snug farm bouse in
a district so rural that it hadn't so mnch
as a name ; it had only a number—
Township Number One." The nearest
neighbor w*9 five miles away, the only
religions exercises were held in Deacon
Crocket's kitchen, three miles further
off, while there was ten miles between
them and the doctor. Cyrus was an en
ergetic fellow, who farmed in summer
and logged in the winter, that is, he
usually took a contract to bring the
drive of logs down from the woods;
therefore he hail been in the habit of
borrowing Farmer Mutton's daughter
Jane to keep his mother company and
help her about the house, for a small
consideration. Sometimes, tog, Jane
staid on through the summer, or re
turned for the harvesting when it was
heavy ; and at such times Cyrus always
observed that hiß butter and cheese
found a more ready market; that the
house was more cheerful and better
kept—for old Mrs. Ferriston was one of
the slack kind ; that provisions went
further and relished better. But for all
this he felt no inclination to marry
Jane, as folks at Wheatfield had pre
dicted when she first went up to The
Numbers. Jane was called plain; and
Cyrus had a prepossession that hi* wife
should be rosy and dark-eved, with the
smile that conquers men. Jane halted
in her gait the least bit in the world—
hit wife should have the step of a pan
ther. IJhe always dressed soberly, like
a brown leaf, as if she would like to
melt into the landscape— hit wife
should carry her fascination into the
knot of ribbon at her throat, or the slip
per on her foot. Therefore it was ut
terly out of the question, if we put any
faith in logic, that Jane should become
the wife of Cyras.
But, alas! as it often happens, she
had not wintered and stimmered at The
Numliers for naught. When the neigh
bors had hectored her as she was about
to leave home for the first season, and
prophesied, " Well, Jane, I dare tay it
won't be long before you'll be changing
your name tc Ferriston," Jane had
laughed at the notion, and had reckoned
that Cyrus hadn't enough schooling to
please her, and had thought that she
could never be reconciled to spending
her days in The N umbers.
" Folks as held their heads as high
as you, miss, hev bed ter come ter it,"
they answered her. But when she be
came acquainted with Cyrus in his
cvery-day life and thought, she found
that he knew more than she had
dreamed. He had a little library of
books on a swinging shelf that he had
made with bis own hands, and had
carved with deers' heads and oak leaves;
he could talk with her about the heroes
of riutarch and the empires of the Old
World,, about election and free-will,
and seemed to enjoy it. Jane had a
taste for those things ; and so it hap
pened that as she saw Cyrus in his
daily comings and goings, stripped of
disguises, in his genial fireside humor,
he grew in her favor unawares ; in
short, his manly attributes, bis kind
liness and good temper, and his hand
some face won her heart without an
effort on either side. He had so grown
into her affections that one day when
she overheard Deacon Smiley joking
him about Agnes Price, her prophetic
soul stirred in her with a mighty throe.
Everything seemed to revolve before
her eyes—the churn dasher, the tins on
the kitchen wall, and the andirons on
the hearth ; she was obliged to sit down
on her way to the dairy and recover
herself, with a tray of butter in her
j ands.
"It is too heavy for you," said
Cyrus, coming to her relief, with his
ready thoughtfulness, and taking the
tray himself.
" He'll make a good husband, Cy
will," Baid the deacon, while the young
man's back was turned. "She'll be a
lucky gall that gits him ; and, between
us, 1 ain't noways partial to that there
Aggy Prioe. Highty tighty I—now,
Jennie, why didn't you set your cap for
him, and yon right here at hand?
Twould hev bin as easy as lyin'!"
"Would it?" laughed Jane, out of
the depth of her silent misery.
Of course Jane should have left off
loving Cyras after this ; but she didn't;
and naturally he was as blind as others
of his sex, and never guessed what an
ache it gave plain Jane Hntton when
he dressed up in his Sunday best, with
the neck-tie she had made him on his
birthday, and rode off' to pay his conrt
to Agnes Prioe, five miles serosa the
country. She was always awake when
Kll MI). Kl' U P/, Kditor nntl IV< >prittor
VOL. VII.
lie lot himself iu at midnight, ami weut
tiptoeing to liia room, ud she lay wou
deriug how it muet eootn to lo loved
by a mtui after your own heart. Her
life seemed to promise to be all No*
vetubex weather.
But though The Numbers were so
isolated, they had their merry-makings.
There was a quilting ut Mrs. Dea.Mii
Crocket' in Number Two, or a husking
at Farmer Dusenbury's in Wheatfleld,
or a haying-bee at Deacon Smilev's,
with dancing iu the well-swept barn,
hung with lanterns in the evening ; aud
there were camp meeting days, aud now
and tbeu there was a wedding ; and no
distance was too far to travel, and Cyrus
always harnessed old Dapple, and "took
Jane along with him, as Agues would
be going with her brothers ; or, some
times. if the road led that way, he
vwuil • .-all for Miss Agues, and Jane
would sit on the back seat of the wagon
and only guess at what was going on
before her iu the twilight, hugging h. r
[aiu in loneliness of heart. Nobody
inew but Jane was just as hnppy as the
others who danced "chorus jigs" and
" college hornpipes " ; nobouy ever
would have known. Sometimes there
was a preacher on the circuit, who went
about from one Number to another
holding meetings, and Cyrus and his
mother aud Jane put on tlieir best, and
went the rounds too; and Cyrus and
Agues helped at the siuging, an.l lin
gered after the bcuedietiou. One week
the preacher staid at Ferris ton Farm,
and asked Jane to marry him ; aud
though Mrs. Ferriston was sorry to part
with her, yet she advised Jane to think
of it seriously, and went so far as to
get Cyrus to talk with her about it.
This was the last straw that broke tha
camel's back. Jane was sick in bed till
the preacher left The Numbers.
" Dear sakes !" said Mrs. Ferriston,
"if it's goiug to keel Jane over like
this every time she has a beau, the
fewer the better. Girls didn't used to
take it to heart so."
"Ou the whole," remarket! Cyrus,
" I'm glad she didn't take to him. It's
selfish, but how could we get ou without
her just yet ?"
" 1 suppose you'll be bringin' a wife
home one of "these days. It's a pity
you couldn't hev taken a likiu" to Jane
voutself, and she right handy in the
Louse, and knowin'all our ins and outs,
and no fault to find."
•' • Choose lbs ens that rsu love beets.
Suit yourself, you'll suit the rest. "
sang Cyrus. " Jane wouldn't have me,
either. '*
" That's for you to say," returned bis
mother, thinking that the girl was un
born who would refuse her Cyrus.
Well, at one time they Lad Miss
Agnes Price np at Number One to make
a visit, and at first words weren't big
enough to express her satisfaction.
Bat she used to laugh at Jane's old
fashioned way of dressing her hair and
cutting her gowns ; and when Jane and
Cyras got talking upon their favorite
themes, she would put on her bonnet
and be off for a walk, and Cyrus would
naturallv follow without delay.
She wasu't happy unless Cyras was
praising her dress or herself, unless
there were young folks invited over
from the other Numbers and from
Wheatfield for a frolic, or they were
going abroad to some merry-making ;
and when nobody was present but them
selves, she would amuse herself taking
off the folks wiio spoke in the last revi
val meeting, showing how Elder Prosy
at Wheattb Id, eoncious in the midst of
a long prayer that the candles on the
desk needed snuffing, groped for them
with his eyes shut, snuffed them out
between his thumb and finger, and
threw the red-hot ends into a brother's
new hat on the deacon seat; then she
would follow this episode with singing
"Coronation" guttnrally like Deacon
Crocket, and nasally like old Mrs. Qua
ver, and relate how Deacon Crocket al
ways omitted the blessing when they
had pudding and milk for Urn; and Mrs.
Ferriston would look at Agnes over her
spectacles, and shake her head in pro
test, but langh in spite of herself. But
by-and-by my lady began to suggest
improvements in the house; there
might be a wing built oat here, the roof
might be raised, the yard needed a new
picket-fence ; whoever heard of a house
without a flower garden ?
" I thought we had one, eh, Jane ?"
said Cyras.
" Where ignorance is bliss!" re
turned Agnes. " Nobody has such old
fashioned things as marigolds, bach
elor's-buttons, hollyhocks, and love
lies-bleeding in their garden nowadays;
everybody laughs at 'em."
"1 suppose the Lord made 'em," ob
jected Mrs. Ferriston ; and then Agnes
openly confessed that she should die
of the landscape papering on the best
room, which Mrs. Ferriston had guarded
from the flies for years as if it had been
a gallery of paintings by the flrst mas
ters ; and, for her part, Agnes declared,
looking out at the window, she hated to
see nice fields about a house disfigured
with vulgar-looking pumpkins and cab
bages. After she went home Cyras set
to work quietly making some" of the
alterations she had suggested—for they
were to be married in the spring—ask
ing Jane's opinion and co-operation as
if she had been a Bister. In the first
place he built on the wing, and he cat
another window in Jane's room.
" You'll l>e able to see to prink bet
ter, Jennie," said he; "or maybe," on
second thonght—" maybe you'd rather
have a room in the new wing ? Take
yonr choicefor Jane's parents were
dead, and she had now been living year
in and year out at The Numbers.
" I shan't want either one or the
other, thank you," she answered.
" Why not, I should like to know ?
Are you going to swing in a hammock
among the trees ?"
"I'm going to seek my fortune,"
she laughed, because she felt more like
crying.
"Going away from here, Jennie !" he
cried, dropping the hammer with which
he had been driving nails. " Where are
you going ?"
"I don't know—somewhere." He
paused a moment, us if he was trying to
understand her, and perhaps his eyes
were opened a crack ; then he picked
up the hammer and resumed his work.
" I never thought of such a thing,
Jane"—between the blows. "There's
no need of it. At least you'll stay—till
—till—spring ?"
" Yes, I will stay till Agnes comes,"
she answered.
The winter set in early tliat season,
and Cyrus went, as usual, into the
woods logging; leaving his mother with
Jane for company, and a small boy to
clear the paths and look after the stock.
Few but those who live there know
what a winter in The Numbars is like,
when the snow hedges you about, week
out and week in, and a passing team is
so rare as to bring the household from
kitchen or atic to watch it out of sight,
and the wind whistles over miles of un
inhabited country with nothing to im
pede it; when there is nothing to break
the monotony of the long frosty days,
which the almanac says are short, but
homely duties, and the promise of seed
time and harvest.
It seems then as if no sun were potent
enough to melt the mountainous drifts,
built as miraculously as the coral reefs;
and at midnight you wake up suddenly,
and hear the wolves howling in the
woods close at hand, and find their
tracks about the sheep-pen next morn
ing, and remember with a shudder that
there isn't an able-bodied man on the
TILL-: CENTRE REPORTER.
premises. Iu such efromnstauoea one
no. ds to have vast resources tu oue'a
self to be in harmony with ono'a house
hold aud oue'a deatiur.
When Brth ITioo joined Cyrus's
camp he earned him s hue from Agilea,
saying that alie should eipeet him down
to watch the new year 111 and the old
year out at the watch-mectiug, if he
loved her. Esther Sun ley had offered
to lay a wager that ho wouldn't put
himself out so much, and even Mrs.
Deacon Crocket had said it wasn't like
ly, seeiug he was sure of her ; but she
had set her heart upon showing them
how much he eared for her.
It isn't every lover who eonld resist
such an appeal, aud though Cyrus didn't
think it of the least oouscqueuoe wheth
er other people believed in his love or
act. ao loug as it was a reality to bitu
self and Agues, yet he wus doubtless
flattered by her earnest desire for his
presence, and if it would please her,
why not go? It did not occur to him
that it was us much a vulgar wish to
make a parade of Ins regard for her as
a desire to see him. It happened very
luckily, however, Cyrus thought aud
perhaps most }>eoplo would agree with
: iiim—that the camp had run short of
molasses, aud oue of the uicu was de
tailed to take a team and go to Wheat
field for a supply for w hat was coffee
without molasses ? He started Oil the
!at day of Deoetulier, and Cyrus with
him, and he dropjad Cyrus where the
roads diverged, one leading mto Wheat
field, and the other to The Numbers.
There was a matter of ten or twelve
i miles betwetn Cyrus and the Price
farm wheu he left the team, but he had
! offeeu walked further with a load of pro
duce for market. The distauee didn't
strike him as being of any consequence;
he had all his life been used to mile
stones. It had begun to snow some
time before, gently, as if it meant no
harm, and Cyrus was used to suow, too.
But presently the wind changed aud
I blew roughly, and tossed the tlakea into
his eves, and the flakes themselves
grew Lugger and thicker, till tbev clog
ged his steps aud blinded his Bight aud
! obliterated everv laudmark.
Still ho trudged forward, cheering
himself with the warm welcome before
him, assuring himm 1/ that the war was
as familiar as his own potato-field, till
by and by he began to wonder if he
were not watching the old year out by
himself, if he had not been longer on
the road than the distance warranted, if
be had not missed the war, if it were
not growing colder and Jarker every
moment, lie knew about as well where
he was as if he had traveled into Nova
Zembla, or had been c.iat away ou an •
iceberg. He paused, and rested agaiust
the bole of a tree to collect his wits.
There was no use in proceeding further
on the wrong road. In coming to this j
decision he naturally sat down by the j
way to reflect which waa the right'one. j
He did not reflect lung. Lovely images
and colors floated before his mind's
eye. He had reached the farm, and
there was a great back log blaaiug on
the hearth for him, and brown eyes
looking into his, and tender tones in
his ears. Then he came to himself
with a start, and sat upright, peering
into the black night, upon which the
storm seemed ati inscription in an un- '*
known tongue, w.ikd by the rending of
some great limb from the tree above
him, which had fallen and piuued him
to the ground. The dangers of his
situation wero too evident for conjec
ture. He would be frown stiff before
cock-crow, even if ho were not dead of
the blow first. Tbrov *h the storm and
the darkness he called for help, without
daring to h;>c for it, put all his waniug
strength and despair into a few implor
ing cries, and fell benumbed with pain,
with one leg crashed and broken. It |
looked very much as if he would bear
the old year company.
Jane had sat up later than usual that
night, cutting a piece of stuff out of
the loom, which she had tinuhed weav
ing that afternoon. Mrs. Ferriston was
sound asleep, and the farm-boy had
gone to the watch-meeting ; and as Jane
raked up the coals on the hearth, she t
wondered if Cyras was holding watch '
with Agnes— who had boasted that she
would bring him down from heaven if
she wanted him—and if he would be
coming home to kiss his mother iu the
early morning. Then she went to the
door to look ont at the night, which
was not more lonely than she, to bid
adieu to the old vear ; and was it the
shriek of the wind or a human voice'
that smote her ears ?—a voice that
sounded strangely like his. Oh, if if '
should be ! if be were needing her !
At least somebodv on that lonel
waste was in trouble, perhaps dyin?.
1 If she went to her safe warm bed and
waited for daylight, she might never be
able to get that cry out f her cars ! 80
she raked open the coals and piled on
the logs ; she set a lighted candle in
the window, and pushed out into the
storm, with answering cries that help
was near. The wind slapped in her
face and shrieked about her ears tilt
she half misdoubted herself ; but des
tiny led her to where Cyrus lay, not a
quarter of a mile from home. She was
down on her knees beside him in the
drift instantly, rubbing him with the
snow thai sifted about him, chating his
hands in her own soft palms, struggling
with the imprisoning bough, letting
the brandy trickle down his throat,
warming him into life, with her cheek
against his, and calling to him with all
the tenderness in her soul, with all the
endearing names that love invents ; for
in that awful moment she had forgotten
that he belonged to any one but her
self. Perhaps, in the gradual re
awakening, he may have caught the
meaning of this, but he gave no sign of
it. By her frantic efforts Jane succeed
ed in removing the limb that had fallen
upon him, and having pnshed and
dragged it to a safe distance, sho made
a bonfire of it, which illumined the
ghastly night fantastically, and kept
the wolves at bay that were howling in
the woods near. It was only then she
discovered that his leg was broken !
There was but one thing to do, how
ever ; she provided him with a coun
terpane of spruce boughs, as warm as
wool, gathered dry fagots in the edge of
the woods, and extended her blaze in a
circle about the disabled man, like an
Indian watch-fire; then she hastened
home, and, as his mother was too iufirm
tgi vo assistance, she yoked the steers
into the drag—for old Dapple's slender
legs could not flounder safely through
the drifts—and urged them slowly
across the untrodden snow, guided by
the lantern, to the nearest neighbor,
five miles away, who willingly left his
warm pillow, and, with his son of fif
teen, plodded back on the drag to
where the watch-fires smouldered and
Cyrus waited.
It was not long after this before Cy
ras was safe in bed, with his mother
and Jane administering 'to him, and
neighbor Goodheart and the steers on
the way for the doctor. But it was
many long weeks before he left his bed;
indeed, the drifts dissolved like magic,
and Bpring had woven her spells in
blade and bud, and the grass was long
and ready for mowing, before he took
his first step into the air, and then he
leaned on Jane's arm, and walked with
a cratch. The folks in The Numbers
said he would always need to use a
crutch, unless he preferred a cork leg.
When the doctor from Wheatfleld and
beyond had decided upon amputation,
Cyrus had sent for Agnes. Perhaps he
had meant to give her her freedom,
CENTRE II 11,1,. CENTRE CO.. I'A., THURSDAY, MAY 21. 1871.
with a lingering hope that she would
reject it ; |>erhapß he craved the solace
of her presence before his journi v to
witrd the Valley of Shadows. Nobody
ever knew ; it wun only known that she
refused to go to him I The people iu
The Numbers blamed or excused her,
according to their natures and prepos
sessions. "She didn't promite herself
to a cripple," " It's better to live uu
mated than ill-watched," "She's like
to go all the way through the woods
and pick up a crooked stick at last,"
" It's a poor kind of love that's scared
at misfortune," were some of the cur
rent remarks passing from mouth to
mouth.
And so the year wore through, and
Cyrus could no fouger go up the Aroos
took luuilieriug, now swing his scythe
iu the meadow. He had to hire a hand
about the farm. But while he sat at
home with idle, impatient hands, iu
spiratiou came to him as lie watched
Jane laboring at her wheel, and he in
vented a stunning machine. About this
time old Mrs. Ferriston slipped away
out of life ; and one Jay Airs. Deaoou
Crocket rode over to eugage Jane for
her w inter's weaving.
" You won't bt" ueedtu' a housekeeper
uo longer, 1 s'jHise, Cyrus," said she ;
" and folks alius talk so ; so, thinks 1,
Jane bed better come home with me for
the weaviu'."
"Jane," he said—for Mrs. Deacon
Crocket used an ear-trumpet, and was
no kind of hinderwuce to love-making -
"Jane, you promised to stay with me
till Agues came. Will you keep your
promise ?"
" Yes, Cyrus, I will, if you insist up
on it," she answered.
"Jane and I," he said, speaking into
Mrs. Crocket's trumjoit, "are going
down to Wheatfleld this afternoon to
be married."
Mrs. Crocket took the Price farm on
her way home, for fear her news would
spoil if kept over uiglit,
i " Cyrus Fcrnston's goiu' to be mar
ried," said she, " and uo thanks to you,
Agnes Price. Jane Mutton's a luckv
' k*h."
"Do tell!" cried Ague*. ""Never
swam a goose so gray but what oould
And its mate.' I always thought she
had a hmnkerin' after him. H'pose 1
sho'n't be asked to stand up with 'em'
What a figger they'll cut when they
'pear out together! I could never have
borne to go liutpin' along with a tnau
like that all my Jays- it diJu't look
genteel."
" But they Jo sav," continued her
comforter, " how he's made a jtower of
money out of that machiue ft his'n
it's just like spiuuiu' gold. And they're
talk in' about Sendln' of hint to the Leg
islation, and then I s'pose Jane 'll go
too, ami help represent."
A Farmer Boy's Miukerj.
A correspondent of the Manchester
(N. II.) Mirror tells the follow sag : " I
take it must of the sportsmen of Cen
tral Now Hampshire tn-iW something of
Hugged Mountain, the home of coon
and trout, woodcock and foxes, and a
few bears ; and those who know the
mountain as a matter of course know
Uncle John litlliard, whose cabin hides
under the east side of the mountain,
and who has for three score years ami
ten been quite content to brave the
winter snows and summer suns, resist
ing all the temptations to desert his
clearing and his friends of the forest
for the enervating pteo-nre* of village
life. John's sons are clnps of the old
block —sa stalwart slid uncouth, as good
shots and a* wild, aa opposed to luxury
and as well acquainted with the deni
zens of the woods and waters, from
whu-W most of the food thev have cater,
has bees secured. A year ago this
spring, while prospecting upon the aide
of the mountain, John's boys found a
family of mink—two old ones and four
young. The young were quite small,
• fangless and furless,' and therefore
valueless. Tho old ones were nearly as
worthless, their fur being st that season
both thin aud poor, and, after consider
ing awhile, tho boys concluded to try
ami save the lot until the next winter,
when their heavy coats of glistening
fur would turu into many an honest
penny. They accordingly went to work
and constructed a rough box about
twelve feet long by four feet high and
six feet wide. This they carried to a
brook near the cabin. and, by placing
one end in the brook. So arranged it
that by boring augur holes in the sides
of the box, a brook ran constantly
through it from side to side. The dry
end of the box was filled with earth
about a foot deep, and U|>on it was
thrown a mass of green boughs and
twigs, which wero renewed as they
wilted through the summer. This con
stituted the minkery, and into it were
put the six minks, and during the sum
mer others were added until the colony
numbered twelve. They were fed on
wild meat, the carcasses of woodchucks,
hedgehogs and squirrels, ami live fish
which were caught in nets and put into
the brook inside the box. The minks
thrived and grew wonderfully, becoming
as fat as pigs, and being quite as hearty.
Last winter they were taken out and
skinned, and their skins sold for $57.
The Ixiss of the Pilgrims.
The particulars which ltave just come
to hand of the drowning of pilgrims
! from the steamer Loeonia shows, says
the Liverpool Po*t, that the disaster is
by no means ao serious as was at first
reported. It appears that the Laconia
left Alexandria for Tunis, Algiers, and
other ports,with 943 pilgrims on board,
including what are known as the
j" chiefs. These belonged to several
different sects or tribes, among whom
an intense antipathy exists, and eonae
-1 quently they would not associate to
gether. The result of this was that al
though the 'tween decks measured
1,000 tons of available space, and was
divided into five compartments for the
accommodation of the passengers, a
great number refused to go down, and
the chiefs lying seaaiek in the saloon,
could not exercise theiranthority. Mat
ters were ia this oondition when, two
days after leaving Alexandria, n huge
wave broke over the afterpart of the
ship, and fears being entertained that
some persona had been washed over
board, the vessel was immediately
brought head to wind, and kept so for
twenty-four hours, but no one could bo
seen in the water. Tlio loss, however,
has been greatly exaggerated, the first
report emauating from the pilgrims
themselves, whose powers in this direc
tion are well known. The ship's ac
counts show that, of the 943 pilgrims
taken on board, 922 were lauded, leav
ing only twenty-one unaccounted for.
This number included the losses from
all causes—as iu cases of death the
bodies are consigned to the sea by the
pilgrims themselves,without the knowl
edge of the Captain ; and when it is
considered that, after a pilgrimage to
Mecca and back, a great number would |
be much exhausted, and likely to suc
cumb on the homeward vcyuge, most if i
not all of the deaths may be attributed >
to natural causes.
Or COURSE. —"And so they go ;" one
of the Portland school committee is re
ported to have said ; " our great men
are fast departing—first Greeley, then
Ohase, and now Sumner—and I don't
feel very well, myself."
A SI'KTDK'N ROM AM i:.
\\ rarjrot I.lff ami ll* Manifold Mltrilta,
Sixty years ago ! what a long way
back it seems through the half-forgotten
pathways of human life ! Ilow much
of the winding, devious amy runs
through desert, with here a bit of it
half hidden in long grata with tall but
tercups, many on a stem, aud there a
stretell of auuny landscape ; but these
are mostly a long way off —at the begin
mg of the pathway 1 Sixty years ago !
There is a village iu the midland coun
ties of England that was a village sixty
years ago. It has uot changed much in
the interval. Fashion has not atoleu
away its rurality; httsiuess has not
roblmd it of its retirement and peace.
It is tie village of Ameahury. lu 1814
there was not otieof all its three or four
hundred inhabitants unacquainted with
the rosy cheeks, yellow hair, and prat
tling tongue of Little Tom Connelly,
old Tom Connelly the cooper's son, who
used to roll in the shavings his father's
iuihutrions arms accumulated iu heaps
Iw-fore the abed where all the wooden
ehurus, buckets, and tuba of the vil
lage found creation.
Those were the buttercup and sun
shine days of little Tom Conuelly'a life
At two o'clock on Friday morning an
old gray-fiaiietl, pale-faced man was
discovered by the jHilice, huddled away
beneath a cart in Cherry street, New
York city, bleeding to death. It waa
little Tom Conneuy, life weary of his
plodding along the pathway that had
been il< ert for ao long a time.
There is nothing new, nothing T err
(iinrtlusg in thin miserable romance. It
is hut an exemplification of what Sid
ney Smith culled then the tendency of Uie
round peg to get into the square hole.
No doubt there woe a proper orbit for
Tom Oouuellv to revolve in, if he had
found it ; N field of usefulness for him
where hi* brain power or hi ainew
power would have availed to mold the
circumstances of liia life, MO MM to make
life endurable to hint, only he failed to
hit upon it. Tunc* become bad in
Kuglaud ; bad all over Europe, in fact.
Twenty fear* of incessant worfaie hod
ground down the people with taxation.
There was glory and Apaley House for
Wellington, the savior of the nation;
starvation and the workhouse for the
saved, Peace made matters worse ; a
loaf of bread cost one shilling and two
)>enre,|aud a man's bard day's toil was
not worth a shilling. Evil davs over
took the senior Connelly ; the landlord
and the tax-collector levied upon the
poor, humble man's shed ; out uito the
wide world with father and mother and
bairns, the highway or the ditch or
what not for tue man who oould not
psy. That was humanity sixty years
ago ! All this is changed now. Wit
ness Tom Connelly vesterday bleeding
to death from a seff-iuflicted wound,
Ixicaiise he had no friends, no work, no
inonov, no home, and life had become
unendurable to htm.
Men do not easily lose faith in life's
possibilities :
•• To-day sad.
To w- Trow glad."
is a creed that Hope's benignant lips
teach and all men willingly accept.
Tom Connelly was no exception. He
never married—he wo* too poor—and
there were but weak tics to connect
him with his nstive country. As best
he could he picked up bis father's trade
of cooper, and with that for capital and
his faith in life's possibilities for en
couragement, came to this country
many years ago. He can tell of gleams
of comparative prosperity—the streteh
cs of sunshine are in his life's psthwsv
as in every one's. The country in which
lobor has its dignity had a welcome for
honest Tom Connelly who came to it*
shores to work, but ill-fortune, false
friends, ill-health., and old age, with
their cumulative shadows of desponden
cy, deepening and darkening into de
spair, have blotted out the sunshine,
and Tom Connelly, infidel to his own
faith in hope, cut adrift from his creed
of life's possibilities, went out into the
darkness of the slums in this city of
many homes to seek one in death's cer
tain In s. He may not die, but mav
come forth from Bcllevne Ib-spito!,
where he has been carried, with a re
newed faith in the possibilities of life.
Human kindness may yet find sunshine
for tho close of bis life. -V. Fx
prett.
The Tichborne Estate.
The Claimant has not lost mnch in
being deprived of the Tichborne estates,
if all that is stated regarding them be
true. He would havo pome into a bar
ren inheritance, and is likely to live in
a far better slid an infinitely less em
barrassing style whither he has gone
than he oould have done in the baronial
tialls for which he made so desperate a
struggle. It seems that the estates
will be lost in litigation by reason of
the expenses attandant npon the rc
ceut trials. The trustees of the estate
have had to bear the brunt of the legal
proceedings, the coats of which amount
to over $200,000, which is more than the
value of the property. The Doughty
trustees, who had charge of a portion
of the property, and who were not in
volved in tlio suit for ejectment, ex
press their willingness to agree to bear
a certain proportion of the expense ;
hut, as the agent of the estate insisted
that they should pay more than a fair
proportion, they now rafnse to pay any
thing. The result will be, either that
the estate will be sold, or that the
trustees of the two estates of the infant
heirs will enter into a prolonged litiga
tion. Arthur Orion can, therefore, if
he cherishes any animosity towards the
Tichborne family, hug to his heart the
consolation that, if he could not have
the estates, his adversnrios are in au
equally unenviable position. Certain
ly he is iu jail, but even here he has an
advantage, since the paternal govern
ment has kindly given him a roof over
his head, while the Tichbornes arc not
ao desirably situated. There seems to
be something radically wrong in that
law, which permits an impostor to
legally destroy those he attempts to
plunder, by putting them to a ruinous
expense in order that they may defend
their own against the rascally machina
tions. The moral of the affair seems
to bo that when a scoundrel cannot
gain possession of an estate that ia not
his own, he can succeed in making it
iinpossiblo for its rightful owners to
keep it.
Treading on n Snake's Tall.
The latest snake storv comes from
Connecticut. Home workmen building
n mill among tho rocks on Westfleld
river killed a and after sev
ering the head from the trunk and cut
ting the rattleH off the tail for a keep-
Hake, kicked the head away into the
aand and threw the trunk into the sun.
A booted boy camo along and could nut
resist the tomptntion to worry the dead
snake. He trod on its tail, and the
headless trunk of the reptile turned and
struck tho boot as if to bite. The
frightened youth soon hod an audience
around him, and the experiment of
treading on the snake's tail was repeat
edly tried, with the same result. But
another startling thing was observed.
As often as the carcass coiled and
struck the offending boot, so often and
at the self-same instant the grim head,
lying dissevered in the dust, opened its
jaws, the deadly fangs protruding, and
olosed them with a snap.
Till: OULIMH FARM LABORER.
Ill* 11**1 ■ltalian, Ud Lffarli In Ilia
U<b*ll Wlitl Ilia &*llau*l I nlan la
llolttK.
Of nil the demdtJ tr|x* of civilized
rniui, says the New York J'ttnrt,
the farm laborer of the midland and
southern purti of England probably
ranks low eat iu the wrnle. Fur genera
tions be ban beeu underpaid, underfed,
reared in cottages where tilth and
neglect helped to stint the physical
man, and where overcrowding deadened
all sense of retiueinent in the moral na
ture. The man who ij condemned to a
lifetime of hard, exhauatiug toil, ought
to be able to puruhaae nutrition* food,
or botli bodily aud mental vigor will
beoeme permanently lowered. A ma
jority of the agricultural lal>orera of
England bad, for Tears, to find food
ami clothing for themselves and their
families on the average wage* of nine
shilling* a week. To a man o situ
ated, uieat was an unheard of luxury,
uud an occattional awiuiah debauch
formed the solitary gleam of what he
called the pleasures of existence. Edu
cation for his children was out of the
question, because even had schools
been provided, he had neither the
money to buy clothe# iu whioh his ehU
dreu could attend school, nor was he
able to spare the pittanoe which they
began to earn at tui early age by work
ing iu the fields.
No wonder that long years of such
influences shonld have degraded the
tyi>e of manhood, debased the standard
of morality, aud all but obliterated the
self-reapoct of the agricultural labor
ers over three-fourths of England.
Years ago, political economists and
social reformers gave up " Hodge" as
an irreclaimable lont and barbarian.
Something, it was thought, might be
done, after education had a chance to
elevate the next generation ; but the
present was supposed to be beyond
the reach of any n-medy known to the
social philosophy of the time. Jierw
and there a more than usually energetic
English clergyman gave evidence of his
belief in the possibility of elevating
even the adult lalnirer of the period.
Men like Canon (iirdlestoue kept up
the fight on his behalf for better cot
tages, garden allotments, and what not;
others kept impressing on the sluggish
intellect of the farmer's white slave that
if the labor market was overstocked iu
one county, he had. at least, the liberty
to move into another. At length came
one resolute aud clear headed man—
Joseph Aicb— born and reared among
this abject class, and showed them the
way by organization, by combination,
I or, if need be, bv emigration, to attain
something like the privileges of ordi
nary working men.
I'he fruit* of the labors of Mr. Arch
aud his coadjutors are already manifest
:n a decided rise of the scale of remu
neration of English farm labor, and in
the prospect of a permanent elevation
in the condition of the laborer. Five
▼ears ago tha existence of a National
Union of Farm Laborers would have
i Ween thought a perfectly incredible
thing. Yet, as the result of less than
two years' agitation, that union pos
tcaac* thirty-three district*, nine hun
dred branches, and 100,000 member*.
A few weeks ago, two hundred laborers
in the eastern counties of England,
whuae wages had last year been advaaoed
frum twelve to thirteen shillings a week,
demanded a fresh advance to fourteen
shillings. The farmers took the alarm
at what they thought the indefinite
character of the elaims put ferward by
the union men, and resolved to measure
their strength with the laborers' asso
ciation bef*re it ahould become too
strong for Ihem. Accordingly, the
farmers who, during the laat few years,
have combined too, locked out some
4,000 men on the simple issue of what
they call resistance to " union dicta
tion." Trades-unions are guilty of ex
travagances all over the world, but if
any of them are hi ted to command the
sympathy of every friend of the species,
it is the combination of the down-trod
ilen aud long suffering farm-laborers of
England. Were the fanners to succeed
in crushing unionism among the labor
ers, it would be equivalent to the ex
tinction of their growing sentiment of
ludepcudcnce and self-respect, and to a
resumption of the old perilous decline
into dull, brutiah servility.
Hnoh a disaster is hardly to lc appre
hended. The National Union is able
to pay SB,OOO a week toward the support
of tho men who are locked out, and who
fail to get employment in other quar
ters. It will probably be able to do so
as long a* the farmers* can afford to hold
out. Htatiatics ahow, moreover, that
during the last tea years the number of
agricultural laborers has decreased in
England. This is partly due to their
absorption into the working classes of
manufacturing towns, and in a leas de
gree to emigration. Both influences
are likely to be felt in increased force
during the present decade, and thus on
tho mere question of balance between
supply aud demand, the ultimate tri
umph must rest with the laborers. :
Meanwhile, representative farmers
write in this doleful strain to the news
papers: "We also fully believe that!
should this Union get the mastery of
no, (which God forbid for the sake of i
the laborer as well aa tbo farmer), farm
ing will become impossible in England,
and we must look cut for other sources
of employment for our capital, or seek
•nt other lands." The present move
ment will probably produce a more 1
scientific system of culture in England, •
and a more judicious employment of
libar than heretofore. In this way, !
also, it will indirectly raise tho indua- i
trial status of the lalwrer.
About a Servant Girl.
A lady in this city has a stupid ser
vant girl. Doubtless there are many
other ladies nimilarlv afflicted, but this
is a specific case. The other day the
servant girl was cleaning the silver in
the kitchen and a begging tramp came
to the door, and asked for something
to eat. The girl left the door wide
open and the silver on the table, while
she went hp stnirs to ask her mistress
what to give the man. Fortunately the
tramp was more honest or less bold
than the majority of the class and did
not make awav with the silver, but the
lady cautioned the servant girl against
her carelessness and told her never to
leave the door open for such people,
mid never to admit them into the
house. That evening a well-known gen
tleman, who had been invited to call,
rang at the door and asked if Mr. and
Mrs. , the gentleman and lady of
the house, were in. Whereupon the
servant girl, mindful of her instruc
tions and classing all callers in the
same category, gave the gentleman a
glance full of suspicion, muttered some
thing about his not getting any silver
there, slummed the door in his face, and
left him standing astonished and dis
consolate on the piazza. Hartford
Post,
CONSIDERATE.— This man knew what
he was about. He lived in the country,
and in buying an axe the other day he
was particular to select the smallest one
he could find. An acquaintance axed
him why he did so, and he replied,
••Well, mv wife isn't enjoying very
good health this winter, and if I get 'a
heavier one I'm afraid she won't be able
to cut the wood."
Torma: &2.00 a Year, in Advance.
Cremation In India.
The drive from Perambore lo Madras
liea through a series of close and dusty
streets and dirty " bazaars," the smell
of which at times wan ao dreadful that
we were obliged to bold our noses, tha
atmosphere being at the same time ao
dose that we appeared to be passing
through the dry heat of an oven. Of
course the route waa always the tame.
First, through narrowatreeta of bouses,
chiefly inhabited by half-caates, on the
tlst roefs of vrhtob, hybrid damsels, in
variably arrayed iu white book muslin
with coral ornaments and black velvet
in their hair, might be MM, readv to
interchange glances with, and cast down
billeU-doux upon tbe English officers
as they rode to aud from tbe band.
Next, through a native quarter, where
ws were liable to be aolicited for alms
by ladies aud gentlemen covered with
small-pox, leproay, and other disgust
tug diseases ; where we asw droves of
those nice, clean-feeding, healthy-took -
ing Madras pigs which turns one's blood
to water, aud put a auddeu death to any
wonder we may have hitherto enter
tained as to the reason Jews are com
manded under the Levitiaal law to ab
stain from the flesh of swine; where we
generally also met a Hindoo corpse or
two being carried to their burial-a sight
wltihb was scaroeiy more pleasant than
decent to contemplate. At one time,
whilst we were at Madras, the cholera
made great ravages amongst the lower
classes of the natives, and 1 have eeu
as many as twelve or fifteen corpses
carried past in one evening I Fancy an
old dead, and clothed in exactly
the true suit in which he entered the
world, placed npou a wicker bier much
too abort for him, ao that his legs have
to be violently bent at the knees ; his
bonea nearly through his akin ; hia
brown, shriveled faoe striped with white
and jullow paint, the marks of his
caste ; hia Llack Lair dyed the oolor of
carrots with saflron ; a wreath of large
scarlet flea era round hia head ; hia
month forced wide open by the gen
erosity of his friends, who hive atoned
it so full of betel-nut and " pann"
leaves, that tin y are all slicking out in
a bunch ; and his unclosed sunken eyes
appearing as though they mournfully
contemplated what a hideous figure hia
relations had made him look like I Yet
the sight ia by no means an uncommon
oue for lad"os ut India.
During the dry season, which lasts
for nine months, the roads are simply
layers of thiak red dust, whiah settles
upon everything ami spoils everything
it settles upon. This dust was the
mort distinguishing feature of Peram
bote—indeed the oaly thing for which
it may be said U> be famous, if 1 except
s Hindoo bury uxg-gruund, in which, ac
cording to that religion, the corpses
used to be burned, and from which,
when the breexe set in onr way, the
smell was more powerful than refresh
ing. We know that there is but a step
from the sublime to the ridiculous, bat
the manner ui which some of these
burnt-sacrifices ore carried out would
seem as if those who conducted the
rites had cleared the sublime at a
standing ) nap. It appears that th na
ture of "cold cerpnssea" whan sub
jected to the action of heat, is, in con
sequence of the sudden contraction of
the muscles, to sit up ; so it often, in
deed generally, happens that papa, or
grandpapa, (as the esse may be, t re
fuses to be a good boy and be burnt up
quietlv, but will insist upon rearing
himself upon the funeral pyre and
watching tho proceedings of his own
immolation. Bo that the sorrowing
sons and grandsons go to the funeral
armed with " sbillelaha," and as soon
as the remains of the old geatleman
give the least hint of rising they attack
him from all quarters, in the fashion of
llnnnybrook Fair, and keep up a con
tinuous " thwacking," until their pro
genitor is open to reason, and permits
himself to he consumed in a dorent and
orderly manner.— florcnrx Marry a ft.
1 spoiling of a Steamer.
The North China I/rrald records a
terrible accident as having taken place
at Hong Kong to th • nail steamer Wan
Lxmg, whioh plied between that port
and Canton. The vessel started from
her whnrf at 7 o'clock at night. She car
ried a cargo, but account* vary as to
the exact number of passenger* oa
board. It ia generally believed, how
ever. that there were between two hun
dred and three hundred. A very large
crowd of Chineee assembled on the
Prays to see the veaael start. She got
clear of her moorings all right, but in
taking a turn to come under the stern
of a small (tarman yacht lying near abe
gave a roll iirwarda in the airoie ahe was
describing. On her upper decks were
a large number of Chinese, and at the
sway they all ran to the other aide, a
movement which at once brought the
vessel over. The dead weight at the
low aide kept her from righting herself
agsin, and,her slanting attitude pre
vented thoao on the top from getting to i
the high aide. So the vessel went right
over, and at onee sank. Just before j
she went down a wild cry arose from
those on board, which was at onee ;
caught np by those on shore, and some
hundreds of spectators rushed along
the Praya to see what was the matter,
and the excitement became intense.
Several house boats were immediately
on the scene. Inspector Stroud was
prompt in getting all the police boats j
available to the scene, and a large nuu- j
ber were thus saved, although it is be- j
lieved that about one hundred, if not
more, have been drowned. The saved
were brought on shore as they were ;
picked m>, and the police had the am
bulances ready to carry away the dead.
Prom some articles that have been j
picked np it is supposed that at least '
one European has been drowned.
How to Utilise Hones.
Take a water-tight box or eaak of
suitable sise, and in the lxittom put a
layer of aohes, nay three inches in
depth, then on this a layer of bones,
and so on alternately until the oask is
nearly or quite full, the last layer of
bones being well oovered with ashes.
Have the family pour npon this all the
nrine from the bouse every day, and on
washing days pour on a quantity of the
strong soap-suds. In a few months
tiiis can bo token out with a shovel, all
dissolved, except it may be the large
enameled joint bones, whioh may have
to be broken and put through another
sweat in the like manner. It ia under
stood that the ashes must be good,
hard-wood ashes, unltachcd, or the job
will prove a failure.
Snuff-Dipping.
The Dover (N. H.) Enquirer makes
tho following statement relative to a
practioe which has been generally un
derstood to be oonfltied to one or two
Southern States: " While in an apoth
ecary store, recently, we heard young
girls and boys calling for snuff, scented
with checkerberry, etc., to be used for
eleaniug the teeth. It has no virtues
for cleaning the teeth, more than the
brush without it; and it is simply an
other way of using tobaoco —a dirty
way—injuring the health and weaken
ing the nervous system. A physician
recently informed "us that he had, in
one or two cases, seen convulsions from
its use. This pretended cleansing is
not confined to once a day, but is done
•crcca! times,"
NO. 20.
NilClim ADKOITLT PLiNSED.
KilfuHlurX l).ii o(
maw UM.
Kx-Congre**maa Obadiah Bowne,
once one of the moat influential resi
dents of Htaten Island, committed sui
cide trader remarkable circa instances
id the hir.hmond County II all, in Itich
moud village. The ect seems to have
been the result of calm and deliberate
thought, and ail the details were care
fully planned. Mr. Bowne ceiled at
the office of e city newspaper and asked
that the beat reporter should be de
tailed to meet him at the Htaten Island
Ferry-house to " work op a sensation."
Thence, be said, he would accompany
the reporter to Htaten Island, where
the event waa to occur. Mr. Bowne
waa assured that his request would be
complied with, and left the office. A
few minutes before 5 o'clock he wae
met at the ferry-bouse by acquaint
anoee, who, being on thoir way to the
Island, asked him to go down with
them. Be declined the invitation, giv
ing a e an excuse that he had ** an en
gagement with a business man." Ait* r
the boat had got under way his friends
aaw him sad a stranger together. After
a short time he left his unknown com
panion, came to them, and opened a
conversation. The talk that passed
bet seen tueni waa of a general charac
ter, but before they parted he told them
that he would die before 12 o'clook the
next day.
On landing Bowne and the stranger
took the cars to Richmond, tad engaged
a room in the Richmond County Bali
They ordered supper, and alter eating
entered the bar room. Bowne drank
freely, and in the course of the evening
again remarked that he would not be
auve on the morrow. Between 9:30 and
K) © clock he and hie friend went to
their room. At II o'clock the stranger,
wbe it waa subsequently learned was a
reporter, entered the bar room hastily
and said that Bowne had committed
btucnla. The proprietor of the hotel
hurried to his room, and found him
lying on the bed with a hail-emptied
bottle of laudanum beside him. The
reporter states that after they went up
stairs Bowne gave him a history of his
life with political reminiscences, and
when lie bed finished, produced e bot
tle of, laudanum, and before be could
interfere drank heartily of it, causing
his death about midnight The de
ceased was between 55 and 60 years old.
He represented the First Congressional
District of New York Btate from 1851
to 1853, and declined a renoiaination.
Be was one of the first Quarantine
Commissioners, and selected the ait*
fmr the station. Soon after the expira
tion of his term be became intemper
ate, and his wife procured a divorce.
Be inherited a fortune of about |400,-
000 from bis parents, much of which he
squandered. Subsequently his di
vorced wife rejoined him, and now sur
vives him with two sons.
A Stroke of Forte ae.
The employees of the Pennsylvania
j Coal Company, at Pittston, are happy
over a stroke of good fortune growing
■ out of their terms of settlement with
' the company at the cloae of the long
strike of 1870. The circumstances are
as follows: Prior to the strike the
miners were giving the company A24Q
pounds for a grows too. One of the de
mands made by the company when the
men were about to rename work was
lhat 2,540 pounds should constitute a
gross ton. This the men looked upon
as being rather too mnoh, but after a
' few days' reflection, they conceded,
with the proviso, however, that if this
i number of pounds should be found to
! exceed the net weight of a ton. all the
surplus should be returned to the men.
This was mutually agreed upon in May,
1871. and at the close of the year end- j
ing May, 1872, it was found that instead
of there being a surplus the n*t weight
i fell abort of 9,000 tons. The company
. then demanded that fifty pounds mora j
i l>e added to the gross ton, making it
j 2,590, and the men again acquiesced
with the proviso before mentioned, that;
any surplus over the net weight should <
1 go* to their credit This seemed satis- j
factory, and everything went on smooth
ly. A committee representing the
Pennsylvania Coal Company's miners, j
were informed that a surplusage of 29.-
233 tons had already been placed to the ■
credit of the men in the company's em
ploy, equivalent in round figures to
about 130,000. The news was an aston
ishing surprise, and was discussed with
an avidity that gave rise to the very
beat of feeling. The prevailing senti
ment so far is that the money should be
deposited intact aa the nucleus of a fund
for the relief of orphans, widows, and
crippled miners. The company encour
ages such a scheme, and, it ia under
stood, will render it material assistance.
A fund for the relief of disabled miners,
and the benefit of the wives and
orphans of such as are killed in the
mines would be of incalculable value,
and any honest scheme that would give
it s substantial assistance ia laudable
and deserving of the encouragement of
the entire community throughout the
coal regions.
A Moral.
A nnt dropped by a squirrel fell
through the opening in the middle of
an old millstone which lay npon the
ground, and, being thus protected,
grew into a thriving sapling that shot
up through the opemug. In s few
years it hsd iuoreased so thst it filled
the space and was firmly wedged to the
sides of the heavy stone. Stall it grew,
and in a few yean more, little by little,
it lifted the cutire weight clear from the
earth, so that a man could ait beneath
it. All was done by atom after atom,
borne bv the tap to the growing trunk.
Think of thia, my little man, puzzling
over " long division "in arithmetic ;
little by little of thinking and working
will take you through fractions, role of
three, ana those terrible problems at
the end of the book, by and bj; but be
sure thst the little by little is net ne
glected. And you, ban! working; lad
on the farm, or in the shorn, look at
Franklin, Watts, Morse, Field, and
thousands more who have lifted the
weight of circumstances that would
hold them down like millstones, and
who have by their steady perseverance
risen above their fellows, easily bear
ing their burdens; and " keep pegging
away."
Cure for Meningitis.
A Michigan correspondent pronounces
what ia known as the oerebro-spinal
meningitis, now prevailing so exten
tenaively and fatally in many parts of
the country, as the same epidemic
which raged in Michigan abont twenty
five years ago to such an extent that it
actually broke up the Legislature and
carried to the grave every one whom it
attacked, until the " old-fashioned
hemlock sweats wore adopted," after
which every case was saved. He says;
Our people sent about twenty-five miles
distant and procured hemlock boughs,
and they sent for it from all parte of
the State. There wa§ a company called
the Hook and Ladder Company, and
for weeks did nothing else night or day
but go from house to house giving
hemlock sweats, and it never failed to
save every case. Thorough sweats
might do, but there is no mistake
about hemlock sweats being a specific.
item of Uteres!.
Sweet are the vara o f advcitisementa
A school boy's aaprthtioh—'*! wiih I
wore A fountain, that I might be always
playing."
When is sugar moot profitable to gro
cers?—At the bottom of their niolnssea
measures. . J.j...... , s .
" Tm having a change of air," a* Mr.
Jenkins, the oty broker, aaul, whan ha
put on a new wig.
A child ia often tba hyphen eoaneot
ing the uncongenial hnabsltd hod wife,
ao common about yon.
A dyapeptio who baa triad hydro
pathy, allopathy and homeopathy, find*
f rt-at relief in antipathy,
A good action hi naver thrown away.
Thia ia the raaaan, no doubt, why wa
find ao few of them.
Wendell Phillip* aaya thatawifo who
can cook a good dinner will haver be
> without a fashionable bonnet.
Two men undertook to tea whioh
could ran the fastest. One waa a con
stable and the other we* a thiei
A couple of aailow were roeently ar
raated for throwing backets of tar over
each other. It was a pitch-battle.
If a flock of geeae see one of their
number drink, they will dru>k too.
Men often make geeae of themselves.
Homebody flies the standard of news
papcr value at ten time* the amount of
its average net earning* for ten years.
Illinois farmers are posting up signs
to the effect that they'll murder the
first agent who come# upon the premi
se*.
There la a chanoe for curious reflec
j lion in the fact that a diamond
recently exhibited wae worm 5,000 ber
! rela of flour.
Tails berths* are fashionable for
evening drees. They should invariably
be made over foundation of stiff Isse,
neatly faced.
" Will some on# mom that I amy
take the chair T said Sheridan, when
he went to e crowded meeting before it
was organised.
It ia said that the Illinois Btate
militia consists of fourteen brigadier,
and forty superannuated muskets, with
nobody to carry them.
Brotherly lev* ia ol the only kind
they cultivate in Philadelphia. For
15,782 fond hearts were made to beat
as 7,891 in that city last year.
An Indiana man has just received
notice of a 84,000 dividend on an oil
well which be had given up as a total
loss. Oil's well that ends weJL
According to the Memphis (Tatw.)
papers, that city ia one of the moat
hcentious,corrupt, and geaerally vicious
of any town in the whole Broth.
A Western agricultural editor aaya it
makes "good garden sees" to let your
hens and chickens into your neighbor's
grounds to take an Easter holiday.
Canine reasoning powers an a favor
ite tspic with Natural lata, but there is
no denying that nine-tenths of the dogs
one area, are miserable poor thin-curs.
Klcrveless jackets of velvet ud silk,
i in fin* aatin-stitcb embroider/, seeded
with brads, are still worn, and will con
tinue fashionable for aome time te
oome.
advice is: "Don't drink
at all: second, if yon most drink, let it
be of the rifrfct kind, at the right
tune, and under the right circtim
, stance*."
Suicide wat committed in an extraor
dinary way by a young mn * Paris,
j Utah, lately. He deliberately drove a
nail into his head, and died in a few
hours after.
In Switzerland there in a law which
I compels every newly-married couple to
1 1 plant aix trees immediately after the
j ceremont, and two on the birth ef every
child, birch ?
A barber, having a vary intemperate
man to shave on Sunday, begged him
to keep hia month abut, aa it waa a
punishable offense to open a rum ahep
1 on the Sabbeth.
A Missouri jury, in the eace of a man
' found with ten bullet* in hit head, de
-1 cided that "he had been afaot or met
| with some accident in come manner not
' jnat now known."
i Taking care of a baby and sewing
buttons on a wife's shoes were adduced
,; in a trial as evidence tending to ahow
j a husband's affection for a wife whom
| ! he subsequently shot
A Chinaman on trial in California for
, j larceny proved that be wasn't within
half a moe of the property when it waa
i j taken, and they sent him np for a year
> I for contempt of court,
i " None knew him bat to trust him,
nor named him bat to dun," ia the
pathetic sentence with which a Dela
ware merchant doses an advertisement
for a missing customer.
A Plattsbnrg paper apeak* of a gen
tleman of that vicinity who recently
i sold hie wife and children to one of his
j neighbors for a coat, a pair ef second
; hand pants, and $5 in cash.
An lowa Judge has decided that it is
} more of a sin to steal a horse than to
| elope with another man's wife, because
there are 8,000,000 women in the United
States and only 3,000,000 homes.
A storyis told of a person asking
another one whether he would advise
him to lend a certain friend money.
" What! lend htm money I Ton might
land him an emetic, and ha won ldn't
return it."
But few persona have been both
Governor of Massachusetts and one
of its Senators. These are Christo
pher Gore. Caleb Strong, John Davis,
George 8. Boutwell, sad now Wm. B.
Washburn.
John Bp inks, barber, of Council
Bluff, whose shirt, saturated with blood,
was found concealed in a shed near hia
residence, has been heard from by his
creditors. Be ia in Nevada, and not in
the other place.
A Lutheran minister in Freedom,
Wis., refused to conduct the funeral
service of a farmer belonging to hia
pariah because the man had been a
granger. His society promptly re
quested his resignation.
Our wives, mothers, and sisters are
wearing vests—real masculine waist
coats, to be more explicit. They are
made of bright-colored silk or satin,
and are intended for evening wear. All
kinds of trimming can be used.
A Mormon bridegroom was simulta
neously married to three blushing
brides in Salt Lake City recently.
Some oonfuaion was created after the
ceremony by eaeh bride penisting on
her individual right to the first kiss.
An act passed by the Legislature ef
Maryland prevents the manager of any
place of amusement from marking seats
reserved—unless they were sold be
fore the entertainment opened—under
a penalty of $5 for each seat so marked.
It is the solemn thought connected
with middle life that life's last business
is begun in earnest, and it ia when mid
way between the cradle and the grave
that a man begins to marvel that he let
the days of yonth go by so half en
joyed.
The fellow who declared he oould
name any liquid blindfold " gave it np"
when he was handed a sip from the
pump. "It reminds me," he said, "of
something I have tasted in my yonth
bat for the life of me I can't now te 1
what it is."
On the last trip of the steamer Sibe
ria to Boston, among the steerage pas
sengers waa a family of Italians aged as
follows : Fatner, 47 ; mother, 43, with
fifteen children, aged as follows: 23,
22, 20, 19, 17, 16, 15, 14, 11, 11. 10, 9,
8, 7, 6. Twelve were boys and three
girla.
Everv man'a past life should be his
eritio, his ceneor, his guide. He who
lives and is done with life the moment
it drops hour by hour from hii hands,
is not half a man. He ia like a plucked
plant that, stands in water without roots
of its own, and can have no growth, and
soon fades and passes away.
j*
To Extemiwatb Roachus. —Roach-
es may be exterminated fay taking
flowers of sulphur one-half pot
ash fonr'ounees. Melt tn an eartbern
pan over the fire ; pulverize aid makq,
a strong solution in water,
the places they frequent,