-A. IST D KEWS ITEM. Jno. S. Mann, Proprietor VOLUME XXV, NO. I. ! Thß POTTER JOURNAL AND >EWS ITEM. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AT COYDEIISPORT, PA. (Office Cor. Main and Third.) N:R MS 81.75 I'EK YKAK IX ADVANCE. jno. S. Mann, F ' l,an,llton ' J proprietor. c. J. CURTIS. 1 Attorney at Law and District Attorney, (mice "n MA IS St.. (over the Post Office, COUDERSPUIIT, l'A., Solicits all business pret .lining to his profession. Special attention given to collections. XRTHCH l.iM JOHN S. MANN & SON. Attorneys at Law and ( onveyanccrs, COCDKJLSI'OKT, PA., L jlfciiuDS promptly aturolcd to. Arthur B. Mann, Gnrral Insurnace Agent & Notary Public. s. S. GREENMAN, A-TTOTtU E~ST -A.T LA.W, (OFFICE OVSK FIKSTEK'S STOBK,) C< U" DKBSPORT, PA. i I O OI.M-TSS n. r. LAUKABEE I OLMSTED & LARRABEE, ITTUKNKYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW j (fy'C'Tv! St. opposite Court House.) L (HTDEUSPOBT, I'ENX'A. SETH LEWIS, llloniey at Law and Insurance Agent, J.I:\VISVILLE, PA. A. M. REYNOLDS, DENTIST, . met IS OLMSTF.I) BLO' K,) (OFDERSPOLLT, PA. □ aker House, Bitows & KELLY, Propr's. Iflitr of SKI OXl) and LAST Streets, j cot DERBPORT, PENN 'A. '■7 attention paid to the convenience and i comfort of guests. ■cm i stabling attached. Lewibvilie Hotel, m.T of MAIN and NORTH Streets, LKYVISV 1 I.BE, l'A. ftiood Stabling attached. IPEARSALL & WEBSTER, PAINTERS, - sT. cs'vt SECOND, >ver French's store,; COUDERSPORT, PA. - P.ii: Glazing, Graining, Calcimining, . M ■ witii ucnt..--as, p.oinptness and di I at- 1 ; i.i :t!l-ca e-, ami sai..-faction g.tar auti e d . . • NSr.-oS J. S. MANN | THOMPSON & MANN, PF.ALKKS IV htrs Medicines, Hooks, Stationery, MtdSOOOS. P'.INTS. OILS. W'LL PrtPEfi, &C., j i ( or. M iin nnri Third Sits., (Oi DERSPORT, PA. S. F. HAMILTON. OQK AND JOB PRINTER ! ' ner Main mid Third.) FOLDER SPORT, PA. C. M. ALLEN, "urgiral and Mechanical Dentist, LEWIS.A'IDLE, PA. "vk ptaranteed to give satisfaction. D. J. CROWELL, : - H. Tall Jointer & Belting Machine, 'YNKM A HONING, Cameron co.. Pa. 'SIDE • 'i'THHIXQLEMACHISK to i ircheK. - Vf r.ng Machines and General Custom Work I 2422-tf j John Grom, i HSP, Si ' il y pffovativr cv Presto• PAINTER, l °udersport, PA. u jwt! and PALER HASHING done ! in neatness and dispatch. 'Action guaranteed. fLVlvicjj HOUSE "®mptly attended to. I It ft IA G E FACTORY. UEUSPORT, PENX'A. ."-liw n - ra aking, Bla< ksmithing, I ■„ ' - 1 nmmhjg and Repairing done . i "'.aiaetw and durability. Charges . L c ' BREUNLE, I A hi, K AV OIJIv , u >I'DKRSPOUT, PA. I" . ' " '!"; s flnialied to order, 1 t r,; - n ciiVrer,,, . all<l Wo "tiuauUip, on L Ne * ; i L l '" 111 """'Hire ofJoi-R- ' "i receive prompt attention • SINNING- AND REPENTING. j There seeineth oft but littlet odds Between the sinner and the saint; i Both seem to have their eartt<v gods— Both bear the marks of human taint. j The outward cup and platter are About alike to either man; Thus doth the skeptic tongue declare, In cavil at the Christian plan. 'Tis true, all sin who dwell on earth; But one the other, not; This is the test of spirit birth: Bepentance mourns and hates each blot The heart renewed will ever try— And, in the end. too, will prevail— To pass the world's aHnreiiientln\ Which saint and sinner both assail. AY bile man, with his weak, insMtpower. Assays a judge's throne to till, . God, in the germ, beholds the flower And judges actions by the will. Our errors oft from virtues rise, And He who doth the motive scan Regards us with indulgent eyes, If we hut do the best we can. YVe, sinning and repenting go, Who most lament besetting sin, And God will measure every throe With wliich we strive to enter in. N. Y. Oljserver. How I Caught a Robber. Twenty years ago I left a country home and took a clerkship in the wholesale house of B & Co., New York, a firm then known as one of the wealthiest in the metropolis. They dealt largely in fine imported fabrics, such as silks and laces. I had been in my position nearly a year when the store was robbed of about five thousand dollars worth of silks. The robbery was perpetrated in such an adriot manner that it could not be discovered how the robber bad gained an entrance—and oven the precise night of the crime could not be determined. Experienced detec tives were soon at work on the case; but some weeks elapsed and they seemed to have gained no clue, when, to the astonishment of all, a second robbery, as daring and mystcrh us as the first, was perpetrated. Mr. , the senior member of the firm resolved secretly to employ several triisty employees to take turns at guarding the building night after night, in the hope of entrapping the burglar, and he chose three for i the pu pose—l being one. 1 was j fond of adventure and being a rustic j country youth, I would not have hesitated to grapple with any ordi nary burglar. Arm* were not so much used in those daj s. So wc tlire • clerks began our vigil, each staving alone in the great gloomy building one night in three. A couple of weeks thus passed and nothing unusual happened. One moonlight summer night I was on the lower floor and was just musing that it was scarcely probable that the burglar would be so auda cious as to attempt a third robbery, when I chanced to look above me and discovered that 1 was immedi ately under the hoistway and that for once the trap doors of every floor had imprudently been left open and I could see to the very* roof which was amply supplied with skylights. "All, Joe Williams!" 1 said, ad dressing the porter—a stout, good natured fellow—as though he were present, instead of at home and fast asleep. "This is a serious neglect, and might cost 3*oll 3'our situation if known at headquarters; but as 3*oll are a poor man, old fellow, and not generally remiss, I will conceal 3*olll' fault this time and caution 3*oll about it to-morrow." With the view of closing the traps, I crept softl3* up the four broad (lights of stairs to begin 1113* task at the fifth floor. It was so dark 011 the stairs that I had to feel my way chiefly, but then I knew every inch of the building and easily made 1113* wa3* to the roof. lii these days I should have stated, {that there were no steam-elevators in stores, and goods wi re hoisted or lowered, a bale at a time, by means of a huge pendent rope, to which an iron hook was attached. This was worked by the porter, who manipu lated another large rope applied to that mechanical power known as the wheel and axle. Such was our hoist ing apparatus. When I reached the fifth floor, I found that objects were quite dis tinguishable. owing to the mellow I light which the moon supplied through the sky-lights. To this day I remember the peculiar shudder that ran over me as I found myself | up there under the roof, alone with the great bales and boxes, irom COUDERSPORT, PA., WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1873. ! whose shadows it was natural to im ' agine the hideous faces of burglars j leering at <he. A wed by the silence, I stood a moment at the head of the stairway, and it just occurred to me that the mysterious robber might have got in through the skylights. At the same moment I was startled by seeing in the dim light, the figure of a man moving among the boxes and bales so noiselessly and so perfectly at ease that he did not seem to be earthly. My first thought was actually of ghosts, and I felt an impulse to rush headlong down stairs; but a- in stant's reflection told me that the figure was that of a man—and very probably the very man 1 had been looking for. So, moving slightly, so as to stand in the shadow of a pillar, I watched his movements. No, it was not a ghost. Ghosts go not about among the rich goods of a wholesale house, quietly collecting valuable little packages from neYvly arrived boxes of silks and tying them together in convenient bundles. This party did. He was a man—and a big man, too. His movements at last brought him to within ten feet of me and I felt that the time had come. He was evidently larger than myself, but the consciousness, that I was in an hon est cause nerved me and I sprang from 1113* covert and grasped him around the bod 3*. lie dropped his bundle, uttering a startled exclamation, but recovered his self-possession almost instantly and strove to free himself. Then began a desperate struggle—oll his own part for libert3*, 011 1113* part pro bably for life. Y'e reeled hither and thither, swa Y*- ing against boxes and piilars, falling to the floor and rolling ovCr and over, with a clatter that waked the build ing to its foundation; and finally still struggling, once more rose to our feet. At last his strength proved superior to mine and he succeeded in disengaging himself, when he hurled me from him and sent me staggering some feet. We stood an instant eon fronting each other and in that in stant I recognized him. "Joe Williams!" I exclaimed, or rather gasped, for 1113* breath was nearly gone. Yes, it was Joe Williams the por ter—the good-natured and reputedly honest fellow, who had been for years in the service of B Sc Co. Tie was on the point of fleeing when I spoke, but he now confronted me fiercely, exclaiming : "Yes, Harvey Slater; but 3*oll shall not live to expose me!" As be spoke he drew a heavy single-barreled pistol and leveled it at 1113* breast—the muzzle scarcely a yard distant. He took a step backward in doing so, and that step probabh* saved my life; for he stepped fairly into the open hatch way and fell backward with a starteled scream. So sudjen and unlooked-for was his disappearance that I could not realize it at first, and was beginning to fanc3* it all a dream; but I was brought to my senses b3* hearing the clattering noise far be low, and a loud report that woke harsh echoes in every corner and re cess of the building. The pistol had fallen to the lower floor and explod ed. At that moment a neighboring church clock struck one and the toll ing of the hour had never sounded so ghostly before. I fancied it the funeral knell of that wretched man, who must have fallen fifty feet, an I who now probably lay a hideous mass 011 the lower floor. I stood a moment listening, while a cold per spiration started from my forehead, and I trembled as with ague. A deep groan reached 1113* ears; then 1 heard rapid footsteps 011 the deserted street, followed by a bold knocking at the front door. "What's wrong in there?" shout ed an authoritative voice, "Open the door!" And the knocking grew louder. I crept to a window, opened it and looked down upon the street. SCY*- eral policemen were at the door. "Are you officers?" 1 asked, still trembling. "Yes, what's the matter?" "I will come down and open the door," I rejoined, closing the win dow. I hurried down the four fiiglits of stairs and dark as it was it seemed but a second till I reached the stieet door, which I unfastened and opened. To my surprise one of the officers seized me saying: "Oho! We've got you at last, eh? Don't try to escape, or you are a dead man. ''Let go of me!" I said half-indig nantly. "You need not fear my escaping. "I am employed by B <fc Co., and have been watching the store, as I can easily prove to you. I encountered a burglar on the fifth tloor and lie has fallen down the iiatchwav." "Well, I guess you're telling the truth," said the officer, taking his hand off my arm; but we must keep an eye on 3*oll. Will you light the gas ?" "Certainly." I had some matches in my pocket ahd quickly lighted several burners. A pistol was found oil the floor; but 110 mangled body. We peered up the open hoistway; "but now that the lower story was lighted all looked gloomy above. "Let us search every floor," said one of the officers. "Better secure the door first," 1 suggested. "True enough!" he replied. "I think 3*ou're right or 3-011 wouldn't want 3*oursclf locked in." I carefulh* locked the door and with the three policemen ascended from floor to floor, lighting the gas in each story, but finding nothing on the second or third floor to reward our search. On reaching the fourth, however, a horrible and ghastly sight met our eyes. It was the figure of a man hanging in mid-air at the hoist way, his dangling feet nearly on a level with the tloor. The body was lifeless, the head had fall en over on the left shoulder and the face was deathly pale; but we heard a slight groan as we approached. The figure was that of the" porter and be was not dead or even fatally hurt. In his fall he had been caught I>3* the point of the iron Look at the end of the rope hanging in the hoist way. It had entered the thick mus cles of the right arm between the shoulder and elbow and had thus held him suspended and saved him a fall of fifty feet. The pain, however, had been so intense that he had im mediately fainted ajid was still un conscious. He was now speedily released from his terrible situation, resuscitated and carried to a police station. Joe Williams made a full confes sion and nearly all the stolen goods were recovered. He had accomplices, who were all arrested and sent to prison. They were a gang of bad characters and it appears that they had tempted Joe and succeeded in corrupting him and inducing him to steal his employers' property and pass it out to tl'.etn. Their plan of operations was veiy ingenious. Joe would contrive to remain in the building at closing-time in the even ing and in the middle of the night would abstract valuable packages of silks, and the like, and drop them from a rear window into a little court, where they were caught by bis confederates and concealed in a small basement near by which was occupied for a blind as a drinking saloon. Here they were kept stored till such time as they might be safely re moved. Joe escaped punishment Irt* turn ing state's evidence, recovered from his wound and so far as I know, there after conducted himself honesth*. lie died a few years ago. I was rewarded with the increased confidence of B <fc Co., was rap idly promoted and eventually became a member of the firm. A CALIFORNIA STORY. The San Francisco Post is respon sible for the following pretty ston*: The old government buildings oxl Washington street are making way for the Appraisers' stores, and with them will disappear the mol I 3* book venders, the candy merchants, the marking-ink eulogists and all those traders who -have so long made this their rendezvous. There is a little story in connection with these build ings which the writer learned from a gentleman who knew the parties con cerned. Like many of the incidents which occur daily in this country of change and excitement, it lias a st rong spice of romance and would not furnish a bad plot for the writers in the sensational weeklies. Every day lor five years, no matter how hea\ ily the winter vain came | down, or the gusty summer winds swept from the hilltops, an old man took up his position near the post office and sat until dusk behind his tray of assorted candies. Children on their way to mail or demand let ters, patronized the old candy-mer chant. lie appeared to shun acquain tanceship with his professional breth rcn and no matter what novelties they introduced in their business, he kept aloof from competition and ad hered strictly to the legitimate sweet i stuffs. Among bis customers came one day a bright-eyed, neatly dressed ur chin, who put down his live cents and boldly demanded its equivalent in molasses candy. While the old fellow wrapped it up in the scanty piece of brown paper he looked wist -1 nlly into the urchin's eyes. The boy took his candy and went off with his mouth full. The next day the little chap turned up again, and again pun h ised his five cents worth of tar dy. One morning the candy mer chant. whilst wrapping up his young customer's purchase, asked the name of his patron. The little fellow gave it. The candy man immediately re moved his tray to the care of a fel low-merchant, and told the boy that he would accompany him to his mother's house. The koY* conducted him to a pleasant residence 011 Bry ant street. His mother opened the door and the moment iter eves fell on the candy merchant she threw her arms around him, and, sobbing vio lently, called him "Father." It appears that at one time the candy man was a well-to-do merchant in Portland. Maine. I; is eldest daugh ter eloped with a gambler, a man who had a very hard reputation in that town. On coming to California, bow- ever, be gave up his regular encoun ters with the "tiger" and devoted himself to speculating in mining stocks. He was fortunate, grew wealth 3*. bought real estate and won the name of being an honorable and geuerous man. His wife wrote back to Portland, but her letters were re turned, for her father had failed in business, her mother was dead, and the othc members of the family set tled in New York. The old man then came to California, not know ing of his daughter's whereabouts, and after many unsuccessful efforts finally went into selling canch*.— Something in the little boy's face reminded him of bis daughter's, and when lie heard the name he remem bered the handsome gambler against whom he had so often warned his willful child. The reunion wasaverv happy one and the candy srofession has lost one of ist members. A, South-Aft lean Adventure. It was 011 the afternoon of one of the hottest days of an African .sum mer that I left my farm to ascend the Draakensburg Mountains for the pur pose of finding, if possible, an eland, a species of antelope, to replenish m v larder for the coming Christinas; 1 was at the time living alone in a glen formed by two spurs of the mountain, with but few neighbors and 110 town within fifty miles, but, as 1113 Kaffirs had become sufficiently civilized to un derstand that Christmas-time meant unlimited eating, I wished, by pro viding game, to save an ox. 1 had onh* five or six miles to go and was well mounted, so I did not hurry, but, leading my horse up-the steep pass, reached the place where I in tended to sleep just as the sun was setting. The scene around, though quite different from our ideas of what it should be in December, was very beautiful. There was no snow; no leafless trees with their delicate tra cery set off by the glistening hoar frost. nor dark green firs bending un der their white load; but still there was enough to keep me standing, for getful of firewood and all 1 had to do for 1113' comfort during the night. I was on a narrow ledge of rock separated from the net-work of hills beyond by a deep perpendicular gorge at the bottom of which, so far down that I could hardly distinguish it, rati a little burn. The setting suu gave the peaks that rich purple hue seldom seen away from heather; and on the other side, as far as the eye could reach, lay the thorn covered flats and hills of Natal. Cnder the rock was a large cave, whore f determined to sleep. It had | in olden times lieen a regular resort of the Bushmen, but few came near i. \ it now; but on going in I found some calabashes and the ashes of a newly made fire, Which could have been only left by them. There were other marks on the walls, though evidently of great antiquity; rude sketches and drawings of horses, cattle, bows and arrows, and even of a Bushman rid ing. It is most curious that a race so low down in the scale of humanity that their language contains but a few words made up of Unpronounce able and who, with the ex ception of the use of fire, in their mode of life differ but little from the ape, should have learned to do this. It-may be that it is a remnant of an old sign-language, or the last relic of some former civilization. It was a full moon and after admiring the wonderful lights and shadows thrown by it on the broken ground I turned in and slept till near daylight. As soon as I could see I started to hunt. Much to 1113* annoyance at the time, though I had afterwards cause to be thankful that my horse was spared such a gallop as riding down an eland entails, I could find nothing and could tell I>3* the spoors that 110 herd had been about for sonic days. It was nearh noon before 1 became convinced of this; and. tempted by the shade of a line of tree-ferns edg ing a little brook whose bubble sounded refreshingly amid the great hent, I took niY* saddle off, knee-halt ered Prince and h3* down. Of course I soon dozed off, but became awake, again in about a couple of hours; I snv "became awake," because it was not the 1 atural rousing nj of a per wlio has been asleep, but a sudden return to consciousness, without any movement and with all my wits about me. and that inward fi cling which perhaps some of iny readers may have experienced of something being wrong and a tension of all the powers of hearing to discover what it is. I had not long to wait: whiz came a tiin* arrow. striking the stone on which my head had been resting, and where my cap still was. It did not require much thinking to know that a Bushman's hand held the bow it had come from, nor to determine that the safest thing to do was to roll quietly into the bed of the little brook below me. Luckily, this would afford good shelter, and I could al most reach the edge with my hand. The tremendous violence with which these streams come clown front the hills during the heavy tlumder storms, wears a deep passage even in the hardest ground, and though there was only about an inch of wa ter and it was not a yard broad the banks were to the full four feet high. Leaving my cap where it was I rolled over as quietly as I could, but just as I was disappearing another arrow came and struck me in the thigh, the only part not yet in safety. It took all my self-control to continue 1113 movements as before until I stood crouching at the bottom. "Why," 1 the reader maj* exclaim, "the pain, of such a tiny arrow could not be very great." No, neither is the bite \ of a snake in itself, yet of the two the j latter is the least to be dreaded. It was, of course, poisoned with that dcadh* skill for which the whole tribe is famous; and as J stood below 1 knew I had little chance of seeing another sunrise. However, with that self help that men who lead a solitary life acquire, I instantly drew 1113* hunting-knife, ripped up the trousers and with a steady hand cut out the arrow-head, not sparing nreself. I then took 1113* flask and poured powder into the wound, and gently striking a match set fire to it. That done, I took off my belt and using all 013* force strapped it a little above, as tight as it would go. I do not think that in doing this I had any hope of saving mv' life; there was 011I3* a sort of feeling that S. F. Hamilton, J'ublislier $1.15 A YEAR I was doing my duty. The pain was | not very great, and my chief thought was for vengeance on the malignant ; creature that I looked upon as my murderer. I rightly imagined he c r & was not aware of his success. No doubt lie thought he had missed me and I was still lying asleep, in proof I of which I soon heard the whiz of ; another arrow striking above. Mov ing down about a yard to where the overhanging ferns would Conceal me, T quietly raised my head; the ground was slightly rising and I could see around for some distance. There was my horse, unconsciously grazing away, but the grass Vas too long for mo. to see my enemy's I. however, guessed that he would try and got between us and so I wait ed, watching, and grasping my rifle. Ten minutes passed in silence and then I fancied that tlie grass was moving unnaturally. In another se cond a hand and bow appeared, 1 heard a little twang and saw the tiny messenger of death again pierce the spot where 1 had been. I kept my self from firing, though I covered the place. Surely he would become im patient and give me a better chance. Another ten minutes and suddenly, in a different spot, which commanded a better view of my cap, a little black head peered over the grass. It was enough; arid as 1 fired a shrill shriek and a spasmodic spring into the air told me that 1 had nothing more to fear. Getting oul as quickly as possible 1 dragged myself, for tlie limb was now much swollen :.nd becoming more and more painful, to my sad dle, where I carried in a little bottle some can dr lure for snake bites, and poured out a large dose. After drinking it 1 caught my horse, sad dled it, and picking up two of the arrows went to have a look at the dead Bushman. He was scarcely over four f< et high with arms so long and thin as to reach deformity, short and bow-kneed legs supporting a lit tle round bod 3- —lie had evidently not been starving lately;—and fea tures so closely resembling those of an intelligent ape that had there been a tail 110 one would have thought twice about the matter. I did not remain long; there was no time to lose so, taking his bow, I mounted and putting the horse at his best pace started on mv long ride. I knew perfectly well that the only chance, such as it was, of saving my life de pended on my reaching Ladysmith that night and obtaining medical as sistance. The distance was fully sixty miles and, with but one exception, there were nothing but Dutch boers' hous es on the road, whence 1 could not iiope for any help. For the first twenty miles I kept steadily on my way, though the agony was dreadful and I could hardly sit on my horse, I then reached an Englishman's farm, pulled up, told my story and asked for spirits to keep my strength up, and the loan of a fresh horse. I shall not easily forget his wife's scared look as she came out and saw me by the light of her flickering can dle. I suppose I must have seemed half mad. They brought me out a full bottle of whiskey and a tumbler, which I filled and drank off neat; but they had not got a horse "up." They were, lie said, all running and it would take hours to find them, So I started again. I do not remember much more of that wild moonlit ride; I became drowsy and half delirious, just re taining sense enough to go straight* How I did it I do not know, as for the greater part of the way there was no road, and even in daylight and with nothing the matter I should have hesitated in more than one place. However, providence or in stinct guided ne right and, as I was afterwards told, for I remembered nothing about it, I reached the town at one o'clock, p. m.,—just eleven hours after 1 had left. 1 had finished the whiskey on the road and it was to that the doctor ascribed my ulti mate recovery. For nine days Iv. as in a high fever and delirious, and it was more than six weeks before I got up; and for years afterwards the wound did not heal. Kven to the present day it occasionally bursts out afresh, and will probably con tinue to do so to the end of my exr istenee.— Chambers'.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers