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A CONJURER AT ROME
Tr Ick■ of Legerdemain
A writer in Belgravia describes a
visit to the "magician" Hermann, at
his private residence near London, and
the tricks there played for the en
tertainment of the guests ;
The dinner passed off handsomely ;
the viands were of the best in the sea
son ; the wine was of the choicest; con
versation was brisk, if not brilliant;
and geed humor threw a radiance over
the. whole party. It was, in fact, a
merry meeting; and there was juSt the
number seated around the table tol con
centrate the talk and prevent the party
frdm breaking up into knots. Herr
Hermann, who was seated at the head
of the table, had Skeptic placed at his
right hand. This collocation, whieh
was supposed to be accidental at the
time, was designed by the conjuror. He
had seen and noticed the incredulity of
his guest, and was determined to make
a convert of him, or at all evepts to show
off his powers at his expense.
The conversation turned 'Sport presti
digitateurs and their various feats of
legerdemain. Herr Hermann—who,
having passed many years in America,-
and being no stranger in England, spoke
English with much fluency said, " I am
well aware that all you sevens have an
Idea how the best of our tricks are ac
complished." "I should think so,"
from Skeptic. "But I fancy I could
puzzle even you." "Oh, Indeed!"
again from Skeptic. "Ay, sir, and
even you," turning to Skeptic. "By
all mewls try it." " I shall; awl after
dinner I will show you w few tricks,
and will defy any one of you to have
the remotest notion how they are done."
" Bravo !" from all the company except
Skeptic, who laughed and helped him•
self to wine, and congratulated himself
on being so much cleverer than the
conjurer.
The(tricks played by Hermann are
thus described:
Presently Herr Hermann rings the
bell and tells the man-servant, who an
swers it, to fetch some cards. The man
retired, and came back with two packs
of cards, in secured cases, and placed
them on the table. "Take one of these
packs," said our host addressing him
self to the Skeptic; "open the cover,
and see If all the cards are right." "No
preparation?" demlnded Skeptic. "No,
I assure you. NVl.at I am about to show
you now I could do with any cards."
" Of course," ejaculated Skeptic sneer
ingly, and began to tear the cover from
the pack. Speptic looked at the cards,
and we all looked ut the conjurer.—
When Skeptic pronounced the cards
"all correct." Herr Hermann took
them In hls hands, and flinging them
down on the table with their faces uper
most, said, "There are eight of you.
When I leave the room and the door is
shut on me, let each person draw a card
from the pack, return it and shuffle the
cards." lie left the room, bidding us
to recall him when we were ready. Each
man took a card and put It back. Then
we all had a shuffle at the pack, expect•
ing Skeptic, who thought he knew all
about the trick, and the conjurer was
brought back in due time.
He took the cards iu his hands.—
"There are eight of you," he said.
"Each one has drawn a card and re
placed it; and the eight cards, if you
have well shuffled them, should be
persed thrMigh the pack. No eyecould
see into this room when tire door was
shut. Even knowing the cards—were
that possible—would leave the seeming
impossibility of bringing theeight cards
together, you will all acknowledge that.
Behold what art can do!" He gave the
cards a sort of flourish, and placing the
pack on his left palm, drew from the
top the eight cards which we had
drawn. He then turned to Skeptic,
and with a good-natured smile Inquired
whether he had any idea how that trick
was done. Our "nildidmirari " friend
laughed, and said nothing; but shortly
afterward was heard to observe, " Curl,
one, ain't it?" This trick gave rise to
a good deal of talk and some disputa
tion ;
but there were no two opinions
about it; it was allowed by all to ue the
most complete and inexplicable feat of
legerdemain ever witnessed.
Trick No. 2 was even more astonish
ing and incomprehensible. "You
know," said Herr Hermann, address
hg the whole party, after some discus
sion had gone on about the slight-of
;hand performances, " I work by wit
and not by witchcraft." "For wit read
trick," interposed Skeptic. " But what,"
continued the conjuror, not heeding the
interruption, "supposing I were to
interpret your thoughts—to know what
was passing through your minds?"
"That, indeed, would be a trick above
natural magic," I exclaimed. Skeptic
tilled his glass and winked at his neigh
bor, as who should say, " I know all
about it." "We shall see," said Herr
Hermann. " Now, each of you two
gentlemen," he went on, speaking to
his two right•hand guests, " think of a
card ; I do not ask you to touch one ; "
and, taking up the pack, he threw the
cards front upwards on the table.
The choice was quickly made. Mr.
Hermann recovered the cards, shuf
fled them and spread them out as before.
"'The card," he said, "one of you
thought of Is there; the card the other
thought of is absent." The gentlemen
searched. One of the cards selected was
not to be seen—the other was found.
'• So far so good," exclaimed Herr Her
mann ; "but the trick is only half done."
The conjurer took the cards again, shuf
fled them as before, and exposed them
as before, and exposed them on the table.
"Now," he cried, "the illusion is
reversed. The missing card reappears,
and the card thought of that was present
is not to be found. Search !" And stivh
was the case. The cards had come and
gone at the bidding of the magician,who
seemed to exercise a mental rather than
uphysicalinfluenceoverthem. Wonder
wasexpressed in every countenance, and
Skeptic, annoyed because he was foiled,
drank off an additional bumper to qual
ify him for elucidation.
A moment's consideration of this
trick mast satisfy everybody of its ex
treme clevoEaess and incomprehensi
bility. The only possible solution that
oilers itself is in the supposition that
the conjurer, by some process of his
own, was enabled to follow the eyes of
the gentlemen in their direction to the
cards spread on the table, and to mark
those they made choice of Knowing the
cards, of course an expert practitioner
would find no difficulty in manipulat
ing;them as he pleased ; and getting rid
of a card and returning it to the pack,
contrived with whatever rapidity, is no
extraordinary feat of legerdemain. As
certaining to a certainty ethe cards
upon which two persons have thrown
a glance for the shortest possible space
of time Is, it must be allowed, one of the
mostremarkable and puzzling achieve
ments of the conjurer's
art, and may be
termed its crowning feat. Ido not as
hart that it was by this process Herr
Hermann ascertained the cards his two
guests thought of ; but if not this, I can
conceive no other method by which he
made them known to him, unless, in
deed, it were veritable witchcraft
Some ten or fifteen minutes had
passed, and the conversation was about
to lapse into generalities, when our host
rose from his seat, and, taking from the
table the cards, went to the other end
of the room. "I want to ask your
opinion of a trick which, no doubt, you
have often' seen—your opinions as to
how Ido It. Will you oblige me by
?taking a card ?" "Would you allow me
to suggestthe unopened pack of cards?"
inquired friend Skeptic, looking round
him with an air of wisdom. "0, cer
tainly," answered Herr Hermann,
"open the untouched pack yourself, and
then give It to me." Skeptic removed
the envelope'from the new pack, and
scrutinized the cards carefully. The
eyes of the company, were now fixed on
the pair, and no one spoke. Skeptic
- having satisfied himself that the oarde
had undergone "no preparation "
handed them to. the conjurer. "Take
a card," said the latter, It was
done. "Now take the pack in your
own hands, put the card back and
ehuffie." Skeptic did as he was told,
and smiled as he shuffled the cards in
various ways. "It would be difficult,
would It not," asked Herr ,Hermann,
"to tell you the card you drew 7"
" Rather:" ejaculated Skeptic. " What
" if I were to do more, and make you draw
again the same card?" " I should like
to lay ten pounds to a halt crown of
that." " Keep your money, my friend,
I don't want to rob you; give me the
cards," He took the cards from Skep
tic, and shuffling them, said : This
time when you draw the card do not,let
(it c I,lixittatet $
ti /ittettigtteet
VOLUME 69
anybody see it, nor say what it is until
I ask you. I must do my tricks after
my own fashion.. Draw!"
He drew. "Now place the card on
the table, back upward, and cover it
with your hand, holding it tightly."
Skeptic did as he was desired. "Now,
sir, is not that card the one which you
drew first?", " Certainly not!" ex
claimed Skeptic, loudly • and triumph.
antly. "Indeed!" crie,d Hermann,
"there must be some mistake." "Of
course there is," rejoined the guest,
"but it was your mistake!" and he
laughed with much glee. "Are you
sure ?" "Positive." "Name the cards."
" I drew the Queen of Spades first, and
this under my hand Is the Nine of Die.
monde." "Let me look at it." Skep
tic took away his hand, turned the card,
and beheld—the Queen of Spades. Au
explosion of laughter at Skeptic's ex
pense was followed by a volley of cheers
for this wonderfully clever feat of slight
of hand, if Indeed it was so, for I was
utterly at a loss at the time—and am
now, when I think of it—to account for
the manner in which it was accom
plished.
Many other tricks were exhibited in
the course of the evening, but these re
lated above are decidedly the newest
and best, although some of the others
would have made a common conjuror's
fcirtune. Several times Herr Hermann
held out a deck of cards, and named be
forehand the card any of us would draw,
in spite of our efforts to foil him, and
this without falling In any one instance.
Of course, "passing a card " is one of
the commonest tricks in card jugglery;
but to " pass a card " and name it be
forehand, and " pass " it on a company
so " cunning of fence' and so wary as
ours, was a very different matter.
Better than "passing the card" with
such magicaldexterity—which we know
is achieved by rapidity uud neatness of
fingering—was the trick with the pear,
which indeed was as inconceivable as
anything shown that evening. One of
the party was asked by the• conjurer to
take a pear from the table, and mark it,
then to cut a slice fipm it, to eat the slice,
and hand the pear \to Herr Hermann.
This was done, and the pear given to the
conlu4er, who, taking it in his hand,
thremit up toward the ceiling, caught it
as it fell, and returned it sound and
whole to the.gentleman, who declared
thatit was thesame pear he had marked,
and from which he had cut the slice.
The Niagara of the West
The Oregon Statesman gives the fol
lowing description of the neighborhood
of the splendid Shoshonee Fails, Idaho :
Snake river is tLe south fork of the
Columbia, having the alternative name
of Lewis river; The valley of the Snake
Iles along an almost direct lino from the
South Pass of the Rocky Mountains,
and in the early days it furnished the
most practicable route overland to the
Pacific. In its decent over the elavated
plains of Idaho, about .100 miles from
whence it takes its rise in the Rocky
Mountains. Snake river forms the great
Shoshonee Falls. The river here runs
through a narrow, rocky gorge, which
widens and terminates abruptly in pre
cipitous cliffs, the summit of which is
about one hundred feet above the level
of the rapids, and so steep that the
traveler can descend at only one point
—au old Indian trail, its numerous
windings making it about a mile in
length. Following this trail slowly and
carefully, the tourist will in due time
find himself standing upon the bank of
the river ou a level with the rapids and
overlooking the falls. The width of the
river at this point Las been variously
estimated ; we thought it at least two
hundred yards.
The rapids here form a series of cas
cades, ranging from thirty to sixty feet
each in height, and just below them the
river, In one unbroken mass, leaps two
hundred and ten feet into the bottomless
pit below. The course of the river at
this point is almost due east and west;
the contour of the falls is that of an
irregular horse shoe, and their width,
following the course of the water, is at
least four hundred yards. Although the
river is not quite as wide at this point as
the Niagara river, the falls are higher
and quite as beautiful. The most,com
plete views of the falls, including the
river above and below the rapids, cliffs
and surrounding scenery, is obtained
from Lookout Point. Lookout Point is
a narrow cape of rocks projecting from
the main bluff about three hundred
yards lower down on the river than the
fall, so narrow that two persons cannot
walk abreast.
Standing upon this point, we will en
deavor to name the prominent places
of interest. The first object which at
tracts our attention is Eagle Rock, a
perpendicular pillar of rock about one
hundred feet in height, rising from the
midst of the rapids fifty yards from the
south bank of the river, and almost
overhanging the main cataract. Upon
the topmost peak of this rock an Ameri
can eagle has built his eyrie, a fitting
home for our national bird—long may
he live to occupy his unique and ro
mantic abode! Just above and about
the centre of the cataract is Ballard Is
land, a small rocky island covered with
cedar and juniper trees. Several smaller
islands to the right and left of the large
one, or Ballard Island add to the beauty
and picturesqueness of the scene.
The Two Sentinels—two huge rocky
pillars—are one on the north, the other
on the south side, overlooking the falls,
and reminding one of grim sentinels
guarding their object. Lower down the
river, and from a bigherstandpoint, one
can obtain a fine panoramic view of the
whole—the falls, the foaming rapids,
Eagle Rock. the Two Sentinels, the
huge pillars of perpetual spray arising
from the bottom and near the centre of
the cataract, but extendinges it rises to
either side, and made beautiful by the
many-colored rainbows which shed a
halo of glory upon the whole scene.
Still lower down the river is Prospect
Gulch. Several gentlemen of the party,
actuated by the spirit of adventure, de
termined to atinmpt through the gulch
to reach the river below the falls. 'ffiley
lowered themselves fifty feet on the
rope down the perpendicular sides of a
rocky cliff: Reaching firm ground,
they managed with but little difficulty
to scramble down about five hundred
feet to the banks of the river. Arriv
ing there they found that their
troubles had just begun ; they were
six hundred yards from the falls,
to reach which their path lay around
and over some huge boulders of slippery
rock, winding along the foot of the steep
banks, and then through the foaming
and boiling waters, the heavy swells of
, which reminded them strikingly of the
breakers on the sea-shore. Finally they
reached a point ;bout thirty feet from
the falls. Their.oourney here came to
an abrupt termination by the shelving
of the rocks into deep water. The wind
struck this point with such violence
that they feared to trust themselves in
an erect posture. On their knees, they
held with their liana to the overhang
ing brush to prevent being blown into
the river.
We think that one cannot fully com
prehend the immensity of the sheet of
water and the sublimity of the scene,
until he can gaze upward as we did.
This point is the cave of the Winds.
The Sboshonee Falls, as a whole, will
Compare favorably with Niagara. Those
of our party who have seen both places
pronounce the former superior in many
respects. In beauty and mildness of
scenery, the Shoslionee cannot be Bur
passed. Niagara excels in magnitude
only.
Self•liado Men.
We do not wonder that great men
have been born mechanics ; for those
who have been brought up exclusively
In drawing -rooms, intelligence is a
game, a recreation ; for those who have
held the sword or the helm, who have
driven the plough or worked with the
chisel, intelligence becomes a passion,
a force, a oeau ty, a worship, and a love
divine. It is from the stall, the shop,
the work room, that the most powerful
minds have issued. Maliere from the
upholster's, Burns from the farmer's,
Shakspeare from the hosier's shop, Rog
seau from the wheelwright's. Long en
gaged lam struggle 'with physical na
ture, they all took refuge in the free
domain of thought. Even an Inferior
mind would soon become tempered to
strength in these mechanical appren
ticeships ; and if ever the spirit of re
form, which has seized on the world,
should extend to• the act creating citi
zens, we doubt not that good sense will
gain a victory over custom, and that one
of the most important parts of every ed
ucation will be henceforth the due ad
mixture of the development of the
mind and its action on nature.
Baby Travelers,
I.From the London Spectaterj
English travelers on the Continent
rarely or never take young children
with them. French people do, Russians
do, and so do Americans, though the
latter seem to prefer boys and girls just
out of the nursery. Germans, however,
seem to be the great offenders, wealthy
persons of thatnation thinking noshame
to be accompanied by entire families,
children, governesses, nurses, wet
nurses, and till. What with one people
and another, children are numerous
enough on the great routes to form a
distinct feature in tourist life, a class
well worth studying, a race who supply
to observers perhaps the most distinct
and curious of all subjects of specula
tion.
They are, to begin with, so very
separate and so very national. We would
undertake in any hotel on the Conti
nent
to tell the nationality of any child
by the arrangements made for his or her
food, and by his or her relations to the
servants. There is the American child, I
first, whose position is the simplest and
easiest conceivable. She, if above three
years of age, is " a grown-up," paid for
like any other guest, entitled to the same
privileges, displaying the same entire
independence of any kind of control,
and evincing all the curious national
contempt for servants of all gradea. An
American child of four in a Swiss hotel
is perfectly capable of ordering a
petit verre after dinner, and if
she did would get it without the
slightest interference from mamma, or
the governess, or indeed any.human
being except possibly the waiter, who
would speedily be brought to a due
sense of his position and responsibili
ties. Dining at Zurich, a few days
since, the writer noticed a perfect speci
men of the kind. She was a bri,ht
eyed, fair-haired little thing, probably
seven years old, but in appearance
scarcely five, who marched into the
room with the air of mingled curiosity
and pomp so comical in sharp children,
made way for her father, a grave man
of fifty, but calmly ordered her mother
to take another chair. Mamma had
seated herself outside her husband, and
Baby intended to sit between her and
the governess. This arrangement ac
complished, and a waiter who proffered
a high chair summarily sent into dis
grace, Baby unrolled her napkin, read
the menu carefully, remarked that she
likes sweets, and gravely went in for
dinner. Of ten or twelve dishes that
child tasted every one insisted on a
separate glass of claret, and at last fixed
the affections of her over-filled little
person on some cheese cake. First she
ate her own share. Then she sidled up
to her governess, remarked in Amer--
can that she had not half enough, and,
in French, that the lady opposite was
clearly English, and, under cover of
her chatter, quietly stole and bolted the
poor woman's cheese cakes. Then she
turned to her mother ; but her mother
had passed the dish, and we thought
she was at the end of her resources.—
Not
a bit of it. In the shrillest and
calmest of trebels she ordered the head
waiter, then about fifty feet oft, " to
bring papa some more cheese cakes,'
clutched three, and putting one on the
governess' plate—either out of a theory
of restitution, as we hope, or an idea of
making her au accomplice, as we fear
—bolted the other two, and then mudg
ed her mother for admiration. With
insignificant variations of circumstance
she was the typical American female
child as so frequently encounted in
Switzerland—the most Independent,
self-helpful, greedy little imp alive.
Male children from that continent, we
are bound to say, are different, their
main characteristics being a portentous '
gravity, and a certain slow but real po
liteness wonderful to behold. Outside
the table ( - 1' bate, the last remnant of self
restraint seems to be thrown off; balco
nies are turned into play-rooms, pas
sages into race-courses till the entire
building seems given over to shrill
voiced, dyspeptic, high-spirited little
imps, who in an hour or so attract to
their sides a cosmopolitan assembly of
all colors and ages, make them all as
wicked as themselves, and, we are
bound to add, rule them all with the
most serene aplomb.
Next to the American children, the
German are the most prominent; but
their prominence is not at dinner. There
they are at work on the business of life,
and are remarkable only from the half
quizzical, half servile attention paid to
them by their fathers, and their astound
ing linguistic capacity. One of them,
who sat opposite us a fortnight since—
a meek, staid-looking, self-impressed
little person with red hair—talked three
languages with equal fluency, ordered
her father's wine, dictated some extra
ordinary combination of foostools and
chairs which ultimately seated her-about
six inches above the table, and was
watched by her father, a widower ob
viously, with a sort of admiring awe.
Somehow she was like Pauline in Cur
rer Bell's " Villette," and before she
had been in the hotel three hours
some especially In the child was
recognized; everbody nodded or
rather bowed to her—salutes which
she returned with the gravest of
inclinations—and the waiters watched
her as if their places depended on her
flat. We have an impression, quite
without evidence, that her father was a
man of considerable rank, but anyhow,
in -twenty-four hours the child had
made her presence distinctly felt
throughout the.house, and so complete
ly asserted her position that if she had
ordered champagne for breakfast some
one would have brought it without a
glance to seek the father's consent. She,
of course, was not typical, being in her
way a Character, and, as we suspect, but
do not know, aided by her father's place
in the world; but it is true that, next to
the Americans, the Germans seem to
accord their children the most liberty,
to treat them with the least reference to
disparity of age. Both nations spend
for their children, too, with a liberality
which approaches extravagance; the
Germans lugging about small armies of
retainers, the Americans submit
ting, on their behalf, to the most pre
posterous claims. We met in Oberland
one party of nine, for whom a careful
mother had not only engaged nine,
mules, but nine guides, all strictly
charged to prevent the slightest attempt
at rapid. motion.
The French children are much less
independent. French mothers also
allow their children to join the table
d' hot e, but they do not allow them such
independence, on the contrary, restrain•
lug them, if anything, more than Eng
lish people do. On the other hand, they
pay them Infinitely more attention. A
Frenchman cares probably a great deal
more about his dinner than au Engllsh•
man, but he will interrupt it much
more frequently to talk to a child, will
mix its wine more carefully, will dis
cuss with a waiter more at length the
suitability of particular dishes. The
American child seems to rule the family
much more; but the French child ab
sorbs it, and has, we suspect, much
more influence upon its movements.
It is very unusual, for example, for any
but a French family to seat : servant at
dinner; but they, if they hay.. children
with them, do it constantly, e. at the
little ones may be well and qu .
looked after, and compelled rigidly to
observe lee cony enanceB. A certain fore
thought for the little people, a sense
that they have rights, Is very percepti
ble in their arrangements, the care
sometimes, no doubt, degenerating into
most injurious fondness. We saw a
French father whose son, about five,
had expressed a wish for water en route
to Chur, pay a franc for a glass, then, as
the train started, buy the glass itself,
and then, when the little imp threw
glass and water out of the window in a
pet at the delay, take him on his knee
and spend half an hour In vain attempts
to bring him to a happier mood.. One
could understand after that why free
dom of bequest seems unnatural to
Frenchmen. Sulkiness among French
traveling children is, however, very
rare. As a rule, they seem as happy as
birds, and like birds they are every
where at once, till they form a distinct
feature in the prospect. Their momen
tary importance pleases them, so does
the variety of scene,and when not suffer
ing torments from indigestion they
generally contrive to fill the hotels with
life, and movement, and happy if some
what shrill laughter. Though not left
independent, they are lel t with servants
much more than English children are,
and not always with the most beneficial
result. They see too much of the great
vice of French servants, their indiffer
ence to truth. Approaching Paris from
the South a little while since, the writer
and his wife noticed a child, obviously
of very good class, attended by two
nursemaids, and a young seminarist,
whose relation to the party was not easily
intelligible. Arriving at the ticket eta
LANCASTER PA. WEDNESDAY MORNING NOVEMBER 18 1868
tion, the superior bonne produced two
tickets, and remarked audibly that
she intended to carry the child through
without paying for a third. The little
lady was About seven ; bat the conduct:
eur was informed, with all the gravity
of a French woman when telling a de
liberate lie, that she was under two.—
"Under two! but—Mesdames." It was
of no use, she was under two, and the
conducteur turned to the theological
student, still reading his breviary. "At
least, Monsieur, you will not affirm a
story so monstrous, so incredible." The
seminarist half-raised his eye-lids, bow
ed in a manner quite sacrosanct, and
replied, "I know the - child, and she is
under two." " Well," affirmed the
conducteur, with some slight temper,
"if you get that child through the
barrier without a ticket, I'll eat her,"
and with a courteous bow disappeared.
The women seemed frightened—having,
we suspect, received the fare from their
mistress—and we anticipated a scene;
but we had underrated French ingenu
ity. " Fan must play baby," said the
nurse, and Fan was obviously delighted,
In a minute or two she was stripped,
clad in a nightgown or chemise of some
sort, a handkerchief folded over her
head, her hair combed back, and she
herself transformed into a baby in long
clothes. No human being could have
detected ihe deception, unless he bad
noticed that the nurse stooped with her
weight. The little imp shut her eyes,
and did ingcnue as if she had been bred
to the stage, and a baby in arms she was
successfully carried into Paris, the sem
inarist leading the way through the
wicket, book iu hand, and eyes on the
floor. The women who played that
trick, nevertheless, watched over that
child as none but the best English ser
vants would have done, would have
thought of losing their own dinners to
gratify any whims she might express at
table.
Does traveling benefit young chil
dren? We cannot say, for we have
never watched English children under
the ordeal; but we suspect not. They
are injuriously fed, keep late hours, and
enjoy far too much excitement for their
mental health. The constant change
of scene Is a strain upon the mind for
which they obtain little or no compen
sation, and which accoOlats for the
weary, half blase look ihey wear on
their return. They be me querulous
as the journey advances, the waiters'
habit of non-resistance tempts them to
new demands, and they end not infre
quently by making themselves nuis
ances to all around. The new faces be
wilder them, the new scenes overfill
their minds, and the new diet gives
them a permanent dyspepsia. Change
is as good for children as for grown-up
people, but It should neither be rapid
nor frequent, and for any English girl
or boy under twelve we should depre
cate Continental travel, and above all,
ContinentAl life in hotels.
Our American Girls
The litheness in the American girls,
though often beautiful, is too universal ;
an eye from the old country begins to
long for a rosy cheek. Lowell said that
color was a thing of climate, and that I
should find plenty of rosy cheeks
amongst the mountains of Maine, where
there is more moisture in the air. It
may be so; I never got to the Maine
mountains to see. But as far as my ob
servation went, I never saw any either
on mountain or valley in any part of
New England. My private impression
is, making all allowance for the influ•
euce of dry air, that the peculiar pale;
nese of the New England girls connects
itself with too moth metaphysics, hot
bread and pie. I have strong convic
tions on this subject of pie. Not to speak
of mere paleness, I don't see how the
Americans can reconcile it with their
notions of what is due to the laws of
nature, to live to the age they do, con
sidering the amount of pie they eat. I
don't remember that I eversat down to
a dinner in America, even in a poor
man's house, without finding pie of
some kind—often of several kinds—on
the table, and without finding that
everybody partook of it, down to the
microscopic lady or gentleman whom
we shall call the baby. Pie is indispen
sable. Take anything away, but leave
pie. Americans can stand the prohibi
tion of all intoxicating drinks; but at
tempt to prohibit pie, and you would
plunge America into revolution in a
day.
Then metaphysics! In one family
which I visited in the Connecticut Val
ley, two of the girls were deep in the
study of Algebra and metaphysics, as a
voluntary exercise, and shut themselves
up for three hours a day with Colenso,
Sir William Hamilton, and Kent. This
was, perhaps, exceptional, but the New
England brain is very busy. It devel
ops very soon and very fast, and begins
at a very early age to exercise itself
with theabstruseretudles. Parents and
teachers frequently told me that their
difficulty, with the girls especially, was
not to get them urged on, but to get
them held back. In one young ladies'
seminary which I visited, they were
held back with the following light stu
dies, in addition to all the ordinary
branches; Virgil and Horace, Latin
prose composition, Anatomy and Hy
giene Moral Philosophy, Mental Phil
osophy and Quadratic Equations. To
this add pie and hot bread, and what
could you expect but paleness, even
among the mountains of Maine!
Paleness and pie notwithstanding,
the American girls are very delightful.
And in one point they fairly surpass the
majority of English girls—they are all
educated and well informed. It is a
painful, but I fear a too incontrovertible
fact, that most of the girls on this side
are very ignorant on general subjects.
I don't blame them ; I blame the sys
tem of education. Some girls are fas•
cinating whether they are educated or
not, but to be left alone, as ono some
times is, with a girl who knows noth•
ing, in a room with no piano, is exceed
ingly embarrassing—after the weather
has been exhausted. There is never
the same difficulty with American
girls. The admirable educational sys
tem of New England, covering the
whole area of society, has given them
education, whether they be poor or rich;
has furnished them with a great deal of
general information, and has quickened
their desire for more. An American
girl will talk to you about anything,
and feel (or what has the same effect,
seem to feel) interest in it. Their ten
dency is perhaps to talk too much and
to talk beyond their knowledge. With
the cleverer (or as they would say them
selves, the "smarter ") of them, It
seemed to me sometimes to make no
perceptable difference whether they
knew anything of the oAls t, c.t they talk
ed about or not.
Mentioning this feature of American
character to a • Boston gentleman, he
said: "It is true, I was struck in Eng
land with the silence of the people
when they -had nothing to say. One
time, traveling in the same carriage
with a nobleman, I asked him his opin
ion of the ballot. He replied, " I have
not considered that subject yet.' You
might travel all over America," said my
friend, "and never hear a man say
that." But the American girls gener
ly know a little of everything, and
their general intelligence and vivacity
make them very delightful companions.
I had an idea before going out that
the New England ladles spent time
over intellectual pursuits to the neglect
of household duties. I did not find it
so. Comparing class with class, they
are quite as good housekeepers as I have
seen anywhere. They had need be, for
service at present Is in a very wretohed
condition in America—so much so that
middle-class families in the country
often dispense with servants altogether.
The young ladies can make bread as
well as demonstrate proposition, and
their mental philosophy, whatever it
amounts to, never interferes with the
perfection of the pies Samuel Johnson
used to say that a man would rather
that his wife should be able to cook
a good dinner than read Greek. But he
does not seem to have anticipated a time
when a woman could learn to do both.
—From Daniel Macrae's Notes on
America.
Coal fu Husain.
The foreign scientific journals report that
recently large and most important discov
eries of coal have been made in Russia. The
mines of one district alone are, according to
the St. Petersburg journal Golds, capable
of supplying annually 900,000 tons for one
hundred and filly to two hundred years.
Since 1804 there have been surveyed in the
valley of the Don forty-four beds, the ag
gregate quantity of which is estimated at
more than eighteen billions of tons. The
Golds asserts that the mineral wealth of
Russia far exceeds that of England, and ac
the same rate of production, would last for
two centuries after the English mines had
been exhausted.
Veloclpeding by Moonllgbt
The flat has gone forth. American
ladies are to velocipede. It was all set
tled a few evenings since, and. with
great eclat this novel amusement was
inaugurated in the metropolis by a
grand moonlight velocipede race, got
ten up and entirely conducted by a rev
olutionary bevy of enterprising ladies.
This brilliant affair, as might be imag
ined, has electrified all upper belledom
with an absolutely new sensation. It
is said to have been the happy thought
of a restless and bewitching demoiselle,
but lately returned from Paris, whose
passion for the hitherto unknown nov
elty, in common with others of her
charming sisterhood, has been contract
ed In the classic shades of the Bois de
Boulogne in the suite, and under the
express tutelage of the Empress of the
French. At all events, the initiative
step, has indubitably been taken here
in the city of Gotham by one of our
American belles, and we all know what
the result will be. Velocipedes are al
ready the rage, and for the season, at
least, among the fashionable denizens
of our imitative metropolis threaten to
supercede carriages. In this instance,
however, fashion, (if for force only,
has inaugurated a sensible and health
ful exercise; and a lady can manage a
velocipede in an ordinary walkingdress.
When fully mounted, too, a pretty foot
and ankle show to as great advantage as
even at croquet. Not of course that
they would give this accidental circum
stance a thought. The manufacture of
these articles has now commenced in
great numbers and varieties iu thecity,
and as is natural te Yankee article is
infinitely superior to the French. At
first glance one w cold fancy it a for
midable undertaking to mount and at
tempt to steer of these double-wheeled
articles, but a little practice is said soon
to remedy all such perturbation and
awkwardness, and any lady having
mastered the intricacies of the "sewing
machine," "skate," or "German," need
have no misgivings on the subject of
her ultimately deft acquaintance with
the mysteries of the velocipede. A
striking improvement is said to be
manifest in the arrangement of the
American tiller or steering-handle,
which is brought well back and is
of sufficient height to force au erect
position of chest upon the rider. The
fault of nearly all the Parisian vehi
cles is, that the position of the body
grows to be tiresome after a short time,
as this desideratum—a fully expanded
chest and good separation of the limbs,
is not ably borne in mind. Another
point of difference, in which the Ameri
can invention has the advantage, is the
stirrup. These, again, in nearly all
makes which have their single flat side,
upon which the foot is set, kept in posi
tion by a weight cast at the bottom,
made three-sided, with circular flanges
at both ends, which flanges turn upon
crank-pins. Thus the ordinary pres
sure of the foot always brings one of its
three flat sides into the necessary posi
tion. Another advantage of this pa
tented stirrup is its roughened surfaces
which keep the foot from slipping; which
surfaces, moreover, are so arranged as to
bring the ankle-joint into free play thus
using the fore part of the foot as well,
besides rendering the propulsion of the
vehicle much easier, by relieving the
knee of any excessive strain. In this
latter style the saddle is springed, there
by giving a very easy seat. Another
objection met is the stirrup-cranks
which are made moveable to as to ac
commodate all sizes of figures and in
clines of roads. 'the crowning miracle,
however, of comfort and desirability is
the brake, which issimply a hard block
of wood firmly placed at the backs of
the saddle, where it serves the double
purpose, both of brake and by being
properly shaped, of a comfortable rest
or brace at the lower part of the back of
the rider.
The American vehicles are said to be
much higher and infinitely more grace
ful in design than the French. They
are also much less costly. Those im
ported from Fiance are all cast in one
piece, and besides being without ade
quate provision for the wear and tear of
the article, either as a whole, or in the
minutie of its parts are, comparatively
speaking, excessively cumbersome in
movement. One more of the American
improvements is a tubular substitution
of a solid frame. The bearings of this
tubular description of vehicle are all of
composition or gun-metal, and so con
nected and matched that when worn
out or broken they may be replaced in
parts, like the machinery of sewing
machines and fire arms. The hub of
the back wheel is banded with compo
sition or gun-metal, and the axle is a
wonderful combination of simplicity,
constituting in itself, by reason of its
form, an oil-tube as well, on the re
moval of the two end screws of which
it may be filled with oil, which oil
reaches the bearing as fast as necessary
by means of the two or three fine feed
holes, perforated for that purpose, in
the axle.--N. Y. World.
The Velocipede In
From Le Courier des Etats•Uuis
For some time the velocipede has at
tracted
public attention in Paris. It ;is
to be met everywhere on our great
thoroughfares, moving rapidly and
skillfullythrough the crowd of carriages
and foot-passengers, and accomplishing
marvels of equilibrium under the guid
ance of a skillful rider. This rapid and
elegant vehicle of locomotion has gen
erally two wheels. The three-wheeled
ones, owing to this third point of sup
port, have a larger and more comforta.
ble set, and have also more stability, but
they move much slower. The two
wheeled velocipede—the classic vehicle,
as one may say—excites the most aston
ment. Pleasure-seekers and men of
business, all stop to follow with curious
eye this strange affair, which might be
called
.the democratic carriage, and
which appears to solve the problem of
cheap personal locomotion.
In France, people receive every
novelty by laughing at it, and after
wards they begin to reflect. The ques
tion of velocipedes, after having passed
through the first of these periods, has
entered on the second. This bold, odd
carriage has already taken the right of
a citizen among us. It has its special
manufacturers, its professors, and its
enthusiastic practitioners. It is even
used for betting purposes. Velocipede
racecourses, with prizes and crowns,
have been instituted at Nesinet, and at
the Hippodrome. Velocipedes i(abbre
viated to veioces) run upon the turf like
the horses of our sportsmen. If these
courses have not been instituted for the
physical amelioration of the human
race, they have amusement and diver.
sion for an object, which is something.
Paris, however, has not the exclusive
privilege of this new machine; it has
invaded the provinces. There is not a
city in our departments in which the
velocipede may not be seen. In short,
it is in possession of a veritable fashion,
or world of its own. This may not be
thought much at present, its only object
being amusement; but as soon as certain
improvements are made in it we shall
see it enter upon a more important
phase.
This is not the first time the velocipede
has made its appearance in France. In
vented in 1808, it was attempted to nat
uralize it in Paris. Public experiments
were made with it in the Jardin du
Luxembourg, but met with no success.
It was mounted on very low wheels,
and the rider had to support himself by
placing his feet directly on the ground.
Such a mechanism was rudimentary,
and failed completely, and it is only lu
caricatures, those archives of ridicule in
our country, that we can find any traces
of the experiments made in the garden
I of the Luxembourg in 1808.
Forgotten for more than twenty years,
the velocipede reappeared in 1830. At
this time a public functionary, M.
Dreuze, perfected the machine of 1808.
He secured the rider's point of support
the axletree of the two wheels instead of
the ground, and created thus the actual
velocipede. M. Dreuze, who belonged
to the administration of post offices,
formed the excellent idea of proposing
this machine for the use of rural post
men, to whom, he argued, it would be
of great avail in the matter of speed and
promptness, and at the same time caus
ing them much less fatigue.
M. Dreuze's plan was adopted; but
unfortunately, at this time winter set in
and velocipede locomotion presented
some difficulties; the wheels slipped
about oa the hard snow without ad
vancing. One would have said that it
was only•necessary to iron the wheels,
or suspend the use of the velocipede
during the winter. Government found
it the easiest way to suspend their use
entirely.
The same vehicle appeared some
years after, under another form—a little
carriage upon three wheels and pro•
gelled by the hands of the rider. This
machine did not succeed on account of
of the difficulty in guiding it, and the
fatigue it caused the guider. It is in
fact well known that the muscfes of the
legs can be exercised much longer than
those of the arms. In all good . - veloci
pedes the action of the arms -is merely
complimentry to that of the legs.
We describe in our " Armee Seientift
que " for ISGO a machine called the
drofrope, invented by an old naval offi
cer, M. halicie—a machine that seemed
to be a first step, in a practical way, in
the construction of these vehicles.
Weights attached to the wheels light
ened the muscular movements of the
rider. The solution of the problem
was satisfactory, and it is to be regretted
that little attention was paid to this
machine. A few improvements would
have sufficed to render it of certain
utility.
We have helped resurrect the veloci
pede of two wheels, with the point of
support on the wheels, and propelled by
the arms of the rider. The indications
are that this time the movement is in
earnest, and will lead to important re
sults." One cannot doubt this iu view of
the interest which this attempt excites,
and of the continually increasing num
ber of its proselytes.
We should be careful, however, not to
over estimate the real merits of the
velocipede, nor cry victory before vic
tory is reabhed. Such as •it is, this
vehicle can be of great use to private in
dividuals for rapid travelling, upon
good roads; but this, at present, Is the
only way in which it can be of use.
Some think it may be made available
for postmen and therunners of telegraph
offices in the coautry. The idea
is an excellent one, but if they
consider the bad condition of our
country roads during bad seasons
of the year, they will agree with us
that before this use of the velocipede
can be made practicable it will be ne
cessary to make such improvements in
it as will allow of its travelling through
all seasons and upon all roads. To place
the velocipede, as now constructed, at
the disposal of our country postmen and
telegraph runners, would be a very un
fortunate movement, as it would .only
result, as In 1830, in replunging this
power into the limbo of forgetfulness.
Poo great haste often destroys the best
projects. Let us, then, perfect this ma
chine before speculating upon its use.
Let us not gather the fruit while it is
yet green, that we not be obliged to
throw it away after having tasted it.
Does It Hurt Bugs to Stick Pins 10 Then'?
The American Entomologist, speak
ing of sticking pins through living in
sects and the inhumanity of it, makes
the following statement, which leas the
saying is, "strange if true," but in fact
is, perhaps, more strange than true.
The Entoniologist says: "In reality,
however, it is the confinement, and not
the wound made by the pin, that the
insect objects to. You may take any
night flying moth and silly transfix it
with a pin to the object on which it is
sitting in the day-time. It will neither
flutter nor struggle. Now watch it
as evening approaches, It begins to
struggle most violently, and most per
sons would believe it to be in extreme
agony. The truth of the matter, how
ever, is,that it now wants to be flying
abroad, and is fluttering to get free from
the pin. If it is the pin that is hurting
it, why did it not flutter by daylight
when the pin was first stuck into its
body? The British entomologist, Ste
phens, tells a story of a dragon-fly
that lie once caught, which, upon his
directing its tail to its mouth by way of
experiment, actually bit off and ate four
joints of its abdomen, and then, having
accidentally escaped from him, flew
away as briskly as ever." This may be
true enough as a fact, but how did Mr.
Stephens know what agony the tall, if
not the head, of the dragon-fly suffered?
Perhaps, however, the pleasure that the
head experienced in eating the tail
just balanced the pain that the tail
felt in being eaten, which is fully in
accordance, with Mr. I3abbage'a theory
of the " divine average" of pleasure and
pain in the universe, which he so ably
held in the •' Bridgewater Treatises."
The pain that the chicken feels in hav
ing its neck twisted is not so great as
the pleasurb that a man has in eating
the chicken, ani thereby the " moral
government" of the universe isjustified,
and nature feels encouraged to go to
work again with renewed confidence
that she is not misunderstood.
Busloess
Properly speaking, man lives to work;
he does not work to live. lie is him
self better than his vocation; and if he
lets the care of that wholly occupy and
exhaust him, he sacrifices the greater
to the less, and makes the things which
should have been for his wealth become
unto him an occasion of falling. Take
the lowest ground, and suppose that a
man toils beyond the limits of legiti
mate endurance, in order to amass a for
tune or raise the prospects of a family,
what is the frequent results ? He
units himself for the use and enjoy
ment of that fortune, or deprives his
family of that length of lifeor intercourse
which is needed to protect and influence
it. It is a great mistake to be busy over
much. There are jaded slaves who come
home with no reserve or love for, or
even interest in, those who are dear to
them. They are almost strangers in
their own houses. They hardly speak
to their own wives; they hardly see
their own children. Business is busi
ness, and has no right to encroach
upon the claims of affection. He is
worse than a slave who, not content
with working when lie ought to work,
robs his dependents of their share of
himself, by spending his whole energy
In labor, which leaves him none to bear
his part in the burdens of home. No
man is intended to be a mere income or
wages pump. He must win bread, but
he must win love too. He who gives
himself no time to play with his chil
dren injures them, as well as the man
who neglects to work for their support.
Edmund Barke's Idea of a Perfect Wife
She is handsome, but it is not a
beauty arising from features, from com•
plexion or shape. She has all three in
a high degree, but it is not by these she
touches the heart—it is all that sweet
ness of temper, benevolence, innocence
and sensibility which a face can express,
that forms her beauty. She has a face
that just arouses your attentfpn at first
sight; It grows upon you at every mo•
ment, and you wonder it did not more
than raise attention at first. Her eyes
have a mild light, but they awe when
she pleases, they command like a good
man out of ollice, not by authority, but
by virtue. Her stature is not tall; she
is not made to be the admiration of
every one, but the happiness of one.
She has the firmness that does not ex
elude delicacy—all of the softness that
does not imply weakness. Her voice is
soft, low music, not formed to rule in
public assemblies, but those who can
distinguish a company from a crowd; it
has its advantage, you must come close
to hear it. To describe her body, de•
scribes her mind—one is the transcript
of the other. Her understanding is not
shown in the variety of matter it ex
erts upon, but the goodness 'of the
choice she makes. Her politeness flows
rather from a natural disposition to
oblige than any rules on that subject,
and, therefore, never falls to strike those
who understand good breeding and
those who do not.
First Lore.
Ask a young lady what she thinks of
"first love," and she will tell you that
it Is the quintessence of all that is
ecstatic compared with which any so
called love that may come after It must
be the sky-blueskimmed milk to clotted
cream. Put the same to an enamored
young gentleman of eighteen, and he
will vow that It is the Cliquot cham
pagne of human existence to which all
subsequent emotions, dignified with the
name of love are mere Jersey cider. But
the nature of both sexes, In nine cases
out of ten, can tell a different story.
Boys and girls love is but a fain tshadow
of the intense passion which often over
comes and enthralls the middle-aged.
The capacity for loving is not fully de
veloped in the young miss who has just
cast aside her doll, nor in the youth
whose chin is but newly acquainted
with the razor. The enthusiasm in
these novices in the tender passion is
generally evanescent. Of course there
are exceptional cases, but as a general
rule, love does not take firm root in the
heart before the age of twenty-five.
Professions of undying devotion from
young men of nineteen and twenty are
not to be trusted. The question which
a lady who receives an offer of marriage
should consider is not merely whether
she lias won the affections of her ad
mirer, but alsowhether, if won,
ahe can
keep them. To have and to hold are
two, things.
The Colorado Rirer
The' Poufll Explotil!yr Expeditions—
1411g — r;e1;idlis7 Work
We made ,familiar acquaintance with
Prof. Powell's scientific exploring
.party, from Illinois, while in. the Mid
die Park. They were in camp there for
some time, and made it the end of their
summer and the beginning of their
winter campaign. Theparty comprises
a dozen or more enthusiastic young
men, interested in one department or
other of natural science, or eager for
border experiences, mostly from Illi
nois, and giving their time and labor to
the expedition for the sake of the edu
cation and the health. 'Prof. Powell,
the originator and head, does more; the
Government furnishes food, allowing it
to be drawn from the supplies of the
nearest post, and the Illinois Universi
ty and Natural History society contrib
ute small sums of money; but he draws
upon his I rivate purse for all deficien
cies, and these must be many thousands
of dollars before he gets through. The
summer has been spent among the
higher mountains and in the parks,
taking careful notes with barometer and
thermometer, collecting flowers, and
birds, and birds, and larger animals,
and studying tile rare geological phe
nonia of the country.
The collection of birds is very full and
valuable, and numbers over two hun
dred different specimens. Prof. Powell,
two or three of his assistants, and Mr.
Byers, of the Denver _Neu's, who knows
all these mountains better than any
other man, probably, have just accom
plished the ascent of Lung's Peak.
This is the prominent northeastern
mountain of the Coioradian series, is
seen from the railroad, and is 14,000 feet
high, and has heretofore defied all the
efforts of explorers and mountaineers
to reach its top. They had a terribly
hard climb of it, but felt amply repaid
in the glory of the fact, and more in the
glory of the landscape spread before
them at the summit. The plains and
the unending eastern plains, with Den
ver and the intervening settlements,
the whole of Middle Park, and the
surrounding and far-beyond mountains
—all Colorado, as it were, and part of
Dakota, lay beneath their eyes. Streams
flowed out from the mountains In all
directions, and no fewer than thirty
nine lakes on that and the neighboring
mountain sides, nearly all of and above
the altitude of 10,000 feet, were visible
from their commanding height.
From here the explorers will follow
down the Grand River, out of the park
into western Colorado, and then strike
across to the other and larger branch of
the great Colorado River, the Green,
and there encamp through the winter.
After leaving the Grand, they will fol
low down the White River branch of
the Green to its mouth, and probably
make that junction their winter quar
ters. This is in the Territory of Utah.
The great and final object of the expe
dition is to explore the upper Colorado
River and solve the mysteries of its
three hundred-mile canon. They will
probably undertake this next season,
by boats and rafts, from their winter
camp on the Green ; but they may post
pone the advance still another year, and
meantime discover and reveal the moun
tains and plains of Western Colorado
and eastern Utah, which are so little
known. But the mocking ignorance
and fast fascinating reports of the
course and country of the Colorado
ought to hasten them to this interest
ing field. The maps from Washington,
that put down only what is absolutely,
scientifically known, leave a great
blank space here of three hundred to
live hundred miles long and one hun
dred to two hundred miles broad. Is
any other nation so ignorant of itself?
All that we do know goes to show that,
beginning with the union of the Grand
and Green Rivers, the Colorado Is con
fined for three hundred miles within
perpendicular walls of rock averaging
three thousand feet high, up which no
one can climb, down which no one can
safely go, and between which, in the
river, rapids, and falls, and furious ed
dies render passage frightful, certainly
dangerous, possibly impossible.
The general conviction of the border
population is that whoever dares venture
into this canon will never come out
alive. But we have an authentic account
this season of a man who made the trip
last year, and lives to tell the tale. He
and a companion, prospecting for gold
in southwestern Colorado, and driven
by Indians, took to the Grand River
just before its union with Green, made
a raft, and committed themselves to the
waters. Foam-rapids and a whirlpool
swept the companion and all the pro•
visions of!, and they were lost, and
White, the surviving hero's name, pass
ed seven days more, a second seven days,
without food upon these strauge waters,
between frowning walls, over danger
ous rapids, through delaying eddies,
before he reached Callville, in Arizona,
the first settlement and the head of
navigation on the river. His entire
journey upon the river must have ex
ceeded five hundred miles, and he
represents that for most of the distance
it was through these traditional
high walls, impassable as a for
tress, a dungeon over a cataract.—
..Nearly all of the rivers of the Colorado
and Utah run for brief distances, from
one to twenty-five miles, through these
gorges of rocks, or they " canon," as, by
making a verb out of the Spanish noun,
the people of the country described the
streams as performing the feat of such
rocky passages, where their banks are
unapproachable, and trails or roads are
sent over or around; but this rock
guarded career of the great river of the
interior basin world, and oue of its most
' wonderful marvels. Its passage in well
protected boats by careful navigators
can scarcely be deemed impracticable,
however dangerous, and the country
willawait the Powell movementthrough
it with eager interest.
The whole field of observation and
inquiry which Professor Powell has un•
dertaken is more Interesting and im•
portant than any which lies before our
men of science. The wonder is that
they have neglected it so long. Here
are seen the central forces that formed
the continent; here more striking
studies In physical geography, geology,
and natural history than are proffered
anywhere else. New knowledge and
wide honors await those who catalogue
and define them. I can but think the
inquiry, vast and important as it Is, Is
fortunate 1n its inquirers. Professor
Powell is well educated, au enthusiast,
resolute, a gallant leader, as his other
title of major and an absent arm, won
and lost in the war, testify ; seemingly
well endowed physically and mentally
for the arduous work of both body and
brains that he has undertaken. He is
every way the soul, as he Is the purse,
of the expedition ; he leads the way In
all danger and difficulty, and his wife,
a true helpmeet, and the only woman
with the party, is the first to follow.
Giants or Olden Times
In one of his recent lectures, Profes
sor ;8111iman the younger, alluded to the
discovery of the skeleton of an enor
mous lizard, of eighty feet. From this
the Professor inferred, as no living
specimen of such magnitude has been
found, that the species which it repre
sents has become degenerated. The
verity of his position he endeavored to
enforce by tin allusion to the well known
existence of giants in olden times. The
following is the list on which this sin
gular hypothesis is based :
The giant exhibited at. Rouen in IMO,
the Professor says measured nearly
eighteen feet.
tioradius saw a girl that was ten feet
high.
The giant Culebra, brought from Ara
bia to Rome under Claudius Camr,was
ten feet high.
Fannum, who lived in the time of
Eugene 11., measured eleven ana shalt
feet.
The Chevalier Scmg, in his voyage to
the Peak of Teneriffe, found in one of
his caverns of that mountain, the head
of Gunich, who had sixty teeth and was
not less than fifteen feet high.
The giant Ferregus, slain by Orlando,
nephew of Charlemagne; was twenty
eight feet high.
In 1814, near St. German, was found
the tomb of the giant Isorant, who was
not less than thirty feet high.
In 1580, near Rouen, was found a
skeleton whose skull held a bushel of
corn, and who was nineteen feet high.
The giant Bacart was twentytwo feet
high; his thlgh•bones wore found in
1704, near the river Moderl.
Ih 1823, near the castle la Dauphine,
a tomb was found thirty feet long, six-
NUMBER 46
teen wide and eight high, on which was
out In gray stone these words, " Kin to
lochus Rex." The skeleton was found
entire, twentyflve and a quarter feet
long, ten feet across the shoulders, and
five feet from the breast bone to the
back.
Near Palermo, in Sicily, in 1516, was
found the skeleton of a giant thirty feet
high, and in 1550, another thirty-four
feet long.
Near Mazrine, in Sicily, in 1515, was
found the skeleton of a giant thirty feet
high ; the head was the size of a hogs
head, and each of his teeth weighed five
ounces.
We have no doubts that there were
"giants in those days," and the past
was perhaps snore prolific in producing
them than the present. But the history
of giants during the olden time was not
more remarkable than that of dwarfs,
several of whom were even smaller than
the Thumbs and Nutts of our own time.
A Countess, Knowing her Rights, Main
MERE
We have already noted the curious
performance of the lady in England
who claims to be the Countess of Der
wentwater, and has taken possession of
Dilaton Castle. The last mail brings
the second chapter of the story :
"On Thursday, Oetober I, Mr. C. G.
Grey, the receiver to the Greenwich
Hospital estates, proceeded to the castle
and urged the 'Countess' to quit, which
she obstinately refused to do. The room
which she had selected had been deco
rated with pictures, and a tarpaulin tent
had been erected to protect the 'Colin
tees' from the weather. Mr Grey's
orders from the Admiralty were, hew
ever, premptory, and the men under
his orders at once proceeded to demol
ish these preparations. The eccentric
claimant thereupon took up a sword
and 'showed fight,' but was speedily
disarmed. She then sat herself down
one chair, and, refusing to leave vol
untarily, was carried out, the chair and
all, by four men, in a manlier strongly
suggestive of the fifth of November.
Mr. Grey had kindly sent round his
carriage, with the intention of piaci tig
it at the disposal of the ' Countess,' an d
had even offered her the use of his own
house for rest and refreshment.
"Her ladyship, howeVer, declined to
accept any hospitality at the hands of
her aggressor, and determined to en
camp on the highway, where she re
mained during Thursday night, shelter
ed only by a piece of tarpaulin and a
military cloak, the goods that she had
placed close by, and watched over
by her servants. Provisions have since
been supplied to her from several houses
In the neighborhood, and many friends
from Blaydon have visited her, and
endeavored to persuade her to re
linquish her project, without suc
cess. The police have been etinal
ly unfortunate in their represen
tations that the placiLg of an encamp
ment on a public highway was a nui
sance. The Countess' readily admitted
the fact, but referred the officers to Mr.
Grey for a remedy. She had deeds In
her possesion, she said, which unmis
takably proved her right to be mistress
Of Dilstou Castle, and it was her inc
presslon that she must either be return
ed to the Castle or sent us a state pris
oner to the Tower of London; under
these circumstances she must decline to
submit to any dealings with the police.
On Friday night Sly again slept in the
open air, and on Saturday morning, as
far as the "obstruction" was concerned
she still remained mistress of the situ
ation."
Governor }Dotal:doer's Message to the
Legislature—A Defeated Had en I Arm
ing. the Negroes to Contest the Election
—Great Excitement and Alarm.
NASHVILLF; Nov. 10.—Governor Brown
low's message was read in the Senate to
day.
After congratulating the country upon
the election of Grant and Colfax, and the
bountfful harvests which have rewarded
the husbandmen, he recommends the nate
of six railroads now in the hands of the
receivers appointed by him, on behalf cf the
State, the proceeds to be applied to the re
duction of the State debt. Ile also recom
mends that no further aid be given to rail
roads, except to three which he mentions,
in which the State has large interests, which
it would lose If aid should be denied them.
He recommends that measures should he
adopted to wind up the Bank of Tennessee
forthwith.
In regard to the extension (tithe franehls ,
be suggests that there should be discrimi
nation exercised concerning those who were
in rebellion. They are not alike culpable
for the past, nor untrustworthy for the fu
tore. There are those who were involuntw
rily driven Into the service of the rebellion,
and who, since its utter fitilure, have given
evidence that they accept the reanit ut geed
faith ; that they are good citizens, quiet and
law abiding. These have strictly observed
their parole that they will not use political
power to proscribe and degrade those
whom war has emancipated and invested
with the rights of citizens. For dinfranchiset
persons of that desert pt ton the franchise
might safely, therefore wisely, be extended,
but the extension must, however be applied
with suitable guards and checks, so that ad
vantage could not be taken of its liberality
to injure or harm the State. 'rho other class,
who still remain hostile to the government,
he thinks, should remain disfranchised for
au indefinite period. lie also recommends
the increase of the salaries of the governor
and Judiciary, and makes sundry recom
mendations relative to the Insane iinspital,
etc.
MEMPHIS, Nov. 10.—A dispatch was re
ceived by lien. Granger, lust night, I rem It.
P. Price, Commissioner of ite g istrw too et
Mason's Depot, Tipton county, stating that
the greatest excitement existed there i u Con
sequence of a report that Gen. Smith, the
defeated candidate for Congress, Was coin
ing there with a large body of armed ne
groes to take depositions fur the purpose of
contesting the election of Leftwich, and
asking for troops to preserve order.
• This morning n dispatch was received
from Sheriff Slaughter, stating thut nbout
ono thousand armed negroes, principally
from Fayette County, hod arrived there.
The greatest apprehension was felt for the
safety of the whites, and many women and
children had left on the train, in cons,
nuence, since noon. It is impossible to
communicate by telegraph with that point,
and it is believed the operator hits Peen
driven away.
General Granger dispatched fifty men of
the Twenty-fifth infantry, under three offi
cers, by a special train to-night, for the
purpose of presovlng order,
Return of Admiral Farrammt
It was stated the other day that the frigate
Franklin, the nag-ship of the I tided States
European Squadron, with Admiral David
Farragut and family on hoard, arrived
at New York on Monday. The Tonr.itsays:
The voyage was made in sixteen days,
starting from Southampton, and was unin
terrnpted by any special event. Nearly all
on board enjoyed excellent health through
out the trip. Considering the extent 01 the
cruise of the Franklin, the attention which
has been bestowed on her officers by many
of the powers in Europe, and the significance
which has been attached to it, the voyage
ranks as the most remarkable in American
naval annals. The Franklin was fitted out
at the Brooklyn navy yard in the spring of
1887, and called during the following sum
mer. On arriving in England Admiral
Farragut and several of his officers were
officially presented to the queen. Solis,
tmently he proceeded to France, and woo
entertained at u public dinner by his coun
trymen resident at Paris, besides being re
ceived by the Etuper r or at a epecial levee.
Similar honors were also extended to him
by the sovereigns of Etniniu, Turkey, Italy,
Austria, Greece and in other places adjacent
to the Mediterranean, The Sultan of Turkey
recognized him as the equal of European
Princes by allowing hint to enter the Bos
phorus by the Durdanelles—it privilege
which has heretofore been denied to Ameri
can war vessels and their commanders. At
COnstautinsple he was feted by the Prime
Minister and the American Artilec.sador,
and he wait also welcomed by the Russian
neat and the Emperor with great ostenta
tion.
•
The Franklin Is screw frigate, firmerate,
carrying thirty-nine guns and nitent
men. Annexed Is u partial leo. of Ir•r
otll
cere:
Commodore Pennock remained with the
squadron transierlng his flag to the 'newt
deroga, and will command the fleet until
the arrival In Europe of Iteml ddwlrnl
David D. Phrter. Fleet Surgeon D. M.
Foltz. who has his family in Europe, at hie
own desire also stays out with the equudron
until the termination of lie cruise.
The Solar Eclipse Next Slimmer
On the 7th of August next it total ecl ipse
of the tom will be visible in a port of the
United States. 'rho eclipse will be partial
throughent the Union, but total in lowa,
Central Illinois, Southern Indiana, Ken
tucky and North Carolina,—following a
line front northwest, to southeast, begining
In lowa between four mid Live I'. M,, Rost
ending on the North Carolina coast a low
minutes past six. The rum will be nearly
at its greatest distance front the earth and
the moon at Its least, en Stettin, obscuration
will last a longer time titan usual. There
have been only two total eclipses visible in
any large part of the United States during
the present century—those of 1806 and 18,34.
Several annular eclipses have occurred, ono
of the most romarkablo of which was that
of 1838.
BATE OF ADVJOBTIAIXOr:
HEWN= ADVIRTDIXIMNTS, $l9 a year per
qaare of ten lines; 16 per year for each ad -
dttloneU square.
REAL EZELTE ADVERTISING, 10 cents. a lino for
the drat, and 5 cents for each subsequent In -
aertton.
(RN/MAL ADVERTISING 7 cents a Ilno for the
th-n I. end 4 coats for each saluotiuo'nt. In RCN
SPECIAL NOTICJM tanned in Local Column
15 coals por line. •
SPECIAL Norm= preceding marrlegq
and
deaths, 10 cents per line for tlrst Insti
acai
and 5 cents for ever, eubsequent insertior.
OAL ANDOTHRn NOTICES—
Executors' ...slices—.
Adminlstratora•
Assignees .....
Auditors' notices —..- -
Other "Notices,"ten lines, or lees,
three times 1.5 U
Strik Ina - Southern View of the Pt•ei,Ulen-
=MIDM
• The Richmond Whig of Tti• sdayl has it
lengthy article on the result of the Pre,i
dential election, in which, while it denies it
to be a free and unit wed expression. of the
popular will, and declares that it lino no
feeling on the subject, proceeds us follow,:
They, (the North) whether they know it
or not, have a Muster as well as we, (tor
h me is that he will be mild and werviroi to
Its poor tni•erable Mutters. All the huh. ss
know of him, or imagine we know, i , th—
rived (rout newspapers and currant
and is scarcely sußletent to Juatity un s p in
ion that is worth anything. '.l e Cnuuoi ,•-
s.?rt that he will cut the ltndirele, or give ii
fresh turn to the screw with which they tom
torturing the South, We know not whethet•
he will be a blood). Nero, or a mild aid
benignant Augustus; whether he Wilt Ins'
deep Auld broad the foundations of u
lame etupire, or restore this lust rigb:s
of the States, and re-establish
Constitution in Its origi n al vigor :old
lcirity. There are some inVorntilo t,cnc.s
flmis—our ignorance does not enable it, ti.
use a stronger Word—there are indict. I eat,
which may excuse this wronged and op
pressed for indulging hope. It he de, .1,
%totem! Butler says, indifferent to liiiiiido
suffering. he Itas never manifested, by a :
or word, so fur as we tiro an are, any
lire in torturing but s litmus. He has it ll
the indulgeueis ling 1101010
oily to otlterN, who morn loudly vaunt th e ir
humanity. lie ailed with manly heroism
mantling that parole of Cm.
told other Confeilertite °dicers should be ri -
liglice•ly respected. hits contillet on licit
oecasi , lit iiidniceS the holler thins, when in
po.ilion to control illy [natter. tic wall nri-I
iliat the spirit and intent sir that !aired.
shall licit Isis ceuliucd Its the hot
shall be extended to all thm peoptis sit the
Confederate SUites. No 111:111 known h.•lTcr
than he doss that liVileldt Lcu wuulit 11. r
have surrendered his MS, aril It . it hut Is
1111lierSUNKI thet the people whom he repo.
seated were to tie subjected to Ail 1..01
domination. General 14 rout's letter d..•
Mantling a surrender eXt.I titles the possi I
ty it auah an interpretation. That letter,
Wo second to I lenerld Lye, says:
"tt'ettcr,t(--Your note of htMl ertmhl:t,
reply to thine of KIIIIIOIIIIIe, caking condi
tions on which I trill lleCopt the Hurn•nder
or the Artily of Northern Virginia. ht itt , t
ret•ViVeli. In reply, I trout,' +ay that Iwo,•
ht•ing toy great th sno, there Is hut one clot
Winn) I would Insist upon—tunnel), that
the won and ollltterg toirrentlered shall lei
tlc-.lottlttled from t.iltlng up arittmagotrist the
government of the United Stater 1111 pr ~it
erly exchanged. I will meet you,"
II villct act:01,1111We ettlido
(Ion" %vet, the terms of surrender. Het,
I hey are:
.kI•PoNIATTOX. Uouicr 11
April 11th,
General—ln neconlune” with Iho sul
stAni,, of lily letter to you of the Silt insl ,
I propose to receive the surrender of the
Artily 01Northerb Virginia on the wli h
-111g terms, to wit : Rolls Of till the :1110010
and wen to he itade in duplicate; one eery
to be given to an officer to be designated
by Ito, the other In be retainetr'by sitelt
officer or officers los you they &Signeto.
The ellicers to give their intitvidual,paroles
not to take tip urine against the govern -
matt all. trolled Staten until properly
exchanged, and each company or ti,gimon
tid conoliandor to sign a like parole for the
oleo tit their commands.
•''rhe arms, artillery and pithily property
In be parked and stacked, and turned liver
to the officers appointed by ino 10 receive
It em. 'Phis will gal embrace the side-arias
ofo the officers nor their private horses or
baggage. This done, each officer and Mall
wit be alit/Well le return to iris hullle, nut In
be disturbed by United Stales antimony
long Its they (observe their paroles, and the
laws in lore() where they may reside.
" S. Cl RANT, Lielltellitla-iioneral.
" (kneral It. 1(7.. LEE."
Wu are not left to conjecture why thoso
liberal Corms were accorded. We urn not
certain that General drawl himself bits nol
nd milled that his object wan to ft , flloVoVel•ry
inducement to a guerilla warfare " Il is
friends have frequently confessed trait such
was his motive, and we copied MI art Ich.
last week from the Now York :Hum, mill,
ollect, and el prensly conceding that it WI I ,
It wise stroke of policy us well as It gra to
act of magnanimity. General (Irani kn 00,.,
that Meru never would havu been p.m,:
that Southern num, with urine hr thl
hands, never would have surrotalurial 111 , 111
on the condition that they were to exolciouo
position with their mittvoa. Quibbles,
be rained about a military capituintion e•lii -
bracing political rights, Se. But h•nem
Grant knows (befall intent and whole
of that capitulation, and he knows it would
never have been agreed to by the
ides on the tempi ul Itauical reconstrme
Wo appeal to his honor—which is more
corned in the !natter Ihnn ourn Is. 11. ,
ti , stilied to our faithful observitoc.
condition imposed ; he It lIONV in It 111.11.11
to exnrt a like compliance mi thoothersale.
That. we do tint pervert the rneatong nI
the capitulation, We auhloin the views .1
the French l'ourrler des I , :tant
editor, being a foreigner and unhorsed be
our dontentie Inationn, cony bo stipposed t.,
speak In the In:partial lout, if
IVo give let aeourate a trail:dation
can :
"'Vire charge of inconsistency and moe!
weakness is imputed to tieneral Cram,
befell on his acceptance oven of 1110 l'ri,•
dency at 011411111111 H Or HIP 10111114111.1111 party.
\\lint, in fact, it, the act by which the
or that. party it eMpel4llllly charactet izcti'
The despotic laws 1,1 roomoitrootiiiii, whirl
11111104410 011 1110 vanquished a tyratitocttt
yoke, which treat them us subjugated cm •
W 1111•11, four yearn after the end ta tilt
war, hold them still with foot upon thett
necks, in contempt or the very treaty signet,
at Appomattox Court I lease—witch treat,
ititito.ed no other conditions to a frill toot
,attire reconciliation than the laying down
arms by the Vanquished and tile disfstrstott
of their forties. Now, the signer ttl Ili:
treaty was 110 0111er thou tioneral (front
and It is the violation or his own nand ,
the setting at nought of hie own secret I 4.n
gagements, which Ire signs with 1/011111111141 ~
11 acquiescing in the suppression ot rtglo
conceded by him to the co-signers tti iit•
treaty or paelfient ion."
Celt. (]rant may have considered Ii
heretofore it 151,5 only his duly Mallard il.c
capitulation in its purely military Iteartint,
as he did when he protected (lea, 1,..•
against the loyal fury of Mr, Johnson; toot:
his role Is enlarged, nod the whole subj. ct
falls within his purview.
We conceive there Is no want of rot.pect
to (fen Grant In thus frankly 14.1q411,,11.,
our sense and that of all Con httlerittits as to
time responsibility resting on him us a sot
Bier and a gentleman, 11, this let:duff.
Ile lion only to recur to the sweep
log and comprehensive words of Ir.,
terms surrentler—"not to be disturbed
United Stales authority"--not merely !Ito
military, hut any authority rd the rioted
States; and to recall the motives who. 11
prompted him, to know what honor, to s. .\
nothing of stinple justice, demands Ili ii
hands. One crack of his whip would semi
but tk howling to their kennels all tiat cot
°f low degree. end give peace and prositt t
ity to the country.
•We have referred to Uenerul ()mare tea
many before the congremeionalenntnillteo,o). I
find our r.colleet lon cart eet. Has
" I I..Jneve that with ouch terme ail the.,
arm lox would norrentler, and that we woo .1
I lien avoid bus..whaeldng and It contlnt,i ‘,
of the war in n way that we could mule• v..
little progregn with. havAig no OrglitilZfol ot
mire tome. L."
Geo. Ctrastat aa papecela
A number of 1118 Republican friend,
headed by the Mayor, call, nn hon
Washington, on Tuesday, end ollered 1.,
get up a " demonstration " for hint. Gel..
Grunt responded as follows:
I am glad to Client you oil and to recei,..
your congratulations, but I hope you wi
quire ale any further denimintratton. I
live in thin city, and like to avoid dt•rnon
!orations hero an elsewhere, and with in,
consent there cannot ho any. lOMI/ I Wil‘ -
ready to moot suet] gentlemen as may ce
lit my office or !WINO ut ally time
public display or detrionetration. 'I b..
would be muck more agreeable to me, an
I hope it will be agreeable to you.
I um not unmindful of tlul feeling inlind
ed to be displayed by a public demoteora
Mon, and you must take all lids I•II
" granted." [Laughter.]
Removal of Cho National Cnplial
Ono ortlio edltoranr the Witalllngton
lately traveling In the Weat, WI lien !ruin
St. Louis LIA rOl/OWM :
" People out here have a nettled Coll ii•
lion that the sent of government will Ite re
moved here or hereabouts within the next
twenty paint. They nay that they will hate
It, not to give Importance to any part len le
oily Or locality, but as an emblem that the
neat of elnplre Is In the Missilxxippl valley.
'Pilo capital, they bold, will route to Ilielo
naturally and inevitahly In the emirs,. lir '1
few years. 'Pile East la not growing. the
West Is gaining power In Uongrean
through the rilfllllllloll or new Stales awl
new congressional districts. V. het) all Ile-,
vast prairies of the Hi-110,41am] are til led op
with the population they are carat-do ta'
supporting, the wealth and population od*
the country will be no preponderant here
that the Heat of government Will lita,,earlly
graVILIIO to tile point where it will be in
harmony with and au ( . 311.nont, or the nn
tlonal heart. This is the 'Western id ea , an d
It ix worth our while in Wilbhilllttlfil to pre
pare to meet it by making our 'lily so cosy
and agreeable no a pine., of residence ni I
resort that members will he unwilling to
let Ate it to seek quarters of doubtful health
(Moons on the bunks of the muddy
Wash ingi on, with her equable
climate and favorable situation, has tirst
class advantages for the permanent seat of
government. The work now to be dOno is
to bring the city up to the mark of equality
with its advantages of position. But the
subject is too prolific to be dealt with here.'
Daring the last two mouthe,alore than
twenty miles of new aidoW,afk *lre laid in
Chicago.
!!..W