tot** gttßo)trai
DELLEFONTE, PA.
Th Largeit,Cheapest and B*t Paper
PUBLISHED IN CKNTKK COUNTY.
VOCAL CULTURE.
The Opinions of Miiic. Marie Uosse.
I'RACTICAL SUGGESTIONS, BASED UPON EX
PERIENCE—HER INDEBTEDNESS TO AC
HER —SOME ADVICE TO YOUNU HE
DINNERS—THE DIFFERENT
SCHOOLS OF" SINOING —
ITALY NOT THE
ONLY PLACE.
From thi' Ronton Ui-raM.
"I know how hard it is," said Mine.
Roze in opening the conversation, "for
beginners to set about the hard task
they have undertaken in the right
way ; and I must first acknowledge
iuy indebtedness to the great Auber,
who was my first master, and to whose j
genius I owe everything, for it was
through his influence that I was ad
mitted to the Grand Conservatoire in
Paris, and after many years of hard,
patient and unremitting study I was
rewarded by obtaining the first prize
diploma and gold medal of the Con
servatoire, the highest honors to be
obtained. There is no subject on which
opinions are so divided and prejudices
so strong as the proper study to be
pursued tor the development and train
ing of the voice. I do not suppose
anything I may say will elucidate the
mystery of the art of singing, for
singing is unquestionably an art and
one of the most difficult to conquer.
Indeed, I doubt whether any one has
thoroughly mastered it. For my part
I find I have always something to
learn and something to study and no
prima donna has ever finished her
studies while before the public. I'atti,
Nilsson, Albani, and in fact all the
great artistes are constantly restudy
ing their roles, and scarcely a day
passes that they do not rehearse for
hours with some maestro of known
abilitv. Young beginners should first
of all bear in mind that the voice is
the most delicate of all instruments,
and consequently susceptible to all
kinds of influences, and should there
fore exercise the greatest care over
themselves.
"Nothing is so good for the voice as
absolute repose. Besides, it strength
ens their frame and enables them to
bear the fatigues of study. They will
have enough late hours when they be
come professionals, and then they will
value and understand the necessity of
rejiose. The duration of the singing
voice is comparatively short, and the
prima donna of the present day has to
combine the arts of the musician with
the dramatic powers of the actress."
"What, Mine. Roze, is your advice
to beginners as regards teachers ?"
"Teacher*, that is to say good ones
are extremely rare and (the good ones)
may be counted on your fingers. Be
ginners should distrust at once any
one who holds out an easy road to
acquiring the art of singing, and the
teacher who tells you he can instruct
a pupil to do without trouble the art
that costs great artistes the study of a
life time proclaims himself a charla
tan."
"What is the best school of sing
ing?" was the next query put.
"There are three schools of singing.
First, the Italian; second, the French ;
third, the German, and in England
they claim an English school,although
I could never discover of what its
method consisted; the English Han
del traditions, of which they are so
proud, being nothing more or less than
the Italian school established by the
first great oratorio singers in England,
nearly all of whom were foreigners.
For my part I consider there is but
one school of singing in the world, and
that, I need hardly say, is the Italian.
Now, as regards teachers, let me at
once correct a very prevalent error—
that which induces people to suppose
that great siugers must of a necessity
be great teachers. Some singers of
reputation, such as Viardot, in Paris ;
Marchesi. in Vienna, nud Rudcrshorfr,
have justly made their mark as teach
ers, but they are the exceptions, not
the rule."
THE REST PLACE TO STUDY.
"Where is the best place to study,
madame ?"
"The best place is where one can
find the best masters. It is a great
mistake to suppose a beginner can
only succeed by going to Italy. Alas 1
hundreds of talented American girls
have found out to their cost that Italy,
once the centre of art and music, is
now thoroughly demoralizer!. All their
composers and teachers have died out,
with the exception of Verdi, and even
he, finding 110 longer inspiration from
his native land, has become a convert
to tho great school of Wagner, as
shown in Verdi's recent compositions.
Young girls going, for instance, to
Milan are invariably imposed upon
and swindled by a lot of charlatans,
who mislead and misguide them, often
to their ruin. Hucli as have rich
friends appear in the small Italian
theatres, but they have to pay for this
privilege, and the claque and the press
demand sums of money too. In this
way the debutante is led to believe she
has succeeded through talent, when it
is only through money, and, when her
funds are exhausted,' she realizes the
sad fact that she has been cheated and
deceived. My advice to Americans
is, establish in America a national
men like Theodore
Thomas and Curl Zerrahu at tho head
ot it. liCt them select the best teach
ers Europe has, and import thena here,
in precisely the same way that foreign
operatic artistes are brought over.
\oung girls could then study in
America at a comparatively small cost,
uuder tho care of their parents, fami
lies or friends, instead of going to
Italy to he dtduded. As a proof of
the statement that Italy has of late
years produced no great singers, I may
state that Patti, Gerster, Albnni, Nils
son, Lucca, Titiens, are not Italians,
and have never studied in Italy, hut
simply studied tho Italian school in
the place where they were born. In
deed, none of these artistes had the
means of going to Italy, so that money
or rich friends are not a 'sine qua non'
to artistic success, hut often a positive
detriment. It is really surprising the
umouut of time and money there is
wasted by beginners who want to sing,
iu consequence of their not going to
some competent person capable of ad
vising them what to do. Because a
teacher happens to he a musician, they
suppose he must of a necessity know
how to teach singing. There never
was a greater mistake. Students of
the voice should be as careful about
their singing master as they ought to
he about selecting a doctor for the
voice, which, to a prima donna, is her
life, which depends upon the wisdom of
this choice."
ADVICE TO BEGINNERS.
"What can you tell me about the
best methods as regards the practice in
vocal culture?"
"Well first of all, it is of the great
est importance to bear in mind that
no two voices are precisely the same.
Some singers have quality, while oth
ers possess quantity of voice, and for
each a separate and distinct treatment
is necessary. The proper training of
large and small voices is equally diffi
cult, as the possessor of the former is
apt to think power is right, while the
latter is likely to force the voice sim
ply to make it appear large.
"Hence the necessity of a competent
teacher, who will, by judicious advice
and training and carefully selected ex
ercises for the pupil, remove the many
obstacles in the beginner's way. Small
voices may be trained to travel as well
as large ones. Delicacy of expression
and 'savolr faire' in singing will al
ways win the approbation of an intel
ligent audience. Let 111 c also add that
the way to obtain quality of voice is
to constantly practice 'mezzo voce' and
?is constantly think of what you are
doing when you are practicing. Above
all, the students should thoroughly
study everything they propose to sing.
I have heard young ladies say they
knew twenty operas by heart, yet w hen
I called upon them to sing an air from
any one, 1 discovered they knew not
one perfectly. For practicing the
best book published is 'Vocalises l'au
ofka,' published by Brandus A Co., of
; Paris, which can be obtained for £•">;
| it is for soprano and mezzo-soprano or
■ contralto. The best means of ini
! proving and strengthening the voice
j is by constantly practicing it —never,
j however, for more than half an hour
|at a time. The voice of the beginner
! is delicate and should not he submit
ted to any harsh or fatiguing process.
! "Auber, my master, would only let
me practice for fifteen minutes when I
I first began to study, but then I was
; only fifteen years of age. While tak
j ing my lessons he always made me
j sing with a looking glass iu front of
1 my mouth, so that I might learn to
I control the expression of mr face
1 while singing, for he said, "Marie il
| faut etre jolie quand tu chantes" (it is
1 necessary to he pretty when thou sing
est). The beginner lias a tendency to
make grimaces, or look too severe or
serious, and in some instances, as while
singing love passages, their looks in
dicate horror rather than tenderness.
; All practice should he done standing,
J and young ladies should beware of
1 tight lacing, as by this habit they pre
vent the free action of the lungs, and
consequently retard the development
of the voice. It is a good plan to
hold a piece of music in your hands
while singing. This position is calcu
lated to give the hands and arms not
only a graceful position, hut also free
dom to the body, which is most essen
tial.
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
"One of the first principles of sing
ing is to have the throat open, the
tongue down, with its root well de
pressed, and w hen approaching a piano
passage keep the throat as open as for
forte passages, leaving the mouth and
lips to modulate the tone. Beginners
should guard against the awkward
habit they invariably have of pushing
out their chins, which gives a throaty
tone to the voice. An excellent prac
tice may be had by practicing all ex
ercises in three graduations, which are
the fundamental principles of the
Italian school namely forte, mezza
voce and piano. The next tiling to
be studied is correct intonation and
singing in tune, which is of vital im
portance. In studying songs, always
pay attention to light and shade and
remember to take your breath at regu
lar intervals and adhere to them.
When you have mastered the song, in
cluding not only the melody but the
words, then add the meaning and
shades of expression and sing the piece
without the music before a looking
glass, carefully observing the position
of your body and the expression of
your features meanwhile. A
mistake made by many singers is in
making their appearance in public be
fore tney have sufficiently advanced
in their studies to justify such an im
portant step. This is an error which
may prove fatal and ruin what might,
with proper study, have been a bril
liant career. Another error made
nowadays is that young ludies want to
make their first appearance on any
stage in the principal role of opera
without any previous experience. All
the successful prima donnas of the
day have, at the beginning of their
career, been content to commence with
minor roles and honestly earn their
laurels. In singing, as in lighting,
discretion is decidedly the better part
of valor, and an appearance in public
had far better be deferred for years
than a future ruined by an immature
debut. When a singer has once ap
peared iu public she should make a
point of watching her audience, so as
to see what effect her singing is pro
ducing. If the audience appears in
different or restless, depend upon it
something is wrong, in which case it
will be advisable to make other selec
tions in future or to change your man
ner and sty veil your costume (I
have known a bright green silk cos
tume of homely make militate against
a singer's success); in short, use every
efibrt in your power to obtain the fa
vor and good will of your audiences.
I have frequently heard people declare
that they were never nervous when
appearing in public. Real artists are,
however, I find, always more or less
nervous when first singing on the stage
—nervous from anxiety to please the
public and a desire to deserve public
estimation. By nervousness I do not
wish to imply fear, but nervousness
that means energy and courage, which
will make you exert yourself to the
! utmost.
"In conclusion, let mo warn young
ladies again.-t naming their voices
themselves or letting any incompetent
person do it for them, as by so doing
they may break and ruin it. Take
for instance a young girl who has a
high voice. She naturally calls her
self a soprano, and imagines the whole
range of opera is within her reach.
As a result, she may practice falsely,
and study and sing the wrong kind of
music, and, as a consequence, she may
irreparably ruin a promising voice.
The character of a voice cannot be
determined by its range, but by the
quality and flexibility of its timbre.
For instance, I beard two young ladies
in I'aris recently who imagined they
; hud the same voices, ranging from A
to A (two octaves); nevertheless, I
j found one was a light soprano, while
I the other, who imagined herself a .Jen
j ny Lind, proved to be a contralto,
j Therefore, let young aspirants remem
ber that compass has nothing what
ever to do with tlie description of the
voice, which must be named and used
I with reference to its quality, volume
, and timbre, and not by the number of
! notes, as is erroneously and generally
understood by beginners. Then, again
! voices must be classified according to
■ their power, as the Italian school
does them, into two classes, a 'voce di
I camera' and a 'voce di teatro.' "
j
At.NES HKHNAITIf.
I lie I nliappy Victim nf a Moriranie
Marriinre.
Agnes Bernnuer's romantic union
j and cruel death have embalmed her
memory, and she still lives in song
j and story. She was the beautiful and
i amiable daughter of a poor citizen of
| Augsburg, in the fifteenth century.
I I fake Albrecht,sole son of the reigning
i Duke Ernst, saw her at a tournament
given in his honor by the nobles of
Bavaria, and irrecoverably lost bis
In-art to the (harming inaid. Al
| brecht, young, handsome, brave and
I very proud, made her acquaintance
and wooed her passionately. She lov
-1 ed him in return, though she was too
j pure and prudent to listen to bis suit
I until be bad promised to make Iter
bis wife. He kept bis promise. They
were secretly wedded, and went for
their honeymoon to tho Castle of Vohs
burg, inherited by the young Duke
from his mother. His father, know
ing nothing of the romantic alliance,
proposed that his son should marry
Anna, daughter of Erich, Duke of
Brunswick, to which the young man,
very naturally, under the circum
stances, would not listen. His stiili
liorn opposition opened the father's
eyes to the misalliance, and he resolv
ed to undo it. Ernst accordingly con
trived that Albrecht should be ex
cluded from a tournament he was very
anxious to take part in at Regensburg,
on account of his living, as was alleged,
in concubinage, contrary to the rules
of chivalry. Albrecht then swore that
Agnes was bis lawful wife; but his
oath was not accepted; he was still
debarred from entering the lists. He
gave his wife a sumptuous retinue;
placed her in the Castle of Straubing,
and caused her to be honored like a
Princess. But she, with a sad fore
boding, prepared an oratory and a
tomb in a Carmelite convent of the
town. During the life of Albrecht's
uncle, Duke William Ernst made no
further effort to interfere with the
lovers, for he stood iu awe of his
brother, who was deeply attached to
his gallant nephew. But William
having died, the anger of the father
broke out afresh and in the absence
of his son caused Agnes' arrest and
trial for sorcery, and its exercises on
her lord. The trial wna, of course, a
farce. She was quickly condemned to
be drowned in the Danube. She was
thrown into the river in the presence
of the populace, and floated by the
current toward the shore. One of the
executioners twined a long pole in her
golden hair and held her under the
water until she was dead. Maddened
at the atrocity, Albrecht, combined
with the enemies of bis father, made
war upon him uitd laid waste the
country. Ernst sued in vain for par
don, but at last Emperor Higismund
interfered and placated bis righteous
wrath. The young Duke afterwards
married Anna of Brunswick, but nev
er ceased to worship the very name of
the poor Agnes, lie raised a beauti
ful monument, as bis father bad raised
a chapel, to her memory, and often
visited it to weep and pray.
1)0 WE EAT TOO MI C H .'
A SUGGESTION THAT MOST I'EOI'I.E CONSUME
MOKE KOOI) THAN TIIEV NEED.
Frnm tho IAOIKIOII B|E< tutor.
Nothing consumes the general wealth
of the world like the feeding of its
populations, and it is by no means yet
completely settled that the majority of
men, once above the imperative re
strictions of poverty, do not eat a good
deal too much. An idea has been
very generally spread that it is healthy
to eat often, till certaiu classes, more
especially servants, eat five times a
day ; and the end of the medical
aphorism, that those who eat often
should eat little, is very often forgot
ten. The Lancet of September 4, in a
curiously cautious article, hints that
tho modern world cats too much iu
positive bulk of food—a statement cer
tainly true of great bread-eaters, a
distinct and well-marked type —and
thinks the modern regularity of meals
lias induced us to regard appetite as
the guide rather than hunger, which
is the true one. Regularity of meals
develo|ies appetite, not hunger. We
rather question the previous proposi
tion, us a very hungry man is apt to
eat too much, but we believe that the
extension of wealth and the extreme
public ignorance ujwin the subject tend
to foster a habit of taking too mauy
meals. .Men and women cat three in
ten hours and a-hulf-—brcakfu.-t at 1)
A. M., lunch at 1 .■'!<) p. M. and dinner
at 7.d0 f. M. —a division of the twenty
four hours of tiie day which can
hardly be healthy. It leaves thirteen
hours and a-half without food, while
in the remaining ten and a-half there
are three meals. It would be better,
we imagine, for sedentary men to re
duce theirs to two, taken at considera
ble intervals ; or if thut is too Worry
' ing, to confine the intercalary meal
to the merest mouthful, taken with
out sitting down and with no pro
vision to tempt the appetite.
Lunch for those who work with the
brain is the destruction of laborious
ness and for those who work with the
hands is the least useful of the meals.
It is verv doubtful whether the pow
erfully iniilt races of I'pjx'r India,
who eat only twice a day—at Ift A. M.
and Ift r. M. —are not in the right,
exactly equalizing, as thev do, the
periods of abstinence, though is is dif
ficult to decide from the example of
hereditary teetotal vegetarians, the
; hulk ot whose food is out of all pro
; portion to its nourishment. The great
I evil to lie removed is, however, not so
j much the midday meal as the profound
| ignorance, even of educated men, as
to the quantity ot food indi|H>nsahle to
health and the quantity most lieneli
eial to it. <)n the first subject most
men know nothing or at best only the
amount of a convict's ration, which is
fixed nt the standard found most con
ducive to severe lalxir in confinement
and is no rule for on I nary mankind.
Cannot the doctors tell us some handy
tule of thumb about this? They have
told us that the Ixnicficial quantity of
alcohol is the equivalent of a pint of
ordinary claret a day, but what is the
beneficial quantity of food? It must
differ according to diet, physique and
occupation, but still there must be
some formula which will convey iu
intelligible fashion the average maxi
mum required by men of different
weights. We believe most men would
be surprised to find how very low it is
and how very much they exceed it,
especially in the consumption of meat.
Vegetarianism, which some among us
exalt ns a panacea, has boon tried for
thousands of years, by millions of
people, and has, on the whole, failed,
the llcsh-eating peoples out-fighting,
out-working and out-thinking the eat
ers of vegetables only; but between
vegetarianism and the flesh-eating
habit* of well-to-do Englishmen, there
is a wide distance. Mr. Banting, too,
wrote wild exaggerations, but the way
in which Englishmen of reasonable
intellectual capacities will swallow
crumbs of bread, ofter not half-baked,
by the pound at a time, would account
even for severer melancholy than that
under which they labor. We want an
intelligible rule, to bo obeyed or diso
beyed, but to lie remembered.
The Mind.
There is no sculptor like the mind.
There is nothing that so refines, polish
es and ennobles the face and mien as
the constant presence of great thoughts.
The man who lives in the region of
ideas, moonbeams though they be, be
comes idealized. There are no arts,
no gymnastics, no cosmetics which can
contribute a tithe so much to the dig
nity, the strength, the ennobling of a
man's looks as a great purpose, a high
determination, a noble principle and
unquenchable enthusiasm. But more
powerful still than any of these as a
beautifier of the person is the over
mastering purpose and pervading dis
position of kindness in the heart.
THE FIERY Al'I'LE JAI K.
HOW THE HEVEKAGE lit MADE, AND WHAT
IK DONE WITH IT.
A letter to the New York Warhl
from Middletown, New York, says :
The distilling of upple whisky in u
simple process. The apple* are ground
by horse power. The mill and force
being elevated above the vat*, the
juice ruDH fiom the pumace through
conduits iuto the vat*. There no
jiuinpiiig is required. The cider is
left in the vat* until it reucbes a cer
tain stage of fermentation, which in
called "getting ripe." It requires
great skill in the distiller to know just
when this critical moment arrives.
Delay in removing the alcohol by dis
tillation when the cider is rijie is" fatal
to the yield of apple-jack, and the
distiller has only a stock of vinegar
ou hand as the result. The "still" is
a large copper kettle, air-tight, sur
mounted by a coil of pipe that pusses
through a tank of cold water, Be
neath the kettle a slow lire is kept
going, so that an even temperature is
maintained. From the vats the cider
is let into the kettle, where the steady
heat converts it into vapor. This
passes through the cold coil of pipe
above, which coudenses it and it is dis
charged into receptacles, the pure
apple-jack. It is ni'tch above proof,
however, ami defies even the iron-clad
stomach of the Orange county granger.
From the cider which casts off this
fiery compound still other yields are
obtained, simply by increasing the
lieut beneath the copper kettle. When
apple-jack comes from the still it is
white. It is reduced to the proper
strength, and is unfit for use until it
is a year old. Kveu then it biteth so
like the serpent that only the toughest
drinkers can tarry long with it. It
improves with age, and after a few
vears tukes on a pale yellow hue.
There are tricks known to the distiller
and dealer by which the apjiearance of
old apple-jack is given to new, and
the profit on its sale greatly increased.
Dried peaches, burned to a crisp and
added to the liquor, even though it be
just from the stili, will give it this
golden glow of years. Sugar skill
fully burned will have the same effect.
But there is nothing that will take the
sting out of the beverage but genuine
age.
Apple whisky is worth $1.50 at the
j still on an average. As the liquor in-
I creases in age it shrinks largely ami
| becomes more precious every year,
j At its last the liquor brings from ?■!
|to jM> a gallon, although there are
, hundreds of gallons now stored iu
farmers' cellars throughout Orange
J couu.y that will readily fetch SI" a
I gallon. Apple-jack is the favorite
j tipple in Orange and Sussex counties
ami the natives look with surprise at
; the stranger who savs he doc* not like
the beverage. A peculiarity of the
whisky is its facility of making its
way at once to the bead of the novice
. that tani|K?rs with it and the reluct
, ance with which it takes its leave.
\ A half-gill of apple-jack will climb to
! the head of a man thai isn't used to
it iu less than ten seconds. His face
gets red and feels as if it was sun
burned. When he shuts bis eyes lie
sees I'M) torchlight processions charg
i ing at him ten abreast. He may
sleep all night and all day, but when
he wakes up he will tiud himself
drunker than when he laid down. For
three days his head will buzz as if a
swarm of bees had been hived in it,
and be will be ready to swear that no
state but the one that produced a
Kol>eson and n Kilpatrick could possi
bly have beeu capable of discovering
apple-jack. Act Orange county gets
awny with a good many thousand gal
lons of it every year ami nobody seems
to be the worse for it.
A Military Tribute to Hancock.
From tli* Army ami Navy jourbal.
We congratulate the army that the
choice of one of its illustrious officers
by a great ixditical party as standard
bearer in the Presidential contest has
sbeil increased lustre on the service.
In a fierce, bitter and relentless strug
gle—the air dark with the shafts of
calumny—no poisoned arrow has trans
fixed (ten. Hancock; none has even
been aimed at his shiuing personal
character. We believe the annals of
National contests may be searched in
vain for n more striking example of
personal character, untouched by the
venom of political opposition. (Jen.
Hancock went into the canvass pan
oplied with a record of personal recti
tude that left not a joint open to jxnie
tration. He has come out from it
with the proud consciousness of integ
rity tested under the severest scrutiny
—weighed in the balance and not
found wanting.
An old California prospector, of
this citv, is of the opinion that the
North Pole is a solid mass of gold.
He says it cannot be otherwise, for the
reason that all gold bearing truefisure
veins in all parts of the world run in
the direction of the North pole, just
like the parallel of longitude, and
that like all these, all the gold veins
must come together at the Pole and
end in a great golden knob.
— — -
A MAN will wait to get shaved iu a
barber shop an hour with perfect
tranquility; but the same man will
come homo to dinner, and if he finds
the meal five or ten minutes late he
will tear round like a Bashan bull.
Time is money, and many people
pay their debu wi£
The llullroml Company ami rii*icnccr.
►fin !Jr|* r' Mflftaitiriu.
Into tlx: question HO abundantly >Ji •
cussed of late in the public print* and
periodicals), ami now even in political
caucusc* and convention*, concerning
the mutual right* and obligation* of
the railroad companies) and the public,
wc shall not enter. Vet it may eon
tribute something to a hetu-r under
standing, ami HO indirectly to a solution
of the problem, to have a clear idea
of what a railroad corporation i-, what
arc the hazard*, what the toil-, what the
duties, difficulties), and danger*, of thoM
who are connected with, ami who have
done ino*t to create, develop, ami carry
on, these great highway* of the pre-ent
century, the arterie* which supply the
whole body politic with it* vital circu
lation —trade ami commerce.
The traveler going Went atep* to the
ticket office of' the I'enu*ylvania, tin-
Erie, or the New York (x-ntral Kail
road. He purchase* hi* ticket for San
Franci*co. He give* hi* trunk to a
Imggage-niaster,get* for it a little piece
of metal, ami we* and care* for it no
more. A jmrter show* him hi* place
in the Pullman ear. He take* hi*
seat, pull* off hi* boot*, put* on his
slipper*, ojien* hi* bag, take* out hi*
book or magazine, and his traveling
care* are at an end. For six day* ami
night* he i* rolled swiftly across the
continent. Engineers ami conductor*
change. He i- passed ulong from one
railroad corporation to another, At
night his seat becomes a bed, and he
sleep* a* quietly, or nearly so, as if in
hi* own bed at home, lie traverses
broad plains, passe* over immense
viaduct*, whirl* swiftly over mountain
torrent* on iron bridges, climbs or
pierces mountains; hut he never leaves
his parlor; if need be, hi* meal* are
brought to him where he sit* ; and at
length, after a week of luxurious though
weary traveling, in which be has bc-n
in the keeping of half a dozen differ
ent companies, and has traversed over
three thousand miles of country, part
of it uninhabited and desolate, he i*
! set down in the station-room at San
I- rancisco. He looks at the eloc-k in the
station room, compare* it with the
time-table in hi* hand, and find* that
hi* journey ha* been accomplished
with all the regularity ami punctuality
of the sun. Hi* little piece of bras*
is given to an e.;pre*s agent or a haek
man, and when he reaches hi* hotel,
■ the trunk which lie surrendered in
New York i- in the great hall await
; ing him. It seem* a very simple busi-
I iio>* ; ami if perchance through all
this journey he finds the dinner at one
waiting place cold, or the conductor
on otic part of hi* trip discourteous, or
the train stopped at any point in the
long ride beyond his expectations, or
hi* arrival at hi* destination delayed
beyond t' e appointed hour, lie is very
apt to grumble, inwa-dly if uot vo
cally. How much money ha* been
put into this long line of rail ; how
much ha* been sunk in unsuccessful
experiment*; how many rich men
have been ruined before the work was
done; how many sleepless nights sur
veyors and contractors have spent in
providing this marvelous highway :
how intricate and involves! is the svs
teni of copartnership that is necessary
to such a continuous transportation
"without change of cars;" what a gi
gantic undertaking it is to administer
this system, with its thousands of em
ployes ; how wide-awake the engineers
have fieeti that the traveler may sleep ;
what danger they have had to face
that he may ride in safety—of all this
he is unconscious, if not absolutely
ignorant.
The Erie Railway, one of the long
est lines of railroad in the world, em
ploys fifteen thousand jicrsous in vn
rious occupations. It is estimated
that there is scarcely an hour of the
day or night when there are not one
hundred trains in actual running along
its line. The administration of such
a force of men, the management of
such a system of railroad trains, with
out clashing or collision, requires ex
ecutive ability of the highest order.
If, sir. you think it easy, count up the
difficulties you have with your own
Irish gardener in the administration of
your country place, with its horse ami
cow ; then multiply those difficulties
by fifteen thousand, and you have the
problem of an American railroad
president.
IF thou art rich, then show the
greatness of thy fortune, or, what is
better the greatness of thy soul, in the
meekness of thy conversation ; con
descend to men of low estate, support
the distressed, and patronise the neg
lected. Be great.
"CAN I give my son a college edu
cation at home?" asks a fond parent.
Certainly. All you want is a base
hall guide, a raoiug shell and a pack
age of cigarettes.
Two Quaker girls were ironing on
the same table. One asked the other
which she would take—the right or
left. She answered promptly: "It will
be right for me to take the" lea, and
then it will be left for tbee to take
the right."
\ou meet in this world with false
nnrth as often as false gravity; the
grinning hypocrite fa not a more un
common character than the groaninir
one. h
MANY a young ladv marries a rich
man but finds soon after that he is a
very poor husband.