3SE DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TO W AND A.:
yatuviiaii filormnn. September 8, 1855.
Stlftteb Ipoefrn.
VILLKINS AND HIS DINAH.
[The following ballad engrosses popular attention in the
theatres of the cities just uow.]
Tis of a rich merchant who in London did dwell;
lie had but one daughter, an unkomnxon nice young gall;
Her name it was Dinah, scarce sixteen years old.
With a wery, wery large fortune in silver and gold.
Chorus, as sung honly by myself.
Singing To la toll la lull ri tol la ri la fol li 101 l ri 10l
Ii lull toll la ri 101 l fol la la 10l lal lull la ra.
Dinah vas valking in the garden one day, (this was the
front garden.)
Her imppa he came to her, and thus he did say :
.. yourself. Dinah, in gorgeous array,
And take yourself a husband both gallant and gay!"
Chorus on behalf of the proposed marriage.
Singing tol la 101, &c.
•• oh nappa, oh pappa, I've not made up my mind,
And to marry just yet, why I don't fee! inclined ;
To von mv large fortune I'll gladly give o'er
U vrni'll let me live --ingle a year or two more."
Chorus on behalf of the disobedient daughter,
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
" (Jo. go, boldest daughter," the parent replied ;
If you won't consent to be this young man's bride,
I'll give vour large fortune to the nearest of kin,
And yon shan't reap the benefit of one single pin."
Chorus on behalf of the enraged parent,
Singing tol la 101, &c.
A. Villkins vas v,-Iking the garden around, (this was the
back garden,)
He spied his dear Dinah lying dead on the ground.
With a cup of cold pison laying down by her side.
And a billet-dux a stating 'twas by pison she died.
Chorus on behalf of the working of the arsenic.
Singing tol la 101, ike.
He kis-ed Ler cold corpus a thousand times o'er.
And calhd IST bis Dinah, though .-he was no more ;
Then swallowed the bottle and sung a short stave,
Aud Viiik'ixs and his Dinah lie both in one grave.
Cii'.ru- on behalf of the undertaker who made the >
double cofiiu with the partition iu between fur !
Villkins aud his Dinah.
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
MORAL NO. 1.
Now .ill you young maidens, take warning by her.
Never, not by no means, disobey your guv'nor ;
And all you young fellows, mind who you claps eyes on, '
Think of Villkins and Dinah and the cup of cold pison. j
Cliorua to Moral No. I,
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
EXTRA WERSES.
That night about twelve, near a tall popular tree.
The trh'.-x of Diuaii the stern parient did see,
Ann in arm with her Villkins, they both looking blue,
And sang.we wouldn't been pisoned if it hadn't been for you
Chorus on behalf of the frightened and weak uerves
of the parient,
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
.Vow the parient was struck with the horror of home,
So he packed up his portmanteau, the w ide world to r -an;
But as he was starting he was took with a shiver,
Which shook him to pieces forever aud ever.
Chorus on behalf of the gathering of the parient
together,
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
MORAL NO. 2.
Now this i- the moral, No 1 i- not reckoned;
This ia the right moral, although it comes second ;
You may learn from.my story, which is true every word,
All this would not have happened if it Luid not occurred.
Chorus to Moral No. 2, compressed in the most
power fid manner,
Singing tol la 101, Ac.
[For the Bradf- rd Re-- Tt-er.]
THE OFFICE OF COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT
HOW IT WORKS.
The law which makes one man the inspec
tor of all the teachers of the County, ojxerates
very unequally, and upon some districts very
unjustly. There are about forty districts in
the county, and it therefore requires forty days
to pass among them all and inspect their teach
ers ; and while this may enable some to com
mence their schools at the proper season, oth
ers are compelled to commence at a very im
proper season. There is a time when the schools
should commence, and that time is quite uni
form throughout the comity. Sliould the Su
perintendent begin his spring tour of examina
tion as early as April, some schools may be
commenced at that time ; but as his tour re
quires soruc forty days, the commencement of
"thers must necessarily lie delayed till nearly
•'one, ami some even till the next year. This
grows legitimately out of the one man saperin
tendency. These evils we have already expe
rienced, and we must continue to experience
ilicm so long as the system continues.
Hie county superintendent is required to
V ;, 't personally all the schools in his district
*liilc in session. This may be regarded as the
'nwst ini|ortant duty connected with the office.
Hear what the State Superiuteddent says :
..j J' ie Personal visitation of each wbool in the County
'n M ;**ion, i- an indiapcasible duty which cannot be
tfip i M ''limit nullifying pro lanto the requirements of
an 'l incurring the disapproval of the Department,
t'r' | rillp pupils of neighltoring schools,with the teach
t l'urents, Ac., into one meeting, and by le< -
an', ether exercises, kindling an educational spirit
the""*' I k ?PK i* useful and highly commendable ; but
, l'** ''"'"■etdiujf.s, while valuable as auxiliary influences,
tail' ii-i"l' w, ' r as substitutes for school visitations in de
tj, ' , ! ">"t the latter, how are the skill and qualifira
'•irrei ~ " ' lPr * be fully tested, defects discovered and
aUl ' definite improvements in instruction, school
-ii. :it al ".' school houses suggested ; and how is the
j- r, i',k"'! erv '"'" n the schools, which is one great ob
'aw, to be accomplished ?"
would seem that the personal visitation
S, 'l'ools by the county superintendent,
"• a minute examination of the manner of
e ''"lucting them, &c., is regarded as the prin
'ln< a 'i.sby which reforms aud improvements
' ,p introduced into them. There are
K "U three hundred and fifty schools in the
count y Ti *
j- nicy are kept open two terms each
usually by two sets of teachers.—
equivalent, therefore, to seven hun
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
dred schools. These schools are taught but
five months per year, which, at twenty-four
days to the month, gives 120 days that the
public schools of the county are in operation.
120 day,., then, are all that are allowed t for
visiting 700 schools, which is at the rate of
about six a day, or one an hour during
school hours. If we were given to betting, we
would wager Mr. GUYEK that that he can't
ride old gray by the school houses in the coun
ty at that rate, without so much as peeping
iuto one of them. No school can be visited,
we think, to any profit, short of the six hours
it is in session. Nothing like a proper knowl
edge of the teacher's skill, his mode and suc
cess in teaching and governing his school can
be obtained In less time ; neither can the Su
perintendent do much byway of " detecting
and correcting his defects, suggesting definite
improvements in instruction and school govern
ment, Ac., &c.," in a visit of shorter duration.
What then, I would ask, can be accomplished
by visiting six schools per day? Just what I
has already been accomplished— nothing!
Visiting the schools, then, according to the
requirements of the law, must be regarded as
an impracticability. Mr. GCYER seems to have
come to the same conclusion, for he has not
attempted as yet a general visitation of the
schools of the county. He says, however, in
his late circular of defence, which is being
thrust into every mau's face in the county, that
he has visited 293 schools out of the 700. He
says he has spent 309 days in the school ser
vice. Now, 80 of those days must, have been
spent in examining teachers—a few of them in
writing his 419 letters—a few more in writing
the 300 pages of his foolscap, and not a few,
we opine, at Ilarrisburg boring the legislature
for the law bv which a thousand dollars were
put into his pocket. Not a great many could
have been left for visiting " professionally,"
those schools. Some of those schools must
have been private schools, or merely the school
houses, or else he has rode his old gray most
unmercifully in visitiug so many in so short a
time. All we can say is, he has never visited
a public school in Sheshequiu to our knowledge.
If he has looked into a school here it must have
been a private one, and therefore no concern
of his ; —other districts can answer for them
selves. No doubt he has done something at
visiting public schools. We hear of his visit
ing " professionally," two in Smithfield. The
story runs—that while old gray was feeding by
the way-side, Mr. GTYER, with his saddle-bags
on his arm, planted himself in the centre of
the floor and visited the teachers and scholars
with a speech, which so frightened and shocked
them, that the scholars could not be coaxed
out of their hiding places to go through any
exercises in his presence ; and what is more,
the teachers could not be iuduced to coax them
out. The benefits of those visits are best known
to those more immediately affected by them.
Visiting some of the schools mid neglecting
others is productive of tio good. It begets
hard feelings aud jealousies. Some complain
because they have not been visited, aud others
because they hare, and it is not for us to say
which has the greatest cause of complaint.
We have heard something said about sub
stitutes. The law knows nothing of substitutes.
The office is one which cannot be filled by those
the school directors do not select. Our legis
lators may as well hire substitutes to go to
Ilarrisburg and make the laws, or the judges
on the bench hire substitutes to decide the
laws. The introduction of substitutes and as
sistants would be a practical abandonment of
the one man supcrintcndency and an approxi
mation to the system of Township Superinten
dents. Again we say, one man cannot visit
the public schools of the County to any bene
fit whatever ; and if Mr. GI VER has not aban
doned the notion, he has at least abandoned
the practice. Two hundred days arc about all
he can employ in traversing the county, —80
days in inspecting teachers and 120 in trying
to visit the schools ; and we tiling $5OO a fair
compensation for the labor expended ;—leav
ing the visiting of schools out of the question
and it would be decidedly too much. Iu either
case it could not bo paid him on the principle
of quid pro quo. The equivalent lias not been
received. K.
SIIESHEQUIN, August 24, 1855.
|
WHY nin YOU, MARY ?— " Mary, why did you
kiss your hand to a young gentleman opposite,
this morning ?" said a careful parent to hi<
blooming daughter.
"Why the fellow had tlie impudence to throw
a kiss clear cross the street to me, aud, of course,
I threw it back indignantly. You wouldn't
I have had me encourage him by keeping it,
would you ?"
Supiciods parental relative is convinced that
he drew an erroneous inference.
ftay* Those who value exact and definite
ideas of thing, will learn with pleasure that
DAILY, au eminent English mathematician, has
fouud the weight of the world we live in to be
1,256,195,f75,000,000,000,000,000, or, in oth
er words, one quadrillion, two huudred aud fif
ty-six thousand one hundred and ninety-five
trillions, six hundred and seventy-live thousand
bill m tons, avoirdupois !
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOVVANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
UJistclliuieous.
An Incident in the Revolution.
In the summer of 1779, during one of the
darkest periods of our revolutionary struggles,
in the small village of S , in Pennsylvania,
live V , one of the finest and truest patriots
within the limits of the " Old Thirteen," aud
deep in the confidence of Washington. Like
most men of his time and substance, he had
furnished himself with arms and ammunition
sufficient to arm the males of his household.—
These consisted of three sous and about twen
ty-five negroes. The female part of his house
consisted of his wife, orte daughter, Catharine,
about eighteen years of age, the heroine of our j
tale, and several slaves. In the second story j
of his dwelling-house, immediately over the i
front door, was a small room called " the ar-!
inory," iu which the arms were deposited, and
always kept ready for immediate use. About
the time we introduce our story the neighbor- j
hood of our village was much annoyed by the •'
nocturnal prowling and depredations of numer
ous Tories.
It was on a calm, bright Sabbath afternoon
in the aforesaid summer, when Judge V. aud
his family, with the exception of his daughter
Oath :r.no and an old indisposed slave, were 1
attemling service iu the village church. Not !
a breath disturbed the serenity of the atiuos- i
jr —not a sound profaned the sacred still- J
ness <>t the day. Tue times were daugerous, !
and Oatuunne ud the old slave remained in j
the house until the return of the family from I
church. A loud rap was heard at the front!
door.
" Surely," said Catharine to the slave, " the
family have not yet come home—church can't
be dismissed."
The rap was repeated.
"1 will see who it is," said Catharine,'as she
ran up stairs into the armory. On opening the
windows aud looking down she saw six men
standing at the front door and on the opposite
side of the street, three of whom she knew were
Tories, who formerly resided in the village.—
Their names were Van Zaut, Finley and Shel
don ; the other three were strangers, but she
had reason to believe them to be of the same
political stamp, from the company in which she
found them.
Van Zant was a notorious character, and the
number aud vuormity of his crimes had render
ed his name infamous in the vicinity. Not a
murder or robbery was committed within miles
0 f t that he did not get the credit of plan
ning or executing. The character of Finley
and Sheldon were also deeply stained with crime,
but Van Zmit was a master-spirit of iniquity.
The appearance of such characters, under such
circumstances, must have been truly alarming
to any young lady of Catharine's age, if not to
any lady, youug or old. But Catharine V
possessed her father's spirit, "the spirit of the
times." Van Zaut was standing on the stoop
rapping at the door, while his companions were
talking in a whisper on the opposite side of the
way.
" Is Judge V at home ?" asked Van
Zaut, wheu he saw Catharine at the window
above.
" He is not," said she.
" We have business of pressing importance
with him, and if you will open the door,"
said Van Zaut, "we will walk iu until he re
turns."
" No," said Catharine, " when he went to
church he left particular directions not to have
the door opened until he and his family return
ed. You had better call when church is dis
missed."
"No, I'll not," returned he, " we will enter
now or never."
" Impossible," cried she, " you cannot enter
until he returns."
" Open the door," cried he, " or we'll break
it down, and burn you and the house up to
gether."
So saying, lie threw himself with all the
force he possessed against the door, at the
same time calling upon his companions to as
sist him. The door, however, resisted their
efforts.
"Do not attempt that again," said Catha
rine, " or you are a dead man," at the same time
presenting from the window a heavy horseman's
pistol, ready cocked.
At the sight of this formidable weapon the
companions of Van Zaut, who had crossed the
street at his call, retreated.
" What," cried the leader, " you cowards !
arc you frightened at the threats of a girl ?"
and again he threw himself violently against
the door The weapon was immediately dis
charged, and Van \ ant fell.
The report was heard at the church, and
males and females rushed out to ascertain the
eause.
On looking towards the residence of Judge
V , they perceived five men riiuuingat full
speed, to whom the Judge's negroes aa.l sever
al otlu rs gave chase ; and from an upper win
dow of his residence a handkerchief was wav
ing', as if beckoning for aid.
All rude d towards the place, and upon
the.r urrnal Van Zant was in the agonies of
death. He still retained strength enough to
acknowledge that they had long contemplated
-robbing that house, and had frequently been
concealed in the neighborhood for that pur
j os , i.ut no opportunity had offered until that
day, when Iving concealed in the woods,
they saw the"Judge aud his family going to
church.
The body of the dead Tory was taken and
Imned by the sexton of the church, as he had
no relatives in the vicinity.
After an absence of two hours or thereabouts,
the negroes returned, having succeeded in cap
turing Finley and one of the strangers, who
were "that night confined, and the next morn
ing at the earnest solicitation of Judge A
liberated on the promise of amending their
lives.
It was in the mouth of October of the same
vear that Catharine V was sitting by ail
upper back window in her father's house knit
ting ; though autuuiu, the weather was mild,
and the window was hoisted about three inch*
es. About sixty or seventy feet from the rear
of the house was a barn, a huge old-fashioned
edifice, with upper and lower folding-doors ;
and accidentally casting her eyes towards the
barn, she saw a small door (on a range with
the front door and window at which she was
sitting) opon, and a number of men enter.—
The occurrence of summer immediately pre
sented itself to her mind, and the faet that her
father and the other males of the family were
at work in a field at some distance from the
house, led her to suspect that that opportuni
ty had been improved by some of Van Zaut's
friends to plunder and revenge his death.—
Concealing herself behind the curtains, she
narrowly watched their movements. She saw
a man's head slowly rising above the door and
apparently recounoiteriug the premises ; it was
Fiuley's.
Their object was now evident. Going to the
armory, she selected a well-loaded musket, and
resumed her place by the window. Kneeling
upon the floor, she laid the muzzle of the wea
pon the window-sill, between the window cur
tains, and taking deliberate aim, she fired.—
What effect she had produced she knew not.
but saw several men hurrying out of the barn i
by the same door they had entered. The report j
brought her father and his workmen to the house, j
and going to the barn, the dead body of Fin
ley la}' on the floor.
CatharineV afterwards married a Caje
tain of the Continental army, and she lives,
the honored mother of a numerous and re
spectable line of descendants. The old house
is also "in the land of the living," and has
been the scene of many pranks of the writer of
this tale, in the hey-day of mischievous boy
hood.
Boys and Girls Together.
Mrs. JAMESON, in her "Common Place
Book of Thoughts, Memories and Fancies," |
says :
I am convinced from my own recollections,
and from all 1 have learned from experienced
teachers in large schools, that one of the most
fatal mistakes in the training of children has
been the too early separation of the sexes. 1
say has been, because I find that everywhere
this most dangerous prejudice has been giving
way before the light of truth and a more gen
eral acquaintance with that primal law of na
ture, which ought to teach us that the more we
can assimilate oil a large scale the public to the
domestic training, the better for all. There ex
ists still, the impression—in the higher classes
especially—that in early education, the mixture
of the two sexes would tend to make the girls
masculine aud the boys effeminate; but experi
ence shows us that it is all the other way.—
Boys learn a manly and protecting tenderness,
and the girls become at once more feminine and
more truthful.
Where this association has begun early
enough, that is, before five years old, and has
been continued till about ten or twelve, it has
uniformly worked well ; on this point the evi
dence is unanimous and decisive. So long ago
as 1812, Francis Horner, in describing a school
he visited at Enuiore, near Bridgewater, speaks
with approbation of tht boys and the girls
standing up together in the same class ; it is
the first meutiou, I find, of this innovation on
the old collegiate or charity-school plan—itself
a continuation of the monkish discipline, He
says, " 1 like much the placing of the boys and
girls together at an early age ; it gave the
boys a new spur of emulation." When I have
seen a class of girls standing up together, there
has been a sort of empty tittering, a vacancy
in the faces, an inertness, which made it, as I
thought, very uphill work for the teacher ; so
when it was a class of boys, there has been of
ten a sluggishness—a tendency to ruffian tricks
—requiring perpetual effort on the part of the
master.
In teaching a class of boys and girls, accus
tomed to stand up together, there is little or
nothing of this. They are brighter, readier
and better behaved ; there is a kind of mutual
influence working for good ; and if there be
emulation, it is not mingled with envy or jeal
ousy. Mischief, such as might be apprehend
ed, is in this case far less likely to arise than
where boys and girls, habitually separated from
infancy, are first thrown together, just at the
age when the feelings are first awakened and
the association has all the excitement of novel
ty. A very intelligent schoolmaster assured
me that lie has had more trouble with a class
of fifty boys than with a school of three hun
dred boys and girls together, (in the midst of
which I found him,) and that there were no
inconveniences resulting which a wise and care
ful and efficient superintendence could not con
trol. " There is," said he, " not only more
emulation, more quickness of brain, but altoge
ther a superior healthiness of tone, body and
mind, where the boys and girls are trained to
getli'. r till about ten years old, and it extends
into their after-life. I should say because it is
; in accordance with the laws of God in forming
us with mutual dependence for help from the
very beginning of life."
What is curious enough, 1 find many people
fatliers, mothers, teachers—who arc agreed
that in the schools for the lower classes, the
two classes may be safely and advantageously
associated, yet have a sort of horror of the
idea of such an innovation in schools for the
higher classes. One would like to know the
reason for such a distinction, instead of being
encountered, as is usual, by a sneer or a vile
inuendo.
The New England Farmer recommends
the following reccipe as an invaluable remedy
: for rheumatism:
Take a pint of the spirits of turpentine, to
which add half au ounce of camphor ; let it
stand till the camphor is dissolved ; then rub
it on the parts affected ; and it will never fail
of removing the complaint. Flannels should
be applied after the parts is well fomented with
turpentine. Repeat the application morning
ami evening. It is said to be equally available
for burns, scalds, bruises and sprains, never
failing of HICCCSS.
[From the Note Book of a Traveller.]
Sleeping with a Rattlesnake
It was, I think—for I have not my memo
randum book of the day before me—in the
mouth of August, 1836, that I fouud myself
wandering through the great inlet seas that
begirt our Western country—(if it is not
Western noxc, it used to be some time or other,
and that too since the great rain storm in
Noah's time) —until I brought up at Fort
Crawford, Green Bay. At this point, Capt.
E. B. Birdsall, of the Third United States
Infantry, (poor fellow, he has "fought his last
battle" and now slumbers with the dead of a
thousand years ago,) procured Mackinaw
boats, a sufficient number to accomodate the
whole detachment, which consisted of about
one hundred and fifty United States Dragoons,
on their way to Fort Des Moines, on the
Mississippi liver- -each boat accommodating
some twelve or fifteen soldiers, with the neces
sary camp equipage, provisions, Ac. Tim pro
vided and fully provisioned for the journey, the
oars were let fall, and we threaded our way up
the Fox Kiver, a portion of the way quite a,
rapid stream, with many formidable rapids, |
with grand and lesser chutes to pass over, !
until we arrived at Fort Winnebago, a post at j
that time considered beyond the reach of civi- |
lizutiou. A portage of half a mile from the
Fox to the Ouiseousin River, aud our boats
were again launched, and we pursued our way j
down the last named river until we struck the
Mississippi, some few miles below Prairie du j
Cliien. I should, perhaps, liuve stuted, ere I
this, that it was our invariable custom to sleep j
beneath our tents on shore every night.
Soon after striking the Mississippi, our tents ;
were pitched one night as usual. In due time j
the guards were set—silence reigned in the
little army—and naught was to be heard save j
the regular tread of the night watch, as lie
paced liis silent round. 1 had 110 idea when I {
turned in that night that 1 was to be uncere
moniously turned out before morning. But I
was mistaken. During the night, our camp
was visited by a most furious rainstorm. The I
water descended in torrents, and disturbed in
his lurking place au enormous rattlesnake who,
it would seem, took up his line of march v itli,
I presume, no very correct idea of his destina
tion, but with a commendable desire, I doubt
not, to provide himself with shelter from the
pitiless storm that was raging about, and in
vading his dominions, the broad forest, of which j
he bad probably been un undisturbed oceupaut j
for many years.
I cannot for one moment imagine that his 1
snakeship had any particular penchant for my
quarters, but it so happened that about one
o'clock at night, or rather morning, he brought
up at my tout, and acting upon the old proverb
—perhaps it is not a proverb, only a saying—of 1
" any port in a storm," he pitched iu, without j
as much as saying, " By your leave, sir," and
the first intimation afforded rue that I was to j
be honored with his distinguished presence was
the fact that he was insinuating his cold, wet j
and horrid carcasse directly across my legs, j
just above the knee joints. Having obtruded
himself thus far iuto good society, he seemed
to lie entirely satisfied with himself, with me,
and, for ought 1 knew, with the rest of man
kind, and the comfortable quarters into which
iie had thus thrust himself unbidden ; ldr I
am very certain, had I been permitted to make
choice of acoinpauion for the night, my tend
encies would not have been in that direction.
But here he was, warm, quiet and free from
the storm, and seemed mightily inclined, so far
as I could discover, to tarry for ji while. But
by this time I began fully to realise my own
position. I had assumed, in the first place, as
all the indications were that way, that it was
a snake, and uiy imagination, in the second
place led me to suppose it was a rattlesnake.
Of course I had no positive knowledge on the
subject, for his entrance had been unannounc
ed, but 1 thought 1 had a right to make
that assumption, aud to govern myself accord
ingly.
But the thought of such a companion was
horrible. A sleeping partner to —-a snake so
forbidden iu every possible aspect, that even at
this time, although about nineteen years have
rolled over the incident, it makes me shudder
through every limb to think of ! But that was
not the question uppermost in my mind at that
time. The questiou was ; " How am Ito get
rid of him ?" And it was a nice question too
—one more easily conceived than executed. 1
knew the fix 1 was in—l was fully aware of my
position ; for my presence of mind had not for
one moment deserted lUC.
Although au intruder—although he had pre
sumed to poach upon my manor without a
license —still I was aware that this king of his
species was to be treated with great respect
and consideration, until I had got, at least, be
yond the reach of his murderous tangs. I
commenced, therefore, the process of sliding my
legs out from under liirn—not, to be sure, at a
pace of two-forty—but imitating more the
speed of tlicsnail, and almost holding my breath
during the operation. I was fully aware that
my only safety lay iu this. Perhaps 1 might
have got rid of him iu a more summary way,
but in doing it, perhaps I might have placed
him in a position unsuited to his dignity, and
contrary to his ideas of propriety, and most
probably retaliation on his part would have
followed, and I should have conic out of the
contest second best. But 1 found my plan
working well,and perscvereuee in its execution.
By dint of great patience, I finally, after a
labor of some ten minutes or more, succeeded
in finding myself free from my disgusting
companion. lat once threw off the mosquito
bar that surrounded luy ground bed, stepped
over my blankets, drew on my boots, as a matter
of precaution, not knowing the precise locality
of my pleasing and amiable companion at this
time. 1 now seized a shillalah that 1 knew
was standing in a corner of my tout, for it was
as dark as Egyptian darkness itself, and
commenced flailing my scanty bed with an
earnestness that would have have been highly
amusing to a disinterested looker-on. I con
tinued this healthful exercise for some fifteen
minutes, in the fond hope that some of my
random blows, although given in the dark, aud
VOL. XVI. —NO. 13.
without any knowledge of the locality of his
snakeship, might be .so fortunately directed as
to finish the career of mv enemy. But I was
in total ignorance of the result, ami had no
means at hand by which I could throw light ou
the subject. True, I had candles, but what
use were they to me without matches ?—and
of them I hud none.
I finally pu* 0:1 part of my clothes, throw
my cloak around iue, took my umbrella, for it
was still raining in torrents, "and sallied forth
into the camp. But here I was no better off.
The rain had extinguished the camp fires, and
darkness reigned supreme. The sentinel was
at his post, but it was useless to trouble him
with tny story. My umbrella soon became
useless as n protection against the drenching
jstorm, and I was forced bark to my tent for
shelter. But here all was doubt and uncer
tainly. What had become of the snake t
There was a possibility that I might have killed
him, but there was an uncertainty about it.—
But 1 ventured back, uud drawing out my rifle
case, which hud served me for a pillow, I sat
down on it, near the entrance to the tent, re
solutely determined to watch the waning hours
until day-light should reveal to me the result
of my labors.
The reader may imagine my thoughts, but it
would be difficult to describe them. At length
—it seemed almost like an eternity—the dawn
broke upon another day. It was like a new
life, a new being, a new existence. Again the
life-blood began t< course freely through my
veins, my h art had gone back to its usual rest
ing place, and was again performing its accus
tomed functions. The first rosy tints of morn
ing satisfied me that uiy enemy was not in sight.
\\ here was he '' Was he lurking in some sly
corner, ready tu strike whenever I should ap
proach him '? Certain it was lie had not coiled
himself about my leg-', nor had he wreathed
himself a bout my body or neck ! Where was
he, then ? Perhaps i had killed him. Lucky
thought. Why had it not occurred to me be
fore '! Again i seized my stick, the some
identical one with which 1 had performed such
wonderful deeds in the dark the night before,
and w:th this I raised the blanket up, and
there lay my sleeping companion, my bed fel
low, now sleeping the sleep of death. After
this occurrence, 1 slept in my boat, ami there
was an additional tent for the use of the sol
diers. Bui the reason for th : s was to them a
mystery.
■ -
{Scientific anil Useful.
The results of recent chemical researches
made npon the tobacco leaf, show that on tho
dry leaf there naturally resides from two to
eight per cent, of a narcotic volatile, highly
poisonous, alkaline liquid, to which the name
of nicotine lias been given, and along with it,
a three or four thousandth part of a volatile
oil, which also possesses narcotic properties.—-
Upon the ehewer, the influence of tobacco de
pends chiefly upon the action of these two in
gredients of the natural leaf. But the smoker
produces, during the burning of his tobacco, a
new o lv " distillment," n bieh comes to him with
the smoke, and materially exalts the action of
the tobacco upon his system. This empyreu
matic oil. us if is called, mingles in vapor with
the natural volatile oil and nicotine of the to
bacco, and aids in producing those varying and
complicated effects upon the body and braiipso
familiar to all.
\ arious explanations have been off red why
cannon are fired over drowned persons to bring
them to the surface of the water, and the philo
sophical cause of it> producing that result, it
is supposed that the sudden rarefactiou of the
air bv the explosion of the cannon creates
something like a vacuum, diminishing the pres
sure upon the water, and upon all the objects
in the water, and thus of course creates a ten
dency to bring them to the surface, as the wa
ter, and all its belongings, would, by a well
known principle, rise and seek to occupy the
vacuum so produced.
I A medical writer says that the failure of
! appt t ie in the summer is apt to be considered
as jvrsr, an evil, to be doctored and remqyed ;
while it is only a sign of mischief, not the mis
chief itself, instead, therefore, of resortimr to
stimulating condiments or medicines to force an
appetite, one should live abstemiously for a few
days, and as the system works off the causes
of disease, a natural appetite will come back.
In some rare cases in which a failure of appc
| tite depends 011 absolute deficiency of food, a
return to more generous diet presents the only
hope of relief.
Take one quart of olive oil, or fine lard oil,
2 1-2 ounces of spirits of wine, 1 ounce of cin
namon powder, 5 drachms of borgamot. Heat,
them together in a large pipkin, then remove
it from the fire and add four small pieces of
alkanet root ; keep it closely covered for six
hours, let it then be filtered through a funnel
luted wilh blotting or filtering paper, and you
will have an excellent hair oil.
FOUR SI-ANI.-II PROVKRBS.- What tho f.l
does in the end, the wise man in the begin
ning.
Voltaire defines a physician as an unfortunate
ueullcinan, expected every day to perform a
miracle namely, to reconcile health with in
temperance.
The most insignificant people are the
apt to sneer at others. They are safe from re
prisals, ami have no hope of rising in their own
esteem but by lowering their neighbors.
All vice stands upon a precipice ; to ou
trage in any sinful course is to run down the
hill. Jf we once let loose the propensities of
our nature, we cannot gather in the reins and
govern them as we please ; it is much easier
not to begin a bad course than to stop when
IH^UU.
Death is the most certain of all events
that cuii happen to us in tins world.
How frequently, in the course of our
lives, do we gain an experience by the loss of
a pleasure.
t&ir- In virtue's eye the good are always
great, the great not always good.