0i; DSLLAR PER ANNJM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
T OAV"ANDA:
Gatnrban fUorninn, 4Han 31, 1853.
£clrtttb |)octrj.
APPROACH OP OLD AGE.
\ml Jt'.-t thou grieve because old age
Coiues travelling on so fast 1
And that life's weary pilgrimage
Must wear thee out at last ?
p, wrinkled brows and locks of grey
Thy troubled fancy fright ?
The sim hath teamed on all thy day
Why dread the moon at night ?
\o. let Hie bad, the Vain, the weak,
The flight of time regret,
In pleasure's rank who vainly seek
Their errors to forget.
Who tares have planted in the past,
Must in the future pine ;
Who tried in spring life's (lowers too fast,
M Ist mourn in harvest time.
li,,t thou, tli.it on grave wisdom's track
H, L t gleaned sach precious store.
And on life's highway looking back,
<ei-t little to deplore,
!> , 11•' the vale of years may'st wend
Thv way, and smile at care ;
T what we have been, valued friend,
That makes us what we are.
H- who in folly's train hath danced,
Or hvi-d the slave of gain,
V.'h" ne'er another's joy enhanced,
X >r -oothed another's pain ;
1 i m.s man, whose heart impure
( rn des within his breast—
o: all ii.e miseries such endure,
L'i":e; itude's the least.
ihit vi e o'J age, more blest than youth,
Tor i; rh error's mist can sec.
At. i hav i;g faithful been to truth,
rr in pr. ~ ill e is free ;
Tie :• t mind resists decay.
And -till is health's defence ;
it throws the fro-ts of time away
L!y sweet benevolence.
\ •! a- the late sun. glowing bright,
M •!;- on the ocean's breast,
v I ,ots his id iry half the night
ii T all tlie reddening we-t,
- i it: a;s age looks calmly down,
ie.-: .'rent t the la.-t,
V.k .!Y.■- the light of worth's reuown
l'u beautify the past.
JU ist c I hutc on s.
DEATH OF SILAS WRIGHT.
ai llcitoii's Thirty Years' View, to te published in a
few days by the Appletons.]
He.!:,-J suddenly at tlie age of fifty-two,and
• ' ut the sufferings ami premonitions which
ixmliy accompany tlx? mortal transit from time
'■<) eternity. A letter that lie was reading wis
>ceii to fall from his hand : a physician was
ciiai-d .- in two hours he was dead—apoplexy
tic cause.
T .ough dying at the age deemed yonng ia
a-tat smaii, he had attained all that long life
•onl.t give—high office, national fame, fixed
'iiaracb r and universal esteem. Ife had run
the ;. V Tof honors in the state of New-York
' • 'vpvsentative and senator in Congress
—and had ri fused more offices, and higher,
-i •: !.-• ever ac-cpted. He refused cabinet
: | 'lintments undt r his fast friend, Mr. Van
ii.Teii. and under Mr. Polk, whom he may be
•i i to have elected ; he refused a seat on the
iof the federal Supreme Court; hcrejcc
' ! n■ -I:ti.t!v the nomination of 184 4 for Vice
i -iiin.t of the United States, when that no-
Mition was tlie election. lie refused to be
,a ni k"iiiiuatioa for the Presidency. He re
t.- ito accept foreign missions.
lie -pent that time io declining office which
1 "hers ilul in winning it ; and of those he did
pt. it might well be said they were " thrust"
'; >n him. Office, not greatness, was thrust
■;\tLni. He was born great, above office,
1 iiiingly descended to it; and only took
r its burdens, and to satisfy an importunate
cue demand. Mind, manners, morals, teai
iiai.'it-, united in him to form the charae
' rili.it was piTtect, both in public and private
and to give the example of a patriot citi
ofa I'ariuer statesman —of which we have
i (.i - iimaius and C'ato, and seen in Mr.
on and some others of their stamp—
hv nature —formed in no school : and
"h tlie instances are so rare and long bc
! mind was clear and strong, his judgment
•- (locution smooth and equable, his
oi:g always addressed to the understand
-• Hd always enchaining the attention of
*Aho had minds to understand. Grave
4 u his forte. Argumentation was
-ffs the line of his speech. lie spoke to
, not to the passions ; and would have
"•concerted to see anybody laugh, or cry,
; ;diing he said. His thoughts evolved
; :'-t-ou>Jy, in natural and proper order,
'1 in language of force and clearness ; all
•' itu'iy and easily conceived that an cx
. arc o;i- speech, or the first draught of an
. report, had all the correctness of a
1 composition. His manuscript had no
!l pi'i-of that his mind had none ; ami lie
. 3 Kat compact hand, suitable to a clear
•■"'.id mind.
■ iue into the Senate, in the beginning
'!S J.u -keen's administration, and re
; iiii'ing thut of Mr. Van Bureu ; and
"/• and active part in all the great
tfos et cutful times. The ablest
the opposition always had to an
t :i:; d wix.il he answered them, they
: > then* anxious concern, that the ad
•. u o - upon them whose force they dread
iiiough taking his full part upon all
I}''t finance was his particular depart
• • • -V v chairman of that committee,when
power, and by the lucidity of
1 MMits making plain the most intricate
1 m tails. He i uu j A j us t conception of
betwi cu the functions of the Fi
' ' Uiiitt' • o| tlx? Senate, and the Coni
:"id Means of the House so
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
little understood in these latter times : those
of the latter founded in the prerogative of the
House to originate all revenue bills ; those of
the former to act upon the propositions from
the Honse, without originating measures which
might affect the revenue, so as to coerce either
its increase or prevent its reduction. In 1844
he left the Senate, to stand for the governor
ship of New-York ; and uever did his self-sac
rificing temper undergo a stronger trial,or sub
mit to a greater sacrifice. lie liked the Sen
ate ; he disliked the governorship, even to ab
solute repugnance. I3ut it was said to him
(and truly, as then believed, and afterwards
proved) that the state would be lost to Mr.
Polk, unless Mr. Wright was associated with
liiui in the canvass ; and to this argument he
yielded. He stood the canvass fur the gover
norship—carried it—and Mr. Polk with him ;
and saved the presidential election that year.
Judgment was the character of Mr. Wright's
mind ; purity the quality of the heart. Tho'
valuable in the field of debate, lie was still
more valued at the council table, where sense
and honesty are most demanded. General
Jackson and Air. Van Huron relied upon him
as one of their safest counsellors. A candor
which knew 110 guile—an integrity which knew
no deviation—which worked right on, like a
machine governed by a law of which it was
unconscious—were the inexorable conditions of
his nature, ruling his conduct in every act,pub
lic and private. No foul legislation ever ema
nated from him. The jobber, the speculator,
the dealer in false claims, the plunderer, whose
scheme required an act of Congress ; all these
fouud in his vigilance and perspicacity a detec
tive police, which dicovered their designs, and
in his integrity a scorn of corruption which kept
them at a distance from the purity of his at
mosphere.
His temper was gentle—his manners simple
—his intercourse kiudly—his habits laborious
—and rich ujion a freehold of thirty acres, iu
much part cultivated by his own hand. In the
invervals of senatorial duties this man, whore-
fused cabinet appointments and presidential
honors aud a seat upon tlie Supreme Bench—
who measured strength with Clay, Webster,
and Calhoun, and on whose accents admiring
Senates hung : this man, his neat suit of broad
cloth and line linen exchanged for the laborer's
dress, might be seen in the harvest field, or
meadow, carrying the foremost row, and doing
the cleanest work : and this not as recreation
or pastime, or encouragement toothers, but as
work, which was to count in the annual culti
vation, and labor to be felt in the production
of the needed crop. His principles were demo
cratic, and innate, founded in a feeling, still
more than a conviction, that the masses were
geuerally right in their sentiments, though
sometimes wrong in their action ; and that
there was less injury to the country from the
honest mistakes of the people, than from the
interested schemes of corrupt and intriguing
politicians. He was born in Massachusetts,
came to man's estate ia New-York, received
from that state the only honors he would ac
cept ; and in choosing his place of residence in
it gave proof of his modest, retiring, unpretend
ing nature. Instead of follow ing his profession
iu the commercial or political capital of his
state, where there would be demand and re
ward for his talent, he constituted himself a
village lawyer, where there was neither, and
pertinaciously refused to change his locality.
In an outside county, on the extreme border of
the state, taking its name of St. Lawrence,
from the river which washed its northern side,
and dividing the United States from British
America—and in one of the smallest towns of
that county, and in one of the least ambitious
houses of that modest town, lived and died this
patriot statesman —a good husband (he had
no children) —a good neighbor—a kind rela
tive—a fast friend—exact and punctual in eve
ry duty, and the exemplification of every social
aud civic virtue.
THE SELLER SOLD. —An incideut recently oc
curred in a town on the Connecticut River,
which illustrates the danger of practical jokiag,
and served, at the time, its purpose of fun aud
raillery.
A certain barber happening in at a store, a
clerk, who wished to play the barber a trick,
offered him a liottle of bear's oil. The latter
did not want it ; but being over-urged, took it
and paid for it.
On his opening it, in his shop, the oil was
found to lie lamp oil, with a very rank smell.
Nothing w as said of the shave which the clerk
had practiced, aud the barber shaved along as
usual, until the matter had time to be forgot
ten.
A few evenings since the clerk went into
the barber's shop to be shaved preparatory to
a ball. Afler the harvcttof the thick beardy
chin was reaped, the clerk straightened him
self up and exclaimed, " Now slap on the
oil!"
A good handful was poured out, " slapped
on," and rubbed in. A second followed, but be
fore it could be rubbed in, the clerk ' smelt su th
in,' and leaped from the chair as if he had been
shot, at tlie same time giving utterance to
sundry expletives, coining under the cognizance
of the statute against profane swearing. The
barber assured the enraged customer that lie
had put bear's oil on his head, and from the
very bottle he had sold him. If it wasjiooroil,
it was the clerk's fault.
There was no resisting this, and the matter
was settled by refunding the money paid for
the bear's oil, anil a champooning at the clerk's
expense.
The clerk went to the ball, but the rank
lamp oil stuck to his hair, and the snuffs of
those who came near to him, showed that
the barber was wicked when he champooued
him.
MORAL— Honesty is the best policy ; and
lump oil is by no means the best thing to make
the course of pleasure run smooth.
ffsT " Mind, John," said a father toliis*so,
"If you go out into the yard you will wish you
had stayed in the house." " Well, if I stay
iu the house, I shall wish I was out in the yard ;
u w here is the great difference, dad
PUBLISHED EVERY SATURDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA„ BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" RESARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
The Mint of the United States.
By the Act of Congress, of April 2d, 1792,
" A Mint, for the purpose of a national coin
age," was established, to be located at " the
seat of government of the United States,"
(which was then at Philadelphia.) The Act
of 14th of May, 1800, directed " that until the
4th day of March, 1801, the Mint shall remain
in the city of Philadelphia," which period of
continuance was lengthened for two years, by
Act of March 3d, 1801 ; and this last enact
ment was revived and continued in force for
successive periods of five years, until the 4th of
March, 1828, when the location of the Mint
at Philadelphia was made permanent, by Act
of Congress of May 19th, 1828 ; and here it has
since remained, a great addition to the many
architectural beauties of our "and an object
of much interest to its citizens and to stran
gers.
The original Mint building, a portion of
which is yet vstanding, was in Seveuth street,
opposite Zane, and is still known as tlie " Old
Mint." It continued in this location until the
present noble edifice, was erected at the north
west corner of Chestnut and Juniper streets,in
the years 1829, '3O, '3l. The corner-stone of
this magnificent structure was laid July 4th,
1829, and the building was finished and occu
pied in tlie spring of 1833. The work was
completed under the direction of Win. Strick
land, Esq., architect'; the masonry was execu
ted by Maj. Peter Fritz, and the marble work
by Mr. John Strnthers, of this city. The build
ing, which is of the lonic'order, after the cele
brated Grecian Temple on the river Ilysus,near
Athens, is of marble, faced with ashlers, hav
ing a frout on Chestnutjstreet of 120 feet, di
vided into a portico of 62 feet, and two wings
of the width each of 30 feet.
During the past nine months the interior
has undergone very extensive repairs, intended
to render it completely fire-proof, couducted
under the supervision of Capt. ANDREW TAL
corr, late of the U. S. Corps Civil Engineers,
and advantage has been taken of tlie opportu
nity tl.us afforded to introduce s leli alterations
in the arrangements of the several departments
of the institution, as wril afford increased com
fort and facilities in the operations, and insure
still greater security to the bullion and trea
sure. In the execution of these alterations
all the wood-work, which it was practicable
to remove, has been substituted by iron frames
aud girders, so that no danger can possibly
be apprehended hereafter from accident by
fire
It may be interesting to present to our rea
ders a brief statement of the modus operandi of
converting the precious dust into the form of
coin, and for this purpose we will follow a
deposit through its several stages in the in
stitution, until it has been manufactured into
coin.
The deposit is made in the " Weigh Room"
of the Mint, in its crude state, and a receipt is
given for what is termed its " weight before
melting." Thence it passes into the " Deposit
Melting Room," where it is converted into a
bar or ingot, in such manner that the foreign
substances—dirt and sand in the deposit—are
collected together iu a concentrated form, and
the weight of the metal remaining is then re
gistered as the "weight after melting"—that
upon which, and a determination of the fine
ness by assay, the value returned to the deposi
tor is calculated. The bar or ingot thus form
ed from the deposit, is theu transferred to the
Melting and Refining Department, and is here
made of " standard fineness," (900-1000) by
the addition of the proper proportions of sil
ver and copper, if tlie gold is of higher fineness
than standard, or the refining of the dejiosit
by the removal of the requisite amount of for
eign substance or metal, if under the legal
standard of fineness. It is then turned into
ingots of the fineness required by law, and in
this form is passed into the Coining Depart
ment. Here the ingot is rolled into a strip of
the width and thickuess of the coin into which
it is intended to be converted, and the strip
thus obtained is passed through a cutting ma
chine, by which the disks or planchets of the
size of the proposed coin are cut from it. The
planchets are then transferred to the adjusting
room, where they are severally weighed by the
adjusters, and if found to be too heavy, they
are reduced by filing to the proper weight ; but
if too light, the planchets are " condemned,"
au<l returned to the Melting and Refining De
partment, there to be re-melted and cast into
ingots, as before. Thus adjusted in weight,
the planchets are passed through the stamping
and milling machines, and arc then transferred
to the office of the Treasurer for distribution in
the payment of deposits, with the devices and
edge familiar to us all.
This brief statement, of course, can give but
an inadequate idea of the several manipulations
and operations necccessary for the manufacture
of the dust, as it is taken from the mines of
California, into the pieces into which it is con
verted ; and wc have purposely avoided any
description of the several operations of tough
ening, refining, assaying, Ac., as requiring tlie
use of technical terms unfamiliar to the read
er, and occupying more space tluin wc can al
low to this article. We may add, thut the
supposition entertained by many, that the iden
tical bullion deposited is returned to the depo
sitor in coins, is an erroneous one ; this would
occasion too great delay in the payment of de
posits. By the assay of a portion of the iogot
into which the bullion is cast after the first
melt wc have described, the fineness of the
whole deposit is determined ; upon the fineness
thus found, and the " weight after melting,"
the standard fineness of the bullion is calcula
ted, and the value paid to the depositor, gen
erally the day succeeding that of the making
of his deposit.
All the machinery nf the Mint is of the most
complete and beautiful description—the engine
a very model of elegance, of workmnuship,utxl
of accuracy in operation. It is believed that
when the repairs to which we have alluded
shall be fully completed, the capacity of the
Miut will be amply sufficient to ineet every de
maud likely to be made upon it The present
force of the institution consists of one hundred
land tivcnty-ninc operatives, divided as follows :
The force of the Melting and Refining De
partment is composed of 30 workingmen, and
that of the Coining Department of 48 work
men, and 47 females, employed as adjusters.—
The former department is under the manage
ment of Prof. JAMES C. BOOTH, as Melter and
Refiner, and the latter under that of GEORGE
K. CHILDS, Esq., Chief Coiner. The Assa£
Department, where the fineness of the several
deposits made at the institution, and of the in
gots, Ac., manufactured in the Melting and
Refining Department, is tested by the process
of assay, is in charge of J. R. ECKFF.LDT, Esq.,
the Assayer ; the force of this department con
sists of four assistants and three workmen.—
The Engraving Department, at the head of
which is JAMES B. LONGACRE, Esq., the En
graver, employs one assistant and four work
men ; it is iu this latter department that all
tlie dies, Ac., required for the coinage at the
Mint and its several branches, at San Francis
so, New Orleans, Charlotte, (N. C.) and Dah
lonega, (Ga.) are prepared. The Treasurer of
the institution is the Hon. DANIEL STURGEON,
and the Director the Hon. JAMES ROSS SNOW
DEN, through whose kindness we are enabled
to present the information herein given.
Attached to the Mint is a Musenm, contain
ing a great number of specimens of the coin
age of all nations and all ages, many of which
are very old, and a number of them very rare,
and forming a most interesting and vuluable
collection of coins. It also contains superb
specimens of ores of the precioas and other
metals, from the principal mining regions of
the world ; and a series of portraits of the
Directors of the institution, from Mr. Rittcn
house to Dr. Patterson. Here also are pre
served a number of aucient relics, household
vessels, Ac., Ac., and a cabinet in which are
exhibited bronze copies of the medals struck
under the authority of the general govern
ment, in commemoration of national events ;
tlie whole making a tout ensemble of exceeding
interest.
The admission of visitors to the Mint was
suspended last summer, on the commencement
of the repairs to the interior of the building,
but it is hoped that in the course of a few
months the alterations will be sufficiently com
plete to enable Col. SNOWDEN to admit of the
visits of strangers passing through or sojourn
ing in our city, and of those of our citizens
who have not yet availed themselves of an
opportunity of witnessing the interesting ope
rations of the institution, and of inspecting
the relics and other objects of interest col
lected iu the Museum. Notice will be given
through the press, when these visits may be re
sumed. — Monthly Rainbow, Phila.
fesr-Thc physical appearance of a man some
times changes the current of events. A case
in point occurred the other day on Front street.
The children of two neighboring families had
their daily quarrels aud fights, which resulted
occasionally in bruised faces and torn garments.
The father of one family, believing his children
to been sadly maltreated, and being a passion
ate man, concluded that the surest way to set
tle tie difference between their household per
manently, would IK? to chastise the head of the
other family, although as yet, he had never
seen him. He thereupon procured a raw-hide,
and abruptly entering his neighbor's tenement,
inquired in a throating tone, for the " man of
the house "
" I am here sir," said a personage of up
wards of six feet and weighing over two hun
dred, as he approached to leant the business of
his neighbor.
" Dxl 1 understand you, that you were the
gentleman of tlie house 1"
" Yes, sir."
" Well, I—l just dropjied in sir, to sec if
this was vour raw-hide."
OUR MINISTER AT PARIS. —TIie London cor
respondent of the N. Y. Morning Herald, iu
a letter by the last steamer, tells the following
story
" A good joke of our Minister at Paris, Mr.
Mason, has come over here. He was at a court
ball lately at the Tuileries, and his eye haji
pened to light on tlie Charge d'Affuires of
of Solonque, in France, a fine looking black.—
Some one, observing his steady gaze, said :
" Well, Mr. Mason, what do you think of
yonder blackee, in his embroidered coat?"
"Think," replied Mr. Mason,still regarding
the negro with the eye of a connoisseur, "why,
clothes and all, 1 think that fellow is worth a
thousand dollars.
Perhaps the story is true—and if it be, it
only proves that our Republic is represented
at a foreign court by a brute and a black
guard.
COLLOQUY. —A friend of ours was passing into
the entrance of Townscnd Ilall, the other night,
from the street, when he was accosted by an
Irishman, saying :
" An' what's that up stairs?"
" An' how much is the commission fee ?" in
quired Paddy.
" Twenty-live cents," responded our friend,
" and cheap at that."
" Chape, is it—an' what sort of a thing
do you sec up there for the twenty-five
cents ?"
" A nccromaucer," said our frieud, now get
ting impatient.
" A nager man* sir," scornfully repeated
Paddy, " an' would yez pay twenty-five cints
for seein' a nager man, sir ? Why I'll show
you lot s of 'em for half the money—go along
wid yez ;" and he went off reflecting on the
folly of paying " twenty-five cints for seein' a
nager man," instead of buying a gallon of
whiskey with it.— Buffalo Republic.
jfcy- Julius—Sam, did you eber notice what
a good place de berry in* ground would be for
a hotel ? Sam—De landlord could n't make
much money out ob one dar. Julius—Why ?
Rase, dar would be too many dead heads
about it.
t&e" The beggar always finds one kind of
provision plenty, to wit : —The cold shoulder.
Tin and its Various Uses.
Every child in the land knows what tin
ware is, but the number of persons who have
even seen a piece of pure tin, or are acquaint
ed with its nature and various uses is not large.
Tin or " stannnm " is one of the ancient me
tals, and was known to the old Egyptians and
Hebrews. It is found in the state of an oxyd
in various countries—Spain, Hungary, South
America, and the Indian Archipelago, but
most abundantly in Cornwall, England, from
which place it was obtained by the Phoeni
cians, when Tyre was mistress of the seas, and
before Britain bore the impress of the Roman's
heel. As a metal it has a white brilliant ap
pearance, is very malleable, emits a crackling
sound when bent, a peculiar odor when rubbed,
and when ooled slowly from a molten state
it erystalizes. The tin stone oF Cornwall is
found in veins associated with copper ore, in
granite and slate rocks, hence it is called
" mine tin." The oxyd of tin is also dissemi
nated through the rocks in small crystals ;
and in alluvial deposits it is called "stream
tin." When tin ore 1s mixed with copper—
after lieing roasted—it is treated with sulphu
ric acid, which dissolves the copper but not the
tin. After it is washed, the ore—then called
" black tin"—is ready for smeltiug. Tlie com
mon method of smelting the ore is in a rever
beratory furnace with coal, the ore being mix
ed with powdered anthracite or charcoal.—
When very pure metal is required the smelt
ing or reducing is conducted in a small blast
furnace, powdered charcoal being used to mix
with the ore, also a very small quantity of
lime as a flux. After the first smelting of the
ore, it generally requires two other smelting
operations to purify it for use. The refined
and purest in it is that which is used iu the
manufacture of tin plate, the tin being used
for this purpose in a molten state, and thin
plates of iron dipped into it, just like dipping
thin boards of wood into liquid varnish. The
metal plates for tinuing are made of the best
charcoal iron. All the oxyd or rust is first
removed from them, when they are scoured
bright, and kept in soft water ready to be dip
ped in the molten tin. Tlie tin is melted in
an iron pot over a fire, and its surface is cover
ed with about four inches of molten tallow.—
The prepared plates are dipped into this, and
left to steep for an hour or more, when tliey
are lifted out with tongs and placed on a rack.
The plates generally have a surplus quantity
of tin adhering to them when taken out of the
first pot; this is removed by dipping them into
a pot of molten tallow and brushed. Great
cure and experience are required in all the
manipulations in order to cover the plates
smoothly, aud not have too thik or too thin
a coating of tin. The covering of such an
oxydizable metal as iron with tin like a varn
ish is one of the most useful qualiities this
metal posessess, arid renders it better adapted
for making various vessels, such as our com
mon tinware, than any other metel. Nails,
bridle bits, and many small articles of iron may
be covered with tin, by first securing them to
remove the oxyd, then tripping them into the
molten tin. The metal is so ductile that it can
rolled out into sheets of tin-foil as thin as wri
ting paper. It is now much used for covering
tobacco, for coarse gilding, for what is called
" silvering looking-glasses," and for bronze
powders. Peroxyd of tin is used by jewellers
as a polishing material ; and fused with glass
it forms a white opaqne enamel. It is much
used mixed with copper, to form various use
ful alloys of metal, such as gun metal, thej
specula for telescopes, the bearings for shaft
ing, the bronze of statues, and was used by i
the ancients for swords, spear and armor ; anil!
it is said these were tempered by a process
now lost to the arts.
Block tin is struck by the dies into various
vessels for drinking, such as cups, tea and eof-1
fee pots, and mixed with a little copper to give
it hardness it forms the beautiful " Brittannin
ware." In the chemical arts tin is dissolved
in acids, such as nitric and muriatic, and seems
a common mordant for some of the most bril
liant colors printed on calicoes, and those dyed
on wool and silk. The uses of tin are more
various than those of any other metal, and it
possesses very valuable properties. England is
the greatest tin-producing country on the globe.
She possesses the most abundant natural sources
of this metal, and lias long been the tinplate
manufacturer of the world. The produce of the
metal in Cornwall, is about 10,719 tuns per an
num, but it is used for so many purposes that
it is the source of a vast amount of wealth to
Great Britain. We cover our houses with tin
plate, and we manufacture vast quantities of it
into vessels of every description for domestic
use. We have iron mountains, and innumera
ble beds of copper and lead ; we have the
greatest coal-fields on this globe, and gold and
silver exist abundantly in our hills and valleys.
No country is so rich in minerals, but as yet no
rich deposits of tin have been discoverd. We
have some faith in the existence of this metal
iu our rocks, and that it will yet be obtained
in considerable quantities. We pay four million
seven hundred thousand dollars annually for
tin plate and sheets ; twenty three thousand
dollars for tin foil ; seven hundred and twenty
four thousand dollars for tin in pigs and bars,
and forty-four thousand dollars for unspecified
manufactures.
RROADRRTM'S JOKE. —A Quaker in Philadel
phia, wanting to buy some oysters, requested
tlie oysterman to leave two or three bushels at
his house. " Pray, sir," said the oysterman,
smartly, " what might your name be ?" "It
might be Beelzebub—but it is not," replied
Aminadab, as he smiled at his finger's ends.
9SP "Ilans, what is the matter ?"' " I>c
sorrel wagon has run away mil de green horse
and broke <le axel-tree of de priek house what
stands by de corner lamb-bost across de tele
graph."
To YOUNG LADIES. —She that marries a
man because be is a " good match," mast
not he surprised if lie turns out to be a " Lu
cifer."
VOL. XVI. INTO. 51 .
Gen. Jackson at a Methodist Conference.
The Western Christian Advocnte records
the following interesting anecdote of (Jen.
Jackson. The of it was in the Tennes
see Annual Conference, held at Nashville, and
to which he had been invited by ft vote of the
members, that they might have the pleasure
of an introduction to him:
" The -committee was appointed, and the
General fixed the time for G o]clock on Mon
day morning. The Conference room being too
small to accomodate the hundreds who wished
to witness the introduction, one of the church
es was substituted, and an hour before the
time filled to overflowing. Front seats were
reserved for the Conference, which was called
to order by the Bishop, seated in a large chair
in the alter, just before the pnlpit. After
prayers, the committee retired, and a minute
after entered, conducting the man whom all
delighted to honor. They led liiui to the
Bishop's chair, which was made vacant for
him, the Bishop meanwhile occupying another
place within the altar. The secretary was di
rected to call the names of the members of the
Conference, which he did in alphabetical or
der, each coming forward and receiving from
the Bishop a personal introduction to the ex-
President, and immediately after retiring to
give place to the next.
" The ceremony had nearly been concluded,
when the secretary read the name of Rev.
James T ; an elderly gentleman, with a
weather-beaten face, clad in a suit of Jeans,
and he came forward. Few seemed to know
him. He had always been on circuit or the
froutier ; and though always at Conference,
lie never troubled it with long speeches, but
kept his seat ami said but little—that little,
however, was always to the purpose. Mr.
T came forward and was introduced to
General Jackson. lie turned his face towards
the General, who said, " it seems to me that
we have met before." The preacher, appar
ently embarrassed, said, " I was with you
through the Creek campaign —one of your bo
dy guard at the battle of Horse shoe—and
fought under your command at New Orleans."
The Geueral rose slowly from his seat, and
throwing his long, withered, bony arms around
the preacher's neck, exclaimed : " We'll soon,
meet where the smoke of battle never rolls up
its sulphurous incense 1" Xevt r before or since
have I seen so many tears shed as then flowed
forth from the eyes of that vast assembly—
Every eye was moist with weeping. Eleven
years have passed away since that day. The
old hero has been more than ten in his silent
and narrow home. The voice that cheered the
drooping fight, and thundered in the rear of
routed armies is silent forever. The old preach
er, too. has fought his last battle, laid his ar
mor by, and gone home to his eternal rest."
THROW A LITTLE OF THAT IX. — " Cau you
take oft'my baird here?" said a grave, tall,
slab-sided Yankee to an Albany barber ; feel
ing at the same time his chin with a noise like
a grater. " It's a light baird ; what d'yer
tax * Three cents for a light baird, ain't it V
" Yes."
" Waal, go ahead, then."
While the barber was rasping three eent.-j
worth from his chin, his "sitter"saw an as
sistant putting cologne upon a customer's hair,
through a (piili in the cork of a bottle.
" Look o'here, squire," said the Yaukec,
" can't you squirt some o' that jtpjrr sarst on
to my head, tew ? Say, can't you throw a
little o' that in, for three cents ?"
PICTURE OF LIFE. —In youth we seem to bo
climbing a hill, at whose top eternal sunshine
seems to rest. How eagerly we pant to attain
the summit ! But when wc have attained it,
how different is the prospect on the other side !
We sigh as we contemplate the dreary waste
before us, and look back with a wistful eye up
on the flowery path we have passed, but may
never more retrace. Life is a porteutious
cloud, fraught with thunder storm and rain ;
but religion, like those streaming rays of sun
shine, will clothe it with light as with a gar
ment, and fringe its shadowy skirts with gold.
THE SOLAR SYSTEM. —The mass of the sun,
as deduced by Laplace from the law of uni
versal gravitation and the theory of ecutrat
forces, is 354,936 times the sum of the mas
ses of the earth and moon. The calculation
of Prof. Encke has increased this to 355,499.
This is 356,551 times the mass of the earth
alone, and more than 700 times that of all tho
planets taken together. The system of plan
etary bodies revolving around the sun, con
sists, so far as known at present, of 41 prima
ry planets, 20 satellites, 3 planetary rings, atul
about 800 comets.
A colored preacher eloquently told his
good brethren they "would mount on wea
gle's ings, and sore to de land of catfich and
eels, where de graby runs down bofe sides of
yer mouf. Yea, verily de day will cum when
you all will mount on de weaglc's iugs, and
play upon de harp ob a thousan' strings !"
" SONNY, who is your father ?"
" Mr. Jenkius."
" What .Jenkins ?"
" Why, the Jenkins what kicked you ves
terday for sassin' our servant girl."
It is unnecessary to say that the conversa
tion stopped there.
(JRKAT FI.IUUTY OF LANGIWGF. —School-
master—" What arc the three great requisites
of penmanship V'
Smart boy—" Legibilitivencss, despateliivc
uess, aud skyrographicaldclusiveness.
Master—"(ood boy—take the medal!"
" Patrick, where is Bridget?" " Fn
dade tna'am, she's fast aslape looking at the
bread baking."
JSkjy* A Western editor cautious his tall rea
ders against kissing short women, as the habit
has rendered him round shouldered