OXE DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOW-AISTDA. :
(TlptrsDan fflornittn, (April lU, 1837.
Stiffteb |)oftrn.
THE PLACE WHERE MEN SHOULD DIE.
How little reck.- 5 it where men lie,
When once the moment's past
In which the dim andg'a/ing eye
Has looked on earth its last—
Whether iieneath the sculptured urn
The coffined form shall rest,^
Or, in it- nakedness, return
Back to its mother's breast.
Death is a common friend or foe,
As different men may hold ;
And at his summons each must go—
The timid and the bold !
B when the spirit, free and warm,
Deserts it, as it must,
What matter where the lifeless form
Dissolves again to dust ?
The soldier falls—'mid corpses piled,
Upon the battle plain.
Where restless war steeds gallop wild
Above the mangled slain ;
li.it, though his corpse he grim to see,
Hoof trampled on the sod.
What recks it, when the spirit free
Has soared aloft to God !
The coward's dying eyes may close
Upon his downy lied,
Vud softest hands his limbs compose,
Or garments o'er them spread ;
Bat ye, wh > .-ban the bloody fray,
Where fall the mangled brave,
Go—(-trip his c-illin lid away,
And see him—iu liis grave !
Twere sweet, i d-.-c-d. to cio-e our eyes,
With tho. e we cherish near,
An 1 waited upward s , by their sighs,
Soar to soni; calmer sphere.
But. whether on tl.e scaffold high,
Or iu the battle's van,
The littc-t place where man can die
Is where he dies for man !
ist fll ;tn fo\\ s.
How Printing Type are Made.
In lh a manufacturing of printing type various
processes are gone through, all requiring verv
great accuracy anil cure. Many Improvements
have been made, nor is it improbable that
more will be eflected. \\ e shall give a brief,
and we hope a clear description of the mod
em manufacture of type, as we have observed
it in a largo establishment of this city. Each
"stalil'-hM.eiit has peculiarities of its own, but
the general principles are the same.
The letters, etc., are first cut upon a steel
punch. This requires great skill. The char
acters are oftentimes extremely minute, and
every pains is taken to procure not only indi
vidual beauty, but. general uniformity. Not
only letters, but figures, signs and ornaments
in endless varieties, are thus cut. There are
al.-o spaces used to separate words. (Quad
rats, which are larger than spaces, separate
sentences, and in general occupy that posi
tion among type that is represented by the un
printed parts, both the spaces and quadrats
being shortci than type, in a full font of
ivpc tiire are abi ut three hundred different
1 iiaraeters. Ihe cost of the separate punches
varies from two to f f:y dollars. After the
punch has been cut, it is indented to a certain
depth into a block of copper ; this is called
".he matrix. Kleclrotyping lias of late years
Wen u-ed for the purpose of obtaining matri
ces from the type itself, by which means type
Hinders have been enabled to avail them
selves of each other's labor. Business morali
ty is a most elastic quality, and it would be a
u-eles expenditure of time to question the pro
priety of the practice.
An apparatus denominated the mold, is used
for forming the body of the type, and to this
mold, which answers for all the types of a
e.nit, the different matrices are adjusted as re
quired. He who adjusts the matrices to the
molii is ealied a jnstiher or more commonly a
titter. Ail the types of a font are of the
i aiiie length and depth, though the letters up
on them vary in their dimensions. The mold
so constructed as to admit of the width be
'g altered to suit the letters to be oast ; thus
tin- letter I, which is very narrow, is upon the
body of a type, the perpendicular face of
u ':i his exactly the same as that of the letter
which is several times as wide. It is uec
*->;iry that the bodies of types should also
ave their lines at exact right angles ; with
-1 ut this they would not stand in line, and con
wijiientiy would he useless. If the types va
■ til ju height, they would not give a perfect
' npression, in endeavoring to obtain which,
-o.'Lie would be subjected to an injurious pres
sure. A few types have a portion of the face
"f the letter projecting over the body, as in
' ut l letter f ; this projection is called the kern,
-'.il in combination with other letters the pro
dug part generally extends over the next
ttr-r as in fe. IN these combinations, where
■ the kern would come iu contact with ano
'• '-IT letter, compound types are cast, as in the
of If, fi, fl, fli and 111. Some years ago
btse combinations were much more numerous,
ut many have been dispensed with by alter-
: '.- r the form of the letter.
Ihe next operation is that of casting.—
l 't old method, which is even to the present
aeticiallv used in England, may lie thus
•'-H-rihed. The matrix having been adjusted I
mold, is taken by the caster in his left I
•''' At his right, upon a furnace, is a pot j
: n'>hen metal. This metal lie dips out in
'•■' able quantities with a small ladle, anil
• into the mold, at the same time giving
T : "k upward jerk, for the purpose of forc
die im-tal well into the matrix, to give the
' gooi face. A spring which holds the
' r;x in i*s proper position, is then moved ;
matrix pried out from the type, the mold
and the type thrown out. By this
•' n ! an avenge of about 400 0 type a day
can be cast by one man. An inaportant im
provement was made in IHI4, by Archibald
Binsey, of Philadelphia, whereby, with one
motion of the hand, the matrix was thrown
out and the mold opened. The invention in
creased the rapidity with which types were
cast at least fifty per cent. Type ousters ac
quired great expertness, and with the hand
moid were enabled to east with great rapidity,
but only for a short time.
In 1828 the costing machine was patented
by \\ illiain M. Johnson, an ingenious citizen
of New York, and put in operation in Mr.
White's foundry, since which time it has been
greatly improved. By this contrivance, a
pump inserted into the molten metal injects
the requisite quantity into the mold, which is
brought sharply into contact with the piston ;
the mold then eouies off from the puuip, opens
and discharges the type into a box. In type
foundries, generally, this machine is worked
by baud ; but in the one we had the pleasure
of examing, steam power is successfully ap
plied. At least three times the number of tyue
can he cast by the machine than by the ordi
nary hand mold, and a velocity of 200 revo
lutions per minute (each revolution forming
one type) has occasionally been obtained,
though the actual Results are by no means to
be based upon that fact. Various causes op
erate to prevent a* long continuance of sneh
speed.
The type, after being discharged from the
mold, has a piece of metal called the jet, at
tached to the bottom : this is broken off by a
boy called the breaker, and the singular swift-
ness of his motions is truly astonishing.—
Smart lads, or girls who have great experience,
perform all these operations with socli rapidity
as to pain the eye that observes them. The
j jets having been removed, the type are taken
to another room, where boys and girls arc cu
; gaged iu rubbing off the inequalities upon tiie
I .-ides. This effected by bringing the rype in
contact with a smooth stone, prepared for the
purpose, and moving it from side to side. The
] rubbers generally smooth several at the same
time. Those letters which are kerned as be
-1 fore described, cannot be wholly rubbed upon
a flat surface, aud they are consequently filed
smooth by an ingenious contrivance, which
prevents the kern from being injured.
After lids operation the types are set to
: get.hcr, with tlie faces downward, in a compo
sing stick eight inches long, and thence are
transferred to the setting stick, which is one
yard in length. Those who do this are called
setters. The dresser now takes the setting
stick, and placing the line of type upon a flat
surface, tightens it with a screw : then, with
a piece of steel having sharp angles, lie rubs
off the edges, turning the line of type for that
purpose. They are then placed, face down
ward, in a vice, and tiie dresser, with a plane,
cuts a small groove in the end, over the place
from which the jet has been removed. lie
now carefully examines the faces with a mag
nifying glass, rejecting all such as arc in the
least imperfect. The types are now formed,
and they are placed together, side by side, up
on a small beard with a frame on three edges,
until there is a page. The page is uniform in
size, being C 4 12 inches. A cord is then
drawn several times tightly around the page,
and it is wrapped up in paper ready fjr the
printer.
Type metal is readily fusible, and is compo
sed of antimony, tin, and lead. These are
used in various proportions, aecordii g to the
size of the 1 >tter and the degree of elasticity
required. Lately, a process, by which tiie
face of of type is coated with copper, there
by increasing its durability, Las been adopted
to a considerable extent.
Until within a few years tbre were but a
few varieties of type in use—now they are to
be counted by hundreds. They are cast from
the most minute size up to large blocks hav
ing a surface face of sixtceeu square inches.
Of Diamond type (the smallest size in use)
201 lines measure 3 2 inches. Of an averaged
size Diamond letter, 01,274 may be impressed
on a surface of one square foot ; and there
are Diamond spaces so small that 203,187 will
go to a square foot, or 1.411 to the square
inch ; and of these about 0,200 are obtained
from one pound of until. The largest letter
regularly supplied by type founders is called
twelve iilie pica ; these are two inches on the
face, varying in width with the letter. The
largest sizes that We see on show biils Ac., are
cut in wood.
Such is a brief, and we feel a very imperfect
sketch of the origin, progress, and present
condition of an art which has already accom
plished so much for mankind. Eulogiuin has
been exhausted in its praise—it is beyond all
praise ; like the sun, the air, it is a necessity
—the art preservative of all arts. It has en
lightened ignorance, dispersed error, coiivcte-1
superstition, overthrown armies. It strength
ens tiie brave, encourages the timid, inspires
the desponding, and consoles the afflicted. Its
light penetrates the darkest dungeon, and
cheers the most humble cottage. Truth ac
companies it and error flies-before it. It will
regenerate the world !— ohr want men Tcel
graph.
An elderly single lady, with a taste so
fastidious that she refused to have the Chris
tian Observer taken in the house, for she said
it was often lying in the room when she want
ed to dress, and she would not dress with an
observer in the room, even if it was a chris
tian—inquired at one of the fashionable dry
goods stores for nice silk hose. The attentive
clerk displayed the articles, and the lady ex
amined them narrowly, passed her hand down
oue of them and holding it up as if to see its
length, asked :
" How high do tliey come ?"
The clerk, not thinking that she meant the
price, blushed to liis brows, and stammered
out, " Well, really, Miss—Madame—l think
about to the knee !"
" Well, you are the 've plus ultra ' of all
clerks. I did't know there could be such a
fool," and leaving the hose on tho counter, she
sailed aw av.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. O'MEARA GOODRICH.
" RE3ARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
Ths Light of Home.
A traveller returning towards his home af
ter long wanderings in a distant land, his heart
was full of happiness and hope. Many years
had passed since lie had seen his father and
mother, and the thought of so soon meeting
.them again gave wings to his feet. While he
was still upon the mountains which lie had to
cross before reaching his native village, night
can e on, and for some time it was so dark that
[ Ire could scarcely see the staff in his hand ; and
when lie descended inio the valley, he lost his
way, and wandered backwards and forwards,
til! at length, in deep sorrow, he murmured to
himself ; "Oh that I could meet with some
fellow creature who would guide back into the
right road, after all my useless efforts to Hud
it, with what gratitude would 1 repay him !"
So saying, he stood still, and watched for a
guide. While he was waiting, uncertain
which way to turn his steps, he saw gleaming
in tlie distance a feeble light amidst the dark
ness, and its beams cueered him as it flickered
in the gloom.
" Ilail !" cried lie, " though messenger of
rest ! Thou tellest ine of the neighborhood
of some dwelling-place where I can obtain
shelter, and food, and repose. The glowing
beams of the morning sun have never seemed
to me so gladdening, as thy feeble ray which
now shines before me."
He went with hasty steps towards the dis
tant light, expecting each moment to see the
man who bore it. But it was only a " Will
o'-the Wisp," which taking its rise from the
marshy lands, hovered over the stagnant pools,
lie, however, wandered on, beguiled by it, till
lie came to the steep bank of a river. Just
at titat moment he heard a loud voice behind
hill).
"Stop, if yon w'sii to avoid death !"
It was the voice of a fisherman who called
to him from his boat.
" Why," said lie astonished, " should I not
follow the friendly light? I am a traveller and
have lost my way."
" Friendly light do you call it ?" returned
the fisherman, " it is but a treacherous vapor,
and lures men to destruction f-ee how un
steadily it gleams this evil droduotiou of night
and da kness "
A - lie sp. ice the flickering marsh-light ex
pired. The traveller thanked the man for his
preservation with heartfelt gratitude ; but lie
was astonished, and said :
" You ought to thank God, for he it was
who so ordered it that I should be in my boat
upon this river. How can a man see his bro
ther man in error and not strive to guide liiin
into the right way ?"
Then the kind hearted fisherman directed
the traveller in the road to liis father's dwell
ing. He followed the pnth pointed out to
liini, and soon saw the welcome light of home
shining with a bright and steady ray, now
doul ly dear to him from the many dangers
and difficulties lie had gone through before
reaching it. He knocked, the door was open
ed ; and parents, brothers and sisters, hung
round his neck, kissed him, and wept tears of
joy at his return.
" JACKS IN OFFICE."—A number of politi
cians, all of whom were seeking office under
government, were seated on the tavern porch,
talking, when an old toper named I) ,came
lip to them. Now said D is a person who
is very loquacious when "Corned," but exactly
the opposite when sober. At the present time
h ing " tight," lie said if the company had no
objections lie would tell them a story. They
told him to " lire away," whereupon lie spoke
as follows :
" A certain king—don't rccoilect his name
—had a philosopher upon whose judgment he
alto ays depended. Now it so happened that
one day the king took it into his head to go a
hunting, and after summoning his nobles and
making all necessary preparations, he summon
ed his philosopher and a-ked him if it would
rain. Tiie philosopher told him it would not,
and he and his nobles departed. While jour
neying along, they met a countryman mounted
en a jackass ; |.e advised tlieui to return, 'for,'
said he, 'it will surely rain.' They smiled con
temptuously upon him, and passed on. Before
they had gone many miles, however, they had
r< ason to regret not having taken the rustic's
advice, as a iieuvjfcshowor coming up,they were
drenched to the skin. When they had return
ed to the palace, the king reprimanded the
philosopher severely for telling him it would
lie clear when it was not. ' I met a country
man,' sa d lie, ' and he knows a great deal more
than you, for he told me it would rain, where
as you told me it would not.'
" The king then gave the philosopher his
walking paper, and sent for the countryman,
who made his appearance. 'Tell me,' said the
king, ' iiow you knew it would rain ?' ' I didn't
know,' said the rustic, 'my jackass toid me.'
" And how, pray, did he tell you?' tiie king
asked in astonishment 'By pricking up his
ears, your majesty.' The king now sent the
countryman away ; procuring the jackass he
placed him in the office the philosopher had'
filled. And here," observed 1) , looking
very wise, " here is where the king made a mis
take." " llow so," inquired liis auditors.—
" Why ever since that time," said 1) , with
a grin on liis phiz, " ccery jackass wants an of
fice C ' j
TTAO HER THERE. —Two little girls—one
daughter of a clergyman, and the other of a
parishioner—feU into angry dispute. To mor
tify and spite her antagonist, the layman's lit
tle girl saw fit to remind her of her father's
well known poverty, and intimated rather tart
ly that had it not been for father's benevolent
interference the poor minister would have
been in the workhouse. " Well I don't care,"
replied the other, "if it had not been for my
father yours would have been in hell long
ago."
A TCDKNT in want of money soid his books
and wrote home, " Father, rejoice ; for I now
derive my support from literature.''
Election of County Superintendent.
This may possibly be the last number of the
Journal that will meet the eyes of Directors,
before they assemble to elect County Superin
tendents for the next three school years. The
proper performance of duty, so as to ef
fect the original design of the liberal and fur
seeing Legislature which established the office,
will lie of incalculable benefit to the State, and
the contrary will he equally injurious. It is,
therefore, our design, as one amongst the thou
sands of Pennsylvanians who have been watch
ing the workings of this new feature in our
educational system, with intense interest, frank
ly to state the conclusions to which our obser
vations have led.
Three years ago, few Directors or others
had any clear view of the necessity, nature,
mode of operation or probable results of this
office. The natural consequences were, in the
first instance, numerous mistakes in selection
and compensation. These have been, we think,
erroneously attributed, both in am' out of the
State, to a settled purpose to defeat the office,
out of general hostility to the system itself.—
In a few cases this feeling may have had its
influence ; but iu most., the action complained
of really grew out of mere want of knowledge
ot the nature of the office itself, and an honest
belief that such an addition to the expense and
the working machinery of the system was whol
ly unnecessary. Whatever m:iv have been
the cause, however, it is certain that, in 1854,
the duty of selecting County Superintendents
was so perform-id as to produce one or other
of the three following results : Either,
I An incompetent person was chosen, who,
of course, failed, no matter what the suiarv.
Or,
2. A competent person was chosen, who, in
most cases, failed or was greatly crippled in
liis operations by total inadequacy of salary
Or,
3. A competent person was selected, with
adequate salary, who fulfilled the just expec
tations of the friends of the measure.
From this it would appear that fitness in the
person and adequacy of compensation are the
elements—tiie essential conditions—of success.
Of course, as in all other complex affairs, there
are instances that appear to conflict with this
conclusion ; but on close inspection they will
be found rather to confirm it. For example ;
one Superintendent may have been so well
qualified for the station and so devoted to the
system, that he discharged its duties at a most
shamefully adequate salary. But who will ar
gue from t!iis, that it is the right of the pub
lic to impress such a burthen on private means
or individual patriotism ; Or, it may have been
tiiat all the conditions appeared to be secured
—both adequacy of salary aud " skill and ex
perience iu the art of teaching,"—yet failure
ensued. Yet who will condemn the office of
County Superintendent, because, here and
there, a good teacher may have made a poor
Superintendent? Many an able lawyer makes
a miserable Judge ; few of the most successful
practising physicians are qualified for the Pro
fessor's chair ; and so, n capital teacher of
boys may not succeed as the Teacher of Tea
chers, and the administrative officer of a com
plicated school system
It would be no difficult task, at the present
juncture, to run over the whole State and show
the correctness of the conclusions jnst stated.
Cases of full success or of entire failure, or of
partial failure or success might be instanced,
in strict accordance with them. But it is nei
ther proper nor necessary. What we have to
do with, now, are general results. These are
so plain that he who runs may read, and re
quire no announcement of the facts on which
they rest, from 'is.
Taking it for granted, then, that oxncrience
has fully justified the wisdom of the Legisla
ture in requiring the selection of a fit person
and t lie payment of a sufficient salary, for this
oilice, two questions arise :
1. Who is a tit person for the office ?
2. What is a sufficient salary ?
In answer to the first question, it mar. in
the words of the school law, he replied that
fitness consists in
1. " Literary and scientific aequirearntsT—
These are both indispensable, and the degree
of them should be considerable. In every
county, schools of every rank and grade—
from the primary to the high school, with its
full round of branches—either are or must
soon come into existence ; and to discharge
the office properly, the Superintendent must
be qualified " to examine " ail the Teachers,
" to visit " them, and to "give such instruc
tions in (lie Art of Teaching and tiie method
thereof in caeli school " as the condition and
grade of each shall require. llow can this be
done, except by one who is scholar enough to
teach the teacher of tiie highest branch taught
in tiie highest school in his eountv.
2. " Skill and experience in the Art. of Teach
ing" is another requisite ami is also extra t
j eil by the law :—not only skill to know hut
practice to do. It is no doubt true, that, in
j some instances, the office has been well filled
by persons of no great, or possibly of no netn
•ai experience in the art. This is owing to the
known fact that some men have naturally in
them so much of the elements of the Teacher
and such a love for the work and the cause,
as to supply, to a great degree all other de
fects. But the exception only proves the rule:
for the instances of failure for want of this
element have been too numerous to leave the
question doubtful. The safer and the legal
rule, is, in all cases, to require this " skill and
experience."
But mere learning and professional skill arc
not sufficient, unless, as the law and the neces
sity of the ease everywhere intimate, they are
accompanied with the power to luakc them ef
ficient. Hence,
3. Ability to impart knowledge and give in
formation publicly, as well as priralely. is indis
pensable. Since the passage of the act of 1 fc>-
5-1, —in addition to the public meetings for the
examination of teachers, and the public visita
tion of schools in the presence of directors and
parents thereby prescribed,—the holding 1 of
I district and county institutes, associations and
I meetings, for the improvement of teachers, and
the delivery of public lectures aiul addresses
for the furtherance of the system and explana
uation of the law, have become so general and
are found to be so beneficial, that they may
now lie regarded as an integral part of the
Superintendent's duties. All these occasions
impose the duty of addressing the public ; and
the officer who does not do it, no matter what
the cause, fails in his duty. The ability,there
fore, to speak in public should be embraced
amongst the requisites of fitness fur the office.
4. Energy of character and loir for the
work, are the last essentials that need be speci
fied Without these, the highest degree of
scholastic attainment, of professional skill, and
of power of expression will fail, for the great
moving forces of the required character will be
: w anting. With these present in large degree,
I even a medium of qualification in other res
; poets, may succeed.
Amongst the qualifications necessary to this
most important office, it is, of course, not deem
ed requisite to speak of temperance, honesty
or industry, nor of common sense, suavity of
manners, or knowledge of human nature.—
These arc requisites to the safe and efficient
discharge of every public trust ; the one in
question being no exception to the general rule
but rather demanding tlieni in a greater de
gree than most others. Iu a word, and aside
from special requisites, the nearer the charac
ter of a County Superintendent approaches to
that of the Christian gentleman, the greater
will lie his acceptance and snecess.
The answer to the questiou : What is an
adequate salary 'I will depend mainly on the
locality ; and the experience of the past three
years will, in many eases, modify past action
on this point. Many of the Conventions fix
ed the salary in 1854, under a total or very
material misapprehension of the nature of the
office, the amount of service required and the
degree of good to be effected. Now, in many
parts of the State, all these points are clearly
comprehended, and the action of directors will
no doubt he different. No one who knows the
people of Pennsylvania will, for a moment, sup
pose that injustice will be done in regulating
the compensation of those who are found to be
amongst the most useful, most laborious aud
most important of our public agents. The ac
tual amount must, as just remarked, dejiend on
the circumstances of each ease*; still, certain
general principles are indicated by the nature
of the office and the wants of the schools,
which it may be useful to elicit.
The first point to be determined is, whether
the whole, or only a portion, of the officer's
time will be required for the full discharge of
the duties of the office. This will wholly de
pend on the number of schools in the county.
If they are materially over 100 and should be
increased, then the best policy and the course
most productive of good, will be to pay for
and require his whole time and services. In
such cases more than half of the year may be
most beneficially devoted to school visitation,
which to be effectual, should be full nnd fre
quent. The rest of the year can be profitably
devoted to tlie improvement of the teachers in
one or more institutes of greater or less dura
tion, to tiie officer's own improvement and to
t lie preparation of his reports, Ac.
In smaller countjes a less portion of the offi
cer's time will be needed, and the salary in fly
lie in proportion ; but in ail cases enough
should be given to secure his whole time and
efforts to the service of the schools while in
operation, and to the improvement of the tea
chers during a portion of the recess.
The only other general principle to be kept
in view in arranging the salary, is that of mak
ing it large enough to command the very best
professional talent within the reach of the Con
vention. For reasons already given, no ether
should be thought of.
Tire man, then, whom Law, Experience and
the Wants of the system demand for County
Superintendent is :— A practical Teacher, who
is aha an accomplished scholar, and a ready
public speaker ; with sufficient lore for it to un
dertake, and energy to perform, the great work
before him ; and the sal cry should be sufficient
to a mjensate him, as far as money ran. for the
efficient discharge of so great a labor.
Wherever such a man is found, he should be
selected. Wherever he has already been found
lie should be retained.
At the present time it may be proper to re
call to the attention of Conventions to elect
County Superintendents, that section forty of
the school law of Bth May, 1854, confers upon
the State Superintendent of Common Schools,
very considerable powers in reference to the
commissioning of the persons elected. The
words alluded '.o are these : " If objection be
made within thirty days to the issuing of such
commission, the Superintendent of Common
Schools may require such evidence, under oath
or affirmation, in regard to the election or qual
ification of the person elected County Superin
tendent, as lie shall deem necessary, and shall
then issue his commission to the person proper
ly qualified, who shall have received the high
est number of votes."
Under this provision it is competent for any
citizen, and it would seem to be liis duty, to
make objection to the commissioning of an nti
quahfied person, and to set iu operation, for
the good of the system in this respect, the po j
wers vested in the State Superintendent. In j
view of this fact, the true course for 1 L rectors j
in their Convention will be, to vote for none
unless such as by learning and professional
skill are fully qualified to discharge all the du
ties of the office.— Ta. School Journal, April.
Goon RULES FOR Al.T..—Profane swearing
is abominable. Vulgar language is disgusting.
Loud laughing is impolite. I nqnisiti venous is
offensive. Tattling is mean. Telling lies is
contemptible. Slandering is devilish. Igho
ranee is disgraceful, and laziness is shameful.
Avoid nil the above vices, and aim at useful
ness. This is the road in which to become
respectable. Pride is a curse—a,hateful vice.
*<ever act the hypocrite. Keep good compa
ny. Speak the truth at all times. . ever be
discouraged, but persevere, and mountains
will become mole hills.
VOL. XVII. NO. 45.
A New and Certain Mode of Coring the
u Shakes."
A stranger, in passing through the lower
counties of North Carolina and Virginia, will
he struck by tlie sickly, cadaverous complex
ion of many of the inhabitants thereof; this
is occasioned by their proximity to the swamps
and pocosins, whose poisonous exhalations they
are constantly breathing, and which forms a
fruitful source for that scourge of the lowlands,
chills and fever.
A few months ago, while riding with a
' friend, we halted for a few moments at the ca
bin of a shingle-cutter, for the purpose of ob
taining some water for ourselves and horse ;
while there, we entered into conversation with
the proprietor of the premises. Onr first in
quiry, as to the health of himself and family,
was answered, as his appearance indicated,
" the chills and fever troubled tneiu occasion
ally." On further conversation, we advised
him to ptocure the medicine we named, one
that had been patented by some physician, and
was strongly pulled by some papers, as an in
fallible cure for the ague, and a great renova
tor of the system. The man shook his head
incredulously,
"Stranger, " doetors may invent and pay
editors to write and print about their medi
cines to cure the ague and other diseases—
by so doing they have taken many a hard ear
ed dollar from poor meu like myself—but they
won't get another dollar from me in a hurry 1
for, sir, I have tried them and their medicines
—they won't do down here in the bottoms.—
Now, sir, you see that boy there, (pointing to
a white headed pumpkin colored lad, whose
age ranged somewhere between twelve and
twenty ;) well, that boy, a month ago, was
taken by the swamp shakes, and, .Tc-hu ! they
gin him goss ! Bless your heart, you people
who live in town don't know what the real
shakes are ; but here's the place to see, as well
as to feci them. Why, sir, the very first day,
Bill shook himself right out of bed and into
the nshc=, and kept up such a racket, that the
old woman hustled me off after a doctor. I
found one in town, and he eauie out with me.
Bill, however, was better when we came back
but the doctor stayed with us, for, lie said, he
wanted to have a fair chance to keep off the
xt attack. Well, he went to work on the
boy, he dosed and lie drenched him. as I would
have done a liorse with the cliolic, but it
did him no good—for the next day the boy
was down again ; this time he shook himself
not only out of bed bat clean out of his breech
es, and came nigh burning his skin, for he got
into the fire. The doctor worked away like
blazes, sometimes a tussling with the boy, all
over the room, knocking over the pans, table
and benches, trying to keep him in bed—but
no sooner did lie git him there, than out he
would come again, with his teeth chattering
and hair on end. The doctor fout the var
mint his darndest all day, but lie couldn't face
him—lie was badly whipped certain—l told
him he might go. Now, thinks I to myself,
I'll try my hand to morrow, and see how my
medicine will act ; so as soon as I got up 1
went to that chinquapin bnsh over yonder, and
cut me about the all-firedcst long switch you
ever laid eyes on. When I got back, I poked
up Bill, who was rolled up in bed ; and says I.
" Sonny, sonny, how do you feel yourself
this morning
" Why, daduy," says he, robbing his eyes,
" I feel bad enough ; that blasted old shakes
is comin on, and it's agoin to give me (its agin."
"Bit up, sonny," says I, "and come out
here into the yard, I want yon to help me
drive out the old sow, for she's making awful
work in our tatcr patch."
In a few minutes Bill came out, with noth
ing on but his shirt. As soon as he got well
out of the lionse, I gave him sucli a wipe
around his naked logs, that he jumped about
ten feet, yelling like an Injun.
" Now, then, my boy," says T, ' run!' and
away he went around the field like a steam in
gine. Every time he began to slacken his
pace, I applied the chinquapin medicine to his
hide. 1 kept him traveling, you may be sure;
every time we came towards the house I pnsh
: cd him the harder to keep him from gittin in.
Bill would only have time to sing out—' Oh !
Mammy !' when he would dart by oat of hear
in. Now, the old woman was gittin breakfast
at the time of the rumpus, and on looking out
got her natcr considerably riled at seeing Bill
catching it so fast—and the racket he was
making, led her to think he had nearly give
out. On our approaching the house for the
fourth heat, she could stand it no longer—for
grabbing up the long handled frying pan that
was on the lire, full of herrings, out she came,
crying—
•' Blast your pictcr ! fight me awhile, and
let the boy rest."
With that she brought down the durnedold
pan, herrings and all, on the top of my cocoa
nut, so hard that it capsized me fiat into the
hog trough. 1 didn't care so mu'-h for the
lick, although it made my head ache for a week
afterwards, but one of them hot herrings got
inside of my shirt, and, Je-ru-sa-lem ! how it
burnt ! It actually branded mc before I get
it out. Herrings is mighty good generally
but they ain't comfortable as a poultice, no
how. When I got up. Bill had gout; into the
house, sweating like a stage horse in July.—
He hasn't been troubled with the shakes since.
Teat's the way 1 cured bun. Stranger, give
us a chaw tobacco."
Focsn AT LAST. —Tom Kirkmnnnsed to tell
of a friend of his dropping 1 in about dinner
time on an old lady, who invited him to draw
up to the table. There was a lingo pie of the
pot order for dinner. The old lady helped him
bountifully, and he being hungry, was doing
justice to it.
" Stranger," said the old lady, " you will
fiud almost every kind of meat, in that pie."
" Yes, madam," F aid he "aud fish too," as
he drew from between his lips what he imagin
ed was the backbone of a red horse sucker.
" Lor' have rnarcy 1" exclaimed the old wo
man, " If thar ain't onr fine tooth comb that
Hilly 10-t two week;