TERMS OF PUBLICATION.
The REPORTER is published every Thursday Morn
ing, bv E. O. Goodrich, at s'2 per annum, in ad
vance.
VPVERTISEMENTH are inserted at TEN CENTS
per liue for first insertion, and FIVE CENTS per line
f,>r subsequent insertions. A liberal discount is
made to persons advertising by the quarter, half
war or year. Special notices charged one-half
more than regular advertisements. All resolutions
~f Vssociations : communications of limited or in
dividual interest, and notices of Marriages and
Deaths exceeding five lines, are charged TEN CENTS
p.-r line.
1 Year, fi mo. 3 mo.
One Column SSO $35 S2O
k " 30, 25 15
One Square, 10 7J 5
Administrator's and Executor's Notices.. $2 (X)
Auditor's Notices 2 50
business Cards, five lines, (per year) 5 00
Merchants and others, advertising their business,
will be charged sls. They will be entitled to 4
column, confined exclusively to their business, with
privilege of change.
•'"—Advertising in all cases exclusive of sub
scription to the paper.
JOB PRINTING of every kind in Plain and Fan
cy colors, done with neatness and dispatch. Hand
bills, Blanks, Cards, Pamphlets, Ac., of every va
riety and style, printed at the shortest notice. The
Reroutes Office has just been re-fitted with Power
Presses, and every thing in the Printing line can
b, executed in the most artistic manner and at the
lowest rates. TERMS INVARIABLY CASH.
V.r.uUonl fJUjwrter.
PETROLEUM.
For many years Cotton has been called
King. But there are abundant indications
at the present that his majesty has been de
throned, and that another power has usurped
his place.
It is but a few years since that Petroleum
became known to the American public, or
to the world, and it is astonishing how
great an interest is already concurred in its
production. Four years ago, you might
after much search, procure a few ounces of
a druggist to rub upon a rheumatic joint,
but whether it ever relieved a single rheu
matic twinge or stitch, is still problemati
cal. Now. it is found that hundreds of
thousands of barrels a year will not supply
tin-demand. Every American ship as sac
touches a foreign port is- searched for the
precious product, and the foreign trader di
vides Ids interest in the price of Petroleum
in the New York market, with the price of
gold. It is rapidly taking the place of
every article known to men as a light-giv
ing, lubricating agent; in fact we knowuot,
vet, to how many uses it may be applied.
As great as may have been our ignor
ance of Petroleum, it was known to the
ancients, and some wiseacres maintained
that the slime which hardened and rendered
compact the tower of Babel and the v ails j
, f Babylon, was composed of coal oil, and
further, that when the judgment of the ;
Almighty descended upon the cities of the!
plain, the rocks opened and the burning
springs of petroleum wrapped them in
Humes.
There is a section of tl e United States,
the eastern boundary of which may be sup- |
posed to be the Alleghany ridge, extending !
south to the Georgia line, and west across ]
the Mississippi and Ohio, including large
portimis of .Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and :
Ohio, and on its m rtliern verge a dozen j
counties of north-western Pennsylvania, !
which is underlaid with the Bituminous !
U d fields. This section is also the field!
which at different depths below the surface j
yields Petroleum, rock oil, coal oil, or by !
whatever other name it maybe known.
It is in north-western Pennsylvania upon ;
the Alleghany river and its tributaries that
Petroleum is found in the greatest abun
dance, although many wells have been sunk
in Western Virginia, and a large capital is
at this early day embarked in its search,
even there, notwithstanding the war. Oil
city, in the county of Venango Pa., has be
come a thriving village, and five years ago
it was but a wilderness. Franklin, another I
center of the oil business is fast growing ;
into importance, and all along, up and down |
the river, oil, oil, is the universal cry— j
thousands of wells are sunk, thousands and j
tens of thousands of barrels are filled, lain- ;
dreds of companies are forming, farms and
nil lots are bringing fabulous prices, rail- j
roads are building to afford egress to the '
odorous treasure, and hurry scurry, hustle j
bustle, are the order of the day.
The oil is found at various depths—some •
wells are less than a hundred feet deep,
but those which penetrate from three to six
hundred feet or even eight hundred feet, !
yield the most, and yield the longest. Toe
supply is frequently abundant and over- :
flowing at first, taxing every effort to se- j
cure it, and rising in a jet sixty feet into !
tin' air. I lie flow often ceases altogether, !
but is restored by sinking the wells deeper, ;
or by rimming them as it Is termed, which
consists in enlarging the bore an inch or I
so. equally, all around its circumference.
In one instance this was done in a well of
four hundred feet depth, which as yet, had
given no sign of oil. When this process
had been completed to within fifty feet of
tiie bottom, oil suddenly rose to the top in
J large stream, and the supply has been
steadily continued. The simple enlarge
ment ol the well an inch or an inch and a
half on each side, fortunately opened a ;
urge vein, which the drill had passed,
proving that the oil flows in veins, in-!
tead of being contained in reservoirs.—
lwo or more wells may be near each other
yielding oil, and another in the vicinity
field none.
The well has the true Artesian character.
a spot is selected upon which to commence
'lterations —the tall pyramidal derrick in
elosing it rises in the air—a large reser
oiir is constructed of plank, perhaps, to re
weive the oil, the steam engine to furn'sli
: he power is conveniently placed, and the
first bhiw is struck: then through days,
weeks and perhaps months of unremitting
labor, the work goes on ; inch by Inch, foot
1 y foot, fathom by fathom, the drill enters
the bowels of mother earth to be followed
at last, or to meet the clear, shining, liquid
b ensure, that looks upon the sun for the
'list time after a being in total darkness for
a million of years. *
13. O. GOODRICH, Publisher.
VOLUME XXV.
This liquid substance, or product, thus
procured, is Petroleum, rock oil, or coal oil
as it is often termed. Chemically, it is a
hvdro-carbon—a compound of hydrogen
and carbon —and belongs to a family of
agents which in decomposition or combus
tion, gives off a most brilliant light. It
exists abundantly in nature, and is des
tined to occupy the same position as a
source of light, that coal does as a source
of heat. We have in these two agents an
exemplification*of the goodness of Provi
dence in supplying our race, fr >m the vast
store houses of nature, products of such
prime necessity to domestic life—products
elaborated by natural laws in a period long
antecedent to the existence of man, and
now to be appropriated to his benefit.
A writer in the Philadelphia Press, has
made an estimate of the cost of an oil well
six hundred feet in depth. The whole sum
is nearly seven thousand dollars, but there
are scores and hundreds of them that yield
daily, from three to five hundred barrels of
oil. Think, reader, of the income of the
proprietors of such a well ! Think again
of the present and prospective wealth of
the owner of fifty or a hundred acres of oil
producing land. And those are not imagin
ary cases for just such proprietorshp has
really occurred in a hundred instances.—
Think of the poor boy with little or no ed
ucation, toiling early and lute upon his lit
tle homestead of fifty acres, suddenly and
as if by magic, at a single stride, stepping
into a real, palpable, tangible income of
from three to five thousand dollars a day !
Read the history of Johnny Jones as given
in the Press of Dec. sth :
Johnny Jones (this name is as good as another),
was a simple country boy in the service of a farmer
whose acres were very hard to till, and therefore
twenty years of Johnny's life were given to meagre
crops and bjid roads. He toiled among the wheat
and corn until he grew up to manhood, with no
other accomplishments beyond those necessary for
a good hostler or stage-driver. Johnny Jones,
good hearted in his way. probably attended the vil
lage church with all the devotion of a young man
who had a good suit of clothes and was in love
with a country girl. He married this country girl,
and it is possible with her knowledge of plain
cooking and the mysteries of apple butter, and
Johnny Jones' hard sinews and constant toil, they
might have lived and died very respectable old
people, leaving the farm to their children, and
made no more impression upon the world than any
of their useful and necessary class. But the rain
falls upon the just as well as the unjust, and it
came to pass that Johnny Jones found the poor bar
ren acres that were left to him by his foster mother
to he mines of more wealth than were ever discov
ered in the El Dorado of the far west. He had
enough rude sense to keep him from parting with
them for a frock or a string of beads, like some of
his mere ignorant brethren in West Virginia, and
simply sold enough to have them developed, and
to retain an interest, which, for the last year, has
paid him an income estimated at from three to five
thousand dollars a day. I would not like to be re
sponsible for the effect of an income of this kind
upon any of my friends, nor should I care to have
my own conduct criticised were" I to be in receipt
of so many glorious greenbacks. Johnny Jones
become insane with his new wealth, not in that
sense which implies a straight jacket, or close con
finement ill an infirmary, but with a far more ter
rible meaning. Johnny's sudden wealth carried
him up into the clouds, and, as the heaven of his
early dreams had been sense-gratifying wealth, he
hurried out into the world with his gains, and be
gan to be a great man. Such a fish could not long
be in the sea of American life without having
around him a shoal of sharks, and so Johnny had
not proceeded very far in his new ocean of prosper
ity before a shoal of well dressed sharks—sharks
with diamond rings and astonishing vests—sharks
who knew the mysteries of the gambling-houses
and the bagnio—took possession of him, and be
gan to feed upon his substance. Oft' they went in
their wild career. The poor country wife was left
at home to do her plain cooking, make her apple
lmtter, and astonish ihe neighbors by the display
of several gaudy new dresses. Johnny went to
Philadelphia, showering his favors upon hack-dri
vers who took his fancy, pleasant-spoken gambling
men, and ladies of miscellaneous and cosmopol
itan attachments, and upon all that was wicked and
vile and seducing in the great metropolis. His ca
reer extended to Western and Eastern cities ; and
what with diamond rings and losses, and gsrnb
ling saloons, and presents to all who asked them,
in three months he managed to spend ninety thous
and dollars. lam told that Johnny's new life wore
deeply into his muscles and his sinews, and quite
soddened his poor, feeble brain, and that, as a se
quel to his career, some considerate friends who
thought that his money might he more advantage
ously applied, obtained the interference of the law :
and so Johnny's affairs are now in the hands of a
receiver, and his money is paid to careful, prudent
men, and his great gains are husbanded by others,
while he is only permitted to spend a limited in
come, something, perhaps, like fifty or one hnn
dred dollars per day, which with care and prudence
may enable him to passthrongh this period of his
great calamity, and become a respectable and
worthy old gentleman.
However abundant may be the supply of
the oil in future time, it can never lose its
importance as a valuable product. It may,
and probably will, be cheaper in the mar
ket as more of the country is given up to
its production, but the need it answers will
ever be great. Hold fluctuates in value be
cause it only measures value, but Kerosene
oil supplies a want which must ever exist.
As long as earth casts her shadow, so long
ifinst darkness be made day.
But will the supply of Petroleum con
tinue ? If our view of its origin is correct,
it will flow while the everlasting hills of
coal shall stand, unless, indeed, Bituminous
coal becomes Anthracite—a metamorphosis
which only the ages can effect. Were the
coal fields removed to-day, the earth and
shales in this neighborhood are so plente
ously imbued with Petroleum, as to yield it
lor a lung time to Come, v
Is, then, Petroleum a product of the bi
tuminous coal fields? We have several
facts which favor, though they do not pos
itively prove that belief. Ist. As far as
these fields extend, from the north to the
TOW AND A, 111
south, from the east to the west, through
their whole length and breadth, Petroleum is
found or is contiguous. 2d. Petroleum from
the rocks, and bitumen from the coal, are
identical in all their sensible properties and
in their chemical composition and relations.
3d. All the coal found east of a certain
point or place in the Alleghany inounta ns,
where the stratified rocks show evidence of
violent displacement or upheaval, isAnthra.
cite coal, or coal which has parted with its
Petroleum by the action of excessive heat.
In the vicinity of the Anthracite coal
measures, no Petroleum is found. If the
views here glanced at are correct, then,
through ages back Petroleum has been dis
tilled from Bituminous coal in nature's great
alembic, and gathering in clifts and fissures
of rock has finally been conducted to the
surface in seams made by the strata which
often crop out at great distances from the
coal itself.
But there are other views in respect to the
origin and source of Petroleum. One, very
plausible,, may be seen in a late number of
Harper's Magazine, which is founded upon
the assumption that the localities where the
oil is now met with, were once the shores
of a vast inland sea which were covered
for long, long ages, with a rank gigantic
growth of sea grass, and that these shores
by some great natural convulsion, were
submerged—and buried beneath a superin
cumbent mass of sand and rock, and that
the vegetable growth, subjected to a natur
al ferment, and distillation, became the or
igin of the oil.
There are even other opinions—upon this
point naturalists are not agreed, and it is
quite probable that the truth is yet to be
made known.
But however we may reason upon this
matter, Petroleum is an undisputed fact.
It is now adding much to the comfort,
wealth, and prosperity of the age—it is
coining money, engaging the attention of
business men and the hopes of specula
tors, and enlisting as much effort as iron,
coal, cotton, or gold. "Whatever adds to
the comfort of the masses., is a step in their
advancement, and the humble, simple, in
significant match, and the more pretentious
Kerosene lamp, mark their own period, and
shed their own light upon the civilization
of our race.
Has it ever entered the brains of our
wise ones that Petroleum may be found in
our own neighborhood ? There are two
facts which it were wise to study. One is
that we are in the vicinity of Bituminous
coal, and another is that our geological
formation resembles, if it is not precisely
that, of oil producing sections. It is just
possible that we are too far east, and yet we
are not in the Anthracite region, and we
shall do ourselves no harm to look about
us. We have no great faith in witch-hazel,
but we have an undoubted one in OBSERVA
TION.
IMPERISHABLE.
The pure, the bright, the beautiful,
That stirred our hearts in youth.
The impulse to a wordless prayer,
The dreams of love and truth.
The longings after something lost,
The spirit's yearning cry,
The strivings after better hopes,
These things can never die.
The timid hand stretched forth to aid
A brother in his need.
The kindly word in griefs dark hour.
That proves the friend indeed.
The plea for mercy, softly breathed.
When justice threatens high ;
The sorrow of a contrite heart,
These things shall never die.
The memory of a clasping hand.
The pressure of a kiss,
And all the trifles, sweet and frail,
That make up love's first bliss.
It was a firm unchanging faith,
And holy trust and high.
Those hands have clasped; those lips have met.
These things shall never die.
The cruel and the bitter word.
That wounded as it fell:
The chilling want of sympathy,
We feel but never tell.
The hard repulse that chills the heart.
Whose hopes are bounding high,
In an unfading record kept.
These things shall never die.
Let nothing pass, for every hand
Must find some work to do ;
Lose not a chance to waken love—
Be firm, and just and true,
So shall a light that cannot fade,
Beam oil thee from on high,
And angel voices say to thee,
These things shall never die.
ttesT" Josh Billings has recently had bis
life insured. These are a few of the ques
tions which he answered '"like a man," in
the " coufirmatif
1 Are yu mail or femail! If so, state
how long yu hav been so.
2. Are yu subject tu fits, and if so, du
yu hav more than one at a time.
3. \\ hat is yure precise fiteing weight ?
4. Did yu ever hav enny ancestors, and
if so, how much ?
5. W hat iz yure legal opinion ov the
constitusliiojiality ov the 10 command
ments ?
G. Did yu ever hav enny nite mares, if
so, what is their best time ?
1. Are yu married and single, or are yu
a Bachelor?
8. Do yu beleav in a futur state, if yu
du, state it?
0. What are yure private, centiments
about a rush ov rats tu the head, can it be
diil suceessfuly?
10. Hav yu ever committed suiside, and
if so, how did it seem to affect yu ?
CtaT What is the difference between a
young lady and a soldier ? One powders
the face and the other faces the powder.
IEGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER.
AD FOR I) COUNTY, PA., JANUARY 12, 1865.
gtUtitik jfodnj.
[From the Atlantic Monthly for Jiuiuary.]
MY AITfJI.V WALK.
BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
On woodland ruddy with autumn
The amber sunshine lies :
I look on the befiuty round nie,
Aiul tears come into my eyes.
For the wind that swept the meadows
Blows out of the far Southwest.
Where our gallant men are fighting,
And the gallant dead are at rest.
The golden rod is leaning,
And the purple aster waves
In a breeze from the land of battles,
A breath from the land of graves.
Full fast the leaves are drooping
Before the wandering breath :
As fast, on the field of battle,
Our brethren fell iu death.
Beautiful over my pathway
The forest spoils are shed ;
They are spotting the grassy hillocks
With purple and gold and red.
Beautiful is the death-sleep
Of those who bravely fight,
In their country's holy quarrel,
And perish for the Bight.
But who shall comfort the living,
The light of whose home is gone ;
The bride that, early widowed,
Lives broken-hearted on ;
The matron whose sons are lying
In graves on a distant shore ;
The maiden, whose promised husband
Comes back from the war no more V
1 look 011 the peaceful dwellings
Whose windows glimmer in sight,
With crop and garden and orchard
That bask in the mellow light :
And I know that, when our couriers
With news of victory come,
They will bring a bitter message
Of hopeless grief to some.
Again I turn to the woodlands,
And shudder as I see
The mock-grape's blood red banner
Hung out ou the cedar tree ;
And I think of days of slaughter,
And the night-sky red with flames.
On the Chattahooehee's meadows,
And the wasted hanks of the James.
Oh, for the fresh spring-season,
When the groves are in their prime ;
And far away in the future
Is the frosty autumn time!
Oh, for that better season,
When the pride of tin foe shall yield.
And the hosts of Ood and Freedom
March back from the well-won field :
And the matron shall clasp her first born
With tears of joy and pride :
And the scarred and war-worn lover
Shall claim his promised bride!
The leaves are swept from the branches ;
But tlie living buds are there,
With folded flowers and foliage,
To sprout in a kinder air.
October, 18G1.
THE FEDERAL CHAMELEON.™
One evening' about an hour after the suit
had gone down,a couple of stout men dress
ed in soiled rebel uniforms,and each holding'
iu his hand a good Austrian rifle, rapped at
the door of a small frame building near the
0 road in Virginia.
The knock was answered by an old wo
men whose face was almost concealed by
the tangled masses of her grey, uncombed
hair.
"And what may ye want heah ?" she ex
claimed, as her deep-set eyes Hashed upon
the two men. " I haven't the smallest bit
of Johnny-cake to offer ye, for it was all—"
" No, no," interrupted one of the soldiers,
" we don't want anything to eat ; lmt we
want you to tell us, and that in quick time,
too, whether or not you've seen a slight,
but strong looking slip of a man go by here
of late ?"
"Dressed in blue and carrying a double
barrelled rifle," added the other.
"Iley! hey!" cried the hag, lifting her
hands, and speaking in a sharp, angry
voice, " If ye hadn't interrupted me I reck
on you'd a heard me speak of him before
now, as that was the very man who came
here and bought all my cakes. It was
about two hours ago, and—"
" Which way did lie go after he left you?"
inquired both men, eagerly.
" Before I answer that question you must
tell me who he is," said the old woman,
with the curiosity natural to her sex.
" ITe's a celebrated T'nion scout whom we
call the 'Federal Chameleon,' because he.
changes his uniform so often. Sometimes
it is blue, at other times gray, and he has
even been seen wearing the disguise of an
old farmer, lie has snot more of our men
than is at all pleasant, and we have a rov
ing commission from our colonel to go 011 a
hunt after him and capture him, if we can, |
either dead or alive. And now as we have |
replied to you," continued the speaker a 1
little impatiently, "we demand that you
answer o ir question, and—"
"Demand !" interrupted the hag in shrill,
piercing tones. "Tsthat the proper way
to speak to a woman, and an old woman at
that ?"
"Come, come, answer us if you please,"
cried the soldier in a milder tone. " I meant
110 harm—it is my way of speaking."
" Well, perhaps T may forgive you and
perhaps not," said the old woman, shaking
her head.
" How far is your camp front here?"
" What is that to you ? What has that
to do—"
" There you go again with your accursed
incivility !" shrieked the hag, fiercely; "but
you shall answer my question before you
you get a single word ouU of me. Now,
then, bow far is your camp from here, and
how many men have you in and around it ?
1 intend to carry your fellows some corn
cakes, d'ye see, and I want to know the
number of mouths that I will have to cook
for.''
" ()'i, in that case," said the .rebel, " I do
not see any reason why 1 shouldn't satisfy
you. Our camps, then, are about five miles
from here, near Cross roads, and our
number may be about five thousand."
"That will do," cried the old woman with
a grin of satisfaction, "yes that will do.
And now you are sure that the man xvlio
came here to buy a supper is the one you
are after?"
"We are sure of it, for although we
have never seen the man's face, we'd know
him by his double-barrelled rifle, as nobody
else in the Yankee army carries a weapon
of that kind."
" Ay, ay, it's the right one, then," said
the hag. " After he had finished and paid
for his meal, he says to me, 'Friend, T
should like to put up here for the night, if
you have no objection.' But as I did not
like the idea of accommodating a Yankee
any more than I could help, I told him there
was no room for him, as I expected visitors
before many hours. ' Well, then,' says he,
' can you tell me of any place where I can
pass the night a little comfortably. You
see,' lie added, looking toward his big
double-barrelled rifle. ' I don't like to
camp out, as it looks like rain, and this
piece might be hurt by it.' ' 1 know of no
place,' 1 answered,' short of four miles from
here—an old barn which is tight enough, I
think, to keep off the rain.' ' Fmir miles is
a pretty long distance,' said lie, ' and as I
have been tramping about considerably to
day, 1 don't feel much like carrying this
heavy load so far,' pointing to liis knap
sack as he spoke. 'Will you be kind
enough to let it remain till morning?' 'Well
yes,' said 1, hesitating a little, and throw
ing a significant glance at the well-filled
pocket iiook in his hand. He understood
the look and gave me a greenback dollar.
' All right,' said I, and he then departed,
saying he'd call for his luggage in the morn
ing, after he should waken from his sleep
in the barn. ' Now then,' continued the
speaker, ' which- will ye do—go after him
at once, or wait in ambush for him until
morning ?"
The two soldiers drew back a few paces
and held a short consultation, after which
they again advanced to the side of the old
woman.
" We will go now," said the one who had
spoken first, " that is if you can describe
to us the exact position of the barn.''
" 1 don't think I could describe it so that
you could find it in the dark," replied the
hag, "but us I am willin' to do everything
in my power fur the confederacy, 1 will go
with you to show you the place."
"That is right, the rebel, "and
we'll see that you are rewarded for your
zeal."
" I don't want any reward for helping my
countrymen, replied the other, "I am
always ready to help alon? the cause."
With these words she disappeared into
an inner room, but came forth in a few
minutes with a grey blanket thrown over
her shoulders.
" I took this out of the Yank's knapsack,"
said she, with a short, dry laugh ; " don't
you think it becomes me ?"
" Aye, aye, my good woman, very much.
But lead on, if you please, for we have no
time to lose."
The hag then closed the door of the house.
" Forward march !" she exclaimed, imita
ting the voice of a man with strong lungs.
" Forward march ! Close up ! close up !"
And she moved along the road at a slow
tottering pace natural to a person of her
age.
The night by this time had become very
dark. The sky was obscured with thick
driving clouds, and the wind screamed and
roared among the tall pines that towered
upon each side of the road. Occasionally
a heavy branch wrenched from its native
trunk, would fall into the road with a ter
rific crash, and more than once the rebels
started back and cocked their pieces in the
belief that the din xvas caused by the dis
charge of some Yankee rifle.
" 11 a ! ha ! ha !" laughed the old hag up
on one of these occasions, "it seems to me
that you are easily startled. Don't you
think your commander might have picked
out a pair of bolder hearts than yours for
this expedition ?"
" You'd better keep a silent tongue in
your head, my good woman, until you have
had an opportunity to witness as many
battles as we have," answered one of the
men; "a good soldier is always on his
guard."
"Aye, aye!" replied the old woman;
" but be should know how to distinguish
between the crashing of a dry branch and
the ring of a rifled musket."
The rebel did not relish the noise made by
the loud, sharp tones of the female guide,
and, in order to put an end to the conver
sation, he controlled himself sufficiently not
to reply to her last remark. The party
then continued tlieir way in silence —which
was not broken by either of tliem until they
lied gone about three miles, and a loud,
clear challenge suddenly startled the rebels,
" Halt! Who comes there ?"
" Friend," answered the old woman, in a
ringing voice ; "friend with prisoners !"
"We are betrayed !" yelled her compan
ions, and, even as the words passed tlieir
lips, they were surrounded by a dozen
Federal soldiers, one of whom carried a
lantern.
As the rays of the light flashed upon the
hag, the rebels saw the grey hair, the blan
ket, and the female apparel drop to the
ground, revealing the sl'glit but iron-like
frame of a Union soldier in the prime of
life !
"It is ho, by !" exclaimed the prison
ers, simultaneously, as their glance wan
dered to the long double barrelled rifle,
which he now held in hand ; " it is he-- the
scout—the Federal Chameleon !"
" Aye, aye !" answered the latter, as he
leaned upon his weapon, with aquiet smile.
" You are trapped, sure enough, thanks to
my disguise, which is only one of the many
that I carry in my knapsack. Allow me to
express my thanks to you for the informa
tion you gave.me regarding the position of
your camp and the number of your men. 1
have already sent a message to my colonel
in relation to the matter, and 1 perceive he
has commenced to act upon it."
And as he spoke he pointed down the
road where the dark outline ol troops
forming into line might be faintly distin
guished.
They were soon in motion, and in the
course of half an hour the booming of can
non, the rattling of musketry, and the
cheerß of the Federal troops proclaimed
siiti pei* Annum, in Auvance.
that tin* combat had commenced. Tin* din
continued for about an hour, when the pris
oners learned from others who were brought
to share the'r quarters, that the Southern
troops had been surprised and totally rou
ted.
BARON MUNCHAUSEN IN INDIA A BUF
FALO STOKY.
A paper published in India tells this re
markable exciting story about an adventure
there of an enthusiastic entomologist :
" One very hot day, shouldering his en
tomological net, and with his bottle of
cyanide of potassium in bis pocket for the
purpose of killing his specimens, he had
succeeded in taking several species of moths
and beetles, when suddenly emerging on an
open spaee, a gigantic female buffalo
charged right down upon him. Quick as
lightning the narrator spyang up a tree
which fortunately happened to be near, and
almost before he had comfortably settled
down upon one of the branches, a buffalo
calf appeared upon the scene, and botli
mother and offspring sat down at the foot
of the tree, directly under his position. In
order to attract the attention of his friends,
who were in the neighborhood, or any na
tive who might happen to be near, he
shouted until lie was hoarse. Ever and
anon, byway of variation, with the vain
hope of frightening away the buffalo, he
awakend the extremest echoes of the jungle
with his yells, and perpetrated the most
hideous noises ever produced by the human
voice.
All was of 110 avail ; no friendly hand
came to aid him, and the brute still lay
placidly licking and caressing its calf. He
was about to assume a standing attitude in
the tree, when suddenly his left hand, with
which he had seized a branch above his
head, was severely stung or bitten by some
insect or animal. Starting with the acute
pain, as the fear of whip or tree snakes
flashed through his mind, he involuntary
loosed his hold of the bough, and thus de
prived of support, he lost his balance and
fell from his place of refuge. He dropped
on the buffalo's back, and in another in
stant was carried away at a tremendous
pace through the long thick grass of the
jungle It was a difficult matter to keep
his seat, when all at once the buffalo sprang
into a large " tank," and he was immersed
up to his neck in water. Unable to swim,
he was obliged to cling to the brute, which
for a time swam round and round the pool
at her pleasure. He only hoped his legs
would not be seized by one of the alliga
tors, of which lie had seen several in the
water during the day. Then, to his infinite
horror, a stinging sensation in his leg made
him feel sure he had again been bitten by
another kind of serpent. And still the buf
falo showed no signs of returning towards
the land, when just as he thought lie was
preparing to He down, he dug his heels in
to her side and delivered random blows
with his fist on her head and neck. Then,
striking out for land, the brute speedily
reached the shore, on gaining which she
commenced her mad gallop. A few min
utes brought them to the spot from which
the animal had started, where the calf was
still standing.
The buffalo was preparing to lie down,
when seizing tiie branches of the tree from
which lie had fallen on the brute's neck, he
swuug himself up in his old position. He
had not, however, been very long there
when the smarting in his hand and legs
caused him to remember that lie had beer,
bitten by snakes. The very idea of this,
and the knowledge that one of these veno
mous reptiles was in the tree on which he
was perched, caused a deadly faiutness,
from which it was some time before lie ral
lied.
Alternately fainting and reviving, hour
after hour passed away, night darkened
down upon the jungle, and the buffalo still
kept watch and ward at the foot of the tree.
At length, at an advanced hour of the night,
be suddenly became conscious that a strug
gle was going on between the buffalo and
some large wild animal, which lie judged to
be a tiger. ' The growling of the latter,'
he continues, ' the groans of the buffalo,
the noise of their struggle, and the inces
sant bleating of the calf, combined in pro
ducing a series of sounds, which, in the
darkness of night appeared worthy of the
inhabitants of Pandemonium. For full live
minutes, which appeared hours to me, the
dreadful struggle continued, until at length
groans of the buffalo subsided into a series
of convulsive gasps and snorts, and the
sounds of struggling on the ground almost
ceased. I could, however, hear the tiger
growling, snarling, and spitting like an im
mense cat. Of course descent was now
quite out of the question. 1 therefore de
termined to remain where I was until day
light, if I did not die from the effects of the
snake bites before morning appeared. So
strong was the interest with which I list
ened and strained my eyes for the purpose
of learning what was going on below, that
I never ceased to think of this contingency,
and forgot the death-like swoons 1 had pre
viously experienced.
" After some time spent in listening to
the noise made by the animal while enjoying
his feast of buffalo flesh, the sounds ceased
suddenly. 1 felt sure, however, that
the beast had not departed, for 1 had
kept my eyes fixed on the dark outlines un
der the shadow of the tree, and the mass
remained of the same appearance. I fan
cied I could trace the form of a tiger lying
alongside the dead buffalo, and this was
the shape the dark object had assumed and
retained since the termination of the con
flict."
At length, however, succor was at hand.
Seeing a light in the distance, lie shouted
as loudly as he could, and this attracted the
notice of a party who had set out in search
of him. On coming up to the spot, both
tiger and buffalo were found to be dead.
On tolling his friends he had been bitten by
snakes they first examined his hand, and
pronounced the wound he received while in
flic tree to have been caused by the sting
of a hornet. On turning down his stock
ings they discovered several leeches gorged
with blood, for numbers of these voracious
anjnials had bitten him during Ins ride
through the water on the buffalo's back.
The faintings he had experienced were at
tributed to loss of blood from the leech
bites.
They then turned their attention to the
dead tiger. Not a wound was discovered
about the carcase, but on slightly moving
he body of the buffalo, they discovered the
bottle of cyanide of potassium, which had
beeu intended for entomological purposes,
broken, and partially introduced into the
wound in the neck from which the tiger had
sucked the blood of his victim. While im
bibing the life blood of the buffalo the ti
ger had also received one of the most
deadly poisons known, which in the course
of a very short time had produced its usual
fatal result. The position of the tw > ani
mals and of the deadly bottle left no room
for doubting that such had been the case.
On ascending the tree in such hot haste the
poison bottle and other little matters won*
dropped, and during the struggle between
the animals the former was broken, and
perhaps even cut its way into the jugular of
the buffalo ; thus probably assisting in the
death of the latter, as well as proving so
fatally destructive to the tiger. On the ap
pearance of dawn they discovered a small
wasp's nest hanging in the tree. Later in
the day they had the satisfaction of super
intending the skinning of the tiger, and
distributing the meat to the villagers, sonic
of whom regarded it as particularly
strengthening food. The absence of bullet
holes rendered th j skin a valuable one.
NUMBER 33.
OLD MAIDS. —Should a girl be modest,
quiet, unobtrusive, adding neatness and or
der to a long line of heme virtues : the ac
tive auxiliary of her mother, and the guar
dian angel of her younger brothers and
sisters ; the stinted praise is allowed her of
being " a good girl, but old maidish." Beau
ty she may possess and a mind whose rare
endowments render her alike the ornament
and honor of her race ; a heart whose un
selfish love takes in the interest of others
before her own ; yet as her more thought
less sisters grow up around her, commit
ting their children to her kind and prudent
management, the whispers grow louder on
every side that she is fast becoming an old
maid. While thoughtless folly dances, she
may reflect, while others' beauty is par
aded in gaslight and ball-room before an
admiring multitude, hers may deepen in a
solitude made radiant by noble deeds; while
others lean for support on those around
them, she may rest on the strength of her
own mighty spirit, made such perhaps by
the reflex wave of the world's selfishness,
which has left her lonely on the cold sands
of its own forgetfuluess. Nay, the very
virtues of her character are turned against
her ; and the meek patience, the self for
getfullness, the reasonableness of her lite,
have singled her out for censure, and by
this time she is quite an old maid.
Now turn the tapestry. Let sweet
eighteen be selfish, fickle, foolish ; let her
fattier, brother, home, be all forgotten in
the world ; let household duties lie neglec
ted for works as trifling as to weave tin
spider's web ; let common sense and words
of wisdom be exchanged for fashionable
nonsense, and bright bloom of early beauty
be worn out by late hours and broken
spirits—why, she is a charming girl, a
splendid creature ! aud will soon, doubt
less, be placed in the situation which her
education so prominently fits her to main
tain—the head of a household, when sin
may send for her sister, the old maid, to
put the practical part into execution, while
she frets, reads novels, and dresses still,
the fortunate belle of last season.
TREASURES IN HEAVEN*. —We read of a
philosopher who, passing through a mart
filled with articles of taste and luxury,
made himself quite happy with this simple
yet sage reflection :—" How many things
there are here that Ido not want !" Now
this is just the reflection with which the
earnest believer passes happily through the
world It is richly furnished with what is
called good thing s. It has spots of honor
and power to tempt the restless aspirings
of ambition of every grade. It has gold
and gems, houses and lands, for the eon
vetous and ostentatious. It has innumer
able bowers of taste and luxury, where
self-indulgence may revel. But the Chris
tian, whose piety is deep-toned, and whose
spiritual perceptions are clear, looks over
the world and exclaims, " How much there
is hero that I do not want ! I have what is
far better. My treasure is in heaven."—
Dr. Tyng.
THE REFORMERS. —The principle that man
is directly accountable to Oon, and to Him
only, for his personal religious belief, lies
at the foundation of all the acts of the Re
formers. They felt that in spiritual things
Christ is entitled to paramount obedience.
They sacrificed reputation, comfort, proper
ty, and even life itself, in support of then
convictions. They denied the authority of
the Government to impose on them a creed
at variance with their conscientious inter
pretation of Scripture. But they never
saw the corrective truth, that whatever is
not within the jurisdiction of Government
with any responsibility. If there is no du
ty on the one hand, there can be no objec
tion on the other.
DON'T LIKE HIS LOOKS.—A Sheriff was ouce
sent to execute a writ against a Quaker.
On arriving at his house, he saw the Qua
ker's wife, who in reply to the inquiry
whether her husband was at home, said lit 1
was ; at the same time she requested him
to be seated, and her husband would speed
ily see him. The officer waited patiently
for some time, when the fair Quakeress
coining into the room, lie reminded her of .
her promise that he might see her husband.
"Nay, friend, 1 promised that lie would
! see thee. He lias seen thee ! lie did liol
j like thy looks, therefore he avoided thee,
and hath departed from the house by an
other path."
! JOHN* RANDOLPH AND THE DANDY. —John
i Randolph, of Roanoke, was in a tavern, ly
j ing on a sofa, waiting for a stage to come
Ito the door. A dandified chap came into
j the room with a whip iu his hand, just come
! from a drive, and standing at a mirror, ar
j ranged his hair and collar, quite urieons
j eions of the presence of the gentleman on
I the sofa. After attitudinizing a while, lie
! turned to go out, when Mr. Randolph asked
| him :
j " Has the stage come ?"
" Stage, sir ! stage, I've nothing to do
j with it sir," said the fop.
j "Oh! I beg your pardon, I thought you
were the driver," said Randolph.
A WINDY POEM.—A fellow, who we
couldn't be prevailed upon to name, medi
tating upon the surroundings of the present
season, perpetrated and enclosed to us the
I following :
The wind it blew,
The snow it flew.
And raised particular thunder.
With skirts and hoops,
And chicken coops,
And all such kinds ot plunder.
to?-The occasions for sublime virtues
are rare : to most men they never occur at
I all. Christian principles will languish or
die, if they are not habitually exercised in
i those quiet little duties which are always
j at home.
THE three most difficult tilings are to
i keep a secret, to forget an injury, and to
! make good use of leisure.