TKUMS OP PI BLICATIOK. The Reporter is published EV cry Thursday Horn by E. O. Goodrich, at i' 2 per annum, in ad i iinee. ADVERTISEMENTS exceeding fifteen lines are ~ ted id ten cr nts per line for first insertion, . j eive cents per line for subsequent insertions. \ liberal discount is made to persons advertising , v tiie quarter, half-year or year. Special notices , r r, d one-half more than regular advertise uts. Ad resolutions of Associations; communi '■'itii'iis ol limited or individual interest, and no . of Marriages and Deaths exceeding five lines, V, charged ten cents ar line. 1 Year. 6 mo. 3 mo. ihie Column. SSO $35 S2O •• 30 25 15 Due Square, 10 7J 5 [V.ray, Caution, Lost and Found, and oth , r advertisements, not exceeding 15 lines, three weeks, or less, $1 50 ij. linistrator's and Executor's Notices.. .2 00 editor's Notices 2 50 js'l-iacs Cards, five lines, (per year) 500 q... hints and others, advertising their business ; , charged sls. They will be entitled to 4 rauin. confined exclusively to their business, with . ; ,ilege of change. ■ft- Advertising in all eases exclusive of sub . dption to the paper. JOB PRINTING of every kind in Plain and Fa n' is. done with neatness and dispatch. Hand- Blanks, Cards, Pamphlets, Ac., of every va ... am ) style, printed at the shortest notice. The r; t piii.xKi: Office has just been re-fitted with Power ;• < ;c<. and every thing in the Printing line can , v ented in the most artistic manner and at the rate-. TERMS INVARIABLY CASH. .. NOW I LAV ME DOWN TO SLEEP." fa the quiet nursery chambers. Snowy pillows yet unpressed, vthe forms of little children, Kneeling, white-robed, for their rest, Ail in quiet nursery chambers, While the dusky shadows creep, Hear the voices of the children, — Xow I lay me down to sleep." In the meadow and the mountain Calmly shine the winter stars, But across the glist'niug lowlands Slants the moonlight's silver bars. In the silence and the darkness, Darkness growing still more deep, Listen to the little children Praying God their souls to keep. •If we die"—so pray the children, And the mother's head drops low : <)ne from her fold is sleeping Deep beneath this winter's snow.) Take our souls and past the casement Flits a gleam of crystal light ; Like the trailing of his garments Walking evermore in white. Little souls that stand expectant Listening at the gates of life, Hearing, faraway, the murmur Of the tumult and the strife ; We, who fight beneath those banners, Meeting ranks of foemen there, Find a deeper broader meaning In your simple vesper prayer. When your hands shall grasp this standard, Which to-day, you watch from far, Wlu n your deeds shall shape the conflict In this universal war, l'rav to Him, the God of Battles, Whose strong eye can never sleep, la the warring of temptation, Firm and true your soul to keep. When the combat ends, and slowly Clear.-, the smoke from out the skies, Wi., n far down the purple distance, Aii the noise of battle dies, a the last night's solemn shadows, Settle down on you and me, May tin love that never faileth, Take our souls eternally. pisrcll mmms. THE WAR OF 1812. One flay during the lust war, opposite Portsmouth harbor and about three It's from ttic shore, lay a black frigate at ■ :iof, and the continual motion on its ■ cks, as seen with the aid of a glass from 'Tie 1, betokened that some event of unusual j Merest was soon to occur. Although it ' - .owed no colors, it required an eye of but ittle experience in naval matters to decide hat it was English. \\ hat could he its ob ct was a mystery. Its wooden walls ef tuully concealed it from the shore, and j ■■viien, during the day, it was joined by an- { c-i vessel of the same class, and a heavy ; .iit-'if-war, not a little excitement was ited among those who lived near the j i iward Portsmouth the enemy had often ' t longing glances. It was the key to Nt-w Hampshire and the western part of . ■ cm, and possessing one of the finest • ts in the world, where a navy, with ■ 1 sing a spar, might ride out a tem- P - , it held in their eyes a place of no I •' in importance. "fat tin- iron teeth that grinned on the > at the mouth of the Piscataqua had crto been an effectual check upon their ::r:t ge. Besides, several thousand well j ■ i ned soldiers had been collected there,in | J ' 'ipation of an attack, and whole com-; of volunteers were daily arriving ! ■ 'in- northern parts of the State, and '•■•a from the Green Mountains, panting a desire for the conflict. Portsmouth o under martial law. Its rope-walks,! ■'-houses and churches were crowded * - Pie hone and muscle of New England, riiiined to defend the place to the extremity. The shore was walked for I "ight and day, by a corps of senti- j * and every precaution taken to guard j a.Mfast surprise. '■" lice of the approach of the warships ! 'aehed the town. The tall Hag staff' Tad been placed near the mouth of the i and was watched from the steeples, j ° to have boen inclined toward the ! w lnch was the signal of dangeragreed j And when the sun went down, not I ■'•fag how imminent it might be, the ex- j '"'tit that filled the place was trcmen •" 1 here was mounting in hot haste, ' • '"oursers dashed through the streets I wind Every cart and carriage I;s y iii removing the women and val-1 ('" a station of security, and the sol- i irnished their arms and renewed the j - r, s in their pieces, and were ready at , he is, to be sure!" This is the fashionable, | scientific way of backing "right square out." per A Tiiinui, in Advance. REFINING OIL. The process of refining oil lias become so extensive that it may be interesting to many who have never been inside of an oil refinery to know a little concerning it. The crude petroleum as it is received from the wells, being first introduced into the tanks or reservoirs for receiving, it is then conducted into the stills holding about 1,000 or 1,500 gallons each. The stills arc made of boiler plate iron, which are found to be better than cast iron, which is liable to warp and crack from the effects of the heat. The carbonacious particles form an incrustation on the inside which ought to be removed by a pick or sharp instrument for the purpose, at the end of each distilla tion ; otherwise the bottom of the still soon burns out. The contents of the still are wished off in about 24 hours, the temperature gradu ally raising up to 60t) or 800 deg. Far.— From the head of the stilly the vapors pass through the worm of the condenser, which in the latter part of the distillation is not allowed to cool down sufficiently for the paraffine to condense in it ; as this might, by causing obstruction, endanger the ex plosion of the still. By the proper regula tion of the temperature of the water sur rounding the worm, however, a steady flow of oil will go on from the end of the worm. The quantity obtained is about iff) per cent, of that introduced into the stills, but al though freed of this amount of impurity, the oil is still of aigreenish hue,and retains more or less of its peculiar odor. The next process is the chemical treat ment with sulphuric acid. This is called the cold process. The oil is transferred to large wrought iron cylindrical vessels called agitators,probably containing 3,000 gallons each, and for each barrel of oil is added one-half gallon of sulphuric acid. The mixture is violently agitated, by the inser tion of 2-inch pipe, through which is forced a current of compressed air, [which keeps the whole in a state of violent ebullition.— This having been kept up for some "time, and the mixture being left some time in re pose, and considerable portion of the im purities settle with the acid to the bottom, from which they are drawn off, leaving the partially purified oil in the cisterns with some acids and impurities still adhering to it. These are mostly removed by agitating again with water,and again, after a repose of some hours, drawing off the matter which has collected in the bottom. After this a strong ley of soda is iutro- j ductal into the oil in the agitator, 'and it j undergoes the same process of agitation as with the acid. The sediments being drawn ' off the operation is again repeated, when j the oil is then submitted to the fire test.— I The fire test is simply the temperature at j which the oil will iguite. The best illumi-' nating oil should not ignite over a temper ature of 115 deg. to 12 deg.'Far.,otherwise it burns with a dull light. If it ignites at 100 deg. it contains too much benzine, and j is liable to explode. After the whole pro- i cess is completed, the residuum is sold here i for s?> per bbl. for lubricating purposes, ex- j cepting about £ per cent., which goes to ' waste. In some refineries the oil undergoes a second distillation, the first product of which is very light oil, which, if at first : somewhat discolored, is soon succeeded by a limpid oil that continues with very little | variation, except that it gradually becomes heavier, and includes all that distillate he low the gravity of 0. 820. The products' which succeeded this are the heavy oils ! for lubricating, which pass into the last product of dark colored heavy oils, which may be made to give up a considerable part of their paraffine by leaving the liquid in tanks exposed to a temperature as cold as may be. The paraffine condenses in light silvery scales, and is recovered by drawing off the i oil, and then subjecting it to hydrostatic 1 pressure. It is purified by successive ap plications of sulphuric acid, hot water and i alkalies. The illuminating oils may he almost en tirely freed from the odor and color they i possess, by standing several days over al- j kaline solutions in shallow vessels. This, ; however, is not supposed to improve the quality of the oil. SHORT AND SWEET. Why, you see when i my man come courtin' me," said Mrs. Dob-: son " I hadn't the least thought of what he ! was after—not I. .Jobie came to our house one night after dark, mid rapped at the ' door. I opened it, and there sure enough stood Jobie right before my face and eyes. ! " Gome in," says I, "and take a cheer." " No, Lizzie," sez. he, "I've come on an errant, and I always do my errants fust." " But you'd better come in and take a j cheer. What is your errant ?" " Gourtin' business My wife's been dead | these three weeks, and everything's going < to rack and ruin right straight along. Now, Lizzie, if you've a mind to hevme, and take ! care of my home an' children, an' my things, ' tell me, and I'll come in and take a cheer ; ■ if not, I'll get some one else tu." " Why, 1 was skeered, and said : " It you've come on the courtin' business, j come in. I must think of it a little." " No, I can't till my errant's done." " I should like to think about it a day or two." "You needn't, Lizzie." "Well, Jobie, if I must, so here's to vou, then." "So he came in. Then he went after the j squire ; and he married us right off, an' I | went home that very night. I tell you j what it is,these long courtin's don't amount to nothing at all. Just as well do it in a hurry." WE saw a boy the other day borrow a stick of candy from a comrade to show him that he could pull it out of his ear. He swallowed it, and then twisted himself in various ways to extract it, but at length informed his companion that he had forgot ten that part of the trick. \\ E see it recorded that a 6oap pedler was recently caught at sea during a violent storm, when he saved his life by taking a cake of his soap aid washing himself ashore. This soap, or the story, must have been made from very strong LIE. KINDNESS and cheerfulness can remove more than half the wrinkles out of the fore head of age. THOUGHTS ON RELIGION Many years ago, the poet W hit tier penti ed the following beautiful thoughts on Re ligion, which best show the deep, devotion al nature of the writer's mind, aud will not fail to gratify and benefit tlie souls id ah who read them again. " We pity the man,' said he, " who has no religion in ids heart —no high and irresistible yearning alter a better and holier existence; who is conten ted with the sensuality and grossness of earth ; whose spirit never revolts at tin' darkness of its prison-house, nor exults at thoughts of its final emancipation. We pity him, for he affords no evidence of high ori gin, no manifestations of that high prerog ative, which renders him the delegated lord of the visible creation. He can rank no higher than the animal nature ; the spiritual soul never stoops so lowly. To seek for beastly excitement to minister with a bountiful hand to de praved and strong appetites —arc attributes of the animal alone. To limit our hopes and aspirations to this world is like remain ing forever in the place of our birth, with out ever lilting the veil of the vis ble hori zon which bent over our infancy. NUMBER 25. There is religion in everything around us ; a calm and holy religion in the 'in breathing things of nature, which men would do well to imitate. It is a meek and blessed influence, stealing in, as it were, unawares upon the heart. It has no terror —no gloom in its approach. It does not rouse the passions, it is untrammeled by creeds, and unshadowed by the supersti tions of men. It is fresh from the hands of the author, and glowing from the immedi ate presence of the Great Spirit, which per vades and quickens it. It is written on the arched sky. It looks out from every star. It is on the sailing cloud, and in the invisi ble wind. It is among the hills and the valleys—where the shrubless mountain tops pierce the thin atmosphere of eternal winter, with its dark waves of green foli age. It is spread out like a legible lan guage upon the broad face of the unsleep ing ocean. It is the poetry of nature. It is this which uplifts the spirit within us, until it is tall enough to overlook the shad ows of our place of probation ; which breaks, link after link, the chain which binds us to materiality ; and which opens to our imagination a world of spiritual beauty aud holiness." HOW JONES POPPED THE QUESTION Too bashful to " pop the question" in the usual way, Major Jones persuades his sweet-heart to put up a stocking, which will hold a couple of bushels, on the night that Santa Glaus pays his visits, receiving her promise to keep for ever what he gave her. In this the gallant and lovelorn Maj. contrives to introduce himself at the "witch ing hour of night." But we will let the Major speak for himself : I remained up till midnight, and when they were all gone to bed I softly went in to the back gate and went up to the porch, and thar, shure enuff, was a great big meal bag hanging to the jice It was monstrous unhandy to get to it, but I was determined not to back out. So I set some chairs on the top of the bench and got hold of the rope and let myself down in the bag ; but just as I was getting in, the bag swung against the chairs, and down they went with a terrible racket. But no body didn't wake up but Miss Stalliness'grate !>ig dog, and here he cum ripin' and tarin' through the yard like rath, and round and round he went, tryin' to find out what was the mat ter. I sot down in the bag and didn't breathe louder than a kitten, for fear he'd find me out. The wind began to blow 'boui iuable cold, and the old bag kept turning around, swinging so as to make me sea sick as the mischief. 1 was afraid to move for fear the rope would break and let me fall, and thar 1 sot with mv teeth rattlin' like 1 had the ager. It seemed it would never come daylight, and I do believe if I didn't love Miss Man so powerful, I would have froze to death : for my heart was the only spot that felt warm, and it didn't beat more an two licks a minit, only when I thought how she would be surprised in the mornin', and then it went on a canter. Bimeby, the cussed old dog came on the porch, began to smell about the bag, and then lie barked like In thought he'd treed soinethin'. " Bow, wow wow !" sez he. " Begone you abominable fool," sez. I, and I felt ail over in one spot, for I 'spected he'd nip me ; and what madt it worse. I didn't know whereabouts In M take hold. " Bow, wow, wow !" Thou 1 tried coaxing. "Gome here, good feller," sez I, and 1 whistled a little to him ; but it was no use. There he stood and kept up his eternal whinin' and barkin" all the night. 1 couldn't tell when daylight was brcakiu'. only by the chickens erowiu,' and I was monstrous glad to hear 'em, for if I'd had to stay one hour more, 1 don't believe I'd ever got out of that bag alive." They got him in the morning, covered with meal and almost frozen. But Miss Mary does not refuse his present. And he says, " I tell you what it was worth hang ing in a bag from one Ghristmas to another to feel as happy as I have ever since.' FAST YOUNG LAIHES.— Iu order to be a fast young lady, it is necessary to lay aside aii reserve and refinement- -everything that savors of womanly weakness ; to have tin troublesome scruples, but to be ready to accord an appreciating smile to the broad est joke. There must be no feeling of de pendence on the stronger sex ; but. by adopting, as far as decency permits, mas culine attire, masculine habits, and mascu line modes of expression, accompanied by a thorough knowledge of slang, and a fluency of using it, these ladies show themselves t • be above all narrow-minded prejudices. There must be no thinking about other peo ple's feelings ; if people will be thin skinned, let them keep out of their way at all events. Should "mama" raise her voice in a feeble remonstrance, the fast young | lady impresses upon her that " she is 110 | judge of these matters. In her old school days, everything and every one were slow; but it is quite changed now." In short, to sum up, to be a fast young lady, modesty, delicacy, refinement, respect for superiors, : consideration for aged, must all be set ; aside ; boldness, independence, irrever ! ence, brusqneness, and, we fear, too often heartlessness, must take their place. A GOOD CHARACTER.— A good character is to a young man what a firm foundation is j to the artist who proposes to erect a build ing ou it ; he can well build with safety, and all who behold it with confidence in its solidity—a helping hand will never be want ed ; but let a siugle part of this be defect ' ive and you go on a hazard, amidst doubt ' ing and distrust, and ten to one it will tum ble down at last, and mingle all that was j built on it in ruin Without a good char- I acter poverty is a curse ; with it, scarcely an evil. Happiness can not exist where good character is not. All that is bright ; in the hope of youth, all that is calm and blissful in the sober scenes of life, all that is soothing in the vale of years, centres in and is derived from a good character.— j Therefore acquire this as the first and moat valuable good.