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THE WORKERS.
( link, clank, sound the hammers now ;
The sturdy anvils ring ;
Tue bellows roar, and the hot flames pour
pheii ruddy light far over the floor ;
And the brawny smiths, they sing.
Whirr, whirr, go the bnsy looms
In the factories dark and high,
Where the timid sunbeam softly falls,
Through the crusted pane, on the blackened walls
From the pure and beautiful sky.
stitch, stitch, go the 4 needles,bright
And the silver-gleaming thread ;
Women toiling early and late,
While the eyelids droop with a heavy weight,
To earn their daily bread.
Click, click, go the slender types,
As they fall from the printer's hand ;
Scattering wide each burning thought,
As it shaped itself in the mind that wrought,
Far over the waiting land.
Burr, burr, go the busy planes
In the homely workshops, where
The sinewy joiners all day ply
Their noisy craft; and the shavings fly,
And their fragrance fills the air.
Ring, ring, chime the virgin coin,
As the mighty lever falls
On the solid bars of silver and gold
By the swarthy coiners fashioned and rolled
In the great mint's vaulted halls.
])e lve, delve—hear the miners at work
Far down in the hidden mines,
Toiling by day and toiling by night
.Mid the noxious glooms where no ray of light
From the warm sun ever shines.
On, on, speed the sharpened ploughs
As they turn the heavy soil,
Where the sturdy farmer guides the share
Through the last year's furrows, gleaming bare,
With the horny hand of toil.
These are the workers, hour by hour,
With hearts that are brave and true,
From dawn till dark, through the whole day's
length,
Each gives with an earnest will his strength
To the work he finds to do.
But a grander task l'or all remains
Which will only end with Time :
And this grand task is 'mid the ceaseless din
Of the constant straggle that hems ns in
To make our onr lives sublime.
FAR AT_ SEA.
i.
Ah !" I says, " you've been a hard and
a bitter mother to me ; and yet it goes
again tlic grit to turn one's back upon you.
I've toiled on, and lived hard, and yet you've
always showed me a cold, cruel face " ; and
as I said that, feeling quite heartsick, I
leans my elbows on the side o' the ship, and
my chin on my hands, and has a long, long
look at the old country as we was leaving,
-perhaps to see no more.
1 looked round, and there stood plenty,
tearful-eyed and sad with all the lines of
sorrow marked in their foreheads, while I
mid see lips trembling and breasts w'ork
ng with the pain they could hardly keep
down. And then I don't know how it was,
but it seemed to me that we thought to
gether the same sad things, and that I
kuew their thoughts and they knew mine.
There was all the old life, —plain as could j
be ; and then came the long, long struggle
with sickness, and death, and want ; and
1 knew that people said such poor folks I
should not marry, and many another bitter
word, as if it was wrongful to love and try 1
t- be happy. The wind whistled through
the ropes above our heads, and the clouds
seemed gathering, too, in our hearts, for
though the bitterness was gone, I could see
plenty of sorrow and sadness all around.
" Won't do, my lad," I says, rousing up,
and wetting both bands as if I meant work;
and then 1 goes down in the steerage to
try and make things a bit comfortable, for
ym see all the poor things were in a most
miserable state. Some was ill, some down
hearted, some drunk and foolish,some drunk
and noisy, some drunk and quarrelsome.
Then there was children crying, and wo
lut-ii scolding, and altogether it was any
thing but a cheering prospect for the night,
for, as you may say we were n't shook
down into shape yet.
" (food time coming," I says cheerily ;
and having no young ones of my own, I
set to to help them as had. I got hold of a
young shaver, —about two and a half, I
s mid think,—aud ho was a-letting go
right away as if he'd got all the trouble in
the ship in his precious young bead. But he
soon turned quiet, playing with my knife
and all at once I finds as he'd made a ham
uiock o' me, aud bad gone oil as sound as
a church. During the next three days its
mother was very ill, poor thing, and 1 bad
to regularly mind the little oue ; and I did,
too.
Well, 't is n't a very pleasant lile, in the
steerage of an emigrant ship bound for
New Zealand, 'specially if the weather's a
bit rough ; and so we found it. For the
next morning, when I went on deck, there
was a stiff breeze blowing, the ship was
heeling over ; and as I thought the night
before, so it was,—there was nothing in
sight but waves all round. One sailor did
point to something which he said was home,
but it might huvo been a cloud.
Tue fourth night had come, and as I lay
i" my berth listening to the " wash wash "
E. O. GOODRICH, Publisher.
VOLUME XXVII.
of the water past the side of the ship, the
creaking and groaning of the timbers, and
every now and then the heavy bump of a
wave against the side, I could n't help
thinking what a little there was between
us and death ; and somehow or other the
serious thoughts that came kept me wide
awake.
It was two bells, I thi ik they call it, for
they don't count time as we do ashore,
when all at once I could hear as there was
a great bustle up on deck,where all through
the watches of the night everything's most
ly very quiet. Then there came a good
deal of tramping about and running to and
fro ; so I gets out of my berth, Blips on one
or two things, and goes cautiously up the
ladder and gets my head above the hatch
way, and then in a moment I saw what
was up, and it gave me such a shock that
1 nearly let go my hold and fell back into
the steerage. There was a thick cloud of
smoke issuing out from between the hatch
es, right in the centre of the ship ; and al
most before I could thoroughly realize it
all, or make myself believe as it was true,
a woman ran shrieking along the deck in
her night-dress, and calling out those fear
ful words on board ship
" Fire ! fire ! fire
Hundreds of miles from laud, standing
on a few nailed-together pieces of wood,
and them burning beneath your feet.
1 could n't help it : all my bittef feelings
of being ill used came back, and I says to
myself,—
" Your usual luck, mate : would n't be
you if you were n't unfortunate. But nev
er mind ; you have your choice, fire or wa
ter." And then I thought of the danger,
and I ketches myself such a thump in the
chest, and rolls up my sleeves, and goes
up to the captain as was busy giving his
orders.
" What shall I do ?" I says.
" Bump !" he shouts ; " and fetch a doz
en more up."
Lord bless you ! I had 'em up in no time
from amongst the crying women ; and I
found time, too, to get the women and chil
dren up on deck in the poop, which was
farthest from the hatches, where the smoke
kept pouring out, besides which the wind
took it away from them.
There was plenty of shrieking and scream
ing at first ; but they had got the right
man in the right place when they chose
that captain, for he runs to the poop, where
all the shivering things was a-standing,
and with a lew words he quiets them. Then
he runs to the men as was scuffling about,
here, there, and everywhere, and gets them
all together ; and then at last he gets aline
of fellows with buckets, a lot more at the
pumps, and some more at the little engine
as was there ; and then when all was ready
and every man standing still at his post, he
goes with some more to the hatches and
drags up a couple, when up rose a regular
pillar of fire and smoke, with a snaky,
quiet movement, and in a moment every
face was lit up, and there was quite a glare
spreading far out to sea. Sails, cordage,
masts, everything seemed turned into gold.
For a moment I could n't help forgetting
the danger, and thinking what a beautiful
sight it was ; when directly after there was
a regular ringing cheer, the engine and
pumps went "clang-clang," and the water
was teemed into the burning hold from
bucket and engine-nozzle.
How the water hissed and sputtered !
while volumes of smoke and steam rushed
up where it had been all flame but a mo
ment before, and as we saw this we cheer
ed ; but we'd nothing to cheer for ; it was
only the fire gathering strength ; and then,
as though laughing at the water we pour
ed, it came dashing, and crawling, and
running up, licking the edges of the hatch
way, and setting on fire the tarpaulins at
the sides, and then it began to shoot and
leap up as if to catch at the cordage and
sails.
" Pour it in, my lads," shouted the cap
tain. " Don't be afraid ;we sha'n't run
short of water, like they do at your London
fires."
" No," says a chap on my side ; " and
there ain't no running away into the next
street."
Then I saw the captain run to the man
at the wheel, and he changed the course of
the ship, so that all the smoke and flame
went over the side ; and then at it we went,
sending in the water at a tremendous rate,
but to all appearance it did no good,—not
a bit.
"Now, my lads," says the captain, "with
a will"; and theu we cheered again; and
that noble fellow stood with the engine
nozzle in his hand, leaning right over the
fiery hole, where the flames darted out,
scorching him, and there he stood battling
with them, and aiming the water where he
thought best.
You see I stood close aside him, so that j
1 could see all that he did, —a brave fel
low, —and it was hot, too. You know I
was taking the buckets as they were pass
ed to me, and sending the water in with a
: regular splash as far as I could every time;
and the captain nodded at me every now
j and then, and, " Well done 1" he says, when
it wa him as ought to have had the praise.
It was like lookiug down into the mouth
| of a furnace ; and, as far as I could see,
i we might just as well have been playing
with a couple of boy's squirts ; but 1 knew
I i nough of duty to feel wliat 1 ought to do;
and though I'd have liked to have been aside
the wife to comfort her, my duty was to
stand there a pouring in that there water
till I could n't do it no longer ; and the
more it did n't seem no good, the more I
warmed up,—obstinate like, —and meant
to try, for 1 did n't see any fun in being
beaten off by a few flames and sparks,
| while the look as I got now and then from
the captain went right through me, and in
went the water.
All at once a lot of the sailors stops
pumping, and one shouts out, —
"'T ain't no good, mates. Boats out 1"
But he had n't hardly said it, be fore I
saw the captain dart back ; and then there
was a bright light as the copper branch of
the hose-pipe flashed through the air, and
then down came the sailor on the deck.
" Back to your work, men," sang out the
captain ; " and let a man go to the boats if
Ihe dares 1" And theu they stood hanging
about, muttering, and one Dutch chap pulls
j out a knife. Just at the same minute, too,
a couple ef the sailors as had been handing
me the buckets strikes work too, a-saying
they'd be hanged if they'd stop there and
j be frizzled.
j I felt that if the men did as they liked,
TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., AUGUST !), 1866.
it would be all over with us ; and that
meant a regular rush to the boats, while
the poor women and children were left to
burn ; so what did 1 do but I ups with the
leather bucket I had in my hand, —I've of
ten laughed since,— and brings it down like
a stinguisher right on the top of number
one's head ;asto t' other,—he was a little
chap, and I'm six foot and pretty strong,—
I gets hold of him by the scruff of the neck
and strap of his trousers, snd afore he knew
where he was, I had him up in the air, and
over the hole where the flames were pour
ing up, and so close, too, that he could feel
the scorching ; and then— I ain't much
given to swearing, but 1 rapped out some
thing fierce, that if lie did n't work I'd hurl
him in.
Lord.' you should have heard what a
shriek there was as the fellow twisted a
bout like an eel to get away, and then I
put him a little nearer; when he begged
and prayed to be put down, and he'd work
till he dropped ; and then up comes the
captain, for he'd bolted off into the cabin,
but now rushed out again with a revolver
in each hand.
" Well done, my inan,'' he shouts to me, j
for he saw what I did ; and then he gives j
me one of the pistols, and Bwore he'd shoot
the first man as disobeyed, and I'm blessed
if I did n't believe he would, if they'd have
tried it on ; but they did n't, but began
pumping away again like mad again, and
we two went to work pouring in the water,
while I'm sure I heard a regular groan
from the captain, though his face was like
a bit o' wood.
This did n't take above five minutes ; but
I believe it lost us the ship, though we had
seemed to make such a little impression
when we turned on the water. But five
minutes at such a time was ruin ; the flame
rose higher and higher, and the heat was
awful ; so that, do what we would, we were
beat back, and instead of a quiet crawling i
flame now, there was a regular roar, and j
the wind set towards the great fiery!
tongues in a fierce draught.
"Stick to it, my man," says the captain, j
in a low voice. " It's our ouly chance."
" And I would n't give much for it, sir,"
I says, in the same tone.
" Hush 1" he says ; and then to the men,
" Pump away, my lads !"
They pumped away hearty enough, and
kept trying on a cheer ; but it soon could
be seeu with half au eye that the ship must
go, for the flames darted up, and, almost
before you knew it, ttie rigging was on fire,
and the tongues like leaping from rope to
rope, till the tarry things bla/.ed furiously,
right up to the mainmast head, and little
fiery drops of burning tar kept falling on
to the deck, or hissing into the sea ; while
for far enough oil", out into the dark night,
the great flaky sparks went flying along
for all the world like a beautiful golden
snow-storm.
" There," says the captain,throwing down
the copper branch with which lie had play
ed on the fire, and shaking his fist right iu
the flames, so that they must have burnt it,
—" there," be says, savagely, " I've fought
it out with you, and you've beat ! Now
for life saving 1"
And then, quietly and coolly, lie had one
boat lowered down, with the first mate in
aud a crew of sailors, and the shrieking
women and children lowered iu, while the
quiet ones he kept back. Then there was
a water-cask and a lot of biscuit-bags
thrown in, and that boat, well loaded, push
ed off on the calm sea, and lay to watching
us. Then the second mate was ordered in
to the second boat, with a crew of sailors ;
water and bags of biscuit were thrust in ;
and then, well loaded with women and
children, and oue or two of tire men pass
engers, that was carefully lowered down,
unhooked, ami pushed off.
The other two boats were not swung ov
er the sides, but lay between the masts of
the ship, right in the middle of the deck,
and were full of stores and odd things put
there to be out of the way ; but the cap
tain and men left soon had tackling fasten
ed to the boat that was right in front of the
fire, and it was hauled up, swung clear,
and lowered down, with a couple of men
in, and they rowed it back to the hinder
part of the ship, while we who had been
launching it had to make a regular dash
through the flames, which now extended
nearly across the deck. One man, howev
er, did not dare come through, but plunged
overboard and swam after the boat till he
was took in.
" Now, then," said the captain ; and the
rest of the women were slung down.
I did not mean to go as long as I could
help the captain ; and then half a dozen of
the men passengers were lowered down,
and they were just going to shove oft", when
I shouts out, —
" Stop 1" and the captain turns round an
grily to me ; and I says, " No water !"
Sure enough they had none, and a little
cask that stood on the deck was slung
down, and they were going to shove oil'
again, when I heard a shriek as went
through and through me, and saw a bright
glare ; the man at the rudder leaned over,
while at the same moment there was a roar
and a rush of fearful light, and the great
mainmast blazing from top to bottom, and
covered with burning rope and canvas, top
pled over towards where the boat lay, for
the fire had been eating into it below deck
for long enough. It was all in a moment,
and like the flashing of some great sheet
of lightning, as in the midst of a wild and
fearful cry it fell right towards the boat,
n.
That was a fearful moment, that was, and
we held our breath with terror ; and I—l
could not help it, —I covered my face with
my hands and dared not, till I heard a loud
cheer, and saw the boat safely floating with
in a very few yards of the half-extinct mast,
which had narrowly missed falling upon the
little haven of safety.
And now they were going to get the last
boat out, and the three others lay off at a
little distance, while above the hoarse ord
ers of the captain there was the crackling
and roar of the Haines, now leaping up at
a fearful rate. And yet it was a splendid
sight, in spite of the horror ; for every now
and then pieces of the copper wire rope
used in the rigging regularly caught lire,
and burned with a most beautiful blue light
brighter than in any firework I ever saw ;
while now the foremast had taken fire, and
the flames were tearing along the rigging
till the ropes seemed illuminated with little
bgads and tongues of fire. The heat grew
awful, and every now and then pieces of
blazing rope, spars, and blocks fell red-hot
REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER.
and glowing into the sea, to send up little
columns of hissing steam. The whole ol
the centre of the ship was now on fire, and
the tlames rose prodigiously, floating off.
and flashing amidst the clouds of smoke ;
while far away, still lightly flitted and spun
about the golden flaky snow, eddying
amongst the smoke, and darting far on high,
in the most beautiful way imaginable.
I think I said before how the tremendous
heat caused a regular draught to set to
wards the fire, so that as you were almost
scorched before, the wind came with quite
a cold rush behind ; but then, bow it made
the flames roar again, and burn more fierce
|ly than ever ! It was a sickening sight ;
for every now and then the cruel forky ton
| gues seemed to keep lapping at and threat
| cning us, and theu dancing and lickiug
j everything up, as if in devilish joy at the
prospect of soon devouring us poor sin
ners.
It was a horrible sight, and though I did
n't show it, yet I could feel my heart sink
every time 1 was idle for a few moments,
when I went at it again like a savage. I
did n't go down on my knees to pray ; but
—I don't know—l think I prayed earnestly
| iu my heart then, and though I would glad
ly have been with the wife safe in the other
boat, yet I could n't feel as it was suited
with a fellow's duty to leave such a man as
that captain had Bhowed himself all in the
lurch ; so I says to myself, " Be a uiau, too,
Phil "; and I did try to, anyhow.
All at ODce the flames seemed to veer
round, and began blowing towards us,
while the position of the boats was chang
ed ; and I could n't understand it, till I saw
the captain ruu from helping to get the last
boat—the one as was on the deck close to
the mizzen-mast—over the side ; and then
1 found it was the man had left the steer
ing wheel, and had run up towards the
boat.
" Back !" I heard the captain say ; "back,
or I'll fire !"
" Fire away, cap," says the man, sulkily;
" one may just as well die by fire one way
as another, and 1 won't stand there and be j
burnt." And theu the captain's hand—the ■
one as held the pistol—fell down by his
side, and be louked regularly done.
" What's up ?" I says. " Can I do ?" j
and I followed the captain to the wheel, j
which he turned so as to put the head of
the ship right once more ; aud as he did it,
she just changed rouud again ; but while
all this had been goiug on, the mizzeu or
third mast took fire, and now was blazing
away fiercely.
" llold on here, my man," says the cap
tain, " aud keep the wheel just as it is.—
That's right ; hold the spokes firm ; and if
her head swings round, call to me to come
and help you."
" All right," I says ; " but mind, 1 don't
understand it a bit." And now my troubles
seemed to begin ; for though it was bad
enough to be bustling about fancying that
the ship would either go down or you'd be
burnt every moment, yet to stand stock
still holding to the spokes ot that wheel
was awful, aud do what 1 would to stop it,
a regular tremble came all over me, and
my knees kept on shake, shake, shake.
They got the boat over the side, and then
the men rushed over one another to get in,
and it was only by stamping about aud
hitting at them that the captain got the
poor chaps to take in the things they want
ed ; such as food, which he fetched out of
the cabin himself ; and water, which they
did sling in, but dropped oue little cask
overboard. But, one way or another, he
got them at last to take iu a good many
things such as they'd want, aud a compass;
and then, with three more men, he rushed
down to the cabin again for more food, —
biscuit-bags,—saying as the other boats
would want more, and that we must sup
ply 'em. And then up they came stagger
ing and shaking, one ruau with a little wa
ter-keg, and the captain with a side o' ba
con, and two men with bags o' biscuit ; aud
they goes to the side, and I wished my job
was done as I saw 'em go.
All at once one of the men gives a yell,
throws down his bag, and leaps hangover
board, and the others, runuing after him,
did so too ; and then 1 could see that the
cowardly beggars bad pushed off, —for they
lay close under the side, where I could n't
see 'em before, and now tliey were rowing
bard to get away, and I could see that the
boat was so full that the least thiug must
make her fill aud sink.
It was pitiful to hear the shrieks of those
poor fellows as was left behind, as they
swam with all their might to get up to the
boat, and it was pitiful to see, for it was
as light as day, aud the waves that gently
rose and fell seemed waves of blood, —
glowing blood, —with golden crests as they
softly brokn. But though one man swam
so fast that be got up to the boat, they
pushed him off with the oars ; and then 1
saw him cling to them, and oue man pulled
out a knife to stab at him if he came near
er ; while just theu 1 saw the boat-hook
rise up aud fall with a heavy thud on the
poor chap's head, and lie went under, and
1 said, " God help him !" for he came up no
more.
There were two more swimming after
them, and when the next saw all this, he
just turned round, aud looked back at the
ship, and paddled with bis hands a bit, aud
then stretching them straight up towards
the sky, he gave one wild bitter shriek, and
he went under ; and this time I tried to
say, " God help him 1" but it was ouly my
lips that moved.
There was the other, though, a fine lusty
young fellow, aud as soon as lie saw what
took place he turned oil' to the left aud tried
to reach the nearest boat of the other three;
and manfully he swam for it, raising him
self well up in the water at every stroke,
and gradually lessening the distance till
he got up close to the stern, where I could
see quite plain Borne one holding out his
hands to him, and he was took aboard the
boat.
Now all this took place in a very few
i minutes ; and, hi spite of the danger, tve,
| the two last on board, could not help stop
-1 ping to gaze at the terrible incident; but
now the captain comes up aud takes my
baud, and says,—
" Brother, it was a cowardly, cruel, sel
fish action ; and I don't know but what I'd
! rather die with a brave man than live with
curs."
I know my hand shook, but I don't think
my voice did, though I thought of life be
ing sweet, as I said to him,—
" Is it very bard to die, captain ?"
" Ycb," he says, " I believe it is, to a
strong man ; and as God gave us life, and
we've done our duty so far, why we must
finish it by trying to save two more."
" But how ?" I says, getting bold of him.
" Don't leave the wheel," he says ; and
then, again, " But it don't matter, —she
makes no way. Lend a hand here."
And I helped him, and together, roasting
almost, we dragged three great towl-coops
and a grating to the side, and he tied them
together—lashed them, he called it—in no
time ; then we shoved them overboard ;
and as the vessel slowly swung round, wo
were out o' sight o' the boats, which were
about a quarter of a mile off. He bad a
rope to the coops so that they could not
float off, and as he told me, I slid down on
to them and squatted there trembling,
while be lowered down to me the little
water-keg, some rope, the bacon, and two
of the biscuit-bags. Then he pitched
some loose pieces of wood-work and the
cover of the cabin stairs and a hutch thing
and tarpaulin into the watyjr by me ; slid
down the rope, and was by my side in a
few minutes ; with the coops sinking about,
so that 1 was glad to lower myself into the
water and hold on.
" That's right," be says, opening his
knife with his teeth and cutting the rope,
and then getting the tarpaulin and bits of
wood and things in the centre in the hand
iest way possible,—same as only a sailor
could do. He tells me to hold on tight,and
then lowering himself into the water lie
pushes oil from the burning ship aud be
gins swimming and guiding our bit of raft
away very slowly, but still farther and
off.
" I'll lash the coops and the grating
together," he says, "as soon as we're out
of danger."
" Out of danger!" and when will that
be ?"
"Well," he says, " I mean when we are
out of reach of being sucked down when
she sinks."
" Will she sink ?" I says.
" Yes," he says, "and before long now";
and then he went on swimming hard, while
I could do nothing but watch first the boats
and then the burning ship.
It was grand, though awful, to see the
uoble vessel standing there like a pyra
mid of fire whose heat we could yet feel on
our scorched faces. From every part now
the flames were rushing, even from the
cabin windows beneath where I had so
lately been standing, and I could hardly
keep from shuddering as I thought ot the
awful danger.
It was hard work forcing the raft through
the water on account of the breeze which
set towards the ship ; but we got farther
away, and were some distance off when the
mizzen-mast went blaziug over the side ;
but still the captain said we were not safe,
and swam on till we could not feel the
breeze ; and at length panting and exhaus
ted he hung on motionless, and said we
must risk it now.
Then we were both silent, and watched
the boats now farther away from us, and
the blazing ship seemiug to be the centre
of a glorious ring of light, on the outside
of which like sparks we all lay waiting for
the end we knew was soon to come. Ev
erywhere else was dark as pitch, not even
a star to be seen, while the waves just rose
and curled a little over as they washed
against our raft: excepting the dull roar
and crackle of the flames, everything was
as still as death.
All at once I started, for the captain
spoke sadly as he looked at bis vessel ; and
out of the silence bis voice sounded wild
and strange,—
" If I'd had a crew like you, my man, I
think we could have saved her " ; aud then
lie spoke no more, for just then, from being
quite still, the good ship seemed to roll a
little towards us, and then to the other
side, slowly, and as if just bending to the
breeze ; and then we could almost see the
water creeping up her burning sides as
clouds of steam arose ; and with one calm
steady dip forward she seemed to plunge
right down beneath the golden waters.
Then there was a rising and falling of the
sea, and a deep, dense darkness, out ol
which close by me came one of the bitter
est, heart-tearing sobs I ever heard from
the breast of man ; and I did not speak,
lor I felt that it was the captain sorrowing
for the loss of bis good ship.
For a good piece the silence was as
deep as the darkness, and then the captain
was the first to break it in quite a cheei - -
ful voice,—
" Can you lay your baud ou the rope ?"
he says ; and I passed it to him, and then
I could hear him iu the dark busily at work
tying and fastening ; and at last he says,
"Now crawl on again; it will bear you
better" ; aud faint and wearily I managed
to crawl on, and lay witli my legs in the
water and my head on the bag of biscuit;
and directly after I felt him crawl on too,
and we took hold of hands and lay there in
the deep darkness while lie said that prayer
out aloud in such a soft, deep voice,—that
prayer as we first learnt kneeling down
years ago by our mother's knee. When he
came to "Deliver us from evil," he stopped
short ; and soon, worn out there in the
great ocean, floating ou a few pieces of
wood, we both felt in whose hands we
were, and slept till the warm bright sun
shone upon us and tuld us that another day
was here.
The first thing the captain did was to
stand up and look round, and then lie said
be could see only one boat ; but lie hoisted
up one of the pieces of wood, and wedged
it in the coop with a handkerchief flying at
the top, after which we made a hearty meal
of the biscuit, raw bacon, and water.
After this the captain got one of the coops
on the other, and by binding and lashiug
he made a much higher aud better raft, so
that we could keep our biscuit and bacon
out of the water and sit and dry ourselves.
And so we lay all that day till towards
evening, when we found that the boat was
coming towards us, and just at dusk it was
within hail ; and if ever I'd felt hopeful or
joyful before in my life, it was then. They
had no room for us, but tliey took us in
tow, and the weather keeping calm, we all
rowed and worked in turns steering accord
ing to the captain's directiou for the near
est land ; for when our turn came we two
went into the boat, and two others came
out ou to the raft, and so we toiled on for
days, when one morning there was a joy
ful cry,—
" A sail! a sail 1"
And it was, too, within a mile of us,
plainer and plainer as that glorious sun
per Annum, in Advance.
J 10s ; and then some laughed, some cried,
j and one or two seemed half mad with joy,
1 as after a while she ran down towards us,
picked us up, and proved to be a British
inan-of war, homeward bound.
In another week I was back in tbe port
I left, without clothes, without money, but
with as good and true a friend in Captain
Ellis as ever walked. I had life, and with
it came hope ; and somehow, since then,
things have prospered with me in the old
country, —the old home that I once left to
go far at sea.
THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS.
The question to be decided in the autumn
Congressional elections of 18GG is hardly
less important than that of the Presidential
election of 18G4. At that time the ques
tion was whether the Democratic party,
whose policy had produced the war, whose
Southern leaders conducted it, and which,
as a party, although with conspicuous ex
ceptions of certain individual Democrats,
justified the rebellion and opposed the war
measures of the government, should be in
trusted with the control of the g vern
ment. The response was prodigious. Ev
ery loyal State but Kentucky,Delaware,and
New Jersey sustained the Union party.—
At this time the "question is whether the
Democratic party, with its tendency and
policy clearly understood, shall determine
the conditions upon which the late rebel
States shall resume their full relations in
the Union. Is the Democratic view of the
situation truer, is the Democratic interpre
tation of the Constitution more just, is the
spirit of the Democratic party more favor
able to justice, equal liberty, and reverence
for law, than those of the Union party.—
These are the questions which must deter
mine onr votes in the coming elections.
It may be true—indeed for ourselves we
have not hesitated to say that it is true— I
that many foolish words have been spoken
and some unwise measures adopted by j
Congress. Nor do we care to r criminate !
and urge that this Congress has been more i
fiercely vituperated than any of its prede- j
cessors. We have not to deal at the elec- j
lions with the politeness or tact either of 1
Congress or the Executive, nor indeed with j
the uniform wisdom of the Congressional !
measures. The point is a fundamental
principle. Granting that the action of
Congress might have been improved in cer
tain ways, is it probable that the action of
the Democratic minority would have been, |
either in detail or in general policy, better I
for the peace and union of the country ? 1
Had the party of that minority been in the \
ascendent the test oath would have been j
repealed ; Senators and Representatives j
like Alexander H. Stephens and Hdrschel 1
V. Johnson would have been admitted ; the j
Civil Rights Bill would have failed ; and in
a word, the men who, supported by their !
States, five years ago resigned and with- !
drew from Congress, and engaged in the i
rebellion, would have returned by the "con ;
tiuuous right" of those States, and those !
who hail tried to destroy the Government!
and still declared their right to do so, would i
have voted upon every measure proposed
for the future security of the Union and
country against the logical consequences
of their doctrines.
Would this have been a wise policy or
safe for the country ? Yet this is the poli
cy upon which the autumn elections are to
pronounce. The Democratic party holds
that, having laid down their arms, the
States lately in rebellion are exactly where |
they were before. The consequences of 1
such a doctrine are plain. It assumes that ■
a combination of States may attempt to j
destroy the Union by war, and that the
people of the loyal States who defeat the j
conspiracy in the tield can rightfully take
no further step whatever to secure the vie- j
tory they have won. The Union party j
claims that loyal citizens, after so long and
vital a war, have exactly the same right to
secure their victory that they have to win
it ; and consequently that when the at
tempt of a combination of States to wrest
themselves from the authority of the Un
ion fails, none of those States can resume
their full functions in the Union except up
on such conditions as a truly sagacious pol
icy shall determiue.
It must be remembered that it is not a
question of more or less conditions, but of
any condition whatever. The Democratic
orators and papers ask indeed whether the
late insurgents have not complied with cer
tain conditions. But neither they nor those
who have been defeated acknowledge the
right to impose them. Indeed, the Demo
cratic theory and policy condemn the Pres
ident equally with Congress, for he had no
more verbal constitutional authority to re
quire assent to the emancipation amend
ment than Congress has to require assent
to the new amendment regulating repre
sentation. States with what Mr. Stephens
calls " a continuous right" of equality with
all other States can no more be required to
adopt one amendment than another. The
present co operation of the Democratic par
ty with the President, therefore, does not
spring from mve of him but from hate of
Confess, and a very natural wish of our
opposition party to divide the Executive
and Legislative powers.
Can a party which holds and proclaims
the policy which we have described be safe
ly intrusted with the government of the
country and the settlement of the war ?
! Ought any thoughtful aud honest citizen, j
however impatient he may be of the follies
of certain men, to suffer his impatience to
blind him to the fact that the elections are
to decide whether the friends and the spirit
of Abraham Lincoln shall reorganize the
Union, or the friends and spirit of iloratio
Seymour and Vallandigham. There are not
two parties, there can not be. Under the
circumstances a Philadelphia candidate
must be as fatal to the cause of equal
rights and just government and constitu
tional peace in this country as a candidate
of Tammany Hall. Let us improve Con
gress in the ability and good sense of its
members as much as possible. But let all
true men beware of a sophistry which
Would make Mr. " Jack Rogers " the lead
er of a majority instead of a minority.—
Harper's Weekly.
A gentlemau at table remarked that he
could not endure fish unless it was well cooked.—
"This," said the waiter, as he handed him a plate
of the desired dish, "is, I hope, suf-fish-ciently
cooked to suit, sir." "Wed, yes," replied the gen
tleman, as he tasted it, "its done a good.eel better
than I anticipated it would be."
TEE PRUSSIAN NEEDLE GUN.
Success in warfare depends as much on
the weapons of destruction employed as
the strategy of generals and the number
under their command. The famous long
bow of the English yeoman went down be
fore the musket ; the match-lock was dis
placed by the flint lock, the latter by the
precussion cap ; and the smooth bore or
hrownbens by the rilled musket. The advan
tages of a superior instrument of warfare
have again been made m mifest. The over
whelming success of the Prussians over
the Austrians is attributed to their needle
gun—not superior courage, or numbers.
This weapon is a breech-loading rifled mus
ket, and it derives its name from a spring
needle employed to pierce a friction cart
ridge. The moveable breech of this rifle
slides back and forth on a guide, and when
the musket is loaded, the breech is closed
by the half turn of a screw by which it is
fitted gas-tight into the rear of the barrel.
The cartridge is what is called fixed am
munition, 110 cap being required. A paper
shell or case, fixed to the elongated bullet,
contains the charge, which consists of com
mon gunpowder with a small quantity of
fine detonating powder in the rear. T/ie
I needle is attached to a coiled steel spring,
and is operated something like a boy's
spring pop-gun, and is a substitute for the
hammer of the common rifled musket. When
the cartridge is secured in the barrel, and
the breech closed, tire trigger of the spring
is touched, when the needle darts forward
in the breech chamber, pierces tin cart
ridge in the centre, and the detonating
powder instantly ignites. From all the
NUMBER 11.
accounts which we have received of the
effects of this rifle, there can be no doubt
but tbe Prussian infantry were abb- to fire
three shots for every one of the Austrians
with their mnzzle loaders.
Perhaps the needle gun is more accurate
than the rifle with a hammer, because tin
line of the needle's motion concides with
the centre of the barrel, whereas the force
of the hammer striking down upon the cap
or cartridge tends to throw the muzzle up
wards The days of muzzle loading army
rifles are numbered. Probably all the ar
mies of civilized countres will be furnish' 1
with breech loaders, or what is better, "re
peaters." About fourteen years ago the
writer of this was introduced to the inven
tor of the needle gun. lie is a German
gunsmith and a native of Berlin. lie ex
amined his rifle in all its details, and t
drawing of its several parts. it was pat
tented in the United States, and the inven
tor visited this country for the purpose of
inducing our government to adopt it for the
army. Its cartridges were pronounced an
safe for use by the officers af the Bureau to
whom it was sent for examination, but the
Prussins know how to use them, and they
are most unsafe to those whom they are di
rected. Probably we have now some breech
loaders equal if not superior to the needle
gun, and Wesley Richard's English breech
loader which has lately been furnished to
several British regiments, has a sliding
breech with a screw joint nearly similiarto
that of the German Zund Needle.
THE MAYOR WANTS TO SEE THEE.—A young
man, a nephew, had been to sea ; and on
his return, he was narrating to his uncle
au adventure he had met with on board a
ship.
"I was one night leaning over the t-'lV
rail, looking down into the mighty ocean,"
said his nephew, whom we shall call W 1
liam, "when my goli watch fell from my
fob and sank out of sight. The vessel was
going ten knots an hour ; but nothing daun
ted, 1 sprung over the rail, down, down, al
ter a long search found it, came up cb •
under the stern, and climbed back to ti .-
dech ; without any one knowing I had been
absent."
"William, said his uncle, slightly elec -
ting his broad brim, and opening his eyes
to their widest capacity, "how fast did thee
say the vessel was going ?"
"Ten knots, uncle."
"And thee dove down into the sea, and
came up with the watch,and climbed up by
the rudder chains ?"
"Yes, uncle."
"And thee expects me to believe thy sto
ry ?"
"Of course ! You wouldn't dream of c I
ling me a liar !"
"William," replied the uncle gravely,
"the knows I never call anybody names ;
but, William, if the mayor of the city wen
to cuine to me, and say, 'Josiah, 1 want
thee to find the biggest liar in all Philadel
phia,' 1 would come straight to thee, and
put my hand on thy shoulder, and say t.
Thee, 'William, the Man >r ; ranis to see
RECEIPT FOT MAKING TAT I TERS. —Take a
handful of weed called Runabout, the same
quantity of root called Nimble Tongue, a
sprig of the herb called Back-bite, (title 1
before or after dog-days,) a tablespoouful
of .Don't-you-tell-it, six drams ol Malice,;:
few drops of Envy,which can be purchased
in any quantities at the shop of Miss Tabitha
Tea-table and Miss Nancy Night-walker. -
Stir them well together and simmer them
for half an hour over the fire of Discontent,
kindle with a little Jealousy, then strain it
thro' the rag of Misconstruction,and cork it
up in the bottle of Malevolence, and hang
it upon a skein of Street-yarn, shake it > c
casioually for a few days, and it will be fi'
for use. Let a few drops be taken before
walking out, and the subject will be ena
bled to speak all manner of evil and that
continually.— Erpre^.t.
LITTLE SINS. —In certain harbors, if you
plant deep and Hi ui the mightiest timbers
as foundations for your wharves, you wi!
find, after a time, that a little insect lia>
been at work piercing, like a tiny thrc ad
of fire, the oaken pile, so that if a band
touches it, it will crumble like wood burned
in the llaino. Perhaps you have seen sec
tions of piles, or ship's timbers, which were
thus riddled through and through by these
madripores. Did the sight not awaken a
thought in your mind with rega.-d to your
own danger in cherishing these "liit'o lux
es,' widen eat tp all tbe rich fruit wh eh
you sh uld bear to tin- glory of God? Be
ware of little sins. As an old writer ex
presses it, "a ship may be sunk by a car
go of sand, as well as by a cargo of mill
stones."
N'EAV SYSTEM OK EMBALMING. —The French
papers speak of a new system ot embalm
ing, the iuvention of M. Audigier. it diff
ers from the systems hitherto in use in the
manner of introducting the preservative
liquid. Heretofore it has been necessary
to make incisions in the body for ihis pur
pose, but M. Audigier introduces it by the
mouth, and also rubs the skin with a vege
table powder impregnated with the same
liquid. The latter part of the process i
not absolutely necessary, and the embalm
ing may be performed after the body lias
been placed in the coffin. The official re
port states that after the lapse of twelve
months bodies which had been submitted
to the process were in a perfect state of
preservation, the llesh having become as
hard as wood.
IF we would have the kindness of others
we must endure their follies. He who cannot per
snde himself to withdraw from society must be
content to pay a tribute of his time to a multitude
of tyrants.