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pratlfcrtl ftarcta:.
DV ;
H I'IIE TOWAKDA COAL REGION.
■ ;t is now just ten years siuce the Barclay
■/: Road was completed, and we think it
I j be well to place on record before they
H > in-gotten, the principal facts, derived
i'" 1 '" 1 H ,i authentic sou ices, in regard to the
■ - ry of the coal region on the Towanda
| ' uutain.
an ® The tirst discovery of coal in this region
; J, hy the oldest inhabitants, to have
i made in the bed of Coal Run at Bar-
B .. where the old Gatiss Opening was
B wards made, the out-crop being ex
j > SJH l by the action of the water. This
s in the year 1812, and the discoverer
a hunter named ABNHR or ABSALOM
I The land belonged to ROBERT BAR-
I , of London, England, who owned a
i B y large body, consisting of fifty-one
i.-ts, and containing, in all, nearly twen-
I , thousand acres, extending westward of
B- point- where the coal was discovered.
:AP,B .in: ay had owned this land ever since the
s- Bar 17*34, and on his death, in 1830, he
B-ii'viscil it to his son, CHARLES BARCLAY, who
I.a Oct -her, 1553,I 5 53, sold the whole of these
Bl iods to EDWARD OVERTON, of Towauda,
OP .1 Ezvaud EDWARD M. DAVIS, of Phila
aiiia, Air eighty thousand dollars in
: n ii.es had been opened by HENRY
vvho had purchased of BARCLAY the
;ce i giit of a farm, where Barclay vil
n v is, and coal had been mined and
' in> ; 9 ■ i ,v him, lor the owner, for a number of
aid ■ '
i 1 u i.ich was principally taken away
in | ~ 1!J l 'ie winter, over a road that was
Lll H i st impassable for wagons. Several huu
thtH '.'is per annum of the coal were car
tiiefl : : il m this way, some of it even as far
j'jH atitaiica, N. Y., where it was exchanged
-ait. The blacksmiths about Owego
Binghamton, were also supplied, as
- KB-. us those of Bradford county. Much
I: : v.*.is also used for domestic purposes.
I Mes<is. OVERTON, ELY and DAVIS, sold to
number ol gentlemen in' Philadelphia,
iviß (1 shares in the land purchased of
AV, and two companies were organ-
I . i tiled the " Barclay Rail Road and
I a! U uupauy," and the " Schrader Land
puny/' The name of the former was
B ffl -v'-rwurds changed to the Barclay Coal
1 fany," and they became the owners of
x tracts of the best coal lands, cou-
A jlB it :Zj„' two thousand four hundred acres.
J 1 remainder of the lauds, 18,570
| > were conveyed to the Trustees of the
" hr.ulcr Land Company.
I Ine Barclay Rail Road, from the Canal
lit in wand a to the coal region, was eur
■Hl r, yod in the summer of 1854, put under
G9 "tract, and the work commenced in the
of 1855, and completed in the fall of
■ Mr. OVERTON was the President of
■ 1 Company up to this period, GEO. R.
■ 'at Treasurer and Secretary, T. T. W IER
v the Chief Engineer, and V. E. A, J. E.
B ■ - ' the Contractors, at the gross sum
six thousand dollars per mile for the
■ fling and bridging. The iron was made
9 the Rough and Ready Iron Works at
I .ville —it cost only fifty dollars per ton
.1 •'!■! proved to be of a pretty good quality.
H I'iie rail-road is sixteen-and-a-qnarter
9 s long, including a gravity, or, self
-9 mting inclined plane, which is half a mile
I ''Dg, and which overcomes an elevation of
L'i feet. The fourteen and a half miles of
x ! road, between Towanda and the foot of
y Plane, overcomes an elevation of six
I undred and seventy-six feet, or about one
t!f the whole difference o£ elevation be
| tween the river and the coal. There is a
'J - in t road of a mile and a quarter above
If the Plane, which runs up sixty-eight feet,
i t and the coal schutes are eighty feet high,
making the coal thirteen hundred feet
f above the river at Towauda.
Eriie first boat load of coal was shipped
from Towanda by canal October 10th, 1850,
and the shipments to the close of uaviga
ti'in, amounted to 2,205 tons.
In January, 1857, Mr. OVERTON, having
I - hi nearly all his interest in the company,
■ R - GEO. 11. OAT, of Philadelphia, was elec-
I t.•■! President, and he has held the office for
I m arly ten years, till the present time, ex-
I c- pting for a few months in 1801, when
Mr. ELY served in tliat capacity. JAMES
!M ACFARI.ANE was appointed General Super
intendent in February, 1857, and had the
entire charge of all the company's busi
":'Sß for more than eight years—the Presi
' nt and Directors living in Philadelphia,
and only occasionally visiting the property.
•' mf.S M. WARD has been General Superin-
I'-ndent for the last year and a half, since
Mr. MACFARI.ANE has had charge of the To
wanda Coal Company's business.
In the spring of 1857, the Barclay Com
pany had made extensive preparations for
E. O. GOODRICH, Publisher.
VOLUME XXVII.
doing a large business, but a freshet in May
carried away a dam in the Chemung River
near the State Line, and owing to a series
of freshets, it was not rebuilt until Sep
tember 20th, and it was again carried away
on the 11th of November, thus affording
fifty-two days of navigation during the
height of the memorable financial panic
of 1857, which was anything but a favora
ble time lor an infant Coal Company to
commence business.
The following year was one of great de-
I pression in all kinds of business, and the
canal was not put in navigable order until
the 14th of July.
Tiie following table shows the statistics
of the coal trade during the ten years :
. , . ~j : r rp j^7
2 - "S L. :
• §, j §
: 2 §
8 a I a _• > .& fl
. a j~ 1 ® 1 aa o
v** O j j H
185(5 October . .1(5 December. 1 421 55j 2,295
1857 September 20 Novem'oer. 11 j 52 120! (5,265
1858 July 14 November. 27j 13Gi 129 17,560
1859 May 12 December. 6 207; 145j 30.1G3
1860 May 7;November.241 159j lG3j 27,718
1861 May 7 December. 3; 178' 229j 40,835
1862iMay 8 December. C 213 248J 52,779
1863\May 11! December. 5 ! 202 270; 54,535
1864 May 24' December. 6, 196; 316 62,058
1865 June 24 December. 161 1731 4221 73,197
1866; May 28! I ! Est. 100,000
Total shipments from the region '467,385
The business of the Fall Greek Bitumi
nous Coal Company for 1565, 10,930 tons,
and that of the Towanda Coal Company
for that year 7,800 tons, are included in the
above. During the present year an equal
quantity will be shipped by each company
by an arrangement among themselves,
which will be about 33,000 tons to each.
The Barclay Compauy have one hundred
good houses, one hundred and fifty coal cars
and four locomotives.
THE FALL CREEK COAL AND IRON COMPANY
was organized in July, 1804, opened their
mines, built their works and prepared to
ship coal in the spring of 1805. Its name
was afterwards changed to the "Fall Creek
Bituminous Coal Co. Mr. GEORGE C. FAR
RAR, an extensive coal dealer in New York
City is its President, and Mr. WILLIAM M.
MALLORY General Superintendent. ELISHA
A. PACKER, and several other capitalists, all
of New York City, are the stock-holders.
Their lands are situated east of the Barclay
lands, or between them and Towanda, they
contain about three thousaud acres and e
tend across the Schrader Creek, nearly to
the summit of the mountain opposite the
Barclay, or, Towanda Mountain. This com
pany has 112 houses, a tram road, coal
schutes, and one hundred coal cars.
Mr. PACKER, and others, interested in the
Fall Creek Bituminous Coal Company, also
own a much larger body of lands situated
south and cast of the above, extending as
far south-east as the South, or, Fowler
Branch of the Tow .nda Creek, and contain
ing some fifteen thousand six hundred acres,
but wc do not know that they are organ
ized under any corporate name. These
lands, and those of the Fall Creek Compa
ny, formerly belonged to WILLIAM H. WIND
ER, and others, and were commonly called
the Winder Lands.
The TOWANDA COAL COMPANY purchased
their lands, which contain one thousand and
ninety acres, from the Schrader Land Com
pany, in January, 1865. They are situated
north of the Barclay Company's land, and
between them and the brow of the moun
tain, next Towanda Creek. The old Frank
lin wagon road runs through the middle of
the tract. This company consists of JERVIS
LANGDON, of Elmira, who is President, Dr.
EDWIN ELDRIDGE, HENRY W. RATHBONE, ALEX,
S. DIYF.N, E. P. BROOKS, GEO. M. DIVEN,
ALEXANDER DIYEN, all of Elmira, the latter
being Treasurer, and JAMES MACFARI.ANE, of
Towanda, who is General Superintendent.
They have 73 houses, a tram road, leading
to the Barclay rail-road, coal schutes, and
one hundred coal cars. They have also
erected extensive works at Chemung, N.
Y., for supplying the Erie Railway with
coal, by trans-shipping it from the canal,
and through Messrs. ELDRIDGE and RATHBONE
they have intimate relations with the El
mira Rolling Mill, which is one of the larg
est consumers of this kind of coal in that
state.
The coal of the Fall Creek ami Towanda
Coal Companies is carried to Towanda by
the Barclay Coal Company, over their rail
road, at a stipulated price, each company
furnishing their own cars, and each has its
own boats on the canal. The Barclay Coal
Company own a fine basin at Towanda,
with excellent facilities for shipping coal.
The heirs of DAVID CASII, Esq., late of
1 owanda, deceased, own a large body of
some two thousand acres of land adjoining
and east of the Fall Creek Company's lauds,
on which the existence of the coal veins of
the Barclay region has been proved, but
the mine has never been extensively work
ed.
The stok of the SCHRADER LAND COMPANY
which was formerly owned in Philadelphia,
changed hands about a year ago, and is
now held principally by parties connected
with the new rail-road now in process of
construction along the Susquehanna river,
among whom are Hon. ASA PACKER, of
Mauch Chunk, and others of the Lehigh
\ alley 1 vail Road Company. WILLIAM
REED, of New York, is the President, C L.
W ARD, Esq., of i owanda, is the Treasurer
and Secretary, and several parties in To
wanda hold stock. The situation of their
lands is described above, lying west of the
TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., NOVEMBER 15,1866.
Barclay Company's lauds, and they are
known to contain three several bodies or
fields of coal, two of which have been open
ed, and RIIOW a vein of coal of unusual
thickness. But the property is still in a
state of nature, the mines not having been
worked, no houses or coal works built, and
the rail-road does not yet extend to the
lands.
There has never been any coal discover
ed in Bradford County, except on the high
est summits of the Towanda Mountain, a
spur of the Alleghauies, lying between the
main Towanda Creek and the Schrader, or,
Middle Branch, of that stream, and the
above six parties own the whole of it, only
three of whom arc mining and shipping
coal, viz : the Barclay, Towanda, and Fall
Creek Coal Companies.
Beginning at the nearest to Towauda,
near the point, or end, of the mountain, and
going westward, the several bodies of laud
are situated in the following order : Ist,
Cash's heirs. 2d, Elisha A. Packer, and
others. 3d, Fall Creek Bituminous Coal
Company. 4th, The Towanda Coal Com
pany. sth, The Barclay Coal Company,
and Gth, The Schrader Land Company.
But as this whole region is a pathless
wilderness, without improvements, or even
roads, —except about the mines—and unex
plored, it is not unlikely that large discov
eries of coal may, hereafter, be made.
The mountain called " Burnet's Ridge,"
—on the opposite side of the Schrader
Creek from Barclay,—is thus described by
Prof. WALTER R. JOHNSON, an eminent geol
ogist, in his report : "On the southern
side of the creek, between that stream and
the Millstone Run, is a district, which, so
far as the indications of the surface can be
relied on, will probably be found more val
uable than any other which I have seen
Its greatest elevation is almost identical
with that of the coal deposits, and every
rock found on the north side of the stream
is also observable on the south side." Ow
ing, however, to the quantity of earth with
which the rocks are concealed, it will be
more expensive to make explorations.
JAMES MACFARI.ANE, of Towanda, owns one
thousand acres on the highest part of Bur
net's Ridge, directly -opposite Barclay, and
adjoining the Fall Creek Company's lauds,
which he offers for sale, and this is the on
ly land in the region now in the market,
except that owned by Mr. CASH'S heirs.
It is well known that the great difficulty
in the coal business, in this region, has been
the want of transportation at times whe it
was most needed. For several years, when
the canal was new, it was very leaky and
subject to frequent breaks. When prices
of coal were high, and the demand good,
boats, being also in demand, were very
scarce. The working capital of the only
Rail Road and Coal Company was limited ;
for eight years there was but one locomo
tive, and not a sufficient number of cars,
and the road was consequently without ca
pacity to do any larger business than was
done. The quality of the coal, however,
was good, it sold at prices equal to that ob
tained for any other similar coal, and it has
earned for itself a good position in the mar
ket, throughout the State of New York, for
blacksmithing, rolling mills and steam pur
poses.
In the meantime, however, the trade in a
similar kind of coal, in the Blossburg, or, j
more properly, the Fall Brook and Morris
Run coal region, in Tioga county, only
about twenty-five miles west of the Barclay
region, and the same distance from market
as the Barclay, had rapidly increased, as
will appear by the following comparative
statement of the quantities shipped from
the Barclay and Blossburg regions :
: : I if II ; 1 : g>
■ £ ■£ I • Js -2
£ g i i a 1> S
® S J 1 a o
t* a jj h m
185S 17,5001 -11.805! 1803! 54,535 250,000
1859 30,143 51,4-11 1864 C2,058i 300,000
1800 27.7181 97,571 1865 73,197 380,000
1801 40,8351 112,713 1866 100,000 360,000
1862 52,779[ 179,333j |
This rapid increase in the shipments from
Tioga county, was occasioned by the ex
tension of their rail-road transportation
from Corning, (where the coal had been
previously shipped on a small canal,) to
Watkins, at the head of Seneca Lake, the
head of navigation also by large boats on
tho enlarged canals of the State of New
York. Much was also due to the larger
amount of capital invested in the business
in that region—the opening of extensive
mines, building houses for miners, and pro
viding an abundance of locomotives, cars
and boats, and to the enterprise and vigor
with which the business was prosecuted.
A large boat could be loaded at Watkins
with 200 tons and run to Troy, the largest
and most distant market, and return, in
about two weeks ; while from Towanda, a
boat could only carry 75 tons, (increased
to 90 tons from Elmira,) and run to Troy
and back in a month's time. When to these
disadvantages are added the small number
of small boats on these lateral canals, and
the much larger number of large boats on
the Erie Canal, which cannot enter the
small canals, it will be seen that the To
wanda coal region has been entirely behind
the times, and could not expect to compete
in tonnage with the Tioga region, especial
ly as the latter also had a rail-road market
from their mines direct to Buffalo, Roches
ter and other principal points, without
change of guage, winter and summer, while
' Towanda had a canal only.
REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER.
But, now, a new prospect seems to be
opening for the Towanda coal region, by
the building of a railroad from Towanda to
Waverly, there connecting with the Erie
Railway, and thence to be extended to the
New York Central
The North Branch Canal Compauy hav
ing passed into the hands of Hon. ASA
PACKER, and other capitalists, most of them,
except Mr. WELLES, of the Lehigh Valley
Rail Road Compauy, has been reorganized
under the name of the PENNSYLVANIA AND
NEW YORK CANAL AND RAIL ROAD COMPANY,
with power to construct a railroad from
Wilkes-Barre to the State Line, along, or
near, the line of their canal. The work of
constructing the rail-road has not only been
begun, but the grading is actually nearly
completed for many miles, probably eight
tenths of the distance between Towauda
and Waverly, the ties are delivered, and
miles of them placed ready for tbe iron.—
The masonry of the bridge over the Che
mung River, at Athens, is nearly finished,
and the road could be completed and in run- i
uiug order in January next, but it is under- j
stood that the company will not lay down j
the rails until next spring. It may, there- !
fore be considered as certain, that early in
the summer of 1807, the Towanda coal re- i
gion will be connected by rail with the j
Erie Railway. Without waiting for the \
completion of the proposed extension of;
this line of Railway, it is not doubted but j
that a third rail will immediately be laid
on the Erie Railway from Waverly to El- 1
mira, whence by the Northern Central Rail- j
way to Cauandagma, a connection will be
effected, by rail, without change or cars,
with the New York Central Railway, and
its brunches, extending throughout that
State.
It is also intended to build a rail-road
from Wuverly to Ithaca, the head of Cayu
ga Lake, which connects with tin: enlarged
canal and is an excellent point for shipping
coal. Another rail-road is also projected
from Waverly, byway of Owego and Dry
deu Valley, to Auburn, affording the most
favorable grades for heavy tonnage.
The rail-road from the Blossburg region
is broad guage. The Barclay rail-road, the
Pennsylvania and New York, the Northern
Central and the New York Central, are all
narrow guage. The Towanda region will,
therefore, in a little time, iiave an indepen
dent rail-road system to supply with coal
without re-shipment, and the Blossburg re
gion another, consisting of the Erie Rail
way aud its branches.
The Chenango Extension of the New
York canals, from Binghamtou to the North
Branch Canal at Athens, is also in course
of construction by that state, and a large
amount of work is already done on it. This
will open to the Towanda region a new
market and a new route to Eastern New
York, sixty miles shorter than the present
one by Seneca Lake. The building of the
Pennsylvania and New York Rail Road,
will not interfere with the use of the canal,
as a new towing path has been built where
the old one has been taken for the rail-road,
and, indeed, the canal has been greatly
improved by deepening aud widening it, to
get material for the railroad, and the banks
very much strengthened.
The extension of the rail-road south, or
down the river, connecting with the Lehigh
Valley Rail Road, in the spriug of 1803,
will also open a new and very extensive
market for Bituminous Coal at the large
Rolling Mills iu that region, it being pref
erable to Anthracite Coal for that purpose.
The fall iu the North Branch of the Sus
quehanna River, from the State Line to
Wilkes-Barre, is but two-and-a-half feet to
the mile, affording the best unoccupied
route for a rail-road in tfie State, both as
respects grades'and probable tonnage.
The following is a list of the officers, for
the year 1865, of the various companies
mentioned :
BABCLAY COAL COMPANY. .
President—GEOßGE R. OAT.
IHrectors —EDWAED M. DAVIS, HENEY JONES, I.
V. WILLIAMSON, CONEAD S. GBOVE, BENJ. S. RUSSELL.
Secretary and Treasurer —HAEVEY SHAW.
General Superintendent —JAMES M. WABD.
Director's office Philadelphia. Superintendent's
office, Towanda.
Mr. Davis and Mr. Williamson, are the largest
stock holders.
TOWANDA COAL COMPANY.
President —JEßYlS LANGDON.
Directors —Dr. E. ELDBIDGE, A. S.DIVEN, HENEY
RATHBONE, JAMES MAOFABLANE.
Secretary arul Treasurer —ALEX DIVEN.
General Super intended —J. MAC FAT. LANK.
Director's office, Elmira. Superintendent's and
Treasurer's office, Towanda.
FALL CEEEK BITUMINOUS COAL COMPANY.
President—GEOßGE C. FARRAR.
Directors —ELlSHA A. PACKEE, GEOEGE OPDYKE,
JOHN A. C. GBAY, JAMES HOY.
General Superintendent —WM. M. MALLOBY.
Director's office, New York. Superintendent's
office, Towanda.
SCHBADEB LAND COMPANY.
President— WlLLlAM REED,
Directors — R. 11. SAYEB, C.F. WELLES, Jr., J. F,
MEANS, V. E. PIOLLET, THO'S. WILSON, J. B. LIN
DEBMAN.
Secretary and Treasurer—C. L. WABD, Esq., To
wanda, Pa.
Trustees to Execute Deeds —WILLIAM REED, C. F.
WELLES, Jr.
PENNSYIVANIA AND NEW YOBK CANAL AND RAIL ROAD
COMPANY.
President —C. F. WELLES, Jr., of Athens.
Directors— ASA PACKEE, ROBEBT PABKS, G. B.
LINDEBMAN, WM. LONGSTBKET, JOHNR. COX, R. H.
SAYEB, WM. REED, V. E. PIOLLET, WALTEB STEEL
ING, JOHN J. TAYLOR, FEED. L. WELI.ES.
Superintendent of Construction— V. E. PIOLLET.
Chief Engineer —ROßEßT H. SAYEB.
Directors and Treasurer's office, Athens, Pa.
TOWANDA, Pa., Nov. 10, 18C6.
piSttllatiMUS.
THE WlFE. —Only let a woman be sure
that she is precious to her husband—not
useful, not valuable, not convenient, sim
ply, but lovely and beloved ; let her be the
reception of his polite, heartily attentions ;
let her feel that her care and love are no
ticed, appreciated and returned ; let her
opinion be asked and her approval sought,
and her judgement respected in matters of
which she is cognizant; in short, let her
only be loved, bonored and cherished,in ful
fillment of the marriage vow, and she will
be to her husband, her children and society
a well-spring of pleasure. She will bear
pain, and toil, and auxiety ; for her hus
band's love is to her a tower and fortress.
Shielded and sheltered therein, adversity
will haVe lost its sting. She may suffer,
but sympathy will dull the edge of sorrow.
A house with love in it—and by love we
mean love expressed in words, and looks,
and deeds, for we have not one spark of
faith in love that never crops out—is to a
house without love as a person to a ma
chine ; one is love, the other is mechanism.
The unloved woman may have bread just
as light, a house just as tidy as the other,
but the latter has a spring of beauty about
her, a joyousness, an aggressive and pene
trating and pervading brightness to which
the former is a stranger. The deep happi
ness in her heart shines out in her face.—
This is a ray of sunlight in the house. She
gleams over it. It is airy and gay, grace
ful and warm, and welcoming with her
presence ; she is full of devices and plots,
and sweet surprises for her husband and
family ; she lias never done with the ro
mance of life ; she, herself, is a lyric poem,
setting herself to all pure and gracious mel
odies. Humble household ways and duties
have for her it golden significance. The
prize made the calling high ; and the end
sanctifies the means, "love is heaven, and
heaven is love."
HEADING FOB THE WINTER. —The " long
winter evenings," whose advent is always
a cause of gratification,and whose presence
can be so well spent, are approaching.—
Those who are inclined to reading by the
fireside, while cold and tempest reign out
side, welcome this period of the year as the
happiest to them. At such times an in
structive book or newspaper are the best
companions. With their authors we keep
up a continual conversation, imbibing their
ideas and admiring their sentiments. Here
thoughts are presented in the most chaste
language, and the companion of the even
ing, after having proved instructive and
agreeable, is laid away to be called up
again on the next occasiou. The rapid pe
rusal of many publications is, however, not
beneficial. To read less and study well
what we have read, will benefit us vastly
more than to go over a work with a "hop,
skip and jump." Prepare then for the win
ter evening, buy your books and subscribe
for your newspapers. Purchase what you
know will instruct, without wearying you.
Do not read what you cannot appreciate,
because it looks learned to do so. A book,
written in simple language and upon an
ordinary subject, is worth more than one,
no matter how talented its author, which
you cannot read n!iderstaudiugly,and whose
teachings are hid behind glowing meta
phors and elegantly written phrases. So
also with a newspaper. Subscribe for one
which, as far as one can, combines the fam
ily with tin; local and general newspaper.
Through such a one you will learn what is
transpiring in your neighborhood and at a
distance, and at the same time find many
gems of thought, overlooked by the most
pretentious publications, which cannot ftil
to render you inure intelligent and happy.
A WOMAN'S FIGHT WITH INDIANS. —The fol
lowing is from the Tehama, (California)
Observer:
L. Hessick, who runs a pack train be
tween Red Bluff and Hayfork of Trinity,
gives the particulars of a daring exploit of
a lady. Mrs. Sarah Donelson, formerly a
resident of Red Bluff, is living in a log
house on the trail with her children and
her father. A few days ago her father
went out hunting stock, and Mrs. Donelson
was looking after her poultry, a short dis
tance from the house. Suddenly five In
dians made their appearance. Airs. Donel
son started for the house, and was inter
cepted by two Indians. Throwing them
from her, a thiid caught her by the shoul
der. She knocked him down, and reaching
the house in safety, barred the door. The
Indians rested one or more rifles on the
window, leveled at the woman, who ap
proached them, took down her father's rifle
and returned the fire of the Indians through
the apertures or " chiuks "of the log house.
On attempting to cock her gun Mrs. Donel
son found that the thumb of her right hand
had been shot away by an Indian bullet,
but using her left hand, she soon had the
pleasure of knowing that her would be mur
derers had retreated ; whether with whole
hides or not she could not tell. Muscle,
courage and self-possession won a victory
—one against five, and that one a woman.
We challenge the State to exhibit an in
stance in Indian fighting wherein a woman
has acquitted herself more creditably.
DEPTHS OF THE SEA.— A French journal
says that the soundings effected with refer
ence to the new trans-Atlantic cable have
enabled comparisons to be made of the dif
ferent depths of the sea. Generally speak
ing, they are not of any great depth in the
neighborhood of continents ; thus the Bal
tic, between Germany and Sweeden,is only
a2O feet deep ; and the Adriatic, between
Venice and Trieste, 130 feet. The greatest
depth of the channel between France and
England does not exceed 300 feet, while
to the Southwest of Ireland, where the sea
is open, the depth is more than 2,000 feet.
The seas to the South of Europe are much
deeper than those in the interior. In the
narrowest part of the Straits of Gibralter
the depth is only 1,000 feet, while a little
more to the East it is 3,000 feet. On the
coast of Spain the depth is nearly 6,000 feet.
At 250 miles South of Nantucket (South of
Cape Cod) no bottom was found at 7,000
feet. The greatest depths of all are to be
met with in the Southern Ocean. To the
West of the Cape of Good Hope 16,000 feet
have been measured, and to the West of
St. Helena 37,000. Dr. Young estimates
the average depth of the Atlantic at 25,000
feet, and of the Pacific at 20,000 feet.
pet* Annnm, in Advance.
SINGULAR DEATH AND RESURRECTION. —The
following remarkable case is from the Al
bany Knickerbocker, of Wednesday ;—Night
before last a child of William Wells, resid
ing in the town of Bethlehem, a short dis
tance from the city, died rather suddenly.
To all appearances the child was dead, and
it was accordingly prepared for the grave,
and actually laid in the coffin. The coffin
containing the body was placed in the front
room, after having been thus arranged, and
the family retired. The funeral was to have
taken place yesterday. During the night,
however, Mr. Wells heard a noise in the
front room, and supposed it was the cat or
dog that had got in there. He went iu to
d rive it out. Imagine his surprise to find
the body of the child turned in the coffin.—
He raised it up and the little thing opened
its eyes, looked up and commenced crying.
Life, animated life was there. The father's
heart leaped with joy. The mother again
clasped her child to her bosom The phy
sician was sent for, aud the whole neigh-
I borhood were soon aroused. Nourishments
were administered, and the child yesterday
was doing well.
THE PACIFIC RAILWAY. —The Chicago pa
pers contain lengthy accounts of the re
ception given by that enterprising city to
the excursionists who have recently return
ed from a trip on the line of the Union Pa
cific railway to a point two hundred aud
seventy-five miles west of Omaha. It is
claimed t at when fifty miles of incomplet
ed railway in lowa are finished, Chicago
will have an air railway line extending
towards the base of the Rocky Mountains
for 800 miles. The Pacific railway thus re
ferred to traverses Nebraska. Another
party of excursionists recently left Phila
delphia to examine the Pacific railway line
stretching westward from St. Louis throngh
Missouri to Kansas City, and thence along
the Smoky Hill route through Kansas to
Colorado. It is being built as rapidly as
its northern rival, and already stretches be
yond Fort Riley, from whence it is to be
extended nearly three hundred miles dur
ing the coming year.
WATER SPOUTS OF THE GREAT BASIN. —One
of the remarkable phenomena of the great
interior basin of Western America, be
tween the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra
Nevadas, is the water spouts, or great
masses of water that fall suddenly out of
the clouds, and tear down the valley like a
tornado of water. A late Virginia, Neva
da paper, says :
The citizens of Dayton were thrown
into a state of excitement the day before, •
by the news from Eldorado cannon that a !
water spout had bursted, and was destroy- j
ing everything in its maddened course, us [
it swept along to the Carson river.
Piles of wood were carried away as if
they were bundles of straw, arid it is sup
posed that a number of woodchoppers.who
resided in the cannon, have been lost, as
there were a great many persons engaged
in wood cutting there. This water spout
equals the one which occurred iu Esmaral
da county two years ago, when a party,
consisting of Mr. Hugh Glenn, his wife
and mother, were then travelling iu a car
riage. The water spout burst upon them,
killing Glenn's wife and mother, and des
troying the carriage.
One of the horses was so badly bruised
that he died shortly after. Last week a
water spout burst iu Austin, Nevada, and
for a short time the main street was flood
ed, destroying abode bouses, injuring
stores, Ac The amount of damage was I
several thousand dollars. These water
spouts account for the topographical ap
pearance of the country, which shows that
they have been quite frequent, and the
large boulders that are seen isolated on
alkali flats and deserts, no doubt have
been washed there by water spouts.
FELLING TREES BY FIRE. —The idea of burn
ing down a tree six or eight feet in diame
ter, and solid and green, would have seem
ed to me simply absured and ridiculous.—
But the thing is done in Oregon every day,
at a vast saving of time and labor. The
operation is done iu this wise : A hole is
bored into tle tree horizontally, the nearer
the centre the better. Then directly under
this hole another is bored at an angle of el
evation, su that the holes meet together
near the centre of the tree. A coal of fire
is introduced into the orifice ; the lower
hole makes a draught, and the upper one
performs the function of a chimney. The
heart of the tree is dry and contains a con
considerable quantity of pitcb, and when
manipulated, as 1 have described, burns
briskly.
It is necessary to feed this fire with some
fresh fuel from time to time. But one man
can keep a large number of trees thus
burning, and will get twenty or a hundred
down thus, much quicker aud easier than
he could otherwise do. In a similar man
ner, when the tree is down, it is cut into
pieces by being burned in two. A hole is
bored into the log from the top, and anoth
er from its side, until they meet as before
described, when the perpendicular hole acts
as a flue and the horizontal one furnishing
the draught. It often happens that in burn
ing a large tree into lengths for, saw-logs,
there is not more timber wasted tbau would
result from the chopping of the log with an
axe.
NECRO HUMOR —A Virginia rebel, who
has issued a book giving his experience as
a prisoner iu the hands of the Federals at
Point Lookout and Elmira, tells the follow
ing story :
The boys are laughing at the summons
which S., one of my fellow-Petorsbnrgers,
got to-day from a negro sentinel. >S. had
on when captured, and I suppose still pos
sesses, a tall beaver of the antique pattern,
considered iuseperable from extreme res
pectability in the last decade, and for many
a year before. While wandering around
the encioseure, seeking, I suspect, "what
he might devour," he accidentally stepped
beyond the "dead line,"and was suddenly
arrested by a summons from the nearest
negro on the parapet, who seemed to be in
doubt whether so well-dressed a man could
be a "reb," and therefore whether he should
be shot at once.
"White maD, you b'long iu dar !"
"Yes."
"Well, ain't you got no better sense dan
to cross dat line ?"
"I did not notice the line."
"Well, you had better notice it, and dat
quick, or I'll blow half dat nail kag off!"
How THE PARSON GOT EXCITED.—A few
years since, near tbe city of N., in Connec
ticut, lived and preached old Parson 8.,
who was a bit excitable and near-sighted.
One day he had been to the city with his
horse, and among his purchairos was a bar
rel of flour, one head of which was partial
ly out.
On the way home, the old ma a was over
taken and passed by a fast young man
driving a fast horse, and putting on airs
Now, the parson's horse was usually a
quiet, steady-going animal enough, but he
conldn't stand that, so he started after him
on the fast order in 2:40, in good earnest.
The jolting of the wagon at length jar
red the head completely out of the barrel,
and the strong wind which wa blowing
directly after the pastor, blew the flour all
over hiin and the horse.
NUMBER 25.
At last the young man was left behind,
and the village reached ; but the speed of
the horse was not checked. In driving
through a street to reach his home, he came
in contact with one of his* deacons, who
was naturally surprised to see his minister
driving at such a pace, and signaled him
to stop.
" Why, Parson 8.," said he, " what on
earth is the matter ? You seem greatly ex
cited."
" Excited!" yelled the old man, " excited!
who wouldn't be excited—-snow storm in
July. Get up, Dobbin."
The deacon smiled, but was silent.
FUN, FA.OTS AND FACETLS.
A Western paper publishes the follow
ing notice : "Lost or strade from the scriber a
sheep all over white—one leg was black and half
Lis bo.ly—all persons shall receive five dollars to
briug him. He was a she goat.''
A locomotive on a Western railroad has
been adorned with the motto "I still live." That
is more than many of the passengers can say at the
end of their journey.
WHY is the assessor of taxes the best
man in the world ? Because he never underrates
anybody.
THE Telegraph Cable makes a bed of tbe
Atlantic Ocean and pillows of the two continents.
THE key to a mother's heart is the baby.
Keep that well oiled with praise, and yon can un
lock all the pantries of the house.
To bear evil speaking and illiterate judg
ments with equanimity, is the highest bravery. It
is, in fact, the repose of mental courage.
HOUSES should be furnished with large
lights for the convenience of the livers.
IF a speaker coughs when he hesitates
for a thought or a word, consider it the hem of his
discourse.
WHEN a boot-maker commences to make
a boot, the first thing he uses is the last.
IF a man knows, and knows that he
knows, he will lead a happy life.
MARRIAGE is coming to be regarded as a
mere casual tie, and the consequence is it often
proves a casulty.
THE people who are always sighing and
groaning should be sent to a lunatic asylum r s
monomaniacs.
CARRYING politeness to excess, is said to
be raising your hat to bow to a lady in the street
and allow a couple of dirty collars and a pair of
socks to tall to the sidewalk.
"BOB," said a young fellow at a fancy
fair, "you are missing all the sights on this side,"
"Never mind, Bill," retorted Bob. "I'm sighting
all the misses on the other."
A gentleman walking with two ladies,
stepped on a hogshead hoop, that flew up and
struck him in the- face—"Good gracions!" said he,
"which of you dropped that !"
IF a man does not know, and know, that
he does not know, he may lc-ad a tolerable life.
ByT if a wan does not know,and does not
know that he does not know, he will lead a miser
able life.
WHAT thing is that which the more wc
cut it the longer it becomes ? A ditch.
WHY is life the riddle of riddles ? Because
we must give it up.
WHEN should you apply a sovereign rem
edy to your tooth? 'When it a-king.
GOOD men have the fewest fears. He has
but one who fears to do wrong. He has a thous
and who has overcome that one.
THE lot of man is to labor. There cannot
be any good gained, or any advantage kept, with
out a perpetual struggle and toil.
IT is with health as with property ; we
rarely value it or know how Lest to use or to take
care of it till it is gone.
ADVICE is like snow, the softer it falls the
longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into
the min d.
A lover has been pithily described as a
man who, in his anxiety to obtain possession ot
another, has lost possession of himsel.
A mau who covers himself with costly
apparel and neglects his mind,is like one who illu
minates the outside of his house and s'.ts within in
the dark.
AN impertinent fellow wished to know if
one ever sat down to tea, where skimmed milk
was on the table, without being asked, "Do you
take cream ?"
A professor lecturing upon heat, observ
ed, that one of its most conspicuous properties was
the power of evaporating all bodies. A student
arose and asked. "Is that the reason why the days
in wui-m weather are longer than they are iu cold'?"
THE "heart" is the best card in the chance
game of matrimony—sometimes overcome by dia
monds and knaves, often won by tricks, and occa
sionally treated in a shuffling ninuner, and then
cut altogether.
Two Irishmen were travelling together
when they stopped to examine a guide board.-
"Twelve miles to Portland," said one. ".Just six
miles apiece," said the other. And they trudged
on, apparently well satisfied at the small distance.
IF a man sells his watch for fifty dolbns,
buys it back for forty dollars, then sells it for for
ty five dollars, how much does he make in the
transaction? It looks as if he made fifteen dollars,
but he didn't.
IT is not good for human nature to have
the road of life made too easy, for it is better to be
under the necessity of working hard aud faring
meanly, than to hive even thing done for us auda
pillow of dowu to repose upon.
" MOU.EY," said Joe Kelly's ghost to his
wife, "I'm in purgatory nl the present moment,
says he. " And what sort of a plnce is it?" sues
she. "Faix," says he, "it's a sort of a half way
house between you and heaven, and I stand it
mighty aisy after leaving you."
A I.EATHER medal having been offered for
the worst conundrum, the prize was unhesitatingly
awarded to the following from several hvodred :
" Why is rascality like a breast of a fowl? Be
cause it's a piece of cMcttnc."
" I never go to church," said a country
tradesman to his parish clergyman; "I always
spend Sunday in settling accounts." The minis
ter immediately replied : "Yon will find the Pay
of Judgment will be spent in the same manner."
A domestic newly engaged,presented Lis
master with a pair of boots, the leg of one ot whiqu
was much longer than the oilier. "How comes it,
that these boots are not of the same length ?,' "I
really don't know, sir ; but what bothers mo most
is, that the pair down stairs is in the same fix.
A lady in Oregon, in writing to a friend
in New York, says the cattle in that region live to
such a great age" that their owners have to fasten
long poles to their horns for the wrinkles to run
out on.
Is there any precedent for a good prac
tical farmer being styled one of the judges of the
land.
PUNCH says : "We know a man so clever
with his lathe that he can turn even a deaf ear."
A BACHELOR editor, sensitive as to bis
rights, objects to taking a wife, through fear that
if she should have a baby, his cotcmporarii s, who
habitually copy without giving credit, would r. fuse
to give him credit for the baby.
LAZINESS travels so slow that poverty soon
overtakes her.