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AN INDEPENDENT FAMILY NEWSPAPER. TZi"tDZlx
Vol. ,V. Now Bloomnold, Pn Tuesday, October 84, 1871. TVo.'-lfl.
Uoomfitlb (imrs.
- Is Published Weekly,
At New Itlooniflcld, Tenu'a.
" BY
FHANK MORTIMER.
. SDIIBCIUI'TION TEltMS.
75 Cents for i Months ; 40 Vents
for 3 Months,
IN ADVANCE.
THE AUTUMN FOLIAGE.
I1T W. li. WATEKTON.
Tbougli September's suns shine brightly,
And September's skies are blue,
"though Autumn breezes lightly
Stir tho leaves of varied hue,
Still a not unpleasant sadness
Stealeth softly o'er our hearts,
While we mouru the vanished gladness
Of the Summer which departs.
Though the Autumn foliage glory
In its green and gold arrny,
Yet its splendor tells a story
Of Inclpleut decay.
Let us listen to its teaching,
For analogies profound,
And throughout all nature reaching,
Are within us, and aronnd.
Yes, the Autumn foliage gaining
Tints of beauty as it dies,
Like the setting sun, which waning, .
Spreads new glory o'er tho Bklcs,
Tells the Christian that as nearer
' To the grave his footsteps tend,
All his graces should shine clearer, -
And beam brightest at his end.
AN ODD PAIR.
4fc "VTHAT a' figure you are, ' Harry !"
' T l Then, stopping midway in a
laugh, musical and unrestrained an a child's,
the speaker went on. ' ' "-
'. " I never should dream, never, that Har
old Fletcher's figure was to he found under
that disguise."
"Don't triumph, Roso. I saw you in a
gardening suit this morning that worked
quite as complete a transformation, I im
agine." " ' ' ' 1 " ' ! '
Ho was passing her, hut he turned back
presently.
"It seems a pity,' dressed as you are now
to spoil such exquisite effects, but, just to
please mc, will you put on your gardening
array, and we'll institute a comparison."
" It's a deal of trouble, Harry. "
" I know, Hose. Well, perhaps it isn't
worth while. ; ' I : : i
She stopped short, looking at him with a
gleam of mischief in her eyes, i ,
I'll do it, Harold 1 On one condition !"
" What may that be, cousin ?' , j ,
" That when I am transformed, as you
all it) you go to walk' with mc, Just at you
are." . ... ,
"Agreed." '
The young lady repaired to her room and
commenced her task. "I wonder what put
it In Harry's head to ask me ? But I've a
plan. I suppose I must look as unlike my
self as possible, so I'll try to make my hair
straight to begin with," and; , sho worked
uway at the bewitching crimps and other
rippling myiiterics of feminine head-gear,
till she had produced quite a Quakerish
effect. ' '
The face reflected in her glass was a very
pretty one sho could not help seeing that
even with the hair patted smoothly down,
covering two-thirds of tho broad white fore
head. She put on tho morning s costume,
but it looked far too jaunty in tier eyes,
The boots, though tho oldest she ' had,
were yet perfect in fit, -displaying to advan
tage the high-arched, slender foot. Bhe
glanced out the window at Harry,' who was
stalking up and down the lawn in front.
He did make a queer figure.' i
He was just home from a day's Hulling
had been arrayed for the trip- by the boys
of the seaside ' form, ."hi own clothes, in
. their judgment, being utterly unlit for the
undertaking arrayed in old odds and ends
of apparel, pulled out of certain quests In
the garret. 'The coat with its big, old
fashioned collar, completely altered the ap
pearance of his fine shoulders. An anciuut
straw bat, with 'high crown and broad
Uim, completed the metamorphosis. He
grew impatient. ' '
" Come, Rose !" he called, looking up at
her window.
" Bridget," ho said, coaxlirgry, as a fo
inulo llguro emerged from the siilo-iloor,
"won't yon please ask Miss Hose to hur
ry? It's getting latOi" '
A burst of laughter front under tho close
suubonnct ho turned quickly.
" Well, Hose, I must say you'vo more
courago than most young women. You'vo
dared to throw away tho advantage of pret
ty feet. Whcro did you get thoso boots?"
" Borrowed, as is tho most of my cos
tume, Harry ;" and dropping upon tho
doorstep, she held out for his inspection a
pair of feet eased in coarso leather shoes
with broad soles and half heels, tho squaro
toes a perfect Contrast to her usual wear.
"Now, Hose, what is going to be done?"
" First, wo are going to the villago to
mail these letters ; after that Well, I've
not made tip my mind."
Twilight was approaching when the
merry pair set forth.
"I believe it is impossible for her to look
other than fresh and neat in any tiling,"
was Harry's mental comment, as ho sur
veyed tho Blender figure beside him.
It was quite dark when they entered Mil
ton, having achieved a two-miles' walk in
half an hour. On her way, Rose had ren
dered to Harry a reason for her freak of to
night, thus
"I've always had a fancy, Harry, that I
would liko to know just how much of tho
courtesy I teceivo in Milton is genuine
paid me asatributo to my womanhood,pure
and simple how much is duo to tho fact
that I am Miss Amcsbury, a well-disposed,
well-born, and well-dressed young woman,
with property in my own right. You see,
Harry, like the queen of Shcba, who waxed
so confidential with Solomon, I've told you
all that is in my heart.' "
"Doubted," and Harry smiled down into
the sunny face whoso swift blushes the
poke bonnet did not entirely conceal just
now ; she had pushed it back for air dur
ing her rapid walk. ,
Miss Amcsbury had two lovers Charlie
Weir, a resident of Milton, and Leigh
Crawford, who was quite ready to become
so for her sweet sake. Weir was a drug
gist, had built up a good business in Milton
by four years' steady effort. Crawford was
boarding at tho hotel for. the summer, at
tracted to the neighborhood by Miss Amos
bury's presence. He was reported to be
rich and a speculator, which name convey
ed a vaguo idea of greatness to , the more
simple country people, while another class
were less dazzled by his display of wealth
and his profession. Whatever his duties
were, they did not bear heavily upon him.
On the whole, he was rather popular than
otherwise. - He scattered his money with a
liberal hand. , i . : i
His blood horses hod stood many a morn
ing this season at Mr. Horton's' door, when
Miss Amesbury chose to ride,
, Bbo was fastidious in her tastes ; there
was a longing of hers gratified when she
rolled along luxuriously, leaning baok upon
the rich cushions of Crawford's elegant
carriage. . . ,
' But when Charlie Weir stolo in at night
fall, and she walked up and down under
tho stars by his side, listening to his ' deep
voice, she felt the gratification of a higher
need in her nature than the desire for luxu
rious surroundings. She was barely twenty
one, and younger than her years indicated.
Still she was liberally endowed with will
and energy sensitive on one point, almost
morbidly so. That development she ow
ed to an aunt, a narrow, bitter woman, who
had received her into the only homo her
childhood had known. She had learned
from her to distrust those who approached
her as socking her for her fortune
Tho two wore nearlng the post-oflice,
Looking up, Hose saw tho usual crowd of
loungers occupying tho piazza of tho build
ing. This piazza was only accessible by
means of a flight of . wooden steps, few in
number, but ruinous from ngo, uud steep
withal. There was always, this throng
about the ofllce on summor evenings. She
kpew well enough how. Miss, Amesbury
would have been received, if slio.Jbod
pome up the struct in her own proper per
son. Theie would havo been a uofcreutial
raising of huts, a drawing back, right and
left, to leave a broad space for her passage-
perhaps even an outstretched hand t as
sist her over the worn boards in caso of
need. She was known personally to many
of the village peoplehad a speaking . ac
quaintance with nearly all. . i . . ,!
Presently she recognized, partly by his
voice, Leigh Crawford. lie trtood directly
in front of the doorway, the oentre of the
thromr: ' She took a sudden resolution. : '
" Don't stop, Harry. Go to the end of
tho block, nnd wait for mo by tho drug
store On tho whole, I'll go down with you
and walk back alone. I can mail the let
ters well enough, but if there's any tiling
in our box, we'll have to devise somo plan
of getting it. Mr. Gaines would not en
trust our mail to oithor of us unless we re
vealed our personality. Now wait hen',
please ; I'll lie back in livo minutes."
ncconnoitcring through tho window, she
had seen that her lover was within. Harry
obediently seated himself upon a bench in
front of tho store, and waited. Miss Roso
walked back with a step less springing than
usual tho still' boots were getting li re
sume. At the foot of the stairs sho paused
slightly. Two or threo moved to givo hor
room to pass, gray-haired men these, tho
fathers of the town, instinctively polite to
all women, as is tho won't of gentlemen of
tho old school. Leigh Crawford, standing
directly across her path, looked supercili
ously down at tho sunhonnet without stir
ring, little dreaming whose dark eyes wcro
Hashing beneath. Sho made a littlo im
perious gesturo with one hand, a character
istic movement of Miss Anicsbury ; she was
forgetting her disguise. Sho revealed her
coarso thick glove by tho motion.
"Move, Crawford ! this person wants to
pass," whispered a young man at his side,
tho words perfectly audible.
" Too much trouble," drawled Crawford,
lazily, tracing a design with his cano on
his polished French boot. "The person
may as well go round."
Miss Amesbury acted on his suggestion ;
she walked " round" tho obstacle and into
tho office. With all her liking for Craw
ford, nnd his fascinating ways, she had al
ways distrusted his laugh ; she heard it now
with a thrill of indignation, knowing it had
followed somo witticism at her expense.
She dropped her letters into tho box
seventy-one was empty. Sho retraced her
steps to find Mr. Crawford still blin king
the way ; she crept around him as before,
but the narrowness of her foothold made it
insecure One of tho clumsy boots caught
in a splinter, she never knew just how it
was ; she made a tremendous muscular ef
fort ; n helping touch would have saved her,
hut it was not forthcoming. Sho fell from
top to bottom, not far, but tho fright and
mortification made hor powerless for an
instant ; so, though unhurt, she lay quite
still. There was a tardy effort to assist her
of that sho did not know. Sho only
hoard Crawford's mocking laugh ; his sug
gestion to a poor half-crazed - fellow who
stood by,' that there was an opportunity
to show his gallantry. Another peal of
laughter, in which several joined. Itoso
felt herself lifted to her feet, with sudden
disgust, by crazy Tom, she , supposed her
special aversion but she knew the voice
presently. It was Charlio Weir's. Though
in his store when she looked in a few min
utes before, ho had betaken himsolf to the
office just in time to witness her fall. Ho
nearly carried her for a few yards, , then
she was able to walk, still supported by
his arm. , ,
" Do you think yon are hurt ? Go into my
storeand I will yive you a cordial." ,
Sho assured him, faintly enough, that
she was not hurt. She hail no need to fear
recognition from her voice, it sounded
strange evcu to herself. , i
Harry rose as she approached him ; with
a murmur of thanks to Mr. Woir, she took
his arm and walked away.
"What next, Rose?" ,
, " Nothing, Harry. I'm through. Tako
me homo I'm tired to death." ,, ,
' "An old-looking pair," was Charlio
Weir's comment as they disappeared round
the corner ; " but thoso fellows might have
helped her tip, renumbering Bhe was a
woman some one said that Crawford's
boorishness was the cause of her fall. I
wish Iloso Amesbury could have seen that
spectacle !" .
Mr. Crawford's superb pair of bays paw.
ed the turf in front of Miss Amesbury's
parlor, next morning,, while , their owner
beggod the honor of taking her to ride. He
drove away alono, and with furious sjiced,
an hour later, muttering as he wont an un
intelligible found, but two this effect
" I don't know what possessed the girl.
I can't carry, out my plans without her
thirty thousand. ; I shall hare to succumb
that's plain, just as I thought the, game
was all in my own hands."
One June evening, Just a year later,
Charlio Weir was driving from tho station
a bright face was laughing up into his.
Miss Amesbury had bedomo Mrs. Weir the
autumn previous, and Charlie had trans.
leiTtd his business to the city' As usual,
she was spending tho Summer In Milton,
driving to the depot for her husband every
Saturday evening. 1
To-night they stopped in front of the
post-oflicc, while a boy brought out tho
mail.
Mrs. Weir leaned back in tho carnage,
her faco suddenly shadowed.
"I hate tho odor of horse-chestnut
blooms."
" Why, Kose?" with a swift glanco at
tho Bolier face.
"They have, with mo, an unpleasant as
sociation. See, tho trees nro full of them,
and those bruised, trodden flowers on the
sidewalk it reminds mo of a year ago."
" I nm reminded of a year ngo, too, Rose,
nnd tho memory is very sweet just a year
to-morrow, darling!" ,
"Charlie, I'll going to tell you some
thing I never have. I've been ashamed to
tell yet thnt opened my eyes. You ro
momber helping somo one up who had
fallen on those steps?"
" Yes ! What of it? I remember now an
oddly-dressed woman or girl, I could not
tell which."
" That was Koso Amesbury."
"You Koso?"
" No one else. 1 had a fancy to test tho
courtesy of Milton pcoplo. It was ordain
ed that I should test Leigh Crawford's at
the samo time. That night ho was ' weigh
ed in tho balance and found wanting.' "
"And ho never know?"
" No," she replied, " ho never knew !"
A Splendid Building.
A short description of tho Vanderbilt
Depot in New York, will undoubtedly bo
interesting to our readers. The building
is used as a depot for the Hudson River,
the New York Central, tho Harlem and
the Now Haven railroads. In point of con
venience it is ahead of anything of tho
kind on this continent. It is G05 feet long
and 240 feet wide, and covers nearly four
acres of ground. More than two-thirds of
this space is devoted to tho grand car house,
in which and from which nearly two hun
dred trains arrive and depart dally. This
iinmcnso room presents an uninterrupted
superficial area of 050 feet in length by
200 in breadth, a grand parallelogram of a
triflo less than throe acres, without a wall,
pillar, or post to disturb its entire ty, This
colossal room is surmounted by an arched
roof, made wholly of glass and iron, sup
ported by 81 iron truss girders, each form
ing a complete semi-circle and resting at
their ends on the foundation walls of the
structure. Tho apex of this lofty dome is
at an elevation of 112 feet above tho floor
of the room. . ' ' .
All trains arrive and depart through the
north end of the building, which is finished
with ten lofty arched openings, having iron
doors or blinds made to roll up like the
blinds of a store window. In the center of
this end, and nearly half way up to the peak
of the lofty dome is a little apartment like
an old-fashioned pulpit, euclosed with glass,
and giving observation over the entire in
terior of the apartment and the yards and
track without. This perch is reached by a
light spiral staircase, and is devoted to tho
use of tho depot master. From it he not on
ly directs the movement of all trains,but an
nounces their readiness to the several wait
ing rooms. By a system of electric signals,
entirely under this official's ' control in his
isolated and lofty perch, ho" communicates
with switchman in the yard, with conduct
ors and engineers of trains, with doormen
through the building, and directs all the
servants under his control. , Each track in
the building is numbered. When ho do-
sires to send a train out on No. 3 he directs
the switchman to connect that track with
the main track. The accomplishment of
this order is announced ou a signal, towor
outside tho building. Then he orders the
engineer ot the train to go, Tho engineer
on receiving his order has but to glance at
the signal tower directly before him to
know whether his track is right or not.
When this depot shall be fully in nst by
all tho roads there will be eighty-two trains
arriving, 'and tho samo number leaving it
daily. In order to provide as far as possi.
ble from accidents from such multiplicity
of trains, and also to obvlalo danger at the
street crossings, cleetrlo signals have .been
placed at all the street crossings up to the
Harlem River. These are the same signals
that have boon iu use at the drawbridges
aud stations on tho New Haveu road, and
work anatoinatieallyi . Thus, as at rain, ap
proaches a street crossing, , when, yet
thousand feet away, it so,taa bell ringing
at Uu) crossing, which continues to ring
until the train is passed. ,. , . i
' . Each company using this ;dopot, .has its
own suits of wailing rooms, ticket offices,
tRgngo room, &c, with the usual ap
pointments of tclegrnphofncors,news stands
and retiring rooms, nil fitted up with taste
and every convenience. These occupy tho
ground floors. A bovo arc the general
offices of tho Companies.
The Maaiic Needle.
1 T first, the made ncedlo was used
with amusing clumsiness, as we learn
from a manuscript, dated 1203, in tho Roy
al Library in Paris. An ugly, black stone,
called marinicre, we aro told, which sailors
valued highly, was taken out when nights
wcro dark, and a needle rubbed with it
lightly ; the latter was then cunningly
placed upon a straw, and set afloat in a
basin, when tho point would indicate the
north. ' ,
iVnothor peculiarity of the magic ncedlo
was a cause of much anxiety and peril to
tho discover of our continent. ,
When tho great navigator had ventured
about two hundred lcagnes into tho Atlan
tic Ocean, on tho 14th of September, 1492,
ho noticed, for the first time, that tho nee
dle, at evening dusk, no longer pointed due
north, but deviated soveral degrees in a
northwesterly direction, the next morning
the deviation had increased. Full of anxie
ty anil wonder, ho watched it carefully
and, to his consternation, tho farther west
ho sailed, the more tho ncedlo appeared to
deviate. At first ho kept his discovery to
himself, fearful lest ho should alarm his
crew aud defeat his purpose; but soon the
man at tho helm noticed the change, and were
filled with grievous apprehensions. They
fancied that they had penetratod into a
now world, ruled by other laws than thoso
to which they had been accustomed. If
the magic necdlo lost its power, what was
to bocomo of them on the boundless ocean ?
Never, perhaps, was Columbus greater
than when, sternly suppressing his own
fears, he told them that the magnetic nee
dle pointed, not toward the north polo on
earth, but toward an invisible part of the
heavens, which changed Its place, together
with all tho heavenly bodies. They believ
ed tho man whose vast knowledge and mar
velous energy they had learned to appreci
ate ; their minds were calmed, the voyage
continued, and a New World discovered.
Henceforth the magio needle achieved tri
umph after triumph. With such aid, Diaz,
Cabral and Garoa could cross vast oceans,
and Magellan and Sebastian Cabot sail
around tho wholo earth thus ending for
ever tho objections nmdo by superstition
and bigotry, and teaching man the truo
form and nature of tho globe which he in
habits. Wuilo, heretofore, the majority
of vessels, in the Mediterranean even, had
lieen wrecked, or at least had reached thoir
desired haven only with a small part of
their cargo, now insurance companies were
formed in all the huge seaport towns, and
the premium, even for India voyages, be
came soon so small as to make insurance
the rule.
AXES. . ;
T
III E ax is one of tho first edge-tools
.known to have, beep used. It is fouud
among the remains, and named in the early
tales, of nearly all nations.' The Aztec
peoples of Central and South America, not
knowing how to extract iron from its ores,
made axes of copper and other metals,
which they hardened almost to tho consist
ency of iron. Under the wicked rule of
their Spanish conquerors, the knowledge of
this hardening process was lost. Its re-dis-covory
would confer a lasting benefit on
mankind. Tho Spaniards still make axes
by hammering out a bar of iron and turn
ing it so as to form a loop around tho
handle, tn ancient times tho use of steel,
and its combination with iron, were almost
unknown. The cutting edge of most axes
is now made of steel. '
American axes are made by boating , to
redness hammered bar-iron, cutting this to
the proper length and punching the eye for
a handle, re-heuting and pressing between
concave dies. ' Being ngaiu heated and
grooved on tho thin end, it receives Into
this groove the piece of steel that forms
the edge Borax is used as a flux, and at
white heat Uie tool is welded and drawu to
its proper sha)e by trip-hanimors., It is
then hammered out by hand, ground nnd
shaved.' It is next ground on stones of fine
grain. The temperer hangs it on a revolv
ing wheel in a furnace, over a coal fire.
At the right redness, judged by his skillful
eye, he plunges it Into brine, and completes
the cooling in fresh water. 1 Tho tomperlng
is finished in another furnace, whoie- tho
heat is carefully regulated with tho aid of
thermometers.:. Then it is finely polished,
so that it con resist rust and .easily enter
wood. Finally it is stamped, (the head
blacked with turpentine' nnd asphalt to
keep it from tho air), weighed, labeled and
packed. i'i li, -; l et-.,, i , -i,,, .
There are many small ax factories, In
Kurope, which supply ,ner)y tho whole
of the old world. According to the Custom
House re-turns, American manufacturers
seem to hold possession of the home mar
ket and to confine themselves to it. i