SIjc tiitM;Ncttj0laonifitlJii Xa. r TIXJ BEST . . . , . IS THE ' ' 1 ' O II 13 V. I EST! THE " SINGER" SEWING MACHINE. 8INGER i: , . MACHINE. MACHINE. MACHINE. MACHINE. MACHINE. i i MACHINE. SINGER "t f - SINGER J, SINGER j SINGER I afvnnn " ..MACHINE, f MACHINE. MACHINE. -'MACHINE. SINGER ll IV SINGER fc.'"" SINGER MACHINE. 1"IIE RTNOEK RJWINiJ MACHINE Is so well JL known that It Is not necessary t mention ,,. ITS MANY GOOn QUALITIES! Every one who has any knowledge ot Sewing Hacfclnes knows that It will do EVERY KIND OF WORK In a Superior Manner. Tlia Machine Is easily kept In order: easily op eiated, and la acknowledged by all, to be the The Best Machine in the World ! Persons wanting a Mewing Machine should ex- mine the SiiiKer, before purchasing. They can be bought on i i me Most Liberal Terms F. MOIITIMEII, NEW B LOO M FI K I.D, 1' A . , (Jenernl Agent for Ten y Co. jror of the following Local Agents on the ameteruis: A. 1". KEIM, Newport, I'a. JAS. P. LONd. Dnncannon, Pa. NEW, 'YORK CONTINENTAL Life Insnrance Company, OF NEW YORK, 8 TRIC'J'L Y M VTUA L 1 ISHTJHSallthe new forms' of Polloles, and pre sents as favorable terms asany company In the . uuiteaHtaus. Thirty days' craee allowed on each payment, and me policy neia gooa aunng mm wine. Policies Issued by till) Company are non-forfeit ere. No extra charges are made for traveling permits. Policy-holders share In the annual profits of the company, ana nave a voice in me elections aim management oi me company. ... No policy or medical feecharged. L. W. ntOST, PrfMrnt. M. B. Wtnkoop. Vice I'res't. J. P.nooBits, See'y. J. P. EATON. General Agent, No. 6 North Third Street, College Block, Harrlsbnrg, Pa. TH08. H. MII.I.IflAN, -6 42 1y) (Special Agent for Newport. B- T. BABBITTS' Pure Concentrated Potash, . OR LYE, Of dmib'e Me strength of any oilier Hponlfyiiisr Niilmtancc. I have recently perfected a new method of liacKinumy rotasn. or i.ye, and am now pack tuir It onlv In Halls, the coat I lie of which will sunn tfy, awl does not Injure the simp. It Is packed In Mixes containing 24 and 4H one lb. Halls, and in no other way. Directions III English and Oennan tor maktiiK hard and soft soap wltX this l'otash eeo'apauy " I) pticaage. B.T. BABBITT, 15fmh. (MIoMWSIllNGTON r?t.,N.Y A. J. I. UKft'NZlSY, Produce Commission Merchant, Nut 8 and Poultry A SPECIALITY. No. 318 North Water Street, (Opposite Noitli Delawure Avenue Market) 4181 I'llILADELJ'IlIA, FA. "lONHMJNMKNl 8 solicited. Prompt returns. V Jteti rto lloi'. V. Aiurrtson, ;amtln CO., ti. v, J. Iliggins, Bum uei1, i iiiiitowpnia, Our Western letter. Hutchinson, Reno Co.', Kans., ' ' November 11th, 1874. Mr. Editor : Mr business is taking tne through Kansas' to Colorado, and I am making the ' jaunt leisurely, giving myself opportunity to see the oountry, and loam something of the people. I am spending a few days in this delightful, thriving, en. terprislng, three-year-old city of Hutchin son, and I find I have a little time for lot-tor-writing. I had heard so much of the utter ruin caused by the grasshoppers, that I had expected to see a land quite stripped of nil vegetation J " a dried up, desolate country," as the descriptions read, "and a discouraged, disheartened population." What I actually have found in Kansas, may be of interest to your readers, and perhaps allay some needless fears. In Eastern Kansas I found the damage inflicted by the grasshoppers to be compar atively light. My route of travel over the Kansas Midland Railroad, from Kansas city, took me through the Kaw. (or Kansas) Valley, as far as Topeka. Vegetation ap peared to be about as luxuriant as ever, and, but for the corn-fields, one would not have discovered that he was in the 'grass hopper region," , From Topeka I have traveled westward, on tho line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, thiough the Cottonwood Valley and into the Arkansas Valley. Here the grasshop pers were in as overwhelming numbers and proved as destructive, perhaps, as any where. By the time they appeared in Eastern Kansaf, , (some two or three weeks later than here) the corn had so far matured, that while they had cut off the leaves and tassels, they left the ears of corn hanging upon tho stalks. Further west ward, tho ears boiug in the "milky state," were also dostroyed, leaving the bare stalks standing in the fields like so many walking canes, stuck in the ground. Here, in this portion of , Middle Kansas, the grasshop pers came early enough to find the corn in a still tenderer tate,and they destroyed not only leaf and tassel and the incipient ear, but ate even the stalks down to within a foot or two of the ground, leaving a field not of bare canes, but of bare pegs. I have made It a point to ascertain the dam ages actually caused, by the grasshoppers in this region, and have came iu contact with, and received direct information from hundreds of farmers residing in the coun ties ' of Lyon, Chase, Marion, Harvey, Sedgwick and Reuo. As the result of their statements, I think the following may be relied upon, as a tolerable accurate sum mary of what was lout, and what was saved in these countios. i Corn almost a total failute, in general. When planted very early, a partial crop was secured. In a few special instances in Lyon and Chase counties, fair crops. 45 to GO bushels per acre. Winter wheat not a fleeted by grasshop pers, urop considered very lair, ranging from 15 to 85 bushels per aero. Many farmers harvested from 1,000 to 2,000 bushels. Spring wheat raised 'in considerable quantities ; yielded all the way from 0 to 35 bushols per aero. Rye sown only iu limited quantities ; a good crop everywhere, and averaging 20 bushels per acre some - fields yielded GO bushels. Fruit not badly damaged by the grass hoppers. The small fruits, strawberries, blackberries, &o., yielded well wherever grown, and were out of the way of the de stroying army. The' leaves of the apple tree wew taken, but the apple left un touched. One farmer harvested 800 bush els from 200 trees. Peach trees lost their leaves and occasionally the poach was bit ten : but the crop was a large one, aid in several towns peaches could be had at 25 cents per bushel. Cherries were abundant. Grapes were very plenty, suffering com. paiatively slight injury. Vegetables a good crop of early sort. Late vegetables, in the main, were food for the grasshoppers. Some people succeeded in saving their gardens, by liberal use of fire and smoke, or by driving the grass hoppers away with a whip ; but Mr. Ber nard of Chase county, who lost a field of 2,000 cabbages, tells me he tried all these means without success. Thoie was a tol erable crop of sweet potatoes, late beets and turnips. Oiase a crop of prime importance, though often quite overlooked, which was but slightly injured. Pasturage has been comparatively good ull through the season, and the hay harvest is unprecedently large. Some farmers have put up from 50 to 100 tons. A prominent clergyman of Lawrence, sums up tho mutter as to Eastern Kansas thus : " In this Eastern portion, I really believe there will be more realized from the soil this year than lust, and I doubt, if on the whole, it will be so bad a year." Sev eial farmers in these Middle counties have mid to n.e almost the same thing.' "We have lost our coru crop," said they "but we fcbull get thiough this wiutor better than wo did hint." Many people say to me, " You visit Kansas at a very unfavora- bb tuno." Hut I cannot ugioo with them. The beautiful holds of wheat which sea in all this region, could not possiblly look more promising, and I luarn that nev er before were thoy half so extensive. At no former time could I have seen suoh in numerable ricks of hay, scattered over the prairies. The trees which were robbed of their foliage, have put forth fresh leaves, and show no sign of desolation. I have seen numerous herds of oattle fatten ing upon the iloh and unlimited pasturage of the prairies. This Indian summer is the very perfection of pleasant weather, and the people whom I meet suom to be cheer ful, contented, full of hope and energy who are able and willing to bear their own burdens. The grasshopper plague, however, after all is said that, can be said in mitigation, and in correction of exaggerated reports, did fall with almost crushing weight upon some individuals, and to them it was a very great calamity. The old settlers and those who had been here two or three sen sons, and had put in wheat as well as oorn, will weather through ; but the emigrants of a year ago who came In quest of a home-stead claim, with barely enough to carry them through one season, and also others who ventured everything upon the one crop of corn, have lost all. In the new settlements of Western Kansas, there were a number of such cases. A large portion of them have left the country, wending their way back to the older states in their emigrant wagons, and to all inquiries as to their destination, giving the one answer, "Going back to wife's folks." Many of them intend to find employment during j the winter, and will return in the Boring to begin anew with fresh courage, and here they will soon establish them reives in comfortable homes, where, timo, " Wife's folks" will receive onerous and ample return for the hospitality extended this winter to the young Kausus settler. But others who drifted into Kansas with the current, aud have now drifted back, will find refuge with " Wife's folks" until some other current carries them oil" again ; and so tliey will drift back aud forth, shuffling their shiftless way through life, until they " shuffle off this mortal coil." I know not how many people have assured me that the grasshoppers are to be credit ed with one blessing ridding the State of this class of inhabitants. A Home Mis sinary in one of our Western counties said to me, " Tho grasshoppers have cltanttd Kansas." ' Some of the recent emigrants, who re mained here, will need and will receive help from their neighbors. Some were left without the means to procure seed-wheat, but in some way or other this want has been suppliod. A large portion of the latest comers had purchased land of the A. T. fc S. F. Railroad. Iu such cases, and indeed, in the case of many home steaders, the Itailroad company furnished wheat for seed, when nocessary. I have asked the farmers whom I have root what is their present opinion of Kan sas its prospects, &o. To hear their, re plies, one might suppose they were all real estato agents, for thoir praises of the coun try are very positive and emphatic. In two or three thiugs they all agree : That they never lived in so healthful u country as this ; that a new country never had such schools (this is true without a doubt); nor was over so well supplied with church es, mills, roads, bridges and railroads ; and that this is the best country they have seen for winter wheat. . I find some difference among them as to tho industry in which it is most profitable to engage Some pre. fer stock-raising, because the pasturage is so plentiful ; the winters, general, so mild ; the labor so light, and the profits so sure, Others, aud the majority, thiuk that farm ing and stock-raising combined, will give the greatest profit. Still others are devot ing all their attention to sheep, claiming that this couutry is the "Sheep's paradise." These Kansas folks not only like the coun try, but also the people who live iu it, , A gentleman in Marion oountry, said t me, " This is the clvilest community I ever was in." A clergyman, well out towards the frontier, tells me his congregation is of a higher average grade of 'intelligent. and culture, thau that be ministered to in the East. The people here have fully recovered from their panic, and are a little ashamed of their fright. In the midst of the grass hopper raid, the panio among them was almost universal. A llarvey county larm mer tells me that, at that timo, ho aud his neighbors were anxious to sellout very cheaply j but now no one would sell, ex cept at a large price. I find that valua tions have gone back to their former stautl. aid. They will remain there for a Beason without any attempt to advance thorn ; for the grasshoppers have affected one good thing, in checking the tendency to a too rapid mine in prices. I presume, there fore, that next spring one will bo able to gut ucaily as good bargains iu farming laud, as iu tho spring of 1874. During tho panic, great bargains were offered, and some property changed hands, at about, its value. That time is past. There are no suoh chances at pieseut. I now and then meet with "bHrgaiu-huutrs," who come here expecting to buy at " grasshopper priceB." Some of them seem to be in very ill humor, because tho people re I use to sell, except at tho old rates, utid so they return as they came. Others fludiug they cannot get the bargains they anticipated, do tho next best tiling, and purchase Railroad lands. One of the land agents of the 1UI1 road company informs me that his sales this autumn have been double those of tho same season last year. After what I have seen of this particular portion of tho "grasshopper stricken coun try, my bowels refuse to) " yearn" with sympathy .for It. The 1 people here, as a body, are in protty good circumstances, and ean take care of themselves and their needy neighbors. They ask for neither sympathy nor help, and they indignantly protest against the course of two or three adventurers self-appointed agents of "suffering Kansas," who have gone to other States begging for aid. It is but just and right that your readers,' and the pub lie gonerally, be cautioned in this matter, lest their oharities be bestowed where they are not needed, and placed in the hands of persons not authorized to receive them. It is true, howevor, according to trust worthy reports, that iu a few of the newest counties there is a destitution, which is not found in the Eastern or Middle Kan sas, and which may justly appeal to the sympathy of the general public If it shall become necessary to go outside of the State to make that appeal, it will be mado through such authorized and responsible channels, aa will give the fullest assurance that the charitable offerings of the publio will not be wasted nor misapplied. G. II. . Snilgglus' Pants.. Last October, young Smiggins went with some young ladies chestnuttine. Now Smiggins is polite and bashful and a great admirer of the ladies and bis own personal appearance, and even on such an expedi tion as cbestnutting he could not forbear dressing as though he was going to attend a wedding or ball. With his three female companions he wandered through the woods for an hour or two. They met with indifferent success iu finding chestnuts. There were plenty of them on the trees, but none on the ground. Finally one of the fair ones, who is to Smiggins as the "apple of his eye," suggested he could olimb a tree which was loaded with buns,, aud knock some of them off. This was an or deal which our friend had not anticipated, he would do anything to please her. Ho accordingly divested himself of his coat, and hugging the trunk of the tree, he be gan to work his way up. It was a tough job. His pants were not made for such work, and their close fit brought an awful strain upon that part which was most prominent duriug the ascent. But Smig gins must go up, and he got along very well for about fifteen feet, and then he heard a rip, and felt a relaxation of the strain upon his pants. That sound nearly caused him to lose his balance. He knew that three pairs of eyes were centered on him aud he worked his way around on the opposite sido of the tree, but they followed. Here was a dilemma. He didn't like to come down, aud he feared to go up. His arms aohed, aud perspiration broke out all over him. He could not long remain in his then position, so he gave a determined push, and r-r-r-ip went those pants, sep arating in an awful manner. The ladies immediately diverted their gazu and stuff ed their handkerchiefs iu their mouths, and had our hero given them time they would have been out of the way, but he was so startled by the situation, that he lost his strength and slid down the tree at a fearful speed, so fast that the already rent pants wero almost torn from his body. As soon as he Btruck the ground he darted off into the woods with flying tatters of In termingled hues. The ladies came home alone, and if any one finds a coat in the woods in this vicinity, that coat belongs to Smiggins, An Unfortunate Man. . A N. V. paper gives a biography of an inventor, who has done more for the world than the world has for him. After making half a dozen scientific improvements iu mechanics, any one of which would have made another, muu's fortuue, he has gradu-J aHy fallen to the position of tender of the stage door in a Kew York theatre. His name is Freligh. When twenty yeai-s old he invented a diving dress for which he got 000 about the only reward he ever ob tained. He served his apprenticeship at the Novelty Iron works aud afterward ob tained a position as engineer of the Jersey City ferry company at $000 a year. For inventing the revolviug grata for ferry boats, the superintendent gave him a pair of patent leather boots ; for inventing an apparatus to heat water by waste steam and save ten per curt, in fuel, he reueivod a double barrel shot gun. When he built a model for a Spauiard, who wanted a boat of light draught and immense carrying capacity to navigate the shallows of the Amazon, and was about to sign a contract to construct a flotilla of such vessuls, the Spaniard was murdered iu a cigar store ; when, four years later, ho Invented a "com bination gunge" to Indicate the action of tho force-pump, the temperature of the water in the "hot well," aud the density of that iu the boiler, a Scotchman stole his discovery, aud patented it in his own name; when he compounded a lubricator for lo comotives, the general supply agent of the Erie railroad refused to accept it unless he was paid a tonus of $0,000. Aud lastly, after a day had beon appointed by James Fisk, jr., in which Froligh was to receive $30,000 in stock and money for the secret of the compound, Stokes interfered and murdorod the only man who had ever promised him fair treatment. To such a man the Fates have done thoir worst. Af ter such a series of disappointments, no wondor that the poor man takes his stand at the door of a theatre, satisfied that the shams of the stage are moro substantial than the gratitude unci honesty of the world. An Item for yon to Read. We have probably all of us met with In stances in which a word heedlessly spoken against the reputation of a female has been magnified by malicious minds until the cloud has been dark enough to overshadow her whole existence. To those who are accustomed, not nocessarily from bad mo tives, but from thoughtlessness, to speak lightly of women, we recommend these hints as worthy of consideration : Never use a lady's name in improper places at an improper time, or in mixed company. Nover make assertions about her that yon think untrue or allusions that you think she herself would blush to hear. When you meet with men who do not scruple to make use of a woman's name in a reckless and unprincipled manner, shun them they are the very worst riiembors of the community 'men lest to every sense of honor, every feeling of humanity. Many a good and worthy woman's character has been forever ruined and her heart broken by a lie manufactured by some villain, and iu the presence of thoso whose little judg-' ment could not deter them from circulating the foul and damaging report. A slander is soon propagated, and the smallest thing derogatory to a woman's character will fly on the wind, and magnify as it circulates until its monstrous weight crushes the poor unconscious victim. Re spect the name of woman ; your mother and sisters are women, and as you would have their fair names untarnished, and their lives unimbittered by the slanderer' bitter tongue, heed the ills your words may bring upon the mother, and sisters or the wife of some of your follow creatures. A Japanese Street Scene. A writer on Japan says : " I shall never forget the sport that a Parisian fellow passenger and I had the first trip we made in a ginrickasha through the Japanese quarter of Yokohama. The most sedate judge could not help laughing to be drag ged about like a big baby in a fancily painted baby wagon. Down narrow streets we went, through crowds of men, women, and numberless children, the coolies shout ing out to clear the way, and never seem ing to tire of their work Married women, with shaved eyebrows and blackened teeth, carried their babies strapped to their back, and went chattering along gayly as can be imagined ; young Japanese maidens smiled flirtatiously at the French count, as well they might ; men and women - displayed their wares for sale on the street and in the shops, and everybody seemed happy. The tea houses were crowded, and the silk stores and lacquerware shops were bright with beautiful goods. Here a crowd would be gathered to listen to the singing of professional musicians (aud such he athen ish singing, too ! aud in another place some eloquent stump-speakers would be making up faces and telling lies, just as Btump-speakers do elsewhere. Such a gay, happy, simple people I never saw before. Everybody smiles, everybody bows pleas antly and acknowledges the courtesy with a most gracious manner." A Monkey In a Bad Fix. , Sam Wilcoxen, of Virginia, Nov., has a small menagerie of monkeys, foxes, coyotes and the like. He also has a large New foundland dog. On whose back he some times places one of his pet monkeys when he is going for a walk about town, the monkey fastened to the collar of the dog by a string. As a general thing, the monkey enjoys his ride ; but a day or two since he. would willingly have traded himself off foe seme less privileged spooimen of hhv species. His canine steed being allowed to. roam the streets at will, saw another dog; that he thought he could whip, and forth, with went for him like a hairy hurricane.. In a moment both dogs were ou their hind legs and going for each other like two. sausage machines. This made times, very lively for the monkey, as the strangar dog evidently considered him as part and par cel of his strange antagonist. Suoh wails of despair as that monkey uttered, and such hideous facos as he made I He would climb down tho side of the dog he bestrode opposite where the war was going ou, and thence peep over occa sionally, his jaws quivering, visage distort ed, and his eyes starting from their sockets with terror. As the dogs wero constantly changing sides, it made times awfully live ly for that moukoy. Whon he jumped to tho ground tho string hold him, and he found himself trampled under the foot of both friend and foe, and he was glad to get again upon his steed and face the battle. The poor monkey did not get over examln. lug the end of his tail for wounds for four hours after the battle had terminated.
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