l&ls
, i 1 -
1 . ; "
U i '
. r
J. C. LUTHER, Editor axd Publisher.
I LOCAL AXD FA MILT JOURNAL.
TEnars $2.00 a Tear, is Advaxce. " ' " '
: I ll - " " f
VOL. II.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1870.
NO. G. . ' . .
l gj i ti I P I S3 B li ;J If
v$ IF i ft K P S, nii Wi pi j 9 n!
TIIK TOIC F IIK SPIRIT.
There Is n low, deep music In the wind,
Sounding ht Intervals when nil Is still,
Ileurd only by the pure In heart, who find
Joy in their daily task, doing their Maker's
will.
Be thev in velvet clad, or russet stole,.
in hull or hut. theirs is that low. sweet
J( chime,
onlcmn, yet chcertnl, speaking to the soul
Of Joys that rest not in this stronger clinic.
Loud music cannot quench it, nor the. sound
Ot mighty voices, like the mingled roar
Of tossing waves that with delicious bound
I.ccp onward in their fury to the shore.
Nor yet the Jarring sounds of bustling life,
Whose wenrv fuotHtcna toll in ouct of lrnln
In dusty mart', 'mid sickening sccues of
true,
Till the worn spirit longs for rest, in vain.
Yet few do hear il ; cither care or pride,
Or thoughts unholy, folly, grief, or crime,
Whelming tlie bouI beneath their rushing tide,
Hinder the coining of that low, sweet chime.
Men's hearts nre heavy, or thoy -would not
slight
Their spirit's oneness with so pure a strain,
Though faint as when the lar-oir torrent's
might
Sjcms ns a murmur stcaliug o'er the plain.
From source far mightier conies that low,
sweet sound,
Than deep, deep waters thundering to the
cur j
From harps and mingled voices that resound
With amhems h'gh through heaven's eter
nal yenr.
RUTH'S TIIASKSUIVIXU.
" You see just bow we're fixetl !" said
Deacon Obed Carey to Mrs. Elum Skin
ner. The gray November twilight was
closing, like the misty shadows of a
droam, over the desolate valley that lay
between the rock-crested hills, fringed
with hemlocks and whito pines, while
the gray green foliage of cedar copses
gave a ghostly shimmer to the distance.
Just at the mouth of the valley, the
mirror-like gleam of Lake Cham plain
reflected the dull lirmumcnt, and be
yond, the peaks of far-off mountains
lost their outlines in the low-hanging
vapors of the sky the Adirondack
themselves.
But Deacon Carey, who had been
cradled, as it were, among their gran
deur, never thought of the Adirondacks,
except ns a very unprofitable investment
of laud. Familiarity breeds contempt,
and even the Colossus of Rhodes, or
Niagara's self, cease to inspire awe to
their next door neighbor.
" Folks come a dreadful ways to look
at them hills," said the deacon, irrever
ently, and, arter all, they aiu't' no
great shakes. Give me a good inedder
lot, or a hold where the J ailer puukins
is a-shhiin' out among the shocked corn 1
That's my notion of beauty ! Guess it
would be a pretty long while afore any
body raises a crop o' rye out o' the Adi
rondacks." And, after all, there was an inkling of
common sense in the deacon's view of
things.
. Airs. Elam Skinner lived in a brown
farmhouse, whose overhanging eaves
made you think of a boy who has pulled
his cap too far over his eyes a farni
liouso upon whoso shingled roof the gold
und scarlet maple-leaves rained do .vn in
rustling drifts at every sough of the
melancholy wind. There were not two
such maple trees along the whole shores
of Ciiainplain as those Mrs. Skinner's
grandfather had planted in the Revolu
tionary days, when he never knew, com
ing home at night with his axe over his
shoulder, whether he should not find
his home a heap of smoldering cinders,
with the cry of tho savage redskin where
his babies' cooing voices had sounded at
tho morning tide ! He was in his grave,
dust and ashes, long ago, but the maples
renewed their youth with every year.
Within you saw a low-ceiled room,
with colored prints hanging on the wall,
a mist of asparagus over the clock-6helf,
and whito and yellow chrysanthemums
blossoming between tho net-fringed cur
tains of the three little windows. A
rag-carpet, woven in dazzling stripes of
red and blue, covered tho floor, while
the bricks of tho clean-swept hearth
could not have glowed brighter if they
had been carvel in Neapolitan coral,
und a fire of splendid chestnut logs
blazed and crackled, wreathing the pol
ished brass fire-dogs us if they had been
a pair of John Rodgersat tho stake, suf
fering continual martyrdom. Mrs.
Skinner herself, a wiry, compact little
worn in, in a green gingham dress an 1
winking spectacles, satdarniiigstockiiigs
by the blaze, for she was a thrifty dame,
und while she begrudged the wasted
moments of twilight, she had no idea of
lighting a caudle until it was fairly and
quarely dark.
Obed Carey occupied the cushioned
ocker opposite, tad and brown and
oose-joiuted, with hero aud there a sil
ver thread in his durk hair, and hands
where the veins stoo 1 out like cord. A
hard-working man, und a inuu who ac
cepted his inheritance if toil with a sort
of grim satisfaction, ha wou'.d have
afforded uo inappropriate typ-i of tho
Xew England Farmer of the past gen
eration, us he sat there, erect and thin
and uncompromising.
Ana while ber elders talked, llutu
Skiuuer sat close against the chiruuey-
auib, a tin-pan lull ot apples m ber lap,
paring diligently away, with the fire
light glinting on her sunny brown hair.
and touching her eyelashes with the rich
aureate auburn which old artists de
li e-ht in.
Ruth was small and dimpled, and ex
quisitely fresh, like the rosy peach which
hangs on the south wall alter the first
f roots, and she bud violet gray eyes,
darkening iuto blue around the edge of
the hide, and dewy scarlet lips, and a
slender throat, circled with a string of
red wood-berries ; and, as she worked,
there was an unconscious grace in her
motions that made you like to look at
her. ...
" Tea," said Mrs. Elam Skinner, an
swering the deacon's remark; "I see.
It was a dreadful unfortunate dispensa
tion that Mrs. Carey should be took
away."
" Four year ago this very month," j
said the deacon, meditatively ; " four
year ago. A houseful of boys is a
ti-vin' thins-. Mrs. Skinner.
" 1 should think it must be," said tho
widow.
"And it's a remarkable ordering of
Providence that I should have ix boy3
and vou six mils.
" Yes," said Mrs. Skinner, breaking off
a needleful of gray yam ; " but my gals
has all done well. Malindy she's mar
ried, and lives m Burlington, and So
phrony is teachiti' school 'cross tho lake,
and Sarah's at the factories in Lowell,
and Altheas lived to Squire Hall's these
two year, and Kate's doin' well at the
millinery business, and Ruth, fcho kind
o' makes herself generally useful to hum.
Ruth aiu't like tho others; r-he ain't
irood for much."
The deacon hitched his chair, with a
trratinsr noise, across the hearth, to get a
better view at the little figure bending
over tho ran ot apples.
" She's good to look prolty, anyhow,"
he Baia, with a cumbrous attempt at a
joke.
" Humph !" raid Mrs. Skinner, whose
rjspect for the merely ornamental was
extremely limited.
" I s'pose Sarah and Sophrony'seomin'
home ttf Tbnnksgivm r nazaraeo. iu.r.
Carey.
Mrs. Skinner nodded briefly.
" Wall, that's sort o' Providential, too,"
said the deacon, somewhat embarrassed'
" Bein' you've got so many gals, mobbe
you d spure one.
" Snare one 'f "
" Wo hain't no women folk's to our
house since Hepsibah Duckett stolo the
spoons and went to Canady ; and I set
my foot down not to have no more hired
help, and it mt sort o' forlorn last
Thanksgivin' XJdy, and trie c-oys, wny
they missed the turkey, and so I kind o'
thought if Miss Ruth wouldn't object to
come over and ginerally hey an eye to
things, it would be a sight o' accommo
dation.
"I'm wiilin', if Ruth is," f,aid Mrs,
Skin'ier, composedly.
" We've cot as line a turkey as ever
squawked," went on the deacon, " and
Jared he ietched in a punkin oil a EidO'
hill lot. biseer'n a half-barrel, and
brought a peek o' cranberries from Huldy
Simons, so there ain't uo lack o' things
to do with. What d'yo say, Miss
Ruth r"
Ruth hung her head, and blushed
liko the pink-cheeked apple sho had just
taken up.
" I I haven't any objection, if mother
thinks it proper."
"Proper!" echoed Mrs. Skinner.
"Why on airth shouldn't it be proper?
Of course it's proper."
" Wall," said the deacon, vising to his
lanky fullness of height. " 1 m sure I m
much obligod to you, Miss Ruth, and to
you, too, inarm.
"Don't be in a lnury," said Mrs.
Skinner, hospitably.
" I guess I'd better bo goin'," decided
Mr. Carey. " There ain't no tellin' what
ii. i ....... l. n;,i..'n
aforo I net back. Boys will be boys,
and they need a dreadful sight o'
watc.hin .
" Dear, dear '" sighed the widow.
'Jared ho wants to wear his Sunday
clothes tosingin'-school, und John wants
spendiu' money ol his own, and Jooey he
sticks out for't he's got a right to burn a
candle arter ten at night ef he's a-mind
to, and Lewis he buys piotur-papers
every week, as ef money growed on
blackberry bushes, and I do fed to get
most discouraged sometimes. There
ain't nobody but a father knows what a
father's trials is, Mrs. Skinner."
Aud the deacon went out with a
groan.
' The deacon don't seem to realiza
that his boys is men growd," said Mrs.
Skinner, us she rose to light a candle.
" Ain't you most through with tin m ap
ples, Ruth t"
And Deacon Obed, pjlodJing home
ward through the deepening dutk, with
the dead leaves rustling under his feet,
and the raw air biting like the stiugs of
a million infinitesimal gnats, thought of
Ruth Skinner's rosebud face, and won
dered how it would seem to have her at
the Carey farmhouse for a perpetual
blossoming of brightness !
" I ain't so very old, arter all," thought
Deajou Carey, " and there ain't no law
against a man's marryiu' again, us ever
I heerd on. But she's young and
Bkeery, and 1 must drive kind o' blow at
first. It was a good idea, that o' mine,
borrowin' her ior Thanksgivin'. Ruth,
Ruth, it's the prettiest name goiu', and
hhe's the prottiest gal! I couldn't think
o' nothin but tho little strawberry ap
ples on tho gnarly tree by tho well,
every time I looked ut her cheeks. Be
sides, bhe is u savin' creeter know, for I
watched her parin' tht m apples, and she
never wasted a graiu, aud she's worn
that brown caliUer ever since last
March."
' And the deacon chuckled as these
thrifty meditations pissed through his
brain.
It was Thanksgiving morning, chill
aud raw, with the summits ot tho Adi
rondacks vailed in slowly drifting snow
Hakes, und Luke Chuuiplain shining up
with steely glimmer where the bend of
the vally revealed its far-away Burfocb.
The leuiless trees seemed to stand shud
dering in the blast tho pines and hem
locks, their needlelike foliage trans
formed into a thousand moaning wind
harps, tossed their green crests to and
fro, like anguished human creatures
groping blindly for help in some awful
strait. Nature was chanting her MUer
erc, and the grand mountains seemed to
listen in silence.
' But the Carey homestead was all
alive with warmth aud cheerfulness and
red firelight. It was a huge, old-fashioned
house, with great smoke-browned
rafters crossing and recrossing overhead,
aud curious wooden wainscotings half
way up the walls, and odd little three
cornered cupboards, built, ss if; by inab
ice prepense, in the niObt inconvenient
places, and fire places that guve you, the
idea of the rooms being mere after
thoughts and appendages. Nor .was the
furniture a whit more inoaerW The
chairs, tall and claw-leggtd, tipped you
inhospitably forward; the looking-
glasses warped and twisted your fea
tures into a deathblow to all vanity;
the chest of drawers stood in a high-
shouiaercu manner acainst the walls,
with Argus-eyes of brass, and the old
clock on the first landing of the stairs
ticked a slow, mournful monotone, which
would have driven a hypochondriac
mad.
Little Rnih Skinner stood at tho
kitchen table, a white npron tied ovo
the brown calico dress which had awuk
cned Deacon Carey's admiration, and
the sleeves rolled up above her round,
white arms, stirring some fragrant com
pound ot spice and raisins and oranjre'
peel, while five of the six "Carey boys"
stood around surveying ber, as five tall
barn-door fowls might stare at a tiny
golden pheasant, or a Scabright ban
tam.
" Boys, boys 1" croakod tho deacon,
emerging from his room, in the glories
ot a blue suit with brass buttons, and a
pair of shirt collars which held his chin
up at an angle of forty-five degrees, " ye
haven't no more manners than a pack o'
gipsies I Miss Ruth, don t mind cm !
" Oh, I don't, I assure you, sir !" said
Ruth, laughing. "Lewis, please give
me tho iron rpoon from tho nail by the
dresser.
" I wish you wouldn't call me sir,"
said tho deacon, with what would have
been a tender glance, if the shirt-collars
would have admitted or it.
Ruth arched her pretty eyebrows.
" What shall I call you '"
" Call me Obed," was trembling ou
the deacon's lips, when ho caught the
ten eyes of his 6ons fixed wonderingly
on him, and the words never found ut
terance. The deacon looked into the
oven instead, and coughed sonorously.
" You won't go to church, Ruth'r"
" Oh, I can't, sir Mr. Carey, 1 mean.
The turkey must bo looked after, and it
won't do to risk burning the pies."
" Wall, boys," said the deacon, " come
along."
" Can't I stay and help Ruth ?" ques
tioned Lewis, a young giant of nine
teen. "No, you can't," said tho deacon,
brusquely. " Pretty way o' spendin' the
Governor's Proclamation Thanksgivin',
to bo homo round under Miss Ruth's
feet. You'll go to church, every skin on
ye, or my name ain't Obed Carey. No
son o'mine stays home from church on
such a day as this. Where's Joe '"
" Ho was out a-fodderin' the crceturs,"
sullenly answered John, the second son.
" Joseph ! Joe !" bawled tho deacon,
but there was no unswer.
"Igusss ho's gone to church," ob
served Jared, who was giving his cow-LiJe-boots
a last tender application of
candle-end, in front of the lire.
" He needn't ha' been in such a hur
ry," grurubliugly commented tho dea
con; " but he al'ays had a way of his
own of doing things. Ruth, my dear,
don't (stand so near the lire you're
burnin' your face the color of a cabbage
rose."
Ruth murmured some scarcely aitieu
lito unswer as tho deacon tapped her
cheek with clumsy cypicghrie, and bent
more closely than ever over her work.
" Where's my woolen comforter '" next
demanded the deacon. " Hosoa, go look
in the big coiner cubburd for't."
Ilosea left oil' tormenting the cat to
obey, but he presently lifted up his voice
aloud :
" Door's locked, father."
" No, 'tain't locked nutlier," sharply
responded patetfamilias. But he went
to inspect the " cubburd" for himself,
nevertheless.
" Well, if I ever !" cried the deacon.
" Which o' you young mischiefs has got
the key ':"
There was a unanimous denial. Tho
dsacon looked round with lowering
brows : If that 'ero key's lost Aiu't
that the chuch-bells'r"
And, postponing tho judicial investi
gation until the religious services of the
day should be over, the deacon caught
up a stray muffler, twisted it round his
parchment-like throat, and sped upon his
way, with his live sous t allowing in long
array.
And Ruth Skinner was lelt alone witu
the crackling wood- fire, and the ticking
clock, and the soft clicking of the snow
flakes against the window-panes, and the
plaintive strain of a hymn-tune she was
murmuring under her breath as she ar
ranged the cranberry tarts on the dresser-
shelf and filled up tho oven to its very
mouth with paste-shells lull of golden,
trembling custard.
Only for a moment, though. There
was an ominous crating as of the wards
of a rusty key in the corner cupboard
door, and a smothered laugh, und the
next instant, Mr. Joseph Carey, a tall,
handsome young fellow of three or four
and twenty, burst out, liko a magnified
" Jack-in-the-box."
"Jou!" cried Ruth, turniug (icarlet.
"Don't!"
" Don't I You mean do," said Joe, un
ceremoniously taking Ruth round the
waist, and lilting her fairly oil ner teet.
" Whv I thought I should have stilled
among the old hats and boots."
" Hut, Jon, it s so wrong l
" It would have been a deal wronger,
little Miss Morality, to sit pretending to
listen to Jilder Lougsenteuce when my
heart was in the' old kitchen ut home
with vou. Now, sea here, Ruth, I'm not
going to stand this any longer. Give me
the big iron spoon."
Joe tied a towel deltly round bis Him,
well-molded waist, and commenced stir
ring vigorously at the saucepan he took
from Ruth's hands.
" Isu't that right 'c"
" Yes," said Ruth, dubioutly ; " but you
mustn't spatter s6."
Mr. Carey accordingly relaxed some
what of his over-zealous earnestness, and
looked ut Ruth over the top of the table.
"Come. Ruth, you promised to give
me an answer to-day."
Miss Skinner shook out the folds of a
snowy muBS of table n apery, and eyed it
thoughtfully.
" is this tho best tabie-ciotn r
" Yes no I haven't au idea. Hang
the table-cloth ! I'm not talking about
table-cloths. Is it to be yes or no, Ruth '("
" Oh, Joe, we are both so young." , ,
Nonsense."
" I suppose these napkins are the right
ones r
" Do you suppose I stood a mortal hour
in that cupboard, with my no;e up
agiinst tho buffalo robes, to decide the
question of napkins with you ? 1-vill be
answered, Kutu 1
AVellbut what shall I say f"
" 1 should say yes' if I were in your
place.
" But, Joe "
"Look here, Ruth," and Joe over
turned the saucepan in his enthusiasm,
" Here's where it is. Would you rather
bo my wife or my stepmother "
" Joe !"
"As if you hadn't suspected it all
slong, you little demure kittc-n I Come,
don't keep mo in suspense !"
Ho put both his hands, with a sort of
imperative tenderness, on ber two wrist?,
looking with his full, brilliant hazel eyes
into her shrinking, rose-red, emiling tace.
" Lot mo go, Joe, quick ! The turkey
is scorching I smell it;
" Not one step," was tho firm reply.
" But it is burning 1" cried Ruth, pite-
ously. " Oh, Joe, plume I
" Not until you have decided my des
tiny. Yes or no !
"Yes, then, you provoking fellow !"
And Ruth, highly resenting the kiss of
paction which ilr. Joe stooped to possess
himself ot, ran to the oven.
. "It's burned! I Inew it would bo!"
she breathed.
" Not a bit of it," said Jon, critically
surveying tho royal bird over her shoUl
der. " It's iust beautifiOly browned."
" No thanks to yon !" said Ruth, petu
lantly shrngging her shoulders ns she re
closed the oven, after basting and turn
ing its contents in a nio-t scientific man
tier. " Now, help mo set out tho tablo,
for I'm getting dreadfully behindhand ;
and what will your father say when he
comes home troui church and nnds din
ner not ready r"
" It thdll be ready !" s lid Joe, solemnly.
" I tell you, Ruth, you don't know half
the resources of my my character us yet
" That was a proper good sarmon,"
said Deacon Obed Carey, pulling down
the brim of his fur cap to protect the
extreme tip of his noso from tho driving
snow. " Boys, walk along btraight, and
don t be loitering behind like a lot o
Sandwich Island heathens. Yes, an edi-
fyin' discourse apples o gold in pictures
ot silver. 1 wish Kutii had a-beerd it.
"I hope tho turkey'll be ready when
wo get home," said Ilosea, smacking his
lips.
" You needn't bo afen d, nosy,"
answered the sire, complacently. " Ruth
Skinner understands her business as well
as tho next one. She is a stirrin', smart
gal as ever I see, und economical too !
1 never bhall forget how bad I felt the
fall arter your mother was took away,
seeiu' Ilepsy Duckett dress chickens
slingiu' the gizzard and liver away liko
a wasteful huzzy as bhe was. 1 wutched
Ruth last night. I tell ye my heart
jumped up into my mouth when sho como
to tho giblets ! liut she washed em clean,
and she chopped 'em up fine, with breud
crumbs and pepper and salt to make the
Btuilin', and says I to myself, ' Many
darters have done virtuously, but thou
excellcst them all !' To see the way Bhe
wrings out her dishcloth, too it would
melt a heart o' stun I"
Hosea looked at his father with the
slightest soupcon of a twinkle in his eyts,
and began to whistle under his breath.
the deacon walked on, lost in his own
blissful reflections.
The Thanksgiving-dinner was ready
a culinary tiiumph as tho churchgoers
came in, bringing a whiff of keen north
ern air with them, and a plentiful pow
dering of snow on their broad shoulders.
The turkey himself, brown, glistening
and unctuous, lay ia the centre of the
board, with wings meekly folded and
breast distended with aromatic stuffing,
while, ranged round him, quivered pink
and amber jellies, aud crimson cranber
ry-tarts blushed through their lattice
work of pull-paste, while mince-pies and
pumpkin, custard and tuet puddings,
sent up an odorous appeal to the senses.
Apples, red and russet, flanked either
end of the board, while stone pitchers of
cider, freshly tlrawn by Joe', foumed and
sparkled brighter than the chunipagnu
of any fair vineyard of Frauce.
Aud the deacon, propiuattd by this
burnt offering of savory meats, forgot to
reprove Joe lor his delmquoney in tho
matter of church.
" Ruth," said the deacon, mildly, as he
looked at the turkey, and tho chicken-
pio beyond it, ' you re a good cook
a eery good cook, my dear. I wish we
could keep you hero al'ays!"
Ruth colored, and looked at Joo.
Joe set tho chairs round the tablo with
very unnecessary emphasis.
hen, towaid twilight, Ruth put ou
her scarlet shawl and hood, protesting
that " she mtmt go home," trie deacon
rose up to escort her.
"Sit down, Joe, be said, waving Ins
hand authoritatively. " Take your seat
again, Jared. You're nothin' but boys.
I'm the proper one to see Miss Skinner
safe hum !"
"I 1 would rather go alone, sir!"
faltered Ruth.
But the deacon tuckod her Brin pro-
tectingly beneath the sleeve of his shag
gy butternut-colored great-coat, and
they set forth together.
" Ruth, my dear, said the deacon.
breaking the silence that was beginning
to be embarrassing, after they had
walked a little way beueutn the creaking
boughs of the snow-fringed hemlocks.
"Sir," fluttered Ruth, softly.
" It seemed very pleasant to have vou
to our house to-day, among them rough
cubs o boys."
"Joe isut a rough cub, please, sir.
said Ruth, plucking up a momentary
Bpirit, and feeling herself color liko pink
cream -candy.
" Wall, said the da&con, somewhat
surprised at this unexpected partisan
ship, " I dunno but Joe s the best of the
lot; but that s neither here nor there.
I was agoin' to ask you, how woild you
like to Btay there for good aud all '("
"I don ( uuderstuud you, sir! said
Ruth, stopping shoit in the midst of the
snow aud darkness.
" To come there and live to be my
wife Mrs. Carey the second!" explained
the deacon, beginning to feel uncomfort
ably warm about the regions of the nose
and cheek-bones. "Don't you under
stand noir, Ruth'r"
" Oh, sir 1" uttered Ruth, withdrawing
her arm, aud trembling all over, " I can
not !"
"Oh, yes, you can," said the deacon,
bonignly. " I know you're young and
inexperienced, but I'm wiilin to over
look all that, nnd "
"But, sir," interrupted Ruth, ucarccly
knowing whether to lausrh or cry, " I
I've promisLd to marry Joe!"
And, breaking away from her escort,
Ruth ran away, through the blinding
snow and sleet, towaid the far-off red
light of the Skinner farmhouse.
Deacon Obed Carey walked silently
back, chewing the cud of his own medi
tations ; and from that moment to this
he has never once alluded to his matri
monial aspirations nnd their untimely
blight. But the next Thanksgiving Day
he ate his turkey at tho hospitable board
of his son and daughter-in-law, with a
little cherry-cheeked grandchild tied in
a high-chair close to his elbow.
Trousseau in (Jerntasij .
The " trousseau," furnished by tho
bride's parents, consists chiefly of linen,
bath, household and body linen, general
ly sufficient to last a lifetime, and
adapted to the rank and means of the
biide. Thus the rich mother buys what
is best and finest in the shops ; the less
rich ono buys up gradually, years before
tho occasion, good strong household
linen, carefully kept in lavender, and cut
up auel sowed by tho girl herself when
her marriage is settled. The poorer
classes do the same, beginning almost
at tho birth of the girl ; and the peasant
woman grows or buys her flax, spins it
herself, und lays by a provision of strong
linen, duruble as sailcloth, for her
daughter, os her mother and grand
mother did before her. The pride of a
German woman, no mutter of what
rank, is in her linen-press ; and it is ex
hibited to friends and discussed witli
gossips as one of tho chief objects of a
female conversation. It happens rarely
that any well-fittcd-out woman has to
add any material store to her treasure.
The jewelry is invariably the present of
tho bridegroom. He presents to his be
trothed the ornament S3uited to the rank
and station he intends to place her in.
The rich man presents his pearls and
diamonds ; the less rich one, hia pretty
gold ornaments ; the simple artisan, his
plain gold brooch, with a lock of his hair
at the back, to te worn by his loving
wife solemnly on grand occasions to the
end of her days, and at the last be
queathed affectionately to some loved
individual as her beot treasure. Tho
wedding dross is likewise graduated.
Fr om tho serviceable black silk of the
artisan's wife, it ascends through all
shades of usefulness brown, dark blue,
gray, light gray, to the simple white
taffetas, and tho costly whito moire an
tique. This constitutes no class differ
ence; every woman chooses naturally
the sort of gown which her friends and
relations have chosen in their turn, and
the wedding gown, like tho oire chosen
by the Vicar of Wakefield's wife, is as
useful as any other artiele of tho
" trousseau." Besides this, the prudsnt
"middlo-class" mother care-fully puts
into a little purse tho pieces of gold pro
vided by tho "governor" for another
pretty gown, and gives it to the bride
lor by-and-by, when it is wanted, when
the wedding clothes are soiled, and the
young matron does not wish to wear the
old-fashioned things of her " trousseau."
The wedding gilts, we are asbured, give
rise occasionally to somo little grumb
ling, but even these are managed in the
same methodical style. The first
principle is that the gifts are for the
" young housuhold," not for the young
lady. Accordingly they are invariably
adapted to the rank, station, and means
of the young couple, and arranged on a
preconcerted plan, so that duplicates are
impossible ; yet every giver's means and
individual tastes are duly regarded. The
result is that as all is well considered
and well fitted together, the young peo
ple start in life with a well-fitted house,
prettier and more valuable than would
be the case it provided by themselves
alone. From the richest to the poorest
household, the wedding gifts aro ulways
preserved, valued, and exhibited from
pride or vanity or uffoetion ; and no
givetr objects to see his gift treasured for
life as tho wedding gift which is to but
u life.
The Jliduiglst Sun.
Rov. Dr. Daniel March writes from
Hammerfest, Norway, to the Ecanyelist,
under date of July llith: "It is mid
night by my watch, midnight by the
watches or my travelling companions,
midnight by the ship's chronometer,
midnight by our reckoning cf time on
our voyage, and yet the sun is shining
directly in the north, full orbed and us
full of light as when within un hour of
setting in a clear sky in America. I
look down a beautiful Fiord, between
two walls of d uk mountains and a calm
bright sea, aud in the utmost limit oi the
view is the great orb of day pouring a
flood of golden light upon the water,
kindling tho fleeing clouds above him
with all the hues ot the rainbow, crown
ing the dark ridges of the mountains
with rosy tiuts and covering the whole
face of land aud sea with a calm, sacred,
awful beauty, such as I never beheld in
any other region of the earth. It seems
as if I had climbed so high up the ridge
of the rouud world, that X could see over
into the secret chambers where the King
of day retires to his golden rest. X feel
almost afraid to look at the awful mon
arch while he is putting on his robes of
brightness and preparing to go forth
and shine upon the subject world. It
seems as if I had intruded with rude and
impertinent - curiosity into the secret
place of the King of Light, and that he
might punish the intrusion by smiting
ma with blindness. Never could this
strange sight ot the. niidnignt sun be
Been to, greater .advantage. The ship
entered this beautiful Fiord just in time
to give us the best possible position for
beholding the two things which once
seen are never to be forgotten the sun
at midnight, and the sun directly in the
North."
DIT0RCED U THE DESERT.
An Gti.iinaic Conplo a Quarrel on tlie Jnnr
ncy lo tlie I. anil of Gold A Womnn'4 Luck
A IHrnlnR After Twenty Vcur.
One of tho pioneers in California emi
gration, who wont across the plains in
'49, tells this story that began on tho
journey and hns just ended in San Fran
cisco : While the train of which tho
nar rator, now in Novada, was a mem
ber, wag encamped at a point on tho
Humboldt where the Lessen trail inter
sects the Carson track of travel, he vis
ited tho tent of a family consisting of
an elderly couple and one child, a
daughter of 11 or 15. The old lady was
sitting on a pile of blankets, under the
canvas, encouraging a most determined
attack of the "sulks," while the mascu
line head of affairs had planted himself
ou the wooden tongue, and was sucking
his pipe as though he expected to re
main there forever.
A single glance devolopod the diffi
culty in that little train of ono wagon
and three persons, and that it had at
tained a point of quiet desperation be
yond the reach of peaceful adjustment.
Threo days beforo they had pitched their
tent nt tho forks of the road, nnd as they
could not agree upon the route by
which to enter California, there they
hud remained. Tho husband had ex
pressed a preference for the Carson roud,
und tho wifo for tho Lessen, and neither
would yield. Tho wifo eloclareel she
would remain all winter; the husband
said he would bo pleased to prolong the
sojourn through tho summer following.
On the morning of the fourth day the
wife broke a sullen silence of thirty-six
hours by proposing a division of the
property, which consisted of two yoke of
oxen, one wagon, camp furniture, a
small quantity of provisions, and if 12 in
silver. The proposal was accepted, aud
forthwith tho " pluuder" was tlivieled,
leaving the wagon to the old man, and
the daughter to the mother. The latter
exchanged with a neighboring train the
cattle belonging to her for a pony and
pack-saeleilo, and, piling her daughter
and her portion of the divided spoils
upon tho animal, sho resolutely started
across the desert by tho Lessen trail,
while the old man silently yoked his
cuttlo and took the other route.
Ot course both parties reached Cali
fornia in safety. We say "of course,"
for it is scarcely possible that any ob
stacle, death included, could have inter
fered with stubbornness so sublime Ar
riving in Sacramento with her daugh
ter, tlie old lady readily found employ
ment for women were less plentiful
then than now and subsequently
openetl a boarding bouse, and in a few
years amassed u handsome fortune. Two
years ago bhe went to San Francisco,
and tho daughter, whoso education had
uot been neglected, whs mamod to one
of tho most bubstautial citizens.
And what had become of the old man '(
The wife had not seen or hoard of him
since they parted on tho Humboldt.
Thoy had lived happily together for
year', and Bhe sometimes reproached her
telf for the wilfulness that separated
them alter so long a pilgrimage together.
But he was not dead. We cannot trace
his course in California, however. All
that we know of him is, that fortune
had not smiled upon him, and that for
years ho had toiled without hope.
Finally, feeling unable longer to wield
the pick and shovel, he visited San
Francisco, in the hope of obtaining em
ployment better adapted te his wasted
strength.
For threo months he remained idle
afttr arriving there, and then, for want
of occupation, became the huiublo re
tailer of peanuts and oranges, with his
entire traffic upon his arm. This was
t-ix months ago. A few weeks since, in
passing the tpen door of a cottage in the
southern part of tho city, he observed a
lady in the hall, und stopped to offer
his merchandise. As he stepped upon
the threshold tho lady approached, and
the old man raised bis eyes und dropped
his basket ; and no wonder, either, for
she was his wifo, his " old woman !" Sho
recognized him, and, throwing up her
arms ill amazement, exclaimed :
"Great God! John, is that you'f"
" All that is left of uio," replied the old
man. With extended arms they ap
proached. Suddenly the old lady's
countenance changed, and sho ste-pped
back. " John," said she, with a look
which might have been construed into
curne.itno.-8, " how did you find the Car
son road f" "Miserable, Sukey, mis
erable," replied tho old man ; " full of
sand und alkali." " Then I was right,
John," bhe continued inquiringly. " You
were, Sukey." " That's enough !" said
she, throwing l.er arms around tho old
man's neck ; " that's enough John," and
the old couple, strangely sundered, were
reunited. SwinyjiM ltnuMican.
CoxcxDKUllS. Why is a graiu of
sand in the eye like a schoolmaster's
cane'f Because it hurts the pupil.
Why is a woodchuek like u sausuge y
Because it's a ground hog.
Why should, dentists be entitled to
claes with urtists ' Because they all
draw.
Why cannot a i'umily ot girls bo pho
tographed ' Because there is no son
(aun).
What did the spider do when he came
out of the ark ' lie took a fiy and went
home. .
A Stkoxo Hint. A young lady up
town was bored to death the other even
ing by au immovable caller, who talked
poetry. She finally told him she could
think of only one verse at that moment,
something of Tennyson's :
" Aud she said, 'I'm very weary.'
lie goelh uot. She said,
' I'm a-weary, a-weary,
. And X would I were lu lied.' "
A Theological DisnnRsiowTha
Woousocket Patriot says that two geu-
1 1 1 1 f 1 Ut at thflf. Inivn wura raoantlv 1 1' u
cussing the merits of the Baptibt and
TT f , . f ..IIP. M -.1 .
u uiveisausc xaitu. - w by," sum the de
fender of universal salvation, " you Bap
tists can't eave over three ir writ. ,,f
the people, while we guarantee niuety-
nine out oi every nunared ordinary sin
ners." '
SSISCELLAXEOUS ITEMS.
The Nevada ranchmen use tiheepskins1
for money. . ,
Tho millers of Iowa aro shipping flour
to South America.
Nebraska had but ono thupder storm
during all summer. '
Sevcuty-fivo bushels of apples, of fair
quality, were sold by auction a few days
since, in Grafton, Vermont, for ono cent
a bushel. . :'
Evening drawing-schools are to bo cs
tablished in Boston for the benefit of
teachers in the public schools and fore
man and master mechanics.
A Chicago paperrecommends "another
flagrant fiction impaled on the fork of '
fact" as an improvement upon the famil
iar phrase, " another lie nailed."
Reports from Kansas represent that
the P.ains are literally covered with
buffalo. Droves of 200 to 300 each are
coming up constantly from the south.
Here is nn opportunity for our sports
men which may not occur again for
many years.
Dio Lewis advises people to poy their
physicians a stated sum per annum for
keeping them well, the sum to be de
creased a given amount for every caso
of sickness. This is tho rulo among tho
" Heathen Chinee," and we find nothing; .
bo object to in it. It seems to be based
upon a strictly rational foundation.
The final arrangements for the com
pletion of German unity have been
nearly concluded. The treaty between
tho North German Confederation and
the States of Baden and Hesse has been
already signed. Tho treaty with Wur- .
temburg has be?n concluded, but is not ,
yet signed. Bavaria will enjoy tho
same position in the Confederation as
Saxony.
It is said that the Union Pacific Rail
road Company has under consideration
plans for the irrigation of its immense
land grants along tho Platto and Lara-
mie livers. Hundreds of thousands of
acres can, no doubt, be reclaimed anil
made good agricultural land, to become
half a century hence the support of a
population of millions.
In R'.iode Island tribes aro never of
fered to voters, but this is tho way they
do it : An honest man says to an inde- '
pendent voter, "I'll bet you $10 you
don't vote for ." Voter" I'll bbt
you $10 I will." Voter goes and votes
ibr , wins the bet, and gets bis
money. Of course no reasonable man .
will call this bribery.
J udge Portly says the liveliest time he
ever experienced was on issuing the first
number tif a newspaper in a Western
town. The people wanted something '
stirring. He published the personal
history of the leading politicians as fur
nished by their friends. The Judge says
that for the first hour they all rushed lor
tho paper ; the second hour they went '
for him.
The wife of a manufacturer in an in
land town, who30 daughter was about
to be married, e ent notes to her friends
requesting that if they intended to make
wedding presents of silverware, they
would send the money instead, as she
was about to visit New York, and would
prefer to buy the articles herself, " for it
will be so nico to have the things match,
you know."
Tho question a to whether a wife can
suo her husband was recently decided
afiirniatively in an Iowa court. A woman
sued to recover a certain sum of money
which her husband had borrowed and
then deserted her. The husband de
murred on the ground that a wife could
not suii her husband for debt. The
Court overruled the demurrer, thus de
ciding that a wife deserted by her hus
band cuu suo him at law for a debt due
her from him.
There is in Springfield, Massachusetts,
a family of nine members, each of whom
with a single exception, was born upou
a holiday the father upou the Fourth
of July, the mother on Christmas, the
first child on Thanksgiving Day, the
second on Chi is t mas, tho third on Inde
pendence Day, the fourth and fifth each
en New Year's, the sixth three weeks
before Christmas (slight discrepancy
there,) mid the seventh on Christmas.
Probably a parallel case cannot be found.
The future Queen of Spain is described
us being haughty anel imperious, while
her husband is " quite the reverse."
Two weeks after marriage, this modern
Xantippa boxed her husband's ears
soundly, and told him ho was " a miser
able beggar," and thut when he married
her he had only " ten shirts to his back.".
Dies irce .' The giving her husband an
oarashe was pretty bad, but to reproach
him with not having a full dozen shirts
was to add insult to injury. .
The subject of Canadian annexation
is likely to engage a good deal of atten
tion at Washington during the coming
winter. It is said that several leading :
Canadian politicians are going to the
capital for the purposo of studying.
American sentiment touching the vari
ous annexation projects that are under,
consideration, and, being in position,
take advantage of any circumstances 1
which may be developed. The majority
of these gentlemen will come from Up- '
per Canada. It is represented that the
annexation party is constantly increas-'
ing iu numbers and influence.
The latest snake story is told by the '
Nashvillo Union in this way: "We are
assured by a gentleman of our acquaint
ance, who is entitled to all the credit,
that the following is a snake truth ; The
gentleman says that recently, while
clearing the weeds along his fence on a
small branch, he came in contact with a
large-sized snake. He cut the monster
in two near the middle. ' The head end,
with great tenacity of life, crawled to
the branch with rapid movement, and
from the tail, which wiggled, and,
squirmed . a while, where it lay, there '
issued fourteen young snakes about the
size of wheat straws. . They immediately
made fight aud protruded . their lance
like tongues until the whole batch were
disposed of. Our informant is a gentle
man of unquestioned veracity, and tH
the above as the truth from an atual
occurence."
i ' 1.
M
-J