I
i - -TTi - ...... . i ... - - 7- i ... i i mi 1 ' " ' . ' .
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor aSO Ecjujsheb.
K'LJSl'CO UHfTT'TIlE i.'E P V S L ICA 2V PJLtlTT.
Two Dollars rxa Avxcx.
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 1871.
NO. G.
BUCKWHEAT CAKES.
BY W. B. B. WESTCOTT.
1 litre to see, In summer time,
The farmer plow the Innd ;
And broadcast o'er the furrows sow
. The buckwheat with his band.
1 lovo to geo tho Utile germ
Come sprltiKlup up to view i
And fee at morn the growing plant
Besprent with sparkling dew.
I love to see the blossom opc,
As white as pearly snow,
While o'er the field the gentle winds
With laden perfume flow.
I lore to sec tho blooming Held
Put on Its oont of brown ;
And ree the heavy-laden stock
With ripened grain hang down.
I love to see, in even swath,
The cradled buckwheut lie;
And help to rake and bind the shewes
And set them np to dry.
1 love to see the loaded sheaves
Before the old bnrn-door,
And hear the sounding of the flail
Upon the threshing-floor.
I lovo to see the fannlng-mlll
Blow off tho duety thaff;
And see them measure up the grain.
And "strike" the bushel half.
I love to see the water-wheel
Revolve with mighty power,
Which sets the rulll-stone whizzing round,
To grind the buckwheat-flour.
I love to hear the thumping bolt,
Within the noisy mill,
And see the miller sioop tho flour,
i'he farmer's bag to fill.
I love to see the busy cook,
Her pancake batter make,
And on the heated griddle pour
The limpid, flowiug cake.
I love to see the half-done cako
With skin turned upside down,
Until the stove, with steady heat,
Has buked the pancake brown.
The buttered cako npon may plate,
I dearly love to see,
And when with sirup sweetened well
Jt looks most temptingly.
Than all the pleaures I have named,
A greater ouo I take
'Tis at the table, when I sit
. And eat the Buckwheat Cake.
THE TVRECKElt'S WAGE It.
From the AVw York Timet.
Thero are few parts of England more
wild and desolate than the mining dis
tricts of Cornwall. Nature, as a coun
terpoise to the treasures which she huB
lavished on this region, has given to its
external feature's a most forbidding as
pect. The eye takes in a prospect of
bleak and barren plains, with neither
tree or shrub to protect the traveller
from the wind that sweeps across them,
and presenting danger at every step
from the numerous shafts by which they
are intersected. It is truly an inhospi
table country, and the nature of its in
habitants quite accords with its un
friendly characteristics. They are to a
great extent repulsive in appearance,
forbidding in manners, and cruel and
cunning by natural disposition, and
seem hardly to have, risen very much
above the barbarous state of their an
cestors. It was late in the autumn when
I visited this region, and toward the
close of a gloomy day that I found my
self at the residence of Capt. Thomas
so I shall call him a man whom I had
met in London, and who had persuaded
me that the only sure way to make a
fortune was to invest a trifle of ready
money in a copper-mine. He held the
rank of Captain, by the custom of the
country, as a mine, like a ship, is con
ducted by a captain and officers. The
Captain was rather a decent npecimen
of his class, for where there are so many
combinations of miner, smuggler, wreck
er, and consequently ruffian, a man of
even tolerable manners and address is
something. My worthy friend, however,
had one besetting weakness which I af
terward discovered, he would have con
sidered it quite admissible to have rob
bed his own father rather than not .to
have robbed at all.
Oar supper being over, he proposed
an adjournment to the " Red Dragon "
or red something it is so long ago 1
have almost forgotten where he .as
sured me, I would meet a most respecta
ble society of gentlemen, and where I
might pick up much valuable informa
tion. They were all particular friends
of his, he added, captains and pursers of
mines. It was a dismal night, when w
sallied out, a thick mist was gathering
around, the sea was breaking against
the huge rocky cliffs of the coast, with a
deafening roar, and at times was heard
the distant thunder. It was then with
a most comfortable feeling that I found
myself safely housed at the rendezvous
of these choice spirits of the mines. The
party to which I was introduced were
seated at a long deal table, in an apart
ment half kitchen, half tap-room, at the
upper end of which appeared a blazing
fire. On one side of the room a door
opened into a small parlor, and in the
corner was a bar, to enable the host to
dispense to his customers their various
potations from his smuggled treasures.
The arrival of Capt. Thomas was hailed
with marked satisfaction. We were
soon seated, and in a twinkling a large
tumbler of hot brandy and water was
placed before me, and a pipe thrust into
my hand. The conversation, which was
rather loud when we entered, was now
suddenly hushed, and intelligent glances
were quickly interchanged, which I saw
related to myself. - Thomas understood
them, and said : " You need not be
afraid: this gentleman is a. particular
friend of mine, and a great patron of
the fine arts." I then begged to assure
the company of my veneration for mi
ners and mines, and all connected with
them.- There was a visible brightening
up at my declaration, and doubtless at
that moment various were the plans of
rascality that were batched to puc my
devotedneas to tbe proof. "A likely
night this, Capt Thomas," said a beetle
browed, short, muscular man, 'whose
dark eye peered from beneath a brow
of peculiar ferocity. M Uncommon like
ly," returned the other; "and if we
should have a bit of luck to-night it
would not be a bad beginning this win
ter." " Ah 1" said the first one, who an
swered to the name of Knox, " my wife
tays she thinks Providence has deserted
our coast Ve haven t had anything
worth telling about these two years.
I ve seen the time when we've had a
dozsn wracks a season." " Well, never
mind, Master Knox,'' said a pert-looking,
snub-nosed fellow, named Gray,
whom I at first took for an attorney,
but afterward found that he was a min
ing agent. " Never mind. Master Knox,"
said he, jingling a bunch of seals, which
peeped from beneath tho waistcoat of
that worthy. " You have made the most
of your luck, and if you don't get any
more you won't harm."
" Why, yes," said the fellow, drawing
out a handsome gold watch, which hard
ly seemed in keeping with his coarse at
tire, " I don't complain of the past, and
yet I had a narrow etcape with this. It
it hadn't been for my boy Jim; I should
have lost it." " He s a cute child, that
boy of yours," remarked one. " There
never was a cuter. I'll tell you, sir,"
said he, addressing me, " it is two years
ago, come December, on a Sunday, when
we were all at church, that we had news
of a wreck. Well, off we all started, and
the parson not tbe last, to see what God
had sent us. We found, on coming up,
that it was a French India-man. She
had gone to pieces on the rocks, and the
goods were floating around like dirt. I
wasn't long in making the most of it,
and Jim was jest a going off for tbe
cart, when I spied, half covered with
weeds, and hidden by a piece of rock,
the body of a Frenchman. I soon saw I
had got a prize, for he was loaded with
money and trinkets. These I quickly
eased him of, as he'd never want 'em,
but to make sure, I hit 'un a good slap
over the head, just to see whether lite
was in 'un or no. (Here a general grin
went round ) Well, I was just going
away, when I ee'd a diamond ring on
his finger, and the finger being swelled
with the water, I cuts it off, and walks
off with my goods. I hadn't gone far
when little Jim runs after, crying, ' Dad,
dad, hit 'un again, dad; he grin'th, he
grin th. 1 looked back, and sure
enough that rascally French thief
whether it was drawing the blood or
not, L don't know but be was moving
his arm about, and opening his eyes as
if he were bent on taking the bread out
of my mouth. This made me mad, for
those Frenchmen are a spiteful set, and
hate Englishmen as they hate the devil,
so I makes no more ado, but I hits 'ira a
lick with the tail of a rudder, laying
close by, and I'll warrant me he'll never
come to ask for my -goods." The mis
creant chuckled over this horrid recital
with all the self satisfaction that one.
might feel at the recollection of a vir
tuous action ; while his companions, to
whom the story was familiar, felt no
other sensations of uneasiness at its re
capitulation than from the recollt ction
that they had not been able to do the
same thing. Knox was evidently the
villain par excellence. I saw others around
me whoso countenances would have
hung them at any bar in England, but
none ventured to boast so openly of
crime. Knox was the only avowed pro
fessor of villainy, and seemed to glory in
his right of pre-eminence. I have trav
elled somewhat, and have met ruffians of
every grade, but never before did I have
the fortune to hear depravity of such a
character so freely confessed. " Well,
Knox," said Gray, after a pause, " so you
have seen Hobart; how's poor Bill V"
Knox placed bis finger significantly on
bis cheek. "How," said the other,
"dead?" "Dead as a fish," returned
Knox. " You know I was in it, and a
sharp fight we had. Poor Bill had three
balls in him ; he died the same night."
A universal expression of sympathy fol
lowed this announcement, and various
were the questions put as to the details
of his death. It appeared that he was
killed in an engagement with a revenue
cutter. " He was as likely a lad as ever
run c irgo," said Thomas. " Where did
you bury him Y Alongside of the gauger,
I 'spose," said Gray, who ventured a ma
licious glance, though apparently half
doubtful of the consequences. I never
saw so speedy a change as that remark
produced in Knox. In an instant his
brow became us black as the stoim that
was raging without. " What have you
to do with that, you meddling, conceited
fool '(" said he, as he fixed his black eyes,
almost concealed by their overhanging
brows, on the object of his wrath. " Now.
mark me, Master Gray, play off no more
of your jokes on me. This is not the
first time I have warned you, but it shall
be the last." I learned afterward that
tho gauger alluded to was Kuox's half
brother, who was supposed to have met
with his death by the hands of his rela
tion, his body being flung down a shaft
near the sea. What confirmed the sus
picion was that he had frightful dreams
about his brother, and would tremble
like a child if left alone at night. Be
that as it might, however, a fierce alter
cation was now proceeding between
Knox and a friend of Gray's who had
replied to the other's threats, and serious
consequences might have ensued had not
the attention of all been diverted by a
loud knocking at the outer door. This
seemed so unusual an occurrence that
the host hesitated to unbar the door, for
never was a stranger known to arrive
there at such an hour and on such a
night too, f or the rain was still pouring
in torrents. The knocking continued,
and although we were too many to fear
anythiug like personal danger, fctill I
could see an evident uneasiness spread
ing throughout the party. The knock
ing was now fiercer than ever, and the
host was compelled to unbolt and unbar.
As the door opened, in stalked a tall,
weather-beaten man, enveloped in a
huge, shaggy great-coat, and a broad
oil-skin hat on his head. ,
" What do you mean by this V" be said,
dashing his hat upon the floor,- aud
shaking the ruin from his coat like a
huge water-dog" keeping a traveller
outside your house on such a night.
As he sooke. was heard a heavy, boom
ing sound from the sea. "A wrack, a
wrack." shouted Knox, and instantly a
dozen fellows were up and ready to rush
like blood hounds on their prey. " Keep
your places, you fools, ' cried the
stranger; if Bhe goes ashore it will -be
many miles from here, with the wind in
this quarter. I've heard the guns some
time, but she has good offing yet, and she
may manage to keep off. I'd lay my
life she is a foreign craft ; they are al
ways iu such a hurry to sing out."
The company had now seated them
selves' and resumed their pipes. They
likewise took the liberty of scanning the
new arrival. There was nothing in his
appearance very remarkable beyond the
fact of his being a tall muscular man,
having short, black hair, and immense
bushy whiskers, meeting under his chin,
together with large, black eyes. Alto
gether, his countenance was not an un
pleasant one. He did not apologize for
nis intrusion, but called at once for his
pipe and his glass.
" Did you come from the Portreath
side Y" asked Kuox. The stranger took
a whiff and nodded assent. " Who
brought you across the moors " Do
you think no one cm tread the moors
but yourself and the louts of the plaoe 'f "
answered the stranger.
' None that I ever heard of except
the devil," said Knox, peering suspici
ously at the stranger.
The latter laughed. "The path is
dangerous by night," said Thomas, " few
strangers find the way alone." " Then
I am one of the few, for here I am," Baid
the stranger. " I've lived here, man and
boy, these forty years," said Knox, " and
I never knew u stranger to do that ba
fore. And you must be a stranger, for
I've never seen you before." " Are you
sure of that r" Knox scanned him at
tentively. "I never saw you before."
"You see, then, a stranger cin find his
way in these parts. I came by the
Gaugcr's Shaft. Thou knowest the
Gauger's Shaft," said he, significantly.
" Do you come here to mock me," said
the other, with a furious imprecation ;
" if you do, you had better return afore
barm comes to you." " You are a strong
man," said his opponent, " but I am so
much stronger that I could hold you
with one arm on yonder fire until you
were as black as your own black heart.
Come, if you have a spark of courage,
I'll put it now to the test." " Courage 1
I tear neither you nor the devil. " 1
will wager you this heavy purse oi
French louis d'ors against that watch
and ring that bents toy linger so oddly,
that you dare not go into yonder room
alone and look on the face you shall meet
there." "You are a juggler and a
cheat," cried Knox, " I'll have nothing
further to say to tbee. " There's my
gold," said he, throwing a heavy purse
on the table ; " look at it, count it ; a
hundied as bright louis as ever was
coined in France against your- witch
and ring not worth the halt. The eyes
of the wrecker glistened at the bright
heap. "What is the wager r" he de
manded. " If you will dare go into
yonder room that 1 will raise the form
of one whom thou would'st most dread
to see."
" I fear nothing and believe you to be
a cheat."
" There's my gold."
" Take the wager," tried several of
Knox's friends, " we'll 6ee you have the
gold."
" Done 1 cried ivnox, with a sort ot
desperate resolve, and he placed the ring
and watch on tbe neap of louis. " I
must have arms and lights."
" Take them, said the stranger, " but
before you go I will show you a portion
of your property you have never dis
covered. He took the ring, and touch
ing the inside with tbe point of a pin,
it flew open and discovered a small space
rilled with hair. It was not till that
moment that it was discovered that the
stranger had lost tho little finger of his
left hand. For a moment all was still
us the grave, a frightful suspicion seem
ed to have taken possession of every one
around that tbe murdered stood before
them to claim his own. The stranger
broke into a loud laugh. What ails you
all, are you afraid of a man without a
finger, and his laughter was louder than
before.
" I'll not go into the room," said Knox
in a low broken voice.
" Then the watch and ring are mine,"
said the stranger ; " you have to forfeit
tbe wager," aud he began to fill the bag
with coin.
" It's a base juggle to rob me of my
own, cried Knox, whose courage re
turned as he witnessed the business-like
maimer in which the stranger fingered
the money.
"Keep to your wager, man," cried
Thomas, "we'll see you rightly dealt
with. He can no more do what he says
than raise old old 5eelz.bub himself.
" Will you stand to your bargain ?'
asked the stranger.
" i win, and dety you and all your
works." He took a candle and loaded
pistol and went toward the room. If
ever the ugony of life was oondensed in
to the short space xt a lew minutes it
must have been so at that moment.
Ruffian as he was he was a pitiable ob
ject. Pale and trembling, without even
making an ellort to conceal bis distress.
he paused and turned irresolute even at
the threshold of the door.
Shame and avarice urged him on. He
entered the room and closed the door,
If 1 say that I looked on as a calm spec
tator of these proceedings I bhould say
falsely. I began to grow nervous, and
was infected with tbe superstitious feel
ing which had evidently taken possess
ion of my compauions.
The only unconcerned person was the
stranger, or at least he was apparently
so. He tied up the money, watch end
ring in the bag and placed them on the
table. lie then took two pieces of pa
per and wrote some characters on both ;
one be banded to 4 nomas it was mark
ed with the name of the gauger the
other he kept himself. He advanced to
the tire, and, muttering a few words,
threw into it a small leaden packet, and
retired at the same moment to the end of
the room. The flames had hardly time
to melt the thin sheet lead wht n our ears
were erected with the most terrifio ex
plosion that I have ever iu my life heard,
and it seemed as if the elements were in
unison with it, for a deafening thunder
crash at the same moment shook the
house to its foundation. Every man
wan thrown violently to the ground, the
chairs and tables tumbled about, every
door was burst open by the shock, and
hardly a pane of glass remained entire.
This, with the groans of the men and
tbe screams of tbe women, completed
tbe terrors ot a scene which, it any one
could have withstood without actual
fear, he must have been a bolder man
than I was. For several minutes
at least so it appeared to me did we
lie stunned on the floor, expecting every
moment the house to fall over ns in
ruins. All was, however, silent as
death, except the roaring of the storm
outside. So when the tense of suffoca
tion was somewhat removed by the
fresh air forcing itself through the open
doors and windows,' we ventured to hail
each other. It was some time, however,
before we could get a light, and then
our hrst care was to look to our mend
in the back parlor. We. found him ly
ing on his face, quite insensible, and
bleeding from a wound m bis head,
which he must hive received in falling.
We brought htm into the large room.
and after a time we procured restora
tives. I never shall forget the wild and
ghastly look with which he first gazed
around him. He looked as though seek
ing eome horrid object. " It's gone," he
cried ; " thank God 1 what a horrid
sight who saw it'r" "Saw what
who t asked Thomas. " Just as bloody
and ghastly aB when I pitched him down
the shaft," cried he, incoherently. "Hush,
bush, said 1 nomas; "you don t know
what you are talking about."
" Who says I murdered him ; who says
I got his money Y He's a liar, I sav, a
liar ! His money is sunk with him. Let
'em hang me ; I'm innocent ; they can't
prove it. It became too distressing,
fortunately, for the feelings of all ; the
unhappy man, or rather, now, the mani
ac, relapsed into insensibility, and in
that state was conveyed home.
It was not till then that we thought
ot tbe stranger, is o trace ot mm could
be found. Tbe money, ring and watcb
had disappeared. Strange were the ru
mors abroad next day. Some men going
very early to work swore they saw a
horseman fiying over the moors, cross
ing shafts and pits without once staying
to pick his way. It could have been no
human horseman nor steed that could
have sped on such a wild career. There
was another report, which accounted for
the appearance and disappearance of the
stranger in a more credible way. Some
smugglers reported that oh that night
they saw a beautiful .trench smuggling
lugger sheltering from the gale iu a lit
tle unfrequented bay along the coast. It
might bave been one of tbe crew who
had made himself acquainted with the
circumstances mentioned, which ,wera
no secret, aud ruaue this bold dash for a
prize. But this version of the story was
scouted as quite unworthy ot the slight
est credit, and the former remains to this
day the popular belief. It.
THE TtXAS CATTLE KIMJS.
The Mighty Stock Fartus of the riaius
Tcma Cattle Breeding Immense Uiruea
In the Heart of the C'outlncni-Tbe Para-
due of Fortune Hunters In America.
From the ritUourg Commercial.
Texas alone has 3,800,000 cattle, divid
ed into 950,000 beeves, 950,000 cows, and
1,900,000 young cattle. The plains on
which these cattle roam contain about
lo2.000.000 acres of ground. The prin
oipal pasturages are on tbe Nueces, Bio
lirande, liuadalupe, ban Antonio, Uolo
rado, Leon, Brazos, Trinity, Sabine, and
Bed Rivers. The cattle are owned by
scores of ranchmen, each one of whom
has from 1,000 to 75,000 head. On the
Santa Catrutos river is a ranch contain
ing 84,13'.! acres, it is owned by one
man, Kicbard lung, and has on it bo.UUO
head of cattle, 20,000 horses, 7,000 sheep,
and 8,000 goaU. This immense number
of live stock requires 1,000 saddle horses
and oOU Mexicans to attend and nerd it.
Ten thousand beeves are annually sold
from the ranch, and 12,000 young calves
branded. There is another ranch on the
San Antonia river, near 'Goliad, which
grazes 40,000 head of cattle, and brands
11,000 bead ot calves annually. 3ir.
O'Connor, the owner of this ranch, sells
175,000 worth of stock each year, and his
herds are constantly increasing, in 1802
he began cattle raising with 1,500 head.
and his prtsent enormous herds and
wealth are the result of natural increase.
On the Gulf, between tbe Bio Grande
and Nuecus, is a ranch containing 142,-
840 acres, and owned by Mr. Robideaux,
It is on a peninsula, surrounded on three
tides by water, aud, to enclose the other
side, has required tbe building of thirty
one miles of plank fence. Every time
miles along the fence are houses for the
herders, and enormous stables and pens
for the stock. There are grazed in this
enclosure. 30,000 head of beef cattle, be
sides an immense number of other stock
A ranch on the Brazos river contains
50 000 head of cattle, 300 horses, and 50
herdi rs. John Hitson, the owner, drives
10,000 cattle to market annually. Ten
years ago he was a poor farmer in Tennes
see, but selling his land aud going to
tbe Brazos, be succeeded by diut ot bard
labor in getting together sixty cows and
nine brood mares, wben be want to rais
ing stock. He has now 50 000 head of
cattle, worth at least $150,000, and he is
still only forty years old. This man is
establishing a stock ranch on the South
Platte, in Nebraska, where he now has
5,000 head of cattle, and next spring will
brine in 10.U0U more. - '
There is a ranch on the Concho river,
Texas, where, 1 am told, one man owns
70,000 bead of steer and much cows.
The best grazing counties in Texas
are those of Throckmorton, Stevens,
Jaok, Young, Callahan, Coleman, Brown
Tarrant, Ellrath, Comanche, Palo, Pinto,
Hill, and Johnson. These counties lie
along the Bio Grande, Nueces, Guadu
lupe. San Antonio, Colorado. Leon. Bra
zes, Trinity, Sabine, and Red rivers.
The stock from these countries are driven
to the Gulf in great numbers, where
thev are slaughtered, packed in steamers.
or put on alive, and shipped to New
XorK, jioston, ana other northern mar
kets. A great many cattle are driven
North on toot by way of Abilene, Kan
sas, and Schuyler, Nebraska. Home fol
low the Pecos, and pass into Arizona
and California; others keep along the
Arkansas to Bent's Ford, thence across
Colorado over the Black Hills and into
Wyoming, and on np into Utah, Mon
tana, Nevada, aud Idaho. , There are
some drivers whose names I cannot men
tion, but the wholo number of cattle
brought North overland from Texas dur
ing tbe year 1870 did not not tall short
of 100,000 head. Of these, 20 000 went
to Montana, 8,000 to Utah, 8 000 to Ne
vada, 9,000 to Wyoming, 10 000 to Cali
fornia, 11,000 to Idaho, and 30,000 to
Colorado aud New Mexico. The amount
of money handled along tbe base of tbe
mountains iu transferrins this stock was
over 11,250,000. At Abilene, the great
Kansas cattle market, over 200,000 bead
were handled. Tbe shipments in Sep
tember reached CO 000 head, and in Octo
ber nearly 75,000 head. This immense
trade may be estimated when it is stated
that it took 111 cars per day to transfer
the stuck, and one bank in Kansas City
handled 3 000,000 cattle money. In
Nebraska tbe cattle trade with the
South is just beginning ; yet last year 27,-
000 head changed hands at Schuyler, aud
the b irst N atlonal is auk ot Uuiaha band-
led $500 000 in consequence of this trade,
It is likely the trade at Schuyler in 18 il
will reach 100,000 head of cattle, and it
will require $ 1,500.000 to carry it on
.Large as tbe cattle trade may set m, it
is as yet in its infancy, not only in Texas,
New Mexico, Colorado, on the Platte,
but throughout the United States. The
rapid increase of our population, both
troni foreigu and domestic sources, de
mands a corresponding increase of food,
and at present there is no product of
cattle thut Is anything like equal to tbe
demand. Beef can be raised on the
plains, and delivered, at six cents per
pound, and until that IB done there need
be no apprehension of crowding the cat
tle market. That beef can ever be had
in our day so cheap as six cents does not
seem probable, and yet even at four and
a bait cents per pound large fortunes can
be made in cattle breeding. It is only
on the limitless plains, where laud is of
little or no value, that Btock can be
rais d to great advantage. But even the
plains, boundless as they may seem, are
fast disappeaiing before tbe "advancing
waves ot population. Texas, tbe great
cattle hive of the country, has during
tbe past year received 300,000 settlers,
and already cattle growers there feel
that they must soon look elsewhere for
untrammelled ranges. A few more years
like tbe past a few deductions of a mil
lion acres of pasture lands in a single
season, and Texas will be no more of a
grazing State than New York, Pennsyl
vania, or Uhio. let, compare these
Ktpe, and how do they stand now Y
New York, with her settlements 230
years old and a population of 4,000,000,
has (48,000 oxen and stock cattle ; Penn
sylvania, with over 3 000,000 people, has
721,000; Ubio, with U.OOU.UOO people, has
7 19 000 ; Texas, with 800,000 people, has
3,800.000 cattle alone.
The ifreat Platte Valley has over 8,000,-
000 acres of lich pastures ; but how long
will these acres remain grazing grounds
V ho L mon 1'acihc liailroad has already
divided these lands from their eastern to
their western extremity, aa,d towns and
villages are springing up everywhere
along its iron rails, and farms are being
opened on every side of them. It is no
exaggeration to say that the population
ot the United States before tbe close ot
the present century will probably reach
100,000,000 of people. Then there will
be no West to settle up, no great stock
ranges, but farms and cities and cities
and farms everywhere. I predict that
those men who begin now by raising
cattle on Government lands, and are
wise enough to buy a portion of these
lands as soon as they are offered for sale,
will hnd before thev die that these
lands will be worth more to them than
their herds ever could have been. Your
great Ohio Senator, Benjamin Wade,
ones said that he believed " within tbe
present century every acre of good land
between tbe Missouii river and the Cali
fornia coast will be worth fifty dollars
in gold. Mild as this declaration
at the time seemed, it has already been
realized in many portions of Nebraska,
and is likely to come true in all our
States aud Territories west of the Big
Muddy. Great, then, as are the fortuues
which are being inide in cattle, still
greater will be the fortunes made in
land. Those who are wisest will make
all they can on their cattle, and the mo
ment the lands are for sale buy all they
can get, even if they have to sell a part
of their herd to pay for tbe lands. Tbe
Homestead law precludes the possibility
of getting much land in one body, but
by buying out settlers at fair prices, suf
ficient grounds for grazing purposes
may be had tor many years yet.
The Accumulation of Riches.
The acquisition of riches seems from the
beginning of time to have been one ot
man s universal passions. Many causes
have tended to inspire it. In the hands
of the good riches have been a blessing ;
but who will say that in tbe hands of
tbe majority riches bave not been a cor
rupter and a curse t Yet it is not
money which is the rock of all evil, but
the love of money for its own sake, or
merely for the luxuries and pleasures it
can bring one s-self. This tceling is the
real curse of gold.
Thb Only Loos " Can I induoe you
to invest in a lock Y" smilingly iuquired
a travelling- agent for an improved door-
fastening, of a plain-looking old maid,
whom he encountered sweeping the
doorsteps. " Xou might, air, sae re
plied, with a ghastly smile, eyeing him
carefully for a moment from head to
foot, " in wed lock."
UNITY IN UIVEESITY. hat is one
man's salvation is another one's bane ;
this old saying is an axiom. Those who
urge their remedies or medicaments on
others dq pot understand that in una
nimity or oneness there may be divers
ity.
Talking prevents doing, bilenoe is I
the great fellow-workman. ARTHUR
Helps.
A HEADER'S SOlE.
Brantlra ot Thought anil Word From
New and old nook.
The subject needs to be considered in
all weathers of tbe soul, for it is very
largo. Arthur Helps.
The origin of a parvenn is forgotten if
he remembers it, remembered if ho for
gets. ConceiU and Caprice.
One great art of managing with small
anxieties, is to cease thinking about them
just at that point when thought be
comes morbid. ARTnu jiKLrs: cin-
panioni of My HolilmU.
LeHsing, when he was Librarian at
Wolfenuttel, proposed to start a review
which should only notice forgotten books.
Max Mullgr : Chipt.
The wise man acquires with each ac
cess of learning, an increase, at least, of
one special sort ot knowledge, that,
namely, of his own ignorance. Black
LEY: Word Qomv.
There are doubtless as many good
people in towns as there are in tbe coun
try, only, perhaps, the good would be
better still it they lived in the country,
miss MULOCH : Fair France.
The chiefest and sublimest end of
music is the graceful return of our thanks
to the gods, and the next is to purify
and bring our minds to a sober and har
monious temper. Plutarch: MoraU.
Our men of Art, contemning its ancient
majsty, instead of that manly, grave,
heavenborn music, so acceptable to the
gods, have brought into the theatre a
sort ot effeminate musical tattling, mere
sound without substance. Plutarch:
MoraU.
If the works of the great poets teach
anything, it is to hold mere invention
somewhat cheap. It is not the finding
of a thing, but the making something
out of it after it is found, that is of con
sequence. Lowell : 21 y Mudy Windows.
What a strange, desperate notion it is
of men, when they have erred, that things
are at their worst that nothing can be
done to rescue them ; whereas Judas
might have done something better than
hang himself. ARTHUR ilELPS : Com
panions of My Solitude.
To contrast the size of the oak with
that of the parent acorn, as if the poor
seed had paid all costs from its slender
strong-box, may serve for a child's won
der ; but the real miracle lies in that di
vine league which bound all the forces
of nature to the service of the tiny germ
in fulfilling its destiny. Lowell : My
ktudy Windows.
To dig in the mellow soil to dig
moderately, for all pleasure should be
taken sparingly is a great thing. One
gets strength out of the ground as often
as one really touches it with a hoe.
There is life in the ground ; it goes into
the seeds, and it also, when stirred up,
goes into the man who stirs it. War
rex : My Hummer in a Garden.
Again and again nations have seen
their noblest descend into the grave, and
have thought it enough to garland the
tombstone when they had not crowned
the brow, and to pay the honor to the
ashes which they had denied to the
spirit. Let it not displease them that
tbey are bidden, amidst the tumult and
the dazzle of their busy life, to listen for
the tew voices and watcb lor tbe tew
lamps which God has toned and lighted
to charm and to guide them, that they
may not learn their sweetness by their
silence, nor their light.by their decay.
Ecskix: Modern Painters.
By the time a man gets to be eighty,
he learns that he is compassed by
limitations, and taat there has been a
natural boundary set to his individual
powers. As he goes on in life, he begins
to doubt bis ability to destroy all evil
and to reform all abuses, and to suspect
that there will be much left to do alter
he is done. I stepped into my garden
in the spring, not doubting that I should
be easily master ot the weeds. 1 have
simply learned that an institution
which is at least a thousand years old
and I believe six millions, is not to be
put down in one season. Wabren
Jui bummer in a Uarden,
Just so many misdirected letters
every year and no more 1 Would it were
as easy to reckon up the number of men
on whose backs fate has written the
wrong address, so that they arrive by
mistake in Congress and other places
where they do not belong ! May not
these wanderers of whom I speak have
been sent into the world without any
proper address at all r And it wiser
social arrangement Bhould furnish us with
something of the sort, fancy (horrible
thought!) how many a woikingman's
friend (a kind of industry in which the
labor is light and tbe wages heavy)
would be sent thither because not called
for in the office where he at present lies !
Lowell : My btudy Windows.
The more we examine the mechan
ism of thought the more we shall see the
automatio unconscious action ot the
mind enters largely into all its processes,
Our definite ideas are stepping-stones;
how we get from one to the other, we
do not know; something carries us; we
do not take the step. A creating and
informing spirit which is with us, and
not of us, is recognized in real and in
storied life. It is the Zeus that kindled
the rage of Achilles; it is the Muse of
Homer ; it is the Uaimon of bocrates; it
is the inspiration of the seer; it is the
mocking devil that whispers to Margaret
as she kneels at the altar ; and the hob
gobliu that cried, " Sell him, sell him 1"
in the ear of John Banyan; it shaped
tbe forms that filled tbe soul of Michael
Angelo when he saw the figure of the
. r : ; . , . i
great awgiver in toe yet unnewn mar
ble, and the dome of the world's yet un
built basilica against the blank horizon
it comes to the least of ua as a voice that
will be heard : it tells us what we must
believe ; it frames our sentences ; it lends
a sudden gleam of sense or eloquence to
the dullest of us all, bo that, like Hatter
felto with his hair on end, we wonder at
ourselves, or rather not at ourselves, but
at the divine visitor, who chooses our
brain as his dwelling-place, and invests
our naked thought with the purple of
the kings of speech or song. Holmes
Meehanism in Thought and MoraU.
Clergymen wbo preach against the
acquisition of wealth seldoin object to
an increase of salary.
An oyster weighing three Mtms U
on exhibition in the window of a New
ark saloon.
Tho cost to the Unito'l States govern- (
roont of the occupation of Alaska, ac
cording to Major Tidball, ia t!).3M a
month, besides supplier and is divided
as follows: Army, $3 900; navy, 3,5- ;
revenue cutter, $2,200; and custom
house, $700.
The Lynn shoemakers have a yacht, -the
hull of which is composed entirely of
old shoe boxes, the Btays are made of
shoe bindings, and the sails of 1 split '
leather. And they have now formed a
yacht club, in order to have a commo
dore's flag, which is to be of Turkish
morocco.
A Springfield (Yt.) lady left her little
boy at home to amuse himself with
matches, and when Bhe returned met
bim in the street, crying. He said he
only made a little fire in the bureau
rawer, and a lot ot red-shirted men
with a great big tea-kettle came and
squii ted. water all overthe house. .They
saved the cellar door.
Humboldt, Kansas, claims to have the
champion nailer of the world, in the
person of Albert .Minor, a lather by
trade, and a son of Vermont. Minor
can drive more nails in one day than
any other living man. He will drive
nails faster than the fastest compositor
can pick up type. He will drive sixty
lath nails a minute, ten hours out ot tbe
twenty-four, the year through.
A mysterious occurrence took place
lately at Haverhill, Mass. Four sailors,
with trunks and carpet bag, landed there
an open boat, set hre to the boat,
watched it until it was entirely destroy
ed, and then took cars for Portland. No
body knows who the strangers were, or
whence they came. But for the trunks
and carpet bags, they might be i-up-
iosed to be some ot Captain Hidd s free
booters. Who knows 'i
In a New Hampshire oity on Tuesday a
respected citizen was upon the ticket of
one party as a candidate for the School
Uommittee, while bis daughter was a
candidate of the opposite party for the
same omce, the latter having received
the nomination, not on account of any
female suffrage proclivities, but because
she was a very efficient teacher. As she
shrank from the responsibilities of the
position, the nomination, even, having
been made without her knowledge, her
father was generally voted for and elect
ed. Horse thieves in Michigan are prac-
ticiuar a new dodge. Four, mon am to-
quired to carry it out. Two of them go
n advance with a horse and buggy, and,
when an opportunity presents itself, the
horso is sold, and the two hire another
hor.-e, and proceed to the next neigh
borhood in search of another purchaser.
On the following day the two arrive in
hot haste, inquiring for the two who
had left, representing them as horse
thieves ; learn that they have sold the
horse ; one of them claims it, and proves
ownership by the other, and gets pos
session of the horse as having been sto
len from him ; then they pass on to the
next neighborhood to repeat the process
on another victim.
A good story is told of himself by a
Beason ticket holder on the Boston and
Maine Railroad a wide-awake, jolly,
generous, joke-loving gontltman, liberal
in his religion. Itidiug in a horse car a
short time since, with tbe Catholic priest
of his village, who has been active in
trying to induce his flock to become
temperate, he familiarly addressed him
in language something as follows :
"Father , yon are. doing a pretty
good work just now I don't know but
you are doing as much good as all the
other clergymen in town." The priest
quietly replied that he was doing wbat
he could to improve his people. " I'll
tell you what it is," continued the gen
tleman, " I've been thinking about at
tending your church, but was afraid it
would cost too much to get all my sins
pardoned." " Oh," said the priest, " we
can manage your case ; when we have a
very largo contract we make a liberal
discount 1"
John Bellows has a weakness for pret
ty women. Among these he includes a
little apple-vender near the market. He
makes love to her sometimes, and yester
day tried to kiss her. She wouldn't be
kissed, and a little disturbance resulted,
which procured John the pleasure of an
introduction to the recorder. " And so
you insulted the girl yesterday," inquired
the magistrate. " 1 was only loking.
pleaded John. "But didn't you try to
kiss her Y" " Well," said John, straight
ening himself up. "I made out like I
wanted to kiss her, but it was all non
sense ; 1 didn t care anything about it.
Indeed !" " Certainly not." " Then
you were trying to deceive the girl, and
that can t be tolerated by this court.
Here is a pretty girl whom you lay you
wouidn t care to kiss. Well, a man of
such bad taste ought to be punished;
and I'll fine you for not wanting to kiss
ner r Ana be aid. .ft. v. I'ic. ,
Last fall a party of thieves stole a
train on the Central Pacifio Railroad,
and robbed the express car ; but were
followed bo clobely that they were
obliged to conceal a part of their booty
in the mountainous region west of Salt
Lake City. The robbers were appre
hended and brought to trial at Elko,
where they secured the services of two
lawyers to defend them. The agents of
Wells, Fargo & Co. suspected that the
accused might turn over some of the
stolen property to the lawyers in pay
ment for their professional services, and
determined to keep a watch on the lat
ter. The legal gentlemen started for
the mountains, closely followed by de
tective. When they had found and se
emed the hidden property, amounting
to several thousand-dollars in, value,
they were apprehended and taken to
Salt Lake City, where they were exam
ined before Judge Hawley and bound
over to appear at the Distrust Court ia
the sum of $5,000 each. Tbe stolen Droo-
I erty was returned to its owners.