tit : I - 4; t HENRY A. PARSONS, Jk , Editoe axd Publisher A'Wi COUNTY TUE REPVIillCAN PARTY. Two Dollars fer Annum, VOL. I. RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1871. NO. 12. MA IT-FLO WEItlr BT LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON. Ifyou catch a brcalli of sweetness, And follow the odorous hint Through woods where the dead leaves rustle, Aud the golden mosses glint. Along the spicy Ben-coast, Over the desolate down. Ton will find the dnlnty May-flower When you come to Plymouth town. Where the shy Sprlnjr tends her darlings, And hides them away from eight, Pull off the covering leaf-sprays, And father them, pinli and white. Tinted by mysticnl moonlight, Freshened by frosty dew. Till the fair transparent blossoms To their pure perfection grew. Then carry them home to your lady, For flower of the Spring is she, Pink nnd white, and dainty and slight, And lovely as lovely can be. Shall they die because she Is fair, Or live because she is sweet 1 They will know for which they were born, But you must wait at her feet. ROB AND FA SSI A Railway Adventure. "Perhaps this gentleman I am al most sure it is his. Ask hiin, Bob do." The words, earnest and excited, were uttered in a voice so sweet and musical, that, involuntarily, I turned my head to gut a glimpse of the speaker. She was bohind me, upon the railway platform, at C , where we had been temporarily detained, waiting to take our places in an incoming train. She was a neatly dressed, modest looking woman, quite pretty, and evidently not more than twenty years of age. She leaned upon the arm of a man some four or rive years her senior, as open-countenanced and prepossessing in appearance as herself. A newly-married couple, I set them down at once, on their bridal tour, perhaps. The gentleman held in his hand an open pocketbook, which he had apparently just picked up from the platform at bis feet, and which I saw to contain, even with the cursory glance I cast upon it, a number of bills, some of a large denomination. He glanced from it to me, as I turned at the young lady's words, seeming de sirous, yet doubtful of the prudence of making known his discovery ; and, com prehending his dilemma, I set his mind at rest at once. " If you are seeking an owner for an article just found, you must look fur ther, sir; I have lost nothing." Ila looked around with un expression of vexed admiration. What shall I do with the thing ? It evidently contains a large amount of money, though I have not as yet exam ined it thoroughly. I do not want to take it with me, and yet I cannot spare the time to hunt up an owner for it ; besides, I am afraid it' I were to proceed hurriedly or incautiously in the matter, some swindler might get it from me, in spite of myself. Stop ! I know what I can do," he continued, briskly, after a momentary pause ; " I will run back to the ticket office, and leave it in charge of the clerk. I can take his receipt for it, you know, to niako sure that he con ducts the thing squarely. It is pretty sure to be inquired for there, or, if not, it will be advertised, and he can attend to the business, and pocket the reward for his trouble. Fatiny, dear, would you mind my leaving you one moment r" She looked as if she should mind it very much, as she glanced timidly around at the noisy crowd who sur rounded her ; and he, too, after he had spoken, seemed reluctant to leave her without a protector. Upon the strength of my grizzled beard and fifty years, I took the liberty of again addressing them. " If you will trust the lady to my pro tection, I shall be happy to take charge of her until your return." She looked up at first a little doubt fully, but her face brightened as she caught my eye j with childlike quick ness of perception she seemed to have formed her estimate of my character at a single glance." " Thank you, sir," she said, simply ; " that will do nicely. Run, then, Bob, and hurry back as soon as yos can." She took my proffered arm with mod est confidence, and the gentleman, seem ing equally well satisfied with the ar rangement, hurried away, and I was left with my pretty charge, feeling not a little fluttered at the confidence which my appearance had evidently inspired. I addressed a few remarks upon gene ral topics to the lady, who responded frankly, though timidly, to my attempts at sociability. One remark led to an other, and soon we were chatting to gether quite freely and unreservedly. As 1 had surmised, she was a bride bad been married just a month, and was' now returning from her wedding-tour to her home, in Baltimore. Upon informing her that I had a daughter, about the same age as herself, also recently married, she seemed to consider the coincidence quite a remark able one, and I could not but be amused at the eagerness with which she ques tioned me concerning the age, appear ance, disposition even the toilet of the bride. On my part, I was ready enough to discuss the subject. The wedding had been of such recent occurrence that it was still fresh in my mind, and I loved too well to talk about Hattie, and all belonging to her, not to enjoy the chat as much as my fair companion seemed to do. Thus it chanced that we were in the midst of what was to both of us a very interesting conversation, when " Bob " returned; and " quite regretfully," as I laughingly assured, her, I was obliged to relinquish my charge to her natural pro tector. The acquaintance thus commenced, naturally did not terminate here; we were still detained some minutes longer upon the platform, and so long as we stood together, the conversation contin ued, becoming, of course, more general by the intervention of a third party. When we at last entered the car, we were fortunate enough to obtain nd joining seats, and, as I occupied mine by myself, I offered to give room upon it tor some ot the bags ana baskets per taining to my companions. The offer was accepted, and, at the lady's in vita. tion, I turned my seat so that I could sit tacmg them, and thus continue un interruptedly the conversation into which we had fallen. This arrangement proved, to me at least, a very pleasant one, and the three hours' ride which followed was the least tiresome of any I ever spent upon a rail way. I learned that the name of my new acquaintances was Fry, and that the lady herself was the daughter of Henry t ltzmorton, or JJaltimore, a gen tleman well known to me by repute. I had spent several years in Baltimore at an earlier period of my life, and it was very pleasant to inquire after old ac quaintances, many ot whom 1 tound Mr. rry was also well acquainted with Thus, enjoying alike the intelligent re marks of the gentleman, and the lively Bailies of his wife, the morning slipped away, and I was obliged to glance at my watch to satisfy myselt that noon had really arrived, when the train stopped at Junction, and the con ductor, passing through, announced : " Twenty minutes for dinner 1" Of course we alighted, and of course I kept near my young friends during the meal. This proved to be excellent, and was heartily enjoyed by all of us ; so much so, indeed, that the warning whistle sounded just as we arose from the table, and we were obliged to join in the general scramble usual in such cases, to settle our bills, and resume our seats in the cars, in about half the time that should have been appropriated to the purpose. Mr. H ry and his wife were immedi ately in front of me, and as we came to the door, where the landlord stood col lecting his money from the passengers as they passed out, Mr. Fry banded him a five dollar bill, for which the landlord had some trouble in making the right change. hue we were waiting, 1 drew forth my pocketbook, to have my money ready when my turn came ; but, as is so often the case at such times, I found, to my great annoyance, that I, too, having nothing smaller, would be obliged to present a five dollar bill. Mr. iry s quick glance over his shoulder caught my annoyed look, and guessed the cause. " Dinner for three, landlord, out of that bill," said he, quickly ; and then, in an aside to me, " It's all right ; let it go so. 1 don't want to wait for him to make change again." I had no time to remonstrate, or, in deed, to do anything more but to bow my thanks, intending, of course, to dis charge the debt at the first opportunity. " A remarkably free-hearted fellow 1" was my inward comment, recalling also the careless ease with which, in the case of the pocketbook he had found, he had passed over the probable reward to the ticket clerk. Such little incidents as these, trifling as they may seem when recorded, have a strong effect in deter mining character, and Mr. Fry's will ingness to pay my hotel bill, though I had not the BlighteBt intention of profit ing by his liberality, increased very ma terially my good opinion of him. Our seats resumed, the train, a mo ment later, moved slowly onward ; but we had gone but a few rods when it stopped again. To the noity cries of " What's wrong ?" arising from various parts of the car, was at last elicited the reply that something had given way about the engine, and that we should probably be detained some time, waiting for the necessary repairs to be made. Mr. Fry aDd 1 were endeavoring, by questioning those who seemed to know, to find out more particularly what was likely to be the extent of the detention, when a little cry of dismay from Fanny recalled our attention at once to her. "My handkerchief! Oh, Bob, my handkerchief is gone i" " Nothing very alarming in that, is there i" he replied, smiling. "Indeed there is!" she cried, discon solately ; " not alarming I don't mean that but very, very vexatious. It was that fine hem-stitched one, with my monogram embroidered in the corner ; don't you remember '( It was my wedding-present from poor cousin Lou, who hem-stitched and embroidered it herself ; there was hardly a present I received that I would not rather have parted with." " Perhaps it is still bbout you some where ; shake out your dress and mantle you may find it, he said, sympathiz ingly, for she was evidently seriously distressed at her loss. She shook her held, the tears rising to her eyes as she spoke : "It is of no use ; I have not had it since we left the hotel. I remember having it in my band during dinner, and of laying it beside my plate upon the table, and that is where I have left it, I am certain. Poor, poor Lou !" She turned away her head to hide her tears ; and her husband, in an under tone, explained to me : "Her cousin Has ama since we left home ;" then, aloud, he continued : " Come, come, Fan ! the loss is not irremediable. Banish those sober looks. We are but a few rods from the hotel, and the train is likely to wait here for half an hour or more ; I will run back and see if I cannot regain your trea sure. Her face brightened up in an instant. " Oh, Bob ! that is so good of you I But " a shadow of doubt suddenly crossing her face " I am almost afraid to have you go. suppose we cars snouia go off and leave you I" "No danger" he replied, gayly; "though, if they did, it would be nothing worse than a temporary inconvenience ; you would have to stop at the first station, and wait until I joined you by the next train. I leave you in good hands; I know Mr. Savage , would not let you oome to grief." - " She should be well taken care of, I guarantee that," I replied, as he glanced, laughingly at me ; ' but there is no likelihood of my being called upon to assume the responsibility. If I am any judge of the matter, you will have time enough to go to the hotel and back again a dozen times before we leave Junction." " I left the handkerchief on the table by my plate, Bob, I think" she said, as he turned to leave us ; " but I cannot be positive. I may have dropped it in that little room where I washed my face and hands ; or it may have fallen while I was going from the hotel to the cars. As long as you are going back, please to look for it everywhere, for I do so hate to lose it. " I'll do my best," he said ; and bound ing off the train, in a moment was gone. " I know you must think me very silly, Mr. Savage," she said, turning to me, with a pretty little deprecating tone and glance ; " and very selfish, too, per haps, to give poor Bob so much trouble, just for a handkerchief; but, indeed, I do value it so highly I Your daughter, perhaps, would feel just as badly if she were to lose her most valued wedding present." " I have no doubt of it." I said. " I assure you I shall draw no uncharitable conclusions from conduct and feelings so natural. I remember that Hattie seemed better pleased with .some of her more trifling presents than she did with many that were of a far greater mone tary value." " That was just the way I folt," she continued, eagerly " particularly about the handkerchief. (Jousin Ijou was poor, and in very delicate health ; and the little gift, which she had spent many wearisome hours in preparing, seemed to me more truly a love-offering than anything else that was given me except, of course, Bob's present," she ad ded, quickly, a pretty blush suffusing her ingenuous race ; "he gave me a cluster diamond pin. Wait 1 I will show it to you ;" and, after a momentary fum bling at the collar ot her dress, beneath her mantle, she drew forth a small pin, set with very pretty brilliants, which she exhibited, eager as a child, for ad miration ot her treasure. " is it not pretty ? I do like jewels so much, par ticularly diamonds. I noticed your ring almost as soon as 1 saw you. It is a real diamond, is it not r It was a diamond indeed a solitaire of first water valued at seven hundred dollars ; and of which, old as I was, I was almost as proud as little .Fanny of her pin. I had bought it of a friend who, by unlucky speculations, had been reduced from alQuence to poverty ; and, at the time, 1 had taken it rather to ac commodate him than because I cared for the jewel ; not having any immedi ate need tor the money thus invested, however, I had been content to wear my diamond until now. I should really have disliked to part with it. Amused by my companion s naivete, i held up my hand so that the light might fall upon the stone. She gave a little cry of ecstacy : " I never never saw anything so pretty ! Would you mind letting me look at it in my own hands V But, per haps," Bhe added, coloring at her own boldness " perhaps you don't take it off ? I would not take my rings off for the world ; one is my engagement-ring, and the other my wedding-ring ; Bob gave me both." 1 laughed outright. " Excuse me, my dear young lady, but it seems laughable enough to a gray bearded old fogy like myself, to hear you gravely imagining any idea of sen timent could be attached to a ring I wore. Examine it, if it pleases you ; I have not the least objection to take it off." I handed her the ring, and she slipped it on her own tiny forefinger, holding her hand in various positions to view the effect. As she thus moved to and fro, in raising her arm quickly, there fell from beneath her mantle a small white article, which she caught up with an exclamation of mingled annoyance and delight. It was the missing hand kerchief, which had bien all the whilo clinging somewhere about her person, and had thus unexpectedly come to light. " Un ! how glad I am to think it is not lost " sho cried ; " but poor, dear Bob ! what will he say when ho lands what a fool's errand I have sent him on ! Dear me, what a pity ! I wonder whether I could see him anywhere ! I will lower the window, and look out ; if I wave my handkerchief, and be can see it, be will know what it means." She made an attempt to lower the window as she spoke, but, as is custom ary with car-windows, it proved refrac tory, and I leaned over her to assist her. The window was very obstinate, and it was some moments before 1 succeeded in lowering it. Sho leaned out when I bad done so, but nothing could le seen of Bob. ' lie has not been able to find it," she said, uneasily ; " and he will look in every likely and unlikely place for it, questiou the servants and landlord, and give himself no end of trouble. I can not forgive myself for being so heedless. Oh, dear 1 I wish I could get out and go after him. Do you think I could i" and she glanced with a look of childlike appeal at me. " By no means," I said rising,' " you are in my charge, you know, and 1 could not think of allowing you to take such a step. I will go myself, if you do not object to remaining here alone." " Oh. I don't mind that at all." she answered ; " but I cannot bear the idea of putting you to so much trouble." 1 saw, however, mat, in spite of ber polite remonstrances, she was really very anxious for me do as 1 had offered ; so, with a nod and smile, 1 lumped out of the car, and started off briskly in search of Mr. Fry. I did not meet mm as i bad hoped I should, nor could I find him at the hotel, though I looked through dining-room, wash-room, and even the kitchen in search of him ; and after spending fifteen or twenty minutes in this fruitless search, I turned my steps again toward the car, foroed reluctantly to the conclusion that we had by some means passed each other on the road. I reached the still waiting train, after a leisurely walk, in which I expected every moment to see him coming toward mo. I entered the car, and, to my un bounded astonishment, found there not only no Bob, but no Fanny either. For a moment I believed that I must have entered the wrong car and turned to leave it ; but no, there was my um brella a huge cotton one, which I had bought a few days before when caught in a shower lying in the hat-rack over head ; that only of all that had occupied those two seats when I left, remained there now. In stupid bewilderment I turned to a passenger reading his news paper in an adjoining seat. " Can you tell what has become of the lady who occupied this seat a few mo ments since '(" I asked. IIo looked np, pausing for a moment before he spoke, as if to recall a paBt event, of which, at the time, he had taken very little notice. ' The young lady, -with the blue veil and black silk travelling suit '(" he asked. " Oh, yes, I remember. She got up just after you did ; gathered up all her bags and parcels in a great hurry and went out at the north end of the car." "Did she leave by herself? did no gentleman join her either before or after F" " Not that I saw," replied he, resum ing his paper as if weary of the inter ruption. " She went down to the carriage road off yonder," said an old woman who sat upon the opposite side of the car and heard my questions. " Somebody met her down there with a carriage, and she jumped in and was druv off." I clapped my hand to my watch fob ; it was empty. To my trowsers pocket ; my wallet was gone. At last I under stood the situation ; I had been the dupe of as clever a pair of swindlers as ever rode in a railway car. Money, watch, and diamond ring had all gone, tke two former, doubtless, cleverly picked from my pocket while I was leaning over the confiding Funny lowering her obstreper ous window. Of course I telegraphed to all adjacent stations and set the police to work as soon as possible, but I accomplished nothing by my trouble ; I never heard of either Bob and Fanny or my stolen property again. I had the curiosity to telegraph also to the clerk of the ticket office at C concerning the pocketbook consigned to his care by Mr. Fry ; I learned, in return, that he had never seen or heard tell of any such article. I cannot say the information much astonished me. Taking Care of the Teeth. A good authority in dental matters ways that the various tooth-washes and tooth-powders do the teeth more harm than good, promoting their decay instead of preserving them. Poor teeth, like every other disease, arises from taking unnatural lood into the mouth. It we would have our teeth good and sound. we must learn a lesson of the animals ull around us. The cow, the horse, or the dog, never have decayed teeth, because they will not eat what nature did not intend them to. Tobacco, alcohol, hot drinks, and a thousand other hurtful things taken into our stomachs to keep up the hres ot the system which we are continually wasting by our fretting, feeding of passions intended for use in stead of abuse, and other means of ex hausting vital, nervous force. And it is beginning to be more generally acknowl edged that too much meat is eaten by us. If we had teeth like the wolf,, the cat, and the tiger, there would be some ex cuse for every twentieth man keeping a slaughter-house to feed our carniverous appetites; but, if we eat meat, why should not the cow, the horse, and her bivorous animals whose teeth are formed like ours ' When people follow nature more directly, they will have fewer ail ments, and doctors and quack-medicine venders will be compelled to turn their attention to some other method of get ting a living. The teeth were never in tended to be pearly white. Every in telligent dentist knows that the whiter the teeth are, the sooner and more cer tain they will decay ; he also knows that those teeth are the soundest, last the longest, and are the most useful, which have a yellowish tint ; then why provide powders to take off this yellowish sur fuce ' The teeth should be washed once a week with white soap, making the mouth as full as possible with " lather," so as to be close to every particle of every tooth for a few minutes ; because the tartar on the teeth is the product of a living thing, which is instantly killed with soap suds. A few persons have another living thing about the teeth not affected with soap, but which is instant ly killed with salt ; hence each person is advised to wash the teeth with white soap once a week ; and once a week also with salt. Every morning, on rising. the teeth should be washed with a stiff brush by dipping it in the water, and rubbing the teeth slowly front and rear from side to Bide, and finally twisting the brush so that each bristle will act as a tooth-pick at the joinings of the teeth, so as the more thoroughly .to dislodge anything which might remain in the hollo ws between the ridges. The water in the brush combines with the saliva of the mouth, and, by its great softness, makes one of the best solvents in nature for any extraneous Bubstances about the teeth. The teeth should be brushed im mediately after each meal with a soft, old brush, with plenty of water, twisting it up and down as before. After each washing, the brush should be placed far back on the tongue and turned from side to side, so as to clear off the tongue ; this does much towards freeing the teeth from the odor of the last thing eaten. If persons would brush their teeth well immediately after the last meal of the day, instead of putting it off until bed time, the teeth would be clean for four or five hours more in the twenty-four, which is not a slight advantage. Two tailors in Louisville had a fight, and one stabbed the other with a pair of 6b ears. When he has killed eight more tailors they are going to try him for manslaughter. - - t t i , w . Silver smelting furnaces will soon be added to the list of Pittsburg industries. Sorrow Gauge Railroads. The subject of narrow gauge railroads of late years has attracted much atten tion in this country. In the mining re gions of this State some experience has already been had on the narrow gauge. Grades and curves have been attained which a few years ago were deemed wholly impracticable. During the pres ent session of the legislature a number of charters has been granted, and a strong necessity already exists for a liberal system of general legislation on the subject. While the rapidly advanc ing power of railroad monopolies has caused the deepest despondency in the minds of some, others, who are accustom ed to look at the bright Bide of the pio ture, witness the organization of mighty elements for successful resistance. Among these elements is an enlightened public sentiment, which while subduing unjust prejudice against railway corpo rations, at the same time is convincing their owners and operators of the neces sity of pursuing a juBt and liberal policy towards the public. Another mighty agency in the work of reform will be the narrow gauge. This ie the angel that is coming to as sist in the redemption of the people from the oppression of monopoly. Sci ence is introducing a great competitor into into the railroad field, which will compel selfishness to abandon the con flict. The whole railroad policy of the country will be revolutionized. Begin ning with the vertebrae, trunk roads will be reduced to the narrow gauge, and then competition will dissolve the power of monopoly. Narrow gauge roads will penetrate regions of country hitherto deemed inaccessible, and by their cheapness will be multiplied with marvellous rapidity. The pernicious policy of conferring vast grants of lands upon railway companies will be neutral ized by a new system which, expanding year by year, will fill the West with a teeming population. The next genera tion will not witness, in all probability, the power of the great railway kings of the present. The Vanderbilts and Jay Goulds will not transmit their Bceptres. But this consummation must be assisted by enlightened and liberal legislation. We have before us a very able report of a joint committee of the Massachu setts Legislature on the subject of nar row gauge, which shows that the period of doubt and experiment has already been passed. The first of these experi ments was a tram road in the Festiniog Valley, in Wales. Its gauge was one foot eleven and a-half inches. It had curves of 132 feet radius, and grades of 70 feet to the mile. The engineer, Mr. Spooner, whose name deserves commem oration, determined to apply the locomo tive to this line. The rail used weighed 30 pounds to the yard, and the engines weighed seven tons. The passenger cars were 10 feet long and five feet wide, and cupable of Beating twelve passengers. To-day trains over 1,000 feet long run over this little road at a speed of 15 or 20 miles an hour, with as much safety as upon any in England, and at a cost below that of roads much more favora bly constituted of the ordinary gauge. The freight cars on this road carry three tons. In one year its tonnage amount ed to 136,132 tons, and its passenger business in the same year amounted to 6,807 passengers per mile. Another railway of about eight miles in length has been made in Wales with a gauge of two feet six inches. It has a nearly uniform grade of about 70 feet rise to the mile. Two light engines have worked the traffic of this road for more than five years with three passen ger as well as freight trains running each way daily. Each engine carries threo cars with 70 to 00 passengers and twenty slate cars. In Germany there is a small lino con necting with the Cologne and Geissen railway which has a gauge of 2 feet 7 inches, curves of 121 feet radius and planes of seventy feet rise to the mile. The rails vary trom 11 to zh pounds to the yard. The engines weigh 12. tons and haul 36 cars each loaded with 5 tons. The cost of the line per mile in cluding rolling stock, has been about $8,000. In 1861, Mr. Phil, an engineer in Nor way, constructed the Thondgham rail way upon a gauge of 3 feet 6 inches. Their country was too sparse in popula tion, too poor in resources and too rug ged in its topography to justify the building of a road ot the ordinary gauge. The engines were about 12 tons weight, and the other rolling stock in proportion. Mixed trains of passenger and freight cars were connected, and in six years of operation the road has proved a perfect success. Passengers receive every neces sary accommodation, and are transported as Bafely and as speedily as upon any of the older roads having similar business. Other narrow gauge roads have been built and are now being built in Russia, Norway, Australia and South Ameiica. The Unaio Yalenciana railroad is 15 miles long, has grades of 169 feet rise to the mile, and curves of 2o5 feet radius. It has been some time in successful oper ation. It' has a 40 pound rail, and its engines weigh 10 to 15 tons. Its passen ger cars afford comfortable accomodation for 30 persons. Mixed trains traverse this road at a speed: of 18 to 20 miles per hour, and passenger trains at 30 miles per hour with as much safety as upon first-class roads of ordinary gauge. These are all short lines connecting with trunk roads, but they demonstrate the complete success of the experiment. In Colorado the Denver and Rio Grande railroad is about to be com menced. It is destined to extend from Denver City, along the Rocky Mountain plateau, to El Paso, a distance of 850 miles. The gauge adopted is two feet nine inches, and the estimated cost per mile is (8,000. In Australia 250 miles are built, and 250 more are projected of the narrow gauge. The report from which these state ments are taken, contains much other valuable information on the subject of narrow gauge, to which we shall take a future occasion to revert. These re late to cost of construction and feasibility. The grade of two feet nine inches has been agreed upon by the majority of : " mi.; I l i j'o: "n- cugiueria. luero asv eg4 uiuiuuiucs in the way of the success of narrow gauge railroads, which are not so form idable in other countries. The struggle will be to procure the right of way from the legislature, and that issue must be met. This country cannot be kept in the rear of progress by legislative re striction on the right to construct rail ways. Wherever competent parties with sufficient capital are willing to test this system, the legislature should give them liberal enoauragenfent. Competition thus produced will relieve the publio from the thraldom of monopoly. In the mining regions, for which the narrow gauge is peculiarly adapted, and where the oppression of capital is most severely experienced, competition in carrying would greatly benefit the miner and the consumer. Railroad combinations, such bs that which exists at present, would be rendered difficult, if not wholly impossi ble by the construction of rival lines. The expense of construction is dimin ished by half. Regions of the State will be penetrated which have hitherto been considered inaccessible by engineers, and the benefits of the railroad system will be diffused all over its surface. Harris hira (Pa.) Patriot. Murdered by Request. Last night we were summoned to lis ten to one of the saddest stories ever told. But a few days since was an nounced the death of Daniel E. Hedden by his own hand. We had every reason to believe it was so. Last evening, how ever, came a startling disclosure Hed den murdered I Captain Dutcher was called to the Cedar Rapids House. He went. Cora Clinton wished to see him. When in her presence she says : " Captain, I have something to tell you. You would nev er think it, but I shot Hedden I" This waa indeed something to tell, it was a startling announcement. She said she had carefully thought over all the consequences; knew she had to go to jail, and probably to the gallows. Yet with all that staring her in the face, she wanted to make the confession tell the true story. In the jail at 11 o'clock, the reporters met the unfortunate woman. " 1 make the confession that I killed Hedden." " Why did you do it ?" " At his own re quest," was the reply. "I went up stairs and found him, as I thought, dy ing. He asked me to shoot him. He wanted this Bin off his soul. He took the pistol from his pocket, cocked it and placed it in my hand. He held open his coat and I pulled the trigger. I thought there was more than one ball in the pis tol, and intended with the other to kill myself." The prisoner in her confession says there was no malice ! She fired the pistol at his own request, and then in tended self-murder. But an empty pis tol prevented her. She was excited, and didn't think what she was doing. In brief, the above is the sad story. It is to be remembered that Hedden bought three bottles of laudanum the night of his death, and upon his own confession, through the testimony of Cora Clinton, drank the same. Sunday evening Cora Clinton con fussed that Bhe took chloroform with in tent to take her life ; and it is feared that she will, by some means, yet suc ceed. There is scarcely a doubt that su icide has been determined upon, in her mind, at all hazards. Omaha Itcyulli ean. Increase of Wealth in the United States la Ten Years. The following table is compiled from the official report made to the Census Bureau, and represents the total valua tion of real estate and personal property in the States and Territories named for the years 1860 and 1870 : 1800. 1870. Stated. Total estate. Tntnl extato. Calllornia (130,664,607 (269,644,088 Delaware 39,767,233 64,787,223 F.OIllla 6S,929,68 91,167.464 beoralu 618,232,387 202,61)3,567 Illinois 889,207,372 764,i87,000 Indiana 411,042,424 063,455,044 Iowa 2115,166,985 308 009,165 Kentucky 620,212,698 43,7041,000 J,ouituanu 435,687,265 250,588.510 Maine , 154.380.38S 202.690,310 M OHsachusuttS 777,157,810 1,381, 169 403 MichiKall 163.533,005 2112,908,8 '. Minnesota 32,018,773 84,100,368 MUaiasinnl 500,472,91'J 154 535,527 Missouri 2t0,935,651 652,728,032 NubruHlm 7,426,040 55,710.432 New Jlaiupahlre 123 010,080 128,468,630 New Jersey 206,082,402 024,868,071 New York 1,300,463,6 IS 1,040,070,379 North Carolina 202,207,602 132,040,301 Ohio 9o9,r67,10l 1,612,438,880 Orexon 10,024 Sit 31,708,610 Pennsylvania 710,253,335 1,171,657,000 Rhode Island 125,104,305 218,800,402 South Caroliua 489,319,12s 104,409,401 Tennessee 382,405.200 313,740,771 Vermout 84,758 C19 93,244 047 Virginia 607,021,356 350,244.82$ West VlrgluU (Included In Virginia) 124,555,442 Wisconsin 156,220.100 3:13,447,500 Columbia 41,084,035 74 271,093 New Mexico 20.838,780 17,784,014 I' lull 4,158,020 13,109,930 Wasllllllfton 4,304,735 10,187,81$ Wyoming 6,610 743 Arizona 1,285,29) Colorado 17,022,086 Dakota 2,814.629 Idaho 6,292,146 Montana 12,3il,350 A Skunk on Ills Travels. A trap was set for a skunk in one of the suburban towns ten miles south of Boston last November. The trap was an ordinary steel muskrat trap, with a spring so powerful as to require both hands and feet to set it. This was tied to a neighboring tree-root, with a cord which had proved of sufficient strength effectually to detain a large woodchuck only a few nights previously at the same place. At eleven o'clock that night the trap rattled violently ou the stones in the bottom of the ditch, and the prox imity of the aforesaid skunk was an nounced by him, in the peculiar fashion of bis tribe, with great emphasis. This continued for several hours and then ceased. Iu the morning his enemies found, to their chagrin and disappoint ment, on approaching the ditoh, pistol iu hand, with great care and circum spection, not to say circumnavigation, that the visitor had cut the cord, packed up his traps', and departed in search of a more congenial locality. . .Nothing more was heard from him until this spring, when the same skunk got en tangled in a fence in a town ten miles the other side of Boston. How he man aged to survive four months with a trap on his leg, and he twenty miles from hu starting-point, is an interesting question for students of natural history. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. A green grocer one who trusts. , A spoiled child the one that played , , with the kerosene can. , ( A poultry raiser in California owns ten thousand hens. ... A white hedge-hog twenty-two inohes in length, has been shot in New Hamp shire. The drying of grapes for making raU t sins is becoming a large industry of Cal ifornia. One of the most prolific of novel-wri- ' ' ters is Louise Muhlbach, who has just laid before the reading publio of Gcr- ; many the one hundred and first volume of her novels. A showman in the State of Maine ' wanted to exhibit an Egyptian mummy, and attended at the court-house to ob- , tain permission. " What is it you want to show i" inquired the judge. " An Egyptian mummy more than three thousand years old," said the showman. " Three thousand years old !" exclaimed the judge, jumping to his feet ; " and is the critter alive A Wisconsin editor is published all around as in the biggest kind of luck, -because he happened to be on a train that was smashed up, had his leg broke, and draws nine dollars a week from a life insurance company. Since two shots were fired through the windows of an editor's sanctum at Albany, the editors go around with iron breastplates in their pantaloons, and earthworks of boiler iron are being thrown up outside the windows. The party of Japanese, twelve in number, who recently arrived here, are all intelligent young men, and form a portion of the corps sent out by the Japanese government to receive collegi ate education abroad. Six of the num ber will enter English universities, three will proceed to Belgium, and one to Germany. Two of the party will prob ably enter some American college. Black caterpillars have made their appearance in some portions of Tennes see in such droves as in one instance to stop a train of cars. This is almost equal to the stories of the ravages of locusts in the East, where it is not un usual to see vast regions swept utterly bare of vegetation, the destroying horde climbing hills and even surmounting high walls in their resistless march. The following programme for the ob servance of wedding anniversaries seems to be generally adopted throughout the country ; First anniversary, iron ; fifth anniversary, wooden ; tenth anniversa ry, tin ; fifteenth anniversary, crystal ; twentieth anniversary, china; twenty fifth anniversary, linen; fortieth anni versary, woollen; forty-htth anniversa ry, silk ; fiftieth anniversary, golden ; seventy-fifth anniversary, diamond. The following is a Western instance of the " ruling passion strong in death :" Squire W was very fastidious in his notions of propriety. At weddings and funerals he was quite officious, and very particular that everything should be done decently and in order. In due time he was taken ill fatally so and relatives and friends were gathered around his bed, sad and weeping. One of these, more thoughtful than the rest, asked the departing Squire if he would like to have a clergyman called in to pray with him, to which he replied: " Well, yes ; I think it would be appro priate." Professor Winchell, in a late magazine article upon the climate of Michigan, adduces figures to show that while the July climate of Michigan is cooler than that of Wisconsin and Minnesota, the growing season begins on the western side of the State thirteen days earlier in the spring than it does at Milwaukee, nearly opposite, and continues from five to eight days later in the autumn ; a still greater contrast being appreciable if localities in the interior of Wisconsin be selected. The lowest temperature of Grand Haven, Michigan, is 14 higher than that of Milwaukee, the difference, according to Professor Winchell, being all that distinguishes between a fruit bearing region and one in which fruits fail. The Bridgeport Farmer tells a remark able story in regard to what, not many years ago, would have been" considered a miracle. It says that in the " old Divis ion street graveyard" at Bridgeport there is a marble slab marking the grave of Robert Linus Backus, who died on the 10th of February, 1834, aged 12 years and 9 months. On the reverse of the stone is a stain which represents a wo man grasping a club with which she is in the act of striking ; all attempts to obliterate this stain by scraping are in effectual, and " we are told that this is the fifth stone which has marked the spot, the preceding ones having been re moved on account of their inveterate tendency to represent the same scene. The legend connected with this singular circumstance is that the child was killed by its mother. Domestio matters in some of the West ern States, are managed in a very practi cal, off-hand way, but one which u like ly to lead to social complications very difficult to straighten out properly. ' For instance, in Missouri, some years ago, George Bruner went off to Idaho to hunt for gold, leaving bis wife to wait . till he got back. One Mr. Rains came along and asked Mrs. Bruner to be his, which she promised on condition be would give her up if George should come back at any time. She was ac cordingly married to Rains, since which time there has been nothing but sun shine, until a short time ago Bruner turned up again with his u pockets full of rocks," and demanded bis wife. She was willing, and Rains was reminded of the uncertainty of his own : tenure ac cording to the contract He admitted the claim of Bruner to be good, and the two proceeded to secure a re-adjustment of the matrimonial noose, Rains apply ing for a divorce and Bruner aiding ui the proceedings, c The Judge j of the Court said that the caa was rathe a curious one, and refused to dispose of it until next term,
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers