1 .
HENRY A. r ARSONS, Jit , Editor axd Pi-em she it
elk co u jv r r r n n epujilic a x r a n r r.
Two Dollars ter Anstjm.
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 1871.
NO. 17.
(M if ( ;
THE PHILOSOPHER AND HIS DAI (HI
TEIti A Bound canic booming through tie air
" What is tbnt sound f" quolU I.
My blue-eyed pet, with golden liair,
Mado answer, presently,
" Vujin, you know It very well
Tliut sound it was Saint Puncms Bell ''
" My own Louise, put down the c.u,
And come and Bland by nie ;
I'm sad to hear you talk like iuat,
Where's your philosophy i
That sound attend towr-'t I tell
Tbnt souud was not Sai-.t l'uncrns Bell.
Sound Is the nnme t-J sage selects
For the concision term
Or a long '- of ell'ccts,
Of wh'- that blow's the genu.
The filowiug brief analysis
(ihows the interpolations, Miss.
The blow which, when the clapper blips,
alls on your rriend, the Bell,
Changes its circle to ellipse,
(A word you'd better spell.)
Aud then comes elasticity,
Restoring what it used to be.
Nay, making it a little more,
The circle shitls about,
As much as it shrunk in before
The Bell, you sec, swells out;
Aud so a new ellipso is made,
(You're not attending, I'm afraid.)
This change ol form disturbs '.he air,
Which in its turn behaves
In like elastic fashion there,
Creating waves on waves;
Which press each other onwaid, dear,
Until the utmost Amis your car.
Within that car the surgeons liud
A tympanum, or drum,
Which has a little bone behind
Muflcus, it's called by some ;
Those not proud of Latin Grammar
Humbly translate it as the hammer.
The wave's vibrations this transmits
On to the Incus bone.
(Incus means anvil, which it hits,)
And tliis transfers the tone
To the small os orbicularis,
The tiniest bone that people carry.
The stapes next the name recalls
A stirrup's term, my daughter
.loins three half-circular canals,
Kach tilled with limpid water ;
Their curious liuing, you'll observe,
-Made ol the auditory nerve.
This vibrates next and theu wo find
The mystic work is crown'd ;
For then my daughter's gentle Mind
First recognizes souud.
Bee what a host of causes swell
To mako up what you call the ' Bell.' "
Awhile she paused, my brlglit Louhe,
And ponder'd on the case ;
Then, settling that lie meant to tease,
She slapp'd her father's iiicc ;
" You bad old man, to sit and tell
Such gibbcrygosh about a Bell !"
WAS THERE EVER SUCH IXCX !
From Chamber? Edlnbtiroh Journal.
CHAPTER I. REFORM.
William Fassil lived with his eraiicl
mother and his sister Ju. at Hilton, near
litigate, lie was a clerk in the Ad
miralty, and had to go up to London in
the morning, and hack to dinner in the
evening, which he did not mind. He
called the railway carriage his nnoking-
l'OOUl.
William Fassil was thirty, the grand
mother eighty, Ju. twenty-three, the in
termediate generation being dead. On
Sunday afternoon it was William Fassil's
delight to take a long walk, if only he
could find a companion; and the friend
who most commonly came to his rescue
was Tom Chatteris.
Tom was not such good company on
one of these afternoons as usual ; he
libtened well enough, bo does a. horse ;
but he did not seem to take in meaning
with words. At last he said : " Look
here, old fellow, I want to speak to
you seriously."
" About the weights in the Cambridge
shire, I suppose," replied Fassil. " Take
my advice, Tom, and never bet on an
otacr horse till his number is up."
" I mean to improve upon it, and let
them run unbacked altogether. Don't
look astonished ; as a fellow must give
up betting some day, and I prefer doing
it before 1 am quite smashed."
You. I thought you were always on
winners."
" No doubt I have had better luck
than the majority of backers, but that
does not make a pennyworth of differ
ence. A man always increases his ex
penditure when ho wins, but he never
reduces it again in proportion when ho
loses. Upon my word, though it sounds
CDntradictory, I am certain that it pays
butter to lose steadily from the first, than
to start successfully, even if you win on
the average."
" There is a good deal of truth in
what you say, Tom," replied Fassil :
" but how on earth did you ever come to
difcover it V
" Well, William, the fact is I want
to marry your sister Ju. There, the
murder's out !"
Fassil, who was forging ahead at the
vte of four miles and a half to the
hour, stopped so abruptly that his hat
shot over his forehead. " What !" he ex
claimed, t
Tom continuod bashfully. " I dare
say it sounds queer to you, who know
more about me than most other fellows
do, and a terrible deal more than Ju.
dons. It is true I am not worthy of
her ; but there would bs precious few
marriages if if men were expected to
b j as good as girls are."
" It is not that," said Fassil j "but the
idea of your marrying AndJu.!" And
picking up his hat, he walked on co
gitating. " I havo sold my hunter aud my hack ;
I have paid all my debts; I have given
up my chambers, and taken quiet lodg
ing at Sydenham, where some of my
people live ; and I have looked into my
affairs boldly b jfore mentioning the mat
ter," said Tom.
" Then you and Ju. are not actually
engaged 't"
" Not precisely j but it is all right if I
can manage to board, lodge, and clothe
her. That is the worst of it ; I find
that I have been living, like a fool, on
my capital, and have only five thousand
pounds left. I must do something ; and
the question is, what aro I fit for '( I
doubt whether I should make n trncn
par on j besides, I left the university
wuhout taking a degree. It is too late
o start educating one's self for a law
yer or doctor at thirty. Do you think
1 could get a secretaryship ' As for
couipetitivu examinations I never knew
but little, and havo forgotten that little
long ago.
" My dear Tom," said Fassil gravely.
" we have always been friends, and I do
not know any man I would sooner havo
tor a brother-in-law ; but wo must look
the thing squarely in the face. Ju. has
nothing ; she is entirely dependent
upon me, and I live up to my small in
come ; so that she will be able to bring
you notning to holp. '
" I knew that, old fellow."
" Well, then, it is absolutely nccoes-
sary that you should, as you say, have
some other source of income than the
interest upon live thousand pounds. It
is true that J u. is an excellent manager,
itnd makes niy salary go a uiarveloiiB
way; but then, think what your habits
have been I
CIIAI-TER II. A rr.ODIOIOUS ACORX.
If you suppose that by draining a
country you can get rid ot Wul-o -the-wisps,
you had bettor answer those ad
vertisements in the 2'imcs which are ad
dressed to gentlemen with small capital
at their own disposal, and you will
be speedily undeceived. One of these
misguiding imps proposed that Tom
Chatteris should devote his life to poti
chomanie ; another, that he should be
come a manufacturer and retail vender
of ginger-beer ; while others, less harm
less, sought to transfer his remaining
cpital iDto their own pockets, on pre
texts so transparently fraudulent, that
Tom, with all his natural tnsto for
speculation and sanguine belief in "good
things," saw through them at once.
He likewise tried for vacant secretary
ships of Beveral public companies, but
found that the directors gave those posts
to their own nominees, and only adver
tised for the sake of appearances, lest
the shareholders should suspect them of
jobbery.
By the cud of a couple of months he
was heartily sick of bootless correspon
dence, and bothering his friends for
testimonials to no purpose ; and started
off one day alone, to walk away a fit of
the bluts, eschewing the high roadj, and
following rural footpaths. One of these
brought him into ft wood on the crest
of sonio uudulated ground ; and a3 it
was now the last week in October, the
foliage was very finely tinted ; for the
year is like a dolphin itsbrightest colors
cjino out when it is dying.
Tom Chatteris was always affected
pleasantly by beauty in any form, and
tho scene cheered him up, and inclined
him to tako a more sanguine view of
life than he had started with.
"After all, how jollily we might live
iu an Australian or American clearing !
I wouder if Ju. would consent. She
might not like the idea ; but I um cer
tain the would enjoy herself when she
got used to it. She would ha giving up
nothing, except her grandmother, and
William will look after ber. What is the
best I enn expect iu England ' To sit
ut a desk all day, and never cross a horse
again ; while as a squatter, my life would
be perpetually in tue saddle. By Jove .'
I will go over to-morrow and put it to
her."
A rash vow which was never to bo
kept. But the making of it did Tom
good, for it represented a feasible,
practical plan. All was uncertain and
surrounded with difficulty at home ;
but if Ju. would consent to colonial
roughing it, their future was clear, dis
tinct, simple. So he cheered up, like the
lost traveller who couies upon a land
mark ; and, instead of hurrying on at
the pace he had started at, he began to
pause where the gaps in the wood af
forded him glimpses of the fertile coun
try spreading for miles beyond.
A splendid oak, some three hundred
yards oil', seen at the end of tho ride,
attracted his particular attention it
was so lofty, so wide-spreading, aud its
leaves were so much thicker than those
on most trees of the same species round
about. Tom was sadly materialistic,
even in his most romantic vein ; and as
the day was warm for tho time of year,
it immediately occurred to him that it
would bo pleasant to smoke a pipe un
der that oak, and meditate upon his new
emigration scheme. But he had hardly
gone far enough from home to sit down
and rest yet ; would it not bo better to
continue his walk? Curiosity decided
this question; for while he was looking
toward the tree, he fancied that one of
its lower boughs shook ; and as there
was not a breath of wind stirring, he
wondered what was the cause, and went
toward it to ascertain.
The motion was not repeated ; per
haps it had been only fancy. But stay
what was that dark object dimly show
ing through tho leaves ' A queer growth
of wood surely. Tom sauntered quietly
up to w ith twenty paces of the oak ;
aud then suddenly sprang into a run,
for the object took a human form ; and
presently he found himself immediately
under the body of a man, who was
hauging by the neck from a rope attach
ed to a bough, which spread convenient
ly above.
By raising his baud, Tom could have
touched the peudent booti, which were
in good repair, and well blacked. Tho
rest of the clothes were respectable,
though running to seed ; and a chimney
pot hat, which lay on the ground, was a
gentlemanly hat. But Tom did not
want to touch the boots, for to pull
the legs of a hanging niau is not the
best way to resuscitate him. Neither did
he spend time iu examining his apparel ;
the little matters I have mentioned were
apparent at a glance. Ou the contrary,
he swarmed up the tree, which was hap
pily eaBy to climb, and lay out on the
bough with the readiness of a sailor.
In tho early and sanguine dayj of his
secretaryship-hunting, Tom had provid
ed himself with a penknife of a super
fine quality, with which to operate on
goosequills he had expected to wear
down by the bundle, and with this he
now proceeded to cut away at the rope.
The blade, though unused and very
sharp, wag exceedingly small ; the rope,
now, and hiri and thick. It was u
terribly long operation, mill seemed ft
hundred times longer than it wad. For
tunately, the weight at tho other end
helped tho incision by stretching tho
gap, and when n strand was half cut
through, it tore the rest of it.
As Tom lay there on his stomach, with
his left arm nround the bough, his right
arm sawing and hacking, his head and
shoulders leaning over, he noticed a de
cided kick in one of his legs, and a
motion in one of the arms of the hangee
which could not be due to the swaying
motion given to him by the operation
going on overhead ; and the sight gave
frantic energy to the cutting. When
tho rope was three parts severod, tho
rest tore out, and the body fell lumpily
to the ground, the feet striking lirst, so
that it remained erect whilo you could
count two, and then tumbled over with
a dead thug.
Tom dropped down beside it in a mo
ment, and proceeded to looso the slip
not from about tho neck. There was an
ugly deep red mark, showing the pat
tern ot the rope, all round, and the face
was not pleasant to look upon. The
starting eyes, tho protruding tongue,
were calculated to reappear in dreams
whenever the digestive organs wero out
of order for years.
When Tom had turned tho body on
its back, and raised tho head a little, he
wondered what to do next, but chafed
tho hands and the chest, while ho pon
dered ; and ns he was thus occupied, he
had the satisfaction of seeing tho chok
ing look disappear. Whether, indeed,
this was a sign of death or recovery," he
could not tell, but it made tho face very
much less unpleasant to behold.
He had never in all his life felt a
greater sense of relief than he did now
on hearing the sound of wheels. Run
ning in the direction, he came, after
sixty yards, to a lane, masked by under
wood ; in the l.me was a dog cart, just
passed.
" ni I dog-cart, nhoy ! stop !" he
cried, and it stopped. The dog-cart con
tained a neat gentleman in a frock-coat
and spectacles, who drove, and a smart,
adolescent groom, who folded his arms.
" Is it Mrs. Bunny thrope V" asked the
gentleman, as Tom ran up breathless.
" No ; it's a f dlow I've cut down. Are
you a medical man '("
"Yes."
" What luck ! Came along ; I think
he is alive."
The groom took the lines ; the doctor
accompanied Tom to the body under the
oak.
" Is ho alive '(" OElicd Tom.
" O yes ; his heart is beating. But ho
must be properly attended to us quickly
as possible."
'ihey carried him to the dog-cart easily
enough, but it was another matter to
haul him up ; however, it was managed.
" Where am 1 to dtivo '" asked the
doctor ; and Tom, who had the one vir
tue of promptness, named his own lodg
ings, regardless of consequences.
CHAPTER III A TLUNQE IX A XEW DI
RECTION. The spot whero Tom Chatteris had
temporarily located himself was not 60
thickly built over then as it is now, and
they got homo pretty quietly ; but the
few peoplo who did boo them showed
interest. In front, the doctor, driving
fast, and tho groom, kneeling; on the
seat ; behind, Tom and a Body, which,
with tho assistance ot tho groom, he was
preventing from rolling cfl' into the
roid.
When they arrived, the landlady be-,
camo hysterical ; but Tom, ignoring
her, had his churge carried up into his
own room, laid on his own bed, and
there properly treated.
1 int, the patient recovered, and then
he went to sleep. Sterne tells us that
we water a ilower because we have
planted it; imagine, then, tho interest
felt by Tom in this individual (declared
by the tail of his shirt to be S. P. Col
lins), for whoso take he had ruined a
penknife, slept on tho sofa, and possibly
incurred a doctor's bill.
"Isuppose I ought to thank your"'
said 8. P. Collins.
" Wi ll, perhaps it would be tho cor
rect thing to do," replied Tom, foj, buy
ing prepared himself to check an over
powering bur-t of gratitude, he was
taken bback.
"Exactly," continued tho unhanged
one; "and yet you might give a man
credit for knowing his own mind. You
dou't suppose I placed myself in the
position iu which you found me for the
Biiko of testing your agility, or intruding
on your hospitality, do you '( However,
you meant well. But when I think
that 1 had got over that lirst horrible
choky feeling, and had floated into deli
cious insensibility; and that now I
have got to go through it all ugain
I wonder if laudannm is better !"
"Well, you ore a cool hand!'1 ciied
Tom.
" Why '(" replied Collins. " You have
stopped my making a certain journey
by one route, I must try another."
" Don't talk such infamous nonsense.
Oco may commit a crime in a moment
of impulse, and bo deserving, perhaps,
cf more pity than blame; but to uiedi
tale on it beforehand is unpardonable.
Oh, I don't want to split hairs, and
listen to casuistry; if people were ut
terly selfish, and believed in nothing,
and killed themselves directly life
was a bore, the world could not go on.
You owe mo nothing for preserving
your life, but you do owe me a lot for
saving you from a crime.
" Ah ! it is very well for you to talk,
young man ; but you do not know what
hope deferred is; to bee Fortune just
within your grasp, and never be able to
seize her ; to be neglected, laughed at,
when you hwio you have reason on your
Bide."
Tom, who had set his heart on effect
ing a cure, encouraged him to talk. The
man was an inventor, who had the bad
luck of his tribe one of his discoveries
had been discovered already by some
body else ; others had made the fortunes
of those to whom bo had intrusted the
working of them, while he himself had
received a mere pittance. Ho, at last,
when he had perfected a machine which
would save manufacturers of a certaiu
description full ten per cent, on their
outlay, he determined to work the patent
himself. As he was a poor man, how
ever, ho had to start on borrowed capi
tal ; and just as he was on the point of
success, the lender of the money came
down upon him J either mistrusting the
speculation, or anxious to secure tho
profits for himself. There was no help
for it ; tho bills wero duo, the debtor
had not got the money to meet thorn
with, and the creditor refused to renew.
The poor mechanician felt as if late
wero against him, and in tho poignancy
of his despair, determined to put an end
to himBelf.
" Well," said Tom, in a fever, but how
much are these bills for that are out
against you ?"
" With interest, fifteen hundred
pounds."
" That would set you quit ) free ':"
" Quite."
" And how much more would start
yonr invention fairly, so that it might
begin to pay ';"
" If I had another thousand, (success
would be certain."
" Well, look here," cried the imprudent
Tom ; " I have only got five thousand
pounds iu tho world, so do not hurt mo
without getting any good yourself.
But if, on going over tho matter care
fully, there really seems n good prospect
of making the thing pay for an expendi
ture of two tliousand.five hundred, we
will get into partnership."
. It was a wonderful thing to see how
the light of hopo and triumph flashed
upon Collins's face as ho heard these
words.
" Como, come to my lodgings," said
he, " and I will satisfy you. Oh, I can
bear the journey to Loudon well enough,
never fear."
Tom Chatteris knew nothing whatever
about mechanical contrivances, but he
had a certaiti amount of general intelli
gence ; and Collins's explanation of his
model was so lucid that it becauio evi
dent enough that, supposing ho was
right about the present Btatu of that
description of machinery, he had im
proved upon it very considerably. He
supported his views of the case by let
ters from well known firms consenting
to give his patent a trial, and authoriz
ing him to send them the novelty when
ready ; and he also had account books
and other memoranda showing tho state
of forwardness in which his little manu
factory was when silenced for want of
the sinews of trade.
In short, a good deal lees would have
sufficed to determine Tom, whose impul
sive and speculative nature had caught
fire nt tho other's enthusiasm. Neck or
nothing, he went heart and soul into
the affair, sold out threa thousand
pounds, took up tho bills, and provided
Collins with the means of completing
his orders as soon as possible.
He was a little damped on Sunday,
when ho went to tho Fassils. Ju., in
de.od, was pleased enough to learn that
he had at last heard of ' something ;' but
whin he was off with her brother for
tho hebdomadal walk, he got rarely
croaked at.
"O Tom, Tom," said William Fassil,
" I would not have believed Buch a green
trick possible ! To cut down a madman
who hango himself, is all very well, but
to go into partnership with him after
wards !"
" Of course, it Bounds queer, if you
put it in that epigrammatic way," said
Tom ; ' but I believe it is a real good
thing for all that."
" Well," said Fassil, " you certainly
always were the most wonderful fellow
to fall ou your legs I ever did know ;
that is one comfort."
CHAPTER IV. SAFE VV TO THE SURFACE.
I am so sorry to bs unable to say, or
even hint, what Mr. Collins's invention
was, or to what branch of industry it
applied. If I were to do so, very many
people might name names, and Mr. S.
f. uollins would not like hu real one
divulged iu connection with that suici
dal episode. He olten confesses, indeed,
that at one period of his life he was, for
a short time, in a terrible state of sus
pense ; but he does not intend to be
taken literally. You must, therefore,
take Tom Chatteris's marvellous piece of
luck on trust, and without verification ;
for the success of the Bcheme in which
he had embarked with a gambler's des
peration was never in doubt from the
day thut Collins completed his first
order ; and Tom embarked the rest of
his capital and all his time iu the affair.
At the end of a twelvemonth, he was
in a position to marry Ju. Fassil, who
likes the north, where they live, and is
gradually developing a fine pity, which
is nearer akin to scorn than love, for all
people who are not rich. But she is
very charming in her own set, and an
angel at home.
Tom chuckles inwardly to notice her
unwitting adoption of the pursy hauteur,
but refrains from quizzing her, for that
particular manner pays in their neigh
borhood. A goose who kept her head
down in a flock where all tho long necks
were erect, would run tho chance of be
ing stifled.
As for Tom himself, he has developed
into a capital man of business, so far as
action aud energy are concerned ; though,
of courso, if his partner died, tho best
thing he could do would be to take to
farming, or some congonial pursuit ot
that kind. He hunts twice a week,
keeps a good table, believes in his wife
to any extent, plays at no game but
whist, and never exceeds half-crown
points.
He patronizes the local races, but re
mains in his carriage, and does not go
near the ring. He gives no very high
moral reason for this prudeut conduct.
" Well, the fact is," says he, " it does
not do to tempt Fate ; and I have had
such a tremendous windfall, that I have
niobt probably exhausted all the luck
due to me during the whole of my nat
ural life."
The grasshopper haying become some
thing too much of a burden in Utah, the
ingenious Mormons have contrived a
machine to make it hot for him. It is
drawn by two horses, outs a swath
through the 'hoppers rod wide, and
makes bash of all that lie in its way.
Industry of our Rich Men.
Tho New York correspondent of the
Troy Timet writes :
Having referred to industry os tho
chief necessity to sweeten existence, let
me add something upon tho laborious
habits of our leading business men.
Many young men look forward to the
time when they shall bo released from
labor, and they havo a notion that the
rich men of this city lead what is called
an " ea.y life." This idea is very erron
eous. Our successful men not only have
been, but continue to be, hard workers.
It is true there are persons who have in
herited wealth, and thereforo yield them
selves to indolence and dissipation, but
their experiences quickly prove the truth
of the old saying, that the fool and his
money are soon parted. Our rich busi
ness man work because habit has become
second nature, aud they would be miser
able if they wero idle. We have no rich
drone?, for a drone would never become
rich. Lot us look at the industry of a
few of onr self-made men. Hero iu
MOSES TAYLOR,
who is about threo score and ten, and is
estimated at five millions. Surely such
a man, one might say, ought torcBt. So
far from this, however, ho is almost as
busy as over. Ho was noted as an activo
and far-sighted merchant, and ever since
ho retired from trade, ho has found
enough to do in tho vast field of finance.
Mr. Taylor is President of tho City Bank,
which is one of the heaviest of our Wall
street institutions. Ho would be ex
tremely miserable if he did not visit that
bank every day, and spend an hour in
overlooking its operations in n manner
which some men would call laborious.
After this is done, one may meet in the
Wall street crowd that form, lithe and
erect, and that penetrating countenance,
which seems as much ou the alert as
when he was a poor cltrk. Four o'clock
fiud.j him at his home, with a racked
brain and a weary body, but a fino din
ner restores his tone, and after an hour
of social small talk and a drive to the
park, he retires to his private- cfiice aud
enters into a deep aud vexatious calcu
lation which continues until" bedtime.
Do you inquire what it can bo which
thus drives a rich man so intensely ' I
reply, ho has ft large number of vacant
lots which should be covered with Iioudcs,
and the architects' plans and the build
ers' contracts aro to be examined. He
has shares in bmks, in gas companies
and in other slocks, nil of which must
be looked after. And if he does not
finish his work us rapidly as each day
brings it before him, it would soon ac
cumulate in a very burdensome manner.
Such, then, is the life of a five million
man.
THE COMMODORE.
Ha has worked hard for mere than
sixty years. Of late ho has abated the
intensity cf his implication, but still
labors from fivo to six hours a. day iu a
very close manner. lie has just com
pleted the greatent railway depot for
travellers in this city, and this is a mate
to tho great freight depot in St. John's
Park. Tho Commodore muni work to
Bavo liiniBelf from sheer misery. Idleness
would be to him the greatest of misfor
tunes. Ho is also determined that his
children hhall be working men. Tho
largest part of his property will come
into their hands, aud he knows that it is
only industrious habits that can keep
them in its possession. To tuch a man
as the Commodore tho idea of retirement
is repulsive Activity is his life, and
businesi is an elysium. Eich day brings
its excitements, either of loss or of gain,
and at its close be feels tho pleasure re
sulting from exercise of the faculties both
of body and mind.
STEWART.
It is well known that this man is a
marvel of indiiBtry. Liko Vauderbilt,
he is about seventy-five, but he looks
much younger thun tho former. Van
derbilt may have felt the impelling con
Bciousness of a family to sharpen his ap
plication, but Stewart has " neither chick
uor child." Ho works iu simple obedi
ence to his nature, which demands it.
Stewart and Vandeibilt aro the great
exponents of two departments of busi
ness, the one being u merchant pfince
aud the other a railway king. 1 Uo not
know that they havo ever met, and tho
greatness of this city is shown by con
taining two such men without collision
of interests. It is the opinion of good
judges of character, that if Stewart had
beeu brtd to military lii'o he would have
been the greatest general of the ago.
What would not havo beeu accomplished
by such method and such industry':'
Having reached old iige, and with a
property estimated ut from thirty to fifty
millions, he must still do his day's work.
Glass as a Xon-l'cuductor of Heat.
Glass, says the Journal of the I'degraph,
is practically a non-conductor of heat as
well as of electricity. A practical ex
ample of the latter may have been seen
iu the use of glass as an insulator, a non
conductor, for telegraphic purposes. It
is difficult to draw the lino of non-conduction,
but tiad conductors of heat are
practically assumed as non-conductors.
The question of conduction is purely one
of degree. Let two rods of equal siza
and length but one of copper and the
other of glass be brought together, and
have at their extremities a small weight
or marble attached by wax. Apply a
spirit-lamp to tho ends, touching each
other so that the heat b3 equally ap
plied ; in the case of the copper, owing
to its being a good conductor, the wax
will rapidly melt aud let the weight
drop ; while in the case of the glass, ow
ing to its being a very bad conductor, a
very long time must elapso before Buch
result can happen.
Some queer developments are being
made in the case of the convicted Han
Francisco murderess. The labors of her
physicians and lawyers in attemptiag to
save her, she has already paid twenty
thousand dollars for, aud she is now
sued by the physician for two thousand
dollais more. A woman standing on the
edge of a felon's grave, with a suit for
debt being urged against her, is a condi
tion of affairs that embraces a painful
contrast.
The Devil's Elhuw Snnke. .
A gentloman who has been stopping
in our midst for some timo, gives au ac
count of one of tho moit terrible scenes
over recorded in tho annals of this coun
try. Whilo steaining up tho placid
waters cf tho Ocklawaha river ho wit
nessed a conflict which mado his hair
stand on end, never to be forgotten. Af
ter rounding Sickult's Point tho stream
widens and deepens, and tho water o&
this bend always looks troublod and
black.
Suddenly the steamer encountered a
sea of alligators, floundering and splash
ing in every direction. Their bellow
ing shook the foundation of the waters.
The captain says that he never heard or
witnessed such a scene before, and never
wishes to again. Before the speod of
the little steamer could be checked they
found themselves in the midst of these
terrible monsters. To back or go ahead
was impossible
Tho passengers endeavored to drive
them away by shooting, and the hands
on board bent them with hand-spikes,
yet they seemed more determined to
obstruct tho passage of the boat. The
situation every moment became critical,
and the crew aud passengers more alid
mora exhausted, and the destruction of
the boat s.-emed inevitable. Already
threo colored hands had been devoured
by these terrible monsters Bnd several
others wounded. Several planks wero
torn from the hull, and tho steamer was
with difficulty kept from sinking. Just
at this period a source of relief came. A
huge serpent appeared, making his way
from the lakes the same, it is supposed,
that wa3 seen at " Davil's Elbow " last
fall.
The alligators soon disappeared, fol
lowing tho sea devil, or whatever you
may call him, and tuch lighting never
was witnessed. At a point below, whero
the river suddenly narrows, it soon be
came blocked with dead alligators, and
the water was red with blood. It is
difficult to account for tho number and
sudden appearance of theso animals, but
the latest theory may throw boioo light
ivpon the subject. It is believed by
many that there is a large subterranean
passage of water between tho head vaters
of the Oehlawaha, and tho wuter3 of the
Okeechobee lake, and that these monsters
have found their way here in grout num
bers, and if not soon exterminated will
obstruct the navigation of the Oehla
waha 1'ilatlu Flu.) Herald.
About Words.
It has been calculated that our lan
guage, including tho nomenclature of tho
arts and scienci s.con tains 100,000 words ;
yet, of this immense number, it is sur
prising how few are in common use. To
the groat majority, even of educated
men, three-fourths of these words are al
most as unfamiliar as Greek or Choc
taw. Strike from tho lexicon all tho
words nearly obsolete all the words of
special arts or professions all the words
confined iu their usago to particular lo
calities all the words which evon tha
educited speaker uses only in homeo
pathic doseE and it is astonishing into
what a Lilliputian volume your Brob
dingnaian Webster or Worcester will
have shrunk. It has been calculated
that a child uses only about one hun
dred wcrds ; and unless ho belongs to
tho educated classes, he will never em
ploy more than three or four hundred.
A distinguished American scholar esti
mates that few speakers or writers use
as many as ten thousand words ; ordin
ary persons, of fair intelligence, not over
three or four thousand. Even the great
orator who is able to briug into tho
field, in the war of words, half the vast
array of light and heavy troops which
the vocabulary affords, yet contents
himself with a far less imposing dssplay
of verbal force. Even the all-knowing
Milton, whoso wealth of words seems
amazing, and whom Dr. Johnson charges
with using " a Babylonish dialect," uses
only 8,000 ; and Shakespeare himself,
"the myriad-minded," only 16,000.
These facts show that the difficulty of
mastering the vocabulary of a new
tongue is greatly overrated ; nnd they
show, too, how absurd is the boast of
every new dictionary-maker that his vo
cabulary contains so luany thousand
words more than those of hid predecess
ors. TUe Lakeside Monthly.
Xulloiiiil Customs.
The traveller who lands at Calais from
Dover, and stops there over night, is put
into a bed having a hard rouud bolster,
surmounted by a huge tquare pillow,
very different from anything of the sort
he has before seen, but which ho is des
tined to find perhaps to his great dis
comfort wherever he goes iu France.
Here is a French fashion. The traveller
who enters Switzerland it matters not
where has honey placed before him the
first time he breakfasts or takes his tea.
He has not been treated to honey before
in any adjacent country iu which he hag
travelled, not, at least, uutil he has spe
cially ordered it ; but now it is placed
before him whether he cares for it or
not, and it continues to appear, both at
breakfast and tea, so long as ho contin
ues his sojouruiugs in Switzerland.
Here is a Swiss custom. One who crosses
from France to Germany exchanges cus
toms in regard to the time of clay for
taking dinner and the time of nisrht for
retiring to rest. The Frenchman eats
but little in the morning or through the
middle of the day, reserving his dinner
until the close of the day. The German
dines at midday. So much is this his
practice, the very word for dinner sig
nifies "mia-day's meal." And even
fashionable Germany goes to its even
ing's entertainment atOJ o'clock, v. M.,
and is at home and in tied before thu
night has barely begun in London or
Paris. Here are German habits. The
more one travels, the more, of course, he
ooserves ot these national peculiarities.
He finds them existing not merely in
such outward matters as those iust indi.
cated, but in every department of life.
So numerous, so deeply rooted, so widely
prevailing are those peculiarities as to
tLamp menaceaDiy tne national charac
ter. Correejiondent AVw York Etangelint.
JIISCELLASEOUS lTEEf,
Tho books in the library belonging to
the British Museum occupy twelve miles
of shelving.
The house of the Rothschilds will cel-
ebrato its centennial this year, having
b::en lounded in 1 u 1.
A North Carolina fishing party had
an hour's fight with a large bald eagle
and were nearly whipped.
The total amount of currency lost r
worn out while in circulation will ex
ceed $6,500,000, or 1 j per cent, of the
whole issue.
A physician asking a renewal of a
note, gave as a reason : " We are iu u
horrible crisis ; there is not a sick man
in the district."
The pigeon-killing industry is bo thriv
ing in Wisconsin that from 10,000 to 30,
0UO birds are daily forwarded on tho
midnight trains East.
The palm, palmetto, India rubber.
magnolia, and North Carolina pine, are
among tho ornamental and shade trees
of Los Angelos, California.
They have at Wells, Minnesota, a
cheese factory which is claimed to be tho
largest m tho United States, and is ot
course " three thousand cow power."
Thoso owning trout ponds should keep
ducks away from them. One able-bodied
duck will kill and eat ten trout a
day, and an ordinary flock will clean
out n pond in a year or bo.
A Providence merchant s . ves hie um
brellas by cutting a Biuall pi oe out of
the handle, which he carries in his pock
etbook, ready to prove property at any
time.
At Victoria West, in Cape Colony, Af
rica, by a rain spout, about one hundred
persons were killed and thirty buildings
wero swept away m a low hours i'obrn
ary 17. ,
An Iowa merchant groundlesjly ac
cused a respectable lady of stealing u
pair ol shoes. Her IiusDind. sued hint
lor slander, and seized his stock and
store under attachment.
To removo ink epotj, put thu article
sttined over a warm flat-iron, slrotch it
well, then squeeze a tew drops ot lemon
juice on it, aud the spot will disappear
at once. Wash immediately in cold wa
ter.
A couple out in Portland, Oregon,
who found themselves divorced lately
through the machinations of the wifit's
mother, did the best thing possible un
der tho circumstances promptly got
mm l ied again.
A curious fact, which throws a great
deal of light on the character of Louiu
Napoleon, is that he never opened the
highly important reports which his con
fidential military agent nt iljrlin, Uol.
StollVl, sunt him from 180G to 1800, and
in which that keen-sighted observer pre
dicted all tho calamities which befell the
imperial armies iu 1870. These reports
were found in the private cabinet of the
emperor at the Tuileries with the seals
unbroken.
Tho Indianapolis Journal asserts that
Indiana has within her limits a field of
coal which for extent and value is un
equalled in the world. So extensivo is
the coal field of Indiana that thousands
of acres of land, containing tho best
quality of block coal, and convenient to
the railroad, can be purchased at rates
very little higher thau the ordinary pri ces
of agricultural lauds iu the same vi -
cinity.
The Indians of Peru have a tradition
of an immense treasure buried in that
country. They say that Atahualpa's
great roservoir of gold, a temple with
rooms full of tho metal, never was seized
by tho Spaniards ; that it exists still, and
that the secret of its existence is kept by
a family or tribe of Indians who relig
iously guard the treasure for the day
when the heir of the Incas shall resume
bis ancient throne.
Another instance of the purchase nd
s.ilo of a wife has been revealed in Eng
land. The woman, who applied to tho
stipendiary magistrate lor a relief, said
that the purchaser, who had recently
deserted her, bought her of her husband
twenty-five years ago, ratifying the
transaction by standing in thut gentle
man's shoes for a few moments.
Two young men of Ypsilanti, Michi
gan, met at tho house of a young lady,
to whom both had been attentive. To
settle tho matter she dismissed one suit
or. He, with a very unbecoming and
dog-iu-the-maugcr spirit, threw the fa
vored one out of the house aud chased
him down the street, shooting at hiut
with great frequency till he was arrest
ed. It is announced on excellent authori
ty that more thau half a million pounds
of willow leaf wero made up at Shang
hai last season, and palmed off as green
tea. The willow leaf as prepared can
not be distinguished from green tea by
tho eye ; but to cover the difference in
taste, it has to be mixed with tea before
baing sold. It can be produced at a cost
of about four cents a pound, and can bu
used in the proportion of twenty to for
ty per cent, of the whole mixture so
that it is easily soen what profit the
" little game " can be inude to represent
to the seller.
A new btyle of brogan shoes has beeu
produced, made principally of elm wood,
in Massachusetts. The sole is divided
at the ball of the foot and reunited by a
hinge of solo leather of suitable thick
ness, two inches wide, so as to give free
play to the toes. A portion of the up
pers is made of leather, but they uro
toed and heeled with wood. They are,
however, shaped in the modern style,
and not like the sabot of France, which
is all wood, and turned up at the toe,
" Heathen Chineo " style. In the fast
enings copper rivets are made use of,
and all the parts where the wood and,
leather unite are packed with india-rub
ber. These shoes will cost less thau a
dollar per pair, and are a modification
of the European wooden shoe ; but it is
doubtful whether they will be found a
good as the English clog, which is one
of the most comfortable of foot cover
ings when properly made, when the.
ground is covered with snow or mud.