J I
HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor asd Publisher,
ELK COUNTY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
Two Dollars ter Annum.
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1871.
NO. 26
' ' . 'l . . V '..
A GREVFOKT LEGEND, (l97.)
Tliey ran through the streets of tbe senport
town,
They peered from the dec ks of the ships where
they lny.
The cold sen-log that came whitening down
Was never ns cold or white as they.
"Ho, Stnrhuck and Flnckncy nnd Tcntci dun I
Run for your shallops, gather your men,
Scatter your boats ou the lower hay."
Good cause for fear 1 In the thick midday
The hulk that lay lv the rotting pier,
Filled with the children in happy play.
Parted Us moorings nnd drilled clear.
Drilled clear beyond reach or call
Thirteen children there were In all
All adrift in the lower bay I
Said a hard-fated skipper, " God help ns all I
Blie will not float till the turning tide 1"
Said his wife, " My darling will hear my call,
Whether In sea or heaven she bide 1"
And sho lilted a quavering voice nnd high, 1
Wild and strange as a sea-bird's cry,
Till they shuddered and wondered nt her
side.
The fog drove down on each laboring crew,
Veiled each from each nnd the sky nud shore.
There was not n sound but the breath thev
drew, ,
And the lap of water nnd creak of oar ;
And they felt the breath of the downs, fresh
blown
O'er leagues of clover and cold gray stone,
Hut not from the lips that had gone before.
They come no more. But they tell the tnle
That, when fogs nro thick on the harbor reef,
The mackerel tishers shorten snil,
For the signal they know will bring relief,
For the voico ol children, still at play
In a phantom bulk that drifts away
Through channels whose waters never
fail.
It is but a foolish sulpumn'S talc,
A theme for a poet's idle page,
Hut still whon the mists of doubt prevail,
And we Ho becalmed by the shores of Age,
Wo hear from tho misty troubled shore
The voice ol tho children gone before,
Drawing the soul to its anchorage.
Bret llarta, in the Atlantic Monthly.
JOHN HARLOW'S CHOICE.
A DOMESTIC SKETCH.
There whs u voung lawyer by the
name of John Harlow, in New York.
He told Lis partner that he wanted to
go homo for a week. He said he wanted
to see his father and the boys, and his
sister, but that he especially wanted to
ride old Bob to the brook once more,
and to milk Cherry again, just to see
how it felt to be a farmer's boy.
" John," said the old lawyer, " be sure
you fix up a match with some of those
country girls ; no man is fit for any
thing till he is well married, and you
are now able, with economy, to support
a wife. Mind you get one of those
country girls. The paste and powder
people here aren't fit for a young man
who wants a woman."
The next morning John had a letter
from his sister. Fart of it ran thus :
' I've concluded, old fellow, that if
you don't marry you'll dry up and turn
to parchment. I'm going to bring home
with me the smartest girl I know. Of
course she don't know what I'm up to,
but you must prepare to capitulate."
In the old home they were looking
for the son. The family proper consist
ed of the father, good Deacon Harlow,
John's two brothers, ten and twelve
years old, and Huldah, the " help."
This last was the daughter of a neigh
boring farmer who was a poor and help
less rheumatic, and most of the daughter's
hard earnings went to eke out the scanty
subsistence at home. Aunt Judith, the
sister of John's mother, " looked after "
the household affairs of her brother-in-law,
by coming over once a week and
helping Huldah darn and mend and
niako, and by giving Huldah Buch advice
as her inexperience was supposed tore
quire. But now Deacon Harlow's
daughter had left her husband to eat
his turkey alone in Boston, and had
brought her two children home to re
ceive the paternal blessing. Not that
Mrs. Amanda Holmes had the paternal
blessing chiefly in view in her trip. She
had brought with her a very dear friend,
Miss Janet Dun ton, the accomplished
teacher in the Mt. Parnassus Female
Seminary. Why Miss Janet Dunton
came to tbe country with her friend she
could hardly have told. Not a word
had Mrs. Holmes spoken to her on the
subject of matrimonial schemes. She
would have resented any illusion to such
a subject. She would have repelled any
insinuation that she bad ever dreamed
that marriage was desirable under any
conceivable circumstances. She often
declared, accidentally, that she was
wedded to her books, and loved her
leisure, and was determined to be an
old maid. And all tbe time this sincere
Christian girl was dying to confer her
self upon some worthy man of congenial
tastes; which meant, in her case, just
what it did in John Harlow's some one
who could admire her attainments.
Mrs. Holmes and her friend had ar
rived twenty-four hours ahead of John,
and the daughter of the house had al
ready installed herself as temporary mis
tress Dy thoughtlessly upsetting, revers
ing, and turning inside out all the good
Huldah's most cherished arrangements.
All the plans for the annual festival that
wise and practical Huldah had enter
tained were vetoed, without a thought
that this young girl had been for a year
and a half in actual authority in the
house, and might have some feeling of
wrong in having a guest of a week over
turn her plans for the next month. But
Mrs. Holmes was not one of the kind to
fcuiun oi mat. iiuiaan was Hired an.l
paid, and she never dreamed that hired
people could have any interest in their
work or their home other than their pay
and their food. But Huldah was pa
tient, though she confessed that she had
a feeling that she had been rudely
" trampled all over." I suspet she had
a good cry at the end of the first day. I
cannot affirm it, except from a general
knowledge of women. . ,
iJn drove up in the buggy
that the boys had taken to the depot for
u hl? fir8t care was to shake hands
with the deacon, who was glad to see
him, but could not forbear expressing a
hope that he would "shave that hair
off his upper Hp." Then John greeted
his sister cordially, nnd was presented to
Miss JJnnton. Instead ot sitting down,
be pushed rip.ht on into the kitchen
where Huldah, in a calico frock and
clean white apron, was baking biscuit
for teo. She had been a schoolmate of
his, and he took her hand' cordially as
she stood thero, with tho bright western
sun half-glorifying her head and face.
" Why, Huldah, how you've grown !"
was his nrst word of greeting, lie mean1
more than he saiJ, for though she was
not handsome, she had grown exceeding
ly comely as she developed into a woman,
' Undignified as ever 1" said Amanda,
as she returned to the sittintr-room
The next day the ladies could get no
geou out or, Joan iiariow. lie got up
early and milked the oow. Ha cut wood
and carried it in for Huldah. Ha rode
old Bob to the brook for water.. He
did everything that ho had been accus
toinea to ao when a boy, finding as
much pleasure in forgetting that he was
a man, as he had once found in hoping
to be a man. The two boys enjoyed his
society greatly, and his lather was de-
lighted lo seejthat he had retained his
interest in farm life.
John was not insensible to Janet
Dunton's charms. She could talk fluently
about all the authors most in vogue,
and the effect of her fluency was really
dazzlini; to a man. John was infatu
ated with the idea of marrying a wife of
such attainments. How she would daz
zlo his friends I How the governor
would like to talk to her I How she
would shine in his purlers ! now sb
would delight peopte as she gave them
tea and talk at the same time ! John
was in love with her as he would have
been in love with a new tea-urn or
rare book. During that week he talked
and walkod and rode in tbe sleigh with
Miss Dunton, and had made up his mind
that ho would carry this brilliant prize
to New York. But, with lawyer-like
caution, he thought ho would put off
the committal as long as possible. If his
heart had been in his attentions tbe
caution would not have been worth
much. Caution is a good breakwater
against vanity ; but it isn't worth much
against the springtide of love, as John
Harlow soon found.
For toward the end of the week he be
gan to feel a warmer feeling for Miss
Janet. I do not think John wus serionsly
in love with Miss Dunton. If he had
been, he would have found some means
of communicating with her. A thousand
spies with sleepless eyes all round their
heads cannot keep a man from telling
his love somehow, if ho really has has a
love to leu.
Ho observed often during tho week
that Huldah was depressed. He could
not exactly account for it, until he no
ticed something in his sister's behavior
toward her that awakened his suspicion
as soon as opportunity ottered ne in
quired of Huldah, affecting at the sat
time to know something about it.
"I don't wont to complain of your
sister to you, Mr, Harlow."
" Phew I call me John, and as for mv
sisier, x mow ner lauits Dutter than you
do."
" Well, it's only that she told me that
Miss Dunton wasn't used to eating at
the same table with servants, and when
one of the boys told your father, he was
maa, and came to me, and said, ' Uuldah,
you must eat when the rest do. If you
stay away from the table on accourt of
these city snobs, I'll make a fuss on the
spot, bo to avoid a fus3 I have kept on
going to me table."
John was greatly vexed with this. He
was a chivalrous fellow, and he knew
how such a remark must wound a tier
sou who had never learned that domestio
service had anything degrading in it.
And the result was just the opposite of
wnat ms sister noped. John paid more
attention to Huldah Manners because
she was the victim of oppression.
But, sitting in the old " best room," in
the dark, while the ladies wore getting
ready, and trying to devise a way by
which he might get an opportunity to
speak with Miss Dunton alone, it oc
curred to him that she was at that time
in the sitting-room waiting for his sis
ter. 10 step out to where she was and
present the ca3e in a few words would
not be difficult, and it might all be set
tled Deiore ms bister came down stairs.
lhe fates were against him, however.
For just as he was about to ast upon his
thought, he heard Amanda Holmes's
abundant dresses sweeping down the
stairway. He could not help hearing
iuu uuuveiBuuuu mat xoiioweu ;
" You see, Janet, I got up this trip to
night to keep John from spending the
evening in the kitchen. He hasn't a bit
of dignity, and would spend the even
ing romping with the children and talk
ing to Huldah, if he took it into his
head."
' Well," said Janet, " one can overlook
every thing in a man of your brother's
culture. But what a queer way your
country servants have of pushing them
selves. Wouldn't I make them know
their places !"
And all this was said with the kitchen
door open, and with the intention of
wounding llulduh.
John's castles tumbled. The erudite
wife alongside the silver tea-urn faded
out of sight rapidly. If knowledge
could not give a touch of humane regard
for the feelings of a poor girl toiling du
tifully and self-denyingly to support her
family, of what account was it r"
1 wo minutes Deiore ne was auout to
give his life to Janet Dunton. , Now
there was a gulf wider than the world
between them. He s'ipped out of the
best room by the outside door and came
in through the kitchen. The neighbor's
sleigh that was to call for them wus al
ready at the door, and John begged them
to exouse him. He had set bis heart on
helping Huldah make mince-pies, as he
used to help his mother when a boy.
His sister was in despair, but she did
not say much. She told John that it
was time he was getting over his queer
freaks. And the sleieh drove off.
For an hour afterward John rnmned
with his sister's children, and told sto
ries to the boys and talked to his father.
When a man has barely escaped going
over a precipice, he does not like to
think too much about it. John did not
At lust the littlo children went to bed.
The old gentleman grew sleepy and re
tired. The boys went into the sitting
room, and went to sleep, one on the
lounge and one on the floor. Huldah
was just ready to begin her pies. '' She
was deeply hurt, but John succeeded in
making her more cheerful. He rolled up
his sleeves and went to rolling out the
pastry. He thought he had never seen
a sweeter picture than the young girl in
clean dress and Apron, with her sleeves
rolled above her elbows. There was a
statuesque perfection in her well-rounded
arms. The heat of the fire had flushed
her face a little, and she was laughing
merrily at John's awkward blunders in
pie-making. John was delighted, be
hardly knew why. In fixing a pie-orust
bis lingers touched hers, nnd be started
as it be had touched a galvamo battery,
He looked at Huldah, and saw a half-
painful expression on her flushed face,
For tbe first time it occurred to him
that Huldah Manners had excited in
him a feeling a thousand times deeper
tuaii anything be had lelt toward Janet,
who seemed to be now in another world
For the first time ho realized that ho
had been more in love "with Huldah than
with Janet all the time. Why not mar
ry her 'i And then he remembered what
the governor had said about marrying a
woman's heart and not her head.
He put on his hat and walked out
out, out, into the darkness, the drizzling
rain, and the slusn ot melting snow,
fighting a fierce battle. All his pride
and all hia cowardly vanity were ou one
side, all the irresistible torrents of his
love on the other. He walked away in
to the dark wood-pasture, trying to cool
his brow, trying to think, and (would
you tbelieve it r) trying to pray, for it
was a great struggle, and in any great
struggle a true soul always finds some
thing very like prayer in his heart.
The feeling of love may exist without
attracting the attention of its possessor,
It had never occurred to John that he
could love or marry Huldah. Thus it
had grown all tho more powerful for not
being observed, and now the unseen lire
had at a flash appeared as an all-con
suming one.
Turning back, he stood without the
window, in tho shadow, and looked
through tho glass at the trim young girl
at work with her pies. In the modest,
restful face ho read the story of a heart
that had carried great burdens patiently
and nobly. What a glorious picture
Bhe was of warmth aud light, framed in
darkness. To his heart, at that moment
all the light and warmth of tbe world
centred in Uuldah. All the world be.
tide was loneliness and darkness and
drizzle and slush. His fear of his sister
and of,his friends seemed base and cow
ardly. And the more he looked at this
vision of the night, the more ho was de
termined to possess it. You will call
him precipitate. But when all a man's
nobility is on one side and all his mean
ness on the other, why hesitate T Be
sides, John Harlow had done more think
ing in that half hour than most men do
in a month.
The vision vanished from the window
and he went in and sat down. She had.
by this time, put in the last pie, and
was sitting with her head on her hand.
The candle flickered and went out, and
there was only the weird and ruddy fire
light. I cannot tell you what words
passed between John and the surprised
Ilnldah, who had thought him already
betrothed to Miss Dunton. I could not
tell what was said in the light of that
fire ; I don't suppose Huldah could tell
that story herself.
Uuldah asked that he would not sav
anything about till his sister was gone.
Of course John saw that she asked it for
his sake. But his own cowardice was
glad of the shelter.
JN ext day a brother of John s (whom I
forgot to mention before) came home
from college. Mrs. Holmes's husband
arrived unexpectedly. Aunt Judith.
with her family, camo over at dinner
time, so that there was a large and mer
ry party. Two hearts, at least, joined
in the deacon's thanksgiving before din
ner with much fervor.
At the table the dinner was muoh ad
mired.
" Huldah," said Janet Dunton, "I like
your pies. I wish I could hire vou to
go to Boston. Our cook never does so
well."
John saw the well-aimed shaft hidden
under this compliment, and all his man
hood Tallied. As soon as he could be
sure of himself he said :
" You cannot have Huldah ; she is al
ready engaged."
" How is that t sid Aunt Judith.
" O, I've secured her services," suid
John.
" What !" said Mrs. Holmes, "engaged
your your help before you ve engaged
a wife i"
Not at all," said John ; " engaged
my help and wife in one. I hope that
Uuldah Manners will be Huldah Har
low by Christmas." J
The deacon laid down his knife and
fork, and dropped his lower jaw and
tared.
"What! How! What did vou sav.
John'r"
' I say, father, that this good girl Hul
dah is to be my wife."
"John, gasped the old man, getting.
to his feet, and reacbiug his hand across
the table, " you've got a plenty of sense
if you do wear a moustache 1 God bless
you, my boy ; there ain't no better wo
man here nor in New York nor any
where than Huldah. God bless vou
both. I was afraid you'd take a differ
ent road, though."
" Hurrah tor our Uuldah and our
John," said George Harlow, the college
boy, and his brothers joined him. iwen
the little Holmes children hurrahed.
Vegetable leather is now extensively
manufactured, the principal materials
being caoutchouc and naptha. The
product is only one-third as costly as
ordinary leather.' which it resembles so
closely that they can be distinguished
only by close inspection ; and the vege
table) leather has the additional advan
tage of being made in entire pieces of
buy yards in length if desired, one and
a half yards wide, of anv thickness de
manded, of uniform quality, and ample
strength.
Story ot a Welsh Colony In Fatnzoniu.
The colony of Chupat, on the west
coast of Patagonia, was formed by a par
ty of Welsh people, under the superin
tendence of Mr. Jones, an Independent
Minister of Bala, in North Wales, in the
year 1805. Since its establishment the
oolonists have been more or less depend
ent on the Argentine Government for
their subsistence, and. news has been oc
casionally heard of them at Buenos
Ayres,to which place they made periodi
cal trips in a schooner. This vessel was,
however, wrecked in 1869, and another
small schooner, which they purchased
with the assistance of the Argentine
Government, also coming to trouble,
their means of communication with the
outer world were cut off. In the month
of March last, no news having been
heard of the colonists since the month of
May in the previous year, considerable
anxiety was felt on their account, and
the British gunboat " Cracker " was des
patched to ascertain what had become
of them. That vessel accordingly ar
rived in Engano Bay on the 4th of April
last, and Commander Dennistoun pro
ceeded by boat up the river about six
miles to the village of Chupat, and had
the satisfaction of finding the colonists
in excellent health and spirits, although
they had been thrown on their own re
sources for so long a period. Their grati
tude for the anxiety displayed on their
behalf is desoribed as most touching.
The colony had suffered for two years
from drought, and the whole wheat crop
of last year, estimated at 16 J tons, was
just about sufficient to support the pre
sent population, (estimated -as equal to
iiu adults; at the rate ot eight pounds
a wees eacn until next harvest, suppos
ing nono were 'kepS for seed. Two fami
lies were found utterly destitute of grain,
while ten others had certuinlv not
enough left to last more than two months
or so ; and as Mr. Lewis Jones, to whom
Commander Dennistoun granted a pas
sage to Montevideo, could not return to
the colony with supplies for four months.
Commander Dennistoun took upon him-
sett tne responsibility ot leaving what
provisions could be spared to assist the
poorest families. He also left them two
hundred pounds of soap, an article they
had been destitute of four months.
The whole colony had been without
any description of groceries for over ten
months, living chiefly on bread, butter,
and milk, and what guanaco and ostrich
meat they could obtain by hunting. At
present there are only seven sheep in
tne coiony, and tne only means of com.
munication that exists with Buenos
Ayres is by land via Patagones : but to
reach it an unknown tract of country of
some two Hundred miles has to be tra
versed, with little or no water to be
found. Yet, in spite of these little draw
backs to comfort, not one individual ex
pressed a wish to leave the colony.
Torn to Pieces by Dogs.
Yesterday at noon, Willie Biersch died
at his grandfather's house, near Camp
Washington. He was a lad 7 years old,
and the son of Ernst Biersch, a tanner
at the above place. At noon on Tues
day he was sent by his mother to the
tannery to carry a message to his father
about a still younger brother who was
sick. At the tannery he found his father
had gone away to a neighbor's, and that
most of the workmen had left, and those
who had not were leaving to go to their
dinner. Learning from some of the lat
ter where his father had gone, he start
ed to find him. On his way Willie
climbed a fence. When he crossed this
he was confronted by a fierce hybrid
slut, holf-bull and half-Newfoundland,
with her five half-grown pups. The cruel
brutes seized him, threw him to the
ground, dragged him some distance, and
were steeping their savage jaws in his
blood, while some neighbors, drawn by
his cries, sa,w the bloody spectacle, but
feared to interfere. A man at last got a
pistol and shot the grown dog, whereup
on the others fled, but were afterwards
shot. Willie was carried horribly man
gled to his grandfather's house, and Dr.
Bichardson dressed his wounds. All
night he suffered and grew worse, until
death came at noon yesterday and re
leased him. The savage beasts tore the
entire scalp from his bead, baring it al
most to the skull. In his right arm,
near the shoulder, their fierce fangs left
a terrible gash, large enough to bury a
man's two fists in. On his left side they
bared his ribs, and tore them asunder so
as to expose the lungs. The relentless
brutes left not a feature of his face un
torn by their rapacious teeth. Other
wounds there were on that little body
which alone would have been looked
upon as fearful, but which, in compari
son with those described, were nothing.
Cincinnati Gazette, Aug. 10.
Cyclical Changes.
There is a storv afloat that Ruiuta nnd
Sweden are both after tha Inland nt
Spitsbergen for a future summer garden
the fertility to be occasioned by
changes in the Gulf Stream. But this
comfortable prospect of grapes at the
North Pole is defeated by tbe established
fact that the Northern hemisphere is
cooling, and that th Southern i
cumulating heat. The Arctio ice is
steadily encroaching on the yet unfrozen
portions of Europe, Asia, and America.
In th thirtAnnth Aantnrv ma
fruited in England freely where now it
: 1 1 i j, . i f .
wm uaruiy pun zortn leaves, u these
things are so. Russia and Sweden nud
not go to war about a future vegetable
garden in ripitzbergen. Besides we
are to have another deluge. Deluges, it
is now discovered, come once in about
10,500 years. Hence it is about 6,600
years to the next flood when the ocean
will take possession of its former bed in
the Northern Hemisphere. All those
measureless waters south of the Equator
are to be poured over Europe and Amer
ica, new continents are to rise in the
south, and Australia is to be the future
great country of the world. Suoh is the
prediction of Adhemar, which is now
taken up and discoursed upon in a re
cent scientific publication. In view
therefore of the statement that sixty
three canturia are to finish us nn. it. a
full time that we began, to prepare for
iue outer ana inevitable ena.
Studies or Faces.
It is a very trite remark (says the Sat
urday Review) that while one observer
notes the form of a face, twenty perhaps
will note its expression. A twitching of
the mouth or eye, or any other peculiari
ty of facial movement, is sure to Btrike
attention, although the form of the fore
hoad and chin entirely escapes observa
tion. And this greater attention to ex
preesional or other movement is always
the more observable in proportion as
the face is familiar. Every reader may
easily persuade himself of this by think
ing of some intimate acquaintance, of
whoss face perhaps he remembers only
some singular movement of the eyes or
mouth. He cannot very probably recall
the image of the whole face, but his idea
consists of a distinctly marked move
ment of some feature on a dim back
ground representing nothing but a very
general type of facial outline. The fact
appears to be that though we may be
struck by the contour of a head or the
disposition of the features at a first im
pression, familiarity very soon renders
us indifferent Philosophers tell us that
change of impression is a universal con
dition of consciousness. And it is prob
able that a familiar face, so far as it does
not undergo change that is to say, in
its general outline, and the form of the
less mobile features, tends to impress the
consciousness with less and less distinct
ness. Being frequently recurrent and
unvarying impressions, they come, like
the perpetual din of a neighboring forge
to be scarcely noticed. On the other
hand, a peculiarity of facial movement
does not partake of this dead uniformity
ot character. It recurs but compara
tively seldom, and impresses us always
with some degree of intensity as a change
from the accustemed position of the fea
tures. A curious importance is given to this
subject of facial knowledge by its legal
bearings. When a question of life or
property is found to depend inter alia on
people's power of identifying acquaint
ances, the right apprehension of what
such power actually amounts to is a
very desirable attainment. If every
body could be brought to study peculi
arities of face as an object in itself, there
would certainly be a great simplifica-
i: iJ j:m ii. Ti . , i
nun ui uuo uimuuit prooiem in legal evi
dence. Possibly at some future dav wa
shall hear of an educational reformer ad
vocating for our elementary schools some
amount of practical knowledge of form
such as can only be obtained by drawing
from natural objects. And certainly if
this resulted in nothing else than a
higher average of intelligence about the
subject of faces, it would be of scarcely
inferior utility to an acquaintance with
the elements of music. But. however
this may be, the difficulties in the way
ui a general accurate Knowledge of the
human countenance in its individual di
versities do not seem capable of easy re
moval. How Cnido Rubber Is Collected.
Greytown, Nicaragua, is the principal
port for the export of India rubber on
the coast. It is collected by parties of
Indians, Caribs, or half cast Creoles,
seldom by Europeans, to whom the deal
ers, who are also storekeepers, advance
the necessary outfit of food, clothing,
and apparatus for collecting rubber, on
condition of receiving the whole of the
rubber collected at a certain rate. The
rubber hunters are termed Uleros (Ule
being the Creole term for rubber.) A
party of Uleros, after a final debauch at
Greytown, having expended all their re
maining cash, generally make a start in
a Canoe for one of the rivers or streams
which abound on the coast, and having
fixed on a convenient spot for a camp,
commence operations. The experienced
rubber hunter marks out all the trees in
the neighborhood. The rubber tree is
the Castilloa elattica, which grows to a
great size, being on an average about
four feet in diameter, and from twenty
to thirty feet to the first spring of the
branches. From all the tress in the al
most impenetrable jungle hang numer
ous trailing parasites, lianes, etc; from
these, and especially the tough vines,
are raade rude ladders, which are
suspended close to the trunks of the trees
selected, which are now slashed by
machetes in diagonal cuts from right to
left, so as to meet in the middle and
central channels, which lead into iron
gutters driven in below and these again
into the wooden pails. The pails are
soon full of the white milk, and are
emptied into larger tin pans. The milk
is next pressed through a sieve, and sub
sequently coagulated by a judicious ap
plication of the juice of a Bejuca (an
ApocynaT) vine. The coagulated mass
is then pressed by hand, and finally
rolled out on a board with a wooden
roller. The rubber has now assumed
the form of a large pancake, nearly two
feet in diameter and about a quarter of
an inch thick, on account of which they
are termed tortilla by tbe Uleros ; these
cakes are hung over the side poles and
framework which supports the ranclio,
which is erected in the woods, and al
lowed to dry for about a fortnight,
when they are ready to pack for delivery
to the 'dealer.
Cheap Postage In England.
New and still cheaner ratps nt nnolarra
- - r e
went into operation in England August
1st. Letters and parcels of all sorts,
closed or open, without any distinc
tions, are charged as follows :
Not exceeding 1 oi , Seta.
Above 1 oa, but uot eicuodiHK Joi....3 '
" 2o 4 " ....4 -
" ot. i " ....6 -
" Bo. " "....
" Soz. " 10 " ....7 "
" ,.10o. " - U ".... "
12 ounces is the limit of weight for
letters.
' In , this oountry, our rate for letter
Eostage continues to be 3 cents for each
all' ounce, or six cents an ounce, which
is just three times higher than the new
English rate for an ounce, and nine
times more than the English rate for
twelve ounces. . . ; ,
We think our government might take
a lesson from England in the matter of
cheap letter postage. But for parcels of
certain kinds, our rates are less than the
British charges.
An Old-Fflshioncd New England " Rate
Ing." Some one who cherishes a love for old
customs, writes from a rural retreat in
New England to the Liberal Christian :
It was a peculiar pleasure, up here in
the country, where we write, to hear of
a real old-fashioned raising last week.
True, it was a tobacco barn I And the
suddenness and rapidity with which
that peculiar Southern staple has shot
up into importance in the Connecticut
Valley may account for the renewal of
the old custom. The crop is so valuable
that the housing of it for a single season
is a matter of first-rate importance. And
people in this far North have discovered
the favorableness of theland and climate
to tobaoco so recently that more barns
are wanted than there are hands to put
them promptly up. And so the old con
ditions come back, and people go to
raising a little as they used to. On this
occasion, sixty men from six miles round
assisted, and raised two good-sized barns
in the course of the long summer day.
The old abundant provision less the
rum and whiskey were made, but the
old jollity was not so apparent. There
is no longer the same sense of equality,
the same sense of mutual dependence,
tho same necessity of making the most
of every opportunity of merry-making,
the same freedom of speech and action I
There were ladies there looking on, and
the proprietor was not at work himself,
and the whole thing was not quite gen
uine. Yet it was very pleasant to see
even a little of the old village friendship
left ; a little of the old sweet and whole
some local acknowledgment of mutual
dependence.
The Metric System.
The London Spectator of July 29 says :
Wednesday was taken up in the Com
mons with a great discussion on a bill
which proposed the revolutionary step
of making the French metrio system
compulsory on England, a proposal
which, though the Government resisted
it, was only negatived by a majority of
5 (82 to 77). The discussion showed
clearly enough the real need for a uni
formly decimal system of weights and
measures in England; but it also showed
great reason to doubt what tho units of
that system ought to be, whether those
taken by the French or Borne of those
now in use in England. Sir John Her
schel preferred the English foot to the
Frenoh metre, and the English ounce to
the French gramme; but as no practical
statesman has yet proposed to take our
foot and ounce as the basis of an English
decimal system of lengths, weights, and
(solid) measures with the pound, or
measures of value, this has been pro
posed and steps taken toward effecting
it the authority of Sir John Herschel is
used at present only to deter from the
French system rather than to help the
solution of the difficulty. It may be
that we shall come in the end to the me
trio system, and translate our old pro
verbs from " Give an inch and take an
ell;" "An ounce of sense is better than
a pound of learning ;" into " Give a mil
limetere and take a centimetre," or, " A
gramme of sense is better than a pound
of learning." But in the meantime
much has to be learned and a good deal
forgotten.
An Old Burglar.
According to the Hartford Timet, Wil
son, the murderer, who is to be hanged
on the 13th of October next, is the wick
edest man in Connecticut. He has writ
ten a book of 100 pages entitled " Thirty-three
Years in the Life of a Crack."
He savs he has hrnlren mif. nf nina Wtotn
prisons, and that he has committed a
1 . i c , 1 .
vcijr ittjgo uuiuuur oi uurgianes, two or
three hundred we believe. The first of
his burs-laripfi wan pnmTniforl in PK;ia
delphia, when he was 19 years old, in
mail. Thev WPr fn crt linlvao in Ya
J O w lUU
plunder. Entering a jewelry shop they
iuuii wuiuues auu geweiry on wmcn they
realized 7.000. and hia half .t F.OIW
- ' ' VD
him a capital to start with. Since then
he has tried his hand on banks, safes,
iewelrv and nilk ntnrpa in mam, r,l.na
rf 7 - ''-, J lavd
He proposes to continue the narrative
ouu bajjubo certain receiving snops in
New York and nihpi nlanna Ti.tnV.ti A
-- ..-wku, ii iii ia
kept by men who " carry their heads
high in Bociety." Wilson seems to be
quite confident he can take his own life
at any time. But how he is to do it is a
puzzle to those whose eyes are upon him
at all timpo. RlnAd-lpf fr.ino. r! aortic. nnl
son, choking all these, it' is believed,
buu uo ji c V Oil J J UL BU.il VV lltJOU 18
confident that be holds tbe pulsations of
hia own lifa in thn nalrn nf hia hon a-nA
w UUUUy UUU
has only to close his fingers to stop the
1 i : r l j ii , vr .
ueauug ui a imruuueu neari. lie Ignores
religious counsel, and is as much a bur
glar to-day, defying the laws of God and
man o a li a Yi a a Ytnnn all 4 V. -V. VI
reer of crime for 33 years. .
Why Circles Tlcaso tho Eye. -
Prnfrnflnr TWnllAr In ft. . yaa rf 1rti
til ran i n Rfr 1 i n . nfFr,(l a. tiimnla art A
mechanical explanation of the univernal
admiration bestowed on these curves.
The eye is moved in iU socket by six
muscles, of which four are respectively
right, and to the left The other two
uo'o em nuuuu cuiitrturjr vj una anotner,
and mil i.ha pva nn it ktm m frrtm tv.n
wj UVW IjUO
outside downward, and inside upward.
TIM .LJ..1 . i ,
T? lieu nu oujout is presented ior inspec
tion. ha flruf an.f. ia tliar s' ntn.1.nJn:
or going round tbe boundary lines, so as
t Vil"i n , rtAnouiniiiinln ...... 2 J ! " 1 1
w wiioovuib.,OJjr CVCrjr lUU.VlUUai
Tinr t i nn nf tha nirniinifAMnnii , V l
----.-vlVJ V4A IUD UlUDb
elicate and sensitive portion of the
a: T it i ...
teuua. now, ii ngures bounded by
straight lines be presented for inspection,
it is obvious that but two or three mus
cles can be called into action ; and it is
equally evident that in curves of a cir-
1 .11: ,ii . . i i , i
Mm ui cuijjoo on must alternately De
brought into action. Tha otfuit lii ;
O " V IMCU
that if two only be employed, as in
.flA.ii: a xi . .
itouuubm ngures, xnose two nave an
undue share of labor
j v v J tvvuuiug
the experiment frequently, as we do in
buuuuuuu, ui uuuon ox tedium is in
stilled, and we form o-rftdnullw a Ateiat
for straight lines, and are led to prefer
AV. 1 1 i
vuuso uurves wuiuu supply a more gen
eral and equable share of work.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
The Auburn State Prison now has
over 1,000 inmates, nearly ISO more, it
is said, then it has had at this season for
several years. The fashionable season
there for incarceration is Btated to be
the winter.
The Chicago Common Counoil are go
ing to Salt Lake city, and an exchange
says it is understood that their purpose
is to strike a decisive blow at polygamy
by distributing Chicago divorces among
the Mormons.
The simplest and cheapest way to cool
a room is to wet a cloth of any size, the
larger the better, and suspend it in the
yiuuo you wan i cooiea. jet the room be
well ventilated, and the temperature
will sink from ten to twenty degrees in
less than an hour.
A Wyoming husband advertises him
self as a monthly nurse. He says his
wife formerly supported the family by
that business, but since she acquired the
right to vote and sit on juries she does
nothing but talk politics, and so he
must keep the business up or himself
and children will starve.
Constantinople is to be connected
with the opposite Asiatic coast by a rail
road tunnel, consisting of Bheet-iron
double tubes, under the water of the
Bosphorus. The tunnel is to be about
twelve hundred feet long, ten feet in
diameter in the clear, and to be thirty
six feet below the level of the water, in
order not to obstruct navigation.
A couple of children were lost at
Delhi, la., recently, and much grieving
was done, the church bells were rung
and the whole village organized for
search, when it was suggested to look in
their bedroom for them, and there the
little innocents lay, fast asleep, and un
conscious of the excitement they had
caused.
The Apache Indians are rather luxuri
ous in their warfare. Not long since a
party of miners and prospectors in Ari
zona had a fight with some, and defeated
the "red skins," with a dead loss to
several. In the pouches of the slain
Indians were found golden bullets, ham
mered out of the nuggets which they
picked up.
Togolanda, a small island in the Malay
archipelago, about fifty miles northeast
of Celebes, has been visited by a terrible
calamity. An outburst of the volcano
of Buwang was aeccmpanied by a wave
one hundred and twenty feet high,
which swept all the inhabitants and cat
tle from the island. Four hundred and
Bixteen souls perished.
The Berlin Correspondent, in an ac
count of the German navy, says :
" Every ship in the German service,
even the smallest gunboat, is provided
with detailed drawings and sections of
every foreign war ship. Its weak points
are specially stated, and details given as
to the spots to be aimed at with most
likelihood of disabling the machinery."
A romantio pair were blessed with a
number of daughters. The eldest was
called Caroline, the second Madeiwi, the
third "Eveline, the fourth Angeline, when
lo I the fifth made its appearance, and no
name could be found with the desired
termination. At length mamma pounced
upon a name, and forthwith the baby
was baptized CnVioLlKE.
A farmer cured a baulky horse in tho
town of Eden, Fond du Lao county,
Wisconsin. He hitched a pair of cattle
w a ug-t;iiaiii nruuuu vue iiorse s neuK,
and prevailed on 'era to lean a few tons
weight on the yoke. The horse didn't
start, but his head came out by the
roots. The hide, a set of shoes, and a
lunch for the crows are all that is left of
the indocile steed.
A young and newly-fledged Justice of
the peace out in Illinois was recently '
called upon, for the first time, to marry
a couple. He nervously looked through
"Every Man His Own Lawyer," and
"Haines's Township Laws," but failed to
find the desired form. The crowd grew
impatient, and he told the couple to
hold up their right hands. This done,
he pronounced the following charge:
" You and each of you do solemnly
swear that in the cause now upon hear
ing you will tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, and
that you will love, honor, cherish, and
obey each other during the term of your
natural lives, so help you God." Both
answered solemnly, "I will," and the
Judge charged them a dollar each, and
pronounced them man and wife.
The editor of a newspaper in Bich
mond, Va., received, on Thursday lost, &
polite note from a lady of respectability
in that city, signed by her full name,,
announcing that she would, at eight
o'clock in the evening of that day, pro- '
ceed to take her own life by the most i
available means, and respectfully solicit
ing the pleasure of a reporter's company '
to witness the ceremony, irunctually at
the appointed hour, the reporter and
On ITU .1 1 4.1in. i n tt, .1 rl i . . 1- .1
viuoi .uubou gucaw prcDCUVCU -
themselves at the residence designated, .
but, owing to the interference of friends
or some other circumstances, the attempt
was ' indefinitely postponed. But the
Eurpose of the writer came very near,
eing carried out Of course, the lady .
is deranged.
- TV. in: : T 1 Ti -i a r.
4.uuviB iutuu oi xvaiiroau iom .
missioners are preparing to enforce tho
statute passed lust winter by the Legis-'
lature of their State, reducing the rates
of freitfht and rjasaenper fare nn rail
roads. They have calif d upon the vari- -ous
railroad companies for statements of
their earnings up to July 1, ia order to
make the classification provided for by
the statute. The officers of the compa
nies profess their readiness to furnish
the statements as soon as they can be
prepared, but protest against the oonsti-
tutionality of the Btatute, and aver their
readiness to bring the question -of. its
validitv hpfnra tha rnnrta. . The Com
missioners have replied that they will
use every means to aid the companies in
obtaining the judicial decision they de- '
Dire, ruu to vuib vuu wu nibuer
individuals in bringing suit for tha
penalties provided by the statute, or
take proceedings in their official capao
ity for forfeiting the franchise of com
panies guilty of violating it