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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publish.
. JiLKOOttNTY-TJlS REPUBLICAN PAliTY.
i , Two Dollar rm Atinm. .
VOL. I.
RIDGWAY, PA., THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1871.
NO. 34.
ft ! V
J-
PROSODY.
The following rhymed rebuke of common errors
of pronunciation will be found uscf nl to many people:
Tbero was a girl, and Bhe was fnir to sec,
Whose classic nomm was Eurvdice:
As full of mischief, like to most vounir Indies,
Sometimes raising Cnln, and sometimes Iladcs,
TI.U I . . L t. -1 . 1 1- .
uio diiiiiiu ueauiy, luuugu sue gnineu ecim,
io use nyperooio, concealed a claw.
A flirt she was and thought no sin to be
Though drivlnp lovers Into svneone.
Bhe flattered some, though always "sine di-e,
Until thev all were crowned with misery.
Bhe danced and waltzed, until quite sick was
she,
(Her Goddess was Terpsichore);
But soon got well, and ate her hominy,
With all the tragic airs of great Melpomene,
Her mind, sometimes on Jupiter and Io.
Would dwell mixed np with Virgo and with
i,eo ;
Her favorite book was Don Quixote.
Although prone to think him rough and
naugmy,
Still from her Hps, to henr a diatribe.
Was worth the world, and all the rcBt beside.
A maid she bad; fat, fair, and fancy free,
Rejoicing in the name Eupbrosyne;
This demoiselle thought herself a Phrvne.
Though her mistress called her " stupK
uiuuy.
Iter favorite author was Dumas Fils
(Each well-thumbed work was spotted o'er
wnu grease;,
And then she owned a small epitome,
Of Ancient Rome, which was a sight to see.
8he knew but little of Professor Blot,
Her cooking was Indiffcrentlv slow.
But her chief care wiu nn tho hmi.ni.ni.i T ...... a
Round which she bustled like a hundred
iuiries.
In short, take her in nil, 'twas plain to see
Bhe favored Juno more than NIobe.
Eurydicc, nt length, was, strange to say,
Enchanted with a man, and brought to bay ;
Henceforth her constant study was to be,
How best to imitate Calliope.
While her fair maid, we scarce need indicate,
Brought her Penates to the Syndicate ;
And helneri their ttnlthnlamlum -t.w
Though not the least connected with "the
Eurydice, farewell 1 and you too, fair Eu
nhrnRVnn f
Forgive ns that we use your names, to air our
Henry C. Cooper.
Strasbnrg Cathedral and Clock.
A correspondent of the New York
Evening J'ost writes:
At the time of the siege of Strasburg
exaggerated reports were circulated as
to the damage done to the cathedral
and subsequently it was said that it was
not injured at all. Strike an average
and the truth is obtained. The cathedral
was damaged so much that a week's fur
ther continuance of the bombardment
might havq reduced it to ruins, and the
world of art might have had occasion to
deplore the mutilation of Erwin von
Steinbach's exquisite facade, or the fall
ot the noblest tower and spire in exist
ence. The shells from the besieging
rorces nit the cathedral very often, and
the damage actually done includes the
burning away of the outer roof, the des
truction of the high stone-work balus.
trade on the north side of the tower, the
breaking away of several steps, bo as to
render impassable two of the winding
Btaircases in the great tower, the break,
ing of several of the windows, and vari
ous nicks in the walls which are not ap
parent at first sight, and which can be
easily repaired. I could not see that any
harm was done to the ornamentation of
the facade, while the story published in
the New York papers that a shell had
dashed through the roof and destroyed
the famous astronomical clock is utterly
untrue.
THE STRASBURG CLOCK.
This ingenious piece of horological
mechanism is in excellent condition,
and attracts as much attention as ever,
At mid-day a crowd of some two hundred
people fills the transept of the cathedral
which contains this curious work, the
assemblage including peasants in quaint
costumes, priests, school-boys and a
great proportion of English and Ameri
can tourists. At 12 o'clock the usual
performance begins by a procession of
the twelve Apostles before Christ, who
raises bis bandit, bestowing a blessing on
each apostle as he passes by. At the
same time a skeleton in a lower compart
ment strikes the hour with a human
bone on a metallio disc. The cock on
the summit of the clock ruffles his feath
ers, stretches out his neck, and gives a
good, sonorous crow, repeating his ef
forts three separate times. The nocn
display is thus terminated, but many of
the spectators leave with an evident ex.
pression of disappointment, as if they
had expected to see the whole front of
the clock in motion, and a display of
fireworks tor a hnale.
AN ASCENSION.
Everybody who knows anything
about Strasburg cathedral knows that
but on of the intended towers was
built. The top of the unfinished tower,
which is of the tame height as the top of
the facade, is, in fact, a level platform,
surrounded by an open-work balustrade
with a good-sized one-story dwelling
house at one end, the magnificent fin
ished tower, capped by its spire, at the
other, and an open space in the middle.
The house is occupied by several men
who have charge of the clock and bells,
and who were up here during the entire
iiege, exposed at every moment to the
falling shells, which have broken the
pavement in several places. They des
cribe the period thus spent as one of
fearful horror. During the daytime the
view of the besiegers' batteries was much
obscured by smoke, but at - night the
scene was terrific. Then, particularly,
was it feared that the spire might be
overthrown, and when fragments of its
outer decorations were knocked off, and
fell with a crash to the pavement below,
the men living up on the church top
thought the dreaded moment had ar
rived. " But," observed one of them,
shrugging his shoulders, " what was to
be done f Que route tout t It was our
duty to stay up here, and we stayed."
To this platform hundreds of persons
come daily, the fee being but fifteen
centimes. To go to the top of the other
tower itself costs half frano more, while
another frano must be paid if you wish
to ascend to the top of the spire, or rath
er to the little baloony just below the
topmost finiaL
My vaulted ambition took me to the
very top,' and came near leaving me up
there. The journey up the staircase,
through the square part of the tower,
was only fatiguing without being in the
least degree dangerous, and it afforded
an excellent opportunity for observing
the apparently frail character of the
structure, through whose openwork in
terstices the wind blew fiercely. The
exquisite carving and decoration up
here is seen by but very tew, yet is elab
orate and is as beautiful as any in the
lower part of the church.
At last I came to the baloony where
two nags the black and white ot Tus
sia, and the tri-color of Germany had
been flung to the breeze immediately
after the Prussian- occupation of the
city, xne Dreeze naa not received luese
banners very kindly, but had reduced
them to long stringy tatters, so that
from below they looked like bunches of
preposterous shoe-strings, very uncom.
fortable and very much out of place.
At this point begins the inclination
of the spire, which appears from the
platform below to be a series of steps
leading to the top of an elongated pyra
mid, while from the street it looks like
a number of tiny projections ornament
ing a rather shoit steeple. These ap.
parent steps or projections are, however,
each as large as an ordinary man, and
the little staircase winds in and about
them in a manner which, however in
genious, is by no meaus reassuring to
the nervous. By a felicitous architec
tural arrangement, a person in mount
ing this staircase is at one step inside the
spire and at the next step outside of it,
with tha great round globe itself seem.
ingly several miles below. A fly would
probably sot be perturbed in this posi
tion ; and creatures like uaasimodo,wuo
had had long practice on the precipitous
towers of Notre Dame, might even feel
at ease.
I have heard it said that individuals
in such an elevated sphere of duty as this
have often felt almost irresistible yearn
ings to let go their hold, launch out into
space, and ning themselves down to
earth. Such, I can conscientiously say,
was not my experience. On the contra
ry, I felt an utterly irresistible inclina
tion to cling to the steeple itself, and to
avoid, as tar as possible, any topograph!
cal observations of the earth beneath
what time my blood was frozen in my
veins by the horrible antics ot the guide,
who hopped up the spire from projection
to projection, like an agile fowl, without
any apparent appreciation of the awful
possibilities contained in the law of
gravitation.
To get upon the final narrow balcony
which encircles the steeple just below its
top (and from the street looks only like
a graceful little ornament), one has to
take a step which requires the faith pf
Abraham himself. The spire up here
has grown so small that you can almost
put your arms around it, while it seems
absolutely certain that it must blow over
in the very next blast of wind. ' Yet, at
such a momont, you are asked to stick
out one foot in the direction ot the Rhine,
and then land it on a point of stone
about on a level with your forehead ; to
bring the other foot somewhere else, and
to clutch bold with both bands of some.
thing which the guide says is just above
you ; and all this on the outside of the
h'ghest spire in existence, with the wind
blowing like mad, the whole world
many miles below your feet, and com
fortable people on safe sidewalks looking
at you through opera-glasses I
when it is all done, according to
Hoyle, you find yourself on a narrow
ledge protected by a low stone balus
trade. The houses of the city of Stras
burg lie clustered about the base of the
cathedral, with their roofs dotted with
innumerable dormer windows, the burnt
district presenting a hideous gap in the
fair symmetry of the town, and the
ruins of the theatre, museum, prefecture,
and library conspicuous for their extent
and desolation. On three sides stretches
the vast, flat Alsatian plain, and on the
fourth lies the Duchy of Baden. Quite
near are the two villages between which
the Prussians planted their most des
tructive batteries, and far beyond lies
that France which a year ago claimed
Strasburg as her own.
in descending the spire there is a va
riety in the nature of the sensations
aroused. Climbing up you can cling to
the stonework. Coming down you seem
at every step to be about launching
yourself into space. You feel as if in
your own person you were exemplifying
by some inconceivably uncomfortable
process the theory of centrifugal force,
and once down to earth again the
thought how sweet it is to grovel here
below suffuses your countenance with a
grateful glow of loving appreciation.
w. F. w.
The Bear Crop in Wisconsin. ' ' -The
Wisconsin papers teem with ac
counts of the doings of and contests
with bears, which are unusually numer
ous in that region. The Neillsville lie
publican says they are so plenty in the
woods that hunters are killing them
every day, and that a young man living
about a mile east of the town recently
caught three in a trap in less than a
week. In the town of Loyal, two boys,
while hunting for cows, came across an
old she bear and two or three oubs.
Bruin showed fight, and the boys were
obliged to climb a tree for safety. The
cries of the children brought assistance,
and the bears scampered off. The Eau
Claire Free Prent says Jake Stumm had
quite a fight with a bear, and finally
managed to kill him. Bruin weighed
350 pounds. . The Hudson, Star states
that a Norwegian, same not learned,
was killed a few days ago by a bear out
in the big woods. He had snot the bear
and then got into a struggle with him,
and was torn to pieces. xne iviioourn
City Mirror, reports that Mr. Burke, of
Plainville, a renowned bear-shooter,
killed a bear on the premises of Mr.
James McClatohie, about ft mile and ft
half east of that place. - It was three
years old and weighed 800 pounds. Sev
eral other bears have been eeen in that
vicinity within ft few days. Hardly ft
day passes without one or more bears
being shot.
The Engineering Feats of the Time.
X It is amusing (says the London Spec
tator) to witness the oheerful alacrity
with which engineers are ever propos
ing grand schemes to bridge over the
distance on our globe, and tne willing
ness with which the publio give ear to
them. Whether it be to tunnel through
the Alps, or under the Straits of Dover,
or cut canals through the Isthmuses
which connect the northern and south
era halves of the Old and New World,
or lay telegraph cables under the Atlan
tio and Pacific, there is apparently no
limit to the fertility of the engineering
mind, or the mingled awe and delight
with which the majority of the people
read of the successive schemes which are
ventilated. At the present moment the
run is upon railroads to India, for
which the fullness ot time seems to have
come.
The cutting of the Suez Canal lately
stirred the popular imagination on the
subject of Eastern communications, and
now the opening of the Mont Cenis tun
nel has not only had a similar influence,
but it has actually completed in the
nioBt effective manner a through rail
way communication with an extreme
southeastern point in Europe, on the
direct road to India. It is natural,there
fore, that engineers and the publio
should be alike provoked by the long
interval interposed between Western
Europe and the East by the scantily-
peopled regions of the Turkish and Per
sian empires, which misgovernment end
incapacity of race have prevented from
being filled up. The missing link is
perhaps greater than that which was
lately filled up between the Missouri
and the Pacific ; but the result, as these
matters are judged, with all the East on
one side, and all Europe on the other,
will be proportionally greater, and ac
cordingly the schemes produced are in
unexampled abundance.
To begin with, there are the old pro
posals for a Euphrates Valley Bail way,
to connect the Mediterranean and the
Persian Gulf, and shorten by a week the
present overland journey between Lon
don and India. But these are the most
moderate proposals. Constantinople in
a year or two will be connected with
the European system, and there are
about bait a dozen schemes to join Uon
stantinople with India, some of them to
make a Euphrates Valley line a section
of the highway to India, and others to
run through tho north of Asia Minor and
Persia, passing through the Persian cup.
ital of Teheran, and through Herat and
Candahar, on the line by which we have
been taught to expect the future mva
sion of India by Kussia, in which so
many people believe. There is even a
third class of schemes by which India is
to be reached through Kussia, the Kua
sians pushing a branch from their south
ern railways across the UaucaBus, and so
giving us a road to Teheran by which
we may get to India as already des
cribed.
And as if all these were not enough,
we have a grand scheme for a railway
starting eastward from Trieste, skirting
the Turkish coast of the Adriatic, and
finally crossing the Salonica, from which
there would be a short tea passage across
the Levant, and then a railway to India
on the route ot the Euphrates Valley
line, to be continued along the coast to
Kurracb.ee. Mrs. Burton has also come
forward with a proposal this week, to
vary the ordinary routes suggested for
the Euphrates Valley line by a devia-
tion which would " develop Syria, and
restore Baalbek and Palmyra to their
old importance.
buch is a meagre list of the competing
projects which are offered, tho very
cheapest to cost between eight and ten
millions, the most ambitious, forty mil
lions, and the average, which are strictly
limited to the construction of a complete
railway between Constantinople and In
dia, between twenty and thirty millions.
A Startling Railroad Adventure.
Parties who arrived at Terre Haute
last week on the Evansville and Craw
fordsville liailroad, had quite an adven
turous ride. . When the train was mid
way between Decker's and Purcell's
Stations it was met by the most tremen
dous bail storm. Such was its force that
the engineer was obliged to stop the
train. Hail stones three inches in di
ameter rattled down upon the coaches,
knocked the window lights from the
cab, and demolished the head-light of
the engine. The engineer and fireman
wereobligea to seek refuge by hugging
close to the machinery. The storm,
though severe, was of brief duration,
and when it had stopped, the train
moved on. When neoring Sullivan, the
engineer discovered a brilliant light
ahead, which was caused by the burning
of thirty cords of wood, which was lying
close to the track. The train backed
down to a station three miles away, and
then returned to the scene of the confla
gration with a gang of section men who
at once set to work to extinguish the
flames. The engineer then backed his
train away from the scene some distance,
and after the doors and blinds of the
windows had been carefully closed, he
let on a full bead of steam and went past
the fire at a speed of fifty miles an hour,
the heat being so intense as to scorch the
sides of the coaches as they passed, even
at that high rate of speed. . . ,
How Wild Beasts Eat Men In India.
The return of the number of persons
killed by wild beasts during the past
year in the Madras Presidency has lately
been made up; loJ persons were killed
by tigers, twenty-one by cheetahs and
panthers, seven by bears, ten by bisons,
five by wild hogs, four by elephants,
and three by alligators. Tigers are most
destructive in Ganjam, Vizagapatam,
Jeypore, Kurnoof, and Coimbatore.
Seven persons were killed by tigers in
Canara in 1669, eleven in 1868, and
eleven, were killed by cheetahs. All
this slaughter by wild beasts sounds
very horrible (sari the Pall Mall Oa
tette), but it is really far more horrible
to reflect that more people are killed an
nually in the streets of London ' by
norses than are killed Dy ugen in the
Presidency of Madras. Cab horseB are
far more destructive than Cheetahs.
A Wonderful Invention. 1
A MACniNB TIIAT CAN TALK, L AUG II
AND BINO.
A persevering Frenchman once con
structed ft machine, in the form of a
duck, which could walk, flap its wings,
pick up grains ot corn, and more won
derful 6till. digest them, but a machine
capable of talking was supposed to be
beyond the power t uumau ingenuity
to construct. Kempelen, a German,
made a number of puppets, that uttered
the words " papa" and mamma," but
after devoting his lite to perfecting
them, he asserted that a machine which
oould utter all the words in use in Eu
ropean languages was an impossibility.
After his death his puppets became
dumb, no one understanding the mech
anism by which they were made to
speak. Kempelen's impossibility has
been at last overcome, in lail Prof.
Faber exhibited a machine which could
utter a great number of sounds and
words, but it was by no means perfect.
His nephew took up the machine that
his uncle failed in perfecting, and com
pleted it. After exhibiting it before all
the crowned heads and scientific socie
ties of Europe, he has brought it to this
country. The machine, wmch stands on
a small table, consists of a complicated
arrangement of rubber tubes, reeds, keys.
pedals, strings and wires. The lungs
are represented by a small pair of bel
lows, the glottis by reeds and pipes of
different sizes, the lips and tongue by
pieces of india-rubber. Beneath the
table is a pedal by which the bellows
are worked, and on the right hand side
a series of keys, on which are marked
the letters O, U, I, E, L, R, W, F, S, B,
D and G. With these and some supple
mentary arrangements, all sounds used
in the European languages can be enun
ciated. There is also an arrangement
resembling the key-board ot a piano, by
which the machine can be made to Bing.
Every portion of it is open to view, so
that no deception is possible. Yester
day the machine, under the deft hands
of Mme. Faber, enunciated distinctly all
the letters of the English and German
alphabets, numerous long and difficult
words, such as " Constantinople," " Po
litzka," " Mississippi," " Kadetzky,"
" hurrah," and then darted off into long
sentences in English, German, and
French, winding up with a laugh of the
most natural kind, followed by hisses,
groans and murmurs. Eery word pro
nounced was pronounced at. once with
out the slightest hesitation. Of course
some words were more clearly enuncia
ted than others, but the majority were
given far more clearly than the majority
of human beings pronounce them, and
even the nasal twang which French
people often adopt was closely imitated.
In Prof. Faber's machine the motions of
the mouth and tongue imitate precisely
those of human beings. Different keys
or tones can by given by proper manip
ulation of the pedals. Taken altogether,
the " talking machine" is a wonderful
specimen of man's ingenuity. Whether
it can ever be anything more is doubtful.
It cannot be applied to any practical
purpose, unless, indeed, dumb or weak
nerved and feeble-voiced individuals
should choose to purchase them and use
them as mediums through which to ad
dress the public.
Prof. Faber, wo believe, intends to
exhibit his machine in publio as soon as
arrangements can be made for that pur
pose. The singing portion of the ma
chine not being in order yesterday, we
were unable to determine what merit
the invention possesses a vocalist. N.
Y. Times, Oct. 6.
Strange Case of Imprisonment.
The story of a young man of good
family being incarcerated for a long
time in a lunatio asylum by his relatives
in order to prevent his contracting a
marriage in opposition to their wishes,
as described in Charles Beade's novel of
" Hard Cash," seems very improbable to
American readers ; yet cases quitd as ex
traordinary are frequently reported in
the British newspapers, and, if all the
secrets of our own lunatic asylums could
be brought to light, it is possible that
some equally startling revelations would
be made. A late London paper gives
the details of a case which one would
scarcely suppose could occur in the nine
teenth century and in ft civilized coun
try. An Irish gentleman, named Mr.
Alfred Manders, who is possessed of a
property of $20,000 a year, and who is a
partner of the well-known firm of Man
ders & Co., brewers, at the iustance of
his brother and his own wife, was
placed in a private lunatic asylum at
Finglass in April, 1869, and still re
mained in confinement there on the 16th
of August last, although there is every
reason to believe that he is quite sane.
During the whole period of his incarcer
ation, extending tbrongh twenty-seven
months, be was not viBited either by his
brother or his wife. After a long time
he contrived to communicate with his
solicitor, a Mr. Lewis, who went to the
asylum and demanded an interview with
him, but was refused by Dr. Duncan,
the proprietor. A clerk of Mr. Lewis
having succeeded in obtaining an inter
view with Mr. Manders, the latter was
thereafter debarred from taking exercise
in the pleasure grounds. Finally, on
the loth of August, a writ of Ua0ea cor
pus was taken out directing Dr. Duncan
to produce bis prisoner so that the
necessary steps might be taken for de
termining his mental condition and
testing the legality of his confinement.
At the time of the application for the
writ letters from Mr Manders that were
sensibly and intelligently written were
read, and also the affidavits of two keep
ers who had attended the unfortunate
man for several months, and both of
whom testified that he was perfectly
sane.
Robert C Winthrop, of Boston, has
lately got possesssion of an old English
clock made in London about 1630 ex
pressly for Governor John Winthrop,
and sent to him while he was Colonial
Governor of Massachusetts. It is still
in- running order, and has been placed
among many other valued relics, includ
ing family portraits which date back to
1400.
; Shark-Fishing.
Everybody at all connected with the
sea is always delighted when ft shark is
killed. A shark is the great water
enemy of mankind ; the delightful bathe
is either impossible or bereft of half its
pleasure when sharks are known to be
near. A boat that-is upset causes a
fatal accident in shark-frequented
waters, whereas it might produce only ft
dncking under other circumstances.
Thus a sailor believes that he who kills
ft shark deserves well of his country and
companions. The shark dies a craven ;
he affords very little of that sport which
renders trout and salmon-fishing so at
tractive; his first rush as he feels him
self hooked is usually powerful enough,
but after that he exhibits little but sul
lenness. A young shark is usually more
vigorous and determined in his resis
tance than is one of larger growth, and
with these we have had good sport. In
most rivers of tropical countries shark
will be found near the mouths, especially
at high tide, and those who are disposed
for sport only will find ample in such
localities. The plan we adopted was to
procure two pieces of copper wire, twist
these firmly together, and lash a hook
on to the end. A stout piece of cord
was then made fast to the wire, and a
bladder attached to the cord. About a
hundred and fifty yards of cord were
coiled up on the bank in order to play
the hooked fish, a piece of meat was
then fastened on the hook, and the bait
flung out seaward. The hands for this
work ought to be protected by a stout
pair of leather or India-rubber gloves,
so that a check may be given to the
cord ai the fish runs out with it.
Having made our preparations in this
way, we cast our line, and had scarcely
secured the end than we saw the bladder
that indicated the position of our hook
and bait travel rapidly up stream, bob
under water, and again appear. A rapid
tug at tho cord was resisted, and im
mediately afterward the line flew
through our hands, nearly a hundred
yards being paid eut without ft check.
Then we, however, obtained a pull at
our captive, and brought him near the
shore, sighted him, and saw he was a
shark about four feet long. When tho
young cannibal saw us, he struggled
hard to escape, but his ravenous appetite
had been his ruin, as the hook was deep
ly buried in his throat, and in ten min
utes from the time of his being hooked,
he was dragged snupping and wriggling
on to dry land.
On more than one occasion, however,
the fish we thus hooked was oo much
for ua, and carried out and off the whole
of our line, and had we not resigned
the end, we ourselves would have been
dragged into the sea, our efforts being
feeble in comparison to the power of
the monster who had swallowed our
bait, and was equally capable, apparent
ly, of swallowing us.
Numerous are the tragedies that have
taken place with the shark. One or
two we will refer to :
A party of soldiers were bathing near
the shore on one of the Mediterranean
stations, where Bhaiks are usually con
sidered harmless. Above a hundred
men were in the water together, some
far out, others close in shore, when the
alarm was given that a shark was ap
proaching. Scarcely had the note of
warning been given, than the shark,
passing by a Buore or more of men,
seized one who was quite near the Bhore,
dragged him under water, and disap
peared with him ; the shouts, frantic
beatings of the water, eta, of the men
being of no avail to make the monster
give up his prey.
A shark had for several days been
seen following a ship, but no attempt
had been made to capture it. A ship's
boy, however, determined to have a
trial, and having prepared his hook and
line, clambered into the ship's chains,
in order to throw out his bait. Un
fortunately, the jerk caused by throwing
overbalanced the boy, who fell into the
sea. A rush was mode aft, and a rope
cast toward the lad, who was, as is
usual with sailors, able to swim. The
effort failed to save him, and in another
second he was approached by the sea
monster, which, slightly turning its
head, seized the boy and dragged him
under water, disappearing lrom the
sight of those on deck, and of those who
entered the boat in order to revenge
bis death.
We ourselves were once in a very un
pleasant proximity to ft shark. We
were in the habit of bathing every
morning soon after sunrise, and had ar
ranged a long plank on piles, as a sort
of spring-board. Having started along
this plank, as usual, and reached nearly
the end, our balance having been lost.
we cast our eyes down, and there be
neath us, not five feet under water, was
a shark double our own length. With
that instinct which comes to all of us in
times of danger, we at once felt that the
safest plan was to jump at the sharic
rather than try to avoid him, and thus
we directed our plunge at him. We
bad to swim some forty yards to regain
the shore, and this was indeed trying
work ; but the shark had made off, and
we lived to tell the tale he probably
being alarmed at the attack threatened
by our plunge at him. ,
The Wood Rawing Club.
The Lock port Journal contains the
following practical suggestion ; ,
Now that the croquet and base ball
season will ere long bo over, we would
suggest, in order that the muscle devel
oping process may not stop, or that the
amount developed by the summer's exer
cise may not lie dormant during the long
winter months, that the base ball ath
letics turn their attention to sawing up
the wood piles of widows and sick folks
during the winter. " The exeroise is fully
as healthful, is not so violent, dangerous
nor tiresome as base ball, and we are
sure the results will gratify ft curious
publio fully as much, and we would pre
fer to give the " score " of ft wood sawing
class to that of a base ball club, in our
columns. What say yon, gents f Phy
sicians recommend young ladies to form
walking clubs. This is ft matter in
which steps should be taken.
Moving In Circles.
It is astonishing how some people
move in ft circle, and run round and
round in the well-worn ruts, without at
tempting to widen the one or step out
of the other. They do things in a cer
tain way because some friend or neigh
bor does so, without ft question as to the
propriety or fitness of their doing the
same thing in the same way, whether
the circumstances admit of it or not.
We were forcibly impressed with this,
not long since, while stopping a few
hours in a flourishing town in one of the
finest counties in central Ohio.
On a fine broad street, there was no
less than five or six residences, mostly on
contiguous lots, built as nearly alike as
possible, with the front door in each, in
some unaccountable way, set obliquely
into a corner at the end of a baloony
running along the side of the main
building, making a row of singularly
awkward looking dwellings, and sadly
marring the beauty of tho street archi
tecture. Another cose in point is that of a man
now building a two story and basement
house on ft twenty foot lot. His heart is
set on a " swell front," not because he
admires the style, or that it is at all
adapted to so narrow a house, but be
cause his friends have built on that
plan, and he does not wish to be singu
lar. It is in vain the architect has as
sured him that a swell front which we
never see on a house too narrow for it
without calling to mind a character in
" Little Dorrit" who, as Dickens tells us,
" was not so much a man as a sort of
swelled boy" will give to a house of
that width a cramped look, and make it
seem even narrower than it is, that a
front of this style for a building not
wide enough to accomodate it, savors of
affectation, and is in bad taste. It is all
in vain ; the foundation is laid and the
work goes on. The precedent has been
established by one of his neighbors, and
will be followed in more than this single
instance by others who cannot be pre
vailed on to give up the cherished am
bition of an " imposing swell front."
Building Netes.
Andrew Jackson and his Doctor.
Colonel Forney relates this anecdote:
There is a well-known physician in
Washington, Dr. J C. Hall, who relates
many incidents of the public men he has
attended in his long and brilliant exper
ience. At tho head of his profession, he
has attained old age almost without an
enemy. 1 know no man more univer
sally beloved. It is one of the Doctor's
peculiarities that he does not trouble
himself with money matters, and is care
less about collecting his fees. Once,
however, during a temporary absenoe,
his clerk made out some bills, and,
among others, sent one to the President.
On his return, tho Doctor found a note
from General Jackson inclosing a check
for the amount, deducting an old charge
which had been called for and settled,
and for which he held a receipt.
The fact that the bill had been sent
was not less a mortification to Dr. Hall
than the error in the account itself.
But on looking at the President's check,
he found that the General had forgotten
to sign itl He therefore returned it,
with the expression of his regret that
tho bill had been sent, and pointed out
the General's omission. The check was
duly Bigned and sent back inclosed in a
note, with this remark :
Sear Doctor the bent of men l liable to mistakes.
anuukw Jackson.
Dr. Hall testifies to the old hero's
kindness to all his people, especially to
his servants. Once when the smallpox
broke out among them, and aearly
everybody else fled, the President re
mained in the White House, and waited
on black and white with unremitting
attention.
A Ute Indian who would a-Wooing Go.
A correspondent of the Chicago Tri
bune, writing from the camp ef Powell's
expedition, on Green River, Utah, tells
this story of a Ute Indian's wooing :
We again met at this camp the dusky
bride and groom with whom we had
made acquaintance further up the val
ley. Ou learning more of their history
it proved rather romantic The Ute
that would a-wooing go belongs to the
Uintah Indians, while his young squaw
is a member of the White River tribe.
The hand of the lady was promised to ft
brave of her own band, but her heart
was won by the stranger. Travelling
expenses to Indiana, the State of di
vorces, being high, an elopement was de
cided upon and successfully carried out.
The jilted " copperhead" thereupon put
on his feathers and his war paint, and
started on the trail of the fugitives,
breathing threats of vengeance dire.
The honey-moon of the true-loving pair
is now somewhat obscured by shadows
of danger, as a party of White River
Utes are in hot pursuit. The hero of the
Btory expressed ft desire to " heap swap"
for one of the repeating rifles with
which we are armed. He offered his
pony in exchange for mine an elephant
would be as convenient and portable in
one of our heavily-laden little crafts.
We gave him " shug" and flour in ex
change for venison, and soon depart in
our " Water Ponies," which, as he re
marked, " leave no trail." I trust the
matrimonial course of our aboriginal
friend will run smoother than the Green,
and that his cranium will escape the
carving of the avenger's scalping knife,
The fence is ft costly fixture. Illinois
is said to have ten times as much fence
as Germany, and Duchess county, New
York, more than all France. A narrow
path divides farms in France, Germany
and Holland. In South Carolina the
improved land is estimated to be worth
120,000,000 ; the fences have cost $16,
000,000. The annual repair is ft tenth
of this. A recent calculation places the
cost of fences in the United States at
$1,300,000,000. Nicholas Biddle, thirty
years ago, said the Pennsylvania fences
bad cost $100,000,000. In Ohio they
are put at $115,000,000, and in New
York at $144,900,000. Some day fences
will probably disappear, and boundaries
will be marked with fruit and shade
trees, or neat hedge-row.
. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
Miss Thurston, the young lady bal
loonist, is at present teaching school in
Albany. She is the niece of La Moun
tain, the celebrated roronaut, now de
ceased. She is but nineteen years of age,
handsome, daring, and ft capital balloon-
Mis) Lucy' Ames, of Washington Ter
ritory, has arrived in San Francisoo.
She is ft fragile creature, only seventeen
years old. Her height is four feet three
inches, and Bhe weighs but 417 pounds.
The distance around her shoulders is
sixty-four inches. "
A Vermont girl Of seventeen, trans
planted to Iowa, plays the cabinet or
gan and sings in ohuroh, drives two and
sometimes four horses on the reaper du
ring the week, and reoently oarried off
the first prize for equestrianism at the
La Crosse County Fair.
" You never saw such a happy lot of
people as we had yesterday," said a land
lady in Indiana to ft newly arrived guest ;
M there were thirteen couples of them."
" What, thirteen couples' just married V
" Oh no, no, sir ; thirteen couples just
divorced." . 1 '.'
The natural desire of one feminine to
take down another is thus illustrated in
the New Bedford Mercury : "A young
woman, gaily dressed in a handsome
skirt and bright-colored shawl, was com
ing out of Liberty Hall lately, when a
malignant female raised the shawl show
ing the crowd that the upper portion of
the skirt was composed of as may colors
as an old-fashioned bed quilt.
Frequent instances of the cure of can
cers by means of a tea made from the
common red clover have been published
of late ; and as the remedy is certainly
a harmless and inexpensive one, the
qualities claimed for it should be gener
ally known. . The Boston Herald says
that a well-known sea captain of New
bury port feels certain that he has been
cured of a cancer on his nose by drink
ing tea made from red clover tops, and
using the same preparation as an exter
nal application. What was considered
a fully developed cancer two years and
a half ago, has now almost disappeared
under this treatment.
Various paragraphs relating to longe
vity are just now journeying through
the newspapers. Notably, we have the
Rev. George Cotton of Yarmouth, Me.,
who, being three score and ton, had just
led to the altar hymeneal a virgin aged
io. What was curious was that tha said
altar was set up in an orchard, but the
ceremony had one advantage over the
open-air nuptials of Adam and Eye, for
500 friends assisted at it. Secondly, we
are told that Mrs. Jere Boede ot Water
ford, Conn., age 90, having been con
sidered dead for a week, has so come to
life that she has eaten a hearty dinner
of cabbage and pork ! Then Mrs. Han
nah Andrews of Lovell, Me., age 102
years, is really dead and mourned by five
generations of descendants 200 of them
in all! She had a pension from the
Government, and deserved it
It is announced that a " Montreal and
Newfoundland Sealing Company" has
been formed in Montreal. Sir Hugh
Allan, of Ravenscrag, the head of the
great shipping firm of Allan & Co., is
director, and several of the wealthiest
capitalists of Montreal have taken Bhares
in the new company. They have al
ready ordered two large and powerful
steamers to be built at the Clyde, and to
be ready for next spring's seal fishery.
A Montreal steamship company has
commenced running a steamer monthly
to St. John. She is named the Alham
bra and has made two trips and ob
tained full cargoes. A good many Ca
nadian manufactures are finding their
way into the St. John market, such as
boots and shoes, tweeds, blanketings,
etc. ; and a large quantity of flour, pork,
butter, meal, etc., is received there from
Canada.
The London News says: It appears
from returns just issued that smuggling
has largely decreased throughout the
country. There was during last year
scarcely enough tobacco taken to fill
the great bowl of Quen Victoria's pipe.
The list of seizures proves that defraud
ing the revenue, as a branoh of distinct
business, has been fairly given up. Out
of the one hundred and ninety-eight
cases of capture reported, there were
twenty-eight only in which the quanti
ty of tobacco and cigars exceeded ten
pounds. In ft few instances the efforts
to escape were picturesque, but not un
familiar. Two ladies travelling from
Ostend to : London were discovered
wearing tobacco and cigars as articles
of dress; and the steward of the ship
Libra, from Hamburg, was found to
have ingeniously lined his pantry with
contraband goods. The only plao
where the old fashion of smuggling
seems to have been kept up witu uy
degree of energy is in the Isle of Wight,
a spot famous for deeds of daring of this
kind.
Paul B. Da Chaillu writes home from
Trondhjem, under date of September 13.
Of his late travels he says: "I have
twice crossed Norway and Sweden, once
within the Arctio circle, and through
one of the most desolate and grandest
countries of the , world. I have just
come from Sweden. While in the moun
tainous country of the far north I came
near starving. Crossing from Norway
and Sweden has been the hardest trav
elling on foot I have ever known. ' The
sides of the mountains were ' covered
with bowlders ; no shelter at night ; no
people, and the mountains covered with
now. One glacier contained thirty
square miles of ice. J made observations
on the temperature of this glacier and of
the atmosphere. I have been. among
the Laps, the Finns, the Grains, and the
poorest people of the land. . I have been
received kindly everywhere. " ' In each
province of Sweden the governor gave
me ft dinner and reception. 1 The Swede
and Norwegian are ft good and honest
people, I leave to-morrow for the in-)
terior of 'Norway, but will be back in
America to attend my lecture engage
ment in November. I am in splendid
health, though for week I have lived
on thick sour milk, the food of the country."