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HENRY A. PARSONS, Jr., Editor and Publisher,
Vtt.K COUNTY- Tit K REPUBLICAN PAHTY.
Two Dollars ter Annum.
VOL. IT.
lUDUWAY, PA,. THURSDAY, JULY 25, 1872.
NO. 21.
rojJT .it r.
A WOMAN'S VEIL.
BT 1. B. BRADFOKD.
It was full many a season since,
Whon I was summering at Cnpe May ;
They had a foolish fashion then
Mnyhap they have the same to-rtuy
That every laily In the dance,
II' pleated with any should not full
I'nto the partner she prefenod,
To givo hor veil.
And there was ono 1 mind mo of,
Whose name well, nevermind her name:
Helen or Alice, Dtancho or Maud,
fo yon who read will be the same.
But that old rashlon of tho veils,
Haply roenlls the pat, and stirs
Momories that cluster round the night.
She gave nio hers.
Bhe flushed, poor child. In Riving It,
And I too felt my brow grow warm,
As laughingly, with Angers deft,
Bhe knotted it about my arm ;
And though the color on her cheek
Was like the liffht in morning skies,
1 thought I saw a holier dawn
Within her eyes.
Tlio dance was over and we slrolled
Out from the ball-room's glittered press.
To meet the breeze that many armed
Clasped each one in its col caress j
And sauntering en we rcachod the sea
The far walta music's cadence sweet,
Mixed with the sound of waves that died
About our feet.
We talked of what I now forget.
But carelessly, or seeming bo ;
Next day I was to leave, but then
In town we'd moet again, you know.
Ah, well-a-day I the gods dispose
And ruined hopes are worso than vain ;
She laughed good-by I new saw
Her far. again.
Timo changes us not for the best,
Though grief sometimes dofeats bis art,
And kocps a little patch spring-green
In tho whlto winter of the heart.
And mine, though colder grown with years.
Feels that It is not frozon quite.
As memory goes wandering back
To that Juno night.
And sometimes on the summer eves.
Within my chamber all alone,
I wutch the moon riBe o'er tho roofs
And think I hear the ocean tone;
And through the smoke of my cigar
Bee loves and Joys I have not met.
That, as they vanish In the haze.
Leave inv cheeks wet.
L fe's a sad puzzle, and our hearts
Grow luiut In searching for the clue ;
She went before at twontv-flvo,
And I live on at fltty-two
And wait the end ; tor well I know
That I shall meet her without fail.
On somo spring morning and till then,
I keep the veil.
THE STORY-TELLER.
JOHNSON'S FOLLY.
A TALE OF THE FRONTIER.
Nearly thirty years have elapsed since
the events I am about to relate occur
red, and yet uiy remembrance of tho
details of tho narrativo is as distinct as
if the terriblo scones through which I
passed had taken plaoe but yesterday,
so vividly wero they impressed on my
youthful inind.
Sometime in tho winter of 1810, my
father, Eben Johnson, emigrated in
company with four other families to
what was then a Territory, now the
State of Kansas. The emigration asso
ciation consisted of my father and
mother, my elder brothor, Thomas, niy
two sisters, Annie and Mary, an adopt
ed brother, Eliphalet, familiarly known
to us all as Liph ; the Willis family, tho
Montanyos, tho Starbucks, and old
Hanks (as our boys used to called him),
his two sons and daughter all agricul
turists. Besides these families, there
were several artisans a blacksmith,
wheelwright, carpenter, a physician,
and some young men from Buffalo, with
the usual complement of wagoners and
guides.
I was then eight years old. I re-'
member it was winter, from the fact
that our wagons wero frequently stop
ped by snow-drifts. We hod in our
train fifteen wagons three wagons to
each family each vehicle drawn by six
oxen ; thero were, besides, two spare
oxen allowed to every wagon. There
were also in our party five young men
on horseback, each of whom brought
with him two led horses for future ser
vice, all of them carrying packs propor
tionate in size ana weight to tho strength
of the respective animals.
Tho wugons wore, of course, packed
with such wares, provisions and utensils
us were necessary tor use in the new
country to which we were wending our
way. The settlers, except in-very bad
weather, walked either in front or rear
of the wagons, with the exception of the
old women and such of tho emigrants as
were taken sick by the way. There
wero iu our party, as 1 said before, rive
families ; they, with the young men
who had joined us after starting, made
up our numbers to sixty-three people.
Of this number, sixteen were women
and ten children. My father, who had
planned the expedition, was what is
called a well-to-do farmer in Indiana,
and the families who joinod him were
all pretty much of the same class ; hav
ing sold their farms, they converted the
proceeds into such articles as were re
quired on the frontier, and such trink
ets as would prove attractive in ex
changing with the Indians for furs,
skins and other things. We proceeded
at the rate of about tor miles a day, al
though sometimes, in good weather, we
travelled fifteen. This, however, was
generally more than the women could
walk. At night the wagons were park
ed, and tho oxen and horses picketed ;
the fires were lighted, and a regular
guard detailed to keep a lookout for tho
wild tribes of Indians who occasionally
were seen on our trail.
We were thoroughly armed and equip
ped, everv man provided with two rifles,
a brace of pistols, and a long knife;
even the boys carried a ritlo. By day
we amused ourselves on the march in
- doing a little hunting after buffulo and
antelope; but this was only when the
train halted for several hours, as they
did once in each day. Our destination
was a point on the prairie about sixty
miles southwest from Fort Leavenworth,
and on the edge of a belt of wooded
country which bordered tho Kansas
river, now the tortile region in tho heart
of which tho city of Topeka has lately
reared its spires to tho sky, ami from
whoso workshops and factories the smoke
curls up lazily in the clear atmosphere
ot the prame-land.
Three weary months were passed from
tho timo wo left Indianapolis (where wo
fitted out) until we reached our destina
tion. Arriving at our journey's end,
after a careful examination mid survey
of tho country, tho ground on which we
agreed to settle was parceled out among
the different families, and axes were'
soon brought into requisition, timber
felled, and in a few days a dozen or
more log-cabins were erected, and the
settlement, as it had now become, was
beginning to put on quito a business
like appearance. Let it not be under
stood that the log-houses of the settlers
were near to each other; on the con
trary, each settler built on the land as
digued to him by the association, loca
ting his cabin in tho centre of a plot of
from ono to two hundred acres, or as
much as ho thought he could cultivate.
This arrangement brought our cabins
at least a mile apart from each other ;
it would have been better, as the result
will show, if they had been nearer to
gether. Four years had elapsed ; tho cabins
were all built with stockades to protect
us from sudden attacks of tho Indians ;
tho farms were all in a high state of cul
tivation ; settlers had been arriving and
filling up the nearest town, which was
about fifty miles distant, and we lived
in comparative security. Trading with
tho Indians had been carried on exten
sively, and my father's wisdom in tho
selection of the site, near tho confluence
of tho Kansas and Missouri rivers, was
acknowledged by all, us furs and skins
wero brought down in great quantities
by the red men in their canoes.
I think it was the spring of 1814 or
1N4.J, if I recollect rigutly, my father
had built an addition to his house,
which consisted of a second or upper
story, and as this was rather an innova
tion on tho prevaling style of architec
ture of tho settlement, it was shortly
designated as Johnson's Folly. Whether
this act of my father's was one of wis
dom or the contrary we shall see. I
say I think it was 1843, for I am very
sure we had just heard of the election of
Polk. For several months previous
there had been occasional marauding
parties from a new tribe, the Arapahoes,
who had lately made their appearance,
but they were friendly to our allies, the
Blackfeet, and we apprehended no seri
ous trouble ; still, there was uneasiness
felt in the settlement, and tho Indians
who had como to live with us shared
the anxiety. It was not considered safe
to bo away from home after, nightfall.
My eldest brother at least I call him
such, though he was really but an adopt
ed son, whose name was Eliphalet Busch
Liph was in the habit of visiting at
the Hanks cabin. Old Hanks had a
beautiful daughter named Amanda. She
was a perfect picture ; her features were
regular, hor eyes deep hazel, her hands
small and delicate, and, as her old father
said of her feet, " they wero too small to
bo stood upon much ;" her hair was a
dark, rich brown, with a golden tinge
though it, I never saw a sweeter girl.
I don't wonder Liph was deep in love
with her. He was a noblo fellow, and
deserved a good girl, and father used to
say " it was a pity Liph was not born a
prince, for ho was noble enough to bo
one." Indeed, some thought he did
come of gentle blood. No one ever knew
his father or mother ; they were lost in
tho surf, with a whole ship's crew, try
ing to land from a wreck on tho coast
of Virginia, and Liph was the only one
saved. Ho was brought up till he was
seven years old by a man named Busch,
who had himt christened, and gave him
his own name, EKphalet. When Busch
died, father adopted Liph. Everybody
loved him. On our way out, ho would
carry Bill Starbuck's biby in his arms
for miles, when the jolting of tho wagon
would make the little thing fretful ; he
was always sacrificing his own comfort
for that of other people. But I am get
ting away from my story. Liph had
gone over to the Hanks's one even
ing ; it was a dark, threatening night ;
a light, drizzling rain had fallen early
in the day, and now a raw, piercing
wind was sweeping over the prairie ; it
came in fitful gusts, and died away in a
dismal moan. A great log-fire filled
tho clay fire-place, which blazed up now
and then, and shot out bright gleams
across the planks of our little cabin.
It was cheerful enough within ; mother
sat by the fire knitting, and father was
reading by tho lght of a tallow candle
some old newspapers, about six months
old, which he had got the last time he
had ridden over to the nearest army
post, Fort Leavenworth. My brother
Tpui lay on a buffalo-skin in the corner,
fast asleep. My sister Annie was busy
with tho hired girl in the other room
washing up tho plates, while May and
Susie wero sound asleep up-stairs in
their little beds, which Liph had made
for them out of red cedar wood. There
was a ladder only to mount to the second
storv. and though mother had often
teased father and Liph to build her a
stairs such as she had always been ac
customed to, father was obstinate, and
seemed to have some reason of his own
(though he never expressed any) for not
acceding to mother's desire. Old Nero,
my father's pointer dog, lay before the
tire, occasionally growling iu his dreams.
Over the fireplace, on two wooden brack
ets, my father s ritle was laid, tor the
day ; the charges had not been drawn ;
he and Tom Lad been hunting deer,
and had come home after a fruitless
search. Suddenly old Nero jumped up
with a howl, and ran to the door, put
ting his nose close down to the floor,
scenting somethiug without ana growl'
ing incessantly.
As I said before, a high stockade sur
rounded our inclosure. The gate was
left unfastened until Liph came home.
As we all sat listening, a low sound, as
of the opening of the stockade-gate, was
heard, and presently a knock at the
door. It was a very unusual thing ; no
one ever came near the cabin at this
hour. My father rose to open the door,
" Don't do it, Eben," mother said ; out
father stalked across tho room,- and,
ealherinir himself ud to his full height,
drew the latch and swung the door wide
open. Tho light of the fire streamed out
upon tho dark, crouching lonn ot a hail
breed, who had always been looked upon
with distrust by the settlers, but who
made himself useful in various ways.
My father s astonishment upon seeing
him at this hour did not in tho least dis
concert him. Ho said ho had run out of
powder, and, as the store was fifteen
miles olf, and ho wanted to go hunting
the following day, ho had callod to bor
row some powder and shot, if my father
could spare any. My father cautiously
replied that "he could not spare much,"
but let tho fellow have some. He thank
ed him, and left. My father walked out
with him to the gate ot the stockade,
leaving the door open. I heard dis
tinctly the clattering of a horse's hoof
over the hard ground. My mother,
whose hearing was impaired, did not oo
scrve this.
When my father returned, my mother
asked what he thought of the half
breed's visit. Sho was much alarmed,
and insisted that it boded no good. My
father laughed, but when he approached
tho candle again to take up his paper, I
observed his countenance was deadly
palo. Y hat could he have seen when he
went out to tho gate of tho inclosure ?
My father was a brave, strong-hearted
man. My mother presently went to
bed she slept in a room adjoining the
main sitting-room. About nine o'clock
the gate of the stockado swung open
loudly, and my brother Liph came walk
ing up the pathway, and hammered a
loud knock on the door, which echoed'
back from the corner ot the stockado ;
but as Liph came in, I thought ho was
not as cheery as usual. Father took him
aside and asked him if he had soon any
thing.
Liph said ho had; a man riding a
white horse very rapidly, just after ho
left Hanks's house.
" Then," says my father, " thero is
something wrong, for tho fellow who
rode past the stockado an hour since was
on a black horse."
Then my lather called mo to him, and
said: "Stevie, you uro not afraid of
anything, are you '" I said I supposed
not. " Well," said my father, " I've a
mind to send you over to Hanks's cabin
for some powder. I would not let that
half-breed rascal know how little I had,
but haVe nearly run out, and we may
want all we can get before morning."
So I started for Hanks's. At the gate,
my father said : " Stevie, be careful
how you go ; tho reason why I send you
is, they will not notice you, as you are
small ; if Tom, or Liph, or I should go,
we could not hide as well as you. I fear
there are somo bad Indians about. Keep
close along the timber ; don't show your
self in the open prairie at all. Keep
your eyes about you. Get all the pow
der Hanks can spare. Hurry back be
fore tho moon rises."
I reached Hanks's in safety, saw noth
ing, told him what father thought, got
all the ammunition I could carry, and
started back ; but I had not proceeded
far before I saw half a dozen Indians
riding on tho prairie. They wero going
at the top of their horses' speed in the
direction of our house.
My father let me in ; wo closed and
barred the gate, then we closed the door
and barred it, as usual. Father exam
ined the heavy shutters ; they were all
tight. Then, said he : " Boys, wako up
Tom. We must get to work and load
every rifle and pistol in tho house." I
woke up Tom.
After wo got through loading, my
father made me lie down, and he lay
down himself. Liph said he would keep
watch.
The clock kept ticking away, as though
nothing unusual was at hand, and father
seeing the hands pointed to two, said he
thought it was a false alarm, and turned
over and fell asleep.
It seemed to me I had been asleep
only a few minutes, when Nero sprang
up, and gave a loud bark that brought
us all to our feet. Father had his rifle
in hand instantly. We listened not a
sound tho dog with his nose to tho sill
kept up a low growl.
Father and Liph talked in an under
tone, then they unbarred the door, and
Liph Btalked out into the gloom. He
walked to the stockade, and raising him
self up on a barrel, looked cautiously
over the top.
Liph theij crossed the inclosare, and
getting up on a log, looked over on tho
other side. Then he called to my father
and Tom, and they ran out with their
rifles. My mother had been awakened,
and also my sisters, and they came run
ning into the sitting-room, all very
much excited. When mother heard
what was the matter that my father
was afraid the hostile tribe of Indians,
the Arapahoes, were about she took
from a corner a riilo, and handed it to
my sister Annio, Then she called in the
hired girl, but she cried and shook so
she could nt hold tho gun.
Presently father called to mo to come
to him. 1 ran out, and mother and sis
ter Annie, too, each with rifles, loaded
and cocked.. And father said : " There
they are. Do you see them, just coming
from the belt of the wood '("
The moon was partially under the
clouds, but there was light enough to
see about a dozen crouching torms com
ing through tho high grass toward the
stockade.
' Now, all draw your rifles on the ras
cals, but don t fare till 1 give the word,
and then all together.
The Indians came on, noiselessly, fear
lessly ; they did not suppose they were
discovered.
We waited for them until they came
within twenty yards of the stockade,
when father gave tbe order to fire. We
must have knocked over fully half of
them. The rest lay still tor a while, and
then rose of a sudden and ran back to
the belt of woods.
" Thank Qod ! tfiose fellows are out
of the way," said niy father; "they
didn't expect so warm a reception. But
load up your rifles till we see, and you.
Stevie, go round the cabin and look out
behind the house, and find out if they
are to be seen there.
I did so. What was my astonishment
when 1 saw at least twenty of them com
ing right down toward the stockado,
and at tho sumo moment a large band of
them swarmed out of tho woods and
came running across the prairie, firing
as they advanced.
My father saw there was no timo to
be lost. " Back to the house, quick, for
your lives !" ho shouted.
In wo all rushed; the door was barred
and barricaded ; tables and chairs wero
placed against it. t
" Now, up tho ladder, all of you I" said
my father.
He was tho last to como up, bringing
with him all tho extra guns, powder
flasks and shot-pouches.
Father ordered the upper shutters to
be thrown open. Then he drew up the
ladder and let the trap down, and then
pulled a' bedstead over it. He pulled
off the mattress and stuffed it in the
window; then he got all the bags of
meal he cr.uld find, and, with our assist
ance, piled them up against the window,
leaving a narrow place in tho centre,
through which we could fire.
It was not long before we saw the
wisdom of theso preparations, for the
Indians had now cleared tne stockade
and Burrounded tho house, and soon the
terriblo crashing of glass announced
to us their intention of killing us all.
They fired two volleys through the win
dows of the lower story, where they sup
posed us to bo, and then bursting in the
doors, discovered that they had not
harmed us.
But, with cries of vengeance, they
prepared a more terrible fate for us than
their bullets ever could nave acconv
plished.
Again a hailstorm of balls poured in
throusrh tho window, but father had or
dered us all to lie down fl.tt, and we
obeyed. By-and-by father got up, and,
holding a mattress doubled up in lront
of him, peerod out at the side.
"My trod I he said, " Hanks s house
is in flames !" and he came back from
the window.
With that up sprang Liph like a tiger,
and rushed to tho window. He would
have thrown himself out but for father,
who caught him and dragged him back
by main force ; and, after struggling
again and again with lather, .Liiph loll
back on tho floor, with his hands to his
head.
Then we heard a crackling Bound un
derneath, and the wild cries of the sav
ages broke out with renewed vigor, and
several shots were fired upward, from
below, but tho bullets only thumped
hard against the yellow oak flooring
they did not penetrate. Soon we per
ceived strong fumes of smoke, and it
seemed to rise from without, and curled
up past the window, and at tha same
time from within, where tho flooring
joined tho side of the house, and where
the joints were not perfect. My lather
exclaimed, with an agonized look : "We
are lost!"
The fumes grew denser, and we heard
the fire beneath us crackling lotrier, for
the Indians had piled up blazing fagots
all around the cabin, and in a great
pyramid in the sitting-room. , Mother
strove to raise Liph of the floor, but he
lay like one dead, t athor sat motion
less, with head between his hands,
groaning aloud. My sisters sobbed and
cried. Tom, only, seemed perfectly
himself, but he was always stolid.
" hat s tho use of blubbering t he
said ; " they can't do more than roast
us !" This was poor consolation.
Thicker and denser grew the smoke !
We could scarcely see each other ; and a
suffocating heat tilled the room. 1 be
gan to feel dizzy. J. he names below
crackled louder. The shouts of the
demons increased, and it seemed in very
truth as though all hope was gone.
Just then, through the wild yells of
the savages, the noise ot the flames, the
cries and lamentations of tho women,
there burst in a sharp, shrill, distant
bugle-call. It was tho glorious cavalry
charge sounding. U p sprang my father.
" Hush !" cried Tom ; " do you heur that ?
That's tho dragoons' bugle I" Yes in
deed it was! Louder and nearer it
sounded! A tremendous tramp of
horses followed, and then pistol-shots
were fired, right at the door of the
house, it seemed. Then a strong, manly
voice criod out : " Give it to them,
boys ! No quarter ! Sabre them all !
Down with the scoundrels! Such a
clanging of steel was nover heard before.
There seemed to be no end to it. Cries
and supplications on one sido ; impreca
tions und shouts ot triumph on the
other. Then, comparative stillness
reigned for a moment, and the captain
(Uod bless him) called out troui below
" Is any ono up there '(" My father
sprang to the window, and cried out,
" Captain, you have saved us 1" Then,
quick as thought, he pulled the ladder
to the window ; two stout dragoons
caught it as it touched tho ground ;
then, through the smoke and flame, we
all got out. But the ladder was too
short, and was several feet below the
window. Father had to drop us all
down to tho first rung, one by one.
Liph just recovered his strength in time
to get out. There was no time to lose
We were scarcely all down before a
sheet of flame shot up through the trap
door, and in another moment the hole
cabin was in flumes. We were huddled
together next the stockade. I then
recollect seeing my father throw his
arms around the captain, and heartily
embrace him.
Day was just breaking. Off to the
right the smoke ot Hanks house was
drifting away on tho wind ; and to the
left, the Starbucks' cabin was rolling up
blaclf volumes of smoke to tho sky 1 The
red men bad made a simultaneous at
tack upon the cabins comprising the
colony. -
Oh. what a morning ! What a spec
tacle ia our stockade ! A dozen dead
Indians lay in front of our 'door, and as
many more wounded lay outside ! Some
had fallen as they tried to escape. Off
on the horizon (tor yon can see a great
many miles on the prairie) we could see
the remnant of their band fleeing on
their swift horses, ttnd a few dragoons
pursuing and bring occasional shots at
the retreating savages.
Outside tho stockade the dragoons
tied their horses. The men, regardless
of the cries and moans of their adversa
ries, were watering their animals from
the tank in tho yard, while the flames
of our cabin curled upward with de
vouring rapidity.
Captain Lecompte, who commanded
the detachment, then told my father
that, two nights before, he hud boon
warned by a friendly Indian of tho
contemplated massacre of our colony.
Ho had at once saddled up, and he and
his gallant band had ridden sixty miles,
at a hard gallop tho best part of the
way, hoping to reach us before they had
done us any harm. Soon the dragoons
began to come in ; for their captain.
with commendable skill, had distributed
his force through the colony before at
tacking. They brought woeful tidings.
The Starbucks were all murdered. So
were the Willis family. TheMontanyas
had shared a similar fato. Old Hanks
had been found murdered, by tho side
of his son Joshua ; his younger son Sam
and bis beautiful daughter Amanda
wero not to be found ; either they hod
been burned in the house or carried off
by the Araphoes.
V hen Xjiph heard this, he raised bis
hands to heaven, then tore his hair in a
frenzy, and grasping a rifle that lay on
tbe ground, essayed to take his own
life, but some dragoons seized hiin and
held him fast. He raved like a nianiao
for several hours ; then, his strength ex
hausted, he sank to the ground.
Not long afterward the dragoons
commenced making preparations for de
parture. Their horses were watered
and ted ; the men sat down, and, open
ing their haversacks, partook of a frugal
meal of salt pork and army biscuit the
latter better known among military
men as hard-tack their canteens all be
ing filled from our tank.
Everything being ready, and our own
horses having been saddled up (for I
omittod to state that tho stable was un
touched by the flames, and tho Indians
had not timo to get away with any of
the horses), we took a last look at the
smoldering embers of our desolated
cabin ; tho bugles sounding " Boots and
saddles," we, preceded by tho dragoons,
started out on tho prairie in the direc
tion of Fort Leavenworth.
Poor Liph ! he was terribly shattered.
He spoke not a word ; his eyes wandered
hopelessly across tho prairie, as if he
could penetrate to where his beloved
one had been taken. Then a look of
horror would succeed this, and his head
drop despondingly upon his breast. The
stout, Btrong man bent beneath the
weight of aiUiction.
Walking the horses slowly, wo pro
ceeded that day without an incident to
disturb our monotonous march. At
night we laid down by tho bivouac-fires
and slept; refreshing and welcome
Bleep fell alike on wearied man and
boast. The next morning we were all
up at break of day, and, after partaking
of the same frugal meal as 'before, we
proceeded more rapidly, we all having
somewhat rocovercd trom tho latiguo ot
the previous night.
Arriving at a little settlement known
as Allersontown (since destroyed); judge
of our astonishment at seeing Sam
Hanks sitting on a stump in front of a
cabin, and besido him, on the grass,
wrapped in a buffalo-robe, Amanda !
Amanda, the pride of the colony !
Amanda, safe and well, but pale and
haggard, her eyes red with weeping, her
hair unkempt, and hanging wildly about
her shoulders.
To spring from his saddle, to seize
the prostrate girl in his muscular arms,
was for Liph tho work of an instant,
and tho dragoons opened wide their
eyes with amazement at seeing him, in
an ecstacy of joy, kissing his lost sweet
heart. Amanda had been terribly shaken by
the news of her father's death, and still
further overwhelmed at hearing the
rumor that all of our family had perish
ed in the flames of our cabin.
The account given to us by Sara Hanks
was, that on' that memorable night,
shortly after I left his house, his father
became alarmed, and ordered hira to
saddle up two horses, and, taking Aman
da with him, to ride with all speed to
ward Fort Leavenworth. His sister,
however, becoming exhausted, they
could not proceed beyond Allersontown.
This accounted for our meeting them
thero. What a goodly spectacle it was
to see Liph and Amanda riding side
by side all the way to Fort Leaven
worth, which we reached in safety the
next day.
We wero treated with groat kindness,
and romained upward of a year near the
post. Amanda shortly afterward was
married at Captain Lecompte's quarters,
the noble captain giving her away to
Eliphalet Busch, who swore eternal love
and truth. Every one who heard his
manly voice felt that he was worthy of
all trust and confidence, and particular
ly Qualified to become tho guardian and
protector of the beautiful and gentle
Amanda, " the pride ot tne colony.
A Pathetic Picture.
Georgo William Curtis paints the fol
lowing pathetio picture, which every
ono could wish wero less true to nature:
" I think of many a sad-eyed woman
I have known in solitary country homes
who seemed never to have smiled, who
struggled with hard hands through
melting heat and pinching cold to hold
poverty and want that hovered like
wolves about an ever increasing flock
of. children. How it was scour in the
morning and scrub at night and scold
all day long! How caro blurred the
window like a cloud, hiding the lovely
landscape ! How anxiety Bnarled at
her heels, dogging her like a cur ! How
little sho knew or cared that bobolinks,
drunk with blithe idleness, tumblod and
sang in the meadows below, that the
earth was telling the time of year with
flowers in the woods above. As I think
of these things, of this solitary, inces
sant drudgery, of the taoiturn husband
comine in heavy with sleep, too weary
to read, to talk, to think, and I da not
wonder that mad houses are so richly
recruited from the farmhouses as the
statistic show."
Laboring Men and Men of Leisure.
One of the prominent speakers, at the
meeting of employers in this city the
other day, stated very distinctly that
thero were in tho late strikes somo very
marked traces of communism, and that
the question had been frequently heard
among tho strikers, " Why should wo,
too, not live in brown stone houses '"
Twenty years ago, tho sole object of a
strike was to obtain a slight increoso in
wages ; to-day most ot the leaders, at
least, look on themselves as doing some
thing to hasten a social reorganization,
in which there shall bo no class exempt
from manual labor.
Professional men, dorks, and all others
whoso work is mainly of the mental
kind, or is at all events clean work
which may be done without disfigure
ment of any kind, have become in their
eyes nearly as obnoxious as the regular
loungers. Ik short, the ideal society of
the labor reformers, everywhere, though
more vaguely held in some places than
others, is one in which all shall be in a
greater or 'loss degree manual laborers,
so that the social distinction now created
by a man's not laboring with his hands
shall disappear.
The effect of such a revolution as this
on civilization that is, of the disappear
ance from society of everybody who did
not settle down every morning to some
distasteful physical task and work at it
as long as his nervous energy enabled
him, and of everybody who owed any
thing in the way of greater social free
dom, or the greater freedom in the choice
of pursuits which wealth gives, to his
father's accumulations or his own rapid
success would form a curious subject
of speculation.
It is well to remember, when we talk
about " civilization " and glory in the
difference it has made between us and
our skinclad forefathers, that ninety-nine
hundredths of it are the result of the
work of what wo may call the " loisured
class," that is, the class of whom our so
cial arrangements permit to live in what
to the manual laborer seems idleness.
In fact, the first tttep in, civilization is
not made until some portion of tho com
munity is released from the necessity of
toiling with its hands and allowed to
occupy itself with thinking, speculating.
or in other words, following tho train of
abstract reasoning and playing with the
imagination ; and the rapidity of the
rise of every people into civilization has
been in the ratio of the number of those
whom it was able to release in this way
from the common drudgery of life. A
great majority of these have always, will
always, to all outward appearance, think
and imagine in vain, as if it wero an es
sential feature in the moral order of the
univeise that there should be this seem
ing waste of effort in every department
of human activity.
But the number of those who have
tried to make such contributions with
out succeeding, and the number of those
who have niudo trifling contributions
not great enough to rescue their names
from oblivion but good enough to help
the others, the Keplers, Newtons, Davys,
and Harvcys, to their discoveries, has
doubtless been almost beyond count.
But they could not have shown them
selves at all, in a society of manual la
borers such as somo working men dream
of.
God has somehow not organized soci
ety according to our notions of justice.
lio has mado some men strong and
healthy, others weak and sickly ; some
men wise and able, other men foolish
and stupid; some women handsome,
other women plain ; He has imposed on
one half of the human species the pains
ot reproduction, to the other halt He
has given only its pleasures, and on this
inequality, human society is organized,
v i irr.. 1 1 :
jjveiy uuu mis uis puot, uui tueiv ta mi
enormous differenco in the comfort and
dignity of the different posts.
The safety and progress of humanity,
as a whole, depends on each man s serv'
ing faithfully and without murmuring.
The rude fishermen of the Northern sea,
as a great English writer has finely
said, collects tho oil which fills the schol
ar's lamp in the luxurious capital three
thousand miles away. Should the day
ever come when the fisherman will in
sist on tho scholar's collecting his own
oil, the day when there will be neither
scholars, fishermen nor oil will not bo
far distant. Christian Union.
How Long: should a Man Stick to His
inline
A correspondent of tho Locomotive L'n-
gintcri Journal, writing from Rutland,
Vt, speaking of the duty and extent of
tbe responsibility ot an engine man in
case ot accident, says :
" where an accident takes pluce, such
as going down the dump or colliding
with another train a bridge may be
gone, a culvert washed away he may
see tbe fatal leap ; 1 ask you, thinking
your experience is worth as much as
mine, would there be anything beroio
for me to stand on the toot board and
plunge with my engine into certain and
dreadful death f Is there anything
brave about it V nave you no responsi
bilities here on earth, no matter if you
have ten cars loaded with . passengers
that must follow the engine as the case
may be ' Now I consider an engineer's
responsibility ceases, in such cases, when
he has sounded his whistle properly and
reversed his engine, opened his throttle,
pulled open his sand box. He has done
his whole duty to God and man as far
as he can to stop the train, and if he
has time and opportunity, if he is true
to himself, he will try to get off and
not go down to tha bottom calling for
brakes. Many engineers go down and
collide and are killed, for the reason
they do not have time after doing their
duty. 1 never should feel as if a man
was fit to run an engine if he had not
courage to do his whole duty. But af
ter he has stood to his post and done all
that has been put into his hands to do,
then I say he ia a man who will try and
save bis own life.
A young lady in Plattsburg asked her
mamma, " How long does the honey
moon latit'f" to which the practical
mother replied, "Until you ask your
nusoanu zor money.
Facts and Figures,
A Detroit ferry boat passes freo all
citizens over 90.
Georgia banks closo at ono o'clock
during the summer months.
A Georeria babv has a double set of
uwb all full of teeth, but no eyes.
Kansas has a wild sea serpent travel-1
ling about and devouring ctittlo.
Tho Mayor and Council ot Dos Moines
have been arrested for contempt of court.
A woman has had to pay $100 for"
selling a glass of whiskey at Whitehall,
111.
A lady of Springfield, Va., was bitten
by a cat having the hydrophobia the
other day.
A budget of 2,912 love letters passed
between a couple now about to unite at
Fort Wayno, lnd.
The 100 girls in the St. Louis Normal
School wear calico dresses, and no chig
nons as waterfalls.
Nebraska is tho only State that had A
railroad in running order when admit
ted into the Union.
A Cedar Falls minister preached in
defense of croquet. His text was, " And
sho took the mallet'
A prying reporter in Richmond do-
clares that a lady there has ordered a 42
pair of stockings for her wedding.
A man in Richmond, Va., has worn
the same pair of linen trousers forty-
nino summers, ihey are just in style
this year.
A vicious horse in Michigan lately
kicked his master's jaw off and knocked
bis teeth down his throat, choking him
to death.
Macon, Ga., disputes Brooklyn's clilim
as the " City of Churches." Sho has a
church to less than every thousand in
habitants.
Mrs. Robinson, of Dubuque, was mar
ried on Tuesday, unmarried on Wednes
day, and on Thursday ran off with an
other man.
A California jury, in a suicido cast;
lately, returned the following verdict :
"We, tho jury, find that tho deceased
was a fool."
A daughter of tho owner of tho Crys
tal Gold Mine in California, lately fell
1 10 feet down a shun, and was brought
out a shapeless mass.
An Irish lecturer of note solemnly said,
ono evening. " Parents, you may havo
children; or if you have not, your
daughters may have."
The Colorado desert, by a late railroad
survey has been found to be in places
200 leet below tho level of the sea.
Scientists are in a quandary.
They have a flower in Alameda, Cal..
called " Aaron's cup," which measures
two feet eight inches from the base of
the flower to the tip ot the cup.
A gontlo father in Vicksburg, Miss., a
short time ago, tied his twelve-year-old
son to the rafters of the house by his
feet and flogged him till he was nearly
dead.
Limestone, 111., boasts of a porkor
with a head and tail at each end, and
two sets of logs between. It must bo
awkward for tho animal to attempt to
go ahead.
An advertisement in a Western paper
informs the public that board for the
summer can Tie obtained " at a large
and shady brick gentleman's residonce
in the country."
Tho latest snake story is to the effect
that lately in Crawford j., Ind., a
viper attempted to swajjow a black
snake larger than himself, and was
choked in the operation.
Solomon City. Kansas, does not seem
to be a very healthy place for married
.. One day last week nve wives de
serted their respective husbands and
went back East to " livo with mamma."
The following is a certificate given by
a Troy lawyer to an applicant for ad
mission to the bar : " i uereoy cenity
that the bearer, , was a student
in my office for ton months ; that dur
ing the whole of that time his character
for piety, chastity, and honesty was
above reproach ; and his examplo was
such that Irom my aauy contact wun
him I have now become a pious and
consistent member of the church, and a
useful member of society.
The subject of impressions at first
sight was being talked over at the tea
table, when the lady whoso duty it was
to preside said ; " She always formed an
idea of a person at first sight, and gen
erally found it to be correct." " Mamma,"
said hor youngest son, in a shrill voice,
that attracted the attention of all
present. " Well, my dear, what is it "'
replied tho good inothor. '" I want to
know what was your opinion when you
first saw nie'f" The question gave a
sudden turn to the conversation.
One of tho most extraordinary facts
revealed to us by Dr. Livingstone's ex
plorations in Africa is that tho high
table land of the interior, with,' its rich
agricultural resources, its noblo flora,
its fine temperature, broad inland seaa,
and inexhaustible stores of mineral
wealth, is rendered all but impenetrable
to civilized man, certainly beyond all
reach of colonization, by one of tho most
apparently insignificant of causes, a fly.
This terrible insect is a little brown,
yellow-striped fly called the tsetze,
scarcely larger than our common house
hold pests, but whose sting is absolutely
fatal. So deadly is its poison that it is
said three or four flies will kill tho
largest ox. Soon after tho bite, which
gives little or no pain, staggering and
blindness comes on ; the body (wells to
an enormous size ; the coat turns
rough, and in a few hoflro follow con
vulsions and death. And yet this
deadly poisen under the effect of which
the'horse and ox, the sheep and the dog
full as if plague-stricken, is perfectly
harmless to man, to wild animals, to the
pig, mule, ass, and goat. Here is an
achievement of science that would bring
glory to the discoverer the discovery
of some antidote to the sting of this
venomous fly, which would open tha
treasures of Central Africa to tho uee of
tho world,