V
1 .
I
; , a c n v x r r-r if 1: .it Brvnr.tc a a r a n r r
VOL. II.
lUIXnVAX 1A TltUltSDAY, JANUARY 1:J. -187?).
'(. 47.
ilE
iffl
(n if tut m
' fJJJl CUT J
Aiik Me no More.
A me no moro. Tlin moon may draw (ho sna ;
Tho cloud may stoop from hoavon unci tnlm
tlio shape.
With fold to fold, of mountain or of rnpo.
Hut, oh, too fond, whmi have I answered thee ?
Ask me no more.
Ak me no more. What answer nliouM I pivc ?
I love not hollow rheck or.faded eye j
Vet, oh, my friend. I will not have thee dio I
Auk me no more, lent I Hhould bid tho live ;
Ask me no more.
Ask me no more. Thy fate and inme'nre sealed.
I strove against the stream Riul all invain.
Lei the groat river take me to the main.
No, more, dear love, for at a touch I yield ;
Ask me no more 1
A STORY AIJOl'T PEARLS.
We belonged to the same club. I pre
rred his game of whist to tliat of any
corner I cannot imagine. What I am
anting about happened some venrs ago.
it waS a Summer afternoen w'licn I met
Clap von Trap in the park. "Here,"
said he to me, "is the chance I have
ieen waiting for Rome time, that of see
ing you again and talking to you alone,"
nnd with this lie drew a small velvet
covered box from his pantaloons pocket
nnd, opening it, displayed some ex
quisite pearls. " Here is richness," lie
continued. ' They came from Califor
nia. Oysters pearl ovsters there in
greater quantity than the edible ones in
Chesapeake Bay. It's only a question
of how many bushels, not of shells, but
of pearls, we want. Divers, Luzon they
rail them, do the business now. Here,
take this one and look at it, It is not
worth more than $100. There is just
82, i o() in this box. Take this one and
give it to your wife, with mv compli
ments. Know the place where thev are
found? Don't I? These come direct
from the bed. The original Spaniards
used to fish there two centuries ago, but
the very existence of the place has been
lost to the whole world, excepting to
three men, and I nm one of them. You
have heard of "La Pepegrina,' the most
beautiful pearl in the world, given to
Pluhp II., King of Spain, nnd now in
the royal treasures of Madrid, only
equaled by the one belonging to the
Princess Yousoppoff? Seen the Peve
gnna when you were in Spain? Of
course yon did; as big as a pigeon's egg
worth $150,000. Queen Isnbelln.they do
say, tried to Rwallow it when she 'was
driven out, but could not bo't it,
and so was forced to disgorge. That
pearl is a fool to what we can find, and
that pearl was discovered as far as tra
dition goes exactly where our beds are.
I have been waiting for the last three
weeks trying to find one good, solid fel
low, to embark in ii;Is enterprise.
Don't talk to me about your fortune.
Here it is. We could, if we wanted to,
make pearls as cheap as glass beads, but
we are too clever for that; we will only
let them out ns they are wanted; no
breaking down of the pearl market' '
"Every difficult' has been overcome"
he continued. "There has been no end
of ingenuity lavished on matters of this
kind. There were lots of people.during
the war, who racked their brains in
venting subaqueous machines for hu
man destruction. All of them failed
either they would not work, or the men
in them could not be kept alive all save
one, and I have secured the patent of
that one. All you have to do is to build
your boat, pui a dozen men in her I
nm willing to make the first trip in her
and down, down we go, to nny depth
under water, nnd we can sail 'around
quite as comfortably one hundred fa
thoms deep as a yatch would on the sur
face of the North River. Then there is
such an ingenious method for letting
the men out so that they can work under
water. Don't ask me about the air to
keep them nlive with ; that is the first
problem we had to solve. We are not
so stupid as to suppose that human be
ings could live underwater without air.
All modern inventions of this character
start with tho idea of supplying air from
theoutside. Maybe, he went on, still
toying with the pearls, "you have read
those wonderful letters of Otto Plasms.
You think I nm not a rending man, but
I nm. He declares somewhere that on
shipboard the time must come when, in
stead of stowing away huge tanks of
water for the use of the sailors, or even
distilling sea-water, something else
must be done. He even asserts that
water in the Groat Desert of Sahara will
be sooner or later supplied to those that
use it by those simply natural but ever
progressive laws of science.
By combining oxygen nnd hydrogen
in certain well-known and defluite pro
portions, we can manufacture water. If
water can be produced, what is to pre
vent our manufacturing air? Funny,
wouldn't it be, if that particular case
mentioned by old Adam Smith should
really turn up, that of a man having the
monopoly of air ? Now follow me. All
we have to do is to take in n cargo of
oxygeu nnd nitrogen. But you say, nnd
very properly, why not take in air at
once ? Because it would occupy too
much space, and make us so buoyant,
that no matter how we condensed it, we
would never sink. We take our sub
marine boat, then, freight her with pick
nxes. rakes, put our men on board, and
with our tweney-five, fifty, or a hundred
pounds of chemicals, down, down we
go. Here I remember Von Trap plung
ed his stick, on elegant Malacca, into
the ground, and I followed suit with my
cane, thrusting it into the soft sod away
above the ferule. " You grapple with
the oyster," continued my friend, mov
ing round his stick in the dirt, "select
ing only the biggest and fattest. We
collect five ten fifty tons of them.
Then up we come, and dump them on
the shore, and back again we go for
more and more. Here does not, howev
er, end the business. The East, my
boy, and Ceylon, Coromandel, and Con
datchy ! We will monopolize the trade.
Then what say you to coral, and the
Mediterranean, and the tons on tons of
that delicate blush pink shade, worth
its weight in gold, and then the more
vulgar but useful sponge; and, then my
scheme is limitless in its extent. I con
ess it conf uses me some times, when I
one rise, though ho invariably won lny
money. , , when I happen to
see hiin, he is always on the other side
ot the street, or inst. tuminu ,.i
think of it in nil its extent-. Those hid
den wrecks, there argosies, those ships
rich i bullion nnd plate, which lie
scattered here nnd there, strewed nround
purposely waiting for us. Think of it,
now; all those fat old galleons, sunk by
Drake and Hawkins, which have been
waiting the William Thippses of the
nineteenth century I Do not talk to
me about Capt. Ki'dd nnd such trash, I
tell you 1 never was in more sober earn
est in my life, and nm I'Cftity to risk my
nil in it,' It ia simply a mutter of doi
Inrs and cents. Here nre my figures."
nnd with this he drew out of his cigar
ease n card, on which was written in a
bold, clear hand, n whole row of figures.
Handing me a cigar, nnd taking one
himself, he went on. " Now, you shall
judge for yourself whether I nm much
out. of the way. Patent on the subma
rine machine, with total nnd exclusive
right to use it, in fact, the absolute
cession of it, 73,000. They wanted
$200,000, nnd n participation in the
profits, for the United States nlone, but
I nt-last got their price, nnd have the
refusal of it for ten days- Cost of build
ing the vessel, iron throughout, with
engine nnd apparatus complete, $08,
875 02. Every item down on the con
tract, with specifications, nnd the work
ing drawings now in the hands of the
first machine-shop in the eoitntiy.
Chemist's potent, $100,000. That is
steep, 1 must admit."
" Quite so," I said.
" So it seems to me still. But the
confounded fellow has the secret, and
laughs at me when I mention even a
penny less. I did try ever so hard to
make him taken portion of tho price in
shares, but he has refused. All I can
get out of him is his promise to be sat
isfied with his money by instalments.
Item third; Cost of material for making
air of the primest quality, fifty pounds
capable ot producing 7,-S.rJ,oh'J cubic
feet of A 1 nir. nt thirty cents n pound,
is $15. But I hnve no uoubt, from in
quires I have made among the whole
sale people, it could be bought in quan
tity for twenty-two cents, and we might
import it ourselves on a margin; nnd
what n saving that would be, for we
shall certainly want tons of it. Well,
you must confess that $15 is cheap
enough."
Quite so," I replied.
" Then comes the pick-nxes, crow-
ilars, nnd implements necessary for
digging out the shells from their beds.
I figured that out at $150, nnd I may
be under or over the mark. Now, to
transport our craft to San Francisco, the
future centre of our operations, we will
have to build her in sections nnd put
her together there. That will cost, by
the Pacific Railroad, exactly $18,(539.
I have seen the freight agent and con
sulted tho tariff. It would be much
cheaper round the Horn, but then the
delay, nnd the months that must elapse
before we could ot it there. It is too
good n thing to be slow nbout. One
.tliinrr mm-A - fvpw rt' itn rnpil nlld nnn.
tain,with stores nnd food, et cetera, sny)l.p. his wife nnd his children
a matter of $750 a month ; nnd now you viug, for the last ten hours,
have it nil, which makes a total of $202,
420.(15 call it, if you please, a round
$275,000, and add $25,000 for contingent
expenses I never omit contingerl; ex
penses ; ninny n good thing has been
spoiled for want of that calculation and
you have $1300,000, and that is an out
side figure. Now," and here he paused
for n moment, nnd ngaiu taking out the
box of pearls, selected one or two of the
smaller sizes, " have you," he said, "any
idea of the worth ol a string of these
things when they come from Ceylon?
Aquadruplestringsome ten inches long,
of good quality, will bring from $1,000
to $5,000. Thev would go in a gill
measure. If a gill is worth that much,
what is n quart or peck worth ? Then,
Rmmnsn vt Klimihl imlv (rot n fu khv
ns liio- n n 1inz.d-r.iit. for it i.evfeetl'v
vi.lAit tliof. rtl.locf on.! turyryact rtva.
ters hnve never been obtained nt all .
What's the use of speculating ? It's
fabulous undivined untold wealth
within our grasp, in pearls nlone, not
speaking of the flyers in sunken ships,
All the rest of the world will have to
como io us for the right to use our pro
cess. I have omitted entirely the mother-of-pearl,
worth nt least $300 a ton,
which would more than pay the working
expenses. Now what say you ? Here,
take this pearl ; it will just grace your
wife's stylo of beauty. It is 3,000 slinres
we shall start with. We have put them
at $100; , that will make a capital of
$300,000, not anything like as much as
is put up every day io make the mean
est ring in Wall street. At ten per cent,
interest, we have to give $30,000. Why.
one dip into the sea will pay more than
that ; we are morally certain to pay back
the whole capital with six weeks' labor.
Now I do not want you to bo the least
bit dazzled by what I have told you.
I know you are timidand I applaud you
for it. Take your time nbout it, do not
be hasty. Here, take this pearl ; I nd
mire your delicacy ; c ! course I can't be
giving such things to your' wife only
keep it awhile, nnd if you do go in with
us, then only accept it ; it's a trifle any
how, and you may pay me for it out of
your first dividend ; " and, saying this,
selecting a very-pretty penrl, with p. del
icate, warm, golden tint, lustrous, how
ever, as a globule of quicksilver, he
dropped it into my watch-pocket. "Ah!"
he said, "I must go. Sorry I haven't
my double wagon out to-day, or I might
give you a lift." Here tfrove up his
stylish equipage, and taking the reins
from his servant, in n moment more
my friend, Von Trap, was gone.
As I ascended the steps of my pleas
ant little house, my wife opened the
door for me. "It is rather late; what
hns kept you away from us so long ? "
she asked.
" It is not lute, I think," I replied, and
drew out my watch, when out tumbled
the pearl, which I had forgotten. The
oil-cloth in the entry was of a dark,
black ground, aud over and over rolled
the pearl, flashing and shining.
"Gracious! what is that?" asked my
wife.
"Only a pearl," I replied, in a sub
dued tone.
" Oh ! the pretty penrl. What lovely
colors. So modest, withal ; " and pick
ing it up, she held it between her first
finger and thumb. My wife has a charm
ing hand and graceful fingers, and I
thought then, as I think now, that that
thumb and finger, imparting a rosy hue
to the lustrous penrl, made the best set
ting for the gem I had ever seen.
Then I told her nil about it, from be
ginning to end.
" I shnll exnmine closely, vigorously
into the whole matter. Voil Trap want's
me on the Board of Direction, and fin
occupation is so very desirable. If it is
all right I might venture n small sum."
and then I tallied of Ceylon, sponges,
coral, sunken treasure, not as well ns
did Von Trap, but with a certain effect.
Whether (ill the stock was tnken or
not, I suppose I shall never be able to
discover. What is certain was that there
were some good names standing for
shares. P. P. C. stock, though not on
the regular list, was bought nnd sold by
brokers, and wns, for a time, quite n
fancy stock. Home people took shares
in itj the dividends to be paid in pearls,
placing the shares in their wives' or
daughters' nnmes, nnd in many p. draw
ing room, pretty women would talk of
their irospective pearl parures, nnd
wonder how ninny pearls it would take
to span their graceful necks. As I had
Ke
ad :
?f S
it- ,
some taste in designing, mv tracing
ornaments of n decorative nature, suit
able for ear-rings, pendants, and brace
lets, all of pparl. were engpfly sought
after.
The first difficulty was about the
patent. No sooner was the P. P. C.
the purchaser than injunctions, from
America nnd Europe, nnd even Asia
and Africa, I believe were showered on
us. The whole world clamored infringe
ments, Sonu we had to buy off, whilo
others we had to fight in Court, Then
came delay on delay as to the building
of the submarine boat, I Bpent days
and weeks in traveling between the
office and the machine-shop, nnd quite
I ruined my self in buying new clothes,
inose i wore neing soiieu nv ine msi
j ami oil in the dingy shop where it was
building. After that came the chemical
annoyances. There was no doubt about
our being nble to make nir, nnd of the
finest, purest, nnd most exhilernting
charncler? in the office. We. used to
prepare it by the ten cubic feet, hi n
nicely-lacquered gasometer, nnd breathe
it too, and enjoy the experiment very
much, and we made every one who came
in try it, nnd nil the visitors declared it
to be the freshest nnd nicest air they
had ever used, and some people of a
j philanthropic turn of mind were sim
guiue " that if " as they said, " we could
only turn a stream of our prepared air ;
into isaxter-stroet, or into tenement
houses, in the Summer, we would save
the city from nil sickness, besides ameli
orating the condition of tho poor." But
there was a hitch somewhere, suspected
by me alone. Sometimes now that I go
over the whole matter, I nm inclined to
think that the German chemist was
Mephistophiles, disguised as an alchem
ist. One day he would burst into the
oftiee, drag me into the private room,
fall on my neck, aud witn tears in his
eves wanting to kiss me would de
clare, " That all was besser ns goot; that
had beeu
in an at
mosphere of his own preparation, that
they were doing well, and that the last
obstacle in the manufacture had beeu
removed," but adding " that he must
have a thousand dollars more before he
could go on." Thnt very night he would
wake me and the neighbors up by howl
ing my name at the door, and shouting
" that his child wns ill dying, from
there having been an overdose of nitro
gen in his mixture.
Very soon my thousand dollars went,
and with it some of the stockholders,
who preferred having their stock forfeit
ed to paving further assessments. I
must coufesa that
so far, Von Trnp
had stood manfully by us. He had
bought an immense stock of pick-nxes,
oyster-rakes, crow-bars at nominal
i prices, which were on exhibition
in the
! office.
Little by little my ten thousand dollar
interest became fifty thousand, and
shortly I became the largest share
holder, Von Trap complimented me
on my pnioK aim oiiereo me the rres-
idency, which 1 declined. I still hud
unlimited faith in the P. P. C. so much
so as to write a brilliant prospectus, '
which I had neatly printed on tinted j
pnper, with a red line round the edges,
which was distributed by the thousands.
We advertised, it, too The Peregrins
Pearl Company in all the lending pa- !
pers, and the reader may have seen
notices of it. Here commenced mv
nrsi co uness wiui on i rap. ae would
write the advertisements himself, in the
.. A 1 . -11 it r.,
regular patent medicine, lottery scheme
style, which was against my judgment.
Calls for money became now incessant.
The contractor who wns building the
submarine boat was always calling for
advances, threatened " to leave right off
then, and not drive in another rivet or
turn a bolt unless so many thousand
dollars were paid. We hall made so
many alterations and improvements,"
he said " that it would cost twice as
much as the original drawings and
specifications called for."
Later I noticed that my friend Von
Trap had not been in the office for ten
days. Presently, in the streets, I heard
his name used m connection with that
ol a novel process for facilitating City
transit. It was described as something
marvelous nn electro-motor, by means
of which passengers could be conveyed
from the Battery to Spyten Dnyvel in
three minutes, and nt a cost not .exceed
ing seven-eights of a cent per head.
Still I labored on, was President, Secre
tary, Consulting Engineer, correspond
ent, clerk and errand boy : did every
thing but sweep out the P. P, O. offices.
The chemist now almost drove me mad.
He became insatiable in his demands,
and seemed to hold me personally re
sponsible for the whole company. If
he was not the evil one, at least lie was
the personification of greed and avarice.
Where the thousands of dollars he had
received went to was a mystery, as he
was always squalid, wretched and dirty
to a degree. Now he lured me on with
his secret, which he assured me was
within grasp, and wrung from mo my
last few dollars. At last, after a day of
agonizing labor, he came to me with a
preponderous demand for more money,
which I refused. "Give me," I said,
"the process perfected in every detail,
and I will do what I Can to raise the
money, but not one oent more until
then'
A Paducoh small boy was fined eighty
cent in the City Court the other day
He looked nt me with his sinster eyes
and, very coolly drawing from his
pocket a small glass tube, heremctically
sealed, one end of which was drawn to
a fine point, he said : "Zee. You must
bay me vife tousand dollar, now on
do' Fiphot, or I breaks oil' the leetle
sphlinter of glass here, nnd you and I,
nnd everydings in dis house, shall be
smrtshed into leu hundred tousand mil'
lion ndonis 1" nnd with this, his face
livid with passion, he laid the glass
tube on my desk.
Had it been a sixty-four pound shell,
with lighted fuse, I should not have
eared. I knew that I was ruined that
the brend had been taken out of my
wife and children's mouths, and
WHS !
indifferent ns to my fate. With one
vigorous kiok, well applied, for all my
upset energies culminated then, I sent
the alchemist flying out of the room,
headlong down the steep stairs, nnd
hardly knowing what I did, rushing
iwck to my itesK, tnrew uie internal
thing nfterhim. The glass tube lit on
thing niter mm. ne glass tune m on
he landing, fizzled for a moment no !
XAc ,tLnn q, nna tImt j
The nWemist I never saw more. I
Next day I shut up the concern. The
shell of the sub-marine vessel, half com-
ph-ted, was sold for old hon, the price
it brought settled some of the lawyers ;
fees : the office furniture was seized bv
the landlord for the unexpired lease.
All I had left was the seal. I have it
now.
Poor wife and children ! They took
their share of the misfortune heroically
without n mnrmiin The day of the,
downfall of the P. P. C. she offered me a
pearl, which I had fortunately insisted
on buying of Von Trap, to psy any
outstanding debt thnt might be owing
some honest creditor. Such a one wns
found. Bridget McCosh, the woman
who had cleaned the office for n six
month, nt $5 a month, put in hei very
just claim for $30. My wife took the
pearl to nn eminent jeweler. "A beau
tiful Indian penrl, Madam," he said,
"and we shnll be quite 2uVased to have
it back ngnin,"
"How havo it back ngnin !" nsked my
wife,
"We know every gem of value we dis
pose of : which helps us, to trace lost
stones. Of course, in this case, there is
nothing of he kind. Could tell this
particular stone in n thousand. Though
not large, it is nearly perfect as to shape
and color. Allow me to refer to our
books. Ah, yes here it is. AVe sold
this nnd quite a lot of them, say eight,
ten months ago. I think $100 was the
price then paid for it, We hnve no idea
of taking any unfair ndvautage of yon,
! Madam. Pearls like this, rate nt any
j time, are just now nt nn ndvnnce of fully
ten per oent. We can just place such n
I pearl to-day, to match one n customer
j wants for a bridal gift, and we will give
, $125 for it, which 1 assure yon is a fancy
; price. Will you take the money or our
j check : perhaps you might wnnl some
j jewelry in exchange for it ? Any way
; to suit you, madam.
The char-woman was paid, nnd, good
soul, such a kind friend she has been to
' us since.
A Strange Story.
An exchange gives a long account of
; one Henrietta Bobinson, who nbout
; twenty years ago was accused of poison
i ing a man nnd woman in Troy, New
j York, and wns convicted and sentenced
to death, but the sentence was commut
ed to imprisonment for life. She was
styled at the time the "Veiled Murder-
ess," as she kept herself closely veiled
in court and in prison, and would neith-
r uliftu' lim- fnnn nnr n-iV nnv nv-nmif
of herself or her family. She has now
; been eighteen years in nmg Sing, nnd
generally enjoys good health and spirits,
' and preserves 'her good looks. She was
a very handsome woman when she went
' to prison, nnd was supposed to belong
to some high family either in
England or Ireland. She has never vet
! breathed a word in regard to her fain-
ily which has reached the public. She
i(;eailea .Ml., Robinson" by the other
.,.: .i, .i n i-1.
highest respect. Having been uniform
ly exemplary in conduct, she has been
granted many trifling privilege not all
owed ordinary prisoners. Her cell is
a curiosity in its way. It is represented
to be a miniature conservatory, embrac
ing some rare floral productions, Itis
also embellished with many other evi
I .. r lltlV. IU.Hi.
dences of refined taste and culture. She
: is mre communicative to the ehaplaiu
! of the m.:SOI1 ti...n anv one u
ward him she occasionally throws off a
portion of her habitual reserve. It is
supposed she has made some important
communications to him under the seal of
secrecy, and he states that before many
months shall have passed there possibly
may be more disclosures given to the
public in regard to her case, which will
j present fier in a different light than that
I in which she has hitherto stood. This
i chaplain, who attended hr trial, has
always expressed a belief in her entire
innocence of the fearful crime for which
she was convicted.
'ew Year Resolution.
The commencement of a new year be
ing an excellent time to "turnover a new
leaf," let those who onght to turn, do it.
Let those who have habits that are eb-
noxious to other people or injurious to'
themselves, resolve to abandon them.
Let those who practice deceit and dis
honesty resolve to be honest men. Let
those who are indolent and mere leeches
upon their friends or upon societv, nerve
themselves up to a resolution of. manly
activity and usefulness. Let croakers
resolve to look henceforth upon the
bright as well as upon the dark side of
every object and event. Let profane
men resolve to pronounce none but
chaste and proper words henceforward.
Let the reckless cultivate the spirit of
moderation and circumspection. Let
the .rash and thoughtless tame their
headlong steeds. Let professing Chris-
uansiuDorvery nara to oeunristians "in
spirit and in truth." Finally, 3et all
of us. old and young, rich or poor, male
or female, resolve t square all our mo
tives, ambitions and conduct by that
noble and ennobling rule of, life, name
ly: Do unto others as we would wish
them to do unto us. That one "golden
ride," coupled with faith in God's in
finite goodness, is, after all, the grand
solution of life's toughest problems; it
is the finger of Wisdom pointing to hu
man justice, peace ana Happiness.
A Whirl hit! of Fli c hi j.'ilglniid,
A most remarkable phenomenon oecui
ed at King Sutton, near Banbury, Eng
land, n local paper says, by which n man
had a narrow escape. No less than sev
enteen trees were torn up by the roots,
thirty-six more or less injured, and 116
I ynrdsof stone wall thrown down. About
: I o'clock in the day the people in the
i neighborhood saw something in the
j shape of a haycock, of great size, rovolv
, big through the air. It wns nccompnn
I ied by fire nnd a great deal of smoke
! and sometimes was seen high in the nir,
I nnd nt others near the ground. It made
j ft great noise, something like n railway
...n.i.litw It ..... M. a Dilnliu nf
Col. North, Jr. P., Sir William Brown,
Burt., and Mr. Leslie Melville Cart
wright, sixty-one yards of whose park
wall at one place has been torn down
from the foundation. It tore up one of
thp a t 1)p,.vii trees on Sir William
irowll'R PStte, and nbout twelve tons of
Lnrtl ...m, it ..(1 in.phou WPrP
pnrth v.m, it an(1 10 i,vnnouos ,
(,nn.;,nl fth(mt ju (,u (lh.,,cti(ma. A
named Adams, who was breaking st
on t,p myn hp ,lcnV(l t v
man
stones
great noise
ns if a railway tram wns coming up.
-i-i , .V i. 1
t,,at ,)ml bcpn Rt.lmlig nmlor a min.
uk, uot3 Wnf( t(,m There wfl8 ft
: heavy rain nt the time, nnd few minutes
before n vivid flash of lightning. For n
mile nnd a half there nre traces of the
ih-st ruction caused by the phenomenon,
which seems to have traveled almost in
' ft straight line from south to north. It
was followed by n whirlwind thnt swept
everything before it, nnd n pond it pass
' ed was dried up, stones carried n dis
tance of forty yards, and railings knock
ed down. Frightened cattle ran nbout
the fields, uianv of . which nre strewn
with the brandies of the trees struck.
The people were greatly alarmed some
of them say the noise wns terrific and
they thought thnt the earth would open
mid' swallow exerything up. After trav
eling for about two miles the tire meteor
. seems to have expanded itself,
i'lTiticsirrisTi.
I The political events of the year which
! has just departed have not been marked.
Nothing of importance, politically, hns
oceured in England, France lias been
agitated, but though there hns been n
great stirabout constitutional reforms,
1 M. Thiersis still master of the situation.
In Germany the most important events
: have been ihe expulsion of the Jesuits
and the complete rupture with the Pope
which it proclaims to
the world, nnd
the lloodimr of the upper house)!' the
Prussian Legislature to swap the retro- i
grade majority against the Counties Be- j ment in the puddier. The heat neces
form bill. In our country the rise cul- : sarilv generated bv the operation is so
mination, nnd collapse of the "Liberal "
movement for the reform of the Govern
ment of the United States was the most
notable political event. Eighteen hun
dred and seventy-two wns Presidential
year. The Liberal Convention met on
May 1, nt Cincinnati, alid nominated
Hoi-ace Greeley and B. Gratz Brown for
President and Vice-President. The
Democratic Convention, which met at
Baltimore, July 0, almost unanimously
nominated th since candidates. June
5 the Republican Convention met at
Philadelphia and nominated U. S. Grant
and Henrv Wilson for President and
Vice-President of the United States.
The flection was heV. in all the States
except Louisiana o i ovember 5. Ihe
electoral votes of i"l the States but
six aro pledged to General Grant. The
'troubles in Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Alabama are important. The interna- j
tional events were the award of the Gen- ,
eva Tribunal in our favor, made Septem-
ber 11; the Emperor William's decision cess. The successful substitution in
of the San Juan boundary question in ' modern times of machines for perform
our favor, made October 10; and the ! ing various operations which formerly
prosecution of the Khivan war by seemed to require the intelligence nnd
Russia, which, trivial ns the matter now dexterity of n living being for their ex
appears, may ultiniat.dy embroil Eng- j ecution, justifies the expectation that
land nnd Turkey in war. The Emperors the study now being given to the organ-
of Russia, Austria nnd Germany met fit
Berlin, on September 1, but ibe Confer-i
euce appears as yet to have no real sig- J
nificance. i
The Profits if !liliiur.
Some little idea may be formed 'of
the severe injury which would be in
flicted on trade in the event of a general
movement in favor of temperance, by
the following account given by Bailie
Lewis, at a recent niertincr of the I'din
burgh Town Council, ot the number of
persons seen by the police to enter one
of the "hard-ale" shops in that city
during one day. A " hard-ale" shop is
a house where customers maV get drunk
for twopence halfpenny. One penny-
worth of "hard-ale" followed bv three -
halfpenny worth of spirits, will, it is
stnted, reduce even a seasoned toper to
n stnte of hopeless stupefaction. From
8 to 9 A. M. there entered the establish
ment i l question on a Saturday in July
100 men and 38 women; froia 9 to 10
o'clock, 120 men aud 65 women; from 10
to 11, 90 men and 10 wo-nen; from 11 to
12 noon, 110 men nnd 48 women; from
12 to 1, 85 men and 55 women; from 1 to
2, 100 men nnd (50 women; from H t J 3,
115 men and (10 women; from 3 ' i 112
men and (50 women; from 4 to 5, 67 men
and 43 women; from 5 to (5. 108 men fnd
47 women: from 6 to 7. 128 men nnd 50
women; from 7 to 8, 75 meu ami 50 wo
men; from 8 to 9. 120 men and 55 women;
from 9 to 10, H I men and 55 women;
from 10 to 11, t'.l men and 43 women
in all, 1,511 men nnd 709 women. If
the proprietor c-f 'h's "hard ule" shop
made only a proiit o: one halfpeuuy 011
each individual, he wou'd have a total
profit of 1 15s. per day, or 110 less than
1,482 a year. It is remarkable to ob
serve by these figures how steadily the
" women " drank throughout the day
there is but little variation in their num
bers from hou:- to hsur ia comparison
with that to be seen in the cases of the
" men. " The constancy of women peeps
forth in every transoction of life, while
man, vile man, is fitful even in his cups.
Plain Enough. The following is the
account of a little trouble in Louisville
as given by a police officer: " Far as I
knows, your Honor, they be werry gooa
young men. They started to take their
classes at school, wich I thinks be werry
good for them ; but they fell in with a
West Ender. That's what beat 'em,
and they didn't go to school. They
raised a row, may it please the Court,
and Mr. Green he stuck his thumb into
Mr. Nobb's mouth, and that thumb
hasn't been seen since. That's all I
know about it."
The Puddling of Irmt.
This process f puddling Wns invented
by Henry Cort, mi Finglishmnn, nnd
patented' by him in 17H3 nt?d J7H1 ns n
new process for " shingling, welding,
nnd manufacturing iron nnd steel into
bars, plates, nnit i';d, of purer quality
and in larger quantities Il.'n" hereto
fore, by a more effectual npplieniliW of
fire machinery." For this invention
Cort has been'called " the father of the
iron-trade of the British nation," and it
is estimated that lila inveutionhas, dur
ing this century, giving emplovniont to
(5,000,000 of persons, nnd increased the
wealth of Great Britain by 33,000,000,
000. in his experiments for perfecting
his process, Mr. Cort spent his fortune,
and though it proved so Valuable, he
died poor, having beeu involved by the
Government in a law-suit concerning
his patent which beggered him. Six
years before his death, the Govern
ment, ns nn acknowledgment of their
wrong, granted him n yearly pension of
1,000, and at his death this miserly
recompense was reduced to his widow
to $025. When iron is simply melted
and run into any mold, its texture is
granular, and it' is so brittle ns tobe
quite unreliable for nny use requiring
much tensile strength. The process of
puddling consisted in stirring the mol
ten iron run out in n puddle, nnd had
the effect of so changing its antomic
arrangement as to render the process
of rolling it more efficacious. The pro
cess of boiling is considered an improve
ment upon this. The boiling furnace is
an oven heated to an intense heat by a
fire urged with a blast. The cast-iron
sides are double, and n constant circula
tion of water is kept passing through
the chamber thus made, in order to pre
serve the structure from fusion by the
heat, The inside is lined with fire
brick covered with metallic ore and slag
over the hottpm and sides, and then,
the oven being charged with the pigs of
iron, the neat is let on. llie jugs meir,
and the oven is filled with molten iron.
The pnddh'r constantly stirs this mass
with a bar let through a hole in the
door, until the iron rolls up, or "fer
ments," as it is called. The fermenta
tion is caused by the combustion of a
portion of the carbon in the iron, and as
soon as the excess of this is consumed,
the cinders nnd slug sink to the bottom
of the oven, leaving the semi-fluid ninss
on the top. Stirring this about, the
puddler forms it iuto balls of such a
size as lie can conveniently handle,
which nre taken out nnd carried on Hi tie
cars, made to receive them, to " tho
squeezer."
lo carry on tins process
properly requires great skill and judg
great thnt very lew persons have the
physical endurance to stand it. So
great is ft thnt 'the clothes upon the
person frequently cntch fire. Such
strain upon the physical powers natur
ally leads those subjected to it to
indulge in excesses. The perspiration
which flows from the puddlers in
streams while rngnged in their work is
caused by the natural effort of their
bodies to'preserve themselves from in
jury by keeping their normal tempera
ture, Such a consumption of the fluids
of the body causes groat thirst, and the
exhaustion' of the labor, bath bodily and
mental, leads often to the excessive use
of stimulants. In fact, the work is too
laborious. Jts conditions are such that
no one should be subjected to them.
The necessity, however, tor judgment,
experience, and skill on tho part of the
operator has up to this time prevented
the introduction of machinery to take
the place of human labor in this pro
izatiou of industry will lead to the in-
veution of machines which will obviate
the necessity for human suffering in the'
process of puddling. Such a consum
mation would be an advantage to all
classes concerned. The attempts which
have been made in this direction have
not as yet proved entirely successful.
Agriculture in I'li-wia.
The agricultural correspondent of the
: Independnnee of Beige writes that in
j Russia there are immense tracts ot land
j of nn extraordinary fertility, from
which, owing to the want ot population
! capable of creating a domestic market,
i whatever is produced cnuonly be ot use
1 when exported. Um new railways have,
therclore, given an immense impetus to
acrriculture in Russia, which the corre
spondent believes destined to become a
formidable competitor with the agricul
turists of the West. Great improve
ments have been effected in all depart
ments of the art of late. Scarcely ten
years ago the grain in the Southern
provinces was reaped by the hand,
threshed in tho most primitive fashion,
and loaded on carriages drawn by oxen,
was borne to the nearest port whence it
was despatched to the great London
market. All this required twelve or
fit teen months. Now everything is
changed. Reaping is done by ma
chinery, threshing is accomplished by
threshers of the latest and most perfect
modol. the grain is loaded at the nearest
station for Odessa, where large steamers
receive it in order to bear it to its desti
nation. Four or five months ut most
suffice to bring the corn from the Step
pe of Russia to the immense grain
it , -es of tho West. In a few years
inure the Russians will grind their corn
themselves, and export the flour ready
prepared, thus keeping for their own
mirooses the refuse which is useful for
cuttle, and turning to theft- own advan
tage all that is now loss in changing the
wheat into flour.
A Practical Joke. As the through
truin from Providence for Worcester was
abnut leaving the other day, some one
called out at the doors, "Pawtucket and
Y-Hey Falls passengers take the forward
cu- on the other track." There were
so ne sixtv passengers on the train to
wiiom the cull seemed applicable, all of
whom very innocently passed to the
other car, as requested, supposing it was
to be attached to the traiu. The point
of the joke was perceptible when the
the train had gone, and the credulous
victims found themselves obliged to wait
in the station for one hour.
ItciiH of Interest.
A slaughtered hog in Lynchburg, Va.
eighteen months old, weighed 900 pound
net.
A boy, fifteen years of age, died lately
in rk, Louis from the effects of intem
perance. The convicts nt the Juliet, Ill.. Peni
tentiary average days wages of 5i cents
each, 'linking segars.
The (,'ttlrlr in Hi 'tHli doubts if there
nre twenty renlly healthy nnd Mrong
women in nny Sbite in the Union.
The Mcthntlit confesses to being n
Utile astonished to se " how patroni
zing the new school of sceptical science
is to the Almighty."
During the first nine months of l7'i
England made away with 10,109,041
gallons of spirits 1,1(53,419 galloifs
more than she drank during the corres
ponding time in 1871.
" I wish von would pay n little atten
tion to what I nm saying, sir," roared
an irate lawyer at an exasperating wit
ness. "We'll, I am paying us little r,s
I can," was the calm reply.
Those who believe nothing often
make others belieye most: a the best
actors in our theatres nre those who re
tain the most perfect command over
Iheir feelings, voice and countenance.
A woman of North Wheeling, vn.,
one Mrs. Dailev, was found by her bus- .
band literally roasted to death 011 Chrwt
mas evening, her clothinghuving caught
fire whilst she was nlone in the house.
According to a St. Tanl paper, noses,
ears nnd fingers, which have been brok
en off while in n frozen and crisp con
dition, may be picked up in large quan
tities from' the sidewnlks of that frosty
city.
There are now published in the United
States 6,432 periodicals, of which 507
nre issued dailv. 105 tri-weekly, 110
semi-weeklv, 4,750 weekly, 24 bi-wecK-ly,
91 semi-monthly, (585 monthly, 4 bi
monthly, nnd 55 quarterly.
A novel pet hns a lady of DanielvihV.
Conn, in the shape of a butterfly, which
nestles in her hand, alights upon her
shoulder or hair, or, by way of variety,
hides in the knot of 'ribbon at her
throat, wnen he feels like a nap.
Fort Ontario, Oswego. N. Y., i i
charge 01 a sergeant uini iui-. i- .......
The other day the seargeant put one of
the men into the guard-house, set
another to guarding him, and pnt the
remnining one in chnrge of the fort.
Mrs Samuel Colt made $800,000 proiit
out of revolvers last year. She has 11
lovely daughter who will inherit, $8,0(10,
000. Klntira Cazrilr. This may be
coirect ns to figures, but the " lovely
daughter" happens to be a son with a
will of his own. Htn-lfm-il Po(.
According to the North China Jfrrahl,
on the 13th nnd 14th of. October last in.
less thnn 115 criminals were beheaded
at the execution ground nt Matow. Of
these some 46 were kidnappers, who
were all strangled first and then decapi
tated. The man in Danbury who enjoys the
moHt sympathy, is he who chased a
runaway team for half a mile, and
finally succeeded iu heading it off, only
to discover the driver iu the carriage
looking very much astonished at the
hallooing a nil panting rescuer.
An old lady in Ottawa, Mich., was
recently sitting iu an arm-chair sewing,
-u-limi nil automatic rifle in the next
room fell from its hooks and discharged.
The ball went through n partition,
pierced a table in the way nnd fatally
wounded the old lady in the head.
V hotel clerk who was banged up in a
railroad accident recently.M'.ed the com
pany for $20,000 for damage to his
cheek, but the Judge told the jury he
" did not want to influence them m
their verdict, but thought ten cent
would be nn ample sum for the 1111 my
done."
The annual report of the Chamber of
Commerce of Milwaukee shows the re
ceipts of the various products hist year.
to lie as follows: Receipts I lour, 21..,
977 barrels ; wheat, 13,275,62o buslu; s ;
oats, 1,608,018 bushels ; corn, 2,042 19(.
bushels; rye, 410,133 bushels; barley,
1,447569 bushels.
A school girl in one of the rural
districts of l'ittsfield, Mass. was over
heard trving to convince a school fellow
that she'liked him better than sheet.!
some other urchin of whom ne scemet
jealous. " Of course I like you .better
than I do Bill," said she, " for don t I
miss words in my spelling lesson (ill
purpose, so ns to be down to the loot ol
the class where you are V"
There is a duty o'f the hour which
very few people seem to realize. Iho
weight of snow of the density of the
recent fall is nbout one-fifth the weight,
of water; a cubic foot of it consequently
weighs over 12 pounds, reckoning tho
cubic foot of water ut 1,000 ounces.
The roof of an ordinary dwelling house
is something over 800 square leet 111 ex
tent, nnd if we take the average dept .
of the snow to be only one foot, we shall
hnve on such a roof n burden of five
tons. This is not more than n pood
roof ought to bear, but there mo hun
dreds of roofs in each city hardly able to
Kiist.iin their own weight. Let house
holders look to this without delay.
What a Single Wave ( an Bo.
There is a vessel in Queenstown har
bor, savs an Irish paper, of 1,200 tons,
which received from a single sea a sur
prising umount of damage. This ves
sel, a Norwegian, was struck by a sea or
wave of so tremendous a character, in
the late gale, as to sweep that portion of
her cargo which was stowed upon the
deck, iu a moment, into the sea; to carry
off her cooking apparatus, made of cast 1
iron: to empty auu iu ureun uci-miuiwu,
to smash her bulwarks and stanchions,
to wound and bruise three of her men, .
and to reduce four more to a state of
weakness and syncope; to break tho
mate's thigh aud wash a seaman over
board, and finally to fill the cabin and
damage all the proyisions, so uiui ine
crew were uearly starving when they
came into Queenstown. All these in j ur
ies were produced in a moment by a
single wave. It not only cleared the
decks, but it extinguished hope in the
heurts of the crew, who the moment they
were struck never expected to see land
again.